AN: guess whos back. back again. murphy's back. tell a friend. no but seriously the asshole's back and better than ever. there's some murphy/chandra/bellamy triangle shit and its amazing. It gets even saucier next chapter, and in season 2. enjoy.

"The six hour shift is over," Chandra yelled, standing in the middle of the camp. "Switch!" The teenagers that were on watch duty handed their guns to the next round of teenagers. The day had gone by slowly, and most of the delinquents had taken Chandra's leadership role without much question once they were made aware of the magnified threat the grounders now posed. Chandra felt slightly out of place as a leader. Back at her village she had always been part of the background. The only time when she had stuck out was her time in the army, and that was because of the outstanding skill she exhibited at such a young age. But a leader? She wasn't born to lead. She glanced around, sighing as she realized it was getting dark out. She decided to make her rounds and make sure everything was going well. She frowned as she realized one of the people on watch had fallen asleep.

"Hey," she said softly, shaking her shoulder. She jumped, eyes wide and gun pointed up at Chandra. "Woah-hey, you're fine, it's just me." The girl dropped her gun.

"I'm so sorry," she said, stifling a yawn. "I haven't gotten any sleep in 3 days."

"How about you go rest for a few hours, I'll take over your shift." The girl sighed in relief, smiling at Chandra in gratitude. Chandra smiled back, grabbing the girl's gun and taking her frowned as she scanned the woods in front of her. Everything was silent, and only one gunner had 'seen' something all day, which turned out to be a deer. A few boring moments later, Monty and Octavia sat behind her.

"Hey," Monty greeted. "No sign of Bellamy and the others yet?" Chandra sighed, shaking her head.

"No," she replied. No sign of anything.

"Hey, look," Octavia pointed towards Jasper, who was surrounded by a small group of girls.

"Jasper," one of them, Harper, gushed, clinging to his arm, "tell us again, how'd you stay so calm? I would've been terrified." Chandra frowned. Jasper smiled cockily.

"Fear is only a problem if you let it stop you, right?" Chandra scoffed, shifting the gun on her shoulder and searching the woods again.

"That's not even his line," Octavia sneered. "Finn said that."

"I saw the grounders in the trees," Jasper continued dramatically, "and it was like nothing I had ever felt. Pure animal instinct took over. One pull of the trigger, two grounders dead." Chandra ground her teeth at how he treated the death of human beings as some kind of major achievement to be praised for. She fought the urge to turn around and face him.

"'Pure animal instinct?'" Chandra mocked, keeping her eyes on the trees ahead of her. "More like pure pants-wetting panic." Octavia laughed at that. Jasper went on.

"You don't really know what you're made of until a moment like that, you know."

"What exactly are you made of, Jasper Jordan?" Chandra's voice dripped with acid as she muttered to herself.

"When it's kill of be killed and there's just nothing between you and the tip of the spear." Chandra couldn't take this.

"Okay," she growled, setting her gun down. She'd had enough. "This has got to stop." She began charging towards Jasper, but Monty grabbed her arm.

"C'mon," he pleaded, but Chandra shoved his hand off of her. "Let us have this."

"Us?" Octavia questioned.

"Look at him," Monty retorted, and Octavia and Chandra did. It only made them angrier. "The boy's a folk hero. They even gave us a bigger tent." Suddenly, there was loud clattering to her left. In a second, her gun was back in her hands and she was rushing towards the noise.

"Somebody hit the tripwire!" Connor told Chandra frantically when she got to the scene.

"Which wire," someone cried. "Was it a grounder?"

"I don't see anything," someone else called out.

"Are you sure it was the trip wire?" Chandra turned to one of the people who had cried out.

"I got nothing," he replied. Chandra nodded, turning to Connor.

"Connor?" He shook his head.

"Something moved! There, there, there!"

"Lincoln," Octavia whispered at her side. Chandra's eyes widened as she realized it could be Lincoln. She gasped as gunshots sounded.

"Think I got him," Connor gasped.

"Let's go." Chandra ran through the gates and into the woods, ahead of everyone else until Octavia sprinted past her.

"Octavia, be careful…" she trailed off as she saw who had set off the tripwires. Someone was laying on the floor, covered in blood. Octavia crouched down and touched his shoulder, and he flinched, scrambling away a few feet before looking up at everyone. Chandra immediately recognized him.

"Oh, my god," she whispered. Murphy.

"No way," Derek said, just as surprised.

