#since clark is being a total idiot thinking he should make decisions for her

[stardustinthesky]

Not you. And not Superman.

[mochegato]

Capturing a Dream

Chapter 11 – That Keeps Out the Danger

Chapter 1     Chapter 10

“How are we supposed to eat?  We’re going to starve.  You’re leaving us to starve.  To wither away into nothingness.”  Wally collapsed dramatically onto the kitchen island.

“Oh my God, drama queen.  You don’t even live here.  Go home and eat.”  Chimera threw a kitchen towel in his face.  He grabbed the towel as it hit him and fell back off of the barstool in an exaggerated drop, crying out as he fell.

“Yeah, Wally.  You don’t even go here,” Robin grinned reaching to grab the cupcake left unguarded on his plate.  He grumbled when Wally was able to get back up, get onto the barstool, and swipe it back again before he could take a bite.  Chimera giggled at the reference until Robin turned his mischievous grin on her.  Her giggles quickly quieted and her expression turned apprehensive.  “And we don’t want to interrupt Chi’s date.”

Chimera rolled her eyes.  Robin and Wally had been teasing her relentlessly since they found out she was going to be out of the Cave for the weekend and wouldn’t give them any details.  They made the completely logical leap to claiming it was a date with Roy.  She honestly wasn’t sure if it was intended to annoy her or Conner more, or more likely both.  She was positive Robin’s ultimate goal in life was to antagonize every member of the Team and the Justice League with one comment, like the annoying, teenage menace he was.  Honestly, she liked seeing it; a glimpse of normalcy in his life.  But, that didn’t mean she appreciated it when it was turned on her.

“Yeah, you sure you won’t tell us where you two are going?” Wally teased, his words obscured by the bite of cupcake still in his mouth. “Roy won’t tell us anything.”

Chimera gave him a flat look.  “Roy’s in India this week.”

“Ah, so that’s where you’re going.  Guess portals have their advantages,” Wally snickered, waggling his eyebrows at her.

“Funny how she knew exactly what his plans were for this weekend, don’t you think, Conner,” Robin commented in exaggerated innocence, laying his arm on Conner’s shoulder.

Chimera’s mouth dropped, scandalized by the accusation. “You’re the one that told me.”

“I have no recollection of that conversation…” he answered seriously.  He looked at the floor and shook his head, his hand stroking his chin in thought. “Actually, I do.”  The grin he shot her was nothing short of terrifying. He leaned across the island to get in her face.  “You asked me where Roy was going to be.  You were very insistent,” he grinned, pushing into her face.

“I hate you.  And if I had to ask you, that means I didn’t ask him, dork,” she pointed out, shoving Robin’s head away.  

“Hey!” He cried out.  “My hair!”  He automatically reached up to fix his hair.

Chimera raised an eyebrow at him, a feral grin spreading across her face.  “Oh no. No, no, no.  Chi…” he warned, moving off the chair and backing slowly away from her. Once he got to the door, he took off running at full speed.  Conner and Wally watched as Robin jumped the railing to drop down to the floor below. Chimera raced after him, jumping the railing with just as much grace as Robin.  They could just hear their footsteps as they ran and accidentally collided with different objects.  

“Really hope they don’t accidentally destroy anything,” Conner observed casually, swiping his own cupcake and taking a bite, “…again.”  He smiled at the sound of Chimera and Robin’s laughter echoing off the walls.

“If they do, it won’t be accidental,” Wally noted as he stuffed his fourth cupcake in his mouth, glaring at Conner for taking one of the cupcakes Chimera had made for everyone.  He turned sharply back toward where the two had run off to when they heard a loud yelp and even louder cackle.  He shook his head and leaned back, waiting for Robin’s walk of shame back into the kitchen.  He never outraced Chimera.  She always caught him.  He wasn’t sure why Robin even tried instead of just accepting his fate.

It only took a minute for Robin to slope back into the room and slouch back into his chair, pouting the entire way.  He tried to subtly fix his now extremely ruffled hair. Chimera was only a few steps behind him, trying incredibly unsuccessfully to hold in her giggles.  

“I hope your date sucks,” Robin grumbled into the floor.

“Not a date,” she singsonged and booped him on the nose.

“Hope Roy feels that way too,” Wally smirked, but his eyes were on Conner with an amused gleam at his scowl.  Conner took a deep cleansing breath.  He knew they were just teasing, but he really didn’t appreciate the joke.  

Chimera pulled at Robin’s hoodie pocket, looking in it with a furrowed brow.  “What are you doing?” Robin demanded, slapping her hands away.

“I’m looking for the brain call you two share. Someone has to have it,” she shrugged. “I figured it was your turn with it today.”  

“I have it today, thank you very much!” Wally objected around the mouthful of his fifth cupcake.

Chimera stared at him blankly for a few seconds. Robin rolled his eyes and slumped against the island.  “Idiot.”

Chimera shook her head.  “I can’t believe they’re letting you guys go out unchaperoned,” she muttered

Robin scoffed.  “I’m from Gotham.  And I do this,” he motioned around them.  “I can take care of myself.”

“I’m from Gotham,” Chimera mocked him in a poor imitation of his voice.  “Being from Gotham doesn’t automatically give you better judgement than people from other places.”

Robin glowered at her, but before he could retort she continued in a softer tone.  “I know you can take care of yourself and you’re responsible… on missions.  But this isn’t a mission and you’re a kid. You should get to be one, which means making stupid decisions that adults try to talk you out of and they,” she motioned toward Wally and Conner, “don’t count.  They’re more childish than you.”

“Hey,” Wally objected again.  He narrowed his eyes at her.  “Roy’s never going to kiss you if you keep being so mean.”

Chimera rolled her eyes.  “I’m meeting my best friends.”

“Wow, already introducing him to the family. You and Roy are really moving quickly,” Robin quipped.

Chimera groaned and looked to the ceiling for patience. “You are such a little dick.”

Robin froze momentarily.  Conner looked down to hide his grin, but there was no hiding his chuckles.  Wally, however, was laughing so hard he was bent over holding his stomach, his body shaking with laughter so violently, he almost fell off his chair.  Chimera gave him a concerned look, but Robin glared at him. After a few minutes of unbroken laughter, he finally tamed his laughter enough to pat Robin on the head and gasp out, “You really are… such a little Dick.”  Robin lunged for him but he sped out of his reach before he could make contact.

Conner shook his head and focused back on Chimera.  “Can you say where you guys are going?  Or will that compromise your identity?”

Chimera cocked her head to the side in thought before quickly shaking her head.  “I don’t think so.  We’re going to Metropolis.  My best friend wants a tour of the Daily Planet… and to try to meet Clark Kent or Lois Lane.”

Wally perked up.  “You don’t say.”

Chimera grimaced.  “Yeah.  She’s a huge fan of them.  She desperately wants to meet them.”

The boys started laughing at her.  Robin finally spoke up with a devilish grin. “You know, you could make that happen.”

Chimera threw her arms out in defeat.  “I know!  But not without compromising my identity.  And even if I could, how would that even work?  Hey Supes, totally unrelated to me or my identity in any way, could you meet with this person I absolutely do not know on a very personal level for many years? Ugh.  This is going to be awkward as hell.  I’m going to be on his home turf… where he works… his territory.  I’m going to have to pretend I don’t know him and didn’t go all Electro on him.”

Conner smiled at her catastrophizing.  “He likes you.  You remember that, right?  And at the time, he was the bad guy so, if anything, you went all Storm on him.”  He chuckled at the deadpan look she gave him. “If it makes you feel better, he’s off-world today and tomorrow.”

Chimera perked up with a hopeful grin. “Really?”  Conner nodded.  She bounced on her toes in excitement.  

The action was so adorable on her Conner couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up.  “Yes,” he reassured her.

Her smile suddenly turned into a wary look. “Are you sure?  How do you know?”

Conner moved closer and rested his hands on her shoulders.  “I talked to him.  We’re trying to make time to hang out so we can get closer.  So incredibly awkward but… anyway.  He said he couldn’t do anything this weekend because he’ll be off-world.”

She gave him a sympathetic smile and moved under his arms to give him a hug.  She lessened the pressure and rested her head on his chest, keeping her arms around him. He returned the gesture, wrapping his arms around her as well.  “I’m glad to hear that.  Not the he’s not here part, the he’s trying part… well, actually, both parts.  I’m not going to lie.  I’m really happy he won’t be there when I am.  But I’m sad you guys can’t hang out this weekend.”

Conner smiled into her hair.  “It’s okay.  There’ll be other weekends.  At least I know he isn’t trying to avoid me this time.  It just means we get to have a boy’s weekend instead.”  His expression turned concerned and he pulled back just enough to try to look her in the eyes.  “Are you sure you’re going to be okay though?  Last time you hung out with your friends it… you didn’t exactly come home happy.”

She smiled up at him.  “Yeah.  I’ll be fine. I’m excited.  It’s going to be a lot of fun.”  She gave him an extra squeeze before starting to pull away.  “I won’t be in P… home,” she quickly corrected herself, “this time, so it should be good.”

Conner pulled her back into a tight hug.  “Okay, well… if you need us, I’m only one call away… or you know just show up wherever we are,” he whispered.

She craned her neck so she could rest her chin on his chest and look at him with a smile.  “Portals have their advantages.”  

“You two are disgusting!  Get a room,” Wally groaned dramatically.  He threw the towel Chimera had thrown at him earlier back at her. Chimera squeaked and jumped away from Conner, while Conner caught it before it could reach her.  “You’re going to make Roy jealous if you keep it up.”  Conner sent Wally a vicious glare that Wally completely ignored.

“Right.  On that note…”  She reached down for her bag but rolled her eyes at Robin when she saw he’d already grabbed it.  “I’m stronger than you.  You know that, right?”

“Yeah, don’t care,” Robin shrugged.  “Wouldn’t want to disappoint Agent A with bad manners.”

She snorted and shook her head.  “Sounds incredibly sexist, but whatever.  Unless you’re planning on doing the same for them,” she motioned to Conner and Wally.  Robin furrowed his brow at her, but kept his grip on her bag.  “Then it isn’t manners, it’s sexism.”

He narrowed his eyes at her.  “I’m going to tell A you said that.”

“Go ahead, I’ll own it,” she shrugged.  “And he’ll agree with me.”  She turned toward Wally and Conner with a small wave.  “Okay, you guys have fun.  Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Conner scoffed.  “That doesn’t narrow it down much.”  He grinned at her when she let out an offended scoff.

“Don’t worry, we won’t accidentally destroy anything. Can you say the same?” Wally grinned.

“I don’t destroy everything I touch,” she groused, “just almost everything,” she muttered the last bit to the floor with a frown.  She quickly recovered and looked back up at him with an exaggerated smile.  “But, with the three of you going out unsupervised, I highly doubt something isn’t going to end up destroyed intentionally.”  She narrowed her eyes challengingly at Wally.  “In fact, I bet my trip is less destructive than yours.”  

Wally sat up and grinned back at her.  “Oh, you’re on.  Two dozen cupcakes every day for a week if I win.  My choice of flavors.”  

“And no eating any food I make for a week if I win,” she smirked back at him.

“You know, there’s more than just you two in on this bet,” Conner reminded them.

“Oh?  And what is it you want from Chimera when we win?” Robin asked with a devious smirk.

Conner glared darkly at him, but his cheeks turned a bright red.  “I get to choose what we watch for a week.”

Chimera groaned and dropped her head.  “Nooooo.”

“Backing out?” he grinned, raising a challenging eyebrow and moving closer to tower over her.

“Never,” she scoffed.  “Just trying to imagine a full week of exclusively Conner-chosen programming.”  She pretended to shudder.  “The horror.”

He grinned down at her and took a step closer again until he was almost chest to chest with her.  “Better not lose then.”

Chimera matched his grin and straightened up. “Oh I don’t intend to.  There’s no way you guys will be able to stop yourselves from getting involved in any and every drama you walk in on.  By the way, getting into a fight counts, even if you don’t destroy any property.”

The moment was broken when Robin spoke up. “I want chocolate macarons.”

Chimera shook her head and gave a sweet smile to Conner as she made her way to the door.  She bumped Robin’s shoulder as she passed him.  “Dream on, Bird Boy.”

Wally watched her leave the room with Robin and turned to Conner.  “Whatever happens this weekend, we absolutely cannot allow anything to get destroyed because of us.  Agreed?”

Conner nodded.  “Agreed.”

Robin watched Chimera closely as they walked. She was quieter than usual. Normally she’d still be trash talking with him about the bet.  She was extremely competitive and her personality flourished when there was a challenge.  But now, she had a carefully crafted neutral expression on her face that he would have absolutely bought if he didn’t know her better.  “You sure you’re okay?” he asked.

She smiled at him.  A fake smile that he didn’t buy for a second.  “Of course.  You just heard me tell Conner, it’ll be fine.”  She looked back forward quickly.

“Are you upset about us teasing you about Roy?”

She huffed out a laugh.  “No.  It’s fine. Honestly, less teasing than my friends back home would do.  I’m tough. I can take it.”

Robin looked back toward the kitchen.  “I don’t know that Conner feels the same way,” he said carefully.

Chimera eyed him suspiciously.  “Robin…”  She pursed her lips and took a breath.  “Then maybe you should stop doing it around him.”

“Maybe you should put him out of his misery, and yours,” Robin snapped back a bit harsher than he meant.

“Robin, you know I can’t,” she shook her head and looked down.

“I just want to… you two just seem so… are you sure?” he tried again.

“Robin…” she repeated, but her voice was considerably sadder this time.  She pursed her lips and looked back forlornly toward where Conner and Wally were waiting for Robin.  She let out a deep sigh that became a boom sound and expanded her fingers out, miming an explosion.  “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Does it really matter if you’re officially together or not when things like that,” he motioned toward the kitchen, “happen so often?  You guys are… you’re perfect for each other.  You make each other happy.  I can’t believe you’re not meant to be together.”

“Yes, it does,” she answered sharply.  “It matters.  That’s what I’ve learned.  That’s what the universe taught me.”

He took a deep breath to prepare himself for this. He’d been working on what to say for a few weeks.  Just the right way to phrase it so it hit right, so she thought it was a matter of helping him, not herself.  Because that was her weakness, if you could call it that; protecting the people she loved, whatever the cost to her.  “I just… the result of being a hero can’t be to be miserable.  I need to believe that you can still be happy, that I can be happy, but between you and Batman...”

“Of course you can be happy,” she jumped in instantly, just as Robin had been hoping she would.  “You and Zatanna are happy now.  And even if that doesn’t last, you know you still can be.  And Batman…” she grimaced unsure how to sell a happy Batman.  “Wally! He and Artemis are adorable.”

“Oh come on.  Wally’s going to mess that up, you know him,” Robin scoffed.

Chimera rolled her eyes.  “And Artemis will knock him back into shape.  You know her. No, I think they’re in it for the long haul.  ‘Til death do them part.”

