Cage moves Clarke's chair in front of Lexa and takes a seat, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and lacing his fingers together as he grins at her like he's thought of a joke he can't wait to share.
"You think you're so invincible," he says softly. "You put on your war paint and your shiny battle costumes… build up an army of the biggest bullies on the playground and convince them to do all the dirty work for you."
Lexa doesn't bat an eyelash. "You're the one who's hiding underground and acting like he can play God."
He shakes his head and leans back in his chair. "Is it so wrong to want what's meant to be yours?"
"You will never own my peoples' blood," she replies through gritted teeth.
"Haven't you been paying attention, Commander?" he asks with a smirk, holding out his arms as if to indicate the entire facility. "I already do."
She flexes her fingers against the arms of her chair, her arms straining to reach out and strike him, but then a radio crackles to life somewhere in the room.
"Sir, we have a situation."
His expression turns sour and he gets to his feet to retrieve the radio. "What kind of a situation?"
"A disturbance in Level Five. We need you down here right away."
Cage lets out a sharp sigh and slams his radio back down. "Don't go anywhere," he mutters to Lexa before storming out of the room.
She immediately pulls against the ropes around her wrists, trying to find a weakness in the knots and get them loose enough to slip her hands free, but the restraints don't budge and she lets out a yell of frustration.
The door bursts open and Bellamy enters with a boy Lexa doesn't recognize, and Bellamy does a quick visual sweep of the room before his confused eyes meet hers.
"Where's Clarke?" he demands as he nods for the boy to free Lexa from her restraints.
She swallows hard. "They injected her with something and took her away," she says quietly, then massages her wrists once the boy has removed the ropes. "Where's Cage?"
"Occupied."
"You don't think they'd try to get her bone marrow, do you?" he asks Bellamy.
Bellamy looks like he's thinking hard about something. "The stuff they injected her with," he says to Lexa. "What color was it?"
"Red. Bright red."
He looks angry now, and the boy raises an eyebrow.
"Bellamy? What does that mean?"
"It means," he says, working his jaw muscle, "we need to find her as soon as possible. Jasper, go back to the others and make sure everyone knows how to get out of here."
Jasper nods once and takes off out the door, and now Lexa is on her feet and staring down Bellamy expectantly.
"It's a drug," he says off the questions in her eyes. "It's what they give to Grounders to—"
"To turn them into Reapers," Lexa finishes, wondering if Bellamy can hear her heart pounding against her rib cage. "Do you know where it happens?"
Bellamy nods. "I have some idea, yeah."
"Then what are we waiting for?" she asks and heads for the door, but a gentle hand at her elbow stops her.
"Commander," he says, his voice softer than usual, "I know you've seen what the drug does to Lincoln and your other warriors, but this is Clarke."
Lexa wets her lips. "What is your point, Bellamy?"
He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Brace yourself."
"I am more than capable of handling this," she mutters, shrugging out of his grip and pulling a small dagger from a hidden fold in her jacket that the Mountain Men missed during their search. "Now I suggest you let go of this misguided obligation you feel to protect me from the circumstances at hand, and help me find our friend."
Bellamy looks at her for a long moment, then cocks his gun. "Let's rescue the princess."
.
He leads her through a maze of corridors in silence, expertly avoiding occasional groups of guards, and it's not until they're making their way through an evacuated section of the mountain that he finally speaks.
"Our friend, huh?"
Lexa keeps her eyes on the hallway ahead. "She saved my life a few weeks ago, and she's fought maybe harder than anyone else to make this alliance work." Her grip tightens on the hilt of her dagger. "She's an admirable leader."
"You care about her."
"Is it much farther?" she asks, decidedly ignoring his words. "Idle conversation does not provide any stealth. We should stay silent in case there are more guards nearby." She dismisses his quiet chuckle and then stops when he holds up his hand; he slowly leans forward to glance around the corner, then shows her two fingers to indicate how many men he sees.
"Clarke should be on the other side of that door," he says under his breath. "I'll take care of the guards and meet you inside. Use this," he adds, handing her a stolen keycard.
Lexa nods and presses herself against the wall as Bellamy approaches the Mountain Men, and as soon as she hears the first grunts of struggle she darts down the hallway, unlocks the door, and slips into the room as quickly as she can.
It's dark and cave-like and empty except for a chair not unlike the rudimentary one they have in their Healer's tent. Clarke is strapped to it, absolutely still and eyes closed, and Lexa takes a deep breath before venturing a few steps closer; Clarke's skin is pale and glistening with sweat and her knuckles are bruised, like she's already put up a fight or two.
