M O U N T
W E A T H E R
O R B U S T
GROWING UP INSIDE A HUNK OF space junk, Lilly had never climbed a tree. So, naturally, while other delinquents were starting to calm down from their excitement high, the brunette was looking for a tree with low enough branches so she could attempt the one thing she'd wanted to do her whole life. Most of the trees were covered in moss, tall, and their first branches were much too high for her to reach. The only one she'd found where she actually managed to touch the lowest branch-on her tiptoes, of course-was far enough away from the dropship that she was sure she wouldn't be bothered, but close enough that they'd hear her if she suddenly fell and broke her leg or something. Lilly had to look around for a while before she realized there was no way she'd be able to climb it without going back to the dropship.
"I'll be back," she muttered to the tree's large trunk, patting the mossy bark longingly. She wandered back toward the dropship, finding a few of her peers sitting on old crates. "Can I borrow one of those for a minute?" She asked as she approached.
"Uh, why?" One of the guys said.
"I'm trying to climb a tree." Lilly said this in a tone that made her words appear normal. Like everyone should be trying to climb the trees surrounding them.
One of the two girls sitting on these crates let out a bark of laughter, making Lilly glare at her. "You're joking, right?" She asked, seriously believing the brunette had been joking.
"No, actually. There's a tree over there-," Lilly jutted her thumb behind her, "-and I can barely touch it on my tiptoes, so I'd appreciate it if you let me borrow one of these crates." She dropped her arm back to her side, glancing over the faces of those in front of her expectantly.
After her explanation the girl who thought she'd been joking stood up. "You can borrow mine."
"Thanks," Lilly smiled, her face brightening as she did. The two girls walked out into the forest while her group called after her. "I just need it to get up, then you can go back to your friends." The other girl nodded. They arrived back at the tree and she set the crate at the base of the tree. "My name is Lilly, by the way."
"Rena," the other girl greeted, and the two of them shook hands.
"Nice to meet you, Rena, and thanks for lending me your crate."
"Anytime." Rena responded, watching Lilly climb on top of the box, reaching up and, eventually, climbing onto the first branch. "Enjoy your tree climbing." Both girls waved and Rena walked back to her friends.
Lilly leaned her back against the trunk of the tree, staring upward toward the sky. It looked beautiful, despite being possibly filled with radiation. It made her think of her Grandma Vera, her dad's mother. She would love this. Thinking of her grandmother, though, made Lilly sad, no longer full of childish glee, so she stopped thinking about the only person on the Ark she regretted leaving, and started looking for the next highest branch she could easily climb up. Repeating this process a few times, she'd soon climbed at least ten feet above the ground. From her new vantage point, she could see most of the delinquents spotting the dropship's surroundings.
Then a voice brought her attention directly below her. "What the hell are you doing?" Tentatively looking down, trying to keep her balance as she stood on a branch, Lilly saw Bellamy Blake still in a guard's uniform. She hadn't seen it before, but she now realized he also shared the same utility belt. The taser caught her eyes first, even with the distance between them. Her neck muscle twitches at the sight of it. He's not a guard, you're fine, she reminded herself.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" She responds curtly, refocusing her attention and pulling herself up to the next branch.
Her response being both sarcastic and rhetorical, she didn't expect him to actually respond. "You look like you're trying to channel your inner primate." Lilly looked down to see him staring up at her with his head tilted to the side.
"So, I'm a monkey?" She questions, a hint of offense lacing her tone as she successfully climbed atop another branch.
"Hey, you said it, not me." Bellamy raised his hands in mock surrender, smirking up at her. Then, he playfully adds, "You definitely have the look down, that's for sure." Despite the black eye she sported, her messy hair seemed to remind him of a picture he'd seen of an orangutan.
Hugging the trunk tightly, Lilly pointed an accusatory finger down at him. "You're lucky I'm in this tree, otherwise I might just smack you, boy."
"Boy?" Bellamy chuckles, raising an eyebrow. He thought it was funny, even though he was over the age of being called a boy by now. "I have a name, Monkey." Bellamy Blake can't help but pat himself on the back for the clever nickname based on her jumping from branch to branch.
"I know you do, so do I-," Lilly glares down at him, stopping him from what he was surely about to say, "-and, no, it's not 'Monkey.'"
