one; THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHT DAYS

Using the edge of a cracked tray she had, the brunette scratched a small line down on the wall, alongside three hundred and forty-seven other lines that marked a new day, in order to keep her sanity intact.

By her estimation and the lines that donned the wall, she had been inside the cell for eleven months and thirteen days.

Reese Kane scowled darkly as she gazed at the four walls that had surrounded her for almost a year, praying for the guards to come in and float her, something she never thought she would wish upon herself but due to her mindset, it was a given as she should have been floated in the hours after her arrest as she had been twenty at the time and over the age of having to be trapped in the Skybox until her sentencing.

In saying that, Reese was okay with her decision to be arrested and immediately floated nor did she regret her decision to assault Shumway in the manner that she did, and it did not hurt that she had wanted to do it since he had pushed the button that killed her mother.

She made that split second decision to protect Octavia, a decision she would have made again and again if it meant that the girl she had read to and played with would be safe and her only regret in that was that Octavia had also been caught that night, Aurora Blake had been floated for her crime and Bellamy was currently alone.

Her heart clenched at the thought of her best friend, knowing that her father had not told anyone that she was still in lockup and not dead like she was sure he made people believe.

Her father loathed the fact that she hung around people who were from the poorer stations.

She gazed around her cell in silence, taking in the grey walls and the ratty mattress that occupied the corner of the tiny room, the drawings that adorned the walls alongside the hundreds of marks.

A buzz could be heard from outside her cell door but she ignored it in favour of inspecting her nails as the door swung open and three guards stepped into her small cell, making her feel more cramped than she had before.

Reese glanced up from her hands and gazed up at them with a look of disinterest as the female guard ordered her to stand.

"Prisoner one-six-eight, face the wall." She repeated sternly when Reese made no effort to move a single muscle choosing instead to give them a mocking smile as she pulled her knees to her chest.

"What?" She asked them with a scoff of amused disbelief, "Did you geniuses finally work out that I'm twenty-one and should've been floated when I was arrested eleven months ago?"

"Stand up and face the wall." One of the male guards growled, her face contorting into an ugly grimace as he regarded her.

Reese glared up at them.

"I think I'm okay with where I am." She finally replied.

One of the male guards moved forward and roughly grabbed the brunette's arm, hauling her to her feet.

"At least ask me to dinner first." She spat, a hint of teasing to her tone as she glared up at him.

"Hold out your right arm, or do I have to do that for you too?" He asked angrily, squeezing her arm tighter as if to prove a point.

Reese rolled her eyes but nonetheless complied to his demand, that is until she noticed the third guard who had remained silent holding an ugly silver band that had glowing spikes on the inside of it.

"What the hell is that?" She demanded.

"Quiet." The female guard snarled, snatching the bracelet and snapping it onto the younger girls bare wrist none too gently.

Reese hissed in pain as the spikes sunk into her arm and she felt and she felt some type of electric current rush through her arm causing her to stare down at it rather curiously, not too sure as to what it was for.

"Huh." She mumbled, her lower lip curling into a small pout, "It doesn't match my outfit."

The female guard rolled her eyes as she and one of the male guards grabbed her upper arms roughly, their fingers digging into her skin through the material of her shirt.

The man who originally held the wristband left the cell, the other two following behind him as they dragged Reese out with them.

She let out a sigh of relief as she was hauled from of her claustrophobic cell, but it quickly turned into a look of confusion at the sight of the Skybox in absolute chaos.

Guards were everywhere with prisoners who were either putting up a fight or calmly following orders being given to them.

"So, you're floating all of us." She mused rather surprised at the lengths the council would go to in order to prove a point.

"Shut up." The male guard hissed as she as tugged through the frenzy of people.

"What's happening?" She asked as she noticed a familiar looking blonde sprinting from one of the solitary confinement cells and slamming the door behind her.

"Shut up."

"I've got this one." A familiar voice spoke.

The two guards holding Reese nodded and let go of her as a much gentler hand grabbed ahold of her forearm.

