Fingerprints

Eleven

The two wandered around the dark warehouse, Newt keeping one hand flat on the wall, feeling for a light switch but finding none. He could feel Thomas behind him, looking around and sighing in frustration every now and then. Row after row of boxes and furniture, but absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. The only doors they found led to storage rooms or janitors closets. After about an hour of exploring the entire room, top to bottom, the two had found nothing. Newt watched Thomas become more and more aggravated and exasperated as time went on, willing them to find something, anything. Newt was worried that this lead, wasn't a lead at all, and that all of his years os suspicion toward WCKD was misdirected. He sat down on a box, taking five to stop the throbbing in his foot.

"This is ridiculous. There has to be something." The brunette groaned, pacing back and forth.

"Tommy, we're not the only ones searching. Even if we haven't found anything, it doesn't mean Minho and Brenda haven't." Newt knew it was wishful thinking, but he was trying his best to keep Thomas's spirits high. Even if he didn't show it, Newt could tell Teresa's disappearance had changed his partner. The twinkle in his eyes had dulled, and Newt hated it. He didn't know this girl Thomas seemed to love so dearly, but if she made him happy, Newt would put all of his effort and time into finding her, for Tommy.

"I hope so, because I'm fed up of this shucking warehouse, and it's starting to get late." he muttered, not faltering in his pacing. Newt nodded and stood, cursing under his breath as his foot cramped painfully. Thomas looked at him with a hint of worry, which Newt shook off and began to make his way away from. The american followed him, letting his partner lead him from the room. Newt pushed open the door and squinted in discomfort at the blue strip lights blinding the hallway.

"What if they haven't found anything?" Thomas asked, falling into step with Newt, who smiled knowingly.

"Tommy, don't worry about it. Minho and Brenda know what to do if they can't find anything. You have to trust us to get this right Tommy, we know what we're doing."

"I know but-"

"Thomas." Newt stopped, turning to his friend. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Then stop worrying." he put his hands on the americans shoulders, smiling reassuringly. "I know you want to find her, but we know what we're doing. This won't be a dead end Tommy, I promise. We'll do whatever it takes to get her back." he let his hands slip away as he started walking again.

"How do I know your one to keep promises?" Thomas asked.

"Well you trust me. So trust me to keep my promises." he shrugged, pushing open the doors to the stairs, which he slowly made his way up.

"Why do you speak like a wise owl?" Thomas asked, staying behind the brit slightly, subconsciously making sure he was there in case Newt's foot were to give out and he fell.

"Cuz I'm older than you, and that means I can pretend I'm Gandalf around you." Newt shrugged, trying to keep the mood lighter.

"No offence but Dumbledore is cooler than Gandalf." Thomas muttered, making the blond scoff.

"You wanna come here and say that to my-" he crashed into someone, stumbling backward into his partner. He glanced up, and his heart caught in his throat.

Mark was a muscular man, slightly less so than Minho, but could certainly beat Thomas to a plus if he wanted. His dark hair was pushed up from his scalp in a perfect quiff, and his eyes were a blue. The same piercing blue as Teresa's, but definitely more intimidating. He was one that always had their chest pushed out and their shoulders back, someone who tried to make their aura more important than it actually was. He looked down on everyone, towering a whole foot over Newt. Everywhere he went, he cast a shadow, causing the two men to look up into his icy eyes. Newt shivered.

"M..Mark! What are you doing here?" He felt Thomas tense underneath him, and he pushed himself away from the brunette, putting about a foot in-between the two of them. Mark noticed.

"I'm shopping for furniture. Why are you here? Shouldn't you be working?" His voice was rough from yelling, but smooth enough to lull anyone into a false sense of security.

"Oh..I am. I'm working on a case right now you see." Newt swallowed his nerves, and tried to calm his hammering heart.

"And who is this?" Mark asked calmly, motioning to Thomas.

"Oh! This is Tom-Thomas. He's my partner, I uh..mentioned." Thomas just nodded toward Mark, but Newt couldn't help but notice the man clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Right." Mark waved Thomas off, turning back to his boyfriend."Baby, you didn't give me a kiss this morning." he snapped accusingly, causing Newt to lower his head to the floor.

"Sorry..I..I didn't want to disturb you. I thought you were sleeping." he almost whispered. The brit could feel Thomas's eyes on him, he knew he'd probably lost the americans respect.

"Well, I want it now." Mark dragged him closer by his waist. Newt bit down on his tongue to stop himself from yelping in pain, his side still hurting like hell from the night before. His boyfriend dragged his chin up, forcing eye contact. He moved closer, and Newt couldn't help but shy away. Mark gripped him tightly, and Newt heard a sharp intake of breath. He knew Thomas was going to say something, and he prayed, on everything he had that the man kept his mouth shut for once.

"Mark!" Newt seemed to melt with relief when he heard that familiar voice. Mark glanced up, groaning slightly under his breath and shoving the blond away. Newt stumbled backward, tripping over his bad foot, back into Thomas's chest, keeping his hands close to himself. He knew if he didn't, Thomas would try to squeeze his hand or something.

"Oh. Hey Minho. Brenda."

"Hey, what you doing here?" Minho asked with an over exaggerated grin.

"Looking for furniture." Mark clearly didn't want to talk to them, so he winked at Newt and slunk away. Newt took a long breath of relief, letting his arms fall to his side. Thomas, like he thought he would, reached out and squeezed his hand, lingering for a moment to run a thumb over his pale knuckles, before letting go. Minho growled under his breath, and Brenda sighed, making her way over to Newt. She gently took his chin and lifted it up.

"Hey, look at me Newt. You don't need to look down now, he's gone." she smiled warmly. Thomas squeezed his forearm and made a noise of agreement.

"Thanks guys. Thanks Min'" He muttered. Minho just smiled at him.

"He really is a dick." Thomas murmured to himself.

"We did try to tell you Thomas." Brenda sighed.

"Let's just drop it." Newt shook himself into his usual, cheery grin, "Did you guys find anything?" Brenda sighed at his dismissal, and shook her head. He felt Thomas's long sigh on the back of his neck.

"Don't worry Thomas. We had a plan B, unlike you clearly." Minho grinned.

"Tommy doesn't even have a plan A." Newt snorted, hoping his eyes didn't cast too much sadness on his friends.

"Well, let's get going then. Have a good weekend, and then we should have some answers." Brenda advised, shooting a warm smile on her friends. Thomas nodded, following the girl outward, Minho and Newt hot on their tails. Once they were back in the car, Thomas turned toward his colleagues and asked,

"What is plan B?" He asked.

"We put a tracker in Janson's coat. Unfortunately it means we have to play the waiting game, which I know you don't want to do, but it's pretty much foolproof. It's too small for him to find." Minho shrugged, watching the cars pass outside.

"More waiting?" Thomas groaned frustratedly. Brenda squeezed his hand from the front seat, smiling fondly at him.

"I'm worried about her too Thomas, but it's the best way to find her. We will find her, just you wait and see."

"Let's all have a weekend off, and then on Monday we can come back bright and early snd start mapping his movements." Minho advised, to which Newt and Brenda nodded too. Thomas sighed grumpily, but nodded.

"Have a nice weekend with Newt and Chuck Thomas, it'll help to take your mind off of it."

"I will. It'll be fun."