Once in their house, Clarke ordered Murphy to take his puke covered clothes off while she got out fresh ones. Considering the limited clothing options, it took no time to fish out something for him to wear. When she turned around, he was naked, the number of scars on his body taking her breath away. Old scars. Scars that had to have healed before he got locked up. She remembered helping her mother sew up the one on his leg. It ran from hip bone to mid calf. He'd nearly died then from blood loss. It took him months to recover. He'd spent most of that time in her family's apartment, but she didn't spend much time with him. Mostly because he refused to speak to her.

But more than that one, there was one across his chest that never saw any of the stitches it needed. Lots of smaller cuts that had healed wrong. Burn marks that ranged from fingernail sized to larger than her two hands mottled his skin. His beauty and that she found this beautiful bewildered her.

"Are you just going to stare?" Murphy snatched the clothes but she came with them.

Her fingers ghosted over a scar on his shoulder raising gooseflesh down his arm and back. "What happened?"

"My parents died before I was ten. I got by." He shoved his arms through the sheath like he was doing battle.

There'd been rumors about secret child fighting rings on, but she thought they were myth. Ark legends meant to scare kids into obeying their parents. Before the war there had been dog and cock fighting pits, but on the Ark they had to switch up to children. She tried to touch him again, but he flinched out of her reach. "John."

"I don't want your fucking pity." He jerked farther away from her and paled.

Hurrying to his side, she guided him to sit on the bench along the wall. She pressed him to lean forward. "Deep breaths, in through the nose and out the mouth." Grabbing his already soiled clothes, she laid them at his feet. "If you need to, throw up on those."

Murphy did as she said but still not wanting her near him, he shoved her away. This time she stayed away.

As he finished distributing the boiled water, Bellamy heard a commotion from the main path into the village. A crowd tumbled into the main square, fanning out to reveal some of his friends from the drop ship. If he had to pick the last person he expected to join the Grounders, it would've been Jasper, but here he was. Pale and nervous, but here with his conjoined twin Monty next to him as always.

Monty smiled and yelled to Bellamy. "Going native are we?"

Slap shaking his hand, Bellamy grinned. "Something like that. Who all's here?"

"Um, Jasper, Raven, Finn, Octavia, and me. No one else is coming. They didn't take us leaving too well. Words were said, stones were thrown." Monty frowned for a moment but then smiled. "Octavia single handedly convinced us to come. Finn needs to work on his sales pitch."

Genuine mirth bubbled out of Bellamy. "O could convince the sun to buy matches. How'd she snag you?"

"I get to be the pharmacist. She got Raven by appealing to her need for a challenge. Now she's determined to bring the entire Grounder community into the electronic age. Finn isn't a shock, but Jasper took some convincing. I still don't know what your sister said to him to get him here. So what's the sitch? How do things work around here?" Monty bounced on the balls of his feet, rubbernecking to see as much as he could while just standing here.

Jasper walked up with his hands in his back pockets and a slouch. "I'm loyal to Clarke. She saved my life. That's all Octavia had to say. Where is Clarke?"

"Taking care of Murphy, oddly enough."

Jasper raised his hand. "Can I go back to the dropship and risk getting stoned? Murphy? Our friendly neighborhood psychotic asshole is here, living with us again?"

Bellamy shrugged. "He was here first, but yeah, we're stuck with him. Anya and Indra keep him in line. There's nothing to worry about." He hoped that was true.

Murphy didn't have much of an appetite and played with the food Bellamy brought him more than he ate any of it. He'd have chugged the water, but Clarke forced him to sip at it. What a tyrant.

Clarke and Bellamy talked about the newest members of the village - kids from the drop ship. They seemed hung up on how he'd treat them. Why they cared was beyond him. Weren't they all just a bunch of criminals? Who cared how any of them got treated?

Bored with the conversation, he closed his eyes and visualized the one moment in his life where he felt good and it didn't lead to anguish. He visualized the moment Anya told him he'd earned a place here. Her drenched hair whipped in the storm and rain as it cascaded down her face. She looked down at him kneeling in front of her, waiting for the verdict. For the last week he'd trained and hunted, learning that they appreciated his thirst for a good chase. He'd given them all the information he knew about the dropship kids and their capabilities. 'You've done well, Murphy. You learn fast. You've proven loyalty. Welcome home.' He'd looked up at her despite rain hitting his eyes and had smiled.

