Hey everybody! I'm Isabelle, and I'm kind of new to this side of Fanfiction. I've written a few Frozen/ROTG cross-overs, but I just recently finished The Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner and I absolutely fell in love. Especially with Newt. He's my fave. I cried when he *spoiler* died... I'm kind of still crying. Anyway, I've had this idea since I finished The Death Cure, and I decided I would go with it. So, it says that Thomas and them are basically going to repopulate the human race. I decided that Newt was going to somehow miraculously live, because I cannot deal, maybe they have a small amount of the cure, I'll polish that up later (if anybody has any ideas, feel free to share.) So, anyway, I had this story...which I guess will be explained throughout the story. I hope you guys like it!

A warning to the prophet, the liar, the honest

This is war

To the leader, the pariah, the victor, the messiah

This is war

-This is War, Thirty Seconds to Mars

Prologue: Before the Maze

I was three years old when the sun flares hit. My mother told me that I was playing down in our basement with my best friend, Anna. I don't remember much from that day. I remember the ring of a phone, my mother crying, and lots of doors slamming. Anna's parents had come to get her when it was deemed "safe". I never saw Anna again. My father died from the sun flares; Mother never went into details about it, and I never asked. I don't know much about anything that happened those few weeks afterward. Honestly, I don't know much about anything that happened that year afterward. But I remember when the Flare was first released. It was all over the news. I remember being a little scared: I didn't know I was immune at this point.

That's about the time that my mother got a call from an organization called WICKED. They had heard about my father's advances in the medical field and wanted him for their team. They hadn't heard about his death. However, they were undeterred. They decided that they wanted to recruit my mother. She refused to be separated from me. They said that I could come, as long as I passed some testing.

I don't know how long it was before people came and got us, and took us to their headquarters. Maybe a day, maybe two. I don't know how long the testing they put me through took. I don't even remember the testing, to be honest. I do remember the moment that they told my mother and I that I was immune. Mother cried she was so happy. The people from WICKED seemed pleased, too. They told her that I would be one of the Candidates for something called the Trials. I didn't know what those were; I was only four. But my mother didn't like their response. She tensed up beside me and tugged me closer to her.

"No," she told the doctor. The man sighed and took off his glasses to rub his face.

"Mrs. James," the doctor said. "Don't you want to find a cure? Your daughter could be essential. We haven't even gotten all of the information and she looks promising. Surely you can see a medical break-through when you're presented with one?"

"My daughter will not be one of your lab rats," Mother insisted.

"It's either that, or we have to send her away. She could compromise the other Candidates. So, what will it be, Mrs. James?" he asked. Mother looked at me. I could see the terror in her eyes. I wasn't sure what it was for, but I knew that I hated it when she looked like that.

"I'll do it," I said, speaking for the first time. Mother looked like she wanted to protest, but I shook my head. "I don't want to be separated from you."

"She won't be sent right away, Mrs. James. We still have to build the Maze, and send other people into it first. She won't be the first. You'll still have plenty of time to be with your daughter," the man assured.

"But she might die." Mother's voice cracked.

"But she might not. Don't worry, Mrs. James, your daughter will be in good hands." The man stood up and walked out of the room. Mother's shaky breathing was the only thing heard in the quiet room.

"It'll be alright," I said. Mother turned to look at me, this time with sadness in her eyes rather than terror. She ran a hand through my hair.

"Oh, Luxie, you don't know what you've done to me." That was the last thing I heard from her before two people came into the room and carted me away.

I never saw my mother again. Later, I learned that she committed suicide. A bullet to the head. I never got to say goodbye. She never got to tell me she loved me one last time. Sometimes, life is really unfair.

For a while after they had taken me, I didn't see any other children. They kept me locked in a room, and a nice lady would bring my meals and eat with me. She said her name was Ava. I'm not sure what her job was, but she always ate with me. I enjoyed her company. She reminded me of my mother, but older. I think Ava was somewhere in her late forties maybe. She had blonde hair that was always pulled up in a ponytail whenever I saw her. She also had blue eyes, like me.

Sometimes, when she came, she would bring cards. We would play all sorts of games: Go Fish, Old Maid, Slap Jack. She taught me games, too. Ava taught me a game that I particularly liked, called Solitaire. That was the day she left the cards in my room. I played with them for hours. When I got bored of Solitaire, I began to play Go Fish against myself.

