Hey guys, so... the movies and the books have a lot of differences. When I decided to write this I was kind of torn between basing it on the movies and basing it on the books, because I love both. I almost went with the books because they're the original, the real deal, whatever, but I ended up deciding to stick with the movies because there are elements of the books (like Thomas/Teresa's telepathy, Gally being taken by the Grievers days before they got out of the Maze, etc) that would have changed the way things play out in this story.

I guess really I ought to say that it's a blend of the movies and books. Stuff like the Glader slang, which is heavy in the books but is mostly replaced by standard cussing in the movies... that's back, in this story. Also, since the third movie isn't out yet, I'm relying on the plot of the third book (the way Newt and Teresa die, the way they all escape through the flat trans at the end, etc). So it's kind of a book/movie mishmash.

Anyway, that said, I hope you enjoy. :)

The sounds of things crashing and crumbling behind Thomas grew impossibly louder, cracks and creaks and squeals of metal and the hollow roar of flames. All of it rose to an unimaginable pitch; Thomas refused to look, though he sensed it all coming down, as if it were just feet away, its leading edge breathing against his neck. He pushed Brenda through the Trans. The world was collapsing around him and Minho.

Together, they jumped into the icy gray wall.

Thomas heaved up from the table, choking and gasping violently. Wires ripped off his head as his body wrenched forward as far is it could and he retched, dry heaving agonizingly and choking all the more at the painful twisting of his insides.

He crumpled onto his back again, still gasping, heart pounding in his throat, staring up wide-eyed at the ceiling. What had happened? Where was he?

Sucking in a deep breath and stamping down on his panic as his adrenaline began to subside, he tried to lift his body up once more; this time he realized he was restrained at the waist, wrists and ankles. A wire – an IV of some sort – ran into his right arm. It only took a moment to pull his hands free – it looked like the cuffs hadn't been checked on in a while and had gradually come loose. With a bit of clawing and scrabbling, he tore the strap around his waist loose and sat up to free his feet.

Then he scrambled off the tabletop, ripping the IV out of his arm, and spun around to stare at the contraption that seemed to have been built around his head. Two probes were designed to hover close to either temple, while an elaborate mess of electrodes dangling from wires which had come loose from his head when he sat up hung from the point where the two probes connected and disappeared back into a small, complex machine the size of a paint can.

"The shuck is this?" Thomas demanded aloud. Hearing his own voice snapped him out of his panicky daze; he scanned the room. The right wall was comprised of a huge bank of sleek, advanced computer screens, while the left wall was devoted entirely to scientific-slash-medical equipment. The front wall was empty, with a glass door set in the middle of it. The machine that had been around his head was built out from the back wall so that the bed, or table, or whatever it was, stood in the middle of the room.

He spotted a camera above the door and instantly wondered who was watching him. WCKD – it had to be WCKD. What had they done? Had the whole escape through the flat trans been a sham? It couldn't all be just another test!

A million questions hammered inside his head, but he made himself ignore them and stay in the moment; he had to find out where he was and find Minho and Brenda and whoever else he could. His questions could wait.

His next instinct was to find some kind of weapon. The wall of equipment provided him with a wide variety of options, so he armed himself to the teeth with scalpels, efficient-looking knives, and a number of things he couldn't identify, but which looked dangerous. As an afterthought, he dismembered the stand that had held his IV and took the shaft, a bar the length of his arm.

Then he got up his nerve and tried the door. To his surprise, it was unlocked; he stepped out into the hall and glanced either way. There were three glass doors to his left and four to his right.

Maybe Minho and the rest were behind these other doors. Heart hammering, he started along the passage to his left. The first door he looked through revealed a room exactly like the one he had just been in, but with somebody lying motionless on the tabletop bed, head resting between the two prongs of the machine. Thomas' heart slammed up into his throat, stopping his breath.

It was Newt.

Was he dead? It was impossible to tell. But he looked – normal. He wasn't a crank!

Breathless with shock, Thomas heaved the door open and bolted to the bedside, calling his friend's name frantically. There was no response, but Thomas found a pulse a moment later.

Newt was alive!

It was impossible to comprehend; Thomas was so stunned that he couldn't even question how this had happened and what it might mean about everything that had happened recently. Newt was alive!

With shaking hands, Thomas uncuffed his friend's hands, feet and waist, ripped the IV out of his arm, then stepped back uncertainly. It took him a moment to realize that a very low hum was emanating from the contraption around Newt's head. Could the one in his room have been doing the same thing, and he had just failed to notice?

He jumped to the conclusion that the machine was keeping Newt unconscious. It was quick work to sabotage the thing; a few wires cut here, a few important-looking parts smashed there. The hum died away and a few sparks splattered onto the floor.

Thomas waited a moment, hoping Newt would come out of it. After a long pause, the blond boy stirred ever so slightly and gave a faint groan. Thomas' heart surged.

What about the others? He still had to find Minho. What about – Teresa! If Newt was alive, could she be, too?

He decided to check the other rooms while Newt was waking up. Quickly, anxiously, he ducked back out through the glass door and dashed to the next one. This room was identical to the previous two; It took him a moment to identify the person on the table as Gally.

Feverishly, Thomas let himself into the room and hastily unshackled Gally, then shut the machine down the same way he had done in Newt's room. Leaving Gally to wake up in his own time, Thomas went to check the last door to this end of the hall.

A glance through the glass revealed Frypan unconscious on the tabletop. Thomas once again smashed up the contraption and uncuffed his friend, then headed for the hall and headed back in the direction of the room he had started in to check the doors toward the other end of the hall.

With no warning, as Thomas hurried past Newt's door, a body crashed into him, slamming him into the wall on the opposite side of the hall. The attacker punched him in the solar plexus, doubling him over, then hammered a fist across his face.

"Newt!" Thomas gasped, jerking upright. "Newt, it's me! It's Thomas!"

His blood was pounding as newfound terror boiled up in him. Newt must still be a crank, and he'd finally snapped.

"You – bloody – slinthead!" Newt snarled, emphasizing each word with a punch that slammed Thomas' head back into the wall. "I'll kill you!"

"Newt!" Thomas' instincts kicked in and he fought back, shoving the other boy away and breaking left so he could back away down the hall as Newt came on, livid with rage. "Newt, please, it's Thomas!"

"I know it's bloody you, Tommy!" The other boy growled, moving toward him with a cocked fist. "I'm going to rip you apart!"

He wasn't a crank. Thomas was sure of it. He lacked that crazed look and tone that he had taken on when he got the Flare. But he meant everything he was saying – Thomas realized that the burning in Newt's eyes was hatred. Real, bloodthirsty, lethal hatred.

A/N: I'm working on the next part, it'll be up soon. I should warn you guys, though, I'm not a reliable updater... once I run out of steam I'll only update sporadically. I'll do my best, though. Please review! :D