"Clarke," she whispers and receives no response, so she moves a little closer and gently removes the strip of cloth tucked between her lips, then gets to work on the restraints across Clarke's arms and torso. She's down to Clarke's ankles when she hears her stir, and the moment she finishes with the buckles she lays a calming hand on Clarke's shoulder. "Clarke? Are you alright?"
Disoriented blue eyes blink open and meet Lexa's for the briefest moment, but then there's a blur of movement and her back hits the wall, and it takes her a beat to process Clarke's hands clamped tightly around her neck.
"Clarke," she chokes out, "it's me. It's Lexa."
The face in front of her shows no sign of recognition and Clarke slams the back of Lexa's head against the concrete behind her. She tries her best to shake off the impact and shoves Clarke away, then lands a heavy hit to Clarke's temple but she's only temporarily stunned. Clarke grips Lexa by the shoulders and throws her over the chair, then somehow manages to climb on top of her while she's still sprawled on the floor and now her fingers are at Lexa's throat again.
She tries every defense tactic she's ever been taught, maneuvers she's used against fully-grown men in the heat of battle, but Clarke is seething and relentless and her fists keep coming.
"Ai gonplei ste odon," Lexa thinks to herself just as Clarke collapses beside her, and she looks up to find Bellamy lowering the butt-end of his gun and offering her a hand.
"I had to knock out Lincoln, too."
Lexa glances at the blood trickling along Clarke's hairline before allowing Bellamy to pull her up, giving herself a few big gulps of oxygen as he kneels to check Clarke's pulse.
"Her heart is racing," he murmurs, "I think they gave her another dose."
"Is she going to be okay?"
He gently moves a few loose hairs away from the blood and tucks them behind her ear. "We need to get her back to camp," is all he says, then scoops Clarke into his arms and uses his foot to nudge his gun toward Lexa. "You're gonna have to cover me."
Her fingers ache for the sword the Mountain Men stole from her earlier, but she bends down and coaxes them around Bellamy's weapon instead; the weight and textures make little sense to her, but she picks it up and mimics the grip she's seen the Sky People guards use.
"You're a natural," Bellamy observes.
She brushes her finger along the trigger. "Do you intend that to be a compliment?"
He says nothing, just shifts Clarke in his arms and nods toward the door. "We'll make our way out slow and steady; the most direct route I know."
Lexa's gaze drifts to Clarke again, perhaps unintentionally, before she turns around and raises the gun to shoulder-height. "If you allow even one more Mountain Man to touch her—"
"I won't."
She takes a deep breath and approaches the door, then leans across the threshold to confirm that the hallway is empty. "It's clear."
"Head in the direction we came from," Bellamy instructs, "then take a left."
Lexa exits into the corridor and flattens herself against the opposite wall, then side-steps until she reaches the corner, and she senses the guards before she even gets visual confirmation. "Three," she counts under her breath, and glances over her shoulder to check on Clarke and Bellamy.
"Are they scattered or standing together?" he asks quietly.
"Together."
He frowns thoughtfully. "Quick shots. Don't give them any time to react."
"And if I miss and give away our position?"
His eyes soften a little. "It's the same as throwing a knife. Just aim and release."
She loathes how loudly her pulse is pounding in her ears as she lines up her targets—it's never like this when she's in the woods and surrounded by tree cover—and curls her fingertip around the trigger.
"Tuck your elbow in," Bellamy whispers behind her.
Lexa adjusts, lets out the breath she's been holding, and shoots.
There's a few seconds of muffled commotion followed by heavy silence, and she lowers the gun and looks at Bellamy.
"Second right up ahead."
She keeps her footsteps quick and light as they move forward, hating the way the soles of her boots clunk against the concrete; she misses the soft, giving crunch of the forest floor, misses the camouflage the trees so willingly provide, misses her sword.
It doesn't take her as long to line up her next shot, and when the lone guard goes down, she feels Bellamy come up beside her.
"Rethinking your no-guns policy yet?"
Lexa doesn't bother hiding her glare as she turns to face him. "Guns are loud and heavy and require ammunition, and if you ask me about it again, yours will be the first throat I slit when I get a new sword."
Bellamy seems unsure of whether to be disappointed or impressed. "Keep to this corridor and take a left at the end."
She glances down the expanse of hallway in front of them, but then back to Bellamy. "How is she doing?" she asks, keeping her eyes on him rather than on Clarke.
He kneels down to one knee so he can check her pulse again, then picks her back up. "She's okay for now but we need to keep moving. I've seen how the drug affects grown men, but Clarke's body might react differently, and I'd really like us to be back at camp when she wakes up."
Lexa gives him a small nod and adjusts her grip on the gun. "I take back what I said," she mutters as they continue walking.
"About what?"
"When I get a new sword, you'll be the second I kill. Cage will be the first."
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One chapter left; double the length of these first two. :)