They're doing it again, Abby thought, catching the subtle glance between her daughter and her co leader. Though Abby had no hope of deciphering the message that passed between them, it was times like this, when the two of them were communicating with only expressions, silently agreeing with each other that Abby knew the right decision had been made.

After their people had been freed from Mount Weather, Abby had decided it was time to let the people vote on who they wanted their chancellor to be. At the time she had assumed it would be between herself, Kane and Jaha. Imagine her surprise when Clarke had approached her and informed her she wanted to run for chancellor. Not alone though, she and Bellamy would lead together. Abby had immediately blanched at the suggestion, her first response being a firm "No." But Clarke had insisted she wasn't a child anymore and didn't need her mother's permission. So Abby had sought out Thelonius for advice.

"Let her run," the former chancellor advised her.

"Thelonius!" Abby snapped, "She's just a kid! And even if she was mature enough to take on the position, she won't be doing it alone. She wants Bellamy Blake to be her partner!"

"I say, let them run," Thelonius nodded, his voice calm and even, contrasting with Abby's quickly growing hysteria.

"Did you not hear what I said?" Abby asked incredulously. "Bellamy Blake. The one who shot you," she reminded him. She did feel a little guilty for bringing it up. She knew in her heart Bellamy wasn't the same person he was when he pulled the trigger on Thelonius Jaha. But that didn't mean she wanted him in charge of their camp, in charge of their very survival.

"I know who he is, Abby," Thelonius replied. "But just let them run. No one's going to vote for a couple of kids. They want a chancellor that has experience, someone they can trust to make the right decisions for them," he said knowingly. Abby reluctantly agreed, knowing she couldn't stop the pair from announcing themselves as candidates. She only hoped Thelonius was right.

He was wrong of course. Clarke and Bellamy won by a landslide. It turned out the people no longer really trusted their three previous chancellors, especially those who had been trapped in Mount Weather and had looked to Bellamy and Clarke for so long. The new chancellors had graciously allowed Abby, Jaha and Kane to join them on the council, along with some of their own friends. In the end it was probably a good thing that the two had won the chancellor position, as Lexa refused to work with anyone but Clarke.

It was now time for the new leaders to prove themselves. Their people were free from Mount Weather, as were many of the Grounders. But it was time to make a decision about what to do with the people who lived in Mount Weather. It was a well known fact that the Mountain Men could not live without the treatments they had been giving themselves. Which meant that they would either let themselves die, or they would go back to kidnapping grounders to lock up and drain them of their blood and bone marrow.

"They aren't just going to sit back and do nothing," Clarke said, after her seemingly telepathic conversation with Bellamy. "They're ruthless."

"So what? We just kill them all?" Thelonius snorted.

"You had no trouble giving up Finn," Clarke snapped, her eyes flashing with anger. "Or sending your own son to the ground to die!" the words were harsh, not something Abby expected to come from her daughter. Sometimes Abby wondered if she even knew Clarke at all anymore.

It was clear Bellamy did though, as he put his hand over hers and she seemed to calm down. "I don't want to kill them all either. I don't want anyone else to die." Clarke admitted flatly.

"Lexa wants them all dead. Her people want retribution," Bellamy told them.

"I'm fine with it," Raven agreed.

"Maybe we need some time to think about this," Abby said diplomatically. Honestly she thought the easiest option would be to kill them. It wouldn't be that hard, and it would certainly be easier than locking them up and trying to find some way to keep them alive without using the blood and marrow of other people.

But she knew Clarke and Bellamy had to make this decision, and they had seen too many people die already to be so quick to sentence so many people to death, even when some of them had done such horrible things. But then again, hadn't they all?

"Time is something we don't have," Bellamy said. He looked at Clarke and she nodded, another private word between the two of them that no one else seemed to understand. "We'll think on it tonight and come to a decision tomorrow," he nodded, dismissing the council. Abby almost wanted to stay and just watch the two of them, to observe the strange phenomenon of two people from totally different worlds, somehow understanding each other better than any two people she'd ever met before. Instead she stood up and left the room, heading back to the medical tent to check on her patients.

