Bellamy
It was the middle of the night, a few hours after Aurora was home from her work and a few hours after Bellamy was due to wake up for school. The family was fast asleep, and at this age Octavia only woke up once during the night, to swap from Aurora's bed to Bellamy's, or Bellamy's to Aurora's. This time she'd ended up in Bellamy's bed, and he was lying on his back, with his tiny sister curled into his side like a baby- her ear over his heartbeat, her knees tucked against his thigh.
A sudden voice over the loudspeaker woke Bellamy and Aurora from their deep sleep, "Solar flare alert." Instantly their mother was out of bed, gathering up their clothes. Bellamy watched her as the voice went on, "A Y-class solar flare has begun on the port side of the Ark."
"Mom-"
"Hush now, Bellamy," Aurora interrupted him. "You'll wake your sister."
The announcement was continuing, "All citizens must report to the nearest shelter zone immediately."
Bellamy watched Octavia's sleeping face as his mother opened the floor and then got dressed, then came over this his bunk, curling her arms gently under her daughter and easing her from the bed. She set Bellamy's clothes on the mattress and said, "Get dressed."
He pulled off his pajama top and replaced it with a t-shirt, then did the same with his pants. As he did so, Aurora carried Octavia to the hole and laid her inside, on a blanket.
"Mom!" Bellamy exclaimed, grabbing the ladder next to his bunk and using it to swing onto the floor. "We can't just leave her there, she'll wake up and be scared."
"Shhh," Aurora hissed, grabbing the floor panel.
But Bellamy couldn't stand it- the idea of her waking up there, cold and alone, after she'd fallen asleep nestled next to him. He'd been the last thing she'd seen when she'd gone to sleep, so it felt like his responsibility to stop this.
Before Aurora could do anything, Bellamy knelt down beside the hole and called out, gently but firmly, "Octavia." He put a hand on her shoulder.
"Bellamy!" his mother snapped, reaching for him, but he held onto the lip of the hole and watched his sister's eyes open.
"Hey, O," he said gently, seeing her panic, then relax a little as her big eyes looked up to him. "Don't worry, me and Mom have to go because there's a flare, but you'll be safe here."
He saw her lower lip tremble. "Bell, no."
"It's okay, the flare can't get you in here, you're protected by the bulkheads," he assured her, even though he knew she wasn't afraid of the flare- she was afraid of being alone, of that long drawn-out silence and darkness, of not knowing when they would be back. Even the clock he'd given her was useless now.
"Octavia, you'll be fine," Aurora said sternly, advancing with the panel.
"Mom, can't I stay with her?" Bellamy blurted out- the look on Octavia's face was breaking his heart.
"No," she answered sharply, clearly annoyed. "They have a roster in each shelter and if we're not both there, then they'll think one of us is in danger from the flare and they'll come looking, and they might find her." She gave Octavia a hard look and then said to Bellamy, "Tell your sister what happens then."
Bellamy hung his head and said the words softly, long since memorised, "You get taken away, Mom gets floated, and I grow up alone and miserable."
Octavia's gaze was low as well, even in the hole. "It's okay, Bell," she whispered. "I'll be okay."
Aurora reached down and stroked her daughter's cheeks with her fingertips. "Good girl." She leaned down and kissed her on the top of her head. "I know you're scared, but what do we say about fear?"
"It's a demon," Octavia answered in a whisper.
"It's a demon," Aurora agreed, nodding her head. "Now be my brave girl and stay quiet." She smiled down at her daughter once more, and then she grabbed the floor panel and slid it into place.
It wasn't until the two of them were outside their quarters that Aurora grabbed Bellamy's arm roughly and dragged him down the corridor until they were alone, leaning down and grabbing him by his upper arms. Her eyes were hard as she hissed, "Don't you ever do that again. She needs to see us united, Bellamy."
"But she doesn't need to be so scared, Mom," he protested. "She doesn't need to be scared all the time."
"Listen to me," she said insistently. "When I'm gone, you can do things however you like. But while I'm here, we do things my way. Don't you ever think that I don't love both of you with every bit of what I have. But I'm not here to be your friend, Bellamy- not yours, and not hers. I'm here to keep you safe, and keep you alive. Anything else is just a bonus."
Bellamy glanced away, his eyes dark. "What about happy, Mom? Don't you want Octavia to be happy?"
She let out a long breath and held his cheeks in her hands, gently coaxing his gaze back to hers. "Bellamy. Of course I do."
Before either of them could say anything else, an announcement came over the loudspeaker, "All citizens should now be in their nearest shelter zone. Anyone still outside the shelter zones in five minutes will be committing an offence."
Aurora grabbed her son's hand and hurried him along to Factory Station's shelter zone. They checked in with the guard at the door, endured a stern lecture about punctuality, and then were admitted into the shelter zone. It seemed that the Blakes were the last to arrive, as the doors were sealed a few moments later.
His mother kept her hand around Bellamy's and took him to a quiet area of the shelter, where they could sit and wait out the flare. No one approached them, no one spoke to them- none of the women approached Aurora to chat, and none of the kids approached Bellamy to play. They were outsiders, even within their own station. Bellamy squirmed, watching the other children- his classmates- playing together, but he tried to hide the fact that he was watching, not wanting to get noticed and teased. His mother seemed unbothered by their invisibility, and just sat back against the wall, closing her eyes as she waited for the flare to pass.