Robin shook his head.  He needed to focus it back to her and him.  “I need to know that someone like you gets to be happy too, or what’s the point?  We’re constantly in terrible situations.  We constantly see miserable things.  That’s a part of our lives… but we can still be happy… right?”  He was laying it on thick.  He knew he was laying it on thick and he knew that if anyone else was doing this other than him, Chimera would have picked up on it all of two seconds into the conversation.  But he needed to get to her, to make her stop and think.  And if that meant manipulating her into it, he’d do it… again.  But she was like a sister to him. She was family.  And when it’s family, it isn’t manipulating, it’s meddling.  And meddling is okay.  Meddling is the way family show they love each other.  

“Being in terrible situations doesn’t mean your personal life has to be too.  But, it’s different for me, Robin.  Things… things get destroyed when I fall in love; buildings, monuments, countries, moons, planets…  The universe made sure I understood my lesson well.  But you!”  She gave him a bright smile and set her hands on his shoulders.  “You have a heart so big.  It could....”

Robin gaped at her.  “You know he was just teasing right?” he interrupted before she could finish her sentence.  “About you destroying stuff everywhere you go.  Chi, you… you don’t… Chi, that isn’t anywhere near the truth.  Terrible things happened, but that isn’t your fault. That’s the situations you were forced into.  It isn’t you!”

Chimera nodded at him and gave him an utterly unconvincing smile.  “Yeah. I know.”  She gave him a quick hug and pulled away almost as quickly.  “You guys have fun, okay?  And if you need anything, just give me a call, okay?” She ruffled his hair again before punching her destination into the Zeta tube interface.  “I’ll get notified even if I’m not transformed.”

“Chi,” Robin started again, but she was already standing in the Zeta tube platform.  There wasn’t enough time to finish that conversation, so instead he answered with, “yeah, okay.  I will.” He continued to stare at the Zeta tube for a few seconds before making his way back to the kitchen.

“Did you tell her?” Conner asked as soon as Robin made it back to the kitchen.

Robin shook his head, still looking back toward the Zeta tube.  Conner nodded at his response.  “That’s probably for the best.  She'd freak out if she knew.  She’d be looking over her shoulder the entire time.”

“Yeah, what are the odds we'd run into them anyway?” Wally grinned.  “Now come on! We need to get going too.  We just need to make sure we go to the Metropolis entrance she didn’t use.”

“Right,” Conner nodded and started walking to the Zeta tubes.  “You got our bags, right Robin?”

<><><><><> 

“And just twenty minutes ago, I was so happy Superman isn’t in town this weekend,” Marinette sighed and banged her head against the wall she was leaning against.

“He’s what!” Alya whisper yelled.  Adrien and Nino shushed her while Chloe scoffed at her. “Go ahead and announce our presence, why don’t you?”  Nino put his hand on Alya’s shoulder to keep her from pouncing on Chloe.

Marinette tried to tune them out as she assessed the scene in front of her.  There were at least three figures on their floor, but there had been at least four more that had taken any people they saw back down to the toy store’s main floor with the rest of the hostages and she spotted a different three coming up as the others were going down.  That was ten, but they had no way to know how many were in the store.  The marionette looking villains were holding everyone they caught in an area that was out of their line of sight.  

“Don’t know if the Bat is covering for him, but he is off-world.  We are likely on our own,” Marinette whispered distractedly.  “Trixx, can you peek at the main area and see how many captors you see and estimate how many victims there are.”  Trixx nodded in understanding and phased through the floor.

“Oh well that’s just brilliant, isn’t it,” Chloe groused.  “This was your idea, Agreste.  I wanted to go to a spa, but noooo.  We had to visit the giant toy store.  ‘It’ll be such a fun end to the visit,’” she groused in a poor imitation of his voice.  “And now we’re in the middle of yet another attack, without magic protection.  And there’s no miracle cure for this.  If anything happens, just know, I blame you.”

“You’re welcome to hide, you know,” Adrien pointed out quietly.

“No, I’m going to help.  I’m just going to complain the entire time,” Chloe groused again.

“So, no different than usual,” Nino nodded, keeping his eyes on the situation in front of him.

Chloe glared at him, but before she could retort Trixx popped back up.  “I counted nine doll-looking guys downstairs, Guardian.  And at least twenty-five people being held by them,” Trixx reported quietly.  

Marinette nodded, silently processing all the information she had.  “Got a plan?” Adrien asked barely above a whisper, keeping his eyes on the main aisle.

Marinette ignored him, running scenarios through her head.  “They’re moving strangely.  Their movements are stunted.  Either they’re not human or someone else is controlling them.”

“Or both,” Adrien added quietly.

“Or both,” Marinette agreed.  “What do you think the odds are that they are… like robotic marionettes?”

Nino nodded along with her train of thought. “I’d say high.  They all walk too oddly to be human and there’s too many to each be remote controlled, so robot seems most likely.”

Marinette gave a single nod.  Her face morphed into a determined look, ready to go into battle. “We can use that against them.”

“Suit up?” Alya asked.  

Marinette’s body tensed at the thought.  Finally after a few seconds, she took a deep breath and let it out.  “Not unless necessary.  There’s an awful lot of cameras around here and I don’t have extra miraculous for you guys. We’re going to have to figure out a way to lure some away from the main group without the others noticing anything. Chloe, think you can work something out?”  She stared at the stairway as she spoke.  

“Can I get someone’s complete attention and manipulate them into doing what I want?  Are you seriously asking me that?” she scoffed.

Marinette rolled her eyes.  “Well then get on it.  It would help if we could find something to fight with.”

Alya cleared her throat lightly.  “Anyone feel like channeling Harley Quinn?” she asked with a smirk, twirling a bat in her hands.  

“Yes!” Adrien whisper yelled.  

“Fine, but I’m not dying my hair though or doing the pigtails,” Chloe grunted.

<><><><><> 

Marinette had always had an appreciation for stuffed cats.  She’d had one on her bed for years before she became Ladybug and after she did, she had an affinity for Chat Noir themed stuffies.  She still had one on her bed in the Cave.  But she can honestly say she has never been as thankful for them as she was right now.

She rolled off the large stuffed cat she had landed on when she tackled the marionette doll, causing both of them to fall over the railing.  Her smartest move?  No. But it was trying to drag an unconscious Chloe away.  She had to stop it and maybe she had some anger issues lately resulting from violently repressing any slightly negative emotions for years, a fact which she was not willing to admit to anyone else currently.

“I’m counting that for me as a save,” Adrien whisper yelled down to her.

“It’s pink,” she called back.  She raised her hand as she spoke, narrowing her eyes toward Adrien.  She grabbed the bat Nino threw to her in one seeming effortless motion without taking her eyes off of Adrien.  She used the momentum from the catch to smoothly swing the bat back up, connecting to the marionette robot’s head.  She didn’t knock it completely off, but she managed to sever enough wires and connections in the neck to make it collapse on the floor. “… that makes it count as mine,” she finished.

“Bullshit,” Adrien pouted.

Marinette smirked at him quickly before her face turned serious.  “How many are left?”

“I think they’re all gone, at least the ones in here,” a voice answered.

Marinette’s head snapped to the familiar voice. “Con… can I assume you took care of a few of them as well?” she winced internally at the extremely awkward transition to cover her gap.

“We got four of them,” Robin confirmed, coming up next to Conner.  Conner kept his focus on Marinette.  There was something incredibly familiar in her eyes, but he couldn’t place it, but whatever it was, he was having a hard time looking away.

Marinette nodded.  “We got six, I think.”  She turned up toward the second level.  “That sound right?”

Nino nodded.  “We each got one and that one makes two for you.”

Marinette nodded in understanding and started reviewing what she knew.  “That’s ten. There were at least twelve.  Are you sure…”

“That’s only five,” Wally interrupted her looking from her friends to her.

Marinette looked back up to her friends and realized the confusion.  “No, we have another friend.  She got knocked out.”

“Where?” Adrien asked.

Marinette gave him a confused look.  “There?”

“What?” Nino asked, coming up next to him.

“There.  It knocked her out right before I tackled it.  That’s why I did it.  She was right next to where I went over,” Marinette explained slowly.

“She’s not up here, M,” Alya said.

“Son of a…” Adrien growled, taking off to look for her. The rest followed suit, running down different aisles to find Chloe.  Marinette ran up the stairs two at a time to help look.  

“Who are we looking for?”  Wally asked.  “I mean what does she look like?”

“Blonde, blue eyes, yellow shirt, pissed off scowl,” Marinette answered over her shoulders, feeling completely confident he would use his powers to search for her.  Her suspicion was confirmed when she felt two rushes of air at her side. She strained her ears and was just barely able to hear him tell Robin that he didn’t find anyone like that. She mentally cursed and started trying to figure out a plan before she even reached the top of the stairs.  

“I didn’t find her,” Adrien announced, walking back toward them.  

“Me either,” Alya and Nino chorused coming from their sections of the store.

“Damn it.  Are you sure there aren’t any more of those robot things in here?” Marinette asked the Team.

Wally nodded.  “We’re positive.”

Marinette nodded and started moving toward the far wall. “Did any of you see an exit up here?”

“Yeah, over there,” Wally motioned toward a back corner.

“You think she was taken?” Conner asked.

Marinette nodded moving quickly toward the exit. “She got knocked out.  Even if she’d woken up, she’d be too weak to leave on her own, especially without notifying one of us.  She knows the protocols.”

“You guys have protocols for going after villains?” Robin asked skeptically.

Alya scoffed at him.  “You don’t?”

Robin blinked at her a few times.  “I’m from Gotham, of course I have protocols for it.”

“You guys should stay and talk to the police. We’ll look for your friend,” Wally promised, giving the other Team members a look of understanding.  Conner and Robin nodded in agreement.

“We’ll go with you,” Marinette stated with finality.

“No, we got it,” Conner stated in the same tone.

She cocked an eyebrow at him.  “Okay, we’ll go separate.”  She shrugged at him.  She turned back to Nino and Alya.  “Can you listen to the police gossip and do some research, see if you can figure out who might be behind it and let us know along with anything else you find.”

“Will do, L… Dudette,” Nino stuttered.  He grimaced internally at the almost slip up.  “We’ll talk to the police while you go get our girl.”

With her attention on Nino, she missed the Team slipping out the door, though Adrien watched them with a curious look. Marinette turned to Adrien.  “You don’t have to come with us… if you’d rather stay with Alya and Nino.”

Adrien shook his head and gave her a supportive smile. “I’m with you, ‘til the end of the line.”

Marinette gave him a flat look.  “You realize the guy that said that almost died, got his mind wiped and turned into a super assassin, killed Tony Stark’s parents, and tried to kill the person he said it to.  Maybe not the bar to go for.”

Adrien shrugged and let out a noncommittal grunt. “Worked out in the end.  I have complete faith in you.  I always have.”  He gave her a meaningful look.  She gave him a guilty look that he couldn’t allow to continue.  “You want to tell me about…” he motioned to the door where the Team had escaped through, changing the focus of the conversation away from their past and onto her present.

Marinette held her finger up for him to wait and typed out a text she didn’t send.  ‘I’m not allowed to say.’  His eyes widened and he motioned toward the door with his head.  He mouthed ‘really?’  She nodded in confirmation.

“What the hell… Are you sure this is a good idea?” Adrien gave her a dubious look.

She smiled at him.  “I’m not sure, but I’m not going to not get Chloe.  Can you imagine the fallout from that?  Leaving her rescue to someone else?”

Adrien grimaced.  “Valid.”

“And I really want to.  I mean I’m,” she motioned to herself, “and they’re,” she motioned toward the door they had gone through.  “I’ve never gotten to… they’ve never… I don’t know if this will happen again.”

Adrien nodded and gave her an understanding look. “Yeah, I get that.  Okay.  Let’s do this.”

She gave him a wide excited grin, and started bouncing on her toes.  “Yay!” She focused back on her phone and started tapping rapidly.

“You got her?” he asked coming up next to her to look at her screen.

“Just a second.”  She tapped her screen a few more times.  “Got her,” she said tilting her phone to show Adrien.  

Adrien nodded and pulled his phone out.  He pulled up his messaging app and followed her example, typing a text he didn’t send.  ‘You let Batman know?’

Marinette smiled and nodded as she typed a response. ‘Already sent him her phone’s info and who’s looking for her… as civilians.  Wish was a video call.  Know he would have smirked.’

They pushed through the exit, almost running into the Team, who were talking in hushed tones.  Robin tucked his phone in his back pocket.

“I told you before, we got this,” Conner insisted. “The way you took care of that robot before was impressive, but this is likely to get a lot more dangerous.  We can handle it.”

Marinette cocked her head to the side, opening her eyes wide in exaggerated innocence.  “Thank you, but… then it’s dangerous for you too, isn’t it?”  She looked at Robin and Wally and back to him. “I mean we’re all in the same boat here, right?  Experience wise?”  She ignored the coughing fit Adrien faked to cover up his laughter.

Robin spoke up, “I’m from Gotham.  We’re used to villains kidnapping people.  We know how to handle it.”

Adrien raised an eyebrow and shared a look with Marinette.  “And we’re from Paris,” he intoned.  “It was a lifestyle for a few years there.”

Marinette quirked her lip to the side in an amused smirk at the boys’ confused stares.  “Look, it’s our friend who got kidnapped and it’s our drama you’ve walked in on. We’re going.  If you guys are so insistent on getting involved with our drama, we won’t stop you.”  Robin opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get it out, Marinette continued.  “So Gotham, try to keep up, because we’re able to track her,” she held up her phone which showed a map with a dot moving on it.  “…so unless you have a bloodhound in that hoodie pocket, we’re leading the way.” She ruffled his hair as she passed him to get to the stairs.  Was she being a terrible older sister?  No. She was being an amazing older sister, pushing all his buttons.  Isn’t that how all families showed love?  And the best part was he didn’t know to get her back for it.  Free harassment.  What kind of sister would she be if she passed that up?

Robin glared at her and Conner didn’t look much happier, likely upset because it meant they wouldn’t get to use their superpowers, but still followed her down the stairs.  She was right.  They had no way to track their friend without their help.  They would just have to hold off on the superpowers until they got closer and hope they could break off to where the two couldn’t see them rescuing their friend.  Wally however, was grimacing as he brought up the end of the line behind Adrien on the stairs, thinking about the cupcakes he was about to lose.  Maybe if they didn’t cause too much more damage, they could still win.  

“This isn’t the first time we’ve had to rescue Chloe from a villain’s hench… thing.  I swear if I had a nickel for every time she’s gotten kidnapped… I’d only have like fifteen or twenty nickels but still it’s strange that it’s happened that many times.”  Marinette looked back over her shoulder with a smirk, like she was in on a private joke.

