Disclaimer: I don't own The 100. Everything belongs to whoever owns them, my wishful thinking aside.

Authors Note #1: a tumblr anon asked for Kabby: "bite" – My brain went on an epic journey with this one and I was emotional about Sinclair at the time the idea first struck so that's probably is the reason more than half of this fic exists, hope you like anyway, anon! – Set Season Three, post Pike (au!Lincoln lives) but without any Allie nonsense – (therefore au!Sinclair lives).

Warnings: vampire!Marcus (kind of), vampire!Sinclair (kind of), vampires but not vampires- so think like, the fangs part but really just wanna spread the disease everywhere kind of vampires, dub-con leanings but nothing at all major (mentioning mostly just to cover my butt here), mild sexual content, adult language. – This chapter will also be told in Sinclair's point of view.

Dwale

Chapter Seven

"So," Raven wheedled, breaking the tension with her usual, cut right through the bullshit approach. "What are you working on?"

He latched onto the out gratefully.

"Jackson was talking about a way to make the cure airborne. Something that wouldn't need close contact to be viable. Something that the infected can't remove or escape from," he explained, turning the monitor so she could see basics of the program he was writing and a rough blueprint of how to implement it. "I think it's our best chance to get them both without risking Clarke or anyone else. Abby knows about the syringe plan, she'll be expecting it. They both will."

"You think they're coming back?"

He fixed her with an incredulous look.

"Okay, okay… stupid question," she admitted, shaking her head before looking back at the monitor. "But it's been a couple days since Marcus grabbed Abby for their fun filled, infection-vacation. What the hell are they waiting for?"

He kept his assumptions to himself. He'd learned firsthand on the Ark that sometimes silence was the best answer. Feeling it was safer that way as her nose wrinkled into a frustrated frown. He drummed his fingers against the desk. Everyone knew Marcus and Abby were close. So what did two people like that – who've felt that way about each other all this time – do when the walls come down? All the socially constructed barriers people lived their lives inside?

He already knew what he'd do.

Hell, he'd done it already.

Or tried to at least.

"With you we knew you were coming," she muttered, pony-tail shush-shushing over her shoulder as she shook her head. "Indra's scouts spotted you entering Trikru territory. You weren't trying to hide."

The sudden realization that happened next was like a cold tidal wash creeping inland.

"Oh god," she groaned, head flomping back against the head rest as she let go of a minor explosion of a breath. Fingers curling around the edge of the desk like she was ready to swing herself up and into the action at a moment's notice. "I know that face. What is it?"

The fractured mess of impressions and emotions he'd been working through during his shower surged forward. Finding himself speaking out loud as he slowly put his thoughts to voice, working his way through it in real time as Raven watched him carefully.

"A leader's purpose is to protect and provide. When I was infected, that hierarchy was the same, but it was raw. Primal, almost. No, definitely primal. Marcus is – for all intents and purposes - the leader. When we were attacked and infected, he was the one that found me. He turned before me. I don't know how or why, but he made sure I was fed. He stayed with me, we ran together. There was definitely structure, and I understood where I fit in. No question. Same with him."

"Which means?" Raven inquired, soft like she didn't want to interrupt the flow but couldn't stop herself from asking. Expression closed off and worried.

"When they come back they aren't just coming for Clarke or me," he returned, holding up a hand when she made to protest. "They're coming for all of us. Trust me. This is Marcus. The only thing he's ever wanted is for everyone to be safe- happy. The virus is the perfect template for someone that only wants the best for the people they care about."

The tail-end of the sentence was delivered softly.

Like it was a blow in of itself and he wasn't sure how she'd take it.

He watched her throat bob through a swallow before he found himself speaking again. Feeling the need to say it, even though it felt like overkill. Wanting her to understand that in spite of everything he'd said, he didn't want that again. And that if he did, if they got him, he might not be able to stop himself from-

"Raven, we have to be prepared for it. Abby will be coming for Clarke but Marcus will be targeting certain people first. And I'm-"

"He won't," she slapped back, tossing back her hair and squaring her shoulders as her mouth slanted itself in a brutal line. "They won't. We won't let them get that far. I promise."

