Disclaimer: I do not own the 100.

Author's note: Hey guys! I had this idea for a story, but I'm not sure how it turned out. So if you read this, review it and let me know if I should continue! Thanks :)

Chapter 1: I'm Coming Home

Kat's POV

One thousand, four hundred, forty-six days. Thirty thousand, seven hundred four hours. Two million, eighty two thousand, two hundred, forty minutes. That's how long she'd been stuck in this hellhole. Did she deserve to be here? Absolutely. She had no delusions that she was innocent. She didn't even protest or argue when they had arrested her.

There was a silver lining however - one week. That's all she had left before her miserable life was over and she would finally be free. Free from all the anger and pain. Free from this cold, impersonal cell. And free from this floating piece of metal hell that they called home.

With a resigned sigh, Katerina Hale opened her eyes to the familiar white ceiling of her cell. There were two small lights, one on each side. The walls were a cold gray that matched the color of the floor. Her long sleeve t-shirt was white and her pants were black. She missed seeing real colors.

Kat shifted into a sitting position on her sorry excuse for a bed and walked the two steps to the far wall in order to look out the small window. Now there was color, she thought appreciatively as she looked down at Earth. The bright blue of the water, the green of the land and even the white clouds that hovered over everything. She placed a hand on the window, imagining she could reach out and touch it. It reinforced how depressingly bleak her life had become.

It had been 97 years since the Ark was formed and mankind left earth. Rumor has it that there was still 100 years left before it was safe for them to go back to their real home. Sometimes she would wonder what it would be like to live down there. Would there still be so much radiation that every breath she took would bring her closer to death? Did the grass and the trees grow back after the bombings? Were there animals still alive?

Then she'd remember that everyday that passed brought her closer to eighteen and her execution date and she'd shake her head, reminding herself that there was no use thinking of what could never be.

With another sigh, Kat turned her back on Earth and started her morning stretching routine. After spending four years in this cell with nothing but herself for company, she started occupying her time with the one thing she did have – her body. First she stretched all her muscles until she felt loose and flexible. Then she ran through a series of exercises, some that she had seen her father do and some that she had created herself.

Push-ups, sit ups, crunches, jumping jacks, squats, lunges, even pretending she was in a fist fight, dodging and punching as she envisioned her attacker. Anything and everything to work all the different muscles in her body. The result was something she was proud of. She was toned and fit, and although she didn't think she would be fighting anyone or running any races, it made her feel good and it gave her something to do everyday.

As she automatically moved through her routine, her mind drifted back to the dream that had woken her up this morning, one completely different from her usual nightmares.

"Hey!" 6-year-old Kat cried, stepping forward in protest. "That's mine! Give it back!"

Class hadn't started yet, and the teacher wasn't in the room. Kat, who was not only small for her age, but also terribly quiet, quickly became the target for one of the bigger girls to relieve her boredom. The rest of the class gathered around them in a circle. Some of them looked uncomfortable, but no one intervened – they didn't want to be on this girl's bad side.

"Why are you bringing a stuffed animal to class?" The bigger girl sneered, holding the animal out of Kat's reach. She glanced at it, wrinkling her nose. "If you can even call this old thing a stuffed animal. What is it even supposed to be?"

"Give it back, Felicity! That was my mom's, she gave it to me!" Despite the glare on her face and the stubborn set of her jaw, Kat felt her eyes fill with tears.

Unfortunately, Felicity noticed as well.

"Aw, baby Katerina wants her toy back. Are you going to cry?" Kat blinked furiously, desperately trying to hold her tears back. "Why don't you go running back to mommy?" The girl grinned and her eyes widened drastically. "Oh…that's right. You don't have a mommy. Because she's dead."

Kat's eyes blurred and one tear trailed slowly down her cheek.

"Stop being mean, Felicity." Out of the corner of her eye Kat saw a girl with blonde hair that was pulled back into a braid was pushing her way forward through the group of kids, stopping in between the two of them. "Give her the toy back," she demanded, narrowing her eyes.

Felicity glanced between Kat and the blonde girl, and though she still had that nasty sneer on her face, everyone could see her slight hesitation. Kat wasn't sure why, nor did she care. All she wanted was her bear back.

