Time dragged on in silence. My body ached, still burning from ravens wires, every movement felt like fire under my ribs.

The hatch opened again. Bellamy climbed up, glancing between Lincoln and me. He filled a cup at the barrel, then walked straight towards me.

"You need water. Especially after... what we did." he said evenly

I froze, wary.

When he raised the cup, I flinched back.

"You need water. Just drink" he frowned.

But before he could press closer, I snapped my leg up, kicking him square in the chest. The force sent him crashing back into the floor.

His groan of pain filled the space. He sat there, rubbing at his ribs, eyes narrowed. Then quietly-
"Guess I deserve that" he muttered

He stayed put after that. Watching. Waiting.

Later, milled walked up to relieve his watch.

"Did you talk to the Ark?" Bellamy asked
"I told diggs mom the news. John's dad. I'm supposed to talk to romas parents later." He answers

"Thanks for doing that. I owe you." Bellamy muttered
"Telling all these parents their kids were murdered by grounders, I just wish I could say we were getting some justice-" miller starts, his jaw tightened.
"We're not killing them." Bellamy cut in firmly

Miller didn't argue, but his silence said enough. He went over to Lincoln, muttering.
"You're a lot scarier when you had that face paint on." He says, wiping white onto his face.

Only to get head butted flat on his ass.

I bit down a laugh, eyes dancing. Lincoln, even tied and beaten, was still dangerous.

When miller and Bellamy left again, I slid my foot carefully over a knife that had been dropped earlier. With slow precision, I dragged it close, hiding it beneath my heel.

The hatch creaked. Octavia slipped inside, closing it behind her.

"Hi. We don't have a lot of time" she whispered
"I brought you some water. Here" she offered and gave Lincoln some, she glanced at me, I didn't move. My silence was an answer enough. She just nodded and turned back to him.

"Sorry I haven't seen you since everything happened. My brother been keeping me away. He's a total dick, which you probably figured out." She talks

Then Lincoln laughed softly.

Her eyes lit up.
"You do understand me. I knew it. Well at least let me get you cleaned up." She smiled, wiping dirt off his face.

"This is all my fault because I freaked out so bad when you locked me up in that cage. You'd totally understand why if you knew how I grew up." She rants

"My name is Lincoln." Lincoln's voice was quiet but clear.
"Lincoln." She repeated with a small smile
"I'm Octavia." Her gaze flickered to me, almost hopeful. I gave her nothing.

"Well is that it? Is that all you're gonna say?" She asks
"It's not safe for us to talk" he answers
"Well if we shouldn't talk then why did you tell me your name?" She pressed
"I want you to remember me... after I'm dead." He says simply

"You're not gonna die. Don't say that." She says, eyes widen in shock.
"Octavia. This...this only ends one way." He says
"Just talk to them. Tell them you're not the enemy." She begs
"I am" Lincoln answered

Miller stormed back up the ladder then, his voice sharp.
"Octavia get the hell out now." He demands
"Bellamy's not even here" she defends
"Get out, or he gets a beating I've been aching to give him." He says, sending a glance at both of us.
"Ok ok I get it. I'm gone." She relented, climbing down

Not long after she returned again.
"Get out" miller was quick to say
"Relax. I thought you might be hungry. A peace offering. I shouldn't have come up here alone earlier, it was stupid and dangerous, and they're not worth it. I won't tell Bellamy if you wont" she defends, throwing him a bag of nuts. Then she was gone again.

I watched him eat them, then that's when I realized- maybe I could trust her.

Minutes later, miller slumped over, unconscious. The Jobi nuts had worked.

I snapped the knife up, cutting myself loose. Grabbing my jacket and bag, I strapped my sword to my side.

Lincoln looked at me, tense.
"Yu gonna hon in ai au?" He asks
(You gonna get me out?)

"No. Your little girlfriend will. I just don't want to watch. Bye bye now" I smirked

Then I was gone, slipping down the ladder. Everyone in camp was hallucinating. Easy.

But I crept past the gate, fresh tracks caught my eye. Too fresh to ignore.

I glanced back inside their camp.

No Bellamy. No Clarke.

Then I followed.

The shouting reached me first.

"I can't fight anymore!.... What am I supposed to do?..." Bellamy's voice, raw with pain.

Through the trees, I saw him staggering. A boy circled him like a wolf, weapon ready. Clarke hovered near by, her face pale. Bellamy's eyes were glazed- the nuts were tearing through him. But the boy... he had no hallucination. He was here to kill.

"Nothing personal" the boy muttered, raising his gun.

Bellamy clutched the dirt, lifting empty hands as if holding a weapon.
"Put it down dax" Clarkes voice rang out from behind, her gun turned on him.

"Should've stayed down there Clarke. I tired not to kill you, but here you are, and shumway said no witnesses." The boy- Dax admits

"What's he talking about?" Clarke demanded
"Shumway set it up. He gave me the gun to shoot the chancellor." Bellamy answers
"Walk away now and I won't kill you." Dax offers
"Put it down." She commands
"Your choice." He says, giving her one last chance.

Clarke tried to fire- but the gun jammed. She scrambled for cover as Dax opened fire.

"No!" Bellamy yelled, tackling him. They struggled, but Dax was stronger in the moment, pressing him down.
"Get the hell off him!" Clarke tried to intervene, but he kicked her hard to the ground. His knife rose for the kill.

Something in me snapped.

Before I knew it, my blade was flying through the air. It stuck true- straight into daxs throat.

He collapsed, choking in his own blood.

Bellamy and Clarke scrambled next to each over,  frozen, wide eyed.
"Where the hell did that come from?" Claire's voice rang
"I don't know" Bellamy's answer softly

I stepped from the shadows, tugging the knife free from Dax's throat, wiping it clean on my jacket.

"You...saved me" Bellamy muttered, as if he didn't believe it.

I met his gaze coldly.
"I only kept you alive long enough to watch your people fall" i answered

But the words didn't feel as sharp as they should have.

"You've understood us this whole time?" Clarkes voice cut in

"Unfortunately" I said flatly

"And i understand this- you've started a war you cannot win" I add
"Then help us stop it. We don't want war, we didn't know people were even here. We thought earth wasn't survivable" She pleads

"You should've thought of that before you tortured their Queen" I admit

Their faces snapped towards me, wide eyed.

Bellamy's gaze dropped, catching the necklace at my throat. He stiffened, recognition sparking.

"I've seen that before." He whispered

I froze.

"The nuts. They make you see things that aren't real" I covered quickly

Without waiting, I turned and disappeared into the trees.

By the time I called for faya, my horse was already running towards me. I mounted fast, riding back towards home.