A/N: Hi friends! I know it's been a while. I actually ended up struggling with the second half of this chapter for quite a while, but when I realized how long it was I decided to split it into two chapters. So the great news is that chapter 28 is already 90% done and the wait won't be nearly as long!

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed. I love hearing all your thoughts about this story. Please feel reassured that while it takes me a while to write, I AM always making progress on this story.

I hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 27

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She shivered as a cool breezed roused her from her sleep.

Lying on her side, one arm curled beneath her head, the other held her jacket tightly to her chest for warmth. Even so, she the dampness from the mossy ground seeped through her clothes, leaving her chilled.

When another breeze swept over her, she grimaced, reluctantly opening her eyes only to blink blearily into the darkness before her.

It was late, very late. The fire that she had sat in front of had faded to a mellow glow. For a second, she stared at the dying embers, trying to recall what she had been doing before she fell asleep.

Hadn't she been talking to Bellamy?

Bellamy!

The thought sent a jolt of energy through her, snapping her awake in an instant. She bolted upright and the jacket that had been thrown over her slid down into her lap as she turned to look at the spot where Bellamy had been.

Empty. He was long gone.

She frowned, trying to push away the sinking feeling of disappointment. What had she really expected? For him to stick around?

She sighed, pushing herself up, deciding she may as well head back to her tent to try to get some rest. Picking up the jacket, she got ready to put it on only to realize that she was already wearing her jacket.

Blinking, she stared down at the clothing in her hands, rolling the fabric between her fingertips, the rough but well-worn material unfamiliar to her. Holding it out in front of her, she noted the size; quickly realizing who the jacket belonged to.

It was Bellamy's jacket.

For a moment she stared at it, warmth blossoming in her chest, fighting her earlier thoughts.

He left me his jacket…

Suddenly, she couldn't help recall the way he had gazed at her as she told him about Liam. His eyes had been somber, full of sadness and understanding. In a world where only the two of them had siblings, he might be the only one who could understand her - understand what she had gone through and why she did it. Octavia was to him what Liam was to her. And whether or not they agreed on other things, they shared that one thing in common.

'I believe you.'

She couldn't fight the smile that tugged at her lips. She felt…lighter somehow. Relieved.

She'd told someone and they had believed her! Bellamy had believed her - believed that her words weren't a lie. That she wasn't the monster Kane wanted to see.

The thought of Kane quickly dampened her happiness and her gaze slid up to gaze at the night sky through the trees, hugging Bellamy's jacket close to her chest.

There were no more streaks of light. No more signs that the Ark had killed all those people.

How many had died? How many delinquents had lost loved ones that night? Friends and family they would never see again.

Liam… Liam's fine, she thought furiously. He's fine until you know otherwise. There is nothing - nothing - that you can do for him from here.

Even so, the thought lingered in the back of her mind as she made her way back to camp, debating between giving Bellamy back his jacket, or heading directly to her tent. The area around the Dropship was peaceful, most of the teens asleep; the few who were awake chatted quietly around the remaining fires.

Her gaze swept the area, looking for the dark shaggy hair even though she knew Bellamy was probably fast asleep in his tent.

She took a few hesitant steps in that direction, unsure if she should wake him, before deciding that she may as well wait until morning to give it back. She sighed, turning to head to her tent only to slam into a hard chest. An embarrassing squeak left her lips as she lost her balance, her hand snapping out to grab the nearest object to stop her fall.

Gaze snapping up, she met the dark eyes of the person she had been looking for.

Releasing Bellamy's hand as if it had burnt her, she hoped the dim light would hide the blush that swept across her cheeks. Up until this point, she hadn't felt embarrassed about breaking down in front of him, but now, standing before him, it seemed to hit her full force. It felt much worse when they were standing toe to toe.

She cleared her throat. "Uh - hey," she began self consciously, brushing hair out of her face before shoving the jacket out his way, nearly punching him in the gut with it. She winced. "I - um - thanks for the jacket. You didn't need to do that. But even so, uh, thanks." She cringed at her own rambling, still holding the jacket for him to take. She wanted to say thanks for so much more than the jacket, but could find the words, her embarrassment clogging her throat.

When he didn't immediately answer, she looked up at him and took in his expression, realizing that he wasn't even looking at her.

Bellamy's eyebrows were drawn into a frown as his gaze darted around the camp, clearly looking for something or someone. It was obvious that he hadn't had any sleep; she could see the tiredness in his eyes even in the dim light. He didn't even seem to notice the goosebumps that swept over his bare arms from the cold, his mind on something else entirely.

