Lincoln Appreciation Week – Day 6: Song You Associate With Him
Human by Christina Perri
The seatbelt against his skin is child's play. His initiation rites were tougher than this. He toughs it out. Dark brown eyes stay trained on his muse in the back. The glimmer in her eyes makes his heart clench, and he desires to reach for her.
His face stays impassive, even when the spike is driven through his palm. He allows himself a tiny wince, but he remains strong. The tears streaming down her face helps him stay strong. He knows if he breaks she will too.
It's not until the wires touch him that he makes his pain audible. It felt like fire dancing through his body. He struggles and groans, she jumps into action.
Later when he is free, he lets himself feel the pain as he heals. But she is there to help. Her impulsivity might get them both killed. But when their lips touch a second time, he realizes he doesn't care.
He never refuses her. They both sneak off to meet each other, she more than him. His people don't care that he's gone often. He wouldn't care what they thought anyway. He prefers the solitude, except when he's with her.
The peace couldn't last. She's poisoned, and they're running out of time. He was stupid to let himself get captured, but he couldn't let her die. Then he was reunited with her only to taken away again.
The red becomes his only want. He knows he will never see her again, and it breaks him momentarily. The red becomes his new love. The thing he would kill for.
As the drug works its way out of his system, his consciousness is hell. He regrets giving up on them. He regrets being a pawn in Cage's game. He hates how he let her down. What he hates the most is that he let himself down.
His time as a Reaper haunts him. He can't talk about it. Not even with her. He opens up to Bellamy because they're not close. He became the monster he tried to fight against, and he hates himself for it. This trek to the mountain would only be the first step in redeeming himself.
He relapses. She was right. He wasn't ready. He leaves Bellamy to his fate, while his body is joyous to have the red again. He feels on top of the world until he sees her face. The disgust, the disappointment. He can tolerate that from anyone, except for her.
The slap across the face jars him. He's looking into her eyes, and he sees her fear. She doesn't want to lose him. She wants him to fight. There is no other choice. He needs to believe in himself. If he doesn't, he won't get better. So he chooses to stay and fight this with her.
He's been shot. He's been exiled. But he's alive. The red no longer has a hold on him. Cage is its new victim, even though it is only short lived. But Lincoln fought, and he won. His shoulders felt a little looser, and his heart weighed a little less.
He will miss Indra. She did her best by him, but it wasn't enough. He was too different. So he rejoined Octavia, and they walked into Camp Jaha, hand in hand. They were strong independently and together. They've been through hell and back, but they survived.
But eventually their luck would run out. They were only human, after all.