Disclaimer
Eeeny meanie miney moe, caught the panther WITH A STOLEN GUN BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO IMPRESS LITTLE GRIFFIN
Okay that made no sense but continue reading this chapter, please
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Grace clenched her jaw as she moved forward and over a rock, thigh burning. Clarke, who was ahead of the group, disappeared down a long slope, the others following close behind her. Grace struggled to keep up, but wouldn't dare ask for help. She would be perfectly fine by herself.
"Wells!" Clarke shouts, causing Grace to look up.
There Wells was, holding John Murphy in a headlock, eyes wild as they connected with Clarke's. Grace sucked in a quiet breath as Clarke demanded he let him go.
Grace stumbles down the hill last, eyes widening as her foot was caught on a branch and she was almost sent to the ground had it not been for the tree in front of her. She, rather ungracefully actually, held onto the tree for support.
A boy named Sterling jogged towards her and grabbed her biceps, a concerned look in his blue eyes. Grace smiled softly and nodded her head at the boy, informing him that she would be okay. He was definitely not convinced because he wraps an arm around her waist and holds her to his side, making sure she is putting the weight on him instead of her injured leg.
Wells pushes Murphy to the ground. Murphy stands with fury in his eyes, about to lunge at Wells once more when Bellamy gets between the two and shoves Murphy backwards.
"Enough, Murphy," Bellamy starts, glancing at Grace from where his sister is currently being held up by Monty. Without another word he is by her side in an instant, taking her into his arms and helping to do the same thing Sterling had done for Grace seconds ago. "Octavia, are you alright?"
Octavia mumbles a quick 'I'm fine', which is total bull crap considering Grace could barely stand and all she got was a few skimmed claw marks, Octavia had been bitten and dragged. There was no way the girl was fine.
"Where's the food?" Bellamy questions, looking around at the empty hands of the group. His gaze flickers towards Grace who is also being held up but he says nothing.
"We didn't make it to Mount Weather," Finn states, taking a seat on a rock a few feet away.
"What the hell happened out there?" Bellamy demands, looking directly towards Grace for a clear explanation. He was obviously wondering why the group hadn't brought back food, but also how both the girls were hurt.
"We were attacked," Grace explains, throat tightening slightly as she remembered her new— now probably dead— friend getting a spear to the heart. She pushes the tears to the back of her mind. She could cry later. Jasper screamed out when whoever had shot him had moved him, which meant he could be alive. She didn't need to remember the medical books on The Ark to know that dead people don't scream.
"Attacked?" Wells asks, confused. "By what?"
"Not what. Who," Finn states. "It turns out, when the last man from the ground died on the Ark, he wasn't the last Grounder."
Sterling's eyes widen, arms tightening around Grace.
"It's true," she says, remembering the bones they had found previously. "Everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong. There are people here, survivors."
Clarke steps forward, keeping her eyes on everyone around her. "The good news is, that means we can survive. Radiation won't kill us."
"Yeah, the bad news is the Grounders will," Finn tells the crowd, the tone of his voice telling them that radiation was the least of their worries now.
"Where's the kid with the goggles?" Wells asks, finally noticing that a vital member of the group was missing. Grace couldn't help the scowl that came scowl on her face when she realized that Wells hadn't even tried to remember his name.
"Jasper," Grace spits, putting emphasis on his name. "was hit."
"They took him," Clarke says, glancing down at Wells' wrist. Grace glances down as well, curious as to what Clarke had noticed. The thick metal bracelet that had occupied the space on his wrist was now gone, instead just a few small red dots lined his dark skin from where the needles had punctured it. Grace realizes with a start that that meant he hadn't taken it off, it had been forcefully removed from his body. "Where's your wristband?"
Wells rips away from her grip, turning to send a furious glare towards Bellamy. "Ask him."
Everyone turns towards Bellamy who falters for just a second, one second that everyone but Grace didn't seem to notice, and then stared at them all with a stoic expression.
"How many?" Clarke asks.
"Twenty four and counting," Murphy informs with a smirk. A snarl passed Grace's lips as she stepped forward to hit the boy, angered by his idiocy. What the hell was he thinking? What the hell were any of them thinking? Those wristbands were their only way of getting their families down there with them, and they were quite literally ripping any chance of that happening away.
Sterling is quicker though and his grip on her waist tightens, a look of warning his eyes as Grace looked back at him in anger. Both of them knew there was no way she'd be able to fight Murphy, or at least not without hurting herself further.
The only reason Grace backed down was that she knew Clarke was going to go looking for Jasper and she'd be damned if they didn't let her go with them because of her small injury.
