Chapter 36: Stranger than Fiction

(Rex tries to make sense of reality and make the most of it… even if nothing was coming to him.)

The following morning, Rex woke with a heavy head, feeling exhausted, since he almost stayed awake all night, sleeping in between Circe and Riaena, one arm around each of the girls. He must have finally caught some shut eye only about two hours, for he felt like he barely slept.

Feeling movement next to him, Rex peeked open a heavy lid, watching Circe get up and go about the room, going in and out the bathroom, then getting her clothes. When she started changing in front of him, Rex blushed, heart hammering a little inside his chest. It felt almost odd – even though he supposed he should be used to it by now, he felt more like the inexperienced boyfriend peeking at his girlfriend in her lingerie for the first time. It felt like forever since he last saw her so… well, scantily dressed.

He waited till she was fully dressed in a dark, pant-suit before making himself known that he was up.

"Wow, that looks sharp," he complimented, "What kind of office are you working at?"

Circe half turned and crooked a brow as she bunned up her hair.

"So, your memory is not jogged yet?"

Oops, guess it wasn't such a good idea to be reminded of their problem the first thing in the morning, but well, there were no two ways about it except to face the issue head on.

"Maybe the doctor's appointment next week will help."

She nodded stiffly, then replied his initial question.

"I'm an administrator in a law firm. Up in the city."

"Wow, that's cool. I can't believe I didn't know how capable my wife is!"

Circe gave him a half smile of pleasure, putting on her earrings.

"It's just a small company, though, anyway, you get ready too. You have shift today, so I'll drop you off first then –" she suddenly paused, and blinked at Rex, who blinked back.

Seemed like Circe said her last line out of habit and only realized the conundrums that posed after she said it.

"Um, maybe I should call in sick for you."

Rex sat up straight.

"No, I should go."

She gave him a look like he was crazy.

"What? I'm not handicapped, am I?" Rex challenged lightly, shrugging his shoulders, "I just need to know what I have to do."

Circe arched one brow looking appalled at his preposterous suggestion. Rex didn't let her lack-of-believe shatter his confidence.

"Well," he crooked a brow in mirror, "What do I work as?" he then threw his arms up in the air in questioning.

Circe pursed her lips while sucking in her breath like a vacuum cleaner.

"You're a Mr-Fix-It-All," her words flowed out together with the air she exhaled out.

"Uh… what do you mean? Like, a mechanic?"

She nodded. "Plumbing, electricity, cars – whatever, you name it, someone's got a problem with an appliance, they call you – your company I mean."

"Mmmh-hmm…." Rex trailed off, rubbing his chin in thinking.

Circe sighed and reached for her phone, but before she could dial anything, he reinstated his stand. He felt that he should go, if anything, to see it would jog his memory. And even if it didn't, there wasn't any harm trying it.

"Yea, except that you may not recover all your knowledge and skills on the job."

"Then I'll learn on the spot, or I'll wing it, somehow, I always do," Rex laughed, trying to sound confident.

Circe didn't share his confidence, nibbling her low lips doubtfully, but she eventually agreed.

"Wait, do we have a nanny coming in today?" Rex remembered to check, getting off the bed to get ready for work.

Circe nodded.

"She comes in about another thirty minutes or so and will help Riaena get started with breakfast."

Rex nodded.

"And what time does she leave?"

"When you get home."

"…Which is, at what time?"

"Uh, good question. Yours is a half day shift today, but while we're on that, let me just run through some things with you so we can avoid another repeat of yesterday's disaster."

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Circe wasn't kiddin' when she said he was a 'Mr-Fix-It-All'. That very nameplate was in bold, and red, and looked seriously tacky atop a three storey, brick and mortar building. It was old, and looked way out of place alongside the rest of the chic buildings in the shopping street.

"Hey Rex! Mrs!" a guy called, coming out the front door, waving a hand.

Circe smiled before driving off, leaving Rex in the driveway, nervousness suddenly coming in tenfold. He stared up the building like a kid who's taken on more than he could chew. With Circe gone, there was no one he could depend on for support – not unless the company didn't mind an employee with sudden memory lapses that caused him to underperform all of a sudden.

Shit, why did he think he could do this?

