Please….

Summary: Thomas gets hold of the serum
Warning(s): Spoilers up to and including Maze Runner: The Death Cure; AU; violence
Pairing: Newt/Thomas

###

Thomas stared at Newt’s face as his best friend came at him. He was virtually unrecognisable. The virus had been eating away at him for so long. And he could see that Newt wasn’t fighting it any longer. He’d given in. Surrendered to the virus. And now black sludge came from his mouth and black veins stood out prominently in his eyes.

The Crank that stood in front of Thomas bore little resemblance to his best friend, but Thomas couldn’t let himself lose hope. The others would come with the serum. They had to. All he needed was to buy them time.

Newt moved faster than Thomas expected. He tackled Thomas and pushed him to the ground, pinning him there, before he grabbed a metal shard and pushed it against Thomas’ shoulder.

Thomas cried out as the metal pierced his skin, blinding pain slicing through him. “Newt,” he gasped out, panting for breath.

Newt’s face cleared, suddenly, and he let go of the shard. It clattered against the ground and he whispered, “Tommy? I’m sorry, Tommy….”

“It’s okay.” The blood trickled down his arm, soaking through his shirt. It hurt, but his eyes were entirely focused on his best friend. He reached up, touching Newt’s face, cupping it in his hand. Stared into his best friend’s eyes as he gasped out, “You have to hold on for me. They’re coming. They’re bringing the serum.”

“It won’t work.” The black veins were growing, until there were no whites showing in his eyes at all. Newt grabbed the gun from Thomas’ belt and held it to his own head.

Thomas didn’t think. He only reacted. He knocked the gun out of Newt’s hand and shoved himself up. He pushed Newt to the ground and pinned the other there, lacing his fingers through Newt’s and holding his hands out of the way. “Maybe it’s not a permanent solution, but it’ll buy you time. We’ll extract the serum from my blood to buy you more. Till we can find a permanent cure.”

“That won’t happen, Tommy.” More sludge trickled from the corner of Newt’s mouth and he bunched his knees up, slamming them into Thomas’ stomach and sending him reeling to the side. Then, he grabbed for the gun again.

Thomas tackled his best friend, pulling the gun aside as it fired. The bullet exploded between them and Newt growled like a wild animal, lashing out at Thomas and trying to bite his neck.

“I’m not going to let you kill yourself.” Thomas shoved Newt up against the wall, holding his hands up above his head so he couldn’t lash out with his nails. “You hear me, Newt?” he demanded. “I’m not leaving without you.”

“You promised you’d kill me,” Newt whispered. He stopped struggling, the black veins beginning to fade from his eyes. But he still looked barely inhuman. “I’m asking you to kill me, Tommy. If you care about me at all, you won’t let me live like this. Like a monster.”

“I do care about you.” Thomas squeezed Newt’s hands, staring into his eyes. “I love you, Newt. I’m not going to let you die.”

Newt’s laugh was low and bitter. “You love me? Really? Or are you just telling me that because you think it’ll stop me from trying to kill myself?”

“I love you,” Thomas repeated. “I love you, Newt.”

“It’s not going to change anything.” Newt shook his head. “You think you’ll just kiss me and we’ll wake up from this nightmare? You think love is going to save us?”

“No.” Thomas heard the sound of running footsteps behind him and he turned. Long enough to catch Minho’s eyes. And, more importantly, to see the vial of blue serum held in Minho’s hand. “The serum is going to save you.”

Minho reached his side and Thomas took the serum. He stabbed it into Newt and depressed the plunger, allowing the serum to enter Newt’s bloodstream.

It took several long moments for the outward signs of the Flare to fade from Newt’s skin and eyes. Thomas held his hands up above his head, watching his best friend, the one he loved, closely and intensely. But he still didn’t release Newt, even after the veins were gone entirely. Instead, he asked, “If I release you now, will you listen to reason?”

“You love me?” Newt stared into his eyes. “I need to know the truth, Tommy. Did you say it just because you were trying to save me? I know you have feelings for Teresa. And there’s Brenda, too. She likes you.”

Thomas leaned forwards and kissed him, quickly on the lips. “It’s complicated,” he whispered against Newt’s mouth. “But how I feel about you, I can’t put into words. I want you with me, Newt. I want to be with you.”

“Let me go, Tommy.”

He looked into Newt’s eyes. Searched his face. “I need you to promise me, Newt. Give me your word. I need to know you won’t give up again.”

“We don’t have a lot of time,” Minho said. “Cranks are moving through the city. And we’ve got to get back to the helicopter and the others.”

“Tommy.” Newt waited for Thomas to look at him and then leaned forward, capturing his lips in a deeper, more intense kiss. “I promise,” he said, after he pulled back.

There wasn’t much he could do if Newt was lying. All he could do was hope that he’d done enough to make Newt think and remember this if the virus started to take hold. And Thomas knew that Minho was right. They did need to get out of the city. He released Newt’s hands, but then took one of them. “So you can’t just disappear on me.”

“You sure you’re not just looking to hold my hand?” A small amount of humour crept into Newt’s voice. He wiped at his mouth and then asked, “What about Teresa? Are we going back for her?”

“I don’t see how we can,” Thomas replied. “She had her chance to join us. And she’s betrayed me at every turn. I need to worry about getting us all safely out of here now.” He nodded to Minho. “Let’s go.”

Minho nodded and the three of them began jogging back in the same direction Minho had come from.

And Thomas still held onto Newt’s hand. He didn’t have any intention of letting go of the person he loved any time soon.

The End