─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

RILEY CLUTCHED THE SCALPEL SHE STOLE AS SHE RAN DOWN THE HALLS OF MOUNT WEATHER. She wasn't familiar with this part of the mountain, and could only guess it was a closed off area. Something that was used for the outsider's blood, and now for the forty-eight. With nothing but the warning in her head, she kicked open a vent. Riley knew any of Cage's guards could be wandering around here, or even Cage himself, taking care of the reapers. She didn't have time to use the stolen scalpel to slash anyone's throat, nor did she want to. She didn't have the time to look around aimlessly either.

After Riley's parents died, she was adopted into a loving family with a little girl named Emily and two parents. Her mother stayed at home, while her father was an engineer. He had a map of the entirety of the vents, one that Riley spent a lot of time looking at. She was thankful for the good memory she had when the skin sticking out from the rip in her jeans hit the cold metal. She hadn't hesitated in beginning to crawl as fast as she could, careful to not make as much noise as possible.

Riley's long hair made it grow uncomfortably hot and stuck to the back of her neck. She kept pushing herself forward, until she reached her destination. Holding her breath and hoping she was in the right place, she carefully peeked through the blinds, her back in a uncomfortable curve. The breath Riley was holding turned into a gasp when she saw Maya, standing over someone who was receiving a blood treatment with Officer Lovejoy by her side. She couldn't hear what they were discussing, but didn't know if people were looking for her yet, so she stayed quiet and still until he left.

The second that Lovejoy left the room, Riley moved into action. She turned, laying on her back and using the heel of her foot to bash the vent's blinds out of her way. She did it a second time, and this time, it popped out and hit the ground. Riley slid out next, meeting Maya's scared face that quickly turned into an expression of relief when seeing the familiar blonde standing.

"Riley, thank god you're okay," Maya spoke, grateful, as the words came out in a rush. She didn't hesitate in passing the beds of unconscious people to get to her best friend. The second she rammed into Riley, her arms were around her in an embrace. Riley quickly returned it, her heart skipping a beat, thankful that Maya was okay too. "What happened?" Maya asked the second she pulled back, still holding Riley's arms like she'd slip away again.

Upset, Riley bit the inside of her cheek and shook her head. "Dr. Tsing and Cage took me, forced me to be an experiment." She suddenly remembered the most important thing. "Maya, they took Monty and Harper too. They're going to move forward with them - " Riley hadn't even realized that she was speaking to fast.

"Woah, hold on," Maya stopped Riley, trying to speak soothingly. "They experimented on you?" She asked. "And they're going to move forward with who?"

Tears once again sprung into Riley's eyes as she remembered hearing Harper screaming, and how she felt when she was outside. "Me. The forty-eight. I can breathe the outsiders air, because of Harper's blood," she said softly. "They strapped her down and drilled into her bone to get the blood they needed, and now.. I can.." She didn't need to continue. Maya caught on quickly.

But there was no time to talk about it further. "Come on," Maya tugged her towards the large doors that led to the Harvest Chamber. "That guy, he's already done with his treatment. It's only been ten minutes," she explained as they went.

"So?" Riley asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "We have more important things to worry about, Maya."

"Yeah," Maya agreed. "That's why The Ark sent in someone to help. If they're blood works, like you say it does on you, than they're bleeding him out right now."

The Ark. On Monty and Jasper's first night, she remembered them talking about it so deeply. It was a station that floated in space, and harshly influenced their laws. Both boys were arrested for stealing a special kind of plant and send to the ground along with ninety-eight others to see if it was survivable after it was discovered that their home was running out of air. During a war with the outsiders, they saw The Ark fall, but were unsure if there were any survivors. Now, they knew.

When the two girls entered the Harvest Chamber, a male was hanging upside down by his feet in their view, wearing nothing but his white underwear, and hooked up to the machine that transferred his blood. He was unconscious, and Riley stood grounded while Maya checked the machine, studying him for a second. "It's him," she spoke in confirmation quietly.

Riley turned, deciding they needed to wake him up. Working with Dr. Tsing, she knew a lot of tricks. She picked up a certain medical shot on a tray, studying it before handing it to Maya. "Here. Stab him."

