Bellamy swatted Clarke's hand away. "Stop fussing," he grumbled, "I'm fine."
"You breathed in a lot of smoke, and you're still coughing," Clarke pointed out.
"I'm fine," he repeated stubbornly. He gave her a quick glance. "You should get some rest," he concluded.
"I'm fine," Clarke responded automatically. Realizing how he had trapped her, she gave him a smirk and was pleasantly surprised to see him grinning back.
"We don't know what was in the vial. I just wanna be cautious."
"Connor," Bellamy bit out like a curse, "The idiot."
"Yes he is," Clarke agreed, "but apparently despite his idiocy, there seems to be no harm done."
"So you're clearing me then, doctor."
"I'm not a doctor," she said quickly with a frown, "But yes, I think you and the rest of your thugs are good to go,"
"They're not my thugs," he shot back.
"Your soldiers then," she returned, "The mighty defenders of the wall."
"Not Mark, and definitely not Connor," Bellamy replied firmly. "Good soldiers do what they're told."
Clarke was glad to hear it. Her faith in Bellamy had slipped with Murphy and she realized, tiredly that perhaps that was the be the nature of their relationship afterall. The ebb and the flow of trust, believing and then second guessing, hope and disappointment. She remembered his question, asked, surprisingly only a few hours ago..."You don't think we trust each other?"
But maybe trust could never be as all encompassing as she thought. Her mother was a prime example.
"We'll need some good soldiers when we set out to examine the crash," she said softly, almost as though she was speaking to herself...an after thought to something greater she had been contemplating in her mind. "There would be..." she took a fortifying breath, "There would be no survivors, but it would be worthwhile to send a group out to try to see if there's anything to salvage." She looked up to face him. He couldn't quite read her expression. There was a mix of grief, determination, acceptance.
"It's a risk," Bellamy pointed out, "We're at war with the grounders now. They could be thinking the same thing."
She nodded.
"We'll need the manpower here, in case the grounders set up an attack. We need people to be on the defensive. It'll have to be a small scouting party." The last part surprised him. What he'd meant to say was that it would have to wait. That it wasn't a priority. And she would have agreed with him. She's said as much when she saw the crash landing. But there was something about that expression that made him banish any possibility of making her chose between the rational and the raw. Of course she would want to explore the wreckage...because as much as she denied it, he knew there was still a sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe by seeing the site, all things would be explained. Maybe it was all fine. And just maybe, her mother was still alive.
"Small party," she repeated, nodding again.
"We'll need to leave early...at dawn, so we can be back by nightfall." Unable to stop himself, he tucked an errant strand of hair from her face behind her ear.
"I'll get a team ready. You get some rest." He jumped off the table quickly, hoping that she'd been too caught up in her thoughts to notice the intimacy of the gesture. He picked up his jacket from the makeshift bench to the side.
She gently touched his shoulder. It felt warm against the thin fabric of his shirt. He felt startled into freezing still at the light pressure. "Thank you," she whispered. Before he could turn around to reply she had already began to climb the ladder into her sleeping quarters in the middle deck of the ship.
...
Watching the blonde girl walk through the wreckage with her face carefully void of expression, Finn felt a tightening irritation. "Bellamy shouldn't have let her come," he muttered.
Raven laughed, "You think Bellamy has any control over what Clarke does and doesn't do?" She took a closer look at the girl, begrudgingly respecting her more and more. "Besides, her mother was on the ship and she wants to find some answers. Wouldn't you?"
Finn's eyes were once again locked on the girl, and Raven barely contained a growl of frustration. It was difficult...watching the person you loved, watching the person they loved. At a loss once again at the complexity of it all, she shrugged her shoulders and continued her rummaging.
"What are you looking for?" Bellamy's deep voice came from behind her.
"A black box, burnt electronics...anything that'll help me figure out what went wrong."
"Any luck?"
"No." She held out her hands, "Empty."
"Damn," Bellamy cursed.
Limbs, charred remains, pieces of misshapen metal and sparking wire was all that was left of the Exodus ship. So much for the ark coming to their rescue, he thought bitterly.
A movement caught his eye as he saw Clarke bend down and grab something, wiping it off on her shirt, she held it to the light. Bellamy saw it glint in the sun. He began to walk towards her.
"Find something?" Finn yelled, making Bellamy roll his eyes in irritation. Spacewalker sprinted towards Clarke.
Raven grimaced. "It's hard to pretend not to notice," she remarked, watching as Finn made his way toward Clarke.
"Notice what?" Bellamy asked, feigning ignorance.
"The pull they have between each other," she said with a note of defeat. "The golden girl gets the hero," she continued bitterly.
"Does she?" Bellamy challenged, "get the hero?"
"Hell no," Raven replied, a spunk back in her voice, "Not if the hero's girlfriend can help it." She gave him a rueful smile and continued her rifling through the rubble.
...
"It's nothing Finn," Clarke replied quickly. "Just something that caught my eye, that's all."
"You just pocketed the thing that caught your eye," Finn observed. "That's not like you."
"How would you know?" she asked quietly. "We barely know each other."
Before Finn could respond, she heard a muffled cry. She turned quickly towards Finn. He nodded his assent, and then both dashed toward the sound.
...
"What now?" Bellamy demanded.
"Oh my god!" Raven gasped. "His eyes are..."
Hemorrhaging. From his eyes, his nostrils, his ears. He began making gagging noises as he tumbled to the ground, shaking violently and spewing out blood from the mouth.
"What happened?" Clarke asked, "Did anyone see what happened?" Deftly she turned Glen to his side as he began to convulse.
"One second he was fine, and the next..." Dixon trailed off, looking at Glen in horror.
"Ok," Clarke said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "It's okay. I'll take care of you." She looked around and her eyes found the closest face. "Finn, get my pack," Clarke ordered. The boy rushed to look for her satchel.
Glen's shaking stopped. His face was covered in blood as he gasped for air. And then the gasping stopped.
"No," Clarke cried softly.
Putting two fingers at his jugular, Clarke searched for a pulse. Sighing in defeat she put her fingers to her side. She couldn't find one.
"He's dead," she announced. "But how..."
A movement caught her eye.
"Dixon?" Bellamy shouted, steadying the boy who began to bleed from the nose.
"No," he cried, "No, no no!" he said, as he too began to convulse uncontrollably, falling to the ground despite Bellamy's support.
"What the hell?" Bellamy cursed, unsure of what to do to help the boy writhing in his arms.
"Just...just hold on," Clarke commanded, looking back at Glen for any clues as to what had happened.
"Clarke, step away!" Raven ordered sharply. The blood on Glen's pale face began to sizzle, and a thick fog began to envelop the body.
Gasping, Clarke took a step back.
"Clarke," Finn cried.
"Run back!" She ordered, "Get as far away as you can! Don't breathe in the smoke!" Spotting Raven and Finn a few yards away beyond the reach of the smoke and behind a thick clump of metal, she sprinted towards them.
Out of breath, she scanned the site she looking for Bellamy. At last, she spotted an outline of Bellamy who looked as though he was carrying Dixon's still form in his arms. She yelled for him to run toward them. "Bellamy, get your ass over here now!" she demanded, and at once, he was lost in the fog.
Clarke felt a strong hand grasp her arm.
"Don't even think about it," Finn warned, knowing her instinct would be to run towards the fog to save a life. Despite the desperation in her eyes, she quickly nodded her assent.
Bellamy was right afterall. Murphy had brought a weapon to camp.