Ok, I'm back!
Thank you so much for the new follow/favs! I hope you like the next chapter. Even though it's a bit shorter than the rest.
But I will say this, with more reviews come more incentives for new chapters... =D
No copyright intended. I do not own Big Hero 6 or the 100 or their characters.
Bellamy couldn't believe he was actually doing this.
He stood outside a door a little ways away from the Ark's kitchen, a letter in his hand. It had been a week since Hiro had left it at their door, and this was the first time he had stood outside the Hamada's apartment.
When he went to the kitchen's to see if she was there, one of her assistants had told him that it was her day off. Well, at least it made this little venture easier for him. He breathed in and knocked on the door.
Five seconds later, Aunt Cass appeared in the doorway. The first thought that came to Bellamy's mind was that she looked cleaner than the first time he had met her, when he was waiting anxiously outside the room where his mom's trial took place. Instead of food stained clothes, she had on a long yellow blouse and cargo pants. Her hair was loose around her face and a necklace was around her neck.
"Um, hi" said Bellamy a bit awkwardly. He raised the hand with the letter in it "I think your nephew dropped this off at my home last week"
"Bellamy" she said with a smile on her face "Come in" she allowed him to enter. Their home was slightly bigger than the Blake's, with the area divided into three sections. One was a sort of living room, where chairs and a small table were. Papers with what Bellamy saw were recipes almost covered it completely, and the rest was occupied by pieces of tech that were being assembled into some kind of machine.
Another are was where the two beds that were built into the wall were. One of the beds was clean with designs piled up on top of each other and a box full of parts. The other, the top bed, was messier and had an array of clothes and tools nearly falling off the bed.
The last section of the home was divided by a sheet that hung from the ceiling. Only instead of a bed, there was a sleeping bag on the floor.
"Have a seat" said Aunt Cass, who noticed Bellamy looking around the home. "After Hiro and Tadashi's parents got floated, it took them a while to readjust. I tried to make this place feel like as much of a home to them as possible"
"You did a great job"
She smiled and then crossed her arms "So," she began "How come you've only decided to come now, a week after my offer, on my day off, while my nephews and your sister are at school?"
"Sort of did that on purpose" he said. And in his head he added 'I thought that it would be less embarrassing this way'. "I actually have to ask you a favor"
"You're lucky that I owe you one" she replied "I really wanted to thank you for helping Hiro. He can get into so much trouble sometimes and he leaves a mess everywhere" she looked over at the messy bed "But he definitely doesn't deserve to be treated as he actually is being treated. By some people"
Bellamy laced his hands together and looked at the floor "Yeah" he whispered. He had enrolled Octavia in classes four days ago. Their mom was smart enough to continue her schooling even while she was in hiding. Octavia was terrified at first of going, but after remembering the Council's promise to keep and eye on them, they realised that she needed to start acting like a normal citizen of the Ark.
Today was her fifth day of school, and Bellamy had already found out that some of the other kids were picking on her. It didn't help that she really didn't know how to talk to them, since before meeting Tadashi and Hiro she had never talked to anyone close to her age. Even though she wasn't being hit or shoved into closets (at least not yet), it wasn't easy for her.
So Bellamy couldn't tell her that it wasn't going well for him. "You know that after Mom was floated, thanks to you I became Octavia's guardian. Supposedly I was about to start training for the Guard, but I guess that they were still a bit angry" he but his lip "I had to get a jib as a janitor, and even though it's better than nothing, we don't have enough rations cards"
Cass said nothing, but placed a comforting had on his back "They'd be enough for one person, but I-" he stopped himself. He looked at the woman next to her, hoping that she could help "Please" he said slowly "I can't keep working these long shifts without energy, but I don't want to see O half hungry. Please, Cass-"
"Aunt Cass" she stated "The only people who don't call me that are those idiots on the Council. The only one I can actually stand is Abigail, and only because she stopped Hiro and your sister from being sent to the Skybox"
"Ok then" he said, furrowing his eyebrows. He was a little bit surprised at how she spoke to him. Everyone he had talked to treated him like he was about to burst at any moment, or as if he had done something wrong and had offended them or made them angry.
Aunt Cass took a few cards out of a small box on the table and handed them to Bellamy "Here" she said "You won't eat like kings but you won't starve. Not saying that you were starving. But anyway, these come with a condition"
"What?" asked Bellamy. What could she want?
"I know what it's like losing someone you care about. I went through that five years ago. And it's been hard, especially when you have no idea how to raise children and one of them's a three years old. Do you work hard? Yes! Do you wonder how you're gonna get by? Yes! Do you question if you're doing a good job?" she paused herself and scrunched her nose "Where was I going with this?"
"The rations card came with a condition" Bellamy had to restrain himself from just grabbing the cards and rushing out, his fingers tapping against his leg.
"Oh, right" she turned to look at him again, and even though she was so much shorter compared to Bellamy, she seemed as if she could control an entire army "If you take these, you and Octavia have to come here for dinner once a week. Since I'm in charge of the kitchens I get special permission to eat here instead of the mess hall when I want to"
Bellamy shook his head, confused "I don't get it" he told her "Why?"
"Because before Hiro and Tadashi met you two they felt like they were the only ones" she said with sad eyes "They always wondered why it had to be their parents that were taken away. I had to talk them out of thinking that it was because of them that they were floated. But then they met you. Another two siblings. Hiro suddenly didn't feel like a complete outcast. Tadashi told me that he was glad that he saw someone else actually being a big brother beside him.
"You might not know this, but knowing that you're not alone in something" she smiled "It can really make a difference" She handed him the cards, which Bellamy accepted gratefully.
