7 YEARS AGO...

Storm was sitting in her cell, waiting for Ben to find a way past the guards and scientists and get in to see her. She hated that they had to be sneaky, but she didn't want him getting in trouble with Dr. Embers for being out of his cell without permission. All she could think about was him with his bright green and red eyes, his smile, and his black hair, which was slightly covered by his hat, but the back and his bangs were visible.

After a moment of silence, the door creaked open, and Ben slowly creeped in from the crack in the door. He slowly closed it over, leaving it open enough to stop it from locking them both in, then walked over and sat in front of her, just staring into her bright blue eyes. He was enchanted by them, and something about her awoke something in him, something he thought wasn't possible for him to feel.

He couldn't name it, but it was something, and it was there.

"Ben," She started in a hushed whisper, snapping him out of his daze. "Are you listening?"

"Huh?" He didn't take his eyes off of her, but his gaze twisted in confusion. "Sorry, I got lost in your eyes again..."

"Not the time...!" Storm blushed madly, smiling softly in the darkness. "I was asking if you were completely sure that you weren't followed here..."

"Oh- Yeah, I'm completely sure I wasn't followed..." Ben rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He had been extremely cautious, how was he supposed to have been followed while looking over his shoulder and around the corner every time he had to turn one?

"Okay, good...! I don't want you to get in trouble on my account..." Storm slowly scooted a bit closer to Ben, before resting her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around him from the side. He blushed and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her forehead as she closed her eyes. "Ben, when are we gonna get out of here...? I'm getting restless... And I promised Zim that when we left, we'd take her and Pixie with us..." Ben rested one hand on her leg and kept the other wrapped around her.

"Tomorrow morning, honey... I have a few of the others involved, they'll cause a riot and the four of us can slip out with whoever else makes it out of here while the riot's going on..." He reassured her, holding onto his own hopes for the plan to go exactly as it's supposed to.

"Okay..." Storm's voice trailed off a little, and she just tightened her grip on him a little. "I'm scared, Ben... What if we get caught trying to escape...?"

"We won't... I won't let us..." He noticed that her words were slurring a little from how tired she was, and he gently kissed her forehead again after reassuring her that everything would be okay in their escape. "Now get some sleep... I'll stay if you want me to..." Storm yawned softly and kept her head on his shoulder, not letting go of him as she slowly fell asleep.

#

Zim and Pixie were in their shared cell, Zim in the main part of the cell and Pixie in the little fairy cage dangling from the ceiling in the corner of the cell.

Zimmerzizzle, or Zim, was a humanoid with pink hair, pale skin, and deep blue eyes. She wore a red hat with flowers embroidered on the back, a pink shirt, overalls, grey net leggings, one blue boot, and one pink boot, the pink boot being longer. Pixie had pale skin, brown hair, and one blue, one yellow eye. There was a scar on her back from something, most likely wings, being cut off, but it was hidden by her outfit. She didn't like being locked in that hanging cage, but it's not up to her at this current moment. Zim watched the door like a hawk, waiting for Storm and Ben, or even her friend, Hawke, to break through that door. Pixie didn't know about Storm's deal with Zim, but she stared at the door, too, silently hoping that someone was coming in to unlock her cage and let her out.

The door opened, alright, but it wasn't a worker, and a riot was beginning to form. It was Storm, with Ben following right behind her. Pixie's eyes widened slightly, and Zim stood up, watching the riot that was forming while Storm and Ben just stood in the door, looking at her.

"Zim, what are you waiting for!? Get Pixie out of the cage, we're getting out of here!" Storm's voice carried around the cell, and Zim immediately understood what was happening, so she broke open Pixie's cage and gently took her out of it, putting her in one of the folds of her hat before she ran out of that cell.

"WOAH! Zim, what's going on?" Pixie grew curious about the fact that Storm broke them out, that and the growing riot around them.

"We're getting out of here, Pixie!" Zim made her way to the nearest exit, only to see Hawke running out of that same exit, followed by a bunch of guards. She groaned, but she didn't care if she got in trouble with the lab, she had to help her friend get out.

So, she did what she would later describe as the stupidest thing that she could have done in that situation.

She charged at the guards as a distraction for Hawke to escape.

