Author's note~ Tension causes cracks, cracks tend to spread.

Hope you enjoy.

"Oh really, crazy am I? You sure about that?" Adrian asked calmly, a devious little light flaring in his eyes. "What do you gentlemen say to a little bet?"

Everyone in the glade was feeling the strain of their unexpected guest. Though the boys tried to ignore it, anxiety and an indefinable fear lurked in the back of their minds, their thoughts saturated with all the possible meanings of the man's arrival. Uncertainty was a constant monster each boy faced with every new day, but now it felt as though the beast was panting hot breaths against the very backs of their necks; everyone was on edge. The keepers were working the boys harder than ever, doing everything they could to try and keep minds and hands occupied with productive work, and Minho was no different.

For three full days, Newt hardly had enough time to himself to bolt down his breakfast in the morning, or to scarf down a meal before he fell into his hammock at night; tired to the bone, every muscle exhausted from running all day. From first light to door close, they ran the maze. From the time they stepped back into the glade, they were in the map room, going over and over and over the maps, straining their brains looking for patterns. Minho, for all his sassy comments and unwavering loyalty to those he cared about, could be a ruthless, merciless tyrant when it came to running the maze. When Minho finally, finally granted Newt a day out of the running rotation, the almost hedonistic pleasure of sleeping past the runners usual daybreak wake up felt like sheer heaven. Newt lazed in his hammock until almost mid morning, wallowing in his well earned sloth. When he finally crawled out of bed he headed straight to the cook hut, and ate until he thought he would burst. The sun showed it was fully noon when Newt decided that he'd better actually attempt to accomplish something with his day.

Belly filled, body rested, mind no longer occupied by crippling exhaustion or changing patterns and dancing maps, Newt realized that it had been three days since he had last seen the greenie; glimpses from a distance at mealtimes as he gobbled his food and tried not to pass out in his plate non-withstanding. He decided to hunt up the man, check on him. Realizing how long it had been, he felt a tad bit guilty, truth be told. He beat feet in the familiar direction of the med-hut, wondering what Adrian had been up to the last couple of days.

Newt let himself into the building, fully expecting to find Adrian puttering around somewhere inside. When a quick scan of the open area revealed it to be empty, he made his way to the 'office', rapping a quick tattoo against the wood with his knuckles before pushing the door open. It was immediately apparent that something was very, very wrong.

Newt hadn't had a chance to take a look at the new addition to the med-hut, but he couldn't focus on the distinct and obvious changes to the area at the moment. The place was in shambles! A newly built small table had been knocked to the ground, small packets of medical supplies and colorful pencils scattered carelessly on the floor. In the corner of the room a large notebook lay discarded on the floor, spine open to a partially completed entry. A few small blood drops added stark color to the black and white floral sketch on the paper.

Newt's heart thudded in his chest; something ugly had happened in here. Trying to calm himself, he carefully took stock of the rest of the room, looking for any indications of what had happened to his friend. Turning in a small circle he noticed it; faint but distinct marks in the hard packed earth floor, from the middle of the small room right through the door he'd just come in. Twin paths, as though something - or someone- had been dragged out of the room.

Taking a bracing breath, Newt followed the drag marks out of the med-hut, and off into the brush. The path taken was easier to see here; he might not have been a tracker, but the long months spent running the maze had trained his eye to pick up details with ease. He followed the broken branches and deepening drag marks towards a small clearing, somewhat away from the center of the settlement. Hearing voices through the foliage, he tried to move as quietly as he could, finally managing to peer past the leaves of a large fern and see clearly into the opening beyond. What he saw made his stomach clench nervously, and his hands fist in anger.

Half a dozen boys surrounded Adrian, each with a rough burlap sack covering their faces. Newt couldn't make out their eyes behind the holes cut in the fabric, and they had apparently raided the supply area, as all were wearing identical gray thermal shirts, making them all but impossible to tell apart. Two held Adrian's arms behind his back, three stood back and watched, one stood out in front; the leader. They'd gagged him with a piece of cloth, and Newt could see even from his hiding place that Adrian's eye was already going purple, and there was blood on his face. As he watch, the one in front plowed a clenched fist into Adrian's ribs, once, twice, leaning a bit and adding a jab to his kidneys. Newt gritted his teeth, rapidly considering the best way to stop this without getting the shit kicked out of him.

