My computer decided to flip out so I had to type all this on my phone and then re-type it on my iPad because my iPad decided it no longer uses the paste function. So I'm sorry if there are errors. I will edit when my computer befriends me again. Please review!
Bellamy was struggling to see through the explosion of dots that scattered over his vision. They formed a constellation, mixing with the flashing lights until he felt as if he'd entered some other galaxy, with black stars hanging against a curtain of red.
He blinked rapidly, in an attempt to clear it but didn't slow his pace, his momentum nearly pitching him over the drop in the duct he'd had to climb up. Bellamy didn't care, though. He barely felt it.
All he could think of was the guards that were coming, and he'd decided since the moment he'd squeezed the trigger that the only way those guards would lay a hand on him, was if he were dead.
The girl lagged somewhere behind him, but Bellamy didn't look back. When he spotted the exit to the air duct, he just sped up, tripping over his hands until he reached it and pulled himself out. His arm had numbed again, possible from damaged nerves but maybe it was good the pain hadn't hit yet. It spared him the focus he needed to try and figure out escape, to find whatever semblance of freedom one could get in space.
but he drew up short, only pausing when he realized he had no idea where to go. They'd be sealing off this Station in minutes and Bellamy doubted the girl could fix him up in another storage locker. In the dark.
He turned around, just as her head popped out, face gleaming with sweat. She crawled out and rose to her feet.
"Did you get any further with that plan of yours?" Bellamy asked, having to raise his voice to be heard over the alarms.
She moved passed him, towards the only corridor that expanded out before them. "I know of a place," she shouted back.
"What place?"
But the girl was already running, and Bellamy had no choice but to follow after. He ignored the weight in his legs that threatened to pull him down. The flashing lights alone disoriented him and Bellamy stumbled, nearly losing his footing but he didn't slow. If the wailing alarms weren't enough to keep him moving, the growing sense of pounding feet and shouted orders soon would be.
They ran back down the corridors, out of Sci Gov and Bellamy breathed a small sigh of relief that it hadn't been blocked off yet. Then they were ducking back into Agro Station and he was tailing her blindly.
Now the numbness was beginning to ebb away and more stars erupted. Bellamy kept going, as they dropped down levels, away from anything that he recognized and he tried to call back the rotation times the guards would be on, but he doubted it would matter; they would've fled to Sci Gov at the sound of the alarms.
What Bellamy really wanted was to demand she tell him where they were going but he couldn't muster the strength to yell, tripping and staggering forward as they went down farther and farther, burrowing themselves beneath the underside of Agro.
Eventually the girl came to a stop and Bellamy almost slammed into her at the suddenness of it. He struggled to breathe, as he took in the door that stood before them. It was partially opened and Bellamy had the unsettling feeling that no one had been beyond this point in a very long time.
The girl didn't seem to notice, though, and she stepped forward, prying the opening back a little more, until it was wide enough for both of them to slip through.
It was one of those rare moments that Bellamy found himself speechless, like when the girl had hurt herself, and he stared at the empty room he found himself in.
"What is this place?" He asked, gazing around at the chamber. It was small, but clearly unused, indicated by the collection of grime that clung to the ground. Bellamy didn't know there was such a thing as unoccupied space on the Ark. The concept was as foreign to him as grass and blue sky.
"I came here as a kid," the girl said, looking at a malformed piece of wall that jutted inwards as if some great fist had struck this part of the ship.
"I'm surprised you were let through."
"I never said I was."
"What, did Mini Chancellor give you special access?" he quipped.
"This part of the Ark was damaged," she said, ignore the jibe. "Struck by debris. Jaha thought it wasn't safe so he sealed it off, telling the people the area wasn't secure."
"So you and Mini Chancellor thought it a bright idea to come and check it for yourselves," he replied, unbothered by the jeer in his voice. "I guess the privileged can afford to be stupid."
"Sit down," she instructed.
Bellamy grimaced at her authoritative tone but complied, his knees having gone shaky and weak long before the running.
She came up beside him, blonde hair obscuring her face as she bent down and for a second, Bellamy thought she was taking off her shoes. But she just brandished a variety of packets.
