Bellamy woke Rhea up by giving her a gentle shake. As she opened her eyes she noticed the light coming through the opening to the cave, the fog had run it's course. Nodding at Bellamy she took over the task of waking Charlotte up.
"Charlotte, sweetheart, come on its time to wake up." Rhea said soothingly, the last thing she wanted to do was startle her awake.
"Charlotte, we have to go. Wake up." This time Charlotte opened her eyes and took a quick look around, moving so Rhea could stand up. It took a minute for Rhea to move because she could feel the ache in her muscles from the running the day before and the odd angle her body was positioned in for the later part of the night. Upon standing she quickly stretched and began to follow Bellamy towards the exit, Charlotte right behind her.
"Its all clear." Bellamy stated, looking back at the two of us. He looked around at first and then braved taking a step out of the cave, once he realized the coast was clear he shouted,
"Anybody out here? Jones!" The last part of his shout received a response from the rest of the hunting group that were not far from the cave that the three of them had taken shelter in. Grabbing Charlotte's hand, Rhea followed after Bellamy as he hurried over to the others. Charlotte pried her hand from Rhea's, which didn't offend her because she understood why, Charlotte did not want to look weak in front of the others.
"Lost you in the stew, where'd you go? Bellamy questioned.
"Made it to a cave down there, what the hell was that?" Jones responded. Bellamy shook his head,
"I don't know," He honestly answered, "Where's Atom?" Looking over the faces of the hunting part, Rhea realized that Atom was not among them. Jones didn't seem to have an answer which made everyone feel uneasy. A scream broke the tense atmosphere and jolted Rhea to attention. Looking around she noticed Charlotte had wandered off. She swiftly pulled her gun out of the holster and ran towards the sound, Bellamy not far behind her.
The screams continued as they ran towards it, fear settling in at the thought of anything happening to the girl she had started to grow fond of. Rhea reached the young girl and kneeled down in from of her to check her over before looking towards the spot she had been staring at. There on the ground covered in horrible looking blisters and burns, was Atom. Without a second thought she put her gun it its holster and ran to him.
"Rhea," He wheezed, "Kill me, please" She could feel a pain in her heart as she realized how much he must be suffering. By this point Bellamy had arrived and called out to Atom, his voice sounding frantic and filled with worry for his friend. Atom's pained mutterings became increasingly louder as he pleaded Bellamy to end his suffering. Rhea looked at Bellamy's face trying to give him some form of support, but he pulled away overwhelmed by what Atom was asking him to do.
Keeping her eyes on Atom, she tried to sooth him by humming softly to him, but he kept his eyes on Bellamy. She let her eyes drift over the damage done to Atom by the fog, feeling bile crawl up her esophagus with each glance. His once lovely blue eyes were now a horrible grey, his hair was streaked with white and every inch of his skin was covered by either a burn or a blister. The sound of Bellamy ordering the others to go back to camp made her pull her gaze from Atom's damaged body. Looking up at him as he told Charlotte to go as well she could see past the bravado that he was putting on. He was terrified, before Rhea could say anything or take the blade from him Clarke showed up out of nowhere. Rhea watched her as she hurried to Atom's side, looking him over to see if she could save him.
"I heard screams." Clarke stated, as if trying to give an explanation as to why she was there.
"Charlotte found him, I sent her back to camp." Bellamy explained, his voice cracking slightly. Rhea put a hand on his arm trying to give him some form of support and then put all of her focus on Atom again. The damage done to Atom was irreversible, he was going to die. She watched Atom's face as he begged for them to make the pain stop, his damaged eyes finally meeting hers, holding them. Clarke soothed him with a soft humming as she took the knife from Bellamy, Rhea knew what was coming next but she still kept his gaze. Clarke continued to soothe him as she moved the knife towards the main vein on his neck, not even hesitating before she gently pierced it. Rhea still held him gaze as his life left the grey orbs, a pain shooting through her heart. None of the training she had gone through prepared her for this. She couldn't protect these kids from the Earth itself.
At this realization Rhea abruptly stood up and stepped away from Atom's dead body. She felt overwhelmed, her breath becoming erratic. Bellamy must have noticed the look of panic on her face because he was at her side and pulling her too him within seconds. His hold on her was more than a way of comforting her, it was like he was trying to prevent her from falling apart , like he knew that she was on the verge of breaking. He muttered soothing words as he placed gentle kisses against her hair. When her mind cleared she realized, losing it was not going to help anyone. The panic that had been threatening to send her over the edge, was forcibly set aside. Bellamy moved her so she was at arms length and gave her a look over, his gaze stopping at her face. He gave her a look as if asking if she was alright. Rhea smiled at him gently, she couldn't nod a yes because honestly she didn't know if she was, but the smile seemed to satisfy him. He gave her one last kiss on the forehead, lingering for a slight moment, stepping away he spoke,
"Rhea, run up ahead and get the others, we are going to need their help in order to get Atom back to camp." Before Rhea could make a move Finn and Wells came out of the bushes, they must have been on the outing with Clarke when she heard the screams.