"And what is your name, Monkey?" He used the nickname again, enjoying as he watched her get all flustered. "Or I can keep calling you Monkey, if you prefer that."
"My name is Lilly." The brunette explained through gritted teeth. She thought monkeys were cute, but the way he was using the name made her think it wasn't a compliment. She had to admit, though, with how many people know Clarke and Wells, she was surprised nobody knew her by her face or name. She would remain thankful for this until one of her peers connected the dots and told everyone, but it was baffling.
Bellamy nods, accepting the fact that she wanted to remain on a first name basis rather than share her last name. Though, when he thought about it, she looked awfully familiar. He decided to try asking, "You got a last name, Monkey?"
Lilly tried not to show any emotion at his question as she snapped, "Stop calling me Monkey, and maybe you'll find out." She turns to the next branch up, climbing it with ease.
"You should really stop before you hurt yourself." Bellamy says pointedly.
He watched as Lilly looked down, sizing up the distance between herself and the ground. "I'm only-what? Fifteen feet up? I'm not gonna fall or anything." She shrugged dismissively, reaching for the next branch.
It should be known that when she most needed it, Lilly Kane had no good luck. In fact, most of the time if it weren't for her bad luck, she might have no luck at all. Her pale fingers wrap around the branch, but as she starts to pull herself up, her foot slips and she's left dangling off the tree branch. Hearing Bellamy guffaw below her, she's tempted to drop in hopes of landing on his stupid head. Luck fails her again as her fingers begin to slip. With the act of letting go as an attempt to tighten her grip on the branch, she finds herself dangling by just the one hand. Living on the Ark, there isn't a lot that it's citizens do for strength. Ultimately, this fact led to her remaining hold slipping as she began to fall from the tree.
The landing was almost as lacking in grace as the failure to climb the very branch that betrayed her. Lilly landed harshly on the branch belos. One would think this situation wasn't bad, until they saw her fall once more towards the ground. Thankfully, Bellamy had heard her shriek and caught her in his arms before she hit the ground.
"Ow," she grumbled, looking up at the branch she'd fallen from. A light blush flooded her cheeks as she added, "That was embarrassing."
Bellamy helped her steady herself on her feet, a smirk on his face. "It's becoming clear that Monkey might not be the best nickname for you."
Lilly glared at him, trying to look angry, but she wasn't able to hide her lips twitching into an amused smile. "Maybe not, Freckles."
"Freckles?" He questions, surprised by the nickname. Yes, it was true, he had freckles. He had a lot of them. Lilly would never admit it aloud to anyone, but she actually found them cute. "I like it." He concluded after a moment. "Now, we just need to fix yours."
"I'd rather you didn't." Lilly retorted.
"So, you like me calling you Monkey?" Bellamy smirked, catching her mistake in wording. He knew that she'd meant she didn't want a nickname, but it was still just as enjoyable to watch her face scrunch up in annoyance at the sound of it.
Lilly doesn't respond, instead she crosses her arms over her chest and glares. They stand there for a few moments, both refusing to break the heavy silence. Then, without saying anything still, Lilly moves to step around Bellamy only to have him side step in front of her. "Move," she snaps. With a goofy smile, he does a little wiggle dance. "You know what I mean."
"I wish I could, I really do." His previously goofy smile morphs into a playful smirk as he continues. "But it seems there's something missing. A word perhaps?" Lilly doesn't immediately make the connections so he clarifies, "A please?"
"Please," she seethes venomously, "move, Freckles." He steps away, giving her a clear path back toward the dropship. As Lilly walked away from the tree and Bellamy, she could feel his eyes on her. Approaching the Exodus ship, Lilly easily catches sight of Clarke and Wells speaking to each other next to the hatch. "Hey, Wells. Clarke," she greets as she gets within earshot. Leaning against the hatch, Lilly could feel the tension in the air between them, like she'd interrupted an argument between them. Three guesses what it was about, Lilly thought. Despite the thick air between him and Clarke, Wells gives his friend a big smile. So big that the skin near his eyes crinkle. He wraps Lilly in a friendly side hug, making the brunette's heart sink. It had been three months and things hadn't changed, they probably never would. It's useless, Lilly tells herself.
"I thought you would've gotten floated today." Wells says, looking down at her. "I'm ten times more glad to see you now."
