Am I posting this because I'm salty about 7x13? You bet your ass I am. Anyway, for those who don't know this originally started out as an x reader (which I'm continuing btw) on my tumblr and now it's become a fully fledged OC fic, cause there's a lot more I wanna do with her. I've had Maria in my head for YEARS and I'm super excited to write her story.

It's written differently than the original fic, and there will be a lot more canon changes later on. I hope you enjoy it and please leave a comment if you do!

Disclaimer: The 100 and all its characters belong to Kass Morgan and (ugh) Jason Rothberg. Maria and her storyline all belong to me. Any similiarties between this story and others is completely coincidental.

Please enjoy!

Her birthday started with her being sent to her death.

The clank of the door sliding open interrupted her mental count of the days, a ritual she'd been doing since that awful day a year ago, when Marcus Kane had slid the handcuffs over her hands and escorted her personally to the Skybox.

She saw his face every time she closed her eyes.

"Prisoner 329," David Miller's voice rang out, lowering his eyes to avoid her stare, "Stand up and face the wall."

Maria rolled her eyes, lifting herself up from her reclined position and following their instructions, her back facing the guards who had followed their superior in. "Let me guess," she remarked, a sly smile on her face, "It's too late to plead for my life?"

Even with her dark eyes facing the wall, she could see the exasperated expression on Sgt. Miller's face in her mind. God knows how many times she'd been on the receiving end of it.

"Maria Franco," He began, something catching in his throat, "In his role as Chancellor, Thelonius Jaha finds you guilty of treason."

Her blood ran cold like the steel underneath her hands. Her heart pounded against her chest and she tried to steady herself, breathing shaky as she closed her eyes and accepted her punishment.

She was going to die.

She would be sucked out into the cold vacuum of space like her mother and father before her. Except no one would mourn her. Not after what she did.

Her breaths grew shallow, and her eyes darted around the room, trying to recall the quickest way to incapacitate a guard. Their electric baton always hung on their ride side, she remembered, and an escape plan formed in her brain.

She heard Kane's voice in her head.

There's nowhere to run. Not on here.

Maria gulped, the knot in her throat growing tighter. He was right.

"However, due to your unusual circumstances," Sgt. Miller continued, and her eyes snapped open, "He is offering you a choice."

Maria whipped her head around, eyebrows creased together as she watched Sgt. Miller pull a large silver cuff from his belt, "execution or earth."

She dropped her hands and turned completely around, her mouth dropping open at the chance before her.

Jaha was giving her a second chance. She was guilty of one of the highest offenses and he was giving her a second chance.

"What?" She squeaked out, blinking slowly as Sgt. Miller repeated the choice.

Earth.

She mused, the notebook in her pocket growing heavy. Her grandmother had written all about the planet. Maria used to dream about it.

The rolling fields, the clear blue skies.

And now she was inches away from it.

But Earth was a wasteland burnt to a crisp thanks to humanity setting off nuclear weapons that forced them into space.

It would be a kinder death, but death all the same.

"You have five minutes before the shuttle leaves," Sgt. Miller informed her, his eyes silently pleading for her to make the right choice, "After that, the execution will continue as scheduled."

Hearing the word 'execution' again cemented her decision in her mind and she held out her wrist. She didn't need a countdown or an ultimatum to know what her decision would be. "Earth," She announced loud and clear, "I'm going to Earth."

She caught a glimpse of a smile on the Sgt's face and he snapped the cuff around her wrist, Maria wincing as he did. An electric shock pulsed through her skin, jolting her awake and pumping her with adrenaline.

Earth.

She was going to Earth.

"Good choice," He lowered his voice, taking her by the arm and escorting her out of her cell. It was littered with charcoal equations and descriptions from her dreams. One kept repeating itself over and over again, always appearing whenever she closed her eyes.

The door slid behind her and they disappeared.

The Skybox was a pit of chaos, kids being escorted from their cells in harsher ways than Maria was. She wondered if Nate was among them.

"You'll be pardoned when you reach the ground," Sgt. Miller informed her, his voice low as they passed more guards, "They're sending one hundred of you to test if it's safe. Nate's one of them."

She understood the unspoken request. "I'll take care of him, I promise."

