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in-need-of-gally-content · 1 year ago

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|Chapter•Fourty|

•|Masterlist|•

He took a deep breath and looked around, noticing how pretty much everyone was freaking out at the fact that the Doors hadn't closed at all, and it was safe to say everyone was scared out of their minds about the Grievers.

No one wanted to see one. Especially when the mortality rate was excruciatingly high, just because Thomas killed one it didn't mean the others weren't pissed. And judging by the faded sounds of them screeching in the Maze, they definitely were.

"Okay... Hey, everyone! Calm down!" He screamed as loud as he could, catching the attention of every dude nearby, although they kept fidgeting nervously in place, "Someone go tell the others, the rest come with me!"

He pointed toward the Homestead, where he knew damn well Gally was in and turned around to run into the Deadheads.

"Where are you going?" He heard Billy ask him, the footsteps behind him let him know they were following his orders which he was thankful for, and saw the weapon shed appear behind some trees.

"We need weapons!"

Arguably speaking, he had no authority opening it, but it was a moment of crisis, and instead of spending five minutes undoing the knots, he kicked the door a couple times, exclaiming loud 'shuck's and 'come on's as he did, until it finally fell to the ground with a thump.

He stepped inside and began grabbing every spear there was and handed them out to Billy, who made sure to give them out to the guys behind him.

(M/n) knew damn well what lurked in the Maze, and he knew the Grievers were going to find their way to the Glade, they knew exactly where to go, that's was how their programming worked after all.

When there were no more spears, he gave out a few bows and kept one for himself, along with a quiver with arrows, thankfully every quiver had at least ten arrows, although he was unsure whether that was gonna be enough or not... Only time will tell, really.

"Okay..." He huffed as he stepped out, there were no more long-ranged weapons in the shed, "Gardeners' hut should have things that could be used as weapons, Slicers too... Find them, quick," the couple dudes that had remained empty-handed nodded and ran toward the huts as fast as their legs could.

"(M/n)," Billy placed his hand on his shoulder as he called his name, "Are you okay?" The way his breath was ragged and his body trembling nonstop was the reason why Billy asked, and honestly, (M/n) didn't have an answer to that, so he simply avoided the question.

"We're gonna need light... Find torches and light them up, Billy," frowning, the Keeper nodded sharply and ran somewhere else.

(M/n) took a deep breath and gripped the bow in his hand tighter, pulling an arrow out and getting it ready to fire. He took fast steps to leave the woods, and he saw the rest of the guys running out of the Homestead, which made him sigh, and watched them as they ran to the Doors, staring at them. However, a few seconds later an ear-piercing screech made him tense up again.

He frowned when the sound repeated itself, and he looked around, watching how more Doors to the Maze opened... He didn't even know those were doors...

Something in the back of his mind annoyed him and made him wonder... Were they gonna survive the night?

///////

"The Doors... They aren't closing..." Gally looked around him for a moment and observed how the others made their way to the Doors, yet he stayed there, unsure of what to do or how to feel.

Even less so when three more Doors seemed to magically open, everything felt very much like Doomsday, which... He didn't enjoy it, exactly.

"Shuck..." He turned around and went back inside the Homestead, ignoring the screams of whoever was calling out to him, he couldn't care at that moment.

Gally rushed upstairs to his room and walked in, his heavy steps rumbling in the structure and he knelt on the ground, pulling out the wooden crate from under his bed and opening it. A lot of things inside it had emotional value, but nothing was more important than the only polaroid he got of (M/n) with Bark.

He had kept it safe and in perfect condition with one of the few clear plastic bags and he quickly put it in his pocket, keeping it safe before running back outside.

His eyes looked around frantically, trying to find where the shuck (M/n) could be, but it was too dark out for him to be able to see anything without a light nearby.

And there was no time for him to go looking for him, because the first Griever made its way inside the Glade, so the only thing he could do was run and hide, or try to fight it... Which definitely wasn't a good idea if he had no weapons.

He was only able to sort of pinpoint (M/n)'s location thanks to the sound of his voice as he yelled at others to run and hide, so he decided to take off in that direction, staying behind trees and in the shadow where he hoped the Grievers wouldn't find him.

"(M/n)!" The (h/c) haired male looked toward the voice, one that he recognized as Gally's, and slightly lowered his bow, squinting as he tried to find him in the dark, while still trying to keep an eye out for anyone running by, escaping the Grievers.

"Gally?!" The rapid sound of his footsteps on the dirt approached his way, and soon enough, he was able to see Gally running out of the woods, the dim moonlight helping just the slightest bit, it was enough light to be able to see some stuff if you were directly under it, but no more than that.

He sighed in relief at the sight of the blond, and he was about to lower his guard, just for Gally and only for a moment, when a metal glint showed up behind him, followed by the faint sound of mechanical gear turning.

"Bean-!"

"Gally, watch out!" (M/n) felt his throat hurt at the raw scream he let out, and raised his bow as quickly as he could. His heart rate was off the roof and yet, he tried to keep a steady and strong grip on the bow, aiming at the Griever.

However, before he could shoot the arrow at it, it managed to tackle Gally when the blond looked behind him, so he had to act quicker now, and firing the arrow was the only thing he could do before it tore Gally apart.

The Griever screeched as the arrow pierced through its flesh, another one followed, and another one, it took (M/n) his last four arrows to make the Griever stumble away, letting out a shriek toward (M/n) who had stumped his way over, adrenaline surging through his entire body.

They watched as the Griever made its way back to the Maze, and (M/n) glanced around for a moment, klunk was still going down in the Glade, and being outside definitely wasn't safe, so he hung the bow on his shoulder and reached his hand out for Gally to hold.

"Come on, let's go to the Box," Gally got off the ground and they ran toward the Box, which wasn't that far away from them, "Mikah! Open the door!" He screamed as they approached and the metal gate was opened for them.

They jumped in and closed the gate, taking a deep breath to try and calm down their rapidly beating hearts.

They stayed there and remained quiet for what felt like hours, but it was only five minutes. The sound of metallic legs sounded near for a moment, soon fading away along with screeches echoing in the Galde, definitely coming from the Maze now.

Everything was quiet, no one dared move or say a word, until (M/n) reached up to the gate and used a wooden crate as a step to take a peek outside. There were no signs of Grievers and other Gladers were coming out of their hiding places.

"Looks safe..." He dropped off his bow and empty quiver on the concrete ground around the Box and used his arms to pull himself out of there, "Come," he moved his hand in a motion to let everyone know it was okay to get out and he looked around the Glade.

There was fire everywhere, and the smoke almost covered their sight. It was hard to tell how bad the damages were, but it was very unlikely that it was something they could easily fix.

"Where the shuck is Thomas?" Gally grunted as he took a step forward, looking around with a deep frown on his brow, (M/n)'s sure he's never seen Gally so mad before...

No one said anything, but everyone started walking after Gally the moment he took off in a particular direction, toward the Homestead.

(M/n) silently observed Gally, and his body language was all he needed to see to know that he was way more pissed off than he initially thought he was. He just wished he had been able to prevent him from punching Thomas square in the face as soon as they were an arm's length apart from each other.

Immediately, (M/n) held him away from the greenie, receiving help from everyone else, or at least the majority of the guys around them, some were just watching the scene, "This is all you Thomas! Look around!"

Sounds of struggle came from everyone but Gally, he was fighting the grip of at least 6 dudes at once without really putting much effort, he was pissed and just wanted to beat Thomas up, that much was obvious.

"Back up, Gally! It's not Thomas' fault!" (M/n) frowned as he continued holding Gally back, briefly glancing at Minho as he exclaimed for everyone to hear.

"You heard what Alby said! He's one of them!" For a moment, (M/n)'s hold on Gally faltered, which made everyone panic as Gally made a move to break free from them.

"One of who?!" He heard someone ask amidst the commotion, it sounded like Newt but he wasn't sure.

"Gally-!" (M/n) tried to get his attention by calling his name, but nothing seemed to work, his anger was seemingly unstoppable.

"He's one of them and they sent him here to destroy everything that we've built, and now he has!" Gally sounded convinced of what he was saying, and in a way, (M/n) believed part of that, although he doubted that was the end of it, "Look around Thomas, look around! This is your fault!"

The situation kept repeating itself. Gally continued yelling that this was Thomas' fault, while the others tried to get him to calm down and talk clearly or explain himself, while those holding him back were getting tired of everything happening, (M/n) included.

"Let go of me!" Gally yelled, completely ignoring what Newt was telling him, and all (M/n) could gather from his words was that he was trying to reason with the taller blond, of course that was doing absolutely nothing.

"Thomas...!" Teresa and Chuck's screaming was the only thing that seemed to have snapped Gally out of his blind rage. And everyone watched how Thomas collapsed to the ground, letting go of a metal piece, "Get the other syringe."

(M/n) took a step forward and picked up what Thomas dropped. It was a Griever stinger.

He raised his sight toward Thomas, watching his body trembling and slightly twitching, slowly stopping once the syringe pierced through his skin.

"Take..." (M/n) looked at Gally, watching him step forward closer to the group of Gladers surrounding Thomas, "Take him to the pit, and the girl too."

"What?! Gally!" Before Teresa could argue his decision, (M/n) held her down, listening to her grunting as she couldn't release herself from his strong grip, "Let go of me!"

"I will knock you unconscious and tie you down if you don't obey," Teresa looked over her shoulder at (M/n), her head tilted back to be able to look him in the eyes. His (e/c) eyes were cold, showing no emotion towards her, and Teresa stopped fighting when she noticed the hate showing in his eyes, "Billy, Mikah... Pick Thomas up from the ground, let's go."

He announced and began pushing Teresa forward, and despite her not physically struggling, she did scream at him for what he was doing. Not like (M/n) cared about what she had to say.

He had put up with Teresa's bullshit for too long before being sent to the Maze, he wasn't gonna go through that again.

///////

Everyone available worked together to put out every fire, while others walked around with paper and charcoal in hand, writing down the names of all the guys they've lost, while the remaining few dug new graves for the friends they lost.

(M/n) and Billy were working together to drag the dead bodies to their graves. Some of them had limbs cut off or whole chunks of flesh bitten off... The sight and the smell were sickening. Some Gladers had been caught on fire so the smell of burnt flesh was probably gonna get stuck to their noses for a while, but they pushed through, trying not to take deep breaths too often and keep their lower face covered with some cloth.

When (M/n)'s eyes landed on the next guy, he teared up a little. He leaned down and let out a shaky breath as he gently touched Alby's face. His body had been losing temperature and he was the coldest he's ever felt Alby.

It took a lot for him to not break down crying. He had seen Archie's, Ty's, Zart's and Clint's bodies just a little bit ago and he had managed to keep his composure, but he had done his best to not burst out crying, aware that he wasn't the only one grieving the lost of their friends.

And even burying Stan was hard for him, they had been trying to be friends but never really got past the occasional wave and small talk when required, so they were merely acquaintances at best.

No one deserved to die in such a gruesome way, not even him.

They kept working for a couple of hours until they were done, and from afar he saw Gally crossing out names off the wall, a piece of paper sticking out of his pocket while a few others were scattered on the ground around his feet. And the moment he was done, (M/n) took off the gloves he was wearing and the cloth covering his face, wiping the sweat away and turning around, leaving the graveyard without saying a word.

His feet took him to his treehouse, which had collapsed as the trees it was secured to were bent or broken apart. The house was now on the ground and he signed as he stared at the place he lived in for months destroyed just like that overnight.

He opened the door, and struggled to find some safe ground, as the whole thing was pretty much diagonal, and he looked around. Part of the roof had been torn apart, the walls had holes all over them and they were various sizes. At least it hadn't caught on fire like every other structure had, and he stepped inside.

He sighed, sad and slightly heartbroken at the scene, he noticed the strap of his journal sticking out from under a piece of wood and he slowly pulled it out, dragging with it something that made a clacking sound as it stumbled on the wood.

Leaning down, his fingers held his Polaroid camera, which fell apart the moment he lifted it off the ground. Letting out a deep sigh, (M/n) felt grateful that the journal seemed to be in pretty good condition still, probably thanks to the leather bag it was in which was only slightly damaged.

Maybe he won't be able to make future memories last forever, but he was definitely grateful that he had been able to plaster all those happy past memories in paper and film, and both past and future memories will be preserved until the day he dies.

And he knew he never wanted to lose anything or anyone else again...

Wait... Where...

"Bark?!" He exclaimed as he rushed out the door, completely ignoring the stinging pain he felt on his body when he graced pieces of wood that had sharp ends on them, and stumbled his way further into the woods, "Bark! Come here, boy!"

He kept walking, feeling a knot in his throat every time he called out the dog's name with no response, his sight was blurry and watery, but he refused to cry until he found Bark.

"Bark...!" For a moment, (M/n) stayed quiet, keeping an ear out for any noise, "Bark?" He said a little more quietly and waited... And waited... And waited...

There it was!

"Bark!" He ran closer to the crying sound until it took him to a place where a few trees had collapsed, and there he was, under the branches, crying as he struggled to move, "Jesus-!"

He ran and knelt on the ground, breaking the branches and throwing them away, making space for Bark to crawl out of, right into his arms.

"Oh my God..." He gently let him and began inspecting his body, he didn't seem badly injured, didn't have any broken bones and everything seem okay with him which was a relief.

He picked Bark up in his arms and started walking him over to the rest of the guys.

(M/n) held Bark close to him while whispering to him, telling him he was gonna be okay and everything was fine, Bark acknowledged his words with gentle nuzzling and leaving small licks on his skin.

Slowly placing Bark on the ground, and asking Alec if he could keep an eye on him, (M/n) jogged his way over to Gally, who was still crossing out names, although he was probably almost done by now.

Without uttering a word, he leaned on the empty space of the wall and stared at the names, longingly. Gally was currently crossing out Alby's name.

He let out a deep sigh and stared off into the Glade, feeling his heart breaking as he took in the state of the place. Everything was destroyed, and whatever hadn't caught on fire, had collapsed in, nothing stood a chance the previous night and they barely made it out alive.

"They have to go," (M/n) glanced at Gally as he spoke, but his green eyes were locked on the wall, "Thomas and the girl can't stay here, look at what they've done."

(M/n) took a deep breath and stared down at his boots, moving a piece of stone around, "You wanna Banish them?" He asked, looking up at him again.

Gally stopped and looked at (M/n) in the eyes, his frown deep on his brow.

"I wanna Offer them to the Maze."

///////

When he was done, Gally called a Gathering. There was nowhere to do a Gathering in, but they just sat on the logs and listened to Gally while he talked about what he wanted to do.

"But you're not in charge, Gally," Minho spoke up, cutting the blond off.

Gally let out a dry chuckle and crossed his arms, staring into Minho's dark eyes, "I've decided to make myself the Leader, since I doubt Newt would do anything to the greenie."

Newt looked away when he got called out, avoiding everyone's stares.

"The greenie and the girl are getting Banished tonight, and that's final, Minho," the Runner clenched his jaw and interlocked his fingers, looking down at the ground.

From the tree he was leaning against, (M/n) observed as everyone went back to do their stuff, which was mostly cleaning and picking up stuff, at some point they would have to start rebuilding everything from scratch, but he figured it would start tomorrow or later that day, although he doubted it.

He thought about what Gally told him a little while ago, 'Offer them', he certainly understood why Gally wanted to do it, and he didn't really see any other option. It wasn't a coincidence that everything started going to klunk the moment Thomas showed up, getting worse with Teresa's arrival, and he was sure that it was all on purpose.

Whether it was them or WCKD pulling the strings, he wasn't sure, but it was planned. He never got to know and understand every single thing that WCKD did and wanted, and it never failed to make him frustrated that he had no idea what to expect from the situation.

He just knew he was scared. So shucking scared. And he wasn't the only one.

The Glade was filled with fear and uncertainty, which only grew heavier and heavier as the hours dragged on.

(M/n) closed his eyes and sighed, dragging his hand up his face, moving his hair away and he took a quick look around again. He was alone for the most part, Bark was lying with his head on his boots but he was awake, and as if forced to look a certain way, (M/n) caught sight of a few guys sitting by the pit where Thomas and Teresa were kept.

He recognized Minho, Newt and Chuck almost instantly, and he frowned but ultimately decided to ignore them. It was highly possible that Thomas was awake and they were explaining to him what was gonna happen in a couple of hours.

And he at least hoped that was all they were doing.

///////

"It's time."

(M/n) lifted his sight from the sticks he was sharpening and looked at Gally, who was looking forward toward the Doors. He busied himself with some large branches and small sticks, sharpening them and making new spears and arrows, just in case they would have to fight more Grievers in the foreseeable future.

The Doors were still open, all four of them, and he was sure they weren't gonna be closing any time soon, so he wanted to be ready. The Glade won't be safe, at least for a while, for how long? He had no idea, but they were certainly ready for them.

"(M/n)," Gally shifted his sight down to him, "Can you help us?" He made a small move with his head toward the Doors, and (M/n) looked that way. A few Builders were carrying logs to the entrance of the Maze. He had obviously told them what he really wanted to do with Thomas and Teresa, and that it wasn't a Banishment, but he couldn't say it with the greenie's friends nearby, so he had to do it in secret.

(M/n) nodded and put everything down before standing up and dusting off his pants slightly and walking behind Gally as they took off together. He helped Doug place the logs as columns, buried in the ground and sighed when they were done.

"Bring them over," Gally told the group of Gladers standing behind him, and they nodded. Everything was silent while Dan, Alec and Billy brought them over.

(M/n) stood off to the side with his arms crossed over his chest, keeping an eye out on Newt and Minho, noticing that Chuck was nowhere to be seen. God, he really hoped Chuck was okay and that he simply decided not to watch what was going to happen in a matter of minutes.

Dan walked Teresa over closer to the poles, holding her in place while Billy and Alec let Thomas fall to the ground. Gally stared down at him while putting his machete safely away, "What a waste."

Everyone's eyes were on Gally, silently waiting for what he was gonna do or say next, and (M/n) kept a close eye on Teresa, glaring at her. When her cold blue eyes locked with his, she looked away, slightly scared.

"Gally..." Winston spoke first, breaking the heavy silence, and Gally turned to look at him, squinting at the sunlight, "It doesn't feel right, man."

"Yeah... What if Thomas is right? Maybe he can lead us home," Jeff spoke backing up Winston, and for a moment (M/n) hesitated. Doing this wasn't going to fix anything, but he would always stand by Gally's side... No matter what.

"We are home, okay?" Gally replied, trying to sound soothing and calm, stepping closer to both guys, "I don't wanna have to cross more names off that wall."

Feeling his heart heavy, (M/n) took a quick glance at the name wall behind him. Seeing Alby's name crossed off was still a hard chunk of reality to digest.

"You really think Banishing us is gonna solve anything?" The sound of Teresa's voice made him look away from the wall, and (M/n) took a step closer to her.

"No. But this isn't a Banishment..."

"It's an Offering," Gally finished his sentence, letting his words sink in.

"What? Wait!" Taking that as his sign, Dan dragged Teresa to the poles, beginning to tie her up to it, "Gally, (M/n), what are you doing?"

"You really think I'm gonna let Thomas back into the Maze after what he's done?" He exclaimed angrily at her, "Look around! Look at our Glade!" His words were proving a point, the collapsed structures still had smoke trails of the fire coming off from them and (M/n) guessed it would take a while before they went away. His sight landed on Newt, noticing he was staring at Minho and both had tense expressions, he stopped for a moment and observed them... It seemed like they... "This is the only way, and when the Grievers get what they came here for... Everything goes back to the way it was."

"Are you listening to this?! Why are you all just standing here? He's crazy!" (M/n) looked at Teresa again, and frowned.

"Just shut up." Teresa didn't let his harsh tone of voice stop her, continuing to try and bring sense into everyone else's skulls.

"If you stay here the Grievers are going to come back, they're gonna keep coming back until you're all dead!" (M/n) huffed in annoyance as Teresa kept talking and it was clear Gally felt the same.

"Shut up! Tie him up!" Billy and Alec looked at Gally for a moment, not moving, to which (M/n) took a step forward, "I said tie him up!"

Bending over, (M/n) held Thomas' arm and started to pull him up off the ground, Alec stepped in to help, but it wasn't needed.

Thomas held onto Alec's spear and broke free from the hold both guys had on him, he elbowed (M/n) in the stomach and pushed Alec off. (M/n) recovered quickly and lunched forward to attack Thomas but something hard hit him on the side of his head from behind.

"Bean!" Gally's voice was muffled and distant, and through blurry eyes he watched how his friends turned against them, standing by Thomas' side. He pushed himself into a sitting position and crawled back to Gally, feeling something warm drip down his temple and to his cheek.

While dizzy and disoriented, he spotted Chuck in front of him, sadness overwhelming him at the knowledge that he had picked Thomas over him and Gally, "Chuck..." He called out his name rather quietly, it was easily heard due to the tense silence filling the Glade.

Chuck looked at (M/n), tears in his eyes at the sight of him, sitting on the ground, covered in dirt and blood on his face. He didn't even get to mouth a silent 'sorry' to him because Teresa moved to stand in front of him, blocking his vision.

(M/n) tensed his jaw and blinked away his blurry sight, standing up with Gally's help, finally being able to hear normally and realizing Gally and Thomas were arguing, as it had become the regular thing around the Glade.

"We don't belong here. This place... This isn't our home," taking deep breaths, (M/n) glared at Thomas, reluctantly listening to his speech, "They put us here. We're trapped. At least out there we have a choice. We can make it out of here... I know that."

(M/n) didn't have the heart nor the strength to explain to Thomas how wrong he was. W.I.C.K.E.D. wasn't the worst part of all of this... It was the Flare.

There was a small pause, and then the shuffle of footsteps was heard. And they saw Winston walking toward Thomas, taking his side. Jeff followed up. And Mike, and many others.

What hurt (M/n) the most was seeing Mikah, Doug, Dmitri and Billy doing the same. "Sorry, (M/n)."

Mikah ruffled his hair just like Gally always did, Billy tried to smile at him and Doug was silently crying. They knew damn well (M/n) had made his choice to stay with Gally and they knew Gally wasn't gonna leave the Glade, so this was goodbye... For now.

They made their choice and (M/n) made his, and sometimes, that's just how life works.

He and Gally looked around, realizing they were down to ten Gladers in total.

"Guys, it's over," Thomas spoke again, and (M/n) stared at him, anger shining in his eyes, "Just come with us."

Even though Thomas was talking to everyone, his eyes never looked away from (M/n). For whatever reason that he couldn't nor wanted to understand, Thomas had a weird fixation with him and didn't wanna leave him behind.

(M/n) noticed it. Everyone did. But... He made his choice, and it's not easy to sway his mind. He made a promise to Gally, and he wasn't going to break it, even less now.

