Chapter Text
It had been a very long time since Bellamy felt the rage scorch through his chest. Years, even. While he had been preparing for this moment for almost a decade, no amount of preparation could prepare him for how it felt to be back in the center of Arkadia, walking among the people who ruined his life.
Bellamy’s mother had warned him all those years ago about what his rage, if left unchecked, could do. And, he didn’t have to take her word for it. The time he spent in a juvenile detention center was enough of a reminder. With time, he learned how to control it. He liked to believe that if Aurora were still alive, she would be proud.
It’s the thought of honoring his mother’s wishes that keeps him centered. Even when every bone in his body is aching to lash out.
“Breathe,” Octavia whispered as they stepped into the Griffin-Jaha estate, forcing a smile not much different than the one plastered on Bellamy’s face.
“I am breathing, O,” he snapped, only to hear Monty groaning through his earpiece. Bellamy struggled not to chuckle at the sound of Monty’s frustration.
“There you two are!” he heard someone shout, as he turned his head to see Roan stepping out of the study, arms wide as he pulled them both in for a hug. “Glad you two finally showed up,” he teased as he pulled out of the hug, tilting his head to gesture for them to follow. Bellamy exchanged a look with Octavia, who had an eyebrow raised at him, before following Roan through the house.
In all of Bellamy’s preparation, he wasn’t quite ready for how lavishly the Griffin-Jaha household lived. He thought the mansion looked impressive from the outside, yet somehow it felt bigger once inside. As he examined the expensive paintings and vast marble flooring, he couldn’t help but wonder how much of this was paid for by what they did to Mt. Weather.
“Oh, there’s Jasper,” Octavia said, before excusing herself to take off toward the bar. Roan shrugged, clearly not thinking this was out of character for her. But, Jasper needed to make some important introductions for Octavia, and Bellamy had his own agenda for the day.
“So, is this usual for these parties?” Bellamy asked Roan, gesturing around the large room, filled with rich heiresses, CEO’s, a few celebrities, and investors… all mingling like this was business as usual.
“Pretty much. Although, I don’t see our hosts anywhere,” Roan said, narrowing his eyes as he scanned the room. “Oh, well there is Wells Jaha,” he said, gesturing his head toward the staircase. Bellamy turned around to see a young man who looked a lot like Thelonious Jaha dressed in a navy suit quickly descending the stairs.
Bellamy pressed his lips together, putting his hands in his pockets. “Arkadia’s prince,” he teased, and Roan let out a loud chuckle.
“Oh, he’s not like that. Pretty grounded guy, actually,” Roan remarked, and Bellamy narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. There was no way that someone who grew up like this could be grounded. Roan started slowly walking, and Bellamy stayed in step with him. “Over by the piano, is Senator Dante Wallace,” Roan pointed out, and Bellamy nodded, noticing several familiar faces surrounding Wallace.
Bellamy had done his homework on these people. Almost every person in this room had a file with their name on it… a file that Bellamy had been building and studying for years. Yet, this was the first time that he had been in the same room as most of these people.
“Oh, and Dr. Tsing is over at that table that Jasper and Octavia are heading toward,” Roan explained, and Bellamy did his best not to let his jaw clench. He had to remind himself that in time, every person in this room would get what was coming to them. Just not all today. But, knowing that, didn’t make it any easier to see Dr. Tsing have people fawn over her newest book or to witness the success of Senator Wallace. It’s disgusting to see what eighteen years have done for them, considering how many lives were ruined because of them.
“Is Charles Pike here? I thought I heard that he was close with the Jaha’s,” Bellamy asked, as Roan scanned the room.
“He should be here. He was on the guest list,” Roan muttered, eyes narrowed. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Jasper introduce Octavia to Wells, and Bellamy let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. Everything so far was going according to plan.
“Well, if you see him, please introduce us. I’ve only heard good things about his investing firm,” Bellamy said with a slight smirk, surveying the entire room. Then, he felt a pat on his back. He looked over his shoulder to see Jasper gripping his shoulder.
“I’m already bored,” Jasper groaned, and Bellamy started chuckling. Over Jasper’s shoulder, Bellamy could see Octavia and Wells talking in a corner. Bellamy pulled Jasper in for a hug.
“You did good,” he whispered, before pulling back. “Roan, you remember Jasper, right?”
Whatever pleasantries Roan and Jasper exchanged were missed by Bellamy, however. He was too busy studying the sight of Thelonious Jaha and Abby Griffin walking downstairs with smiles about as fake as the one on Bellamy’s face.
“Bellamy?” Roan’s voice snapped him out of his slight trance, as Bellamy turned his head back toward the group.
