Chapter Text
"OCTAVIA!"
It was a scream that wrenched my heart from my chest. Bellamy yanked free of my arms, desperately searching the woods for any sign of his sister. His sobs mirrored my own. I grabbed his hand, tried to wipe Octavia's blood from his palm. Bellamy fell to his knees. I bit my lips, trying to steady my misery. He had been strong for me more times than I could count. It was my turn to be strong for him.
I brushed my thumbs beneath his eyes, catching his tears. There was nothing I could say, nothing that could ease the ache in his chest. I had never had a sister, not a real blood sister. I couldn't begin to understand the grief pulling him under.
"Bellamy." It was a whisper, the best I could do, all I could say. He knew I would be there for him. No matter what. I needn't say more, only try and keep him from drowning in grief and desperation.
He opened his mouth, as if to say something to me. Before he could get any words out, he pitched forwards, falling on top of me. My head slammed into the dirt. He braced himself to avoid knocking heads with me. Panic filled his eyes. It was far too aggressive of a fall. He had been pushed. Glancing around, I saw no one.
Bellamy rolled off of me, searching for any sign of his attacker. He held out a hand to help me up. Our fingers brushed. My hands closed on air; a heavy foot connected with my spine, shoving me straight to the ground before I could get to my feet. An audible oof echoed behind me; Bellamy was down again, and this time he was unconscious.
I scrambled through the dirt, trying to reach him. What invisible demon was trying to kill us? Why did we never get any rest?
Before I could reach Bellamy, he was yanked away. Something I couldn't see, someone hiding in plain sight dragged him away.
"NO!" I screamed, chasing after him. An invisible barrier caught me, sending me flying to the ground. "Bellamy!"
Before I could get up, try again to reach Bellamy, someone grabbed the back of my jacket and tossed me against a tree. Stars danced in my eyes. Definitely not a good sign.
"Bellamy! Y/N!" Faintly, I heard Gabriel callling for us. I had almost forgotten he was there.
Bracing myself against a tree, I stagger to my feet. The world takes a moment to catch up. Shakily, I shout, "We're not alone."
Gabriel rushes towards me, ready to offer an arm in support.
I shake my head. "Go back inside. Watch the girl."
"She's already gone," Gabriel said. My stomach dropped. "Come on we can still catch her."
He barely got out the last word of his sentence before he was flying through the air. It was an impressive height, I had to admit. But the sound of his body hitting the ground was far less spectacular. He groaned. "Something else came through."
I glanced behind me, in the direction Bellamy had disappeared to. Every second I wasted he got farther out of my reach. I helped Gabriel to his feet. "Welcome to the party."
"Where's Bellamy?" he asked, once he'd collected himself.
Terror stopped my heart. Just for a moment. But if I couldn't find him, if I couldn't save Bellamy, it would stop and not start again. "It took him towards the anomaly."
Gabriel shook his head, my panic displayed in his voice. "No, no, no. Time is not behaving. We have to get to him first." I picked up a rifle off the ground. "Y/N, you can't shoot what you can't see."
"Stop talking," I barked, thinking only of rescuing the man I loved. "I'm opening up a path. Follow me."
I ran through the trees, firing at nothing. Tears blurred my vision. My lungs burned. And all I could think was why? Why? This was supposed to be the start of our happy ending. Clarke and Madi were in Sanctum, enjoying the sun, living in a farmhouse with a dog. They were starting our new society, getting the compound built and running. All of our friends were getting a new start. Bellamy and I were supposed to have that too.
I willed myself to run faster. Still no sign of Bellamy. The air grew thicker, hazier. We were nearing the anomaly. "Bellamy! Call out if you can hear me!"
I glanced over my shoulder to find Gabriel has stopped, head tilted as if listening for something. Panting, I glared at him. I was revving with energy and I was not going to let Bellamy slip away from me. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Making sure we're not being followed."
"Followed by what?" I exclaimed. "Have you ever seen anything like that?"
He shook his head. "No."
For a moment, the only sound was our heaving breaths. To my right, something rustled in the leaves. I raised my gun, gripping tight to it as if it was my lifeline. It very well might have been. Trying to still my breaths, I stepped through the woods, ears perked. I don't know how the hell I was supposed to hunt an invisible creature. But I was not about to let it get the better of me.
I zeroed in on a pile of fallen logs, where I'd heard the sound. It could have been a harmless animal. Or something far worse. I raised the viewfinder to my eye, ready to shoot.
Someone barreled at me from my left, someone I could actually see. It was Hope, the girl that started this. She tried to tackle me, but I held my ground, whipping my gun around to shoot at her. She tipped the barrel down just as I pulled the trigger. Dirt sprayed around us.
