A/N: This fic is basically my elaborate headcanons regarding Echo's backstory and relationships with the other Azgedean characters, and how it all intertwines with the Azgeda/Trikru conflict. It seeks to provide a basis for various characters' actions and personalities, given the lack of character building for Azgedean characters in canon. Each chapter begins with a clip from a season 4 scene and flashes back to related events in Echo's past.

This is a companion fic to Building Trust, my Becho time jump fic. But it also works as a standalone fic, and you don't need to read the other one to get it. However, they are intended to be in the same universe. This is a prologue of sorts and also serves to flesh out things I only have space to hint at in Building Trust, while Building Trust further illustrates the effects of Echo's trauma and ties it into her budding relationship with Bellamy.

WARNING: There is some capital D Dark Shit in this fic. Anyone who's read my stuff before knows I'm all about that angst, no fluff, but this is especially bad. Before you go accusing me of being a sick fuck, it's Queen Nia's Azgeda, and everything I have included (and will include in later chapters) has its roots in canon. Content warnings for scenes of violence, non-graphic depictions of physical and emotional child abuse, graphic depictions of torture, and vague discussions of the sexual exploitation of a minor.

A final note: To avoid having to include a bunch of translations or force the readers to ping pong between the fic and the Trigedasleng dictionary, all dialogue in the flashbacks is written in English. You can assume that the bilingual characters are speaking to each other in either English or Trig unless otherwise specified.

Months after her return from Mount Weather, Echo still catches people staring at her in amazement. Few of them brave or stupid enough to speak to her, they whisper among themselves. But she's a spy. She hears things. They wonder how she could have survived it. Being stuffed in a cage for weeks on end, given only the bare minimum of food and water to keep her alive and producing valuable blood. Whenever anyone does dare ask to her face, she says a desire for vengeance was what kept her going. The truth is, she had survived much worse. And someone gave her hope.

That someone is standing before her now, jaw set defensively as he stares her down, eyes screaming what he won't say aloud. Traitor, traitor. Because that's undoubtedly what he sees. He doesn't see how she saved him and his sister, doesn't know the punishment she endured for deviating from the plan to do so. For getting Roan arrested in the process.

"Before you say anything," starts Echo, "remember I saved your life by taking you out of Mount Weather. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you to bring the girl, but I was following orders, Bellamy." She couldn't have risked saying anything that would hint at the Mountain's impending destruction. Going off-book at all was dangerous, as a failure would then be attributed to her. She would have died a traitor's death. And it was hardly Echo's fault Bellamy's girlfriend was no warrior and would have been useless in a potential fight scenario.

"I wish it was that easy," Bellamy replies, the lingering grief clear in his voice.

After all she's had to do to stay alive, Echo rarely feels guilt anymore, but she recognizes it as the emotion eating at her gut in this moment. Not guilt for having killed, but for having hurt Bellamy. Bellamy who took her place in the harvest chamber, Bellamy who came back to free her. Back when they were allies. When they could be allies.

"I know how it feels to lose someone you care about to war," Echo tells him, hoping he can sense her sincerity, "but we do what we do for our people. You slaughter us, we slaughter you. That all went away in the City of Light, but it's back now."

The City of Light may have been a trap for their minds, but it had its virtues too. Echo hadn't known what she could even be without pain or violence, but as it turned out, she was happy. Her last trip inside the city, she and Ontari were strolling through a park, sipping fancy drinks and chatting about some cute boy Ontari was hooking up with. Before Ontari had to return to the real world and never made it back. Echo can't help but wonder what could have become of that poor girl had Nia never discovered her, had she not been abused and turned into a killing machine. Like Echo was.

Ontari is the latest casualty of war in Echo's life, but she's far from the first. And like all of them, she died at the hands of Skaikru or Trikru.

Staring Bellamy down with that thought fresh in her mind, she states, "So here we are."

***o***

Echo was nine years old when the world collapsed around her, when a messenger knocked on her door and gave her the news: her parents weren't coming home. They were both killed in battle when Trikru assassins attacked their battalion near Polis, or so she was told. She knew how to take care of herself, the fruits of having two frequently absent warriors for parents, but the money they'd left her only lasted for so long. The neighbors who knew to check on Echo every few days while her parents were deployed had little to spare either. She wound up begging for food or odd jobs on street corners, and that's where she first caught the eye of one of Queen Nia's recruiters.