Adrien set his mouth and pursed his lips.  He refused to laugh at her comment, no matter how badly he wanted to.  He looked between the guy behind him and the two ahead of him with an overly bright smile. “Hi, I’m Adrien.  If we’re working together, we should probably know each other’s names.”

“Wally,” Wally offered with a chuckle.  Unlike Adrien, he had no issue laughing at her comment.

“Robin,” Robin stated diplomatically, still trying to figure out if her comment was correct.  He’d been the victim of kidnapping attempts multiple times both as Dick and Robin, but he didn’t know why her friend would have been so often.

Conner continued to stare at Marinette mutely, trying to figure her out better.  If he stared long enough, maybe he could place where he’d seen her beautiful eyes before.  Marinette gave him a bright, warm smile.  “Oh,” Marinette paused and turned to look back at them as they all got onto the ground with a bright, warm smile, “Marinette.  My name is Marinette.”

Conner looked away.  Marinette thought she saw his cheeks darken slightly when their eyes met, but that could have easily been the taillights from the car that just parked near them.  “Conner,” he grumbled.

Marinette nodded at him, giving him a sweet smile. “It is really nice to meet you,” she said earnestly, looking at the other Team members, “all of you.”  She took a beat to look at them without a mask and nodded.  “Okay, let’s get going then, before Chloe breaks a nail and we have to hear about it for the next six months,”

“Or you know, someone dies,” Conner argued, following her down the road.

Adrien shook his head behind him.  “I don’t think we have to worry about that.  She won’t kill anyone.”

“Probably… unless they mess with her hair,” Marinette added.

“Most likely,” Adrien agreed with a nod.

Robin gave Wally a confused, questioning look as they followed behind.  Wally returned the look.  Who the hell were these people?

Chapter 12

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[simplystefanie-rae]

got series finale

Anyway random thoughts i had last night that I can remember:

I remember wanting to block out the first half hour because this ‘dany is a 2 dimensional villain used only to cause jon man pain’ was just torture to get through

tryion walked WAY too fucking long. are long tracking shots where people walk the only thing they can direct, do they think its artsy. you can only do so many of them before you get bored

greyworm im so sorry they had you end up this way

why is this show acting like the devastation the smallfolk suffered actually matters when they never gave a shit before

if jaime and cersei took like 5 steps back they would have been fine and not artily crushed to death

(tyrion to jon: ‘you heard her speech, did it sound like she was finished?’

me: but she wasnt speaking english)

i snorted at that scene where drogons wings were used as a backdrop on dany. Like yeah it looked really fucking cool but at the same time it was so stupidly on the nose evil lol

emilia clarke as just been carrying the entire season with her face acting alone and i cant believe im saying that now when i thought she couldnt act, i guess it really was just shit directing, surprise surprise 

they made jon such a fucking idiot, all because they wanted him to be tortured by this decision in killing dany

tyrions entire talk about how all her righteous killing is a slippery slope is such fucking bullshit, they framed EVERY one of those scenes as a triumph we should root for. And with the exception of her burning the Khals religious place, why WOULDN’T we cheer for her executing slavers. like why is that being questioned. oh wait i know why they must have read some anti dany meta online and decided to ignore their own story for the sake of this bs dany is a crazy bitch plot

why didnt drogon also kill jon, like literally the entire time i was like ‘oh shit jons gonna be burned alive holding dany, well that makes sense, BECAUSE I SURE DONT KNOW HOW HE’D GET OUT ALIVE OTHERWISE CONSIDERING HE JUST KILLED THEIR QUEEN’

little did i know

why wasnt jon killed on sight because you know this bitch just went right up to greyworm and was like ‘i killed her’

whatever. anyway sure glad drogon can understand basic ASOIAF themes even if the writers couldnt. not that burning the iron throne mattered in the slightest

and again how dare they act like the smallfolk and what dany did to them matter NOW when they just go right back to ignoring their existence, nay, downright LAUGHING at the thought of them getting a say in how theyre governed 

urgh

fuck this is long. okay well the entire outdoor council scene was really dumb. greyworm was all like ‘we control this city and demand JUSTICE’ but allows their prisoner tyrion the Most Moral Man to choose an opposing king. why. what??

have fun when bran dies and this council cant decide on a new king/queen

also poor fucking edmure, why was he even there. see this is how you know D&D dont understand these characters, like yeah im sure sansa would totally disrespect the last tully, her MOMS BROTHER. but lolol its comedy i guess

robert arryn + breast milk= jokes on us for making fun of him all those years i guess lol

seriously i dont understand why tyrion has this much clout with anyone

so is the underlying thing here that bran just NEEDED jon to know that he was rheagars son just so he, BRAN, could be king. that he knew what dany would do and that it would force jon to kill her making way for him, bran. to be king. 

can bronn even read

what math does he know

why isnt brienne sansa’s queensguard

bran: ill find drogon 

okay like what then tho. god i kind of wish there WAS a little ending scene where drogon took dany to asshai and she was resurrected 

jon losing his man bun = coming full circle in D&D’s eyes

sansa’s dress already had major points in my book for not being black and bdsm-ish looking. it was so gorgeous, i need better stills of it

that said as much as i liked her being crowned queen it felt hollow, not just because her family wasn’t there for it, but because there was not ONE face we knew there that I could see, and there was hardly anyone there at all in the first place.  

glad arya found her family just to leave her family. again. 

if this were a better show, i could like the starks not being able to truly be together again, at least in body. So much has changed all of them, they’re all on different paths, and as long as they all know that they’re okay then the distance shouldn’t matter. But this show didnt earn that type of nuanced ending

and i guess thats it. i feel like i should say something about jaime and brienne but i think everyone said what im thinking last episode. brienne writing in the book just felt like a knife twisted in the gut since once again they’re doing this thing where they’re pretending this significant thing matters after they got their disrespect juice all over it

[militant-holy-knight]

Benioff and Weiss Were Always Hacks: You Only Noticed Now

Or why you should be worried for the future Star Wars movies made by them

(Disclaimer: this blogpost contains spoilers for Game of Thrones)

With only two episodes left for the series to reach it’s conclusion and the announcement for future Star Wars movies in the horizon made by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (henceforth referred to as D&D for simplicity sake), not many fans seem to be excited about it as they should due to the creative choices taken in regards to the final season of Game of Thrones. Speaking as a GoT fan, I used to enjoy the show a lot and I believe it reached it’s peak on Season 4 and started to go went downhill on Season 5. If D&D were in charge from the beginning what happened?

D&D’s job was always to adapt the book series by George R. R. Martin, which means any merit to the show’s writing can be attributed largely to Martin while D&D were only fit for it to make it work into a tv show - which is still laudable in it’s own right because there are things in the books that still wouldn’t translate too well into the show. In any case, they did their job well from Season 1 to Season 4 which adapted the first trilogy in the series. Even though there are still five books in total released at the time, Season 5 is where they started to run out of material to adapt because some storylines didn’t find their proper conclusion and they needed to come up with their own unique deviations.

Season 5 is considered by many fans to be the low point in the series because of it’s extremely low pacing and controversial liberties taken: the biggest ones have to be the Dorne subplot because that meant axing popular book character Arianne Martell, Stannis Baratheon turning irredeemable evil and paying with his life and Sansa’s marriage to Ramsay Snow leading to her rape, which is still a very hot button among the fandom to this day (and understandably so). Season 5 did have some moments like Hardhome which showed the strength of the true villain of the series, the Night King, the leader of the White Walker invasion who brings winter with him. He is the Thanos-like menace who is teased since the very start of the show with the very first scene opening with a White Walker killing some Night Watch’s rangers and warning us about the danger he represents.

Season 6 fixed some of these problems by giving a more dynamic pacing and build it up with the Battle of the Bastards as the climatic encounter instead of something completely anti-climatic like Season 5′s finale where Stannis Baratheon’s forces were liquidated by the Boltons offscreen. But still, it was an entire season wasted to fix another one’s problems and it still had some individual problems. 

And then Season 7 came along and it all went to waste. I wouldn’t say it was as bad as Season 5 because at least shit happened and it wasn’t boring, but it was still full of groan-worthy moments like trying to force some romance between Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen which doesn’t work because they have no chemistry and they are related by blood, curing Jorah Mormont who has been infected with a dangerous disease that will turn him into a snow zombie by simply cutting out the infected area, and of course lest we forget the Wight Hunt in Episode 6 “Beyond the Wall” which broke all suspension of disbelief. Lemme sum it up for you what happens in that episode so you can get the idea and let me put up a map so you can get it from reference.

The heroes come up with the idea to capture an Wight and bring it South to convince Cersei to from a truce.

The travel by boat to the Wall from their base on Dragonstone.

After reaching the Wall, they walk into the land beyond it to find a wight.

They find one and send one of their members back to ask reinforcements having to sprint a indeterminate distance.

The team gets surrounded by the Night King’s army in a frozen lake for a indeterminate amount of time.

The allies at the Wall send a raven back to Dragonstone requesting help.

Daenerys summons her dragons to fly to the land beyond the Wall to rescue the heroes.

They are fighting to the last against the advancing horde of the Night King just before Daenerys arrives in a triumphant moment to save them.

And all of this happens like... Within a hour apparently. Several days should have taken place between this exchange but time moves at the speed of the plot, but D&D seem to be relying on emotional torque to get viewers to ignore all internal logic and be mindblown by the crowning moments of awesome. And this is the core issue with their writing.

D&D write their scenes the same way they film sex scenes apparently, hoping that the emotional moments will make the audience be carried over. Thing is... I realized this after thinking up about many moments in the past. Hardhome was one such example in Season 5 to make up for its abhorrent dullness and even Season 6 wasn’t safe from this. For example, remember how Rickon Stark died just so he could provoke Jon Snow to act irrationally and spur him into conflict? Why didn’t Rickon run in zig-zag when Ramsay began firing arrows at him? Why did he run into a straight line? Did these writers not watch Prometheus to learn their lessons from it’s mistakes? This problem was carried over in Season 8 and amplified a lot in the Long Night. Many people pointed out the several military blunders made by the protagonists when fighting against the Night King’s army.

I could talk about the moronic choice to film everything in absolute darkness and make it impossible to see shit.

I could talk about how idiotic it was to waste your cavalry against the enemy bulwark.

I could talk about how they didn’t create trenches with tar or use fire for more effective manner against the undead.

But I’d rather talk about that moment.

Arya killing the Night King.

You know at first I was okay with that because:

I wasn’t being a fan of Jon Snow in a long time.

Arya wasn’t a Mary Sue, had skills that justified her, so I could buy it better.

But the more I thought about it, more I came to the realization that it was a wrong choice all along.

Arya never had any investment in killing the Night King. She was a character defined by a list of people she wanted to kill including the Freys, Cersei, Joffrey and others.

Arya was trained as an assassin yes... But her training in Season 5 and 6 was very lackluster. She spent some time doing menial works, impersonating some people and trying to spill some poison on someone’s drink. She never learned invisibility, teleportation or any other cool shit.

And most importantly... Melisandre predicting that Arya would shut down “blue eyes” way back when they met in Season 3. If she sensed she was always destined to kill the Night King why did she ever support Stannis? Why did she even support Jon Snow? She even referred to him as the Prince that was Promised. Some fans can try to spin this as much as they want, but it breaks the plot retroactively very hard.

The actress herself didn’t think she deserved it

Of course all of these things were ignored by a large part of the fanbase, more specifically the “woke” crowd because YAS QUEEN SLAY. Little did they know that the very next episode would force them to eat a real shit sandwich when “The Last of the Starks” seemed to turn the narrative against Daenerys Targaryen by turning her into the Mad Queen, killing her handmaiden Missandei and setting up Jon to be the next King of Westeros. Not helping matters is that a series of leaks not yet confirmed as of the time of writing were released prior to the episode (but I personally feel they were legitimate due to some specific things but that is not the point) which sent many Daenerys fans into panic mode.

Speaking as someone who really doesn’t like Daenerys Targaryen, I can actually sympathize with them at some level because this shift appears to be very sudden specially now that the authors favored her more until this very moment. Some viewers can argue that there were always signs like her burning the Tarlys for refusing to bend the knee, which I personally took issue with before but it never really came across as the sign of an insane ruler since she offered very valid rebuttals. It all seemed like the plot was tailored to take her side no matter what and I considered Dany a Mary Sue. But just because they seem to be turning her into a villain now, it doesn’t make me hate the story any less.

Now... I spent an inordinate amount of time bitching about Game of Thrones and if you are an Star Wars fan that doesn’t know anything about it, you might be lost to anything I am writing. Well I needed to give an proper context to both GoT and SW fans since those seem to overlap now and give you a warning because Star Wars seems to be more lost now than ever. D&D were never particularly good writers, they were incoherent about continuity, care more about spectacle over substance and seem to share a thing about subverting the audience’s expectations like a certain Ruin Johnson who succeeded in completely ruining a franchise like there was no tomorrow. The key difference between D&D and Ruin is that the duo doesn’t share the same flippant attitude or picking up fights with fans on Twitter - on the contrary, D&D understand the power of fanservice even if it means daggling the metaphorical shining keys in front of the audience. 

As we come close to Game of Thrones conclusion, I have a feeling that nobody will truly come out satisfied with it should the story take the direction that we are really dreading. I’ve seen interviews about how Emilia Clarke sounds really sad and deflated, seemed like she was really disappointed with how the show ended. Whatever happens, the blame can be laid on the feet of Benioff and Weiss for their frankly baffling creative decisions. This season has been disappointing through and through with two or three episodes being needlessly long and filler to booth and to make matters worse, it was supposed to end earlier than 10 episodes. Why did they need to rush it and yet fill the series with so much dead air?

Now can you imagine a Star Wars movie made by them? With all these things I listed? The next trilogy is already dated, we don't know if it's D&D or Ruin Johnson yet. We are talking about a couple of writers that have no sense of realistic scale, continuity or logic, but rely on cheap emotional tricks to have the audience invested until they begin thinking about it. I would laugh until I was sick if this season turns everyone against those two fuckwads that Disney changes their mind about putting them in charge. If the world was a just place, this is what would happen at least.

[thebargainingchip]

Blood Colors: Chapter 5

Pairing: Roan x Reader

Warnings: Violence, Implied Suicide

Previous Chapter

Chapter 1

You were just beginning to think how familiar the site of the king's quarters were becoming to you when you walked in. Except for this time Roan was there accompanied by Echo. Conspirador numero uno didn't stop with her whispers even as you stood there. " Yu beda don frag em bilaik. (You should have killed them both)" Roan gave her a look and she finally shut up. You kind of wished you had that power. She didn't care to apologise as she walked into you when she left, the doors slammed shut behind her.

You could see the anger bloom over Roan's features as he pushed himself up away from the map he had been leaning over and turned away from you. The silence lingered so long, you decided to remind him that you were still there:

"Do you-"

"That was stupid and reckless." Roan stated.

"And?" That made him turn back around with a glare.

"And that's exactly what you're not here to do."

