𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏; ❛ 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝒀 𝑯𝑰𝑮𝑯 ❜
↷ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅
❝ 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 ❞

The silence between the entire group was almost too painful to handle. Gabriella knew everyone was holding back their own mourning in favor of Octavia, who's stone-cold look didn't disappear from her face since the moment Pike shot a bullet straight into Lincoln's head and they all watched his lifeless body fall to the ground.

Gabriella knew what everyone was doing because she was doing the same thing. She was trying to fight back the tears threatening to escape her and only allowed a couple to silently roll down her cheeks but because she was at the beginning of the group, no one could see.

Lincoln was the best one of them. No one besides Pike ever really looked at him like he was a grounder or from Skaikru. He was just Lincoln. Octavia's boyfriend who did everything to maintain peace between the twelve clans and Skaikru. He's been doing that before the Ark even hit the ground, Gabriella was just an idiot that didn't want to listen to him.

Hell, he was the person who killed her father and Gabriella ( aka the least forgiving person ever ) knew it wasn't really his fault. She forgave him the second Kane told her who her real father was and never really held it against him. Lincoln never wanted to harm anyone. And now he was killed. Executed. All of that just to save them.

Gabriella ignored the small relief her body felt, along with the annoying way her wet hair glued to her wet forehead when she stepped into the cave Bellamy and Indra were waiting for them inside of. She could see Bellamy perk up immediately at the sight of her and the relief in his eyes was pretty obvious but soon enough, worry replaced it as he took in the redness in her eyes.

She took a mental note that Indra wasn't there like she was told.

Octavia was the last to come in, avoiding eye contact with her brother and brushing past them. Bellamy furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the entrance of the cave expectantly.

"Where's Lincoln?" he asked hesitantly, although Gabriella already realized he connected the dots.

"Pike put a bullet in his brain." Octavia's cold, emotionless words almost made a chill run down Gabriella's back. She didn't know if it was just the cold or the way this strong emotionally exhausted warrior mirrored the bright and curious sixteen year old girl she met months ago.

Bellamy's mouth hung open and tears slowly gathered in his eyes, "O, O, I am so sorry."

His sister shook his head, making his apologies come to a stop. She didn't meet his eyes when she brushed him off, "There's nothing you could've done."

It was clear he was taken aback by her words and by the way he simply stared at her when she marched out of the cave, making it clear he was left speechless.

Wells sat down on the floor of the cave, leaning against the wall as he spoke to Bellamy with defeat in his voice, "He gave himself up so Pike wouldn't execute what was left of the grounders in camp. He did it for a reason."

Gabriella let a bitter scoff escape her lips, her voice hoarse as she stated, "Yeah, look at where that got him."

She could feel everyone's stare burn at the side of her head but didn't meet any of them and turned towards the exit of the cave.

"I'm gonna talk to her. I'll be back inside in a minute and then we'll discuss what else to do. Jaha, set up a fire, you're good at that."

She didn't wait for a response or looked back at them as she walked out.

-

When Gabriella went outside to talk to Octavia, it took her a bit to find her. Despite a part of her being hesitant about this, the bigger past knew she at least needed someone by her side while she was grieving. Or at least that's how she knew Octavia dealt with grief when they were still next to the dropship. Hell, she was there for her when she experienced her first heartbreak when Atom died. And Octavia was there for her in the same way when she thought Murphy was gone after he was banished.

Octavia's eyes snapped away from the knife she was dangling in her hand. At first, her green eyes were sharp and wary but they softened when she realized who it was.

The two of them stood there in silence for a short while. With Octavia refusing to look up from the blade in her hand and Gabriella leaning against a tree, refusing to take her eyes off the younger girl. She was going to talk and cry when she was ready. She would be damned if she forced her feelings out of her.

Octavia probably knew it and it was maybe the reason she didn't seem so alarmed when she saw it was her who came to check up on her. Because while Bellamy always forced her to talk to him and to confront her own feelings ( despite him ignoring his own a lot of the time ) which she didn't need right now.