Maya gave her that certain look, before taking it and jabbing it into the man's thick thigh before pulling it back out. It took a few seconds before he woke up, gasping for air, his eyes flickering back and forth wildly, his dark curls following his head movement. Maya knelt down, meeting his gaze. "Who are you?" She asked, quiet yet polite.

"Bellamy," the man spoke, his voice equally quiet but more rougher than the girls, as he slowly calm down. "My name is Bellamy."

"Bellamy," Riley repeated, the name growing familiar. She knelt down on the other side of Maya, and Bellamy looked at her this time. "Are you from The Ark? Were you sent here by them?" She questioned.

Nodding, Bellamy murmured out a single yes answer. "And you know Jasper?" Maya asked next, curious to know if he was really telling the truth.

"Maya?" Bellamy spoke, catching on. Riley realized Clarke must have talked about her to him after escaping. He looked at Riley next. "And you're Riley?" She nodded, giving him the answer to both questions. Bellamy hung his hands in the air, waiting. "How about getting me down, then?" His voice grew deeper, probably from being hung upside down.

"Oh. Yeah." Riley stood up, Maya following in suit. Maya began unhooking him from the machine making it let out a long beep, and Riley reached her hand out towards the lever that would bring him down, until suddenly the door was pushed open. Riley began cursing in her head and turned, shoving her hands in her pockets, like the lever had caught fire.

Maya straightened up too. "Lovejoy, hey," she greeted, her gaze moving from the guard to Riley, worried.

"What are you two doing here?" Lovejoy demanded to know, walking in. "Neither of you are cleared for this facility."

"I know," Maya spoke up before Riley could. "I'm sorry," she quickly apologized. "I just wanted to see what was so special about him, but.. He's dead." Riley didn't move anything but her eyes, seeing Bellamy had grown still and kept his own eyes shut, following along.

Lovejoy stepped closer, looking at the machine himself and seeing the zero and flat line. "So he is," he agreed. He moved past Maya and Bellamy, to the lever. Riley stepped back as if he could burst into flames, wearily, as he grabbed the level and pressed the button. Bellamy's body began slinking down, and he stayed still as he was lowered to the ground. Lovejoy then moved onto Bellamy's feet, unhooking the metal from around his ankles. "You're two brave girls coming in here - " He began to compliment, before he was suddenly stopped by Bellamy dropping the act and swinging his foot around, kicking him in the face and knocking him to the side.

Bellamy began scooting back on the ground as Lovejoy pulled out his gun out and Riley moved to get out of the shot. "Don't move, don't move!" Lovejoy warned him. "On your feet. On your feet, now!"

Riley's eyes connected to Maya's, and she sent her a silent best friend code when her eyesight darted to the same tray she picked the needle out of. Maya did catch the message, and grabbed a scalpel off the tray before jabbing it into the side of Lovejoy's neck before stepping back, who winced in pain and went to grab the wound. Unfortunately, it didn't kill him, and he went to attack Bellamy when he reached for the gun that was dropped.

In the scuffle, in which Lovejoy pinned Bellamy against the cages, Maya still looked terrified and in shock from her attack. Riley, who had already killed one guard, would have no problem in fighting with her internal self to kill another. She swooped in and picked up the gun, holding it as firm as she could and pointing it forward with her finger on the trigger. "Stop!" Riley warned them with a shout.

"D-Don't," Bellamy warned her, as Lovejoy pressed his arm against his neck, cutting off his airway and keeping him from talking. "They'll hear."

Bellamy was right, Riley realized. If she shot Lovejoy, someone from the outside would hear them. The death had to be quiet. However, that didn't stop Riley from lowering the gun. She kept it held up, pointed in warning, just in case. Bellamy punched Lovejoy in the side, but Lovejoy had him pinned when they turned around. He raised his hand, ready to deliver a punch to Bellamy, but an outsider girl in the cage he was against reached through the metal hole and grabbed it to keep him from doing so.

