Yep, still not abandoned!

I say that every year I'll finish this. Maybe with COVID and the 100 ending this year, I actually will? We're so CLOSE. Hmm, remains to be seen...

Thank you to my reviewers: sophiecambellbower, 12, pwrmom2, Sere'sLight, Lourrenda07, Chloee0X0, lydo99, and the 100fan09!

12 : Thank you!

Sixteen Years after the Start of the Project

Clarke hummed quietly as she read over her work notes on her pad in absolute peace and quiet. She fished in her bag for an apple, leaning back against the cool metal sheets. She was constantly overheated, and settled the pad between her legs, fanning her face with her other palm.

The door to the closet opened abruptly, and Clarke nearly dropped her apple in surprise.

"Fucking hell, Griffin," Murphy dragged a hand down over his face, "Please, oh please…" He cautiously leaned around the side of the door before retreating.

"Nope, nope," He said, shutting his eyes, "Can you just hand me the extra square of mat up there? Guardsman Couler bled all over a square and we have to dry it and sanitize it."

"Bellamy's not in here," Clarke said, refusing to move.

Murphy uncovered his eyes, "Oh."

He paused, frowning. Clarke went back to her pad, munching on her apple. It was only after a couple of beats of silence she realized that Murphy was still staring at her with a strange expression. "Yes?" She questioned dryly.

"I just," Murphy began, but then shook his head and tapped his chin, "Do you often make a habit of doing light reading in utility closets?"

"Do you want your mat or not?" Clarke refused to answer, slightly aggravated. She would blame it on her pregnancy hormones, but Murphy just brought that out in everyone.

"I'm just confused," Murphy said, pressing his hands together and pointing them toward her, "You literally have one of the nicest houses on this metal death trap, and you are spending your time in here ." A look of horror crossed his face, "Awe, hell, this is a trick, isn't it? It's a stupid test. What does one do if they find Lieutenant Blake's pregnant fiancee squished in a shoebox of a room."

"John-," Clarke began, but Murphy was already hauling Clarke up.

"No siree, I'm not facing his wrath, not today." John said, "So, c'mon, do you need help?"

"I'm not that pregnant, ass," Clarke jerked her arm from his grip, "Murphy, stop. Okay," She pinched her nose, "I'm in here to get away from Bellamy."

Murphy stopped in the middle of the hall, "Come again?"

"I…" Clarke looked around before tugging on his uniform to bring him closer back to the wall, "Look, ever since this pregnancy has gotten past the time where it might be lost anyway, Bellamy's been...overprotective of me. I can hardly do anything without him panicking about me over-exerting myself."

"So you cram yourself into a closet. Smart."

"I just wanted some peace and quiet to read these reports," She lifted her pad, "And not have Bellamy trying to arrange my pillows around me or put a blanket over me or bring me soup or-,"

"Yeah, all of those things seem like not that bad," Murphy held up a hand, "Stop whining, Princess."

"It is when I'm capable of doing all of those things myself!" Clarke argued, "I'm surprised you're not facing this with Raven."

Murphy shucked in through his teeth, "Well," He began delicately, "Raven is...Raven. Do you honestly think I could try to do anything that would make her feel lesser? Raven has actually been picking up more work since the baby, and hey, up until they pull her off this project, I'd have to keep her permanently sedated to keep her away."

Clarke bit her lip, "Think you could tell Bellamy this?"

Murphy barked out a laugh, "I value my life, Clarke. You're the most important thing to him right now. I'm not going to be the one to tell him to lighten up."

Clarke put her pad into her bag, continuing to eat her apple. She took two steps to close the closet, but not without grabbing the mat from the shelf. She ran her fingers over the spongy edge of it, "It's romantic, and I love Bell, but I guess I just feel stifled lately."

"Look, go back to my house," Murphy said sincerely.

"I thought you weren't getting in the middle of things?"

"I'm not. If he asks, I'll tell him where you are. I also won't go out of my way to inform him if he doesn't. Raven's there, working on...working on something," he caught himself quickly.

"The project to keep us from going," Clarke made a 'kaboom' motion with her hands. Bellamy had filled her in after proposing. It had shocked Clarke into silence for three hours, as she ran through every idea she had to fix things. She usually was good enough at enough things to come up with solutions, but this left her baffled and terrified.

The Ark was dying. She didn't know how, but it was dying.

She had to trust Raven, Monty, and Jasper. By stars, she did, more than she trusted anyone else on this entire ship. But even she doubted in miracles, which is what it seemed this was. What they were asking for. Perhaps they'd used up their good grace to get into space, and they were going to be out of luck to narrowly escape death again.

There had been many times when she'd been dying to tell others, to spring the truth from her lips and scream it over the intercoms. When she saw a couple fight; she wanted to encourage them to make up, for the time might be short. When she saw some of her friends push off trying for children. When she saw two people who liked each other that didn't want to say anything. When she saw the smiling faces of young children at the food lines, so carefree and innocent. It was times like these that Clarke felt the truth rush over her, daring her to say it.

And, maybe had the things that had happened not happened- the elders committing suicide and Cadence sacrificing herself for the good of the group- mixed with the fact she was now a mother, or would be very soon, kept her quiet. She would remember how the elders believed in a chance for everyone, and someone as smart as Swan wouldn't have gone out if she hadn't been 110% confident that the trio could find an answer. She thought about how sometimes people had to do things quietly to save those they loved.

The fact that Clarke loved the people of the Ark is what bought her silence.

If they were going to live, it would be because there was a solution, and then everyone would be told. If they were all going to die, there was nothing that they could do to change it. It would only make it worse if she drew out their agony now.