"Damn, man! No offence, and I hope you don't take this the wrong way," his colleague started, hooking an arm over Rex's neck and dragging him along into the building, "But no matter how many times I see your Mrs, damn I still find her beautiful! You're one lucky guy, you know that?"

Rex felt a lopsided smile creeping onto his face.

"Yea, I know."

He meant that literally, since right up till yesterday, he was somehow convinced he and Circe were never meant to be.

The hours flew by quickly as Rex busied himself. He rode with a team of two other guys in a tacky, company van to three homes, answering to requests of fixing several home appliances. Rex's worries were more or less quickly allayed with the fact that he was indeed pretty adept at handling his work, even though it was literally the first for him attempting to repair anything. At the end of his shift when they brought him back to the company block, they even commented how he was on double mode that day, finishing up his part faster than the rest by a mile.

Rex just laughed it off with a joke. Of course, he couldn't tell them about using his nanites abilities as the secret weapon to help him. He never actually tried feeding his bots into non-living, metal components until that day, so he was surprised himself, that his little bots were so helpful in the overhaul. Just deep concentration and retuning, and somehow, comprehension would just come to him, hands moving on his own in the fixing, without him having to doubt himself.

As for blending into conversations, Rex learnt from his mistake the day before, and was careful not to say anything. He only nodded along to the conversations and laughed at appropriate times. He mostly stayed on alert with listening ears, catching and absorbing as much information as he could, like their names, and bits of information they dropped along the way, like previous jobs, or other colleagues, their boss, some clients, and some parts of their family life.

All in all, work went on without a hitch and was pretty smooth, so Rex was feeling pretty good about himself that he hadn't made a mistake, until he shaped shifted his legs into his usual hover bike in order to get home.

Speeding off, he didn't see his colleagues staring after him in the driveway with jaws hanging wide open in shock.

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When Rex got home, he basically took over the nanny's duties. She looked to be a very prim, middle aged woman, older than him, and looked a bit worn out by the time he arrived.

"Where's Riaena?"

"Well, napping, like usual," she answered.

Rex nodded, and ticked off from the briefing Circe told him that morning. Raiena had mid-afternoon naps after tea break, which was right about this time.

"How was she earlier?" he asked tentatively, worrying slightly if she was still affected by yesterday's horrible events.

The nanny just gave a hearty laugh. "Oh you know, boisterous, as usual!"

Rex became relieved.

"Good. And dinner?"

"On the stove. Just heat it up later and it's good to eat."

Rex nodded again and smiled, thanking her before letting her off. Then he went upstairs and crept into the room to check up on his girl. She was fast asleep, looking like a tiny angel, Rex couldn't help but find himself drawn to her. He quietly and gently laid down next to her, propping his elbow up on the pillow, looking down at her intently. The more he stared, the more he saw her resemblance to him, and decided he really liked what he saw.

Just imagine, him, a dad. He never thought this day would come. His thoughts froze, suddenly realizing his sentiments echoed for someone else – someone he was close with, whom he just found out was a dad too. It felt like it should be momentous news, and Rex was incredibly happy to hear it, but somehow, he just couldn't picture who the lucky parents were. He only knew that they were people important to him. He frowned, sitting up, trying to focus his thoughts, but gave up soon enough, since nothing else came to mind.

He got out of bed, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. Since he can't recall his past, maybe he should focus on building memories of the present. Like familiarizing himself in his own house. Since Riaena was still asleep, he took the chance to explore the place, checking out every cabinet and shelf, making mental notes of where they kept things, and taking stock of what they had. Mid-way through, he suddenly recalled Circe had yet to pass him his orange jacket. No problem – he could hunt for it on his own.

He found the storage room beneath the stairs and after some time of digging around every box, he found it! He held it up happily, flicking it a couple of times to lessen the wrinkles. It looked as he remembered, just that the orange shade looked somewhat… faded? He shrugged, surmised that it must be because it had been stuffed away for too long. He just needed to wash it and air it out a bit. He tucked it under his armpit and went back to putting away the box he found it from, when a white card with his name on it, tucked into the breast pocket of a jacket, caught his attention.

Rex picked out the card gingerly and read:

Rex, for remembrance – H.

He frowned.

Who was H? And Remembrance of who?