"He's gone." the brunette stated, being the first one to break the silence that was previously only filled with the sound of raindrops, "He's really gone this time."

Gabriella let out a sad sigh, biting her bottom lip and hesitating before sitting on the rock next to Octavia. She only reached to wrap her arms around her shoulders when shaky cries started escaping her lips and she didn't hesitate to let the youngest Blake cry into her shoulder.

In these past few months after Mount Weather, it was rare to see Octavia show emotion because sometimes, she took her role of being Indra's former second, too seriously. Seriously enough that only a few people actually ever saw her smile.

"It's okay to fall apart sometimes, Tavi. You loved him." the blonde whispered in her ear while running her fingers through her hair in a calming manner.

-

"I say we run two-man patrols around the clock, starting now." Bryan spoke from next to Miller in front of the fire Gabriella found set up when she went back into the cave.

In all honesty, she didn't trust Bryan one bit right now. While he did help them, everyone knew he was only here because he was Miller's boyfriend. And everyone trusted Miller.

Kane nodded, "We'll do that, but we should be safe here. The grounder blockade is too close for Pike to risk looking for us."

"You never know." Gabriella chimed in, biting the inside of her cheek before adding, "We all know what an idiot he is."

"Plus, are we really safe from the blockade?" Bryan asked bluntly, making Bellamy sigh under his breath while Gabriella was quick to glare at him over the fire.

"The grounders aren't going to attack us as long as we stay on this side of the line and don't attack them." she spoke harshly, ignoring the pointed looks Bellamy and Wells were sending her, "But then again, Pike isn't here so I'm pretty sure we're safe from them."

Bryan didn't back down though, "They're grounders. You really think they're gonna play by the rules?"

Miller noticed the way Gabriella's glare only turned more annoyed and chose to interfere, "Hey, Pike will want you dead now, too. We take him out, we can go home."

"We take him out, then the grounders lift the blockade." Harper added, earning a nod of agreement from Philip and Kane, the latter being the next to speak.

"That's right. We become the thirteenth clan again. Those were the terms."

Sinclair sighed, "Lexa's terms. If what Bellamy says is true and she's dead, how do we know the next Commander will honor them?"

Gabriella realised a tired sigh and squeezed her eyes shut, "Can we figure it out later?"

Miller looked at her with his eyebrows slightly furrowed and then allowed himself to ask, "What about Clarke? With Lexa gone, she's not safe in Polis."

Wells stiffened from next to Gabriella and she didn't hesitate to brush the topic of the blonde off, "Clarke can take care of herself."

"She made her choice." Octavia added bitterly, glaring down at the fire, "The only thing that matters now is killing Pike."

"Octavia's right." Kane agreed, although Gabriella could see he wasn't that happy about it, "Once we resume our place in the Commander's coalition, Clarke will be safe. So, how do we do it?"

Gabriella was just about to suggest they simply deliver Pike's head on a platter to Polis, but Monty's voice from the only walkie they had made her freeze.

"𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘺, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘺. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘰."

Said boy perked up at the sound of his name and looked at the radio with his eyes slightly widened, everybody else doing pretty much the same thing.

Sinclair was the one to pick up the walkie, "If we respond and Pike's listening ── "

"Go to channel seven." Bellamy cut him off, "'Please say you still have your radio'. That's seven words after the word 'trouble'. It's a code. Go to seven."

The chief of engineering raised an eyebrow and a moment later, did what Bellamy told him to.

"𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘺, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?" Monty's voice came through once again and Gabriella didn't think before taking it out of Sinclair's hands and speaking into it.

"It's Ella." she told him softly, "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"𝘗𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵."

"Fuck." Gabriella cursed under her breath.

They all shared a silent worried look and Kan was the one to break the silence, "Tell him to go to the dropship."

"Can you get to the dropship without getting caught?" his step daughter asked into the walkie.

"𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘴𝘰."

Sighing in relief, Gabriella nodded to herself and brought the walkie to her lips once again, "Great. Meet us there. Just . . . be careful and stay off the radio."

