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Chapter Three
"You're up early." Clarke turned from her view on the all to see Octavia coming up beside her. The young woman once an Arc'er and now fast becoming a Grounder knew Clarke well enough to know that something was bothering the blonde girl they had all unofficially elected to be their leader.
"Couldn't sleep." Clarke answered. She had kissed Lexa and Lexa had let her. Thinking about that only send Clarke's mind spiraling further into confusion. She hadn't thought about what it would mean to kiss Lexa, she had let her heart control her actions instead of her mind. And now she was left with the consequences with it.
"What's on your mind?" Octavia asked. She had been worried about Bellamy pretty much none stop since he went into the Mountain and she bet that Clarke was worried about him too.
"It's not important. How's training?" Clarke asked noticing that Octavia had several more bruises since the last time she had seen the brunette.
"Indra likes to remind me of how little I know at every occasion. You can talk to me Clarke. Octavia pressed. She owed a lot to Clarke. When she had made her intentions clear that she wanted to go to the Grounder camp and learn from their ways, a lot of the people from the Ark had told her that she was a traitor. Some of them even treated her the same way that the Grounders treated Lincoln. But Clarke had stood up for her, supported her decision at every turn.
"I kissed Lexa." Clarke confessed. Octavia's eyes went wide as she processed what Clarke had just said to her.
"You kissed the Commander?" Octavia almost choked on her surprise and laughter as she tried to picture how that interaction must have gone.
"It sort of just happened." Clarke said.
"What? You were talking and suddenly you fell and your lips landed on hers? Kisses don't accidentally happen." Octavia asked incredulously. She knew that there was a tension between Clarke and Lexa, she just didn't think that either of them had the guts to act upon it.
"We were talking. And I don't know, it just happened."
"And then what?"
"I stopped it. And I told her that we would talk about it later. When I could figure out what it was that this all meant." Clarke had no idea what Lexa thought about what had happened. The smile on Lexa's face when she was leaving was promising that maybe she felt the same.
"But you didn't want to stop it did you?" Octavia asked with a slight wiggle of her eyebrow. Clarke felt her face blush at Octavia's implication. It was true. She hadn't want to stop. But she had because her mind was too stubborn to shut up and listen to her heart.
"But I had to. We're about to go to war, we have to focus on that more than anything right now. It shouldn't have happened." Clarke didn't think Octavia would understand, Hell Clarke barely understood it. The part of her that was still an 18 year old girl wanted to say screw the rules and go and kiss Lexa senseless. But she wasn't like Octavia and Lincoln, who somehow made their pairing work because they weren't the leaders of their people. No one was looking at the two of them and expecting them to put aside their own personal wishes and desires for the betterment of their people.
"What do you wanna do?" Octavia asked seriously. She could tell how much this was weighing on Clarke. She had seen Clarke conflicted before but usually it was confliction over what she was going to do as far as battle or survival. This was a whole different kind of conflict that was completely foreign to Clarke.
"I don't know."
"Yes you do. You like her. I think you should go for it. You deserve to be happy Clarke."
"That doesn't mean that we can just do whatever we want."
"Maybe it's what our people need. A proper union between Sky People and Grounder."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. It was just a kiss."
Clarke knew the words she spoke were false but thankfully Octavia didn't push it. Instead she left the blonde to her thoughts and continued with her patrol. It wasn't just a kiss, and calling it that was doing it a disservice. The kiss was Lexa's way of allowing Clarke to see inside the wall she erected around herself. The kiss had been brief, disappointingly so. But it had spoken volumes. Clarke looked back at the Grounder Camp she would be stupid to think that there wasn't something between her and Lexa, and now that thy had shared a kiss Clarke didn't think it was possible for her to ever forget it. But their alliance was still unsteady and just waiting for something to shatter it. Clarke didn't want this to be the reason for that. She couldn't let this be the reason the alliance was in jeopardy. And neither she, nor Lexa could afford to be distracted.
