Chapter 20

"I killed Wells."

Those three nightmarish words churned through her mind like a broken record, leaving Alex stunned - reeling. Breathless. Her heart thundered in her ears and for a never ending second, she felt like she had completely stepped out of her body and was watching something happen from very far away.

For a moment, she wished she were anywhere but here.

This can't be happening...

As soon as the words had passed her lips, Charlotte slapped both of her hands over her mouth, eyes wide as she stared up at her in horror, like she couldn't believe what she'd said.

It was only when bile burned her throat that Alex realized she would be sick.

Jolting to her feet, she stumbled over to a nearby tree - away from Charlotte - and promptly threw up the meager contents of her stomach into the few unlucky bushes that happened to be in her way. When the dry heaves subsided and her stomach finally settled, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before resting her forehead on her forearm and took a deep steadying breath. Then another. Her mind a mad jumble of thoughts as she weighed her options. What was she supposed to do about this?

What was she supposed to do?

Crime always resulted in punishment. It was something ingrained into them from the moment they were born. They had limited resources - food, water, clothing, medicine, people - every single one was precious and something that couldn't be wasted. Using them or destroying them out of turn or unnecessarily was a crime and guaranteed harsh repercussions. You were lucky if you were under the age of eighteen. Minor crimes would result in time spent in the Skybox and, if you were lucky, the Council would grant you pardon at the end of the sentence. After all, children made mistakes. Children should be given second chances.

For the unfortunate criminals who were over the age of eighteen there was no leniency. No Skybox. No pardons. You committed a crime - any crime - execution would swiftly follow. Criminals had no place on the Ark.

The rule was simple - crime ended in punishment.

Even then, some crimes were punishable regardless of age. Physical assault... Sexual assault... Murder. You did the crime, and it didn't matter your age. The moment you hit eighteen, they handed you to the tender care of space. Where the oxygen in your blood boiled, skin bloats and swells and if you were unfortunate enough to hold your breath - your lungs explode. And that's only after a couple of minutes of the terrifying awareness that you were dying, the safety of the Ark just out of reach.

Alex knew, she'd thought and dreamed and dreaded that moment thousands of times since she was first locked in the Skybox. She'd been certain it would be her fate and had reluctantly come to accept it. There was no pardon for what she'd done. The circumstance were irrelevant..

Being sent to Earth was her escape from her fate. Her salvation.

Now they were on Earth. Their resources weren't so limited. They didn't need to punish people for crimes the same way they'd done on the Ark. They had opportunity to thrive here. A place to develop what they needed - grow food, make clothing, develop medicine. They wouldn't even have to rely on the one child policy anymore.

But nothing - nothing - changed the fact that murder was murder. And Charlotte had killed Wells.

She killed him.

The spike of red hot anger shot through her, making her tremble. The last time she'd felt this angry was seeing Liam lying on the floor, choking on his own blood, those guards standing over him…. For a split second Alex was sure she wanted to hurt the younger girl. After everything they'd been through together, everything she'd done for the her...

She needed to know why. Why did she kill him?

With one more deep breath she pushed herself away from the tree and turned to face Charlotte, who hadn't moved an inch from where she was sitting. She was hunched over almost defensively, hands still clasped tightly over her mouth, cheeks wet with tears.

Alex took one angry stride towards her, fists clenched, brow furrowed into a dark glare, but froze when Charlotte flinched back. The young girl no longer looked upset, she looked absolutely terrified, eyes round and wide.

She's afraid of you.

Despite everything, the thought made something inside her hurt. She wasn't like this, she didn't hurt - defenseless? - little girls regardless of what they've done.

And Charlotte was so young. How could she have possibly known what she was doing?

She stabbed Wells in the neck, the same way Clarke had stabbed Atom. There was intent there. This wasn't just an accident. Charlotte knew what she was doing when she did it. She reminded herself, thinking back to how Charlotte acted around Wells - always disappearing the moment he arrived, flinching away from him when he was around, her nervousness, her fear. But why…. what had Wells ever done to her?

Forcing herself to relax, she unclenched her fists from where her nails were digging painfully into her palms. She didn't want to move any closer in fear that if she did, Charlotte would bolt. And that was that last thing she needed to deal with at the moment. Right now,

she needed answers.

