Work Text:
Thomas was so tired of running.
Why did things keep happening to him? All he wanted was an easy life, but instead he was being hunted down by a government who literally wanted to kill him.
There was only a small percentage of the world who had special powers. Thomas knew this because his sister Teresa was one of them. He’d known about her telepathy for as long as he could remember. She’d used it to speak to him whenever she hadn’t wanted their parents to hear, and it had always annoyed her that Thomas couldn’t reply. Thomas had just assumed there was nothing special about him.
Until a few months ago, that is.
Thomas had been lying on his bed one day, bored out of his mind. Just for fun, he’d tried to send a message to his sister, not even trying that hard. Just a simple ‘hey, can you hear me?’ Less than a minute later though, Teresa had replied. Tom? Is that you?
Thomas had freaked out. Teresa had told him he had to go to WICKED, a government funded organisation who monitored people with powers and supported them with learning how to control them. Teresa had been going to WICKED for years They say we’re special, Tom. She’d said, her eyes shining. So, he’d gone for the tests, he’d played along and met the chancellor, a tall, imposing woman called Ava Paige. He’d also met the vice chancellor, a rat faced man named Janson, who Thomas hated, he seemed like a creep. They told Thomas and Teresa how special they were, how they’d never met a pair of siblings with the same powers. How the fact that they could communicate telepathically with each other, as well as sending thoughts to other peoples’ minds, could be incredibly helpful to the government. That if they were taught how to use their gifts properly, they could help so many people.
This had gone on for months with the scientists at WICKED showing Thomas and Teresa how to strengthen their connection and how to make their telepathy reach further distances. Thomas hated it. He just wanted to go back to normality. He didn’t trust WICKED, but Teresa did and whenever he tried to bring up his worries to her, she’d dismiss them. WICKED were good, she said. He knew she loved feeling important and like she was doing something good in the world.
Then two days ago, Thomas had seen something that changed everything.
He’d just arrived for another day of tests when he’d somehow taken a wrong turn down one of the corridors. Instead of turning back, something had made him want to keep walking. He walked further down, the corridor getting darker as he went, until he reached a steel door. He tried the handle, and it had opened, a cold, blue, artificial light spilling out. A chill went through Thomas’s body as he slowly walked into the room. What he saw made him feel sick to his stomach. There were cages around the room, each one with someone inside. It looked like they were all teenagers or younger. Some were sitting upright, knees pulled up to their chests, staring straight ahead, traumatised looks on their faces. Others looked like they were unconscious, some hooked up to machines, wires protruding from their heads and chests.
“Help”
Thomas looked to where the voice was coming from, a boy, maybe a couple of years younger than him, was gripping the bars of the cage he was in, his face covered in bruises. Thomas walked over, his heart thumping. “Who are you?” he asked.
“My name’s Aris” the boy said. “Please, you’ve gotta get us out of here.”
Thomas looked around, still trying to get his head around what he was looking at. “What is all this?” he whispered.
“WICKED, man” Aris said. “They get us by telling us we’re special, that our powers can change the world, and then when they’ve got our trust, they lock us up and experiment on us.”
Thomas stared at him in horror. “I don’t get it- my sister, she’s been coming here for years and they haven’t done anything to her. She thinks WICKED are amazing.”
Aris shrugged. “Maybe they’ve got bigger plans for her then but look around. You really think I’m making this up? I don’t know what their plan is, but I’m scared they’re going to kill us.”
Thomas believed everything Aris said. He’d had a bad feeling about WICKED since he’d first walked through those doors and met Janson. “What can I do?” he asked, knowing that he had to do whatever he could to help. “How can I get everyone out? Are there keys? A back way out?”
“You can’t do it on your own” Aris told him. “Janson has the keys to every cage and he and his guards would stop age and he and his guards would stop in a second. You need help. You need to find the Gladers.”
“The resistance?” Thomas asked incredulously. He’d heard of a group that were anti-WICKED but no one really knew who they were or what they looked like.
