Hi again! Back to Rated-T chapters! Thanks for sticking with me on this! And yes, DamonSalvatorlover, you're right on two things: 1) Everyone needs a friend like Echo (and I hope that for those who didn't like her character on the show liker her better, now) and 2), Yes, Jane is too pure for this world. ;)

Chapter 21

Jane and Bellamy spent a little more time together after that fateful day. He was still mourning Clarke, but at least he knew she was alive, and he knew she was a fighter and a survivor. Jane tried to find some meaning to her life, but it was hard. She still felt like a zombie, all dead inside, despite the fact that Bellamy had given her his own heart. Her hip still hurt, and she still limped, but it was bearable.

At some point in the aftermath of the destroyed radio and getting beck to Jane, Bellamy asked Monty to change the code to the Com Room. He didn't want to go in there again and see the radio. It would hurt too much. The farthest he was from that room, the better. Monty obliged.

Three months had passed since their arrival in space, and the algae was finally harvestable. On the first day, they feasted. It was a good change from the rationing in the past three months. They all ate their fill, along with Monty's moonshine, and everyone was happy and laughing.

"Oh, my God," Monty said, sitting up straight on the edge of the couch. "I've got the greatest idea ever! I'm a genius!"

"Care to share?" Harper said, brushing away a wild strand of hair behind her ear.

"Clarke's a Nightblood, right?"

"Yeah…" Raven said slowly, afraid it might trigger something in Bellamy.

"And Jane is a Nightblood, too, right?"

Jane nodded. "And so are Echo and Emori."

Monty grinned like an idiot.

"Spit it out, Monty," Murphy said.

"Well, the way I see it, Clarke is living on a radiated planet thanks to her Nightblood, right?" They all nodded. "Well, why don't we all become Nightbloods – Jane already made two, here – and go back down to the ground, before the 5-year limit?"

Bellamy grinned and everyone jumped from their couch and embraced Monty for his flash of genius. Bellamy kissed Jane, Murphy kissed Emori and Monty kissed harper. Echo did a little solo dance and they toasted to Monty's idea and drank bottoms up what was left in their cups.

All but Raven. She just sat there, her arms crossed over her chest and staring in the distance, on frown on her face.

"Raven, what's wrong?" Echo said. "Why aren't you celebrating with us?"

Raven sighed. "Sit down," she ordered, and everyone looked at her like she had lost her mind. "I'm serious," she said again. "Please."

Monty and Bellamy exchanged a look and obeyed, followed by the others. "What's wrong?" Bellamy asked.

She couldn't face them. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news," she started. "But remember when you asked me if I could take you up in space and I told you there wasn't enough fuel to come back?" One by one they slowly nodded. "And Harper, you said it was a five-year problem, right?" Harper nodded. "Well, it still stands. We're stuck up here because we don't have enough fuel. There. I said it."

Silence followed her words, and they all refilled their cups of moonshine and drank slowly, digesting Raven's words.

"And there's no way to find more?" Emori asked.

Raven shook her head. "Not that I know of. Hydrazine is really complicated to make. No, it's impossible."

"If Jasper was here," Monty said softly, "he would know how to make it. He was a chemist."

Some more silence followed, all remembering Jasper. Monty closed his eyes shut, fighting back the tears.

"So what's the plan to get back to the ground?" Murphy asked. No one answered. "No, but seriously?"

Raven shrugged. "I'm still working on that." She paused. "If we hadn't lost a barrel on the way, we would have had enough to go back."

"How hard can it be to make just one more barrel?" Murphy asked.

"Impossible," Raven said. "As long as I don't have a solution for this, we're stuck here, okay?" she said, losing it a little and walking away to steam a bit. This whole going-back-to-Earth thing was on her shoulders alone. She headed out in the corridor.

"Hey," she heard behind her. "Raven, wait."

"What do you want, Bellamy? You want to go back to Clarke? I know. We all do. But at the moment, I-"

"I was just gonna say that you're not alone in this," he said. "Whatever we can do to help you find a solution, just ask. But hey," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder and trying out a small smile. "You've cracked more complicated things than this, right?"

She shook her head. "That's the problem, Bellamy. I'm not sure I have. And I don't have Becca's code in my mind, anymore. I'm on my own, now."

"No you're not," Monty said, coming their way. "We're going to put all our brains together on this, okay?"

Raven sighed, and then nodded.

This would be their biggest problem. But they had already managed to survive three months in space with their rations. Now that they had the algae, it would be easier. They just had to be careful not to become fat. Because the farm was producing for several hundred people, and they were only eight of them to feed. They could all eat their fill several times a day.

