Holiday was well aware that Six was not the type that willingly would kiss someone, no matter how much in love he could be. After they made love, she decided it was the best to wait for him to make the next move rather than becoming one of those overly clingy "girlfriends", assuming they were officially dating.

Interestingly, she never asked before engaging in physical intimacy. Perhaps they were going about the things in the wrong way, but she wasn't even that sure.

The atmosphere was consistently awkward whenever Rex or Bobo were present. She thought that day would never come, but she ended having an interesting conversation with Bobo and Six about their failed attempt to catch the masked gang members. It seemed as though the gang was aware of their plans beforehand, trying to test how far they were willing to go for her and their dedication to keeping her safe. Six was concerned that their mission may have given up the impression that she was not truly absent, as they had previously claimed. With both parties actively searching, it would be impossible to her for completely disappear from Earth just like that. It didn't make much sense at all.

However, White wasn't as worried as Six and she could tell from his body language that it was weighing heavily on him. She could sense that their relationship had become more personal since they had become sexually involved. In a way, she was afraid of becoming even more of a burden for him now that there were feelings involved.

She was still busy trying to reorganize the binary code, now that Six was back and could provide her with more information to rearrange the numbers in a way that made sense. The man was simply looking over her shoulder on the couch as she frowned, reading it aloud a couple of times to see if it could trigger any ideas for either of them.

"Machina in which Nanites become one unit." She frowned, giving up and leaning her head back on the couch, causing her eyes to land on his sunglasses. "That's not even possible. Creating just one combined Nanite could cause chaos in the subject. If they need each other to function properly, it could result in a violent and painful death for the subject."

"Perhaps they don't want to replicate an EVO like Rex, but instead cause a massive wave of deaths. If they were capable of such a thing, it could trigger a reaction in the even inactive Nanites, causing them to collide and become a huge time bomb."

It made more sense than wanting to create a super EVO. Perhaps their investigation was going down the wrong path. If her theory was correct and there could be another EVO as powerful as Rex, why haven't they met him or her already? Yes, there was Van Kleiss, but she never saw any experiment as unique as Rex.

They would surely find it out soon enough. But if their idea was to create an individual Nanite, they could even use it on Rex and cause his death. The same for Bobo or any other target they had in mind.

"My investigation never mentioned combining Nanites into one. How did they come to that conclusion?" Six adjusted his glasses and walked around to sit on the couch, holding his chin with one hand as he pondered the matter deeply.

"Perhaps they don't simply know that combining all the Nanites could cause a violent instability. That's why they need you. They might be interested in Rex's Nanites and your investigation about their use in ancient civilizations. They might think it's a good idea to create a super EVO, but only we know it would end in a disaster."

Sighing, Rebecca looked down at her hands, afraid they would start shaking again. How was Rex going to join their missions if their plan was to literally cause his death on the spot?

"I at least expected to see their faces," Six said bitterly, standing up to grab a beer from her mini fridge and then sitting back. "But it was as if they were mocking us. I couldn't even get as close to them as they did to us. Now I have bruises, as if they're taunting me to take a step further."

She stretched herself, to hide the fact that her hands were getting numb. Rebecca decided to move so her legs were comfortably positioned on the couch, hugging a pillow and biting her lower lip, in an attempt to not overthink.

"Six..." She started, unsure of how to say it without angering him further up.

"Yes?" He asked, turning to look at her while taking a sip from his canned beer.

"Are we officially now together?" He gulped, making her regret bringing the topic up at all.

"Holiday..."

"We made love before even discussing our relationship status. Now, I wonder if it only adds more stress for you. Does it make things worse? Even for Rex... wouldn't it be dangerous for him, now that we know this?"

No... she couldn't be backing out right now. He could handle it, he would if he needed to...

No.

Standing up and leaving his beer on the dinner table, she thought that he would simply leave as he used to do whenever the conversation got awkward or reached a point he didn't like. Holiday felt her eyes welling up with tears at the thought of him leaving. She wouldn't be able to handle being confined anymore if he did.

But he simply sat back, a few inches closer as if trying to resist the urge to sit next to her.

"Holiday, why do you think I would start a relationship with you if it were a burden for me?"

Were they in a relationship then? Six's eyebrows shot up as he realized what he had just said and quickly looked away, perhaps cursing himself that he couldn't express his feelings as well as others. Maybe even wondering if he was honestly unlovable because he couldn't connect emotionally with anyone.

