No. You don't. [The words are delivered quickly and easily. Lincoln knows exactly where there's a barb in Bellamy's words, and he doesn't bother denying them. In the same line of thought, he knows that he failed to keep his word—failed to protect Bellamy, to fight their way inside. They needed an inside man and they got it, but Lincoln wonders what the cost happened to be.]
You say the mountain is gone, but what happened? And why are you speaking to Anya that way? [It's not a challenge, despite the way that question can be perceived. No, there's this:] She had been seeking out an alliance. Our people have an alliance. [Confusion muddles these words more than anything else.
[ sometimes bellamy wishes lincoln would fight back and reject any hidden claim he happens to make, intentional or accidental. it'd make hating him a little easier — a little more possible. he hasn't had enough time to process what he feels to be a betrayal, having gone straight into a cage and then into survival mode before flicking a switch and turning into someone who isn't too sure if he's as keen to cuddle as he is to forget. it would give him a reason to deny lincoln anything if he confessed he thought himself right to do what he'd done. ]
[ except he doesn't, accepting it. and bellamy finds himself unable to be petulant and petty and refuse to give him the answers he seeks. ]
Alliance got broken. [ there's no harm in telling lincoln, is there? he's kept the details as far away from raven as possible in fear of her doing something drastic, like opting to go home and live the moments he's purposefully refused to tell her about. he doesn't understand how things work in eudio, if anything changes since raven only remembers so much and he knows more than her, but he wants to believe the representatives are good for their word. ]
[ bellamy sighs, but it's the only emotion he seems to show in his voice. he sounds as though he's reading a book on facts than retelling a moment in their shared history he had experienced and even felt frightened during. ] Lexa made a deal with the Mountain Men. Got her people out after I opened their cages of those in Harvest. They left us all for dead inside that damn mountain.
[ as for anya ... she's an easy target. a grounder through and through. when he looks at lincoln and tries and makes him into a grounder in his mind, he can't. he's more person than he is savage, even though bellamy knows, deep down when he's not trying to be an asshole and disassociate any feelings toward them that happen to be positive or even sympathetic, that they are, too. ] Anya's one of them. She'll stab us in the back the moment she gets her people here.
[ et tu, brute? he thinks to say, but lincoln isn't a traitor. he knows that deep down. ]
[Agitation hits Lincoln's shoulders immediately, and he feels that not only has Lexa betrayed the Sky People, she's betrayed him in a way. The idea of leaving the Sky People in there infuriates him, and he doesn't accept it. But there is no Lexa to take this out on, and he remains silent while he processes his anger. Some part of him feels hypocritical, but there is a strong part of him that rejects the Commander's choices.
He wonders where he had been in all of that. But he knows they would never take his word. To them, he is more Skaikru than Trikru, separated from the people he had been born with because of his rejection of their ideals and behaviors. He knows that their life is difficult, but he refuses to believe that that was the only way. He knows, clearly, that the Mountain Men got more out of that deal than his people.]
The Commander should have never done that. She should have never abandoned the alliance. It would only be a matter of time before the Mountain Men turned the tables on us again. [That's the rational answer, but he barely veils the irritation in his voice.] I would have never let them do that if I knew. [But they both know that Lincoln wouldn't have had much of a say. He is a traitor to someone, but only because of his beliefs.]
I want to say you're wrong about Anya, but that is what our people know. If she learns of the Commander's betrayal, she will trust in her choices. It would be ... best to keep that from her for now. [Survival is survival, even in a world like this. They have no choice but to keep it a secret, and try their best to foster good will with Anya in the meantime.
