Everybody had crowded round her when a patrol had spotted somebody just West of camp. Bellamy, Jasper, Monty and Monroe had been the first ones to find the thing, but it clearly wasn't a threat. They had no weapons, no armor and they were passed out in some grass. When they'd spotted her it was obvious she needed help so they rushed forward, assuming it was a grounder. Bellamy had been the only one to recognize who it really was.
He'd stopped dead for a second then ran faster than anybody had ever seen him. He collapsed beside her and examined her face, which was so covered in bruises, mud and cuts that Bellamy could hardly see any of her skin. He checked the pulse and breathed for the first time. He cradled the limp body into his arms and readjusted her so she could breath easier.
Everybody else remained silent, still not seeing who it was. The clothes were grounder, as was the braids in the muddy hair. The girl looked like she'd become too skinny for her clothes, and the only possession on her was a bag. Luckily Bellamy told them without realizing they didn't know who it was.
"Oh Princess." He joked. "Where have you been? Everybody realized the familiar nickname.
"Clarke!" Jasper exclaimed and ran forward to grip her hand. "Don't you dare die without me forgiving you. Don't you even think about it." Bellamy smiled a little as the others came to surround her too. Monty smiled at Jasper, placing his head on his shoulder and squeezing his arm a little. He was proud of how far his friend had come, and he couldn't be happier that they'd found Clarke, he belonged in camp and he was glad Jasper could see that too.
Jasper had been such a wreck a year ago. He wouldn't talk to anybody, he spent all of his time working, so much his fingers kept bleeding. Monty had tried so desperately to talk to him with no results. Then about 4 months ago, Monty had gone for broke. From what Bellamy had been told, Monty had snapped at him, then the entire camp had silenced for the usually quiet boy yelling.
"We all lost people Jasper. We're all hurting, and we all feel responsible. But we're helping people, and we understand that life goes on. Friendships carry on, families carry on. Love happens again. Why is that so hard for you to understand?" And then Monty had left the tent. Jasper had realized he'd been so self absorbed he'd not thought about who Monty had lost. His parents hadn't made the drop. Monty had lost more than Jasper, yet he wasn't like this. He had spent his time trying to help his friend.
Monty had forgiven Jasper for his behavior, understanding the loss and they went back to normal almost. As normal as they could be in the circumstances. Over the next couple days Jasper made peace with everybody he'd blamed. Except Clarke. He'd prayed everyday for her to come back, feeling like he'd been responsible in some part for her leaving. Bellamy had already been trying to find her. Every hunt was a search in disguise. They left early, went as far as they could and returned before dark. Bellamy practically ran his distance, trying to get as far as he could, hoping he'd reach her. But he never did. Until now.
"You listen here Clarke, we're going to help you." Monty started thinking about her injuries and realized they needed to see how bad they were. He took his water and started to wash the water over her face to see how bad the damage was underneath the mud coating her face.
Luckily it wasn't as bad at it had first appeared. Most of the cuts were shallow, probably caused by catching her face on branches rather than cuts from grounders like Bellamy had first feared. However the bruises did look like she had been beaten. And when Bellamy moved her he realized there was blood on his hand. Her head was bleeding. That might explain why she was unconscious.
Bellamy stood, carrying her in his arms, trying as best as he could to support her head. He was shocked at how little she weighted. She was obviously malnourished, it was scary.
"Let's get her back to camp. Monroe, you're the fastest, you run and get Abby, tell her it's a girl with a wound on her head. Don't tell it's Clarke, she'll want to come and get her. Tell her it'll need stitches I think." Monroe nodded and started running ahead of them. It was only a 20 minute walk from camp, but Bellamy tried to jog it as best he could. He didn't want to risk too much blood getting out.
As they got into camp, people surrounded their entrance. Many of them repeated Clarke's name among themselves. Some sounded happy, others, mostly the adults sounded shocked. Since the dropship landed, the original 100 kids had taken to telling their parents, and anybody who wanted to listen about what they had done. More specifically, what Clarke had done. She was a living legend, back from the presumed dead. Her friends were the only ones who hadn't lost hope. Even her mother had disapproved the hunts to find her. She said it was a pointless effort now, and a waste of time.
As they brought Clarke into the medical center, it was clear Monroe had told her it was Clarke. She was crying because she was happy and worried all rolled into one, but Bellamy was grateful she was prepared for a patient.
"We found her unconscious. She hasn't woken and her heads bleeding." He placed her down as gently as he could and Abby immediately started examining her head.
"It's not too bad, but I need you to leave. Get Jackson." She practically pushed Bellamy out of the door and he ran to find Jackson.
Although it felt disrespectful, adults were sent to Mount Weather for supplies and to respectfully lay the dead to rest. This meant that Camp Jaha had supplies and the information to get supplies. At Mount Weather almost everything had to be made from the land, so it was still able to make it in the most part. Luckily for them, this included medical supplies. Lincoln had been a real help in this area too. He may have poisons, but he was good with antidotes too. Octavia and him had been readily accepted into the community.
The fact that their medical supplies were just as good, if not better, than they had been on the Ark, meant that Bellamy wasn't too scared for Clarke. She'd pull through, she was a brave fighter. He'd always respected her toughness, even when he didn't like her so much.
Bellamy retrieved Jackson and send him straight to help Clarke while he stationed himself outside the medical center to dismiss people who wanted to ask Abby something, or people asking for Clarke.