Since they'd landed, Alex could admit to herself that she was getting much better at reading Bellamy, even when he seemed particularly keen on hiding whatever went on inside his head. She'd seen the small furrow between his brows enough times lately to know one thing: he was worried.

"What's wrong?" she asked him with a frown, wondering if he'd heard anything she'd said.

His gaze dropped down to her own as if only realizing she was there. "Have you seen Octavia?" he demanded, his posture almost aggressive.

She blinked at his tone, her grey eyes narrowing up at him. What was with his sudden change in attitude? At this rate, she was going to get whiplash. "Not recently, no." She kept her tone even. If Octavia was missing, then Bellamy was worried and not just returning to his usual jerk self. Her own gaze darted around the area as if expecting the see the dark haired girl somewhere nearby. "I'm sure she's around here somewhere -"

"She's not," he snapped back, cutting her off, running a hand through his hair with a sharp intake of breath. "I've checked everywhere. Dammit, if I hadn't been..."

As he trailed off and she wondered if he had been about to say that if he hadn't been with her.

Though his comment stung, her mind couldn't help but go back to what he had told her only hours before. Octavia was the only family he had left. He would do anything for her. The same way she would do anything for Liam.

Her gaze softened and she slid a hand down his arm to give his hand a gentle squeeze. "Hey, I get it. We'll look around and find her," she told him firmly, eyes serious. She took a deep breath, turning to look around the camp. "Okay, who saw her last?"

"I did. Earlier today, before I - uh, found Raven." He shifted slightly on his feet, looking like he was trying to not look guilty. When he looked like he had more to say, she waited for him to continue, watching his jaw clench and unclench as he collected his thoughts. "We - we had a fight," he finally admitted.

Her eyebrows rose at his admission. She briefly wondered if his guilt had to do more with fight with his sister then the events following Raven's arrival and the missing radio, but decided to ignore it favor of focusing on the issue at hand. She gave him a sympathetic grimace. "That bad?" she asked. She took it as a 'yes' when his gaze fell away from her own. "Okay, well, did she say anything about not coming back?"

He hesitated. "No - yes? I don't know. I told her to come back here," he huffed, a frustrated look crossing his face. "But knowing her, she probably did exactly the opposite."

Alex pressed her lips into a thin line. Even though Bellamy tried to do what he could to protect his sister, it was clear to everyone else that Octavia wasn't keen on following any rules. In fact, she seemed to be more interested in following Bellamy's "Whatever the hell we want" policy. And who could blame her? She'd spend most of her life confined under the floor. This was her first opportunity to live.

Even so, if Bellamy was the last person to see her right after Raven landed, then it's been hours since anyone has seen her. The thought made her uneasy. She couldn't imagine Octavia not coming back just out of spite. Though Octavia could be reckless, she'd never struck Alex as particularly stupid. After all, she had been there when Jasper had been struck by the spear. She knew the dangers that lurked out there.

Her mind flashed back to the Grounders she had seen by the river and her gut clenched at the thought. Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she decided to keep her concerns to herself. With his sister missing, the last thing Bellamy needed was being reminded of what was out there.

Even so, a sense of urgency filled her. We need to find her. Now.

It was then that Clarke approached them.

Alex couldn't help notice the way the other blonde's gaze immediately dropped to her and Bellamy's still touching hands. Feeling her cheeks warm, she dropped his hand as if burnt, but refused to drop her gaze from Clarke's own, daring her to say something about it. She wasn't sure how to describe the expression on Clarke's face, but it made her uncomfortably aware of the blush on her own face.

Fortunately, Clarke chose to keep her thoughts to herself and turned to Bellamy.

"Anything?" he demanded, seemingly unaware of their small exchange.

Clarke shook her head in response. "No. I asked around, but no one has seen her since earlier today," she said cautiously, looking like she was worried of his reaction to her words.

Even though he tried to hide it, Bellamy looked like he'd been punched in the gut. He took a shaky breath, his gaze darting every which way, not focusing on anything in particular.

He looked lost.

"Okay." Alex found herself talking before she thought about what she was doing. Clarke and Bellamy's gazes snapped to her. "Okay, if we're going to find her, we're going to need to get a group together to search. Clarke - go get Finn and a couple of guys willing to help. Finn managed to find Jasper last time, he can help find Octavia."

From the downturn of Clarke's lips, Alex knew that the last thing Clarke wanted to do was talk to Finn, but fortunately Clarke didn't voice her concerns as she turned away, taking off towards the drop ship.