Bellamy didn't hesitate on getting back on his feet and wrapping his hands around Lovejoy's neck to start choking him. The struggle went on of Lovejoy trying to escape, until Bellamy pushed him down the cage when his face grew the same shade as the last officer who Riley killed and he grew limp in the grip. Bellamy finally released him, letting the body hit the floor, before looking at the girl in the cage who had helped him. "Thank you."

Slowly, Riley finally lowered the gun and Maya approached from behind and put a hand on her shoulder. "You two alright?" Bellamy asked, when turning his head, and seeing both slightly shaken up.

"I'm fine," Maya responded, her voice wavering and unsure if she really was. Riley nodded slowly. She was too. This was starting to become a daily part of her life, who knew for how long.

Bellamy nodded before walking to the body. "Help me get him undressed. We need to get rid of the body." After undressing the guard and helping Bellamy fit into his suit, they put his body in one of the cages to disguise him as an outsider. Bellamy clicked the last buckle of the bulletproof vest, finishing, before speaking. "You've done enough," he warned them. "You should walk away now."

"You don't know where you're going," Maya warned him back, making a valid point. Mount Weather was huge, only residents who have lived here for their entire lives knew where every door led to.

Bellamy shook his head, disagreeing. "So draw me a map," he offered.

"No," Riley retorted, cutting in. "Look, we want to help. Let us. We're in, no matter what it takes to set your people free."

Silent for a moment, thinking quietly, Bellamy finally caved into the two girl's requests and nodded. "Okay," he agreed. "I need to get to the radio so I can contact Clarke," he explained. "We heard Jasper's SOS."

Maya nodded back. "We helped them set that up. I know where it is, I can show you. But Riley.." Maya trailed off, her gaze averting to Riley. "The guards will be looking for her. They used her as a test subject, she can breathe the outsiders air now."

Suddenly uncomfortable, Riley lifted her hand and put it over the circle of plastic that was embedded in her chest, that flooded an innocent girl's blood into her heart. Bellamy looked at Riley wearily after listening to Maya, almost disgust, as if Riley was one of the Mountain Men planning to drain Bellamy's people out. "They used me," Riley retorted to the insult Bellamy was thinking, repeating what Maya said. "They needed to be sure it worked. I didn't sign a form consenting." That wasn't important. Riley wasn't the focus of the problem, she was just trying to avoid it. "Your people are disappearing, Monty and Harper for starts. I know where they are."

"Jasper," Maya spoke, interrupting, like she had a sudden idea. A smile twitched on Riley's lips. Maya had been her best friend's since they were in diapers, and if she knew one thing, it was that the other was always full of the best ideas. Maya was so smart, gracious, and amazing. "Riley, he should be somewhere in the mess hall. It's closer here than the radio. If you can get to him, bring him to - "

"Done," Riley interrupted back, already catching on. "We'll set them free, bring them back to the dorms, and meet you both there." Bellamy nodded back at the plan, showing he accepted both the idea and Riley. Before Riley left though, she reached out and grabbed Maya's wrist. Maya curled her hand around Riley's too, the pair looking at each other. Although no words needed to be spoken, because the gaze showed it all, they both knew they had to.

"Stay safe."

"You too."

-x-

"Miss Pascal!"

Shit; was the first word that ran through Riley's head. She had made her stop to the mess hall, looking like a freak to any residents she ran by, with her hood up and blonde curls creeping out of the sides, and sneakers slapping the ground loudly. Some gave her more than odd looks, even shouted her name, but before they could get the first letter out, she was already gone, passed them. She was on a mission to find Jasper, show him where Monty and Harper were, and set them free.

However, standing in the middle of the empty mess hall, Riley whirled around. There were only two people who called her "Miss Pascal"; one of them being the most powerful person in Mount Weather and the second being her boss. She had her fists tightened at her sides, ready to run if she had to, but let out a breath of relief she wasn't aware she was holding when seeing it was President Dante, with none other than Jasper by his side.

"You can come with us."

"Wait, Mr. President, I can explain - " Riley started, walking towards them with her hands up and palms flat. She waited for him to interrupt her, but he didn't, and waited for an explanation, along with Jasper. She took a deep breath, it would take a minute. She was getting tired of repeating the story. "Your son and Dr. Tsing are testing, like they suggested they should." Riley didn't miss the way Dante's jaw tightened at the news and Jasper's eyes widened in worry. "It started with Harper and me. And.. It works. They used me." Riley swallowed a lump in her throat. She wondered what her family, both biological and adopted, would think of her now. She hated herself more than anyone could, though.

