This is a new story and I'm stuck. I need help in which direction to take it. Please read and then the footnotes. Thanks, Samdagger.

Chapter 1

The only way to know if the ground was safe, was to send someone there. The council had agreed to send down the prisoners. 100 child prisoners were to be sent to the ground. Her own daughter was among them. Abby had enough knowledge to know that it could be the only way for her daughter to survive, she was a month from being floated. Abby wondered if any of the council really believed the ground was safe or if they were just panicking because the air was running out. It didn't really matter to Abby, she'd rerun the numbers based on the last radiation levels taken almost twelve years previously. She KNEW there was a chance for her daughter to survive. All she had to do was stay alive long enough for the rest of them to get to the ground and she would automatically be pardoned for her crime.

Abby shook her head as she tried not to think of the alternative. Her husband was dead and her child had been arrested for 'treason'. She doubted anyone believed that, but it was what Jaha had charged her with - well, the reason he put her in prison, anyway. Right now, Sinclair was making 100 implantable recording devices that attached to their eyes and ears. With them, they could monitor the conditions on the ground much better than just using the bracelets would. The prisoners would not be told of the spycams implanted into their heads and no-one really wanted them to know.

Once the kids were on the ground, all their bio information and the camera feeds would be released to the rest of the Ark. It would be reported that it was the only real way of keeping in touch with their children.

Abby sighed and shook her head to clear her thoughts. She had to get to Command Central to oversee the monitors and assign places for all 100 children.

xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

Abby walked into the Command centre and looked at the technicians rigging up the monitors. Kane was to the side and Abby walked over to him.

"Will there be enough space in here for every monitor?" she asked him.

"Yes, we're putting six people on a monitor. There will be three rows of monitors as well," he said. Abby nodded.

"What about the spycams?"

"Sinclair's got most of them done, he just needs to finish the other ten."

"When are they to be inserted?"

"As soon as he's finished. You and Jackson will have to place them with your assistants helping you." Again, Abby nodded. She was not looking forward to knocking them all out and having them opened up to insert the cams, but they were going to go in through their necks, just behind the ear. They hoped that by doing it that way, they could hide the scars behind their ears.

"Alright, I'll get to medical. Let me know when you want the prison flooded with knockout gas," Abby said.

"Will do, Doctor," Kane said. Abby left to make her way back to the medbay and sort out the operating theatres and assistants for both her and Jackson.

xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

Three hours later, Kane got in touch.

"Dr Griffin, we'll be releasing the knockout gas into the prison in one hour."

"Understood. Bring the first ones as soon as they are out. The quicker we get them woken up, the better," Abby told him.

"We will. Once they are back in prison and awake, we'll be attaching the wristbands and then off to the dropship with them."

"Alright, we'll be standing by here," Abby said before closing the com unit.

This was it, they were really doing this!

xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

Twelve hours later, and the last one had been done and returned to his cell. It would take another three hours for him to come round. After that it would only be another four hours before they were sent to the ground. In some ways, Abby couldn't wait. One the one hand, Clarke would be safe, but on the other, she'd be placed in danger at almost every turn. With no adults on the ground it would be up to them.

"Okay, everyone, this is your time to go to the ground!" Kane said to them all. "We need to know the situation on the ground and you've been volunteered to find out!" The prisoners stood there, not sure what to say. "Guards, load them up!" The guards moved in and began placing the kids into their seats and locking the straps down. They had them all buckled into their seats, including Clarke Griffin, daughter of Abby, who was unconscious. Abby couldn't bear to see the look of despair on her daughter's face so she had her sedated.

The ship was launched and everyone in the Command centre watched the monitors come alive with the camera views from inside the heads of the kids. Abby concentrated on Clarke's and Wells'. Clarke was unconscious so she watched Wells' feed as he looked at Clarke. When he looked away, Abby would scan for any other glimpse of her daughter from one of the others.

"Hey, welcome back," Abby heard from Wells.

"Wells, what the hell are you doing here?" Clarke spat out. She hated him because he turned her father into his own father. Clarke's father was floated for treason, the same reason she was put in prison.

"When I found out they were sending prisoners to the ground, I got myself arrested. I came for you." Abby turned to see the shock on Jaha's face.

"No!" Jaha said, moving to the monitor with his son on it.

"You didn't know?" Abby asked him. Jaha shook his head, too stunned to answer verbally. They both listened to what was said next.

Suddenly, they saw a lot of shaking on the camera feeds while they heard some yelling and screaming from the dropship. Abby gasped as she watched the monitors.