Alex turned back to Bellamy, who eyed her with a unnamed expression. She ignored it in favor of focusing on the matter at hand. "Do you remember exactly where you last saw your sister? If you can get us there, I think Finn will be able to help track her down."

"I - yeah." He nodded, first uncertainly, then more firmly. "Yeah, I can get us there."

It didn't take long to gather enough people and supplies for a search party, Bellamy quickly taking the lead in the preparations.

"Arm up, we're not coming back without her!" he barked at the group, motioned to the pile of weapons that had been gathered. Metal rods, sharp strips of metal, anything that could be used to defend themselves.

Fingers brushing the flip blade in her pocket, she watched a surprising number of teens step forward to grab a weapon. She felt an unsettling sense of déjà vu, the group around her a reminder of another search party, one that set out to look for Jasper not even a week before.

And we found him. If we can find Jasper, we can find Octavia, she told herself firmly, her gaze drifting to the aforementioned boy. It didn't surprise her that Jasper would want to help search for Octavia - he had been enamoured with the dark haired girl from the moment they had landed - but the fact that he had only just recovered enough to begin walking around outside made her think that him coming along was a really bad idea. It was just another thing to worry about.

Because even though Jasper seemed physically getting better, it didn't take more than one look at his fidgety stance and darting eyes to know that he wasn't okay. From the moment he had woken up there had been an agitated, panicky around him. His injury had changed him, and Alex wasn't sure he would ever be the same cheerful teen she had first met on the drop ship.

Earth was changing them, a piece at a time.

Seeing the look Monty sent his friend from the doorway of the dropship, she knew she wasn't the only one worried. Was he recovered enough to leave camp? She hoped the determined bravado on his face would keep him from falling apart when they needed it most.

After a brief discussion, the group decided that Clarke and Raven would head to the bunker Clarke and Finn had found while exploring in the hopes they would be able to find parts to fix the radio. Seeing the tense set of both of the girls' shoulders, Alex winced. She didn't envy being part of that excursion.

As they began to head out, she saw Finn linger, staring back at Clarke and Raven, his expression pinched.

"Come on," she said as she passed him, switching her torch to the other hand, the flame casting flickering shadows all around them. "They can sort their shit out on their own," she told him. "You being there isn't going to help either of them."

He sighed, turning to follow her. "I know," he said forlornly. "Just can't believe I screwed up so bad."

She shot him a sympathetic look. "Be glad Clarke doesn't seem to be the petty kind and probably won't tell Raven." She shrugged. "Probably."

He returned her look with a dry look of his own. "Thanks. Makes me feel much better."

"You'll get over it," she replied, shooting him a small smirk before it faded away as her gaze landed on Bellamy's back up at the front of the line. "Besides, we'll need your help if we're going to find Octavia."

Finn shot her a look. "I seem to remember you being not too bad at tracking."

"I'll do what I can to help." She swallowed and shook her head, her earlier nerves returning. "I just don't think Octavia would willingly not come back. Doesn't matter if she's mad at Bellamy or not..."

Finn nodded even as he followed her gaze. "Something's different between you two," he stated, eyes narrowed in thought.

She frowned, shooting him a puzzled look. "What?"

"You and Bellamy. It wasn't long ago you guys were at each other's throats, but now..." He shrugged. "Something's different between you," he repeated before a smirk tugged at his lips. "Don't tell me you've fallen for his charm."

"No." She huffed a laugh. "Haven't fallen for his anything. We just...came to an understanding."

"Must be a pretty big understanding." He looked doubtful and questioning at the same time. "Do you trust him?" he asked after a moment.

She paused at the question, her gaze once again coming to rest on Bellamy, watching him walk at the front of the group. She thought back to how things had been when they had first landed, how they had clashed over everything and she hadn't trusted a thing about the guy whose only goal seemed to be anarchy.

But it's all a mask. His expression flashed when she had told him the truth about Liam flashed through her mind. His support after Charlotte's death. His words of belief. His coat. He cares.

She was startled to realize that she could no longer see the angry man she had first met on the drop ship. Somewhere along the way, she had begun to see through the walls he built around himself.

So, do I trust Bellamy?

She had no doubts about her answer.

"Yeah," she said softly. "Yeah, I guess I do."

The group walked single file through the trees, their path illuminated by the torches they carried, the flickering flames casting eerie moving shadows on the trees around them.

Not for the first time, Alex found herself jumping as she caught sight of something moving in the dark, just out of sight. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was someone else out there, watching them from the shadows.