He picked up the formal suit blazer and eyed the dark green color with distaste. Who in the world wears a green blazer? Yet something nagged at him, that it was pretty important – that whoever wore this, was important to him. Unfortunately, his memory was a blitz, and nothing came to mind.

Tentatively, he thought he caught the sounds of Riaena calling for him. So he just quickly left the storeroom, grabbing both jackets with him. He told himself he'll wash both and ask Circe about it when she comes back – likely she'd be the only one who could shed light on this.

He laid both jackets messily on the couch and was in time to see Riaena rubbing her eyes at the top of the stairs.

"Hey Kiddo," he felt himself smile. She looked so adorable half-awake, thick hair messy and tangled, fanning around her face like a tiny lioness.

Riaena beamed when she noticed him.

"Daddy!" she chirped happily, suddenly wide awake, and started down the steps. To his horror, she tripped and half rolled, and might have rolled all the way down if he wasn't fast enough to whip out his nanites into extendable arms, catching her before the damage was too great.

He breathed heavily into her head when he retracted his arms, squeezing her little body inside his chest.

"Jesus, Riaena! Be careful! Don't scare me like that!"

Riaena was shaking and shrieking with laughter, as if she hadn't even realized she had a near accident.

"Again, Daddy! Do that again!"

Rex ignored her playful demands, checking her head, combing through her wild hair to search for bumps.

"Did you hit yourself?"

"No, I didn't," Riaena informed, giggling.

"Are you sure?" Rex eyed her worriedly, "Then does it hurt anywhere?"

"No," she insisted, eyes wide and twinkling.

Rex heaved a huge sigh in relief.

"That's good, Christ I nearly had a heart attack, you know? Be more careful next time," Rex told her.

She became somber and nodded like she understood.

"Good," Rex nodded then put her down on the floor and panted his hands on his hips, "So, what do we normally do at home together? Before Mommy comes back?"

Riaena blinked at him, and he blinked back.

"I wanna play spinning man!" she suddenly exclaimed, throwing her hands up, bouncing up and down excitedly.

Rex beamed.

"So you're not afraid?" he asked to confirm.

"No! It was fun! Do it again!"

Rex beamed wider. Now, that was his girl.

"Okay, but this stays a secret between the two of us, okay?"

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Rex and Riaena had such a blast, speeding around the lawn and up and down the stairs on a modified, smaller, hover bike that was less bulky that could do tighter turns. Her peals of laughter rang through the whole house, sounding like bells, and highly infectious, giving Rex stitches from laughing so much.

They had so much fun that Rex forgot to watch the time, and didn't realize Circe had returned home till he heard her shouting his name.

Damn! Busted!

Rex collapsed his nanite constructs and came to a stop right before her, with Riaena safely in his arms.

"Hey Circe, welcome back," he grinned nervously to a frowning Circe.

She had her arms crossed, feet tapping the doormat at the front door.

"What are you doing, Rex? I thought after Sunday's episode, you should know better than to play with her so roughly!"

"Hey, my Rex-ride is completely safe!" Rex defended indignantly, "You used to ride it all the time yourself."

Circe looked like she wanted to argue back, but Riaena – the little angel – spoke up.

"It's alright, Mommy, we'll be careful, we promise!"

Circe sighed heavily, pinching her brows.

"Alright," Circe relented, but continued to warn, "Just as long as you keep it within the house, you got me? Make sure no one outside sees you."

That didn't sound right to him.

"Why not?"

Circe frowned, glare warning him not to ask further. Rex decided not to press, and decided to keep quiet too about the earlier fact that he came home on the road on his hover bike.

"Alright, hungry for dinner?" Rex asked instead.

"Yea, famished, actually, I hadn't the time to take my lunch," Circe shared, sounding tired.

"No, that's bad for you."

Circe shrugged.

"Part of my job, can't be helped."

They chatted for a bit while heating up the food, Rex asking questions about her work, curious to know what it was like. They stopped when Circe turned her attention to Riaena, playing and coddling her. Rex smiled, feeling blissful whilst he watched from the side, the other half of his attention on distributing the portion into their plates and setting dinner down for the three of them. It seemed like the perfect, family life.