“Sorry,” Bellamy said, swallowing. A man Bellamy didn’t recognize was standing next to Roan with a strange look on his face. “I was out of it for a second. Hi, I’m Bellamy Blake,” Bellamy recovered, holding his hand out to shake his hand.
“Cage Wallace. I normally know everyone here. What brings you to Arkadia?” Cage asked, with a look on his face that made Bellamy’s skin crawl. Something about this guy made him uncomfortable. Then, the name Wallace struck him. He must be of some relation to Senator Wallace.
“Bellamy took a position at my company,” Jasper answered quickly, shooting a quizzical look at Bellamy. “Turns out, Monty and I are good at the tech stuff, but not so good at the money stuff,” he joked, and Bellamy forced himself to laugh.
“Well, Mr. Blake, I’m sure you know you’ll have your hands full with those two,” Cage Wallace said with a disconcerting smirk, and Bellamy pressed his lips together and nodded.
“Oh, I’m very aware,” Bellamy smirked, glancing over Roan’s shoulder to see Octavia standing alone. His stomach dropped. “Excuse me,” he said as politely as he could muster before crossing the room toward a frustrated Octavia. “What happened?”
“He didn’t bite,” she muttered.
“Fuck,” he heard Monty mutter over the earpiece, and Octavia rolled her eyes. Bellamy glanced back over at Jasper, who also had a tense look on his face. “He should have been an easy mark,” Monty continued, and Bellamy could tell he was on the computer going over Wells’ file.
“Don’t worry about that right now. I need you to start getting information on Cage Wallace,” Bellamy said, looking at Octavia so it would look like they were having a conversation.
“Harmless parasite. Nothing to pay too much attention to today,” Monty said quickly, and Bellamy could hear the frustration in his voice.
“Give Wells a few minutes before trying again,” Bellamy said to Octavia, who let out a sigh. Then, Bellamy saw a man he recognized from his picture walk into the room. Octavia smirked as she followed Bellamy’s gaze.
“About damn time he showed up,” Octavia said, and Bellamy forced himself to take a breath.
“I can’t move on Pike until you’ve got Wells,” Bellamy whispered, and Octavia pressed her lips together, nodding. Bellamy started surveying the room again, noticing how Roan was on the phone as he stormed toward the stairs. That could be anything, he reassured himself. Roan worked for the Jaha’s. He was running this party… there could be many reasons that he would be getting a call that would make him seem this concerned. There was no way Roan knew anything was going on… not yet, at least.
He saw Jasper break free of Cage Wallace, before walking into another room. Well, it was about time he actually did his job, Bellamy smirked to himself. Octavia spotted Wells again, before raising an eyebrow at Bellamy. He reluctantly nodded, before Octavia took off, and Bellamy headed toward the bar.
“I was wondering when the late entry to our guest list would make an appearance,” he heard a woman say as he grabbed a glass of champagne.
“Bellamy Blake,” he introduced himself to Abby Griffin, who was studying him closely.
“Abby Griffin. I’m glad you could make it to our little fundraiser,” she said with a forced smile, and Bellamy smiled in return.
“Well, it’s a worthy cause. I brought my sister as well. We were both just talking about what a lovely home you and your husband have,” Bellamy replied, and that seemed to win her over.
“How sweet of you. Do you live in town or are you just visiting?” she asked, before waving to someone who was walking past.
“I am currently house hunting. I work with Jasper Jordan and Monty Green,” he answered, which, by the way her eyes widened, must have impressed her.
“Come find me once the party dies down a bit. I know of a few places nearby that you should be looking at,” she said with a sincere smile, and Bellamy nodded to show his appreciation. She excused herself as she walked over toward Senator Wallace, and Bellamy swallowed.
“Seems like Queen Griffin likes you,” he heard Monty tease over the earpiece, and it took all the strength he had in him not to roll his eyes.
“Let’s just hope Prince Jaha is just as taken with Octavia,” Jasper joked over the earpiece, and Bellamy smirked into his champagne. Jasper was out of sight, which must mean that he was busy setting up cameras throughout the house.
“Yeah, slight problem with that,” he heard Octavia groan in his earpiece, and Bellamy started scanning the room. He saw Wells talking with Roan now, and Octavia was nowhere to be seen. “Bell, earpiece out,” Octavia ordered, and Bellamy groaned, before turning around so he could tug it out without anyone seeing him. Then, he stepped outside, where other people on their phones were. He pulled out his cell and dialed Octavia.
“We must have missed something while we were doing our research,” she whispered, and Bellamy wanted to correct her that they, in fact, did not.
“Where are you?” he asked, curious about why her voice echoed so much as she spoke.
“Fuck. Hold on, I’m muting you,” she muttered, as Bellamy took a seat on the bench, hearing some other woman on the other line.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know anyone was in here,” she woman said, and Bellamy figured that Octavia was hiding out in a bathroom.
