Author's Note:

Written for Bamboo

So, I actually assumed Holiday and Six must have liked Providence under White's command better. It made sense to me, considering what it was like before, but this fic hinges on them not agreeing to defect from Providence with him, like they did in canon. Here are the timelines:

Canon:

- Rex is thrown into the future and is declared missing.

- Six and Holiday search for Rex.

- Rex's absence is deemed a failure on White Knight's part. The Consortium demotes him and announces Black Knight as the new leader.

- Wk forms the Providence defect group and leaves with Six and Holiday.

This Fic's Timeline:

-Rex is thrown into the future and is pronounced missing.

-Six and Holiday search for Rex.

- Rex's absence is deemed a failure on White Knight's part. The Consortium demotes him and announces Black Knight as the new leader.

-Holiday and Six do not agree to join Wk's defect group and Wk takes the Meta Nanite as a last ditch effort to maintain control.

The color white had a pristine quality that made Providence Headquarters appear tidy, neat rooms disguising the state of disarray they were attempting to manage quietly. Black Knight knew the truth. The Consortium wouldn't have considered promoting her if there wasn't a mess left for her to clean up. That was who she was, a failsafe for the moment White Knight slipped. Losing one of the Consortium's assets officially landed him in their superiors' little black book. She couldn't say she was pleased, but couldn't deny the amusement she took from hearing that White had fallen short of their expectations.

Though the layout of the base was firmly cemented into her memory, she had never seen Providence's Nevada headquarters in person, only through maps and video feed. But the color of the building bothered her, bordering on blinding as she made her way through the hallways. The wretched scent of bleach and antibacterial soap lingered in the air, sickening her further. Immediately, she began making mental notes of the things she would change to better suit her tastes.

What separated Providence's station in Nevada from their other locations was that it was their main base of operations, but they were all designed similarly. Since she would be taking over, she was required to conduct an inspection of the way they normally operated. Her eyes surveyed the familiar, cold halls as she was guided around by Providence's captain, soon to be her own subordinate. Not that he was aware of that much yet. Captain Calan was only informed that her visit was a simple, standard inspection, not in preparation for the major changes that were going to happen.

"Show me to the Public Office." Black Knight instructed her guide. Calan stopped walking, surprised she knew that there was such a room. Impatience was a poor trait to have, but she was growing tired of being led around by the personification of a golden retriever. It was time to cut to the part where she could speak with White Knight, she wanted the satisfaction of tearing into him while he was already down.

"Right this way." Calan agreed warily, but obedient nevertheless. He walked swiftly, her own steps matching his strides with ease. The anticipation she did not allow to show was humming beneath her skin, pride pounding loudly in the accelerated beat of her heart. A smirk twitched its way onto her face, only growing when they reached the White Knight's broadcast monitor.

"You may leave now." Black Knight allowed coolly, finger hovering above the 'call' button.

"M'am, I mean no disrespect, but it's mighty easy to lose yourself around here." Calan hesitated, lingering behind despite her command. Her lips thinned in displeasure.

"I can find my way around just fine. You may leave." She repeated without another word to the captain. She contacted White Knight's office as the sound of Calan's retreating footsteps signaled he was leaving them to speak alone.

Not much time had passed since she'd last seen him in person. Three years. This could not even be considered a face-to-face visit, when White was locked behind magnetic, sterile walls. Those facts were rendered unimportant when the monitor flashed to life. The medium that served to facilitate their reunion made no more difference than if she'd been standing right in front of him. Somehow, seeing his face sapped away the smugness that had been fizzling in her veins.

"Come to gloat?" He sneered. Though he was masking it with irritation, his shoulders were slumped, his voice quieter than she remembered.

Yes, She thought. That was partly why she asked to be shown to the public office. This exchange wasn't necessary, it was because she wanted to. Or thought she did. Black Knight lost the words she'd been looking forward to saying.

"I have to hand it to you," She found her place once more, folding her arms across her chest. "You don't drop the ball often, but when you do, you fuck up in the worst way possible."

White's eyes narrowed. Good. This was still her victory lap, she wasn't going to let him forget that. Before she allowed him any ounce of compassion, she had to make sure he knew it was coming from a place of superiority. He inspired within her the same kind of pity that a lashed animal would.

"You seem to be handling the situation well, all things considered." She lied. Providence was beginning to fall apart. The global public knew it, impacted by the loss of their only cure for an apocalyptic epidemic. She knew it because the organization was being placed in her hands. From where she was standing, White was faring no better than Providence, if the exhausted bruises beneath his eyes were any indication. He was falling apart too.