The next day, she brought what she called a checkerboard. She placed it on my bed and pulled out two separate baggies, one with red chips and one with black chips.

"Which color do you want to be?" she asked.

"Red," I said without a moment's hesitation. She laughed and began to set the checkers in their place. Then, she taught me how to play Checkers. We played that for weeks on end, and then we switched between playing cards and Checkers. I don't know how long I was locked up in that room, but Ava made the time go faster.

"Lux," she said one day. I looked up from the Chessboard. She'd brought it in about a week ago and taught me how to play. So far, it was my favorite game.

"Yes?" I replied. I shifted my legs so that I was sitting criss-cross-applesauce. Mother taught me that.

"How old are you?" she asked. I thought for a moment. When Mother and I had first come, I had been four. I didn't know how long the testing took. I didn't know how long I'd been in that room.

"I'm not sure," I said. "Probably closer to five now." I shrugged and moved my knight to take one of her bishops. Ava didn't show a sign of knowing that I'd moved.

"When's your birthday?" she questioned. I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it. I thought hard. I squeezed my eyes shut in concentration, but I couldn't come up with a date.

"I don't know." I was shocked. Who forgets their own birthday?

"That's it. They can't do this to you." Ava stood up abruptly, nearly tipping over the board.

"Can't do what?" I asked. She just kept walking to the door. "Ava? What are you talking about? What do you mean? Please, don't leave!" But she had already opened the door and left. I hopped off of my bed and ran for the door, but it closed before I could reach it. And Ava never came back.

When my door finally opened for the first time since Ava had left, I looked up hopefully. They'd still delivered my meals, but no one had joined me. I'd never felt so alone. Unfortunately, the person standing at the door wasn't Ava. It was someone who I'd never met. I pulled my knees up to my chest and stared at the woman through a curtain of my hair.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"You need to come with me, Lux," she said.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"That doesn't matter. You need to come with me. You need to meet the other children." The woman walked over to my bed and crossed her arms. I thought I saw her expression soften ever-so-slightly when she looked at me.

"Other children?" I asked.

"Yes. Here are some clothes. Get dressed." She threw a bag at me that I hadn't noticed her carrying earlier. I pulled out the contents: a white short-sleeved shirt, a flowery dress, some underwear, and a pair of lace-up shoes. All of which looked to be about three sizes too big. The woman turned her back, and I reluctantly peeled off the pajamas that I had been wearing for who-knows-how-long and put on the new ones. Everything fit perfectly. I was immediately suspicious.

"How old am I?" I asked as I tied up my left shoe. The woman turned back around and sized me up.

"Paige really got you going, huh?" she asked.

"Who's Paige?" I questioned.

"Ava Paige. She's like second-in-command around here. Some people think that she'll be the next chancellor when Chancellor Anderson retires."

"You talk about this stuff like I know what it means. How old am I? How long have I been in this room?" I demanded. Frantically, I searched my mind for the last known date. For a solid sign that any time had passed outside of this room.

"How long do you think you've been here?" the woman replied.

"I don't know," I whimpered. "It feels like forever."

"I'm afraid I don't know either. That's above my pay-grade. Come on, let's get you to the cafeteria." The woman began walking towards my door, and I hurried after her.

"How old do I look?" I asked.

"Ask the other children," she said. She roughly grabbed a hold of my arm and towed me after her down the hallway. I stared at everything as we walked. The walls were gray and blank. No windows, no pictures, nothing. The floor made crisp noises as we walked along it. Off in the distance, I could just make out the sound of people talking. The farther along we walked, the louder the sound got. I got excited. I was finally going to meet some people my age. We were about twenty feet away from these large double doors where the voices were coming from when I noticed a door slightly ajar in the middle of a wall. I could make out a man and the back of a blonde woman's head.

"We can't do this to her," the woman spoke. Her voice was very familiar. I stopped. The woman holding my arm tugged and turned to reprimand me. She followed my gaze, and I could see her face whiten. She tugged harder, my feet scraping along the floor. The people in the room were oblivious.

"That's not for you to decide, Ava. The doctors decide what happen to Lennox James, and there is nothing I can do to change that," the man said. I froze at the sound of Ava's name and my own. They were talking about me. But what about me?

