As a mom, Clarke was either a revelation, or exactly what he would have expected, depending on how he looked at it.

She was patient, kind, and loving, but also direct. And she didn't put up with any bullshit. So in many ways, she was the same Clarke he'd first met at the drop ship door, now seven years older and probably a whole lot wiser.

The revelation was in how open she'd become with her emotions.

From almost the moment he'd met her, it had been easy to see how much Clarke cared about people, how much of herself she was willing to sacrifice to keep them all safe. It was only when it came to caring deeply about some one person in particular that she sometimes seemed to…shy away.

Six years of perspective had him admitting the possibility that the problem might have been that he'd wanted that someone in particular to be him. Because for as much as she'd cared about him, she'd always seemed a little…skittish whenever things had started to get more personal between them. More…intimate.

Except, he thought, there at the end. That last day. Before fate had torn them apart.

But now…now it seemed like her love for Madi had ripped open that part of her she'd always held so tightly together. Now the floodgates were open, and emotion poured out of her without reserve.

This new Clarke Griffin was loving and affectionate. Demonstrative, even. Not only with Madi, but with the rest of them. With everyone she'd thought she lost, but who had now been found.

Bellamy longed to be just as open with her, just as loving and affectionate. But he feared that if he ever allowed himself to unleash even half of what he felt for Clarke, he would overwhelm her with emotion. Instead of something to be cherished, his feelings for her would become a burden to bear. So every day he worked at holding himself tightly in check.

He'd noted Raven side-eyeing him frequently since the day they found Clarke, until the moment finally came, as he'd known it inevitably would, when she longer held her tongue.

"Aren't you ever gonna tell her?" she hissed, her exasperation evident.

Bellamy frowned. He wasn't having this conversation.

"I think we have more important things to think about, Raven."

She huffed and subsided, but only, he was afraid, for the moment.

XXXXXXXXXX

Immediately after Madi's rescue, they'd picked up the rover, stopping only to retrieve Clarke's radio and makeshift tent before hightailing it back to the cavern that Clarke had turned into a storage depot. As a precaution, Echo and Emori had made an effort to cover the tire tracks, but Bellamy doubted there were any skilled trackers amongst a population that had been engaged in strip-mining on an asteroid before they put themselves into hypersleep for thirty years and set a course back to Earth.

Later, as the group reflected on the miners' actions, Clarke was unsurprised to hear that they had health problems and were desperately hoping to find some answers at Becca's lab.

"What made them so sure you knew about the lab in the first place?" Bellamy wondered aloud.

"I think it must have been the nightblood," Clarke said with a shrug. "I'd cut my hand that same morning, the day they landed. The wound was fresh and the nightblood was obvious. They jumped to the conclusion that I had some connection to the lab." She paused. "And they were right."

"And that's when they pulled the guns."

She nodded. "They never said why they wanted to find Becca's lab, but after they pointed their guns at me, I really didn't care. That's when Madi came running out. When the Eligius ship appeared, I'd told her to stay out of sight, but when she saw the guns she was scared for me, and," she sighed, "she doesn't always do what I tell her."

Bellamy chuckled sympathetically. "Shades of Octavia."

Clarke smiled wryly as she continued her story.

"Madi managed to toss me my rifle just before one of them grabbed her. After that, it was a standoff. I wondered if they were really prepared to shoot us, but I couldn't take a chance with Madi's safety. I was frantic, but before I could think what to do, they'd run off with her, shouting that I could have her back when I told them what they wanted to know."

Bellamy nodded. "That certainly got your attention."

"Yeah," she agreed, her voice tight, her face set. "But not in a good way. I couldn't fight them, but there was no way I was just letting them take her. I ran for the rover so I could track them at a safe distance. At least that way I'd know where Madi was."

Bellamy had been mulling over her uncertainty about whether the miners would really have used their guns.

"I don't know whether this crew would have shot you, Clarke, but I can tell you that the woman who commands the other ship killed a whole lot of people when they left that asteroid. Including her own father. And she didn't sound all that torn up about it. I don't think most of the others even know what she did."

"Then that's information we can hold over her head during negotiations."

"Negotiations?"

"We have something they want, Bellamy. The location of Becca's lab." She blew put a quick breath and her eyes took on a faraway look. "I'm pretty sure the underground section is still intact, because I rode out praimfaya on the lowest level."

