November 5th, 2001

"Hey you, stop sulking and come with me." Kis grabbed Thomas arm and pulled him down the hall as he tried to shake her off.

"Let go!" Thomas growled as he pulled and twisted his arm. "I wanna be by myself."

"This is important Thomas, so stop being a fucking baby!" Kis shot back as she glared daggers at him.

It was enough to shut Thomas up.

They stopped at Xavier's office, Kis ushered Thomas inside and shut the door behind them.

The professor was sitting at his desk with a weird expression on his face. This couldn't be about Newt right? Were they kicking him out of school for upsetting Newt?

Kis grabbed Thomas' shoulder and forced him down into the chair across from the professor.

"You deaf or somethin?" Kis asked as he rolled her eyes and headed over to stand in the corner next to El. When did she even get here? When did they start talking to him? He must not have heard, he couldn't think about anything other than Newt.

"Thomas, this is about your parents," Xavier said sternly, clasping his hands together.

"W-what about them?" Thomas stammered as he fidgeted in his seat.

"Somehow, they found a way to infiltrate the school. They know where we are, how many of us there are and they even know where the doors are located. They know, now WICKED knows."

"How did they find out?" Thomas asked, gripping the arms of his chair so hard his knuckles turned white.

The professor exchanged a glance with Kis and El, sighing before looking back at Thomas. "It had to be someone from the inside."

Thomas sat there dumbfounded for a second, they thought he told them.

"I would never!" Thomas snapped, standing up and feeling the heat rise to his face. "I don't even know where they are!"

"Calm down," X put out his hand, making a gesture telling Thomas to sit back down. "You're very easy to anger Thomas."

Thomas looked down at his hands, his chest heaving up and down. Smoke was already coming to surround them. He look a shaky breath and sat back in the chair, trying to slow his pounding heart.

"I'm fine," he said, his voice shaking slightly. "I'm fine."

He wasn't fine, Newt wasn't there to calm him down, he was weirdly good at it.

"You know we had to ask," Kis said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You didn't need to freak the fuck out."

"Would you stop!" El hissed at her. "You don't have to be so pissy all the time!"

Xavier rubbed his head, letting out a breath as he did it. "I think this is between me and Thomas."

Both girls opened their mouths to protest but Xavier just shooed them out.

Kis scowled and slammed the door open, making Thomas wince as it hit the wall.

"Bye Thomas!" El waved as she left after her friend, shutting the door quietly behind them.

Thomas looked back at the professor, swallowing hard. His nerves spiked with the girls gone. For some reason he felt better with them there, like he was sure no one would hurt him with them around.

"If you know anything, I need you to tell me okay?" The professor looked sternly at him which made Thomas cower in his seat.

"You'd know if I wasn't telling you something wouldn't you?" Thomas asked. "Cause you can read my mind."

"I'm on your side Thomas, WICKED is coming and they're coming soon. Information is vital, it puts us ahead."

"Well how do we stop them?" Thomas asked, concern finally taking over. This school was his home, if it fell he would be on the streets again.

The professor smiled softly. "Not we Thomas. You."

November 6th, 2001

"I got him!" Minho exclaimed happily as he came into the training room with Newt over his shoulder. The boy was struggling, kicking and hitting at Minho's back which obviously did nothing. Newt's fists were a laughable weapon against Minho's literal stone build.

"I hate you Min," Newt grumbled as Minho dropped him into a chair. "You're the worst friend ever."

"We knew you wouldn't come willingly." El smiled at him shyly.

Newt sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, practically deflating in the chair. "I'm still not talking to him."

"He's unconscious." Minho rolled his eyes as he motioned to Thomas who was curled up on the ground. The professor was sitting in his wheelchair by him, it looked as if he was protecting him.

"Why are they here?" Newt motioned to Kis and El who were standing off to the side.

"In case shit hits the fan," Kis said from where she was leaning against the wall.

"That's reassuring." Newt muttered as he looked at Thomas again. Something in his stomach twisted as he stared at the boy on the ground. He didn't look comfortable. He looked hurt. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine," Xavier said. "We just needed to knock down the power barriers he has up when he's awake."

"And I'm here because?"

"Did anyone catch him up?" El asked as the rest of the group eyed each other.

"I thought Minho was supossed to!" Kis shouted.

"What?! No! That was your job!" Minho shot back. "I carried his ass all the way here!"

Kis scoffed. "Yeah all of ninety pounds."

"I do not weigh ninety pounds!" Newt snapped from his seat.

"All of you stop!" Xavier snapped as he rubbed his temples. "We'll catch him up later, we need to do this fast. This is actually important, more important than what Newt weighs."

Kis rolled her eyes, but Minho just nodded. He looked slightly sheepish.

Newt scoffed and rested his head on his hand. "Let's just get this over with."

Minho reached his hand out and pulled Newt up, earning a small yelp from the blonde boy. Sometimes Minho really didn't realize how strong he was.

"The bloody hell are you doin-"

"Do you ever shut up?" Minho groaned as he dragged Newt over to where Thomas was laying. He shoved Newt's shoulder down making him sit next to the sleeping boy. "Stay there til something happens."