"Then what the hell am I here to do? I don't recall there being any instructions or rules."

"Do I need to babysit you too?" He questioned.

"Are you blind? I'm not Clarke, I am not some born leader, in fact, I'm the total opposite. Maybe no one told you what you signed up for but I have a haywire moral compass. So I need to know what the hell do you want?" That shut him up, at least for two seconds as the crown ways heavy on his head, he sighs.

"How'd you do it?" The sudden change in subject and tone was surprising, to say the least. You lifted up your shirt revealing chain male underneath. "You just wear that around?"

"I was cold." A look of amusement flashed through his eyes. If anything Roan liked you, you concluded, who goes from scolding to a joke in 0.5 seconds flat. You also knew however that it would come second to his duties. "It was dark and I couldn't see, I could go on." He leaned against the table and folded his arms and an actual smirk on his face.

"Please do."

"Don't criticise me, it saved me and you in the end." You shot back.

"Oh and how exactly did it save me?" Roan frowned.

"Saved you from the wrath of Lexa and Clarke. Granted I'll have a few bruises but at least I saved your ungrateful ass."

"Is that a joke?"

"No."

"Prove your worth to Azgeda." You were frozen for a moment.

"That's what you want?"

"That's not what I want that's what we need, that's what your clan need. And although it was completely idiotic, you did prove some of it today." He gave you a pointed glare just to make sure that you knew he didn't approve of that particular method.

"And how do I do that?"

"I don't know. Bilaik st yu dula, kripa kom Skaikru. (That is your job, demon)." Roan answered, you nodded, you could do that.

You were already up when the knock sounded at the door and Oren burst in, just as you were tying your hair back.

"You should stop knocking, it's pointless if you're going to violet my privacy anyway." You deadpanned.

"Haihefa don nau teik in yu kom bants. (The King has forbid you to leave)"

"Of course he has." You got rid of the idea to train in the courtyard, casting your sword on the bed and unwrapping your hands. Halfway through you stopped and look at Oren again. "Are you waiting for a treat or?"

"The King also said I'm supposed to stay by your side."

"No." You continued unwrapping.

"But-"

"I don't care. Fat load of good you were yesterday."

"I couldn't-"

"Oren, I don't care. I can protect myself, always have and always will." Oren quieted with a contemplative look, with your relentless resolve he left, closing the doors behind you.

It was nearly afternoon when you had long since tired of staring out the window at the snow falling softly as the soldiers trained in the courtyard. There was a little commotion outside your door and you perked up. The King entered with an apologising Oren on his heels, just as you stood from the ground turning away from the big window and letting the fur blanket fall from your shoulders embracing the coldness that accompanied the two men into the room.

"You really are stubborn." He commented not entirely a joke or a criticism. "Council meeting, I would like you there." Roan said, you nodded.

So far you have discovered just how rude Azgeda has been, they barely knock, they greet new people with daggers and they stare. The tension was clear as you stepped into the room behind the King, bows turning into something more reluctant as they stood straight. When Roan sat everyone sat, you shifted your gaze over the faces of Roan's Councilmen and women from your position next to him. All of them, armed, not short of the physics or markings that Azgedan warriors possessed. You didn't exactly expect the council to consist of merchants and noble, Azgeda was a War Nation after all.

"This my guest. Y/n kom Skaikru. Bandrona gon em kru. (Ambassador for her people)" Nothing could resolve the tension that still lingered. Roan nodded to the man standing in the corner who stepped forward unrolling a piece of paper.

"In the previous meeting lead by Queen Nia's hand, Thoff kom Azgeda, the following problems were unresolved : The Eastern village, Stromclud and Luktri have sent in requests for food for the winter." Roan's gaze shifted over the faces of the people at the table. "How much do we have in our stores?"

"Our reserves are limited , haihefa, we might be able to feed the eastern village."

"Chomauda osir kodon? Skaikru fleim daun mous Luktri, emo beda kof. (Why should we share? Skaikru burned most of Luktri, they should pay)" One of the councilmen piped up glaring at you.

"You will speak English in front of our guest." The King demanded.

"Skaikru hon in nou spek duan kom ai. (Skaikru get no respect from me)"

"Luktri fleim daun kom Kane, em nou chich gon skaikru. (Luktri was burned down by Kane, he doesn't speak for Skaikru)." the silence that followed your words was enough to let you know that no one expected you knew the language.

The uproar began right after, feeling threatened the man stood as he raised his voice.

"Sit down, Councillor." He didn't obey.

"We can't keep trading an eye for an eye with Skaikru, it will not benefit us, especially now that we should be preoccupied with the real problem, to get through this winter." Another councillor said standing to meet the gaze of the bulky man who was glaring at you.

"Natrona (Traitor)." He spit on the ground beside him. The whole room burst into a screaming match.

You were still trying to get rid of the headache as you walked back to your room. "Are you even listening?" Roan asked.

"How can I listen when I'm deaf." The meeting was a tad unsuccessful, Roan had to dismiss the whole room -the loudest you ever heard Roan yell in your life-, to get rid of the chaos.

"This is how it always is, Azgeda doesn't do calm. Besides were sitting in a room full of war generals. Council meetings are rarely successful, but part of tradition, which is the only reason I don't just make the decisions myself, which is what my mother used to do anyway."

"Skaikru has enough." Roan stopped in his tracks and turned to you eyebrow raised.

"How do you know?"

"We raided mount weather not too long ago, before you're people blew it up. We had to freeze our crops for because our food supply was off the charts. The crops could feed hundreds for winter."

"And why would Skaikru give up resources earned from hard labour?" He questioned, eyebrow raised.

"Well, for one technically we did burn the Luktri village and if we want to get in Azgeda's good books then why not?"

"That's still not enough but it would help. Our only problem is that Azgeda won't accept anything from Skaikru."

"Are you talking about the villagers or the councillors?" You asked.

"We could host a tournament, the losing village among the three will be awarded weapons to hunt their food for the winter." Roan suggested.

"Tournament? Sounds violent, judging by what I've seen to far."

"It is the Azgeda way." Roan said firmly. "Ambassador." He greeted before he left.

Oren was somewhat like a lost puppy. He followed you to the mess hall where you ate your meals and back again to your room, he accompanied you to the courtyard as you trained assuring him that technically you weren't leaving the castle after all.

Roan was to be officially crowned tonight, his court only consisted of his most fearsome warriors and notable war figures. The mess hall tables were filled to the brim while you had been invited to the head table, sitting next to Echo who looked equally disgusted by the seating arrangements. The feast would be served as soon as the King gave a speech, and you had been dressed in Azgedan battle garments as your clan had a lack of traditional war clothing as Izabel had pointed out. The servant poured a serving of wine or mead or some form of a particularly sour liquor for all the people at the head table. Roan's speeches were always good speeches, a little trivial but nothing less than expected from a King, he raised his goblet an everyone in the room followed his movements. The king's tester stepped up and took the first sip handing the goblet back to Roan. "You should let me test yours." Oren whispered from behind. Okay, no, he was more like an irritating fly than a puppy. You ignored him as the King took his first sip and the hall echoed it. The music that followed the ordeal, was... something and somehow started up the chatter that rumbled through.

The whole affair wasn't as boring as it seemed, from your view upon the dais you could see the exact moment when fights started in the crowds which were your entertainment for the night. When you got bored you called the servant to fill your goblet once more, most of the table was empty anyway. Roan and his uncle at the other end of the room. You took a sip just as Oren commented just how stubborn you were. "Don't mistake stubbornness for stupidity, Oren." Echo added, just as you choked. You turned to look at Oren who's face became panic-stricken as soon as he saw you, even Echo had paused her eating to stare at you. Just when Oren was about to bolt for some form of help, you dropped the act.

"Your face gets all funny when you're worried." Oren was so angry, the tips of his ears turning as red as his beard as you turned back to your food.

"The boy who cried wolf." Echo interjected once more continuing with her own meal.

Oren didn't even escort you back to your room, simply disappeared some time.

The loud bang woke you up

Blinking rapidly in the bright lights you stood, rubbing the sleep from your eyes. Walking out of your room, towards the group that had gathered in the hallway. Whoever had broken whatever, Raven was going to be pissed. Marcus came through the crowd of guards to stop you. They were standing in front of his open door.

"Y/n maybe you shouldn't go in." Marcus advised but you brushed him off to pause in the doorway.

The blood was everywhere.

And bits of your brother too.

The cold draft made you shiver and sit up straight from where you had been lying on the floor by the window. Glancing back, the doors to your room was slightly ajar. Immediately on high alert you stood quickly and glanced around the room. The fire had died and the candles had been blown out by the wind leaving the room bathed in dark shadows where anyone could hide. So you tried to listen as you strode over to the door and closed it turning again to see if you could spot anything. You shivered the silence relieving as you reached the desk to light a candle. There. Spinning around you dodged the dagger coming at you as it lands in the hardwood of the desk. The attacker pulls the weapon free as you take slow steps backwards. He steps into the moonlight but reveals only that his face is covered, before you could reach the bed where you sword lay, he jumps again, creating a distraction with his one hand which you dodge only to narrowly stop the knife from plunging into your stomach. The cut on your hands sting as you push back with a tight grip on the blade barely managing to throw the attacker off balance, he regains quickly coming at you once more. You finally spring into action and give a hard kick to the attacker's knees which give out underneath him. He swings the dagger up but you catch his arm quickly wanting to break his wrist but the attacker climbs to his feet in one swift move and knocks you right in the face.

You had forgotten how it felt to be punched, the taste of blood in your mouth the blinding pain that left you senseless for a moment or two after a good hit. When you roll over onto your stomach the attacker had already left the room.

"What happened to your face?" Roan asked, pointing to the split lip that had been irritating you all morning.

"Slipped and fell out of bed."

"You don't really strike me as the clumsy type." Roan said, obviously not believing the clear lie.

"Got tangled in the sheets when I got up." You shrugged.

"I called a council meeting, I'm going to tell them our plan, only I'm going to take credit for it."

"Is that supposed to hurt my feelings?"

"They won't accept anything you propose, not yet at least." Roan explained you nodded. "I need you to write a letter to Skaikru to ask about the food. I will make sure it reaches them, once we get correspondence we can pick a day."

Just as you are about to pull the doors open to head to the council room, Roan snatches both hands. The bandages over your palms are a clear indication that something wasn't quite right. Roan isn't really gentle about it even as you wince. His face shifts into a scowl. "Where's Oren?" You shrug. "And you didn't tell anyone that you were attacked by someone with a knife?" You shook you're head. "Did you have an idea of who it was or how he looked?"

"His face was covered, he got away." His scowl turned into pure irritation.

"You're staying here, I'm calling Oren."

"So I'm grounded?" Roan didn't answer as he slammed the door shut.

Great. More endless window staring.

Next Chapter

[justalittlebluetiefling]

Chapter 21: Sometimes I Can’t See Myself

Rating: T Fandom: The 100 Pairing: Bellamy x Clarke Chapter: 21/? Word Count: 1831 Words

Chapter Summary: The one where Bellamy and Octavia kind of ruin a party and Clarke learns a little more about their childhood.

Also on AO3

Everything in his life had been going so well. He was doing great in his classes, work wasn’t killing him, and he was getting along with everyone, including Clarke. Even the Memorial Day party had been going well until Bellamy walked into his bedroom to find his sister straddling his friend. On his bed. He absent-mindedly thanked all the gods in the world, even as he started to yell, because what else could he do, that they still had clothes on.

Atom stood up so quickly when Bellamy opened the door that Octavia had fallen off the bed. He started to try to leave, but Bellamy stopped him with a glare. That had caused Octavia to fly into a rage, yell at Atom to stay where he was, and then run out of the room. Like Bellamy wasn’t going to follow her just because she was running into a crowded room. He was so angry that he didn’t give a single fuck.

“What the actual fuck are you thinking, O?!”

The entire party went silent instantly and the crowd around her split to form a half circle as she whipped around to stare at him. “It’s none of your fucking business, Bellamy.”

“You can’t be that irresponsible! You can’t sneak out of a party to hook up!”

At least she had the grace to blush. “We weren’t hooking up!”

“You were making out. In my fucking bed!”

Movement in the hall caught their attention and they turned as one and yelled, “I told you to stay there!”

Octavia turned and stalked toward Bellamy, jabbing him in the chest with a finger. “It’s none of your damn business what I do. I’m not your res—“

“‘Your sister, your responsibility.’ That’s been drilled into my head since you were fucking born.”

“And it’s total bullshit!”

“No, it’s not! Someone needs to look out for you!” He was awkwardly aware of the fact that his voice was higher pitched than normal and that people were staring.

“That’s not what you’re fucking doing. You’re being a smothering asshole.”

“Yeah, because you’re clearly making great decisions.”

“Who are you, anyway, to judge me about responsible choices, huh? You drag women along until they get sick of waiting for you to want to settle down and then they give up.”

“My love life is not on trial here!”

“Maybe it fucking should be! How many women have you slept with? I’m not blind. I’m not an idiot. I see you at these parties. You fuck them and then you let them hope and hope and show up to more parties just to watch you fuck other girls. I mean, how can you even judge me for making out with someone when you’re fucking your way through half of Arkadia State?! I mean, Miller’s joked enough about your revolving Tinder door or some shit. It’s not a fucking—”

His view of Octavia was obscured by a flash of blonde hair as Clarke jumped in between them and put a hand on each of their shoulders, forcing them to step back. “Octavia, that’s enough. Come on.”

Jasper showed up then and took Octavia by the elbow. She yanked it out of his grasp, and Monty slid into her line of sight. “Octavia. You don’t have to stoop to his level just because he’s being a jackass right now.” Bellamy winced, but it was enough to convince Octavia to leave and she stormed out of the apartment. Monty glanced back apologetically, but followed quickly behind Jasper. Bellamy took a step, because he wasn’t done, but Clarke was still there. She turned and placed her hands flat against his chest. He inhaled sharply at the contact and glared down at her. She didn’t even flinch.

“That was uncalled for,” she whispered.

He didn’t know if she was talking about O’s statements or his. He stared down at her face for a moment. Her blue eyes were wide and stern and he decided she probably meant both. He grabbed onto her wrists to push her hands away and she just cocked an eyebrow at him. The look pissed him off even more. He tried to remind himself that he appreciated what she was doing, but he just yanked his hands back and brushed past her. “Mind your own fucking business, Princess.” People parted in front of him as easily as they had in front of Octavia as she left, and he leaned onto the counter to grab an unopened bottle of vodka. He couldn’t control his sister, that had always been obvious, but he could control getting drunk enough to forget his shitty night. He got one drink before the bottle was pulled out of his hand.

“You don’t deserve this,” Clarke said as she swiped the lid off of the counter. “And we are going to discuss this later.” Before he could respond, she was gone.

Clarke’s grip tightened on the bottle. Monty was leaning against the wall outside of the door to her dorm hall and Jasper was sitting on a bench with his head in his hands.

