Rory's lungs were on fire. She and Anna were struggling to carry John back to camp. John was barely able to walk and the height differences between the three of them made the trek gruesome. Rory could see the familiar treeline in the distance, and could barely make out the silhouette of the camp's outer wall. As they stumbled closer, Rory saw one of the guards on duty facing their direction.

"Hey!" She began to scream. Her little voice was hoarse and it came out sounding more like a cry. "Help us, please!"

Anna was yelling for help too and soon the guard came rushing towards them. Rory recognized him as one of the boys who stuck by John's side during their first few days on the ground. She couldn't quite remember his name. John and this boy were practically inseparable on the Ark as well, like twin flames or something. John, Rory thought. His name was John. John Mbege. That's why everyone called the boy leaning on her shoulder Murphy.

Mbege was quick to take the weight of Murphy's crumbling body off of Rory. She raced up ahead to open the gate wide enough for them to enter. Murphy had been pretty well out of it while Anna and Rory carried him back, never saying anything more than a pained grunt. He hadn't even been able to keep his eyes open for longer than a minute or two at a time. But it was as though he could sense Mbege's presence. Murphy lifted his head enough to look Mbege in the eye. Some of the tension in his shoulders was released when he realized who was carrying him. Mbege offered him a sombre smile.

"Come on old friend," Mbege said. "Let's get you home."

Murphy landed on the floor of the dropship with a thud and a grunt. Anna was practically attached at the hip to him, but she still managed to bark orders at anyone nearby.

"Go get some water and food!" She pointed at Mbege. He gave her a half-sarcastic salute and dipped out the door to retrieve supplies. Rory brushed her hands on her pants and stood a few paces away. She was antsy because she knew the second Bellamy or Clarke found out about Murphy being back the camp would become chaos. Rory tip-toed closer to the Murphy twins and sat down in front of them. Anna had gone into full-blown medic mode. She was furiously tending to the gashes that covered Murphy head to toe. Rory didn't know anything about medicine, and she certainly didn't feel like she knew what to do to help. But she did see the pain that flashed across Murphy's face every time Anna's fingers brushed against his skin. And while Rory couldn't do much to ease that pain, she could hold Murphy's hand. So she did.

Murphy's hand twitched at first, and for a moment Rory was afraid he would smack her. But he closed his fingers around her smaller ones and held on through the anguish. They didn't say anything, they didn't even exchange glances. Rory simply remained a silent comfort.

Bellamy practically ripped the red plastic curtain off the doorframe as he stepped into the dropship, boots stomping. When his eyes landed on an injured Murphy holding hands with his baby sister, that damned vein popped out of his head again. Bellamy's nostrils flared as he crossed the floor to where Rory was sitting with the Murphy twins. He hooked his hands under her arms, picking her up and swinging him behind her, which she didn't even know he could still do. He hadn't picked her up for at least a year before she was locked up. She had gotten too old, he had told her.

Bellamy used his body as a shield to separate Rory from the Murphy's. Or protect her, as he would probably put it. He held one arm across her chest to prevent her from moving anywhere. Rory knew Bellamy would get mad, she just hoped he wouldn't get this mad.

"What the fuck is he doing here?"

"Bellamy just hold on for a second, okay?" Anna held up a hand in surrender. Rory's felt a sharp pang in her heart. Sure, Murphy had done some terrible things but he was still someone's brother.

"No," Bellamy said gruffly. "He knew the terms. I said if Murphy steps foot inside this camp again I will kill him and I am not one to break my promises."

Anna shot up to her feet. She was not going to stand to listen to her brother's life being threatened. She stepped towards Bellamy, staring him down despite Bellamy being a few inches taller. Bellamy didn't budge. In fact, he provoked her even further, mirroring her actions until he had her backed up against the dropship wall.

"If you try anything, I will destroy you and everyone that you care about," Anna warned.

Behind them, Murphy snorted. "Love the dramatics, sister."

"Shut up!" Bellamy and Anna spat in unison. Bellamy glared at Muprhy, then turned his scowl back towards Anna. "He is a threat to this camp and to my people."

Anna scoffed, disbelief crossing her face in the form of a crazed smile. "A threat? Look at him, he is dying!"

"He's not dying," Bellamy rebutted without missing a beat.

"Well he's sick with something and I am not letting him go out there alone again," Anna said. She looked past Bellamy at Clarke, who had yet to say a word about the situation. "Clarke, come on! Doctor's code, we save lives! We don't throw sick people to the wolves."

Bellamy moved to block Anna's view. She begrudgingly looked up at him, inhaling sharply when she noticed how close he had gotten.

"He absolutely is going out there again and you're more than welcome to join him," Bellamy spat.

"He's hurt." Anna's voice got softer. "He's my brother Bellamy. I would have thought you out of all people would understand that."

"My sisters have never tried to kill anyone." Bellamy's eyes darted away from Anna's. He was trying to avoid the anguish in her stare.

Anna's lips pursed. "You heartless piece of shit. He is sick and he is dying and he needs help!" She yelled, pointing behind her at Murphy.

"His current situation is entirely his fault. If he hadn't-"

"YOU BANISHED HIM!" Anna bellowed.

The entire dropship went silent, save for Anna's words that echoed off the metal walls. The onlookers and kids who were doing jobs around the ship all froze. Rory had never heard anyone yell like that before. Bellamy took a step back, surprised at Anna's outburst. He took a good long look between the Murphy twins, but a speck of brown drew his attention to the side. Rory was looking up at him with her big brown eyes. His heart sank. If someone tried to do to Rory what Bellamy had done to Murphy, he would have made sure they died slowly and painfully.

Anna was still against the wall, pressing into it in hopes of disappearing. Bellamy heaved a sigh and opened his mouth, but before he could get out another word, Clarke stepped forward.

"He can stay," Clarke said plainly. "We don't throw out sick people. We can deal with him once he is better."

Murphy tutted. "Awh, thanks Clarkie," he said sarcastically before his head drooped and he passed out. The Murphy's sure knew how to put on a show. Clarke and Anna dove to his side to start tending to his fever and wounds.

A few people cheered at the news of Murphy's temporary pardon, Mbege being one of them. A lot more groaned. No one really blamed Murphy for what happened with Charlotte anymore. Not since seeing what the real dangers on earth were. All the same, Murphy hadn't exactly been a saint either, and his presence was bound to ruffle some feathers. Rory was certain that Clarke had made the right choice. With the grounders starting a war, there wasn't much more that could go wrong, and Rory hoped that Murphy might take his second chance seriously. But even unconscious, Murphy ended up making everything so much worse...

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

a/n: woo hoo!! end of act i! season one is now complete. i know that this is not how season one ends but i am SOOOOOOOO sick and tired of writing this part of the show so as executive producer, author, creator, and president of this fic im simply not going to continue writing season one anymore. and fair warning, i will be skipping the entirety of season two as well. rory just doesn't play that big of a role in it so instead of drawing on and on, ill refer to it as necessary as we continue on. thanks again so much for reading and for loving rory's story as much as i do. xoxo, mimi