A Love That Cannot Be

By: Tracy Cook

Disclaimer: I own nothing. These characters belong to the creators of The 100.

Couple: Lincoln/Octavia

Rating: M

Chapter Four

Dear Love

'My Own Dear Love, He Is Strong And Bold,

And He Cares Not What Comes After.'

Darkness surrounded her as she pushed through the small opening in the cave. She needed to escape. She needed to get back to her brother and the others she knew. She needed to get away from him. She didn't know who he was. She didn't know if she could trust him. But, for some reason, she felt like she could. She felt like he would never hurt her.

There was something that shimmered behind his brown eyes when he looked at her. Something that told her, he cared about her.

Even if he didn't express it through words.

He expressed it through his actions and his eyes. The man, the grounder, had saved her. She had woken up, lying on the floor in his cave. He was standing over her with a sharp blade, that had been heated to the point that it was bright orange. He had placed it on her wound and cauterized it. It had hurt, but she knew that by him doing that, he had saved her.

She just didn't understand why.

Why would he save her? Why wouldn't he just kill her?

Octavia had so many questions floating around in her head that she needed answers to. She wanted to know if the grounders were as bad as they were making them out to be? She wanted to know why they had attacked Jasper and strung him up in a tree? She wanted to know if they wanted a war or if they wanted peace?

She wanted to know why he had saved her?

She groaned out loudly as she pulled herself out of the cave and back into the forest. Her arms were covered in bruises and dirt and her hair was a mess. There was dirt smeared across her cheek and chin, but she didn't care. She was free.

Forcing herself into a standing position, she cast her hazel eyes around the forest. She had that feeling like someone was watching her. Her heart was pounding loudly in her ears and her hands were shaking as she started to move through the trees as fast as her legs would carry her. Her leg was still sore and every time she took a step she felt an unbearable pain shoot through her body. Still, she kept pushing. She needed to get back to her campsite. She needed to get back to safety.

Octavia halted her movements and stared up at the trees when she heard them rustle above her. She could see shadows moving along them, jumping through the sky, and for a moment she forgot how to breathe.

They were watching her.

The grounders.

Octavia started to run as fast as she could. Ignoring the pain in her leg as she zigzagged through the trees and tried to lose the grounders hovering above her. With each step she felt like she was going to break and fall, but she kept pushing.

Suddenly, there was scream in the distance and she stopped to look around. She didn't know where it came from. She didn't know if it was a grounder or one of their people. If it was one of their people then that meant that Bellamy could be around. She knew that her brother would be looking for her. If he was out in the forest, then he was in danger as well.

Feeling a hand cover her mouth, she screamed loudly against the heated palm as she was pulled down into the grass. She couldn't see the person holding her, but she recognized his scent as it surrounded her. It was the grounder that had saved her. He had his hand over her mouth and he was holding her still as she watched one of the people from the Ark run through the forest in front of them.

Within seconds, a spear was thrown through the air and had pierced through her chest. Pinning her to one of the trees.

She was dead.

'That could have been me...' Realization hit her. 'He saved me again? Why? Why does he keep saving me!?'

Lincoln hoped that she understood that he was not meaning her any harm. He was only trying to protect her from his own people. They were violent and they hated the people that had fallen from the sky. They blamed them for burning down their village, they blamed them for invading their lands. They wanted to kill all of the intruders. But, he didn't.

He wanted them alive. He wanted to find peace. He wanted to save her.

Slowly, he lowered his hand from her lips. He knew that if she screamed for help then she would die, all he could do was hope that she trusted him enough not to scream.

She did. She trusted him.

Octavia couldn't comprehend why the grounder insisted on saving her life, but she knew that he wasn't meaning her any harm. She knew that she could trust him and that he was doing what was best for her.

Lincoln was relieved when she didn't scream. If he had to watch her die right before his very eyes it would destroy him. He couldn't handle that.

He stood to his feet and started to walk back into the forest, hoping that she would follow him back to safety. His cave was the only place that he knew was safe from the others in his tribe. They didn't know that it existed. They didn't know to look for him or her there. If she would stay there, then he could get rid of his tribe and return her to her camp safely. 'I just hope she follows me...'

He didn't dare tell her to. He didn't dare talk to her. If he spoke to her, then she would know he understood her and she would try and get to know him. She would try and get closer to him.

Lincoln didn't want that.

He wanted her to hate him. It would make it easier for both of them. If they cared for each other, then he would die.

Octavia furrowed her brow and started to follow after him. She was confused by his actions. He kept saving her life, but he didn't say anything. Did he not know how to speak? Did he not know her language? "Hey, where are you going?" She called after him.

Silence.

"Wait for me!" She cried, limping toward him.

He slowed his pace, but he didn't stop walking.

Octavia tried her hardest to catch up with him, but she couldn't walk any longer. Her leg hurt too bad. Letting out a loud groan, she rested against one of the trees and she held her leg. He stopped walking when she stopped, and he turned to look at her. He could see that she was hurting and it broke his heart. He didn't want her to be in pain.

She watched him closely. His eyes were soft, but the rest of his face was hard. His body was stoic. He was very intimidating.

"My leg..." She told him.

