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chapter eleven.
all you have to do is submit.
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        Lincoln was gone and there was nothing June could do for him anymore. But Raven was alive, and she needed her now. With grief still weighing down like a heavy rock in her chest, she used her unstable legs to stagger under Jasper's lead. They end up at the locked door of Raven's room, where June was positive that she was inside if the noise said anything. Loud, blaring music was heard past the steel of the door and she was sure Raven's head must be pounding from the high volume. It had brought in a crowd of people, everyone eyeing the door wearily, possibly thinking the mechanic lost her mind, one of them Jaha, who held the same calm expression he had yet to lose.

Eventually, Abby had enough, nudging her way through the group. "Okay, come on. Everyone out," she ordered. When no one moved, she frowned tightly and rose her voice. "Now!" That made everyone shuffle around, lowering their heads and leaving, all except Jaha. "You too, Thelonious."

"This doesn't concern you, Abby," Jaha responded in a soothing tone. "Raven is with us now."

Jasper scoffed sarcastically. "That doesn't sound creepy at all."

"We took away her pain, Jasper," Jaha said, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Really?" June challenged, making Jaha turn towards her. "Then why does she want that thing you gave her out of her head so badly?"

It's quiet as Jaha understands what June says, almost like he's listening to someone who wasn't there. Then he spoke. "We saved her," he explained shortly with a tilt of his head, as if he was studying June's appearance. She knew she looked like a wreck, red-faced and teary eyes that she had to fight for the sake of Raven. "Just like we can save you," Jaha finished. "If you'd just accept our offer - "

"Last chance," Abby warned, cutting in before he can finish suggesting June take the chip. "Or I call the guards and have them move you away from my patient's door."

Once again, Jaha is quiet, glancing to the other side of him before he caved, to June's relief. "You'll come around eventually."

"Not likely," Abby shot back. June's stare on him doesn't leave as Jaha strolled away until she hears Jasper knock a few times on Raven's door.

The music's volume goes down and footsteps thud towards the door before it swings open. June is stunned at the sight. Raven is there, but not the old, bright girl she knew. Her ponytail is a mess, pieces of it sticking out and being pressed against her sweaty skin that is normally tan but now a ghostly pale. Her eyes are as wide as saucers, rimmed red but carrying heavy, dark bags underneath like she hadn't slept. Raven is trembling as she waved for the three to come in, slamming the door shut fast behind them.

"Raven, what's wrong?" Abby asked in concern.

Whirling around, Raven breathed out while frantically pointing to the top of her head. "I need your help to get this thing out of my head." She paused, glancing around the small area like someone was watching them. "And I think I know how to do it."

She led them to a drawing board and began explaining. June was listening, she was, but as she read the facts and looked at the drawing on the board, she couldn't stop her gaze from taking peeks at Raven as she wildly told her plan. A part of June wants to ask her when is the last time she slept, but she had a hunch she didn't want to know, and that's wasn't what was important. Raven was terrified out of her mind, and she wanted the chip out of her head, fearful of a computer woman named ALIE.

"... I'm telling you this will work," Raven said determinedly as she finished a drawing of a familiar metal bracelet. "These wristbands were designed to transmit vital signs. Electric pulse signals from the body." June blinked, snapping out of her daze. The same wristbands that were clamped around the wrists of the hundred delinquents were what Raven was positive would shock the chip out of her head.

"I designed them. I know how they work," Abby mused, hands on her hips as she took in the information.

"Then you know they have a transponder!" Raven exclaimed, putting the cap on her marker. "All we have to do is reverse it, and send an energy pulse into my brain. If I'm right, it will fry whatever ALIE put in there without damaging the tissue."

Stressed, June tugged at the end of her hair. "I don't know, Raven. What if you're wrong and it does damage your brain?"

"If I was wrong, ALIE wouldn't be looking at me like I stole her favorite toy," Raven snapped back, her exhausted features morphing into a scowl as she glanced to the empty space on her left. June slowly followed the stare, seeing nothing but air. It all made sense now. All the times she had spoken to Jaha, he had looked to his side while seeming deep in thought, and now Raven was doing the same. "She's here," Raven muttered when she noticed the three looking confused at the empty space.

"You can see her?" Abby whispered like ALIE wouldn't be able to hear her.

