Disclaimer - Still own nothing.
*Maggie and Hal waiting to be found*
Maggie wondered how long she and Hal had been lying in the armory. It had felt like ages. She leaned against Hal, her head on his shoulder, while his head rested against hers. She was so tired, even breathing felt like the most difficult task she had ever tried to do.
"Hal, you still awake?" Maggie asked. She knew what she was feeling had to be worse for him. While she had been resting, trying to keep her strength up, he was moving around, exerting himself to try and find a way out.
She felt his head move against hers in a nod, but he didn't say anything. Maggie wondered if he even could. If talking and breathing was hard for her, it had to be much harder for him.
"Don't worry, they'll find us." She told him, her voice weak and quiet.
"Before or after we die?" Hal croaked. Maggie didn't have anything to say to that.
*Matt gets help from Weaver*
"Weaver! WEAVER!" Matt called out as he ran out of the tunnel towards the Colonel who was directing people where to go. He turned around at the sound of his name being called.
"What is it Matt?" Weaver asked, looking at the youngest Mason who came to a halting stop in front of him.
"We found Hal and Maggie. They're trapped in the armory. Don't know how much air they have left." Matt told him while trying to catch his breath. Weaver looked around, spotting two soldiers who were by a pile of rubble, trying to get through to the entrance.
"HEY! You two, get that drill over there and come with us. NOW!" Weaver ordered and he headed down to the tunnels with Matt in the lead, the other two soldiers right on their heels. They didn't stop running till they found Ben, who was standing under a broken pipe.
"They're right up here. They got the pipe open, so they are getting oxygen now, but we still need to get them out." Ben informed them of what was going on. Weaver walked over to the pipe.
"Hal? Maggie?" Weaver called out. It was a few moments before he heard Maggie's response.
"Hey Weaver."
"Don't worry you two, we'll get you guys out of there soon." The Colonel told them.
It took longer than any of them would've liked, but after about half an hour, they had drilled through the tunnel's ceiling and the armory's floor. Ben, using his super strength, managed to jump through the hole and into the room where Hal and Maggie were trapped.
Ben instantly felt how thin the air was. Just taking a breath was hard, and he felt slightly dizzy. If this was how he felt after only a few seconds, and that oxygen was now coming into the room, he knew Hal and Maggie had to be feeling worse.
He found the couple sitting in the corner of the room, Maggie right beside the pipe, and Hal on her left, his head resting on Maggie's shoulder. Her hand was wrapped around his head, holding him close to her, and his eyes were closed.
"You guys okay?" Ben asked, come to his knees in front of his big brother.
"We're fine." Maggie told him. Hal slowly opened his eyes at the sound of Ben's voice.
"Hey Ben." Hal said, giving his little brother a smile. Ben smiled back.
"Come on, let's get you both out of here." Ben moved to Hal's other side, swung his brother's arm around his shoulders, while wrapping his own arm around Hal's waist. Ben lifted Hal off the ground to his feet, while Maggie used the pipe to hold herself steady as she pushed herself off the floor.
Ben helped Hal towards the large opening in the floor. He lowered Hal to the ground, who slowly descended down the hole into the tunnel. Weaver and the other two soldiers were there to keep him steady as he hit the ground.
Hal immediately bent over and started coughing, the fresh oxygen hitting his weak lungs hard. Matt was suddenly at his side while Weaver held him up.
"Hal? Hal, are you okay?" Matt asked, his voice full of concern. As soon as the coughing fit ended, Hal nodded and croaked, "Yeah, I'm good."
Maggie came down next, the two soldiers keeping her upright as her weak legs hit the ground. She quickly realized why Hal had started coughing, because she did too. Luckily, it didn't last as long. Once the coughing subsided, she made her way to her boyfriend. Both Weaver and Matt had their arms around Hal's waist, though Weaver let go to come over to her.
"You all right, Maggie?" Weaver questioned. The woman nodded, and continued to Hal. He smiled at her as she took Weaver's spot at his side. After a few moments, Ben joined them, and together, they made their way out the tunnel.
*Lourdes finds out she's the mole*
When Lourdes woke up, she found herself lying on a cot in one of the cells in Charleston basement. Tom was on the other side of the cell, watching her. She sat up, but instantly regretted it when her head suddenly felt like a thousand nails were being pounded into her skull.
"Tom? What happened?" Tom looked angry, yet pained.
"You're the mole, Lourdes." The answer was given quickly, and said without giving any room for debate. Lourdes somehow lost the ability to speak, or think. She opened her mouth to argue, but then she felt them.
She could feel them scurrying around in her skull. There were more than one, and all of them felt to be in a state of panic. Lourdes brought her hands up to temples, holding her head.
