A/N Okay, I know I said a one shot, but this story is stuck in my head. Fair warning, I am going to resurrect some characters who may or may not be dead, after all in TV land, death without a body doesn't necessarily mean death. I am also going to explore some different ships…
Raven and Bellamy reluctantly walked away from the window into the dining hall. The ring seemed too large to simply hold the seven of them, but an air of sadness and loss filled the space. Clarke was one of them, she was more than one of them, she was their fearless leader; the one who acted first and thought later, who made the hard choices, so the others didn't have to. This time, it was Bellamy who made the hard choice. What he felt closing the door on the rocket must've have been what Clarke felt when she closed the door on the drop ship leaving he and Finn outside during the grounder attack. The difference was they survived the attack; the chances of her surviving praimfaya were slim to none. Unless the nightblood treatment she'd given herself actually worked. The thought that she had died in the nuclear meltdown was almost too much to bear. Nobody was talking, but everybody was thinking the same thing. They survived but the thought that their survival came at the expense of Clarke's life was not lost on them.
Emori and Echo watched the others, they understood the pain of death and loss; and while they were not necessarily unaffected by the potential loss of Clarke, they weren't paralyzed by it as the others seemed to be. The room was eerily silent. Finally Echo looked at all of them impatiently "you guys are the experts on space life" she told them "you need to snap out of it and make sure that if the nightblood did not save Clarke that her sacrifice counts for something" she told them. Raven was the first to recover. As hard as it was to hear the truth, Echo was right, they needed to snap out of it or they would not survive and losing Clarke was all for nothing. "Maybe tonight we eat an MRE and find places to sleep" she suggested "tomorrow we'll work on surviving here for the next five years." No one spoke, but a general consensus seemed to have been reached, so they each took a meal and ate in silence.
Afterwards, while Monty, Harper and Raven worked to make sure they would have water and check out the Algae farm so that they could survive Emori, Echo, Murphy and Bellamy toured the ring checking for housing and searching for bedding and any other supplies they would need. Echo glanced at Bellamy's stony face. She knew he must be feeling something, but for once his emotions were well hidden. "Clarke's a survivor" Echo spoke softly "and she does have nightblood" she reminded him. "Nightblood that doesn't work" he spit out. "Neither did Luna's at least not right away" she shot back. He scoffed "even if it kicks in and she does survive, she is alone" he pointed out "nobody else survived praimfaya." Echo heard the pain in his voice. She wished she knew what she could do to help him, but their history has not been one where that seemed even a remote possibility. First, she killed his people in Mount Weather and then she tried to kill his sister. "Look, I appreciate that you are trying to help" he said "but I really don't want to talk about Clarke" he said softly. She nodded "okay" she agreed.
They came to a set of rooms "let's start here" he said opening a door. The room looked ransacked, like whoever left it did so in a hurry. Luckily, that meant there were things they could scavenge. A bed and built in dresser was in the corner, too small for a couple, but the perfect size for one of the others. "I'll take this room if you don't want it" Echo offered. Bellamy nodded "let's get it cleaned up a little" he said "we'll take anything we find and put it in a pile in the dining hall and see what we can put together." One room at a time, the three of them did this finally finding quarters for each of them or in the case of Monty and Harper and Murphy and Emori, one for both of them.
Hours later, they all sat back in the dining room sorting through the massive pile of useful items they'd managed to scavenge. "Wow, they must've just packed what they could carry and left" Monty remarked. "Looks like it" Raven agreed. Somehow they'd managed to get enough bedding and personal items to survive. "It's been a long day" Murphy sighed "why don't we take our stuff and get some rest?" he suggested to Emori. She nodded "okay" she said. The rest followed suit until it was only Echo, Bellamy and raven remaining. Bellamy and Raven looked at each other, but said nothing. "I'm going to turn in to" Echo said, sensing they wanted to be alone "I'll see you in the morning." Bellamy nodded, but said nothing "night" Raven responded. "Bell" she heard Raven say to him softly. She looked back long enough to see Raven wrap her arms around him. His arms went around her waist and he buried his head in her neck. Echo had only seen Bellamy like this once; when she told him Octavia was dead. It was clear that Clarke meant a great deal to him. The loss or at least potential loss of her would haunt him for a long time. As she turned and walked away, she could have sworn she heard sniffling.
"What if she did survive?" Raven asked Bellamy. The two of them sat on the floor holding each other's hands. "Even if she did" Bellamy sighed "Do you really think she can live alone in a place with no food or drinkable water for the next five years?" he asked her. She snorted "Are you kidding?" She scoffed "how many bunkers and buried cars have we found over the years?" she asked him. "We've also raided them" he reminded her "taken most of the good stuff." She shrugged "Have a little hope Bell" she looked him in the eye "I feel it too, but these feelings we have now, won't get us through the next five years" she said. "Clarke knew the risks and she took them anyway" she said. He chortled "that speech she gave me was for this moment" he sighed "she knew I would need it for later." Raven glanced at him "what speech?" she asked. "Something about always being the heart of our little team, but that I would need to use my head too" he muttered "I blew it off, I just knew she would be here with us…" he trailed off. "I never thought she wouldn't be here" he said softly "it just never occurred to me." Raven looked at him "none of us did, well Abby maybe, but the rest of us thought even Clarke would outlive her dumb decisions, hell maybe she has. Unfortunately, it'll be at least five years before we find out" she finished. "So in the meantime, you be the heart, I'll be the head. Together we'll survive"
Bellamy stood up and pulled her to her feet. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and they walked to their rooms "I won't be a member of your harem, Blake" she muttered shaking her head. "So, no friends with benefits?" he joked. "I didn't say that, five years is a long time" she laughed "but hey, maybe you and Echo can get busy…" He rolled his eyes "Good night Raven" he said shoving her into her quarters before entering his.