The crowds were growing closer to the dropship, drawing Bellamy's attention away from the girls. The chancellors son, Wells, and Doctor Griffin's daughter, Clarke, were standing with some kid with floppy hair and a frown.

"Relax, we're just trying to figure out where we are!" Wells said to the floppy kid.

"We're on the ground!" Bellamy spoke up. "Is that not good enough for you?"

Wells just frowned at him, as he, Octavia and Nora strolled over to the group. "We need to find Mount Weather. You heard my father's message. That has to be our first priority." Wells said with a self righteousness in his voice that turned his stomach.

If only golden boy here knew who I shot just a few hours ago.

He heard Octavia scoff beside him. "Screw your father. What? You think you're in charge here? You and your little Princess?"

He was proud of her for speaking up, the smirk on his lips showing that. She had spent so long living life hidden away in their home that he didn't know what type of personality she would develop with others. It seemed she had developed a good voice for herself, even though he always knew she had no problem speaking up, ever.

"Do you think we care who's in charge?" Clarke spoke up, not caring about the growing masses around them. "We need to get to Mount Weather. Not because the Chancellor said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we'll get and the harder this'll be! How long do you think we'll last without those supplies? We're looking at a twenty mile trek. So if we want to get there before dark, we need to leave… now."

"I have a better idea: you two go, find it for us... let the privileged do the hard work for a change." Bellamy argued with a smile. These two hadn't been exposed to the hard truths of the Ark hierarchy like they had. Nora had been stealing food since her father had been floated, working and living at the children's centre nearly all her life, for what… to be put in a cell because she stole some food for some hungry children? Octavia had been sharing his food portions while being hidden away under the floor, surviving off the bare minimums... only to be put in a cell for being born.

Meanwhile, Wells and Clarke didn't even have to think about rations. Food was just given to them, in good portions. Their beds had been their own, warm and comfortable. They didn't know what it was like for the rest of them.

Everyone else seemed to be in favour of the decision too, as they rallied and cheered around them. He glanced down to Nora, to see her wearing a small smile. Maybe they could lead this place together, bring some order back...

But Wells would never go for the idea if his face of thunder was anything to go by. "You're not listening, we all need to go!"

"Look everybody!" Wells was shoved to the side once again by the floppy haired guy. Nora's face quickly turned to a glare at the floppy kid, while Octavia giggled beside him. "Chancellor of Earth!"

"You think that's funny?"

The floppy haired guy knocked Wells to the ground, his leg giving way. Clarke shouted for him, trying to get past the throngs of people, before being held back. The two squared off, Wells hobbling on one leg whilst floppy haired guy chuckled at his mere attempts to hold up his fists. The one hundred cheered louder around them, wanting to see the fight. Bellamy didn't care for it, but it showed him that no one wanted to hear orders come from Wells.

But before a fight could happen, Spacewalker dropped down from nowhere and landed between the two.

"Kid's got one leg. How about you wait until it's a fair fight?"

"Hey Spacewalker?" Octavia strode towards them, her eyes clearly on the prize. "Rescue me next."

Bellamy's eyes widened at his sister's words. Well, that just put Spacewalker on his hit list.

"Good luck controlling her down here, big brother." Chuckling to herself, he turned to look down at Nora. He raised a brow at her, quickly silencing any laughter as he followed his sister.

Pulling her back, he gave his sister a stern look, one that used to reprimand her but clearly that didn't work anymore. "What?" She said to him, crumpling her brows together in a look. "He's cute."

Bellamy just rolled his eyes and saw Nora shake her head in agreement.

"Leave her be, Bellamy." What? His eyebrows shot up to his hairline, not believing the redhead was siding with his sister, instead of him. "She needs to have some fun after being locked away for 17 years." Nora shrugged and Octavia's face went from accusing to gleeful.

"He's a criminal, Nor." He said, to which she and Octavia rolled her eyes at.

"We're all criminals." Octavia argued.

"Look, O, I came down here to protect you."

"I don't need protecting! I have been locked up, one way or another, my whole life. I am done following orders." Octavia said boldly. "I need to have fun, Bell. I need to do something crazy just because I can! And no one including you is going to stop me."

