She'd said no the first time her mother had asked. Quickly. Decisively. And the second and the third. But nothing seemed to put the matter to rest.

Clarke eventually stopped answering, because... why bother? Bellamy would never go along with it anyway.

But then Abby and Kane cornered her on the way back to her quarters one evening, and Kane explained that he'd talked Bellamy around.

Clarke was stunned.

"But... what about Echo? I can't believe she'd sit still for..." she could feel her face heating and she shifted her eyes away from them, "that."

Kane sighed. "That's not really any of my business, Clarke, and I didn't ask. It's for Bellamy to sort out."

Abby gave her a sympathetic glance. "I know this might be... awkward for you, Clarke. I'm sorry about that. But we've tried every sort of negotiation you can imagine but they won't budge on this one demand. So unfortunately, it's the only way to save the situation. To save us."

"Awkward? That's what you think?" Then she shook her head impatiently. "I'm not a child, Mom."

Her eyes closed involuntarily as she contemplated what was being asked of her. Considering the stakes, if it were anyone else... anyone at all... she knew she would probably swallow her pride, write off any embarrassment as temporary, and just... get on with it.

But this was Bellamy. And he was not hers. Could not be. Not even temporarily.

"I can't imagine he'd ever agree, no matter what you say. I'll only believe it if I hear it from his own lips."

XXXXXXXXXX

Clarke was so agitated by the time she made it back to their rooms that she didn't realize Madi was already there, tucked away in a corner, reading. It was one of the wonderful things about this place, this planet with two suns. The overabundance of reading material.

And in the three months they'd been there, Madi had been taking full advantage.

She looked up from her tablet when Clarke threw open the door, entered the room, and sank heavily onto their dilapidated couch.

"Clarke! What's wrong?"

"It's... nothing, Madi."

"It can't be nothing," the girl objected, putting the tablet away and moving across the room to sit next to Clarke. "Not when your face looks like that."

Clarke sighed. Madi knew her too well. She tried a different tack.

"It's just... grownup stuff."

Madi gaped at her. "Clarke! I'm thirteen years old, not a baby. And I'm the Commander! Or did you forget I had to lead an army back on Earth?"

"Of course not. I know how capable you are. But this is a... different kind of grownup stuff."

"I suppose it's something to do with sex, then." Her tone was utterly matter-of-fact.

"Madi!" Clarke's eyes closed briefly as she felt her face heating up. "I'm not discussing this with you."

"Why not? You were the one who explained about that stuff to me. What's the big deal?"

Clarke hesitated, wracking her brain for exactly what to say, but Madi was too quick and too perceptive.

"Does this have something to do with Bellamy?"

The girl looked so concerned that Clarke wanted to laugh, but somehow she couldn't. Couldn't laugh and couldn't dodge it. See knew she'd have to tell Madi something.

"It... does have something to do with Bellamy, yes."

She leaned back, choosing her words, wanting desperately to explain in a way that would make sense to Madi without getting into detail that she was way too young to understand.

"Do you remember when we first got here, how the Eligians were so welcoming? How we kept waiting for them to be hostile, or at least wary, but they weren't?"

Madi nodded. They'd all been shocked to find that the people who'd already been there for more than a century had seemed nothing but pleased and excited that they'd arrived. Almost like they'd been... expecting them.

"And remember how you and I thought they might want to probe us or examine us in some way, but then the only thing they did was ask us to walk under that lighted arch they have in their infirmary?"

Madi nodded again, attentive, clearly waiting for Clarke to get to the point.

"Well, it turns out that arch is some kind of technology that can determine someone's DNA just by scanning them. You remember what DNA is."

"Yeah." Madi's face screwed up in confusion. "But I thought you had to take blood or saliva and do all sorts of tests."

Clarke shrugged. "The Eligians somehow figured out a way to get DNA just by using the scan. So they have the DNA of everyone who traveled with us. All of our people."

"And that's bad?"

"Not necessarily. But then there's..." Clarke took a deep breath as she came to the heart of the matter, "the prophecy."

Madi nodded. This was familiar territory. Grounder culture had been chock full of prophecies.

"And this prophecy says...?"

"That a child will be born. A special child. One who's going to save them."

"Save them from what?"

Clarke shrugged. "No one seems to know that. No one knows how the prophecy came to be, or even who the prophet was. But they all believe in it absolutely. That he'll come and save them in some dire circumstance."

"He?"

"Or she. That isn't clear either. The only concrete thing they seem to have is the DNA of the child's parents."

Madi took a quick breath as she began to catch on. "And that's... you." Then her eyes widened as the last piece of the puzzle dropped into place. "And Bellamy."

Clarke nodded unhappily. "Exactly. And now that the Eligians have found us, they're demanding that we... create this child. They refuse to consider any sort of agreement with our group about land, or housing, or trade, unless I... we... agree to this one term." She sighed. "Apparently, it's what's known in diplomatic circles as a dealbreaker."

