After all this time

[Clarke Griffin]

Monty Green

They drove a while before they had to sleep. With the rover firmly locked, they should be safe for a night, but the prisoners had Clarke be cautious. She wished to finally see someone again, but well after a years delay her hope was dwindling and it was only due to her not being actually alone that she wasn't losing it. In the end, she was partially losing it. Because she had been left behind. While she had told them to leave, they still did. And there was no contact. It was painful, to say the least. Left behind to die. She doubted any of them knew she was still alive. She doubted her contacting them every day actually helped. If it wasn't for her girl, she was all alone.

Clare got out of the rover when she saw it. Tracks. It seemed like something - not the other spaceship knocked stuff over. Clarke closed the rover and hoped Madi would sleep though it, while she followed the tracks. Soon enough she found walls, a camp like she had seen before. Like a drop ship. And it was not the strangers. Clarke looked around for tracks. They led to the stream. And sure enough she found a familiar face there.

"Monty!" she exclaimed. They were back! Finally. Clarke rushed forward to hug her old friend.

[Monty Green]

It had been three days since they’d returned to Earth and so far they’d heard nothing from the people in the bunker, all was silent. Monty wasn’t surprised to see how much the ground had changed since the last time he’d seen it, the death wave had really lived up to its name. The ground was almost unrecognisable, apart from one patch of green everything else still looked dead. Monty had travelled the short distance from their camp to the stream to collect water and when he reached the waters edge, he crouched down. Reaching out a hand, he allowed the water to run over his skin, the coolness of the liquid welcome against the warm skin of his hand. Despite everything that had happened on earth, despite all that he’d lost on the planet, he’d missed it… Even if it wasn’t how he remembered it.

He took a moment to fill the bottle that he’d brought with him before he got to his feet once again. Hesitating by the stream to make sure that he’d fastened the lid securely, that’s when he heard somebody call his name. The voice made him look up immediately, although it was a familiar voice, it was one that he hadn’t heard in six years, it was the voice of a ghost. At first he thought he was imagining things, he thought it was an hallucination brought on by the familiarity of earth and by the memories that lay in the back of his mind that had been brought to the surface by their return but then he saw her. She looked different, older than he remembered but time did that to people.

She ran to him and then her arms were around him, squeezing him in a hug and the breath caught in his throat. Momentarily he froze, unable to believe that it was actually her, that she was actually here and breathing and alive. Then his arms wrapped around her back and he was hugging her, clinging to her as he was scared that if he let her go then she’d simply disappear again. “You’re alive” he finally managed to get the words out without releasing her from the hug “I thought- We thought you were dead” his voice shook in places as he spoke. They’d spent all those years believing that she was dead, they’d mourned for a friend that they’d long believed was dead and now she was standing there with him and she was hugging him and she was real. Then the realisation of what that meant sank in, they’d left her behind and she’d been left alone to die on a dying planet, he didn’t know how she was even alive but at that moment that didn’t matter. “Clarke, I’m so sorry” he mumbled, finally pulling back from her so that he could look at her face again. Monty couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his face despite the tears that stung at his eyes as he looked at the face that would forever be etched into his memory. She was different but also the same and he was so so happy to see her again.

Clarke Griffin

[Clarke Griffin]

She could guess in the worst case he would not know she was still alive. In the worst case they would all think she was dead. In the worst case they thought she was dead for 2203 days. And now that all ended. With a hug. It's been so long. They've been apart longer than they knew each other and yet Monty was one of the people ingrained on her heart, one of the souls she clung to in the hardest and most painful times in this world down here. She lost so much and gained a little. Wisdom among it. Clarke smiled at him as he pulled back, smile on his face as he apologized.

"Don't be. I told you to not wait for me." She said as she reached out. It was by now a part of her, this motherly gesture of wiping the tears from someones face gently, her thumbs ghosting over his cheeks. She had done it with her little nightbloods countless times. Clarke had a family now. It was makeshift. It was strange, but it was hers. Funny how destiny let her keep something so precious with her, when all hope seemed lost. Hope wasn't lost after all. Hope was renewed after painful months and days it was renewed with one simple cry and then the smile of a young girl. There was no doubt in her mind that she would have died without the change in her life, at least lost her mind. There was no much she could have done about it. Solitary had almost ended Clarke when she was up on the Ark, a prisoner. Down here it was worse. 

