Disclaimer: I do not own the Maze Runner series.

Third POV

Thoughts

Memories

Newt's Story

"You're a sadist, you know that?" Moon snarled at Keeper of the Baggers. Terry had been instructed to take her into the Pit, and she decided not to make it easy for him. "Every normal person would have told you that punish someone for having saved someone's life is simply twisted!"

"Yeah, you might get away with it, but your index is already full by now, Greenie," Terry snorted.

"This is not right..." Moon was trying to break out of his grip. "You know it's not!"

"I think it's hardly enough punishment for you," the Keeper replied and gripped her more tightly.

The black haired girl frowned and bitterness overwhelmed her.

"I wouldn't have done the same thing for you, you can be sure," she growled coldly.

The boy just rolled his eyes at her comment.

"God, will you ever shut up?"

"And what did you expect?" Minho approached them, standing in their way. "Alby didn't give her space to say something in her defense, he apparently somewhat forgot this little detail…"

Yeah… I wonder if he's done it on purpose?

"Fortunately," Terry frowned. "Otherwise the Gathering could take days."

"Really funny," Minho retorted sarcastically. "Give me five minutes with her, okay? Alone."

The Buggler gave him a disapproving look.

"I have to take her to the Pit - Alby said that. Her sentence starts now!"

Minho looked at the boy with raised eyebrows.

"Didn't you hear what I just said, shuck-face?" he asked, his voice dangerously calm. "Get lost!"

Terry frowned like a thousand devils, but let go of her hand and walked away from them. Moon waited until he was out of earshot.

"That was impressive," she said.

Minho shrugged nonchalant, smiling.

"In three years, you learn how to build respect."

"Modest, I see," Moon snickered. "What now? Are you going to help me out of this mess?"

The Runner raised an eyebrow.

"Aren't you a greedy one," he snorted in disbelief. "No, I'm here to make sure that our deal is still valid."

Moon blinked.

"What deal?"

"That you'll listen to my every word," Minho clarified. "You promised that you would do everything I say when we're out in the Maze, remember?"

Oh, this deal…

"You mean that deal we made when you told me to go to hell? That is supposed to still be valid?"

Minho approached her a little closer, so she had to throw back her head to see in his face. Damn, he was tall...

"You wanna play with me, Tiny? Do you really think that I can't just turn around and go to say Alby that I've changed my mind?" he asked pointedly.

Moon's lips tightened.

"I just was kidding. Of course, that deal is valid."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

"Good that," Minho smiled contentedly and stepped back. "I'll pick you out of the Pit tomorrow."

He was about to leave, but then as if he realized something. Without a word, he took off his sweatshirt, and before Moon could do anything, he pulled it over her head. The black haired girl took a moment before she found holes for hands in that huge shirt.

"What the hell?" she gave the Runner a puzzled look.

"I don't want you to get cold in the Pit," Minho shrugged. "I take care of my Runners."

With that, he tousled her hair and turned his back to her. He took a few steps and then glanced at her once again.

"Oh, and thanks... for, well, you know what."

And he was gone.

xXxXx

Moon was grateful to Minho. When it got dark, she was even more grateful. And not, surprisingly, for making her a Runner, but for giving her his sweatshirt. Because let's face it - she felt as if it was her only protection against freezing to death. How could be so hot during the day and so cold at night? If the Creators controlled the weather - and, most likely, they did - they were definitely enjoying this far too much!

The black haired girl didn't expect that she would sleep under those conditions. Not only it was awfully cold, but the stone walls of the Pit were especially sharp that night. In addition, she had struggled with her claustrophobia since Terry closed her here and didn't forget to wish her a wonderful night. She was definitely writing his name on her list of the biggest assholes there right next to Winston's. Not to mention that Alby and Gally were there as well.

Moon had thought that it had been bad enough, but she had no idea what was coming when all the lights went out and the only thing she could see was the bars above her head. That unleashed real hell in her mind.

It was cold, but her lungs were on fire. They were crumpling up like a paper bag, and it was getting harder and harder to get air into them. The Pit was getting smaller and smaller every second… it contracted around her and Moon desperately closed her eyes, looking into her mind for some kind of distraction.

I hate you, Alby. I hate you, hate you, hate you!

Suddenly, a light appeared behind her eyelids. Moon opened her eyes in surprise, staring at a lantern that had been placed in front of the bars. In another moment, she could see a shadow which sat down next to her prison and the weak light illuminated Newt's face.

"How are you holding up so far?" he asked in that smooth voice of his.

Moon openly exhaled in relief. She wanted to jump up and hug him tight and she'd probably even do it if the bars weren't in her way.

"It's amazing. I'm thinking that I'll move in here permanently," she sneered at him, keeping her face very unexcited.

