Once a good distance away from that hell-hole of a house we slowed to a walk, Newt inching closer with every step we took. "You alright?" he asked, "It looked like that whole 'Rosie' thing shook you up a bit."

I nodded, reaching down for his hand again. "Yeah, I'm good now… I just… wasn't expecting…"

"Ring around the Rosie?" he questioned.

I groaned, "I'm going to have nightmares about that for weeks."

"Don't worry," He murmured, letting go of my hand so he could wrap his arm around my shoulders and pull me closer until he could whisper in my ear. "I'll take care of you…" he whispered, pressing his lips to my cheek.

And I believed him.

Again we were walking in the shadows, but this time we had weapons. We were at least half-way there according to Jorge. I wasn't sure I trusted the guy, but any help was better than no help I supposed.

Up front, the others began crowding around the wall.

Newt and I glanced at tone another before pushing our way through to the front. The plaque was oddly familiar. It was large and metal and riveted to the wall with creepily large nails with big black lettering. It was almost identical to the signs in the maze reading 'World In Catastrophe- Killzone Experiment Department'.

The really weird thing though, was what it said…

THOMAS, YOU'RE THE REAL LEADER

I just… stared. You know, WICKED was a real pain in our butts, changing the rules every five minutes, manipulating our brains, giving us the freaking flare, the list goes on and on and on.

"These things are all over," Jorge told us, his voice somewhere between tires and irritated. "All of 'em say the same thing. Been waiting to tell you guys. None of knew what it meant, but since you all showed up. We figured it wasn't no coincidence."

Minho sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Good, great. Whatever. We'll deal with this after we find Thomas and get the hell outta here. Good that?"

Various replies all along the lines of 'good that' could be heard.

I hadn't a chance to talk to either Minho or Newt before we were moving again, but I soon found myself next to Milo, who had always been one of boys I felt closer to. There weren't many, left, but he was still here and so we drifted into an almost comfortable silence as we walked.

We stopped.

Curious, I worked my way up the front of the group where Jorge and Minho were arguing. Loudly. It was annoying to say the least, but… familiar. I mean, Gally wasn't here so who was there to argue with now? Jorge, apparently, that smartass voice in the back of my head said.

Wait… building. Did we not remember what happened the last time we went through a building?

"Um… aren't we forgetting something?" I interjected. "Like all the Cranks in that other building we went through? Ring around the Rosie fiasco?"

Jorge shook his head, "That was a coincidence, chickita, this one's a bit smaller, quick in and out and we're back on track."

I raised my eyebrows, not believing him but realizing this was the quickest path. "Fine," I said, though not happily.

Jorge snorted in response to the attitude.

"Let's get a move on then," Newt said, ushering me ahead of him.

Alright, so this one was smaller, and better lighted, though not as structurally sound, I noticed the floorboards creaking as we walked. "Is no one else even slightly concerned about this?" I muttered.

Milo, walking next to me, chuckled lowly in amusement. "I'm sure its fine, just creaky is all."

"Sure," I muttered. "Tell me that when somebody falls through the floor."

And sure enough, only a few moments after I said that the floor boards beneath my feet creaked loudly, whining at the sudden change in weight. I froze. Milo stood few feet to my left, looking at me worriedly as the boards creaked. Evening out my breathing I took a tentative step forward. The floorboards groaned. I gulped. Oh, no…

"MaC," Minho began, having pushed Milo out of the way, his voice low.

"I know," I breathed not daring to move again.

The boys around me had stopped, crowded in a wide circle around me. Jorge pushed his way through to the front, Newt right behind him. My eyes flickered to his as I took a deep breath. "Always me, isn't it?"

He apparently didn't think that was funny, and was almost glaring at me, though the worried look in his eyes sort of canceled out the harshness of his furrowed eyebrows. "You'll get wrinkles if you keep looking at me like that," I muttered, glancing down at the floor beneath my feet.

"Slim it, Mac, This is no time to be joking," He snapped at me.

I laughed shakily, noticing the way the floor board groaned. "Yeah?"

"MaC," Jorge began, seeming unsure if that was, in fact, my name. "Just move to the side, real slow."

I nodded, taking a small step to the left away from the wall and towards the boys. Shifting my weight, slowly onto that foot. It seemed that the ground may actually support my weight. And then it broke, my leg falling through the surface. I yelled out in surprise and I wasn't the only one, various people calling out my name. As I fell more of the boards collapsed until I was hanging only by the strength in my arms, a hole only slightly larger than my body in the floor as I clung to the surviving floorboards, the broken ends cutting into my skin.

My breathing was quick, "Anybody… got any… bright ideas?"

Various sighs of relief came from some of the boys.

Jorge was suddenly in front of me, laying on his stomach, arms pushing him forward until his face was in front of mine. And entirely too close. "Come on," he said quietly, his accent thick.