"Fine," Felicity said with a shrug. Kat blinked in surprise. Just like that? "You want your toy back, you big baby? Here."

Kat realized what she was going to do just a little too late. "No!" She cried, watching in complete helplessness as Felicity took the already frayed animal between her two hands and yanked the head from the body.

Tears streamed steadily down Kat's face as Felicity shoved the stuffed animal into her arms. This was one of the last things that Kat had from her mother. And now…

Kat looked up, seeing the sad, pitying look on the blonde girl's face. Swallowing a sob, Kat spun on her heel and ran, feeling like she had lost her mother all over again.

She dodged people in the hallway, ignoring the exclamations of surprise and their reprimands to slow down. She ran until she reached the one place on the Ark where she was able to be alone.

Kat slipped into the dimly lit and mostly unused storage closet, shutting the door behind her and sinking to the floor. Carefully, Kat placed the two pieces of the stuffed animal and stared at them. She hated that girl Felicity. She hated living in this place and she even hated her mom a little bit.

"Why did you leave me here all alone?" Kat whispered to the broken bear.

The door to the storage closet suddenly swung open and Kat blinked in the flood of light to see the blonde girl standing there, staring down at her. "What are you doing here, Blondie?" Kat asked bitterly, wiping her face with the edge of her sleeve.

"I followed you," She replied, stating the obvious. Without waiting for an invitation, she came in, closing the door behind her and sitting across from Kat. "I just wanted to see if you were okay."

"I'm fine," Kat said, sniffling.

"Felicity used to be mean to me too, you know." Kat looked up at the girl with disbelief. She seemed so…tough, and strong. "My daddy told me that no one can make you feel inf… infre-" The girl's nose scrunched in concentration as she stumbled over the word. "Inferior without your consent."

Kat frowned, not recognizing half the words in that sentence. "What does that mean?"

Blue eyes met Kat's gray ones. "You can't let what people say or do make you feel bad. Felicity is not a nice person, and you can't listen to what she says."

"But she's right. My mom's dead."

"I know, I heard about her accident. And I'm very sorry."

"How did you know?"

"I've been in your class for two years now. And I think my mom was your mom's doctor."

Kat didn't know what to say to that revelation. She didn't usually pay much attention to her surroundings. A few moments passed and Kat began to feel weird. This girl was very different from her. Her clothes were clean, her hair was pulled back into a neat braid and most of all this girl seemed…happy. Kat on the other hand, felt dirty, her clothes were frayed and her hair was full of knots.

She really should get back to class. Her dad was going to be so mad when he found out. Instead she said -

"I like your hair."

The girl's eyes lit up as she latched onto the topic with an easy smile. "Thanks! My mom did it for me. Want me to do yours? She taught me how."

Kat looked away, patting her hair self-consciously. "I don't know. My hair is kind of messy."

"That's okay," the blonde girl said, giving her a kind smile that automatically put Kat on edge. In Kat's experience when people were nice they usually wanted something from you.

"Okay," Kat murmured quietly, shrugging.

"Cool! Here, move forward so I can sit behind you." Kat did as she said, unconsciously hunching her back, her muscles tensed as the girl reached up and began to thread her fingers through her hair. "My name's Clarke. What's yours?"

"Katerina Hale," she answered gradually relaxing as the other girl did nothing else except start to work through the knots. "But I like Kat better."

"It's nice to meet you Kat. I have a feeling could be great friends."

At that point, the dream, or memory rather, had been so sudden and so unsettling that it had startled her from the few hours of sleep she had been able to get. A vaguely familiar mixture of fury, betrayal and bitterness spread through her as she replayed it in her mind.

Clarke Griffin. She hadn't thought about that traitorous bitch in a long, long time.

Friends, Kat snorted, shaking her head. Kat wasn't exactly the type of person to have friends but she supposed Clarke was the closest thing she had to one.

Every time she opened up, she got burned. She learned the hard way not to trust anybody but herself.

