So yeah this is officially a multi-chapter story. At this point I am along for the ride as well as you. Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, faved and followed, you helped justify my obsession with this idea. Again if you have any questions or comments please let me know. I hope this keeps your interest.

I do not own the 100

The ride to Arkadia had an awkward silence to it that Clarke was not used to while in Lexa's company. The first hour had been spent with Murphy filling them in on what he had been through since leaving camp. Detailing all he knew about the City of Light and the sacred symbol. Lexa had stayed quiet during all of his tale, and now an hour after she still had not broken her silence. Clarke took this to mean that Lexa knew things that she did not feel like sharing at the moment. She wanted to let it go, to let Lexa process this information and come to her when she was ready. But in a few more hours they would be saying goodbye for real.

"What are you thinking?' Clarke asked quietly, hoping that Murphy would be smart enough not to try and butt in to the conversation and knowing Lexa's guards wouldn't dream of it.

"It is a lot to take in. It…the symbol belonged to the First Commander. It is part of the Spirit of the Commander. The idea that it is a computer program…it is disturbing and confusing and goes against everything that I know."

"Yeah. I think we are still missing a lot of information, though."

Lexa shifted in the saddle and her eyes darted around them, "When a Nightblood is chosen to be Commander they accept the Spirit of the Commander. It is bound to us spiritually and physically. Here," she touched the back of her neck, looking so uncomfortable about the conversation Clarke wished she could reach out and hold her new lover.

"What do you mean physically?"

"The Spirit is inserted into the neck, it takes some time, but it merges and you feel this…I don't know how to explain it. It isn't voices in the traditional sense, but feelings I guess, that don't belong to you but are there with you. The feelings and guidance of the Commanders who came before."

Clarke wanted to make sense of it, but she felt she was still missing something and no sense confusing Lexa even more with half-assed theories. Instead she settled for comfort, "When I finish dealing with Pike I will come back to Polis and we will figure this out." Lexa swallowed hard and they entered another silence.

Two more hours went by and Clarke swore Lexa slowed her horse down. She understood the sentiment, she did not want to leave the other girl by any means, but she had to. Even with the slower pace they reached an encampment of soldiers soon thereafter. The men parted and bowed in respect to their Heda, but Clarke noticed they looked upon her and Murphy with barely disguised hate.

"Heda, the other skai girl passed through some hours ago. It was our understanding the kill order is already in effect," one of the generals said with forced politeness.

Lexa gave him her cool glare, "Which is why I am escorting these two, it was not their fault they were detained in Polis."

The general bowed his head, "Our messenger delivered the terms of the blockade and returned safely." He waited until his Heda gave a nod of acknowledgement before continuing. "The other skai girl waits just on the other side of the boundary, she is making the men nervous."

"I'm sure Octavia is just waiting for me, she is unaware of what happened," Clarke interjected in a soothing voice. She dismounted and walked the horse through the throng of men to a flag that had Octavia just on the other side. The younger girl's shoulders sagged in relief when their eyes met then tensed up again and her eyebrow quirked but she kept her mouth shut. "Yes that really is Murphy, I'll explain everything later." Octavia seemed to accept that and when Murphy quickly made his way to the other side of the flag she even gave the boy a brief hug. Clarke hesitated and turned to see Lexa inches away from her, eyes trying to look so strong but Clarke knew better.

She was surprised however when Lexa closed the distance and cupped her cheek affectionately, "May we meet again."

"That phrase is really starting to break my heart," Clarke gave a watery laugh. "I will come back to Polis."

Honestly if she had not been listening so intently she may have missed Lexa's next words, "If it takes too long I will come and get you."

"You know you can't do that Lexa, Pike will have his own kill order and you know it."

"A kill order that most likely includes you."

"Not if he is smart."

Lexa looked at her incredulously, and this time Octavia did not keep quiet, "I think he has shown he is not smart. Also what would be smart about sparing you? You're Wanheda."

"Not to Pike, not to most of Arkadia. To them I am Clarke who stopped the mountain from killing all of us. To them I am Abby's daughter and Pike does not want to give her any power back. Killing me would give her a lot of sympathy."

"I do not like your safety resting on him sharing your thoughts," Lexa told her honestly.

"Neither do I, but that's the way it is." It physically hurt, but Clarke stepped back, across the invisible line that she would fence her in for who knew how long. "Goodbye Lexa."

"Leida, hodnes." Octavia gave a slight gasp at the term of endearment and Clarke cursed Pike for the thousandth time. One last moment of eye contact and she turned around, signaling Octavia and Murphy to do the same.

"We need to find a safe place to start planning the best way to get Murphy into Arkadia."

"Me?"

"Octavia and I would be too risky."

"I thought Pike would be stupid to kill you?" Murphy challenged as they began to trek further into skaikru territory.

"But it would be smart for him to imprison me. Or at the very least keep me away from people so I can't rally anyone. No, I can't go into Arkadia just yet."

