nine; JOHN MURPHY AND HIS MERRY BAND OF KILLERS

four years earlier

She was shoving the last of her belongings into a bag when the front door opened and she sighed because she was hoping she would have already been long gone.

Reese threw the strap of the old duffel over her shoulder and exited her bedroom, coming face to face with her father, who stood at his bar like he always did, pouring a drink into his cup.

"Going somewhere?" Marcus questioned, his eyes flickering to the bag hanging against her hip.

"Yeah actually." She responded tightly as he hummed in acknowledgment, "I'm going to stay with Xander, indefinitely."

Her father coughed slightly, choking on his drink before he looked at his daughter and stared at her in amusement as he chuckled.

"No, you're not." She stared at him with hard eyes and he swallowed, "I won't allow it."

"You won't allow it." Reese scoffed as she moved about the home, picking up a few things that belonged to her, "You don't really have much of a choice, I'm an adult."

"That Lerolan boy is a murderer, you know that, right?" Marcus said quietly and his daughter laughed.

"It was self-defence, the council ruled on it, you ruled on it, so don't you dare try and paint him as some kind of villain." Reese exclaimed and her eyes flashed in annoyance, "But, speaking of murder, how many people have you sentenced to death, Dad?"

"That is very, very different, Ellie." Marcus shouted, "Those people broke laws."

"Mom saved a baby's life." Reese screamed back, tears filling her eyes, "And you floated her for using just the tiniest bit over the allowed amount and how many other people have you floated without hearing why they did what they did? You and the council are awful."

"Your mother." Marcus' voice broke, "Knew the consequences."

"I don't care." Reese snapped, "You could have stopped it, but you didn't, and I can't even look at you without remembering that day, so I don't want to live with you or be around you."

She brushed passed him, wiping a stray tear from her cheek.

"El–"

"Don't." She snapped harshly as she pulled the door open and step through, "Just don't."

The door slammed shut behind her and she felt lighter than she had in three years.

"Bring out the girl, Bellamy!" Murphy shouted furiously, somewhere outside of the tent that Bellamy, Reese, Clarke and Finn all stood inside, each staring at the terrified girl with expressions of horror on their faces.

"Why, Charlotte?" Bellamy asked desperately.

"Because I was just trying to slay my demons like you told me." She cried and Reese furrowed her eyebrows.

"What the hell is she talking about?" Clarke asked Bellamy accusingly and Reese looked at the ground in shock, feeling utterly sick for the way Charlotte had taken those words.

"She misunderstood me," Bellamy responded after a moment, looking horrified.

"Oh, my God, that was a metaphor." Reese shouted, turning to the girl, "It doesn't mean that you out and kill someone!"

"I'm sorry!" She sobbed when she saw the look of hurt and pain and fury on the brunette's face.

"Charlotte, that is not what I meant," Bellamy spoke gently, his hand brushing against Reese's when he saw the glossy look in her eyes.

"Bring the girl out now!"

Reese frowned at how rough Murphy's voice was, despite the fact that he wanted to return the favour of what had happened to him, to Charlotte, Reese still felt concern for his wellbeing. She'd barely had a chance to look at the bruising on his neck before he was getting to his feet and shoving her way in order to advance on the little girl who had just admitted guilt and Bellamy and Finn had immediately pulled her to a tent which had Octavia and Jasper standing guard near the entrance.

"Please don't let them hurt me." Charlotte cried and Reese scoffed angrily, running her hand through her tangled and greasy hair, grimacing at the feeling of it as she did.

"Well, if you guys have any bright ideas, speak up," Bellamy exclaimed as Murphy screamed from outside once more and Finn glanced at Clarke who didn't say a word leading Bellamy's eyes to widen before he let out a single harsh laugh that made Reese cringe due to the lack of warmth in it, "Now you stay quiet."

"Those are your boys out there." Finn retorted quickly and Reese glared at him.

"Bellamy didn't start this." She snapped angrily, "It is not his fault."

"If she had listened to me, those idiots would still be building the wall." Bellamy shouted at him, gesturing to Clarke who had begun to pace, clutching her head in her hands as she did so, only freezing when Murphy began to shout once more, addressing her for the first time, "You want to build a society, Princess? Let's build a society, BRING HER OUT!"

"No!" Charlotte cried, and Reese couldn't even bring herself to look at the girl, "Please, Bellamy."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Bellamy crouch down in front of the small child and she listened to him speak as she tried to think of something, anything, that would stop Murphy from his thirst for revenge.

"It's gonna be okay." Bellamy was soothing, but she could hear it in his voice, he wasn't entirely convinced himself, she'd only ever heard that tone in one other situation. She remembered the way he told Octavia that she wouldn't be caught and it was the only half-lie he had ever told her, only because he was never certain himself.

Reese turned to Clarke and Finn, who still hadn't said a word.

