─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

ONCE CLARKE WAS IN A COMFORTABLE POSITION, STILL KNOCKED OUT COLD, BELLAMY HAD STARTED MAKING ORDERS. June was in a crouched position outside of the dropship, on guard, with her rifle cocked correctly at his command. Murphy was on her other side, peering over a large tree stump into the woods. Raven and Finn were in the dropship, out of sight, watching over Clarke. June could still hear Finn's earlier words in her head when he was in distress, claiming he nearly got her killed. She knew he had to be held responsible in a way for his massacre, but he seemed to be thinking about something when wavering in his self-pity. It didn't sit right well with June.

There has been nothing for the time they have been out there, which is why when a few tree branches shift, June straightens so quickly her back cracks. She props her firearm on the stump, looking through the scope trying to get a better look. She couldn't see much, but a few large figures were dashing through. The silver glimmer is what catches her eyes. June clears her throat, looking over Murphy to nod at Bellamy as he glances away from his own scope.

"We got company! Get out here!" Bellamy called to the ones inside the dropship. June hears heavy footsteps but keeps her gaze locked on the woods, her heart pounding loudly in her chest. Leaves rustling were coming from every direction now, but they're hard to follow, even as more appear. June just knows they're there, watching, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

"We're surrounded," a familiar voice whispered. June turned her head to see Clarke, surprised at the sight, but pulling herself together when she realized she was right.

Lowering his gun, Bellamy rose. "Back inside," he demanded, ordering everyone, seeing that they couldn't win without a plan. There was too many. June stood, her knees wobbling as she dashed inside of the dropship. She hung back for a moment, being the last one, watching as Raven limped to make sure she made it inside.

When every one of the small group is safely inside, Bellamy and Murphy pace, taking turns with small peeks outside past the curtain. "They're not moving any closer," Murphy noted, his boots thudding against the dropship's metal ground.

"Staying out of range," Bellamy added in a mumble. "Probably waiting until it's dark." June shakes her head, wondering how long that would be. How long they had.

"If we hit them now, at least we'd take them by surprise," Murphy suggested eagerly.

"We can't do this with no plan and guns blazing," June countered.

Clarke nods. "We don't even know how many of them are out there," she says in addition.

"I'm not hearing any better ideas, you two," Murphy fired back rudely.

As June prepared to tell them arguing would solve nothing, and certainly wouldn't help Finn, another pips in. "We'll give them something." It's Raven, her dark eyes kept on the ground.

"All they want is Finn," Bellamy replied in confusion.

Without looking up, Raven muttered. "Finn wasn't the only one in the village." June's eyes flicker to Murphy, her mind whirring as she tried to piece together what Raven meant. Murphy was there, but something wasn't right with how she couldn't even look at him as she spoke.

"Raven..." June uttered slowly. "Murphy wasn't shooting anyone."

There's a dark look etched in Raven's features as she finally looked up and met her face. "He shot me," she said lowly. "We don't know that." But June did, remembering the memory vividly, having seen Murphy try to pull on Finn's jacket and having heard him scream his name, trying to stop him.

"What are you talking about?" Clarke questioned.

"Whoa, Raven, I came here to protect him," Murphy cut in, defending himself. "You were the one who wanted me to come. You..." He stopped, a heavy silence following as everyone let the truth settle in. Murphy's lower lip curled into a snarl. "That's why you wanted me to come along."

"Enough grounders saw him at the village," Raven says, speaking to everyone but Murphy. "They'd believe he was the shooter."

Shaking his head in disbelief, Murphy scowled, eyes like daggers towards Raven. "You sick bitch," he spat out.

"Stop it," June demanded, voice wavering, speaking to the both of them. She didn't like Murphy anymore than any of them did, but this wasn't right.

"Raven, you don't mean this," Clarke tells her softly, trying to calm her down.

"You know what they do to people," Bellamy adds.

Ignoring everyone attempting to change her mind, Raven snarled. "They want a murderer. We'll give them one." She loads her gun, suddenly lifting it and pointing the barrel directly at Murphy. "Drop your gun!"

