Dr. Clarke Griffin thought her life was perfect, until she discovered her boyfriend had betrayed her. To exact her redemption, she acquires the help of a brooding but charming cop. But what starts out as a formal deal turns into something so much more.

A/N: This story was inspired by a lovely post made by Bellamy-Griffin.

Chapter 1

Clarke had always been ambitious.

Since she was a young child, she knew she wanted to be a doctor—just like her mother. Being a surgeon took dedication, hard work, and above all else ambition. Everything else was simply a distraction from the ultimate objective.

All twenty-five years she spent in this world had been spent building her way into the medical field. It was her dream, her everything.

And that dream came true. She was completing her residency at Mount Weather Memorial, one of the most reputable hospitals churning out the most promising surgeons. She was training to be a general surgeon; not because she wasn't good at any specialty in particular, but because she was good at all of them.

She was going to make a name for herself. She would save the lives of her patients and change the lives of everyone around them.

Her professional life took precedent for a long time, but that didn't mean her personal life lacked anything.

Her two best friends from medical school ended up in Mount Weather Memorial too. Clarke, Octavia, and Jasper were always seen as a strange trio. Clarke was soft-spoken and cool-tempered, Octavia was defensive and opinionated, and Jasper was awkward and clumsy. But as different as they were, they cared for each other like family.

When she first started working here, she was expecting three long years of pure and unadultered work. She never thought she'd find love.

But then she met Finn Collins.

Finn was the first person in a long time who broke through her shell. With a combination of charisma, flirtatious banter, and a gorgeous grin, he won her over and convinced her against her better judgment. Mixing business with pleasure was definitely a bad idea, but she decided to trust him and let him in.

Clarke wasn't one to take risks. She was thoughtful and methodological, always aware of her next move. She knew that Finn was smart, gentle, and thoughtful. So it made sense that, at least on the surface, that he would make the perfect boyfriend.

He was her first serious boyfriend, her first everything.

They had been together for nearly two years now, with their anniversary date looming.

With a perfect boyfriend and her two best friends working by her side at the job of her dreams, Clarke was living a life better than she could have every imagined. The sky was the limit, and she was flying so high that she felt invincible.

Little she know that she was flying too close to the Sun.

-p-

"Clarke?"

The pretty blonde turned around, her clear blue eyes landing on the petite, darker haired girl behind her. The two young women were dressed in their standard white coat uniforms. Octavia wore her hair down, but Clarke always pulled hers back into a loose braid.

"Hey," she greeted, closely examining the dark circles and un-brushed hair. "Running late?"

They were in the hospital locker room. They had about five minutes before they had to report to work that morning.

Octavia sat down on the wooden bench and rushed to pull her boots off and replace them with white sneakers. She tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, "Yeah, I guess you could say that. My brother's back in town and he's staying at my place for a couple days before he gets settled into his new apartment."

Clarke had heard about Octavia's half-brother for years, but she'd never met him.

She glanced down at her watch. "Here," she smiled, extending her arm to offer a new cup of coffee, "You need it more than me."

Octavia took one look at the coffee and gladly accepted it. "Clarke, you're a life-saver, you know that?"

"That's what I'm here for," she laughed.

They chuckled together for a moment before Clarke looked around her. There were other residents there, all about ready to leave. Finn had taken the day off, so he wouldn't be in the hospital today. But someone else was missing.

"Where's Jasper?"

Octavia had already stood up, but paused and then shrugged. "I haven't seen him."

Jasper might have been a hot mess in the early hours of the day, but he hardly ever showed up late, much less not show up at all. Moving quickly, Clarke pulled out her phone and dialed the number, then putting the phone to her ear.

After a series of rings, the other line picked up.

"Hello?"

It was Jasper's voice, but something was definitely up. They'd known each other for years, they could tell when something was wrong. Octavia overheard and picked up on the same thing and stepped in closer to listen.

"Where are you?" Clarke inquired carefully. All the other doctors had left the locker room by now, so she put him on speakerphone to let Octavia hear. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Jasper paused for a while, "I'm fine. But I have something to tell you."

Both girls exchanged a look of confusion, waiting for him to continue.

"Actually, it's Monty who needs to tell you something he saw. I'll put him on,"

Clarke silently mouthed a question to Octavia while they heard the phone shuffling between hands. She didn't understand what Jasper's boyfriend had to do with her. Monty was this kind-hearted and genius researcher who worked at the pharmaceutical lab down the street. He was hilarious and good company, but it was unusual for him to ever speak to Clarke in place of Jasper.

"Hey, Clarke, you still there?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm still here. Go ahead, Monty."

"Okay," he look an audible sharp breath, "I was at the Café on Washington Street to stop for breakfast," another pause, "and I was just waiting in line when I saw something I think you need to know about."

The suspense was getting at her, and she held her breath.

Clarke was not unaccustomed to bad news in her life. She handled the obstacles in her life with determination and courage. She always had her armor on, ready to fight her way through the bad to win the good.

But no matter her experiences in the past, she was nowhere near prepared for what was about to come out.

"I saw Finn with another woman. He was kissing her, holding her hand, and getting awfully close. It didn't look like the first time they've been together."

And just like that, her perfect life seemed to crash down around her.

End Chapter 1

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this first installment. Please leave a review if you would like me to continue.