AHHH! Yes, big chapter. Really big chapter :) So, this is a 2-parter. It was getting on to about 40 pages so I decided to cut it in half XD This chapter has a LOT of POVs that aren't just Bell and Clarke, mostly because if I didn't have them, it would be a lot of Bellamy or Clarke recounting what others said and that would be literally really boring. So, other POVs, yay! And, this is an interesting one, because it's non-linear, so it switches between the present and future, so you only get little bits at one time or another. It's so fun to write this way ;)

Thanks to my reviewers: Guest, Emperor's Sister, heidi1245401, Red656, Nexitye, JCarabaguiaz, and foxcharin.

Guest: I hope you enjoy this ;)


NOW (14 Years After Start of Program)

After the dust had settled, after the terrified masses had been quaintly assured by the calm and even voice of Thelonius Jaha, after everyone that would make it through was stabilized, and after Jaha had a moment in his private room where he could have punched the wall or vomited or cried and Wells saw him, and he had to admit to his son he wasn't sure how to fix this, Jaha stood with Abby at the site of the attack.

People were working to take away the rubble and the metal bent out of shape, searching through for anything re-usable, anything to further evidence to use against those that had done such horrid things. His gaze fell upon the seven bodies under a white tarp, their status inescapable. Abby was looking at them too…soon, someone would be by to perform their last rites before they made their final journey to the ground. It was looking at that last impossibly small shape underneath the tarp that made him feel murderous and sick all at the same time.

"I recall you telling me that next time we wouldn't be so lucky," Abby's voice was strained and tired, "I think our luck has run out."

"People are scared, dad." Jaha hadn't even realized his son was there. He brushed off his pants, taking off his gloves, "How did we not see this? How did I not see this?"

Although the official information on who perpetrated this crime was not yet released, certain individuals like his son knew. He saw how heavily this weighed upon his son's shoulders.

"You could not have stopped this. People that make plans like this are masterminds. No one could have." Jaha said firmly, setting his hands on Wells' shoulders, but Wells still looked unconvinced.

"I was with them everyday for years…I…I…"

"Wells," Abby broke in, "Please, that's not your job. No one is holding you responsible here. No one would ever think that."

Wells gaze rested upon the third body in, eyes misting, "She could still be here if I'd been more perceptive."

Abby and Jaha exchanged looks.

"Wells, why don't you go home for the night? There are plenty of others to help-,"

"No. I'm going to stay." Wells wrenched himself from his dad's hand, "I need this."
Jaha hesitated for a moment before nodding. Abby pressed his arm softly.

"We have other places to be," She reminded gently. Jaha gave a jerking nod before leaving, throwing one last sad glance at his son who sorted through the things with other members of his group, the group Jaha had insisted he went in.

Halfway back to the guard's station, they came across Bree whose eyes were rimmed red and whose cheeks were flushed.

"Have you seen Wells?" She asked breathlessly. Jaha was a bit surprised, he knew his son and his girlfriend had been on the rocks recently but the urgency in her voice told him that she was terrified for him, "No one will tell me anything and I-,"

"He's fine, Bree. He's in the back, helping clean things. He needs you right now, he's taking it badly." Jaha said, eyes softening at her.

"Will all due respect, sir, we all are." She said stiffly, biting her lip, "Doctor Griffin, how are my friends? I can't…they won't let me into the medical ward since I'm not related to any of them."

"All that were admitted are okay, so far. We've done the best we can, the rest is up to them. I'll make sure that you are kept updated on any changes." She said sympathetically. Brees nodded before scurrying away to find Wells, brushing away tears with the back of her eyes.

In the interrogation room, Diana Sydney sat as though she had been invited to a tea brunch by the Chancellor and was not being investigated for orchestrating one of the most horrifying attacks on the Ark since it began.

"Jaha, I've been waiting a long time. Can you please tell me why, exactly, I'm here? It's not nice to keep a lady waiting for hours." She said. From the door, where Sergeant Miller stood with another high-ranking official to keep watch, Jaha saw his jaw tighten. Jaha felt his mood all too well, but knew he had to be smart about this. He hadn't realized it until now, but this was a deeply deceptive and dangerous woman sitting in front of him.

"Well, I think we both know. You are being charged with setting off a bomb and killing seven citizens, injuring even more." Jaha said. Diana Sydney had the audacity to look shocked.

"Me?" She sputtered, "It's a tragedy and I understand that you, as the Chancellor, need to name a villain and are pointing fingers but-,"

"Diana, we both know that you are behind this," Jaha said, "So, let's cut to the chase. Who else helped you and are they still alive? You, my dear, will die either way. Everything you own will be taken away from you, anyone you ever talked to will feel sorry. But, if you speak now, your husband might get to continue his life, if he's innocent."

Jaha saw a subtle flash of something in her eyes at the mention of her husband, which lead Jaha to think he had no idea what she'd done. He couldn't blame her husband; Jaha had known her for decades and only now was he slowly building to see what sort of person she was.

"And, you're being charged with an attempt on the Chancellor's life," Abby added, glaring at her.

"Not to mention the life of our top medical official." Jaha added, glancing at Abby.

"Now, that's just grasping," Diana said with a wave of her hand. Abby's eyes darkened.

"You are very lucky perhaps that your plan didn't go as follows." She said, and pulled up something on her holoscreen, "I got a report today that in the meeting room of the Project Iphigenia children there was a stabbing. I would have gone, of course, and in most violent interactions the Chancellor goes along to see what course of actions need to be taken. The message was sent just ten minutes before the bomb went off, which would have put us directly at the place it happened as it happened. Luckily, other things intervened." Abby said, shoving the pad toward her, "I'm quite confident if we sift through the database, which we assure you our best will be doing, the faux distress call will have come from you or a different one of your followers."

