A/N: This fic just sorta happened. It's a very random one, but I kinda like the way it turned out. I know, new for me, right?

Anyone else excited for the next episode? BECAUSE I TOTALLY AM! CAN'T WAIT!

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own The 100 or any of the characters; I also do not own either of the quotes used in this fic

Roots

"He's always been there for me when I needed him."

Elena Gilbert, The Vampire Diaries, 4x08 "We'll Always Have Bourbon Street"

Bellamy Blake has never had time for friends.

Sure, he had some before Octavia was born. After that, they fell to the wayside. And well, who can blame him? His little sister became the sun of his life, and he would always orbit round her. He didn't want to get close to anyone, since the more people they invited over, the more likely it would be that Octavia would be found. Perhaps some people would keep the secret, but you can't trust anyone but your family. His mother would surely get floated, and though Octavia would be put in the Sky Box, she could possibly be floated later. Bellamy thinks of his little sister being killed, shot off into space, just for being born, and his heart clenches.

(He doesn't worry about himself. If his mother and Octavia die, then his life isn't worth living.)

So he makes small talk with people outside his family, and people laugh at his jokes and bullshit, but he never lets them get too close. Sure, he has girlfriends (hey, he may be good but he isn't a saint) – or maybe it would be best to call them hook-ups, since he never forms a proper relationship with them. If a girl thinks he's serious, she might try to visit his mom, and he won't risk it. He won't risk his little sister.

Except –

Except when he looks into his sister's eyes and sees the light in them begin to die, the pain of being shoved under the floor, the agony of wanting but never having.

So he lets her loose. He can protect her, he thinks. He can keep her safe. He always has.

Until now.

His mother is floated, his sister his locked up, and he is classed as a janitor. He is seen as a liar, a criminal, someone who has no good in them.

He honestly couldn't care less.

His mother is dead, his sister half-way there, and it's all his fault. The bitterness churns up inside him, and when he looks into the mirror he sees what everyone else does: a bad person. A sod. A failure.

Then someone hands him a gun and gives him a choice. He can stay here, or protect his sister.

It's not really a choice.

(In the back of his head a little voice whispers of redemption, but he pushes it aside. Even to himself, he can't allow himself to think that maybe he become someone good again. Someone that would leave the world a little worse off when he died.

He can't let himself believe.)

Honest to – what, do they think he came down here to be driven insane? 'Cause it sure seems like it.

If it's not Octavia sneaking out to see the Grounder (he stabbed Finn, in case anyone's forgotten) and ranting about how unfair he's being, it's Clarke issuing orders and arguing with him. He never thought he would find anyone more of a pain than his sister, but it seems that God loves to throw in surprises.

(He's not sure why he still says God. He's not sure if believes in anything anymore. Especially himself)

The princess is up in his face as usual, ranting on about going out and finding medical supplies.

"We don't have enough gunners," Bellamy explains (or tries to. Maybe he doesn't speak high-class, because Clarke doesn't seem to understand him). "Right now we need to focus on training people how to use them without killing someone or themselves. I can't waste the ones that can aim going out with you on search missions for seaweed or-"

"Roots."

He pauses. "Roots?"

"That's what I need. Apparently Octavia got it from L-someone," she amends hastily when she sees his face, "that there are these particular roots that can bring fevers down. It might be worth having some in stock."

"Whatever." Bellamy pushes the thought of his sister out of his mind (for the moment). "What I'm saying is that I can't leave this place undefended."

She juts her chin up just a little, and alarm bells go off in his head. "I'll go on my own."

"Oh hell-" He grabs her arm, as if she's about to escape right that second. "Did you get hit on the head or something? Octavia was kidnapped, and Jasper had a spear through his chest for doing nothing at all. And you want to go out there, when they've already killed a good number of our people? You need your head examining-"

"We need these supplies Bellamy. How am I supposed to help if I don't have any medicine?"