At the time, Echo couldn't believe her luck. Pulled from the gutter into the royal compound, she was offered food and shelter and training as a warrior, with a chance to become a member of the elite Royal Guard. All the queen asked was one thing in return: Echo's undying loyalty. With no other ties, she gave it without hesitation. She knows now that there's a reason the Royal Guard is comprised almost exclusively of former young orphans: they are malleable and will fall in line easier when given somewhere to belong. Ontari was proof enough of the other side of that equation.

With this new purpose, the young Echo threw herself into training with an unmatched fervor. Her competitive spirit was much of what drove her, but praise from the queen was always good for extra motivation. It was easy for her to earn, too, as her parents had already been teaching her swordplay and archery before they died. Her father was infantry and her mother an archer, and she hadn't wanted to choose.

So impressed was Queen Nia with the multi-skilled recruit, within a year Echo was promoted to the Royal Guard. She was obscenely young for the job, but that was part of Nia's reasoning: people often speak loosely around children, as though they aren't there. And few would suspect a child her age of being an elite warrior or a spy.

After combat training one afternoon, Echo was summoned to the throne room, where she found the queen seated and flanked by her teenaged sons. Echo had seen the princes around the compound and obviously knew who they were, but she had never been formally introduced.

"My queen," Echo greeted her monarch as she took a knee. "How can I be of service?"

"Rise," Nia ordered her. Once Echo was on her feet, she gestured at the young warrior and addressed her sons. "Roan, Toro, meet the newest member of the Royal Guard." Hearing Toro's snicker to her right, her voice went colder as she continued, "Her name is Echo, and like all the Royal Guardians, she has vowed to protect you with her life. She should be treated with the same respect as any of the others."

"You've got to be kidding," scoffed Toro. "This little kid's going to protect us? From what, the mosquitos?"

Subservient as she was to the queen, Echo had a vast reserve of pride underneath that, and it took a great deal of willpower to refrain from promising to kick Toro's ass. Luckily for her, Queen Nia shot her a knowing smirk and nodded his way. Needing no further prompting, Echo whipped out her sword and advanced on the boy. Taken back, he ended up on his heels as he drew his own sword to parry her ferocious jabs. When he took a wild swing to fend her off, Echo ducked under his arm and tackled him. No sooner was he on his back than her sword was at his throat.

"Thank you, Echo, for that demonstration," said the queen, her satisfaction at the spectacle blatantly obvious. "Prince Toro, it seems you could use this Guardian's protection after all."

Suppressing a triumphant smirk, Echo stood and offered the prince a hand up, a hand he ignored as he got up with a scowl. "Whatever," he grumbled. "I wasn't ready."

"You should always be ready," interjected Roan, speaking Echo's thoughts aloud. "That's the point." As Echo returned to her place before the throne, she noticed the usually impassive prince wearing a look of vague amusement at his brother's expense. "How about you let her take over as my sparring partner? I might actually break a sweat."

"Shut up, Roan," snapped Toro.

"Enough," declared Nia, silencing them both. "Echo, do you have anything to say to the princes before you are dismissed?"

Making eye contact with each boy, Echo promised, "Only that I will show you the same undying loyalty I have vowed to your mother." Toro rolled his eyes at this, while Roan accepted it with a silent nod and intrigued eyes.

"Good," the queen replied brusquely. "Leave us."

Echo's second meeting with Roan came only days later, when he showed up unannounced near the end of one of her swordplay lessons. After observing the final few minutes in silence from the doorway, he raised an eyebrow as she neared the exit after being dismissed. "I wasn't joking, you know," he said. At her furrowed brow, he clarified, "You should spar with me."

Echo blinked in surprise. "Why?"

"Because you've got balls, kid. And I think I can teach you a thing or two."

Standing there in Roan's shadow, Echo sized him up. This was an entirely different proposition than rushing Toro unexpectedly. While Roan's fifteen year-old brother was still very much a pimply adolescent, the crown prince was practically a full-grown man. Starting to fill out after his growth spurt, he sported spotty facial hair and an all but permanent frown that made him look much older than his seventeen years. Even then Echo was tall for her age, but he towered over her and she couldn't help but feel intimidated, despite the goodwill he was projecting.

Considering his offer, Echo weighed the learning opportunity against her ego. She had a feeling she would rarely - if ever - be able to best Roan, and she hated losing. There was only one thing she hated more than losing, in fact.

