Alright guys I was on a writing roll last night and just couldn't stop myself. I've made you wait so long in between chapters that it didn't seem fair to keep another from you! This chapter is relatively clean but I'm not sure I'll be able to say the same for Chapter 23. I've never really written smut, so I'm sure if I want to take the chance and ruin the story if I totally fuck it up. Please let me know what your thinking! I can't explain how much I appreciate every follow/favorite and review!

Chapter 22

Lina was right. He remembered a time when Clarke had said something very similar. Let the people decide. They had been holding onto traditions, and now, those traditions are useless. It wasn't until the end that major decisions on the Ark meant life or death. On the Ground, every decision was life or death.

Bellamy stomped his way towards the drop ship, determined to be heard before they could throw him out. If Clarke was allowed to speak her mind, then dammit so would he!

Clarke.

She had walked right up to their front door. She had left them, left him, when they needed her. When they, when he, needed her strength and courage. When they, he, needed her logic and outstanding rationality to keep them, him, from making fatal mistakes. She had abandoned them and that infuriated him. But now she was back, and that thrilled him. His emotions were so contradictory that his heart literally hurt, constricting in pain with each beat. Was this how Lina felt about accepting their help? Is this how she felt when he had held her against him? Hateful and grateful? Angry and pleased? Afraid and safe?

Bellamy didn't knock when he finally reached the heavy metal door of the small council room. He barged through, ready to yell and be met with resistance. Instead he was met with silence. Kane looked as though he had been expecting him, and Bellamy swore he saw a faint smile cross the Chancellor's face. Abby's eyes were trained on her daughter, and Bellamy guessed that she hadn't looked away since Clarke's return. Lexa's back was straight, her fierce stare focused on Bellamy. Clarke however, was looking at her hands. This enraged Bellamy. After everything they've been through, she didn't have the decency to look at him?

"Going to war with Ice Nation will kill us all." he finally said when nobody else made a move to speak. "You can't seriously be considering this." he spoke directly to Kane.

"We're considering all of our options." he replied that calm voice that always frustrated Bellamy even more.

"Kane, war can't possibly be an option!" he threw his hands up at his sides.

"A truce with Trikru would give us protection and supplies." Clarke piped up from her chair at the end of the table. Bellamy balled his hands into fists.

"You don't to speak for us." he said slowly. "You aren't part of us anymore." His voice was filled with venom and disdain. He didn't hate Clarke, he never could. But he was pissed as hell, and Bellamy wasn't one to forgive easily.

"Trikru outnumbers the Ice Clans ten to one." Lexa stood, and he was surprised to find that she matched his height. "You would be stupid to not choose our side in this war."

"Why do we need to take a side at all?" he countered. "This is a war that had been building since before we came to Earth, so why should we be dragged into it at all? This is your fight Lexa, not ours."

"Ice Nation is ruthless Bellamy," Clarke spoke again, though her voice was smaller than before. "They'll plow down anyone in their way."

"Then we stay out of their damn way!" he yelled in exasperation. "If you outnumber them and you're so confident in your ability to overtake the Ice Nation then why would you come to us and ask for help?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Bellamy saw Kane lean forward and for the first time, Abby's gaze moved from Clarke to Lexa, awaiting her response. But she said nothing. For once, the commander remained silent.

"This isn't your decision, Bellamy!" Clarke said, getting to her feet. And as she stood, so did Kane and Abby.

"No more than it is yours!" he yelled back at her.

"Your leaders are the ones who decide." Lexa took a step between the two, as if to protect Clarke. Did she think he would attack her? Did she think he even could?

"Kane, Abby, " Bellamy turned to face them. "on the Ark it was the responsibility of the small council to make each and every decision. But we're not on the Ark anymore. I think it's time that the people had a voice."

"And you speak for all the people?" Clarke asked skeptically.

"No, let them speak for themselves. Put it to a vote."

