twenty seven . . . breakpoint
( february 19, 2150 — woods clan territory )

THEY HAD BEEN walking in silence the entire way to wherever Octavia was leading them, and no one was willing to do anything but walk, and wait until the Blake female was ready to say something. And, surprisingly, out of everyone, Cullen was the one that walked beside her, because every time somebody else tried, Octavia would storm off ahead of them — it was just Cullen, even though she was doing the exact same as everybody else. It surprised Cullen just as much as the other five people that were with them, but after witnessing Lincoln's execution, nobody was willing to question Octavia's motives.

As wrong as it was for Cullen to think about Bellamy after watching a friend be wrongfully executed by a man she detested, she was. All she could do was think about where he was, what he was doing, and if he knew that Pike had killed Lincoln and that they had escaped. It was odd for him not to have been by Pike's side when everything went down; when searching around Arkadia when she escaped the cell and Octavia hid her, Kane, Lincoln, and Sinclair underneath the floorboards, Bellamy should have been there, but he wasn't.

Eventually, they reached the cave, and Octavia stopped walking — Cullen didn't have to look at her twice before knowing she and the rest of them had to move into the cave before her, giving the young Blake girl a few minutes of needed privacy.

Cullen walked in before everybody else, a rifle still tight in her hands, a backpack full of God knows what on her back, and suddenly nothing on her mind. It became peculiar to Cullen as she advanced further into the cave that there was one light flickering, lighting up one corner of the cave that was hidden from the natural sunlight that streamed into the stone room — she soon figured out why, eyes falling upon a chained up Bellamy Blake.

His eyes darted up to meet hers, a mixture of dither and reprieve overflowing his seamless bottomless irises. Cullen couldn't comprehend what the look meant, but to Bellamy, he was just utterly relieved to see the Vander female alive. When he left to meet Octavia at the dropship, and woke up inside that very cave, his first thought went to Cullen, and the remembrance that she had yet to be sentenced — the realization was soon followed by desperate pleads that Octavia and Indra let him go so he could get there, but his request went amiss. But, seeing her in front of him, very much alive and unharmed; excluding the limp she carried heavily on her left leg; he couldn't be more thankful for his sister seeming to notice his urgency to save Cullen from supposed death.

For Cullen, she was perplexed. Why was Bellamy chained up? Was this Octavia's doing, who was the only one who knew where'd they go after escaping Arkadia? — If it was Octavia's doing, what purpose did she hold behind chaining Bellamy up, resulting in his wrists being bloodied and bruised?

His thankfulness and her perplexity came to a quick end when everybody else entered into the cave, followed by an immobilized looking Octavia. Cullen's eyes watched as Bellamy's flickered around the group, questioning clouding his features when he didn't see a certain Trikru man amongst them.

"Where's Lincoln?" Bellamy asked when nobody spoke.

Octavia exhaled painfully. "Pike put a bullet in his brain."

Anguish drew Bellamy's eyebrows together, his eyes moving around everybody before returning to sorrowfully looking at Octavia's back. "O, O, I am so sorry."

Octavia didn't hesitate in dropping all of her stuff, shrugging off her jacket, and swinging around to strike a punch to Bellamy's jaw; the silence in the cave dropped to death, as Octavia continued going. She punched his jaw again, Bellamy taking it willingly as everybody watched — Cullen amongst them, withholding her flinches each time.

"Octavia, that's enough." Said Kane, daring to interrupt Octavia's backlash.

Bellamy looked up, quickly shaking his head to the man. "Kane, stay out of this."

She struck again, another to his jaw, and one to his stomach, making him double over with a grunt. Cullen sucked in a breath, turning her eyes away from Bellamy's bloody face. An elbow to his head, a knee to his nose, two more punches to his jaw, sending him to the ground. Each time, Bellamy took it, living Lincoln's execution through Octavia's tormented sobs and grunts.

It was Miller who stepped forward this time, seizing hold of Octavia's shoulders before she could lash on Bellamy again. "That's enough." He said softly, only to receive Octavia's elbow to his gut, before she turned to shove him back and into Bryan's awaiting arms.

