September 12th, 1996

     "Fuck fuck fuck fuck," Addison muttered under her breath as she slammed her back against the tree branch. She was trying her hardest to keep her breathing down but her heart was pounding out of her chest.

     She could hear the footsteps coming from behind her, she squeezed her eyes shut as if it would help make the men not see her. There was no where for her to run, no one was coming to help. I guess that was the price of being different, you had to be alone.

     "We won't hurt you if you come quietly," a voice boomed from behind her.

     Lies. It was all a lie. She knew what happened to people with powers, if she went with them she'd be dead within a week.

     Addison slid lower to the ground, keeping herself propped off the dirt. It was cold and her breath came out in little puffs of white air. In normal conditions, she'd love this weather, but now, she'd kill to be back with Cole.

    "Wait I saw something over there," a whisper sounded from a couple feet away.

     Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

    Addison looked to the side before bolting across the terrain. Her knees ached and her heart was pounding but a little bit of pain was better than death.

     "There! Go!"

     Fuck.

     The girl made it about twenty more yards before her chin smashed to the ground. She tasted blood and her hands were aching.

     "Got her!" a man yelled as pressure fell on her back.

     Addison wiggled under the weight, feeling the panic bubble up in her chest.

     The last thing she heard was a terrifying laugh before everything went black.

July 28th, 2002

    As soon as it was Thomas' turn to sleep that night he was instantly out. The exhaustion in his bones weighed him down as his head hit the ground. He needed a good few hours of sleep, maybe a few hundred hours but who was counting. They traveled the entire day, taking the long way and backroads so WICKED couldn't find them. Thomas almost groaned out loud when his eyes opened mere seconds after. He almost got mad when he realized where he was and took a second to process it. He was in his room, well Newt and his room. Thomas looked over to the bed and his heart jumped in his chest when he saw Newt wrapped up in the blankets, his eyes closed and a peaceful expression on his face.

     Thomas couldn't help himself, he practically jumped on the bed and wrapped his sleeping boyfriend up in his arms. He immediately started peppering his face with kisses, ignoring Newt's sleepy protests.

     He grinned as he watched Newt open his eyes and his entire face contort into shock.

     "Tommy?"

     "Hi."

     Then Newt was attacking him. He threw his entire body on top of Thomas' and wrapped his arms around his neck to pull their bodies even closer. Thomas almost died with how familiar and warm Newt's body felt against his. Maybe it was clingy, but Thomas hated being without Newt, having him in his arms was pretty much the best feeling in the world.

     "I was so worried about you, I miss you so much Tommy," Newt mumbled in his ear.

     "I miss you too," Thomas said as he kissed the soft skin on Newt's shoulder.

     "I love you."

     Thomas smiled against Newt's skin. "I love you too."

     "How are you here?" Newt asked as he pulled back a bit to cup Thomas' face.

     Thomas shrugged. "I have no idea, but I'm not upset about it."

     "It's not real right? I'm touching you, but I'm not actually touching you?"

     Thomas frowned as he nodded. "It's definitely a dream."

    Newt let out a breath before shaking his head. "You know what, I don't care, you're here." Newt smiled softly which casually melted Thomas' heart. "Fuck you, you're so cute."

     Thomas smiled as he let his fingers trail to Newt's back and down the smooth skin.

     "You know I hate you right?" Newt asked softly as he trailed his fingertips down the side of Thomas' face. "I hate you so much but you're so fucking warm and attractive and I've only been looking at Minho for the past few days and I think I'd hate me more than you if I got up right now."

     Thomas kissed Newt's fingers as they slid over his lips. "I know, I'm the worst."

     "You left and you didn't tell me."

     "I know, I had to. Had to find mom," Thomas murmured quietly as he traced up Newt's side. He felt the blonde boy shiver which totally put him in the clear.

     "Stop," Newt breathed out as he let his eyes flutter shut. "I'm trying to be mad at you and you're making me unable to think."

     "Can you be mad at me in five minutes?" Thomas asked softly as he gently tipped Newt's head to the side so he could press a soft kiss to that spot on Newt's neck that drove him crazy. "I've been Newt deprived, let me get my fix."

     "Because of your own choice asshole," Newt huffed before biting his lip. "Fuck, you're too good at that."

     Thomas smiled against his skin and let his hand trail down Newt's back again to the curve of his ass.

     "I'm gonna punch you when I actually see you."

     Thomas hummed softly. "I'm looking forward to it."

     Newt let his fingers tangle in Thomas' hair. "I hate how gone I am for you."

     "Stop talking, we're cuddling," Thomas whispered as he went to kiss his boy's neck again. Thomas froze when he didn't come into contact with anything. He couldn't feel Newt anymore. He opened his eyes and scrambled to sit up when he was in an empty room. The walls were slowly fading to black and the floor was falling away. Thomas felt an overwhelming emptiness in his heart as he watched the room slowly crumble around him. Thomas squeezed his eyes shut to try and wake himself up. Everything felt off. Thomas felt an increasingly sharp pain in his chest as he started to feel light headed.

     Something was very very wrong.

