fifteen; NOT A LEADER

twelve years earlier

Reese stared in awe at the tree her Grandmother loved so dearly and smiled at Bellamy who stood beside her anxiously.

"Why does she do this?" Bellamy asked curiously as they watched the woman tenderly stroke the leaves and pour some water into the soil after she had finished speaking, "Why does she believe so hard? Why do any of them?"

He wasn't sure if that had come out rude, he hadn't intended it to, but he was very curious of the woman's beliefs because Earth wouldn't be survivable in his own lifetime, let own the kind old woman's so how could she have so much hope in it happening?

"Hope is a wonderful thing, Bellamy." Reese answered as Vera ushered them forward with a gentle smile, "And everyone needs to believe in something."

It was the first time that Reese had dragged her friend to one of her Grammy's services since they had been friends, her mother had been busy that day and her father had long since stopped coming. Reese wasn't as avid a believer as her kind-spirited grandmother but she knew how much the group and the Eden Tree meant to her so she hadn't missed a service ever and she was very excited when Bellamy asked her if he could join her that day.

"I suppose that's true." He said as the moved forward in the line, "Hey, thanks for letting me come."

"Nonsense." Vera cut in cheerfully, "Any friends of my Reese's is always welcome and she speaks so highly of you."

"Grammy," Reese complained, her cheeks heating up as Bellamy looked at her with a smug grin.

"Does she now?" He asked excitedly and Vera nodded.

"Oh yes." She responded, "Such lovely things."

"Grammy!"

Vera laughed to herself as they each sprinkled the smallest amount of water from their drips onto the soil, "Okay, darling, I'm sorry. Would you like to say the Traveler's Blessing this week?"

Reese nodded eagerly and waited for everyone in line to finish up before she began to speak softly, stepping closer to Vera and grabbing her hand tightly, "In peace, may you leave the shore. In love, may you find the next. Safe passage on your travels, until our final journey to the ground. May we meet again."

"May we meet again." The group echoed and Reese looked up at Vera who was smiling down at her proudly.

She gazed at him for across the camp as he was speaking to the few gunners that they had passed the day before and given guns to guard the wall with and a small smile spread across her face when he swatted something away from him and pushed his hand through his messy curls.

She loved the fact Earth didn't have any of that stupid gel he used to put through it.

"He's pretty cute, isn't he?" Reese tore her gaze from Bellamy and turned her head to see Rowena standing beside her, an innocent look on her face as she shoved her hands into her pockets.

"Pretty sure you're far too young to find him cute, Whitman." She scolded teasingly and the young girl snorted.

"Yeah, I'm not interested in him at all." She responded, "I was merely pointing out the fact that you've been staring at him for the last twenty minutes."

"I have not!" Reese exclaimed.

"It's almost six so Jaha's about to start his speech." Rowena said, "You've been staring at him since they introduced the kids who are doing the pageant this year."

"Why were you looking at me?" Reese joked, her eyes twinkling in amusement, "Maybe, you're the one with a crush."

"In your dreams, Kane." Rowena scoffed, "I mean, sure, you're cute and all but I've already got my eyes on someone different."

Reese clutched her heart in mock hurt, "How dare you."

"Shut up, drama queen," Rowena told her with a laugh as they turned their attention to screens when Jaha appeared and began to speak.

"My friends, this is a historic Unity Day." He began with a smile, "Every year, we mark the moment out ancestors of the twelve stations joined to form the Ark, but this is the last time we do so while aboard her. Next year, on the ground."

Applause scatted, mostly on the Ark end of the screen and Reese smiled to herself.

"Right, after we did all the work." Nate scoffed angrily, "Someone shut him up."

"You shut up, Miller." Raven retorted, "No one's forcing you to watch."

"It's supposed to give them something to look forward to, Nate." Reese told him, "We know what we did, let them have it."

"For ninety-seven years, we had eked out as existence hoping that someday our descendants would return to Earth." Jaha continued to speak but whatever he was saying was drowned out by Jasper who sprinted from his and Monty's smoking tent with a loud whoop of triumph.