Blinking back tears, she stared down at the young girl and finally uttered the one word she needed an answer to.

"Why?" her voice cracked over the single word. "Why would you do this?"

Charlotte seemed to sag even deeper into her seat, dropping her arms from her mouth to clutch around her middle instead, eyes clenching shut.

"I'm - I'm sorry! I h-had to," she cried out, voice pleading, her lips trembling. "I'm sorry!"

Alex was shaking her head before she'd even finished her apology, her mouth opening and closing, not sure what she could even begin to say. "No..." she began, but words failed her.

There were so many things she wanted to say. No... that's not a reason. No... you don't get to apologize, not when Wells is dead.

But... she had to? What does that even mean?

Licking her dry lips, she tried again and this time her voice came out firmer than before, "Why did you do it, Charlotte?" she hesitated before asking her next question, already dreading the answer, "Did Wells…," her throat clenched at his name, and she had to clear it, "... did he do something - hurt you in some way?"

Charlotte merely shook her head in response, and frustration and anger washed through Alex.

"Charlotte!" she snapped at her, although her voice sounded pleading to her own ears. Rubbing her forehead she shoved her hair away from her face. "I - I can't do anything... I can't understand... I can't help you if you don't tell me what happened," she took a shuddering breath, "please, Charlotte, I need to know," she finished softly.

When Charlotte resolutely kept her mouth shut, Alex was sure she wasn't going to get an answer at all. Alex was about to turn away, a noise of angry frustration building at the back of her throat, when Charlotte finally spoke.

"He - he reminded me of my parents," Charlotte said, her voice soft, her gaze a million miles away.

Alex froze, staring down at her, feeling confused. How did Wells remind Charlotte of her parents? Did they know each other on the Ark? They never acted like it - Wells didn't seem to recognize her at all.

"What? Your parents? What do you mean?" Alex demanded, trying to put the pieces together.

Eyes darting over the ground, Charlotte hesitated, biting her lips. "Before I got arrested," she began tentatively, speaking like she was carefully choosing each word. "I - I saw. My mom and dad got floated," she stated. "And…. and he was there."

Wells was there when her parents were floated? Disbelief and confusion washed through her. That…. that doesn't make any sense. Executions were private affairs. Only family and close relatives were allowed to be there, to say goodbye. Just them and Chancellor Jaha and any Senior Councilmen. As far as she knew Wells had no connection to Charlotte in any way, not until they'd fallen to Earth together. So why would he have been there?

Alex couldn't see Chancellor Jaha bringing his son to something like that. Execution was a serious matter, not just another day at the office.

"Wells was there?" Alex asked, frowning, unable to keep the scepticism out of her voice, trying to wrap her mind around the idea.

Charlotte shook her head again and Alex grit her teeth, needing a straight answer.

"No, not Wells... Chancellor Jaha," Charlotte said and Alex was only partially surprised at the venom in her voice, understanding that losing her parents at such a young age must have been hard. It was something that Alex could relate to. Having someone to blame made it easier to deal with.

But it still didn't explain why she'd killed Wells.

"That - that still doesn't-"

"Because every time," Charlotte's voice cracked over the word, and she hugged herself even tighter. "Every time I saw him - any timeI looked at him, I saw his father push that button and I see them getting sucked out into space again, and again, and again," her eyes clenched shut, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. "I just needed it to end."

Silence descended between them and for a long moment Alex was too stunned to know what to say to the other girl.

Charlotte had murdered Wells for the simple fact that he looked like his father.

What was she supposed to do with that?

Her simmering anger returned full force. "So - let me get this straight. You - you killed Wells for something he didn't do - something he had no connection to in any way…" she shook her head in disbelief, her mind reeling. "Charlotte, why didn't you say something? We could have figured something out... I could have helped you," she choked as her throat seized up, "If you'd just talked to me, to Bellamy, to Harper, to somebody, then Wells might still be alive!" her voice rose in tone towards the end, forgetting about keeping things quiet, that she didn't want to be overheard.

Charlotte trembled, and wouldn't meet her gaze. "I'm sorry," she squeaked out.

Alex exhaled sharply through her nose, turning away and began pacing. What was she supposed to do? Punish her for her crime like they would have on the Ark? Murder was punishable by execution, everyone knew that. But they weren't on the Ark anymore... did the same rules no longer apply? The thought of Charlotte facing execution left a bitter taste in her mouth, but doing nothing and letting her get away with killing Wells, who was innocent, made her stomach turn completely.

