Author's Note: Hello all, I've actually had this chapter and the next chapter written for a couple weeks, but I was just now able to get around to editing. This is going to be the first chapter seen through the eyes of Charles Pike. I apologize for the longevity of this chapter (almost 6500 words!), but it encompasses many years that have shaped Pike into the man he is today. Next chapter, we're going back to Clarke and co. at the Inn. It'll be some sweet moments, as well as some surprising moments. Stay tuned!

As always, please feel free to leave a review/follow/favorite. I love the response that this story is getting and I hope to live up to your expectations from here on out. :) This chapter's song is "Ghost of Me" by Daughtry. Truly a wonderful song, and one of my favorites by the band.

Chapter 7: Ghost of Me

Charles' POV (Flashback):

"Alright class, don't forget to send me your assignments. The due date is three days from now and this essay will account for forty-percent of your grade," I stated with finality to my class of sophomores. As I looked across the students, I could see mixed faces – some students looked rather smug and prepared, while others looked awfully worried.

A hand went up in the back amongst the sea of students, but I dared not take the question. "And no, Mr. Murphy, an essay on America's 'Planet of the Apes' series will not be accepted." I looked to him expectantly and he shamefully put his hand down. "Have a good day, class," I finally dismissed.

Teenagers had always baffled me; on the one hand, they were too lazy to do their damn homework half the time, but man did they move fast when they didn't want to be in class. I couldn't help but smile at myself as I recalled doing the same thing when I was younger. God only knows why I decided to become a teacher. My parents always irked me to become a politician, like Thelonious, but I opted for teaching. I felt like more of a use that way – full time teacher, part time councilman.

I locked up my classroom door and walked down the narrow hallway of the Ark, stopping by the window to look at the stars. Simultaneously, I could view the planet Earth as well as it's moon. My generation had never been to the ground before due to the radiation from almost one hundred years ago, but the Earth I saw now still resembled the Earth from old copies of geography books at the Ark library. For the life of me and due to Earth's constant rotation, I could never name the proper oceans and seas, or even the continents for that matter; but that hardly mattered to me. Any window in the Ark was always my second favorite view. Just knowing that someday, people of the Ark could walk free on Earth's surface…

"Daddy!" an excited toddler yelled at me and jumped at my legs, hugging them tightly.

I laughed whole-heartedly. "Hello sweetheart," I said to my daughter as I picked her up into my arms. I gave her a big kiss on her cheek and she giggled. Some people passing by smiled widely at the two of us. "How was your day today?" I asked while walking us towards our quarters.

"Really, REALLY good, Daddy!" she yelled into my ear.

While I loved this girl to the end of the universe and back, she had the lungs of the Ark's alarm system some days. Those days included, but were not limited to being excited and/or on the brink of a tantrum.

"Myranda, what've I told you?" I scorned her.

"Inside voices, I know. Sorry daddy," she said quieter this time.

"It's okay, sweetie. Tell me about your day," I said to her as we came to our quarters.

"Today in school, we learned about different animals! Miss Monroe even said that some places WAY long ago used to have a bunch of animals in one place called a zoo. How cool! I think my favorite is a… a… elephant?" she questioned while flapping her hands behind her ears.

"An elephant, sweetie," I corrected her in my so-called teacher voice.

She, however, carried on with only the roll of her eyes. "And then we painted some pictures, and Clarke invited me over to have dinner and play!"

"And what did you say to that?" I asked her. She was independent for her age, but she still needed to understand that she had to ask permission before doing some things.

"I said that I would ask my daddy!" she smiled brightly at me. God, she reminded me so much of her mother. Those bright eyes and big grin always brought back wholesome memories of my late wife, Christine. The only resemblance that Myranda even shared with me was my dark skin.

"Well, I guess if you two behave, then you may hang out," I relented. How could I say no to those bright green eyes?

The arrangement worked out well, I dropped off Myranda at the Griffin's quarters – it was a long two minutes of Clarke and I will do this, and Clarke and I will do that! Jake and Abby Griffin already assured me that they let Clarke's babysitter know that another guest would be joining them, to which the babysitter seemed fine with.