"You have nothing on me but theory right now." Diana said, standing and stretching, "We both know you can't keep me here forever, so why don't you just admit right now that it's all theories and there's nothing to tie me to this and let me go. Make it easier on all of us. If you do, I won't tell…don't want to embarrass the chancellor." She said sweetly, moving to go.

"Actually, we do." Jaha said, reaching to grab something from his pocket. Before he could, the door to the room burst open.

"Mom, Jaha- Al's awake! You need to come and hear what he has to say. Right. Now." Clarke sounded out of breath, and her gaze switched to Diana and it hardened into a black fury. She ground her teeth into a snarl at the woman and turned back, "Really, c'mon!"

"Well, it seems this is getting interesting." Jaha said, "Keep her here." He told the guards. As he left, he couldn't help but to have notice the way that Diana's eyes flashed with fear at Al's name. Yes, the most certainly had their killer.

15 YEARS AGO

Diana felt someone grab her from a door. She stumbled as someone roughly jerked her into a room and slammed the door. It wasn't until she turned that she realized it was only Shumway, and she relaxed for a moment.

"What was all that?" Shumway demanded, "A program for the children? You said he'd step down after this attack." Shumway growled at her.

"I underestimated how…unexpected he'd be." Diana sighed, "I thought Thelonius was far less strong, and easier to crumble. As it seems, he's done it. My people are satisfied with this new Project." She said. Shumway gaped at her.

"Satisfied?" He thundered, "What about us?"

"You mean, what about me." Diana corrected him with a look of disgust, "You're only concerned about what you'll get."

"I have a right to be. I was promised things, Sydney and-,"

"Hush, keep your voice quiet. Do you want someone hearing us?" She asked, "Linking us? We'll be floated." She reminded him. Shumway quieted, although not happily.

"So what now? What's the next attack?" He asked.

"Nothing." Diana said, and held up a hand, "And before you say something else, to launch another attack right now would be unwise. It's not in the people's interest, and if we don't have their support, we have nothing."

"So what? We give up?" Shumway kicked the bed frame with his shoe.

"Hardly," Diana scoffed, "We just bide our time. Jaha will misstep soon, he is too soft to be chancellor for more than two or three years. He'll be voted out and someone will go in who is much more…pliable to our needs." She said confidently.

"And if this Project of his is a smashing hit?" Shumway countered.

"Well," Diana paused for only a moment, "Then we wait. The tides of politics are just so, one moment in and the next out, a cycle. We merely need to wait until the waves come back to us again." She said.

"That could be years," Shumway began to complain.

"Then so be it." Diana said sharply, "When we see an opportunity, we'll take it."

She turned to leave.

"Hey!" Shumway grabbed her elbow again. She slapped him away.

"Oh, really?" She turned toward him with a look of exhaustion.

"I did my part, it wasn't easy, you know." He pointed out, nervous and edgy like a jackrabbit ready to skip off.

"Well, I suppose." She agreed, "Commander Cordero will be taken care of, and as it sounds, you are in the leading polls to take his place Major Shumway. I wouldn't squander this opportunity." There was a veiled threat behind her words.
"I assure you, once I am placed as Commander our doors will open even wider." Shumway said, a malicious grin coating his face.

Diana relinquished a small grin of her own, "That's exactly what I'm hoping you'd say."

NOW

Clarke sat with her head in her hands. She sniffled, and used her hand to wipe at her nose, but when she pulled it back she was dismayed to see the color of dried blood smeared into the lines in her hands and hastily used her sleeve to get the blood from her face. She hadn't even realized how much blood covered her hands until now. She hadn't a second to relax until now, she argued.

What were they going to do?

She looked up, watching people bustle around, but no one told Clarke to get up and get back to work. Instead, they sent her sympathetic glances and murmured amongst themselves.

Clarke was so tired, so beaten down. She'd worked longer shifts before but never had it been so emotional, never had she been so terrified at each and every second that she might loose one of her friends. She just wanted to find Bellamy, curl up under a blanket with him cuddling her and cry for a good long time. She also wanted to strangle whoever was responsible, but that was second to just wanting to leave this place and curl in upon herself.

From the entrance, the sound of a person she knew gradually became louder and clearer as Clarke began to listen.

"I just want to know what's happening! Can't you let me in?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, only immediate family is allowed. Last I checked you…"

Clarke got up, grabbing her holopad that she'd set next to her, and turned the corner to see Bree arguing heatedly with the guard standing watch at the entrance to the hospital. They were cutting all cases that were not an emergency today and limiting the people who came in, otherwise the whole of the Ark would be here, pressing their noses into an already stressful situation.

"Clarke!" Bree's face relaxed a millimeter when she saw her friend, "Everyone is dying," She pulled a face, scowling and shaking her head, "I mean, we just want to know what's going on? I was sent as a representative but this jerk-,"

"Hey!" The guard said, shoving her back a little, "Do I need to physically walk you away from here?" He demanded, "Bring you in?" Clarke raised an eyebrow. Never in her life did she think she'd see Bree being threatened with being written up. The girl was furious now, though.

"Let her through." Clarke said, stepping between them.

"Clarke, we can't just let every somebody off the halls walk in here." The guard said with a sneer, "She isn't related directly to anyone in the accident."

"She's family." Clarke said with a stern resolution, "Let her through."

The guard's face morphed into a half-apologic, half-condescending but totally faux smile, "I get it. You and Wells are like siblings, she's going to be marrying the little Chancellor so you all feel like you're one fucking happy family, but it doesn't work like that." He said, bringing his guards stick across his chest.