"We all have to make do with less." He sees her open her mouth and races to get his words out first. "You're not going."

"I can take care of myself."

"In case you've forgotten, you're aim is shit."

"It's not far Bellamy. Quarter of a day, half a day tops-"

"I said no."

He and the princess have a stand-off. He can feel the camp quieten down, but he doesn't break his gaze from hers. Neither does she. He plants his feet to the ground. He'll die before he lets the princess win.

When there's a small cry from the distance, the two of them break away at the same time (he will go to his grave maintaining he held his gaze for a second longer). They see a boy – Nick? Nigel? Nelson? – limping towards them, being supported by a friend.

"Duty calls," he tells her, and the glare she sends him is colder than an arctic breeze.

He storms out of camp, and the look on his face is enough to stop anyone from following him. He thinks even the Grounders would think twice before going for him. He doesn't go far, but instead finds a patch of ground sloping downwards, and he plants his feet there. It's only after a few minutes of scowling into the distance that he notices his head is bleeding a little. He hadn't noticed he had hurt himself when he had swung at the branches. Or maybe it's after punching Spacewalker in the face.

It was still worth it.

He hears someone approaching from behind, and although it's likely Finn trying to give him hell again, he whirls round, his gun pointed.

Clarke holds up her hands. "I come in peace."

He snorts, because right now the words Clarke Griffin and peace don't go together. He turns his back on her, choosing to look out at the scenery.

"Are you going to ignore me for the rest of your life?"

He finds he is teeth are gritting together. "Trust me princess, you'd prefer that to what I would say to you."

He thinks she's about to say something, and he wants to maintain a stony silence. But her presence is too much for him. "I warned you not to leave, but you did anyway. And we had to send a rescue mission for you before you had been caught upside down, and when you cut yourself free, knocked yourself unconscious." He snorts, thinks of the girl staring right at him, saying that she can take care of herself. "Quite the warrior princess, aren't you?"

He still isn't looking at her, so he thinks that maybe she might have gone. He can't imagine Clarke standing silent for very long, especially when she is being insulted.

"At least warrior princess is better than complete and utter moron," she says mildly.

He doesn't want to think about the hell he let loose when Miller and Sterling returned, carrying Clarke between them. She had been unconscious, and Octavia and Monty (who Clarke has been attempting to train in case she's not around) had put a cold cloth against her bruised head. As soon as she had regained consciousness, Bellamy had screamed at her for a good ten minutes, ignoring Octavia's attempts to stop him.

"Yeah well, you deserved it." He crosses his arms, glaring over the horizon. "And I'm not going to apologise for punching Spacewalker either. That dick deserved it."

A chuckle. When he looks over at Clarke, she's actually smiling. "He was being chivalrous," she says.

"And he ended up knocked out on the floor. Chivalry is truly dead."

He thinks she laughs.

(He thinks about it later – replays it over and over in his head, more than he would admit – and is almost certain that she did laugh. He wishes he could have seen it. Clarke smiling is a rare thing.)

"You were right."

This time he does turn, because the princess admitting that he was right only happens once in a blue moon, whatever that means. It'll be a cold day in hell before he misses that.

There is a faint blush on her face when she speaks. "I'm the one that keeps saying that we need to work together, and I didn't listen to my own rules. And I wasted time that we could have used getting chores done and teaching people to shoot." There's a pause, and she looks at her feet when she says, "I'm sorry."

And even though he's still pissed, the only thing that he can think is that she reminds him of Octavia.

("I'm sorry Bellamy," Octavia whispers, ducking her head and raising her eyes at the same time. And he'll sigh and open his arms and Octavia will fly into them, and she'll get her own way more often than not.)

Suddenly he's not mad anymore. "It's okay." She lifts her head and the two of them share a look. He gives a little jerk of the head and she smiles, and that's all it takes.

"You coming back?" She half-turns, back towards the camp.

