A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I know I've been away from this story forever, but I'm here now with a new chapter! I want to thank everyone for the love and support for this story, I mean SERIOUSLY, YOU LOVELY READERS GAVE ME TRIPLE DIGITS ON MY FIRST STORY! 115 FOLLOWERS?! MY GOD, YOU PEOPLE ARE AMAZING! I LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU AND EVERYTIME YOU READ, REVIEW, FAVORITE, OR FOLLOW YOU GIVE ME THE DRIVE TO KEEP THIS STORY GOING!

And now to speak to some of you lovely people,

Guest: I'm not sure yet if Sonya's just someone from the past or not, we'll see

Sakura A.K: I honestly don't deserve all the praise, but keep em' coming ;) Gally's showing up in this one briefly and chuck is coming in a couple chapters, though I never thought of him having a crush on her, good idea!

Softball007: *bows* thank you, thank you, you're too kind *bows* definitely more fluff later, and who knows maybe Annie will tell him, maybe he'll remember, or maybe he'll read the books himself. Only time will tell.

Liam1094: Something's definitely going on *smirk*

Guest: I'm so glad you love this!

Kristen Green: I'm so glad you love this story and it makes me feel like a douche making you wait practically four months, no wait actually four months. One of my most faithful readers and I almost made you wait half a year, so sorry!

I hope you're still, with me, still reading

Oh, and as a little side note: I USUALLY START WRITING THE NEXT CHAPTER AFTER THE 1ST REVIEW, SO I STRONGLY ADVISE YOU TO REVIEW!

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE PAIRING

NEWT X KITTY/ANNIE/ANNABELLA/WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL HER or MINHO X KITTY/ANNIE/ANNABELLA/WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL HER

Chapter 12: Nick

Suddenly a knock comes from a now open door. I barely register that it's some random glader I've seen around before I push Newt away from me and stumble out of his lap only to land face first on the floor. "Ow," I whimper.

"Nick?"

"Doesn't anyone knock around here?!"

"I did knock,"

"Before you open the door dumbass!" I yell as I sit up with my back facing the strange newcomer. I hold my arms against my chest as I remember I currently don't have a shirt.

"Annie I don't think you want to-"

"What gives you the right anyway?! Hasn't anyone heard of a little something called privacy?! And Newt!"

"Yeah?"

"Shirt!" he immediately tosses it to me as if it were on fire. As I put on my shirt Newt starts asking him questions seeming just as confused, though not as angry, as I am.

"What are you doing here Nick, I thought Alby was supposed to be the one handling all this?"

"Things have changed. I'll explain later,"

"No you're explaining now! Who are you and where's Alby?!" truth be told I rather have Alby question me than this guy, at least I know Alby.

"Well aren't you a little firecracker," he comments under his breath which I return with an icy cold glare. He sighs shaking his head before he finally introduces himself, "Name's Nick,"

"I've heard," I growl.

"Leader of the Glade. You better check yourself greenie," he says with his voice suddenly as aggressive as my own.

But I thought Alby…? Never mind it's not surprising they would lie to me. All I can think right now is, "I don't care about your rank,"

"Well now that you're done introducing yourself, mind telling us what has changed exactly?" Newt asks trying to ease the tension.

"Oh, please do," I say in the most condescending tone.

I see him clench his jaw before he turns to Newt to explain everything ignoring my presence in the process. "As you know I set Alby up to pose as the acting leader so I can have a closer observation on the greenie without gaining any suspicion or animosity from her. We had to determine whether she was, or is, a threat or not,"

"How's that working out for ya? And why couldn't you just ask instead of 'observing' me?!"

"Would you have told the truth?"

"Would you have believed me?"

"No,"

"Then no, what's the point of telling the truth if you won't even take my word for it?!"

"Which is why I had to observe you without your knowledge,"

"Find anything?" I ask sharply. Maybe I shouldn't have asked that. Hopefully he didn't see my mark; it was in plain sight few moments ago. Hopefully Newt's hand covered it while we were…yeah.

Nick eyes us both before saying, "Not anything of value," Thank God, "but after your little episode I found it urgent to get some answers now,"

"Finally grown a brain, huh smart one?"

