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.*･｡. HOOD! .*･｡.
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020.
OCTAVIA BLAKE.
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Working with Monty Green and Raven Reyes was perhaps the most comfortable Robin Loxely had been, since coming to earth.

It was very familiar.

As little as she liked the ark, and all the life that came with it, she did like her apprenticeship. This reminded her of that. Robin may not have been particularly close with Monty and Raven during that time, but they were decent enough to work with. There was a kind of loyalty that had come with being Sinclair's apprentices. Perhaps it stemmed from no one else understanding how they could tolerate spending so much time around metal, or because they weren't seen as anything but filthy, little grease-monkeys. Most people thought it was a poor kid's job— which it was, but that didn't mean they were no good at it.

Regardless, Robin had almost forgotten what it was like to work in a team. Her time in the skybox hadn't been so engineer-friendly, and she hadn't realised how much she missed her work until she'd been sent to the ground to die, and was thrown straight back into it.

"Watch it!"

"Sorry, Raven..."

"You'll be sorry when you blow us up, Monty!" Raven scoffed, a stern edge to her voice that was nothing they hadn't heard before. It apart of the process, as well as the general thrill of working with an artist of mechs, such as Raven Reyes. She crossed her arms over in judgment, "You wanna live to see tomorrow?" When he nodded his head, Raven marched over to him; "Then do it better, kid!"

Yeah— Robin rolled her eyes, just like old times.

While she scolded him for being too hasty with the wires, Robin proceeded to screw in the bolts for the flares they were making. He was better at electrical, and Raven was a natural with explosives in her possession, all while Robin was best with structure and designs. They were each playing to their strengths and it was working; their flares would be done soon enough, and, with the help from the rest of camp, they would hopefully be set off by sundown. The sooner, the better. They needed these flares to work so that the ark wouldn't callously kill three hundred innocent people to preserve oxygen for the rest of them, and Robin found herself hoping it would work. It was all they could do, without a radio. But, Raven's ideas had never let them down, before. According to the book — and the book was their bible — it was burn time and cloud cover.

   They knew what they were doing. So, in theory, it would work. It had to work. Robin wasn't sure what they would do, if it didn't. This was their only option.

   This had to work.

   They had no other choice.

Robin stood, patting the metal with the palm of her hand. Both knees bent, the girl leaned down and lifted it, only to grunt, feeling it in her shoulder. She underestimated the weight of it. Prepared a little better this time, Robin tried again. It lifted, but not before her pain got worse.

"Need any help?" Jace.

"Nope," she muttered, hearing his smirk.

"You'll break your back, lifting like that." He criticised, amused. He watched her legs wobble as she attempted, once more. "Wow."

"Yeah? 'Cause you know about lifting," her comment made Jace scoff, but he let out a snicker. It wasn't wrong. He was lanky, and it wasn't as if he was packing any more muscle than she was. Actually she was probably plenty more muscles than Jace Williams.

"Touché."

"Shut up and help me," Robin spat.

"Gladly!" He grinned childishly, walking over and grabbing the opposing end of it.

She wondered how he could be so... upbeat. Jace knew as well the rest of them that if these flares didn't work, the consequences were going to be catastrophic. People would die, potentially their friends and families, and the ark would never come down. They were dead. Everything was riding on these flares and that pressure weighed on Robin's shoulders. But, somehow, Jace was still optimistic. He gave no signs of weakness, no ounce of worry. Like he believed their plan would work just fine. Robin didn't understand his blind faith. They were so different.

"Alright— here's good."

Doing as she said, Jace stopped walking and helped her place the flare so it was propped against the stand. She looked at him and let out a sigh; "Stop smiling."

"Why?" He asked, raising a brow.

"'Cause this isn't exciting," she deadpanned. "It's morbid."

"I actually think it's kinda hopeful," Jace shrugged. When those words weren't a good enough explanation, and she just looked less enthused than before, he spoke again. "We'll get these flares going, and the ark'll see 'em. It'll save three hundred people and then you guys'll fix the radio, they'll come down, and we'll see our families in no time."

Robin frowned, "How do you have so much faith?"

"Because I have faith in you." Jace's answer was simple, no more than a passing comment, but it made her heart warm. She kept an eye on him as he started to fiddle with the stand, lips tugging at the corners, and he soon turned after feeling her gaze upon the side of his face. "What?"

