five; HE'S FAMILY

"He was in pain, you stopped it."

"You've been quiet since you got back," Murphy observed as he sat down at the entrance of the dropship where Archer had been sitting for the better part of two hours, silently watching the work that was being done to put the wall up as he made knives from the sheets of scrap metal which they had pulled from the dropship.

Archer shrugged, his mind still turning with ways they could have saved Atom, despite knowing in his heart and from his studies that he couldn't have been saved, despite what Clarke had tried to tell him before he brushed her off coldly and the conversation he and Octavia had after Jasper had woken up.

"I killed Atom." He said quietly.

Murphy shook his head, his eyes flicking around the camp for any eavesdroppers, and when he was satisfied that those around him were too busy working to listen to the two of them, he began to speak, "To end his suffering."

"Doesn't change the fact." Archer told him, "You didn't see him."

"No, I didn't." Murphy shook his head, "But, I know you and you're no killer."

"You'd be the first to believe that." Archer responded with a bitter smile as he tossed the knife he'd finished onto the pile, ignoring the loud clang as the metal clashed together and he got to his feet, groaning as his joints popped, "I'm going to go and check on the kid."

"Doctor Archer." Murphy responded with a smirk, though he continued to remain worried for his childhood friends' wellbeing, "Why didn't that happen again?"

"Nepotism." Archer answered with another dry smile, leaning against the side of the dropship, "Get back to ordering everyone around."

"Yeah, yeah." Murphy flicked him off, "Can I take a knife? I lost mine."

"Murphy, update me on the wall," Bellamy exclaimed loudly as he stalked over to the two, his gaze falling on the male with his second in command who quickly got to his feet and his eyes narrowed slightly though Archer noticed they were a lot less hostile than usual.

"This section should be finished by tomorrow." He pointed to a spot before he glanced between Bellamy and Archer with a raised brow before one of the boys carrying a log slipped and his end with a loud grunt and upon noticing that it wasn't anyone that he liked, Murphy strutted over to where he was crouched, "Hey, you think the Grounders are just gonna sit around and wait for us to finish the wall?"

Archer laughed quietly to himself at the words as he watched his friend gesture toward the girl that he had listened to Bellamy assure a few nights earlier, "Loyal second, Blake."

"Maybe we should let the little girl do the lifting for you, huh?" Murphy taunted.

"I just need some water, okay, then I'll be fine." The boy exclaimed with a breathless huff and Archer watched as Bellamy exchanged a few words with Murphy before he turned to the girl, Charlotte if he remembered correctly.

"Hey, you got this?" When Charlotte abandoned her task quickly rushing to the log and curiously, Archer watched Bellamy quickly stop her with a genuine smile on his usually stoic face as he heaved the log up himself, "I'm just kidding."

"Archer?" Murphy raised a brow at his friend as he tilted his head toward the knife pile.

"Take one." He nodded before he turned on his heel and wandered into the dropship, ignoring the yelling that had started and he barely spared a glance to the couple in the corner who were heavily focused on one another as he made it to the ladder and began to pull himself up, hitting the latch three times when he finally made it to the top.

"Who is it?" Octavia's voice called warily and Archer didn't blame her all things considering what his friend had tried to do.

"Archer."

It was quiet on the other side of the hatch before it creaked and was pulled open, revealing Octavia on the other side who nodded at him before she moved away from the latch so Archer could go up and once he'd stepped off the ladder, Octavia slammed it shut behind him, placing a rod back through the handle.

"How're you feeling?" Archer questioned when he spotted Jasper who was sitting up today, a smile on his still rather pale face.

"Like I got impaled and almost died." He joked causing Archer to smirk slightly in an attempt not to appear too amused by the morbid joke as he crouched beside the male and inspected the poultice that he had made up and given Clarke the night before, "Have you explored much?"

"A little." Archer shrugged as he peeled back the poultice and his lip twitched up when he noticed that a large majority of the swelling around the wound had eased considerably so since he'd checked it last, "You should be good to walk around today, do your own exploring."

Jasper smiled faintly but there was hesitation in his eyes as he spoke softly, "Pass the wall?"

Archer shook his head, "Wherever you want, Jasper, you don't have to go beyond the wall today if you don't want to."

"Baby steps." Octavia told him with a large smile and Archer nodded at her as Jasper's tense frame relaxed, "You ready?"