“It’s okay. I was about to step out anyway,” Octavia replied. Bellamy looked over his shoulder, looking through the window. He could see Pike and Jaha talking about something serious, and Bellamy’s chest started to tighten. He should be dealing with Pike right now, not worried about Octavia messing everything up.
“Actually, are you the girl who I saw talking to my step-brother?” the woman asked, and Bellamy perked up, suddenly back to being interested in this conversation.
“I just met him today, actually,” Octavia recovered, as Bellamy raked his brain for what this woman’s name was. He vaguely remembered that she had moved away from Arkadia and had been living in Polis for a few years, which was why he wasn’t as on top of her information as he normally was.
“Well, I just wanted to warn you about Wells. I hope I’m not reading anything wrong, but if you’re interested in anything other than friendship, you’re wasting your time. He doesn’t date,” the woman explained, and Bellamy started thinking back to all the tabloid articles with pictures of Wells Jaha with a different woman on his arm every week. “Love him to death, and all. But, his whole playboy act is, well, an act.”
Bellamy swallowed, suddenly wanting to go back in time and punch himself in the face. He should have known better than to just assume Wells’ reputation was the truth. Wells not only seemed disinterested in Octavia, but in any girl at the party. Bellamy should have known better than to base an entire plan on Octavia being the Trojan Horse. Especially not when the guy she needed to charm to get in with the Griffin-Jaha household would probably never be interested in Octavia.
“Thanks for the heads up. I’m Octavia, by the way,” he heard his sister say. His mind was racing, as he tried to think of another way to get close to Wells. There had to be another way to get close enough to this family.
“I’m Clarke,” the woman said, before he heard Octavia leave the room.
“Did you hear all of that?” she asked, and Bellamy let out a groan.
“We need to go home and regroup,” he said, as he fished his earpiece out of his pocket.
“No, Bell. Clarke Griffin is here,” Octavia said in a hushed voice, and Bellamy wanted to snap and say that he gathered that. Then, what she was saying clicked in his head. The plan could still work.
“Earpieces in,” he ordered as he hung up, putting his earpiece back into his ear. “Monty, I need you to tell me everything you can about Clarke Griffin.”
“Absolutely not. Kane said she was off limits,” Jasper reminded, and Bellamy could hear Octavia groan. Bellamy kept his ear pressed to his phone so it would look like he was still talking to someone.
“Ooh, Arkadia’s favorite princess dropped out of med school,” Monty said.
“Jasper, Wells is a no-go. We can keep the same plan if Bellamy goes for Clarke,” Octavia snapped.
“Top of her class in boarding school. She likes to paint. She’s set to inherit more money than Jasper and I hope to make in our entire lives,” Monty continued.
“I meant dirt, Monty,” Bellamy snapped.
“Kane is going to kill us. It was one of the few agreements we made with him. That Clarke was left out of this,” Jasper reminded, but Bellamy ignored him. If Kane wanted to control how they did this, he should’ve stayed.
“Dropping out of med school is the worst thing I can find. And we’ve got a huge file on her. She’s squeaky clean,” Monty explained, and Bellamy narrowed his eyes at the window, trying to locate her in the room. He couldn’t remember what she looked like, and whatever photo he had of her was years old by now.
“Let’s keep it that way,” Jasper snapped.
“Your objection has been noted,” Bellamy whispered, as he saw Abby Griffin pull a blonde woman aside and started talking to her with a forced smile on her face. That had to be Clarke Griffin. She looked too familiar for it not to be.
“And if you strike out, Octavia can take a crack at it. Apparently, Clarke is bi,” Monty said, and Jasper let out a discontented sigh. Bellamy spotted Jasper walk back into the room, and he decided to walk back inside. Octavia appeared again, walking over to Clarke. Then, Bellamy felt someone touch his shoulder.
“There you are,” Roan said with a huge smile, and Bellamy let out a breath.
“Sorry. I had to take a call from my realtor,” Bellamy lied, and Roan nodded along. He glanced over at Octavia, who seemed to be having a pleasant conversation with Clarke. Bellamy swallowed, looking Clarke Griffin up and down. She was pretty, he had to admit. And while they had been jokingly calling her “the princess,” the title seemed to fit. Between her perfectly curled hair and expensive red dress, she certainly looked the part.
“Oh, I must have forgotten to tell you about Wells’ step-sister, Clarke. She just moved back to Arkadia,” Roan explained, apparently noticing how Bellamy’s eyes lingered on her.
“What brings her back?” he asked, hoping that it sounded like he was making casual conversation. Octavia must have made a joke, because Clarke burst out laughing with a smile so genuine, Bellamy questioned how she could be so closely associated with this family.
