A/N: Thanks everyone for reading, love your reviews! This chapter's got more on Ruth's time in the base. Next chapter will be where we diverge more from the book and film plots ;)

Ruth would have happily hidden away in her room for all eternity. The dread of seeing Group B again was enough to make her appetite vanish. She barely slept though she wanted to desperately. The thought of sinking into blissful oblivion, even if it was only temporary, was undeniably tempting. Yet, she couldn't bring her mind to shut up. Faces, voices, memories. They filled her head through the night. When she could no longer string together lucid thoughts, her body instead focused on one thing. The pain. The constant ache in her chest. It burrowed deeper with every second, yet it still hadn't reached the other side.

She didn't know what she thought would happen. Part of her hoped she could avoid the cafeteria forever. Knowing what had happened last time, perhaps she wouldn't be forced to go again. Maybe someone would bring food to her room or she could go and eat after the cafeteria had emptied. Much to her dismay, her stubbornness wasn't going to be tolerated. To the Right Arm, everyone was the same. Just a lot of kids who'd been through a hell of a lot, but that was over now. As far as the Right Arm were concerned, WICKED was a thing of the past. Now the problem everyone faced was survival. They had a lot more to worry about than the woes of each and every person they'd saved. So, if you wanted to eat, you ate with everyone else at the same time as everyone else, and that was that.

She'd been placed in a room with about ten other girls, none of whom she'd recognised. Part of her had wanted to introduce herself, to grasp this opportunity for a fresh start, but unfortunately, they already knew her. All of them had witnessed the scene with Aris. None of them spoke to her; they watched her with wary eyes as they whispered to each other. They would go for dinner and leave Ruth in the silence of the barrack. Today however, once everyone had shuffled out the door, a man walked in.

He didn't give his name, only told her that she had to join the others. His tone was firm- it wasn't a request. Ruth couldn't think of anything worse, the whole experience would be sheer hell. However, Ruth didn't want to be any more of a burden than she already was. Stomping her feet and making a fuss… what was the point? She deserved the way the others treated her, so she would just have to deal with it.

Surprise flitted across the man's face at how easily she complied. He'd clearly been expecting her to put up more of a fight. He followed closely behind her all the way to the hall, thinking she was going to try something. Did she really seem that unstable? As they neared the hall, Ruth's heartbeat thudded louder in her ears and she figured the man was probably right to be cautious. She needed to run back to her room, to hide away. If Beth were with her now…

It's okay Ruth, she'd say, taking her hand. Anyone tries anything funny, I'll take care of them.

But you can't, Ruth cried to the voice in her head. You're not here.

They don't know that.

Something clicked at that moment. As if Ruth had been falling down an endless tunnel and had finally found something to grip onto. Everyone thought she was Beth. Beth who had always been the stronger of the pair. They didn't know Ruth, didn't even know she existed. As far as everyone else was concerned, she was Beth. Which meant that Ruth could be Beth. The part of her that loved Beth ferociously craved to connect to the girl she could never see again. But this didn't mean that Beth was lost. Ruth could keep her alive. To stop cowering in shame and wallowing in guilt, to be brave and strong and good. That is how Beth would want her to be. That is how Beth would be. It was the least she could do, to keep Beth alive, not just in memories that she would tell people years from now, but to show people who she was, and why they were all wrong about her.

The babble of voices fell quiet as Ruth was spotted. Before she could shrink back into her shell, Ruth sucked in a breath and headed towards the food at the back of the hall. Filling her tray, she sat in the nearest empty seat, trying not to care when the group sitting next to her shifted further down the table. Gradually, the murmur of voices resumed, until eventually Ruth was all but forgotten.

Ruth was shocked when two people sat opposite her. Were they being nice or did they just not care about what anyone was saying about her? Unable to resist, she glanced up from her tray to see who the brave individuals were. Instantly Ruth shrunk in on herself when she saw Aris and Ros in front of her. Hurt and fury churned in Aris's eyes and Ruth felt like she was being punched all over again. Ros however, she looked at Ruth calmly, as if she had been waiting for this moment for so long and was finally ready for it to happen.

"I'm Ros," the blonde introduced. After a beat of silence, she nudged the boy beside her.

"She knows who we are, Ros." He argued quietly. The tiny blonde glared at that and immediately Aris caved and looked to Ruth. "I'm Aris."