"Can someone just tell me what we're trying to do?!"

"We're trying to materialize his dad. Thomas told us he can create the fears, we're trying to see if we can bring him here."

"Why the bloody hell would you want to do that?! He killed my family!" Newt snapped, clearly getting mad. Minho tightened his hold on Newt's shoulder, holding him firmly in place. He knew he was trying to tell him to chill but Newt was mad. He was pulled out of his room for this shit.

"WICKED is gonna raid the school and we're trying to stop it but you're the only person who's scared of Thomas' dad."

"They're gonna raid the sch-"

Minho clamped his hand down over Newt's mouth. "Newt, you're my buddy, but please just shut the fuck up."

Newt's eyes widened as Thomas twitched and the familiar black smoke started gathering up around his arms. Minho dropped his hand a took a few steps back.

Thomas winced and curled more in on himself. Newt's hand instinctively reached toward the boy, but he stopped himself and retracted it. Thomas didn't deserve his help.

Thomas flinched, his sleepy face contorting as his veins ran black. He started reaching his hand out, like he was searching for something in the air next to him.

"Newt," Thomas whimpered as he let his hand fall to the ground.

Newt's expression was blank, he kept his hands clasped tightly together in his lap. His stomach felt hot and if Thomas kept saying his name he was probably going to throw up.

Newt jumped when a hand rested on his back, Newt looked up to see none other than the professor.

"Should I just sit here?" Newt asked him softly.

The professor nodded as he watched Thomas squirm on the ground. "Don't touch him, it's better if he can feed off his own fear too."

Newt crossed his arms over his chest, looking back at the ground. He didn't want to touch Thomas anyways, he was still mad at him.

Suddenly Thomas' back arched and he sat up straight. Minho jumped back, putting his arm in front of El who was standing next to him, as some sort of protective reflex.

Thomas' eyes were still closed. Newt looked up at Xavier who had his two fingers on his temple. He was in Thomas' head.

Newt felt his stomach churn as he watched Thomas carefully. He looked like he was in pain, his face was twisted up and his hands were clenched hard in his lap.

"What are you doing to him?" Newt asked softly. The professor didn't respond he just shut his eyes as he focused.

Then Thomas screamed, a loud pained sounding scream. Newt had to clamp his hands over his ears.

The smoke shot off his body, falling into a cloud in front of him. Thomas fell back down, his chest heaving and sweat building on his forehead. He looked exhausted, his muscles kept clenching then relaxing.

He called out for Newt again before curling back in on himself. Newt felt tears prick at his own eyes. He wanted to go, needed to go. He made eye contact with Minho. The buff boy was at his side in an instant, squeezing his arm and letting Newt hold his hand.

The smoke started materializing, just like it did the night Newt told Thomas he loved him.
Within seconds it was in the shape of a person. A person in all black.

Newt felt his heart rate speed up and he squeezed Minho's hand harder. That was the guy who killed his parents. That was Thomas' dad.

"Wake him up," Xavier said as he motioned to Thomas.

"Are you talking to me?" Newt asked, not tearing his eyes off the man.

"Yes, I was trying to do it, he wasn't waking up. He kept saying your name."

"Please Newt," Minho whispered softly. "You can leave as soon as he wakes up, we just need you right now. You're good with him, I know you're mad, but he's different with you."

Newt sighed and scooted over to Thomas. He gently put his hand on his cheek and rubbed the skin with his thumb. Thomas was shaking and he had tears running down his cheeks. It made Newt feel sick all over again.

"Tommy, you're okay, can you wake up for me?"

Thomas leaned into the touch. "Newt hates me," Thomas mumbled sleepily as he kept letting Newt touch his cheek.

"I'm here aren't I?" Newt asked softly as he pressed a small kiss to Thomas' forehead. "I need you to wake up now."

"I can't." Thomas whined. Newt saw his veins run black again which made him whimper. "Hurts."

"I know it does, but you're okay." Newt ran his finger tips down Thomas' arm. The skin reverted to normal briefly when he touched it.

Newt looked over his shoulder, the man was frozen and glitching, parts of him disappearing before coming back darker.

"Tommy." Newt shook him lightly. "Can you open your eyes?"

Thomas shook his head, kicking his legs out and rolling flat on his back. His chest was moving up and down quicker now. "It hurts Newt."

Newt ran his thumb over his closed eyelids. "I know Tommy, but I need you to open your pretty eyes now. I can't kiss ya when you're asleep now can I?"

Thomas was still for a moment. His chest stopped moving and his mouth fell open slightly.

He sucked in a huge breath and bolted up, his eyes flying open. He broke out into a coughing fit, hacking up some black goo into his elbow. Newt stood up, taking careful steps back.

Thomas fell onto his hands and emptied his stomach on the floor. He was crying again.

"He needs to go!" Thomas shouted as he pointed at Newt. "Get him out!"

"Thomas what are yo-" Minho was cut off as a gunshot rang through the room. The man had a gun now.

El was waving her hands around in some weird motion. When she clasped them back together a huge wall of pure ice erected between them and the man.