"What was that?" asked Clarke.

"That was the atmosphere," Wells replied. The monitors on the dropship came on and they watched as Jaha started talking to them about the ground and their role in it all. Abby listened in and was surprised that Jaha treated them like that. All she heard was a man talking down to the prisoners, acting like they were beneath him. It must hurt to know his own son was hearing it too.

"Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you expendable." Abby turned towards Jaha.

"My daughter is not expendable!" she spat at him. "None of them are expendable!"

"They are to be floated on their 18th birthday, Abby, you know the law!" Jaha shot back. Abby looked at him with digust and then huffed before turning back to the monitors.

"Your dad's a dick, Wells!" one guy shouted out. Wells ignored him. Abby smirked to herself. She agreed with that kid.

"Those crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean," Jaha's voice droned on in the background.

"Is that true?" Abby asked. Jaha said nothing. "Thelonious, is that true?!" she asked again. He gave a choppy nod. He wasn't going to, but now that his own son was with them, he couldn't condemn him to prison once they got to the ground.

"Sir," a guard said to Kane.

"What is it?" Kane asked.

"There's some people asking awkward questions about the dropship being sent down, sir. They know something was launched and several have asked if the kids have been sent down." Kane nodded.

"We need to let the rest of the Ark see this, Chancellor," Kane said. Jaha nodded, not looking away from his son. Kane pushed the buttons to make the entire monitor system Arkwide. Now everyone on board could see the kids and what they were doing. Kane turned back to the monitors.

"Whoo-hoo! Spacewaker bandit, stirkes again!" a voice called out. Everyone in the command centre searched for what they were talking about. They watched as one young man was floating across the ship in weightlessness. He floated over to Clarke and Wells.

"Check it out, you dad floated me after all," he said.

"You should strap in before the parachutes deploy," Wells told him. Abby watched as Clarke turned her head and she saw two other boys trying to get out of their seats.

"Hey, you two! Stay put if you want to live!" Abby watched as they ignored Clarke and carried on fiddling with their harnesses.

"Hey, you're the traitor who's been in solitary for a year," the boy said. Abby was incensed. Her daughter was not a traitor!

"You're the idiot who wasted a month of oxygen on an illegal spacewalk!" Clarke shot back at him. Abby grinned. Clarke had Abby's fiery temper when she needed it.

"But it was fun. I'm Finn," the boy said. Clarke turned towards the other two boys to see them floating out of their seats.

"Stay in your seats!" she yelled at them. Suddenly, the ship shook violently as the parachutes yanked it up as they slowed its speed to the ground.

"Finn, are you okay?" Clarke yelled over the noise, but there was no answer. The monitors were still up but the comm system aboard the dropship suddenly went dead.

"What happened?" asked Jaha. Sinclair was pressing buttons, trying to re-establish contact.

"I don't know sir," Sinclair said. Callie walked into the room.

"Not now!" Kane told her, walking past her.

"Total system failure sir," Sinclair said. "All we know is that they were off-course when we lost contact."

"What about the stuff we downloaded for them?" Kane asked.

"Everything we programmed in to help them is gone," Sinclair said with finality. They all looked at each other.

"Good job we implanted those cameras, otherwise we'd have nothing but their wristbands," Kane said, scrubbing his face in frustration. They turned back to the monitors when they heard Wells.

"Retro rockets should have fired by now," Wells said. Those in the command centre were shocked. If they didn't kick in, those kids were dead.

"Okay, everything on this ship's a hundred years old, right? Just give it a second," Clarke said, hoping she was right.

"Clarke, there's something I've got to tell you," Wells said. Clarke turned to look at him. "I'm sorry I got your father arrested." Abby could see the fury on her daughter's face when she looked at Wells' monitor.

"Don't you talk about my father!" Clarke shouted at him.

"Please, I can't die knowing you hate me," Wells said, almost pleading with her. Abby knew Clarke thought it was Wells who turned in her father and Abby had done nothing to tell her otherwise. She was ashamed of herself for not telling Clarke it was herself that did that, but she knew Clarke would hate her if she did. She was too much of a coward to own up to what she did.

"They didn't arrest my father, Wells, they executed him! I do hate you!" Clarke turned away from the boy who was once her friend. There was a lot of screaming and yelling happening and then suddenly everything went still. Those outside the command centre who were watching, all held their collective breaths. Those with children on the dropship, were waiting to see if the ground was going to kill them as soon as they opened the door.

"Listen. No machine hum," one of the boys strapped to the wall said.