"No," Clarke said, feeling like as though her urge to punch someone would be well used on this asshat, "We're a family." She said once again with more precision in her voice, yanking Bree's arm to reveal her group tattoo on the underside of her arm and Clarke shoving up her shirt to show her own, sticking out on the skin above her waist.

"Little club tattoos hardly mean anything." The guard said, but looked more unsure, "Look, Griffin, I'm not going to just do whatever you say and then turn around and get written up. I just can't believe you."

"You know what?" Clarke said, stalking up until she was inches from his face, "I'm going to-,"

"Clarke…" Bree sighed, "You tried. Let's not send anyone else to the hospital today." She said, looking sideways at the guard.

"Yes, she's right. Wouldn't want you getting hurt." The guard agreed, looking at Clarke with a satisfied grin.

"I was talking about you." Bree said dryly, "I'm going to go find Wells. Promise me you'll let us know if anything changes?" She said, her big blue eyes shimmering.

Clarke locked her jaw, but stepped down from her challenge. She nodded to Bree.

"I'll talk to my mom. She'll listen to me." She said.

Clarke sent one last nasty glare at the guard before going back to the main area, waiting to be summoned to a room for better or worse news. She saw her mom and Jaha passing through not long after, and hurried to catch up.

"Mom!"

"Clarke, oh baby…" Abby turned, seeing the sweat and blood drying on her daughter's face and gently took both her cheeks in her hands.

"Mom, Bree was trying to get in. You gotta let us in, the group. You can't leave them in the dark. We're a family mom and you made us like this and the attack was against us and you can't just let them sit there with no knowledge when their brothers and sisters are dying and-," Clarke's plea came out all in one large breath and she didn't realize she had started crying until her mother wiped her tears from her face.

"Clarke, we already saw Bree. I agree, and I'll talk to the guards about it." Abby said softly.

"I never thought you all would become so…closer…" Jaha murmured, eyebrows knitting in thought, "I am sorry for your loss." He then added after a second. Clarke accepted it with a tough nod.

"We're going to be in the interrogation room, Clarke. Will you be okay here?" Her mother asked worriedly, "You look ready to fall over."

"I'll be okay," Clarke said quietly, "I need to be here."

Her mother kissed her forehead one last time, leaving Clarke alone again. She sat back on the chair she had previously inhabited, biting the inside of her lip.

There was commotion from room eight. She jumped up, scurrying over to the room where a couple doctors and nurses were pressing to the door.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"The Asian kid is waking up." One of the doctors near her own age said and Clarke's face turned sour.

"Al," She said hotly, "His name is Al."

Using her elbow and a couple meaningful coughs, she shoved her way into the room to where Al was starting to sit up, his eyelids fluttering.

Clarke watched with a held breath as he opened his eyes all the way, alive and awake. Then, he panicked.

"Al!" Clarke was at his side immediately, "Al, it's okay. You were in an explosion, but you're fine now. You're in the hospital." She said, pressing comforting hands to his arms.

"Clarke?" Al coughed, looking at her with wide-eyed confusion, "I'm not…dead?"

"No, although you gave us quite a scare." Clarke said softly, sending a pointed look at the doctors still hovering as she pulled up a chair to sit by him.

Al's fingers instinctively traveled down to his chest, "I was shot though?" He said, looking at the wound, realization lighting up his eyes.

"Yes, we didn't think you'd be awake for a while. Do you remember at all what happened? Everyone else didn't have much to tell us." Clarke said. Al's eyes narrowed.

"Everyone else?" He repeated. Clarke was about to answer back when she saw a series of emotions flicker across his face; first just the confusion that he'd had previously, then realization, then sadness…horror…disgust. She was so enthralled that she forgot she was going to answer him.

He suddenly grabbed his hair with his hands, eyes widening as he shook his head frantically. His next words sent shivers down Clarke's spine.

"There wasn't supposed to be anyone there. No one was meant to get hurt. They promised me, they promised me. I…they tried to kill me. Oh my god, Clarke…" He muttered over and over.

"Hey!" Clarke grabbed his arm, "What are you talking about? You…you did this?" She asked, her throat going dry.

"I never meant to…It was just supposed to be a demonstration, no one was meant to be injured. I would have never thought that they were trying to do that." Al sobbed, shaking his head again.

"They?" Clarke asked, frowning.

"Yes there was A-,"

"Yes," Clarke said quickly, "We know about her." She didn't want to hear the name of the friend who had so deeply betrayed them. She couldn't dare to hear it. Not yet, not now.

"Do you know about Shumway and Diana?" He asked, turning toward her, a quiet tone in his voice. It was resignation, as the weight of his actions settled upon him.

"No…we didn't…" Clarke whispered quietly.

"It was all Diana, really, but Shumway helped too. They gave us everything. They were the ones who planned it all." He frowned.

Clarke got up abruptly.

"I'm going to get my mom and Jaha. I think they need to hear this."

14 YEARS AGO

Al sat playing with a bouncy ball in the Agro Station dining hall. He looked up at his mother and father who were taking their meal portions and threw the ball harder against the wall.

Today had been a really shitty day. He wasn't supposed to be using that word, or stars, even know what it was but he had heard his father use it when he was really upset about something. Al thought this qualified.

His parents had just told him he was going to have to marry a girl someday, a girl he didn't even know and they wouldn't tell him and he wasn't allowed to get a say in it. He didn't even like girls right now, at the age of 8, he thought they were giggly and sparkly and altogether too annoying for him.

Marriage was farther than the last thing on his mind. Despite his protests, his parents didn't seem to care that much.

Worse? He couldn't tell a single person.

A woman passed through the dining hall that he didn't see much. He saw her sometimes while he was walking near the upper stations, and she was passing through, but he hadn't ever seen her in his area before. He threw his ball and it bounced off the edge of a table, rolling directly to her feet.