“She says that she missed being near family,” Roan says with a skeptical tone in his voice. Bellamy glanced back at him, raising an eyebrow.
“You don’t think that’s true?” Bellamy asked.
“Didn’t say that,” Roan said with a shrug. “Want to meet her?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at Bellamy.
“Why not,” Bellamy said before pressing his lips together. And as he followed Roan across the room, Bellamy started to feel overwhelmingly guilty. This was never supposed to be his job. Octavia was supposed to be doing this with Wells, which she was totally fine with. After all, Wells works for The Ark just like his father, and was bound to turn out just as guilty as Thelonious in the end. Using him seemed fair.
But, as far as their research could tell, Clarke Griffin was an innocent in all of this. The only thing dragging her into this plan was her name and the fact that she decided to move back home. But, she was just as good of an option as Wells. She lived in the mansion just like he did. She had similar access to The Ark’s financial history. And, without her knowing, she could let them get closer to their actual targets.
And, even if Wells turned out to be just as innocent as Clarke, it would have been easier for Bellamy to go through with it since he wouldn’t be the person who got close to Wells. But, now… he had to be the one to lie constantly to Clarke.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Roan said, before leaning in to press a kiss to Clarke’s cheek. “This is my friend I was telling you about,” he continued, gesturing to Bellamy. Octavia stepped to the side, shooting Bellamy a knowing look.
“Bellamy Blake,” he introduced himself, reaching out his hand. She took it, eyeing him up and down.
“Clarke Griffin,” she replied as she shook his hand.
Bellamy was sitting at his table, listening to some woman named Echo list off what a crazy schedule she had for the next few months. He was a bit irritated that his introduction to Clarke had been cut short by Thelonious Jaha starting the art auction, but, in all honesty, Bellamy probably needed more time to gather his thoughts.
He would have thought that after all these years of planning, Bellamy would be okay with what all he was about to do. But, it was different now that he was actually in the room with all the people that his actions would affect.
Bellamy decided to get up and stretch his legs for a bit, while everyone was busy focusing on which CEO was going to win the painting by the artist that not one person in that room knew how to pronounce. He grabbed another glass of champagne, lingering in the back of the room as he surveyed everyone. Monty hadn’t said anything over the earpiece in a while. Jasper took his out so that he could talk about his newest software program to some potential investors. And, he couldn’t help that notice that Abby Griffin was taking a particular interest in his sister. They were off to the side of the room talking with happy expressions on their faces. From what he heard from O’s side, it sounded like they were talking about some charity. He was doing his best to tune it out.
“You’re not from here, are you?” someone asked, startling Bellamy slightly. He turned his head to see Clarke Griffin standing next to him, keeping her eyes fixed on the auction as she sipped her champagne.
“What gave it away?” he asked, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that technically he was from here. In fact, he was a happy resident of Arkadia until he was ten, when his mother was murdered. But, Blake was a common name, and he didn’t need to draw attention to the fact that he was indeed Aurora Blake’s son.
“Don’t worry. You look the part,” she teased, and Bellamy let out an unexpected chuckle. “Just a little anxious, that’s all.”
“I did just move here,” he pointed out, raising an eyebrow. She nodded, pursing her lips. “Before tonight, I really only knew Jasper and Roan.”
“And how do you know Roan?” she asked, now looking at Bellamy. He blinked a few times. Honestly, he had been expecting this to be more difficult, especially with how hard it was for Octavia with Wells earlier. But, for some reason, Clarke was easy to talk to.
“Officially, the story is that we were on the Mock Trial team together,” he said with a smirk.
“And unofficially?” she asked with a grin, before taking another sip.
“Unofficially, he and I met as we were both leaving a frat party. It was our freshman year and we were both too drunk to remember how to get back to the dorms. So, we drunkenly wandered the campus together for an hour,” he smirked, and Clarke had to cover her mouth to keep her laughter under control.
“That sounds about right,” she muttered, shaking her head as she refocused on the auction.
“You two seem to know each other well,” he observed, and she pressed her lips together again.
“If you’re trying to flirt with the girl, you’re doing a horrible job,” he heard Monty groan through his earpiece, and Bellamy bit his own tongue.
“He seems to think so,” she answered vaguely, as Bellamy raised an eyebrow. “I see him when I come home. But, I haven’t spent much time in Arkadia since I was a child,” she explained with a shrug, and Bellamy narrowed his eyes slightly. Monty did tell him that Clarke had been in boarding school for a while, so he shouldn’t be surprised that she didn’t feel close with Roan. Plus, she had been in Polis for years. That was the reason she had never been taken into account when they put together their plan.
“So, what brings you back to Arkadia? I heard you’ve been living in Polis for a while now,” Bellamy tried to keep conversation going, even though Monty was groaning out of boredom. Bellamy almost felt bad that they made him stay behind, but he was more reliable than leaving Jasper at the computer.