"Monty strikes again! Hey, hey!" He shouted as he raised a large canister for all to see, "Call this batch Unity Juice! Who's thirsty?"

Reese met Alexander's eyes and they shared a grin as the crowd began to rush to Jasper with their cups and bottles held out for him to pour the liquid into.

"Happy Unity Day!" Jasper called out and they began to cheer, "Happy Unity Day."

"To our sons and daughters on Earth listening to this message, we will see you soon." Jaha announced, "The first Exodus ship will launch in under sixty hours carrying you the reinforcements that you need so stay strong. Help is on the way."

"Reese, Reese!" Alexander called, "Remember when you tripped Gina and ruined the entire pageant?"

"Remember you tripping me being the reason that I tripped Gina?" She asked him, "And you swore you'd never speak of that day ever again."

Alexander smirked at her but said nothing else about Unity Day 2136, "Anyways, let's find Bellamy and get bombed."

Reese grinned and clapped her hands together excitedly, eager to change the subject before a frown formed on her face.

"Gina–"

"Spoke to her yesterday." He cut her off, "She didn't have much time, had to get straight back to work, but she's doing the exact same up there."

"The tradition lives on?" She asked hesitantly, feeling sad that she hadn't been able to talk to her friend.

"The tradition lives on." He confirmed as they wandered over to Jasper, unaware of the bang heard on the screen before the comms died completely.

The sun had started dip below the mountains when the two found Bellamy and Alexander thrust a cup into his hand.

"It's tradition, Blake." He exclaimed when Bellamy started to protest and Clarke walked over to the trio.

"The comms are still dead from when they cut out during the pageant." She told them as a greeting, "What's tradition?"

"Every year we all have our drinks together or not at all." Reese answered her, "Only this time it's on the ground and without our friend Gina."

"Best Unity Day ever." Bellamy joked and Reese punched his arm gently.

"You're so mean to her." She laughed when he made a face at her.

"She knows I love her though." Bellamy answered as he finally accepted the cup from Alexander and the three shared a grin and tipped their cups back and made varying faces of disgust at the taste of the moonshine, "She'd punch me if I ever actually hurt her feelings."

"Here's hoping that happens." Alexander exclaimed, "I want to see it."

"Do you really think now is a good time to be having a party?" Clarke asked as she glanced around at the drunken teenagers in concern, "I mean, the grounder is out there–"

"Grounders." Bellamy corrected, "By now, he's made it home."

"Probably putting together a mob." Alexander murmured as he waved Jasper over who refilled their cups and disappeared as quick as anything.

"We got security covered." Bellamy reassured her, "Why don't you go get a drink?"

"You really look like you could use one." Reese added after she tipped back that contents of her own drink and grimaced, "It's disgusting but it does loosen you up."

"I could use more than one," Clarke admitted and Alexander cheered.

"Then have way more than one." Bellamy told her, "Clarke the Exodus ship carrying your mother comes down here in two days, after that, the party's over so have some fun while you still can, you deserve it."

"Now I need more than one drink." Reese murmured, having forgotten that she'd be seeing her father in two days time and there wasn't much she could do to avoid him.

"Yeah, okay." Clarke nodded before she turned on her heel and wandered off but not before turning back to the three who hadn't moved and saying to Bellamy, "So do you, by the way, you deserve more than just one."

Bellamy smirked as he raised his cup, "Most of my fun will be had when the grounder's come."

"You're a dork." Reese laughed at him as he took a drink.

"We're not getting bombed like we did last time," Bellamy warned the two and Reese shook her head and grabbed three cups that the teenagers were bringing around.

She hadn't celebrated the year before so she could only assume that he meant the Unity Day the year before that where the three of them and Gina had bribed their way into way more alcohol than what they usually got and woke up with pounding heads and not a single memory of the day in question.

"Agreed." The two said in unison.

"Well, in that case, Happy Unity Day." Bellamy told them as they clinked cups, "And Happy Birthday, Reese."

