It had been a month since Bellamy had seen Octavia. After years apart, he hadn't thought it would be so difficult, but he spent all his free time thinking about her, worrying. He trusted Lincoln more than he ever would have predicted, to protect Octavia anyway, but earth was proving to be even more dangerous than they'd known. Clarke had escaped from mount weather, she wouldn't tell him how, and he was glad to have her with him. The fact that none of the remaining 48 had elected to come with her had baffled him. She'd explained, in a voice so filled with sorrow that he'd had to physically stop himself from reaching out, that they had chosen to stay behind, in the comfort of the modern facility. He still didn't understand, but he could see how much it hurt her to talk about, so he'd let it drop. For now.
He watched her as she spoke with Kane, her blonde hair bouncing as she shook her head, hands waving in the air. It was obvious the two didn't get along, despite their shared in interest in Clarke's mother. Sighing, Bellamy got to his feet. It was clear that whatever Clarke and Kane were discussing was important, and after being released from arrest and pardoned, he was trying to get more involved. He would never forget the way Clarke had looked as she'd come flying toward him, her face the picture of fury. It was the first time he'd seen her since she'd been taken, and though he'd snapped at anyone who suggested something might have happened to her, he had been beginning to believe the worst. Their reunion hadn't been heartwarming in any sense, but it had been perfectly them.
She was a halo of blonde hair and indignation, on his behalf, and Bellamy felt drunk with relief just looking at her. He cursed the ties around his wrists, wishing he could throw his arms around her, fist his hands in that hair.
"Untie him!" She turned on one of his guards in a huff of anger, Bellamy half expected her to snap her fingers at the older man. When the guard only shook his head, Clarke seized the knife from his belt and cut Bellamy's ropes herself. Her face softened as she looked at him, the anger ebbing away. Bellamy could see something raw underneath, and he wondered what could have happened to make this strong, driven woman so broken. He thought of the first time he'd used her nickname as something other than a weapon, 'Brave, Princess', and it hurt a little. They'd come a long ways since then.
"Hey, princess." What had once been an insult was now the closest thing to a term of endearment he had ever used, and she sighed. She stepped closer, flinging her arms around him. Caught in the moment, he wrapped his around her waist, lifting her off the ground in his enthusiasm. When he finally set her down, she punched him squarely in the shoulder.
"You jackass." He just grinned. A smile twitched beneath her glare, and soon she was grinning back up at him. "I'm glad you're okay." She said. His heart did something strange then, but he ignored it.
"You, too." Was all he said. She turned and strode away, because she didn't walk, she walked with purpose, and he shook his head as he watched her go.
"She's a firecracker, that one." Muttered one of his guards, eyeing Clarke warily. Bellamy laughed.
"You have no idea."
As the memory faded, Bellamy began to catch snippets of Clarke's conversation with Kane. They were discussing going back for the others at Mount Weather, and it wasn't going well. To Bellamy's surprise, Clarke was pushing for a small group to be allowed to leave camp to try and bring the other's back, but Kane was refusing, adamantly.
"We don't have the resources, or the manpower, to spare. It's out of the question."
"Those are my people, I'm responsible for them. We can't just leave them." Clarke was pleading, and it irritated Bellamy. He was used to seeing her in charge. The only person he'd ever seen her ask permission from was him. Even then he'd known that if he refused she would just ignore him and do it anyway. He cleared his throat as he approached. Kane looked up, his expression settling into one of distaste. Things between the two men hadn't gotten any easier since Bellamy's pardon. The power struggle was a constant battle, refusing to allow them to get along.
"I'll go." He offered. Clarke looked up at him in surprise.
"I appreciate that, Bellamy, but I don't think the two of us can do it alone." He searched her face, recognizing the fear that was always there when they spoke about Mount Weather. Once again, he wondered what she had seen there that had made her so afraid, especially considering the others had found it pleasant enough to betray their leader and stay behind. He shrugged. Kane frowned.
"When I say I don't have the manpower to spare, that includes the two of you. Clarke, I need your medical training, Abby has too much on her plate already." Kane eyes Bellamy, not bothering to assign him any skills worth keeping around. Bellamy didn't care. Something sparked behind Clarke's eyes, defiance, and Bellamy waited for her to let Kane have it. He'd seen that look on her face many times, and without fail it was always followed by a raised voice and a finger in his chest. Instead, she nodded.
"Okay, fine." Kane looked as surprised as Bellamy felt, but he gave them a last suspicious look, then left. Bellamy rounded on Clarke.
"What are you up to?" He asked.
"What do you mean?" She smiled innocently. He frowned.
"You don't ever back down that easy. What's the plan?" He knew her well enough that he could predict her next sentence, almost to the letter.
"You and me are going, by ourselves. We can see if anyone else wants to go, discreetly of course. Some of these people have kids out there." She looked at him meaningfully. Bellamy sighed.
"I'll meet you back here at sunrise." With that, he set off to get some gear together. He didn't think they'd have much luck convincing people to go with them, so he was going to need some serious firepower.
The sun was just beginning to glow in the horizon when Bellamy dropped his pack beside him, waiting for Clarke to show up. He didn't have to wait long before spotting her, followed by three others. It was more than he'd expected. Two of them were men, young, and from the way they were looking at Clarke he suspected they were only coming because she'd asked them to. The third was a woman, probably in her early forties, her black hair tied back in a loose braid.
"Hey." His greeting was mostly for Clarke, but he nodded at the others. She smiled tiredly.
"Hey. This is Eric, Hawley, and Melissa Green." Clarke introduced her companions. Bellamy ignored the boys, turning to face Melissa.
"Melissa Green? Any relation to Monty?" She nodded hesitantly.
"He's my nephew." Bellamy was surprised. Because of the one-child rule, aunts and uncles were never a part of the culture on the ark. This meant that either Monty's mother or father had a sibling, something that was never allowed. Curiosity piqued, he frowned.
"Are his parents-"
"They're dead." She said in a clipped tone, warning him to let the subject drop. He nodded.
"Okay, good to have you. All of you." He said, looking towards Eric and Hawley. He turned to Clarke. "You ready?" She nodded.
"You guys go ahead, follow the map I gave you, we'll be right behind you." Clarke said, gesturing for the others to get going. They nodded and headed for the trees.
"Everything okay?" Bellamy asked, wondering why she'd held them back. She nodded, and for the first time he noticed how tired she looked. He wondered if she'd gotten any sleep at all.
"I just wanted to give you this." She reached into her pack and pulled out a piece of paper, rolled carefully. He stared at her, and she thrust it at him. His hand curled around it, gently, and she looked away. Unrolling it slowly, he felt a jolt in his stomach as he realized what it was. It was a portrait, a drawing of him, Octavia hoisted onto his back like a child. Her face was lit up in a rare moment of pure joy, one arm around his neck and the other thrust into the air. His face was a mirror of hers, dimples flashing underneath a freckled grin. He looked up at Clarke, found himself struggling to speak.
"Clarke-"
"I know you miss her, I do too. I just thought it might be nice to have something to… keep her with us." Bellamy glanced back down at the page, noticing the scrolling script at the bottom. Until we meet again. His last words to Octavia. Clarke couldn't possibly have known that. Unable to thank her, words couldn't nearly convey what he felt, he grabbed her hand. She smiled, squeezing his.
"Thanks." He murmured. She nodded.
"Let's go get our kids." She said, and he laughed. She set off in front of him and he trailed behind, following. He was beginning to think he would follow her anywhere.