“You heard correctly. I just needed a change,” she said, pursing her lips as Charles Pike stood up to bid. Her facial expressions were remarkably easy to read, which he was surprised by. He had no doubt that Clarke could be just as fake as her family usually was, but it was interesting to see how normal she seemed one-on-one. Then, Diana Sydney made a bid, and Bellamy swears he saw Clarke’s jaw twitch. Her guard was almost completely down, he realized. “So, what else have you heard about me?” she turned to ask him, apparently trying to distract herself from whatever that was. Bellamy blinked a few times, not sure how to answer that. He coughed once, hoping to cue Monty to help him out.
“Hmm, let me think,” Bellamy said, and Clarke smirked.
“Uh, people say she’s really into painting…” Monty said, and Bellamy could hear the keyboard clacking loudly. “There’s a rumor that she dated some prince of small European country.”
“Well, I heard a crazy story about you dating a prince,” he said, and Clarke started chuckling.
“Are you serious? I wish that were true,” she said with a grin, shaking her head. “I guess that’s what I get for staying off the radar…”
“How dare you try to keep your personal life private,” he teased, as Clarke looked down at the ground, still chuckling.
“Hey, sorry I’m late,” some man said as he reached around Clarke, kissing her on the forehead. Bellamy looked him up and down, suddenly realizing there was another vital piece of information that they had somehow missed in Clarke’s file.
“Oh, Finn, this is Bellamy Blake. He just moved here,” she introduced with a grin. “And, Bellamy, this is my boyfriend, Finn Collins.”
“Oh, fuck,” he heard Monty groan, and he could see Octavia’s head pop up from across the room, shooting him a deer in the headlights look. Bellamy reached out to shake hands with Finn, who was sizing him up.
“So nice to meet you,” Bellamy forced himself to say with the biggest smile he could muster.
“Likewise,” Finn snapped with a very fake smile, and Bellamy noticed Clarke narrow her eyes at Finn.
“Excuse us,” Clarke said sweetly to Bellamy, before shooting another look at Finn, who followed after her. “Where the hell have you been?” she snapped as soon as she thought she was out of earshot.
Bellamy watched them closely as they went out into the hallway to talk. There was something up with Finn Collins… he could just tell.
“What have you found on Finn Collins?” he asked quietly, hoping Monty had taken the initiative to start investigating. They didn’t already have a file on the guy, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anything there.
“Not enough. But, we could get rid of him,” Monty replied, and Bellamy saw Octavia make her way toward him.
“We sure this is the right move?” Octavia whispered as she got closer to Bellamy.
“It’s our only way to keep the same plan,” Bellamy pointed out, as Octavia huffed, now beside him. Jasper slowly moved toward them, apparently having the earpiece back in his ear.
“Kane will be pissed,” Jasper reminded, but Bellamy just shot him an annoyed look.
“Finn Collins is definitely hiding something,” Monty announced, and Bellamy glanced over at Clarke and Finn’s conversation. She was already suspicious of something. It wasn’t like they’d have to push them that hard.
“Then, let’s get rid of him. Either way, we’re doing her a favor,” Octavia said with a shrug, and Bellamy couldn’t argue with that. At this point, using Clarke wouldn’t harm her. They weren’t doing anything yet except gaining information. And, if it meant getting rid of a boyfriend who wasn’t good for her, this arrangement could actually work out for Clarke Griffin.
It was strange for Bellamy to be back here after all these years. In a way, it all felt eerily familiar to him. He had vague memories of the city from his childhood. And, he had been studying these people for years, so it was almost like they were all people he used to know.
And, as he sat in Monty’s penthouse going through video feeds of the Griffin-Jaha house, he had an odd sense of déjà vu.
“Where even is Octavia?” he groaned, pulling out one of his headphones. Jasper pressed his lips together as he pulled up another tab.
“Not a clue,” Monty muttered from across the room. His job was to find dirt on Finn Collins, while Jasper and Bellamy filtered through the cameras Jasper set up during the fundraiser.
“She’s at Grounders,” Jasper said, narrowing his eyes at the screen. Bellamy let out a sigh, knowing exactly why she was there. Octavia was much younger than he was when their mother died, which meant she had even fewer memories of this place. But, of course, she remembered their old next-door neighbor, Lincoln.
She first noticed him last week when she and Bellamy wanted to stop somewhere for lunch. Lincoln was a bartender at Grounders, but had yet to recognize Octavia. And, why would he? She was only five the last time he saw her.
