Clarity || John Murphy

Chapter Twenty-Five - Finding & Reflecting

"I know Octavia. She's a friend of mine, we helped her after some of your other people took her."

The grounder's facial expression softened, and he parted his lips.

"L-Lincoln." He coughed. "My name is Lincoln."

Murphy exhaled in relief. "In that case, I'm happy that you didn't kill him. He's a friend of the 100," He paused. "And me."

Lincoln coughed again. "W-Where is Oc-Octavia?" Murphy took pity on him for the way he was struggling to speak.

"The 100 are coming to us soon, Octavia included." He froze, thinking for a moment. "And don't worry. Bellamy, Miller, Raven... They won't be coming near you. I'll make sure of it." 

Lincoln's lips parted again like he wanted to speak, but he was stopped by a harsh cough and simply nodded instead.

"Get him to the hospital, and take that truck to the river." He turned to Carson. "Tell the guards about Eve's progress, and make sure that they relay the message to Jack. He'll need some good news at this point."

*

Murphy moved quickly down the hallway, happy that he was finally able to go back to Eve again. He had hoped that Matthew had stayed with her, apparently they knew each other enough so that he could keep her busy for a while.

Once he pushed the door open, he felt the relief come over him. "Eve..." He said, smiling softly. "You're awake."

Eve was sitting up in her bed now, smiling and speaking to a curious looking Matthew. She definitely looking healthier now, the color had made it's way to her face again.

"She's going to be fine now, her body just needs to rest." He said, then directed his attention to Murphy. "And so do you. Both of you have lost a bit of blood, you need to sleep to build it back up again." Matthew said, before moving to the machine and unplugging it. Once he took it off the nightstand, he quickly left the room before telling them multiple times to go to sleep.

Murphy waiting patiently for him to leave, then closed the door behind him and walked over to Eve. He pulled up one of the chairs, watching as she laid back in the bed, no longer wanting to sit up. "Feeling any better?"

She smiled. "A lot better than when I was laying in a forest bleeding out, yes."

He nodded. "Jack took some extra measures to make sure the grounder was dead for sure before we left."

She paused, the smile disappearing. "I didn't get a chance to thank you."

"You don't have to. I owed you for not killing me when you found out what I did."

"I understand why you did it now... I just wish that you had told me."

"I wanted to... I just didn't want you to hate me."

"Why not? Why do you care about my opinion on you? You don't care about anyone else's."

He sighed, shaking his head. "Eve, I think we both know why I care so much."

She paused again, not speaking now. 

"They found Lincoln."

"Octavia's friend?"

He chuckled. "I think he's more than a friend. But yes, him."

"Did they hurt him?" She said, her eyebrows furrowing in worry.

Murphy shook his head. "No, the grounders hurt him. They likely infected him with some type of flu, thinking that we would take the advantage and kill him for them."

"Why would they get us to kill him?"

He bit his lip. "I don't remember who said it, but it was a horrible person, I know that. They said that the best way to get rid of a threat to yourself was to get someone else to do it for you. Maybe they realized that too." Eve nodded slowly in reply.

"Did you ever find out what the explosion was?"

"Clarke said it was another drop ship... She's really broken up about it."

"Why?"

"Because her mom was on it. At least, that's what they think. They got in contact with the ark for a little while, but not very long. It was only long enough for them to learn that there was a drop ship coming down because they knew that the 100 were here now." He paused before making his tone a more serious one. "Listen, I want you to stay away from Bellamy and Clarke."

"Why?" That seemed to be the only word she could come up with to ask.

"Because... Remember when Octavia told you about when I was back at the camp? Bellamy was like Jack, he made me his second. But, he wasn't so courteous about it." He sighed. "Bellamy is the one that I trusted in the camp, and he was also the one who kicked the box out from under my feet that left me hanging from a noose." He looked up at a frowning Eve. "If he's willing to do that to his second in command, I can't imagine what he's willing to do to a person he's just met that has made him upset. Please, just don't go near him."

"What about Clarke?"

"Clarke tends to take control too much. She'll try to become the leader instead of Jack, which of course will annoy Jack. And trust me, if you get in her way, I don't think she'll have a problem with having her little boytoy come after you." 

She raised an eyebrow.

"Bellamy."

"What? Do you think they're together or something?"

"With the way they were looking at each other, there's something going on."

She smiled slightly. "I thought it was funny how everyone was so shocked at how I held your hand."

He laughed. "Yeah, it was." He paused. "I just wasn't that good of a person when I was at the camp... I didn't treat people very well, so I think that they were surprised when I was relatively nice."

"They seemed surprised when you helped me."

He parted his lips, thinking about saying something different then changing his mind. "Eve, I haven't felt the need to protect anyone before you. Never in my life have I wanted to keep someone around me and safe as much as you. That's why they were surprised."

She smiled softly at him, and they stayed in silence for a moment. 

He bit his lip a little. "You should rest now." He leaned back in the chair. "We both should."

He took his jacket off, pulling it on him to make it into a blanket-like cover. He relaxed slightly, shutting his eyes. He heard a lot of movement over at Eve's bed, and realized that she likely couldn't get to sleep. 

"Murphy?" He heard her say from the bed. 

"Yeah?" He mumbled, opening his eyes to see her laying on the bed and facing him.

"I don't want you to sleep in the chair."

"Don't worry, I've slept in a chair before. These ones are more comfortable than the ones on the ark." He chuckled, shutting his eyes.

"Please don't sleep in the chair." She said, smiling slightly at him when he opened his eyes again.

He sighed, chuckling again before taking the coat off and standing up. She smiled lightly at him, moving over in the bed to make room for him and pulling the sheet back as well. He climbed in beside her, and she curled up beside him. 

They stayed in silence after that, and at some point she moved his arm so that she was lying beside him with her head on his chest. He encircled his arm around her, hugging her to his body. He was at ease now, holding her. Knowing she was okay.

"Murphy?" She said again, and he smiled down at her as her fingers played slightly with the hem of his shirt absentmindedly. She didn't look at him, but instead stared at the door.

"Yes?"

"I forgive you."

Murphy didn't stop smiling after that, he wasn't even sure if he stopped when he fell asleep.