Chapter Text
Max fights tooth and nail for Will to get the job of keeper of the medics.
Heather doesn’t care, having hated the responsibility anyway, but Steve and Billy were naturally reluctant. Though the official story went that he’d fallen by accident, Steve was definitely not buying it, and rightfully so- Max had invented it approximately three minutes before Steve had come to talk to them, and Will’s ability to lie about it on the spot had been mediocre at best. It ended up taking the entirety of the time that Will took to recover for Max to convince them that he deserved the title, even resorting to threatening to quit.
Mike and Dustin were naturally thrilled to have Will around. When he’d been a runner, he’d spent the majority of his time with Max, running the maze and mapping it when he returned, often eating his dinner whilst working. Now, he was a constant presence, wandering around when no one was in need of immediate medical attention.
Max, on the other hand, was significantly more miserable at the loss of her running partner.
She adapted quickly to running alone, by herself all day with her thoughts, most of which weren’t particularly nice. On certain days, the worst ones, she’d contemplate following in Will’s footsteps, only to decide against it when she remembered the horror she’d felt when she found him lying on the maze floor. It was much too close to home, the only difference being that Will would never find her body- no one would. Whether it be grievers or suicide or anything in between, not a single one of the runners shared her route, and they’d never have the time to find her once they noticed she was missing.
She couldn’t put Will through that, hell, she’d never put anyone through that. She was sure of it.
That being said, she never told Will about those thoughts, though she was certain that he knew. On the worst days- he always seemed to know when those were- he’d sit in silence beside her in the woods, offering a hand to hold, never speaking unless she did so first. It was a small routine that they’d established, and it meant more than Max could ever say.
She wanted to run with Lucas, but he already had a partner, and switching routes wouldn’t have been a good idea. Nine months had already passed, nine months of running alone, dutifully mapping the maze, knowing full well how useless the job was. It didn’t feel free to her, not like it had in the beginning- it felt like a black hole.
But still, she bid Will goodbye that morning, a small ‘see you later’ as she left at the crack of dawn, receiving nothing but a mumbled response from the boy, still half asleep. It had become a routine of sorts, never actually verbalising the word ‘goodbye’, or anything of the sort- Max had stopped saying it after he broke his leg, too scared for it to be the last. So, that was what they’d settled on, ‘I’ll see you later’, something harmless, open-ended, with no chance of it being final.
A promise, in a way.
Things go as smoothly as possible for a couple hours, before Max catches her foot on a rock, stumbling forwards, barely catching herself before her face hit the ground. Her knees scraped against the concrete, blood drawing on impact, a sharp pain spreading throughout her leg. She hissed, turning over to sit up, brushing her hands to rid them of the newly imbedded rocks, bending her left knee to get a closer look.
She rolled her trouser leg up, inspecting the wound, finding nothing more than surface level cuts. It'd sting like a bitch, sure, but it was nothing compared to some other injuries she'd seen. Nothing on Will.
What?
The second thought took her aback, a voice popping into her head accompanied by a dull ache in the very centre of her brain. A normal occurrence with a headache, maybe, only it wasn't her voice. Somehow, somewhere in her subconscious, she knew that that wasn't her thought, as though there was a disconnect between her and it. As though it didn't belong.
What? Max thought back, thoroughly confused. She remained where she'd fallen, sat dazed on the maze floor, sitting duck if it weren't for the sanctity of the sunlight from above, signalling the time of day. Though she waited for a response, nothing significantly different came through.
Pulling herself to her feet, it did occur to her that it could've just been a fluke, a one-off, or a trick her mind was playing on her. It was the explanation that made the most sense, but she couldn't help but question it, a nagging sensation in the back of her mind that something wasn't quite right.
Though nothing happened on the rest of the run, that didn’t stop her from overthinking the entire time. Her thoughts proved distracting, something that never usually happened when she ran, so much that she cut it short. When she returned to the glade, the sun still sat stubbornly in the sky, most
of the others still doing various jobs.
Despite wanting to find her best friend, she stuck to her job, hastily mapping out the glade of a scrap piece of parchment paper so graciously sent up by the creators who’d put them there. Her mapping was careless and she knew it, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to care- something had happened to her out in that maze, and she couldn’t shake it.
Exiting the map room, she headed towards the medhut in search of Will. She had no idea why it was him she needed, but something was urging her to go, telling her that he was the answer, or the key to one anyway.
One look at her best friend told her that her instinct was right.
Entering through the makeshift door, Will looked up at her with an unfamiliar hesitation, almost as though he were scared to talk to her. There was an awkwardness in the air, something stale and unmoving, an unspoken truth that neither would admit to. Max, forever the brave one, spoke up first.
“Did you..” she trailed off, unable to phrase what she wanted to. After all, how do you ask a person if they heard something they shouldn’t have? If she was wrong in her assumption, that he’d felt whatever she had, he’d likely think she was insane. Tell Steve or something, who would stop her from running, or worse, Billy, who’d probably throw her to the grievers in ‘self defence’.
She was getting ahead of herself. Clearing her throat, she looked up to watch his reaction- Will, to her relief, gave a small nod.
“I thought something,” he said slowly, “you know.. But I don’t think I thought it.” Will paused, shuffling where he stood. “Max, it sounded like you.”
She sucked in a breath, thinking back to what she’d heard, a strange, familiar voice, the word ‘what?’ sticking out in her mind. “What did I say?”
“You said something about having nothing on me?” Will sounded mildly confused at that, though Max understood perfectly. She laughed awkwardly- that wasn’t exactly the best thing to admit to thinking.
“Uh- yeah. I tripped and grazed my knees,” she admitted, not missing the strange look on Will’s face when he let his guard down. They remained in silence for a matter of minutes, before realisation dawned on Max.
“Holy shit. Will, can we..” she trailed off, frowning at him, both excited and nervous-looking, “can we hear each other's thoughts?”
“But how is that even possible?” He wasn’t denying it, but he couldn't quite believe it either. This wasn’t anything either of them could quite comprehend- mind reading? Telepathy?
“How is this maze possible, Will?” She retorted, raising an eyebrow. It wasn’t entirely clear whether she was convincing him, or convincing herself, but still, she had a point. Everything around them was mildly unbelievable- the grievers, the maze, the box. None of it made total sense.
“Okay, well try it again,” Will argued, crossing his arms. Max huffed in frustration, running a hand through her hair.
“Well what do you want me to say?” She asked, watching the other intently. He shrugged, making it clear that he wasn’t going to help. Max huffed again.
“Fine, whatever,” she grumbled, crossing her arms to mimic him. She didn’t even know how she’d done it the first time, damnit.
This is fucking stupid.
No response.
This isn’t going to work.
No response.
Bullshit. Bullshit. Bullshit. Bullshit-
“Can you try a little harder?” Will commented, growing unusually impatient. Max flipped him off.
Why don’t you try this, see how you like it, you little-
Will’s head snapped up, frowning at her, mouth forming an o-shape. “What did you just think?” He asked cautiously, excitement seeping into his tone. Max hesitated.
“Why don’t you try this-”
“-See how you like it,” Will finished for her, expression morphing into one of shock. Max’s eyebrows furrowed.
“This is fucking weird,” she muttered, shaking her head. “This is- what the fuck.” A pause. “We can’t tell anyone about this, and you know it.” Especially not Billy , a thought that she didn’t voice, and dearly hoped that Will didn’t hear either. What he’d do, she didn’t know, but God she didn’t want to be around for it.
Will nodded. “Okay. Just between us.”