Authors Note : Okay this was tricky to write. I'm introducing some stuff that will mean more in later chapters. I could have published a couple of days ago but I wasn't happy. I decided to go for due to all the very kind personal messages I received. Thank you so much. I don't seem able to reply personally, I'm sure I will figure it out. I'm just hoping this does actually post as a ch2 and not a new story.

Bellamy after the Mountain (ch2)

Bellamy walked around the corner into the large dimly lit corridor. A ginger haired lady with a hook nose was being given medical attention by Wick and Norm, head of the guards. Ginger had burnt her hand and Norm was applying some sort of cream to it. "Bellamy!" His sister called him over to the source of the noise. Monty was cradling a crying infant, maybe six months old. "We found her in Medical when we were looking for something for Beth." He said, never taking his adoring eyes of the child, who screamed up at him in angry demand. "She was sleeping, we must have missed her when we did the first sweep. I thought she was dead." Monty's voice was thick with emotion. "And then she cried when I picked her up." Bellamy couldn't place the look on Monty's face. Love?. "We didn't kill them all." Monty almost whispered. "Not all."

Bellamy looked around at his team and cleared his throat loudly. Everyone paid him attention. "Right," he said,"does anyone here know anything about babies?" No one answered, although Lincoln looked fairly shifty and Bellamy could have sworn he actually took a step backwards. It figured. No one had a little brother or sister, except him, and his team were mostly too young to have qualified for reproduction. Ginger glanced and Norm but the silence stretched on and Bellamy realized that he had no volunteers. He was tired and he wanted to sleep, but a crying infant who hadn't eaten in three days was not going to wait. "Monty you are with me. You two hunt for some clean clothes and a crib for her." He said pointing directly at Lincoln, secretly enjoying giving the intimidating Grounder orders. "Monty with me", he said heading for when he remembered the kitchen to be.

Monty sat on a crate feeding the baby milk from a cup, most of it splashing over himself and the baby who grabbed his hands and slurped noisily. "I'm going to call her Maya." He said mostly to himself. Bellamy just nodded. When Octavia returned she convinced everyone they should sleep in real beds and led them to the living apartments. All the doors were unlocked and people found their own places to bunk down. She showed Monty one that had a crib and Bellamy followed him inside while Octavia left, presumably to find Lincoln. As Bellamy eyed the bed in the bedroom he tried not to think about that.

The air in the room felt stagnant and the walls closed in around Bellamy making it hard for him to breathe. "You need to clean her up first." He said to Monty who was stooping over the crib. The faucet over the bathroom sink rattled for a moment before cool water began to flow. Bellamy tried to adjust the temperature, but nothing happened. Monty had laid Maya on the floor and was stripping away her soiled clothes. Bellamy was impressed at the lack of fuss Monty was making. For a little baby Maya had produced a lot of mess, most of which stank and covered her legs and abdomen in brown stains. Monty picked her up by the under arms and began to hand her up to Bellamy. At just that moment she peed all over Monty. "Ew!" He exclaimed, leaping up holding the baby at arms length. Bellamy couldn't help laughing so he didn't bother to try. "Here!" Monty said forcibly handing Bellamy Maya, who's legs had curled up into sitting position while she dangled. A delighted look on her face. Bellamy placed her on a towel next to the sink while Monty stripped to the waist. Bellamy was oblivious to the lithe muscles covering Monty's torso, a big change from the scrawny kid who had first hit the ground all those weeks ago. He was too caught up, gazing into Maya's deep blue eyes.

He remembered holding Octavia like this. Washing her by the sink, steadying her as she wobbled a little, not quite able to sit up on her own. His mom was away a lot, or so it felt. He learned from a young age how to clean her. Lingering diaper smell might have alerted a guard during an unannounced inspection. As soon as she was dirty she was changed, washed and her diaper hidden in an airtight bucket until mom came home. He was an expert at diapers and feeding before he was seven years old. Octavia had been a quiet child, easy to look after, very self reliant. He wasn't sure if she was born that way or it was a result of how they lived.

Bellamy stripped to his tight black t-shirt, baring arms that had always been strong from carrying too heavy a load at too young an age. He cleaned her face and hands first and then wiped off the worst with a wet towel, but it quickly became clear that she needed a deeper clean. He filled the sink and sat her in it. She wailed as she sank into the water and tried to stand. Bellamy had to hold her upright with one arm and soap her with his free hand while she squirmed and fought to get away. By the time she was finally washed and rinsed both of them were soaking. Monty returned still shirtless with a blanket in his hands. Now it was his turn to laugh. Bellamy raised his eyebrow at him with a do not mock look on his face, but Monty ignored him and continued to chuckle as he held out his arms to wrap Maya in the blanket. Bellamy shook his head and began to undress. He remembered how Monty and Jasper used to shrink away if he so much as glanced in their direction. This was something new. Perhaps this was what having friends felt like.