[ as powerful as lincoln wants to believe he is, he's as weak as the rest of them. is that what happens when you're one of the sky people? you become weak? bellamy sometimes wonders it, but then he reflects back on everything they've done since being dropped onto the earth, and he realises they're far from it. they're scarier than the mountain men will ever be, more intimidating than the grounders with their ways of harvesting the earth and understanding it. they're immune to the radiation soaking the earth just as they are to the defeat he often feels lining his own bones. he's always thought them to be the weaker of the lot, but he's found they're always attacked and kidnapped and even betrayed for how much power they really do hold. and it's not about the technology they're capable of, either. ]
[ the stubborn refusal to give up is what he had noticed in lincoln long before he had ever learned his name. it's what he sees in the kids, in monty and his optimism, in jasper and his refusal to write himself off as weak, and in o, even though he'd been the one to think lincoln had made her stronger when she's always made him feel invincible. ]
[ regardless of what lincoln says, bellamy doesn't believe anything he could've done or had said would've mattered. he wasn't grounder anymore. he knew that when the commander had tried to hurt raven and he'd chosen to move with the sky people rather than against them. ]
Why the hell do I care about Anya? [ his voice sounds more rough than he wants it to be. trusting a grounder is what had gotten them stuck inside the mountain with drills in their legs in the first place. even though bellamy doesn't want to place any trust or concern in the hands of a grounder again, he does know lincoln has a point. his anger blinds him from even acknowledging it. ] What's done is done. A dead grounder walking doesn't scare me.
We have a chance to live a life without fear. Anya has never known that life, the same as the rest of us. [Lincoln includes the Sky People in that because he has heard of Octavia's experiences. That she manages to hold it together in spite of that shows her true power. She's even able to joke about it. He admires that strength in her above all else, that she's managed to hold on to it and keep it close even when her world and her people have tried to repeatedly rip it away. She lost her mother, she had been hidden from everyone, and somehow she manages to keep a level head.
But Lincoln can see the coldness and callousness among the Sky People, and he knows that it's born of a desire to survive, the same way it is among his people. The fact that there's a similarity for him is what makes him try to see things evenly, and he'll continue to stand by them, even when his people continue to be ruthless toward them. Even if they have some of the same makeup, they are also different, and they landed on earth without the expectation that they might have to go to war constantly.
(It's this last part that is a sticking point, as he'll make clear—)]
There is no violence in this world. There are no alliances. [Even if the burden of these things remain.]
And most importantly, there is no war. From what I've come to understand, anyone who chooses to change that will not get what they've come for. [He frowns in consideration, because it's possible that Bellamy knows differently. Lincoln's understanding of things is fresh and new. He adds, then:] Unless you know differently.
[ bellamy has a feeling lincoln knows eudio is a world based on consent and kindness. raise a hand against another without permission and it sees you get kicked out. it's why bellamy's been on his best behaviour, using words and tone to get his punches across to anya. it's how he's kept his walls up, even if he has a gun in his apartment. ]
[ he sighs. ] You do something without consent, you get booted. Goes for everything, except maybe words. [ if so, he and anya haven't been booted from the city thus far. he doubts that words count, given how that's taking policing a little too far. ]
[ but he doesn't think lincoln to be correct, not completely. eudio may be a fear-free city, but it's one that has inflicted it inside of him. it still grips him, especially now he knows octavia can come and go, leaving him behind to feel a little useless and directionless without her there to help guide him. it's a fear that has held onto him since the age of seven, and he finds, regardless of where he is and the promises those leaders make, he'll always be gripped by it. ]
You know O went home before, right? She chose to go back for you. [ there's no malice in his voice, nothing to be found in his tone that suggests he disagrees with octavia's choice to return to lincoln and ensure he's safe and sound. he suspects a part of her had wanted him to be invited along with her, wanting to return to him until she found herself back in the city with those she trusted most flanking her. it still hurts, nonetheless, to be left behind, to not know if she's okay or even smiling. ] You might say we have a chance to live without fear here, but I fear it every day. And I worry about who's going to be invited into this city next.
[ he doubts cage would care very much for consent, even though he supposes the representatives here would save them from being drilled before they were even forced onto the table. it may seem irrational to be afraid of it, of who comes through that revolving door, but the city isn't as peaceful and free of its fears as lincoln may wish to believe. it's a demon bellamy needs to slay, but he doesn't know how to go about it. ]
[Lincoln understands fear all too well. Fear is an aspect of survival. Fear has been instilled in him since he was a boy. And fear can make people do monstrous things. His people do a great deal of things out of fear, because they want to control their society and ensure their continued survival. Often, many of their choices are wrong and unfair, as they outcast people who are different because they don't want to have them muddle the bloodlines in their village. It's a harsh reality that often has little justification.