Kat thought back to the shy, scared little girl that she used to be. Spend a couple of years in this hell-hole with no one but yourself for company and it changes you. It hardens you, transforms you into a cynical person, and over time you end up caring less and less about…. Anything.

The only thing in her future for her to look forward to was her impending death.

Kat was sitting on the floor, her legs straight in front of her, her fingers reaching around her boots and her face pressed against her knees as she stretched the backs of her legs. Her eyes, which had been closed as she counted silently in her head, flew open as her cell door buzzer sounded and the room was suddenly flooded with light.

"Prisoner 194," a voice called out in its familiar drawl. "Turn around and face the wall!"

Instead of getting up, Kat slowly raised her head to see a man with short blonde hair and empty blue eyes smirking at her from the door of her cell. He was wearing his usual guards uniform, all black and padded for protection. In his belt was a gun that she knew shot tranquilizer darts (because really, they were in space, there were more efficient ways to kill people, like floating them out into space.)

On the other side of his belt, she knew, though she could only see a part of it, was a small switchblade. She knew it was there because he had taken it from her the day she was arrested. Every time he came into her cell, he would have it in his hand, flicking it open and closed as he spoke to her. She would stand there, hatred pulsing through every cell in her body, as she forced herself not to react to his taunts. She knew he was just looking for a reason to hit her.

Another younger officer, looking distinctly bored, stepped into the cell carrying a small box as the blonde officer crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe. Kat eyed the box for a moment, her brain racing as she tried to figure out what was going on.

"Officer Asston," she greeted, shifting her eyes back to him and bending a leg to rest her arm on, as she attempted to appear casual. "To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"

The smirk dropped from his face, replaced by an annoyed look complete with a disgusted sneer. "It's Ashton, you stupid bitch."

A small smile played on Kat's lips. She knew it was immature and juvenile, but Kat couldn't help herself. Unlike her, Officer Ashton had a hard time controlling his emotions, and he always reacted exactly as she expected him too. "And you're here because…" She raised an eyebrow in his direction. "In case you and your superiors forgot how to count, I still have another week before I turn 18."

His smirk returned as he slowly strolled into the cell. "As much as I would like to see you float, plans have changed. Now get up, and face the wall."

"Plans have changed?" Kat repeated, not moving a muscle. Uncertainty spread through her. Were they going to float her early? Did she do something to get her review moved up a week? She racked her brain, trying to think, but she couldn't come up with an answer. Her execution date was the one constant thing in her life at the moment and now things were changing. "What plans? What's going on?"

Officer Ashton faked an expression of surprise. "Wait. Did Chancellor Jaha forget to come down here and tell you his plans? How very unlike him. You must be feeling so left out." His smirk grew as Kat glared at him. "You're not the daughter of a Commander anymore, Katerina. You're nothing. Nobody," he whispered menacingly. "Now… Get. Up."

He nodded to the second officer who roughly grabbed Kat's arm and yanked her to her feet. "Get your hands off me," Kat snarled, violently wrenching her arm out of his grip. She was thrown off balance when he abruptly let go of her but she saw an opportunity and continued to stumble forward into Officer Ashton, hitting him slightly with her left shoulder while she gently slipped her switchblade out of his belt, hiding it in her hand.

Officer Ashton grabbed her left wrist in one hand, holding her close to him. She flinched in surprise at how close his face was and tried to turn hers away. His other hand grabbed her chin roughly, forcing her to look at him. "If you were anyone else," he whispered, eyes slowly moving from her face down to her chest. Nausea welled in her stomach and Kat had to clench her teeth to stop the bile from climbing up her throat. "This would tempt me very much. And while you do have a decent body, I knew you before you were thrown in here and that means I know who you really are. Just a scared, little girl who's broken beyond repair. And that just doesn't do it for me."

Kat said nothing for a moment as she watched his triumphant, gloating expression. Without even thinking, she gathered saliva in her mouth and spat it right in his face.

With a noise of disgust, Officer Ashton backhanded her hard across the face, sending her to the floor hard. She rolled once so her back was to them, and slowly sat up, pretending to have gotten the wind knocked out of her as she surreptitiously slid the switchblade into the outside of her right combat boot.

