─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

RILEY USED THE SLEEVE OF HER JACKET TO WIPE AT THE BLOOD TRICKLING OUT OF THE CORNER OF HER MOUTH, WINCING WHEN HER HAND BRUSHED ACROSS THE BRUISE FORMING. Monty hadn't said anything, not since the two piled back in the rover with the magnet they needed to help Raven. She hadn't known what to say either. Was she supposed to thank him for killing his mother, or lie by telling him everything was okay when it wasn't? He was, with good reason, upset. She could see the way he clutched the wheel tightly and stared straight forward with a blank expression, showing how broken he really was.

"Monty.." Riley said softly, trailing off, but needing to hear his voice.

"That wasn't her." Monty cutting her off surprised Riley, but she kept quiet, letting him vent. "It was ALIE. My mom was already gone." Riley shook her head, showing she agreed with him. As far as they knew, the chip stole people's memories and made them into killing machines that felt nothing. She just didn't know if Monty was trying to convince her or himself.

"It wasn't her," Monty repeated, quiet, but his voice cracking. "It wasn't her."

Biting at her lower lip, Riley nodded. "I know, Monty," she whispered. She didn't know what else to say. This wasn't anything like watching her people, her best friend, and her family die. Monty killed his own mother, and now, he's lost both of his parents; one of which to save her life. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Still seeming to be in shock, Monty tightened his grip on the wheel and froze in place but Riley didn't miss the single tear streaming down his cheek. "It wasn't her," he repeated. "She was already gone."

-x-

It was quiet the rest of the way, and Riley didn't like it. She knew Monty needed his space, and could only watch sadly as he raced forward far away from her when they came to a stop back at Niylah's post. She stepped out of the rover, meeting Bellamy and Jasper who looked after Monty worriedly.

"What happened out there?" Bellamy asked, looking from Monty to Riley, lost upon seeing the male's upset figure and the blood and bruises on Riley's face.

Riley shut the door of the rover, forcing herself to look at him. She shook her head slowly, feeling tears well up for the first time. "Monty's mom showed up and he  had to, um.." She trailed off, folding her hands together in front of her, becoming wretched. She couldn't spit the words out, but she didn't have to. By the look of their faces, they knew. Jasper, by far, came off as the most shocked.

Monty wasn't a killer. Without a doubt, Riley knew it. He was soft, kind, with a heart of gold that felt bad for killing their food. But Monty was also selfless, and had an undying loyalty to the people he cared about. He's saved her life twice now, and one of the times had traumatized him. All Riley wanted to do was fix it, go back and kill Hannah Green so Monty would hate her instead of himself.

Spending more time thinking about what should have been wouldn't help anyone, especially Raven. Bellamy motioned for the two to snap out of their dazes and follow him back inside Niylah's trading post, where Sinclair was carrying his invention to the room Raven resided in and urging them to follow him. Riley walked in just as he carefully set it down on the bed and began setting it up. "All we have to do is connect her and activate the electromagnet," he stated.

Monty began to untie Raven's wrists from one side so the wristband could be clipped on. As he did so, Riley watched as Raven began to struggle. "Hold her arms down!" Sinclair exclaimed, and the pair desperately tried to press her arms back against the post. Monty tried his best as Sinclair came forward with the wristband, but Raven pulled out of his grip, hitting him in the side and nearly knocking him over.

Throwing her hand around, Raven swung a fist towards anyone who came too close to her as everyone urged her to stop. As soon as Monty finally got ahold of her wrist, Raven started throwing her head back, smashing the back of her head against the bedpost viciously. "She's trying to kill herself," Bellamy stated from the end of the bed before moving to help Monty and Sinclair to get the wristband on quicker.

Realizing he was right, Riley quickly rushed to the other side of Raven and tried to stop her by pressing her hand against her forehead and pushing her head back. "Raven, stop it!" She begged as the girl thrashed around, trying to throw her head against the post again.

No matter what the group did to calm Raven long enough to shock the chip out of her head, it wasn't enough. She only became more violent, snarling at the others, and continuing to try and kill herself. That is, until Clarke spoke up to stop her. "Stop, and I'll give you this."

Suddenly Raven froze, and Riley was able to pull her hand away. She looked to Clarke, who held up a chip, the same one she showed Jasper earlier. Taking advantage of Raven being stunned, Bellamy and Sinclair managed to clip the wristband on her wrist, sending her back into a fit. "No, you lied!" She shrieked. "You lied!" She looked at Sinclair who was setting up the machine. "No, please don't!" Raven started begging, forcing her voice to break to make him stop. "The EMP will give me brain damage, you know it will!"

