~Sara~

She couldn't stand to be separated from Newt. Not in a moment like this. Things had gone way past the radar, and that wasn't how they were supposed to roll out.

Sara struggled against the guards that were dragging her along, following Janson. Rebecca looked back at her apologetically, but Chancellor Paige gave her a stern look, which made her face forward again.

Sara had noticed a certain tension between the two of them, one that she didn't remember ever witnessing when she used to live in HQ. Had Paige done something to Rebecca? If so, then she had two people to worry about. Paige and Janson. Rebecca had been held back, Sara knew it, because those were the moments when she had to fend for herself in the Glade. But she couldn't just take out all the responsibility on Rebecca. She'd helped more than Sara could ever make up for.

Next thing she knew, Sara was forcefully seated onto a chair in Janson's office. The guards stood by the door, one on each side. Janson took a seat in his big chair, and Rebecca and the Chancellor stood right beside him.

"What do you want?" Sara asked, irritated. "Why'd you have to separate me from my friends?"

"Sara, do you remember anything?" he asked her, eyeing her with curiosity.

"No," she replied, frowning. "Why would I? Heard you took care of that." She gave him a sardonic smile.

Janson cleared his throat. "Just making sure. It's procedure."

"Sure it is," Sara dragged the words out. "Just like killing a bunch of innocent kids for your selfish project," she muttered. Rebecca pursed her lips and shook her head subtly, but urgently, reminding her that her mouth needed a little refrain. Again, Paige turned to her, and Rebecca's expression switched to an idle one immediately.

Janson outstretched his arms. "I've only done my job to protect and potentially save humanity. So that you can live a better life. Because you're my niece, and you were sent to that Maze by mistake." He lowered his voice, then tried to reach out and stroke her cheek.

Sara swatted his hand away immediately. "Don't—touch—me," she growled. "Niece?" She laughed. "And I thought your lame excuse for the trials was the worst I've heard today, Rat Man." Then she smirked at him. "You're not my uncle," she said, before spitting on the floor and giving him a hateful look.

His mouth twitched in anger, and his scowl only broadened. "I want her sedated in the next hour. Remove her existing memories of the Maze until now... then remove the Swipe. I want the old Sara back. The one who supported my cause. But don't remove the implant in case... she needs a little persuasion."

Sara entered a full-blown panic.

Shuck. I can't let him know.

She looked to Rebecca for help, but she didn't have anything to say to her.

"You'll get your niece back, and then what, Janson?" asked Paige, her voice sounding urgent. "You're trailing off the pending issue."

"Give me time," Janson pressed. "I wasn't counting with these casualties. Way too many Subjects survived the Mazes, but we need to continue the trials as they are. After all, the data we gathered from the Subjects' Killzone is still promising," he said.

Sara didn't know if she was imagining it, but it almost sounded like all that respect he used to have for his superior, Chancellor Paige, was wearing out.

No. Not Phase Two! What the shuck are they gonna do to them? To Newt?

"You touch my friends, and I'll make sure you never get any data from our brains again," Sara threatened in a low voice.

Janson frowned at her, trying to intimidate her. "You will learn discipline, young lady. I'm your uncle, and I'm the Assistant Director here. Soon, you'll forget about all of this, and you'll be back to the sweet little girl who understands what's at stake."

"Janson," Paige's tone was gravely serious. "We don't have much time. The infection rates are increasing exponentially. We solve this issue now, or it's over."

"Well..." Janson began, chewing on his lip, "...then we'll terminate them. Send out another bundle of guards and search all over Denver. If there are still any refuge cities left, we'll gather the rest of the Immunes," he raised his voice as he stood up, facing the Chancellor.

Sara gasped. She sprung to her feet, and tried to flee the office, but the guards blocked her path. She didn't know what she was thinking, that she could possibly get out, but she had to get back with the others. They had to leave, or they'd die.

"We don't have time to restart!" Paige shouted. "And we can't dispose of millions of dollars' worth of work with the current Subjects. We can work something out with them," she added. "With your current plan, that means Sara must be terminated as well. Do you really want that?"

"No!" Janson screamed, a bit hysterically. He cleared his throat. "She's not with the others."

It was obvious to Sara that he had no love in his heart, therefore, much more was it suspicious that he acted like he cared.