"On one condition," she answered, drawing another raised eyebrow from the prince. "You don't let me win."

That was the first time Echo ever saw Roan smile. "That won't be a problem."

And it wasn't. It took Echo years to defeat Roan for the first time, but her constant losing became yet another driving force spurring her on to greatness. All that practice against a left-handed swordsman also proved useful for her development. She was never sure what Roan got out of the deal, though. Not until one day when he knocked the sword from her hands and she kicked it across the floor in frustration. As it clattered against the wall, he chastised her, "You still fight like a child."

"I wonder why," snapped Echo. Granted, she was a teenager now, but still very much a child compared to Roan. Though she was catching up in height, Roan had bulked up significantly in the last three years and was stronger than ever. More importantly, he had a certain unflappable maturity about him that Echo envied.

Scooping her sword off the floor, Roan extended it to his partner as he approached again. "Your passion is refreshing," he admitted. "It's nice to fight someone who gives a damn. Someone who won't let me win because I'm the crown prince."

Squinting at this revelation, Echo retrieved the weapon from Roan's grasp. "Toro doesn't let you beat him, does he?"

"No, but he's awful and he doesn't care. He's content to hide behind the blades of the Guardians."

"Other than mine," grumbled Echo.

"Well, he's foolish. You're more skilled than half the Guard." Echo snorted under her breath. Losing all the time had taken its toll on her confidence. Roan clapped a hand on her shoulder and insisted, "You are. The reason you keep losing is you can't keep your cool." Sighing heavily, Echo lifted her head to meet his gaze. "It's great that you have such heart. But you can't be all heart. You need to be able to stay calm under pressure. Ice in your veins."

"And how do I do that?" The question didn't come out as sassy as she'd hoped it would.

"I can read you like a book. Start with that." Stepping back, Roan dragged a hand down his face and pulled the expression off with it. "Blank face. Bury your emotions so they can't be used against you. And pay attention to your whole body. Control every part of it so you don't give away your next move."

Echo could manage the face part at least, if she focused. She'd already learned to mask her emotions in the wake of her disastrous first mission with the Guard, though her emotional state had admittedly been more volatile since then. She was hardly the same girl anymore.

In the months following Echo's addition to the Guard, there was an increase in Reaper activity in Azgeda territory. More sightings, many more disappearances from the southern regions. Echo was called to the throne room and given a mission that seemed tailored to her: investigate how the Mountain Men controlled the Reapers and why they were kidnapping her people. Bilingual since infancy thanks to her two warrior parents, she was especially equipped to gather intelligence on the Mountain Men. Plus, only adults had been taken so far. Queen Nia hoped Echo may be somewhat immune to the Reapers and therefore able to get close while avoiding capture.

The idea terrified Echo, but more than anything she wanted to feel important and needed, so she accepted the mission with no protest. When it came time for her to depart, Queen Nia actually came to the stables to see her off. Cupping Echo's cheek with something resembling a smile, she told her, "Remember, trust only Azgeda."

"Yes, ma'am," promised Echo.

Echo had never been outside Azgeda before, and infiltrating Trikru territory was particularly daunting. Their clans had been at war on and off for as long as she could remember. But Queen Nia was right about one thing: people didn't find her suspicious at all. In fact, Trikru adults gave the unaccompanied child unsolicited warnings about where not to go if she wanted to avoid Reapers. They had to deal with Reapers more than any other clan, as the Mountain was in their territory, and they seemed to understand the creatures' habits the best. No one knew why they had turned on their own people to work for the Mountain Men, though, or why they had devolved into such an animal-like state.

Based on some of this information, Echo soon discovered a maze of old train tunnels near the base of the Mountain. Some hours of exploring later, she came upon a door. "RESTRICTED AREA," it read in English. "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY." A glowing box with numbers sat beside it, probably some kind of locking mechanism. Climbing up on the hinges, Echo was able to peek inside the window high on the door, but could only see a bright white hallway. A nearby dumpster held several dead bodies. Some of them had bandages on their arms or necks, but otherwise they just looked starved. Echo went so far as to climb in the dumpster to examine the bodies closer, but couldn't figure out what had been done to them or why.

Frustrated, Echo decided to keep exploring the tunnels for clues, and soon ran into a group of Reapers. As their rumbling chatter approached, she ducked into an alcove and waited for them to pass. Several prisoners were chained to a log and being marched along the train tracks, guarded by three Reapers. Echo held her breath as they passed, praying they wouldn't see her. Once they were out of sight, she could follow them back to the door and observe the handoff, see if that gave any more clues.

