Heaven Can't Wait - Chapter 59

[jennickels]

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Chapter Fifty-Nine - A Really Long Day

Bellamy's good mood lasts approximately three minutes before he hears a commotion halfway back to his office. He turns the corner to find a ring of Grounders surrounding a group of Arkadians. Olsen right in the middle of things. Bellamy is instantly on high alert.

The Grounders back off at his approach but keep an eye on him while Olsen and his friends look just as wary.

"What's this about?" Bellamy asks Olsen.

The man is battered and bruised from the fight. He spits a glob of blood onto the floor before answering. "What does it look like? We were jumped."

"Just like that?"

A Grounder as big around as an oak steps forward. "They accused Sylvan of thievery."

The two groups immediately start yelling at each other again, nearly coming to blows once more.

"Enough," Bellamy shouts, rubbing at a pain behind his eye. 

Another Grounder—this one smaller with a gimp leg—clears his throat. "I didn't steal anything. I've been in my tent all day.” He taps his bum leg with a wooden cane. "It's not like I could get far if I needed to run. And as you can see, I have everything I need already." He uses the cane to push aside a sheet hanging from the ceiling to get a better view of his sleeping mat and small stash of belongings.

"Search it," Olsen commands. "You'll see. There are dozens of witnesses that saw him prowling around Hinton's quarters while they were getting their rations."

Dozens of witnesses all from Farm Station most likely.

Bellamy knows this is going to get out of control fast if he makes the wrong move. With a sigh, he moves past Sylvan to look through his bag and crate.

Olsen seems to take umbrage with Bellamy's gentle care. He shoves Bellamy out of the way to toss the small space. Someone else tears down the sheet while another flips his mattress. Next thing Bellamy knows, there's a knife tearing through the fabric.

"Hey-"

The Grounders are pushing forward, trying to stop the search while Olsen's friends—many of them off-duty Guardsmen—push back. They're nearly to riot level again before Bellamy's voice echoes over the crowd.

"Everyone calm down! Or you can all spend the night in lockup."

Slowly, the crowd quiets while Olsen completes his search, throwing the crate to the floor where it breaks into pieces, spilling personal items across the torn mat. Bellamy's about to call the search when someone's boot connects with a panel on the wall. The sheet of metal comes loose, clattering to the floor. The sound silences everyone nearby.

Bellamy shines his flashlight into the space behind the panel where he finds two worn, folded blankets and a pile of protein bars.

"See, I told you," Olsen says with a triumphant fist in the air.

"That's not mine," Sylvan says right away.

Bellamy frowns as he collects the things.

A woman steps forward. "You'll find our family name embroidered on the corners of the blankets. That proves they're ours."

Sure enough, 'Hinton,' is spelled out in bright, contrasting thread on one corner of each blanket. He hands the things to her then turns to Sylvan.

"I swear, I didn't do it."

Bellamy tugs a pair of ancient handcuffs from a pocket on his utility belt. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to arrest you," he tells Sylvan.

The other Grounders start shouting about his innocence, but no one stops Bellamy from cuffing Sylvan, though, with his hands in front of him so he can use his cane. It takes them several minutes to pick their way through the crowded hallway.

"I didn't do it," Sylvan says again through gritted teeth. "I was set up."

"I know," Bellamy tells him as they reach the Stockade. "I'm really sorry about this, but I believe you. The thing is the evidence is damning. You're going to spend the night in lockup at least. Any idea why Olsen and his goons would set you up? Have you been having trouble with them?"

"No. I'm quiet. I keep to myself. Ask anyone."

"I will. I'll get to the bottom of this, I promise."

Bellamy reluctantly locks Sylvan in the cage then heads back to the trouble corridor to take witness statements. He’s in an even worse mood when he arrives at his office an hour later with little information to clear Sylvan, but a lot more suspicions about Olsen and his gang.

He immediately knows something else is wrong when he turns the corner. Most of the refugees that have taken residence in the corridor are scrunched up around his open office door, watching curiously as voices grow inside.

What now?

Bellamy has to force his way through the crowd, but it only takes him a moment to figure things out when he hears Nicole’s shrill voice over a placating Guard.

“I don’t care,” she yells, “I’m staying right here until he gets back.”

Bellamy finally gets to the door to find a middle-aged Guard trying to politely escort Nicole from the office with little success. The relief on his face when he sees Bellamy is palpable.

“I tried to make her leave,” he explains desperately as Bellamy waves him out of the room.

“I’ll take it from here, Chen; don’t worry about it.”

The man squeezes through the throngs of people as quickly as he can, and Bellamy shuts the door.

Nicole starts in before he even turns around. “How dare you.”

