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

- TAKEN -

"I always am," I whisper. Before I go, I turn back. Newt lies still on the stretcher inside the Berg, a peacefulness finally softening his features. I step in quietly, lean over him, and press a kiss to his forehead. My hand brushes against his, just briefly. "You stay alive, Newtie," I whisper against his skin. "I'm coming back."

Then I turn and walk away - toward the edge of the Berg ramp, toward the shattered skyline, toward the blood-soaked concrete and the building still pulsing with wickedness. Minho and Gally are telling Vince and Jorge my story - and they're expectantly shouting their disapproval. I don't have time to deal with it.

I grip my gun.

And I run.

Back to the WICKED building.

~~~

The inside is dark - eerily so. The overhead lights flicker with failing power, casting fractured shadows against the gleaming floor like ghosts still trapped here. The air smells of metal, sterile chemicals, and something else - burnt circuitry and decay. I push open the doors to the atrium, expecting chaos.

But it's still. Quiet. Except for the hum of broken fluorescent lights above, the space is empty. Until I see her.

Dr. Ava Paige.

She's standing in the center of the vast, dimly lit room, bathed in pale white light that falls from a single, flickering spotlight overhead. Her white coat is tattered, her hair messier than I've ever seen it. She's alone. Unarmed. Her hands hang at her sides, open. I raise my gun on instinct. She doesn't flinch. Instead, she meets my eyes with something unnervingly soft. "Did you save Newt?" She wonders.

I don't hesitate. "I did."

Her expression shifts just slightly - some small relief, or maybe pride. It's hard to tell. "Do you realise that you can save us all?" She asks gently.

"I do," I say as I begin walking toward her. My boots echo in the emptiness. "And I will. As long as you leave my friends alone."

She smiles. Not wickedly. Not with superiority. But the kind of smile she gave me when I was younger, when I didn't know what this place truly was. When I trusted her. But I'm not that girl anymore. "I will-" she begins.

A gunshot cracks through the stillness like a whip.

I duck instinctively, a sharp breath caught in my throat. But the bullet wasn't meant for me. Dr. Paige's eyes go wide. Her mouth falls open and she gasps - a guttural, rattling sound. Blood spills over her bottom lip, and she staggers forward. One hand reaches out toward me, trembling, before she collapses with a sickening thud onto the polished floor.

A red blossom spreads across her chest like a cruel flower blooming in death. Behind her, Janson emerges from the shadows, his gun still smoking. "You came back," he says, voice calm, almost amused, as he steps forward with slow, deliberate strides. The gun remains pointed at me. "Again."

My grip tightens on my weapon. "I didn't come here to shoot you," I make clear - although a part of me still wants to.

"Neither have I," he replies smoothly. But he doesn't lower the gun. His pace quickens. His face is dark with something unreadable.

Then he lunges.

Not with the gun - but with something else. An item in his other hand. Pain flares sharp in my neck. It's a sting, quick and pulsing.

A needle.

I stumble, the world tilting violently. My limbs betray me, my muscles locking up like someone's hit an off switch. The paralysis spreads instantly, terrifyingly fast. It's the same sickening sensation from the Griever venom. Cold. Crushing. Like I'm sinking inside my own body.