Disclaimer: I don't own 'The 100'. No profit is being made from this story. Anything you recognize is from the show. Anything you don't recognize is from the depths of my imagination!

A/N: Hey guys! Here's chapter five! I just wanted to thank everyone for the follows, favourites and reviews! Every single one makes my day.

Just a little warning that the next chapter might take a bit longer to post. I have end of term papers, assignments and final exams in the upcoming weeks, and unfortunately my writing time will be dedicated to studying. I will do my best to not let you guys wait too long though!

Thanks to Momsen-xxxx, Holly and narelclollie for your reviews. This chapter is for you guys! Alex will have some more interactions with other characters in this chapter, so enjoy!

Edited: 2018-11-16.

~~~O~~~

Chapter Five

~~~O~~~

Alex woke up bright and early, the foreign twitter of birds and the rustle of branches swaying in the wind rousing her from her sleep. Slowly opening her eyes, she gazed up into the forest above her watching the thin layer of fog drift lazily between the trees. The air smelled sweet, a lingering effect of the rain the night before.

She couldn't help the smile that graced her lips at the sight. She didn't think she would ever get used to the wonders of Earth.

Sitting up slowly, she did her best to not disturb the two girls who had decided to sleep next to her on the moss covered ground. They slept soundly, curled towards one another for warmth, their jackets draped over them.

Pushing herself to her feet, she peered around the clearing.

Unlike the chaos and high energy from the day before, the area around the dropship was quiet, teenagers strewn about, lying anywhere they could find a comfortable place to sleep. She noted that she was one of the first to wake, though she could see others beginning to move, getting up to nudge the fire pits dying embers in hopes of getting the fire going again.

As a soft breeze blew through the trees, Alex shivered, and tucked her hands under her arms to keep warm, feeling glad that the night air had stayed warm enough that their clothes to keep them comfortable. It had only rained for a little while, but it had been enough to dampen their clothes. If temperatures had dropped another couple of degrees during the night, it would have been a completely different story. They had no supplies, no blankets or extra clothes to spare if they'd needed to warm up.

We probably would have all had to huddle in the drop ship. From the way all the teenagers had decided to sleep outside, despite the rain, she knew she wasn't the only one uncomfortable with the idea.

Glancing around the area, she was a little surprised to find Wells nowhere in sight, even though she knew he had settled down not far from them the night before. She frowned before shrugging it away, dismissing the thought.

Must be an early riser, too.

Feeling as if the dropship was the best place to start the day, and possibly find Wells, she began making her way over, pointedly ignoring the way her stomach grumbling loudly. Grimacing, she hoped no one could hear it, despite the way it seemed to echo around the clearing.

Food. We definitely need to find food. Hopefully Clarke and the rest will be back soon with some supplies... This won't last very long if we can't eat anything.

As she reached the base of the ramp, she paused when she heard Blake's voice coming from the inside. From here, she couldn't make out any words, though she quickly decided that she didn't care what he was talking about. Sighing, she walked past the ramp, wanting to avoid a confrontation so early in the morning.

Making her way around the edge of the ship, something caught her eye.

Wells was sitting on a log just outside the clearing, his back facing the group.

Tilting her head to the side, she wondered what he was doing and made her way towards him, intending to say good morning.

Coming up behind him, she called out a soft greeting hoping not to startle him.

She noted the way his shoulders tensed at her voice and frowned when he didn't say anything in response. Biting her lip at his unusual behaviour - he'd never ignored her before - she stepped over the log, sitting down beside him and peering down to see his face.

She was startled at what she saw. Wells had clearly not had as nice a sleep as she'd had; dark circles framed watery eyes as he stared out blankly before him. Concerned, she leaned towards him. "Hey, are you alright?" she asked him softly.

All she received was a shaky nod in response. The only real movement he made was to rub his hand around his wrist, like he was soothing a wound.

Wait a second.

With a sinking feeling settling in the pit of her stomach, she reached out and grasped his hand, gently tugging it away from his wrist. He froze at her touched, but reluctantly allowed her to pull his hand away.

