[pilot]
word count → 2830

SITTING IN A SMALL ROOM was how Ashton Thawne spent his days. Hour by hour, time passed being surrounded by a never-ending mass of slate grey. He stared the walls of the cell he was in. Maybe his parents were right. This was the life they predicted for him, after all.

He stretched, curling his arms behind himself while he let out a yawn. Looking at the barred cell door, he was contempt. For today was the day he was to die.

Of course, there was the slight possibility that his case could be revealed, and he'd be integrated into regular society; but he knew that his crime was much too severe to have that happen.

Either way, he wouldn't be living. He wouldn't be able to go back to his training as a guard. He would become some sort of janitor at the very least. He would never get the life back that was stolen from him, and that's why Ashton Thawne was embracing the fact that he was to die that day.

"Prisoner 218, please stand and face the wall," a guard said gruffly. The guard himself was not much older than Ashton. Maybe three years at the most. And to be honest, Ashton felt nothing but pity for the older boy in front of him. His life would be spent doing nothing but leading innocent people to their deaths. And he was so brainwashed, so integrated within the twisted system of the Ark that he probably felt no remorse.

Ashton laughed, and sat down on the small bed within the cell. "Stop with the formalities, Micheal. I've known you for what, seventeen years? I'm about to die, have some respect!" Ashton scolded him. Ashton had been friends with this man once upon a time. How ironic was it that he would be the one to lead him to his death.

The guard rolled his eyes, and sighed looking Ashton straight in the eyes. "Prisoner 218, stand and face the wall, I won't ask you again."

"Come on Micheal, we've progressed far enough in our relationship for you to call me by my name," Ashton paused. "Well, unless you're into that sort of thing," he mused.

Ashton could see the beginnings of a smile beginning to crack on Micheal's face. Ashton winked at him while the other boy's demeanour hardened. "Stand and face the wall, Ashton, I won't ask again!" The other boy looked at him exasperated, as he pointed to the stick on his belt. His eyes pleaded to the other boy to follow his orders; the weapon shouldn't have to be used.

Ashton stood up. "Kinky," he muttered while he faced the wall. His left hand became entangled with his dirty blonde curls, a tell of how nervous he was - no matter how hard he tried to hide it behind a sarcastic persona.

Micheal approached him with what looked to be a thick metal bracelet. He smiled at Ashton, then snapped a metal band onto his wrist. Ashton could feel little needles prick into his skin, and he glanced at the guard. "Dude," he glared. "I'm not into bondage. Go play out your fantasy with someone else."

The boy in a guard's uniform smiled tentatively at Ashton. "Listen," said the boy named Micheal. "They're sending you to the ground."

Ashton rolled his eyes. "Come on, you really don't think that I'll fall for that level of bullshit."

Michael shook his head, dark hair being tousled around. "I'm not kidding," he said. "I don't know much about what's happening here, but it has something to do with the wellbeing of the Ark," Micheal reached into the pocket of his guard's uniform and took out a knife and gun. "Here," he placed both objects in Ashton's hands.

When the younger boy shook his head, trying to refuse the weapons, Micheal's grip hardened. "Stop. Don't try to tell me that you don't remember how to use these." Ashton glared at him indignantly and the older boy sighed. "Listen Ash, these people they're sending you down with - they're criminals! Is it that bad that I want you to be prepared for the worst?"

It was true that Micheal had been good to Ashton as his guard. He gave him extra food when he needed it, let him stay in bed when he was sick. But still, Micheal had never been this kind to him. "Why now?" Ashton asked, his voice smaller than he wanted it to be.

A small smile appeared on Michael's face. "You used to be my best friend, you know that right?" Of course Ashton could remember their childhood together. The boys had grown up neighbours in their sector of the Ark. They did practically everything together - until Ashton had applied to train as a guard at the age of fourteen. Micheal, being four years older and actually of age, applied too. On his first try, Ashton got in. Micheal didn't. The older boy sighed. "I'm sorry that I've been such an ass to you for so long. You didn't deserve it. I guess this is my way of trying to make it up to you."

"Fuck," said Micheal, glancing outside of the room. "I spent too much time explaining this to you, people are going to get suspicious," Ashton knew that 'people' meant his dick of a boss, Commander Shumway. "I need to tranquilize you to say that you were fighting.

Ashton then felt a needle poke into his shoulder. 'Tranquilize?!,' he thought, and began to lose consciousness after calling out with a shit-eating grin, "Remember, consent is the most important concept of a stable relationship!"