"Derek, Connor," she barked. "Get him inside the dropship." They hesitated. She reared on them. "NOW!" Her voice came out as a roar, and the two boy rushed to help Murphy stand up.

"Bellamy's not gonna like this," Octavia warned as she walked beside Chandra, following the two boys inside the dropship.

"I know," Chandra acknowledged. "But I don't really care what Bellamy likes and doesn't like."

Chandra crouched down beside Murphy, visually examining his wounds. His face was completely covered in cuts, and his arms were much worse. He was covered head to toe in blood, and his hair was matted with it.

"God," she exclaimed in horror. "What happened to you?"

"The grounders," Murphy croaked. Chandra stared at him with sympathy.

"Murphy? Where is he?" Just then, Clarke, Bellamy, and the rest of the group barged in. Clarke crouched down beside Murphy and began examining him.

"Everyone but Connor and Derek, out," Bellamy ordered. Everyone complied, except Chandra.

"Chandra, you should go," he advised. Chandra stood, squaring her shoulders. Bellamy was a full head taller than her, but she stood her ground.

"No," she said simply. Bellamy held her gaze, narrowing his eyes. Chandra glared right back, challenging him. Bellamy was the first to look away, and Chandra swelled with pride.

"He claims he was with the grounder," Connor explained.

"We caught him trying to sneak back into camp," Derek went on.

"I wasn't sneaking," Murphy defended. "I was running from the grounders."

"Anyone see any grounders?" Bellamy asked. No one answered. Bellamy raised his gun, aiming at Murphy. "Well in that case-"

Chandra jumped in front of the gun. "Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"We banished him," Bellamy declared. "And now we're gonna kill him." Chandra grabbed the barrel of the gun and lowered it. "Get the hell out of my way."

"No."

"Chandra is right," Clarke pointed out.

"Like hell, she is," Bellamy scoffed. "Clarke, think about Charlotte."

"I am thinking about Charlotte," Clarke said. "And what happened to her was as much our fault as his." Clarke reached down, grabbing Murphy's hand and holding it up. "He's not lying. His fingernails were torn off."

"They tortured him," Chandra realized. She whipped around to face Bellamy. "You and them should compare notes."

"The grounders know we're at war," Bellamy said. He then turned to Murphy. "What did you tell them about us?" Murphy swallowed, meeting Bellamy's eyes.

"Everything."

Chandra, Bellamy, and Clarke shared a troubled look.

Clarke turned her back on Murphy, facing the rest of the people in the room. "Once he's better, we found out what he knows, and then he's out of here, okay?"

"What if he refuses to leave, huh?" Bellamy argued. "What do we do with him then?" Clarke squared her jaw.

"Then we kill him." Chandra's jaw dropped, and she looked back to Murphy, who had obviously heard the whole thing. Bellamy accepted it, and left the dropship. Clarke followed, and everyone followed her. Chandra gave one last apologetic look to Murphy, before storming out of the ship. She decided to walk around and try to blow off some steam. She came across a large tent, and scoffed as she realized it was Jasper and Monty's upgraded one. She contemplated pulling out one of the ropes that held it together, but decided against it.

"Don't tell me you're still holding out for Chandra." At her name, Chandra's ears perked up. It was Monty's voice, from inside of the tent.

"I got to," someone responded. Jasper. Chandra bit her lip.

"Jasper," Monty reprimanded. "Chandra is not gonna happen. She likes her grounders alive." Damn right, I do, Chandra thought. There was no way in hell she was going for Jasper until he fixed his attitude. Or at all, at least until the current war situation blew over.

"Go float yourself, Monty," Jasper snapped.

"I'm just telling you the truth."

"No," Jasper denied. "You're telling me your truth. I'm not like you anymore." Chandra's mouth fell open. What the hell had gotten into Jasper? Monty and Jasper started having an altercation.

"You know what?" Jasper finally said. "This is my tent. Bellamy gave it to me, and if you have a problem with that, maybe you should find somewhere else to sleep." Chandra's blood boiled at how much of an egotistical ass Jasper was being. Chandra sensed that Monty would be exiting the tent soon, so she scrambled to get away from the tent. She wasn't fast enough, and in her attempt to look nonchalant, she tried to lean against the wall of the tent only to realize that it was just cloth and almost fell over.

"You heard all that?" Monty didn't look mad, but almost amused.

"Uh," Chandra stuttered. "No, not all of it. Enough to know that Jasper is a dick, though." Monty laughed.

"You got that right."