"Nothing," her voice was quiet.

"Your dad's gonna be fine, Robin." Jace told her with soft eyes, a certainty to his tone that she recognised. It was the very same tone Robin had used when she had promised that his family would find out he was alive, and he would talk to them. It was promise. For an endless moment, the two stared at each other with small smiles, his words lingering between them. The air was sweet, and light, and it was then that Robin decided she liked Jace Williams. He was good; sarcastic, but so wholeheartedly good, that she wondered how he'd even been in the skybox in the first place. Eventually, he grinned as he broke the quiet; "You gonna show me how to do this, or what?"

Fondly, Robin rolled her eyes. She gave him a light nudge in the side with her elbow. "Fine," she said. "Listen up, I'm not saying all of it, again."

Jace saluted; "Aye, captain!"

He did as told. Actually, Jace listened to every word she said as if it were her last. He wasn't bad, either. His fingers fumbled with the wires a bit, but they were done in good time.

It wasn't long until all their flares were set up, standing in a line, and ready to set off. At first, Robin was anxious. She couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if they didn't work, or if their efforts were too late, or if the ark didn't see them. But, as soon as it came to the time Raven gave the command, Robin's anxiety faded into a dull concern in the back of her mind. As she stared upward, eyes on the night sky as it filled with flashes of purple, Robin felt at peace. They had done their part. It was time to let the world work, and to try and hold as much faith as Jace did. He had so much hope and Robin envied that. She had never been very hopeful. Maybe it was time to change that. To survive on earth, perhaps they needed a little more hope.

After all, Robin's name did mean BRIGHT.

Maybe it was time for her to make that meaning count.

Even if only for that one night. Even if the flares failed and she woke up with no hope, at all. Maybe, just for that one night, a little hope wouldn't hurt. Robin was going to try and be hopeful, even if it was only for that one night, alone.

"Man..." Jace whistled. "Is this what it was like having fireworks, back in the prenuclear days?"

"I guess," she said.

"Fireworks..." he murmured under his breath, staring up at the purple lights in awe. They lit up his face in flashes. Jace pulled his eyes away and smiled down at Robin, "Your dad would be proud."

Her breath hitched in her throat. Robin wasn't sure what to say to that, so she said nothing. She wasn't so sure she would agree. If she ever got the chance to see her father again, Robin was sure the man would hate her. She had let him down. That much was clear; he had refused to visit her in the skybox, and he hadn't even found it within himself to see her with Sinclair before she was sent to her death. Their relationship was broken, could it ever mend?

"Do you think they'll see them, up there?"

Robin peered to her left and spotted Clarke Griffin. Their arms brushed together and she didn't seem to mind. Maybe because the minor contact was providing both girls with some sort of comfort in the uncertainty of it all, some reassurance they desperately needed, a strange warmth.

It would be gone by morning.

"I think it'll all work out," Robin said. It didn't answer Clarke's question, but it definitely caught her attention. She thought on it.

"You really believe that?" She asked.

"I dunno," Robin shrugged after a long minute. She pursed her lips together and fiddled with the hem of her hood, pulling it over her head in a swift motion. It always gave her comfort, "I'm trying to."

   Clarke stared at her for a second longer, then nodded. They had a mutual understanding there. Trying to be hopeful. Neither of the girls were particularly optimistic. But, before Robin found any more ties between herself and Clarke Griffin, she gave another glance to the sky before looking away. Hope was hard. It proved harder when a shadow appeared and blocked the flashes of lilac lightening from her face, and the warmth of another person blossom from her side as they slipped between herself and Clarke. Robin didn't intend to look, she didn't need to look in order to know who it was. She didn't want to look, either. So, instead, Robin walked away. His eyes were on her back, following it through the crowds until Robin was gone.

    "You're still an asshole," Jace spoke up, rolling his lips between his teeth. He waited a second, then sighed lowly. "But she'll come 'round, eventually."

   Bellamy shrugged his shoulders. He tried not to look affected by her departure, because he wasn't — he shouldn't be. Perhaps it had something to do with the burning guilt he felt deep inside for what he did; the agonising guilt he felt even deeper for what he had done to Robin in the process. While he appreciated it, Jace's words were too good to be true. Bellamy might have killed her father. Robin had no reason to come around. "I don't think so, Jace."

