Walking through the forest in the early hours of the morning with Clarke and Finn wasn't exactly my definition of fun. There were hints of flirtation in the air that made me want to puke. Finn hitting on girls was not a pleasant scene to witness for anyone, and for some odd reason, Clarke found him appealing. It was all one big mystery to me. 

After numerous times of telling Finn to shut up and focus, he finally seemed to realize we needed to move faster if we wanted to get to the ship before Bellamy. I wondered why Bellamy wanted to get there first, and what was so important in that shop that he needed to get rid of? 

"Should we split up?" I heard Clarke ask from behind me as Finn walked briskly beside her.

I nodded, "Yeah, don't go too far though. The ship is close."

The three of us went in opposite directions quickly. I picked up to my pace to a job, listening to the annoying crunching sound of the pine needles under my boots. Birds chirping to wake up the forest filled the air as I kept my eyes peeled for the ship. I knew we were right there; right where it should have landed. 

I moved past a few more trees, pushing past thick evergreen bushes until I found myself in a wide clearing littered with the falling leaves of autumn. In the middle of the clearing sat one single pod; old and rusty with burn marks on every crevice. How did that thing even survive the entry into the atmosphere?

My hazel eyes spotted a familiar girl standing in front of Clarke with a wide smile on her face, and dried blood caking the right side of her forehead. She had tan skin and dark hair that was pulled into a tight ponytail. I recognized her as a mechanic; the youngest mechanic on the Ark. Raven Reyes. I never knew her personally, but I respected her for accomplishing as much as she did. My dad knew her too. He helped her through her internship alongside Sinclair in his spare time.

"Harley Winters," I heard Raven say as she saw me. "I thought you were still in a coma."

I smiled as I shook my head and walked up to her, "Yeah, well don't believe every lie the Council tells you," she let out a light laugh as she gave me a casual hug.

"I'm so sorry about your dad," she said as she pulled away. "He taught me so much."

I gave her an appreciative look with sadness in my eyes, "You were his favorite student. He talked about you all the time."

"Raven!"

Both of our heads turned when we saw Finn running from the other side of the clearing with her gaze on Raven. I watched as joy overcame her face, but then, once she was standing right in front of him, she took his face in her hands. I glanced at Clarke, feeling the awkwardness in the air. 

"I knew you couldn't be dead," Raven let out as Finn shot a nervous glance to Clarke. 

That two-timing idiot.

His eyes returned to Raven as he noticed the dried blood on her head, "You're bleeding."

"I don't care," she replied, before pulling his lips down to his in a deep kiss. Okay, even more awkward.

Clarke's expression was devasted as she watched the couple practically make out in front of us. I put my hand on her shoulder, clearing my throat louder than necessary.

Finn got the message as he pulled away from Raven, still keeping his hands on her shoulders, "How did you get here?"

Her eyes were only on Finn as if he was the only person that existed in the world, "You know that big scrap hold; the one on K deck?"

Finn looked at the pod, "You built that from scrap?"

"I kind of rebuilt it," she corrected with a wide grin causing Finn to chuckle. "Please. Like that's hard? It just needed a couple parts and some love."

"You're insane."

"I'd do more for you and worse. Just like you would for me." 

Yikes. Too bad he was spending all his time on Earth chasing after Clarke. I did not like being in this situation. It was awkward, and it wasting a lot of time. We still had no idea where the hell Bellamy was.

Then, Raven started swaying, almost falling over as Finn caught her. She probably had a concussion. I knew what that was like. It seemed as if I was always hurting my head, but also hitting my head on things appeared to help bring memories back.

Finn sat her down on a tall log, jogging over to me and Clarke as Clarke pulled out a bandage for Ravens head from her bag. I could feel the tension between them as Finn grabbed the bandage.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. 

I scoffed, "Wow. That's the best you can do?"

He ignored me as Clarke avoided his eyes, "Let's not talk about this."

"We've known each other our whole lives," he explained.

"We don't need to talk about this," Clarke moved past him as she walked towards Raven. "She needs to put pressure on her wound."

I patted Finn on the shoulder before following Clarke, "I wouldn't want to be you right now, Rapunzel."

Finn joined us next to Raven, handing her the piece of cloth, "Thanks," she said as she pressed it against her head with a small wince.

"This is Clarke. She was on the dropship," Finn said as he motioned to Clarke.

A realization seemed to strike Raven as she looked to Clarke, "Clarke?" she stood up. "This was all because of your mom."