"Had I not stayed behind, I couldn't have brought the energy back up on the ring. I barely outran the death wave." But if he was here, that meant everyone was - they had to be. "You didn't hear my messages, did you?I radioed you. Every day."

Monty Green

[Monty Green]

She wiped the tears from his cheeks and told him not to be sorry for having left her behind. Telling him that she’d told them to leave, but how could he not be sorry. How could he not feel guilty about leaving her down there, they’d abandoned her for what they thought would be certain death. They hadn’t had a choice, deep down he knew that if they hadn’t left when they did then they wouldn’t have gone at all, but that didn’t erase his guilt. “Still, we left you down here… You’ve been alone down here for six years!” he couldn’t even begin to imagine how hard that must’ve been for her, to be alone for six years with no one to talk to.

They were back now though and if Monty had anything to do with it, she’d never have to be alone again. Everyone would be so happy to see her again, surprised maybe but once the initial shock wore off they’d definitely be happy. He couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they saw her, but first he’d allow her time to get used to the idea that they were there and she wasn’t alone anymore. “You saved our lives” Monty confirmed, the smile never leaving his face “if you hadn’t been down here we would have died.. For a moment I thought we were going to” a laugh escaped him as he spoke now and he lifted a hand up to his head, running his hand through his hair.

The smile disappeared from his face when she told him of her efforts to contact them however, it was the first he’d heard of it. “Every day?” he asked her in disbelief, every day for the past six years. As far as he knew, they hadn’t heard anything from earth since they’d left, they’d assumed Clarke was dead. “No, we didn’t hear anything from you” Monty answered her, his voice wavering a little “if we’d known you were down here then we would have tried to come down sooner” there were a few different reasons to why they were late, but Monty knew that if they had heard from Clarke then they would have tried everything that they could to hurry the process along.

Clarke Griffin

[Clarke Griffin]

After six years Clarke had gotten used to the idea of it all. She had turned every singe potential outcome over in her head. She even considered having been too late. But she was glad she wasn't. Now she knew she hadn't been too late. They lived. It all worked out. That was so good to know. Clarke smiled softly at him. He worried about her being alone. It was so adorable. "I wasn't alone, Monty." She whispered. She wasn't too sure if he got what she meant, but she would have to introduce him to her nightbloods sooner or later she guessed. She might as well do it now, leave no question about it at all.

"Monty, stop. You don't have to blame yourself. I have six years to wonder where you were. I feared I failed and you guys were dead. Now I know you're not and that is so great to know. The bunker hasn't opened yet either. We tried to dig it out but we couldn't. There was so much rubble." And that led her to the moment where she had to define we. The we was a bit much to take in, especially for someone who believed someone else dead. It was the complete opposite. "Come with me. I have something to show you." She knew, deep down, that he would trust her enough to follow her.

Monty Green

[Monty Green]

Monty wasn’t too sure what she meant when she said that she wasn’t alone for all those years that she was on the ground without them. Maybe she was referring to those that they’d lost, people said that the dead never really left you and they definitely had a lot of dead friends to think about. He couldn’t see how she could mean it in any other way, she was the only one who could survive on the ground outside the bunker. “I know, nobody’s ever really alone but you should have had us” he told her, he couldn’t help but feel guilty for leaving her behind. Even if they’d had no choice but to leave and even if she didn’t want him to feel guilty about it.

“Yeah, I’m pretty happy that we’re not dead too” he laughed when she spoke of a time when she feared that they were dead but now she knew that they were not. He didn’t know if he could let go of his guilt, she told him not to blame himself but it was hard for him to do that when he thought about her being all alone down there when he’d had friends with him the whole time that he was in space. “The bunker isn’t open?” they were a year late, he’d expected for the bunker to be open by now, maybe he’d been foolish to think that something would actually work out the way that it was supposed to, things never really worked like that for them.

