Taming Chaos // J.M // The 100

Chapter 32

When they head back through the hallway, the guard's hand around his arm in a half-hearted attempt to help him keep up, Ethan notices a familiar face shoving through people to get closer. He freezes, eyes darting from the angular face to the almond-coloured hair to the clothes until finally, Lorelai Beckett barrels into him, tucking his head under her chin despite the height difference, patting down his unruly hair.

"Ethan," She tightens her arms. "My baby, you look terrible."

Blonde hair is stained in dark red, proving her point, strands sticking together and plastered to his forehead. His face, despite being cleaned by Abby, is covered in a litany of lacerations.

The cut through his brow, and across his jaw have remained, scarring in a white jagged line. He can blame Murphy and Bellamy for those. But it's just two scars compared to numerous given by grounders.

Ethan can't remember the last time his mother had hugged him like this. His hands hover hesitantly.

Am I dreaming?

He finally blinks, eyes blurring with a sudden onslaught of tears. "Thanks?" And he wraps his arms tight around her, digging his face into her shoulder.

"Hi, mum." His voice cracks.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. We're not quite done here." The guard - name badge showing Sam - says. He looks guilty for interrupting, but points towards the double doors where Ethan guesses Kane is waiting. "Once he's released we'll call for you right away."

"Okay," Lorelai clears her throat, pulling away. Ethan already misses the touch. "Okay." She meets his eyes, though, and nods. "May we meet again."

Ethan takes a shuddered breath, before his face goes carefully blank.

"May we meet again." With the knowledge that his mum is, in fact, still alive and not dead on the Exodus ship that crashed, Ethan allows the guard, Sam, to easily pull him away.

Lorelai watches him go, turning the corner to stop at double doors.

Shaking himself out, Ethan cracks his neck. The thinly veiled mask he'd subconsciously shoved on in front of his mother, though cracked from months of disuse, disappears as soon as he's greeted by Murphy and Bellamy. Both of them restrained to opposite sides of the room.

He's not the Ethan from the Ark, even if the Ark has come back down. A constant reminder.

"This is a nice change in scenery," Ethan says.

He glances towards the holes in the wreckage of a roof, letting daylight in and bathing the floor in spots of golden glow.

"It's the same room, just in a different hallway," Sam-the-guard says, hand still carefully curled around Ethan's upper arm, brows knitted in confusion.

Ethan barely glances at him, "I was being sarcastic."

Murphy snorts.

The acting Chancellor, Kane, honours him with a small glance.

"Down there." He says to the guard, pointing to another corner, making a triangle out of the three delinquents. Sam hauls Ethan over, looping the restraints - better ones - through the metal bar and around red wrists.

Four gunshots go off, the sound bouncing off the walls for all to hear.

It sure clears the room quickly.

Ethan slumps against the wall. "Did Kane tell you anything? Is there any sign of the others yet?"

"They're sending a search party but we can't join them because we're inexperienced." Bellamy rolls his eyes.

Scoffing, Ethan shakes his head. "Inexperienced my ass. They just got here, they know shit compared to us."

He's already sick of the way the council is treating them. The way they came back down and decided they owned Earth.

"Hey, you remember our first day on the ground?"

Murphy peeks up from under his fringe and Bellamy turns his head to listen.

Swinging his foot from side to side, Ethan tries for a smile, "You took Murphy and Mbege under your wing, for some stupid reason."

Bellamy scowls.

Along with the harsh reminder of his dead friend, Murphy looks away. Mbege was the only person to tolerate him, and he wasn't even there when he died.

"I was barely listening but I do remember you telling us that if we're lucky, we'd only end up collecting their trash." He huffs a laugh, tilting his head against the wall to see them. "It's funny 'cause you weren't far off the mark. The only difference now is that we are the trash."

Bellamy went from widely respected to the complete opposite as soon as Kane found them. Murphy went from sidekick to murderer to victim, then back to actually murdering someone. Ethan went from the fun guy to the getaway guy, now to the guy needing the getaway.

The screaming from outside has Ethan shifting onto his knees, the ties around his wrists resisting until he reluctantly sinks back down. It's Raven, he knows, her agonising cries growing louder, echoing throughout the Ark.

"Yeah, that was me at the grounder camp." Murphy watches the floor, tapping a finger against the metal bars. "You know I did everything I could not to scream, but eventually -"

"But eventually, you broke, and you told them everything."

Ethan slams his head against the wall behind him.

Here we go.

Murphy looks up and across at Bellamy, sneering at him. "And you wouldn't have because you're better than me."

"Damn right. I'm not a traitor." He shakes his head sharply, "I didn't tell them where they could find us."

"And I did."

Ethan's eyes land on Murphy.

"Yeah, I did. After they tortured me in their prison camp for three days."

Swallowing, Ethan curls his fingers into the fabric of his pants. The implication hits him. Murphy lasted a full three days of torture before he gave up the information.

Ethan doesn't think he'd last a day.

Can't Bellamy understand that?

"Before the guy you left to die found me lying in a pool of my own blood." Murphy points at Ethan and then drops his hand, "But, go ahead. You just keep believing. . . even if you are in here, just like me."