With Jake and Abby in tow, we walked down to the Council room to meet with the other members. Once every month, we designated time to a mandatory meeting. I would give up an hour of grading high school papers and math problems.

Abby would give up an hour of running the infirmary, and let Jackson tackle it all.

Jake would give up an hour in the lab, along with Jacapo Sinclair.

Likewise, Marcus would hand over his duties to one of his deputies for an hour.

And our dear Chancellor, Thelonious, would finally present his ideas for making the Ark a better place to live. Although, that in itself seemed to be a seemingly more difficult task this past year.

Today would be no different.

When everyone finally flooded into the room and Thelonious let the Griffins know that Wells joined Clarke and Myranda at their quarters, we were able to carry on with the meeting.

"Does anyone have any requests to kick off the meeting today?" Thelonious stated, opening the table for discussion.

"More teachers," I threw out. "There are too many kids per class, and most parents have to work, so they aren't able to home school. My class average is thirty-five to forty students… I just can't seem to connect with any of them."

Lots of the other Council members nodded their heads, thinking the same thing.

"Good point, Charles," Thelonious stated, resting his chin into his hand. His dark skin nearly matched my own, but his face was clear of any beards or mustaches. His eyes remained thoughtful. "But who will do it?"

"We could recruit some of the next graduating class?" piped up Jake.

The conversation fell from topic to topic as we neared the end of the meeting. Thelonious rose from his seat and spoke above the mumbles of everyone in the meeting room. The slight noise halted to a hush and Thelonious began speaking. "There is one more rather important matter that we must begin talking about. Jacapo and Jake here have informed me that the Ark will be able to land on Earth within the near future," he paused. Everyone looked shocked and looked between the two scientists. Even Abby did so as her beautiful brown doe-eyes filled with confusion towards her husband. Something tells me that she had no idea about this. "We were able to find a way to test the radiation floating in Earth's atmosphere, and it appears that it would not be toxic to people of the Ark because of the radiation that we have been exposed to in space."

It made perfect sense. The logic was there and everything. I trusted Jake and Sinclair's words like none other.

"Pike," Thelonious said to me, getting down to business. "I want you to start teaching survival classes here soon. I have some books from the library to give you that will hopefully cover everything we need people to know."

I was baffled. He wanted me to teach classes on Earth survival skills? "Are you sure, Chancellor?"

"Yes, Charles," he said to me. "You are one of my longest friends and I would trust that you get this job done any time of the day."

And so I began my own studying to surviving the earth below us. Myranda would finally see the ground, and not just from an old worn-out copy of a textbook.

Maybe, just maybe, she would get to see that elephant after all.

(Flashforward:)

One year after I had finished teaching hundreds and hundreds of survival classes to the young and to the old, we had finally landed on Earth. Some residents on the Ark had been wary about traveling to Earth, but the consensus was that people were happy – genuinely happy. After so many years, we were finally going home. Home. On top of teaching survival classes, I had taken a couple books on architecture and began drafting ideas for a house for Myranda and I. Instead of the stuffy quarters we were currently situated in, we could live somewhere... open. Free.

Upon landing safely, we didn't have to worry about much. Our technicians were able to land the Ark safely around a forest-y area, near enough to a river. Sinclair said something about our coordinates being within the Eastern United States of America, at least what was left of it. Until we could make plans to do further development, people would still be permitted to live in their quarters, but the thought of being able to walk outside without being sucked into the vacuum of space was a welcomed adventure.

I remember seeing Hannah Green's kids running the complete opposite direction of the Ark, his father laughing right beside him. Likewise, a lot of the other children did the same. Hell, Myranda even convinced Clarke and Wells to trek off and explore the grassy terrain.

On the other hand, the adults preferred to stay near the ship and relax. Everyone was glad to be off the ship, but were glad for the shelter.

I merrily stepped out of the shadows and breathed in the brisk and slight humid air. Did the air taste different or was that just me? I could feel the sun beat against my skin. I was so used to the cool stale air ventilated through the Ark that I almost immediately began beading with sweat. But it felt great. Everything felt great. No one ever sweat on the Ark.

"Isn't it a sight to see?" Thelonious asked me. I could see him out of my periphery, but dared not take my eyes from the endless green and blue that lay in front of my eyes.

