CHAPTER 2

Hi everyone! I have gotten a lot of positive comments so thank you for those. For those who don't know, I post a minimum of two chapters a month and try to get out as many chapter as possible. As of right now I am actively writing 3 stories and am in my last semester of college so things are crazy, but I am really excited about this story and glad you are too. Thanks for reading!

When her stomach was finally empty Clarke let Octavia bring her into the other room. The medics had already set up the space, there was a clear cushion on the couch clearly meant for her, but Clarke didn't want to sit.

"Are you feeling feverish? Sore? Lightheaded?"

The gray haired medic went down a list of symptoms as Clarke shook her head no to everyone, the only thing that she was feeling was in desperate need of a bath and maybe some intense therapy.

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with you so we won't make you come to the hospital, but if you start feeling anything weird you come in right away."

"I will." Clarke said softly.

The blonde hadn't realized it before but she knew the older women, when her mom had first started at the hospital she took Clarke with her. The young girl mostly ended up playing with empty syringes until her mom was done shift. This medic... Nancy! She'd stopped to play with her on slow day or in between calls, she was always really nice and usually carried around cherry suckers.

"Clarke what happened?" The girl couldn't hold back her curiosity any more.

Octavia had only just drifted off to sleep when all the yelling started, then she'd come out to see her friend covered in blood.

"O." Bellamy said disapprovingly from the doorway. "The cops are ready for your statement."

Clarke stood up and followed Bellamy out of the house, the officer looked mid forties, his face giving away no emotion as he held his hand to help Clarke into the back of the ambulance.

"Hi Clarke, I'm officer Shaw, I'm going to be asking you some questions. Just answer them the best you can."

She nodded in response, starting to pick the blood off her hands in flakes.

"What time did you arrive home?"

"A little before seven, I was at a party last night."

"Who's party?"

"What do you mean?"

"Who hosted the party?"

"Every year the younger classmen throw a goodbye party for the seniors. I guess it was everyone's party."

The officer nodded, "When you entered your house this morning were you alone?"

"No?"

"You don't sound too sure about that, do you want to change your answer?"

"No, no one else was in the house."

"Do you know anyone who would want to hurt your mom?"

Clarke's looked over to Bellamy who'd stayed with her through the questioning; he just looked back waiting to hear her answer.

"Not that I can think of."

"Okay, the last thing I have to do is take a couple photos for my report and then you are free to go. But I will be in touch throughout this investigation, I promise I will find whoever did this. In the mean time do you have somewhere you can stay?"

"She'll be staying with us." Bellamy answered.

Clarke was surprised by his forwardness, then she remembered he was in the Navy, he had probably sworn an oath to keep people safe .

"Right next door?" The office didn't seem to think it was the best idea.

"She'll be safe and that's all what matters."

"I don't disagree. Alright then hun, just hop down while I snap a couple photos."

"What about my things?" Clarke asked after the photo's had been taken.

"Right now your house is an active crime scene. You won't be allowed inside until we are sure we've covered everything."

Clarke nodded, she could always borrow clothes from Octavia, half of Clarke's clothes were over there anyway.

"Can I shower now?" This question was directed at Bellamy.

Nodding, Bellamy placed a firm hand on her lower back, he handed Clarke off to his sister once they got inside. Bellamy knew the blonde would feel more comfortable in the hands of his sister.

.

"I can't believe this happened right next door." Kane sighed.

Once the girls went upstairs, Kane and Bellamy convened in the kitchen.

"I didn't hear anything. The blood was still warm, it couldn't have happened long before the girls got back."

"Oh my god, Clarke and her mom weren't that close but to be the one to find her, she's going to be messed up over this for a long time.

Bellamy nodded, he'd seen more than a few dead bodies in his line of work but being the one to find your own mother was detrimental, he should know.

"I think I may go down to the station tomorrow morning, help them move this along."

"Are you sure that is a good idea?"

Bellamy brow furrowed, "Someone murdered your neighbour, there is a murder somewhere out there."

Kane raised his hands, "Of course I want this psycho caught Bellamy, but you just got back, is it smart to get involved with something so soon?"

Bellamy looked around the space, making sure both girls were upstairs. Kane squinted leaning closer.

"She's the reason I'm back."

"Abby?"