"Clarke?" Someone cried out in panic. It was Connor. "Where's Clarke!" He started coughing, and blood splattered on the ground. Clarke rushed towards him, coming out of Raven's tent with said dark haired girl.

"What's happening?" Raven asked.

"Clarke, look," Chandra pointed to Derek, who was coughing up blood as well. "They're the ones who bought Murphy in."

"Raven, Chandra, get away from us," Clarke warned. Chandra took off towards the dropship, and as she expected, Murphy was on his hands and knees retching up blood.

"Murphy, look at me," Chandra ordered, keeping a safe distance from the boy. "I need you to tell me exactly how you escaped from the grounders." Chandra heard Clarke come into the dropship as she spoke. "What happened?" Murphy spit out the blood filling his mouth before answering her.

"I don't know," he gasped out. "I woke up, how you escaped the grounders. What happened?" Murphy spat out the blood filling his mouth before answering.

"I don't know," he gasped out. "I woke up, and they forgot to lock my cage. There was no one there, so I took off."

"They let you go," Clarke said from behind her. Bellamy came charging in. "Bellamy, stay back." Chandra stood up, now that Clarke was here, she could take care of Murphy since she was already infected.

"Did he do something to you?" Bellamy demanded, eyes widening at the sight of Clarke's blood streaked face. "What the hell is this?"

"Biological warfare," Chandra explained. "You were waiting for the grounders to retaliate? This is it. And Murphy is the weapon."

"Is this your revenge," Bellamy growled, and Chandra placed a hand on his chest to keep him from attacking Murphy. "Helping the grounders kill us?"

"I didn't know about this I swear-"

"Stop lying," Bellamy roared. "When are they coming?"

Chandra shoved Bellamy, sending him stumbling a couple steps back. She took a softer approach. "Murphy, just think. What can you tell us that's useful? Did you hear anything?"

"They're vicious," Murphy croaked. "Cruel." Bellamy rolled his eyes.

"You wanna see vicious?" He jumped forward, and Chandra pressed a hand to his chest again.

"Hey don't," Chandra warned. "This spreads through contact."

"Do you know what it is?" Clarke asked. Chandra was about to respond, but Finn ran into the dropship.

"Clarke?" Chandra rolled her eyes at his timing.

"Finn, you shouldn't be in here," Clarke said, standing up. "No one should."

"What is this?" Finn asked.

"A hemorrhagic fever," Chandra answered. At that moment, Clarke stumbled, and Finn caught her.

"Hey, don't touch me," Clarke shoved Finn's hands off of her. "You could get sick. Wash your hands." She handed him some moonshine, and he poured it over his hands.

"Chandra," Bellamy called. "What's happening to him?" Derek was convulsing on the floor, coughing and retching up blood. Suddenly he stopped, and the silence was suffocating.

"Is he…"

"He's dead," Clarke confirmed Bellamy's suspicions.

"What do we do?" Bellamy asked.

"Quarantine," Clarke answered shortly. "Round up everybody who had contact with Murphy. Bring them here."

"And everyone they had contact with?" Bellamy obviously didn't think the idea would work.

"We have to start somewhere," Clarke defended. "Chandra, who was with you when you found him? Who carried him in?"

"Octavia was the first to get to him," Chandra answered, and not a moment later, Bellamy was running out of the dropship. He came back with Octavia.

"Chandra, you examine her, since you haven't shown an symptoms yet," Clarke suggested. "Still, try not to touch her." Chandra nodded, and started examining Octavia.

"Bellamy, stop breathing down my neck." Chandra snapped, feeling the boy standing uncomfortably close to her, concern for his sister radiating off of him. Bellamy didn't move. Chandra sighed, continuing her examination.

"Well, there's no signs of swelling or bleeding…"

"So she doesn't have it?" Bellamy interrupted.

"...which means she isn't showing symptoms," Chandra finished snarkily, glaring at Bellamy. "But that could change. We need to keep her here just in case."

"No way," Bellamy protested. "Look at this place, she'll get sick just being here."

"Do you want to stop the spread or not?" Clarke snapped. "Look, we'll keep her on the third level with the people who aren't symptomatic yet. Think of it as way to stop her from sneaking out again."

"Screw you, Clarke," Octavia spat.

"I'll let you know if her condition changes," Clarke went on, ignoring Octavia. Bellamy nodded, and left the dropship again. Octavia begrudgingly climbed up the ladder, and Clarke turned to Chandra.

"You should stay here too, just in case," Clarke advised.