"It's... magnificent," I stated with a sense of awe. "And somber."

"What an odd choice of words," the aging chancellor stated to me.

While the terrain was breathtaking, I could help imagining the original people of Earth, the one's who didn't make it on to the Ark. Whose houses were ripped up by the hurricane-like turmoil of the Earth's ending? Whose cars were buried under the rubble? Whose skin and bones were used to replenish the Earth's botany?

The Chancellor's hand came down to rest on my shoulder for a brief moment. This time, I turned to him. My eyes felt heavy, as I tried to keep them from being deceiving. "We are home, Charles."

"We... are home," I repeated.

"Dad!" Myranda yelled at me. "Dad, it's so amazing… and green!"

The Chancellor saw this as his chance to part with me to check the other occupants of the Ark.

I hugged my daughter close to me and said nothing. She was going to turn ten here soon and it felt like she was growing up too fast for her own good. "It's wonderful, isn't it?" I asked.

"You think mom would've liked it here?" Myranda asked me. Christine had died in childbirth and Dr. Griffin had assured me that nothing could be done to save her - said she overexerted herself. Myranda never felt too sad whenever I brought up her mother; at least, she didn't feel the sadness I felt. Even in the lost areas of the storage, no camera could be located, so I never had any photographs of Christine to show, but my vivid descriptions allowed Myranda to know that she had a very beautiful mother. I think she was just bothered by the fact she didn't have a mom, like most other kids in all her classes. However, it was part of the reason why her and Wells got along, and why he brought her into his friend group.

"I think your mother would've loved it here," I said into my daughter's hair. When Christine was pregnant, she would often fantasize and wish about raising our child on Earth. "This is all she ever wanted for you."

You got your wish, my love. My Christine.

It only took a few days for shit to hit the fan, though.

One day while letting the kids play out in the woods, some of the guards working on a perimeter heard them. I heard them. I was helping the guards out with making the perimeter, just so I would be close if Myranda needed me. She said her and the other kids wouldn't go too far into the woods. From the sound of their screams, I could tell they hadn't.

Somehow, that worried me even more. Could it be an animal? None of us had gone out in any hunting parties yet, so we didn't know the full extent of the wild life, if there was any beyond the vast greenness of the forest.

Almost all thoughts escaped me as I ran to the screams. It didn't sound like my Myranda, but all the kids were supposed to stay together. I just knew my daughter was in trouble.

"Myranda!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. There were guards behind me and one of them was contacting more people over the mandatory walkie that comes with their uniform. "Get more guards over here, STAT!" I said while taking the guard's gun out of his holster. The gun was quite familiar to me. There was a time before becoming a teacher that I had wanted to be a guardsman. I had gone through all the training, but when graduation date came, it became something that I didn't want to do. My job would've been to rummage through other people's homes looking for contraband and anything suspicious, and a part of me just couldn't do that to someone else's private home.

"Dad!" I heard my daughter sob. She was close by. I held the gun more firmly within my hands - not flinching, not shaking.

Soon enough, I was upon her. I had seen some of the kids running back to camp but knew that not all of them had done so. Namely, Myranda. And Clarke, as well.

Please don't be hurt, please don't be hurt…

I skidded to a halt in the mossy dirt of the forest upon seeing my daughter. Clarke was with her also, trying to shield Myranda behind her. I tried to check over the two girls for injury, but it was a difficult task, considering neither of them were facing my direction; they were looking directly at a figure. Not just a figure… a human! But, this man was not from the Ark.

My eyes went wide with horror as I looked at the daggers laid out in both of his hands. He raised the daggers to their full extent when I raised my own gun at him and clicked off the safety, effectively stealing his attention, as well as the two children on the ground. "Who are you?" I asked. "Answer me!"

The man was tanned, but it was hard to tell as his face and any exposed skin was more or less covered in tattoos. The rest of him was covered in what looked like fur pelts. From his right side, I could see what looked to be a sheathed sword. This man seemed to be a warrior… or a hunter of some sort.

What stole my attention the most was his long and scraggly hair and its various intricate braids. Surely, he couldn't have done that himself. There had to be more. But where?

