Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been about two days since Mbege arrived in Tondc. It wasn’t as bad as he thought it would have been. After the first night, they brought him a couple of animal hides to sleep on, got food and water two times a day, and he got to spend most of the day with his best friend while they struggled through the grounders questioning. They were quite thorough in their curiosity, he wanted to know what they planned to do with all the information. The beat down they gave him when they found him wandering around in the woods had him thinking he was in for a world of hurt, but since being locked up, they hadn’t touched him. He was pretty sure he had Murphy to thank for that.

The alpha sat up as the same group of grounders and Murphy walked in. His friend smirked at him as he walked over, sticking a bowl of food through the bars. “Eat up, jailbird.” He accepted the food with a roll of his eyes before digging in.

The dark-skinned woman, Chief Indra, he had learned, sat down on the floor in front of him, crossing her legs underneath herself. “Hello, Mbege.” She said, her face stern. He swallowed down his bite of food. “Good morning, Indra.” He said, sending her a nervous smile. “Today, I want to learn more about your people, the ones still in the sky.” The teen nodded, eyeing the dark-haired alpha that squatted down beside her and Murphy, Bellamy his name was, the second in command.

Murphy sent Bellamy a small smile as the man crouched down and patted the ground next to him. The alpha’s lips curled slightly as he lowered himself the rest of the way down, grabbing his wrist as he loosely rested his arms around his legs, turning his attention back to the prisoner.

“How many are still in the sky?” Indra asked. Mbege frowned in thought, looking to his friend to concur. “2.. 2,000?” Murphy nodded. “That sounds about right.” The grounders all had an impressed look on their faces. “And will they all be coming down?” Mbege set his bowl aside, “if we are able to contact them.” Indra’s brow furrowed. “Contact?” The young alpha nodded, “yeah, if we can figure out a way to talk to them, they will most likely be coming down. Sooner rather than later.” “That seems impossible. How could you talk to them from the sky?”

Mbege’s cheeks puffed up as he let out a big breath. “I uh.. We have tools that let us communicate with people who are far away.. Don't ask me how it works, I don’t know.” He said, shrugging. “We call it a radio. When I left, we were trying to get ours to work.”

“So when you can talk to Skaikru, they will come down?” The boy nodded, picking up his bowl again. “Why are they coming? Why can’t they stay in the sky?” Bellamy piped up, scooting closer. Mbege slowed his chewing, avoiding the man’s curious gaze and turned to Murphy. The omega sighed as he realized the torch was being handed to him. “Our home, the Ark, is dying. In a few months, they’ll run out of air.. If they don’t come down, they’ll all die.” He said grimly, staring at the ground. Indra hummed in thought.

“What is the Ark?” Bellamy asked, the omega looked up into his confused eyes. “It’s a space station-” He shut his eyes, Murphy shook his head as he realized his mistake. They obviously had no idea what a space station was. “It’s like..” He looked around the room as he tried to find the words to describe what the monstrosity the Ark was. “Imagine a house, big enough to fit an entire city inside. Big enough for 2,000 people to live in.” Bellamy’s brow raised as he blinked in astonishment. “When the world ended, we took that house and shot it into the sky.” He said, gesturing up with a hand.

The two grounders looked at each other knowingly, “Praimfaya,” the man muttered. That’s what they must have called it, Murphy thought. They all turned to look towards the door as Nyko announced himself. “Murphy.” The gruff man said, pointing his head towards the door. The omega let out an exhale, but stood, he looked to his friend, “you’ll be okay?” Mbege gave him a reassuring nod. And with that, the teen followed the beta out.

“How are you? Still feeling any pain?” Nyko asked, leading the boy towards his hut. “Eh, yeah if I press on my bruises, but other than that, not really.” The man made a sound of acknowledgment, nodding as he motioned for Murphy to sit down. “Off.” He muttered, gesturing to his shirt. The boy rolled his eyes, but complied.