Aris nodded. “Please, hurry. But you need to go now, Janson will be here any moment and you do notwant him to see you.”
Thomas hadn’t needed to be told twice. His heart pounded as he had turned and run, out of the facility, out of the city. He needed to get as far away as possible. They were going to torture him. How had he got himself into this situation? He felt sick at the idea of leaving everyone else behind, all those kids. But what could he do on his own? He didn’t even bother trying to call out to Teresa in his mind, she wouldn’t believe him.
He’d barely stopped since. He’d hardly had anything to eat or drink, and he didn’t want to risk sleeping. Teresa had been trying to talk to him constantly and it had taken all his strength to try and keep her out of his head. It hurt him to push his sister away, but he didn’t know if she was with WICKED and if they were using her to track him.
He stopped and leant against a wall, suddenly feeling faint. He had to keep going. He still had no idea how to find the Gladers or what he’d even say if he found them. He sighed and straightened up. He took a couple more steps before black spots danced in front of his eyes. His knees buckled, and everything went dark.
***************************
Thomas woke with a headache. He groaned, stretched, and then froze. Something felt strange. His eyes flew open, and he tried to take in his surroundings. He was lying on a mattress inside a building that looked like it was some sort of abandoned warehouse. Where was he? Had WICKED found him because he’d let his guard down? Thomas tried to get up, starting to panic.
“Hey” a voice said. “Stay where you are.”
Thomas looked up and saw a boy, about the same age as him with short dark blonde hair, standing over him. “Where am I?” he asked. “Who are you?”
The boy scowled at him. “You don’t get to ask the questions.”
“Slim it, Gally” another voice said.
Thomas watched as another boy stepped into view. He was tall, with blonde hair, his fringe falling over his eyes which were a beautiful dark brown. He crouched down in front of Thomas and smiled. “My name’s Newt. I’m the leader of the Gladers. You seem to have got yourself in a bit of a state.”
Thomas couldn’t believe it. He’d somehow managed to find the Gladers by accident, or more accurately, they’d found him. “I’m Thomas” he said.
Newt laughed. “We know who you are, Tommy.”
Thomas frowned, how could these boys already know about him. “It’s Thomas” he corrected Newt, “and what do you mean you know who I am?”
“I think I prefer Tommy” Newt smirked, and for some reason, this made Thomas’s insides turn to mush, he felt dizzy again and he didn’t know why. “As for knowing who you are, there’s posters of you all over the city. The real question is why are they looking for you?”
The other boy, Gally, handed Newt a piece of paper and Newt held it out for Thomas to see. A grainy black and white photo of him took up most of the page, the word WANTED printed in large letters at the top with his name and a reward of $50,000 for his safe return to WICKED. Thomas couldn’t believe it. It had been two days! Somehow, he hadn’t expected WICKED to be so focused on finding him.
“I- I have powers, I guess” Thomas said hesitantly. “I’m telepathic, so’s my sister, Teresa. WICKED have been training us, I guess. But I found out they’re torturing kids. There’s this whole part in their main compound where they’re keeping them locked up. I met this boy Aris, he said I needed to find you guys, to get help.”
Newt raised his hand. “Hold on, Tommy.” He turned to Gally. “Get Minho” he ordered. Gally nodded and left the room. Newt turned back to Thomas, “we know all about WICKED” he said grimly. “Sorry you got caught up in it.”
Thomas was about to reply when a muscular Asian boy walked into the room. He looked at Thomas. “Nice to see you’re awake” he said.
“This is Minho” Newt told Thomas. “He’s my second in command. Minho, Tommy’s just brought me up to speed on how he’s involved with WICKED. Turns out he and his sister are telepathic, and Tommy here knows what we know about what WICKED are really doing.”
“I don’t understand” Thomas said, looking between Newt and Minho, “if you guys know all about this, why haven’t you done something. You’re supposed to be the resistance, right?”
“Don’t talk about what you don’t know” Minho snapped. “We’ve been fighting WICKED for a long time, we’ve escaped WICKED. We’ve lost people. They’re building an army you know? They’re taking kids like us, torturing them, and planning on using them to take over the world.”