July 29th, 2002

8:53am

     "So let me get this straight," Kis said as she glared hard at Minho. "You led us in the wrong direction."

     "No!" Minho looked at the ground. "I mean yes, but-"

     Kis groaned loudly which cut him off. "Fucking hell Minho! Newt's like dying over here we can't afford this."

     "I'm not dying!" Newt protested, but with the way he was hanging off the blonde girl's shoulder it wasn't very convincing.

     "I said I can carry him!"

     "That isn't the issue here!"

     Newt huffed from his spot. "Stop fighting, you're like fucking children."

     "We have to take a bus," Kis said as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Or a train. Or a cab. Something. We can't keep walking."
"I'm fine!" Newt piped up again before he swayed in his spot. Minho moved quickly, opening his arms and catching the blonde boy before he hit the ground.

     "Okay we'll take something."

     "Newt, can you get us on at least?" Minho asked the boy who was practically passed out in his arms.

     "I said I'm fine," Newt slurred as his eyelids drooped.

     "We overworked him," Kis said as she crossed her arms.

     "I know. No more invisible travel, we'll just have to fight whatever comes our way."

     "I miss Tommy," Newt mumbled as he let his eyes close. "I saw him last night."

     Minho and Kis froze and looked at each other. "Excuse me?"

     Newt opened his eyes as he let his head rest on Minho's shoulder. "In my dream."

     "Well at least why we know why Newt was painfully hard in the morning."

    Kis rolled her eyes. "First, please stop bringing that up and second, Newt did he tell you where he was going?"

    "Said he had to find mom."

     Minho and Kis audibly groaned. "That stupid fuck!"

     "So!" Minho snapped suddenly. "We're technically going in the right direction then!"

     "Minho we didn't even know where we were going before, we were blindly headed for Albany."

     The buff boy shrugged. "We had a feeling it was something to do with WICKED."

     "Why'd he have to take El with him," Kis huffed as she crossed her arms.

     "Awe is someone jealous that Tommy-boy stole their other half."

     Kis raised her arm to punch him which Minho grabbed before she could, which was kinda impressive considering that he was still holding Newt with the other.

     Kis scowled and ripped her hand out of his grasp. "You're infuriating."

     "And you're fucking stupid."

     "Stop," Newt whined as he pulled himself closer to Minho. "I'm trying to sleep and you guys are screaming."

     "Bus?" Minho suggested as Kis stopped scowling and nodded.

     "Come on Newt, we have to go after the dumbass you're in love with."

6:52pm

     Thomas woke with a start when pain shot up his entire leg. He slowly opened his eyes, cringing when it throbbed at the sensation of light. His stomach lurched and his eyes rolled back; his head felt like a cinder block, it was so heavy.

     "El," Thomas croaked out. His mouth was dry, he desperately needed water.

     "Stop talking back there!" a voice snapped.

     Thomas finally registered that they were moving. He let his palms slide across the ground, wincing when he moved too far and his body ached. Thomas felt loopy, like how he felt when he was surviving off two hours of sleep for a week.

     Metal. That's what he was touching. He was sitting in a box, at least it seemed like a box. There was a small slanted window that was letting in blinding light. No. Not a box. A truck. He was in the back of a truck. A black truck.
Thomas shot up, the panic in him taking over the screams of pain coming from his body. WICKED. Of course it was WICKED. How'd he even get here? Was it a dream?

     "What's going on?" Thomas yelled as he scrambled across the ground.

     "I said no talking!" the guy snapped. Thomas assumed he was the driver.

     "Where are you taking me?"

     The driver sighed and slammed on the breaks so hard that Thomas went flying forward and smashed his face into the metal wall in front of him.

     He groaned as he fell onto his back and tasted blood. Fuck. This was bad.

     Thomas slowly raised his hand to his face, feeling the sticky red blood against his lips. It was definitely coming from his nose. They were moving again, he felt the van jerk to life under his body. Thomas moved his other hand to help him sit up, but frowned when he felt a weird pressure on it.

     "What the fuck?" he muttered as he looked at his wrist which had a slick metal cuff around it. There was a single red blinking dot on it.

     Was this real life? What the actual fuck happened? The last thing Thomas remembered was going to bed last night, and seeing Newt. But, if he was here, where the fuck was El?

    Thomas felt tears prick at his eyes. He was terrified. Why did he think he could do this by himself? He should have known that the second he left the x-mansion WICKED would be on him. He killed a majority of their numbers, he reduced them to almost nothing, Thomas did that. Now he was stuck here, and it was completely his fault.

     Suddenly, the bracelet lit up and shot the worst pain Thomas had ever felt down his arm. A horrible scream ripped through his throat as he physically collapsed onto the ground.

     "Fuck!" Thomas yelped as tears burned his eyes. He wasn't going to cry, he wasn't going to do that, he wasn't going to let them win.

     "Don't be sad."

     Thomas jumped when he heard the voice from behind him. His entire arm was throbbing so he gently cradled it in his other one.

     "What the fuck are you doing here?!" Thomas snapped as he saw who was sitting in the corner of the truck. It was younger him with his stupid red hoodie and dinosaur sneakers.

