Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I never thought I’d ever be a bridesmaid.”


Bellamy glances up from where he’s ironing his suit jacket to look at his sister. She’s staring at her own reflection, turning left and right to study her profile. She’s dressed in a stunning baby blue dress that a few years ago neither of them thought she would ever own. Bellamy looks down at his own suit and knows the same applies for his outfit of the day. 


“Are you nervous?” He asks Octavia, switching off the iron and making sure his white shirt was neatly tucked in. 


“No,” Octavia laughs, tearing herself away from the mirror to go and lean against Bellamy’s work desk. “Are you?”


“No,” he grins at her. “How’s Clarke feeling?”


“A ball of nerves,” Octavia smiles softly. “I’ll go check on her in a second.” She walks up to Bellamy and straightens his bowtie before adjusting the white flowers arranged in his lapel. “It’s going to be beautiful,” she says softly, wistfully. “I never thought that we’d ever…” She chokes up, tears springing to her eyes. 


“I know,” Bellamy says, squeezing her hand. “Who knew we were meant for beautiful things?” 


“We’ve come really far, haven’t we?” Octavia asks, smiling through her tears. 


“And so much further to explore,” Bellamy pulls her into his arms, carefully not to ruin either of their attires or hair. 


“Knock knock.” They look up to see a familiar grinning face at the door.


“Wells!” Octavia rushes forward and hugs Wells tightly. Wells rubs her back when he hears her sniffle into his shoulder. 


“You okay?” He asks softly, glancing at Bellamy worriedly. The older boy nods reassuringly. 


“Just really happy,” Octavia says, pulling out of the embrace. “It’s good to see you.”


“You too,” Wells says, pressing a kiss into Octavia’s hair. He looks at Bellamy, “you ready?”


Bellamy nods. “How’s Clarke?”


“She’s ready too,” Wells grins. “I can’t believe this is happening.”


“Is your father here?” Octavia asks.


“Yes,” Wells replies. “I swear to god I never thought I’d ever see my father seated comfortably amongst some fifty other mutants.”


The siblings exchange smiles and Octavia squeezes Wells’ arm. “The world is changing.”


“The world is changing,” Wells nods. “But for today, it can wait. We have a wedding to attend.”





Four and a half years before the wedding and four weeks after Cage Wallace was arrested after he kidnapped nine mutants and tortured two of them, Marcus Kane was asked to attend a meeting with Thelonius Jaha and two of his most trusted senators, including Abigail Griffin. Kane decided it would be best for Jacapo Sinclair and Callie Cartwright to accompany him, for they were prominent figures in Ark’s technology and medical fields prior to joining him at the home. 


For the five hours that they are gone, their small group of friends wait anxiously in the living room to hear something.


“I’m sure it’ll be good,” Raven says from her place on the sofa between Lincoln and Jasper. “Otherwise they wouldn’t have been gone so long.”


“It could also mean it’s taken a turn for the worse,” Murphy says from beside the fireplace. 


“Whatever it is, it’s progress enough that Kane was asked for a meeting in the first place,” Miller comments. “No mutant has ever been asked to attend a meeting with even any local news channel, forget the Ark Mayor.”


“And I don’t think Abby would have pushed Kane so hard to attend the meeting if she didn’t think it would be useful for us,” Monty says and Wells nods beside him. 


“I wasn’t privy to the details,” he says, “but I know that my father’s been really troubled since the kidnapping.”


“It took a kidnap and torture case for him to feel troubled?” Octavia says from the sofa across from him, arms crossed defensively. Clarke leans gently into her side and Bellamy sighs softly. 


“We can’t change the past,” Bellamy says. “All we can do is hope for a better tomorrow. And if people like Jaha and Abby are finally on our side, we should accept that graciously.”


“Graciously?” Octavia barks out, sitting up to look at her brother across Clarke.


“Not graciously to them,” Bellamy says. “They were never in the right. They were wrong for turning their backs on mutantkind for so long. We don’t need to be thankful in any way or form to them, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying we should feel gracious towards the universe for giving us this glimmer of hope.”


“I don’t trust them,” Octavia says, slouching back into the sofa. 


“Neither do I,” Raven says. “And we don’t have to. And after everything we’ve all been through, we’re allowed to feel sceptical. But maybe there’s some room for a little bit of hope in there.” 


“This is a good start for us,” Clarke comments softly, reaching out to take Octavia’s hand. “Raven’s right. Being sceptical is fine, safer even- just in case it doesn’t work out. But this is a good place for us to start thinking that maybe tomorrow will treat us more fairly.”


“As resident sceptic, honestly even I feel a bit hopeful,” Murphy says and some of the others nod along. “I- I trust Abby.” Octavia barks out a hateful laugh while the others look at him in surprise. “No, seriously. I don’t forgive her for abandoning Clarke,” he looks at Clarke and she smiles softly at him, “but for the last four weeks, she’s been fighting tooth and nail for us to be treated fairly.”


“She was key in making sure Cage Wallace got what he deserved,” Jasper chips in. 


“And when she isn’t in meetings with other senators and Jaha, she’s here talking to our students,” Lincoln says. “That’s a lot more than anybody else from the outside has ever done for us.”


“What has she been asking students?” Octavia asks, and Bellamy isn’t surprised that his sister doesn’t know yet. Abby had been actively avoiding his sister, and he can’t blame her for it. Even though he knows she is trying her best with all of them, Octavia has refused to acknowledge her efforts. She remains cold and angry and ready to hurl her true feelings at Abby as soon as they cross paths. Bellamy can’t fault her for her feelings, but he also can’t fault Abby for staying out her way. He’s angry too, about what Abby did to Clarke, but he can’t entirely ignore her efforts to make up for it. 


“Just about where they’re from, why they’re at the home, their experiences in the outside world,” Monty says. “She’s sensitive and kind about it all. Not what I was expecting honestly.”


“Me neither,” Raven says. “I don’t like the woman but I can see that she’s trying.”


“Is Kane back yet?” They turn to the doorway to see Harper walk through with Madi by her side. 


“Not yet,” Jasper answers, closest to the doorway. He grins and waves at Madi, who smiles shyly back at him. Her eyes sweep the room and as soon as they land on Clarke, her face lights up. Clarke waves her over and she goes quickly. Clarke pulls her onto her lap and wraps her arms around her waist, and Madi goes willingly, leaning back comfortably into Clarke’s chest. 


Bellamy shares a smile with Clarke as she cuddles closer to the young girl. A small part of Bellamy aches to reach out and brush his fingers against Clarke’s cheek because in this situation, with Madi switching off Clarke’s powers, he can. But he doesn’t. Because he and Clarke had discussed it and agreed (very quickly, easily and comfortably) that they would never take advantage of Madi’s powers. They wouldn’t do it without her consent, not even the smallest brush of skin, and they would definitely never ask it of her. 


From the little Madi has opened up to Harper and Clarke, they know that she has been through hell since her earliest memories. Her parents, both mutants, were killed, she tells them. She was taken by their murderers and put in a remote medical facility, not Cage’s but similar. “Do you remember what they did?” Harper had asked softly, kindly. “Experiments,” Madi had murmured back. And then two years ago, Cage had taken her and the experiments had continued as he tried to exploit her for a mutant cure. “No one will ever hurt you again, Madi,” Clarke had said firmly. And since that moment, Madi had stuck by Clarke’s side, almost as if Clarke had made the personal promise of being her protector. That night Clarke had told Bellamy that she would be exactly that.


The next day they talked about it and it required little discussion that the exploitation of Madi’s powers ended the day they rescued her from Cage’s facility. Clarke had tried to apologise to Bellamy, that their only solution to her “problem” could never be touched. Bellamy had responded firmly and strictly, “There’s nothing to apologise for. This is as much my decision as it is yours. And don’t you ever call your abilities a problem again.” 


The front door opens and all their eyes fly to the three people who enter. Kane walks through the door first, followed by Callie and then Sinclair. They look exhausted and Raven, Jasper and Lincoln clear their sofa to allow their three Professors to drop into their places.


And while Kane had thought there would be a barrage of questions the moment they returned, he is instead met with silence loaded with anticipation and anxiety. 


“Well?” Raven finally asks after a few seconds of silence. But there are traces of smiles on Callie and Sinclair’s tired faces, which makes the students hold their breaths with hope. 


“The Care of Mutantkind,” Kane says and he looks like he is fighting tears. 


“What’s that?” Wells asks the question for them all. 


Kane sucks in a deep and steadying breath through his nose before answering. “The Care of Mutantkind bill will make it illegal to discriminate against mutants in health care.” Callie pitches forward, face burying into her hands and they hear their Professor choke out a sob. 


“Professor?” Jasper asks, perching beside her and hesitatingly placing his hand on her back. 


“Isn’t that a good thing?” Bellamy asks as Callie’s shoulders shake with sobs. 