Soft fingers touching his head brought him out of that place. Clarke's gentle tending to his head wound pulled strings in his body that he hadn't known existed. Butterflies took flight in his stomach and flew out into his veins, forcing his limbs to tremble without his permission. This unfamiliar sensation aggravated him, so as soon as Clarke finished rebandaging his head, he said, "Took you long enough."

Her sigh annoyed him even more, but he rolled his eyes and asked, "So when's the lecture?"

Bellamy shrugged. "Not gonna be one. Just a warning. You pull any of the shit you did before we booted you and I'll make you wish you'd died when they hung you."

"Look who's conveniently forgotten that he's the one that kicked the box out from under my feet."

When Bellamy lunged and grabbed the back of his head, Murphy thought for sure the intent was to finish the job. But then Bell closed his eyes, put a hand on Murphy's face and touched his their foreheads together. "I'm sorry. And you're right. I shouldn't forget." His voice was low and cracked. In one motion, Bellamy released his grip, turned and left.

After a pregnant silence, Murphy looked at Clarke. "I need a drink now, how about you?"

"You can't drink with a concussion. But I might be able to get something to help you sleep. Nyko told be about this root that grows around here. Not the one used for oral health but something else."

"Fine, whatever, I just need to not think right now." He sat on the mat and leaned back as she left. He closed his eyes and asked, "Why do I have to deal with this shit?"

Anya trailed after Clarke as she walked between homes. The blonde appeared to be on a mission. Nyko mentioned how serious their new healer was about everything. How she cared for all the injured hunters that returned without playing favorites to the ones from space. It seemed there were added bonuses to including the Skaikru. Bellamy had explained further how they had no idea their flares would hit anything, let alone kill most of a village. And from all reports, her assessment was that these Sky People had no knowledge of how the Trigedakru functioned as a culture. Had no clue who the Mountain Men were. Yet they had similar skills. Expertise thought to have been lost to all but the Mountain Men. She hoped to use those to the advantage of her people.

Clarke disappeared through the fisa door and Anya followed her. "Few of your people joined us." Anya nodded when the sitta bowed his head to her.

Without looking up from her exploration of the pharmacy, Clarke replied. "Give it a few days, perhaps a week. They'll run out of food, the lack of leadership will cause chaos, no one else there has any medical knowledge. So hungry and hurt, they'll come."

"But won't your people be down here before that?" Anya asked while Clarke pocketed something and checked on the boy with the chest wound, her touch waking him.

Sweeping her hand over his forehead and smiling at him, Clarke said, "You'll be wrestling bears in no time. Get some rest." He grinned at her before closing his eyes. Clarke turned toward the sitta. "He should be fine, but check his wound often and let me know if anything changes." The sitta nodded and returned to his sewing.

It was impossible for Anya not to notice Clarke's allure as she cared for her patient. She had a glow about her that drew Anya in as though Clarke was a will-o'-the-wisp.

The two women left the fisa house. Clarke looked skyward. "The first ship to come down is going to have to find the dropship first. And depending on where they land, that could take some time. And trust me, no one left at the dropship is suited to lead."

"A ship crashed last night." Anya said as they walked toward Clarke's house. When Clarke didn't say anything, she added, "I sent scouts to the explosion site to find out what caused that big a blast. They told me it reminded them of your dropship, but larger and scorched. Corpses littering the ground."

"Ah, then it's even more likely the others will show up here before the Ark makes it to the ground. Excuse me." Clarke hurried into her house and Anya let her leave. They'd said Clarke's mother was coming down on the first ship. The first ship crashed with no survivors.

As soon as Tris told Bellamy that the explosion last night had been a ship crashing, he rushed home. Clarke would need - Clarke was going to be upset and need help dealing with Murphy. When he got through the door, he found Clarke sobbing, face down in Murphy's lap as he ran his fingers through her hair. Her hands gripped the blanket around Murphy's thighs and her entire body shook.

Without a word, Bellamy curled behind her and started rubbing her back in long strokes. Words felt out of place here.