Victoria still lay on the ground, her body too sore to get up and move, instead she just lay on the cement floor sweating shivering and groaning. Minho glanced over and raised an eyebrow.

"You just gonna stay here?"

"Yes." She groaned.

"Are you going to keep groaning?"

"Yes. Now shuck off."

"Snarky. You've been hanging with Gally too long."

"Minho I swear. I'll pick my ass up and break your nose again."

"Jeeze. Slim it woman!" He rolled his eyes and leaned his head back on the wall.

They were quiet for a while. He seemed far away, thinking about something. His eyes glazed. Victoria just lay on the ground, her eyes closed, either willing herself to die or find some strength. She eventually slowly rolled over and pushed her aching body to sit up, leaning against the table for support.

Minho got up and walked to the other side of the room and came back a minute later holding his water bottle out for her.

"Drink. You look like you're ready to pass out."

"Thank you." She took it and took a few sips

Minho was watching her from the side of his eye. She leaned her head back, her eyes closed. Her entire body hurt. All the joints and muscles, her head and now her back and shoulders.

"So. Tell me something." He finally said, crossing his arms across his chest and giving her his full attention. She groaned, but peeked an eye open at him.

"Why Gally?" He asked.

She blinked both eyes at him for a second. Tugging a curl she looked back at him. He seemed to genuinely want to know. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back before answering.

"Because. He is sweet and kind. He didn't make rude comments or try anything from the start. He was always quiet and respectful. He put effort into getting to know me and not just my obvious girl parts. He asks questions about me and my day and takes an interest in the things I'm interested in. He doesn't roll his eyes when I say something more sciencey and doesn't scoff when I have ideas you shuckfaces can't understand. And-"

"Alright I get it!"

"Do you though?"

"Ya. You love the bully, the stickler for rules and the hard headed Jack ass."

"Unlike you? Mr sass, rules don't apply, I'll do whatever the shuck I want and say and get away with because I'm arragant and think the world revolves around me?"

"Ya. Exactly. You got it. I am the best. At everything, I'm glad you noticed."

She rolled her eyes.

"He still like that? Even after the changing? Seems like a dick."

"Did you know him quite well before? Did you try and make an effort during his recovery? Do you notice when he gets like that? Or why? Do you see the night terrors and the anxiety? The panic attacks? No. You just see what you wanna see. You don't actually care."

"Except I do, Princess. I actually do care a whole shucken lot about everyone is the shucken hell hole."

"An odd way of showing it."

"Each person has their own thing." He shrugged.

"Okay, you can have sass and an attitude, you can break the rules, and we're excepted to love you for it, but Gally has reasons for how he is, and you criticize. Double standards."

"It's not a double standard if I'm right and he's wrong."

She groaned and shook her head. "Shuck off Minho!"

"Uh, you came in here! This is my room."

"And a lovely room it is. Smells like sulfur and sweat."

"Like Man."

"What is it with you shanks and thinking sweat smells like Man? You know it doesn't get you brownie points. Sweat stinks. And does not turn a female on."

He shrugged. "Their loss."

"No it's your loss. Gally gets nothing smelling like sweat at the end of the day. It's gross."

"Okay, I don't wanna hear about you and Gally's sex life."

"I said nothing of our sex life. You brought it up!"

"You're impossible."

"Good."

She groaned and she hefted herself up. Wobbling dangerously, she held onto the table trying to keep her legs from collapsing and her head from spinning. Scattered all over the table were papers of maps, sections of maps and directions.

Turning away, she was going to leave when Minho called her back.

"Wait. Tori..."

She turned. He was leaning heavily on the table head bowed, eyes darting over the papers.

"What Minho?"

"Your smart..."

She hummed and crossed her arms. But slowly came back to the table and sunk down onto one of the stools.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

"Ha ha." He rolled his eyes. Looking up he ran a hand through his hair. For once in his life, Minho didn't look so cocky. He looked lost and frustrated.

"Can you take a look at these and tell me what you think?" He pushed a stack of paper towards her.

Frowning slightly and her curiousity peeked she flipped through it. They were all sections of the maze. Picking them up to see them better, she looked hard at the different papers.

"Do you have tape?"

"Uhh, ya? Why?"

