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.*･｡. HOOD! .*･｡.
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018.
BIRD DOWN.
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   He took off her wristband.

It hurt more than she was expecting, but not so much that it was anywhere near unbearable. A small part of her wanted to take the bracelet with her and try to revive it, but she knew it was useless. It wouldn't achieve anything. Not like she wanted it to.

So, instead, Robin tossed it into the fire. It had sparked and spit, almost like it was trying to crawl back out. Robin watched it burn.

As angry as she was with her father for not visiting her while she was in the skybox, Robin couldn't help but mourn for the fact that she would never see him again. To him, she was dead. Or, at least, she would be soon enough. When he found out, she was gone. She wondered whether he would care — Sinclair had said he cared on the day they left for earth, that her father cared for her despite not bidding her fair well when he found out she was being sent to their likely deaths, and she had said he had a funny way of showing it to her. Perhaps he didn't care, at all. Robin had disappointed him the minute he discovered she was the hood. Her father used to care; it was no secret he loved her with his whole heart, but she had single handedly ruined their relationship. It was her fault. Just as it was her fault that he would soon think she was dead.

   Guilt was sour.

   She hadn't seen Jace. He was probably still pissed, likewise upset, and Robin had a feeling that he would be for a while, yet. Not that Robin particularly blamed him, for it.

   Really, she hadn't been out looking for him either.

   Robin had been sat atop the dropship, back in her favourite spot, watching the night pass her by.

   Occasionally she would spot Octavia, who appeared to sleep less than Robin had, although she had little idea as to the whereabouts of Finn and Clarke. Perhaps they were upset about the failure of a radio still, or they had ventured into the forest and gotten attacked by grounders. The latter was definitely a possibility, but Robin had decided it sounded like a them problem. If they weren't back by the morning light, maybe she would go out and look for them. Maybe.

   As she laid back, arms behind her head and staring up at the sky, Robin counted the stars. She got to around four hundred and five. Robin then tried to recall the constellations she could see, but it all looked different down on the ground compared to up on the ark, a whole new perspective. They were difficult to pin point.

   Just as she counted star number four hundred and six, something else caught her attention. It was a burning ball— at least, the thing looked like a burning ball. She recalled there being a prenuclear tale about shooting stars, that earth people would make wishes on. The whole weird, and impossible, and scientifically incorrect, but Robin didn't think about that, right now. Because it wasn't a shooting star or a burning ball of fire; because, as it got closer to earth and soared across the sky, Robin realised what is was; it was a pod from the ark that looked eerily similar to the scrap on K—Deck. She squinted a bit, then a bit more, and her lips parted open in shock. Definitely a pod from the older generations, definitely from the ark. Confident in her realisations, Robin pulled herself up and forced herself toward the ladder.

    "Hey! Look at that!"

    "Bellamy— Bell, get out here!"

    "It's from the ark!"

   Robin jumped from the third step from the bottom, pushing her way through the crowd that started to form. Octavia was up front.

    "What is it?"

    "Cargo pod," Robin answered her.

    "Now we can kick some grounder ass!" Jones yelled.

    "It's not weapons," she said, barely glancing up at him when he sent her a questioning look. Robin elaborated, "Too small. Maybe some nutrition packs, or medical supplies."

   A shadow appeared at her side, and Robin's eyes flickered over to a shirtless Bellamy. She looked him up, then down, then to both the scantily clad girls flanking his sides. Her eyes rolled and he had noticed, but ignored it.

    "Please tell me they sent some shampoo," one of the said girls — Roma — whined.

    "Not shampoo, either." Robin shot her a look, to which was then returned by Roma. It was a dumb suggestion. While it wasn't what they needed most, she had to admit that her hair was greasy. But it could wait. There were more important things that could be there, like medicine that could have helped Jasper when he was dying, or Atom with his burns. She shook her head to rid the memories, and concentrated on glaring at Roma's ridiculous words.

    "A radio?"

    "Yeah..." Robin realised, nodding slowly. "If not, it'll have some parts I can use to make one." Her eyes lit up and she span on her heel, disappearing into the crowd and leaving him behind, racing to grab her pack from the dropship. When she rushed back out, it was to see a dozen delinquents.

They all looked defeated.

