BY THE TIME EDEN AND FRY had walked into the candle lit room where Teresa was being 'held', the questioning had been fully completed. Which she was unbelievably thankful for, having not wanted to even hear her voice after the betrayal. Eden kept in complete silence from the moment she sat in the chair to have the chip in her neck removed. She just stared at the floor, holding her hair out of the way with one hand, whilst the other twirled the bead between her fingertips. Teresa took her time taking the chip out of Eden's neck, all the while asking her dozens of questions or having conversations that implied that everything would be fixed if they had the cure.
She drifted over to Newt as it was Fry's turn, sitting down in the chair next to him without saying a word. Slowly he clasped his hand around hers, squeezing tightly. Her brow, which had been tugged down with great concern, began to rise as she realised her surroundings once more. They watched Teresa working in complete silence, gaze sometimes drifting to Gally and the others to check on their wellbeing.
Eden, after every single chip barring Newt's had been removed, decided that she had enough of the candle lit room and stood to leave, once again ignoring Teresa's persistent questions about the cure as everyone else did.
"Eden, just tell me!" Teresa yelled, voice echoing around the dark room. Eden continued to pretend that she hadn't heard and went to walk out of the room. A hand on her collar, dragging her in the opposite direction prevented that. She turned and found Teresa's wild expression staring back at her. "Tell me!" she yelled, forcefully trying to shake the answer out of her.
Everyone descended on her instantly, some hands on guns while others were planning on just using brute force to pull her away from Eden. They all stopped instantly as Eden lifted one of her hands, glancing towards Jorge who was the closest.
"No Teresa. I will not tell you. I wouldn't have told you even before you betrayed us..." she replied calmly, jaw clenched tight with fury. "You could kill me and I wouldn't tell so I suggest you let go before I make you."
Teresa hesitated for at least ten seconds then eventually pulled away, giving enough room that Eden could walk away and out of the room as she so wanted. Newt rushed to get the chip out of his neck, almost moving too quickly and getting the scalpel stabbed into his skin. He rushed after her, having noted the direction in which she went, and found her laying on a bed while staring intently at the ceiling. He pulled off his jacket, kicked off his boots, then lay down next to her. She hadn't even acknowledged his appearance at her side but still shuffled closer to him, nestling her head in the crook of his extended arm.
"What's on your mind, love?"
"Nothing important," she sighed softly, moving her head closer to his so their whispered conversation would be easier. "What's on yours?"
He took some of her hair and began twisting it round his fingers, relishing in the comforting feeling. "I'm reliving the moment when I first realised I was attracted to you."
Eden's head slowly lifted to be level with his, her eyes so full of intrigue that he almost didn't want to tell her.
"When you were telling me about your research the second time you took my blood. The focus in your eyes, the gentleness, the passion and the way you just looked so absorbed in your work... I don't know why but it just did something," he shrugged, smiling as a grin grew on her lips.
She laughed, the sound almost melodic after only hearing her saddened voice for so long, "No, I totally get it. Mine was when you were working on the fields the week before Clint came up in the box."
He could physically feel his eyebrows raise as he wondered aloud, "Really?"
"You were laughing about something with someone, I just thought it sounded so beautiful... and your hair was wet from the shower," she confessed, blush dusting her cheeks as he laughed. His nose screwed up in that most adorable way and just for a split second she forgot her surroundings and the pressure of their life at the moment. It was a short lived moment but she found herself craving it over and over as time continued, as if it were the rarest drug available. She found even more confessions slipping from her tongue. "I think I fell in love with you when you trusted me not to tell you about immunities. That level of trust... I knew you had suspicious but the fact that you trusted me enough to keep it a secret? It only intensified when... well after that conversation," she whispered, brushing so deeply their cheeks turned crimson instead of their usual red. He smiled, pinkinging too as he remembered every single perfect moment of that evening.
"Exact time I fell in love with you was when you were quietly watching the evening fire, a few days into the scorch. Just the way the fire glow lit up your face and your freckles. The breeze that blew at your hair. The thing that really did it though was when you silently checked on every single person before letting yourself relax. It increased when you saved a bug from flying into the flames," he trailed off, spiralling into the silence between them. It was not exactly comfortable, in fact Eden could argue it was the opposite. It was obvious they both had things they wanted to say that just wouldn't leave their lips. "I'm so sorry for hurting you Pepper."