"No. Jake found me during one of my last missions, he said his daughter was in need of protection and he wanted me to be the one to do it. I guess now I know why."

Kane had a hand over his mouth now, his words muffled, "Oh my god, this murder was premeditated."

Bellamy nodded, "I called Jake while I was in the house, he hasn't gotten back to me yet."

"What are we supposed to do with Clarke?"

"This is still a secret, I wasn't supposed to tell you any of this. For now I'm going to watch her and make sure she stays alive long enough for Jake to do whatever he's planning."

"Did you tell the cops-"

"No, Jake has his own contacts in the DA he wants to handle this."

"Okay well Clarke can stay in Octavia's room and as far as I know she doesn't have any plans for the next few weeks."

"That's good, she'll be easier to keep an eye on." The shower turned off then. "Just let me handle this until we know more."

Kane agreed, both men moved into the living room.

.

"If you leave the door unlocked, I'll go get you some clothes to change into." Octavia spoke softly as she led her friend to the bathroom.

The blonde just nodded, she could only focus on the task at hand, letting her mind wonder would be too overwhelming. Taking a long hot shower was the only thing on her mind.

Clarke stepped into the shower and turned the silver dial till she met resistance, the cool water soaked her clothes turning the brown stains to red liquid. Clarke watched the clear water surrounding her feet turn murky as she washed away any evidence of what she found not even two hours ago.

The glass walls of the shower started to fog up as the water turned from warm to scolding, but Clarke only flinched slightly.

When the water ran clear the blonde started to pull the wet clothes from her body. She hung them over the top of the glass to keep them from getting soapy with shampoo as she washed herself.

At some point during her shower Octavia had slipped into the bathroom long enough to give Clarke some dry clothes and take the wet ones off the shower, but her friend never noticed.

.

"She's so quiet, I don't know what to do for her." Octavia asked her brother.

After Octavia had gotten Clarke straightened away in her bedroom she's come downstairs to find her brother and Kane whispering in the kitchen.

"You are doing it." Kane assured her, "Clarke's in shock, all she needs right now is our support."

"I just can't believe someone killed Abby." Octavia mumbled, resting folded arms on the kitchen counter.

Bellamy tightened his fists against his sides, "What's in the bag?"

Octavia scrunched her eye brows at her brother, until she realized she still held the garbage bag with Clarke's socked clothes inside.

"I didn't know if the police needed them or if I could just throw them out."

Her brother shook his head, "They took their pictures, but I will drop them off at the station this afternoon in case they want to destroy them, themselves."

"Why would you go to the station? You're going to help with the investigation?"

"Does that surprise you?"

Octavia opened her mouth a couple times before responding, "You aren't a cop or a detective."

"I'm a marine... And I was the first person to see Clarke after she found her mom. Miller and I will offer our services but they can decide to keep it in house."

Kane put a hand on the young girls shoulder, "Do you know if Clarke had any plans for the summer, or in the fall?"

"She planned to go to medical school, her mom wanted her to go to medical school."

"And Clarke?" Octavia looked at her brother, confusion on her face. "What did she want to do?"

Octavia looked down and smiled softly, "She wanted to be an artist, she does the most beautiful drawling."

A similar smile spread across Kane's face, "Clarke painted that one last year." He motioned to the main lobby. "She always said this houses needed some bright color."

Bellamy remembered his sister had always wanted to paint the walls in the house a bright blue or green. Looks like she got her wish, Clarke's painting was beautiful. There were swirls of electric blue and green, with pastel purple in between. It looked like space from a distance.

"I'm going to order some food, what do you think Clarke would eat?" the older man asked.

Octavia laughed, "Hamburgers. When she was younger, her dad use to wake Clarke up early on Sundays and they would sit on their back deck and eat hamburgers until the sun came up."

"BBQ it is. I'll run to the store and pick up some supplies; you two should stay her in case she wakes up and needs anything."

.

Clarke laid awake in Octavia's room, no matter the crappy sleep she'd had in Jaspers truck this morning, her body wasn't letting her sleep. She listened to the muttered voices of Kane, Bellamy and Octavia until the front door opened and closed sending the house into silence.

The blonde laid still for another 20 minutes before she climbed out of bed, her shorts and baggy shirt aiding the goose bumps that covered her skin, her sock slippers protecting her from the chill of the hard wood floors.

