Chapter 4 - You Think That I Don't Notice How Your Brush Your Hair Out of Your Blue Eyes Chapter 4 - You Think That I Don't Notice How Your Brush Your Hair Out of Your Blue Eyes


By the time Murphy and Clarke arrive back at camp the effects of the strange hallucinogenic nuts have worn off both of them and they can see the rest of camp is in various stages of coming down. Finn and Raven attempting to usher the last of them off to bed.

Dropping a pile of blankets at the edge of the fire, Murphy slings a bag filled with the guns they were able to salvage from the outpost. The delinquents who were still awake looked at Clarke and Murphy in curiosity.

Wells walked over to open the bag on the ground. Laughing to himself in disbelief. "Guns?"

Clarke nodded to him with a slight smile. Raising her voice so the ones that were still awake could hear her she said, "Yes, guns. But these are weapons okay? Not toys. We have to be prepared to hand these over when the guard arrives but for now, they are going to help us stay safe."

"And there is more where they came from. Miller and Connor, you are with me in the morning to retrieve the rest of them." Murphy rested his hand against Wells' shoulder. "Not too shabby for a day's work, huh? How did the bed making come along because that place is definitely not inhabitable."

"Not as far as I'd hoped but we have a bunch of kids who were happy to work on them. We should hopefully have some made and usable in the next couple of days." Standing up and shrugging Murphy's hand off his shoulder. "We had an interesting day here. People were seeing all sorts of weird things, so if you don't mind, I'm going to head off to get some sleep."

"Yeah, me as well. I'm just going to check Finn's injury then I'm headed to bed." She waved herself away from them. "Good night, guys. And Murphy, please put those guns up before you go to bed. We will need to start working with the kids on how to handle them tomorrow."

Not stopping to hear if either of them had a response for her, she headed across camp to snag Finn's arm. She dragged him back towards his tent tapping against his rib cage with a mumbled "I need to check this."

He stared at her face with longing he didn't deserve to have. His face pinched together as she pulled the old bandage off his chest. The twinge of pain seemed to bring him up and away from his lingering desire for her.

"Guns? Really?" Finn's eyes drew further together, shoulders tensing with each question.

"We have to be prepared." Refusing to meet his eyes Clarke surveyed the torn edges of the poorly stitched wound.

"Yeah. Our ancestors wanted to be prepared too. So, they built bombs." Finn's voice became quiet with tension and annoyance to match the rest of his posture.

"Rifles are not nukes." Rubbing some more of the seaweed paste over the reddened flesh, drawing a satisfying hiss from Finn.

Finn's hand came up to brush the hair out of Clarke's face. Drawing her chin up to make her look into his weary hazel eyes. "In Murphy's hands they are. Come on, Clarke. You can't rely on him."

"There is no perfect answer here, Finn." She whispered back to him.

"There is a grounder that has just been watching the camp for days. If they all wanted us dead, he would have attacked any number of us already while we left camp." Her shock that anyone else had noticed the strange presence caused Clarke to pull herself away from the injured boy.

"I know. But Finn, I trust Murphy." She turned to head out of the tent.

"Clarke. You are leading us down a dangerous road. I wish you would have talked with me about it first." Finn's voice took on a hard edge. His irritation showing in the fist that clenched at his sides as Clarke viewed him from over her shoulder.

"I wish you would have talked to me about a lot of things." Clarke said just loud enough for him to hear as she strode away from the pain she felt. Clarke saw Raven as she headed back to her tent with a quick "make sure he gets rest" in their passing.

The camp continued to make progress over the next several days. Bed frames were popping up in tents at a surprisingly quick pace, more and more food was getting stored and training with the guns had lifted spirits. The grounders had made no further attacks and they were quickly approaching Unity Day. The drop ship full of their people would be coming down less than 2 days after the Unity Day Celebration on the ark.

Clarke was trying to prepare herself for the arrival of her mother, know that with that she could no longer avoid having a very real conversation with the person that she would avoid the rest of her life if she could. But there was no way Abigail Griffin would not come down on that ship. While they definitely needed the guard to come to protect them, they also needed doctors to try to start to understand the world they were going to be living in and how to use it to heal themselves from injury and illness.

When Unity Day was finally upon them, Jasper and Monty came hurtling out of their shared tent exclaiming how they had made their best batch of moonshine yet and they were going to call it "Unity Juice". Mid way through the pageant the comes shut off and all the teens that had begun drinking already let out a cheer. Their excitement brought a smile to her face; knowing that help was coming soon she finally felt like she could breathe out again.