I kicked her. She grunted, but recovered fast. Hope twisted the gun from my hands, tossing it to the side. All I could think about was my rage. She was the reason Bellamy was taken from me. Fueled by anger-infused adrenaline, I threw punches at her, ducked, swerved. She was skilled, I had to respect her for that. And she had the upper hand; I wasn't ready for a surprise attack. Before long, she had me pinned.
"I don't want to hurt you," she said.
I yanked free of her. Panting, I turned to face her. Hope's fists were raised, ready for another round. I was far too tired to keep it up. She didn't want to hurt me. It warranted a talk.
"Who are you?" I asked, keeping my distance. "Where's Octavia? And why are they taking Bellamy to the anomaly?"
Her eyes widened. "Bellamy's gone?"
Gabriel interjected. "You know him? You remember?"
She scoffed, as if amazed at our stupidity. "No. You called to him. This...was in my arm."
Hope handed me a tiny scroll no bigger than my little finger. Keeping my eyes trained on her, I took the scroll from her. It was scratchy, a material I'd never felt before. Then again, I'd never felt much paper in my life. Though it was stained with blood, I could still make out the words scrawled on the back. Trust Bellamy.
"I don't remember putting it there," Hope said. "But I think I must have."
Gabriel snatched the paper from me. For a moment he studied the handwriting, then flipped it over to the other side. Printed on the back was another circle of ink, a language of the anomaly. "It's another code. Like the one on Octavia's back. What's it for?"
"I don't know," Hope said.
A hot flash of rage shot through me. This was a waste of time. "Stop lying!"
"I'm not!"
Gabriel held up placating hands. "Easy. Octavia lost her memory too. Must be a result of moving through the anomaly."
"What's the anomaly?" Hope asked.
"You tell us," I said.
"It's the sound you hear," Gabriel said, still fascinated with the code. Fine, let him investigate that. It wasn't going to lead us anywhere. Only Hope could bring back the man I loved most in the world.
"You said Octavia's name right before you stabbed her," I said, stepping closer to her. My fingers twitched. I'd had time to catch my breath. I was ready to fight again. For answers. For Bellamy. "You remembered then, and you remember now."
Gabriel stood up so fast I wondered how he didn't fall over. "The anomaly was on top of us then." Something brightened in his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then she lost her memory when it receded, taking Octavia with it."
"Well why just her?" I was only getting further from answers. "Why the memory loss?"
Gabriel shrugged. "None of this makes any sense. But my god, it's incredible."
Hope rolled her eyes, clearly as fed up with Gabriel as I was. I appreciated his wonder about the situation but there were far more pressing matters to attend to. "We need to get to Bellamy."
I glanced between the three of them. I didn't trust Hope, not after everything that happened. But she was our best shot. "How fast can you run?"
"I don't know." She nodded at me, and I felt a sort of understanding pass between us. "Let's find out."
She took off. I snatched up my gun and tore through the brush after her.
We didn't stop until the sunlight had disappeared. Motes floated in the twilit air, as if I was looking at particles of time itself. But I knew that's not what it was.
"Wait!" Gabriel yelled, pulling to a stop. "There's too much toxin. I am not in the mood to see my ghost right now. Are you?"
I dropped to my knees, waiting for a dose of anti-toxin after Gabriel took a deep inhale. Before I could, an enormous, bright shot fired behind me, taking out a tree. I was lucky only the splinters caught me. I was on my feet before I could think, running again. We ducked behind a grove of thick trees, catching our breath.
"Ray guns," Gabriel remarked. "Cool."
I swallowed my insults. It was not the time. "If it can shoot, it can be shot at."
On cue, another blast struck the ground near our hiding spot. It left the grass charred and smoking. I stared at it, hoping I wasn't going to meet my end like that.
"That was a bad shot, even from far away." Slowly, I stepped out from behind the tree, gripping to my gun. I hoped I was right. These were just warning shots.
"Y/N!" Gabriel hissed. "What are you doing?"
I stood still, staring into the darkness. "Testing a theory."
"A theory?" Gabriel exclaimed. "If you're wrong-"
Another blast roiled through the ground, striking the ground next to me. I held my ground. Dirt rained over me, caking my face. My heart hammered against my ribs. It wasn't going to hit me.
"She's not wrong," Hope said. "It's not trying to kill us."
I shuffled back over to Hope and Gabriel. It seemed Gabriel had come to a realization. "We're not playing by the same rules. Y/N look around you. The particulate matter moves in response to motion. They come close enough..."
"I'll have a target," I finished. I finally had some hope. I might find my way to Bellamy. "To set the trap, we have to open up a lead. Follow me."
I led them through the darkening forest closer to the source of the blasts. The three of us huddled behind a fallen tree, silent as we could be. I kept a firm grip on my gun, finger ready on the trigger.