Ruth blinked, confused. Why were they… Aris hated her, Ros should hate her. Although, now that Ruth thought about it, Ros and Beth were close friends in the Maze, the young girl would know that Beth was incapable of murder. Perhaps she wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery, though that didn't mean she would leap to the conclusion that Beth didn't know who they were. Did she think that WICKED wiped Beth's memory? Put alternate memories in their place to make her do the awful thing she did? Ruth didn't know how to reply. If she told them her name, how would they react? There was no reason for them to think Beth had a twin, would they just believe she was lying?

"Ruth." She said at last, figuring she had nothing to lose. Ros looked to Aris, raising her brows as if to say 'I told you so'. "Beth was my sister." She added. Her eyes suddenly burned as the weight of the word 'was' hit her. She hadn't said it aloud before, and it was like the pain was hitting her anew all over again. "WICKED made her do it." She pushed herself to say, wringing her hands together in her lap. "It wasn't her. She didn't want to. But they made her. And to save Rachel, you didn't just kill the monster they'd made, but you killed her too." She took a deep breath, trying to clear the thickness in her voice. She shook her head. "I'm sorry."

Abandoning her tray, Ruth fled the cafeteria without so much as a glance at Aris and Ros's expressions. She couldn't bring herself to talk about it. If they didn't believe her then so be it, that was their problem.

Observing the scene from across the hall, Thomas cursed under his breath.

"What is it?" Newt asked from beside him.

"I don't think the plan went particularly well." Thomas explained, getting to his feet.

"You can't keep running after her Thomas." Minho remarked. "She's not your responsibility."

"And I'm not yours," he retorted. "So stop worrying about me."

The Right Arm were a big fan of regular check-ups. Not everyone who had been rescued was Immune, although none of the candidates knew this yet, and the Right Arm wanted to ensure that there hadn't been a breach of the Flare. Ruth had asked during one of her medicals why she was being tested if she was in fact Immune. Myers had explained it was good to check on the general health of everyone, they didn't know if another virus could have developed and it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, it would seem a little suspicious if only certain candidates had health checks. The Right Arm knew who was and wasn't Immune since they had WICKED's files, but they chose not to disclose this information to anyone. Ruth didn't understand why it was being kept from people that they weren't Immune.

"Think about it," Myers had said. "How would you react if you were told you weren't Immune? People can lash out when they're frightened, when their survival is at stake. You kids have only just gotten away from WICKED, we don't want to dump more bad news onto you so soon."

"You have to tell them at some point though." Ruth reasoned, her mind on Newt. Part of her was glad she didn't speak to him, it meant she could keep the guilt at bay. The knowledge of his lack of Immunity weighed heavily in her mind whenever she looked at him, never mind having to engage in a casual conversation, as if they had all the time in the world.

"And we will, if there becomes a risk of infection, but since we don't have any Cranks running around I'd say the risk of infection is pretty damn low."

Today, Ruth had just completed one of her medicals and she hopped off the bed, nodding to Myers with a smile. She was nearing the hospital exit when a voice shouted.

"Ruth!" Turning around, Ruth was surprised to seeing Ros scampering after her. The girl stopped when she reached Ruth. "Can we talk?"

"Sure." Ruth replied softly trying to hide her shock, and the pair strolled from the hospital.

"I'm sorry." Ros began. "About all of it. About Beth, about how you've been treated since you got out of the Maze, especially about Aris hitting you. You didn't deserve any of it." Ruth was taken aback by how mature Ros sounded, she was still so young, Ruth guessed about twelve. She remembered how terrified Ros had been when escaping the Maze. How long ago had that been? Nearly three weeks? Yet that trembling girl bared no resemblance to the calm and determined one beside Ruth now.

"You believe me then? That I'm not…"

"Beth? No, you're not her. I don't know how much you know, but I was friends with Beth in the Maze." Her eyes glazed over in thought for a moment. "Real good friends. We were in a trio, and we were so happy." She shook herself from her thoughts, smiling sadly at Ruth. "I'd like to think I can tell when someone is or isn't my best friend."

"Thank you." Was all Ruth could say and she knew Ros understood how thankful she was. She'd been over the moon when Thomas had continued talking to her. Even idle chit chat was something she had missed while everyone was in the Maze. He hadn't asked her anything about her past, about how she knew him, and she appreciated it more than he realised. She didn't want to keep living in her memories, that's all she could do when she had been alone, and what she craved more than anything was company. Now that Ros, someone who had been so close to Beth, said that she believed her, it made her heart pang with gratitude.

They reached the cafeteria for lunch and Ruth stilled as she eyed her usual seat in the back corner.

"Don't even think about it." Ros tugged on her arm. "You're sitting with me."

Ruth's heart panged again.

They arrived at the table with the others from Group B. Aris, Miyoko and three girls Ruth vaguely recognised made a point of not looking at her as she sat down.

