A small fire was crackling by the altar. Wells was sitting perched over it with a stick in his hand, roasting the rabbit's meat carefully. He had discarded the skin and entrails and other matters of his gruesome butchering job earlier. If they were to stay in his hideout for a while, they didn't want it to smell and look like death.

Clarke and her bond-partner were still standing over by the pile of blankets, as if lost to the world, or just lost in their minds, and he couldn't deny feeling a bit left out, and yes, jealous. The tall Silveren was doing something to Clarke and Wells didn't like it.

She's growing away from you.

Wells took a deep breath, weary and defeated. Maya. She wasn't wrong.

Looks like she's finally found something to occupy herself with.

You don't like that it's a 'he.'

I don't like that it's a Silveren. A freaking Eternal to boot.

We always knew there'd be a high chance for her to end up with a bond. Her parents both had one, after all.

Wells sniffed, rubbing his nose absently as he listened to her voice inside his head. She sounded so close, yet he hadn't seen her face in weeks, hadn't lain with her, touched her skin. It was almost as if she was just that voice in his mind now.

Of course, he allowed. But no one ever said anything about a Silveren being involved. This is a mess, Maya.

And it doesn't help that you're in love with her…

He didn't know what to say. He'd been able to ignore it, keep it to himself for the longest time. But something must have shifted. The thought, the feeling, must have grown too strong to shove it back into the darkest corner of his brain, where he had been hiding it away from himself and thus from her. He wasn't going to deny it anymore. It was not like he could.

When he didn't say anything for a long time, Maya eventually prodded him again. Any progress?

He almost shook his head. Sometimes, even after three years with the bond, he still forgot to rein in his reflexes to give bodily clues in conversation.

It hasn't even been a full day yet since we got here, he informed her.

He noticed that the rabbit was done and absently waved over to the other two, inviting them to join him. Clarke smiled at him briefly before he watched her and Bellamy make their way over to him.

Maya wasn't going to let it go yet. Right. It's just… you're in this deep now, Wells. We need to show Wallace some good will. That you're Commander Jaha's son won't be enough. Even he can't save you now. I need something. Anything.

He hated this; he hated his role in their plan. He was basically spying on his best friend, setting her up.

You're not setting her up. You're trying to save her. You're trying to get all information out of her partner now so that we can swoop in and lock him up and she won't ever have to deal with him again.

He's still her link partner.

He's the passive one. You said their link connection is not very strong. She is still pretty much her own separate being, right? Not like us.

No. Not like us.

"This actually looks pretty mouth-watering. I must be starved." Clarke's bright voice jolted him back to the here and now, and the church and the fire slowly came back into focus as Maya faded into the background once more.

I need something, Wells

"Only the best for my favorite gourmande. I'd serve it with potatoes and maybe some green beans. But we are all out of potatoes-"

"And all out of beans," Clarke finished for him, smiling wistfully. "Thanks for doing this."

"Killing bunnies? Cooking?"

She gave him an eye roll and a light nudge. "You know what I mean. Thanks for looking out for me… for us. For helping us."

He nodded to her with a grin. "Anything for you, Clarke. I'll even save the Silverscum of the earth for you." He shot Bellamy a glance, who rolled his eyes, not gracing Wells with a retort. Instead, he quietly sat down on the opposite side, staring Wells down, almost as if he wanted to keep taps on each and every one of Wells's movements. Which was probably the real reason. The man was an elite soldier after all.

"How's your girl?" Bellamy suddenly asked, and Wells had to blink at the unexpected question. He cocked his head, masking his frown with a halfhearted grin. "My girl?"

Clarke grimaced as she took a piece of meat from his outstretched hand, quickly biting into it. Her features softened when the bliss of food hit her tongue, and she spoke while chewing, her words coming out muffled. "He means Maya…"

He tried not to glare too hostilely. "In that case: thanks, she's doing well. A little busy at the hospital lately. With you guys attacking us left and right. Stupid Eternal - colleague of yours, I assume? - wreaked some havoc among our troops down in the east. Heard they got him, though. He's now dead of course. Got the good old lake treatment."

