It was lucky, in a morbid way, that Clarke had had to perform so many medieval surgeries in their short time on the ground. It meant that when Abby said she'd have to remove the bullet from Raven's body, Bellamy could show her their collection of makeshift and stolen instruments.
Abby ran her fingers over the various knives and torturous-looking tools and Bellamy was sure there was pride in her eyes.
"We'd all be dead if it weren't for Clarke," he said quietly as he stood beside her. "She saved us all, dozens of times."
Abby swallowed and a tear blotted the floor at her feet. She shook her hair from her eyes. "I'll need clean water and...what were you using to sterilise?"
Bellamy showed her the crate of Monty's moonshine and she actually laughed with amazement.
"I knew we made the right decision sending teenagers to the ground," she murmured. Bellamy chose not to retort; now was not the time to raise his anger at the people of the Ark sending 100 teenagers, his sister included, on a deadly mission.
Watching Abby Griffin work brought back painful memories for Bellamy. Seeing her hands deftly wipe away blood and her eyes narrow as she analysed an injury, he was reminded of all the times he'd stood across from Clarke while she saved the life of one of their number.
He was a wreck, between the effort of constantly suppressing those dangerous thoughts and his unexpected fear for Raven. He hadn't realised through the night, not until that morning when he'd thought she'd given up on him, that the thought of losing her deeply terrified him. He didn't think he could cope with another loss. He couldn't cope without one other person who knew what they had been through. He needed Raven Reyes to live.
Kane didn't seem to care that he was exhausted, aching and more focused on Abby and Raven than answering his endless questions. He shot them at Bellamy like Grounder arrows, one after another, until Bellamy wanted to scream.
He told them of their camp that was now smoking ruins, he told them of their recent encounters with the Grounders, of the Reapers, of the war that the Ark had crash landed in the middle of. Emotionlessly he described the final battle which, it seemed, no one had won.
"So do you think it was these Grounders that took the others of the Hundred?" Kane asked, starting on another lap of the floor. Bellamy bit his tongue against snapping at him to stop pacing and concentrated on wiping away the blood as Abby instructed.
"No," Bellamy said. "It was someone different. Raven said they acted like they were military. And they had guns."
Kane stopped pacing. "Guns?" He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "A few weeks ago we thought no one on earth had survived and now we have to deal with warring groups, some of them with guns?"
Bellamy shot him an acid look. "Yeah, must be tough for you dealing with all that."
Abby glanced up at him and then at Kane. "They've survived against all the odds. It's remarkable what they've been able to achieve, look at this place."
She tied a knot in the string she was using to bind Raven's wound and cut it with a knife. "It's nowhere near perfect but it removed the bullet and should have stopped the bleeding. What coagulant did you give her? She should have bled out already with the mess in there."
Bellamy took his hands from Raven. He looked at his hands, covered in her blood, and began to vigorously wipe it off with a rag.
"One of the Grounders had medicine that we used on Finn. It's from some plant around here."
"Amazing," murmured Abby, her medical side taking over.
Bellamy stood up and faced Kane. "So what do you plan on doing now? You must have come down here with some big plan for saving us all, right?" He didn't want to sound like a child looking for an adult to make it all better again, but he couldn't deny the needing tone to his voice. It had been so long since someone else had been making the decisions of life and death.
Kane and Abby exchanged a glance and Bellamy's stomach did a sickening flip. "The plan to save us all was to come down here," Kane replied grimly. "We were running out of air, the ground was our only option."
"We should go back to Mecha Station," Abby said, rising to her feet as well.
Bellamy squinted towards the entrance of the Drop Ship, trying to judge how much time had passed since he'd discovered Kane and Abby in the clearing. It had been dawn then but he felt as though he'd been tensely watching Abby work on Raven for hours.
"How long did it take you to come from where you landed?" he asked.
"About half a day," Kane replied frowning. "Maybe more."
Bellamy slumped down against a crate, exhaustion deep in every bone. "We won't make it there before dark. The daylight has been getting shorter and it's already well after midday."
It was clear that Kane contemplated challenging him. Bellamy watched the struggle cross his face but he was too tired for another battle. If Kane wanted to take his chances in the woods in the dark, he could go ahead, but Bellamy and Raven would be staying in the safety of the Drop Ship through the night.
Kane though clearly wasn't the same arrogant man he had seemed on the Ark, because eventually he gave a curt nod.
"We'll set off at first light then."
Armed and wary, Bellamy ventured out to where the wall had once marked the edge of their safety zone. By some miracle, some sections had survived both the Grounder attack and the explosion. It was in one of them that he found one of their water collection tarpaulins still standing. He dipped the empty canisters into the water and then splashed his face. The water tasted bitter – ashy – but it felt wonderful against his aching muscles.
He stood for a moment, studying the forest around him. It seemed so peaceful in a way, with the late afternoon sun filtering through the treetops. It had been their paradise when they'd arrived. But his eyes moved swiftly from tree to tree, certain that he could see a Grounder hiding behind every one and an arrow flying through every clearing.
He turned back to the Drop Ship. He could never think of this place as his home again. It would always be the site where his people had stood, and died.
Once again he pulled the heavy door shut, sealing them in the Ship for the night. Kane and Abby were on the far side of the room, talking quietly and rapidly between themselves. Bellamy hovered a moment before moving across to where he'd set Raven up with as many blankets as he could find. It was hard to tell in the weak artificial lights inside, but he thought she looked a bit better than before. He stretched out on the layered blankets beside her, feeling the comforting rhythm of her breathing against his shoulder.
"We're going to find a way through this," he murmured before he closed his eyes.
A/N: I'm thrilled that so many of you seem to be interested in my story. Thanks for reading it all so far!
I've received a lot of questions on the theme of ultimate ships of the story. My answer is...I don't know yet. I tend to not like my stories to focus on ships, especially with material like the Hundred where it's bursting with amazing themes, issues and characters.
BUT! It is pretty obvious that I have romance in Bellamy's mind. Whether it will be for Clarke or for Raven, I haven't decided yet to be honest. This show confuses me so much with ships because I want everyone with everyone. I think I will let Bellamy decide for me as we progress with the story. I'm sorry if that isn't a concrete enough answer for you, but I hope that you can enjoy my portrayal of the characters and the plot even if it isn't the ship you desire.