We're nearly there! And it is becoming increasingly difficult to write such long chapters.
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Janson put out a hand for Thomas to shake, "Welcome back, Thomas. No one believed me, but I've always been saying all along that you'd return. I'm glad you made the right choice."
She couldn't see Thomas' face clearly, but she could only imagine the blank expression he was wearing. "Let's just get on with it."
"Sounds like an excellent idea. After you." Janson moved to let Thomas pass and enter the building.
Thomas seemed to hesitate, but he went in anyway.
The screen began to disappear, and Lori started to panic. What were they going to do to him.
"No. No! What's going on? Where is he? What are they doing to him?"
She started to thrash against her restraints, the blanket falling off of her in the process.
The door opened again, and her mother entered the room, rushing over to her. She stopped beside her bed, running her hands through her daughter's hair to calm her down.
"You need to calm down or they will hurt you. Please, sweetheart, I don't want to lose you again." Lucinda's eyes were glistening with tears at the thought, and this is what caught Lori's attention.
Her breathing began to become jagged as she tried to slow it. Shutting her eyes, Lori took deep breaths, allowing the darkness to consume the void.
"There you go," her mother whispered as she undid the wrist restraints so her daughter wasn't so confined. "That's it. Deep breaths."
When her heart had finally slowed and her breathing was paced, she reopened her eyes to be met with her mother's.
So much worry and compassion. Lori remembered how she was before WICKED. Before the Flare.
She was like most mothers; kind, caring, willing to do anything for her children.
But, unfortunately, Lori still was unable to accept that she gave them up to WICKED.
It didn't matter though; she didn't care anymore.
"Why are they doing this? This can't all be for a cure, can it?" Lori whimpered.
Her mother sighed, "Like I told you before, they researched thoroughly, and this was the only solution they were able to find."
"What solution?" Lori asked. Her mother looked away from her, not wanting to discuss such matters with her daughter.
"Mom, what was the solution that they found for the Flare?"
Lucinda removed her hands from Lori's hand, looking down at them analytically. She refused to look at her, because she knew if she did she would tell her.
Knowing this, Lori grabbed onto her mother's hand, tugging on it to pull her gaze towards her.
"Please, tell me. What are they going to do to Thomas?"
She gulped, blinking, "He has the Killzone blueprint that leads to the cure."
"What?" Lori exclaimed. "No, he doesn't. If he did he would have told me. Or Minho or Newt. He would have told someone if he had the cure."
"It's not that simple."
Lori pushed a hand harshly through her hair, scraping her nails along her scalp. "Of course not. It never is. Why is it not simple this time?"
"These need to go back on before Janson gets back," she mumbled as she began to redo the restraints.
"Mom?"
Lucinda shook her head and walked over to the door, preparing to leave.
"Mom! Tell me! Tell me what is going on! You owe me!" Lori screamed, losing patience with the entire ordeal.
"The cure is in Thomas' brain, Lori!" Her mother shouted back.
This made her stop yelling. It was in his brain. How? Why?
No. No, these weren't the right questions.
"So, what are they going to do? A brain scan or something?" Lori tried to ask as carefully and calmly as possible.
Her mother looked down and shook her head slowly. That was enough for Lori to know.
The Killzone plan containing the cure was in Thomas' brain.
They didn't want to just scan it either, they wanted to remove it.
They were going to remove Thomas' brain.
"Holy shit."
Her mother lets her head drop in shame, tucking a strand of sunset orange hair behind her ear. "I'm so sorry, my darling."
Lori shook her head, finally admitting something to herself. Something that she never wanted to admit to herself, because that would mean all her hate was for nothing. Nothing but to spite the woman who had done nothing but protect her.
"This wasn't your fault," She states, as she stares down at her fingers, beginning to pick at them.
This one sentence caused her mother to look up in shock. She definitely hadn't been expecting those words to escape her daughter's mouth. Never in a million years.
"You mean you . . . you forgive me?"
With a sharp intake of breath, Lori looks up from her hands, realizing she had began to draw blood, small beads dancing along where skin should have been.
Tears welled in her eyes, and she smiled. "Yeah. I think I finally do."
Her mother's hand raised to her mouth in delighted shock, hiding the wide grin which had spread across her face.
