*A/N Just wanted to give a big thanks to MatteaMay24 and parkeyed for hyping me up with their love for this story! You're both amazing and I'm so grateful to have you as readers and, dare I say, friends! Love you both! Enjoy!*

This was the last thing Minho needed. How long ago had she been Stung? Or, the real question, how long did he have until she lost it?

Minho looked up at the sky, trying to decipher how long until the Doors opened again. The sooner they got back, the better. He'd never navigated the Maze when it was changing before, obviously, but he could figure it out. Probably.

"Alright, can you walk?" Thea nodded. "Who am I kidding, of course you can't walk."

Minho brushed his hand through his hair and blew out a breath. This is what he got for trying to help people. He didn't even know where to start, but if she just bled out on the ground, all of this would've been for nothing. After that was fixed... Minho didn't want to think that far.

He looked down at his shirt and frowned. Minho didn't want to have to take it off. Then his harness would stick to his back from the sweat. Not comfortable, that was for sure. Plus, she was covered in goop. That was disgusting. No, he'd much rather keep his shirt on. He cleared his throat. "You've got a bra on, right?"

"Excuse me-" Thea looked up at him with absolute disgust as she panted. "Nope. Not gonna ask. I'm going to pretend you did not just say that."

Minho sighed and unhooked the harness.

"Woah!" Thea shouted, covering her eyes. "Put your shirt back on! What is your problem?"

"It's for your leg!" He shouted back, yanking the shirt back over his torso. Minho hated the way his cheeks were reddening. She should be grateful, not only for the bandage, but for the view. He wasn't blind. Minho knew he was hot, so why couldn't she see that?

...he was hot, right?

Thea scoffed and grabbed the wall to help herself up. "I'm fine, thank you very much."

Crumpling to the ground and moaning was definitely not helping her case, but that was exactly what she did.

"Trust me, Sheshank," Minho said, putting a hand on his hip, "I don't wanna do this anymore than you, but unless you've got a better idea, this is how it's gotta be. If you bleed out and die, then I'll have risked my life for nothing. If somebody had just listened and not run into the shucking maze out of spite, then I wouldn't have to be doing this at all. So yeah. I'm gonna bandage you up and you're gonna like it."

Thea glared at him. Her face had paled to a dull beige and her jaw was clenched tightly. It looked like she was not going to like it, but shuck it all. He was not going to all this trouble for her to die. He refused.

Minho knelt down at her side and tore his shirt off. Yep, definitely hot. Thea turned her head away. What, was she blind? Minho wondered, then realized her glasses were gone. Oh. So she was blind. That made him feel better.

"What are you doing?" Thea hissed through the pain. Her dark chocolate eyes had returned to his face. "You look like you're either doing some sort of internal monologue or you're constipated."

"And you look like a pile of klunk," Minho snapped back. Apparently he'd been making faces as he thought. Minho hated how he shook her up without even trying. Embarrassment was not his thing.

Minho stood up and admired his work. Spots of red already dotted the makeshift tourniquet, but he'd done pretty good if he said so himself. 

"Thanks," Thea murmured grudgingly.

He inclined his head to her in reply and put his hand out to help her up. She took it and a shiver ran down his spine. Minho cleared his throat and tried to ignore it. Not her. No way. With that thought, Minho yanked her to her feet with a lot more force than he'd intended.

Thea gasped and socked him in the arm. "What is your problem?"

"Want a list, sunshine?" Minho grumbled as he put her arm around his shoulder and began dragging her down the corridor. "Of course you do, it's got your name on it."

Before Thea could say something, a Griever announced it's arrival with a whirring click.

"Oh, come on!" Minho swore. "Keep up, Shebean."

"Yeah, 'cause yelling is gonna help anything. Not like it'll hear us and our location will totally be exposed!" Thea said while limping along. She pointedly looked at the ground rather than Minho.

Minho ignored her and they turned the corner only to find a dead end. No, not a dead end. The Cliff. At last, his luck was improving.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Thea screamed as Minho planted his feet in the middle of the corridor while the Griever charged towards them. She frantically tried to untangle his hands from around her waist and shove away from him, but he held her tight. "LET GO OF ME, YOU SHUCKING IDIOT! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US BOTH!"

Minho grinned. It was rather satisfying to freak her out. Especially when he knew exactly what he was doing and her terror was unnecessary. "Wait for it... now!"

As the Griever charged, only a few feet from the pair, Minho threw himself to the left and pushed Thea off to the right. The monster hit the breaks as hard as it could, but not fast enough. It flew over the cliff, stretching out to full length like a diver and vanished into the black. Minho blinked. Must've been a trick of the light, or lack thereof, but it seemed like the thing had disappeared. Not fallen, just... vanished.

He shook off the unnerving notion and dusted himself off. Thea laid silently on the ground and Minho felt a twinge of guilt. Yeah... maybe he shouldn't have thrown her. At least this way, he would be able to carry her without worrying about her fighting or talking at him.

Minho sauntered over to her side with a sigh and crouched down to pick her up.

Just then, she bolted upright. The sudden movement startled Minho and he stumbled backwards, falling on his butt. Thea's eyes were pitch black, no whites at all nor the deep brown of her irises. She turned on him, seething, and jumped onto him as though her wounded leg no longer bothered her even though blood, and some liquid far too dark to be blood, was leaking through the bandage.

Thea's hands found Minho's neck and squeezed. Caught of guard, he clawed at her fingers and tried to kick her off of him, but to no avail. She planted her good leg over Minho's and held them down with inhuman strength. Then, she pressed her forearm over his neck to choke him and caught his wrists in her other hand.

Minho could feel his face turning purple as he fought for breath. She was going to kill him. The Griever venom had taken over and now she was going to kill him.

In a panic, Minho put all his strength into rolling onto his side with as much force as he could. The pressure knocked Thea loose and she somersaulted further into the corridor. Minho moved to his hands and knees, trying to catch his breath, and rubbed his neck where red marks were forming. Thea bounced back into standing position and slammed her body into his. His head whipped back. The force would've knocked him out if he'd hit the ground, but at some point, he'd gotten closer to the Cliff and the top half of his body now hung over the edge.

Thea bared her teeth.

"Stop!" Minho screamed in a panic. "Gibson, it's me! Don't do it! This isn't you!"

She gave no indication of recognition. Thea reached up towards his neck to choke him again, but too late, Minho realized her real target. Her fist curled around the hilt of the dagger sheathed to his back and pulled it free.

Minho grabbed her shoulders and pulled himself forward in one quick swoop. His skull smashed into hers and they both tumbled away from the Cliff. Minho's vision spun with spots, but it didn't matter. He wasn't falling to his death yet.

Thea took no time gathering her bearings and simply charged him again, but this time Minho was expecting it. When she held the knife up and let out a war cry, he caught her wrists and suspended the blade just inches from his collarbone. She pressed down and Minho strained to keep her off of him.

This wasn't working. He was going to die. Minho had to knock her out.

He brought his knee up and kicked her hard right where the Griever stung her. Thea wailed in agony and her eyes rolled up in her head. She slumped forward and collapsed against a panting Minho. He wished he could do the same. Where was his knight in shining armor?