"But I didn't even touch him," Chandra protested. Clarke gave her a look that was so mother-like that Chandra fought the urge to laugh. "Fine."

"So what do you know about this disease," Clarke questioned. Chandra shrugged.

"It was developed way before I was a healer, so I don't know much," Chandra explained. "All I know is is that it isn't supposed to be lethal but… obviously that isn't entirely true. It's supposed to be used to soften the battlefield. As for a cure?" She looked away, rubbing the back of her neck. "I have no idea. I don't know enough about it. But I doubt there is one."

"Okay," Clarke nodded. "We're gonna need Octavia to sneak out again." Chandra smirked.

"Alright, shows over," Bellamy was saying at the opening of the dropship. "Get back to your posts." The crowd of teens scattered. He turned back to the dropship, facing Chandra. "You got enough good in there, water?"

Chandra nodded. "Yeah. Some medicine would be nice though."

"I'll see what I can do," Bellamy said softly, a smile gracing his lips. "How's Octavia?"

"Bellamy…" Chandra swallowed. "She's not here. Clarke and I sent her to go see Lincoln." Bellamy's expression grew livid. "Look, if there's a cure, he has it. I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't let her go." Bellamy squared his shoulders, standing as close to Chandra as he dared, towering over her.

"If anything happens to her, you and me are gonna have some problems." Chandra swallowed thickly. A commotion in the camp caused the two of them to look over. A small ripple of disturbance grew into full on chaos as people started coughing up blood and screaming. Chandra ran forward to help, but someone pointed a gun straight at her face, causing her to freeze in her tracks. Bellamy jumped in front of her.

"Put that gun down," he growled. "Put it down!" Bellamy knocked the gun out of the boy's hands. Clarke smiled at him gratefully. She started rushing as many people as she could back into the dropship.

"This is exactly what the grounders want," Bellamy announced. "They don't have to kill us if we kill each other first."

"They won't have to kill us if we all catch the virus," Clarke threw back.

"Get back in the dropship," Bellamy spat at the two of them. "Oh, and not to state the obvious, but your quarantine isn't working." Clarke didn't respond because she swooned from a sudden wave of dizziness, and Finn caught her.

"Finn, don't touch her," Chandra said.

Clarke tried to push Finn's hands off her. "Hey, let me go. I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Finn disagreed.

"Octavia will come back with a cure," the blonde insisted. Almost as if on cue, Octavia ran forward.

"There is no cure," she announced, and a panicked murmur spread through the crowd. "But the grounders don't use the sickness to kill.

"Really?" Bellamy gestured to the few killed by the disease. "Tell that to them. I warned you about seeing that grounder again."

"Yeah?" Octavia challenged. "Well, I have a warning for you too. The grounders are coming." The camp murmurs intensified. "And they're attacking at first light." She reached forward, helping Finn lift Clarke. "I'll help you get Clarke into the dropship." Chandra watched helplessly at the small amount of healthy people left in the camp. She turned to Bellamy.

"Don't worry about Octavia," she said. "She hasn't gotten sick yet, even though she came in contact with the disease. She's probably immune." Bellamy nodded, but his brow still stayed furrowed.

"We need to start preparing," he said. "I'll go see how many bullets Raven's made so far." Chandra nodded, and watched him head off. She sat down on the metal door of the dropship, and put her head in her hands. She knew how the grounder fought. And the small group of untrained teenagers stood no chance. They needed time. And people. All of them were barely enough, and now that over half of them were sick, they had exactly zero chance of surviving. She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Bellamy stumbling over to the dropship. His face was covered in blood and her heart dropped.

"Bellamy," she whispered. "Oh, no. Bellamy, get in the dropship!" He climbed the door into the dropship, but barely made it 5 feet before collapsing. Chandra instinctively caught him.

"Chandra, no, let me go," Bellamy gasped. "You'll get sick."

"I really don't care," Chandra replied, dragging him somewhere so he could lie down.

"Where's Octavia?" Chandra sighed, spotting Octavia running around and trying to help as many people as she could. Her eyes widened in panic as she spotted her brother, but Chandra nodded, letting her know she was handling it. Octavia smiled at her in thanks. "Don't worry, she's fine. I got you." Chandra absentmindedly began brushing his hair away from his face.

"I'm scared," Bellamy gasped out. Chandra bit her lip, and lifted Bellamy's head off of the cold metal floor and onto her lap. He closed his eyes.

"It's okay, Bellamy," she soothed. "You'll be fine. I won't let anything happen to you."

