Together (Prequel to "The Head and the Heart")

Chapter 9

*Later*

Sienna, Bellamy, Octavia, and Clarke were discussing what to do about Wells' death and the knife they had found. They wanted to see if it would provide them with any clues as to who his killer was or might be.
"This knife was made of metal from the dropship." Clarke said as she examined it.
"What do you mean?" Octavia asked, frowning at her statement.
"Who else knows about this?" Sienna asked.
"No one. I brought it straight here." Octavia said.
"Clarke?" Bellamy asked, looking at said person.
"It means the Grounders didn't kill Wells. It was one of us." She stated.
"So, there's a murderer in the camp?" Octavia asked.
"There's more than one murderer in this camp. This isn't news. We need to keep it quiet." Bellamy said.
"I agree." Sienna agreed. Clarke then turned around and headed towards the door, knife still in hand.
"Get out of my way, Bellamy." Clarke demanded.
"Clarke, be smart about this. Look at what we've achieved... the wall, the patrols. Like it or not, thinking the Grounders killed Wells is good for us." Bellamy stated, attempting to stop her from making everything they had achieved fall apart. Despite not entirely agreeing, Sienna did see how this made sense.
"Oh, good for you, you mean. What... keep people afraid and they'll work for you? Is that it?" Clarke demanded.
"Yeah. That's it. But it's good for all of us. Fear of the Grounders is building that wall. And besides, what are you gonna do... just walk out there and ask the killer to step forward? You don't even know whose knife that is." Bellamy said.
"Oh, really? J.M. John Murphy. The people have a right to know." Clarke snapped, walking around him.
"Clarke. Think about what you are doing. They may have a right to know, but is it really the best thing for the group as a whole?" Sienna spoke up.
"Get out of my way Sienna." Clarke demanded, pushing Sienna out of her way. Clarke stormed outside, shortly followed by the other three.

Murphy was outside ordering some of the delinquents around to keep them on task.
"No water till this section is up!" Murphy ordered. "What? What are you staring at, huh?" He asked them.
"You son of a bitch!" Clarke yelled, marching over to him and slapping him in the face.
"What's your problem?" Murphy replied, affronted and confused at her treatment towards him about something he had no clue about.
"Recognize this?" Clarke snapped in an accusatory tone, holding up Murphy's knife.
"It's my knife. Where'd you find it?" Murphy asked, reaching up to grab it, but Clarke pulled it away.
"Where you dropped it after you killed Wells." Clarke stated, glaring at him. The people around them were looking on shocked, not sure whether to believe Clarke or not.
"Where I what?" Murphy asked in confusion. "The Grounders killed Wells, not me." He said.
"I know what you did, and you're gonna pay for it." Clarke threatened.
"Really? Bellamy, you really believe this crap?" Murphy asked Bellamy, who remained silent.
"You threatened to kill him. We all heard you. You hated Wells." Clarke said.
"Plenty of people hated Wells. His father was the Chancellor that locked us up." Murphy reasoned.
"Yeah, but you're the only one who got in a knife fight with him." Clarke pointed out.
"Yeah, I didn't kill him then, either." Murphy retorted.
"Tried to kill Jasper, too." Octavia supplied.
"Come on. This is ridiculous. I don't have to answer to you. I don't have to answer to anyone." Murphy said.
"Come again?" Bellamy demanded, stepping forwards. Murphy looked at him.
"Bellamy, look, I'm telling you, man. I didn't do this." Murphy said.
"They found his fingers on the ground with your knife." Bellamy said to him.
"Is this the kind of society that we want? You say there should be no rules. Does that mean that we can kill each other without... without punishment?" Clarke asked.
"I already told you. I didn't kill anyone." Murphy said seriously, reinforcing his point.
"I say we float him." Octavia said. Sienna looked at her in shock. The rest of the delinquents yelled in affirmation.
"That's not what I'm saying." Clarke said seriously.
"Why not? He deserves to float. It's justice." Octavia replied.
"Revenge isn't justice." Sienna pointed out.
"It's justice. Float him!" Octavia yelled. With that, everything descended into chaos. It got to the stage where Murphy was tied up, a noose around his neck, his hands bound behind his back, and only a stool preventing his death. Everyone was calling for Bellamy to push the stool out from under him, but he hesitated. Sienna knew she needed to do something about this and she needed to do it quickly.
"STOP!" Sienna screamed. Her scream was so loud and commanding that everyone froze and fell silent, giving Sienna their undecided attention. Sienna ignored them all and glared at her husband. "Bellamy Blake, if you push that stool out from underneath him, so help me I will banish you from this camp. I don't care if you are the leader. I don't care if you're my husband, you don't murder someone when you don't have hard evidence that they committed the crime. The only thing you have is Murphy's knife and someone could have stolen it from him." She snapped. She then looked around at everyone. "That goes for the rest of you as well. Killing is not the answer. We are not animals." She finished. "Cut him down. NOW!" Sienna demanded. Clarke and another one of the delinquents complied with her request. Sienna was so angry at the entire situation, and no one dared defy her lest they suffer her wrath. Her eyes were blazing, and one could almost see the steam coming out of her ears. Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, Charlotte emerged from the eerily silent crowd.
"Stop! Okay? Murphy didn't kill Wells! I did!" Charlotte said, silencing everyone around them.