Finn and Jasper walked ahead of her, Bellamy in the lead. Casting a glance over her shoulder, she took note of the rest of the delinquents that had volunteered to help - Roma, Mbege, Monroe, a boy called Diggs and a few others who she didn't know.

Finally, Bellamy stopped.

"Here. We were here," he said, motioning to an area before him, his eyes already searching the ground for any sign of where Octavia could have gone.

Alex caught sight of the flicker of worry that crossed his face as he glanced back at them, but he turned away before she could think of doing anything.

Roma sidled up to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder, pressing herself up against him. "I'm sure she's fine. We'll find her and be back in camp in no time," she said, gazing up at Bellamy.

Alex stopped herself from rolling her eyes. "Alright, let's split up and look around," she spoke up, turning to the others. "Look for anything out of place, anything that might tell us which way Octavia went. If you see something, call out."

Though she expected some form of resistance from being the one to speak up, she was pleasantly surprised when they didn't seem to think anything of it and began to spread out.

Turning back, she met Bellamy's dark gaze. He gave her a small nod over Roma's head, which she returned with one of her own before heading off on her own. Keeping her torch high, her gaze scanned the forest floor, looking for any sign of anything - scuffs in the litter, turned over leaves, footprints - anything that would tell them that someone had walked through the area.

They hadn't been searching for long when Mbege called out.

"Hey! Over here!"

Alex's head snapped up at the sound and she hurried over to where his voice had come from. Pushing through the bushes, she approached the group, only to come to a stop at the top of a steep hill. Mbege and the others stood before her, all of them staring down the steep embankment.

Mbege was pointing something out to Bellamy. "Isn't that your sisters?"

Bellamy quietly stared down the hill, brows deeply furrowed as he gazed into the darkness. He extended a hand. "Rope," he ordered. Diggs, who had been carrying the aforementioned item, quickly dropped it into his waiting palm.

The group watched as Bellamy secured the rope and carefully began to creep down, pebbles and rubble sliding out from under his feet. He came to a stop in front of the object Mbege had pointed out, reaching out a hand to grab it, the other still tightly wrapped around the rope. "It's hers!" he called out, glancing back up at them. "I'm going all the way down!" he added before continuing his descent. It didn't take more than another couple of seconds before he was completely enveloped in the darkness.

She shifted on her feet, suddenly uncomfortable with him being out of sight. Anything could happen to him and none of them would be able to do anything about it. Before she could step forward to follow him down, Jasper took hold of the rope with shaky hands. She wasn't the only one to blink at him in surprise.

Jasper didn't say a word, simply handing over his torch to Finn with a firm nod, and tucked his weapon - a metal rod - into the belt, and followed Bellamy's footsteps. His serious expression didn't hide the obvious bob of his throat.

She and Finn exchanged glances.

"I'll go," she sighed, stepping forwards to grip the rope. "Before we lose those idiots in the dark," she added with a mumble, Finn making a noise of agreement beside her.

Though the rock was loose beneath her feet, the descent was surprisingly easy, her feet hitting flat, stable ground far sooner than she expected. Glancing back up the hill she grimaced, knowing that getting back up would be a different story.

Alex moved out of the way of the next person coming down and approached Bellamy and Jasper who were crouched over to one side, their flashlight casting an eerie halo around their forms. Coming to stand beside them, she inhaled sharply at the familiar red that coated Bellamy's fingertips.

Bellamy swallowed heavily. "It's blood," he stated, voice rough as he stared down at his fingers.

Finn came up behind them, holding out the torch to illuminate the area.

No body. A relieved breathe escaped her, feeling some of the tension leave her when Octavia's body didn't appear in the dark. She was about to ask them what they were planning to do next when something else caught her eye.

"Look." She frowned and stepped forward, motioning to the ground not far from where they crouched. The glow of the fire cast shadows on clear indentations in the muddy ground. Footprints. Crouching down beside them, she took note of the size and shook her head. "There's no way these are your sisters."

"Someone else was here," Bellamy frowned, his remark questioning.

Grounders...

Finn scanned the area some more, before motioning in the direction they were all facing. "The prints are deeper that way." He shot Bellamy a worried look. "Whoever it was, they must have been carrying her."

Jasper leaned towards them. "If they took her, she's alive," he said, his voice hesitantly hopeful. "Like...like when they took me."

"We can track them," Alex spoke up from where she stared out into the darkness where the prints disappeared. "They can't have made it too far." She turned back to rest, meeting Bellamy's gaze. "The blood is still fresh and there's not much of it. If Octavia's injured, it's not badly. Besides, if they're carrying her, they won't be moving fast. We can catch up."

