[edited 8 January 2017]

•••

the journal, and the grounders protests had long since stopped. His fingers brushed over a page with a blurry outline of a man on it, and Miller asked, "What the hell is that thing?"

Bellamy tilted the book so the grounder could see it, asking, "Friend of yours?"

Raine was standing in the corner of the room, arms crossed in an angry silence. She was still thinking of another way to convince Bellamy to stop, when the hatch opened and Clarke came up. Raine pushed herself off of the wall she had been leaning on, watching the blonde.

A boy quickly stood in front of Clarke in a barring way, and she looked up at him, unimpressed. "Get the hell out of my way." She spoke in a bored tone.

"It's okay." Bellamy spoke, "Let her pass."

The boy stepped aside and Clarke stood in front the grounder. Raine stood next to Bellamy, watching her intently. Clarke's eyes widened as she took in the dried blood and bruises covering the grounder face. She turned to Raine, "Well, if he didn't hate us before he hates us now."

Raine raised an eyebrow, "You think? You can thank Captain Caveman over here." She nodded at Bellamy, and the older boy rolled his eyes.

"Who cares?" Bellamy asked, grabbing Clarke's wrist and leading her across the room. Raine watched closely, unaware that the grounder was studying her.

"His people will care." Clarke responded, "How long until his people figure out where he is? And what happens when they do, and when they come looking for him? They will, Bellamy."

"Relax, Princess." Bellamy spoke, and Raine tensed at the nickname. "No-one saw us take him. He was chained up in that cave the entire time and thanks to that storm, we didn't see a soul on the way back."

The drop ship suddenly shook violently, and Raine stumbled a bit before steadying herself. Bellamy glanced over his should at the grounder, his eyes brushing over Raine, and he quickly flicked through the book to the page with the tally. "Look, his people are already killing us. How many more of our people need to die before you realise we're fighting a war?"

Clarke was silent, studying the drawings as uneasiness settled over her. Finally, she snapped the book shut and hissed, "We're not soldiers, Bellamy... look at him." She gestured towards the grounder, and Bellamy's eyes followed. "We can't win."

"You're right, we can't," Bellamy agreed, startling everyone, "If we don't fight."

There was a sudden shout from Raven underneath them, "Clarke, he's seizing!"

Clarke's face twisted into horror and she pressed the book to Bellamy's chest before scurrying down the ladder, "I'm on my way!"

When she disappeared, Bellamy shut the hatch, locking it closed. Raine watched with narrowed eyes, "Bellamy, what are you doing?"

"I'm doing what's best for for everyone, for you." He answered as he made his way over to the grounder, "For Octavia."

"No, you're doing what's best for you. You heard Clarke, his people will come and they will kill us. It took five of you to knock him out, what are we going to do with an entire army?" Raine inquired, her voice carrying a hint of pleading.

"We'll kill them all."

"You're not listening!" Raine snapped, "You forget that we're just a bunch of teenagers – we can't fight, Bellamy."

"Don't make me throw you out as well." Bellamy cut her off, his expression steely. Raine sighed, and there was a pounding from the other side of the hatch.

"Let me in!" Clarke screamed, "Bellamy! Raine! Let me in!"

Raine made her way over to the hatch, shoving Miller aside and unlocking the hatch and pulling it open. Clarke burst through the hole, scrambling to her feet and marching over to the grounder, holding up a knife covered in blood. "What's on this?" she growled.

"What do you mean?" Bellamy asked.

"He poisoned the blade. All this time he knew Finn was going to die no matter what we did – what is it?" Clarke screamed, her voice filling the room. "Is there an antidote?" she questioned angrily, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

"Clarke, he doesn't understand you." Octavia deadpanned.

Raine's eyes widened in realisation, and she looked to the small container the grounder had been carrying with him. "Vials – the antidote has to be in there!"

She rushed over the container, Bellamy and Clarke joining her. Clarke threw the bloodied blade away carelessly, and Octavia looked at it in interest. Clarke took the container from Raine's hands, muttering, "You'd be stupid to have a poison around this long without having an antidote nearby." When she gave up searching through the vials, she looked to the grounder in desperation, "Which one?"

The grounder remained silent, and Bellamy erupted, "Tell her!"

"Show me, please." Octavia begged quietly, pointing to the vials.

"Which one?" Raine repeated, "Our friend is dying down there, and you can stop that!"

When the grounder continued to remain silent Raine looked at Bellamy, her face twisted into disappointment. He nodded, walking towards the grounder, "I'll get him to talk."

As he pulled his fist back, Octavia lunged at her brother, crying, "Bellamy, no!"

"He wants Finn to die! Can't you see that?" Bellamy barked back at her. He turned to look at Clarke, "Do you Finn to live or not?"