"I'd rather not think about it." Lilly says shortly. Again, she was ready to welcome death, but now with the world around her changed she'd like to experience it first. Wanting to move on, she points to the map on the hatch and asks, "So, what are the current happenings on the Ground?"
Wells drops his arm back to his side and answers, "The situation isn't as upbeat as when we landed, that's for sure."
"They dropped us off on the wrong mountain." Clarke elaborates. "So, I'm using this to figure out where we are." Lilly focuses on the map where Clarke had drawn a line to measure the distance. The blonde pulls her attention as she points to a mountain within view between all the trees. "There's about twenty miles between us and the military base at Mount Weather.
"We've got other problems as well." Wells adds. "I was checking on the communications system—it's dead. A dozen panels are missing. Heat fried the wires during the fall."
"That can be fixed eventually." Lilly said. She could probably do that within a few days with her time in the Engineering Station back on the Ark. Austin Rogers. "For now, all that matters is that we get to Mount Weather and bring back the supplies." Austin Rogers. "Besides, Mount Weather could have a functioning communication system inside. If not, I'm sure I could get what I need to fix ours. It would take a few days, but I could do it." Austin Rogers. The face and name kept pushing its way to the front of her mind as she spoke. Lilly had purposefully stuffed any memory of him into a locked box in the deepest, darkest depths of her brain. Sadly, the thoughts of that evening often snaked their way out.
"Look," Clarke begins as she explains the journey and it's specifics. Wells and Lilly listen carefully and watch the blonde darken the line she'd drawn on the map.
From behind the three of them, Jasper Jordan and Monty Green approach. "Ah, cool map." Jasper says. "They got a bar in this town? I'll buy you a beer." It was obvious that the goggle-wearing boy was attempting to flirt, and Wells didn't like it very much.
"You mind?" He said, his voice uncharacteristically intimidating. Wells gives Jasper a shove, and the latter stumbles back a few steps.
"Hey, hey, hey, hands off him," another voice interjects. Lilly looks to find John Murphy backed by a group of his peers. The group was trying to appear as teenage thugs, but they didn't intimidate Lilly Kane in the slightest. "He's with us."
"Relax," Wells says, putting his hands up in surrender. "We're just trying to figure out where we are." The boy motions to where Lilly and Clarke are still standing over the map.
"We're on the Ground. Is that not good enough for you?" Bellamy quips as he now approaches the group with Octavia beside him. With the scene escalating with the prospect of a fight, other delinquents began to gather around eager to watch. Wells walks closer the Blake siblings and Clarke follows. Lilly hesitates, though. She didn't want to be a bad friend and pretend she didn't care about Wells and Clarke, but she also didn't want it to be easier to connect the dots between their families. For now, she was just going to stand back.
"We need to find Mount Weather." Wells announces. "You heard my father, that has to be our first priority."
"Screw your father." Octavia snaps harshly, her annoyed tone matching her expression. "What? You think you're in charge here? You—," Octavia's gaze flickers to Clarke for a moment, "—and your little princess?"
Wells glanced back at Clarke and simultaneously noticed Lilly was not beside the blonde. The sight made him frown for a moment before he returned his focus back to the Blakes.
Clarke doesn't hesitate before jumping in to explain the situation and reiterating how getting supplies from Mount Weather is priority number one. "—so, if we want to get there before dark, we need to leave. Now."
"I've got a better idea." Bellamy offers. "You two go, find it for us. Let the privileged do hard work for a change!" The delinquents surrounding them begin to chant their exclamations of agreement. The reaction from her peers makes Lilly frown. Bellamy's words make her angry. From their interaction at the tree, she thought he was one of the better people on the Ground. She was obviously wrong.
"You're not listening." Wells continues, trying harder to push the idea of going to Mount Weather. "We all need to go."
Before Lilly can blink, John Murphy pushes Wells from behind. "Look at this, everybody–," Murphy announces, calling attention to what he'd just done, "—the Chancellor of Earth."
"Think that's funny?" Wells retorts. Murphy lunges at Wells again, pushing him back and kicking his ankle. Even at a distance the crack makes Lilly cringe and step toward her best friend in hopes of helping.
