Sleep, O

Miller

Hi, I'm back with the next chapter. This was supposed to be a short companion piece to the previous chapter but I ended up trying to figure out Miller's backstory, so here you go.

I hope you enjoy this little story. Don't forget to favourite, follow and review.

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"I'm on guard duty." He reminds himself as he tries to stay awake. "I can't fall asleep. Need to look out for grounders."

Deciding that staying in the same position would only further lure him into the temptation of sleep, he starts walking around. Most people are still up and about, sitting near the fire in the middle of camp and chatting with their friends. There's a buzz of excitement in the air as they remember that the next day is Unity Day, and Miller wishes he could feel the same.

It's his first Unity Day here on Earth, and without his family. He misses Bryan, and he misses his dad. It's surprisingly hard to keep track of the days on earth, but it's safe to assume it's been a good solid month since he last saw them.

He watches on sadly as everyone makes new friends, building a friendship and sense of camaraderie that can only come from being expendable and sent to the ground like guinea pigs to see if the earth is survivable.

He wishes he could too, but each time he does feels like a betrayal. He feels like making new friends would make him forget about Bryan, forget the relationship they had, the love they shared, and he doesn't want to do that. He never wants to do that. So he focused on getting a job instead.

He was a guard now, one of the first guards on earth in 97 years; his father would be proud. His old man had always hoped he'd be one like him, that they'd become the first father-son duo on the force, but his dreams were dashed the day he got arrested.

It wasn't even a serious crime; it was more of a misunderstanding than anything really. There had been this little boy, who couldn't have been more than 3 or 4 years old, walking around the mess hall. It was safe to assume he was hungry, seeing how his eyes wandered towards everyone's ration packs, and he wondered where his parents were. No kid under the age of six was allowed to be about on their own outside of classes, much less purchase their own food.

So he decided to be the good guy.

He went up to the little boy and introduced himself. "I'm Noah." The boy had said in reply.

"Hey Noah, where are your parents?" He asked but the boy just shrug his shoulders.

"I don't know. They wight bewhind me." He said with a small frown. "I wan ahead cause I hungwy."

Miller could only smile at the small child. "How about I get you something to eat, then we'll go find your mommy and daddy?"

The boy nodded his head vigorously, making Miller chuckle, and he went to join the line for the third time that day.

"What would you like, buddy?" He ushered the boy forward, allowing him to glance at the selected items available.

"That one." The lady placed the ration on a tray and Miller swiped his card, only for it to be declined. He tried again, but to no avail.

"Sorry, pal." The lady behind the glass said, unapologetically. "You've used up all your credits for this meal. You'll have to wait until dinner." She began to take the ration pack away and placed it back on the shelf.

"Wait!" He tried pleading with her. "I'll pay you back. This little guy here is hungry and I just wanted to get him something to eat before we go find his parents."

"I'm sorry kid." She shook her head. "Rules are rules. No credit no food."

"Please, I'll pay for it later." He held the kid up against the window. "Look at his hungry little face."

"I've heard that one before." She started to walk away before a scream erupted from behind him.

"There's my baby!" A well-dressed lady appeared in the middle of the mess hall and the boy in his arms wriggled to be set free.

"Mommy!" He ran into her arms.

After a moment, she turned back to look at him, anger flashing in her eyes. "How dare you kidnap my son?!" She held onto the boy before turning to the guards behind her. "Take this boy into the skybox immediately."

Miller had been left absolutely speechless. He had just been trying to help the boy; how had it come to this?

"He was using him to wrangle up more rations." The lady behind the counter supplied unhelpfully and he groaned.

As it turned out, Noah was the grandson of a councilman, making them very unforgiving during his trial. And thus, he was sent to the skybox.

His father had been extremely disappointed, having taught him better than to take more than what he was given, and not to take advantage of others, but when he explained himself, his side of the story that the councillors refused to listen to, he understood. He told him that since the old councillor has retired, there was a good chance he'd be able to tell his side during his retrial and not be floated.

He has to laugh at that now. His retrial should've been weeks ago, around a week after they were sent to the ground, but at least he's alive...

"Hey Miller!" A sharp yet no so loud voice calls to him from the left, making him turn towards it. There, he sees Connor standing guard at the gate of their camp.

He's about to shout back when he notices the finger pressed against his lips and realises the boy's pointing at something on the ground.

He walks closer, being careful to make sure he doesn't step on something he shouldn't, when he recognises Octavia's small frame hidden in the shadow of the night. He crouches down beside her, watching her as she slept peacefully for a moment. This sleeping girl bore little resemblance to the fiery teenager who runs around and out of camp chasing butterflies and defying her brother, it's hard to imagine that they are one and the same.

"She fell asleep a while ago." Connor tells him. "I tried waking her up but it only lasted for about a minute before she fell back asleep, and she refuses to go back to her tent."

"I would take her back there myself, but I don't think Bellamy would approve of me touching her, or leaving my post to get him, especially when she'd be here by herself." He continues before pausing for a while. "Can you get him?"

He turns to the sleeping girl on the ground, curled up in an orange blanket, and nods. After seeing what Bellamy did to Atom for just kissing his sister, everyone at camp knew to stay away from her. He knew she didn't like it, enjoying the company of others for the first time in her life, but he didn't dare disobey Bellamy and chance losing his head.

He saw the way he had gone after Murphy just for insulting his sister, and how frantic he got when she disappeared. He knew that most of the lashes on the grounder's back was him letting out all his fear and anger towards the grounder for keeping his sister, and he didn't want to suffer the same fate as well.

If he was honest, Octavia was the only thing keeping Bellamy sane and he didn't want to think of what would happen if something were to happen to her. He's pretty sure others agree since they've created TOPS, The Octavia Protection Squad, dedicated to protecting Octavia to prevent Bellamy from going Murphy, and more than half the camp is in on it.

All too soon, he reaches the dropship. Pulling back the makeshift curtain, he steps towards the pair. "Bellamy, your sister fell asleep at the gate."

The boy in question nods in reply, and Miller takes his turn to leave, choosing to watch from the side-lines as the older brother carries his sister into her tent.

It's in this moment that he misses Bryan more than ever. He misses the good night kisses and their morning hugs; he misses sharing a cup of coffee with his dad in the mornings before he heads off to work. He hopes wherever they are now, that they're ok. And that they know he's ok.

He makes his wish on the first star he sees that night.

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And this has been an AngelFanfics productions.