Disclaimer: I do not own The 100 or the characters in it. They are owned by Kass Morgan
Author's Note: Wright: always love your reviews! I'm glad you like Lincoln being a temporary resident at camp 100! Bellamy does need to lighten up buy hopefully Clarke will help him.
Terinkaa: Thank you so much for your review! It made my day to see it. I'm glad you like the story and I usually update once a week. Hope you like this chapter, please let me know!
XOXOX
When they get back to camp with Lincoln in tow, Clarke and Bellamy announce to the group they would be having a meeting by the bonfire in ten minutes. Miller, Raven, and Jasper are meant to get a quick bite to eat and take over guarding duty so everyone who wasn't at the meeting could hear what the leaders had to say.
Octavia leads Lincoln to the drop ship, where Clarke suggested Lincoln sleep so they didn't have to prepare a tent for him and so he wouldn't have to share a space with Bellamy who was less than pleased on him being there at all. Also, she knew it would ease the campers minds to have him in the open but she would have to keep an eye on him and make sure everyone knew he was not to be harmed or they would face banishment.
"Oh stop glaring at the guy, you're going to get wrinkles." Clarke teases him and he looks back at her and scoffs.
"I just don't like the way he is constantly looking at my baby sister." He grumbles and she laughs.
"If I had someone look at me the way Lincoln looks at your sister, I'd be a very lucky girl. He won't hurt her Bellamy. He looks at her like he would rather stab himself than see her in any trouble. Octavia isn't a baby anymore; you need to remember that." She answers him softly and he looks back at her.
He knows she was trying to make him feel better but it was just hard to see his sister grow up. She was right, Octavia wasn't a baby anymore but that didn't mean he wanted to see her go around with boys, and Lincoln was definitely not a boy.
"I just want to protect her. He has to be like ten years older than her. What if he hurts her?" He asks and Clarke just rolls her eyes.
"You should know, history nerd, that love has no limits, including age. Plus, I think Octavia is more than capable of kicking his ass. She was trained by you and me and if he did hurt her and she couldn't handle herself, the whole camp would be after him and you know it." She points out and he admits she has a point. Octavia was one of the camps favorites and they would kill anyone that hurts her. He almost wanted to point out that the true camp favorite was her, but he didn't and he didn't know why.
"I just don't like it. I feel like just yesterday I was giving her the sex talk." He jokes and she snorts.
"Oh I remember how horrified she was after you told her! She begged me to tell her you were just being gross." She says and he laughs. That was probably the most awkward days of his life.
"I wish she was still like that and stay far away from any romance." He admits and she shakes her head at him but smiles.
"Nah, look how much she's grown since then. Look at her. She is strong, she is brave, and most of all she is loved by so many here and that number only continues to grow. That's all I ever wanted for her."
Bellamy smiles and takes her hand and squeezes it tightly.
"That's all I want for the people I care about too." He says and looks at her in a way she's never seen before. She knows they care about each other; in a way she's always cared about him but it was so different to have him care for her back. It felt like a weight was lifting off her heart and she wasn't sure how to take that.
She just smiles back at him before letting her hand out of his grip.
"Are you ready for this meeting?" She asks and he nods and follows her towards the bonfire where everyone was waiting for them. Lincoln stood in the back with Octavia watching everyone look at their leaders.
Bellamy tells the group all about the peace agreement between them and the grounders. How without them, they had no idea about the other threats out there, including the mountain men who were the ones responsible for tying Jasper up and leaving him to be eaten alive. He also mentions how no harm is to come to Lincoln and how he is staying with them until the peace agreement is official.
Many of the campers wwere accepting of the news, happy they didn't have to worry so much about a grounder attack, yet some, like Murphy were doubtful.
"How do we know this isn't just a trap for us to lower our guard and for them to kill us all?" He asks, glaring at Lincoln who just looked at him emotionless. Lincoln knew he would think the same think if he was in the young man's place.
Clarke sighs but can't blame Murphy for his doubts. While he was never her biggest fan and vice versa, Clarke and Murphy had a heart to heart after Wells' death. She found out what happened to make him a prisoner in the sky box and how after his father's death, he was used to people thinking he was nothing; how he thought of himself as nothing. She in turn, told him about her own father and how hard it was for her in solitary for over a year, not having someone to talk to and how it was worse than dying.
They may not have a deep friendship but Murphy and Clarke respected each other.
"That's a good point which is why we are not lowering our guard in the slightest. Anya was quick to tell us that the Tree colony is not the only group of grounders around. There are reapers that are flesh eating people as well as the mountain men that would not hesitate to eliminate us. So we continue our guarding duties and still carry weapons whenever we leave camp. We may never be without enemies but it's better to have some allies on our side than being on our own forever." She answers patiently and she can still see the doubt in his eyes but he nods at her answer.
"One of the main reasons we brought you all together was to talk about what happens when The Ark's people come down here." Bellamy states and the two can hear lots of whispers on the topic.
"We haven't discussed their involvement in this peace because we still aren't sure if we are joining The Ark's society when they arrive, we wanted to hear your thoughts on the matter. So please share." Clarke jumps in and immediately they get shouts of people saying they didn't want the council or the chancellor coming in and ruining the equality they created here. That having them here would only make them criminals again, pardon or no pardon they would go back to being lower than everyone else. They also heard some shouts of people who want to see their parents again and how some of the residents would go along with these new ways.
