Iridescence

Thomas grimaces. “I worked for them.”
   “Slim it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—it doesn’t matter,” Newt says firmly. “Whatever ya did before the Maze doesn’t change a thing. You’re here now, and if ya hadn’t worked for them, I wouldn’t be immune either. So stop beatin’ yourself up.”
Newt sinks to the ground, his back braced against the lighthouse’s weathered stone wall, its surface rough and worn from the corrosive touch of the salty air.
Thomas settles beside him, their shoulders brushing, the quiet reassurance of Newt’s presence keeping him grounded. “What now?” he asks, his voice subdued.
Newt shrugs, his shoulders sagging in quiet surrender, as though he’s made peace with a truth too draining to battle. “All I know is that WICKED must have put me in that maze for a reason. Maybe it was literally just so they could tell the difference between immunes like you and people like us—me, Winston and Tim…”
   “And all of this… for what?“ Thomas’ voice drops, a bitter edge creeping in. “I had a feeling something’s off about this place, but Teresa and the others… they seem ready to go along with it—Did you know they’re planning to breed us? To ‘preserve the human race’ with the immunes?”
Newt looks away, his jaw tight. “I heard… something. They don’t bother hidin’ it from the non-immunes. We’re not part of that plan. They make sure we know we’re… expendable.”
Newt’s hand closes around his wrist, where the tattoo lies hidden under his sleeve, and the small, involuntary act sends a painful jolt through Thomas’ chest.
   “You’re more than just a number, Newt. You know that, right?”
   “Right,” Newt mutters, his voice flat.
Thomas swallows hard. “I’m sorry, Newt. I’m so sorry.”
Newt sighs, sounding worn. “What for?”
   “I’m the reason we’re still stuck in this mess.” 
   “No,” Newt’s eyes burn with a fierce determination, the weight of his stare drawing Thomas in, leaving no room for doubt. “You’re the reason we got out of that bloody Maze, Tommy. Maybe things aren’t perfect, and you might not have all the answers, but it’s not over. We can still make this right. We can!”
Thomas’ eyes drop to his hands, tightly clasped in his lap. “I don’t know what to do, Newt,” he admits. “I feel… lost.”
Newt’s eyes never leave him, steady and unwavering. “We’ve been lost before.”
   “Not like this,” Thomas murmurs, shaking his head. But when he meets Newt’s gaze, there’s something there—something raw—that makes the world stop, if only for a moment. The depth of Newt’s faith overwhelms him, stealing his breath.
   “There’s a place for us out there, somewhere,” Newt says quietly. “I don’t know where it is, but I do know that a lot of our friends have died for us to get this far. So we can’t give up. You can’t give up, I won’t let you.”
They sit side by side, the silence between them filled with an understanding that doesn’t need words. The wind howls around them, but the world feels quieter somehow as Newt reaches out and takes Thomas’ hand in his. The touch is gentle, natural, it feels like a lifeline between them and Thomas hopes Newt will never let him go again.
   “You look good, Tommy,” Newt says with a faint smile. “Healthy. They’re treatin’ you a lot better than us. The Elite, huh?” He laughs, but Thomas doesn’t find it in himself to join in.
   “It’s probably all the yoga Jorge makes us do,” he quips, though the humour falls flat.
Newt doesn’t release his hand, and Thomas absentmindedly runs his thumb over Newt’s knuckles, finding a strange comfort in that small gesture.
   “I like how my hand fits in yours,” he blurts out, the words escaping before he can stop them.
Newt chuckles softly, a warm sound amidst the cool night air. “Do ya now, Tommy?”

or: What if Ava Page had chosen to dispatch the immunes to Safe Haven immediately after the Maze Trials, placing the preservation of humanity above the search for a cure?

Iridescence - Chapter 1 - FilisMaze - The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner [Archive of Our Own]