Disclaimer
I love that Grace is actually getting closer with her people in this second part, which is something she didn't really get the chance to do in the first part. Or, not that was really talked about anyways. And I really like that the forty-eight look up to her as sort of a motherly figure as well. I don't know, they're adorable.
✦
✦
Grace lays her head in Miller's lap, her feet in Jasper's. Every inch of her felt like there was weights tied to it and all she wanted to do was sleep. "I'm exhausted."
"I'm tired of puking," Harper whispers from where she's leaning back against the bunk next to the one Grace and the others were on.
"I'm tired of being a human pincushion," Miller mutters, running his hands through Grace's hair. He's been trying to learn how to braid for a while but so far they've all looked like shit so he just took them right back out. Grace didn't mind, anyways. The feeling of his fingers running through her hair sort of relaxed her, oddly enough.
"Look, I know this sucks, but as long as it seems like we're cooperating, we're buying ourselves time," Jasper says, his failing attempt at reassuring them all.
"Time for what?" Miller questions, leaning forward slightly. "I say if we're gonna die in here, we might as well die trying to escape."
Harper nods in agreement while Grace sighs. "We've been over this. After Clarke left, there is no escape. We just have to hold on long enough for her to find a way to get us out."
"What if she doesn't find a way?" Monty asks, looking up at them. Grace's expression softens when she sees the bags under his eyes. It seemed no one was getting a good nights sleep anymore. "What if she didn't make it out? What if that's just a story they're telling us to hide the fact they killed her? Then no one's coming for us and we're doing exactly what they want us to do."
Monty was right, of course. None of them knew for sure that Clarke was even out there right now, plotting ways to get them out of Mount Weather and back safely with her. They don't even know if she's alive. It had crossed everyone's minds at least once. They really didn't know if they were truly alone in this or not. Clarke could be out there with Bellamy and the other survivors, or she could be dead three feet outside of this bunker. Truth was, they didn't really know.
"Guys . . . you know you've thought it, too."
"All right, then. We escape," Harper deadpans.
"No. We find the truth."
"How do we do that?" Monty asks, curiously.
Grace smiles at Jasper as he speaks, "We're criminals, right? So, let's be criminals."
"Damn straight," Grace winks at them, her voice raspy.
✦
Grace eagerly made her way towards medical. Maya had came up to her at breakfast, which started only ten minutes ago, and told her she could finally get the stitches out of her wrists, her arm, and her leg. She was able to get them out days ago but with everything going on, nobody really had time to do anything but drain Grace's family of their blood.
Grace couldn't wait to get them out. They were extremely irritating and Grace was pretty sure if they didn't take them out soon, Grace would rip them out herself. It couldn't be that hard considering she had almost ripped them lifting up her dinner plate.
Maya waves her over and into a large room, presumably where the others had gotten their transfusions, where she told her to sit on a vacant bed and relax. Grace did as she was told, awkwardly sitting at the edge of of the bed with her palms flat against the blankets. She ignores the small amount of pain that flickers through them. They would be out in a couple of minutes, anyways.
"Uh, there may be some small bleeding so if you'd like you can go put on a gown?" Maya says, her tone kind and thoughtful.
"Oh, uh, how much is small bleeding?"
"I would put the gown on," Maya says, holding up the yellow fabric. Grace nods, feeling her stomach drop. If she had to put on the gown, there definitely wouldn't be small bleeding. She takes the fabric into her hands, heading in the direction of the bathroom to change.
The redhead walks into the room and closes the door behind her. She locks it, force of habit she guessed, and places the gown on the toilet seat. With her eyes wide, Grace glances up at the mirror above the sink.
She looked so different. Her hair was a lighter tone, she still had yellowing bruises littering her body and cuts across her face, and the bags under her eyes were a deep purple. She looked like absolute shit.
A tap on the door startles the girl out of her staring. She grips the sides of the sink in her hands, letting out a shaky breath. "Grace? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, sorry! I just— just need a minute," she calls out. Maya doesn't answer but Grace can hear the light padding of her shoes hitting the floor as she walks away. Grace turns on her heel, away from the mirror. She wasn't sure if she could even look at herself anymore.
Grace emerges from the bathroom a moment later, her clothes in her hands. Maya was sitting in a chair in front of the bed, a table of metal tools beside her. "Take a seat."
Grace does as she's told, sitting directly in front of the girl. Maya holds a kind smile. "Where would you like to start?"
