Happy 4th of July!

I do not own.

"Nice perro, good perro." Rex said nervously as the EVO dog inched closer. "I was just leaving…" The dog sprang up. Rex formed his Smack Hands just in time to block the sharp teeth from tearing into his face. "Ow, ow, ow." Rex tried to shake the tenacious animal off of his metal fists. When it refused, Rex let his build fall apart. The EVO dog snarled before attacking again. His Punk Buster sent it flying across the room, narrowly missing some of the tubes. Rex desperately tried to figure out how he could leave the now sealed room. In his fight he had lost track of where he had entered.

"Kid! Kid! Do your touchy thingy here." Al tried to point Rex to the control panel. Rex ran to the wrong wall and frantically felt around the walls. "No! No! Over here!" Al waved.

Although Rex didn't notice, the EVO dog did. It growled at Al. But when it tried to jump on him, it passed through him harmlessly. It gave Al an idea.

"Hey Cujo! Over here. Come and get me, you ugly, stinking mutt!" He taunted the enraged EVO. The creature leapt at him. Al made sure he was positioned in the right spot.

The EVO crashed into the wall causing part of the wall to crack and break exposing the control panel to the door. Rex ran to the wall, side-stepping the fallen beast and placed his hand on the panel. The door slid opened and Rex got out. Placing his hand on the other side, he shut the door.

"Phew! That was close." He sighed.

"What's going on?" A flashlight shone in his face.

Rex's knee jerk reaction was to create his Funchucks. The bright light blinded the guard so that Rex could knock the flashlight from his hands. Then he kicked him out of the room. The guard hit the wall and slid down unmoving. Rex yanked his hood back up, disappearing. He scooted out into the hall and quickly ran back to the jet. Al casually walked out of the room. Looking down at the unconscious guard, he straightened his jacket and walked calmly down the hall that Rex had just jetted through. "I see why they don't tell him things." Al mussed. "Not very subtle."

0o0

"What the hell did you think you were doing back there?" Six's unmitigated anger was making it hard for Sam to keep in character. Sam stayed tight-lipped as he followed the guard back to the plane. Six meanwhile was "yelling" all sorts of obscenities at him as they walked what seemed like forever down the hall.

"Your jet is there, you must leave the premises immediately." The guard told him curtly before leaving.

Sam got into the plane with Six still threatening him. As soon as the hatched closed Sam unloaded on him.

"Look! Shut up and listen for once!" Sam bellowed uncharacteristically. Six gritted his teeth and glared at him. "You keep saying you care about this woman, yet you don't do anything to show it! You need to give her a reason to come back with you!"

"You didn't have to kiss her!" Six argued.

"Yes! I do! Because you'd never would have!" Sam snapped.

Six was taken aback.

"It's obvious that she cares about you although for the life of me I can't see why!" Sam huffed. "You're stubborn, closed off, and highly irascible. I'm failing to see any redeeming qualities whatsoever! If you love her, show her. Show her what she means to you. Stop hiding behind superficial excuses, replace that stick up your butt with a backbone, and tell her!"

Six stared daggers at him. Sam matched his glare with his own.

"Six, Six!" Rex burst into the cockpit. The two men backed off as Rex shoved a rod in Sam's face. "I got the information."

"Alpha niner, please vacate the area." A stern voice reminded them.

"Come on, let's get back to Providence and check this out." Sam said as he got into the flight seat.

0o0

"What's the word, bro?" Rex asked. He sat perched on the ledge of a console swinging his legs. Sam stood with his arms crossed. Six was off to the side. He had not said a word since his argument with Sam.

"Fascinating, mijo. And you said Dr. Holiday found this information?" Caesar's eyes were glued to the screen.

"Uh, yes?" Rex looked nervously at Sam.

"So what exactly is going on there?" Sam asked.

"They are experimenting with EVO's memories." Caesar replied.

"We already know that." Sam snapped. "Tell us something we don't know." He was starting to sound like Six.

"Instead of restoring the EVO's past memories, they are trying to alter them, plant false ones." Caesar was not fazed by his tone.

"Why?" Rex frowned. "What would that do?"

Caesar swung his chair around to face them. "Think about it. If I can change your memory so that you remember... say... I am your master, what do you think I can get you to do?"

"You mean control EVOs?" Rex gaped.

"It's similar to Dr. Moses idea of weaponizing EVOs." Caesar swung his chair back to the screen. He typed something into the keyboard. "Here's one subject that they were working on."

Sam and Rex watched the video. A large hulking EVO was released into a room. Drones were released into the room as well. The EVO apprehensively backed away from them. Then it looked like a jolt passed through its body. Its demeanor changed. It let out a howl before pouncing on the drones viciously tearing them apart. Caesar paused the video.

"That's not good." Sam muttered.

"So what's stopping them from unleashing an army of EVOs now?" Rex asked.

"Well this." Caesar continued the video. The creature panting at the end of its rampage suddenly collapsed. "The creature goes into a catatonic state. The brain is irrevocably damaged."

Sam cursed under his breath. "And Dr. Holiday is in the midst of these madmen? If we forced her to leave it will alert them to the fact that we know. They'll just move elsewhere. We need to shut them down permanently."