Murphy shot Clarke a furious look, "Quiet!

"I didn't say it," Clarke snapped back, "I'm not stupid."

"Still, this isn't the time for miming," Murphy suddenly looked so much older than he actually was. He'd known the dirty details of this mission- the ones even Bellamy could not find and Clarke did not know- this entire time. Unlike Raven, Monty, or Jasper, Murphy was powerless in the pursuit of the answer. He could only sit back and pray and hope that something could be done. It was moments like these that Clarke considered how far Murphy had come. It wasn't in his nature to trust, but here he was, laying his life without question into the hands of the best the Ark had to offer.

Yes, he didn't exactly have another choice, but he readily did it. No one believed in the brain-trust as much as Murphy. Even Bellamy was always waffling between if he believed an answer was feasible or if he thought it was a lost cause and they should be just enjoying life.

"You're right," Clarke said, "I'm sorry. I know this is hard."

Hard didn't cut it, but all other words failed her.

"Just, c'mon," Murphy said, shoulders slumping, "Rav would probably adore the company."

She was pretty close to her due date, Clarke reminded herself. While their future children would be in the same age classes and grow up together, Raven was a whole trimester ahead of Clarke, give or take. Now that Clarke had entered her second trimester, the entire group was just waiting for Raven's due date, the next baby to their ranks.

"Are you okay, Murphy?" Clarke asked comfortingly as they walked back to the Murphy household. She knew that people asked Raven that question all the time because Clark herself was overwhelmed with a constant barrage of people worrying about her, but when was the last time someone had wondered about John?

"Define 'okay'," Murphy gave a laugh. Clarke just gave a sort of sad smile with a shrug. She'd learned a bit ago that silence usually encouraged people on, to say things they had been trying not to say. Murphy slipped into that after a couple of near-awkward moments of silence.

"I'm terrified. I'm worried about the fact that I don't know how to be a father, mixed with the idea that there's this...due date looming over us. I'm worried about how strong my love already is. I thought I could feel no more love than what I felt for Raven, and you know it's made me do dumbass things. It makes me think of my father, and what he did for me."

"Because he loved you," Clarke reminded gently.

"And it was stupid and reckless and it got him killed," Murhpy snarled, "So."

"You'd do anything for your children," Clarke recited what her mother and father had both said to her on multiple, separate occasions. Her hand brushed over her own firm stomach, where there was just the tiniest flutter of feet kicking.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Murphy said honestly, "Not that this gets rid of all my good old self-preservation instincts, which it does, but that I'm going to end up only a dead memory."

"Murphy," Clarke turned, placing both her hands on his cheeks, looking him in the eye, "You are not going to die. Your father had no one. You have an entire brigade of family, remember?" Clarke said almost furiously, "And we will never let anything happen to you. We look after our own."

Murphy inhaled hard, his hands resting on her arms. It almost seemed for a moment he was going to pull Clarke into a hug, but at the last second stepped away. Clarke tried to shove back down her disappointment. She may have been flabbergasted if Murphy had hugged her, so it's not as though she was expecting it. She often forgot he really wasn't touchy-feely, except to his wife. Raven had always known how to handle him.

"You better fucking promise that, Clarke," Was all Murphy said, his voice rough with emotion.

"I swear it," Clarke said immediately. Her mothering instincts had been flaring up more than usual lately, unsurprisingly, but she'd be damned if she didn't include all of her group friends as part of those she swore to care for.

At the door to their apartment, as Murphy fished out his keys, Clarke could hear the radio. There was one whole station on the ARK, and it wasn't exactly a job since the station master just ran the same handful of songs surviving from the Earth on a never-ending loop. He was a middle-aged gentleman who DJ'd in his spare time, and on occasion, you could request a specific song, but it always ended up playing again eventually. There were about 2,000 songs, which seemed like a lot until it wasn't.

Not many people owned radios. Clarke didn't think that Murphy and Raven had coughed up credits to buy one. Chances are Raven had made her own.

It was an old rap song, one that was riddled with swear words.

"You're not worried about the baby hearing it?" Clarke asked Murphy.

"Oh, please. You're forgetting who the DNA donors of this kid are. It will probably come out swearing. It's in its blood." He replied, nonplussed.

Murphy unlocked the door.

"John? Is that you? Do you have my chicken melt?" Raven asked. Clarke saw she'd moved a table into the living room and it was crawling in wires and bolts. She was focused on something, head down, snipping, and gluing where appropriate.

"Better. I have a Clarke," Murphy replied, patting Clarke's head.

"Clarke is 100% not better than a chicken melt," Raven grumped, then looked up, "No offense. You know I love you," She added, smiling at Clarke.

"None took." Clarke for sure understood how important specific food, and the frustration of procuring it, had become within the more recent weeks.

"Stars women, I'll get your sandwich," Murphy clutched his heart in faux pain, "I try to do something nice for you and you just bitch and moan. I'm hurt."

"Near-death, I'm sure," Raven said, pausing her work, sending her husband a mischievous smile. When Clarke turned, Murphy had a wicked smile on.

"Go, yuck, I don't want to see your foreplay," Clarke shuddered, pushing him back out the door. Murphy stuck his tongue out at Clarke before he left.

"We have to keep the romance alive somehow," Raven said, half-distracted as she continued what she was working on, "I mean, I guess 'keeping it alive' isn't the issue. My sex drive?" She made a motion high above her head.

"That can happen," Clarke said. While she didn't mind talking about this sort of thing with Raven, it was the idea of Murphy as her partner that was weirding her out.

She got up and began to trace around the room, realizing that Raven wasn't going to stop her work on her account. Whatever she was doing, she was far into it.