"I know," Bellamy sighed. "Because I'd do the same for you." Bellamy's eyes were closed, so he didn't see the surprised look on Chandra's face as she gazed down at him. "I'm glad you're here." Chandra's heart skipped a beat, and she smiled.

"Just get some rest now, okay?" She continued stroking his hair, lulling him to sleep. She stayed with him even after he had fallen asleep, smiling down at him. She frowned, however, when a droplet of blood landed on his shoulder. Another followed, and Chandra reached up to her nose. When she pulled away, her fingers came away bloody. Her stomach dropped as she laid Bellamy's head down on his jacket before trying to stand up, but a wave of dizziness knocked her off of her feet. Before she hit the ground, arms wrapped around her.

"Woah, take it easy," Murphy warned, helping her steady herself. He led her to an open spot on the ground and laid her down

"Thanks," she muttered, wincing at the pain in her chest.

"No problem," he quipped. "The least I could do after you helped me." Chandra smiled as she remembered the night he had been banished.

"You don't deserve any of this," she whispered. Murphy looked away.

"You don't know that." Chandra shook her head.

"I do," she insisted. "No one deserves to be tortured. How long did you last?"

"Three days," Murphy murmured.

"Three days," Chandra repeated. "For three days, you stayed quiet. To protect the people you owe no loyalty to, after they hung and banished you. You don't deserve how they treat you." Murphy met her eyes, and she saw unshed tears swimming around in his. Suddenly, she was taken over by a coughing fit, and she trembled as blood poured out of her mouth.

"Woah, woah, turn on your side!" Murphy helped her turn over, and she convulsed as blood splattered from her mouth. She felt as if she was being turned inside out, and her small frame was sweating from the exertion. Her eyes started watering from the pain, and her gags turned into sobs. Murphy's hands ran up and down her back, murmuring words of comfort. Once she finally stopped, Murphy grabbed her chin tenderly, then used a rag to wipe the blood from her mouth. He grabbed her by the shoulders and helped her sit up against the wall.

"Thank you," she managed to say.

Murphy nodded. "I'll go get you some water." Chandra watched him leave, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. From what she had been told, Murphy was an egotistical psychopath, but from her experience with him so far, that didn't seem to be the case. Then again, maybe his time with the grounders had changed him. But that night out in the woods, he seemed like an okay guy, despite being a bit cocky. But it all seemed to be an act. He didn't seem nearly as bad as he had been described. Or maybe that was just what everyone else thought of him.

Murphy walked back to her with a cup full of water, and Chandra reached for it but instead of handing it to her, he held it up to her lips. She kept her eyes on his as she tilted her head back and drank, and once she was done, he pulled it away and set it beside her thigh. She licked her lips, becoming aware of how he was still covered in his own blood.

"You know," she started, her voice hoarse. "Once I get better, remind me to get you cleaned up. I can't imagine how gross it must feel to be caked in blood for so long." She meant it as a joke, but Murphy's smile was sad as he sat beside her with his back to the wall.

"I'm used to it." Chandra's smile fell and she was taken over by a wave of sympathy. She said nothing, instead leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Get some sleep," he murmured. Chandra didn't have to be told twice.

When she woke up, the warmth at her side was gone and instead her head was resting on a rolled up jacket. She looked around and saw that Murphy was up and about, tending to the other people in the dropship. Chandra already felt better; the ache in her chest was gone and so was her nausea. Her nose and ears had stopped bleeding a well. She still felt a little dizzy and weak, though. She heard Bellamy groan and looked over to see him waking up. Murphy noticed too, and brought a cup full of water over to him.

"Here," Murphy offered the cup to him. Bellamy didn't hesitate to push it away from him.

"Get the hell away from me," Bellamy growled stubbornly. Murphy sighed.

"Bellamy, you're sick, okay?" Murphy held out the cup again. "I'm just trying to help." Bellamy ignored the cup, and glared at Murphy.

"When I get better," he warned, "if you're still here-"

"Oh quit it, Bellamy," Chandra groaned. "You're so dramatic." She heaved herself up and shuffled over to the two.

"Hey," Chandra said softly, taking the cup from Murphy. "I got this." She smiled at him and he nodded, walking off to tend to someone else. She handed Bellamy the cup, who took it. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah," Bellamy grunted, looking between Chandra and Murphy's retreating form with furrowed eyebrows.

"That's good."

"You see Octavia?"

"She was up all night helping people," Chandra replied. "Murphy gave her a break." Bellamy scowled, glaring at Murphy over her shoulder.

