For a long silent moment, Bellamy was paralyzed by the realization that he and Clarke had been transported back to a place that held such horrific memories for both of them. But then he pulled himself together, remembering that if Gabriel's calculations were correct, this was the bunker just after it had been built and not the scene of Blodreina's fighting pit or Clarke's near-execution.
He swung the flashlight down and around until the stone finally came into view. The one that connected Earth with Sanctum.
Keeping his voice low, he said, "Let's try sending a message back and then figure out how to get the hell outta here."
"What do you think it should say?"
"Something short and to the point. For the moment, no one seems to be around, but my gut's telling me this isn't a safe place."
Still clutching the light, Bellamy stepped up to the stone and with his free hand pulled the tuning fork from his jacket pocket. He tapped out a message using the variation on Morse Code that they'd practiced with Gabriel.
"What'd you say?" Clarke asked when he put the metal rod away.
"Arrived bunker. Tell Octavia."
"Good idea. Octavia will understand where we've landed. Maybe even come down next, because no one knows this place better than she does."
"Right now, I'm hoping you and I remember enough to find our way out."
After a few false starts, they finally located a stairway that Clarke recalled from their earliest days in the bunker. They'd already climbed two stories when they heard footsteps approaching from above. Quickly, silently, they ducked into the shadow of a doorway, flattening themselves against the wall so that the two men who passed no more than three feet away never even knew they were there.
The men were deep in conversation
"Did Bill say why he'd called the meeting?" one asked.
His companion shrugged. "Something about that genius science broad. But you know Cadogan. He likes to make a fucking mystery out of everything."
Shit!
Bellamy easily recalled where he'd heard the name Bill Cadogan before. It was during that long-ago time when they'd been frantically searching for shelter from praimfaya. And soon after Jaha had shown them the vid of Cadogan's speech, Bellamy had found that coin.
Later, when Monty was able to burn the coin into a key that opened the bunker, they'd had to assume Cadogan built the thing. So that part wasn't really a surprise.
But what the hell was he doing in possession of the stone? And… genius science broad? Bellamy feared that could refer to only one person. If so, what the fuck did Cadogan have to do with Becca Franko?
He'd always known this mission would be tough. Find Becca's lab, figure out a way to get in touch with her, persuade her they were exactly who they claimed to be. And perhaps most difficult of all, convince her it was necessary to abandon — perhaps even destroy — her life's work, because it was going wipe out all the people on the planet.
And all this on their say-so alone.
When he looked at it like that, it sounded more than tough. It sounded damn near impossible!
But with all that, he'd never pictured them having to also deal with a crazy cult leader like Bill Cadogan.
The questions bounced around in Bellamy's brain as they quickly and silently resumed their upward journey, finally emerging into the sunlight through a side door that was thankfully unlocked from the inside.
To be immediately hit by a wall of sound!
They weren't in the woods, or even the countryside, and Bellamy realized how foolish he'd been to have somehow expected that. The bunker had been built in the middle of a 21st century city, and now they were back in the thick of that city.
Roads with cars whizzing past them, throngs of humanity coming from all directions, enormous buildings of every description.
He didn't know which way to look first.
"Look," Clarke touched his arm and pointed to a spot in the distance. "That looks like some green space over there. Maybe it's a… a park?"
A park! They'd both read about those oases of calm created in the midst of the teeming metropolises of Old Earth.
They hurried towards the distant green spot, carefully tracking the other pedestrians as they crossed two wide roadways heavy with traffic. No one looked at them, or noticed them at all. Bellamy could only assume Gabriel had been right when he'd assured them their denim clothing and backpacks would allow them to blend right in. Although Bellamy was certain none of those around them had clothes as tattered or shoes as worn.
Still, no one questioned them and they finally reached the haven of the city park, collapsing with relief onto a bench.
The day was warm and sunny, and he'd have like to take time to enjoy the Earth's atmosphere, which was pleasant despite the noise and the bustle. But he knew they didn't have time. Judging by the position of the sun, it was already late-morning, and they still had plenty to do before nightfall.