"Which one is going to hurt more?" Grace asks sheepishly. She had a feeling it was her wrists, considering they were so close to a vein.
"Wrists," Maya confirms her suspicions. Grace sighs.
"Then do those first, I guess."
A smirk makes its way onto Maya's face. "You're one of the few people who would actually choose that."
"Thanks. . . I think?" Grace mumbles, holding out her wrists. "Anyways, let's get this over with. I promised Jasper I'd kick his ass at cards later."
✦
"Hey, where've you been?"
Grace turns and sends him a small smile, gesturing to the empty spot next to her. She knows he was referring to when she left in a hurry after finishing breakfast, and luckily she didn't have to lie. She simply held her wrists up, showing off the few strips of medial tape now there instead. "Got these bad boys out."
"Congratulations," Isaac smiles, making himself comfortable on the bunk. "Does it hurt?"
"Nope," Grace replies, beginning to run her pencil along the page in her sketchbook again. She sits cross legged on the bed with the book placed on her left knee, trying to replicate the image in her head. "Miller practically shoved those pills Maya had brought me down my throat the moment I showed even the tiniest bit of discomfort."
"Sounds like him," Isaac lets out a small laugh as the image flickered through his head. His eyes move to her sketchbook with a small smile. "Who are you drawing?"
"Oh, um," Grace shifts awkwardly in her spot.
It was of Bellamy, back on Unity Day. It was after she had stumbled into his arms like a idiot. She could remember her briefly trying to convince him to relax and have a drink, but of course he was being the responsible dad and looking after his children, and when he said no she had asked him to dance. He also said no to that, claiming he didn't dance. Grace calls bullshit on that one; she had made it her mission to get him to dance the next chance she got.
She never did get around to it, running for her life and all.
She didn't realize she hadn't responded yet, so she tilted the book to the side and showed it to him. She watches as his mouth forms a small 'o' shape as he takes in every detail.
The drawing of Bellamy was of one of those rare moments where he let his guard down in front of her. His face was soft and relaxed and he wore that cute little smirk from her attempts at getting him to dance with her. His eyes were lit up in the nicest way, the pencil did nothing for how it had looked in real life. She was trying to get them just perfect when Isaac had come in.
"Is this Bellamy?" Isaac asks softly as to not pressure her into answering. She can't find the right words, so she just nods. Isaac purses his lips, then nods his head. "He's hot."
Grace bursts out laughing, completely startled at his answer. Isaac let's out a laugh at her reaction, neither of them caring that most of the others in the dorm were watching the two talk with wide smiles. No one has really seen her that happy since seeing her on the first day, and even then her smile was never as wide.
"What?" Isaac laughs some more, leaning back into the bunk as Grace clutched her stomach. "He is!"
"Trust me," Grace chuckles, taking her notebook back from him and flipping it to a blank page. "I know he is."
Grace moves so her back is against the wall behind the bed, pulling her legs up slightly and laying her sketchbook on it. "Sit up and smile," Grace instructs Isaac. He frowns in confusion.
"What?"
"Come on, just do it," Grace laughs. He does as he's told, his brows still furrowed but he now has a small smile on his face. He pulls his long legs into the bed with some difficulty, Grace biting her lip and stifling a laugh as she watched him struggle, and then he sat cross legged on the bed in front of her. "Now was that so hard?"
He sends her a playful glare. "Shut up. What exactly am I doing right now? My legs are already cramping up, Gracey."
"Gracey?" Grace questions, her brows furrowing. "Did Miller tell you that nickname?"
"Yep," he grins. "I figured since you get to call me Ikey, I get to call you Gracey."
"Touché."
Isaac chuckles. "Now, care to explain, Gracey?"
"Well, Ikey, I'm going to draw you," Grace smirks. Isaac raises a brow at the girl.
"Why?" He asks curiously.
Grace shrugs her shoulders mindlessly. "Because, Isaac Byrne, you're my friend now. No, you don't have a choice. Now, shut up and relax. And smile!"
"Whatever you say. . . Gracey."
"Oh my god, I'm going to kill Miller."
✦
There was always those raging fantods that buried themselves deep inside of Grace's stomach when she did something she knows she shouldn't be doing. As of right now; aiding and abetting the breaking into of Dante Wallace's office.
Miller stood off to the side, peering around the corner in case anyone went by. Both Jasper and Grace stood a few feet behind him, Jasper with his hands stuffed into his pockets and Grace with her arms over her chest. Monty and Harper stood in front of the electronically controlled lock outside of Dante's office, Monty trying to break in without setting off any alarms.