Bellamy was still tired, so he sat down next to his mother and nudged into her side, letting her slide an arm around him as he yawned and felt his eyes already growing heavy. He was worried about Octavia, but there was nothing he could do for her from here, so it seemed to make the most sense to just sleep.
He didn't know how long he'd been asleep, but he was woken up by the sound of his mother's voice, low but angry, "… away from us."
Instantly on alert, Bellamy straightened and looked up into Roman's face- Octavia's father, who was bearing down on Aurora, his face red, his eyes angry, his fists clenched, and his lip curled up in anger. He looked very much like Octavia did when she was having a tantrum, only older and much scarier.
"Go away," Bellamy said, quietly but insistently.
Roman glared at him and whispered, "I'm talking to your mother, Bellamy. Unless you'd care to explain how she could leave her own child vulnerable to a flare like this?"
Bellamy's eyes flew to the other people in the shelter, but most were asleep, and those who were awake weren't paying any attention to them. Gritting his teeth, he glared at Roman and hissed, "She's fine. She's under the floor."
"Don't talk to him, Bellamy," Aurora snapped.
"Don't talk to me?" Roman growled. "Don't talk to me? No, of course not- I'm only her goddamn father!"
"Keep your voice down," Aurora hissed, but Bellamy couldn't help but note- grudgingly- that Roman's tone was barely above a whisper; he was actually trying to keep Octavia safe. But Bellamy still didn't trust him.
"Can't you just leave us alone?" he pleaded.
"I've tried to," he snapped. "I've tried to leave it alone, but it's pretty goddamn hard when it doesn't even look like your mother can take care of her properly."
Bellamy gritted his teeth and said, "We take great care of her."
"Oh yeah?" Roman retorted. "Well, we're all taking shelter from this goddamn flare, and where is she?" The fact that his voice was quiet didn't detract from the obvious anger in his tone. "Waiting in your quarters, all alone?"
"She's under the floor," Bellamy snapped, his heart pounding. "She'll be fine."
"She's four, Aurora," Roman snapped, turning his attention back to Bellamy's mother. "You can't just lock her away in a cupboard when she's inconvenient."
Bellamy was about to lose it, about to yell and draw way too much attention to them, but then they were interrupted before he could even open his mouth. A woman who was a few years younger than Aurora approached him, putting a hand gently on his arm. Bellamy really didn't like how she was looking at his mother as she said, "Roman, what are you doing, talking to someone like this?" She wrinkled her nose in disgust, as though Aurora was dirty. "People are going to gossip if they see you with someone in her profession."
Frowning, Bellamy couldn't make sense of this- what was wrong with a seamstress? Why would it be bad for Roman to talk to someone in her profession? But he knew better than to ask.
Then he noticed something stirring on the woman's chest, and he knew right away she had a baby strapped to her, maybe even a toddler- it was under her sweater. He couldn't take his eyes off the squirming bundle.
"Come on, honey," she said softly to Roman, pulling gently on his arm. She didn't even look at Bellamy as she tugged him away, but Bellamy hardly noticed- he was too overcome.
Roman had another child.
This was why he hadn't bothered them in the last couple of years. This was why he hadn't pursued Octavia, hadn't tried to come to their quarters again, why he hadn't tried to take her like he'd claimed he wanted, like he'd threatened.
Bellamy felt a mix of emotions along with his realisation- disbelief, sadness, fear, but also joy. Relief. Even if Roman wanted to take Octavia, he couldn't now. Not ever. Not unless he wanted to hide her too, or hide that baby- and he wouldn't do that. They were free.
"Mom?" Bellamy asked tentatively.
But the look she gave him killed any other words he might have spoken. It also told him everything he needed to know- that she and Roman had interacted- at least once- since Roman had confronted Bellamy outside his school. That she was aware of this child. That she had been aware of it for some time.
He laid his head back against the wall and swallowed, staring at the ceiling of the shelter for a long time, deep in thought.
Then his mother spoke, which he hadn't really expected. Softly she said to him, "Bellamy, do you know what a family is?"
He looked up at her, studying her face for a minute, but he didn't know what to say. He couldn't tell if she was angry or sad as she looked down at him, but then she smiled and he felt himself relax just a little.
"Do you think a family is more about how much blood you share? That you're a family as long as you have a relative in common, even if you're strangers to each other? Or do you think it's more about growing up with someone, spending every day together, knowing each other's likes and dislikes, being there for each other through good and bad?" Her eyes had taken on an intensity now that made him want to squirm as she insisted, "Which one do you think is more important, Bellamy- blood or love?"
"Love," he answered right away. Of course it was love- he had no doubt of that. She rewarded him for his correct answer by stroking her fingers through his hair, but her hand stopped short as he added softly, "But can't it be both, Mom?"
His mother pulled her hand away, setting it in her lap. He saw a stiffness take hold of her body as she looked away from him and said, "For some people it can, Bellamy. But not for us."