"Sure." They walk back together. Neither one of them leads, and they don't let the other fall behind. Instead the two of them walk together, feet in time with each other, like some stupid scene in a fairytale.

(He's always liked fairytales. There's some quote from centuries ago that tells people that fairytales aren't magical because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

In the situation they're in, he repeats that over and over to himself, because if he needs to believe in something, it's that the impossible can happen.

It doesn't occur to him that he's beginning to believe again.)

It's the longest walk of her life, he reckons: her returning to camp, Finn's body hanging limply behind her. She looks broken. He is currently holding on a girl who is breaking right in his arms. He hates it, but he feels her pain. Both of their pain. He remembers every cruel word he has ever said to Finn, and his heart clenches.

(Later, he thinks about how people never say how they really feel about a person. They always think they're going to have time. But it runs out, and everyone is always so surprised. That's how regret starts.)

He deposits Raven into Wicks arms, who is pushing some sedative drink down her throat. He doesn't usually trust others, but he's seen the look in Wick's eyes when it comes to Raven. He's seen that he cares about her, that he would let a hundred Grounders attack him as long as she could escape. He reminds Bellamy of not just one person, but of the entire 100 camp, how at the end they all stuck together.

He misses that unity. These kids could show the adults a thing or two.

He catches up to Clarke, who is being hugged by her mother. Abby is pouring all her emotions into it, but already Bellamy knows that her daughter isn't responding. Her eyes are far away from the present, likely reliving that memory over and over again. He winces on her behalf, and she must notice because she looks at him.

The rawness hurts so much that he wants to look away. A lesser man (the man who used to be) would. But this one returns her gaze, and offers her a nod.

I would have done the same thing.

That's all he can do since Abby practically drags her daughter away, but he knows that she gets it.

They only speak when they are heading towards the alliance meeting with the Grounders. He is trying to convince her to let him go into Mount Weather. A part of him knows it's a stupid idea, but Goddamn it, he needs to do something. The thought of his people being hurt day after day affects him more than he ever thought it would. It makes him curl inside, makes he want to beat against a wall until his fists bleed.

She says no, and suddenly it's back to the old days. Except that it doesn't feel nearly as good as it should. Before Clarke's eyes blazed when she argued. Now they are dead, like a plant that has been deprived of sunlight.

"Since I don't take orders from you, I'm gonna need a better reason," he informs her.

She turns to him, and it's then that he can see the emotion in her face. "I can't lose you too," she bursts out, her voice almost trembling. The rawness, the fear, the pleading is all obvious. He's surprised no one has looked over at them.

He doesn't know what to say to that. They are open with each other (being co-leaders kinda forces that on you) but not like this. Not on a personal level. He wonders if losing Finn has changed her, if she now feels that she needs to hold on to everyone around her, because she's scared that they'll die too.

He doesn't say anything in the end. Instead he keeps pace with her, because that's how they show each other that they are united.

When Lexa asks, in a bemused sort of way, "Aren't you and your second married?" Clarke and Bellamy can't get out the word no fast enough.

It doesn't help that Octavia has become the new definition of "killing herself laughing", practically falling to the floor at the thought.

But oddly enough, she's the only one.

He can't read Kane's face, but he doesn't seem stunned by the notion. Lincoln is giving the two of them a once-over, as if the idea has just occurred to him. And Abby is shooting him a look that he would consider far from friendly. As for Raven, she turns away and storms out, not bothering to be quiet.

Married. Him and Clarke. Yeah right.

Oddly enough, he knows exactly where to find her.

He follows her path (he's becoming a pretty good tracker now. It's hard not to think of Finn when it comes to tracking, but he figures he would be proud) until he meets her at the spot overlooking a clearing, where the two of them talked once before. This time she is sitting, her knees hunched up to her chin. He sits beside her, but she doesn't speak. These days, Clarke doesn't say much, only when she needs to. Ever since she found out about the Grounder's proposal, she's barely spoken a word.