He made no move to put down his daggers, and yelled something at me, although I could not tell what he was saying. Was he speaking a different language? Both of us made no move to do anything but stare each other down. Everyone on the Ark spoke English, so there was no classes taught for the ancient languages of Spanish, French, and so on.

Suddenly, his foot moved forward, whether it was towards the girls or myself, I didn't know. Without giving any second thought, I could feel my finger tighten around the trigger.

"NO!" I screamed as my finger pressed down hard onto the trigger.

Finally, the man dropped his daggers. He, himself, followed them shortly after. He mumbled the words, "Ai gonplei nou ste odon." Still, I did not understand.

I consoled the girls and swiftly took them back to camp. Myranda stayed in my arms the whole time, while I had Clarke walk in front of me, as I tried to keep a protective hand over her shoulder. The kids were such a tight group of friends that I often took on a fatherly role for Clarke whenever she was with Myranda.

"What even happened?" I asked to neither of them in particular.

I could only see the back of Clarke's bright blonde hair. She was looking at the ground, with her arms crossed around her waist. Myranda rested her head on my shoulder.

"He just came out of nowhere…" Clarke mumbled.

The Council had been holding emergency meetings what seemed like every other day now. After my killing the man – what we are now calling 'Grounders' – their leader, whoever he was had sent more of them our way.

Between the past month, there had been much bloodshed on both of our sides. Our front line, our guards were coming and going more and more. Whenever any of them even saw a figure move in the woods, they became trigger-happy. Kane looked more and more rugged and tired every time he walked into the Council room.

Not even the kids wanted to be outside anymore.

On the bright side, we had kicked it into high gear and built a fence big enough to surround the Ark. That barely staved off everyone's fear.

"I'm telling you, Jaha," I began vehemently. "We need to get rid of them by any means necessary!" Our people wouldn't feel safe if the threat of other people trying to kill us continued to loom over our heads. What kind of a home is that?

"You mean kill them?" Abby asked with disgust in her voice. Her cheeks were beginning to hollow out and her eyes began to sink in from the long hours spent with people in the infirmary. "Charles, they are people, too!"

"They may be people, but they tried to kill OUR kids! Or do you not remember that?" I asked, taunting her, making her remember the danger that her child was also in.

She stood abruptly from her chair. "Do NOT mistake my morality for ignorance, Pike!" she yelled. As she leaned over the table, I had to physically restrain myself from looking to her cleavage. Yes, Abby was a sight for sore eyes, but her features still offered radiance and lustful reactions. Besides, Jake wouldn't take too kindly to me looking down his wife's shirt.

Jake quickly grabbed her hand to calm her down, rubbing reassuring circles into hand. She sat back down and said a quick mild-mannered apology to those around her.

For some reason, seeing Jake and Abby's joined hands bothered me. But, why?

"They need to go," I seethed.

"We need to make peace," Kane spoke up. "Go to them without 'guns a blazin' and talk it out. We can live together in peace, but we have to work for it."

A lot of people nodded at his suggestion. Even the Chancellor. Meanwhile, Marcus sent me a sorrowful look.

"Chancellor," I began, turning towards him completely. "We cannot trust that making peace with these monsters will actually work. Are you really willing to put your life on the line for that? Your child's life?"

"Our guards are dying because we can't figure out a solution to this territory situation. Soon enough, it will be us. It will be our families that are dying if we do not put an end to this," said Thelonious.

I lightly smiled that the Chancellor took my side in this mess.

"However," the Chancellor once again began. "Killing them would not solve the issue either. They may have resources, technology, knowledge that can help us to survive."

We had been having this same conversation for weeks now, and it always ended the same way. Everyone would give their two-cents and leave, looking at me with a side-eyed glance. I would stay behind with Jaha to convince him that my ideas were the most promising and full proof.

One day, he stopped listening. Thelonious Jaha looked me directly in the eye. "Charles… this has to stop," he said after everyone else left the council room. By this point, the other council members looked to me with worry and hints of fear behind their stoic eyes. They were scared. But not of the Grounders. They were scared of... me.

"What do you mean?" I had asked, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion. His statement was awfully vague.