"Woah, that's a first," said the boy standing next to him. The next second they all heard the clicking of the buckles as the auto-released as the engines shut down. They watched as all the kids threw off their harnesses and stood up and began moving to the ladders.

Clarke on the other hand, moved to one of the boys. Abby's medical training kicked in and even without touching him, she knew the boy was dead. She closed her eyes briefly in regret.

"Finn, is he breathing?" she asked of the boy. Clarke looked up when there was no answer to see Finn staring at the dead boy.

"The outer door is on the lower level, let's go!" a male said.

"No! We can't just open the doors," Clarke said, getting up and moving to the ladders and climbing down. Abby switched to the bottom deck to see a load of kids gathered near the door.

"Alright guys, just back it up!" she heard a man say. She looked closer and saw the guards uniform on him.

"We sent a guard down?" Abby asked in astonishment.

"No," Kane said, "That's not one of my guards."

"Stop! The air could be toxic!" Clarke called out from halfway down a ladder. She climbed down the rest of the way and pushed through the crowd.

"If the air is toxic, we're all dead anyway," the man said. They all knew he was right.

"Bellamy?" another voice called out. They watched as a young woman moved through the crowd and up to the 'guard'. The man looked at the young woman.

"My God, look how big you are!" he said, smiling at her. She smiled back until she saw his uniform.

"What the hell are you wearing? A guard's uniform!" she said in disbelief. He grinned.

"I borrowed it to get on the ship." There was a slight pause. "Someone's got to keep any eye on you," he finished, laughing slightly. Both young people hugged.

"Where's your wristband?" asked Clarke.

"Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in a year," replied the young woman.

"No-one has a brother!" a voice called out from the crowd.

"That's Octavia Blake, the girl they found hidden in the floor!" another voice said, this time a female. Kane watched as the young woman lunged towards the unknown voice. The man also lunged and caught Octavia's wrist.

"Octavia, Octavia! No. Let's give them something else to remember you by," he said.

"Oh yeah, like what?" Octavia asked sullenly.

"Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years!" her brother said, grinning. She grinned back and nodded.

Those on the Ark watched with bated breath as the siblings turned towards the door and Bellamy pulled the door release. They watched as daylight flooded into the dark interior and those in the ship had to squint. Once the door was down, they all looked through the eyes of those in front as they too witnessed the ground for the first time. They were all shocked at how green it was. Kane watched as Octavia moved slowly down the ramp and took a deep cleansing breath before letting it out with an ahh. She carried on down the ramp and stopped at the bottom before jumping off the end. She stood and grinned. She'd done it! She was on the ground. They watched as Octavia threw her hands in the air, fists clenched and yelled.

"WE'RE BACK BITCHES!" That was the catalyst for all the other kids to run down the ramp to freedom and those on the Ark rejoiced to know the air on the Earth was safe! Kane grinned to see the kids letting off steam. He did wonder if Jaha had realised that once the kids realised they were free, that none of them would do what he wanted if it meant they were imprisoned again. With a world to explore, they had no need for the Ark nor the Arkers.

From that point, each person on the Ark was following someone as they ran around like idiots, happy to be alive and on the ground.

xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

Abby watched as Clarke set off with the map she'd put aboard. It looked like Clarke was heading uphill somewhere. She looked through Clarke's eyes as she looked at the map and then out to the terrain in front of it. Abby gasped as she saw the vista before her.

"It's beautiful!" she said out loud.

"Yes, it is," Jaha said, having finally found his voice.

"Why so serious, princess? It's not like we died in a fiery explosion," Finn said, coming to Clarke's side.

"Try telling that to the two guys who tried to follow you out of their seats," she shot back. Abby smiled. Clarke was still feisty!

"You don't like being called Princess, do you, Princess?" he asked. By the tone of his voice, Abby guessed he was trying to flirt with her.

Elsewhere on the Ark, another woman was also watching her boyfriend trying to flirt with Clarke and she was pissed. "You'd better stop flirting with her, Finn!" she muttered. She watched as Clarke ignored him and turned to the view.

"See that peak over there?"

"Yeah?" Finn said.

"Mount Weather. There's a radiation-soaked forest between us and our next meal! They dropped us on the wrong damned mountain!" Clarke said with disgust.

xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

Back in the command centre, there was activity as they searched for where the dropship actually landed.

"Got it!" Sinclair called out. "They're on the next mountain over to the southeast of Mount Weather." He pulled up satellite footage of the area. It wasn't good enough to see the ship, but they could pinpoint which mountain it was.