"Don't tell me you trust him now." Chandra shook her head.

"I don't know him well enough to trust him," she corrected. "But I don't see a reason not to."

"That's because you don't know what he's done," he growled.

"No, I know exactly what he's apparently done," she snapped. "And I think you're being over-dramatic." Clarke walked in at that moment, cutting Bellamy off from whatever he was planning on saying.

"It's almost dawn," she observed. "Better get everyone inside. If we lock the doors, maybe the grounders will think we're not home."

"Not everyone is sick," Bellamy countered.

"Sick is better than dead," Clarke answered with finality. Bellamy narrowed his eyes.

"You don't think Finn and Jasper are gonna pull it off."

Chandra raised her eyebrows. "Pull what off?" Bellamy and Clarke ignored her.

"Do you?" Clarke asked. Bellamy didn't answer. "I'll get everyone inside." She left, and Chandra turned to Bellamy. He stood up, and she got up with him.

"Bellamy." He didn't look at her. "Bellamy!" She grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at her. "Bellamy, what are Jasper and Finn doing?" Bellamy shook his arm out of her grasp and walked off the dropship. "BELLAMY!" She followed him off of the dropship.

"Bellamy, what-" She'd barely stepped off the dropship when an explosion shook the ground under her. A mushroom cloud of fire and smoke erupted into the sky, and Chandra knew exactly where from. The bridge. To buy themselves more time, they blew up and bridge. Chandra's jaw dropped in horror. In an explosion like that, there was no doubt that the death toll was high.

"Oh, my God," she gasped, stumbling forward. She fell to her knees beside Bellamy, tears streaming down her face. She buried her face in her hands, stifling her sobs.

Bellamy watched her from the corner of his eyes.

"I am become death," Clarke said from beside him. "Destroyer of worlds." Bellamy's eyes remained on Chandra's form on the ground beside him.

"It's Oppenheimer," he muttered, distractedly. "The man who built the first A-Bomb." Bellamy felt Clarke look at him in surprised. "I know who Oppenheimer is." Clarke smiled, but Bellamy didn't look at her. Instead, he bit his lip, his hand held out to his side, inches from Chandra's shoulder. His hand itched to rest on it, to give her comfort, but instead, he forced his hand back to his side and walked away towards the gate, where he knew the others would be returning soon from.

Chandra remained on her knees on the ground, watching the smoke dissipate as she stared at the sky. Her cheeks were stained with dried tears, and her eyes were still red rimmed. She didn't know how long she'd stayed there, but she finally moved when a hand touched her shoulder.

"Chandra," Murphy called, shaking her shoulder. Chandra looked up at him, blinking rapidly until she recognized the panic look on his face. "He's dead. Connor's dead." Chandra stood up, remembering who Connor was. He was one of the first to get sick, but one of the last to get better. She let Murphy guide her to where his body was.

Chandra crouched down in front of him, sighed, and closed his eyes.

"He started coughing really hard," Murphy explained, "and then he just… stopped." Chandra nodded, but furrowed her eyebrows as she examined Connor's lifeless face. She looked up at Murphy, then back at Connor.

"There's no fresh blood on his face," she murmured softly.

"What?"

Chandra shook her head, looking away from Murphy quickly. "Nothing."

Except that it wasn't nothing. If Connor had died from coughing, there would be fresh blood on his face and clothes, but there wasn't. But why would Murphy lie?

Chandra's blood ran cold as she remembered another fact about Connor.

He was one who tied the rope around Murphy's neck.

She looked back up at Murphy, who was staring at Connor's body, and took the chance to examine him. He looked tense, but that could be explained for a number of reasons. Her eyes scanned his body for tells, but she found none. He looked back at her and he narrowed his eyes at the suspicious look on her face. She forced her face to remain neutral and stood up, wiping her hands off on her thighs.

"Help me carry him outside," she said as she grabbed his legs. Murphy grabbed him by his arms and the two dragged the body outside and laid it with the rest of the deceased. A group of teens was already there, preparing to take the bodies and bury them in the makeshift cemetery. Chandra sighed, running a hand down her face. They lost too many lives to the sickness, and they would need every soldier they could get once the grounders reorganized and attacked.

"You okay?" Murphy asked, noticing her distress.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Chandra lied. She coughed, faking a smile. "How about we get you cleaned up now? There's a river not far from here. We could take a quick bath and be back within an hour."

Murphy nodded. "Sounds good."