"Uh, y-yeah." He nodded quickly and with Octavia and Archer's help, he got to his feet and nodded once again, more firmly, more determined while he walked stiffly to the ladder and once Octavia went down it and shouted up for him to come down, that she'd help him, he placed his hand on the first wrung and turned back to Archer with a hesitant smile, "You know, y-you're alright."

Stunned, Archer remained silent as he watched the boy slowly descend the ladder with Octavia's voice floating up with positive words of encouragement and a half-smile bloomed on his lips.

"They would have killed me, baby." That poisoned voice filled his head and the smile disappeared as quickly as it came, his face hardened and he glared darkly at the metal wall in front of him, "It had to be you."

✦❀✦

"You son of a bitch!" Clarke's voice overpowered any other voices that were shouting instructions at each other and Archer's head snapped up from where he was looking down at Charlotte who was passing him a log just in time to see the blonde girl's hands connect with his friend's torso as she shoved him back.

"What's your problem?" Murphy laughed before Clarke raised one of the first knives Archer had made to his eye level.

"Recognise this?" She spat venomously and Archer quickly let go of the log that he was still holding, not acknowledging Charlotte's fearful gasp as he jumped off the platform, pushing harshly through the crowd that had quickly formed in order to get to his friend quickly.

"It's my knife, where'd you find it?" Murphy asked curiously and he raised his hand to grab it before Clarke ripped her arm away from him.

"Where you dropped it after you killed Wells?" She shouted in his face mournfully.

"Where I what?" Murphy had questioned before Archer had enough time to fully process Clarke's accusation and when he finally did, he scoffed angrily in disbelief as the crowd slowly began to thicken as everyone began to abandon their tasks, "The Grounders killed Wells, not me."

"I know what you did and you're gonna pay for it." She threatened harshly and Murphy nodded mockingly.

"Really?" He taunted and Archer sighed quietly to himself because he knew that Murphy was about to make himself look incredibly guilty, "Bellamy, you really believe this crap?"

"You threatened to kill him, we all heard you." Clarke shouted before Bellamy was able to get a word in, "You hated Wells."

"His father locked us all up, Clarke, plenty of people hated Wells." Archer cut in and the girls enraged gaze locked on him.

"Murphy's the only one that got in a knife fight with him." She screamed at him almost tearfully.

"Yeah, I didn't kill him then, either," Murphy exclaimed calmly.

"Either way, he was wit–" Archer began to speak before Octavia interrupted him, "Tried to kill Jasper too."

"Wait, what?" The boy in question exclaimed and Archer glanced around at the faces in the ground, each of them looking uncertain or glaring at Murphy with hate in their eyes.

"He was with me all that night, Clarke." Archer spoke up loudly, "He wasn't arrested for murder or even assault, he can't have killed Wells."

Clarke's eyes were enraged and tortured all at once as she looked at him and some sort of realisation that only made sense to her sparked in her eyes.

"Well, maybe he got some pointers from his psycho murder best friend who then gave him an alibi." She screamed at him and Archer recoiled slightly from the shock and surprise of her words.

Maybe it was the months of fearful looks, maybe it was the assumptions about who he was from people he didn't know, maybe it was because he was so tired of people telling him he was a killer, or maybe it was because the words had come from someone he had once called a dear friend that had him surging forward and he might have hit Clarke had it not been for Murphy who intercepted him and locked his arms around his waist as he shouted words to calm him down which Archer barely heard over the hurt and the rage that consumed him as he screamed, "I didn't kill my father."

"Archer, Arch, calm down." Murphy's voice was more distinguishable now as Archer pulled himself from his friend's grip and continued to stare as the blonde who quickly got over her shock from being screamed at, "Come on, Clarke, this is ridiculous. I don't have to answer to you, I don't have to answer to anyone."

Bellamy, who had been watching Archer in surprise, quickly turned his attention to Murphy and quirked an eyebrow in challenge, "Come again?"

Murphy's face faltered and Archer pinched his nose as he took a deep breath, dragging his hand down his cheek and dropping it to his side because now was not the time for Bellamy to get all alpha male, not while one of his men was being accused of murder.

"Bellamy, look." Murphy took a few steps forward, stopping a few inches from the older man, "I'm telling you, man, I didn't do this."