Lexa watched Clarke throughout the meeting, these meetings were growing more and more tedious. The product of having too much time to overthink strategy. They had a solid plan and now they only needed to stick to it. Once Bellamy disabled the acid fog they would attack.
"I want every warrior ready to attack at any moment, train them hard but rest them well." Lexa said dismissing her generals. As she expected Clarke lingered behind, they were going to have their conversation. Lexa never understood Clarke's affinity for talk, she wanted to talk about everything. She wanted to discuss things until they were picked apart and every detail was known.
The kiss hadn't been a surprise to Lexa. She had been fighting what she felt for Clarke since the moment the met. She hadn't wanted to acknowledge that she had feelings for the blonde Sky Commander. She didn't want to open herself up to that hurt again, not when they were on the brink of war. But Clarke was unlike anyone that Lexa had ever known, with any of her own people if Lexa refused to talk about her feelings that would be the end of that discussion and she would not be pressed again. But with Clarke, Clarke pushed, she challenged Lexa and she made Lexa confront things about herself that she didn't want to confront.
"I'm sorry about last night." Clarke said after several minutes of suffocating silence. Lexa kept her face stoic, unreadable and infuriating.
"You regret that it happened?" Lexa asked.
"What? No! I don't regret what happened. Just, how it happened." Clarke explained.
"Explain." Clarke circled around the planning table and walked towards Lexa. Lexa was seated on her throne, regal and untouchable. Her guard back up and Clarke knew that she was the reason for that.
"We're about to embark in a war against the Mountain. Our people are just now starting to learn to live together and work together. I can't let what I want endanger that." Clarke said wishing that Lexa would understand that this wasn't a rejection. She had worked so hard to get Lexa to open up to her, and she hoped that this wouldn't cause Lexa to retract further into her emotionless shell.
"Then why did you do it? Some kind of game?" Lexa demanded trying to ignore the ache that began to spread out through her heart at Clarke's words. Even if she knew that Clarke was right, she didn't want Clarke to be right. She wanted to feel what it felt like to sit with Clarke that night, free and light hearted.
"No. I wanted it. Lexa I have feelings for you. I don't know what that means, but they are there. And I want to explore them. But right now, now we need to focus on this war. And getting our people back." Clarke was surprised when she saw Lexa chuckle and shake her head.
"How the tables have turned. You frustrate me Clarke of the Sky People. All this I knew before, feelings are weakness and they lead to distraction. But you pressed me, you convinced me that they were something worth having. And now that you have finally broken me you agree with me?" Lexa demanded angrily, standing up in frustration and storming across the room far away from Clarke and throwing the nearest thing that she could reach and watching it smash against the wall. The sudden sound made Clarke jump.
"Lexa."
"You've made your decision Clarke and I accept it. You may go."
"Lexa."
"Get out." Lexa growled, Clarke hesitated for another moment before leaving. When she got outside Lexa's tent she heard more things crashing around inside and her eyes closed tightly. Tears burning behind her eye lids threatening to fall. She'd really screwed up.
Lexa watched her warriors training, they were all hungry for battle as was she. That was the best way she knew of that could help ache that had taken root in the pit of her stomach that was spreading like a poison. She was trying to put her walls back up, be the cold Commander that Clarke had accused her of being and now she seemed unable to. Clarke had broken her. And Lexa was disgusted with herself because of it.
"Heda?" Indra asked seeing Lexa watch with unseeing eyes. She had never seen Lexa look so troubled before a battle. Lexa had always had a razor focus and now she was distracted.
"What is it Indra?" Lexa asked turning her attention to her General.
"Something troubles you." Indra offered quietly. She knew that challenging the Commander was unforgivable but she was concerned.
"I grow wary of waiting."
"We all do."
"I am going for a hunt." Lexa said.
"That is not wise Commander. At least do not go alone."