"If I get tortured again I'm going to be pissed." Despite the indifferent tone Clarke knew he was both teasing and serious.

"I really do want to know how this all happened, but I have my own surprise. This way," Octavia quickened her pace and led them through a winding path that ended at a cave. Clarke looked around, wondering what the surprise would be and if she would like it. Indra stepping out of the shadows was not even close to what she thought a possibility.

"So you did leave Polis." Blunt as always, Clarke found it refreshing after the day she has had.

"We got a little held up, Titus has had Murphy imprisoned for a little while now and decided that he would frame him for my murder. Why are you here?"

"Jus drein jus daun."

"I should have guessed. This works well though, it will take them a while to notice you are missing and they would not assume you were here." Her mind started trying to sift through scenarios and resources.

"I'm glad I have your approval," the general sneered.

Clarke stepped up into the older woman's space and held her gaze with a hard one of her own, "So long as you understand we cannot just go in and kill Pike. If he gets turned into a martyr someone will just take his place, we need the people of Arkadia to overthrow him."

Indra worked her jaw, Clarke knew this was not what the warrior had in mind when she followed Octavia. But Octavia asked her to come back to lead, this was her show to run. Finally, Indra gave a curt nod, "Sha, Wanheda."

"And how do you expect us to do that?" Leave it to Octavia to challenge her after getting the veteran warrior to submit.

"I'm working on that. I need to know who all we have on the inside and everything that has happened that you know of. It isn't fun, but recon is how this starts."

Lexa entered her room with great reluctance. She wondered if the bittersweet ache in her chest would hit her every time she entered until Clarke came home. She chose not to dwell on her considering Polis Clarke's home. Instead she sat on the floor in front of her bed and tried to enter her meditative state. Once there she would be able to take in all that she learned in the past twenty-four hours and organize it, to find the truth in the information. It was hard, much harder than normal, and just as she was feeling her consciousness start to slip a knock at her door jarred her back to the present.

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"Enter."

She was surprised when it was Aden's blonde head that came through the door. "Heda," he bowed slightly and hovered near the entrance.

She motioned for him to come in further and it made him smile. He sat next to her, mirroring her position and she waited for him to speak. "I've been thinking about what happened today. About skaikru and your orders."

"And do you have thoughts on it?"

He jerked his head side to side then up and down, "It is not my place to - "

"You could be chosen next, it is your place to speak true," she told him with a kind smile. "So long as you listen to what I have to say."

"Why the blockade? Why don't you send in the army to put an end to them?"

"The same reason I killed Nia and not Roan, it is important to keep in mind who your enemy actually is. The blockade keeps us safer from further actions by those currently in charge, but they will not always be in charge. Clarke will see to that."

"Wanheda can really do that?"

Lexa fought back a smile, "She can. She is smart and once her people remember why they followed her three months ago they will again."

"Titus does not agree with you, and you taught us to always listen to his council."

This time Lexa bristled and cursed for the first time how observant her favorite pupil was. "Listening to advice and taking it are different. It is important to hear different opinions and views, it helps you make a good decision, but it does not mean your advisors are always right. Titus will learn the error of his ways."

Aden went quiet and he started to shift back and forth, after a couple of minutes Lexa broke the silence, "Speak, Aden."

He did not make eye contact as he spoke, "You seem sad, Heda."

"Sad?"

His head bobbed up and down, "Because Wanheda left."

This boy. "I suppose I am."

"I thought…I thought love was weakness?"

Lexa really could not believe she was having this conversation. "It took me a long time to learn that love is not necessarily weakness. Love can give you a reason to fight."

"I see." She could tell he did not, but did not want to disappoint her.

"I hope one day you do."

"So what will you do now?"

"Now I have a mystery to solve, good night Aden."

He took his dismissal with grace and left the room with a bow and a, "Heda." She bit her lip and took a deep breath and prepared to try and enter her mind space once more.

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The following morning Octavia and Indra made their way to the secret entrance into Arkadia. The current plan was to get Octavia in contact with Miller, Kane or Abby so they could get their hands on another radio. If she did not return to Indra within an hour of entering they were to assume she had been discovered. Clarke and Murphy were watching the camp and taking notes. Clarke wanted to know how many guards they had and what kind of rotation of shifts they ran. How often groups left the safety of the walls, who left and why. It would be slow work, but she needed to know what she was up against.

"I see Jaha in there," Murphy lowered his spyglass. "That crazy fuck is speaking to a large group and they are nodding along dumbly. I bet they are all on those damned pills or whatever the hell they are."

"I understand that we will have to deal with that at some point, but it is not my priority right now. Honestly if it means fewer people who are following Pike I am not all that against it right now."

He put the spyglass back to his eye, "We'll deal with it later, famous last words."

"They haven't sent anyone out yet, that surprises me. You'd think he would want to check the strength of the blockade right away. If he thinks they are going to let their guard down, he is a fool. That army is praying someone crosses the boundary."

