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When Aleta woke up again, all of her muscles ached. A dull, aching throb was felt in her injured arm and she released a short groan, lifting her head. She let her eyes flit around the darkened dropship. Elijah was nowhere in sight. Aleta sighed and slowly sunk back into the hammock. An involuntary groan left her lips and she squeezed her eyes shut as pain shot up her back.

Feet shuffled over to her form and she peeled her eyes open as she heard the footsteps. In the dim light, Aleta could barely make out the form of John Murphy. In his hand was a metallic cup. He held it out to her. "Here, drink this," John said. The dark blood that dried on his face looked darker with the lack of light.

Aleta lifted her head slightly and reached out for it. Her hand shook, which John took notice of. So instead of placing the cup in her hand, he brought it up to her lips. Aleta opened her mouth slightly and John tilted the cup back. She felt the water against her lips before actually taking a sip. The cooling liquid soothed her aching throat.

When she swallowed the last of the water, she leaned back into the hammock. "Thank you," she croaked. John nodded response. He then looked down at her and studied her features. Her blood looked extremely dark in the dimly lit dropship but her didn't comment on it. Aleta shifted uncomfortably before staring at him warily. "I guess you're feeling better," she noted, breaking the tense silence. He nodded his head. Silence. He finally opened his mouth to say something but stopped when Octavia walked over.

John excused himself as Octavia stepped over to the hammock. "Hey, you're awake," the younger girl said. "I feel like I'm dying," Aleta muttered. "Well, you're not. You're gonna be okay," Octavia replied. She then pressed a wet rag against Aleta's face and began wiping away the blood. She squeezed the rag out before rewetting it and placing it onto her forehead, beginning to dab it. "Who would've thought that I, Octavia Blake would be taking care of Aleta Correia, designated doctor," Octavia commented.

Aleta grinned slightly. "I'm not a doctor," she pointed out. Octavia shrugged, "You're close enough." Aleta smiled wider, with much effort, and Octavia smiled as well. "Have you been taking care of everyone here?" Aleta questioned. Octavia nodded her head. "I've been doing whatever I can. Well, what Clarke told me to do," she said. "How is Clarke?" Aleta questioned next. "She'll be fine," Octavia replied. Aleta nodded slightly.

Octavia grew quiet, looking over at the dark haired girl nervously. "Aleta..." she trailed off before taking a breath, unsure of how to word the question. "How come your blood is different?" She whispered. Aleta's head turned and she met her gaze. "I don't know. It just is," she replied. "Has it always been like that?" Octavia asked next. Aleta attempted to shrug, "I guess so. I can't really remember the last time I've actually bled before coming down to the ground." Octavia nodded her head slowly. "Should I be worried?" The question fell from her mouth before she could stop it.

Aleta didn't know how to answer that. She didn't want the younger girl to worry about her. But she couldn't deny that she was worried herself. "I'm not worried, so neither should you," Aleta lied. Octavia nodded again, smiling a small smile and Aleta changed the subject.

"Did Bellamy tell you to take care of me?" She then asked. The smile on Octavia's face faltered and she paused in wiping the sweat and blood off of Aleta's face. She then started again and attempted to smile. "What, I can't want to take care of my brother's ex-girlfriend who also happens to be my friend that I love very much?" She asked back, her tone slightly teasing.

Aleta studied the younger girl for a moment. "What's wrong?" She asked. Octavia shook her head dismissively. "Nothing." Aleta didn't believe her. "Octavia, what is it?" She pressed. When Octavia didn't answer, Aleta grew frustrated. "Tell me," she demanded. Octavia sighed and pulled the rag away from Aleta's face. "Bell's sick," Octavia muttered. Aleta's eyebrows pinched together as her mind tried to piece Octavia's words together.

"But he's gonna be okay. Just like you and everyone else. He's fine," Octavia added in reassurance. Aleta attempted to sit up. "Where is he?" She asked. Octavia pushed her down by the shoulders. "No. You're not going anywhere," she protested. "I have to make sure he's okay," Aleta tried to push against Octavia but it was no use, her energy was gone.