"Miller, back up." Said Bellamy, standing weakly to his feet. The man cast his eyes upon Cullen, whose face was screwed up, head turned away to stop herself from interfering — whatever Octavia was trying to do, she needed to do, and as much as it pained Cullen to witness somebody beating on Bellamy, and him not fighting back, she let the siblings get on with their unique way of coping.

Octavia punched Bellamy two more times, blood flying from his mouth and landing inches away from Cullen's foot, before the sound of his body connecting with the ground was heard, again. She delivered one last blow, it being a kick to his stomach, before her sobs filled the echoes of the cave, the words, "You're dead to me," coming from her mouth before she stormed away from him and to the entrance of the cave, where she cried privately to herself for however long she needed.

Kane goes to Octavia while Miller, Harper, Sinclair, and Bryan go to another corner of the cell, setting up a fire to warm them from their long night of trailing through the woods after a brokenhearted Octavia. Cullen, who now had three paths to choose from, stood shivering in the middle of the stone room, eyes trained on the dark crimson blood laying next to her foot. She stared at it for a moment, debating with herself whether helping Bellamy, a person who had betrayed everybody in that cave, was the right decision — ultimately, she reminded herself of who she was, and advanced towards him.

"Don't." He refused upon seeing her shrugging off her backpack, before she sat on the floor in front of him.

"I can't not." She whispered, still not looking at his face. She instead unzipped the backpack, feeling silent relief that she found medical supplies inside; picking them out, she began to tear open a disinfectant wipe when Bellamy's hand coated her own, stopping her movements. She fearfully looked up, green irises meddling with the red blood that drenched his face, hiding the features she liked so much. "Let me help you. I'm not gonna be able to do anything until I do."

It was something Bellamy admired about her — her need to help anybody. It was why he let go of her hand, and pushed himself into a sitting position. "Ok."

They didn't speak again for a while, Cullen cleaning up the blood and ensuring his fresh cuts didn't get infected, before she cracked his nose back into place — it was already swelling, making his face look disproportionate, but she didn't tell him that. She didn't tell him about the several cuts that marked his skin, and the one deep one underneath his left eye that was surely going to scar, either. She just tended to his wounds like Abby and Jackson had taught her how to do, ignoring Octavia's glare as she made her way past them.

Twenty minutes later, when Cullen was finishing up with cleaning and bandaging Bellamy's wrists, and the group had successfully lit the fire, Bellamy spoke again. The entire time Cullen had been cleaning him up he had just been watching her, puce colored hues sparkling with nothing but wonderment for the Vander female — he was amazed at how only a few days prior, the last thing Cullen wanted was to be near Bellamy, and now she was voluntarily making sure his wounds didn't get infected.

"How'd you escape?" Bellamy asked, tone low enough for only Cullen to hear.

She looked away from his wrists and up to him, sighing lightly through her nostrils. "Lincoln." She answered, because it was the truth. "If he didn't surrender himself, we would've been caught."

Bellamy nodded, looking away before asking again, "How'd you escape?"

"Pike didn't sentence me to death. He said because I wasn't a leader in the coup against him, that I wasn't going to die. He was supposed to come by the cell later to discuss the terms of my imprisonment further." Cullen explained, eyes flickering between Bellamy's before her gaze dropped to his lips, which were curving into a smile — she was noticeably taken aback by this testament. "How can you smile after knowing what your actions have caused?"

"Because you're not dead." He said, plain and simple.

Plain and simple shouldn't have angered her, but it did. Even through his relief, she could see his arrogance — the fact he thought it was his doing that she didn't die. "You need to stop acting like you made a big sacrifice. I'm not alive because of you; I'm alive because Octavia got to me before Pike changed his mind."

"Pike wouldn't have changed his mind. I made sure of that." He revealed, only for her eyebrows to draw together. "And I'd do the same again if it meant you'd still be alive after it."

"You can't say things like that to me." Cullen refused with a shake of her head, denying the way her heart pounded harder at the genuinity in Bellamy's eyes. "Not after what you've done."