The guard nodded and pushed her into the hallway, but Maria didn't miss the worried look on his face. It was for both of them, she realized.

She didn't recognize anyone in front or behind her. Miller was a few kids ahead of her, glowering at the guard's retreating form. Maria was too far back to see who was leading the line.

She pressed forward, tugging her jacket closer to her. Chills erupted across her arms, despite the monitored temperatures of the Ark, although she supposed they needed to cut some dead weight sooner or later.

She never imagined herself being part of it.

"Maria," A voice that made her panic pulled her out of her thoughts, a large hand wrapped around her bicep as dark eyes clashed against each other. Marcus Kane held the same worry David Miller did, although he hid it well. She scanned his gaze, looking for any sign of love in the emotionless facade.

She found none.

"What do you want?" She growled, eyeing the ladder a few paces away from her. Kane went silent, and his jaw tightened as he scanned her over once more.

"I want you to be careful."

She scoffed, concealing her rage behind the stoic face Kane had taught her to use. "Is that all?"

Kane said nothing and when Maria had gotten her answer, she ripped her arm out of his grip, ready to finally get off this death trap. She could feel his gaze on her as she moved back into line, where a young guard with slicked black hair escorted her onto the ship, pushing her up the ladder. "Let's go, princess," He muttered mockingly and Maria shook it off, grip growing tighter with each rung she grasped. The guard sat down in a seat near the door, and confusion washed over Maria before it hit her.

They didn't trust them down there alone. They were sending someone to keep the peace. She scoffed again. Typical.

She scanned the ship and headed up toward the second floor, where more seats were open. Maria couldn't help the smile on her face when she caught sight of Miller. He was already asleep, drool dribbling down his chin. She smirked and buckled in next to him, waiting for the dropship to take off.

The last person to enter was on a stretcher, and Maria's blood ran cold when she saw the familiar blonde braid that was strapped in next to a boy that she knew all too well. Anger flushed her face and she bit down, grating her teeth against each other.

What the hell was Wells doing here?

His big mouth was what had gotten them in trouble. Telling his father about Clarke and Maria because that's exactly the kind of person he was. Always needing to please daddy. Rage twisted in her gut, begging to spill out and claw the boy to pieces, but before anything else could happen, the dropship door hissed shut and Miller jolted awake beside her.

"Hey sleepyhead," Maria japed, a wide smile on Nate's face as he realized who was next to him.

"You made it." He smirked, the gesture turning into a wry smile.

"Of course I did, someone has to keep you out of trouble," Maria teased, her laughter cut off by the shakiness of the pod. Her hand found Miller's and the engine shook again, the machine hum drowning out any conversations that were taking place.

She shut her eyes tightly as they launched further and further into space.

The beep of a screen cut through the chaos, and Jaha's face greeted them all. "Prisoners of the Ark hear me now." Maria couldn't shove the anger away. He had given her a second chance, he had granted her a way to live. And yet he had been the cause of so much pain these last few months. He had declared her a traitor. Claimed she was guilty. Would have floated her. And yet, somehow she couldn't tear her gaze from his face.

"You've been given a second chance, not just for you, but for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds were better, we would've sent others, frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you…expendable."

Maria scoffed. Typical Jaha speech filled with all the justifications the council threw at him. He was a parrot, repeating the words of the people around him with no original thought of his own. No one was expendable. No one.

There was always another choice.

"Can you believe this guy?" Miller whispered beside her, "Sends us all on a suicide mission and expects us to help him out. The same guy that floated our parents."

The knot in her throat was back and so was the anger. It burned a hole in her stomach and she stewed in it during the rest of his speech.

"Yeah, well what else is new?" She spoke sardonically. Miller creased his brows together and turned to face her, but Maria could only focus on Jaha.

"Do you really think they'll forgive us for our crimes?" He asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. Maria gulped, the knot growing bigger.

She didn't know. It all seemed too good to be true. She had no doubt that some would be pardoned.

Miller, who's only crime was stealing an extra pair of underwear from the exchange on a dare? Of course he would be pardoned. He was harmless.

But her?

Images of being sucked out into the stars flashed across her mind.

"No," She answered cynically, the anger continuing to build in her chest, threatening to explode. "But they need us to survive. So that they can."

