CHAPTER FIFTY

"Why am I constantly having to remind you guys that I am not smart?"

***

"No offense, but I don't think that your key-card is working." 

 Bellamy turned his head to give me a hard glare, as Phia sighed obnoxiously and leaned her head back. "Please hurry up, we've been here for decades." 

 "Damn-it-" Bell muttered under his breath, lightly hitting his fist against the wall at the same time I heard a voice from my walkie-talkie. 

 "Nate, Bellamy, come in." 

 "His Raven," I spoke into the device as Bellamy tried swiping his card again, with no success. Just the same dull beeping and the flash of red lights. "Bellamy is trying to kill us." 

 "You missed check-in," Raven's tone was immediately accusatory, "did you find the source of the acid-fog yet?" 

 Bellamy sighed deeply, sounding deeply pissed-off at the electronic when he answered, waving us along and checking over his shoulder when we started to walk, "we're on our way there now. It's taking longer than I thought." 

 "It's taking decades." Phia spoke loud enough for her voice to be heard, and Bellamy rolled his eyes. 

 "Oh, hi there, Phia-" I heard rustling on her end, presumably from papers, and the girl sighed. "I don't know enough to crack from this side yet... You gotta give me something." 

 "I'm working on it." 

 "Let me try," I grabbed the card from his hand before waiting for an answer, and pressed the card against the keypad, swearing under my breath when it just came up red again. Phia pushed me aside lightly, grabbing the card from me. "Maybe you're the problem." 

 "How on Earth would I be the problem?" 

 Alas, when she tried, it also was a fruitless effort, and I stuck my tongue out at the girl, who scowled at the device. "It is broken." 

 "Yeah, no shit." 

 "I was just saying that-" 

 Bellamy stepped in between us to silence our bickering, grabbing the card from Phia and trying to stare into the tinted glass, although we all knew that there was no possible way he could see through it. "Something's wrong." 

 "Yeah, no shit-" 

 "What?" Raven asked from over the walkie-talkie, her tone concerned. I was the one who answered this time, leaning forward so I could talk into Bellamy's walkie-talkie. "The key-card is broken." 

 "It's not necessarily broken, it is just not working." Phia countered, and I shot her an annoyed look. 

"That's not good." 

 "Yeah, no shit." I repeated for the third time in two minutes, anxiously running my hand through my hair and exhaling sharply. "We have to find another way in." 

 However, as soon as I stepped out from behind the walls, I heard the oh-so-familiar sound of a gun cocking, and I froze, holding my hand out so that Bellamy wouldn't take another step forward. I slowly lifted my hands above my head and turned around, seeing two guards in uniforms identical to mine pointing their guns at me. 

 "Stop!" 

 I stiffened for a split second, angling my eyes to the side at Bellamy, before looking the other way. I spoke as silently as I could, moving my lips as minimally as I possibly could. 

 "When I run, go up the stairs." 

 I didn't give him a chance to respond, as I darted to the side and took off. 

 I could hear the loud clanging of feet echoing on the stairs, which provided me with a little bit of consolation, although the little hope I had for myself was lost the first time I tripped. Yes, I tripped, falling over a pipe and falling sharply onto the ground. 

 "Fuck-!" I yelled loudly, but scrambled to my feet and kept running, vaulting over the staircase rail and running down the dangerous metal steps, almost falling a good four-thousand times as my feet caught in the gaps between the stairs. It was a miracle the guy didn't catch up with me, and as soon as my feet hit the concrete again, my steps were quieter. 

 I could hear this dude yelling into his radio, talking to the guy who was chasing down Bellamy and Phia. As soon as there was a corner, I darted around it, my breathing coming in sharp gasps as I literally ran faster than I ever had before, with a stupid-ass vest that weighs a million pounds strapped to my chest. 

 My theory that they wouldn't actually shoot at us quickly diminished when a bullet whizzed past my left ear, ricocheting uselessly off of a door. I tried to jump over a box full of some sort of metal scrap- but my foot got stuck in it and I had to shake it twice before I could keep running. "This sucks!" 

