Lean On Me
By Cybra

A/N: Apparently, I'm going to spam this week. *shrug* Ah, well. This does have a slight reference to a fic I wrote on the generator_rex community on Livejournal, but you don't need to have read that one to get this one.

Disclaimer:Generator Rex belongs to Man of Action.

There were brief moments when Six's signature control slipped. One of which was when he first woke up in the morning after a full night's sleep. However, it normally took only a few seconds for him to reestablish that stoic, impersonal face that everyone was used to seeing.

However on this particular morning, he lied there for several minutes shivering, trying to scrape together the energy needed to regain mastery over himself.

'Get up,' he mentally snapped. 'You don't have time to stay in bed.'

He winced as he slowly stretched out sore muscles. This was more than just the aftereffects of the EVO battle the day before. Couple that with the chills and overall weakness…

He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he sat up. Taking a moment to allow the room to stop spinning like a merry-go-round on high speed, Six gingerly got to his feet, one hand against the side of his head. He took several deep breaths, his fingertips brushing against the edges of his sweat-soaked hair.

He walked into the bathroom, pulling out the rarely-used thermometer from the medicine cabinet. As he impatiently waited for the readout, he studied his face in the mirror. His color was definitely a bit paler than normal. His short hair had become the beginnings of a drenched rat's nest. Plus there was the slight glisten of sweat on his brow.

He tore his attention away from the mirror as the thermometer beeped. Pulling it out of his mouth, it took great force of will not to groan at the result:

One-oh-one on the nose. A fever. Just what he didn't need.

He turned off the thermometer, running it under the hot water of the tap for a minute before putting it back in the medicine cabinet.

Well, there was nothing to be done about it. He still had the morning briefing to go to plus all of his various other duties. At least he didn't have to worry as much about Rex staying put anymore. Even if he did break out, the teenager usually headed straight to Noah's, and Knight had taken to allowing the boy a little more freedom as long as he spent time with the blond instead of racing around doing God-knew-what.

Six readied himself for the day, taking a few extra minutes in the shower to allow the hot water to soothe his sore muscles. Then he was out the door in his usual suit, tie, and sunglasses, giving no indication to anyone he passed by that there was anything out of the ordinary.

Holiday considered herself to be the resident expert on Six. In some ways, he was a more interesting research subject than the denizens of the Petting Zoo. Of course, observing him was always a challenge. The man was hyperaware of his surroundings and always alert to eyes on him. To be honest, she still hadn't learned all that much about him but she still was fairly confident that she knew the most.

This was why the subtle change of routine caught her attention immediately.

Six had opted for tea instead of coffee this morning. That wasn't too unusual in and of itself, but instead of sweetening it with honey, he'd poured milk in it. She couldn't think of a single time she'd seen him do that before.

She kept him in the corner of her eye the entire morning briefing. He seemed normal, even smacking Rex to get him to behave himself from time to time. But at the same time, she thought she saw…

There it was again! It was so small she wouldn't have noticed it had she not been searching for it.

Her eyes narrowed just a tad. 'So that's it…'

Six looked back at the sound of papers striking the floor and Holiday groaning. He turned back to her as she knelt down to pick up the reports she'd dropped, the woman muttering to herself as she did so.

"Go on ahead, Rex. I'll meet you in the training room," Six told his charge.

"Like I'm gonna let you put the moves on—" Rex stopped as Six stared him down. Then he held up his hands in surrender. "Bite my head off, yeesh!"

"I expect you to be warmed up by the time I get there."

"Right, right…" Rex shoved his hands in his pockets and headed off.

Six turned back to Holiday, crouching down and reaching out to retrieve the reports. She must've been looking back over them when she dropped—

He caught her wrist as her hand suddenly shot towards his face. He frowned. "What do you think you're doing, Holiday?"

She scowled and pushed against his grip, her fingers straining to reach him. "Just checking something."

Six raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. If she really thought she was going to get far in…whatever it was she was doing…she needed to re-think her strategy.

"Let go, Six."

"What are you trying to do?"

"I told you: Just checking something."

