The hallways on Mecha were quiet this evening. Another cadet stood around the corner on another night of duty. Bellamy stretched his neck and was itching to do a walking patrol. He hated being stuck in one place.

But Shumway had made the request, for him to be stationed near the kitchens of Mecha.

He didn't know why. He did know that he was being treated differently to the other cadets. Even Jones had noticed it. Shumway had been placing him on separate guard duty, training with tougher guards and was pushing him further than the others. He wondered if maybe he did it to make him a better guard, but he knew better than to be that naive. There was a reason behind it all.

Pacing up and down the hallway, he turned to catch sight of a shadow. A figure rounded the corner and when he caught his gaze. Bellamy stilled.

Xavier.

The canteen attendant let a small smirk pull the corner of his lips up. "Well if it isn't the nosy cadet. You dressing up as a guard again today?"

The cadet narrowed his eyes at the man. There was another cadet around the corner. He couldn't exactly mouth off and deck the guy. No matter how much he wanted to. Clenching his jaw, he tried to let it slide, tried to ignore him and give him a stern look instead.

"Hey, you seen Nora lately?" He asked, his smirk growing. Bellamy continued to glare at him. "She's been looking really good recently. Who am I kidding? Of course you've seen her." He scoffed. "All tight in the right places and—"

Before he could continue, Bellamy cut him off as he pressed him up against the wall, towering above him. Screw ignoring him anymore.

"Well you better enjoy the sight while it lasted because you aren't gonna go near Nora again." He grounds out, pressing his forearm against his throat. "You hear me?"

"What are you gonna do about it, cadet? Huh?" Xavier taunted him with a sick smirk.

The cadet pulled him back before he slammed him back into the wall, his head bouncing off the cool metal. "You got a real problem with listening to people." Xavier groaned and Bellamy smirked in satisfaction. "You aren't gonna go near her. If you do, I'll be coming after you." He launched a fist at his face. The younger man crumbled against the wall. "Don't look at her. Don't go near her. Don't touch her."

Bellamy flexed his hand as he pulled away before marching down the hallway. "Piece of shit."

His knuckles had clocked him right on her cheek bone. He could deal with a few bruised knuckle if it meant that Xavier would look worse for wear tomorrow.


Her face was beginning to ache from smiling so much.

The smile on her face hadn't moved since Bellamy stepped into the centre and began reading a brand new story to the kids. She stood in the distance, not wanting to distract them from their story. Not that it mattered, when Bellamy was in the room, the kids gravitated towards him like a magnet.

Bruised knuckles had caught her sight as soon as he raised the book up. His was untouched as he smiled and laughed with the kids. But where had those bruises come from? From training? No, he'd been in training for a while now and she'd never seen him with bruises anywhere before.

Had he been fighting?

She hoped he would have told her and confided in her. But maybe not. She wondered if he won the fight, if he were hurt anywhere else.

Jimmy and Kyra were glued to him as he spoke, his eyes and face moving expressively as the story reached its climax. They hung on his every word, eyes wide and full of wonder.

Gwen sidled up beside her and pulled her gaze off the young man. "Rations are in." She made a sour face.

"Bad?"

"Less than normal. There's something going on that they're not telling us."

"You reckon Abby would know?"

"Maybe."

"I can ask her, find out some more information."

"Could you? She has to know more."

"When they're eating, I'll go track her down." Gwen nodded before they both turned to look back over at Bellamy, who now had Jimmy climbing over his shoulders. The young boy flipped over his shoulder and the cadet caught him in his arms, not missing a beat. Jimmy burst out laughing in his arms and Nora felt her heart beat faster.

"He's a good guy."

"Yeah, he is." Nora hummed, a smile slipping onto her lips without knowing.

"You like him."

"Of course, he's my friend."

"No, you likehim, like really like him." Nora turned to see Gwen wear a knowing smirk. "You can tell me."

Gulping the lump in her throat, Nora turned back to look at the children and Bellamy. "He's my friend. A good one at that. They're few and far between up here."

"Shame to waste such a fine specimen." Nora shot the older woman a look. "Float me for noticing good looks when I see them." She raised her hands up in defence before nudging the redhead. Nora's eyes flickered around Gwen's face, thoughts flying around her head. "Take a chance, you might just be surprised."

"Surprised by what?"

Bellamy's voice surprised them both as he snuck up on the pair. The women turned to see the cadet standing before them with a wide smile. He left behind the kids, who were now running around and chatting loudly to each other.

"J-Just, uh, surprised by..."

"The kids, and how loud you made them. Great job, you idiot." Nora quipped, smacking him on the arm.

"What can I say? They love me."

"It's like you slipped them sugar." She shook her head, her smiling never shifting.

Beside the pair, Gwen watched them closely. The young adults exchanged words, joking with each other, both wearing wide smiles. She knew she was right about the redhead. She did like Bellamy. It was obvious to her, maybe because she got to know the redhead like a daughter. The older woman had taken her under her wing when she came to the centre aged 13. Nora had been glued to her side, feeling safe with the woman. As years passed, they had grown closer, Nora confiding in Gwen for almost everything and the older woman turning to the redhead for support in moments of weakness.

Nora deserved to find happiness, Gwen believed. She had given her all to the children and the centre, put them before herself so often that she needed to enjoy life for herself more.

Bellamy made her happy, that much was obvious, the pairing having bonded quickly.

A small hand tugging on hers pulled her out of her thoughts and all three adults turned to a pouting Kyra. "I'm hungry."

"I'll serve us up some lunch, don't you worry your little belly." Gwen squeezed the young girls hand.