They argued for nearly two more hours before Kane finally agreed that a vote would be the best course of action. The following morning, they would hold a camp wide meeting for all men and women over sixteen (it would have been eighteen if Abby had gotten her way). They would lay out the options and pros and cons before the crowd and allow each person to cast their vote.

"Where are you going?" Clarke asked as Bellamy a quick run for the door after they had come to the conclusion.

"I have to meet someone."

"That girl from the Mountain?" she asked, voice void of all emotion. Bellamy gave her a quizzical look. "I was the one who found her." she explained. "After it happened. She was the only one left alive." Her emerald eyes laid upon his for the first time since she stepped through the gate. "I recognized her at the gate when Lexa and I came in. Marcelina, right?"

"Lina." he corrected.

"Right, Lina." she looked down at her shoes, finally breaking the eye contact. He found it almost comical to think that he used to long for that eye contact, and now it makes him cringe. "I'm surprised she talks to you at all, to be honest. I would think that after everything you did…"

"We." he interrupted. "Everything WE did."

"Everything we did," she carried on, "that she would make every attempt to avoid you." Now it was his turn to look to the floor. "She doesn't know, does she." It wasn't a question.

"I was waiting for the right time…"
"When exactly is the right time to tell someone you murdered their entire family?" Clarke laughed. She actually laughed, as though it were all just a big joke. As if ripping Lina's life apart was just a silly mistake they made. Bellamy felt his blood boiling, igniting him from the inside out until his skin was ablaze. He didn't trust himself to respond, so he turned and walked out the door.

He had left Lina with Octavia and Lincoln, who were waiting down the hall for the meeting to end. The three of them sat on the ground in a line, their backs against the wall. The corners of his lips pulled up involuntarily when he approached, all thoughts of Clarke flying from his mind.

"How'd it go?" Octavia was the first to spot him and she jumped to her feet immediately.

"They're putting it to a vote." his grin turned to a full fledge smile of self satisfaction. Octavia and Lina returned the smile. Lincoln on the other hand, did not. But he also didn't seem disappointed.

The four of them made their way to the kitchen and each stacked their plate full of the freshly cooked meat the Grounders' had gifted. It seemed odd to eat their food when they weren't sure if they would actually help Trikru, and for a second Bellamy almost felt guilty. But the feeling vanished as he sank his teeth into the slab of venison.

"What did Clarke have to say about it?" Octavia asked between bites.

"She seemed annoyed that Kane agreed to the vote, but not as pissed as Lexa."

"Is anyone ever as pissed as Lexa?" Octavia asked, rolling her eyes.

"Indra." Lincoln said, his voice serious and low. For thirty seconds they all just stared at one another before Bellamy, Lincoln, and Octavia burst into fits of laughter. Lina looked back and forth between the three, unsure of what they found so funny, but she soon joined in. Laughter was contagious afterall. Bellamy's ears rang at the sweet sound that left her mouth, finding that he all he wanted was to hear more of it.

"You think we can go to the showers after we eat?" she asked his sister once they had all calmed down enough to talk again. Octavia's eyes flashed up to Lincoln.

"Actually, Linc and I were going to see Clarke and Lexa." she gave Lina an apologetic smile. "But I'm sure Bell will go. He could stand outside and wait." she added after receiving the vicious look Bellamy cast her. But he couldn't bring himself to say no when Lina turned towards him with her large, dark, pleading eyes.

"Sure." he said gruffly, stuffing more meat into his mouth and avoiding all eye contact.

About twenty minutes late he found himself leaning up against the back of the drop ship, waiting patiently for Lina to emerge from the showers. The constant use of water had made the ground near the showers muddy, and a thin layer of ice began to appear on the sides of the dropship and the metal walls of the shower stalls. Just as his patience was starting to ware thin, Lina came around the corner. Her hair was loose and wet, leaving dark patches on the grey long sleeved shirt she was wearing. She thrust and arm into the sleeve of the heavy coat Abby had given her, then the other, and shrugged it over her shoulders. Bellamy watched as she zipped it up to her chest. A few drops of water dribbled down her neck and into the lower collar of her shirt.