XXXXXXXXXX

Midway through come celebration Lincoln spotted the long-haired teen that had broken their leaders heart slipped out of the camp, looking around for something. Not sure when he would get a better chance to get a message to their leader, he dropped out of the tree he had been watching from and silently made his way around to flank the boy.

Clasping a sharp dagger at his side, Lincoln slid into view. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. I'm assuming that you are the one who has been stalking our camp." The man looked nervously towards the dagger in his hand.

"And if I am?" Lincoln leaned ever so slightly forward in tension.

Trying not to flinch at the implied threat in Lincoln's voice, Finn notes the horn at the grounder's hip. "You're the one that blew that when your people were hunting us. You saved our lives not more than a week ago. I have to believe there's more like you."

Lincoln maintained his silent stare, refusing to answer the boy's implied question. Unable to give away more than what Octavia had gotten from their Heda. Knowing that Octavia was trying to corral the uncooperative Anya into this meeting at this very moment. Lincoln knew that he couldn't let this opportunity pass to get to their leader.

"Listen," Finn breathed out. "If the two of us can get along, then maybe there is hope. Learn from history instead of repeating it."

"And how is that going to help?" Knowing the power of hope and knowing that he had the young boy exactly where he needed him, Lincoln sheathed the dagger at his him below the horn.

"Starting with no more killing."

"I don't have the ability to call a truce."

"Then bring someone who does." Finn took a few agitated steps away from and then back towards Lincoln. "Look the rest of our people are coming soon and because of all the violence we have been a part of they are sending mostly soldiers, the people that enforce our laws. Where we come from it's about survival at all cost. They kill for minor infractions and if they feel threatened. They will start a war. Neither of us want that. Once they get here. It will be too late, but if they see we have peace then maybe we have a chance to stay that way."

"All right, you bring your leader and I'll bring one of ours." Lincoln nodded. He had the meeting secured. At least he hoped this boy had enough pull to get her out of camp and to the bridge.

"Clarke?" Finn sounded nervous. Maybe he should not have felt so sure a moment ago. He still had to hope that they could accomplish this.

"The blonde, yes."

XXXXXXXXXX

Clarke was seated at a table with a couple of the delinquents playing a drinking game when Finn's hand flashed to the metal washer they were using in place of a coin as it left her nose. Her eyes flashed up to is face in question.

"What do you need?" Clarke's eyebrows drew together in annoyance.

"Let's take a walk." Ignoring the hostility from Clarke, he held out his hand.

"Sorry?" Glancing down at the hand that was stuck out in front of her before looking back to Finn's face with a raised eyebrow. "Is everything okay?"

She gave in and stood up from her seat at the anxious look on Finn's face.

"I need you to come with me, but I can't tell you why." He said in a low voice as he leaned towards her. He looked around as if to make sure that no one could hear what he was saying.

"Finn, tell me." Feeling the annoyance tightening her chest again. She gave him an exasperated look as she pulled away from his demanding fingers that tried to pull her from camp. "Don't touch me."

"I set up a meeting with the grounders." His shoulders hunched forward, long hair covering his eyes.

The statement caught her off guard, the air whooshing out of her in a slightly panicked breath. "I don't understand. A meeting? How?

Finn's eyes looked up to connect with hers. His hand sweeping the hair back out of his eyes. She noted that his hair had been cut since the last time she had actually be able to bring herself to look at him.

"The grounder that has been stalking the camp. His name is Lincoln, they speak English. He is getting his leader to talk to us. They want you there because you are our leader."

Her eyebrows shot up into her hairline before her lips twisted into a tight line." We can't have peace with people who have done nothing but try to kill us since we arrived."

His face mimicked hers pinching his face into a guarded one. "You really want to start a war with them? Because if we don't have peace before the guard arrives that's where we are headed. I think we can do better than the first time around, I trust him."

She backed away from his angry face. "I don't."

she shook her head as she considered his words. He was right, unfortunately. She wanted to stay so mad at him that she could never find anything to agree with him on. The hurt in her chest still brought her twinges of pain when she caught him out of the side of her eye. But he was right. They had to live with these people for good or bad. "But if we go, we are bringing back up."

"No. We agreed on no weapons and if we're going to do this, we need to give it a fair chance."

The hope that sprung up on his face made her unruly heart race in her chest. She knew that she was going to have to lie to him. They couldn't afford to not bring people. "Okay. I'll get my pack and meet you at the gate."