"They found his fingers on the ground with your knife," Bellamy confessed, a sliver of hesitance on his face while he watched Murphy's face fall at the news.

"A knife that he lost before Wells was killed." Archer stressed, and while he wasn't entirely sure when his friend had misplaced the knife, he knew for a fact that John Murphy was not a murderer, "He didn't kill anyone."

"Is this the kind of society that we want?" Clarke shouted, completely ignoring Archer's words as she gestured to Bellamy, "You say there should be no rules, does that mean we can kill each other without...without punishment?"

"I already told you." Murphy exclaimed angrily, "I didn't kill anyone."

"I say we float him."

Archer spun on his heel in search of the voice and his heart raced as others shouted their agreement with the words.

"That's not what I'm saying," Clarke responded, her tone finally calm.

"Why not?" The same voice questioned and Archer turned back to his friend who looked utterly terrified but was attempting to conceal it before anyone saw, "He deserves to float, it's justice."

"Revenge isn't justice," Clarke shouted over the voices of agreement.

"It's justice." The same boy yelled, "Float him!"

Voices began to repeat the phrase and it turned into a loud chant and Archer paled at the number of people screaming the words as he turned back to his friend, he didn't like the odds of two against at least fifty.

"Float him! Float him! Float him! Float him! Float him!"

Murphy seemed to have the same idea but as he began to run, not seeing the foot that jutted out and he hit the ground but before he could get back to his feet, the crowd swarmed him and when Murphy shouted out in pain, Archer leaped into the fold and began attempting to shove his way through the mob, kicking and punching anything he could get to with a reckless abandon.

"Get the hell off of him." He shouted as he curled his fist and grabbed a boy by the arm and punched him in the face, "He didn't do anything you fucking bastards."

He could hear Clarke somewhere behind him, shouting for the crowd to stop and it only surged his rage forward and he fought hard and harder to get to his friend because this was her fault.

"Get off of me!"

"Float him! Float him!"

"Get away from him."

"I told you, I didn't do anything."

One of the boys laying into Murphy fell to the ground clutching his knee and Archer threw himself onto the back of another, wrapped an arm around the boy's throat who stopped kicking Murphy in order to try and get Archer off of him.

"Leave him alone!" He shouted, tightening his arm around the boy's throat.

He flinched when his hand came out of nowhere and cracked him in the lip but he dropped off the boys back and shoved him to the ground, breathing heavily as he surged forward once again and attempted to tear another away from Murphy.

He didn't see the punch coming before it hit his torso and the pain in his ribs that that been subsiding crashed back into him. He tried to ignore it, he really did, but another blow was given to his ribs and he crumbled, clutching his torso in agony as his eyes watered. He couldn't breathe, all he could do was roll onto his side and watch helplessly as four boys gagged his best friend with a seatbelt before each of them grabbed a limb none too gently and hauled him from the ground.

As he attempted to get up, a shadow loomed over him and he glanced up, surprised to see Bellamy offering him a hand but he slapped it away from him.

"Help him." He wheezed out his plea, glancing up at him with desperate eyes, "Please."

Bellamy hesitated for a brief moment before he nodded and rushed away from him and towards the crowd that was headed towards the edge of camp and Archer groaned in agony as he forced himself to his feet and stumbled after the crowd, ignoring Connor and Octavia who tried to stop him from going further, as he clutched his side and the chanting shifted.

"BEL-LA-MY! BEL-LA-MY!"

He reached the top of the hill in time to see the four who had grabbed him setting him atop a box and horror was the only emotion he felt when he noticed the noose that had been crudely tied and forced over his head and he understood why Bellamy's name was being chanted.

They wanted their leader to do it.

Archer ignored the pain in his side as he moved down the steep as quickly as he could, ripping a knife from the hand of a girl when he reached the bottom and he wielded it murderously. Shoving his way through the crowd, his eyes were set firmly on the back of Bellamy Blake's head, hoping with everything that Bellamy would stop the nonsense but when the crowd began to roar, he realised he hadn't been paying attention to Bellamy's feet.

"NO!"

John Murphy had fallen a few inches and kicked wildly at the air below him as survival instincts kicked in, his bloodied face panicked and Archer pushed through the crowd aggressively. He hadn't a care if someone fell or he caused bruises on his revenge soaked quest to have Bellamy's blood on his hands.