Al stepped into the room. "Sam, bad news. Ziggy says that Holiday gets killed tonight."

Six straightened up in alarm. "What? But I thought we had 5 days?"

"Sometimes when we muck around in the past we change things… not necessarily for the best." Al explained.

"She needs to get out of there now! I don't care how. Carry her out if you have to." Six ordered.

"That's not going to work. What happened, Al?" Sam asked.

"Uh Six, what's not going to work? Who's Al?" Rex looked at him funny.

"Just talking to myself." Sam looked at Al, ignoring Rex.

"Ziggy says, that Holiday is found unconscious in her lab and is later pronounced dead at the hospital. The cause is ruled accidental gas poisoning." Al read on his screen.

"Accidental my foot!" Six growled. "Sam, we have to go now!"

Sam paced the room. "We need to approach this carefully. We don't want to make the situation worse."

"Right." Rex agreed, relieved that Sam was making sense now. "So we bust in there and kick some butts…"

"No Rex, that's not approaching carefully." Sam tapped his chin. "But if we can get in there and wipe out everything, we can stop their operations cold… and save Holiday."

"Great! I'll get another Stealth suit." Rex hopped off the console.

"Make it two, Rex." Sam said seriously. "And you're going to have to show me how to use it."

"Sure thing." Rex ran off.

"You're different." Caesar commented.

Startled Sam looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, after the unfortunate … accident you've been impetuous and reckless. But you've seemed to be more in control… pensive now." Caesar said.

"Uh…" Sam wasn't sure where he was going.

"I'm sure Dr. Holiday would be happy to see that." Caesar turned back to his computer.

Both Sam and Six exchanged glances. "Thanks?" Sam said uncertainly. Caesar did not respond. Sam and Six waited but when it was clear that he was now absorbed by his work, they left.

"That's a strange one." Al said as they left the lab.

"The pot calling the kettle black." Six muttered.

"Okay, fellas, enough." Sam stopped them. "We need to go."

"Yeah, we do." Rex popped up thinking he was talking to him. "Here's your Stealth Suit."

Sam pulled it on. "Okay, so how does this work?"

Rex showed him. "It's real easy."

When Sam got the hang of it, they marched to the hangar. Once there, they entered Six's personal jet. They had just gotten into the air when, an unwelcome face showed up on the screen.

"Where do you think you're going?" White Knight growled. He did not look amused.

"Don't sweat it, White. We're going to help Holiday." Rex jumped in.

"You are going to jeopardize Holiday's mission." He scowled from his screen. "Turn around immediately."

"Fell is involved." Sam interrupted.

White's demeanor changed. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. Holiday's in danger." Sam said.

"She can take care of herself." White said. "If it is Fell, you'll only spook him and we'll lose him."

"He's already spooked. If we wait, he'll get away and Holiday will die." Sam stated bluntly.

"You're hyperbolizing." White shook his head. "If you're not back here in…" Suddenly, the image blanked out.

"Huh, would you look at that… some electromagnetic interference cut you off. Wherever did that come from?" Al asked innocently.

"Thanks, Al." Sam said gratefully.

"Who's Al?" Rex asked.

"My conscience." Sam replied.

"Really, you named your conscience?" Rex wrinkled his nose.

"Part of my therapy." Sam lied.

"O-kay." Rex said uncertainly.

"You know, you're ruining my reputation." Six snorted.

"That's the least of your worries." Al noted. "According to Ziggy, you disappear at the same time as Holiday's death and you are never seen again."

At the mention of Holiday, Six's face hardened. "We have to make sure she's all right."

"Okay, we're landing at a nearby airport." Sam said signaling to the air traffic control.

Twenty minutes later, they stood across the street from the facilities. "Okay, everyone know what they're supposed to do?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to get Doc out and you're going to find out where Fell is." Rex repeated.

Sam nodded. "Good let's go."

They pulled on their hoods and disappeared. The sun was starting to dip below the horizon. Employees were leaving for the day. It was easy for Sam and Rex to get in without detection. When they were inside they split up. This time Al accompanied Sam and Six went with Rex.

0o0

Holiday rubbed her tired eyes. After Six told her about Fell she reread all the data in a different light. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen his proverbial fingerprints earlier. He was her boss for the longest time… longest, painful time. She hated his methods and his callous attitude towards EVOs. The more she researched the more she realized that Gregor must be apart of it as well. No wonder Six was concerned for her. She was starting to get nervous herself but she was confident that he wouldn't do anything so overt. Checking her watch, she realized that it was getting late. Gathering her things, she got ready to leave. Shutting the light to her office, she stepped outside. As she passed by a lab, she heard a crash as if someone had knocked over something.

"Everything all right?" She asked opening the door. When she looked in, there was no one there. However, on the floor lay shattered glass and broken equipment.

Frowning she walked in to see what happened. As she entered, a hand holding a sickly sweet towel clamped over her mouth. She tried to scream but her head started swimming within seconds. The next thing she knew she fell to the floor. Just before she lost consciousness, she saw Dr. Gregor's face looking passively at her.

"Oh boy." She mumbled before darkness claimed her.

Almost done guys. Thanks for reading and reviewing.