He was taunting Bellamy, of course. In truth, he had no such information. That an Eternal had wounded a lot of their people, that part was true. But the lake… or even that they had caught the Weapon Bearer, that was something he had made up on the spot. Maya hadn't had that kind of information. Or maybe he just hadn't looked for it. As far as he knew, the lake hadn't seen a Silveren in at least a decade.

"What is the lake treatment?" Bellamy asked casually, frowning, looking both wary and genuinely curious.

Wells's own frown deepened.

"You haven't heard of the Eternal Lake?"

The other man shrugged, biting into a charred piece of meat that Wells had handed him. "Should I?"

"I guess our propaganda isn't as great as our people hope, huh, Clarke?"

Wells threw a glance in her direction. She made a face, shaking her head briefly. "Don't," she mouthed. She clearly didnt want him to dwell on the matter, but it was as if a sudden urge had come over him, and he couldn't stop.

"Well, I guess at least it works on our side. Let me explain it for our dear Silverscum."

"Wells." His name sounded like a warning that he didn't heed.

"We throw all dead and all captured Eternals in there. We drown them. So, whenever yet another Eternal dies in the lake, our people will cheer for days. They'll celebrate." He looked at Bellamy somewhat triumphantly, but the Silveren remained oddly cool.

"So your people don't celebrate very often," he stated soberly, riling Wells with his calm. He pushed his sleeves up some more, then clenched his fist as Bellamy continued. "Because I know for a fact that hardly any of us ever get caught alive. You could say I'm the inglorious exception. I'm sure my people would be just as thrilled as yours if you'd just dump me in that lake."

"Watch it, or I might."

"Actually, I'm curious about that, Wells." Bellamy put the focus of his intonation on the name, and it really got under Wells's skin for some odd reason.

"Oh ya? What makes you so curious there?" Wells didn't avert his gaze from the other man, not even when he heard Clarke gently say Bellamy's name. It sounded so intimate. So close. And he suddenly started to feel like an outsider. It was not a great feeling. He began to understand how Clarke must have felt whenever she was out and about with him and Maya. A third wheel. How had she been able to stand it?

"Come on, princess. Let's try and have him answer our burning questions."

She sounded tired when she spoke next. "I don't think I want to have any part in that."

"That's quite alright. I'm perfectly happy to do it myself."

Bellamy grinned, and Wells sighed, annoyed. The rabbit was almost gone, Bellamy had barely had any of it. Although he didn't seem to care, Wells couldn't help but take the last piece of meat and bite into it with all the pleasure and gusto he could muster. The Silveren merely grinned at him.

"It's good meat, you should really have some more. Oh, wait…"

"Very funny. - What I wanted to know… how far would you go for Clarke? How far would you go for Maya?"

"What kind of question is that?" Wells leaned back a little, wary.

"You keep playing Clarke's knight in shining armor, though she's far from being a damsel. I'm just curious… who will win if you're ever put into a situation where you have to choose?"

"Why would I have to choose? This is not a-"

"Because your 'Maya' is now with the enemy."

"She's with our troops."

Bellamy shook his head. "You killed that General. Clarke is linked to the enemy - to me. None of us are on the Golden side. They will be after you for treason. There's no coming back from that, unless…"

Wells jumped up, angry now. "Unless what?! What are you insinuating? Huh?! You are the enemy, yes. Clarke and I-"

"Did you listen to me? You are endangering her, Wells. Can you truly say that you are on her side? Have her best interests at heart?"

"Bellamy." Clarke sounded very calm.

Wells found himself looking at her exasperatedly. "Where is this coming from, huh? Can you believe him?" His question made her look at him strangely apologetically. And suddenly he understood. "Do you think he has a point?!"