"She's been locked in that room for almost four years and she couldn't even tell! She's lost all sense of time," Ava told him. I reeled. Four years? That would make me eight. I couldn't be eight.

"She didn't have that great a sense of time before anyway. The doctors simply wanted to grow her condition." The man walked out of my line of sight and Ava turned slightly so that I could see the side of her face. She looked mad.

"Temporal dysplasia? I thought that was proven to be false," Ava said.

"It was. But Lennox displays all of the signs of it. She has no sense of time, she greeted you as an old friend five minutes into meeting you, all of the games you teach her she plays as if she's been playing them for ten years, and she is the most emotionless child that I have ever studied. Maybe temporal dysplasia is real or maybe it isn't, but it's the closest thing we've got. And I think that this condition could be very beneficial to the Trials." The man sounded smug. I think that's what broke me.

"Ava!" I yelled. Ava started and turned to see me being dragged down the hall. The woman had almost gotten me to the doors. "Ava, what's going on? What have you done to me?" I felt betrayed. Everything that she had done had been for test results. She had never cared for me. It hurt, but then it didn't. The woman opened one of the doors and shoved me through.

I don't know who that lady was. She wasn't necessarily cruel, but she wasn't exactly nice to me either. She never told me her name. I'd only known her for as long as it took to take me to the cafeteria. But I still felt sad when I saw her dead body on the floor. She had multiple scratches on her face; in fact, the left side was barely discernible. The Flare was bad in her. I don't know who that lady was, but I was still sorry that she was dead.

The woman threw me inside. I lost my balance and fell to the floor. Looking up, I saw that there were four boys surrounding me.

"What's your name?" the boy with dark skin asked.

"What's yours?" I retorted.

Another boy stepped forward, this one with black hair and a squished nose. "He asked you first."

"I don't care," I snapped.

"I'm Alby," the first boy interrupted. "That's Newt, Minho, and Gally." Alby nodded his head in the direction of each boy as he said their name. He stared at me, expecting an answer.

"My name is Lux." I lifted my chin and stared straight at him. Slowly, I got up off of my knees and to my feet. "How old are you?" All four boys in front of me glanced at each other, confused.

"Why do you want to know?" the boy with the squished nose, Gally, asked.

"Because." I had to fight the urge to stick my tongue out. I put my hands on my hips.

"Gally," Alby reprimanded the boy, then turned to look at me. "I'm ten. How old are you?" I shook my head and looked at the two boys who hadn't yet spoken. One had blond hair that needed to be cut, and the other one was Asian. The blond, Newt, looked like he was torn between curiosity and confusion. The Asian boy, Minho, looked on the verge of laughing.

"I think I'm eight," I said slowly. "And I think I'm done here." I shoved out of their circle, and walked between the tables. There were twelve tables total. At each one sat seven or eight people, except for one table which only had three people at it and one that was empty that I assumed those boys sat at. I headed towards the table that had the three people. There were two girls and a boy.

"Hi," I said when I got there. They all looked up at me. A girl with bright red hair looked up and smiled at me.

"Hi, are you new?" she asked.

"I guess I am. Can I sit here?" I asked.

"Of course. Here, you can sit beside me." The girl scooted over and I sat down next to her. "What's your name?"

"I'm Lux," I said. "What's yours?"

"My name's Kate," she told me. I looked at the other girl who had hair the same shade as Newt.

"I'm Lizzie," she said shyly. I noticed that she had a funny sort of accent. I wracked my brain for what kind it was but came up with nothing.

The only boy at the table reached across and shook my hand. "And I'm Christopher." He pushed his glasses up his nose and returned to his seat. "You know, you made quite the entrance."

"I got a bit of shocking news before I was dragged in here," I retorted.

"What kind of shocking news?" Kate asked. That was too hard to explain. I answered her question with a question.

"How old do I look?" I looked at each of their faces, silently begging them to tell me.

"I don't know," Kate said warily. "You look my age."

"What's your age?" I asked.

"I'm eight." She picked a spoon and twisted it between her fingers.

"I think I'm eight, too." I let out a breath. Four years of my life had gone by without my knowing it. Could I really have temporal dysplasia? What even was that?

"I'm nine." Lizzie interrupted my thoughts. "So is my brother. We're twins."

"Who is your brother?" I questioned.

"Me." I turned around at the sound of a voice behind me. It too had an accent, and I saw that it belonged to the blond boy from earlier.