"I'm not even sure I want to know how you're still alive, kid." He said with a quiet chuckle.

"Mr Miller." She exclaimed, a small gasp of surprise leaving her, "What's happening?"

"You're being sent to the ground." He answered promptly, a small ounce of sympathy running through him at the terrified look that fell across the young woman's face.

"But, it's not safe." She protested.

"I know." He replied, "But it's the Chancellor's orders."

Reese scoffed a laugh.

"Of course." She muttered bitterly before her eyes widened and she stared up at the man rather frantically, "Is Octavia Blake going?"

David Miller looked down at her curiously before nodding his head rather slowly.

"Yes, she is. All one hundred of you are going down." He told her, "Will you do me a favour?"

"Of course." The brunette responded.

"Will you look after Nate?" The man asked desperately as they rounded a final corner, revealing dozens of teenagers standing in a line rather impatiently.

"I'll look after him," Reese promised and David gave her a thankful smile.

"Thank you, Reese." He said, "Good luck and take care of yourself."

"You too." She replied as he let go of her and disappeared after pushing her towards the group, causing her woman to follow the slowly moving line.

"Does anyone know what's happening?"

"We're being sent to the ground," Reese answered quietly causing murmurs to erupt behind her that she ignored.

"Have you seen Monty?" A frantic voice suddenly asked, "Is he already on board?"

"Move it." A guard ordered before somebody was shoved just as Reese finally rounded the corner where she promptly froze at the sight before her.

"Of course." She muttered angrily at the sight of her father standing, his expression void of any and all emotion as he watched the dozens of teenagers walk to their deaths because if they were headed to the ground as David had told her, that was their oncoming fate.

Abby Griffin stood next to him looking as though she were about to burst into tears.

The brunette locked eyes with her father before squaring her shoulders ready to walk onto the ship without saying a word to the man but as she passed him, Marcus' arm reached out stopping his daughter as his fingers circled around her wrist.

"Be careful." He told her quietly his eyes searching her features as though even he knew that this would possibly be the very last time he saw her.

Reese nodded stiffly as she ripped her arm from his grasp and made her way onto the waiting dropship where a guard pointed to the ladder and Reese nodded to herself before she stood on the first rung and began climbing.

Had she turned and looked back, the brunette would have seen the tears clouding Marcus Kane's vision at the sight of his daughter's retreating form as he silently begged to whoever was listening that he would see his daughter again.

✦❀✦

The chatter throughout the dropship was deafening as Reese remained quiet, turning her entire attention towards looking for the familiar brunette along the occupied seats of at least three dozen delinquents and just as she cursed under her breath, the boy next to her groaned as his eyes fluttered open and Reese turned her attention to the now awake teenager as a smile spread across her face.

"Hey, sleepy head."

He blinked blearily as he turned his attention away from where he was to the woman beside him and his eyes widened.

"Reese." He asked in disbelief.

"That's me." She replied with a large smile.

"How, what, how are you alive?" He stammered out, causing the brunette to roll her eyes, though the smile remained planted on her lips.

"My father decided he'd like to play his hand at breaking the law." She responded, "Now, how does a guard's son find his way into the Skybox?"

"Uh-huh, so says the Vice-Chancellor's daughter." Nathan Miller said with a smirk before he answered, "I got caught stealing."

"Nathan," Reese gasped dramactically.

He chuckled.

"I love your beanie." She told him.

He smiled at her, "Thank you."

There was a crash, the ship started jolting and people around the ship started screaming just as Reese squeezed her eyes shut and held onto her seatbelt for dear life until it was over.

The screens all around them came to life and she glared at the screen in disgust as she recognised the man on the screens to be Chancellor Jaha.

"Prisoners of The Ark, hear me now. 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've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because you're crimes have made you expendable."

The brunette scoffed in disgust.

"Your Dad's a dick, Wells." Someone on the other side of the dropship shouted.

Reese's head shot up at the sound of the boy's name.

"Did Jaha actually send his son to a place where he could possibly die?" Miller questioned.

