SUMMARY: When Bellamy took a job in Syria to be a diplomats detail, he didn't expect to be assigned to her daughter, and he didn't expect to get along with her so well. During an outing Clarke is taken and Bellamy doesn't know why or by who. Bellamy knows time is of the essence so he enlists the help of some friends with the right type of skills and does anything and everything he can to bring her home, because it's no longer about his job...it's personal.
Bellamy flashed his badge to the guards at the gate while sitting in the black SUV he had been assigned while working at the US embassy. He didn't get it because it stuck out like a sore thumb and was too flashy to blend in, plus being in a place with mountains of sand made it impossible to keep clean. Not that it mattered, it wasn't his vehicle.
"You're clear." the guard in military fatigues handed him back his badge and waved him through the gate. The nice regal looking house stood before him as he pulled the car up to the front so the passenger side faced the door.
Bellamy stepped out slipping his shades on. He had truly come to hate sand. It got everywhere and when it would get windy or when sand storms would hit, it was impossible to get clean. Being military detail for the US ambassador in Syria hadn't been his first choice, but with his mom in need of money for her treatments there wasn't much option. Syria offered the most money for the least amount of time. No one stayed long and the risk factor was pretty high with things only getting worse as time went on. But he needed the money and luckily the family he was assigned to wasn't awful.
He walked inside the house and took his sunglasses off and slid them on the neck of his shirt. He nodded at the security detail that were on their way back outside, completely drenched in sweat. He definitely didn't envy them. He walked towards his first stop, which happened to be something he always looked forward to. He knocked on the door frame and peered in.
"Bellamy! I didn't know you were working today." he waved him inside with a warm smile.
Bellamy felt himself smile back, "Morning Mr. Griffin, I was requested by your wife. Apparently Clarke wants to go into town today and she asked if I would take her instead of the detail on duty."
He nodded, "Yes, Abby has been more worried lately. Of course she can't tell us why, but she has tried limiting the time we're away from the house. Which of course Clarke is giving her hell about."
"I would expect nothing less." Bellamy smirked.
"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't." He laughed.
"I'm going to head upstairs and save your wife the torment. When I get back I'd like to talk to you about the book you lent me." Bellamy stated and Mr. Griffin beamed.
"Yes, of course!" Bellamy nodded and left the office. There were a positives to the Griffin family, one being that Jake Griffin happened to be a university professor of history and ethics. He worked remotely and mostly did online classes so he could be with his wife Abby. Then there was their daughter Clarke. The both of them had a rough start and constantly butted heads but within a few months they started to consider each other as friends. So it made working long hours a little more tolerable.
He made his way up the stairs and heard the godawful bubblegum pop music Clarke listened to. He poked his head in and saw her drawing in the sketch pad he had bought her for her birthday last month. He walked in and turned the stereo off.
"Hey!" he watched her head pop up and minor annoyance graced her features.
"I'm doing you a favor in saving your ears from that god awful racket." he walked over to her desk and sat down in the chair facing her, "I really need to get you into real music. Classic rock will speak to your soul Clarke, I promise you."
"No thanks, I'll stick to my shitty pop music."
"Well in the car, I'm manning the radio. Last time will be the one and only time you touch the stereo in my car."
Her face lit up, "Mom's letting me leave?"
"Looks that way, so get your shit and let's go." She scrambled from the bed and started searching for her shoes, "Where are you wanting to go?"
She smiled at Bellamy, "Finn wanted to meet for lunch in town."
He tried to hide his grimace. Finn was a local politicians son and Clarke and him had met at one of those fancy dinners for diplomacy and all of that. Bellamy couldn't stand Finn, everything about the guy just rubbed him the wrong way. He had tried to talk to Clarke about it but it had ended in a fight and since then he kept his mouth shut and just made sure to keep an eye on him. Along with a threat that he would break every bone in Finn's body if he tried to pull anything with Clarke. Finn had made the comment that Bellamy was in love with Clarke, which was absurd. They were friends and enough of an age gap, that while legal, is only borderline socially acceptable. He also works for her parents and the US Government so with that whole list and the fact that they were just friends made his claim baseless. "Ready?" he asked as soon as she had her shoes on.
"Yup!" She smiled and followed him out the door and climbed into the passenger seat of the car. Bellamy pulled out of the gated estate and pulled out onto a paved road and headed into town.
He popped her hand when she tried to reach for the stereo, "Hey I wasn't joking. You lost DJ privileges." She stuck her tongue out at him and he rolled his eyes, "real mature princess."