Newt reached out and placed his hand on Minho’s arm. “it’s ok” he said softly. “Tommy’s new to all this. I’m glad you’re here” he said to Thomas, “you might be what we need to end this.” He stood up. “We need to call a meeting.”
********************
It wasn’t long before Thomas, Newt, and Minho were joined by the rest of the Gladers, all in their teens or early twenties. Thomas could instantly see that every single one of them had gone through a lot, that they’d all been through some sort of tragedy and Thomas knew every bit of it was caused by WICKED.
Newt stood and faced everyone. “As you all know, earlier today we found a boy who’d collapsed not far away from here.” He gestured to Thomas, who shrank back as everyone’s gaze turned to him. “Thomas is wanted by WICKED, which means he must be important to them. They’ve never put up posters of any of us. He’s the missing piece we need to bring WICKED down.”
“How do you know we can trust him?” someone called out.
“I’ve never liked WICKED” Thomas said. “I’ve always thought there was something that wasn’t right about them. When I heard what they were doing I ran. I want to help.”
Gally pushed his way through the crowd and stood with his arms folded. “Newt, he told us that he and his sister are telepathic. How do we know he’s not feeding her information right now? WICKED aren’t stupid, they’ll be doing everything they can to track him.”
“I know they will” Newt replied. “That’s why we’re going to have to start moving quickly. We’re going to increase training and sort out a plan. I want us out in two days.”
“I’m not communicating with my sister” Thomas said, wanting to defend himself. “I know how to keep her out of my head, WICKED taught me that, that was their mistake.”
Newt clapped him on the shoulder. “This is our chance” he told the group. “We’ve been waiting so long and lost so much. Why should we wait any longer? Everyone with me?”
“No” Gally said, and a couple of the other Gladers murmured their agreement. “I don’t trust Thomas, and you aren’t seeing the bigger picture as usual. If Alby was here, he wouldn’t even be thinking about this! He knew what he was doing.”
Thomas didn’t know what Gally was talking about, but the room fell silent and Newt’s face turned pale. Minho stepped forward, his hands balled into fists. “Say that again” he said through gritted teeth.
“Don’t, Minho” Newt said, his voice strained. “It’s ok.” He turned and walked out of the room.
Minho turned to Gally again. “I don’t want to hear another word out of you” he spat. He raised his voice as he addressed the rest of the Gladers. “Newt’s right, we’re going with his plan. Anyone who has a problem can take it up with me. Get to work, I want to see people training.”
While Minho was talking, Thomas took the opportunity to follow Newt. He wanted to check the other boy was ok. He didn’t know why, but he was drawn to Newt and wanted to be around him. He snuck out the door and began walking down a long corridor. It wasn’t long until he spotted Newt, sitting slumped against the wall.
He sat down next to Newt, making sure not to startle him. “Hey” Thomas said quietly, “are you ok?”
Newt rubbed his sleeve across his face before turning to look at Thomas. His eyes were rimmed with red and there was a sadness in them that made Thomas’s heart ache, even though he barely knew the boy. “Yeah, I’m fine” Newt sniffed. “I’m just new to this whole leadership thing.” He sighed shakily. “Our previous leader was a guy called Alby. We were close. He was a good leader, calm and focused. A couple of months ago, we were spying on WICKED, trying to get some more information about how they work, where everyone is at different points of the day. I don’t know how, but they realised we were there, and they came after us. Alby told me to run so I did, and they caught him and killed him. Just like that.”
Newt’s eyes filled with tears and Thomas reached out and put his hand over Newt’s. “I’m so sorry” he said.
Newt flashed him a watery smile and squeezed his hand. “You seem like a good guy, Tommy. I’m sorry you got dragged into this.”
For the first time since he’d stumbled across that terrible room in WICKED, the anxiety and horror that Thomas had been feeling lessened. Sitting here with Newt, he felt safe for the first time in a long time. He didn’t know why he felt that the other boy was so familiar to him, especially as he’d only known him a few hours, but he knew that he wanted to keep feeling like this. He wanted to stay with Newt.