Gally grew anxious as (M/n) remained quiet, his hand reaching out to hold onto the back of his shirt, tugging on it gently, something (M/n) couldn't ignore. It hurt him to think that Gally believed he would leave him.

"Good luck against the Grievers, greenie..." And the Scorch... The Flare... The Cranks... W.I.C.K.E.D...

For a moment, a few guys seemed to become unsure of their decision, but before they could change their minds, Thomas spoke to catch their attention and they turned around, running into the Maze, followed by those who wanted to leave and those who weren't so sure anymore.

All eyes stayed locked on them, watching as they ran off, disappearing from their sight the instant they turned the first corner.

It took a few seconds, but slowly, everyone left behind in the Glade began making their way back to what was left of their home, silently dreading the heavy work they would have to endure, but also scared at the uncertainty of their future.

And (M/n) couldn't help but wonder if everything was gonna be okay in the end.

Will they survive? If so, for how long?

He took a step forward, slightly losing his balance as he did, but Gally's arms held him around his middle before he could keep walking and hurt himself.

"Come on, you have a bleeding wound, let me take care of it," (M/n) nodded without putting up a fight and he was taken to a cut tree trunk.

There wasn't much left of their shelter, but stuff kept away in crates was mostly safe, so moving pieces of wood, planks, sticks and ivy, Gally reached the med room crate.

When he had what he needed, though it wasn't much, he cleaned (M/n) wound with some water from the outdoor shower that still had running water, disinfected it and covered it with gauze, using the last bit of the tape they had left.

He noticed Gally's hands were shaking, and his green eyes were glossy. He wanted to cry, and he was scared... Everyone was, honestly. And it's not like he could blame them.

"Done..." (M/n) reached his hand up and cupped Gally's face in his hand, holding eye contact with him.

"Everything is gonna be fine, Gally. Things will get better," he uttered, a small smile pulling the corner of his lips up, successfully earning a smile back.

If only he could believe his own words.

//////

They tried. They all did.

The idea of ten guys fighting against two Grievers sounded easy enough, but in reality, it wasn't. They tried their best and succeeded, they killed them both, but at what cost?

All their remaining friends were dead, or were dying, and nothing could be done to save them.

(M/n) got up from the ground, and looked around, Bark came over to him with a limp but without making a sound, he stared at the Griever's corpse, lying near to him with a spear through its head. He let out a shaky sigh and picked up his bow off the ground, although there was only one arrow in the quiver so he didn't see much use to it.

But it was better than nothing.

Taking a cautious step forward, he began walking further out the Deadheads, frowning with worry at how unusually quiet the Glade was. Not a single sound could be heard.

All the screaming and screeching were now gone, disappearing just like that, as if it never happened, only leaving a deafening buzz-like sound in his ears and putting him on high alert. He wasn't sure they were safe, more could come barreling down the pathway from the Maze any second now, for all he knew.

He looked around, trying to spot even the slightest sign of life. Some movement, a sound... Anything that could assure him he wasn't all alone.

But nothing. Absolute stillness.

And panic began to settle in his mind, in his gut, in his bones... What if he was the only one alive? What if...?

He felt Bark nuzzling his hands, which he had now realized had turned cold and he snapped out of his panicked state of mind, barely managing to spot movement up ahead.

Relatively close to the Maze Door, he saw one of the guys. He was pulling apart the slimy flesh of a Griever with his bare hands and rummaging for something inside it. In his hands, a cylindrical device could soon be seen, releasing a beep that was rather slow and quiet.

(M/n) took a deep breath to calm the quick beating of his heart and took a few steps closer, squinting under the bright sunlight while staring off into the distance.

He recognized who he was when he stood to his full height.

It was...

"Gally?" He whispered to himself, feeling glad that he was alive, but that changed to terror the moment he witnessed how he began running full speed into the Maze, alone and without any kind of weapon, "Gally!"

Without thinking twice, he took off after him, completely ignoring the throbbing pain in his head, hearing Bark's laboured breathing as he ran after him.

Despite knowing the Maze well enough, as he had navigated it many times before, getting lost was easy, but he tried and continued running, trying to follow the sound of Gally's echoing footsteps wherever it was he was running to. His legs trembled and quivered as he struggled to catch up to the blond, all while making sure Bark was still coming behind him.

If he remained in a place quiet enough, he could hear a beeping getting louder and much more frequent, so he kept going, afraid he would lose Gally if he stayed still for too long. He knew Gally was somewhere ahead and (M/n) had long realized he wasn't stopping so he could catch up.

The sound of footsteps echoing off the walls came to an end, so he sped up, rounding the corner and barely managing to stop himself from running off the corner. He stayed in place to be able to catch his breath and waited until he heard Bark's tired huffing.

He looked around the place.

(M/n) saw multiple Grievers dead, along with some of the guys that went in with Thomas, the stone wall had patches of blood, dragging marks going from the middle and to the edges of the walkway. Slowly and carefully, he peaked over the edge, feeling Bark tugging back on the fabric of his pants. It was pitch black and he couldn't see the bottom... He felt like he was gonna vomit his stomach through his mouth.

He took a deep shaky breath, pulled out his arrow and charged his bow, slowly stepping forward, keeping an eye out on the squished Grievers, they may move, they may not, but he'd rather be safe. He stepped into the dark tunnel, Bark following him close, and he continued walking along it until he reached the light on the other side of it.

He knew all too well he wasn't out of the Maze yet. He almost couldn't believe he had forgotten about this long ass hallway he hated, but it was the only way he could sing to the guys in the Glade... Oh yeah, he used to do that all the time, every night actually, until he got his memory erased and got sent up to the Maze.

He peeked left and right before deciding it was good enough for him to walk into, and he noticed the gooey footprint someone had left behind. It was Griever's spit, or he hoped that's what it was.

The footsteps left a mark on the floor, making a path toward his right side, so he decided to walk that way, Bark taking the lead as he walked with his fur standing on end, keeping his growl quiet but threatening. (M/n) was glad he had Bark along with him, and a single arrow, if he had to go down, he would go down with a fight.

Their walk through the hall felt almost a little too long, and when (M/n) thought he was heading nowhere, he spotted an emergency door, reading 'Exit' atop it.

"Doubt it," he muttered to himself but still decided to push the door open and step into the room.

He didn't get to see much at first because there appeared to be another door in the room, which was open and it was letting a way more bright sunlight through, along with a scorching wind that felt like fire. So they escaped... Lifting his arm the best he could, he stepped to the side, away from the light and wind, and he blinked while looking away, soon his sight adjusted to the room.

Broken glass, bullet cases and dead bodies were the first things he saw, he was standing right by one of the dead scientists, or so he assumed because of their white lab coat. He looked up and walked around a long table, seeing all of the technology was familiar, and he recognized the room as WCKD's monitoring room.

The monitors ahead of him caught his attention instantly. There were cameras in the Glade, showing just how bad his home looked, there were cameras in the Maze too, and others were glitching, realizing those were the Griever cams, and then, there were pictures... Of his friends on the monitors next to the security cameras. Each of them was labelled as 'subjects' with a letter as a number instead of their names.

"Subject A1, The Betrayer..." He whispered to himself, staring at the blank paper covering the screen. He lifted his hand up to it, and pulled it off, leaving a small piece of it stuck under the tape that remained on the monitor, "Teresa..."

He was about to put the paper down, when he noticed there was something on the back of it.

It was a picture of... Him. 'Subject 0'.

"The Rejected...?"

He crumbled the paper in his hand, threw it to the ground and turned around.

He gasped, feeling like a bucket full of ice just got dumped on his head.

"Chuck..." He was lying on the ground by the door, a red spot on his chest that seemed to have stopped growing, but the pool of blood he lay on kept expanding with each second, albeit too slowly to be immediately noticeable.

Tears clouded his sight as his brain processed what he was seeing. Slowly, he knelt on the ground, hearing Bark whining and crying as he nuzzled Chuck's cheek, giving him a few kisses. (M/n) broke down, his cold hands holding into Chuck's still warm ones, and he spotted, although through blurry eyes, his star bracelet loose on his wrist.

"I want you to keep this. That way, I will always be with you, no matter where you are."

Something warm slid down his face rather fast, and all his tears were soon leaving wet spots on Chuck's clothes. He nodded and gently caressed his face, still holding that particular blush, albeit stained with dirt, staring into his once bright eyes.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, Chuck..." He whispered, holding in the sobs that wanted to leave, feeling that painful knot in his throat getting worse the longer it passed. Sweetly, he moved his curls away and leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead, back away and gently closing Chuck's eyes, letting him rest in peace, "Good night, little man."

Slowly, he untied his star bracelet and tied it to the rope of his moon necklace, both dangling together, a sad smile on his face.

He wished so badly he could give him a proper burial, it was the least he deserved, but alas, letting him rest unbothered was all he could do for the little kid.

His whole life bad been taken away from him by W.I.C.K.E.D, and (M/n) would do anything in his power to make them burn for everything they've put them through. All of them will-

The scowl on his face vanished the instant he looked up, his sight landing on another body lying lifeless on the ground. (M/n) stood up and tried to make his way over to them, and his legs trembled, as did his bottom lip, they did their best, but he could barely move, and all he could feel was the adrenaline pumping through his body.

"Gally...?"

He mumbled as he fell to his knees, his hands shaking violently as he placed them on his face. (M/n) had no idea what to do other than keep a hold on Gally, most likely a way to try and convince himself he wasn't gone.

It felt like he was there an eternity, silently crying as he stared at Gally who remained still on the ground, only the sound of Bark crying and howling could be heard, looking back and forth between Gally and Chuck. (M/n) mumbled his name over and over, hoping that a miracle would happen and his voice would be enough to heal him, but the spear sticking out of his chest seemed to only be there to mock him. To prove to him... That Gally was gone, just like that.

"Gally, please..."

His voice was easily drowned by the sound of various vehicles stopping outside before making their way inside the facility.

"There's a survivor!" An unknown and slightly muffled voice called out as they began to approach (M/n) who hadn't moved an inch from his spot. Bark growled and stood protectively next to (M/n).

They reached down to his arms, and began pulling him away from Gally, or trying to. Bark wasn't letting him get close, so someone else had to take care of the dog, and when they did, a hand held onto (M/n).

"No! Let go of me! Gally!" (M/n) struggled and managed to elbow the guy holding him on the stomach, releasing himself from his grip and crawling his way back to Gally, "I'm not gonna leave you, okay? I'm not..."

His body shook with each sob he released, blinking away the tears to be able to see Gally's face clearly, wanting to engrave it in his memory. But once more, someone was preventing him from being alone with him in peace and quiet.

He groaned and kicked, throwing punches and pulling his arms away from the foreign hands holding him back, "I won't leave him! Stop, don't touch me!" His voice broke, desperately pleading to these people to just let him stay there, on the floor with Gally.

There was no point in living if Gally wasn't gonna be there with him, constantly reminding him to eat all three meals, to mess up his hair with a playful smile, to show him his drawings, to hear his beautiful laugh, and to comfort him when he didn't feel worthy. He couldn't live in a world where Gally was gone.

"I can't... Gally..." He sobbed and made a last attempt at freeing himself again but to no avail. He had lost his strength.

"Sir! He's still alive!"

(M/n) saw a spark of hope in the dark tunnel he found himself inside of, and he felt like he was pushing himself toward it, needing that spark of hope to be able to continue.

"Save... Save him! Please, save him!" He yelled at them as he stopped struggling against their hold, and he watched how they stabilized the spear through his chest to cut the handle off. They had tried to take him outside, but he had refused, fighting their grip again with newfound strength, in the end, the soldiers decided it wasn't worth the fight and simply stayed put, "Can I... Can I go with him?" He asked between gasps, "Please, let me... Go with him..."

One of the guys holding him released his grip, moving to help the other group get Gally on a stretcher and take him outside to their van.

"Bark? Where's... My dog?" The guy holding him pointed toward a lady, holding Bark in her arms and taking him to the back of one of their vans, "Did you...?"

"He's sedated, don't panic," (M/n) nodded and willingly started walking with him.

Being taken out to the scorching sun as it began to set wasn't nice, and he started squirming and screaming the moment he realized he was being taken to a different vehicle than the one Gally was taken to. "Stop! Don't fight-!"

"Get off of me!" He pushed the man that held him away and ran toward the group of four carrying Gally onto the van, he got in, closing the door behind him before anyone could say anything, but seeing as he hadn't run away or caused any other major problem, that he only wanted to be with the blond, everyone got in their car and drove off.

(M/n) felt his eyelids heavy, but he refused to fall asleep, observing closely what they were doing to Gally to keep him alive the entire trip.

From what he heard and understood it was bad, and it would be a miracle if he survived, but he clung to that hope.

That miracle was the only thing that helped him hold on and prevented him from falling into madness.

"Sir, we found two WCKD survivors, one is in critical condition, and the other has a few wounds but seems to be out of danger," (M/n) glanced up at the dude on the passenger seat, noticing he stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, "Understood."

The trip in the van after that felt like an eternity, and it probably was, seeing as the people in the van kept yelling at the driver to go faster while struggling to keep Gally alive. (M/n) did what he could, he's had medical training when he worked for WCKD and it was knowledge that never failed to be useful.

When the van stopped, they got off and made a circle around him and Gally, there was a stretcher waiting for them, probably thanks to the dude that told them about them being two survivors.

He wanted to go with them when they took him away, but he was held back and taken in the opposite direction, "No! Let me go! Gally! Gally!" Just like he had done before, he began to struggle against the people taken him away, but there was something cold, hard and sharp pressing against his throat.

"Stop fighting or I will kill both you and your friend over there on his death bed," silently, (M/n) nodded and was pushed forward to make him walk, taking him to wherever it was he was being taken to.

The place he was walking through was unknown and every pair of eyes on him felt like knives to his flesh, he didn't really like the place, but he had no way out of it.

They walked down a ramp, turned to the left and made their way down some stairs. He was in some kind of vivarium-library, there were plants by the roof tall windows, and bookshelves full of books on the opposite end, along with a small table and two single couches.

He was put in the middle of the room, a dim light shining down on him, and he looked around the place.

"What a pleasant surprise."

That voice... He recognized that voice.

He turned his head toward the place it came from, it was in the dark, so it was almost impossible to see anything, but when the person stepped into the warm orange light of the sunset, (M/n) saw him.

"I didn't think I'd see you again."

"And I didn't think you'd still be alive... Lawrence." Every pair of eyes in the room turned to look at the guy they brought over, questioning who he was.

"Seeing you here is quite... Unexpected, (M/n)," at the mere mention of his name, he realized how those threatening stares at him changed, turning into something akin to hope and gratitude. As if he was their saviour.

#gally x reader #gally x y/n #gally x male reader #the maze runner x male reader #the maze runner #the maze runner x reader #tmr gally #gally the maze runner #gally maze runner #ftm reader #trans reader #trans #will poulter #will poulter x reader #will poulter fanfiction

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in-need-of-gally-content · 1 year ago

Text

|Chapter•Thirty•Nine|

•|Masterlist|•

Gally and Newt running past him was the thing that snapped (M/n) back to the present, and he took a step forward, doing it again and again until he was running after both blond males.

He stopped next to Gally right as Newt was jumping and he looked down at the Box, "Newt, what do you see?" The entire Glade had gathered around, and were curious about what was inside.

He didn't have to wait for Newt to say it to know.

"It's a girl..." Even while he never took his eyes off the girl lying on the metal floor of the Box, (M/n) could still feel how some guys stared at him, noticing them move out of his peripheral vision, but like always, he ignored them, "I think she's dead."

He never, not even once, took his eyes off of her, her relaxed expression and sharp features, her long dark hair, pale and freckled skin... There was something about her. Something felt off, as if he couldn't- shouldn't trust her, as if...

She was the cause of everything that had ever happened.

He couldn't judge her any longer, as her eyes opened with a sharp breath, gasping for air, "Th... Thomas..." Was all she said before passing out again.

"Still think I'm overreacting?"

(M/n) sighed and looked at Gally before looking down at Newt, surprised to find him already staring up at him, "(M/n), can you help me get her out?"

He glanced around and understood why Newt asked him for help, "Alright." Newt nodded and crouched down to lift the girl off the ground.

"Thomas, can you help me?" The greenie nodded and jumped down, they worked together to get the girl up and close enough to the edge of the Box for (M/n) to reach down for her.

"Okay, I got her," he said with his hands under her arms, while Newt and Thomas pushed her up to avoid hurting her with the metal edge of the Box, "Done, she's out."

(M/n) finished pulling her out and held her in his arms, keeping her sitting on the ground while still unconscious, "Let's take her to the med room," Jeff said as he made his way to walk to (M/n) and the girl.

"On it," before anyone could say anything, (M/n) reached his arms under her legs and around her back, and stood up without much struggle, "Lead the way," he muttered and followed after Jeff and Clint inside the Homestead.

///////

After (M/n) thoroughly checked the girl for any injuries -Jeff's bright idea-, he was finally able to walk out and head over to the Builders, who most likely would have work now that a girl arrived in the Glade.

And from far away he spotted Gally talking with other guys, Dan and Hank, who were Runners so it was weird, well not weird exactly, but they usually talked at night or on their days off work, so he was intrigued, to say the least.

"Hey, Gally," he said as he approached.

"Hi, bean," he replied turning to face (M/n), "How's the girl?"

All (M/n) could do was shrug, "She's still unconscious but she doesn't seem to have any injuries on her."

Gally nodded and frowned, before turning to look at both guys standing in front of him, "Oh, right. Hank and Dan quit their job as Runners and now they're Builders," A smile grew on (M/n)'s face. Dan and he had become good acquaintances, as he wasn't around the Glade much with being a Runner, so he was happy to know that he would have time to be able to get to know Dan better than just surface-level friends.

"Well, I'm glad you're working with us now, but... Have you trained them yet?" A smirk showed up on Gally's face, and (M/n) began to feel panic, "No, Gally-."

"(M/n) is gonna be training you today, I'll do it tomorrow," he watched, slightly offended as Gally turned around and got ready to leave, although he momentarily stopped and frowned in the direction he was looking at, which of course (M/n) followed.

Minho and Thomas were talking in the distance. It looked secretive, and he told himself he would keep an eye out for the greenie.

"Well... Let's get started, I guess," that caught Gally's attention once more and he smiled again, patting his shoulder a few times, definitely holding back a chuckle.

"Good luck, bean."

///////

Well, while training the newbies wasn't a difficult task, they still had to go through the trying-error phase of being a Builder, thankfully, they were learning quickly and explaining more than once wasn't needed which he was glad about.

"Alright, let's take a small break, the heat is getting worse," they nodded and stepped away toward the shade of a tree. (M/n) sighed and wiped the sweat above his lips with the back of his hand, and looked around the Glade.

And pretty much immediately, he spotted something.

He pretended to be working or not paying attention, but he was sure those were Thomas and Chuck by the Maze Doors, and he definitely saw more guys with him. Minho and Fry were two of them, but he didn't know if there were more Keepers with the greenie.

Remaining silent and getting mad, he watched how Thomas ran back inside the Maze and he was glad that Chuck stayed in the Glade, but now he had to go tell Gally. Keeping an eye out on the greenie meant exactly that, keeping an eye out on him, and that's what he was gonna right now.

"I'll be right back, guys," Dan and Hank hummed an 'okay' and he walked away from their working spot, heading toward the Homestead. His best guess was that Gally was watching over Alby, and maybe the girl, but he wasn't too sure about the last part.

And well, he guessed right. Gally was in the med room, sitting on the couch, watching over Alby while carving a new wooden sculpture.

"Gally," his voice got the Keeper's attention, and he looked up from his carving with a small smile, one that faded when he realized (M/n) expression and immediately put everything down, "Thomas went back in the Maze."

He stood up and closed his hands in tight fists, sighing, "Was he alone?" (M/n) shook his head and Gally stomped his way out of the med room, "Who was with him?"

"I could only see Fry and Minho," nodding, Gally stepped out of the Homestead and stood at the front door.

"Keeper Gathering! Right now!" He yelled loud enough for his voice to echo in the Glade, catching pretty much everyone's attention.

Clint and Jeff were the first ones standing outside the Homestead as they had been nearby treating one of the Slicers, "Why the Gathering? What happened?" Newt struggled as he jogged his way over, followed by Billy, Stan and Dmitri.

Gally waited a little bit longer to see if anyone else was coming over, but no luck, only spotting Chuck as he carefully approached them, a scared expression on his flushed face.

"Greenie's back in the Maze, that's what happened..." He replied and turned around to walk back inside, heading to the Gathering room in the back.

(M/n) let them walk in and closed the front door of the Homestead, staying outside and thinking about what to do.

Thomas certainly enjoyed getting under his and Gally's skin so much, didn't he?

A few minutes passed, and he spotted Chuck by the Doors, waiting, obviously he was waiting for Thomas and the others, and (M/n) couldn't help but frown, reaching his hand up to hold the carved moon Chuck made for him. He didn't want to believe that maybe, Chuck had replaced Gally and him with Thomas... Surely not, right?

He glanced down and saw his bracelet, he took a deep breath and sighed. He felt scared. Frightened. He had no idea what the future had in store for them, and he was terrified at the idea of picking between Gally and Chuck. (M/n) just hoped he wouldn't have to pick at all.

Heavy steps headed his way and he looked up, immediately making eye contact with Thomas, who flinched at his heavy glare. While the greenie couldn't hold his stare, (M/n) followed him until he disappeared behind the doors of the Homestead.

He sighed and stood up, walking toward the swing and sitting on it. Almost everyone was pacing around in front of the Homestead, while others continued with their work.

(M/n) wondered what they might have been saying in the Gathering room. He knew what they were talking about, or at least he could guess half of it, but there was definitely something else that Gally wanted to discuss.

He waited for a few minutes, swinging himself back and forth with his feet planted on the ground, his knees bent and straightened with every push as he absentmindedly looked around. The only thing that brought him back was the sound of the Homestead front door being slammed closed.

He glanced over and the slam almost gave the illusion of shaking up the entire structure, but he was more focused on the fact that Gally stormed out of there with a pissed off look on his face.

"Gally...!" He called his name, successfully catching his attention and Gally walked over to him, "Hey, what happened-?" Before he could finish his question, the blond held his wrist and pulled him off the swing, dragging him past a couple of trees, a little further from the Homestead.

They stopped when Gally stopped and he started pacing around, his hands going up to mess with his hair or staying by his sides, clenched in anger.

"So..." He muttered, unsure of how Gally would react, thankfully he didn't snap his anger at him.

"I can't believe this..." (M/n) heard him angry mumbling, and he leaned against the tree behind him, waiting a few seconds for Gally to continue talking, "This greenie... Is ruining everything, every single thing we worked so shucking hard to make work, he just... Showed up and decided he was gonna do whatever the shuck he pleases."

