A/N: To my readers: I know I should be working on my Itazura na Kiss story right now, but this just popped into my head and once it was there, I couldn't get it out! I was inspired to write this from a mixture of things. First of all, I am a huge fan of the Marriage Law trope often found in the Harry Potter fanverse. I was rereading a couple of my favourites of those, and then I read a 100 fanfiction and was thinking how great a Bellamy/Clarke Marriage Law fic would be, but I couldn't figure out how I'd make it work, and then somehow my boyfriend and I got into the discussion of the Toba Catastrophe theory (seriously, really interesting shit. Wikipedia is your friend. Go knowledge yourself wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory) and tada, story idea complete. Well, sorta.

Anyway, this will be another undertaking of mine that will probably take me ages to finish, but I will do my best to do so! Enjoy!

Catastrophe Theory

Chapter 1

"The rampant orgies need to stop, Clarke."

Clarke heard Bellamy sigh beside her, and suppressed the urge to giggle. This was a conversation both of them had had to endure countless times.

"We've been over this! One of the main problems people had with the governance back on the Arc was the strict population controls. No children out of wedlock and no families with more than one child meant no extramarital sex, and often no sex at all! I know it was not an issue for any of you, but many of the inhabitants were no able to afford the birth control available to people back on the Arc, and if they didn't want to be floated, they had no options. Now that there aren't limited resources, and the fear of running out of oxygen, people are not going to agree to this."

Clarke looked to Bellamy for some kind of back-up but, as usual, he saw his part of being a Senator (an old term Bellamy remembered from a book he'd read to Octavia back on the Arc, and one they'd adopted when they'd abolished the term Chancellor) was a part that didn't involve actual speaking in front of the Representatives.

Abby spoke again, no more ready to back away from her demands than earlier. "This isn't about controlling people, Clarke, or going back to the old ways. This is a health issue, a future health issue. We're not asking people to give up sex at all, just sex with multiple partners. Two children were born this month that could have been the child of four different men. And last month, it was three children that were in that situation."

Clarke felt her face heating up, as her voice did the same. "Mother, what do you want us to do? Why is this so damn important? Weren't you people the ones that told everyone we needed to repopulate the earth?"

Abby began shouting as well. "I didn't expect everyone to take that as leave to jump into every second person's bed!"

Clarke stood up to retort, but felt Bellamy's hand on her shoulder, firmly pushing her back into her chair. She took a deep breath and smiled gratefully over at him. They both knew from past experiences that getting angry in one of these meetings did no good, and that once Clarke began referring to her mother as such, things were going to get ugly unless brought back to task.

Dr. Griffin looked over at the other six Representatives. They had discussed this pitch before coming to the Senators about it.

"Think about it, guys. Thirty-seven children have been born in the five years we've been on Earth. Only thirteen of those children can say they know who both their parents are. That means there are twenty-four kids that in fifteen years will be afraid that every person they sleep with could be their half-brother or sister."

Bellamy spoke up for the first time. "From the history books, not knowing one parent was a common occurrence before the Nuclear War."

The doctor sighed, having known he would bring that point up. "Yes, we understand that. But in that world, there were 9 billion people. That means that the chances of running into an unknown half-sibling were so slim, there was no point in even being worried about it. We have just under 500 people living within our borders. If we don't include the inevitability of mixing genes with the Grounders, we are already going to have people reproducing with second and third cousins in a hundred years or so. If we can at least have a record, so people can know what they're getting into beforehand, our descendants will thank us, I promise you."

Clarke caught Bellamy's eye, and they had a very quick silent conversation, complete with subtle gestures, as they often did in these dratted meetings.

You know she's right, Bellamy!

We promised them there would be no laws or penalties for sex or anything to do with it! No matter what!

I know, but this could be potentially dangerous.

You heard her, Princess, "a hundred years or so". Not our problem.

Clarke rolled her eyes, because she knew exactly what he was thinking. He always said things like, "We'll be dead by then, let them worry about it" or "Why do you care? That won't be an issue for at least ten years". Honestly, it was part of what made them such a good team. Clarke was more often than not concerned with the long term welfare of her people and would sacrifice short-term comforts, while Bellamy would ensure that she didn't forget too much about what was needed for the day-to-day.

"You didn't answer my question, Dr. Griffin. What exactly do you want us to do about it?"

This time it was Representative Kane that spoke. "Rules. Punishment. Make it illegal to have sex without marriage."

Clarke's hand flew to Bellamy's knee, and she dug her nails in, reminding him not to fly over the table and punch the cocky son-of-a-bitch in the mouth.

"Representative Kane, we've already stated that that is out of the question. There will not be, nor will there ever be, any kind of regulations on sex or child bearing while I am Senator." Bellamy's voice was steel. They'd said it countless times, but maybe this would finally convince the Representatives that this was non-negotiable.

Clarke, with her hand moved to Bellamy's, pulled him to his feet. "Thank you for your thoughts, and we will take this into consideration. We understand the need, and why you wish it to be so, but you must understand our position on this as well. We will meet on this matter again in one week's time. Bellamy and I will try and think of a solution, as should you."

