July 17th, 2002

     "You don't think me and Kis could take you guys?" El asked as she crossed her arms.

     "That's not what I'm saying!" Minho protested as he pulled at his skin tight suit. "I'm just saying that it's unfair to have three against two."

     Kid rolled her eyes, copying the way El was standing, her hip out and arms crossed. "Oh please. It'd be unfair for you guys to face us. You'd have no chance."

     "Is that a challenge?" Minho asked as he looked between Thomas and Newt. "I think they're challenging us."

     Thomas tore his eyes away from Newt's perfectly complemented body in that skin tight suit and nodded. "That's totally a challenge."

     Newt smirked as Thomas clenched his fist, his grey smoke snaking down his arms.

     "I'm good for a girls versus boys match."

     The girls shared a small smile before uncrossing their arms. "Alright, let's do it."

     "Everyone got their blinkers?" Thomas asked as he clicked his on. "You all know the rules, first team with all theirs out loses."

     "Alright countdown from three," Newt said as he clicked his blinker on and disappeared from sight. "Three...two...one."

     The training room broke out into insanity. A huge ice wall popped up in the middle of the room, dropping the temperature at least twenty degrees.

     Thomas was in the air, floating on his cloud of smoke, shooting clouds at the wall of ice.

     "Damn I missed this!" Minho shouted happily as he buffed up and slammed his rocky exterior into the wall. The ice shattered and crumbled to the ground.

     A second later Kis was standing in front of him grinning at the dull blinker on his chest. "Gotcha."

     Minho gasped at his chest. "How did you-"

     "Out of the way!" Thomas called as he let loose a beam of smoke at the blonde girl. Before it could hit her chest a rock appeared in front of her, deflecting the blast.

     "Fuck!"

     Kis looked back at El before readying her fists. "Watch out for Ne-" she cut off as she was tackled to the ground.

     "Sorry what was that?" Newt asked, grinning, as they struggled on the ground.

     "Cocky shit," Kis spat as she tried to flip the blonde boy over. He didn't weight much but he was good at holding the advantage in a fight.

     Newt raised his hand to hit the blinker, his face scrunching up in confusion when he saw it was encrusted in a block of ice. "Damnit El!"

     "Sorry!" She called out before hurling a ball of fire at Thomas.

     "Yo! Watch the suit!" Thomas yelped as he jumped out of the way. "It's brand new!"

     "Don't set it on fire before I have a chance to rip it off him!" Newt shouted as he struggled to release his hand.

     Kis closed her eyes, focusing before shadow traveling out from under Newt.

     "Am I the only one who keeps forgetting she can do that!" Minho shouted from where he was sitting on the sidelines.

     Kis and El stood back to back, El deflecting the grey blasts from Thomas and Kis keeping an eye on the melting block of ice traveling around the room.

     "Shit!" El gasped as a grey blast hit her in the chest, knocking the blinker out. She turned to Kis and gave her a mock salute. "You're on your own."

     Newt appeared beside his boyfriend, his hand red from the freezing block it was submerged in. "Ready to lose?"

     "I should be asking you that."

     Minho groaned from where he was sitting with El. "You guys are the worst at smack talk boooo"

     Kis raised her fists, trying to go over a plan in her head. She wasn't good without El. She couldn't fight against long range but Newt she could take.

     Speaking of Newt where did he...Kis let out a grunt as he leg was swiped out from under her.

     "Fucker!" She spat as she swiped blindly at the air.

     "Ow!" Newt yelped as he reappeared. She managed to hit him in the thigh.

     Kis dived to the side, rolling away from Thomas' smoke blast.

     "This is so unfair," she growled as Newt disappeared again.

     "You're doing great!" El shouted from the side where she was sitting so close to Minho their thighs were touching.

     Kis stared for a second too long, Newt caught her off guard and pinned her to the ground, bashing the blinker before she had a chance to move.

     "Fuck!" She cursed as she hit the floor and shoved Newt off her. "Get off fatass."

