I'm sorry this is a day (almost two) days late but I was sick and I think I pretty much slept the last two days away...I mean, I sorta do it to myself with such a busy schedule, almost no sleep, little food, tons of stress...so...yeah. I'm hoping literally sleeping for like 18 hours will have fixed that!

Thanks to all that reviewed: SquidaQdaloo, Emperor's Sister, Artimiz, Heidi1245401, karlidylafa, JCarabaguiaz, Red656, and Guest.

Artimiz: It was a number of things, but what he was originally locked up for was finding the entire contract about the Project. The Project itself was common knowledge, but the stipulations are not

Guest: Thank you so much :)


12 Years after the Start of the Project

"Can't you two just apologize?" Bellamy asked, looking across the room where Wells sat.

"Bellamy, encouraging forgiveness with Wells Jaha." Clarke scoffed, "That's new."

"I just hate this, it's frustrating." He said, "You two are best friends."

"Were." She corrected, still licking her wounds, "Look, it's been two months. You don't see him apologizing any more than I do." She said firmly. Bellamy gave a defeated sigh. When Clarke Griffin decided something, it was nearly impossible to sway her otherwise, even if she was being completely bone-headed, like now.

"Why are you sure he as lying?" Bellamy asked for the umpteenth time.

"Because he was my best friend." Clarke said softly, a little more hurt than upset, "I could tell a lie from you in a second." She added, her tone growing hard again.

"Okay, he lied. He might have a good reason, you know?" Bellamy said, understanding the delicate world of secrets now that he was higher up in the world. He had learned quite a few as his time as a guard that he hadn't told Clarke, mostly because he wasn't allowed to. They weren't secrets she might want to know anyway, but they were secrets nonetheless. There were certain realities of life that needed to be kept away from the majority, or it would incite panic. Even Ana was starting to realize such things, and coming from an anarchist personality like her, this was a huge step of maturity.

The truth of the matter was there were certain ideas that not everyone was ready to hear.

"I'm one of his best friends. He can tell me." She said, "I can take it."

"He hasn't told Bree though yet, it seems, and she's not nearly as upset and I daresay she's closer to him than you are now." He pointed out.

Clarke had not so subtly questioned Bree about Wells trip to the Sky Box and she hadn't even known he'd gone. While Bree still didn't emote much, she was the sort of person that wore her heart on her sleeve. Truth, love, and integrity was easy to glean from her.

"She's madly in love with him. It's easy to sacrifice angers to keep things good between two people." She said wisely, seeing it in her mother and father still today. She wasn't totally convinced they continued to love each other, even with the great 'crisis' of last year averted.

"So are there things you've compromised with me then?" Bellamy asked, eyeing her meaningfully, "Or things you think I've done with you?" He asked.

Clarke's gaze snapped toward him.

"Do you…love me?" She asked quietly. It wasn't the situation he'd imagined telling her in, not here among all their friends in the after school room, but it did change the subject and it just slipped out, the meaning behind his question like a slimy fish that happened to land in his lap now.

Of course he loved her, he felt like he'd loved her since far too young of an age to like someone so much younger than him. Being with Clarke now only six months didn't feel like such a short time for him. He'd been with Gina much longer, but he'd never loved her. It wasn't being mean; she'd never 'loved' him either, though they still cared for each other. Truth of the matter is there had never been anyone but Clarke he loved.

She wasn't ready to hear all that, not now. One day, he imagined like a thirteen-year-old girl, maybe at their wedding.

He tried to read Clarke's face for signs of her folding back into herself, afraid of him to say that, any sign she wasn't ready. It was hard to tell right now, which was unusual for him. Out of anyone in a room, he could usually tell exactly what Clarke was thinking about. But now he was lost.

So, he cautiously took her hand, swallowing a bit, "Would it be so awful for me to say yes?" He asked quietly so no one around them could hear it.

Clarke thought for a moment, and then shook her head. He let out a sigh of relief and glee.

"But not here…don't say it here." She said, glancing around.

"What? This room isn't romantic?" He teased; glad the bulk of everything was off his chest.

"Considering Stasia accosted you right there, not really." She pointed out, a memory he'd almost successfully forgotten until Clarke brought it up.

"Yeah." He grumbled.

"And it might just feel slightly odd, you know…here…with everyone…?"

Even though at this point the entire group was now in a job and has stopped being children or being in school about a month ago, everyone had petitioned to Jaha to let them continue to keep this room. Bellamy figured that the guy was so overwhelmed and warmed by their gathered request that he couldn't say no. Everyone made a point to come back here, even with his or her busy lives and tiring jobs, just to see what was going on.

"Yeah, good call." Bellamy said with a sly grin.