I was almost completely out of breath, and I could feel my face burning a bright red as sweat gathered on my hair, as I whisked around another corner and ducked under a low-hanging pipe, almost knocking myself out, and finally thinking that my tripping streak was over, when I did the unthinkable. 

 I fucking tripped. 

 Over a body, might I add. An unconscious body that almost killed me, as my foot hit it's torso, and flew up from under me. Thank God, someone's hands reached out to grab me hauling me over and pressing their head against my mouth. 

 I was about to bite whoever it was, but relaxed when I realized that it was just Bellamy, and froze. We stood like that for a second, pinned tightly against in a way that should not have turned me on- and waited until the other guard's footsteps receded. 

Bellamy (much to my disappointment) pulled away and glanced cautiously around the corner. "I think we're good." 

 "W-Where's Phia?" 

 "I'm right here," the girl appeared around the corner, her knife in her hand which glistened of something that looked suspiciously like blood. She nodded once, before turning and spitting on the corpse, muttering a disdainful "jok yu," to the body. "That little bastard tried to grab me." 

 I panted deeply, trying to catch my breath after my run. I leaned my head back, closing my eyes for a few seconds as I struggled to get my heartbeat in check.  "I can't believe that worked." 

 Bellamy chuckled lightly despite the situation, only making me laugh myself when I made-eye contact with him. Phia gave us judgmental looks as we breathlessly laughed, cocking one of her eyebrows and leaning her weight onto her hip, crossing her arms. "You guys are weird." 

 Maybe... but we're also alive. 

 ***

 "That's not even a word-" 

 Being squeezed into a tiny vent was never something that I enjoyed, and it was slightly more agonizing with Raven trying to explain to me what was happening in the camp as Bellamy potentially is getting murdered as he is trying to talk to Maya's dad. "I don't care if it isn't a word," I whispered quietly into the walkie-talkie. "I don't care if it isn't a word. I think that Clarke is probably having a funner time than I am." 

  "At least you're with Bellamy," The girl defended. "How's the missus doing anyway." 

 I rolled my eyes sharply, "he's good."  I paused. "I mean, as good as you can get-" 

 "Look on the bright side, I bet you guys get a lot of alone time-" 

 I didn't like the tone of voice she used when she said that, and hunched deeper in my already slumped-over position in the vent. I know that Raven loves making fun of me, and didn't like the way that I am sure this conversation was looking to change to. "What do you mean?" 

 "Aww, Nate is so innocent." 

 And I was right! I could feel my face burn bright red and reached up to slap my hand over my face, thankful that Phia was scouting ahead in the vents and most likely couldn't hear this. "Raven-"

 "Oh, so no, huh?" 

 "I don't want to talk to you about this!" 

"Nate, you really are adorable-" 

 "I got a map from Vincent." 

 I immediately pressed the silent button on the radio and moved over so that Bellamy could climb into the vent alongside me, giving him my best innocent smile, but suddenly feeling extremely awkward. He showed me some sort of high-tech looking device, turning it around in his hands. "He gave me acetylene torch." 

 "Ha, cool." 

 "Is that Bellamy?" Raven spoke again, "we were just talking about you!" 

 "No, we were not." I glared at the small radio as if Raven would actually be able to see it. I, however, could personally vividly imagine her smirk. Bellamy tapped my arm, and when I looked over, he raised an eyebrow. "You were talking about me?" 

 I said no at the same time the radio said yes, and silently vowed to get Phia to kick Raven's ass the next time I see her. I grabbed the torch from his hand to try and avoid any further conversation. "This is cool, does it blow stuff up?"

 Bell shrugged, "Probably." 

 "Then I probably shouldn't be holding it." 

"Probably."  

 "Are you guys alone in the vents-" 

 "Oh my God-" I silently cursed Raven from wherever the hell she was, and stuck up my middle finger at the walkie-talkie. 