"You should have kept your mouth shut!"

"Cut him down now!" He barely recognised his own voice as he roughly shoved another boy onto the ground and out of his path and Bellamy turned, taken aback by the look in Archer's eye, one that truly made him look like the killer that everyone thought him to be.

The cheering crowd who sought revenge for a boy that barely any of them liked turned their attention to Archer and before he could get within a foot where Murphy, whose face was slowly darkening form the lack of oxygen, still hung as he continued to try and pull himself up with no luck because his hands were still restrained behind his back, Archer's arms were trapped behind his back for two people and the knife he was holding was forced from his hand and Archer screamed incoherently while he attempted to rip himself from the grip, death threats spewing from his mouth, aimed at those who strung him up, and promises of violence towards all who cheered.

"What the hell are you doing?" Finn shouted, appearing in Archer's line of sight as he pushed his way through, "Cut him down! Charlotte, get out of here, now!"

The boy in charge of the hanging pulled a knife on Finn who backed up quickly and before another word could be uttered, aside from the threats still pouring from Archer and the cheering of the bloodthirsting crowd, another voice, a confession, rendered the into absolute silence.

"Just stop, okay! Murphy didn't kill Wells." Charlotte's small voice screamed to the sky, "I did."

The arms around Archer slackened causing him to immediately rip himself from the grip and he surged forward, knocking Clarke to the side as he tore the hatchet she had taken from Bellamy from her hand and he slammed it into the rope beside Bellamy's head, a sick sense of satisfaction ceiling in his stomach when the man flinched away from him.

Murphy crumped to the ground and Finn rushed to his aid, quickly pulling the rope from his neck as Archer turned to the little girl in utter shock.

✦❀✦

"Bring out the girl, Bellamy!"

Bellamy stiffened when Archer entered the tent and he stepped in front of Charlotte protectively, his eyes cautious as he watched Archer rolled his eyes and lean against the makeshift table in the corner, the rage for Bellamy still incredibly obvious in the way he watched him with narrowed eyes.

"Why, Charlotte?" Bellamy asked desperately as he turned to face the girl once he deemed that Archer wasn't going to attempt to drag her out to Murphy.

"I was just trying to slay my demons like you told me." She exclaimed tearfully and Archer's eyes widened as he recalled the conversation between Bellamy and Charlotte when they had all been stuck in the cave, hiding away from the deadly fog that had caused Atom's injuries and he felt the tiniest of sympathy for Bellamy when saw the man's face go pale.

"What the hell is she talking about?" Clarke hissed angrily and Archer scoffed angrily.

"You're kidding, right?" He demanded, "That was clearly a phrase telling you not to let your fear win or some shit, it doesn't mean you stab someone to death."

"She misunderstood me." Bellamy spoke when it was clear that Clarke wasn't going to respond to Archer's words, "Charlotte, that is not what I meant."

"Bring the girl out now!"

Murphy's voice was incredibly hoarse and Archer knew that his best friend wanted to return the favor for what Charlotte had unintentionally let happen by not confessing her crime earlier but he knew, deep down that Murphy wouldn't hurt the child and while believed that she should get some form of punishment for murder, a hanging was not the solution.

He'd barely had the chance to look at the bruising around his friend's neck before he was up and ready to enact revenge but Finn had grabbed the girl and pulled her into the nearest tent with Bellamy and Clarke following as quickly as they could and Archer was not too close behind them, still surprised that they hadn't immediately shoved him out, thinking that he was going to take the girl to his enraged friend.

"Please don't let them hurt me." Charlotte sobbed as she looked fearfully between the entrance of the tent and Archer who rolled his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly.

"Well, if you guys have any bright ideas, speak up," Bellamy exclaimed as Murphy screamed from outside once more, Finn glanced helplessly at Clarke hadn't said a word, and Bellamy's eyes to widen before he let out a single harsh laugh, not an ounce of warmth in it, "Now you stay quiet."

"Those are your boys out there." Finn retorted quickly and Archer glared at him, despite only minutes ago having Finn be the only one on his side.

"You think they'll listen to Bellamy." He laughed harshly, "You wanted justice before, Princess, what changed?"

"We're not hanging her!" Clarke screamed at him as Charlotte whimpered in fright, "I didn't mean for that to happen."

