Octavia

She stayed in her room for the next two days, not going outside, not eating or drinking, just staring at the ceiling, thinking, seeing those babies in her mind's eye and in her nightmares whenever she slept. She knew that a warrior shouldn't worry about what she couldn't control, but it was hard not to feel hopeless.

Finally Moira came to the room, letting herself in, and she was carrying a tray heaped with delicious foods. Octavia's stomach betrayed her, growling loudly, but she turned over and put her face to the wall.

"What can I do?" Moira asked, her voice gentle- even a bit scared. She sat down on the edge of the bed.

"You can let me out of here," Octavia answered, her tone flat. "Let me go home to my family."

"Octavia…" Moira trailed off, saying nothing for a long moment. Finally she said, "You can have a new family here." Octavia jolted off the bed as though it was on fire and stalked out of the room. Moira followed, seeming alarmed. "Please, Octavia, can we talk?"

"I don't want to talk to you!" she yelled over her shoulder angrily. Up ahead, a mother with a toddler was walking towards them, but she quickly picked up her baby and headed the other way.

Moira caught Octavia's hand and spun her around, putting her hands firmly on her shoulders. "You may not believe this, but I do want to make this easier for you," she said. "As I've already said, there are people you can talk to, people who can help you adjust. There are even medications."

Octavia shrugged her shoulders out from the older woman's grasp. "Drugs?" she snapped. "You want to give me drugs?"

"Medicines," Moira answered, sounding a bit helpless.

"What, so you can euthanise me like those poor little babies?"

"Octavia," she said sharply. "You know we don't want that."

"What do you want, then?" she demanded.

"You know the answer to that."

"Yeah, I do," Octavia agreed. "You want me to stay here, be your prisoner, and what… just marry someone you decide has the right genes? Have children you can breed into your little master race?"

"That's not fair!" Moira said, her voice raised. Her eyes were angry. "I'm trying to build something here- a sustainable future. I'm trying to bring us back to the ground without hurting anyone."

"But I'm already on the ground," Octavia shouted. "I have a family out there, a clan, and I don't belong here!"

"I know you feel like that now," Moira said quietly. "But things change."

Octavia let out a yell of frustration and she stalked away from her again, back towards her room. Moira trailed after her uncertainly, but Octavia was about ready to strangle her. "Leave me alone!" she yelled, slamming the door before Moira could cross the threshold. But it didn't lock, so the woman just pushed it back open and came inside anyway. Octavia wanted to scream; she felt cornered and claustrophobic, helpless and weak. She went to the corner and put her back to it, sinking down to the floor and hugging her knees to her chest.

"Please," Moira said. "You have no idea how much I want to make this work… just tell me how I can help you."

"Just let me go," Octavia asked, her voice small. "Find someone else who's less pigheaded than me."

With a small smile, Moira crouched in front of her, but she knew better than to try and touch her. "As far as I can tell, Octavia, you're the only one like you in the world. Neither of us knows what makes you so special, why you're so good at processing radiation, but you are."

Octavia looked up at her, and though she made no sound she could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks. She had learned to cry silently as a baby and had never quite broken the habit.

"Oh, Octavia," Moira said gently, her own eyes filling with tears. "I'm sorry this is so hard for you. But just think- you could give such an amazing gift to the people here."

Octavia shook her head. She felt so hopeless, and it came through in her voice when she said, "It's not a gift if you steal it."

Moira straightened up. She looked down at Octavia for a long moment, and then she turned for the door. Pausing as her hand touched the doorknob she said softly, "Eat. I won't let you starve yourself." Then she left the room.

As soon as she was gone, Octavia threw her head back and screamed at the top of her lungs. She ripped the flimsy mattress off the bed and threw it, ripped the sheets down the middle and toppled the frame. She raged against the sparse furniture and pounded her fists on the walls. She smashed the bedside table, the tray of food, and didn't stop until she fell to the floor, exhausted. She slept, but when she woke up she was still in her prison.

.

The second time her eyes snapped open, she had no idea how much time had passed because the lights in the room didn't change. She was acutely aware of being underground now, of how far away the sunlight was, how stifling it was to have recycled air in her lungs. Just like the Ark, only worse, because she had now tasted freedom. She thought she might go mad from the injustice of it.

For a moment she wasn't sure why she was awake, but then a knock came at the door- the second one, she realised. She stood up and pulled it open, and for a second she thought she really had gone mad- but she didn't mind, if this was what madness was.

Moira was standing there, but Octavia couldn't care less because her brother was next to her, and he was looking as relieved as she felt.