Bellamy looked down, trying to avoid Nora's burning gaze. "I can't stay with them."

"What are you talking about?"

He spared a look around them to check no one was listening. "I did something, to get on the dropship. Something they will kill me for when they come down. I can't say what it is just yet. But you have to trust me. You both still trust me, right?" He looked from Octavia to Nora and back again.

The two women shared a look, hoping the other could supply an answer the other needed. "Of course we do." Nora spoke softly, looking back to him with a raised eyebrow. "But you're going to have to tell us one day what you did."

"I will… one day."

"That's not one day in ten years, Bell." Nora shot him an unimpressed look. "That's one day soon."

Then Octavia snorted beside her and made the frown turn to a smile. The redhead just rolled her eyes before elbowing his sister. How had it only been a day and he had missed seeing that smile on her face? Maybe because it had actually been a few days without seeing it, with the kiss disaster and then her getting arrested... regardless, it warmed him to his core. He wanted to do more to keep that smile there. "I promise."

"Good."

"Okay, now that's settled, I'm gonna go on that food search party and you two can stay here like the boring old parents of the group!" Octavia grinned before parting ways with the pair.

Shaking his head, he glanced down to see Nora's mouth drop wide open. "Hey! Get back here! I'm not boring! Or old! Octavia!" The younger woman just ignored her shouting, as she skipped off to join the group. Looking down, he just smiled at her angry face. "I'm not… right?"

His smirk just grew wider before he shook his head, "teenagers…"

"You didn't answer the question, Bell." He laughed before draping his arm over her shoulders and pulling her along to the growing group of explorers, where Clarke was busy reprimanding Spacewalker.

"Let's go see where exactly they're taking O."

She huffed alongside him, rolling her eyes as they overhead Clarke scold someone again. They had barely been on earth 30 minutes and she was already talking up a storm.

"Were you trying to take this off?" She held up Spacewalker's wrist band that appeared to be damaged.

"Yeah? So?"

"So? This wristband transmits your vital signs to the Ark. Take it off and they'll think you're dead."

"Should I care?"

"Well, I don't know. Do you want the people you love to think that you're dead? Do you want them to follow you down in here in two months? Because they won't if they think we're dying."

He felt his heart drop. The rest of the Ark would be following them down here... to live... to build a home. Did he want any of them down here? Well, apart from Gwen and the kids in the centre, it was a hard no from him.

Those wristbands were the only thing stopping them from following them all down. They were the only thing stopping them from thinking Earth wasn't survivable.

Take them off and they'll think you're dead. Clarke's words repeated in his mind. And then they won't follow us.

Glancing down to his side, his arm still resting across her shoulders, he saw Nora inspecting the metal wristband on her own wrist. She was frowning at it, like it still hurt.

He would need people to start taking off their wristbands, but he knew Nora would never go for it. She had Gwen and those kids up there, Jimmy and Kyra... she wouldn't let them think she was dead.

He could start with the others though; persuade them to take them off so they could live freely down here without the patriarchy of the Ark. It would protect him longer too... Keep the council away from here. He would just have to work on the redhead. He wasn't sure how he could persuade her to remove hers. Or maybe he could just get her to hide it under her jacket? He'd have to figure out a way to get them off first...

As he looked at Nora's band, he wasn't exactly sure how easy it would be to remove them. Some sort of metal to wedge them open? Maybe there was something on the ship he could use.

Her hazel eyes looked up to him suddenly; she had a distant look on her face, deep in thought, with her brows drawn tightly together. He wanted to know what she was thinking about...

"Okay, now let's go!" Clarke called out, grabbing her map before leading the search party off in the direction of the thick forest. Octavia looked back at him with her big, brown doe eyes, looking for approval.

Bellamy relented, nodding his head and the smile on her face made it better for him, as she rose to her tip toes to kiss his cheek. Nora spied the smile that lingered on his lips as his arm dropped from her.

"I'm sure it'll get easier."

"What? Sending her off into an unknown mountain? Where something could attack her?"

