Goodness, I'd forgotten how much the layout on this website annoys me sometimes. I'm sorry of the apparent lack of spacing between paragraphs in my last chapter. I tried editing it to no avail. Anyway, next chapter, Yay!

She found Lincoln alone in the kitchen.

"Octavia just went to get a copy of the camp schedule. How did your talk with Wells go?"

"Alright. He was pretty good – better than Finn. Finn didn't like that I wasn't on the same team as him anymore."

Lincoln grunted noncommittally. He didn't mind Finn most of the time, but he had occasionally commented that Finn seemed like he had a side that Clarke didn't know. Lincoln once joked that Finn seemed like the sort of guy who might go off the reservation. Clarke just ignored her brother and his TV references.

"I spoke to Bellamy as well, and he didn't say no which surprised me. Since we've been here he's barely spoken to me. I was expecting him to say no outright."

Lincoln glanced at his little sister in amusement.

"He might be git, but he isn't an idiot. You're an asset – if only for your brains."

Octavia walked back into the room at that moment and immediately asked Clarke for an update. The blonde obliged, promptly relaying the most recent events. Octavia seemed pleased with the current situation.

"If Bell hasn't said no yet then it's a good sign. I can go and work on him, and I might even send Miller a text and try to win him over as well."

Clarke smiled at Octavia in gratitude. "I'm glad you're on my side," Clarke said.

Octavia returned the smile and patted her on the shoulder. "Never let it be said that I'll leave a girl out in the cold. I might be in a different social group but we're still girls – we've got to stick together."

"That's just beautiful," Lincoln said from the sidelines, wiping a fake tear from his eyes. Clarke rolled her eyes and punched her brother in the arm affectionately.


At that moment Jake Griffin walked into the kitchen, disturbing the peace.

"You heading off now Dad?" Lincoln asked as his adopted father rummaged through the fridge.

"The meeting starts at midday, but I've got some specs I want to double check before going in. I don't have much faith in those engineers from Go-Sci. It seems to me that just because they work for the government they seem to think they can cut corners," Jake Griffin grumbled.

"Go-Sci?" Octavia asked, a little confused.

"They're a government firm that deals with developing, installing and maintaining high end buildings, science equipment and they get defense contracts as well. The group that Dad works for is called The Alpha Corporation – or just Alpha for short, and they work with Go-Sci to check that everything is shipshape," Clarke explained while her father fussed about the kitchen.

"Alright, I'm leaving now," Jake patted his daughter on the head as he walked by. "Everyone try to behave today."

"I'm going to chat to Monroe, and then Bellamy," Octavia added, and with a wave followed Mr. Griffin into the hall.

"You got any plans for the day since the main part of the unpacking is finished?" Lincoln asked. Clarke nodded, she'd been thinking of doing some painting today.

"Good, then I'll talk to you later," Lincoln smiled. "I'm going over to a friends' place. Good luck with your bid to change teams."

"I'll probably need it," Clarke sighed as she wandered back to her room.

Back upstairs, Clarke ferreted through some of her unfinished paintings, and settled on something she'd started for Luke as a present for Glass. He'd offered to pay Clarke, but she refused. Clarke didn't mind painting, and didn't need the money as of yet. It was a vague painting – only showing a chin, neck, shoulders and some hair as it fell on one side. Around the neck was simple gold necklace that Luke had bought for Glass for Christmas. Luke had also requested that there be a window with a view of the earth next to the subject, since Glass always talked about how she would like to see the earth from space. Clarke was pleased that Luke had given her time to complete the painting, given how complex some of it was turning out to be.

The morning passed without Clarke noticing and so she was surprised when she was disturbed from her task by a tap on the shoulder around one o'clock. She removed her earplugs and turned away from the window to look at her intruder.

"What are you doing up here?" Clarke asked Jasper with a smile.

"I knocked but you didn't answer," Jasper explained. "Monty and I are hungry and Bellamy and Octavia are talking in Bell's room which has a 'Don't Disturb' sign."

"You guys are nine, aren't you both big enough to start making your own sandwiches'?" Clarke groaned internally. She hated being disturbed while she was painting.

"Yeah but we want brownies," Jasper looked pleased with himself.

"Brownies don't constitute as lunch. They're a snack at best," Clarke said and almost prepared herself to argue the point but realized before she spoke how fruitless the effort would be.

"Come on, lets see if there is anything other than sandwiches."

Clarke stood and placed her tools on the table next to her easel before following Jasper down the stairs.

In the end the boy's had to satisfy themselves with sandwiches, and while they ate Clarke started making some muffins since brownie mix was unavailable.

"So tell me about this spy machine that Raven wants to build," Clarke asked the boys.

"She said that she was bored," Monty replied.

"I suppose that is as good a reason as any," Clarke said. "What is it meant to do?"