Bellamy immediately had a dozen questions, which he managed to distill down to just one. "Are you ever going to tell us about…all of that?"

"I will," she promised, reaching over to lightly squeeze his hand. "And I want to hear your story, too. All of yours," she made clear, swiveling her head to include the rest. "But first we need to deal with these people."

"Right," Bellamy said. "Tell me what we're negotiating for. We have something they want, but now that we have Madi back, what do they have that we want?"

Her answer was immediate. "A digging machine. While I was in that ship looking for Madi I found the diggers. And their trucks. I wondered why they hadn't used any of them until I saw that all the solar panels were broken."

"Digging machines. That means we could actually dig out the bunker." Bellamy tried to tamp down his elation, almost afraid to get his hopes up.

"Exactly."

"But…you did say…you said the solar panels are broken…"

"Yes, but we have something those miners don't have," she smiled.

"Yeah," Raven spoke up from his other side. "Me."

Bellamy grinned at her. "Hell, if you can build an escape pod, a couple of solar panels should be a piece of cake."

He could hardly believe it. They'd found Clarke, and now there was a good chance they'd be able to clear away the rubble under which Octavia and the others were buried. Bellamy began to feel the first sparks of excitement.

"Okay, then. How do we set up your negotiation?"

They discussed a half dozen potential scenarios, but in the end they decided they had little to lose from the most direct approach. The following day, Bellamy and Clarke drove back to the ship and from a safe distance, shouted their demands for a meeting with Dani. The woman eventually appeared, looking somewhat shaken that they'd asked for her by name. When a man emerged with her, Bellamy assumed he was Marko.

The four of them met in middle of the field. Several armed miners took up a position near the ship, while Murphy and Echo, who'd accompanied them, stood guard near the rover. Bellamy couldn't help but be reminded of Clarke's first meeting with the ill-fated Anya all those years ago. He hoped this negotiation would produce more positive results.

His intention was to leave most of the negotiating to Clarke. She'd always had a talent for it, seeming to know exactly when to offer a carrot, and when to shake the stick. Even, occasionally, when to insert the knife.

"I think we can help each other," was her opening remark.

Dani's preemptive response was that they had superior numbers and declined to negotiate. Clarke shrugged, and she and Bellamy began an immediate retreat across the field but Marko called after them.

"Dani was mistaken," he said. "We lost someone else today and we need to find out what's wrong with us."

As they turned back, Bellamy watched Clarke ruthlessly suppress what he knew would be her natural instinct to help.

"So what do you want from us in exchange for the location of the lab?" Marko asked.

"Marko!" Dani insisted, with barely-suppressed fury. "We can't make a deal with these people! We can't trust them."

She faced Clarke with open hostility. "One day soon we will find where you're hiding and then we'll force you to tell us what we need to know. The information you continue keep from us even though our people are dying!"

Clarke's mouth twisted into a wry smile. "Yeah, I've heard you're a real humanitarian, Dani. Didn't want the people you'd left behind to die of starvation, after you took all their food. So you shot them." She paused. "Even your own father."

When Bellamy had told her the story, that's the part that had seemed particularly heinous to Clarke. Her obvious contempt was unfeigned.

Dani's face paled, and she turned to Marko in anger. "You…you told these people?"

Marko shrugged. "When would I have done that? You've been here every minute."

"Actually, you did tell me, Marko, but it was awhile back," Bellamy said carefully.

He watched while confusion played across the man's face until finally the penny dropped.

"You were one of those on that metal ring. And apparently listening to our conversations." His tone was unsettled, as though it had suddenly occurred to him to wonder what else they might have heard.

"Bingo," Bellamy nodded. "And it didn't sound like a lot of your people know about what Dani did before she left," he added quietly. He glanced over at one of the guards stationed by the ship, suggesting casually, "Would you like me to call that guy over right now and fill him in?"

A tense silence followed. When he saw Dani's mouth open at last, Bellamy could only hope his ploy had worked.

"What is it that you want?" she ground out through gritted teeth.

"One of your digging machines," Clarke said immediately.

Dani frowned in confusion. "But…none of them work."

Clarke shrugged. "You let us worry about that."

"Very well," Dani said, but her face told them they were idiots. "And… is that all?" All you want for keeping your mouths shut?

"That's it," Clarke told her. "But we'll take it right now."

