Chapter 10

I have honestly been SO stuck! But now I've turned it around. Sorry for taking suck a long break. 5 months away was too long! I already have two months' worth of chapters written. I'm dying for you to read it all!

Sitting on one of the ops tables Bellamy Blake ran his hands down his face. 3 months, 3 months of investigating and following leads that went nowhere. 3 months of returning to the base only to have his Blonde Princess meet him at the gates with hope on her face, only to be dashed moments later when she saw her father wasn't with them.

Clarke was in front of him now bent over a table with a map of the area surrounding the beach house, Bellamy had tried his best to keep her from the case and he succeeded for the first month. But after no luck, it was hard to deny Clarke's involvement. Detective Miller allowed her into the ops room, their maps were what she focused on most, as well as helicopter footage of the surrounding water, though Bellamy had the footage of the floating body scrubbed, it wasn't Jake Griffin anyway.

"We haven't checked these caves on the south side," Clarke spoke out loud to herself.

Bellamy looked up at her, "They wouldn't have had time to go to the caves, Miller and I would have seen-"

"But it's possible and a lot more likely than them just disappearing."

Everyone had cleared the ops center for the night, leaving only Bellamy to watch over Clarke as her eyes scanned every inch of the map before her.

"I get what you are saying, but Clarke it isn't possible, Miller and I would have seen it when we were running toward the house."

"You both were distracted, you could have missed-"

"We didn't. Look I know you want to find your dad, we all do. We've been looking for 3 months and haven't found any sign of them. They've gone dark and they are going to stay there until whatever they are planning is done. I know it's hard to hear."

Clarke shook her head, she couldn't believe that. Her dad wasn't gone she was going to find him even if she had to do it without the help of Bellamy and his team.

Bellamy sighed and stood from the table. "Classes started a week ago, as long as you have an agent with you, you can go to the classes you registered for."

"I'm not leaving him, Bellamy."

"You think he'd want you doing this? Obsessing and putting your life on hold? Clarke 3 months is a long time-"

"You said Pike has a bigger plan, he wouldn't have gone through all this trouble and had an escape plan if he was just going to kill-I want you to take a look at the caves."

Bellamy stared at her until she turned to see why he hadn't responded to her.

"There are other cases on the table right now Clarke, I can't waste time sending men out to look in an area without viable information."

"A freaking monster didn't just come out of the damn sea and swallow their boat whole Bellamy! They had to have gone somewhere!"

The room fell into silence, "I think you need some sleep."

Clarke's eyelids fluttered, blinking back tears of frustration. "What I need is to find my dad." She went back to looking at the map.

Not wanting to start another fight Bellamy stormed out of the room, heading for the gym. He needed to waste some of the pent of energy this case has been giving him. Halfway down the hall, he noticed someone in the filing offices.

"Hey!" He call out, his voice sounding deeper as it rang with authority.

The figure stopped their movements but didn't turn around until Bellamy instructed them to do so, slowly.

"Bellamy look I'm sorry-" Clarke froze.

She's felt bad snapping at Bellamy the way she did, he felt as helpless as her and yelling at each other wasn't going to help anything. She packed up and put away the maps for the night before heading toward Bellamy's room. She was in her head when she saw him in the hallway, she hadn't realized he was facing off with someone until she took in his stance.

"Go back to ops and lock the door." Bellamy's voice left no room for argument.

Clarke backed away slowly, there was more than one hallway that lead to the sleeping barracks, she couldn't back Bellamy up but Miller could.

Even though Bellamy's eyes remained on the dark figure in the office, his ears were trained on Clarke. Specifically, her footsteps getting further away, when he was sure she was clear he commanded for the figure to remove his hood.

"Why, what are you going to do shoot me?" The voice mocked, "Because it seems you're without your gun."

"I don't need a gun to subdue you."

"Jesus Blake." The man said removing his hood. "It's me, calm down soldier."

Bellamy eye'd Roan suspiciously, "What were you looking for?"

"I'm working on a case that I think might be connected to a case I worked on 2 years ago. Just looking for the old files."

"In the middle of the night?" He asked skeptically.

Roan chuckled, "You and Goldilocks aren't the only ones trying to close cases around here."

