Chapter XV

Bailey

BAILEY SPRINTED INTO THE room, falling to her knees on the opposite side of Thomas across from David. She held a vial with a bubblegum pink liquid contained inside and popped the cork hovering it above Thomas's mouth.

Eyeing the sizzling liquid, David swiftly shoved her hand aside, and a few drops of the medicine spilled. "Wait!"

Bailey held the vial closer to her chest as she stared back at David with a furrowed brow. "What? What is it?"

"It's you," he answered quietly, and she gazed at him in shock. "You and Taylor. You're the ones doing this to them!" He sprang to his feet, throwing his hands out to the side, and ice surged to his palms.

Bailey jumped up with him and protested, "David, what are you talking about? Taylor and I are trying to help your friends!" She laid a hand on her chest. "We don't have any idea what's going on. We're just as lost as you!"

Not willing to take the risk, David thrust his right arm forward, and a burst of cold air and ice shot from his palm. The force was strong enough to shove Bailey back against the wall, knocking the vial from her hand and breaking it on the floor. With an upward fling of his left arm, ice escaped his fingertips, and pinned Bailey to the wall by her wrists in frozen cuffs.

"David, what are you doing?" Bailey shouted, yanking against her icy bonds. "I've already told you we're not behind this!"

"Then how do you explain it?" David screamed, balling his hands into fists and taking a step forward. "And why would Thomas accuse you if you weren't behind it?"

"I don't know!" Bailey yelled back. "Maybe because he's sick and delusional!"

"We have no powers." David jerked his head toward the bedroom threshold, where he found Taylor leaning against the doorway with a hand in her pocket.

Seeing her in such a calm state shocked David, and he lowered his hands without even thinking. The sudden cold surge vanished from his palms, but he stayed at full power. "What do you mean?"

Taylor's eyes drifted past him and towards the door of the shack. "I mean, we used to have an ability."

"Tay, don't!" Bailey complained, giving up on fighting the ice eating away at her skin.

"If we don't tell them then one of them is going to end up killing us eventually," Taylor fussed, throwing her head towards her sister. She grew silent for a few seconds, allowing the uncomfortable stillness to filter in. "There used to be three of us." David's brow pulled together, and Taylor must've seen his confusion because she rolled her eyes and stood up straight. "Triplets!" she laid out plainly. "Bailey and I are a set of triplets, not twins!"

David blinked, feeling his power melt away, and he knew his accusations were beginning to fade. "So, then ... what happened to her? And what does she have to do with what's happening to my friends?"

"He was the source of our power," Bailey answered this time, her voice sounding like she was on the verge of crying. "And after Claire sent him to the Dome to die, we lost all connections with our ability."

"So ..."

"So, we couldn't have done anything to your friends," Taylor stepped in, crossing her arms. "We have nothing without him."

Sighing, David closed his eyes. He thought the twins were the key; especially after what Thomas had said. Guilt unexpectedly outweighed his anger, and he turned back to Bailey. With a twist of his hand at his side, the ice cuffing her to the wall melted, and Bailey stumbled forward before catching herself. She rubbed her wrists, and David eyed the spots where his ice had left red patches.

The twins exchanged glances, and David said in a small, flat tone, "How are we supposed to beat something like this if we can't figure it out?"

"We'll figure it out, David," Bailey said softly, cautiously eyeing him as she knelt beside Thomas. "We just need to think harder." She turned her attention back to Thomas. "What do they all have in common?"

David thought before a light bulb went off in his head. "Blood. They've each had blood dripping from their nose."

"He's observant. I'll give him that much," Taylor sighed, clearly not amused with his detective skills.

Bailey gave a sheepish grin. "That's true, but that just tells us they've all caught the same thing—" She gasped and swiftly withdrew her hand from Thomas's forehead, only having left it there for a second. She scanned her palm before wringing her hand through the air with a cringe. "His temperature is way too high," she squeezed out, wincing as she spoke.

