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"Please, Tommy. Please." Newt urged, his eyes clearing for a moment.
He looked so lost, so hopeless. I couldn't bare it. My heart dropped into a black abyss as I raised the gun. Just as my finger began to pull back the trigger, a voice yelled out, "Stop!" I didn't understand. We didn't have time for this. I couldn't let Newt go through this.
"Tommy" he urged, eyes pleading with me. My hands shook as I still grasped the gun, my finger halted on the trigger. "You have passed the test, Thomas. Newt has also passed."
"What?" Newt whispered, "Tommy, Tommy I can't-" he started, when the voice interrupted again, and what was said next sent me into sheer joy and confusion, "Newt is immune." And suddenly I felt anger, "Don't you dare joke around with us like that!" I shouted.
Newt had gone still. Madness seemed to be replaced with confusion, but the desperation remained. However it was now desperation for answers. Out of the side of my eye a figure began to emerge, and I spun my gun around to face them. Immediately I could tell they were from WICKED. "Your friend, Thomas, he never had the flare. It was all a test. A test to see how far you would go to stop him. And how far into madness he would fall, being made to think that he was becoming sicker and sicker every day with the Flare."
Neither Thomas nor Newt knew what exactly to say. Thomas supposed he shouldn't be surprised. But he just couldn't fathom how low they had gone this time.
"What the bloody hell do you mean?" Newt yelled, he was in pain and it hurt. It truly broke him to see Newt like this. "We can prove it, if you would come back to our labs right now, the two of you, we can prove that Newt is immune." The WICKED employee seemed pretty serious. But Thomas would be lying if he said he trusted them. "Give us a moment to talk." He said, his voice very calm, surprising even himself. The employee seemed to be okay with this, because they nodded and signaled ten with their hands. Thomas had ten minutes.
Newt fell to the floor as soon as the employee was out of sight. He fell onto his knees, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. "I'm confused, Tommy, I thought- I thought I was a monster" Thomas land a hand on his shoulder, but it did nothing to stop Newt's tears. So he gently placed his hands on either side of his best friend's face.
"Newt" he said, gently stroking Newt's cheeks, "Newt, look at me, please." But Newt kept staring at the ground, and for one terrifying moment, Thomas thought he had lost him. "Please, Newt. For me." And at that, Newt moved his gaze to meet Thomas', eyes softening ever so slowly. Thomas let him cry, as he held Newt's face, and leaned forward to kiss his forehead, then rested their foreheads together.
"You're okay, Newt. You're okay. You're here with me. You're okay, I swear." If this was true, Thomas knew Newt wouldn't be back to himself right away. It would take time. But Thomas would be patient. If the WICKED employee was telling the truth, Thomas swore he would do everything he could to nurse Newt back to himself again.
The best thing that Thomas could do for Newt right now was to calm him, let him know that right here, right now, everything was okay. This had all happened so suddenly, and it was hard to process - for both of them. "Tommy" Newt whispered the name, as a comfort to himself, a familiar comfort. Thomas wrapped his arms around Newt, stroking his back calmly.
- - -
Several hours later -
After Thomas manged to calm Newt down a bit, he held his hand and they walked onto the WICKED ship together. Newt was silent the entire time, his face impassive, he was clearly deep in thought. The only indication Thomas had to how Newt was feeling was the hand squeezes he would give every so often. They were both confused, both slightly hopeful but also acknowledging that they may just be disappointed once again. What if this was another test? Thomas quickly pushed away the thought. He had to have hope, he had to have hope for Newt, for the both of them, no matter how hard it was right now.
When they arrived at WICKED's labs in their headquarters, they were quickly separated, despite Thomas insisting he stay with Newt. They dragged Thomas off to another room and led Newt down a corridor to another.
It was a white room with one window and a few chairs along the wall, resembling what Thomas remembered as a waiting room. He felt terrified. What if they took Newt away? What if he never saw him again? No, Thomas couldn't think like that, he had to stay calm. He had already tried the door, but it was locked. It was boring and lonely, and the longer he waited, the more anxious Thomas felt. He'd been in here for almost two hours now. Just as he was debating trying to break the door open, he heard the door being unlocked.