She stood then, dusting off her jeans before advancing towards the group and away from Bellamy, who was left alone in the other corner of the cave, still shackled to the wall. Fortunately, when Cullen joined them, none of them held anything against her for cleaning up Bellamy — not even Octavia, who offered Cullen the place beside her.

"I say we run a two-man patrol around the clock starting now." Bryan said as Cullen sat down, sticking her hands out in front of the fire to warm them up.

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

"Yeah, but are we safe from the blockade?" Inquired Bryan.

"As long as we stay on this side of the line, we should be."

"They're Grounders. You really think they're gonna play by the rules?" The Pike in Bryan asked, tempering Octavia, who was sharpening her sword against a rock.

"Hey, Pike'll want you dead now, too. We take him out, we can go home." Miller told his boyfriend comfortingly.

"We take him out, then the Grounders lift the blockade." Harper reminded.

"That's right. We become the thirteenth clan again. Those were the terms." Kane nodded, and Cullen's eyes flickered across the fire to him, where he met their eyes.

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

"One problem at a time."

"What about Clarke?" Miller asked. "With Lexa gone, she's not safe in Polis."

"If Clarke hasn't come back by now, then she's got a reason to be in Polis. We just have to trust that she's keeping herself safe." Said Cullen, remaining in trust of the Griffin girl she missed when she came to Arkadia at the beginning of the month.

Octavia dug her newly sharpened knife into the ground. "The only thing that matters now is killing Pike."

"Octavia's right. Once we resume our place in the Commander's coalition, Clarke will be safe. So, how do we do it?" Kane's eyes moved around the group, looking for ideas, only none came.

The silence was broken by Monty's voice coming through on the radio. "Bellamy, come in. It's Monty. I'm in trouble. Please say you still have your radio."

Cullen's head turned to Bellamy as Sinclair picked up the radio. "If we respond and Pike's listening—"

"Go to channel seven." Bellamy interrupted, collecting everybody's attention. "'Please say you still have your radio.' That's seven words after the word 'trouble'. It's code. Go to seven."

Seeing that he was being sincere, Cullen turned back to Kane, capturing his attention immediately. "Go to seven." She repeated, nodding to show Kane that she believed Bellamy was telling the truth. Sinclair changed the channel, and handed it to Kane.

"Bellamy, are you still there?" Monty asked, his tone sounding slightly out of breath.

"Monty, it's Kane. What's wrong?"

"Pike knows that I helped you get out." Monty said, panicked. Cullen fought against the small smile that wanted to curl against her lips, thanking herself for believing that Monty would eventually see the wonder of his ways.

"Can you get to the dropship?" Kane asked.

"I think so."

"Good. Go there. I'll bring you in. Stay off the radio. Over and out." Kane finalized, shutting off the radio.

"Hold on. What if it's a trap and Pike's waiting?" Questioned Harper.

"That's why I'm going alone." Kane stood, Cullen and Octavia following in suit.

"Like hell you are," Octavia said, at the same time Cullen stated, "There's no way I'm not going with you."

"I'm with Cullen and Octavia. Monty saved our lives. I'm going, too." Said Miller, reloading his rifle and standing from the ground, Bryan following him.

"No, you're not. If it's a trap, I'm not marching our entire insurgency into it." Kane stated firmly, looking between the four volunteers.

Cullen shook her head, stepping closer to Kane. "Monty's my best friend. I'm not gonna sit around while he needs our help — I'm coming."

"Same." Octavia backed her up, and began slipping back into her jacket. "To stop me — us — you're gonna have to kill us."

The Vander female nodded to Octavia, who returned the gesture as she slipped her sword holder over her shoulder. Without another word Cullen moved towards where she left her rifle, avoiding Bellamy's gaze as she bent down to retrieve it.

"She hopes it's a trap." Said Bellamy, talking about Octavia.

Octavia turned to spare her brother a glare. "He's coming, too. We'll need a hostage to trade for Monty." She turned completely, eyes now set on Cullen, who was hoisting her rifle strap over her shoulder. "If that's ok with you."