"Some of the techs have been moving all the files over to a new system, if you can't find what you are looking for check-in with them," Bellamy said, backing away to go find Clarke.

"Duly noted." Roan nodded turning back to the Rubbermaid bin on files.

Bellamy heard heavy footsteps running behind him, thinking it might be Roan he turned but found Miller in his sweats.

"I thought you went to bed hours ago."

Miller took a deep breath to settle his heart rate, "I was, Clarke woke me up said you were in trouble."

"I overreacted. I caught Roan in the filing office with his hood up, I thought someone might have broken in."

Miller squeezed his friend's shoulder, "We've all been on edge these past couple of months, It's all good." Miller noticed the bags under his eyes. "get some rest."

Bellamy nodded, "Where's Clarke?"

"I left her locked in my room."

.

"What happened?" Clarke asked once Bellamy and Miller made it back to his room.

"It was a miss understanding."

Clarke took Bellamy's word for it, "Oh, okay because I cannot stand another dramatic kidnapping."

"Let's get to bed, " Bellamy nodded in the direction of his room.

As the couple entered Bellamy's room Clarke plugged her phone in before sitting in the middle of the bed. Bellamy felt her eyes following him but continued around the room until he was done and ready to turn in.

"I want to ask you something." Clarke's tummy was doing flips and she didn't know why.

Bellamy sat at the bottom of his bed, "Okay."

"I know I've been staying here because we have no idea where Pike is and who knows if his men are still around waiting to make a move if I come out of hiding. But I haven't gotten to visit my mom's grave, her birthday is coming and I just hoped maybe we'd be able to go visit her."

No was Bellamy's go-to answer whenever Clarke talked about leaving the bunker, this was the safest place for her to be, it makes no sense for her to leave. But he thought about what he was asking. And she was asking, instead of proclaiming or demanding. All she wanted to do was visit her mom's grave on her birthday. They'd only be gone a couple of hours, he'd be with her the whole time and he'd bring Miller for backup.

"I'll have to double-check that Miller and I are cleared before I promise anything, but yes. You should get to see your mother."

Clarke smiled sadly, "Does it ever get to you that you can't see your sister? I mean we aren't that far away from Kane's house."

"She's grown up so much, I feel like I missed so much of her formative years. We keep in touch through texts and emails, but it'll never be like it used to be."

"Yeah." Clarke sighed climbing under the covers for the night.

.

After speaking with Detective Miller, Bellamy and Nate decided it would be best for Clarke to visit her mother's grave before her birthday. If they waited to go the day of or a couple of days after, it would be more. likely Pike would have his men watching the area.

"Her Birthday is on a Tuesday this year."

Bellamy nodded, he got what Clarke was saying, "We'll go tomorrow then, if you can't be there or her actually Birthday then you can at least be there on the right day of the week."

Clarke nodded, she didn't care which day they went, but tomorrow would get her out of the bunker before she went mad and started maiming people. It would also maybe give her a chance to see her old neighbourhood, depending on which route they took.

.

The drive to the graveyard was a little long, but Clarke didn't mind. It was nice not to be trapped inside all the time, Bellamy was driving. Miller and two other guys were following them in a car, staying a couple of blocks back.

Nobody expected anything to go wrong, but the second car was a must, at least for now.

While looking out the window, Clarke thought back on her last couple of months of high school. Her life hadn't been that exciting, a couple of parties and a little drama, other than that things were pretty tame.

"What's got you in your head Princess?"

Clarke looked over at Bellamy, his curls tickling his forehead. He was a great guy, his looks were just a plus. Clarke now found herself wondering if her mother hadn't been killed, if she and Bellamy could be where they were right now in their relationship. Most likely not.

"Just thinking about my mom."

"Tell me about her."

"We fought all the time, she always seemed so cold. O and I always called her the ice queen. I never understood her and felt like she didn't get me. But then I think back to when my dad was around. She was still prim and proper, but she was warm and-" her voice shook, "attentive. She was a different person back then. She was my mom, not Abby the ice queen."

Bellamy's warm hand slid over her thigh, resting there.

"It wasn't like I made it easy for her to be any other way." Clarke continued. "I hated her for things I didn't even understand. I pushed her love away and after a while, she stopped trying to give it."

