Disclaimer: The usual. I don't own anything.
Bellamy was impatient as he waited for Maya to come the next day. Patient has never been one of his strengths. Not knowing if it worked or not, and if Maya had put herself in unnecessary for him was making him wreck with worry.
He was counting the moments before she came with the morning breakfast. When the door opened, he all but jumped at her before catching himself from alerting the guard. Maya walked in as usual, the guard remained at the door with a bored expression.
She placed the breakfast tray at the table and came to Bellamy with a glint in her eye.
"I've sent it." She told him when she was close enough.
"Did you?" Bellamy left a breath he was nervously holding, visibly relaxing when he heard the news.
"Yes. My father helped me to find a way to send the message. He recorded my message and attached it to the wires down in the maintenance room. He'll remove it today when he goes in for his shift." She informed Bellamy.
"Thank you." Bellamy told her, genuinely.
"It's the least I can do. My father and I are grateful to you for saving my life." Maya said, blushing.
"Are you better? Did it work?" Bellamy asked, having forgotten to check with her on her well-being.
"I'm good now. Better than before even. I am able to go out to the surface now." She told him, excited at having seen the surface for the first time.
"They let you out?" Bellamy asked, surprised. He didn't think they would let her go like that.
"They're doing tests, I think. They send me out to the surface and when I return, they do a full examination and monitor my vitals. I think they are checking me for any symptoms." Maya explained.
Now that made sense to Bellamy. From what he was able to tell, the doctor lady is thorough in her experimentation.
"You won't be able to go further, would you?" Bellamy asked, half hoping she can go and meet his people at the dropship.
"They watch me closely as I walk in the surface. I don't think I can go any further than close to the door." She answered, disappointed at being unable to help.
"That's ok." Bellamy told her soothingly. "You have done a lot more than I can ask for."
"I wish I could do more." Maya replied honestly.
Bellamy wondered if she can. Sending a message won't do much if there's no one out there listening for it. He had hope that his people were safe and not prisoners as Maya and people in the mountain assumed. He needed a radio to receive any message if Raven or Clarke are able to respond back.
"Is there some way you can get one of those radios the guards use?" Bellamy asked her. He has seen the radio hooked into the belt buckle of the guard at the door.
Once again, Maya looked disappointed. "Only the guards are allowed to carry the radios. It's a restricted item." She told him.
"You said your father works in the maintenance. Can't he build one using spare parts?" Bellamy asked. Raven had managed to do it at the dropship. He didn't know the complexity, but he was desperate.
"He may be able to build one if he had another to look at. I don't think the guards will give it to me." Maya said.
Bellamy was thinking of how he can help with the radio, when he was interrupted by Maya.
"What if…" She paused and Bellamy looked at her. "What if I ask one of your people?" She asked Bellamy hesitantly.
"My people?" He didn't understand her question.
"Yeah. The ones with us. Is there anyone you can trust?" She asked him.
Bellamy was at a complete loss in what she was talking about.
"Who's my people? Did anyone else get captured from my camp?" He asked, worried that someone else from the dropship is in trouble.
Maya's eyes widened in surprise. She didn't realize Bellamy didn't know about the Ark survivors.
"Didn't they tell you?" She asked, incredulously.
"Tell me what?" Bellamy asked in return, getting concerned.
"President Wallace invited your people from the sky to our complex. They are living with us now." She informed him.
Bellamy didn't understand. "My people? I thought you said my people were outside, captured by the grounders. They have been here?" He asked, confused. He felt a little betrayed at the lie she had told him.
"No. Not the people at your camp. They are still out there." She said in a hurry.
"Then who's here?" He asked. Then it dawned to him. "The Ark stations." He spoke out loud. Maya nodded quickly to confirm his guess.
In the middle of everything that happened, he forgot about the Ark stations that crashed. He was worried about the dropship and the grounder attack and his subsequent imprisonment to think about the Ark people.
"The Ark station guards are here?" Bellamy asked, having trouble believing what he was hearing.