Newt walked in with a WICKED employee that Thomas barely acknowledged before he got up and quickly went to Newt. He laid a hand on Newt's arm, and waited for Newt to look at him before he asked. "Do you know yet?" he whispered.
The woman that was with Newt answered for him, "We will have the results in half an hour. In the meantime, we have somewhere you can relax." Thomas didn't know how in hell he could relax right now. "This really is a waste of our resources you know" she muttered. "He's immune."
"I bloody hope so." Newt answered, actually causing Thomas to smirk. Newt smirked back, and they followed the employee to the room. Now that was the Newt that Thomas knew. It was again, white walls. But this room had several windows against the wall opposite to the door, and two black sofas, one against each of the other walls. Once they walked in, the employee left, likely locking the door, but Thomas checked anyway. He took Newts hand, and led him over to the sofa on the right wall.
He sat down at the side, Newt sitting beside him, taking Thomas' hand in his own, "Thank you, Tommy" Newt suddenly said. Thomas turned to look at him, "For what, Newt?" he replied, reaching over to move a strand of Newts hair out of his eyes. "For being here - with me. For not giving up on me, despite how bloody messed up I've been this past while. You've never left me, Thomas. I appreciate that. I feel fine right now, so I just had to tell you" he said.
"Of course, Newt. No need to thank me. It's what we do for each other - you and I - we look after each other" he said, looking down at the sofa as he felt a blush rise in his cheeks. It was silly of him. They were waiting for the results of Newt's test, and here he was, blushing because of Newt's kind words to him.
When he looked up again, Newt was smiling. "That's very true, Tommy." Newt said. Then he laid his head on Thomas' shoulder, and Thomas lay back a bit on the sofa. "Tommy?" Newt said quietly, and Thomas knew by the serious tone that there was an important question perched on Newt's lips - whether he was ready for it or not. "If they're lying, if they reveal the results, and it turns out I am a crank - I want you to kill me." Thomas' body went stiff, "Newt-"
"Tommy, please. Please do this for me. While I can still say it, Tommy, I don't want to live, if I'm going to become one of- one of them. I don't want to live like that. And I don't want to hurt anyone, especially you, Tommy, especially you." he whispered the last part, and Thomas felt a tear drip onto his shirt.
Newt moved his head to lay on Thomas' shirt. He turned his head to look up at Thomas with a pleading look, "Will you? Will you do that for me? If it comes to that?" And now it was Thomas' turn to let a tear fall, "If that's- if that's what you need, Newt."
"Oh Tommy. Don't cry. Please don't cry." Newt sat up now, and placed his forehead on Thomas'. He felt it was ironic really. "Newt." Thomas said, stroking his cheek, he had to be strong for Newt now. "I love you Newt. I've loved you for so long."
Newt's eyes widened slightly, and he leaned forward. Before Thomas could register in his mind what was happening, Newt was kissing him. And then Thomas was kissing back. This was all he had ever wanted for so long. But he never expected it to happen like this. His stomach exploded with butterflies, and he ran a hand through Newt's hair, before they had to pull away. "I love you too, Tommy." Newt said.
Thomas pulled Newt in for a hug, fearing so much that this could end. He desperately wanted for it to not end. Never end. "Newt, maybe - maybe you really are immune, you've been okay so far." "I know, but that's how the Flare works, isn't it? You think you're okay for a while, but you're not." he finished, sadness tinging his voice. Thomas went to reply, and then came the knock on the door. It was time.
They pulled away, and Thomas took Newt's hand in his own, he would comfort Newt now, he needed that from Thomas. Time seemed to slow down as they walked down the same corridor that Newt had walked down almost three hours ago. Newt squeezed his hand, and time hit Thomas again, plummeting him into now. They glanced at each other's eyes before they walked into the room, Thomas giving Newt's hand a reassuring squeeze.
Several other WICKED employees were in the room with them, sitting at a white table. But the woman commanded it, and it was then that Thomas realised he didn't even know her name. "I'm sorry" he started, "But who are you?"