“Yes,” she lifts her face to look at them and they see that she is smiling through her tears. “Yes, yes, yes.” 


Tears slip down Clarke’s cheeks and when Bellamy looks around the room, he sees all his friends look equally emotional.


“It’s historical,” Kane says, swiping at his own eyes. “It’s the first bill that will ever be proposed to aid Mutantkind in our country.”


“Who’s proposing it?” Clarke asks.


“Thelonius,” Kane answers, turning to look at Wells. “Thank you.”


“What for?” Wells asks, shaking his head.


“I know you had a big hand in convincing your father to go through with the meeting today. To invite us and to simply listen to what we had to say,” Kane responds. “This couldn’t have happened without the allyship you have offered us since the day you entered our lives.”


“Nonsense,” Wells says. “It was nothing.” Bellamy happens to glance in Raven’s direction, which allows him to catch her eyes shining for the boy. 


“It was everything,” Callie says. “Because of today’s meeting, because you convinced your father to call us, we were able to convince him that this was a cause worth fighting for.”


“And we couldn’t have done it without Abby,” Sinclair says, looking at Clarke. “She… my god, she really came through for us.”


“She had an entire file of notes from interviews collected from the students here,” Kane says. “Personal accounts about the horrors, big and small, that mutants face outside these walls.” 


“I know that the onus shouldn’t be on mutants to explain why we deserve basic human rights,” Callie says. “We shouldn’t have to fight for equality and justice, not when it’s our birthright. But progress has to start somewhere. And I’m really proud that it starts with us. All of us. Right here.” She looks at everyone in the room. “The fight will be long and hard and at times unfair, but I know that we can make it. And I know that the further we go, the more allies we will gain along the way- non-mutant allies, and soon it won’t just be our fight. It won’t just be a mutant fight. It will be a people’s fight.” 


Kane nods and looks as moved by her words as everybody else in the room. 


“How come healthcare?” Monty asks. “It’s an excellent start- but why this of the many things?”


“We have Callie to thank for that,” Kane says. “She went in prepared with a one hour presentation about the difficulties and obstacles mutants face in the healthcare system. We went in with a few different issues, but Callie was able to drive healthcare home.”


“In light of this, however...” Callie starts and this time when her eyes fill up, they are tinted with sadness. “A new hospital wing is going to be opened in Ark General, a department for the care of Mutantkind and… I’ve been asked to lead the set up.”


“Professor, that’s excellent news,” Clarke says.


“But how will you do that and be here with us?” Jasper asks, but everyone in the room already knows her response as a heavy silence settles upon them.


“I won’t,” she finally answers, tears slipping down her cheeks. “I will be resigning my post here to join the hospital full time.” She turns to Kane, who smiles through his own wet eyes. She reaches out to hold his hand. “I have had the most rewarding twenty years of my life here in this school, this home. And I will always be so grateful for my time here, with all of you.” She turns to her students. “And I wish… I wish that I could give you all more, but-” she breaks off, her voice stuttering with sorrow about leaving her students, her children. She ducks her head, wipes her eyes with the sleeve at her wrist. 


“Professor,” Clarke says and stops to clear her throat of its tightness. Callie looks up. “You have given us everything. Other than being our teacher, you gave us the love and support and care that we all so desperately needed in a family.” She glances around their group and they nod in agreement. “And as much as we would hate for you to leave, the mutants out there need you. They need the Callie Cartwright that we were blessed with for all these years. We are honoured to call you our Professor, because we know that you’re going to help shape the future. But to do that, we have to let you go. But please know that you’re still our family, no matter where you are. And you can be damn sure that we’re still going to call and text when we need the smallest hint of medical advice.”


“Like when I accidentally portal into a doorway and give myself a concussion,” Monty grins.


“Or when I burn myself on a freaking solar blast, because I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the last time,” Murphy says.


“Or when I avalanche something incorrectly and give myself a migraine,” Raven says.


Callie weeps through their words, all the while smiling in awe. “I love you all so much.” Jasper puts his arms around his Professor and hugs her tightly. And before she knows it, she is part of the biggest group hug she’s ever had the pleasure of being part of. 


For the first time since his parents disowned him twenty three years ago, Marcus Kane cries through the entire night. But this time, it is out of sheer relief, happiness and hope.





Clarke struggles with the trauma of her kidnapping. The first week is the toughest, and she spends most of her days under her covers with the curtains drawn shut. But her friends are patient and loving in a way she should have expected but nonetheless feels undeserving of. 


On the first morning after New Years, it’s Octavia who climbs into the bed with her. Clarke reaches for the gloves on her bedside when Octavia enters the room a few hours after Clarke wakes up from a restless night. But Octavia simply shakes her head, whispering, “Don’t worry about that” and climbs into the bed before Clarke has had the chance to grab her gloves. She soon finds out why when she takes in Octavia’s full leggings, turtleneck and gloves. It makes her eyes burn with tears.


“You skipped breakfast,” Octavia says softly, lying on her stomach to face her friend. Clarke nods and can’t find the strength to speak. “It’s okay,” Octavia says, fingers finding hers and holding tight. “We can stay here as long as you like.”


Clarke knows that Octavia has a date with Lincoln over lunch. It makes her feel more guilty than she already feels, and the tears well up in her eyes.


“Oh, Clarke,” Octavia whispers, shuffling closer and wiping her gloved knuckles over Clarke’s cheek. “You’re safe now, okay? We’ve got you.” 


They lie like this as the hours stretch past, and even when Octavia’s stomach rumbles for lunch, she remains beside Clarke, idly talking about a new book or film she had seen recently. She never asks Clarke questions, never urges her to respond, and Clarke feels overwhelmed with gratitude for the girl beside her. 


Raven enters the room a little after lunch holding a tray laden with food. She places it on Clarke’s desk before turning to the window and opening one of the curtains, the one further away from where Clarke is. A little bit of sunlight streams through the room, not enough to startle Clarke or even make her blink through the brightness, just enough that they can see each other a little bit better. 


“Hungry?” Raven asks softly and Clarke sniffs through a blocked nose and nods. Octavia helps Clarke into a seated position and Raven places the tray on Octavia’s lap. “Some light sandwiches and orange juice. You don’t have to eat if you don’t feel like it. But it might help.” 


“Thank you,” Clarke says, her voice scratchy. She sips the orange juice, her fingers trembling, but her friends are patient and it makes her want to cry all over again. 


Wells asks if he can come in shortly after they finish with lunch. And when the girls are gone and he sits down beside her, she finally falls apart. She pitches into his shoulder and he catches her in a tight embrace as she weeps. Her friends here know her and love her and care for and she returns the sentiments with everything she has and can’t imagine a life without them, but Wells is still different. Wells is… Wells. He’s the boy who’s known her since as far as her memory extends, he’s the boy who’s loved her through kindergarten then school then college. He’s the one who was there with her through every impossible night and every tired morning, the one who was there with her through every victory and every joy, the one she held through his mother’s death and the one who held her through her father’s and then held her some more when their parents started withdrawing from them. And so she knows how to fall apart in front of him in a way that she cannot in front of anybody else in the world. 


He holds her, whispering again and again, “I got you. It’s going to be okay.” 


“I was so scared,” she sobs and he hugs her closer. “I was so scared, Wells.” 


“I know,” he says, rubbing her back. “I can’t imagine what you went through.”


“If it had worked,” she says, trying to stem the tide of tears, “then Mutantkind would be wiped out. And it would have been my fault.” 


“Clarke, no!” Wells says, pulling out of the embrace to grasp her shoulders and look into her eyes. “None of that was or would have been your fault.”


“It was my powers that-”


“Do you blame Madi?” 


“What?”


“It was her ability that would have done the wiping. You were simply the energy source,” Wells says. “If it had worked, would you have blamed Madi?” 


“Of course not,” Clarke says. “She was exploited.”


“So were you,” Wells says. “It’s as simple as that. Your powers were taken advantage of, you were taken advantage of. You were exploited just like she was.”


“She had it much worse,” Clarke says with feeling. 


“The magnitude of her pain doesn’t erase yours,” Wells says firmly. “You are allowed to feel the full extent of your trauma without comparing it to somebody else’s. And Clarke,” his fingers clutch her shoulders, “none of it was either of your faults. I will repeat it over and over and over again until you believe it. Okay?” 


Clarke doesn’t respond, instead flinging herself back into his arms. He holds her and continues to hold her as the hours go by, and promises the universe that he would hold her until she was ready to face the world once more. 





“Good morning, Professor,” Clarke says, closing the door behind her. 


“Good morning, Clarke,” Kane greets back, looking briefly at Clarke to smile before turning his eyes back to the television playing on the wall across from his desk. Clarke turns to her left to look at what Kane’s dedicating his focus to but can already guess what it might be. The school was abuzz with excitement. 