Bellamy swallows hard, already knowing where this conversation is going. “Nicole-”

“Don’t,” she says, cutting him off. “Don’t pretend we’re friends when you could so easily accuse my husband of murder.”

Well, this is going about as expected.

He manages to skirt around the menacing smaller woman to get behind his desk—not that it offers him any feeling of safety. He motions for her to take a seat, but she just stands behind the chair, arms crossed aggressively over her chest.

Bellamy lets out a long breath as he sits, clasping his hands in front of him. “I did not accuse your husband of murder.”

“Then sabotage leading to murder,” she counters, face red. “Same thing.”

“I suppose I didn’t approach Jeff correctly if he got the impression-”

“Quit playing games with me!”

Bellamy winces at Nicole’s raised voice and gives up diplomacy. “I’m sorry, okay. It couldn’t be helped. Your husband was the last known person to mess with a door that ended up jamming, trapping five people when the Deathwave came. What do you expect me to think?”

“You really think he killed those people on purpose then came home to us like nothing happened? You think he would have taken in a Grounder child had he just murdered a bunch of them with no remorse.”

Those same thoughts swirled in his head all night. “No,” he says softly, cutting off any more outbursts from Nicole. “No, I don’t think that, but that’s where the evidence leads. And I had to follow the evidence.”

“You don’t believe he did it?”

“I don’t. But if you look at the facts, they’re rather incriminating.” Bellamy holds up a hand to keep Nicole quiet. “After careful consideration, though, I don’t think Jeff had any malicious intent when he was working on the door.”

The anger falls from Nicole’s face to be replaced by confusion. “You think he’s innocent despite all the evidence against him? Why?”

Why indeed? He can’t tell her it’s because of their friendship. Or because he desperately needs to believe it himself or he can’t live with leaving Heaven in their care. He runs a hand through his hair. “It’s just a gut feeling.”

Nicole finally slumps into the chair across from him. “And you always trust your gut?”

Another good question. “It’s kept me alive on the ground so far.”

Nicole completely deflates, letting out a whoosh of relieved air that ruffles her bangs. Without warning, she reaches across the desk for Bae. “I was wondering where this ended up.”

For a moment, Bellamy’s voice gets stuck in his throat. “I’ve been meaning to find a way to get it back to her.”

Nicole straightens the yarn hair and squishes the doll back into shape then finally looks up at Bellamy. “Are you sure you don’t want to keep it? A memento?”

How can she read me so easily? He shakes his head. “Heaven will be missing her—she should have her back.”

The two stare at the doll for several beats before Bellamy clears his throat. “How is she doing?”

“She’s good. Adjusting as well as can be expected.”

“That’s good.”

Nicole continues to play with Bae, not looking at Bellamy. “I’m sorry about-” She waves her hands indicating their earlier fight. “I’m a little overprotective of my family.”

“It’s one of the many things I admire about you.”

Nicole blushes slightly and ducks her head. After another moment, she heads for the door. “I guess I’ll see you around.”

Bellamy follows, letting her out into the hall where the crowd has dispersed. He waves as she leaves then shuts the door, leaning against it. That could have gone a lot worse. He’s not even sure why he so easily gave Jeff up as a suspect other than it just didn’t feel right.

And it’s true your gut has kept you alive.

 

The hours pass by with more of the same—any time Bellamy gets a moment to sit down and try to gather his thoughts about the case, he’s called away to stop another fight or disrupt another disagreement. At one point, his neighbors out in the hallway nearly come to blows over a ten-inch strip of space between their sleeping mats. He’s never been so relieved to see the end of his shift.

He locks up the office and heads to the Mess Hall to pick up his rations before heading to Abby’s.

Clarke opens the door on his first knock, and before she can say anything, he has her in his arms, his nose buried in the crook of her neck. She smells like lavender. Like Heaven but not quite the same. Probably because she uses the same soap that Abby used on Heaven when she gave her that bath. It’s oddly comforting in a weird sort of way.

“Bellamy, what’s got into you?”

He finally steps back without letting go of her, putting just enough space between them to breathe. “Nothing. It’s just been a really long day, and I missed you.”

She blushes from the tips of her ears down her neck. It makes him want her even more so he leans down and kisses her lips softly. It takes a moment before Clarke kisses him back, and then it’s like they had never fought. Clarke walks them towards the door to her bedroom without stopping the kiss. Bellamy can’t find it in him to care about why he came over in the first place. It really has been a long, emotionally draining day, and he doesn’t want to fight with Clarke anymore. He just wants to be with her. To feel safe and loved. He knows she understands without him even having to say anything.

They fall onto the bed—all thoughts of work forgotten for the night.

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