It wasn't at all ok with Cullen, who didn't think anybody was tradeable, no matter their status, or their side, but she didn't say that. She merely looked down to Bellamy, who, only a few days ago, was willing to distance everybody who cared about him for a man who wanted to do nothing but murder the entirety of the Grounders — they would just be returning Bellamy to his rightful place beside Pike, right?

She averted her gaze as Bellamy turned his head, and shrugged in return to Octavia's words. "I want Monty back. I'll do whatever it takes for that to happen."

From the ground, Bellamy's eyebrows twitched together, not sensing sincerity or treachery in Cullen's tone — even as a person who is easy to read, Cullen Vander could be the most ambiguous person to Bellamy at times. Though, he didn't at all believe her words; he knew how she thought, and how she felt about trading lives to potentially save another. She would never do that, which made Bellamy think that Cullen hoped there would be an ulterior motive when they arrived at the dropship, allowing them to keep both Bellamy and Monty.

"It's a good plan. He stays chained. Gag him." Said Kane, Octavia nodding, and going to do so; Cullen handed her a cloth on her way past, daring to look down at Bellamy one last time before her attention went back to Kane.

"Sir, with all due respect—" Miller began gesturing towards Bellamy.

"He's the enemy." Kane interjected sternly, passing Bellamy another look before they were moving to the caves entrance.

Octavia unhooked Bellamy's chain from the cave wall, tugging him along behind them as Cullen, Kane, and herself made their way to the dropship. It wasn't far from the cave, conveniently, but it gave Kane the time to go over their plan with Cullen and Octavia, Bellamy not caring to listen in. Kane said that if it was a trap, and Pike wasn't willing to take just Bellamy as a trade, then he would go with Pike, and Cullen and Octavia's job was to move the group to another hiding spot where Pike wouldn't find them. Octavia, who was willing to argue the plan, did just that, while Cullen remained quiet, allowing her eyes to flicker back to Bellamy every once in a while, seeing that his gaze never once left her body.

She didn't make the mistake of looking back at him again, out of fear that she'd be the one arguing the plan, stating that trading Bellamy for Monty was an inhumane thing to do, even if Bellamy was on Pike's side — which, Cullen wasn't even sure was true anymore. She didn't say a word the entire way to the dropship, filling the silence with the pleads in her head that wished for Monty to be alone.

When they arrived at the dropship, Bellamy walked in first, with Cullen's rifle pointed at the back of his head by Kane; Cullen and Octavia walked at either side of the two men, their individual weapons raised, scoping out for backup in the surrounding area.

They were met with nothing but silence, a few birds squawking in the trees. Kane called out, "Monty," but was met with more silence, only for him to continue, "we got here first."

"No we didn't." Octavia debated, and grabbed hold of Bellamy's shoulder, bringing him down to her level and pushing the tip of her sword against the skin of Bellamy's neck. "Get outside now!"

"What are you doing?" Cullen hissed, raising her gun at the curtain blocking off the dropship entrance.

A few seconds later out stepped Monty, followed closely by Pike's gun. Their alarms were raised, Cullen trying to angle her aim so that she'd hit Pike's head and not Monty's.

"They followed me. I'm sorry." Monty apologized, eyes landing on Cullen.

"Let him go, Pike." Kane ordered, rounding Bellamy and Octavia and joining Cullen's side.

"Can't do that. One at their feet." Pike ordered, and a shot barely missed Kane's foot. They all flinched, Kane scoping around with the rifle still raised. "It's over. Put down your weapons."

"Shoot him." Octavia demanded, either Cullen or Kane, but neither of them could get a clear shot of Pike's head without having to hit Monty.

"Monty's in the shot." Said Cullen.

"Come on, Marcus." Pike said, and another shot was fired, closer this time. "I promised Monty's Mother that I'd bring him home alive. Don't make me a liar."

Hesitantly, Kane dropped the rifle, and held his hands up in surrender. Cullen turned her head, watching as Kane tossed the rifle aside, before he nodded for Cullen to do the same — she obeyed, though only released the chamber from her gun, throwing it in Pike's direction. With Pike not seeming satisfied, Cullen tossed her gun aside, and raised her hands in surrender.