He lowered the eyebrow. "And that something would be?"

Her eye twitched in annoyance as she continued her attempts to push her hand closer to his face.

Was she reaching for his sunglasses? She'd never made such a bold move before. She'd certainly hinted more than enough times that she'd like to see what he looked like without them.

No, no, she was trying to reach higher than that. What on Earth could she possibly be up to?

"Your throat's bothering you, isn't it?"

He blinked, not expecting that. "Excuse me?"

"You had herbal tea this morning."

The eyebrow lifted once more. "That isn't too unusual."

"But you never put milk in it. Honey, yes. Milk, no."

"So because of that you think my throat's bothering me."

"Not just that. You kept quietly clearing your throat during the briefing." She narrowed her eyes in challenge. "You put the milk in your tea to coat your throat in order to soothe it. When that started to wear off, you cleared your throat so you'd sound normal when you spoke. Am I wrong?"

He gave her a bland stare, neither confirming nor denying her charge. If he wanted to be perfectly honest, his throat was starting to feel like he'd eaten nothing but sandpaper for the past twenty-four hours yet it was only a mild discomfort on top of everything else.

"Sore throats don't normally occur by themselves. I wanted to check your temperature."

He stood up, releasing her. "I assure you, Doctor, that I'm fine."

She started to stand as well, mouth open as if ready to argue, when Callan entered the briefing room. The pair looked at the newcomer who looked equally surprised to see them.

"…Am I interruptin' somethin'?" the captain asked. "I was told the room would be empty right now."

Six shook his head, starting for the door. "It wasn't anything important. I'll make sure that Rex comes in for his physical after training, doctor."

"Six, don't you dare—!" Her tirade was cut off by the door sliding shut behind him.

In the currently empty hall, Six sighed softly with relief, pausing for just a moment as the world shifted to one side. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes momentarily, as his body reoriented itself before continuing on his way to the training room. He had work to do.

Rex lunged for Six, the man twisting out of the way with an ease that frustrated the EVO teenager. Most EVOs he dealt with had the decency to move at a speed he could easily keep track of. Of course, that's why they'd spar like this. Six gave Rex plenty of practice against smaller and faster targets than the usual giant rampaging EVOs.

He narrowed his eyes. Was that an opening? Or rather was that a real opening? Six would sometimes fake it to draw him in for some sort of attack.

He grinned toothily, forming the Smack Hands. It might be another trick, but Rex wasn't the type to let a possible chance slip by.

"Caramba!" he growled as Six jumped over a mechanical fist, smacking the top of it to give himself more leverage.

Six crossed one hand over the other, using it to send himself flying sideways towards Rex.

The EVO gritted his teeth, expecting a sharp kick to the chest. The agent didn't normally go for the face after that one time doing so had resulted in Rex needing stitches and Holiday yelling at them both for a solid hour.

To his surprise, the kick didn't happen. Instead, it was an up-and-over maneuver, the agent flipping as he did so.

And just when Rex thought he was safe, Six's feet slammed against the space between his shoulder blades, launching the agent farther behind Rex and sending the teenager into the floor on his face.

"Ow…" Rex groaned, his voice muffled by the now-normal hand he brought to his bleeding nose. He tilted his head backward.

Six walked over to him, keeping just out of reach as a precaution. The man raised an eyebrow in silent query.

"I don't think it's broken. Just sore." He prodded it carefully with his fingertips. It hurt but it was already starting to dull a bit. "Yeah, it's not broken. Still…ow."

Six checked his watch. "It's about time for you to head to your physical with Holiday anyway. Get the nose looked at while you're there."

Rex stood up, head still tilted back. "Not looking forward to showing Holiday my ruined face. She'll be heartbroken."

"Get going."

"Yeah, yeah." He flashed a quick grin at Six before walking out of the training room.

Once satisfied that he was alone, Six brought a hand to his temple, closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths. To anyone that might've walked in, it would've looked like he was taking a moment to deal with a headache. Not too unusual. Rex could give a Buddhist priest migraines when he set his mind to it.