There was no need to tell him what they were all aware of. She would let him keep the illusion that they were doing a fine job maintaining their image. Ungratefully, he scoffed at her, unaccepting of her praise.

"Yeah? Then what are you doing here?"

Black Knight dropped her attempt at playing nice. "Guess there's no reason to sugarcoat the news. It won't make it easier for you to hear. You're being dismissed from your position."

The lack of surprise on his face suggested that he had foreseen that the Consortium would remove him from his position the moment he failed to meet their expectations. She hadn't been surprised either. There would be no point to her if White were irreplaceable to them.

"They'll send the missive out to you in a few days." She continued, no longer looking to spare his feelings.

"Let me guess, they've got you lined up as my replacement?"

"I'm not allowed to disclose that. It's confidential information."

"Of course it is…" He drawled. "Still doesn't answer my question though. You just said that the Consortium's going to send me the details, so what are you doing here?"

"It's like you said," She answered, annoyed over the way he spoke to her. She wasn't obligated to explain herself to him. There was just one problem, her initial desire to gloat over White's recent string of failures had been killed. "I'm here to rub it in. I wanted to see the look on your face."

Oh, but the look on his face.

It was too pathetic.

This was unlike all of their childhood sparring matches, lacking the rush of exhilaration that she expected to flood through her system. She realized that somewhere along the years, she had grown tired of competing with him. It felt like she had lost something, the last link that held them together, the shared sense of rivalry. Now, he knew what it was like to be thrown aside, just like her. There was no triumph in getting an edge on White because earning the favor of their fickle superiors wasn't worth much, when their preferences could change at the drop of a hat. In the eyes of the Consortium, they were only game pieces to be used and broken.

But she had nobody else.

"That's it." She finished, turning away from him so that she wouldn't have to see. "Don't get too heartbroken now, it could have been worse. You're past due for retirement anyway."

Stepping out of White's public office, she returned to the barren hallway. Her eyes flickered around, searching to see if the captain had lingered after she had ordered him away, but the corridor was vacant. In the distance, she could hear the faraway marching of boots. Not all personnel had vacated the premises, but the only immediate source of life came from the open door behind her. Light from the glowing monitor spilled onto the glossy, unblemished surfaces of the walls. Black Knight let the door shut with a soft click, cutting off the steady stream of light.

She had an inspection to finish.

She continued her tour of the facility alone, unaccompanied by Calan this time. Rejecting his assistance hadn't been a show of pride, there were only a few rooms left to visit anyway. The most notable sections of Providence were its laboratories and the petting zoo, the self-contained ecosystem that had been around since the early days of the organization's formation.

The main unit connecting the individual laboratories together was a spacious room in the shape of a semicircle. It was a tower overlooking the petting zoo, with multiple levels and lofty ceilings. The entrances and exits of the tower were located on the first floor. The same level extended down a path to the front of the tower, where a series of glass window panes had been built to bring the sunlight in and put on display the lush vegetation of the petting zoo. She couldn't quite make out the Evos housed within the enclosure, the thick trees were hiding them from her sharp eyes.

A staircase descended down to the lower levels. It was the second floor that was used to store most of the laboratory equipment. Black Knight found that most of the heavy machinery was kept there, a CT scanner taking up space in the center of the room while computers were positioned to the right side of it. Clean glassware sat on polished countertops; Erlenmeyer flasks had been left out to dry, along with the beakers and test tubes, all still spotted with remnants of water. Flitting behind her eyes was the impulsive desire to hurl one of the gleaming containers against the sleek computer monitors and litter the ground in glass. She refrained from doing something so pointless just to satisfy a childish urge. Black Knight was simply growing annoyed with the flawless state of order that seemed to embody Providence.

Three months into Rex's disappearance, he failed to understand why Six and Holiday bothered looking anymore. It wasn't that White had a pessimistic outlook on the possibility of finding him, just the opposite really. He was sure he would turn up eventually. The kid had a knack for being impossible to stamp out. Whenever and wherever he surfaced again, it would be easy to pinpoint his location; all they needed to do was follow the source of the most noise. Rex was always at the center of trouble.

There were more pressing matters to be dealt with, the more immediate consequences that followed Rex's absence. The blame fell almost entirely on his shoulders, but the loss of titles and prestige were the least of his concerns. Public opinion wasn't worth a damn thing, and it wasn't as though his face was a popular one anyway. The real issue was the short list of his possible replacements.

"We're going to stop devoting our resources to search parties." White privately announced to Six, Holiday, and Calan after one of their routine briefings had concluded. "There's something more urgent we should be focused on."

