─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

PEOPLE DIE EVERY DAY. People die no matter if Riley could help them or not, she knew that. That's what she told Monty when assuring him it wasn't his fault as he watched his friend Monroe die when breathing in the toxic fumes set up by grounders when hearing about Pike planning to invade their land for crops. She found out a little too late, due to being stuck in a conversation that she dreaded with Jaha. Riley wished they knew sooner, wish she could have helped. But she didn't know, and she couldn't have.

"Guys, listen to this," Harper instructed, snapping Riley out of her thoughts and dragging her back to reality. She took her headset off and pulled out the antenna to the radio, turning the speaker on, and Pike's crackling voice filled the room.

"Results of this morning's missions inventory was sobering. In no way do we currently have the ammo for an extended series of firefights, not even close."

"So what's Plan 'B'?" It was Bellamy. Riley exhaled at the familiar voice.

"Our lookouts say the largest grounder encampment is in this valley, so we deploy an assault team in Rover One, and we do as much damage as we can with automatic weapons," Pike answered, making Bellamy ask about the firepower, and if they could take out that many with what they had. "We won't need it. We have a dozen concussive anti personnel devices in our armory. I've already got a weapons man rigging them with a remote trigger. We load the APDs into the rover and mine the field before we attack. After we strike, we lure their reinforcements onto the ridge, and once we have enough grounder's in the killing box - "

Shaking her head, Riley turned for a second as Miller took her standing place and leaned closer to the speaker. The small group was horrified at what they were hearing. "We detonate," she heard Bellamy speak. "I'll buy us some time, but.."

"Time's what we need," Pike agreed. "We move at dawn."

Harper switched off the radio, sighing. "All right," Kane spoke, stepping back. "We need to disable that rover. If they take it out, it doesn't matter how many grounders they kill. Ten times that number will descend on Arkadia, and no one'll survive."

"Right," Riley agreed with a nod. The grounders could wipe them out, and they needed to stop him before it happened. "Any idea how?" It was a good idea, but to make it secure, they needed a genuine plan.

"I might."

-x-

"This is a bad idea," Riley whispered to Harper, her voice muffled from behind her hand. The two girls sat across from each other at a table, subtly eyeing as Sinclair lifted a bag of tools to slide under the rover with. "What if he gets in trouble?" She didn't know what Pike would do to them, let alone Sinclair.

Giving Riley a certain look, Harper responded. "We could all get in trouble," she pointed out. "A lot of trouble. He already arrested Lincoln, just for fighting." She gave Riley a small, almost joking, smile. "You aren't scared of getting in trouble now, right? After everything?"

Thinking back to Mount Weather, Riley rested her chin on the palm of her hand. This was a situation almost alike, if not the same. Rising up against a tyrant, trying to save a group of people. The only difference is in this setup, Riley was trying to save the people that killed hers. "I don't think so," she responded, brave. "Let Pike's fascist ass arrest me."

Harper smiled wider at her. Hearing a quiet set of footsteps, Riley turned her head and looked behind her. She bit her lower lip when seeing it was Bellamy, making his way to where Sinclair was working. He could ruin this all, and not care a bit. She was ready to stand up, and stiffened to do so, but Harper quickly grabbed her wrist and gave her a silent shake of her head. If it wasn't Sinclair, Riley would be arrested. She didn't even know how she'd stop him.

"Sinclair, what are you up to?" Bellamy questioned, his voice strained.

Sliding out from underneath the rover, Sinclair looked up at Bellamy. "Raven said the solenoid is acting up, so I thought I'd swap it out," he answered, sitting up, and trying to seem as innocent as possible.

"You got a work order for that?" Bellamy asked, drifting his gaze towards Kane, who tried to keep his eyes on his book. Riley knew that he knew.

Answering slowly, Riley realized he was in trouble. She went to stand at the same time Bellamy pulled out his walkie-talkie and Sinclair broke out into a run. Her breath hitched when watching guards pour in from different directions, attacking Sinclair and pinning him to the ground to cuff him. Her hands clenched into fists, and her lower lip curled, enraged as Bellamy made the arrest official. "There is no work order, and there is nothing wrong with the rover. Though, if you had another ten minutes, I'm sure there would be."

While drawing a crowd, the guard pulled Sinclair to his feet roughly. "You're under arrest," Bellamy stated. "The charge is treason." He motioned for the guards with a tilt of his head to take him away. He lifted his walkie-talkie to his mouth and spoke into it. "That's one down."

"How could he have known?" Riley whispered to Harper, the words coming out as a hiss. She wanted to storm over to Bellamy, use her fist to knock the right sense into him or shout until he understood he was on the wrong team, but it'd only result in her arrest. It'd do nothing. He didn't regret it, he hasn't since arresting Lincoln.

"I don't know," Harper replied, soft and confused. "But we'll find out."

-x-

The plan to shock Pike's fascist ass and hand him to the grounders was only an hour or two from being put into place. Pike was still interrogating Sinclair, wanting to know who else was involved. Riley wasn't worried. Not that he would crack and tell them the names, but even if he did, it'd work out anyways. They were going to make their come back in the closed off room, where they kept the prisoners.

Riley was twirling the pencil around in between her fingers, the old stick's led becoming a short nub from how much she used it, when Bellamy approached her. Harper had left the table awhile ago, setting up the radio to the walkie-talkies she knew they'd need. She didn't bother looking up when he said her name, or answering. "Riley, I'm trying to talk to you."

"Go talk to Pike," Riley snapped, keeping her gaze on the blank paper in front of her. "Or Monty."