As she was perusing a book on a shelf, Raven groaned. Clarke whipped her head around and Raven held up a finger, face flushed.

"Is it?"

"No, no. Braxton Hicks, I think," She said, "Getting closer, though."

Clarke relaxed. She could deliver a baby right now but she would prefer not to. She was off of work today.

Raven winced, rubbing her lame leg. As she shifted, Clarke could see her discomfort.

"Your leg okay?"

"I've been putting a lot of weight on it. My own fault," Raven sighed, "Just trying to keep it not as sore as usual." She rubbed the skin around the brace, laughing quietly. Clarke raised an eyebrow.

"I'm just, it's funny," Raven said, "My stomach hurts, my leg aches, my feet...oh, don't get me started. I should hate this, but goddamn, I just sort of like the feeling. Who knew I'd be so maternal?" She asked.

"You've always been taking care of others," Clarke said, thinking of how she had watched Murphy and Finn like a hawk in her youth, not to mention her mother, "It's not a surprise to me."

"Hmm," Raven considered her words for a second and then shrugged, "Hey, want to go see what food I still have? John should be back soon, but I dunno about you, but I'm fucking starved."

XXxxXX

Charlotte rubbed her wrists as Bellamy took off the cuffs, rolling out her shoulders.

"Oh, look. Another gray room." She said, deadpanned, "But still. Who'd you kill to get me out?" She asked. Bellamy gave an apologetic smile.

"It's not forever, you know that. Just for a few hours." Still, he was pretty sure it was the first time that Charlotte had been out of her cell since she'd been found as an illegal child. She'd lived her entire life in a room smaller than his apartment with his mother, and that was saying something. He shuddered to think that this could have been Octavia if Clarke wasn't such a genius. Still, every time he saw Charlotte, it filled him with unshakable guilt. If only he'd known...he would have done anything so that she didn't end up like this.

"Must be a special occasion," Charlotte said, smiling pleasantly. She took things easily, at face-value. She joked with Bellamy, but obviously she was grateful for anything he could secure for her.

"I hope so," Bellamy said, pressing a button near the wall. The door slid open to reveal Simon waiting, a blue bundle in his arms. Charlotte's eyes widened and grew bright, a stupidly gleeful smile overtaking her face.

"Is that...did Uma go into labor?" She whispered, eyes gathering with tears, "Is that your baby?"

Bellamy stepped back, wishing on some level he could give them privacy, but he knew that he'd pulled a lot of strings to even get Charlotte the chance to hold Simon's son. A lot of the council members still thought she was bound to stab someone.

Idiots.

Who was she going to stab in here? Simon, her brother? Her nephew? Bellamy, who was carrying a taser?

"About a day ago," Simon said, shuffling so that he could peel back the blanket that partially obscured the baby's face, "She's doing well. She wishes she could come too, but we agreed it was only fair you meet him as soon as possible."

"Him?" Charlotte reached out, caressing a finger down his cheek, "A nephew?" Not many people could claim that legitimately, Bellamy thought. As far as he knew, only Charlotte and Octavia would be an aunt on the Ark, at least by blood. Sure, lots of people were called 'Aunt' or 'Uncle' due to family familiarity. Heck, Bellamy knew that his future child would probably call most of the members of the after-school group' 'Aunt' or 'Uncle', as that's what was already happening.

"Atticus," Simon said, "Do you want to hold him?"

Charlotte choked out a sob, "I've never held a baby before. Never seen one either," She admitted, "He's so tiny."

"Well, he was just born," Bellamy pointed out, "Here, sit there," Bellamy said, motioning for a chair, "And let me just…" He adjusted her arms, giving a thumbs up. Simon gingerly lay Atticus in his younger sister's arms and Bellamy took her hand,

"Hold under his head, yeah, like that." He said.

"Wow," Charlotte breathed, "Oh, he has the Dibdin nose. So unfortunate," She teased, using her free hand to trace his features.

"He'll grow into it," Simon said, but was partially covering his own nose, "All of us do."

"Wait!" Charlotte said, handing him back for just a second. At first, Bellamy thought there was an issue until she dug in her prison uniform and pulled out...a rabbit.

It was the rabbit that Bellamy had gotten so much flack for saving for her back, back when she was too young and she'd been found out.

It wasn't really soft anymore, not after years of her clutching it in her cell.

"For him." She said simply, taking Atticus back and holding the rabbit above him. His eyes opened and he watched it, as though understanding what it was.

"I can't...no...it's yours," Simon said. The rest of his thought was unspoken, but understood; and you have so little to begin with.

"This little guy got me through my darkest nights. He should have it now. To remember me, Aunty Char."

"Of course he'll remember you," Simon scoffed. Charlotte seemed not to hear, or perhaps willfully ignored her older brother, tickling Atticus' cheeks, completely engrossed.

Bellamy edged into the background, trying to be as much of a wallflower as he could. He knew that Charlotte thought of him as a brother, but there wasn't anything quite like actually meeting your own flesh and blood.

He had only secured two hours. It seemed to go by far too quickly. Charlotte's fingers clenched on the edge of Atticus' blanket, and she tried to hold back her tears as she kissed his head. Though she did not say it, her face was clear enough; she might never get a chance to hold him again.

"Auntie loves you," She whispered quietly, "And she is so glad you're here."

"We'll be back." Simon said confidently, "Until you get sprung. Then I know that it's usually an Aunt that spoils her nephew, but stars, we're going to spoil you rotten, Char."

CHarlotte smiled politely at him. Simon was unwavering in his belief that she had a chance of getting out on her 18th. Bellamy knew that he'd been building his case for years. Charlotte was more jaded.