The little buzz of something happening with the lock is what makes both Grace and Jasper turn around, Jasper talking quietly and quickly, "today, Monty."
Sucking in a breath, Grace returned her attention to the corner Miller stood in front of, just waiting for someone to come around and catch them. She was readying herself to lunge at them had anything occurred.
"I'm going as fast as I can," Monty mutters, his eyes on the device in front of him. A strange sense of nostalgia fills the redhead, remembering the familiar sight from when she used to watch Monty in the dropship. She doesn't notice the small smile that came across her face at the thought.
"Relax," Jasper tells Miller, taking Grace's attention from Monty. "Maya's decontaminating the surveillance room. No one's watching."
"We got this," Grace sends Miller a reassuring look. She felt she could trust Maya and Isaac, who was currently guarding the hall leading to the surveillance room so no one found Maya, especially after everything they had done for them. Besides, Jasper trusts Maya, Miller trusts Isaac and Grace trusts her friends. Her gaze drifts towards the door her two friends were still trying to get open, chewing on her bottom lip nervously. "If we can get that damn door open."
Another moment of silence passes before the small beep of the lock opening causes Monty to turn around and send the others a small smirk. "Ye of little faith."
A sigh of relief passes Grace's lips as Jasper grins. "That's my boy. Come on, let's move."
Jasper, Miller, and Grace move into the office first. Harper is quick to follow, then Monty who closes the door behind them all. They all stare around the office with intrigued expressions, except for Grace who immediately heads towards Dante's desk. She had already seen the paints and canvases— a standard armamentarium for an artist. If there was anything in that room, it was in that desk. She finally had her chance to snoop, and it felt way more satisfying than it should have.
"Harper, watch the hall," Jasper demands, quietly. Grace let's out a low whistle. Harper was not going to like that.
Much like Grace has guessed, Harper sent Jasper and annoyed look. "Why do I have to watch the hall?"
"Monty's good with computers. Miller's a thief. Grace . . . Grace just scares me," Jasper explains.
Unimpressed, Harper turns to send Grace a disbelieving look, Grace shrugs and returns her attention towards the computer in front of her. "Why can't you watch the hall?"
"I'm the mastermind," Jasper sends her a goofy grin. Seeing that she still wasn't moving, Jasper lets out a sighs. "Just go watch the hall. Come on."
Harper rolls her eyes, turning around and disappearing out of the door silently. Grace keeps her fingers hovering only above the things on the desk as to not move it around. If Dante even suspected they had all been in there, she wasn't sure what he would do.
"What do we have here?" Monty mumbles, completely entranced with the old computer in front of him. Grace smiles softly at his nerdiness, that soft smile returning to her face again. He opens the top of the computer, catching Jasper and Miller's attention.
A small passes Grace's lips when she sees what come up on the screen when Monty begins typing. "It's password protected? Seriously? What the hell does the old man have to hide?"
"Everything," Miller mutters in return, ducking back down to continue snooping around in his desk.
Monty types a few quick things, a small side bar showing up as a result. He turns back to send his two friends a determined look. "We'll see about that."
Jasper pats his back, leaning forward with a small grin. "And they said we wouldn't amount to anything."
✦
Grace kept her eyes on the computer in front of her and Monty. She wasn't much help anywhere at the moment, so she had just decided to stare in confusion at the abstruse material in front of her. None of it made any sense to her, not like it did to Monty, and she couldn't help but think about Raven and Avalon. Both of them would have understood this perfectly.
Avalon had always been interested in becoming a mechanic since a young age, which funny enough, was by total accident. Her interest in the machines of The Ark was mostly because of how she could never leave the complex to learn about them, but the interest peaked at it's highest point when Grace had accidentally brought a book home with her. It was something about the ventilation systems on The Ark, which Grace had been assigned to learn about for school, and Avalon had decided she would grab the book and have Grace read it out to her.
"Please, please, please, Gracey? You know I've always wanted to learn about them and I'll never get this chance again," the little girl pleaded. Grace bit her lip nervously as she stared down at the four year old. She was so young and she definitely would never be able to retain all of the information in future, and probably never need it, but Grace was a sucker for those puppy dog eyes and that adorable little pout.
"Fine," Grace mutters, ignoring her mothers knowing smile from where she sat on the couch with her attention on the two. "But I will have to return it before people become too suspicious, okay?"