For the first time in a long time Alex felt at a loss.

What could she do to make sure that Charlotte didn't hurt someone else? If she got away with murder now, what would stop her from thinking she could kill someone else she incorrectly placed her fears on? Alex couldn't be around to watch the young girl's every move...

In that moment Alex realized she couldn't do this alone. She needed to talk this through with someone who would help her figure out what to do, someone who would listen to her. This wasn't a decision she could make on her own. Charlotte actions affected the entire group.

And this whole time we're building a wall because we thought the Grounders were the danger, when in reality the danger was already inside the walls, her mind scoffed.

The next question was - who could she trust with this?

Realistically, she knew there were only two feasible options - Clarke and Bellamy. Between the two of them, the rest of their delinquents would follow their lead, whatever their decision was on the matter.

Although Clarke would normally be the first person she would consider going to, she knew the other girl was too close to the situation. The normally reliable and levelheaded girl was already blinded over her grief of losing Wells. Bringing her attention to the fact that it had been Charlotte instead of Grounders felt like a bad call. Alex couldn't predict how she would react.

That only left one option.

Bellamy it is. The thought strangely brought her a sense of relief. She'd seen the way he'd taken care of Charlotte in the cave, seen the way he acted around his sister. It was clear he had a soft spot for them, was protective of them. Hopefully he would be sympathetic and she could rely on him to be levelheaded and give her an idea of what to make of this mess…. despite his dislike of Wells.

Alex started when bark of laughter broke through her thoughts and she realized how close to the rest of the delinquents they were standing. Whirling around, she scanned the area, triple checking to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation. While she could see Murphy and a couple of his goons standing on the far edge of the dropship, they fortunately didn't seem to be paying them any attention. A small sense of relief washed through her. The last thing she needed was Murphy sticking his nose into this.

Rubbing her face, she pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes she took a deep breath before dropping her arms to her sides and turning to glare at Charlotte, who hadn't moved a muscle from her spot. The young girl was staring at her with a mixture of trepidation and fear.

Good, Alex thought darkly. She needs to be worried about the consequences of her actions.

"Okay," she exhaled sharply. "Okay. I'm - I'm going to go... and somehow figure out what to do about this. I want you to stay here until I get back. Stay here. Don't. Move," she told the young girl firmly.

Charlotte looked worried and pushed herself hurriedly to her feet. "But - I want to come with you!"

"No!" Alex snapped back, marching towards Charlotte and grabbing her shoulders tightly. "No, Charlotte. I don't think you get it. You murdered someone. You killed an innocent boy.If we were on the Ark, you would be locked up in the Skybox and when you were old enough, they would float you. Just like your parents," she spat, ignoring how Charlotte flinched, forcing herself to not feel bad. She needed to understand how serious her actions were. "What you want doesn't matter... So, you're going to do as you're told and sit here until I tell you otherwise. Do you understand me?" When Charlotte didn't immediately respond, she gave her a small shake. "Do you understand?"

Charlotte avoided her gaze as her lip trembled and she nodded, sinking back onto the log behind her, wrapping her arms tightly around her legs and pressing her forehead to her knees.

"Just... just stay here," she told her more softly before turning away. She needed to find Bellamy.

Making sure to go around the Dropship on the opposite side from where she'd seen Murphy hanging out, she wove her way through the groups of delinquents milling around, most taking a rest from building the wall and enjoying today's nicer weather.

Eyeing the groups of teens, she kept an eye out for the dark shaggy hair that had become a familiar sight to her over the past week, frowning when she didn't see him in the area. But when her gaze landed on two particular teens, her frowned softened. She knew who to ask about Bellamy's whereabouts.

Octavia was helping pained and shaky looking Jasper slowly shuffle across camp, one arm thrown over her shoulders for support as they moved. Jasper's skin still held a slight pallor, but he no longer looked on the verge of death, his cheeks flushed from his effort from walking, his eyes set in a determined frown. Although they moved slowly, Alex was surprised at the patient look Octavia was sending the taller boy. She'd never known the younger girl to be anything close to patient.