“You need to talk to her about that,” Monty snapped, and Bellamy jerked his head up to glare at Monty, who immediately backed off. Bellamy had warned Octavia, of course. But, his sister has a nasty habit of not listening. At least when the plan was for her to pursue Wells Jaha, he had a legitimate reason to protest. But, now… there was no reason that Octavia couldn’t pursue her own relationships while they were there. Well, there was one reason: that when all of this was over, Bellamy and Octavia would disappear.
“Probably a good thing Wells didn’t pan out then, huh?” Jasper muttered. Bellamy shook his head, refocusing on the screen in front of him.
“Dax, shut the door behind you,” Thelonious Jaha snapped inside his study, as Bellamy turned up the volume.
“Sir, is something wrong?” the man that Bellamy now knows as Dax asked. He was dressed in a suit, and looked a lot like the security guys that Bellamy saw around the party. He was pretty sure they already had a file on Dax, naming him as the new head of security.
“I need you to look into Ontari,” Jaha remarked, looking down at some sheets on his desk. “I think she’s our leak.” Bellamy furrowed his eyebrows, not sure what leak he was referring to.
“Sir, with all due respect, she’s kind of harmless,” Dax argued, causing Jaha’s head to snap up.
“Let’s not forget how much information she got out of Wells a few months ago,” Jaha replied, narrowing his eyes at Dax. “Until I figure out who talked to Diana Sydney, I’m not ruling her out.”
Hearing that name gave Bellamy chills. It was bad enough seeing Diana Sydney at the fundraiser, nosily making her way around the party. Luckily, she didn’t bother to introduce herself to him, which Bellamy was relieved by. She had this uncanny ability to get people to talk, to confess all their secret thoughts and feelings. Bellamy had read enough of her books to know he should be wary. After all, her debut novel did quite a number on the public’s perception of the explosion in Mt. Weather.
Although, Bellamy took some comfort in knowing that Diana Sydney was causing some kind of trouble for Jaha.
“Ooh, who wants to hear the prince and princess gossip?” Jasper asked excitedly, and Monty let out a groan as he sunk further down on the couch. Bellamy paused the video before moving next to Jasper, who unplugged his headphones from his laptop.
“Literally the most oblivious person I’ve ever met,” Clarke groaned, lying down on a couch. They were in a room that Bellamy hadn’t seen earlier, which meant that Jasper really did cover the whole house while he wandered around at the fundraiser.
“She wasn’t flirting with me, Clarke,” Wells snapped, while on his laptop.
“Trust me, I’ve got an eye for this kind of stuff. Octavia was totally trying to flirt with your oblivious ass,” she smirked, as Wells furrowed his eyebrows. “Don’t worry. I discouraged her without telling her why.”
“Thank you,” Wells said with a pleading voice as he shut his laptop. “It’s just too soon after—”
“I know,” Clarke interrupted, sitting up with a serious expression on her face. Bellamy grabbed his notepad to make a note of that, wanting to look into what that could possibly be about. Then, he remembered to jot down what he witnessed from Jaha’s interaction with Dax.
“Finn is cheating on Clarke!” Monty shouted, as Jasper put the video on mute.
“Holy fuck,” Bellamy said, as he got up to walk over to Monty, who was typing some code that Bellamy couldn’t make sense of.
“So, I traced the other phone number that Finn had been calling as much as Clarke’s… It got me to a girl named Raven Reyes,” Monty explained as he continued to type.
“What are you doing now?” Bellamy asked, as Jasper leaned his head on Bellamy’s shoulder.
“Going on a hunch that Finn is with her right now,” Monty muttered, and Bellamy noticed Jasper’s smiles start to grow.
“Guys, what did I miss?” Octavia shouted as the door swung open.
“Finn is cheating on Clarke,” Bellamy shouted back, and Octavia started running over toward the couch, plopping down next to Monty.
“How much you wanna bet she left her laptop open?” Jasper asked with a smirk, as Bellamy and Octavia exchanged a look.
Then, Monty finished typing and a video feed appeared on the screen. “This was too easy,” Monty muttered as he slouched back in his seat. They all crouched around him to see Finn and Raven making out on top of her bed. “Well, what do we want to do with this?” Monty asked, glancing up at Bellamy, who then looked at Octavia, who was smirking.
“I say we get this right to Clarke,” Octavia suggested, her wicked grin growing by the second. Monty studied Bellamy’s face to see if he would object, but Bellamy didn’t really have a problem with this plan. It was more direct than any other option. And it wasn’t like Monty hadn’t done anything like this before. This was far from the first cheating scandal the four of them had exploited, and it won’t be their last.
Jasper headed back over to his seat, turning his laptop’s volume back on. Bellamy glanced at his own screen, noticing that Jaha was all alone now. So, he settled in to watch the chaos unfold on Jasper’s screen.