Newt chuckled, moving the lantern closer to her. His chocolate eyes seemed black in the dim light and his blond hair looked gold.

"You don't have to be here, you know?" Moon said quietly, not being entirely sure why. Was it pride? Because it was quite clear to her that she needed him here. And, fortunately, to him it was too.

The little flame lit up his cheeky smile.

"So you would rather stay awake all night, Troublemaker?" he asked, amused. "That might not be so bad; you could think about your behavior..."

"Oh, so you're saying that I can't sleep without your presence, is that it?" The black haired girl snickered. "Cocky much?"

The warm black eyes turned to her, burrowing deep into hers.

"I think we both know what the truth is," he said, stretching his hand through the reed lattice.

Moon measured it carefully.

"You're not angry?"

"I am. A lot."

"So why…?"

Newt sighed.

"Let's not do this now, okay? This was a very difficult day..."

Moon exhaled in relief again, it sounded like the best idea ever. With both hands, she gently squeezed his. It was hot. How was it possible that he was so warm even when it was cold like this?

"Won't you have problems because of this?"

After all, this was supposed to be her punishment and Moon had no doubt that solitude was a part of it.

"I'm the second in command here," he said pointedly. "Nobody ever questions what I do."

"Oh, really, Mr. Important?" Moon chuckled. "So let me out of here."

"I could..." the blond said thoughtfully. "But I'm not sure I want to…"

"Sadist."

"Troublemaker."

"Arrogant."

"Fall asleep already."

"… Newt?"

"Hm?"

"Will you sing me a lullaby?"

"Hell, no."

"Rude."

"Don't start..."

Moon attempted to relax a little more. With Newt's arrival, it was easier to breathe; the pressure eased and fatigue came over her. She closed her eyes, trying to convince herself that she was in the Homestead and not cooped up in a small cold hole. She wasn't very successful.

"You're shaking," Newt realized, taken aback.

Moon opened her eyes just at the right moment, to see how his other arm stretched through the bars and touched her icy forehead. The black eyes anxiously studied her face.

"What's wrong?"

Moon quietly exhaled.

"I'm pretty sure I'm claustrophobic."

In the next second, both of Newt's hands disappeared. Moon blinked, startled, but when she heard the rattle of metal, she realized what he was doing. She gripped the bars in the exact moment when Newt wanted to open them. She met his confused gaze.

"Don't," she said firmly, although she didn't want anything more. "I don't want you to have problems because of me."

"I won't let you go outside," Newt said patiently. "I'll just open it."

"Still. Do you think Alby would be thrilled if he knew that you're making it easy for me?"

"I'll close it again, in the morning. No one will ever know," Newt said determinedly. Moon bit her lip; it sounded too tempting. "So what? Do you think I'm not stronger than you?"

Moon snorted and let go of the bars. Newt pulled them up and it was as if a completely different air pushed into the Pit. The black haired girl collapsed back to the bottom with relief. The Pit was really the worst punishment ever for her and those slintheads didn't even know it.

"Better?" Newt asked.

Moon turned her eyes at him gratefully.

"Thank you, Mr. Unpredictable!"

"You are one to talk," Newt snorted and sat back beside the lantern, leaning on her prison. "Why didn't you tell me that you were claustrophobic?" he asked, with a rebuke clear in his voice.

Moon frowned slightly. He was aggrieved, really? So he shared all of his secrets with her?

"Why didn't you tell me that you almost died in the Maze?"

She regretted saying that a mere second afterwards. Upon Newt's face fell a shadow and it had nothing to do with the lantern.

"Who told you that?" he asked, his voice deep and serious.

"Alby," Moon said carefully. "He likes to gossip, you know him."

"Alby doesn't know the whole story…" Newt said calmly.

Moon's heart was clenched, and she shivered slightly. He was so unnaturally calm, distant... cold. The expression in his eyes was telling her clearly that something terrible had happened...

"Do you wanna tell me about it?" she asked softly.

The blond boy gave her a glance.

"Are you sure?" he asked blandly. "Once you know it you can't un-know it."

At that moment, she was quite certain she didn't want to know. And that she would be very sorry to hear it. Yet she nodded, shifting closer to him.

"It happened two years ago," Newt said. He spoke calmly as if he was reading a book, as if he wasn't even concerned in the story. "We had another leader then, Nick. He was a great guy; everybody liked him. He was one of the original Gladers…"

"Original?" Moon blinked.

Newt nodded.

"When this whole thing started, they sent ten of us up at the same time. After that, they began to send Greenies one per month. Very few are left from the Originals now… Just me, Alby, Clint, Gally and Minho. Others… didn't make it."