"Wells!" Clarke calls out, also moving to help. One of Murphy's thug friends jumps forward and grabs Clarke from behind, halting her from separating the teenage boys. Lilly, filled with anger more than anything now, raises her fist to punch the boy before the other delinquent named John—last name Mbege—grabs her and tugs her back, holding her in place.
"No," Murphy says in front of them, responding to the rhetorical question Wells had asked, "but that was." Wells is able to find a way to his feet, working hard to balance on the limb with an ankle still intact. Lilly and Clarke both continue to struggle against the boys holding them back as Murphy lunges again to throw the first punch, pulling back immediately when he has successfully psyched out Wells.
"Chicken shit!" Lilly calls out angrily, thrashing in Mbege's grip. Murphy looks back at her with an amused smirk, despite the insult.
Turning back to Wells, Murphy motions for the former to take a swing. Wells doesn't get a chance to when, from the top of the dropship, Finn drops down between them. "The kid's got one leg." Finn points out. Wells drops his fists at the sight of Finn the Mediator. "How about you wait until it's a fair fight?"
Even with her view being the back of Murphy's head, she can see him clench his jaw in restraint. His anger seemed to be radiating off of him. He must really be itching to start a fight, Lilly realized, and I'll give him one. Murphy gives a nod to his goons, a silent instruction to release the grip two of them had on Clarke and Lilly.
The brunette watches Murphy pass with a look of pure loathing. Octavia Blake walked towards Finn and said something with a very flirty tone, but Lilly's attention was set on following Murphy so she could deck him in the face a few times. She follows the boy and his little delinquent gang away from the dropship until they stop. She can hear them dissing Wells and, with their backs to her, she struts closer and shoves Murphy from behind. Having not expected the contact, he stumbles forward and he and his group all turn in unison to face the fuming girl.
"What the hell?" He snaps loudly, walking closer. As he gets within punching range, Lilly takes notice of the height difference. There's maybe five inches difference between them, but she was furious and felt those five inches turn in her favor.
"You're an asshole, you know that?" The short brunette spits angrily, shoving him again. This time he was prepared and didn't even budge, but that didn't deter her.
"Oh, yeah?" He challenged, shoving her back. She stumbles a few steps back, not expecting the retaliation. "You—," Murphy jabbed his finger at her, "—are the one who pushed me." Lilly swatted his hand away.
"You deserved it!" She was shouting now as she shoved Murphy once more. Again, he doesn't budge. She'd secretly hoped he'd fall on his ass and make a fool of himself, but he didn't.
"You wanna go, Fun Size?" Murphy puffed his chest, shoving her back again. This time, she expected it and didn't stumble like last time. Around them, another crowd was forming. Smaller than the other one, but they wanted the fight to happen almost as much as Lilly did.
"Yeah, I do!" She shoved him again and raised her fist to punch him, but someone grabbed her from behind and dragged her backwards before she could make contact. "Hey!" She screeches, turning her head to see Finn dragging her away.
"You'd better watch your back!" Murphy shouts after them as Finn let's go and maneuvers the raging brunette away from the almost-fight.
"Ohh, I'm so scared!" Lilly mocked, turning back and sending the boy a few obscene hand gestures. Finn turns her back around, leading them to where Clarke and Wells are talking.
"You shouldn't have done that." Finn states matter-of-factly.
"No, you should've let me hit him. At least once. He deserves it." Lilly crosses her arms over her chest like a pouting toddler, but she doesn't care how childish it makes her look.
Reaching the two people Finn had them headed for, he stuffs his hands in his pockets and asks, "So, Mount Weather, when do we leave?"
"Right now." Clarke answers, standing to face him. She'd been trying to do what she could to fix Wells' ankle, but there wasn't much that she could do. That and, of course, she couldn't stand the tension between them. It was suffocating. "We'll be back tomorrow with food." Clarke says, looking between Wells and Lilly.
"How are the two of you going to carry enough food for a hundred?" Wells asked, his eyes flashing between Clarke and Finn. Lilly knew for a fact that he was feeling jealousy right now, because she was feeling it as well while she watched him pine after Clarke. It's useless, Lilly reminded herself quickly.
Finn looks around, spotting Monty and Jasper nearby. He grabs their shoulders, turning them towards the group. Patting Monty's shoulder, Finn says, "Four of us. Can we go now?" Lilly sees Monty take a bite of a leaf and gives him a curious look to which he shrugs in response.