When Ashton awoke, he was sitting beside a pretty brunette. The girl smiled at him. "Finally. I thought you'd never wake up." The brunette paused before continuing to speak. "I'm Octavia," she said, putting her hand out to shake.

"Ashton," replied Ashton as they were shook around in the ship. "What was that?"

"I'm not sure," responded Octavia. She tossed a long strand of brown hair behind her shoulder. "Whatever it was, I don't think it's good," Octavia paused with a gleam in her eye. "Wait, did you say your name was Ashton."

Ashton nodded his head, "Yeah, why?" He began to ask before Chancellor Jaha appeared on a screen.

"Prisoners of the Ark, hear me now," said Jaha. "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," continued Jaha. "If the odds of survival were better, we would've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you expendable."

Octavia rolled her eyes. "It's nice to know that we're loved."

Ashton chucked before sighing. "God, this so so messed up. We're kids! How the fuck does the council expect us to do this?"

Suddenly, someone shouted out from across the dropship. "Your dad's a dick, Wells!"

Ashton cracked a small smile. "My thoughts exactly." His long, thin fingers wrapped around the clasp where his seatbelt and seat collided - he wasn't about to believe that it would keep him in.

Octavia's brows furrowed together. "Who exactly is Wells and who's his dad?"

Ashton stared at her. "Seriously? You don't know Wells Jaha?" Everyone knew Wells. If not personally, they at least had heard of the son of the chancellor. Ashton didn't know him personally, but he was a friend of a friend you could say.

Octavia glared at him, and Ashton suddenly realized how icy cold her blue eyes could get. Then and there Ashton decided that he didn't want to get on her bad side. "Yeah, there are a lot of things that I don't know."

"He's that kid, right there," Ashton pointed at a tall black boy sitting in the middle of the dropship, currently arguing with a blonde girl. "Wells Jaha; son of Chancellor Jaha. You know, the one who sent all of us to our joint-execution." Ashton closed his eyes. "You must really be an ass to send your own kid to die. I don't get how anyone could do that. I doubt he made the call to send Wells down here."

Octavia disagreed. "This man is willing to send a hundred mostly innocent kids to the ground just because he can. Do you really think he cares about whether his kid lives or dies?"

Ashton's jaw dropped. "Octavia!"

Screen Jaha continued to talk. "Those crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean. "The drop site has been chosen carefully," said Jaha. "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."

"Spacewalk bandit strikes again!"

A shaggy-haired boy took off his seatbelt and was floating through the dropship. Ashton rolled his eyes. "What a fucking idiot." He probably said it too loudly, because the said 'spacewalk bandit' glanced towards him and winked, a smirk on his face.

Octavia let out a loud cheer, and from across the dropship, someone yelled, "Yeah! Go Finn!"

Finn went over to Wells Jaha and began to talk to him and the girl beside him. Ashton was too far away to know what they were saying, but he could tell that Finn was happy, and the blonde was annoyed.

Jaha again continued to talk. "Your one responsibility is stay alive."

Two other boys took off their belts. "Stay in your seats!" said the blonde beside Wells, and Ashton agreed with her. He knew that they were going to hit Earth's atmosphere sooner or later -and these boys were goners when that happens.

Octavia reached for her belt to take it off. Ashton's hand covered hers. "Octavia," he said. "No, it's not worth it."

Octavia huffed. "Come on Ashton, stop being such a stick in the mud and let me have some fun."

"Trust me, O," said Ashton. "You don't want to do this."

He was right. A moment later, the dropship shook dramatically. Continuous yells and screams could be heard around the dropship. "Finn! Are you okay?" Ashton heard the blonde call out.

Ashton reached for Octavia's hand. She accepted his hand and squeezed it. Together, the two of them faced their impending doom. The dropship landed with a dull thud. Ashton opened an eye. So were they dead now? He looked over at Octavia and smiled.

"Listen," said an Asian boy with dark hair at the back of the dropship. "No machine hum."

"That's a first," continued the boy beside him.

Ashton marvelled. For once, they were in charge of their own lives; they had no 'council' deciding what they can and cannot do. There were no rations, or skybox, or even a low amount of resources; they were free.

Quickly, he unbuckled his seatbelt, encouraging Octavia to do the same. The two of them ran to the lower level. Ashton poked his head back to the upper level. "The outer door is on the lower level. Let's go," he beckoned the rest of the delinquents.

People began to storm down to the lower level where he was. Vaguely, he could hear a girl, obviously irritated yell, "No. We can't just open the doors."