"Ignore them." Ros whispered. "They'll come around eventually."

"Hey Ruth, Ros," she looked up to seeing Thomas smiling down at her.

"Hi Thomas." She glanced at the blonde beside her. "You know each other?"

"He's the one that told us to hear you out in the first place." Ros explained. "A damn good effort I'd say."

Ruth raised a brow at Thomas, and he glanced away sheepishly. Thomas was always going out of his way to help her. She really owed him.

"Well don't just stand there," she said. "Sit down, you shank." Thomas grinned at that and sat opposite her and Ros.

Meanwhile, Newt, Winston and Leo broke their stare at Thomas to twist back around and face their table.

"He doesn't give up," Winston said. "You have to give him that at least."

"I don't understand why he trusts her." Minho commented. "All he remembers is that she worked for WICKED and didn't get put in the Maze. Maybe she ratted him and Teresa out and was the reason they got sent in there."

"When we got out the Maze she didn't exactly look like she had been having a great time. If she was completely with WICKED, she wouldn't have looked like that." Newt answered, remembering what Thomas had said. Newt couldn't explain why, but he was also intrigued by the girl. Unlike Thomas, he had no recollection of her, but he hated this black hole in his memories. A whole part of himself was a secret even to himself, and this Ruth seemed to know what that part was. He itched to turn back around and look at her again, as if it would help his memories return.

"Unless WICKED backstabbed her after she betrayed the two of them." Leo suggested.

"Would you shanks stop talking about me like I'm not here." Teresa growled. "Thomas can do what he wants, alright?"

"Good that." Frypan, Tim and Billy all nodded.

"What do you think, Teresa?" Minho asked her. "Do you trust her?"

"I trust Thomas."

"But not her?" Teresa sighed at that.

"Why does it matter Minho? WICKED is gone. Even if she did work for them, she doesn't anymore."

"Only they're not gone." Leo said, his voice quiet, wavering slightly. "Are they?"

Ruth was sat crossed legged on her bed, with Thomas hanging upside down off the end. As glad as they were to be free of WICKED, there really wasn't much to do now other than sit around. The other girls in Ruth's barrack mingled amongst themselves. They no longer bristled when Ruth entered the room, and luckily they didn't seem to care when Thomas came to visit.

"Can I ask you something?" Ruth wrung her hands together as Thomas rocked himself upright. "Why do you spend so much time with me?" She cringed. Well done, Ruth. Way to make him feel wanted.

"You sick of me already?" Thomas teased.

"No, I didn't mean like that." She huffed at her inability to word her question correctly. "What I wanted to ask was, well, you don't know me anywhere near as well as your other friends, so why do you spend more time with me than them?" She winced, still not quite right, but Thomas seemed to understand what she meant as he considered her words for a moment.

"You're right. I've known those guys for as long as I can remember. But beyond that, I knew you too, as did Newt, and I'm guessing the others did too."

Ruth wondered for a second how Thomas knew that Newt had known her. Her heart skipped a beat. Did Newt remember? Suddenly the memory of her calling out Newt's name during the rescue, leaping at him, sprung to mind. The dash of excitement faded as swiftly as it appeared. The way she'd reacted to him, it wasn't hard to work out they'd known each other before the Maze.

"It's not a one-way thing though," Thomas added. "In a way, you don't know us either. The food I used to love, or the music, I've never experienced it. I don't know what I like or don't like, so how could I be exactly the same person I used to be? I'm not, you're not, none of us shanks are. But the fundamentals of a person, the way we think, that can't be changed." Thomas shrugged. "I suppose I wanted you to not feel so isolated that you can't talk to any of us."

"You and Ros are the only ones that actually want to talk to me though." Ruth pointed out, not commenting on his other remark. She'd never thought of it like that. To her, they were still the same people. They had just moved onto the next stage of their lives, albeit involuntarily, and she was still stuck in the past.

"Because the rest of them are being idiots. If you talk to them like you talk to me, they'll come around. Separating yourself from them will only fix this idea they have in their head."

"And what idea would that be?"

"Basically, that you're on WICKED's side. I've told them that's a load of klunk. Even though you didn't go in a Maze, I'm sure they put you through a different kind of hell."

"You really want me to talk to them?" Ruth recognised that Thomas wanted to hang out with the other Gladers, he was just too stubborn to do so without her coming along.

"You want to talk to them too, you just get stuck in your head and chicken out."

"They don't like me!"

"As long as you don't work for WICKED, you're good." He cracked a grin. "Oh wait…" Ruth rolled forward and shoved him backwards, laughing as he tumbled off the bed.