As the last prisoner was passing, he glanced over and caught Echo's eye. His pleading expression made her want to help, but that was not her job. Her job was to be invisible. And now his staring made even that impossible, catching the attention of the last Reaper. Before Echo realized she'd been caught, she was being ripped from the alcove. "Found another!" yelled the Reaper as he clamped a hand around her throat and lifted her high in the air. Her kicks to his body made him slam her up against the tunnel wall and hold her there by her neck.

Struggling for air, Echo was on the verge of passing out when another Reaper called out, "She's too small! Don't waste your time."

The first Reaper glared at Echo and threw her down with a visceral growl. "You'd better run, little girl, or you'll be our next snack."

Terrified, she scrambled to her feet and bolted down the tracks. Only once she'd stopped to catch her breath did she remember her plan to observe the exchange. She could probably still catch up with the Reapers before they reached the door, but the thought of going back sent shivers down all her limbs and they refused to cooperate. She kept running instead.

When Echo arrived back at the royal compound days later and reported all she had seen, Queen Nia was far from impressed. "And what do you suggest we do with this information, Guardian? We're not planning to invade the Mountain, and we already knew they don't take children. Do you have anything useful to report?"

"That's all I observed," admitted Echo.

"Why didn't you follow them back to the door to witness the prisoner handoff?" demanded Nia, freezing Echo in her icy gaze. When Echo failed to respond, her expression turned all the harsher. "You ran."

Swallowing hard, Echo ducked her head. "Forgive me, my queen. I was afraid."

"You shouldn't be afraid of the Mountain Men, dear Echo. Or the Reapers. You should be afraid of failing me."

Those words were barely out of the queen's mouth when two pairs of hands grabbed Echo from behind, yanking her off her feet and throwing her to the ground. A fury of boots and fists followed, her cries for help going unanswered.

On the edge of unconsciousness, she was picked up and carted to the prison, deposited in a small room with only a bucket and an uncomfortable bed. She received one cup of water every day. A small plate of food every three days. She wasted away in there for what felt like months. But from counting the daily cups, she knew it was actually only 37 days. Only.

She didn't spend all that time in her cell. On a few occasions, Echo was brought back to the throne room and placed on her knees before the queen. She'd prostrate herself and plead for forgiveness, and the queen would order another beating and send her back to prison. Curled up on the bed, she passed the time and distracted herself from her misery by replaying happy memories from years before in her mind. It was her sole comfort in those long weeks, but in time it only came to make her feel worse. These were things she could never have again. The queen didn't care for her like her parents had, and Echo could no longer pretend that she did.

Echo began losing her head. Kicking the door and screaming, ripping her bed apart. One day she threw her bucket across the room, splashing the door and floor with the putrid stench. When the guard entered with her daily water, his horror was palpable. Within the hour, Echo was dragged back to the throne room once more. For some worse punishment, she figured, for causing such a mess.

In desperation, she dropped to the floor and began to babble through broken sobs. "Please. I'm begging you, please. Don't send me back there. I can't..." Echo got no more words out, the pain in her bruised ribs silencing her but for a low moan. Queen Nia rose from the throne and approached, stopping so close that Echo could see her feet. "Please," she whimpered. "My queen, have mercy."

A long moment of terrified shuddering later, Echo finally heard the queen speak. "Return the prisoner to her regular quarters and summon a healer," she ordered the guards. "And see that she is fed." Echo barely had time to feel relief before she was pulled to her feet and the queen tipped her chin up to look her in the eye. She couldn't help but recoil in fear, but the queen's expression was gentle. Maybe even sympathetic. "I do all I do for Azgeda. I know this was difficult for you. But if I tolerated cowardice and disobedience from those I have placed the most trust in, it would put our nation in jeopardy."

Echo nodded with a thick swallow. "I understand."

"I want no more Azgedean children to lose their parents to the Mountain Men. Or to Trikru," continued Nia, watching Echo closely. The girl blinked vacantly, masking the pain these words caused her. "I'm sure you can understand that too."

"Yes," she admitted, keeping her voice steady out of spite.

"Good girl," the queen praised her before addressing the guards again. "Take her away."

A/N: I decided to post chapters 1 and 2 together because this one seems pointlessly dark until you can start to see what it sets up and parallels later on.