"Did I suggest that?" Archer questioned in a surprisingly level headed tone, "Do I want that? No, so shut up,"

"If Clarke had listened to me, those idiots would still be building the wall," Bellamy shouted at him.

He gestured wildly at Clarke who had begun to pace, clutching her head in her hands as she did so, only freezing when Murphy began to shout once more, addressing her for the very first time, "You want to build a society, Princess? Let's build a society, BRING HER OUT!"

"No! Please, Bellamy."

Archer honestly wasn't sure whether or not Murphy would actually hurt the girl at this point because the rage in his voice, it was unlike anything he'd ever heard coming from him.

"Charlotte, hey, it's gonna be okay." Bellamy's voice was soothing but Archer could tell that he wasn't entirely convinced himself and he sighed angrily before he turned to Clarke and Finn.

"Get her out of here." He barked at them, barely sparing a glance toward the girl who was the reason his best friend was screaming angrily outside, "Go out through the back, come up with something, anything that is better than what just happened."

Clarke barely acknowledged his words which was no surprise but Finn nodded solemnly as he grabbed Charlotte's hand in his own when Bellamy finally released Charlotte's shoulder with a gentle smile and he moved them to the furthest end of the tent from the two males and the three slipped under and turned back to face them.

"Go." He ordered and Finn dropped the tarp and the three disappeared from their view.        

"Archer..."

"Don't." He spat at Bellamy in disgust, "Don't you dare even breathe in my direction."

The only noise that could be heard as Bellamy gazed at Archer and Archer refused to even look in Bellamy's direction was Murphy as he continued to rile up the crowd of delinquents who still hadn't returned to building the wall, eagerly anticipating what would happen when someone would exit the tent and the wish was granted when Bellamy sighed tiredly before he exited the tent.

"Well, well, look who decided to join us."

Archer cleared his throat while he rubbed his eyes tiredly and he groaned when he shifted and the pain in his side began to ache once more when he began to walk stiffly to the spot where Bellamy stood.

"Dial it down and back off."

"Or what? What are you going to do, Bellamy? Hang me?" Archer snorted in amusement at Murphy's jab as he pulled the tarp up and ducked beneath in order to watch the dramatic standoff.

"I was just giving the people what they wanted." Archer resisted the urge to strangle Bellamy by glaring darkly at the back of his head while his friend scoffed a humorless laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, that's a good idea, why don't we do that right now?" He responded with a nod before he turned his back on Bellamy and looked around at the delinquents who stood around, raising his hand as he spoke his next words, "So who here wants to see the real murderer hung up? All in favor?"

Four hands shot up immediately and Archer raised his with a little hesitance, he didn't want anything like what had just happened to Murphy to happen to anyone else, but Charlotte needed some form of punishment for taking a few words of encouragement from Bellamy about overcoming what had caused her nightmare a little too literally and stabbing Wells Jaha.

The way that his friend had been blamed, with no indication that he had done anything aside from the fact that his missing knife being at the scene of the crime, and punished with the most minimal of evidence hit Archer a little too close for comfort.

"I see." Murphy's tone was light but his eyes were manic as he looked all around him as the very people who were cheering his oncoming death, were now avoiding eye contact with him as you raised his hand to point at his neck, the skin already beginning to bruise severely, "So, it's okay to string me up for nothing, but when this little bitch confesses, you want to let her walk?!"

Archer crossed his arms and took a step forward, now standing beside Bellamy, who eyed him suspiciously, "J, re–"

"Cowards!" Enraged, Murphy bellowed at the teenagers, "All of you are cowards!"

"Hey, Murphy." Bellamy shouted over the enraged male and he took a step away from Archer, "Murphy, it's over."

Murphy's eyes were still manic as his shoulders slumped in defeat and he sneered at the man, "Whatever you say, boss."

They continued to stare at one another for a moment before Bellamy nodded stiffly and turned on his heel and it was only when he was closer to where Archer still stood than he was to Murphy, that the bruised and bloodied boy darted forward and before anyone had a chance to react, he had a log in his grip and was bashing it into the back of Bellamy's head who crumbled to the ground immediately.

"You son of a bitch!"

Chaos erupted as Octavia launched herself at Murphy who spun and advanced on her, raising a fist and that's when Archer jumped into action, though before he could stop his friend from striking the girl, Jasper got in his way and was met with Murphy's fist instead.

