Everything Has Consequences
Song: Ghosts by Jacob Lee
Wednesday morning, and Octavia stretched in bed, slowly awaking. She checked the clock; four a.m. In an hour and a half, she had to be at work to receive her new mission. Lincoln was still asleep next to her, and she stayed a few seconds more in bed, just looking at him.
She sighed, and got up from bed. She carefully closed the bedroom’s door behind her not to wake Lincoln up. She frowned, because there was light in the living-room. Why were the lights already on? Or maybe she should say “still on”.
She made her way towards the room to notice Bellamy, glasses on his nose, studying something on the table. Actually, it was more like a whole bunch of papers, and he didn’t seem like he had slept at all, judging by the smell of coffee filling the room.
“Bell”, Octavia whispered, “what are you doing? Why aren’t you in your bed?”
“Couldn’t sleep”, he shrugged, still looking through the papers.
Octavia sat right next to him, putting her hand in his forearm to make him look at her.
“Bellamy, don’t lie to me”.
He sighed, and took off his glasses, passing a hand on his face.
“I’m trying to find Clarke’s location”, he said, “O I’m very worried about her”.
“We all are, Bell, but if she doesn’t want to be found, there’s no way we can...” Octavia stated, sad about the idea of Clarke not wanting to let them find her.
“I know, I know”, Bellamy sighed. “I just... I just feel guilty”.
Octavia frowned. Why would her brother feel guilty about Clarke missing?
“You didn’t see the house O”, Bellamy started, “everything was broken, into a thousand pieces; the furniture, the pictures frames, the dishes. I should have done something”.
“There is nothing you could have done, we didn’t know! We didn’t know about it because she fucking didn’t tell us!” Octavia replied, starting to feel a bit angry about the situation. She was worried about Clarke too, and this was slowly beginning to hit on her nerves.
“But I saw her Octavia, I saw her five days ago, and I could tell something was wrong! And I let her go! I let her go...”, he repeated, his voice threatening to break.
Octavia put an arm around her brother’s shoulders. She didn’t know what they could do; it was totally like Clarke to want to fix everything by herself, and if she wasn’t going to ask for help, there is no way they could find her to give her some.
She unlocked her phone, and tapped a quick text into their secret app.
Octavia: News from Clarke?
It was still early, and nobody would see her message any time soon.
This application had been Raven’s idea. When things had been tougher, their genius had the idea to create an application, completely secret, for all of them, to be able to communicate with each other all at once. This app had also a location device; Monty had designed it and added it to their phones, after Clarke had been missing that night where Finn went crazy. Anyone who had last minute plans, or was not feeling safe, had to put the device on, giving his location to the others, who could trace him like a GPS. If something happened, the rest of the group was able to know where he was, and step in case help was needed. They had also established a code for emergencies; level 1 was for unusual things and small concerns, problems from everyday’s life, smalls things.
Level 2 was for the worrying things, an eventual trouble which has not occurred yet and things to keep an eye on, like when Harper noticed the same guys were following her every night in her way back to home.
Level 3 was for important information or a danger, something concrete, like when Bellamy was telling them to stay where they were and not come home because there were gang fights on the streets or anything like this.
Level 4 was for big and imminent danger, missing person or very serious matter, almost life threatening like when Clarke was so broken by Wells’ death that they thought she was going to kill herself. Octavia had used it once too, when those guys had assaulted her, before Lincoln intervened.
Finally, level 5, the one they wished everyday not to see on their phones; the code for something death related, imminent death, life or death situation. It had only been activated twice in their lives; when Wells had died, and when they had found Charlotte’s lifeless body at the base of the building.
This app was sparing them a lot of trouble sharing the infos between them; they were a large group after all, and without this, they would always had been misunderstandings and unsaid things.
Octavia checked Clarke’s location, as had done it her brother five minutes before her. Nothing. Her phone wasn’t even online, which meant it was off. The Blakes knew it was bad. Everyone in the group, including Murphy, had promised each other to always have their phones turn on, by any means. If Clarke had turned her phone off, she really didn’t want them to find her.