The shouting goes on for a couple minutes before Bellamy raises his hands and shouts for them to stop. Everyone instantly goes quiet and waits for him to speak.
"Now I'll be the first to say how much I don't want to go back to being the lower class..." He starts to say and he sees many people nod and agree with him.
"However, I know many of you still have family up in space and want to reunite with them. In my opinion, this isn't an order by the way, I think we should give them a chance. Before they arrive we explain to them the way things work on Earth. How we are not criminals here, we are a family and we do not bow down to the people who claim to be better than us. We have jobs, laws, and no one is exempt from doing their part. If they can't accept that, then we each go our own way, leaving them to get their own peace with the grounders as well as supplies, weapons, anything else. Whoever wants to join us and our ways would be welcome, whoever wants to go to The Ark is free to do so as well. " He finishes and looks over at the campers hesitantly.
These people were not just the people he was responsible for; they were his family and their opinions mattered to him.
"Well? Anyone have any objections?" Clarke breaks the silence and looks around to see everyone nodding in agreement to Bellamy's idea. She looks at him and gives him a look of pride. He really has grown into a natural born leader.
"Clarke?" She turns her head back and notices Lincoln looking at her in concern. She nods her head at him to speak.
"I admire your intentions but as a warrior of the Tree People, I should warn you; if you chose to separate from your elders in space, your loyalties would be with my people. Meaning that if your people were to start a war with mine, you would be expected to fight along side us." He informs them and everyone looks at each other in fright.
They all know that the power people in space would not like no longer being in charge of everything. But, if they started a war with the grounders, they would have to fight them and no one was sure they could, despite them so willing to throw them in jail and then on Earth.
Bellamy and Clarke move closer together at the information. In her heart she knows her mother would never agree to their rules and that would mean they would be in danger to the grounders; this was information they seriously needed to consider.
Clarke clears her throat.
"Thank you for that information Lincoln. That is why we are having this treaty with the grounders, we need information. We need to know these things. I think we all have a lot to think about when it comes to what is going to happen when The Ark comes down. I expect you all to come up with your own decision and we will discuss this again by the end of the week." Clarke says and dismisses them with a gentle and nurturing smile.
The campers all start moving and send smiles and warm words to their leaders that are like their own parents. Clarke and Bellamy look out for them. They protect them and care about them even more than some of their own parents did. Whatever decision they make, the 100 would follow.
Jasper walks up to Lincoln and Octavia who still haven't left the bonfire yet. Jasper smiles at his friend and looks over to Lincoln who had a curious look on his face.
"I just wanted to say I was sorry. I blamed your people for what happened to me and now I know that what you guys did was just a twisted way to protect me. So thank you." Jasper says and sticks his hand out for Lincoln to shake. Lincoln looks a little confused at the gesture and Octavia bumps his arms and motions for him to take his hand.
Lincoln does so somewhat hesitantly but Octavia's bright smile lets him know he did the right thing. Jasper pulls his hand away and tell Lincoln to let him know if he needs anything before walking off.
"That was brave of Jasper." Octavia comments when they are alone again. Lincoln looks at her and sees the compassion she has for the younger boy and it makes him twist with jealous.
"How so?" He asks and Octavia smiles again at him as she leads him away from the bonfire.
"Jasper was in a bad place after he was taken, he was so scared that someone would try and take him again or take someone he cared about like me or Monty. So for him to face you and apologize must have been tough." She explains.
"You care for him." He states and she nods.
"Jasper saved my life the first day on the ground. He is a very important person in my life. Like Bellamy and Clarke; Jasper is family." She states strongly but letting him know it wasn't any romantic feelings she had for him.
She likes spending time with Lincoln, there was something about him that gave her butterflies and made her heart beat faster than normal. There was something about the older man she didn't want to give up on yet.
Lincoln nods in satisfaction. Family love he could understand, but it would hurt him if she had intimate feelings for the boy.
"Good." He says simply as she leads him towards other parts of the camp.
XOXOX
That night, everyone decides since Unity Day was coming up, they wanted to celebrate early. Monty and Jasper make a giant batch of their moonshine, Harper and Sterling get some of the empty wooden bowls and use them for drums for music, Miller and Finn start cooking their meat for the night, and everyone else is either talking to people or dancing around.
The younger kids are all huddled together as Lincoln tells them stories about Earth and things they haven't experienced yet. They were too fascinated to move; too transfixed with him telling them about
winter and how it would cover their grounds with a blanket of frozen water. How the water would freeze and they would have to smash holes through the ice for water.
Clarke watches Lincoln with a tiny smile on her face. She knows he would be a good member of their camp. He seemed like a good person and she was willing to give him a chance.
"Having fun princess?" A voice from behind her asks. She turns around with a smile and sees Bellamy with his usual smirk as he holds two cups in his hands. He holds out one for her and she takes it with a smile.
"Me? Fun is my middle name." She jokes and he laughs quietly.
"Come on Clarke, you need to enjoy yourself every now and then." He advises and she nods in thought.
He was right of course. For too long she never had fun. Not since Octavia got locked up.
"You know what Bellamy Blake? You're right." She says before tossing her drink back and drowning it in one gulp.
She shakes herself to rid the burn from her mind.
"I need to have more fun." She says nodding confidently as she walks away determined to find something to keep her entertained.
Bellamy watches her leave with a smirk.
"Make good choices!" He yells after her laughing. After she makes her way to Miller and Sterling he loses his smile.
Maybe he should keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't have too much fun. That's what a good friend does.
Right?
TBC