They exchanged a smile and tossed their cups back.

"I'm twenty-two." She exclaimed, grimacing at the taste of her drink, "That is so old."

Alexander snorted, "It is."

"Not as old as you guys though." She laughed as she looked away from the sky she had been gazing at and looked at the two men who were moving towards Bellamy's tent.

"Yeah, yeah." Bellamy chuckled as he and Alexander shared an amused look.

✦❀✦

Reese was certain that she, Bellamy and Alexander were the only three who were still sober as the party went on and the teenagers began to play drinking games or just create new ones and she found herself being dragged to the drunk ball area and that was where Finn found her and pulled her aside.

"Don't be a party pooper." She joked as he stopped in a spot away from everyone else and turned to look down at her, his shoulders tense.

"You want peace with the grounders, don't you?" He asked and Reese slowly nodded as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Sure, but I'm not stupid enough to think it'll happen." She responded.

"Okay, well I set up a meeting with the grounders." He told her in a hushed voice as Harper ran passed them, laughing loudly as she stopped at the drunk ball table and began to speak to Monty.

Reese stared at him for a moment as she registered his words.

"You did what?" She finally asked, "How were you even able to do that and why are you telling me all this?"

"I was just with the grounder that Bellamy had in the dropship and they want to speak with our leaders." He told her hurriedly.

"Then you should be speaking with Bellamy and Clarke, not me." She responded in confusion, not understanding why he was telling her all of this.

"They want Clarke and you." Finn exclaimed before he lowered his voice, "You want peace, just like I do, and Lincoln knows that because of how you tried to stop Bellamy and how you helped him."

"Finn, I'm not a leader." She told him, "I don't have a say."

"Of course you do." Finn spoke in a dismissive tone, "I'm gonna go find Clarke, I'll meet you back here."

He rushed over to where Clarke was laughing with Sterling and Fox before Reese could even find the words to protest his plan and her apparent part in it.

She wasn't a leader like Bellamy or Clarke, or even Wells was, she was just a girl who followed those leaders. She was the disappointing daughter of the Vice-Chancellor who preferred taking things apart and rebuilding them instead following in her father's footsteps or even just paying attention to anything he had ever tried to teach her before he gave up and gave the task to someone else.

She could barely follow orders so what made Finn think she could ever enforce them.

"Hey." She was snapped out of her thoughts when Clarke spoke, now beside her with Finn nowhere in sight, "What do you think about this?"

"I think it's stupid." Reese sighed, "Peace is good, but these people have already killed four of our people and attempted to kill at least six of us, I want to believe some of them want peace but what if the alternative outweighs that?"

Clarke smiled, "Exactly, so I'm going to get Bellamy to be our backup."

"Good idea." Reese nodded, "I'll grab our things."

They shared a look and separated and Reese rushed to get their belongings before Finn got suspicious and Clarke quickly moved to find Bellamy to back them up.

She passed Rowena on her way to the wall and grasped one of the cups in her hand, saluting her when the younger girl flipped her off and she sculled the liquid and tossed the cup aside when she saw Finn waiting.

"I'd love it if you were right about this but did you ever consider it might be a trap?" Clarke asked the optimistic male as they walked through the trees, following a trail that only Finn could see.

"Yep, but since it's Unity Day, I decided to have hope instead," Finn replied positively before he made a noise of complaint and clutched his side.

"You do know that the grounders don't know that it's Unity Day, right?" Reese asked him as she rolled her eyes, watching as Clarke told him to let her check on his healing wound.

"Seriously, Finn, you're putting a lot of faith in a guy who stuck a knife in you," Clarke told him as she nodded discreetly as Reese who slowly dropped a few of the jobi nuts onto the ground behind Finn.

"And you're sounding more and more like Bellamy," Finn responded sadly.

"Bellamy's being realistic, Finn." Reese sighed out, "It's good to have hope but there's hope and there are unrealistic expectations."