 "I can sense you flipping me off." 

 "There's a vent right outside of where they keep the acid fog," Phia announced, and I almost hugged her from how happy I was to see her face. She crouched expertly on the balls of her feet, her head just barely brushing the top of the vents. "We can get in using the key-card you got from the guard." 

 "Good," I handed the torch back to Bellamy and ignored how he was smirking at my blush. "Let's hurry please." 

 "Tell me when you get there." 

 ***

"This may be the most confusing thing I have ever seen, and once I saw an X-Ray of a human brain." 

 "I really hope you have a plan, Raven." Bellamy whispered into his walkie-talkie as I brushed my fingers over the monitor. 

 I didn't hear Raven's response, but when Bellamy told her about the monitor, a new voice popped up. One that was unfamiliar to me, but apparently not to Bell. 

 "Oh! Go to the monitor!" 

 "Nate's already playing with it-" Bellamy slapped my hand away from the buttons. "I think he is about to blow something up." 

 "Hey, Nate! How's my boy Monty?"  

 I responded by leaning in to speak through Bellamy's radio, my tone hard. "Monty is my boy, fuck off." 

 "Okay then-"  I heard Raven yell something at this dude, before his voice came back clearer. "Tell Nate to look for a pH scale." 

 "Why do I have to?" I muttered, clicking on a button labeled 'pH' and rolling my eyes at all of the random letters that came up. Bellamy held up the radio so I could speak into it. "There's a scale, but there's also a crap-ton of random letters and numbers- uh..." I squinted at the screen, leaning in closer. "S-3, V-2-0-5, H-2-S-2-" I groaned, leaning my head back. "Can I just blow this thing up?" 

 "No!" Raven rushed to answer, since she knew that I would actually blow it up if I could find a way to. "If you do that, they'll know that their defenses are down, and they'll send someone to go fix it." There was a long pause that Phia and I used to trade exasperated expressions. "Plus, you'd probably blow your face off." 

 "Not my face-" 

"God forbid something happens to Nate's face," Bellamy said in a way that made me wonder if he was kidding or not. "What should we do?" 

 "Look, you guys know that I love a good explosion, but we gotta think our way through this one." She said someone to the dude next to her and sighed deeply. "Nate, do you know what an actuator is?" 

 "Why on Earth would I know what that is?" 

 "I thought you were supposed to be the smart one!" 

 "Dude, I know how to take a bullet out of someone's ass with minimal consequences, not whatever the hell an actuator is." I anxiously ran my hand through my hair. "Damn, why am I constantly having to remind you guys that I am not smart?" 

 "Never-mind, tell me what you see." 

 "I see, buttons." 

 "Gon the hodnes-" Phia muttered, coming up so she could stand beside me as Bellamy peered over my shoulder. "What about-" she squinted, speaking slowly as she read the words on the dusty screen. "Maintenance and cleaning?" 

 The two on the other side of the radio spoke for a minute as the three of us shared nervous looks. Finally, the random dude's voice came back into focus. "Go to that, and see if there is anything that says passivation."  

 "Passivation," Phia repeated, clicking on the button with her slender finger. Bellamy frowned, and it eased me to see that he was just as confused by all of this stuff as I was. "Uh, it says 'aqueous sodium hydroxide bath.'"

"That's a base, that'll neutralize the acid, select that." 

 Bellamy obliged, and almost immediately a rumbling sound was heard from the large vat in front of us, followed by a scale on the screen moving. Bell blinked once, "uh, something is happening." 

 "You should be able to hear the pump." 

 "We definitely can," I piped up. "The needle is rising... pH is rising." 

 "That means it's working!" 

 We waiting a painful three more seconds, before the needle settled to rest on the seven, and the rumbling stopped, blinking reds words shining above the scale. My heart rose, and I smiled. "Passivation successful." 

 Phia mumbled something in Trigedasleng under her breath, putting her hand to her heart in relief. I grinned up at Bellamy. "I guess I'm smarter than I look, huh." 