"Yes. President Wallace brought all the survivors from your space stations to our complex. Your President Jaha is in charge of your people." Maya informed him.
"Chancellor." Bellamy corrected her automatically. When she didn't understand, he elaborated further. "He's the chancellor. Not the President. Doesn't make much difference anyway." Bellamy said and Maya understood what he was talking about.
"Aren't they searching for my people? Did anyone go to the dropship?" Bellamy asked Maya.
"From what I heard, they went to the dropship and found it empty as President Wallace said. Some of them went to the outsider village. I heard there was an incident and the outsiders have surrounded us now. The complex is on alert to face the attack by them." She explained.
"I know how it feels." Bellamy sympathized. "All the more reason I need to talk to my people. If they are with the grounders, maybe I can reach out to them." He said, frustrated.
"President Wallace said that the outsiders are savages. They only understand violence. They can't be talked to." Maya parroted what she had heard before.
Bellamy chuckled. "At one time in the past, I believed the same way. But I have learned the truth. They are good people. They may be rough, but they care. My sister is with them now. That's why I don't believe that my people are prisoners. She won't let them be." He explained.
"Oh." Maya said as she absorbed what Bellamy told her. It contradicted with everything she believed in.
"Do you know if Jaha and others know about the experiments on the grounders?" He asked, wondering if that could cause them to split from uniting with the President.
His hope was lost when he saw Maya nod slowly. "Your doctor Abby?" She hesitated and saw Bellamy nod to confirm he was saying the right name, continued. "She has been working with to find a cure for us. Last I heard, she knew about the outsiders being used for the experiments." Maya's face fell at that. "One of ours died in the experiment. A young girl I knew most of my life." She was grieving for Keenan.
Bellamy let out a dry chuckle. "Of course, they would know. Why worry about others when they haven't worried before? Nothing changed from living in the Ark. Do whatever is necessary." He huffed in anger, hating the council and its morals.
At Maya's confused expression, Bellamy felt the need to explain. "The council takes actions for the sake of everyone at the cost of individual lives. They had a rule to only have one child per family. My mother broke that rule. We hid it for as long as we can. But a mistake I made exposed us to the council. My mother was floated…" Noticing Maya's frown, he clarified. "…killed and my sister was jailed for having a second child." He told her.
"That's horrible." Maya looked horrified. "Even within our complex with limited resources, we didn't have such rules." She said in reply.
"No. You had different rules of survival." Bellamy pointed out. Ark floated its people, the Mountain people used others to survive.
"We are all guilty of something." Maya whispered. Bellamy nodded in agreement. He had his own guilt from his actions.
"I'm sure someone in the Ark also won't agree to the methods like your father doesn't agree with yours. Maybe you can find that person." He suggested.
"I think I already know." Maya claimed. Bellamy was surprised to hear that. Maya nodded, excited that she can share some secret information. "One of the council members, Kane, I think. I overheard him argue with your chancellor over dinner yesterday. He didn't sound like he agreed with the methods."
Bellamy didn't know Kane. He wasn't aware of all the council members before. He was lower in the food chain at the Ark.
"That's great Maya." He said smiling. She beamed at him, happy to be appreciated. "Ask him casually how he would feel if one of the Ark members were used for the experiments. Let's see how he reacts to that." Bellamy suggested.
"How would that help you?" Maya asked, not understanding the plan.
"If he sounds like he would be against it, then we can expect him to help us. If he tries to justify it, then he will be loyal to the council and a danger to us." Bellamy explained.
Maya could see the logic behind the plan. She didn't know whom she could trust and she hoped Bellamy's test would reveal it.
"I'll talk to him at lunch time. He is usually sitting at the mess hall to talk to people." She promised.
Bellamy nodded in appreciation and let her go before the guard got suspicious.
- 100 -
Abby was back in the lab working with again. After her turmoil she went through, she didn't think she would be back again. But talking to Jaha helped. And she agreed with his assessment. She could help them find a cure and it could be a means to an end. She avoided facing Kane, because he has been vocally opposed to the rest of the council.