"Get her out of here." She barked at them, "Go out through the back, Bell and I'll distract Murphy."

Clarke barely acknowledged her words but Finn nodded, quickly grasping Charlotte's hand in his own and when Bellamy finally released Charlotte's shoulder with a gentle smile to the girl, he moved to the furthest end of the tent from her and slipped under and Reese turned her attention back to the three.

"Look who decided to join us."

"Go, now." She ordered and when all three disappeared beneath the tarp she prayed that they wouldn't be caught before they made it passed the wall.

"Dial it down and back off."

She raked her fingers through her greasy hair and tears welled in her eyes as she thought over the events of the last twenty minutes, those teenagers had viciously hung Murphy for a crime Clarke didn't even know for sure he had committed but accused him anyway and they had cheered as he had thrashed and gasped for air and Bellamy had given in to the pressure of the screaming delinquents and kicked the box from beneath the innocent boy.

"What are you going to do, Bellamy? Hang me?" Murphy snarked from the other side of the tarp.

What was Earth doing to them?

Bellamy, her sweet best friend, had hung an innocent man like it was as simple as deciding which movie he and Reese were going to watch back when they could do things like that, half of the group, including herself, had taken off their wristbands as a big fuck you to the Ark which needed their vitals to survive, a twelve year old had murdered in cold blood and all she had to say for it was that she was only attempting to slay her demons, Murphy had tried to kill one person and was gunning for another, the delinquents had begun to turn on one another, fighting, threatening. . .

She quickly wiped any fallen tears and steeled herself before she exited the tent and fell into place beside Bellamy, who hadn't looked at her but nudged the back of her hand with his own.

"Ah, the King's Queen has finally decided to grace us with her presence." Murphy announced, looking thoroughly delighted before he was turning his attention to the delinquents who had crowded around, waiting for something else to happen, "So, who here wants to see the real murderer hung up? All in favour."

Reese curled her lip in disgust when he raised his own hand, along with five others who were close with Murphy. Yes, she believed that Charlotte should be punished for her actions but she didn't want her hung, just like she hadn't wanted Murphy hung.

Murphy clearly didn't like what he was seeing either, but due to the lack of hands as opposed to Reese's dislike of any hands in the air at all.

"I see," Murphy spoke, his tone light though his eyes were anything but and when he wasn't looking, Reese took one step forward, ignoring Bellamy who had shaken his head.

"Don't." He hissed at her.

"So, it's okay to string me up for nothing, but when this little bitch confesses, you want to let her walk?" He bellowed at the delinquents murderously, "Cowards! All of you are cowards!"

"Hey, Murphy!" Bellamy shouted over Murphy's tantrum, walking past Reese in order to get in his face, "It's over."

The look in his eye didn't fade as he stepped back and sneered at the man, "Whatever you say, boss."

Bellamy turned and looked at Reese who was still looking at Murphy in equal parts surprise and suspicion and yet, she still didn't see until it was too late, her hands coming up to her mouth as she screamed his name in shock and the log came into contact with the back of Bellamy's head and he slumped to the ground.

"Son of a bitch," Octavia screamed.

"Murphy, you fucking coward!" Reese shrieked as both she and Octavia launched themselves at Murphy, the former being held back by two sets of arms as she violently struggled, and the latter who was pushed away by Jasper who Murphy immediately clocked in the face, which caused Reese to scream louder and far angrier.

"Come on, let's get the girl." Reese was shoved harshly to the ground and she scrambled to over to Bellamy who was unconscious, quickly pushing him onto his side and checking the back of his head for any blood, miraculously finding none.

"CHARLOTTE!" Murphy screamed into the sky.

"She's long gone, you son of a bitch," Reese told him with a harsh laugh as the younger male turned to her with wild eyes before he set his sights on the treeline.

"Charlotte, I know you can hear me!' Murphy shouted at the top of his lungs, "And when I find you, YOU ARE GONNA PAY!"

✦❀✦

The sun was on the verge of beginning to set when Reese finally had enough and put together a pack in order to go after Murphy and his merry band of wannabe killers and stop them from hurting Charlotte or Clarke and Finn for helping her.

She had been waiting for Bellamy but when he showed no sign of actually regaining consciousness even an hour after Murphy had left with his group, she ignored Octavia who was telling her to wait as she packed anything necessary, ordered Monty to keep working on their project and set off into the forest.

In hindsight, she knew that she should have allowed someone to tag along with her, people had offered, but stupidly she had refused any help. So, she walked, and walked, keeping her ears open for every potential scream and every leaf that the wind picks up along a current or twig cracking scared her but she focused her eyes on trying to find Clarke, or Charlotte or Murphy or anyone, and she kept a lookout for a potential attack, keeping her guard up.