Bellamy wished he could be as sure as Simon. The truth of it though was ugly; unless something amazing occurred, perhaps it was too cruel of a thing to have Atticus learn to love his aunt, even through the bars of a jail cell, to watch her vanish forever out of the Airlock.

Charlotte gave no fuss as Bellamy took out the cuffs. She held out her wrists, face unreadable.

"I'm glad I got to meet him," She said quietly. At sixteen, she was already so mature in many ways, especially for a girl who grew up as a criminal in one sense or another. Perhaps it came from the impending idea of an expiration date upon her, blinking and quietly growing larger and larger as each day passed.

Her days were numbered now.

She was silent back to the cell where she lived. When she returned and Bellamy locked the door behind her, the urge to just leave it open almost making him do something incredibly stupid, Charlotte motioned for him to come down. When he was close to the bars, she leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you for that. I know it wasn't easy to get me in a room with him." She said, "Your kid isn't too far off, huh?"

"Maybe four months," Bellamy said, though Clarke had warned him that sometimes first children came early...or late. Rarely on time, it seemed.

"Will you bring them around if you can? I think babies are adorable." She said. She said it with the musing of a person who had just decided. She probably had.

"Yes, yeah." Bellamy agreed. She released her grip on the bars, a soft smile still on her face as she curled up with her thin blanket, pulling herself down into the memories. It was how she coped; pulling herself away from the real world in an entire universe of her own making. In this one, Bellamy wondered if she was playing with Atticus, and how she was imagining him in her mind space.

He figured he should return home to Clarke, but he was bothered. Bothered by all of these empty promises he kept hearing, being told to just 'have faith'.

He was running low on that particular brand of assurance rapidly.

He was in front of Jaha's office before he truly realized his plan, but standing here, he knew he could not turn back now.

He knocked and was let in.

"Ah, Lt. Blake," Jaha said. He and Commander Miller were looking at the reports of the newest training staff, something that Bellamy had compiled two days ago. Miller clicked his pad off, intending to leave.

"Actually, it's good you're here too," Bellamy stood in front of the door, arms crossed, "I have a request. No," he gave a laugh, "A demand, I suppose." He said plainly.

"Yes?" Jaha asked, his eyes now suspicious and his face pulled to study Bellamy with a sort of precision that one who had spent years as a politician would have mastered, "Ah." He said, realizing after a moment.

Miller frowned, still trying to decipher this request.

"I have to know that there is a plan." Bellamy said after a beat "And not just a mantra of 'oh, it will work out' or 'we have people working on it', but I want full access. I want to see what the brain trust is working on. I want to know everything."

"You know that this is entirely in vain," Jaha said evenly, "Not even Miller knows the full extent of the plans."

"But he's probably guessed, in some ways." Bellamy did not let down, "And no, you give me this information."

Jaha almost seemed amused, "Tell me, son, why is that?"

Bellamy locked his jaw, trying to keep it from twitching, at the usage of the endearment 'son'. It made his skin crawl, but he was determined to stay focused.

"Sir, when I was sworn in as a guard, I made a promise to protect the people of the Ark, did I not?" Bellamy said, turning to Miller. Miller gave a nod of confirmation. Jaha did not switch his gaze to Miller, though the question was rhetoric, to begin with, "And I live by that. But, I am finding it harder and harder to protect our people from some vague, unknown threat. A threat that most don't even know is out there. How can I sit here, helpless, when I hear Simon talk about his newborn's fifth birthday? Or if someone is making plans for the future, a future I'm not sure they have anymore? Or when I see Jasper, exhausted, up after twenty-six hours to fix whatever the hell is wrong? When someone asks me if everything is going to be okay, I need to be one-hundred percent sure that it is, or else I have so solemnly broken my sacred vow," He said sternly, "And Chancellor, I'm going to be a father soon. You yourself will likely be a grandfather within the year. So you understand me and my worries quite well. Or, rather, you are assured by the work that our brightest are doing."

He paused, "I don't need to tell anyone. I just need to know that there actually is some sort of plan. Or else?" He gave a quiet, choked laugh, "Or else...well, maybe we're all just living on borrowed time."

He waited. Jaha stared at him down. Bellamy did not offer up anything else. He knew that maybe Jaha was hoping if the silence stretched on long enough, Bellamy would say something that would give Jaha good reason to deny him this. Bellamy knew that trick; he was a Lieutenant in the guard, after all.

He waited. He could wait hours if it meant having the singular knowledge he sought to possess. It was, possibly, the most valuable thing on the Ark at the current, even if no one knew.

"I suppose you won't stop looking into this, will you?" Jaha said though it wasn't an agreement.

Bellamy clicked his tongue, "Unlikely."

"If you convince one of the brain trust to tell you, you'll be intimidating them. Sending them to their death. Do you really want that on your hands?" Jaha asked in a patronizing tone.

"I wouldn't be so stupid," Bellamy snapped, "And I doubt you'd sacrifice one of your golden minds because of this. They're far too precious. Otherwise, the secrecy would be for naught," Bellamy decided after a moment, "But no." Raven and Jasper had children, Monty was unlikely to be far behind. Bellamy was not so foolhardy as to go bothering them about something they currently could not say.

"While I understand your tenacity is something of a legend, Lt. Blake, this is one goal you cannot reach. You have to see the position I am in. I doubt you'd do differently." Jaha said, folding his hands out.

Bellamy licked the inside of his gums, "I thought you might have this response," He said quietly. He caught Miller's gaze, "You're here as my witness then."

He stood up and took out his badge and stun-gun, which he never went without, even off-duty. He placed them on Jaha's desk. The sound of the metal scraping over the top was the only sound in the office until Miller managed a choked noise.

