Taming Chaos // J.M // The 100

Chapter 14

When they rush down to the bottom level to give both Finn and Octavia the antidote, Ethan has the sudden realisation that they'd left him alone. With the grounder. With his hands tied to the dropship. 

"Hey-!" It's too late, Bellamy's last henchman slides down the ladder to watch the magic happen.

Rolling his head back into an obscenely loud groan, Ethan slams it against the dropship wall. Yelling "Octavia!" is his last shot and it does nothing.

He sniffs, but his nose is blocked with dried blood, making it hard to breathe quietly.

Eyes following the grounder's movement, the shudder of pain that comes in waves of four, Ethan narrows his eyes. "Are you really trying to kill our people or did you get tortured for nothing?"

No response.

"Octavia believes you saved her. But after my friend was stabbed with a spear, you can understand I'm wary." Ethan uses his teeth to tug at the knot of rope.

He stretches his jaw for a second, hearing it click. His tongue tastes metallic, and his nose burns, thumping with every beat of his heart.

"But there's also the fact that someone tried to heal his wounds. And that confuses me. So I'm asking. . . are you trying to kill us, or just your buddies back home? I imagine not every one of you is the same."

Ethan looks up, shakes his hair out of his face. He catches the slightest movement from the corner of his eye and drops his attempt at getting free.

"Can you understand me? Even a little?"

Nothing.

But the eyes follow him.

Ethan tries not to look disappointed. "I guess that's a no." 

A few more tugs at the loosening thread and he slips a hand free, blowing an annoyed huff through his curtain of hair. Shaking out his hands to get the blood flowing, he stands up.

"I understand, man. This isn't fair, but I guess we're just looking after our people as well." Ethan glances again at the hatch, reassured that no one is listening. "They don't seem to put themselves in other people's shoes much, though." 

Ethan picks up the cloth he'd meant to use for his nose - which had by now dried up - and keeps his eyes on the grounder when he moves closer, inch by inch. It's funny how his own gaze wavers, but the brown pair he's locked onto doesn't even blink.

"To stop the blood." Ethan words it simply, reaching for the abused hand.

For the first time, Ethan takes in the grounder. He isn't making remarks about his cuts and bruises but examining his face, his body. The guy was attractive, obviously, and his tattoos were something interesting. Ethan hadn't seen many tattoos on the Ark.

To be honest, he's way more intimidating than Bellamy is.

Because Ethan doesn't know how these people work compared to them. A man, as strong as he is, versus a bunch of teenagers.

Ethan's scared of the grounders and he's not afraid to admit it.

He looks at this guy, and can feel it in his bones how easy it would be for him to wrap his mountain of an arm around Ethan and snap his scrawny neck.

Fingers move and Ethan flinches a step back, limbs tensing.

He blinks, only to find nothing had happened. The grounder hadn't escaped, hadn't tried to kill him. The only difference was the hand once closed in a fist, now open.

"Thanks." He says to the curious, searching eyes.

Ethan wraps the cloth tight around the wound, tying it off at the end until Clarke - hopefully - would come around to clean it. "I'm sure Octavia'll be back as soon as she's given the antidote."

The eyes widen a fraction, interest peaked.

Ethan laughs a little, "Octavia? I saw your drawing. It's pretty neat. She's cool, her brother though," He shakes his head, "not so much."

The grounder's eyes flick to the right, then back. If anything, Ethan thought it was some sort of agreeance.

"And. . ." He hesitates, feeling himself flush at his ears for no other reason than being unsure, "your other one. I think it's cool, albeit a little creepy."

There's a moment of silence.

Ethan steps back, and sends him a small smile. When he turns around, towards the hatch, there's a grunt of sound.

"I-"

He whips around, eyes wide.

But then,

"Ethan!"

He rolls his eyes. "Oh, so now someone remembers." He reluctantly turns his head away from the grounder. The hatch swings open and Clarke's head pops through.

Ethan could've sworn the grounder was going to talk.

When Clarke looks up, she tenses, looking between them.

"Thanks for the help, by the way. I had the best time tied to the wall - reminds me of my days in prison." He smiles sarcastically.

Clarke frowns.

Ethan lifts a brow. She hadn't forgotten they were all criminals, had she?

She huffs out a breath and gestures for him to come closer.

Thoroughly exhausted, he drags his feet, if only because he sees the cloth and water hanging in her hands. It's surprisingly gentle when she cleans his face and nudges at the bridge of his nose. "Are Finn and Octavia alright?" He asks.

"Getting there." Clarke hums, a deep, gloomy look in her eyes. Then, she nudges his nose again, "It's always been crooked, right?"

Self-conscious at the reminder, Ethan nods, ducking his head. He almost slumps when she drags a hand down his arm, nudging the cloth into his red-stained fingers.

Clarke moves a lot slower when her mission turns from aiding Ethan to aiding the grounder.

"You should check his hand first. It's pretty bad." From behind her, he nods at the man and heads for the latch. "I'm gonna go check on Octavia."

He climbs down the ladder and pulls his hair back quickly, tying it with his singular hairband. Pulling it tighter, he sees the girl he's looking for. "Hey."

"Hey," Octavia tries for a smile.

Ethan notices the makeshift bandages around her arm and looks back up. "You okay?"

She sighs slowly and looks around at the people milling about. "I don't think anyone's been okay for a very long time."

He tilts his head in agreement, blinking tiredly. He watches her eyes dart back to the hatch a few times and realises he's taking up her time.

"Have fun," Ethan says, passing by her with a smile.

Octavia nods, tired eyes creasing with her own quirk of the lips.