"You piece of klunk."

Ruth thought she was okay, that as much as she wished for more, she had accepted her current relationship with Newt. Current relationship being that she loved him and he had no idea, nor did he remember that he once felt the same. What else was she supposed to do? She couldn't change what they'd been through.

However, as Thomas led her to his table and her eyes landed on Newt, she was overcome by fear. Her feet begged to move closer and run away at the same time. She didn't want to look in his eyes. Those unforgettable brown eyes that once looked at her with so much warmth.

Someone on the table noticed her walking towards them and alerted the others. They glanced up at her, peering curiously. She felt Newt's gaze hit her like a train and her own thudded to the floor. Thomas greeted them as the pair sat down, all the while Ruth chanted to herself not to look at Newt, to resist the temptation.

"Guys this is Ruth," he introduced. "Ruth, this is Teresa." Ruth looked up as Thomas began to point around the table, glad to focus on someone other than Newt. Thomas had acknowledged beforehand that she might already know everyone's names, but he figured the best way to approach the situation was to start from scratch. "Minho, Frypan, Billy, Newt…"

Thomas continued listing their names, but this didn't reach Ruth's ears. She'd caved and peeked a glance at Newt, only to have the oxygen sucked from her lungs as their eyes met. She had expected a hollow chasm, that all she would see would be brown eyes looking at a stranger. Yet, she was surprised by what she found.

No distrust. No frostiness. Just intrigue, and warmth.

It was friendly, polite. The kind of warmth he greeted all the Greenies with. She was glad of it, that he didn't just look at her blankly like the others, but still, it was not the same warmth that had blazed into a fire the last time he'd seen her, when they were dragged apart before the Maze began.

"Hey, it'll be okay." His arms tightened around her. "They'll have their cure soon and this will all be over. I'll be able to see you and Lizzy again."

Ruth's eyes pricked. She had to tell him. She had to say something before he disappeared. Before he forgot her. She pulled back, an urgent look in her eyes.

"You have to listen to me." She hurried. "They're going to-"

Oh no.

"They're going-" Same thing again. The words wouldn't come out. It was like her throat was blocked, or her tongue wouldn't work. Something was stopping her from saying it. She couldn't warn him.

A hand clamped down on her shoulder. "Come on. They'll be going in soon." One of the security guards said gruffly.

"Just give me a minute." She blurted, her eyes not leaving Newt's face. He was evidently confused and desperate to hear the end of her sentence.

"You've had long enough." The guard said, tugging at her arm.

"Newt." She gripped his hand. She had to tell him- he deserved to know. "They haven't told you."

"Told me what?" He asked as her hand was pulled from his. Ruth tried to shove the man away, but another guard had come over to help. "Told me what!" Newt yelled.

Ruth didn't have time to answer, she was being dragged away. She slammed her shoes down but the floor was too slippery to get any grip.

Medical personnel grabbed Newt, stopping him from chasing after her. "Ruth!"

"Newt!" Ruth screamed, trying to yank her arms free. The security guards' bruising grips were too strong, their nails digging into her skin. "I'm sorry! I didn't know! I didn't know!"

Newt's face disappeared as she was hauled around the corner. His expression ingrained into her mind. Confusion, panic, despair… he knew something was wrong, but he didn't know what. Within the hour, his mind would be wiped, and he'd never know about FIRE. Ruth hadn't changed a thing.

She snapped from her daze.

The group had returned to their previous conversations, multiple occurring at once. She deflated slightly, seeing Newt completely unaffected by the meeting of their gazes. He was talking to Leo, Frypan and Winston about where the Right Arm would eventually move them. Suggestions included uninhabited tropical islands and stealing an abandoned spaceship to travel to the moon. Thomas and Teresa were whispering between them about who knows what.

Minho, however, was watching her. His eyebrows knotted together as he puzzled over something. His eyes flickered to Newt, then back to her and the corner of his mouth curled up into a smirk. Ruth wasn't sure how much he had worked out, but she felt herself blushing. As if her feelings for Newt were an embarrassing thing that should be kept secret. It was bizarre, being back in the position of the younger her. The one that had a crush on Newt and was terrified to act on it.

She remembered thinking all that time ago that maybe, just maybe, he had felt the same. For one long moment, she'd prepare herself to make the first move. To take his hand and see what happened. To find the words to tell him how she felt. Then, right at the last second, the rational part of her brain would overtake the hopeful part. He was being sweet to her because he was lovely to everyone. He didn't treat her any differently, he didn't have feelings for her. Why would he? He was far too good for her.