But he thinks that they won't benefit from fear here, even if he understands where Bellamy is coming from. The confirmation of circumstances seems right, but there is a good chance that the officials might ask for someone else to come. What would happen to the Mountain Men if they were given the ability to come outside? How long would it take for them to justify killing off his people (both sets of them) out of some need to protect themselves? Would the officials here see that ripple effect, and would they stop it?
He doesn't know. A few short days isn't enough to answer that question.]
Can we advise them against certain people? If we're here and contributing for a longer period of time, will we have that opportunity? [Lincoln is used to a world where people do things in opportunistic ways. He's asking because he's curious, but because of the world he's from, he assumes that the people running this city, even with their set rules and their ideals, will be just as opportunistic. They stop war because it benefits them. They make choice a thing because it benefits them. But it benefits everyone else, creating a reality that they can't ignore.]
[ bellamy shrugs, even though lincoln can't see it. he's used to being the person with all the answers — it's how mom had raised him, to be the one who would know how to fix things, how to guide o, how to do her job if she wasn't around to make sure her kids survived the nature of the ark. ]
I don't know. [ he feels like he does, though. what would he do, if he was a representative who needed people to come in and generate energy for his city? he'd take them all on board if they accepted his invitation. with the rules in place to ensure consent is at the forefront of everyone's mind, he really wonders if the representatives would be so naive as to think the mountain men and sky people could ever get along. ]
They need energy to keep this city afloat. Why would they cut themselves off from another source of it? [ bellamy knows he's a volatile citizen. take o away, and he'll follow. why would the representatives want to keep their end of a bargain in regards to who they invite to their own party if he's going to come and go as he pleases? ] We can leave when we want. If you make that deal and they agree, the moment you're out of here, who knows what the hell would happen.
So you believe them to be the types to only look our for their people in the end. Even if we have struck agreements with them. I'll keep that in mind. [Lincoln is used to that style of thinking. It's how the grounders live and thrive, and it's a system of ideals that he doesn't necessarily agree to. But he understands that this city does need their help, and he understands that what they're giving in return is worthwhile.]
I don't believe it would benefit them to bring someone in who could corrupt their system, but I can see where they may have no choice. In time, we might all have our incentives, and they'll need to look outside the more ... pliable individuals. [It's a type of mercenary thinking, but if their city needs it, they may have no choice.
Lincoln just hopes that it never comes to that, both for what they want out of this city, and what he wants, as well. He can see how easy it would be to idealize this place, and he'd prefer to keep it that way.]
[ at the end of the day, this city is just as fucked up and unsafe as the ground. bellamy knows, though, that he has the power to make this city something worthwhile. just like the ground, if he fights for what he wants, he'll get it eventually. it's the crux of the stories mom used to tell him and o — and it's what he wants to take from them, even if those heroes ended up turned to stone or dismembered because of it. ]
Do you expect anything else? [ though he sounds annoyed, it's not at lincoln. it's at how they're stuck between a rock and a hard place. regardless of what they do, looking out for their people comes at the price of ensuring the city representatives get what they want. lincoln's people, his first people, had stabbed them in the back for the sake of protecting their own skin. bellamy gets it more than he understands anything else about the grounders, but it doesn't make them less untrustworthy. people look out for their own. bellamy knows he'll go to the ends of the earth and open the floodgates to another mountain if it means his people are safe. ]
Trust them, don't trust them. At the end of the day, all we have is each other. [ it's how he's been able to survive for so long in this city without raising a little hell and being a complete idiot about it. to keep his head on straight, bellamy's relied upon clarke and raven and o. despite how irritated he feels at lincoln, he's included as one of the people bellamy trusts. ]
I don't expect anything else. But expecting one thing and acting on it are two different things. There was a time when "my people" was more rigidly defined than it is now, and I made the choices necessary to change that. What they've told me, and how they've already helped me, has made it clear that they are at least willing to say the right things. Whether they act on it is another matter altogether.