Madi was quiet for a moment before offering tentatively, "You've already done so much, Clarke. Saved everyone so many times. To ask you to actually have a baby seems like it's expecting too much of you."

Clarke gave a quick nod and opened her mouth to respond, but Madi wasn't through.

"But... I don't think that's really it, is it? I think you'd do anything if you thought it would help our people. Even give birth to this baby. So, really," she said, her soft voice more hesitant with every word she spoke, "it's that it's with Bellamy."

Clarke gaped at her, groping for a response.

"There's no way they can make this baby in, I don't know, a test tube or something?" Madi asked, her brow wrinkling.

Clarke shook her head. "Maybe. That technology has been around for centuries. But they refuse to even consider it."

"So you and Bellamy would have to, uh..."

Clarke squared her shoulders, trying to maintain some dignity. She couldn't believe she was actually having this discussion with Madi.

"Yes," she murmured, nodding. Hoping Madi was satisfied enough with her explanation that this conversation could be over.

"Then, yeah, I can see why that would be a problem," Madi said bluntly, "considering how you feel about Bellamy."

"Madi..." Clarke began to protest, but Madi wasn't listening.

"Maybe you can fool the rest of them, Clarke, but I know better."

And Clarke found she had no response to that at all.

XXXXXXXXXX

When Bellamy tapped lightly on her door the following evening, Madi was asleep. Which was probably just as well. She opened up, and as they stood there in her doorway, Clarke wasn't sure which of them was the more embarrassed.

The truth was, she'd been avoiding him for days, ever since Abby had told her about the prophecy, and the child, and she'd become fully aware of what they wanted from her. She assumed they'd told Bellamy, too, and she just didn't think she could face him.

And now, here he was.

"Hey," she said quietly, not even really surprised to see him.

"Hey," he nodded, licking his lips nervously and ducking his head just a little. "Madi here?"

"She's asleep. So if you need to talk to her..."

"No," Bellamy said quickly. "It's you I came to see. I just thought it'd be better if she wasn't around for this conversation."

Clark sighed and gave him a twisted little smile, opening the door wider. "You'd better come in."

But once he was seated beside her on the couch, silence reigned. It seemed as though neither knew exactly how to begin.

They turned toward each other at exactly the same moment. "Clarke." "Bellamy."

When they laughed, the tension seemed to lift just a little. Clarke was still trying to figure out how to continue when Bellamy leaped into speech.

And he did not beat around the bush.

"I think we need to do this thing, Clarke."

She cocked a brow, wanting to make absolutely sure she understood him correctly.

He nodded. "Yeah, I mean we should have this baby."

Clarke frowned. "Having a child is not just doing a thing, Bellamy. It's not something you agree to lightly. It's a lifelong commitment that you couldn't take back. We'd be creating a person, someone who would always be in our lives."

"Don't you think I know that! That I haven't been thinking about it for days! But no matter how I look at it, in the end, doing this means that we can save our people from being tossed out of this settlement and banished to who knows where. Haven't they already been through enough? If they can stay here, they'll be able to establish themselves. Be safe. Thrive. And isn't that why we came here?"

He paused for a moment before he reminded her softly, "Isn't that what Monty asked us to do? To take care of everyone?"

Bellamy gave her a sardonic little smile.

"I don't know, maybe he had some kind of crazy premonition that you and I would be the ones to make everything work. Not just as leaders, but... personally." He shrugged. "Anyway, that's how it seems to have played out. So... I've thought about it long and hard, Clarke, and I know I'm willing to make that kind of commitment. To being a father. But," he added, eyeing her closely, "I also know I can't make up your mind for you."

Clarke looked away. Everything he'd said was true. Every argument he'd given her was something she'd already told herself. More than once. But then, there was that one thing that he hadn't mentioned.

"I know all that, Bellamy. And I maybe even agree with you. I'm pretty sure I could do this, too. But," Clarke felt her cheeks begin to flame as she continued, "this will involve us in intimacies that we don't have a right to. So far, you haven't said anything about that. About... Echo. I'm not going to turn you into a cheater."

She paused, watching as the flush rose beneath his tan skin.

"We've... worked it out."

"Worked it out? How could you possibly have worked it out? I mean, I'd never..." she stopped suddenly as she saw the pitfall before her.

Bellamy's brows drew together, and she hurried on before he could ask.

"What did she agree to?"

There was a short silence before he finally said, "Echo said she'd just think of it as something... clinical. Detached. Just a-a bodily function. And it would be... just the one time."

And for some reason, as he said those very business-like words, his flush deepened and he looked away.

"Just the one time? Wow, she does have faith in your little swimmers, doesn't she?"