Her teeth gritted in anger at what she saw. His wrist, which had been encased in the metal of his wristband, was completely bare, instead covered with a spackle of bruises and scratches, the area blossoming into various shades of purples and blues like some weird mosaic. The scratched skin of his inner wrist was already scabbed over. But it told her all she needed to know. Someone had wedged something between his wrist and the metal band and had pried it off. Forcefully.

"Wells...who the hell did this to you?" she demanded, knowing that he would have never taken it off willingly. He had made that sufficiently clear since the moment that they'd landed that it would never happen.

He shook his head slowly, not even meeting her gaze. "It doesn't matter," he mumbled, withdrawing his hand from her grasp.

Jaw dropping, she stared at him in disbelief, momentarily at a loss for words at his defeatist attitude. Sliding off the log, she crouched down in front of him, forcing him meet her glare. "It doesn't matter?!" she demanded. "What the hell do you mean, 'it doesn't matter'?"

"What's done is done," he replied bitterly, staring straight ahead. "Nothing you, or I, or anyone can do to change it."

She stared at him is disbelief. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" she hissed. "Wells, this isn't okay...They can't do this!"

He stood up so abruptly that she stumbled back, landing on her butt. He stared down at her harshly, fists clenched at his sides. "You think I don't know that?! What the hell do you expect me to do?"

She blinked up at him before pushing herself to her feet, wiping the pine needles from her clothing and meeting his stare evenly. "What I expect you to do is tell me their names," she bit back, keeping her tone even. Wells was clearly upset. "Who did it Wells? Was it Blake - and Murphy? Did they do this?" she demanded from him.

At their names, his jaw clenched and he jerked his head to the side, glaring at the ground between them. That was all the answer she needed.

She couldn't believe it! Those assholes had no right to remove other's wristbands. It was one thing for people to be removing them on their own. That was their choice, their decision, no matter how stupid it may be.

She wasn't going to stand by and let them ruin their chances of getting help, and the rest of the people on the Ark from coming down the Earth.

As she stepped back over the log, Wells caught her wrist. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"This is not okay, Wells!" she repeated, shaking off his hand. "You might think you can do nothing about this, but I'm not going to allow that bastard to forcefully remove people's wristbands. He has no right to make that choice."

"No, Alex, you can't! Blake has a gun!" he hissed out.

She paused, eyeing him. Blake has a gun? She frowned before shaking her head.

"It doesn't matter," she told him.

"Doesn't matter?" Wells demanded. "It matters if he shoots you for saying something!"

She turned back to face him with a huff of frustration. "Bellamy's not a murderer, he's not going to shoot me," she told him in exasperation. "Sure, he's a thief, he stole that guard's uniform, but I doubt he would shoot someone."

Wells still looked worried. "You didn't see him last night, Alex. He set up the entire thing! He's been planning to get my wristband since the start. I know it."

"I know," she replied. "Which is why someone needs to let our esteemed leader know that there are some decisions he doesn't. Get. To. Make. Gun or no gun."

He stared at her before sighing, seeming to recognize a losing battle when he saw one. "He'll want your wristband as well, you know," he pointed out.

"I'd like to see him try," Alex growled, turning and marching back to the drop ship, where she had heard Blake's voice earlier. She saw Wells follow her out of the corner of her eye.

Good timing. Her eyes landed on Blake as he strutted down the ramp, looking as if he owned the place. A glare darkened her features. Fists clenched, she marched straight towards him, ignoring Murphy and the other guy that were coming down behind him. "Blake!" she barked out as she reached him, ignoring the groan of "this isn't going to be good," that came from Wells.

Blake paused as her head his name, rolling his eyes when his gaze landed on her. A mocking smile crossed his lips as he came to stop in front of her, the ramp forcing her to glare up at him. "Evans. I would ask what you wanted, but I don't really care what you want," he drawled, trying to step around her.

Her hand planted itself firmly on his chest, stopping him in his tracks. Her glare deepened at his pointed dismissal. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

Blake snorted, glancing back at Murphy and the other guy in amusement, who smirked back at him in return. "Although it's not really your concern what I do, I believe I was walking down the ramp."

"You know what I mean," she spat at him. It was then that Blake seemed to catch sight of Wells over top of her head.

He shook his head in disappointment. "Ah, Wells. Couldn't take care of your own problems, so you had to go get your girlfriend?"

