Author's Note: This is an entry for the Subtle Holix contest on Providence Playground. Also my first fanfic!

Six leaned back in his chair, a ghost of a sigh slipping through his lips. The nightmares had started again—just as they always did when he had to kill an EVO. Normally though, he could wait them out in his room while pacing around or practicing his battle stances. But this time…he kept seeing those darn eyes everywhere! Every time he turned his head, they were waiting for him—so finally he had snatched his suit and shades, and made his way to the balcony, his alarm clock beeping a sleepy 3:30 am at his back. The wide open view outside Providence seemed to be helping…there were no black pools for those—

There was a pair of eyes staring at him from the mountain in the distance.

Six nearly growled, but contented himself instead with rubbing his own eyes vigorously under his shades. Maybe if he closed his eyes for a while, he could have a quick catnap with no time for dreams…hopefully…

"Rex!" I slammed into him, knocking him away before the enormous tail crushed him.

"Wait, what? Another one? Díos mío, we just finished one on the last block…" Rex grumbled, shaking the dust out of his hair.

A velvet voice floated into my ear... "Six, she just changed as you were fighting the last one across the street." The beautiful voice dropped to a whisper. "I—I think that the rubble from the falling building injured her and so her nanites kicked in to repair the damage."

A flash, the unwanted noise of failure—Rex's nanites had crashed again. He couldn't handle dealing with what had been, until recently, a sweet little kid.

My legs pumping, dodging around long, scaly legs and a spiked tail…racing across the armored back…somehow in slow-motion…as though I was sprinting through glue…

The soft neck, a chink in the scales—the weak link. My hand rising, a katana already nestling in its grooves. But, something was wrong…

The head. Its—her—head turned all the way around, staring at me. Those eyes. Those bright green eyes. The world went hazy—a spotlight seemed trained on those eyes, set in that reptilian face…but no. It was changing…the face was bubbling, transforming, morphing…the snout slowly shortening into a small nose and a pointed chin, full red lips blossoming from the chapped scales…my hand was curving into its downward descent, six inches from the living silk of the cheek…the ridged brows softening into smooth black arches…

Four inches…

The sweet green eyes widening, nearly crossing as they stared…

Two inches…

My arm! Why can't I stop my arm?

One inch.

Those eyes. They were fading, dissolving, the color was leaking out of them…the lively green…There was a pair of eyes staring at me…ashen gray eyes…

The only color left on her face was a single red teardrop trailing down her nose.

Six's eyes flew open, and he nearly bolted out of his seat, arm already outstretched to grab the fallen body. He blinked, then sank back into his chair, the sweat on his neck and face making his skin tingle in the cold air. He rubbed his face absently, and noticed the slight quiver in his fingers. He frowned and clenched them into a fist. No more sleeping tonight…he couldn't bear having to see her in that state again. Not ever.

Dr. Holiday barely caught herself on the edge of the table as her knees buckled.

She cursed silently as she rubbed her eyes. That was the third time in fifteen minutes that she had fallen asleep standing up. She glared impatiently at the gibberish that had typed itself into the computer while she dozed, and stabbed the delete button. She needed to get a grip. If this continued, she would never be able to enter all of her data by tomo—oh no. She snatched her hand away from the delete button, but it was too late. She growled in frustration as she stared at the empty lines that had, until a few seconds ago, held the twenty newest data points she had entered. After narrowing her eyes at the screen, she stalked away from the computer, and sat down on her examination table instead. She desperately needed sleep—her bed hadn't been touched in nearly three days. She ran a hand through her bangs and up across her scalp as she sighed. This data was more important than her sleep. If she could only unlock the secret of the nanites, they wouldn't have to rely so completely on Rex…and there would be no more need to kill anybody. She covered her eyes with one hand as she remembered the EVO Six had killed just that day. It crushed him, having to kill innocent people. He never admitted it, but he couldn't hide it from her. There were small signs, inconsequential in other people, but the equivalent of flashing neon lights in the man she loved. The miniscule forward slump of his shoulders, the way his right forefinger twitched when he reported the success of the mission…the fact that she could tell, even through those infernal shades, that he had difficulty meeting her eyes.

She shook her head vigorously—she had almost fallen asleep again—and grabbed the top sheets off the finished stack still sitting next to her laptop as she headed toward the balcony. Six needed her to do this. Maybe if she found a better way of organizing the data, she could input an algorithm into the software, and then stacks of data could be entered at the same time…then she could finally sleep…

A whisper of papers floated on the wind into Six's ears. As someone stumbled to the door of the balcony, he sprang into full alert, crouching in the plastic chair, a katana sliding into one hand. A second ribbon of wind cruised past as the door jerked slightly open—this time transporting a whiff of perfume…her perfume. By the time the door finally crashed open—Holiday's motor skills weren't the best while sleep-deprived—Six was back in his seat, gazing out at the desert.

"Holiday."

She jumped, almost dropping the papers in her hand. "Oh, hello Six. I didn't know you were here." She dropped into the chair next to him, and began absentmindedly ruffling through the papers in her hands…until she promptly leaned forward and fell asleep. Six cocked an eyebrow. A new record—normally she lasted more than two sentences. He raised a hand to wake her, but stopped, his eyes trapped by her face. Those worry lines on her forehead, the dark bruises under both eyes, the lack of color in her cheeks…she was looking haggard.

As silent as a whisper, Six slipped out of his seat and through the balcony door.

She jerked awake as she felt a sudden warmth on her face. There seemed to be a tornado around her! A tornado of…paper? She frowned and rubbed her face—and then squinted up into the sunlight. Sunlight? That meant it was…morning? She looked around. The balcony…what was she doing on the balcony?

Oh no.

She was supposed to finish entering all of those data points by morning! She sprang from her seat and grabbed the data sheets littered on the floor, her mind churning. I need to hurry! Maybe I can enter them all in before the lab assistants get in…we need to start the next round of tests today! A formula…an algorithm…hmm, is that cologne? Come on, concentrate, what are those 3 PhDs for anyway? She was already whipping around to slam the door open as her fingers fumbled on the last few sheets, her heels clicking as she began to race down the hall.

She sprinted around the corner into her lab, and jabbed a button on her computer while glancing around anxiously. Good. No lab assistants yet. She arranged her data sheets, and readied her fingers on the keyboard.

And stared.

Rows of data points flashed onto her screen, neatly organized and numbered—all of her work was finished.

Slowly, wavering with disbelief, a small smile crept onto her face. Someone had actually done all of her work for her! She took a deep breath to relax her frayed nerves. Wait, there was a familiar scent around her computer…wasn't that the cologne from the balc—

"Doctor Holiday! We're here, and ready to start the tests!"

She turned around to face her excessively peppy lab assistants.

"Here, start the set-up and I'll bring in the experimental units from the ice storage…"

In the briefing room, a dark green figure was cloaked in the shadows near the door, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Behind the dark shades, his eyes were closed—the only sign that Agent Six was taking a short catnap before his briefing.

His lips twitched briefly as his mind wandered through another dream…as he saw full red lips sliding into an incredulous little smile…as he saw bright green eyes dancing with excitement.

He couldn't help seeing those heavenly eyes everywhere.

Yay! Please review! I will tackle glomp you and give you ice-cream if you review!

…and the sleep-deprived behavior is inspired from myself. -_- Yes. It is actually possible to fall asleep standing up.