"I'm just trying to keep us alive." Clarke defended herself as the two stared at Finn who looked at them in disappointment as he zipped his jacket up.

"So am I."

He turned and followed the path, not waiting for a response and Clarke turned to Reese.

"They in a good spot?" She questioned and Reese nodded, gesturing to the nuts.

"At least they're good for something other than hallucinating dead parents." She muttered in a false positive tone and Clarke cracked an amused smile as they followed after the male.

✦❀✦

six years earlier

"Reese! Reese!"

The brunette glanced over her shoulder to see Gina rushing towards her with a bright smile on her face, not bothering to greet Bellamy who was looking at the girl in amusement.

"Hey, G." She greeted with a smile of her own at the sight of her friend who looked like she was about to explode.

"Guess what I found out?" She exclaimed with a squeal, "Guess, guess!"

"Harlow Rhodes had another pregnancy scare?" At the older girls head shake, she frowned, "Okay, I give up. What is it?"

"You take the fun out of everything." Gina pouted before she squealed, "You know Callahan Remington, right?"

"The meathead from Farm Station in our Chemistry class, yes we know him." Bellamy answered and Gina glared at him.

"He has a crush on you!" Reese's cheeks darkened at that her Bellamy's gaze narrowed on Gina, who, he could have sworn, just sent him a smug smile.

"Callahan?" Reese asked in surprise, "Why?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Gina asked, "You're beautiful, isn't she, Blake?"

"Uh, y-yeah." Bellamy stuttered out and Reese's face reddened further, "You're gorgeous."

"Thanks, Bell." She murmured.

"So, would you consider going out with him if he asked?"

Reese paused, considering her friend's question before her eyes flickered to Bellamy who wasn't looking at her and the seventeen year old shook her head.

"Nah, I think I'll pass." She didn't see Gina's triumphant expression or Bellamy's shoulders relaxing.

"So that's how you set this up." Clarke exclaimed as she and Reese set eyes on Octavia who looked rather impatient, yet stubbornly defiant all at once, "You helped him escape, didn't you?"

"I trust him, Clarke." Was all she said before she looked at Reese, a pleading look in her eyes, which Reese tried not to melt at the sight of.

She nodded once, giving the girl the benefit of the doubt.

"There's a lot of that going around," Clarke responded as she turned to look at Finn who was looking at the other end of the bridge as leaves rustled before the unmistakable sound of footsteps approached and Reese looked up to see the grounder she had seen escaping camp a few days earlier jogging towards them and Octavia took off towards him, meeting him halfway.

Reese couldn't help the smile on her lips when she watched them embrace and the look on the man's face as he held her made her want to melt because Octavia truly deserved that and the soft look on his face dissolved when his eyes locked on Clarke and he looked angered before he turned to Reese and nodded once, the young woman returning the gesture.

An odd sound broke their staring contest and Reese turned her attention to the trees behind the man, Lincoln, in time to witness four large animals break through the treeline and an astonished gasp left her at the sight of the beautiful creatures.

"Oh, my God." Clarke exclaimed, "Horses."

Reese moved her gaze from the beautiful animals to see two masked men on the dark horses and on the chestnut ones...

"Delphia." She breathed out in surprise at the sight of one of the women.

Clarke looked at her in surprise as Finn dragged the two girls forward, looking at Lincoln accusingly, "Hey, we said no weapons."

"I was told there wouldn't be," Lincoln answered honestly, his expression annoyed as they watched Delphia and the other woman dismount the animals and stop beside the masked men, surveying the group.

"It's too late now," Clarke spoke as Reese observed Delphia who looked far different than any of the times that they had wandered into one another, those times she looked like she was wanted to blend in with the trees and this time, she stood out and looked incredibly intimidating.

"They go alone," Lincoln told Finn when he moved to follow the two girls who began to slowly walk forward and they stopped to look over their shoulder and Octavia sent the brunette an encouraging smile as Clarke assured Finn that they'd be fine.

