𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞²

35. trusting

"You're a horrible comfort." he muttered, shooting me a skeptical look. 

I shrugged. "Just putting all the cards onto the table."

"If we're doing this," Raven advised, standing up and making her way toward the door. "We need to do it now."

Shaw gave the three of us an uneasy look before nodding. "Murphy, let's go. You two stay here." he ordered, giving Raven and I a pointed look. 

I gave him a fake solute. "Not many place we can go." I mocked, earning a small snort from Raven. 

Murphy looked back to the two of us as Shaw began to lead him out. "We'll be back for you." he promised, and I could hear genuine sincerity in his voice...he didn't want to leave us. 

"Go, John. We'll see you soon." I plastered a fake smile on my face, attempting not to allude to the fear I was feeling. 

He gave Raven and I a final smile before allowing Shaw to guide him out of the room. 

The minute they were gone, Raven and I turned to each other with worried looks. "Do you really think this will work?" I questioned, my voice wavering with nerves. 

Raven gave a small nod. "I hope so."

Only a few minutes had passed by the time Shaw rejoined us. He was silent at first, but eventually he beckoned for the two of us to stand up. "He made it." he explained as he led us through the ship and toward the bridge. "You better be right about this Bellamy character."

I let out a low sigh as I looked over at Shaw. "Trust me." I assured. "He'll get it done."

Shaw simply gave me a curt nod as we entered the bridge. "Diyoza and McCreary will be back soon." he explained, moving to our next task at hand. "They'll be pissed, so you have to make them believe what we did was for the best."

"I think you mean you have to do that." I corrected. "You're the one who made a deal with the hostages."

Shaw shot me a look as he sat down in the captain's chair. Silently, he began inputting codes into the computer. 

Raven and I stood silently, watching as he worked. The two of us remained close to each other, clearly afraid something was going to happen. 

So, when the doors slid open, and McCreary and Diyoza walked in, both Raven and I jumped slightly. 

Shaw gave us a quick glance as she shot up from his chair and turned to face them. "Look, before you say anything, I let Murphy go so they can unlock the missiles. System's armed. Problem solved."

"Yours have just begun." McCreary shot back, his angry eyes landing on Shaw. 

Shaw didn't cower like I expected, instead her wore a confident expression. "Their friend's still collared, by the way." he advised. 

I intentionally let my face morph into anger...but this was all part of the plan. We needed to know where Murphy was to ensure he was in position to have everyone removed from harm's way. 

"Right here." he pointed out, motioning to a tracking screen which had a dot labeled with Murphy, John. "We can bring him in now, or we can let him lead us to the rest of the hostiles in the woods. He's not going anywhere."

"You son of a bitch!" Raven screamed, lunging forward as I stood in (fake) fuming shock. 

"Take them back to their cells." Diyoza ordered to a few of her men. She then turned to Shaw with a proud expression. "Well done, Shaw."

Raven and I each resisted as they dragged us back to our cells. As we were thrown back into darkness, I hoped with everything in me that Murphy would be able to pull it off.