A/N: Chapter 2 is here a bit early. You can thank my friend, electricbluebutterflies, for that.
Clarke only stayed at Mount Weather for three days. In those few days, she managed to bury the children on the mountain and some of the adults. She left the heavier people where they were and hoped that her mother's people would take care of it.
While she wasn't busy burying the dead, she was gathering supplies for a long-term trip. She had no longer had a home, so she planned to stay on the move until she found a place to settle. Maybe she would do like Lincoln and find a nice cozy cave to live in.
There were plenty of food stores and supplies for her, so she had to pick only the essentials to take with her. Unperishable foods, light weapons, medical and survival supplies all made the cut.
This time her pack was a black backpack that she picked from the armory. It was just the right weight for long-term travel, and it was lined with Kevlar for protection. While, she briefly considered a smaller one, the thought of using one of the children's was just too much for her to handle.
Her sleep was fitful every single night she spent in that haunted place. With the lingering stench of death in the bunker, her guilt gnawed at her every waking moment. She felt no reprieve in sleep. The faces of the dead swarmed her vision until she cried out in exasperation. There was no one there to hear her, so she felt safe letting it out.
While her conscious haunted her, it wasn't what made her leave the mountain. She saw that her mother had finally sent a group of soldiers and civilians towards the mountain, and she didn't want to be there when they arrived.
Since she had more than enough of a head start, she lingered for a few moments while watching the screens. Switching from camera views, she swore she saw a Grounder near the mountain. Once she zoomed in, her suspicions were confirmed. A scout sent by Lexa, she was sure of it.
Swearing under her breath, Clarke contemplated what to do. The Grounders were supposed to stay away. That had been part of their agreement with Cage.
The mere mention of that bastard brought a snarl to her face. When Lincoln told her of his fate, she almost wanted to hug him. At least Cage's death had been painful like his victims.
Thinking back to her Grounder problem, her only choice was not one she liked. It might get her killed, but she couldn't let the Grounders have the advantage over her people. The dark part of her wished that the mountain still had the acid fog. It had been a formidable defense against the Grounders for decades, and it could work again.
Shaking her head, she decided to grab a few books for her altered journey. By the time she made it to her destination, the people at Jaha should have the mountain secured.
After saying her farewells to the dead, Clarke left the mountain behind for good. She had done what she could for them, and now she had to do the same for the living. Even though she wasn't a part of Camp Jaha anymore, she'd be damned if she let the mountain's sacrifices be in vain.
Lincoln felt himself waking with the sunrise. He stretched his arms carefully, making sure not to waking the sleeping woman next to him. As soon as he tried to move away from her, her hand curled on top of his naked chest.
"A few more minutes," Octavia mumbled and nuzzled against his side. Her small breasts were pressing against the side of his rib cage, and he contemplated staying in bed for a moment.
He leaned down to press a kiss to her lips, but at the last moment decided to tickle her. She wasn't getting out of training this morning.
Her shrieks pierced the air as she tried to fend him off. He only ceased when she was wide awake with her chest heaving in exertion. Her cute little glare only made his smile wider. Gods, he loved her.
"Lincoln," she growled, but he intercepted her with a kiss. She immediately moaned and moved to straddle his lap. His hands went to her breasts and squeezed lightly.
With a hiss, she jerked away from him and removed his hands. "Good morning, Lincoln," she mumbled while massaging her sore breasts.
His eyes watched her in concern. "Sorry. Is it almost time for you to bleed again?"
"It always sounds weird when you say it like that, but yes. Should be next week," she leaned forward for another kiss, and he met her halfway. Before they could really get into it, Lincoln pulled away and moved her off his lap.
"Come on," he said as he pulled his pants on. "Time to train."
Octavia begrudgingly got dressed as well and followed him out of the tent. The cool morning air made her shiver, but she would be warm soon enough.
Others in the camp were starting to wake up as well, and she and Lincoln waved to them as they made their way to the exit.
They started off with a light jog, but Octavia's muscles were still achy and fatigued from the battle. Lincoln was several paces ahead of her, and she admired his ability to take hit after hit and still go strong. His stamina had been one of the things that had attracted her in the first place.
Octavia managed to continue to her moderate pace for a mile, but then it hits her. First her legs cramped up, so she had to stop to massage them. Before she could even call out to Lincoln, a wave of dizziness came over her.
"Lincoln!" she cried out before kneeling to the ground and vomiting up her dinner from last night.
Within seconds, he's at her side and holding her hair. As she recovered, she felt his hand press against her forehead.
"You're really warm. You might be sick," he said and picked her up. Octavia was too out of it to protest.
"Must have been that swim from the other day," she mumbled and buried her face in his neck and wrapped her arms around him. He was so warm and comfy. She'd rather spend the rest of her day cuddling with him in their tent. They could exercise tomorrow.
"I told you not to let your hair air dry," he scorned on the way back. "I guess the run didn't help matters either."
"Exercise also makes me sick this close to my period."
"Or it could be that."