Stunned, June's boots are glued to the ground. Meanwhile, Murphy takes a few steps forward until the gun is almost pressed into his chest. "Go to hell, Raven," he sneered to spite her further.

"Alright, stop!" June warned them, putting her hand up to keep Murphy back.

"Put it down, Raven," Clarke pleads with her. "Like it or not, he's one of us."

Blocking her out, Raven is in a daze of fury, her glare on Murphy. "I said drop it," she repeated through gritted teeth.

Right when June is positive Raven would actually shoot Murphy, Finn suddenly lurched forward and pushed Raven's gun down while shouting. "Stop! Stop!" He stands firmly in between the two. "We're not doing this. They've got us surrounded, the only thing we can do it stay and defend this place," he declared. Finn waited, looking at each member in the circle. June nodded in agreement, knowing they were only in this together if they ever wanted to push through this. With the others on Finn's side, he continued, directing Murphy. "Go upstairs, watch the rear. I'll take the lower level. You four, take the front gate," he ordered the rest. "That's the plan. Alright?"

Accepting it, June nodded again. She lets Bellamy leave first while Clarke grabs a gun for herself, Murphy crawling up the ladder, pausing at the curtain as she watched Raven touched Finn's shoulder. She remembered when she'd become so easily jealous, but now only couldn't place her finger exactly on what she was feeling. "We got this," Raven reassured Finn, pulling him into a tight embrace.

Finn's chin hooked over Raven's shoulder and his eyes shut for a moment. "May we meet again," he said softly, his words barely audible, but heard by June who's brows furrowed.

"We will," Raven responded, taken off guard as she slowly pulled away.

"Yeah..." Finn trailed off before coughing, covering up the emotion in his tone.

Shaking off the nervous feeling, June rapped her knuckles on the dropship wall. "Raven," she called, jutting her chin towards the curtain. Raven nodded, giving Finn one last smile before she strolls towards June, both heading out without another glance to Finn.

In between Clarke and Raven behind a line of falling thin trees pressed together, June kept her eyes on the trees that became still once the group of four was outside. She felt deeply that the grounders were still there, was positive, but there was no sign to it otherwise. June was growing frustrated with her finger kept on the trigger, wondering when they would strike. It wasn't like they weren't hidden so well.

"You see anything?" Clarke spoke up to the two. June shakes her head.

"No," Raven answered shortly, before; "Wait, someone's coming. There." June's head snaps up, holding her gun up further as footsteps creak through the mud. A figure falls through the trees, stopping just outside the gate, hands held up in surrender. June's heart falls in her chest as her eyes trail up, seeing out of everyone, it's Finn.

Clarke's voice breaks. "No..." She jumps up, scrambling through the ash and screams. "Finn!" June drops her gun, launching forward and just managing to grab Clarke's shoulder before she can run towards him.

"Sis em ripa!" A deep voice shouts. (Grab the killer!) Grounders that June knew were hiding pour out of the trees. She can't move, brown eyes wide as she clutches Clarke, her grip tight enough to bruise as she watched helplessly. Finn's gone in seconds, just like that, being hauled away and disappearing into the mob of grounders.

Nobody says anything. June isn't sure if she's even breathing as she slowly lets Clarke go, shocked as she processed what just happened before her eyes. Finn gave up. He was willing to die to save them all, and he just might, for peace.

━━━━━━━━

An orange glows in the field in front of Camp Jaha adjusts to June's sight. Her arms are crossed over her chest, feeling herself shiver as she surveyed the area. Residents were watching, the crowd full of people, but she was in the front, just in behind the gate. Past the tall fence, into the empty field ahead of them, were hundreds of tents, circling around a tall pole dug into the ground, surrounded by grounders. June can hear what Clarke told them on their way back to camp, what Lincoln claimed would happen to Finn. His last moments would be anything but painless.

"What is that?" Raven's quiet question breaks the silence. June can't answer although she knows, the lump in her throat too large.

"It's for Finn." Clarke nudged her way past Bellamy, her blue eyes glossy. "They want us to watch."

Despite the others broken around him, Bellamy speaks with determination. "We're gonna get him. We'll get in close and we'll him them hard," he stated.