"And you are?" I knew who he was, but I worried that something might give away my "condition". What did that man mean by me greeting Ava like an old friend? I refused to drop my stare. I refused to show weakness. The other boys stood behind him.

"Newt. You didn't give me a chance to introduce myself earlier." He smiled cheerily. I crinkled my brow in confusion. He confused me.

"That's because I didn't care. I don't need a welcoming committee," I said.

"You're acting awfully brave for an eight year-old," Gally commented. He moved so that he stood next to Newt.

"I guess I'm just special like that." I wanted them to go away. It was all too much.

"Being special," Minho spoke for the first time. "Isn't a good thing to be around here."

I was sitting on an examination table, my legs dangling off of the side. I was in one of those paper hospital gowns; it was freezing. The doctors had taken a few blood samples and then immediately left to go process them. I wondered how long I had to wait in here. I sighed and hoped that Kate or Lizzie would come in here to save me from boredom. The door opened and the nurse who had taken my blood pressure and weight came in.

"You're free to go, Miss James. Here are your clothes." She set a bundle of fabric down beside me.

"When will I get to know my test results?" I asked.

"Those aren't for you to know," she replied. Then she left. I sighed again. The sight of a door closing on me was very annoying. I hopped off of the table and took off the paper gown. I threw it on the floor, a tiny sign of a rebellion, and picked up my new clothes. I picked up a bra and put it on. Apparently, I was old enough to have breasts; I still wasn't sure how old I was. I'd hoped this visit to the doctor's would reveal my age. I continued putting on my clothes: the white shirt, the floral dress over the white shirt, a black vest over the floral dress, and a jacket. White tights, gray socks, and combat boots. I had the oddest clothes in the group of children.

When I'd finally finished getting dressed, I exited the room. I expected Lizzie to be waiting. Instead, it was Newt. He was leaning against the wall, arms and ankles crossed.

"Where's Lizzie?" I asked.

"WICKED wanted her for something. She asked me to come in her place." He shrugged.

"How sweet," I said, and began walking down the hallway. Newt fell into step beside me, and I let out a breath. I knew by math that it had been a little over six years since I had entered that cafeteria. I'd known Newt and Lizzie and Kate and Christopher for a little over six years, but it still felt like I'd always known them. That was part of the temporal dysplasia I was told. The doctors sent me to "therapy" sessions where they explained my condition and allowed me to talk about it. Mostly, I asked the questions I wanted to know and then read for the rest of the hour. That happened twice a week.

"We're starting the Trials tomorrow," Newt said. My head snapped up. I knew that Lizzie, Kate, and I weren't scheduled to go up for nearly a year. I think Christopher was good for a few months. I had no idea about anyone else.

"Are you one of the first?" I asked.

"No, I don't think I'll go up for a couple of months. Alby is though." Newt quieted after that. I bit my lip. Newt and Alby were extremely close, and essentially the leaders down here.

"I'm sorry," I said awkwardly. I wasn't good at comforting people. Should I pat his shoulder? People do that, right?

"Hey, we'll all be up there at some point," Newt said, trying to be light but I could hear the tightness in his voice.

"We won't remember each other," I whispered.

"Once it's all over, everything will be back to normal," Newt said.

"Or we'll be dead." I put my hands in my jacket pockets.

"But we might have a cure," Newt countered. I flinched. I'd forgotten that Newt wasn't immune. He needed this cure.

"Yeah, there is that." I nodded. I wondered if I'd just put my foot in my mouth. Kate said I did that a lot.

"You're not very good with people, are you?" Newt chuckled.

"Glad you can find some kind of humor in this," I muttered.

"Ah, Luxie, don't be like that. You know Lizzie hates it when we fight." I looked over to see Newt pouting at me.

"Don't call me Luxie." I stuck my tongue out at him and stomped ahead. He laughed and hurried to catch up to me. We walked in silence for a few minutes.

"Hey, Newt," I said as we neared the end of the tunnel. I slowed down.

"Yeah?" he asked, stopping. I turned to look at him.

"Be safe," I told him. Without thinking, I launched myself at him, my arms wrapping tightly around his neck. He seemed surprised, but wrapped his arms around my waist quickly enough. It was a short, hard hug. I let go and stepped back. Newt stared at me, the corner of mouth quirking up a little bit.