An obvious dismissal, the seven Representatives, all members of the Arc's old circle of power, quickly left the cabin that had become known as the White House, another throwback to old Earthen culture.

The White House was not white, but it was a house, as well as a meeting area for the Senators to meet with the members of their community. This was not just for the Representatives (whose group name was actually Representatives of the People, but that was more of a formality, as more often than not, the people felt more "represented" by Bellamy and Clarke, than by the older group), but also for emissaries from Grounder tribes, the odd Mountain Man and even if a member of their little town wanted a formal audience with his or her Senators (though that rarely ever happened, as both Bellamy and Clarke much preferred to have a discussion with one of their people in informal situations).

Originally, the White House had just been the meeting room, built as a large place for the community to gather for weddings or parties. It was one of the first buildings that had been erected once they'd moved a little further away from Mount Weather and closer to the ocean. Bellamy and Clarke hadn't been Senators at that time, in fact, Clarke's mother had still been Chancellor. The policy for living quarters was ten to a cabin, and Clarke had been in with Octavia, her husband Lincoln, a few of the other original Hundred, and Bellamy.

But then the group had mutinied, incredibly unhappy with the Chancellor and cronies way of governing. It was too much of the same strict rules leftover from the Arc and with no room for new growth on the Earth's surface. So, they had been ousted, and through an extremely high consensus, Clarke and Bellamy had been reinstated as In Charge. The name Senator for their new position had been suggested by Octavia, ever the romantic.

However, their then current living situation hadn't been working out. They would often find themselves up all night, whispering, trying to keep from bothering their cabin-mates in vain. And once they realized that they truly were failing at that, they moved to outside the cabin, but then their conversations were in open, and it got pretty damn cold at night. What they needed was their own private area to discuss and lead.

It had been Jasper's idea to build a couple extra rooms onto the White House. Most of the cabins around the town had two to three rooms, one with chairs and a table for eating and general socializing. The other rooms were all for sleeping, with a minimum of five bedrolls to a bedroom. With a little creativity, Jasper and his crew built on a small dining room, and two miniature bedrooms onto the White House, exclusively for their Senators, and any future ones elected.

Clarke had disagreed vehemently at first ("What will people think?") but once it became apparent that the majority of the town, excluding the always crotchety Representatives of course, thought it an excellent idea, there was no more that could be said. Within the month, she and Bellamy had moved their meager stores of things into the White House, and quickly became the gossip fodder of the year.

That died down quite quickly as well, though, when the Senators public fights, genial working relationship, and frankly, obvious interest in other members of the community became general knowledge. Bellamy and Clarke might make excellent leaders, but only a miracle, or a curse, would bring them together romantically.

They didn't know, but their curse, or miracle, was upon them.

Clarke flopped herself into one of the chairs in their small dining area, and began massaging her temples. How did her mother always manage to give her pounding headaches? She didn't flinch when she felt Bellamy's hands gently replace her own. She just sighed gratefully, closed her eyes and let him comfort her. When he moved to the back of her neck, and her shoulders, she said, "Why does she always have to try and fix the things we don't want fucking fixed?"

"Dunno."

"I mean, she must know that this isn't something we'll easily back down on. Your sister lived in the freaking floor for sixteen years, for Christ's sake! They were ousted for trying to cling to laws just like those, and now they want us to reinstate them?"

"Ridiculous."

"It's not like they don't have a point, which is the most frustrating. I hate it when she's right. People are incredibly too happy to just jump into every other fucking bed and we have no birth control, or anything like a paternity test. It could cause some really serious issues down the road, the least of which is siblings having sex! There could be deformed children, and development of sexually transmitted diseases, and any other manner of terrible things!"

"Dreadful."

Clarke tipped her head back to glare at her partner standing behind her. "Are you listening to me at all, or are you just interjecting words you think might go along with what I'm saying?"

"Not fair at all." Bellamy laughed and pushed her back into her seat when she stood up indignantly. "Chill out, Princess, of course I'm listening. I just don't know what I should say. You know how I feel about it. We've been talking about it since, Jesus, since before we lived here. We always say, "Oh yeah, something really needs to be done about all the people having all the sex" but then we say, "No laws, no regulations, no nothing" and then we go out and have all the sex ourselves. Maybe we haven't knocked anyone up or been knocked up ourselves, but we sure as hell haven't been abstinent."

The entire time they been talking, Bellamy had continued on working out the kinks in Clarke's shoulders. She didn't handle stress well, poor thing. He had to do this for her nearly every night, not that he minded.

She reached for his hand, and pulled him around to sit in the chair opposite her. She didn't say anything, but Bellamy knew she was grateful for the massage.

"What are we gonna do, Bell? We've got to do something."

He sighed. They did need to do something. It wasn't a case of fatherless children running around, unloved and uncared for. Enough of that had happened on the ship and that shit wouldn't happen in his town. On Earth, people cared for each other, whether it was Raven with her bum leg, or Mrs. Taylor, who still had conversations with her dead husband, or a baby with no home. People gave a shit on Earth, or he'd know why.

