𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞¹ (𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)

111. together

"She tried to warn us." Jasper announced as he slowly paced around the room. 

"Not helping." I snapped from where I stood next to a still unconscious Raven. Minutes had passed and she had still not woken up. It seemed like we were running out of ideas on how to wake her. 

Jasper didn't reply to me, but instead slowly walked toward where Clarke stood. I watched him skeptically, readying myself to ask what he was doing. Before I had the chance, he reached forward and grabbed something from Clarke's pocket. 

She spun around in a flurry, her eyes wide. "Hey!" she snapped, beginning to chase after Jasper who was stumbling away from her, trying to hold onto whatever it was he had taken. 

"What are you doing?" Clarke demanded, meanwhile the rest of us watched on in confusion. Now really was not the time for whatever was going on here. Raven needed us.

"Don't move!" Jasper snapped, reaching for a large stick that was resting on one of the walls. He kept his eyes locked on Clarke as he placed something down on the table-the Flame.

Clarke's eyes grew even wider. "No!" she pleaded, "You can't!"

Jasper continued to lift his arm, ready to bring the stick down and shatter the small chip. "ALIE did that to Raven! She's never going to get this."

"No!" Clarke screamed, her hand shooting out to grab onto Jasper. "It's Lexa!"

We all fell silent, watching as Jasper slowly turned to Clarke who had tears in her eyes. "Part of her's still in there. I saw them cut it out of her head." she cried. "I'm not-"

Clarke abruptly cut herself off, a look of realization coming to her face. 

Bellamy took a small step forward. "What is it?"

Clarke spun to look back at the rest of us. "Both the A.I.s were made by the same person." she exclaimed. "Both tap into human consciousness. They must work similarly, right?" she breathed, looking to Sinclair. 

He nodded, "There's probably only one way to consciousness so it's possible, yeah."

Octavia, who was standing next to me, looked down at Raven briefly. "What does this have to do with anything?"

Clarke started back toward the bed. "I've seen an A.I. get removed before." she explained, her eyes focused on Raven. "Help me get her on her side."

No one asked anymore questioned as we all rushed to help. Octavia and I were joined by Bellamy who helped us move Raven down the bed before flipping her so her back was toward Clarke.

"Get that med kit from my bag." Clarke ordered, pointing Monty toward her pack. 

Within a matter of seconds, Monty had hurried back toward Clarke, the kit being passed between the two of them. I watched with curious eyes as Clarke pulled out a scalpel, analyzing it for a moment before focusing on the back of Raven's neck. 

As she hovered it over the skin, Sinclair leaned forward. "Woah, woah, woah. What-"

Clarke looked back at him with a confident look. "It's okay." she ensured, not waiting for his reaction before she turned back to Raven and slid the blade across her skin. 

I watched in anticipation as blood began to flow from the wound, but nothing else. "Clarke, what's going on?" I asked, my voice wavering in fear. 

She looked up at me, her eyes clouded in their own worry. "This has to work."

As if on cue, a new substance started to flow from the incision. It was metallic in colour and oozed like blood. "Is that-"

Sinclair cut me off with a small nod. "It must be whatever's left of the chip."

A small cough from below caused me to quickly drag my eyes downward. When I did, I was met with the sight of Raven, wincing as she brought her hand up to her head, and then her shoulder. "Ow." she muttered.

Relieved smiles came to all of our faces as we moved to gently help her up. "I never thought I'd be so happy to see someone in pain." Octavia grinned, earning a laugh from Raven.

"Are you okay?" I whispered, my eyes scanning her face to ensure she was really okay, that it was really her. 

Raven gave me a small nod, a comforting smile coming to her face. "I'm okay." she promised, her hand reaching out to grip onto mine. "I'm good."

I felt my eyes stinging, tears of guilt threatening to spill. Raven noticed my expression and shook her head. "Don't." she ordered, "Do not blame yourself."

"I-"

I was cut off by Monty's voice across the room. He wasn't speaking directly to me, it didn't really sound like he was speaking to anyone in particular. "We could have saved my mom." he announced, his sad eyes cast on the floor.

I felt my heart break for him. Mere hours ago, he was forced to kill his own mother because of ALIE, and now he just watched as we saved our friend from the same monster.

I watched with sad eyes as Jasper took a small step toward his best friend, reaching out to place a hand on Monty's shoulder. 

Upon Jasper's touch, Monty harshly stepped away. "Get away from me !" he snapped, the tone of his voice taking me aback. 

All of us were wordless for a moment as Monty quickly rushed out of the room. Jasper wore a sad expression as he watched his friend go. 

Bellamy was the first one to break the silence. "ALIE knows we're here." he announced. "We need to move."

And so we did. 

We helped Raven from the bed, all of us making our way outside to the waiting Rover. We knew that wherever we went next, we weren't entirely safe. What we did know, is that all of us were alive, we had saved Raven, and we were going to survive...together.