“How did you end up with the Gladers?” Thomas asked.
“About 3 years ago WICKED found out about my powers” Newt told him. “I’ve never trusted them, always thought the whole company was a bit dodgy. Then my little sister developed powers too and I knew I had to get her away before they got their hands on her. We went on the run even though we had no idea where we were going. Minho found us, picked us up and brought us here, to the Gladers. We’ve been here ever since.”
“You have a sister too?”
Newt smiled. “Yeah, Sonya. She’s everything to me and I’ll always protect her. She’s a healer so she’s incredibly important. WICKED don’t know about her though, and I want it to stay that way.”
Thomas completely understood. He always wanted to protect Teresa, but it always ended up that she was the one looking after him. He hated that he wasn’t with her right now and he hoped she’d come with him when they broke everyone out of WICKED. Newt’s obvious love for his sister made Thomas admire him even more. “So, what is your power?” he asked curiously.
“Let me show you” Newt said, a glint in his eye. Before Thomas could reply, Newt had vanished. Thomas would have thought he had disappeared completely if he hadn’t still been able to feel Newt’s hand in his.
“Woah” Thomas breathed. He’d never met anyone who could turn invisible before and it was way cooler than he could have ever imagined. This is really cool he thought, picturing Newt’s face and pushing the thought towards him, hoping it would work and it would reach him. His telepathy could still be a little unpredictable at times.
Newt suddenly reappeared, his eyes wide. “Bloody hell” he said. “It was like you were in my mind!”
“I’m getting better” Thomas admitted. “I haven’t been doing this for long.” He looked at Newt, feeling like he had to explain himself again. “I promise I’m not talking to Teresa though! I’m really worried about her, but she trusts WICKED and I don’t.”
“Tommy” Newt said kindly, squeezing Thomas’s hand again. “You don’t need to explain yourself, ok? I know Gally can seem like a bit of a dick, but he’s a good guy really. He’s gone through a lot. He’s a shapeshifter, he can change into any kind of animal, so he’s exactly the kind of person WICKED wants. Gally’ always stood up to them, told them where to go. Two years ago they killed his family. Reports said it was an explosion caused by a gas leak, but Gally knew the truth.”
Thomas stayed silent as he took all of this in. His entire opinion of Gally had changed. “That’s awful” he said weakly. “How come they’re not still looking for him?”
“They think he’s dead” Newt said bluntly. “That’s why he freaked out earlier. He’s scared that if WICKED find you, they’ll find him too. He’ll come around though, he wants to save all those kids just as much as the rest of us, and he wants revenge too.”
“I’ll definitely help you” Thomas said. “I just don’t really know why you think I’m the key to everything. I’m not like you or Gally or Sonya, I’m nothing special.”
“Well WICKED think you are” Newt pointed out. “And I do too.”
Thomas felt his face grow hot. He didn’t know how to reply to that. Newt suddenly let go of Thomas’s hand and stood up. “Thanks for cheering me up, Tommy” he said. “We should get back to the others though. We’ve got a lot to do.”
Newt started walk away and Thomas stared after him, his stomach in knots. In that moment, he knew he was falling fast,
*******************
The next few days past in a blur. Newt was trying to get them into some kind of order and finalise the plan. He and Minho spent a lot of time pouring over blueprints of WICKED’s headquarters, looking for the best way in.
Thomas got to know a few of the other Gladers better over those few days. He talked to Sonya a lot, finding out more about Newt in the process, but also about how sweet and kind Sonya herself was. There was Harriet, Sonya’s girlfriend, who had telekinesis and loved playing tricks on everyone. Then there was Brenda, a fiery, independent woman, who could manipulate air and water. Her and Thomas hit it off straight away and she was soon making him laugh constantly.