They were quiet as they continued their search, the sky brightening above them.

Alex and Finn walked ahead of the group, following the trail left by whoever had carried Octavia. From the trail of ill placed footprints and markings, it became apparent that whoever they were following didn't expect to be tracked. Either that or they were in a hurry and didn't have time to consider their path... She didn't want to think about why they would hurry, not when they knew Octavia could be injured.

Glancing over her shoulder for what felt like the hundredth time, she looked back to where Bellamy walked, wondering what was going through his mind.

"Stop," Finn said from where he crouched, examining what looked like a scuffmark left in the moss.

Alex froze, eyes snapping around, wondering what he had seen. "What?"

"Stop looking back at him. Or people are going to start getting the wrong idea about you two."

Alex blinked, her cheeks flushing red, embarrassed at having been caught checking on Bellamy. "Nothing is going on between us. I'm just…"

"You're worried, I get it," Finn finished for her.

"Of course I'm worried. Octavia has been out here for hours. She might be injured AND someone's carrying her further and further away from us. Away from the dropship."

"I didn't mean about Octavia." He gave her a knowing look, before pushing himself to his feet and continuing to walk. "I meant, you're worried about Bellamy."

Alex immediately opened her mouth to deny it, hesitated, then closed it with a sigh. "I guess - I guess I'm just worried about what will happen if we don't find Octavia. She means everything to him. I can't..." Her voice died in her throat as she caught sight of what was ahead of them.

Finn, whose eyes had been sweeping the ground for tracks, heard her sharp intake of breath and shot her a worried look. "What?"

All she could do was raise a hand and point.

Strung up in the trees before them were decomposing bodies, each of them in various states of decay, their putrefying flesh hanging off their bones in strips as the bodies broke down.

"What the fuck..." she breathed out as her brain began to comprehend what she was seeing. It didn't matter where she looked, there were more and more. But what filled her with horror was how each of the bodies were strung up - some like marionette's on a rope, others impaled on the stakes that held them upright. Even through the decomposition, she could see their faces, empty eye sockets and expressions frozen in pain.

These people had died horribly.

We shouldn't be here, she wanted to say as the rest of the group caught up, Bellamy and Jasper coming to stand beside them. A shaky breath left her before she swallowed harshly, trying to ignore the turning of her gut as she caught a whiff of the smell. Someone else retched behind her.

There was no doubt in her mind that this had been done by Grounders. All she knew was that she didn't want to mess with anyone who could do this to another person. Staring at the scene in trepidation, Alex wondered for the first time if continuing their search for Octavia was worth it.

She wasn't the only one to feel that way; she could sense the hesitation in the group around her.

And from the way his fists clenched and his jaw flexed, Bellamy could sense it too.

"I don't speak Grounder, but I'm pretty sure that means 'Keep Out'," Finn said slowly, staring at the scene from beside her.

"Let's get out of here!" A boy whispered loudly from the back. "This is crazy!"

Bellamy shifted on his feet but didn't turn around to face the rest of the group. "Go back if you want. I'm going to keep going, I'm going to find her." As he cautiously stepped towards the corpses, she heard him say: "My sister, my responsibility."

Alex frowned at his back, the meaning behind his words striking something inside her, but there was no time to think about it as several of the delinquents around her hesitantly turned away and began to make their way back the way they'd come.

Jasper was the first one to follow Bellamy.

"This is probably a bad idea, but I'd walk into hell to save her," Jasper commented with a shrug, the tremor in his voice giving away his fear.

She and Finn stared after them.

"They're probably going to get in trouble if we let them go alone, aren't they?" Finn asked.

"Probably." She glanced over her shoulder to watch some of the group walking away. Licking her lips, she exhaled forcefully, already knowing that she wouldn't be able to walk away. "What the hell - probably not the dumbest thing I've ever done...right?"

"Right," Finn replied doubtfully, though when she stepped forward he followed right behind her. A few of the others reluctantly trailed behind him.

She held her breath as she crept passed the decomposing corpses, inwardly hoping that this wasn't a terrible mistake and that they wouldn't end up joining those who had been strung up to rot.

A/N: So technically this is part one of the chapter, so it was quite a bit of build up to what happens next and I'M SO EXCITED FOR YOU GUYS TO READ THE NEXT CHAPTER!

Anyways, please review! What did you guys think of Alex's thoughts on Bellamy now that she's revealed her truth? She's really coming around to seeing him differently.

Thanks for reading!