"Anything around them they could use?"

"Maybe, but we have no way of contacting them," Sinclair replied. Another technician was bringing up known military bases and bunkers in the area when Jaha exclaimed.

"NO," he yelled. The others turned around to see what was happening, only to find Wells climbing the outside of the dropship.

"Chancellor?" Kane asked, not seeing what the problem was.

"He could fall!" Jaha said. Again, Kane could see nothing wrong. Wells had reached the top and was examining the wiring and solar panels. He was fine.

xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

Clarke returned from her trip to the cliffside and met Wells by the ship.

"We got problems," Wells said. "The communications system is dead. I went to the roof. A dozen panels are missing. Heat fried the wires." Clarke looked at him like she didn't want him there.

"Well all that matters is getting to Mount Weather," she replied. She unfurled the map. "See? Look, this is us," she said, showing him. "This is where we need to get to if we want to survive." Wells was impressed.

"Where did you learn that?" Clarke froze for a second. Wells saw it and guessed where it had come from. "Your father," he said. It was a statement and not a question. Clarke didn't know what to say. A young man approached them.

"Ahh, cool, a map. They got a bar in this town? I'll buy you a beer." Jaha and Abby watched as Wells put his hand on the youth and tried to move him away.

"You mind?" He said.

"Woah," the boy said.

"Hey, hey, hey, hands off. He's with us!" another voice sounded out and they watched as Clarke turned towards them and saw a group of males approaching.

"Relax, we're just trying to figure out where we are," Wells said, trying to placate them.

"We're on the ground, that not good enough for you?" the one called Bellamy said. He had no use for those from Alpha. They only thought of themselves and screwed over the workers as far as he could see.

"We need to find Mount Weather. You heard my father's message. That has to be our first priority," Wells said.

"Screw your father!" Octavia shouted. "What? You think you're in charge? You and your little Princess?" Abby and Kane exchanged looks. This could end up very badly for those from Alpha.

"Do you think we care who's in charge?" Clarke said, stepping forward. "We need to get to Mount Weather, not because the Chancellor said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we'll get and the harder this'll be. How long do you think we'll last without those supplies? We're looking at a twenty mile trek, okay? So if we want to get there before dark, we have to leave now." Abby was proud of her daughter. She knew what was needed to be done.

"I got a better idea," Bellamy said. "You two go find it for us. Let the privileged do the work for a change!" the trees echoed with yeahs and agreement with Bellamy's statement.

"You're not listening, we all need to go," Wells said.

"Look at this everybody, the Chancellor of Earth!" Murphy said.

"Think that's funny?" Wells asked. Murphy grunted as he shoved Wells to the ground. There were yells and cheers as he did it.

"No, but that was!" Murphy said, grinning.

"Wells!" Clarke said. She felt hands on her, keeping him from Wells. Jaha watched as Murphy stood back, beckoning Wells to get back on his feet.

"Come on, come on," Murphy encouraged, grinning. Wells got to his feet, but he was injured and could hardly stand on one foot.

"Wells!" Jaha called out. He watched as Murphy made a couple of feints towards his son but was soon relieved when Finn jumped from the dropship between the two combatants.

"Kids got one leg. How about you wait until it's a fair fight?" Finn said. Murphy looked at him and then to the dropship. He wandered off and Clarke went to Wells.

"Hey, spacewalker! Rescue me next!" Octavia called out to him. Octavia turned to see her brother looking pissed. "What? He's cute?"

"He's a criminal," Bellamy said.

"They're all criminals," Octavia replied in a tone that said she thought Bellamy needed to be told that.

"Look O, I came down here to protect you."

"I don't need protecting. I have been locked up, one way or another all my life. I am done following orders! I need to have fun, Bell. I need to do something crazy just because I can and no-one, including you, is gonna stop me," Octavia told her brother in no uncertain terms.

"I can't stay with them, O," he said to her. Octavia silently sighed.

"Now what are you talking about?"

"I did something, okay, to get on the dropship, something they'll kill me for when they come down. I can't say what just yet, but you have to trust me. You do still trust me, don't you?"

"Yeah," Octavia said after a couple of seconds.

Kane turned from the conversation between the siblings back to Clarke. He watched as Finn approached Clarke.

"So, Mount Weather, when do we leave?" Finn asked.

"Right now." She turned back to Wells who had an injured ankle. "We'll be back tomorrow with some food," she told him. Wells looked between the two of them.