Then he had kissed her, and her little heart had nearly imploded. She'd never felt so euphoric.

Then everything that had happened, happened. She'd felt complete bliss and it had been snatched away from her. It wasn't as though Newt had made the conscious decision to no longer feel that way for her. He hadn't chosen to forget, which only made it more painful. She couldn't force this new Newt to feel things, and she didn't want to tell him about what they had once been. It would only make him feel awkward around her, avoid her even, as he wouldn't want to lead her on, and was the one thing that could make this situation worse.

Over the next few days, Ruth was surprised that Minho made the most effort to speak to her. It was in his nature to be bubbly and friendly, but Ruth also knew that he could really hold a grudge. Understandably, he was still mad at WICKED, only he needed someone to be angry at, someone to blame. Unlucky for Ruth, she was a prime candidate. She'd asked Thomas about it and he was just as surprised by Minho's recent friendliness. Apparently, he had been the most vocal about his distrust whenever Thomas had mentioned her. Despite her suspicions, Ruth was glad of Minho's behaviour. It seemed that the others had acknowledged his shift and followed suit, meaning that gradually, everyone relaxed around her. They didn't bristle when she sat at the table, didn't stare her down if she ever piped up in a conversation.

One day, Ruth was wedged between Minho and Newt at the table, and her heart was pounding erratically as she willed her brain to focus. She'd always avoided sitting next to Newt for this exact reason. Whatever it was that Minho had worked out, he hadn't told the others. She knew this because he was the only one that had ever given her any sort of smirk, and Newt was still as unaffected by her presence as he had been that first day she sat with them. Today, however, Minho had hollered at her, smacking the seat he'd saved between him and Newt. She wanted to strangle Minho, the cheeky git.

She was overly aware of Newt's shoulder brushing against hers and it took everything not to lean in closer. Everything Minho said washed over her- she just watched his expression, so she knew when to nod or laugh. When Newt spoke it was entirely different problem. She heard every word, the amusing way in which he pronounced each of them. He was so close, it was impossible to think straight. It was so tempting to relax entirely into the conversation, but she was worried about seeming too familiar. She didn't want to scare him off.

When at last it was time to return to their rooms, Ruth arched a brow when Minho said he'd catch up with the others and walked along with her. The others also looked at each other quizzically before shrugging and turning off down the corridor.

"You know Ruth, when Thomas started banging on about how we used to know you and how we all needed to give you a chance, I was having none of it."

"He did mention that." Ruth said, wondering what he was getting at.

"I had no reason to trust you and every reason not to." Minho reasoned. "But then I saw the way you looked at Newt and it just clicked. It should have been obvious from the way you acted when we were rescued from WICKED, but at the time it just seemed like an impossible thing. Knowing that we all knew each other before the Maze, and we can't remember it at all, seemed impossible enough. Never mind that shank having a, well," He gestured to her. "Whatever you called yourselves.

"This didn't immediately make me like you though. Just because you liked each other, didn't mean you were on the right side. It made me hate you a little less, but I still didn't like you." Although Ruth expected it, his use of the word hate still stung. "So I told myself I'd do a little digging. I had to figure out what you wanted before you risked dragging Newt into a load of nonsense the shank could do without."

"Honestly, I don't know how the others haven't caught on, I catch you sneaking a look at him every chance you get. Anyway, I started to think about what could have possibly been going on when we were in the Maze. Did you help WICKED torture us straight away? Or did you put up any sort of fight before caving? What exactly was it that you would have helped with? Then I remembered the beetle blades." Ruth's interest was piqued at this. "There was this one beetle blade, it would follow Newt around all the time. There's no way the little critter was just doing that because it had been programmed to do so. Why follow one Glader around all the time? It would even crawl onto his hand or up his arm and sit on his shoulder. No, there was definitely someone controlling that thing. I didn't know why, but that someone was looking out for him."

Minho's voice softened, cracking slightly.

"The day Newt jumped… no one was with him. No one would have found him for hours. But Alby said that one of the beetle blades came up to him, and it was like it was trying to tell him something, so he followed it. Then he found Newt, and the beetle blade crawled away and never came near Newt again. The person controlling that beetle blade had vanished, and I have a feeling it was against their will. That someone had refused to play any part in WICKED's games, they had looked out for Newt every step of the way and one day they crossed the line and WICKED punished them for it."

Ruth stopped at they reached the door to her barrack and she turned to face Minho. Relief filled her, knowing that Minho knew who she was, even if he didn't remember her. He grinned, clapping a hand on her shoulder.

"It's good to finally meet you, Mini Shank."