Even without the rest of his memory, he thought it might not be so bad just making new ones from here on. He was sure he could live with this, no problem at all, if he could ignore that strange, unsettling feeling constantly gnawing at the back of his head.

After dinner and washing up the dishes, Circe started on the laundry. Rex shooed her to bath instead, joking that he should be the one doing the work at home, earning a big smile of approval and a light peck from her. She jolted however, when she noticed the two jackets Rex found earlier, draped over his arms.

Noticing her reaction, he wondered if there was something wrong.

"Hey Circe, look what I found! My jacket!" he said ecstatically, holding up his orange jacket in front of him.

Circe gave a bland smile, not sharing his enthusiasm.

"I also found this green blazer and it had a note. Was wondering if you knew anything about that."

Circe looked positively ill, gaze switching from him to the blazer and back again, lips pulled taut.

"No, I'm not too sure about it," Circe finally replied, giving Rex all the confidence of Pinocchio talking.

"Right, never mind then, must not be anything important," Rex replied blandly, emotions quickly heading for a downward spiral.

So much for thinking he could get on comfortably with his memory loss. How could he, when his wife was obviously hiding things from him? Despite his trepid thoughts, he masked it carefully, not wanting Circe to go through any more hurt.

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After two whole days of Rex-Ride and various other high speed constructs he turned himself into, Rex was ready to wave the white flag. Damn it was exhausting to keep up with Riaena. She was like this excitable bundle of energy that never seemed to run out of batteries. He had no idea how he had been able to handle it before.

Rex almost regretted convincing Circe he could handle Riaena on his own without the nanny. She had been worried and skeptical at first, wanting the nanny to be around for at least half a day, but eventually, she gave in, trusting him to manage just fine.

Rex was almost too happy to get to work, seeing it as a chance for a break, but alas, another part-timer called him at the last minute, begging to exchange shift days with him, so Rex was forced to cancel the nanny and was down to spending the full day with Riaena.

Riaena was again demanding him for 'Rex-Rides', but he eyed her wearily.

"No, no more Rex-Rides today– Daddy's flat and out of juice."

She was a little unhappy, but she lightened up soon enough. Unfortunately, she wouldn't stop trying to climb all over him like a squirrel investigating its tree.

Rex was exhausted just trying to keep her from falling and balancing her weight on his arms. He sighed. He definitely needed a break.

Remembering that Circe offered he could call her for SOS if he needed, he threw away his god damn 'Dad pride' and rang her, asking what he used to do to keep Riaena busy.

Circe laughed almost too much in a victorious manner.

"Just take her out. She's more mellow outside."

Rex did exactly that, but wrestled with dressing her like the way he did on the first day. Riaena demanded for a bandana, much to his puzzlement, but whatever, who was he to comment on the astute, fashion tastes of a young girl? He did his best digging for Circe's scarves, but she liked none of them. Weariness climbed upon him, as high as the pile of messy clothes all over the bedroom. Shit, he'd have to put all these back properly or Circe will be mad. In his urgency, he didn't see where he was throwing the clothes, and noticed a piece of clothing landed on Riaena when she complained.

Glancing at her, he saw that a pair of tiny, knitted shorts had fallen right atop her head. Eyeing it, Rex suddenly had an idea. He twirled the two legs of the pants and tied them together, making it a headscarf over her unruly hair. Riaena studied herself intently in the mirror for a few seconds, then beamed.

"I like it!" she declared, much to Rex's relief. Finally, they could get out of the house, after spending like an hour at his ordeal.

Rex cycled her to the nearby park by following the GPS – on a real, proper bicycle as they had one parked just at the porch, and not using any of his nanite construct. It was rather quiet mid-morning, since it was a work day for most people. However, there seemed to be a small, tuition center nearby, which accounted for most of the teenagers hanging around, seated in groups on the grass, or on the benches. It must be their break time, or they could be playing hooky. Either way, it didn't really matter. What took most of Rex's attention was how tamed Rianea was. Where she was a riot at home, hurtling around all over the place like a super-charged missile and screaming his ears off, here, she was as docile and as quiet as a swan, playing with her toys in one place meekly. The contrast was nearly too marveling.