There had been a steady stream of reapers being brought in by grounders in order to be cured, and though she hadn't been able to save all of them she had a fairly high success rate. She hoped that once the Mountain Men were out of the way she would be able to use their facilities and supplies in order to better treat her own people as well as the Reapers and Grounders.

Abby very much doubted there was any way to keep the Mountain Men alive other than the methods they had previously been using. With everything they had at their disposal, surely if there had been another way, they would have found it. The Mountain Men needed to die, Abby was sure of it. All of them, because there was no way to keep them alive and keep the Grounders happy.

Abby was suddenly struck with the fear that Clarke was going to make the wrong decision. She needed to talk to her daughter right now, to make sure she knew the exact implications of the choice she was about to make. She instructed her knew trainee to look after the patients while she was gone.

"Jasper!" she called, seeing the boy moping about doing nothing. He looked up and Abby hurried over to him. "Have you seen Clarke?" she asked.

"Yeah, I was just talking to her. She and Bellamy just went off in that direction," Jasper pointed beyond the gate and towards the forest. Abby scowled. How could the two of them be so stupid as to go off alone? Just because they had a truce with the Grounders didn't mean they were safe.

"Thanks," Abby muttered as she went to follow them.

"Dr. Griffin?" Jasper called after her. She turned back to see Jasper looking utterly hopeless, almost as if he was about to cry. "Can you… will you try to convince them to spare Maya? She… there must be something we can do to save her," he asked desperately. Abby felt her heart break a little as she looked at Jasper's worn features, underneath which there was still a young teenage boy hidden.

"Jasper…" she started kindly. As bad as she felt for him, she wasn't about to lie to him. He understood the intent of her words before they came out of her mouth though and he hung his head.

"It's okay," he said quietly. "I understand." He turned his back on her then and wandered off. Abby quickly shook off her pity and resumed her mission to find Clarke. It was annoying enough that Clarke and Bellamy seemed to have these private conversations right in front of her face, let alone sneaking off to talk without regard for the rest of the council. They may be co-chancellors, but they still had other people to consider.

It didn't take her that long to find them, they hadn't gone far. Clarke stood with her back to a tree, her body facing towards where Abby was standing. Had Clarke looked up, she would have immediately noticed her mother watching her. As it was, Clarke's attention was focused solely on Bellamy, and Abby stood in the trees unnoticed, feeling like she was witnessing something she was never supposed to see.

She couldn't hear what they were saying, but somehow she felt like they weren't discussing council matters. Still, Abby found herself unable to move and head back to camp. Bellamy said something and Clarke smiled, almost laughed, and Abby realised she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her daughter happy. Bellamy reached for Clarke's hand and Abby knew she had to escape now, before she truly interrupted their private moment. Her urgent message to Clarke suddenly seemed so unimportant.

Unfortunately, as she turned to leave, she stepped on a fallen branch, and the sound of snapping wood echoed through the trees. Clarke looked up then, and Bellamy spun around, catching Abby standing there looking guilty.

"Mom?" Clarke questioned, obviously looking for answer as to why her mother was spying on you.

"I was worried about you," Abby explained quickly. "Jasper told me where you were. It's not safe out here." Clarke nodded.

"Alright, we'll be right back," Clarke replied, if only to appease her mother.

"Okay… don't be too long," Abby smiled awkwardly. She turned to leave again, but couldn't resist a quick glance back at the pair. There it was again, a look between them, an unspoken message known to only them. Although Abby was pretty sure she could figure out what this one meant. She'd seen it before, probably even given it herself.

I love you, it said. Abby didn't know if they'd ever said it out loud to each other, or even if they ever would. But she was glad they had each other, and she was confident they both knew how much the other loved them, and they both needed that in order to face whatever was ahead of them.

Hey! This is my first Bellarke fic. It took me a while to write something for this fandom because there are so many great writers and it's a little intimidating but I decided to write this anyway, so hopefully you enjoy!

Also, my sister read this but she is not the greatest editor or suggester of improvements, so sorry if there's mistakes! (Love you Ash).