Nora rolled her eyes, crossing her arms under her chest. "Relax, would you? You're gonna get frown lines before you're 30. Besides, what is going to survive a radiation soaked planet? It doesn't even look like people have lived here for years."

Bellamy didn't seem to agree, still looking off in the direction to where Octavia had disappeared in. "I'm never going to stop worrying about her. That's what brothers do."

"Well you can at least start trying to give her some space... Space to breathe and grow up and just let loose. She can do all that and you can still be there protecting her, Bell."

Exhaling, he stood with his hands on his hips. "Just makes it harder to protect her."

"You've done a good job so far." Nora nudged him in the side with a smile.

Bellamy met her gaze, her smile infectious. "Come on, let's go find a water source and get you cleaned up." He nodded over in a different direction to the food search party.

"An adventure!" She grinned as he pulled her along, past the ruckus crowds of teenagers screaming and celebrating their new found freedom. "Here you are worried about O going out there when we don't actually know where we're going either."

"Somewhere into the forest, Nor. It'll be fine, we won't go as far." He said, watching as she crunched leaves and occasionally reached out to touch things, like a tree and flowers. "Besides, I'll protect you."

"Aw, gee, thanks." She quipped, rolling her eyes. "Well, you do have that gun, so there's something."

Together, they walked side by side, wandering through the thick forest. The sunlight streamed through the trees, lighting up their path and he made sure to recognise key points so they could find their way back, all the while Nora chatted about survival and building tents and fires next when they got back.

"We'll need places to sleep, we can't all fit in the drop ship."

"We can use the parachute for blankets?"

She turned sharply to him, with a gleam in her eyes. "Or we could use them as the actual tents?!"

Smirking, he nodded, "yeah, good thinking. Branches as the supports."

Nora nodded along, "we should probably take back some fire wood on the way back too."

"Got plenty of time to do that." He followed up, before stilling, listening closely. He could hear a rippling sound, it was quiet, but loud enough to hear.

"Come ooooooon, Bell." Nora called out to him, already a few steps ahead of him now.

"We need to go this way." He pointed to the side. She just shot him a quizzical look. "You don't hear that?" Another look. "Water." He said with a smile and she raced over to catch up, copying his smile.

But as she got within reach of him, she slipped on something green on a log; it looked like moss to him. A yelp left her mouth but he grabbed hold of her arm before she could meet the ground. Letting out a laugh, she looked up at him with those same hazel eyes that pulled him in over a year ago. "Good catch."

As she laughed, he realised he was still holding her arm, his grip gentle but it slowly slipped away.

The memory of their first kiss momentarily came flashing through his mind... and how he messed things up with her. He needed to make it up to her.

But instead, he flashed her a smile and said, "you clutz" and then pulled her along to the sound of the water. Ducking under some low hanging trees, they pushed away the foliage and stepped over more logs... but they had found water.

"Wow." Nora breathed out beside him; eyes alight with happiness at the sight of the clear stream. It began with a little waterfall from the left and ran down, into a small pool at the bottom. It didn't look deep, probably about waist height for him. But it was good enough for a drink and a clean. To the right, he saw a small cave entrance, surrounded by rocks.

But that could wait to explore another day.

Nora dropped down to the edge of the stream, quickly taking off her shoes and socks, before rolling up her combats as far as they would go.

As he stepped closer to her, he watched her grin as she dipped her toes into the water. "Bellammyyyyy." She rolled her eyes, "sit already and take off your damn shoes. This is amazing."

Rolling his eyes, he dropped down to sit beside her, while she reached a hand into the water.

"Reckon it's safe to drink?"

"One way to find out." He said, reaching in and grabbing a handful. It tasted too pure to be harmful. It was perfectly cool, and instantly he felt better and reached for another handful. "It tastes fine."

She soon copied him, taking two hands to scoop water out for a slurp and then let out a tiny moan that made his combats tighten. Shaking it off, Bellamy took his shoes and socks off, rolling up his combats before dropping his feet in.

"What do you call this?"

"What d'you mean?"

"This." She said, pointing to the water. "It doesn't feel like a river... what would you call it?"