"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear you say that. To know that you are beginning to understand what I did, and how it was all to protect you and Aris. I just-"
"Don't," Lori cuts her off, still smiling. "Please don't. I don't want to hear something that will make me regret listening to you. So just . . . Don't."
Lucinda nods quickly, grinning. She considers running over to hug her daughter, but then thinks better off it. They can't have WICKED thinking they have anything against them.
The words they shared are enough ammunition on their own, let alone what they may also provide.
With one last smile the woman left the room, carrying the words of her daughter with her.
Lori watched her go, a smile on her face. She had her mother back. The one she remembered. The one she trusted.
/\/\/\/\/\
"Good afternoon, Lori," Janson announced as he walked into the room.
Lori didn't respond, just silently glared at the man. His jaw tightened but, nevertheless, he continued to walk towards her. Lori braced herself, expecting a slap or something similar.
And yet, Janson surprised her again but not getting angry at her as he usually does. Instead, he began to unbuckle the restraints holding her to the bed.
The girl's brows scrunched together, "What are you doing?"
Director Janson smirks. "We thought you might like to see Thomas. After all, it might be the last time."
"What are you going to do to him?" She exclaims, her breathing starting to pick up.
"You can just wait and see for yourself," Janson mutters, as he finishes unbuckling Lori.
Two nurses walk in and grab her by her arms, forcing her to stand. They begin to lead her down the hallway, until they are stopped beside a metal door. It slides open, revealing a viewing room of sorts.
Lori is forced to sit in a very uncomfortable chair, to look through the one-way glass.
The room is full of hospital equipment like what was found in the previous room Lori had inhabited, along with a number of nurses.
"So that's it?" Someone asked. Lori followed the voice, to find Thomas staring at the wheeled bed in the center of the room. "Time to cut me open?"
"I'm sorry," A doctor in scrubs claims. "But we need to begin."
"No!" Lori shouts. She goes to smack on the glass to inform Thomas of her whereabouts, only to have hands clamped around her arms, slamming her back into her chair.
She can't help but want to punch the people holding her back. Being controlled and told what to do was getting highly irritating.
All of a sudden, an alarm sounds throughout the building, the irritable noise non-stop. Lori tries to bring her hands up to her ears, but finds them still restrained by guards.
A woman rushes into the room that contains Thomas, Rat-Man and all of the doctors, panic clear on her face. "A Berg has arrived with a delivery, but it was a trick to get people inside - they're trying to take over the main building this very second."
A manic grin spreads across Lori's face, and she looks up at the two men restraining her, to see that they were not pleased at all.
One of them attempts to hit her, but the other grabs his wrist before he has the chance, throwing him a warning glance.
"I'm so sick of dealing with these damn kids," The man mutters, running his free hand through his slicked back hair.
"Looks like we need to hurry and get this procedure started. Christensen, put him under," Lori hears Janson instruct.
"No," Lori whispers.
After all they have been through, she could not stand the thought that this may be how it ends. Thomas dead on a slab of cold metal, with a 'cure' that may or may not actually work.
She couldn't lose him too. Not after Newt.
Lori can admit to herself, that she may have some subsiding anger towards Thomas, but she doesn't mean to.
She knows that it is what Newt wanted, but she wasn't prepared for it. For any of this.
He was taken from her. From all of them.
She wasn't going to let WICKED take another person who actually means something to her.
"Dr. Christensen, quickly. Who knows what these people are up to, but we can't waste a second now. I'll go tell operating personnel to stand their ground, no matter what," Janson calls.
Lori lifted her arms up and down, trying to shake free. "Let go of me! What am I going to do anyway? You've locked the doors, where am I going to go?"
The men look at each other. The one who tried to hit her doesn't look pleased, but the other looks slightly sympathetic.
Lori immediately uses his personality against him, turning to him with wide, pleading eyes.
His jaw sets, before resting. "Let her go. Go stand by the door. She doesn't leave this room."
They both let go, and she gives the man a small smile, before leaping to the one-way glass, hands pressed against the cool surface.
How am I supposed to help him from here?
"Wait, I don't know if I can do this," Thomas attempts. There's no way they're going to let him out this close to getting what they've been waiting for.
