"What?" He repeated again, furrowing his brows in distrust. The fire in Bellamy's shoulder was getting worse, until he could no longer distinguish where the pain began and where it ended. It was everywhere. His body itself had become pain, until he couldn't remember what it was like not to feel it.
Beneath that though, there was panic. Maybe even anger. No, there was definitely anger, directed at every single thing that had gone wrong with a plan that had originally been pretty basic. A part of him even marveled at his level of bad luck. Just after Bellamy had thought it couldn't get any worse... It was clear he'd spoken too soon.
"I have a proposition for you," the girl said. Her voice coming from the shadows sounded detached, as if he were talking to a ghost. As if a person weren't really there at all.
Maybe this was all in his imagination. Maybe his delirium from the bullet wound was messing with his head. Bellamy had thought he was speaking to his sister in the cryo chamber. But this was a much more sophisticated image than he would've given himself credit for. Did hallucinations have the ability to offer up deals? He supposed it really didn't matter; the knee digging into his own was enough proof that this was all very, very real.
But hallucination or not, Bellamy already had his answer.
"Not interested," he told her, grabbing for the handle. He still needed to figure out what to do with her. He doubted he'd be able to see his threat through. Killing Jaha...he felt he could justify some of it. But killing someone just because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time? There was no way to make that right.
"Even if it saves your life?"
"I have no reason to make deals with anyone. Especially someone like you," he hissed. "Medical training? That's enough to tell me you're an upper Station girl. Good education. Probably got whatever you wanted as a kid. And you conveniently end up in the Sky Box? What'd you do to get yourself there? Missed curfew? A dare gone wrong? Did you reject a guard?"
A moment of silence passed between them.
"Does it matter?" She finally asked. "It doesn't change the outcome that both of us will be floated, regardless of what we've done. But that infection will beat you to it. It's already made it into your bloodstream. Fever, redness, swelling. I estimate you have a few more days before you lose consciousness completely. And it seems like someone who was so desperate to do what he needed, who was willing to shoot the Chancellor to do it, has a good reason to keep himself alive."
Bellamy scrutinized the shadows, despising her assumption as if she knew him. "It's like you said," he lied. "I just had an opportunity. Did what no one else had the courage to." If one could call it courage, to kill in cold blood.
"If that were the case, you wouldn't be hiding," she said. "Which tells me you have something else out there to live for. And I'm offering you a chance to get back to it."
Bellamy swallowed his retort. "I take it you wouldn't be helping me out of the kindness of your heart."
"No," she replied honestly. "I'd be sneaking into the med bay, which puts my life at risk. It's only fair I be given the same courtesy in return."
"I thought you said your life wasn't your priority."
"That doesn't mean I don't need to hang on to it for a little while longer."
Bellamy grimaced, feeling whatever choices he'd had slip through his fingers. He could die or, maybe, avoid it. Those were his options, and the latter only laid with this girl. If she was even speaking the truth.
"Whatever this deal of yours is...how do you know I won't just back out when I get what I want?" He asked. He wouldn't put it passed himself, after all, not if it risked his chances of making it to the ground.
The girl didn't miss a beat. "I don't. But for all you know, I could be sending you into a trap."
Bellamy bristled and before he knew what he was doing, he'd shoved her farther against the wall. He felt the coolness of her skin that was like ice against his.
"Are you?" He asked, his voice going cold. Surprisingly cold for someone who was burning on the inside.
"No," she said, keeping herself calm. But Bellamy could detect a glimmer of fear there, tucked neatly inside that one word. Good. He wanted this girl to be afraid of him.
Bellamy didn't move away from her. "Fine. So you get me what I need. Fix me up. But what's in it for you?"
The tension seemed to grow more tangible, clinging to the air like the artificial humidity on Agro. He sensed her hesitancy, which made it worse.
"I need you to help me break into Jaha's quarters," she said. "Or, to be more specific, I need you to help me through the rotations to get to his door."
Bellamy felt his expression go slack, but then he scoffed, no longer able to contain his ire. "Do you take me for an idiot?" he asked, not even trying to conceal the abhorrence in his voice. "You honestly think I would agree to march up to the door of the man I shot? Right after you tell me this isn't a trap?" he shook his head in disbelief. "Now I know why you were Locked Up; you're insane."
She let out an irritated breath. "Look, I know how it sounds. But whether or not you agree to help me, you're still injured, and unfortunately for you, you don't have much of a choice if you want to live."
"I have a better chance at surviving an infected bullet wound than agreeing to your plan. Do you honestly think you can just walk up to Jaha's chambers? Even if by some miracle you manage to get that far, I highly doubt it'll be unlocked."
"I know the code," she said.
Bellamy's eyebrows rose in surprise. "And how-?"
"I knew his son."
She didn't put any emphasis on the past tense, but Bellamy had a feeling it was there. He knew that Chancellor Junior had, to everyone's shock, been sent down with the rest of the One Hundred. But even more surprising than that, was the story that Wells Jaha had done it on purpose. As for his reasons behind it, those rumors stretched as far as a scared little boy wanting to get away from his authoritative daddy to doing it to protect a friend. To protect a girl.
Oh.
Despite the dire situation, Bellamy couldn't stop the smugness he felt on his face. "That's how," he chimed. "You're Mini Chancellor's princess."
"I have nothing to do with him," she replied sharply, almost as a snap.
"It would make sense," Bellamy went on, ignoring her outburst. "You must have been close with him if he was willing to trust you with the entrance code. I guess it's no surprise since he also deliberately got himself arrested just to get on that dropship," Bellamy added. "That was for you, wasn't it?"
A stillness fell over them. The girl went quiet, and even the sound of her breathing seemed to have stopped. "That was his mistake," she said after a minute.
"Bad breakup?" Bellamy asked in faux sympathy.
She dismissed the jeer. "Do you want my help or not?"
"Not. I don't trust you."
"You don't have to trust me," she said, lowering her voice as footsteps passed. "But you do need me."
Bellamy wanted to make some brusque comment, but when he spoke, his tone was dark. "I don't need anyone on the Ark, lastly its princess."
"And that's something that will cost you your life. But if I were you, I'd turn myself in." He could almost feel her shrug. "Floating is a less painful way to die."
Her words hung between them and a second passed. Two.
Bellamy could feel his rage mounting in his chest, at the thought of having to rely on someone to help him out of his own mess. Since he was a kid, he'd only ever taken care of his sister and himself. Before her, he'd even taken care of his mother. And just the thought of him having to depend on someone to save his own life grated on his nerves.
His lip curled in distaste, but then he thought of Octavia, on the ground, alone, possibly dead, and it was enough for him to get the word of consent passed his lips.
"Fine."
It wasn't as if she could force him to help her once he got what he wanted. As far as Bellamy was concerned, this was no more a mutual agreement than it was an offer. And it was her own fault that she chose to extend it to a criminal.