"Hey did you get some sleep?" Her best friend asked, seeing her come down the stairs.

Clarke forced a smile onto her face as she lied, "Yeah."

"I was just about to watch some reruns of 'Lie to me'. I even have salt and vinegar pop corn from our last movie night."

"It's really nice outside, I was thinking about going on a run."

Octavia blanched, she watched Clarke gaze out the window. "Uh- um Clarke- Your mom- I think you should stay inside."

"Someone killed my mom, if whoever it was wanted to kill me too, they would have done it this morning."

God , was that really only just this morning? Octavia thought, her lack of sleep made the day seem like it was going to drag on forever. It was only 11AM.

"I heard the police talking, they said your mom had-"

"Octavia!" Bellamy's disapproving voice came from behind Clarke.

His sister looked down, trying to hide the guilt that was written all over her face.

"I think she should know." Octavia mumbled.

"Know what?" Clarke snapped.

Bellamy moved the stand beside the blonde, "Kane got a phone call from the station before he left. Since you are legally an adult they want you to come down to the station so they can fill you in on the investigation."

"There were here less than an hour ago, why wouldn't they have told me then?"

"The officers that came to the house won't be the ones leading the investigation, Diane Sydney is the detective on your moms case."

Clarke crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll go down to the station then."

Bellamy nodded, "Once Kane get's back I will take you down."

"Can't we just take your car?"

Bellamy looked over the blondes head at his sister. Clarke just nodded and headed back towards the stairs.

"I'm going to go change. Call me when Kane gets here."

.

"Hi Clarke I'm detective Sydney. I am in charge of your mothers case."

Clarke shook the women's hand, she's changed into a pair of light jeans and her dark purple school hoodie, braiding her hair so it stayed out of her face.

"I see you go to arcadia high school."

"I was a senior actually, yesterday was my last day."

The detective nodded, "Why don't you take a seat." She turned to Bellamy. "You can have a seat in the waiting room."

Instead Bellamy leaned on the wall behind Clarke, "I'm fine right here actually."

The detective looked at the blonde, but when Clarke didn't object she just sighed and moved on.

"There is no question that your mothers death has been ruled a murder. Right now we have no leads, could you think of anyone who would want to hurt your mom?"

"She was a doctor, she helped lots of people but she also lost patients, sometimes those patients families get mad, write angry letters to the hospital, it was never something to worry about."

"The responding officers have dusted your house for prints, the lab was able to recover, yours as well as your mothers, and a Thelonious Jaha."

"He's my- was my mother's boyfriend."

"When was the last time you saw Mr, Jaha?"

Clarke rolled her eyes, "Jaha didn't do this, trust me."

"How do you know?"

"When my mother was still married to my father, her and Jaha were sneaking around. She says they didn't do anything until the divorce, but that's a lie. You don't break up a marriage just to kill the girl."

"Where is your father right now Mrs, Griffin?"

"Who knows, my mother kicked him out and I haven't seen him in 7 years. We use to email when he first left but that stopped after a while. His job requires him to move around a lot."

A look came over the detectives face that rubbed Clarke the wrong way.

"My dad did not kill my mother!"

Bellamy cut in, "She knows that. If I had known you wanted her down here just to spit ball ideas with I wouldn't have agreed."

"You wouldn't have agreed?"

Bellamy looked down at the blonde realizing his slipped up.

"Mr. Blake, just because he gave you a special assignment doesn't mean you can undermine me when it comes to doing my job."

"No, but my job is keeping her best interest in mind." Bellamy head titled slightly, referencing Clarke. "I think Jake would feel more comfortable with Detective Miller delivering the briefing to his daughter."

"You know my father?" Clarke added in, but again her question went unanswered.

Detective Sydney gave one more look toward the blonde before storming out of the small briefing room. Bellamy had no choice but to face Clarke then, he'd gotten a call from Jake while Kane was out.

(Flashback)

Octavia moved into the living room to watch a movie and hopefully get some more sleep before Kane got back. Bellamy was debating joining her when his phone went off.

"Jake!"

"I got your message when I got back to base camp, how is she?"

"She found Abby, Jake. Walked into the house this morning and stepped into a pool of blood."

Bellamy could hear Jake's sharp breath on the other end of the line.

"Clarke should have had to see her mother like that. This is my fault. Where is she now?"