The agent felt annoyance at the sensation of just the smallest bit of sweat against his fingertips. At least Rex hadn't noticed.

He had to hand it to the kid though. Rex had done exactly as trained: sighting and targeting a weakness the moment it appeared. Six was glad that something seemed to be sinking in.

Unfortunately for the agent, today hadn't been one of those deliberate openings he periodically threw the boy's way. After one dodge, he'd become disoriented and nearly lost his footing. Training alone had saved him from Rex's attack even if that dodge wasn't as well-executed as he would've liked. Still, the ultimate goal of a soldier was survival no matter what, so he wasn't going to complain too much.

He sensed a sudden invasion of his personal space. As he mentally cursed his woolgathering, he brought his hand up in a karate chop to break off the attack, opening his eyes as he did so. If it was Rex thinking he was going to get the drop on the agent, the boy was in for a surprise.

A small, thin object fell to the floor, the soft tapping of it bouncing along the concrete the only sound.

He blinked at Holiday who stood holding her wrist with a wince. He lowered his hand. "I thought you were Rex."

"Not sure I like how your first reaction was to smack him," she grumbled, examining her wrist before shaking out her hand. She was fortunate he hadn't put enough force into the blow to do more than cause a sharp sting otherwise they'd be on their way to the medical wing for a cast.

"He's on his way to your lab right now," Six said, turning from her and walking over to pick up the object she'd been carrying, recognizing it instantly.

"I'll catch up to him. Right now I need a reading from you."

He frowned as he picked up the thermometer, looking back at her with disapproval.

She crossed her arms, glaring back at him. "Well, go on."

"As a doctor, you're honestly going to tell me to put something that's been on the floor in my mouth?"

"Then let's walk back to my lab, and we'll get a clean one."

He walked back to her, holding out the thermometer.

"Six…" Holiday growled in warning, scowling at him as she took it back.

Six stepped around her, casually blocking her attempt at touching his face. "I told you I'm fine, Holiday. Now you'd better catch up to Rex before he decides to run off."

He heard plastic creak. She must've been clenching her fist around the thermometer. "You can't avoid me forever, you know!"

He glanced back at her, mouth twitching into the faintest of amused smirks before he exited the training room.

Holiday was nothing if not persistent. Her threat from earlier had yet to come true, but that wasn't from lack of trying.

Six was pretty sure Providence's lead scientist had deliberately rearranged her schedule so she'd "just happen" to pass by wherever he was. And "by chance" she always had a thermometer or a hand ready to try and take his temperature. He'd ducked away from her attempts and earned her growls of irritation so many times already that it might as well have been some comedy routine they were trying to perfect.

If that were the case, practice seemed to be paying off since Callan and a few of the grunts had gotten a good chuckle out of one attempt by Holiday. She'd tried to slide up nonchalantly to try and feel his forehead, but he'd deliberately rolled his chair out of the way. Who knew what they thought she'd been trying to do? Maybe they figured that she'd been trying to sneak his sunglasses off. She wouldn't have been the first person who'd ever tried.

To Six, the game had gotten old hours ago. He sipped at his tea, internally wincing as he swallowed. That "eating sandpaper" feel had given way to "eating sandpaper and gravel" sensation as time wore on. His voice was starting to sound atrocious as well, so he talked even less than normal. This had a strangely beneficial side effect of his meetings not taking nearly as long as normal since whoever was presenting would get fiercely intimidated by his silence and rush through their presentation. (He made a mental note to keep up the habit even after his voice was back to normal.)

He looked up as the door to his office opened, Holiday standing there. "Attacking openly this time?" he asked with mild amusement.

She held up her hands. "Okay, okay. Truce. I promise I won't try to shove anything in your mouth or in your ear."

He raised an eyebrow at her, skeptical. Then he nodded to the glint of metal poking out of her pocket. "And that?"

She pulled out a device he didn't recognize as she walked closer, giving him a clear view of it. "Forgot to get a reading off of Rex earlier and had to track him down. I was heading back to medlab when I realized I should probably apologize for harassing you all day."