“They look good, don’t need a poultice anymore.” Nyko said, peeling the bandages off of his ribs. “Just keep them clean.” Murphy nodded his head. “I wanted to talk to you about your next heat.” The man said, wiping his skin with a rag. Murphy scrunched his face in confusion, “I just had it though.” “And we were unprepared for it.” The beta said, his face turning stern. “..You would have died if you were not brought here. Do you understand that?” Murphy’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. Sure it was long, they told him a little bit about how bad it was, but died? This wasn’t the Stone Age, omega’s didn’t die of heat like they used to.

But then again.. They kinda where weren’t they? And Nyko didn’t seem like the type to exaggerate. He looked down at his hands, the shock was delayed, but he didn’t know how to process the fact he almost died. Like for real.

“I will keep my stores full.. But I think you may want to find a partner to help you through your next one.” A mix of anger and disbelief raged through his body as his head shot up to stare at the beta. “What th-” “There are plenty of alpha’s who would be honored to help you through your heat.” “The fuck.” He hissed, hopping off the table. “Or betas, whoever you like.” “You’re kidding me, right?” Nyko’s brow furrowed in confusion. “I would not joke about this.” He said in a serious tone. “It is your decision. If you want to go through another heat alone, I will be prepared. But the best way to ease your heat is t-” “I got it, I know.” Murphy said, his tone was a little bitchy than he meant it to be, but he couldn’t believe he was getting this talk right now.

He frowned at the ground as he tried to reel in his anger. “So what, you want me to go around and fuck every knot-head in the forest?” Nyko was a bit perplexed by the omegas words and terms he could only describe as Skaikru’s. “If that’s what you want.” “No! It’s not what I want!” He hollered, his arms flailing about. “What if I get pregnant? I don’t want a kid, I don’t even want to be pregnant.” The healer nodded in understanding. “Or is that your plan? You guys just want to knock me up? Make me the village baby-maker, is that it?” Nyko’s brow furrowed as he shook his head earnestly, “if you do not want a child, we have medicine that can prevent or end a pregnancy.. I’m not saying this to hurt you, Murphy.” The beta’s face softened, Murphy took a deep breath, he didn’t mean to blow up on the guy. “Heats are not supposed to be painful, they aren’t supposed to kill you. I only want to get you through yours with as little pain as possible. And I want you to know that you have options in how to get through it.” The boy shook his head as he paced around the hut.

When Murphy looked up, he watched as a look of realization crossed the man’s face. “You are ashamed.” He muttered. Murphy stopped his pacing to look at the grounder. “N-.. I don’t care if I’m an omega. ” He said weakly, god, even he didn’t believe it. “And even if I did, what’s so great about turning into a knot-hungry bitch once every few months.”

Nyko stood from his stool, walking closer to the boy. “You are a bles-” “Blessing yeah I know.” The omega said, rolling his eyes. “Murphy.” Nyko said in a serious tone, taking another step closer. “Do not be ashamed of who you are, or what your body needs. You are sacred. A gift from the Flame.” He said, gesturing to the sky, or maybe the sun, did they worship the sun? “Not just because of your fertility, but because you hold a power that is greater than all of us.” Murphy swallowed, his eyes nervously looking over the beta’s face. “Wars have ended because an omega commanded it to. You have the power to make the strongest of us bow at your feet.. When the world wanted to tear itself apart, it was omegas that found a different way and put it back together. You create life, yes, but you also bring us together, you make us stronger.” Nyko’s shoulders relaxed as he finished.

Murphy’s mouth opened and closed, unsure what to say. “I.. I have to go.” He rushed out, grabbing his shirt and pushing past the man.

He pulled it over his shoulders as he stepped out, glancing at the woods and started walking towards it. Looking back at the prison, he noticed the grounder warriors shuffling out. More than wanting to be alone, he wanted to be with his friend. He wanted to be with someone who didn’t treat him like he was glass, or like he was some prized possession sent from the heavens. He just wanted to be Murphy. Ignoring the waves from villagers, he headed back to the prison.

