ᵗʷᵒ 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 ⁿᵉʷᵗᵐᵃˢ (ᶜᵒᵐᵖˡᵉᵗᵉᵈ)

Drowning On Dry Land

THOMAS POV

My heart starts beating faster. I try to hide my feelings but I think it shows on my face. I look at Derek, hope showing in my eyes.

"Is he-?" I ask.

"He's alive." Derek says.

Those two words save me. I almost fall to my knees in relief.

"But he's in critical condition." He continues. "He should be fine, but I don't know for sure."

I nod, not really hearing anything he said after he's alive.

"Would you like me to take you to him?" He asks.

I nod. "Yes. Please." I add.

Derek leads me to a room where Newt lays in a bed. I let out a breath of air that I didn't even realize I was holding. I look back to Derek.

"Thank you." I barely whisper.

Derek smiles and leaves. I walk over to Newt, my feet stumbling. 

"Newt..." I whisper. "Are you awake?"

He squeezes his eyes shut. "Tommy? Is that you?" 

I breath out shakily. "Oh my god, you're alive."

"Am I?" He asks.

Tears of relief start to fall from my eyes. "Yes. Thank god, yes. How are you feeling?"

"Like I just had major surgery." He says, opening his eyes. "Is that about right?"

I laugh. "Yes." I help him sit up. "I knew you'd live."

He smiles slightly. "Well, I still could die. What did Dr. Shepherd even do?" 

I shrug. "I dunno. I wonder..." I look at him. "Lift your shirt." 

He does. The implant is gone. 

"Oh my god." I laugh in relief. "You won't die."

Newt shakes his head. "They'll just put it back in."

"No." I say. "No. You stay with me forever now. Twenty-four seven." 

Newt laughs. "As great as it would be to be with you for 60 years, I think we ought to come up with a better plan."

I smirk and look away. "Yeah, probably."

"I can't believe I lived." Newt says, pushing himself up farther.

"No. No, no, no." I say. "You are staying in bed until Derek says otherwise." He gives me a look. "I mean it! I'll be here with you, but I can't risk you getting hurt. You're the love of my life."

Newt looks at me. "I'll be fine, Tommy." He says.

"If you stay in bed, yes you will." I say. 

He smiles. "You're rather hard to argue with." He says.

"One of my many skills." I say boastfully.

"Is that right?" Newt asks. 

"Yup. I'd be happy to show you some of my others." I say, smirking.

"Oh, yeah?" Newt says. "Well, I-"

Then, Minho walks in. 

"Hey, Thomas. Hey, Newt." He says. "Glad you lived, dude."

"Thanks." Newt says, chuckling. Newt licks his lips. "But listen."

"No." I say. "No. Please. You can't say anything else. We're finally happy. We're all alive. Please, don't say anything."

Newt looks at me sadly. "Tommy, I'm sorry, but it needs to be said." He sighs. "I'm not immune and apparently that's going that's going to follow me everywhere. And eventually, it's going to kill me." He looks between the two of us. "It's already almost killed me twice. I just need you two to know that."

Minho and I share a look. 

"No, man." Minho says. "It won't kill you. Because every time you've almost died, we've saved you. Thomas has saved you. And we aren't just going to let you die. We're not idiots."

Newt sighs. "No, Minho, it's going to kill me. It has to. There's no if anymore. It's when. We thought getting to the Safe Haven was the end. Well, clearly it wasn't. It's never going to end. Never."

NEWT POV

I wake up at about three in the morning. The hospital room is dark. Thomas is asleep in a chair. I smile. I get out of bed, my legs barely taking my weight. I curse under my breath. I make it out of the building before falling to my knees.

"If you're out there, voice, I need you to listen to this." I whisper. "You have to stop this. Stop trying to kill me. Stop trying to kill Thomas and Minho. Stop talking to me in my brain where no one else can hear. I need you to stop. I know you think it's for a good cause but..." I shake my head. "It's not. You're just hurting people. So please, stop."

"Oh, Newt." I hear. 

"What?" I say, surprised by the answer. 

"Over here." It says.

I stand. There's a woman with sharp features, curly black hair pulled up in a bun, bright red lips. She's wearing a navy blue pant suit. 

"Who the hell are you?" I ask, managing to rise to my feet. 

"I'm Aurora Michaels." She says, stepping towards me. 

I look at her. "So you're the one who's been...doing all of this? Talking to me in my head, putting these implants in people?" 

She nods. "Yes, Newt."

"Why?" I breathe.

"I believe Elizabeth told you." She says.

"But why kill us?" I ask. "Why now?"

"The technology was just now finished." She explains. "And I'm sorry this means you have to die. But I hope you'll understand."

"OF COURSE I DON'T BLOODY UNDERSTAND!" I scream, suddenly losing my temper. "YOU CAN'T JUSTIFY ANYTHING THAT INVOLVES KILLING PEOPLE!"

She doesn't waver in her cool manner. "Newt, killing people is what's best for the rest of the population."

"Then what are you going to do?" I ask dryly. "Kill yourself? Shoot yourself in the head?"

She shakes her head. "No, Newt. Fortunately I'm immune."

"Of course you are." I say. "Of course you shucking are. No one who's not immune would come up with this."

"I won't shoot myself in the head." She says. "But I will shoot you."

She pulls a pistol from her belt and points it at my head, hands steady. 

"I'm so sorry it has to be this way." She says. 

"It doesn't." I say. "It doesn't have to be this way."

Aurora cocks the gun. "It does, though."

I hear a door open. I whip around but the door is shut. I look back to the gun trained on my face. 

"Please, Aurora, there has to be a way to make us both happy." I say. 

"There is." She says. "I'm sure heaven can't be that bad."

Then, she pulls the trigger.