The Tributes from the Maze (Newt/OC)

Cheesecake

Ariadne was finishing off some paperwork and going over last-minute preparations and plans when the door to her office creaked open. She instantly slipped her hand under the desk and pressed her palm flat onto the concealed compartment. A heavy gun fell into her hand. She kept her head down and her pen writing.

"Miss Paige, I didn't see you in the cafeteria for lunch today. We had your favourite dessert, as well. What have you been doing here all day? In fact, I haven't seen for the past week or so." Janson's cold voice filled the room. Darn. This was exactly what she had been trying to avoid. She hoped with all her heart that Newt would take longer in the bathroom. The last thing she needed was for Newt to walk out and see her fraternising with Janson. Then she'd have to play along and he'd be put in the maze or worse. Probably the latter.

"Good evening, sir. I'm sorry, I haven't been out very much. I've got lots of paperwork to catch up on. I'm not sure how you get yours done in time, you must have some superpower we don't know about. I've barely put a dent in it and I've had it since Monday. Although now that you mention it, I wish that I had come and taken a break for lunch. I could do with a slice of cheesecake." She replied politely, looked up and smiled at him. She was so completely worried that he'd find out what she was hiding that she wouldn't have been surprised if her face was red.

"I'm sure if you go down to the kitchen, Cook might be able to give you a slice. I don't know if there were extras though." Janson smiled and his eyes swept the room. When he was satisfied that nothing unusual was going on he turned to leave. Just as he was leaving the handle to the bathroom jiggled and Ariadne froze in her spot. The door opened just a crack and she saw Newt's brown eyes staring at her. Janson's back was still turned so she frantically motioned for him to get back inside and stay there. He quickly disappeared from the door and luckily Janson didn't hear him at all.

"I actually have to go and supervise an animal experiment downstairs. I hear our new population control measure is working very effectively and I want to see. Would you like to accompany me? You always loved seeing experiments." Janson smiled. He was testing her and she knew it.

He was onto something. He may not have known that Newt was in the bathroom but he did know something. If she had made an excuse saying she had to finish her paperwork which she had visibly almost completed he wouldn't believe her and he would be able to tell for sure she was in on whatever he suspected was going on. But if she left the room to go with him it meant he could send in operatives to freely search the room. Either way, he won. So she added in a variable that wasn't there in the first place.

"I would love to come, but you know how much I really hate working on an empty stomach. I think I'll send for someone to bring me food and maybe Cook will have an extra piece of cheesecake." She giggled and patted her stomach. Luckily for her, she was actually hungry and her stomach rumbled loudly. He nodded to her and walked out. A few minutes passed and when she was sure he had gone she breathed an audible sigh of relief. She shoved the gun into her waistband.

"Can I come out now?" Newt whispered from the bathroom. Ariadne craned her neck to see inside the open door. She scurried over, popped her head into the hallway and checked both ways before closing the door.

"Yes, it's safe now. Man, that was close!" Ariadne huffed. "We have to go and meet the General in the air space in about an hour. Everyone will be occupied with dinner apart from our operatives who will be on duty with the maze and other immunes. My mother tweaked with the schedule so that everyone on our side would be in the places they need to be for the escape."

"Okay. I'm sorry about your mother by the way. I'm sure she'll show up sooner or later." Newt said quietly and traced for her arm to give a supportive squeeze.