Raven had run as best as she could to find out if it was true about Clarke and Bellamy confirmed it. Ravens smile was larger than it had been in months and through her happiness she decided to throw her arms around Bellamy, but he didn't much feel like celebrating just yet. Raven went to tell people and left Bellamy thinking by himself.
He couldn't help but wonder what Clarke had been doing so close to camp. Had she been trying to get back into camp? Or had she been running from something? That would explain the scratches on her face. If she had been running fast she wouldn't have stopped to clean them up like she normally did and Bellamy noticed the wounds had been really dirty.
Perhaps she'd been captured by grounders. That would explain the bruises and maybe the wound to the head, but it seemed more likely she'd hit her head on something. Bellamy almost smiled. That girl had defied death on multiple occasions, yet here she was, taken down by a fall.
Bellamy couldn't stop thinking about what had led Clarke to leave, and what had kept her away. He'd hoped, at least a small part of him had anyway, that maybe she'd find a reason to come back, and maybe that reason could be him. But it was nothing more than a daydream in reality, wishful thinking. He only thought of her return in the quieter moments. He'd tried to keep busy, keep himself from going after her. Because he wanted to, and he honestly thought if Octavia wasn't here, he would go.
It had taken Bellamy too long to realize how much he needed and relied on Clarke. Since he'd been gone, he lacked motivation, he lacked wanting to help her. He missed her so badly, he wasn't sure he'd ever been without her. Everything before the dropship seemed like a lifetime ago, and he felt so disconnected with everything from it except Octavia. It was an odd sensation to look up at the sky and see his old home.
And now the ground was safe enough, grounders still posed a threat but it was manageable, and there were plenty of people to hunt and help out. They'd started to build a community, a home for the living. Yet it didn't feel like home without Clarke. They'd built a life on Earth together whether they liked it or not. He couldn't have done anything without Clarke, the kids left from the 100 were a constant reminder of what they could do together. They fought a war. They saved them all.
Bellamy looked the camp, and Clarke's own words echoed in his head.
"Seeing their faces everyday, will only remind me of what I did to get them here."
He didn't understand. Yes, seeing their faces everyday was a reminded of what they did, but it was a reminder of how much he cared for his people, for his friends. They reminded him he was willing to do anything for them, and it reminded him of how far his people had come, but they were still alive. He was reminded of his decision, but he wasn't saying it was the wrong decision.
Bellamy was brought food and water by Jackson because he refused to leave Clarke. Abby had informed him she was doing fine, but she hadn't woken up yet, and he didn't want to go until he made sure she was okay.
Eventually Abby came out and said she needed a shower. Bellamy would see blood and mud on her clothes and hands.
"You can stay with her until I come back. Keep people out. Get somebody to come find me if she wakes up." And she walked off in the direction of the temporary bathing area. They were still working out sanitation issues as a whole.
Bellamy didn't waste any time going to Clarke to see what the damage was. Her face was still a little dirty, so he looked for water and a clean cloth while she slept. She looked so beautiful and peaceful, Bellamy would be scared she wasn't breathing if he couldn't see the rise and fall of her stomach and chest. It was reassuring.
He dampened the cloth and started wiping as much of her face as possible, and even started washing some of the blood of her braids. Grounder braids. That just added to the mystery of what Clarke had been doing for all these months.
As he wiped her cheek to get the last few flecks of mud off, her lip twitched and her eyes screwed up and Bellamy's heart skipped a beat. She was waking up. He took the cloth and threw it on the floor beside him. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she seemed to react to it because she started to move slightly more.
"Clarke!" Bellamy exclaimed. "Clarke, don't move too much. You've hit your head." She mumbled something Bellamy didn't understand and opened her eyes, blinking a few times to adjust to the light. She took a deep breath in and winced a little because of her head, but other than that, she seemed fine.
"Clarke, it's so good to see you. I'm glad you're back." Clarke didn't say anything but she continued to stare at Bellamy. He didn't have time to think before he did it, but before he knew it he was pressing his lips onto Clarke's for a brief moment, just to show how happy he was to se her. She pulled away quickly but Bellamy wasn't too hurt until he saw the look on her face.
She looked horrified. Not only that, she looked frightened for her life.
"Help!" She screamed. "Help me!" She pushed Bellamy away who backed up as quickly as he could.
"Clarke, it's me, what are you doing?" But she couldn't hear him, she carried on yelling.
"Help me! Please, somebody help me!" She was crying and Bellamy's own eyes were tearing up from her reaction. Abby ran into the room and saw Clarke crying and yelling. She rushed to her and supported her head.
"Mom! Mom! Help me!" She sobbed.
"Clarke, Clarke it's okay. I'm here. What happened?" She shot daggers at Bellamy who was still backed away with watering eyes. Clarke didn't answer, she was too busy looking around at the room.
"Where am I? This isn't the Ark." She wept into her mother who was beginning to look scared now.
"You're on the ground. Clarke, can you tell me what happened?"
"No. The ground isn't safe. Where are we mom?" Abby started to examine her daughter as quickly as she could. Clarke wasn't lying, she didn't know where they were. Bellamy was trying to understand what this means.
"You need to listen to me sweetheart, what's the last thing you remember?" Clarke calmed down a little but was still crying and shying away from Bellamy.
"I..I don't know. It's fuzzy. I remember...prison?" She said, clearly frightened from the new surroundings. Bellamy could heard his own heart beating in his chest because everything else turned to silence.
Clarke didn't remember him.