Six studied it silently. He couldn't see the screen and buttons that clearly but the metallic disc part at the top looked almost like the flat of a reflex hammer. Perhaps it was an electronic version of that? He looked back down at his paperwork.

She leaned over him. "I'm kind of surprised you're in your office. You usually come to mine to do this."

"You weren't here," Six pointed out.

"I know, I know. Sorry." She brushed off a little bit of dust from his barely-used desk. "Cleaning lady needs to come through here."

Six shook his head, pausing for a moment as the room decided that spinning was amazing fun for God only knew what time that day. Just like all the other times, it seemed to last just a little bit longer than the previous one.

He jerked his head up as something cool brushed against his forehead, a set of trailing beeps signaling its passage. He scowled as Holiday smirked, looking at the screen of the device in her hand.

"You've never seen them look like this before, have you?" she asked smugly.

'That's cheating!' part of his mind childishly protested. However, he didn't voice the thought aloud, simply letting his scowl tell her how displeased he was.

"I said I wouldn't try to stick anything in your mouth or in your ear. I didn't lie," she told him, her smirk turning cheeky. Then she frowned as the device gave one final beep.

Six waited patiently for the explosion that was sure to come.

"Six," she began, her voice dangerously calm, "why am I seeing a hundred and two-point-three on this?"

He raised a brow. "It went up."

"What do you mean 'it went up'?" Her voice was no longer calm.

'Here it comes…' Six said nothing out loud, his silence confirming what she'd probably already guessed.

"Are you telling me that you knew you had a fever this whole time?" She glared accusingly at him.

Again he said nothing. It didn't matter what he said anyway. Holiday was going to furious at him regardless.

"I thought you were just being stubborn!" she snapped. "But now you're honestly telling me that you just didn't want me to find out?"

Six turned his gaze back towards his paperwork. If she was going to yell at him, he might as well get something done.

Smack! Her hands covered the majority of his work, palms flat against the pages as she leaned in. "Tell me that I'm wrong, Agent Six."

He'd been incorrect in his original assessment. Her using his full title in that tone of voice indicated she was beyond furious at him. However, he didn't back down, looking back up at her. "You're not."

She actually snarled at him, her green eyes flashing with rage though why she'd be so angry didn't make any sense to Six. "I don't care how well-trained you are, ignoring your health will only make it worse! Do you realize that if you're not careful, you'll overheat and pass out somewhere? Or are you trying to kill yourself?"

He simply gazed dispassionately at her, waiting for her to finish.

She glared at him for several more seconds before throwing her hands in the air. "Forget it. You're clearly not going to listen to what the doctor says, so why waste my breath?" She turned and stormed towards the door of his office. Without looking back, she snapped, "Have a good afternoon, Agent Six. I'll see you in the briefing with Knight later."

He watched her leave his office, closing his eyes for a moment as the world spun again. He did feel some guilt for making her worry but she needed to understand that he couldn't afford time off for something so minor.

He picked up the pen he hadn't realized he'd dropped and resumed working.

Holiday marched through the halls of Providence, attempting to blow off some steam before heading back to her medlab. Everyone she passed by gave her space as if sensing that she was about two seconds away from biting the head off of anyone who annoyed her.

Still if she did do so, she'd be far more satisfied if it was Six's head she was removing.

That man! That stubborn, stupid man! Some days she wondered why she even bothered. When it came to his own health, Six ignored everything she had to say. What an absolute pain!

Well, if he collapsed somewhere, it wasn't her fault. She'd tried to warn him. It wasn't like she could just carry him off to bed…

…just as he'd threatened to do the last time she'd been sick.

Her steps slowed until she stood off to one side, lost in thought and unaware of the comings and goings of her fellow members of Providence.

Six had a hard job keeping up with Rex along with other various errands White Knight saw fit to assign him. Yet he'd not only looked after Rex when the boy had gotten the flu but he'd continually checked up on her, too. Rex had most likely already been giving him grief, but he'd had the patience to endure not only that but her own bad attitude. Holiday knew she was far from the ideal patient: Her sister had complained on several occasions that someone with such a good bedside manner could be a regular hellion when she herself was the one in bed.

