Chapter 97 - Its better to hide the truth

Bellamy barely made it out of there alive and as soon as he was near the rest of the guards, he gently lowered Monroe to the ground before shouting for someone to check on her.

The first ones that heard Bellamy's shout for help were, Monty, Harper, and his mother who quickly rushed towards Bellamy, not knowing exactly what happened. The next moment Harper kneeled beside Monroe, and Bellamy collapsed on his knees. The stress, fear, and above all the fact that broke the trust of his friend, made Bellamy exhausted.

Meanwhile, Harper tried to shake Monroe awake, alas to no result. The hit on her head as well as the poisonous smoke almost killed her and it would be a miracle if she ever woke up.

While Harper was doing everything she could for Monroe, Bellamy managed to get back on his feet, just in time for Hannah to grab his shoulders.

"Your sister did this. She was the one who alerted the grounders."

"She's locked in Arkadia!"

Before Bellamy could dismiss Hannah's words, Pike walked towards him followed closely from behind by the rest of his team.

"We saw her Bellamy, I'm sorry but that's the truth. Someone must have helped her otherwise I can't explain why she would be out of her cell."

"How did she find out about this?"

"There might be traitors in our camp, son. Otherwise, I can't explain how would have she found out about the exact location."

"There are Pike, and we all know one of them. We let him join in our meeting and even had him look over our strategy. He's not one of us Pike and you know it.

"Don't you dare blame Leon for what my sister did? We don't know if he is truly a traitor, however, if he's found guilty I will shoot him myself."

"Then who else could have helped her other than him? We had locked Kane in his room and we have Miller and his dad guarding the door. Other than your friend, there's no one who would risk so much to save her, Bellamy. Nevertheless, if you are right and he's not the one, then nothing would happen to him, but that would have to wait until we are back to Arkadia."

While Pike and Hannah were arguing with Bellamy, Monty and Harper managed to stabilize Monroe to some extent, albeit everything would be in vain I'd they continued postponing their departure.

"We have to get her to a proper infirmary otherwise we'll lose her."

As Harper was speaking out her honest opinion, Monty caught his mother's attention before Hannah walked beside him. With Monty's guidance, she pulled Monroe's wrist up and placed two fingers on it, feeling for herself how weak the girl's pulse had gotten.

"Can the girl survive if we remain here?"

"I don't know. I'm not a doctor, Pike, but her pulse is weak. She won't survive for too long if we deny her treatment. Nevertheless is your call, sir, if we leave to treat her or if we stay and finish cleaning the village of grounders."

"Sir, I think it would for the best to send Monroe to Mount Weather where she would be taken care of by Jackson. We should also send a few guards there as well, just in case…"

"Why do you sound so desperate to send her away, son?"

"I don't know if you knew or not, but Leon and Monroe are good friends, maybe a little more than friends and I'd rather not poke the sleeping bear, especially now when we are at war with the grounders and we need all available hands to fight them. Besides, no matter how many people we send to restrain him, we won't be able to keep Leon from killing you and me when he finds out what happened to her. If we manage to keep her alive, we can simply tell him that she was assigned a guard duty at Mount Weather, for the time being, thus avoiding a bloodbath."

"Is that respect and fear that I hear in your voice?"

"With all due respect, sir. None of you has seen Leon fight, and other than the delinquents that were sent to earth, no one had fought side by side with him. Say whatever you want about the rest of us, but that guy took on a whole army of grounders by himself and still won."

Neither Pike nor Hannah said anything for a few seconds, most likely because they too have heard about the feats of their so-called champion and whom he led the delinquents, a bunch of untrained teenagers on a rather successful campaign against the grounders. The more they thought about it the clearer it was what choice they should make so that they could keep their strength and not lose one if not the most powerful assets of them.

"Well Bellamy, we will have to do it the way you suggested. As much as I would love to remain and clear the village, we can't risk a civil war in the middle of a war against the grounders. Not to mention that you are right, Leon is one of the few people in our camp that have led and won against the grounders more than I could count, as well as having the most confirmed kills. We can't afford to lose him, not now, at least. Gather our dead and wounded, we are retreating to Mount Weather to drop them there, before we return and finish our job, there has to be a few grounders still hiding in some hole around here."

A few hours later, when the team returns to Arkadia after a rather successful cleaning operation, the first thing that Pike did was call Leon to his office. Contrary to what Bellamy told him to do, Pike and Hannah decided that it would be for the best to keep Leon in the dark for the moment and not tell him that his girlfriend fights for her life in Mount Weather otherwise who knows how he would react. As said before a civil war would be the last thing they want to happen in those troubled times.

"You wanted to see me, chancellor?"

"How are you doing, considering the rest of the council forbade you from coming with us on the missions?"

"I've been better, sir, and while I'd rather have more control over my activities, it isn't that bad to relax once in a while."

"I'm glad to hear that. I truly am. To tell you the truth, Leon, I expect you to argue with me about this topic and even threaten me, but it seems that you are doing better than anyone would have imagined."

"Tell me the truth sir, why have you called me here. While I appreciate the fact that you care for my well-being, I don't remember us being that good of a friend with each other for you to care that much about me."

"You are right, son. This isn't about you, not entirely since it's more related to the younger Blake and what she had done today. I have lost two good soldiers today because she escaped and warned the grounders, and if that wasn't bad enough, the grounders, with her help poisoned the soil making the whole area unfit for farming."

"I don't know anything about that, sir. Contrary to what you or the council believes, I didn't help Octavia escape from her cell, nevertheless gave her sensitive information about your mission."

"I didn't mention anything about any sensitive information, Leon."

"Nevertheless, it was the obvious thing that you wanted to find out from me. Other than that, nothing happened I presume otherwise I wouldn't have been her alone, right?"

"You are right."

For a minute or so, neither Pike nor Leon said anything to each, but after what seemed to be an eternity, Pike decided to continue this not-so-friendly interrogatory.

"Someone in this camp is giving her information. I need to know who, and before you say anything, I know that you aren't the mole, however, some of my close aides are thinking otherwise. However no one can punish or put you on a trial because we simply don't have any proof."

"We both know, who in this whole camp is against you "

"Marcus, I know, but as I said, we don't possess the proof necessary to find him guilty of treason. Because of that, I want you to find that proof for me and clean your name."

"Right on it, sir. Sooner or later, he would leave a trail."

"You're dismissed."

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