Finally, there was Minho. Thomas found out that he wasn’t only Newt’s second in command, but his best friend too. Apparently, Minho had once been locked in one of those cages and experimented on. His super strength and speed had meant that he’d managed to escape pretty quickly with WICKED being unable to contain him. Newt told Thomas that it had left Minho scarred though, and that the older boy rarely talked about that time. Thomas liked the guy and had a lot of respect for him.
Thomas had also grown impossibly close to Newt. He’d fully admitted to himself now that he had a massive crush on the leader of the Gladers. He constantly found himself looking for Newt and gravitating to his side. He didn’t miss the looks from Sonya and Brenda either. He knew he wasn’t being subtle.
Finally, Newt and Minho decided everyone was ready. The plan was set. Thomas would walk right up to WICKED’s door, tell them it had all got too much for him and he’d needed a few days to clear his head, but he knew he really belonged with WICKED and Teresa. He’d provide a distraction for Newt, Minho, and Gally to sneak in and they’d help the trapped kids to escape. The rest of the Gladers would be waiting in case a fight broke out. Sonya would be hidden safely, ready to step in if anyone was injured.
It certainly wasn’t perfect, and Thomas had a feeling something would go wrong, but it was the best plan they had.
As they packed up, Thomas watched Newt talking to Sonya and Harriet. “He likes you too, you know” a voice said behind him.
Thomas jumped and turned to see Minho had appeared beside him. “Wha- what do you mean?” he stammered.
Minho rolled his eyes. “Helikes you” he said slowly. “It’s obvious. I’ve never seen Newt be so comfortable around someone so quickly and he can’t stop talking about you. And it’s pretty easy to tell how you feel about him- you’re always looking at him with that lovesick look on your face.”
Thomas knew he was blushing. “I do not have a lovesick look.”
Minho laughed and patted Thomas’s back. “Look, all I’m saying is you should go for it. I like you, Thomas. I think you’d be good for Newt. Just don’t hurt him, ok? Otherwise I’ll hurt you.”
“I wouldn’t expect any different” Thomas said with a smile. His mind was racing. Newt really liked him? Thomas didn’t know what to do next. How was he supposed to tell Newt how he felt?
He was pulled out of his thoughts as Newt walked over, a grim look on his face. A feeling of dread settled in Thomas’s stomach. It was time. “Ready?” Newt asked him.
Thomas nodded. He was the one to set the plan into action. He let his defences down and pictured Teresa’s face. Teresa? He called out. Are you there?
The reply was immediate., Teresa’s voice was loud in his head, like she was shouting. Tom? Where are you? Why did you block me out? I’ve been so worried!
Thomas looked at Newt and took a deep breath. I’ll explain when I see you. Tell Janson I’m coming back to WICKED.
*********************
They stood a few blocks from WICKED’s headquarters, huddled together as they went through the plan one last time.
“Does everyone understand what they’re doing?” Newt asked, looking at each of them in turn. They all nodded, and Newt turned to Thomas. “Ok, Tommy. Are you ready?”
“I guess” Thomas said, not feeling convinced.
Newt stepped forward and took both of Thomas’s hands in his own. “I believe in you” he said, and Thomas couldn’t help but smile. “Just keep calm and keep them distracted” Newt continued.
“I can do that” Thomas said.
Newt leant forward and kissed Thomas’s cheek before moving away, his expression serious. “Stay safe” he said softly.
Thomas’s heart was thumping, his cheek tingling from Newt’s lips. “You too” he managed to say.
Newt had given him the courage he needed. He turned away from the Gladers and walked until he reached WICKED. When he was a couple of minutes away, he sent a message to Teresa. I’m here.
He could see the doors to WICKED open, two security guards stepped out. Thomas walked towards them shakily, raising his hands in the air.
“I’ve come to speak to Chancellor Paige and Vice Chancellor Janson” he called as he reached them.
“Well, well” one of the guards said. “The prodigal son returns.”
“You got a problem?” Thomas asked, trying to sound confident.
The guard raised his eyebrow. “Wow, look at this tough guy.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Thomas saw a blur move past him and the guards and through the open door. A mouse scuttled after it. He smiled. Minho, Newt, and Gally were in.