She'd ultimately accepted his care and had recovered. However, Six didn't look like he was going to give in any time soon and accept her help.

'What did I expect?' she asked herself. 'Everybody relies on him to some extent, but he's always—'

The thought died just as she realized something very obvious, putting a hand to her head and marveling at her own stupidity. Of course. If she looked at it that way, it all made perfect sense.

She checked her watch. As she'd feared, she didn't have long until the briefing thanks to all the angry wandering she'd done. She'd have to hustle to get to Knight's office on time.

Six paused outside the door to Knight's office, a hand on his forehead. The world was spinning crazily yet again, and it had yet to stop. He needed to focus. Once this meeting was over, he had what little remained of the rest of the day to himself.

He took a step back to try and regain his sense of balance as the spinning finally started to slow down. Maybe Holiday had been right, but he'd had so much he'd needed to get done…

To his surprise, something solid steadied him from behind. He turned his head to look, seeing Holiday standing there with a hand pressed against his back.

They gazed wordlessly at one another for several seconds. To Six's confusion, Holiday's expression was gentle. She'd been so angry with him when she'd stormed off to her lab, so why would she look at him like that now? He would've expected a glare or perhaps a comment on how his stubbornness was going to end up with him spending time in the medical ward.

Before he could question her, the corner of her mouth quirked up in a small smile. "I know you're not used to it, but it's okay to lean on others every once in a while."

"Holiday?" he whispered, baffled. Then he brought a hand up to his throat at the rough treatment her name had given his vocal chords.

"Don't talk; just listen. I don't agree with what you've been doing to yourself, but I'll respect your decision. However, once this meeting is over, you're going straight to bed." She held up a finger as he opened his mouth to speak. "I know your schedule's clear after this, and Bobo's perfectly capable of keeping an eye on Rex. If Rex tries to break out, he'll have to deal with me, and you know how much he hates upsetting me."

Six blinked at her.

Her expression turned pleading. "Please, Six. You did such a good job looking after Rex and me. If you won't let me help, at least try and do the same for yourself."

He sighed. "All right."

She brightened considerably.

"However…" He paused to clear his throat. "…I want your word that you'll be discrete."

For a moment, he thought she was going to argue the point. However, she nodded her head.

Satisfied, Six closed his eyes as the hallway started slowly turning again. He took a few deep breaths as Holiday's touch on his back helped steady him. After the world had calmed once more, they entered Knight's office together.

As much as she railed at the stubbornness of Six, Holiday had to be impressed at the mastery he had over himself. They'd been in this meeting with Knight for fifteen minutes already, and she wouldn't have guessed that Six was ill just by glancing at him.

However, she was a medical professional and could see the subtle tell-tale signs that something was wrong. Six was paler than normal, and he'd been almost constantly swallowing saliva even when he didn't have to speak. If she looked very closely, she could see the faint glisten of sweat in the harsh fluorescent lights.

She hated the fact that they had to stand when holding meetings in Knight's office. She'd seen Six's stance wobble on more than one occasion. It hadn't been obvious; just a slight shift here and there. He'd folded his hands behind his back after the first time, subtly waving her off before she could do anything to assist him. The man desperately needed to sit down but was holding himself together by sheer force of will.

She fielded yet another question from Knight. All the while she couldn't help but wonder why the head of Providence was focusing on her all of a sudden. Most of his questions were normally directed at Six, the nanite-free man usually growing annoyed with her when she talked about Rex as a person, not as a tool.

The reason hit her like a bolt of lightning: Knight had noticed.

Well, she shouldn't have been surprised. After all, the pair had been partners for an indeterminate amount of time before Six had found Rex. That would've given Knight plenty of opportunities to observe what was normal for the green-clad man. Apparently, the head of Providence did possess something that resembled a heart and was giving his former partner a break.

"That'll be all," Knight said coolly, giving no hint of what Holiday had figured out or even seeming to care that this meeting was shorter than normal. "Dismissed."