“She’s really scary right now, Clarke,” Monty said quietly.  

“This is way worse than when you and Bellamy fight,” Jasper added in a mumble.

“Where is she?”

Monty pulled Clarke a little further away from Jasper and lowered his voice. “She went inside. She’s pissed. Nothing we said made any difference.”

Clarke sighed and scanned her keycard at the door. “Don’t worry about it, you guys. I got her.” She hoisted the bottle of alcohol in the air and gave them a weak smile before shoving it back in her purse. Monty gave her a hug. Jasper just nodded and she watched them go before she turned into the quiet hallway.

Octavia was seated cross-legged in the middle of their room on the rug. She barely looked up when Clarke closed the door and leaned against it. She was suddenly unsure of what to say. All her confidence was gone.

“I half thought I’d find you trying to climb out the window.”

“I’m not really up for scaling a building tonight.” Octavia let out a weak laugh. “Maybe tomorrow.”

“What happened back there?” Clarke asked after a moment, pushing herself away from the door.

“I don’t think I’m up to talking right now, either.”

“Well, that’s okay.” Clarke settled on the ground in front of her friend and pulled out the bottle of vodka. “I come baring gifts, at least.”

An hour later, they were mostly drunk. Clarke leaned against her desk and Octavia was sprawled out on the carpet, hugging the bottle to her chest. “You’re the best friend,” she slurred.

“I know.” Clarke grinned.

Octavia glanced over at her and her face fell a little. It took her a moment, but she managed to crawl over to lay with her head in Clarke’s lap after she decided to leave the bottle behind. Clarke just put a hand on her shoulder and waited. At first, she thought O had fallen asleep, but then she let out a heavy sigh. “Have I ever told you that Bell’s only my half-brother?”

“No, you haven’t.” Clarke was grateful Octavia wasn’t looking at her, because she could feel her eyebrows trying to climb up her forehead.

“Well, he is. And neither of us know our dads. His dad ditched after he was born. And our mom apparently had shitty taste in men, because mine ditched right after she found out she was pregnant. That’s where that ‘your sister, your responsibility’ bullshit comes from. Which is fucked up that my mom even did that, but that’s not what this is about. He’s got this stupid hero complex because he felt like he had to be my dad instead of my brother. I thought things were changing here.” She was silent for a moment and Clarke stroked her hair. When she started speaking again, it was obvious that she was trying not to cry. “He was actually supposed to go to college right out of high school. He had a full ride, too, he’s so fucking smart. But our mom got cancer right before he graduated. Really aggressive cancer. We thought she was going to die. He had to get a job to help pay the bills. And then he had to get a second one after graduation. And third one after another couple months. He was determined to prove he could take care of me if anything happened, putting whatever he didn’t spend on bills into savings.

God, he’s just such a fucking martyr. I had to force him into school. Because mom got better and he was still around trying to help cover her medical bills and said he was going to pay for my college. But I got him in here, and things seemed to get better. He was doing what he should have all along. And mom’s been better for four years now, you know? But he’s still got that overprotective shit going on. And I just want to live my life, Clarke. I’m so sick of feeling guilty all the time, and it’s all I can feel when I see him. I’m just so tired.”

Clarke stroked Octavia’s hair while she let everything out. She let her cry until she fell asleep. Once her breathing evened out, Clarke grabbed a couple pillows and blankets from their beds and curled up next to her. She wasn’t about to let Octavia sleep on the floor alone.

Monty Green 12:02am Did Bellamy hear me call him a jackass?

Clarke Griffin 12:04am I don’t know. I think so.

Monty Green 12:04am Shit.

Clarke Griffin 12:06am Honestly, I’m not sure though. He was so upset. It was hard to tell if he did.

Monty Green 12:07am Should I apologize?

Clarke Griffin 12:07am Do you think he was being a jackass?

Monty Green 12:08am Yes. So was O, though.

Clarke Griffin 12:10am Listen, as much as it pains me to say it, they were both in the wrong. Don’t ever tell O I said that.  12:11am If you feel like you need to apologize, then you should. But I don’t think you’re sorry for calling him a jackass. 12:13am I think you’re sorry for calling him a jackass right after O basically called him a manwhore in front of a thousand of his closest friends. :p

Monty Green 12:15am Haha, I guess you’re right. I wish you weren’t right all the time.

Clarke Griffin 12:16am It’s a burden some of us have to bare. :) 12:17am So what are you going to do?

Monty Green 12:20am I guess I’ll wait and see what O does. When it comes down to it, I’m with you two. So is Jasper. You know, in case you guys need anything.

Clarke Griffin 12:22am Why is everyone making it sound like this is the end of the world? DON’T WORRY. Everything is going to be fine.

[keiraknighted]

on the verge (1/2)

Summary:  Clarke finds out Bellamy is sleeping with the boss's wife and agrees to help cover for him.

AO3 / ff.net

Clarke would be lying if she said she’d never thought about Bellamy Blake naked before. Anyone with a working pair of eyes can see he’s gorgeous. Dark curly hair, eyes she could melt into, and a smattering of freckles across his handsome face that take him from regular hot guy to an otherworldly beauty. She’s never actually seen his body but she’s pretty sure it’s amazing. At least it always is when she’s fantasising about doing him in the elevator at work.

Up until this moment she thought it might eventually happen too (although maybe not at work), after all he’s always flirting with her, which she doesn’t hate, and she’s pretty sure she caught him checking her out once or twice, especially that time she accidentally wore a shirt that was a size too small to work.

She had actually been planning to ask him out in the near future. But now she can see she’s been deluding herself, and she’s glad she saved herself the embarrassment of being rejected. Although it’s safe to say this is only slightly less embarrassing.

“Bellamy?” she says incredulously when she spots him as she walks into her boss’s bedroom, in the penthouse of the hotel they work at. “What the fuck are you doing?” He’s lying naked on the king bed, and Clarke is so shocked she can’t even bring herself to appreciate what he has on display before he’s covering himself with the sheets.

“Clarke. Fuck,” he swears as he sits up, making sure all the important parts are covered. “What are you doing in here?”

“Seriously Bellamy?” she huffs angrily. Her face is bright red, she knows, half from embarrassment and half from anger. “You’re the one fucking naked in our boss’s bed! I’m supposed to be in here. Roan sent me to get his phone which he left behind.”

“Okay, I know this looks bad,” Bellamy says, getting off the bed, holding the sheets around his waist, and maybe Clarke hadn’t gotten a good look at his junk, but she’s getting a good look at his chest now and it’s honestly just not fair that he’s so attractive because she’s trying to be mad at him.

“Looks bad?” Clarke hisses. “You’re sleeping with Roan’s wife!” she accuses, because that’s the logical conclusion, and from the sheepish look on Bellamy’s face she knows she’s right. As if on cue, Echo walks out of the ensuite bathroom, wearing only a shirt which Clarke can only assume is Bellamy’s despite the fact that there’s a walk in robe only a few feet away full of more expensive shirts owned by her husband.

“What are you doing in here?” Echo asks Clarke angrily.

“You’ve got some nerve asking me that,” Clarke spits. Look, she doesn’t always love Roan. He’s a reasonably good boss but he can be demanding and sometimes short with her. Still, he doesn’t deserve this shit.

“You can’t speak to me like that,” Echo says coolly. “I’m your boss.”

“Roan is my boss,” Clarke reminds her. “And I don’t think he’ll be too impressed when he finds out what you’ve been doing behind his back.”

“If you tell him, I’ll make your life a living hell,” Echo warns.

“I’d like to see you try,” Clarke scoffs. Echo narrows her eyes.

“Get. Out,” she seethes and Clarke purses her lips, strides over to the beside table and grabs Roan’s phone before marching out of the room, with the intent of heading straight to Roan to tell him what his wife has been doing. She doesn’t even consider the possibility that Roan won’t want to know, she knows he hates to be kept in the dark.

She makes it to the elevator and is about to step in when she hears Bellamy call out her name. She turns to see him exiting the penthouse, still shirtless, though he’s wearing pants now. Clarke stops to wait for him, though her feeling of disapproval is so strong it seeps into her expression.

“Clarke,” he says again as he reaches her. “Please don’t tell Roan,” he begs. He looks so desperate and Clarke almost feels sorry for him. But then she remembers he’s the one that made the dumbass decision to sleep with a married woman, married to his boss no less. So, yeah. He’s not getting any sympathy from her.

“Why shouldn’t I?” she snaps. “If I don’t tell him and he finds out I kept it from him then he’ll be mad at me too.”

“But he won’t fire you,” Bellamy persuades. “He respects you, values you too much. He wants to make you manager.”

“What’s your point?”

“He’ll fire me,” Bellamy says, his eyes pleading with her. “I’m just his driver, he can easily get a new one. I really need the job, Clarke.” Clarke knows this, of course. She knows he’s paying for half his sister’s college tuition, plus saving up for his own. She knows he can barely afford the shitty apartment he lives in. It’s easy for Clarke to take a low paying personal assistant position while her rich mother pays her rent, knowing she can go back to college at any time with her mom’s money and blessing if she decides the hotel business isn’t for her.

Clarke sighs, taking in Bellamy’s desperate plea and weighing it against her own moral judgement. She owes Roan a lot for giving her this job, taking a chance on an inexperienced college drop out and building her up until she’s management material. But Bellamy’s her friend too, and he’s right. Roan will fire him if he finds out his driver has been sleeping with his wife.

“Fine,” she says finally, and Bellamy looks relieved. “I won’t tell. But maybe you should think about breaking it off. Or at least doing it somewhere Roan doesn’t own.” Bellamy has the decency to look sheepish again.

“Thanks, Clarke,” he says. “You’re a good friend.” Clarke forces a smile though his words smart. She’d been so focused on Roan’s feelings, and then Bellamy’s she hadn’t realised how much it hurt her. She honestly thought there was something between her and Bellamy, and now she feels like a total idiot. Of course he flirts with her, men do that. It doesn’t mean he actually likes her. It’s evident now that he doesn’t and never has. You’re a good friend. Ouch.

“This better not come back to bite me,” she warns, and Bellamy nods seriously before heading back into Roan and Echo’s apartment, leaving Clarke to wallow in the aftermath of her discovery and her decision.

She almost forgets about it for a couple of weeks, though she spends the first few days feeling guilty every time Roan talks to her, which, considering she’s his assistant, is a lot. She doesn’t know how Bellamy and Echo do it, lie to his face and not get eaten away by guilt, and they’re the ones actually doing something wrong. Still, she decides it’s not her problem anymore. As far as any of them are concerned she knows nothing about it.

It’s fairly easy to just put it in the back of her mind, seeing as she has more pressing matters to deal with, such as Roan’s impending trip to Paris. He’s looking to branch out, maybe turn his hotel into a chain, and there are people in Paris who are willing to work with him. Clarke is going with him, of course, he needs his right hand man by his side for the negotiations, and his wife, Echo is also coming along for the ride. Clarke had thought it romantic at first, Roan taking his wife to the most romantic city in the world, but now that she knows what a sham their marriage is she finds it nauseating.

If she’s honest, Clarke never really liked Echo that much. She’s always seemed quite self serving and vain, though at least before Clarke had thought Echo actually loved Roan. Now she’s wondering if maybe Echo was only in it for the money. She’s a model, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but she’s not a very successful model, or at least she wasn’t until she was able to start buying her way onto catwalks. But Roan apparently loves her, for what reason Clarke can’t fathom, and since he doesn’t know about the cheating he probably thinks taking his wife to Paris is romantic, even if it is technically a business trip.

The flight there is fine, she tries to sleep a little, but Roan wakes her up periodically to make a note of something or other he needs to remember to do or say, so it’s not exactly a good night’s rest. At least she’ll be able to sleep at the hotel, which, knowing Roan will be the best money can by, so she’s not going to complain.

It’s well into the evening by the time they arrive in Paris, take a private taxi to their hotel on the Champs Elysees and check in. Roan has a booking in the hotel restaurant for dinner, and he invites Clarke along but she doesn’t feel much like being a third wheel to a couple whose relationship is most likely on the rocks, so she tells Roan she’s not feeling well and heads to her room to order room service.

The hotel is probably the fanciest one she’s ever stayed in, and that’s saying something because her mom is rich and she’s stayed in a lot of hotels. The room service is expensive, but Roan’s paying so she can’t bring herself to care. She’s going to enjoy her trip to Paris as much as she can, even if she’ll be working half the time. She has a shower and puts on the robe supplied by the hotel, soft and fluffy against her clean skin, and she’s settled herself by the window with a book by the time her meal arrives.

She’s about ready to go to bed, the time is roughly 10pm, when she hears a knock at the door. Her first instinct is that it’s Roan, coming to make sure she’s ready for tomorrow, although normally he’d just text her. But when she opens the door it’s not Roan at all. It’s Bellamy. He seems to have a habit of being in places he shouldn’t be.

“Hey,” he says, before Clarke can get a word in. “Can I come in?”

“No,” Clarke says immediately. “What are you even doing here?”

“Echo asked me to come,” he says. “Now, will you let me in before Roan sees me?” Clarke can hardly believe what she’s hearing.

“Are you fucking insane?” she hisses. “What are you going to do, fuck Echo while her husband works and then piss off while he fucks her at night?” Bellamy grimaces as if he hadn’t thought of it quite like that. “And what are you doing at my door anyway? Shouldn’t you be with Echo?” Maybe she sounds a little bitter, but mostly she’s just angry that he’s being so stupid. It’s like he wants to get caught.

“Obviously not,” Bellamy huffs. “Echo texted me your room number and told me to wait for her here.”

“I can’t believe you flew all the way to Paris for her,” Clarke shakes her in disbelief.

“Well, she’s paying,” Bellamy shrugs. “Like I’m going to turn down a free trip to Paris.” Clarke gives him a look of disgust. She can hardly believe only a couple of weeks ago she wanted to date this guy. Well, he’s still hot so she can kind of believe it. But she’s annoyed at herself for still being attracted to him, even though he’s clearly one of the stupidest men on the planet.

“You’re a real piece of work,” she scowls. Bellamy almost looks hurt at her words, but he doesn’t get a chance to defend himself because at that moment the doors of the elevator nearby open and Roan is ushering Echo into the hall. There’s no time to hide Bellamy, and Clarke watches as Echo’s eyes widen in panic and Roan frowns in confusion when they spot Bellamy. Obviously Echo and Bellamy really thought they were going to get away with this and had no backup plan for if Roan spotted Bellamy.

“Bellamy?” Roan says as he strides towards Clarke’s room, Echo following him, giving Bellamy signals with her eyes that even Clarke can’t understand. “What are you doing here?”

“Um,” Bellamy starts, glancing at Clarke.

“I invited him,” Clarke hurriedly interrupts before Bellamy can say something idiotic and ruin his chances of keeping his job.