He sat on the side of the bath struggling with his boots as he thought about the number of friends he'd had on the Ark. One, Peter Simms. Friends since Kindergarten. The only person who he had stayed friends with after Octavia was born. He knew he wasn't supposed to have friends and he definitely wasn't supposed to tell them about Octavia but Peter Simms had known, and never told a soul. They'd liked to tell each other stories and imagine being space adventurers blasting off to explore new planets. By second grade Peter was dead and Bellamy was alone in school. He couldn't remember how Peter died, but he hadn't had a true friend since. Until the ground. Until Clarke. If you could call what they had friendship.

He remembered the words she had uttered the first time she refused his idea to infiltrate the mountain. "I can't lose you too." They had taken him by surprise and he didn't know quite what to make of them at the time. He still didn't. The kiss Clarke had placed on his cheek, and the way she had held him tight against her before she left had meant something, But what? He didn't flatter himself that it was romantic. She seemed to go for the big softies, although he thought to himself, there was certainly nothing soft about Lexa, and if what Octavia had implied was true... He still didn't know what to think.

He stalked out of the bathroom into the main living space to find Monty placing a fully clothed Maya into her crib, already asleep. He padded over in his undershorts and socks and gazed down at her. His chest burned with emotion and he quietly indicated that Monty should follow him back into the bathroom. "It won't last" he whispered. "She must be exhausted, but she'll be hungry again soon. You should make sure you have milk in here for when she wakes." "Don't worry," Monty said naively. "I'll get her some at breakfast." Bellamy chuckled. "She's not going to let you sleep till breakfast. Two hours tops." Monty looked at Bellamy like he was joking and gulped when he realized his leader was being deadly serious.

Bellamy brought his clothes out to the main room to dry while Monty rinsed his shirt and jacket in the sink. He was quietly going through the closets looking for something he could wear when Norm stuck his head through the open apartment door. "Everyone is settled in for the night Sir" he said, apparently ignoring Bellamy's state of undress. That was until Monty walked out of the bathroom, also in just his undershorts. Norm's eyebrows tried to hide themselves in his hair and he visibly blushed. His eyes looking anywhere but at Bellamy landed on the bed - bereft of it's blanket looking disheveled. "Three guards are on duty at the door, they'll change shifts at three. " His words rushed out. Then he waited, impatiently. It took Bellamy a moment to realize why. "Good work, See you in the morning." He rumbled at Norm, who quickly left. Monty went over to stare at Maya, blissfully unaware of what Norm thought was going on between them.

"Where are your pants?" Bellamy hissed. "Hanging up to dry, they got wet." Monty said slowly as if talking to a small child. Then shook his head and pulled open a few drawers before finding some pants and a T-shirt. They were too large, making him suddenly look much younger than he was. Just a kid after all. Bellamy also got dressed and headed to the door. "Wait, you're not leaving me are you?" Monty exclaimed in panic. Bellamy turned at the door and put his finger to his lips. "Sshh," he said, an amused twinkle in his eye, "you'll wake the baby." And then he was gone in search of a quieter place to sleep.

Bellamy lay in bed staring up at the layers of mountain above his head. The weight of it crushed down on him. He thought about sleeping outside for a moment, but he was too warm and comfortable. He rolled on to his side, pulling the pillow further under his head, and tried to think of anything but being buried alive. What, he wondered, would Clarke do if she knew about Maya. Would she forgive herself. Would she come home. Just as he was drifting off he thought he heard a baby cry, but it was so very far away.

A pale hand shook him awake. The baby was crying hungrily. "Get her for me please!" A tired voice pleaded groggily. He sat up letting his eyes adjust to the starlight before going to the crib at the bottom of their bed. Maya stopped crying when he picked her up and cradled her against his bare chest. He placed her gently on the bed and then went to the cramped bathroom. He looked up at the clock, still another two hours until his work shift started.

When he got back to the bed he was greeted by the sight of a curvy back bared to the base of the spine, golden hair cascading around the shoulders and onto the pillow. The baby was making slurping sounds. He climbed in and ran his hand across the soft skin following the curve of the spine and moving the blanket back to reveal his wife's perfect arse, her top leg bent away from him as if to cradle the baby. He ran his fingers from the back of the knee over up over her wide hips and up again into the golden hair pushing it away from him exposing the neck. He planted a kiss there sucking on the skin just below the ear.

The sharp intake of breath and pressing of buttocks against his hips let him know his attentions were not unwelcome. He pulled their bodies closer and trailed kisses across her back where it was dappled by starlight from their small port hole. He grabbed at the top leg lifting it slightly so he could slide between the fleshy mounds. Then he let the leg drop effectively trapping him there. He began to thrust and he could tell he was rubbing against all the right places as he continued to pepper kisses against salty skin of the back and neck. He knew it was time when her hips shifted to allow him fuller access. He held on to the them as he eased himself inside. When he was finally all the way in he waited for the tight walls around him to adjust to his girth before he thrust again. This time in and out of the tight flesh. Hot cold hot cold. In out in out. Moans filled their room, he knew he wasn't going to last long like this. But he knew he didn't have to wait, not this time. His pace increased and he could feel the muscles of his legs and abdomen tightening as he got closer and then suddenly he was there one last thrust to get him deeper and he exploded inside the tight warm walls that closed around him sucking up his come as he continued to twitch. He lay breathless for a moment face resting against his partners soft back, then withdrew. "She's asleep " the tired voice whispered. "Can you put her back in her crib." Bellamy reached over as his partner rolled to meet him and looked straight into Monty's eyes.

