Exposed

➰7➰

"Let's keep going."

"You didn't look too hungry for someone that had no food the previous evening." Chris said, looking between the screen and Thomas.

Thomas scratched his head awkwardly.

"Funny story, that. Chuck kind of brought me food when everyone fell asleep?"

"I knew it!" Gally shouted triumphantly and frypan passed him a small pouch.

"You bet on my suffering?" Thomas asked. He should say, incredulously, but he kind of expected it at this point. Especially from Gally.

"Why not? It's good money." Gally shrugged and Thomas snorted in derision.

"Let me get this right..." his dad said, making him look over his shoulder at the man.

"You arrive in a prison type of maze, you're told that it's dangerous beyond the walls and you decide that you want to go out there. You get yourself trapped in there overnight and somehow survive, against all odds. You purposefully let the griever get as close as possible before deciding to run. You get out of the maze and then you decide to go back in? Not even adding to that how dangerous that place is."

Stiles looked around at all the group's faces, exasperation and/or confusion on them all.

"What can I say? I'm a danger magnet."

Newt snorted and looked over at him.

"Tommy. That's like calling a lion harmless." Thomas looked at his husband and grinned.

"That's not a complaint."

Newt shrugged.

"You can be absolutely moronic at times, but you keep things interesting."

"God, just seeing that makes me wish I could have killed Ava."

Thomas saw the looks of confusion from the pack.

"She's the one in charge of the trials. She decided the maze had gone on for long enough and that only those who survived having all doors open would proceed to the next stage."

They nodded and the next one appeared on the screen.

Thomas looked down sadly, he bet he could guess what the next scene would be. Chuck had died saving him. He didn't deserve that. They should have all made it. If anyone deserved to get out, it was Chuck.

Minho and Gally clapped a hand onto each of his shoulders. He appreciated it, really. Gally, more than anyone, understood his guilt over Chuck's death.

"Nice throw." Liam said, making Thomas smile at him slightly. Though it didn't reach his eyes, having to watch his friends dying all over again.

"Do all the villains in your life come back form the dead?" Lydia asked him with a heavy amount of sarcasm in her voice.

"Seems that way." Stiles smiled in resignation.

"There's Peter, Void, Gally, Ava, Janson, Ghost, Teresa, cranks." He shook his head in feigned amusement.

"It must be the Stilinski luck."

"Or lack of." His father added, making them both smile.

"Wait! So, she wasn't dead?!" Liam asked in shock, though Isaac wore the same expression.

"Really, Liam, keep up." Lydia huffed, causing the youngest wolf to sink down slightly.

"To be fair, Lydia, we thought she was dead for quite a while. I mean, we saw her shoot herself."

She gave him the stink eye and he held up his hands in surrender.

"Better." She muttered into Jackson's neck, in response to his reaction.

The others watched their conversation in amusement.

"Wow, Mitch, I've never seen you back down to a girl before... Not even Irene."

He looked over at Hurley, waiting to see what else he would say. There was no way he'd finished his piece.

"Actually, the only girl other than her would probably be Annika and you ended up waterboarding her." He hummed to himself, not caring what the others would say about that information.

Thomas sighed and pinched his nose.

"It's not like I had gone there meaning to do that, but she outed herself as a spy! What was I supposed to do? Say please and thank you and hope she didn't screw us over?"

Stan nodded in agreement.

"You actually made me proud. She had even me fooled."

Thomas smiled and looked around, seeing shocked faces on all of the pack.

"How is it, when I discuss torture, I get shouted at. Yet you can do it no problem?" Peter asked incredulously.

Thomas just flipped him off, getting an offended look from the creeper wolf, "there was a nuclear weapon at play. That's a bit bigger than just sadistic pleasure."

Peter frowned but said no more. Actually, everyone was frowning at the mention of a nuclear weapon, especially all of the adults. Even Vince and Jorge knew what they were.

"Everyone, your attention please!" CD girl called, taking the attention away from Thomas.

He smiled at her in thanks, getting a nod in return.

"If anyone needs a bathroom break, you can go now. And for future reference, the toilets are at the back of the room. Girls on the right and boys on the left." She pointed at the back of the room.

When no one said anything, she clapped her hands and returned to her seat, which had somehow materialised pillows and a blanket while they weren't watching it.

Creepy.