"Let me just grab my knife and we'll get going. I'll meet you at the gate." Chandra watched him walk away before she let the smile drop from her face. She closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead. She sighed before grabbing her dagger from her tent and heading towards the gate. She came to an abrupt stop as someone stepped in front of her.

"Where do you think you're going?" Bellamy crossed his arms, raising his eyebrows.

"Bellamy, I don't have time for this," Chandra sighed. "I'm going to the river. I'll be back in less than an hour."

"I don't think so," Bellamy declared. "You're not going anywhere alone."

"I've lived on this planet for nineteen years," Chandra hissed, getting annoyed. "I'll be fine. And who says I'm going alone? I'm taking Murphy." Bellamy's face darkened, and his brown eyes turned black with rage.

"You're definitely not going with Murphy," he growled. "I'd rather you go alone."

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again," Chandra warned. "I. Don't. Take. Orders. From. You. Now get out of my way." She moved to shove past him, but he grabbed her arm.

"I'm just looking out for you," Bellamy said, his gaze soft. Chandra suddenly felt very guilty. "I want you to be safe." Chandra pulled her arm out of his grasp.

"I'll be fine, Bellamy," she sighed, melting under his brown eyes. "Don't worry." She offered him a small smile, which he returned with a concerned look, before turning around and meeting Murphy by the gate.

"What took you so long?" Chandra shook her head.

"Nothing."

When they arrived at the river, Chandra took a seat on a large rock. "Hurry up, we don't have long."

Murphy started shrugging off his clothes. "Are you not getting in?"

"Of course not," she snorted. "Stop wasting time."

"C'mon. Get in, the water's great." Chandra rolled her eyes.

"If you don't shut the hell up right now, I'm going back to camp and leaving you here naked." Murphy made a face.

"I'm not naked, I've still got my pants on." Murphy gave her a smirk. "But if you want, I could get naked-"

"Just hurry up."

"Okay." Murphy got busy, washing the dried blood off of his self. Chandra looked at him from the corner of her eyes, examining him. He was skinnier than the typical grounder, but he still had muscle. He was handsome, though a bit awkward looking. His sharp features matched his even sharper tongue. And he was pale, almost deathly so. Chandra deep brown skin contrasted heavily with his. Chandra's couldn't help but find him attractive on some level. She bit her bottom lip, pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind. She looked away, busying herself by examining her knife-the intricate designs on the hilt that she knew so well, the slight bend of the blade, she even began counting the number of ridges on the jagged end.

"I'm done." Chandra looked up to see Murphy standing on the bank-still very shirtless. The morning sun glistened on his wet skin and he almost seemed to sparkle. Chandra would probably laugh at that if she wasn't busy being flustered.

"U-uh-right, let's uh," she stuttered. She swallowed thickly, trying to ignore how his dripping wet pants hung low on his hips. "Let's head back." Murphy nodded, and, much to Chandra's relief and also her disappointment, pulled his shirt back on.

Once they were back at camp, Chandra turned to Murphy before he went off somewhere else.

"We've gotten all that blood off of you," she started, "Now we need sanitize your cuts properly so they don't get infected." Murphy nodded, following her into the dropship. She grabbed the tub of alcohol and placed it on the makeshift table. She smiled at Murphy, patting the metal of the table. "Take a seat," she ordered, not looking at him as she grabbed a clean rag. He did, and she turned back to him, dipping the rag into the alcohol. "Take off your shirt."

"Demanding," he smirked. "I like it." Chandra looked at him with the most bored expression she could muster, letting him know that she did not find him funny at all.

"Just take it off." He laughed, pulling it over his head. Chandra avoided eye contact with him as she began dabbing at his cuts with the alcohol soaked rag, willing her fingers not to shake. She began with the cuts on his arms first, putting off getting near his bare chest for as long as possible. Murphy hissed in pain as the alcohol seeped into his wounds

"Damn," he cursed under his breath, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth. Chandra's breath got caught in her throat as she watched his lip slip out from between his pearly whites, freshly wetted and painfully inviting. Her eyes flickered up to his and realized he was watching her, eyes narrowed. She coughed, looking away and busying herself with sanitizing his wounds.

"You already did that one," Murphy commented, his voice just barely above a whisper. Chandra's hand froze; she was hoping he wouldn't notice, because she'd ran out of cuts to sanitize on his arms and really did not want to face his bare chest. She felt his eyes burning into her head, and she kept her head down as she responded.