"𝘎𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵."

"Hold on." Harper spoke up once Monty's voice faded into static, "What if it's a trap and Pike's waiting."

"That's why I'm going alone." Kane told her, getting to his feet. Gabriella's eyes widened at his words.

"Like hell you are." she blurted out without thinking, "I didn't get myself arrested trying to save your ass only for you to give yourself up to Pike without as much as a second thought."

Miller nodded and stood up along with her, soon followed by the Blake siblings and Wells, "I'm with Ella. Monty saved our lives, I'm going too."

"No you're not." Kane told them sharply, slinging a rifle over his shoulder and then turning to give his step daughter a pointed look, "None of you are. If it is a trap, I'm not marching our entire insurgency into it."

"To stop me, you're gonna have to kill me." Octavia said, throwing on her jacket.

Kane clenched his jaw in annoyance and then gave Bellamy a look that screamed '𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳' but he only shrugged in response with an almost defeated look on his face.

"She hopes it's a trap."

Squinting at her brother in annoyance, the brunette girl thought for a moment before turning to Kane, "We'll need a hostage. They still think he's on their side and now they're gonna think we're trading him for Monty. I'm just gonna kill Pike before he gets a hold of him."

Gabriella shook her head, about to disagree, only for Kane to speak up before she could.

"It's a good plan." he said, ignoring the look of disbelief he received from her, "Someone tie him up." a small pause, "Gag him too."

"Well I didn't really bring a rope ── " Philip started, clearly not liking this idea like Gabriella, but Wells cut him off when he unzipped his backpack behind them and took out a long red rope.

He gave the glaring blonde a sheepish look and then handed her the rope, "You're good with ropes."

Rolling her eyes at the short memory of their shared classes in Earth Skills, Gabriella silently grabbed the rope and walked up to Bellamy as the others got ready to head out.

She could feel the stare of the curly headed brunette burning in her head and looked up to meet his eyes into an intense stare. Sighing, she tried to ease the tension by pulling her lips into a barely there teasing smile, "I never expected my first time tying you up would be under these circumstances."

Bellamy huffed out a chuckle and raised a knowing eyebrow, "I'm pretty sure it would be the other way around, Artemis."

"Sure it would." Gabriella scoffed in amusement, relieved that the heavy weight on her chest felt just a little easier knowing he was okay.

-

After a few minutes of arguing with Kane, Gabriella managed to make him allow her to join him and the Blake in their short trip towards the dropship where Monty was supposed to be waiting for them.

She swallowed when she caught sight of the dropship. They went through the wooden gates with Bellamy at the beginning, Kane standing right behind him with a rifle aimed at the dropship over his shoulder while Gabriella and Octavia were standing behind them with their weapons raised.

"Monty?" Kane called out but when the only answer he received was silence, he added in realization, "We got here first."

They took a couple more steps forward, when Octavia pushed Kane off of Bellamy and put her sword to his neck, "No we didn't." her voice was raised when she called out, "Get outside now!"

"Octavia, what the hell?" Gabriella hissed, taken aback by her behavior but she soon realized they weren't alone when the red fabric ( made from the parachute of the dropship ) at the entrance moved and Monty walked out with his hands bound in front of him.

Gabriella's eyes only widened further when Pike followed him outside with a gun raised to his head, much like he did to Lincoln a few hours prior.

"They followed me." Monty said apologetically, his body visibly shaking with fear, "I'm sorry."

"Let him go, Pike." Gabriella yelled angrily, aiming her gun to Pike's forehead as a warning.

"I can't do that." he yelled back, his words followed by a gunshot aimed at their feet, making all of them jump in surprise.

He wasn't alone.

Pike raised a challenging eyebrow, "It's over. Put down your weapons."

"Shoot him." Octavia told Gabriella in a hushed whisper, which she returned equally alarmed.

"I can't. Not with Monty in the shot."

