"I'm sorry for not telling you about Bellamy, but you wouldn't have helped if you knew the truth." Clarke stands opposite Niylah, a troubled look on her face.
Cramming a bag with supplies he bartered from Niylah's shop, Ethan tilts his head up to watch them. His knees crack when he swings his bag over his shoulder and stands.
"You didn't give either of us the chance to find out." Niylah grits out. "Just go, Clarke."
Pursing her lips, upset at their shift in friendship, Clarke sighs, "You can't stay here. If you do, you'll end up just like my friend." She takes a step closer to emphasize, "You need to run."
Seria springs to her feet, "I have somewhere." She clears her throat when Niylah's eyes swing towards her, "Nearby."
Niylah smiles.
Clearing his throat in order to conceal an amused noise, Ethan swings his bag over his shoulder and stands. "Then it's all sorted." He nods, eyes passing between each other in a show of reliance.
When Clarke turns to leave, Ethan catches Seria's elbow and waits until the former has left the vicinity to answer her questioning stare.
"I'm going to Polis. . . someone I know is there," He hesitates, glancing to the side and back, to clarify, "My partner. And last I checked, that's where Indra was headed, too."
Seria sighs slowly through her nose, "Be safe?" And though feeling as agitated by Indra's disappearance, she frowns and warns him. "Du Commander bastabfou."
The new Commander, going by the name Ontari, sounds more alarming than Pike and Jaha combined. Because she's got power, a whole nation behind her, ones that don't hesitate when they hear their leader's final orders.
Ethan knows nobody can mold Murphy but Murphy. But it doesn't mean he can sit here and wait for him to make it out himself.
"I have to," He says, quietly, and pats her on the elbow before he lets go.
"Hod op."
Ethan watches her move around the counter, and dig through something in the corner. "Chit?" He asks, brows furrowed.
Unsheathing some sort of. . . long stick?
A spear. The design carved along the wood catches his eye when it's passed over, smooth in his hands but weighted evenly. Ethan parts his lips in awe, swinging the spear around in the space in front of him.
It feels good in his hands. Great, in fact.
"Are you sure?" He asks, running a finger over the edge and exhaling sharply the instance it draws blood.
"Safe." Seria nods, sternly, and crosses her arms.
Ethan smiles at her determination, "I promise."
She tilts her head, and smirks, "I know a way in."
The only problem now is telling the group that he's planning on splitting off when they hit Arkadia. It's unfair, he knows, but in the end, one of them needs to check what's happening at Polis.
Ethan pauses just before he enters the Rover, for two reasons. One, he still hates the metal contraption the others have already gotten used to, and two, his eyes land on the only available seat with a grimace. Beside a pale and barely conscious Raven. He looks at her and can't help but see the person ALIE made.
Raven turns her head, notices him staring, and sends him a weary smile.
Ethan purses his lips in an attempt back. It's when he hops in the Rover and the engine starts up, that she talks, "I'm-" she chews on the word, "sorry."
For a while there, he doesn't know how to respond.
"I didn't know." Raven tacks on.
"You could've asked," He drops his elbows to his knees, staring at the threads around his wrist. "I know he was helping you, but he was a prick, plain and simple. I defended myself."
Raven doesn't argue. "I should've. . . seen it. He was too good to be true. Helping me, no questions asked. And now I know there might've been a reason for it. You stopped him before he hurt anybody else." Her brows furrow, "I really am sorry. I just. . ." She shrugs, knowing what she says won't make up for the way she's acted.
Chewing on the inside of his lip, Ethan looks up at her, and finds it in himself to nod.
As much as he wants to make her feel how he felt. . . people on your side are a resource. It's the only way to survive on Earth, and it's best not to shun someone that's trying to make amends.
He'd take Raven over Jaha any day.
They can feel something wrong the minute they break through the trees. The hair on Ethan's arms stand on end, and he pulls himself forward to peak through the two front seats.
Arkadia's fallen. Gates sitting crooked on their hinges, the courtyard completely empty behind them.
When they exit the Rover, they're trying not to break the stifling silence that an empty community brings. Ethan does it for them, "They took the chip." He leans his weight on his left foot to give his throbbing ankle a break. "All of them."
"But where would they go?" Clarke asks.
"If ALIE wants more people, my best guess is Polis."
Bellamy nods in confirmation and Octavia joins their growing circle with Harley in tow, the click of the driver's door loud in the emptiness of their camp.
Ethan's still torn about his departure. He grinds his teeth together, willing himself to just say it. Get it over and done with.
"She's planning to take the Commander?" Octavia asks, lifting a brow. "Take one to take all?"
Ethan snatches up his chance before it leaves him. "There's only one way to find out." He nods, "I'll go."
Silence. All eyes are on him now.
"Ethan-"
He interrupts Octavia to reassure them, "I'll see what's happened to our people. You guys meet up with me after you find Luna, and I'll get you a way into the city. I'll be safe, I promise."
He's had it all planned out, now it's just up to them to accept it.
They share a clashing array of glances. Harley's close enough to hear them now, and frowns.
"Look, we need as much information as we can." Ethan shrugs, "And I'm exceptionally good at sneaking around."
Clarke sighs, and looks at the other two. She has to squint when the sun peaks out from the clouds to greet them. "He's not wrong. I just don't like us splitting up after everything."
"I know." Ethan nods, eyes sinking to the damp floor, "Trust me."
"If ALIE's trying to corrupt everyone in Polis, we need to know." Raven tactfully speaks up. She doesn't look at Ethan but for once, agrees with him.
Bellamy adds, "It'd be nice to know if they have Harper, Bryan, and Miller, too."
"You're not goin' alone." Harley drags his satchel from the back of the Rover, swinging it over his shoulder. When he meets the start of Ethan's conflicting stare, he holds up a single finger and hikes a brow, "Don't. I want no arguments."
Like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Ethan pulls a face.
A blanket of comfort settles over the group. Sometimes they forget how genuinely uncorrupted Harley is, hovering far enough not to be overbearing, but close enough to strike when he needs to.
Ethan thinks it has something to do with what ALIE said. An orphan taking care of orphans.
"Okay." He nods, still glued to the spot.
Trying to stall and memorize their faces. Just in case.
"Seria found me a way in." Ethan's hand tightens around his bag strap, before pulling away to flick them a mock salute, "I'll see you guys on the other side."
Octavia moves first, shoving her way through the semi-circle they created and grabbing Ethan's arm, pulling him in.
Clarke meets his eyes with a hard stare, "Make it back this time."
A huff of sarcastic laughter is Ethan's retort.
0o0
I TOTALLY FORGOT TO TAG YOU GUYS THE FIRST TIME, BUT!
Thank you to squirtle1313 and CafesitoParaTi for the spear idea! I absolutely loved it, you guys are amazing 🥹