They both pulled tablets from their backpacks, but rather than trying to figure out where they were, Bellamy had something else he wanted to investigate first.
Raven had downloaded all the Ark's information about the Earth onto their tablets, plus anything she thought might be useful from the computers on the mining ship. And then Gabriel had added everything from the files of the Eligius 3, which, in the timeline they now found themselves, had left Earth just a few months earlier.
So it took Bellamy only minutes to find what he was looking for.
"Hey, remember this," he nudged Clarke, turning his screen around to show her the Cadogan video Jaha had downloaded all those years ago.
She nodded. "Yeah, I remember. Looks like we were right. It was Second Dawn that built the bunker. But I don't think we have time to worry about Cadogan right now, Bellamy. Our priority is to find Gabriel's sister."
Bellamy sighed, knowing she was right. He'd have to get back to the cult leader later.
Clarke had been studying Gabriel's 21st century Earth maps when she suddenly gave a short bark of laughter.
"What's so amusing?"
"Look at that sign," she smiled, pointing to a large placard at the front of their green space that read 'Alexandria Municipal Park'.
"And?"
"We knew we had to be close because of the bunker, but according to this map, Arlington's only a few miles away."
Bellamy sighed with relief. He hadn't been looking forward to trying to navigate multiple miles along the densely-populated coastal cities.
"So how do we get there from here?"
She shrugged. "I guess we'll have to ask. Meanwhile, I'm starving. We have cash and there's plenty of food in this time period. Let's eat."
They found a small cafe on a side street that bordered the park, and Clarke rhapsodized over her fresh fruit salad while Bellamy chowed down on his burger. When the waitress brought them the check, he asked how they could get to Arlington.
She gave then a friendly smile.
"You guys not from around here?"
"Uh, not recently," Bellamy said with what he hoped was a convincing smile.
"Right. Well, if you don't have a car," she said, eyeing their backpacks, "easiest way is to take the Metro."
"The Metro?"
She frowned down at them. "Yeah. I mean… you've used the subway other places, right? If not in DC?"
"Of course," Bellamy lied smoothly. "Where do we we find the, uh, the Metro?"
"Closest station's two blocks away. Just turn right out our door."
He nodded. "Thanks."
The Metro was easier to navigate than he'd imagined, once they'd acquired and figured out the schematic map of the criss-crossing underground routes. They got off at Arlington city center and used one of Gabriel's old Earth maps to bring up a route to his sister's house.
"Should we try to find a bus?" he wondered aloud, as one whizzed by along the street.
Clarke glanced down at the map. "Looks like Rosa's house is only four or five miles from here. Why don't we just walk?"
Bellamy agreed, relieved not to have to deal with the confusion of another unfamiliar transportation system and happy to be out in the sunshine. He was used to getting plenty of exercise and especially enjoyed walking, although he slowed his pace slightly to accommodate Clarke's shorter legs.
They soon left the commercial district behind and began to traverse residential neighborhoods. The further they got from the downtown, the more elaborate the homes became.
"Christ! Look at some of these places," Bellamy muttered as they passed street after street of near-mansions. "Did you expect this?"
Clarke shook her head. "They look pretty fancy. I hope that doesn't mean Rosa Santiago won't let us in long enough to explain ourselves."
Belkamy huffed a laugh. "Is there a good way to explain ourselves?"
Clarke's smile was wry. "Guess we'll find out."
XXXXXXXXXX
They came upon it suddenly, turning a corner to find a large brick house that seemed to be one of the older and slightly less elaborate homes on the street.
"Here goes nothin'," he murmured as they made their way up the walk to the front door.
'What if she's not home?" Clarke said while Bellamy rang the doorbell, as though suddenly realizing that they didn't have a Plan B.
But before they had time to worry about it, the door was opened by a woman both smaller and older than Bellamy had expected. Then he asked himself why he should have had any expectations at all.
"Yes?" She frowned at them from across the threshold. "I'll tell you right now I don't buy anything from people who just show up at my door."
Bellamy tried for a friendly smile. "Oh, no, we're not selling anything..."