The determination behind the words was momentarily staggering.

It made him think about waking up to the warm curl of her hand in his.

It made him think about handing her back her crutches and watching her power through the pain.

It made him think of a hundred thousand moments over the years and the glowing pride he'd felt after assigning her to her first duty shift.

He swallowed, smiling small.

The irony was he'd told Clarke once that Raven was the only thing he had left.

He'd never considered it might the same for her.

It was a heady feeling – intimidating - but it settled in the pit of his belly like something warm.

Like something that felt like home.

When he finally looked up, her eyes were already waiting for him. Bright and burning with that familiar fire that made him want to laugh at himself more than anything else.

"So, let's do this," she firmed, bringing her hand up to rest on top of his. Fingers laced with spider-line scars and healing bruises from live wires and spitting fuses, just like his. "Together, alright?"

"Together," he agreed with tired warmth. Pressing up with his knuckles so that she could feel the pressure before pulling away and shaking out the achy soreness. Leaning over to adjust the second monitor as he brought up the half-finished program. "Let's get to work, Reyes."

He felt more like himself than he had in weeks.


Between Jackson, Raven and himself, they got the ball rolling. Jackson synthesized the sample into something that could be piped through the air vents anywhere in Arkadia with the program Raven helped him finish. While Indra, Lincoln, Octavia, Clarke, Bellamy and the others settled on their best bet in terms of trapping and containment when Abby and Marcus finally made an appearance.

They all knew they were working against a ticking clock. Keeping Jackson, Harper and Jasper at the monitors, watching for any sign of them. But somehow, the tension that'd been building in the back of his mind only eased the closer they got to being ready.

This was going to work.

He could feel it.

The plan was to get them into the same room – the communal showers were the obvious choice – and lock them inside. It was simple, if slightly inelegant. The doors on the showers were originally from the Ark – reinforced steel, no windows, the works. However, getting them there was an entirely different problem.

His firsthand experience ended up settling the finer details. Suggesting that they lure them into the showers by scent. That was how he'd located Raven in the first place. How he'd known when to make his move, when to take that running leap over the fence. When to sprint. When to crouch. It made sense that Marcus and Abby would approach things the same way.

It was also his idea to take Clarke and Bellamy completely out of the picture. To put the clothes they'd worn for the last couple of days – thick with their scent – and leave them in the room. Making sure the clothing was the strongest scent in the camp and blocking the rest so that Abby and Marcus would immediately move towards it – a centralized target they would be drawn to just like he had. In essence, using the virus against them and coming up with a trap of their own in the process.

What he hadn't been counting on was Marcus and Abby making them wait.


He was woken up from a dead sleep a few days later – the second in his own bed since Jackson had cleared him to leave the infirmary – to a string of garbled yelling and cursing.

He nearly rolled right off the bed, balance still slightly off as he wobbled to his feet and yanked on pants. Managing to get a word in edgewise as he nearly clipped his headset with his sweater. Striding through the door while trying to sort out his sleeves as every alarm they had blared over the loud speakers.

They were coming.


He met up with Raven and Clarke in the hall. Rubbing sleep from their eyes, clearly not quite awake. Anxious stress sheened through the hollows below their eyes as he herded them towards the conference room. Exchanging nods and knowing looks as Indra, Lincoln, Bellamy and Octavia met them by the door.

The hush that descended when the doors hissed open and he made his way over to the desk was defending. Making him hyper-aware of himself as he keyed up the program and directed cameras to the western quadrant – the same section Monty and Jasper were pointing to on either side of his chair.

It made him made him wonder what it'd been like when he'd been spotted.

Had Abby been where Raven was now?

Hovering over his shoulder with quiet trepidation?

