Disclaimer:

I do not own The Maze Runner, but I do own this particular fanfic, so here is a question for you, just for fun:

Who is your favorite character and why? (Include Dylan and Theo pls bc they need some love as well)

EDIT: i mean in this particular fic, not the maze runner itself lol

-✼-

It was after lunchtime and I was still sitting at the picnic table, picking at my sandwich. Chuck had gone back to his job a while ago. Theo was sitting across from me even though he had already finished his food, brown eyes staring at me.

"Why don't you go back to work?" I asked him. "I'm fine."

He looked up from his empty plate and shrugged, picking at his nails. "I like keeping you company, amiga."

I sighed, setting my sandwich onto my plate and pushing it away from me. "Look, you and I both know that's not why you're still here."

Theo stopped with his nails and leaned his elbows on the table. "I'm worried about you, Dylan."

I was confused, pinching my eyebrows together. "Why?"

"I don't know. I just -" He frowned. "Gally came out of that meeting blabbering about all sorts of mierda. I only caught bits and pieces of it - mostly because he kept a distance from all of us - but what I did hear wasn't good."

I rolled my eyes, annoyance toward Gally rising in my stomach. "Let me guess— he was mumbling about Thomas."

"No, Dylan, he was actually talking about you."

"Me?" I asked, surprised. My eyebrows shot up my forehead and the annoyance died down. What did Gally want with me? It was Thomas he kept hounding.

"It didn't make sense," Theo recalled thoughtfully. "He just said random things, like maybe you're lying to" — he used his hands to make air quotes — "'cover Thomas' sorry little behind.' Whatever happened in there, he's not too happy about it."

I looked over at where Gally had been before, only to find him gone. Where was he? He was at lunch. Where could he have gone?

"That's stupid," I declared. "Gally is stupid. Everything that comes out of his mouth is stupid."

Theo managed a small smile, amusement dancing in his features. "Agreed." His eyes then flickered to something behind me and he stood a little to see better. "Is that Thomas and Newt?"

I turned around, and sure enough, Thomas and Newt were sitting by the west wall, eating with their backs against the ivy. How had we missed them? They must have come here for food.

"Okay, they must be ninjas or something, because I did not see them come in here," I said, looking back at Theo with a raised eyebrow. "Did you?"

Theo shook his head and fully stood, collecting his things from lunch. I did the same and we returned them to Frypan, whom we interrogated. According to him, they'd been sitting there for about three minutes.

"Ugh!" I exclaimed dramatically. "I can't believe we didn't see them." I thanked the Cook, who just nodded in response as he started to clean our dishes.

As Theo and I started to walk toward Newt and Thomas, a thought occurred to me. "Theo, I hope you don't get...like...fired or something for this."

"Me? Fired?" Theo laughed ironically. "We have too many Builders for our own good. We haven't even been doing anything lately. Gally just has us spend days building something, only to order us to demolish it and start something new."

"Oh." Somehow that wasn't a shock.

I was able to catch one of the best sentences I ever heard when we got within earshot of Thomas and Newt.

"We have to find Gally," Newt said while eating a carrot. "Bugger's gone off and hid somewhere. Soon as we're done eating, I need to find him and throw his butt in jail."

"Are you serious?" I asked, elated. Newt and Thomas jumped and seemed surprised to see me and Theo. We both sat across from the two in the dry grass. Newt and Theo exchanged a nod of greeting.

"That shank threatened to kill Thomas and we have to make sure it bloody never happens again. Plus, he attacked you, Dylan. Don't think I didn't hear him push and yell at you when he dragged you away." He sent me a disapproving look that I didn't tell him. "That shuck-face is gonna pay a heavy price for acting like that. Remember what I said about order."

"Yeah," Thomas mumbled, seeming to be deep in thought.

"Here's how it'll play out, Tommy and Dyl Pickle." Dyl Pickle? I couldn't help but grin. "You're with me for the rest of today - we need to figure things. Tomorrow, the Slammer. Then you're Minho's, and I want you to stay away from the other shanks for a while. Got it?"

"Even me?" Theo wondered, sounding a bit offended. Newt seemed to have forgotten he was there.

"You're a good shank, Theo," he said. "I trust ya. Keep them company, I guess."

"Right." Theo seemed pleased with himself as a grin lifted his lips.

"Sounds beautiful," Thomas said. "So Minho's going to train us?"

"That's right — you're Runners now. Minho'll teach ya. The Maze, the Maps, everything. Lots to learn. I expect you to work your butts off."

"Noted." I nodded.

Theo figured it was due time he got back to his job, however monotonous it was, and bid us goodbye. I scooted next to Newt and let the boys finish their meals in silence. Finally, Newt crumpled his trash into a ball and got down to business.

"Thomas, Dylan," he began, looking so serious that it kind of scared me. All sign of amusement had dispersed and was instead replaced with an intimidating look that hardened his features. "I need you to accept something. We've heard it too many times now to deny it, and it's time to discuss it."