"I'll do it."

She doesn't look at him, but she speaks, so he counts it as a victory. "You don't have to."

"Yeah, I do Clarke. You heard their terms. They want someone from our camp to marry into theirs. I already talked to O, and she said she'd do it. Hell, I think she'll actually be pleased to marry Lincoln." He tries to smile, but he isn't overwhelmed with the idea that his baby sister could be getting married. He isn't ready for that.

"You know they want me Bellamy. It's tradition that the leader of one tribe marries another. I wonder if Lexa has a brother." She's joking, he thinks, but she isn't smiling.

"You can't marry one of them Clarke. I have no idea what their customs are, but I do know that a Grounder won't give a damn about the fact that you just lost Finn. He'll want-" He tries to think of a better word to use another than sex, settling for, "-a wife. And you and I both know that you're not ready for that." He shrugs, trying to seem light-hearted about the situation. "So we'll just say you and I are betrothed."

"Betrothed?" Finally she looks at him, and he thanks a deity he doesn't really believe in that there is some curiosity in her eyes; there's still some life there.

"Yeah. And we'll agree to get married at the same time as Octavia and Lincoln, to convince them."

He watches it turn over in her mind, thinking up problems and strategies.

He clears his throat. "Obviously it's just an act, and I don't expect anything from you, and I know I'm probably the last person in the world you would consider marrying. But I don't see many people our age, and we need this alliance to finally go through so we can head to Mount Weather. Whatever works, princess, right?"

She doesn't say anything, and for a moment Bellamy is wishing he hadn't said anything himself. He tries to think of someone else for her to marry, someone that would understand about Finn.

When she finally replies, it's the last thing he expects.

"You're not the last person in the world I would want to marry Bellamy." Her face has a softness to it when she speaks, and he almost weeps, because it's been a long time since Clarke has looked like that. "You're my best friend. Out of anybody, I'd rather marry you."

He doesn't so much hear the words as absorbs them, feels them go through him. He's her best friend. And it only takes him a moment to realise that she's his best friend too. How had he not noticed it before?

He's never had a best friend before.

There's a little hesitation as she moves over to him, and her head falls onto his shoulder. They rarely ever touch each other, and it feels so bizarre to be intimate like this. And yet it's the first time he's relaxed in God knows how long. The first time he's actually felt calm. The first time he actually feels in control.

He reaches to the ground, tears a thin root and ties in round her finger.

"I think my mother will have a heart attack," says Clarke, but she's smiling.

(When Clarke smiles, she glows.)

"At least it'll save me having to make nice." He stands, holding out his hand for her. "C'mon. Our people aren't going to save themselves."

(Clarke Griffin is the only person he would think of marrying. The only person he would want to marry. The only person he can actually see himself with. Not that he'll tell her that.

Yet.)

(Redemption is finally his.)

"Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. 'Pooh?' he whispered.
'Yes, Piglet?'
'Nothing,' said Piglet, taking Pooh's hand. 'I just wanted to be sure of you.'"

A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

A/N: A few things:

I've always wanted to use a Delena quote in a fic about Bellamy and Clarke, though I would have used a few different ones if it had suited. This one worked.

Secondly, I wanted this to be more of a friendship fic, but it seems I can't write Bellamy and Clarke unless they're together.

Thirdly, I know the title of the fic is a bit odd. But the word roots came into my head, and whenever I wrote anything I seemed to be thinking about plants. I couldn't think of a better name. Hope it doesn't confuse anyone!

The quote Bellamy mentions about fairytales and dragon is by Neil Gaiman, and if anyone is more interested it's on my profile. I love that quote, and it actually suits Bellamy.

And finally... Yes, I did use a Winnie The Pooh quote. Probably the farthest thing from The 100 imaginable. But I was looking up quotes about friendship, and for some reason it felt right using it about Clarke and Bellamy.

Hours to make. Seconds to comment.

PLEASE REVIEW!