"What happened?" Finn questioned as he looked around, his face becoming pale as he noticed Atom.
"The fog," Clarke hesitated before she continued, "It killed him." Rhea couldn't stand it any longer, seeing Atom made her heart clench, threatening to send her into another downward spiral. Moving towards where his jacket had been discarded she picked it up and placed it gently over his face. Satisfied she took a look around to see what everyone else was doing, thats when she noticed the looks they were giving her.
"Well don't just stand there," She snapped, "We need to get him back to camp." With that she stormed off in the direction of a fallen tree she had seen earlier. Her head was spinning with so many emotions, she was angry and sad and so many other things. It was all just too much. When she got to the tree she began ripping the branches off of it. Her emotions getting the better of her.
"Woah, calm down, it's okay." She heard from behind her. Turning around she looked at the boy that had followed after her.
"Wells, why did you follow me?" She questioned, confused as to why the person who followed her was not Bellamy.
"You know, I remember you from the ARK." He began, his eyes drifting to the emblem on her jacket. "You were a pretty big deal up there, the guard prodigy, the one whose great-grandfather was the first commander of the guard." His eyes narrowed with suspicion,
"Why are you here Rhea? They wouldn't just send one of the most important guards on the ARK down here to die."
Rhea didn't know how to answer, the spit drying up in her mouth. Looking at him she could tell that he wasn't just going to let this go so she did the only thing she could. Tell him the truth.
"I have orders." Was all she said, so maybe it was just half the truth, but she couldn't risk telling him anything more.
"So they ordered you to come down here to die? Something doesn't seem right about that Rhea." Wells was a smart kid, which was why she wasn't surprised that he hadn't accepted what she said.
"Tell me the truth Rhea, you need someone in your corner. Haven't you heard what the other kids have been saying about you? What they intend on doing to you?" Wells look at her, " You and that jacket represent the people that locked them up and for some, killed their parents. So please, let me help you." Wells seemed to be pleading with her, which is why Rhea could feel herself cracking.
Giving him a sad smile Rhea responded to his questions.
"Wells," She began but was quickly interrupted.
"Don't tell me you have orders because we have already gone over that." His eyes never leaving hers. They held such intensity that, with a sigh, she caved, if she couldn't trust the chancellor's son then who could she trust.
"I was ordered to keep an eye on someone down here, make sure things went smoothly so the rest of our people could come down in 2 months, safely." Rhea spoke the truth, making sure to leave Bellamy out of it.
"I'm guessing you won't tell me who that someone is?" Wells knew he was pushing his luck but he tried anyway, getting a solid no as an answer. Sighing he moved forward to pick up the branches on the ground. When he stood up, he towered over her, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Thank you for telling me the truth, I got your back, but can I give you a suggestion?" He motioned at her jacket, "Lose the jacket, it only angers them more." With that he walked away leaving her to her thoughts. He was right and she knew it but she still hesitated. That emblem was her legacy, she had worked so hard for the right to lead the guard like her father had before he died. Making up her mind she quickly removed the jacket and stashed it into her backpack.
Bending down she picked up the branches that Wells had left for her and moved towards where the others had been working on the stretcher for Atom. She dropped them in the pile with the rest and backed up, deciding she was more useful standing guard. Resting her hand on the handle of her gun she kept an eye on the trees around them, making sure to look into the branches above as well.
While she waited for the stretcher to be finished she allowed herself to think about what had happened over the past few days. She needed to figure out what she was going to do when she got back to camp. If Wells was right, then she had a pretty big target on her back and she needed to change that. The kids needed to know that she was on their team, but how was she going to prove that to them?
Hearing rustling behind her she shot a look back at the others, the stretcher was now complete and they were lifting Atom onto it. Shaking off the thoughts that were in her head she decided to take up the rear, for the journey back. Wells and Bellamy had lifted the stretcher and Clarke and Finn were leading the way. Their trek back wouldn't take very long, they weren't far from camp.
As they walked through the woods Rhea kept hearing someone or something behind her as if they were being followed. There was leaves rustling when there was no breeze and whenever she looked she could have sworn she saw brief flashes of movement, but she didn't brave the chance of checking it out.
She felt relief when she saw the walls of the camp just up ahead. When they walked through the gate shouts from the kids met their ears. The shouts and yells started off as excited retorts but quickly changed to ones of fear when they noticed what was on the stretcher. Rhea stayed back Wells warning still at the front of her mind, these people didn't trust her, and because of that, she couldn't trust them. Moving so she was hidden by the darkness of the camp she decided it would be best for her to head towards the roof of the drop ship where it would be safer. Before she could get too far away a commotion caught her attention.
