centre | newtmas au

34

Teresa
She opened her eyes, her hair matted and her t-shirt clinging to her back. She smelt smoke and sweat and the smell of damp earth, which to her surprise, she found comforting.
But she didn't have time to sit and admire the scenery, she had to find him.
She sat up abruptly and noticed a boy sitting in the corner, his feet propped up on a bed, similar to the one she was lying in herself, his eyes closed, the soft sound of snoring filling the silence. It was Winston, she thought to herself. She knew him.

As she began to shift, lifting her body up from the bed and swinging her legs over the edge, he began to stir. His eyes flicked open slowly and then widened as their eyes met.

"You're awake" he said.

"Yes, I am" she replied, beginning to stand.

"Are you sure-" he began, leaping up to approach her, his hands out, as if she was going to fall.

"I'm fine, W-" she began, but almost gasped before she realised she couldn't. Not yet.

"I'm fine" she finished, trying to play it off cooly. He nodded. "I'm Teresa" she said, with a smile.

"Winston" he said, weakly smiling back. "You've got us all on edge Teresa"

'I should hope so' she thought.

"We weren't exactly expecting a girl to come here"

"Oh" she responded, edging towards the door, not really paying attention to him, sensing that he was deliberating stopping her.

"Uh, you want to go out?" he asked.

"Yeah" she said, pushing the door with her foot, so it opened out onto the grass. She could see other boys now, and her eyes began to search for the one she wanted to see.

"That's okay I guess" he replied, glancing over her head. She heard him gulp.

She stepped out of the door, watching as their heads turned and then feeling at least 5 sets of eyes settling on her. She was almost too nervous to look up, but she knew he was there, or somewhere near, anyway.

"Hey there greenie" a kind British voice said, and she felt a tightness in her chest for a brief moment.
"Hi" she replied, trying to contain the smile that pulled at her lips. Despite the nature of their relationship, she was happy to see him.

"I'm Newt" he said.

"I'm Teresa" she replied, watching the flicker of surprise cross his face.

"You remember it already? Huh. Maybe it's a girl thing" he responded, with a chuckle.

'Maybe' she thought. 'Or maybe I played around with my memory serum. But who knows?'

"Yeah" she replied, trying not to give anything away.
He smiled, leading her gently away from the other boys, towards two who were standing near the box.

"Come meet Alby, then. He's the leader. I'm just the second in command"

She nodded, but felt frustration bubbling as she walked past the other boys, and couldn't find him anywhere.

"Hey greenbean" Alby said, a big smile on his face. "I'm Alby"

"I'm Teresa" she said, monotonously. Introducing herself was getting boring.

"Hey, Newt?" a voice said, that made her heart drop to the bottom of her stomach.
Thomas.

"Yeah?" Newt replied softly, muttering a quick apology to Alby and stepping to one side.

Teresa could hear them muttering to each other, but it didn't seem important. She was more fixated on how nice it was to hear his voice again. She had missed him every day in that control room and had hated every second she had to watch him suffer. She had tried to give something back to him, to combat the grief and the guilt she was feeling and had altered Newt and Thomas' memory serum, so they'd have some memory of each other.
Of course, Janson had noticed and she had taken the hit. But she felt no remorse at his punishment, or any pain at his words; she was only glad. She had given them each other, at least. It was all she could've done.
Alby had been talking to her, but she had paid no attention. She heard him sigh.

"Are all girls this bad at listening?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
She shrugged.

"I don't know if you got any of that but... just don't go in the maze. That's really all you've gotta know" he said, gesturing to the large stone walls, the very ones Teresa had helped design. She tried not to let her guilt show on her face.
"Well, I've got stuff to do so I'll get your a tour guide" he said, his eyes flicking over the boys who were standing nearby. His eyes stopped a few feet away from where they were standing. "Thomas!" he yelled. She watched through her hair as his head snapped around and he jogged towards them, sliding to stand in the space between herself and Alby.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Can you give our greenie a tour?"

Thomas nodded, giving her a smile. Her eyes fixed on his face, hoping in vain for maybe a shred of recognition. But of course, she knew there wouldn't be one.
Once Alby had walked away, Thomas lead her out further into the field, and little by little, the other few who were milling around in interest, dispersed. They were alone now. Her plan could begin.
"Thomas" she practically yelled, trying as hard as she could to spark the telepathic link between them again. She was rusty, and of course, so was he, but it was still there; WCKD had left it untouched.
She tried again. He was walking at an angle, so his back was to the maze door and he was facing her as he walked. She tried one more time.
He froze, panic masking his face.

"Thomas. It's Teresa. You have to trust me"

He opened his mouth slightly, a word on the tip of his tongue.

"You can't. They're listening. They can't know we're doing this"

He brought his hands to his temples and began to rub them, his chest moving quickly up and down with his shallow, fearful breaths.

"Try and talk to me. Please" she said, gently.

"How's that?" he replied, and she heard it. A whisper, but still - she heard it.

"Good, but quiet"

"Now?"
She smiled. "Loud and clear"

He sighed. Wether in relief or in exasperation, she didn't know.

"What is this? Who are you? and who's watching us?" he cried out, the fear in his voice piercing.
She took a deep breath.

"Okay, let's start from the beginning"

HEY! thank u for reading. idk if i like this one very much because i had to rewrite a couple parts because i was worried they were confusing, so let me know if they are lol
i also uploaded my ao3 fic "coffee?" on here as well, so feel free to check it out if u can / want to <3