The Ark was very loud. All day and all night, the sounds of machinery, the air purifiers, the oxygen compressors, and every other bit of rusting metal on the spaceship would roar. But having lived in those conditions her whole life, Rory was no stranger to noise. It was the one thing Earth lacked. Sometimes she found herself unable to fall asleep in her tent because she was so used to the constant humming. This night was another story...

The storm outside was like nothing Rory had ever experienced before. There were a few times when the Ark was positioned just right above Earth, and they could see storm clouds from above. Her father took her and Bellamy to observe them once when she was very young. It was the one and only time they ever did something as a "family". But back then the clouds were just clouds, and she was just a child. The rain was coming down hard, harder than bullets. They pelleted off the drop ship, sending echoes of gunshots ripping through the air over and over. The wind howled. It actually howled like a wild animal. Rory did not know that air could have a voice.

Commotion did not begin to explain the chaos that ran ramped inside the dropship. The storm started with gentle rain, the kind that Rory's people still relished in. Obviously there were showers on the Ark. They knew what water felt like. This was different; nothing can replace the smell of fresh rain. But it started to come down harder, and then the wind and thunder followed. The hundred started to panic. Everyone was yelling and rushing into the dropship for shelter. Loose branches and debris tore at tents. The wind stole supplies like a thief.

And through all of it, poor Finn was unconscious on a makeshift operating table in the middle of the room. Clarke was preparing to be the first child-surgeon. Rory entered a robotic-like state, rushing around the dropship to bring Clark the supplies she might need to save Finn. A task made difficult with the wind blowing through the open dropship doors.

"Close the doors!" Clarke ordered.

"We've still got people outside," Monroe replied while she manned the door.

"Bellamy's not back yet," Rory said meekly. Clarke offered her an exasperated look.

"Neither are Jasper or Monty," Octavia added.

Clarke threw her arms up in defeat. "We can't wait much longer. They'll find some place to ride out the storm, they'll be fine." Rory was about to argue when Monroe called out.

"Here they are!" The crowd parted like the Red Sea. Rory pushed her little body through the people. She needed to see for herself. She hardly made it two steps before she stopped in her tracks. Bellamy was drenched, but the anger he carried was almost steaming off of him. Anna Murphy was by his side. Rory hadn't noticed she went with them. But that was not what stopped Rory from moving. She froze when Jasper and Monty hauled in the unthinkable. A grounder.

He was a man, or at least Rory thought he was. His face was bloody and swollen. He took a beating from Bellamy, no doubt. Octavia started shouting expressions of protest, but Rory couldn't comprehend what she was saying. Her own mind had gone blank. She stared the the grounder laying limp in the boys' arms. He was tall and tan, and despite his state Rory could see the outline of muscle through the shirt that was slick against his skin. She studied him carefully until he lifted his head. Rory gasped and stepped back. The grounder lifted his head, although the action looked like it pained him. His eyes landed on Rory. Too scared to move, too scared to look away, Rory held his gaze. His eyes were the same deep shade of brown that hers were. For a moment, he looked sorry for her. But only for a moment, before he started thrashing.

Octavia's protests hadn't let up. This must have been the grounder that saved her. And captured her. She was berating Bellamy but he was not listening. Instead, he ordered Jasper and Monty to take the man up to the top floor of the dropship.

Clarke intervened. "This is not who we are," she said firmly. She put her body between the boys and the ladder. Bellamy took two steps towards her and lowered his face to hers.

"It is now." Rory and Clarke both knew that there was no use trying to change Bellamy's mind. Rory had no idea what her brother was planning on doing to the man, but based on the cuts and bruises he already had it couldn't be good. From the operating table, Finn let out a low groan. He was starting to wake up. Bellamy took advantage of the distraction and ordered the grounder up the ladder. Clark sighed in his direction but cleared the floor anyway. Rory was shoved up the ladder with the rest of the hundred. The last thing she saw as she climbed was her brother's face in the trap door above before he slammed it shut.