The group continued on, passing by soldiers and other WICKED officials without any suspicion falling on them. Still, Piper couldn't help but worry about the detour they were forced to take, knowing this was even riskier than the original plan.

"Piper..." Aris began to say.

"I told you to stop it, Aris."

Piper, can you slow down?"

"No, I can't."

"Piper--"

"Aris, we don't have a lot of time and people can hear us," she finally snapped as they kept walking toward the elevators, splitting up from Thomas, Newt, and Teresa.

Piper, Aris, and Maeve piled into the elevator and watched Aris press the button that led to the medical wing.

After a brief moment of silence, Maeve cleared her throat. "Either of you want to tell me what's going on between you two?"

"No," Piper and Aris replied at the same time.

"Okay, then," she muttered.

There was another time of silence over the three, then Aris spoke up this time. "Brenda isn't infected anymore."

"What?" Piper asked in confusion.

"Brenda was bitten by a Crank six months ago," he reminded them. "That's also the last time she had a dosage of the serum, according to Teresa."

"Well, we know she looks better than before, but how or why Teresa knows--"

"Teresa and I agreed that she should've turned into a Crank by now, Mae. That serum isn't a cure."

She looked at him in curiosity and a hint of annoyance. "What are you saying?"

All of a sudden, the elevator dinged, signaling they were at their destination. They stepped out and followed behind Thomas, Newt, and Teresa, their feet rushing among the floor.

"Thomas, listen to me," Teresa said to him. "Getting that serum won't save Newt or Gwyneth. It'll buy them some time, but--"

"Just ignore her, Tommy," Newt stated. "She's trying to get inside your head."

"Thomas, listen. You know what's going on out there. People are dying. The world is dying. That's why Aris and I are here, to help." Teresa sounded desperate at this point. "There's something about your blood I don't understand."

"Open the door," he ordered, ignoring her completely.

She obliged and followed him in. "Let me run some tests. I promise Aris and I can protect you!"

Thomas spun around and took off his mask. "Yeah? Like you protected Minho and Lillie? Tell me, Teresa, how many people is it gonna take? How many more people does WICKED have to round up, torture, kill? When the hell does it stop?!"

"It stops when we find a cure!"

"There is no cure!"

The words from Thomas' lips hovered over the group like dark clouds, the harsh realization finally hitting them. No cure. No cure for their friends. No cure for the other people in the world. That was why they were here, because all they could do now was run and hide, find a safe haven and live out the rest of their days there.

"Thomas, you can't seriously believe that," Teresa said, breaking the silence.

"Well, I do," he retorted in a firm tone.

"But Newt and Gwyn..." Piper croaked.

"We've talked about what'll happen to us," Newt stated.

"And we also talked about figuring it out," Maeve commented. "So that's what we're going to do."

"We definitely can figure something out if Thomas will let me run some tests with his blood!" Teresa went on, looking at Thomas with pleading eyes. "Please, Thomas. Do it for Newt and Gwyneth."

"Don't waste your breath, Teresa." The group turned around to find Janson and other soldiers with guns pointed their way. "He made his choice long ago."

"Drop the weapons!" a soldier yelled, with more coming in all directions, surrounding them completely.

Thomas then wrapped one arm around Teresa and had his other hand with a gun against her neck. "Back up! Tell them to back off!"

Piper put her gun back up, motioning for Aris to get in between her and Maeve. "Janson, we're not telling you again..."

"Hey, come on, everyone. It's me. I've known you all longer than you can remember. Especially you, Thomas, which is why you're not gonna shoot her." He shifted my way for a second. "Look at Piper. She's protecting Aris. She still cares for him, just like you still care for Teresa, isn't that right?"

"I'll do it, Janson," Thomas warned him, the gun pressed harder on Teresa.

Without reacting so suddenly, Janson didn't flinch. "Okay." He slowly put his gun in the air as a sign of surrender, smirking. "Shoot her. Prove me wrong."

Everyone had their eyes on Thomas as his panting became louder and his grip was tighter. Piper was nervous, hoping he was just bluffing. Sure, Teresa was on the fence in terms of the good and the bad, but did she deserve this fate? No, and Aris didn't, either.

Janson was right. Piper still cared for him.

"Go on, Thomas," Janson pressed on. "Shoot her."

Piper spotted Teresa looking behind her, assuming she was eyeing Aris, then at the wall beside her. Next thing everyone knew, they were being pulled and pushed back beyond the door, where Teresa had them sealed. An alarm going off rang in their ears, along with the banging noise from guns. Once the shooting stopped, everyone took off their masks, throwing them on the floor, taking deep breaths.

"What the bloody hell did she just do?" Maeve asked in anger.