Taylor finally left the bedroom's doorway and knelt beside Bailey, grabbing her sister's hand. She glanced from Bailey's hand to David with an arched brow. "She's burned." She quickly jumped up and made her way to the sink, grabbing a towel beside the large bowl and dunking it in the water.

David glanced between Taylor at the sink, and Bailey holding her hand close to her chest in pain. "Here, let me," he said, kneeling beside Bailey. She gave him a confused look, and he gently lowered her arm away from her chest. Staring at her blistered palm, he tenderly laid his palm against hers. He heard her hiss, but she didn't jerk away. After a few seconds of silence, he watched his hand emanate a soft blue glow, and within a short amount of time, Bailey's palm contained the same glow. He watched her facial muscles relax and removed his hand as the light faded to find her hand layered thinly in his healing gel.

"What is this?" Bailey asked, bringing her hand closer to her face as she stared at the glowing substance in her hand.

David smirked with pride. "Healing gel."

"You're just now telling us this?" Taylor shouted, squishing the wet rag in her fist; droplets of water dripped from the already wrung cloth. She flung her hands out to the side. "Why are you not using that on anyone else?"

David eyed her quizzically. "And do what? Whatever's wrong with them is on the inside."

"Let me have that, Tay." Bailey extended her undamaged hand toward her sister, and Taylor glanced down at the rag before handing it over. Bailey immediately, yet cautiously, laid it across Thomas's forehead. "We need to get his temperature down."

"And you think one little rag is going to do that?" Taylor questioned, shifting on her feet and placing a hand on her hip. "He just burned your hand!"

"Well, we have to do something!" Bailey argued back.

"The best thing we can do for them right now is figure out what's going on." Taylor stomped towards the open doorway to their shack.

"Where are you going?" Bailey shouted, sitting up straight.

"To search for something they could've come into contact with."

"You know there's nothing like that in—"

"Do you really think Claire couldn't send some soldiers in here to place something that'll kill us all?" Taylor asked, flinging herself back around to face the others. David eyed Bailey, and when she stayed silent, Taylor continued, "She made the Domes. I'm sure she has a way to get through without triggering the alarm." And with that, Taylor disappeared outside.

"Can you ..."

David turned to Bailey, and she gestured down at Thomas. Pointing at the young man on the floor, David asked, "You want me to hold the cloth?"

"No," Bailey said hastily. "Your ability is ice, and ..." She trailed off giving a glance towards the living room and then the bedroom. "Since you're the only one in your group here and well, I need you to use it."

"To do what?"

Bailey's shoulders dropped as she rolled her eyes. "Seriously, David?" Again she emphasized her gesture towards Thomas, and now David understood, but Bailey still explained further. "Use your ability to bring his temperature down. Since you both have some sort of ability with ice, theoretically, his body should be able to match your temperature with no problem."

"Theoretically?"

"Does it look like I've ever done this before?" she snapped.

"Alright, alright!" David said, pushing Bailey aside. Staring down at Thomas, he lifted a hand and hovered it over Thomas's forearm feeling the heat radiate from his skin. He glanced back at Bailey, who now sat behind him on her knees leaning sideways to see past David. "You sure this is safe?" he doubted.

Smiling uneasy, Bailey gave a little shrug in response.

Sighing heavily through his nose, David looked down at Thomas and scanned the boy's body up and down. He hadn't noticed it until now but Thomas's clothes were drenched in sweat along with his hair, and his breathing had gotten so shallow one would almost think he was dead. "Alright," David whispered.

He slowly lowered his hand back down towards Thomas's skin and hesitated before gripping Thomas's arm in a firm grasp. At first, he winced feeling the heat of Thomas's skin sizzle his hand, but after another second of forcing his colder temperature into Thomas, the heat around his hand faded.

"You okay?" Bailey asked.

Nodding, David replied, "Yeah, for now."