She eyed them up, wondering why they weren't packing to head on out, but ignored it. Robin shoulder her pack and breezed past a lot of them.

When she spotted Octavia glaring up at Bellamy, however, Robin decided that she didn't need to ask why no one was moving; it had something to do with the king of camp, evidently. But nothing the man said had ever stopped her before, and it wasn't going to, now; Robin didn't play by anyones rules, but her own. If he didn't want them heading out to find that pod, Robin didn't care. It made little difference to her, anyway. Robin wasn't planning on bringing other kids with her for the journey. She needed to get to that pod for the radio before the grounders did. And the task didn't require anyone else, nor did she want anyone else to go with her. Well— except for one person, perhaps.

"Get up."

"No, thanks." Jace said.

"We got places to be," she ignored his tone. Jace wouldn't look at her. "You and I are gonna go find a cargo pod. Get your pack."

For a second, his eyes flitted up to her.

"Not that I wanna go, with you..." he pulled his eyes away and to the knife he had been sharpening, chewing on the inside of his lips and trying to hide his intrigue. "But the king says no one leaves 'till morning. We're not going anywhere— okay? So, have a good life!"

Okay— childish, but understandable. Robin rolled her eyes. Jace Williams was as stubborn as she was. He had every right to be mad at her, but she knew he couldn't be mad forever. Not when he was clearly interested in the pod like Robin, and was equally as eager to leave camp. She could see it in the way his knee bounced. And, by the looks of his twitching upper lip and sneaky eyes, he also wanted to leave camp against Bellamy's orders. Jace glanced at her, as if to ask why she was still stood there and whether she was planning on leaving any time soon.

"Since when did I listen to the king?" Robin tossed him a knife, one that didn't need sharpening. He caught it easily. "Get your shit together, and let's go. We don't have time to waste."

Finally, Jace grinned.

"I'm still mad."

"Whatever."

He shot up and grabbed his pack from his tent, then ushered her over to the very back of camp.

Peering around, making sure no one was watching — especially Miller, who he usually wouldn't mind watching him (Nathan Miller was hot material!), but he couldn't risk him telling Bellamy—, Jace nodded to himself. He reached around Robin and pushed back an out of place piece of the wall, creating a small opening that was in a perfectly Jace-sized gap.

"How did you...?" She arched a brow.

"Delegate the wall, know the wall." Jace shrugged her off. Hand on her back, he nudged her forwards. "Now, go. Miller can't resist looking at me, for long."

Robin scoffed but slipped through the gap, nonetheless. Wasting no time in following, Jace slowly closed the opening back up, not a sound coming from the wood. When they were sure no other teens saw them leave, Jace nodded in signal for her to follow.

He led their walk, for a while. Only until Robin recognised the track they were on and made for the lead. Jace didn't mind. As she wasn't a leader, her lead was different to that of Clarke Griffin and Bellamy Blake. Rather, Robin only walked two inches in front, an interesting air of... something. Not arrogance, or even confidence. Jace didn't know what it was, but he preferred to follow that than others, who all seemed too uptight, or too self-centred. He liked Bellamy a lot, they were friends, but Robin Loxely was different. She was the girl who had sat with him on the dropship and tried to calm all his nerves (a shitty attempt), and the engineer who had devoted endless hours on the communications to the ark, and she was also the hood who had always the people's interest at heart. She cared. Murphy's words had been wrong — Robin may have been an asshole to Jace earlier that day, but she wasn't a bad hero.

In fact, she was pretty good.

He thought so, anyway.

"So— what's in the pod?" Jace asked, curiously.

"Hopefully a radio," Robin gave the honest answer. "If we can get there before the grounders do, we can tell the ark we're alive."

"You think grounders will go after a pod?"

"Everyone for a hundred miles saw that thing, come down." An all-knowing edge to her tone, the girl told him the odds. "Wouldn't you be curious?"

Jace pulled a thoughtful face and Robin smiled tightly, muttering exactly and watching him roll his eyes. She carried on walking, Jace close behind, and soon noted the sun was rising. When was the last time Robin had slept? Had she even slept since coming down? She had no idea, but it was at the bottom of her list of priorities. As of right now, Robin wanted what was in that pod. That was what made it to the top. What was in that pod, and what came with it. Radios, batteries, medical supplies. Robin wanted that radio more than she had wanted anything on earth, so far. That radio meant talking with the ark, and that meant talking with Jacapo Sinclair.