"Are you kidding me?" Alex stared up at him. This guy just didn't get it. "Do you think this is a game? That you get to go around and attack people whenever you want, just to get what you want?"

"Pretty much. Yeah." His lips quirked to the side as he shrugged. "Besides, why do you even care, Evans?" he asked, peering down at her. "It's not your wristband." His gaze flicked to her wrist, which remained encased in the metal band.

"You have no right in forcing people to take off their wristbands. If they want to do it themselves. Fine. They're idiots. That's their problem, their decision." She jabbed him in the chest with a finger. "But you have no right to make that decision for them."

He looked amused at her anger before he pursed his lips, his expression turning curious as he studied her. "You know what? I don't get it, why do you care?" he repeated, tilting his head to the side. "So what if the Ark thinks we're dead? So what? You should be one of the first to be happy to get away from them. You're a murderer; you were going to be executed for your crimes no matter what." He leaned close enough that she had to stop herself from taking a step back. "You should be grateful for this second chance. I mean, it's not like you have anyone up there that cares about you anyways."

She held back her flinch. "You don't know anything about me," she said coldly. "And this has nothing to do with me, and you know it. I don't know why you are trying so hard to stop the people from the Ark from coming down, and I honestly don't care. But you don't get to do this."

"Oh really?" He leaned down some more, his cheek nearly brushing her own, lips only millimeters from her ear. "Then stop me."

There was a pause as they studied one another.

Alex's expression darkened and she increased pressure on his chest, shoving him away. "You know Blake, be careful what you wish for," she said calmly, her words carrying her threat clearly. "I'll do whatever I need to do. This is your one warning: I hear you've been forcing wristbands from anyone else, especially Jemma, or Charlotte, or anyone who doesn't want theirs remove and you'll find that you have a much bigger problem on your hands."

Their argument had begun to gather attention; delinquents peering at them from over logs and pushing themselves up so that they could see the commotion.

Bellamy seemed to notice that they had an audience because he leaned back towards her to answer, his expression having grown dark at her accusation. "You think I'd attack two little girls?" he asked darkly, keeping his voice soft so as to not be overheard.

Alex scoffed. "I don't know what you'll do, Blake," she retorted, jabbing him in the chest with her finger. "That's my point. You're unpredictable and I. Don't. Trust. You. So do yourself a favour, stay the hell away from them and Wells, and anyone else you feel the need to bully for your fucking cause."

With those final words of warning she turned away from him, marching back down the ramp towards Wells, who was staring at her with wide eyes.

"I'll get your wristband, Evans," he called after her.

She didn't bother to turn around. "I'd like to see you try."

Heart pounding, she clenched her fists to stop her hands from shaking. She needed to get away from everyone. There were too many people, too many stares, and right now, all she needed was a moment of peace and quiet.

He made her so angry.

And that anger must have shown on her face, judging by the way people stepped out of her way.

Instead of making her way back to where Wells was staring at her with a wide-eyed expression, she changed directions, heading around the edge of the drop ship, to an area that seemed a little less crowded.

Pacing back and forth, her fist clenched and unclenched as she thought about her conversation with Blake. The guy had some nerve forcing Wells to take his wristband off. But what she didn't understand so why - why was Blake so determined to fully cut them off from the Ark? He seemed willing to go to any lengths to make sure no one came down.

She knew that taking Wells wristband had been a calculated move on his part. Well's was the Chancellor's son, and if they thought he was dead, there would be doubts on the Ark about how safe the surface actually was. She frowned. Who else could he go after? Maybe Clarke? Wasn't her mother on the Council? She would need to talk to Wells and ask him about it. He had known Clarke for a long time.

One thing was for sure, she needed to keep an eye out and make sure that he didn't force anyone else to remove their wristbands.

Taking a deep breath, she rolled her shoulders, forcing herself to relax. If she was going to be any help to the others, she needed to calm down and think things through. She wasn't going to be able to do that if she was too angry to focus. She couldn't let Blake get to her.

She needed to talk to Wells.

Turning to go back the way she came, she froze, mind going blank as her eyes landed on the figure that stood in front of her. Someone who she didn't think she would ever see again. Someone who should have still been on the Ark.

