Scythe || Bellamy Blake

False Hope

It was sheer dumb luck that allowed her to reach Maya's father's quarters without anyone seeing her. When she passed by people she kept her head down low. She had already torn off the name on her uniform because anyone who knew the golden haired Aspen Melpomene would have known instantly that Skye with her Asian features and black hair was not her.

She knocked a few times on the door and waited, hunched into herself.

The door opened only a crack and Skye was sure her eyes were wide and her voice shook, "Please. I need your help."

Without hesitation the man ushered her inside and she could breathe again.

"Skye?"

She whipped around at the familiar voice and nearly collapsed in relief seeing Bellamy appear from one of the rooms. He took three strides and then crushed her in a hug, burying his face into her neck and hair. She clung to him, "You're here."

He pulled away and then kissed her quickly, "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered, breaking their embrace to study him and search for any sign he was hurt, "I knocked the guard out and came right back. Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No," he let out a breath of air and then wrapped one arm around her waist to lead her to a map that was spread over the table, unwilling to let her go, "Do you know how scared I was?"

She squeezed him once but said, "Bell I love you, but we really don't have time. We need to neutralize that acid fog."

"We're way ahead of you," Maya's father said, "You can get there through the-"

That's when Skye realized there was a guard in the corner of the room. She scrambled backward, pulling out her gun and aiming. Bellamy threw himself in front of her, "Skye no! He's with us!"

"How do you know?" She snarled, body tense.

"Trust me Skye," he said, hand still outstretched for her.

The guard relaxed when she reluctantly lowered her gun. Then he looked her up and down, "Who's uniform is that?"

She didn't back down from his gaze, hand still clutching the gun. She wouldn't kill to protect herself but all bets were off if she needed to save Bellamy, "Aspen Melpomene."

The guard clenched his jaw, but didn't say anything more. Bellamy was the one who rasped out, "Melpomene? That was her name? Are you sure?"

Skye nodded hesitantly, "What about it?"

"Melpomene is the-" he cut himself off, swallowing, "never mind."

He just looked sad.

Maya's dad cleared his throat to break away the thick tension, "Like I was saying. You can get to the acid fog through the retrofit zones. They're off limits: no cameras and no patrols. We used some to move the kids."

He broke away from the table displaying the map to grab something off of the shelf next to him, "You're going to need this. An acetylene torch."

He handed it to Skye who looked at the strange contraption for a few seconds and then passed it to Bellamy. Maya's dad continued detailing the directions.

They made to leave, but Maya's dad pulled Skye back by the sleeve. She turned around to see a seriousness on his face that was so fatherly it nearly stole the breath from her, "Don't forget your promise."

She pulled her arm away from him, "I won't."

~*~*~*~

It was both easier and harder to navigate through the retrofit zones, but by some miracle they made it to the acid fog room.