Love is Weakness
Inspiration: "Then you put the people you care about in danger and the pain will never go away. The dead are gone, Clarke. The living are still hungry." That quote, and Lexa's story about her loved one that was taken by the Ice Clan.
Clarke and Lexa made their way into the meeting hall, an abundance of guards following closely behind them. No one truly trusted the Sky People, not after the possibility of them poisoning the tribe's leader, and certainly not after Finn.
The room was dimly lit by torches, and it was obviously a place of planning war tactics, with maps and a model of what Clarke assumed to be their territory. A large table sat in the centre of the room, a chair that was decorated in symbols and markings and made of stone was likely the commanders chair, and the other wooden ones could be for the tribes council.
"I have a man who wants to go inside, give us an edge. I agree with him, and he could even shut off the acid fog," Clarke told the Commander, turning to face her once a good distance inside the hall. Lexa's expression was thoughtful, and she was silent for only a moment before nodding her head.
"Yes, we cannot lose more people to their dreaded weapons. Who is this man?" Lexa questioned, sitting in the grand chair.
"My co-leader, Bellamy Blake, came up with the idea and volunteered to go in, but initially I refused. My priorities since then have changed. My weaknesses have changed," Clarke told Lexa, and the girl nodded, seemingly pleased that Clarke had taken her advice.
"He is a brave man. Even though we now know that our people are alive in that prison, we have only been able to recover Lincoln and yourself. We must be vigilant and smart about any moves we make." Since Clarke didn't respond, Lexa continued. "Our people are close to being united, but the villagers do not trust you. Sleep in shifts, I cannot guarantee that some of the people will not seek revenge upon your accused friend, or you, her leader. We leave in a week to implant the inside man, and then we will strategize."
Because the Commander stood up and exited through a door the Clarke hadn't noticed before, she assumed that she had been dismissed. Leaving through the front, Clarke could see the Sky People temporary settlement. It consisted of a few tents, and many people sprawled on the ground. Clark's first stop was to her mothers tent, where she found Bellamy, Abby, and Kane in the middle of a silent argument.
Clarke turned to the her partner first, "Your plan is on Blake. You leave in a week, better start packing." Then she turned to the people that were technically in charge of the camp. "We need to sleep in shifts, having guards at all times. We still weren't friendly faces to them, considering one of us was accused of attempted murder today, and one of us was actually a murderer."
Kane and Abby nodded. They turned towards each other and started to plan out the schedule. Clarke gestured for Bellamy to follow her out of the tent. Once they had ducked out, Bellamy spoke up.
"So Princess, what's the real reason you're letting me go, because it sure as hell isn't about you being weak. You are one of the strongest people I know. You made the hard choices when I couldn't, and I'm pretty damn reckless, but determined to stay alive. So tell me Clarke, who told you that you were weak?" Bellamy interrogated her, reaching for her arm as she began to turn away from him.
Of course he saw her as a good person. He wasn't on the other side of her decisions. Charlotte would have been alive had she not have gone after Murphy. He wasn't the one that she killed out of pity in the forest during their first days on the ground, and he wasn't the grounder guard she'd stabbed in the neck. He wasn't Finn, who she had stabbed in the chest and lit on fire.
But he could have been one of the 300 people she had ordered to be burned alive. In fact, she thought he was dead, and it killed her on the inside knowing it. She nearly burned her partner and for that she would never forgive herself.
"I was weak. I let all the pressure get to me, and made me do stupid things. Charlotte, a child, is dead because I needed to be the hero. To be the Princess everyone expected, to be the person you expected. Set up to lead and torn down when she does something wrong. Well guess what, Bellamy, I learned my lesson finally. I made my bed and now I'll lay in it. I suggest you realize that what ever the hell we want will never cut it," Clarke hissed at him, ripping away. Bellamy looked like she had slapped him.
"Clarke, how long has it been since I've said that? Not in a damn long time. You need to get your head screwed on straight because the person I expected you to be is non-existent. She turned out to be a person who cared for everyone, who was smart, thoughtful..." Beautiful.
"I was a fricken janitor on the ark, of course I was gonna lap up the attention. I was stupid, but I have changed. We worked together to fight our fights, and I thought that meant something," Bellamy told her, not understanding her change in attitude.
"Fine, what ever. Just remember, caring will get you killed. Caring too much was what ended Finn, and it could get you too. I'm doing what's smart, because love is weakness, and I cannot afford to love anyone right now. Lexa told me a story today, and she was right. It's better to cut your loved ones off then to lose them," and with that, Clarke walked away.
Bellamy and Clarke didn't talk again for the entire week before the departure. The time was spent brooding, planning, and thinking, and it was miserable. Finally, it was the night before sending Bellamy into Mount Weather.
Clarke was on guard duty, gun in hand and she was on alert. How Bellamy managed to sneak up on her without getting shot was a miracle.
"Why are you here? Are you the next shift?" Clarke asked, standing up from the stump she was seated on. Bellamy shook his head, a smile smile playing on his lips.
"I was actually here to talk to you. I had been thinking about our conversation on those very lonely days we weren't talking, and I came up with an interesting conclusion."
Clarke snorted, walking over to him, "and what is this conclusion, Mr. Blake?"
"You love me."
Clarke, wide eyed and surprised, grabbed the top of his arm and pulled him down so his head was in line with hers. "Did you hit your head or something? Do you have a concussion, or are you drunk?" Bellamy shook her off.
"No, Clarke, listen. You were going on and on and on about love being weakness, that you had to make sure you weren't weak, that you would keep your distance from the people you love. Well, you only started yelling at me after that realization."
Clarke was quiet. The two of them stood in silence for a moment before Bellamy spoke again.
"Princess, do you love me? Cause I kind of like you, you know-"
Bellamy was cut off by Clarke's lips covering his.
So this immediately came to kind after 2x09 because of the whole 'love is weakness' thing. I know the producers claim there is nothing romantic going on between my OTP, but when she said that she couldn't be weak and all that stuff and suddenly she was cold to Bellamy, I thought of this little one-shot. If this is received well I may do a sequel, something explaining the aftermath of the situation Clarke put herself in with Bellamy. Hope you like it, it's my first one shot and my first 100 fic. Thanks-TheShadowsInMySoul