They get back to Arkadia, and Clarke takes Kane as her assistant. Jackson's not around, and Kane was with Bellamy so he should be able to tell her what happened, she explains.

"My sister?" Bellamy asks half-deliriously.

"Octavia's alive and resting. She warned us about Roan. You can see her later, but right now she needs to rest, and you have other things to worry about."

But he doesn't look worried, he seems to visibly relax.

By the time Clarke decides it's important to dig the bullet out of Bellamy's arm, he's fully conscious and lying half-upright on a bed in medical. His eyes never leave Clarke as she hurries about, but his expression and white knuckles say what he doesn't.

Suddenly Clarke freezes. "Bellamy, where's Stephens?"

"Dead."

Kane expects him to leave it at that, because the kid's in a lot of pain and was never much of a talker.

"Echo captured us and got Stephens to reveal your plan."

"They tortured you?"

The barest of nods.

"They said Stephens didn't deserve to be a warrior after giving in and killed him. Right there on the throne room floor. We couldn't stop them."

"I'm sorry," Clarke says simply, putting a hand on Bellamy's arm. It's only then that Kane realizes she had crossed the room. He had been so focused on Bellamy's words, the voluntary reveal of information Bellamy hadn't even told Kane, that he didn't notice her movement.

At first it's a little odd, frustrating even, but then Kane reminds himself that the information Bellamy is sharing isn't vital to Kane. But it's barely important to Clarke either (unless he starts to give more details on the torture he endured). Still, Bellamy must have suffered quite a bit, and he isn't one to talk, much less about his own struggles.

"It was my fault. I decided to hunt Azgeda land, and I said some things while Echo was…trying to get me to talk," Bellamy continued. "I was angry, and I got Stephens killed."

Clarke doesn't say anything, and Kane knows this is a conversation he is lucky to observe, but he should not speak up.

"You told me not to but I was an idiot and didn't listen and now Stephens is dead."

"We don't know that," Clarke counters. "We have no way of knowing what would have happened and—"

Bellamy manages to control his violent coughing. "Water," he explains, apparently seeing a question in Clarke's eyes that Kane didn't recognize.

"Echo?"

Another nod, and Kane starts to understand Bellamy's appearance when he'd dropped to his knees on the throne room floor. Damp messy hair, exhaustion, annoyance bordering on helplessness…what had they done to him?

"Almost as bad as being hung upside down and drained for blood," Bellamy adds with a teasing grin.

"I'm sorry," Clarke says again, and Kane wonders if he's ever heard her say those words twice in one day before. "I shouldn't have—"

"No. We already had that discussion. It's over."

When? When had they talked about that?

"What did they do?" Clarke asks, looking at Kane as if she is remembering now that he's there.

"I don't know what Echo did," Kane admits. "Roan let his men at Bellamy with the order that they not kill him. A horse stepped on his hand, it's probably broken." A confirming nod from Bellamy. "My guess is broken ribs, minor cuts and bruises. I wasn't in the crowd, so I couldn't see."

"You're the chancellor," Bellamy needles. "I'm not."

"You're more important," Clarke says suddenly, then ducks her head and starts cutting Bellamy's sleeve around the bullet wound.

Bellamy flinches but keeps his eyes on her hands. "Only to you," he replies, voice hesitant as though he's testing the waters.

"Roan knew that," Kane realizes, speaking out loud when neither of them does. "What deal did you make, Clarke?"

"We'll talk about the deal later," Clarke says firmly. "Right now you make sure Bellamy doesn't move while I get the bullet out and set his hand."

So feet, legs, and hips are strapped down to the metal bed, and Kane is tasked with shoulders and arm.

"This is going to hurt," Clarke warns.

"Just get it out."

So Clarke starts with the knife, and Bellamy groans, and Kane worries that he'll be sick. Eventually Clarke switches to using her fingers, shoving them deep into Bellamy's arm, and Bellamy is howling but too weak to put up a good struggle.

Clarke holds up the bullet, and Bellamy is left gasping and half-sobbing. Kane can't bring himself to look at either of them, like it would be an invasion of privacy somehow.

"Bellamy." Clarke's voice, soft and teary.

"'M ok," Bellamy's voice, rough from screaming and trembly.

"Bell, hey, you'll be fine."

"MmHmm." It sounds forced, like if he opens his mouth it won't be words coming out.