"Another example of wonderful parenting from Alpha Station," Reese said sarcastically as she caught sight of the boy she used to look after as a kid.

"Those crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean."

Both Reese and Miller snorted.

"Sure they will." She muttered sarcastically.

"What makes you say that?" The girl across from Reese asked curiously.

"Well, we're being sent down here as test subjects. The idiots on the Council don't give a damn about us, we could all die and they wouldn't care just as long as someone lives long enough to tell them that it's safe to come down too. As Jaha said, we're 'expendable'. If Earth is survivable then we'll all just be locked up again the second that they get down here, no matter how petty our crime was." Reese replied.

The girl nodded thoughtfully.

"I like you." She finally said, "I'm Rowena."

She grinned at her, "Reese."

"The drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, Mount Weather was a military base built within a mountain. It was to be stocked with enough non-perishables to sustain three hundred people for up to two years."

"Check it out." A voice shouted.

"Yeah, Finn."

"Spacewalk bandit strikes again."

"Whoo!"

"Yeah, Finn."

Reese let out a cheer as the familiar male in a beanie floated past her, she'd heard quite a lot about Finn Collins as the two had been arrested within weeks of each other but Reese had heard the stories of the legendary spacewalker and, of course, being friends with Raven, she knew the truth.

Finn stopped floating in front of Wells and he crossed his arms over his chest as his expression turned rather smug.

"Check it out." He said, "Your dad floated me after all."

Reese couldn't help the laugh that escaped her.

"You should strap in before the parachute's deploy," Wells replied, ignoring the jab.

Reese ignored the conversation in favour of looking around the ship for Octavia again.

"Mount Weather is life. You must locate these supplies immediately. Your one responsibility is to stay alive."

"Will you just shut up already?" She groaned in exasperation.

A few people sitting around her laughed as she turned her attention to look at the screen in front of her before then glanced at Rowan who had been watching her.

"Why is he still talking?" Reese asked

The blonde shrugged with a smirk just as two boys near them broke out of their seatbelts and started floating around the ship and though it looked quite entertaining, Reese remained firmly planted in her seat.

"Stay in your seats." A voice shouted.

The ship stopped, froze for a moment and it was as though everything and everyone stopped and just as quickly, everything started once more, they'd hit the atmosphere.

The three teenagers who were taking advantage of the lack of gravity were sent flying across the ship and violently crashed into the walls of the ship, causing some of the teenagers to start screaming in panic.

"Finn, are you okay?" Reese heard a voice shout over the yelling.

A light exploded over the brunette's head, causing her to let out a scream as she grasped Miller's hand in her own as the ship continued to jolt and spiral out of control and everyone grew more panicked and it was then that Reese finally caught sight of Octavia Blake for the first time in almost a year.

"Octavia!" She screamed, hoping to be heard over all of the noise, relief coursing her veins when the girls head shot up and her terror-filled eyes locked with Reese's own.

"Reese?"

She let out a sigh of relief as she nodded, sending the terrified girl what she hoped to be a comforting smile just before the lights flickered off before coming back to life and the whirring of the ship slowly came to a stop, leaving the group in an unfamiliar silence.

"Listen." A familiar voice said, "No machine hum."

"Whoa, that's a first." Someone replied.

Reese let out a noise that sounded somewhere between a laugh, a sob, and a relieved sigh when a clicking noise echoed around the ship and Reese was finally able to take her seat belt off and scramble out of her chair, raising her arms up above her head to stretch.

"Finn, is he breathing?"

As Reese moved to walked over to where an unmoving body lay mere feet from her, she was tackled into a fierce hug which she quickly returned when she caught sight of the dark hair in her face.

"Tavia?" The brunette asked, her voice cracking slightly as she tightened her hold.

Octavia nodded into the older girl's shoulder.

"I thought you were dead." She muttered tearfully, "You should be dead."

"Trust me, I know." Reese replied with a small chuckle, "The nine months after my arrest were torture."

Octavia pulled away with a smile lighting up her face.

"I'm glad you're here." She told her.