Tears were falling down her cheeks now, Bellamy tightened his hold on her thigh, but said nothing.

.

Once the graveyard came into view, Clarke's tears were dried on her cheeks, though her eyes remained watery. There was no one around, making the area silent overall.

Miller and the guards under his command headed toward the other end of the Graveyard, sweeping the area. They tried to be as quiet and stay out of sight the best they could.

Bellamy walked with Clarke, his hand on her back. He was the one leading her because sadly she hadn't been able to attend Abby's burial. Bellamy had to have someone in the department find where her grave was located so he'd know where to go once they arrived.

Clarke allowed herself to be led, her mind too full to be leading anyone anywhere. Even if she had known where her mother's final resting place was.

When they came upon it, Bellamy pointed the blonde in the correct direction. Allowing her to approach the grave alone and at her own place, his eyes scanning their surroundings.

"Hi." Clarke felt stupid talking to a stone, but she heard it was cathartic. "I'm sure your pretty disappointing in me right now."

In the silence between words, Clarke laid a purple and pink lily next to her mothers' stone.

"I found dad." Laugh without humour, Clarke whipped her cheeks. "I wanted-"

Clarke started to stand up, she didn't even know why she wanted to come here. It wasn't going to fix anything. Turning fast she took two quick paces before Bellamy before freezing. This might be her only chance to be here for a while. Turning back around Clarke bent over, her hand touching the cold stone.

"I wanted to tell you that, I applied to the army as a medic. I did it to piss you off mostly. Give you what you wanted, while still slapping you in the face. You don't have to worry, I withdrew my application. I'm still going to art school, well who knows if I will be able to get in now. I've been looking up some nursing courses that happen a couple of months during my spring semester. Figured if I ever get back to my life, well the life I had before, I'd honour you as best I could."

Bellamy watched and listened as Clarke relaxed and talked to her mom. Somethings, like mentioning being an army medic, through Bellamy for a loop, but he kept quiet thought it all. Finally, when Clarke felt she was ready she stood, almost 40 minutes later. She took Bellamy's hand and walked back toward where their trucks were.

"I think she would have liked you."

"Yeah?" Bellamy asked, his thumb rubbing her knuckles.

"Well, she would have pretended to hate you. Claim I was only with you to get back at her, then draw some weird parallel between me and her, you and my dad. Only after that, would she mildly tolerate you."

Bellamy chuckled, he looked ahead and could see Miller and the guys surrounding the hood of Bellamy's vehicle.

"You need to see this," Miller told him, once the couple were close enough not to shout.

"What?" Clarke asked.

Miller kept his eyes on Bellamy, they seemed to be communicating with just a couple of glances.

"It's addressed to her." Miller vocalized.

The hand that Bellamy had intertwined with Clarke's worked to keep her in place, Clarke looked up at him mid-step.

"It's going to be opened either way." Clarke tried to reason.

Bellamy could see from the black bag at Miller's feet, that the guys had already checked for explosives and anything that was an immediate threat.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to open it," Bellamy said honestly.

Miller leaned toward him, "I watched your dashcam footage, I never say a face. Black gloved hands placed the box then goes off the frame. The guy who did this was white, he was wearing short sleeves."

Bellamy's brain racked through the people in Pike's crew who fit the limited description and 3 came to mind.

Clarke turned her body into his arm, "You don't even know if it's them." Knowing where Bellamy's head must be.

When Bellamy did nothing but look down at her, Clarke moved forward to take the box between her hands- ignoring the growl of annoyance from Bellamy. Setting down the brown package at her feet so she could be crouched down beside it.

"Keys." The blonde held her hands out, waiting for one of the guys to comply.

With a nod from Bellamy, Miller handed her the silver knife he had hidden on his ankle. Clarke gave him a strange look but shrugged and sliced the tape holding the box closed. The tape giving way seemed to release an unpleasant smell from the boy, With her nose scrunched up she opened up her mail.

Clarke choked on the air she was pulling into her lungs, large hands took hold of her shoulders, pulling her up and away. At the same time, another set of hands grabbed the box and took it somewhere out of sight.

When Clarke dreamed about seeing her father's face again, she'd wanted him to have rosy cheeks and for his head to be attached to his body.

AHAHA Sorry! See you next Sunday!