She turned toward him and he cowered, sure that he was about to get yelled at. Her eyes were sharp for a moment before they turned softer. They weren't kind, but they weren't mean either.

She came and held out the ball to him.

"What's your name?" She questioned, tilting her head.

"Al Cozens." He whimpered, "I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" She asked, sitting down beside him.

"I dunno, I just am told to apologize a lot." He said, frowning. The woman studied him.

"Cozens…you wouldn't be the grandson of Chancellor Cozens, would you?" She asked, smiling grandly. Al nodded.

"I never knew him," He said sadly, "But my mom says he was the best. I like to think he is."

The woman grinned broadly, "He really was. I only got to see him as a young girl, but he indeed was quite a person. Caring, generous, understanding…the sort of person that deserves to be the chancellor." She said.

Al was quiet a moment, "Who are you?" He said, scrunching his nose.

The woman laughed as though he'd told her a really funny joke, "My name is Diana Sydney. I was the chancellor before Jaha." She said. Al's mouth turned into an 'o' shape.

"Wow…" He whispered.

"You seem to be having a bad day, are you okay?" Diana questioned, turning toward him.

"I found out I have to marry some girl today. Girls are yucky. I want to live by myself one day, not with her." He said before he could stop the words, "I'm not supposed to talk about it." He said after a moment, wincing.

"It's alright, I know about it." She said.

"You do?" His face brightened, "Can you tell me who I'm gunna marry? My parents won't tell me. I just want to know."

"I'm sorry, I don't know that right now." Diana said sympathetically, "But that's sad that you don't get a say in it. I'm terribly sorry. It's quiet unfair."

Al's shoulders dropped, "Yeah…" He sighed.

"Do you want to be a chancellor like your grandfather was, Al?" Diana asked suddenly, studying him.

Al shrugged, "I dunno what I like yet."

"Well, do you want to make a difference? Possibly help do something about this rule?" Diana tried again. Al thought for a long moment.

"Sure," He finally agreed, "That sounds fun." His smile brightened a bit.

"Well, how about this? I mostly talk to people in the lower stations, but it would be cool to have a smart and responsible young man up here helping me with the upper stations. You tell me what's going on in the group and I see what I can do. How about that?" She asked.

"Like a ninja or a spy?" Al bounced in his seat. Diana's mouth twitched into almost a warm smile.

"Yes, something like that." She agreed. Al nodded enthusiastically, "So, how about we meet once a month? I'll help you, you help me."

"Sure! My parents will-,"

"No, you can't tell your parents." Diana said, "Would a spy tell it's parents very secret information?" At Al's dubious look, she added, "Plus, they lied to you about your marriage. Can you trust them?" She said, sending him a look. Al thought about how upset when was that his parents had lied and signed him up for this. It made Diana seem very smart to remind him of that.

"You're right." He hissed, "They can't be trusted."

Diana's face relaxed from her taught smile, "Good, good…well, I'll see you next month. Be on the lookout for anything suspicious and let me know your group is going." She said. Al nodded dutifully. She was just leaving as his parents came back.

"Was that Diana Sydney?" His father asked, watching her leave and scratching his chin. Al opened his mouth to say yes, but then recalled he was a spy with a mission.

He tucked into his rice and gave his parents an innocent look, "Whose that?"

THREE HOURS BEFORE THE ATTACK

Bellamy makes a face at Sebastian, who looks at him and then grins wide and tries to mimic it. Bellamy sticks out his tongue and the baby awkwardly repeats it, sticking out it's little tongue and sucking on it for a second before becoming much more preoccupied with his mother walking back and forth with Elliot. She sees Sebastian and her grin grows wide as she comes to sit on the floor next to them.

If Aurora could be around Octavia and her grandson every second of the day, she would, but she can't without raising some sort of suspicion. So, from the day that he was born, she tasked Bellamy with being her eyes and ears, to report back practically everything he does.

Bellamy would find this annoying if it were anything else, but as it is he greatly enjoys an excuse to be around his nephew all the time. He is often struck by how much he looked like his mother and he has all these strange flashbacks to Octavia as a baby, the way he held her in his arms and how quiet she was…how different that was to now.

And he loves Sebastian. He didn't think it was possible to love a tiny human so much. On one hand, it makes him ridiculously excited for his own kids, but on the other he's happy to just be an uncle for now…whenever Sebastian gets fussy or hungry, he can just hand him back to Octavia with no stress required of him.

Octavia is completely proud of Sebastian. He never saw her as a mothering type, until she had him.

"Look at him, following us! Stars, he's so intelligent. I think he has his father's brains, don't you?" She coos, tickling Sebastian's stomach. He splits into a toothless smile and paws with his arms and legs, "Much smarter than the other babies, of course." She assures, kissing his forehead.

"As much as I agree that he's going to be a regular Einstein and appreciate the sentiment to my intelligence," Jasper says from where he works on a new design for the Ark's water filters, "I think we can't compare him to the other kids that are practically newborns still."

The 'other kids' that he referrers to are the two other children from the group that have been born in the two and a half months since Octavia had her baby. And, since it takes far longer to be re-accepted into the guard after having kids compared to going back to a desk job, Octavia has made a makeshift daycare for the little ones. Besides, no one trusts their offspring with someone other than a fellow group member. Bellamy has a feeling all twenty some kids are going to grow up like family to each other.

Octavia likes it thought, being home with Sebastian. She's never said this outright to Bellamy but he knows she had a hard time when she was forced to leave for her child's safety that it was a tough acceptance between being a mother and having a job. She acts tough about it, as though this is just something to keep her occupied while she trains and gets her body and mind back into shape, but Jasper told Bellamy that she likes having the excuse to be around Sebastian all the time. She talks about how their mother was around all the time during her life, and as much as it annoyed her to death sometimes, she was glad that she had a parent that was so present.