     The little boy cocked his head, unfazed by the anger in Thomas' voice. "Don't you wanna see mommy?"

     Thomas' chest tightened. "I was trying to find her."

     Little Thomas smiled, he looked so innocent that the anger in Thomas faded almost immediately.

     "She found you," little Thomas said as he played with the shoelaces on his sneakers. "She wanted to bring you, so you didn't get hurt."

     "I'm hurt now!" Thomas snapped as he wiped more blood from his face. He took a deep breath, he was getting angry at an imaginary vision of his younger self. "Do you know where El is buddy?"

     Little Thomas shook his head. "I don't know El."

     Thomas sighed. "She's our friend, I hope she's okay."

     "Mommy wouldn't hurt her if she's your friend."

     "It's not mom I'm worried about," Thomas muttered as he coughed and wiped his face again. If he ever got out of here, Newt was going to absolutely fucking kill him.

     "You look sad," little Thomas said as he studied Thomas' face. "I told you not to be sad."

     Thomas gave him a weak smile. "Remember when I told you about that boy that you're gonna meet?"

     The kid nodded.

     "I miss him."

     "Why didn't you bring him?"

     "Because of this, if I got him hurt I'd never forgive myself."

     Little Thomas was quiet for a moment before he stood up. "You're gonna hurt."

     "What?"

     "I'm not allowed in here, mommy's gonna be mad."

     "I do-" Thomas cut off as the horrible pain ripped through his bones again. He let out a pained scream that hurt his chest and made his head spin.

     "Stop trying to use your powers fucking dumbass!" The driver shouted from behind the screen pulled over the space dividing them. Thomas wanted to see him. He wanted to memorize his face so he could murder him when he escaped.

     Thomas quickly looked back to the corner, feeling quite empty when he did. His younger self was gone and once again Thomas was alone.

11:37pm

     "Why is he screaming?!" Minho shouted as he tried to hold Newt down in the small bus seat.

     "I don't know!" Kis snapped back as she grabbed Newt's leg as he kicked it out. The boy was thrashing and screaming and nothing they were doing was stopping him from freaking out.

     "Do something!" Minho yelped as Newt practically flipped over in his spot.

     "Newt! Newt settle the fuck down!"

     Minho felt the tears on his friend's cheeks. He looked up at Kis with a fearful expression. "I don't know what's happening."

     Kis was about to reply when white hot pain flashed through her skull. She immediately grabbed her temples and squeezed her eyes closed. "Fuck! Minho fuck!"

     "What is it?!" Minho resulted to just sitting on Newt's stomach with his hand over his mouth as he pulled Kis closer to him. Thankfully the bus was mostly empty because they were creating quite a scene.

     Kis was shaking and clenching her teeth so hard, it started to hurt.

     Minho realized what was happening and cursed loudly. "Kis; Kis who's dying?"

     "Shut up!" the girl screamed. "Everyone shut the fuck up!"

     Kis glitched in her spot, leaving black smoke and reappearing two rows back. She curled into the seat, wincing loudly in pain.

     Minho let out a breath and got off Newt to yank him up into a sitting position. His eyes were closed, his cheeks tear stained but he was quiet. "The fuck is wrong with you man?" Minho snapped as Newt let out a little whimper.

     "Someone's in my head."

     "I'm sorry, what?" Minho blinked a few times.

     "There's someone in my head," Newt sniffled as he squeezed his eyes tighter closed. "She's in my head and she won't shut up."

     "Newt who is in your head?"

     Minho's eyes widened as he saw blood trickle from his friend's nose.

     "I don't know," Newt whimpered. "Hurts Min."

     Minho wiped his friends face with his shirt. "I know, you're gonna be okay."

     "Where's Tommy?" Newt opened his eyes, they were bloodshot.

     "Tommy isn't here right now," Minho said as he patted his friend's arm. "Are you gonna be okay here for a second? I need to make sure Kis is okay."

     Newt looked dazed. "Hurts, feels like my head is bloody explodin. Please make it stop."

     "I know, just hang in there. We're gonna figure this out." Minho swallowed the lump in his throat as he headed over to the blonde girl who was shaking in the seat a few rows back.

     "Where's El?" she whimpered softly. "I need El."

     "S-she..." Minho tugged hard at his hair. His stomach was flipping. Everything was spinning out of control and he couldn't do anything about it. "El isn't here Kis."

     "I need her, I need her," Kis repeated as she curled in tighter on herself. "It's so bad."

     "What can I do?" Minho asked helplessly as he stared at the suffering girl. The boy wasn't used to having everything rest on him. He wasn't good at managing situations like these by himself, hell he wasn't good at handling situations in general.

     "Nothing!" Kis shouted as she grasped her head again. Another wave of pain rippled down her body.

     Minho quickly dropped next to her and rubbed her back softly. "You got this, just hang in there."

     Kis' body went stiff for a full minute before the girl slowly sat up. There was blood staining her cheeks that probably came from her nose and her face looked absolutely terrible.

     "We need to find El Minho," she looked at him with a look that chilled him to the bone. "Because if we don't find her now, there's not going to be anything left for us to find."