Clarke finally seemed able to let Wells go for the moment, and returned to her sketchbook. She'd been diligently drawing something for the past half-hour, but he wasn't really focused on it. He'd been doing his own work, making the next few months training regime. A year in now, he'd begun to learn the tricks of the trade he hadn't picked up from Swan and was trying to implement them into his new group of kids, which happened to include Dax this year. He wasn't thrilled to have that kid, since even though he knew him rather personally through the group he still didn't like him, but he was glad he was in a position of power over him. Although, he shouldn't be prejudiced, because Dax was a very good guard so far.

He'd been pleased he'd been able to convince Monroe to take over his job as the Sky Box ferry for Simon and Charlotte at the end of her year. He hadn't even had to do much pleading; she'd almost chosen it on her own. It was a good set up this way. Although Charlotte was now thirteen, he would always see her as that terrified ten-year-old.

Jasper swaggered into the room, dramatically sitting down and yawning to the point of ridiculousness.

"We get it, you're tired." Raven snapped.

"Long day at work, ya know." He said, and she rolled her eyes. They still couldn't tell anyone what this 'secret project' was, but it seemed to sap a lot of their time. Although it wasn't as high risk as their first covert project, it still captured their thoughts during most of the day, it seemed. Raven was known to be in the middle of a conversation with someone and just bolt off to run an equation, leaving the person standing there confused. Monty had a holopad with a folder filled with notes that no normal person could ever decipher, and he always had it on him. He was a little more polite when genius struck him, but still would be clearly itching to jot down a strange phrase or send it to Raven or Jasper with a lot of exclamation marks and both seemed to understand exactly what he meant.

Jasper…Jasper didn't have much in the way of proving he was doing much, for he didn't have those moments like the other two, although Bellamy was assured by Mr. Griffin that Jasper was pulling his own weight, if not more, than the other two. So, usually Jasper made a point to show that he was working both jobs and beat when he came into the room. Bellamy was absolutely dying to know what this project was, especially since some people in the guard like Shumway or Miller knew, and he was just far enough away to have the answer slip through his fingers.

Jasper stretched his back by pulling his fingers above his head, twisting like a cat left and right. His eyes caught whatever Clarke was working on, and they zeroed in. Bellamy looked up with interest, curious about what piqued his attention so suddenly.

"Whose that?" He asked, now leaning over her to see the work. Bellamy peered over the top of the binder, and he nearly choked on his own breath. She'd been drawing Octavia.

It was expected, he supposed. They'd been spending a lot of time together, much to his chagrin and Octavia's glee. They got a long swimmingly, to the point that Clarke admitted she was steadily becoming a friend as close as Raven was to her, and Raven was her best girl friend. He was so pleased they got along and didn't even mind sacrificing nights with her to keep his sister happy.

"Just, you know, drawing. No one really." Clarke didn't even blink at the question, and Bellamy relaxed. She seemed surprised where her hands had lead her with this drawing, but wasn't so unprepared she dropped the ball.

"Really?" Jasper seemed unconvinced, "I've just never seen you draw something from your imagination…you just seem to really like drawing people from the Ark, you know." He said, seemingly a little dispirited.

"Why do you care?" Bellamy cut in, raising an eyebrow.

"Honestly?" He said, and his face turned a pink, "She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I guess maybe I hoped she was on the Ark and I don't know…" He said, shaking his head, "Stupid thoughts."

"Oh, well…yeah, no one I actually know. I'm sorry." Clarke sounded totally apologetic, and maybe she was. Jasper had been with some girls, but he hadn't really dated any. Everyone was almost settling, or getting closer to that point, and Jasper just wasn't tempted by much of anyone. Bellamy knew she didn't want him to one day just settle because he did ever feel compelled to settle for someone just because he thought that's what he should do, even if he didn't feel a spark with them.

As much as Bellamy too felt this, he obviously knew that his sister was a bad choice and pretty much impossible. Plus, his brotherly instincts kicked him and Clarke had to kick him under the table to keep him from glaring at Jasper.

Jasper did his best to brush off the thought of the picture, but even after Clarke had put her journal away, he still was looking to his left every few seconds, as though forgetting the drawing was long gone.

Clarke thought it was adorable, Bellamy thought he was out of line, although he really had no reason other than being protective to think that.

They didn't tell Octavia about it. There was little reason to, she'd never get to meet him and why maker her excited about something that couldn't come to fruition?

So, for a while, they forgot about it and Jasper stopped trying to look at Clarke's journal to find the girl's picture.

About a month or two later, Clarke came over to a worried Bellamy who summoned her at freaking three A.M. of all times.