[That's why he said that he would keep Bellamy's perspective in mind, but Lincoln ultimately always decides for himself. He does believe Bellamy's experience is greater than his own. He has reason to believe that the administrators here could be no better than the false promises handed out to the individuals inside of Mount Weather.]
You are right, though. We have each other. [And Lincoln intends to secure that standing as much as he can.]
[ did the guys in mount weather hand out promises while he was hung upside down? bellamy can't recall. it's difficult for him to believe anyone isn't playing the political game. the representatives are saying the right things, doing the right things, smiling the right way — but for people like them, like bellamy and lincoln and all the other kids from the ground, it's a difficult pill to swallow. no one in space or on the actual earth itself has been this accommodating. ]
[ bellamy hesitates. showing weakness isn't a strength. if he lets lincoln know, by his tone, his choice of words, even in his pause, that he isn't so confident in his own belief the representatives are untrustworthy, he feels like he'll lose his own footing among his people and with himself. but lincoln's seen him at his most afraid — when he'd been torturing him and when he'd placed his trust in him to stick to a plan. ]
I don't know if they're going to say one thing and do another. [ he wishes it was as easy as that, as black and white as it has been for as long as he can remember. but he isn't so sure if he believes in it anymore. ] I've spoken to one of the representatives. I don't know how it works among the Grounders, but usually when you question someone in a position of power, they want to make an example of you. [ he expects kane would've. he thinks commander shumway tried to. he doesn't doubt lexa would make an example out of someone who thought to question her. but he pauses, his voice lowering, ] She didn't.
Power is power. Any challenge to that power can be seen as something that needs to be punished. [Though Bellamy had only truly seen this when Raven had been framed for attempting to poison the Commander, Lincoln had not been surprised by the treatment there. That had been a different situation altogether, where it was a shaky alliance that could easily be broken, but Gustus' actions there were born from a society that couldn't risk weakness.
Being challenged made someone weak.
Of course, this is just one of many things about the society he's from that he doesn't agree with. An outsider doesn't necessarily make them into an enemy, and people can and should risk trusting others, and doing right by them. It makes them better people, rather than giving in to their monstrous natures. (Because all can be monsters, even these administrators. With the power vested to them, they definitely can.)]
If they didn't mind the challenge you posed, it's promising. [He considers his previous thoughts, and after a moment, decides to share them.] For what they offer us, and what they're capable of, we know that they could be doing far worse here. Their city needs our help, but they aren't faced by the same limitations as Mount Weather.
[And they can simply have someone go home who doesn't comply, or doesn't want to be there. Like Octavia did.]
[ it's easier to think o had gone home the first time out of her desire to keep him safe and to ensure lincoln wasn't doing anything stupid. it's the way he's had to rationalise it — bellamy's safer in a city that has him held far, far away from trouble, while lincoln's with a group of people who simply don't get him. he wants to believe octavia had wanted to leave due to her own anxiety over lincoln than her desire to be far away from this city due to an uncomfortable feeling it may have given her. they didn't keep secrets from one another — he didn't want that tot be them anymore. ]
Your people ever think punishing someone who spoke up made you look even weaker? Makes you look like you have something to hide. [ in hindsight, that's how the situation with gustus had read to him. the alliance was already on shaky ground; the grounders inability to place their trust in the sky people had bellamy unwilling to cooperate as easily as clarke. ]
I guess it's a good thing these guys can walk on the grass without being poisoned. [ which means they'd be more difficult to disarm, if they're anything like cage wallace and his men. bellamy sighs. ] I think the secret underground lair these guys would have is for people who really like to hug. Shove all the freaks in one place.
