Gearing up for the new rescue mission made Piper more nervous than ever before. She could feel her adrenaline pumping and her heart beating fast. She knew with their second round of saving Minho and Lillie that there was no room for any more mistakes. This time, they only had one shot, and it was most likely their last one. But this time, they'd get them back.

But what if we don't? Then what?

"Piper, you ready?" Sonya asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah." She sighed, adjusting her belt.

"Hey," Beth called out her way, handing her a gun. "I'm pretty sure you'll need this."

She looked at the gun, then back at Beth. "Thanks."

Thomas came in and scanned his eyes on the group. "Are we all ready to go?" When everyone nodded, he did the same. "Good. Let's get in our positions."

Sonya and Beth headed out while Piper and Thomas went to get Aris and Teresa. "You sure about this plan, Thomas?" she questioned.

He didn't look her way, but his expression was uneasy. "We can only be sure this time if we want to get this right."

"Are you scared?"

Thomas' face remained the same. "Sort of."

"Me, too."

The two approached Aris and Teresa, who handed them masks for their WICKED soldier uniform. "We don't have much time," Teresa told them.

"Well, let's get going, then." Thomas motioned for her and Aris to take the lead, while he and Piper followed behind on either side of them.

Once they got outside, the walk remained quiet. Tensions were still high among them, which made the walk a bit awkward. Nevertheless, they had to keep going, pushing all of their feelings aside. Piper was certain all of them realized that by now.

When the main WICKED building was within eyesight, Piper held her breath for a brief moment, trying to remain calm. The shaky feeling from her hand wouldn't escape her. Coming back to WICKED, where they could easily get caught, gave her an uneasy feeling. But once they entered inside with no problem, she felt more at ease and confident that this plan would actually work. Then again, this was the easy part. Everything else after this was about to get more difficult and more tricky. She was hoping that it would all go according to plan. Wishful thinking, she supposed.

"Don't stop. Keep moving," Thomas ordered Aris and Teresa.

They couldn't help but look worried, yet still annoyed at who they were taking orders from. Still, they had no choice. Thomas was in charge now, so he was determined to get their friends back. Nobody blamed him, because they were right there to stand by his side and fight, even if that meant losing Aris and Teresa. Although Piper hoped that wouldn't happen.

When the four approached a soldier in red, feeling relieved that it was only Newt, given by his motion to follow him. With Aris and Teresa in between Piper and Thomas, they headed down to the bottom floor, with two more soldiers, supposed to be Gally and Maeve, joining us.

Their next stop was in the stairwell. Before they could get far, Gally stopped them. "Hold on." He looked at the box and wires connected to the wall for a second, then stated, "I can get in here."

"Stay there. Throw me a walkie," Thomas told him, which Gally obliged.

Everyone took off their masks as Thomas headed farther down the stairs without the others. But their main concern was Newt, who looked worse than before as he coughed and wiped the sweat off his forehead while Gally went on with a drill in hand.

"Do you think Gwyn is like that now?" Piper whispered to Maeve.

"Who bloody knows," she whispered back.

"Frypan, Harriet, we're in, How are you doing?" Thomas asked over the walkie.

"Yeah. Yeah, We're getting there," Frypan replied.

"Slowly, but surely," Harriet added.

"Okay, just hang in there," Thomas said.

After more drilling, Gally opened the box and looked at some wires for a moment. "This'll work."

Thomas nodded. "Brenda, Aurora, what's your status?"

"Status is, we're working on it," Brenda retorted.

"Yeah, stealing a bus takes some time," Aurora stated.

"Copy. Just make sure you're ready on your end," Thomas reminded her.

"Oh, we'll be ready," Brenda and Aurora assured him at the same time.

"Okay, let's go," Gally ordered as he finished his job and rushed down the steps, followed by the rest of the group.

They skipped steps and headed to sublevel three, with Aris using his thumbprint to let them in. The halls were quiet, a stillness that loomed over them. The group then heard the noise of talking from other guards coming from the other side of the door they needed to get through.

"Prepare yourselves," Maeve spoke up.

The grip on their guns got tighter and their aim became more focused as the door opened up. They didn't hesitate to shoot their guns, firing at the guards as they got closer inside holding. Piper used her gun to also hit soldiers in the head if they got closer to her. She ran for the others, jabbing them with her elbow and holding them off until every one of them finally went down.

With keycards, everyone opened the doors and released the kids, assuring them that they were okay.

Gally took one guard by the neck of his shirt, putting the gun against his head. "The vault. How do I get in?"

The guard grunted. "You can't."

Gally rolled his eyes in frustration. "Guys, this might take some time."

Piper scanned around, looking for the familiar face of their friends. She grew worried as she didn't see them. "They're not here," she muttered. "Aris, where are Minho and Lillie?"

Aris immediately headed for the computer, looking up frantically at their profiles. "They were moved."

"What?" Maeve spoke up. "To where?"

"To the medical wing," he replied.

Teresa shook her head. "That's on the other side of the building."

"That's where Beth, Sonya, and Gwyneth are at," Piper pointed out, grabbing her walkie. "Sonya, you there?"

A static erupted, followed by Sonya's voice. "I'm here. What's up?"

"Minho and Lillie were moved to the medical wing. We need you to stay there and wait for us."

"Copy. Gwyn? Gwyn, sit down! Relax..."

Piper cut off the walkie, her heart dropping at the sound of Gwyneth's name. By what she heard from Sonya, she didn't seem to be doing too good.

"We need to hurry," Maeve said. "We gotta get to the medical building."

Thomas nodded, then took Teresa by the arm. "Take us to them. Right now."

"I'm coming with you," Newt stated, getting his gun ready.

"No, you're not, Newt," Thomas protested. "You have to stay here, wait with Gally for the serum."

"You can't do this on your own," he said, then looking at the others. "If they're going, then so am I."

"Just go! We're wasting time!" Gally intervened, sounding annoyed. "I'll get the serum. We'll meet you out back."

Thomas motioned Teresa to go, with Newt and Maeve behind them.

Piper took Aris' arm and followed suit. "Why were they moved to the medical wing?" she asked.

"Most likely for more tests," Aris responded. "Listen, about what I said earlier--"

Why was he bringing this up now? "Aris, this isn't the time to talk about that," she cut him off, attempting to remain focused.

"Talk about what?" Maeve asked, turning around.

"Nothing," Piper quickly said. "Let's keep moving. Like Gally said, we're wasting time, and that's the last thing we need to do right now."

While Maeve spun back around, Aris' face fell. Piper turned and looked straight ahead, feeling his pair of eyes glued to her, knowing they were filled with hurt once again.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Well, the action is beginning! Sorry if it's a terrible and short chapter, though, lol.

It's crazy to think how much there's left until it's over. Hopefully, I'll be able to split up the action chapters so that they're nice and smooth.

Song above is Revolution by UNSECRET ft. Ruelle. Just a song to build up for the next few chapters.

Comment, vote, more to come since we're near the end!

-A