[C H A P T E R T H I R T E E N]
The Protector's Mistake
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SEEING RAVEN REYES FOR THE FIRST TIME was like meeting an actual knight in shining armor. It wasn't so much the long dark hair and determined brown eyes that did it (though, she was very charming in her own mischievous way), it was more of the fact that she came down from the Ark alive and well. Roseline almost wanted to kiss the girl out of pure joy, but she settled with wide grins and squeals of excitement.
Clarke had been the first to find her when the three had split up, and after hearing Clarke's calls, Roseline and Finn tracked her down. Together, they found her holding some piece of clothing as Raven twirled in the misty rain, a wide smile on her lips. Her blood-red jacket was already becoming wet due to the rain, but Roseline guessed that Raven didn't care. The moment brought Roseline back to when she first stepped on Earth, and the thought of it still made her smile.
She noticed that Finn was frozen in his tracks, his skin pale. For a second, Roseline had thought that he had seen a Grounder, but after doing a quick scan, she realized that he was staring at Raven. Upon seeing Roseline giving him an odd look, Finn's mood changed from confused to delighted in an instant, and he ran toward the girl with the red jacket.
"Raven!" he called out, his voice hoarse. Raven whipped her head around with disbelief, but the smile never faded.
"Finn!" she cried, running into his arms. It took both Roseline and Clarke off guard when the two shared a passionate kiss. The girls glanced at each other with shock, neither of them expecting Finn to have a girlfriend. Roseline had always assumed that he and Clarke had something and judging from her expression, the blonde must've thought so too.
"How did you get here?" Finn asked, breaking himself away from Raven. His eyes met Clarke's and Roseline could see him trying to silently apologize.
Roseline--uncomfortable with the love triangle--walked over to the pod and began to examine the inside for anything useful. As she scanned, she slowly got distracted by the buttons and small parts that scattered the thing. Everything in there reminded her of home, and she almost wanted to curl up in all the wiring and cry. Spotting a necklace wrapped around a lever, Roseline gasped and carefully untangled it. She wanted to pocket it and keep searching, but when she looked closer, she saw that the metal charm was some sort of bird. Raven, her brain concluded as her eyes flickered to the girl who was being sat on a rock.
"--and that's Rose, over there," she heard Finn say, which broke her out of her trance. Balling up the necklace, she popped up from behind the door and grinned.
"Hi! I think this is yours," Roseline greeted, thumping over to them and holding out the necklace. Raven nodded with appreciation and hung it back around her neck. She then stared at Clarke with realization.
"Clarke... this was all because of your mom," she said, standing up and lowering the towel from her head wound which Roseline guessed she got from the ride down.
"My mom?" Clarke repeated, crossing her arms.
"This was all her plan. We tried to come down here together. If we waited--" she stopped herself as the information was processing in her mind. "Oh my God. We couldn't wait because the council was voting whether to kill three-hundred people to save air."
Roseline squeaked. "What? When?"
"Today. We have to tell them you're alive!" she said, running back to the pod. When she looked into the pod her shoulders dropped.
"The radio's gone." She turned to Roseline with demanding eyes. "Where is it?"
"I--I don't know! I think..." her voice faded as she thought through the scenarios. A name popped into her head, but before she could say it, Clarke beat her to it.
"No, no. Someone got here before us. We have to find him."
"I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch," Roseline growled as she stormed back into the woods, the others following in pursuit.
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"What did you say your name was again?" Raven asked Roseline as they marched behind Finn through the woods.
"Um, Roseline, but you can just call me Rose," the girl responded absentmindedly, distracted by every movement in the trees.
Raven snapped her fingers. "Rose Taylor! That's you, isn't it? I've seen your parents."
Roseline almost got whiplash from turning her head. "You have? how are they? Are they worried? Do they look okay? Do they know I'm down here? Are--"
"Last I saw, they seemed okay. They were checking your vitals constantly. And honestly? I don't think they've left that lab since you guys came down."
Roseline let out a trembling breath. "Okay, so they know I'm down here, that's a plus. Happen to know anything else?" She gave a dazzling smile for good measure.
"I know that they're Abby's side with the whole voting thing. They're trying to convince the council to bring everyone down here. They're working on collecting evidence to prove their case, but considering our situation, I don't think it's going over very well," Raven said bitterly.
So they knew about the oxygen problem, but they never told anyone? Would they have gotten floated? Do they know why I'm down here? The questions spun in her head, leaving her more lost than she was before, and it made her want to find Bellamy even more. Nonetheless, she still smiled gratefully at Raven.
"Thank you, really," Roseline nodded before jogging up to Finn. "Any luck finding him?"
"I think we're close," he murmured, scouring the trees and bushes. Roseline surveyed the surroundings with distaste. With every passing minute, Roseline was getting more and more angry with Bellamy. He knew how important her family was to her, so why would he do this?
She wandered away from the others with her mind reeling. I swear when I find him--
A figure moved in between the trees, and there was no mistaking who those dark curls belonged to.