"Thank you" he said, standing up "I guess we'll come over on Monday, then"
"That would be a good idea" Aunt Cass walked him to the doorway "Unless you want me to go to your home and drag you out by your ear"
Bellamy couldn't tell if that was a joke or not.
He went outside and gave one last smile to Aunt Cass before walking down the hallway again. His break was almost over, and he had to get back to work. But as he walked, he remembered the cards in his pocket.
He couldn't help a little smile crawl onto his face, right before he began to worry again about what the future might hold for him and Octavia.
When Octavia came home that night, her mood had gone from sour, to angry, to nearly miserable.
It didn't bother her that they picked on her for being hidden under the floor for years. She didn't mind when they called her a weirdo. She knew that she wasn't normal.
But those things can start to pile up, and they can eventually start to bother you.
She was one grade above where she normally would have been, and since intelligent minds is what the Ark needs, in the end it didn't matter who she was. It had taken a very persistent teacher who had monitored her application process, though.
Hiro had already moved up two grades, (one grade lower than Octavia), and some teachers were trying to convince the Council to let him move up one more. But the Council was still hesitant about moving him upwards. Even though he was probably one of the most brilliant kids on the Ark.
It was very clear to Octavia from the beginning that things wouldn't be easy for her.
The kids were starting to get more and more creative. The went from the usual 'weird' and moved onto 'freakshow'. Then they started to step on her shoes. At first she thought they were doing it accidentally, but then they said: "If you don't want us to step on you, go under the floor where you belong!"
Bellamy had to wrap one of her toes in gauze because so many people stepping on her foot started to actually hurt it.
Eventually she started getting angry. Pushing people away after they stepped on her toes. Yelled when they called her names. The only thing that stopped her from punching them was being reminded by her classmates that one wrong move could land her in the Skybox.
Her fear of being taken away like her mother was scary enough for her to keep her fists at her sides.
It had been a long week, and the weight of everything was starting to drag her down. She kept to herself most of the time, only talking once in a while to two boys in her class, Jasper and Monty. She liked them because they didn't pick on her.
But when she wasn't talking, she thought about her mother. About how this was her life now.
She shuffled along the hallways, sometimes double checking to make sure she was taking the right route home.
When she went in she started on her homework, since Bellamy had told her that his shift on Fridays didn't end until five o'clock.
She kept working through the weekend's homework, alternating because Mechanics and History and Math. The problems weren't that hard. But they were more boring than anything else.
She could feel her eyes start to close as she solved the last work sheet. The numbers were now blurry and the words started to lose their meaning.
She didn't remember climbing into her bed. She didn't remember feeling tear tracks on her cheeks. She didn't remember Bellamy coming in, but there he was, putting on a fresh shirt and hanging his janitor outfit.
When he saw she was awake, he gave her a small smile. "Wanna talk about it?" he asked.
Octavia shook her head and climbed down from the top bed. She didn't want to talk about her classmates at school. He had tried asking about it, but Octavia knew that he had enough on his mind. 'That's what adults don't realise' she thought 'Kids can see the things they're trying to hide'.
Everyone in her class knew that their teacher was fighting with her husband, and they were trying to avoid a divorce. They could see which other adults didn't approve of Octavia or Hiro wandering around the Ark. And Octavia could see that Bellamy ate, but never as much as she did. Even though he probably needed it more than Octavia.
She looked over at the clock and saw that the kitchens were opening up for dinner. "Bell-" she started, but was cut off by her stomach starting to rumble.
Bellamy walked across the room and opened the door "Come on, let's go get something for dinner"
They walked towards the mess hall in a comfortable silence. Bellamy was tired from his long day, and Octavia was too busy thinking about what she was going to do with her classmates.
When they reached the front of the line, she hardly realised that Bellamy had taken out two rations cards this time. Normally he only took out one for the both of them to share unless one of them was particularly starving.
"Bellamy" she said, taking a seat on the other side of a small table "Why'd you take out two?"
He pushed one of the trays towards her "Come on, eat"
She pushed it back "Don't you have to save those? I saw you counting them last night!" She noticed that there weren't many.
Bellamy bit his lip. "I called in that favor" he told her, pushing the tray towards Octavia.
"What favor?"
"The one that Cass-" he stopped himself "Aunt Cass had offered. In the letter that Hiro dropped off"
Octavia's eyes widened "When? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Wasn't sure that she'd give me the cards" She could tell that it wasn't the entire truth, but as she looked down at a full plate of food, she didn't care.
With a grin, she started biting into the food, so fast that Bellamy had to tell her to slow down. She savoured every bite of it, and by the look on her brother's face, you could tell that he was doing the same.
"The cards do come with a catch" said Bellamy after swallowing another piece of food.
"What?" she asked, her mouth half full.
"We gotta go eat at their home once a week. I told Aunt Cass we'd be there on Monday"
"She's the one in charge of the kitchens, right?"
Bellamy nodded.
Octavia stood up and ran around the table to her brother. "Ow!" he complained as Octavia hit his shoulder. Hard.
"Why'd you only agree to once a week! Everyone says that her food's the best!" She remembered when a couple of the kids in her class were talking about picking on Hiro again to get some of his aunt's cooking instead of giving him a beating. The conversation had stopped when they were reminded that Tadashi had been sticking close to Hiro. She guessed that Tadashi had made a name for himself after his brother kept getting bullied by those jerks.
Bellamy smiled a little "Finish your food" he told her.
That night, they stayed up and talked for a while, even though they felt as if they could sleep for a million years.
Today at least, they had a small victory for themselves.