"Blake, you can't be-,"

"Consider this my resignation, then," Bellamy said evenly, "I already told you. I can't protect the people against what I do not know, or promise them safety for something that may not come to pass."

"What will you do with yourself?" Jaha asked. While it was not a crime to leave one's job, it was mostly unheard of. Most people did not want to re-start training with someone older than perhaps 21, and it was difficult to wiggle one's way into other things, other than menial labor, which was always welcome.

Bellamy shrugged, pushing his hands into his pockets, "Sanitation Division is always asking for more help," He said quietly.

"You'll be wasted! Think of what you're doing, Bellamy!" Miller said, fingers clutching his holopad, white as a sheet, "You could have been...well, my protege." He said. Bellamy had long ago considered that he was one of the better choices around for a commander, years down the line. While the idea held some interest to him, he was steadfast in this gamble.

"We either have two years or we don't. If we do not, which I'll take by your hesitance to show me anything, I want to spend it with Clarke and my child. If we have more than two years, prove it to me. And I'll come back and do everything to make sure that we do survive." Bellamy said. He waited three minutes before turning around.

His fingers had only opened the door an inch when Jaha's tired voice echoed, "For star's sake, sit back down."

Bellamy locked the door again. Jaha was glaring at him, but Bellamy could live with that.

"If I give you the files, it is in a measure of good faith, you understand?" He said in an icy tone, "Because I believe you are needed on the guard and I do not believe you to be a liar." He said, tilting his head to where he'd left off his things, "But when you read these files, you tell no one. Not the brain trust, not your best friend, and by stars, not your fiance. You will be held to stronger expectations than the Trust. Do you agree?" Jaha said, his smile grim, "Two can keep a secret, boy, if one of them is dead."

Bellamy swallowed. He knew that this was nothing Clarke could find out, as much as he longed to share whatever he found out. He had no doubt that Jaha would not hesitate to throw him out of an airlock if he did so. The idea was clear enough; if Bellamy told more than one person, it would only spread. The only way he would be allowed this knowledge is if he promised his absolute silence.

"And you'll be very nice to Commander Miller, whatever he asks of you on the force. Long hours, helping out...utter devotion to the cause, since that's your entire argument, is it not?" Jaha continued. Miller looked ready to argue on Bellamy's behalf, but Bellamy grasped for his badge before his father-figure could do much.

"Done," Bellamy said simply.

"Commander, we'll talk more after. If you will?" Jaha said, dismissing Miller. Miller nodded uneasily, looking at Bellamy with a face Bellamy couldn't quite decipher and left the pair alone. Bellamy felt the weight of it all start to press on his shoulders. He held out his holopad, expecting Jaha to override something so he could access the files, but Jaha only laughed.

"Do you think it would be so easy?" He asked, an eyebrow raised, "You'll need a different pad."

He unlocked a cabinet and took out a slim, newer model. One Bellamy had never seen anyone carry, sans the Brain Trust, he realized. He blinked quietly, watching as Jaha used his thumb to unlock it. Then, just as Bellamy was about to ask a question, he'd snatched Bellamy's wrist and placed his thumb firmly on the unlock pad.

"Ouch!" Bellamy jumped as his finger was pinched. It didn't hurt, but it was more the surprise of the moment. He pulled back to see a small pin-prick on the pad of his finger and a smudge evaporating into the pad.

"Blood keys," Jaha said simply, "For the most sacred of secrets. You'll need to use your blood every time you wish to access the files, and only your blood on this pad can open them, or else they self-erase," He handed it over, "A reminder of the weight of it. The sacrifice we're all going to make."

Bellamy exhaled out, licking his digit to stop the bleeding. He took the pad and linked it to his current one; he got the feeling that Jaha would never want this one out of his sight.

After it had synced, Bellamy found the file easily. It was massive; the biggest file he'd ever come across on a pad.

He hesitated over it for a second, for the briefest of moments he asked himself if he truly wanted to know. Knowledge was a curse, he knew this from all his Greek myths as well as experience.

Still, he had to.

"You can use my antechamber to look over the files. It will be safe and quiet there. I imagine it will take you all night, if not days." Jaha said, motioning to a secondary door in his office, "And Blake?" He asked as Bellamy stood, "Were you actually going to walk away from the Guard?"

Bellamy licked his lips, fingers itching to start reading, but felt a sense of triumph within him. He tried to seem as casual as he could as he shrugged, "I guess we'll never know, will we sir? Doesn't matter now. We both got what we wanted."

Jaha met the tips of his fingers together, sighing, "If I had only known what trouble you'd end up being, Bellamy…" He shook his head.

Bellamy winced, pushing the door in and whispering so that Jaha could not hear, "Oh, you don't know the half of it."

XX

As Clarke wiped the crumbs from her lips, her pad pinged. She glanced over at the screen, humming at the note.

"Bell says that Jaha just handed off a bunch of new files for him for work, and chances are he'll be there all night." Clarke pulled a face, "Damn, that sucks."

Raven cursed as a piece of wire gave her a small jolt and she sighed, shoving whatever she was working on to the side. As Clarke at the last bit of her chicken melt that Murphy had returned with, she wandered to Raven's desk area. She caught a glimpse of a map and what looked like a field journal spread out, but Raven covered it all with a tarp quickly.

"Well, John's got an overnight," She said, "Slumber-party?" She offered with a glimmer, "It won't be as fun as before since we can't get drunk or high, but do you really want to go back to your parent's house tonight? Stars, my mom wasn't even really there most of the time, but I remember itching to get away right before I got married. Get my own place," She said with a motion around them.