"Come on, let's get the girl!" Murphy exclaimed and the four who had immediately agreed with him rushed after him to the tent, peering in as Murphy ripped the tarp up, revealing the inside to be empty and he let go of the tarp angrily as he turned away from the tent, screaming murderously, "CHARLOTTE!"

Amidst the chaos of Murphy's rage as he launched into action, Archer ducked to the ground and rolled the still unconscious Bellamy onto his side, quickly checking the wound and miraculously not finding any blood from the blow anywhere and he so, he rolled the man onto his back and got to his feet.

"Charlotte, I know you can hear me." Murphy roared while his eyes darted around the camp in search of the little girl and he gathered a few knives from the pile and dispersed them, "And when I find you, you are gonna pay!"

"Let's get her!" Mbege exclaimed and Murphy grabbed a flame torch and waved at the boys to follow him and Archer sighed before he followed after the boys but before he could get far, a hand enclosed around his wrist and he turned to face Octavia who was staring up at him with wide eyes.

"Why are you following him?" She asked and her tone was rather disgusted.

"I don't want Charlotte dead." He decided to respond honestly as he gently removed his arm from her grip while she stared up at him in surprise, "But Murph's my best friend, and I gotta make sure he doesn't do something he'll regret in the long run."

"Arch, let's go!" Murphy shouted and Archer threw a 'yeah, coming' over his shoulder as he stared down at Octavia who slowly nodded when she realised that he was being genuine.

"Just watch your back." She finally said and he grinned down at her teasingly.

"Careful, Blake, people might start to think that I'm growing on you."

✦❀✦

"Charlotte! You can't hide forever."

It was nightfall and Archer was still wandering through the woods with his still engaged best friend and his four followers who were glancing all around the dark as Murphy made their presence in the grounder invested woods more alarmingly obvious with each violent threat passing his lips.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you!"

"I'm over here!"

Archer, who was more focused on scouring the woods for flying spears and grounders, jumped when a feminine scream erupted very closeby.

"Murphy! I'm over here!" The shout, much like the last, echoed through the trees making it difficult to pinpoint which direction the scream had come and Murphy grinned excitedly.

"Come on out, Charlotte!" He bellowed joyfully, "Come on out."

The boys picked up the pace and Archer had no choice to quicken his steps so he wouldn't fall too far behind and Charlotte began to shout a protest that would make him think that Murphy had already gotten his hands on her if he couldn't still see him leading the group through the forest.

"John, slow down!" Archer shouted, cutting off the new threat on his friend's tongue and he was ignored as a figure appeared in the distance and he cried out victoriously.

"There!" He yelled, "Charlotte!"

"No, put me down!" Charlotte screamed desperately and Archer was surprised when he worked out she was being carried by Bellamy who suddenly stopped and Murphy laughed maniacally as he broke through the treeline and skidded to a halt and despite being at the rear of the group, Archer made it there just after Murphy, his eyes straining to look beyond the clifftop that Bellamy had cornered himself into.

"Damn it." Bellamy cursed loudly and Archer's eyes darted around the clifftop and his shoulders slumped when he discovered that Bellamy's only way of getting Charlotte away from Murphy was blocked by them.

"Bellamy, you cannot fight us all." Murphy exclaimed after he took a deep breath, "Give her up."

"Maybe not." Bellamy agreed as his eyes trailed from each of them and when they rested on Archer for a second longer than the rest, the hostile emotions in his eyes dimmed and it was back as soon as he looked back at Murphy, promises in his words, "But, I guarantee I'll take a few of you with me."

"Bellamy! Stop, this has gone too far." Clarke appeared beside Archer with Finn not too far behind her as the blonde took a few more steps toward Murphy, who she looked pleadingly, "Just calm down, we'll talk about this!"

Murphy was the master of quick actions and decisions that day because Archer had blinked and Murphy had dropped the torch and all of a sudden had Clarke by the arm, her back flush against him as he pressed a blade to her throat threateningly as he hissed, "I am sick of listening to you talk."

"J, come on, let her go," Archer spoke calmly, whereas Finn took a different approach of rushing forward yelling the same words and only stopping dead in his tracks when Murphy raised the knife higher.