The sound of teeth chattering caught David's attention. He looked up and around Bellamy's body towards Alex to find the boy who once burned with flames still shivered violently on the couch.

Bailey must've heard him too because she stood up and made her way back to Alex. She pulled the remaining two blankets off the floor beside the couch and threw them over Alex's body. He watched as she tried her best to tuck them around Alex one-handed. "These blankets aren't going to be enough. His body needs heat to survive."

"How do you know all of this?" David asked, the words escaping his lips before he had the chance to think about his question.

Bailey eyed him with a smile. "Our parents were scientists who were helping Claire try to find her cure."

"What?" David nearly shouted. "Your parents worked for her?"

She nodded her head before continuing. "They did a lot of different experiments on people with abilities, and they kept journals about all their findings. The three of us used to stay up late reading through their journals when they worked the night shifts. We were young but a lot of things stuck."

David looked back down at Thomas as a thought crossed his mind. "Thomas and Alex's abilities have swapped. So what kind of ... plant, or whatever, can do that?"

"David."

David jerked around, hearing his name faintly being called. His eyes widened and his jaw fell agape as he watched Joey stumble out of the bedroom. She gripped the threshold and leaned a shoulder against it, but her appearance told him that she was still weak. Her legs wobbled and she dropped to her knees, her hands slapping the floor.

"Joey!" He took his hand off Thomas and began to rise, but he felt a rough slap on the back as Bailey cupped his shoulder.

"No! Stay! Thomas needs you more. I'll help her." He watched as Bailey quickly made her way to Joey, and grabbed her tricep before helping her off her knees.

"What happened?" Her soft voice filled his ears as Bailey slowly led her towards David. "Alex, he—"

"Alex will be fine," David interrupted, not ready to give the whole truth.

Joey pushed away from Bailey, her eyes squinted as she looked past him. "Thomas?" She placed a foot out to walk towards him, but her leg crumpled underneath her. David sprung to his feet and caught her before she hit the ground. He wrapped his arms around her keeping her from moving forward any further. "What happened? Is he okay?"

"Take her back into the room," Bailey said, grabbing another rag from the bucket in the kitchen sink. "She's not ready to be up walking. She needs rest, and Thomas needs you."

"No." Joey shook her head, trying to break free from David's grip. "I need to be by him."

He wasn't even making any effort to hold her firmly. The fact that she couldn't easily overpower him told him that Bailey was right."Joey, you need to rest," David said, guiding Joey back into the room.

Somehow, Joey found the strength to throw his arms off her with a shout, "No!" As he released her, Joey fell to the floor but caught herself with her hands.

It pained him to see her crawl her way towards Thomas. Only two hours ago had he been the one doing everything to save her, but now it seemed like none of that mattered to her. He didn't know what she thought of him anymore.

"David, please!" Bailey urged, and David jumped back to reality from his daze. He knelt, and this time using both hands, placed them on Thomas's forearm sending blasts of cold air through his system.

Glancing from the corner of his eye, he spotted Joey across from him leaning forward on her knees and staring intently at Thomas's face. An unexpected bout of jealousy made his powers waver as the heat flushed his face. Quickly, he pushed it away and turned his attention towards Bailey who had made her way back to the counter. "So, why Joey? You gave Alex the medicine first."

"I'm not sure," Bailey replied, raising another small vial in the air, and swirling around the light pink substance contained inside. "But whatever it was must've helped." She turned around and knelt, about to administer the vial to Thomas. "I'll have to make some more of what I gave her and the others before I can give it to Thomas and Bellamy." She poured the vial down his throat, and David was surprised when Thomas broke out in a string of coughs.

"Thomas?" Joey's eyes widened and she smiled, but nothing else ever came from the young man on the floor.

"Keep doing what you're doing," Bailey informed as she dashed around him back into the bedroom.

Pushing his ability further, the color drained from his face and he felt like his heart had stopped when a voice met his ears. "David! It's Ella!"