While the miners gaped, she radioed Raven to bring the truck around.

"You must have a way to get it outside. I suggest you get going. I'm not feeling especially patient today."

Bellamy had wondered how they were going to move the digger, even if the miners went for it, but Raven had seemed confident. Especially when she found that the Eligius Mining Company had made ultra-light-weight equipment specifically for off-Earth use. So with a couple of wheels, a few logs, and some heavy chains, they'd fashioned a makeshift cargo bed that Raven told him would be strong enough for the digger.

"Uh, does anyone want some lessons in how to operate this thing?" The question came from one of the men who'd worked to roll the digger off the ship.

"Bellamy?"

He heard Murphy's questioning tone, looked over and saw his raised brows, and nodded. "It couldn't hurt."

When the lesson had been completed and the digger was at last chained to the truck, Dani made her demand.

"So what about the lab? How can we find it?"

Bellamy already knew what Clarke was going to say. They'd batted it back and forth for days, because despite everything that had happened, they both understood that helping the miners was the right thing to do. After everything that had happened, the very last thing they wanted was any more deaths laid at their door.

"I'm not going to tell you how to find the lab," Clarke said calmly.

Dani's face was red with fury and Marko looked outraged.

"What the hell?" he said angrily.

"Just telling you how to get there wouldn't help you. There are…too many obstacles. So three days from now, Bellamy and I are going to take you there ourselves. But just a couple of you. Once you see what's there, you can decide to stay…or not. Up to you. I suggest you send your best medical people."

"That would be me," Dani said tightly. "Our only real doctor died ages ago and I'm the only one who knows anything about what's been happening to us."

Bellamy sighed. Of course she was.

Clarke nodded. "We'll be here just after first light in three days. Pack enough provisions for several days. And don't be late."

The sour expression on Dani's face told them that she still didn't trust them, but that she understood if she wanted to save her people she had little choice in the matter.

When they returned to the cave, Murphy and Echo jumped quickly out of the rover, but Bellamy stopped Clarke with a hand to her arm before she could open her door.

"What is it?" she asked, her smile soft.

Bellamy knew it might be pointless to even bring it up, but still, it was weighing on him.

"Things went well today," he acknowledged quietly. "We got them to give us what we needed."

Clarke nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"But…using Dani's actions against her, didn't that make you feel a little like…like a hypocrite? I mean, our hands aren't exactly clean."

Clarke eyed him calmly. "Bellamy, I would never have shot my father…or you, your mother."

He shrugged. "Maybe not. But we're still responsible for a lot of deaths. And some of those were other peoples' mothers, other peoples' fathers."

Clarke looked thoughtful and he knew she was considering his words.

"That's all true," she acknowledged quietly, "but even if the things we did can never be explained away, or forgiven, or even understood, I think…it doesn't matter now. What's done is done. And today…today all we did was use a piece of information to force some cooperation so that a lot of people could live. Nothing we did put any lives at risk. No one will die. We're taking them to the lab, helping them solve their problem, and at the same time our people are going to get help, too. We needed that digger, and if we had to use a little blackmail to get it, I have no problem with that."

"Yeah, I know you're right, but…"

"Bellamy, stop," she said quietly, reaching out to grasp his hand. "When we first got to the ground, we had to make some impossible decisions, and…sometimes people ended up dying. But I've finally realized that it serves no purpose for me to live my life wallowing in guilt. Because now I have Madi, and…and you, and I'd rather prove that I deserve to live by helping people. By living a good life. I want to be allowed, for once, to feel happy."

Clarke's lips twisted into a wry smile. "Come on. They probably need our help with the digger."

Bellamy nodded, swinging around to open the door, his mind in chaos.

Was there really a chance that after everything that had happened, everything that he'd done, he might be allowed to be happy?

XXXXXXXXXX

When Clarke and Bellamy arrived at the mining ship shortly after daybreak three days later,Dani and Marko were waiting outside. Dani hesitated getting into the rover, but when Marko murmured something in her ear, she finally slid into the back seat.

Bellamy supposed Marko might have told her We have no choice, or I'll watch your back, but he preferred to think it was something more like Don't worry, everything will be fine. He didn't mind being seen as a little intimidating when the occasion called for it, but he hated to think he might actually be feared.

He hadn't been sure how much to pack in the way of provisions. It was already a long ride to the island and they had no idea what new obstacles they might encounter as a result of praimfaya. So he'd stuffed in what he thought he could reasonably carry, and let it go at that.