I've made them look weaker. I should be dead. [It's a simple matter of fact. The only reason he lives is because of Clarke and her mother. To kill him after his return from being a reaper would be ill-advised, given what he stands for. The Sky People had protected him and given him shelter in the wake of everything, and he knows that he could just as easily still be killed for his numerous betrayals.
It is almost pure luck that he isn't dead now. And it's luck that keeps Bellamy from killing him for his different betrayal, though Lincoln still thinks he would be within his rights to do so. Time has passed for Bellamy, though, if this conversation tells him anything.]
If they did have a lair like that, it would only be out of desperation. But then again, perhaps there would still be willing participants, all hoping to help. [Which isn't to say he deems that a good thing. Cynicism is clear in his tone, as he knows that desperate measures means that what help is offered is still somewhat forced out of the person in question.]
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You say the mountain is gone, but what happened? And why are you speaking to Anya that way? [It's not a challenge, despite the way that question can be perceived. No, there's this:] She had been seeking out an alliance. Our people have an alliance. [Confusion muddles these words more than anything else.
He needs to know what is happening here.]
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[ except he doesn't, accepting it. and bellamy finds himself unable to be petulant and petty and refuse to give him the answers he seeks. ]
Alliance got broken. [ there's no harm in telling lincoln, is there? he's kept the details as far away from raven as possible in fear of her doing something drastic, like opting to go home and live the moments he's purposefully refused to tell her about. he doesn't understand how things work in eudio, if anything changes since raven only remembers so much and he knows more than her, but he wants to believe the representatives are good for their word. ]
[ bellamy sighs, but it's the only emotion he seems to show in his voice. he sounds as though he's reading a book on facts than retelling a moment in their shared history he had experienced and even felt frightened during. ] Lexa made a deal with the Mountain Men. Got her people out after I opened their cages of those in Harvest. They left us all for dead inside that damn mountain.
[ as for anya ... she's an easy target. a grounder through and through. when he looks at lincoln and tries and makes him into a grounder in his mind, he can't. he's more person than he is savage, even though bellamy knows, deep down when he's not trying to be an asshole and disassociate any feelings toward them that happen to be positive or even sympathetic, that they are, too. ] Anya's one of them. She'll stab us in the back the moment she gets her people here.
[ et tu, brute? he thinks to say, but lincoln isn't a traitor. he knows that deep down. ]
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He wonders where he had been in all of that. But he knows they would never take his word. To them, he is more Skaikru than Trikru, separated from the people he had been born with because of his rejection of their ideals and behaviors. He knows that their life is difficult, but he refuses to believe that that was the only way. He knows, clearly, that the Mountain Men got more out of that deal than his people.]
The Commander should have never done that. She should have never abandoned the alliance. It would only be a matter of time before the Mountain Men turned the tables on us again. [That's the rational answer, but he barely veils the irritation in his voice.] I would have never let them do that if I knew. [But they both know that Lincoln wouldn't have had much of a say. He is a traitor to someone, but only because of his beliefs.]
I want to say you're wrong about Anya, but that is what our people know. If she learns of the Commander's betrayal, she will trust in her choices. It would be ... best to keep that from her for now. [Survival is survival, even in a world like this. They have no choice but to keep it a secret, and try their best to foster good will with Anya in the meantime.
Which honestly seems impossible.]
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[ the stubborn refusal to give up is what he had noticed in lincoln long before he had ever learned his name. it's what he sees in the kids, in monty and his optimism, in jasper and his refusal to write himself off as weak, and in o, even though he'd been the one to think lincoln had made her stronger when she's always made him feel invincible. ]
[ regardless of what lincoln says, bellamy doesn't believe anything he could've done or had said would've mattered. he wasn't grounder anymore. he knew that when the commander had tried to hurt raven and he'd chosen to move with the sky people rather than against them. ]
Why the hell do I care about Anya? [ his voice sounds more rough than he wants it to be. trusting a grounder is what had gotten them stuck inside the mountain with drills in their legs in the first place. even though bellamy doesn't want to place any trust or concern in the hands of a grounder again, he does know lincoln has a point. his anger blinds him from even acknowledging it. ] What's done is done. A dead grounder walking doesn't scare me.