"Back. Off." He shouted at the spacewalker, "I will slit her throat!"

"No, please." Archer's eyes flickered to Charlotte who stood with tears in her eyes while she stared at Clarke who was frozen in place, too terrified to move an inch, "Please don't hurt her."

"Don't hurt her?" Murphy asked the girl and Bellamy moved further in front of her once she was addressed, "Okay, I'll make you a deal, you come with me right now, I will let her go."

"Don't do it, Charlotte." Clarke exclaimed shakily and when the girl made to rush forward before Bellamy blocked her path, she spoke once more, louder this time as Charlotte began to struggle to get out of Bellamy's grip, "Don't do it, Charlotte."

"I have to!" The girl screamed and Bellamy looked over at Archer with desperate eyes, hoping that if anyone could get through to John Murphy, it would be him and Archer nodded once, stepping closer to his friend.

"J, this has gone too far." He spoke calmly, his voice deep and almost trembling when Murphy turned to him with wide eyes.

"You're supposed to have my back, Arch," Murphy shouted in upset.

"I do." He responded with a nod, "But, I can't just step to the side and watch a kid die because she didn't come forward sooner and J, you aren't a killer."

"I can't let any of you get hurt anymore, not because of me." Charlotte spoke softly, so resigned when it became alarmingly clear to everyone that Murphy would not listen to reason, not even from his best friend, "Not after what I did."

Charlotte turned, took a single step. Archer's heart plummeted to his stomach as he sprinted for the ledge and he was so close, so so so close that the pads of his fingers brushed the tips of Charlotte's. So close, so close. Bellamy screamed in agony and fell to his knees on the edge of the cliff beside him, reaching desperately, fervently into the abyss and Clarke crumbled somewhere very close nearby while the girl disappeared completely from their sights as the darkness beyond the cliff enveloped her.

So close, so close, so close.

"No, no, no, no!" Clarke was sobbing.

Murphy stumbled away from the cliff in shock and Archer fell backward as tears burned his eyes as his gaze shifted back and forth between Clark who was sobbing, the spot where he had last seen Charlotte and where Bellamy had collapsed, halfway off of the cliff's edge, his face crumbled in distress as he continued to scream into the darkness for a girl who would never scream back.

A tear fell down his face for the first time in months as he found himself finally feeling the few emotions he'd suppressed during his time in lockup. He wiped it quickly and forced the rest back as he watched Bellamy who had turned his head, his face grief-stricken as he stared at Murphy who took a single step back as he uttered the man's name.

Archer was silent as something suddenly snapped inside Bellamy who had quickly gotten to his feet, rage overshadowing the grief as he stormed to where the five boys still stood and he tackled Murphy to the ground. He screamed incoherently as he straddled the younger male and began to throw blow after blow into Murphy's face or any piece of flesh within his reach.

Had this happened three hours before, Archer would be on his feet and tackling Bellamy from his friend. He would be screaming death threats as he went but he couldn't find it in him to do anything but watch, and it wasn't because he blamed his friend or felt as though he was deserving of this. Okay, maybe a dark part within him believed that.

No it was because had he had been so close and maybe, just maybe, had he reacted even a second sooner, Charlotte may not have fallen to her death. He may have grabbed her in time.

That crippled him.

"Bellamy, stop!" Clarke shouted from somewhere near him as Finn stepped in and grabbed Bellamy, hauling him away from Murphy who continued to lie there, "You'll kill him."

"Urgh, get off of me!" Bellamy yelled as Clarke put herself between the two and Archer slowly came to his senses and began to heave himself from the forest ground, "He deserves to die!"

"No! we don't decide who lives and dies." Clarke protested, "Not down here."

Archer stumbled to Finn who grabbed him by the arm to steady him while Bellamy glared at Clarke, "So help me God, if you say the people have a right to decide, I will–"

He wasn't able to finish his thinly veiled threat as Clark cut him off, "No, I was wrong before, okay, you were right. Sometimes it's dangerous to tell people the truth but if we're gonna survive down here, we can't just live by whatever the hell we want, we need rules."

Bellamy scoffed angrily as he ran his hand through his curls and Archer and Finn both glanced between the two, back and forth, like a ball being passed up and down the field in one of those shows that he had once watched with Clarke, "And who makes those rules, huh? You?"

