Echoes of the past
An: I do not own The 100.
Summary: It's been almost six years and the earth is safe to return to the surface. Bellamy and Echo both contemplate their current situation.
Bellamy observed the blue hue of the Earth from a window near his sleeping quarters on the Go-Sci ring. He wondered if this feeling of longing to return to the ground was the same feeling that his ancestors experienced after the nuclear fallout. Growing up he had never been on earth so he didn't know what he was missing but now that he had experienced the ground, it made the confines of the ring so much harder to bear.
The first set of people stuck in space knew they would never be able to return to the Earth again. They had to learn to live with limited resources, recycled air and water and limited freedoms. They had to set the precedent by which they would all survive. He had never appreciated their sacrifices before but now he understood them more intimately. They had given up a lot to ensure humanity's survival.
When he was young, he didn't understand the significance of returning to Earth. It was the long term goal of his people and something he didn't think he would see in his lifetime. He had read all of the stories of what the earth was like but those stories paled in comparison to what it was really like.
It was safe to return now. The reddish hue from the Primafyah had disappeared. Most of the earth around Polis looked barren but there was this one green spot. He knew when he returned that would be where Octavia and Clarke would be. The problem was that even though it was time to return, they'd spent so much time trying to survive up there, that they'd (Raven) hadn't had a chance to figure out how they were going to return to Earth safely. Everyday there was a new challenge. Things always needed fixing and it seemed like they were forever scrapping something for parts.
Octavia had been down there for the last five years by herself without his support. No one would be as loyal to her as him. He was her brother and it was his responsibility to take care of her. He had gotten in the first space shuttle with the original 100 to take care of her. He never in his wildest dreams thought they would end up in a situation where he was stuck in space and she on the ground. It irked him that he had failed her.
A familiar pair of hands wrapped around his midsection, Echo.
"You should be resting," she admonished him. He felt her press her entire body against his and rest her head against his broad back. "You rarely get a break, in fact it's even rarer that we get a break together," she stressed.
"I couldn't sleep," he admitted.
"We could have done some light sparring," she suggested.
Bellamy snorted, she only ever kicked his ass. He expressed that sentiment to her in her native tongue and she laughed. About three months into their stay on the ringhe asked her to teach him how to speak Trigedasleng. His reasoning at the time was to connect with Octavia better since his sister was fluent in the language but it also had the unforeseen effect of him bonding with only person she had there that spoke the grounder tongue was Emori and Emori stuck to Murphy like knew Echo loved it when they spoke the grounder language and she loved it even more when he used the version that they spoke in Azgeda.
"You'll see Octavia again," she reassured him.
He wasn't surprised that she knew what was bothering him. He had become an open book to her over the last few years. Echo was good at reading people and had great survival instincts. It was how she rose to become a member of the Royal Guard and one of the most trusted advisors to the Queen of Azgeda.
"I hate to admit this but Octavia is strong, just like her brother. She won the conclave and our people will respect that," Echo had told Echo about the strategy they used in the conclave. He admitted that he advised Octavia to hide even though his sister wanted to fight all twelve warriors. Kane had supported his advice pointing out to Octavia that she only needed to beat the last warrior to win.
"I'm more worried about the ones that won't respect that," Bellamy mumbled.
"You mean your own people, Skaikru?" she asked.
Bellamy couldn't help but smile. They had had many debates about the actions of Skaikru on the ground. He couldn't deny that they had acted dishonourably on many occasions. They had gone back on their word several times. Their reputation as being untrustworthy wasn't undeserved.
"Octavia's decision to include the grounders and give every clan the option to save 100 people caused the death of over 300 of our people. They won't forget that. There are people on Clarke's list that will hold a grudge against her. There were many families that were separated. They are bound to resent her. It could cause problems," Bellamy lamented to Echo for the thousandth time. They had had this conversation before and they were bound to keep having it until he could confirm that his sister was safe.
"She has Indra and Kane. Trikru is one of the most loyal clans. Indra will not let her fall. I saw the weapon that Octavia was fighting with. It was Indra's. That is one of the greatest honours you can bestow on a grounder," she reminded him for the nth time.
"I wish I knew that Kane was there. He might have sacrificed himself so that someone else could live," Bellamy admitted.
"Kane is a wise leader. His people needed him. He remained in the bunker," Echo said confidently.
He turned around in her arms and looked down at her. Her fierce spirit was evident in her eyes. Even living under such strenuous conditions her spirit hadn't wavered.
"I love you," he said. It's ironic there was a time when he said he would never trust her again but on the ring, he trusted her the most.
"I know," she said reaching up on her toes and kissing him. "Come back to bed," she said unwrapping her hands from around him and running them down his arm to link her fingers through his and pull him back to their quarters.
He let her pull him away, if he didn't she could resort to more violent methods to get him back to their quarters. He threw one last glance back at Earth. One day soon he hoped to see his sister again.
Echo stared at the metallic ceiling so different to what she had grown up with. It was ironic that Bellamy was the one who couldn't sleep and now it was her. She wondered how her people were doing in the bunker. It was a lot harder to live in close quarters with limited resources than she thought it was. There were so many restrictions. Monty had told her the Bunker had it much easier than them but it would still be hard for her people that were used to being free. Free to eat as much as they could hunt, free to drink as much from the streams and wells as the liked, heck even free to breathe as much as they needed.