"He's fine, Ali. I promise," Octavia assured. Aleta sighed and relaxed into the hammock. "Leave it to Bellamy to not listen to anything that I say and wind up in a situation like this," Aleta muttered. Octavia smiled slyly. "What can I say? My brother's an idiot," she replied. "And stubborn," Aleta says. "Oh yeah. Definitely stubborn," Octavia agreed, "But he'll pull through. He's a fighter."

"Yeah," Aleta whispered. "Hey, where's Elijah?" She then asked. "I made him go to one of the upper levels in case he got sick. He didn't show any symptoms of the virus but I was just taking precautions," Octavia answered. "But he's okay?" Aleta questioned in mild concern. Octavia nodded in response.

With a sigh, Aleta closed her heavy eyes before prying them open again when Octavia spoke again. "Why are worried about Bellamy so much?" The young girl asked suddenly. Aleta's eyes moved over to Octavia, who looked down at her sadly. "I'm worried about everyone," Aleta pointed out. "Including Bellamy," the younger girl stated. "Especially Bellamy," Aleta replied before sighing. "Don't tell him I said this but, I still care about him. I mean, how can I not? After everything we've been through," Aleta said.

A glimmer of hope settled into Octavia's eyes, though Aleta didn't notice. "But it doesn't change anything, Octavia. Him and I, we're not gonna be together in the end. I guess some things just aren't meant to be, and that's okay," Aleta added. Octavia shook her head defiantly. "I don't believe that. You and Bellamy are good together. You need each other. You balance each other out. You just, you work," Octavia disagreed.

Aleta chuckled before going into a fit of coughs. Once the coughing settled down, she turned back to Octavia. "We obviously didn't work well enough," she muttered. The hope left Octavia's eyes. "I just need to move on and so does he. Take care of him though, will you?" Aleta said and Octavia nodded.

"You should get some sleep," Octavia said quietly. "So should you," Aleta responded with a yawn. "I can't sleep when I have patients to care for," Octavia joked with a smile. "Even doctors need breaks, Octavia," Aleta noted. Octavia nodded again. "Sleep," she whispered. Aleta's eyes closed and she attempted to fall asleep. Octavia watched her for a moment longer before going back to taking care of the others.

••••

The next time Aleta woke up, she felt much better than the last. The ache in her body had subsided and she was able to sit up without pain shooting up her back and arms. Her injured arm didn't hurt as much either. Aleta looked around the dropship. Her eyes still felt heavy with sleep but she didn't feel like sleeping anymore.

Her eyes continued to sweep across the dropship until they landed on Clarke. She had just finished talking to Bellamy and began to walk away from him and toward the dropship's exit. Aleta pushed herself to a standing position and stumbled over to where he sat. He looked up as she approached before looking down again.

She took a seat next to him. "How are you feeling?" He asked, voice gruff as he attempted to clear it. "Better," she replied with a nod. "That's good," he mumbled. "What about you? How do you feel?" She asked. "Like I'm dying," he responded. Aleta rolled her eyes. "Well, you're not," she assured. "I know," he muttered.

"I warned you not to touch me. You should've listened. You're so stubborn," Aleta said. His eyebrows rose. "I'm stubborn? You're the most stubborn person that I've ever met," Bellamy retorted. "Okay but we're not talking about me. We're talking about you. You're really stupid by the way," she replied.

"What else is new?" He muttered. "You know, I keep asking myself the same thing," Aleta responded. Bellamy shook his head and lightly nudged her leg with his own. Aleta looked up at him and took in his appearance. Dried blood coated his face and his eyes were slightly bloodshot. He looked exhausted. "Let this be a lesson to you, Bellamy Blake. To always listen to me, Aleta Romano, because I'm smarter than you are," Aleta said lightly. It grew quiet for a moment.

"I'm sorry," he whispered so quietly, almost to himself. "It's okay, Bellamy. You're okay, alive, that's all that matters," she replied. He sighed and shook his head at her words. "That's not what I mean," he informed. Aleta's eyes squint in confusion. His eyes met hers and his stare was soft. "Then, what are you apologizing for?" She asked him.

