Chapter Text
Teresa and Brenda were amazed, staring at the vial of blue liquid that was being shown to them in Ava’s office. “This is the closest we’ve gotten over the years,” Ava said sadly. “We haven’t made progress in over a decade, even with technology constantly advancing.”
This was one of the reasons why Teresa felt that science was her true calling. That would be how she would be a hero. She wasn’t a fighter. She could save people in a different way than the rest of her friends.
“Will it work?” Brenda asked.
“An injection is only a temporary solution,” Ava sighed as she placed a syringe into the vial, drawing out a dosage of the liquid. “I need to get this to him as soon as possible. Otherwise - ”
“Ava!”
Rushed footsteps approached the trio and they turned towards the yelling to see Sonya sprinting over to them. “It’s Newt!”
As soon as they collided, they fell to the floor, the duo rolling across the room until finally Thomas managed to get the blonde off of him. He backed up hurriedly, trying to get some distance from him. Newt was groaning in pain as he lifted himself up on all fours. And when he snapped his up towards Thomas, the brunette’s heart broke.
He could see the void black eyes of the virus taking over him, but now, just underneath, there was a trace of those brown orbs Thomas had fallen in love with. Newt was struggling, battling hard with the Flare. And it looked like he wasn’t going to win.
He was panting, black ooze dripping from his mouth along with his saliva. Some of his hair was matted down and sticking to his forehead. And those next words that came out of his mouth would haunt him for the rest of his life.
“Tommy…” Newt pleaded. “Kill me!”
The fear, the desperation, the agony in his voice. Thomas couldn’t shake it from his mind,. Not even when Newt got up and tackled Thomas to the ground.
Thomas had to remind himself that this wasn’t Newt right now. This was the Flare. He had to keep telling himself that or else he wouldn’t be able to save him.
Thin, strong hands, that used to fit so perfectly within his own, now gripped tightly around his neck. Thomas tried to push his boyfriend off of him, but Newt was a lot stronger than he looked.
“Newt, please !” Thomas begged. Newt had to hear him, he was still in there, still fighting.
The grip around his neck began to loosen and he felt a surge of oxygen flow into his chest. The boy straddling him began to slow his breathing, his black eyes beginning to clear just the tiniest bit. Realization dawned on the poor boy, as the terror of what he was doing was shown on his face.
“I’m sorry Tommy. I’m so sorry…”
“It’s okay Newt,” Thomas whispered, a single tear falling down his face. “It’s okay.”
Newt moved off of him, crawling near the kitchen counter, trying to find the strength to stand up. Thomas stood up as well, closing the distance between the two. “Thomas...you need to leave. Please. I don’t want to hurt you. I can’t - I can’t control it anymore. I can’t hold on - I -”
“I’m not leaving you, okay? I’m gonna get you through this. You just gotta hold a little longer, alright?”
Newt’s breathing began to go ragged again, his grip on the counter tightening. He grit his teeth and let out a growl. “GET AWAY!” And then Thomas was being shoved away from him, but he just came back over and moved in closer to Newt. “You’re still here, Newt! Listen to my voice, stay with me alright? Focus on me!”
In a swift move, Newt spun around with a roar of anger and launched himself at Thomas again. The brunette’s body went crashing to the floor and the back of his head hitting it hard.
He groaned in pain and reached for the back of his head. But a sudden movement nearby made him blink the pain away and look up.
There was Newt, on his knees next to Thomas, hands firmly grasped around a knife and slamming downwards.
Thomas grabbed Newt’s wrist, trying his hardest to keep the blade from going right into his heart. Newt snarled and pushed harder, the blade centimeters from his chest. “Newt!”
But Newt wasn’t there. He was gone. Thomas couldn't save him.
He failed Newt.
Thomas let out a tormenting scream as the blade protruded his flesh, the metal burning him.
He couldn’t fight Newt, he wouldn’t. Not if it meant the only way to end his suffering was death.
And then just like that, it was over.
Someone was standing behind Newt and stabbed him in the neck with a needle, injecting whatever blue liquid was inside of it. His breathing slowed, his eyes cleared, and for the smallest second, he locked eyes with Thomas.
“Tommy…”
Thomas barely heard the weak whisper that escaped from his lover’s mouth. The one word that reminded Thomas that Newt was still in there, still trying his best to beat this virus.
And then his body fell limp to the floor. Thomas immediately crawled over, hovering above Newt, mumbling his name like a prayer in disbelief. He watched Newt’s void eyes slowly close, a single tear slipping out, almost like a cruel reminder that his humanity was still there but being ravaged.
“Are you alright?” someone asked, kneeling down to look at his wound.
Thomas could barely focus right now, staring at Newt’s still body. His chest was rising and falling with a steady rhythm, and one of the veins near his neck seemed to be fading, although it barely made a difference. Thomas looked behind him to see Brenda standing there with a now empty syringe in her hand with worry crossed on her face, Ava kneeling next to him with Sonya and Teresa behind her.
“What did you give him?” Thomas asked.
“It’s called the Bliss,” Ava said. “It isn’t a cure, it just slows the Flare down. Unfortunately, it renders the person to an unconscious state. He won’t wake up until the virus has completely taken him.”
It won’t take him. Thomas was going right now. “Ava, I need you to guide me through the steps.”
“Thomas, you have a knife wound on your chest-”
“I don’t care, you can take care of it after we’ve finished.”