"It won't hold for long!" El shouted as bullets latched into the ice. Spiderwebs of cracks grew out from where the bullets were.
Kis was on the ground, her hands on the floor and her eyes shut. She almost looked like she was meditating, especially with the black aura around her. Newt literally had no idea what she was doing.

Thomas stood up slowly, keeping one hand over his stomach. He stumbled on his feet a bit, grabbing Minho's arm to steady himself.

"Get him out of here!" Thomas yelled as he moved to stand between Newt and the wall. The smoke rippled across his arms again. He looked downright terrifying, and kinda hot, but that was beside the point.

El's face was contorted in concentration as she kept trying to patch the holes that the bullets were leaving. It wasn't working very wall, the man's gun was shooting them off faster than she could patch.

Newt yelped as Minho almost pushed him over.

"Dude go!" Minho shouted as a bullet bounced off his arm. Newt snapped out of his daze and turned invisible immediately. He dropped to the floor, scrambling across the ground to get to the training room door. If he stayed on the floor he was out of the way of the bullets.

The professor had his fingers on his temples again. His eyes were closed but Newt couldn't tell who's head he was in. It was probably Thomas' dad's.

El was moving her hands so fast it was almost unbelievable. Her ice wall was crumbling but she pulled stones out of thin air, using them to block the bullets that were flying through the holes in the ice.

Thomas looked insane, he looked horrible. His eyes were sunken in and his hair was a mess. He looked pale all over and he had his arms stretched far in front of him.

Suddenly Thomas' head snapped over to look at the door, where Newt was. How could he tell where he was?

"Newt get the fuck out of here!" Thomas shouted as he fell to his knees. He was overworking himself. He was going to pass out if he wasn't careful.

Newt scrambled to stand and push the sliding door open. It wouldn't budge.

"Minho!" Newt yelled as he pushed on the door. "It's stuck!"

"Newt." A voice sounded, sending chills down his spine and making him turn quickly around.

The man was facing him now, the gun pointed at him.

Newt's blood ran cold and he pushed harder on the door.

"Will you scream like the little one?"

Newt froze at that. The barrel of the gun was way closer to him then.

No one was moving, no one except Thomas. A chilled silence fell over the room.

"You have to stop being scared!" Thomas said as he kept his hands extended out towards the man. "He'll go away then."

Newt swallowed hard. Not be scared? How can he just not be scared of the man who murdered his family when the gun that killed them was pointed at him?

Newt took steadying breaths, looking straight at the man. Tommy would never let him get hurt right?

Newt looked carefully at the rest of the group, they were all standing, frozen like they were entranced. Newt felt like life was moving in slow motion. When did he even turn visible again?

"You can't hurt me," Newt said sternly to the man, clenching his fists at his side.

Thomas kept moving the smoke, controlling it like it was made to follow his will.

"You killed my family, but you're not real, you're not here."

"I'm not?" The man asked, cocking his head before pulling down his hood.

Newt's eyes widened. He looked exactly like Thomas, an older version of Thomas.

Newt quickly regained himself and shook his head. "You're not here." Newt looked at the gun before looking at Thomas. Guns. He could do guns, he wasn't scared of guns.

Thomas seemed to know what he was saying and closed his eyes, falling into deep focus. The gun glitched before disappearing quickly.
Newt inwardly cheered, but Thomas' dad didn't seem fazed by it.

"Go away," Newt said again, trying to sound braver than he felt. "You don't scare me like this."

"Maybe." Thomas' dad cocked his head, smiling which was beyond creepy. "Maybe I don't scare you right now, but I will soon, when I'm actually here."

"What-"

The man turned around, looking Xavier right in the eye. "Because I will be here, soon. Then your little mutant operation will finally be done. We'll be safe from your kind."

Xavier opened his eyes slowly and stared back with an equal amount of intensity.

The man glitched and disappeared with a loud whooshing sound. Thomas fell to his knees, panting heavily.

"Well, shit hit the fan," Kis said as she stood up slowly from the floor.

El looked exhausted, she was bent over, her hands on her knees.

Kis looked concerned when she looked at the curly haired girl. "Hey you." She snapped at her friend. "Come here, don't overwork yourself."

El nodded briefly before hooking her arm around her friends shoulder and wiping her forehead.

"What the fuck just happened?" Minho asked, he was still staring at the spot where Thomas' dad was standing moments ago.

Newt was shaking where he stood.

"Newt? Are you alright?" Minho asked as he looked at his friend.

"No-" Newt croaked out.

Thomas' head snapped up at that. He sat back on his knees and reached his hand out. "Newt, come here."

Newt shook his head and took a step back. "Don't, just-" Newt took a breath and turned around. He walked out of the room as fast as he could. Of course the door worked now.

Thomas felt a pit in his stomach as he dropped his hand. "He hates me doesn't he Min?"

Minho looked at him, frowning. "You fucked up Thomas."

"How can I make it up to him?"

"Give him time."

Thomas wiped sweat off his forehead and looked back at the professor. "Was this at least worth it?"

Xavier nodded. "We have a week. WICKED is coming in a week."