"So," another kidney punch. Adrian oofed out a breath, but didn't flinch. "You think that just because you're older, because you remember things, that you get to tell everyone what to do, hey? You're so smart, so much better, so you can just say jump and we ask how high? You don't know anything about how things work around here you stupid fucking shank!"

Another trio of brutal blows to Adrian's torso. Newt had to do something about this now, before it was too late.

"You want to make us your personal little band of head-nodders, going Yes Sir, Yes Sir, yeah right, you make me sick! Think you should be in charge, do you? Kick Alby out of the way, take over, take control!?"

Adrian's shoulders started to shake, the tremors starting small and growing larger and more violent. The leader of the group closed in, taking a handful of Adrian's hair and forcing his head up so that he could look straight into the man's eyes. Behind the gag, Adrian was laughing.

"What's so funny, slinthead? D'you think we won't fight to protect our home, our way of life? It would be nothing for you to just POOF! Disappear." The masked boy leaned in close, speaking quietly, maliciously. "D'you think you'd be the first body we've buried in the woods?" The leader pulled a knife from the sheath at his hip, laying the blade against the fading red scar circling Adrian's neck. "Don' doubt for a shucking second that I'll- "

Adrian rolled his eyes, pulled his head back, and efficiently head butted the boy, breaking his nose and putting him firmly on the ground. He stomped on the foot of one of the boys holding his arms, taking advantage of their surprise and ducking out of their grips easily. When they lunged for him, he pivoted, kneeing one boy in the groin and sweeping his feet out from underneath him; a sharp elbow knocked the breath out of the other before a well thrown right cross snapped the boy's head back. Both boys joined the leader on the forest floor, moaning as they cradled their damaged body parts. The three boys not directly involved in the brawl rolled to the balls of their feet, clearly unsure whether to rush to their friend's aid or to beat a hasty retreat and avoid being bashed themselves. Adrian removed the crude gag and turned, spitting to clear the blood from his split lip out of his mouth.

"Alright boys, you've had your fun. Now, try and pay attention, because I'm only going to say this once." Adrian's eyes roamed, locking gazes with each of the boys for a moment. Newt held his breath. For the life of him, he couldn't have moved if he tried.

"Everyone listening? Good. I'm not here to 'take control' of your little glade. I have no fucking interest in running this little gong show, and I wouldn't take it even if everyone here got down on their knees and begged me, got it? It would make NO sense for me to be put in charge, not when I'm just visiting."

"What do you mean, visiting?" Coughed the leader of the boys, "Are you a shucking spy? Keeping an eye on us for the assholes that stuck us here? You think you can just -"

Adrian threw his head back and laughed, loud and deep. He stepped over to the boy and reached down, easily hauling him to his feet so that they were eye to eye.

"If I ever see the assholes that stranded you - all of you - and I in this little slice of Hell, I guarantee you, they'll be getting a couple of extra holes to breathe through. I don't work for them. I never have, I never will. The thing you still don't get...there's no getting out of this for me. I know entirely too much to ever go free. My time is limited; they'll leave me here just long enough to teach you boys certain things, survival tricks to help you. Maybe I'll even be able to show you a better quality of life. Then, I'm gone. I understood that from the moment I woke up in that fucking metal box with my lips glued shut and a chunk of wire cutting off my air!"

He dropped the boy in a heap on the ground, turning his back on his now transfixed audience. Looking over his shoulder, he offered one more parting thought as he walked away.

"There's no point in threatening me, boys. I'm already dead."

The bushes on the far side of the clearing rustled as Adrian strode out of sight; he was gone in an instant. After an uneasy moment of contemplation, the six boys in the clearing departed as well, heading off in a different direction. Newt stayed where he was, crouched behind the wall of ferns, his mind spinning in a dozen different directions. He stayed there for a long time, crouched in the greenery, until the shadows started to grow long and the stars began to wink into sight, thinking about Adrian's words, and the cold acceptance on his face when he'd said them.

"I'm already dead."

Author's note~

Bit of a time jump from the last chapter to this one. Wondering what the results of the bet from last chapter are? We'll find out in the next chapter.

See you then. ^.~

~Ruby