As she approached them, Alex was startled to realize that this was the first time Jasper had been out of the Dropship since being hit in the chest by a spear, nearly nine days ago. Despite the circumstances, she felt relief seeing him back on his feet again.

At least one thing was going right today.

Jasper was the first to spot her and despite his pained and haggard appearance he gave her a familiar, goofy and sincere smile, and Alex felt her lips twitch in response.

"Hey," she greeted him, reaching out and grasping Jasper shoulder, giving Octavia a nod in greeting, to which Octavia replied with one of her own. "You have no idea how nice it is to see you back on your feet," she informed him wholeheartedly, her relief echoing through her words.

He gave her shaky grin. "It's nice to know I was missed," he replied, puffing out his chest before deflating with a wince, his free hand coming up to tenderly touch his chest. Alex followed the movement with her eyes, noting the inch long hole in his shirt. "I've heard things have been pretty crazy while I was out," he continued, his smile slipping away as he lowered his voice. "I - I heard about Wells. I know you guys were close. I guess I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for your loss, Alex. It can't have been easy."

You have no idea.

Her heart clenched painfully at his words, and she had to swallow the lump that grew in her throat in response. "Yeah, thanks," she croaked out. "It - It's been tough."

The look he gave her in reply easily punched a hole in her carefully constructed wall she'd shoved her emotions behind, and her breathing hitched as she blinked back a sudden wave of tears.

Seeing her expression crumple, Jasper's gaze softened, and he motioned her towards him with a small wave of his hand. "Awe, come'ere," he said with a sigh, reaching out with his one free arm.

Alex was more than happy to step into his one-armed hug, wrapping her arms around him lightly, being mindful of his wound. Pressing her cheek into his shoulder, she allowed herself to feel the solace he was offering. She needed the comfort, any comfort, and the sincerity in Jasper's mannerism gave her some small sense of relief. He was the first one to see through her mask and let her know she wasn't alone in this.

"If you need to talk, or someone to just sit with, you just come find me, okay? Monty too. We'll cause some trouble to keep you occupied," Jasper mumbled into her ear. With a small laugh, she nodded into his shoulder, pulling away when Octavia cleared her throat.

"Thanks," she told him sincerely.

"Not a problem," Jasper said then turned and gave Octavia a sly look. "Well, I think this lovely lady and I are going to continue our scenic stroll through the forest, see these delinquents in their natural habitat," he sent her a wink.

Octavia just rolled her eyes in exasperation although her lips tugged up into a small smile. "Whatever you say, spear-boy."

The way that the dark-haired girl leaned into Jasper's side and Jasper grinned cheekily down at her made Alex wonder if something had happened between the two of them. They seemed to be... closer than before.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something," Alex said, turning to Octavia, who looked slightly startled that she was addressing her, from the way her eyebrows rose. Which was fair enough, they'd never really seen eye to eye about... anything, really.

"Oh yeah? What did you want?" Octavia tilted her head almost haughtily.

"I was wondering if you knew where your brother was?" Alex asked, tentatively. "I need to... talk to him about something."

"Oh," Octavia looked surprised about her question. "Well, I haven't seen him yet this morning, but I think he's still in his tent."

Alex bit the inside of her cheek, feeling sheepish that she hadn't thought about checking there first. It felt like she'd been up for an entire day so far, when it can't have been any longer than an hour since Harper had come and woken her up. It would only make sense that Bellamy might not even be up yet. Her conversation with Charlotte had drained her entirely, negating any positive effects from her good night's sleep the previous night.

"Ah, right. Thanks," she nodded and began to turn away when Octavia shot her a suspicious look.

"Why are you looking for my brother?" Even her tone was suspicious.

Not about to tell her the truth of what she wanted to tell him, Alex shrugged. "Nothing. Just wanted to clear things up some things about the hunting party's."

Octavia eyed her for a minute before making a noncommittal sound in the back of her throat and turning away, tugging on Jasper's arm. "Whatever. Come on, Jasper, let's see where we get to."

Jasper gave her a little wave of his fingers as they shuffled away and Alex turned, heading in the direction she knew Bellamy's tent was set up in.

As she walked, Alex realized that she'd never been in the area where Bellamy and some of the other delinquents had set up their tents, her own tent on the far side of the dropship. But she instantly knew which one was his when her eye landed on the largest one in the middle.

She couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. What was with guys wanting bigger, better things - it didn't matter what it was.