Octavia got out of her thoughts when Bellamy threw the pen he was holding on the other side of the room.
“We are idiots”, he said, binding his teeth together. “We should have seen it coming”.
Octavia frowned, not sure what her brother was talking about.
“Finn wasn’t fine, and we didn’t do anything”, Bellamy explained, almost whispering. “I should have put him in jail that night”.
Octavia snorted at her brother’s words, finally understanding what her brother was referring to.
“Oh, now that Clarke is the one in danger, you are ready to recognize it?”
“O, don’t...”
“Don’t what?” Octavia cut him off, “He killed six people than night Bellamy, six people by cold blood! Of course you should have fucking locked him in jail that night!”
Bellamy sighed. He didn’t want to have this conversation now.
“Octavia, they were...” but Bellamy was cut again mid-sentence by her fuming sister.
“They were persons first, brother, human beings! And they didn’t do anything against Finn or Clarke. He killed them for nothing, for no reason at all! But you,” she said pocking him in the shoulder, “you the cob, you didn’t do or say anything, and you fucking helped cover the mass murder! But now that he is threatening Clarke, you worry about what he could do?”
Bellamy took a look towards the front door; to be sure no one was listening.
“And what would you have wanted me to do?” he said, frustrated.
“Hand him to the police! That’s your fucking job! I don’t know Bellamy, you were there that night, and like me you saw everything! How could you not see he was going crazy?”
Octavia panted, breathless by her tirade.
“And what would have had happen if I had arrested him?” Bellamy answered back, standing very close to her sister’s face, “Clarke would have had to raise her kid alone and...”
“That’s absolutely not an excuse Bellamy, for all we know Finn could be beating little Ayden too!” Octavia cut him off again.
“And Raven...”
“Oh no brother, don’t you dare use Raven to justify what you did or not did that night”, Octavia growled, “Even Raven knows Finn has lost his mind”.
Bellamy sighed, sat back on the couch and took her head between his hands. How could he have known that Finn was that wasted, at the point of hurting Clarke? When they had first met him, he was always the kid trying to see beauty in everything, always kind and open-hearted. How could he have turned in such a monster?
He closed his eyes, as memories from that night were rushing in his head.
Finn was standing in front of the six dealers, sitting on their knees, hands over their heads.
“Where is the blonde girl?” Finn screamed again.
“We told you already, she didn’t come here, we didn’t have her!” A dealer said, trying to keep a younger one from doing something very stupid.
Bellamy had just arrived with his sister and their eyes were widening with horror. It was clear those guys didn’t have Clarke.
“Finn come on we should go”, Bellamy tried to persuade him.
The tension in the room was palpable. Finn had a gun in his hands and where the fuck was it coming from?
“Finn let’s go”, Bellamy tried again, willing to sound authoritarian.
But suddenly, in a matter of seconds, everything went to hell. A young dealer, who didn’t look more than sixteen, moved towards Finn. Finn didn’t think twice, and pulled the trigger. Again and again, until his gun’s loader was empty. Octavia screamed.
The seconds passed, and Bellamy nearly threw up. No one was standing on their knees anymore. Blood was everywhere. Six corpses were lying lifeless on the floor.
“Finn...” Bellamy whispered.
And then, they saw her. Clarke, standing at the front door, still dressed in her hospital clothes, horrified. She was just late. And six people were dead.
“Bell”, Octavia lightly shook him to make him get back to reality.
Her brother sighed again. He should have done something. It was his job. That day, he failed protecting them by protecting a murderer and covering Finn’s actions. And now, Clarke was paying the price of his mistakes, five years later. All they had known their entire life was violence. Violence, again and again. Some people were saying Polis was a quiet city, but they didn’t know. Here in the suburbs, violence was the state of mind for the people who couldn’t afford live downtown. Polis was a city in economic transition, and there were serious inequalities between districts. Here, people were dying every day, but nobody was doing anything. Maybe Bellamy should have done something that night for a change.