“I told you I won’t be needing a driver here,” Roan frowns.

“Not as your driver,” Clarke improvises. “We’re, uh… dating.” It’s the only logical explanation she can think of, and Clarke can only thank her lucky stars Bellamy showed up at her own door and not Echo’s. Or more accurately, Bellamy should be thanking his lucky stars that Clarke is a good friend and has decided to cover for him.

“Yeah,” Bellamy quickly agrees. “Paris. Romantic.” Roan raises a knowing eyebrow at Clarke.

“I knew there was something going on between you two,” he says, and Clarke can hardly believe he’s so easy to convince. “Echo and I are off to bed, early start tomorrow,” Roan tells them. “Don’t stay up too late.” He winks as he heads off in the direction of his room. Echo follows with only a quick glance over her shoulder.

Bellamy and Clarke stand in silence for a moment before Bellamy clears his throat.

“So, uh, Echo was supposed to give me a room key. But it looks like that’s not going to happen,” he says. Clarke rolls her eyes.

“Go home, Bellamy,” she tells him. She’s so not sharing her room with him.

“I can’t go home now,” he points out. “Roan’s already seen me and he thinks we’re dating. He’ll think it’s weird if I leave now.”

“I’m sure I can come up with something,” Clarke assures him, but she’s pretty sure she already knows she’s going to let him in.

“But Clarke, it’s Paris,” Bellamy grins, as if he knows her resolve is fading. Clarke purses her lips at him. “Let me stay,” he says, somewhere between a plea and a command.

“Fine,” Clarke relents. “But you’re sleeping on the floor.”

The talks with the interested parties go very well the next morning, and Clarke is so intent on the conversation, on learning how these things work that she doesn’t even think about the fact that Bellamy and Echo are probably screwing each others brains out this very second.

Clarke speaks limited French so she can’t always follow the conversation, but Roan speaks fluently, having grown up in Quebec, and makes sure to translate most of it for her. From what Clarke can tell, they’ve already made the decision to go ahead with the hotel and now it’s just a matter of legalities.

After a day of discussions of contracts and plans and locations, where nothing really ended up being settled, Roan and Clarke head back to the hotel.

“I’ve booked a restaurant for the four of us tonight at eight. Meet us in the lobby,” Roan tells Clarke as the exit the elevator and head to their respective rooms. Clarke just nods, knowing she can’t fake being sick two nights in a row.

She’s as good as forgotten about Bellamy’s presence, so she starts a little when she opens the door to her hotel room and finds him lying on her bed, reading her book.

“Make yourself at home why don’t you,” she huffs, dropping her bag to the floor and kicking her shoes off. She ignores the twinge in her chest she feels at the sight of him looking so comfortable in her bed, even if it is just a hotel bed.

“I assumed I was only banned from the bed when you weren’t in it,” he says, lowering the book. He’s got his glasses on, thick framed and adorable, and he’s dressed in only sweat pants and Clarke has to stop herself from drooling.

“Well, the least you could do is wear a shirt,” Clarke grumbles.

“Oh come on, you love it,” he winks. A few weeks ago Clarke would have made some flirty comment back, maybe teased him a little about how hot he thinks he is. Now she just rolls her eyes as she strides over to him and snatches her book from his grasp. “Fine, I’ll just watch the movie instead,” he grins.

“It has Tom Cruise in it,” she warns.

“Ugh, I guess I’ll just forget the whole thing then,” he screws up his nose, and Clarke fights to keep the smile from her face. She watches him for a moment as he pulls off his glasses and puts them beside the bed.

“We have to go out for dinner tonight with Roan and Echo,” she tells him, knowing he isn’t going to love the idea. She doesn’t love it herself.

“Can’t we just tell them we need to stay in so we can order room service and have lots of sex?” he suggests. Clarke tries to fight off a blush unsuccessfully, but she hopes he doesn’t notice her slightly red face. It’s not the mention of sex that makes her embarrassed, it’s the mention of sex with him. While he’s sitting on her bed showing off his hard brown chest that she definitely has not thought about licking. Recently at least. In the last eight hours.

“I stayed in last night,” she says. “Roan isn’t going to take no for an answer. I’m going to take a shower. Be ready by eight.”

It’s dumb, how good he looks in a nice shirt and a pair of pants. It’s like, he’s not even trying, he’s just so effortlessly gorgeous and Clarke marvels at how dumb she was to think he might actually like her, when he can so clearly have anyone he wants. Including, apparently, a married woman whose husband happens to be his boss.

And then there’s Clarke, who has put a considerable amount of effort into her appearance for the evening, not to mention a dress which is practically all cleavage, and Bellamy barely spares her a second glance.

“Ready to go?” he asks her when she walks out of the bathroom, and she nods, leading the way out of the room and to the elevator. They ride down the ten floors in silence, Clarke refusing to look at Bellamy. He looks so good and her crush on him has only heightened, which means she has to pretend like she doesn’t give a fuck about him at all, lest he find out how much he affects her.

She’s nervous, fidgety, worried that Roan will see through the charade and fire both of them on the spot for conspiring against him. She doesn’t know if Bellamy can tell how on edge she is, but as the elevator reaches the ground floor and before the doors can open Bellamy grabs her hand, squeezing gently. She turns to him in confusion, though her heart rate quickens.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“Got to make it believable,” he shrugs. Then the doors open and he pulls her out into the lobby to where Roan and Echo are already waiting. Roan smirks when he sees them, taking in their linked hands and Clarke can only wish he really had something to smirk about.

“You guys are going to love this place,” Roan says before leading them out of the hotel to the taxi awaiting them.

The restaurant is beautiful, of course, as if Roan would settle for less. They sit outdoors where they can admire the view of the Seine, and the Eiffel Tower all lit up and looking like a postcard.

The ride to the restaurant had been fairly silent, and Clarke is certain dinner is going to be the same. Awkward and uncomfortable, what with she and Bellamy pretending to be a couple, Echo cheating on Roan with Bellamy, and Roan the only one in the dark about everything.

Clarke half expects dirty looks from Echo, expects her to be sullen and distant, to show nothing but disdain and contempt for her husband. But either Echo is an excellent actress or she feels neither of those things for Roan. She’s nothing but pleasant, holding Roan’s hand, listening to him prattle on about the plans for the new hotel and how impossible the French are, and telling him about her own (probably made up) activities for the day. It makes Clarke wonder why she’s doing it. Cheating on her husband. She loves him, that much is obvious. And yet, not enough to be faithful to him. And she doesn’t seem to hold any ill feelings towards Clarke either, despite the walking in incident and the threatening to tell Roan.

Even pretending to be Bellamy’s girlfriend isn’t awkward, or even hard. He’s good at acting, apparently, and the way he looks at her, touches her casually as if he does it all the time, Clarke could almost believe herself that it’s her he’s sleeping with and not Echo. It’s dangerous probably, to think like that, but it makes it easier to pretend, and as long as she knows it’s pretend, what does it matter if she enjoys his attention for a few hours?

“Have either of you been to Paris before?” Roan asks as the waiter pours his fourth glass of wine, their empty plates having just been taken away.  

“Once,” Clarke answers. Her mom had brought her here one summer. Bellamy shakes his head.

“Never could afford it,” he admits. “Or had the time.”

“Well, it’s nice that you two can be here together,” Echo says, raising an eyebrow knowingly. Not cruelly or mockingly, just as if it’s a private joke between the three of them. Which maybe it is, in some sick, twisted way. “In the city of love.”

“We should take a walk along the river after dinner,” Roan suggests.

“Get a picture of the lovebirds with the Eiffel Tower in the background,” Echo smirks and Clarke has to fight back a glower. Roan nods approvingly before calling the waiter over to bring the bill. After he’s paid and left an outrageous tip, the four of them cross the road to the side of the Seine.

“Alright, you two stand there and I’ll get a picture,” Roan instructs, getting his phone out. Bellamy hangs his arm around Clarke and she fits in perfectly against his side, and she tries not to get too comfortable.

“Smile!” Echo laughs.

“Don’t be ridiculous. This is Paris,” Roan scolds. “She obviously wants him to kiss her.” Clarke doesn’t know if it is obvious or not, but he’s not entirely wrong. Still, they’re only pretending to be in love, so kissing would be weird. She opens her mouth to say they don’t need to kiss for the photo, but Echo beats her to it.

“Don’t be so dramatic, Roan,” she huffs. “It’s just a photo.” But Bellamy doesn’t seem to hear her, because he’s already turning Clarke towards him, and she barely has time to be surprised before he’s kissing her. And not like, posing for a photo kissing. Like proper kissing. Like his mouth his open, his tongue parting her lips, his arms strong around her waist, pulling her tighter. Clarke falls into him, into the kiss, her eyes closing and her arms circling around his neck while she lets his tongue explore her mouth. She feels it right down to her toes, and the tug she feels in her chest lets her know how much she wants him.

“Do you want me to put this on Facebook or whatever you kids do these days?” Roan asks, and Bellamy takes that as his cue to pull away, though it’s slow and almost reluctant, and he keeps his eyes on her until Clarke turns back to Roan.

“Don’t put it on Facebook,” Clarke says quickly, though she’s still reeling from the kiss. She so doesn’t need this fake relationship seeping into every aspect of her life. But that’s as far as her coherent thoughts will take her, and a legitimate reason evades her.

“We haven’t told anyone else yet,” Bellamy supplies and Clarke nods in agreement though she was only half listening.

“Fair enough,” Roan nods. “Echo and I are going to stroll around for a while. Care to join us?”

“I think we’d like to head back to the hotel,” Bellamy says. “If you know what I mean.” He and Roan share a look that says I’m getting lucky tonight, though Clarke suspects neither of them will be if the way Echo rolls her eyes is any indication.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then, Clarke,” Roan nods. “Goodnight.” He takes Echo’s hand and leads her off into the night, leaving Bellamy and Clarke to fend for themselves.

They manage to find a taxi and make it back to the hotel, neither of them saying a word, though Clarke has a million things she wants to ask him. Number one: what the fuck?

She manages to keep her mouth shut until she’s lying in bed, Bellamy on the floor on the other side.

“Do you think Echo’s mad you kissed me?” she whispers into the dark.

“No,” Bellamy whispers back. “She’s got a husband, it’s not like we’re exclusive.”

“Are you in love with her?” A silence.

“No. Does that make it better or worse?”

“I don’t know,” Clarke says honestly. Can anything make cheating better? “Why bother if you’re not in love though? She’s clearly still in love with her husband, and you could have anyone you want.” He’s silent again and Clarke wonders if he’s pretending to be asleep so he doesn’t have to answer.

“She loves him,” Bellamy agrees. “But he works a lot. And she likes variety. She was never meant to be monogamous.”

“So why get married?” Clarke says exasperatedly.

“You got me,” Bellamy sighs. “Do you think less of me now you know about me and Echo?”

“A little,” she admits.

“I hate that,” Bellamy says softly. Clarke doesn’t reply for a while, though she still has plenty to ask him. What’s in it for you? Don’t you care about Roan’s feelings? Why did you kiss me? But she can’t bring herself to say any of it.

“You can sleep in the bed tonight if you want,” she says instead. Bellamy doesn’t respond, but after a beat she hears him get up and pad to the bed, then she feels his weight on the mattress beside her. She assumes the conversation is done then, they both fall into silence, but after a few minutes Bellamy speaks again.

“I should’ve told you earlier,” he whispers. “But you looked really nice tonight.” Clarke pretends to be asleep so she doesn’t have to answer.

[keiraknighted]

on the verge (2/2)

Summary:  Clarke finds out Bellamy is sleeping with the boss's wife and agrees to help cover for him.

Part One

AO3 // ff.net

Clarke assumes things will go back to normal once they’re back home. Things do not.

Bellamy insists they have to keep pretending they’re a couple, at least for a little while. He says it doesn’t make sense for them to break up as soon as they’re back from Paris, and Roan will get suspicious. Clarke agrees reluctantly, under the impression they won’t ever actually have to prove it.

Of course, Roan doesn’t actually give a shit as long as their “relationship” doesn’t interfere with their work, and Echo knows it isn’t real, so Clarke thinks they’re in the clear. They’ll just give it a couple of weeks and then Clarke will casually mention to Roan that it didn’t work out between her and Bellamy and they’ve decided to go back to being friends. What she doesn’t count on is Bellamy being a complete idiot.

First he convinces her to keep pretending to be his girlfriend.

“Please, Clarke,” he begs her. Roan has decided he doesn’t need her this afternoon so she’s helping at reception and Bellamy is supposed to be picking Roan up to take him to an appointment, but Roan is running late.

“You said it would only be a little while,” Clarke hisses, glancing and the other person working reception to make sure he isn’t listening. “It’s been two weeks. I’m breaking up with you.”

“You don’t even have to do anything,” Bellamy protests. “You just have to not tell Roan we’re broken up. It’s actually more effort to stop pretending.”

“This isn’t convincing,” she tells him flatly.

“Look. It’s not going to be forever. It’s just until Echo and I are done. It’s not like you’re seeing anyone else, and Roan’s never going to suspect me and Echo if he thinks I’m with you.”

“I don’t want to help Echo cheat on her husband,” Clarke says through gritted teeth. They really shouldn’t be discussing this here.

“You’re not helping Echo. You’re just giving me an alibi should Roan find out Echo is cheating on him,” Bellamy corrects her.

“Why are you acting like you don’t have any accountability in this?” Clarke snaps. “Maybe you’re not the one cheating, but that doesn’t rid you of all blame. Don’t you care about Roan at all?”

“I do,” Bellamy sighs. “I know what I’m doing is wrong. I’m not proud of it. It’s just…” he stops, unsure how to continue. “If it wasn’t me, it would be someone else. And…” he trails off again. “It’s only temporary.” Clarke screws up her nose. She doesn’t miss the fact that he still doesn’t tell her exactly what his reasons are. He only ever mentions Echo. She’s sure he must have his own reasons, but whatever they are, he’s not giving anything away.

She doesn’t want to condone this. But then he’s giving her a hopeful look and somehow she can’t bring herself to let him down. Besides, she’s not the one doing the wrong thing, they are. She’s just protecting a friend.

“Fine,” she sighs dramatically. “But on the condition that should he find out about you and Echo, I never knew about it. Deal?”

“Deal,” Bellamy grins. She expects him to go away after that but he just keeps grinning at her.

“I have work to do Bellamy,” she hints.

“Okay, see you later, babe,” he winks. Clarke rolls her eyes,

“Don’t call me that.”

“What should I call you? Sweetheart? Darling? Sugar? Snookums?”

“No.”

“Peaches?”

“Roan’s here,” she nods towards the elevator.

“Peaches it is!” Bellamy says, a little too pleased with himself. Roan strides over and Bellamy nods at him. “Sir.”

“I’m going to miss my appointment if we don’t hurry up,” Roan says in annoyance, as if he’s the one that’s been waiting around for twenty minutes.