“I’m just saying you need to be careful,” Wells groaned, as Clarke scrolled through her phone. She glanced up to raise an eyebrow at Wells, who had taken off his tie since he last saw them on screen. “Cage is a vulture. Roan was very concerned about how he was looking at you.”
“I can take care of myself, remember?” Clarke muttered, typing something into her phone.
Then, Bellamy heard Monty set his laptop down on the couch before walking over to them, which means that he succeeded in sending it to Clarke and wanted to see what happened. Octavia came over, too, and Bellamy took a deep breath.
On the video feed, he could barely make out the sound of Clarke getting a text message, noticing her eyes widen slightly before opening it. Wells seemed interested in Clarke’s reaction to the video, as he slid over to look. His face was far more telling than Clarke’s. Bellamy could suddenly see the resemblance between Clarke and Abby, seeing her face turn to stone as she watched the video.
“Clarke, who sent this to you?” Wells asked, eyes wide, but Clarke’s face stayed stoic. It was almost as if something like this had happened to her before, which concerned Bellamy.
“Don’t know,” she muttered, narrowing her eyes at the phone.
Bellamy glanced around at his own little group, seeing them all eagerly watch this unfold.
“Alright, let’s start taking bets about how she deals with this. I say she rage calls him and bitches him out,” Jasper joked, and Monty snorted.
“Nah, she’s gonna hunt him down and tell the other girl too, and then they’ll both bitch him out,” Octavia suggested, but none of these seemed like how Clarke would respond… especially since her face had yet to betray any actual emotion. He kept his eyes on the screen, watching Clarke dial. Maybe Jasper was right after all.
“Hello, Finn. I’m sure you’re super busy right now,” Clarke said calmly, turning away from Wells who had a panicked expression on his face. “I’m just calling to let you know that you have twenty-four hours to get your ass back to Polis. Oh, and tell your other girlfriend I said hello.” Then, she hung up.
Bellamy looked around at his friends, seeing small smirks and wide eyes from everyone as they leaned forward to watch.
“What the fuck was that, Clarke?” Wells shouted, as Clarke got up and walked toward the door. Jasper frantically tried to switch video feeds in time. Then, they were focused on a hallway that Clarke was storming down as Wells jogged after her.
“You should be working on your pitch to the board tomorrow,” Clarke muttered, as she kept walking. Jasper started switching between feeds until he found the one nearest to the staircase.
“Clarke,” Wells groaned, grabbing Clarke’s arm before she started to go down the stairs. “Where are you going?”
“I need to update my mother,” Clarke replied coolly, and Bellamy furrowed his eyebrows. The more he watched Clarke Griffin, the less she made sense to him. He thought she would be more distant with her family, especially since she moved away for so long.
Wells followed her down the staircase, as Jasper filtered through the several feeds that covered the downstairs. Then, he found them again.
“What makes you think it’s going to be enough this time?” Wells groaned, and Clarke whipped her head around, narrowing her eyes at Wells.
“Abigail Griffin!” Clarke shouted, followed by the noise of someone running into the room.
“What is going on?” Abby Griffin snapped, with an outraged look on her face.
Watching them on the screen like this almost made the whole family seem normal to Bellamy. The fake smiles were all gone. There was no carefully saying anything. No, they all were just going for it. As if they weren’t being watched.
Clarke handed her mother the phone with the video Monty sent her. Abby’s eyes widened, before she started blinking and looking up at Clarke.
“I’m done,” Clarke snapped, and Abby’s brows furrowed as she glanced over at Wells, whose back was to the camera now.
“Let’s not be hasty about this. We still don’t know if this video is recent. This could have been taken a long time ago,” Abby said, and Bellamy’s chest tightened at this. There was something really messed up about what was going on here.
“She already left him a voicemail, Abby,” Wells said, and Clarke started smirking.
“Well,” Abby said before swallowing and looking down at the ground. “He will probably call you back, to beg you to forgive him. And you will forgive him,” she ordered, clenching her jaw slightly.
“No, I won’t,” Clarke snapped, crossing her arms. Wells slowly started to move away from the camera, and slowly toward the kitchen, probably not wanting to be in the middle of this anymore. “I put up with all the other shit with him for long enough now. This was the final straw.”
“Just for one more month. We still haven’t acquired Collins Industries yet, and his father would be less inclined to do business with us if you blow this,” Abby snapped, and suddenly it all made sense. All of Clarke’s hidden frustrations with Finn that Bellamy noticed at the fundraiser. How she seemed like she was single even though she had a boyfriend. The cold way she reacted to the video. Clarke wasn’t in this relationship willingly.
“Sounds like a personal problem,” Clarke muttered as she walked away. Abby’s face was red with anger, yet she didn’t chase after Clarke.