Janson does't answer the boy, just turns to the doctor with a face full of anger. "Do whatever it takes to open this kid up."
A nurse jabs a needle into Thomas' arm, and he falls flat on the table, head lolling to the side.
Janson says something to the Doctor before walking out of the room. In less than a minute, he comes into the viewing room.
"Why is she not restrained?" He demands.
The nicer of the two guards avoids eye contact, showing weakness in front of his superior. "She, uh, she can't exactly go anywhere, so we didn't see a problem with letting her stand."
Janson gets the guard next to the door to hand over his gun. The Rat-Man then aims it directly at the nicer guard, the man trembling before the weapon.
"Disobey orders again, and it will be the last one you're given."
The guard nods his head rapidly, still not bothering to look him in the eye.
Janson points the gun towards Lori. "We're leaving. Now."
"Why? Is there a problem?" Lori smirks, looking up to the roof where the alarm had been blaring from.
The man's jaw clicks as he clenches his teeth together. He wants to say something, she can tell. What he wants to say probably isn't appropriate for someone in his position to say out loud, however.
So, he just settles for saying "Now," really sternly.
Lori bites back a chuckle, rising to her feet and walking past the angered men.
The hallway is hectic, people rushing up and down with worried looks on their faces.
What's going on? Lori thinks to herself.
"The Right Arm?" She whispers to herself excitedly.
Thankfully, the noise in the hall is loud enough to drown her out, or else Janson would have been questioning her about what she had just said.
They continue to walk until she is back in her room, although at this point, it's more like a cell.
"So you're just gonna leave me here?" Lori groans in annoyance, tired of being locked up all the time. "This so called 'Cure' obviously isn't working out for you guys. Maybe you need a new hobby?"
Janson just shakes his head, before looking pointedly at the two guards and then leaving the room.
/\/\/\/\/\
Hours pass and Lori can only imagine what they're doing to Thomas in the other room.
The guards stand just outside the door, talking amongst themselves.
Suddenly, there is a loud banging sound just outside.
Lori sits up straight, leaning forward in preparation to stand. The noise comes again, before the door handle begins to jiggle.
Lori stands up, holding her hands up in fists, ready to fight the guards off if she has to.
The door swings open to reveal none other than Thomas.
He smiles, his breathing quick and heavy as he looks back at the guards knocked out on the ground.
Lori chuckles lightly, "How did you-"
"Took them by surprise, I guess," Thomas cuts her off, laughing also. He holds a hand out, his laugh melting into seriousness. "Let's get out of here."
Swallowing hard, Lori nods, taking his hand. "About time."
The two walk out of the room, ready to leave when Lori notices something. "Thomas?"
"Yeah?"
She points to the ground, "Where are the guards?"
Before Thomas had the chance to answer, the two guards appear as if out of no where.
"Thomas, look out!" Lori shouts.
One takes a swing at the boy, but is too slow, hitting the wall instead.
Shouting in pain, he lunges and takes Thomas down.
The other guard, who happened to be the one who threatened to hit Lori earlier, decided to take this opportunity to try again.
He successfully lands a right hook across her jaw, sending her slamming into the wall.
Touching a finger to her jaw, Lori straightens her back, before punching the guard back.
Lori uses his moment of shock to grab him by the neck, pull him down and knee him in the face as hard as she possibly can.
Blood begins to gush from his nose as he falls to the ground, hands cupping his face.
Lori runs over to help Thomas, only to find that he's completely capable of taking care of himself. The other guard is on the ground out cold.
Hopefully properly this time.
Helping Thomas to his feet, they prepare to leave.
But, Lori begins to feel a sharp pain in her leg. Just to their luck, the guard had pulled a knife from his boot and slashed at Lori with it.
Blood begins to seep into her pants from the long cut on the back of her leg.
Lori shouts in pain as she falls down, and Thomas looks at her in shock. Moving fast, he steps forward and kicks the guard in the face, probably further injuring his nose.
Helping Lori to her feet, Thomas pulls out a map and shows it to her. "I know where all the other kids are. We need to get everyone out."
Tearing part of her shirt off and tying it around her leg, Lori bites back tears of pain. "Fine, let's go. I'm so over this shit."