She had been trained by the best, once upon a time, when her father had expressed that he wanted his only child to be apart of the guard, and he had her trained in combat, she'd barely used those skills in years but she remembered it all, hoping that it would be enough.

A twig snapped to her left and she whirled around, Bellamy's ax raised in defense.

The terrified scream died on her tongue when she saw a woman who was definitely not from the Ark, who stood entirely still beside a tree and she exactly didn't look like the type to step on twigs accidentally.

In the steadily growing darkness, Reese couldn't make out too many distinguishing features, the woman was tall with long dark hair that was braided in several different places, her skin was tan with several lines and marks crisscrossing it, the clothing covering her body was tight and odd-looking and her large eyes were looking at her in curiosity, and the only thing Reese could make out for sure was the long glittering blade that hung from the woman's hip.

Bellamy's tiny ax was no match for it.

"Skai raunon." She spoke, her head tilted in curiosity, watching Reese's every move, "Yu ste a long edei kom yu metal box."

If she wasn't so scared, she would have been completely invested in the language the unknown woman was speaking to her, but instead, she thought the words over and how they had been spoken, recognising some of the words and trying to piece them together.

Sky, long, metal box, you.

"I'm from the sky." She guessed, pausing to take in the woman's reaction, "I'm a long way from the dropship?"

"Yu get in chit ai laik saying?" The woman phrased her foreign words like it was meant to be a question and Reese frowned, only really understanding the last word she had said, and the woman nodded to herself, "Mebi nou."

"Nou." Reese repeated, her forehead creasing as her frown deepened, "Sounds like no."

"Mebi Bida." The woman corrected herself for clearing her throat, "Your people are heading east of here, towards the cliffs."

"You speak English," Reese commented and the woman smiled, her teeth glittering in a way that made Reese want to shrink back, "Why should I trust you?"

She would not let the grounder know that she was afraid, even if the grounder probably already knew.

"Not often." She replied, "Jos teik ai sis au yu."

"What?"

"Just let me help you." She repeated in English before she slinked into the shadows.

Reese stared at the spot where the woman had disappeared in shock and fear, she could have been skewered like Jasper had been but the woman helped her instead.

They were headed for the cliffs.

Reese turned on her heel and sprinted in the direction she knew west to be, silently praying that it wasn't a trap the grounder had set up for her, it didn't seem like it, but the only other grounder she had encountered was the one who speared Jasper so she didn't have tons of faith, although, the deeper she ran into the forest, the louder the screams she had heard earlier echoed.

"I'M OVER HERE! MURPHY!"

Reese froze in shock when she heard Charlotte's familiar cries, before she picked up her pace, squinting through the darkness as droplets of rain began to hit her and she didn't have a chance to be excited over feeling rain for the first time when she caught sight of flames flickering feet ahead.

When she broke through the trees and skidded to a halt next to Clarke, who was pleading with Murphy who still looked as murderous as he did when he had knocked Bellamy out.

"–Down, we'll talk about this."

Murphy's eyes drifted from Clarke to Charlotte and before Reese had a chance to wrap her thoughts around what she had even stumbled into, Murphy had pulled Reese back into him by the collar of her shirt, wrapping his arm around her torso and when she moved to break away, she felt the cool metal against the skin of her throat and froze, her eyes widening in fear as she locked eyes with Bellamy.

"I'm sick of listening to you talk." Murphy sneered at the blonde.

"Then why do you have a knife to my throat and not hers." Reese snarked, her eyes widening when the blade was pressed closer to her neck, the sharp blade digging further into her throat.

'I'm fine.' She told Bellamy with her eyes when he made a move to step forward.

"Let her go," Bellamy warned dangerously.

"I will slit your pretty Queen's throat," Murphy shouted back, and Reese sucked in a deep breath as the blade was pressed harder against her skin.

"No, please." Reese's eyes flickered to Charlotte who stood with tears in her eyes, "Please don't hurt her."

That grounder was right and yet, Reese hated herself for listening and getting stuck in this predicament.

"Don't hurt her?" Murphy asked the girl who Bellamy stood protectively in front of, "Okay, I'll make you a deal, you come with me right now, I will let her go."

"Don't you dare, Charlotte." Reese told her and when the girl made to rush forward before Bellamy blocked her path, she spoke once more, "I'm not worth it, so don't you dare."

She felt something warm trickle down her neck and realised Murphy had drawn blood

"I have to!" The girl screamed as Bellamy looked over at Murphy and Reese.

'I'm fine.' She spoke with her eyes once more and he nodded, just enough for her to make out.

"Murphy, this is not happening." He exclaimed, his voice deep and angry.

"Looks like the king doesn't love you as much as we all thought." Murphy murmured in Reese's ear who shivered in anger at his words and just as Murphy raised the knife ever so slightly from Reese's neck and she closed her eyes in dread, Charlotte's small voice piped up once more.

