— CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR,
the wasted.

WHEN THE RAIN STARTS, THE PEOPLE PANIC.

Thankfully, it hadn't been black rain.

Ruby wasn't outside when it started to rain, she's been by Ryland's beside for hours.

She currently sits by Ryland's side in med bay. It took her nearly an hour to calm down the night before, and Roan held her for as long as he needed to.

But now, Ruby doesn't take her eyes off of Ryland. She watches his bare chest rise and fall slowly, terrified that if she looks away, his chest will fall and it won't rise again.

He'd made it through the night.

Clarke barely got any sleep due to her tremendous efforts to keep her friend alive.

He lays on the bed, dressed in only his underwear with a blanket covering him from the abdomen down. An IV is hooked to his arm, it's full of crushed antibiotics to prevent any infections. His entire leg, from his ankle to his thigh, is covered in bandages that have to be changed every two hours.

Bellamy sits against the med bay wall, his legs sprawled out in front of him. He watches Ruby closely. He's worried about her. She's been fighting sleep since the previous night. She worried herself sick for her best friend. Bellamy knows this because he was the one who held her hair back away from her face as she threw up.

Clarke, Bellamy, and Roan are to leave for Becca's island soon to take ten barrels of Hydrazine to Raven and Abby.

Why?

Because they have a rocket.

A rocket.

Ruby is meant to go but she told the other she doesn't want to leave Ryland's side.

"Ru." Bellamy suddenly speaks up. He pushes himself up from the floor and approaches his girlfriend. He drops his hand to her shoulder. "You comin' with us?"

"Will he be okay?" She whispers.

"Niylah says he'll recover but slowly. The burns are third-degree, he inhaled a lot of smoke. He was in the server room when it happened, Ru. But he's a fighter. He's strong. He'll make it." Bellamy reassures her.

She says nothing as she leans up and kisses Ryland on the forehead. Bellamy listens as she whispers to her best friend. "I'll be bask soon, Ry. Don't you dare die."

Niylah approaches them and looks to Ruby. The Carson girl has deep purple bags under her eyes, her clothes ridden with blood and dirt and ash. "You should change before you leave." Niylah tells her.

"I was planning on it. Thankfully, my apartment wasn't apart of the destroyed living quarters." Ruby says. She then looks back at Ryland. "Please take care of him."

"I will," Niylah nods.

The two leave med bay for Ruby's apartment. 

They get to Ruby's apartment in no time. She opens the door and Bellamy follows her in. She can tell he wants to ask her something, so she waits for him to speak first as she walks into her bedroom.

That's when he finally asks, "what's going on with you and Roan?"

She turns to face him, looking at him as if he's lost his mind. "What?" She laughs. "Me and Roan? Are you crazy, Bell? He's the King of Azgeda. What is there to happen between us?" Ice Nation.

"I saw the look he gave you after we met up at the cave, the way he held you when you broke down last night. Is there something there?" He questions.

"No, Bellamy. He's an asshole," she scoffs, rolling her eyes.

She turns back around and tugs her long leather jacket off. She drops it on her bed and tugs her shirt off next, dropping it on the floor.

She moves, making her way to the closet. She grabs a long-sleeve maroon shirt and a pair of black jeans. She hates not being able to dress like a Grounder, but this will have to work.

Before she can turn back to her bed, she feels a pair of lips on her shoulder. Ruby sucks in a breath. "What're you doing, Bellamy?" She whispers.

"Nothing," he mutters back. He steps away from her, as he does this, Ruby turns to face him. Bellamy's eyes slowly trail down her body. At this, Ruby rolls her eyes.

"Are you trying to mend your wounded masculinity?" She raises her eyebrows.

Bellamy's eyes shoot p her face. He makes an offended face at her words, "rude." He mumbles as he sits on her bed. He closes his eyes and rubs his temples.

That's when he feels a weight drop on top of him.

His eyes snap open to see Ruby's face inches away from his own. Their eyes lock.

Both of her legs are thrown of him, her hands resting on the sides of his face. "Bellamy Blake." She says so sternly that it shocks Bellamy. "You don't need to worry about Roan or any other person. You're the only one for me, Bell. No one else. It's you. You're the one who has my heart."

Bellamy brings his hands up to rest on her waist, "and you have mine, Ruby Carson."