An Ark Times news broadcaster is sitting with her companion and reciting the day’s breaking news- “The very first bill in support of Mutantkind has just been passed in parliament. This historic bill comes just six weeks after ex army general Cage Wallace kidnapped and tortured a group of young mutants in order to enact mass eradication of mutant abilities. While Wallace’s plans were disrupted and the captured mutants saved, it begged several questions about the treatment of Mutantkind in our country and beyond. Ark Mayor Thelonius Jaha proposed in this bill that….”


“I don’t believe it,” Clarke breathes, turning to her Professor. 


“It’s happening,” Kane says, muting the television and turning to his student.


“You asked to see me, Professor?”


“I did,” Kane says, standing up and coming around the table towards her. He stops just in front of her, grasps her upper arms gently. “How are you, Clarke?”


“I’m… recovering,” Clarke says, eyes already stinging. “It’s been rocky but- everyone’s been really kind.”


“You went through a lot,” Kane says. “Take all the time you need to recover, everything else can wait. And we are all here for you, anything you need. Okay?” Clarke lets a tear fall and before she can respond, Kane is holding her in his embrace. She hugs him tightly, suddenly feeling like she was in her father’s arms. When he pulls away, he squeezes her arms lightly. “I’m very proud of you.”


“I’m proud of all of us,” Clarke says, glancing at the television. “Look at how much we’ve achieved. Something great has come from an awful event.”


“Cage Wallace wanted to eradicate mutantkind,” Kane says. “Instead, we got a bill passed in government that will help our people.” 


“That might be a punishment worse than prison for him,” Clarke says, sharing a smile with her headmaster. 


“Professor Cartwright will start supporting the set up of the bill and leading the new hospital wing from next month,” Kane says and something in his eyes tells Clarke that this was why she had been summoned to his office. But she was yet to figure out what this had to do with her. 


“How long will that take?” She asks.


“It could be years before it’s fully functional,” Kane says. 


“So we won’t have an anatomy teacher? Who will run the medical wing?” Clarke asks worriedly. 


“Clarke…” Kane says, hesitating. “Your mother has volunteered to take up Callie’s post.” Clarke’s eyes widen and she feels wholly unprepared for this piece of news. 


“What? What about her post as Senator? She… she doesn’t know much about mutant anatomy,” Clarke stutters. 


“Her six year term is ending soon,” Kane explains. “She plans on stepping down, but she is doing it knowing that the people who are next in line for her position are in support of the bills supporting Mutantkind. She would be leaving her position in good hands. As for her knowledge about mutant anatomy, Callie will put her through intensive training over the next month, and then will work with her part-time to make sure she knows what she’s doing. We’ll have to make some changes in curriculum and Callie will choose a few top students to aid Abby in running the medical wing and classes, but Callie believes that Abby will be able to take over.”


“Oh… that’s- that’s-” she breaks off, turning a weak smile to her Professor, “that’s a lot to take in.”


“I have no doubt,” Kane says, his lips stretching into a serious frown. “The reason I’m sharing this news with you is because I want your approval before we make it official.”


“My approval? What do you mean?”


“Are you okay with your mother joining the school?” Kane asks. “Because if you say that you’re not, we won’t go through with it. We will find another solution.”


“Why me?”


“Because this is your home. And I would never do anything to make your life here uncomfortable. No matter how much she regrets it, Abby forced you out of your own home and into this one. And even though she is going to do everything she can to make it right, your comfort here is more important to me than her’s. So the final decision is yours, Clarke. If you would rather that she doesn’t join our home, all you have to do is say it and I will accept your decision with no judgement and no attempt to change your mind.”


“Professor…” Clarke says softly, feeling undeniably grateful to the man in front of her. The man who had given her, and countless others, a home when they had nowhere else to go. A man who had given them all a family when they had nobody else to turn to. “Thank you for asking me, it means more than you can imagine. But I wouldn’t have a problem with my mother coming here.”


“Are you sure?” 


“Yes,” she says honestly. “I know she’s trying to make it up to me, and I know she’s trying hard. But I don’t think taking over Callie’s post is just her trying to tell me that she’s sorry. This is more- this is her trying to tell us all that she’s sorry- me, you, Callie, my dad. This is her trying to make it up to Mutantkind in a way that would make my dad really proud. And with Callie gone, I know that we’ll need someone like her. So of course I won’t say no.”


“Okay,” Kane says, smiling at her. “It should be interesting, having a member of staff who isn’t a mutant.”


“It’ll take some getting used to- for everyone,” Clarke warns nervously. 


“We’ll make it work,” Kane says firmly. “I know we will.”





“May I… May I sit?” 


Octavia tears her eyes away from the starlit sky and towards the lady standing a short distance away from her, looking almost cautious. Octavia can’t find a fight within her so she simply shrugs, leaning back against the brickwall of the main building behind her. 


After a further moment of hesitation, Abby slides down the wall beside Octavia and sits with her knees close to her chest. She follows Octavia’s line of sight and they stare at the midnight sky in silence that Abby doesn’t attempt to disturb, though the sight of the young girl sitting on the grass alone at one in the morning had worried her. She had changed out of her night clothes, washed the sleep out of her face, and stood by her window considering whether to alert Clarke or Bellamy. She had finally decided to go herself. It had been six months since she had started living in their home. She couldn’t be afraid of Octavia forever. 


“My mother died on this day eight years ago.” 


“I’m sorry for your loss,” Abby says quietly. 


Octavia scoffs, her lips twisting into a mirthless smile. “Don’t be. I sure as hell am not.” Abby is alarmed but doesn’t let it show. She stays quiet. “Not all daughters can forgive their mothers. My mother never cared for us. Bellamy worked six jobs a week so that we could survive, while she just became more of a drunk, never lifting a goddamn finger for her family. She made it harder for us to survive.” Octavia turns her head slightly to look at Abby, a challenge in her eyes. “Still sorry for my loss?” 


Abby is unsure of the right thing to say so she says nothing. Seconds tick by and Abby continues to fight her discomfort at the situation, but she stays. 


“I don’t think you realise how lucky you are to have a daughter like Clarke.” Octavia’s words surprise her, and she wonders whether it’s any use trying to hide her emotions if Octavia is already in her head. Clarke had once assured her that Octavia doesn’t do that, invade people’s privacy. But Abby always wondered whether that rule applied even for people Octavia disliked. 


“I do,” Abby replies softly. 


“No, you don’t,” Octavia says and when her eyes well up, this time Abby is unable to mask her emotions and her lips part in shock. “You don’t realise how lucky you are. I didn’t think it was possible for me to love someone other than my brother. I didn’t trust people, I didn’t believe that anybody could be good. But Clarke? Clarke is the best damn person I’ve ever met.” Tears slip down Octavia’s cheeks and she doesn’t bother wiping them away. “I think… I think that you’re a terrible person for abandoning her. I think you’re a terrible mother and parent and I think that people like that can never make it up to their children for the hurt they caused, not in a million lifetimes.” Abby’s eyes squeeze shut and her own cheeks are wet now. Her heart feels like it is broken but she knows that the hurt she feels is nothing compared to the hurt she has caused and the hurt that children like Octavia have grown up feeling.


Octavia turns to Abby and Abby wants to look away from the younger girl’s tired eyes, but she owes it to her to hold her gaze. The next words out of Octavia’s mouth leave Abby’s heart aching. “Prove me wrong. Please, prove me wrong. Clarke deserves everything you can give to her. I never got that- the chance to believe that mothers can redeem themselves. I never got to wonder whether I deserved my mother’s love, because she never had a second chance to try and love me. Hold Clarke tight and never let her go. Never let her feel like she is less than what she is. And make sure she knows how much you love her every single day and how damn sorry you are. And in doing so, prove me wrong. Can you do that? Tell me you can do that.”


Abby nods jerkily and squeezes her fingers gently around Octavia’s forearm, for both their sakes. She can’t find the words to respond, but the promise is clear to them both. 


Octavia stares at her a moment before turning back to the sky. Abby drops her arm and settles against the brickwall, her heart beating fast. 


For Clarke, the first few weeks of her mother living and working at the school are a bit awkward. But Abby tries to stay out of Clarke’s way, tries to make sure she doesn’t bother her in any way, which Clarke appreciates. But she also knows that her mother is trying hard to make up for her past mistakes, and when Abby suggests that they have lunch once every two weeks, just the two of them, to talk, Clarke makes a decision. She lost her father already, and she finds herself in the position to choose whether she wants to lose her mother too. She chooses not to. Forgiveness doesn’t need to come immediately, it doesn’t need to come easy, and god knows her mother would have to work hard for it, but Clarke knows that it will come. So she agrees to Abby’s lunch proposition, and after the first three lunches, it gets easier and easier. She realises that she no longer minds running into her mother, and occasionally even actively seeks her out. 