“Just take me to Paige and Janson” he ordered.
The guards looked at each other. “Sure. They’re waiting for you.”
They took him to an office where Ava Paige, Janson and Teresa were waiting for him. As soon as Thomas stepped into the room, Teresa ran over and flung her arms around him. “I was so worried about you” she whispered. Thomas hugged her back. He’d realised then how much he’d missed her.
“Thomas” Janson drawled. “Welcome back. We were very confused when you ran away, and no one could contact you. We’re even more confused by your sudden return.”
“I was scared” Thomas told him, sticking to the story he’d made up with Newt back at the warehouse. “Everything was happening so fast, and you telling Teresa and me that we were special. I didn’tfeel special. I didn’t ask for powers either. No one gave me time to think. I just needed to get away for a while.”
Janson stared at him through narrowed eyes. “Really? You felt scared?”
“Enough, Janson” Ava said, stepping forward. She placed her hand on Thomas’s shoulder. “You don’t need to be scared Thomas. You are special. You and Teresa can help so much. With the right training, you could track criminals down. Speak to people without others knowing. The possibilities are endless. We’re just here to help you.”
Teresa was nodding along. “It’s true Tom, WICKED are good!”
Thomas felt sick. He wished he could tell Teresa everything right now and drag her to that room to show her those kids. He hated Ava and Janson for brainwashing her, making her believe she was doing some good and they weren’t just using her for their own schemes.
He took a subtle look at his watch, wondering if the others had had enough time to get to the other end of the building. They’d realised how hard it would be to get the keys, so the idea was to sneak Harriet in and use her telekinesis combined with Minho’s strength to break those kids out. The escape would be more difficult.
Thomas looked at Ava Paige and shrugged. “If my sister’s in, then so am I.”
Ava and Janson looked at each other. “That’s excellent” Ava said. “Let’s go. We’ve lost some time.”
Just as they were about to leave, there was a commotion from outside. Thomas’s heart sank. His friends had been caught. He’d known this would happen.
Janson looked at the door and then back at Thomas. “I knew we couldn’t trust you” he spat. “What the hell have you done?” He yanked the door open and Thomas took in the scene before him.
The Gladers had broken out WICKED’s prisoners but had run into the guards as they tried to escape. His friends were trying their best to fight, and Thomas could see Aris amongst them, fire shooting out of his hands, but most of the kids they rescued were too weak to help. Thomas frantically sent a message to Brenda, telling her to bring the others, that they needed them right now.
Teresa grabbed his arm. “What’s going on?” she asked, her eyes wide. “Who are all these people?”
“WICKED aren’t good” Thomas told her. “They’re using us to build an army to take over the world. That’s why they’re ‘helping’ us with our powers.” He gestured to kids, some shivering against the walls. “They’ve been torturing them, Teresa! All because they have powers they didn’t even ask for.” Teresa was looking around in horror. “Whose side are you on?” Thomas asked her.
“Yours” Teresa whispered. “Always yours.”
Thomas nodded, just as the main doors burst open and Brenda and the rest of the Gladers stormed in.
Minho looked up from where he was punching a guard. “Get everyone out” he yelled. A couple of Gladers ran in and started guiding the weaker kids towards the doors.
Thomas searched frantically for Newt, unable to see him. Suddenly, he saw a guard fall back, seemingly out of nowhere. Newt. Thomas sighed in relief. He looked at Teresa, both of them knowing what to do without even using their telepathy. They both helped as many kids out of the building as they could with Thomas giving them directions to a small hut where Sonya was waiting.
When Thomas came back into the building, Minho grabbed him. “We need to end this” he said. “Everyone’s out but we can’t have them coming after us.”
Thomas nodded in agreement. He looked around to see Janson rallying the guards.
“Take them down” Janson ordered. “Use whatever force is necessary.”
And then Janson tripped. Thomas held his breath realising that Newt was there, that he was right by Janson. He obviously knew it too. Janson pulled a knife from his waistband and stabbed wildly.