"Come on, Marcus." Pike called out mockingly and again, his words were followed by another gunshot aimed at their feet, "I promised Monty's mother that I'd bring him home alive. Don't make me a liar."

"Gabi, put your gun down." Kane said in defeat, throwing his rifle at his feet.

His step daughter gave him a wide eyed look, "Are you insane?"

"Do it."

With another scoff of disbelief, Gabriella hesitated but copied his movements.

Pike seemed satisfied at that and then gave the female Blake an expectant look, "Now you."

As expected, Octavia didn't listen and only angled her sword closer to her brother's throat.

"Octavia." Gabriella said in a low warning, her eyes warily shifting between the siblings and the entrance of the dropship.

Bellamy surprised all three of them when he twisted his sister's arm and removed himself from her hold, then held her so she was on her knees. A couple guards marched out from the dropship and towards them, while others came from outside the former camp.

Octavia groaned in pain as she was tied up and Gabriella tried her hardest to fight against the guard putting her in handcuffs. Her wide betrayed eyes watched Pike come up to Bellamy with a smirking James by his side, "You don't look so good."

"I'm fine." Bellamy responded shortly.

Pile narrowed his eyes at him, "You got about five seconds to make me believe you're still with me."

"Bellamy ── " Gabriella tried, tears burning in her eyes. From anger or betrayal ( or both ), she didn't know.

"All the others are in a cave not far from here." Bellamy's cold voice cut her off but he was avoiding her gaze at all cost and fully looking at Pike.

"You son of a bitch." Octavia exclaimed, elbowing the guard holding her in place to march up to her brother, only for James to shock her with a shock baton, making her stumble to the ground in pain. Gabriella could do nothing as she watched her faint on the ground.

"Give me the coordinates." Pike ordered Bellamy who gave his unconscious sister one look before answering.

"I don't have the coordinates, but I can take you there."

-

The only thing Gabriella has been doing for the past hour of being tied up and led by James towards the cave the rest of her friends were hiding in. She hasn't uttered a word since they left the dropship and didn't even try to argue with James, only kept her gaze firmly locked on Bellamy, who was currently walking alongside Pike.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦.

And to think she trusted him when he said he was on their side.

"You sure about the route?" Pike asked Bellamy, loud enough for everyone to hear, "We're getting close to the blockade line."

"That's why they set up out here. He didn't we'd risk it."

"He was wrong." Pike shook his head at Bellamy's response.

"What's gonna happen to Gabi and my sister?" Bellamy asked in a quiter voice, looking at him with his jaw slightly clenched, "I know they have to anwser for their crimes, but ── "

"I'll tell you what." the Chancellor cut him off, "I'll make you the same promise I made to Monty's mother, immunity from all past actions. But only for Octavia." seeing the way Bellamy's mood shifted, he added, "I'm sorry but I can't trust Gabriella not to try to screw things up again."

Gabriella didn't try to bother her eyes roll. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵.

"She won't." Bellamy said forcefully, "I'll make sure of it. They're my responsibility."

This time, Gabriella couldn't keep her scoff in and it made Bellamy look behind her, his almost defeated eyes looking at her angry ones.

She was no one's responsibility but her own. She wasn't eleven, she could take responsibility for her own damn actions. Clearly, Bellamy didn't seem to understand that like she thought he did yesterday.

-

Confusion bubbled in Gabriella's head as she realized the route Bellamy was leading them in wasn't the real way to the cave. It was closer to the blockade and they probably passed the cave a while ago.

Gods, she really hoped Bellamy was doing what she thought he was doing.

"Hold on." Pike ordered, making everyone come to a halt.

"Now, the cave is just on the other side." Bellamy informed him, taking a couple of steps in front of them while Pike turned towards James.

"Keep a sharp eye." he told him and then turned back to Bellamy and followed him, the others doing the same.

A loud horn made all of them freeze in their place and a small smirk threatened to appear of Gabriella's face.

𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, she thought to herself, 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Narrowing his eyes, James hissed into her ear angrily, "What did your boyfriend do?"