#

Storm and Ben had run after Zim, only to lose her immediately after she ran into a crowd of experiments and others who were locked up in the lab. Storm grabbed a hold of Ben's hand, and she let him lead her out to a nearby exit, one that, luckily, was left unguarded during the raid. She was absolutely terrified at that moment, both for her own safety, and for Ben's. She knew what the lab would do to them both if they were caught, and she knew that she'd never get to see him again if he was dragged back. She knew what he really was, and she knew that he'd be destroyed for going rogue to be with her. She knew the truth about him from the beginning, but she didn't care, she just wanted him from the moment they first met. It was like they were made for each other, even though he was made to keep her in line. Ben had no clue that she knew the truth, and she wanted it to stay that way. She wanted to show that she didn't care if he was human - which, by all accounts, he technically was - or if he was just a creation from the lab - which, again, he technically was by all accounts. She only cared about him, and she'd let him tell her the truth when he was ready to.

They met up with Zim around the back of the lab, but Zim looked winded and slightly upset.

"Zim?" Storm's voice was barely above a hushed whisper, and Zim looked at her. "Is everything alright?"

"Not really... I did the stupidest thing I could have to try and save a friend of mine... and I lost Pixie... Pixie's gone, Storm, she went somewhere in the vents, and I can't get in there to get her out..." Storm's gaze softened, and she walked over to the humanoid, hugging her tightly, and Zim hugged back almost instantly. "I lost her, just like I lost my necklace after that got stolen..."

"Don't worry, Zim, we'll find her again someday..." Storm's voice was reassuring, and it put a small smile on Zim's face. "I promise..."

"We should get out of here before we're caught and dragged back inside..." Ben gently rested a hand on Storm's shoulder, and she looked at him, before slightly nodding and grabbing a hold of his hand. She linked her arm with Zim's and the three of them quickly ran off, making their way across the street just as guards and scientists from the lab ran out, chasing after a running Hawke, who ran in the opposite direction of the group of three.

#

Hawke ran until they lost the guards and scientists, continuing to run on the off chance that they were still following them. They weren't looking where they were running, they just looked over their shoulder every now and then to make sure the guards and scientists were gone.

This caused them to bump into someone, knocking both of them to the ground.

"ACK- I'm so sorry!" A woman's voice with a German, potentially Swiss-German, accent called out, the woman it belonged to holding her hand out to Hawke, who slowly looked at her.

They noticed her pale skin, brown hair, and green eyes immediately, taking a second to realize that she was wearing a red and white striped shirt with the sleeves rolled up, blue overalls, and brown boots, like a farmer or rancher's outfit. They slowly accepted her hand and she pulled them to their feet, dusting herself off. Hawke dusted themselves off too, slowly letting go of her hand.

"It's alright. I should've been looking where I was going." Hawke looked at their hand, and then at the woman, who was holding her hand out for them to shake.

"The name's Katyrow, but you can call me Katy. What's yours?" Hawke hesitated a second, then they extended their hand and shook hers.

"The name's Hawkwing, but you can call me Hawke."

#

Storm, Zim and Ben ran into the city and ran right past the old orphanage that Storm used to stay in. She skidded to a stop and looked at it, silently wishing she could have grown up with her friends in that orphanage instead of that lab from the time she was 9 years old and having to go through the same exact trauma from Dr. Embers that one of the orphanage workers put her through before he did.

She couldn't change the past, but she realized that she was about to have a brighter future with her boyfriend and her new friend by her side.

"Storm?" Storm snapped out of her daze and looked at Zim and Ben, who were just staring at her. "Honey, are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm okay, babe..." Storm didn't realize it until after she had already said it, but she had just called Ben babe.

"B- Babe?" Ben blushed, and Storm squeezed his hand, blushing herself.

"Yeah... I think it suits you, just as much as Benny boo does." Zim just watched the two flirting, and she didn't know what to think of it.

Well, other than that they were a cute couple.

"Awww, Blueberry!" Storm blushed more and giggled at Ben's nickname for her. "Come on, we should keep moving. We need to get out of the open before the lab catches up to us."

"He's right." Zim agreed, and Storm thought for a moment before nodding, remembering a secret place that she could take them both to.

"I know where we can go." Storm smiled softly, and Ben held onto her hand, giving her a signal that he trusted her.

"Lead the way, Blueberry."