"It damaged the bone, but I removed the chip and now I just need to suture the bullet hole."

"'kay great."

Kane hears movement and a stifled sob, but he can't tell who it belongs to, and he doesn't turn to look, he just does his job. How do Clarke and Abby and Jackson do this every day?

"The deal," Bellamy says. "What did you do?"

"Not now—"

"Now, Clarke. Please."

Kane understands Bellamy needs a distraction, needs some way to maintain his dignity, especially after all he'd gone through in the last few hours. So he begins helpfully, "Roan found out about the plan to repair the Ark. He essentially declared war on Skaikru."

"We're not at war," Clarke assures them as she threads a needle. "He agreed we would share the Ark equally."

Bellamy's hiss of pain tells Kane Clarke has started.

"How?" Bellamy croaks.

"It took some convincing," Clarke confesses.

"No, how could you do that? The List was bad enough. Now you…aughahaha…cut it in half? You just doomed fifty more people to their deaths."

"You were dying."

"I'm only one person, Clarke."

"No, you're not. You make sure others are safe."

"Stephens—"

"The Ark is a backup plan. I don't want to use it, but if we do it doesn't seem right to only save ourselves."

"The Grounders have never—augh!"

"Hold still. We aren't the Grounders, Bell. We're different."

"One for fifty is stupid and just plain bad math."

"Says the history student," Clarke teases.

History student? Bellamy never struck Kane as the type. But now that he thinks about it, the kid is crazy intelligent. How does Clarke know this?

Bellamy doesn't respond.

"We save who we can now."

Bellamy remains quiet, and Kane suspects Clarke is using his own words against him.

"There."

Kane looks over to see a neatly sutured line where the hole had been. "Nicely done," he remarks, trying to lighten the mood.

"Thank you. Hopefully it doesn't scar."

"Won't make a difference," Bellamy assures her. "What's one more?"

Clarke moves on to the next biggest problem and begins setting Bellamy's hand. Kane mercifully holds out a role of gauze, and Bellamy bites down on it. Eventually the rubbing of shattered bones is too much even for Bellamy, and he vomits all over himself. Clarke deftly makes a few more adjustments to his hand. Bellamy's cries are not muffled by the gauze anymore, but it's been a long hard day for him and he's hoarse.

Kane wishes medicine on earth wasn't so barbaric, then feels bad because he's not the one causing the pain or even feeling it. But he does feel it.

Clarke wraps Bellamy's hand and cleans the vomit off, something about her matter-of-fact actions taking away the humiliation from the situation. She hums something while Bellamy shudders and swallows hiccupping whimpers.

Kane sits and leans against the wall. "We need to decide what to do about Azgeda."

"I did," Clarke says.

"To save Bellamy. But now we need to talk about our options."

"There aren't any. I made a decision, and Roan agreed."

"You can't make decisions like that without checking with me first."

"You weren't available," Clarke snaps. "Bellamy's life was on the line, and so were yours and all the other Arkadians."

"The Grounders respect Clarke," Bellamy speaks up. "I trust her, and so should you. She knows what she's doing."

Kane sighs. "I don't like it."

"None of us do," Bellamy says gruffly. "But Clarke's right: we save who we can now. The Ark is only a backup plan."

"And what happens when we have to use that backup plan?"

They never answer that, instead talking for a while longer about politics and decisions needing to be made. Bellamy eventually grows silent, and Kane can tell the pain is making him tired. Kane too falls into silence. Not ready to face anyone else, he stays in medical, eyes closed and not speaking. He can hear Clarke's quiet voice as she talks about supplies and options, barely able to hear her over the washing of tools. Bellamy keeps up his side of the conversation, his voice a low rumble, rattling from the water in his lungs.

At some point Clarke checks Bellamy's other injuries, and Kane thinks the kid is actually telling Clarke what happened to him, but Kane can't tell for sure.

Their voices turn to low murmurs, with a small laugh now and then, and Kane lets himself drift off.

They'll save who they can save today. Tomorrow, they will do the same.

And that's a wrap, folks! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Reviews are greatly encouraging :)

I love taking moments and filling in where the show maybe didn't go far enough to satisfy its audience (for any number of perfectly reasonable reasons). If you have any suggestions on a scene, please don't hesitate to send me a message or say it in a review. Thanks!