She faced Reese and smiled faintly before the two turned their attention back to the women who returned their gazes coldly and they walked forward, Clarke's hand brushing Reese's as the walked, the older girl sparing her a quick glance, "It's time to do better, yeah?"

Clarke nodded once and the two stopped in the middle of the bridge half a foot from the grounder women who observed them with blank faces.

"Your names are Clarke and Reese?" The unknown grounder broke the silence and the two nodded, "I'm Anya, this is Delphia."

Clarke spared Reese a quick glance as she raised her hand and when the woman, Anya, only looked at it, she slowly lowered it awkwardly and Reese fought to keep the smile off of her face

"I think we got off to a tough start." Clarke spoke after a moment, "But we want to find a way to live together in peace."

Anya and Delphia shared a glance and the former smirked.

"I understand." She responded, "You started a war that neither of you knows how to end."

"What?" Clarke asked in bewilderment, "No."

"We didn't start anything." Reese exclaimed in surprise, "We didn't even know there were people down here when we arrived."

"You attacked us for no reason," Clarke added.

"No reason?" Anya asked angrily, "The missiles you launched burned a village to the ground."

"The flares?" Clarke asked in disbelief as the colour drained from Reese's face, "No, that was signal meant for our families, we had no idea–"

"You're invaders." Anya interrupted her as Delphia looked at a stricken Reese in mild concern, "Your ship landed in our territory."

She burnt a village down when she pressed that button, She realised as guilt coiled in her gut and left her feeling lightheaded at the thought.

"Like Reese just told you, we didn't know anyone was here." Clarke argued, "We thought the ground was uninhabited."

"You knew we were here when you sent an armed raiding party to capture Lincoln and torture him." Delphia pointed out calmly before Anya could speak.

"Your people murdered three of my people before that ever happened, all because we wanted to find one of our own that had already been kidnapped." Reese exclaimed, "And while I do not agree with how that was handled, at all, he was only taken because our other leader was tired of our people dying and wanted answers."

"Reese–" Clarke warned.

"No, Clarke, what about Jasper?" Reese asked, turning away from Clarke, "We didn't even know there was anyone down here when you speared one of us and dragged him away to use as live bait!"

"Despite that, these are all acts of war," Anya answered, conveniently ignoring Reese's comment about what happened to Jasper.

"I see your point." Clarke nodded and Anya looked rather surprised at her words, "That's why we need to put an end to all of this."

"Lincoln said there are more of you coming down," Anya spoke after she crossed her arms.

"Warriors?" Delphina asked.

"The guard, yes," Clarke responded.

"But also our farmers, doctors, engineers, chemists." Reese informed her, "We can find a way to help one another, but not if we're at war."

"Can you promise that these new arrivals won't attack us?" Anya inquired, "That they'll respect the terms we all agree on?"

Clarke and Reese shared a look of uncertainty and determination.

"We promise that we will do everything we can to convince them to honour the terms that we set." Clarke swore, "Reese's father is our leader's number two and she can get him to agree."

Reese wasn't entirely sure that was true and Anya seemed to agree as she looked at the two.

"Why would I agree to an alliance that your people can only break the moment they get here?" She asked angrily, a furious look falling across her features.

"Anya." Delphia hissed, "Chil au daun."

"If you fire the first shot those people coming down won't both negotiating." Clarke told her strongly, "Our technology..."

"They will wipe you out," Reese told her simply, hoping she didn't sound too threatening.

"They wouldn't be the first to try," Anya told them as she shared a look with Delphia

Reese opened her mouth but her words were cut short when a voice below the bridge began to shout, "Clarke, Reese, run!" Jasper screamed as he fired his gun, "Run."

Grounders fell from trees and Anya pulled a knife from her sleeve and moved forward quickly and Reese cried out in pain when the sharp knife cut her shoulder but before the woman could strike again, a bullet pierced her shoulder and she fell back as Finn rushed forward to pull Clarke away from the chaos and Delphia and Reese shared a look as they ducked for cover.