Reese grinned at her.

"Me too." She said, "Oh, you look so beautiful."

Octavia laughed.

"The outer door is on the lower level." A voice shouted, "Let's go."

"No! We can't just open the doors!" Another voice yelled.

"Are you ready to go home?" Reese asked.

Octavia nodded with a grin and the two followed the last of the crowd to the ladders.

Reese gestured for Octavia to go first as she heard the infuriatingly familiar voice yelling something about the air being toxic.

Octavia was halfway down the ladder and Reese had her foot on the first rung when she heard a voice that she never thought she'd heard again.

"If the air is toxic, we're all dead anyway."

"Oh, my God." She whispered in shock before Octavia confirmed her suspicions.

"Bellamy?"

Octavia jumped the rest of the way down and Reese quickly scrambled after her.

"My God, look how big you are." He said when he caught sight of his younger sister.

Reese smiled softly as they embraced.

He hadn't noticed Reese yet so she took the time to observe him.

Bellamy was taller than he was the last time Reese had seen him, but aside from that, his appearance was relatively the same. His hair was slicked back in a way Reese had always hated. His skin was still tanned in a way she'd always been jealous of seeing as they lived in space. The familiar freckles dusted his nose in a way that made him look younger than he was and Reese was sure that they were the only two people on the Ark who had freckles.

His dark eyes held emotions of grief and sadness, though, Reese wasn't surprised to see the negative emotion swimming in his brown irises disappear as he hugged his sister.

But, what was most surprising to her was that he was wearing a guard's uniform.

The brunette figured that he would've been demoted when Octavia's existence was uncovered.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Octavia asked in disgust, "A guard's uniform?"

"I borrowed it to get on the dropship. Someone had to keep an eye on you." He replied with a small chuckle as Octavia hugged him again.

That makes more sense, Reese thought as she shoved her way to the front of the crowd ignoring the glares she was receiving.

"Where's your wristband?" A voice asked as the siblings pulled apart once more.

Reese looked up and was surprised to see that it was Clarke and wondered what the hell she did to get herself locked up.

"Do you mind?" Octavia said harshly, "I haven't seen my brother in a year."

Murmurs broke out and Reese rolled her eyes.

"No one has a brother." Someone yelled.

"That's Octavia Blake." A girl announced, "The girl they found hidden in the floor."

Octavia went to launch herself at the girl but Bellamy held her back.

"Octavia, Octavia, no. Let's give them something else to remember you by." He said.

"Yeah?" She asked angrily, "Like what?"

"Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years," Bellamy replied calmly.

"Ninety-seven actually," Reese called out with a smirk, watching as her friend's entire body ceased of all prior movement.

Bellamy turned around to face the brunette slowly and the look on his face was priceless when he caught sight of Reese standing at the front of the crowd.

She grinned at him, "Hey, Bell."

The shock was written all over his face as he stared at her as though she would disappear if he looked away even for a second.

"Well, aren't you going to open the door?" She teased, "Because, frankly, it's beginning to get quite stuffy in here."

He nodded slowly and shook his head before turning around and looking at the level that opened the door.

He hesitated slightly before grasping the lever and pulling it down.

A hissing sound filled the air as light entered the ship, momentarily blinding everyone and just like that, Reese could feel a gentle breeze brush across her exposed skin gently as her hair fanned around her face.

She blinked a few times to get used to how bright it was before taking it her surroundings.

It was breathtaking.

The first thing she saw was green.

Then the trees and the bushes that surrounded them, she could see the flowers blooming in the distance the moss covering a few logs near the tree line.

Reese looked up to see the deep blue of the sky and the fluffy white clouds for the first time in her life.

She grinned as she pictured her Grandmother's expression of complete awe at the sight of such beauty.

Octavia slowly walked down the platform and took a deep breath.

After what felt like a lifetime, the seventeen year olds feet made contact with the soil.

It was quiet for a few seconds before Octavia raised her arms in the air victoriously.

"We're back, bitches!"

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thanks for reading!

~r