...and her father.

"Has engineering always been your thing?" He spoke mostly in boredom, and genuine interest. Robin interested him. "You super into, like— wires, and stuff?" When she sent him a blank look, his shoulders bounced in a shrug. "What?"

"Wires?"

"You know what I mean," he waved a hand.

"My dad's a mechanic," she said after a moment of silence. She wasn't used to talking about herself, so it was strange to do so, but Robin thought Jace was alright. "Chief of engineering was a good family friend, so I was basically raised around old parts. Mecha isn't much better than a scrapyard."

"Farm wasn't too bad," Jace mused. "Lotsa moonshine."

"Farm?" She raised her brows, "Williams..." Robin had heard a few people say his surname, like Finn. Why did it sound familiar?

Either he didn't hear her, or he left her to her train of thought as he jumped over a log, whistling under his breath. Robin watched a small distance away. For some reason, Jace had so much energy, so much joy for a kid who had been sent to earth to die. She didn't get how he could be so... Jace. Sure, she wasn't as much of a sourpuss as Bellamy and Clarke, but Robin was no Jace Williams. He was light and radiant, and sarcastic and acute, and Robin suddenly felt worse for how she treated him.

"Hey, Jace?"

"Yeah?"

"Your family will know you're alive," she promised. "I'm gonna make sure of that."

Taken off guard by the comment, Jace turned and nearly fell to the ground and on his face. He played it off well and recovered, a smile so big spreading across his cheeks that it was almost blinding.

"Thanks, Loxely."

————

"Yes!"

"What—?" Jace tripped over his feet, "You find it?"

"You bet I did, twinkle toes!" Grinning, Robin rushed down the bank with him close behind. She raced towards the greenery, smile only growing with every step, taking in the pod in all it's glory. She knew that pod.

K—Deck.

Robin didn't wait up for Jace as she made for the hunk of metal, legs pumping, radio on her mind. It was beat up, that was for sure.

There was a chance everything had been fried on the way, but it put them in a better position than they currently were. Any parts, all fried or not fried, would help them make a radio. Anything was an advantage. So, Robin didn't let that bother her on her way. Rather, she opted to channel that uncertainty into her work. Robin would have her work cut out for her, if she was going to get a radio— she could do it, of course; there were no doubts about that. Robin had been doing this since she was a kid. If anyone could do it, it would be Robin Loxely. And Monty.

"Loxely, wait up!" Jace hurried after her.

She didn't listen, unsurprisingly. Robin let the adrenaline get the better of her and sped up, skipping every few steps.

   She cleared the distance in minimal time. When she got close, it was easier to see the damage to the pod. It looked pretty bad. The state of it was poor but again, she didn't care. Robin smiled, staring at the familiar pod with fond memories. It reminded her of a little bird, back on the ark.

   A faint grunt pulled her out from her daze, and Robin's forehead creased. With a glance behind her, finalising that it wasn't Jace who made the noise so seeing as he was too far away from her, her eyes went wide and melded into brown saucers. Slowly, they travelled a way along the scenery, finding no one else around within any close perimeter, until they finally landed back upon the pod. A breath of air passed her lips, and Robin felt her eyes grow even larger. For an intense second, Robin stared. Just stared. If that grunt didn't come from her, and it didn't come from Jace, and there was no one else to make it, then who was it? Robin blinked blearily, and tried to make sense of it with the little evidence she had. The pod was— holy shit, the pod. Robin gasped and lunged towards it, wrestling with the old, beaten pod door.

   It opened slowly; creaking.

    "Holy freakin' shit!"

   Robin let out a breath, unable to believe her eyes.

   She stared at the brunette, peering through the space helmet to see a river of blood cascade down their forehead and to their chin in a red pathway. Robin knew that brunette.

    "Raven?"

   But Raven was out cold — which, considering the bumpy ride on the way down, wasn't too shocking. Robin was shocked Raven was even alive after a fall like that one, in a cargo pod. Then again, she always knew Raven Reyes was a natural force to be reckoned with. If any kid was going to fix an old pod and make it to earth alive, of course it would be Raven. After all, Raven was a goddamn genius.