For a moment, Thomas thought he’d missed. But then Newt became visible and Thomas watched in horror as he crumpled to the ground, blood seeping through his shirt.
NEWT he cried out in his mind, the sound seeming to echo around him, his vision blurring. He was aware of Minho racing to Newt, lifting him like he weighed nothing.
“Get out of here” Gally yelled. “Everyone get out.”
Thomas stumbled towards the doors dragging Teresa with him, looking behind him to see Gally shifting, growing bigger, his skin changing to scales until he’d fully morphed into a dragon. Thomas ran, and when he was far enough away, he turned back to see the entire of the building had gone up in flames with Ava and Janson still inside. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Gally stagger out, looking seemingly unharmed.
It was over.
His thoughts turned to Newt. He knew Minho would have reached Sonya by now, so he ran on shaky legs until he reached the hut.
When he got there, Minho was pacing outside. He looked up as Thomas reached him. “How is he?” Thomas asked breathlessly.
“He’s going to be ok” Minho said. “I got him to Sonya in time. He’s an idiot for putting himself in danger like that.”
Thomas was just glad that Newt was ok, he didn’t care about anything else right now. “Can I see him?”
Minho smiled slightly. “Sonya’s still fixing him up, but I’ll let you know as soon as he’s ready for visitors.”
Gally walked over to them then, looking completely drained. “Are you ok?” Thomas asked him. “What you did… that must have been hard.”
Gally looked at him for a moment. “Yeah, it was hard” he said finally, “but it’s over. They paid for what they did.” He gave Thomas an approving nod. “Newt was right, we did need you.”
Thomas nodded at him, hoping things would be ok between them now. He saw Teresa standing at the edge of the group looking lost. “Excuse me” he murmured, leaving Minho and Gally to talk as he made his way over to his sister.
“Are you ok” he asked as he reached her.
Teresa nodded. “A little shaken up” she admitted. “It all happened so fast. They were really torturing kids?”
“Yeah” Thomas replied. “I would have never known about it if I hadn’t stumbled across that room.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Teresa asked.
“I didn’t know if you’d believe me”
Teresa’s face softened. “Oh Tom, I’ll always believe you.”
“Hey, Thomas!”
Thomas looked around to see Minho jogging towards him. “Newt’s asking for you” he said, a twinkle in his eye.
Thomas’s heart leapt. “I’ll be back” he told Teresa.
****************
Sonya greeted him with a smile as he entered the hut. “He’s just in there” she said, pointing to a room directly in front of them. Thomas smiled back at her, opened the door and slipped into the room.
Newt was lying in a bed, looking a little pale, but his eyes were open and clear. “Hey, Tommy” he said with a smile. “I’m so glad you’re ok.”
Thomas sat down on the edge of the bed and took Newt’s hand in his. “You scared me” he said, his voice cracking slightly. “What were you doing?”
“Guess I wanted to be the hero” Newt said. “Didn’t really work out though.”
“I was scared I was going to lose you” Thomas confessed.
Newt looked at him, his eyes seeming to search Thomas’s. “I’ve never met anyone like you before” he said. “I need to know if you feel the same way about me as I do about you.”
“How do you feel?” Thomas asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.
“Like I want to be with you all the time. Like you’re way more than a friend to me.”
“That’s how I feel too” Thomas told him, warmth spreading through him as he watched a grin spread across Newt’s face.
“Kiss me” Newt demanded.
Thomas didn’t need to be told twice. He leant forward and kissed Newt softly, feeling like he was floating. Eventually he pulled away and lay next to Newt, his head on the other boy’s shoulder.
“What do we do now?” Newt wondered aloud. “Other than find a place for us all to live of course which isn’t a bloody abandoned warehouse.”
“I’d just like to be a normal teenager again” Thomas said. “Maybe take you on a date?”
“I’d like that” Newt smiled. “That’s a good plan.” He kissed Thomas again, and Thomas could feel himself relaxing.
He didn’t need to run anymore.