It didn't take very long to get into the busy part of town where Clarke had chosen to meet up with Finn. Bellamy knew she tried to butter him up by choosing to eat with Finn at his favorite lunch spot. He found a parking space a little further down from the actual restaurant and parked the car. The both of them got out and started the small walk.
"Hey," Clarke said softly looking over at him, "I wanted to thank you for taking me. I know Finn isn't your favorite person."
"My opinion doesn't matter. If he makes you happy then I can tolerate him." He gave her a smirk and she rolled her eyes but a smile graced her face.
Once her eyes fell on Finn she hurried forward to greet him with a hug. Finn swooped down and gave Clarke a passionate kiss before tilting his head back up, "Bellamy." he nodded towards his direction. It creeped him out just how territorial Finn was with Clarke. He grimaced and nodded back.
"Clarke I'm just going to sit over there," He pointed to a few tables down. He would be far enough away to give them privacy but close enough to keep a watchful eye on surroundings. The small restaurant had a patio in the front with tables and umbrellas that gave a brief relief from the beaming sun. He pulled out his phone and decided now would be a good time to write back to some emails from his mother and sister. He never spent too long with his eyes on his screen and always made sure to take a detailed sweep of the surroundings before going back to his phone. It was something that was second nature to him after being in the marines. He made sure he was always aware of his surroundings. Once done he slid the phone back into his pocket and watched the two of them.
Bellamy never understood the appeal to Finn. He had to hear about how perfect he was and it irked him because no guy was perfect and they all wanted one thing, no matter what they told you. He had spent enough years in the service to read situations and read people. It was part of his job, a job that he was very good at. He had kept a watchful eye on Finn from the beginning. There was something that never sat right with him. Finn had issues with Bellamy since meeting with him and he never understood why. It had come across as jealousy until recently. He had started to look venomous at Bellamy every time they crossed paths. Bellamy noticed Finn trying to turn conversations to political topics, something he knew Clarke detested. It wasn't long before Bellamy also noticed he would talk Mr. and Mrs. Griffin and attempt to hold conversations that, to Bellamy, seemed like he was trying to fish for any information they were willing to divulge. Which wasn't much.
He was snapped away from his thoughts when he noticed the both of them stand up and Finn throw some money on the table. Bellamy stood up as well and weaved his way through the patio over to them when he noticed they had started to walk away and continued to put more distance between him and the two of them. He tried closing the distance between them but it seemed every person on the sidewalk felt the need to bump into him making getting to her a little harder. Once close enough he put his hand on Clarke's shoulder and turning her towards him, "And where do you think you're going?" she knew better than to just take off.
"Finn wanted to show me a hole in the wall shop a few streets over." Clarke bit her lip knowing she probably should have told Finn to wait for Bellamy..
"Hey, I've got her. She'll be with me." Finn interrupted grabbing Clarke's hand and pulling her closer to him.
"Not a chance in hell." Bellamy shook his head.
"I'm more than capable of keeping her safe from whatever dangers you Americans think is out here." Finn's slightly aggressive tone had Bellamy's training heighten his senses..
"Where she goes, i go." Bellamy said flatly.
"Dude what is your problem? It's two streets over. She'll be fine." he pushed.
Bellamy felt the anger and annoyance start to bubble up in his chest, "I said no." his voice was low and he made sure to pronounce every single syllable. There was no way in hell Bellamy would let Clarke take a walk without him. He knew more about the volatile dangers within their area than Clarke did, but he had to keep it that way. He hated keeping information from her, especially when it would stop her from making rash decisions. Secrets were the one thing he hated most about his job.
"Look, you know Bellamy has to come. But he can stay a little further back so we have some privacy. Finn, you knew this was a thing from the beginning." She looked between them.
Bellamy shot her a look. She knew that he wasn't happy with her suggestion but her eyes pleaded with him and he fought within himself. He knew he shouldn't but he also knew she hadn't been out much lately and he didn't want her to feel like she was being smothered. He relented but his senses went on high alert. "I'll be a few paces behind, but that's it." He stared down Finn.
Finn's face was filled with anger and annoyance, but he also seemed panicked. Finn tugged on Clarke's hand motioning her to continue walking. He pulled out his phone and was typing quickly his mouth in a straight line. He gently pulled on Clarke's arm forcing her to walk faster which caused Bellamy to have to walk at a quicker pace. His eyes were sweeping the surroundings because something didn't feel right and he could feel it deep in his bones. He came to a group of men arguing and tried his best to go around them but each time it was as if he was being held up and lengthening the distance between Bellamy and Clarke. His eyes scanned and came to a stop on a van. It was nondescript and he had remember seeing it parked up the street when they had sat down at the restaurant and had kept an eye on it. He remembered seeing the tape that was around one of the side mirrors and the person in the driver seat had sat in the van but never moved or made any indication he was going to. This had put Bellamy on high alert, and he started watching people as discreetly as he could and hoping he could close the gap between him and Clarke.