"How are the two of you gonna carry enough food for a hundred?" Wells asked. Finn looked around and grabbed the two nearest boys.

"Four of us. Can we go now?" Finn asked, plaintively.

"Sounds like a party. Make it five," Octavia said, walking over to them.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" Bellamy asked her.

"Going for a walk," Octavia said. Abby saw Clarke grab Finn's wrist.

"Hey, were you trying to take this off?" she said, pointing to his wristband.

"Yeah, so?" Finn asked.

"So, this wristband transmits your vital signs to the Ark. Take it off, and they'll think you're dead."

"Should I care?" Finn asked.

"Well I don't know, do you want the people you love to think you're dead? Do you want them to follow you down here in two months? Because they won't if they think we're dying," Clarke told him. He took a couple of seconds to answer.

"Okay," he said.

"Now, let's go," Clarke said, turning away. Octavia looked at her brother who nodded his head in their direction.

"Go on," he said, giving her the permission she still sought even after her speech about independence. Octavia grinned and kissed his cheek before turning and running after the other four.

"You shouldn't have come here, Wells," Clarke told him. She turned and walked off.

"Before you get any ideas, Finn's mine," Octavia declared, catching up with her.

"Before you get any ideas, I don't care," Clarke replied.

Up on the Ark, a young woman smiled to hear Clarke say she didn't want Finn, but she would kick the other girls ass if she did get with him - after she'd skinned Finn for going after other girls when she was still his girlfriend. Raven sighed, it was time for her to go to work. She switched the monitor off and left her quarters to head to work.

xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

Callie Cartwig, Kane's girlfriend, walked into the Command centre where Abby had taken up residence since the launch.

"Hey, darling, how's Clarke?"

"Her vitals are strong, blood sugar is low. She hasn't eaten, but she seems okay otherwise. The four others who are with her can show me what she's doing." Just then, the telephone rang and Abby picked it up.

"This is Dr, Griffin." Abby paused to listen. "On my way," she said seriously and professionally. "Jackson, put it out there, we need blood, O neg and lots of it!" she said on her way to the door.

"Abby, what's wrong?" Callie asked as Kane turned around at the sudden change in Abby's demeanor.

"Commander Shumway's been shot!" Abby said, almost running out the door. Callie turned to Kane.

"There's nothing I can do," she said.

"Nothing I can do until he's awake and can tell us what happened," Kane replied, "but I'll go see where it happened and see if I can pull up some camera surveillance. Can you stay and watch over Clarke for Abby?" Callie nodded as Kane walked out of the command centre. Callie turned back to the screens.

xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

"Now that, my friend, is game," Jasper said watching Finn put a flower in Octavia's hair.

"That, my friend, is Poison Sumac," Monty replied. Callie was hard-pressed not to laugh out loud when she saw Octavia frantically pulling the flower from her hair and wiping her hands on her pants.

"What? It is?" Octavia said, still unnerved by the encounter with a potentially dangerous flower.

"The flowers aren't poisonous. They're medicinal - calming - actually," Monty told them as he popped one in his mouth and started chewing.

"His family grows all the pharmaceuticals on the Ark," Jasper explained.

"Hey, guys, would you try to keep up?!" Clarke called out from her position at the front.

"Come on Clarke, how do you block all this out?" Finn asked, looking around them.

"Well, it's simple. I wonder why we haven't seen any animals yet? Maybe it's because there are none, maybe it's because we've been exposed to enough radiation to kill us. Sure is pretty though. Come on." Clarke turned back around and started walking off again. Clarke was right, thought Callie. The radiation levels were still high, but so far, none of the kids had succumbed to being poisoned by it.

"Someone should slip her some poison sumac," Octavia said, sarcastically. Jasper snorted in his laughter. They carried on walking and Callie noted that the two boys at the back seemed to be good friends. Something that was confirmed a few minutes later.

"I got to know what you two did to get busted?" Finn asked of the pair.

"Sumac is not the only herb in the garden - if you know what I mean," Monty replied. Finn grinned.

"Someone forgot to replace what we took!" Jasper explained further.

"Someone has apologized like, a thousand times!" Monty said, apparently it was a long running thing between the two. Callie worked out that Monty took some drugs and forgot to replace them and so they got caught.

"How about you, Octavia? What'd they get you for?" asked Jasper. Callie watched Octavia's expression change from a happy smiling face to one that was pissed.

"Being born!" she said sullenly before stalking off towards Clarke.