"The rest of the Council took a vote," he stopped talking for a few seconds. "We will be moving forward with the peace negotiations and you will not be a part of them."

My eye widened. "You're kicking me off the Council?" I asked with disdain.

"You may remain in your role as a teacher, but you will be no longer permitted to participate on any political agendas regarding the Council," Jaha stated all too formally for someone who was a so-called long-time friend.

"But... why?" I asked lowly.

"Charles, everyone is scared of you," Thelonious looked at me as if I should already know the answer. "All this talk about… killing other people is scaring the other members. What kind of an example would we be setting for the people if we just kill what we don't understand?"

I left the Council room shortly after with a whole burned into my heart. I loved my daughter, I loved teaching, and I had loved politics and being a part of something that mattered to people.

That night, I tucked Myranda into bed, making sure to tuck her in extra tight. As Earth's autumn rolled around, the nights became increasingly colder and blankets were becoming more and more scarce.

I sighed when I looked at her, sitting at the edge of the bed. "You know I'm just trying to protect you, right?"

"Maybe they're just trying to protect their own, too," she said back to me in a forbidden whisper.

Funny, that's the type of thing Christine would say.

(Flashforward:)

Winter was here now and we were not even close to being prepared. Between being worried about keeping the fence up and running, and keeping the Grounders at bay, no one gave a passing thought to how cold it was due to be.

When snow started falling, almost everyone had become sick. The first couple people who were sick were able to receive immediate treatment and be cured within a week, ready to go back to work and daily living. Those who developed the sickness later were less fortunate. Supplies were running low, especially medicine and not everyone was able to receive a vaccine or antibiotics.

The two Dr. Griffins were working in over time – one was trying to dispense and ration flu medicine accordingly, while the other was trying to recreate it for future use. The only problem was that more flu medication was going out than coming in. Not everyone was going to get their share of medication.

Including Myranda.

Abby told me that Myranda would be fine if she stayed under observation and stayed warm. Her cold wasn't even that severe. And I believed her.

A week passed, and Myranda only seemed to get worse. "It has to get worse before it gets better. It'll peak and then it'll be over. Everything will work out, Charles," Abby had consoled me one day. She no longer seemed afraid or looked to me with contempt. With her words, some semblance of hope filled me. Everything would work out… right?

Another week passed, and Abby became less attentive to Myranda, even as Myranda seemed to get worse with each passing day. Apparently, Clarke had the same sickness.

"Doc, you gotta get my girl some medicine," I plead with Abby one night, tears nearly in my eyes.

"Charles… I wish I could, but I just gave the rest out yesterday… to-to Clarke," she said. "Myranda will pull through, she's a strong girl." But even as she said it, I had a hard time believing her words.

My shoulders sank at her words. Of course, Princess Griffin would get the medicine before all those before her needed it.

I became bitter towards the blonde ten-year-old and her mother for making such a rash decision.

Another week passed, and Myranda's flu had morphed into pneumonia. My baby girl could barely breath at this point, mostly wheezing out what air she could. She was paler than usual and could barely keep any food down – not even soup. My Myranda was so weak that she could barely even sit up in bed to take sips of water without choking. I could barely look at my daughter without wanting to cry.

My bright, beautiful daughter was sick. So sick, and there was nothing to be done about it.

By the time Winter was over and all the snow had melted to showcase sprouting Spring flowers, twenty-five people had been pronounced dead from contracting sickness over the cold months. Twenty-four of them were adults, one of them was a child.

My child.

I stopped teaching classes. I stopped going out. I locked Myranda's old bedroom door, something I didn't want to see any longer, but it was something I knew that I couldn't just get rid of.

People came by and brought strange-tasting casseroles from old family recipes, but most of them went bad.

And it wasn't until a run that some of our hunters found an old bunker with blankets, canned goods, candles, and everything in between. They even found a beat up and dirty stuffed elephant. How... somber.

To try and cheer me up, Jaha had invited me back to the Council, I knew it was a pity offer, but I took the opportunity. It no longer felt right to teach children when I couldn't look any of them in the eye and ask, 'Why couldn't it have been you?' And I didn't want to stay inside my quarters all day, Myranda's door starring daggers into my head. Politics were the only thing that felt right at this time, even though I couldn't muster up an opinion to share during meetings.