The black haired girl imagined for a moment how it must have been in the lift when you woke up in a small cage with nine other boys. How could they even fit in the Box?

"Anyway, more and more Greenies were coming and none of us knew how to handle them properly. Nick was definitely the best of all of us. But we didn't have order or rules, so there was no way to keep scared little boys inside the walls. Therefore, Gally began patrolling at the Gate for some time; we were forcing them to remain inside. After a year, there was twenty-two of us and we were handling it. And then he came." Newt gave a grim chuckle, his eyes completely lost in the past.

"Who?" Moon asked cautiously.

"Mason," Newt said the name with bitterness and then he turned his dark eyes to her. "He was quite like your male version - the difference was that he was six feet tall and stronger than any of us - so we didn't manage to put him in the Pit his first day."

Moon wasn't sure how this story tends to Newt's injury, but even now she didn't like it one bit.

"He was on the loose, not willing to stay in the Glade one minute. Several others that we previously forcibly kept away from the Maze immediately joined his side. That day, when Mason came, there was a great fight. Neither of the Originals was willing to let those slintheads in the Maze so late in the evening, so we fought with them for their own lives. Gally, Alby and Nick finally managed to put Mason down, but two boys had slipped right through out fingers just before the Gate had shut. Needless to say, that they never came back." Newt paused for a moment, his eyes reflecting the pain. "Minho and I were the only Runners back then - all we ever found were their bloody rags."

They hadn't even got to his part of the story and Moon already wished that she had never asked. Two years ago... he had been a mere child. They had all just been children. No one so young should face something so terrible.

"That's obviously not the end," Newt said grimly. "We knew that sooner or later we had to let Mason out of the Pit and it wasn't big enough for all those shuck-faces who wanted to run in the Maze. To find the way out of here had become… like, everything to us, so Nick suggested to try to get out through the Box hole - something we already rejected the first week here, because when you throw a stone in there, you never hear it land. It was pretty desperate, but Nick insisted. He wanted to do something to save those idiots from a horrible death in the Maze. So we strapped him down and let him down. He didn't get lower than a few feet… " Newt swallowed, closing his eyes for a moment. "We don't know what exactly that was… but it looked like a sheet of steel. It shot off the walls and sliced him in half."

Moon pressed her lips together. She couldn't imagine how horrible it must have been to see your friend die and not being able to do absolutely anything.

"They killed him, just like that," Newt said, shaking his head as if he still couldn't believe it. "It was... so aggressive. They hadn't warned us, nothing. It was a clear message for us not try to run another way than through the Maze ever again." For a moment, they were plucked into a heavy silence. Newt lowered his eyes to the little flame in the lantern and fire was reflected in his dark eyes.

"That day a lot of shanks fled into the Maze," he said quietly. "Alby, Minho and I… we were supposed to find them and bring them back before sunset. But I didn't really give a klunk about anybody at that moment. Inside the Maze... You don't know what it's like there until you're in. That silence, the gloom... the pressure. You have to be constantly alert and focused, because if you lose your head just for a second and forget one stupid turn - you're bloody dead. I hated every second of it. But I had been running inside every day because I needed to find a way out. I still do. But... it's useless. There's no way out." Newt turned his gaze to her, his black eyes scorching. "I've told you at the beginning, and I meant it. I ran through every shucking inch of that bloody labyrinth and found nothing. Neither did Minho. Not a single hint, sign, nothing. Maybe I was hoping that they would release us... That after some time, they would open some doors as a reward for the fact that we didn't give up. But then I saw how they killed Nick, as if he was nothing, as if he didn't mean anything at all and I realized that it would never happen. That they'll let us die in here. And back then, I couldn't have lived with that knowledge, not even one another day..."

Moon's heart sank once she realized where this story was going. And suddenly, she was grabbed by a desire to cover her ears because she didn't want to hear it. She didn't want to listen to Newt's voice full of pain anymore. But she didn't do it… She couldn't, not when he was looking right at her.

"So I climbed the wall, just like you…" he said, a weak mirthless smile on his lips. "I didn't make it to the top, though… One bloody damn thing and I couldn't even do it properly. I jumped off, but my bloody leg got stuck in the ivy and slowed my fall. Alby found me before the Gate closed. He thought that I was attacked by a Griever and I never told him otherwise. I couldn't just tell him, that I wanted to leave him in this bloody mess alone. So he dragged me back and that's my story."

And it was over. Moon breathed heavily, thank God, it was over. She felt her heart painfully clutching and she wanted to cry. She was blinking rapidly to prevent it. She would never have thought that it was possible for her to hate them even more, but she could. They were people who were killing small children in front of their friends. They were people who drove a fifteen years old boy to suicide. No, they weren't people. They were monsters.