   His eyes tried to find her again, and when they did, she was now stood up front with Roma Bragg.

    "Do you think they're like shooting stars?" Roma asked no one in particular. But when Robin looked at her, she shrugged. "They used to make wishes on them on earth." She explained. "Can you wish on these?"

    "Why?" Robin asked.

    "Dunno," Roma dismissed.

    "Right."

   They basked back into silence, though it was short-lived.

    "What would you wish for?" Roma prodded.

    "Honestly?" When Roma nodded in response, Robin looked at her with a small smile. She shrugged, "Some goddamn shampoo."

   Roma's lips quirked at the corners and a small snort came from her, and then a soft giggle. Her hand shot up to cover her nose, in the event she snorted again, and Robin laughed at the action. She laughed more when Roma cackled and soon the girls were messes of giggles in the night.

   Laughing felt good.

————

Robin didn't know Octavia Blake.

At least, not well.

She knew about her. Everyone knew about the girl from the floors, whose family had kept her hidden for sixteen years.

During those years, Octavia Blake didn't exist. She was a secret, an unknown entity to the ark's halls, a shadow of a girl whom was never supposed to have been born. But then, after her arrest at the masked ball, Octavia Blake quickly became a household name. The girl who was no criminal, but rather her whole life was a crime. It's pitiful, really — that the council locked her up because she existed.

Robin wasn't in the skybox for all that long, pre-ground. It wasn't long enough to get to know everyone, and Robin wasn't particularly approachable, so she had never met Octavia Blake. Not before the dropship, where their first encounter had been with Robin floating in the air and trying to play engineer. Following Robin cleaning up her wound (better than Bellamy) when she returned from the short day trip to mount weather, they hadn't many instances around one another. A bit of booze, teaching morse-code, then nothing. It was only when Robin wanted out of camp after that, and Octavia gave Miller a swift lie about Robin helping her and Jasper. All in all, the two girls had hardly spoken— not that Robin was conversational, if anything she was the exact opposite, so it was unlikely that she and Octavia would know each other.

Nonetheless, when her tent cover was pulled back and revealed a panic-stricken older brother, it didn't seem to matter to Robin that she hardly knew Octavia Blake. Suddenly, she knew her enough to kinda care.

"You're still up?"

"You're still an asshole," Robin deadpanned. She arched a brow at him when his jaw flexed, "Oh, sorry—" not sorry, "—were we not stating things that were obvious? Had me fooled."

"The flares will work," was all he said.

"You better hope they do," she muttered, turning back to look at the semi-dry radio components. "Get out. M'tryna work, here."

She had been staring at the pieces for a long while. Some were a little damp still, and others she wondered if they would ever dry to their original state, but most were drying out. However, it wasn't as many as she needed to try fixing the radio. She, Raven and Monty agreed to start work on it in the morning, mostly so Raven could be with Finn for a while, but Robin couldn't help herself. As soon as it was in her hand, she couldn't put it down. There was little to do as she waited for it to totally dry.

So, she waited.

"You're still here," she said in a bored tone, feeling his dark eyes glued to her side profile.

"Have you seen Octavia?"

"What?"

"Have you seen my sister?" Bellamy repeated.

"No," Robin blinked. A moment passed where she thought on it hard, but she came up with nothing. Only that she had last seen his sister before Robin and Jace left camp. That reminded her why she left camp, and why she was angry at Bellamy, and she pondered all the chances that Octavia was angry at him, too. "Why?"

"I can't find her," Bellamy pursed his lips. He tried to keep calm and collected, stoic as usual, but he could feel his resolve slipping a fraction more for every second she stared at him. "She's not here."

"Look harder," was all Robin cared to suggest. It wouldn't have been the first time Octavia had wandered out of camp. She was a force, that girl, always leaving and pushing the boundaries that her brother had set. "She'll be here."

"She's not."

"She—"

"I've checked the whole camp," he said.