Her brow furrowed deeply, frown plastering itself onto her lips, "Hurting me?"
"I saw you with Fry," he confessed softly, watching the changing emotions behind her eyes.
"Oh..." she paused, swallowing the thickness in her throat down into a box that would not be unlocked until she was better able to handle her emotion. "It's just an obstacle in the way, we'll get over it. I'm sure," she reassured before softly pressing her lips against his, not wanting to talk about it any longer. For a moment, they both enjoyed the warmth that spread through their stomachs.
The warmth faded as Newt pulled away, resting their heads together as he whispered, "And if we don't?"
"We will," she smiled reassuringly, tracing his jaw with the tip of her finger. "And you shouldn't be sorry. It's not your fault."
"It's not yours either," he whispered back just as the thought popped into her head, knowing it would.
Eden did not give a reply, she did not need to. He already knew everything she would say against that fact and countered it with the look of adoration in his eyes. He did not hate her for failing him in that regard. That meant the most to her. Instead she gently took his infected arm, not looking at the veins but instead glancing to the face of his watch.
"We have to go. Plan begins in fifteen," she sighed deeply, beginning to move away from his embrace. The cold that brushed against her arms as soon as she moved away from him was highly distasteful, making her want to crawl back to where she had been before. To get that feeling of belonging once again. But she had a job to do.
"You don't have to go Pepper," Newt gently suggested, sitting up as she grabbed her boots from the end of the bed.
"Yes I do. They'll have the stuff you need," Eden replied without a second of thought, tugging her boots on.
Newt hesitated as she quickly tied her laces, pulling them tight. "Pepper..."
Eden did not reply as she stood from the bed, walking across the room to pull on his coat. It was warmer and he wouldn't be needing it, due to the guard costume. She could tell what the look in his eyes meant even after he trailed off as he walked towards her, "I'm not going to give up on you Newt. "
"It's not safe," he countered, which was a perfectly good argument. One that she would not hear for even a second.
"I don't care," she shrugged, shaking her head of his concerns. Eden had only two things on her mind and that was getting him better and saving Minho, she did not care for the repercussions of that as long as it didn't hurt anyone else she loved.
"Pepper, please," he spoke softly, reaching to take her hands. She moved out of the way though, not wanting to lose her point by distraction.
"Newt there is nothing you can say that will prevent me from going. Even if you say you want to turn into a Crank. I won't listen because I love you and I'm going to do what is best for you. Turning into one of those things is not what is best for you," she paused, trailing off momentarily. "So I'm not going to stop, not for even a second."
"You could die!" he cried, protesting profusely with his tone and the look in his eyes. Newt had never had any intention of being okay with her coming alongside the mission, in fact he had thought of multiple ways to prevent it. He had gotten to the end of his fuse, maybe that was due to the infection spreading through his veins or maybe it was the undying want to protect her as much as he could for as long as he could.
"I don't care!" she yelled, stunning him into a silence which she soon mirrored. The snap of her patience had been brief yet it had all the effect it needed to have. She looked at him then, swimming in the silence and dispelling tension within the room. Just from the look in her eyes he knew she would not waver. There was no point in trying, it didn't stop him though. Eden continued, softer than before, just as his lips parted, "As long as I can live long enough to make your cure, I don't care."
"Eden I-"
The tears filling her eyes had no effect on her tone of voice. It remind to be strong, determined and everything he did not want to be. If Newt could do anything with his ast moments it would be spending it with her, alone and doing something perfect. But that was a dream scenario, something that was not possible. So instead he wanted to keep her protected for as long as possible. This act of asking her to stay behind was just fulfilling that. Eden did not care though. Like she had said. "You die, I die too. That's the truth. So I can't not try... don't you understand that?"
Thousands of emotions passed his eyes. Thousands of differing emotions that each surged so brightly he could not get a hold on any of them. His gaze softened, watching the quickened rate of her breathing. He could not say anything against it, there were no words physically able to form. He did not know why he had expected anything else, given that was exactly what he would do for her in the same situation. He stammered then took a deep inhale to steady himself, hand beginning to shake discreetly. "Let's go then."