"Hey!" she shouted chasing after the man. Bellamy tilted his head at the sound of her voice, but still trudged on. She caught up to the janitor and whacked his arm.
"You asshole! Where is it?" she cursed.
"Hey, Rosie, taking a walk in the woods?" he asked casually, avoiding the question. Roseline huffed and beat at his chest with her small fists. He didn't try very hard to stop her, and it ticked off the girl.
"Don't you Rosie me, you piece of--" She cut herself short when Bellamy grabbed her wrists and pinned them up against the tree behind her. Roseline, flustered by the sudden movements, merely stared at his smirking face. Wow, he has a lot of freckles. How many are--
She wriggled out of his grasp and crossed her arms.
"They're getting ready to kill three-hundred people up there to save oxygen, you know that?" Roseline's voice was cold and serious. "And it's not gonna be any privileged people, it's gonna be working people--your people."
"Bellamy," Finn stomped up from behind her with a menacing glare and pushed Bellamy in the chest. "where's the radio?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Bellamy gritted, pushing him back. Seeing the two stand off, Roseline's mood switched from angry to concerned, and she tugged at Bellamy's sleeve to get him to back away.
"Bellamy Blake? They're looking everywhere for you," Raven piped up, taking a stance between the boys. Roseline's hand dropped from Bellamy's sleeve and she looked at him with worried eyes.
"Bell, what does she mean?" Her voice was softer than before, and Bellamy didn't meet her eyes.
"Shut up," he growled at Raven, ignoring Roseline once more.
"He shot Chancellor Jaha," Raven answered, her face holding a disapproving look. Roseline's face dropped along with her heart.
"You what?" Roseline whispered, still staring at her former janitor, who was now apparently a killer. Bellamy's demeanor was stone and emotionless. Roseline began to put the puzzle together, and the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. He came down for Octavia, the one person in the whole world he would die--and kill--for. It also explained the gun and the guard uniform.
"That's why you took the wristbands," Clarke realized, putting the dots together. "needed everyone to think we're dead."
"And that 'whatever the hell we want'? You just cared about saving your own skin," Finn added with a scowl.
Bellamy shook his head and walked off, but Raven wasn't going to have it.
"Hey, shooter! Where's my radio?" she called, following after him and stepping in front of him.
"Get out of my way."
"Where is it?"
"I should've killed you when I had the chance," Bellamy said, his hands balled at his sides. Raven raised an eyebrow, unbothered.
"Really? Well, I'm right here," she responded back, her voice equally low and challenging.
Roseline yelped when Bellamy suddenly snatched Raven and shoved her against a tree, his hand cutting into her throat. What really scared her was the fact that as he did that, Raven whipped out a pocket knife and pointed it directly at his neck, reminding the scientist of the Grounder encounter.
The pair stared at each other with danger in their eyes, and Roseline concluded that this combo was way worse than Finn and Bellamy could have ever been.
"Where's my radio?" Raven demanded once more.
"Okay, stop it," Clarke ordered, glaring at both of them. Roseline watched as Bellamy hesitated, then roughly releasing his grip and walking off again.
"Jaha deserved to die, and you all know that," he commented over his shoulder.
"Yeah, he's not my favorite person either. But he isn't dead," Raven retorted, dusting herself off of the tree. Bellamy stopped in his tracks and turned around with his lips parted.
"He's not?" Roseline spoke up.
Raven shook her head and shot daggers at Bellamy.
"No, your boy here is a lousy shot."
If Roseline hadn't been so relieved that Bellamy didn't kill the chancellor, she would've immediately corrected Raven, but at that moment, she didn't care. She was just glad that Bellamy wasn't a stone-cold killer.
"Bell, you know what this means, right?" Roseline gave him a small smile, despite the fact that she was still upset with his actions. "You're not a murderer. You're a protector, and you've always done what was needed to protect Octavia. Now, you can do it again by telling us where the radio is."
She focused long on his conflicted eyes. A memory of them having a staring contest on the floor of the lab flashed through her mind, and goosebumps fell down her spine. She remembered how the sunlight from the lab window had hit his eyes just right, and how he squinted for a second to adjust to the light. She watched as those once average brown eyes suddenly swirled and sparkled with gold, leaving Roseline speechless for just a moment. The only difference between then and now was that Bellamy's didn't sparkle. They were dark and hollow with what Roseline could only guess was pain.
"It's too late," he murmured, still locked on Roseline.
"What do you mean?" Clarke questioned. Bellamy broke away from Roseline with guilt in his eyes.
"It's in the river."
"Well," Roseline smiled hopefully, clapping her hands. "I guess it's a good thing we know some people that can help you search for it!"
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A/N: it's kinda short but oh whale!! hope you guys enjoyed this one!! i had fun writing it!! thank you for voting and reading!! sorry for the slow updates haha but i'll be on winter break soon!
anyways, happy reading!!
-kate