"How do you put up with her?"

"Well-"

"Don't answer that!"

"Let's just get this over with,"

"The sooner the better," I want him out of my sight.

"Was there anything unusual about the maze that day?"

"How the hell should I know it's the first time I've been in the damn thing,"

"Newt?"

"Seemed normal to me, or as normal as the maze gets,"

"What do you think is the most probable cause for your condition?"

"I honestly don't see why you're making such a big deal out of this. I was running in the maze, what do you think happened? I probably passed out from dehydration or something, I don't see what's so unusual about that. And what do you mean my condition? I'm fine,"

"And you're going to vouch for her? This isn't anything I should be concerned about?" he asks Newt.

"Yeah, no problem here,"

"But you would agree with anything she says,"

"I wouldn't say anything,"

"But you would lie to my face for her,"

"Again I wouldn't say lie, I would say stretching the truth to a certain extent,"

"Then this is pointless, you were the only other person there with her. No one else can call her out on a shucking fib,"

"What'd you think? I'd actually cooperate with you just because you asked, and after you admit to lying to me this whole time, not to mention spying on me,"

"Doesn't matter, you're staying in the glade where I can keep an eye on you,"

"Finally someone who sees reason!"

"What, you can't do that! I want to help! I want to find a way out of here! I have to run the maze!"

"But I can do that, and you're not putting one foot through those doors," he says right before leaving slamming the door on his way out.

I'm still fuming over what Nick just said, but now I have to deal with another issue. I turn to Newt glaring before I make an outburst, "why didn't you tell me! You lied to me just as much as he did!"

"It was a direct order! He wanted to do things this way, it was his choice not mine. Just because he doesn't trust you doesn't mean I don't. Plus we've been over this before, you don't need to know everything not right now!"

"But I needed to know this!"

"No you didn't! He was going to tell you eventually, I just thought he'd have more tact,"

He does have a point, this isn't technically his fault, but still he… he, "And why didn't you say anything when he said I won't be running anymore!"

"You know I don't want you in the bloody maze!"

"But now I have a better reason for wanting to run. It's not just because I don't like being trapped in the glade, I want to help! Why don't you want me to help?!"

"You know why! Stop acting like this is my fault! Besides it's over, it's done with, you're not going back in there especially after what just happened!"

My glare grows icy cold before I spit out, "Just you watch, I will find a way to start running again and when I do you're just going to have to accept it," I spot the knives I had on my body when I was running the maze in the corner of the room.

As I pick them up and shove a few in my back pocket I make my way out hearing Newt call after me, "Where are you going?"

"Blow off some steam," I growl, my voice swiftly followed by another slamming door.

I vehemently walk out of there with vigor in my step as I look for the one other person who might want to put a dent in my face besides Nick.

That is until another glader who I met in one of my trials steps in front of me. Truly I don't even remember his name. So many names, so many faces; there's no way I can keep up with all of them, "Hey Annie,"

I'm not in the mood to entertain him and play nice. "Move," I growl.

Funnily enough he does, but the annoying shank starts to follow me asking, "What died and crawled up your ass,"

"I'm pissed damn it! Leave me alone!" Thankfully he proves not to be as much of an idiot as the rest of these slintheads. I swear they're all testing my patience! Fuck! I don't care anymore I'll swear like a fuckin' sailor if I want!

"Gally!" I scream when I give up looking for him, "Damn it Gally, where the hell are you!" That's when I turn around and spot him with the other Builders behind the Homestead. Without warning I come up and shove him yelling, "Fight me damn it!"

"The hell's your problem?!" he yells right back pushing me off him.

"I know you must be wanting to get back at me for what I did to you, now I'm offering myself up so fight me damn it!"

"No attacking other gladers," he says through gritted teeth.

"Oh please! I saw you guys at the party the other night! You fight for the fun of it! Now don't be a fucking sexist ass and fight me!"

After that statement it seems he's had enough of my outburst. He throws me over his shoulder kicking and screaming. Only when he sets me down do I realize he trapped me against a tree right outside the Deadheads.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" He asks in a dangerously low and gruff voice.