"Bellamy!" She threw herself into his arms with such force that he stumbled backward a step, but he was grinning. He seized her so tightly that she knew he was as happy as she was to be reunited, and she heard him let out a long breath of relief into her hair.

Finally he pulled back and took her face in his hands, searching her eyes urgently, scanning her body up and down, looking for injuries. "You're okay?" He seemed shocked, grateful, and she knew then that he'd been worrying himself sick about her having been drained of her blood or drilled through to the bone.

She met his eyes, nodded. "I'm fine," she assured him.

"Octavia," she heard Lincoln's voice calling to her, and she turned to see him walking slowly down the hallway toward her, limping slightly, Echo trailing after him. Octavia ran to him, tackling him as she had Bellamy, kissing him deeply. She pulled back and her heart sank as she looked him over.

"Look at you…" She took in his fading but still angry bruises, the bindings around his ribs, the splint that stabilised his shoulder. She hugged him again, being more careful this time. "I was afraid you were dead," she admitted. Glancing back to her brother she added, "Both of you."

"We're fine," Bellamy assured her. Lincoln pulled Octavia close again, and over his shoulder, Echo gave Octavia a warm smile.

Moira was watching the whole thing with a smile of her own, and it was only when the initial joy at seeing them again wore off that Octavia's heart went cold. She stepped back from Lincoln and glared at Moira. "You brought them here?"

"No," Moira assured her, shaking her head. "They came on their own."

Bellamy was looking into her room, and she could see his jaw clench as he took in the disheveled state of the place- the broken tray of food, ripped sheets, toppled furniture. She saw his thoughts like an open book as he whirled towards Moira, opening his mouth to demand an explanation.

"I did it," Octavia said quickly, stepping close to him. She glanced in the room- it did look awful, like a real struggle had occurred. She touched her brother's arm lightly. "I did it, Bell." He relaxed a little, but he still seemed unhappy.

Only then did Octavia notice the child standing off to one side, a little girl who seemed to be watching them all with great interest. There was something about her that was off-putting; not just her unexpected presence there, but also the intensity of her blue eyes, as though she was looking into Octavia's soul.

"Maybe we should all go somewhere and talk?" Moira suggested.

"No," Octavia answered immediately. "Not you. Just us. You leave us alone."

"O." Bellamy touched her arm lightly, his brow furrowed. "What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you once she goes," Octavia said, still glaring at Moira.

"You heard her," Bellamy said, crossing her arms over his chest and glaring at the older woman.

Moira stepped back. "I'll be back soon," she promised. "Lia, shall we talk?"

"Yes, I think that would be wise," the child spoke for the first time. She sounded a lot older than she looked. Octavia watched as the two of them moved away together, and then she took the other three into her room and shut the door.

"Who was that?" she asked them, hastily putting her furniture back together so there would be places to sit.

"She is a shadow child," Echo answered. "She came to us a few days ago."

"That's who you were saying is so dangerous?" Octavia asked, surprised.

"Don't underestimate her," Lincoln warned.

Octavia exchanged a glance with Bellamy, who shrugged a little, clearly uncomfortable with the whole thing. He touched her arm. "So are you okay?" he asked. "Really- did they do something to you?"

"No," she answered, shaking her head. "Other than stopping me from leaving, they've been fine." She let out a groan. "And now we're all stuck in here."

"The Ice Nation are allies to the mountains," Echo said. "Lia- the shadow child- has assured us that we will have her protection to take you out."

Octavia felt a surge of hope. "Well then what the hell are we waiting for?"

"Lia will be negotiating your release right now," Lincoln said, wrapping an arm around Octavia's shoulders. "We just have to be patient."

"My best quality," Octavia said sarcastically. She saw her brother's smile and couldn't help one of her own. "Hey, how's your leg?"

"It's fine," he answered with a shrug. "Still a bit sore, but fine."

"When we didn't get the medicine to you…" She trailed off, swallowed, remembering how much she'd feared his death.

"It's okay," he assured her. "I'm fine. What about you? Haven't they figured out what our blood does yet?"

Octavia hesitated, and then she launched into an explanation of everything- she explained the communications between Mount Weather and Raven Rock, Moira's integration program, the babies, and everything Moira had told her.

Bellamy seemed considerably disturbed by the description of the nursery. "God," he said, shaking his head. "That's horrific." He reached out and squeezed her arm. "But we're getting you out of here- today."

"Why is it that your blood is superior to that of the other Sky People?" Echo spoke up.