"My mom?" Clarke asked with furrowed eyebrows.

Raven looked between the three of us, "This was all her plan. We were trying to come down here together. If we waited... Oh my God, we couldn't wait because the Council was voting whether to kill three hundred people to save air."

I shook my head, "Those bastards."

"When?" Clarke asked with urgency.

"Today."

That wasn't surprising to me. Their time up in space was running out with each day that passed, and we hadn't been able to contact them since we got to the ground. They had to assume we were dead, and that the ground wasn't survivable. So of course, their next action was to kill more people. Shocking.

Raven moved passed Clarke as she went back to the pod, "We have to tell them you're alive." We followed behind her, stopping as she leaned to look into the pod. "The radio's gone," Of course it was. We just had the best luck ever. "It must have gotten loose during reentry. I should've strapped it to the a-strut. Stupid!"

"No, no this is my fault," Clarke said as she looked around. "Someone got here before us." Bellamy? He took the radio? "We have to find him." I knew he didn't want the ARk coming down, but this seemed a little extreme. 

I walked in the front with Clarke as we headed towards camp with urgency in our footsteps. Both of us knew that if we didn't find Bellamy soon, those three hundred people on the Ark were doomed.

――――

The tension between Clarke and Finn only grew worse and worse as we trekked through the forest. Raven was catching up with him, glued to his side and extreme with the PDA. I felt bad for Clarke, and in a way, I sort of knew how she felt. Having to watch Bellay sleep with different girls wasn't easy, even though we technically weren't together. It was confusing, and I still didn't understand how I could feel so much for someone I barely remembered.

"So, Harley," I heard Raven say from behind me. "How long have you been out of the coma?"

"Well, I was arrested about four months before we came to Earth," I replied as I kicked a small rock from boredom. "Diana Sydney set me up. Just like she set up my father."

"Yeah, she's a real bitch," Raven answered. 

I scoffed, "Tell me about it."

"Hey! I see him!" I heard Clarke yell from a few yards in front of me.

I picked up my pace as I ran ahead of her, seeing Bellamy walking casually towards camp. I didn't see the radio though. I was worried he had destroyed it.

He turned his head when he heard my footsteps, his deep eyes glancing over me as kept walking, "Glad to see the grounders didn't get you, Princess."

"Cut the shit, Blake. We know you took the radio," I shot back as the others caught up with us. 

Clarke stormed up to Bellamy with anger in her eyes, "They're getting ready to kill three hundred people up there to save oxygen, and I can guarantee it won't be Council members," she said as she pointed an accusing finger at him. "It'll be working people. Your people."

Then, of course, the drama queen had to make his entrance into the conversation. Finn stalked up to us, shoving Bellamy back roughly, "Bellamy. Where's the radio?"

Bellamy shoved back, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

I rolled my eyes as I crossed my arms over my chest. They were so unnecessarily dramatic.

"Bellamy Blake?" I heard Raven ask from behind Finn, causing all of us to turn our heads towards her. "They're looking everywhere for you."

"Shut up," Bellamy fired at her.

I looked at Raven, "Why are they looking for him?"

"He shot Chancellor Jaha," 

What? I gave him an astonished look. He did what I never got the chance to do. I would've been the one shooting him if Diana and the guards hadn't shown up that day. Understanding bloomed in my eyes. He must have done it to get on the dropship. It was the only logical explanation; so he could save his sister.

"That's why you took the wristbands," Clarke said as she pieced everything together. "You needed everyone to think we're dead."

Finn shook his head, "And all that 'whatever the hell we want'? You just care about saving your own skin."

Bellamy looked between all of us before turning around. He tried to walk away, but Raven stepped up, "Hey! Shooter! Where's my radio?"

"Get out of my way," he said in an annoyed voice as she stood in his path.

"Where is it?" Raven demanded. 

Bellamy's eyes met hers, "I should've killed you when I had the chance."

"Really? Well, I'm right here."

Then, he grabbed her, causing Raven to pull out a knife as Bellamy pinned her against a tree. She held the knife close to his face with narrowed eyes.

"Where's my radio?"

"Just stop it!" I called out with irritation. "Both of you need to chill out."

Bellamy's eyes turned to me, letting Raven go seconds later. He took a few steps back from her.

"Jaha deserved to die, and you all know it. Especially you, Harley," he had a point, and I was going to kill him at a time, after all.