In a crowd against laws and regulations on sex and not allowing babies to be born and all that, he'd be the loudest voice. This was an issue that not only did he grow up around, it was something he knew was wrong. Not allowing people to have children when they wanted them, or have sex when they wanted, it was all wrong.

But even not taking all the science crap Clarke and Dr. Griffan had brought up, Bellamy knew what was happening was also wrong. Children should know where they came from. He didn't have a father, had never had a father, and that was wrong. His mother should have held his father accountable, for both himself and Octavia. And these twenty-four babies would only ever have doubt about who sired them, and that wasn't fair to them, or to the people that would end up taking care of them.

And, honestly, he actually hadn't been all that sexually active lately. He'd talked it up a bit when talking with Clarke (because who wouldn't), but it had been at least six months since he'd been with anyone, and he was pretty sure Clarke was the same. Now was as good as time as any to start bringing in some kind of regulation. Maybe they could be like, role models or something.

And then it hit him, what they should do. He leapt to his feet, excited, but deflated at another thought.

Clarke starred at her partner, her friend. "What… I don't even know what I should be asking here…"

He shot her a nasty look, but there was no heart in it. "I had a thought, but I realized it wouldn't work."

"Well why don't you share, and then we can both decide it won't work."

"Do you remember in history class, did the teachers ever tell you how rations used to be just food? And how they started being traded for other crap on the Arc? Like when it was first formed, everyone got the same rations for the same jobs but you couldn't trade them for stuff at the exchange, well, hell, I guess there was no exchange. But then, the Council wanted people to… do something, but I don't remember what it was, and then people were given extra rations if they did whatever it was, and then they more or less made it a currency that people could trade for food and cloth and other shit. I was thinking of something like that, but the same problems would arise that did before."

Clarke sat back and absorbed the info, and Bellamy stood and went over to the little fire pit that was burning in the middle of the room. Marie had, at some point, sent someone over with a pot of food, and had made sure it stayed heated. Bellamy loved Marie. He thought that if she had been thirty years younger, looked less like a pear on steroids, and didn't have the largest man known to existence as a husband, he'd probably want to marry Marie.

He dished up two plates of whatever stew was cooking in the pot, and set one in front of Clarke. He wouldn't disturb her, at least for a little while longer. There was a look on her face.

All of a sudden she popped up out of her chair and grabbed his hand. He barely managed to set down the wooden bowl before shed hauled him to his feet and began swinging him around the room.

"That's it, Bell! You're a fucking genius! Why, we'll bring in a barter system, for superficial things, like stones, or flowers, or, or whatever! And then in a few more months' time, to let people get used to it, we'll start giving out incentives to stay committed to one person."

"What do you mean superficial things? Won't people just start using it to buy things like food or more furs? Commodities, like?"

"Well, we can approve things that can be bartered for. I mean, I'm sure some kind of black market system will pop up for extra food or whatever we decide shouldn't be allowed to be paid for, but hell, there already kind of is, but this way we can control it a bit, while still getting people to stop screwing everything in sight!"

He was starting to get into it and he could see the possibilities. "We could do it on like a two month basis. Someone comes in, swears they've only had sex with one person in the time given, gives a name, and then we cross check it with that person. Obviously people are going to lie, but we can have some kind of… I dunno, penalty for if they're caught lying."

"Ooh, they could be barred from the system for like, a year, unable to collect any kind of reward."

"Yeah! And that way it doesn't have to be the same person every time, but there's a bit more control over children and the like. I mean, we might still have problems with STD's but we'll cross that road when we come to it later!"

Even though they had been exhausted from the day, this plan seemed to give them a new burst of energy. The two Senators stayed up until the first bit of the sun poked it head over the horizon, startling the two at the time. At some point Clarke had unpacked a precious bit of paper and pencil and began writing down some of the things they wanted to bring to the Representatives at the next meeting.

"God, Bellamy, I can't believe we stayed up all night – again." Clarke folded her arms on the table, and laid her head down to rest on them.

"You shouldn't be surprised, Clarke. We literally do this at least once a week. This time was just a bit more fun."

Clarke mumbled something in reply, her eyes slowly drooping.

"Come on, Clarke, let's put you into bed, you silly thing." Bellamy was tired too, completely, but all the same he picked Clarke up. Her arms curled around his neck, locking on to him.

In the last dregs of consciousness, Clarke tried to tell Bellamy that she needed to meet with some of the guard first thing in the morning, but not only could she not get out the words, but she couldn't remember why it was so urgent.

The Senator placed his Co-Senator down into her bed roll, tucked her in, and made sure to grab an extra fur to place over her. It was already spring but it was still chilly, and they really didn't need Clarke catching a cold, and ending up in Dr. Griffin's sick bay. Really, Clarke and her mother in a confined space for a prolonged amount of time was the last thing they needed right now.

I hope everyone enjoyed it! I hope to have the next bit up as soon as possible!