It’s six months after Abby joins the school when Clarke knows that she has forgiven her mother. Abby walks into her room after breakfast, looking a bit like she is in a daze. Clarke hadn’t seen her the entire morning, not even taking a walk with Diyoza like she normally did on a Saturday morning, and it worries her a little. 


She sinks into Clarke’s bed wordlessly and Clarke turns in her deskchair to look at her. 


“I was so wrong,” Abby says, her voice low and cracked. “To have asked you to leave, to have asked you to find a solution.” 


Clarke sighs, “I know you’re trying to make up for it.” 


“I don’t know if it will ever be enough,” Abby exhales, lungs polluted with hurt. “Yesterday I was reminded about how lucky I am to have you as a daughter. And you deserved a mother you would feel lucky to have too. I’m sorry I couldn’t be her.” Tears spill onto Abby’s cheeks and Clarke moves to the bed beside her. 


“Mom, you’re trying your best,” Clarke says, hand on her shoulder. “That’s good enough for me.”


“It shouldn’t be!” Abby cries out. “A mother who is just trying her best shouldn’t be good enough for you, Clarke. Not you. You deserve more.”


“Maybe,” Clarke says, though her voice is gentle. “Maybe I do. All the students here do. But that’s not what we got and that’s just the way things are. Sometimes people get less than they deserve, but we still carry forward. But mom, you aren’t part of that less, you-”


“I was wrong, Clarke,” Abby says firmly, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. “I was wrong and you do not have to defend me, you do not have to make me feel better about it. I let you go when I should have held you tighter. Like your father would have done. I failed you both but I am promising you that I will spend the rest of my life making up for it.” 


Clarke stares at her mother, looking as broken as she looked the day her father died. And so she gathers her mother in her arms and hugs her. She doesn’t say it’s okay, she doesn’t offer any further words of comfort, she doesn’t tell her that she forgives her already, she lets her mother weep because perhaps her mother was holding on to the pain as much as she was, except that while Clarke had left home and found a family- her mother had lost the only family she had left and was trying desperately to win it back. Abby deserved the chance to fight for her family, and Clarke deserved to be fought for. 


From that day onwards, Abby doubles- no, triples her efforts to be there for not just Clarke, but all of them. And Clarke notices. Of course she notices. And amongst all the things her mother does to make it up to her, she most appreciates the things she does for her friends. 


Clarke sees it in the little things. She sees it when Abby offers to teach Monty how to play the piano in the living room and his eyes light up while he learns. She sees it in the way Harper and Jasper grin excitedly after they finish baking cupcakes that Abby instructs them through and the three of them emerge from the shared kitchen covered in flour. She sees it in the way Raven stares at Abby after she injures her wrist bone from a misfired tremor and Abby knows exactly how to help her because she had studied extensively from Callie how to help each and every one of them. She sees it in the kind set of Lincoln’s shoulders as he explains to her his love for botany and she listens patiently and accompanies him to the gardens once a week to learn more and lend a hand while doing so. Even Murphy softens through his growing interest in the medical sciences as Abby takes him under her wing, allowing him to assist her in the medbay and later, during lessons for the younger classes. 


And Clarke knows that she tries even harder with Octavia. Octavia, who slowly begins to understand forgiveness. Octavia, who begins to learn that people can change. It takes time, which Abby seems to have no problem with. And it takes patience, which Abby dedicates herself to fully. The first time Clarke sees Octavia smile at Abby is on a Sunday afternoon eight months after Abby joins the school. Bellamy and Abby are engaged in an intense game of chess and when Abby takes his rook and he releases a frustrated huff, Octavia cracks a grin because she’s never seen her brother matched so equally before. Abby glances in their direction and Clarke thinks Octavia’s smile will drop but it doesn’t, and Abby winks at Octavia. 


Abby pops into Clarke’s room a week after that, a yellow cardigan in her hands. Octavia and Clarke are working on an assignment together and they look up when she knocks on the door. 


“Clarke, honey, I’m thinking of replacing this cardigan next week- do you want it?” And Clarke resists furrowing her eyebrows because her mother knows that Clarke dislikes this particular cardigan, always insisting that the color clashes with her hair. 


“No, thanks,” she simply responds and then understands her mother’s angle with her next, more hesitant question.


“Octavia? Would you like it?” Octavia’s breath catches, only for a moment, only very quietly. Clarke waits breath-held for Octavia’s response. And it’s clearly an internal battle for the other girl, who stares between the cardigan and Abby. 


“It would look really good on you,” Clarke encourages quietly with a smile.


“Are- are you sure?” Octavia finally replies and Abby nods nonchalantly, as if this whole situation isn’t a very big deal, but all three of them know that it is. “Um, yeah, okay, sure. If you’re going to throw it out anyway.” 


Octavia doesn’t wear the cardigan in public for the first two weeks and Clarke asks Bellamy about it. He smiles at her reassuringly and says, “She wears it in our room. She loves it, Clarke. It means a lot to her- and I think that’s what scares her. Our mom never passed on anything to her- so I think she’s having a bit of a war with her past.” 


“Do you think she’ll be okay?” Clarke asks worriedly.


“I think she’s going to be just fine,” Bellamy says, hugging her into his side. She rests her head on his chest. Bellamy is right. And Clarke watches her friends soften and grow and find out what it’s like to forgive someone who represents to all of them a parent who has wronged them. 


And with it, she sees her mother change. She sees the hard lines in her face get replaced by affectionate smiles and twinkling eyes. She sees her mother look like she did before her father died, young and gentle and quietly hopeful. She sees first hand how people help people heal from things they don’t realise they need healing from.





Clarke receives a visitor six weeks after the Care of Mutantkind bill is passed, twelve weeks after they were kidnapped by Cage. As Murphy leads the visitor to their kitchen, he begins to worry that this wasn’t the best decision- allowing this visitor to be here. He knows who she is, what had happened, and how much pain this part of Clarke’s past carries.


“Everything okay?” Clarke asks when Murphy walks into the kitchen.


“You have a visitor,” he says and the edge in his voice makes her stand up with her eyebrows furrowed. 


“Who is it?” Clarke prompts. Murphy steps aside and ushers the person outside into the doorway. Clarke’s breath catches and anxiety pumps through her heart. 


“Niylah?” Clarke whispers. 


“Hi, Clarke,” Niylah responds, offering her a nervous smile. It’s been almost a year since Clarke saw Niylah last, lying comatose in a hospital bed. Her blonde hair is longer, tied into a braid over her shoulder. Her angular cheeks and thin lips remain pulled into a hesitant smile and her blue eyes are soft. 


“Wh-What are you doing here?” Clarke stutters and Octavia reaches up from her seated position beside her to grasp her friend’s hand.


“I was wondering if you wanted to talk?” Niylah asks. “It’s totally fine if you don’t. I should have texted or something before showing up. But it was a little hard to predict when I could run away from home without being seen.”


“How- how did you find us? How did you get here?” Clarke asks, heart thundering. She felt like she was in a dream. Or a nightmare. She wasn’t sure yet. 


“I went to Wells and it took some convincing but he agreed to drive me here,” Niylah says. At this, Clarke’s heart calms a bit. If Wells allowed Niylah to come here, perhaps it was for a good reason. “Can we talk?” 


“Um- yeah, yeah of course,” Clarke says. She glances at Octavia and Bellamy and then Murphy and the siblings stand up.


“We’ll be outside if you need us,” Bellamy says softly, squeezing her shoulder. Octavia’s fingers tighten around hers briefly before letting go. They leave the kitchen and Clarke has no doubt that they would be sitting in the corridor right outside until her conversation was over. Just in case.


Niylah approaches the kitchen table and Clarke gestures to the seat across from her and they sit down, both looking as nervous as the other.


“I’m sorry.” Clarke is startled to find that she isn’t the only one who spoke. 


“Niylah, what are you sorry for?” Clarke asks. She swallows hard before saying, “I’m the one who put you in a coma.”


“That was an accident,” Niylah says, frowning. “You didn’t mean to do that.”


“Niylah, you were unconscious for almost two weeks,” Clarke says. “I did that to you.”


“It’s not like you knew it would happen,” Niylah says, and her frown flips into a slightly amused smile. “It had never happened before while kissing.” Clarke breathes out a laugh, ducking her head. Niylah then turns serious once more, “Clarke, I never blamed you for what happened. Never. You were- are- one of the best people I know in my life and I knew that whatever happened, it had to have been an accident. But by the time I woke up, everything was moving so quickly. My parents were threatening to file a lawsuit, your mother was being questioned, nobody was telling me anything about where you were. It was- it was all just happening so suddenly and I didn’t have any time to process any of it. And then the next thing I knew, my parents said you were going away somewhere and wouldn’t be returning. I didn’t- I didn’t understand what was happening and nobody had any answers for me.”