“Yes, sir,” Bellamy nods again, heading towards the front doors. “See you later, Peaches!” he calls back to Clarke and she flushes as Roan gives her an amused look.

“Bye, Kitten!” Clarke calls back. Roan gives a snort of laughter and Bellamy almost trips over his own feet.

For the next couple of weeks, it’s the easiest relationship she’s ever had. No deciding whose place to stay at, no fighting over what to watch on Netflix and no subtle but awkward hints that she needs some alone time. She stops giving Bellamy subtle reminders that he’s being a shitty person. He’s a grown man, he can make his own decisions.

Roan never asks about her love life, so she never has to pretend she’s been seeing Bellamy outside of work, and since no one else knows about the faux relationship other than Echo, she doesn’t have to discuss it with any friends or family members.

It’s also the most depressing relationship she’s ever had, and that’s including the time she was dating a guy who already had a girlfriend. Which is totally different from Bellamy’s situation, seeing as Clarke never actually knew Finn had a girlfriend. Still, it’s actually a little surprising Bellamy never brought it up when she was interrogating him about his relationship with Echo. He definitely knows about it, seeing as she cried about it in the car on the way to pick up Roan once.

But as depressing as that whole fiasco was, she at least got the benefits of an actual relationship while she was with Finn. Sex, for example. Dates. Someone to hang out with. Someone to bring her chocolate when she was on her period, someone to rant to about Game of Thrones. She gets none of that with Bellamy. Instead she gets the overwhelming guilt of lying to her boss, a sense of hopeless pining over a man who doesn’t actually want her, and a patronising pet name. And to be honest she could deal with being called Peaches every now and again if was saying it as he kissed her good morning. Or at least brought her some fucking coffee when he comes to pick her up for work in the morning.

Neither of those things happen. Instead what happens is he asks her for another favour.

“My sister thinks I’m seeing someone,” he tells her as he drives her to work. Technically he’s Roan’s driver but since Roan lives at his place of work he doesn’t exactly need driving there.

“You kind of are,” Clarke points out, though she hates to be reminded of it.

“She wants to meet her,” he continues, and Clarke should probably wonder why he doesn’t sound particularly worried about this development.

“I knew this would come back to bite you one day,” she gloats. “How is your sister going to feel when you tell her your girlfriend is a married woman?”

“Can’t say she’d be impressed,” Bellamy agrees, and he still doesn’t sound at all concerned. “Which is why I didn’t tell her that Echo’s my girlfriend.”

“What exactly did you tell her then?” Clarke asks, and she has the distinct feeling she isn’t going to like the answer.

“I told her you were my girlfriend.”

“Bellamy,” Clarke says warningly. She knows where this is headed now, and she’s going to be mad if he asks her to meet his sister. She’ll do it, of course, because she’s pathetic. But she won’t be happy about it.

“I told her we’d have dinner with her this Friday,” he says, and he at least has the decency to sound a little guilty. “I’m really sorry!” he says quickly, before Clarke can berate him. “I panicked, and we were already pretending to date so it just sort of popped out.”

“I hate you.”

“I know. I get it if you don’t want to do it. But will you?” he asks, hesitant. Clarke closes her eyes. They’re almost at the hotel, and if they can make it there without her answering she might be able to just run away and let her silence be her answer.

“I’ll do it, but you better start bringing me coffee.” But honestly, Bellamy’s beaming face at her answer would have been reward enough.

Getting ready for the dinner with Bellamy’s sister is stressful to say the least. She tries on seven different outfits before she decides on the first one she tried on. She’s going for sexy and sophisticated with a dash of I-want-to-have-your-brother’s-babies. The last part is less to do with the outfit and more to do with the fact that she actually does want to have his babies and she’s having more and more trouble hiding the fact.

She’s meeting the Blakes at the restaurant so she nervously makes her way there alone, then stands outside the restaurant for five minutes willing herself to go in. It’s not just that she’s nervous about trying to convince Bellamy’s sister that they’re a couple. It’s whether she should be trying to do it in the first place. Do they really need to bring more people into this horrible sham?

“Not sure if you’re in the right place?” some random lady asks.

“I’m in the right place,” Clarke assures her. “I think.” The woman nods and heads into the restaurant and Clarke takes a deep breath and follows her in. She spots Bellamy as soon as she walks in, the woman he’s with presumably his sister, and next to her must be her husband.

“I’m with them,” she points to his table before the greeter can say anything. He nods and Clarke heads over to the table. The butterflies in her stomach only get worse as Bellamy spots her and stands up. She’s planning to go in for a hug, but he gives her a soft kiss instead, and she does her best to act natural though she can feel her face heat up.

“Cute,” his sister says and it’s only then that Bellamy seems to remember they aren’t alone.

“Right, uh, Clarke, this is my sister, Octavia, and her husband, Lincoln. Guys, this is my girlfriend, Clarke,” he introduces, and Clarke hates how good it sounds.

“Nice to meet you, Clarke,” Octavia smiles.

“Likewise,” Clarke returns and she and Bellamy sit down.

The rest of the night runs surprisingly smoothly. Clarke allows Bellamy to take the lead, and just agrees with whatever lies he makes up about their relationship. He’s just as good at acting as he was the night with Roan and Echo, and when his hand lands on her thigh for a moment, out of sight of Octavia and Lincoln, she wonders if maybe he’s forgotten that she’s not actually his girlfriend.

In any case, Octavia and Lincoln seem to fall for it and Octavia decides to accompany Clarke to the bathroom after dinner.

“He really likes you, you know,” Octavia says as they wash their hands side by side.

“I really like him too,” Clarke says, and it’s not even a lie.

“No, like he really likes you,” Octavia says meaningfully, though Clarke doesn’t catch what the meaning is. She kind of assumes Bellamy has mentioned Echo a few times around Octavia, without actually going into detail, and that maybe he likes Echo more than he’s let on.

“Does he talk about me a lot?” she asks, meaning, does he talk about Echo a lot.

“A bit,” Octavia shrugs. “But that’s not how I know. I can just tell. I always know when he’s close to telling a girl he loves her.”

“Love?” Clarke chokes out.

“Yeah, fair warning. He’s definitely going to tell you soon. So you might want to have a response prepared,” Octavia warns her.

“How do you know?” Clarke squeaks.

“How do you not know?” Octavia scoffs. “His fucking heart eyes are so obvious they make me sick.” Clarke wants to tell her she’s wrong. He doesn’t have any heart eyes because he’s still sleeping with Echo. And maybe he doesn’t love Echo, but if he loved Clarke then he’d be with her for real, not living in this ridiculous charade. But obviously she can’t say any of that to Octavia.

“Okay, I’ll be ready,” she says instead, smiling as if she and Octavia are sharing a private joke. Octavia seems satisfied and leads them back out to the table.

Bellamy drives her home after dinner, and it’s probably a bad idea, but she invites him inside.

“Just to hang out,” she clarifies. “We never spend any time together outside of work.” Bellamy hesitates then nods his assent, unbuckling his seatbelt and following her inside. She pours him a glass of wine and turns on the TV and Field of Dreams is on.

“If you build it, they will come,” Bellamy quotes solemnly.

“That’s not the quote,” Clarke informs him. “It’s if you build it, he will come. Meaning his father.”

“You’re a nerd,” Bellamy tells her.

“Oh, says the guy who can quote the entire opening monologue from V for Vendetta. Not to mention that time you spent the better part of an hour about different types of battle armour,” Clarke scoffs.

“There’s more where that came from,” he grins. “You think that’s nerdy? I can name every single Roman Emperor.”

“Kuzco,” Clarke guesses, purposefully trying to wind him up.

“That’s the llama from The Emperor’s New Groove,” he huffs, and Clarke can’t help but laugh at how much of an old man he sounds like. “And that’s clearly Peruvian.”

“If you say so,” Clarke grins. There’s a silence then and they go back to watching the movie until Bellamy speaks again.

“You think we fooled them?” he asks, clearly referring to Octavia and Lincoln.

“I know we fooled them,” Clarke smirks, then she remembers exactly what Octavia had said and her smile falters a little. “You should have heard what Octavia said. It’s pretty funny actually,” she forces herself to sound amused.

“Oh?”

“She said she was certain you were going to confess your love to me in the near future,” Clarke grins. Bellamy grins back, thought he doesn’t laugh out loud.

“Guess we got her good,” he says, then turns back to the movie again.

Of course, they can’t fake break up after that. Bellamy says Octavia’s already become attached, a fact which Clarke well knows because apparently Bellamy gave his sister her number and Octavia has no boundaries and no qualms about double or quadruple texting someone.

Clarke doesn’t really mind, in fact she finds it kind of endearing. She likes Octavia a lot, and she likes Lincoln, and worst of all, she likes Bellamy. And the longer they pretend to be together, the more he starts acting like her actual boyfriend. He starts bringing her coffee like he promised, but he also brings her flowers and the casual touches that he’d practiced during the dinners they’d had with Roan and Echo and Octavia and Lincoln become commonplace. Brushing a hair behind her ear, placing a hand on the small of her back. It’s a sweet kind of torture.

Plus the hanging out outside of work continues, and the more she finds out about him, the more she likes him. Apart from the sleeping with a married woman thing, which she assumes he’s still doing seeing as he hasn’t said they can stop pretending to be together.

She manages to keep it up for another month. That’s two whole months of desperate pining, of replaying the times he’d kissed her in her mind, fantasising about him doing it again. Of battling with her better judgement, deep down knowing she shouldn’t be doing this. After two months she decides she can’t do it anymore. They have to stop before it gets anymore out of hand. Before her mom finds out and gets all excited and starts planning her a wedding.

“Bellamy, I can’t do this anymore,” she tells him firmly as he drives her home from work. “We have to fake break up.” She glances at him to gauge his reaction. He looks… resigned. Like he knew it was coming but didn’t want to admit it to himself.

“Okay,” he agrees.

“You’ll tell Octavia?” Clarke ensures.

“I’ll tell her,” he agrees.

“We don’t even have to tell Roan. He won’t even notice but if the topic comes up I’ll just casually mention we broke up,” Clarke shrugs. “That way you still kind of have an alibi for Echo for a little while.” Bellamy frowns for a moment, looking a little confused.

“Right. Echo,” he finally nods. “Thanks for covering for me. For doing all that. I know you didn’t want to. Still don’t know how I managed to convince you,” he grins and Clarke smiles with him.

“About that,” she says. “Why did you never bring up Finn and Raven? When you were trying to get me to see it differently?”

“You really think I’d throw that in your face?” he says, surprised. “Come on, Clarke. That was completely different, we both know that.” Clarke nods, feeling like she could kiss him. “Besides, there’s plenty of other stuff I could have mentioned, but I didn’t need to, did I? You helped me anyway. ‘Cause we’re friends.”

“Yeah,” Clarke agrees.

The thing is about fake break ups, is they actually feel a lot like real break ups. It’s dumb, because Clarke never really had him to begin with, but it feels like she’s lost something anyway and she has to keep reminding herself she doesn’t actually have anything to be upset about. It wasn’t real.

Octavia stops texting her a few days later and Clarke supposes Bellamy told his sister they broke up. Good. It’s a weight off her shoulders, honestly. She wonders what Bellamy said, if he made it sound like Clarke broke up with him or that is was mutual. She doesn’t really want Octavia to hate her.

She and Bellamy stop hanging out outside of work as well, both claiming they’re too busy. Which Clarke is, since she has to help organise a party for Roan to celebrate the announcement of the new hotel he’s opening in Paris. The contracts have been signed and the property has been purchased, so he’s decided it’s time for a celebration, where he can reveal his plans to the rest of the employees and the investors.

“Have you double checked with the caterers that there are vegan options?” Roan asks her. He’s been firing off questions at her about the party non-stop for the past two days, seeing as the event is tomorrow night. He’s asked the same questions over and over, but Clarke is happy to humour him.

“Triple checked,” she assures him.

“And our French guests have the best rooms in the hotel?”

“Of course,” she nods.

“Did you help Echo pick out what to wear?”

“I tried.”

“Okay,” Roan nods, and it seems like he’s done for the time being, but Clarke knows he’ll remember something else in twenty minutes.

“You and Bellamy can have the night off, of course,” Roan tells her. “I want you to enjoy yourselves.”

“Oh, uh,” Clarke says awkwardly. “Bellamy and I broke up.” Roan laughs. Not exactly the reaction one expects when informing someone of a break up.

“Good one,” he says. “Just make sure he does something with that hair of his, okay?” Roan tells her before striding out of his office with another laugh. Clarke stands there dumbly, wondering what just happened.

“Roan doesn’t believe we broke up,” Clarke tells Bellamy later that day while Bellamy waits for Roan to come down from his office. He’s supposed to be taking him to the airport to pick up the last of the French investors, but apparently the most important.

“Yeah, I had a similar problem with Octavia,” Bellamy rolls his eyes.

“I don’t get it,” Clarke huffs. “People break up.”

“Apparently we were so good at acting that people think we’re perfect for each other,” Bellamy says in amusement.

“How did you convince Octavia?”

“First I told her I broke up with you. She didn’t believe me. Then I told her you cheated on me. She didn’t believe me. Then I had to tell her we were so in love that you got scared and ran off,” Bellamy recounts.

“And she believed that?”

“No.”

“So what did you end up telling her?” Clarke presses. She needs to figure out to convince Roan she’s not dating Bellamy anymore. Bellamy sighs.

“The truth,” he shrugs. “I told her we were never really dating and that none of it was real.”

“And what did she say?” Clarke asks, astonished.

“Well, she mostly believed me,” Bellamy says wryly, and he pauses, seemingly about to say more, but then Roan walks into the lobby.

“Look, I think it will just be easier if we go to this thing together tomorrow night,” Clarke says quickly, before Roan can reach them. “I’ll try and convince him some other time.” Bellamy nods.

“I’ll pick you up,” he tells her.

“Let’s go!” Roan calls as he strides past and Bellamy gives Clarke a small shake of his head and hurries after his boss.

Honestly, Clarke secretly loves fancy parties. Of course, she’d never let her mother know that, but she likes dressing up and maybe the people are kind of snobbish most of the time, but that makes it all the more fun to make fun of them behind their backs with whoever she manages to drag along. On this particular occasion, Bellamy is all too happy to oblige.

“That guy’s face is the same colour as his tie,” Clarke points out to Bellamy.

“I think his tie is more blue than purple,” Bellamy muses. “What about him? Fake hair?”

“Definitely. And his wife’s boobs are also fake. In fact I’m having trouble locating any part of either of them that’s actually real,” Clarke laughs.

“Ah, well I guess we can’t judge. Fake is our specialty,” Bellamy grins. A waiter whizzes by and Clarke manages to grab a couple of glasses of champagne from him, handing one to Bellamy.

“To things that are fake,” she says by way of a toast. Bellamy shakes his head in amusement, clinking his glass with hers.