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But Lincoln can see the coldness and callousness among the Sky People, and he knows that it's born of a desire to survive, the same way it is among his people. The fact that there's a similarity for him is what makes him try to see things evenly, and he'll continue to stand by them, even when his people continue to be ruthless toward them. Even if they have some of the same makeup, they are also different, and they landed on earth without the expectation that they might have to go to war constantly.
(It's this last part that is a sticking point, as he'll make clear—)]
There is no violence in this world. There are no alliances. [Even if the burden of these things remain.]
And most importantly, there is no war. From what I've come to understand, anyone who chooses to change that will not get what they've come for. [He frowns in consideration, because it's possible that Bellamy knows differently. Lincoln's understanding of things is fresh and new. He adds, then:] Unless you know differently.
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[ he sighs. ] You do something without consent, you get booted. Goes for everything, except maybe words. [ if so, he and anya haven't been booted from the city thus far. he doubts that words count, given how that's taking policing a little too far. ]
[ but he doesn't think lincoln to be correct, not completely. eudio may be a fear-free city, but it's one that has inflicted it inside of him. it still grips him, especially now he knows octavia can come and go, leaving him behind to feel a little useless and directionless without her there to help guide him. it's a fear that has held onto him since the age of seven, and he finds, regardless of where he is and the promises those leaders make, he'll always be gripped by it. ]
You know O went home before, right? She chose to go back for you. [ there's no malice in his voice, nothing to be found in his tone that suggests he disagrees with octavia's choice to return to lincoln and ensure he's safe and sound. he suspects a part of her had wanted him to be invited along with her, wanting to return to him until she found herself back in the city with those she trusted most flanking her. it still hurts, nonetheless, to be left behind, to not know if she's okay or even smiling. ] You might say we have a chance to live without fear here, but I fear it every day. And I worry about who's going to be invited into this city next.
[ he doubts cage would care very much for consent, even though he supposes the representatives here would save them from being drilled before they were even forced onto the table. it may seem irrational to be afraid of it, of who comes through that revolving door, but the city isn't as peaceful and free of its fears as lincoln may wish to believe. it's a demon bellamy needs to slay, but he doesn't know how to go about it. ]
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But he thinks that they won't benefit from fear here, even if he understands where Bellamy is coming from. The confirmation of circumstances seems right, but there is a good chance that the officials might ask for someone else to come. What would happen to the Mountain Men if they were given the ability to come outside? How long would it take for them to justify killing off his people (both sets of them) out of some need to protect themselves? Would the officials here see that ripple effect, and would they stop it?
He doesn't know. A few short days isn't enough to answer that question.]
Can we advise them against certain people? If we're here and contributing for a longer period of time, will we have that opportunity? [Lincoln is used to a world where people do things in opportunistic ways. He's asking because he's curious, but because of the world he's from, he assumes that the people running this city, even with their set rules and their ideals, will be just as opportunistic. They stop war because it benefits them. They make choice a thing because it benefits them. But it benefits everyone else, creating a reality that they can't ignore.]
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I don't know. [ he feels like he does, though. what would he do, if he was a representative who needed people to come in and generate energy for his city? he'd take them all on board if they accepted his invitation. with the rules in place to ensure consent is at the forefront of everyone's mind, he really wonders if the representatives would be so naive as to think the mountain men and sky people could ever get along. ]
They need energy to keep this city afloat. Why would they cut themselves off from another source of it? [ bellamy knows he's a volatile citizen. take o away, and he'll follow. why would the representatives want to keep their end of a bargain in regards to who they invite to their own party if he's going to come and go as he pleases? ] We can leave when we want. If you make that deal and they agree, the moment you're out of here, who knows what the hell would happen.
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I don't believe it would benefit them to bring someone in who could corrupt their system, but I can see where they may have no choice. In time, we might all have our incentives, and they'll need to look outside the more ... pliable individuals. [It's a type of mercenary thinking, but if their city needs it, they may have no choice.