"For now, we make the rules." Clarke exclaimed, "Okay?"

"So what, then?" Bellamy began to fire more questions at the girl who was just as emotional as he was and he gestured wildly at the cliff behind them, "We just take him back and pretend like it never happened?"

"No." Archer's heart skipped a beat at the single syllable and it plummeted to his stomach as Clarke's next few words passed her lips after she stared down at Murphy in disgust and then back at Bellamy, "We banish him."

Surprise flickered across Bellamy's face as he turned his head to look at Archer who looked utterly resigned by the news before he grabbed Murphy by the front of his jacket and hauled him toward the cliff and Archer immediately, finally, sprung into action, "Bellamy, stop, don't!"

Ignoring him, Bellamy brought Murphy to the very edge and forced him to look over it, keeping his eyes trained on the terror that enveloped Murphy's face before he began to speak.

"If I ever catch you near camp, we'll be back here, understand?" Desperate and fearful that Bellamy would make a split decision and just push him, Murphy nodded rapidly and Bellamy scoffed in disgust before and pushed him away from the edge, uncaring that he hit the dirt roughly as he turned to face the four boys that he remembered hearing yell taunts as he tried to find Charlotte before they did, "As for the four of you, you can either come back and follow me or go off with him to die, your choice."

He stalked to the tree line and watched as the four immediately turned and hauled ass back to camp as Clarke and Finn followed after them, Archer remained rooted in place and Bellamy noticed that he hadn't joined the departing group and turned his attention to him.

"You coming?" His voice was soft and sad and angry as he watched the male who went against his best friend for a kid he didn't even know. Archer hesitated for a singular moment before he shook his head.

"No."

Surprise flicked across Bellamy's face.

"Ar–" Before he could speak, say anything to convince him that Murphy wasn't worth the loyalty, Archer spoke in a gruff tone that conveyed anything else he had wanted to say but wouldn't.

"Look, I've known Murphy since we were ten, he was there for me when my Grandfather died, I was there for him when he lost his...someone. He was part of the reason I wanted to be a Doctor and I know that he's quick to anger and a massive asshole and what happened tonight was utterly disgusting but John Murphy to me, well he's family." Archer explained to Bellamy who looked rather surprised at just how close they were, having assumed they'd just met in lockup and found a mutual respect in one another, "Other than Henry, he's really the only family I've got. So, if he dies out here, well, I'm dying right alongside him."

Bellamy said nothing for a few moments before he slowly nodded and stepped forward, pulling a knife from his pocket that he handed to Archer who grabbed it and placed it into his pocket with a thankful nod.

"You'll always have a home at the camp if you change your mind." He finally said.

"I won't," Archer responded, choosing not to waste his final moments with a familiar face by getting angrier at him for kicking the box that hung Murphy and insulting him for that.

"I know, good luck." Bellamy chuckled and he reached forward with an outstretched his hand which Archer grabbed, shaking his hand once before he let it go, "May we meet again."

Archer returned the four words and a message to relay to Henry before Bellamy disappeared into the trees and he watched him go before he turned back to where his best friend still lay on the ground and made his way over to him, kicking him gently in the leg as he tried to get up onto his knees. breathing heavily.

"Where to?" He asked brightly and Murphy glared up at him, his face rather surprised beneath all the blood and newly blooming bruises.

"You dumbass." He spat up at him, "Do you have a death wish?"

"I can always just turn around and tell Bellamy to wait for me," Archer responded, watching as Murphy heaved himself up, using the tree beside him to assist him.

"Why?" He groaned out once he'd straightened, spitting some blood from his mouth as he used the tree to support himself.

"Because I'm supposed to have your back."

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holy crap, this chapter has literally been months in the making and it's finally finished and i'm so, so proud of the end result and the fact that i'm 90% sure it's the longest chapter so far.

the plot will branch off from the season for a short period as archer elected to stay with murphy when he got banished, rather than head back to camp and there is finally a bit more of a glimpse as to the history that clarke and archer have and why they dislike one another which is not just for no reason.

also a massive thanks to -avenomouslove who threw some ideas at me about archer's storyline and what lies ahead for him before he returns to the dropship and helped me actually decide on one as i have touched this book on and off in small portions for months because writer's block is bitch.

thanks for reading and i hope everyone is staying safe!!

~r