Lincoln's head hung in shame as Octavia's words echoed in his mind.
Either you get up and we fight this, or you crawl away and die alone like a coward. It's your choice.
Octavia couldn't believe what she was seeing. The man she'd fallen in love with, her strong warrior… down on the ground, weak and ready to give in.
He still wore those damned Reaper clothes…
She glanced at Atohl. Her fellow Second was still unconscious on the ground. Lincoln had planned to tie him up and deliver him to Mount Weather in exchange for more of the drug.
Octavia could feel the tears rising and ordered herself to be strong.
"What happened?" she asked.
Lincoln was quiet for a moment. When he spoke, it was in a broken voice.
"We made it to the door," he murmured. "Everything was under control. But when I saw the Red, I couldn't–" he stopped himself, unable to go on. He looked up at her, shame in his eyes. "I wasn't strong enough… I'm sorry."
Octavia sighed. She sat down by his side and took his hand.
"You weren't ready."
Lincoln said nothing, but nodded. Octavia had warned him about it, but he hadn't listened. He had wanted to prove to himself that he was okay, that he could do it. He had wanted to face what he'd done as a Reaper.
After a moment of silence, Lincoln asked, "And Bellamy's okay?"
He desperately needed confirmation.
"Yeah, he's fine," she assured him. "He already made contact from the inside."
Lincoln nodded, relieved. He would atone for what he'd done later. For now, he was just happy that her brother was alright.
He looked up at Octavia again and saw for the first time the bruises and cuts on her face.
"What happened here?" he asked softly, caressing her battered skin.
"This was me, foolishly trying to prove myself. Which, technically worked, I guess. Indra asked me to be her Second."
Lincoln's brows lifted in surprise. Indra was usually very uptight about their Trikru traditions.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure she's warming up to me," Octavia said.
Indra had even given her brand new Grounder clothes. No Second of hers was going to walk around looking like Skaikru…
"I'm supposed to be on watch right now, actually. With that idiot," she explained, nodding toward Atohl.
Lincoln looked at the man's limp body on the ground and remembered what he'd been about to do… Guilt strangled him.
"I'm sorry," he said in an agonized whisper.
"Shhh," she comforted him. Octavia pulled him to her side and held him. "It's okay. You got me. We can fight this, together."
They'd sat there on the ground and talked for a while. Not long after, however, they noticed that night had fallen around them.
"It's late," she stared, getting up. "Come on. We should get back."
Lincoln hesitated.
"No one's gonna blame you. I don't," she told him earnestly.
He looked into her eyes and knew she meant it. Lincoln felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest. Her opinion was the one that mattered most to him. If she could forgive him, he could move on.
Octavia held out her hand. "Now, come on."
He took her hand and got up.
She took his face in her hands and leaned her forehead against his.
"We'll get thought this together, okay? I'm not going anywhere," she swore.
"I'll make it up to you. I promise."
Octavia shook her head and smiled. "You're back. That's all that matters right now."
Lincoln and Octavia leaned forward and were about to kiss when they saw a bright flash in the sky, accompanied by a loud rumbling.
They stood staring in shock as the bright light headed straight into TonDC. Before they could react, they heard the shattering explosion and saw the flames rising.
At a dead run, they rushed toward the village, just in time to witness its utter destruction…
Now what?