He stepped to the side as Indra made her way out, nodding to her. “Oma Murphy.” She said, tipping her head to him. The omega didn’t look at Bellamy as he stopped in front of him. “Hey, you alright?” The man said softly, touching his arm. “I’m fine.” He mumbled. When the alpha didn’t move, he looked up at him. Bellamy had a face that said he saw through the bullshit response. “I’m okay. I’ll see you later.” He said in a more reassuring manner, giving the alpha a weak smile. Murphy was relieved when he didn’t press further, nodding before walking out.

He sighed as he walked over to the cell and collapsed onto the ground, ignoring the amused chuckle coming from Mbege. “What’s your deal?” His friend asked, nudging him through the bars. “Don’t want to talk about it.” Mbege laughed, “okay.”

The omega sat up, “actually no. I do.” He said, turning towards his friend, crossing his legs underneath him. “That guy I left with? He’s the village healer.” The alpha nodded along, listening. “He just told me I should find an alpha to fuck me through my next heat, dude.” Mbege’s head tipped forward as his jaw dropped in bafflement. “Seriously?” “Yes, dude.” Mbege’s head fell back as he let out a loud laugh. “That’s fucking crazy, are you gonna do it?” Murphy’s face scrunched in shock, leaning in to punch the boy’s shoulder. “No!” “Why not?” He chuckled out, rubbing his arm. “I’m not gonna fuck some random grounder, dude.”

“I mean.. they’re not all that unfortunate looking. That Bellamy guy is pretty hot, bet he knows how to rock the boat.” He said, wiggling his hips in a lewd gesture. Murphy grimaced as he looked at his friend. “Then you go fuck him.” He wasn’t sure why he felt relieved when the tan boy shook his head, making a face of disapproval. “Alphas aren’t my type.. Plus the guy is like in love with you- And you know me, I’m a good friend, I’m not gonna steal your man like that.” He said, his hands gesturing to himself. Murphy’s brow furrowed in annoyance. “Mbege, shut the fuck up.” “I’m serious! The guy goes full on heart-eyes for you. It’s kind of disgusting actually.”

He bit his lip as he tried to think about all his interactions with the man. “He did.. kind of, help me through my heat a little bit.. Not like that!” He yelled when the alpha threw his hands up in a ‘told you so’ kind of way. “He kind of just.. held me, made me smell like him, I guess. We didn’t have sex or anything like that. They said I ‘needed an alpha to comfort me’ or whatever that means.” He mumbled, looking away.

Mbege picked at the threads of his jacket, “yeah they told me how bad it was, “ he said quietly. Murphy nodded, looking down at his hands in embarrassment. “It only came up cause they were worried about the rest of the one hundred, the other omegas. I told em they were fucking it all out so they’re probably alright but..” Murphy looked up as his friend trailed off. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.. I should have been, should have left with you.” He said softly, a look of shame crossing his face. The omega let out a weak chuckle. “You want a piece of this that badly, huh?” He teased, wanting to keep the mood light. A smile stretched across the alpha’s face. “Shut up, John.” He was glad they could laugh about it now. “You wouldn’t even know what to do with all this. All this alpha.” He joked, flexing his arms, causing the omega to roll his eyes.

They spent the rest of the afternoon just talking, it felt like the old times. Like all the days they spent hanging out in their rooms, then in the sky box. Murphy was glad for the bit of normalcy, even for a little while.

Murphy felt better after spending time with his best friend, Mbege had that effect on him. It was a little awkward when he went back to the house, he finally noticed all the glances Bellamy sent his way, but tried not to think about them. He was having an okay night, he wasn’t freezing in a cell in the sky box or licking the boot of Clarke Griffin, he had a belly full of food, and a warm bed to sleep in. Sure he didn’t know what to do with Bellamy, or the possibility of a war breaking out between the grounders and sky people, or the impending doom of his next heat weighing down on him, but those were issues for later.

Tonight, wrapped up in furs that smelled like juniper berries, he just wanted to sleep.