"I'm not going down tomorrow," he said.

"You never know with WICKED." I shoved my hands once more into my pockets and walked the rest of the way down the hall.

"Lux!"

The voice was urgent. The sound of my name made me stir. The insistent pushing of my shoulder caused me to wake up, still a little groggy but alert nonetheless.

"Huh?"

"Lux! Wake up!" My eyes finally found the source of the noise. It was Ava, with Kate and Lizzie standing sleepily behind her.

"Ava?" I asked.

"Get up, Lux. Now. Get dressed. Hurry." She threw clothes at me, and I quickly dressed in them. Then, she tossed me a backpack and hauled me to my feet. "Follow me," she told us. Kate grabbed my hand and toted me after her, Lizzie a few paces in front of us.

"What's going on?" I asked. Kate seemed to know what was going on, but Lizzie looked just as confused as me.

"Chancellor Paige has a plan," Kate told me under her breath. "She's having us taken some place."

"What?" Lizzie asked. "Is Newt coming?"

"No, Newt has to go in the Trials," Kate said.

"No," Lizzie breathed. "I won't go without him."

"Liz, focus. Newt will be fine. He'll be joining us." Kate followed as Ava turned a corner, and we met up with a tired Christopher and a man with green hair.

"Theo, did anyone follow you?" Ava asked, pulling a key out of her pocket. She walked towards the door that Christopher and Theo stood in front of.

"No, we're good. These are the kids?" he asked.

"Yes. Don't worry; they're plenty capable, and remember, people will be joining you soon enough." Ava stuck the key in the lock and turned it. There was a clicking noise and the door opened.

"Ava, what is going on?" I asked. I wrenched my arm out of Kate's grasp and stepped forward. "You haven't talked to me since I was last in that room."

"I know, and I'm sorry, Lux. And I'm sorry to send you away, but I have to if I want to keep you safe. Kate and Theo will explain everything when you get there. For now, just be quiet and go through the Flat Trans." Ava grabbed me by my shoulders and pulled me in for a hug. "Be safe," she whispered. Exactly what I'd said to Newt that afternoon. She turned and left, and I heard the door lock behind her.

"Okay, kids, let's get out of here." Theo clapped his hands together.

"Not without Newt," Lizzie said. She crossed her arms over her chest and planted her feet.

"Newt will join us," Kate soothed.

"You can't promise her that," Theo muttered. Kate looked like she was about to punch Theo. Lizzie looked like she was about to cry.

"He has to pass the Trials, then Chancellor Paige will make sure that he gets here too, okay?" Kate assured Lizzie.

"We don't have time for this," Theo said. He walked over to a machine, pressed a few buttons, and a shimmering gray wall appeared. "Christopher, you first. Go, now." Christopher didn't argue. He gave me a salute and walked through the wall. Kate was still trying to calm Lizzie down. Theo looked at me.

"Lux," I said before he could ask. He nodded at me and motioned for me to go next. "Where does this lead?"

"We call it Paradise," Theo said. "Hurry. I'll make sure your friends go." I clenched my hands into fists. What was worse: the unknown or WICKED? I stepped forward and into the Flat Trans.

So, what did you guys think? Do you like it? Should I continue it? Please let me know! Follow, favorite, review, etc, etc. If there are any questions regarding anything, feel free to ask them and I will answer them! I tried to keep everything as close to the books as possible, but it's been a while since I read the first book so...

Also, temporal dysplasia I got from the new show on ABC Family called "Stitchers". I love it, and I kind of thought it was a real condition. It's *not*(proven anyway) and I want to use it for my story so here it's real. I feel like it could add some depth to Lux. Speaking of Lux, what do you guys think of her? She and Newt will be together later on. The next few chapters will be of Lux, Kate, Lizzie, Christopher, and Theo building up a city of sorts, and introducing other immunes that Chancellor Paige will be sneaking through. Then, I will reintroduce Newt and all of our faves. Speaking of favorites, do you guys want me to have Teresa in the story? I could easily add her in if you want, but I don't know how you all feel about her. My best friend hates her so feel free to tell me your opinions!

Thanks! So let me know: should I continue the story? What do you think of Lux? Should I keep Teresa alive? What did you think of my story?

~Isabelle

P.S. The chapters probably won't be as long as this one. I was just trying to set a background. My chapters tend to be in the 2,000 word range.