The blonde was silent, and eventually her eyes fell to the ground, and her decision became clear. Raine breathed deeply. She knew that eventually, every grounder out there would come knocking at their door, and they wouldn't be able to do a thing about it except hide and die. Sure, she didn't want Finn to die, but Bellamy's method was proving pretty useless so far.

Octavia's face fell, and she cried out, "Clarke, you even said so yourself! This is not who we are! He was protecting me, he saved my life!"

"We're talking about Finn's life!" Bellamy screamed at his younger sister, causing both her and Raine to flinch.

"Clarke, there has to be another way." Raine started, but Clarke spoke over her.

"Do it." Clarke muttered, and Octavia let out a small whimper.

"What happened to the three of us making the decisions?" Raine yelled at Clarke. "Huh, Clarke?"

"That's different!" Clarke yelled back. Meanwhile, two boys had grabbed Octavia and were dragging her towards the hatch. She fought against them, pushing them off, and stepped backwards.

Raine's eyes fell on Bellamy, who was cutting a strip off of the seat belts, making sure to keep a buckle on one end. Then, he started in cutting off the grounder's shirt, shredding it as he muttered, "You're going to show us the antidote, or wish you had."

He let the material hang in his hand, and stared at the grounder. Octavia's eyes filled with tears and she watched, whimpering softly. Raine placed an arm around the younger girl, pulling her close. Bellamy looked at Clarke for confirmation, and when the blonde nodded, he got ready to whip the grounder.

"Bellamy, no... please." Octavia sniffled, but Raine only pulled her closer.

Everyone in the room flinched as the buckle connected with the grounders skin, a sickening sound coming from his mouth as he fell backwards, the only thing holding him up being the seatbelts. Bellamy looked momentarily disgusted with himself, but then his face hardened and he swung the buckle again. It hit the grounder's face, snapping his head to the side.

Clarke pushed passed him, frantically, placing the vials on the ground. Her hands were shaking and she fumbled to grab them. They scattered over the ground and Raine filled with sympathy at the sight of her. Clarke looked up at the grounder pleadingly, "Please... which one is the antidote?"

The grounder's only response was his heavy breathing, and Octavia pulled from Raine's arms, holding her hands out, "Just tell them."

The grounder remained silent, and Clarke's head fell. Bellamy reached down and gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze, and she breathed in deeply before standing up and pushing him off. She crossed the room, glancing at Raine and Octavia, whose eyes had filled with tears.

Raine held her glance, speaking, "You can stop this, Clarke."

Octavia let out a strangled sob beside them, watching as Bellamy repeatedly struck the grounder. His grunts sent chills down Raine's spine, and she suppressed a shudder. When she was coming down to earth, she never expected to be standing where she was now.

"I don't want it to stop." The blonde lied, "I want Finn to survive."

•••

Bellamy had begun to let out grunts of effort as he tried to strike the grounder harder. The grounder was now bleeding steadily, and Raine had turned herself side on, so she didn't watch as the man she had come to respect tortured another.

"Enough!" Octavia suddenly screamed, and Raine saw that the grounder could no longer stand. "He's had enough!"

"We're running out of time." Clarke spoke, returning to the vials, "Which one?"

While Clarke tried to talk to the grounder, Bellamy stumbled to the side, leaning heavily against the metal to catch his breath. Sweat was running down his face, his chest working in an effort to suck in air. His arm screamed in pain.

Raine moved so she was beside him, and she tilted her head so she was looking him square in the eye, "You don't have to do this, you know. Nobody will think any differently of you if you stop."

Bellamy scoffed, throwing his head back and rolling his eyes. "I'll be the one that let him die. I'm already doomed; I don't want to add another reason to the list."

Raine's eyes furrowed in confusion as she tried to understand his words, but before she could Bellamy had already pushed himself off the wall and was headed back towards the grounder.

"Please," Clarke insisted, "Tell us which one is the antidote and they'll stop this!"

Just like the other times, not a single word left the grounders lips. Octavia looked around in defeat, and Bellamy scrunched the seatbelt up into his hand before throwing it out of anger. It hit the wall next to Raine.

"If that doesn't work, maybe this will." Bellamy spoke, picking up a shark piece of metal in the shape of a 'T'. Raine's gut twisted, and she tried to stop the boy, "Don't you dare, Bellamy. Don't –"

"You don't have to be here for this." He cut her off, and Raine thought that he was talking to her.

However, it was Clarke that responded, "I'm not leaving until I get that antidote."

Octavia's throat tightened and she let out a whimper. Raine felt sorry for the younger girl. Bellamy stood next to the grounders right hand, steadying himself on the chain that held the hand up

He waved the metal in front of the grounders face, hissing, "Last chance."

The grounder remained silent, and Bellamy looked at Clarke. The blonde nodded, and before Raine could open her mouth to try and stop him, he had already shoved the metal through the grounders hand. Blood spattered onto the wall behind him, and Raine felt bile rising in her throat. The room began to spin as she struggled to find somewhere to sit down, and she almost fell over.