From what I gathered, Jaha and Kane had been in contact with the Grounder leader, who called herself Princess Anya. Really, a Princess? Not even a King or some other type of monarch? Jaha had stupidly invited her and her own Council into our territory for a formal dinner.

This was ridiculous. Bringing the enemy into our gates? Jaha was practically inviting evil into the premise and the fool didn't even seem phased by it! This man and these people on the Council were testing their leadership to the fullest, not giving a rat's ass about the safety of the camp whatsoever.

Anyone could do better than him… I could do better than him.

At last, the peace negotiations were here. It was dusk outside when Princess Anya arrived with her personal guards, who acted as her council as well. The Princess looked very regal, yet ready for battle at any given moment. Her hair – much like the first Grounder I ever saw – was done up with intricate braids cascading down her back. She wore a face of no-nonsense, her eyes seeming soulless. Both of our councils regarded each other as respectfully as possible and sat down opposite each other.

The Griffins and Thelonious had prearranged for Clarke and Wells to join the negotiations, considering the both would most likely end up in the world of politics.

The little brats probably weren't even paying attention to a word that was being said tonight.

"Welcome to the Ark, Princess Anya kom Trikru," Jaha stated regally.

"And thank you, Thelonious Jaha kom Skaikru, for your generosity tonight," the Princess spoke in a gravelly voice, yet her English was perfect.

A waiter of our own came out with drinks for each table member to make a toast.

"Now, let's talk peace," Thelonious said while raising his glass. Everyone around the table, even the Grounders followed suit.

"Let us talk compromise," Anya agreed. She gave the briefest of smiles and everyone took a drink from their goblets.

As people began to lower their glasses, Thelonious and Wells had a look of discomfort on their faces and both dropped to the ground within seconds after that first sip.

I jumped from my seat and went to the older Jaha, checking his vital signs just like the books showed me how. His pulse was rapid, I could barely count how many beats per second it was beating. He looked to me with fear in his eyes and signaled for me to check on his son as he continued seizing. Wells looked much like his father in the moment, but white stuff was oozing out of his mouth. Abby was trying to perform chest compressions on the eleven-year-old as Clarke held his hand, crying into his forearm.

After fifty more compressions, Abby rose to her feet and looked me directly in the eye. Disbelief shown in her orbs. "He's dead."

Clarke wailed.

The Council members reeled back in fright.

And Princess Anya was hastily being whisked away from the scene altogether.

"Poison," I said with vehemence in my voice. "Poisoned!" I screamed, while following the Grounders out of the room. "You poisoned our leader!" it only made sense, after all.

By now, everyone had made it out to the main area of our camp. "You killed our Chancellor!" I screamed at the retreating Grounders as they hopped onto their horses and ran.

"We invited them into our home… the place where we sleep! And they killed two of our own – our leader and our future leader!" I yelled at the rallying citizens in the court yard. "We let this happen!" I said while grabbing a gun from our artillery shed.

Before I had any more to say, people were following in my footsteps, armed with guns and grenades. I was their leader now.

They trusted me.

They followed me.

And all I would lead them to was glory and victory.

(Present:)

The Griffin household was truly a sight to see. Jake and Abby had clearly spent a lot of time perfecting each and every corner of it, inside and out. For the most part, they found the time between work and family-time to create such a lovely home.

Most people had opted to move into their own personalized homes, me included after a long time of securing Arkadia's safety, but some remained in the Ark's quarters and were charged a small rent each month. It was mostly young couples who were still trying to get on their feet.

I entered the quiet Griffin household, swinging the door open and letting it hit the back wall. "Griffins!" I yelled in an almost sing-song voice.

Both Abby and Jake came from the living room, both wearing sweatpants and sweaters. It regularly got cold this time around the year, especially in the mornings and at night, so their attire didn't faze me. That, and the fact that they had been under house arrest for several weeks. I wouldn't have the need for jeans either.

I was dressed in my normal black attire, with my issued Ark jacket - none of those horrendous cloaks and pelts that the Grounders wore. I rested my hand on my gun as they seethed at my presence. "Alright, let's do this again," I said to the pathetic looking couple. A strong part of me was proud that I could accomplish the near-demise of the power couple.