I didn't move and inch.

"Come on, chickita," he hissed, shaking the hand. "We don't got all day."

Quickly I moved one arm so I was gripping onto his forearm, using him to hold myself up as my legs dangled above oblivion. His hand gripped onto my arm and pulled me up a bit, his other arm outstretched now. "Other arm."

Quick shift and he was all that was holding me up. "Hold on," he grumbled, pulling me forward over the jagged edges of the broken floorboards. I hissed as they cut into my skin.

Another hard pulled and he was lying on his back, me on top of him. How that happened I'm not quite sure. I just remember the floor boards creaking, his eyes growing wide and then a tremendous jerk forward as the boards gave way. If he hadn't… I'd would've…

Jorge groaned slightly from beneath me, his muscled body shifting as he moved, gripping my waist and shoving me off of him, onto the floor beside. He just saved my life. It took moment for that to sink in. "Thanks," I breathed out.

"You can thank me later, chickie, we gotta get a move on," He said, getting to his feet, looking like he was going to offer a hand to help me up when two pairs of arms were already at it two hands on my back and one under each arm, hoisting me to my feet. Newt and Minho. One on each side, both glaring slightly at Jorge. I, of course, thought that was completely stupid as he had just saved my bloody life, but ya know.

"Brenda and Thomas should have gotten out somewhere around here," Jorge said, his facial expressions revealing nothing. "We'll need to spread out, search around."

Minho nodded, taking charge of his group and separating everyone into either single patrols or pairs, depending.

When he got over to me, I was already smirking. He shook his head, "Just go…"

Smiling up at him slightly, I sort of reached out for his arm. "Thanks, Minho."

"Yeah…" he said, his eyes not meeting mine.

I smiled, moving to kiss his cheek, because he deserved so much more that what I could give him. He deserved something… I just didn't know what. He blushed slightly which gave me a good deal of satisfaction, but then he pushed me away.

And so I took off at a jog after Newt, quietly moving up behind him and wrapping my arms around his waist. I'd missed this… us. Alone. Surrounded by the guys we hadn't much time to… well, mess around like we had in the maze. We were never alone with one another for more than a moment. There wasn't room for any more than quick kisses and whispered promises in the dark.

He gasped in surprise, his back straightening and muscles tensing for a moment before he realized it was me. When he did, he laughed, putting his arms over mine and attempting to look at me over his shoulder. "What are you doing here?" he asked with a slight chuckle.

"Where else would I be?" I said, my voice muffled slightly by the fabric of his shirt.

He sighed, shaking his head, before lifting his arm and yanking on my hand, pulling me in front of him. I ducked under his arm, giving into his yanking on my arm. Then I was face to face with a smile I hadn't seen in weeks. It was bright and genuine and it made my heart do those weird flippy things that started whenever he was around, but it was alright, I'd gotten used to them, used to him. I smiled back.

And then he was kissing me, pulling me flush against his chest and lifting me higher, my feet barely touching the ground. I let out an embarrassing squeak of surprise against his lips. He smiled in response, still trying to kiss me despite the laughter escaping both of us.

The smiles subsiding, he still hadn't put me down and so I leaned down to press my lips to his, one hand just above his collar bone and the other on the side of his face as I moved my lips against his, relishing the taste that was distinctly him.

He kissed me back, his arms wrapped around my waist, locking me against him.

She was… something else, tough as nails, and sometimes rude, while also managing to be a pain in my butt, but she was also smart and funny and sometimes hilariously awkward, and stubborn and funny and kind when she felt like it and I loved every bit of it. Every bit of her, from her green eyes to her brown-blonde hair to her dirtied fingernails to the bottom of her feet, every square inch. I loved every curve of her body, every hair on her head, and every scar that left a mark on her and had spent many a night in the Maze committing these imperfections to memory. She was nowhere near perfect, but she was perfect to me. Perfect for me.

And here she was, wasting her time coming after me, wrapping her arms around my waist and teasing me and kissing me, pressing herself up against up me and letting me kiss her like there was no tomorrow.

Because she loved me too.

And I loved her for that too.

All too soon we had returned to the task at hand and our stolen moments had faded with the daylight, the brightness fading and dusk over taking day and then we were headed back to the others, his hand in mine, both our mouths bruised from stolen kisses.

And then seemingly out of nowhere Frypan came running back, the fastest I've ever seen him move in my entire life. "Thomas," he breathed, "The Cranks got him."

"Where?" Minho and Newt demanded at the same time.

"Building, two blocks over," He breathed, slowly regaining his composure. "Two story building, probably full of those crazy shanks, all of 'em armed, the one had a gun, I think."

A/N: Another update for my fabulous viewers! If I still have any...

If you're still out there, I LOVE YOU!

Thanks for reading!

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