The grounder let out a muffled scream, and Octavia turned away, sobbing. Clarke covered her eyes with her hands. The grounder's hand shook as Bellamy stepped away, and his eyes landed on Raine. She had her head cradled in her hands, and she was breathing deeply. She looked up at him, her face pale.

He took a step towards her, but she shook her head. Bellamy felt as though someone had hit him hard in the gut, and he collapsed to the ground heavily.

"What's taking so long?" Raven yelled as she climbed the ladder. "Finn stopped breathing!" Clarke went to go for ladder, but Raven stopped her. "He started again but next time he might not."

"He won't tell us anything." Clarke replied half-heartedly, and Raven glared at the grounder. She looked around briefly, before heading over to a panel on the wall.

"You wanna bet?" she asked, wrapping her hands around two blue cords and pulling roughly.

"What are you doing?" Bellamy questioned, getting to his feet.

There was a bright spark as the cords pulled free of the wall, and the grounder started moving frantically. Raven touched the two cords together, sparking electricity, and she grinned wickedly, "Showing him something he's never seen before."

She pressed the cords to the grounders skin, and the grounder screamed in response, arching his back to try and evade the shocking torture. The lights around them flickered and dimmed, all of the electricity shooting into his body.

"Which one is it?" Raven screamed, "C'mon!"

The lights flickered again as she pressed the cords against his skin, and the grounder began to scream again. Despite wanting Finn to live, Raine couldn't help but feel disgusted at what was going on. Was Finn's life so important that Clarke, Raven and Bellamy were willing to risk another's?

Raine had been so focused on her own thoughts that she hadn't seen Octavia pick up the bloodied blade. The younger girl looked around cautiously, but luckily the attention wasn't on her. It was on Raven, who was still screaming at the grounder.

"He is all I have!" She cried, tears beginning to fall and her voice wavering.

"No more!" Octavia yelled, wielding the blade high as everyone's heads turned to look at her.

"He's letting Finn die!" Raven yelled in anguish, her voice breaking.

Octavia's eyes had filled with tears, and she breathed deeply for a few moments, shaking her head softly. Suddenly, she had pressed the blade to her wrist and was dragging it across her skin, drawing a thin line of blood.

"Octavia, no!" Bellamy started, knowing full well that she would now suffer the same fate as Finn. The grounder's eyes widened as he realised what she had done, and he pulled at the chains desperately.

"Octavia–" Raine cut herself off as the younger girl looked at the grounder.

"He won't let me die." Octavia whispered, her eyes glassy with tears. She pressed forwards, ignoring Bellamy's pleas as she kneeled, frantically pointing to the vials with the knife. She pointed to one filled with a green leaf, letting out an encouraging noise.

Bellamy took a step back, his face drawn in realisation and he turned away, looking at Raine. She was staring back, wide-eyed and her mouth apart.

Octavia picked up a vial filled with a pink-ish liquid, holding it up high in questioning. She was panting now, blood dribbling down her arm. The grounder nodded slowly, and relief flooded through everyone. Shakily, she handed the vial over to Clarke, and she and Raven disappeared.

Bellamy still had the look of complete horror on his face as he reached for his sister, speaking softly, "O."

"Don't touch me!" she cried, flinching from his grip.

Raine filled with sympathy towards the older boy despite feeling disgusted with him. He had thought that by torturing the grounder, he was doing the right thing for everybody.

But he had been wrong.

•••

Raine grunted as she helped lift some debris, moving it so it was out of the way. The storm had done some major damage; the wall they had all slaved over was now nothing more than some broken logs. She stopped to wipe a hand across her forehead, panting heavily. She hadn't spoken to Bellamy since last night; he had disappeared not soon after, obviously ashamed with his actions. Raine could understand.

She reached down to grab a large tree branch, when a shadow fell over her. She knew it was Bellamy without looking, and when she straightened up she saw his guilty face.

"Before you say anything," he said urgently, "I wanted to say... I'm sorry."

Raine looked at him in amusement, "Well, if I only I got that on tape. But I'm not the one you need to be apologising to, Freckles."

A small smile slipped onto his face at the nickname, and he nodded, "I know, but I wanted to apologise for anything and everything I've done. Who we are and who we need to be to survive are very different things."

He reached out to squeeze her hand briefly, and Raine looked down at their intertwined fingers. Gently, she pulled them apart, looking up at him.

"Maybe, but I think you're getting the two confused. What are you going to do with him?" Raine asked, nodding towards the drop ship.

"If we let him go, he'll be back with more grounders." Bellamy sighed, "Honestly, I have no idea."

Raine smirked slightly, "Being a leader isn't as fun as you thought, huh?"

"Lucky I've got you then."

•••

Bellamy smiling at Raine's nickname ^

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