The screen winked out, and Six turned to leave the office, stumbling a bit. He held up a hand to Holiday as she moved to intercept, silently warding off her assistance. She frowned, displeased. It wasn't likely that Knight was still watching them, yet she still obeyed his silent wish.

She followed him as he wove his way through the hallways, heading towards personnel quarters. Good. At least the stubborn man was finally going to heed her advice and get some sleep. His body was probably desperate for it by this point.

As they walked down an empty hallway, Holiday saw Six stumble again. She didn't try to steady him this time. He'd probably just—

He wasn't recovering.

She didn't know how she managed to cut in front of him so quickly, but the next thing she knew, she was gritting her teeth as he fell heavily against her, his chin slamming into her shoulder. She shifted her stance to keep them both upright.

She cursed as his head lazily rolled towards her, his cheek landing against hers. There was definite heat coming off of him now. While she'd been out and about trying to cool off, his fever had spiked.

She raised her hand to her ear, preparing to call for a medical team. She'd never be able to get him to medlab on her own.

"I want your word that you'll be discrete."

She hesitated. To Six, one's word was inviolate. She'd made him a promise not to raise a fuss, and calling for a medical team was definitely going to attract attention.

'He'll understand,' she mused. 'He needs rest and to cool down…which I can do anywhere, really.' She groaned.

Medlab was too far. Six's quarters were still a ways away…

…but her quarters were pretty close by.

She adjusted Six so he was leaning against her, one arm wrapped around her shoulders. She grunted as she started to half-carry/half-drag him, "You're going to owe me for this."

The scent of the place was off. These weren't his quarters.

Six struggled to open his eyes and move to a safer location. All he managed to do through the weakness was to flex his fingers and open his eyes a crack.

"Wait," Holiday's voice said from somewhere beyond his eyelids. "Let me get your sunglasses."

As he quietly pondered this, he felt the temples of the darkened lenses slide past his face and over his ears. It was uncomfortable wearing them while lying down on his side, but nothing in comparison to how the rest of his exhausted, sore body felt.

He put all his will behind simply opening his eyes, trying to remember what had happened. They'd been leaving Knight's office, the long day finally done. Then...then it went blank.

His eyes finally opened enough for him to see Holiday gazing worriedly at him. He looked at her in confusion. Had they been attacked?

"Are you all right?" he rasped.

She gave him a smile though her face still showed concern. "You probably feel like you went ten rounds with Weaver, and you're asking me if I'mall right? Unbelievable."

His eyelids drooped for a moment, but he stubbornly forced them open. "What happened?"

"You overexerted yourself. It made your body temperature rise high enough that you passed out just like I warned you." She paused. "I didn't look. At your eyes, I mean. It wouldn't have been right."

"Medical ward?" he croaked, swallowing.

"Hang on. Let's get you something to drink."

She had to help him sit up, his body refusing to do as he wished. The glass of water she had ready had by now been reduced to room temperature but it still felt blissfully cool against his raw throat. Swallowing hurt, but he managed well enough.

"We're in my quarters," she explained. "I know I should've hauled you off to the medical ward but...I did promise."

He watched her out of the corner of his eye. She'd honored his request. And, on top of that, she hadn't taken advantage of the situation in regards to his sunglasses.

He closed his eyes. "I'm sorry. I've inconvenienced you."

She gently helped him lay back down, putting a cool hand against his burning forehead. "I'm sorry but I had to formally relieve you of duty. I contacted Knight who agreed to keep it quiet."

He felt himself falling asleep and weakly struggled against it. "Rex…"

"…will be fine," she stated. "You just get some rest."

He had no choice in the matter as sleep overtook him before he could respond.

Six was scaring her.

Oh, he had no idea he was doing it, but he was still scaring her. The shivering was to be expected, but he looked so vulnerable curled up like that, one hand clutching at the blanket as though it could be taken away at any moment.

Holiday lied stretched out next to Six, simply watching him sleep. He'd woken up a few times but had been clearly delirious each time, muttering nonsense in a multitude of languages. The first time this had happened, he'd impressed her when he spoke to her in clear, unaccented Russian.