"I can't let any of you get hurt anymore, not because of me." She spoke quietly and Reese opened her eyes when she felt the knife move further away, "Not after what I did."

Charlotte turned, took a single step, and Reese's heart fell to her stomach as both Clarke and Bellamy each sprinted to the ledge, both screaming in agony as they tried to reach for the little girl who had disappeared completely from their sights.

"No, no, no, no!" Clarke was sobbing.

Murphy stumbled backward in shock and Reese fell forward onto her knees, scrambling towards where Bellamy had collapsed, halfway off of the cliff's edge, his face crumbled in distress as he continued to scream into a void that would never scream back.

✦❀✦

The trek back to the dropship was short but to Reese, it felt as though it had aged her ten years. Her heart was heavy and her eyes burned with tears she had refused to let fall and the guilt settling in her stomach was overwhelming.

She had refused to let go of Bellamy's hand the entire way, however, and he hadn't loosened his own hold until they got back to camp and she, Clarke, and Bellamy had announced what had happened and why Murphy wasn't returning, Reese hadn't wanted any part but Clarke insisted.

Twelve days, four graves with bodies, one without, two missing presumed dead, and one banished, ninety-three of one hundred and one left remaining.

Bellamy had vanished shortly after speaking to the delinquents and Reese had gone inside the dropship to see if Monty needed any assistance with the task she had told him to finish before she left, which he replied that he was almost done, so Reese left once more and searched for Bellamy.

He couldn't be alone.

It took a while but she finally found him outside the wall, sitting against the tree that they had reunited under twelve days earlier and she slowly sat down in the grass beside him, not saying a word as she fiddled with the blades of grass between her fingers.

"How angry was Kane when he found out you knew about O?" Bellamy asked, not wanting to talk about the day's events just yet.

Reese smirked faintly at the memory.

"He didn't come to visit until nine months after I was arrested, but when he did, he was pissed." She told him, her smirk widening slightly when he chuckled once.

"Nine months?" He questioned, immediately regretting it when her face darkened at that particular memory.

"Paranoia filled months." She responded with a nod, "Every single time that door opened, I freaked out because I was thinking that the end was finally here but it never came and the cycle continued until he came to visit and told me what he had done. I figured he thought I'd be grateful."

"Maybe if he told you straight away." Bellamy pointed out and Reese smiled faintly.

"Exactly what I told him." She spoke, tapping his temple with her finger, "Great minds, Bell."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence after that, listening to the gentle hum of voices behind the wall and the soft noises that the nightlife made that made a smile creep onto Reese's face as she listened out for different creatures.

"You shouldn't have gone alone." Bellamy finally broke their silence, not looking at her as he did.

"No." She agreed simply, "And you probably shouldn't have turned your back on Murphy while he was that angry, how's your head?"

Bellamy chuckled but it lacked any real humor, "Hurts, a bit."

They sat there for a few more minutes, staring up at the stars, much like they used to when they were children.

"You left before me, what took you so long to find us?"

"Got lost." Reese shrugged, "Followed the flames once I found them."

She hated lying to him but the grounder hadn't actually tried to kill her so she figured she'd do the woman a solid and not bring her up and it was unlikely that she would ever see her again.

Bellamy nodded slowly, "You're angry with me."

"I'm not angry, disappointed maybe, but not angry." She spoke softly, turning her head to gaze at the male sitting beside her, who did the same, admiring the girl he had known since he was six years old.

"Murphy deserved to be banished." He replied, his voice tight.

"Yeah, he did, I'm not denying that." Reese whispered, "He didn't deserve to be hung."

Bellamy watched her for a moment before he sighed, "I know, I'm sorry."

"You can't let these guys pressure you into being someone you're not." Reese told him as she rested her head against his shoulder and continued to stare up at him, "You're not someone who does things like that, you're someone who protects his own, defends them, innocent until proven otherwise."

"I want to be that person." Bellamy murmured as he moved his head to rest on hers, "But this place, it's changing me, and I don't know what to do."

"Me either." Reese responded as she reached out to lace their fingers together, "But follow your heart, Blake, it usually leads you well."

"Usually?"

"Tracy Hart, need I say anymore?"

"Touché, Kane. Touché."

══════════════════

i was finally able to fit in some reese and bellamy scenes that weren't just them arguing and i'm very happy with the turnout.

also, the grounder has a big importance in the story so remember her.

Skai raunon - Sky person

Yu ste a long edei kom yu metal box - You are a long way from your metal box

Yu get in chit ai laik saying? - You know what I am saying?

Mebi nou - Maybe not

Mebi bida - Maybe some

Jos teik ai sis au yu - Just let me help you

i got these translations from a really helpful app called 'Trigedaslator' and i'm not 100% sure that it's accurate, but it did help me a lot more than the LingoJam translator.

thank you so much for reading!

~r