“I’m still really sorry,” Clarke whispers.


“I know,” Niylah says, her smile warm. “And I forgave you almost as soon as I found out what happened. It’s me who should be apologising for more recent events.”


“What are you talking about?” Clarke asks.


“My father was the one who told Cage about your powers,” Niylah says, eyes downcast and shameful. “I don’t know what his intentions were… whether he knew what Cage was looking to do. But it’s his fault that Cage found out, it’s his fault that Cage took you and your friends and hurt you. I only found out after the bill passed, after Cage’s whole story was in the news- what he did to you and the little girl. My father made a comment and… I just… I had no idea… I- I’m so sorry, Clarke.”


Clarke is silent, Niylah’s confession running through her mind. Whatever Niylah’s father’s intentions were, however, there was no doubt in her mind about Niylah’s place in the situation. 


“You have nothing to apologise for,” Clarke says, reaching out across the table. Niylah meets her halfway, bare fingers curling around Clarke’s gloved hand. “You had nothing to do with your father’s actions, nor his intentions.”


“Maybe if I had been clearer about my support for you, despite what happened, maybe he wouldn’t have-”


“Niylah,” Clarke interjects gently. “I don’t think there’s anything you could have done to change what happened. You shouldn’t shoulder that kind of weight. How about we both stop apologising for things that weren’t our fault?” She smiles timidly and Niylah returns it, nodding. “I’m really glad you came to see me.”


“Me too,” Niylah says, fingers tight around Clarke’s. “How are you? How is your life here? Your friends seem to really care about you, even the scary guy who showed me the way here.”


Clarke chuckles. “That’s Murphy. He takes some getting used to, but he cares deeply for his friends. They all do.” She shrugs a shoulder in a softly happy manner. “I love it here. I’m sad about why it happened, but I’m glad that I found this place. I’m glad I found these people, people like me who… who understand. They’re my family now, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”


“I’m really glad, Clarke,” Niylah says. “And I’m really glad about the bill that passed. I hope it’s only the first of many.”


“Me too,” Clarke smiles. 


“Whatever happens, you have an ally in me,” Niylah replies and Clarke’s eyes sting. “Whatever you need, any of you, you’ve got me in your corner.”


And Clarke thinks about Callie’s speech after they had returned from their meeting with Jaha, how she had said that the fight would slowly not be just theirs to shoulder, that they would gather allies who aren’t mutants, allies who would fight for them as fiercely as they would fight for themselves. And she looks at Niylah and thinks- this, this is how that begins.





The mutant protection task force is assembled in March, once they have recovered from Cage’s attack, once he is behind bars, once their first bill is passed. Kane calls a meeting with their close knit group of friends and once they know what their responsibilities are, they slowly begin taking to the streets. 


Being the one with the most experience out on the streets, Indra leads the task force, Lincoln as her second. Their trip always begins with Kane linking up to Cerebro, which Raven and Sinclair have powered up significantly in order for Kane to be able to scout the cities telepathically and identify any mutants in need. Once they pinpoint said mutant, a pair or group of them are deployed to go and find the mutant and find out what they can and on an urgent basis, bring them to their home on the same trip. Often the trips are straightforward, but more often are they complicated. Sometimes the mutants fight back in fear, sometimes their families threaten to call the police, sometimes the police are called, and sometimes they fail to reach the mutant at all. It can be as rewarding as it is heart-breaking, and every time the team return after a failed mission without an abandoned mutant in tow, the frustration and fear lies heavy upon all their shoulders.


But they never give up, they keep fighting- just like Kane did for all of them, just like Indra constantly teaches them to. They occasionally find allies on the outside, people who become their ears and eyes in the cities- doctors in hospitals, police on patrol, teachers from different schools, even a taxi driver or two who promise to keep their eyes open. They aren’t always mutants, which gives them hope for a better, more unified tomorrow. 


As the months go by, the task force gains new members within the school. Gina joins a few months in, but has a role more similar to Harper- the after-care of the students they bring in from the cities. Kane, Callie and Abby train Harper and Gina thoroughly, making sure they have all the tools and sensitivity to deal with the new recruits. After a year working on the streets with the others, Monty opts to join the girls in the after-care, the fights proving to be too much for him. 


Some who join the school in the years that follow make a quick connection with their ever-growing group of friends. There’s Emori, who they find living alone in an abandoned train station, fighting and fending for herself since she was a child. She admits to stealing and stabbing her way through the last eighteen years of her life. But where they expect her to be violent and withdrawn, she is kind and gentle, but her fighting and surviving capability must never be underestimated. Her gift is detecting and identifying the abilities and power levels of other mutants simply by being in their presence. Raven quips that her true gift is her ability to make Murphy behave like a decent human being. Murphy grumbles and glares at this, but he silently agrees, having fallen very fast and very hard for the girl. 


Then there’s Echo, who was rescued from an underground mutant fighting ring. She has a sonic scream powerful enough to shatter all the windows across the school, and the students once watched in wide-eyed shock as she pinned Diyoza to the mat in a hand-to-hand combat session. Diyoza had expected to emerge victorious, as she always did in her quick sessions with her students, and as she lay on her back absolutely winded, she took a moment to register exactly what had happened. Echo hadn’t offered an apology but she had held out a hand to help her new Professor up. Later that week, after suffering from slightly bruised pride, she had asked Echo if she would consider assisting her with the defense classes. Echo had never been asked to help others or teach them what she knew, always keeping her own skills a closely guarded secret because her survival depended on it. But she agrees anyway, and soon realises that this is how she wanted to take advantage of her turbulent past, by helping others rise. And when Diyoza returns to Shallow Valley to be with her ill mother for a year, Echo takes over her classes. The students realise that they are as afraid of their new teacher as they were of Diyoza. Echo plans to keep it that way.


As more bills protecting mutants are passed in parliament, the task force finds that their job gets easier. With mutants slowly having better access to healthcare, housing, education and employment, they find fewer and fewer mutants on the street who require their help or a new home. The progress is slow, very slow, and takes decades- but it gets better, and with every passing year, their team returns home from trips with fewer mutants in tow. And when that happens, it is with smiles on their faces and not heavy hearts. Because their school and home is now not the only place for mutants to turn to for better lives.





Madi realises quite quickly, within the first month of being at Marcus Kane’s Home for the Gifted, the effect she has on the girl who has been looking out for her, Clarke Griffin. She finds out that Clarke stole her powers for Cage Wallace’s machine, she finds out immediately after that she never had a choice in the matter. 


It’s during the third week at the school that Madi leans up to peck Clarke on the cheek. She means it to be quick and slight, because she isn’t used to receiving affection, let alone giving it to others. But Clarke had prepared a small picnic for the three of them, including Harper, by the lake, and it’s the very first time that Madi can remember where she feels completely safe. Happy too, of course, but specifically safe. It is not a feeling she is used to, it is not a feeling she ever thought she would experience, not after everything she’s been through. She had given up on the dream of ever knowing kindness, but the two girls beside her were showing her that perhaps it was okay to start dreaming again. 


So she expresses her gratitude not through words but through her actions. Her fingers close around Clarke’s arm and she rises up from her seated position on the blanket to press her lips swiftly to Clarke’s cheek. Clarke doesn’t see it coming, and as soon as Madi makes contact, Clarke jerks backwards as if she has been burnt. Her eyes are blown wide and her breath seems stuck in her throat and Harper gasps softly behind her. Madi doesn’t understand. Clarke raises her hand slowly to brush her fingertips against her cheek, just over the place Madi kissed her. And then after a few moments of heavy silence, where Madi begins to grow nervous and opens her mouth to stutter out an apology, Clarke exhales through a watery smile. Madi hears Harper also breathe out and laugh gently behind her. 


“Did- did I do something wrong?” Madi asks.


“No!” Clarke says, her gloved hand closing around Madi’s upper arm tenderly. “No, of course not. I was just… I was just surprised.” She doesn’t offer any further explanation and Madi doesn’t ask. But from that moment on, she watches and learns. Watches how the boy who loves Clarke always slips on gloves before touching her cheek and learns that it is because he cannot touch her skin with his. Watches how easily the boy whose name she learns is Bellamy kisses his sister’s forehead but the most he does with Clarke is kiss her gloved hands. She watches him in particular because he is the most affectionate with her, because he seems to touch her the most. But she learns that their touches are limited, always separated by a layer of fabric. 


And so Madi understands why she is different from everybody else, why her powers give her an unexpected advantage in loving Clarke. And so she slowly begins kissing Clarke on the cheek as often as she can, in hellos and goodbyes, in good mornings and goodnights. And every time she does, she sees Clarke’s eyes widen a fraction before softening and shining. And every time she does, Clarke grows more used to Madi’s touch. Madi works her way into doing more, grasping her bare wrist with her fingers or pressing her palm against the back of Clarke’s neck whenever she hugs her. Eventually, Clarke’s eyes stop widening with initial shock, but her eyes continue to shine, and her lips still smile, every single time. 