"Look at her side!" Bellamy said, pulling up her shirt to reveal a puss-covered and infected looking area.

"Does it hurt?" Clarke asked, her tiredness vanishing as she went into Doctor-Mode.

"Of course it hurts!" Bellamy snapped, and Octavia gave him a firm shove away.

"I can answer for myself, ding-bat." She snapped, and then rolled her eyes, "It's uncomfortable, but it doesn't hurt-ow!" Her true feelings betrayed herself when Clarke started to touch the area around it, not even getting closer to the real bad part.

"O…" Bellamy growled, pinching the bridge of his nose angrily, "Let your pride go for one goddamn second…"

"He's right," Clarke sighed, "I can't help you if you're not honest." She said.

"Fine…" Octavia sighed, frowning, "Yeah, it really hurts. I've been taking the pain pills up there, but it's only taking a little bit of the edge off." She admitted.

"Yeah, with something like this, it wouldn't do much." Clarke said, "You'd need something much stronger."

She stood, pacing, considering what to do.

"What's wrong with her?" Bellamy asked, and Octavia tugged her shirt down, crossing her arms over her chest a little nervously.

"Unfortunately, the birth control implant I put in her has become infected." Clarke sighed.

"Did you do it wrong?" Bellamy demanded, and Clarke narrowed her eyes.

"Hey, tone there buddy." She said, because he always took Octavia's side, but she couldn't blame him. Didn't mean she liked the sort of voice he got, that accusational tone with her. She'd managed to snag an extra implant last month from the Medical Wing, one that had been made by mistake because there was a error in the number of girls that needed one this year. It of course worked out in Clarke's error, and she'd bribed the supply man to give it to her and make it disappear. He hadn't questioned much, he did a lot of shady business with people and was known for being discreet and gossip-free.

"No, sometimes the body has an adverse reaction to the materials." Clarke said, "Not everyone's body likes having a chunk of metal and copper shoved into them. Plus, the older you get when you have one, the more likely this is to happen…" Clarke scowled, "I probably could have fixed this easily when it first cropped up."

"First?" Bellamy said icily, glaring now at Octavia.

"Yeah, she's probably had this thing bothering her since like two days after she got it. I could have just given her some medication to help her body adjust to the influx of minerals and medicine, but now…"

"Octavia!" Bellamy thundered, "What the hell? Why didn't you tell me that it was bothering you?"

"I didn't want to be an inconvenience." She snapped before she could stop herself, "I mean, Clarke went to all that trouble to get it for me when I don't even really need it for what it's meant for, just so that my periods wouldn't be so bad and I didn't want to have her take it out."

Clarke softened, "Look, you couldn't have known. I forgot to tell you about it, but only a small percent ever react, so I did forget. That's on me."

"What now, then?" Bellamy said, "You said you could have fixed it before. You can't now?" He asked, afraid.

"It's complicated." Clarke sat on the table, pushing her fingers up her scalp, deep in thought, "You see, by this point, we need to take it out. We can't salvage the medicine; her body's been adverse to it for too long. Even if I gave her the coping medication, it likely won't work. And she needs real anesthesia to take it out now, its imbedded and gotten infected so it will hurt like hell. Plus, the area around it might need to be cauterized and the dead stuff cut away, otherwise it could spread to other parts of her body. All this can be extremely stressful to a body that already is weakened without the usual vitamins of the ark and I should have you hooked up to a machine to monitor your medical levels, so I know if I need to stop something. Plus, if it makes your heart give out, which it did happen in one case like this, I could bring you back, but only with the proper equipment near by." She finished to the sallow white faces of both Bellamy and Octavia.

Octavia's eyes filled with tears and Bellamy spun around, kicking the wall a couple times.

"So now what?" He demanded, throwing himself back toward Clarke, "Now what?" He seemed unable to say much else.

"Oh my god, I'm going to die in pain or die in pain." Octavia sniffled, looking at the option of keeping it in or thinking of Clarke trying to remove it her without anything, "I'm so…suh…sorry that I di…didn't tell you Bell." She started to stutter in between sobs.

"You couldn't have known." Clarke sighed from the table. She was grown up with the unspoken encouragement that unless her limb was literally chopped off or she was dying to quietly endure because there wasn't much they could do.

"Or I take her in." Clarke said quietly. Octavia was so shocked she stopped crying and Bellamy spun, anger in his eyes he'd never seen.

"Are you fucking nuts?" He snarled, "Great idea. Just great."

"Bell…" Octavia said softly, "I mean, it's either me or mom at this point…and I'm sorry, I really don't want to die." She said. Bellamy's face grew anguished.

"I'm not stupid Bellamy." Clarke said, a little offended he'd think that she was even suggesting that. The promise she made to him the day they first kissed still stood.