The 6 year old turned to the cadet and smiled coyly. "Thank you for reading to us, Bellamy. Even if it was about dinosaurs." The cadet stifled a laugh, he knew it wasn't exactly her favourite pick. She wrapped her arms around his lower half in a hug. Bellamy bent down and hugged her properly.

Gwen caught the smile that Nora wore as she watched the pair.

"I'll see you soon, kiddo." Bellamy promised before the young girl skipped off to tell everyone else they were going to eat.

"I'll, uh, head to medical, G."

"Medical?"

Nora caught Bellamy's look of concern. "Just need something for the kids."

He nodded slowly, "I'll walk you there."

"Have fun, kids!" Gwen called from the centre and Nora shot her a glare.

"Something wrong with one of the kids?"

"There's always something." Nora replied as they walked side by side to Medical. "Jupe has a few breathing issues. He's 3 so he doesn't understand why and neither do we really."

"He's so young." Bellamy murmured. "They're all so young. But they just, they're not like kids."

"I know what you mean. I've always thought it was because of what they had seen and been through. It aged them. They had to grow up quicker."

"Yeah." Bellamy trailed off, his mind wandering. Nora noticed his eyes drifting and thinking about something else. Being naturally nosy, she wanted to know what he was thinking about, what made him space out so much.

Looking up, she spotted the growing queue waiting outside of medical and winced. "I'll, uh, catch you sometime soon?"

Frowning, she nodded. "Yeah, sure. The kids will probably want another story."

The smile returned to his face and she relaxed. "I won't let them down." With a short nod, she watched as he turned and walked away. Turning back to medical, she slipped to the front of the queue awkwardly before slipping inside. The redhead spotted Abby immediately. Catching her eye was easier said than done, the woman was being called from bench to bench to help assist on check ups.

Nora waited in a quiet corner, making sure she never lost sight of Abby. Many around her were coughing and wheezing, the same symptoms that Jupe was suffering from.

Finally, she looked over and caught sight of the redhead. Nodding to her, the doctor held up one finger – "one minute".

As promised, the mother walked over to greet the redhead with a tired smile. Nora noticed the familiar chain with a wedding band round her neck, her husband's ring. She remembered that day, when news had spread of Jake being floated. He was a good man, and it had left many people confused.

"What can I do for you?"

"Jupe's not doing so good again. I was wondering if you had something that could help him breathe better?"

A sad smile appeared on the older woman's face before she beckoned her over to a private corner. She sat down on a bench as Abby lifted her torch up and Nora opened her mouth. They passed through the medical check up routine like normal, like they always had, to keep up appearances. "One dose each night will help his lungs and hopefully soothe them." Abby murmured to her, checking her pupils and then ears.

"Thanks." The redhead murmured. "So are they all here because of oxygen?"

Abby made a face, one of conflict and pain. "They all have similar symptoms to Jupe, yes."

Nora nodded, "Do you know what's happening?" The doctor met her gaze and she knew instantly that she did know. "Our rations have steadily been depleting these past couple months, I know something's going on."

"I'm sure they'll pick up again soon. Sometimes things can get a bit tight around here."

"So they're struggling?"

Abby made a face again. "I can't discuss this with you, Nora."

"Is it going to get worse?"

The doctor paused in her checks. "I hope not. But there's a chance Mecha and Farm Station could take the brunt of it all."

"While Shumway sits happy in Alpha." Nora rolled her eyes.

Abby placed her fingers the redhead's chin and lifted it up to make her look at her. "Do not get into this. You... Just don't get involved."

"But those kids-"

"Will be fine with me looking out for them up here too. You bring in Jupe the minute he gets any worse." Nora solemnly nods, staring at Abby as she moved over to the cupboard to write her out a prescription on her medical chart and passing her a small bottle.

"Thanks." Nora gave her a smile and the doctor squeezed her shoulder as she rose to leave. If Jupe got any worse over the next few days, she would bring him in to see Abby, she couldn't lose another child. She remembered when they lost Annie, a full of life 6 year old, who had died of malnutrition because their ration supply was so short. It had been a year since then and the influx of kids in the centre had taken its toll on them all. Especially Annie.

Swallowing back her thoughts, she refused to lose another kid to the Ark.

As she looked up to dodge an oncoming person in the hallway, she stepped to the side and caught sight of the man who made her skin tingle.

Xavier.

A frown pulled her brow as she looked at him, noticed his dark, bruised cheek and slightly swollen eye. His cold eyes glared at her before looking away. What had happened to him? Not that she particularly cared about the guy. Or at all.

The redhead remembered seeing Bellamy's bruised knuckles this morning. Was Xavier's face was the reason for that? Her mind was in a jumble as she walked back to the centre. Questions of why he would do that. He was trying to protect her, she knew it and he had even said he would. But she never thought he would go that far as to go after the man who had been leering after her for weeks on end.

She didn't think he would, but he had.

A soft smile tugged on her lips as she slipped through the centre doors. Jimmy ran up to her excitedly, Kyra hot on his tail. "Is Bellamy coming back tomorrow?"

"I'm not sure, bud. He'll be back soon though, don't worry."

"Can I pick the story next time? Jimmy and the boys did today. It was about how these dragons-"

"Dinosaurs!"

"Fiiiiine. These dinosaurs that ruled the world once." She frowned, the girl loved hearing stories about space and the moon. Not exactly dinosaurs.

"I'm sure if you ask Bellamy nicely, he will let you."

Jimmy groaned in response before they tottered back to their food. She passed Gwen and gave her the medicine for Jupe before tidying up in the small kitchen. She'd make sure to ask Bellamy about why he turned Xavier into a punching bag. If anything, to confirm her thoughts about why he had taken the risk. She was learning how to defend herself. She would soon be more than capable of handling him the next time he stepped up to her.

But after what she had seen today, she couldn't see Xavier coming anywhere near her.