"Octavia, just stay there, please just stay back." Bellamy tried to prevent his sister from seeing the damage done to Atom, but Octavia was stubborn and demanded for him to stop. Rhea wished that Octavia had listened, no one needed to see it. Especially someone that had cared for him.
"Octavia, please." She tried moving out from the shadows, but Octavia put her hand up to stop her showing that she needed to know. Bending down Octavia pulled the jacket off of his face, tears sprang to her eyes as she realized who was underneath the jacket. Rhea's heart went out to her, but she couldn't even begin to pretend that she understood her pain.
"There was nothing I could do," Bellamy sadly explained but was interrupted by an angry response from his sister.
"Don't," Octavia ordered, giving one last goodbye to Atom she stormed off, disregarding Bellamy's attempts to console her. Rhea took this chance to follow Octavia, if she didn't want to speak to Bellamy, maybe she would speak to her. Instead of sticking to the shadows, she swiftly maneuvered through the camp, which turned out to be a bad idea.
Before she could get very far she felt her legs being taken out from underneath of her. Her body slammed down onto the ground stunning her for a moment. When she caught her breath she looked up, one of the kids that was usually part of Bellamy's crew stood above her.
"Well well, guard of the ARK, you are a long, long way from home." He sneered, looking down at her. To her left and right were two more kids, their expressions matching the boy in front of her. Slowly she got to her feet but the kid to her left slammed her back down, knocking the air out of her. As she recovered, she heard footsteps come up from behind her. Deciding to ignore them she pushed herself back up, this time the three of them allowed her too.
"Whoa guys," Began a voice that she recognized, looking at the late comer she realized that he was the boy that was always by Bellamy's side. Since he was Bellamy's right hand man Rhea hoped he would be a voice of reason, but sadly she didn't have such luck.
"You started without me." He said before delivering a pretty mean right hook to her jaw. Not expecting the punch, Rhea slammed to the ground. She wanted to fight back, she was trained to end fights pretty quick, but she knew they would spin it and the rest of the 100 would see her as the one at fault, because to them, she was the enemy.
She tried to get up again, too proud to stay down, but she was delivered another mean hit to her gut. The kicking started the minute she hit the ground. Her vision started to blur from the pain but she didn't stop them. She took three of four solid kicks before they suddenly stopped. Confused she looked up and saw Bellamy standing above her, shaking with rage.
"What do you think you are doing?" He roared, furious at their actions.
"Giving her what she deserves" replied one of them with a smug look on his face. This earned him a punch to the face from Bellamy.
"She was sent down here to die just like the rest of us. She consoled Atom while he died because of his burns. Who are you to decide what she deserves or not?" Bellamy growled, the boy before him cowering under the gaze of his enraged leader. Rhea had recovered by now and was standing beside Bellamy, putting her hand on Bellamy's elbow.
"It's fine Bellamy, they hate the guard and everything they have done to them, that's all they see." Rhea frowned, looking at the boys in front of them.
"You know, your rage will be your downfall." With that she limped away. Leaving them to watch her leave.
"She didn't fight back once, and yet you kept going? What kind of justice is that?" Bellamy asked before he too walked away from them. Three of the boys looked guilty, the last just glared at their retreating forms.
"Rhea, please wait up." Bellamy shouted as he jogged after the injured woman. She didn't stop though, she had to clean up the damage the boys had caused before it got worse.
"Rhea!" Bellamy tried once more, at this she stopped and turned.
"Bellamy, stop shouting I heard you the first time." She smirked, "I just figured you would keep following." This would have made him chuckle if he hadn't be so consumed with worry.
"We need to get your face cleaned up." He said while looking at the cuts on her face. She just shook her head no and kept walking towards her original destination, it wasn't very far.
"You can come if you want Bell, I could use the help." Stopping at the wall she looked at him and motioned for him to help her over it. He was obviously confused but he lifted her up anyway, getting himself over the wall pretty quickly so he could help Rhea down on the other side. She knew that she already had a few bruises forming on her stomach, which was why she was having such a hard time moving around.
Once her feet were planted firmly on the ground she started walking towards the little oasis she had found earlier in the day. He kept pace with her, making sure she didn't push herself by matching his usual speed.
"Where are we going?" He asked nervously. This made her smirk, she was excited to see his reaction to the little get away she found.
"Just wait, I promise you won't be disappointed" She smiled up at him but continued onward, it was just around this next bush. She stopped before getting there, looking at him she said,
"Okay, you have to promise me that once you see this you won't go into leader mode right away, alright?" She raised her eyebrow and squinted her eyes slightly to show that she was serious.