 "Shut up, Sunshine." He lightly shoved my arm, leaning down slightly so I could press my lips onto his in a short moment of victory. I was still smiling when we pulled away, and he brought the radio back up to his lips. "Alright, Raven... send a flare." 

 The girls voice was curt, and not as excited as I thought it would be when she answered. "Roger that." 

 The line went silent, and Phia bounced lightly on her feet, which was the only sign of her excitement as her lips were pulled back into her signature blank look. She cocked an eyebrow at me. "I guess both of our people are getting what they want, right, Nathaniel?" 

 "Hey," I walked toward the girl until we were face-to-face, a smug smile on my face. "I thought my people were your people." 

 Her eyes softened in a way that I didn't know they were capable of, and a small smile quirked at her lips. "I still don't like you." 

 "Right back at you, tri gada." 

"Guys." 

 Bellamy's voice was stiff when he spoke, and Phia and I turned around in almost perfect unison to look at him. He was staring at a spot on the wall, his face completely devoid of all emotion. "I think something's wrong." 

 As if to prove his point, the machine started beeping, and as I rushed over to look at it, I saw the needle fall back down to it's starting point, and my face fell. Passivation incomplete.... how?  

 Phia looked up to us, speaking the words that we were all thinking. "We have to get out of here now." 

 A banging on the door made us all jump, my hand flying over to instinctively grab onto Bellamy's arm. He froze, his eyes wide as he looked at the torch in his hand, and then at the vat. "I need you to get in the vent and get as far away from here as possible-" 

 "That is a terrible idea!" I shut down quickly, not even letting him finish as Phia carefully aimed her gun at the still shaking door. "There is no way we are going anywhere-" 

 "You have to trust me on this one," he grabbed his gun and gave me a pleading look, his eyes wide. "Please trust me." 

 The door splintered, and Phia cursed loudly, running back to us and staring me down. "I think you should trust him." 

 I do. I do trust Bellamy. I would trust him with my life, and everyone I love's life... but I don't trust him with his own life. 

 So I grabbed his hand and glared at him with as much force as I possibly could. "Listen here you little shit. If you die, I am going to personally murder every single person in this entire mountain. So don't die... please." 

 He squeezed my hand as I handing him my gun with my free one. "Will do." 

 The door burst open, and Phia and I dove to one side, Bell running to the other side. She dove in first, moving surprisingly quickly for someone in a vent this size, and I hurried after her. My elbows hurt every time they hit the hard metal, and my eyes stung like I was about to cry. Phia kept chanting something that I knew would be permanently engraved in my mind after this.  

 "Die for honor." 

 And I knew she wanted me to hear. 

We fell through an opening in the vent, lanindg harmlessly on some sort of a net. I was sweating like a lunatic, and my muscles ached, but I still stood up to try and see back into the vent. It was pitch black. 

 But then, through the hazy darkness, I heard Bellamy's voice. Words I couldn't pick out a first, but grew clearer with everyone second that passed. 

 "Get down! Get down!" 

 "Get down," Phia muttered, before grabbing my arm and yanking me to the ground as fire singed the air. I swore loudly, smoke filling my lungs as I collapsed to the ground, my arm reaching out to grab Phia's as the loud sound of coughing filled the air. 

 It felt like the fire sucked all of the oxygen out of the room, as all three of us were gasping for air as I crawled over to Bellamy, who was curled up in a ball with his arms over his face. His face was painted with ash, but I felt nothing but relief when I looked at him. 

 "Well," Phia mumbled. "That wasn't supposed to happen." 

 I only had one thing to say to that. "Yeah, no shit." 

A/N: I'm sorry, but Nate, Bell, and Phia are kind of squad goals. Like, name a more iconic trio, I'll wait. 

 Nathamy are so cute, I can't- 

 Sorry for the late update, but school has been kicking my ass! I hope you enjoyed this extra long one, and prepare for some tears coming later...  

 Thanks for reading, and I love you all!