"Maybe he has decided to behave."

"No, him and his men executed the wounded and were willing to wipe out a village of elders and children. He is going to use the coalition army's presence to try and rally stronger support."

A few minutes of silence before Murphy's smug tone interrupted her tracking her mother walk across the grounds. "So, you and the Commander, huh? Is that something I missed when I decided to follow the crackpot or is it a more recent development."

"I am not having this conversation," she made her tone hard, giving him no room to argue. "Octavia and Indra should be getting back to the cave soon, we should head back as well."

The two warriors were in fact back when Clarke and Murphy reached the cave, and they were joined by Miller who wrapped Clarke in a brief but tight hug. "Missed you too Miller," Murphy drawled. He still did not get a hug.

"How are things in there?"

"Not good. Grounders that had come to us for medical help are being held in internment. Plus Lincoln after he started beating up a couple of the Farm Station assholes when it first started. Pike knows that Kane is undermining him so we have to be careful about how we communicate, but the bug I placed in Pike's office is still there. We've been getting intel from it, but no way to do anything about what we have learned. Right now their priority is finding land that they can use to grow corn and soybeans. Pike's whole stance right now is sustainability. Taking whatever we need, grounders be damned."

Clarke pinched the bridge of her nose, "My mother, Bellamy, Raven, Monty, Jasper?" She knew there were more inside Arkadia, but at one point in time she had been able to rely on those five.

Miller blanched a little, "Your mother is fine. I've been helping her get medicine to the grounders. Besides that, she has mostly stepped aside from the politics of Pike and is focusing on Jaha and his City of Light. I don't know the details but she confiscated his pills after some confrontation or another. Raven took one. Jasper is a mess and probably should take one. He's stopped drinking at least, and doesn't seem to have a death wish anymore." Clarke took a deep breath; she knew she knew she had more than a hand in that pain. "Monty is in the room with Pike, I think just because his mother is in there. He definitely has his reservations. Once he knows you are back his loyalty will switch.

"And Bellamy, he is Pike's right hand man. Kane thinks that if we can somehow get him back on our side most of the support for Pike will fall."

"My brother is too far gone. He deserves what's coming to him." Octavia's voice didn't break, and that made her words so much worse.

"Besides Kane, my mother, Bellamy and Jaha, who holds big sway with the people?"

"You," was his immediate reply.

Clarke paced a little. She came back to orchestrate a coup, but they didn't have an easy way like the grounders. She couldn't just walk in and challenge Pike into a battle to the death. They had to sway public opinion. "Does everyone know what happened with the 300 and the village?"

"No."

"Murphy, I know what I want you to do when you go back."

"I'm definitely getting tortured," he said with a grimace. "They won't believe me."

"If you stood up in the middle of the dining hall and made a big announcement, no they wouldn't. So instead you are going to whisper quietly over drinks, drop little bits and pieces here and there. Just get them thinking. And eavesdrop like I know you are so good at."

"What do you want me to tell Jaha, last time I saw him I'd tried to steal then drown his AI bitch."

"Tell him whatever you need to to get him to leave you alone."

That night Clarke was watching the camp again, this time with Indra for company, for some reason. Both were silent in their observations even when the front gate opened and a jeep came rolling out. The two got up and raced after it, which was not easy until they realized it was following the path to Ton DC. Clarke didn't think she would ever forget that route.

"They will hit the barricade before they reach Ton DC," Clarke observed.

"Maybe they are testing the boundaries," Indra offered as they moved through the trees.

The jeep kept going until giant felled trees blocked its path. Clarke and Indra crept as close as they dared and waited. A few minutes passed and then to Clarke's surprise Raven exited the vehicle, followed by Jaha and a few people she could not name. They began walking toward the fallen trees until an arrow struck the ground before them and torches went up, illuminating dozens of warriors. One grounder Clarke remembered but couldn't name stepped forward.

"If you cross the boundary line you will be killed."

"Death is not the end," came Jaha's immediate response and something about the way he said it sent a shiver down Clarke's spine. The words themselves were too similar to Lexa's for her comfort.

"It is for your body," the grounder responded, notching an arrow casually.

"We have nothing to do with this conflict. I was not even here when the slaughter happened. All we want is to continue our work of bringing people to the City of Light."

Clarke felt confident she saw the grounder roll his eyes, "The city of light is a myth, and the Commander's orders are absolute, any skaikru who crosses the barricade is to be killed. If that is the fate you want, please step forward, if not then I suggest you get back in your machine and return to your camp."

Clarke watched as Jaha turned his head to the side as if listening to someone, but no one spoke. After a few minutes he gave that quick smile she had seen so many times growing up, "I understand. We will head back, but remember, the City of Light is for all. Any of you who wish to learn more, to experience a world without pain, need only ask."

"Why does Jaha need to get past the barricade?"

Indra snorted, "Murphy was right, that man is crazy. This was a waste of time."

"That depends on how desperate his is to get past the barricade."