"Dick," she spat over her shoulder, as the other officer hauled her to her feet once more. She could feel blood from her split lip trickling down her chin but she refused to wipe it away.

"Hold out your right arm," the other officer commanded in a bored voice, opening the small box to reveal four large, silver bracelets.

"What the hell is that for?" Kat asked, taking a step back. Officer Ashton stepped up and grabbed her wrist, pushing up her sleeve and holding her arm out even as she struggled. The other officer snapped it on and she gasped in pain as the small, thin needles sank deep into her skin. "What the fuck is this thing?"

A second sharp pain, this time in her neck, made her gasp again. She clapped her free hand to her neck and spun around to see Officer Ashton taking a step back holding a syringe and wearing an evil smile. She could already feel the effects of the drug working through her system. Her vision blurred and Officer Ashton swam in and out of focus. Kat stumbled to her knees and fell over, staring up at him. He knelt down next to her. "Goodbye Katerina Hale," he whispered, still smiling. "I hope we never meet again." Kat's eyes drifted shut and everything went black.

Kat groaned and winced as she regained consciousness; her head felt thick and was throbbing unpleasantly. She tried to shift into a more comfortable position and frowned when she was unable to. What the hell? Her brain wasn't working properly and everything was fuzzy. … Something was holding her down. Suddenly it all came back in a rush. Officer Ashton, the bracelet, the syringe. Her eyes flew open.

She looked down and found she was harnessed to her chair by a pair of red straps. Someone had also put on a thin gray jacket over her white long sleeve shirt. She really hoped it wasn't Officer Ashton. Her stomach curled at the thought.

Her eye then caught on the silver bracelet on her wrist, an ugly, chunky thing about four inches wide. A small part on the top of it was black. What the hell is this for? She shifted her legs once more and her eyes widened when she felt something in her shoe. The switchblade! She thanked every God, old and new that they hadn't found it. At least she had a weapon wherever they were going. Speaking of which….where were they going?

Steeling herself, Kat looked up and almost immediately locked eyes with a familiar pair of steely blue eyes.

Kat's heart gave a weird lurch in her chest and her whole body turned cold. "You have got to be fucking kidding me."

Clarke Griffin rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face. "It's nice to see you too Kat."

"I wish I could say the same," Kat muttered under her breath. Her face was blank and her hands were resting calmly on her thighs, but inside she was a raging mess.

Clarke fucking Griffin, sitting there with her perfect hair and her perfect, unblemished skin. This is all her fault – everything that happened on That Night was her fault! She had to go and open her giant mouth and – Abruptly, she cut herself off. Calm down, Hale, she chastised herself, pushing her anger away for the moment. There are bigger problems to worry about right now.

Taking a deep breath, Kat carefully unclenched her fingers from the death grip of strangulation that she had on the straps. She looked to the person sitting next to Clarke and did a double take when she saw yet another familiar face.

"Wells?" She asked, frowning. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Kat did not miss the sidelong glance that he sent Clarke's way before turning back to her, a twinkle in his eye. "I heard they were getting all the worst teenage criminals from the Ark together in a small, confined space and I really, really wanted to see the shit show that was sure to happen."

She blinked in surprise. "Huh. Well, you turned into a bit of a smart ass in the last four years."

Before he could respond, all of the sudden the lights flickered and a girl screamed as the ship began to shake. Kat gritted her teeth and resumed her grip on the straps of her harness. They were obviously moving, so she drew the logical conclusion and assumed they had left the Ark. But where were they headed? Her heart began pounding heavily in her chest. Where in the fuck were they going?

Her question was answered when more lights flickered on and the TV's that she hadn't known were there came to life and the Chancellor's face appeared.

"Prisoners of the Ark, hear me now," he began, looking very grave. Then again, whenever she saw him this was always how he looked. "You've been given a second chance. And as your Chancellor it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us. Indeed, for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better we would have sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you… expendable."

Wow. Way to butter us up, Jaha, she thought sarcastically.

"Your dad's a dick Wells!" Someone shouted. Kat frowned, watching Wells' shifted in his seat, an angry look on his face as he stared even harder at the TV. It seemed as if he wanted to shoot laser beams out of his eyes. If looks could kill, the TV would have exploded into a million pieces.

