Childish (TomTord Fanfic)

On Pins And Needles

   Tom was casually leaning against the wall of his cell, once again left to his own thoughts as he waited for Edd and Matt. What was it he was forgetting? Tom just couldn't figure it out. Everytime he tried to recall his memories, his head would start pounding and he would eventually have to give up.
"Ow! Ugh, what keeps causing that?" Tom groaned, instinctively grabbing the back of his head, feeling something. Tom stopped, suddenly realizing he had stitches on the back of his head. Why were those there?! Wait... He briefly remembered something. He remembered sharp pieces of glass and... The medic? Was he- before Tom could fully remember what had happened, Matt came charging in, holding keys above his head triumphantly.
"We got the keys!" Matt cheered.
"I almost had it!" Tom growled. Matt backed away a bit, startled by Tom's outburst. Edd clicked on his flashlight.
"What?" He asked, the light illuminating Tom's cell.
"Oh uh... Nothing, just get me out of here!" Tom sighed. Edd pointed the flashlight towards the lock so Matt could see it and unlock it.
"Thanks Edd," Matt grinned.
"No problem," Edd smiled. They kind of just stood there and stared at each other for awhile.
"Guys? Can we maybe hurry this up a bit?" Tom chuckled. Something was up with them, but now wasn't really the time to interrogate them to figure out what.
"Right! Sorry!" Matt quickly unlocked the cell door, shoving the keys into his pocket afterwards, and earning him a curious look from Edd.
"Why?" Edd asked, motioning towards the keys in Matt's pocket.
"You never know," Matt shrugged. Edd gave up, Matt was a bit of a hoarder, so arguing with him about keeping something unnecessary was kind of pointless. Tom practically kicked the cell door down, posing.
"I'm free!" He laughed.
"Come on, let's get out of here!" Edd smirked. Tom grabbed his wrist before he could leave.
"Wait! How are we going to sneak out? You two might be able to get through, but they could easily spot me!" Tom sighed.
"Right..." Edd trailed off.
"I could probably disguise you!" Matt grinned. He pulled off Tom's hoodie, tying it around Tom's waist.
"Ew, Tom why do you smell so bad? How long has it been since you've bathed?" Edd scowled.
"Depends, how long have I been gone?" Tom asked.
"Gross," Edd shuddered. Matt tried to mess with Tom's hair, but Tom kept slapping his hands away.
"Tim, people will recognize your hair," Matt rolled his eyes.
"Clearly you don't!" Tom argued.
"Tom this is hardly the time!" Edd scoffed.
"Fine! I'll do it!" Tom reached up and tried smoothing out his hair. He ultimately failed, and it popped right back up without hesitation.
"Alright new plan, let's just book it," Edd shrugged.
"Uh... Yeah, let's do that," Matt gave up. They crept up the stairs and carefully opened the basement doors. The moment they left the basement, Tom took a deep breath and grinned.
"Finally! That basement sucked!" Tom whispered, happy to be out.
"Alright, which way is the entrance?" Edd asked, turning to Matt.
"Uh..." Matt had no clue.
"You don't remember?!" Edd gasped.
"Neither of you know where the entrance is?!" Tom whispered harshly.
"Well no, we know where it is, we just don't know how to get to it from here," Matt laughed nervously.
"Are you kidding me?" Tom groaned.
"Matt was supposed to remember!" Edd whined.
"Why did you put him in charge of remembering that?!" Tom growled.
"He can remember things! You just have to give him a chance!"
"You did, and he messed it up!"
"He has the potential, he really does! If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have gotten those keys,"
"If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't have had to go back for the keys in the first place!" Tom and Edd were arguing back and forth, progressively getting louder. Matt peeked around the corner, spotting a woman staring down at her clipboard and walking in their direction. Matt ran over to Tom and Edd, pushing them against the wall and covering their mouths with his hands. Tom was about to snap, but he stopped himself as he watched someone walk past them. If Tom remembered correctly, it was the researcher... Caroline? That was probably right. She stopped, causing him to mentally panic. She began hurriedly writing on her clipboard.
"It just makes no sense! How did she sprain her ankle? She barely even leaves her lab! She only left because I asked her to... Is it my fault?" The researcher sighed. Edd immediately knew who she was talking about, and felt a bit guilty. Matt had long since forgotten about the whole thing and seemed just as confused as Tom. The researcher shook her head and continued speed walking down the hall. Matt took his hands away, relief washing over him.
"Thanks Matt!" Edd grinned.
"Thanks... Sorry for doubting you I guess," Tom shrugged. There was no doubt in Matt's mind Tom didn't fully mean it, but he'd take what he could get.
"We should get going," Matt nodded. Edd and Tom followed after him, aimlessly wandering and looking for the entrance... Or... Exit in their case. Tom felt uneasy. This was starting to seem a little too easy, especially since they hadn't encountered anyone at all since almost getting caught by the researcher. These guys were seemingly everywhere on a normal basis... Where was everyone?
"Help!" Edd squeaked. Tom and Matt turned around to see someone gripping onto Edd's sleeve. Matt pushed past Tom and yanked Edd away from whoever it was, sending them forward with a thunk.
"Ow!" Wait... The seamstress?! Matt started running with Edd, but Tom didn't go with them.
"What are you doing?" Tom whispered. The seamstress looked up at him.
"I'm trying to help!" She sighed. Matt and Edd stopped upon hearing this.
"What?" Edd asked.
"I told you before little one, I don't want to hurt anyone, I never did," The seamstress smiled.
"Tom we should just go," Edd begged.
"We don't know where we're going," Tom frowned.
"We can figure it out as we go!" Matt suggested.
"She can help us," Tom looked over at the seamstress.
"I can! For starters, I have cameras set up everywhere, my brother works here and checks those cameras daily to make sure I'm not up to anything bad, I can edit out all of the footage they have of you so far, but I know where all of the blind spots are! I can guide you out of here unseen by the cameras," The seamstress explained.
"Tom how do you know we can trust her?" Edd asked. Tom had met bad people before, the truly evil people at least, so he knew what to look for. The seamstress didn't seem like a bad person, her brother gave off nothing but emotional problems, but that didn't necessarily make him a bad person either. In fact the only person at red base he had gotten those vibes from was the commie.
"You don't have to trust her, just trust me," Tom nodded. Matt and Edd exchanged a concerned look. They knew they'd never be able to win an argument with Tom, so they just gave up and let Tom do whatever.
"Thank you! I promise you won't regret this!" The seamstress had a wide grin on her face.