Well, he certainly couldn't deny the fact that klunk went south the moment Thomas showed up, but (M/n) had the feeling that it was done intentionally... And not exactly Thomas' fault. However, he didn't like the greenie in their "past life" and he doesn't like him now either.

"What do you wanna do?" Gally stopped, looking down at the ground for a couple of seconds before looking up at him.

"I want him gone... But it's not like I could, anyway, he has... Newt wrapped around his finger, that's for sure," (M/n) nodded and sighed, staying quiet as he wondered if there was something they could do about Thomas.

Maybe... The girl?

He frowned as he wondered why the Creator brought a girl- a real girl up to a Maze filled with a bunch of dudes.

(M/n) sighed and heard a stick break, he would've ignored it but he looked to the side, into the trees and... He saw someone. Someone was running out of the Deadheads, the hoodie of their sweatshirt up, momentarily stopping to bend over and picking things up, he had no idea who it was, but judging by the long dark hair peeking out of the hood, he guessed it was the girl.

No other Glader had hair that long and that dark.

"Gally..." He whispered and glanced back over his shoulder, "You see this?" He pointed forward with a head movement and Gally approached him slowly, staring in the direction (M/n) was.

"These dumb shanks aren't doing their job," Gally huffed and took a step forward, "She better have some answers, I'm done with this," his long legs took him closer to the girl in a matter of seconds and (M/n) watched from a safe distance, inching closer to him just to make sure he wouldn't snap at the girl, "Hey!"

The loud sound of his voice startled the girl and she drew her arm back, throwing something at Gally before running away toward the Watchtower.

"Gally!" He ran toward the blond who had blocked his head with his arms and had a bruise forming on his forearm now, "Are you okay?"

The blond frowned and lowered his arms, glaring at the girl's back as she kept running, her hoodie discarded on the grass as she probably wasn't wearing it and just had it hanging around her shoulders, and he cursed to himself, looking down at the ground, where the rock she had thrown at him was.

"I'm gonna kill that girl, I swear."

//////

With all the fuss Gally was making, a lot of guys had gathered at the bottom of the Watchtower and were trying to get the girl to stop throwing rocks at them, which clearly wasn't working.

(M/n) stood slightly further behind, wondering if there was anything he could do.

"What don't you go up and try talking to her?" A hand placed itself on his shoulder and he looked over to see who it was. Zart stood there, staring up at the tower and a few guys around them heard the Keeper's idea, and they agreed.

"Yeah! You could probably convince her to come down since... You know..." He frowned at Jason's words but didn't say anything as he also thought this might be the only way to talk to her.

"The bitch's crazy but I will try my best," Gally turned around still guarding his head from her endless attacks.

"You're not going up there," (M/n) looked at Gally and patted his shoulder.

"It's okay, I'm not scared to punch a girl when needed," a few guys around them chuckled and Gally frowned but nodded. It was clear he was reluctant about letting him go up there but it was their only option now, "I'll be fine... Hopefully..." He whispered the last part to himself as he went around and approached the first set of ladders.

"Be careful."

With a nod, he began going up the ladder, trying his best to not make too much noise, although the boys at the bottom were doing a great job at being loudmouths. He definitely wasn't comfortable with the idea of going up there with her, as his gut feeling told him he should not be alone with her, but what else was he gonna shucking do?

Leave the girl up there until she starved to death?

Well... That didn't sound half bad, if he was honest.

(M/n) didn't like her, didn't trust her, and he had a gut feeling as to why that was.

Yet, he had finally reached the last ladder and was within reach of the hatch door, he took one step more up the ladder as he pushed it open.

"Hey-," the moment he showed up through the hatch door, a machete was swung at his head, thankfully, he was ready for something to go wrong so he managed to dodge her first swing, slightly losing his balance, "The shuck is wrong with you-?!"

Because of his bad stance, her next swing landed and sliced his skin open. His arms were raised up in a defensive position, probably a bad idea given the fact that she just tried to chop his head off, but he just didn't have time to think about much when there was a sharp as hell machete used violently against him.

"Shuck!" He yelled angrily and jumped off the ladder, the hatch closing as he landed on the second story of the tower, ripping the sleeve of his shirt and wrapping it around his wound.

"Bean!" Gally called for him from the ground and he groaned, tying the knot as best he could, making his way down the other two ladders, "Clint!" The Med-jack rushed to him and noticed his bloodied arm and how he was still bleeding through the fabric.

"Shuck, okay... Come here," Clint dragged (M/n) away to the swing and sat down on the tree trunks around. "This is gonna hurt," he just shook his head, not really caring about the pain, and Clint got ready to untie the sleeve from around his arm, "Uh... Billy!"

The Keeper ran toward Clint when he saw him with (M/n), "Yeah?"

"Go the the med room and get me some alcohol, a water bottle, gauze and the sewing kit," (M/n) frowned and looked at Clint.

"More stitches?" The Keeper just shrugged as Billy ran toward the Homestead.

"Just in case, I still have to see the wound, (M/n)," he huffed and bit his bottom lip.

"...she has a shucking machete up there..." Clint looked up at (M/n) and nodded, spotting Billy as he came back.

He took everything that was handed to him and took his crossed bag off, placing it next to him on the ground, "Tell the others that the girl has a machete with her, hurry!"

While Billy ran toward the Watchtower, Clint untied the sleeve and dropped it. He grabbed the water bottle and opened it, pouring it on the wound to wash away some of the blood and any dust or foreign bodies that could get in the wound. At least (M/n) got to the point of having his arm numb from the pain, so he thought he was ready for the alcohol to drop...

Boy, was he wrong.

"Son of a-!" He groaned as Clint quietly apologized for the burning and stinging pain he was definitely feeling and grabbed some gauze to wipe the blood off. The wound was still bleeding however it wasn't a deep wound, so a couple of stitches should fix him faster than letting it close on its own, still, he wanted to ask (M/n).

"Well, it's not a deep wound so the stitches aren't required, but it will heal quicker if you have them, what do you want?" He asked while putting pressure on the cut, hoping the bleeding would stop eventually.

(M/n) frowned and looked at Clint, nodding, "The stitches..." Despite his complaining about them, Clint did a great job at suturing his shoulder, so he trusted his abilities with the needle.

"Amputating is always an option."

"Clint...!" He muttered with a frown but wearing a subtle smile on his face.

"Sorry, sorry," he responded with a short chuckle, "Okay, hold this and put pressure on it," (M/n) replaced Clint's hands with his and, although it was an awkward place to hold gauze, he managed, watching how Clint got his thread and needle ready for suturing, "Alright, you shouldn't feel the needle, but tell me if it hurts."

He nodded and moved his hand away when the Keeper let him know it was okay to do so.

///////

"She should be punished too," (M/n) looked up at Gally with a frown. He was sitting on the swing and Gally was carving something absentmindedly next to him when he suddenly decided to speak up, "She hurt another Glader- she hurt you, bean."

(M/n) tried to chuckle but instead just shrugged, "Well... She didn't know the rules and, she must've been scared when she realized where she was..." He whispered in response, shifting his injured arm around as it had gone numb again. He couldn't move it much, even less put pressure on it, so he was constantly moving it from one position to the other every few minutes.

"That doesn't make it an excuse to attack anyone that comes across her, besides... The greenie is up there with her," they squinted and looked up the tower, where both were sitting at, their legs dangling off the edge.

Neither of them said anything else after that and time just ran by, in which (M/n) watched as Gally continued carving, however, they were up on their feet when they saw both newbies running to the Homestead.

"Should we check on them?" Gally shrugged and sighed.

"If anything, Newt, Clint and Jeff are there, besides..." He shifted in place and kept his sight locked on the front door of the Homestead, "I will drag his ass to the pit as soon as sundown arrives. That's all the punishment he has, thanks to Newt."

He sounded pissed off at the fact that he wasn't getting a worse punishment, which (M/n) understood, he did break the rules, twice. It did seem like Newt had grown a soft spot for the greenie in the short while he had been around which could be very bad for the long run.

"Night in the pit, no food?" He asked just to make sure and Gally nodded, letting out another sigh just shorter this time and tightened his grip around the unfinished wooden figurine in his hand, looking up at the sky and frowning, "Are you okay, Gally?"

The blond let out a humourless chuckle and shook his head, "Everything is going wrong, of course I'm not okay," despite his harsh tone of voice, (M/n) knew he wasn't mad at him, but at the situation, so he didn't let that bother him, "Alright, sun went down."

(M/n) glanced at the sky and in need, the sun had just disappeared behind the Walls, and he watched as Gally grabbed the unlit torch he had put down and began making his way to the Homestead, where he would most likely light it and take the greenie to the Slammer.

He sighed and looked down at his arm, seeing it covered in gauze and wrapped with bandages, and while the cut felt numb, there was some pain, subtle thanks to the painkillers Clint gave him, and it was easy to ignore but it was there, causing him some discomfort.

A short while after, he watched Gally walk out of the Homestead with the greenie tailing him, the lit torch visible from miles away as they headed over to the Slammer.

Dinner was gonna be called soon and there was no light around, so he knew he should get back inside, but as he watched Gally walking away, there was another light approaching the pit.

He frowned and stood up, leaning his side against a tree as he watched Chuck giving food to Thomas, so he waited until he left.

(M/n) cleared his throat loud enough for Chuck to hear, making him flinch at the sudden and unexpected sound, which made (M/n) chuckle, "You know, his punishment was no food, so... What did you do, Chuck?"

The curly-haired boy would have klunked his pants if it was Gally scolding him, but (M/n) was always nice to him, so he wasn't too worried about getting in trouble.

"Well... He'll be running in the Maze tomorrow... He can't go out there on an empty stomach..." (M/n) frowned when he realized Gally omitted that detail, although he didn't blame Gally for not saying it, he did seem pissed at the fact that Thomas was getting such a light punishment, and pressing him wouldn't have been the right move.

"Okay, I won't tell on you, but come on, dinner should be ready soon," (M/n) placed his hand on Chuck's shoulder and began walking forward.

"(M/n)..." Chuck called him as he came to a stop, "Can I talk to you?"

He wondered what it could be as he noticed how Chuck's expression changed and that made (M/n) worry about what it could be that he wanted to talk about, so he looked at him concerned.

"What's wrong, little man?"

Chuck fiddled with his finger for a couple seconds before finding the courage to say what he wanted to say, "Thomas told me he will find a way out and that I will make it out of here with everyone, but..." He looked down at his star bracelet, "If I don't make it out with everyone..."

(M/n) wanted to reassure him that everything was gonna be alright, but judging by his expression, Thomas had already done that and just because Chuck was a kid it didn't make his worries any less important.

"I want you to keep this," he took his bracelet off and extended his hand out to (M/n) who felt how there was a small knot in his throat, "That way, I will always be with you, no matter where you are."

(M/n) took it and smiled at Chuck, crouching down to be closer to his height, and held his hand, "Hey, nothing is gonna happen to you as long as you stick with Gally and I, okay?" Chuck blinked away the tears that threatened to spill. He had gotten similar answers to basically the same request, so... He really had no choice but to believe he was gonna make it out of the Maze, together with everyone, "A little family, right?"

"...yeah, family," the sound of Chuck's voice kind of hurt him and made (M/n) worry.

"Listen to me, little man, I will take care of you, okay?" He patted Chuck's curls gently, "Nothing is going to hurt you as long as I'm with you... I promise you, Chuck." His frown was replaced with a small, soft smile as he tied the bracelet around Chuck's wrist again, hugged him and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Alright, let's go eat, I can smell Fry's meat stew from here."

///////

The next day was going by pretty normal. Minho and Thomas had left for the Maze and he was busy helping Chuck and Ty wash the dishes after eating lunch when Newt stopped by the kitchen.

"Hey, (M/n)," he looked over his shoulder at the blond as he leaned over the door frame, "Can you watch over Alby for a bit?"

He shrugged and put the plate away, drying his hands and ruffling Chuck's hair, "Sure, I don't mind. Don't break anything you two."

Both chuckled and let out a 'sure~' as he walked out of the kitchen and made his way to the med room. He walked in and sat down on the couch, crossing his arms and watching over Alby. It's been a whole day now and he still hadn't opened his eyes and he wondered if he would ever wake up after he had been stung and, apparently, given the serum even though they had run out.

Gally told him what happened the night before when he stopped by to take the greenie away. Apparently, the girl had been brought with two serum syringes and had injected Alby after he woke up and tried to attack Thomas, which is why now he was gonna have surveillance 24/7.

However, nothing seemed to be wrong with Alby, as far as he could tell anyway.

As time passed and he grew bored, (M/n) remembered those books that had been slaughtered and decided to add fuel to the fire. He grabbed the first he saw and began using the remaining pages to make origami, placing them on the table in front of him once he was done.

He was having fun, despite only folding paper and making cute shapes that served no purpose only then for decoration... Or a waste of time and resources, but he didn't really care about that.

"Hey," he looked up at the sound of Mikah's voice, and watched as the blond walked in, sitting on the empty spot next to him, "How is he?"

(M/n) glanced at Alby for a moment and shrugged, "Still unconscious." Mikah nodded and watched as (M/n) went back to his origami.

"Gally is pretty pissed off about Minho and Thomas being in the Maze," he raised his eyebrows in a 'makes sense' way.

"I understand why, I don't trust the greenie either..." Mikah looked at (M/n) as he heard him say 'either' and he really wondered what was it about Thomas that got them so on edge and nervous.

"Can I ask why you don't trust the greenie?" (M/n) took a deep breath and thought about it for a few seconds, about the correct way to tell his best friend what was the situation the way it was.

"Oh..." The sound of a soft and feminine voice distracted them from their pending conversation and looking up, they saw her, the girl whose name they still didn't know, "I thought I could watch over Alby since you might have... Work to do..."

Without saying a single word yet staring into her cold blue eyes, (M/n) stood up and walked out the door, colliding shoulders with her when he did, ignoring her 'ow' as he did, and whether it was by accident or on purpose, he doesn't know, he just walked out and headed toward the Builders, Mikah trailing behind him after muttering a quiet 'sorry, excuse me' to the girl.

"Hey, (M/n), what was that?" He looked at the curly blond, confused although of course he knew what Mikah meant with his question, "The... Girl, something happened?"

For a moment, (M/n) was kinda surprised that he actually asked, but he knew exactly what to say, "Besides the fact that she sliced my arm open?" He responded sarcastically although not mad at Mikah, hoping he would believe that was the only reason why he avoided her, which seemed to work.

Mikah chuckled and nodded, "Yep, I would be mad too, sorry."

(M/n) smiled and nudged Mikah with his elbow, "It's okay~."

///////

Sitting on a log, (M/n) held onto a stick and a sharp rock, making puncturing pocket weapons, sharpening the end with a clenched jaw, admiring his job when he realized... Weapons this size were perfect to use in close combat against other people... Which he was damn sure he has done before.

He just sat quietly minding his business when loud noises started echoing around him, coming from the Maze. He frowned as he listened, wondering why it sounded like entire metal structures were falling apart onto the cement ground.

He pocketed the sticks he had sharpened along with the rock and ran to the Maze Doors, where some guys were already waiting at, like Gally who was pacing around like a wild animal being captive, "What was that?" Newt asked as he stood next to (M/n).

"No shucking clue, Newt."

The next minutes felt endless while they waited for anything to happen next, mostly waiting for Thomas and Minho to come back from the Maze. Everyone breathed out a sigh of relief when they spotted them coming back, but still worried and scared about what they heard.

"What the hell is going on out there?" Newt said first as they began walking alongside Thomas and Minho.

"The hell you've done now, Thomas?" (M/n) caught up to Gally and continued walking with the rest of the guys that had been around the Doors.

"We found something, a new passage, we think it could be a way out," something about the fact that they suddenly found something new didn't sit well in (M/n)'s stomach.

"Really?"

"It's true. We found a door, something I'd never seen before... I think it might be where the Grievers go during the day," yeah, that didn't sound like the brightest idea.

It just didn't make sense...

"Wait... Are you saying you found the Griever's home? And you want us to go in?" (M/n) understood why Chuck was nervous about that possibility, he definitely was too. There was no way that was the way out... Right?

"Their way in could be our way out," he rolled his eyes at Thomas' words and sighed, tired of these arguments.

Even if he did want to leave the Glade... Thomas "found" the exit, it couldn't have been a coincidence, and he wasn't comfortable with the idea of following the greenie's hunch.

"Yeah, or there could be a dozen Grivers!" Gally spoke, clearly annoyed at how Thomas tried to act like a Leader, as if he had a voice in the matter, "Truth is, Thomas doesn't know what he's done, as usual!"

Everyone saw it coming from a mile away, Thomas wasn't gonna let Gally say whatever he wanted, so he turned around to confront the taller male, "Yeah, well at least I did something, Gally, I mean, what have you done? Aside from hiding behind these Walls all the time?"

Oh, he's done more than you ever could, greenie... (M/n) stood with Gally as they argued, and briefly made eye contact with Minho and Newt, who didn't hesitate to side with Thomas, the greenie over Gally, who's been their friend since they could remember.

"Let me tell you something, greenie, you've been here three days, alright? I've been here three years!"

"Yeah, you've been here three years and you're still here, Gally!" (M/n) clenched his jaw and closed his hands tight in fists, the last thing they needed was for him to punch the greenie to get him to shut up for once, "So what does that tell you, uh? Maybe you should start doing things a little differently."

"Guys..." (M/n) looked at the girl, and just completely ignored her attempts at getting the guys' attention, "Hey..." Again, no response, "It's Alby!" That did make them shut up and stop arguing for a minute, "He's awake..."

Thomas nodded and turned toward her, "Thank you, Teresa."

For a moment, (M/n)'s body froze and his brain did the same thing it did when Thomas remembered his name, it replayed all the memories he had of her, her face no longer blurred. Her ice-blue eyes looked down at him, a look that only showed disgust and anger toward him, and he had to take a step back while everyone headed to the Homestead or went back to work.

He took a shaky breath and stumbled his way over to the closest tree, sitting on its protruding roots and started thinking.

He wondered why would WICKED... Ava, send Thomas and Teresa to the Glade...? It just didn't make sense, they were the ones in charge of the Maze mechanisms and the Grievers, so why-? Wait... If they are the ones that control the Maze, and everything that happens in it... Then that means-.

"(M/n)!" He heard his name being called with urgency, and he turned to see Billy, holding a lit torch in hand, a panicked expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he stood up, meeting Billy halfway as he kept running toward him.

"The Doors..."

He trailed on and with a frown, (M/n) looked toward the Maze Doors, realizing they were still open and the Glade had been consumed by the darkness of the night as it settled in, as did the fear of uncertainty.

"Shuck..." So he was right.

If no one supervised the Maze then... The Glade was no longer safe.

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in-need-of-gally-content · 1 year ago

Text

|Chapter•Thirty•Eight|

•|Masterlist|•

If there was something (M/n) had never seen before, was a Banishment. He knew how it worked and how it was decided, but never how it was done officially.

He had willingly run into the Maze like a little dumb dumb.

And this was... Brutal, to say the least.

He stood next to Chuck as they watched Ben getting Banished, Alby said there was nothing they could do to help him, the serum didn't work and it was the last supply they had so... It had to be done.

"No, wait, Minho-!" Ben cried out as he began entering the Maze, "I can get better! (M/n)! (M/n) tell them! You can help me!" He frowned and looked away, even if he knew how to help Ben back then, he didn't have those memories anymore.

Stuff comes back piece by piece and they're all blurry and mixed, so he really doubted his present self would be able to help Ben with his current situation.

"No!" Ben's scream echoed through the entire Glade sending shivers down everyone's spine. He felt a tug on his shirt and turned.

He hadn't even realized Chuck had walked away from him and now Thomas was in his spot. (M/n) held the greenie's wrist and pulled it away from him, taking a few steps back.

Alby turned to look at everyone when the Doors finally closed for the night, "He belongs to the Maze now," he uttered and began walking away, soon followed by the Keepers and the rest of the Gladers, and well, he did the same.

//////

When night came around a few hours later, (M/n) stood with Gally on the name wall, holding a lit torch to help him see what he was doing.

There was something incredibly heavy about crossing someone's name off the wall... Like it was a fact they were gone forever.

"Are you okay?" He asked Gally quietly, just loud enough for him to hear. Gally glanced at him and his frown deepened, "Ben and you were closed, so..."

He looked at (M/n), his eyes shining under the warm light of the fire, "Yeah... Yeah, I'm okay, bean." He nodded and looked at the wall, where Ben's name was slowly being crossed out.

He really hoped they wouldn't have to cross any more names in the foreseeable future...

Back at the Homestead, in the hammocks, Thomas was keeping an eye out on the name wall, fidgeting nervously with his fingers. "You think he might make it?" He asked Chuck, who was lying on his hammock.

"Ben? No... I don't think he'll have the luck (M/n) did," at that, Thomas frowned and turned to look at the chubby boy, "We just gotta forget about him," with that, Chuck began turning around on his hammock, but Thomas stopped him.

"Wait, wait... (M/n)? What do you mean?" Chuck looked up at him and began fiddling with the wooden figurine in his hands.

"He ran into the Maze... Like a month ago, he spent the night in there..." For a moment, Thomas felt his entire body tense with worry and fear.

"For what? What happened? How... Newt said that no one survives a night in the Maze," Chuck sighed and turned to face Thomas.

He wondered how to explain what had happened, as he wasn't sure he understood it to its full extent, but... He does remember crying all night about (M/n), like all his friends most likely did.

"You know Stan? Peter?" Thomas stopped to think for a moment, trying to put a face to those names, before nodding a couple of times, "They've hated (M/n) since he arrived or so I've heard, and they had plans to get him Banished... Just because he's a little different than us..." Chuck mumbled the last phrase, staring off into the distance where Gally and (M/n) stood by the wall.

"How did he survive?" His voice got out in a breathless whisper, turning to look at him.

Chuck shrugged even though Thomas wasn't looking at him, "I don't know, he said he doesn't remember anything from that night..." Thinking their conversation was over, Chuck turned all the way around to face away from the greenie, "Good night, Thomas."

Despite wanting to ask more questions, Thomas decided to let Chuck rest for the night, after all, it's been a hard day.

///////

With a heavy sigh, (M/n) sat down at the Builders' table with his steaming cup of coffee and some freshly baked cookies, courtesy of Jim, who had almost officially become the baker of the Glade, and right as he was taking the first sip of his coffee, Newt stood up from his seat.

"Guys, listen to me," one by one, the guys in the dining area began quieting down, "Today, Alby's has gone out into the Maze with Minho, and they should be back before lunch, alright?"