"That was so not game," Monty said to Jasper while giving him a backhanded slap on his arm. Jasper slapped back and Monty slapped him again which Jasper returned. They moved forward when Clarke waved at them to do so. She and Octavia were crouched down, watching something. All three boys ran in a crouch up to them and then squatted down beside them. They looked out into a clearing and saw a deer grazing on the grass. They were looking at it in awe, as was Callie and the other people in the room.

"No animals huh?" Finn said to Clarke before inching forward. He accidentally stood on a dry twig and it snapped. The deer's head shot up and looked right at them. All five of them reared back in surprise and maybe horror to see the deer had two heads! Callie was in a similar state. The deer ran off and Callie watched as the children of the Ark relaxed a little now that it was gone. They carried on walking towards Mount Weather with a little more caution.

xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

The Ark

"The Commander's lost a lot of blood. If only they'd found him sooner. Dammit!" Abby said, quickly trying to operate and save his life. Just then Shumway moved his head.

"He's waking up!" Jackson said.

"Increase the anaesthesia!" Abby barked, not taking her eyes off the gaping wound.

"We used way too much blood and anaesthesia. We're way over the line."

"The Commander is going into shock!" Abby told him.

"You're asking me to break the law," Jackson pointed out. He didn't want to be floated for SAVING a life anymore than he would if he took a life.

"Fine, I'll do it myself!" Abby said, starting to move away.

"You can't!" Jackson said, putting his hand on her arm. "If you want to save him, you need the Chancellor's permission, otherwise, you have to let him go. Ark laws, Abby." Abby turned to the nearest nurse.

"Phone the command centre and put them on speaker please." The nurse nodded and did what she was told.

"Command Centre," came the voice of one of the technicians.

"This is Dr Griffin, Is the Chancellor there? It's an emergency."

"I'm here Abby, as is Kane."

"Commander Shumway needs more meds and blood to save him, I need your permission to do so," she said. The tone of her voice made it clear that she expected them to grant it.

"Has he had his allotment of meds?" asked Kane.

"Yes, that's why I need permission to use more," Abby said as if it was obvious.

"I'm sorry, but we can't break the rules for one person and not another," Jaha said.

"But-!" Abby began.

"No, Doctor, you know the rules. If he cannot survive on the meds he's already been given, you have to let him go."

"He's one of your top guards!" Abby yelled, incensed they wouldn't even try to save his life.

"I know, but the law's the law," Jaha said. "I do not give you the permission you seek. Let him go, doctor and hope it's a swift end." The connection was broken as Jaha ended the call.

"Dammit!" Abby yelled.

"Abby, we have to abide by the rules," Jackson said.

"I know, but I took an oath to save lives, not to save them within the rationing! My hypocratic oath should mean something!"

"It means we have the right to TRY, but we too are constrained by the laws of the Ark," Jackson said, trying to reason with her.

"I bet if it was Wells, we'd get the permission," Abby said, disgusted by the draconian laws of the Ark. Abby took a deep breath and stepped back.

"Very well, since we cannot save his life, Dr Jackson, stay here and wait for him to die and then pronounce the time of death," Abby said, moving to the door. Jackson just nodded. Abby moved through the doors and to the changing rooms where she showered and changed back into her civilian clothing. She sighed. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She was supposed to raise Clarke with her husband, watch her find love, get married, have a child and hopefully die a very old woman with at least a grandchild - maybe a great grandchild there to see her off. What she got instead was a husband who wanted to tell the Ark it was dying, his best friend - who she thought she could trust - who had him floated for treason instead of talking him out of it, a daughter who was also arrested just because she, too, knew of Jake's plan and was put into prison. Her daughter was now on the ground, safe from the Ark - for now. Abby sighed again. There wasn't anything she could do other than go back to the command centre and watch her daughter as she experienced a world they never expected to see in their lifetimes.

xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

"Excuse me sir," Major Byrne said to Kane.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked her.

"You asked to be notified if there was news. We have a tentative ID on the shooter," Byrne said, handing over a tablet. "Bellamy Blake is the only person on the Ark unaccounted for."

"Yes, he snuck aboard the dropship wearing a guards uniform," Kane told her. Byrne was shocked.

"Anyway, Bellamy Blake was a janitor, a nobody, sir, however his motives for going to Earth are clear." She pointed out the next page.

"Yes, his sister. I remember her mother kept her hidden for almost 16 years."

"What do you want me to do, Sir?" Byrne asked.

"Nothing, they are on the ground. We have no control over them and we have no communication with them either."

"But the cameras and things?" Byrne said, waving at the extra monitors with displays of what the delinquents were doing on them.