"Yeah Finn!"

"Spacewalk Finn, strikes again!" A guy cheered. Kat turned her head to find the source and her eyes widened when she saw a guy wearing a green beanie had unbuckled himself and was currently floating, horizontal to the floor. He crossed his arms and gently moved across so that he was floating between the two rows.

He grinned across at Wells. "Check it out. Your dad floated me after all."

Kat snorted appreciatively, chuckling under her breath. She looked up to find all three of them staring at her. "What?" She shrugged, eyes wide. "That was funny!"

Wells just shook his head, ignoring her. "Strap in before the parachutes deploy," he told Finn seriously.

Cheering came from their right and Kat craned her head to see two other guys beginning to unstrap their harnesses. "Hey, you two! Stay put if you want to live!" Clarke shouted over to them.

They ignored her of course. Kat certainly wished she could, but her incessant orders to the two idiots still managed to work their way to her ears.

The pod would occasionally shake, the lights would flicker, and Chancellor Jaha's grave voice was still giving them advice on how to survive, but the morons took off their harnesses anyway and with shit-eating grins on their faces, began to float around.

"Hey, you're the traitor that's been in solitary for a year," Finn said in front of her.

"You're the idiot who wasted a month of oxygen on an illegal spacewalk," Clarke countered right back.

"But it was fun!" He grinned. "I'm Finn."

Clarke looked at him for a moment and then seemed to notice the other two guys floating around. "Stay in your seats!" She tried again. Personally, Kat thought she was wasting her breath. There were no adults here telling them what to do. What made her think that they would listen to her?

Kat yelped as the pod suddenly jerked hard and slowed down. She clenched her harness tightly, watching with horrified eyes as the two floating boys flew up and crashed into the side of the pod hard. They smashed through some type of wire or pipe, which broke and started emitting steam. Sparks flew everywhere and the lights flickered worse than ever.

Kat's breathing picked up. When she pictured dying she didn't imagine herself hurtling down to earth in a metal pod with about a hundred other delinquents, possibly exploding or breaking bones or being pierced by something and slowly bleeding out. She would much rather be floated.

The two across from her were having a heated, shouting conversation but Kat couldn't bring herself to care enough to listen in. She was slowly counting to 100, keeping her face blank as she tried to calm her heart and her breathing. Her eyes drifted shut to attempt to block out the flickering lights and sparks flying through the air, the screams that came from the people around her. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… don't think about crashing or exploding… 14, 15, 16, 17, 18…. Don't picture bones sticking out from people's skin…. 26, 27, 28, 29, 30…damn it Kat, stop being so morbid! Pull it together.

Her hands tightened their death grip on the harness as the pod gave one last violent shake and then went still. For about two seconds it was completely silent. No one moved or made a sound as they waited to see if anything else was going to happen. The engines slowly died as well. It was nice not being able to hear anything, but of course, it didn't last long.

Everybody was suddenly undoing their harnesses and rushing down the ladder to get to the door. Kat waited for the mad rush to head down before slowly getting out of her seat. She walked over to where the two boys who had followed Finn out of their seats were lying. They were very still. Too still. Finn himself crouched over them, a solemn look on his face. He looked up when she walked over and met her questioning eyes. He shook his head and looked down.

Kat stared at the two bodies, feeling nothing except a small twinge of sadness that they were going to miss this momentous day. She didn't know anything about these boys, not their names, their likes or dislikes or even what crimes they committed to end up here. And now their lives were ended, just like that.

She became aware of a commotion going on down below as someone shouted at everyone to stay back. Curious, Kat headed down the ladder herself, leaning against the sidewall as she watched to see what was going on. Everyone was gathered around the door, which was blocked by a guy in a guards uniform. He was tall with dark brown hair that was slicked back on his head and brown eyes. As Kat watched, Clarke shouted for him to stop and began to push her way to the front.

"The air could be toxic," she explained. Kat rolled her eyes. So what, we should stay here in the pod all 100 – 98, she corrected with a wince, packed in here? That would be.. cozy. And probably suicidal.

