"Why is everyone calling me a traitor?" you asked Janson angrily, pushing past yet another guard, who had begrudgingly greeted you with "Oh, look, here comes the traitor." He'd been the fourth one to greet you like that, and it was beginning to get irritating.

"Everything will be explained soon enough," Janson replied, not turning around.

You walked through a few more doors before you both came to a sudden halt. The Rat Man reached inside his jacket and pulled out a keycard, which he slid easily through the slot at one end of the door. It hissed open, and you stepped through, into a clean, white room. The only other person there was standing near a stretcher on the far side, covered head-to-toe in a light blue suit. A mask was pulled tightly across their face, so it was impossible to tell if they were a man or woman.

"Come on (Y/N)," Jason pulled your arm gently, and you stumbled the rest of the way in.

"What the hell is this?" you spat, tearing your wrist from his grasp. "What am I doing here?"

"We're not going to hurt you. We are, however, going to remove the chip in your brain that we used to control you... How does that sound?" Janson's hands were out in front of his chest like you were about to lunge and attempt to strangle him.

"I don't want you freaks poking around in my brain! Let me go back to my room!" Before you could make a beeline for the door, however, two large men moved to roughly smash you against the wall, one on either side. "Get off of me!" You yelled, kicking at them -- though you knew it was pointless.

"Now now," Rat Man sneered, lowering his hands and stepping closer to you. So close now, you could see every wrinkle that lined the corners of his mouth and eyes.

"You don't look better up close if that's what you were wondering," you hissed, scowling at him. "Actually, I think it makes you look even older." The subtle smirk on Jason's face fell, but he didn't frown, the triumphant look he'd worn as you were thrown against the side of the room only becoming more apparent.

"Why are you fighting this?" he asked quietly. You wrinkled your nose in disgust as his sour breath washed over you. "I'm trying to help you."

"Right," you chuckled sarcastically, "Taking me away from my friends and imprisoning me? Really? Our definitions of help must be very different then -- or maybe you're just an idiot."

"I'd hold my tongue if I were you girl," He snapped, spit flying out of his mouth in an angry spray.

"Why? It's not like you're going to kill me. If you wanted me dead, you would've done it a long time ago."

Rat Man tsked, shaking his head sadly.

"(Y/N), you don't actually think you're important in all of this, do you?" You shot him another glare but didn't say anything more. "You were never supposed to have gone into the Maze in the first place. You only ended up there by running away at the last minute like the true coward that you are!"

"W-what are you talking about?"

"You ran into the maze to get away. You were afraid. I doubt you'd last a week in the maze on your own."

"I was going to be a runner!" you shot back, not wanting to let Janson think he'd silenced you completely. That would be the same thing as admitting defeat.

"Only because you remembered!" he countered, lips turning once more into a crude, wide grin. "You knew your way around because we'd hardly gotten the chance to fully erase your memories, not because you were clever, or special."

The words stung. You closed your mouth and lowered your gaze to the floor. Was he telling the truth? Were you really nothing more than an escaped WICKED employee? No, you couldn't let him get to you! It was his goal to try and make you feel less than what you were -- to make you want to surrender to him and WICKED.

You knew for a fact you wouldn't ever let that happen.

"Is she ready?" This came from the man who'd been listening on the other side -- you were now positive he was a man, his voice low and gravely. Far from comforting, and definitely not someone you wanted performing life-threatening surgery on you.

"No!" You screamed, pulling against the guards as they began to drag you the gurney. Think! You had to think!

You heard a hiss behind you, and saw a woman, out of the corner of your eye, dragging her ID card through the little sensor. You saw as the doors slid open and she moved to walk through them.

Suddenly, it was there -- the most idiotic plan you could have thought of. You were probably going to end up caught and electrocuted again, but at least it gave you a fighting chance.

Immediately, you went limp, feeling the two men relax a little at the sudden weight that had been lifted. You had to act soon, but not until you were close enough to the table, that one of the guards let go of you to adjust the straps that were probably meant to hold you down while they cut your head open.

It was time to act -- before the doors closed again, and with them, your only chance of freedom.

With all the force you could muster, you yanked your left arm up, knocking your guard off balance. You spun quickly on your heel and sprinted forward, ignoring Janson's yelp of protest. You knew the guards would be chasing you... Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

The doors were closing now. Just a little closer... You pushed yourself even faster, legs blurring, drowning out any surrounding sound.

You slid through right as they slammed closed. Janson had a card, and could easily get them open again, so you had to act fast. You debated where to go for a split second, deciding to continue the way opposite of where you'd come.

Luckily, there weren't any doors here, and no guards as a result, though you knew there were definitely some pursuing now. Janson yelled incoherent things as you ran, though you didn't stop or wonder what they meant -- you just kept running.

You ran like you'd run from that Griever in the Maze. You ran like Newt, and Thomas and Chuck were at the end of the hallway. You ran like your life depended on it -- though, under the circumstances, it probably did.

You turned another corner, chest heaving. Your legs and arms began to feel heavy, and your eyes watered. You blinked them rapidly and pushed on.

"Where are you going?" y

ou heard Rat Man call out. Shuck! They were closer now. "You're at a dead end! There's nowhere to go from here!"

You turned a second corner, barely evening having time to register where you were before you let out a choked sob. The only thing in front of you was a large metal door, painted yellow and black. You charged forward, slamming your shoulder into the side, though you knew that it would hardly do any good. It was shut tightly -- you reckoned it could only be opened by a higher security.

There weren't any other doors in sight and no means of escape. You sniffed and wiped your eyes with your white shirtsleeve.

"There you are." Janson appeared at the end of the hall, the two now armed guards right behind him. He was smiling, eyebrows knit together, beady eyes glinting.

"Leave me alone!" You spat, backing up as far as you could, feeling the cold metal pressed up against your back. "Please, just leave me alone!"

"We're not going to hurt you." Janson's voice softened, though his expression had hardly changed. You eyed the large black guns the guards held and narrowed your eyes. Janson must have understood because he took another step forward and shook his head. "That's just for reassurance, we're not going to use them on you."

"I'm sick of you and your stupid lies, Rat Man!" You shot back, not wanting him to see your crying. He raised an eyebrow at that last part but didn't say anything about it. One of the men behind him snickered a little, and he turned to shoot him a fierce glare.

"I'm telling the truth!"

"Janson?" a voice sounded from around the corner, where Janson could look up and see who it was, but you were at a loss.

"M-ma'am, hello," he stuttered. "I didn't think you'd be joining us until tomorrow."

"Yes, well, I wanted to see how things were progressing." Definitely a woman, most likely authoritative -- even Janson seemed scared of her.

"We're doing very well, I can assure you--"

"What are you doing down here? Shouldn't you be over monitoring..." The woman trailed off as she came around the corner and caught sight of you. "What's this?" She was dressed fully in white, complete with a spotless lab coat that trailed out behind her as she walked. Her nearly white hair was smoothed into a tight bun, stretching her face a little, so she looked twice as stern when she frowned at Janson.

"(Y/L), ma'am. She tried to run as we were preparing to remove the Swipe."

"Is that so? That's the (Y/N) that ran into the Maze, yes?"

"That's correct."

"I thought we were going to put her back like we agreed."

"Ma'am, we hardly--" The woman's hand shot up, silencing Janson. He glared at the ground, but obliged, shutting his mouth tightly.

Now, she turned to you and started walking, heels clicking rhythmically on the tile. You pushed against the door harder, wanting nothing more than to disappear into it.

"It's okay," she said, now only a few feet away. "I'm going to put you back with your friends."