“Bell, the past is passed. Don’t make the same mistakes. Finn is dangerous, he needs to get arrested and pay for what he has done” Octavia said, lightly pinching his brother’s shoulder, “We can’t act like nothing happened. Crimes should have consequences. Everything has consequences. We shouldn’t be exceptions.”
Bellamy nodded, because he knew his sister was right. They hated violence, they hated it so much, but they were keeping a murderer from going into jail. Bellamy remembered when Wells had died, how they all had been hard on Murphy, but how they had been merciful when Charlotte confessed, and how they had tried to protect her. But things couldn’t be like that, completely unfair. Everyone had to be held responsible for his actions and pay for it, girl or boy, thirty years old or fifteen, reason or not. Law was law, and Bellamy was the first to apply it on his job, everyday.
Octavia disappeared into the bathroom to get herself ready to go to work, leaving Bellamy with his thoughts.
The girl began to braid her hair; it was something she had learned to do a while ago, when she was still a rookie in Indra’s unit. Once her hair done, she dressed up; black pants and t-shirt, with a green and black leather jacket and brown leather mittens. She really did look like a warrior, and that’s what Octavia wished to be. She quickly grabbed something to eat in the fridge, and got back in the living-room to tell her brother she was leaving.
“Bell”, she said, “I’m going”.
Bellamy hummed, not really hearing his sister.
“Bellamy”, she insisted, “I’m leaving”.
He looked up, finally noticing her.
“How long?”
“I don’t know”, Octavia sighed.
She never knew how long her next mission was going to last, if she would have to disappear for a day, a week or more. When she was out of town, or at least when they didn’t know where she was, the others were always a little worried about her. At first, they all had disagree to let her get into this unit, but surprisingly, Clarke had been the one to approve her decision and make the others accept it too. Octavia never had been close to Clarke, but when Clarke had encouraged her to incorporate Indra’s team, Octavia had discovered a new Blondie. And Octavia loved her job, really she did, but right now, she had the feeling to let Clarke down because she wouldn’t be able to look after her while she would be on mission. What if this mission was going to last for a month? Clarke couldn’t wait that long.
“Keep your phone on”, Bellamy said, “and please stay safe. We will let you know if we have news from Clarke”.
Octavia nodded, and quickly hugged her brother before disappearing in the stairs. Bellamy closed the door behind her, and re-concentrated on the papers.
Octavia was at the end of the stairs, in front of the building’s door. She threw a peek right and left, and instead of going out, she opened the storage room and closed the door right after her. Octavia waited a few seconds just to be sure nobody had been following her. Then, she pressed her hands on very specific spots on the wall. Suddenly, a secret door opened, without making any noise. Octavia waited another few seconds before entering in the tunnel and she made sure the secret passage was properly closed. She didn’t want someone else to find it, did she? That was her secret, and nobody else in Arcadia knew about it.
She began to jogtrot in the tunnel, triggering small lights to turn on on her way. Those tunnels, there were thousands of them under the city, only well known by a few people. Indra, for sure, because she was the one to suggest using them, and everyone on her special intervention team, all of Octavia teammates. Octavia believed that Lexa Woods, Coalition corp.’s CEO, was part of the secret too. After all, she was the one to unite the twelve biggest companies on the planet, and create Indra’s unit. Octavia hadn’t met Miss Woods in person, but everyone knew the face of the most famous woman living on Earth. Except Clarke, Monty and Jasper, who didn’t care much about the outside world anyway. Octavia was hoping that one day, she would prove herself worthy enough to be presented to her.
Everyone had already heard the stories about Lexa Woods, the youngest CEO of the planet. Even Indra had a big esteem of Lexa, who was like twenty years younger than her. And if Indra trusted Lexa, then Octavia could do so too.
