Bellamy stands outside the door to the medical wing shifting from one foot to another, he's nervous. The council meeting is today. Today Clarke is going to appoint anoint him a councilman and a new life is going to begin for him, but first he has to hear about the agenda and come to a decision whether or not to support it.

Finally mustering up the courage, he knocks on the door and waits. He doesn't have to wait long before the door opens to reveal a rumpled Clarke. Her hair is in disarray and she's sweating but her clothes look fine if a little sticky. "What have you been doing?" he asks with a single eyebrow raised before he can stop himself.

Clarke flushes even further at the implication, "Not that it's any of your business, but I have been exercising. Trying to keep healthy. Come in."

Bellamy enters the small clinic that was opened up in the workers' station a few years back by none other than Clarke herself. Sometimes he doesn't understand her, how Clarke's mind works is a mystery to him. He takes a quick look around. It's a small space stocked with the bare essentials but had proven to save many lives since it was established, which just goes to show how poorly the workers have been treated in the Ark.

"So what's this super important agenda of yours?"

"Before we get to it can you sign this NDA? You are not yet a councilman and you are not bound by the council laws. To ensure that you don't discuss this with anyone I need you to sign this Non Disclosure Agreement."

Bellamy nods and signs the agreement wondering what she's about to reveal that if shared would be punishable by death (what wasn't punishable by death on the Ark anyway).

Then she drops the bomb.

"The Ark is dying." She says with a grim face.

Bellamy stands there dumbfounded. What?

Before he could fully process the information Clarke ploughs on, "The life support system is failing and we don't have the time required to fix it. It requires an extra 5 months to fix the system,- if we can fix it- and we only have 3 months of oxygen left. To create time, the council wants to order a culling. Kill 400 people and leave time for the others to maybe live."

She opens her mouth to continue but Bellamy cuts her off, "That's your agenda you thought I would support? What do you take me for?" Bellamy is seething.

Clarke holds up a hand to stop his tirade, "I said that's what council plans on doing. I never said anything about me." She waits for that to sink in. When Bellamy calms down she continues.

"I plan to see if the ground is survivable again."

There is a moment of ringing silence before Bellamy asks, "Who do you plan to send?"

"The former delinquents."

Bellamy erupts, "If you think I'm going to let you send my sister to her death you are sorely mistaken."

"Will you let me finish explaining before you go on about how evil me and my plan are?" Clarke snaps, finally frustrated. Bellamy would feel a little sense of victory at finally cracking her calm façade if he was not so conscientious of his sister's impending doom. But he quiets and lets her continue.

"As they are former criminals their life on the Ark is awful. They are the bottom of the pyramid getting the worst rations, worst facilities, worst job assignments. So they won't be missed terribly if they were to be treated as experiments."

Clarke says this all in her most clinical Councilwoman voice and it makes Bellamy beyond angry but he holds his tongue letting her continue.

"They will be given a choice. They would be told that the Ark is dying and that they are being given a choice to be part of an expedition to the ground to see if it's survivable. Of course they will have to sign an NDA soand if they don't tell anyone, but about the ark dying they will also have every right to refuse."

Bellamy thinks over everything he has been in the told. It sounds horrifying. The only hope for the human race has left is dying. And the only way to save them is either a risky gamble or mass murder of their own people. But Bellamy has to admit that the gamble looks like the lesser of two evils, sacrificing people who already signed up for it seems marginally better than killing a random selection of them. But there's still a problem.

"What happens when the experiment fails." Bellamy asks.

" If the experiment fails then you fight like hell to save as many people you can." Clarke replies with a grave expression.

"I fight like hell? What will you be doing?"

"I will be on the ground."

The proposal passes, barely, with Bellamy being the deciding vote. Her decision to bring in Bellamy was met with a lot of dissent but with Wells' help they were able to quiet all the protests. It was decided that the chancellor and one council member would be going to talk with all the candidates individually.

The list was prepared-

Jasper Jordan- a low level farmer

Monty Green- a novice engineer

Nathan Miller- a prison guard

Harper McIntyre- a factory worker

Octavia Blake- seamstress

John Murphy- a factory worker

It went on with maybe a hundred names on it.

Bellamy glared at his sister's name on the list, not liking it one bit. He had been adamant on being the council member to accompany Clarke when she went to meet his sister and had, with difficulty, won his case.

Now he was sitting in his chambers standing next to Octavia, glaring at Clarke as she laid out her plan.

Octavia jumped up as soon as she was finished, "I'll do it. I'll go."

Clarke blinked, giving a glance to Bellamy who looked about to vomit before focusing back on Octavia, "Are you sure? It's a big gamble. We don't know if the earth is survivable and we most probably will die as soon as we reach the ground."

"But you are going, right? So I'm going too," She looks over to Bellamy, "and no one can dissuade me from this." She says this while glaring at Bellamy.

Clarke looks between the two, "Okay, then, I'll add your name to the list." She says getting up and leaving.

"What the fuck O?" Bellamy bursts as soon as the door closes behind Clarke, "Why are you so hell bent on dying. I only agreed to the proposal because I was sure you were not stupid enough to actually do it!"

"Bell, I'm dying here anyways." She says in a quiet voice, and it stops him in his tracks anyway.

"Everyday as soon as I leave this room I'm followed by glares. Everywhere I go rumors circulate around me. I should have died when I turned 18, but I didn't."

"O..." Bellamy starts.

"The only time I feel even remotely normal is when I'm playing chess with Clarke. So yes, if there's any chance that the earth is survivable and gives me another chance at life I'm taking it. And you can't talk me out of it."

Bellamy nods once and leaves their shared apartment.

Bellamy knocks on the door and enters before hearing a response. Clarke looks up from sorting bandages.

"I'm going to the ground."

Thanks to vicariousgecko @ tumblr for being an amazing beta and talking me through the whole chapter.

Couldn't have done it without you.