(M/n) wondered for a moment if they always announced whenever Alby went in the Maze, he himself had run the Maze with the Leader before so it would make sense why he and no idea that these types of announcements were like the "protocol" around. But leaving that matter aside, he felt a little worried about him, and after looking around for a moment, he noticed Minho was gone, so now he was concerned about both of them.

Despite their abilities and knowledge of the Maze, he couldn't help it, they were his friends, and it makes total sense for him to worry, especially when they went in because of what happened to Ben the day before.

"I hope they come back safe," he muttered and the guys on the table with him nodded.

"Well, you can go back to what you were doing," and so they did.

(M/n) continued drinking his coffee and eating the cookies, he didn't seem different than usual, but he was trying to shoo away the thoughts of something bad happening to either of them, they knew that place better than anyone in the Glade, if there was someone that could found out what happened to Ben, were those two, so he convinced himself they will be fine and decided to continue on with his day.

//////

It was quite the productive day in the Glade, and the hours continued to pass like always, however, it was well past lunch and there was no sign of Alby and Minho coming back or the rain stopping.

A little after everyone finished eating their lunch, they could hear the sound of thunder, see the grey clouds covering the sunlight and a few minutes later, the rain poured on the Glade.

(M/n) was sitting on a tree trunk that had been cut down long ago, sticks made the corner supports and hay made the roof, creating a small resting area that could cover the sunlight and the rain, like now. He wasn't alone here, Gally was with him, as it was the closest place to them when it started raining.

And while he was trying to relax and not get too worried about the fact that Alby and Minho hadn't come back yet, he was keeping it under control, however, that wasn't Gally's case.

(M/n) could see how Gally kept getting more and more anxious as the time passed, more on edge as he continuously paced around back and forth, staring off into the distance, at the Maze Doors, and while he was trying to stay cool and appear unconcerned, truth is, Gally was making him nervous.

"Hey," he caught Gally's attention, and he stopped pacing although he couldn't stop fidgeting, and while it was subtle, it was there. (M/n) showed him a reassuring smile and reached out to hold Gally's hands, bringing him closer until the taller male was standing in between his legs, "They're gonna come back, okay?"

Gally didn't say or do anything for a couple of seconds until he finally nodded and took a deep breath, proceeding to start playing with (M/n)'s fingers as a way to calm himself down, which helped both of them. (M/n) didn't mind it and it worked to keep them distracted and their minds at ease.

They stayed like that for a while longer, until the rain finally started to ease down, and they stepped out of their small sheltered spot, slowly making their way to the Doors. With a quick glance at his watch, Gally realized there were less than thirty minutes until the Doors closed and... He was worried, just like everyone was at this point.

Slowly coming to a stop next to Newt, Thomas and Chuck, they stood with them and silently waited.

Minutes ran by, and they felt like an eternity, until there were only five minutes left and now, the entire Glade was waiting by the Doors.

Gally was now crouching down, staring straight forward with a serious expression while (M/n) had his hand on his shoulder, taking deep breaths every few seconds and releasing heavy sighs right after, and now, the moment they were dreading the most.

The Doors made their warning noise, signalling there was only a minute left until they closed for the remaining hours of the night until the morning of the next day.

This made everyone get slightly more agitated as they waited for a miracle, that Minho and Alby were just around the corner and were gonna come running back inside the Glade, but nothing was happening.

"Come on, guys, can't we send someone after them?" Thomas anxiously asked, standing in between (M/n) and Newt.

"That's against the rules," Gally spoke up and a few guys spared a glance at him, "They make it back or they don't," it was during times like these that (M/n) hated the rules, but he understood why they existed, after all, the Glade was far from perfect, but they made do.

"We can't lose anyone else," Newt muttered, right before the Doors creaked again and the wind picked up, making them cover their eyes or look away, and the Doors started moving slowly, closing.

Anxious mutters were heard around, clearly, everyone was on edge as neither Minho nor Alby were showing signs of coming back, "There!"

Thomas exclaimed, pointing forward and everyone saw both of them coming back.

"Wait, something's wrong," and it definitely was. Minho was carrying Alby on his back and was struggling to bring them both back into the Glade.

"Come on, Minho, you can do it!" Chuck screamed and everyone followed, screaming at Minho to keep going, that he could do it, or that he had to leave Alby behind.

Everything got mixed and blurred together as Minho continued fighting, now dragging Alby's body across the concrete and all around (M/n) felt like it was going in slow motion. He debated going into the Maze, maybe he could help them survive, but as he tried to take a step forward he felt the tight grip Gally had on his wrist.

"Gally..." The blond didn't even spare a glance at him and continued yelling at Minho to leave Alby. (M/n) looked ahead again and realized they were running out of time.

If only-

"Thomas, no!" Reacting faster than he could think, (M/n) reached his hand to hold Thomas and prevent him from going into the Maze. He got ahold of his shirt but the greenie simply slipped out of his grip.

Now everyone was screaming at Thomas, yelling 'no's and 'what the shuck are you doing' at him, but it was too late for him to make it back out, and they just watched as they lost another Glader.

(M/n) silently hoped that Thomas had made it to the other side and tried pushing the graphical image of the greenie squished between the Doors out of his head. The mere thought was disturbing, even if he didn't particularly like the guy...

The second the Doors shut closed, the Glade was consumed by a heavy silence, no one dared say a single word or even let out a sigh, even less move, but someone had to break the silence, and that one was Fry.

"I'll... Go cook dinner..." (M/n) turned around and Gally's grip loosened, letting him go.

"Let me help you, Fry," the Keeper of the Cooks nodded and they slowly made their way back to the Homestead.

////////

Being in the kitchen with Fry was harder than he expected, and it was all because he couldn't stop thinking about what happened.

(M/n) had Thomas in his grip, and he pulled himself out if it meant there was nothing he could've done to prevent him from going in there, or that's what he wanted to believe.

"Greenbean?" Fry called him as he stood next to him, "Are you okay?" (M/n) shook his head rather rapidly, his breathing turning ragged and uneven.

"No... Fry, I... I could've done something back there," (M/n) looked at Fry but couldn't hold his stare, going back to staring down at the floor, his arms trembling as he held himself up on the wooden counter, "If I had been stronger or faster..."

"Hey, there was nothing you could have done back there, it's not your fault," (M/n) closed his eyes tightly and continued shaking his head. That wasn't true, at all, because of one thing.

He knew. He knew well enough how impulsive Thomas is... Or was, he should've seen it coming and stopped him.

"Maybe if I had gone in the Maze instead..." He knew the place well enough to navigate it on his own, he worked as a Runner on occasions, and he would have been there to help them, "I survived a night in the Maze, Fry, maybe I might have assured they will come back if I had gone instead of the greenie."

(M/n) was incredibly stressed about the whole situation, yeah, he survived a whole night in the Maze, but truth be told, he had no idea how or why he came out of there alive, even so, they would have had a chance to survive, if only he was there.

"I offered myself to go in there with Minho, but Alby..." Fry placed his hands on (M/n)'s shoulder and made him turn around to face him, and with a reassuring expression, Fry spoke.

"Alby would never put anyone at risk or in danger, greenbean," (M/n) didn't seem to feel better yet, "He went there because he knew he had to, and he knew the risks of going into the Maze, so don't blame yourself for this, okay?" Taking a deep breath, (M/n) nodded a couple of times, and Fry showed him a small smile, "Okay, dinner is ready, so let's call the boys."

Sadly, dinner time was quiet and quite tense. The sounds of the Maze changing appeared to have become louder than ever, followed by the occasional screech of a Griever, they felt so much louder than any other night, but maybe it was because they were hyperaware of what was in there and who was in there.

And now, after a long dinner, it was time to sleep.

Although, like probably everyone else, (M/n) couldn't sleep. Closing his eyes brought the image of Minho trying to drag Alby back to the Glade with him, and then the greenie going after them. He just kept tossing around and overthinking.

"(M/n)," the sound of his name being suddenly called made him freeze as he wondered if he was just hearing things or if there was someone actually calling him, "Bean," nope, he wasn't having auditory hallucinations.

He sat up and turned his lamp on before standing up and walking to the door, standing on the balcony.

Gally was there. He couldn't really see him but he knew it was him, who else would it be after all?

"Gally...? Why are you here?" He asked in a low voice, and he noticed how he squirmed in place before taking a step forward.

"Can I... Stay with you tonight?" He sounded like he was about to cry...

(M/n) moved quickly to lower the ladder and secure it in place, a silent 'yes' to his question. "Come on, let's go inside," he held Gally's hand and dragged him inside.

The instant the door closed behind them, Gally's arms wrapped around his shoulders, hiding his face in (M/n)'s neck, even if that meant leaning down slightly, "Hey, it's okay, it'll be fine..." He rubbed Gally's back slowly and silently waited until the blond was ready to let go of him.

After a few minutes, Gally released his grip and wiped the tears that had run down his face. It was clear as day how affected he was by the idea of losing Alby and Minho, they've known each other for long and even if they sometimes had their differences, they were still brothers.

"Let's get in bed, Gally," he nodded and followed (M/n) to his bed. They sat down and didn't utter a word for a moment.

"Can you read to me?" Gally's voice was shaky and broken, and it broke (M/n)'s heart. He nodded and whispered a small 'yeah', watching how Gally picked a book and handed it to him.

He waited until Gally got comfortable next to him and opened the book, taking a deep breath before he started reading it out loud.

(M/n) read the book to Gally- to both of them, it worked as a soothing remedy for their minds and their hearts, which felt like it weighed a thousand bricks. They just hoped they were prepared for the next morning to arrive.

//////

When his eyes opened, (M/n) realized he had fallen asleep and for a moment wondered how, but he was certain that he passed out from exhaustion due to all the things that had occurred lately in the Glade.

He yawned and took a quick look around, the book had been put back in its place on the bookshelf and realized Gally was already gone, or well, that's what he assumed at the time, because when he walked out of his room he saw him, he was sitting on the balcony.

"Hey..." Gally looked behind him and hummed quietly at (M/n) in response. Without saying anything, he went down the ladder followed by the (h/c) haired male right after, and they walked out of the Deadheads.

(M/n) stopped right by the swing, leaned his weight on the tree and looked far into the distance. Gally stood next to him with his arms crossed and a deep frown marking his face, he didn't mind his expression but he worried about what the Keeper was thinking.

He heard the Doors beginning to open and turned to stare that way.

Nothing...

Everyone that had gathered around the Doors began turning around to leave, but (M/n) noticed how Zart looked back and didn't move. He frowned and stepped away from the tree, staring with a frown on his brow, and right as he was wondering what was happening, the cheering scream of Chuck echoed in the Glade, all the guys nearby getting closer to see what was happening and that's when (M/n) saw them.

They made it back. The three of them...

"This shank..." He heard Gally mutter next to him as he stomped his way over to them, (M/n) following behind him, just in case things turned physical and aggressive.

Gally pulled Newt aside and they seemed to be arguing about something, it was rather quiet as no one knew what they were saying, but soon Newt came back and begrudgingly looked at the Med-jacks.

"Clint, Jeff, take Alby to the med room and come back as soon as you can... We're calling a Gathering." Both Med-jacks rushed to pick up Alby off the ground, and (M/n) did the same.

"Let me help," they sighed in relief and muttered a 'thanks' to him as they lifted Alby and began following the rest to the Homestead, taking a detour to the med room as soon as they walked in.

They placed Alby on a bed, and Clint checked his body, looking around for other injuries besides the hole in his chest and the hit on his head. It didn't seem like it.

"Okay, take his shirt off," (M/n) nodded and took the gear off of Alby's chest, followed by his shirt, "Tie him down, Jeff." With a quick nod, Jeff turned to the cabinet with the ropes and tied Alby to the bed.

"Is there anything else we can do?" Both Med-jacks looked at (M/n) and shook their head with a sigh.

"Not without the serum, we used the last one on Ben..." The silence was heavy and it felt hard to breathe, "He will Change before the Box brings us more of it."

///////

Gally stood in the middle of the room and behind him, was Thomas, who was being "judged" and all the Gladers had found a seat wherever they could, mostly on the steps, but others were standing, like (M/n) was.

He was standing by the door on his own after Clint and Jeff took a seat, and was waiting for everyone to quiet down now that everyone was present, and when they did, Gally was able to speak.

(M/n) looked up and briefly made eye contact with Thomas, which he didn't like one bit, so he turned to stare at Gally again, and it wasn't easy to stay focused on him because he could still feel the heavy stare of the greenie on him, which inevitably made him shift in place, slightly uncomfortable with the way he was being stared at.

And the fact that Thomas had asked him if they knew each other two days ago made (M/n) wonder if he was playing dumb and actually knew exactly who he was, but (M/n) hadn't really had the time to worry about that.

"Things are changing, there's no denying that," Gally stood with arms crossed, leading the Gathering, "First, Ben gets stung in broad daylight, and then Alby..." He made a small pause, letting the words sink into everyone's minds, "And now our greenie here, has taken it upon himself to go into the Maze, which is a clear violation of our rules here."

(M/n) wondered if that was the real reason as to why Gally was so pissed about this whole ordeal. He wasn't gonna defend the greenie for breaking the rules, but he would have done the exact same thing that Thomas did, and... He probably wouldn't be in Thomas' place if he that was the case.

"Yeah... But he saved Alby's life," Fry spoke in defence of the greenie, not sounding entirely convinced.

"Did he?" (M/n) noticed the subtle head movement Newt did as he looked up at Gally, he looked... Mad, "For three years, we have co-existed with these things," Gally turned to face the greenie, silently sitting in the back, "And now, you've killed one of them... Who knows what that could mean for us."

There was silence for a second, before Newt spoke, "What do you suggest we do?"

Gally raised his arms, a body gesture as if saying 'it is what it is' before replying. "He has to be punished."

His words caused a small discussion regarding Gally's decision and Newt realized he had to do something.

"Minho," the sound of his voice worked to make everyone quiet down again, and (M/n) crossed his arms, looking back and forth between the three of them, "You were there with them, what do you think?"

"I think... In all the time we've been here, no one has ever killed a Griever before..." He made his words clear and no one dared speak up, "When I turned tail and ran, this dumb shank..." He looked at Thomas and signalled at him, "Stood behind to help Alby. Look I don't know if he's brave, or stupid," his words caused a few guys to chuckle or smile, "But whatever it is, we need more of it..."

Wait... Need more...? Don't tell me-

"I say we make him a Runner." He said it.

"Minho, I don't think..." He tried arguing but everyone was speaking at the same time, drowning his voice out and he rubbed his face, feeling slightly stressed.

"If you wanna throw the newbie a parade, that's fine! Go ahead!" Gally's voice worked to make everyone shut up again, "But if there's one thing I know about the Maze, is that you do not...!"

The sound of a familiar alarm completely stopped every kind of argument anyone could make, and everyone physically tensed up. (M/n) backed away from the wall and frowned, looking around the room at everyone.

He opened the door and stepped outside, hearing everyone else standing up and doing the same thing.

The Box was coming up but, that didn't make any sense because... The Box was there a while ago, wasn't it...?

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in-need-of-gally-content · 1 year ago

Text

|Chapter•Thirty•Seven|

•|Masterlist|•

A heavy sigh escaped past (M/n)'s lips as he sat down on the small balcony of his treehouse, his feet dangling off the edge as he hadn't put the ladder down yet.

After finally falling asleep, a nightmare woke him up. He wasn't sure what it was about, all he could gather from it was the way his body felt. He was shivering, covered in goosebumps, sweating and with an intense feeling of fright.

Even if he wanted to, he couldn't go back to sleep, not after that. So he decided to simply wait until everyone else started waking up, there was stuff bothering him and he wanted to think about it. Besides, Gally and he still had a pending conversation from the day before.

Time passed as he remained sat on the balcony, staring off into the distance, and maybe an hour or two went by when he heard his name being called.

"(M/n)," he looked down and saw Gally standing there, looking up at him with a concerned look in his eyes, "Are you alright?"

There was no point in denying it, Gally wasn't blind, he could see he wasn't alright but he was still asking, just to make sure he wasn't being too invasive. (M/n) shook his head and stood up, "I had a nightmare."

"Again?" (M/n) grabbed the ladder and started lowering it to the ground, thanking Gally for helping him.

"Yeah... But I don't remember what it was," he signalled with his head at Gally to come up the stairs, which he did. (M/n) waited until they were both up on the balcony before sitting on the floor again, leaving space for Gally to sit next to him.

Neither of them said anything, and the silence had become slightly tense, but not uncomfortable, they were both thinking about what they should say during this situation.

"So..." (M/n) started, mumbling as he fiddled with his fingers, "That's Thomas, eh?"

Gally turned to look at him, and slowly nodded, "Seems like it, bean."

(M/n) let out a humourless chuckle as he shook his head in disbelief, almost finding the situation comical, "Well, that only makes things more confusing, and makes no shucking sense."

"Certainly does."

Everything went quiet again, the faint sound of the rest of the guys waking up was the only thing they could hear, well, that, and Bark's quiet snores, but it worked to get (M/n) lost in thought again.

"What do you... Remember about him?" Gally asked him after some time of debating, there was a possibility that (M/n) just remembered his name and nothing else about the greenie, but he wanted to know.

(M/n) thought about the question for a moment, before turning to look at the blond, he was playing with his fingers the same way he had just a little bit ago, his head tilted down and his jaw clenching every couple of seconds.

"He was... Determined to hurt you, and I don't know why, big guy," Gally scoffed with a grin that didn't reach his eyes.

"Then we have the same memories of him," (M/n) reached his hand out and slowly rubbed Gally's shoulder, "I always wondered what some of my scars were from, I simply figured I was an active kid, once upon a time..."

For a moment, he wondered which scars Gally was referring to as he hadn't really noticed that many on him anyway, and the ones that he noticed were from working as a Builder. However, he wasn't sure if he should ask.

"So... What do we do now?" He slouched over, placing his elbows on his legs and interlocking his hands together, wearing a subtle frown as he looked at Gally.

"We keep him in check, it's the only thing we can do," Gally said as he looked up and held eye contact with (M/n).

He nodded in agreement, even though he felt like there was something he could do besides watching over Thomas and his behaviour, he just didn't know what they could do about everything, even less in a situation like the one they were in.

"Well... I'm starving," Gally announced as he began making his way down the ladder, and (M/n) chuckled as he followed after.

"I could definitely use a cup of coffee this morning."

Breakfast was spent at the same table as always, talking and joking around with their friends while (M/n) sipped on his coffee.

At some point, just a few minutes after sitting down, (M/n) spotted the greenie when he walked into the dining area with his bowl of food, looking around like a lost puppy trying to find a place to sit and in the end, he sat down in a table with Newt, Alby, Chuck and a couple of other guys.

(M/n) continued talking with his friends the entire time he was there, but he could feel this heavy stare on him at all times, and the one time he looked around to try and figure out who the shuck was staring at him so intensely, he found out... It was Thomas.

//////

It was a while after lunch when Thomas spotted (M/n) in the distance. He saw him talking with Chuck, helping him with hanging the laundry and folding the dry and washed clothes.

Thomas glanced back at Newt and Zart while he continued working the gardens with them. He fidgeted in place as he continued staring off into the distance, at (M/n), watching how he smiled brightly and laughed, even though he couldn't exactly hear him, it was like... He had heard it many, many times before.

He felt the skin of his arms get covered in goosebumps as the feeling of emptiness inside him began to fade away, and something in his mind kept bothering him, telling him to go talk to (M/n).

Shifting his weight from one leg to another, he took a step forward, "Be right back..." He muttered before walking away.

"Greenie-!" Newt tried to call him over and probably go after him, but the sudden movement as he stood up, made a sharp pain shoot through his leg, causing him to hiss and catching Zart's attention.

"You okay, Newt?" He simply nodded with a frown and went back to work, "You sure? Maybe you should rest."

"Zart," he spoke rather sharply, and the Keeper stared at him, slightly caught off guard, "I'm fine, alright? Let's get back to work."

Zart nodded and did as told while Newt kept staring at Thomas' back, shaking his head before turning back to continue working.

"Hey," (M/n) stopped walking and turned around, coming face to face with the greenie- Thomas. He stopped right in front of him, maybe just too close, making (M/n) take a half-step back, which didn't go unnoticed by the brunet male, "Do we know each other?"

The start of their conversation was pretty straight forward and his stoic expression didn't waver, so (M/n) tried his best to remain composed and unaffected by his question.

"I don't think so, greenie," with his short and cold answer, (M/n) began turning around to leave, but Thomas didn't like that answer, his answer didn't feel honest, it was more like a lie, even though he had no way to prove it other than his gut feeling.

"Can you not call me 'greenie'?" He hoped that his words would work as a way to let (M/n) he didn't mean harm, which he didn't, actually.

"Shuckface then," even if he had no idea what that word even meant, he had a hunch of what it was and that made him sigh at (M/n)'s immediate answer, lifting his arms in defeat.

"You don't like me, do you?" Thomas noticed the subtle smug grin appear on (M/n)'s face.

"How perceptive," he replied mockingly and Thomas frowned, fidgeting in place and briefly glancing down at the ground.

"Have I done something to you?" (M/n) held his breath as he inhaled and bit the tip of his tongue before slowly releasing the air.

You've done plenty... To Gally...

He managed to not mutter those words out loud since it would only bring more problems around, mentioning his dreams to the greenie probably wouldn't be the wisest choice, it would freak him out and make himself look stupid or crazy.

So maybe this was the time to just leave and go back to work, "Why don't you just mind your business, shank? You have a job to do," he tilted his head back and signalled toward the gardens, where Newt kept sparing glances at them.

He took a step back, eager to be done with their conversation, or more like interrogation really, and stay away from Thomas.

"Hey, I just wanna be your friend," Thomas held his wrist, making (M/n) stop and lean away from him, clenching his jaw as he contemplated pushing him away, "Maybe you should get to know before deciding you hate me, (M/n)."

Oh... He did not like the way Thomas said his name... It made shivers run down as his spine and his whole body tense, but he didn't let himself show just how affected he was by something so insignificant as his name being said.

"I don't need to know anything about you, Thomas," and with that, he pulled himself away from the greenie's hold and turned around, walking back to his friends.

///////

A while after spending time with the Builders, roughly ten minutes later (M/n) went in the Deadheads. He didn't really have a reason for it, he just wanted to walk around for a bit, mostly to think about things, specifically to think about Thomas, and that's what he was doing.

He walked for a short while, when he heard a stick cracking under someone's weight, and judging by the distance, it wasn't under his boot, so he looked up toward the sound.

It was a Runner, judging by his vest gear, tall and blond, short hair...

"Ben?" He called out his name, slightly unsure if it was actually him, and (M/n) watched as he moved his head to the side, slowly looking over his shoulder, directly into his (e/c) eyes.

Something felt wrong about him and he realized how sickly his complexion looked the moment the Runner turned around and took a step toward him, the sunlight coming through the leaves landing on him, giving (M/n) more visual detail of what was going with him.