Bellamy reached behind him where his gun had sat all morning. He carefully turned the safety off just in case things went south and he needed to reach for it quickly. He made sure that the shirt that he wore laid back over it so it was hidden from view. He noticed Finn starting to look around and up and down the street. Bellamy heard the van before he saw it and he started rushing to close the distance between them. The van came into view and screeched to a halt right by Clarke. Bellamy broke out into a run and was weaving through people. He drew his gun with it pointed to the ground and watched as if it was in slow motion as the door slid open and someone reached out grabbing her. She fought back and went on the defensive just as Bellamy had taught her. She yelled for Bellamy and he pushed himself even harder and broke through the people. He raised his gun and shot the guy's wrist that had a hold on her and felt great pleasure in hearing his howls of pain. His stomach dropped when he saw Finn start to fight her, forcing her into the van. She kicked at him and continued to yell. Bellamy couldn't take another show without risking hitting her. She kicked out and came in contact with Finn's stomach causing him to bend over. Bellamy took that moment to line up his shot.
Two men rushed him from the alley with knives in hand. By instinct Bellamy elbowed one in the face disarming him and kicking the knife away and the other came at him forcing Bellamy to pull the trigger as the guy had been ready to throw the knife at him. The man slumped to the ground. Him momentum had been slowed and he called out to Clarke. Finn looked back at Bellamy and brought his elbow to her face and her body went limp. She disappeared into the van and Finn followed. Bellamy raised his gun and aimed for the tires as the drove away but he never got a clear shot.
"Fuck!" He yelled. Within seconds he was running back to the SUV that was parked around the corner. He knew he didn't have long before he would lose. He yelled for people to get out of his way as he rushed to the driver side. He climbed into the vehicle and started the engine and throwing it into drive not even bothering with a seatbelt. He heard the gravel shoot out from under the tires as he peeled out of his parking spot and onto the street. He ran a stop sign and turned right cutting off a car and speeding through the downtown area hoping to close the distance between him and that piece of shit van .
Bellamy pulled out his phone and held down the number three and turned it on speaker and tossing it on the dashboard as he weaved in and out of traffic. Within two rings he heard a voice that made him want to yell in triumph.
"What Blake? I'm busy trying to get laid." a feminine voice floated through the speakers.
"Raven I need you to track a phone for me." He rushed out and laid on the horn when someone got in his way.
"Bellamy I'm kind of in the mid-"
"Raven please! It's important. Someone took Clarke and I'm so far behind I'm not sure I'll be able to find them without it." He begged, because his job was to protect Clarke and he had failed.
"Alright, hold on." He heard shuffling and a muffled voice, "Okay what's her phone number?"
"96356891224 and I need it now Raven."
"I know Bellamy, I'm working on it. The internet isn't exactly top notch out here."
"Raven." he warned. He didn't have time to care about coming off as an asshole.
"Okay it looks like she's about ten kilometers west of you."
"West?" he was confused. He couldn't remember any threats that were west of their area.
"Yeah, it looks like they might not be on a road anymore."
Bellamy cursed, "Is there anyway that you could try and keep her on GPS and try to keep me on course to intercept them? I'm sure I could probably ch-"
"The signal dropped."
"What!?"
"I mean it could be a satellite thing, but it's unlikely. My guess is they ditched the sim card." He could hear the sound of Raven's typing.
Bellamy punched the steering wheel and yelled, "Goddammit!" He pulled off the road and punched the wheel over and over.
"I can keep an eye on her number and let you know if it pops back up." She said sympathetically.
"I'm headed your way." He shook out his hand and turned the car around heading towards Raven's house and hoping that she could help and give him something to go on. At this point he didn't have much information and he didn't want to call Abby yet without having more information and a plan on how to get Clarke back.
So I've toyed with this idea and I've got the next chapter almost written if this is something anyone would be interested in. I know I've got other stories that I haven't updated and I promise I will get there, but I've hit a wall with them every time I try (my writer friends know what I'm talking about). Please let me know if this is something you would enjoy and what you think. I don't want to post something people won't read, So let me know.
Also, for my readers that were pushing for a ch. 2 of thigh-highs and neckties...Christmas is just around the corner ; )
*Requests are being accepted at the moment, PM requests*