Piper's POV

Thomas and Gally took Teresa to a separate place when we got back to our hideout. Beth had Aris by his arms, practically dragging him to the chair and pushing him to sit down. The rest of the girls were waiting for us when we got back. I stood with them as Beth took the bag off of Aris, revealing his face.

He inhaled, breathing a bit faster than usual, then relaxing in his chair some. He looked at us, then towards Beth, where his expression changed to shock. "Beth? You're alive?"

"Surprise," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "So, this is how we're gonna do this, stick. We're gonna ask you questions and you're gonna give us the answers that we need. If not, we'll take turns punching you in the face."

"We're not doing that," I told her firmly.

She turned my way, rolling her eyes. "You're no fun." The brunette sighed, then faced Aris once again. "Anyway, first question: Where's Lillie?"

Aris took some time to answer, fidgeting with his hands. "With the others in holding. Sublevel three."

"Is Minho there, too?" Harriet asked.

He nodded. "Yes."

"How many others are there?" Sonya was next to speak up.

"Twenty-eight," he answered.

Aurora pursed her lips, strolling around the table. "I'm sure Brenda and I can make that work."

"No." Aris paused, shaking his head. "The whole level's restricted. You need a thumbprint ID."

"Which is why you're coming with us, along with your new best friend, Teresa," Maeve retorted.

"Well, really all we need is a thumb..." Beth suggested, raising her eyebrows.

"Enough, Beth," I snapped.

"Look, you're still tagged," Aris pointed out. "The sensors will pick all of you up at the front door."

"We're aware of that," Maeve said. "But lucky for us, we have a Medic who can help solve that problem."

Gwyneth looked uneasy, but still ready to do what needed to be done. "Yeah, I can get those tags out."

The boy sighed, rubbing his head. "Fine. But first, I'd like to talk to Piper alone."

I felt all eyes turn on me as I took a deep breath. "Okay." So the others dispersed as they left the room, being alone with Aris for the first time in a while. "So..." I started, unsure as to what to say to him now that he was here in front of me.

"I've missed you," he admitted.

"I've missed you, too. Though, if I'm being honest, I've been scared of this reunion." I stayed quiet for a moment, then continued. "You joined WICKED's side. Why?"

He shifted in his chair before he explained it to me. "At first, I didn't want to be there. I wanted to go back to the Right Arm, where I was safe. Teresa spent a while trying to convince me what she did was the right thing, but telling me wasn't enough. So she showed me."

"Through Minho and Lillie and the other subjects there," I said.

He nodded. "I saw what they were doing and what they were seeing that worked and what didn't. So I began my research with Teresa, putting pieces together from the date we had in order to make new serums that would push us closer to a cure."

"But using the kids as lab rats? Aris, that's not the way to do it," I protested. "Don't you see that WICKED will do anything to find a cure for the Flare, even if that means kids or anyone else gets hurt or traumatized or even killed? We were put in a Maze, some of us longer than others, and looked at what happened to us."

"Those kids are our only hope," he told me. "We can save humanity from this disease."

"Do you really believe that there's a cure?"

He hesitated, leaning back in his chair. "I don't know, but we have to keep trying. Otherwise, everything that WICKED has been doing will be for nothing."

I only stared at him, knowing that he was being genuine about his answers. I took a chair and placed it in front of them, then took a seat. "Well, what else have you been doing for the last six months?"

Aris huffed a sigh. "Reading everyone's files, checking to see if I missed anything." He paused and took a good look at me. "The ones you found at the other facility didn't have everything, all of the information about us and our friends."

"What else is there to know?" I asked with curiosity.

"Everything about your past life. Your real name, where you're from, your family," he replied. "You said the ones you saw had our family listed on them, too, right?"

"Well, just our siblings that were taken by WICKED, too." I looked down at my feet, sliding them across the floor. "I remember reading that I had a brother. I'm assuming he died in the Maze that Thomas was in."