As she approached the front of the tent, Alex was about to call out to see if he was awake when a throaty moan filled the air, followed by a distinctly girly giggle. That doesn't sound like Bellamy, Alex thought meekly as she froze, wondering for a moment what she was listening to when there was another moan.

Oh God... Alex felt herself flush red from the tips of her toes to the roots of her hair. She was listening to Bellamy Blake have sex.

For a split second, Alex contemplated walking away and completely forgetting about talking to him about Charlotte and what she'd done to Wells, but the thought sent a chill through her. Wells deserves better than that. She chided herself. So get over yourself and deal with it. What Charlotte had done was not something she could just brush off. It needed to be dealt with before something else happened and things got worse.

This can't wait. She told herself firmly, and steeled her resolve, before stepping up to the tent and slapping her hand down on the canvas siding a couple of times, the equivalent to any kind of knocking.

"Blake, are you in there? Blake! We need to talk," she called out, realizing how stupid the question sounded when she could clearly hear he was in there. And that he wasn't alone.

The moans and giggles cut off abruptly and for a second there was total silence. Alex eyed the tent warily, before wincing as an extremely shrill female voice called out, one she recognized as Roma's. "What the fuck? Who the hell is that?"

Alex grimaced as she heard Bellamy groan, although this time it held a tone of frustration. "It's Evans."

"Tell her to go away," Roma snipped back.

Alex could hear rustling from inside the tent, then Bellamy finally answered the other girl, "Just...give me a sec."

The next thing she knew the flap of canvas that worked as a door was shoved to one side, and suddenly Alex found herself staring at Bellamy's tanned, toned, sweaty chest.

Eyes unconsciously trailing the curve of his chest muscles and over the well defined abs...Alex had to forcibly will herself to not turn bright red again and not think about what he'd just been doing, and thanked the heavens that he'd at least had the decency to put his pants on before greeting her... although his fly was unzipped and so they hung dangerously low on his hips…

Her mouth was suddenly suspiciously dry.

Don't look, don't look, don't look.

When he pointedly cleared his throat, she forced her gaze up to meet his eyes. He was giving her an unimpressed look, folding his arms across his chest. His hair was messier than usual, sticking up in a hundred different directions and it wasn't hard to guess that someone had been running their hands through it. Over his shoulder, she could see Roma sitting up in in Bellamy's bed, sending her a nasty glare, her blanket pooled around her waist, her chest fully exposed to the air. It was clear she wasn't ashamed or worried about what Alex thought. In fact, the move came across as...territorial.

"While I do enjoy being checked out, I was kinda busy here, Evans," Bellamy stated pointedly, eyebrow raised, before his mouth curved into a slow, cocky smirk. "Although, you're more than welcome to join us if you want," he added invitingly, ignoring the disgusted sound of protest that came from Roma. "There's always room for one more."

Alex hesitated, contemplating what to say, before leaning slightly towards him. "We need to talk," she said, keeping her voice low in an effort to keep Roma from hearing what she had to say. "It's important."

He gave her an exasperated look, running a ran through his hair as he shifted from foot to foot. "Look, Evans. As much as I've been enjoying our one-on-one time, I do have other priorities right now. I'm busy," he informed her bluntly. She was kind of surprised when he didn't fully wave her away. "I'm sure whatever you have to say can wait."

When he turned to duck back inside the tent, she reached out and lightly grabbed his arm.

He paused at the touch and turned to eye her.

"I'm serious, Blake - Bellamy - this is important," she said, feeling desperate. "I need your help. I - I don't know what else to do. Please."

He paused, his frown deepening as he stared at her. Something about her expression must have told him that something was actually wrong, because he eventually gave a slow nod in response.

Heaving a sigh, he rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine. Just - give me a second to grab some clothes," he said, then ducked into the tent again, leaving her standing awkwardly outside, fidgeting with the scab on her palm from the day before. She tried not to cringe and ignored how Roma's voice demanding to know "where the hell are you going?" and "why are you leaving?" and "are you going to go fuck that bitch instead?"

Alex wasn't surprised when Bellamy ducked out of the tent again not even thirty seconds later, shooting the inside of his tent a dirty look as he pulled his jacket over his blue t-shirt, before turning to give her an expectant look.