     Thomas grinned as he helped Newt off the floor "Under those pants his ass is kinda fat not gonna lie."

     "Thomas!" Newt snapped as he slapped his chest, making his blinker go out. "Whoops."

     "I told you guys we'd crush you." Minho snickered as he dragged El over to where they were grouped.

     Kid rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You didn't crush us. We put up a fair fight."

     "That you did," Newt said as he rested his arm on Thomas' shoulder. "It was a good fight."

     "I'm hot now," Thomas said as he fanned himself with his free hand.

     "You're always hot."

     Minho gagged loudly. "Would you two stop that!"

     "I agree, it's a little nauseating," Kis said as she pulled her hair out of the tight ponytail it was in.

     "You just hate everything that has to do with happy feelings," Newt said as he stuck out his tongue at her.

     Kis gave him a huge fake smile and held up her middle finger.

     "We still have an hour left of training," El said as she looked at her watch. "You guys good for a rematch? We were just getting warmed up. Right Kis?"

     She nodded.

     "Alright." Minho cracked his knuckles. "Bring it on."

11:35 pm

     "Do you think X knows we just share a room now?" Thomas asked as he pressed his face into Newt's neck.

     "Definitely." Newt laughed as he ran his fingers through Thomas' hair. "He can probably hear me thinking about how much I can't wait for the day to be over so I can just lay with you like this."

     Thomas smiled against his skin. "Now when did you turn into a sap?"

     "Since I fell in love with your annoying ass." Newt snickered as he pressed a kiss to Thomas' forehead. "Fuck, I love you."

     "Stop," Thomas whined. "You're making me all emotional." Thomas lightly nipped at Newt's collarbone. "Now, keep rubbing my back like you usually do."

     Newt snorted out a laugh but trailed his fingers up and down the curve of Thomas' spine. "If you tell anyone I do whatever you ask I'll deny it to the ends of the earth."

     Thomas smiled and let his eyes flutter closed. "They all already know how whipped you are for me."

     Newt just hummed and kept his touch light on Thomas' skin.

     "I love you too," Thomas whispered as he pressed lazy kisses to whatever skin he was blindly touching.

     "Is it weird that I like this more than sex?" Newt asked softly.

     Thomas shook his head, hoping Newt could feel his movements.

     Thomas dragged his hand up and down Newt's bare stomach. They switched cuddling positions often, Newt liked it when Thomas laid on top of him, he said it made him warmer, but Thomas liked when Newt slept on him because his favorite thing in the world to do was hold Newt. They ended up compromising and switching every few nights.

     Thomas felt Newt's muscles clench under his palm. "Sorry," he whispered into his skin. The spot where Newt had gotten shot those few months ago sometimes still bothered him. He had a permanent scar there, the muscle was still tender, Thomas guessed that it would never heal properly.

     "'S okay Tommy." Newt mumbled as he let his muscles relax. "Just still not used to it is all."

     "It doesn't hurt when I put my mouth on it."

     Thomas felt Newt's body vibrate with laughter. "Pretty boy, I'd let you put that mouth anywhere."

     Thomas smiled and tangled his legs up with Newt's. "You make me so happy."

     Newt hummed and pulled Thomas' body tighter to him. "If I was more awake I'd tell you to shut up, but you're being cute so I'm not gonna do that."

     "Aren't I always cute?"

     Newt pressed a blind kiss to the corner of Thomas' lips. "Yes, you're always cute."

     Thomas yawned and let his hand rest on Newt's chest. "Goodnight."

     "Sleep well Tommy," Newt said as he curled in on him more.

     Thomas always fell asleep quickly with Newt. Thomas had gotten really good at stopping the freaky nightmare scenarios at night. He actually dreamed now, he dreamed about getting a house with Newt one day, he dreamed about them sharing a huge bed and all their clothes because Newt looked downright sexy in his clothes. He dreamed about Kis and El and Minho sharing the house with them. He dreamed about Newt's kisses and the way they held hands when they had sex.