"Kane's taking her in, being under the same roof makes keeping track of her easier. I don't think she has plans to leave the house if the next few weeks, but when she starts going out it's going to be hard to explain why I'm following her."

"I know, when I gave you the order to be inconspicuous I didn't expect my wife to be murdered the night you got to town. Pike's clan is a lot closer to come than I thought. Nathan Millers father has already landed, I want him to oversee everything."

"Yes sir. What do you want me to do about your daughter until Detective Miller calls a meeting?"

"Stay close to her, Clarke is stubborn and strong willed, I know she won't like the idea of other people protecting her but do not let her push you away."

"I told you I would protect her with my life and I will."

"I know, you are a good soldier, which is only one of the reasons I chose you for this. When you get a call from the station take Clarke down there and do not leave her side. To my understanding detective Sydney is running things until my men arrive, I've given my people the instructions needed to brief my daughter, until you meet with them do not say anything to her, understood?"

"Yes sir."

"I will be in touch."

(End Flashback)

Bellamy nodded, "I met Jake a couple of months back while I was still on assignment."

"Blake, it's great to see you." Detective Miller greeted coming through the door. "Clarke, from the photo's in your fathers wallet I was expecting an 10 year old." Clarke didn't crack a smile like the detective had hoped, he moved on. "I have been told the detective in here before me might have caused some trouble and am sorry for that."

"Why am I here?"

A sad look came over the detectives face, "We are here to the reason you life had now been turned upside down. Your father has been working on top secret missions all over the world since before you were born, which means he has pissed off a lot of angry people. One drug cartel in particular, run by Charles Pike. He and Jake have been butting heads for years. It all came to a head two years ago when you dad stopped Pike's biggest drug trafficking ring, but during the raid Pike's son was killed. Pike's been after your fathers head ever since."

Clarke shook her head, hands tucked back in the sleeves of her hoodie. Why were they telling her this, her father always told her that his job was top secret, he never shared any details with her.

"When we go on missions we aren't allowed to bring anything personal with us, wedding rings, family photo's EVERYTHING is left buried back in our American base, when the soldiers come home their things get returned to them. Your father always carried a picture of you around with him, he kept it sown into his jacket right over his heart. Jake never showed anyone your photo, most of those men didn't even know he had a daughter. Pike has many people all over the world and one of them knew that Jake Griffin has a daughter with hair brighter than the sun. When Pike found out about you It was game over, Jake's started closing his open assignments a couple months back, still has a few more to go until he can come home."

"So Pike killed my mom?" Clarke's brain was flying with all the information that had just been shoved at her.

"Not him specifically, one of his people." The detective answered her. "This is where Bellamy and my team come in. Jake can't be here for you right now, he sent people he trusted to protect you."

"Me! What about my mother?" Clarke's eyes started tearing up for the first time since this morning.

Bellamy pulled out the chair that was beside her to sit in, "Nobody knew how close Pike's people were until they made the first move."

"You all have just been sitting around for the other shoe to drop! If my father knew someone was coming for us he should have told my mom, he should have done something to save her life." Clarke slammed her hands down on the table in frustration. "Octavia said you were coming home because you mission was cut short."

"It was." Bellamy agreed, "Jake started the paper work months ago to get Nate and I drafted to another assignment, you."

"Some drug dealer from across the world is coming after me? You told the other detective you were looking out for my best interest."

Detective Miller took over, "He assigned Bellamy to be alpha position, my son Nathan is his back up. My team and I are to take care of and investigate every single threat in hopes that Bellamy and Nathan don't have to do their jobs."

Clarke held her head between her hands, "What am I supposed to do with all this?"

"Nothing, you go to your graduation, hang out with your friends, work. Bellamy and Nate will be there to make sure nobody threatens you while you do."

"I-" Clarke went silent, "I would like to go-back to the house now."

The detective nodded, "Of course, I am sure today has been overwhelming for you."

Clarke's eyes caught the time on the wall clock, 1:45 PM. It has been almost 8 hours since she's walked into her house this morning, 15 since she'd been lake side dancing and parting with her friends, and 23 since she last time she saw her mom alive and breathing.

I always try to write the characters as close to how they are in the show but sometimes that is tough. They might seem OOC sometimes and I'm sorry for that, I will try to keep what we love most about them from the show as well as making them adaptable into the plot of my story.