"Do you want my help or not?" She glanced at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Fine!" He rolled his eyes. And went to a small cabinet and pulled out a roll of clear tape. "Here. Your Highness."

Taking the tape she started taping the papers to a wall, lining up the different sections, based on what the paper said the section was. In a few minutes she had eight different mazes taped to the wall.

Day 1: sections 1 through 8.
Day 2: sections 1 through 8.

The same for each day, 1 through 8, creating 8 different mazes on the wall. All the same except for 1 section.

Stepping back and leaning against the big wood table for support she cocked her head looking at them all.

"Okay so I was right. The maze changes, one section a night." She looked at Minho for confirmation.

He nodded, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Ya. The maze changes every night. A different section each time. The main doors to the sections are always in the same place, but the route there is different. The halls shift and change. But as you can see," he swept to the different sections, "you have the maze mapped out, it doesn't change in order. Instead it's 71526483."

She nodded. Frowning again, she cocked her head to the other side.

"So? What did you want my opinion on?"

"What you think. Think out loud."

"Well it looks completed. I see the outline wall, here." She stepped closer to the wall, and pointed to the papers taped together. "I can see your wall runs in a giant circle. This, right in the middle, "is the Glade. Four doors leading I to the different sections. Section seven here looks different then the rest. Not as tight twists and turns in the halls. Section four here also is a bit more open, not as many. Section three here, looks like it has more dead ends and section one looks more like a labyrinth then maze."

"That's one in the same. The whole shuck thing is one giant Labrinth!" Minho cried, throwing his hands up and starting to pace up and down.

"Actually, contrary to what people believe, they aren't. A labyrinth is a path that has a single through-route with twists and turns but without branches. A maze is a confusing pathway that has many branches, choices of path and dead-ends. A labyrinth is not designed to be difficult to navigate. It may be long but there is only one path." She explained still looking at the wall of maps.

Minho had stopped walking. "then what was with that whole Greek myth Minotaur Labyrinth thing?"

"Well, yes, you're right Minho. Sort of." She tugged a curl thinking.

"Sort of?"

Tori sat down on the stool, but still facing the wall of maps she tapped and took a deep inhale.

"Ya, in Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at the Knossos. Basically, its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the hero Theseus. Daedalus had made the Labyrinth so complicated that he could barely escape it after he built it."

"Well sucks to be that dude."

"Indeed." Tori said, with a nod.

"Okay, so how does that help? Or how does that tell me the difference? The mythology is cool an all...but...?"

"Ya, I'm getting to that." She waved a hand impatiently. "Early Cretan coins occasionally exhibit branching patterns, known as multicursal patterns, the single-path it unicursal, seven-course "Classical" design without branching or dead ends became associated with the Labyrinth on coins as early as 430 BC, and similar non-branching patterns became widely used as visual representations of Daedalus Labyrinth – even though both logic and literary descriptions make it clear that the Minotaur was trapped in a complex branching MAZE and not a labyrinth."

She paused and glanced at Minho, who was standing still and staring at her, his eyes wide and mouth slightly open. She sighed and continued, running her hand over her forehead a few times.

"Even as the designs became more elaborate, visual depictions of the mythological Labyrinth from the Roman era until the Renaissance are almost invariably unicursal, or the labyrinth, the single long winding path and not the many intersecting halls. Branching mazes were reintroduced only when hedge mazes became popular during the Renaissance. In English, the term labyrinth is generally synonymous with maze. As a result of the long history of unicursal representation of the mythological Labyrinth, however, many contemporary scholars and enthusiasts observe a distinction between the two. In this specialized usage, maze refers to a complex branching multicursal puzzle with choices of path and direction, while a unicursal labyrinth has only a single path to the center. A labyrinth in this sense has an unambiguous route to the center and back and presents no navigational challenge."

"Well shuck."

"So in our case we're stuck in a maze. Not a labyrinth."

"Okay...did you like swallow a dictionary?"

"What?"

"A dictionary. Just spouting information like you swallowed a dictionary."

"No... More like an encyclopedia. A dictionary is the definition of words... Ya know what? Never mind." She shook her head, Minho was giving her a smug know it all look.

"And this is why I like Gally. He just accepts it and moves on, doesn't give that stupid look."