The guy in front was obviously thinking along the same lines because he said, "If the air is toxic, we're all dead anyway." He turned around to pull down the lever to open the door.

"Bellamy?" Came a soft, curious voice from Kat's left. She turned to see a beautiful girl with long brown hair and blue eyes step forward, staring at the guy in front. He slowly turned around to look at her as she continued to walk towards him. Kat crossed her arms as she watched the show in front of her. They obviously knew each other. Were they friends? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Exes?

"Oh my god," he said softly, his voice obviously full of emotion. He smiled. "Look how big you are." Ok, that would be a weird thing to tell your girlfriend, Kat thought, making a face. Maybe they were old friends.

The girl threw her arms around him enthusiastically. "What the hell are you wearing?" She asked when she pulled back. "A guards uniform?"

"I borrowed it," he explained. "To get on the drop ship." Kat's eyebrow slowly went up. Borrowed it? You mean stole it. Why would you steal a uniform to get on here? Actually, how did you know that this whole thing was happening in the first place?

"Someone's gotta keep an eye on you," he continued. Okay, so that explained one thing. He snuck on her to protect this girl, whoever she was.

She hugged Bellamy again, causing him to chuckle lightly. "Where's your wristband?" Clarke demanded, ruining the touching moment. That girl seriously needed to shut up. Every time Kat heard her speak she felt the strongest urge to bitch slap her in the face.

"Do you mind?" the other girl turned around to look at her in annoyance. "I haven't seen my brother in over a year." Surprise mingled with Kat's smug feeling at the sight of Clarke being told off. Brother? Now she knew who this girl was. The Blake family was famous around the Ark. Almost as famous as she was. One of the very first laws created on the Ark was that every family was allowed to have one child. A couple years ago Octavia was found in their apartment where she had basically been raised under the floor in secret. Their mother was floated immediately and Octavia was sent to the Sky Box. Kat never heard what happened to the brother.

"No one has a brother!" Someone shouted from the back.

"That's Octavia Blake, the girl they found hidden in the floor!" Someone else answered.

With a snarl on her face Octavia made to lunge towards the crowd, though Kat didn't know what she was planning to do – it was impossible to tell who said it – was she going to take on the entire crowd? She didn't make it very far because her brother wrapped an arm around her waist and said, "Octavia! Octavia, no! Let's give them something else to remember you by," he said urgently.

"Yeah? Like what?" She asked, the anger still clear in her voice.

"Being the first person on the ground in a hundred years."

Kat straightened, her heart beginning to race again. Octavia was grinning and Bellamy was turning to open the door. This was it. Kat hardly dared to believe it. For the first time in 100 years, mankind was going to see Earth. True, she may die very quickly from radiation poisoning, but she was going to enjoy every moment that she could.

Bellamy pulled the lever and the door sprang open. The first thing Kat saw was white. She squinted against the brightness, blinking rapidly to clear her vision. As it did, Kat let out the breath that she didn't realize she had been holding. Color. There was so much color. From what she could see from behind the rest of the delinquents was the bright green grass, the tall, strong trees with green leaves and the bright sunlight shining down from the clear blue sky.

"We're back bitches!" Octavia screamed, throwing back her head and raising both arms above her head. Kat blinked as she became aware of her surroundings once more. She hadn't even realized that Octavia had stepped onto the ground. Everyone rushed out after, yelling and screaming their excitement and joy.

Kat slowly walked forward after they had all run off and made her way down the ramp. Was this real? Were they really on Earth? Maybe Officer Ashton had knocked her out and floated her anyway. Maybe she was actually dead and this was all just some afterlife dream or something. Holding her breath, Kat stepped off the ramp and onto the solid ground. She fell to her knees, letting her hands brush over the grass and dig into the ground to feel the soil. Looking around, she decided one thing. If this was some type of dream then she didn't ever want to wake up.

She took a deep breath of real air, real oxygen and felt the first real smile in four years spread across her face. They were home... and she was finally free.

Author's Note: So that's it! If you like the story so far, please leave a review! It'll most definitely encourage me to put up the next chapter sooner :)