Dante, seemingly angrier than he was calm from when he called Riley's last name, tightened his tone before asking. "Do you know where my son is, Miss Pascal?"

Satisfied, and thankful, Riley nodded. Jasper, being the one of the nicest kids she's known - a perfect choice for Maya, really, reached out his arm and slung it over Riley's shoulders to comfort her when seeing she was near tears from being frustrated.

Riley felt like a little kid tattling to a parent when she led Dante and Jasper, plus a few guards, back to the place she escaped hours ago. Dr. Tsing was working. It somehow felt colder, but Jasper was nice enough to stay by her side.

When they were close enough, a girl shouting "No!" echoed through the walls, which Riley and Jasper recognized as Harper. Dante didn't hesitate in practically knocking down the door Riley stopped at. She frowned, feeling a sinking feeling in her heart when seeing Dr. Tsing almost ready to dig the drill back into Harper's skin, who was begging.

"Put that down!" Dante exclaimed, stomping into the room. "Get away from that girl," he ordered, warning the doctor, who quickly complied. The second Dr. Tsing backed up, Riley didn't spare any time in waiting, rushing in after Jasper and straight to Harper as he ran to Monty who was still locked in one of the cages.

Riley began undoing the straps around Harper's wrists, before moving to the ones on her ankles as Jasper and Monty embraced when he was out; Monty crying into his shoulder. Gently, Riley put her hand on Harper's back and helped her sit up. "Are you alright?" She asked, worried, and seeing the shaking girl covered in her own blood. Harper slowly nodded, still too upset to respond. Riley took Harper's arm, wrapping it around her shoulder and carefully helping her swing off the bed. Harper seemed unstable still, clutching Riley's side.

"Lock her up," Dante demanded, pointing to Dr. Tsing. The guard complied immediately, taking out cuffs. The president turned to Monty, Jasper, and Harper, a kinder look in his expression towards the delinquents. "Go back to the dorm and tell your friends to pack their things. You're going home."

Jasper thanked him, and they didn't have to be told twice. Riley took off her jacket as they walked back to the dorms, leaving the chilling room, and putting it around Harper, who gratefully took it and put it over the thin hospital clothes as they walked. She figured it wasn't needed anymore, as the doctor and Cage weren't looking for her anymore. "Thank you," Harper spoke, her throat rougher from screaming, but feeling warm under the given hoodie.

The walk took longer than expected, but the four were at the doors. Riley told the plan to the three, explaining one of their people, a Bellamy, was there as an inside man to help them. All three of them seemed lighter at the news, like this man was so trustworthy in their hearts full of sudden hope.

"All right, listen up!" Jasper announced, when the four pushed through the two large doors and startling the rest who were chilling out comfortably on their bunk beds. "There's gonna be questions, but there's no time. We're getting out of here. So, pack your stuff."

There were questions, obviously, a frail girl asking what Jasper meant and what the hell was going on, both valid questions, and Miller asking if they were just letting them go. They didn't have time, Riley knew. She cleared her throat, catching some worried looks. "My people were lying the whole time," she spoke, clearly. "I'm sorry. None of you are safe here. Do what he says, you all have to leave and find your home, now."

No one moved, shocked and taking in Riley's words. Jasper clapped his hands and caught their attention once more. "Now!" He exclaimed.

Everyone began moving, and Riley took a step back. She turned around, looking at the doorway, waiting. Bellamy and Maya had to follow the plan, and was going to be there soon, so she could let the insider know his people were going to be allowed to leave. Riley smiled, to herself, when seeing the two far away. She trusted Maya more than anything, and knew she would fall through with her own plan.

Suddenly, an alarm began screeching and red lights started flashing in the dorm. It startled Riley and she turned her head, scared and shocked, when the doors suddenly slammed shut. She stepped back, stunned, as Jasper and Monty through themselves forward and looked through the two windows, pounding their fists on the