Part of him felt ghoulishly curious about it. Wanting to ask. Wanting to know. Wanting to understand that small chunk of time and space he was missing. Where he hadn't been the one watching for once. But rather, the one being watched. He chewed on the inside of his cheek. Forcing the thoughts away and burying them deep as a blurred flash rippled through the trees in the corner of the screen.

Was that-

In a sense, it felt like he was coming weirdly full circle.

"That's them," Jasper pointed, shaking the back of his chair with nervous excitement.

He zoomed in, slowing the footage and enhancing so that they could see them clearly. Heart pounding unevenly in his chest as he marvelled on the reversal. Remembering exactly how it'd felt when he'd streaked through the forest towards Arkadia. Elemental. Basic. Clean. Powerful. Taking ownership of each and every step, senses honed and sharp as he tasted the tart of his prey in the air.

Marcus and Abby were running together, side by side and completely in sync.

Animal.

Wild.

Free.

'A mated pair,' a small voice in his head whispered. Alphas.

He could feel Clarke at his back, leaning in when he brought the video clip closer. Trying to get a closer look as his fingers flew over the keyboard. He managed to get close enough to tell individual details despite the grainy surveillance footage. Close enough to see that Abby had lost her jacket. Her long sleeved shirt blood stained and flowing loosely in the breeze. Hair down and streaming behind her like a banner as they darted between trees. Marcus, on the other hand, was bare chested, having apparently lost what was left with his shirt somewhere between then and now. Skin muddied with dirt and dried red as he sailed over a rotting trunk and allowed himself to slow – if only a fraction – staying side by side. Fingers reaching out to brush every so often as they flowed over the forest floor and became one with its rhythm.

It was a familiar pulse.

Harmonious.

Dissonant.

The worst kind of perfection.

Something he could still feel – sense – on the very reaches of his conscious mind.

Something he could almost-

His eyes were drawn back to them. Too invested to feel guilty as they invaded their privacy with worried expressions. There was something new there. Playful and intimate as they bared their teeth at the wind. Expressions transported, smoothed and feral-calm. Like they knew each other. Really knew. And there was nothing standing in the way of that feeling anymore.

Because the best and worst part of this whole mess was that the virus didn't create false feelings. It honed what was already there. It made all the reasons why you weren't - why you couldn't - weak and without substance. Hurdles that only hours before had seemed impossible were now easy and effortless to jump over.

"Whoa," Raven commented, leaning in to watch as Marcus reached pulled ahead. Putting on speed as they neared a gully bottom. It was something that normally would have taken around five minutes to navigate around but Marcus didn't even blink. Lunging across the entirety as his bare heels slammed into the embankment. Toes curling into the dirt like an anchor as the man wrapped his arm around a branch and caught Abby's hand as she followed him over. Using his strength and her momentum to fling her forward. Sailing off into the green as she tucked, rolled and was back in her feet running with barely a hitch in the rhythm.

"Impressive," he murmured, zooming back out as he watched the second monitor that showed their location. Twin red dots closing in on Arkadia as they watched.

"Yeah, well, it was certainly a crowd pleaser when you jumped the fence like a boss," Jasper replied, still looking at the screen unblinkingly. Nonchalantly popping a piece of fruit in his mouth as Monty gave him an apologetic look from his other side.

"Yes, about that, he started, narrowing his eyes. Remembering the awe on his trainee's face and the whispers about the leaked footage as he glared up at Jasper with a building frown.

"Later boys," Raven piped up, turning around to look at Bellamy and Clarke as they hovered near the door, ready to head to the clean room that would hide their scent and funnel Marcus and Abby right where they wanted them. "Everything ready?"

The affirmative was echoed across the room.

"I just double checked the intake value in the shower vents. We're all set," Jackson told them.