Octavia was coming at the end of this little tunnel, rejoining another one; those tunnels were the city’s sewers really, but they had been very useful move in the city, in the fastest and most discreet way. Every member had a secret entry hidden somewhere close to the place they were living in.
Octavia got at the crossroad with another tunnel; this one had been Zoe Monroe’s, a girl who had been killed in an ambush in one of their missions. She wasn’t really integrated into Arcadia’s group, but used to hang out with Bellamy in high school. Her death was partially Octavia’s fault, and Octavia shivered at the memory.
She finally reached what was waiting for her; a big black motorcycle with large wheels. Octavia smiled at the sight of the vehicle, and took the helmet to put hit on her head. She got out the key she was carrying around her neck, and started the motorcycle with a big roar. She smiled again, and left into the dark tunnels.
6 a.m and Lexa’s alarm clock was buzzing into the loft. Waking up, Lexa cursed herself for not thinking to cut it off for today, and hoped it hadn’t woken Ayden and Clarke up. It didn’t seem so, because Ayden was still snoring on Lexa’s chest, wrapped into the warm blankets. She suddenly wondered if Clarke had a job she had to go to, or if Ayden was going to school. She didn’t have to wait long to have her answer, because Ayden stretched up before opening his eyes, confused.
“Mommy?” He asked, not seeing his mother, his bottom lip beginning to shake.
“Ayden it’s Lexa, you remember me?” Lexa said, making him look at her.
Recognition flashed on Ayden’s face, and his pout faded away.
“Yexa”, he smiled. “You didn’t leave.”
Lexa frowned, not understanding.
“Where was I supposed to go? This is my home, I wouldn’t have left...?”
“But Finn leaves all the time”, Ayden sighed. “And when I sleep with mommy, she is gone when I wake up.”
“I’m here”, she gave the kid a tiny smile, trying to reassure him. Ayden nodded sleepily, and put his head back against Lexa’s chest, closing his eyes.
Lexa knew she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep now that she was awake, but she didn’t mind the boy sleeping on her chest. In fact, she was founding it pretty cool, because it meant the boy trusted her enough to sleep with her rather than his mother. Speaking of his mother, Lexa figured she had to go check on her, while Ayden was still sleeping. She carefully removed the boy from her chest, and put him on the couch, bringing the blanket on top of him. He didn’t awake, and Lexa silently went to her bedroom.
Lexa found a pair of blues eyes looking right at her when she entered the bedroom. Clarke was awake. Lexa silently got closer to her.
“Hello Clarke. Did you sleep well?”
Clarke nodded. Everything was strange. Her head was still spinning a little, but it was much better than the previous day. What she couldn’t understand was the smile on Lexa’s face, so genuine, so true. Except Lexa was doing this because of pity, right? So why was she here, looking after Clarke and even smiling to her?
“Do you want to eat something?” Lexa gently asked her.
Clarke bit her lip, not answering. Lexa must have guessed what Clarke was thinking about a few seconds ago, because she spoke again.
“Clarke, I just want to help you”.
This time, Clarke nodded, and Lexa left the room, telling her she would bring something to eat.
On the couch, Ayden wasn’t asleep anymore, and was playing with his feet and the blanket. Lexa lightly smiled, seeing that Ayden hadn’t panicked in not seeing her next to him when he awoke.
“Yexa”, he shyly asked when he noticed her, “I’m a bit hungry”.
This time, Lexa laughed, because damn how cute was this little man.
“Alright come on, we are going to make breakfast!” Lexa said, going into the kitchen.
Ayden smiled, and quickly got on his tiny feet to help her. Lexa showed him how to make very French toasts, and while she was explaining everything to Ayden, Lexa’s mind was full of weird feelings. This kid wasn’t hers. She couldn’t let herself get attached to him too much. Everything has consequences, she thought. But she couldn’t help it. Lexa knew she would have her heart broken soon or later, because of them leaving as soon as Clarke would be able to stand on her own. But right now, she was thinking that maybe, she should took the risk. It was just a boy, wasn’t he?