“Thelonious!” he heard Abby shout before Jasper lowered the volume on the laptop.
Bellamy let out a sigh, before leaning back. He glanced around at his friends who all looked shocked by what they just witnessed. Bellamy was also kind of shocked. Not at Abby, though. This seems in character for her. But, at Clarke… who was clearly a force to be reckoned with.
“Are we sure it’s easier to have Clarke as a mark instead of Wells?” Monty asked with a raised eyebrow, as Bellamy pressed his lips together. From what he gathered, Wells was going to be an impossible mark. Leaving Clarke as the only viable option if they wanted to carry out the plan they had spent years building.
“We can work with her. Her anger toward her mother would make it easy for us to sabotage things down the road,” Bellamy said before picking up his keys. Now, he had a lot to plan for. He needed to do more research on Clarke. Because of Finn, they already lost an opportunity. They were already behind on their timeline, and Bellamy hadn’t even made contact with Pike yet.
As he drove back to his hotel, he decided to call Marcus Kane. He promised he would once they arrived back in Arkadia, to let him know that it was beginning.
“Bellamy, it’s late,” Marcus groaned, and Bellamy smirked to himself.
“We’re in Arkadia,” Bellamy explained, and he could hear Marcus stirring.
“And? How is it going? Have you already made contact with the people on the list?” he asked excitedly, and Bellamy forced himself to take a breath.
“Not quite. We went to a fundraiser at Thelonious Jaha’s home, but Wells wasn’t the mark we needed,” he explained, hearing Marcus let out a few sighs as he spoke. “I didn’t think it would be wise to move forward on anyone else until we had a strong foothold in that house.”
“Smart boy. Probably a good idea to take a step back and come up with a new strategy.”
“Actually,” Bellamy started before stopping himself. Marcus would not be happy about the switch in plans, especially with how insistent he was that Clarke not be involved. It was easy to agree to that back when Clarke wasn’t even a part of the scene of Arkadia.
“Don’t even think about it, Bellamy,” Marcus snapped, and Bellamy was suddenly regretting his decision to contact him.
“Can you just explain to me why not?” Bellamy begged, hearing him groan on the other line.
“I don’t want her involved in any of this.”
“You never cared that Wells could be collateral damage. Why is Clarke Griffin any different?” Bellamy snapped as he pulled into the parking lot.
“That girl has been through enough,” he growled, as Bellamy banged his head into the steering wheel.
“So, have I,” he yelled into the phone. “We don’t have enough time to make another plan. Pursuing Wells is a waste of time. We either go forward with Clarke or it’s all over before it even begins.”
“I said no, Bellamy!” Marcus snapped, and Bellamy clenched his jaw. “After everything I’ve done for you and your sister, that should be enough. I will think of another plan. But, stay the hell away from Clarke Griffin.”
Bellamy stared at his ceiling for hours, playing that phone call over and over. He didn’t want to burden Octavia with this just yet. He needed to figure out a solution first. He knew that Octavia would just say to go forward with the plan, Marcus be damned. But, Bellamy and Octavia would be in a very different place if Marcus hadn’t swooped in when he did. Marcus saved Octavia from foster care when Bellamy couldn’t. He was the reason that the Blake siblings had an idea of what actually happened to their mother. And, he was the reason that they knew exactly how to get their revenge, how to make the people who murdered their mother finally pay.
Yet, they were running out of time. Eighteen years had already passed. All the pieces they needed to get the job done were finally in place. And, when Wells didn’t fit, they found Clarke. He was too close to let it all fall apart now.
And he would do everything he could to make sure she walked out of this unscathed.
As Bellamy fell asleep that night, he didn’t dream of Marcus Kane or the monsters surrounding the Griffin-Jaha household. No, he dreamt of Aurora Blake.
“Sweetie, you should still be asleep,” his mother whispered, looking toward the hallway.
“I heard the tv,” Bellamy mumbled as he walked into the kitchen. He had expected his mother to argue with him about going back to sleep, but she was too busy staring at the news on tv. He grabbed the milk, before pulling a clean glass out of the dishwasher.
He walked in to sit on the couch, as his mother paced behind the couch. Bellamy narrowed his eyes at the screen, seeing a tall building surrounded by a lot of smoke.
“Hi, Jake. This is Aurora. Check the news and then give me a call back. It’s urgent,” he heard his mother say, sounding almost frantic.
“Mom, what happened?” Bellamy asked, seeing that the building was called Mt. Weather. He glanced back at his mother, who had a horrified expression on her face.
“A horrible accident,” was all she could get out.
And as Bellamy woke up in cold sweat, hand shaking slightly, he reminded himself that none of this was an “accident.” His mother was stopped before she could expose that to the world. Luckily, she had two children who would stop at nothing to pick up where she left off.