My Progressives looked like they were starting to do a number on them as I saw the numerous bruises on Abby's face and the sleek cut that lay across Jake's forehead.

Maybe they would relent.

Not that I would openly admit it, but the fact that no one was giving away Clarke's position and whereabouts was starting to worry me. I could only assume that the other missing Arkadians – the Blake siblings, Abby's damned social justice apprentice, and the Greens – were with her. She was gaining strength in numbers.

That was my strategy to power.

"You know the drill," I said to the Griffins in a bored tone. "Sit down."

They did as I said.

"Where's Clarke?" I asked.

"We. Don't. Know," Jake said lowly.

"You see, I think you do," I said matter-of-factly. "No… correction. I think you know where she's going. All you gotta do is tell me that. We won't hurt her, we just don't want her starting up shit that doesn't need to be messed with."

Abby snorted from her position and I looked to her expectantly. All these years later, and she was stunning as ever. We had all aged, and it began to show with the fading of her dark chestnut hair into something lighter, getting closer to greying. Her eyes – those damned beautiful orbs – remained ever the same. Sharp, trained, pointed, just a surgeon's eyes should be. Yet, compassion was held behind them for her daughter. I saw it every single time.

"Got something to say, Mrs. Griffin?" I asked.

"Not to you, Pike," she spat at me.

"You know, the punishment for treason on the Ark was floating," I began while grabbing a glass of juice from the fridge. "Mind if I have some? Oh, of course you don't!" I laughed lightly and took a drink. "The punishment for treason here is a formal exile. Although, as Chancellor, I could always change that sentence to death and nobody would bat an eye," I stated and took another drink. Maybe… "Anyway, I've gotta admit, I'm impressed with the both of you. Really, bravo! You have done so well to protect your daughter from me and her own punishment."

"Myranda and Christine wouldn't want this," Abby stated to me. I hadn't thought about either of them in so long…

"DON'T talk about them. You have no right!" I yelled directly in her face as I grasped my gun in my hand, trying to defend the memories of my late wife and child. She was part of the reason both the loves of my life had died anyway. It's not like Mrs. Griffin was stacking up any good karma, so why was she still alive?

Abby let a few tears slip outside of her eyes, of which I swiped away with my thumbs. "Don't cry…" I stated, while looking at her longingly. Jake looked uncomfortable at my contact with her, but he dared not move out of fear of both me and the willing robots in the other room.

After another moment, I moved away from her face and looked at both them. "I'm real tired of having to go back and forth, and back and forth with you people. It's not getting me any results. And what I'm about to do probably won't get me results either – big surprise there. Just know that I will never stop looking for Clarke. Her punishment? It is in my hands now, and since no one seems to be cooperating with me on this situation, I can't say her future is looking promising."

The concerned parents looked to each other and seemed to have a silent conversation. Christine and I could do the same thing when the time did not permit for spoken words. This silent conversation often happened with them, but when they looked back to me, their eyes revealed nothing and neither one of them said anything.

"So, that leaves me with the question, Mr. and Mrs. Griffin… who do we need more?" I silently clicked off the safety on my hand gun. "Who do we need more of? Doctors or engineers?"

Swiftly, I shot Jake Griffin in the head as I heard a startled scream come from Abby's throat.

I stood over both of them, Abby sitting on her chair and trying to keep her tears and sobs at bay, and Jake on the floor as his blood stained the wooden floors with his eyes wide open.

And even though these people used to be close family friends throughout the years, I couldn't bring myself to feel any sympathy for the weeping widow. "I'll be seeing you real soon, Mrs. Griffin."

With that, I walked out the door. I had no further leads about the latest thorn in my thumb, but I felt somehow better just knowing that I caused her emotional pain.

After shutting the door to the Griffin household, I heard the ragged scream of Abby as she sobbed and yelled for her dead husband. Just wait 'til you see what I do with your daughter, Mrs. Griffin.

Thoughts? Let me know! Definitely derailing from our heroes, but very important. Let me know if you want more Pike POV chapters! Next chapter goes back to Clarke and her band of rebels