"You idiots," Clarke whispers. "Life support on the Ark is failing. That's why they brought us down here. They need to know the ground is survivable again, and we need their help against whoever is out there. If you take off those wristbands, you're not just killing them. You're killing us!"
Bellamy, who's suddenly more nervous than he had been before Clarke's speech, speaks up. "We're stronger than you think. Don't listen to her. She's one of the privileged," Bellamy moves so he's standing in front of a much larger group of delinquents, desperate to reach some of them with his 'motivational' speeches. "If they come down, she'll have it good. How many of you can say the same?
"We can take care of ourselves. That wristband on your arm? It makes you a prisoner. We are not prisoners anymore! They say they'll forgive your crimes. I say you're not criminals! You're fighters, survivors! The grounders should worry about us!"
Shouts of agreement come from the surrounding crowd. Monty turns quickly, already feeling his hope of getting anyone else to help diminishing. Monty takes the redhead from Sterling after a few hushed lies are whispered about how he's going to take her to sit down and relax with him in the dropship.
When the two reunite with Clarke on their way towards the dropship, Monty is quick to question the girl. "Now what?"
"Now we go after Jasper," Clarke states.
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Grace stands next to her best friend, watching as Bellamy dabbed at the teeth marks on her thigh gently.
"What the hell was it?" Bellamy asks, looking back at Grace who merely shrugged with a sigh. She really didn't want to talk about that stupid accident that almost got both her and Octavia killed.
"I don't know. The others said it looked like a giant snake," Octavia says, sending Grace a look that said 'if you don't sit down I'm going to punch you in the face'. So, naturally, Grace stuck her tongue out at Octavia and then sat down beside the girl.
What? Octavia could be scary when she wanted to be.
"Were you bit too?" Bellamy asks, watching as the redhead sat down next to Octavia. Grace pursed her lips and but her tongue. Technically she was scratched and not bitten, but she didn't necessarily need to say that. Besides, why the hell did he want to know? It was none of his damn business.
"Maybe," Grace said at the same time O said "yes."
"Traitor," Grace mutters to the girl, crossing he arms in defiance. Bellamy rolls his eyes at the two girls before moving to kneel in front of Grace. Grace moves away on instinct, unsure of his actions. She couldn't help it. Just because he was Octavia's brother did not mean she could trust him.
Bellamy lets out a sigh before sending her his bitch face. "I need to look at it. It could be infected."
Grace bites her lip. She knows that she should let him look it and clean it up a bit, but she that didn't mean she couldn't be hesitant. "I'm fine."
Bellamy glances at his sister in annoyance. Octavia smirked and nodded her head, answering his silent question. Was she always like that? Yes. Bellamy turned to smirk at the redhead who watched him wearily. "Stubborn, are we sweetheart?"
Sweetheart? Grace wondered. Shaking her head slightly she looked down at the man in front of her. Her eyes drift towards her pant leg that was now damp with blood as she recalled all of the information she had read in the books on The Ark. If she does not let Bellamy look at the wound it could get severely infected and that would be a much bigger problem. So, she bit her lip and nodded her head slightly. "Okay, fine. Let's just get it over with."
Bellamy nods, helping her pull her pant let up slowly. His grimaces slightly when he catches sight of the three gashes. They're deep, each of them oozing crimson red blood. They don't look like they'll need stitches, so that is good. She watches Bellamy's every move; him dipping the fabric into the clean water next to them; him moving slowly and carefully as if she would be afraid if he moved any faster; him tilting his head to the side as his hand neared her thigh, asking for permission. She nods without a second thought.
The rough cloth made contact with her flesh, sending a wave of red hot pain through her. Her hand snaps out and curls around his wrist. He tenses, pulling his hand away from the girl. Grace lets out a shaky breath, squeezing her eyes shut. When they open again, she's staring into soft, concerned brown eyes instead of hard, stern ones.
His free hand wraps around her bicep, rubbing soothing circles on the skin there. "It's okay. Alright, sweetheart? It's okay."
His tone in gentle. She's never heard him talk like this to anyone, not even Octavia. Grace contorts into a slightly confused one, masked by the pain. The redhead lets go of his wrist, readying herself this time. With a small frown, Bellamy dabs at the wounds slowly, his other hand still rubbing small circles onto her bicep.
When he finishes, he places his hand on Grace's knee, squeezing gently. She nods gratefully, sending him a soft smile.
The two turn to Octavia who's just been sitting there with an unknown expression on her face. Grace's brow furrows as she stares at the girl in confusion. What was that look for?
"You both could've been killed," Bellamy chastises.
