The plan, Ethan. Relax. You made it to the next step.
Focus.
Ethan carries himself through a shaky inhale, pointedly ignoring Bellamy's guilty glances as he takes him by his cuffed arms towards lock-up, slowing his long paces in account of Ethan's limp.
He's still pissed at him.
Sinclair's eyes meet his as soon as they turn the corner, into view of the prisoners surrounded by thick, metal gates. A little stunned, but understanding, the chief engineer looks away.
Stopping at the entrance, Bellamy unlocks the cuffs.
Big mistake.
Ethan jabs his elbow back and spins around so he can freely punch him square in the jaw.
"Shit-" Bellamy grunts, knocked back a step.
The guards by the door catch Ethan before he can do anything else, and then he's getting thrown in lock-up, trying to steady himself on a bad ankle.
Fuming, he throws himself at the closed door, shooting daggers at the retreating back of a friend he used to trust, "Float you, Bellamy!"
Flight or fight had hit him minutes ago, and it hadn't let up, everything in him screaming for Bellamy to come back so he had something to hit that was worth getting upset over.
"You know," Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Ethan narrows his eyes, "Murphy was right."
Bellamy pauses at the end of the hall, his hackles raised.
He bares his teeth, "You really are a coward."
And then Bellamy is gone.
Ethan blows out a breath. Closes his eyes just for a second.
When he turns around, hands still fisted and shoulders tense, he glances around inconspicuous to meet Sinclair's eyes. They nod at each other.
A body moves up behind the man, towering over his head.
Ethan actually smiles, and it loosens some of the tightness in his limbs. "Lincoln."
The heavy glower on Lincoln's face evaporates and his lip twitches upwards. They share a clasped grasp of the arm before Ethan grins and tugs him inwards.
Keeping up the act needed the sell the guards, Sinclair scoffs at their show of affection.
Ethan wants to laugh at the absurdity of it all, too, but remains neutral when he and Lincoln part, to which the latter gives him the rundown on what happened to the grounders and why they were in lock-up of all places.
Turns out Arkadia was initially willing to help the sick until healed, but Pike became Chancellor and refused almost immediately. Trying to justify his actions by saying they were wasting valuable resources. Of course, he wasn't going to let the grounders loose, either.
No, he just wants control.
Ethan stays on guard and glances around the room to take them all into account, every one of them pale and wheezing. He doesn't know how anyone could turn them away.
His eyes fall on a steely-eyed, cold stare in particular, someone who definitely wasn't a grounder. Then, like the instinctual defence has crumbled, recognition smoothes out the familair man's expression.
Ethan saunters towards him, tilting his head in amusement, "Was wondering where you were."
Tired and a little bruised, Harley huffs, "I could say the same. You and Murphy disappeared on me."
"I wish we did it on purpose, but unfortunately," Ethan tosses his arms up in a shrug, pursed lips showing his discomfort in the matter.
"Jaha?" Harley stands from the bench, throwing him an understanding glance.
Ethan nods, "Jaha."
They meet halfway. Surprising him, Harley throws an arm around his back first, a heavy palm patting twice against his shoulder.
This is the type of trust he wished he had with the rest of the adults. Lincoln and Harley, the only ones that were good from the start and remained that way.
"What the hell got you tossed in here?" Ethan pulls back to ask, cocking a brow.
Harley looks over at Lincoln with a sort of understanding and says, "Helping him."
Ethan nods, a strange sense of awe building up. Those two really were the best.
Footsteps echo down the hall, multiple sets moving towards them. He drops the smile and shakes himself out.
"You have a plan?" Harley asks, low and quiet. He rolls his shoulders, cracks his neck.
"Mhm."
Sinclair nods from across the room.
"What we're about to do now is very, very illegal."
"Famous last words."
Bellamy's back already, guard jacket on and a hard look in his eyes. He stops at the gate and looks around for Sinclair before lifting his chin, "You ready to talk?"
Sinclair sighs through his nose, "What do you wanna know?"
"Everything."
Lincoln frowns, standing from the floor and moving forward.
Clearing his throat, Ethan scratches an itch that isn't there, using the movement of a hand over his mouth to quietly declare, "Gyon au Kom op."
Lincoln stops, his expression smoothing out. Play along. Smartly, he doesn't react, the only visible difference is the alertness in which he watches Sinclair.
"I want immunity. I'm the Chief Engineer and this camp needs me." Sinclair crosses his arms.
Ethan jerks a step forward, acting alarmed. "The hell you doing?" He hisses.
But Bellamy nods, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "That's Pike's decision, but it shouldn't be a problem." He says. "What d'you got?"
"Sinclair!" Ethan barks, "Don't even think about it."
Lincoln catches on. Like a snake waiting to strike, he slithers across the room to stare them down. "So the cowards make their deals to save their own skin."
Bellamy barely glances at him, "Quiet."
"Can't defeat the army at the gate, so you turn on your own? Make you feel strong?"
"I said," Bellamy grounds out, creases forming between the brows, "be quiet."
"I'm not the one who needs to be silenced." Lincoln snarls, taking a step closer to the gate. Ethan makes a signal. "You'll tell them nothing." Quickly, he strikes, grabbing Sinclair and throwing him to the floor.
"Lincoln!" Bellamy yells, banging against the gate, his wide eyes swinging to land on Ethan. "Stop him!"
Ethan rocks a step back, lifting his arms in mock surrender.
Cursing, Bellamy watches Lincoln land blows - unaware how gentle they really were - and thinks, screw it. "Cover me!"
The gate unlocks with a beep, and he rushes in, grabbing at Lincoln's arms.
Ethan smiles victoriously, teeth on show like a wild animal.
"Kom nau!" Shouts Lincoln, knocking Bellamy away.
The grounders lunge from their positions, despite being tired, despite being sick, because their freedom is suddenly within reach. They can taste it.
Harley darts into action, covering for Ethan until they make it out the door and into the hallway, where the ill grounders fight frighteningly well against the guards.
The alarm is pressed, sending blaring signals throughout Arkadia. Ethan curses. That cuts their advantage in half.
Right on time, Miller and Harper dart into the room, stunning the guards and signalling Kane for the go-ahead.
Behind them, two of the larger men have taken Lincoln down to the floor, arms locked behind him. Ethan kicks the closest in the back of the knee, and knocks him down with a right hook to the jaw, letting Harley through to temporarily dispose of the second.
When he turns, he comes face to face with a defensive Bellamy. "Don't do this, Ethan."
Out of breath, sore all over, Ethan shakes his head. "Sorry, but," He shrugs, "I'm going to."
Then, he hears the static of another radio. "Bellamy, the riot's a distraction!" Monty's voice crackles through.
Ethan looks up, meeting Bellamy's eyes at the same time. There's only a moment, a split-second of pause between them.
He kicks the radio out of Bellamy's hand, swipes it up from the floor. When he looks back up, the brunette has run through lock-up and out the other door.
"Damn it, Monty!" Ethan sends through the radio, "Get a grip, man, you're on the wrong side."
Only static answers.
He sends a quick glance behind him at Harley and Lincoln, still fighting off the guards that only seemed to have doubled. "You got this?"
"Go!"
Ethan nods, darting through the same door and after Bellamy.