"Meet me in that field at dawn," Delphia ordered before she pushed her out of the way of an arrow and the young woman nodded, holding her bleeding shoulder as she spun on her heel and rushed away from the arrows being shot at her, ducking and turning when they got too close for comfort.

"Okay, run, don't stop until you get behind your walls." Lincoln shouted at them and Reese grabbed Octavia's hand when she refused to move, "Go, take her!"

"Lincoln, no!" Octavia screamed as Clarke helped Reese pull the stubborn girl away.

"Thanks for trying!" She shouted at Lincoln who nodded once, his eyes never leaving Octavia's face.

"Go!" He ordered and they ran and they ran and didn't stop, even when Raven, Bellamy, Rowena, and Jasper caught up to them, just continued to run until the wall of their camp was within their sights and they slowed to a stop, each of them panting heavily and Reese who was still clutching her wound, was glad to find out that the bleeding had stopped.

"You got something to say?" Bellamy demanded between his uneven breathing as he looked at Finn accusingly.

"Yeah, I told you no guns!" He exploded.

"And I told you we couldn't trust the grounders!" Clarke shouted at him, "I was right."

"Well, why didn't you tell me what you were up to?" Raven asked him, looking extremely pissed off and Reese couldn't blame her on that part.

"I tried." He yelled, "But you were too busy making bullets for your gun."

"You're lucky she brought that." Bellamy defended the mechanic as he crossed his arms over his chest angrily.

"Saved your asses." Rowena spat at him, her eyes flashing furiously.

"They came there to kill us, Finn!" Reese snapped at him, "Or did you forget the arrows being shot at us?"

"You don't know that!" He exclaimed, "Jasper fired the first shot."

"You ruined everything," Octavia told him before she spun on her heel and entered the gates.

"I saved you!" Jasper shouted angrily before he scoffed and walked away into the camp with a furiously Rowena trailing behind him.

"You're welcome." She shouted after the girl.

"Well, if we weren't at war already, we sure as hell are now." Reese rolled her eyes at Finn's words.

"Thank you for that lovely observation." She told him and he scoffed at her.

"You didn't have to trust the grounders, you just have to trust me." Finn snapped at Clarke before he followed Jasper and Raven rushed after him, leaving Bellamy, Clarke and Reese to stare at one another in silence before Bellamy broke it.

"Like I said, best Unity Day ever." He told them sarcastically.

Reese snorted, "Best birthday ever."

"Let me take a look at your shoulder," Clarke spoke but before she could, a bang echoed through the sky and they shared a confused look before Bellamy looked up at the sky and the two girls followed his gaze in time to see a bright light streaking through the starry night.

"The Exodus ship?" He asked them, "Your Mom and Dad are both early."

Clarke smiled whereas Reese only frowned as she stared up at the sky, she hadn't had enough time to prepare to see her father, before she realised that the parachute hadn't deployed.

"They're going too fast." She whispered, "Why hasn't the parachute deployed yet? Guys, something is wrong."

Seconds after the words fell from her mouth, in a spot behind some mountains, the sky erupted in flames and an echoing explosion caused the Earth under their feet to shake.

Reese's entire world slowly began to shatter around her.

"No, no, no." She whimpered as she stared out at the smoke, "Dad?"

She stumbled back and collapsed against Bellamy who wrapped his arms tightly around her shaking body as her fingers curled into his shirt, her heart lurching as she breathing came out in shaky exhales.

"I'm so sorry, Reese." Bellamy breathed out as hand moved up to cup her face, his thumb brushing the stray tears from her cheeks as she silently cried.

Beside her, Clarke let out a pained gasp and slowly fell to her knees, the two young women gazing in horror at the cloud of smoke rising into the sky.

══════════════════

three things; reese doesn't think she's much of a leader at the moment, she currently thinks her father is dead and i adore reese, bellamy, and alexander's friendship with my entire heart.

fun fact: this chapter was almost titled 'so much history' because i was going to write in two more bellamyxreese memories but the chapter kind of got too long and it didn't happen.

thanks for reading!

~r