atomic man, john murphy.

Bodyguard of Lies

In the days following Clove Coleman's breaking point, Emilio and Caesar had done everything they could to get her out of this funk and back to her normal sarcastic self. While them trying to stop her from being sad had prevailed, anger took its place. She'd been feeling useless and drowning in self pity and, as a result, had been lashing out at everybody who tried to speak to her.

"Where's everybody going?" Clove inquired, eyeing the many people rushing out of the camp.

Emilio glanced at his sister, pursing his lips. He made note of the dark rings around her eyes and the matted chunks of hair that fell from her scalp. "No idea," He tried to shrug as nonchalantly as possible but avoided eye contact.

Clove shot daggers at him. "I've known you my whole life Emilio Lane. You've always been the worst fucking liar. Just tell me."

"I'm not—" He sighed, realizing there was no point. If he didn't hear it from him, Clove would find somebody else and get the answer she was searching for. "I just... you aren't exactly the most stable right now and-"

"Shit, Emilio just tell me! You know I hate when you dance around the question," Clove grumbled, taking a step back and kicking the small rock she'd been standing on.

"A missile hit Tondc. Some people are leaving to go help."

"Okay," Clove nodded as she turned around and briefly scanned the area for her pack. "Let's go then."

"Look, CJ. I know you're looking to, uh, cómo se dice, reconcile for the person you were," Emilio inhaled sharply. "I just don't think it's a good idea that we go. There's other ways we can help."

"Who's gonna stop me? You and your scrawny arms?" Clove tossed the strap of her bag around her shoulder and began walking away. "Yeah right."

"Well, shit," Emilio muttered. He found his father in the crowd quickly. He rushed towards the man and grabbed his arm, causing Caesar to spill his water all over his chin. "Hi, Clove's decided to go try to be a hero for the first time in her life. We should probably not let her go alone or who knows what could happen. Okay, come on."

"Can't a man drink water in peace around here?" Caesar spoke, collecting a few things before hurrying after his children. When they caught up to Clove, who was gripping a makeshift knife in the waistband of her pants, Caesar spoke loudly, "Didn't think we'd let you have all the glory, did you?"

Clove glanced at him before rolling her eyes and speeding up so she was a few paces in front of them. It's going to be a long walk.

~•§•~

When the rescue group arrived at Tondc, a grounder had announced their arrival and Clove silently got to work digging up the survivors until her hands were raw. After everybody had been pulled out she did her best to help the wounded. Of course she didn't know anything about medicine so it was mostly her just asking people if she needed serious medical attention and then leading them somewhere to be helped. Once this was done, she walked up to Clarke.

"Hey, I know you probably aren't thrilled to see me since I held Raven at gunpoint that one time but I want- I need to help get our people out of Mount Weather. Tell me there's something I can do," She pleaded.

Clarke was stoic for a moment before she nodded and pulled a gun out of her bag. "Bellamy has mentioned how good of a shot you are. We're leaving for the mountain soon."

"Alright. I'll be waiting then."

The second Clove walked off, Emilio was at Clarke's side. "That was a mistake. You need to get that gun from her now. She won't listen if I talk to her."

Clarke glanced at Clove's retreating figure, her strong eyebrows furrowed. "Emilio, her brother, right?" The boy nodded. "I'm sure you want her to be safe but Clove's a tough girl. We have this handled."

"She's not as tough as you think," Emilio countered. "Look, Clove's told me how you're pretty much the only reason the hundred survived down here, it's just-"

"She said that?" Clarke blinked slowly, evidently shocked.

"Uh, never tell her I told you that," The boy shook his head. "If that seems out of character, how weird is it that she just told you she wanted to help?"

Clarke looked into the distance where Clove sat silently by a fire, turning the gun over and over in her hands. "It was... a little odd, yeah."

"Listen, she recently had a very sudden realization that she may not have always been the nicest person," He paused for a moment, deciding if it was appropriate so say his next words. "I-I don't mean to pry but I know you're familiar with a loved one with a gun getting overwhelmed by emotions... I really don't want that to happen again."

"What makes you think she'll listen to me? I'm pretty sure she hates me — I'm pretty sure she hates everybody, actually," Clarke countered.

"She has a funny way of showing it but she actually respects you."

"Okay," Clarke sighed and nodded. "I'll try."

Emilio nodded gratefully and Clarke walked away. "Clove," She spoke, catching the Coleman girl's attention. Clove simply raised her eyebrows, impatiently waiting for the blonde to continue. "Turns out some of our other guns were either buried or destroyed by the missile so I need that one back. I can definitely use your brain though."

"My brain?" Clove eyed her suspiciously, the orange glow from the fire intensifying the environment. Clove's dark eyes were practically camouflaged by the night sky, but Clarke didn't miss the way they flickered to Emilio. "Bullshit. What'd my brother tell you, that I'm unstable? That I had a mental breakdown and can't be trusted. He doesn't know shit. All I want to do is make sure Eugene and Fox and Monty and-and everybody else gets out of that hellhole! That's all!"

Clarke saw Clove's shaking hands grip the gun tighter as she yelled. "I get that, I want them out, too. Just give me the gun, please."

Clarke leaned toward the unsteady girl, hoping to be able to grab the gun. "Fuck you. Try and take this from me and I won't hesitate."

Clove then stalked off, muttering curse words under her breath. She just didn't understand how she could be selfish and everybody ridicules her for it, yet when she tries to be selfless, nobody trusts her. She just can't win.

Clove's thoughts were interrupted by somebody bumping into her so hard it nearly knocked her off her feet. "Hey, watch it!"

"You watch it, Coleman."

"Oh, Annora. It's you."

"Yeah," Annora Monoko scoffed. "It's me. You'd think after all this time maybe you could finally find a way to apologize."

"It's not like you'd forgive me anyway," Clove countered, rubbing her sunken eyes.

"No shit. Obviously I wouldn't forgive you, but after the things you did, a normal person would apologize out of the kindness of their heart." Annora shook her head, a bit of dark hair shifting over her shoulders. "But who am I kidding? There's no kindness in your black heart. Have an awful night, Coleman."

Clove clenched her jaw as her breathing began ragged and her vision became blurry. The worst part was, she realized as she sunk against a jagged tree, Clove couldn't even be mad at Annora. She only had herself to blame for the harsh words.

Despite the fact that the rough bark scratched her back, the tree became her home for the night. She sat up against it, not sleeping a wink as she prepared for the battle to come.

this chapter was like all over the place i apologize

i was having a hard time deciding where i wanted to take clove's adventures going into the s2 finale episodes & what role i wanted her to play