“Enjoying the party?” Roan saunters over. Echo is nowhere to be seen.

“Yes sir,” Bellamy nods. “We were just trying to work out if that man’s tie was blue or purple.” Roan looks over.

“Purple,” he decides. “Same colour as his face.” Clarke gives Bellamy an I-told-you-so smirk and he rolls his eyes. “I’m going to give my speech soon, so make sure you have full glasses so you can toast my success,” Roan instructs them before weaving his way back through the crowd again. A minute later he’s taken to the stage and Clarke swears she’s listening to him, but after he’s finished she can’t remember a single thing he’s said.

“To old friends and new adventures!” Roan finishes, raising his glass. Clarke copies his motion and downs the rest of her champagne.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” she tells Bellamy, handing him her empty glass and making her way towards the bathroom. The stalls are all empty bar one, seeing as most people were out in the hotel ballroom listening to Roan’s speech, so Clarke takes her pick and it’s only when she’s sitting on the toilet does she realise how drunk she is. She hears a toilet flush a couple of stalls over and two seconds later she’s flushing her own, stepping out of the cubicle to see Echo washing her hands. Clarke does her best to keep her face impassive and her voice polite.

“You missed Roan’s speech,” Clarke tells her.

“Did I?” Echo says. “Shit.” She sounds genuinely concerned, but Clarke just scoffs.

“Like you care.”

“He’s my husband, of course I care,” Echo snaps.

“If you care so much why are you cheating on him?” Clarke hisses. She’d probably have the sense not to confront Echo if she wasn’t so drunk, but as it is she’s ready to speak her mind. Echo snorts.

“Look, I get it,” she says, a little patronisingly. “You’re jealous because I fucked you’re boyfriend before you did.”

“That’s not it at all,” Clarke huffs. “Roan’s my boss and my friend. I don’t want to see him get hurt.” Echo studies Clarke for a moment, then her sneering mask seems to fall.

“Fair enough,” she says, glancing down. “I talked to him,” Echo says. “We’ve agreed we can see other people. An open marriage if you will.”

“He’s okay with it?” Clarke asks in astonishment. She’s not surprised that Roan would agree to it, she’s just surprised Echo had the decency to talk to him at all.

“He suggested it,” Echo tells her. Clarke nods.

“You told him about Bellamy then?” Clarke assumes. Echo gives her a look of horror.

“God no,” she grimaces. “I didn’t tell Roan I cheated on him. Besides that ended weeks ago and you and Bellamy seem happy now, so--,”

“Wait, what?” Clarke cuts her off.

“Look, Roan may be understanding but he wouldn’t be impressed if I found out I cheated,” Echo huffs.

“Not what I meant,” Clarke says. “You ended things with Bellamy weeks ago?”

“I mean, he was the one who ended it, but yeah,” Echo confirms. “Just after Paris I think it was. Did he not tell you?”

“No he did not,” Clarke says, more to herself than to Echo, before turning on her heel and sweeping from the bathroom. Her head spins as she marches purposefully through the ballroom, towards Bellamy, and it’s not from alcohol this time. In fact she’s sobered up completely in the last two minutes. He ended things with Echo weeks ago. So why the fuck was she pretending to be his girlfriend all this time?

“I need to talk to you,” she says evenly when she reaches him, grabbing him by the arm. Somehow her voice comes out steady though her hands are shaking. Bellamy murmurs an apology to the people he was speaking to before Clarke leads him out of the room and into the hallway.

“What’s wrong?” Bellamy asks her, visibly concerned.

“Did you end things with Echo after Paris?” she asks. Better to get straight to it. Bellamy looks uncomfortable, and that’s proof enough but she waits for him to answer anyway.

“Yes,” he finally admits.

“What the fuck, Bellamy?” she cries. She’s angry and hurt and confused.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to get this far,” he says defensively.

“Was this all some stupid game for you? Let’s see how fucking dumb Clarke is? Let’s see how much she’ll do for me, how far I can push her,” Clarke spits.

“No--,” Bellamy starts but Clarke isn’t having any of it.

“I can’t believe I trusted you,” Clarke shakes her head in disbelief. At her own actions and at his. “I really thought we were friends, but I guess I’m just a big joke to you.”

“Clarke,” Bellamy pleads, and Clarke can’t look at him because those deep brown eyes will suck her in with their soft desperation, but she knows by now how good at acting he is. “Let me explain.”

“There is nothing you can say that will make this any better,” she says, her words laced with a venom she didn’t even know she had. Bellamy flinches.

“Okay,” he says quietly. “I’m sorry.” She expects him to say more, to try and explain, but he doesn’t and it catches her off guard. She realises she kind of wants an explanation. And it will probably be stupid and unforgiveable but she deserves it nonetheless.

“Is that it?” she snaps. Bellamy hesitates.

“I never told you why I was sleeping with Echo,” he says, glancing at Clarke cautiously. “The truth is I… I needed something temporary. Something that was never going to be anything more. She initiated it, and I guess I felt like that relationship represented how I saw my life. Like it belonged to someone else.” He pauses to see if Clarke is still with him. She understands what he’s saying, but she doesn’t see how this explains why he lied to her.

“I didn’t want to start something with someone I really liked while I was living a life I didn’t. I didn’t feel like I deserved that until I actually made something of myself.” he explains further. Clarke tries to ignore the way her heart squeezes at that. “But then you found out and you said it made you think less of me and I knew you were right, and what I was doing was selfish and wrong, so I broke it off.”

“None of that explains why you decided we had to continue to pretend to be a couple,” Clarke points out.

“I know. The truth is, I wanted to ask you out ages ago,” he admits. The words aren’t as satisfying as Clarke would have imagined. “Before I started sleeping with Echo. But like I said my life wasn’t right yet and I wasn’t ready to date someone I actually liked. And I got it in my head that we could just pretend for a while until I got my shit sorted out and I could spend time with you and stuff without leading you on or bringing you into my mess of a life,” he sighs.

“That’s really fucked up.”

“Yeah,” he agrees. “But uh, Octavia was right. I’m in love with you,” he says, and it should make her happy but instead it just feels wrong. Clarke shakes her head slowly. She’s less mad now, but she’s still hurt and confused.

“How can I believe you?” she says, and she hears her voice crack. She’s not going to cry in front of him, she’s not.

“I really fucked this up, didn’t I?”

“Yeah,” Clarke nods, her voice barely a whisper.

“I know you hate me, I don’t blame you. But believe me, you could never hate me as much as I hate myself,” he laughs humourlessly. Clarke thinks he’s probably right, and with nothing more to say she gives him a nod and decides it’s time to go home.

“I really am sorry, Clarke,” he calls after her.

As mad as she is at Bellamy for lying to her, she’s even angrier at herself. After all, she made the decision to help him. She let her feelings for him get in the way of her better judgement and she’s paying the consequences.

She’s planning on taking a taxi to work on Monday, and she’s surprised to see the black sedan on the street outside her apartment. Does Bellamy really think she’s ready to see him after what happened?

She walks over to the car cautiously and the window rolls down. She peers in to find that it isn’t Bellamy behind the wheel at all and she wonders if this isn’t Roan’s car at all.

“Clarke Griffin?” the driver asks.

“Yes…” Clarke says warily.

“I’m Miller. Roan’s new driver,” he tells her.

“Oh,” Clarke says. She wonders what happened to Bellamy, but she doesn’t want to ask, so she just gets into the car and lets Miller drive her to the hotel.

She goes to Roan’s office immediately when she arrives, knocking on the door lightly before entering, even though it’s open. Roan looks up and gives her a look she can’t quite decipher. Somewhere between sorrow and anger, and maybe even a little pity. He looks tired, like he hasn’t slept properly, and his normally neatly tied back hair hangs around his face. He gestures for Clarke to come and sit opposite him and Clarke hurries to do as he wishes.

“What’s going on?” Clarke asks. “What happened to Bellamy?” Roan’s face contorts at the mention of Bellamy’s name and Clarke’s stomach drops. She’s so dead.

“I guess he didn’t tell you,” Roan says flippantly. “I fired him.” He pauses. “I’m really sorry to tell you this but he’s been cheating on you. With my wife.”

“What?”

“He told me yesterday morning. Naturally I couldn’t keep him around,” Roan says matter-of-factly. “Echo will also be leaving as soon as possible.”  He glances at Clarke who still hasn’t said anything. Honestly, she can’t quite believe what she’s hearing. Bellamy told Roan the truth. Well, most of the truth. “I’m sorry,” Roan says, gentler than before. Clarke nods, swallowing.

“Thanks,” she says, and she’s about to stand up and go, relieved her part in the deception hasn’t been revealed. But then she realises that if she doesn’t tell Roan the truth then she’s no better than Bellamy and Echo. In fact she’d be worse than Bellamy, because he’d actually owned up to what he’d done and faced the consequences. She was an accomplice, and she realises now that what she did was just as bad as what Bellamy did.

“He didn’t cheat on me,” she blurts out.

“Clarke,” Roan says pityingly, as if he thinks she’s in denial.

“We were never together,” she admits. “I—,” she falters, then takes a deep breath. “I knew Echo and Bellamy were sleeping together. I promised not to tell and I pretended to be Bellamy’s girlfriend so you wouldn’t suspect.”

Roan stares at her, his face impassive. He doesn’t yell at her, doesn’t fire her. He doesn’t even really say anything except, “okay.” Clarke hovers, waiting for him to say something more. To tell her how she let him down, how disappointed he is with her. “You can go now,” is all he says. Clarke stands and turns to go but she reconsiders, turning back to him.

“Aren’t you mad?” she asks. Roan shrugs.

“What do you want me to say, Clarke?” he shakes his head. “Of course I’m mad. You should’ve told me. But you already know that.” Clarke nods. “Besides, I understand. People can make stupid decisions when they’re in love.”

“Like lie to people they care about,” Clarke says flatly. She’s talking about herself, but she’s thinking about Bellamy too.

“Or get married,” Roan snorts. Clarke grins.

“Do you think you and Echo will work things out?” she asks. Roan raises an eyebrow.

“Not sure there’s much point,” he sighs. “I obviously can’t trust her.” Clarke nods, looking down at her hands, knowing he’s right. You can’t build a relationship with someone you can’t trust. Roan seems to sense what she’s thinking. “What Echo did isn’t the same as what Bellamy did,” he tells her. Clarke looks up.

“He lied to me for almost two months. He let me believe he and Echo were still sleeping together so I’d continue pretending to be his girlfriend,” Clarke tells Roan, and he winces.

“Look, I’m not Bellamy’s biggest fan, obviously. But I also don’t think he set out to hurt anyone,” Roan shrugs. “I’m not saying you should give him a second chance. I’m just saying maybe don’t write him off just yet.”

Clarke thinks about Roan’s words a lot over the next week. It’s radio silence from Bellamy, which is what she wanted, but at the same time she wishes just a little bit that he’d call to check on her.

She dithers over whether or not to call him. She doesn’t entirely forgive him. But she knows she can forgive him, and he deserves to know that. And she goes to bed and she thinks about him until she falls asleep, and she thinks about him while she’s working and while she’s cooking and while she’s watching Field of Dreams and she knows she’ll never be satisfied until she works things out with him.

She gets Miller to drop her off at Bellamy’s apartment after work one night, instead of her own, and as the driver speeds away Clarke stares at the intercom, willing herself to press the buzzer.

“You okay, dear?” a woman asks, coming up beside her.

“Yeah,” Clarke assures her.

“Who are you here to see?”

“Bellamy Blake,” she says.

“Oh, he lives across the hall from me, come on,” the woman says, letting Clarke into the building. The woman prattles on as she leads Clarke into the elevator and up to the third floor, but Clarke isn’t really listening, except when she finally says, “that’s Bellamy’s apartment there.” Clarke walks slowly to the door while the woman goes into her own apartment.

Bellamy’s door is slightly ajar and Clarke peers through the crack as she knocks, jumping back when she hears footsteps coming towards her. He’s obviously not expecting her. He freezes when he sees her and he looks like he’s seen a ghost.

“Clarke,” he manages to croak. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she returns, her stomach churning. He looks good despite his recent unemployment. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah, of course,” he nods, standing aside to let her in. She glances around as she walks in, noting the boxes placed around the room. The walls and shelves are all bare.

“Are you moving?” she asks, surprised, turning back to him as he shuts the front door.

“Yeah,” he says. “With Octavia and Lincoln for a while, until college starts in the fall.”

“You’re finally going,” she smiles, feeling proud of him.

“Yeah,” Bellamy smiles bashfully. “I figured now was a good time. I’ll try to get a part time job while I’m studying.”

“That’s… great, Bellamy,” Clarke says honestly. “I’m really happy for you.”

“Thanks.”

“So,” Clarke says. “I obviously didn’t come just to catch up.”

“Right,” Bellamy nods, his jaw tight.

“Roan told me you came clean,” Clarke informs him.

“Seemed like it was time,” Bellamy shrugs. “Echo hates me now though.”

“She’ll get over it,” Clarke snorts. “She made her own bed.” Bellamy nods in agreement. “Thanks for not telling him I was involved.”

“That was the deal,” he reminds her.

“I told him myself,” she admits. “He deserved the truth.” Bellamy nods. He studies her carefully, still not entirely sure why she’s come. “Bellamy,” Clarke says, almost ominously and she doesn’t blame him for the way his shoulders tense. “All that stuff you said at the party… did you mean it?”

“I meant every word,” he says firmly. “And I feel like such an idiot for how I handled things. I’m sorry.” Clarke nods.

“I don’t entirely forgive you,” she says. “But I’m getting there.”

“Okay,” Bellamy says, still watching her.

“So, you’re going to college,” Clarke muses, looking in a nearby box. “Does this mean you’re ready to have someone you actually like in your life?”

“Theoretically,” Bellamy replies, swallowing. Clarke looks back up from the box.

“And you like me, right?” she ascertains. A smile twitches at the corners of Bellamy’s lips.

“I like you,” he confirms.

“Do I recall you saying you might even be in love with me?” Clarke continues.

“That sounds like something I would say,” Bellamy agrees. “Are you saying you’d like to be in my life?”

“Would you like me in it?”

“Yeah,” Bellamy breathes. “I’d like that a lot.” Clarke breaks out into a grin and Bellamy laughs in relief, the tension draining out of him. He reaches for her but she quickly stops him.

“I’m still mad at you,” she reminds him.

“Okay,” Bellamy says, but he doesn’t stop grinning. “Will you let me know when you’ve stopped being mad? Because I’d really like to kiss you.” Clarke rolls her eyes but she’s unable to control the smirk on her face.

“How about I pretend I’m not mad, just for like, half an hour,” she suggests.

“If you’re sure,” Bellamy says, and Clarke is already pulling him in, brushing her lips against his and he kisses her like he kissed her in Paris, holding her like he never wants to let her go, and she feels like maybe she should have realised then that it was never really fake at all.