Before he could respond, Elijah bounded over to them, a large smile on his face. "Aleta! You're awake!" He said. Aleta stood and met him the rest of the way. "Hey, Elijah," she said before she was pulled into a brief hug. "Are you feeling better?" He questioned, pulling away. "As a matter of fact, I am," she replied. He nodded enthusiastically before looking past her and at Bellamy.

"Was I interrupting something?" He asked. "Yes," Aleta said at the same time Bellamy said, "No." Aleta turned to look at him, but he didn't meet her eyes. She turned back to Elijah who looked between the two in confusion. "I'm gonna go find Clarke," she muttered before walking toward the opening of the dropship.

She stepped out into the open and took in a deep breath of air before releasing it. She spotted Clarke talking to people and ushering them towards the dropship. When Clarke saw her, she immediately walked over to the brunette. "Feeling better?" Aleta asked the blonde who nodded, a small smile adorning her lips. "You?" She asked to which Aleta nodded.

"What're you doing?" Aleta then asked. "Getting everyone into the dropship as per Bellamy's request. As a precaution in case the grounders come," Clarke responded. "But won't that just make the healthy people sick?" Aleta questioned. "Sick is better than dead. Bellamy's words, not mine," Clarke answered. "I guess he's right about that," Aleta said.

"Have you talked to him?" Clarke asked. "Briefly. He's fine, which is good," Aleta replied. Clarke nodded and the two fell into an awkward silence. The silence made Aleta feel slightly uncomfortable. She and Clarke had never had awkward silences whenever they hung out back on the Ark. They always had something to talk about and even when they didn't, it was never awkward between them.

But ever since coming down to Earth, things had been a little different. They were different. It was like they were still good friends, but Clarke was slightly distant. They hadn't seen each other in over a year and though that didn't bother Aleta all that much, it for some reason bothered Clarke. The blonde was a different person now. And so was the brunette. Their friendship would never be the way it was before. No matter how hard the two tried to force it. No matter how hard the two wanted it to.

Bellamy and Elijah walked over to them, their eyes trained on the two who stood awkwardly amongst each other. Bellamy could see the slight distance between the two. The slight rift in their friendship. It wasn't easily noticeable. It was barely noticeable at all. But he could see it. And so could Elijah. An explosion pulled everyone's attention to a large puff of smoke in the sky.

Bellamy and Elijah were stood next to the two then, but neither of them paid the men any mind. Aleta eyed the smoke in confusion as Bellamy spoke. "They did it," he muttered. Aleta had no idea what he was talking about or what was even going on. "Who did what?" She asked. "I'll tell you later," Elijah whispered.

"I am become death, destroyer of worlds," Clarke croaked. Aleta scrunched up her face at the girl but didn't question her words. Clarke looked to Bellamy who eyed her warily. "It's Oppenheimer, the man who built the first—" Bellamy cut her off. "I know who Oppenheimer is," he informed with a small smile before his eyes shifted to Aleta who was now leaning against Elijah.

He opened his mouth to speak to her but Elijah pulled the girl away and the two friends walked back into the dropship. Bellamy watched her go, a longing look on his face. "Are you ever going to tell her?" Clarke asked. His eyes flitted down to her. "Tell her what?" He asked. "The truth. How you feel," she elaborated.

Bellamy looked away from her and Clarke sighed. "You should tell her that you're still in love with her. She deserves to know," the blonde said. "It's not that easy," he replied. "Why not?" Clarke asked, exasperated. "The things I said to her when we broke up. She hates me," he muttered. "She doesn't hate you," Clarke responded. "How would you know?" He snapped. Clarke looked taken aback before looking at the ground. "I just do," she said. He shook his head and walked away from her.

When Raven was brought into the dropship, dried blood on her face, Aleta was immediately by her side. She did her best to take care of her friend, but Aleta still wasn't one hundred percent better. She allowed Finn and her to talk and she moved away to give them some privacy.

She and Elijah talked aimlessly until they both fall asleep.

°°°°

I hope you enjoyed. Comment and vote. Don't comment for me to update, ask me to update, ask when I'm going to update, or anything along those lines. Have a nice day.