─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

ON THEIR WAY TO LINCOLN'S CAVE WHERE THEY'D BE SAFE, THERE WERE NO WORDS SPOKEN BETWEEN THE GROUP. Everyone was tense, holding the weight of the grief from losing Lincoln. Riley focused on the tips of her boots the entire way home, trudging through the mud, yet somehow on alert. Pike would be looking for them, she knew that. He'd kill them all, just like he did to Lincoln, with no mercy only to prove a single point. That he was in charge, as any tyrant would.

Riley lifted her head for the first time when they approached the cave entrance. She followed after Miller, Bryan, and Harper, seeing that Bellamy was chained to the wall. She didn't question it, figuring it had something to do with Octavia after he took off. He looked up, watching as one by one, they poured in, until Octavia was the last one. Noticing that Lincoln wasn't one of the people with them, Bellamy looked towards his sister. "Where's Lincoln?" He questioned.

At the mention of Lincoln, Riley turned her head, unable to face Bellamy. It wasn't all his fault, and he didn't kill Lincoln himself, but he was apart of it. Octavia didn't answer him at first. Even though she said nothing, Riley knew she was mourning Lincoln. She ripped off her jacket instead, exposing her shoulder tattoo, and tossed it aside with her back to her brother. "Pike put a bullet in his brain." Her answer was full of nothing but coldness and sorrow.

"O.." Bellamy whispered, rising to his feet. "O.. I am so sorry.."

Before he could finish his apology, Octavia whirled around and suddenly punched Bellamy in the face. The hit caught Riley by surprise, but she didn't blame her. Octavia glared at her brother, tears streaming down her cheeks, as she hit him two more times, making blood trickle from the corners of his mouth. He didn't fight back, even though he wasn't tightly bound.

"Octavia," Kane spoke up, quietly. "That's enough."

"Kane," Bellamy protested. "Stay out of it." Even though he didn't like it, Kane backed down. It set Octavia off, and she struck him in the face again before punching his chest, making him bend over in pain. She punched him again while he was down, before gripping the back of his hair and slamming her knee into his face. Riley winched, watching in despair as Octavia hit him twice more, and making Bellamy fall over.

Miller attempted to intervene, by reaching out to Octavia. "Okay, stop. Enough." The second he touched her, Octavia turned around, shoving him away with a heavy impact and into Bryan.

Choking on his own blood, Bellamy sat up. "Miller, let her," he stated, blood pouring from his mouth as he spoke.

Crying and screaming in the pain of heartache, Octavia punched him twice more. She waited, sobbing, until Bellamy was on his back but staring up at her before she made her final declaration to him. "You're dead to me." This time, she wasn't crying. She was serious and emotionless, and Riley knew she wasn't kidding. She hated her brother, it was written all over her face, for what he has done.

-x-

After Octavia's outburst, the group circled around a poorly lit fire in attempt to figure out where to go from where they were. Bellamy was still chained up, farther away, with Riley kneeling on the right side of him. He tried to stubbornly protest, but Kane insisted that his wounds from Octavia's beating be looked at, at the very least, cleaned up. Then Bellamy decided to inform them that the commander, Lexa, was dead, and someone new had risen up.

Riley spent a while using a wet rag to wipe all of the blood off before she could even get a look at them. In her bag was a small medkit, but thankfully, Bellamy wouldn't need any immediate medical attention which would be more than she could provide.

"We can do that," Kane was saying to Bryan, who gave him an idea. "But we should be safe here."

Shaking her head, Riley checked to make sure no bones in Bellamy's face were broken by gently pressing on his skin. "For how long?" She pointed out without looking behind her, but knowing they couldn't stay there forever. "Pike's looking for us by now."

"What about the blockade?" Bryan asked, the barrier made after Pike's massacre. "Are we safe from that?"

Kane nodded. "As long as we stay on this side of the line, we should be." Without Pike as their offer, the grounders would attack them.

"We take Pike to them, and they lift the blockade," Harper pointed out.

"That's right," Kane agreed, folding his hands. "We become the thirteenth clan again. Those were the terms."