"What do you think's wrong with me? I've been lied to, spied on, and betrayed by the one person I trusted. I need to let out some steam, so fight me damn it!" I whine starting to get frustrated.

"Now why would I do that? Why would I help you?" he scoffs under his breath as he backs away.

"Because you want revenge. You want to get back at me. Call it what you will, sparing, fighting, it's all the same. This way we kill two birds with one stone," I answer staring him down challenging him.

He pauses for a moment thinking it over while backing away giving me space to move, then asks, "You're not going to tell Alby or Nick that I attacked you and send me to the Slammer?"

I take a few steps away from him in anticipation of his agreement. "Please if anyone's going to be attacking it's going to be me,"

"Wanna bet?" he smirks and I mirror him right back. This is gonna be fun.

Before I know it he's coming at me with nothing but brute force. Not one to back away I approach him with just as much vigor. I don't know how I'm going to pull this off, but here goes nothing. What amazes me is that without even thinking, as if acting on instinct, I pull a front aerial out of my ass jumping up and flipping over him. As soon as I land on my feet I look over my shoulder at him. He wears this amazed expression that I'm probably sporting too.

Recovering from the surprised shock he turns back to me in a fighting stance, fists at the ready, and throws the first punch. Without missing a beat I block every move he makes with ease as if this were a graceful dance that we rehearsed a thousand times and memorized each step. My brows furrow in confusion at the familiarity of it all. The more I think about it the more a sharp pain builds in the back of my head. I force myself not to shut my eyes in pain, not wanting to lose, and that's when my eyes widen in shock as the scene before me changes and unfolds. In that instant everything surrounding me changes as I'm fighting Gally.

No longer are we in the Glade, but instead a dark room. It looks like a training room with rows upon rows of weapons, balance beams, targets, weights, punching bags, and other things of that variety. I turn my head putting my focus off Gally, eager to explore a place I've once known that I'm now only able to see through my mind's eye, when I double over in pain as he strikes me in the gut bringing me back to reality. Resuming the fight blocking and attacking as I had before a slow sly smirk spreads across my face. He may not have been trained, but I sure have.

We go on like this for a few minutes, striking and blocking so fast our hands are blurred, moving away from our initial starting point, until I get bored. With a sigh I throw my right leg up in a roundhouse kick wanting to end this, but he catches it midway. Without a second to spare, as if I expected it though I didn't, I use my left leg before he even attempts to flip me and as we both go down I catch myself and throw my body around making his legs give out as soon as he makes the effort to get back up. In that same moment I catch a sliver of silver and red in the trees maybe about a meter from where we are. Without much thought I pull out two knives, one flying out of my hand, flipping towards the tree, the other against Gally's neck laying claim to my victory. I'm not sure if I can say I'm strong, but now I'm certain I'm fast. But as I watch the knife soar through the air the beetle blade scurries off. I exhale a breath I didn't know I was holding. I'm fast, but not fast enough.

"Has anyone ever caught one?" I ask in one exhaled breath as I take the knife away from his throat and put it back in my pocket.

"Caught one what?" he asks with labored breath still on the floor.

"A beetle blade,"

"No. Alby tried once. Climbed a tree and got his arm sliced up,"

With new purpose in my step I make my way back to the trees, take my knife from where it stuck to the trunk and slice my palm without a backwards glance. If I can't run, then I'll do the next best thing I can think of and catch one of those abominable beetle blades. Once I find myself surrounded in the deepness of the thicket I spread my blood marking the trees and its branches with the brightest of reds, red the color of rubies, so bright it can't be missed. If I'm going to catch one I have to be precise and fast. I can't just be good I have to be perfect. I clench my blooded hand into a fist as I begin using my makeshift targets for practice savoring the deliciously painful sting in my palm. Using the pain to focus, using the pain to forget everything Nick, Newt, and Gally said, using the pain to forget everything except the task at hand keeping all the swirling thought and anger out of my head. I need to focus. I need to be perfect.