As much as she hadn't wanted to worry Rex, she'd had to employ his and Bobo's help to get her the IV she'd set up for Six. The man needed liquids to ward off dehydration thanks to the sweating. Rex had been disturbed by seeing his mentor in such a state, especially when Six woke up and clearly didn't recognize him. Fortunately, he'd been babbling in Spanish at the time, and Rex had been able to soothe him into getting back to sleep. Holiday herself was no slouch in that particular language, but Six had been firing off questions so rapidly that she hadn't been able to keep up.

"Take care of him, Doc," Rex had pleaded when Bobo had led him off.

She fully intended to do so. She ran her fingers through his damp hair, humming tunelessly. It seemed to help relax him. Unfortunately, it was having the added side effect of relaxing her, too.

Her eyelids drooped. Six would probably be all right for a few minutes. She just needed a moment to rest her eyes…

Without warning, she suddenly jerked awake, unsure of just how long she'd dozed off. She probably would've slept for longer were it not for the form curled up beside her.

She gaped as she stared at Six who was pressed against her. His face was far from peaceful, and his feet and hands twitched a bit in reaction to whatever visions he was seeing. In this vulnerable position, he barely resembled the sixth most dangerous man on Earth. Instead, he looked more like a frightened child caught up in a nightmare.

She slowly reached out to wrap an arm around him, uncertain if this was the right thing to do. After all, she'd seen him literally hurl a male nurse across the room while in a drug-induced hallucination. Thanks to that incident, tying Six down when he was unconscious had become standard operating procedure for not just his own safety but also for the safety of the medical staff. Obviously, she hadn't bothered with that here since he'd been so weak but it was still a worry. What if he'd managed to recover some of his strength and she ended up startling him?

She sucked in a hasty breath as every muscle in Six's body tensed up. But then he relaxed, giving a sigh of contentment, a word she didn't recognize sliding free of his lips.

She smiled, pleased that she'd calmed him. Then she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

The next time Holiday woke up, she was very much aware that she was alone. She pushed herself up and looked frantically about for her patient, cursing herself for being so careless. Knowing Six, the instant he felt a little better, he'd go right back to work and end up worse off than before. The stubborn man was going to kill himself one day.

To her surprise, Six exited her bathroom, looking exhausted and scratching absently at where the IV needle was poking into his flesh. In his free hand he held the near-empty IV bag. (He must've removed it from the stand so he wouldn't make as much noise, she reasoned.) To her intense relief, his jacket, tie, and shoes were still gone. He hadn't been preparing to leave as she'd feared.

He leaned heavily against the doorframe of the bathroom, raising an eyebrow at her. "Good morning, Holiday."

Holiday got up and slid one of his arms around her shoulder. He must've been miserable since he accepted her offer without complaint and allowed her to lead him back to the bed. "How're you feeling?"

"…Awful."

She couldn't help the smile that crossed her lips as she laid him back down. "Maybe next time you'll listen to me, huh?"

He gave her a weary look.

She pulled out a thermometer, and he obligingly held it in his mouth. She waited for the beep before pulling it out and studying the readout. "One-oh-three-point-seven. Well, at least it's gone down a little."

He simply looked around. "This isn't my room…"

Ah, so he didn't remember their conversation from before the waves of delirium had hit. Not surprising.

Patiently, Holiday explained the situation to him again. Before he could apologize to her as he had before, she tucked the blankets around him and said, "I'll be back with another IV bag and something for you to eat. You just rest up, all right?"

He struggled to sit up. "I shouldn't be—"

She pushed him back down with a finger, showing him just how bad off he was. "Don't argue with me. You won't win."

He sighed before gripping the blanket with one hand, pulling it up over his shoulder as he rolled to one side. Clearly, Six was resigned to his fate.

She headed towards the door then hesitated before she opened it. She looked back at Six, worry etched all over her features.

His eyes were closed as he murmured, "Holiday?"

"Yes?"

"…Thank you."

She smiled and opened the door. "You're welcome."