His skin was pale, really pale, he almost looked dead with how grey his skin seemed to have turned. His lips were a mix of purple and black, he was shaking aggressively and sweating profusely.

Even if his state scared him just a little bit, Ben was a Glader, a brother, and he needed help, so taking him to Clint and Jeff was the logical thing to do in this situation.

"Are you okay?" He tried to take a step toward the blond, worried about him, but Ben, without uttering a single word, ran at him. (M/n) was startled and caught off guard, but Ben's arms were wrapped around his shoulders before he could run away.

He struggled against his hold for a moment, scared out of his mind and not really registering Ben's incoherent babbling, however, he kept repeating words, eventually making more sense as he said them over and over again.

"You found us- you did- you're finally here-," (M/n) frowned as his struggling came to a stop, trying to understand what Ben was saying, "Why are you here?- we'll leave- you shouldn't be here-" and repeat, putting bits and pieces together but not really understanding what he wanted to say, as if he couldn't stay focus on one sentence at a time.

"(M/n)?" He looked over Ben's shoulder, and spotted the greenie, and at the sound of his voice, the blond male completely froze in place for a second before slowly starting to turn around, his demeanour drastically changing as he stared at Thomas, who didn't seem to notice dangerous aura around the Runner, "Oh! You're Ben, right? I don't know if we've-" Thomas took a step forward, and Ben's breathing started to pick up as it got more laboured and quiet growls could be heard coming from him, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Greenie, I don't think-," Before (M/n) could get more than a few words out, Ben ran at Thomas and threw himself on him as he had caught them off guard, "Ben!"

(M/n) rushed to help the greenie as he struggled to get Ben off of him, which didn't really work. He tried pulling the blond off of Thomas, which wasn't really working either.

"Is your fault, you did this, I saw you," his voice was rather quiet, hard for them to hear, "I saw you!" His grip around Thomas' wrists tightened, as his fingernails dug into the skin of his arms, making him scream out in pain.

"Ben...!" (M/n) called out his name as he tried to hold him down, but he seemed to have unnatural strength, and when (M/n) saw him holding his hands around Thomas' throat, he knew he had to help the greenie now, "For shuck's sake..."

He wrapped his arm around Ben's neck, his bicep pressing against the blond's throat and he pulled back, successfully making Ben release Thomas as his grip weakened because of the lack of airflow, and the greenie stumbled out from under them and tripped a couple of times as he began running away.

Ben continued struggling against the hold around his neck, the lack of oxygen made it hard to break free as he wasn't strong enough to pry (M/n)'s arm off of him, and piercing his skin open like he had done with Thomas wasn't working, if anything, he was holding him tighter.

So he had no other option.

"Sorry, (M/n)..." He muttered a second before swinging his head back, and hitting (M/n) as hard as he could, finally making the (h/c) haired male release him and stumble back.

Ben took his chance and started running after Thomas, knowing he was fast enough to catch up to him.

(M/n) fell back on the dirt but managed to hold himself up with his hands, sitting on the ground as his vision moved around and turned blurry. That hit was definitely a hard one. He was disoriented and slightly nauseous as everything spun around without his consent.

He crawled forward for a short while, trying to make his brain understand that he was okay, and that the world wasn't spinning this fast, just enough for him to be able to stand up back on his feet.

He knew just how fast Ben was and while the greenie did seem pretty fast, he probably had low stamina, so he really had to get up and run after them, just to make sure that Ben wouldn't kill Thomas in less than twenty-four hours since his arrival.

Groaning and struggling, (M/n) pulled himself back up on his feet and closed his eyes tight for a moment before he decided to run after them.

"Shuck..." He cursed to the air as he placed one foot in front of the other, picking up the pace until he was running, the cool air hitting his face really helped with his dizziness so he continued and finally, he caught sight of them down a small hill. He slid down and chased after them.

"Help!" Thomas screamed for his life and Ben tackled him to the ground. He picked up the pace and threw himself onto Ben, rolling on the grass a few times before ending up on top of him, fighting to hold his arms down.

"Look at me...!" He tried telling him but the Runner refused to look his way, focused on Thomas who was still on the ground, coughing, "Ben, look at me!" His loud scream finally worked to catch his attention, and Ben's blue eyes landed on him, staring into his (e/c) eyes.

"(M/n), you're here- why are you- no, you shouldn't-," his babbling came back but he didn't get a chance to pay attention to any of it, he heard some of the guys running toward them and continuously asking 'what happened', which Thomas responded to.

"He just attacked me!"

(M/n) sighed and blinked slowly, feeling a headache making its way inside his skull, and when his eyes opened he noticed something.

There were... Blue, purple and black veins showed through Ben's pale skin on his neck, just barely peeking through the collar of his shirt.

"Gally, hold him down," he said without tearing his eyes away from Ben, and he released his arms as soon as Gally held them down by his head.

Without wasting time, (M/n) reached Ben's shirt and pulled it up, exposing a hole on his right side, his skin purple and surrounded by protruding black veins, growing more and more as they extended all across his body. Everyone around who had a clear vision gasped at what they were seeing.

"He's been stung... In the middle of the day?" Gally asked, looking up at Alby.

(M/n) did the same, wanting to ask if there was anything they could do to help Ben, and with that single movement, he showed everyone how blood dripped from his nose down his chin and neck, something he himself hadn't even noticed at all.

"Bean...!" Gally let go of Ben's arms to move closer to (M/n), and thankfully, Newt had quick enough reflexes to hold the Runner down instead.

"I'm fine, big guy," (M/n) mumbled at Gally as the Keeper tried to hold his face to check the damage done to his nose and if there was anything else.

"At least let the Med-jacks stop the bleeding, okay?" (M/n) stared at Gally, and sighed as he nodded, unable to refuse his petition, "Alright, come on," Gally proceeded to hold his hands and slowly helped him back up on his feet.

He stumbled a step back as he did and he closed his eyes as the dizziness came back, thankfully, he was able to hold himself onto Gally as the blond kept a secure hold on him.

"Okay, let's find you a place to sit," Gally helped him walk closer to the treeline, where the Med-jacks were already taking Thomas to treat his injuries, "Alby," he called the Leader, who stood in place with his arms crossed, a serious expression on his face as he watched the Gladers fight to hold Ben still.

"Take him to the pit," Ben started violently trashing around to fight everyone off of him, "Gally, help them," he wanted to refuse Alby's words, he didn't want to leave (M/n)'s side as he clearly wasn't alright, "I'll take care of (M/n). I promise."

(M/n) looked at Gally and showed him a small smile, "Go, I'll be fine," and with that, Gally nodded and waited until Alby got a hold of (M/n) before turning around to pick Ben off the ground.

"Med-jacks!" Newt called them over as they rushed to help.

"To the pit!" Gally exclaimed as they picked him up and began making their way to the Slammer.

"Here, let's sit down," Alby guided (M/n) to the log that worked as a bench, "They'll be back as soon as they make sure Ben won't hurt himself."

(M/n) sat down next to Thomas and spotted Chuck walking closer to them, sitting somewhere behind them and the familiar sound of wood carving reached his ears.

"I'll be back in a bit," Alby patted (M/n)'s shoulder and reached for something inside the pocket of his pants, "Here, use this."

(M/n) got handed a piece of fabric that probably worked as a handkerchief, "Thanks," he nodded and grabbed it, wiping away some of the fresh blood dripping down his face.

"Um... Thank you for... Helping me," (M/n) turned to look at Thomas and released a humourless chuckle.

"I wasn't gonna let him kill you, greenie."

//////

A while after, Jeff stopped by and began treating Thomas' injuries while Clint took care of (M/n), he cleaned the blood, made sure the scratches on his arm weren't too bad and brought him some frozen peas in a sealed package to help with the swelling of his nose, and thankfully, Clint assured him that there didn't seem to be signs of a commotion, which he was glad about.

"Thanks, C," the Keeper nodded and stood up, making his way to be on Thomas' left side while Jeff applied aloe vera to his wounds.

"That looks nasty," (M/n) smiled at Chuck's words and glanced toward Thomas, who had four open wounds on his wrist and forearm, caused by Ben's nails. He hadn't realized just how strong he held the greenie until now, those wounds were deeper than he expected.

"May have to amputate," Thomas turned to look at Clint, obviously having an internal panic at his words, but he simply laughed it off, and Jeff looked up at him with an unamused expression on his face.

"Hand me the bandage," Clint did as told and gave Jeff the bandage, "Don't worry, he always wants to amputate," he reassured the greenie as he covered the wounds with the bandage.

Clint noticed Alby approaching so he stood up and stepped aside, waiting for Jeff to be done, "How they're holding up, guys?"

"They're good, Alby," Jeff stood up as he finished and tapped Thomas' shoulder, "You'll be fine, just don't let it get infected."

Thomas nodded and they looked at (M/n), "And you, tell us if you feel anything change, alright? That was a hard hit."

"I will, guys." They nodded and left without saying anything else.

"You two okay?" Both of them nodded at different times and different velocities, but they did it anyway, "Yeah, it's a lot to take in, in your first week no less."

(M/n) closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, keeping the frozen peas pressed to his face, "So what happened to him?" He figured they were talking about Ben and his behaviour.

"It's called the Changing, it's what happens when you get stung," (M/n)'s eyes opened as he remembered the hole that made a scar on his leg. He got stung by a Griever and given the serum, that's how he got better so... Why hasn't Ben yet?

Maybe he should ask Alby later.

"What did he say to you?" (M/n) decided to pay attention to Thomas but closed his eyes once again. He does remember Ben mumbling something to Thomas before screaming out and turning more aggressive, and he wanted to know if the greenie had been able to understand what he had said to him.

Which apparently he did.

"He said he saw me... And that this is all my fault," wait... How did Ben...?

Could it be that Ben got his memories back after being stung? Like I did? Or... Was he really just not making sense?

"How can this be my fault?" For a second, he had to bite his tongue to hold himself back from saying anything he shouldn't, that would only cause more questions than give answers.

His reaction seemed to have caught Alby's attention, "Get some rest," he said and stood up.

"Alby," the Leader looked back at the greenie, "What's gonna happen to him?"

(M/n) saw Alby taking a deep breath in and sighing, "He'll be Banished at sundown," he turned back to continue on his way, and spoke up without even glancing back, "(M/n), come with me."

"On it," he muttered and found his way back on his feet, soon following after Alby in complete silence.

They walked for a short while and stopped by his treehouse, "Go change, you're covered in blood."

With a small chuckle, he nodded and made his way up the ladder, stopping by the balcony and looking down at Alby, "You wanna talk about Ben, don't you?"

He nodded once with his arms crossed over his chest, and (M/n) nodded back before heading inside.

//////

"He seemed happy to see me, as if... He hadn't seen me in forever, and..." He took a deep breath and fidgeted with his fingers, "He kept saying that now you could leave and that I shouldn't be here, and that I was finally here," he shrugged at Alby, Newt and Minho as they stared at him, "Everything was kind of contradictory, sorry guys."

"No it's okay, he got stung and you hit your head, things might be confusing for a while," Minho reassured him which actually worked and (M/n) watched as they remained quiet for a few seconds.

"We have to find out how Ben got stung," Newt added to the silence, breaking it and making everyone fidget in place.

"The only way he could've gotten stung was in the Maze," Alby replied as a frown appeared on his brow.

"I can go check it out tomorrow morning," Minho said after a few seconds went by.

"I can go with him, he shouldn't be going to the Maze alone," (M/n)'s words made the three of them look at him, and show a small smile on their faces.

"It's okay, (M/n)," Alby uttered with a sigh, "I was planning on going with Minho, I'm the Leader and it's my responsibility to find out what happened to Ben while he was in the Maze."

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in-need-of-gally-content · 1 year ago

Text

|Chapter•Thirty•Six|

•|Masterlist|•

"We got a Runner!"

The sound of Zart's voice caught his attention, snapping him out of his thoughts. He inched closer to the edge and looked down toward the Box.

Everyone was gathered around it, staring in a certain direction and cheering something on. He followed their line of sight and caught sight of the new greenie running in a random direction, he took notice of how fast he was, but the greenie was soon rolling on the grass as he tripped over his own two feet.

The cheering continued for a few seconds as the greenie began standing back up, "Take it all in!" Someone said, and (M/n) watched the moment the greenie realized where he was.

There was a momentary silence in the Glade, until Billy's voice was heard loud and clear, "To the pit, greenie!"

And like that, Billy, accompanied by Sean and Derek, grabbed the greenie and began dragging him to the pit, despite his best efforts to release himself from their hold. Well, now he could go back to enjoying the peace and quiet that was so weird around this place, sighing at the relaxing feeling of the breeze brushing against his skin.

///////

A while later, (M/n) closed his journal and put it back inside its bag, picking it up as well as his camera and he made his way down the Watchtower, lazily walking over to the Box, where Gally and Chuck were playing nearby.

Both of them had wide smiles on their faces and (M/n) instinctively raised the camera up to his face and made sure to capture the moment, chuckling to himself as he observed them having fun.

And he noticed that Chuck wasn't with the greenie.

(M/n) walked closer toward them and leaned his side against a tree, "Where's the greenie?" Gally stopped swinging Chuck side to side, and they stared at him, squinting because of the sun.

"Alby is giving him the tour," Chuck pointed somewhere behind (M/n), making him turn to check and indeed, Alby was showing him around the Glade.

The greenie looked around with curious and confused eyes, feeling a little disoriented at everything happening around him, "For a second I thought you had the chops to be a Runner... Till you face-planted, that was great," the blond chuckled and the greenie looked at him.

"Wait... Runner?" He noticed their facial expressions change.

"Newt, do me a favour? Go find Chuck," and like that, Newt began walking away.

The greenie turned around, his sight trailing on him, only to get distracted by someone else. "Who is he?"

Alby turned to the greenie and noticed he was staring at something- someone behind him, following his line of sight, and Alby realized he was looking at (M/n).

He sighed and put his hand on the greenie's shoulder, trying to get him to focus back on the tour, "Listen here, greenbean, if there's someone here you shouldn't mess with is him, so you better not try anything stupid, you hear me?" Slightly scared at the sudden change in Alby's voice, he nodded without a word, "(M/n)'s been through a lot of klunk since the day he arrived, and he doesn't need more on his plate."

The greenie nodded, understanding what Alby said, but for some reason, he didn't seem to be able to stop looking in his direction every few minutes. He wasn't sure why but... (M/n) brought him a sense of serenity and warmth which he couldn't understand.

Do they know each other? How could that be possible?

He felt the need to talk to him as soon as possible, feeling almost captivated by (M/n) in a way he couldn't comprehend.

"Hope you're not afraid of heights."

///////

"Hey, Chuck," the sound of Newt's voice called the attention of the three, watching them slowly stop playing together, "Alby's looking for you, it's about the greenie."

(M/n) made eye contact with Newt for a split moment before it was broken by the blond, who was unable to look at him for too long.

Newt still hadn't forgiven himself for thinking about getting rid of (M/n)... Even if it was the smallest fleeting thought. It was there.

"Oh, where is he?" Newt began looking around behind him, trying to spot Alby and the greenie wherever they were, but someone spotted them before he could.

"They're up on the tower," (M/n) said with crossed arms, motioning toward the Watchtower with a subtle head movement.

"Alright, I'm going," and like that, Chuck left to grab what he needed before heading toward Alby and the greenie.

There was a tense silence between Newt, Gally and (M/n) the instant Chuck left, and (M/n) cleared his throat, "I'm gonna go help with the bonfire," he muttered, stepping away from the tree he was leaning against.

"I'll come with you," Gally added right after, and they left Newt standing alone.

Before going toward the Builders, (M/n) took a quick detour and dropped his stuff off at this treehouse, he definitely didn't want any of that getting damaged, not when he had been taking good care of his stuff for so long.

After doing that, they quickly got to working, picking up sticks and leaves, finding hay that might've fallen from the roof of all their constructions, "We might have to make a few trips-"

"Oh, (M/n)," they turned at the sound of Stan's voice as he interrupted, and they saw him standing there, his body language tense and he avoided eye contact for a couple of seconds, "We want to help."

Gally and (M/n) looked at each other briefly, before the (h/c) male took the first step and handed all the sticks he gathered to Stan, "Alright, give that to Mikah."

The Keeper nodded and slowly took the sticks out of (M/n)'s hands, Jason coming up behind him to take the ones Gally had and began making their way toward the bonfire.

"Well... That was unexpected..." Gally huffed and frowned, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, he's gonna have to work the rest of his life to make it up to you," (M/n) looked at Gally, a subtle frown on his brow as well, and he slowly nodded.

"Come on, we still have to get more leaves, big guy."

///////

"Finally," (M/n) huffed, both hands placed on his hips, sweat glistening on his skin. Gally chuckled.

"You get used to it," he said as he took a step forward, "Do you wanna walk for a bit?"

Despite feeling some level of tiredness, (M/n) wouldn't say no to enjoying a walk around the Glade. And they did, they were talking about any upcoming structure they would have to build and planning for it.

"Yeah, I think we should ask Alby about it..." (M/n) trailed on and noticed Gally nodding at his words with a subtle frown, probably visualizing what he wanted to do and how he was gonna do it.

Their steps had turned into a slow walk, and each were in their minds, mindlessly observing their surroundings, and that's when (M/n) saw it.

The greenie was standing in front of the Maze Doors, staring far into it as if... In a trance. Chuck was standing a few steps behind him, definitely trying to make sure the greenie wouldn't do anything stupid.

"What's the greenie doing?" His mumble caught Gally's attention, his green eyes turning toward his direction before looking away into the distance, where (M/n) had his sight fixed.

"This shank..." Gally muttered with a clenched jaw and began stomping his way to the greenie, (M/n) following the blond close behind.

Gally's steps had intent, and he was making a beeline straight toward him, which made (M/n) wonder if he should worry about the greenie's wellbeing. However, before he could even consider stopping Gally, (M/n) watched how the greenie literally got flung a good few feet away from where he originally was.

"Ouch," was all (M/n) could whisper to himself at the hard sound his body made the moment it hit the ground.

"We gotta stop meeting like this, greenie," (M/n) stopped close by and decided to observe their interaction before acting.

"Get off of me!" The greenie exclaimed as he kicked Gally away from him, rushing to pick himself up from the ground. (M/n) side-stepped closer to Gally as a way to prevent the greenie from trying to run into the Maze.

"Greenie, calm down," (M/n) tried to get closer to him, maybe trying to help him calm down, but it only made things worse.

"Don't touch me!" By now, the little scene had caught the attention of pretty much every Glader nearby and were quickly making their way over to make sure nothing got too out of hand.

(M/n) had only heard stories of the few greenies weirdly infatuated with the Maze, they were unusual since the majority was deeply perturbed at the mere idea of going out into the Maze. This was the first greenie he met who was interested in the Maze.

He might've been pretty intrigued by it too when he first came up, but never to the point of nearly breaking the rules.

"Hey, what the hell is wrong with you guys?" The greenie exclaimed, clearly frightened and shaken up about what had just happened.

"Just calm down, alright?" Newt's words came out reassuring and soft-spoken, trying to prevent the greenie from getting more agitated than he already was.

However, that didn't work, "No, why won't you tell me what's out there?" (M/n) swallowed as he noticed the greenie stepping back, closer to the Maze. He glanced at Gally and they were ready to stop him in case anything went wrong, they just had to wait a few more seconds and the Doors would close.

Just have to keep him distracted.

"It's for your own good," (M/n) spoke, and the greenie looked over his shoulder at him for a moment before shaking his head rapidly a few times.

"No, you guys can't just keep me here," unfortunately, it seemed like trying to communicate with him wasn't gonna work, worst case, he gets put in the pit again.

"We can't let you leave," Alby spoke with a firm tone, one that was only used when he was in his Leader mode and he needed to be heard and obeyed.

It was obvious this greenie wasn't gonna obey any rules.

"Why not?"

And just like that, the Doors made their alarm sound, catching everyone's attention, and they glanced further beyond the Doors, into the Maze. The wind picked up, making them look away as the greenie finally quieted down, "What the hell?" He whispered to himself right before the Doors began doing their usual thing.

Closing for the night.

Heavy silence fell in the Glade as they observed the Doors closing at their pace, before finally staying closed shut.

"Next time..." (M/n)'s attention turned to Gally, the blond had stepped closer to the greenie, and was probably gonna make his way further into the Glade, "I'm gonna let you leave."

He frowned and went after Gally, standing next to him as they walked together, "That wasn't nice."

Gally looked at him for a moment before staring further behind (M/n), where the greenie was still stuck in place.

"He's only gonna bring problems."

(M/n) really wanted to give the greenie the benefit of the doubt, after all, it was his first day around, and he still had things to learn, but something told him, in the back of his mind...

That Gally was right.

///////

The night had settled in the Glade and the bonfire was as lively as ever.

He was standing around, just mindlessly observing Gally having fun with the guys in the fighting circle and... Something about the whole scene he was observing made him realize one thing.

He was ready to tell Gally how he felt. He wanted to confess, no longer worried about the possibility of being rejected, because... He was certain the feeling was mutual, so... It was worth a shot, or so he thought.

"Oh!" The hollering caught his attention and he went back to observing the fight, joining in whenever Gally would swing Archie around as if he weighed nothing, "Ooh~!" The crowd got louder at the next swing, which ended up tripping Archie outside the circle, and now it was someone else's turn to fight the Keeper of the Builders.

While a new opponent decided they were brave enough to fight Gally, (M/n) looked around for a few seconds, and spotted Newt with the greenie. They were walking around and talking, or at least Newt was doing the talking, as it seemed like he was doing quick presentations, and he was right.

He took a deep breath when he heard them standing to the side behind him and took a swing of his drink and continued watching Gally fighting his new opponent, Theo.

"What if I want to be a Runner?" Greenie's words made (M/n) stop his arm halfway down after swallowing another sip of his drink, and he frowned, subtly turning his head to the side.

"Have you not heard a word I said? No one wants to be a Runner," (M/n) turned his head more to face them the exact moment Theo's body got flung away and crashed into the greenie.

Thankfully, no one seemed badly injured other than maybe a bruise that will show up in the morning. (M/n) reached his hand out to help Theo back up on his feet, who took it and mumbled a 'thank you' to him.

(M/n) turned back to look at Gally again, and he seemed to be slightly out of breath, but he still had energy, that was a fact.

"What you say, greenie? Wanna see what you're made of?" A grin grew on (M/n)'s face as cheering around began echoing in the Glade, everyone around getting closer to watch as they hyped the greenie to get him to fight Gally.

And he ended up agreeing to it. Although not exactly willingly.

(M/n) took another sip of his drink, "This will be interesting," he muttered mostly to himself, but the small movement Newt made while standing next to him was enough to let him know his words had been heard.