Octavia fell asleep on the way back, leaving Lincoln alone with his thoughts.
Simple and quiet domesticity is all he ever wanted with Octavia, and now it was looking like a reality. The people in Camp Jaha were courteous towards him, but he could feel it. When they looked at him, they saw a Grounder. Only the remaining of the 100 saw him as one of their own.
Seeing as he wasn't one of them, it shouldn't have bothered him. Octavia was back at home with her people, but she didn't really consider them hers either. He knew that they both longed for their quiet moments of their little cave, where they had shut the rest of the world out.
But now that Bellamy was back, he couldn't even think of asking Octavia to leave with him. Especially with Clarke gone, she would never consider leaving her brother alone.
While he and Bellamy had never been much on good terms, he could see the loss in the young man's eyes. Clarke had been Bellamy's co-leader and dear friend. He remembered the similar feeling when Octavia had once left to him to go fight with her people.
He knew immediately that he couldn't let her die, but Bellamy was different. Bellamy had a responsibility to the rest of the 100 and couldn't leave them to go after Clarke.
As Octavia slept off her illness in their tent, Lincoln sat by the fire pit outside. His gaze was trained on Abby and Bellamy talking animatedly. The older women was in near tears, and Bellamy's head hung low. Finally, Bellamy nodded and walked away.
He watched as Abby turned to Kane and hugged him. He smirked at the smitten look on Kane's face. Then Abby pulled away without looking at Kane and strode past him into Medical.
Kane glanced back at her before moving onto his own daily duties. Footsteps too heavy to be Octavia's sounded behind him.
"Never got rid of the people watching habit, hmm?" Bellamy's voice called out.
"A warrior always needs to be aware of what's going on around them," Lincoln replied and started a fire. Octavia would probably wake soon and be ravenous.
"How's O doing? I heard she was sick this morning," Bellamy nodded towards the tent Lincoln shared with her.
"Napping. Probably too much exertion. I have some tea ready for her for when she wakes."
Bellamy sat down across from Lincoln and glanced over at the tent.
"She'll be fine," Lincoln assured him. Nothing could keep her down for long.
"That's actually not the reason I came over here."
Lincoln nodded. He already had a sneaking suspicion what Bellamy was going to request.
"I was wondering if you could find Clarke. You don't have to bring her back. I just want to make sure that she's safe. We don't know exactly where we stand with the Grounders yet, and I don't want her taking a spear to the abdomen."
Lincoln's first instinct was to say yes. He liked Clarke and respected her. She showed a compassion that not many leaders had, but she was ready to make the tough choices if need be. It was a rare combination in any one person.
But now he had Octavia to think about. After last time, she definitely wouldn't let him go alone. She also would protest, seeing as Clarke was the object of her rage at the moment.
The more he thought on it though, the more inclined he was to do it. He needed time away from this camp, and its people. And so did Octavia. He also didn't want Clarke to die, but he knew that she could take care of herself.
"I'll do it," Lincoln said, and relief immediately washed over Bellamy's face.
"Don't I get a say?"
Lincoln sighed. Octavia was awake.
"O, please-"
"Save it, Bell. She made her decision. Let her live with it." Octavia sat down next to Lincoln, her eyes cold and hard.
Bellamy looked to Lincoln who nodded.
"Octavia…"
She hated when he used that voice. That was the voice he used when he needed her to calm down and look at things objectively. With a stubborn set in her jaw, she looked into his brown eyes.
"She saved my life. She brought me back to you," was all he said. Octavia chewed her bottom lip while thinking.
He was right, and she fucking hated that he was right about this. As much as she loved being a warrior, the solitude they had for the past few days had been heavenly.
"Fine," she spat and turned to Bellamy. "If he goes, I go."
There was no shock in Bellamy's eyes. He already knew that they faced everything together, and this was no exception.
"Stay safe, O. Please come back. I couldn't bear to lose you, either."
Bellamy's voice barely registers in her ears as her eyes turn back to Lincoln who's staring intensely at the fire. They'll talk about this later.
"We want to come with you," Monty said as he and Miller walked up to them.
"We can't stand being in this camp right now. Everybody treats us as if they didn't send us down here to die. I need a break from everything," Miller added.
"For fuck's sake," Octavia groaned, but Lincoln chuckled. He grabbed her hand and gave it a light squeeze.
"The more the merrier, right?" Octavia sighed.
"I wouldn't be asking this of any of you if it wasn't important," Bellamy reassured. "Thank you all for going." He stood up and left them.
"So when do we leave?" Monty asked, directing his question at Lincoln.
"She's already had a three day start, so that narrows it down," he replied. "It won't matter if we leave tomorrow or today. She doesn't know these woods as well as I do, so we can track her pretty easily."
"But what if she doesn't want to be found?" Octavia asked. "I mean, she left for a reason."
"Then we respect her wishes."
A/N: Chapter 3 is written but still needs to be edited. I am also doing Octavia Week on Tumblr, so there might not be any updates until that's over. Wish me luck!