He pondered it for a moment, looking out, seeing only a small waterfall. That would also have to wait for another day to explore where the waterfall was coming from. "I'm not sure. It could be a reservoir? A pond? I don't know."

"You're meant to be the smart one here." She said, flicking her feet through the water and looking up to the sunshine streaming through the trees.

Nora was right. It did feel amazing. The Ark had no baths, only showers, so this was a luxury to soak his feet. He half felt like throwing his whole body in there. It'd be a good place for a clean though; seeing as it was so private.

"We need something to collect it." She mumbled, after another slurp. "But we could also be drinking some animals bath water at the same time." She joked, Bellamy cracking a smile, before looking back across the water. "It's beautiful." Nora said, looking up towards to the tree tops and the sky.

His dark eyes moved back to her face, taking in how the light hit her hazel eyes, lighting them up. God, he had messed up with her. But she was alive and it felt like he was being given a second chance to fix things. "Yeah, it is." He said, his eyes not moving away from her face. Now would be the perfect moment to just lean over and kiss her. Correct his wrong doings from a couple of days ago. But as he felt himself begin to lean over, she reached down and grab a sharp looking rock and began to slice at the bottom of her t-shirt. She pulled off a neat skinny strip of fabric and then dipped it in the water below them, before turning to him with the wet rag.

"Can you help me please?"

"Quite resourceful."

"I prefer the term scrappy." She said with a half smile, as he took the fabric from her. Scooting closer, he pushed some more red hair away from the cut and first worked on ridding the blood from her temple and cheek.

"How are your lashings healing?"

She stilled, taking a deep breath. "Jones told you, huh?"

"Yeah." He said, wiping most of the blood away before dabbing the wound. She winced briefly, before lifting her shirt ever so slightly to show her stomach, showing just two of the smaller lashings on her stomach, and the third one was covered in a bandage. That means that one is bad, Bellamy told himself, his jaw clenching. Just as Jones said.

"They're okay? Abby patched me up before coming down."

"I wish I had just killed him then and there."

"Wouldn't have solved anything, Bell, but it would've felt good."

He just hummed in agreement, eyeing her wound closely. It looked cleaner. Dabbing it again, more dried on blood came away, revealing a skinny cut. "Looks all good, not too deep at all."

"Good, thanks." She said, holding out her hand for the rag. "I'll clean it later." She shrugged before taking the wet rag from him, their fingers touching briefly; but he felt that warmth all the same. She rang out the rag on the grass, squeezing it dry before wrapping it around her wrist. "Never know when someone's gonna need a tourniquet."

"Hopefully no one ever." He said.

"Maybe not with you in charge."

Bellamy just shrugged; he had toyed with the idea earlier, him and Nora running the place and he knew it could work. "I've just told them what to do so far, which is basically just do whatever the hell you want."

She shrugged, "gotta be careful that doesn't get out of hand."

"I don't see a need to make rules for them. They've been locked up for so long, may as well enjoy themselves for now."

"Like Octavia?"

He caught her smirk and just rolled his eyes. "I feel like my job of watching over her is becoming harder now we're on the ground, especially with you two teaming up."

"She likes the freedom."

"She likes making me worry. Always has."

Swishing their feet in the pool of water below them, they both took the time to inspect their surroundings. The tall trees fell over them like a canopy, the sun peaking through as the wind picked up. "It's not at all like I imagined..." Nora began, "but then it's everything I wanted it to be... just so peaceful out here... I just hope the kids are okay."

"I'm sure Gwen's looking after them."

"I know she will, it's just... I wonder where they think I am. Kyra wanted to show me a performance they had practiced." She gave a brief sad smile. "Word would have spread that I got caught and arrested... I wonder if they even know I'm down here..."


The silence was killing her. The night was passing all too slowly and Gwen had heard nothing from Abby or Bellamy. She imagined the young man would be with the doctor, he said he would update here as soon as he knew anything. Did this mean Nora was still in lock up?

She had no idea. But that was set to change.

The kids went to bed, albeit a bit upset that Nora wasn't back to watch their performance. The older woman had soothed their sadness, but they had done nothing to help soothe Gwen's worries.