At his plan, Bellamy shook his head, seeming annoyed. Riley frowned, swiping antibiotic over the small tear on his cheek. "Like it or not, it's the plan," she said, hushed, and only to him as the other's talked over her.

"The only thing that matters now is killing Pike," Octavia stated stiffly, stabbing the ground with her sword.

"Once we resume our place in the commander's coalition, Clarke and everyone else will be safe," Kane said, approving Octavia. "So how do we do it?"

Before anyone could spew out any ideas, a walkie-talkie started going off. Riley stopped her motion, turning her head when she recognized the voice. "Bellamy, come in. I'm in trouble." It was Monty. "Please say you still have your radio."

"Is that Monty?" Riley asked, worried. She remembered how they saved their lives, when they were trapped, by distracting Pike and his guards. If he was tuning in, asking for help, than Pike knew and her friend's life was at stake. No one made a move to answer it. Riley rose to her feet, stalking forward. "We have to help him - "

Sinclair stopped Riley, interrupting her quickly by grabbing the walkie-talkie. "If we respond and Pike's listening - " He started.

"Go to channel seven," Bellamy spoke in a monotone mumble, but catching everyone's attention. "Please say you still have your radio. That's seven words, after the word trouble. It's code, go to seven."

Hesitantly, Sinclair turned the knob to channel seven. When he had, Riley heard Monty's voice again, asking for Bellamy which had meant he was telling the truth. Monty was alone, and not on Pike's side anymore. Sinclair handed the walkie-talkie to Kane, who pressed the button and spoke into it. "Monty, it's Kane. What's wrong?"

"Pike knows that I helped you get out," Monty replied, his voice static through the speaker. Riley tensed immediately, now sure that he was in danger.

"Can you get to the dropship?" Kane asked, already planning. Monty confirmed that he could, and Riley was already packing her medkit back up by kneeling back down. "Go there, I'll bring you in. Stay off the radio," he instructed. "Over now."

Speaking up, Harper turned to look at Kane. "Hold on, what if it's a trap and Pike's waiting?" She mentioned.

"That's why I'm going alone," Kane answered simply, standing to his feet.

"Like hell you are," Octavia snapped, pushing her sword into her sheath and rising with him, prepared.

Agreeing, Riley kicked aside her bag and turned to face their leader. "I'm with Octavia," she said firmly. "Monty saved our lives. I'm coming too."

"No, you're not," Kane argued, strict, and grabbing a gun as the others eagerly stood. "If it is a trap, I'm not marching our entire insurgency into it."

"Oh, please," Riley said with a bitter short laugh. "I'm not a soldier." Her aim in shooting is still terrible, and in arguments, she preferred fighting with her fists blindly. They didn't need her in this revolt, she had just needed to be apart of it. "I just bandage bumps and scrapes. I'm useless, you don't need me." Riley ignored the pitiful expression on Kane's face, much too used to it when she told the truth. "But Monty's my friend, so if it isn't a trap, I need to know he's okay and bring him back."

Nodding, on Riley's side, Octavia slipped her jacket back on and pulled her dark hair out of the collar. "To stop me you're gonna have to kill me." Kane sighed, but caved. She turned her head, angry, when Bellamy announced that she hoped it was a trap. Even if he was right, Riley gave him a look of disbelief. Maybe she did too.

If it was, they could find Pike easier and figure out what to do with him. Whether handing him over to the grounders or killing him themselves, Riley didn't care, as long as the chancellor was brought down. "He's coming too," Octavia stated, sticking her chin out towards Bellamy. "We need a hostage to trade for Monty."

"Sounds good to me," Riley murmured, picking her own gun up. She was thankful she was right handed, as the small brace on her left thumb wouldn't have been useful when pulling the trigger if it came down to it. Even if her aim was poor, it was much better than no practice at all.

"Good plan," Kane complimented Octavia. "He stays chained. Gag him."

Protesting, Miller motioned his hand to Bellamy, but Riley stopped him. "He's the enemy," she declared, narrowing her eyes in the prisoner's direction. "We're keeping him chained."