"You're right, sorry," she rushed, wincing at how loud her voice came out in an attempt to fill the suffocating silence that hung in the room. "I didn't notice." Murphy didn't respond, instead making a slight humming noise in his throat. She weighed her options. She could tend to the wounds on his face, but the thought of being so close to this lips of his made Chandra's head feel light. So she rinsed out the rag and started to dab at the lines criss crossing against his chest. She pressed her lips together tightly, furrowing her eyebrows in concentration. Unconsciously, as a way to reach his chest more comfortably, Chandra had moved so she was slightly between his legs, her thigh brushing against his knee every few seconds. The height of the table shortened him down until he was almost level to her, just barely taller. Every couple of minutes, Chandra would glance up at Murphy's for just a moment, only to see that he was steadily watching her, his eyes murky.

"Stop staring at me," Chandra chuckled nervously as she rinsed the rag again, done with the cuts on his chest.

Murphy snorted. "You're about a foot away from my face, what else am I supposed to be looking at?" Chandra didn't answer right away, stepping closer to him to clean his facial wounds.

"Excuses, excuses," she mocked in a singsong voice. Murphy scoffed, opening his mouth to reply, but Chandra shushed him. "Close your eyes. I gotta clean the cuts around them and you really don't want alcohol in your eyes." Murphy forced his mouth shut, complying to her demands.

Her eyebrows furrowed in concern as she slowly cleaned the scratches running down his face. They were deep, and he was extremely lucky to have escaped with his eyesight still intact.

Chandra's voice shook as she asked, "How did you get these?"

Murphys swallowed, his lips pulling into a scowl. "They put me in a cage, locked me in there with a big cat, big and scaly. Probably the worst night of my life."

"Lispontha," she muttered. She caught Murphy open his eyes and send her confused look. "It's a savage animal, probably what they put you up against. Keep your eyes closed." He did, and she clicked her tongue. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that." Chandra moved on from the cuts around his eyes and to the one on his jaw, and Murphy opened his eyes again.

"I shouldn't have left you alone," Chandra admitted. "There was no way you could have fended for yourself. I should have known." Murphy's hands reached up and clasped both of hers as his light eyes met Chandra's deep brown ones. He smirked, though it looked forced.

"Bygones," he said simply. She frowned, before plastering a small smile on her face. She pulled her hands from his, and put down the rag.

"You're all done," she said, turning around and dropping the rag on the small table in the corner of the room. She felt Murphy walk up behind her and she froze, her hand instinctively landing over the dagger strapped to her thigh. She was taken by surprise, however, when hands rested tenderly on her waist. She felt hot breath fanning onto her neck and she shivered, closing her eyes. Murphy turned her around slowly, pulling her closer in the process. His forehead pressed against hers and her lips parted. Her arms rested on his bare chest as he moved forward ever so slowly, brushed his lips against hers. Chandra ached to move just another fraction of an inch and-

"Chandra!" The two jumped apart so quickly it was almost comical. Bellamy was standing at the door of the dropship, glaring at Chandra, whose face was so warm she felt like it would explode any moment. Murphy had pulled on his shirt in seconds, and was now looking sheepishly between the two, rubbing the back of his neck.

Bellamy cleared his throat. "I need your help." Chandra clenched her jaw. If Bellamy had just waited a minute longer… Bellamy seemed to be struggling to keep his temper in check. "Now." What had gotten into him?

Chandra gave Murphy an apologetic look. "I'll see you." Murphy smiled and nodded, and the two gazed at each other with dreamy smiles on their faces. Bellamy cleared his throat loudly again, and Chandra suppressed a groan. The man was so difficult sometimes. She followed Bellamy out of the dropship, but the moment she was out of hearing range from Murphy, she reared on him.

"What's your problem?" She fumed, stopping in front of the campfire.

"My problem?" Bellamy's face contorted in rage. "My problem is that we're in the middle of a war, and instead of helping us prepare, you're busy screwing around with the one person I warned you about!" Chandra couldn't believe her ears.

"You think I'm not helping?" She was near yelling at this point. "You can't be serious. I don't even have the energy for this." She turned to walk away, but thought better of it, whipping back around to face him. "And you know what? I'm done with you trying to be all protective." She stalked forward until she was only a foot or two from him, glaring at his equally as fiery eyes. "I don't need nor want your protection. I'm not Octavia. I'm not your sister. I'm not your girlfriend, I'm not even your friend. Back off, and leave me alone." She stepped back, watching as his jaw clenched in anger. She turned, leaving him fuming by fire.