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"Sam, Sam!" Sam heard his name through the haze of his mind. "Sam, wake up!"

Sam opened his eyes slowly. Al's face came into focus. "Al," His voice cracked from lack of use. "Al, I just had the strangest dream. I was a mercenary helping this teenager that can make machines from his…" Sam stopped when Al began making frantic signs for him to stop.

"Six? You okay? Who's Al?" Rex's face superimposed over Al.

"Rex, what happened?" Sam tried to sit up.

"You took a nasty hit from the tail of the Gila Fang." As Rex talked, Sam remembered it. He also remembered the pain especially when it shot through his chest when he tried to move. He gave up and lay back down.

"What happened after that?" Sam wheezed.

"Oh, we got you back quick. Holiday was livid." Rex winced at the memory. "But she immediately started patching you up. She wouldn't let anyone else touch you."

"Where is Dr. Holiday?" Sam asked.

Rex went silent.

"Rex?" Sam didn't like what he was not hearing.

"Sam, you've been unconscious for several days. In that time, Holiday left." Al interjected from behind Rex.

"What! She's gone?" Sam tried to sit up again but immediately regretted it.

"I didn't say anything!" Rex said in a panic. "Doc, was adamant that I didn't tell you."

"Rex, relax." Sam croaked. "I… I need some rest. Can you give me some time?"

"Oh yeah, sure. I'll uh I'll just go clean my nails… or something." Rex backed up relieved to have an excuse not to explain more.

As soon as Rex left, Sam turned to Al.

"Al, what happened? Where's Six? How long have I been out?" Sam hissed.

"Whoa, whoa, hold your horses, Sam." Al tried to calm him. "First you've been out for about three days. The doctor left yesterday. So according to Ziggy… you have five days to stop the doctor's death."

"What about Six?" Sam asked closing his eyes.

"He went with the doctor to keep an eye on her. Personally, I think it's so he can watch her in private… if you know what I mean." Al lowered his voice even though no one but Sam can hear him.

Sam waved his hand to say he didn't care what Al thought the motives were. "It's not a bad idea to keep watch over her. We can establish suspects and figure out who she is interacting with."

"Well, I can do that with Ziggy." Al punched in a few keys. The machine whirled and burbled before Al started talking. "Let's see. She's working with some serious eggheads. Geeze, how can any of these guys be dangerous? The youngest one there is like 72."

"Al, focus." Sam hissed. "We already know age doesn't matter. Go see if Six has found anything useful."

"Okay, okay, don't get you knickers in a knot." Al said. "I'll go see if he found anything." With that, Al disappeared.

Sam closed his eyes and leaned back into his pillow.

"Hey Green Bean, what's up?"

Sam opened his eyes to see a one-eye chimpanzee dressed in a blue jacket wearing a red fez.

"Great, now I'm hallucinating." Sam muttered.

"The kid tells me you got walloped good. Never thought I'd see an EVO get the best of you." The Chimp continued talking.

"I was having a bad day." Sam couldn't believe he was talking to his hallucination.

"I'll say. You got the doctor so worried, she quit to go work in the hospital." Sam felt the side of his mattress sag as the chimp sat next to him. He opened his eyes.

"She left because of me?"

"Well, sort of… there's been rumors that something shady's going on at the research hospital. I think she went to kill two birds with one stone." The chimp scratched under his arm.

"What's shady?" Sam asked.

"You know… oh wait, I forgot, you probably don't remember." The chimp rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, they were working on trying to restore memories of people turned EVO so they wouldn't be so rampage-y. But apparently several test subjects disappeared without a trace."

"She's gone undercover to find out what happened to the test subjects?" Sam had a sinking feeling. "Wait, does she have back up?"

"Well, it was going to be you, but I guess the boss man assigned someone else to watch her." The chimp shrugged.

"Okay, thanks, I needed that piece of information…" Sam hesitated.

"It's Bobo. You really got your brain knocked about, didn't you?" Bobo stared at him.

"Uh, does Rex know about this?" Sam asked changing subjects.

"The kid knows bits and pieces, but you guys kept him mostly in the dark. You know, it being dangerous and all. And Rex isn't good about…keeping things on the down low." Bobo replied.

"Bobo, can you do me a favor and get Rex?" Sam said seriously.

"What's in it for Bobo?" He narrowed his one good eye.

"Uh…" Sam searched for any clue as to what would entice a talking monkey to do as he asked. "I'll give you a banana?"

Bobo guffawed. "And here I thought you were just playing up your memory loss. Still haven't lost your sense of humor." He wheezed. "But I guess it's better than threatening to gut me."

Sam mentally kicked himself. He should have known that Six was the type to threaten physical harm. "Do I need to get my swords?" He growled.

"Geesh, I'm going. Your crabbiness is back too." Bobo jumped off the bed.

Sam hoped he's not too late.

0o0

Six watched as Rebecca talked to the doctors about the neurology of EVOs. Even though he didn't understand half of what she said, he felt a deep pride when the audience clapped enthusiastically when she finished.

As they disbanded, one man approached her. "I knew we should have tried to get you sooner from Providence. It would have saved us months of guess work."

Holiday's smile waned. "Well I wasn't available until recently." She said in a thin voice.

"Bah, everyone has a price. We should have met it sooner." He continued crassly.

"I highly doubtful that." Holiday said before excusing herself. She briskly walked out. Six gave the doctor a death glare before chasing after Rebecca.

He slowed down his pace once he caught up to her. People passed through him unaware of his presence. He was getting use to the odd feeling of going through solid objects.