Robin looked at the radio parts and shut her eyes, breathing out a sigh through her nose. She could hear the concern in his tone; it was genuine, slightly infuriating, but genuine. Trust that just as she tried to work on fixing the radio he destroyed, he barged back in to ruin that as well. No matter what, Bellamy somehow found a way of stopping her from contacting the ark — intentionally, or not. Robin could feel his stress, however, and it made her tetchy. Octavia liked to roam, but she came back.

"We'll check, again."

As she stood up, Bellamy blinked a few times. It didn't set in that she had said we until she was pushing him out the way.

"I'll go to the dropship," Robin laid out the plan. She knew for certain that Octavia wasn't in there, but if anyone was going to have an idea as to where she was, it would be Jasper, and he would be in the dropship with Monty. Plus, she needed to put the radio back. It was convenient. "You check out the other tents."

Bellamy nodded, "Thanks, birdy."

"I'm not doing this for you," she spoke icily, sensing him a nasty look that reminded him he was in the doghouse. "Hurry up. We've gotta find your sister."

Before he could say anything, Robin adjusted her grip on the old radio components and swiftly made for the dropship. As expected, she hadn't found Octavia in there. Also as expected, Robin did find Monty and Jasper — both of whom hadn't seen or heard from her since earlier that morning, before the pod fiasco. The trio mutually agreed that it was strange, and concerning, and while Robin didn't return to Bellamy with his baby sister, she did bring two kids whom were more than willing to help find her. They gathered in the very middle of camp and gathered the delinquents, while Bellamy went to retrieve all the weapons be could find. It was decided: Octavia'd been missing for a whole day, and they were going after her. Jasper wasn't going to leave her out there on her own, Bellamy sure as hell wasn't, and neither was Robin Loxely.

And apparently, neither was Clarke Griffin. Bellamy came back with the blonde, weapons in hand, talking strategies. Surprisingly, Clarke hadn't throttled him. But she supposed she hadn't either, so she let it go and opted to persuade Monty he should stay at camp.

"—but I never get to leave!"

"You will," she hesitated, "...soon."

"I wanna help find Octavia," Monty argued, although his tone was still so soft, so it wasn't much of an argument. "I wanna help."

"You can help by trying to fix the radio with Raven," she was as right as she usually was, and that made him purse his lips. His eyes flickered to Jasper, who was talking to Clarke. "Fine. I'll watch him, okay?"

Monty smiled.

"But if he gets speared, again, that's his own fault—"

"Hey— everybody gather around and grab a weapon!" Bellamy gained the camp's attention, using the same timbre that he always did with his motivational speeches. This time, it wasn't the same. It was less motivational. "My sister's been out there, alone, for twelve hours." He looked around at them and nodded at the weapons he and Clarke had tossed in a pile, "Arm up. We're not coming back, without her."

   The teenagers walked forward, picking up weapons that suited, and Robin sent Monty back to the dropship. He seemed hesitant, but when she eyed him down with an unmoving stare, he relented and bid Jasper farewell and good luck. Robin found Bellamy soon gravitating towards her, Clarke in tow. Great.

    "Monty?" Clarke asked.

    "Radio."

   Her answer was blunt, but they nodded.

    "We're gonna need a tracker," Bellamy established. Both of the remaining two saw Clarke grimace. "Finn! Get out, here!"

"Trouble in paradise, princess?" Robin said, somewhat amused by the tension starting to build. Clarke gave her a flat look but that only made Robin smirk. "Finn!"

He popped out from his tent with a face like thunder, significantly less hair, and eyes filled with annoyance. Clarke's matched. Robin let out a low whistle and debated prodding at their feelings, just to make her bitter self feel a bit better about the events of the day, as well as regain her hatred for Clarke Griffin. She hadn't shit on the blonde enough, lately.

"Nice hair, sleazewalker." She remarked, wrinkling her nose and returning the sarcastic smile he sent her as she slipped past the two and went to join the rest of the group waiting to leave. "Raven was always better at mechanics."

"I heard that!"

"Good," she shrugged at her.

Raven rolled her eyes and went to say something, but their chat got cut short when the teenagers started to look to the skies. Robin listened to their murmurs and tilted her head back, squinting up at the dark abyss with curiosity. Only, it wasn't dark. Brows furrowed, she and Raven watched as earth got passed by hundreds of falling lights, ones that resembled Raven's pod. They were smaller, similar to what meteor showers would look like from earth, but in her gut, Robin knew they weren't meteors. She wished they were meteors. As that sinking feeling caught up to her, Robin felt her eyes sting. Her chin trembled and Raven watched, features soft.