Still, she couldn't leave him alone the whole time. She podded him in between, climbing up his legs on the bench and asking him to read to her. Rex complied happily, at least he was still seated and rested. And Riaena sounded so cute trying out the exercises in the nursery book, but failing hilariously. Twice she pointed at the picture of an elephant and called it a mouse. And she incorrectly identified a shark as a dolphin, and a dolphin as a mermaid, and oh, a whale as a submarine. She even called an airplane an eagle. Then when Rex pointed at the image of a bike, half cracking up in stitches, she beamed widely and said with a hundred percent confidence.

"That's Daddy!"

Rex couldn't help but crack up completely.

That's when he felt his nanites kicking, instinct sending him folding his broad form over Riaena's much smaller body, shielding her from an incoming soccer ball. It hit his back with a force that might send a normal man with black and blues for three days. For Rex however, it was small matter, bouncing off him harmlessly.

"Holy crap!" came the shouts and curses from some guys. "It hit him!"

Rex turned back when he was sure the coast was clear, and felt like the ball had hit him a second time – except there was no ball, just a young chap, with crystal blue eyes and sun gold, blonde hair.

"Hey Mr, sorry about that, you alright?" the teenager asked, but Rex stared back mutely, mind suddenly spinning in on itself over the familiarity of this youngster. His friends came up quickly, apologizing profusely, jolting Rex.

"No worries, it's okay guys, I'm alright. At least my little girl is safe."

"Yea," the blonde started, eyes widening with marvel, "It was lucky you blocked it. You were pretty incredible – I thought you didn't see it."

Rex smiled, and shrugged.

"I didn't. But it's Dad's instincts."

The teen grinned, and Rex didn't know why, but it caused a strange twinge in his chest, reminding him of someone, but Rex just couldn't remember who. It was strange, but seeing the teen plagued him for the rest of the day – not exactly the teen himself, per say, but the other person whom the teen reminded him of. Still no matter how hard he dug, all he could picture was blonde hair and blue eyes framing a blurry face.

Maybe if he could just somehow, imagine the teen being a couple of years older, like his age, with a higher cheekbone, and lips that was quick to curl twistedly into a cynical or taunting smile. But his eyes, were always warm, bright like the sun, cool like cerulean waters, flashy like a glade of ice if he was rubbed the wrong way – but mostly, it was welcoming. And what else? He was definitely broader than the teen, but could still be considered of medium stature, but fit, extremely fit, and with skin, ghostly pale, almost haunting. Rex shivered, realizing his thoughts were almost running askew. He didn't know why his heart raced, just thinking about him, and there was a dull ache, as if it hurt that he couldn't even remember such an important person.

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Circe did overtime, so she returned home much later that night. By then, Riaena was already sleeping, and Rex was just hanging up the clothes after the wash cycle.

They exchanged a quick peck in greeting, but before Circe went back into the kitchen for her late dinner, she frowned to see Rex untying a piece of shorts.

"Why was that tangled?"

"Oh, I tied it, like a bandana, for Riaena."

Circe gave him an appalled stare.

"What? You let your daughter walk around all day outside with a pair of shorts on her head?"

"Huh? Well, but she liked it," Rex defended but eagle eyes bore into him, so he quickly went on, "She didn't want any of your scarves. And besides, it really didn't look bad. It was cute on her. You couldn't tell it was shorts."

"Still, you don't put shorts on Riaena's head!" she exploded, eyes flashing like a lightning cloud, with tons of flyaway hair escaped from her bun, making her look rather scary.

"And you don't show her your freaky little nanites or take her on dangerous, high speed killer rides!"

Rex was stunned by her outburst, hurt too. But he chalked up it to the exhaustion of her day and the stress of his out-of-character behavior. He kept mum to prevent it from becoming a serious argument. He was so mind boggled that day, he didn't have the energy to argue back anyway, so he pretended he heard nothing, continuing with the laundry quietly.

Circe huffed away out their laundry room, and didn't appear again until she crawled into bed next to him an hour later.

"Rex," she whispered at his back, "I'm sorry." She kissed his cheek.

Rex felt his jaw tighten.

"For?"

She took a deep breath.

"Saying those horrible things. I was just peeved about the pants. Really. And then I let my stress at work get the better of me."