"Not much interested in your religion, either. Whatever it happens to be. So if you don't mind…"
"Gabriel sent us," Clarke burst into speech. "We have a message from him."
Rosa frowned. "Gabriel is in space, my dear. And don't waste your time trying to sell me on some kind of psychic message…"
"Yes, I know. We've just come from there, from where Gabriel is," Clarke rushed on, interrupting her again. "And it's not a psychic message, it's a letter."
Bellamy had already pulled the letter from his backpack by the time Clarke turned to him.
"Here," he said, handing it to Rosa. "You can check it out yourself."
They'd hoped to at least get inside before they had to give her the letter, but it was clear Rosa Santiago would need to be convinced before she ever let them past her door.
She glanced down at the letter, obvious surprise skittering across her features when she saw her name written in Gabriel's bold hand.
"I suppose you'd better come in, then," she said, opening the door wider so they could pass, the sight of her brother's handwriting evidently providing enough reassurance about the strangers at her door.
Bellamy looked around the place with interest. This was, after all, living history. And he could see from Clarke's face that she, too, was agog with curiosity. Unlike the palace on Sanctum, which had been the quarters for a bunch of self-declared gods, this was the home of a comfortably ordinary citizen of 21st-century Earth.
They sat on a couch across from Rosa while she opened and read Gabriel's letter. And reread it. And then again. As though not quite believing its contents.
"Do you know what's in here?" she asked finally, glancing up at them.
"Not exactly," Clarke shrugged. "Gabriel told us to bring it to you and you'd, uh, take care of everything."
Rosa sighed, "So you're Bellamy," she nodded to Clarke, "and you're Clarke," she said, eyeing Bellamy.
They both smiled.
"Actually, I'm Clarke," Clarke told her, "and that's Bellamy. But I don't blame you for being confused about our…"
"And you came here via a subspace wormhole?"
Bellamy and Clarke eyed each other, startled. They'd had no idea Gabriel was going to tell his sister about the stone.
"Well, yeah, we did…" Bellamy started to explain, but Rosa cut him off.
"You know, we've speculated about subspace wormholes at NASA for years, but I never expected to actually encounter someone who'd traveled through one."
"You work for NASA?" Bellamy tried to hide his surprise.
"Have for nearly thirty years," Rosa told them. "Gabriel worked for them, too, although he's a lot younger than me so he started much later on. Of course that was before he got mixed up with those Eligius people." She sighed. "And that girl." She fingered a picture that Gabriel had apparently included in his letter, and Bellamy could see even upside down that it was a picture of a young man and woman.
Beside him, Clarke gave a small startled gasp, which she immediately tried to cover with a cough.
"I didn't realize Gabriel had sent you a picture of himself with Josephine," she said brightly.
Rosa nodded, pursing her lips. "Yes, the Lightbourne girl. He was so totally infatuated with her, and in the end that was what persuaded him to leave NASA and join their private experimental mission. But… he looks well enough I suppose. He and… Josephine."
She looked up at them suddenly, her eyes narrowing. "You know, I don't remenber hearing about either of you in that group."
"We were last minute additions," Bellamy improvised quickly.
But Rosa's glance became speculative, as though she'd just thought of something.
"Wait there," she said, rising quickly from her chair, returning a few moments later with a pair of tiny scissors.
"If… you wouldn't mind. Gabriel told me about having to change his blood. And," she sighed, "I just need to be sure."
Clarke nodded, picking up the tiny scissors and pricking her finger before handing them to Bellamy. As he pricked his own finger, he thanked Gabriel for his foresight, even if this wasn't exactly the moment either of them might have had in mind.
As the drops of black blood oozed from their fingers, Rosa's shoulders visibly relaxed.
"Sorry," she said, handing them each a tissue. "I just had to be sure."
"It's not a problem, Ms. Santiago," Clarke said softly. "Believe me, no one's more careful than we are…"
Rosa's expression was rueful. "I've just asked you to stick a hole in your finger, Clarke, so I think you can call me Rosa. It's actually short for Rosalinda, but I don't think we need to be that formal."