The medication President Wallace gave her was helping. It had a quick effect and she didn't feel overburden with guilt when she took it. It numbed her and helped her focus. She knew the signs of addiction as a doctor. Abby didn't feel that she had a dependency to the pills, but she felt better when she took it. She took a couple last night before sleeping to bed to get a good night rest. She started the morning with two that helped her focus in the lab.
She apologized to when they met, who gave her the polite smile she always has. Abby wasn't sure if the doctor was being genuine or not, but she didn't care. Her mission was to find a cure using the marrow samples.
Now that she was aware of the source, was more open with her on the experiments they had conducted on the grounders in the past. The experiments helped Abby in her research in how to potentially use the bone marrow.
"The next step we need to do is to conduct some human tests." suggested.
"We should perform more simulation tests before we conduct human trials." Abby argued.
"We have done all the tests possible. We did it before and we have done it again now. There's nothing more we can learn from simulations. We need practical tests. It is the only way to know if it works." Lorelei replied. Abby knew she was correct. They won't know if it works without testing on someone. It was the cost of experimentation.
"Do we have a volunteer for the test?" Abby asked. asked one of the guards to bring someone in. Abby saw that it was a young boy. A boy of Keenan's age.
"President Wallace has made arrangements for you to have volunteers for your experiments." Lorelei explained.
Abby took the boy through all the tests to ensure his health conditions and to confirm he is a prime candidate for the test.
"I will do the extraction this time." Abby was determined to be the one to do it this time.
looked like she wanted to object. But she didn't. She went through the database to find the most suitable candidate for the transplant. Once she found it, she asked one of the guards to bring the grounder into the lab.
Abby was done with her tests on the boy when she found a grounder being dragged into the medical room. He was tied onto the bed with his face down.
Abby prepared the needle for the bone marrow extraction. She double checked on the procedures did last time to ensure she follows the same steps.
"We should use a local to numb the area." Abby recommended.
"We are short of anaesthesia supplies. We have to keep what we still have for more serious injuries. The outsiders are strong to handle the pain." Lorelei answered. She didn't want to waste anymore resource on the grounders.
Abby didn't look happy at the prospect. But she expected Lorelei to know better than she did about their situation. There have been times in the Ark when she had to do the same to people when supplies ran low.
She took a knife and made an incision in the back of the hip. She heard the grounder grunt in pain as she held him down from moving. She stuck the needle into him and felt him move. She got worried about breaking the needle inside.
"Hold him down" Abby ordered the guard who was standing by watching the procedure.
The guard came close and held the grounder to the bed, unable to move. Abby pushed the needle further. The grounder cried out in pain. He was yelling something in the foreign language.
Abby pulled the syringe back and extracted the bone marrow liquid. She pulled the same amount as mentioned in the medical records from before. Once she had enough, she pulled the needle out and placed the bone marrow liquid into the container.
She handed the container to . "Prepare it for the transplantation." She ordered and Lorelei got to work with it.
Abby turned back to the grounder to bandage the area that was bleeding from the incision and the needle. Once the bleeding was covered and the risk of infection is minimized, she nodded at the guard who unstrapped the grounder to pull him off the bed. Abby watched the guards take the grounder back, probably to his cage.
Abby turned back to the patient in the other bed.
"What's your name?" She asked the kid in the bed.
"Oliver, ma'am" he answered nervously.
"Don't worry Oliver. Everything will be fine." Abby assured him. He didn't look assured.
"It's ready." said and brought over the needle with the prepared bone marrow. Abby took it from her and injected it into the kid's body. He winced in pain, but he didn't want to show he was hurting. Abby pushed the bone marrow liquid inside.
"That's it." She said, hoping the words of encouragement will ease the boy's pain away.
She pulled out the needle and applied a bandage on the puncture point in his body.
"What's next?" He asked nervously.