Rebecca stood in between them both. "I agree with my mo—my Chancellor." She cleared her throat, "But the Subjects are scared. Let them rest. They're tired; they need time to process things and be comfortable, or they will not cooperate."

The tension died down a bit, and then Janson smiled at Rebecca. "Will a week do, darling? Maybe we can send them to the Scorch after that. And things could get back to normal—like they should've been from the start!"

"Yes, sir," Rebecca affirmed, then she looked at Sara. "What about your niece, Mr. Janson?"

"She stays in here while the others commence Phase Two," was his reply.

No way that's happening. Nope. Absolutely the freaking shuck not.

Chancellor Paige dismissed herself, full of rage, and walked back to her own office, just a few doors further.

"Sir, I'll take care of the procedure you have planned for your niece," Rebecca blurted out.

"I was hoping you'd get a rest, darling," said Janson, raising an eyebrow as he looked up at her. "You were feeling sort of ill for the past few hours, is that so?"

"Sir, I want my Sara back just as much as you do. Please, let me do the procedure myself, then I'll send her to her room, and I'll get some rest. Things will go back to the way they were, I promise." Her eyes were pleading, and Janson groaned. 

Just then, a creepy smirk made its way onto his face.

He stood up, and slowly approached Rebecca. For a moment, Sara feared he was going to attack her, but she refrained her impulse of wanting to kick him when she saw him run his disgusting fingers along the skin on Rebecca's face, neck, and arms.

She hated herself for not doing anything, but she knew she'd give herself and Rebecca away otherwise. He couldn't know they were working together.

"You look even better when you're scared," he muttered as he buried his face into the nape of Rebecca's neck. "Don't do that in front of the girl. It makes me want to sit you on top of this desk and—"

"You're a sick bastard," Sara muttered, gritting her teeth, and throwing every bit of hatred for him into her words.

She was literally right there. Was he expecting her to watch as he took advantage of the woman who cared for her for half her lifetime? The mission didn't matter in that instant, only that Rebecca wouldn't have to go through this yet again.

Rebecca looked disgusted by him, obviously, but she tried her best to mask it. The distant hollowness of her eyes made Sara wonder just how many times she'd had to go through this.

It had to stop. They had to do something about this. About everything.

After giving Sara a scornful side-glance, Janson abruptly let go of Rebecca's arms, and ordered her to carry on with the procedure.

She fixed herself, then took Sara by the hand, and Sara pretended to struggle against her, but she eventually walked out with the woman.

Rebecca took her straight to the surgical wing of the complex, and Sara feared for a moment that she might've had her head cut open for this. She looked up at the woman who'd had her back the entire time.

"Becca?"

"Shh. It's not what you think." Her eyes were reassuring, and that was all Sara needed to see.

Rebecca subtly stuck her hand in her lab coat pocket, and something beeped softly. Then she took Sara out of there, and they neared an ever-so-familiar hallway. Right where Rebecca's office and Sara's old room was located.

The security cameras, of course!

"I'll file in a report that the procedure was done. But from now on, act like so," Rebecca ordered. "Stay in your room at all times while I figure out how to arm you guys and get you out. I don't know how I'm gonna do that yet. The new security system is harder to decode," she explained as they both locked themselves in Sara's room.

"Thank you. Seriously," said Sara, then her eyes widened. "I have to tell the others!"

"You're not leaving—"

"Becca, I have to see Newt at least."

After thinking for a moment, the woman sighed. She already made Janson give them a week of rest, but full of more testing, which gave them enough time to plan their next move. Becca agreed to rearrange a time and place to freeze the cameras and distract the guards so that Newt and Sara could see each other in the meantime.

He must've been worried sick...

Rebecca deemed it wiser to wait at least two days to arrange a meeting between Newt and Sara. With Janson being more cautious after realizing about the intrusion of the trials and Ava Paige following many of her steps, it was too dangerous to do everything on the same day.

Despite Sara's impatience to explain things to her friends and see her boyfriend, she had to stay in her room for the time being.

~Newt~

The boys and girls got separated, and Lizzy didn't leave before she could hug her brother one more time. Newt wrapped his arms around her tightly, as if she were also going to be stripped away from him.

"Don't worry, brother. I'm sure she'll be fine. But please get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow, we can plan how to get her back," she whispered in his ear.