"They didn't see..." Robin croaked.

"Robin..."

Kids started to swoon.

"Ya see that?"

"It's so beautiful!"

"It's not beautiful," Clarke interrupted, solemnly. "It didn't work out. The ark didn't see our flares."

"A meteor shower tells you that?" Brows risen, Bellamy glanced between the girls and Finn, trying to figure out what they saw that he didn't.

"It's not a meteor shower, it's a funeral." Shaking her head at his words, Clarke clenched her hands into fists at her sides but never pulled her eyes away from the sky. It made her feel sick, but Clarke couldn't pull her eyes away, like awful horrors movie that Wells got her to watch as an excuse to hold her hand. "Hundreds of bodies being returned to the earth, from the ark. This is what it looks like, from the other side..." she said, and his face dropped. "They didn't get our message."

Raven looked from Robin to Bellamy, jaw flexed and she took in the girl's shaking hands. She sized him up for a minute, then, like a wild animal, Raven pounced; she lunged at him with a wild yell, as loud as she could muster, and tried to rip his face off. Finn stopped her, and Clarke helped, but Robin didn't move. She didn't flinch at the commotion — she had no response to any of it, at all.

"This is all because of you!"

"I helped you find the radio!" Bellamy defended.

"Yeah—" Raven seethed, "After you jacked it from my pod, and totally trashed it!"

"Yeah, he knows." Eyes narrowed, Clarke pushed a much calmer Raven behind her and Finn, trying to settle the tension enough for their camp to keep under-control. "And now he has to live with it."

"All I know, is that my sister is out there and I'm gonna go find her!" Bellamy rolled her lips between his teeth and glared at them as they watched with horrified faces. "You coming, or what?" Finn nodded, "What are we waiting for? Move out!"

Before he could make it to the gate, Robin reached out and took his jacket sleeve firmly in her grip. She yanked him towards her so roughly that he stumbled, and used his collar to tug him down, his face so close to her that he could feel her breath tickle his cheeks as it came angrily from her flared nostrils. Bellamy tried not to look at her eyes— oh, those eyes! Those goddamn eyes! The eyes that always filled him with indescribable guilt. Every time he looked at them, it flooded him with guilt and shame, and he tried so hard not to look at them, but Bellamy fell victim to her intense glare. He stared into them, hoping he returned as much ferocity as she provided, but the attempt was pitiful. They both knew it. His was no match, because Bellamy knew she had no reason to feel guilty. The one thing Robin Loxely felt was ineffable grief.

"If my father's dead—" she hissed at him, "—you're gonna wish Jaha had made it down here to float your ass, after all. I promise."

Bellamy tensed up.

"I believe you."

With no further comments, he pulled himself out of her grip as he made his way to the front of the group. Bellamy glanced back, over his shoulder, only once.

"You good?"

Robin sucked in a breath and look at Roma, who had found her way to her side amongst the small spat between her and their king of camp. She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, an audible pop! echoing in the dark night. "Define good."

"Personally, I'd define it as not bad." Jace.

"Riveting," Robin mused, bleakly. She spotted the small log that he'd sculpted like a bat in his hand. It was rough, and didn't look a very convincing bat, but he had spent a long time on it and had an irritating conviction to keep working on it. He had spoken about it on their walk, the day prior. "You're coming out with us?"

"Yeah; Octavia's cool." Jace nodded, then caught sight of a girl he didn't know yet. "Jace."

"Roma," she said.

"We better go," Robin instructed.

"Yeah..." unsure of what to say, Jace grimaced at how awkward he was and leant down, trying to keep his voice low. He had seen the bodies like everyone else, "Robin... I'm really sorry about t—"

"Hey— goggles!" Instead of listening to him, Robin turned on her boots and waved an arm to flag down the last edition to their group. The rest of camp was disappearing quickly, but she wasn't leaving without him. She had told Monty she would watch him; a promise she intended to keep. Jasper looked over from his spot by Clarke, Finn and Raven. He looked anxious, as ever. "You're with us!" Robin hollered, then Finn. "You too, sleazew—!"

"Shut up!"

 
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