if you must mourn, don't do it alone (Jactavia)

Part 2, Chapter 1

Octavia slipped away in the dead of night, from her place besides Jasper, silent like the warrior she was. She left a note, but goddamn it...Jasper was pissed. If she didn't think he was going to follow her, she was crazy.

Two days ago, upon returning to the Ark, they saw exactly why Miller and Bryan had given each other such nervous looks. It was still an Ark, but smoldering and charred and completely unusable to survive Priamfaya.

"It was a...a grounder kid. Ian or Liam or something..." Bryan scratched his chin, "Angry at ALLIE. Thought that our Ark was-,"

"Shit, it was Illian, wasn't it?" Octavia cut in. Bryan snapped.

"That's his name."

"You know him?" Jasper asked, eyes flickering around the area, "You know the guy that did all...this?"

"I ran into him a couple times in Polis," Octavia shrugged, but Jasper saw a fire igniting in her eyes, "What became of him?"

"He's still here- he sustained really heavy injuries because of the blow, currently shackled in the Med Bay. Kane refuses to let anyone lynch him, or worse. Says we all deserve a fair trial."

"I want to see him." Octavia demanded.

"O, and what are you going to do?" Jasper asked, stopping her, "It's been done..." He looked around.

"No one was killed, so that's why Kane is saving him...for now," Miller added duly, "Because unless we figure something else out, we're all as good as dead. But there's some other loose ends, who knows." He sighed, bringing them into the yard.

People stared as they passed in, dragging their canoe behind them still.

"Did anyone claim my room while I was away?" Octavia questioned, realizing they couldn't very well drag that canoe all the way to med-bay.

"Do you think anyone wanted to even try?" Bryan gave her a sly grin, and Octavia nodded firmly.

"Good. We drop this off then I go and see him." She said.

"You're not gunna..." Jasper asked, trailing off but making a stabbing motion with his hand. Octavia looked almost horrified he'd suggest that.

"I'm not that person, Jas!" She said, shaking her head, "Not now. No, he and I were...well, not quite friends, but..." She sighed, "Look, I'm pissed at him but I'm not that pissed."

"I'll still come with you," Miller said, narrowing his eyes, clearly not believing Octavia's promise, as he shifted so his gun was in view, "Just in case." Octavia sighed, but she understood. The last time anyone had heard anything of her, she'd been a feral assassin, killing for money or nothing at all, ravaging through the forest in search of 'justice'. This kill, she was sure many would agree, would be 'justice' for what he'd taken. But as she knew, she'd killed for her own gain, to feel something, and since she felt a lot know- including guilt for the kills she had done, albeit a little late, she wasn't going to get back into killing anytime soon.

Many people looked at her warily. Well, good. She didn't want anyone poking into stuff they didn't need to be poking into, so the illusion of her terrifyingness served her well for right now. Jasper was watching her closely, but not for fear she was lying, she felt, but because out there in the wild it had been easy to say the things they said. Now they were home it was harder.

Plus, she'd promised them safety, a way through this. What were they going to do now?

The Med Bay had two guards with guns in the front of it, and she was sure they weren't there to protect the five-year-old with a cold.