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[gidge]

PICK YOUR POISON
PIC PROMPTS / TFLN / RANDOM SCENARIO
HAN SOLO velocities	BETTY MCRAE bombsheller	RIVER TAM subsulcus	RIVER TAM (AU) comprehender
SIMON TAM vest	BRIA THAREN exulted	NADINE CROSS bridaled	GU JUN-PYO toddler
available on special request: veronica sawyer, benjamin linus, imani, maria deluca, mushu, poseidon, niccolò machiavelli, malik al-sayf, chloe

Comments

[unburdening]

"If it were up to me, Clarke wouldn't be coming," he says harshly.

Much more harshly, honestly, than he usually is when it comes to her. But after being literally kidnapped into the bunker, shocklashed, chained in a spare room, and shot at -- he's not feeling too forgiving. All of which he could let go more easily if her actions wouldn't have killed Octavia, not to mention Kane, Raven, and literally the entire population of Grounders aside from Niylah. He's not surprised Jaha had a big hand in this. It's a move that reminds him so much of the Ark that he could be that angry person who came down on the dropship again, despising every member of the Ark's elite for what they condoned doing to his mother, his sister.

"And right now, the people I trust most down here are Kane, Abby, and you. You're all needed right now."

[throudon]

She has to bite her tongue from saying anything else about Clarke, or about him going. Of course he's going to go, and there's nothing she can say to stop him. And of course Clarke is going, because why would she ever want to stay behind and fix the mess she made? If this time were going to be the first, it would be a big one, and Octavia isn't holding her breath.

Knowing all that, even accepting most of it, doesn't keep her mouth from pursing into a small thin frown.

"You and Raven are needed, too, so you better get back fast."

[unburdening]

He says, "Hey," and puts a hand over one of hers.

"We'll get back as soon as we can. Neither of us is gonna be on the wrong side when that door closes for good."

None of them, really; he's not so angry, nor so cold-hearted, as to have any intention of leaving Clarke out there either. But this is what he fought for: Octavia and Raven the rest of their people safely in here, the Grounders having an even chance to survive. His days of wanting to be out in the radiation because of his guilt are past.

"You've just gotta hold down the fort until then, and that I know you can do."

[throudon]

There's a moment just after Bellamy puts his hand on hers where she tenses. Every wall, every layer of apathy and self-hate she'd constructed the last few months to isolate herself from him shoots up on reflex. Then, as soon as they came up, they crumble.

"Thanks," is her initial tepid response, said as she glances over her shoulder at the guards and Indra. None are paying close attention to them, apparently thoroughly chastised about keeping him out as long as they had.

When Octavia looks back at him, she's the girl from under the floor all over again, tenacious but more than a little bit terrified.

"Because I have no idea what I'm doing."

He needs to come back. Not because of her, or at least not just because of her. But because there's no way she'll know how to lead all these people on her own. Leading is what Bellamy does, what he lives and breathes, and there's a subtle thrum of panic in the back of her mind at the prospect of facing this without him in her corner.

[unburdening]

There's a part of him that expects her to pull away. To draw back, to reject the contact just like she's rejected every other form of contact for the last few months. Maybe this still isn't okay, even after he got the doors open, after they hugged, after she swore the others to keep a seat for him in the bunker. Octavia isn't the only one who tenses, and he almost draws his hand back.

But the moment passes.

"Yes, you do." He speaks firmly, eyebrows lifting emphatically. "You've been leading them since the conclave, O. Not because of what you did, but because of who you are. That's what they responded to, and that's what they're still responding to."

[throudon]

"I gave a speech," she replies, hushed and just on the edge of keening. "That's not gonna last down here. You know that."

What they need down here, for five years, is a leader that knows what they're doing. Knows what people need, negotiates and coaxes and knows how to keep everyone fed and working. She doesn't know how to do any of that. Throwing her weight around can work for now, for a week, a month--but after that? For years?

She looks over at the guards again, straightens her spine and tries to compose herself.

"Just make it fast."