Bellamy gestured to the supplies. "What is all that?"
The girl smirked. "I didn't climb through an air duct and steal supplies just so I could poison you in private if that's what you think."
"Private," he tested the word out on his tongue. Privacy was a rare thing to come by in a ship built for over two thousand people.
"What's that?" Bellamy asked again, when he saw her pick something up.
She sighed. "This is an oral antibiotic. There's a complete round of doses here." She grabbed something else, a thin package of sorts. "Now take off your shirt."
Bellamy tensed.
She quirked an eyebrow at him. "You want to be treated or don't you?"
With slow movements, Bellamy pulled off his shirt, having to tug at the areas where the blood had dried and acted as a glue. This was the first time he was getting a clear view of the wound himself and it took a physical effort not to cringe at the sight.
The hole in his shoulder was painted a grotesque color, bordering on an ugly purple, with some traces of blood and pus oozing from its center. The skin around it was an irritated red, flesh puffy with swelling.
Bellamy grimaced but watched the girl skeptically as she inspected the wound.
"How bad is it?" He was almost afraid to know.
"You made it longer than most," she answered bluntly.
"Sorry to disappoint."
She uncapped something, some kind of salve, and Bellamy wrinkled his nose at the smell of it. "This may sting," she told him, a second before she touched the wound.
Bellamy bit back a curse as those stars returned. "Careful," he snapped.
"I know what I'm doing," she hissed with equal vehemence. "At least the bullet passed through," she added, her voice muffled from the throbbing pain Bellamy couldn't tear his focus from.
"Oh yeah," he sneered. "I'm very fortunate."
"You are. If it hadn't gone through, it would've needed to be surgically removed, and I highly doubt you'd be as cooperative if I had to operate on you with nothing more than a crude knife and some alcohol."
He frowned, but couldn't deny that. Instead, Bellamy turned his attention back to the chamber, looking away from the wound. From the girl.
"I know how to get back here," he pointed out, allowing her to absorb the implication. Which means I know how to get back.
She shrugged. "Something tells me you won't go sharing it with the nearest guard."
"Already presuming to know things about me, are you?" Bellamy asked, his voice curving darkly. "That's a dangerous game to play, Princess."
She met his eyes, pools of blue staring back at him. "I make it a habit not to presume anything about someone without even knowing their name first. Unlike you, it seems. But to be honest, I am getting a little tired referring to you just as that guy in my head." She held out a few pills to him that he eyed cautiously before raising them to his lips. He shoved the image of foaming at the mouth and seizing out of his head.
"So do you have a name?" She asked.
Bellamy swallowed the pills without water, ignoring the scrape against his throat as they went down. He gave her a withering look. "As far as you're concerned, I am just that guy. We're not partners. I need something from you. You need something from me. After this is all over, I never plan to see you again, so why would it matter?"
Silence. And then: "I guess it doesn't." She grabbed the bandages next and unraveled the small pack of gauze. She worked quickly, efficiently, and a moment later she began wrapping his shoulder. Bellamy winced, clenching his fists at the contact.
"I'll let you rest for a little while," she said. "The antibiotics should kick in soon, but it may take a few days for you to see or feel any noticeable change. I still need to get to Alpha though, so I can't spare you more than a day."
Bellamy leaned forward. "I'm sorry, 'let?'"
"We made an agreement," she said, and he detected a shard of anger in her tone.
Bellamy discarded it, feeling curiousity, suspicion, mount in his chest. "What are you even breaking in there for? Is it really worth the trouble?"
She suddenly pulled the bandage taught, and Bellamy flinched at the burst of pain.
"That's none of your business."
He swallowed a scoff. "It is if I'm going to risk my life for it."
Already, Bellamy was trying to devise some way he could take the medical supplies and leave before she took notice. While she slept? Bellamy didn't know where he could go that would offer as much refuge as this chamber, but it was better than following after this girl and her suicidal plan. She was nuts if she honestly believed he was going to go traipsing up to a dead man's front door. The man who was dead because of him.
"I risked my life going into the med bay," the girl said.
"You wouldn't have made it out of there if I hadn't gone in after you," he deadpanned.