"No! Sebastian, ugg, spit that out." Octavia said, hurriedly handing off the kid she was holding to Bellamy- Elliot Hagger- to rush to Sebastian where he'd stuck something in his mouth.

"Yes, he's just brimming with intelligence." Bellamy chuckled as he watched Octavia fish for the object from his lips. He turned his attention to the little girl, sticking his tongue out at her. She was about two months old and looked just like her mother. Everyone had been pretty excited about Tom and Sarah's kid; they helped a lot with the whole idea. People like Bellamy and Clarke, well they would have gotten together even if they hadn't been put in this program. It helped the other participants to see people that might not have gotten together so happy and adjusted and with their kid. It gave everyone else hope.

The other kid that Jasper was holding was Keshawn and Marisha's son, Trent. People had been…less excited for that. Everyone just felt bad for Trent. Keshawn was just as awkward with children as he was with adults, it was found out. Bellay was sure (or, he hoped) that Keshawn loved his son, but he wasn't entirely sure. Trent took after his mom right now with his tanner, and most people hoped he would in personality too.

There was a knock on the door. Jasper went to open it and was greeted by a guard.

"Uh, hello?" Bellamy could hear the tone of nervousness in Jasper's tone. It was years after Octavia became Mel, but he knew that they would always worry. Bellamy still did too.

"Er, hey. I'm just looking for Bellamy." The guy said. Bellamy set Elliot down in the pack-n-play and stood. He saw the guardsman, Inspector Booth, and waved to him. Booth relaxed when he saw Bellamy, "Hey man, I just came by because I need my tablet back." He said.

"Oh," Bellamy went to his backpack. He'd had Booth's tablet to correlate a recent investigation, "I told you I'd give it back to you before your shift. It can't be that late already…" Bellamy tapped the time. It wasn't.

"Yeah, well I was asked to take over Ana's shift, it's technically already started."

"Ana?" Bellamy frowned, "Why? What's wrong?" Ana had never missed a day of work in her life, and most certainly hadn't ever left in the middle of one, as it seemed now.

"I dunno. Something about labor…" Booth shrugged, taking the tablet.

"Labor?" Octavia coughed, "Impossible. She's not even pregnant." Booth's eyes widened and he stuttered.

"I don't know. I just know I was asked to come in. I mean, I'm pretty sure that's what it is but…" He coughed, "I'll ah, see you later, Blake." He nodded.

Bellamy went straight back to his own tablet.

"Pregnant?" Jasper echoed, "But she just got married like not that long ago. Not long enough to have a kid already…"

"Well, we all know they were having sex before they got married. It's entirely possible her implant freaked." Octavia pointed out. Bellamy logged onto the medical wing, seeing those admitted within the last hour.

"So?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah, labor." Bellamy agreed, "But…there's a code here, something's wrong. I need to go find Clarke and see Ana." He murmured, worry over washing him for one of his best friends.

"Okay, tell us everything!" Octavia said as he left in a hurry. He found Clarke at Raven's house and pounded on the door.

"Whaaat?" Raven demanded, "We were girl-bonding." She said, put off.

"Clarke, Ana went into labor." Bellamy said in a rush of breath.

"What? She wasn't-," Raven began to interrupt but Bellamy shoved the tablet in her face.

"Oh no…" Clarke's face instantly turned ashen.

"Rae, I gotta go." She said, "This symbol, the baby's premature. I should be there." Clarke said.

"Of course." Raven said, sobering instantly, "We'll continue this later." She said. Clarke put a hand on her arm.

"Think about what I said, alright?" Raven looked shy and blushed, but nodded. Bellamy wasn't sure he'd ever seen her blush.

"So?" Bellamy prompted once they were out of earshot.

"Huh?" Clarke was caught up in her thoughts, "Oh, well…we were talking about Murphy. How she loves him. I told her she shouldn't wait, you know. She's still trying to figure out how to let Finn down gently."

"Well, just tell him how it is." Bellamy snorted.

"She doesn't want to hurt his feelings- can we talk about this another time? I'm worried about Ana. This could kill her, Bell."

Bellamy was told to wait outside while Clarke scrubbed in. He found Toby, looking completely white and pale.

"Did you even know?" Bellamy asked.

"Not for long. I mean, we only figured it out a week ago. We had an appointment in a couple days…what if this kills her? What if she dies?" Toby asked, his voice cracking, "Bellamy, I need her for this. I don't know how to parent alone." He said. No one brought up the fact that neither the baby nor the mother might survive.

This was far worse than when Octavia was having her kid. There wasn't the stress put on it, the worry.

Finally, Clarke came out, her hands still with some smears of blood.

"The baby's alive." She whispered, "It's a girl. We couldn't stop it, she was too close to giving birth. She's only 27 weeks, so…we need to keep her here for a couple weeks, give her more time to grow."

"Will the baby live?" Toby asked.

"We hope?" Clarke gnawed her lip, "But that's really young. Babies have survived at this stage, but it's nowhere near ideal. She might still have some developmental issues because of this."

"God," Toby managed to choke out, "And Ana?"

"She's okay, for now. I mean, she was bleeding a lot when she came in. We don't know why she went into labor so early, but we're hoping to do some tests in the coming days." Clarke said, "The important thing is for now they're both alive and that was part of the hardest fight." Clarke said reassuringly, "Would you like to see her?"

Toby gave a sharp nod. Bellamy trailed behind a little lost. He caught a glimpse of Ana lying on the hospital bed, pale and still and hoped she was merely sleeping now. She'd been his friend since the start of this crazy mess. They'd gone through everything, including jobs, together. Apart from Simon or Benny or his family of course (which he included Clarke in), he trusted her more than anyone else.

