I sat on a branch that was above the slammer. Only if you stood right at the entrance and looked directly up would you be able to see me. I watched Newt, Minho, and Winston walk over to the slammer where Chuck had been sitting, digging a hole in the earth with the knife I flung.

"Where'd ya get that knife mate?" Newt asked plus king down.

"Jessie."

"What?"

"Jessie. I got it from her."

"What...wait...what?"

"She's alive man."

"What?" He yelped, "you better bloody explain!"

"We're using this to our advantage, she's hiding right now in the Deadheads." Minho scolded.

"Yeah Newt. So shhh. Mums the word." I quietly called down.

Newt yelped and spun around trying to find me. Minho grabbed his arm and yanked him back down to the grass. Winston and Minho were chuckling. They were cut off when there was a groan and Chuck yelling.

"That was the stupidest thing you have ever done! Why would you do that?"

The gruff voice of Thomas floated up to my hiding spot.

"I needed to remember Chuck."

From my vantage point I couldn't really see, but I could distinguish between the different voices. So I settled back to listen. Thomas's voice again, "What happened?"

"Gally has control. He said we had a choice. Either join him... or get banished at sundown with you." Newt answered solemnly.

"And the others agreed to that?" Teresa gasped, though she didn't sound overly shocked.

"Gally is tryin' to convince everyone that you two and Jessie are the bloody reason all this has happened." Newt answered.

"Though most aren't really convinced, they're just too scared to stand up to him," Winston said. I saw his head tilt up with an eye roll.

"Well, he's been right so far." Thomas sighed heavily.

"What are you talking about?" Newt asked.

"This place...it's not what we thought it was. It's not a prison, it's a test. It all started when we were kids. They would give us these challenges." Thomas explained. "Well except Jessie. I only saw bits, she was with a different program... actually Tess you were too... But I think we only meet Jessie a few times. She was kept from the different Maze groups."

"I know this, idiot. Keep going." I called down with an eye roll.

Minho looked up and he finally saw me. His eyes danced with ammusment. I winked and he smirked.

"Well I saw her as they brought her into the hall where you guys were waiting...the first big group...she was escorted by three guards. She killed two before the third took her down with a tazer."

"That's my girl."

I smirked at this information.

"Total badass!" Chuck whispered in awe.

"Chuck! Launguage!"

"Ya..." Thomas went on. "They sent her up to the other maze alone...and a huge group into this maze and then people started disappearing. Every month, one after the other, like clockwork."

"They were sending them up into the maze." Newt concluded.

"Yes Newton we just established that. Everyone was being sent here." I grumbled.

"Shhh. Jay you're supposed to be dead."

"I'm just a ghost haunting all of you."

I heard a few snickers. And Thomas definitely groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Why is she supposed to be dead?" He asked.

"Long story." Winston sighed, "continue."

"Okay...umm yeah, guys were being sent into the maze one by one. But not all of us." He whispered.

"What do you mean?" Minho asked.

"Guys, I'm one of them. The people who put you here, I worked with them."

"You? You were a Creator?" I asked, not believing it. "Be real man. The designers were evil and sinister. Thomas, you're too naive and...dude you're an idiot. How can you be a Designer?"

"Damn, even ghost Jessie is savage!" Winston chuckled.

Thomas carried on like nothing happened. Though I imagined he had closed his eyes tipped his head back and groaned. I smirked at the mental image.

"I watched you guys for years. The entire time you have been here... I was on the other side of it. I don't know anything about Jessie's first maze or how she got here or why..." he paused, "But...so were you, Tess."

"What?" She asked shocked.

"Teresa, we did this to them." He concluded, I could hear the sadness and shame in his voice even from way up here. I couldn't see him to know his body sagged.

"But...how could I have worked for the Creators and for The Handler?"

"Maybe The Handler had you working for the Creators?" Newt suggested.

"That doesn't make any sense! It can't be true!"

"It is. I saw it." Thomas said flatly.

"Why would they send us up if we were with them?" Teresa asked, her voice took on a hard and accusing tone.

"Maybe you were as non compliant as I was." I suggested.

"I could see that." Minho said nodding.

"If Tom and I watched you and we were all friends before...I can't imagine we would be working willing!" Teresa said.

"Don't forget the mind control!" I said.

"Right!" Winston said, I could see him rubbing his forehead, "if this dude had to brainwash and use mind control to get you to do what they wanted...I can easily see the shuck creators doing something similar. I doubt you had much say in the matter."

"It doesn't matter. We still did it." Thomas croaked.

"He's right." Newt nodded.

I stiffened, all the anger and resentment boiled to the surface. How could he say it didn't matter? It mattered a whole lot, the awful terrible things I did while under their mind control. It mattered because I have skills no one else does, it matters because I am who I am because of what they did to me. It matters because-

My angry train of thought was cut off by Newt repeating his sentence and looked up into the trees to meet my eye.

"It doesn't matter." He repeated. He held my angry gauze for a moment and then looked back down to Thomas, he rubbed a thumb over his bottom lip.

