WICKED property || Maze Runner (Janson Fanfiction)

Chapter V

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Janson had left now, shutting the door behind Esmeralda as she stepped into Dr Paige's office. Her office was pretty big. Of course it was, she was the Director. Esmeralda sat down as she was instructed. She already resented Ava Paige. She was the woman behind it all. The one behind the Maze, and the stupid trials. Of course she had help, like Janson. But she didn't dislike Janson for some reason. Only everyone else at WICKED. Janson just seemed more likable. Or maybe not. Maybe she just liked his cold, unforgiving behaviour. It was a change from all the fake niceness she received.
"Eve-" Before Ava could even begin speaking, Esmeralda cut her off. She wasn't going to play nice with Ava.
"That's not my name." Esmeralda said it bluntly, matter-of-factly.
Ava sighed, "Yes, it is. Eve is the name WICKED gave you. The name we gave you."
Esmeralda shook her head, she was already disliking this woman, "No. My name is Esmeralda." She was going to be insistent about it.
"We named you Eve after the old story in the bible, dear. Adam and Eve?" Ava seemed adamant on calling her 'Eve.' She paused before speaking again, "We choose to name you that, because you were the first female subject we brought to WICKED. And Eve was the first, supposed, woman created by God." Ava smiled, as if it was a clever name to give her.
"I don't care. It's not my name."

Ava could see Esmeralda wasn't going to give it up, so she moved on to more pressing matters, "I've been eager to meet you again, after the end of the Maze Trials."
"Why?" Esmeralda kept the blunt demeanour with Dr Paige.
"Because, dear, your results were the most promising. Yours and another boys."
"Who? Which boy?" She was eager to learn more. Maybe some of her questions could be answered.
"A boy called Thomas. Subject A2." Ava smiled.
"Oh." Was all Esmeralda said. She was going to let Ava do the talking.
"Yes, although Thomas is a subject that's apart of phase 2 of the trials." Ava continued, smiling still. The smile seemed forced.
Esmeralda had a million questions still, but she didn't want to rush.
"What is phase 2?" She asked quietly, thinking it over. She heard the 'Scorch' mentioned a few times, but she didn't know what the Scorch even was.

"The Scorch trials, dear." Still, no context. They probably weren't going to tell her, so she didn't push it further. Esmeralda just kept quiet.
"I know you've been through a hard time, Eve-" Ava was cut off again.
"Esmeralda."
Ava sighed, "Esmeralda... I know you've been through a hard time. You have to understand that... You could be the key to the cure." Ava said the last part quietly, as if to emphasise it.
Esmeralda sighed and didn't say anything else for the moment. She didn't know what to say. She still had questions to ask, but she didn't want to ask them.
"There's a reason you haven't been selected for the Scorch trials. It's not because we don't think you're capable, but we want to study you under more... Controlled environments." Ava continued speaking slowly, as if talking to a child. It was annoying Esmeralda. As was the word 'study.' It was like she was some lab rat they could poke and prod at. It was frustrating and Esmeralda was about to lose her cool.

"Do you even care?" Esmeralda asked it quickly, her annoyance building. Ava looked a little surprised at her sudden show of emotion.
"What do you mean?" Ava asked, sounding surprised.
"Do you even care!?" She raised her voice this time, "Kids died in the Maze. You could've prevented it, but you just sat there and watched!"
"Eve, listen to reason!" Ava also raised her voice, but not from anger. "People are dying out there as much as they are in here!"
"Yeah, but you have the power to prevent these deaths. You just choose not to!" And then she was up, storming out of Ava's office. Dr Paige called for her to come back but she didn't listen. Janson was outside Ava's office, probably waiting to take her back to her room. He saw Esmeralda storm past him, soon followed by Ava. He couldn't help but smirk to himself at her outburst. He expected something like this to happen.
Ava stood outside her office, staring at Esmeralda's back. She looked at Janson, "She's your problem."
Janson rolled his eyes, although he was secretly amused. Ava went back into her office, slamming the door behind her.

Esmeralda continued walking, ignoring Janson as he stalked behind her. He didn't bother catching up to her or calling out. He just followed her, smiling to himself. Esmeralda knew Janson was a few steps behind but she pretended she didn't. After a few moments of this, she spun around to face him. He stopped walking, a few feet away from her. He was still smirking.
"Are you going to keep following me?" She asked, still irritated.
"Yes." Janson said simply. He was still finding this situation funny.
Esmeralda rolled her eyes, annoyed. She was fed up of everyone at the moment.
"Your tantrums are quite amusing. Storming out of the Directors office. What, did she offend your fragile little feelings?" Janson spoke mockingly, clearly teasing her.
Esmeralda shot him an angry glare and snapped back, "I'll hurt your feelings in a minute!"
Janson just laughed, watching as she stormed off down the hall again. He followed after her again.
"Esme', come back. Let's have a little talk. We can discuss your delicate feelings and how to best stop these tantrums." He was still messing with her, knowing full well he was making her more annoyed.
Esmeralda continued walking, ignoring him.

He caught up to her just as she was about to reach the elevator and grabbed her arm. She turned to face him, attempting to yank her arm free. He had a tight grip though.
"Let's talk, yeah?" He wasn't giving her a choice as he pulled her into the elevator. He pressed a button, still holding her arm, and the doors slid shut. He let go of her arm, instead grabbing her shoulders with both of his hands. He gently, yet forcefully, pushed her so her back was against the wall.
"What happened in there, then?" He asked casually, as if he hasn't just dragged her into an elevator and pinned her against the wall. Esmeralda felt a little flustered. They were pretty close, and he was being very touchy.
"I don't know... I just got annoyed." She muttered, rolling her eyes.
Janson stared at her for a long moment. She stared back, not denying the building sexual tension.
"Annoyed, huh?" Janson smirked, tightening his grip on her shoulders. She gulped, but not from nerves. He leaned in a bit closer.
"Yeah..." She responded, glancing over at the opposite wall briefly.
Janson looked on the verge of doing something stupid when the doors finally opened. Esmeralda almost sighed in relief. It was extremely tense in that elevator. He glanced sideways at the door as they slid open, still smirking. He let go of her shoulders and took a step back.

Esmeralda left the elevator, still feeling a little flustered. Janson followed behind her, making sure she goes back to her room. He was a little disappointed that the doors had opened, he was enjoying the closeness. Maybe a little too much. They finally reached her room and Janson swiped his ID card. The door clicked, signalling it was unlocked and Janson opened it for her. She stepped inside her room, and Janson stood in the doorway.
"Let's refrain for tantrums in the future, alright?" He hadn't let the smile drop from his face once.
"Alright." Esmeralda said in response, watching as he nodded, satisfied.
"I'll have your dinner brought to your room. You're still not allowed in the canteen while the others are in there." His smile dropped, replaced with a serious face. He was back to business.
The mention of food made her stomach rumble. She had almost forgotten about her hunger. The soup helped, but she was still starved for 5 days. Janson didn't wait for her response, shutting the door. She heard the click of the lock.

Esmeralda sighed and sat down on her bed. She wondered how Aris was? She hadn't seen him nearly a week. He had promised to get them out of there, seemingly making more progress then her. All she had done was stab a few doctors earning herself days of deprivation. She wanted to see him again, have someone to talk to.
She also thought about what just happened in the elevator. Did she feel anything for Janson? Either way, she couldn't let emotions like that get in the way. Janson was the Assistant Director, working for the organisation she had tried so desperately to defy and escape.
Yet, still, there was something there...

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