Work Text:
Two days after World In Repair
"Cara! We have a problem!" Cara burst out of the medical cabin. Awinita was sprinting toward her. Minho was far behind her, supporting a limping Jay.
"What happened to him?" Cara asked, rushing to meet them.
"Minho took us on a run. Jay tripped, hurt his ankle, and fell into some bushes." Awinita explained. Cara shook her head. They'd only been at the Safe Haven for two days, and Jay had already gotten himself hurt.
"Do you always have to get hurt as soon as I have access to medical resources?" Cara asked, helping Minho get him to the medical cabin. Since they arrived, Sonya had been helping Cara learn everything she needed to know to help care for the survivors. Being placed as Jay, Awinita, and Natalia’s primary medic, Cara was able to help Sonya and the other medics compile a file of all past medical incidences. The Project ZETA files had all medical records of before the four’s memories had been wiped, and Thomas was helping to fill in what he remembered. Through these files, all four learned that they’d been sterilized. Thomas had promised to explain, especially given that the girls were understandably confused since they still experienced periods.
Jay laughed. "Just trying to help you test them out."
Sonya helped them lay Jay on the bed. While Cara tended to the cuts that came as a result of the bush, Sonya examined and probed his leg. “Feels like it might be broken. Unfortunately, without access to an x-ray, there’s not much more I can say.”
“So cast it and hope it heals?” Jay asked, hissing in pain when the blonde poked at sensitive parts of his leg or when Cara placed rubbing alcohol on his cuts to clean them.
“Yep. I’ll get the supplies, you guys just sit tight.” Sonya patted his non-injured leg and greeted Natalia, Newt, and Thomas on her way out. Newt laughed.
“Why is it always you who gets hurt the most?”
“That’s just what happens when you decide to become a father.” Jay laughed a little before glancing at the looks on the girls’ faces. Since learning about the sterilization, the jokes about them being a family were a little more sensitive. Minho and Newt noticed the drop in attitude but were gracious enough not to say anything. Thomas shook his head.
“Can I talk to these guys alone?” Thomas asked the Runner and Ex-Runner. “I’ll find you afterward.”
Minho and Newt nodded, the latter giving Jay a mock salute. Once they were gone, Thomas sighed. “Alright, what questions do you have?”
“How did they do it?” Cara asked. “I’ve examined Awinita and Natalia’s bodies several times, and they’ve done the same to mine. The W.I.R even did a full physical exam when we joined. We still have periods, which means we still have our uteruses, and there are no operation scars that point to tied tubes, which we don’t have. Same with Jay. No evidence of any operation, and his reproductive organs are all intact and free of interference.”
“Drugs,” Thomas said. “They did it through drugs.”
“I know that guys can be sterilized through drugs, but I didn’t think girls could,” Awinita said.
“You can’t, at least not with the knowledge WCKD gave me. In reality, you four are infertile. Putting sterilization on your records just looked and sounded more reassuring to Janson that nothing would happen. Ava didn’t care as long as you did your job.” Thomas explained. “Jay was easy. Find the right meds or drugs and administer the pills as something he was required to take as part of his training and the project. For you three-”
“They had to make their own?” Natalia guessed.
“Yep. Experimentation and trials began as soon as Teressa and I suggested the project be put up for consideration . Once you four were picked, the final stages of the trials began. By the time you three were old enough to start taking pills on your own, without the help of someone, WCKD made it a required part of the project.” Thomas finished.
“Why did they make us infertile?” Jay asked.
“On the off chance that you four ever got intimate with someone for whatever reason, WCKD didn’t want you four having children. With Jay, they were worried that the mother of the child would try and use it to get access to WCKD information, and risk everything they’d built. With Cara, Awi, and Nat, they didn’t want any ‘distractions’ that would impair your focus or capability on a mission.”
“So they robbed us of a future for the sake of the company?” Natalia asked, outraged.