"Raven said that she wanted something cool but she wouldn't tell us what it was," Monty said.

"She told me that she wanted to make a listening device like they have in the movies," Jasper bragged, pleased that he knew more than his new brother. This difference in knowledge of course prompted the two of them to start arguing. Clarke decided she was going to get any more information out of the two kids and put the almost finished muffins in the oven before setting a timer.

"I'll take them out when they are finished, in the meantime I'll be upstairs."

"Are you going to keep painting that picture? It was cool!" Jasper pushed himself away from the kitchen bench. "Monty, come and see."

Clarke sighed an exasperated sigh and trailed after the two distractible kids as they dashed towards her room.

Clarke spent the next few minutes showing the boys her paintings and explaining about each of them. The infamous painting from the lounge incident was in the walk in robe component of Clarke's room and so to her relief she didn't have to dredge old memories to the surface by explaining the meaning behind it.


Bellamy entered without Clarke noticing, occupied as she was by the questions of the exhausting duo.

"Hey boys," Bellamy announced his presence. "What's happening?"

"Clarke is showing us her paintings. This one here is a present for someone's birthday. Isn't that amazing? Could you paint something for me?" Jasper asked Clarke. "I love Bumblebee – you know the Transformer?"

"We'll see. I'm pretty busy with school, but I'll try," Clarke said, not wanting to disappoint, but not certain she'd be able to complete the task.

"Do you guys mind if I talk to Clarke for a minute?" Bellamy asked the boys. Jasper wiggled his eyebrows in the way that only kids would.

"Don't worry Jasper, its business," Bellamy Blake laughed at the thought that his brother insinuated.

"We'll check the muffins!" Monty cried, remembering his desire for sweets and dashing down the attic stairs faster than Clarke would have liked. Jasper followed in hot pursuit, unwilling to be left behind by his brother-in-arms.

"Muffins?" Bellamy asked.

"We didn't have any Brownie mix."

Bellamy nodded in understanding. He knew Jasper's fondness for chocolate.

"It's a nice painting," Bellamy gestured, a little awkwardly, to the painting Clarke had been working on. "Not as good as the other one though."

"You said business?" Clarke ignored the comment, unwilling to get into a long-winded conversation with the Blake standing before her.

"I did," Bellamy nodded, going with the flow, seemingly pleased not to make small talk. "I've spoken with O and Miller. You've definitely won Octavia over," Bellamy commented and Clarke wasn't sure if that was meant to be a dig or not. "Miller was less impressed, but he agreed that we did need someone with your brains around. He needs the extra credit more than I do, so since he's given the ok you've got your wish Princess."

Clarke blinked for a moment, processing.

"I'm on the team?" She asked a little hesitantly. Bellamy nodded. Clarke smiled, almost smirked rather. She'd won the first battle.

"Don't get cocky Princess. I want to assess how good you are at sports before I give the final green light. No matter how good you may be in trivia and book smarts, you'll just be a dead weight if you can't help on the sporting field."

Clarke thought that was reasonable enough.

"When do we start?" She asked him.

"Tomorrow. Octavia and I will take you to the basketball courts and then to the oval. If you don't flop then it'll be official."

"Sounds good," Clarke agreed and held out her hand for Bellamy to shake. He looked surprised for a moment, but then he took her offered hand.

"I'm a harsh marker," Bellamy warned before dropping her hand quickly. Clarke wanted to roll her eyes at him. It wasn't like she'd electrocuted the guy; he didn't have to be rude about the handshake.

"Did you say you were cooking muffins?" Bellamy changed the topic.

"I should probably check that Monty and Jasper aren't sitting with the door open trying to watch them cook," Clarke said, her train of thought turning to the possible trouble the boys could get into.

"Did you hear about their next project?"

"The spy thing?" Bellamy clarified. Clarke couldn't help but smile as she and Bellamy headed for the attic staircase.

"Yeah, I heard. I told Raven that if I find out that she's bugged my room I'll throw out all her mechanical stuff."

"I imagine that it a pretty decent incentive."

"What the hell is it for?" Clarke asked, hoping Raven's brother would know. There was a slight pause as the older boy gave the question some thought while they made their way downstairs.

"Probably so that she can find new ways to torment you,"

"How comforting," Clarke frowned, wondering if she needed a lock for her door.

"A lock won't stop her either," Bellamy added, as if he could read Clarke's mind. "If she can build spyware, she can definitely break into your room."

"I'm sure there are laws against that sort of thing," Clarke said.

Bellamy just shrugged, and stopped outside his door for a moment.

"Octavia also wanted me to tell you that she's gone over to Monroe's place for lunch. She said she should be back by the time everyone else gets home."

Clarke nodded.

"Save me a muffin," Bellamy added before stepping into his bedroom.

"Please…" Clarke grumbled under her breath as she continued to the kitchen.