     Fuck, Thomas thought as he drifted off into dreamland, if this is what love is supposed to be like, then I never want to stop feeling it.

July 18th, 2002

     "I think we should convince X to let us go on a mission," Thomas said as he flopped down in the library chair.

     "You wanna go on one?" El asked as she rested her elbow on the table.

     "Yeah. We're definitely ready, we do awesome in training."

     "Training is nothing like it is out there." Kis snapped as she pushed her hair out of her face. "You can't get hurt in training, you can get killed out in the field."

     "You can kill too," Newt whispered. "You kill people and you're never the same."

     Awkward silence fell over the group as they all looked down at their hands.

     "We've all been through fucked up stuff," Thomas said suddenly as he looked up at the group. "But I know something and I think we should be the ones to stop it."

     Newt's head snapped up, a hard frown on his face. "You know something? And you didn't tell us?"

     Thomas bit his lip. "I wasn't sure when to bring it up. I know we're all still kinda messed up from what happened last year..."

     Minho frowned, his expression turning stone cold.

     "...but guys WICKED is still out there."

     "We figured." Kis sighed as she ran her hand over her face. "You wiped out a bunch of them Thomas, but not all of them."

     "So that wasn't it?!" Minho asked as he slammed his hands down on the table. "We went through all that shit and it isn't over?!"

     El gently put her hand on his arm. "It's probably never going to be over."

     "Fuck that," Minho scoffed as he slumped down in his seat.

     "I think," Thomas started again as he cleared his throat. "I think that we need to get ahead of them this time. Last time, we weren't ready. They had the upper hand. I can't freak out like that again or I may never wake up. We need to make the first move."

     "Wouldn't it be safer to not have Newt come?" Minho asked which made the blonde boy make a face.

     "Why the bloody hell wouldn't I come?"

     "Because you're Thomas' weakness. Everyone has one and you're definitely his."

     "But we need him," El said as she sat up straighter. "He's the only one who can go undetected."

     "Tommy and I talk about that day all the time, we have it figured out," Newt stated as he grabbed his boyfriend's hand under the table. He smoothed his thumb across his knuckles which instantly relaxed him.

     "I don't know," Minho said as he stretched his arms. "There's no clear threat is there?"

     "Well no bu-"

     "Then maybe we hold off. That day messed a lot of kids up and not just us. We almost lost everything."

     "WICKED won't stop," Kis said sternly. There was some unreadable expression on her face, Thomas made a mental note to ask her about it later.

     El looked at her, a silent conversation passing between them. It was almost scary how those girls knew each other in and out. They were complete polar opposites, Kis was dark and secretive while El was bright and fiercely loyal. They were on two totally different spectrums yet they managed to be incomplete without each other.

     Kis let out a huff of breath and closed her eyes. "They won't stop okay? Just trust me on that one. As long as one person is still standing they'll rebuild and come back stronger the next time."

     Thomas opened his mouth to say something but Newt shook his head mouthing 'don't' to him.

     "Why don't we all just think about it," Newt said as he squeezed Thomas' hand. "We can all just go to our rooms and think."

     "No," Kis said as she stared at Thomas. "There's something else."

     "What?"

     "You're not telling us something."
     "No! I-"

     "Tommy," Newt said sternly. "If there's something you know you need to tell us okay?"

     Thomas let out a shaky breath and ran his hands over his face. "When I was fighting with my dad, he mentioned something that I've been thinking about everyday." Thomas sighed. "My mother is alive and she's still at WICKED."

     "What?!" Minho's eyes widened. "And you've known this for months?!"

     "I didn't want to say anything!" Thomas defended, his cheeks flushing. "She won't come for me, she won't hurt me."

     "Yeah but that's kinda something we should know!" Kis snapped.

     Thomas wanted to shrink away, he knew they'd be mad, but not furious.

     "Why are you even bringing this up now?" El asked as she watched Thomas carefully.

     Thomas let out a breath as he tugged on his hair. "Because I can stop thinking about her."