They were led to where a small pink body was placed under a heat lamp in what looked like a little glass cage.

"We can't take her out yet, I'm sorry. You'll have to wait to hold her. But you can touch her through these." Clarke said, motioning to gloves inward into the bed. Toby hesitantly put an arm in, reaching out to feel her hands. Bellamy had known babies were small but this one was a whole different level of tininess.

Clarke was looking at the kid like she already saw a tiny urn. Bellamy knew from her face that she didn't think she'd make it, but stars, she hoped.

Bellamy and Clarke watched in silence as Toby interacted with his daughter for the first time, unable to touch her, unable to properly meet her. It could have been a couple moments or half an hour, time stood still in these quiet times. Until, of course-

"Ana's missing!" One of the student nurses rushed in, out of breath.

"What?" Toby snarled, turning back, "How can you lose a severely wounded woman that just gave birth?" He demanded.

"I don't know. She asked for some water and I went to get her some and when I came back she was gone and-,"

"Hush, we have cameras. We can find her. How long ago did you leave to get some water?" Clarke asked.

"About half an hour ago."

"It takes you half an hour to get water?" Toby broke in.

"I also had to put in her blood tests. She looked she was going back to sleep, I just figured…oh god, I can't believe I lost a patient."

"Shh…" Clarke patted her back, "Look, we'll be okay, okay? We can find her, don't worry. It's not your fault." She sent a hard look back at Toby, daring him to say something. He locked his jaw but was silent.

"Come this way. I can accesses the cameras through the medical computers, just come with me." Bellamy said, grabbing the nurse's hand and leading her over to a kiosk.

As he was logging on, there was a rumbling echo first, like how he imagined thunder would feel like. It was just a shaking, enough for him to look up from the computer, just in time to hear the loudest echoing bang he'd ever heard. The lights flickered and it seemed like the entire Ark shook.

He shot Clarke a frantic look.

"What the hell was that?" She asked.

Bellamy abandoned his task of looking through the cameras, running off toward the sound of the blast despite people calling him back.

"Nothing good!" He yelled over his shoulder.

TWO YEARS AGO

"Arg!" Ana kicked the wall of the Ark with her foot. She instantly regretted it; stars, if she broke her toes because of this and couldn't work? Well, that would just be icing on the cake, wouldn't it.

"You okay?" Ana looked up to see a councilwoman walking past; Diana Sydney. She knew the woman to be cool and collected. Ana often got the feeling there was a lot more to her than she could see. She didn't like people who kept secrets, but she sure as hell respected them. She saw it as a challenge. Now, she hardly thought of all those things. All she could feel was the burning sensation of her toes.

"It's just a bad day, s'all," Ana muttered. Diana gave her a sympathetic look.

"Oh, darling, you must be in the Project Iphigenia." She surmised. Ana shot her a glare.

"How'd you know?"

"News travels fast around the Ark. Didn't think it would be so long for you all to find out."

"Yeah, well, the whole thing is bullshit, you know? Totally archaic, completely undermining my rights," Ana snarled at the woman, turning away.

"Oh, you must be Ana." Diana said with a quiet laugh, "One of the only female guards with quite the list of opinions…it's impossible to not hear of you." She said.

"So what if I got opinions? I can't help it everyone else is so in love with everything the chancellor does and the whole way this stupid Ark is run to say anything." Ana said crossly, locking her arms over her chest. She wasn't the tiniest bit afraid to be mouthing off someone who could make her life very bad. Diana seemed to recognize that and a wide smile grew across her face.

"I daresay we need more people opposing common thought." Diana said reassuringly. Ana's posture relaxed.

"…Yeah?" Ana asked, surprised to hear her say that.

"I wish I could help you more, get you out of this…" Diana sighed longingly.

"Well, you didn't make this stupid rule." Ana said, her anger washing away to just…emptiness.

"I take it your not a huge fan of authority. It's interesting you chose the guard." Diana said.

Ana shrugged, "Gotta stay in it to watch it." Ana said by way of explanation. Diana waited a very long moment before she asked her next words.

"Would you like to make a difference? Not change the world for the better, but instead prove that you all are not merely pawns? Remind everyone that you are people? You could be a revolutionary." Diana asked. Ana's brow creased. She tapped her foot, ow, she reminded that she had kicked it.

"I'm listening…"

RIGHT AFTER THE ATTACK

Clarke's head swam. Gurney after gurney of people being wheeled in, friends, people she knew and loved. Stars, she just couldn't believe it. It hadn't been long after Bellamy ran off that her mother had dispatched people to bring back any injured. She was expecting one or two. There were a lot.

She felt so torn. She wished her mother would just assign her someone to take care of, because right now she was torn between helping Fox or Matt or Brad or any of the other people that were being wheeled in. She had never felt so incapable of choosing something in her life.

"CLARKE!" Murphy's voice pierced through the bedlam. She snapped her head around to see Murphy, his shirt covered in blood, carrying Raven in. For one terrifying, heart-stopping second, Clarke was sure she was dead. Clarke was sure Murphy was bringing her in to show her. But she saw his frantic eyes and knew she had to still be alive. She knew in this instance it would be most prudent for her to push aside her personal fears and look at this medically and logically but she couldn't. Every time she tried, she saw Raven's face.

She did manage to feel Raven's pulse and it was there…but barely.

"Clarke, she's shot. I found her like this. She's going to die, isn't she?" Murphy asked in a waterfall of words, spilling out, just like the tears that spilled down his cheeks.

It took Clarke a second to gather her thoughts. She registered Murphy's words and her eyes traveled down to her legs where she could see the blood was coming from, slick and coating Murphy's hands.

