Chapter Four: Masquerade
"No, I'm not going and you seriously… you can't make me" Clarke says, holding up her hands to deflect the pillow Avery throws at her in response.
"Come on, Mellie wants to go and I need a wing woman" he says. She shakes her head and then rolls her eyes.
"What happened to Amelia?" she asks and he shrugs noncommittally. She laughs and shakes her head a little. "Whatever – I don't care. I'm not going" she says again.
"Calrkeeee" he draws her name out in a whine, she arches an unsympathetic eyebrow. He sighs, sits up straighter, and then the bargaining begins.
In the end, she agrees to go, but he's doing her laundry for a month…she considers it a win. She rethinks that when, a few days later, she is standing in front of a grimy mirror picking at her mask. "Remind me why I agreed to this" she calls out, tilting her head to the side and pulling at her top.
"You hate laundry" Avery says, passing behind her.
"Makes sense…I do hate laundry" She says. She's mostly talking to herself as Avery is too busy staring at his reflection to pay her much mind.
"You ready?" he asks bowing dramatically and holding out his hand for her to take. They both laugh when she slaps her hand into his. They make their way down the hall and to the masquerade. They meet Millie inside and Clarke gets abandoned pretty quickly after that.
She's standing by a wall when she catches sight of Octavia's brother. She's not sure what to do, so she inclines her head a little in acknowledgement and frowns when he only looks away. She wonders if he's used the cafeteria card that she got him – hopes so. Avery comes up behind her and grabs her hand, spinning her in a circle and then onto the dance floor.
Bellamy watches her spin and laugh and wonders why she is here; she is the Ark Princess, but she slumming it on Factory. He wonders if the boy spinning her is some kind if act of rebellion against her parents. It's all he can think of. His eyes scan the crowd for Octavia and he smiles when he sees her – in the middle of a group of people with her hands above her head, jumping and dancing with everyone else. He's been so uncertain about bringing her, but he knew there might never be another chance. And it'd been more than a month since Clarke had slipped the cafeteria card under their door – he was sure they'd fallen off her radar. He'd traded shifts and planned it all so carefully – watching her now made it all worthwhile.
Avery releases Clarke to dance with Mellie and she goes to the small bar set up in the middle of the room. She's knows the girl who is working and makes idle chit-chat with her. They're laughing at her impression of a guy who is dancing when the loud speaker comes alive able them with a crackle.
A disembodied voice on a speaker announces that due to an unforeseen solar flare, the fun is over – everyone must take off their masks, show an ID card, and disperse. Clarke takes a long drink of water, pulling her mask off and searching the crowd for Avery. Her eyes are scanning the crowd and she stops short at the sight of Octavia, staring at her brother with big questioning eyes, her brother scanning the crowd in fear. Clarke finally finds Avery in the crowd and he rolls his eyes, gesturing around in annoyance that the party is over. She nods a little, then raises her hand in a wave, letting him know that she's going to dunk out and that he shouldn't look for her or worry if he can't find her. He nods a little, and raises his hand to wave back.
Clarke takes in a deep breath and turns to where she saw Octavia and her brother. There is a guard there now, and Octavia is looking between him and her brother with tears in her eyes, while her brother looks desperate and terrified. Clarke makes a decision, running over to them and grasping Octavia's hand, "I was looking for you all over" she says, her voice a forced chipper. "Ready to go?" she asks, tilting her head up to meet Octavia's brother's eyes before settling back on Octavia who nods slowly when Clarke smiles encouragingly.
"Not so fast there -" the guard cuts himself off when Clarke turns around and he realizes who she is "Clarke? What are you doing here?"
"Shumway" she nods, realizing which guard it is. He is a good friend of Avery's father, but like most other people knows nothing of her rift with her mother, "Avery lives here now, you remember" she answers a politely as she can. She licks her lips when she feels Octavia's hand tremble in hers, and tilts her head in mock innocence, "I guess we should go".
"Got your ID badges?" Shumway asks, straightening, enjoying this.
Clarke rolls her eyes, "Why? Did you forget who I am?". It's the closest she's ever come to 'don't you know who I am' but between needing to get Octavia to safety and how much she does not like Shumway, it seems to fit. She hates Shumway – hates what he let Avery's father get away with. But Bellamy's sharp intake of breath reminds her that this is not the right moment for her hatred or her rebellion, that lives are at stake now. So, she takes a deep breath, "We should go, with the news of the solar flare, my mother will be looking for us"
Shumway takes a half step back, affected by the reminder of her stature on the Ark, looks her up and down, smiling when Clarke's jaw locks for a moment but she doesn't speak. "Go" he jerks his head to the side with a chuckle.