Clarke strolls up behind the trio, both Bellamy and Grace standing to look at her. Or at least until Bellamy pushed her back into a sitting position with a stern look. She rolled her eyes at him, moving her attention back to the blonde.
"They would have been if Jasper hadn't jumped in to pull them out," Clarke says. Technically, Finn and Monty had pulled her out but if they wanted Bellamy, which is why Grace assured they were there, then they had to say Jasper had saved them both.
"You guys leaving? I'm coming, too," Octavia starts standing up but Bellamy pushes her down almost immediately.
"No, no. No way. Not again," Bellamy says firmly, staring down at his sister. Well, Grace was going no matter what anybody said so they'd better just get over it now.
"He's right. You're legs just gonna slow us down," Clarke turns to Bellamy. "I'm here for you."
Bellamy turns to her, surprised.
"Clarke, what are you doing?" Wells asks.
"I hear you have a gun," Clarke states. Grace sucks in a breath and crosses her arms over her chest as Bellamy lifts up his shirt slightly, flashing the gun in his waistband off to everyone. He drops his shirt and sends Clarke a curious look. "Good. Follow me."
"And why would I do that?"
"Because you want them to follow you, and right now, they're only thinking one of us is scared," Clarke quirks a brow, then turns and starts walking away. Grace grinned and stood up, nodding at Octavia who scoffed in disbelief when no one tried to stop her best friend.
Her thigh burned, but Grace knew that Clarke understood why she had to go. Jasper was her friend and Grace would do anything for her friends. Clarke knew this for a fact, especially when Grace took the blame for breaking that extremely old and frail beaker in Abby's office when they were both nine. Clarke, despite not having seen Grace for the past six years, trusted her wholeheartedly.
"Murphy," Bellamy calls. "Come with me. Atom?" He shouts, and a boy with curly brown hair appears. "My sister doesn't leave this camp. Is that clear?"
"I don't need a babysitter," Octavia says, watching as her brother tugged on his jacket. Bellamy gave her a stern look.
Her brother leans back to whisper to Atom. "Anybody touches her, they answer to me. Let's go."
Grace follows after Bellamy and Murphy, lagging a few feet behind. It wasn't her thigh that was slowing her down, it was the extreme distrust she felt in her stomach after seeing that gun Bellamy possessed. Of course, he could have very well gotten the gun from the guard he took the uniform from, but that didn't answer the questions that were nagging at Grace's mind.
Why would he feel the need to take it down here with him? Who did he plan to use it on? And most importantly; had he already used it on people to get on the dropship?
Grace was afraid to find out.
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The redhead followed behind Clarke and Wells, staying close enough to Bellamy and Murphy that it appeared she was walking with them, but far enough away that she couldn't hear their conversations. She hadn't cared about what the two were talking about. .
"Hey, hold up. What's the rush? You don't survive a spear through the heart." Bellamy states, his gun now in one hand. Murphy follows behind him silently. Grace turned to look at the two in annoyance. They were wasting time.
"Put the gun away, Bellamy."
Murphy moves forward, a hand placed on Wells chest. "Well, why don't you do something about it, huh?"
"Jasper screamed when they moved him," Grace starts. "If the spear struck his heart, he'd have died instantly. It doesn't mean we have time to waste."
Grace turned in an attempt to leave, only to stop when a large had curled around her wrist in a tight grip. He lifts her hand up, showing off the shiny bracelet there. "As soon as you two take these wristbands off, we can go."
Grace rips her hand from Bellamy's grip and places a hard glare on him. She stepped closer to him until she was chest to chest with him, a scowl on her face. "Why don't you just try and take it? The only way The Ark will think either of us are dead is if we're dead. Got it?"
Bellamy smirked. "Brave princesses."
Grace almost punched him in the face for calling her that because Grace was anything but a princess, especially the way he insinuated.
"Hey, why don't you find your own nickname?" Finn asks, emerging from the trees behind them. "You call this a rescue party? Got to split up, cover more ground. Clarke, come with me."
Clarke nods her head at Grace, a silent nod of appreciation for saying that to Bellamy. The blonde turns on her heel before following after the spacewalker. A scoff of disbelief passes Grace's lips as she realized what they were doing. "Seriously? You're leaving me with them?!" Grace jabs her thumb back at the boys behind her, flabbergasted at Clarke.
"Sweetheart, I'm hurt," Bellamy says with a smirk, placing a hand over his heart in mock pain.
"Whatever, jackass," Grace mutters, walking a safe distance away from them.
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So, shitty ending I know.
Buuuuttttttt, GRACE AND BELLAMY ARE SO FREAKING CUTE AM I RIGHT?!
Gif | Grace ripping her wrist away from Bellamy