Holiday walked quickly through the hallways to her office. Once inside she kicked her desk angrily. Six heard her mutter curses under her breath before tiredly slumping into her chair. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

Six would have given anything right then to be able to comfort her. For the last few days while his commandeered body was recovering from the EVO attack, he learned that Holiday had taken a job at the research hospital. Al's predictions were coming closer to reality. They only had a few days before Holiday winds up dead by his hands.

But from what he could see there wasn't anyone around that hated her enough to get rid of her. A thought had briefly passed through his mind that perhaps an old enemy was after him but the whole scheme was too convoluted for any of his foes to try.

So he watched for any signs of jealousy among her new co-workers.

So far all he saw was a lot of preening and political jockeying, things that he knew she hated.

"Why are you here?" He asked out loud even though he knew she couldn't hear him. "Is it because of me? We'll, I'm not worth it. Go back to Rex and the work you love."

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Holiday said wearily.

A dapper older gentleman in a lab coat walked in and walked right through Six.

"Dr. Holiday, I hope we aren't over working you already." His jovial tone suggested he was kidding.

Holiday slapped on a fake smile. "Not at all, Dr. Gregor. I'm fascinated by how much you've discovered about amnesiatic patients and nanites. It could open new treatment options for thousands of people."

"Yes and now that we have Providence's foremost scientist we should be well on our way." He agreed. "Well, if there's anything you need don't hesitate to ask."

"There is something." Holiday stopped him before he left. "I was looking through some of your data and it seems that there is some missing." She pulled out a file and showed him.

"Hmm, it must be an oversight. I'll go have a talk with the team." He said smoothly.

"Well, I would like to talk to this Dr. Feroz. It seems that most of his research is missing." She said.

"He is no longer with us." Six detected a slight shift in tone. "I will ask to see if anyone knows what happened to his work."

The man took the file and walked out. Six saw her eyes narrow. Six immediately followed Dr. Gregor to his office. The door slid closed in his face. It took Sixa secondto remember he could pass through doors. Popping his head in, he saw the doctor take out his phone. After dialing a number, he started talking after a click. "She knows something is up. Stall her? How? Fine, but after this I wash my hands of you." He hung up angrily.

Six glared at him. "If you hurt her you're going to answer to me."

The doctor didn't hear him as he sat down in his chair as if nothing happened.

Suddenly Al appeared. "There you are. I thought you were going to keep an eye on the hot doctor."

"I am. And watch your language. There's something suspicious about him." Six stuck his thumb at the man at the desk.

Al looked incredulously at the man at the desk. "Well other than the ugly tie he looks fine to me… and what's wrong with hot. She is hot."

Six glared at him. "She's not some bimbo…. He was just talking to someone who told him to stall her.

Al frowned. "Hmm, it certainly sounds suspicious. Let me run him through Ziggy. And being hot doesn't mean you're a bimbo." He punched a few keys into Ziggy. The computer bleeped and burbled. Al looked at his screen. "Ziggy says Dr. Gregor is a highly respected professor involved in the study of the neurological damages suffered by EVOs." Al stared at the screen. "It also says that in two years he wins the Nobel Prize in Science for discovering a treatment to restore memories to humans who've turned EVO."

"Humph, he doesn't look like he can discover the on switch on the computer." Six growled.

"That's a matter of opinion." Al pointed out.

"Get Sam here!" Six demanded.

"He's still recovering." Al said.

"He can recover as he tracks down who he's been talking to." Six said.

Al sighed. "I'll go see if he's up to it." With a push of a few buttons, Al disappeared.

Six turned his gaze back on the doctor. "I'm watching you." He said menacingly. The doctor gave an involuntary shudder. He looked around nervously before returning to the file he had taken from Holiday.

0o0

"Hey Sam, the green mercenary wants you to…" Al looked at the bed expecting to see Sam. He was surprised to find it occupied by a curiously dressed monkey. "Where's Sam?"

"You mean, Six?" A talking chimp asked looked up. "Woah, who are you and where did you come from?"

"Uh, I'm a figment of your imagination." Al wasn't sure what was going on but as he figured this must be some animal EVO that can see him.

"Figures, I shouldn't have had that last burrito… or shot of tequila." Bobo muttered, lying down.

"Yeah, so if you'll just tell me where Sam… I mean Six went, I'll be on my way." Al said pushing his luck.

"Oh, he and the kid decided to go visit Holiday at her new job." Bobo answered as he pushed the red fez over his eye.

"So they are on their way to the research hospital?" Al questioned.

"Boy, for being my figment you certainly are stupid." Bobo glared at him.

"Okay, okay, geesh. Everyone here is so testy." Al disappeared with a push of a button.

Bobo sat up in shock. "I really need to lay off those late night snacks." He muttered as he slowly lay down.

0o0

Meanwhile, Six was trying to see the file Dr. Gregor had taken from Holiday. He was furiously taking notes and Six was trying to make out what was being written. The doctor's handwriting was sloppy and he had a hard time with the technical terms. But it looked like he was filling in the information that was in the files. Gregor went to open his drawer. Six happened to glance down as the drawer passed through him. Inside was a picture frame with what looked like a graduation photo of several doctors. One was Gregor and another he vaguely recognized from old employee photos. It was Dr. Fell, the disgraced scientist whose job Holiday had taken over at Providence.

"Oh, boy." Six uttered.

Sorry guys. I've been sick for the whole month. I lost my voice; got a sinus infection; develop a hacking cough that won't go away… etc. Needless to say I have not been motivated to write. I'm a little better now. I will try to finish this story soon. Thanks for sticking with me.