Clarke sits her down in the third month that they know each other, long after Madi has decided she loves Clarke fiercely. She touches a gloved hand to Madi’s knee and says, “I don’t want you to feel like you have to make contact with my skin to make me happy.” Because of course Clarke notices that she’s doing it actively, Clarke notices everything. 


“I’m not,” Madi replies. “I’m doing it because I want to.”


“Madi, I know you know that I can’t touch anybody else,” Clarke says heavily.


“And I know that you know that my entire life, no one has ever cared for me,” Madi says. “But you do. I’ve never been hugged or kissed when I was a child, I never had that. So I’m doing this for you and me.” 


“Okay,” Clarke says after a moment. “But know that you don’t have to do it for me.”


Clarke takes a lot longer than Madi expects to get used to it, but perhaps that’s because Clarke remains a bit wary even after their conversation, worried that she is overstepping or forcing Madi to make contact. Madi wants to roll her eyes at the thought, wishing Clarke could give herself more credit. 


When Clarke’s twenty-second birthday rolls around, a year later, Madi approaches Octavia with an idea for a present, asking her if she thinks it’s a good idea. Octavia beams at her in response and tears even spring to her eyes. Even without a verbal response, Madi knows she approves. 


So the morning of her birthday, as Clarke is braiding her hair, Madi barges into her room with Bellamy in tow. She’s dragging him by the arm and he looks as confused and amused as Clarke when she stops in the middle of Clarke’s room. 


“Happy birthday, Clarke,” Madi says, hugging her tightly around the waist. She then pulls back and takes a step back. “Now. I’m going to close my eyes- you have exactly fifteen seconds to kiss.” The amusement drops off Bellamy and Clarke’s faces, replaced with sheer shock. “Or like- whatever you want to do.”


“Madi…” Clarke starts but Madi huffs out in frustration.


“Clarke, I am old and independent enough to make my own decisions now,” Madi says. “And this is my decision. I know you feel like you’re exploiting me or some nonsense like that- so I’m putting a time limit on it. Fifteen seconds. Do what you want, or nothing at all.” With that, she slams her eyes shut, leaving no more room for debate. 


Clarke turns to Bellamy and he steps towards her, close enough that she can feel his breath of her face. And then he reaches down to pull her gloves off her hands. And then slowly he wraps his bare fingers around her bare fingers. When Clarke looks up from the miracle, he smiles softly at her before leaning forward to press his lips against her forehead. Tears slip down her cheeks as they stay like this, hands clasped and his kiss below her hairline. 


“I’m opening my eyes now,” Madi warns and Bellamy pulls away from Clarke, their bodies separating gently. Bellamy hands Clarke back her gloves and she pulls them on silently, too choked with emotion to breathe a word. She then turns to Madi, who is grinning at the two of them wider than they’ve ever seen her smile. Madi flings herself into Clarke, who hugs her so tightly she wonders if her bones might break. Oh, what a way to go. 


“Thank you,” Clarke whispers into her hair and Madi tightens her arms around Clarke. Madi has never had a family, never known the touch of a parent or the love of a sibling. But here, held safely in Clarke’s arms, feeling like her broken heart has finally mended, she thinks that this is probably what family feels like.





A knock at the door makes Clarke and Bellamy glance up from their crossword. 


“Come in!” Clarke calls and Raven strolls into her room, self-consciously smoothing down the front of her black blouse. She smiles distractedly at Clarke and Bellamy, who are sitting together on her bed, backs against her headboard, before standing by the window and looking out. 


“Is everything okay?” Bellamy asks cautiously, exchanging a worried glance with Clarke. 


“Yes,” Raven mumbles before sighing heavily and dropping into the bed at their feet. Bellamy bookmarks the crossword with his pencil and places the book on Clarke’s bedside table. 


“Should I leave?” Bellamy asks, realising that perhaps Raven expected Clarke to be alone. 


“No, no,” Raven shakes her head, turning to them. She takes a deep breath before saying, “I don’t know if this is… if this is a good idea.” 


“Your… date?” Clarke guesses and Raven nods. “Why don’t you think it’s a good idea?” 


“I’m just- I don’t know how to…” They’ve never seen Raven so unsure of herself.


“Raven, if you aren’t ready for this, you don’t have to go,” Clarke reminds her gently. “He would understand. It’s okay if you want to cancel.”


“It’s not that,” Raven shakes her head. “I just think… I think that he deserves more.”


“What are you talking about, Raven?” Bellamy asks. 


“I don’t know how to date!” Raven finally bursts. “I don’t know how to be a normal girlfriend, or how to- how to dress fancy or- or be different from this!” She gestures to herself. “He deserves someone without all my baggage and issues, and- and someone who would know how to love him.”


“Raven,” Clarke says softly, shuffling forward on the bed and grasping her hand. “Wells asked you for you. He doesn’t want fancy clothes and he knows that people like us don’t come without at least a little baggage. Raven, he likes you. Is that so hard to believe?”


“Yes!” Raven says. “Because I’m not girlfriend material. I don’t know how to be something for someone else, I just know how to be me for me.”


“That’s nothing to feel guilty for,” Bellamy says firmly. “You can only be there for someone else if you’re there for yourself first.”


“That’s the thing! I only know how to be there for myself.”


“That’s not true,” Clarke says. “You’re there for all of us. You love and care for us fiercely.” 


“It’s different,” Raven says. “There aren’t… expectations from friendship. I mean, there are but it’s not the same, it’s-,” she growls, frustrated. 


“It’s different from the expectations you might have from a date,” Bellamy says. 


“Exactly,” Raven sighs, running a hand through her hair. 


“Raven, trust me when I say that Wells isn’t doing this with expectations. He likes you and he wants to get to know you better. If anything, he’s worried about what you might think of him,” Clarke says.


“Wells is the last person who should be worried about not being enough,” Raven says. “He is incredible.”


“So are you,” Clarke reminds her softly. “You’re incredible, Raven. And if today doesn’t go well, you can just go back to being friends.” 


“You think he’d want that?” 


“I know that he would,” Clarke assures her. “He cares about you. And I know that he’ll continue to do so even if you aren’t together.” 


“Give him some credit, and give yourself some credit too,” Bellamy says. “It’s going to be okay.” 


Raven inhales deeply before releasing it with a hesitant smile. “Okay.”


“Is he going to pick you up?” Clarke asks. 


“He should be here in ten minutes,” Raven says, checking her watch. She’s waiting at the front door when he arrives. She hates that her palms are sweaty, because she’s never been the type of person to feel nervous about spending time with someone else. But Wells was different. That, and she hadn’t been out to Ark without the others since she joined the school three years ago. She wasn’t really sure how it would feel, being back out there without her mutant friends as back up. It made her anxious. 


To her surprise, when Wells arrives at the gates of the school, he climbs out of his car and after a nod to the chauffeur, the car drives away. He meets her at the doorstep with a paper bag at his side. 


“Hey,” he grins at her, arms extended. She leans in for a hug and allows his embrace to ease her nerves a bit. 


“Hi,” she says. “Are we… walking somewhere?” Her eyes flit over his shoulder to the car that is no longer in sight.


“Actually, change in plans,” he responds, holding up the paper bag. “Brought some takeout. I thought we could eat by the lake. That way you’ll be somewhere you’re comfortable, and if you hate the way lunch is going- you can just leave and you won’t have to suffer through an awkward car ride home. Is that okay? Maybe I should have asked you first… I just thought-”


Raven doesn’t let him finish his sentence. She tackles him in a second hug, arms tight around his neck and face buried in his shoulder in a surprising display of affection. He falls silent, arms wrapping around her waist. 


“That’s perfect,” she mumbles into his shoulder.


“Did you ask him to do that?” Bellamy asks Clarke when they spot the two of them by the lake. 


“No,” Clarke smiles affectionately. “That was all Wells. And that’s why I think he’s perfect for her.” 





Marcus Kane finds Clarke in the medical wing, his nervous heart thundering in his chest. 


“Good morning, Professor,” she grins at him and he feels momentarily emotional about how much his student has grown. Except she wasn’t just a student to him anymore, none of them were. They hadn’t been for a long time. They were his children, his own. And seeing them grow has been amongst the greatest joys of his life. 


“Good morning, Clarke,” he smiles back. 


“Just give me a second.” She rifles through a few large boxes on the floor, filled with medical supplies, and logs them quickly on the sheet on her desk before turning to her headmaster. “New shipment of supplies from the hospital,” she says, wiping the sweat off her brows. “Murphy and I have been logging for the last two hours. Oh, by the way! Callie sends her regards.” Clarke swipes a christmas card off the desk and passes it to him. “She wishes she could join this year’s party but with the new bill coming up, her schedule is packed.”