"Thanks for your trust, Rosa," Clarke said, smiling widely. Bellamy wasn't surprised when Rosa smiled back because who had ever been able to resist Clarke Griffin's smile?
"Well, I guess we'd better get going," Rosa said briskly, rising suddenly. "Got to get the two of you settled in."
"Settled in?"
What the hell had been in that letter?
"Yes," Rosa nodded. "Gabriel wants me to give you complete access to everything he owns… including his condo. This place is so big he could easily have lived here with me. It is where we both grew up, after all. But he wanted some independence, and," she sighed, "no doubt some privacy as well. So he bought himself a condo. It's not far. I'll drive you."
Bellamy and Clarke glanced at each other in surprise before quickly following Rosa out the door.
It took them only ten minutes to drive across the city to an area where condos were more commonplace than large brick houses. Gabriel's was on the second floor, and consisted of a large living area, a small but well-equipped kitchen, and two bedrooms, one of which had been furnished as an office. There were also two bathrooms.
"You two look like you traveled light, but then I don't imagine you'd want to try taking much through a subspace wormhole." Rosa's tone was wry. "But there are plenty of Gabriel's clothes in the closet, Bellamy." She looked him up and down. "They should fit. And he won't be needing them for a while yet. Not until he comes home."
Bellamy frowned. She really thought he'd fit into Gabriel's clothes? "Oh, I don't think…"
"Of course they'll fit," Clarke broke in quickly. "And I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
Just in time Bellamy recalled that the Gabriel they knew was not the brother Rosa had said goodbye to only a couple of years earlier. She'd never be able to comprehend that the man she remembered was now two hundred years old and had an entirely different body.
Or that he'd never be coming home.
"Thanks, Rosa," he said, the warmth of his smile laced with pity for a loss she didn't yet understand. "I've borrowed things from Gabriel before," like a raggedy sweater, "so I know he won't mind."
When Rosa cleared her throat and suddenly looked away, Bellamy wondered if he'd somehow given something away. But a moment later she seemed herself again.
"The combination for the safe is in his office, along with the car keys…"
"Car?" That would certainly make their life easier.
"It's parked in the underground garage, probably still hooked up to its charger. Just press the button on the key fob and the lights will flash."
"Thank you for everything, Rosa," Clarke said when the older woman turned to leave.
But Rosa just shrugged her off.
"It's what Gabriel wanted and… I'm sure there must be a good reason why you're here."
"There is," Bellamy told her, "and maybe we should talk about it…"
"Tomorrow," Rosa said in what he'd now come to recognize as her usual direct fashion. "Right now, you both look like you could use some food and some rest. But if you want to talk, I'll be home tomorrow."
She was almost out the door when she turned suddenly, "I almost forgot. You should find a couple of phones in the desk in the office…"
Bellamy was surprised. "Gabriel had two phones?"
Rosa shrugged. "I think maybe one of them was for work, and the other… more personal. They're paid up for the year so you might as well use them. And he wasn't careful about passwords. He always used the same one, his birthday. 0822."
And then she was gone.
Bellamy practically fell onto the couch, shaking his head in near-disbelief. "A condo, a car, phones, a safe… what the hell is next?"
Clarke flopped down next to him. "Life is a lot more complicated in the 21st century than anywhere we've lived before."
He could only nod.
"I never really considered what it would be like to live here. In this place, in this time. After the harshness of the Ark, and then… living in ruins on the ground. The toxic air of Sanctum..."
He hardly knew how to finish the thought, but from Clarke's expression he knew she understood. All they'd thought about was the mission. Stopping the bombs. Protecting the planet. Saving the people.
But not what it would be like to live there. Not what it would be like to stay.
Clarke sighed suddenly. "I wonder if there's anything to eat in this place."
They found a store of canned goods and feasted on chicken soup and peaches before making their way to the office. The phones were in the drawer, just like Rosa had said, and when they used the keys to open the safe they found what looked like an enormous amount of cash.