With every thought in beat with my pulse I strike. Though as soon as my fifth knife hits the mark I pause for half a second, when I notice Nick come to stand right next to my mark, the knife landing just mere inches from his face, before turning around to resume practice. So much for forgetting about him.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Looks like you're getting ready to kill someone,"

I roll my eyes, "If I were going to kill someone I would've done it by now. Would've killed you a few seconds ago," Should've.

"Keep rolling your eyes like that and they'll roll in the back of your head,"

"Tell it to someone who cares,"

"Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot earlier and," he stop abruptly, but I don't turn around to find out why. "Would you stop that," he demands brusquely. Looks like I didn't have to.

I smirk, "Why? Am I making you nervous?"

"Would you stop if I said yes?"

"Maybe,"

"Then yes,"

"Good," but I continue just to piss him off. I turn back towards him just to gauge his reaction, an am quite pleased when I see him tense and clench his jaw.

"You can be a Runner," With that statement I still, not attempting to get another knife as I let the previous one fly from my hand and I see him flinch.

"What?"
"You can be a Runner. I saw you with Gally, I'm seeing you now, and I saw you when you ran around the Glade for Minho. You're good, you're fast, and if you want you can be a Runner,"

"What's the catch?" because there's always a catch especially from someone who trusts me as much as I trust….well anyone.

"You're running with Minho," I look at him confused and he sighs, "If it wasn't for your first trip in the Maze I would have no reservations, but since you came back being carried by Newt I had to assume you weren't up for it or something went horribly wrong. Like I said I saw you run around the Glade for Minho so I knew you could handle it, but you weren't stung, so…"

"So?"

"So I need Minho to keep an eye on you out there if anything like that happens to you again and report it back to me,"

"And Newt can't do that because…"

"Because he won't tell me anything, and I trust Minho more than I do you and your boy-"he abruptly stops as I glare at him, "Newt because he's the Keeper,"

Great. Now I have to find the trigger to keep it from ever happening again, or steal my muscles and try not to pass out. "You done?" I know, rude. Whatever.

"You running?"

"Yes,"

"Then what do you want?" he asks in an exasperated exhaled breath.

"Excuse me?"

"I said we got off on the wrong foot, so here's my peace offering, any requests for the box?"

I ponder that for a moment as my stomach starts to growl and I feel this inexplicable craving. "I want chocolate, graham crackers, marshmallows-"

"You're bleeding," he interrupts me.

I lift up my hand to examine it. All my fingers are crusted over in blood and I'm surprised it took him this long to notice it. "It'll heal," I say dismissing it.

"It'll get infected,"

"Then you can chop off my hand,"

"Aren't you charming," he says sarcastically as he takes me by the arm. I let him assuming he'll take me to the Med-Jacks. "Honestly I don't see how Newt and Minho can stand you," I raise an eyebrow at that. "No offense of course,"

"Plenty taken. What can I say, you bring out the worst in me," I smirk.

"You make me feel so special,"

"I try my best," We're a few steps out of the thicket of trees until I remember, "My knives,"

I try to twist out of his grasp but he holds me still, "I'll get them later. Just let me get you to the Homestead so we don't have to cut off your hand, you might need it someday," he says mocking my earlier comment.

"It's my left,"

"Even so, you might miss it when it's gone,"

A/N: I just want to apologize again for taking so long. I was reading other books trying to gain inspiration on how to continue with the character's relationship with each other, In the process I ended up reading the Mortal Instruments, now I'm a huge Clace and Jamily fan! Despite my absence I have to say I'm proud of myself for finishing the entire six book series in a little less than three weeks. I swear I didn't stop, it was one right after the other even though fantasy really isn't my cup of tea.

Anyway I wanted to know what you guys prefer for the next chapter, a little mini chapter in Newt's POV, should I just keep going in Annie's POV and skip Newt's, or should I do both Annie and Newt?

Review and tell me what you think! Did you like it, love it, hate it? Let me know! And if you have any requested scenes ask and you might receive, if it fits in with the storyline. Remember it might take me a while to update, but I won't abandon this story! Feel free to PM me, smack me in the head, tell me I'm taking too long ;)

Reviews are love people, So show me your love 💕!