He held his hands up in surender. And shook his head.

"Okay okay. So," he folded his arms and turned to the wall. "We're stuck in a giant maze, which is not a Labyrinth. Any other observations?"

"Ya." She sighed.

"Which is?"

"There doesn't seem to be a way out."

"So you noticed too."

"Almost immediate. I mean I haven't explored the actual halls and walls, but from your maps...I see no openings or doors."

"Ya...I figured."

She sat for a nother minute staring at the wall. She didn't really want to admit it, but she felt relieved. She didn't have to go back. Back to the memories that kept reserfesing were all terrible and horrifying. She didn't want to go back. Her memories of her past scared her, haunted her and she really didn't want to leave. Sure they had death monsters wondering the halls, but they had made a good home here. She didn't want to meet the creators or the people who did horrible things to her in the name of science.

"So what are you gonna do about it?" She asked.

"Dunno. I guess I gotta talk to Alby and Newt. Clearly the runners either have figured it out or they will soon enough. But I told them don't say anything."

She shurgged, "what the royal highness wants."

"I think the Gladers still need that spark, they need that sliver of something to believe in."

"Believe in what exactly, Minho?"

"That we can escape."

"What...what if we don't want to?" She asked quietly.

"What are you shucken talking about?" Minho scoffed. "Of course we want to escape! This ain't a home! This ain't a place to live!"

"What if it's better here then out there? What if there's nothing to go back to?"

"If course there is!"

"Maybe...maybe for you." She said quietly. She could feel the heavy weight. The crushing lonely darkness, trying to work its way back into her chest. She didn't want to go back. There was nothing good.

"Pfft." He scoffed, "don't be such a Debbie Downer!"

"You have no shucken clue Minho." Victoria snapped. She got up from her stool, and put Minho's water down on the table, and went to the door.

"If it's so bad, then tell me about it. Tell me about these memories!"

She shook her head.

"Ya, probably not even memories. Just something else to draw attention to yourself? Is that it? Didn't have anyone out at the fire so came here, faked some episode for my attention? If you want me around all you gotta do is ask."

"Shuck you Minho!"

"Alright come here then!"

She spun around, his face was twisted in anger and something else, hurt maybe.

"What is your problem?!" She cried. She could feel the angry tears forming. "You can actually be kinda nice sometimes, drop the stupid tough guy act and we could maybe be friends. But I seriously have no idea what your problem is! Because I don't agree  a hundred percent, now your suddenly nasty and rude and arragant! Get this through your head, I will never drop Gally for you ever. Even if we're the last people on earth. It's never going to happen. You're such a child grow up Minho."

She ripped the door open and stormed into the Glade. She was hit hard by the noise of the Gladers. She was tired and cranky and just wanted to go to bed. Everything hurt and everything was sore. She started in the direction of the Barn.

She skirted the outside, not wanting to be in the middle of the crowd. She was half way around the crowd when she felt someone fall into step.

"Hey Freckles, where have you been?"

She stopped walking and spun towards him, wrapping her arms around Gally's neck, she kissed him, hard. She took him by surprise, but he only hesitated for a second and then wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back. A few guys wolf whistled.

She pulled back, he was smirking until he saw the tears in her eyes. His smirk disappeared, both hands left her waist and held her face.

"What happened? Tell me who!"

"I had another episode."

"What? When? I didn't see it hear you!"

"You were wrestling. I got to the map room. I was safe. Minho -"

"Do I gotta punch that arragant Jack ass?"

"He was actually kind. And helpful. It wasn't a bad episode. Then he asked me a few questions, we talked about mazes and Labyrinths and stuff what the difference is and whatever...but then the second I don't agree he's back to his childish antics, throwing insults because he can't handle rejection or disagreements."

"Still ..I gotta punch him?"

"No. Just take me home and kiss me."

"That, Baby Doll, I can do. I'll kiss you so hard your heads gonna spun." He growled, and swooped her off her feet.

"I'm counting on it. I wanna be screaming your name." She cooed, pulling his head down.

"As you wish." He growled against her lips.

•×•

× Well okay there Miss Annabeth!
This chapter gave me Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase vibes ×

× also...Minho was cool until he wasn't ×