Hesitating, Raven shut her eyes and breathed in deeply. "Yeah," she finally mumbled weakly. She kept her eyes shut, lower lip pulling back into a snarl as if she was trying to block out whatever ALIE was saying before suddenly whirling around and having an outburst in a scream. "Because you stole my memories, you crazy bitch!"

"Okay, okay," June said soft and soothingly as she stepped forward, touching Raven's upper arm. She flinched at the contact but calmed down. She still didn't fully understand who ALIE was or what she wanted, but Raven was hysterical, and June believed in her. "Whatever she's saying, you can ignore it. Stay focused on us, okay?" Raven finally looked up to meet June's tender gaze and pressed her lips tightly together, tightly nodding.

"The wristbands," Jasper added on. "Where are they?"

Ripping away from June, Raven threw her hands up in surrender. "I don't know!" She declared.

"I do," Abby admitted. She opened her mouth, prepared to say where, but was stopped when Raven shouted.

"No! No!" Raven panicked, backing up. "Everything I hear, she hears, everything I see, she sees!" Her voice broke as she tried to calm down. "Just... Just tell them." June sent Raven one last pitiful look before she turned to Abby, leaning her head down along with Jasper so only they could hear the whisper.

"Storage room, B-1 in a small, black container."

With that answer, June repeated it again in her head so she wouldn't forget as she nodded and pulled away to see Raven covering her ears and not even looking at them so she wouldn't catch the words. Jasper gently patted her back. "We're gonna fix you, alright?" He promised.

Grateful, Raven nodded back. "Just stay right here. We'll be right back," June swore, already following Jasper in the direction of the door in a hurry.

"No!" Raven's frantic shout stopped June dead in her tracks. She sounded more irritated than she had been, staring intensely back at the space beside her. Raven's teeth gritted together as she repeated herself in a quieter, yet more firm voice. "No." Her chest rose and fell as June assumed ALIE responded, before Raven's head tilted, a look of puzzlement crossing her face.

Suddenly, Raven began hysterically screaming, the noise bouncing off the walls as her head whipped from side to side. June feels her heart jump to her throat as she bolted back to Raven's side, the girl still screaming as she clutched her chest and her knees crumpled. June quickly held her arms out and caught her, feeling her shaking against her hands. "Raven!" She called over the sound, arms coming up to cup her face. "Raven, hey! Talk to me, what is it?"

The screaming quieted to quiet whimpers of pain as June gently touched her cheeks. She could feel tears streaming into her palms from Raven, who was wildly panting like she couldn't catch a breath. "Look at me," June whispered softly. "I'm right here." For a moment, Raven seemed as if she could calm down, until her shared stare with June darted to behind her shoulder. She became horrified, eyes widening again before she was screaming in terror once more, head yanking out of June's hands as she desperately tried to quiet her.

It turned into cries of terror, with Raven falling forward into June's arms. She sobbed, face burying into June's neck as her arms wrapped around her. "Raven, please, talk to me!" June panicked, attempting to embrace her and calm her at the same time. She used her other hand to press between them, against Raven's chest, feeling the rapid beat against her palm, knowing that's not normal. "Her heart's racing!" She exclaimed, head turning to face where Abby had knelt next to her.

"We need to get her to medical," Abby stated, waving a shocked Jasper over as Raven let out another scream of pain. June struggled to pry Raven off her, her heart breaking to do so, but knowing she had to let Jasper carry her.

Raven doesn't stop screaming as Jasper lifted her in his arms and June doesn't let go of her hand once as they all run through Arkadia to medical. Her relaxed words mean nothing to Raven, who she isn't sure she can hear her. She's screaming like she's in pain, and June can't figure out why too concerned about her state to dwell on it. Raven wailed again as Jasper barrels through the open door and races to the first empty stretcher he sees to lay her down.

"No!" Raven wailed, falling back onto the mattress, her eyes squeezed shut as she thrashed around.

"Jackson, I need a reaper stick!" Abby called to her assistant. June didn't bother looking to Jackson, where he was standing on the other side of the cot with his arms crossed and hands clasped together. She leaned over, pressing down on Raven's shoulders to keep her still until they could sedate her. June has to press down harder when Raven screams again, flailing up and nearly sliding out of her grip.