"Yeah, he's not my favorite person either," Raven pushed herself off the tree and turned to Bellamy, "but he's not dead."

I saw a look flood Bellamy's chestnut eyes. Was that relief? "What?" he asked.

"You're a lousy shot," Raven answered

Then and there I knew Bellamy could be persuaded to show us where the radio was. His eyes were full of emotions he tried so hard to hide from everyone, but I had the rare ability to decode his intricate mazes of thoughts and constellations of feelings.

I walked towards him, catching his captivating gaze and watching his eyes soften, "Bellamy, I understand what you did. You just wanted to save your sister. Like always," he looked down, "and now, you have a chance to save three hundred more people from Factory Station, just like you and Octavia; people you know," his eyes flickered to mine again. "Please, tell us where the radio is."

He clenched his jaw, as he finally gave in and realized he needed to do the right thing, "It's too late."

――――

As it turned out, Bellamy threw the radio in a shallow creek near camp. We gathered about ten other people, and everyone was looking through rocks and mud to find it. I noticed Bellamy leaning down on the grass near the water as he watched everyone look. His face was full of concern, and his eyes were revealing one million thoughts that were racing through his mind. 

I stepped onto the soft ground with a soft smile on my face as he stood. I kept my eyes on everyone else, and he did the same. We stood next to each other in comfortable silence for a few moments with jumbled chatter and rushing water in the background. 

Finally, I spoke up, "I was going to kill him," I felt him glance over at me. "Jaha. I was going to shoot him. That's why I got locked up."

"Why?"

"My dad," I answered. "He was being set up by Diana Sydney, and she told me she would tell the Council the name of the person who put the knife in his jacket pocket, but only if I shot Jaha," I shook my head with a light laugh. "Of course, at the time, I had no idea she was setting me up too." He listened as I sighed. "I had the gun, and if the guards didn't stop me... I would've killed him. I know it."

"You just wanted to save your father," Bellamy's words caught my gaze. 

"Just like you wanted to save Octavia," I said. "I think you and I have more in common than we think."

A slight grin tugged at his lips, "That's a first."

I laughed, but then my tone became serious again, "Look, if the Ark comes down here, they'll come after both of us. We tried to kill their precious Chancellor, and that's not a crime they'll likely forgive."

"You're not making this sound better, Princess."

"The point is, Bellamy," I caught his gaze. "We're in the same boat, and we can either sit around and wait for it to sink, or we can man up and face the storm."

He raised an eyebrow, "Since when did you become the motivational speaker around here?"

I shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe I just wanna show you up." He let out a small chuckle, "But, I'm serious, okay? We can't go back and change what we did. All we can do is try to do better moving forward." Bellamy's brown eyes looked into mine in an intense way as he took a step closer to me. I saw a wave of surprise hit his eyes. "What is it?"

"You just..." he trailed off. "That's something the Harley I knew on the Ark would say."

A spark erupted in my heart, "Well, maybe she isn't totally gone."

Suddenly, all I could see was Bellamy. I totally forgot there were ten other people around us, "I don't think she ever left."

My heartbeat was exploding. How were these many feelings possible at once? His eyes were like magnets, and I couldn't glue myself away from looking into them. I was caught in his stare, completely oblivious to all my surroundings.

But of course, reality had to always slap me in the face.

"I found it!" Someone yelled out from the other side of the creek.

Bellamy and I both stepped back in one swift motion. I looked away from him and ran towards the crowd that gathered around Jones; the person who found the radio. I glanced over Clarke's shoulder as Raven examined the soaked object.

"Can you fix it?" Clarke asked.

Raven didn't look too confident, "Maybe, but it'll take half a day just to dry out the components to see what's broken." We didn't have that much time.

"Like I said. It's too late," Bellamy spoke up from the other side of Clarke.

Her eyes turned to him as she walked up to him, "Do you have any idea what you did? Do you even care?"

"You asked me to help. I helped," he responded with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Three hundred people are going to die today because of you!"

I shot my eyes to her as I stepped beside Bellamy, "Yelling at him won't solve anything, Clarke."

"Hold up," I heard Raven say. We turned out heads to her. "We don't have to talk to the Ark. We just have to let them know we're down here right?"

"Yeah, but how do we do that with no radio?" Finn asked.

Raven smiled with cleverness, and I knew she had a good plan in mind. Her eyes returned to the radio as I let out a small huff, praying to the sky that Raven's plan would be enough to save three hundred innocent people dying for the Council's agenda. 

――――
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