He had asked Clarke how they'd get across the water, since the boat would have disintegrated just like everything else in praimfaya's path, and she'd showed him a small raft she'd built for use on the river.

"The island isn't as far from shore as it was before," she explained. "It will be enough."

The look on her face as she'd talked about the change in the shoreline had had Bellamy wondering aloud if she should even return.

"I can take them myself," he'd offered. "Or maybe Raven could come with me. She spent more time in that lab than anyone else."

"No," she'd said immediately, her expression blank, "I was there a lot longer. And besides, Raven has to finish fixing the solar panels and get the digger working."

She'd given him a tiny smile then, and squeezed his hand. "Please don't worry about me."

Right. She might just as well ask him not to breathe.

"And Madi?"

Clarke had chuckled. "Will be thrilled to be get to spend more time with Emori."

Madi and Emori had taken a shine to each other, and Bellamy thought the relationship was probably good for them both.

"Good. Emori needs more happy things in her life."

Clarke's smile had turned fond, and brought a lump to his throat.

"You took good care of them all, Bellamy," she'd said softly.

But when she'd said goodbye to Madi that morning before the sun had even fully risen, enveloping the girl in a tight hug, he wondered again if Clarke could bear to leave her. He knew that this would be their first time away from each other since she'd found Madi five years ago. Bellamy thought the parting would probably be harder on Clarke than on Madi, and he understood that completely.

"Nou worry, Clarke. Ai wil be fin." Madi had said it over and over, but Bellamy wondered if Clarke really believed it.

Maybe that was why she was so quiet now, why she'd said hardly a word since they picked up their passengers.

"Are you okay?" he asked gently. "Missing Madi?"

Clarke turned to him with a soft smile. "Of course," she nodded, "But she's well taken care of and…I'll be back soon. I'm fine," she assured him, squeezing his arm. "Really I am."

By the time they stopped to eat after several hours of steady driving, they had long since left behind the small patch of green where Clarke made her home. Bellamy had heard the gasps from their passengers when they moved onto the kind of scorched-Earth landscape that now covered most of the planet.

The countryside was so bleak and uninviting, in fact, that they chose to eat in the rover, rather than sit amongst the withered trees and charred remains of long-dead animals. It would all come back to life, he knew. Once again be green and living. Productive.

But it wasn't going to happen in his lifetime.

Clarke's eyes narrowed when she saw how little the others had brought for the midday meal, and he recalled that they'd been running out of food just before they made it down to the planet. Once he explained their situation to Clarke, he was certain she'd be depleting her own precious stores to send them food.

Despite the desolate landscape, they encountered no actual obstacles, and by late afternoon they'd reached the shore. As Clarke had warned him, the ocean had receded so much that Becca's island was scarcely a quarter mile from the beach.

"I don't understand," Dani said, when Clarke pulled the sturdy raft from the rover. "Where is the lab?"

"Out there on the island," Clarke told her, cocking her head towards the water. "Unless you're a damn good swimmer, I suggest you climb onto this raft."

Dani's reluctance was clear, but in the end she had little choice.

XXXXXXXXXX

Bellamy had wondered how he'd feel returning to the room where he'd been forced to make the most painful decision of his life. He knew if Clarke hadn't survived after all, if she hadn't been standing there right next to him, probably swamped by her own memories, it would have been unbearable. As it was, while he vividly remembered his anguish, he also felt a sense of disbelief and gratitude for the series of near-miraculous events that had ending up saving his life.

"Does this all still work?" Dani asked, her eyes widening at the array of equipment in the lab. Bellamy remembered that there had been even more, before it got carted off to the bunker or loaded onto the rocket.

Clarke shrugged. "It did when I left."

She pressed a button and one of the computers sprang to life. "All the notes on nightblood and hypersleep are in here," she said.

As she moved around the lab explaining the uses of the various equipment to Dani and Marko, Bellamy began to sense that Clarke's apparent calm was a facade, held together by sheer force of will. And it suddenly came to him that at least for a while, she must have thought this place would become her grave.

But Clarke had always been incredibly strong, and this new version had been tempered by the kind of fires he could only imagine. So he watched as she continued to fulfill her promise, doing all she could to give their new neighbors every chance to figure out how to fix themselves.