They only pull back when neither of them can breathe. They both pant, searching for air.

"Are we sure?" Ruby asks her boyfriend.

"Are you sure?" Bellamy asks.

"I'm not a virgin." She replies bluntly. "You know that right?"

He nods. "Clarke."

"Yeah," Ruby breathes out. "It was with Clarke. A long time ago, Bell. But, I'm sure. I've never been so sure about something in my life."

With her words, Bellamy slams his lips against her own. His hands grip her waist tightly, fingers digging into her soft skin. Ruby's fingers tangle in Bellamy's curls, tugging slightly. This causes a groan to slip through Bellamy's lips. A jolt of heart races through Ruby.

Together, they seal their relationship.

Bellamy Blake and Ruby Carson are one.

They share a love that is one in a million.

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Ruby and Bellamy show up ten minutes late. Ruby's hair is disheveled and Bellamy's face is tinted a bright pink.

Ruby did end up changing clothes like Niylah suggested. . . only after a few activities that don't require clothing.

When Clarke sees the state of the two, her heart falters slightly. An odd feeling seeps into her heart. She isn't sure if it's jealously or sadness.

When Jasper Jordan sees the two, he whoops loudly. He races towards his friends, he claps Bellamy on the back. "Congrats, man!"

"Don't start, Jasper." Bellamy says to him, obviously in a bad mood that isn't caused by his and Ruby's activities in the bedroom.

Before he and Ruby joined the others outside, they'd visited Ryland and Octavia in med bay. Ryland is still unconscious and Octavia. . .

Octavia has yet to forgive her big brother.

It isn't long later they are all loaded up in the rover and the truck, on the move. Roan, his people, and the vehicle full of barrels of Hydrazine travel behind the rover that holds three people.

Ruby allows Clarke to take the front after Bellamy told her to rest.She argued against it at first, saying they would be traveling through hostile territory but Bellamy told her that if she didn't attempt to get some rest, he would waterboard her in her sleep.

Only then did she agree to try to get some rest. Folded under her head is Bellamy's jacket. Bellamy can see her special book in her hand. Inside, are her memories and the folded up letter Murphy left her.

Ruby never goes anywhere without the book.

"Ruby." A voice hits her ears. Her eyes fly open from where she lays in the back of the rover. She realizes the rover isn't moving. Her eyes find Bellamy, "we may have a problem."

She's fast to wake up completely. She shoves her book back inside her jacket pocket and sits up. She grabs her sword off of the ground beside her.

She swings open the back of the rover and jumps out. With a threatening look in her eyes, she makes her way to the front to join Clarke and Bellamy.

"Wanheda. Kiswamplei." A Trikru man greets when he sees the two. Commander of Death. Kiss of Death. Tree Clan.

Ruby realizes this might not be a big of a problem as they anticipate.

"What happened here?" Clarke questions.

"Azgeda burned our village to the ground. My father caught an ax with his leg and we can't stop for bleeding." The Grounder explains. Ice Nation.

Nevermind, it's going to be a problem.

Ruby's eyes dart to an old man that lays on the ground. She moves up the small bluff and kneels beside his head. His old, tired eyes drift to her. She smiles weakly at the man, "it's going to be okay."

Bellamy clears his throat, grabbing Ruby's attention. She looks down at him, he nods behind him. Her eyes turn in the direction to see a small Trikru child moving towards the back of the truck, exactly where Roan and the other Azgeda warriors are. Tree Clan. Ice Nation.

"I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do," Clarke tells them, her voice slightly panicked.

"Think maybe you could clear the road?" Bellamy asks the Grounder.

"Everyone, move!" The Trikru man orders. His people start to move so they can clear the road for them.

Ruby walks down the bluff and to the back of the rover where she opens the door.

"If you're headed to Polis, we could use a ride." The Trikru man says.

Ruby can hear Bellamy say they aren't going to Polis.

"Hey," Ruby calls out to the man, peeking her head around the rover. He looks to her. "Make a tourniquet, it'll slow the bleeding."

He nods a thanks to her. Ruby takes this as her cue to get back in the river and shut the door.

As soon as thedoor is shut, she hears the child screaming, "Azgeda! Azgeda!" Ice Nation! Ice Nation!