Rex turned over to accept her peace offering, somehow kissing her full on the lips. Rex breathed deeply, letting the warmth of their kiss run through him and sooth his earlier, ruffled feathers.

"Okay," he grinned, pulling back, "I'm not mad anymore."

She smiled, eyes brightening, then she shifted her weight and crept over so her body was above him, legs sprawled next to his. Rex swallowed, suddenly nervous, heart skipping a beat when he sensed where this was going. It felt like ages since he has been this intimate with her. Then she leaned in for another kiss and Rex nearly couldn't breathe.

It had been too long. He caressed her cheek gently, remembering the kisses he shared with her – the only one person in the world. Suddenly, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, faceless phantom popped back into his head, and instinctively, he just knew.

No, she wasn't the only one.

He kissed this other person too, several times. Mostly for fun, just innocent pecks, though he was clueless why they got to that, but then there was this one time – suddenly, he was remembering the other's hot tongue, and questing wet lips, and the sound of waves lapping on a beach under a moonlit sky. There was something about the fervor he could feel upon the recollection, that made his blood rush all the way down south in a snap. Rex jerked and pulled from Circe instantly, perplexed and guilty. He couldn't kiss her while someone else was popping up in his head, especially since the cause of his erection was – shockingly – due to the nameless, and faceless intruder.

Circe was a little surprised, but she said nothing, and didn't press for anything further. She just turned to the other side, back facing Rex, softly wishing him goodnight.

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The morning after, started the same as the previous days. But feeling a bit guilty over last night and wanting to start Circe's day on a good note, Rex woke a little earlier to prepare her breakfast. She came into the kitchen with a show of following her nose, sniffing the air in an adorable manner.

"I smell something cooking," she smiled at him.

Rex gave a lopsided smile.

"Sorry, I'm not the best cook, since this is my first time attempting a sunny side up and pancakes."

Circe's brows shot up.

"Hmm, your first time cooking since your memory lapse and already you're attempting such a difficult dish? I'm surprised the kitchen hasn't burnt down yet," she teased, coming up behind his hips to plant a kiss at his neck.

Rex crooked a brow, pondering at her words.

"Say, tell me, what did I used to make for breakfast?"

"Oh, nothing special, just bruschetta, poached eggs, quiche, poached salmon, brownies, and sometimes pizza."

Rex's brows might have flown off his face.

"Wow, was I some kind of master chef?"

She laughed.

"Don't worry, you'll get there soon enough."

She disappeared out the kitchen, then came back properly dressed in her suit. Rex looked over admiringly, loving how immaculate and smart she looked. The only thing that clashed with her whole outfit was the gaudy, chunky white bracelet on her left wrist. To come to think it, Rex realized she had been wearing it every day, all the time, even when she goes for bath.

When he pointed it out to her, suggesting she should lose it, she gave him an eagle eye and laughed, dismissing him.

"You're hilarious."

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Rex was lucky that day. Riaena was glued to the television that morning, apparently hooked on a couple of the children's shows, such that she did not hound him at all. It gave Rex the opportunity to explore the kitchen, and his cooking skills. The last few days, all he made were sandwiches, and he getting bored of that.

He dug around and pulled out the ingredients for her breakfast, that was the next simplest to eggs and toast. Much to his delight, Riaena was in love with Marconi and cheese – which was also his favorite, like father like daughter - finishing everything quickly and without fuss. She retreated back to the television as soon as she was done, making Rex curious, so he went out to join her, and filed it in his head that the kids program that morning were "Action Thursdays". Meaning, they were all action packed cartoons, and was enjoyable even for Rex. There were some pretty sweet animation of a kid in an orange jacket much like his, battling mutated monsters with his robot form which he could call at will. Rex frowned as he watched on, wondering why he found the cartoon so familiar. Something in the show resembled things he thought might have happened to him, but again the mental fuzz was in the way, preventing him from being completely sure.

In any case, Riaena was enjoying the show a lot, and Rex was distracted watching her reaction. She was this animated stunt girl, kicking and punching the air fiercely, mimicking the protagonist. It brought a smile to his lips, happy that he had such an energetic, tough kid. But in her excitement, she accidently smacked the TV remote off the armchair of the couch, and it flew to the side, buttons pressed against the wall. The channel changed at that point, to a news report, with a big blue headline running across the screen, with the words in bold 'Providence.'