Gabriella ignored the nickname and gave him an innocent shrug, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"The blockade!" Pike exclaimed in alarm, lifting his rifle up, "Anybody got eyes?" when no one responded he ordered, "Back up. Back go higher ground."

To his surprise, Bellamy didn't do what he told him to and instead pulled out a gun from his waistband and then aimed it at him, "Drop your weapon."

"What the hell are you doing?" Pike asked with a puzzled look.

"Drop your weapon." Bellamy repeated louder. Gabriella bit her bottom lip and elbowed James into a stomach at the same time as she kicked his shin. The blond stumble to the floor and there was nothing else for Gabriella to do with her hands tied than kick him between his legs, making him groan in pain and squeeze his eyes shut.

"We bring you Chancellor Pike of the Sky People." the male Blake yelled and then looked at his little sister, "O, translate."

"𝗪𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗸𝗮𝗶𝗸𝗿𝘂!"

"You killed us all." Pike told Bellamy, pure anger on his features.

"Take him." Bellamy said, ignoring his words, "Lift this blockade."

Octavia gladly repeated his words in Trig and the grounders around them shot all of Pike's guards in their backs with arrows. Pike's eyes widened and he moved to run, only for a couple of grounders to block his way.

The youngest Blake reached for a knife one of Pike's now dead guards had in their jacket and tried to jump towards Pike, only for Kane to block her way, "No. Hey, no. The grounders are gonna need him alive. They didn't get their justice for Finn. We won't get away with that again."

"In that case . . . " Pike moved to tackle Bellamy, but one of the grounders stopped him by shooting an arrow to his shoulder and making him fall to the ground.

The same grounder punched him and knocked him out and two more moved closer to pick his unconscious body off the floor.

"Where are you taking him?" Kane asked, walking up to them.

"To the new Commander." one of the grounders responded.

"May I join you?" Kane asked them, making Gabriella's eyebrows furrow in confusion. He lifted up his jacket sleeve to reveal the sign of the thirteen clans inprinted in his hand, "We're the thirteenth clan."

"Don't slow us down." the same grounder told him, before turning on his heel and following his fellow warriors.

"Are you sure about this?" Gabriella asked hesitantly after allowing Octavia to cut off the ties that were previously bounding her hands together, "Lexa might have been merciful because Clarke had her pussy-whipped, but that doesn't mean we can charm our way through this war too."

Kane squinted a bit at her comments and then nodded, "I'm sure. Go home. Tell our people what happened here."

Gabriella knew damn well that by our people he really meant Abby but chose not to comment on it when he added.

"Tell Abby I'll look out for Clarke."

"Don't worry." a small involuntary smirk creeped up on Gabriella's face, "I'll tell Abby everything."

He rolled his eyes half-heartedly at her teasing tone and then did the unexpected and pulled her into a hug. Gabriella stumbled in surprise but wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Take care of yourself." he whispered into her ear. When they pulled away she gave him a barely visible smile.

Her step-father gave her one last smile and then turned around to follow the grounders carrying Pike into Polis.

Gabriella sighed under her breath and turned around, her eyes instantly going to the way Monty was staring at his previously tied wrist.

"My mom turned me in." he whispered to himself but the forest was quiet enough for all three of them to hear him.

Coming up to put a hand to his shoulder, she spared one short glance Bellamy's ( who was looking at her since Pike fell unconscious ) way before looking back at her friend and squeezing his shoulder, "You're family. You'll figure it out."

When she looked back at Bellamy, the look on his face was softer and she allowed herself to give him a small smile of understanding.

They were gonna be just fine.

a/n: in case you haven't noticed by now, I love my parallels

someone: *hugs gabi*
gabi: is that a-affection?

jasper snapping at clarke this episode is my favorite thing ever

I'm excited to announce I'm finally done with bulshiting my way through this season because I'm finally done with planning everything for both act 3 and 4. also a small spoiler, I will be keeping two characters that have died in the show alive here so let me know who you think it is

words: 4k