"I'm confused." Bellamy frowned, "But you said-,"

"It's three A.M. Do you know who the doctor is technically on call right now? Me. We really don't get a lot of cases at three A.M., but we have to be there, in case. There's one other doctor there right now, and I can easily get rid of him. He's left me before at night shifts like this, and just put his pager on in case something comes in. He's not supposed to do that, but thank god he does. The only reason he's there now is because he sent me to respond to this distress call, and luckily he's lazy as hell. If I go back, tell him it was someone stupid who stubbed his or her toe and pointed out the time, I'm sure he'd get up and go. Then we carefully sneak Octavia there, you have the guard schedules and all so you can avoid people. I fix her up, and she's back in here by five-thirty/six A.M when people start to stir."

There was a moment of silence.

"Well, maybe that could work…" Bellamy said softly, "If it's our only option…"

"Whoo! I get to see the Ark!" Octavia whooped, and then winced in pain, "Ow…"

"Okay, I'll get rid of my partner. Stay put you two." She said and nodded to them before streaking back to the Med Bay.

As predicted, after she made up some story about someone getting a paper cut and freaking out (it had been known to happen) and then casually yawning, the older more douchy doctor suddenly realized that even if he wasn't tired that he deserved to be at home the rest of his shift and did his usual fleeing of his post, leaving Clarke alone. Most nights she hated when he did that, but tonight, she was so glad he was predictable.

Now, the time she'd be gone to get Octavia was a problem time, because she was going against every rule by leaving the Med Bay unmanned, but she was fairly confident no one would come in…no one ever did. No one ever checked, either. Her mother especially just wanted to sleep when she could. Plus, Clarke was the perfect one. Why assume the Alpha Princess was doing anything but her job?

They made quick work of getting her out the door. Octavia was slow moving, eyes widening at every step. Clarke understood this was her first time literally ever leaving her room, and it was under poor circumstances where they didn't have time for her to sit and gawk or admire something. It was shame, truly. Plus, they were taking all sorts of hurried odd connections to avoid guard members lurking about on duty this time of night, with Bellamy's face almost glued to his screen and Clarke tugging Octavia along.

Halfway there, Octavia just sort of stumbled a couple steps before falling to the side. Luckily, Bellamy's reflexes were seasoned and he managed to throw Clarke the holopad and catch his sister the moment she fell.

"Shit, shit." He muttered, quietly tapping her face, "O! Wake up!"

She just moaned quietly, and he ground his teeth.

"It's a lot of exertion to get there. More than she'd do just walking around the room." Clarke pointed out, realizing the girl had likely never needed to walk this far. She knew Octavia worked out, doing sit ups and push ups, but running wasn't an option in their tiny room. Also, her infection was quite nasty.

"Can you drag her?" She asked.

"Do you know how to read that?" He pointed to the complicated looking mess of scribbles on the holoscreen, "I don't have time to give you a crash course of it right now."

"I don't think I can drag her." Clarke said, her eyebrows knitting with worry.

"Shit." Bellamy said again.

What would happen next was serendipity, kinsmit, fated…all those words that were more feelings than words could express about something so radically improbable of occurring someone could only describe it as 'meant to be'. At least, that's what Jasper would confide to Clarke years after this, in those words exactly.

As Clarke and Bellamy were trying to revive Octavia, painfully aware that each moment that slipped past put them in more danger and Octavia was slipping more and more into unconsciousness, a secret entrance door opened to their left.

They were all over the Ark, secret passageways and such. The guard knew them all by heart, because it was helpful in high-risk situations to be able to skip through stations without running through them. Children might find one or two in their lives by accident, if they were prosperous. And, in all things considered, Bellamy wasn't surprised at all that Jasper Jordan would seem to know about it so casually, and he had an inkling that he knew where every single one was.

Yet, no one was expecting anyone to walk through that door and Jasper was also not expecting anyone on to be on the other side, since it was past curfew and only doctors, guards, or other emergency personal had reason to be out.

The three all regarded each other for a moment, eyes wide. Jasper stuffed a bag of weed frantically into his pocket, before realizing whom it was and relaxing.

"What are you guys doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Bellamy said, standing in front of Octavia, glaring at him. But it was too late. Jasper saw her, his eyes widening and staring at Clarke as a light bulb went off in his head.

"She is real!" He said, recognizing Octavia immediately. It took longer for him to process she was on the ground, unmoving, "Oh my god…what's wrong with her?" He said, coming to her side before Bellamy could shove him back.

"We need to get her to the med bay." Clarke said, and Bellamy sent her a totally wild and frantic look over Jasper's head.