Bellamy snorted and shrugged, and suddenly they were both grinning at the absurdity of the situation.

"And what about us, Bellamy? You and me? If we have a child together, we'll be connected in some way... forever. Is that something you can live with?"

Bellamy's face twisted in surprise, as though that was the one question he hadn't anticipated.

"But we were always going to be connected forever, Clarke. You know that. This is just another layer of together."

His earnestness when he uttered those words was so palpable that they both warmed Clarke's heart and made it beat faster. Even though she knew damn well it wasn't the kind of together she really wanted.

She sighed. "I'd need to meet with the Eligian Council, make sure I understand what they're asking of us. And that they understand that this would still be our child."

Bellamy was suddenly so still that it felt like he was holding his breath. And when he spoke, he was tentative.

"So you'll do it?"

Clarke nodded, not sure when she'd decided. Only that she had. "Yes. But I think we should plan on following Echo's formula."

He looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"It will be... clinical, detached. Just a normal human activity."

She watched his Adam's Apple bob up and down as he swallowed visibly.

But then he nodded.

"Of course. Whatever you say."

XXXXXXXXXX

By prearrangement, they met the next day with the Council Triumvirate, the three most eminent beings on the planet.

As they spoke, Clarke tried to get a feel for them as individuals, as she had so many times before. But as in the past, she found there was something... slippery about them. As though they didn't really want to be known.

Especially the woman, Oriana, who seemed to be the one in charge today. Although not once, even though they'd been asked many times, had the council admitted that any of the three was more important, more powerful, or more influential than either of the others.

"We are a triumvirate," they always declared quietly. "But we speak as one."

Clarke thought that was probably bullshit. She'd definitely put her money on the woman being the big gun. And she was the one to whom Clarke directed her questions now.

"Just so everyone understands, we're agreeing to have this child, but it will still be our child. We're not planning on giving it up. Ever."

She'd had enough of that with Madi. This child would at least have a normal childhood. Later, as an adult, he - or she - could choose their own destiny.

"Of course," Oriana answered for them all. "We would never imagine otherwise."

As Clarke nodded, she thought she might have seen the flicker of something in one of the other councillor's eye, but before she could quite grasp it, Bellamy distracted her with a question of his own.

"So you really have no idea what this prophecy means? In terms of what danger your society faces that our... our child will save it from?"

One of the men answered. "None at all. But everything that has come down to us from the prophet has come to pass. Like all of you coming here. That's been one of our major prophecies for decades, and... here you are. If that has proven true, why should we doubt the rest?"

"And you don't know who the original prophet was? Only that his...her... predictions are in your archives?"

"Just so," the other man nodded. Just so. As though that were not at all strange.

Clarke sighed as she and Bellamy glanced at one another. They weren't, either of them, especially interested in that part of the equation. They just wanted to have all the facts. What they really cared about were the other things. The welfare of their child, should there ever actually be a child, and the safety and welfare of their people.

"And our people?" Clarke asked. She hadn't been privy to the original negotiations; that had been all Kane and Bellamy. So she wanted to hear it with her own ears. Hear what she was getting for not only agreeing to give birth, and becoming a biological mother, but also for enduring what she knew was bound to be profound emotional distress.

Oriana nodded pleasantly. "As soon as we hear that the child is on the way, your people will be granted permanent housing and trade rights. When the child is born, you will all become full citizens of Eligia. After all, we want the child - your child - to feel a part of this community."

"So our people will get to keep those homes you've built for them?" Bellamy asked directly.

"Of course. All will be as agreed."

Bellamy nodded, seemingly satisfied, before turning to Clarke. "Anything else before we go?"

"Nope. That's it."

But as they turned to leave, Oriana stopped them with a smile. The first, Clarke would swear, she'd ever received from the woman.

"Clarke, Bellamy, we are so grateful to you, and we wondered if you might like to make use of our finest guest quarters."

Clarke stopped, surprised, and glanced up at Bellamy. They had yet to talk about where it would all go down, and in truth that had worried her. Her rooms were out of the question. Even if she sent Madi away, Clarke just didn't want those kinds of reminders in her home. And as for Bellamy's place, she shuddered to even think about it.

"Guest quarters? Are they in this building?" She waved her hand around the official rooms.

"Oh, no, they are quite private. From the front door, you can just see them in the center of that lovely grove of trees on the hillside."

"So it's... an entire house?" Bellamy asked, his tone conveying his surprise.

"Just so," Oriana said.

Before Clarke had time to even think about it, Bellamy spoke again.

"Thank you. We'd be grateful."

And just like that, not only was Clarke about to have a clinical, detached, business-like sexual encounter with Bellamy, it looked like she'd be having it in the honeymoon suite.

She knew she could hardly complain about comfort and privacy, but in her heart of hearts, she wondered how in the hell she was going to manage to survive it.