"Alright. The rules are simple, greenie," Gally said as he fixed his wrist brace, getting into a more appropriate position to start the fight, "I try to push you out of the circle, you try last more than five seconds," (M/n) chuckled as he remembered how much Gally loved to stir up the greenie during their first night in the Glade.

"Go easy on the greenie, Gally," he heard one of the guys say between chuckles and he shook his head with a smirk.

"Ready?" Gally asked and the greenie gave a barely noticeable nod, which Gally took immediate advantage of.

He charged at the greenie and pushed him to collide directly with the Glader wall behind him. He got pushed back toward Gally, who made sure the greenie would fall face-first into the sand.

"Come on, greenie, we're not done yet," they watched as the greenie found his way back onto his feet and fixed his shirt for a moment, probably trying to get rid of some of the sand he got on him.

"Stop calling me greenie," (M/n) raised his eyebrows at that. He never felt like there was anything bad with being called 'greenie' but he guessed to each their own.

"Stop calling you that?" Gally's mocking question brought him back to the present moment, "What do you wanna be called? Shank?" The Glade erupted in laughter at Gally's words, and (M/n) shook his head before taking the last sip of his drink, "What do you think, boys? Does he look like a shank?"

The greenie ran toward Gally, definitely pissed off at the nickname, but it didn't result well for him. Gally got a hold of him and while they did some half turns here and there as they struggled- the greenie struggled, Gally ended up throwing him to the ground and making him roll around on the sand.

"You know what? I think I've settled on shank," once again, the greenie stood up and made his move to run at Gally and hold his lower half, however, he didn't have enough strength to push him back, so instead, he let Gally take himself down by stepping away and making the blond lose his balance.

"Ooh!" Everyone exclaimed, caught off guard but highly entertained at the sight of Gally getting taken down. By a greenie.

(M/n) watched surprised how Gally stayed on the ground, clearly annoyed at how their fight had turned, "Well done, greenie!" He heard the faint sound of Alby's voice cheering the greenie, and watched how he stood up on his feet for the third time now.

With a glance down at Gally, (M/n) knew... That greenie was about to get dropped, judging by the look on Gally's face.

"Not bad for a greenie, uh?" He didn't even get to enjoy the short moment of victory as Gally kicked his feet off the ground from under him, causing the greenie to fall and hit his head hard on the ground.

"That's gonna hurt in the morning..." (M/n) heard Newt chuckle next to him when he heard his words.

"Bloody sure it will." They laughed for a short moment, completely ignoring the greenie on the ground, who was starting to stand up, yet again.

Damn, he had been on the ground more than he had been on his feet, kinda crazy.

"Hey!" He screamed and got everyone's attention, the Glade getting quieter, "Thomas! I remember my name... I'm Thomas!"

(M/n) felt his body freeze as cheering filled the place as everyone else was happy that the greenie had remembered his name so soon.

He was sure he had stopped breathing for a few seconds, staring at the greenie, the sound of his name echoing inside his mind, all those blurry images from his dreams finally becoming clear.

He felt like his stomach had risen all the way up to his throat, and he wasn't sure he could remain standing for much longer. Everything felt distant, faded. All the sounds around him were muffled, as if he was underwater, his vision was blurry and unfocused, his whole body getting covered in goosebumps.

He wanted to run away, but his legs weren't responding to his wishes, so all he did was stand stuck in place, his mind a complete mess of jumbled thoughts and questions, trying to a logical answer to what was happening.

"Why is he here...?"

(M/n) remained stuck in place for what felt like forever, but in reality, it was only a couple of seconds, and the loud shriek of a griever was the only thing that brought him back and out of the loop his mind had him stuck in.

"Let's tuck it in for the night, come on, it was a good night," Alby doing the last call was the flip (M/n) needed to finally take a step forward, and with wobbly legs, make his way to his treehouse, completely ignoring anyone that stared at him as he walked away.

He needed time to digest everything that happened in the past five minutes.

///////

Unfortunately, (M/n) found it almost impossible to fall asleep that night. He was lying in bed, staring at the wooden ceiling, unable to close his eyes and empty his mind.

His consciousness was a mess, and he needed rest which he wasn't sure he was gonna get, but it was worth the try.

He sat up on his bed and turned on his lamp, reaching for his journal and opening it, skimming through the pages where he wrote about his nightmares, dreams and memories. They were mostly the same thing, but a lot of things had become clearer in a way.

The reason why they sent Thomas to the Glade was a mystery, and that question will probably never be answered, but he focused on reading the most detailed memories he wrote more attentively.

Like the nightmare from the night before.

It was clear it happened a determined amount of time before finding himself going through that long hallway on his way to the Box.

But knowing who Thomas -the guy in his memories- was, wasn't exactly a good thing. After all, Thomas had hurt Gally more than once before, intentionally so.

Thinking about everything made his blood boil with anger and only worked to give him a headache so he huffed, deciding he would analyze stuff better in the morning, maybe try and sleep the night away.

After all, he and Gally had a pending conversation that could help ease some questions he had about the new greenie named Thomas.

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in-need-of-gally-content · 1 year ago

Text

|Chapter•Thirty•Five|

•|Masterlist|•

The following days went by quite normally, weirdly enough. (M/n) found himself exchanging smiles and waves with the Sloppers more and more often, and whilst they weren't friends, they were on good-ish terms, and thankfully, it seemed like Lucas was able to understand his perspective, as he had completely changed his behaviour and had been trying to be a good guy.

Which continued to weird (M/n) out whenever it happened.

But thankfully, as these few days went by, (M/n) felt, for the first time, like he belonged in the Glade and was treated as another dude stuck in this place and he was glad.

One thing he had been able to do pretty easily was become closer to Ty, who had become Chuck's friend. He got to know the guy and realized he was actually a nice dude and quite on the younger side, which explained why he got along with Chuck easier than with the rest, and why it was hard for him to stand up to Stan and the others.

Ty had apologized to him for lying about having seen him hurting Peter, but (M/n) understood it wasn't his fault and explained how he didn't have any kind of grudge against him.

And now, on the next Box day, (M/n) was sitting outside on the grass, enjoying a small break while Chuck and Ty played for a while. Gally was gone for the moment, he had something to discuss with Alby apparently, and well, (M/n) wasn't a Keeper so he wasn't allowed to know, at least not yet.

He was mindlessly petting Bark, who had made himself comfortable on his lap and basked in the warm sunlight for a while, when Ty and Chuck approached them, chuckling and drying the sweat off their faces, it seemed like they had fun which brought a smile to his face, and watched as they sat down in front of him.

"Had fun?" They nodded and their hair bounced around at how effusive they were about it, "Here," he reached for his water bottle, which was in the shade and handed it over to them, who drank over half of it as if it was oxygen. (M/n) chuckled and shook his head from side to side.

"(M/n), can I ask you something?" He looked at Ty, who stared back at him with curiosity-filled eyes.

"Sure, what's up?"

"Why do you look different than the rest of us?" Well... That was the question he least expected, "Did something happen to you?" (M/n) stayed quiet as he wondered how to explain this in a way that made sense and wasn't too difficult to comprehend.

However, he found himself mumbling his response, "I guess I was just... Born in the wrong body, Ty," was all he could say.

He watched as both guys in front of him frowned, and Ty seemed to be analysing his words.

"Like... A guy trapped in a girl's body?" He showed them a small smile, and nodded slowly, muttering a quiet 'yeah...' in response, "Can you go back to your real body?"

Ty's question sounded so genuine and innocent, that it made his smile grow, "Unfortunately, I can't, I'm stuck with this body until the day I die," Chuck looked at (M/n), a pout forming on his lips as he crawled closer and wrapped his chubby arms around (M/n).

"I'm sorry you have to live like that, (M/n)," his words made a knot grow in his throat, his eyes filling with tears, the ones he blinked away and tried to ignore the feeling in his chest, making breathing slightly more difficult than usual.

"It's okay, Chuck."

//////

A couple of hours later, the small bonfire was being lit, and like always, (M/n) was sitting by the fire, Gally glued to his side, his arm wrapping around his shoulders.

They were sitting on the grass, their back resting against the logs while staring far into the darkness of the Glade, facing away from the bonfire.

Everything felt nice. The sounds of their friends eating and joking around behind them, the subtle chirp of crickets, the crackling of the wood in the fire as it burned, the slightly chill breeze brushing their skin, it all felt relaxing and made them feel at peace.

"I feel like I'm home," Gally's voice broke the silence between them, coming out in a low and raspy whisper, successfully catching (M/n)'s attention.

He looked at Gally for a few seconds, just observing his profile being framed by the fire, almost making him appear as if he was glowing, "You don't want to get out of here?"

Slowly, Gally turned to look at (M/n), holding their eye contact, "I do, but every place will feel like home if I'm with you, (M/n)..."

His skin got covered in goosebumps at Gally's words, and he shifted in place, getting just a little bit closer to the blond, staring into his eyes, noticing his pupils blown wide, covering the majority of his green irises. He leaned closer and rested his head on Gally's shoulder, the stillness between them returning for a couple of minutes.

"Bean?" But once again, Gally broke that silence, a hesitant tone in his voice.

"Yeah?" He mumbled, his voice dropping lower than usual.

He felt Gally's arm move, and soon, his hand reached to touch his face, his warm fingertips gracing his chilly skin, at that action, (M/n) looked up slightly, staring into each other's eyes once again, observing the subtle details of the other's face.

"Gally," the blond hummed and (M/n) realized they were slowly inching closer, his (e/c) eyes trailing down to stare at Gally's lips, "I don't think I'll be able to stop if we kiss," he said in a breathy whisper, his hand gripping onto the fabric of his pants.

"Then we don't have to stop."

Like that, they began inching closer, this time with no intention to stop. They could feel their breaths mixing and they began to slowly close their eyes. They were so close to each other, just a little more and then-

"(M/n)!" The cheerful sound of Chuck's high-pitched voice broke the moment, "Look! Look what I made!" He sighed and backed away from Gally, hearing subtle laughter behind them, so he turned to take a look.

All the Builders -their friends-, were looking straight at him and Gally, obviously having witnessed their moment and how it was broken. They had silently agreed to keep quiet and not interrupt them, realizing just how much they've ruined an intimate moment between those two, and deciding to just let fate play itself, but Chuck...

"What is it, little man?" (M/n) shifted his body around until he was mostly kneeling on the grass, holding his weight on the log with his elbows.

Excitedly, Chuck put his hand out, showing his newest wood carving. It looked like the best out of many attempts at a cute little dog. It seemed to be a replica of Bark.

"Oh~, it looks so good, Chuck," (M/n) gently grabbed it and looked at it from every angle. It was certainly cute, and he definitely forgave Chuck for interrupting, he probably didn't even realize what he did anyway, he was so happy about what he had created and he wanted to show it to him, so he couldn't get mad at the little man.

Not when his flushed face displayed that wide and adorable smile of his.

///////

The following day went by pretty nicely, or at least until lunchtime. The weather had become scorching hot, so Alby had called a day off for everyone or, to at least, take as many breaks as they needed.

What an attentive Leader they had, truly.

Well, at the moment, (M/n) and Gally were just enjoying a walk around the Deadheads, as it was usually the coolest place in the Glade whenever they had a hot day, and they were humming a song together while simply enjoying the other's company.

(M/n) had been picking a few flowers he saw around, mostly dandelions as there were quite a few around, and was keeping ahold of them in his left hand while bouncing around in rhythm with the song, Gally was just there to have a peaceful time, occasionally glancing back just to see the (h/c) haired having fun in his own head.

They walked a few more minutes, ending up near one of the creeks, and that's when (M/n) spotted something on the ground.

Well, more like it spotted him and caught his attention, since whatever it was reflected the sunlight directly into his eyes.

Because of that, he blinked repeatedly for a few seconds and looked toward it, avoiding getting blinded again. He took a few steps forward and crouched down, spotting the shiny stone still reflecting the sunlight and he picked it up.

It was a really pretty stone, especially the weirdly nice heart shape it was, it had a stripe pattern and it was a green-blue-ish combination, it looked very much like... Gally's eyes.

He kept a tight grip on it and slightly jogged toward Gally was as he hadn't really stopped, too busy humming the same song over and over again, "Hey, look," (M/n) called out to the blond as he came to stop next to him, opening his hand so Gally could look at it, "Isn't it pretty?"

Gally turned to look at him, and stared down at (M/n)'s hand, "Woah, where did you find it?"

He gently held (M/n)'s hand and lifted it, bringing it closer to look at it closely, quite fascinated by it.

"The sun reflected off of it and it blinded me, so it was more like it found me," both chuckled at his words and (M/n) looked at Gally, he was still looking at the stone and he seemed to really like it.

"It's so pretty."

"Yeah, I know..." Little did Gally know that (M/n) wasn't talking about the stone, his stare locked on him. "You can keep it," he muttered and Gally finally looked back at him.

They made eye contact immediately and (M/n) noticed how his pupils were blown wide and his face began colouring pink.

"Really?" He quietly asked.

"Yes, it's a pretty rock so... You should keep it," (M/n) watched how Gally grabbed it and observed it a little more, before beginning their walk once more, fidgeting with the stone in his hands.

The remaining hours of the day went just like that, Gally kept fidgeting with the stone, occasionally putting it in his pocket for short periods of time, but he mostly just held it.

He would inspect it just in case, making sure it didn't crack in any way and that it was in perfect condition. He had considered making a necklace with it, but was scared about completely breaking it if he tried to make some sort of hole in it, so he was really debating whether he wanted to do it or not.

And that's why he stayed up late, wrapping the stone in rope and fabric, making it a sort of secure pocket for it, as a way to protect it, covering every inch of it. He wrapped and tied the rope around it in a way that would hold it in place and wouldn't slip off, before carefully hanging it around his neck, and finally, lying down on his bed, getting ready to sleep for the remaining hours of the night.

//////

A few days after, (M/n) found himself helping Chuck get the stuff ready for the next greenie who was coming up the next day.

"Alright, little man, we're done here," he said as he finished tying the last knot of the hammock in the tree trunk and wiped the sweat off his forehead, "You're ready to give the new greenie their tour?" Chuck nodded and placed the new sheet on top of the hammock, "Remember the rules?"

"Yes, sir," he saluted, making (M/n) chuckle. He looked cute yet silly.

"Hey, wanna help me with something?" He asked Chuck while dusting his hands on his pants, the curly-haired boy nodded, "Alright, come on."

He turned around and together they began making their way into the Deadheads, Chuck realized they were heading toward (M/n)'s treehouse and he wondered what it could be that he needed help with.

"Wait here," quietly, he stood in place as he watched the older male making his way up the ladder and inside the room, a minute or two went by and then he walked out, holding a bunch of flowers in his hands, "Okay... I keep having issues making these damn flower crowns, so I needed the extra hands."

"Who are they for?" Chuck asked as (M/n) sat on the ground, signalling him to do the same, which he did.

"Well, I was thinking of making three, you know... For you, for Gally and me, but this might be too many," (M/n) placed the flowers on a small piece of fabric he brought with him and grabbed a couple of dandelions, "It took me a while to figure out the best way to make them without breaking it apart, let me show you."

He taught Chuck how to intertwine the stems of the flowers and secure them in place, and Chuck soon found himself enjoying this moment with (M/n), agreeing to make each other's flower crowns and work together to get Gally's done.

And speaking off, the blond had been walking around the Glade trying to find those two but no one knew where they were, so he took a chance and went to look for them in (M/n)'s room...

Yep, there they were.

"Damn, I've been looking for you two..." He announced his presence as he approached them, and he instantly caught notice of both flower crowns sitting atop their heads while working as a team to finish a third one, even Bark was wearing one, "What are you doing?"

(M/n) briefly looked up and smiled before continuing to wrap the dandelions around the each other, "Your crown."

Gally stayed silent for a couple of seconds, processing what he just heard, "My crown?"

Both Chuck and (M/n) nodded, finally finishing putting the last flower together and they stood up with a cheerful 'yeah!'.

"Okay, come here," Gally didn't move as (M/n) approached him, staring at the flower crown in his hands, "Big guy," he lifted both arms as a way to make Gally lean down, which he did with a subtle roll of his eyes.

"...whatever," slowly, the crown was placed on his head and (M/n) proceeded to pick strands of his hair to make him look better, he guessed.

"Now we're all pretty," Chuck said with a wide smile on his face, making both older males laugh at his words.

"You're damn right, little man."

Well... No one in the Glade dared comment on Gally's flower crown, although... Maybe Mikah and Alec did, as they asked (M/n) to make one for them as well, to which Doug complained that he also wanted one.

//////

(M/n) tossed and turned in his room, a frown appearing on his frown as his mind showed him images once again.

This time, he was lying down on something cold and hard, probably a gurney, and he was tied down, he was squirming and struggling but couldn't free himself no matter how hard he tried to, he could actually feel his skin burning as the rough fabric around his wrists rubbed on his skin too harshly.

He had no idea where he was, but it appeared to be some sort of medical lab.

Before he could keep looking around him, he heard something to his right and saw a body approaching. It was blurry, as if his eyes had just lost focus suddenly, and that person loomed over him.

"This is for your own good, (M/n)..." That was a voice... He recognized that voice.

The same guy? Again? Who is he?

"Erasing my memories isn't for anyone's good except WICKED's! Thomas, let me go!" He exclaimed angrily at him, fighting the restraints on his arms and legs.

"I... I can't do it, (M/n)... You'll understand soon," he felt Thomas' hand reach up to his head, moving his hair away from his face, and he groaned, shaking his head to avoid his touch.

That's when he noticed someone else was in the room, this person wasn't a man, it was-

"You're taking too long," a female voice echoed in the cold room, and she took something out of Thomas' hand.

"Wait, Teresa-!"

A stinging pain was all he felt, making him groan in pain at how sudden it was, successfully waking him up.

He sat up abruptly, his hand reaching up to his neck where he could still the needle piercing his skin, and he looked around frantically, startled, but soon realizing it was just a dream and he was safe in the Glade.

He messed his hair a bit and reached over to pull his curtains open. The sky was beginning to clear, but it was definitely still late.

He sighed and rested his back against the wall, rubbing his face and groaning in frustration, "Who the shuck are they?"

///////

Breakfast was a little tense for (M/n), but all the guys at the table were loud and funny enough to distract him from the images of his dream, however the memory kept replaying in his mind, but he still tried his best to enjoy the rest of the day.

He spent the morning doing some work and helping Chuck "rehearse" his tour and speech to the new greenie coming up, only being interrupted when lunch was called.

It went past just like morning did, only this time he found himself engaging in conversation with his friends, and now, it was time to wait for the Box with the new greenie, which was taking longer than usual.

(M/n) took a quick detour to his room and grabbed his journal and camera, before making a beeline to the watchtower.

Getting comfortable on his spot, he opened his journal and began writing on it, words appearing on the blank paper as he began narrating the dream he had. He felt like putting it in words could help him understand what it meant or why he had it, maybe even find out who these people were. It just hadn't left his mind, and he would remember it all the moment he became distracted.

Now, there was an addition to 'Thomas' now, another name, "Teresa..." Something about that name made him frown and squirm uncomfortable on his spot, but the sudden sound behind him caught his attention and he couldn't think about it anymore.

He looked over his shoulder, slightly turning his body around, Gally was there, his head poking out through the open hatch.

"You're coming here more often," (M/n) watched how Gally squinted at the bright sunlight, a small smile on his face, letting him know he wasn't mad or judging him for being in the tower.

He sighed and fiddled with his journal, "Yeah... I just need to think," he mumbled while looking down at the writing page.

"About what?" Gally found a more comfortable position, crossing his arms on the wooden floor and resting his chin on the back of his hand.

(M/n) looked at him in complete silence for a moment, before deciding to respond, "About things... From before, you know."

Gally nodded slowly and tilted his head to the side, "You don't wanna tell me."

He found himself almost immediately freaking out internally, but he held it in as he realized the soft smile on Gally's face, and understood that he wasn't mad at him.

"No, I... I do wanna tell you but..." He messed with his hair, anxiously, "I don't even know what half of these things mean, so I didn't wanna rope you into this."

"It's fine, bean, don't worry," (M/n) nodded at Gally's words, trying his best to not let his overthinking mind make him believe that was a lie, "But you know you can tell me anything, right?"

He took a deep breath and smiled at Gally, nodding more convinced this time, "And I will, just... It has to be something important, something significant."

"Something... like?" He stayed quiet for a few seconds, thinking of an example of something important. Like Lucas' being Jansen's son, a man he knew he hated. Or something like saving his life.

Or...

"Does the name... 'Thomas', mean anything to you...?" He finally asked in a whisper, and he watched how Gally's smile faded away from his face.

"You know that name too?"

Before (M/n) could ask Gally what he meant by that, the Box alarm went off in the Glade, catching them off guard.

"Shuck- go, we can talk later," he said to the blond, who reluctantly agreed, hearing the distant shouting of the Builders gathered around the Box.

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in-need-of-gally-content · 1 year ago

Text

|Chapter•Thirty•Four|

•|Masterlist|•

With a chuckle and feeling his face warming up, (M/n) stepped away from Gally and began making his way to where their friends were busy getting the bonfire ready. The weekly bonfires weren't as big as the greenie bonfires were, so there wasn't much to be done, however, the Builders always found a way to get distracted when they weren't working, so it took a while to get them to set it up.

However today seemed to be a different occasion as it did look like a greenie bonfire.

Approaching Alec and Mikah, he looked around for what he could do and spotted the chopped logs scattered nearby, so he crouched down to pick them up, but a foreign hand did it for him instead.

"What...?" Looking up, he saw Gally bending over to pick up those logs, glancing at him for a moment, "Really?"

"You're still recovering, you're not lifting heavy stuff yet, bean," (M/n) huffed and looked around them for a moment, noticing how the guys around immediately went back to what they were doing, making it too obvious that they were paying attention to what was happening between them.

"Clint said I'm okay, Gally, I can help," Gally stood straight once more, and (M/n) saw him reaching his hand out to him, which he took and stood next to the tall blond.

"Hm," Gally hummed with a sceptical expression as his green eyes looked at (M/n) up and down for a few seconds, "Yeah well... I'll be the judge of that, bean," and like always, he ruffled (M/n)'s (curly/wavy/straight) hair, chuckling at the sound of him huffing.

Crossing his arms, he watched how Gally walked toward the bonfire and began placing the logs in place. (M/n) sighed and made his way to one of the logs, sitting on it and watching his friends with a smile on his face. This situation has happened quite a few times, so he knew that arguing with Gally about being able to do work around wouldn't have a different result, so he gave in and simply watched.

Plus, he got to watch him playing around while doing some lifting, it was a win in his book as far as he's concerned.

///////

The Glade was buzzing with energy as dinner was served and everyone gathered around the fire, talking and laughing with each other.