Lincoln just hopes that it never comes to that, both for what they want out of this city, and what he wants, as well. He can see how easy it would be to idealize this place, and he'd prefer to keep it that way.]
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Do you expect anything else? [ though he sounds annoyed, it's not at lincoln. it's at how they're stuck between a rock and a hard place. regardless of what they do, looking out for their people comes at the price of ensuring the city representatives get what they want. lincoln's people, his first people, had stabbed them in the back for the sake of protecting their own skin. bellamy gets it more than he understands anything else about the grounders, but it doesn't make them less untrustworthy. people look out for their own. bellamy knows he'll go to the ends of the earth and open the floodgates to another mountain if it means his people are safe. ]
Trust them, don't trust them. At the end of the day, all we have is each other. [ it's how he's been able to survive for so long in this city without raising a little hell and being a complete idiot about it. to keep his head on straight, bellamy's relied upon clarke and raven and o. despite how irritated he feels at lincoln, he's included as one of the people bellamy trusts. ]
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[That's why he said that he would keep Bellamy's perspective in mind, but Lincoln ultimately always decides for himself. He does believe Bellamy's experience is greater than his own. He has reason to believe that the administrators here could be no better than the false promises handed out to the individuals inside of Mount Weather.]
You are right, though. We have each other. [And Lincoln intends to secure that standing as much as he can.]
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[ bellamy hesitates. showing weakness isn't a strength. if he lets lincoln know, by his tone, his choice of words, even in his pause, that he isn't so confident in his own belief the representatives are untrustworthy, he feels like he'll lose his own footing among his people and with himself. but lincoln's seen him at his most afraid — when he'd been torturing him and when he'd placed his trust in him to stick to a plan. ]
I don't know if they're going to say one thing and do another. [ he wishes it was as easy as that, as black and white as it has been for as long as he can remember. but he isn't so sure if he believes in it anymore. ] I've spoken to one of the representatives. I don't know how it works among the Grounders, but usually when you question someone in a position of power, they want to make an example of you. [ he expects kane would've. he thinks commander shumway tried to. he doesn't doubt lexa would make an example out of someone who thought to question her. but he pauses, his voice lowering, ] She didn't.
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Being challenged made someone weak.
Of course, this is just one of many things about the society he's from that he doesn't agree with. An outsider doesn't necessarily make them into an enemy, and people can and should risk trusting others, and doing right by them. It makes them better people, rather than giving in to their monstrous natures. (Because all can be monsters, even these administrators. With the power vested to them, they definitely can.)]
If they didn't mind the challenge you posed, it's promising. [He considers his previous thoughts, and after a moment, decides to share them.] For what they offer us, and what they're capable of, we know that they could be doing far worse here. Their city needs our help, but they aren't faced by the same limitations as Mount Weather.
[And they can simply have someone go home who doesn't comply, or doesn't want to be there. Like Octavia did.]
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Your people ever think punishing someone who spoke up made you look even weaker? Makes you look like you have something to hide. [ in hindsight, that's how the situation with gustus had read to him. the alliance was already on shaky ground; the grounders inability to place their trust in the sky people had bellamy unwilling to cooperate as easily as clarke. ]
I guess it's a good thing these guys can walk on the grass without being poisoned. [ which means they'd be more difficult to disarm, if they're anything like cage wallace and his men. bellamy sighs. ] I think the secret underground lair these guys would have is for people who really like to hug. Shove all the freaks in one place.
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It is almost pure luck that he isn't dead now. And it's luck that keeps Bellamy from killing him for his different betrayal, though Lincoln still thinks he would be within his rights to do so. Time has passed for Bellamy, though, if this conversation tells him anything.]
If they did have a lair like that, it would only be out of desperation. But then again, perhaps there would still be willing participants, all hoping to help. [Which isn't to say he deems that a good thing. Cynicism is clear in his tone, as he knows that desperate measures means that what help is offered is still somewhat forced out of the person in question.]