What the fuck! Bellamy's hand ran through his sleep tousled hair and he leapt from the bed. What the actual fuck, he thought to himself. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He didn't wait for the water to warm up before stripping and stepping inside. The cool water cascaded over his hot flesh. He leaned his palms against the wall and rested his forehead on the cool tile. It had obviously been too long since he experienced real release. There hadn't exactly been much privacy in his life recently. That was something he would sort out now in the privacy of the shower.

In the morning Bellamy returned to Monty's room to find him curled up asleep on the bed with his little finger in Maya's sucking mouth. When she saw Bellamy she reached for him, obviously not holding any ill will over yesterdays cold bath. babies were great that way. He picked her up and raised her gingerly to his nose. She smelled clean and Bellamy suspected Monty had only recently changed her, so he leant her on his shoulder while he struggled back into his own clothes. Monty rolled onto his side and mumbled "Thanks mom".

Most people were already in the canteen by the time he got there. Ginger was dishing out some sort of porridge for breakfast. They already knew what their assignments were. They'd each been picked because they had knowledge in specific areas. Agriculture, maintenance, medical, science and military. Sometimes not a lot of knowledge but they were what he had to work with.

He took the baby over to Norm, and asked him to assign someone to feed and watch her till Monty woke up. Norm grinned at her and placed Maya on his hips.

He banged a metal spoon on the table and addressed them. "Okay people. You have five hours to gather information then I'm going to be coming round for reports. Eat up and then let's get to it." He sat and wolfed down his own breakfast. As he was leaving, headed for the main door, Wick fell in beside him. He was happy and relaxed. Bellamy wasn't surprised to learn that he had been in Radio contact with Raven already that morning. "We don't have to worry about scrounging parts." He said " They have whole crates of radios waiting to be unpacked. They are small portable units. We should be able to carry them in our packs easily enough. Once we get to the other Arks we can leave them a fully functioning radio." Bellamy didn't know much of anything about radios but he had seen the antennas. They were not small. But Wick assured them that it was not a problem.

He left Wick to go and do an inventory of the medical and science equipment and headed to the outer door. The cool breeze that carried with it the hint of pines trees did very little to cover the smell of charcoal. He kept his eyes from the pyre but he saw enough to know they would need to a gather more wood and relight it to finish the job. First though he needed to clear his head. He walked away from the pyre and into the trees, oblivious to the eyes that were watching him.

Before he left camp Kane had offered him a position on the council. Not a full position until there was a vote, but an advisory one. He'd been shocked. He'd played for time and told Kane he would think about it after they'd secured the mountain, but he could tell Kane thought it was a done deal. Bellamy wasn't so sure. All his life it seemed his over-riding motivation for doing anything was to protect his sister. Everything up until she was discovered, including joining the guard had been to protect her. He'd agreed to murder a man in order to go the the ground with her. He had murdered hundreds because they pointed a gun at her head. What wouldn't he do for her. Not that she needed much in the way of protecting from anyone these days. He liked to think he could still take her in a fight. He liked to think. He didn't know what he would do if she decided to leave with Lincoln. He knew he couldn't follow her into that world. There was no place for him there. Who would he be then.

He headed back inside. Norm was still carrying Maya around on his hip. She was wide eyed and alert. Monty needed to be up. He took her and told Norm to organize relighting the pyre. Monty was still flat out on the bed. Maya squealed when she saw him. Bellamy was not gentle waking him up. He left them there and continued further into the mountain to get reports.

Everyone he spoke to said exactly the same thing. The mountain was an Alladin's cave. On the Ark their resources had been finite, dwindling. Here there was an abundance of everything. Too much to move. Too precious to abandon. He hadn't been convinced until he walked into the armory. It was huge. Vast. Enormous. Cavernous. Not only were there hand weapons, but vehicle mounted weapons as well. Things he had no name for, but which carried heavy warning labels. They could never move these and they could not let them fall into the hands of their enemies. It appeared that the only thing that had prevented the Mountain men from wiping out the other grounded was their vulnerability to radiation and their need for Grounder blood. He shuddered to think what could have been unleashed against Lincoln's people if the mountain men had made it to the surface. But what would his people do with it all? He wasn't sure he trusted them either. The room sent chills through him and a thrill of excitement. That night over the radio he formally accepted his appointment to the council and listened while Kane confirmed it in front of the people of the Ark. His people.