Clara's POV

All at once it seemed like nothing else mattered. Brenda lay on the ground, wrapped in Jorge's arms seemingly not a threat any longer.

"I guess we get to stay then." Thomas mumbled with a smirk, taking a step back to stand by Newt, no longer feeling the need to protect Brenda as all the guns were lowered.

My eyes were solely focused on my father's crystal blue ones as he looked from me back to Chase. He had changed so much over the years but still remained so familiar. His dark brown hair had lightened and grayed a bit over the years and it was hard to tell if that was age or the hard years he'd lived. My hand still held onto Chase's tightly as we both stared back at him, a ghost from our past. Without another thought he took the few remaining steps towards us and pulled us into him. He let out a laugh as his arms circled mine and Chase's shoulders and our chests were pressed against his in a firm hug. My arm wrapped around his back, as did Chase's.

"My kiddos. How...I can't..." He laughed again and I felt Chase squeeze my hand around dad's back. He pulled back to look at us with a broad smile on his wrinkle pressed face. He let out another laugh as tears pooled in his eyes. He released us and turned to me. He moved a hand up to cup my cheek and gently stroked right below my eye. "My Clare Bear is all grown up." A tear trailed down his cheek as I smiled back at him and he released me to turn to Chase. "And Chase. You have grown into quite a young man, son. Taking care of your sister have you? I knew you would." He smiled at Chase with a proud smile.

"Vince?"

He looked up at Harriet over Thomas' shoulder and then frowned, realization creasing his features. He stumbled back and paled considerably and before I realized it Chase was pulling me into him and away from our father.

"What? What's happening?" I asked, turning to Chase.

Chase leaned closer to whisper in my ear. "He just remembered one of us isn't immune. Whoever it is won't be able to stay here."

My eyes widened and I looked up at Chase. "He knows which one of us..."

He moved his hands up to my shoulders and shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I'll leave if it's me, alright? Then you can get to the safe haven otherwise...I'm not leaving you."

"No, no, you can't leave!" My voice had risen slightly and we were so concentrated on each other we hadn't noticed the others join us. My hands moved up to grip Chase's arms and my eyes stared into his.

"Why would you leave?" Thomas spoke quietly, moving in beside Chase as Newt moved to stand next to me. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him. "It'll all be okay love. We'll figure this out." He whispered softly, trying to calm me down.

My eyes flickered back to our father who was leaning over with his hands on his knees. Harriet and Sonya were both leaned over and talking to him but he was just staring down at the ground, contemplating what had to happen.

Teresa and Aris stood back talking amongst themselves while Thomas, Newt, Minho, and Fry Pan moved in closer to us to find out what was happening.

"What's going on? Why did he react like that?" Thomas asked, glancing back at our father who remained unmoving.

Chase ran a hand down his face and glanced at me. "One of us isn't immune. We don't know which one. I'm assuming Vince just remembered that and well...if it's only immunes allowed here then he has to know that one of us can't stay." He gestured between us and I felt Newt tense up beside me.

"You really don't know which one though?" Minho asked, wide eyes looking back and forth between Chase and me.

I shook my head, my eyes shifting to Chase. "No. Our mother wouldn't tell us. She said it wouldn't matter because we wouldn't ever be separated."

"And now our father has to make the decision of if we stay or not. We can't both go to the safe haven though, I know that much." Chase added, looking right back at me. "We'll figure something out."

I nodded and looked back to our father who was now looking at us. He brushed past the girls and forced his way into our group between Minho and Fry Pan. He placed a hand on Chase's shoulder and reached forward to grab mine. "You two, follow me."

I pulled away from Newt and we followed our father a little bit away from the groups with all eyes on us. I grabbed Chase's hand and he squeezed it twice, glancing at me briefly. Our father turned towards us and smiled a sad smile. "As much as I need to bend the rules for you guys, I can't. You can't come to the safe haven with us but I want you both to stay until we get there. I won't be going to the safe haven anyway so you can stay with me. We can stay together from here on out and I can finally protect you again." His careful eyes analyzed us carefully as he continued. "Now...I don't know if you know which one of you isn't immune but I don't think that matters. You two have never really been separated so we don't want to start now, right?"

I smiled, relief flooding through me, and nodded. "Right, that's all we want. To stick together. And we don't want to know who isn't immune either."

"Okay, then. Let's get back to your friend over there and we can figure this out later." He walked back towards Brenda and I looked at Chase.

"What do you think about all of this?" I asked him quietly as we followed our father back to Brenda.

He shrugged, eyes on the ground. "Well, part of me wishes we knew who wasn't immune. I want you to go to the safe haven Clara. Then you'll be safe. For once and for all, you'll finally be safe. That's what I want."

My eyes widened and I gently pushed his shoulder. "No, you want us to stay together. Don't tell me otherwise. I'd rather be in danger with you than without you Chase." After squeezing his hand again I added, "we can protect each other."

He sighed but nodded, eyes meeting Thomas' as we met up with the group. He placed a hand on Thomas' shoulder and they started talking. I immediately went to join them but Newt wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me back. "You're too tense love. I know you're worried but now isn't the time, alright? We'll figure this out. I promise you no matter what happens at the end of the day we're all in this together." He whispered softly to me, resting his chin on my shoulder. My back was pressed against his front and his arm was tight around my waist.