"Son... There's thousands of them." Kane, the one disagreeing, shakes his head. "Even if we could kill hundreds, they'd still wipe out this camp, and your friend would still die." He sounds regretful, and June hated he's right. There's truly nothing they can do.

"Abby," Raven begged the Chancellor. "Abby, we have to do something."

Apologetic, Abby gently responds. "No, Raven."

In despair, Clarke whirls around, marching away. June tries to ignore the weight on her shoulders and follows, Bellamy and Raven on their trail. "Clarke, wait," she speaks up, seeing that she wasn't heading for The Ark to not watch this. Clarke was going straight for the exit.

"What are you doing?" Bellamy asked, picking his pace up to stand in front of her.

"I'm gonna talk to the Commander," Clarke says simply. Something tells June it isn't the best idea, considering Kane buying them time was just pure luck.

"What else do you have to say?" Bellamy asks.

Panicking, Clarke's blonde curls flew as she frantically shook her head. "I don't know... I don't know..." She repeated.

"Clarke," June whispered, trying to put it decently that she couldn't do anything. "If you walk out there without a plan, the grounders will kill you both."

Lower lip trembling, Clarke begs unsteadily. "Then give me a better idea."

"I have one." Raven's announcement is stronger than everyone combined as she gestured to Clarke. "Give me your hand." Clarke raises her arm and Raven takes it, rolling her sleeve up and slipping a knife into it. "If she won't let him go, kill her." She rolled the sleeve back down. "Things'll go crazy, and we'll grab you and Finn," she promised before her tone lowered, pleading. "Clarke... You have to help him. I owe him my life."

Bringing her arm back down, Clarke nods. Before she can turn, June reaches out, grabbing her upper arm and saying softly in words of encouragement. "Do what you have to do." Clarke doesn't respond, instead, letting her head drop as she pushes through the crowd.

When June arrives back to the front of the crowd watching, Kane is stopping Abby who is shocked when she sees her daughter walking through the field. "Wait, Abby. Gotta let her try," he said rightfully.

June glances out to the field again. Clarke's out there, bravely standing straight with her jaw locked and held high as she boldly marches to the post. Cheers from the grounder arise as Finn is pulled out, his back pressed to the post as he's tied down. Clarke approaches then, coming to a stop in front of the Commander. Whatever deal she's attempting to make crushes any hope that June has. The Commander is hardly reacting, standing still and indifferent to the words given to her.

"Come on, Clarke," Raven urged her in a whisper. "Do it."

No knife is being pulled from Clarke's jacket sleeve and dug into the Commander's chest as they all expected. Instead, she's darting away and rushing to Finn and hug him close. June feels a wetness she had held back, slip from her eyes, streaming down her cheeks. "What is she doing?" Raven uttered, lost.

"She's..." June has to swallow a sob. "Doing what she has to do."

Finn's head falls on Clarke's shoulder, and she steps away. A blood spot stains his shirt, and Clarke's hand is drenched in red. The silver knife that Raven gave her is clutched into her fist.

Maybe June hadn't liked Finn since Raven landed. He did use her best friend, cheated on the girl she was fond of, and only spiraled down from there after his peace talks. Maybe June could have treated him better, she thought, as tears roll down her face. He sacrificed himself to save them all, and Clarke had to kill the male she loved so he wouldn't suffer. June is trembling as Raven starts to scream in grief.

"No!" June feels her heart shatter into millions of pieces as Raven wails, her legs crumbling while she starts to fall, screaming the word again. "No! No!"

"Raven," June sobs, her arms opening as she manages to catch her. They both fall to the ground, June's shaking arms around Raven's waist as her knees hit the mud.

"No!" Raven wails again, wrenching sobs following the word. June brings her hand up, gently cupping the side of Raven's face, allowing her to be buried into her neck. A wetness of Raven's tears spot her skin as she cries. "No!"

Sorrow stabs June in the chest as she cradles Raven, her screams ringing in her ears, knowing this night would haunt them forever. She lets out a final cry under her breath, finally forcing herself to look away from Finn's body.

"May we meet again."