Lincoln cast his eyes down to her wounded leg. He had noticed that she was limping and he knew that she was in pain, but they couldn't stop moving. Once they got to his cave, she could rest. As long as they were out in the forest, they were in danger. He too would be killed by his people if they found him helping one of the intruders.

She could have swore she saw sympathy behind his eyes. He cared that she was in pain.

"I need to rest." Octavia told him.

Lincoln started to walk quickly toward her. He was still scowling and his body was stiff as he approached her. It caused her to stumble a little. She was a little frightened. She didn't know anything about the man aside from the fact that his people were the enemy. She had no reason to trust he wouldn't hurt her. But, she felt that he wouldn't.

He wrapped his arm around her knees and back, and he lifted her into his arms. He was now cradling her in them like a child as he continued through the forest toward his cave.

Octavia's body was stiff in his embrace for a few minutes. She didn't really know how to react to him touching her. She could feel the heat of his body against her, he could feel his arms around her, holding her tight. Protectively. A blush painted over her cheeks as she started to relax in his embrace and she stared up at his face.

He actually was quite handsome. Beneath the paint.

Hazel eyes examined him closely. He wasn't looking at her. He was staring straight ahead. His lips were still forming a scowl and he still looked angry. But, his eyes were soft. They showed his sympathy. They showed how much he cared for her. She really liked his eyes.

She glanced down at his lips and her blush intensified as her mind filled with random thoughts of kissing him. She wondered if his lips were soft. She wondered if he was gentle. She wondered a lot of things that she knew she shouldn't, and she quickly tried to push the inappropriate thoughts from her mind. Her heart was now racing rapidly as she licked over her lips.

"Thank you." Octavia said. "You saved my life."

The words caused his heart to melt, but he hated that she was thanking him. That was the last thing he wanted. He loved the sound of her voice.

Lincoln didn't say anything in response.

'Maybe he doesn't understand English...' She thought. She had lived on the Ark her entire life, under the floors, and she didn't know much about the planet Earth. None of them did. As far as they knew everyone had died. That is what they had told them. Yet, these grounders were here. She didn't know anything about them or what language they spoke.

Octavia only knew one thing. The girl she had just watched die was from their camp. She was one of the girls that Bellamy had been fooling around with on occasion, and if she was in the forest, so was he.

"That girl back there." She said. "I knew her, so if she's here then so's my brother. Please, you have to help him too. They'll kill him." She begged. The thought of losing her brother was the worst thought in the world. It caused her stomach to lurch back and forth and her chest to tighten painfully. He had been the only one who was ever there for her. He couldn't die.

Lincoln knew that her brother was out in the forest.

He knew that he was looking for her. He knew that he was in danger. But, he didn't think he could do anything about it.

Still, the hurt shimmering in hazel eyes and the pain in her raspy voice was enough to make him think about it. He could call off his tribe and that would give them time to escape unharmed. He could lead them back to his cave so that they could save her. Then he could return to his tribe and never see her again. 'If I am caught though... They will kill me...'

It was worth the risk for him. It was worth the risk to make her happy.

No one deserved to lose someone that they loved. He had lost his father and that had been the most painful experience of his life. He lived with the regrets and guilt of that day, the hope that he could have done something to change the outcome. He didn't wish that upon anyone. Especially her.

Octavia sighed and threw her head back in annoyance. She felt like she was talking to a wall. "You don't understand me, do you?"

He said nothing.

She nodded and laughed to herself. Of course he didn't understand her. "Great."

In that moment he turned to look her in the eye and she saw understanding swimming in his eyes. She saw concern written across his face. She saw compassion and caring. 'Does he understand me? If he understands me then why won't he just talk to me?' Her heart jumped when she realized just how close their faces were. She could feel his breath rushing against her skin and she felt those same urges from earlier.

'Pull yourself together, Octavia! He's the enemy... and you don't even know him! Plus he's obviously older then you! You can't have feelings for him.'

Octavia pulled her gaze away from him and he returned his attention forward. But, the thoughts were still there. The desires. She had spent all her life trapped and she had these desires that she wanted to explore.

'Just not with him. They can't be with him. He doesn't even understand you!'

What happened next was a blur.

He was leading her back into the cave.

He was chaining her up.

She was screaming at him to stop. But, he wasn't listening.

Lincoln didn't want to listen to her. He didn't want to speak to her and tell her his plan. He just wanted to make sure that she was safe while he delivered her brother safely to her. He wanted her to hate him. Because, her hating him was the only way to keep them both safe.

Her hating him was for the best.

'Oh, A Girl, She'd Not Forget Him.

My Own Dear Love, He Is All My World,

And I Wish I'd Never Met Him.'

Author's Note :

Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! I promise that after the torture and the kiss in the next chapter that I will get to their first meeting in secret and things that didn't happen in the show! I hate that the show skipped over their development! BUT I LOVED THEIR SEX SCENE! UNF! Regardless, I will be writing that development so I hope that y'all like what I have in mind! Please do tell me what y'all think! :))

I really do love this pairing so much and I am praying that Lincoln will survive this season!

Thank you all for reading!

I love y'all!

-Tracy Cook-