The world suddenly snapped into sudden clarity.

"Fuck!" Rex cried aloud, shooting up from the couch, staring at the screen with his mouth running dry and his chest tightening with trepidation.

"Now, the latest update in last Saturday's headline news, Homeland Security has confirmed that Providence have found new leads on the robot rampage…"

The news footage replayed a scene of chaos – dozens of bronze robots were tearing up one of the cities, with Providence black and white clad troops combating them in a hard fight. In the midst of it all, he spied that unmistakable blond head bravely leading the foray.

It came back, everything – rushing into his head in an overwhelming, painful flood, making the room spin as his memories filed themselves in order, swiftly giving back the history he knew.

Every relationship he had – his Providence family, and his teammates and friends, his brother Caesar, and his best friend, Noah. Every mission, every event that happened right up to his fight with Time-Meta EVO at the Abysus.

He finally remembered all of it. Without a doubt, it was clear in his mind now, how things should be. That everything he went through the last four days, shouldn't have happened.

"Daddy?" Rex jolted and looked down at her confused gaze. He felt a pang in his chest, disorientated from the truth that suddenly disconnected him from her. She wasn't really his daughter.

"Sorry, it's nothing. Here, let me help you change back the channel," Rex forced himself to keep a calm tone, though his voice still shook.

"Stay here and watch your shows, alright?"

He didn't need to tell her, for she was already glued to it, giving him the respite he needed to straighten things out. Forcing himself to calm down instead of going into a panic attack, he grabbed the phone and remained in the living room so he could keep an eye on Riaena.

Rex dialed for Six's number, but received an operator claiming it was an unused number. He dialed Providence control lines next, but again, a dead tone. Even Holiday's private line. He breathed heavily, still willing himself to go about this rationally. It figures, as security protocols go, these things were changed frequently to prevent information leak and to protect the privacy and safety of the staff and their families. He reminded himself it was a normal practice for them.

But then again, if this was a world that was warped from what he knew, it could mean they might all have different numbers to begin with. So he searched for Providence public lines through the internet, but much to his dismay, his search came up empty. Absolutely nothing – he couldn't find them anywhere. There was no mention of them at all at any site.

That can't be. Providence always had a public helpline and response page. That was how they connected with the public.

He hunched over, mind scrambling till it came to the one person Rex could always count on – he called Noah.

The phone rang in forever, then cut off. Rex dialed again, waiting impatiently, then his line got cut off again, vexing him. Undeterred, he tried again, and to his relief, it went through.

"Noah! Thank god, is that you?" Rex cried, "Listen, I'm Rex."

The other line was silent, except for faint breathing, making Rex anxious.

"Hello? Noah, could you hear me?"

Again, Noah didn't reply, or maybe, it wasn't Noah at all.

"Uh, sorry, Noah, are you there? Or, you're someone else? I'm Rex," he repeated.

"I know," finally, came Noah's reply, sounding heavy.

Rex gave a heavy sigh – he could cry in relief.

"My god, Noah! Shit, it's good you picked. I couldn't reach anyone else. You have no idea, but something crazy is happening to me. I was just battling Gravity-Meta and Time-Meta last week, but shit happened. Time-Meta must have done something, because the next thing I knew, I woke up and found that I was married to Circe, and we have a kid."

There was silence for the longest time.

"Noah?" Rex prodded.

Then, heavy breathing.

"Fuck off with your jokes, Rex," Noah's reply was hard when it came, tone brutal and unlike anything that Rex had heard his best friend use on him, "I was the one getting shit screwed with Time-Meta's army last week. And lord, who doesn't know that you'd ditched us just so you could tie the knot and live in happy fucking la la land."

Then he promptly cut the line.

Rex stared at his phone dumbly for a long time after Noah's cold response, even after the end tone stopped beeping. Confused and terrified, Rex couldn't move, especially not since his best friend had confirmed the impossible had happened.

Time-Meta EVO had somehow changed the timeline.

To be continued…

Side note:

Thanks for review Yanne. =D

And sorry to others for the crazy twist and agony. I will make it up... the story gets better - I promise!