What's done is done, she'd told him. They could only prove they deserved to survive by living a good life. By helping others. Even, it seemed, when the others had pointed guns at you, and abducted your child.

Even in a place where your memories might eat you alive.

Still, he was not surprised to hear late the following afternoon that she'd finished ticking off the last box on her mental checklist.

"They've decided to stay for a while," she told him. "They think the testing is going well, that they can find a cure. But I've helped them all I can, so we can leave in the morning."

Bellamy peered at her closely, noting the strain around her eyes and the tightness of her mouth, and made a sudden decision.

"If you want, we can leave right now."

"But it's going to be dark soon…"

"Yeah, but we have enough time to grab the raft and make it to shore. We can sleep in the rover and start back at first light."

"Are you sure?" she said, but he could already see the relief on her face.

He nodded. "Let's leave most of our food here. I don't think they brought enough."

"I had the same thought."

Dani was so engrossed in her mission that she barely reacted to their departure. As he watched her work, Bellamy thought about all the assumptions he'd made about Dani, and how they'd all been from a perspective of fear. Fear that she and her people were predatory, and hostile, and would try to interfere with their return to Earth.

But maybe there was another side to Dani's story. Maybe she was just doing everything she could to save her people. No one knew better than Bellamy how concern for your loved ones could twist your mind into taking actions that you might otherwise find unthinkable. The idea of "no choice" could be insidious.

Bellamy doubted he could ever like Dani, but he thought maybe he'd begun to understand her, if only just a little.

"Someone will be back to get you in a week," he told Marko, as he and Clarke stepped out into the twilight. "We'll make another raft and get the solar panels fixed on one of your trucks by then."

Marko nodded, his small smile wry. "This would have all gone a lot smoother if we'd just asked for what we needed, wouldn't it? Even up in space when you were watching us fly around that metal ring."

Bellamy shrugged. "I know how hard it is to trust strangers."

As they paddled to shore, he watched the tension drain from Clarke's body with every yard that separated them from the island. By the time they got to the rover, night had fallen and her eyes were drooping.

"Go to sleep," he told her, after a quick meal of preserved meat, washed down with water from a shared canteen. "I know you hardly slept last night."

She nodded, curling up a thin blanket in the back of the rover. Bellamy stretched out beside her, carefully not touching her, but close enough to be there if she needed him. He awoke hours later, as the moon was rising, to find her draped across him, her head resting solidly on his shoulder.

Bellamy wrapped an arm around her, understanding more clearly than ever that no matter what happened, he was never going to be able to get her out of his heart.

XXXXXXXXXX

They left at dawn, and while Clarke seemed more rested, she was still unusually quiet. Bellamy almost always knew what was going on in Clarke's head, even now, after six years. But not today. Today, her quiet reserve defeated him, and he was reluctant to upset her further with idle chatter.

By mid-afternoon, they reached the edge of Clarke's haven of green, and he thought she might perk up a bit. But he'd no sooner eased onto the green patch when heard a quiet gasp.

"Bellamy, stop the truck." Her voice was faint, and tinged with panic.

"What?" He knew she was anxious to get back to Madi, so it was was the last thing he expected.

"Now! Stop it now!"

Her hand was already on the door handle, and as he slammed on the breaks, he was suddenly afraid she would try to jump out while the truck was still in motion. As it was, she barely waited for it to fully stop before she was out the door and running across the grass to fling herself down next to a new growth of pines.

He secured the truck as quickly as he could and then he was racing after her, dropping down beside her as she lay in the grass.

"Clarke! What is it? What's wrong?"

When Bellamy reached out to stroke her arm, her breath hitched and and a single sob escaped before she rolled into his side and burst into tears.

He wrapped an arm around her, wretched that she was in such pain, unsure how to help her.

"Please, Clarke. Tell me what it is."

When she finally began to speak, her voice was low and frantic, and raspy from her tears.

"It's just…it all came flooding back. Everything that happened to me in that place." She squeezed her eyes against the painful memory. "I ran and ran as fast as I could, but I couldn't completely outrun praimfaya. By the time I got back inside the lab, my face and body were covered with burns and and blisters, and I was in agony."

Bellamy felt the tears spring to his own eyes. He rocked her in his arms as she choked on her memories.

"I'm so damn sorry, Clarke. That you had to go through that. How the hell could I have left you behind? Dammit! I should have made them wait just a little longer."