"It doesn't matter. Any of it. 'Cause the people we were before the bloody maze don't even exist anymore. These Creators took care of that; mice in a rat race, brainwashed assassins, young innocent children, helpers to the creators....none of it bloody matters. But what does buggen' matter is who we are now, and what we do...right now. You guys went into the maze and you guys found a way out!"

"Yeah, but if I hadn't, maybe Alby would be..okay."

"Maybe." Newt shrugged. "What I do know, is that if Alby were here, he would be telling you the exact same thing. Pick your ass up and finish what you started. 'Cause if we do nothing...then that means all of those kids in the Deadheads died for nothing, Alby died for nothin' and we can't have that." Newt stressed.

"Thomas, Tessa, JayJay...you're here with us now. You girls for sure- Thomas, you too probably, were used and then thrown in here with us. You're Gladers. You're family. We're in this together." Winston said solumly.

"Great speach." I rolled my eyes.

"Okay...so what do we do? Gally wants us banished." Teresa asked.

"We gotta get past Gally first." Thomas said sounding like the fire was relit back in him.

I grinned. "This is where I come in."

I pushed off the branch and dropped into the midst of them, making Chuck, Newt and Thomas yelp and fall. I slowly stood up with a smirk.

"Always such a poser." Winston rolled his eyes.

"Eh. If it ain't dramatic, what's the point."

"Tuche Queen." Winston grinned, and held a hand up for a high five.

"Okay Shanks and Tessa, listen up. Here's the plan..."

•×•

It was supposed to be close to sunset, when the doors should be closing soon and the sun setting...but since the sun had literally shut off we were left with guessing the times and Gladers constantly asking Keepers what the time was.

After our little mutiny meeting, I had crawled back up into the cover of the trees and waited. Chuck and Winston had snuck me the rest of my stuff and a salvaged bow with extra arrows and more knives, leaving it at the base of a free deep in the forest. I retrieved them and waited in the canopy of leaves.

Newt, Minho, and Winston went around telling others of the planned mutiny- only those they knew were fully on their side; hoping to have as many Keepers on their side so the other Gladers would follow their keepers. Zart had been taken by the Grievers, so Newt had taken over the Track Hoes. I knew deep down Fry, Jeff and Clint were for sure on their side. Phil...maybe, probably. For a Bagger he was quite level headed. They ignored Dug and didn't bother with any of the builders. They would join if they wanted to once they staged their rebellion.

It was only a matter of time. Newt had brought me some food, and I waited. Watching and observing. Gally had got a few of his builders to dig deep holes and pul two big polles into the holes. At the top of each pole was a metal loop. I frowned trying to figure out what he was doing. I had an idea, but I hoped, it was much, but it was there, Gally wasn't going to try and do what I think he was doing. He had stormed around the Glade asking where his other 6 were. He was starting to get suspicious.

"Where are Herold and the others?" He screamed at one of his builders.

"I dunno boss. Last I saw they were at the door, where you stationed them."

"And they have vanished!"

"Well...people can't disappear...can they?"

"Jessie did! This has her name writtall over it! She had something to twitch this!"

"But everyone is saying she was taken by the Grievers too!"

"She has something to do with this!" Gally growled and stormed away.

I smirked. I did have something to do with all of it. As I waited in the trees, my mind wandered. What had happened to Gally for those few days? He definitely couldn't have hid in the trees for those few days, he was too big and heavy. I had a gut feeling he stormed into the Maze, just to prove a point, and then was taken by the Designers. I growled to myself. If that was the case, he was most likely being used, being controlled, which means I couldn't kill the Shuckface. Me of all people knew what it was like being manipulated, brainwashed and controlled by someone.

I didn't have to wait much longer when Gally yelled for all the Gladers to meet by the doors, around the poles he had placed. I made my way, through the trees to a spot at the end of the Deadheads, the trees were thinner, so my coverage wasn't as good, but I figured everyone's attention was what was happening in the Glade.

A few of Gally's goons stormed over to the Slammer and unlocked the door. Two disappeared inside and a few minutes later came out holding Teresa, her hands tied together. If she wanted to she could have easily escaped. But for the plan to work she needed to be dosiel. Another two guys disappeared back into the Slammer and hulled out Thomas, who was pretending to still be out from the Changing.

The builders grabbed Teresa by the arms and took her to the front of the group of Gladers while the other two dragged Thomas behind.

From my tree I was crouched in, I could see Newt, who found me in the trees and nodded discreetly at me. I could see Frypan, who had just about every kitchen knife stuffed into his belt. And I saw Winston, looking as terrifying and creepy as ever, his butcher knives shoved into his belt, he found a one arm knife sling, that he stuffed full. He could switch to his cold creepy Sliver persona in an instant, and right now that's what he had on. I also spied Jeff and Clint, their backpacks stuffed with medical supplies and a few makeshift weapons discreetly being carried. Lastly I saw Minho in the crowd.  He also looked around and spotted me, a cocky smirk grace his face for a second. Just for fun I blew him a kiss and his smirk grew bigger.

Man that sexy smirk of his... Damn that is one attractive man.

I heard Chuck doing his best to sneak through the Deadhead trees, carrying all the weapons, spears mostly, that he could hold.