   Before Robin could clamber in and unstrap her old colleague, an echoing yell sounded from outside.

    "Robin! Robin, it's—"

   Robin pursed her lips, contemplating, but ducked out of the pod and tried to find Jace. He was nowhere to be seen, however. Robin frowned deeply and moved forwards, eventually spotting him stuck in a heap, still and unconscious.

    "Jace?" She yelled, "Jace! Jace, are you—?"

    "Sorry, birdy."

   With a blow to the head, her body hit the dirt with a thump!

   Robin couldn't be sure how long she was out. When she groaned and started to come back to, her body was being shaken back and forth by a pair of hands that clearly didn't belong to her. Again, an agitated groaned passed the pink of her lips and she felt something wet trickle down her face.

    "Robin?"

    "No..." she moaned, smacking them away.

    "Robin— hey, you there?" The voice repeated, but the shaking started to subside given that she was waking up. "Loxely, c'mon."

    "Finn...?" Mumbling her words in a slowed slur, the girl's lashes fluttered open, dancing along her dirt-speckled cheeks. She closed them again momentarily to adjust to the light, and then forced her eyes to reopen. When they did, Robin found herself staring up at a familiar face. He looked serious, but that expression lightened a lot when he met her gaze. Robin, on the other hand, was still out of it and it took her a moment to process the world around her. "Wh— what are you doing, here?" She remembered the pod, "Wait— she, she's—"

    "Little bird!"

   Pulling herself up, Robin fell back.

    "Hey— slow down," Finn told her gently, hands on her back in a protective manner. He watched her shake her head to clear most of her vision, "Take it easy, Lord. You're bleeding."

    "I'm, what?" Robin reached up and touched her head, wincing, and inspected the crimson stains on her fingertips. She sighed and cursed, "Where's Jace?"

    "Here," the boy muttered. He was perched on a log left of the girl in the pod — Raven Reyes, he had learned — with a piece of material pressed against the back of his head. Clarke was tending to Raven's wounds, and Jace looked particularly grumpy. His face seemed to brighten a little bit upon seeing Robin finally moving in her spot, though. "You look like shit."

   Clearly, he was still a bit annoyed with her.

    "Shut up."

   He shrugged it off.

    "We've been waiting for you to wake up," Clarke said. She left Raven's side and knelt down next to Robin and Finn, although the pair seemed to avoid each other's stare. Robin was still dazed, too much to question it, and chose to watch Clarke fold up material in four rounds. "How do you feel?" She asked, "Any dizziness? Sick?"

    "M'fine, princess." Robin said.

    "You look it," bitch.

    "What happened?" She asked, glare boring into the side of the blonde's head.

    "Bellamy Blake — that's what." Jace huffed out, "He knocked us out and stole the damn radio," he tutted. "I'm gonna kill him."

    "Then, what are we waiting for?" Robin knew Bellamy was on a personal mission to save his own ass; he had been since they landed on the ground. That was why he wanted rid of the wristbands and was so adamant that they could live by themselves. He wanted the radio gone, and with it every chance of contacting the ark. Why? It was so clear that he had done something he didn't want give them the chance to catch him for. A large part of Robin wanted to know what it was he had done, but a larger part wanted the radio back. It wasn't his to take. She wanted to contact the ark, and god help her, she would get what she wanted! Robin ground her teeth and made a move to stand to her feet, "Let's go," she instructed. "We need to find him; then we get the radio, and Jace can kill him." He made a sound of agreement. "C'mon, then. We— ow!"

   Finn was close enough to catch her when her legs gave out, hot pain blossoming in her head. Bellamy had got her, pretty good. It made her angry.

    "Cool it, little bird." Raven took her from Finn when she was as stable as she was going to get, holding the material to her head, an overly-common expression of focus on her face. "We'll go, as soon as you can stand— okay?"

    "We don't have time to waste," Jace sighed.

    "Huh?"

    "We need that radio, ASAP." Clarke filled in, but it did nothing to amend the confusion on Robin's face. "If we don't let those left on the ark know we're alive, then the council are gonna kill people to preserve oxygen for the rest of them." She watched Robin's face contort into one of anger, "Jace is right: we don't have any time to waste. Innocent people are gonna die." Clarke looked her up, and down, and nodded when she stood a little taller. "Let's go."

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