His order was directed mainly at Calan, who had been heading the investigation from the start. Technically, he should have only involved the captain in the discussion, but he allowed Holiday and Six to remain, knowing that they were emotionally invested in finding Rex. Being upfront about the new direction they were going to take was also his way of dealing with the inevitable backlash sooner rather than later, since they'd been conducting separate search missions of their own.

"If that's what you think's best." Ever the diligent soldier, he nodded shortly in response to instruction. Calan was capable of putting duty before heart.

"What?" Holiday snapped. From behind his monitor, he could see that her shoulders were tightly tensed. Already on the defensive. It was a good thing that Providence didn't operate democratically or nothing would ever get done.

"What could be more important than finding Rex?" She asked, lips pressed together in disapproval.

"As you know, this organization's formation was only made possible through the contributions of other parties," White stated, folding his hands across his desk. "Some of them have more of a say in what happens to Providence than you might think. They don't just toss money our way, cover their eyes, and hope for the best. We ought to start planning for what they might do now that Rex is gone. Don't get the wrong idea into your head, it's not that I don't want to find him, or that I don't care, but we're also responsible for cleaning up the mess his disappearance has left us with."

"We're responsible?" She repeated flatly. "Don't you mean you are? It sounds like your benefactors are coming down on you pretty hard. What do you think they'll do exactly?"

"I'm in the process of being removed from my position as your leader." He answered bluntly, making Holiday lose her look of contempt. Though White was usually much better at masking his own emotions, he couldn't help the brief flash of surprise that flickered across his face at how easily she recognized the gravity of the situation.

"Have they chosen your replacement yet?" Six asked. Contrasting Doctor Holiday, there was no alarm in his stance. He didn't seem fazed by the idea of having a new leader.

"They haven't revealed their choice." He answered him bitterly, lip curled into half a snarl. It was a partial lie. He had a pretty good idea of who they were going to pick, but the Consortium was leaving him in the dark for the most part.

"That is a problem. Better the devil we know... The last thing we need is a new face overturning some of the better decisions and reforms you've made." Holiday agreed, smiling wryly. All the fight left her in a breath, her shoulders losing their rigid defensiveness.

Was she afraid that a new leader would steer Providence back toward their former policies concerning EVOs? Before they had their cure, obeying regulation was always easier for White than it had been for Holiday. All he had ever been responsible for was hunting down those who had been mutated by nanites. After he handed them over, his hands were forever wiped clean of them. Out of sight, out of mind. She, however, was more intimately aware of what happened to all of those captive EVOs. Now that Rex was gone, there was no reason why things couldn't return to the way they were before; and, because White had nominated her for her position as chief research officer, it was also possible that her seat would be up for election once they removed him.

"I just think that's all the more reason to keep our attention on getting Rex back home." She circled back around to her initial talking point, making White grit his teeth.

"Did you not hear a word I just said?"

"If their main problem is that we lost their cure, then finding him should satisfy your board of directors."

He was losing his patience with her. "Yeah. That would be all well and good if everything always went according to plan. The fact is, we don't know how long that's going to take. Months? Years? You and Six are too emotionally invested in-"

"Do not." Holiday cut him off, leveling a warning glare at him. "Do not say I'm being too emotional while painting yourself as the only sensible one in this picture. Especially not when you have a history of jumping the gun. Your response has always been immediate action. Need I remind you of how we lost Rex in the first place?"

Before he could say anything, Six quietly interjected, favoring her side. "Even if we were looking at our current circumstances and placing our feelings first, would it be so wrong? Being pragmatic is fine, but it isn't everything. Providence, as an organization, has a track record of removing important human virtues from their methods."

White went still, but he could feel his ears and face burning, heart constricting painfully in his chest. He knew that people tended to believe he was sentimentally detached, he just never thought that Six believed it too. Suddenly the discussion became more than just about Rex. "Is that what you really think? That I've lost my humanity?"

Six shrugged. "I never said that, but if you're proposing we set aside our sentiments, then I'm not following you. You and I have had first-hand exposure to the tactics Providence resorted to when there was no cure available. That version of Providence is one I never intend to return to, with or without you acting as its leader."

How... infuriating. His words sounded very much like an accusation, and how dare he. How dare Six, his former friend, treat him as though he were incapable of acknowledging his past mistakes. Mistakes that landed him in a sterile prison, isolated from the outside world. He paid for his mistakes and considered himself a fair leader, certainly not the kind of leader who would make biased decisions.