With a worried expression, he pulled back and said, "You get some rest too. I... I'll try."

A guard grabbed her by the arm, separating her from Newt, and led her along with the rest of the girls to their dormitories.

The dormitories were decently large, and there was space for eight people to sleep in each room. Each of the boys picked a bed, and soon, many of them were fast asleep. It'd been a long night, and they'd barely escaped the Maze only hours earlier.

Newt, Minho, Thomas, and Frypan, who were placed in the same room together, had more difficulty falling asleep, while the other four in the room with them did not. 

The sleepless four only stood in the middle of the room in a circle, worriedly thinking and thinking as that was the only thing to do in the silence. They were all too exhausted to say a word, but the preoccupation took any sleep from their eyes away.

"Newt, I'm sure she's fine, but we have to plan how to get out of here and get her back," Thomas said, walking closer to him.

"I know, Tommy. But what if we're risking her life if we try to escape? And there are at least two guards right outside this door," Newt argued.

Thomas looked around like he was about to come up with the worst idea ever and was tempted to just throw it out there. "We can put up a fight between us to distract them. Minho, Fry, and I will do that, and while the guards try to separate us, you're gonna slip out and try to go look for her," he suggested.

"Look, I'm a cook. I don't fight. And I wanna live," Frypan said, raising his hands.

Minho stepped in. "Look, shuck-face. Even though the fight offer sounds appealing, we're gonna get our shucking butts shot. Spare me that, man."

"I can't wait too long," Newt muttered. "I need to see her."

"Rebecca left with her," Thomas told him. "You know, thinking better about it, maybe she took care of it, and Sara's safe. Maybe they sent her back to her own room. And plus, your girl can be quite frightening if she's angry. She can take care of herself far better than we can."

Newt managed to smile. "Thanks, Tommy."

"I agree. See? Thomas can be real smart when he feels like it," said Minho, clapping him on the shoulder, and Thomas rolled his eyes.

Thomas glared at Minho. "Hey, I just know how he feels. I'm worried about Teresa too. We haven't even seen her around," he argued.

"Oh, you mean your traitor girlfriend?" Minho taunted him.

"You don't know that. She might've been controlled, and she could be in serious danger," said Thomas, then he frowned. "And she's not my girlfriend!"

Minho snorted. "Dude, she's probably laughing her shuck butt off at you right now. I don't trust her, and you can't change my mind."

"I don't trust her either," Newt mumbled. "Because of her, things went to klunk, and I got bloody separated from my girlfriend."

"Guys, seriously? Playin' the blame game ain't gonna take you anywhere," Frypan said, trying to calm the rising tension.

The night passed by and they eventually fell asleep. 

Early the next morning, they were taken out to eat and nobody was in a good mood. The boys and girls were seated in the same cafeteria, and Newt kept looking around at every one of their faces, but still, no sign of Sara.

~Sara~

Rebecca brought Sara some food and then stayed with her unless Janson expected to see either one of them. By nighttime, Sara was even more desperate.

"Becca, please," she groaned.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. Ava Paige is getting suspicious of me. If she catches us, it's over. We need more time before we can continue with what we planned," Rebecca replied, her voice laced with worry.

Sara shook her head. "Ava Paige is suddenly way too interested in your business. She needs to chill, she's not your mom."

At Sara's words, Rebecca's eyes widened, and she let out a nervous laugh. "Well..."

Sara furrowed her eyebrows, and then she realized. "Oh shuck—are you saying...?"

"Yes, unfortunately."

"I'm so sorry." Sara was petrified. That explained a lot of things.

"No, don't be," Rebecca replied. She was quiet for a few seconds before completely switching the mood. "But hey, I've got an idea. While I arrange your meeting with Newt for tomorrow night, I can tell you everything else I haven't told you yet. And maybe, if you want to know more about what I showed you about your family, in the dreams," Rebecca said, then became uncomfortable, "I don't know if you're comfortable with me telling you, but..."

"Oh, I want to. Please, anything I should know, just tell me everything," Sara blurted out. She was amazed that Rebecca gave her those memories, and she wondered what kind of method she might've used to achieve that. Whatever it was, it was impressive.

~Newt~

The eight of them were back in the dormitories. The others who were able to sleep the night before, started to get worried and now none of them could keep themselves in bed, or asleep for that matter. 