Clarke nods, glances back at Octavia's brother and pulls Octavia away. She hears Shumway giving Octavia's brother instructions as they go. She all but drags Octavia with her until they get to her pod. Clarke opens the door and pulls Octavia inside. She's not even all the way inside when she starts to break down. Clarke shoves the door shut behind them and then turns to face Octavia, who all but falls into her arms.
It takes almost thirty minutes of an awkward hug in the entry way to calm Octavia, but finally her sobbing turns into small hiccups and Clarke pulls her into the living room. There is a couch and a chair and a small coffee table with a beaten-up tablet on it, and she leads Octavia to sit on the couch. "Do you think Bellamy is okay?" she finally forces out between hiccups.
"You're brother?" Clarke surmises, "I think so" she nods a little, "Right now, I think he's probably just mostly worried about you". Clarke stands, "It'll probably be a few hours until Bellamy can slip away, so just stay here and stay quiet" she says, turning towards the door. She's surprised by how quickly Octavia's hand reaches out to grab hers.
Octavia looks up at her from the couch, "Please don't leave" she whispers, looks down, "I don't want to be alone" she adds, wrapping her arms around herself.
Clarke nods, sits down next to her. After a few minutes of silence, Clarke points absently at the tablet, "Do you want to watch a movie?" thinking that a distraction might be nice.
Octavia nods, wiping at her eyes with a half-shrug. Clarke grabs the tablet and pulls up the movies, noticing that there are only about two dozen on there – she must have seen them all a thousand times, she realizes looking at Octavia before handing her the tablet so she can choose and going to the kitchen to get her a water.
When she gets back, Octavia has started a movie and smiles gratefully at Clarke when she hands her the water. They talk a little during the movie, and Clarke finds that she enjoys the younger girl quite a bit. About half way through the movie Octavia falls asleep, Clarke thinks about leaving, but doesn't want Octavia to wake up alone – and she wants to make sure Bellamy really does make it out okay. So, she grabs a blanket that's draped on the back of the couch and unfolds it, covering Octavia carefully. She then folds herself in the chair by the couch.
When Bellamy walks in the apartment, his wild eyes find Octavia first. He can't help the giant sigh of relief that escapes him and he drops to his knees in front of the couch, putting his hand on his sister's cheek. Clarke moves a little in her sleep and it draws his attention to her. He can't decide what to make of her, can't figure out what her motives might be. But she's slumped in the old chair in his living room, head hanging awkwardly forward, so he puts his hand behind her neck to lean it back, and brushes her hair out of her face, staring at her intently, as if by watching her, he could figure her out.
He finally sighs and stands, walking to his room to step out of his boots and toss his jacket over the chair just inside the door. When he walks back out to the common room, he sees Clarke walking to the door, woken up by the movement in the room, shifting nervously and walks over to her. "I was trying to help." She says, "I didn't know if you had an exit strategy, and maybe I overstepped, but -"
"Thank you" he says, interrupting her nervous babbling. It gets quiet and he swallows heavily, "thank you" he repeats. Clarke nods slowly, "I don't know what I would have done…" he shakes his head, "It was so stupid to take her there, anything could have happened…" he trails off again, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
"You got out okay? They don't suspect anything?" she asks.
"I'm sure they suspect plenty" he says, a humorless chuckle escaping him.
"They were suspicious before" she says suddenly, remembering what her mother told her, "I don't know why or how, but they were suspicious of a hidden child, that's why there are so many random searches here" she says it quickly, wanting to make sure she gets it out.
Bellamy nods, "We'll be more careful". Clarke nods, mumbles an okay.
"I guess I should…" she points at the door.
Bellamy clears his throat, "Yeah" she turns, her hand is on the doorknob when Bellamy's voice stops her, "I'm Bellamy, by the way" she laughs lightly.
"Hi Bellamy" he smirks at her.
"Hey Clarke" Octavia's sleep-filled voice calls from the couch as she sits up, pulling both of their attention. Clarke takes a half step in her direction and Octavia stands, crossing the rest of the distance and wraps her arms around Clarke, "Thank You" she whispers. Clarke nods against Octavia's shoulder. "Do you think…" Octavia trails off before starting again, "Do you think you could come back some back sometime?" she asks shyly.
Clarke glances back at Bellamy before turning to Octavia and nodding, "Of course" she says, grabbing Octavia's hand and holding it for a moment. She smiles, before turning to leave.
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