"Now we wait for it to get absorbed into your bloodstream. And then you get to go outside." answered him. The boy's eyes widen in delight at the thought of going outside.
Abby smiled at the kid's innocence. He reminded her of Clarke when she was at a young age. He didn't look matured for his age.
- 100 -
Maya returned back at lunch time. As usual, she placed the tray at the table and came to Bellamy.
"Did you talk to him?" Bellamy asked quickly. Maya nodded in response.
"He was sitting alone, thinking about something. I approached him and had a casual conversation. He was concerned about my wellbeing." She told him. She found Kane to be a very friendly and caring person. He showed genuine concern for her.
"He knew about your treatment then?" Bellamy asked to be sure.
"He didn't at first. When I told him my name, he said Abby mentioned me to him." She replied back.
"That's good. Makes him more vulnerable for your question." Bellamy nodded in approval.
"Yes. When I asked if he knew anything about the person who gave me the bone marrow for my cure, he said he didn't know. I then suggested that it could be anyone. Not just outsiders. He looked repulsed at that idea." She said, feeling sorry for the man.
"Did he say anything?" Bellamy asked, wanting to know more.
"He looked horrified to speak. Then he showed genuine remorse for the person who had to suffer, even if it resulted with my survival. He said that he used to believe that surviving first was the necessity. Finding humanity can come afterwards. But since arriving at the ground, he is now rethinking if that was the right way to go." Maya repeated what Kane had told her. He looked like a broken man to her when he spoke.
"Sounds like he has gained his conscience now. Maybe he will be willing to seek a peaceful resolution to the trouble, if we ask him to talk to my people outside." Bellamy wondered. He wanted to get the radio, so he can talk to his people. But having a councilman in their side will go further than what he can do.
"Should I ask him for the radio?" Maya asked, wondering what Bellamy will tell her to do next.
"Better yet, why don't you ask him to go with you and talk to my people outside?" Bellamy suggested.
"You don't want to talk to your people?" Maya asked, eyes widened in surprise. She has been noticing how desperate Bellamy had been to talk to his people. Now he is asking Kane to do it first.
"I want to. Believe me, I do. But we need the councilman on our side as soon as possible. If we miss the chance, he may be persuaded otherwise. If he can talk to my people out there, he will help us from inside." Bellamy rationalized. He knew he was doing the right thing, even if it cost him personally.
Maya understood. She smiled at him politely as comfort. "I will ask him tonight." She told Bellamy.
"If you can reach my people, please find out how Octavia and Clarke are doing." He asked. He wanted to know how the two most important people in his life are doing.
"I will. I promise." Maya assured him.
With that, Maya left the room. Bellamy lied back, lost in his thoughts at the possibilities.
- 100 -
Abby threw the towel onto the bed, angry for failing. She had to have a shower after what happened.
She thought back to a few hours ago.
Few hours ago…
confirmed that the bone marrow had been absorbed in Oliver's bloodstream. The results were promising. But they were promising for Keenan as well. So, Abby was cautiously optimistic.
Abby made sure that there's precautions this time. Oliver will step into the sunlight and remain next to the door. At first sign of trouble, he will be pulled inside by the guards at the door in their environmental suits.
and Abby were at the guards station observing Oliver step out of the door. As ordered, he remained close to the door, even though Abby can tell that the kid was itching to run out into the fields, a few steps away.
"It worked." Lorelei exclaimed.
"Don't celebrate yet. It took a while for Keenan to react as well. And Oliver has a higher dosage than her." Abby pointed out. Lorelei nodded in understanding.
They waited for a while, watching nothing happen. The guards in the station got bored and started to get on with their normal chatter, ignoring the two new guests in the room. Abby's eyes were trained on the monitor.
Suddenly, she saw Oliver start scratching his arms. She looked alarmed at the scene. He started yelling quite soon after that.
"Pull him in." Abby yelled at no one in particular. She saw the guards in the suits hold the kid and pull him inside violently. Abby rushed to the door ignoring the protests behind her.