I dropped my head back against him and nodded against him. "Thank you. I just...I want to know what Chase plans on doing. I don't trust him not to try to sacrifice himself for me and I can't let that happen." My eyes flickered up to Newt and noticed he was watching Chase and Thomas too.

"Clara! Chase! Come on over here!" Our father gestured for us to join him so we both moved forward taking Thomas, Newt, Minho, and Fry Pan with us. Thomas and I stepped closer to Brenda as our father looked down at her. "Well? What do we do then?"

"We have to help her. There has to be something you can do." I replied immediately.

He shifted slightly before looking up at me with a reserved expression. "There is." He raised the gun and pointed it at Brenda. "I can put her out of her misery."

Two guys pulled Jorge to his feet and away from Brenda resulting in him screaming out, fighting the hold he was in.

My mouth dropped as I dove between him and Brenda. "No, I can't let you do that."

His mouth dropped and he took in a stuttering breath before speaking. "Move Clara. She's not safe. We can't...we can't keep her here." The gun wavered in his hand as I stared down the barrel. His eyes were wide in fear as he looked back at me and he tilted the gun up and away from me. "Come on princess you have to see...we can't..." He shook his head and he looked over at Chase. "Son, move her out of the way."

Chase seemed to be frozen at the scene before him, unable to move. We hadn't encountered anything like this yet. It was one thing to be hunted down and shot at by others but to find our father alive and well after all these years and now he's standing there with a gun aimed at me... the situation seemed a bit too surreal.

Thomas however, easily slid in between me and my father. He raised his hands as if in surrender. "Please Vince, just lower the gun." He spoke calmly with pleading eyes, staring back at my father.  My father shook his head and cocked the gun and lowered it to aim at Thomas. Thomas stepped back into me and I laid my hands on his shoulders and peered at my father from behind him.

"Please put it down. We can't let you hurt her." I spoke quietly and from the corner of my eye I noticed Newt move in behind me. He wrapped an arm around my waist and shifted me to where I stood behind him now as Chase stepped closer to my father, finally broken out of his trance. "Dad. You don't want to do this. You're willing to help us...you can help her too."

The gun was trembling in Vince's hand and he frowned from the stress of the situation. His face was contorted as he watched the interaction with wide, panicked eyes. Clearly he hadn't intended for any of this to happen.

"You guys don't understand how this works. If you're not immune that's one thing but to have already been bitten..." His eyes widened and he looked at me. "You haven't been bitten have you?" He turned to Chase with an arch in his brow. "Either of you?" He put the gun down as his paternal instincts kicked in and his eyes quickly scanned Chase.

Newt's grip tightened on my waist and he quickly turned towards me, his eyes scanning my body. I pulled away from him and shook my head. "No, I'm fine." I turned back to Brenda and Jorge. Jorge still struggled in the men's grasp that held him and his pleading eyes met mine.

"Vince! That's enough!" A strikingly familiar woman walked towards us then and pointed to the men restraining Jorge. "Let him go! Let him go!"

The men let Jorge go and he dropped down beside Brenda. I crouched down opposite him and grabbed her hand. "Hey, hey, can you hear me?" I pushed the hair off her forehead and she smiled lightly at me as her breathing quickened. Newt hovered over my shoulder and for the moment everyone else was quiet, watching my interaction with Brenda.

"Cla...Clar...Clara. Get...get...away. You...you...don't..."

"Shhh. It's okay." I whispered to her with a small smile. "Don't try to talk yet okay? We're going to get you help."

I glanced up as the woman made her way to Vince's side. "She's infected doc, there's nothing we can do for her."

The doctor shrugged and turned to Thomas. "No, but he can."

Thomas glanced at Chase before looking at the woman. He arched a brow at her in confusion.

She smiled at him lightly and with a small nod said, "hello Thomas."

I climbed to my feet to stand by Newt, intrigued at the new situation.

"What? You know me?" Thomas asked with a tremor in his voice.

The doctor's expression shifted slightly. "Interesting." She shrugged before continuing. "Makes since, they put you in the maze." She walked over to Brenda and dropped down beside her similarly to how I had and gently grabbed her wrist to check her pulse. "Though I must admit I thought they would have killed you after what you did."

Thomas shifted to look at the doctor, his brow furrowed. "What I did?"

The doctor moved her hand to Brenda's forehead to check her temperature. "The first time we spoke you said you couldn't take it anymore. Watching all of your friends die one by one." She paused and I quickly looked at Thomas. "The last time we spoke you gave us the coordinates for every Wicked compound, trial and lab."

Vince gasped. "He was our source."

Everyone's eyes moved to Thomas. He glanced uneasily at me but a tense movement caught my eye over his shoulder. Teresa's unwavering gaze was focused on Thomas and her wide eyes seemed to be staring at him in disbelief and even...betrayal. Her arms were tightly crossed over her chest as if to compose herself. I found everything about her extremely unnerving in that moment, especially the way she looked at him.