Guilt and pain warred for mastery within him, and his heart filled with compassion for all that Clarke had been through. He ached to be able to take it all away, the pain that she'd suffered, even her memory of it. But he knew that was beyond him. All he could do for her now was hold her. And listen.

She pulled back to gaze up at him, shaking her head.

"No! You couldn't have waited. You wouldn't have been able to launch before before praimfaya hit."

"But just a few seconds could have made the difference!" It was what he'd been agonizing over for years.

"It wasn't a few seconds, Bellamy. It was much longer than that. I-I had to climb that satellite tower."

"What!"

"The panel at the bottom wasn't working, but I knew I had to get it done, to make sure you could communicate with the Ark. Otherwise…otherwise I knew you'd all suffocate and die, and I wasn't going to let that happen. So…I climbed the tower and shifted the satellite by hand."

"Christ!" He could hardly believe what he was hearing. The damn thing was a hundred feet high.

"And it worked! Then I slid down and ran like hell, but I wasn't quite fast enough. The very edge of praimfaya caught me just before I made it into the lab."

"You should never have taken such a stupid chance, Clarke! It wasn't worth it. And then you had to suffer all that pain." Bellamy was appalled. "You should have just… saved yourself!"

"I did save myself," she reminded him, "and it was worth it, because I also saved you, and that was more important."

"The hell it was!" That was never going to be true.

"But then later, when you didn't answer my messages, I thought," Clarke let out a deep breath, "I thought I hadn't been quick enough after all. That I'd gone through all that, and you'd died anyway."

Bellamy felt sick at heart. "Communication was impossible at first. In either direction. Then…later…we could hear you but had no way to respond. I wanted to make trying to build some comms a priority, so you'd know that we were alive. So you wouldn't worry. But…I couldn't. It was more important to…everyone else to get off the ring and get back here before we all went nuts."

He sighed, remembering. "And then we had so many problems, got delayed…"

Clarke stopped him then, placing two fingers gently against his lips.

"Don't, Bellamy. None of it is your fault and it doesn't matter now, anyway. You're here now. Everything happened just like it was supposed to,"

He grabbed at her fingers, squeezing them tightly. "How can you say that! After what you suffered."

"Because look where we are now!" She was so earnest, in that Clarke-like way she had. The way that meant she wasabsolutely certain she was right. "If things hadn't happened in exactly that way, we wouldn't be here together now. Sitting on this grass. You… you wouldn't be holding my hand," she said, gazing down at where her fingers were still locked in his palm.

She turned her hand in his, interlacing their fingers, then used that leverage to pull herself closer.

"I missed you so much," she said softly, reaching up with her free hand to scratch gently at the back of his neck.

Bellamy felt his breath go short. She was so close to him, only inches away. And she was touching him. It felt so good.

As their eyes locked, he could only breathe her name. "Clarke…"

"If you weren't here with me now, I couldn't be doing this," she whispered, pulling his head down to brush her lips softly across his.

Bellamy's world suddenly ground to a halt, telescoped narrowly down to the here and now. There was no time but this moment, no place but this small grassy field. It felt like one of his old dreams, but the touch of Clarke's lips was very, very real.

His body froze for the tiniest of moments before suddenly coming to life. Then he threw himself into the kiss, deepening it, wrapping her in his arms, crushing her against his body. Soon they were lying side by side on the grass, as years of mutual longing was unleashed in a kiss so passionate that it seemed like nothing save a new cataclysm could have pulled them apart.

"I dreamed of this," he gasped, coming up for air. "Back on the Ark. For a while, you visited me every night in my dreams."

"And what happened in those dreams?" she whispered, peppering his face with soft kisses.

"This," he said, when he could tear himself from her lips. "You'd be kissing me just like this."

"Nothing else?" Clarke asked, and when he heard her sultry tone, Bellamy felt himself become painfully hard. Then she was rubbing herself against him.

"Sometimes this happened, too," he rasped, pushing her jacket down her arms and pulling off her shirt. She tugged at the hem of his shirt and he dragged it over his head. Then he lay on his back and pulled her fully on top of him.

"Wait," she said softly, unclasping her bra and tossing it aside.

Bellamy groaned with desire as he wrapped her in his arms and felt the press of her hardened nipples against his chest. It was exactly like one of his old dreams…and nothing like them at all. Because Clarke was alive, and in his arms, and it seemed to be just where she wanted to be.