"There's a threat outside these walls," Bellamy spoke, desperate. "You knew that. You wouldn't leave the walls for three months after - "

Breaking, Riley finally looked up and cut him off. "After my people burned to death when you flipped the switch," she stated sharply. "I didn't go outside of the walls because it was difficult to remember. I wanted to pretend things were okay, when they weren't. The grounders weren't the problem then, and they aren't the problem now!" She didn't realize she was raising her voice until she was on her feet. Riley was tired of hearing about Mount Weather, and how people couldn't let it go.

Their gazes connected, and Bellamy saw how frustrated and disgusted Riley was with him by the cold look in her eyes and expression. He crossed his arms over his chest as she finished. "The problem is Pike. The problem is his people, like you. That threat is inside the walls."

"He's the Chancellor," Bellamy shot back, but his argument was weak. "Have you forgotten that?"

"Did you forget Maya helped save your life when you killed her?" Riley retorted, fuming. She saw his expression soften at the sound of her best friend's name. She knew it was a low blow, and felt guilty, but it was alike to their predicament now. "He's not my Chancellor, but I can't look away while he's leading these people in the wrong direction."

"He's not," Bellamy argued. "He's trying to save us." Furious, Riley shook her head back. "I'm your friend, Riley."

"I'm not joining your killer army," Riley said, standing her ground. She knew she couldn't admit to doing the right thing, otherwise it could be used as a confession in treason, and Bellamy could arrest her on the spot. "Pike locked up Sinclair. You don't think he's going to kill him?"

Shaking his head, Bellamy's arms dropped and he glared at Riley. "Of course not. Pike has a plan."

Sarcastic, Riley threw her arms up. "Right, Pike and his plans!" She exclaimed. "His plan to kill an army sent to protect us from Ice Nation? It's always the same. Take the fight to the grounders. After what you did at Mount Weather, I'd think you'd be different." She paused, looking the other up and down, and suddenly trying to make him understand. "You are different, Bellamy. It's not too late to choose the right side."

However, Bellamy had the same response. "That's exactly what I came here to tell you."

-x-

Quietly peeking over the corner of the hall, Riley watched as Bellamy looked through the opening to the prison. He was talking to Sinclair, trying to make a deal. She was still angry with their conversation from earlier, but lashing out right now wasn't the answer. That would come later; both Lincoln and Sinclair knew what to do. Harper was beside her, in a guards uniform with a shock baton in her hand.

"So.." Lincoln muttered, crossing the room to glare at Bellamy through the hole. "The cowards make their deals to save their own skin."

"Quiet," Bellamy warned him, but sounding like the words emotionally affected him.

Ignoring him, Lincoln continued his taunting. "Can't defeat the army at the gate, so you turn on your own, make you feel strong?"

"I said, be quiet," Bellamy repeated.

"I'm not the one who needs to be silenced," Lincoln shot back. Riley knew this was it, and to be ready. "You'll tell them nothing," he demanded to Sinclair, before grabbing him by his shoulders and throwing him to the ground.

"Lincoln!" Bellamy shouted as Lincoln began hitting Sinclair. Riley watched as the guard beside him unlocked the gate before nodding to Harper, warning her that it was time, as Lincoln shouted something in Trigedasleng and shoved Bellamy to the wall harshly.

The other guards doing their best to keep the entrance door shut as the grounders threw themselves on it, finally pushing them off. Riley raced forward just as a guard pressed the red alert button to warn the others for back-up. She grabbed the first one by his wrist as he reached for her arm, bringing her other hand that was clenched into a fist around, and striking him in the face. It's not that she wanted to fight. They just needed a distraction long enough for Kane to drag Pike out of Arkadia and throw him to the grounders to stop them from retaliating.

Riley shoved her way past the others fighting, Sinclair letting her into the prison where Bellamy brought himself to his feet, clutching his aching chest. Riley stopped suddenly, connecting eyes with him, as her bruised fists clenched at her sides. "Riley, go," Bellamy ordered. "I don't want to have to hurt you."

"No," Riley stated. "I can't let you leave." If she did, Bellamy would stop Kane and Pike. He wasn't stupid, he knew this was a trap. She raised her fists, prepared. It was Bellamy that trained her to fight, after all.

Knowing Bellamy's chest was his weakest point as of now, Riley swung her fist that way first. The blow made him gasp in pain, but his thick arm went around Riley's neck when seeing the advantage that she was close to him, and pulling her back flat against his chest. Riley struggled to get out of his grip for a moment, before she swung her head back, knocking her skull against his nose and making him release her.

Whirling around, Riley swung again, this time socking him on the side of his face. She blindly went to swing again, but Bellamy was ready this time. He dodged Riley's fist, making her slam it against the concrete. She felt a sharp pain shoot up her arm and she gritted her teeth before she could scream, knowing there was the possibility it was broken.

Before she could move, Bellamy had grabbed her by the shoulder and striked her once. The punch left a bruising pain on the side of her face, and brought blood filling her mouth, before he was pinning her back to the wall.

"I said I didn't want to hurt you," Bellamy hissed under his breath, in pain.

"Prick!" Riley spat out, making spots of blood fly out and dot his face. Suddenly, Bellamy's radio went off. It was Monty, warning him of Kane and Pike getting away. "No!" She shouted, feeling betrayed, as Bellamy released her. Despite the pain, she attempted to hobble after him as he took off, but a guard stopped her suddenly by pressing the shock baton to her back.

Riley's body went rigid as the electric pain shot through her body. She lost her breath, stiffly falling to the ground. She clenched her jaw, face down on the concrete, knowing she was in trouble.