She stared at him. "He is just worried." She took a deep breath and got up to place a soothing hand on his arm. "We don't have any control over who Maya talks to. She knows we are here..."

"She's our friend! She's never done anything to hurt us. Why would you even begin to entertain these stupid ideas he plants into your brain?!"

He was bristling. He was so upset he couldn't even put it into words. But Clarke's sad expression gave him pause.

"He has a point, Wells. You know he does. I didn't want to hear it, or believe it. I still don't. But I am wary. I'm scared. This is new for all of us. There's never been anyone in a link-relationship with a Silveren before." She bit her lip, looking briefly over to her partner, then back to him, "When I was a little girl, I always dreamed of being special. I dreamed of being a princess, of finding my prince, just like how my parents found each other." She chuckled to herself, but she looked so sad it pained him. "When I met you… I really didn't like you at all. You were always so self-righteous, so much better than the rest of us."

"Hey hey," he made, smiling sadly, then falling quiet once more, listening to what she had to say.

"But then I got to know you better, and you were just such a great person. Then, when my parents..."

She choked down a sob and he gently touched her cheek.

"You were there for me, Wells. You've always been there for me, ever since. And I fell in love with you. Of course you were with Maya, and I've always been happy for you guys. I just… it was never about me, you understand? It was never about me. - But now it is."

"It's always been about you, too, Clarke," he tried, but she shook her head.

"I need to look out for myself now. Because someone else is relying on me. Really truly relying on me. This is a chance for all of us. A Golden and a Silveren bonded together like this? That's huge. But it's also pretty terrifying, like we have the world against us. I can't just trust anyone anymore. I wish I could; I know it's not fair. But war isn't fair either."

"I know." He had finally seen through her. She had talked without saying much, never really admitting that she suspected anything. But he knew she did, and the worst, he knew she was right. He sighed, dropping down where he had sat before, looking at both of them, then letting his head droop. "You're right," he muttered, defeated, tired of keeping up a facade. He waved a weary hand in Bellamy's direction. "He is right."

Wells, don't.

"We are working together with command. This has all been their plan." He looked away, he didn't want to see Clarke's face drop, but he could feel the change in atmosphere, could hear her suck in air too violently.

"What?!"

"Since when has your command been involved?" Bellamy's voice sounded level, emotionless.

"Since you've been captured."

"The whole escape…"

"Their idea."

He saw Clarke slump down opposite him, close to where Bellamy was now standing. He caught a glimpse of the Silveren's hand on her head, an intimate gesture that she didn't shrug off. They were growing closer. Whether they wanted to or not, whether they knew it yet or not, he could see it from a mile away. Maybe their mind-bond wasn't very strong, but they were certainly forming a bond of some kind, and that one was going to be much stronger than anything superimposed could have ever been. And it hurt.

Her voice was very small when she suddenly said, "The torture…"

He sighed, feeling like he was the scum of the earth after all.

"With your history, what your parents went through... They needed to know what would make you go to such an extreme that you'd actually go against them and help him escape so that we could get you two together, lull him into thinking he can trust you, confide in you."

"You used my parents."

"I'm sorry..."

She jolted up suddenly, staring daggers at him that hurt almost as much as the real thing. Then her lips formed a thin line as she quite obviously tried to rein in her anger before walking past him, and away, toward the door. He got up and made to follow her, but he felt Bellamy's hard grip on his arm, met the other's dark eyes, and stopped in his tracks. They stared at each other for a long time, neither of them saying a word. They heard the door being opened and falling shut with a loud bang, and even then, they still just stood there, gauging each other.

Then, finally, Bellamy shook his head and let go. He turned on one foot and quickly walked down the aisle, going after Clarke.

"Don't follow her," he ordered, just that, and Wells didn't. He couldn't. He couldn't even move. In the back of his head he felt Maya's wrath surface.

What have you done?!