"Oh, my G*d. What did I do?" The doctor whispered to herself. She didn't really expect an answer, and Tom didn't give her one either. She looked back up at the President. The expression didn't change, and she realized why. Anne, and Lexi. They were dead, and it was because of her.
"No, Anne and Lexi. No." Lourdes brought her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around her legs and cried. Tom didn't offer any sympathy, nor didn't he get angry and start laying the blame. He just watched. Lourdes didn't know what was going on in his head, and she couldn't bring herself to care. She was too lost in her grief, and her guilt.
*Hal talks to Tom about Lourdes*
The day had been beyond chaotic. Everyone was still working hard on clearing out the mess, and trying to patch up the buildings and walls that had been destroyed. Normally, Hal would've though that Tom would've been helping out, but no. The oldest Mason son found his Dad in Charleston makeshift jail, watching Lourdes sleep, while at least five eyebugs crawled around on her face.
"Dad?" Hal called out quietly as he entered the room. Tom looked up, not really surprised that Hal would've found his way down here.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Tom wondered. Matt had told him about what happened, or almost, happened to Hal and Maggie. He was beyond relieved that his son and the woman he considered family were okay.
"I'm fine. How's Lourdes?" Hal asked, coming to a stop beside Tom.
"She's asleep. But she is aware that she's being controlled now." Tom informed him. The emotionless tone in his father's voice made Hal wary. He had never heard his father's voice like that before, and he didn't like it.
"We should get Ben or Deni to see if we can get word to the rebel skitters, and get that hunter killer thing to get the bugs out of her." Hal suggested, but Tom's response was not what Hal would ever have expected.
"No, we need them."
"What?" Hal asked, looking at Tom in shock.
"If Karen still has her hooks in Lourdes, then we can use that to our advantage. We can use it to draw her out." Tom explained, not looking at his son's face.
"Dad, you can't do that. Lourdes is a person, not a tool. She's a person who is being controlled like a puppet. You can't just treat her like she's nothing more than a means to an end." Hal told him.
"We might need this in order to launch our attack. Due to everything that has happened today, we need to use everything we can to our advantage."
"Dad, using her like this, it's not right." At that, Tom finally looked over at Hal.
"Anne and Lexi are dead. Karen needs to go down." Tom's voice was devoid of any emotion.
"That's not Lourdes's fault. She's not anymore responsible than I was. Besides, how do you know it wasn't me who helped Karen take Anne and Lexi? We have no idea who actually did what. You can't just blame Lourdes for everything." Hal pointed out, anger and desperation pouring into his voice.
"Hal, I promise, once we are finished with our attack, we will connect the rebel skitters and get those bugs out of her. But she's one of our best advantages against Karen. We are not in a position to lose anything we can use." Tom told his son, but he could tell his son did not agree, and he didn't really expect him to.
"She's still a person. She's our friend Dad. Are you really willing to go this far for revenge?" Hal interrogated.
"This isn't about revenge, this is about winning a war." Tom pointed out.
"I don't recall you using me as bait for Karen. Are you sure this isn't also about revenge?" Hal questioned.
"Against Karen, maybe. I know it's not Lourdes's fault, but Karen needs to go down, you can't deny that. The sooner she's dead, the better. I don't care what I have to do to in order to accomplish that. And it's not up for debate." Tom didn't give Hal any time to argue with that.
Tom turned on his heels and headed up the stairs. He knew he was probably heading down a dangerous road, but he didn't care. Karen tortured him, tried to kidnap Ben, had Boon shot in front of them, threatened Lexi before she was even born, possessed Hal, experimented on Lexi, kidnapped both her and Anne, then killed them. She has to go down, she has to die.
Hal was left alone with the still sleeping Lourdes. Well, besides the guard that stood by the stairway. The young man made his way over to the cell door, and looked at the doctor. Bugs were still crawling on her face, going on her eyelids, mouth, and nose.
"Don't worry Lourdes. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. We'll get the bugs out, I promise." Hal wouldn't let anyone touch her. If everyone was somewhat willing to accept he wasn't to blame for what he did, he wasn't going to let her get the blame either. And he wasn't going to let anyone, not even his father, let her die for a vengeance trip.
AN – And that concludes chapter 4. It really bugged me that there wasn't much between Lourdes and Hal, besides that one scene in 3x10. And I found it kinda disturbing that Tom and Weaver actually used Lourdes as bait like they did, and I don't think Hal would've liked that either, especially since, as far as we know, Lourdes didn't remember what Karen made her do. So, they both would be at a lose as to what they actually did. Next chapter skips to 5x02, which was suggested by JoyScott13. If anyone has any scenes they wished were in an episode, or expanded, or anything like that please don't hesitate to ask. See you guys soon!