Sinclair seemed hesitant, for only a second, before Octavia told him not to listen to her. Even if it would, from what Jasper said, Riley knew Raven wanted the chip out of her head, and this was the only way how. "Please!" Raven sobbed desperately as Riley held her head back down while Octavia gripped her thrashing arm, where she was trying to pull out of the rope before she hurt herself. "You know it will, Sinclair, stop!"

Ignoring her, Sinclair prepared the last of the wires. "We've only got one try, this EMP will fry the wristband too!" He called out, warning them.

"Do it! Do it!" Bellamy chanted loudly. Sinclair complied, flipping the switch to his design.

Riley waited for a sound, a change, something to show it worked. But Raven was still struggling against the hold everyone had on her. She glanced at the machine, alarmed, as Jasper asked what's happening from where he was holding her legs down. Sinclair picked up the small box before shaking his head. "The batteries not strong enough!" He reported.

"Then get one that is!" Clarke exclaimed.

Looking up in realization, Monty met Sinclair's eyes. "The rover."

"Sinclair, Riley, hold her!" Bellamy demanded loudly as Raven began shouting and nearly pulling herself out of their hold. Sinclair took over their side as the pair of boys raced outside quickly, heading towards the parked rover. Riley held her ground, pressing back harder against Raven's head to keep her from casting it backwards again and killing herself.

In Riley's head, she urged the two to hurry up. The group couldn't hold Raven down for much longer, as she was still writhing around powerfully in their grips. It only stopped for a moment when a gunshot echoed outside, something Riley didn't expect, but she assumed no one was shot when Monty and Bellamy came running back in, this time with the rover's battery.

At the sight of the battery, Raven began screaming, trying to throw her head back forcibly despite the press of Riley's hand on her head. "Guys, we have to move!" Bellamy shouted over her screaming, imploring Monty to hurry up and hook the battery up. "Move!"

"Got it!" Monty finally declared, triumph and pulling away. Sinclair reached forward, releasing her hand, but before Raven could fight, he pulled the lever for the second time.

But this time, it worked. A buzzing sound echoed from the design, and Raven threw her head back and screamed once more, sounding in pain before her eyes fell shut and she weakly fell limp. Concerned, Riley pulled her hand away and grabbed Raven's chin, turning it to her. The group was looking at her in fear and worry as she pressed two fingers to Raven's neck, checking to see if she was still alive before nodding when feeling a familiar beat. "She's breathing," she informed Clarke.

"Raven?" Clarke said gently, shaking her shoulder from the other side. "Come on, Raven. Come on, hey.. Raven, wake up.." Raven didn't move, her eyes still shut, and staying unconscious. Riley grimaced, fighting back her emotions. "Please," Clarke pleaded, her voice breaking as Jasper mumbled in the background.

All of a sudden, Jasper snapped. He grabbed a metal bar and stalked towards the table Clarke set the chip on. Noticing his figure moving, Clarke whirled around from Raven to him. "What are you doing?!"

"ALIE did that to Raven, she's never gonna get this!" Jasper snapped as Clarke desperately gripped his raised arm, trying to stop him.

"No, you can't!" Clarke cried out. "It's Lexa!" The outburst stopped Jasper from smashing the chip, but he didn't lower his arm. At the mention of the deceased commander, who Riley never knew, the feeling of confusion mixed with sorrow. "Part of her is still in there! I saw them cut it out of her head.." Her sudden burst came to a stop as she looked back towards Raven, with a look of realization crossing over her face. "Wait.. Both the AI's were made by the same person. Both tap into human consciousness. They must work similarly, right?"

Sinclair mulled it over, before shrugging slowly. "There's a probability of one pathway into conciseness, so it's possible.."

From where Octavia was untying Raven's tied arm, she interrupted them. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"I've seen an AI get removed before," Clarke responded. "Help me get her on her side!" Carefully, Octavia and Riley worked with turning her over from one side while Sinclair and Clarke did the other as careful as possible, until Raven was rolled over with the back of her neck exposed to Clarke. "Get me Riley's med kit." Monty quickly followed her order, grabbing the small bag Riley usually carried around and handed it to her.