"Is she okay? My god, she's out cold. I should get someone-,"

"No!" Both Clarke and Bellamy said a little too loudly, a little too quickly. He jumped, looking at the oddly.

"I mean, we just need to get her there. Can you help Bellamy carry her?" She asked sweetly, seeing a solution to their immediate problem. The aftermath she wasn't thinking all the way through, but one thing at a time.

"Of course." Jasper said instantly, helping Bellamy pull her up, slinging her arm over his shoulders. She made a faint sound, and his whole face broke into a deeply concerned look.

"What happened?"

"Infected Birth Control Implant." Clarke answered honestly, "It's bad. We need to get her to the Med Bay so I can hopefully fix it."

"Okay, of course."

Jasper didn't question anything on the way there, much unlike his usual personality. He didn't ask why Bellamy was looking at a screen and making them take sudden and odd turns, he didn't ask why Clarke lied about her being real, he didn't question the fact that both Clarke and Bellamy had been so adverse to having him fetch help. Instead, he talked soft words of encouragement to Octavia, who was coming to slightly, a girl he didn't even know.

"Put her here." Clarke said when they reached the Med Bay, motioning to an empty bed in the empty room.

"Where's…the other doctor."

"On a house call." Clarke lied, "Or call in someone else?"

"Shouldn't we wait?"

"I can do it, I know what I'm doing." Clarke said, already flitting around the room to gather materials, slipping an IV under Octavia's skin, and instructing Bellamy to do things while also standing guard. Yes, some medical help would be nice, but she couldn't afford that.

"I didn't think…" Jasper frowned, "I just…she'll be okay, though?"

"Of course." Clarke said, because she did believe that she could fix this now. Jasper at first looked awkward, now that his chore was done. He didn't want to overstay his welcome here, and Clarke hadn't asked him to do anything yet, mostly because she wasn't sure the extent of medical knowledge. She knew Bellamy had to learn basic first Aid for his job, but did chemists have to know that too?

He almost left until Octavia's hand reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"Do you mind…staying? I know it sounds silly…but Bell has to guard door the door and Clarke isn't exactly comforting while she's poking me with needles…God, I sound so pathetic." She chuckled softly. Bellamy whipped around so fast it looked like it hurt.

He was about to protest when Clarke shoved him into a corner.

"No. He's too far in now." He said, shaking his head violently.

"Exactly! He's already seen her…and something about him makes her feel calm already. You need to be standing guard; she should have someone else with her during the procedure. Besides, can't you tell he's practically smitten with her?" She asked, nodding back to them.

Bellamy's jaw locked. It was the 'smitten' part he obviously had a problem with, but in the end he caved.

Clarke went back and saw he'd pulled up a chair. Octavia was blinking into the light of the Med Bay, looking much more with it than even a couple seconds ago. Jasper had parked himself on a chair next to her, and she glanced at him with a faint blush on her cheeks- Clarke wasn't sure if it was she found him attractive too or she didn't like admitting weakness. She figured it was a combination of both.

"Hey…you sort of passed out on the way here. Jasper here helped us carry you." Clarke said, grinning at her, trying to keep her calm.

"Jasper?" Octavia said, turning to look at him fully now. Her hand was still tucked into his. He noticed and dropped it quickly, trying not to overstep anything.

"Yeah, that's me. Jasper Jordan, at your service." He gave a silly bow. She grinned.

"I've heard about you." She said, laughing, "From Bellamy. I didn't think you'd be so…" She struggled to find the word.

"Devilishly handsome?" He teased. She just grinned back, and perhaps she had been thinking somewhere along those lines.

"Charming." She finally agreed on. Clarke listened half way as she got a clean knife out and hooked some numbing medicine into Octavia's IV, giving her cues as she went along, "They always sort of described you as just the jokester…I mean, a really intelligent one, not in a bad way…" Octavia blushed, but Jasper shrugged it off. Not much offended him.

"Not the worst epithet in the world. So you know Bellamy…and Clarke." Clarke could see Jasper trying to work it all out. There was a question in his statement.

"Yeah." She said, and even she realized how delicate this situation was.

Clarke cut into the wound, and even though she'd been giving numbing medicine, she couldn't be put under so it still probably hurt like the dickens. Octavia reflectively reached out for his hand, gripping it tightly, screwing her eyes shut.

"You have got a strong grip, girl." He laughed weakly, "Wow…"

"Sorry," She winced, starting to soften her vice like finger hold, but he shook his head.

"Look, do what you got to do." One eye was watching with horror as Clarke deftly cut into her side, blood running down her skin onto the pad beneath her.

"Thanks." Octavia said, wincing again as Clarke began to finger carefully around for the device. She began to wheeze, and Clarke worriedly checked her stats and saw her oxygen dropping.