"No! Damn it! Move!" Bellamy shoots. He and Clarke throw themselves into the rover. Before Ruby has time to react, Bellamy is pressing his foot to the gas, sending her rolling backwards.

─────────

They have another problem.

There's been an ice melt.

The river that is supposed to be covered in ice is now nothing but rapidly moving water.

Ruby has a problem of her own.

Bellamy and Roan have went to find a place to cross. . . together. It makes her anxious.

Ruby decides to stay to guard the Hydrazine with Clarke and the others.

Their problems only grow when the Azgeda warriors who have traveled with them attack the two girls. Ice Nation.

They go after Ruby first, seeing as she is the better fighter. One of the men grab her around the waist. She cries out at the suddenness of the attack. Ruby throws her elbow back, hoping to hit the man in the face but he quickly dodged the blow.

Then he starts to pull her towards the water. "No!" Ruby cries out. "No!"

Before she can react, she and the Grounder are on the ground and her head is dunked under the water.

Clarke jumps on ones back, trying to yank him away from Ruby. He throws his elbow back, striking her directly in the face. She falls off of him.

They pull Ruby out of the water. She gasps for air, her hands claw at the man's arms.

They dunk her back under.

They keep her under the water for a minute and a half.

The water rushes in her ears. Her head throbs and her lungs starts to squeeze together after not getting enough air. Her vision starts to blacken.

Ruby is yanked from the water. She gasps desperately for air. Something hard crashes against the side of her head.

And everything goes black.

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Ruby wakes not long after the Azgeda men kidnap her and Clarke. Her hands and feet are tied together, keeping her in place on the back of the truck. One of the men are in the truck with Clarke, who they are forcing to drive to Polis as fast as she possibly can. The other stands on the back of the truck with Ruby. Ice Nation.

Water drips from the end of her hair. Her shirt sticks uncomfortably to her chest, making her feel like she can't breathe. Blood trails down the side of her face from where the Grounder struck her with the hilt of his sword.

It doesn't take very long for Bellamy and Roan find them. Ruby watches the rover with wide eyes as it picks up speed and the king of Azgeda pulls himself through the hole in the roof. Ice Nation.

Ruby's eyes widened in horror as the Azgeda warrior starts to shove one of the barrels of Hydrazine toward the edge of the truck.

"No!" She screams wildly as Bellamy gets the rover closer to the truck. "We need that!"

Roan lets out a scream of rage. He launches himself onto the back of the truck.

"Holy shit!" Ruby shrieks, pushing herself as far as she can away from the two men.

The two men start to fight but Ruby's attention darts from them to Hydrazine that slowly starts to tip off the edge of the truck.

She lets out a grunt of pain before forcing herself to roll to the edge of the truck in a feeble attempt to get the Hydrazine away from the edge. She knocks it back away from the edge with her shoulder causing a sharp pain to shoot down her arm.

"Kill him, Roan! The Hydrazine is slipping!" Ruby shouts at the man.

Roan doesn't cast her a glance but he can hear the panic in her voice.

When Roan shoved his sword through the man, killing him. The Azgeda warrior stumbles backwards. As he falls from the truck, his foot snags Ruby's tied wrists. Ice Nation.

A scream erupts from her lips as her body is pulled off the back of the truck.

Before she can hit the ground, Roan lunges forward and grabs hold of her calves. He grunts as he holds onto her. Ruby's arms are pulled above her head as the dead man's foot stays attached to her tied wrists.

"The Hydrazine, Roan!" She screams at the man. "Save the Hydrazine, you bastard!"

He ignores her. He cries out as he pulls her towards him. As soon as her arms are in view, he leans over her and uses his dagger to cut away the rope.

He pulls her back over the edge of the truck. Roan then springs to his feet and grand the Hydrazine, pulling it back towards the other barrels.

He doesn't to hesitate to drop to his knees beside the trembling Carson girl. He cuts the ropes away from her ankles. Then he brings his hand to the side of her head, eyes racking her over, searching for any injuries.

"I'm fine, Roan," she rasps, hand clutching his arm tightly, too afraid to let go.

Roan takes in her blue lips. He notices how bad she shivers against him.

He realizes then that his people tried to drown her in the freezing waters.

Roan doesn't think twice as he pulls his jacket off of his body. He wraps it around the young woman, despite the fact she wears her own jacket.