"We need to stop that blood, fast, otherwise she will die." Clarke said, finding her voice, "And see about that bullet asap." Clarke turned, flagging down a bed, "I'll take care of her Murphy, I promise."

"What?" Murphy sputtered, "I have to be with her-,"

"I'm sorry, but you can't…" Clarke trailed off as Raven's lips moved. Murphy shoved his way to her side, grabbing her hand.

"Raven? Rae…can you hear me?" He whispered, grasping her hand like it was a lifeline. Clarke came up behind him, holding her breath.

"Finn…?" Raven murmured, "Finn…I need…to talk to you…" Then, she slipped back into a deep sleep. Clarke looked up at Murphy. For a second, it looked like someone had stabbed him in the gut. The look of sheer…hurt. Not anger, not at her, just agony.

"Murphy, let me-," Clarke said, knowing full well he was taking this entirely the wrong way.

Murphy shoved Clarke away, so forcefully that she stumbled back two or three steps. A guard stepped forward, but Clarke shook her head. Murphy looked shocked at his own hands.

"Just…fucking save her." He muttered, shaking his head. Clarke watched him go in despair, watching him leave. She called his name but he ignored everything, just vanishing back into the hustle of the busy hospital.

"Ms. Griffin? We need you here." A nurse pulled Clarke back into reality. She looked at Raven. She would explain it all later, if she could. She really hoped Murphy wasn't going to do something stupid, but Raven needed her right now.

RIGHT BEFORE THE BOMB

Raven tapped her feet anxiously in her room. She was worried about a lot of things. She was worried about her 'secret work' and that all their efforts would be for nothing, she was worried about Ana having a kid no one knew she was having…but most of all, she was worried about Finn. Not about his reaction to what she knew she had to tell him, but how to tell him. She didn't want to alienate him…he'd been her friend before she had any friends. Even before Murphy was her friend, even before Clarke. And she didn't want to hurt him. She loved him; just not in the way he wanted her to love him.

"If he's really your friend, he'll support you," Clarke had told Raven earlier today. Finn's suggestions for them to run off together behind Murphy's back despite the law were becoming more and more wanting. He'd had the whole big speech before, yeah, and then he hadn't said anything about it for a couple months…waiting for Raven to come back to him. But she knew she couldn't. She'd tried to let him down gently before, but 'gently' wasn't working. He was becoming obsessed with winning her, beating out Murphy, taking every chance to prove that he would be better.

And Murphy just let him.

She didn't think Murphy was bowing out of anything, quite the opposite. Murphy was a ball of arrogance and she knew he thought he didn't have to do anything to make his betterment shown, and in a way he was right.

At least, Raven hoped he liked her back. He'd done so much for her but hardly ever had said anything about them together as a couple, not even anger. It was just…radio silence.

But it didn't matter anymore. Even if Murphy didn't want her she couldn't imagine not wanting him. Finn just had to accept that.

She paced for hours, speaking out loud to her mirror, trying out the best ways to let Finn down explicitly but gently. Nothing seemed right. So, she went to find him. She figured in the moment it would all become clear.

She went next door, knocking on Finn's door. His mother answered.

"Sweetie, you okay? You're sweating quite a bit."

Raven rocked on the soles of her feet.

"Yeah, fine. I just…is Finn here?" She peered into the room but saw neither boys present. She wasn't sure if she wanted Murphy around or not during the whole thing. She'd have to face Murphy next, tell him that she loved him. Maybe it would be easier to get it all done with.

"No, he went out a little bit ago? I'm sure he'll be home soon; he promised his father he'd help him fix the heating in here. You can wait for him, if you'd like." She offered.

Raven frowned, "You know I could fix that heating in like two seconds, Mrs. Collins." She said.

"Of course we do, but I think they're just looking for an excuse to feel like men. Come on in." She offered again. Raven gave a firm shake of her head.

"No, it's fine. I think I'm going to go find Finn. I need to talk to him." The last thing Raven wanted, and was sure it was the last thing she wanted, was his parents there while she broke his heart, even if they seemed to love Murphy equally at this point. Still, Finn was their biological son and no mother wanted to see their kid suffer.

"Oh, well, good luck." Mrs. Collins squeezed Raven's arm. She seemed to know. Was it so obvious that Raven had been petrified and debating about this all this time? Raven managed back a forced smile.

Mrs. Collins informed Raven that Finn had gone about to the trade center. His shoes were breaking and apparently a relatively well looked after pair of sneakers had ended back up on the bartering table not long ago.

He wasn't in the barter room. The sneakers were gone, meaning he had been there, but the lady doling out objects hadn't seen where he'd gone. So, plan B-find Murphy, he usually knew where Finn was all the time these days. She passed their meeting room. She wondered if this was where Murphy was hanging out. No Murphy, no Finn.

"Hey, Raven." Fox waved to her with her bright grin, "Wanna play me in checkers? I feel like I might actually be challenged." She joked. Sterling, who was loosing badly, scowled across the table.

"Hey, if we played that trivia game, you'd be loosing." He grumbled, "Although against Raven in either she'd probably kick our assess." He laughed.

"I'm sorta on a mission. You guys seen Murphy or Finn anywhere?" She asked. Sterling and Fox looked at each other and then back at Raven and gave grand shrugs.

"Murphy?" Matt spoke up from the other end of the room. The area was pretty deserted, besides the three talking to her and Brad lounging in the corner. Matt was wrapping a gift, "Well, he was here before, but he left like twenty minutes ago. Dunno, Bellamy called him in to work."

"What are you doing?" Raven asked, examining the table he sat at, which had a couple presents and a box of food.

"It's my goddaughter's birthday," Matt grinned, "I suggested we all meet here since no one uses it much anymore, at least not at this time of day. She's turning six." He said proudly.