"Then come with me." Lexa pushed out of her chair and grabbed her sword. Indra watched the young woman heading towards the trees. Hunting would give Lexa a chance to clear her head and be productive. Her people would eat well and she would be able to ease some of the battle lust she had. Even if she knew that wasn't the only thing that caused her discontent.
The trees were like home to Lexa, she knew them as well as she knew her own reflection. She knew every tree, every bush and trail, she even knew the trails that weren't supposed to be known. She and Indra worked so well together as hunters, moving silently. And then they spotted their query, it was a deer, a Stag with wide antlers. With the nod Lexa threw her dagger and it struck the deer in the neck. The beast fell to the ground with a whine. Indra gave Lexa the kill and with the utmost respect Lexa ended its suffering.
"A good omen." Indra said with a smile.
"Our warriors will eat well tonight."
It was a feast unlike any that Clarke or the Sky People had seen, though not officially invited all were welcome around the roaring fires and welcome to eat their fill. There was an odd energy around the camp, an electricity that seemed to affect them all, the promise of battle was intoxicating to the Grounders and for the first time the Sky People saw what it was like to live like the warriors. For so long they had lived every moment in fear that they didn't take the time to celebrate the moments that they had. They rejoiced, they spent every moment they could living their lives to the fullest because it could soon be the last.
"So they spend the days before the attack partying like crazy people?" Raven asked watching a group of Grounders dance to the drums that were being played.
"They're enjoying the moment. From the stories I've heard the party can get pretty wild." Octavia said with a laugh.
"But why do it? They could be planning. Or training." Abby asked turning away from the display.
"Good for morale. And if you think about it what better way to show the enemy that we are not afraid than throwing a party. The Commander is brilliant for endorsing it." Lincoln explaining gathering that the Ark dwellers didn't understand.
Clarke hadn't taken her eyes off of Lexa the entire night, she could have been sitting with Lexa, privy to the inner workings of the Commander's mind. But she's screwed it all up and now Lexa sat with Indra, impassively watching her people. She wasn't wearing her war paint but she might as well have been.
"The Commander looks like she has had better days." Marcus commented, his words were targeted at Clarke knowing that she usually had the inside track to what Lexa was thinking.
"She has a lot of her mind I'm sure." Clarke answered.
"Something happen we should know about?" Abby asked noting that Clarke was off. Clarke was quieter than normal, and she looked like she kept the weight of the world on her shoulders. A fact that, whether they liked it or not was truer than they wanted it to be.
"The Commander and I had a difference of opinion. I'm sure it'll clear up soon."
Lexa could feel Clarke's stare as if it were tangible. She was bitter, and she knew that she was being immature. Clarke had been right. They weren't thinking with their heads and she was allowing the weakness of her heart to distract her from what was important. She should be thanking Clarke for pointing out to her the potential of weakness that she was risking.
"Heda." Indra said in a low voice. Lexa tilted her head towards Indra. Her General nodded towards the crowd, as soon as she did Lexa knew what Indra was suggesting. There were plenty among the crowd of dancers who would join her in her bed. A distraction.
"No." Lexa stated. She didn't want anyone else that was the problem. Grounders were not ashamed of pleasure and taking it when they wanted it. Even after Costia's death Lexa knew that.
"It will provide the momentary distraction and it will clear your head." Indra insisted.
"I am not distracted."
"Heda, there is no shame in it."
"I will allow myself the distraction when we have won this war. Until then, I wish to be alone. No one enters." Lexa ordered standing and leaving. She was quick about it, if she lingered then she would draw attention. But her departure wasn't noticed by anyone other than Clarke.
The flare lit up the early morning air with the intensity of the sun, the suddenness of the light even woke Lexa from the light sleep she had fallen into. The whispers and the talk had begun and already people were gathering to look at the signal in the sky. Bellamy had done it. The defenses of the Mountain were down. The time for war had come.
