care what they took or what benefits they abused, it all came back to them asking for her ok.

"How come she survived?" Pike's next question twitched Cullen's jaw. "I thought you killed the entire population."

"That's not important." Kane stated firmly.

Another pause. "You're right. It's a nuclear-hardened underground city."

"We established a truce. We need to think about perception."

"We need to think about what happens when the Grounders break that truce, because they will." Pike argued.

"Oh, crap." It was Monty's voice that sounded, before quick and panicked footsteps stomped their way towards where Cullen had claimed a section of the cave. "Cullen," Monty's hands reached for her shoulders, and gently shook her until her eyes cracked open, "get up. Bellamy's gone."

She bolted up, fortunately missing banging her and Monty's heads together. "What?"

"Bellamy. He's not here." The Green boy elaborated, backing up as Cullen rose from the ground, bringing her Guards jacket with her. She was shrugging it on as they walked to the caves entrance, Cullen passing a sharp look in Pike's direction. "He took their armor."

Cullen looked down to Bellamy's disregarded Guards uniform. "He's gone after Clarke."

Suddenly everyone was moving, gathering up their supplies in a rush Cullen's exhausted state couldn't properly comprehend. She held Bellamy's things in her hands, his jacket wrapped tightly around her waist, everything else seeming useless at that moment. He was smart enough to only leave his radio and equipment belt, taking his weapons and rifle with him.

Pike lead, tracking Bellamy's footsteps he clearly didn't intend to hide — he wasn't disguising the fact he went after Clarke without anybody's knowledge, and it only tempered Cullen further. She was practically stomping her way behind Pike, brazed eyes scouting her surroundings, looking out for Bellamy's frame; everyone was aware of Cullen's inclination, yet nobody uttered a thing, which she shortly became thankful for.

Bellamy Blake didn't owe Cullen anything — after three months of purposely dodging him around Arkadia, Bellamy didn't have to testify his actions to Cullen. He didn't have to provide her with the reasons behind him going after Clarke without telling anybody about him doing so, but that didn't stop her from being angry with him. She was beyond angry, because Bellamy had done something dangerous; something he knew was dangerous, and yet he did it anyway. Their time of distance didn't alter how much Cullen seemed to care about Bellamy — he was stupid, and irrational, and could have asked for her help in going after Clarke alone. She wanted him to be safe, and knowing that he was putting himself in danger was making her go insane, and Cullen didn't want that. She didn't want to have to worry about Bellamy's safety.

Coincidentally, it had been Cullen who spotted the Blake man first. He was hobbling, left hand pressed firmly against his left thigh as his shoulder roughly collided with a tree. Before Cullen could stop herself, she was sprinting out from behind Pike, dodging trees and their roots that protruded from the ground, overwrought to be by Bellamy's side.

"Are you hurt?" She stupidly asked as she rounded around him, not bothering to meet his eyes. Her gaze dropped down to his thigh, where red liquid was seeping from a wound his hand pressed firmly against. A familiar, sickening feeling wavered her soul as her eyes floated up to his, identifying the obvious pain immediately. "What the hell happened?"

"I—I—I almost had her. I—"

"Are you completely insane?" Cullen scolded, not caring that her voice was raising. She closed the distance between them, her hands squirming their way beneath Bellamy's so that it was her that was stopping the bleeding. The mundaneness of the situation was attempting to overpower her worry, which seemed to have a handle on her emotional system. "You should've waited. If you had waited, you wouldn't be hurt. Look at you! What the hell is wrong with you?"

He was panting, and winced when Cullen placed a cloth over his wound. "Clarke—"

"Do not pin this on Clarke!" She seethed, neck craning to meet their eyes once again. Their faces were inches apart, though Cullen didn't seem to acknowledge this; she was focused on his wound, and the immense amount of agony in his eyes. "We were supposed to wait, then we were going after Clarke. Why couldn't you have just waited?"

The level of deplore in Cullen's tone almost matched that in Bellamy's eyes, which were seamlessly softening as more words spilled from Cullen's mouth. There was a deep crease between her eyebrows, frown lines framing her downwards facing lips as she expressed how idiotic she thought his doings were — he didn't seem to notice. He was focusing on how close they were; so close he could identify ten different forms of sorrow within her woodland hues.

"We told you to wait for the army to move." Kane's voice sounded, breaking their focus on each other. Monty appeared beside them, eyes flickering between Cullen, Bellamy, and Bellamy's wound. "Pike, find their trail."

"It's useless. He knows he's being followed now." Said Pike, his word hardening Cullen's gaze on the side of Bellamy's face.

Bellamy attempted to push himself from the tree, though Cullen's hands around his thigh, and the rough shove Kane delivered to his shoulder, stopped his journey. "Hey." Kane hissed, and firmly shook his head at Bellamy. "You can't even walk."

"So, what? We—we give up, let him kill her?" He attempted to move again, this time receiving Monty's grip around his bicep.

"Bellamy, I want to find her, too. But look at your leg. You could die out here, and we don't have a trail."

"We can't lose Clarke!" Bellamy bellowed, ignoring how Cullen flinched away slightly. Her eyes were widely staring up to his sweat covered face, and his whole body seemed to ease. "We can't lose her."

"We'll find her." Cullen interjected, and pressed more firmly on Bellamy's wound to gain his attention. He winced, returning his glistening umber irises back to Cullen's soothing green ones. "We want to find Clarke, too, but you can't go much further without passing out from blood loss. This isn't the way we make things right." She softened her gaze, and overlooked all the anger she felt towards him — she smiled kindly; comfortingly. "Please, Bellamy, let's just go back to Arkadia. Abby will look at your leg, and then we'll focus on finding Clarke. I promise you, that I personally will not rest until she's home with us. Safe. Just come back."

She cared about him. It was undeniable; to everybody around them, but mostly to herself. Cullen wasn't going to pretend that Bellamy didn't mean anything to her — she feared for him. For how passionate, and kind, and considerate he seemed to be. His heart was too large, and it cared too willingly about every little matter, and she was in full comprehension of that. Cullen could allow Bellamy to live through his heart, but she lived primarily through her soul, and she'd be damned if she didn't commit to making sure he was all right. Even after everything, she needed Bellamy to be all right.

"Ok." Was all he said, clearly not wishing to cause her, or anyone else, anymore pain. He nodded, and allowed Monty to wrap his arm around his shoulders, while Cullen kept her hands on his thigh, being the stabilization he desperately seemed to need. And then — maybe, just then — she allowed herself to be needed by him, too.