She got to the area where the kid was being carried in by the guards. They had him in the stretcher they took with them in case of needing it.
"Take him back to the med lab." Abby ordered the guards and follow them behind. She ran into who took the scene and started ordering the guards that followed her. Abby didn't hear what she was saying. She was focused on Oliver's screams.
By the time they reached the lab, his skin had started to blister from the radiation. Abby didn't understand why it didn't work.
"Quick. Give me a hand." She heard tell her from behind. She turned around and saw that Lorelei had started to pull a machine from the corner of the room. Abby moved to help her roll the machine closer to Oliver.
"What're you doing?" She asked Lorelei.
"What we always do when someone is exposed." replied back. She started connecting the tubes she needed from the machine to Oliver. Abby realized what was happening.
"You're going to circulate his blood." Abby spoke, knowing the procedure, but haven't seen it before.
"Yes." said and the door to the lab opened up. Abby saw two guards drag an unconscious grounder into the room. They dropped him to the ground and pulled the chain from the top of the room. They hooked the chains to the ankle of the grounder and started to pull him up, feet first towards the ceiling.
Abby watched as Lorelei injected some of the tubes onto the veins in the grounder. The blood started to run through the tubes into the machine. Abby saw the blood being prepared by the machine before it dripped through the other tubes onto Oliver.
"It will take approximately two hours for the process to finish." Lorelei told her, once the process started. They both stood watching as it happened.
Abby can see the improvements in Oliver gradually. The moaning had stopped and the radiation sickness stopped spreading in his body. Abby knew it was working.
"What will happen to him?" Abby asked, looking at the grounder.
"Depends. If his body is strong enough to withstand it, he will survive and sent back to his cage. But sometimes, they are not strong enough. They will die if they aren't and we send it back to their people." told her.
Abby knew it sounded barbaric. Using and abusing another human being like that. But for some reason, she couldn't make herself care about it. She was worried about Oliver and his survival at that moment. The grounders who have her daughter as prisoner was the least of her worries.
After two hours, Lorelei checked on Oliver. She looked satisfied at what she saw as she started unhooking the tubes from his body. Once she stepped back towards the grounder, Abby went to check on the kid. He looked relaxed and sleeping, probably exhausted from the ordeal. Abby was glad that he didn't die. It would have been another victim from her experiments.
"Why didn't it work?" Abby asked, to herself.
"We'll find out." answered her from far away. She was getting the guards to pull the grounder away from the lab. Abby didn't have the courage to check if he was still alive or not.
Abby left the room in a hurry, wanting to get a moment alone. She decided to take a shower to clean herself up.
found her at her bed, with wet towel next to her as Abby stared at the wall.
"I have the reports from Oliver's tests." She said, raising the digital tablet report she had in her hands.
Abby, pulled away from her thoughts, recollected what Lorelei had said before looking at her.
"Can I have a look?" She asked, extending her hand to accept the tablet Lorelei gave her.
"The radiation is too strong even for the bone marrow to create the blood cells necessary to fight it." Lorelei explained.
"How did it work for Maya?" Abby asked, confused. If it didn't work for Oliver, she was at a loss on how Maya survived.
"Maybe it had something to do with Maya's genes. Somehow it was more compatible with the outsider's bone marrow than Oliver was." reasoned.
"Maybe. Is the grounder still alive? We can do some more blood analysis to find out." Abby asked, hoping she could solve the mystery.
shook her head negatively. "He didn't survive the procedure." Abby was disappointed.
"We need to check Maya's blood for the signs then. See how the bone marrow bonded with her and compare it with Oliver's. There should be some clue about it." Abby was determined to solve the puzzle.
"We can start working on it tomorrow." Lorelei agreed and walked away.
"Tomorrow." Abby replied to an empty room. She pulled out the pill container to take two pills from it and swallowed it with water.
A/N: Once again, I am neither a doctor or an expert in bone marrow transplantation or blood transfusion. Forgive any mistakes I made.