Then they were kissing again, open-mouthed and frantic, their tongues sliding against each other wantonly.

"I need," she moaned. "I want."

"What do you need? What do you want?" He could hardly get the words out.

"You."

She palmed him through his jeans and began to squeeze gently.

"Clarke," he warned, pulling her hand away, "I'm so turned on right now, and that…that feels too good."

"Yeah? I never would have known." Her smile was teasing.

"I think we need to get rid of these," he said, unbuttoning and unzipping her jeans.

In the next second, she was pulling off her boots before dragging her jeans and panties down her legs. Then she lay back on the grass, her eyes half-lidded, her mouth wet and swollen from his kisses.

"Oh, god," he said, fumbling ineffectually with his own clothing, unable to take his eyes off the goddess that was Clarke Griffin, lying next him on the grass.

She reached inside his pants and briefly took him fully in her hand. "Now would be a good time, Bellamy."

He kicked off his pants and boots, and pulled her to him, kissing her madly. Their arms wrapped tightly around one another, their legs intertwined, and they began to move together in a way that was utterly instinctive. Full-bodied skin-on-skin contact driving them wild with desire.

But soon enough, she needed more

"Inside me," she said suddenly, dragging his fingers down and across her wetness, making him understand how much she wanted him.

"Yes," he breathed, flipping her onto her back a little roughly, spreading her legs widely, and entering her in one hard stroke.

It was almost too much, how good it felt. His dreams of ecstasy with phantom Clarke were nothing compared to the reality of being inside the beautiful, sensual woman in his arms.

He'd never in his life felt anything like this. Never felt so connected to another human being. It was affection and desire, love and lust. And so much more.

They hadn't yet invented the word for everything he and Clarke were together.

Soon enough, Bellamy's movements became frenzied, and he wasn't sure how long he could hold out. Then he felt Clarke stiffen beneath him. She groaned loudly as she climaxed, her body arching into it.

The sensation was overwhelming. He came inside her, longer and harder than he ever remembered.

Bellamy collapsed on top of Clarke, then rolled them both onto their sides so as not to crush her under his weight. He gathered her against him, but he didn't pull out of her body, not yet willing to break the connection.

She wound her arms around his neck, silent for a moment before she whispered in his ear, "We should have done that a long time ago."

Bellamy chuckled. "I've only been back six days," he reminded her.

"No," she said, pulling back to look at him. "I meant…before. When we were here together the last time."

"Ah," he said, smiling. "I'd have been happy to fuck you pretty much from the moment I met you. But…it wouldn't have been the same. And then, there was so much going on, and we needed…not to be like this with each other. It would have…complicated things. Made everything we needed to do…harder."

Clarke was nodding. "I know all that. But…later. When we knew praimfaya was coming. Then…then it would have meant something. At least…to me."

"To me, too," he agreed softly, "it would have meant…everything. But we waited too long. And then…time just ran out."

"Yeah, I think the world came to an end or something." Half-teasing irony.

"Yep, that's how I remember it, too."

They were quiet for a moment, and when he finally slipped out from inside her, she pushed him back and settled against his side, her head resting on his broad shoulder.

"But now that we've done this…" she began tentatively.

"Now that we've done this we're never gonna stop," he said fiercely.

Bellamy wasn't sure how he'd deal with it if she felt differently, but then she turned to look up at him and her small smile reassured him.

"I don't want to stop, either," she said. "In fact, I don't know if I could. I have the feeling sex with Bellamy Blake might be addictive."

Bellamy laughed, and it felt good. He couldn't remember the last time he'd really laughed. But then he thought maybe he ought to make his intentions perfectly clear.

"But…it's not just the sex," he told her, fingering a strand of fine blonde hair. "I want to be with you in every way."

"That's what I want, too," she smiled, brushing an errant curl off his forehead. "But six years is a long time. I thought things might have…changed for you."

Bellamy huffed wryly. "Even when I thought you were dead, I couldn't seem to forget you. I just figured it would take…a long time. But then, when I realized you were still alive…" He shook his head, chuckled. "That was a great day. But you can ask them. I was so happy, I acted like a lunatic. You can't imagine how I felt."

"I can imagine you felt exactly like I did a few days ago when I saw you on that ship," she said, her smile fond.