Clarke shook her head. "That's it. I can't deal with anything else. I'm gonna take a shower. That's one 21st-century convenience I can really appreciate."
"Me, too." Bellamy rose. "I'll use the bathroom off the office."
Even though it felt like he'd scrubbed layers of dirt from his body, when he emerged from the shower he gazed into the mirror with an unsatisfied frown.
It wasn't enough.
On impulse, he pulled down a razor from the shelf and began to shave off his beard. By the time he finished, he felt lighter, freer. Less burdened.
Bellamy gave himself a satisfied smirk, then wrapped a towel around his midsection to wait in the living room until Clarke was finished and he could get some clean clothes. When he heard the snick of the door opening, he rose and turned in her direction.
Jaws dropping, they gawked at each other in mutual shock.
"Your beard!" "What the heck are you wearing!"
"I just… decided to shave it off. But that, uh… that dress…"
"It's a nightgown, Bellamy, and I'm assuming it belonged to Josephine. It has the same kind of silky feel a lot of her clothes in Sanctum had." Clarke fingered the edge of the gown.
"Oh," he swallowed, eyeing a pair of long shapely legs. "It's just… there's not much to it."
She shrugged. "Maybe, but it feels really comfortable. And I figured… she wore my body back in Sanctum so I should be able to wear her damn clothes, right?"
"Right," he said, sliding past her into the bedroom. "Uh, I should probably get dressed myself."
It was nearly dark, and they were used to going to bed with the sun. Besides, it'd been a long day and Bellamy suddenly felt exhausted. He looked for something to sleep in that was more comfortable than stiff jeans, and finally pulled on some soft stretchy pants along with a t-shirt, both of which fit him perfectly.
He returned to the living room to find Clarke on the couch, valiantly trying to stay awake.
"I'm done," he said. "You can go to bed now. I'll take that couch."
She'd already half-risen when her head snapped up. "The hell you will."
Bellamy frowned. "What?"
"I said you're not sleeping out here. You get to use the bed, too."
"But, uh, it's… it's your bed…"
Clarke glared at him liked he'd suddenly grown another head.
"What the fuck, Bellamy? You laid down beside me on the dirt, and in the forest, and on the floor of whatever room we happened to find ourselves in. But now you can't sleep beside me when we actually get to have a nice clean bed? That's bullshit!"
He sighed, unable — unwilling — to explain to Clarke how this was somehow… different.
"Okay," he said finally, understanding it was pointless to push the issue. Not unless he wanted to tell her some things that he'd really rather keep to himself. "Thanks."
They slid into bed, laughing at themselves and each other as they yawned in unison. He turned out the light to find that while night had fallen, unlike in space or on the barely inhabited Earth they were used to, in 21st century Arlington, Virginia, light filtered into the room from city streetlights.
Bellamy twisted his head around and found Clarke staring at him in the semi-darkness.
"What is it, Clarke? Is something wrong?"
She shook her head, her still-damp hair sliding across the pillow.
"Nothing's wrong, Bellamy. I'm just… still trying to get used to you without the beard."
He shrugged, his shoulders rasping along the sheet. "Do you miss it? I can grow it back…"
"No, don't! I like being able to see your face. I'd… almost forgotten what you looked like."
She reached out a hand, then pulled back with a laugh. "I don't need to touch your face to know it's smooth now."
Clarke turned away then and Bellamy sighed softly. Thought about how much he'd like her to touch his face — or any part of him at all. For a while he just stared at the back of her head, at the blond hair gleaming in the lamplight, and when he heard her soft regular breaths he knew she'd fallen asleep.
And he understood all at once that there'd be more challenges for him on this mission than just finding Becca Franko, or feeling comfortable with 21st-century luxuries.
There was also the problem of how to hide how he felt about Clarke. Especially if they were going to be constantly together, all day, every day. He fell asleep long before he'd even begun to figure out what to do about it.
XXXXXXXXXX
When Clarke awoke to the gray light of dawn, Bellamy was still asleep. She twisted out of bed and padded softly across the bedroom floor, marveling again at the convenience of having a bathroom right next to the bedroom.