"I'm Dr. Bloom, Head of Testing here at WICKED." she replied. Dr. Bloom walked over to the metal tray beside her, just in front of the table with some other WICKED employees. "I'll be doing the test results in front of you, in order to prove we are not lying. I will take the sample of blood that Newt provided for us, and use the testing liquid to reveal the results. If we have test result positive, and his blood turns the clear liquid blue, it means that Newt has the Flare. If the result is negative, the liquid should stay a normal blood red once it is dropped in, meaning that Newt here, is in fact, immune." She explained, giving Thomas a look at the last part. "This should take approximately 5 seconds."
"Alright, then let's get on with it." Newt said, clearly anxious about the test. Thomas rubbed his thumb against Newt's hand, a silent reassurance that he was here, they would do this together.
Dr.Bloom quickly set up a tray on the table with the tube of blood, the tube with the tester and a dropper. Thomas was terrified inside, but he kept on a brave face. Newt glanced at him and Thomas lifted their connected hands to leave a kiss on Newt's knuckles. Dr.Bloom got her dropper ready with the blood, and before Thomas knew it, she had dropped it into the testing liquid. They collectively held their breath, the only movement was Thomas rubbing his thumb across Newt's hand.
The seconds passed, and the liquid stayed a faint blood red. Thomas looked over to Newt, a beautiful sight greeting him - the most wonderful soft smile was on Newt's face. A little uncertainty remained in his eyes however, "Hey, Newt. Newt, you're immune" he smiled. When they looked into each others eyes, for some bizarre reason - maybe it was just the anxiety and relief of the day hitting them - they both burst into laughter. Newt's smile was like the sun, and then he reached over to hug Thomas. Thomas rubbed his hands up and down Newt's back, then settled them around his waist. He leaned over to whisper in Newt's ear then, "You ready to get out of here?"
They both knew that WCKD wouldn't let them go so easily, they knew a fight was their only way out of here. "Ready as I'll ever be, Tommy." he whispered back, with a quick kiss on Thomas' cheek.
And with that - Newt and Thomas lurched forward, Thomas pushed the metal tray forward, briefly holding back Dr. Bloom and the others. Newt threw a chair and then lifted another as they ran out of the room. He quickly propped the chair up against the door handle, and then they fought.
- - - - - - - -
4 weeks later -
Newt still had moments now where he would zone out for a moment, or get mad over small mistakes he made. Or have nightmares about becoming a crank. Sometimes these involved himself hurting Thomas - one of Newt's greatest fears. But Newt was strong, and Thomas was always there to comfort him. They had began to share a bed - if they had one that night - or simply sleep together. So when the nightmares came, Newt wasn't alone to help himself calm down.
They both knew there wasn't a magical fix to this, and Thomas couldn't just fix it either by being there. But he could definitely help Newt. He was there to listen to the nightmares. He was there when Newt didn't feel like talking about them - or when he did.
And Newt was there for Thomas too. Things would never be perfect, how could they in such a world? But they had each other, and together they would keep each other safe. They would build each other up.
One evening, Newt and Thomas were dancing slowly in the room they were staying in that night, Newt's arms around Thomas' neck. Thomas convinced him to try it with him, and so now he was teaching Newt what he remembered of it, when Thomas suddenly bent down on one knee. He took Newt's hand in his, and kissed it gently. "Tommy, what are you doing?" Newt asked, his tone so cheery tonight.
"Newt, I love you. I love you so much and I don't ever want to let you go. So please, will you marry me?" Thomas asked. Newt laughed softly, and smiled, "Of course I will, Tommy. Come here." Thomas rose to his feet, and they kissed in that quiet room with moonbeams shining down on them. And then Thomas pulled back for a moment, "One more thing, Newt."
He fished a ring out of pocket, and slid it onto Newt's finger, kissing his hand after. "What- Tommy, it's beautiful. Thank you. Where did you get this?" he asked, smirking, a mixture of happiness and confusion laced on his lovely face. "It was in my back pocket when I woke up in the Box. I think it was my mother's - it must've been. So I decided to keep it. And then when I realised I loved you, I thought maybe - if we were lucky enough, and if you loved me too - that I could give it to you someday." he finished, and he couldn't stop himself from beaming at the happiness in Newt's eyes. All he wanted was for Newt to be happy.
"I bloody love you, Tommy."
"And I love you, Newt. So damn much." And then they slept in each other's arms, and for tonight, there was a wonderful absense of nightmares in Newt's head.
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