"You didn't come after me. You came after the medical supplies that you needed."
They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence and Bellamy glowered as she stared back, annoyingly calm.
"You knew what you were risking," he replied, straining, unsuccessfully, to keep the anger out of his voice. "I don't. All I know is I would be helping you break into the living quarters of the man I shot. The sovereign of the Ark. You owe it to me."
Disgust rose to her features and she looked up at him from having finished tying off the bandage. "I owe it to you?" She asked incredulously. "Do you want to see how long you'd last without the rest of these doses? Because I can guarantee my guess will be better than yours."
"Is it because of Chancellor Junior?" Bellamy proffered, unable to keep the edge from his tone. "Is that why you're breaking into his daddy's office?"
For the first time, the girl didn't try to hide the resentment in her gaze-that subtle fire that flashed when she looked at him. But unlike Bellamy, she could control it.
Seconds passed and he was beginning to think that she wouldn't answer. But then the girl sat back, holding the excess bandages in her lap. "I want to see someone's records, among other things."
"Whose record?"
She narrowed her eyes. "I thought you said personal things didn't matter. We aren't partners, right?"
Bellamy glanced away but gave a curt nod. She was right. It didn't matter. None of this did. Nothing except getting himself back to the ground, and to Octavia. Had she eaten? Had she found water? Shelter? Was she even still alive?
Bellamy shoved that thought as far from him as he could. He hated not being able to do anything for her. Hated it as if it were something of actual substance. Bellamy had felt helpless in his life before, but not like this. Nothing like this.
At least when Octavia had been on the Ark, there was always this hope that perhaps he'd be able to sneak in to see her that day; to catch a glimpse of her as she was being transferred to a different cell. But he didn't even have that anymore, however frail of a hope it had been. He was on the Ark and she was on the ground, and there was nothing Bellamy could do for her over the thousands of miles that spanned between them.
But when Bellamy looked at this girl, and idea came to him. Maybe there was one thing he could do here, that he couldn't do on the ground.
Bellamy's voice dropped an octave as he stared at the girl, sitting across from him. "If you made it inside, would you have access to all records?" he asked, trying to keep his tone neutral.
She scrutinized him. "Yeah. I think so."
"Could you delete records?"
Her expression grew dubious. "I don't know," she said, but it was clearly a lie.
Bellamy ignored it, already consumed by his thoughts. He knew Jaha had sworn the One Hundred reprieve for their crimes, but if Jaha were dead, there was no promise the new Chancellor would keep the word of his predecessor.
It was true that Bellamy couldn't be with his sister on the ground, but that didn't mean he couldn't still protect her.
For seventeen years, Octavia had managed to keep her existence hidden from everyone on the Ark; a brown-haired, blue-eyed secret tucked beneath the floor. But on the bad days, Bellamy had caught her wishing that she would cease to exist completely, for her life to be undone.
And now, Bellamy had the chance to do what she herself had spent those seventeen years trying in vain to do.
He could erase her.
Octavia couldn't be punished for what they had no evidence for. Sure, the Council would know of her, but if he failed to make it to Earth, or died trying, at least they would have no new evidence to tie her to. And also no proof, if Bellamy erased himself as well.
He was still staring at the girl, so deep in thought. "Fine," he said, pulling his shirt back on. "But I need to see a record, too."
She actually glared at him this time, disbelief written in her eyes. "That wasn't part of our deal."
"Well it is now," he shot back. "Take it or leave it."
"Are you forgetting which of us is the one with the medicine. Or, more importantly, who knows the correct dosage?"
"You," Bellamy nearly spat through his teeth. "All you. But that doesn't change the fact that you need my help to get whatever else it is you want inside Jaha's apartment. It's your choice, Princess."
The girl took a calming breath, clearly warring with his words, but Bellamy didn't seem to think she had much of a choice and apparently, neither did she.
"Okay then." She patted him on the shoulder, his injured one, and gave him a fake smile. "But it's Clarke. Not princess."
Bellamy silently appraised her, from her medical training to her relations with Wells Jaha. That she'd even been entrusted with the entry code, and he wasn't so sure.