"Those let us monitor them, but nothing else." Bynre nodded and moved off. Kane turned back to the monitors.

xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

On the ground.

"Find any water yet?" a voice asked. Wells replied before he looked up.

"No, not yet," he said, straightening up. "But I'm going back out if you want to come," he said. Murphy chuckled and then sniffed when he moved his hand under his nose - the same hand that held his knife.

"You know, my father, he begged for mercy in the airlock chamber when your father floated him." Wells looked to the side of the dropship which now sported a new message. 'First son, first to dye.' Chancellor Jaha gasped as he read the message. Wells pushed past Murphy and Mbege.

"You spelled 'die' wrong, geniuses!" he carried past them and Bellamy Blake as well.

Bellamy looked at the message.

"You know, if you're gonna kill someone, it's probably best not to announce it," he told the two boys.

"You're not really a member of the guard, are you?" Murphy said, looking at him.

"No. The real guard will be here soon if we don't stop it." Bellamy paused for a second. "You don't actually think they'll forgive your crimes? Even if they do, what then? Guys like us, we're gonna become model citizens now, get jobs? If we're lucky, we'll get jobs picking up their trash!"

"You got a point?" Mbege asked.

"No. I got a locked you up, dumped you down here like lab rats to die. So why are you helping them?"

"The hell we are!" Mbege said, angrily.

"You're wearing those bracelets, aren't you? Right now, those things are telling them whether or not it's safe to follow us down." Murphy was thinking.

"Okay, you said we could stop it. How?"

"Take them off. The Ark will think you're dead, that it's not safe to follow. You follow?"

"Right, and if we do, what's in it for us?" Murphy asked. Bellamy smiled.

"Someone's gotta help me run the place," he said before walking off, knowing those two would start getting rid of the bracelets and hopefully, stop the Ark from coming down.

In the Comand Centre, though, everyone was in shock. They were grateful they had the foresight to implant those cameras and microphones now. Even if they took off the wristbands, they'd know their kids were still alive.

xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

Abby walked into the command centre. Callie walked up to her.

"Hey, Abby," she said. She already knew about Shumway. Abby looked at the board and noticed two more tiles were dark.

"Who else did we lose?" she asked.

"Murphy and Mbege, both named John," said a technician.

"Neither was injured during landing," Kane said. "They've started taking their bands off. We only know they still live because of the monitors inside them." Abby looked to the other monitors and saw the live feed of them, taking bands off other kids and she watched as tile after tile went dark, but the live feeds showed they were still alive. She sighed a deep sigh of relief. She had been unsure of the move to monitor them internally, but now it was a good thing. It would show the Ark that even though the kids were taking them off, they were still alive and the parents could breathe easy knowing they were and not be mourning a child they thought had died.

xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

Back on Earth, Abby watched her daughter and her group as they made their way towards Mount Weather.

"Hey, you know what I'd like to know?" Finn asked. "Why send us down today after ninety seven years? What changed?"

"Who cares?" Octavia said, grabbing a tree. "I'm just glad they did. I woke up, rotting in a cell, and now I'm spinning in a forest," she said, spinning around the tree.

"Maybe they found something on an old satellite, you know, like an old weather satellite or it wasn't a satellite," Monty said. Clarke strode forward from the back.

"The Ark is dying." Gasps were heard from those who didn't already know and Abby thought many more would be heard throughout the Ark as they now realised what was happening to their home.

"At the current population levels, there's roughly three months left of life support, maybe four now we're gone." Clarke said, moving through the group to the front. The others looked at her in shock. Raven was looking on in shock before she turned towards Sinclair.

Finn hurried to catch up with her, working things out as he went.

"So that's the secret they locked you up to keep, why they kept you in solitary, floated your old man?" More gasps from Raven's team. They knew Clarke Griffin and her father.

"My father was the engineer who discovered the flaw. He thought people had a right to know. The Council disagreed, my mother disagreed. They were afraid it would cause panic. We were gonna go public…anyway, when Wells…"

"What? Turned in your dad?" Monty asked. Abby inwardly winced.

"Anyway, the guard turned up before we could. That's why today. That's why it was worth the risk. Even if we all die, at least they bought themselves some time," Clarke told them.

"They're gonna kill more people, aren't they?" Monty said, scared for his family and friends.

"Good!" Octavia said, moving passed them. "After what they did to me, I say float them all!"

"You don't mean that!" Jasper said, shocked to hear it from her.

Finn turned to Clarke.