Unzipping the bag, Clarke pulled out a small red case of tools and slid the scalpel out of its pocket. Sinclair, worried for Raven's safety, stopped her. "Woah, woah.. What?"

"How is that going to help?" Riley asked, quiet, from where her hand rested on Raven's shoulder to keep her steady.

"It's okay," Clarke assured them both before pressing the blade of the scalpel to the back of Raven's neck. Riley watched as she slid it downwards, making blood cascade downwards out of the new wound. She waited, patient and willing for whatever Clarke was doing to work.

Riley's will was answered when some type of goop mixed with the blood and flowed out, sliding down Raven's neck. Confused, her eyebrows furrowed and she leaned forward, trying to get a better look at it. She spent her days in Mount Weather always around blood, and not once has she ever seen something like that. "What is that?" She asked, taken back by the sight.

"It must be whatever's left of the chip," Sinclair mused.

Suddenly, Raven stirred before she let out a short cough. Riley's eyes widened and she gently pushed on her shoulder until she was more on her back to let the coughs out easier. She reached back, touching the cut Clarke had made in the back of her neck. "Ow.."

"Get her up," Sinclair requested softly, reaching out and gently grabbing her arm. Riley pressed the back of her shoulder, carefully pushing her up slowly, as to not give her to bad of a headache.

Octavia grinned, relieved Raven was for the most part okay. "I never thought I'd be so happy to see someone in pain," she joked, making Riley smile too.

Letting out a small laugh, Raven held her neck painfully as she fully sat up with helpful hands on her back to keep her steady. "You're gonna be fine," Riley stated, certain and glad to see she was back to her old self. "I'll tape up your injury really quick." Raven nodded back with a thankful expression as Riley leaned over to grab her med kit. She pulled out packets of gauze and bandages, wiping the blood down and preparing the tape on one of the bandages.

As Raven leaned her head forward to allow Riley access with a groan of pain, Monty turned around, unable to face them. "I could have saved my mom." Riley froze from where she was pressing the bandage on Raven's wound. He was right. They could have saved his mom, which meant, Monty killed her when there was the chance she could have been helped. She didn't know what to say. She couldn't even force her hands to finish bandaging as tears pricked at the corner of her eyes, and guilt weighed down on her chest.

"Hey.." Jasper murmured, trying to put his hand on Monty's shoulder to comfort him.

Monty responded to the touch immediately, shrugging the hand off him forcefully. "Get the hell away from me!" He snapped, scowling, before storming out of the room.

It was quiet, everyone stunned by Monty's outburst despite the circumstances, before Bellamy cleared his throat and motioned for Riley to hurry. "ALIE knows we're here. We gotta move."

Snapping out of her haze, Riley tearfully nodded back and finishing taping Raven's wound before putting her supplies away. Sinclair wrapped the blanket around Raven's shoulder before lifting her as everyone packed their stuff and carried her out. Riley slung the med kit strap over her bag before following them outside of the trade post, quiet, giving Niylah a quick glance and a nod before leaving.

The others were loading their bags into the rover, preparing to leave. Raven was now leaning against Jasper, who handed his bag to Sinclair. Riley took a minute to gaze at Monty, who was frigid and stone like, grieving over the death of his mother by his hand without knowing she could have been saved. She wanted to comfort him, to say something, but there was nothing good enough that could show how sorry she was.

Raven suddenly grimaced loudly, looking down. "You're gonna be okay," Jasper assured her, sounding confident and sure for the first time in months.

"I know," Raven mumbled. "I'm so sorry for all the crap I said."

"And for punching me in the face, right?" Jasper questioned.

"No," Raven answered, not sounding regretful. "You definitely deserved that."

Despite the poor feeling in the pit of Riley's chest, the corner of her mouth twitched into a small smile at seeing Jasper able to joke around again. She turned her head away, watching as Sinclair helped Raven in sitting in the opening of the back of the rover, helping her become comfortable as Clarke and Bellamy finally joined them.

"Hey," Clarke greeted the mechanic. "There's one thing I don't understand. Why did ALIE want you to kill yourself?" She questioned.

The smile on Raven's face dropped as she remembered. "Because I know why she wants the second AI. It's the only thing that can stop her."

Riley inhaled sharply. From what she's witnessed, this was something bigger than what anyone of them has had yet to face. But she was ready. She gripped the strap of her bag as Octavia bravely said; "Then let's stop her." She looked from each of them, determined. "We survive, together."