What June doesn't expect is for Raven's head to whip to the side and for her dark, teary eyes to meet hers. "Please," she begged June, who was helpless to take the pain away. "Make it stop! June, please!" Raven is sobbing as she pleads with June to fix her, and it makes June cry herself, new tears swelling in her eyes as a few escape.

"Go get the wristbands," Abby ordered Jasper from behind her. June hears Jasper take off after mumbling a curse word, racing out of medical, but she doesn't look away from Raven who is withering around. Jackson turned around to finally comply with Abby's request just as Raven bolted up, the sound she's making now a mixture of sobs and screams.

"No!" Raven wailed, thrashing back onto the stretcher. She throws her head back, releasing a pitched scream with all the air in her lungs.

"Sh, Raven, it's gonna be okay," June desperately attempted to calm her until Jackson came back with the sedation. Her hand rose to push back her hairline, feeling her tremble in terror under the touch as Abby called for Jackson again.

Raven's glossy gaze flickered from June to behind her shoulder again. She became more horrified, trying to back up. "No!" She begged in hysteria. "No! Please! No!" She let out a series of screams again, lurching up and throwing her fists on the mattress when Abby and June press on her.

A single wail pierced the air one last time before Raven cried out. "I submit."

"Submit?" June whispered after her. She can't think on what Raven is submitting to, as she writhed around again, head flying from left to right with more screams of pain. She rushes to relax her, wondering what the hell was taking Jackson and Jasper so long. "I have to go find Jasper," June decided quickly, straightening. "B-1 isn't on the other side of Arkadia!" She frantically exclaimed, running a hand through her hair in a panic.

"Go," Abby directed her. "I have her."

With that promise, June dashed out of medical, searching for the storage room. Her head aches with how hard she's thinking. Raven was clearly in a ton of pain, but no one was hurting her - not physically. It had to do with ALIE, but how could a computer bring someone so much pain? June hated that she had to leave her there, but her instincts were screaming at her to find Jasper before someone else did, like Jaha. It was the only thing to take that damn chip out of Raven's head before she took a turn for the worse if this wasn't it. But Raven was submitting, to ALIE? For what?

As soon as June burst into the storage area, she nearly bumped right into Jasper. "I can't find them!" He furiously stated, turning back around to rip through a stand. June heaved a frustrated sigh, running to the other tall stand and yanking out small boxes to rip them open before throwing them to the side, uncaring if the contents spilled everywhere. She tilted her head back to see one, last small box teetering over the edge. June hauled over a ladder leaning against the shelf and stepped up the first few rods, pulling it off the shelf and jumping off, balancing her boots on the ground to open it. She brightened when she saw a bunch of metal wristbands, identical to the ones she had seen on her friends at the dropship.

"I found them!" June gasped out in relief, flipping the top shut and whirling around.

"Thank God," Jasper breathed, pushing away from the shelf he was working on and heading towards the door.

Before June can follow him, it suddenly slides open. June feels her blood run cold when she sees Jaha standing there with a menacing face. "I'm gonna need that case, June," he greeted, his tone low and threatening.

"You can't have it," June sneered back, bringing the box to her chest and clutching it like a lifeline. The fight June had prepared to keep the case becomes useless when more residents poured in, all holding the same face Jaha had. They're chipped too.

Jasper backed up, his arm held out in front of June protectively as the group comes at the pair. "No!" June shouted at her arms are ripped out, refusing to give in, and putting up as much as a fight as she could. "Get the hell away from me!"

In the mix of the group prying the box out of June's arms with more force and strength than she had, along with her and Jasper's hollers of protest, she ends up being pushed back with a frantic waving of her arms to try and get the case back before the feeling of cold metal clasped around her wrist. June yanked her arm only to feel herself being tugged back, and she has no choice but to look behind her and see they had handcuffed her and Jasper together, the chain of the handcuffs behind one of the ladder's rods.

The box is set on the table with a thud. "What are you doing?" Jasper questioned anxiously as Jaha picks out one, studying it, and dropping it. His question is answered when Jaha picks up a hammer. "Don't do it!" The weapon is brought down, sending the bracelet smashing into pieces. "No!"

"You son of a bitch!" June screeched, lunging forward, only for the metal to dig into her wrist. "Stop! Stop it!" She begged, helpless as Jaha doesn't stop, bringing more wristbands out and shattering one after another, breaking the only object that can save Raven from the torture she's enduring.