"If you waited about a minute longer and listened to what I had to say," He retorted, giving one measured exhale in an effort to expel the hurt,"you would have known that I was never going to suggest taking Providence back to the Good Old Days, partner. I was going to propose we begin backing out of the organization completely. It's about time we formed a coalition of our own. There are too many other hands who've got Providence in a chokehold."

"With all due respect sir…" Calan looked hesitant. He didn't say it directly, but the lack of faith was there, present in his tone. "You're sure talkin' big game, but we rely an awful lot on those hands you're looking to go biting. We'll lose all our men. All our firepower. "

"And our means of finding Rex." Holiday finished, taking a step backward. She turned around and began making her way toward the door, without sparing another glance at him. "You already know my vote. I refuse to give up on that boy. Not after everything he's gone through for us."

Six watched her walk away, then returned his gaze back to the monitor. "They're right. Providence lost its biggest asset when Rex went missing, but it has yet to lose everything. We, on the other hand, will be left with nothing if we pull away, and Providence will go unchecked with its remaining power. Not ideal when we don't know whether or not the new leader will be trustworthy. The best thing we can do for now is remain here to monitor the situation."

There was something else he was holding back. Something else White could tell he wasn't saying,

"Is that it?" He demanded impatiently, urging Six on. "What else do you have to say?"

"Retirement doesn't mean the end of you, just your rank. It might do you some good to step back for a while. Take up a hobby."

"I hear yoga's getting popular." Calan chimed in, attempting to be helpful.

It was White who cut the transmission, his monitor fading to black on his displeased face. And while he may have been the one to shut them off first, they had shut him down in the way that mattered. He was without a friend or ally after all the work he'd done for the organization.

His fingers dug themselves into the surface of his desk.

Even the threat of an outsider taking his place was not enough to rally support. Why would it have been? He shouldn't have been surprised, seeing as how he wasn't well liked; in fact, he was so unliked that they were all content to welcome the coming Consortium threat. He was going to have to stand aside to watch the Consortium strip Providence back down to what it once was. His co-workers were willing to risk losing all they had accomplished together for the sake of trying to recapture lightning in a bottle. It was just insanity.

And he was all alone.

The bleak thought kept churning in his head all through the dead of night, while White was reviewing the base's security footage. He rarely ever slept through an entire night, usually because of his work, but there wasn't much that could be accomplished when his days were numbered. Insomnia never cared whether or not he kept busy, he couldn't close his eyes just the same. The video feed was mind numbing noise for the restless, his sleep-deprived gaze swept the digital halls of the headquarters he could never walk.

Without the constant march of soldiers moving up and down the corridors, the building was lifeless. It was the stillness that made it impossible to ignore his own thoughts.

This was going to be the end of him.

The flash of a message alert brightened up his screen. It had been dimming from inactivity. White stiffened, eyes flickering down to the small text box that could not have possibly been a breach in security. Providence had an incredibly secure network, which meant that the message could have only been sent internally.

It was the notice.

[Providence

January 2, 2012

12:00 am

Memo: Dismissal

Adam,

This letter confirms your dismissal from your role as chief executive at Providence for poor performance, effective immediately. You are to continue following proper safety procedures to ensure you remain uncontaminated. No further action from you is needed.

Regards,

The Consortium ]

White's fingers twitched, hesitating over the keyboard, halted by the uncertainty of whether or not he should reply to the message. He'd never failed to respond to any of their memos. No further action from you is needed, they had written. All sense of direction left him, the contents of a single message had robbed him of his aim and purpose. His jaw tightened and he pushed his chair backward.

Their final order was the command that struck him the funniest. His mouth twitched. Although they had labeled him a failure, they were still preoccupied with keeping him nanite free, trying to squeeze out of him the last bit of use they could. Of course. They couldn't completely decommission their poster boy for Providence. It was never what he had done for the organization that mattered. He was still only an object to them. He sat still, like discarded garbage in a room that would soon be forgotten once Black Knight took his place.

White could only stare at the softly glowing screen that seemed to promise the end. For the longest time, his identity had been tied to being the only man on Earth without nanites. The irony was that, even though he was the only person left purely human, he was still a monster in the eyes of those who served under him. Six practically said as much to his face.

So did it really make a difference if he was infected or not?

Standing from his desk, he approached the floor panel that hid the Meta-Nanite behind it. White pressed his palm to the board, activating the mechanism that opened the secret compartment.

Rising from the ground was a metallic box containing the means to part him from his humanity. Without further hesitation, White took the injector from its box and plunged it into his arm. Blood dripped from the puncture site, sealing his fate as it stained the white floor.

After everything he'd given up for Providence, this was almost laughably easy. As easy as a poke to the forearm. He could finally live up to their expectations.