"Aww, how adorable!" Fox squealed from the table on the other end of the room.

"Yeah, she's pretty great." Matt chuckled.

"Well, have fun." Raven said, nodding to him, taking her leave, "I still have people to find." She gave a long sigh. Sterling looked up, nodding sagely. He somehow seemed to know what she was doing. Fox gave her a verbal goodbye, Matt waved, and Brad gave a grunt. Just as Raven left, Zoe Monroe entered, carrying a bundle of something with her.

"Hey Raven!" She greeted, "Matt, I found a table cloth…"

Raven bit her lip, turning the corner, wondering why Murphy was called into work. Well, if he were on shift it would be extremely easy to find him. Hopefully that would lead to Finn. If all else fails she would go back to his house, suffer the embarrassment of doing it in his own house, just because she didn't want to put it off any longer.

Above her, the lights flickered. Raven was instantly alert. There had been reports of faulty wiring lately and Raven knew how to fix that stuff, in a pinch. She veered to the left and found the door next to the meeting room's hallway where the fuse boxes were kept, the area right behind the main wall of the meeting room. It was wide open, and she nearly stumbled over a pair of feet.

She did a double take when she turned her attention to what had tripped her up.

"Al? Oh my stars," She said in one long breath, dropping next to him. He was unresponsive, thick blood trekking down his cheek from his temple. She pressed her ear to his chest. He was breathing, thank god. She started to lift him onto her shoulder when her eyes caught something in the fuse box.

Raven, like all teens too smart for society, pretty much knew how to make a bomb. Not that they'd ever want to actually use one, but back when they were gothic and moody teens, they all asked someone or figured it out themselves. So, Raven knew with 100% certainty that she was looking at a bomb worked into the electricity of the fuse box.

She grabbed her walkie.

"Raven!" A surprised voice startled her. She turned to see Ana, staring at her in horror.

"Ana," She breathed a sigh of relief. Thank stars a guards member had come along. She'd know how to handle this, "Someone put a bomb here. They knocked Al out too. I'm going to call this in, can you help get Al to the hospital and then get your boss?" She asked, "We need to get video surveillance of this area."

"Why don't you take Al in?" Ana frowned, stepping over him, hardly looking at him, "I can call this in."

"No, no…" Raven waved her away, "I can describe what this is to whomever shows up, probably can help find who built this…you know, who had materials and such…" Raven pulled the walkie out of her pocket, flipping it on, "Hey, Sinclair-,"

"Raven, put it down." Ana's voice was like steel behind her. Raven turned, utterly confused until she was face to face with an old-fashioned handgun, inches away from her face.

"What?" Raven managed out.

"Put the walkie down, kick it away." Ana said in a perfectly quiet voice. It was only then that Raven recalled that Ana was supposed to have been giving birth. She'd been so caught up in Al and the bomb that she hadn't even thought of that. Ana looked pretty ill, granted, but not like she had just given birth. Raven was extremely confused, "Put it down!" Ana's voice was sharper, like the grating of nails on a chalkboard, "Or else." Ana clicked the gun's safety off. There was a hint of mania in her eyes…Raven didn't doubt her threat for a second.

"Ohh…kay…" Raven said softly, "I'm putting it down, no problem…" Raven said quietly, looking for ways out. She'd done a little bit of practice combat training, but Ana was years above her in experience, sick or not.

"Kick it that way," Ana snarled. Raven was smart enough to know when not to stir up trouble. She complied.

"Oh, Raven…" Ana gave a long sigh.

"Why?" Raven asked. It was obvious now who put the bomb here. Ana didn't answer. Instead, she looked at Raven with such pity.

"You know, I actually really like you." She pouted, "But knowing this, knowing you, we can't have you fixing this problem before it happens. You know that, right?" Ana said, locking eyes with Raven. In that moment, Raven knew that she was going to kill Raven, no hesitations about it.

"Matt! Brad! Monroe!" Raven screamed, ducking away from the spot she had been, hoping someone would hear her. She threw herself across the hall into a secret passageway, managing to drag Al halfway across the hall too. She was sure now he was just a poor innocent like her that came across the wrong thing at the wrong time. She couldn't haul him into the bones of the ship, but managed to wedge herself behind the wall and close the trap door behind her. She used her hands, keeping it firmly shut.

Her heart thudded in her chest. There was an airway behind her, but far too small for her to fit through. She didn't know how this would end; she didn't know what was coming next.

She heard the click of the gun and before she could re-position herself, Ana shot right through the wall of the hall, right through the door. Raven saw the pinpricks of light before she registered the blinding pain in her side. She let out a cry and cut it off as she felt dizziness overwhelm her. She slumped to the ground, watching a red puddle ooze underneath her. Her vision was slipping in and out…

The door way opened and Ana looked in, seeing Raven dying in her own blood and gave a satisfied nod. She turned back. Raven waited until she had walked away and dragged herself from the hole. Her legs felt like they weren't even there anymore.

Ana was preoccupied with the bomb. She didn't notice Raven feebly crawling out. Just as Raven managed to lug her body out enough to grab the walkie, the bomb went off.


Lol, so as I was writing this, I got done with this section and was like 'that would be an awesomely evil place to leave the chapter' and it just so worked this was about half-way through :) Some things just work!

So, since this is a two-parter, I'm basically done (just needs edits for part 2) so I will either update on Thursday, which is going to go back to my update day OR when I reach 15 reviews on this chapter!

There is more evilness to come, but some really good things to, so...you def want to see what happens next ;) If you can't tell, this is one of those 'fixed points' or the idea Diana will, in any story, put a bomb and rebel. There's other fixed points here and in the next chapter.

I'm pretty tempted to draw that scene with Murphy carrying Raven. Hmm...we'll see.

Remember to review! Love you all :)