Acts of Desperation

Bellamy had no recollection of how much time had passed since Clarke's confession. Neither one of them had moved. His body was weighed down by the words she left hanging between them. His mind was burdened with the task of unraveling her words. I deserved it haunted him not long enough….what the hell did that even mean he thought. He looked at Clarke; there wasn't an inch of her body that wasn't swollen, bruised or bloodied. Not long enough….How long did she think she had to endure this? How long until she forgave herself….how long- his thoughts came to a screeching halt as he finally realized her intent.

"You wanted him to kill you" he accused.

She looked back at him, tears brimming in her eyes, "don't you?" she asked softly. Bellamy was taken back by her response. "No!" she looked away, "Clarke! No!" he insisted grabbing her chin again bringing her eyes back to his. He moved from the chair to the bed, sitting in front of her his eyes fused to hers.

He sat there, his eyes pleading with hers. His heart trying to find the words that were recklessly abandoning him now. The resolve in her eyes was now covered in tears, but she sat statuesquely. Her tears flowed over her cheeks, following the curves of her face, but she didn't move. He glided his hand from her chin to cup her left cheek, his thumb brushing away a few tears.

"You should," she said pulling her face from his hand and looking at the wall beside them.

"Clarke" he pleaded attempting to hold her face again, but she pushed his hand away.

"Let me go" she begged him, her body beginning to give into itself. This was the longest she had been awake and her energy was slowly depleting. Her eyes were heavy. Bellamy noticed and picked her up, replacing her so she was lying down. He tucked the pillow under her head and covered her with the blankets.

Bellamy sat back in his chair, his elbows pressed into his knees and face buried in his hands. How can I fix this? He thought to himself, but he had no answer. Abby….Abby can fix this. Bellamy rose to his feet with a new found conviction and stormed down the hallway.

"Get your stuff we're leaving" he commanded to the others. All but Lincoln were asleep and looked up at him with groggy, confused eyes.

"It's still dark" Lincoln informed him as he left his chair and approached Bellamy, silently curious about his sudden urgency. Raven shot to her feet and gathered her belongings.

"I'm ready-You got sleeping beauty?" she quipped to Bellamy. He nodded and turned back. The others slowly grabbed their belongings and climbed the ladder. Lincoln hung back and followed Bellamy after the others were gone.

"It's not safe to travel in the dark" he warned.

Bellamy turned to face him. "We need to get her to Abby."

Lincoln stood by stoically. He knew there was more to Bellamy's new found urgency, but the look at Bellamy's face told him not to push the matter. Lincoln turned back and followed the others out of the bunker.

Bellamy carried Clarkes sleeping body to the ladder and carefully passed her to Lincoln. Lincoln carried her to the stretcher that Monty and Octavia were holding and placed her on it. Bellamy closed the latch the bunker after he climbed out then covered it with leaves and dirt.

He walked over to the stretcher and withdrew a rope from his pack. He laid the rope over Clarke's shoulders, then bent down and wrapped it under the stretcher. He then pulled the rope over her chest, continuing his way down her body.

Monty was holding the front of the stretcher facing away from Clarke. It took a Moment for him to look back and his eyes grew wide when he did. "I knew it" he growled at Bellamy. But Bellamy wasn't in the mood for anyone's input. The only thing that was important to him at the moment was getting Clarke to Abby. ..no matter what he had to do to get her there. He tied the rope off, "Let's go" he barked. Monty stood firm, glaring at Bellamy.

Once Bellamy noticed that Monty wasn't moving he stalked over to him. "If I want your opinion I'll ask for it now move!" he barked again. Monty held his ground for a moment longer than reluctantly followed Lincoln down the dark path. Bellamy followed behind, his watchful eyes snaking the terrain for any sign of danger.

They walked for two hours in the dark; their only light was the torch Lincoln carried in front of them. They were all relieved when the sun's rays broke through the forest lighting their way.

Lincoln stopped to put out his torch and offer Octavia a break from carrying the stretcher. Bellamy walked past them taking the lead, "we need to keep moving" he ordered not once looking at the group.

"You need a break?" Raven asked Monty. "Thanks" he replied handing the front of the stretcher to Raven. Monty walked beside Clarke on the stretcher as they marched on. Monty looked down at Clarke then took his sweater off laying it over her body. He carefully placed the sweater on her; Lincoln watched down at the gesture. "She'll be fine" he offered. Monty looked back at him with a weak and brief smile.

"I can carry her," he told Lincoln, placing his hand over one of the bars on the back of the stretcher. Lincoln stepped out of the way handing the back of the stretcher to Monty and falling back to walk beside Octavia.

Another hour had passed and Lincoln had moved to the front of the group, walking beside Bellamy.

"You should untie her before your get to your camp," he said his eyes straight ahead of him.

"I know" Bellamy replied with a taut voice

*Clarke*

Her eyes fought their way open. The sunlight burned and it was hard for her to battle their instinctive closing. She opted for squinting. She watched the branches sail above her; she could hear the wind swimming through them. For a moment, a brief moment, she wasn't haunted by her demons….she felt….content. That moment, however, came crashing to a halt as she tried to pull her hand to rub her aching head and couldn't.

What the hell? She thought, tugging once again at her arm. This time, it came to her, but she noticed the rope sliding off of her forearms as it did. She watched it curiously as it slide down to the ground. Her eyes moved up and locked with Monty's. He smiled at her then motioned with his mouth for her to keep quiet. He looked up past her head, then back down to her and nodded.

She slowly pulled her other arm up, realizing it came much easier than the first. Something was still binding her, though, she looked down and saw the rope around her chest and slowly removed it from her.

Why am I tied…..damn it, Bellamy? The reality of her situation hit her and she sat up and pried the remained of the rope from her feet. She leaped off the stretched and bolted into the forest adrenaline fueling her escape.

"What the?" Raven turned to ask as she suddenly felt the weight of the stretcher drastically decrease. "Clarke!" she shouted. Octavia watched the scene unfold, unsure of what to do.

Bellamy and Lincoln spun around both chasing after her. It didn't take long for Bellamy to grab her by her arm. He spun her up against a tree and pinned her there with an arm on each side of her shoulders.

"Damn it Clarke" he panted out, taking the moment to catch his breath. Once he regained control of his breathing he looked at her. She was so filled with terror that it consumed her eyes and circulated through her forcing her body to tremble. He placed one hand square on her chest below her neck and above her breasts and the other he raked through his dark locks. He leaned back and took in the sight of her, but it nearly broke him so he had to look away.

He looked to Lincoln, his eyes threatening him not to speak. "Go-tell Raven to get Abby, take all of them with you." Lincoln gave him a nod and turned to walk away, "and Lincoln" he heard spinning back around. "Not a word of this" Bellamy said. Lincoln nodded again then jogged back to the group.