She had to wait until the volunteer arrived that evening before she could slip out to track down Abby. Giving the orders of what needed to be done, she grabbed her jacket and wrapped it tightly around her for warmth before escaping to medbay. But as she arrived, she found no sign of Abby.

"Abby is down at the control centre, I think?" Jackson had told her with a shrug as he tended to a patient. "The council is gathering there for some reason I heard her say."

The older woman thanked him before rushing over to Alpha station, but she soon discovered that was everyone else's plan. Crowds were gathered in the hallways, talking to each other.

"I bet they killed those kids and put them on there."

"Why are they not telling us anything?"

"We have a right to know who was on that ship."

Her thoughts were running away from her as she heard their chatter, fighting to get to the front of the crowds. "Excuse me." She kept repeating, until she made her way to the front, only to be stopped by guards at the glass doors that led to a corridor to the control centre.

"I need to speak to Abby Griffin, do you know if she's in there?" Gwen asked, looking past them through the glass doors. She saw people rushing around beyond them, digital displays in hand as they looked hard at something on there. The machines were all lit up in different colours, she squinted to see.

"Dr. Griffin is busy. You'll need to make an appointment at medbay." The guard said.

"No, it's not medical related. I need to speak to her regarding an arrest. It's urgent." The guard spared her a look, seemingly debating it. "Please."

He clenched his jaw before nodding, then grabbing another guard to cover his post. She watched as he beeped through the doors with his badge and then entered the control centre. Then she lost sight of him.

The guard wasn't long before he returned, but no Abby in sight. Was she not there?

"Come with me." The guard muttered to her, as the other let her past. Not looking back at the crowds, she kept her eyes forward and searching for the doctor.

"Gwen." She heard the soft voice before she saw her face, turning to the right, she saw Abby with a forced smile and then the doctor embraced her quickly. "Sorry for not coming to you sooner." She pulled her over to the side, but Gwen's eyes were shooting around the room, looking at all the different monitors and faces on the large display screens. Who were they?

"What's going on? There's people out there talking about a ship launching?"

Abby nodded, visibly gulping before speaking. "We have sent all 99 of the prisoners to the ground in a dropship this evening... to see if Earth is survivable for us." Gwen's eyes doubled in size as she listened, and then felt her heart drop as the doctor turned the monitor in her hand around to face her. "As well as Nora."

The face of the redheaded woman she had watched grow up was staring back at her on the display. Reaching out, she took it with shaky hands. "You sent her to the ground?"

Gwen felt her lip wobble just looking at her face. She wasn't smiling, just staring straight ahead with those light brown eyes. She remembered the day when Nora had to go in for the Ark's routine photo updates. Every single person on the Ark had to. The redhead had groaned about it the whole way there, and it didn't take long for Jimmy to copy Nora's groans, which quickly changed the woman's mood. Gwen remembered their smiles and laughter the whole way there and back.

"I appealed for her release with Kane and Jaha... but the chancellor was set on floating her. She broke the law so that was it." Abby spoke gently. "But we had a seat left on the dropship for the Earth mission and I didn't want her life to go to waste."

"So you sent her to the ground to die instead?" Gwen bit out, looking at Abby for the first time.

"She's alive. I bargained her life to give her another chance on the ground." The doctor said, moving to stand beside her and pressing on the display. A strong green line was moving along, as well as high numbers. "Her vitals are high, but she's doing well. Better than some of the others!"

"How do you know this?"

"All of the kids are wearing wristbands which send their vitals straight to us. We lost all other communication with them, so this is all we have."

"But you know she's definitely alive?"

"Yes." Abby gave her a smile. "I'm sorry we didn't have a chance to tell you sooner." Reaching out, the doctor placed a hand on her upper arm, giving it a squeeze of reassurance.

"We never got to say goodbye to her, Abby. What am I gonna tell the kids?"

The doctor didn't have an answer for that, other than "tell them the truth. That's all you can do. If this works, then it won't be long until we follow them down. This is her second chance at life."

Gwen looked back to the monitor, her heart beating faster as Nora's face stared back at her. "I want to know everything as soon as you know it. I need to be kept in the loop about Nora. Anything, and I mean, anything happens, you tell me immediately."

