Love is a Weakness, Causing My Death and Yours

Part 8

Teresa walked through the halls of WICKED as best she could with her stomach protruding as much as it did.

She really hated being pregnant.

She hadn't seen Thomas since that day in the interrogation room, nearly a month now. But she'd heard about the things that had been done to him. Janson had pushed for the fear simulation. Teresa had hoped he would fail, that the results would be no better or even worse than the other methods WICKED had been using on him.

Her hopes had been dashed.

Janson had invited her to watch the second or third trial they had performed. She had had no choice but to attend. Even she knew that an "invitation" from Janson was a thinly veiled order. The reason he wanted her there was apparent. He had stood next to her the entire time, lying in wait of any change in facial expression or slight movement that would suggest she was no longer loyal to WICKED and WICKED alone. 

The message had been clear. Comply, or no longer be a valuable asset. Careful, Janson had seemed to whisper in her ear, I'm watching you.

The fear simulation had been a huge success. So much so that Ava herself had endorsed it after only one trial. The fact that the one person Teresa had trusted was for such an evil thing made her worry all the more for her child.

No, not hers. Theirs. It was her and Thomas's baby, not just hers. She had been mulling over a few names in the quiet of night and wanted more than anything to be able to share them with Thomas.

She wanted to share everything with him.

When she had first joined WICKED she had thought she was working toward the greater good. She thought she would be relieving suffering, not causing it. Then Teresa told herself the pain would end once they found a cure. And even once that was achieved she saw barely anyone helped. The few humans who remained were isolated and miserable. Instead of distributing the cure Teresa had found, WICKED kept it for themselves. Giving life only to the loyal and stockpiling for emergencies within the organization.

Teresa pulled herself from her thoughts and pressed on. She would get her baby and Thomas out of WICKED if it was the last thing she ever did. She had caused enough pain as it was. She'd be damned if her family suffered because of her.

Though she'd need a bit of help first.

—-

"Here's a thought," Thomas directed to Ava on the day she came to oversee his weekly physical (only to make sure he would stay alive for the foreseeable future, not that they actually cared about his health), "Instead of sticking me with needles why don't you just analyze my blood and figure out how to recreate it artificially." Ava actually smiled and let out the smallest little laugh, catching Thomas completely off guard. The woman had never laughed in front of him.

"Oh now don't look so shocked Thomas," she joked, "I am human after all. Humans laugh."

"What was so funny then?" Thomas managed to say despite still being shocked.

Ava looked up a him as she removed the blood pressure strap from his arm, "You don't know a  thing about science Thomas. I swear the more I learn about you and Teresa the more different you become."

Thomas's mind fumbled at the mention of Teresa and then ran with the topic as fast as it could, "How's she doing, by the way." Thomas said, doing his best to look unaffected by the subject.

Ava obliged him, "She's doing well, healthy. A little smaller than I would like at this point but nothing out of the ordinary. Especially considering her age," Ava flicked her eyes to him as she made some marks on her chart, "We're all done here." She pressed the button on the wall to call in a few guards, who then half dragged Thomas through the halls. He looked behind him once, to see Ava watching him go, an odd expression on her face.

---

Ava stood tight-lipped as Thomas was marched down the hall. She had been feeling different towards him of late. Not anything that she would deem sympathetic, and nothing would ever come between her and her job, but the boy had started to grow on her. 

He had at first been another test subject, just one of the hundreds, if not thousands, whose sacrifice had been demanded in the search for a cure. Ava had devoted her whole life to find a cure, to find Thomas.

And yet now that she had him and the capabilities to create a cure she wasn't to sure she wanted it. 

Things had changed when Teresa confided in her about her pregnancy. How could they not? Anyone would have been affected. And even then that had been a small hurdle to overcome when she had seen what Thomas's blood could do. 

Then she'd re-met the boy.

Ava had seen him in the halls before he went into the maze. They never had much interaction. He had been so damn headstrong, and problematic (if giving the location of every WICKED facility to violent groups was anything to go by). But smart, quick-thinking, and had been one of their brightest pupils. She even thought she had heard Janson bragging that the boy was in his department at one point. 

He was different now. Much different. The boy had seen so much pain and come out strong the other side. Teresa and him were so different but still so much the same.

Thomas was, even though she hated to admit it, a person to her now. It was becoming harder and harder each day to act like he was just a blood bank. That he wasn't going to have a family soon. He seemed to have gotten more comfortable around her as well. Talking to her about everything and nothing, trying to casually find out any information he could about Teresa. There was a small part of Ava that wanted to free him and his soon to be family. Smuggle them out of WICKED and let them live their lives. She did her best to tamp down that part of her.

Ava turned to walk to her lab, realizing she had been transfixed at the hallway the guards had taken Thomas down.

God damnit, she thought to herself.

---

Hey guys! Thanks so much for all the support. If anyone wants to give me ideas for baby names in the comments that would be appreciated. I've never been good at coming up with names. Any gender is fine. Thanks!