Clarke nods, only for the group to be stopped by Octavia strolling up to them, Bellamy not far behind her. "Sounds like a party. Make it five." She clasps her hands together, smiling largely.
Lilly wasn't sure what to expect from Bellamy approaching the group, but she's not surprised when he begins to argue with his sister. "Hey," he says, "what the hell are you doing?"
"Going for a walk." Octavia answers vaguely, although Bellamy already knew exactly what she's doing.
"Hey," Clarke says, stepping toward Finn and taking his wristband in her hands. "Were you trying to take this off?"
"Yeah, so?" The boy answers, a hint of confusion lacing his tone.
Clarke jumps into a speech on why nobody should remove the device. "So," the blonde says, putting heavy emphasis on the word, "this wristband transmits your vital signs to the Ark. Take it off, and they'll think you're dead." This information seems to peak Bellamy's interest, as well as Lilly's—though both have a different reason to be interested. A part of Lilly had been wanting to send some kind of message to her dad for a while now. There was no doubt in her mind that if she were to die, he'd somehow find out almost immediately. Although she still loved him and wanted to make him proud, she wanted to make him feel a similar pain to what she'd felt when he walked away from her. Yes, she hadn't made any attempt to speak with him about the events that lead to her arrest, but the sight of him walking away still tore at her heart whenever she thought of it. This could be the perfect way to make him feel that same hurt.
"Should I care?" Finn retorts sarcastically, bringing Lilly back from the depths of her mind.
"Well, I don't know. Do you want the people you love to think you're dead? Do you want them to follow you down here in two months, because they won't if they think we're dying?" There was a moment of silence among the group while everyone processed Clarke's words. "Okay, now let's go." Monty, Finn, and Jasper start off in the direction of Mount Weather. Bellamy reluctantly lets Octavia follow them, and she gives her brother an appreciative peck on the cheek before running after the boys.
Lilly looks at her blonde friend with a serious expression. "Clarke," she says, "I'm coming, too." Clarke doesn't respond as she glances between Wells and the brunette in front of her. "One more person to help, right?" Lilly adds, hoping this would convince her to say yes. She wasn't entirely sure why she was asking, though. Lillian Kane was a strong, independent woman. She killed a man. She spent three months dealing with Ian's bullshit. She didn't need permission to go help her peers collect food from a military base embedded in a mountain. Though, it seemed that ever since they landed, Clarke and Bellamy were the alphas among the delinquents.
"No, come on, Monkey." Speak of the devil, Lilly thought venomously as she turned to look at Bellamy. The freckled Blake sibling steps closer, throwing his arm around Lilly's shoulders and staring down at her with amusement in his brown eyes. "Stay and keep me company."
Lilly glared up at him and pushed his arm off of her shoulders. "I'm fine, thanks." She flashes him a quick sarcastic smile before turning back to her friend while Bellamy seems to get the message and walk away from the trio. "I'd be an extra set of hands, Clarke, come on."
The blonde shakes her head explaining, "I think you should stay here and take care of Wells. With his ankle in this condition," Clarke motions to the boy watching in silence like he wasn't even there, "you're the only other person I trust here to keep everyone, especially Bellamy, in line."
Lilly groaned, but nodded. "I understand. I can't promise anything, but I'll do what I can." She pointed a finger at the blonde and quickly added, "But I'm going on the next trip, whatever that ends up being."
"Yeah, sure." Clarke said dismissively. Looking down at Wells, she spoke one last time before turning and going after the Mount Weather or Bust group who were already out of sight. "You shouldn't have come here, Wells."
Lilly watches Wells watching Clarke leave, not realizing Bellamy stood not too far away, watching her. She plops down beside Wells with a heavy sigh. "This is gonna be a long evening." She said, finally taking her focus away from her best friend and looking down at her boots.
Okay but that tree bit was fun to write. I don't really know how Bellamy-ish it was, but it was adorable so I don't care. This is why it's an AU, my friends. I get to make him as soft as I want whenever I want.
*Bellamy chanting "whatever the hell we want" in the background*
Is it a spoiler if that's in the next chapter? Lol no it's from the show haha
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Words 4381
Published 12th May 2020
Edited TBD