“At the time, you four all thought serving WCKD was the only future you had, and that its protection and the protection of everyone involved with it was the only thing that mattered.” Thomas sighed. “I know it’s not the best excuse, and I and Teressa were against the idea of forced infertilization, but Janson threatened to remove us from the project. To be honest, Janson probably would’ve done a lot more to turn you into heartless, thoughtless, killing machines if Ava hadn’t given us override power over our project.”
There was a knock on the door, and Sonya appeared with the bandages and small planks of wood. It was the best the Safe Haven could do. “Sorry if I was interrupting something.”
“You’re okay,” Thomas said. “I’ll leave you guys alone. Give you time to process.”
“How are Newt’s nightmares?” Jay asked. “Haven’t a chance to ask him yet.”
Ever since the gang had first brought him back to the land of living all those years okay in that broken-down train car on the outskirts of the Last City, Newt had been having terrible nightmares about his death, being a crank, and his time in the maze and scorch. He would wake up screaming and panicking. Thomas smiled a little. “Better. He’s no worse off than the rest of us anymore, so that’s probably as good as it’s going to get for a while.”
After Thomas left, the room fell into silence while Sonya worked quickly. Gally stopped by with a crutch he whipped up when he heard what Jay had done to himself. Sonya told Jay to come once a week to check it but that he should be fine in about four weeks. After that, she left them alone in the silence of their thoughts. Natalia was staring at the floor, Awinita’s knee was bouncing from where she was sitting on the bed next to Jay, and Cara was staring out the window, watching the beach. Jay was watching the girls. He put a caring hand on Awi’s knee, stopping it from bouncing. She slumped down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. “What do we do now?”
“I don’t know,” Jay answered.
“I mean, I know none of us have ever talked about wanting children, but now knowing that we can’t?” Natalia started.
“It makes you want them all the more.” Cara finished.
***
That night, when the sun had gone down, they all gathered by the bonfire with everyone else. All four had agreed, they would try not to think about it, but it still weighed heavily on their minds. Awinita had stuck close to Jay, Cara had buried herself in looking through the Safe Haven medical records, and Natalia had occupied herself with fixing every mechanical problem she could find. It didn't work. Jay and Awinita sat together by the fire. Cara sat with her back to the fire, watching the waves, and Natalia was sitting next to Minho. Cara smiled at the sounds of laughter, the sounds of a found family. She barely moved when Gally came and sat next to her.
"I can't believe Jay tripped into a bush," Gally laughed. "You'd think with all the experience he has, Jay would have better coordination.
"That's Jay for you." Cara shrugged. "Can be this experienced fighter who knows what he's doing, but he's also a clumsy idiot. " He laughed, and Cara was grateful for the small distraction he provided. The two sat there in silence for a while, listening to the sounds of the night and the waves.
"Are guys okay?" Gally asked after a while, breaking the silence. Cara looked at him. "I mean, it's obvious that you four aren't happy about something. I just want you to know that we're all here for you."
"We know," Cara said, trying to convey as much appreciation in her words as possible. "Thomas told us about something in our medical files from WCKD. We were robbed of a future we didn't know we could have at the time."
Gally sighed, placing an arm around her and pulling her into a half hug. She appreciated the gesture, and she was grateful for the comfort he provided. "You know, it's funny."
"What?"
"I can relate to Newt in a way." Gally thought. "I was killed by my friends because I was going to kill them, a group of people found me, brought me back, and gave me a second family until I found my first again."
"Huh," Cara realized. "You're right."
"And now you four have a second family. All of us." Gally looked back at the bonfire. Cara looked with him. Natalia was fooling around with Minho, Jay and Awinita were talking with Aris and Harriet. Everyone was happy and laughing.
"Cara?" Gally asked. She looked at him, realizing she hadn't said anything for a while.
"Yeah?"
"You okay?"
She smiled at him. "I will be. Thank you."
"Not a problem." Gally helped her up and led her back to the crowd. Natalia crashed into her with a laugh and quickly used the medic as a human shield to hide from Minho. They'd be alright. Cara smiled up at Gally, who smiled back. They'd found another family. She -they- wouldn't have to be alone.