A few days later, Jane didn't have anything to do – all her chores were done – so she wandered on the Ring, until her hip hurt her and she had to stop, and she chose her favorite spot: the window overlooking the burning planet. How many times had she and Bellamy sat near a window just like this one and imagined the Ground and how life would be. And once they were down there, they had never though they'd come back up in space. And now they were stuck there.

Jane stared at the planet. It still looked like a burning coal in most of the places, and other places were already only brown or gray. Most of the radiation was gone in those part. She couldn't make out the continents or countries, so she couldn't guess at where Clarke was.

Clarke.

Alive.

She wasn't sure what kind of feeling that brewed in her. Was she happy she was alive and well? Or was she bitter about it? Clarke was her friend, after all. She shouldn't be bitter about it.

She shook her head, trying to clear these thoughts away. Instead she tried to think about the best memories she had – on the Ark and on the Ground – and one of them was that first time with Bellamy, when they had conceived Octavia. The next best memory that came to mind was holding Octavia in her arms for the first time and seeing Bellamy's pride at her side. Murphy was right. She couldn't abandon Octavia.

"Hey," she heard behind her and jumped at the sound. "Sorry," Bellamy said. "I didn't mean to scare you." He paused, sitting next to her, crossed legged. He looked at her, concern on his face. "Are you okay?" His deep voice resonated in the empty corridor.

She nodded, not looking at him, her gaze locked on Earth. On her daughter.

Bellamy looked at the Ground, too, and they were both silent for a moment. "A penny for your thoughts?" he said softly, scooting closer to her.

A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. "Octavia." But as soon as the word was out, her smile disappeared, replaced by a quivering chin. She closed her eyes shut and swallowed back the tears. She had cried enough in the past weeks and months. There was nothing she could do about it.

But Bellamy simply wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "You can cry, you know?" he said. "I miss her, too." He paused, looking at the burning planet rotating below them. "I always found that she had your eyes and nose."

Jane let out a strangled sob mixed with a chuckle. "No she does not. She had your nose."

Bellamy grinned. "Nope, she has yours. But you can't deny her hazel eyes. I would know if she had dark brown eyes."

Jane smiled genuinely, rested her head on his shoulder and relaxed. Her muscles had trouble relaxing, she had been so tense for months. But now there wasn't anything else to do. And resting and relaxing was on her to-do list, now.

Bellamy was still kind of in and out in their relationship, and it was hard for her to fully trust him when he said that he loved her. But he was always saying it genuinely. And he regularly reminded her that he had seen her grow into the woman she now was, that she had carried their daughter and that he came to the Ground only to be with her. And now they were back in Space.

They stayed a long moment in silence, staring at the Earth. Both thinking of a girl down there. Was it the same girl or not? Jane didn't even want to know who Bellamy was thinking about. She was just happy to be in his arms, right now. It felt good. And she gladly took every little thing from him. Sometimes it was a surprise hug from behind, other times it was a random kiss on her cheek, her lips or her temple, and sometimes it was a silent moment like this one, wrapped in his arms.

"Dinner's ready," Emori said through the communication system.

Bellamy stood and offered his hand to Jane to help her up.

"Hey," he said, lifting her chin so she would meet his eyes. "I love you, you know that?"

She nodded and squeezed his hand. Did he say that for himself, for her, or for both of them? Was it to persuade himself that he still loved her? Had he spent his silent minutes thinking about Clarke on the burning planet?

Bellamy couldn't read Jane's mind, so he took her hand in his and they walked to the dining room, where algae salad was waiting for them. There was more than enough for everyone and they all preyed on it. After dinner, Jane and the others not on food duty went to sit in the lounging area.

Bellamy took Raven aside. "I need your help," he said in a low voice, not wanting the others to hear.

"What for?" she said, frowning, and skeptical. "Fixing the radio is not my priority, right now, and you know that."

"I know. That's not what I was gonna say."

"Then what?"

"I need you to help me convince Jane that I really love her. I feel like she still doubts it. I mean, yes, I do have my moments where thoughts of Clarke invade my mind, but I always come back to Jane, and I need her."

"And what do you want me to do about it? Because this seems like a Bellamy problem to me. Not mine."

Bellamy grinned and exposed his idea to Raven. She nodded as he spoke and smirked when he was done talking.

"Okay," she said. "Count me in. When do we start?"

Any ideas at what Bellamy has in mind? review your thoughts^^