My heart immediately started pounding nervously in my chest. It was like when someone said "We need to talk," and you immediately think of every single bad thing you did in your entire existence. But this was almost worse. Dread filled me to the brim until it was starting to spill over. Was he going to blame us for what had been happening ever since we arrived?

"Gally said it. Alby said it. Ben said it," Newt continued, switching from looking into Thomas's eyes to right into mine, "the girl, after we took her out of the Box — she said it."

My tongue had turned to sandpaper. My hands grew cold and clammy with nerves until they started to shake the slightest bit. It took all my willpower to hold Newt's gaze. He looked at me like he expected me to speak, but I couldn't.

Thomas, sensing my nerves and using our super awesome twin telepathy power (I wish) said, "They all said things were going to change."

Newt seemed to have realized it wasn't me who answered, so he looked to Thomas. "That's right. And Gally, Alby, Ben, and even Dylan claim they saw you in their memories after the Changing — and from what I gather, you weren't plantin' flowers and helpin' old ladies across the street. Let's start off easy." Newt turned to me. "Dyl, what did you see Thomas doing?"

I thought back to my memory from the Changing, still fresh as if I had just seen it. "I was six...we were six. We were sitting on a bed, and I was holding a teddy bear. There were people talking downstairs— two women, it sounded like. Thomas said they were separating us." I squeezed my eyes shut, remembering how devastated my little six-year-old self had been. "I started crying and Thomas held my hand. Then—" I stopped short, realizing I had almost told them about the scene changing and I had been in the Homestead. "That was it."

Newt looked skeptical, but nodded nonetheless. Thomas looked at me with a sorrowed expression. He didn't remember it, that I knew enough, and it saddened me knowing that I had memories of us and he didn't.

"I see," Newt mused. "Well, according to Gally, there's somethin' rotten enough about him that he wants to kill him."

"Newt, I don't know—" Thomas tried to say, but Newt cut him off.

"I know you don't remember anything, Thomas! Quit sayin' that — don't ever say it again. None of us remember anything, and we're bloody sick of you reminding us. The point is there's something different about you, and it's time we figured it out."

Newt's words were like a verbal slap. Thomas was just trying to defend himself; what more could he say besides he didn't remember? 'Hey, I know I'm not the master plotter of this, but I have no proof, so you're just going to have to believe me because I say so'? I sat with a blank expression, staying quiet.

"Fine, so how do we do it?" Thomas sounded as angry as I felt. "I want to know who I am just as much as anyone else. Obviously."

"I need you to open your mind. Be honest if anything — anything at all — seems familiar."

'Yes, because that's exactly what you did,' I thought, remembering how Newt only told me he knew me after I had figured it out myself.

"Nothing—" Thomas started, but stopped. I watched him curiously.

"I can see your wheels spinnin'," Newt said. "Talk."

Thomas seemed hesitant but spoke anyway. "Well...I can't put my finger on anything specific." My heart fell. He never thought he knew me? "But when Dylan and I were around each other, I always felt like I had to protect her. From Ben, from the guys staring at her, from everything that was going on. And I never realized why...until now. Also, I did feel like I've been here before when I first got here. Anyone else go through that?"

I shook my head. I didn't, at least. But it was a relief that he felt the same way I did before I knew we were twins.

Newt's face was also blank, and he even rolled his eyes. "Uh, no, Tommy. Most of us spent a week klunkin' our pants and bawlin' our eyes out."

"Yeah, well." I could see that Thomas was embarrassed, and I understood why. He had opened up like Newt asked, but he had rolled his eyes at him. "It was familiar to me, and I knew I wanted to be a Runner."

"That's bloody interesting." Newt stared at him, not bothering to hide his suspicion. "Well, keep lookin' for it. Strain your mind, spend your free time wanderin' your thoughts, and think about this place. Delve inside that brain of yours, and seek it out. Try, for all our sakes. You too, Dylan."

The mention of my name snapped me back, and I realized I had been zoning out. I was quite bored, and Newt's tone irked me a bit. He wasn't himself.

"I will," Thomas closed his eyes.

"Not now, you dumb shuck," Newt laughed for a change. "I meant, do it from now on. Free time, meals, goin' to sleep at night, as you walk around, train, work. You two, tell me anything that seems even remotely familiar. Got it?"

"Yeah, got it," Thomas replied as I mumbled, "Sure."

"Good that." Newt said, but he looked concerned. "What's wrong, Dylan?"

I shrugged, staring at the grass. "I just need some alone time. Catch you later?"

Newt nodded, his eyes following me as I stood up, brushed my clothes off, and walked away.

-/-

The day was proving to be equally as boring. I was sitting by the Deadheads, watching grass grow, when suddenly the door to the Homestead burst open. I looked up just in time to see Thomas, appearing like he had gone completely mad, making a beeline toward the East Door.