"Absolutely." Abby said, nodding, taking the monitor from her. "Feel free to contact me for updates. If I'm not in medbay, I'll be here."

"Okay." Gwen nodded, casting a glance to the monitors on the wall, showing every face of those on the ground. Her eyes landed on a blonde and gave Abby a soft look. "Clarke's down there too?"

The doctor visibly gulped before nodding, "She's doing well. Dehydrated, but she's okay. My plan was Clarke would help people and Nora would lead them."

Gwen gave a soft smile and shook her head, holding back the flood of emotions. "Nora's not a leader... but she'll help Clarke, like she's helped everyone else. She'll always put others first."

"But isn't that what makes a good leader?"


"Me and you could run this place, y'know? We could lead these people..."

She scoffs, "I'm not a leader, Bell." She kept her head down, looking at the water. "You already are but I'm... I'm more like the quiet supporter. I don't raise my voice, but I'll help people... You're the real leader here" she said, casting a sideways look his way, giving him a nudge, "plus, you're the oldest here, so you've got the advantage"

"You're second oldest"

"Doesn't matter, you goof," she laughs. "People are looking to you already, for instructions and what to do. It might be the guards uniform that's helping that, but... I'm not a leader. I'll always be here to help you though." She shrugged, but he couldn't help but see it otherwise. Yes, she was the helper but she was a doer and could make a difference to how they built up their new home. He knew she'd have other ideas that would help them, just like the tents. It wouldn't take long for people to recognise that and follow her. "Clarke would make a good leader."

Bellamy didn't bother holding back his own scoff. "You actually like that princess?"

"I don't hate her" she shrugged. "But some people listen to her too, whether you like it or not."

He made a face. "I don't trust her."

The redhead just shrugged. "Neither do I right now, but I trust and respect her mother. Abby must have filled Clarke with some good intentions. You saw the way she helped me and those kids, and Jupe! That was out of goodness; Clarke probably has that same goodness in her too."

"I still don't see her leading equally with me."

Nora shook her head, laughing "I never said equally. You'll always like to believe you're in control" she joked with a grin and Bellamy just laughed. But he stopped short when her head snapped to the side and her smile dropped. "Did you hear that?"

"What?"

"I heard something... in the trees." She looked out to the treeline, nothing was there. Not that Bellamy could see. It could've easily have been any of the hundred wandering around their new land.

"Probably someone messing around." He answered. "We should probably head back to camp anyway. I left Murphy in charge" He said, pulling his feet from the water and shaking off the water before putting his socks on.

Nora copied him with wide eyes. "Murphy?" Nora put her socks and shoes on quickly, as he finished tying his own. Standing up, he offered his hand to her.

"What's the problem with Murphy?"

She gave him her hand and he pulled her up, her body landed close to him, but then she had taken a step back from him before another moment could pass. Shock and disbelief was still on her face, as she shook her head at him.

"That floppy haired teenager? You left him in charge?"

"Yeah, people follow him." He said, starting to lead her back to camp, spotting the familiar markers on the way there.

"They listen to you too. You don't have to leave that idiot in control. You've given him power now!"

"You don't like him?" he stopped, watching her pick up a few twigs and logs, handing him some along the way.

"No and I don't trust him either." She said, picking up another log and placing it on top of the pile in his arms. "I don't have a good feeling about him, just like I didn't have a good feeling about Shumway" she gave him a look and he just shook his head.

She picked up another handful of twigs as he spoke. "Then trust me and my judgment, Nor." She gave him another look.

"Of course I trust you. The only people I really do trust are you and Octavia."

He looks down at her, both of them with a pile of logs in their arms. "I'll look after you and Octavia down here, don't worry. So long as I'm leader, no one will come near you two or hurt you. I promise."

A/N: Okay, so I know as we work through the story, there will be some dialogue that was in the episodes that I will need to include (like the above first scene), but with Nora... she won't always be going on the normal journeys with the gang... she's not a leader after all... ;) So I hope you stick around to see what Earth throws at her...