THE CIRCUIT KEY
Disclaimer: I do not own the Maze Runner – I just own Angie.
A/N: My first attempt at a Maze Runner fanfic so go easy on me. I'm aware it's another 'Girl in the Box' fic but I'm hoping you'll give it a read. Set before the books/films with slight AU possibly to follow through into the series if you guys like it.
Summary: A year before Thomas' arrival to the glade, Ava Paige's own daughter wakes up in the Box and just like the others she remembers nothing but her name. Unlike the others, Angie's memory gradually comes back to her over the course of a year and she finds a friend and comfort in Newt. The question is can she live the choices she made in the past and the truth about her mom? Newt/OC. Thomas/Minho.
PAIRINGS: Newt/OC and Minho/Thomas
WARNING: Contains some amount of swearing and potentially sensitive scenes later on. And no, I won't censor it – it's got a rating for a reason.
FURTHER NOTES: I want to emphasise that I know there have been many fics like this before mine so I am well aware that it is not unique. I'm writing it because the idea came to me and I thought it would be fun and I hope you guys will enjoy it for what it is.
Italics = Flashbacks or dreams
X X X
CHAPTER ONE
It was the stench that had woken her up in the first place. It was pungent and hit the back of her throat, almost making her throw up. She managed to stay level-headed though and pulled herself up using the bars of the box. She couldn't locate the source of the smell; it was more as if it was embedded everywhere. A mix of sweat and what she assumed was vomit and other bodily fluids. How many more people had been there before her? Engines started running and the box's sudden movement made her fall backwards again, hitting her head against the steel bars but it was the speed that really threw her off. She couldn't see where they box was headed – all she knew was that it was going upwards and fast with no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
And then the hatch opened.
The first thing she noticed was that the sky was gun metal grey with a sickly cast of green and the air felt heavy, her clothes were so sticky and uncomfortable thanks to the unbearable humidity of the Box and lord knows how long she had been there before she woke up. She prayed for the weather to break and relieve it but ignorance truly was bliss. Had she known what this storm would bring, she would have recanted that prayer at once.
X X X
"You go talk to her!"
"Nuh-uh, man, you go."
"I don't bloody know how to talk to a girl!" The argument seemed bizarre at first but it seemed fair to say that it was even more bizarre to see a dozen or so boys stood over her looking down. Some of them seemed puzzled, others startled and some of them even excited and it made no sense. She was only a girl.
"Anyone gonna help her up or are you shanks just going to stare at her?" An older boy, dark skinned and with an authoritative persona walked through the crowd and reached out his hand to help her out. She hesitated for a while but then took his hand and with the help of another boy, a blonde one, they pulled her out of the box.
"It's okay Greenie, we're not gonna hurt you." said the dark skinned boy "What's your name?"
"Angie…my name's Angie."
"Angie, huh? I'm Alby, this here's Newt and you have to excuse these other shanks, we have never seen a girl here before and they all have jobs to get back to."
There was a giggle amongst the crowd and they eventually walked off into different directions. Angie, still feeling a bit disoriented and half groggy gazed around her to get a better idea of her surroundings. Wherever they were, it was a massive clearing larger than anything Angie had seen before but what caught her eyes the most were the four concrete walls that surrounded them.
"Yeah I know, it's a bit much to take it at first but you'll get used to it eventually. After all there's no place like home."
"Where is home exactly?"
"This - this is the Glade."
X X X
"You okay there Greenie? You seemed like you were a planet away for a moment." Newt was right. Angie hadn't even noticed his arrival and it made her wonder how long he'd been stood there. She'd always thought the quizzical expression on his face was a permanent feature, like there was always a chip on his shoulder. Then again he was Alby's second in command and making sure everything ran smoothly couldn't be easy but Newt rarely complained and the other Gladers respected him.
It had been four weeks since Angie arrived to the Glade in the Box and since day one she had been terrified of the Maze. She hardly went near it unless someone else was with her and she particularly avoided it at night. Yet she found herself staring at it again from the Track-Hoes where she was planting crops – the job she'd been the most comfortable with since her arrival. A greenie with green-fingers they'd joked within the first few days but she hadn't minded. It made the transition into life in the Glade much easier but it had still been difficult and she still had the nightmares. Admittedly, Angie thought, she wasn't unique with that. They all had dreams and they all had to live with the frustration of not remembering life before the Glade.
Angie snapped out of her thoughts and turned to Newt and nodded "I'm alright Newt. Come on we don't want to be late for the Gathering – I hear rumours Frypan's made actual hot chocolate."
"God help us." Newt sounded more sceptical than enthusiastic over the idea of hot chocolate but Angie couldn't wait. She literally couldn't remember the last time she'd had something like that but the nights were slightly chilly and she welcomed the idea of sitting by a warm in the safety of the trees.
X X X
A woman's voice was softly humming something that sounded a bit like a lullaby. "Sweet baby girl. Everything's going to be alright. Sweet baby girl, mommy loves you."
There were pictures on the walls of a family; a woman with short blonde hair and glasses and a man wit dark hair holding their baby girl in their arms.
"Sweet baby girl, everything will change."
Then it changed and there were raised voices and arguments. A desperate cry for help followed by gun shots.
"Mom! Mom why are you doing this! Mom no! NO!"
X X X
"Mom! NO!" Angie awoke with a gasp, her mind reeling. The dream had been so vivid, so real, that for a moment she thought she was still submerged within the different layers of the dream itself. Her heart was still racing and she gasped for air and when she turned around she was startled to see somebody else in the room with her.
"Angie, are you –Ow!" It wasn't until after the punch she realised she was properly awake and not dreaming. Then, as her eyes grew used to the darkness; familiar objects began to appear out of the gloom, including Newt.
"Bloody hell Angie, it's just me! Newt! You were just having a dream. Are you alright?"
It was still dark outside and she couldn't have been asleep for more than a few hours. Angie's mind was still fuzzy, the last remnants of the dream being chased away by the realisation that she was, in fact, awake again.
"Yeah," she nodded "I'm okay. Hey Newt….will you stay here for a while? I'm not ready to go back to sleep again." Newt nodded and sat by the side of her bed. They talked for a while until Angie eventually fell back asleep again but even then he still sat by her bed to make sure she was okay. He was going to have a nice looking bruise by tomorrow and he was sure there would be a lot of remarks about being hit by a girl but he could live with that. Besides, things could be far worse.
To be continued …
What do you guys think? Love it? Like it? Hate it? I know there's not a lot happening at the moment but it will get more exciting I promise. Leave a review and let me know!