Comfortable again, she slid back into bed, but several minutes later she was still awake. Too distracted by the sweep of Bellamy's long lashes against his clean-shaven cheek, and the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest, to fall back to sleep herself.
God, how she longed to reach out and touch him, to run her hands through what she knew were silky-soft curls. He was right here, right next to her, and there was nothing standing in her way, no longer any entanglements on his part.
But Bellamy had never given any indication that he wanted a physical relationship with her. She hadn't been able to resist teasing him a bit with Josephine's short nightgown, but just because he'd reacted didn't mean he wanted to mess up their years-long friendship with something that could easily complicate the mission.
She'd told him he could sleep next to her in that bed, that it would be no different from all the nights they'd lain next to each other as they tried to survive one crisis after another. And she meant to stick to that, not try to engage him in something he might later regret.
Or might ultimately break her heart.
With a sigh, Clarke rose from the bed and slipped the matching robe over the short nightgown. While it had been fun to tease Bellamy a little, she knew it wasn't a good idea.
She made her way to the kitchen, opening cabinets and peering at shelves, elated to find that Gabriel had stocked things like dried milk and dried eggs, and that the boxes all seemed to be vermin-free. Clarke decided she'd try her hand at pancakes. She'd seen them in old vids and they always looked delicious. The recipe was on the box of flour and she seemed to have all the ingredients, so...
Maybe it was the smell that did it, but she'd no sooner flipped over the last pancake than Bellamy strolled into the kitchen.
"What're you making?"
"Pancakes. I was gonna wake you up but now I don't have to."
"Yeah?" He stared at the pancakes doubtfully.
Clarke laughed. "Come on! They've gotta be better than algae."
Bellamy snorted. "Good point."
The pancakes turned out to be a big success, and Clarke would've like to linger over their breakfast. But she knew they had no time to waste.
"We should go back to Rosa's place, Bellamy. Start figuring out how to find Becca."
He nodded. "Maybe we'll get lucky. Get to talk to her right away."
"And maybe we won't."
Twenty minutes later they were in the garage, and Bellamy was praying that driving Gabriel's car wasn't going to be that different from driving the rover.
What is your destination?
They were startled by the computer's question as soon he pressed the starter. They looked at one another and shrugged, and Bellamy finally responded with Rosa's street address.
Take a right out of the garage.
And easy as that they soon found themselves back at Rosa's front door.
When Rosa opened the door she eyed Bellamy in surprise, but said nothing to him about his new look. But as they walked into house she nudged Clarke and muttered, "Was that your idea?"
"It wasn't," she smiled, "but I'm all for it."
"That makes two of us."
Rosa made coffee, the first Clarke had ever had, although of course she didn't let on, simply piled in the sugar and milk.
"So, then," Rosa said, when the three of them were finally ensconced comfortably at her cosy kitchen table. "Why are the two of you here? I figure there must be a pretty good reason."
Clarke eyed Bellamy and he nodded to her that she should answer.
"It's… pretty complicated, Rosa. There's a lot to tell. But the first thing we need to do is find someone. It's really, really important."
"Oh? And who's that?"
"Becca Franko. Ever heard of her?"
Rosa looked startled. "Well, of course I've heard of her. Everyone who works in the space industry has heard of Becca Franko. And plenty of other people besides." She frowned. "But if whatever it is you need to do here depends on Becca Franko, then I'm afraid you're going to be out of luck."
Clarke blinked in surprise. "And why's that?"
"Because no one knows where Becca Franko lives or works. She won that award a couple of years ago, and then it was like she disappeared into thin air. The word was that she had a new lab, but no one has any idea where it is. Or what she's working on now."
Bellamy looked disbelieving. "Someone must know where her lab is," he insisted.
Rose shook her head. "No one I know, and I knew pretty much everyone in the industry. I'm sorry, my dears, but for all practical purposes Becca Franko has become a recluse. Whereabouts unknown."
Clarke felt her heart sink, while Bellamy looked distraught.
They gazed at each other in silence, but the unspoken words reverberated between them.
Now what?