"Hey, just back it up, guys," said a man at the front of the dropship. He turned his head, and Ashton paled. It was Bellamy. So much for being in charge of his own life. The last time Ashton had seen him, Ashton had kissed him. This was for sure going to be an interesting conversation when they finally talk.

"Stop! The air could be toxic," said the blonde who had been sitting beside Wells Jaha before.

Ashton rolled his eyes. "You aren't the brightest are you?" he questioned. He had meant for it to just be a passing comment. But he had said it louder than he had wanted to, attracting unwanted attention not only from the girl, but from Bellamy across the room. Ashton cursed his big mouth. For the second time in twenty minutes, two different people had heard his quiet insults.

"Excuse me, but who even are you?" glared the blonde. Ashton recognized her - her mother was on the council. Of course she felt like she was a leader down here, that was her status on the Ark. But she was in for a rude awakening. Being important on the Ark wouldn't do her any good down here.

Ashton sighed. If all eyes were already on him, he might as well make the time worthwhile. "I think the real question is who are you?" he countered. "You come barrelling in here, ordering the rest of us around as if we're inferior to yourself. That attitude may have worked for you up on the Ark, but it sure as hell won't help you down here. And then you tell us that we can't open the doors; our only route to surviving without becoming cannibals and eating each other. Let's face it, if the air is toxic we might as well just open the doors and be done with it. So what I simply said what everyone is thinking. You obviously aren't that smart if you would rather have us slowly die contained like we would have on the Ark, in fear of something that may not even be true."

After his little speech, everyone was staring at him. He stepped back beside Octavia and let the crowd surround him. Ashton could see Bellamy smirking at him from the front of the dropship. Ashton's mouth had always gotten him into trouble, and Bellamy was remembering that. "If the air is toxic, we're all dead anyway," he reaffirmed Ashton's argument.

Beside him, Octavia spoke up ."Bellamy?"

Ashton paused. How in the hell did Octavia and Bellamy know each other?

"My God," said Bellamy, a smile breaking across his face. "Look how big you are." Ashton smiled at how Bellamy's entire face lit up when he saw Octavia, as if she was the most important thing in his life, and then Ashton froze. Was she his girlfriend?

"What the hell are you wearing? A guard's uniform?" asked Octavia with an arched brow. Her utter disgust at the sight of Bellamy's uniform made her crack a smile. But Ashton was confused. Why wouldn't Bellamy be wearing a guard's uniform. He was a guard. That's his job.

"I borrowed it to get on the drop ship. Someone has got to keep an eye on you," said Bellamy. Ashton had only known Bellamy for three-ish years before he got carted off to the dropship, but Ashton knew all of Bellamy's little quirks. Ashton had been in love with the guy for at least two of those years. He knew Bellamy inside and out, and right now, he was definitely lying.

"Where's your wristband?" the blonde girl broke in, and Ashton sighed. If only this girl could keep her mouth shut for a few minutes.

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

Brother? thought Ashton. Although, the more he thought of it, the more it made sense. That's probably how Octavia got locked up, and why Octavia talked as if Bellamy was no longer a guard. And when they friends, that's why Ashton could never go to Bellamy's living space; Bellamy would always come to Ashton's, although not for long. He would always have to go home to take care of Octavia. Even the way he looked at her explained a platonic love similar to siblings.

"No one has a brother," a guy shouted out.

"That's Octavia Blake, the girl they found hidden in the floor," called a girl. That explained Octavia's vague knowledge of the Ark, and her defence over it

Octavia lunged at the crowd, and Bellamy held her back. "Octavia, Octavia, no," Bellamy reprimanded her. "Let's give them something else to remember you by."

"Yeah? Like what?" asked Octavia flatly.

Bellamy smiled. "Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years."

Bellamy opened the doors of the dropship. Light flooded the dark interior. Ashton walked up to the front, and it was green. And it was beautiful. No, beautiful wasn't a word worthy enough of Ashton's first glimpse of Earth. It was bright, and warm, and inviting. It was everything and more than Ashton had expected.

Octavia hesitantly walked up to the edge of the dropship, her feet echoing against the grey metal of the material beneath her. Ashton couldn't help but smile at what was happening. Octavia Blake, the girl who had been locked up for her entire life, was the one fortunate enough to get the first taste of her home planet.

With two feet, Octavia let out a cheer and then yelled, "We're back, bitches!"

Ashton stepped out to the edge of the dropship and jumped with two feet. He wasn't going back either.

Hey guys, I'm a lot happier with this version of Endgame than I was with the first one. And we have a new character! Michael Meyrs played by my absolute fave Alfred Enoch.

This isn't the last we're seeing of him- he's coming back soon!
Xx
-Alicia