"That sounds fantastic, Rav."

"I know you've probably seen it like a thousand times, but I have The Breakfast Club . Rented it last week," Raven said, "And don't tell Murphy I'm hiding this but…" She opened her palm.

Clarke gasped, "Chocolate!"

"We are growing tiny humans. Hell yeah, we deserve this," Raven said, breaking off a piece for herself and Clarke before carefully wrapping it back up and hiding it behind a secret wall. She adjusted her pad on the dresser across from her and Murphy's bed as Clarke tried to decide if she wanted to eat it all at once or savor it.

Once the movie was queued up, Raven patted the bed, "C'mon Griffin! This bed is fantastic. Dunno how we lucked out but, stars, it's heavenly."

"Oh, I know," Clarke replied, absently licking her fingers first, settling herself down. She didn't realize what she said until she caught Raven staring at her.

"You know?"

"Uh, I put the bed in your room," Clarke said quickly, but Raven was not so easily convinced.

"I mean, yeah, for like two seconds you were with it," She said, narrowed glare on Clarke's face, "You're red! Why are you red!"

"Look, I just don't like you staring at me. It's creepy."

"You're guilty!" Raven deduced, correctly at that, throwing a finger at Clarke, "What in the world would make you so embarrassed? I mean, well….there's, hm," She tapped her finger to her chin, musing. Clarke bit down from saying anything.

"Hey, so the movie," She finally said, refusing to meet Raven's eyes.

Out of the corner of her gaze, she saw Raven's eyes widen as she counted something back on her fingers. Once she pushed down the last one, she cursed, "Awe, fuck no, Clarke!"

"Well, I mean, you and Murphy seem to get off on getting off at other's," Clarke said in her defense, "Mine, Bell's, Monty's, Octavia's, Jaha's office ,"

"Sure, but we didn't conceive a child on our best friend's bed!" Raven said, jumping up, "Yuck!"

"You've washed the sheets since, I'm sure," Clarke muttered, "I mean, I didn't know that would be the outcome. We just wanted to get back a little." She admitted after a moment.

Raven crawled next to her, "Doesn't make it better. John and I better be this baby's godparents after all this. It's the very least you can do."

Clarke, feeling like she'd gotten off rather easy, snorted, "Deal."

XX

"Dude, I have to ask," Benny said, pouring Bellamy another glass of the good shit, "Are you possessed?"

"What?" Bellamy asked, confusion coloring his expression.

"This last month you've been happy," Benny said, leaning back.

"Oh, sue me."

"Like, eerily happy," Benny said, "And I get it. You're gonna get married in a week. You have a kid on the way. Life seems great, 'course. I just found out that I'm going to be a dad, well, you know, officially and I'm fucking over the moon. But I'm not walking around like someone stapled a happy face to my forehead."

Bellamy sipped on his whiskey to collect his answer.

He hadn't thought he'd been so noticeable, but apparently his relief- which Benny was mistaking or twisting for joy- could not be contained.

It had taken him nearly seventeen hours to meticulously comb through all the documents that the Wonder Team had been working for years. At first, it had seemed hopeless. Until the got to the end or the more recent tests. And as he read through them, he knew their plan was solid. What wasn't there to be joyful about?

Clarke had only made a passing comment on his new pad. She could open it normally, like before. It was only the files, which he'd hidden deep, that needed his blood. He'd tried his best not to obsess over them after coming to his conclusion, and had only needed to re-check them two times since he was granted access.

"New digs," Clarke said, waving it around a bit.

"Ah, yeah. Old one fell in an ice bath," He said with a wince. Clarke had no reason to think of him lying. He hated to be doing so, especially after he just got over that very idea not so long ago, but this wasn't a bad secret. This was a good secret.

A very good secret.

"I just really love life," Bellamy finally replied to Benny, "And I guess I realized I wasn't enjoying it as much before. Worrying all the time. But wait, back up. Stasia's pregnant?" He couldn't help but wince.

Benny gazed through their house to the kitchen where Stasia was washing some dishes, something that seemed Twilight Zone-esque to Bellamy. Stasia, doing something domestic? Wearing no makeup? In one of Benny's oversized shirts? Honestly, he was trying not to pay too much attention to it, or he feared his head would explode.

Out of all the members of the Project, Stasia still held a bit of a sore spot for him, though she'd apologized at Benny's wedding about stealing his first kiss. She'd seemed genuine, and a bit more mature at 21, but Bellamy also knew she was good with words.

"You know," Benny said, his eyes softening a bit, "we never actually did find out who won the bet. It seemed so insignificant, though she thinks I probably won. Or, at least won by default, since I accidentally sired a kid." He added, scratching his new beard, grown in just a few months ago.

"Uh-huh."

"I remember looking at her and thinking Jaha and Dr. Griffin and everyone was mad matching us up together," Benny continued, "I'm sure many had that reaction. All confused as fuck about why we were placed with someone but, man," He gave a little laugh, "I think I love her."

Bellamy spat up some of his whiskey, which was a shame to waste it, "Really?"

"I didn't when I married her, you knew that. But now that we're married, we're both making an effort. And the more I get to know her, the more I realize how...suited we are for each other," Benny continued, "We both really like sex, and no one judges the other for it. Honestly, I'm surprised it took us this long to get pregnant," He added with a wicked grin, and Bellamy shuddered, "She tolerates my swearing and knows how to get me out of my mood swings. She can be a bitch, duh, but she's my bitch now. Wait, that sounded bad." Benny frowned, "I mean, she protects me and I've come to appreciate her bitchiness."

"Uhm, I'm glad?"