Gally had made some of his non-alcoholic drink and was sitting with (M/n), telling him about his day.

He was rambling about how he got to play with Chuck and Bark for a while, before continuing to teach him some more wood carving and why keeping the wood chips was helpful around the Glade. (M/n) listened attentively and stared at him.

He looked so happy, his smile was wide and he was so cheerful, it made (M/n) melt internally, to him, there was nothing better than hearing Gally happily ramble about his day and seeing him smiling so brightly.

Gally continued talking for a while, until he realized the way he was being stared at, which made him stop abruptly, looking down slightly ashamed, "Uh, sorry... I talked too much..."

At that, (M/n) reached to hold Gally's hand, and maintained eye contact with the blond, "Don't apologize, big guy, actually... You can keep going," Gally looked at him, slightly puzzled.

"What... What do you mean, bean?" (M/n) chuckled and smiled at Gally.

"I like it when you're happy, Gally, and rambling looks good on you," he watched how, under the warm glow of the bonfire, Gally's face began turning slightly pink, but he turned away, feeling his stomach tingling and his heart beating faster.

"Oh... That's nice to hear..." He mumbled with a shy smile and a quiet giggle.

"Alright, everyone," the sound of Alby's grumbly voice caught everyone's attention as he stood up from his spot. Suddenly, the Glade was quiet, only the sound of the wood burning as it crackled was heard, accompanied by the occasional cricket chirping, "It's been a week since some of y'all did something incredibly stupid and immature," he looked at the Sloppers and the twins, who avoided Alby's stare, "Thankfully, we didn't lose anyone because of that, but I hope that this would serve as a lesson, a reminder... Of why the Glade changed and became what it is now."

(M/n) looked at Alby, a few images flashing in his mind at his words, images from the past, from before waking up in the box, memories that faded away when he felt Gally holding his hand, maybe just a little too tight but not enough to cause him pain.

"We're stuck here together. We only have each other. We've been through this before, so let's not keep repeating the same mistake," he announced while raising his cup, and everyone did as well. (M/n) and Gally used their free hand to raise their half-full cup in the air, "Let's become more understanding and respectful from now on, shanks."

The Glade cheered, some of them enthusiastically, and some not so much, but they cheered nonetheless.

As Alby sat back down, Newt stood up and the cheering slowly ceased. He fidgeted with his cup for a few seconds.

"I just wanna say..." His brown eyes landed on (M/n) and he pursed his lips," I'm glad you're okay, (M/n)."

There was something about Newt's voice that made him feel like tearing up, he wasn't sure what it was, but he could hear sincerity in Newt's words.

"And uh... I'm sorry."

With those last words, Newt sat back down in complete silence. Everyone wondered why Newt apologized to (M/n), and even (M/n) did, but... Something told that apology was meant for several things that, while not physically shown or done, Newt felt guilty about, maybe they were just passing thoughts he had, but he smiled and accepted the apology.

"Well... Who wants more food?" Fry exclaimed as he stood up, probably as a way to ease the slightly tense air that filled the Glade, and it was followed by a crowd of 'Me!'s.

//////

The next day, (M/n) realized one of his stitches had fallen off, so he went over to Clint to get the other ones removed, which went pretty well. He did have some issues lifting his arm and a few spots felt numb to the touch, which he figured was gonna happen anyway, so he thanked Clint for his job and they left the Homestead, immediately heading separate ways.

With the new weapon shed built, the Builders and Baggers had been helping around to carry the weapons from the basement to the shed. That's when he spotted Billy carrying a wooden bow.

He felt interested in that weapon and wondered if he could possibly learn some archery, after all, he hadn't really learned how to use a weapon yet.

(M/n) stood by the swing for a short while, maybe he could spot Gally and ask him, but he found himself making eye contact with... The twins.

He forced himself to smile at them, nodding as a greeting, and while they were surprised at his gesture, they nodded back, albeit with a frown on their faces. In moments like that, it was obvious they were twins, they were so perfectly in sync it was almost creepy.

And then Billy stopped by.

"Hey, (M/n)," they smiled at each other, but this time it was genuine, "How's your shoulder? And your leg?"

He looked down at himself, completely forgetting he had been stung until now. He didn't feel discomfort or pain, so he dismissed it. "I actually forgot about my leg, which is funny," he chuckled and so did Billy in response, "And my shoulder is getting better, it'll... Take a while before I can do stuff around normally, but I'm doing fine, Billy, thank you for asking," the Keeper nodded slowly and subtly nibbled on his bottom lip.

(M/n) glanced away, overlooking the way he was being stared at by Billy.

"Well, I have... Stuff to do, so, see you around," (M/n) watched as Billy began walking backwards, leaving him alone by the trees. He gave a small wave toward the Keeper before turning back to stare into the Deadheads, waiting for Gally to come by.

And... There he was.

"Gally," he turned his head at the sound of his name, his focus now turned to (M/n) who was making his way toward him.

"What's wrong, bean?" He saw (M/n) smiling for an instant, and that made him smile as well.

"Nothing's wrong, but I... Wanted to ask you something," Gally frowned and crossed his arms, changing his stance but keeping quiet to allow (M/n) to continue, "Can I practice with the bow?"

He sighed and stared into (M/n)'s eyes, "Can your shoulder handle the strain?"

Oh, he hadn't thought about that...

"I mean... We can check, can't we?" A cheeky smile grew on (M/n)'s face, and Gally shook his head from side to side a few times.

"Fine, but you're helping us make the arrows if any of them break," standing straight, he saluted and began following after the blond.

He was hoping for a few things, one, that his shoulder could take the strain, and two, that the arrows would stay in perfect-ish condition.

///////

Of course, neither of those things came true. He found out his shoulder wasn't quite ready to wield a bow, and he ended up breaking quite a few arrowheads as he was unable to hold the bow straight and aim correctly.

However, thankfully, he didn't have to work on making new arrows just yet because dinner was called, so Gally decided to get stuff fixed and done tomorrow after work.

After each grabbing their food, they sat at the Builders' table and began their unstoppable chattering. Everyone had a good time, even if there were times when he could feel heavy stares on him, and swiftly looking around the Dining area, he would find himself making eye contact with either Stan, Jason or Peter, amongst other Sloppers, thankfully, Lucas never looked his way, and if he did, (M/n) never caught him.

But whenever he would stare into their eyes, he would show them a small smile, trying to look as friendly as he could. Deciding to try and be friends with them was a tough decision, but it was the morally correct one, people do stupid klunk for stupid reasons, and he hoped that they would turn themselves right after what they did.

Maybe it was a lot to ask, or foolish of him to believe they would, but... He had hope.

Dinner went by just like that, slowly but surely being able to just ignore the stares and enjoy the time with his friends for the remaining hours of another day in the Glade.

Once they were done eating, (M/n) took a step outside the Homestead, ready to head over to his treehouse, needing the comfort and safety of his own room, immediately hearing the sound of heavy footsteps behind him. He knew who it was without even glancing behind him.

"Need anything, Gally?" The blond hummed and took longer strides until they were walking side to side.

"Nope, not really, why?" (M/n) grinned and looked at him, slightly confused yet amused.

"Then why are you following me?" Those words seemed to make Gally realize where they were as he looked around for a few seconds, "Let me guess... A habit?"

He chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, I got used to walking you to your room... Sorry..." He laughed nervously while avoiding eye contact.

(M/n) smiled at that.

"I mean, I might need help raising that ladder so... It's nice that you came after me," he bumped his side into Gally, making sure the blond knew he wasn't weirded out or mad at him, which worked to ease Gally's mind.

Soon enough, they arrived at (M/n)'s treehouse, greeting Bark who simply poked his snout out of his doghouse before snuggling back inside, and (M/n) did his best to climb up the stairs, holding most of his weight with his good arm, while Gally made sure he wouldn't fall off and hurt himself more.

Arriving at the balcony, he turned around with a huff and moved his hair away from his face, looking down at Gally, who had a tight grip on the wooden ladder, "You ready?" (M/n) nodded and held the top step of the ladder, getting ready to lift it.

Surprisingly, it was easier than he expected, and he didn't feel much pain in his shoulder, probably because Gally was the one doing most of the lifting, even when he could only reach upward so far.

"You good, bean?" (M/n) looked down at Gally, barely visible under the moonlight shining through the leaves of the trees, and he nodded as he sighed.

"Yep, thank you, Gal," they smiled at each other, despite knowing that the other couldn't see it, and (M/n) reached back to his door, "Well, good night."

"Yeah... Sleep well, see you tomorrow."

//////

"What about this one?" (M/n) grabbed a couple of stones and showed them to Gally, who glanced at each quickly, before pointing at the biggest one.

"That one works."

It was a new day in the Glade, and after being done with their daily work, or the majority of it, Gally and (M/n) had gone deep into the Deadheads to find stones and rocks, any kind that could work as an arrowhead and possibly other tools. They were searching for them near one of the few creeks that were in the woods and were having quite a chill, relaxing time, being able to be together in silence.

Which was unfortunately broken by the sound of rapid footsteps heading their way.

They stood straight and looked around, before noticing the approaching silhouettes of the Sloppers, more specifically, Stan, Peter and Lucas.

Both he and Gally got ready for a possible confrontation with them, and the blond stood slightly in front of (M/n) as a way to protect him from them. They frowned and watched how Stan came to a stop in front of them, and they waited for anything to happen.

"Why?!" Stan exclaimed while glaring at (M/n), whose frown deepened, "Why are you being such a bitch?! Uh?! Letting us go without a punishment?!" Gally and he glanced at each other momentarily before the arguing continued.

Stan kept yelling, angry at (M/n), exclaiming that he kept trying to fix things in the Glade with his understanding personality, constantly forgiving their slinthead behaviour for whatever reason.

(M/n) was beyond confused. Why was he mad, exactly? Stan almost sounded as if he wanted to be punished for his actions, which was weird, in a way. Or maybe he learned the meaning of "guilt" or "remorse", mayhaps, but that wasn't all he had to say.

"But you never understood how we felt with you around! A shucking girl!" Up until this point, (M/n) wasn't even mad or angry at Stan for what he was saying, but well...

He was now.

His jaw clenched and his hands closed in tight fists, taking a step forward and standing in front of Gally, getting closer to the Keeper of the Sloppers, "Maybe you're right, Stan, but you can't say that. Neither of you tried to understand how I felt here either, Stan." Confusion flashed in Stan's eyes for a moment, mostly hidden by the annoyance clear in them, "I woke up here like all of you did, I didn't choose to be here, okay? That's something you have no right blaming me for."

Before anyone could add anything, the sound of sticks breaking and crunchy leaves reached their ears.

Alby was standing there, arms crossed with Chuck and Ty peeking behind him. It was clear that both of them had called the Leader over, probably having heard Stan's voice as he yelled at them.

"Everything alright over here?" Stan looked away with a clenched jaw and huffed before turning around and leaving the same way he came. All pairs of eyes stayed on the Keeper until he disappeared behind the trees and (M/n) released a deep breath he didn't know he was holding, closing his head and tilting his head down.

"Yeah, just... A misunderstanding, I guess."

//////

The remaining time of the day, (M/n) tried to distract himself from what had happened earlier, and focused on what Gally and Kurt were explaining to him as they made the new arrowheads. They did it so quickly, it let (M/n) know just how accustomed they were to doing this, and he was kind of impressed.

For now, however, he was practicing on some of the "worse" stones and rocks they found, just to make sure he would learn and not ruin a good stone by accident, which he was grateful for because he did shucked up a couple of them, but he felt like he was getting there... Somehow.

He will be great at this one day, he can feel it.

He briefly looked up at both guys in front of him, and realized they were already assembling the heads onto the wood, while he was still figuring out how to make the correct shape without shattering the whole thing.

"I will get better at this..." He muttered, catching their attention, "One day..." They chuckled and Kurt shook his head before continuing what he was doing, while Gally observed how (M/n) focused back on the stone in his hands, concentrating on getting it as perfect as he could.

He let out a sigh and finished up with his arrow, just to stand up and make his way over to (M/n) sitting next to him, "Let me help you, bean."

(M/n) chuckled, slightly ashamed, "Sorry, big guy."

"Hm, it's okay, I like helping you," they made eye contact, but felt too embarrassed to do anything when one of their friends was literally sitting in front of them, so they looked away and focused back on making the arrows.

14 notes · View notes

in-need-of-gally-content · 1 year ago

Text

|Chapter•Thirty•Three|

•|Masterlist|•

The night was pretty calm, (M/n)'s nightmares weren't as bad but he would still hear Gally's voice helping him calm down. He felt bad about that, how Gally felt like he owed him, as if easing his night terrors was the least he could do for him.

He thought maybe Gally felt guilty for what happened, but (M/n) knew it wasn't his fault, he made his decision the day he went into the Maze, maybe if he had waited a few more minutes the outcome would've been different, but what's done is done.

When his eyes opened, he could see through his slightly blurry sight, how Gally sat up on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees as he rubbed the back of his neck with a quiet groan. He obviously had a bad night of sleep, and it was certain his body was in pain. Maybe he could try to reason with him?

Only once he's gotten something to eat, Gally gets grumpy in the mornings.

"Morning," he mumbled while slowly sitting up, his arm felt stiff from wearing the sling overnight, but he knew the Med-jacks were gonna stop by in a bit to check on his shoulder, make sure the wound was closing nicely and how his strength was coming back.

Gally looked up at him, he had an annoyed expression on his face, but it didn't last long, not when he saw (M/n) yawning and rubbing his eye, still sleepy. "How'd you sleep, bean?" He stood up and sat on the edge of the bed, reaching his hand to move (M/n)'s hair away from his face.

"Well, I don't know about that, but I do know..." The way (M/n) looked at him told him more than enough, and Gally glanced away, "You had a terrible night, Gally, I told you to go to your room, didn't I?"

He sighed, his mood dropping slightly, he almost looked sad, "I just... Wanna take care of you, (M/n)..." Gally looked at him, but couldn't hold eye contact, so he went back to stare at his hands, "If I had done something-."

(M/n) shifted closer and hugged Gally, resting his chin on the blond's shoulder, holding him as tightly and close as he could, stroking his back reassuringly.

"You don't have to do anything for me, Gally, alright? You don't owe me anything," he felt a knot in his throat at (M/n)'s words, he sounded so reassuring and sure of himself, but Gally had his doubts.

"But-"

"No buts," (M/n) backed away and held Gally's face, making eye contact with his green eyes, noticing their usual brightness was gone, "Having you with me is all I could ever ask for, okay?" Gally stayed silent for a few seconds, before finally nodding, making (M/n) smile, "Now go, breakfast should be ready soon."

He watched Gally nod as he stood up and headed to the door. It took him a few seconds, but he finally managed to speak.

"Will it be alright if I sleep in your room, with you?" His walking came to a halt and he looked over his shoulder. (M/n) saw the smile he was trying to hide immediately, snickering at how Gally cleared his throat and tried to appear serious.

"Yeah- I think it'll be alright, bean."

And after that, he finally stepped out and made his way to the Dining area, needing some food in his stomach soon.

//////

After breakfast was over, Clint and Jeff came by to check on him. He was bored out of his mind, having nothing to do while he recovered, it was annoying, to say the least. He needed something to do.

"Well, you can probably use your nowarm, but slowly, alright?" He nodded and watchhed Jeff putting the sling back on, although slightly looser, probably to give him more movement.

"Anything I can't do yet?" Clint walked out of the bathroom with his hands washed and hummed in affirmation.

"Don't lift heavy stuff, and take breaks between tasks, your shoulder will get tired quickly until it's fully healed," of course, that makes sense, (M/n) nodded at them and showed them a smile.

"Thank you, guys," they smiled back and left the med room.

(M/n) looked down at his hand, and started moving his fingers, just to make sure it wasn't a bother on his shoulder. Pretty much painless. So he reached for the half-full water bottle and lifted it. His grip faltered but he didn't drop it, and the pain was pretty much the same. Well, at least he could do that with little to no problems.

"Bean," Gally's voice caught his attention, and he saw him holding a steaming cup... Of coffee, "Here, I thought you'd like some."

He reached for the cup and took a deep breath, loving the smell of coffee in the morning, before blowing gently and taking a sip. It was exactly as (bitter/sweet) as he liked it. Momentarily, he wondered how Gally knew how he liked his coffee, until he remembered the time Gally told him he knew him, perhaps he actually knew him better than expected.

"Hey, Gally," the blond hummed as he leaned against the door frame, his arms crossed, "Could you bring me my journal? It's so boring here," Gally chuckled, briefly looking at the ground before nodding.

"Be right back," (M/n) smiled and took another sip of his coffee, and patiently waited.

Gally walked through the Deadheads and reached (M/n)'s treehouse, briefly greeted Bark who Chuck had been taking care of, playing with him and keeping his bowls full, and he climbed up the ladder. He opened the door and looked around. He had been trying to keep the room clean and organised whenever he would have a few minutes to spare during the day, so he knew where everything was.

(M/n)'s journal was usually kept inside the leather bag he had sewed for it, and its spot was on top of the bookshelf. Gally wondered if he should bring the journal itself, or take it with the bag... (M/n) liked it with the bag because it kept it safe so he took it and left the room.

A few minutes went past when he heard heavy footsteps on the wood of the Homestead, and he knew it was Gally who had come back. And yeah, there he was.

"Here you go," they smiled at each other as he reached his hand to grab the bag strap in his hand, "So-"

"Gally," he looked over his shoulder and saw Alby standing by the door, beckoning him over. He closed his eyes and sighed, showing (M/n) a forced grin that made him snicker.

"Get some rest." He nodded and watched as Gally left, leaving the door slightly open, probably so no one would disturb him, and he sighed deeply, getting into a comfortable position on the bed and getting the journal out of its bag.

Releasing a short breath, he thought about writing down everything that had happened. The last page written was the one with the song he had been working on, so he skipped to the next page and began. What happened on Box day, going to the Maze, the Griver... The memories...

He stopped writing for a moment, remembering faint images and phrases, but... He kept thinking of the note he sent up in the Box, he wanted to make sure his hunch was right, but he was unsure if he should ask Alby about it. Maybe, he'll keep the thought in his mind and tell him some other day.

(M/n) wrote for a while, adding stuff that occurred after he woke up, getting lost in the words that appeared on the pages, and he continued until his hand began to hurt from all the use. Writing nonstop for three hours was meant to cause some sort of pain so he took a break.

He frowned as the memory of Chuck's gift appeared in his mind, and he tapped the pocket of his trousers... Yep, there it was. Holding it in his hand, he observed it and twirled it around his fingers. He wondered if he could make a necklace for it, the hole it had at the top was big enough for some fabric to pass through, so maybe.

Well, he was gonna work on that now, thankfully he kept some sewing stuff in the pocket of the bag, just because the thread would snap and he would have to sew it again, and so, he got his hands ready to work.

///////

In the early evening, (M/n) decided he had enough rest, and walked out of the Homestead, enjoying the breeze he felt on his skin when he stepped outside. He sighed and looked around, spotting his favourite people busy working.

He made his way to the swing and sat on it, petting Bark when he ran to sit in between his legs and he waved at Chuck, who was working nearby. (M/n) made eye contact with Stan and Peter, the way his expression hardened was probably enough for them to understand.

No stupid things and slinthead behaviour also meant not messing around or bullying Chuck in any way. And for extra precaution, the greenie remained near (M/n) at all times.

Every now and again he would look toward Gally, watching as he worked on building what seemed like a new shed. They would smile at each other whenever they made eye contact, and their stare would linger for almost too long while the other wasn't aware.

"(M/n)," he turned to look down at Chuck, who had been doing the laundry, rubbing the clothes in his chubby hands to get rid of a stubborn stain, "Can you help me?"

Chuck squeezed the water out of the shirt in his hands as he stood up. The line for the washed laundry was too high for him to reach, and he was usually scared of standing on the logs or tree trunks that worked as step stools as they were too wobbly.

He nodded and stood up, grabbing the collar of the shirt and dropping it on the line. With the middle of the shirt on the rope and properly placed -which was hard to do it with one hand- he reached his hand to Chuck, silently asking for a pin, and he placed it in the middle, holding the shirt in place. And they did the same with the few clothes left.

"Done," he ruffled Chuck's hair who huffed and snickered, "Anything else?"

His curls swayed around as he shook his head side to side, "Nope, that was the last thing I had." (M/n) turned around and made his way back on the swing, followed by Chuck, "I-," the way he suddenly stopped talking caught his attention so he looked up and realized the happy expression on his flushed face.

"Chuck?"

"You made it a necklace?" He glanced down at himself, the wooden moon had found its way to poke from within the fabric of his clothes and he nodded with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I didn't want to lose it," he reached his hand to hold it, fidgeting with it and enjoying the happiness he could see in Chuck's expression and body language.

"Someone's happy, what's going on?" They looked toward the owner of the voice, and watched as Gally drank some water, his skin glistening with sweat, his clothes dirty with dust and wood chips.

"I turned Chuck's gift into a necklace," Gally's eyes trailed down to look at the wood carving hanging in front of (M/n)'s chest, "I said I didn't want to lose it and... He became like that."

They stared at Chuck, who was doing a little victory dance.

"Oh, makes mine look lame," he tapped his utility belt and (M/n) looked down. There was the sun, swaying slightly around. It looked like an ornament.

That got Chuck's attention, "I... I didn't think you guys would actually like them..." A pout found its way to Chuck's lips, his eyes shining as they glossed over with tears, and both of them reached to hug him.

"Of course we like them, little buddy, we love them," (M/n) nodded at Gally's words and gently caressed his curly hair.

"Makes us a little family, don't they?" He repeated the words Chuck had said when he gave them to them the previous day. He nodded and took a shaky breath, blinking the tears away.

Chuck watched how both of them backed away and began to talk to each other, "What are you working on?"

"An outdoor shed for the weapons, Alby said it'll be easier to get them if they're not in the basement," (M/n) nodded and tilted his head to peek behind Gally, "It's gonna be put in the Deadheads, I'm just building the walls here, dummy."

With that, Gally's hand lifted to ruffle (M/n)'s hair, laughing as he huffed, "Stop it," he whined with a smile while reaching up to grab Gally's arm and hold his hand away from his hair.

That's when Chuck noticed the bracelets on their wrists. He recognized them as what he had watched Gally carving a few days ago, and he felt a smile on his face when he read 'Gally' and '(M/n)' carved on the wood.

///////

A new day shone down on the Glade. Another Box day coming by.

A week had officially passed and he no longer needed the sling, but his stitches needed one or two more days before Clint could take them. The pain was mostly gone except for the occasional stinging feeling, like a needle poking him, but it was tolerable so he didn't mind it.

And now, Alby had stopped by to check up on him.