"So, what's so important?" he asked bluntly.

Glancing around, she knew that there would be too many ears listening to them where they were, so she nodded her head towards the edge of the clearing, somewhere a little more private. When she headed off in that direction, she could hear him behind her.

As soon as they were a decent enough distance from the tents, Alex stopped and turned towards him, nervously biting her lip, wondering how the hell she was going to broach the subject. How do could she begin to tell him that Charlotte had been the one to murder Wells - that it had nothing to do with Grounders?

"So, you wanted to be alone with me? Didn't think you were so forward...unless, of course, Roma makes you jealous?" he teased, but at her hesitation, his expression softened to something akin to concern. "Is everything alright, Evans?"

"Uh, no, nothing's happened," she stammered out, crossing her arms, unsure about how to begin. "I guess I'm okay. Well, I mean. I've been better...but you know," she shrugged then licked her lips uncertainly.

He eyed her for a moment, taking in her defensive posture. "But something's wrong." It wasn't a question.

She took a deep breath, trying to gather the words she needed to string a coherent sentence together. Before she told him anything about Charlotte she needed to know what his opinions were on punishment, he always seemed against Ark rules, but she needed to make sure that when it came down to it, he meant it. "Okay...Okay," she began, running a hand through her hair. "I need to know - did you mean what you said when we first landed - that the Ark rules don't apply here on Earth?"

Bellamy gave her a puzzled look, narrowing his eyes at her. He clearly hadn't been expecting her to ask that. "Yes... I did," he replied cautiously, although firmly. "We don't need to live the way we did. Not anymore."

"Even the Ark's laws?" she quickly continued.

"Yeah-"

She interrupted him, "What about if someone committed a crime?" she asked, eyeing him "Don't you think we need some type of system to keep people in check? Some sort of way to keep order?"

He was beginning to give her a suspicious look. "I suppose so. Why? What did you do?" he asked dryly, like he wouldn't be surprised if she had done something.

Startled at his question she quickly shook her head. "No! I mean - no. We're not talking about me at all." When all he did was stare at her expectantly, she continued. "What if...someone...stole something? Would you have them locked up? Like on the Ark?"

He cocked his head to the side. "It would probably depend on what was stolen. But I don't think we would have to float people for their crimes, if that's what you're asking. Here the punishment would actually fit the crime," he sighed. "Evans, what is this about?"

Biting her lip, she eyed him. "What if somebody - say a younger delinquent - did something worse than theft? Something that if it had been done on the Ark - would have resulted in floating, regardless of their age?" she asked warily, half wincing as she finished.

"What?" he frowned, dropping his arms to his sides as he stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

Licking her lips, she hesitated. "Uh -"

"Bellamy!"

Any words she had about Charlotte killing Wells died on her lips at the sounds of Clarke's voice, and both her and Bellamy turned to face the direction it came from. Even though Clarke deserved to know, Alex didn't feel like this would be the right time for her to find out.

She didn't think things could get much worse than they were, but she figured she would have to get used to how low her standards were becoming. Despite what Wells had said, things could always get worse, wasn't that how Murphy's Law worked?

Clarke was marching towards them, her expression stormy, Octavia helping Jasper along behind her. None of them looked happy. Clarke was holding something, her hands cupped tightly in front of her. As she came to stop in front of them, she glanced between them urgently. "We need to talk."

"Apparently everyone needs to talk today," Bellamy responded dryly, crossing his arms over his chest, before shooting Alex a questioning look.

She could only shake her head in response.

He shrugged and turned back to Clarke.

"I think we have a problem." Clarke warned them before holding out her clasped hands and opening them to show them what she was holding.

Cupped in her hands was a piece of fabric… and sitting in the middle of the piece of fabric was something that made Alex want to be sick for the second time in the past hour.

Clarke was holding two of Wells' severed fingers.

After eyeing the area around them warily, Bellamy had been quick to shuffle them all into his tent, where thankfully Roma was no longer anywhere to be seen.

Clarke gently placed Wells severed fingers onto the throw together table sitting in the middle of Bellamy's tent. Octavia followed suit, setting a folded piece of metal with sharpened edges next to them.

Alex swallowed harshly, not sure if she was swallowing bile or the scream that she was pretty sure was trying to claw its way out of her throat. She was one hundred percent sure that she was staring at the weapon that Charlotte had used to kill Wells.