"Alright get into position. They're close," Clarke spoke into the radio. Alerting the guard units stationed around to wall to be strategically elsewhere. Making sure Marcus and Abby had a direct path to the showers and that no one else would-

"Wait, they shifted course!" Bellamy exclaimed, pointing to the screen as the twin red dots suddenly streaked right. Crossing over onto the path of two smaller blue dots that-

"Shit shit shit!" Jasper chanted, loud in his ear as he ignored him and reached for the radio. Hissing static across the line as Bellamy and Clarke hovered above him. The three of them watching as the red dots ate up the distance between them and the guard patrol that was still on a routine perimeter check.

"Control room to Guard team six, return to base immediately," he ordered. "Do you copy? Guard team six, return to-"

The garbled scream of the guards coincided with their sudden disappearance. Switching to the live feed against as the computer slowed the last few seconds. Watching Marcus and Abby take both men down into the long grass. Disappearing from sight completely before popping up again. Ranging back toward the direction of Arkadia as his heart throttled itself in his chest. Expelling air with a relieved sound.

"They didn't kill them, they bit them. It was too quick," he assured, trying to zoom into the wavering grass where the two guards had disappeared. Internally cursing himself as he turned in his chair and found Indra's eyes in the jumble of people. "They're going to turn."

Indra nodded at Lincoln and one of her guards. Handing Octavia a fresh string of darts loaded with the cure as she passed.

"We will take care of them," Indra answered, expression tense but kind as she motioned for Octavia to stay behind. "We know what must be done."

"If you get there quickly you'll be able to administer the cure before the change is complete. They'll be weak," he told her, feeling the need to say it even though the woman already knew. Remembering how his body had burned, sending him squirming into the earth as he sunk his aching hands in to the soil and ripped a den into the sod. Trying to drown the sound of his body screaming as the hours passed and the virus spread like tendrils through every inch of him.

Indra merely nodded. Hand resting on the hilt of her blade as Lincoln and one of her guards followed her out.

"They'll be fine," Bellamy replied to the silence.

Clarke just stared at the red dots coming closer and closer, thin-lipped and pale.


"Sinclair!"

By the time the doors to the communal showers hushed closed and Marcus and Abby turned in a circle - eyes pupil-wide and fierce as realization trickled in - the cure was already pumping through the vents and into the room. Tasteless. Odorless. Silent.

"Open the door! Now!"

He wasn't sure why. If they sensed him watching, or if they simply knew he would be, but a heat-flushed shiver rippled through him all the same when Abby and Marcus called out for him. Crowding against the corner closest to the surveillance camera, baring their fangs. Almost overwhelming the lens as his hands curled into brutal fists above the keyboard.

"Sinclair! You know- you were one of us…you know this is better. Right. We came back for you."

He watched Marcus hunch over, pulling at his throat as a rattling cough lisped frothing-red from his lips. Feeling like he was right there with him. Remembering the rushing sense of wrongwrongwrong as the cure leached into his bloodstream. Stealing away all that strength and surety. Changing him back into the creature of weakness and indecision he'd been before all this. Before the virus had taught him – shown him – that there was another way.

A better way.

"Don't do this!"

The gentle weight of Raven's hand firmed into the curl of his shoulder. Squeezing gently as the others shifted restlessly behind him. He stole her strength greedily. Clearing his throat and keying his radio on so that Marcus and Abby would be able to hear him through the coms. Knowing that he needed to hear himself say it probably just as much as they did.

"Yes, I did. I was. But what you are – what I was – isn't what we need or who we are. We are enough. I am enough. Let us help you. I promise that everything will make sense when you wake up….you'll remember why we're doing this. Why it has to be this way."

His words were thick in his throat as he watched Abby slide down the wall, hissing her defiance. Reaching vainly for Marcus as the man started vomiting. Painting the floor crimson until his fractured roar of anger petered off. Shaking violently as the horrible sound of retching overwhelmed the occasional burst of static.

"It'll be over soon, I promise," he whispered. Unable to shake the feeling that somehow - despite the truth behind it - it was just another lie.


A/N: Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think. – There will be one more small chapter to wrap everything up. So, stay tuned.