Sometimes she would put her hand up on the glass and make the ice nation symbol. She missed her people but Bellamy, Monty, Harper, Raven, Murphy and Emori were her people now. They had banded together to survive. Bellamy had been very right when they said they would need her strength. Raven and Emori lacked the physical strength to get the job done, one because of her injured leg and the other because of her deformed hand.
Echo had learned a lot about the history of the ark and the history of earth's people. She understood the importance of the computers that were in the ark now. She understood why float you was an insult. She learned that the 100 were child criminals that were kept alive till their 18th birthday when they would be floated. She also learnt that they were sent to Earth as a test to see if the ground was survivable. She had asked what crime Bellamy and Octavia had committed and she had been told that Octavia had been born. There was a strict rule about the amount of children one could have up there. She could understand that. Their resources were so tight she could only imagine the strain a pregnancy could cause. It was the first thing Raven had yelled at Murphy and Emori when she caught them in a compromising position.
The story of Bellamy infiltrating the 100 to ensure his sister's safety doubled her respect for him. The bond between brother and sister was strong. She had no such bond with anyone on the ground. Before Bellamy she had never been with any one man for longer than a month. Up on the Go-Sci ring they had been together for over two years. She couldn't imagine leaving Bellamy for any other man. They had been through so much together. He never gave up. He always gave them the strength to push through. He was such a strong leader. She was the only person that ever saw him in his vulnerable moments.
When Echo worked in the hydroponics lab keeping an eye on all the monitors to ensure that the algae was growing properly, she had a lot of time to think. She did not think about the freedoms on the ground. Instead she chose to think about her actions and how they led her to that point in time. She first met Bellamy at Mount Weather and then she went on to destroy Mount Weather. If Mount Weather had still be in existence it could have easily protected all of the clans. When Queen Nia had given her the instructions to destroy the facility, they had never contemplated needing the facility to survive. It had been a short sighted move but her decision to get Bellamy out had been a good one. From that point onwards their lives were tied together.
When things actually ran smoothly, they watched old movies or television shows or listened to music that was saved in the computer system on the ring. Raven had also taken to teaching her about technology. She and Emori needed to learn how their oxygen and food was made and how to fix minor problems with the systems. She learnt something called math, physics, chemistry and biology or at least the basic principles of each subject. She knew what capacitors, microchips, generators, and a host of other things were. She knew when something stopped working what the mostly likely cause of it was. Raven liked to tell her that she had taught her basic technological first aid but if the job required surgery then she would have to call her for help.
Everyone started trying to take over more tasks from Raven so that she could focus on solving the problem of getting them to the ground. They didn't have enough hydrazine to land safely and they had no materials to make more. Echo had told them the story about falling out of a tree when she was small and the branches on the tree breaking the 30ft fall to the ground. She wondered if there was something that could break their fall.
Echo is watching the algae monitors when Emori runs passed shouting for Raven. Echo immediately assumes something bad has happened. She runs through a long list of things that could have gone wrong and possibly kill them.
"What's wrong?" Monty asked appearing form his sleeping quarters.
"There's a ship outside! A ship!" she says nearly hysterical.
Echo frowns and walks off to the nearest window. Sure enough there is a large ship outside. Bellamy appears besides her.
"They're trying to dock with an airlock," he says.
He runs to their junk pile of metal and picks up a long piece to use as a weapon. He picks up one for her as well and tosses it to her as they take up a position outside the airlock. They wait as the airlock pressurizes with air from the ship. They can't waste any of their precious air on an airlock. Once the meter says it's safe to enter they watch the door to the ship open and a smiling Clarke steps runs to the door to their airlock and Bellamy doesn't wait a second in opening it. There's a gush of air onto the ring but that's not the only things that rushes out. Clarke runs straight into Bellamy's arms.
Echo blinks. An unfamiliar fire begins to burn in her at the sight of Clarke wrapped around Bellamy. Her fist tightens on the piece of metal in her hand and she has the strong urge to run it through the woman before her. She hated Clarke for many reasons before but her current emotions are much stronger than they ever were.
"What's going on?" Raven asks limping along as fast as she can towards the small crowd that's forming around Bellamy and Clarke. "Clarke?" she questions in disbelief before she looks over to the oxygen meter to ensure that the machine is working properly and she's not hallucinating.
"It's me," Clarke says. "Time to go. Pack your things."
"About damn time," Harper says running to the quarters she shares with Monty.
Soon everyone is gathered by the air lock to leave. Monty insists that they don't know if they will need the Go-Sci ring again so they systematically shut everything down to conserve power. That process takes an extra ten minutes. Ten minutes that Clarke stays close to Bellamy's side. It's much too close for Echo's liking. She watched Clarke worm her way into Roan's good graces and it didn't end well for her king. She will not let anything happen to Bellamy because of Clarke.
Clarke directs everyone to seats while she goes to the cockpit to fly the ship back to Earth. Raven is automatically curious about the ship and follows after Clarke. Bellamy sits in the seat next to her and links his hand through hers.
"Back to the ground," he says.
"Back to the ground," she says with a small smile. She drops her gaze to look down at her feet. The Earth is somewhere below them.
"Hey," he says using his free hand to lift her chin up and turn her head towards him. "Re-entry is a bit rough but everything is going to be ok. We are going to be ok." She can tell he believes that 100%.
Echo forces a smile for his benefit. They are at a turning point in life now. She doesn't know what the future will reveal next but something tells her they are in for one hell of a ride.
An: Thank you for reading.