Nathan Miller was walking around the side of the drop ship, shoulders hunched and hands stuffed deeply in his jacket pockets as he looked around. His familiar beanie was pulled low, nearly covering his ears.

She knew that he hadn't seen her as he looked around the other teenagers, looking like he felt out of place from the ruckus beginning around camp.

"Nate?" she breathed out, the words escaping her before she had a chance to think. Even though he looked too far away to have heard her, his shoulders stiffened in response, and he glanced towards her, brown eyes meeting her own.

How was he here? Why is he here?

A flicker of surprise crossed his face before settling into a dark glare.

She cringed, her heart hurting at the obvious rage on his face.

He's taller, was the first thought to flit through her head as she stared at him. It was true, he looked taller, and his body had leaned out, finally having put on some muscle. His face had finally lost some of the baby fat that her and Liam has teased him for mercilessly during their early teens.

She wanted to say something - to say anything. But her words failed her. What could she say to someone she hasn't seen in nearly two years? To someone she'd grown up with; played together, laughed and joked together for as long as she could remember? Someone she'd shared her first kiss with when they'd been too young to even understand what it meant?

What do you say to someone who believes she murdered their best friend?

She knew he was angry, betrayed. She knew he was when he hadn't visited her a single time during her time in the Skybox.

When she didn't say anything, he gave her a dirty look before turning to walk away.

She hurried forward a few steps, reaching out before she even realized what she was doing. Licking her lips nervously she called out. "Nate, please. Wait."

At her words, he froze facing away from her, shoulders tense.

Arm drawing back to her body protectively, she gripped her elbows, shifting slightly on her feet as she waited for him to do something, say something, anything that would tell her what he was really thinking.

But as she took a breath to call out to him again, he whirled around, stalking back towards her, the expression on his face murderous. She tensed at his approach, cringing. But she didn't move. Couldn't.

As he came to stand before her, she gaze dropped to the space between them, finding she could no longer meet his eyes. His gaze was too heavy.

"What do you want, Evans? Want to add me to your collection of murders? I mean, it wouldn't be the complete set without murdering both best friends, right?"

Her breath hitched in her throat as her head jerked back, eyes snapping up to his. She stared at him, jaw working, trying to find something to say to him venomous accusation. But she couldn't think of the words to say, she was speechless.

"What? Suddenly got nothing to say?" Nathan sneered, eyes cold as he stared down at her.

"I'm -"

"No!" he snarled, interrupting her. "Don't say it. You don't get to say it." He motioned towards her with an angry wave of his arms. "You don't - You don't have the right to apologize. Not after what you did." Taking a step away from her, he took a shuddering breath, trying to bring his ragged breathing under control. But the anger didn't cover the clear moisture in his eyes. "Didn't he mean anything to you?" he finally said, his voice soft and sad.

Of course he did… Liam meant more to me than he would ever know.

The pain in his voice made her heart clench painfully and tears blurred her vision, and she blinked rapidly to clear it.

Desperation filled her. He didn't understand. She wanted...needed him to understand. In the beginning, she'd waited and waited, hoping that he would come to her small cell and asked her for her side. But when he hadn't come, she'd accepted her fate, knowing that she'd lost a friend to circumstances outside of her control.

But things were different now. They were going to be living in the same place, seeing each other everyday. She couldn't have this weight on either of their shoulders...He needed to know the truth.

She gazed up at him, gaze imploring. "Nate, please. You don't understand. That's not what happened," She told him softly.

"I understand enough. Our best friend is up there," He jabbed a hand up, pointing up to the sky, "lying in a coma, because of you." His voice grew louder and a couple of teens turned towards them.

She shifted on her feet, uncomfortable. This was something they needed to talk about, something that needed to be said in private, away from prying eyes. There were things he needed to know, things that the others couldn't - shouldn't - hear. Having all eyes on them would only make things worse.

"Nate, please, you have to-" She tried again, reaching towards him, but he yanked his arm away before she could touch him.

"I don't have to do anything, Evans," he snapped, giving her a disgusted look."Leave me alone." With that, he turned and stormed away.

Taking a shuddering breath, she hastily wiped the tear that had rolled down her cheek. Chest aching as she stared after him, she realized nothing would ever be the same between them again.

Please leave a review below and let me know what you thought about this chapter! :)