The doctor's movement regained my attention but I glanced back at Teresa to find her still staring at Thomas.

"We couldn't have pulled all this off without him." The doctor stated, nodding to Thomas with a smile. "Get these guys some warm clothes and take her to the tent."

Jorge and one of the guys that had restrained him moved to pick Brenda up.

"Be careful." The doctor added before looking around at the others. "It's the least we could do." Her eyes landed on Vince and she nodded as she passed him.

My eyes landed on Teresa again and this time I saw the definite betrayal in her gaze as she continued to stare at Thomas. I moved in front of him, blocking her line of sight and she blinked quickly, cleared her throat and looked at me. "Everything okay T?"

She smiled lightly and nodded.

"Clara, Chase, Thomas, if you could all come with me I need some blood from you guys." The doctor called out, continuing towards the tent. I turned to Vince and he shrugged weakly. "She knows all about you guys. I'm surprised neither of you remember her."

Thomas was already walking away with the doctor and as we started following I found myself looking back at Teresa once more. Chase placed his hand on my shoulder with an arch in his brow. "Did you see the way she looked at Tommy?"

"No, I did hear the way the doctor said she needed our blood though. I thought that's what would have you bothered if anything." He mumbled quietly. I bumped my shoulder against his as we walked close to each other and shook my head.

"I don't know Chase. The thing that bothers me now is the look of betrayal I saw on Teresa's face."

He looked up at me and nodded slowly seeming to accept my answer but not providing anything else.

"Wait! Doc!" Vince jogged up to her and whispered something to her. She nodded, glancing at us while she did before continuing on with Thomas. As we passed Vince he held up an arm to stop us. "I'm sorry about what happened with your friend but I have to do what's best for the safe haven. What's best for humanity. More than that knowing that if she turns and bites you... I just couldn't live with myself losing either of you now, alright? Please forgive me for what I did." His eyes shifted to mine and he took a step forward. "I never would have shot you Clara."

I nodded and Chase reached down, grabbing my hand tightly. He squeezed twice and I turned to him with a soft smile. He was right, we'd be okay.

When we turned back to face Vince, Chase cleared his throat before speaking. "What did you tell the doctor about us?"

Vince's gaze shifted to Chase. "That you didn't want to know who isn't immune. She knows and I didn't want her assuming you did as well. It won't...it won't be good for you guys to know, okay?"

Chase glanced at me and I nodded to him, Vince was right. He looked back at Vince and nodded in acceptance. "Okay."

Vince smiled again and patted Chase's shoulder before walking towards the tent he had been by when we arrived. I looked at Chase to find him watching Vince walk away. "Hey, what are you thinking?"

"I thought he died. I mean...he got bitten. How is he here? How is he okay?" His eyes shifted to mine and my brow furrowed in confusion. He was right.

"I don't know Chase. Maybe we didn't...maybe we didn't get the whole story that night."

"He was already sick when he said goodnight to us though..." He shook his head before his eyes widened slightly. "I wonder if that's what happens when you're immune? You get sick when a crank bites you but then get better?"

"I don't see that being very likely. Maybe it was because of Aunt Ava?" I looked back at him to notice him tense. "What?"

"You shouldn't call her that anymore. Not after everything she put you through." He gently laid a hand on my shoulder and smiled softly at me. "Clara, she may be our aunt but she isn't our family anymore. It's just us and..." He looked back to where Vince had gone. "And father I guess."

"I hate that we can't trust him. I want to trust him Chase. After everything that's happened...I want to be able to trust someone and to have him back."

"I know. To know he's alive and here changes everything. He's a completely different person than he used to be though. So much has changed." He sighed and his gaze drifted back to the tent with Vince. "I don't know. Let's just ride it out and see what happens okay? Maybe things are different and we can trust him it'll just take some time to adjust."

"I want to believe that but he pointed a loaded gun at me. Father wouldn't have done that." When my eyes met Chase's again I noticed the resignation on his. He agreed with me. There was conflict in his gaze as he nodded and shrugged. "So, what do we do?"

My eyes flickered to Newt and I smiled softly when I caught his gaze. He was standing with Minho and Fry Pan and while the two other boys talked with exasperated hand gestures Newt just watched me. His expression was a cross between love, concern and something else I couldn't quite identify. As I stared back at him the corners of his mouth turned up and a small smile appeared.

"Clara?"

Without pulling my gaze from Newt I replied. "We wait it out and see what happens here but don't trust him. We don't necessarily have to trust him to work with him, right?"

Chase smirked and nodded, finally regaining my attention. "And that's what Newt would do right?"

I blushed and shrugged. "He helps keep me rational. And right now with everything going on I just feel like my emotions are all over the place so Newt...well he keeps me on track. And I think that's our best decision for us and our friends. Especially for Brenda."

"Okay, well, I'm in. I'll do what you do but Clara the second things seem off we need to get out of here okay?"

I nodded, eyes flickering back to Newt. He nodded to me and I smiled at him before returning to Chase. He studied me carefully before the corner of his lip quirked up. "You ready? Let's go find out why the doctor needs our blood and we can get an update on Brenda, alright?"

"Sounds good." I looped my arm through his and together we made our way to the tent.