“And Wells?” Kane asks.


“Him too, mostly,” Clarke says. “He said he’ll try to pop in for an hour. You know how much he loves our parties.” Kane smiles widely at this, nodding his head. “I can’t believe we’re getting our second bill passed.”


“It’s taken a while but it’s finally happening,” Kane says. “I spoke to Thelonius yesterday- he said the bill should take effect on the thirty-first.” 


“Exactly four years after Cage kidnapped us,” Clarke says. “We’ve come so far.” 


“Not without struggle,” Kane reminds her. He seems to hesitate and Clarke remembers that he had seeked her out and wonders now why. Finally he says, “I was wondering if you had some time to take a walk with me.” 


Clarke raises an eyebrow, finding Kane’s obvious anxiousness unusual. “Is everything alright, Professor?”


“Yes, yes, of course,” Kane says.


“Do you want to take a walk now?” Clarke asks. “Murphy’s going to take over soon so I’m free.” He nods his head and she scratches down some notes onto a post-it for Murphy before gesturing to the back exit of the medical wing, the one that leads to the gardens behind the dining room. He follows her silently and only once they’re a few minutes into a comfortable stroll around the mansion does he speak again.


“The last four years with all of you have been some of the most rewarding, if frightening, years of my life,” he says and they share a smile. “You have carried yourself with grace and strength and bravery in the face of the biggest of challenges and- and I am constantly finding new reasons to feel proud of you. I know that your father would be so proud of you, Clarke, and I hope you feel that every day.”


“Thank you, Professor,” Clarke says softly, a blush on her cheeks. “That means a lot.” He swallows hard and she nudges him in the arm. “What is it? You’re scaring me.”


“I would like to marry your mother,” he rushes out and Clarke bites back a smile. 


“Is that why you complimented me so much just now?” She asks, but Kane seems too lost in his nervousness that he doesn’t realise she is teasing.


“No! Clarke, no!” He says. “I just… I wanted you to know how much you mean to me.”


“I already know that, Professor,” Clarke says quietly, her eyes soft.


“You matter to me, a lot,” Kane says and Clarke’s eyes sting. “And I would never want to jeopardise your trust or your comfort, which is why I wanted to ask you first. If- if it’s okay.”


“If it’s okay that you love my mother?” Clarke asks and Kane nods timidly. She stops walking and holds his elbow to stop him too. He turns to face her and she almost laughs at the worried creases in his face. “Kane,” she says, opting to step out of her role as his student. He looks up at her. “You have given us- me- so much. So much. And I know how much you’ve given my mother too. This school has given her a new purpose in life, something she lost when my father died.”


“That was all you, Clarke,” Kane says.


“No, it wasn’t,” Clarke says firmly. “I’m the reason she came here, you’re one of the reasons she stayed. I forgave her a long time ago, she knows that, and she could have left once she accomplished that. But you gave her so many reasons to stay, so many reasons to rediscover the person she once was. Allowing her to teach, allowing her to run the medical wing- that was you. And you have no idea how much she needed to become this person. After my father died, she was just surviving. You gave her a reason to live once more.” Kane looks choked up, his throat burns with unshed tears. “How can I deny her more happiness? How can I deny you more happiness? And let’s be honest, I’ll probably be denying myself happiness too.”


“Clarke…” Kane says and a tear slips down his cheek. He laughs weakly and wipes at it. “I know I’m not your father-”


“No one can replace my father, Kane,” Clarke says gently. “But if I had to choose somebody to fill that role in my life once again, it would be you.” She smiles at him and he smiles back and then both of them are holding each other tight and at some point she is crying too but that’s okay because her heart feels full, so full, and so does his. “I know she’ll say yes.” 


She does. Of course she does. And the school begins preparing for a wedding that each and every student is left buzzing about. Clarke and Miller take charge, leading a small committee that Abby and Kane insist isn’t necessary but gets formed anyway, because “It’s a mother-freaking wedding, Professor!” as Jasper eloquently puts it, becoming Clarke and Miller’s second in command. The two engaged allow them to carry on and plan to their heart's content, because it gives the students something to look forward to and celebrate, and it manifests such excitement that neither can find it in their hearts to deny it from the children. 


Everybody seems to naturally fall into some role or the other. With Clarke and Miller overseeing the entire event, Lincoln and Harper are in charge of flowers, Raven and Emori lead seating and staging, Monty and Jasper take over catering, Octavia and Echo take over decorations and Bellamy gets himself ordained online to officiate the wedding. Almost every student that wants to be involved is involved and there’s very little to worry about by the time the day of the wedding rolls around. The logistics of a wedding are a lot easier to plan when Clarke and Miller simply have to call on a student or teacher in order to grow flowers, create ice sculptures, move heavy furniture through the air, portal food from one room to another, light up the area with the snap of a finger or even clear the weather. “There’s literally someone for everything,” Clarke laughs to Miller, when they need to tighten all the screws on the stage set-up and Sinclair manages it with a simple flick of his wrist, controlling the metal faster than a blink of their eye. 


When Clarke collects both rings from Kane and her mother for safekeeping before the ceremony, she notices that her mother is no longer wearing her old wedding ring on a chain around her neck. She assumes she has kept it away, safe but secure, a memory to look back upon. She finds out two years after her mother and Kane’s wedding, when Bellamy takes her out onto the frozen lake on Christmas eve, that Abby had given it to him for when he wanted to ask Clarke to marry him. He can’t kneel while wearing his skates, but he asks her on the ice, his fingers interlocked with hers just like they were that first Christmas eve when she had said she quite liked the cold and he had said anybody would be a fool to let her go. 


But that’s only two years later. For now, it is her mother’s wedding.


A month before the wedding, Abby had called Octavia and Raven to her room and tentatively asked them if they would be her bridesmaids. Abby didn’t actually need bridesmaids, she wanted to keep it as simple as possible, and she had already done the wedding thing when she was younger. But she wanted to do this for them. Octavia and Raven, who she considered her own. Octavia and Raven, who now considered her their own. She was honoured to be amongst the people they considered family, and she wanted to show it. They had come a long way since when they first met her, hateful and disgusted at her actions towards Clarke. Rightfully so, and she never expected them to forgive her in this lifetime- but they did. So she asks them if they would like to be her bridesmaids and the blinding grins on their faces makes the moment worth it, so very worth it. 


“Are you ready?” Clarke asks and Abby turns around from where she’s waiting in the living room, dressed in a beautiful knee-length white lace dress. Abby’s eyes sweep proudly and affectionately over Clarke’s light pink halter-neck A-line dress, one that matches Octavia’s baby blue and Raven’s soft green one. Her hands are gloved in delicate pink but her arms are bare, a testament to how far she has come because everybody around her has gotten used to her abilities, and for the ones close to her- it is as natural as breathing to touch Clarke only where she is covered without thinking twice or hesitating. 


Abby’s hands come to rest on her daughter’s waist and they take a moment to simply smile at each other. “I love you, Clarke,” she says and her eyes well up.


“No! No crying today, mom!” Clarke protests, sucking in a deep breath through her nose before her own tears can spring up. “If you cry, we’re all going to cry. You know that.”


Abby nods and Clarke reaches up to catch the single tear that falls from her mother’s eye. “I love you too, mom. And I’m really happy for you, for us. Dad would be too.” 


“He would be, right?” Abby asks, and Clarke refuses to allow her mother even a moment of doubt.


“Yes,” she says firmly. “He would be so happy.”


“I can’t believe I’m marrying before you are,” Abby laughs gently. 


“My day will come too,” Clarke says, squeezing her mother’s shoulders. “But today, I’m going to be the one walking you down the aisle. Are you ready?” Her mother nods and they walk together towards the lake. Octavia and Raven are waiting near to where the aisle begins, between two sets of rows upon rows of chairs, crammed with all their students and friends. On the other side, Kane stands on the elevated stage underneath an arc of flowers and vines. Beside him stands Bellamy, ready to officiate the wedding. Clarke giggles at how nervous he looks and he glares at her. 


“Ready, Abby?” Octavia asks, reaching out to squeeze her arm, grinning from ear to ear.


“More than anything else in the world,” Abby says. Octavia kisses her on the cheek and Raven does the same before they begin their walk down the aisle, flowers in hand as Miller starts the music. 


As the soft melody floats through the air, there is silence across the entire courtyard. The sun shines above them and a gentle breeze carries over the lake towards them. Clarke holds her hand out to her mother and Abby laces her fingers through her daughter’s, holding tight. Together, they begin their walk down the aisle.