"Oh, Six," she sighed heavily but he could see from the corner of his eye that tears were now running down her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable, but I don't know if I'm just cornering you and forcing you to..."

Many of Rex's thoughts were screaming in his head about how to properly treat a woman as if he knew anything about it at his age. However, he decided to take one of these many advices that he thought it was worth listening to. Six then moved gently, taking the pillow from her arms as she didn't even know what he was attempting to do, to place it over his legs, taking her hand in one of his and gesturing for her to lie her head on the pillow over his legs.

"I'm just as frustrated as you are." One of his arms rested over the back of the couch, while his other hand laid gently on her head. "And even though White believes that we didn't leak anything important, regardless of your location, all I could think is that following them only confirms that we aren't as clueless as we appear to be."

There was a long silence as Six considered the possibility that Rebecca had fallen asleep or something similar. However, he felt her move after a while, causing him to remove his hand as she now lay facing upwards.

"I have my own methods of finding clues. I didn't think it was necessary to pressure White into action, but I can't continue to wait for them to get any closer." For Holiday, it seemed as though Six held a grudge against White for not taking his concerns seriously. However, Six's feelings and White's feelings were completely different. White wouldn't even understand that he was falling in love with Rebecca, just as Six couldn't understand how it had happened either.

"What are your plans?" Holiday appeared concerned, but Six brushed it off with his free hand.

"I know hackers. If they can corrupt our network, then we also can respond in the same way." Rebecca pushed herself up, keeping her hands on the pillow on his legs as she looked at him, still worried about how far he was willing to go because of her. She couldn't tell if he was looking at her or not, but she suspected he wasn't and was coming up with a new plan in his mind.

"But if we do that, won't it reveal that I'm not AWOL?"

"That will depend on how they interpret it. They could see it as a response from Providence to our already compromised network, or as I suspect, they will continue to think we're hiding something. But could still provide some answers."

Releasing a deep breath that he didn't realize he was holding, the woman knew that he was determined to find his own methods to help her break free from her prison. That was her fear - that they would all end up sacrificing themselves because of her. She wasn't accustomed to it, being as independent as she was.

Love was a new feeling for her, just as it was for Six.

"Six," Holiday's voice sounded serious. There were no more tears on her face, only a pair of shining emerald-colored eyes looking at him, closer than he had thought before.

"I'm doing this by myself. I don't need White's help." He didn't let her continue, knowing that nothing she could say would change his already well-thought-out plan. She held his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her and be quiet.

"Let me help too." Holiday told him as Six's eyebrows furrowed, silently asking how could she help him while being confined.

"I won't put you in danger, if that's what you're suggesting."

"Bring whatever you find to me. If there's something scientific that needs to be cracked, I will do it for you. Even if we have to keep it as a secret from White," she said, determined to share their responsibilities as a couple.

It was a shame he didn't know another scientist he could trust completely, without worrying about them taking advantage of her research for personal gain, continuing with her investigation and provoking the end of the planet or selling it for a bunch of money.

"As long as it doesn't compromise your safety," he replied with a grunt, which seemed to make her happy. She smiled at him but didn't move, causing him to wonder if it was too soon for another kiss. He had no idea how a proper relationship should progress, since they had already passed the stage of having sex. Despite Rex's voice echoing in his head, he refused to listen and decided to make his own decisions.

Rebecca laughed, feeling as though she could see the gears turning in his head as he tried to figure out if another display of affection was too soon. And perhaps it was, so she simply decided to lay against his chest, nuzzling his neck with her nose, and closing her eyes as he moved his head to rest on hers.

His mind could only think: What have you done to me, woman?

And a multitude of voices from within him responded: What have you done to yourself?

"Holiday, are you hungry?" Six didn't want to interrupt the moment, but he needed to make sure she was eating and resting properly.

"Actually, I was wondering if there was a way for me to train. I spend most of my time confined here and my body feels weak. I need to tone my muscles or I'll just end up gaining weight." He could almost feel her smile against his neck and thought that maybe, since the underground facility was large and filled with boxes, they could create an improvised gym.

"You'll also need to get some sun. It may not be good for your skin, but we can't replicate the natural benefits of the sun with a machine."

"Unfortunately, that's true. It would just be artificial light."

Taking a deep breath, Six thought the faster that he informed his contacts, the better. It didn't matter how, but he would put a stop to her confinement.