"Thank you," she whispers.

A sudden gunshot causes the two of them to jump. Roan brings himself over Ruby, protecting her with his own huge body.

Ruby gasps as she feels Clarke slam on the brakes. She and Roan both lurch backwards at the suddenness of it.

The rover come to a top inches away from the truck.

Ruby hears the rover door slam shut. Seconds later, Bellamy is in front of her. He kneels on the back of the truck, grabbing her face between his hand. "Ru— Sweetheart, are you okay?"

She reaches up and places her trembling hands on top of his. "They tried to drown me," she whispers. Bellamy looks her over just like Roan did. Her lips are a pale blue, her nose and cheeks are tinted a bright pink color, her hair and clothes are completely soaked, except for Roan's large coat.

"Jesus," he mumbles to himself before he pulls her into his arms. She presses her head against his shoulder. She would bring her arms around him to return the hug but they hurt to move. "I thought I lost you."

"It's gonna take a lot more than two treacherous Azgeda men and a river to kill me, Bell." She tells him. He pulls bask with a small smile on his face. He presses his lips to hers. She returns the kiss. Ice Nation.

When they pull apart, Bellamy places his forehead against hers.

"God, I love you." He breathes out.

"And I love you, Bellamy Blake."

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Bellamy and Ruby stand side-by-side by the water. Clarke leaves the two to have their own conversation in private.

"I understand you going back, Bell. She's your sister." Ruby says as she looks at the boat coming across the water to pick them up. "Will you take care of Ryland for me?"

"Of course I will. He's pretty much my brother." Bellamy looks down at her. He wraps his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side.

"She'll forgive you eventually." Ruby mumbles.

"I killed her boyfriend." Bellamy tells her. He can feel the way Ruby's shoulders tense up under his arm. She doesn't like to talk about Lincoln. She hasn't talked about him. . . or said his name since it happened.

"No, no you didn't. Pike did that. He's the one that murdered him. Not you. It was never you." Her eyes turn to look up at him. "I promise you, she'll forgive you one day. I forgave Murphy."

"Murphy," he scoffs, rolling his brown eyes. "He didn't kill me though."

"No but he tried to. He shot me, he betrayed me more than once. He broke my nose. He ran off with Jaha and then Emori. He kept the fact he's my brother a secret until my father died. I hated him. I hated John Murphy for a long time. And guess what? Even while I hated him, I loved him. Because he's my big brother and he's my blood. We share something no one else in this world does. And Octavia loves you, Bell. She loves you more than anything in the world. She just needs time to realize that." Ruby tells him.

"We don't have much more of that." Bellamy says.

"Hey, we have a problem!" Roan calls out.

Ruby turns to look at him. Her brows furrow as she, Bellamy, and Clarke approach him and the Hydrazine barrel. He moves it around two they can see what he's talking about.

That's when they see it.

An arrow.

Ruby lets out a gasp the sight.

They are so, so screwed.

"Trikru arrow." Tree Clan.

He kicks the barrel. It's clatters to the ground with a loud thud.

It's completely drained.

A horrified whisper slips from Ruby's lips. "No."

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word count: 3,191
episode: we will rise

i'm not sure if i love or hate this rewritten chapter but either way, this is an IMPORTANT chapter.

first off, ryland made it through the night!!! his wounds are extremely severe and will cause him pain for the rest of his life but at least he's alive.

secondly, ruby and bellamy have officially sealed their relationship. of course, we all know the only person ruby has ever had sex with is clarke, but she's now done it with bellamy, too. i wanted to write a full smut scene but writing the whole thing always makes me uncomfortable and then i delete it except for the very start.

but now everyone knows that ruby and bellamy are back together. personally, i'll always be #teamrellamy by #teamrubarke and #teamruna will always be way up there too.

anyway, roan and ruby, my loves 🥹. they're so precious in this chapter even if ruby cusses at him every other word. he already cares for her so much. if it were any other person dangling off the edge of the truck, he's go for the hydrazine first. but he went for ruby instead of the hydrazine. and then he gave her his jacket. NOT TO MENTION HE SHIELDED HER WITH HIS OWN BODY WHEN THEY HEARD THE GUNSHOT.

ugh, i love them so much.

nine more chapters to go, guys!!!