For a long time, none of them said anything, merely contemplating the meaning of the items before them. Alex stood off to one side, slightly behind Bellamy, her arms wrapped comfortingly around her middle. She didn't know what to do.

Do I tell them that Charlotte was the one to do it? She knew the answer to the question, but even so couldn't bring herself to say the words.

"We found them just outside the wall," Octavia said softly, leaning against the edge of the table, glancing up at her brother before looking down at the fingers. She hesitated. "They were near where... he was found."

Clarke reached out and picked up the handmade knife, her finger sliding along the sharpened edge thoughtfully. "This was made from metal from the dropship," she said, before glancing up and eyeing each of them.

Jasper's expression changed to one of worry, his eyes flickering between the knife and Clarke, his hand coming up to touch his chest. "What - what do you mean?"

Before Clarke could answer him, Bellamy shifted on his feet. "Who else knows about this?"

Octavia shook her head. "No one," she told him. "We brought it straight here."

"Clarke?" Jasper asked, still watching the other blonde girl, who was staring at the knife in her hand, her expression cold.

"This means - the Grounders didn't kill Wells," she stated slowly, looking like she was coming to the same horrifying conclusion Alex had come to earlier. "It was one of us."

"S -so," Jasper stuttered out, beginning to look like he was going to be sick, "there's a murderer in this camp?"

Octavia's eyes snapped up and landed on Alex. "Well, that would make it more than one murderer in camp. Unless..." she trailed off pointedly.

Alex froze when everyone else's eyes snapped to her. Jasper was staring at her with wide eyes and Clarke was giving her a look close to suspicion. Bellamy frowned down at her, and although his look held suspicion, Alex felt that it was more related to the fact that he was connecting the dots from their earlier conversation instead of believing that she was guilty...

Her jaws clenched in response, hackles rising at the accusing looks. "I had nothing to do with Wells murder," she snapped back to the younger girl. But then why aren't you telling them who really did it? Charlotte's admission of guilt returned full force, yet they didn't come anywhere close to her tongue. Even though she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Charlotte was guilty of the crime, she was hesitant to say so, even though she had every intention of telling Bellamy only minutes ago. So why was she hesitation now?

Octavia raised her eyebrows and gave her a cool, disbelieving stare. "Sure, whatever you say."

Bellamy stepped forward, giving his sister a warning stare. "Leave it alone, O. Evans didn't do this."

Alex gaze snapped up to stare at him, surprised at his defense.

"But I'm right, aren't I?" Octavia argued back, standing up straight to eye her brother. "We're saying that there's a murderer in camp, when there's a murderer standing in this tent. What - are we just supposed to take her word that she didn't do it?" she demanded.

Octavia's words made her heart pound in her chest. Outrage, worry, fear - the whirl of emotions choked her, and Alex took a moment to remind herself not to react. She understood where the other girl was coming from - Octavia was looking for someone to blame, and Alex was an easy target. After all, Octavia wasn't necessarily wrong.

Murder was murder.

Even so, she knew that emotion overriding logic was a dangerous route to be on and would ultimately only make matters worse. So, she forced herself to take a slow steadying breath and rein in her initial emotions. Getting defensive wasn't going to help her case and if they were going to sort this mess out, it needed to be with a level head.

She gave Octavia a steady stare. "It - wasn't - me," she told her firmly, trying to convey her seriousness, and the fact that she was telling the truth.

"Besides, there's more than one murderer in this camp," Bellamy added, "It's not like any of us are here because we're saints."

Octavia scowled, looking away. "Speak for yourself," she spat bitterly.

Bellamy winced. "Look, I just meant that this isn't news. We need to keep this quiet."

Wait, what? Why does he want to keep this quiet? Alex wondered staring at him. Although, this works in Charlotte's favor. We can deal with it without everyone else's opinion.

Clarke, however, seemed to have other ideas. With a determined frown, she clenched the knife in hand and she began making her way around the table, towards the exit. Bellamy was quick to step in front of her.

"Wait, Clarke. Be smart about this," he told her calmly, almost pleadingly. "Look at what we've achieved...The wall, the patrols. Like it or not, thinking the Grounders killed Wells is good for us."

He's right. Wells' death has brought the delinquents together under a common enemy….It's too bad it's the wrong enemy.