"Listen," Hope whispered, after what felt like ages of waiting. A low thrum hummed in the air, in the ground, reverberated in my bones.
"Here it comes." I barely dared to breathe. "No one move, or it won't come close enough."
You're a killer, a letdown. I gasped. It was my father's voice, a voice that tugged on my heart. I swiveled behind me. Gabriel hissed something at me, but I couldn't hear. I could only focus on the image of my father standing in the woods before me, disappointment painting his features.
"Dad?" I said, unable to bear the look in his eyes.
Gabriel grabbed my arm. "You didn't use the anti-toxin. Y/N, it's not real."
Without Bellamy, all you've done is for nothing. You'll get no peace. Was it worth it? I tried to hold back tears. "Shut up."
"Quiet!" Gabriel commanded, yanking me around.
I shook my head free of the image of my father - he was dead, I knew that. Why did it feel so real, why did his disappointment hurt so bad? Slowly, I raised my gun. My father appeared in front of me, his image wavering, roiling with letdown.
"Now he's in my shot!"
"Shh!" Gabriel whispered.
From behind my father, the image of Charlotte appeared. I hadn't thought of her in years, and the sight of the little girl before me, the one I'd tried to protect, was like a slap to the face. Misery swamped her eyes. She had hurt so many, been hurt by so many, and she was too young for all of that.
Answer the question, Y/N. Charlotte's voice snaked in my ears, a poison that drew out all my buried grief. Was it worth it? Who are without someone to kill? Who are you if you have peace?
I stared at my gun. My hands were shaking now. I wouldn't be able to get a clean shot.
A girl who couldn't save a child who she meant everything to. Charlotte's empty eyes bore into me. I couldn't save her. She wouldn't let me.
The daughter of a peacekeeper who will betray her father's memory for love.
It is my life, I wanted to scream. My dad would never expect me to give up on Bellamy. Even so, that truth couldn't overpower the weight of the words he said.
"Y/N?" Gabriel's voice came to me like he was underwater. Or maybe I was. "It's close."
I gripped tighter to my gun, staring at the ground. My voice shook when I spoke. "I can do this."
Beside me, Hope stood, reaching for something I couldn't see. Gabriel rushed for her, pulling her away, reassuring it wasn't real.
She cried out, "No, no don't!"
Gabriel pleaded for her to stay down and stay quiet. He turned his attention to me. "Y/N, they're right there. Take the shot. Now. Pull the trigger now!"
I could barely feel the gun in my hands. I could only stare at my father, at Charlotte standing before me, waiting for me to prove I wasn't worthy of them. Resolve churned through me. I was worthy. They knew I was, and they loved me as I had loved them. I did all this for me, for Bellamy, for some semblance of peace that I wasn't ready to give up on.
"I'm sorry," I said, and pulled the trigger. The shots were deafening as they tore through the air, shifting the motes of toxin, making my visions disappear. Screams echoed as I fired upon the beings who had been stalking us. As the bullets struck, they came into view; three men, human men, dressed in white suits unlike I'd ever seen before.
Gabriel leapt over the tree to investigate. I glanced around, gun still raised. "Gabriel, there could be more. We have to go. Now!"
He shook his head. "We need to know what we're dealing with."
Gabriel took off the helmet of one of the men, brushing his fingers over his lifeless face. There were small, intricate tattoos imprinted on his cheeks. The same as Hope's.
One of the men struggled to raise his arm, a weapon powering up, aimed straight at Hope. Without hesitation, I fired upon him, striking him in the face. He did not rise again.
"Listen," Gabriel said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"The anomaly. It's quieter." He was right. The hum was far less aggressive than it had been moments before. "They're shutting it down."
"What does that mean?" Hope asked.
"It means they can control it."
A far worse thought crossed my mind. "What if it means they're taking Bellamy through and they don't want us to follow?"
I ran forwards, following the ever fainter hum of the anomaly. I was not going to let them take him from me. I would follow them to the ends of this planet, the universe, to get him back. Green light wavered through the trees, a sign that we were close. I burst into a clearing, and stopped, taken aback at the sight before me. The anomaly was there in the clearing, a swirling mass of green light and energy, and intensity I could feel in every part of me.
"BELLAMY!" I cried.
Gabriel grabbed my arm. "Wait."
Sobs wracked my chest and I didn't try to stop them. "No! It's closing!"
"We go through together," Gabriel said, linking arms with me and Hope. "If we're even seconds apart we could be separated by several months."
And that meant I could be separated from Bellamy by years. I held tight to Gabriel, staring into the time void in front of me. I was about to leave behind the new world we had fought for, had settled into. My friends would be fine. But Bellamy needed me.
Together, we stepped into the anomaly.