"Jasper, grab that mask there. Hand it to her." Clarke said, not wanting her to slip away right now, when she didn't have anyone on hand to help. She was terrified at the thought of having to use the shock pads or Bellamy's response if he heard a flat-line.

Jasper responded swiftly, placing the mask over her face.

"You know, I still don't know your name."

"Octavia." She breathed behind the mask, and then shot a scared look to Clarke, wondering if perhaps she'd said too much. Clarke just gave a small shake of her head. At this point, she pretty much knew what she was going to have to do with the end of this situation.

"Octavia…really unique." Jasper repeated it, savoring the name of the girl he'd been thinking about for months, despite only seeing a reproduction of her, "Clarke drew a picture of you. It really doesn't do you justice."

Gone was his usual flirty tone, the tone he used when he was intentionally trying to woo a girl. It was replaced with awe and sincerity. Octavia recognized this and smiled.

"I like that picture too." She agreed.

They chatted quietly during the rest of Clarke's work. She was glad, it kept her distracted from the painful procedure Clarke was doing behind the scenes, both so Octavia wasn't focusing on the pain and also so she had someone to look instead of watching the knife in her skin or the hot metal Clarke was readying to fix the gaping hole in her side, since sewing something that large together was out.

"Hey, last bit. This…this is really going to hurt. Here, bite onto this." She said, handing her a rolled up towel.

"I'm stronger than that." Octavia pffted, rolling her eyes.

"Octavia…just take it." Clarke sighed in resignation, and Octavia begrudgingly took it.

"You're going to put that…on her skin! It will leave a scar, won't it?" Jasper's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

"Yeah, unfortunately. I don't have a lot of other options. She had a lot of infected skin." Clarke said, frowning.

"Just another scar to add to my collection." Octavia laughed, and began pointing out various scars to Jasper that she got from this or that. He chuckled at it, relaxing back into the chair. He seemed more jumpy about it than Octavia did.

"On three…one, two…three." Octavia began to make a loud sound, and quickly shoved the towel in her mouth, biting down hard and muffling her cry. Bellamy poked his head back in, eyes worried. Octavia saw him from the door way, rolling her eyes.

"My god, I'm fine!" She said, huffing. His eyes narrowed in on her hand in Jasper's, and there merely narrowed before he slid back behind the wall.

"There, done." Clarke said, putting some anti-septic things on it and making her sit so she could wrap a fluffy white gauze bandage around it. Octavia watched it go around with a sigh.

"So, what now?" She asked, poking her bloody device sitting next to you. Clarke finished, wiping sweat from her brow and going to wash off.

"Usually, we'd fill a manual prescription for birth control for those that are adverse to everything there. It's not one hundred percent effective and it's a pain to take on everyday, so we don't use it often. But with you…" Clarke didn't know what to do.

"Yeah." Octavia agreed, understanding the predicament. Jasper didn't ask, but she could see that he was adding another anomaly to the long list of things that defined Octavia. He was smart, he would figure it out sooner or later…if not today, tomorrow. Clarke knew he was working it all out as they spoke, so she found little reason to continue lying to him. She just hoped he was trustworthy with this.

"Is O fine now?" Bellamy called in, "How's she doing?" He sounded incredibly worried.

"Fine, you Nervous Nancy! I think you'd hear it if I died." Octavia pointed out.

"That's not nice. I was really worried, you know." He said.

"Yeah, I know."

"Go back to your shift. We're not done yet, Blake." Clarke called from the sink.

"So…Bellamy…being worried…I'm going to assume you're not in some weird threesome relationship with Bellamy and Clarke," Jasper said, totally joking which incited a wide grin from Octavia, "Because Bellamy…he looks like you, and he acts like a father figure. I mean, who knows, he might be into that daddy kink and all.."

Clarke gave him a nasty glare and he took that as a 'no'. But then Clarke watched him after that for a different reason; she saw the way it was all coming together slowly for him.

Of course, Jasper- growing up a single child like most-wouldn't necessarily recognize what a sibling relationship looked like. She didn't even know, not really, until she met the Blakes. Yes, by most means, it might seem like a parent sort of bond.

"I really hope he's not your dad. That would be totally fucked up, right? You're like what, my age? 17? 18?"

"17." Octavia confirmed, "And yeah, not my dad…totally creepy. Besides, you think Bellamy would really be able to hide an extremely young daughter?"

"True, true." Jasper chuckled, making a faux relieved face, "I guess that leaves one guess…" His eyes narrowed, and Octavia winced.

"I think I know what it is." She said, all joking aside. He nodded. There was a small pause, then he nudged her.

