AN: Well I'm going to try to see if I can get this story finished before the show comes back but I guess we'll see what happens between now and then.

"You know, you didn't have to follow me downstairs," Octavia tells him during the elevator ride. "I'm pretty sure the mountain man isn't going to strike here."

"I'm just here for anything pertaining to the case," he replies easily as the doors slide open.

"Sure," Octavia mumbles, quickly stepping out of the small space.

Bellamy grabs her arm before she can stalk off and she has no choice but to face him. "What's the problem here?"

Octavia yanks her arm out of his grip. "You," she says, poking his chest. "You're the problem - coming in here like any other snobby FBI agent. And for what? Because there's a serial killer on the loose and apparently that's my squad's fault?"

She scoffs. "As if we're all not trying to do our best here. And now you're acting like there's nothing wrong…as if you're not this overprotective, FBI jackass that thinks I can't handle myself. That thinks I needed a father figure after mom died when all I needed was my brother."

She turns on her heels and heads towards the lab, forcing away the tears welling in her eyes. Work is not the place to cry.

She takes a breath to steady herself before pushing through the lab door. The last thing she needs is a ton of questions from Clarke wondering what's up with her – or any from Raven.

"Please tell me there's good news?" she calls out. Clarke looks up from her workstation but her eyes fall on the person behind Octavia. "That's just one of the FBI agents working this case with us – just ignore him."

Clarke gives her a pointed look and Octavia knows that the conversation isn't over, but Clarke gives the findings. "Well I can tell you that all the blood found at the crime scene was deliberate and that the message on the brick isn't the victim's blood."

Octavia raises an eyebrow. "Then who's is it?"

"It's not human," Clarke explains. "It's animal and from what I can tell, it's from a wild animal."

"Animal blood?" Octavia repeats, raising an eyebrow. "Strange."

"Well the mountain man is strange himself," Raven says from the other side of the lab. "I can also tell you that the initials in the vic's cheek were carved with a knife that had a serrated edge while the other markings were done with a straight edge."

"There's also rope burns on the vic's wrists and ankles – as if she was bound to something," Jackson informs them, walking in from the double doors that lead to the autopsy room. "And there's also evidence of her mouth being gagged with some type of cloth."

"The same as every other victim," Octavia states, mentally going back over the other case files in her head.

"How about cause of death?" she hears her brother ask.

"Strangulation," Raven says as she glances at Bellamy for a second before her gaze lands on Octavia. "But what's weird is the partial print we found on the victim's neck."

"Ran it through the database and it matches to one Hank LoveJoy," Clarke continues.

Octavia sighs and runs a hand through her hair. "Alright, but this just seems way too easy."

"What do you mean?"

"He's been so great at covering his tracks. No D.N.A, no prints, nothing was found at previous crime scenes," Octavia explains, crossing her arms. "This just seems sloppy on his part – doesn't seem like it's in character."

"Do you think it's deliberate?" Bellamy questions.

Octavia shrugs. "I guess the only way to find out is to find and question Hank Lovejoy."

A raised eyebrow glare from Clarke stops Octavia in her tracks as they head towards the door. She tells her brother to head back upstairs to relay this new information to the rest of the squad and that she'll be along in a minute.

She takes a breath before turning around and facing whatever it is that Clarke is going to throw at her.

"Okay what the hell was that about?" Clarke asks as Octavia in is the middle of her turnabout.

Octavia runs a hand through her hair. "You remember me telling you I had a brother?"

"And you said that he worked for the –"She trails off as it dawns on her. "That was your brother?"

Octavia nods. "And I'm stuck working with him on this case. And he's most likely going to be a pain in my ass with his overprotective act."

Clarke pulls her into her workstation and sets aside a place for Octavia to set on the edge of the table, while Clarke sits in her chair. "And that's it?"

"It's just – we used to be so close," Octavia tells her, a sad smile forming on her lips as she remembers all the memories of her brother reading her bedtime stories and all the piggy back rides. She stills herself and pushes the thoughts away. "And then our mom died and neither of our fathers were in the picture…our relationship has been strained as best since then."

"You may not like the idea but you could try talking to him," Clarke suggests.

"We had a – or well, I sort of yelled at him in the hallway before walking in here," Octavia admits. "But I highly doubt we'll be talking without butting heads for quite a while – if ever."

"I don't think that's going to help the case," Clarke tells her. "With this tension between the two of you, how can you expect to work together?"

Octavia sighs, she knows Clarke's right. If she couldn't work with her brother, how could she expect the team to work together? Hell, how could she expect them to catch the mountain man?

Octavia softly slaps Clarke's shoulder. "Why are you always right?"

Clarke shrugs. "I just am…Does this mean that you're actually going to talk to him?"

"We can probably head over to that diner for lunch," Octavia responds, glancing at the watch on her left hand.

"Seems like a good idea," Clarke agrees. "Especially since it's public and you two can't yell at each other for fear of causing a scene."

"I probably still could – you know me," Octavia says, sliding off the table. "Though thanks for talking some sense into me."

Clarke gives Octavia's shoulder a squeeze. "That's what I'm here for."

"Even if you never let me return the favor with your love life," Octavia counters, sending her a pointed look.

Clarke sighs. "Yes because going to you or Raven for advice on my love life is what I want to do."

"Lincoln and I have been together for four years, almost five," Octavia says, simply with a slight shrug. "I think I'm doing pretty well in that aspect…we haven't killed each other yet. Though I'm surprised you didn't kill your ex."

"Raven and I both agree that he wasn't worth it," Clarke responds. "We decided to be the bigger people."

"And bonded over being 'the other woman'," Octavia comments, with a quick glance over her shoulder where Raven looked to be looking at other pieces of forensic evidence on the other side of the lab. "I mean you two probably could have killed him without leaving any trace."

"Perhaps, but like I said, he's not worth it," Clarke tells her. She tilts her head towards the lab doors. "Now don't you have a case to go solve?"

"This conversation still isn't over, Clarke."

"It never is with you," Clarke calls after her

She pulls out her phone as she steps into the hallway, only to find the person she was going to call leaning against the wall.

"I thought you were supposed to relay crime information?" she says, slipping her phone back into her pocket and crossing her arms.

"Miller and Monroe are heading over to Lovejoy's house to talk to him. I did my part and then I came back down here because I needed to talk to you," Bellamy explains. "I kept thinking about what happened earlier…you were right."

"Bet it took you a while to admit to that," Octavia retorts in a teasing tone, she can't help herself. "I was actually just going to call you – see if you wanted to get some lunch…and talk."

Bellamy glances up. "Yeah, that'd be nice."

They fall into a silence as they head towards the elevator – their relationship isn't going to be fixed overnight – maybe not even by the end of the case. But maybe they'll find a way to make working together easier.