"Alright, I promise." She bounced on the balls of her feet a little bit to show her glee and proceeded to lead him through the bush. After they broke through she heard his breath catch in his throat at the sight before him. The vegetation inside of the pool was glowing in the dark as well as some of the plants surrounding it, it was simply beautiful.
She let him take it all in before she stepped forward, slipping her shirt off first, leaving her just in her tank and then took off her boots. Turning around she motioned for him to follow her, then took off her belt and her pants, leaving her in only her tank top and her underwear. Ignoring the heated gaze he gave her she raised her brow and questioned,
"Uh, why are you still fully dressed? You can't help clean out my cuts if you aren't in the water." a playful smirk plastered on her face, with that she took off her tank and walked behind a bush close to the water. With the privacy from the bush she took off her bra and underwear and then walked into the water to conceal her naked body.
Looking up at Bellamy she could see he was fighting an internal battle, so she took her hair out of it's braid, letting it go loose around her shoulders. He had always loved when her hair was down, often taking it out whenever she refused.
She could tell she had won because he motioned for her to turn away so he could undress, seemingly trying to get her back for hiding behind the bush to remove her undergarments. Spinning in the water, she heard him remove his clothes at lightning speed and felt the ripple in the water as he entered the pool. He slowly came up behind her stopping not far away to be polite and respect any boundaries she may have set.
"Glad you came Mr. Blake?" She questioned while looking up into his dark eyes.
"Why did you invite me? Just a few days ago you wanted nothing to do with me." He held her gaze as if trying to find the answer in her golden eyes.
"We are on Earth Bell, I told you that within 10 years I wanted to be here with you. Now that we are what has happened over the past year doesn't seem to matter anymore." She stated moving closer to him, trying to show him that she wanted to move on from the hurt, to forget.
His gaze moved from her eyes to the damage that the boys had done to her face, frowning he gently caressed her cheek, turning away he left her side. She watched him leave, her eyes grazing over his toned back as he waded to shore and continued to gaze at his chest while he was coming back to her, he had grabbed a plant closer to the shore. Breaking off a piece of it he started to gently rub it on the cuts on her face. Going about his business, he focused completely on the task at hand while she watched his face become one of full concentration.
Rhea couldn't hold out much longer, the need to kiss him clouded her better judgement. She slowly reached her hand up and pulled his hand away from her face, making him looking at her. Before he could utter a word she placed her lips on his giving him a gentle yet passionate kiss. She needed him, especially after today, she needed to feel something real.
He responded initially but pulled back abruptly taking one step backwards while shaking his head. He moved to the shore and out of the water before she could react, and began to put his clothes back on. She was hurt at first, not understanding why he stopped her and walked away, but then she saw the pained look on his face. She followed him out of the water, not caring that she was stark naked before him.
"Bell, we don't need to do anything, we can just enjoy the water." She reassured him, thinking that the pressure of sex was why he pulled away. That wouldn't have hurt so bad.
"Rhea, we can't do this." Bellamy said as he motioned between the two of them. She didn't understand but he still continued. "With everything that is going on, the people need to trust me, but they won't if they know about us, you being a guard and all." He looked down ashamed.
"What?" She asked, it was obvious in her expression that what he was saying was hurting her. She could feel the pain in her heart that had slowly started to recede come back full force.
"What are you saying Bellamy?" She questioned harshly.
"I'm saying, they want you dead for what the other guards did to them. I can't have them thinking that I am with someone they see as an enemy." His expression cold, she instantly felt the need to run, not wanting to hear what he had to say anymore. She bent down picking up her discarded clothing quickly pulling them on, moving away from him as she did so. The last thing she pulled on was her shirt.
"Please Rhea, don't walk away, you have to understand." Bellamy almost begged but she wasn't willing to listen anymore. She was not one that would let him play around with her emotions.
"No, Bellamy I understand completely. You are a coward that can't do things for himself. You let me believe that you were the Bellamy I used to love, but you are nothing like him. You are trash compared to him." She spat at him, turning away, she was done with him.
"Rhea,"
"No! Bellamy, you won't have to worry about me or what the people would think anymore, as soon as I get enough food to keep me going, I'm gone." With that she left, making sure to hide in darkness so he couldn't follow. Her heart breaking with each step, this was not how she wanted her night to go. Regardless this is how it ended, with her running through the woods, bruises on her stomach and cuts all over her face. She looked like hell and felt like it too.
Once she reached the camp she went straight to the ladder that went to the roof and climbed up. Settling down, she pulled her jacket out of her bag to use it as a blanket. Cuddling into it she let the tears fall and continued to cry until she fell asleep under the night sky.