"How are you doing, (M/n)? Feeling better?" He shrugged with his good shoulder and set his journal down on the bedside table.

"As better as I can having Clint and Jeff watching over me," they chuckled lightly at the joke, and he remembered. Maybe he could ask him now, "Uh... Alby," he stopped before leaving, and looked back at (M/n).

"Hm?"

"Can I... See the note?" Alby frowned, slightly confused.

"The note?" He nodded and squirmed on the bed.

"Yeah, from when Gally went in the Maze," at that, Alby assumed Gally had told (M/n) about what had happened almost two years ago, and that got him surprised, seeing how Gally usually avoided the topic entirely instead of talking it out.

But he told (M/n) about it? They were closer than he had previously assumed.

With that conclusion, he nodded and turned around to leave the med room, "Alright, come on." (M/n) stood up from the bed, picked up his journal and followed Alby up the stairs.

His leg was better even though the faint blue veins remained and never left, he just had the occasional cramp but he was overall better.

Alby walked into his room and he wondered if he should follow him, but the Leader allowed him in, "Let me find it."

He hummed and nodded, standing by the door feeling slightly awkward. He felt as if he was somewhere he shouldn't be and that was a weird feeling, it was different than the usual feeling he had about the Glade.

"Here it is," Alby's voice snapped out of his thoughts, and he watched him as he handed him a folded paper. Slowly, he grabbed it. It was slightly dusty and it had a few creases on it.

It looked like it would break any moment now. He opened it as gently as he could and began reading the words written with black ink.

He knew it. It was his handwriting.

And the knowledge that he had saved Gally made him feel nauseous, if his past self hadn't done that, then Gally would be...

"(M/n)? You alright?" He felt Alby's hands on his upper back, "Come here, sit down," he was guided to the neatly made bed and he sat down. He felt his whole body trembling and he was at a loss for words, "Easy, take a deep breath."

He found himself looking at Alby and imitating his breaking pattern, managing to calm down enough to gather his thoughts. For a few seconds, he debated if he should tell Alby what he discovered just now, but Alby should- he had to know.

"I'm okay, but... Look," (M/n) handed him the note and took his journal from its bag, opening the written pages with the memories he got back after being stung, and showed it to the Leader, "I wrote that note, Alby."

Now he was speechless, his sight shifting from the note to the journal. The handwriting was too similar to be just a coincidence, but that only made things more confusing for him and (M/n). For everyone.

He took a deep breath, and let Alby process this new info he just received, because he was about to drop more, "After I got stung, a few of my memories came back and... I still have no idea what half of them mean."

"You can tell me," Alby mumbled without taking his eyes away from the note.

"The people that put us here... We're an experiment to them," he decided to drop the heaviest bomb, the word 'subjects' fresh in his mind.

"An experiment... For what?" (M/n) shrugged, shamefully looking at the floor, shaking his head in response.

"That's the part I can't remember," they remained silent for a few seconds and (M/n) debated whether he should say more or leave it at that.

But Alby had a question, a rather important one, "But... How you do know this stuff?"

(M/n) hoped this question wouldn't come up, he didn't want anyone to think worse of him than they already did, but maybe his past actions wouldn't mean anything now.

"I worked for them, I'm the one who watched over everyone before they were sent away," he glanced back at Alby for a moment before turning back to look down, "I stopped when I found they were lying to me."

He took a deep breath and he felt Alby's hand in his back, rubbing slow circles and he took it as a gesture of emotional support. At least he's not mad at me, (M/n) thought.

"I was told- they promised me everyone was being sent somewhere safe, a place where they could monitor their brain activity..." He frowned as he racked his memory, trying to find the reason why for everything, "There was something they wanted to find but I don't know what it is, but after that I tried to save everyone. Get them out of the trials."

The whole time he spoke, Alby remained silent, listening attentively. (M/n) could be telling lies, he could just be telling him something he saw in a dream and not an actual event that occurred years ago. He could've kicked him out and told him to stop feeding himself lies but... He couldn't, because there was a part of him that believed what (M/n) was telling him.

"Alby, there are many more Mazes like this one out there, filled with guys and girls who have no idea what all of this even means," his attention was brought back from the small pause (M/n) had done, "They found out I was the one leaking the locations of the Mazes to an organization that went against them. They wiped my memory and brought me here."

"That's... A lot," they nodded, agreeing that indeed it was a lot of stuff to digest in one go, "Anything else?"

Should I tell him? Maybe it will be good but... Maybe it wouldn't.

"There... There is a way out of here, Alby, but they're gonna let us leave when they think it's time, and I don't know how long that might take..." He saw a glimmer of hope in Alby's eyes, and he felt relieved that telling him seemed to have been the right decision, "I'm sorry I just dumped all of this on you, but you had to know."

He took a deep sigh and shook his head, "Thank you for telling me, (M/n)." A lip-tight smile appeared on his face with a sharp nod, a silent way to say 'you're welcome'.

"What about the others? Do you think... They should know?" Alby huffed and grunted, handing the journal back to (M/n).

"They can't know, you've seen how weak and fragile peace can be in a place like this, so... We're not saying anything, okay?" They stood up from the bed and (M/n) watched Alby heading to the door.

"Alright," they walked out and Alby rushed down the stairs, hurrying to open the basement door. (M/n) let out a deep sigh and headed to Gally's room, quickly dropping his journal on the desk and rushing out the front door of the Homestead.

He didn't have time to take more than ten steps before he heard a loud sigh coming from his side, "There you are," Gally's voice made him turn around in time to face him, feeling the Builder's arms wrapped around his shoulders. It's safe to say (M/n) was caught off guard by this.

"Gally-?"

"I get so scared when you're not with me, bean... I don't want to lose you, not again," (M/n) felt a knot growing in his throat, the way Gally's voice shook made him feel emotional, and the tight grip he had around him only enhanced it.

His arms lifted and reached around to hug Gally's middle, tightly, "You're not gonna lose me, Gally."

Slowly, he backed away enough for his hands to gently hold (M/n)'s face, "I can't imagine living another day without you, (M/n)," the emotion swirling in his green eyes were so intense it made him feel dizzy.

He smiled and reached his hands up to hold Gally's in his.

"I feel the same way, Gally..."

They stared into each other's eyes for a couple of seconds, feeling their bodies loosening up and their heartbeats slowing down. It was a nice moment between them, and yet, like every other moment they had, they got interrupted, again.

"Hey, lovebirds! You're gonna help us with the bonfire?!" They chuckled, embarrassed at how they were being stared at, and took a step back.

"On it!"

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in-need-of-gally-content · 1 year ago

Text

|Chapter•Thirty•Two|

•|Masterlist|•

(M/n) was sure he didn't sleep nearly enough that night. He kept having dreams that prevented that, images that faded from his mind within seconds after realizing he was dreaming, he had no idea what these things he was seeing in his sleep were, but they didn't leave him rest for longer than an hour each time.

Even so, Gally refused to leave, and had been there with him, holding him close and talking to him, making sure (M/n) would calm down before going to sleep himself. He didn't care if he got no sleep that night, (M/n) didn't either, and Gally would never blame him for something he couldn't control.

Like that, morning soon came around.

When his eyes opened, he groaned, feeling extremely tired and exhausted, but at least Gally was there, his eyes opening as well. He felt (M/n) moving in his arms and he woke up, worried his night terror were still tormenting his mind, but he saw his (e/c) eyes open, squinting and frowning. There wasn't any sunlight coming directly through, so Gally guessed he was just still sleepy and tired, he felt the same.

"I would ask how you slept but..." He began saying, slowly sitting up on the bed, careful to not hurt (M/n) as he did, "I know we had a horrible night."

(M/n) nodded and showed him an apologetic smile, "Sorry I... Kept you awake," Gally chuckled and moved (M/n)'s hair away from his face.

"It wasn't your fault, bean," they stayed silent for a moment, and both of them glanced at the door when they heard it opening.

Clint and Jeff walked in, "Good morning, guys, we have to check up on the patient," (M/n) let out a breath through his nose, in a way that sounded like a quiet laugh, and Gally stood up from the bed, heading to the couch.

"Try not to move, alright?" He nodded at Clint's instruction, and Jeff undid the knot of the makeshift sling keeping his arm still, "Okay, can you stretch your arm?" (M/n) took a deep breath and slowly but surely, began to stretch his arm, "Good, let it relax. Jeff," without a word, the Med-jack began to undo the top buttons of the shirt he was wearing, letting the fabric drop to his elbows so they could change the bandages and gauze while assessing his wound.

While Clint cleaned some dry blood around the stitches, Jeff checked the state of his leg. The hole made by the Griever's sting had closed and it was drying, healing on its own, and the veins around were fading, albeit slowly. This time around, Clint covered this shoulder with the gauze and tape, it was healing nicely so the bandage wasn't necessarily needed for now.

"You might be limping for a few days, but your leg should be better by tomorrow or the day after, and it'll take like a week for the stitches to come off, (M/n)," he nodded in understatement at Jeff's words, remaining silent for the most part.

(M/n) watched them as they threw everything they used away, "Clint," both Medjacks looked at him, one more attentively than the other, "Can I go outside?"

The Keeper smiled at him, "If you can walk, then sure, (M/n), just don't push yourself." He chuckled in response and hissed in pain soon after, Jeff handed him a painkiller and some water for him to drink, which he took and nodded as a thank you before silently watching the Medjacks leaving the room.

(M/n) swallowed the pill he was given and looked at Gally, who had been sitting on the couch in total silence. He glanced away the moment his green eyes locked onto (M/n)'s, a little nervous about being caught staring.

"Gally, could you help me?" For one reason or another, neither Clint nor Jeff had bothered fixing his shirt, so he was left exposed to any prying eye that were to walk in, and the last thing he wanted was for someone to walk in. Gally looked back at (M/n), who motioned toward himself, pointing at the unbuttoned shirt he was left with.

The sight made Gally feel even more nervous and flustered, maybe he was staring, but he wasn't looking there to begin with, he hadn't realized until now. Despite the heat he felt within his body, he nodded and stood up from his spot.

(M/n) did the same as he watched Gally taking the few steps that separated them until they were face to face. As Gally reached for the buttons, (M/n) noticed how much his hands were shaking. A subtle frown appeared on his brow, slightly covered by his hair falling on his forehead, one that faded once he stared up and saw how red Gally's face was.

His eyes didn't know where to look and he kept swiftly licking his lips and nibbling on them, sometimes even pressing them together. (M/n) had noticed his shifty behaviour, but this was different. He thought Gally was just embarrassed to watch him with his sports bra exposed but... Maybe it was something else? Perhaps it was because (M/n) was wearing his clothes?

"D-done," Gally cleared his throat to hide his stutter, but (M/n) heard it, and that snapped him back to reality, he had been so distracted by how cute Gally looked with that blush on his face, and the stutter only made (M/n)'s lips pull up in the smallest mischievous smirk.

With the shirt buttoned up, Gally grabbed the makeshift sling and helped (M/n) support his injured arm on it, and well, he had to say something to Gally.

"Honestly..." Gally stared into his eyes when he spoke, feeling his breath hitch and heart beating faster when he saw (M/n) leaning closer to his face, "You're the cutest when you're all flustered and red, Gally."

And like that, he stood up from the bed, limped past the blond and headed out of the room leaving Gally all by himself, a wide smirk on his face as he made his way to the dining area.

Fry was happy to see (M/n), everyone in the Glade was aware of him being awake and recovering but not everyone was allowed to see him because he needed rest, that and the rest of the guys had work to do, of course, no one dared question Gally about it.

"Hey, it's so nice to see you're doing good, greenbean," Fry had a wide smile on his face, and (M/n) saw the slightest hint of his dark eyes getting glossy with tears, "Here, you gotta eat a lot to get better quicker, right?" (M/n) grabbed the tray and managed to keep it supported against his body, balancing the plate and glass of water to prevent everything from falling, "You better eat it all~!"

(M/n) chuckled and nodded as he turned around, "I will, Fry!"

The moment he made his appearance, everything got quiet, every pair of eyes on him. It felt like hours went by with how intense their staring was, but only a second had passed before they cheered his name. (M/n) unintentionally stared at the Sloppers' table, but realized Chuck and Ty weren't there, they were sitting with the Track-hoes, which he was thankful for, but he got to see how fucked up Stan's face continued to look.

And in fact, Peter didn't have any injuries on him, he had a busted lip but it was pretty much healed by now, and he was relieved, at least nothing serious had actually happened to him that day...

"(M/n)! Welcome back!" The Builders cheered him on and beckoned him to sit with them, he chuckled and walked toward the empty stop next to Mikah.

"Hey, guys," despite the smiles they had on their faces, (M/n) saw how their eyes were glossy, just like Fry's were when they talked, "I've missed you too, shanks," at that, everyone's first instinct would've been shake him around and playfully push him around, but they held back from doing so.

"Never do that again, made us get worried," Doug mumbled with a pout, and (M/n) felt bad about putting his friends through that, but there were sounds of fake disgust going around the table.

"Don't do that, you don't look cute at all, D," Alec muttered before drinking some of his water, and grunts of agreement were heard soon after.

(M/n) watched Doug cross his arms and frown, "You guys are mean." He chuckled and reached to grab his spoon, but it disappeared from his tray, taken away by a foreign hand.

Before he could look behind him to see who it was, he was sitting next to him. "Let me help you," Gally picked up some food off of (M/n)'s plate and lifted the spoon to his mouth.

(M/n) stared at him for a few seconds while Gally simply waited for him to open his mouth, "I can... Feed myself, you know that, right?" All Gally did was nod a few times, refusing to lower his hand, "You don't have to-."

"I want to, now eat," with a heavy sigh, (M/n) let himself be fed, and honestly, he didn't mind it after a while, if Gally wanted something he was gonna get it, he was that stubborn.

But hey, at least, Fry's meat stew tasted pretty good.

///////

To no one's surprise, Gally prohibited (M/n) from doing any kind of work around the Glade, which he understood and highly doubted he could do any kind of lifting with the state of his shoulder and whole arm, so he stayed on the swing for the whole morning and afternoon. Even tho he couldn't work, it didn't mean he wasn't hyping the others while they worked.

He spoke with them while Gally remained at least two feet away from him, standing guard with his arms crossed and a deep frown on his brow, he refused to leave (M/n) alone, and again, he didn't refuse. He actually reached his hand out to Gally so he would stand closer, locking their pinkies together and feeling themselves relaxing at being in the other's company.

And now, a while after lunch was over, nearing the late evening, footsteps were heard coming from their side, and they saw Chuck running toward them, a wide smile on his flushed face. "(M/n)! I'm done!"

He stopped in front of them and excitedly extended his arms out, palms open and facing up, each one with the wood carving he had been working on. (M/n) noticed small cuts here and there on Chuck's fingers, but his attention fell on the crescent moon and sun-shaped sculptures he had made.

"I'm guessing only one is mine?" His voice had a playful tone as he asked, and Chuck snickered at that.

"Yes, this one is yours," (M/n) took the moon as it was handed to him, and he held it in his hand, he could tell it had been sanded when he held it, and a small smile showed up on his face as he looked at it, "And this one is Gally's."

(M/n) noticed the surprised expression on his face, so he guessed Gally had no idea he was gonna get something from Chuck, but he held the sun with a confused expression on his face. Something about him getting the sun was weird, but he was still happy about receiving one.

"And this one is mine," Chuck showed them the star carving he had turned into a bracelet. It was a hollowed star so making it a bracelet was pretty easy. "We're... Like a little family now..." His voice got quiet as he looked down, embarrassed while fidgeting in place.

With a growing smile on his face, (M/n) leaned closer and hugged Chuck with his good arm, caressing his curls gently, "I love it, Chuck, thank you," a giggle escaped past Chuck's lips, accepting the hug happily before taking a step back, looking at Gally, who had remained next to them, with a smile on his face.

"Gally helped me make them," (M/n) looked up at him, watching how he let out a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of his head.

"You wanted to make something for (M/n)... Of course I had to help you, buddy," Chuck groaned as Gally ruffled his curly hair, and (M/n) smiled fondly at them. He could vividly remember his first day around, when Gally gave him the tour around the Glade.

Somehow, the Keeper of Builders, who had been one of the most reluctant about his presence around, became the first to accept him the way he was, never once judged him and tolerated him enough to become the best friends they are today. (M/n) almost couldn't believe it, but there had always been something about Gally that made him more likeable and friendly in his eyes.

"Gally," the blond turned around at the call of his name, and saw Alby standing nearby, "Come on, we're having a Keeper Gathering," he sighed and kept the wood carving in his pocket, taking a step to follow the Leader, "(M/n)'s coming too."

He blinked confused and looked at Gally, who seemed like he knew why (M/n) was needed at the Gathering. "Let's go," Gally helped him stand up from the swing and made sure to support (M/n)'s weight on him.

(M/n) almost laughed at how hesitant Gally was about putting his hand around his waist or hip to help him, so he felt Gally's hand resting on his back. He, however, did wrap his good arm around Gally's middle, with the excuse of his limping leg, and to see the subtle pink blush he tried so hard to hide.

They followed Alby inside the Homestead and to the room at the back, they were silent the whole way there.

Opening the door, Alby walked in first and waited for Gally and (M/n) to walk in as well. The moment he entered the room and the door closed behind them, (M/n) saw all the Keepers already there, waiting on their seats for the Gathering to start, and on the opposite end of Alby's chair, were the Sloppers -or at least those who he assumed were involved in the whole Peter incident- and accompanied by the twins. They were kneeling on the ground, their hands behind their back, and even if (M/n) couldn't see it, he assumed they were tied.

Gally took (M/n) to the only two empty chairs and sat together.

"(M/n) is the only one that doesn't know what happened with details, so let me explain once again..." Alby looked at (M/n), and with a deep breath, began to explain what exactly had happened last Box day. He blinked and looked down for a few seconds while he listened to Alby's voice, hearing the other side of the story. There was a heavy silence when he finished, but he directed his sight at the Keepers before speaking again, "Now, we have to make a decision."

A hesitant hand raised in the room before anyone could start speaking their mind about the situation, and Alby permitted Billy to talk. "I think... (M/n) should be the one deciding, right? He's the victim here, after all..." He muttered rather quietly.

"We..." (M/n) leaned closer when Gally began to whisper to him, "We didn't want to give you that responsibility and put pressure on your decision, bean," he looked at Gally and smiled.

"I'm okay with that, Gally." Alby nodded to himself at Billy's words, and directed the attention to the rest.

"What does everyone think?" They silently agreed, if anyone had the right to decide what faith their antagonizers should have, was (M/n).

Will they be put in the Slammer? Or will they be Banished?

Everyone waited in silence for (M/n) to pick their punishment, and for once, the culprits were scared of the emotionless stare (M/n) had in his eyes. Had they really fucked him up so badly?

He took a deep breath and stared deeply into Stan's eyes, "I want us to be friends."

Confused glances were exchanged with the Keepers, staring at (M/n) as if he had grown a second head, they couldn't believe what he said, and they thought they might have heard him wrong. Even the guys on their "trial" were surprised by his decision.

"Bean, do you realize what you're saying?" Even if he had said to himself he would be okay with anything (M/n) decided, Gally was unsure if he could be alright with this decision of his.

"Yes, Gally, don't worry," with that, (M/n) stood up and took a step to stand directly in front of Stan, every pair of eyes staring up at him. "I don't know what I did, or didn't do, to make all of you hate me, but... This has to stop," with the room consumed by the silence, a few of the Sloppers looked down, ashamed, "We only have each other. We're not rivals. We're not enemies here. The real enemy..." He lifted his arm, pointing in the direction of the Maze, "Is out there, in the Maze and beyond. So... Let's just try to get along."

The Keepers felt admiration for (M/n), watching him stand his ground and defend himself without using violence. Gally felt a proud smile growing on his face, crossing his arms as he watched (M/n) attentively.

"So... You don't hate us? Even after everything we did?" (M/n) frowned at Stan's words, who couldn't hold eye contact with him.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't like you shanks one bit," his jaw clenched, observing every guy kneeling in front of him, "But, we're stuck here together for who knows how much longer, and I don't think lashing at each other's throat is the ideal behaviour, alright?" The Sloppers exchanged glances with each other in complete silence.

But it was soon broken, "You shanks should be thanking him right now, he's giving you a second chance instead of a punishment for what you did," (M/n) turned around to look at Newt, he had a frown on his face and he could see his jaw clenched.

"Newt..." He mumbled to himself, catching the blond's attention. Newt glanced at him for an instant before looking back at the Sloppers.

"You have to pick, guys," Alby caught their attention again, "You do what (M/n) said, or... I'm afraid you all will be Banished."

Quietness filled the room yet again, they were seriously thinking about what to do, until Stan reluctantly nodded, "We'll try to be friends, no more... Stupid things, or slinthead behaviour."

"Yeah... Apologize," (M/n) glanced to his side, staring at Gally. They really didn't understand the concept of 'one step at a time', did they?

"Gally-"

"We're sorry," all eyes fell on Jason as he spoke, and they watched how Peter elbowed him, "She- he's the only reason we're still alive... It's the least we owe him."

A few Sloppers nodded, agreeing to Jason's words, and quiet 'I'm sorry's followed right after. (M/n) looked at them, and let out a deep sigh, he really, really hoped they would keep their word.

///////

"You'll be staying here until your shoulder heals, (M/n)," he nodded at Alby's order, he couldn't deny him not only because he was the Leader, but because he was right, climbing the ladder to his room would be, in the least, a hard task. So staying in the med room was the only option he had for the time being.

After dinner, he was peacefully heading to his temporary room -it reminded him how it used to be months back-, and while getting ready to lie down, he saw Gally walking in, a pillow and sheet in his hand.

He stared at Gally as he turned the couch into a makeshift bed and he frowned. (M/n) knew how uncomfortable that couch was, it wasn't made to sleep on so he didn't want Gally sleeping there.

"Gally go to your room," the blond looked at him, raised eyebrows and a smirk on his face.

"I'm not leaving you alone, (M/n), your nightmares haven't stopped yet," he sighed and closed his eyes to prevent them from rolling into the back of his head.

"I'll be fine," Gally crossed his arms and maintained eye contact. He knew better than to believe (M/n)'s words, after all, he was the only one who could calm him down and ease the reaction those nightmares caused to (M/n)'s unconscious mind, always there to help him feel grounded before ever getting to waking up abruptly.

And (M/n) knew that damn well, maybe he wasn't awake and aware of his surroundings, but the images he would see in his dreams would change to something nicer just because he could hear the rumbly sound of Gally's voice and feel his touch.

"Fine..." He sighed in defeat and covered his legs with the bed sheet, "Good night, big guy."

Gally nodded with a smile and turned the lamp off, "Sleep well, bean," and he got on the couch, managing to find a somehow comfortable spot to sleep on.

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