"I bet that you wish you never asked," Newt chuckled grimly.

He was right. But Moon said nothing. She didn't know what to say. The silence was unbearable, but she could think of a single thing to say. Except perhaps one, but she would have to repeat that one over and over. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...

"That's why I don't want you to be a Runner," Newt added, his smooth voice bitter.

Moon cringed.

"I thought that we won't be doing this now…" she said weakly.

"We will," the blond said firmly. "I can't hold it anymore and you can't run, so too bad for you."

The black haired girl threw her head back and closed her eyes.

My God, it's not over yet...

"What happens when you don't find the way out?"

Moon blinked in confusion, turning her eyes to him.

"What?"

"I asked, what happens when you don't find anything tomorrow," Newt repeated, his dark eyes hard. "And the next day and the day after. And then again and again..."

"Stop it," Moon said, frowning.

"No, you need to hear it," Newt said harshly. "So let me tell you what happen. You will be depressed. In a week, you'll be drowning in anxiety and hopelessness. And as time goes on, climbing the wall and jumping off would no longer seem like the worst idea..."

The black haired girl felt her eyes filling with tears. She turned her head away from him, trying to suppress it, but his every word was like a shard of glass stabbing in her heart.

"Why are you doing this?" she whispered huskily.

"Because I care about you," Newt said dryly. "That's why I want you to realize that you aren't strong enough and don't go inside."

"You're wrong," Moon turned back to him, her eyes full of defiance. "I am strong enough."

"You think you're different, right?" The blond boy sneered bitterly. "That you're gonna walk inside the Maze, suddenly remember everything and offer us twenty different exits, that's what you think? But what if that's not the case?"

"I-"

"What if you don't know anything about the Maze? What if you have never known? So many dreams and none about the labyrinth, am I wrong?"

"No, but-"

"What if you never find the way out?!"

"I never give up!" Moon cut him off loudly, her heart pounding in her head.

They were looking at each other, neither of them could break their gaze. Moon thought that she finally won this argument, but-

"I thought you gave up," Newt said with a softer tone.

"What?"

"When you ran into the Maze today. I thought you just lost it," he sighed. "That we said you couldn't be a Runner, and you couldn't bear it anymore. It didn't even occur to me that you would risk your life for someone you don't even know for two weeks. But you did..." He shook his head as if he still couldn't believe it. "You couldn't know if you could make it back, and you still did it."

"I knew I could make it back," Moon said firmly.

"But I didn't know," Newt replied in the same tone. "You ran in there to rescue two of my friends and I did nothing. I just stood there and I couldn't stop thinking about that I couldn't do it. That I couldn't let those shanks by themselves, not again…" He shook his head and his eyes returned to the flame. "If I ran in there, I would have never come back. You can always tell on the whole group when one of the Originals leaves… Me and Minho, we would have been gone and Alby would have gone crazy. Who would have helped him? Gally? I couldn't even move with that thought in my head... I was just a bloody coward."

"You're kidding me, right?" Moon snarled in disbelief. Does he really mean it? "You're really going to sit there and blame yourself because you were thinking about others? Do you think that means to be a coward? That you can act responsibly?"

Newt turned to her his blank stare.

"I left them."

"You couldn't have helped them, not with your leg. That's a difference," Moon said uncompromisingly. "Don't you do that, don't you dare blame yourself because you know that you are needed by the rest. You couldn't just impulsively run in and risk your life. I could, because nobody needs me here," she said with a slight smirk on her face.

As Winston has told me many times…

"You're wrong," Newt said strongly, his eyes were fixed on her tightly. "I need you."

Moon's eyes widened, but she couldn't look away from his. He meant it. They hadn't even known each other for two weeks, and he was serious. His body was tense and his expression was uncompromising.

"It doesn't matter that I don't remember… We went through hell together, and that must mean something," he said. Moon wouldn't say that they actually went through, but okay… His gaze was even more intense right now.

"Don't you ever do something like that again."

"I won't," Moon exhaled.

"Good that," Newt said, and his whole body relaxed. "Now close your eyes and sleep. I want this bloody day to be finally over…"

You and me both, the black haired girl thought and obeyed him. A few seconds later, she felt his hand find her wrist and squeeze it gently. She had to smile.

"Newt?" she asked quietly, without opening her eyes.

"Hm?"

"Do you think you're biased? Maybe a little bit?" she teased softly.

"Shut up."

This was pretty emotional chapter and very Newt-centric. :3

I have to thank you for amazing reviews - I was so thrilled!
So Caitie, Annemieke, Chloé, bethefuture and littlepoison - you are the best!

Hope you liked this chapter and rememeber - reviews are love!