"She's helping us, that's what," Aris answered. "Follow me. We need to get to the medical wing before Janson."

Piper grabbed her walkie as they began to run. "Sonya, we're heading your way. Janson is coming as well." When she didn't get a response, she began to worry. "Sonya? Sonya, can you hear me?"

"I'm sure she got it," Maeve assured her. "Let's just keep moving and we'll meet her and the others there."

So they kept going, the alarm still going off, along with the additional sound of soldiers shouting and running all over.

"Quick! Get down!" Thomas hissed as they took cover, waiting for the soldiers to move past them.

"Hey, Piper?" Aris whispered.

Piper exhaled. "Aris, I already told you--"

"No, it's not that. I just wanted to say thank you for not letting Janson or the others shoot me."

Her face softened as she nodded her head, looking his way. "Well, like Janson said, I still care for you."

He let out a small smile, as if he already knew. Then he turned to see if eveyone was in the clear. "Okay, let's go."

So they stood up and went on to their destination. With the bustling going around them, the group eventually slowed down, keeping a steady pace, trying not to stand out without anything to cover their faces. Nevertheless, everyone knew they were here, regardless if they were disguised or not.

Suddenly, down an empty hallway, there stood Ava Paige.

Everyone froze as her face was in shock as she laid eyes on them. While none of them reacted, Thomas took out his gun and pointed at her with a shaky hand.

"Thomas..." Piper mumbled. "We're here for Minho and Lillie. We know you want her dead, but--"

"No!" Newt yelled, pulling Thomas out of the way as shots began to fire at them.

"Run!" The voice of Sonya rang into her ears as she hurled their way, along with Beth and Gwyneth. "Took you guys long enough!"

Everyone followed her and headed down the hallway. Soldiers came piling in, but we retaliated. Among the shooting going on, Piper's eyes slid over to Aris, who was dodging the bullets. She covered him, making sure he wasn't harmed.

"I need to go find Teresa!" Aris shouted, rushing away from her side.

"Aris!" Piper called out, running back to him, getting away from the chaos. SHe wanted to be angry at him for wanting to find Teresa, but something else came over her, and her thoughts of frustration and bitterness went away. "Be careful, okay?"

Aris gave her a long stare before crashing his lips onto hers like he did six months ago. For a short amount of time, Piper wasn't fighting WICKED, and she wasn't here trying to save anyone. She was somewhere else with Aris, in another world. Time stood still in that moment, and it was then she had the realization that maybe what she was feeling toward him was stronger than she thought. Maybe Piper did love Aris. Maybe he was right all along about her loving the version of him that she knew right here and right now, and it was something that could have been inside her for a while now, something she learned to feel over time.

Piper pulled away and gazed at him. "Aris..."

"I'll be careful. I promise. Just do the same for me. I can't lose you again."

Piper nodded and headed back in the warzone. The commotion was worse than ever before. Thomas and Newt were no longer there, leaving the girls on their own. Still, they carried on with the battle. After all, they were able to handle their own.

"Freeze!" a soldier shouted at Piper, her heart about to pound out of her chest.

Piper spun around, her eyes wide, panicking. Then, out of nowhere, a familiar figure jumped out, grabbing the soldier by the neck and pulling him down. The figure snatched his gun and used it to knock him out. When the person looked up, Piper felt relieved and happy all at once.

"Lillie," she breathed out.

She panted, but still smiling a little through the exhaustion that remained on her face. "Hey there, stranger."

Piper ran over to her and threw herself for a hug. "You're okay."

"Of course I'm okay," she replied, hugging her back.

Once the fighting died down, the others, minus Beth, took turns with their reunions.

"Hey, stick," Beth commented.

Lillie looked at us in surprise. "She's alive?"

"Long story," Sonya told her. "We've gotta get out of here. I'm sure Thomas, Newt, and Minho are out by now."

Then, Gwyneth began to cough uncontrollably, along with blood drooling down from her mouth. "We...need...to...go..."

"Gwyn?" Lillie asked with concern. "She's infected, isn't she?"

"Yes, and she's getting worse. Gally's got the serum, so we need to get to him now." Beth grabbed Gwyneth and led the way. "Let's go."

As they were hurrying out, Lillie turned Piper's way. "So, what have I missed?"

She scoffed. "A lot, Lillie. You've missed a lot."

~~~~~~~

A/N: Lillie's back! Yay! I know she hasn't been in the story a lot, but she's here to stay!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's definitely longer than the last few have been, I think, but I didn't really plan for that to happen, lol.

Sooo Aris and Piper...told ya I had more moments planned for them (well, the one in this chapter wasn't really PLANNED, but ya know, it's all good).

Song above is Heroes by Zayde Wolf.

Comment, vote, more to come!

-A