Newt Imagines (The Maze Runner)

In the Long Run

Based on a request for an AU where Newt was immune to the Flare.

Were it not for the oppressive misery of getting up this early in the morning, you're pretty sure that your job as a Runner would be the best thing in the entire Glade. It already is, to be honest. You don't have to slog around bricks and planks with the Builders, or work all day as a Track-Hoe. Instead, you get to explore every corner of the Maze, enjoying the title and preeminence of such an important job. The only downside, other than the chance of getting killed by the Grievers, is that you have to wake up at this ungodly hour of the morning.

You start to sit up, stretching. A shape moves beside you, barely visible in the lingering darkness of dawn. You can't help but smile as you glance down at your boyfriend, who's glaring at you petulantly. "I appreciate you putting in all this effort into your job, love, but do you really have to get up this early?" You laugh quietly, careful to keep your voice down so as not to wake the other Gladers. "Afraid so, Newt."

Newt groans, rubbing a hand over his still bleary face. "I mean, I think you could sleep in at least a little longer. Would being one hour late really kill you?" You widen your eyes in mock horror. "Absolutely. My heart rate is already slowing at the thought of it." You go to slide out of your hammock, but Newt slides an arm around your waist, keeping you trapped beside him. You push at his arm, but he doesn't budge. "Newt, you have to let me go." He shakes his head, closing his eyes as if already asleep. "Can't hear you. I'm too tired."

You give up, lying back against the hammock with a grin. "You're impossible." Newt smiles, the movement slow in the early morning light. "Maybe." His arm relaxes infinitesimally, so you take advantage of this slight lapse to twist out of his grip and jump to the ground. He reaches back for you, but it's too late and you're already out of his range. He frowns at you balefully. "If you loved me, you would sleep in with me."

You just laugh again, pressing a kiss to his cheek before starting off across the Glade. "Afraid not, Newt. You know the rules. I'll see you later." He waves a bleary goodbye before collapsing back against the hammock. You let yourself treasure this one glimpse of the blond boy, hair messy from the night's sleep, then start walking again. Frypan's set out an early breakfast for the Runners, and you grab your meal before meeting up with Minho, Ben, and the others.

You've been given your own section of the Maze to run today, so after exchanging a couple of brief words with the other Runners, you take off down the twisting corridors. It's hard not to feel claustrophobic during these first few steps, when you're still shaking off the last vestiges of sleep and all you can see are the looming walls of the giant labyrinth. However, you've been a Runner for years, longer than any other. If you were ever hesitant to enter the Maze, that fear would have left you long ago.

You can still remember the panic of your first month, back when the Glade was hardly home to a scant few boys. Back then, the only Gladers were Alby, Newt, yourself, and a couple of other unlucky shanks who'd managed to get themselves stuck here like the rest of you. You're the unofficial third in command- not elected by the rules of the Glade, but widely accepted as a voice of reason. When you've been in the Glade for as long as you have, people tend to listen when you have something to say.

You were also one of the first Runners to ever enter the Maze. It had been you, Newt, and Minho for a long time, until you watched the hope bleed out of the blond boy's eyes and he had thrown himself from the walls. He had readily accepted a position as a Track-Hoe after that, when his leg stopped its fight, and none of you ever brought it up again. You can see this haunted look in his eyes, sometimes, when he watches you emerge from the Maze a little later than usual. He's terrified to lose you to the same Maze that nearly claimed him.

In truth, he hadn't had you when he had jumped from the walls. You hadn't realized how much you needed Newt in your life until it seemed like he might be taken from you. Standing in a corner of the Med-Jack hut, watching Newt struggle against survival, was one of the worst terrors you had ever experienced, and you had come face to face with a Griever on more than one occasion. When he healed enough to walk the earth of the Glade once more, you'd sworn to yourself that you would stay with him, never let him leave you like he almost had during the fall. Apparently, he'd had the same thought, as he'd told you he loved you not soon after that.