A lump formed in his throat and he was forced to swallow it down as he watched another drop come to rest in the hollow of the neck. Heat began to ball up in his stomach, despite the piercing cold air that whipped around him.

Only when Lina zipped the the jacket up all the way did Bellamy bring his eyes to her face. She gave him a small smile before they made their way back to the tent. Even though the day wasn't over, Bellamy wanted her out of the frigid air until her hair was dry. She was already on borrowed time, the last thing they needed was for her to get sick. At least in a tent she would be out of the wind, if not the cold.

But before they could reach the rows of tents, the smell of smoke had them curiously wondering around the camp. In the dim light that was left of the day, finding the fire was easy. What wasn't easy was convincing Lina to keep walking. When she caught sight of the bon fire and the people sitting around it on logs, she was less than willing to go back and sit in a tent. Bellamy agreed to give her some time near the warm blaze of the fire before he would force her to go with him.

"God it feels so good!" she sighed as she stretched her arms out and let the heat engulf her hands.

"Alright well let's not forget how awful it can feel." he laughed and pulled her hands back an inch.

"How can something so beautiful be so dangerous?" she asked in astonishment. He silently wondered if she had ever seen fire before. Did they have a use for it in the mountain. As the flames leapt from the mound of sticks and branches, they cast a flickering light across her face. Her eyes looked alive as the reflection of the fire danced in her pupils.

"We really need to get you out of the cold." he muttered, forcing himself to look away. "Come on." he put a hand on her elbow, hoping to lead her away, but she yanked her arm from him.

"Why?" she stepped closer to the fire. "Why can't we stay a while longer? It's warm here." Lina reached out again, her fingers centimeters away from the flames.

"Jesus Lina." he hissed as he grabbed her hands again and pulled her back. He was certain that this was her first encounter with fire, because no one in their right mind would put themselves that close.

"I'm okay." she chuckled as she tried to pull away from him again. But this time he didn't let her. He held her hands within his own, feeling the leftover heat from the fire on her skin.

"You'll get sick out here." He told her in a rather thick voice. Deep down he had to wonder if that was the only reason he was so determined to get back to the tent. It might have been more for the fact that he wanted her to himself. Or maybe it was because he constantly remembered how it felt to hold her against him.

But Lina wasn't listening to him. Her eyes were now transfixed on a group of kids across from them. It was Monty and Jasper, and three others that he recognized but couldn't put names to faces. The five were passing a canteen back and forth, and it didn't take more than a millisecond for Bellamy to realize what was inside. He let a slight laugh roll off his tongue and he shook his head. Monty and Jasper were the only two people who could turn such an ominous night into something fun. Come tomorrow, the people of Camp Jaha would have a decision to make. A decision that could lead to their entire population being exterminated. But tonight, they would drink and laugh and feel comfortable in their new home.

"Let's get you inside." He tore his eyes away from the group and lead Lina away from the fire. She was reluctant to leave, but complied after a long drawn out sigh.

"Where are Clarke and Lexa staying?" she asked innocently as they walked along the trodden trail to the tents. Bellamy's breath hitched caught off guard by the mention of Clarke.

"Probably with Abby." he shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "Well, at least Clarke is."

"Were they close? On the Ark, I mean."

"Clarke's her daughter." He answered, bewildered by that fact that she hadn't known yet. Lina came to an abrupt halt, causing Bellamy to walk into her.

"Abby has a daughter?" she asked, stunned by the news. He nodded and gave her a gentle push forward to get her moving again. "It makes sense now." she said, more to herself than to him.

"What makes sense?"