"Okay." He smiled at her and headed towards the gate.

Clarke skirted around the camp looking for Murphy and Wells having a heated discussion where she had last left them not even an hour ago. They both quieted when they noticed the look on her face. "Murphy, I need you. Finn set up a meeting with the Grounders. I'm leaving with him to go talk to them."

Wells wheeled back with a hiss as Murphy's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. Murphy's quick mind, ever unable to filter his words relied with a "Because you think that impaling people on spears is code for "let's make friends"?" He shook his head. "Have you lost your damn mind?"

Sighing she knew they weren't going to like this. "I think this might be our best chance to avoid a war. We do have to live with these people."

Wells jumped into the conversation finally but with more intensity than she was expecting. "They will probably just string you up and gut you as a warning."

"That's why I need you. I need you to follow us and provide back up." She nodded, knowing that it was a very real possibility.

"Does Finn know about this?" Murphy looked at her skeptically. He knew she rarely thought clearly around the boy.

"No. He doesn't need to know about some things, just like I didn't apparently. And Murphy, bring guns." She looked up from the spot she had been staring at on the ground, to look in his eyes. He just nodded back at her before she turned away from them and headed towards the gate.

The whole way through the woods she couldn't help but look over her shoulders looking for a threat. Now that the shadow had come out and made contact she felt less and less safe as the seconds ticked by on the tattered old watch that sat on her wrist.

As the sun began to lighten the sky, they reached a bridge made of a hard material that was covered in leafy vines. Finn pulled her up to the hulking man that must have been Lincoln. He looked similar to the man she had seen step out of the forest all those weeks ago. Though he had a pinched sort of concerned look on his face, Clarke could feel the kindness in his eyes. He turned his kind eyes away from her to look at the empty space opposite them on the bridge.

A pretty brunette shot out of the tree line and ran towards Lincoln. Her bright green eyes concealed behind a copious amount of black face paint. Her long hair was pulled back into a vast amount of tiny braids between the voluminous layers. Clarke looked away, her self-esteem taking a hit when she realized she was surrounded by pretty brunettes.

Lincoln and the newcomer spoke to each other in a language that Clarke had never heard before. She felt like she recognized some of the intentions of the words, but she couldn't be sure. When Lincoln glanced over the head of the girl that was in his arms, Clarke's eyes immediately shot towards the other side.

Several seconds later three people rode in on horses; animals she had never dreamed she would be able to see in person. "Oh, my God. Horses!" Clarke whispered to herself.

Clarke was so caught up in visually admiring the horses at the edge of the bridge she didn't even realize they were all armed to the teeth, until Finn called attention to it.

Nodding Lincoln agreed with Finn. "I was told there wouldn't be any." Lincoln's eyes shot towards the brunette at his hip who only looked back at him sheepishly.

"Well it's too late now," Clarke conceded with a sigh. Finn gripped her hand as Clarke started to move towards the other grounder who had dismounted and was stepping forward.

Lincoln's arm shot out to grab Finn. "She goes alone."

Clarke extracted her hand from his tight grip. "I'll be fine. It's time to do better, right?"

Clarke walked towards the woman who was covered in dark furs. Her black face paint not as deep in color or as defined as the other female grounder. Her tan skin against her unkempt sun-bleached hair did nothing to detract from the sense of entitlement that rolled off her.

Reaching a handout Clarke introduced herself before withdrawing the hand after a few awkward seconds.

"Clarke? I'm Anya." The glare never leaving the tan face in front of her.

Pulling her shoulders back, Clarke steeled herself. "I think we started off on the wrong foot. We want to find a way to live together in peace."

The snark rolled off of Anya as she crossed her arms over her chest, face unimpressed. "I understand, you started a war that you don't know how to end."

A surprised look jumped across Clarke's face before she could stop it. "No. We didn't start anything. You attacked us for no reason."

"No reason? The missiles you launched burned three villages to the ground."

Clarke gasped. They had hit villages. Her body caved forward in disbelief, they hadn't even considered that in their haste. "The flares? No. That was supposed to be a signal to our families. We had no idea-"

Anya arms shot down as she interrupted Clarke. "You're invaders. You landed in our territory."

Clarke crossed her arms over her chest, comforting herself from the realization that they might have hurt innocent people in their effort to try to save their own. "We didn't know any people had survived this long. We thought it was uninhabited."

Huffing Anya glared at Clarke. The mask of hostility pinching Anya's features into a hawk like appearance. "What you have done, those things are all acts of war."