"Thank you, Gracey," Avalon throws her arms around the girl with a delighted smile. Grace Parker sighed, holding her close to her chest. She wasn't sure what she would ever do if her sister was caught and sent to jail. She just hoped it never came to that.
A nudge to the side from Miller brought Grace out of her thoughts. Her head whips towards him, taking in how his brows were furrowed in concern. She sends him a soft smile to assure him she was okay, then glances over at Jasper who had situated himself in front of a sword of some type.
"Yes," he hisses out, moving to pick up the sword in his hands. He gasps, turning to his three friends. "Guys," the others look up at him in confusion, catching sight of the item in his hands. "Ah!"
Grace shakes her head in amusement at the boy. He really was something, wasn't he? Such a dork.
Monty continues typing and Miller continues searching for . . . well, Grace was sure he knew what he was looking for anyways. Grace bites her lip, turning around to face a unique looking painting. It was of the ground, a valley of flowers or something. Grace wasn't really sure in the dim lighting.
"Hey, I found something," Miller mumbles, once again catching Grace's attention.
"Me, too," Monty says. "Damn, I'm good."
Jasper jogs over and Grace turns back around. Monty types a little bit more, a couple of pictures showing up on the screen. Men and women wearing clothing Grace had only seen on The Ark and from her people stood around some sort of fence. They seemed to be billowing around mindlessly, like no one was in charge or the person in charge was either dead or had left the camp. With one quick swipe of her eyes, Grace didn't notice anyone of importance to her.
"They're alive."
Grace nods her head and steps back. "Okay. We have proof now, someone is alive and in charge of these people. Someone has to be looking for us and I bet my life on the fact that Clarke found this station. She has to be coming for us with the others."
"We don't know if any more of our friends are alive out there, Grace. These might just survivors of The Ark— which I'm really confused about because last time I checked, they all ran out of oxygen," Miller comments.
Grace straightens up slightly, sending the three boys a determined look. "These are just a few of the pictures they took. Our friends could still be out here. Clarke has to be coming. She has to be."
"I hope you're right," Monty sighs. "President Wallace has to be planning something far worse than blood transfusions. Let's just hope someone gets in here before they realize what other things they can get from us."
"We should go," Grace nods her head and steps back. "Maya has to be finishing up soon. We need to get back before anyone realizes we're gone."
"Okay, just let me finish up here," Monty begins typing again. Grace assumes he's removing any trace of him ever being there, so she just walks across the room to open the door with slight precaution. She can't hear Harper's feet on the floor, so naturally she makes her way to the wall to peer around the corner where Harper went to keep watch. She makes no sound at all, using her talents to move with legerity across the cement floors.
She leans her head out into the open, frowning in confusion when she didn't see the blonde waiting. Had she already gone back? No, she wouldn't have left them defenceless. Unless she had heard them starting to leave and just left before them?
An indescribable fear built up in her stomach as she realized something must have gone terribly wrong. She turns to the office just as her friends walk out of the door and Monty began fixing it. "Harper must have gone back already, she's not here."
Grace could tell her friends were feeling the same way she was; terrified that their hadn't really gone back and that someone had taken her. For now, all they could do was hope Harper had gotten back safely and wait to see if she was gone tomorrow. Grace lets out a shaky breath. "Keep an eye out for her. I'm sure she's fine."
Grace had a feeling she definitely wasn't fine.
✦
Jasper and Grace walk into the dorms the next day with tight smiles. They find Miller and Monty sitting on a bunk a little ways away from the door and immediately make their way over to them. They had both kept a close eye out for Harper, but nobody has seen her. The worry in Grace's stomach was growing.
"Guys," Jasper whispers to get their attention. When they both look up, he swallows thickly and Grace bites her lip. "Harper didn't show for breakfast. You seen her?"
"Not since Dante's office."
A pause that is filled with tension. They all share knowing looks.
"So where the hell is she?" Monty whispers.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Why does this always happen? Literally, Grace just needs to start kicking ass and taking names. They would definitely get out of Mount Weather a hell of a lot faster.
Anyways! Here's your QOTD: do you think Grace Parker will even make it out of Mount Weather? Remember there is a great possibility she doesn't, especially now with her snooping around and concern only for her friends and not for herself.
Vote, comment, and may we meet again.
Gif | Grace talking to Issac about the drawing of Bellamy on Unity Day