Newt Imagines (The Maze Runner)

wckd is good

a/n:  this is a marvel/modern day au where newt is venom, reader is spider-woman, teresa is a black widow, wckd is s.h.i.e.l.d., etc

It's no longer light out when you leave to save the world. There was a time during the lovely summer months when you could depart the relative safety of WCKD headquarters and still find yourself in the last vestiges of golden hour. It was easier to believe in the cause then, somehow, as if even the idea of a billowing honey-colored curtain of light could shine down on the blood you've shed and make it better, make it all better. No pain is too terrible if it is dragged out for a good cause.

Now that the days have veered past autumn and towards the start of winter, though, you no longer have the comfort of light to protect you. Your shifts are at night, always; no hero will be discovered and no rest will be yours. The moonlight, although sparkling, lacks the strength of sunlight in its ability to ease your conscience.

You knew this was coming, though, it happens every year. You were young when you decided you wanted to change the world, we all are. Only the naivete of youth lets you believe that you can do something about the terrors of the city around you. Once you grow up, you realize there's no point and you stop trying.

While you're young, though, you think there's still a chance. That's how they get you. That's how WCKD got you, to be specific. They still have scientists and soldiers believing in that greater cause, but the heart of their crusade is carried on by the kids. They say that's the way it's always been. Perhaps it's true. How would you know otherwise?

The secret is always kept pristine behind glass. WCKD said no boundaries, no lies, so they told you everything from the moment you joined. You were young and foolish; they said jump, you asked how high. It made perfect sense to you. There is a problem in this city, in this world. You could fix it. Why wouldn't you?

You were one of the first to join. Teresa was the very first, if you're going by technicalities. The two of you believe in it the most. Even when the others started having their doubts, when Thomas gave up his shield and ran away, when Minho let the civil war of heroes get in between himself and his desire to protect the world, you and Teresa were the ones who stuck with it.

It's worth it now. It always has been. Times are getting darker, villains more treacherous. Mutants appear out of the woodwork like flies, and it's your job to cut them off before they can grow too powerful. Every night, you stop mass robberies, save lives, confiscate stolen tech. The city walks a narrow line between peace and destruction. You're there to keep winning the war.

That's why you agreed to the experimentation in the first place. Admittedly, it wasn't WCKD's finest moment when they asked young teenagers to step into their labs for the greater glory of the world, but it's worth it now. They injected you with radioactive spider venom and you were the best fit for the program, or so they tell you. If you were to guess, though, you'd say that you were the only subject who survived. Now, you get superhuman abilities and a cool moniker: Spider-Woman. Isn't that worth the blood you shed in a pristine white cell?

Teresa was never a subject like you were. Instead, she was trained in the deadly arts as a Black Widow. The two of you are sent out on missions together, but not as often as you'd like. Instead, WCKD always seems to keep one of you behind while the other is out there in the world, supposedly for security reasons. If two of its finest soldiers were taken out in the same doomed-to-fail mission, who would carry on the cause?

No, it's better if you do it alone. You saw Teresa today, at least, running through some surveillance footage from a few nights back. There's a Right Arm stronghold somewhere nearby, you can tell because some of the inhumans you leave for dead have started disappearing before the WCKD research division can collect their bodies, but you just don't know where they're sent to. If you can cut off the head and do it cleanly this time, perhaps two more won't grow back in its place.