"Now you." He continued, looking to Octavia, who changed her position to holding her sword's length against Bellamy's neck. Cullen whispered for Octavia to drop her weapon, only for Pike to say, "One in Cullen's leg."

Bellamy, having heard the order, seized hold of Octavia's arm, twisted it around, and dropped the weapon from her hands. He caught it in time to hold it against Octavia's neck like she had done his, his eyes going to Pike to show he had Octavia under control — Pike whistled, signalling for his men to stand down, and Cullen fumed openly.

Men from all around surrounded them, a woman named Karen linking Cullen's wrists, tying them together painfully. She hissed, but her attention was still on Bellamy, who was removing his gag and putting up his hands, showing Pike he was still on his side. The torturous man approached them, picking up Cullen's gun and bullet chamber, and Octavia's sword as he made his way to Bellamy.

"You don't look so good." Pike commented, looking around Bellamy's face.

"I'm fine." Bellamy answered, eyes glaring at Octavia.

"You've got about five seconds to make me believe you're still with me." He contended, lifting an eyebrow to the Blake man.

Without hesitation, Bellamy said, "All the others are in a cave not far from here."

"You asshole!" Cullen bellowed, leaping forward to deliver a half-assed punch to Bellamy's cheek. Her fist connected with his skin weakly, though she did enough damage to break open a wound she had just managed to stop bleeding only an hour earlier. "You stupid, son of a bitch!"

Pike was quick to raise his gun again, this time in line with Cullen's head. She stopped, vehement eyes remaining on Bellamy, not being all that bothered that Pike was willing to shoot her if she advanced further — she didn't care, but Bellamy certainly did. He shook his head to Pike, stepping forward so his body was slightly in front of Cullen's; something in the look Bellamy passed Pike made the man lower his gun, a small nod bopping his head.

"Give me the coordinates."

"I don't have to coordinates, but I can take you there." Bellamy offered, and didn't spare Cullen another glance as she, Kane, Octavia, and Monty were gagged, and dragged along the way.

True to his word, Bellamy led Pike and his men in the direction of the cave where the rest of Kane's faction awaited their return. Nobody but Pike and Bellamy talked, everybody else traipsing behind them wordlessly, though wishing to scream all the insults in the world at Bellamy. Cullen thought she was light in saying 'asshole' and 'stupid, son of a bitch', because she knew she could have, and had, called him worse.

She just focused her attention on the back of Octavia's head, trying her best to think of a way out of their situation without being killed. Her weapons were taken from her, meaning that all their hard work to escape Pike's wrath was going to waste because they had trusted Bellamy — Cullen had trusted Bellamy, not Kane and Octavia. She actually believed Bellamy wasn't on Pike's side anymore; even if it was just for a second, she had hope that Bellamy had finally come to his senses.

Apparently not. The Blake man was leading them confidently to the cave, not thinking twice about it.

"Are you sure about the route?" Pike asked Bellamy after a while of them walking back to the cave. "We're getting close to the blockade line."

"That's why Kane set up out here. He didn't think we'd risk it." Answered Bellamy.

"He was wrong."

After a pause, Bellamy asked, "What's gonna happen to my sister? I know she has to answer for her crimes, but—"

"Tell you what. I'll make you the same promise I made to Monty's Mother, immunity for all past actions, but if she screws up again—"

"Oh, she won't. I'll make sure of it. My sister, my responsibility." Bellamy assured, before his neck craned to set his eyes on Cullen for a split second, before he was looking back at Pike. "And Cullen?"

Pike's eyes too turned to look upon Cullen, who was scowling straight back at him. "She's screwed up more times then I can count. I can't give her anymore strikes."

"This'll be her last one. She'll be under control this time." Bellamy promised, seeming to agree with Pike that Cullen had screwed up one too many times, even though both Cullen and Bellamy knew that wasn't true. "Sir, she needs to come back."

Bemusement pricked Cullen's insides as her head slightly tilted, mentally questioning Bellamy's words for the second time that day. Pike sighed, and accepted, "Her last chance."

