IT STARTED WITH A MAZE - Newt x Reader (F)

- LOSS OF A SUN -

I thrash, fists flying, legs kicking, not caring who I hit. The guards are too stunned to fire - I don't think they expected someone to stop me, either. There's chaos, but my world has shrunk down to this one moment. This one face. This one body I want to tear to shreds. "(Y/n)- (Y/n), stop-" Newt's voice is near my ear, soft but firm. His arms are locked around me, holding me back, keeping me from getting killed.

I don't want to be saved. "No no no get off of me!" I scream like an animal. It's guttural. Painful. The sound rips from my throat, my lungs, from a place I didn't know existed.

It's grief.

But this time, it's wearing rage.

Teresa stares at me from across the chaos. Her eyes are wide. I can see it on her face - she didn't know. She didn't know Janson would do this. There's sympathy there. But I don't want it. Not from her. And then I look back at Janson. And to my horror he looks sad. That makes it worse. So much worse. He lowers his pistol slowly, jaw tight, eyes dark.

He looks at my mother's body like it's a true loss of this war. Like it wasn't necessary. But he did it anyways. He doesn't get to be sad. He made his choice. He pulled the trigger.

And he will never be my father again.

"Load them up. Let's go," Dr. Paige says flatly as she turns her back on us. Just like that - as if none of this matters. As if the gunshot that just tore my world apart didn't echo like thunder in her ears. She waves a hand behind her. Doesn't even look back. "All of these people. Get rid of them."

Get rid of them.

They're not even people to her. Just data. Variables in her grand equation.

"How could you!?" I snarl, spitting the words like poison in Janon's direction. "How could you do this to her? To me?" But he doesn't answer. He doesn't even react. He stands cold, unreadable - just another lab coat trying to stay clean in the blood and dust. I try to launch at him again, but this time I'm already on the ground, too weak, too broken. Newt's arms are gone - he's being pulled away by a guard, dragged back with the others.

My grief flares red again. I'm about to lurch forward-

"Stand back!" The words punch through the air like another gunshot. Everyone stills. "Everyone stand back!" I twist around. Thomas. He's standing firm, both arms out in front of him - holding a bomb. The detonator rests in his palm. His thumb is hovering above it.

He's serious.

Guards freeze, dropping my friends, rifles up. "Hold your fire!" Janson shouts, lifting a hand. For once, there's real alarm in his voice.

"Stand back," Thomas repeats, quieter this time. But his hand doesn't waver. The threat is very, very real. Minho is at my side before I realise it. He grabs my arm, yanking me back behind a piece of scorched metal, shielding me instinctively. I see his face; locked tight, jaw rigid. His hand is shaking.

This is spiraling too fast.

"Put it down," Janson barks. Thomas's chest heaves. His eyes dart between us - me, Newt, Minho, Frypan - all of us still dangerously close. Close enough to catch the blast.

"Let them all go!" Thomas demands. He grips the bomb tighter. His thumb lowers provokingly. A single press, and we all go up.

"You know I can't do that," Dr. Paige says. Her tone is maddeningly calm. Like she's handling a lab rat that got loose.

"Thomas, please stop," Teresa pleads. Her voice breaks, but I can't tell if it's guilt or fear. I look at her and feel nothing but the gaping pit of betrayal. I trusted her. We all did. Now she stands beside my mother's killer and calls it peace.