"You know, if you two didn't look alike and I had to guess just on personalities, I would be clueless. You're so much manlier than Bellamy…in a very feminine amazing way." He added hastily, but Octavia seemed to know what he was referring to. She beamed.

"Hey!" Bellamy objected from outside, "I'm very manly…"

"Hey, Jasper? Can you help me with this stuff?" Clarke asked, motioning to the pile of dirty materials they needed to sanitized and put away before anyone saw it.

"Yep! Will you be okay here, Octavia?" He asked, turning toward her.

"Course." She snorted. He nodded, following Clarke. She led him to a small sanitation room, showing him how to clean the first instrument.

"So…it goes without saying but you can't tell a soul about her. Not Raven, not Miller, not even Monty. I don't care how close you are. This is a risk letting you know, but at this point…" Clarke gave a long sigh, "Her life, Bellamy's…her mother's lives, and they're all at risk right now." She said.

"I understand." Jasper said, sobering completely, "Clarke…I mean, it sounds totally crazy. I've only known her a night, but you got to understand, I'd go to hell and back for her. I can't describe it, but there's something there between us." He said softly, "I hope maybe she feels it too…"

"Good, we're in understanding then." She said. He shook his head.

"I won't ever tell a soul. She's worth that and more. She's incredible…" He got a dreamy look on his face.

"She's pretty awesome." Clarke agreed.

"How long have you known?" He asked.

"Only about six months. She contracted that nasty thing going around last year and it got bad. Bellamy only told me because she was dying at home. Luckily, I was able to treat her there…tonight, we weren't so lucky." Clarke said, washing Octavia's blood of the small scalpel.

"I can't imagine what it must be like." Jasper murmured, drying things off.

"Having a sibling?" She said, looking at him.

"No, I sorta feel like Monty's my bro, you know? I mean, living as an…well, what she is." He said. Clarke nodded.

"It's lonely. She doesn't get a lot of food, or didn't. Bellamy's promotion has helped a lot. She hid in the floor, and still has to sometimes. She has never seen the Ark except tonight and I don't know if she'll ever again…" Clarke looked at him pointedly, "I know how you feel about her, but I don't see how this is going to work, Jasper. She can't be like a normal girlfriend. She's confined to her house forever, literally."

"I realize." Jasper snapped, then shook his head, "Look, love and caring is about making sacrifices, right? I just want to enjoy now with her, if I can. I don't know what we'd do in the future, if we ever got there, if she even feels that way about me. I want to try though." He said.

"You'll have to talk to Bellamy about it." Clarke said, "I think that's not bad, but he's the big man…good luck." She said, patting his back, and he winced.

"Yeah…he seemingly has developed an aversion toward me spontaneously. Is it how I'm dressed?" He joked, "Maybe how my hair is styled today…"

Clarke noticed the time. It would still be a bit before her shift was up and her mother or Jackson would come to relieve her, and the lazy doctor would show up as though he was here the whole time, but she wanted to get Octavia home so that in case anything happened between here and there she could fix it. Clarke alerted Bellamy to this observation.

"Agreed." Bellamy said, "You can go now, Jasper."

"Don't be such an ass, Bellamy." Octavia swung her legs over the table, sitting up and winced hard, "You need to be looking at your magic pad for guards, I'm still hurting and Clarke can't drag me back there. Besides, I like this kid."

Jasper's whole face lit up.

"Let's just go, okay? Jasper isn't going to tell anyone." Clarke said, looking hard at Bellamy.

"Anyone?" Bellamy got up in Jasper's face, inches away and stood taller, trying to make himself intimidating. Jasper squared his shoulders, shaking his head.

"Not a soul."

They stared at each other for a couple seconds before Bellamy nodded, not happy, but convinced.

"Fine, let's go then."

The trip back to their place was luckily uneventful. Octavia tried to just keep her head down, knowing that she couldn't get caught up in looking around because she couldn't stop to examine things or come back. Jasper told her really awful jokes the whole time, but she couldn't stop laughing and at one point, Clarke was concerned she'd re-open her wound and had to make Jasper stop it.

At their house, Bellamy pushed all three inside and locked the door quickly, moments before Keith and another guard strolled by, chatting about the weather inside the ark (the air conditioner was broken; it was hotter than most often and was a topic of all the small talk of late.)

"Shit," Jasper looked at his watch, "I have to go. Work soon." He looked regretfully at Octavia. Octavia looked back at Bellamy.

"Can you give us a moment?" She said with a pointed look.

"Have you seen the size of this room? There is no 'private'." Bellamy said, and Clarke thought he was trying to be as annoying as possible about the whole thing. She shoved him to the farthest corner away from them, but even she could still hear their quiet conversation.

