A Fresh Start Chapter 3
"Well has anyone looked for him?" Clarke shouted.
"No Clarke," Octavia snapped "If he wanted to be here, he would be. Remember when you left after Mt Weather. How would you feel if we dragged you back, against your will?"
"Octavia, we need to find him," Clarke said "He needs the injection."
"Do you have a clue what it was like for him?" Octavia asked.
"It was hard for me too Octavia," she said "I spent five years on a prison ship!"
"That was your choice. You knew he was down here… he thought you died," she said.
"I did it to save him. He wasn't going to go in the bunker if I didn't. He would have died outside." She said.
"You drugged him, you tricked him Clarke. When he woke up, they told him you were dead. It tore him up;" Octavia said "He's different now. A lot happened over five years Clarke. You don't know him anymore. Just let it go."
"Octavia, how can you even say that? If he's different, it still doesn't change the fact that he needs that marrow," Clarke said
"Why? No one's sick. I don't see a point to it. You know what I think… I think you went to space to come back like some kind of hero," Octavia spat.
"Octavia, the marrow is to raise your tolerance to the radiation. The plants, fish, everything has it. You don't feel sick, and you may not. But odds are you will. Maybe not now, maybe not next week, but you will. You can't see it. Remember Luna's Clan. They all died from it. Only Luna survived," Clarke said.
"Look, the stuff you're growing, the hydroponic garden, that's probably one reason no one's gotten sick yet. Once you start eating wild game, fish or berries; that's a different story. If he's out there eating whatever, and drinking the water, he could die without this marrow. But you don't care, do you?" Clarke snapped
She started to get angry and she stood up and walked towards Octavia.
"Do you care Octavia? Are you still blaming him?" she asked. She couldn't say Lincolns name, she was afraid it would be going too far. "Please tell me you're not still blaming him for that."
"No Clarke, but it's complicated. I'm telling you, he's different," she said. Her tone had a heaviness to it; heavy with regret.
"How is he different Octavia?" Clarke asked. "Please just tell me what happened"
"Everyone was crammed inside. Some of the grounders were scared. We had the second level because of security. When they closed the doors…I'll never forget the sound, and seeing Roan carry Bellamy over his shoulder. I didn't know what happened. I thought he was hurt," she mumbled "then I realized he was drugged and forced inside."
Octavia heard about Clarke and Raven's ship exploding when everyone else did. The first thing that went through her mind was her brother. She thought he deserved it. He deserved to feel the pain that she felt when she lost Lincoln. She stayed away from him, and the guilt ate away at her for it.
"I never saw him like that" she said. "I stayed away at first, but then I couldn't. He's my brother, but there wasn't anything I could do and it broke my heart seeing him like that. Then one day he was done. Everything was different," she said "it's like he changed overnight. He was quiet and just stayed by himself when he wasn't working. Clarke, he isn't the same person he used to be."
Octavia's mind drifted back to the bunker…
She saw Roan carrying Bellamy over his shoulder. "What happened?" She asked, but Roan just shook his head.
"You can lay him in here for now," said Abby as she directed Roan to a private room connected to the medical unit. "He's going to be out for a while. Did you use the full dose?"
"Wait, you drugged him?" Octavia interrupted as she stepped forward.
Roan ignored her and dropped Bellamy onto the bed. He straightened up and turned to face Abby. "I didn't want to risk it not being enough. We didn't have time to mess around."
As Roan was talking, Abby went to Bellamy and lifted his eyelid, and then she felt his pulse.
Octavia was watching Abby when the loud buzzers started. Red emergency flashers were going off. Then they stopped. There was an echoing sound of the steel door closing. Then an eerie silence filled the chamber. There was the sound of a woman crying somewhere in the distance. Everyone seemed to be in a trance, just taking in what was to come. Finally the people snapped out of it.
The first floor was where the monitors, the radios, the med unit, armory, and staff rooms were set up. Skaikru had the second level. There were 8 levels all together.
Octavia watched as Marcus, Jaha, Roan, Luna and Monty gathered at the monitors. She realized then, that Clarke and Raven were missing, and they would normally be there.
She marched up to them, "Where's Raven and Clarke?" Marcus stepped around towards her. "Clarke's headed back to the lab," he answered.
"The lab?" she asked "There not here? What are they doing?" she pressed.
"They're going ahead with the rocket," he answered. "Clarke's still going to try the night blood solution," he answered.
"I thought there wasn't fuel for that?" she asked. "Raven has a plan," Marcus said as he turned to go back to the others.
Octavia turned and glanced towards the room Bellamy was in. "That explains things," she thought
She knew how her brother felt about Clarke, even before he did. "You're such a stubborn jackass," she mumbled to herself about him. "God, he's going to be so pissed when he gets up," she thought.