Aris swallowed hard, as if he had a lump in his throat. "Yeah, he did."

When I thought of Thomas' Maze, Newt was the next thing that came to my head, next to Sonya. "So you know that Newt and Sonya are siblings." When he didn't answer, I went on. "He's infected, along with Gwyneth."

"I already knew that," he practically spat out, then realized his harsh tone. "Sorry. But yeah, I knew about them. It's in their files."

"Of course," I muttered. "I just hate to keep it a secret from Newt and Sonya, you know? Don't you think they deserve to know the truth about them?"

"It's too late for the truth, Piper, and you know that." Aris shot me a sad look. "We're not the same people we were before WICKED took us. Don't you remember Lillie's speech back in the Glen? WICKED took care of that."

A part of me knew he was right, which was when another dilemma came into my head. "Which is why you and I will never work."

Aris' face formed a confused yet sad look. "What?"

"When you kissed me back at the Right Arm's camp," I recalled. "The more I thought about us, the more I realized that we can never work. Thanks to WICKED, you got your memories back. I have nothing. It's all one-sided for us, Aris, and it always will be."

"Piper, that shouldn't stop you from having feelings for me," he told me.

"Who said I had feelings for you?" I retorted.

"Piper, that shouldn't stop you from having feelings for me," he told me. An eyebrow raise came from him. "That kiss meant something to you, right?"

I stared at him, attempting to find the right words for his question. Of course it did, but that was six months ago. Obviously, things were different now, new circumstances arrived. "Yes, it did mean something to me," I confessed. "But things are--"

"Different, I know," he cut me off, sighing again. "Still, it doesn't change the way we feel about each other, does it? It never will change for me."

"What does that mean?" I inquired, my stomach being flipped over and over.

"It means that I..." he stopped for a split second. "It means that I'll still love you no matter what, Piper."

That was when I thought my heart stopped. He loved me. Aris loved me. After all the mess we had gone through, he loved me. Yet, I knew this feeling lasted longer, one that went beyond the Glen. He knew me at WICKED, before our memories were gone.

"Aris..." I began, shaking my head in sadness.

"Piper, I know what you're going to say, but it's true. I get that it's been complicated for us..."

"And that's never going to change," I told him. "I'm sorry I'm giving you the response you don't want to hear, but you only love me because you remember me before the Glen. I'll never get that opportunity to remember you." I paused. "It's like you said, we're not the same people we were before WICKED took us."

Aris reached out and took my hands in his. "But you can love the version of me that's right here in front of you."

I felt a few tears escape my eyes. "Are you so sure about that?"

All of a sudden, the sound of footsteps caused me to quickly drop Aris' hands. "Gwyn's ready for you," Sonya told me.

I looked at her and nodded, standing up from my chair. "You should get ready to go once I'm no longer tagged," I said to Aris, straightening out the wrinkles from my pants.

"Yeah, right," he replied, getting up from his chair as well and heading out, not even eyeing Sonya as he strolled past her.

"What happened?" Sonya asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing," I lied. "Come on, we need to get moving."

So I headed back to join the others, watching as they geared up for tonight. I took a seat down for Gwyneth to work on getting my tag out. To distract me from the pain, I thought about Aris, who was talking to Teresa about something.

While I knew I hurt his feelings, everything I told him was true. Just when he thought the city wanted him to find a cure for the Flare, I was the one that longed for him to be standing and fighting with me.

The city didn't need him as much as I did. I just wished it didn't take him such a long time to realize that.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Well, Aris really dropped it on Piper, didn't he?

What did you think? Do you think Piper could love Aris eventually? I really wanted to focus this chapter on them since this was the first opportunity to do so (but not the last, I can tell you that).

Anyway, the song above is The Last Of The Real Ones by Fall Out Boy. I think it's the song that describes Aris and Piper and their relationship (listen to the lyrics closely, lol).

So comment, vote, the action is about to begin!

-A