"Maybe," he said, picking up her hand and planting a soft kiss on her palm. "But I haven't seen any signs of lunacy. Unless it's wanting to be with me."

"That doesn't make me a lunatic," she said, reaching up to caress his cheek. "That just makes me happy." She grinned saucily. "The sex is just the icing on the cake."

"Speaking of which…" He pressed into her as he felt himself begin to harden against her leg.

"You are insatiable," she laughed. But her hand moved down to grasp him and he hissed with pleasure.

"Is there any reason why we need to get back today," he muttered softly, leaning over her. "Did you promise Madi or anything?"

She shook her head, sighing. "Madi is in good hands. I think we could maybe wait until tomorrow."

"Yeah," he murmured, pulling her in for a kiss. "That's exactly what I was thinking."

XXXXXXXXXX

By the time they got back late the following afternoon, Bellamy thought they might just be satiated. For the moment at least. He laughed to himself, thinking of Clarke calling him insatiable, when she was at least as likely as he to initiate sex.

Not that it mattered who did what, or when. Turned out they were just as attuned to each other sexually as they'd always been in every other aspect of their relationship.

He stopped the rover and turned to kiss her briefly just as they came in sight of the cave.

"What should we tell them?" he asked.

Clarke laughed. "Unless Raven has changed a lot, we won't need to say a thing."

"You've probably got that right," he grinned, shifting back into gear and heading toward the cave.

The others had clearly been looking for them, and as soon as he parked the rover, Madi came hurtling out of nowhere, barely letting Clarke get out of the truck before throwing her arms around her. She pulled out of Clarke's embrace, all ready to regale her with a recap of her recent adventures when something about her mother's expression caught her eye.

"Why laik yu happy, Clarke?" Madi asked, her face alight with curiosity.

Clarke's glance toward Bellamy was instinctive. And also a dead giveaway.

"Oh, my god, Blake, did you actually get to it?" Raven laughed, reaching up to punch him in the shoulder. "About time."

Bellamy shrugged and reached out for Clarke's hand. "Long past time, I'd say."

"Okay, so tell me when we're done with all the happy shit so we can talk about important stuff." Murphy was his usual sardonic self.

"What important stuff?" Bellamy dragged himself out of his personal euphoria with some difficulty. "What's going on?"

"I fixed the solar panels on the digger," Raven said, "and then we left it to charge for a day. Murphy started it up this morning and…it works!"

Bellamy could hardly believe it.

He and Clarke looked at each other and he knew they were thinking the same thing. Well, almost the same thing. Clarke was no doubt thinking Abby, while he was thinking Octavia.

"How far is it from here to where Polis used to stand?" he asked Clarke.

"Distance, I'm not sure, but it's several hours in the rover."

"And even longer for something slow like the digger." he said, nodding.

"We need to make a plan…" Raven began.

"You're right, but first you're gonna fix one of the trucks for those miners."

"I am?" Raven asked, confused.

"Yes." It was Clarke who answered. "We'll get our people out of that bunker, but we're also gonna help the miners get back and forth to the lab, so they can figure out how to solve their medical problem."

"Okaaaaay." Raven drew out the word to underscore her confusion.

Bellamy sighed, twisting his head to search all their faces. "How many people do you think are left in this area? Probably not more than a couple thousand, including a few we may not know about. Do we really want to start splintering off into small groups that are at each others' throats all the time? Wouldn't it be better to try to make friends, to work together? Maybe prove that we can do it right for once?"

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Monty said, while Raven shrugged and nodded.

"Good." Bellamy nodded. "Is there anyone here who is not for this plan? Anyone who still thinks it's better to spend our time figuring out how to kill each other, instead of learning how to live together?"

Their smiles were quiet as they shook their heads. He hadn't really thought otherwise, but it was still a relief to find they were all on the same page.

Bellamy looked down when he felt Clarke squeezing him with the hand he'd grabbed earlier

and never let go of.

"Good speech," she said. "Can we eat now? I think I'll need some fuel if we're going to be working on a plan to restart civilization."

Bellamy knew Clarke was half-joking, but still, her words gave him a jolt. Was that really what they were doing? Was every action they took, every decision they made, going to reverberate down the centuries?

He scratched his head, unable to conceive of it.

But if it was true, he hoped to hell they figured out how to make it work a whole lot better than the last bunch.