Octavia went to the second level to find her sleeping quarters. She got to the second landing and heard shouting. Then the commotion erupted.
"He doesn't belong here," shouted one of the men from Meta station "We should have killed him after the fire," shouted another. "I say we throw him out," shouted the ringleader.
Octavia careened her neck and saw the angry crowd surrounding Ilian. She rushed forward and struggled through them. "Get back" she shouted and hit a tall bearded man. Ilian was struggling to keep from being pulled away, someone hit him, and he swung back. Ilian was a warrior, but this was a mob. Things were escalating. Suddenly three men went down quickly moaning in agony, as Miller zapped them with his shock baton. People backed off.
Octavia stood defending Ilian. Miller was in front of her. "Anyone else touches him and you'll be put in lock up," he shouted. "Now everyone, back to your quarters," he ordered.
Surprisingly the crowd began to disperse. "Come on," Said Nathan. "We need to get you out of here."
The three quickly made their way to the top level.
"Kane, Kane," shouted Octavia as she marched up to the group gathered around the monitors. "Kane we have to find a place for him to stay. They attacked him…." She kept talking until Marcus walked to meet her.
"Octavia were in the middle of something," he said "what's wrong?"
"Sir they ganged up on him in level 2, it's just not safe for him there. The people just aren't over the fire," She said.
Marcus looked at Ilian and then to Octavia.
"I can find someplace," Ilian mumbled.
"No," Marcus said. "Nate, there's a small room just past the Chancellors office, Show Ilian where it is," he said.
He looked at Ilian. "It's temporary, but until things cool down, you'll be safe there," he said.
Marcus patted him on the back, and then nodded and quickly moved back to the monitor.
Octavia saw the concern in the group. She walked over. "Is that Clarke and Raven?" she asked.
"Yea, there launching in ten minutes," said Monty.
Octavia left and caught up to Miller and Ilian. "Rockets getting ready to launce," she mumbled.
They followed Miller to the room. "Here," Miller said as he opened the door. He was in a hurry to go.
"Thank you, for back there," Ilian said sincerely to Miller.
"Yes Miller, thanks for that," Octavia said.
Miller just nodded. He quickly joined the group at the monitors. "Has it launched?" he asked.
"8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 ignition," said Monty.
The rumble could be heard. Ravens voice was garbled over the speaker.
"Throttle up" said Raven. Her voice was followed by the sound of an explosion, and then a static. The tracker went dead. They were gone.
'What happened?' Abby frantically said.
"Raven come in," Monty said. He kept it up, but still nothing. He adjusted the radio and kept trying.
Abby wept in Marcus's arms. Finally Monty shut off the radio. "I'm sorry," said Monty.
Jaha looked at Abby, and then back to Monty. "Keep checking, were not giving up, it could just be a malfunction," he whispered to him. Kane took Abby into his office. She was nearly inconsolable.
Octavia came out just as she heard Abby's cries. "What happened?" she asked.
Miller just shook his head. Roan walked away and headed down to the lower levels to find his people. Luna sat with her eyes shut. She got up and stepped past Octavia. She put her hand on her shoulder as she passed. "He's going to need someone," she said softly nodding towards the Medical bay where Bellamy was.
Octavia knew Luna was right but she almost thought Bellamy deserved it. He deserved to feel the same pain she had been feeling for these months; the pain that was caused because of him.
But at the same time she felt the sting of tears for Clarke and Raven. She couldn't believe they were gone so quickly, and it broke her heart to lose her friends. She looked back towards medical. Then she walked away, back to Ilion's room.
She didn't know when Bellamy woke up, but she knew when they told him the news. She heard him scream, then silence. Marcus said he wanted to be alone. Monty tried to talk to him, but said he just sat there, same with Miller.
Octavia couldn't bare it any longer and the next day, she finally tried to talk to him.
She knocked on the door. "Bell," she said. He didn't answer. "Bellamy," she repeated, still nothing.
She opened the door and peered into the room. It was dim, and he was just sitting on the edge of the bed. He was facing away from the door, his head hanging down. Octavia walked into the room. She didn't know what to say. She knew Bellamy, but for the first time she wasn't sure what to do. They had had their problems, but seeing him made her soften a bit. She had pushed so hard to keep her distance. She had grown hard, and unfeeling. "Bell, I'm sorry about Clarke. I know how you felt about her," Octavia said. She felt like her words sounded stupid.
He didn't say anything. He just sat there with his head hanging down. Octavia walked to stand in front of him. He didn't look up. She squatted down in front of him, wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. He didn't hug her back. He just sat there. Then she felt him shaking. Suddenly he clung to her and cried.
Octavia looked up at Clarke. She was tired of thinking back to that time and reliving that day.
"He isn't the same anymore Clarke," was all she said.