     "Tommy," Newt said softly as he switched his hand to rest it on Thomas' thigh. "Why didn't you say something?"

     Thomas shrugged but he kept his gaze down. "I tried not to think about it, after the invasion I was just worried about Newt. I forgot about it for a few weeks but now she's in my head constantly. What if they're hurting her? Dad said she saved my life when I was younger."

     When Thomas looked up there were tears in his eyes.

     "Hey hey hey, don't cry now," Newt said, going into full protective boyfriend mode.

     Thomas' bottom lip quivered. "I'm not crying."

     Newt looked at the other three, slightly nodding his head.

     Minho, Kis and El got up quickly, fleeing the library so Newt could be alone with Thomas.

     "Do you want to go to our room?" Newt asked gently as he rubbed soft circles on Thomas' thigh.

     Thomas shook his head but opened his arms.

     Newt pulled him into a hug, letting Thomas bury his face in his neck.

     He could feel Thomas' back shaking with sobs and the wet tears on his neck.

     The thing is, this wasn't uncommon. They all had their breakdowns. With pasts heavier than boulders on their backs, it was hard to keep it together all the time. Sometimes they needed to fall down.

     They always knew when one of them was feeling bad, they had unspoken protocols. Newt was the only one that could calm down Thomas and vice versa. El was the only one who could deal with Kis and whenever Minho was upset they just got him something to punch. They always knew, it was a side effect of being mutant. Badass powers always came paired with a horrific scars that could never quite fully be covered up.

     "Tommy," Newt whispered softly as he let his fingers trail into Thomas hair, stroking the dark brown strands the same way he did at night. "You know she's a shitty person right? It's not your fault. You're absolutely amazing."

     Thomas just held onto Newt tighter like he was his life line and in a way he was. Newt loved him like no one else ever had, he cared about him with such a fierce intensity it was impossible for Thomas ever to doubt it.

     "I love you Tommy. We're gonna have our own family one day, we can adopt a little mutant kid. We'll give them a good life, not like the ones we got."

     Thomas pulled his head out of Newt's neck, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. "Can it be a boy? I'm not very good with girls."

     Newt laughed and gently patted Thomas' cheek. "Whatever you want."

     "And we can get a house?"

     Newt nodded.

     "And a dog?"

     "Sure Tommy, we can get a dog."

     Thomas bit his lip before rubbing his hand over his face. "God Newt, does it ever stop? The constant pain, does it ever get better?"

     "You're gonna be okay Tommy."

     No, It doesn't get better, Newt actually wanted to say, you just get better at hiding it.

May 14th, 1996

     "It's okay," the taller girl said softly as she took the raven haired girl's hand.

     "How far are we going?" she asked softly in the dark as she squeezed her hand harder.

     "Just to the docks! We have to be far away from the house.

     "Rose, I'm scared," the small girl whispered as she stepped on a twig which cracked under her feet.

     "Don't be scared Jade. I just want to show you something, but we could get in trouble if my mom sees."

     They walked the rest of the way in silence. Once they pulled out into the clearing by the lake, Rose instantly pulled off her shoes and socks and dropped them in a pile on the grass. She was practically bouncing on the soles of her feet.

     Jade took off her sandals and dropped them next to her friend's.

     "Come on!" Rose said excitedly as she ran down to the wooden dock.

     Jade smiled and took off after her, their dresses flapping in the wind.

     Rose stopped when she got to the end of the dock, she sat down and dipped her feat in the water as she looked out over the calm lake.

     Jade sat next to her, panting slightly.

     "What did you want to show me?"

     Rose smiled as she tossed her hair over her shoulder and held out the palm of her hand. "I'm good at this but I always do it by the water just in case."

     Jade's eyes widened as she watched a small flicker of flame appear on her friend's palm.

     Both girls were silent as they watched the little flame dance on the soft skin.

     Rose's smile faltered when she saw her friend's face.

     Jade looked downright terrified.