"I'm just saying," Benny said, "I would have never looked at her if we hadn't been told to get married, but I can't imagine life without her." Benny's smile faltered a bit, "You know, I've been hearing some...whispers."

"Like what? About Stasia? I thought you promised all that sleeping around, for both of you, would end?" Bellamy said. He was usually above punching women, but he could make an exception if Benny was going to get a broken heart.

"No!" Benny seemed horrified, "Fuck you, no way. It's about something else." He licked his lips uneasily, "I mean, I couldn't tell you exactly what they're saying, but it's putting everyone on edge. Mostly about the ability for this piece of tin to keep us in the sky and all," He said, his voice hoarse. Bellamy inhaled hard. He'd heard the 'whispers' too, those seeds of dissent and fear starting to creep in. It had been one of the prevailing factors to make him take such a risky move against Jaha to know, without question, they were going to survive.

"And I just figured," Benny waved a hand, "You're up the totem pole. Do you know anything?"

Bellamy opened his mouth but realized he hadn't yet figured out how to reply. What he did do, however, is a smile.

"Benny," He said, grabbing his friend's wrist across the chairs, "We will be fine. You and Stasia and your unborn child will be fine. We all will survive." He said, hoping that he could push all his certainty, all that joy from the past few weeks into his tone, "And it's going to be fantastic."

Benny exhaled but still looked a bit shifty, "You pinky fucking promise?"

"I wouldn't lie."

This seemed to be enough. Benny capped off the rest of Bellamy's glass. When he tried to protest, Benny shoved the glass toward Bellamy.

"You only get married once, bro! Well, hopefully. Let the week-long bachelor's party begin!"

XX

"Clarke, open it!"

Clarke's fingers hovered above the worn box that had been delivered to her doorstep this morning. Though she knew exactly what it was, she could not find the courage to open the box.

She'd been dreaming of her wedding day since she was practically six. The face of who it was used to change frequently; boy or girl, but there was some part of her mind that around the age of thirteen very firmly usually substituted Bellamy's face there whenever she wasn't crushing on someone else. It was wild to imagine that here they were, nearly ten years after that, and Bellamy was going to be her husband. Yes, it was preordained by Jaha and The Powers That Be, but she knew with certainty that she'd choose him anyway. And, if someone down the line had fucked up and put her with someone else, she would have fought tooth and nail because her love for him was so overwhelming that sometimes it just took hold of her.

The lid of the box was suddenly not there, thrown somewhere on the chairs behind her.

"Harper!"

"I'm too gosh darn curious," Harper said without a hint of an apology, "Woah…"

Clarke spun around to see her wedding dress lying in the tissue paper. Like she was picking up the Holy Grail, she lifted it with absolute gingerness. Octavia sat in front of Clarke on the couch, sipping her white wine and watching Clarke with a sly, proud grin. She'd been monumental in the creation of this dress, Clarke had no doubt. While Aurora couldn't give a more traditional wedding gift to her future daughter-in-law, she'd come and asked if Clarke would be okay if the gift was a wedding dress for her. Clarke had cried, blamed it on the hormones, and cried again.

Any garment made by Aurora Blake was worth far more than anything else that someone could give her.

"Holy shit. That's gotta be the nicest looking wedding dress since the Earth went kaboom," Raven inhaled sharply. Clarke looked sideways to Octavia, hoping she was not upset that Clarke got such a gorgeous dress whereas on such short notice she hadn't, but she was brimming with happiness to see Clarke's reaction.

"How'd you get it so white?" Harper asked.

"A lot of bleach." Octavia replied wryly, "And lots of trial and error to put the brightest stuff on the outside," She said, turning the dress inside out to show a more worn, yellowed side to most of the fabrics.

"Well, let's put it on!" Raven said, already trying to tug Clarke's sweater off.

"Woah, let's leave that sort of disrobing for Bellamy," Clarke teased, "Plus, now that I'm the size of a whale, things need to be taken off carefully," She said, glaring at Raven, who should be due any day now. Clarke knew there were bets she'd go into labor tonight at the wedding party, and even Murphy seemingly expecting exactly that. He'd come by earlier and handed off a plastic apron. When Clarke had just stared at it, uncomprehending, he'd snorted.

"So you don't ruin your pretty dress when you deliver my kid tonight in the middle of the dance floor," He'd said, half-teasing, half totally serious.

Clarke hadn't been sure what the fit would be like. She had been sure Octavia would need to basically sew her in, now that her stomach was growing bigger and bigger each day. Like some brand of magic, as Raven helped her into it, it hugged her perfectly and she just knew that no adjustments would be needed. Even more so, while Clarke wasn't ashamed of the fact that there was a baby before the white ceremony, it wasn't the focus of tonight. They'd done a fantastic job of using lace and form to half-way hide her stomach or at least lessen it.

Dang, Aurora was good.

"Sit, sit," Octavia said, "You gotta do the right hair with this dress, hmm? Let me do it." She said, starting to pull Clarke's hair up already. Clarke allowed her.

The lace covered the entire dress, curling up her neck and half-way down her arms. Aurora had sewn tiny glittering beads all over, making it look like Clarke was drenched in starlight. Harper and Raven had pooled together makeup from the other ladies in the group, as they were doing for each wedding, and were currently arguing what shades of eyeshadow would look best on her lids. Clarke just couldn't stop staring, though, her hands running all over her figure. By the time Octavia finished with her hair and the other girls with her makeup, she felt like a goddess.

"Wow."

Clarke turned to see her dad in the doorway. His face was worn; he was exhausted a lot lately. Whatever he was helping the Brain Trust with was mentally tiring him out. He came home and fell asleep right away. Or maybe it was just to avoid Abby. Either way, Clarke was pleased to see any signs of aging vanish as soon as he saw how Clarke looked.