"This is such a waste." Gally frowned with his arms crossed, glaring at Teresa and Thomas limp form. The guys had just tossed him unceremoniously onto the ground at Gally's feet.

"I know right?" Teresa snarled, "waisting all this Tallent. You could use some."

I snickered to myself. I could see how we could be mistaken for twins or sisters, and not just in looks. The guy holding Teresa's rope tied her rope to the pole, above her head. She didn't fight it. Just smirked at Gally and the guy tying her up. I slowly stood up and pled an arrow from my quiver and held it in my teeth while I grabbed a second arrow and nocked it. Waiting for the right time.

"Gally... It doesn't feel right, man." Frypan called from the crowd, right on cue.

"Yeah, what if Thomas and Tess are right? What if Jessie was right? Maybe they can lead us home." Jeff said, skeptically.

Gally rounded on them, anger flashing over his face. "We are home. Okay? I don't wanna cross any more off that wall!" Spit was flying from his mouth.

"You think banishing us is solving anything?" Teresa asked.

"No." He simply said, turning back to her. He continued in a calmer voice, "But this isn't a banishing. It's an offering."

"What? Wait!" Theresa asked, the panic in her voice for the first time.

"Gally, what are you doing?" Someone from the crowd called.

Gally rounded on the crowd of Gladers again, anger twisting his face. "You think imma' let Thomas back into the maze after what they've done? Look! Look at our Glade! This is the only way. And when they get what they came here for... everything goes back to the way it was."

This was it. Gally was getting closer to an edge he couldn't come back from. I stood up, balancing on the branch. I pulled the string back.

"Why are you all just standing there? He's crazy!" Teresa yelled at the crowd.

"You shut up." Gally pointed at her. And then rounded on his guys, pointing to Thomas who was still laying on the ground. "Tie them up!" Gally screamed again.

I released my arrow. And had a second one nocked and released. The first arrow whistled towards Teresa's post, slicing the rope freeing her tied hands from the metal hoop. The second arrow landed between Gally's feet.

Teresa took out the guy beside her with a well placed kick and slipped his knife from his belt. And she backed up.

"ENOUGH!" Gally roared. "STOP!"

There was a very tense silence.

"Jessie!" He screamed.

I dropped from the tree. Landing in my, as Winston calls it, landing and fighting pose, slowly raising my head, I smirked as the Gladers gasped. I slowly stood up straight, dropping all the smirks and amusement from my face and eyes. I threw up all my cold emotionless stone walls. My jaw clamped and my eyes cold and narrowed. Shouldering my bow I strode towards the group.

"I knew you weren't dead."

"Sorry to disappoint you."

"Where have you been skulking?"

"Here and there. Find Harold and you other idiots?"

As if on cue there was a commotion and a few came stumbling out of the maze hall, one guy holding his head and another cradling his arm.

"Gally! Jessie's still alive!" Harold called.

"Yes clearly." He rolled his eyes.

"Good help us so hard to find." I snarked.

The guys I had knocked out stumbled to a stop and backed up, eyes wide in fear and confusion.

"As you were saying Gally? You would like to offer us up to the fuckfaces who put us here?"

"Everything can go back to the way it was!"

"Really? Back to how exactly? Barely living, just surviving?"

"No! This is our home!" He screamed.

"It's not. It never was. And never will be. Look at the sky, idiot. It's made of cement. I may not have my memories, but a sky isnot made up of sky. And there is no way anyone could turn the shuck sun off!"

"Don't listen to them!"

"You want to live behind giant stone prison walls and be hunted by monsters the rest of your sorry shank lives? We all know there is a way home. These doors won't close. Sure, the Grievers will come get the three of us... but they will come back for you too. Weren't you the one who told us, they will keep coming back until we're all dead? And you want us to stay? Seems like...the worst idea I've ever heard, and I've heard some shucked ones from Thomas over there. This isn't our home, you shuck face. It never was and never will be."

"If you stay here, they are going to come back. They'll come back, and they'll keep coming back... until we're all dead! But you already know that." Teresa said evenly.

"Shut up! Tie them up!" Gally screamed. His face was read and he was shaking.

"You could try. But I've taken out more than half these guys, and a hand full at once. And now I have Tess with me...you'd be flat in a matter of seconds."

I hadn't even bothered to grab a weapon right now. I stood straight and quite loose. Teresa was standing next to me a smirk of her face, twirling the long knife she stole from Terry's belt.

No one moved.

"Seems your guys are too afraid. What about you Gally? You man enough to try? Again." I taunted.

"Tie him up!" Gally demanded pointing at Thomas, who still lay on the ground, face down in the grass.

A few things happened at once. I looked at Teresa and we both sighed heavily and rolled out eyes. In an instant we both had knives in our hands, and in matching ready to fight stances.  Thomas jumped up slamming his elbow into the guy nearest him and yanked the spear from his hand when he cried out and went to hold his nose.

Now it was the three of us, our backs to the maze, facing Gally and his goons, with the rest of the Gladers behind watching.

The mutiny had begun.

•×•

× Sorry. Bit of a long chapter. There wasn't a good place to break it sooner- so long chapter it is! ×