"Why Abby was so adamant about keeping me alive. Why she was so willing to risk Kane's life to do the blood transfer." she looked up at him and he swore he could still see the flames of the fire wisp across her eyes even though they were far away now. "She's a mom." Llina finally shrugged, as though that one simple fact explained every mystery the world ever held.

Bellamy shook his head. He was sure that he'd never be able to figure Lina out completely. Only a few days ago she had been ready to tear the doctor apart limb by limb. But now those feelings were replaced by something else entirely. Whether it was respect or empathy he was relieved to see her anger towards Abby dwindle.

They arrived in front of his tent, and the atmosphere changed drastically. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something was different. Lina fell silent and she linger near the entrance but kept a few feet between herself and him. What had changed?

Bellamy held the tent flap up with his arm and gestured for her to go shoulder brushed against him as she did so. His heart did an olympics worthy flip at the sensation the brief touch left behind.

"Do you think your people will vote for war?" she asked suddenly just as he stepped through the threshold. It wasn't an odd question, but the timing was certainly strange. However, it was a question that had been on Bellamy's mind since Kane agreed to let the vote take place.

"I don't know." he answered honestly. "I think everyone knows that our chances of surviving the winter are low without a war to fight. But Lexa can be persuasive. I think if she gets the chance to speak, she could sway a good amount of people." He pressed his lips together in frustration.

"I don't understand what it is that Ice Nation wants from you." Lina was shaking her head in confusion. Bellamy opened his mouth to answer, but then realized that he didn't have one and closed it again.

"I don't… I don't know."

"Then why would you agree to fight against them if they're not your enemy?" Her question and curiosity was genuine. She had no knowledge of war, no battle experience. Bellamy had seen his fair share of fights, both on the Ark and on the Ground. But Lina had a point. Why should they fight Ice Nation and make an enemy if there was no real reason to do so. He had asked Lexa why Trikru needed their help, but neither her nor Clarke had given him an answer. Something wasn't right, he could feel it in his gut.

"You should have been in that meeting." he laughed, amazed at her ability to question what no one else had.

"I'm sure I wouldn't have walked out alive." Her voice held humor in it, but her smile faded quickly. He could tell she was thinking about Lexa, about the Grounders who would most likely call for her head if they knew she was still alive.

Bellamy's stomach churned inside of him at the sudden realization that they may already know. Clarke knew exactly who Lina was,she had known this whole time that someone had lived through the radiation. Clarke had been the one to find her.

Did she tell Lexa? Would she tell her now? Would she tell her tomorrow if the votes didn't go her way?

He let his eyes scan over the girl in front of him. Her hair still hung in dark damp waves around her face, now partially dried from the heat of the fire. Her eyes, those dark mysterious globes, were focused very firmly on the floor. Hunched shoulders and arms that hugged her body around the middle told him that she was cold. Either cold or scared, and honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if she were more affected by Lexa's presence in camp than she was the freezing temperatures.

Bellamy took a confident step towards her. His mind was filled with images of her tied up to the post and Robert beside her with the shock stick in his hand. Images of her back, bloodied and burned; of her terrified face when she began to vomit blood. Images from his dreams of the tears she spilled for her family, for her friends, for the life she used to know.

But then the reel changed and he saw her smile, and the skin at the corner of her eyes wrinkle and her smile stretched wider. He heard her laugh, a real honest laugh that came from her belly. He saw her face light up with wonder when she stood below the starry night sky and looked up into space. He saw the glee in her face when she saw the pups for the first time. Then he could feel her; feel her body in his arms, feel her hand in his .

Bellamy had never been a greedy man. All his life he had given everything he had to his sister. But now, greed was slowly filling him from head to toe. He wanted every bit of Lina, he wanted to feel her skin, to hear her voice, to see her eyes. He wanted it all, and he didn't want to share.

He wouldn't let anyone take her. A sudden surge of power ran through his veins and he felt like he could kill any Grounder who tried to come near her.

And if Clarke wanted her, well, he might just kill her too.