“Thomas-”
“ I’m not going to lose him!”
Ava’s face softened, while Teresa, Brenda, and Sonya stood quietly on the other side of the room, the latter crying at the horrific state her brother was in. Ava let out a small breath and nodded her head. “Okay, let’s begin. Once you’ve gone into Limbo, I’ll get your mother to take care of your wound.”
Thomas nodded, and looked back to Newt one last time. “I’m coming for you Newt,” Thomas whispered so softly that no one could hear him, and placed a kiss to his forehead.
He moved himself towards the side of his room and sat crossed legged and began to meditate. He listened intently to Ava’s instructions and let himself get lost in a trance.
Within a few moments, he was gone.
Nothing. He felt nothing.
Thomas opened his eyes to find a bleak world around him. Rising from the colorless grass he awoke laying in, he stood to see the unnatural realm he journeyed to. Everything was grey and black, like being lost in a world of noir. Trees missing leaves stood hundreds of feet tall and there was a light fog engulfing the perimeter. In the distance, a faint white light was making its way through the trees, the only thing illuminating the dreary place. It’s supposed to be an unsettling and eerie realm, yet somehow Thomas was able to remain calm. Nothing phased him. It’s like he was numb.
He turned back to where he awoke from, only to see himself seated on the ground in a meditative state, his body covered in a blue light. “What the hell?” he mumbled to himself, his voice creating a small echo.
“You don’t belong here,” someone says from behind him, making a much larger echo.
Thomas looks in all directions but sees no one. “Hello?” he calls out. “Hey! Can you help me?”
Silence. Deafening Silence.
“Please,” he begged.
He waited and waited, but no one answered him. So he ran a hand through his hair and started walking. To where, he had no idea, but he couldn’t just wait for someone or something to show up.
It was all too quiet. It felt like being trapped in a nightmare, just waiting for a large creature to chase him through the woods only to wake up screaming and drenched in sweat.
It was strange - his voice makes an echo, but his footsteps didn’t. Even as he stepped through the water, there was no sound of a splash, he couldn’t hear the droplets fall from his feet and back down into the water. There had to be someone here, someone who had answers. Or at least knew where to find them. But each turn of his head did not aid his thinking.
He was too busy glancing at his feet watching where he was stepping that he didn’t see it. His head bumped into something, and he withdrew from it startled. And his fear only rose when he looked up and saw a body hanging by a noose.
And it wasn’t the only one. There were countless of them, seeming to stretch on forever.
“The souls of the damned.”
Thomas spun on his heels to see an older looking man standing about teen feet away from him. His hair was grey, falling to just above his shoulders, and his skin was quite wrinkled. He looked like he was three hundred years old.
“What is this place?”
Teresa had spent the last hour pacing back and forth in the room.
Newt was moved to his bed, and she could tell he didn’t have long. The Bliss may have slowed it down, but it was clear that Thomas needed to hurry up.
And Thomas was seated against the wall, legs crossed and eyes closed as he had been since he made his way into Limbo.
Sonya was sat next to her brother’s bed, holding his hand and crying, whispering things into his ear - Ava said that he can still hear everything, but he just won’t wake up - while Harriet stood behind her doing her best to comfort her.
Mary never once took her eyes off of Thomas, waiting for any indication that he had returned. Vince was here for a little while, but he left with Jorge, Alby, and Aris to question Miyoko about Janson’s plans. And Minho and Brenda went with Ava, who had called all of the students of the school to a gathering. A war was coming, and they needed to be prepared. Vince, Mary, Ava and Jorge decided to only take those who volunteered themselves. If anyone chose flight over fight, they would be allowed to leave to a safer area.
At first, the adults were against the idea of the kids participating in this battle, but Teresa and her friends argued that this is what they’ve been training for. They were meant to be the future heroes, so they were going to step up and save the world. And Teresa would do anything to keep Thomas and her friends safe.
Sonya was finishing recalling a story of her and Newt’s childhood, something about a Christmas present gone wrong. She called her brother an idiot and let out a tiny laugh.
And the sad part was, Teresa could hear Newt talk back to her in his head. He would say some witty remark or defend himself from his sister’s attacks. Newt was still there, still barely holding on. Stubborn, just like Thomas.
“How long do you think he has?” Sonya asked Mary.
Mary finally turned away from her son to look at the broken expression of the young blonde girl. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I don’t want to lie to you, because I don’t want to give you false hope. But I believe in Thomas. I know he’ll come through.”
“Yeah, he loves Newt more than anything,” Harriet said to Sonya. “He’ll save him.”
“I’m not surprised they have such a strong bond, considering their powers,” Mary said, glancing once back at Thomas.
“What do you mean?” Teresa asked.
“The two are kind of connected. Like the yin to the yang if you will. No single power is random. There’s a design that we are all apart of. Pieces to a puzzle. Every power has an opposite. Water and Fire, Air and Earth. If someone like Newt became too powerful, only the Exemplar could stop them. And if the Exemplar needed to be stopped, Newt’s magic is probably the only thing that could stop him, since it comes from the Infinity gem. People with their gifts always felt a somehow unexplainable bond, a tug towards one another, but I’ve never heard of the two falling in love.”
The raven haired girl took a look at her unfortunately sick friend lying on the bed, and then over the closest thing she had to a brother.
Tom, we’re running out of time.