"I don't know," Octavia answered, shrugging. She looked at Bellamy. "Do you?"

"No, and I don't care," he answered firmly. "They're not getting their hands on your blood anyway, so it doesn't matter."

"It's probably a lie," Octavia said. "Just to get me to stay here."

But Echo seemed disturbed by the revelation. "Perhaps," she said, sounding unconvinced. Her concern seemed to trouble Lincoln as well, and for a moment there was only silence in the room as they all mulled it over.

Before anyone else could theorise about it, the door opened. Moira looked happy, which was Octavia's first clue that something was wrong.

"Moira has agreed to release your sister," Lia told Bellamy. She also looked pleased. "And now that we know she is safe, we can carry on to the Ice Nation."

Bellamy nodded to Moira and said politely, "Thank you."

"What's the catch?" Octavia asked immediately, eyes narrowed in suspicion. It couldn't be that easy.

"You will be released in approximately three weeks," Lia told her. "That will give the mountain enough time to retrieve what's needed from your body. After that process is complete, you will be allowed to leave this place."

Octavia felt both Lincoln and Bellamy tense beside her, and her heart seized as her eyes flew to Moira. "So that's it?" she asked, glaring at her. "You're going to steal my marrow and blood after all?" Lincoln reached for her hand and gripped it tightly, as though afraid someone would pull her away right then.

"No," Bellamy snapped, standing up, his eyes dark. "That'll kill her."

"Everyone just calm down," Moira said sharply. "Firstly, bone marrow can be harvested in a non-lethal manner. Secondly, those aren't the terms. We won't touch your bones, Octavia- you have my word."

"Then what?" she asked. "My blood?"

"No," Lia spoke up. "The terms we have negotiated will give Raven Rock the rights to extract some of your ovum."

"What?" Bellamy asked. He looked absolutely sick. "Are you insane?"

"What is that?" Lincoln asked, not recognising the word.

"My eggs," Octavia said softly, her face pale. "So they can make babies that process the radiation better than anyone else… like I do."

"That's right," Moira said with a nod. "It's a fair trade. You have hundreds of eggs, Octavia. The few we take could make such a wonderful difference here."

"No way," Bellamy said savagely. "Hell no."

"It is already done," Lia said. "It has been agreed upon."

"But it's her body!" Bellamy exploded. "You can't just decide something like that!"

"Bell," Octavia said gently, touching his arm to calm him down, but he wouldn't be calmed. She couldn't blame him; she was just as horrified as he was. There was no way she was going to let this happen, but her mind was racing.

Lincoln and Echo also looked incredibly alarmed by this conversation. "What you're talking about is impossible," Lincoln said. "A child can't be made like that."

Bellamy closed his eyes briefly, shaking his head. "Yes, it can, if you have the technology… it's how we were made on the Ark. They controlled pregnancies closely… made sure there were no twins, no defects, that no one 'subpar' would take up resources…. we were all engineered." He glanced at Octavia and added, "Well, except for you."

Moira looked up sharply. "What?"

"What?" Bellamy repeated, catching her tone but not understanding the significance.

"You just said that on the Ark they engineered babies?"

"Yeah." Bellamy's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "So what?"

"Because that's why," Octavia said. All eyes looked to her, but she was looking at Moira. "That's why I'm special… because I wasn't made like that. Isn't it?"

"That makes the most sense," Moira said with a nod. "Sometimes the best specimens come from a random reshuffling of genes rather than careful engineering."

"She's not a specimen," Bellamy ground out. "And none of that matters because this is not happening."

"Then she isn't leaving," Moira answered simply. She looked to Octavia. "Please…. this is a good deal."

Octavia felt sick, disgusted by the idea of someone harvesting something so precious from her, and even more disgusted by the idea of babies- her babies- growing up in a prison. She hated doctors anyway because of her experience in the Sky Box, but this sounded even worse than what she'd endured in there. This was the last thing she wanted- if she ever chose to have children, she wanted them to be free.

"I'm not doing it," she said firmly.

"You heard her," Bellamy said, crossing his arms over his chest, glaring daggers at Moira. "She isn't doing it. It's her body and you can't force-"

"Stop," Lia interrupted, narrowing her eyes at both Blakes. "This was a negotiation between myself and Moira. These are the terms of release, and they are more than fair." Her intense blue gaze slid to Octavia. "You can refuse if you wish, but you will not be released unless you agree, and I will be the one to enforce the terms. The choice is yours."

But it wasn't a choice at all.