She did a spin in her dress, "Like it?"

"It's perfect," He said, his voice cracking, "Here." He said, holding out a box. Clarke had no idea what was in this, though, unlike her dress. She undid the ribbons and revealed a tiara, matching the glitter on her dress, "For my Princess." He said.

Clarke knew she'd get a little bit of ribbing from the rest of the group - she was still often called The Alpha Princess, though not maliciously by anyone in the group by this point - but it felt so meant to be that she couldn't care. Octavia worked it into her hair, pinning it into place.

"I'm ready," Clarke announced.

XX

Bellamy stood at the front of the courtroom, licking his lips. Murphy offered him a glass of water, still a bit sick looking. One benefit to Benny's week-long party? Last night, Bellamy was able to cut off his own drinking at a reasonable hour, so unlike most of his friends, he was completely sober.

In fact, Benny was currently moaning and curled around a planter, tie askew, head pressed to the cool tiles of the ARK.

"Stand up," Bellamy said, kicking his shoe, "Ceremony's in like twenty minutes." He said, nervously adjusting his suit again.

He'd been prepared to wear a rental tux as most grooms did. They were in fine shape, a little dusty maybe, but not too out of wear. Imagine his surprise when this morning, his mother had presented him with a new outfit. It had looked like it had been found beneath the floorboards in plastic, never touched. He knew this wasn't true; any fabric aboard was from the ground, but whatever she'd done...it made Bell feel like a million bucks.

Benny muttered something to him with a colorful swear that Bellamy had never heard before.

"Maybe if you didn't go too hard last night…" Jasper began.

"Too hard? Nonsense, there's nothing in the world that could be partying 'too hard'." Benny said, but stood up and dabbed his mouth, "Life is short. Party while you can."

He was able to look somewhat presentable just as guests started trickling in. The courthouse where the marriages happened was small. Bellamy knew the Group was preparing a way bigger ceremony for them. While Bellamy certainly didn't think one couple were more important than the other, people were making a big deal about Bellamy and Clarke's wedding.

Some people said it was because they were the first couple that seemed to make the whole match-up thing make sense.

Some said it was because they were the mom and dad of the group, so naturally, it mattered the most.

Some said that it was because Bellamy and Clarke were friends with literally everyone and only ever did things for the Group's benefit and they deserved a good party.

Whatever the reason, even if it made Bellamy feel weird about their near reverence towards the pair, he was also grateful. He'd never imagined he'd be able to have any of this; friends, a wife, a child one day...it almost felt too cruel, because part of him thought he was just going to wake up. That he'd wake up and be six again, and all of this would have just been a dream.

He was sure he'd only be more nervous with the passing seconds, but as Jaha took his place next to Bellamy and the music started and all of Clarke's friends came in, he only felt more at peace. His body was at ease. He couldn't imagine that he'd want to be anywhere else right now.

He did feel a spike of anxiety right before Clarke turned the corner...not because of the fact she would be, but for one wild second that he imagined she wouldn't. Stars, wouldn't it be awful to be left at the altar? It had never happened before on the ARK, but heck...with his luck?

He knew everything was going to be fine when he saw a hint of white fabric as she spun around the door.

He literally forgot how to breathe for a second. He had told himself he wasn't going to get really emotional, but that was always going to be a losing battle.

"Eyes misting?" Murphy chuckled behind him. Bellamy wiped his cheeks.

"Oh, you cried when you saw Raven too," Bellamy hissed back, a second away from punching him and really making his wedding memorable.

"I know," Murphy said in a rare moment of openness, "Best sight in the world, huh?" He asked, his voice light, as though recalling how beautiful he must have thought Raven was a few months ago.

"Yeah."

Bellamy would trade every sight of Earth from the Sky Window again if he had to choose between that and this.

Clarke reached the front of the room, hugging her father tightly.

"From the day she was born, I knew one day I'd have to threaten whoever she married to treat her right, you know," Jake said, turning to Bellamy, "But I don't have to do that with you." He held out his hand and Bellamy shook it, wanting to explain at that moment how much Jake felt like the father he himself had never had, and how important that was.

Maybe Jake already knew.

Jake replaced his own hand with Clarke's, leaving them there.

Clarke's other finger came up to his cheek, running over the wetness there. She leaned up, kissing it softly. Clarke wasn't crying; she wasn't the type. From how her eyes shined through and she couldn't tear her gaze away, Bellamy knew she loved him just as much as ever at that moment.

"Let's wait for kisses until you're man and wife," Jaha said teasingly, causing Clarke to chuckle, along with the room, "Now. we are gathered here today…"

Looking back, Bellamy wouldn't recall most of the ceremony. At least, not the words. Not his own vows, which he stumbled over, or even Clarke's, which she said without a hint of hesitation. He'd always remember every inch about her though; the pink on the apples of her cheeks, the flash of glittering rhinestones as she turned and her dress and tiara caught the light, the way she chewed her lip right before she said her vows, and how she never lost that sense of wonderment as she stared at him.

And, he'd always remember how she tasted like the fresh air of Earth, of freedom, long before he actually got the opportunity to understand that flavor, when Jaha told him that he may now kiss his bride, Mrs. Clarke Griffin-Blake.

THEY'RE MARRIED
AND BELLAMY KNOWS WHAT'S GOING DOWN (though you the audience still don't yet, but we're gonna get some big clues next chapter!)

And just for the few that are curious, no, Raven did not go into labor at Clarke's wedding. Tristian Murphy kindly waited a week to be born so his doctor had a very enjoyable honeymoon ;)