Before Miller could reply the dropship plummeted, and her grip on Miller's hand tightened, stomach flying into her throat as they entered the atmosphere.

The ship spun out of control, spiraling as the wires sparked and whined.

She was unconscious when they hit the ground.

"Maria?" The voice was fuzzy, but it kept repeating, "Maria, are you okay?"

Someone was calling her name.

She shook the ringing from her ears and slowly opened her eyes, Miller coming into focus, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah," She lied. The warm feeling from earlier was replaced with a splitting headache and she brought her hand to the back of her skull, a large bump already forming.

Miller held his hand out toward her. She took it. "One hell of a birthday present huh?" He teased. Maria shook her head and dusted herself off, most of the delinquents gathered on the first floor, eager to catch a glimpse of their new home.

She and Nate pushed her way through the crowd. Her boots clanged against the metal as she jumped down from the second floor, her legs shaking from the impact of the natural gravity she was experiencing. The guard that had accompanied them was already trying to keep the peace, and Maria finally got a better look at him. He was younger than she expected, and to be honest he looked like he had no idea what he was doing.

His hand moved toward the lever to open the door and a voice that didn't belong to her called out, "Hey!" Maria pressed forward, wondering if this guard was as dumb as she looked, "Are you trying to get us all killed?"

The guard rolled his eyes, "I'm trying to get us off this damn ship,"

Maria crossed her arms and before she could retort, Clarke cut through the noise, "Stop! The air could be toxic."

He rolled his eyes again, this time more exasperated than before, "If the air's toxic then we're all dead anyway."

Maria scoffed at his arrogance. Here he was, supposedly here to keep them from killing each other, only to risk their lives because he wanted to be the first person to walk on the earth in ninety-seven years.

She had done the calculations in her head. They were written all over her cell walls. Earth wasn't supposed to be survivable for another three hundred years. It stood to reason that it might still be in the same state it was when the apocalypse hit.

"Bellamy?" A softer voice spoke through the commotion and the guard turned toward it, his gaze softening as it landed on a pretty brunette dressed in the blue coveralls of Factory Station.

Whispered erupted around them, but Maria didn't need to listen in to know who they were. Bellamy and Octavia Blake. The only siblings in the entire world.

The brunette threw her arms around Bellamy, sinking into his hug. When they pulled apart Octavia eyed his uniform with disgust, "What the hell are you wearing? A guard's uniform?"

Bellamy shook his head, a wry smile on his face, "I borrowed it to get on the dropship." He confessed, "Someone needs to keep an eye on you."

Maria then checked his wrist. No wristband to be seen.

He wasn't a planned departure. He was a fugitive.

"Where's your wristband?" Clarke asked, having the same idea as her.

Octavia whirled around, glaring at the blonde, "Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in over a year."

Commotion started up again and Maria tried to help contain it. People kept pushing against each other, and Maria was jostled around with them. Thankfully Milelr was there to help. It was going alright until someone shouted, "That's Octavia Blake! The girl they found hidden under the floor,"

Octavia lunged forward, teeth bared, only held back by her brother.

"Octavia no!" He called, pulling her attention back to him. The girl huffed and his voice turned soft, "Hey, let's give them something else to remember you by." He promised, a smirk written on his face.

Maria felt her stomach drop.

"Oh yeah, like what?"

Bellamy smirked again, "Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years."

Light flooded the dropship, blinding Maria as she stepped forward, Clarke by her side. Wind blew through her lungs and she inhaled as much of the air as she could. Green was all she could see for miles, towering trees and rolling fields just like she pictured. It was like staring into a painting, with blues and greens and yellows all mixing together to create a portal to another world.

Octavia began to move, the dark-haired girl stepping forward, her feet crashing against the green grass and fresh dirt beneath her, a wide smile beginning to form on her face.

A beat.

Then another.

"WE'RE BACK BITCHES!"

Laughter escaped Maria's lips as she joined the rest of the group in storming the Earth. Her feet thudded against the ground, worn boots sinking into the dirt as her laugh floated upward toward the canopy of trees. She opened her lungs toward the sky, sunbeams warming her face until sweat began to form, oxygen pulsing through her lungs and scrubbing them clean, all trace of recycled air gone.

It was everything she had ever dreamed of. And it was right here in front of her.