Clarke scoffed, sending him a glare, as she stood toe to toe with him. "Oh, good for you, you mean," she spat, looking up at him in disgust. "What...keep people afraid and they'll work for you? Is that it?"

Alex shared a grimace with Jasper, wondering if she should step in.

"Yeah," he nodded, "that's it. But it's good for all of us. Fear of the Grounders is building that wall," he informed her and Clarke shook her head in disbelief.

Alex cleared her throat, "He's not wrong Clarke," she began slowly, and the aforementioned girl's gaze snapped to her. "I don't agree with using Wells death like this, but... maybe it's worth waiting until the wall's done to bring this to the rest of the group?" she asked Clarke cautiously. "So that we're safe from what's outside the camp before we focus on the inside? The Grounders are still a danger," she said, nodding to head to Jasper, who nodded his head in agreement.

For a second, Clarke looked unsure, glancing down at the knife in her hands.

"And besides, what are you going to do...just walk out there and ask the killer to come forward?" Bellamy asked with a scoff of his own. "You don't even know whose knife that is."

Clarke pursed her lip, giving him an unimpressed look. "Oh really?" she asked mockingly, bringing up the knife so that he could see. Pointing to the inside edge of the knife she continued, "It wasn't Alex. It wasn't anybody else for that matter. See this? J.M….John Murphy - people have a right to know," she finished before shoving past him and out the tent, leaving everyone staring at each other in stunned silence.

Alex couldn't move, staring blankly at the door Clarke had just walked through. She felt as if the wind was knocked out of her, her lungs struggling to find air. What had just happened?

This was exactly what she didn't want to happen. She wanted to deal with this quietly and sensibly, and instead had got the total opposite - Clarke on a mission, hell bent on accusing Murphy for a crime he didn't do. Things were escalating too quickly, spiralling out of control, exactly what she wanted to avoid in the first place.

Guilt hit her, but she couldn't force her legs to move, to chase after the other girl and tell her she was about to make a terrible mistake. Sure, Murphy was the biggest asshole she'd ever met, and he'd caused more distress for the group then everyone else combined. Hell, he'd threatened her life on more than one occasion, so there was no love lost between them. But she wasn't sure she could stand by and watch Murphy take the fall for the one thing Alex knew with certainty he had no part of.

If she revealed that Charlotte was the real murderer she had no way to predict how the group would react. Would they think about it rationally? Or lash out in anger, regardless of Charlotte's age? Mob mentality was brutal and unpredictable, and only needed the right spark to ignite it. Killing one of their own seemed like the right fit. And if that happened there was no way Alex would be able to protect the other girl from whatever the group decided.

But if she said nothing, then Murphy would take the fall...and Charlotte could walk away scot-free. After all, it wouldn't be a stretch for the delinquents to believe Murphy had intent to kill Wells, not after how he'd treated the other boy on a daily basis.

It would be easy to do...simply keep your mouth shut and say nothing and it could kill two birds with one stone. Charlotte's gets off easy...You can keep her under watch instead. And Murphy stops being a problem once and for all. It sounded so simple, so easy.

But...could she bring herself to stand by quiety and watch Murphy take the fall for something he didn't do, when she was the only one could step in to prove otherwise?

Could she live with herself if she did?

A/N: Yay, it took me less than a month to get this one out to you guys! :)

What did you think? Alex seems to be toeing a fine line. Would she really stand by and let Murphy take the blame? Send me your thoughts on what you think is going to happen! I love hearing what you guys have to say! PLEASE REVIEW - sending me a comment only takes a couple of seconds of your day and each one means the world to me.

Thank you to everyone who followed, faved, and reviewed - especially narelclollie, GraceTM86, msspicyjalapeno, letonlee, ITookMyTicket and Guest. You guys are incredible!

To Anon Reviews:

ITookMyTicket: Thanks so much for your review! Calling this fic amazing is quite the compliment *blushes*, so thank you! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you thought.

Guest: Haha! I'm so sorry about last chapter's cliffhanger...well, kinda! I got this chapter out in less than a month after the last, so hopefully that counts as a fast update? Hopefully I didn't leave you hanging for too long (get it? 'Hanging'? haha *sigh* my terrible sense of humour...). Thanks so much for your review, I'm looking forward to the next!

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