I jumped up. What was he doing?

"Thomas!" I shouted, sprinting as fast as I could as Thomas got closer and closer to the Maze. The grass blurred under my feet at the speed I was going and my legs seemed to be moving on their own. "Thomas, stop! What are you doing?"

But he paid absolutely no attention to me, almost like he hadn't heard my shouting. He kept running, and I watched helplessly as he made it out of the Glade and into the Maze, and it was only a matter of two seconds until I could see him no more.

I slowed to a stop in front of the Door, gaping. Was he out of his mind?! Going into the Maze to save Alby and Minho was one thing, but randomly darting in while looking like you had seen Gally naked was another. I couldn't go after him.

"Going for a run, Dylan?" Some boy asked as he walked behind me. A smirk was carved into his elvish face that seemed too small for his head. His blue eyes eyed me up and down from head to toe. "Not like you'd need it; you're amazingly fit already."

I turned to him with fire in my eyes and fiercely snapped, "Yeah, so 'fit' I could break your shuck neck without even trying!"

The boy simply laughed and continued on his way, as if he had never said anything to me at all.

I put my head in my hands. This was all too much. Living in an environment full of boys was proving to be harder than I thought. Did they not know that those comments embarrassed me? They were completely unnecessary, too.

"Dylan?" Newt. I didn't move my hands and slowly tried to control my breathing in a futile attempt to calm down. "Where did Thomas go?"

"Out into the Maze," I replied curtly, then walked off, slowly sliding my hands down my face in annoyance. Annoyance at the boy for thinking he could call me out like that without any remorse, annoyance at Thomas for being stupid when he was already in enough trouble, annoyance at the Glade, annoyance at everything in general. My chest was fueling with fire and I felt hot, angry tears fill my eyes. Everything was caving in on me at once.

It had been a long day. I couldn't shake off Gally's unusual behavior or how he'd threatened to kill Thomas. Like Winston said, the fact that everyone who went through the Changing saw him was odd. I didn't like not understanding things, and that was the biggest mystery of all.

"Dylan!" Newt was chasing after me and I ran faster, not wanting to let him see me cry. I made it all the way into the Homestead, up the stairs, and almost to our room before he caught me. His hand grabbed my arm, trying to turn me toward him. "What's wrong?"

"Leave me alone." There was a lump in my throat that made my voice waver despite my futile attempts to make it sound strong. Talking allowed the tears to spill one by one, and I tried to wrench my arm away. "Let me go."

"Not until you tell me what's the matter," he said, his voice soft. I kept trying to make him release me, but my attempts only had the opposite effect. Newt grabbed my other hand and forced me to face him. "Dyla—"

"What?" I snapped, the word coming out a lot more venomous than I intended. I pressed my lips together as my cheeks turned red and more tears fell. I was completely submerged in wet anger and I wanted nothing more than to be left alone so I could lay on my cot and cry. Then I could move on and pretend it never happened.

Newt, instead of seeing offended, only looked at me, then pulled me forward and wrapped me in a hug. Though I really wanted to pull away, I couldn't. My arms automatically locked together around his torso as I hugged him back tightly. For the second time, he let me cry into him, and we stayed like that until I moved back because I was becoming a snot-filled mess and it was gross.

"Thank you," I said more calmly, though my voice was still shaking from crying. I hid my face.

"What are you doing?" Newt asked.

"My nose is running and it's gross," I replied, my voice muffled by my hands.

"Here." I heard the sound of the door opening and he put his hand on my back, gently leading me in. Then he pressed something against my hand. A tissue.

"Thags." I turned a bit red from my embarrassing voice, having sounded like that because of my running nose. I removed my hands from my face and immediately blew my nose. Then I wiped my face with more tissues that Newt had grabbed for me. He looked calm the entire time.

As I threw the tissues into the trash from across the room and they each fell into the bin, I muttered, "Boom. Made all of 'em. I'm so good."

Newt chuckled in amusement, looking relieved that I was no longer sobbing. "Yes, you are." He tentatively sat next to me on my cot, features softening. "Now would you like to tell me what's wrong?"

"Not really," I admitted and he gave me a displeased look. "Fine! I don't really know. I was just really annoyed at life. Some guy teased me and—"

"What did he say," Newt said it so quickly that it wasn't a question.

"He asked if I was going for a run and then said I wouldn't need it because I was, quote, 'so amazingly fit already.'"

"Ew," Newt said with a disgusted look, nose scrunched up and everything, "what a slinthead. If he does it again, call him out."

"Already did," I answered, "believe me."

Newt laughed and put his arm around me, bringing me closer to him. "That's my girl."

And my bad mood was gone in an instant.

gif is how dylan looks when newt turns her to face him

_________

okay so by popular demand, theo and dylan's brotp name is thylan! seriously how did i not come up with that im so stupid pls punch me

jk

dedicated to newtisbae_ bc same gurl

~kristyn