Conceding, Clarke nodded, letting her arms fall to her sides. "I see your point. That's why we need to put an end to all of this."

Anya nodded towards the grounder couple behind Clarke. "Octavia and Lincoln said there are more of you coming down. Warriors?"

Straightening her spine, she nodded her head. She pushed back the unpleasant information now that they were getting to the meat of the conversation. She couldn't afford to be distracted. "The Guard, yes. But also, doctors, farmers, engineers. We can help each other but not if we're at war."

Anya looked smug as she stared down Clarke. "Can you promise that these new arrivals won't attack us. That they will respect the terms you and I agree on?"

Clarke's eyes shot down to the ground before she could meet the hawk-eyed stare Anya was drilling into her. "We lost contact with them today, but we will make every effort to intercept them before they have a chance to interact with your people."

"And if you don't? Why would I agree to an alliance your people can break the moment they get here?"

Leaning forward in earnest, Clarke said. "If you fire first those people coming down won't bother to negotiating. Our technology, you will have no chance. They will wipe you out."

Clarke didn't think she was supposed to hear the mumbled "They wouldn't be the first to try."

Anya's hand shot out towards her side and then suddenly a flurry of activity behind her started with a rustling of leaves. Before she could even look behind her, she heard Jasper shout. "Run, Clarke, they are going to shoot you!"

An arrow hit right beside her feet before she heard the loud popping sound of guns being shot off in retaliation. Clarke saw an arrow hit Lincoln in the shoulder as he stepped forward to pull Clarke out of the way of the projectiles, shoving her towards Finn. Finn grabbed her and they both ran towards the woods under the cover of gun fire.

Looking back briefly, as they breached the woods, Clarke saw the young woman who must have been the Octavia that Anya had mentioned. She hovered worriedly over Lincoln as she broke off the shaft of the arrow. Guilt ran heavy though her body as she turned away and took off further into the woods.

Finn and Clarke ran until they met up with the other group. Murphy gripped her shoulders worriedly before sending an angry look at Finn, reminiscent of the glare he gave her on their first day on the ground. "Got anything to say?"

Finn stepped into Murphy's space. "Yeah, I said no guns!"

Clarke put her hands up between them to separate them before shooting a look to Finn. "I told you we couldn't trust the grounders. I was right."

Raven stepped towards the side of Clarke that Finn was on, grabbing him and pulling him away from Clarke's reach. "Why didn't you tell me what you were up to?"

Finn's glare dropped from his face, he looked at Clarke briefly before meeting Raven's eyes. "I tried, but you were too busy making bullets for your guns."

"You're lucky she brought that." Murphy shouted at Finn from around Clarke. "They came there to kill you, Finn."

Finn's face turned hostile again as he turned towards Murphy. "You don't know that!"

Wells, ever the political mind, stepped forward cutting the line of sight for Finn and Murphy. Though his words were sharp his tone was gentle. "I think the arrow that hit the ground next to Clarke's feet told us that for sure."

Sighing in resignation Finn nodded. "Well, if we weren't at war before. We are now."

Finn turned to look at Clarke, his face a picture of devastation and longing. "You didn't have to trust the grounders. You just had to trust me." He turned around and started walking back towards camp, shoulders hunched forward. Clarke started after him until an explosion sounded from above them.

The whole group turned to look towards the sky. Finding an opening in the forest cover they spotted a ship making its way to Earth.

Wells tossed his arm over Clarke's shoulders, pulling her in tight to his side. "The Exodus ship? Clarke, your mom's early."

They watching the ship sink lower and lower down the excitement palpable until the thrusters failed to engage, and the parachutes didn't open. Clarke gripped Wells shirt where her hand rested by his hip. "Wait. Too fast. No parachute? Wells, something's wrong."

They all turned and ran back towards camp. They get almost to the camp when the explosion from the ship meeting the Earth, rocked them off their feet. Clarke fumbled to her feet; she wrenched her wayward hair out of her face. "No, no, no."

Her whole body shook as tremors ran down the length of her spine. She felt tense fingers grasp her shoulder. She knew someone was talking to her, but she couldn't hear them. Her vision got hazy as tears filled her eyes. "I didn't even want to talk to her. I wouldn't let her even try to explain."

She looked up at the dark eyes that stared down at her. Wells just gripped her harder, pulling her closer to his body. Tucking her head against his chest with her ear over his heart. Hoping that she would use the steady beats to slow her rising panic. He had no words for her; she'd lost everyone but him now.