Newt was pacing back and forth, Thomas was still trying to convince Minho to ambush the guards, and Frypan was more-or-less fearing for their lives, standing silently in a corner.

"Shank, you're gonna make me dizzy," Minho groaned at Newt.

"I can't stay here any longer. I need to know where she is—if she's okay," was Newt's response.

Thomas scratched his head. They were running low on ideas. "Okay, but we need a plan. We can't just go out there like that."

The four of them only stared at each other in silence, the lack of ideas shamefully hovering over their heads.

How pathetic.

"I can't do this anymore," Newt muttered before he went over to the door, grabbing a chair on the way.

"Newt, no," said Minho, trying to pull him back, but Newt pulled on the door, opening it up and alerting the guards standing right outside.

Newt swung the chair, striking one of the guards as Thomas and Minho grabbed two more chairs to charge in defense. The guard took hold of the chair in Newt's arms, pushing it against Newt's body to avoid getting hit again. Newt took the chance to swerve to the side, making the guard fall forward onto the chair, then Newt started throwing punches and kicks at the man.

The other guard broke free from Thomas's punches as Minho tried to steal his launcher gun, and the man ran to back up his partner, who was at the mercy of Newt's angry hits. Frypan protected Newt by slamming against the side of the fleeing guard.

The other four Gladers who were sitting in their beds snapped out of their shock and jumped right in to help their friends just as two more guards showed up.

Minho was instantly in full combat with another guard, and he kicked the launcher away from the guy's hand. The guard reached out, but Minho stomped on his fingers, making him yell in pain. 

Frypan snatched the launcher from the ground, and shakily pointed it at the guard who was gaining advantage over Newt. Somehow, the guard had struck Newt on the side of the head with his launcher, and pulled him to the ground as he stood up himself.

"Shoot him, shuck-face!" Minho yelled at Frypan as he continued struggling with a guard on the ground.

"I don't wanna hit Newt!" shouted Frypan. "I can't get a clean shot!"

Another two guards showed up at the scene, and immediately grabbed Thomas and Minho by the arms, twisting them behind their backs. The other two pointed their launchers alternatively between the other four guys. 

Newt was about to free himself from his attacker, but the guard that was previously fighting Minho snatched his launcher from Frypan's hands, pointed it at Newt, and pulled the trigger.

"No!" Minho screamed, and Thomas cried out in helplessness as they were both being held back by the arms.

Newt cried out in pain, immediately collapsing to the ground. His body twitched and convulsed as lightning sparks coursed through his body. His face was twisted in pain, and his agonizing groans filled the entire room. He felt the life being sucked out of his body, but it was the electricity, triggering every nerve of his body, making it a torturous experience overall.

The four guards continued pointing their launchers at the rest of the boys. "You try that again, and what happened to your friend won't begin to cover what A. D. Janson will do to you."

"Stay in here, and don't cause problems," another guard muttered, gritting his teeth right after. "We're locking the door this time."

As the guards left, the seven Gladers rushed over to their fallen friend. The electricity had died down, but Newt's limbs were still jittery. He only lay there on the floor, with a hollow look on his face, his body trembling, and his breathing uneven.

"Newt," Minho called to him softly as he placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "You good, buddy?"

"Hey, they're gone. Let's just get you to bed. You'll be fine," said Thomas.

They all helped him up and led him to his bed. Newt stared at them with a broken look on his face. "I'm... I'm sorry. It's my fault."

"Slim it," said Frypan, shaking his head with nonconformity. "It's mine. I couldn't shoot the guy attacking you."

"Yeah, that was some real help, Fry," Minho mumbled, as always.

"Slim it," Newt snapped. "Let's just go to bed. We'll find another way to get out of here."

Everyone remained silent for the rest of the night, and they reluctantly followed their new leader's orders.

Without Alby in the lead, Newt felt responsible for everything happening to any of his friends, and that included Alby before he was gone. It was guilt that inadvertently snuck its way back into Newt's mind.

As he lay in bed, all he could manage to think about was that he was unable to prevent his girl from being snatched away from him so easily. That he couldn't even keep the guards at bay when it seemed like he had the advantage, and how every time he tried to help, he ended up making it worse.

Everyone carried a heavy weight of emotions to bed, and it seemed as though nothing would ever change for them.