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Once the last wristband is broken, Jaha and his friends leave a frantic June and Jasper alone. That had been hours ago, and her throat is still hoarse from all the desperate screaming and pleading with him to stop. Her wrist had been stinging, and she can feel blood start dripping down the sleeve of her jacket. June can't break herself free, nor can Jasper, who hadn't stopped trying either. Every time she thinks of giving up and waiting for someone to show and break them free, she thinks of Raven, the pain on her face and the echoes of her screams as she begs June to take the pain away. It's what gives her the strength to jerk harder.

"We aren't getting anywhere," Jasper sneered in annoyance as he continued tugging on the chain that connected him to June. The muscles in June's arm ached as she pulled harder at the rod, feeling the metal start to shake under the force. When it doesn't budge, she angrily kicked the ladder, once, and then twice, wanting to relieve the fury. "That's not working either."

"I know," June seethed. She went back to work on the rod, and this time, Jasper took the other side, helping her when seeing how loose it was becoming.

At last, the object keeping her and Jasper in place snapped off. June let out a breath, stunned it had finally worked, only to realize she and Jasper were still chained together. She let out a noise of surprise when he rushed to the table, unintentionally yanking her along behind him. Jasper studied each of the pieces, shaking hands realizing the bands are smashed beyond their repair, including Raven's. "It's useless," June declared, fighting the urge to sweep everything on the floor.

"Then we have to find Raven," Jasper retorted, snatching up the hammer Jaha had forgot about when he left. He suddenly broke into a sprint, sending pain up June's arm as she's lugged behind him with no choice but to follow.

"What are you going to do?" June hissed as she's dragged down Arkadia's halls. "Bash in the brains of our people? They're chipped."

"No," Jasper replied, on edge. "I wouldn't hurt innocent people. I'm not you." The way he spit out the word 'you' stung June, and she would have stopped, but she can't. Jasper's right, and Raven's more important. She can't pity herself.

The pair stumble to a halt when they come across voices. June signals to Jasper with her free hand to stay hidden, and she watches while crouched behind a table corner. Abby and Jaha are standing side by side, a long line of people before them. Others are sitting cross-legged, eyes shut, and their hands clasped together like they're praying. "Is this some kind of cult?" June whispered to Jasper, unable to look away.

"I took them myself," Abby was speaking to the woman in front of her in a reassuring, kind tone. "Everything that Thelonious said is true." She holds her hand out, showing off the same chip June had seen Jaha give out.

"Doesn't matter," Jasper whispered back. "It's time to go." June agreed, but for the third time, he tugs her along in a run, dashing straight to medical.

Truth be told, June isn't sure what she expected when they reach medical. Jasper had called Raven's name as they come around the open door but stopped when he sees her. Raven is fast asleep, which should have been normal, but June's sight fell to her wrists. Bandages that are spotted with blood are tightly woven around her wrists. Feeling sick, June's hand flies up to cover her mouth, but not before she lets out a soft cry.

"What did they do to you?" Jasper gasped quietly.

The noise causes Raven to stir. Her eyelids twitch open and she leans forward, a smile spreading on her lips. "They didn't do anything," she says softly. "I'm sorry if I frightened you both today."

"No - no, Raven. What happened?" June demanded anxiously as she stepped closer, pulling Jasper with her.

"Nothing," Raven answered calmly. Her gaze landed on the shiny handcuffs holding June and Jasper together. "Oh, that looks unfortunate," she joked lightly.

But neither are in the mood for it. "I don't understand. You were just begging us to get that thing out of your head," Jasper stammered, attempting to wrap his head around this.

"I was wrong," Raven confessed, but June doesn't believe it. She had seen the terror on her face as she begged June to help her. Now June is horrified, and she has to look away, her stare now falling on a few reaper sticks lined up beside Raven. "You can finally see for yourself," Raven went on as June's hand slowly wandered to the drug. "All you have to do is - "

Without giving her a chance to finish, June picks up the stick and jammed it into Raven's neck, pressing her thumb on the button so the medicine filled her system. Her eyes flutter shut and her head falls back onto the pillows again, unconscious. "Alright. I have to carry her, try not to fall behind," Jasper instructed June without looking at her, tucking his arms around Raven to lift her.