“Something to show me?” he asked, her words capturing his curiosity, they’d just found each other again, he wondered what exactly she had to show him at that moment. What did she have to show him that couldn’t wait, he wondered if he should be worried. “Now?” he’d thought that she’d be eager to see the others first, before she even thought about anything else, obviously whatever it was that he needed to see was more important than that.

Clarke Griffin

[Clarke Griffin]

Clarke brought Monty over to the back of the rover. She knew he might be confused. It might send him into even more guilt, but she had to tell him of what happened. There was no way around that. Eventually he would find out, if she told him or not, so she would rather tell him, be clear and honest right away. When she opened the back, the little boy was sitting there, no longer asleep for his nap. He held a little book in his hands and was reading eagerly. Clarke had just taught both children hwo to read and they both soaked it in like it was the most valuable thing in the world. It was in many ways. Books were so rare. One he saw the stranger, he hid behind the book a little, a high "Nomon?" coming from him.

"Monty, meet Theo." she said to her old friend. The five year old boy waved shyly. "He's my son. He's five now. Theo, this Monty, my friend. You know one of the ones I talked to every day." Theo didn't reply, too shy. Aside from Madi and his mom he had never met other people after all. 

Monty Green

[Monty Green]

When Clarke led him around to the back of the rover, he had no idea what was so important that she had to show him before seeing the others. All he knew was that it had to be pretty damn important to delay her from seeing the friends that she hadn’t seen for six years. When she opened up the rover to show the small boy sitting there reading an open book, Monty froze and his mouth opened in surprise but he managed to keep his reaction somewhat controlled. When the boy gave him a shy little wave, Monty gave a small wave of his own, a smile slowly making its way onto his face. “Hey Theo” he greeted the child softly without moving any closer, afraid of scaring him and crossing boundaries that he wasn’t supposed to cross.

“He looks like you” he muttered automatically as a frown began to replace the smile that had previously been on his face. It was easy to pick out the features that Theo had inherited from his mother, of course he had no idea who his father was, Clarke probably had a better understanding on who he looked more like. Monty turned away from the child to look at his friend once again and he meant to apologise again, even though she’d told him that he didn’t have to blame himself but every time he opened his mouth, words failed him. How could he not feel guilty about this, they’d left her on a dying planet and she’d had to look after a kid all by herself, she’d had to care for a baby without anyone else to help her. He was trying hard not to think of how that child came into the world because if he thought of her being alone on the ground and having to deliver her own baby without anyone to help her, then he might never stop apologising.

He had so many things to say to her and so many apologies to give, but she’d already made it clear that she didn’t think he owed her any. So instead he said the only thing that he could “what’s he like?” he cast a curious look towards Theo, the smile slowly beginning to reappear on his face at the prospect of learning more about her son.

Clarke Griffin

[Clarke Griffin]

Theos interest was sparked with his mothers explanation of who Monty was. A shy smile appeared on the boys face, he was clearly curious on everything. Clarke had hoped to keep that childish curiosity alive for as long as possible even in a place as bleak and desolate as earth was no, except for this one place. She had encouraged his wonder and answered question as much as possible and yet she had taught him caution. She had to. This world was still dangerous. And he had witnessed her heartbreak as they couldn't dig out the bunker.
"Ai laik yu kom skai?" The kid asked. Clarke chuckled.
"English, kiddo." She told him gently. Theo nodded. "Are you from the sky?" He asked Monty again. Clarke motioned for Monty to approach the kid. She trusted him with Theo. As long as he didn't know who his father was, everything would be fine. She had to gauge the situation first.

"He's a very bright kid." She explained to her friend. "Very curious. Wise beyond his years, too. Quite pacifistic if you let him be. He's the kind of kid that saves animals even if they attack him." Thankfully it had never gotten to that. "He gets along well with his... sister. Madi. We found her. She's a nightblood, just like Theo and I am. We've been this... ragtag family every since. How are the others? Did everyone survive?"

Monty Green