"We have to warn them," he said, looking into her eyes. Raven was pissed. She was right there and could see every move he made but he'd never once told anyone about her and now he was making eyes at Clarke.

"That's what my father said," Clarke said, quietly. She was staring at him too.

"No, no, no, Clarke! Don't fall for him!" Raven yelled at the screen. Clarke moved forward, not looking where she was going and bumped into Jasper who was standing there staring at something.

"Oh, damn! I love Earth!" Jasper said excitedly as he watched Octavia taking her outerwear off. Those in the command centre were shocked. They shouldn't have been, they were horny teenage kids.

"Oh, Holy…!" Monty exclaimed on seeing Octavia strip. Finn just laughed and enjoyed the view.

"Octavia! What the hell are you doing!" Clarke yelled at the girl, shocked - and a little turned on. Octavia turned to them and grinned before she jumped off the rock and into the water. They heard the splash and hurried over.

"Octavia! We can't swim!" Monty said, seeing her up to her eyes in water.

"No but we can stand!" Octavia said mischieviously as she stood up and the water receded to her waist. On the Ark, the command centre sighed a sigh of relief that the water wasn't that deep.

"Wait, there's not supposed to be a river here," Clarke said, confused.

"Well there is, so take off your damn clothes," Finn told her as he started undressing. In the background Monty was struggling to get his jacket over the wristband while Jasper was staring out at the river at something a little away from them but moving closer. His eyes widened as he realised it could be something dangerous.

"Octavia! Get out of the water!" he yelled moving towards her. The others stopped undressing and looked at her. Octavia held up her hands, still unaware of what was coming up behind her fast. She turned around and suddenly she was grabbed and pulled under. The Ark held its breath, wondering if they'd just watched the first one die.

"Octavia!" Jasper shouted. Octavia was screaming as she came up to the surface and then took a big gulp of air before she was pulled under again.

"No!" Jasper exclaimed. Octavia screamed again as she once more came to the surface. Monty found his voice.

"What the hell is that? We have to do something." Finn started taking his clothes off. "What are you gonna do?" Monty asked.

"Try not to get eaten," Finn said. Raven cursed at her stupid boyfriend trying to be a hero.

"No, wait!" Clarke said, pushing against him to get him to stop. "If we distract it, it might let her go. Help me!" Clarke ordered and she went to a large stone. It took all three of them to push it into the water. It worked! The creature let Octavia go. The problem now was she was in deeper water and couldn't swim. The Ark was still as they watched a real life and death struggle and they could do nothing but watch.

"It worked! It let her go!" Finn said, watching the creature come back towards them and the stone.

"Octavia, get to shore now!" Jasper yelled just before he jumped in himself. He somehow managed to get to her. "I got you," he said.

"It's coming back!" Finn said.

"It's headed right for you guys!" Clarke called out to them.

"Come on, come on, keep going!" Finn urged them as Monty watched the creature. Somehow, Jasper and Octavia got up onto the rocks just before the creature got to them and it swam off. Both Octavia and Jasper were panting as they lay there, realising what a close call that was. The others ran to them and Clarke checked her wound before ripping a strip off Jasper's shirt and tying it around Octavia's leg.

"Thank you, thank you," Octavia said as she hugged Jasper tightly.

"You're gonna be okay," Clarke told her. It was a tense moment, broken by Monty.

"Note to self, next time, save the girl," he said, grinning and patting Jasper on his shoulder. They all laughed, happy to have escaped alive. Those on the Ark yelled in jubilation that they got out of the situation without anyone dying and then the rumours started. Was it true what Clarke had said about the Ark dying? Would they be able to go to the ground as well? Would they all go? There was a lot of talking that night as people whispered in corners and the guard themselves couldn't stop it.

ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo

Okay, so do I stick with canon for the delinquents or change it? Those on the Ark are already diverging from canon, what do I do with them? I had planned for Jasper to be speared, and for Atom to die in the fog ( even though he's one of my favourites), but do I have Charlotte kill Wells? What about the fight with the grounders? Peace or not? I'm all for peace myself, but canon says not. I'd like to avoid the mass death from the grounders fight at the dropship if I can. Mount Weather? Should they be captured by them or somehow avoid them? Whatever happens, this will not be a Clarke/Bellamy love story, partly because I don't do love stories and partly because Lexa is her love, not Bellamy. That part of canon will stay. How far do I take this as canon? Obviously anything after the Arkers comes down isn't, but the story plots could for the most part. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you. I await your thoughts and comments. Samdagger.