When Clarke walks down the aisle thirty-six months later, it is between Madi and Abby, and it is towards Bellamy, who is staring at her as if he has never seen anything more beautiful in the entire world. Clarke does not wear her gloves because Madi has insisted that she should be allowed to hold her husband’s hands and kiss her husband’s lips on her wedding day, and Clarke kisses Madi’s forehead and accepts her offer to stand close to Clarke at the altar. 


But that’s only three years later. For now, it is her mother’s wedding.


“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the joining of two souls,” Bellamy starts once Kane and Abby are stood facing each other. “I’m going to go a little bit off script and speak more from my heart, if that’s okay?” Kane and Abby nod enthusiastically. “I think there’s a point in time in everybody’s life where they think to themselves that maybe they aren’t meant for happy endings, or equally for beautiful new beginnings. But here’s the thing- everybody is meant for happiness, of love. And when you least expect it, love will find you.” Clarke feels her breath catch when Bellamy turns to his right to lock eyes with her. She smiles softly at him and he smiles back before turning back to the front. Nobody misses the exchange, everybody wonders if they should start preparing for a second wedding already. “Love will carry you home. It might not be the person you expected, it might not be the home you expected, but it will be beautiful. Marcus spent so many years building this home for all those who needed it,” he meets his headmaster’s eyes. “He spent so many years choosing to be the supporting character in our fairytales, just to make sure that we would get the happy beginnings and happy endings that we deserve. Today, I am beyond happy that we are the supporting characters in his fairytale, that we get to witness the start of his future. And I-,” he turns to Abby, “I can’t think of anybody more perfect for him than Abby. Marcus taught us how to build a home, Abby taught us how to build a family- and together, they taught us what love looks like.” 


“Oh my god, Bell, you’re going to make us all cry,” Octavia shouts from the front row of the seating and the crowd roars with laughter as the engaged couple take a moment to wipe their eyes and join in the laughter.


“So Marcus and Abby, it is my honour to seal your love in holy matrimony,” Bellamy grins. “I know you have made your vows privately so I’m going to skip that and next ask not the audience but you- if you have any objections to this wedding, please speak now, because once this is over, you are going to basically become the official mom and dad to about sixty children, and no way to escape that. Any objections?”


“There’s nothing we want more,” Kane says, the muscles in his face tiring from the ever-present smile stretched across his face. Abby tightens her fingers around his, her eyes shining. 


“The rings please,” Bellamy says, turning to Clarke, who passes them to her mother and Kane. Kane slips the ring on to Abby’s finger and Abby does the same for Kane, eliciting loud cheers from the audience. “By the power vested in me, I am honoured to now pronounce you man and wife. If you are ready for the chaos that is about to ensue, you may kiss.” 


And when Marcus leans forward and captures Abby’s lips in a soft kiss, the chaos that Bellamy promised from the crowd does indeed ensue. Loud clapping and cheering from every single member of the audience as they rise to their feet, some crying and most laughing and the happiness abundant in the air is absolutely exhilarating, as is the celebration that follows. 


Clarke catches Bellamy’s hand as the newly married couple walk down the aisle towards the mansion, followed by all their students and friends. 


“That was a beautiful speech,” she says, grinning up at him, leaning forward and resting her chin on her shoulder. She feels drunk on joy. 


“It was inspired by a beautiful person,” he replies, lifting her hand to kiss her knuckles. 


“I love you,” Clarke whispers, releasing his hand to wrap her arms around his waist. 


“I love you too,” he draws her closer to him. 


“You’re going to dance with me, right?” She asks as they watch the crowd of people heading towards the main fountain, around which tables and tables of drinks await them. 


“If I must,” Bellamy scrunches up his nose in distaste.


“It’s a wedding, you definitely must,” Clarke replies firmly. 


“Clarke, come on!” Octavia calls from down the aisle, where she stands hand in hand with Lincoln. “We can’t wait for your toast!”


“Let the lovers be, the next time they’re going to be up there is on their own wedding day,” Raven says, unaware that she is right. She is also unaware that the wedding after that, only fourteen months later, will be hers. And the one after that will be Octavia’s. And one by one, the very people who once believed that beautiful things were never meant for their broken tales are the same people who find their fairytale endings and love story beginnings.


Bellamy and Clarke would one day walk down the aisle together, finally married, though Murphy will complain that it took “fucking forever”. Octavia would break down halfway through her toast, overwhelmed with happiness because she feels like it is her happily ever after because her brother is her everything, causing Raven to take over for the second half of the speech. She would manage to keep it together but hugs Clarke and Bellamy so tight later on that they all begin to tear up. A sixteen year old Madi would play the piano with Monty for Bellamy and Clarke’s first dance, and Wells would dance with Clarke for the official father-daughter dance, which leaves them both laughing loudly the whole time, but Clarke wouldn’t have it any other way. Jasper would accidentally knock into the drinks table at the end of the evening, causing the day to end in a massive clean up job but nobody even minds because their hearts are so damn full. 


But that is three years later. For now, there is another wedding to celebrate.





Bellamy Blake’s love for Clarke Griffin never wavers. Not once, not even a little, not for a single moment. 


Clarke is sure that it would, because for a long time she remains unconvinced about her ability to be loved because of the lack of her ability to be touched. Bellamy can understand her hesitation, and he allows her to take the time she needs until she fully grasps the idea that he is steadfast in his love for her, and nothing will change that. 


And she does, she slowly sees this. He shows it to her with every kiss to her gloved knuckles, he shows it to her when he hugs her tightly and resolutely after she has screamed at him to just “leave before either of them get hurt” though he already knows that they are far beyond that point already, that there would be nothing but hurt if one of them were to leave. He shows it to her in the way he always carries a pair of gloves in his back pocket so he never has to fight the urge to touch her when he wants to. He shows it by showing up at her room every Saturday morning for a crossword, even if she went to bed angry at herself the previous night. He shows it by spending time with her mother, playing games of chess or cooking or discussing books. He shows it with every hello and every I love you and every word in between, in every moment he can spare. 


He shows it and shows it until she can no longer deny it. Not once, not even a little, not for a single moment. 


Bellamy learns what happiness feels like, what hope feels like. He learns it from Clarke, and from his friends, and his mentors, and he learns it from himself. He sees that the past he thought would bring him down is the very past that fuels his drive to become better and to better the world around him. 


And on the days when his heart aches and his shoulders are heavy because the world can still be so cruel to the good, Clarke is there to hold his hand. Clarke is there to lie in bed with him in silence through the night because sometimes words aren’t enough, but come tomorrow the pain will be lesser. 


When Clarke decides a year after their wedding that she wants to run for parliament, the first mutant to ever do so, he is afraid. Because while the world is improving, there are enough people out there who despise their very existences, and he does not want Clarke to live with a target on her back. But she reminds him that even in the face of danger, they must never give in to fear and turn their backs on the people who need them, they must never run from the opportunity to make the world a better place. She campaigns alongside Wells. He gets elected within the first year of their campaign, and she loses three years in a row. But she never gives up. And in her fourth, she is voted to parliament alongside Callie. Eventually, Clarke is elected mayor of Ark, Wells her proud deputy, and together they send ripples of hope through not just the country, but the world. The first time she and Bellamy are seen on a construction site together at a new hospital in Polis, the term “Power Couple” starts trending, and the pun is not lost on them. 


Kane works tirelessly with Clarke to develop their knowledge about her abilities. Octavia grows and grows through her training until she is able to control with absolute certainty the full extent of her telekinesis, a feat that Clarke draws hope from- that she too would one day control her own powers. He never asks her about her progress with Kane, he never presses her for details about their research and training together. He hopes for her that she can find resolution in their work, whether that be discovering a way to control her powers or deciding that she would never be able to do so, but he promises he will be by her side regardless. Something that she well knows. 


On Madi’s eighteenth birthday, they gift her adoption papers, and ask her if she would like to be a Blake-Griffin. She rolls her eyes and says, “Is that even a question? I’ve been one for the last eight years” but starts crying midway through and by the end of the week, she officially becomes Madi Blake-Griffin. Abby hates being called Grandma, but Marcus loves being called Granddad. Bellamy looks between his family members- his sister, his wife, his daughter, his brother-in-law, his parents in-laws and can’t help but chuckle at how different they all are. But he wouldn’t have it any other way. This was his family and nothing in the world could bring them down so long as they had each other. 


In the years that follow, Bellamy, Miller, Raven, Echo, Emori and Murphy take over teaching and running Kane’s school; Octavia and Lincoln help open a second school in Polis and take on Gina, Jasper and Harper to teach alongside them; the task force continues to operate, run by a new generation of mutants; and Clarke, Wells, Callie, Monty and Niylah are joined by more allies, mutant and non-mutant, in parliament. The future of Mutantkind looks brighter with each passing day. 


Fifteen years after their first Christmas together, as the two of them are cleaning up the living room after the school’s annual Christmas party, Clarke pulls Bellamy towards her under the mistletoe in the doorway and presses her lips against his.