"Thank you, Sir." Bellamy nodded, before directing them down a small hill. "It's just down here."

"Hold on." Pike stopped them, and began glancing around the area.

"Now, the cave is just on the other side." Bellamy pointed across the blockade line, alerting Cullen, Kane, and Octavia. The two females turned to look at Kane, who was looking just as perplexed as they felt — the cave was about eighty yards to their left, not straightforward.

"Keep a sharp eye out." Pike ordered as Bellamy began moving closer and closer to the blockade line. Pike followed after him gingerly, and everybody else followed for a few more steps until they were on the Grounder's side — a horn was sounded, and everybody's guns were raised. "The blockade! Anybody got eyes? Back up. Back to higher ground."

"Drop your weapon." Cullen whipped around to see Bellamy, standing with a gun raised to Pike's head.

"What the hell are you doing?" Pike demanded ridiculously.

"Drop your weapon!" Bellamy repeated in a deeper, more commanding tone. Cullen took the opportunity to kick the back of Karen's knee, sending her crumbling to the ground, dropping her rifle in the process. She pulled out her gag, and dropped to collect the weapon hastily, before she raised it at Pike's head alongside Bellamy. "We bring you Chancellor Pike of the sky people. O, translate."

Octavia tugged out her gag. "Oso lid in yu Chancellor Pike kom Skaikru!" (We bring you Chancellor Pike of the sky people!)

"You've killed us all." Pike accused, looking back at Bellamy.

"Take him. Lift this blockade."

"Hon daun em. Lift disha blockade!" (Take him. Lift this blockade!) Octavia repeated, and four arrows were released into the chests of Pike's men, before the Grounders appeared.

Dozens and dozens of them appeared, boxing them in to where Pike's men now lay dead. It gave Octavia the opportunity to seize a knife from one of them, raising it high and diving towards Pike, aiming it to hit his heart — Kane caught her in time, dropping the knife from her grip. "No. Hey, no. The Grounders are gonna need him alive. They didn't get justice for Finn. We won't get away with that again."

"In that case—" Pike spun around, vengeance for what Bellamy had done clear in his eyes as he lunged forward, only to be met with an arrow to his left shoulder and a bullet through his right foot, dropping him to the ground. He groaned, two Grounders taking their turns in hitting him on the head until he collapsed, now unconscious.

Bellamy looked bizarrely across to Cullen, who had fired the shot into Pike's foot — she could only look back up to him, a quick shrug of her shoulders telling him she did what she had to, and wanted to, do.

The Grounders picked up Pike's unconscious body and began walking away, Kane darting after them. "Where are you taking him?"

"To the new Commander." A Grounder answered.

"May I join you?" Kane, who had removed the wire restraining his wrists, rolled up the sleeve of his jacket, revealing the mark of the Commander's coalition. "We're the thirteenth clan."

The Grounder nodded. "Don't slow us down."

He was gone, and Kane was turning to attach his eyes to Cullen's, who was already nodding, knowing what he was going to say. "Go. We'll be fine. We'll go back to Arkadia, and I'll tell Abby everything."

"Tell her I'll look out for Clarke." Kane requested, and Cullen nodded.

She moved away, walking up to Octavia for her to cut the restraints around her wrists. When the Blake female did so they looked back at Bellamy and Kane, the older man telling Bellamy that it mattered whether or not he did what he did for the benefit of Octavia, or the fact it was the right thing to do. Cullen frowned, her eyes flickering back to Octavia — she placed a hand on her arm, before she moved towards Monty.

Monty smiled sadly, looking to Cullen as though all was wrong in the world. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head, and engulfed him in an embrace as soon as she was close enough. Monty hugged her back, both of them gripping as hard as they needed to to be comforted. "Don't apologize. I'm just glad to have you back."

"My Mom turned me in." Monty said as they pulled back, his eyes moving to the ground.

"We'll work it out." Cullen's eyes moved to Bellamy, who had been watching her and Monty interact. There was so much the two had to say to each other, but there was never enough time for it all, so she dedicated the next words to him — the next step in mending their relationship was working out all the wrongs that had come between them. "I promise."