"Where are we going?" June asked quickly as she swiped up a few more reaper sticks and tucked them in the pocket of her jacket before her hand is jerked up, pressing against Raven's back from where Jasper's carrying her. "Jasper, we need a plan!" She exclaimed in a loud whisper when he dragged her through Arkadia's ghostly empty halls.

"We're going for the rover," Jasper hissed. "Now be quiet before we're caught." June complied, staying silent as they go as fast as they can until they reach the vehicle that was parked just outside of the hanger bay, where they had seen the chipped residents.

After Raven is draped in the back, Jasper pulled June to the driver's side and opens the door. "Get in first." June quickly scrambled into the hole, crawling over the driving stick and propping herself in the passenger's side with her arm outstretched until Jasper landed in the driver seat and slams the door shut behind him.

For a second, June thinks that their safe, until a movement in her side mirror catches her gaze. Her eyes widen. Their people are squeezing themselves out of the hanger's bay half-open door one by one, and are heading straight for the rover. "Jasper," June grabbed his attention, shaking her arm to wobble his. "Look."

It only takes Jasper a second to catch on. "Oh god," he grunted, positioning himself to drive. "This is not good." June wondered for a second if Jasper knows how to drive before she gets her answer when the vehicle flew ahead, and her back slammed against the seat, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Wait, Jasper!" June suddenly exclaimed in a panic when she saw what path he was taking. "The gate - !"

As soon as the warning leaves her mouth, Jasper is already barreling through it, causing the rover to jump and jerk. June flinched, bracing herself as the steel flies every which way and sparks from the lights above it blow above them. June craned her neck to look behind her seat, checking that Raven was okay, glad to see that she was still asleep, her limp body flailing with the bounces of the rover, but for the most part looked alright. June is about to ask Jasper what their next move was, knowing neither had a plan when he suddenly slammed on the breaks.

All because none other than Clarke Griffin is standing in their trail.

The world around June stops moving. Her lips part, but she isn't sure what to say. Clarke is covered in dirt but still seems the same from the last time she saw her when she was kidnapped by a grounder. Kane had said Clarke chose to stay in Polis after Lexa united the thirteen clans, so why was she here now?

"Jasper? June?" Clarke gasped before racing to June's side of the rover. "What's going on?"

June snapped out of the astonishment of seeing her best friend and gestured wildly to the back. "Get in! Now!"

"No," Clarke argued. "You don't understand, I need to see Linc - "

"You don't understand, Lincoln is dead!" Jasper harshly hollered at her. "And we will be too if you don't get in now!"

Gunshots firing bullets went off, hitting the rover. June, knowing Clarke couldn't make it to the back door, quickly opened her own and grabbed a horrified Clarke's arm with her free hand, heaving her inside to safety where she was squished against her from the small space. "Why are they shooting?" Clarke questioned as she struggled to get comfortable from her spot pressed against June while Jasper tried to start the rover again.

"I don't know," Jasper muttered, teeth grinding together when the machine hummed but didn't start.

"What do you mean Lincoln's dead?" Clarke pressed on. "That can't be!"

"Suddenly you don't understand what dead means?" Jasper fired back.

"I need to talk to him about Luna!" Clarke yelled, slamming her fist on the rover's headboard. "He's the only one who knows her!"

Frustrated, June cut in. "Clarke, he's dead!" She exclaimed, sure her loud voice blared Clarke's ears from their closeness. "Pike shot him in the head! What, do you want to see his - "

"Shut up! I don't care, okay!" Jasper shouted over them both in frustration, his head snapping to Clarke as if he blamed her for everyone being chipped. "You really are the angel of death, aren't you?!"

Hurt by the cruel words, June feels Clarke tense up against her. But she doesn't have a chance to reply, as the door to the back of the rover swung open at the same time Jasper managed to finally start the rover victoriously. June's head whipped back, startled, but Clarke scrambled away from her to squeeze between the two seats and step around Raven to stop whoever was back there; June couldn't see. She hears Clarke grunt and a body hit the ground as Jasper tears away, the rover driving as fast as possible.

"Mom?" Clarke choked out, still standing upright in front of the open door. June shut her eyes as she falls back flatly against the passenger seat; the stinging in her wrist from the open wound rubbing painfully and her heartbeat still fast from the paced events today, unsure if she was glad it was dark out, wondering if their other friends out there could help them.