"Will you be back?"

"Do you want me to be back?" He asked.

"Yeah, I do. I like talking to you. I like your humor. I like a lot." She said, sounding a little unsure of herself, and Clarke looked back to see her with her arms crossed. Octavia was rarely the sort of girl that had trouble expressing exactly what she wanted, but she seemed timid in this moment, "But I have a question…when did you know? Really?"

"Honestly?" Jasper gave a small laugh, "Early on. Wasn't hard to figure out."

Clarke looked at Bellamy with a slightly raised eyebrow. She hadn't known he was on the secret so quick. She thought for sure it wasn't until the end that it all was clicking. He was good at hiding it, though. Bellamy seemed shocked too. Then again, despite his carefree nature, Clarke many a times had to remind herself that Jasper was incredibly intelligent, defiantly within the top 10% of IQs within their group.

"So what? You were just trying to see if it was worth it to turn me in, then?" Octavia asked, hurt.

"No! Of course not. I was trying to decide if I could just go on with my life, pretend I never met you. It would be easier for you this way, I know another person in on the secret just puts you one step closer to danger-,"

"Got that right…" Bellamy muttered under his breath, and Clarke nudged him in the side sharply. She put a finger to her lip. She was unabashedly listening into their conversation.

"-But by the end, I knew I couldn't. I feel selfish, but I saw Clarke's picture of you once and I never stopped thinking about it. You're better in person. I just know if I were to walk away now, do the right thing, I couldn't…" He broke off, "But maybe I should be thinking about you. You're the one with everything to lose. If you ask me to walk away today, I will."

"No, of course not. I don't want you to. You were brave, helping me, deciding to keep this secret…honorable. It's not all that selfish. I guess if I were really thinking of my safety, I'd send you away. I don't know if I want that, though."

"Good." He whispered so quietly that Clarke had to lean back to hear it.

"Bravery should always be rewarded, you know?" Octavia said carefully, and then there wasn't an answer from either. Bellamy and Clarke both turned around to see Octavia had stood on her toes and leaned up to kiss him.

Bellamy tensed up, and Clarke put an arm in front of him to stop it. He was glaring.

"I just don't want her to get her hopes up, Clarke." He hissed under his breath, "This is so dangerous…"

"I know, but doesn't she deserve this moment?" Clarke questioned, to which Bellamy couldn't find a reason to disagree with that.

"Well, at least it's Jasper." Bellamy said, starting to come down a little bit, "Could be worse. Could be Dax." He reasoned with himself.

"Jasper is a great guy. You know he'll respect her." Clarke pointed out, and Bellamy gave a reluctant nod. She saw the time.

"I have to go." She announced loudly, and told Octavia how to care for her wound and to let Bellamy know immediately if she felt really bad pain. She turned to Jasper, "You coming?"

"Yeah." He said, his hand slipping from Octavia's, "I can come back, right?"

"I'd be sad if you didn't." She said, more confident and leaned up to give him a final kiss. It almost seemed familiar, as though they'd been together weeks instead of just meeting that night.

"Come on, you two. Seriously…" Bellamy reminded his sister he was sitting there.

"I've had to watch you and Clarke suck face more times than I want, even if I do love her to death. So watch this." She said, grabbing him by the back of the neck and pulling him down in the most passionate display they'd done yet, instead of just chaste cute kisses.

She winked as she let Jasper go and held up her hand for a high five. He enthusiastically slapped her raised hand. They both snickered at Bellamy's absolutely horrified face. Clarke realized they had the exact same humor in many was, Jasper and Octavia, so it wasn't too far of a stretch to imagine that they could start to falling love even after one night.

"This…this is going to be fun, isn't it, Bellamy?" He asked, looking at Bellamy who was halfway between looking disgusted and halfway between furious.

"Fun." Bellamy said, shaking his head and using the most sarcastic tone he could muster, "Just loads."


AHHH JACTAVIA! I've been planning this since day one :) It's why Jasper wasn't in the original grouping list at all for the Project...so this could happen...

I seriously fell in love with them in season 1 and they're one of my OTPs for the ship. I think I could write an essay on all the reasons they'd actually be really awesome together, and still would be. I liked Lincoln a lot, don't get me wrong, and if he and Octavia had stayed together forever I wouldn't have been upset in the least, wishing she were with Jasper, but if I had to choose, I do like this ship a teeny bit more...As for Jasper's romances...well, I never really liked Maya (i seriously don't know why, always just meh) and we I thought that grounder in Luna's camp could turn out to be awesome but we didn't really know her enough for me to form more of an opinion and all.

So just, yeah. Because Octavia deserves some goodness too :)