"Heda! The signal!" Shouts erupted from warriors. Lexa felt their gazes look to her, waiting for her to give the order.
"Sound the horn, and prepare to march." Lexa ordered.
The organized chaos that came after showed the proper war machine that was the Grounder army, to see a thousand warriors organize and be ready to march within an hour when it took the sky People hours just to decide what to do. Lexa felt her heart race, her stomach twist in anticipation for the battle that was to come. When she arrived at the gates of Camp Jaha to gather the Sky People army Lexa caught sight of Clarke and she felt a swell of pride. The blonde dressed for battle her gun gripped in her hand already.
"Your faith in your friend is well placed." Lexa said. Clarke was nervous, she was afraid, all of the preparation for the battle that was to come had not prepared her for what it would feel like to have it actually be happening. But seeing Lexa, being near her lessened that fear. It gave Clarke the confidence that they might make it out of the battle alive.
Clarke looked behind her at her mother, Abby had the look of every mother that had sent their child to war. The two women embraced. They had their differences and Clarke wasn't even sure that they could repair the damage that had happened to their relationship but Clarke wasn't going to march into battle without giving her mother one final hug.
"You take care of her." Abby said over Clarke's shoulder. Clarke looked behind her and found that Abby was looking at Lexa.
"May we meet again." Clarke told her mom before stepping away and joining the rest of the army as they marched.
They marched in wave after wave of soldiers, Grounder and Sky People walking together as one fighting unit. Their plan was simple, during the siege the Sky People would use their guns to fight off the outer defenses of the Mountain, and then the Grounder's would use their numbers to overwhelm those inside the compound. Lexa knew that there would be many lives lost among their people. No matter how skilled her warriors were, they were not bullet proof.
It was a long march up the mountain to the door, the door that had withstood a nuclear apocalypse and managed to stay standing. Lexa was going to enjoy watching those doors come down. Everyone knew their role, what they needed to do. After that the only thing that mattered was killing as many of the Mountain Men as possible.
It didn't take them long to breach the walls and then the bullets started to fly, the door opened and they were met with volley after volley of bullets. But they had been expecting that. With a loud command in trigedasleng all the Grounders took cover behind the trees. Clarke repeated that command for her own people. When the Mountain men realized that their bullets were being wasted they stopped firing. And that was when Lexa attacked. Pulling her sword from its sheath she moved as quickly as death towards the small group of men that had ventured outside the protection of the tunnel. Her sword moved quickly and with a precision Clarke had never seen before cutting them down as if they were nothing.
She was fearless. In that moment, as she watched Lexa advance with her warriors Clarke understood why Lexa was such a good leader. Lexa never hesitated, she never let one bit of fear stop her from marching forward with her people. Not just with them, but in front of them and leading them into battle. Exposing herself to the most harm.
Clarke followed with the second wave. The plan had her and Lexa splitting up, Clarke and her people would head to the control room to try and cut the power to open the doors. Lexa and her people would eliminate as many Mountain Men as they could. Clarke had fought that plan adamantly, mainly because she didn't know if she could go through the whole of the battle not knowing if Lexa was alright or not. But Lexa had told her not to worry, it would be Lexa's job to free her people and Clarke's from their cages.
People die by the dozens as bullets fly and swords slashes. It was hard to focus on that fact for very long for Clarke and with no small amount of shame she was able to block that out from her mind. She had a job to do and if they didn't get the doors open then they wouldn't win the fight. The control room was just where she thought it was, but the door was sealed and to get into it they would be sitting ducks for the Mountain Men Guard and their raining bullets.
"We need that door open." Clarke ordered watching as the Grounders started ramming the door with their make shift battering rams. She wasn't sure how effective they would be on the reinforced steel door but she knew better than to doubt them. So, until they could find a way to breach the door she would lay cover fire.
Lexa ducked behind a corner while gunfire pelted the wall, she hated waiting but she knew not to march her warriors out into the gunfire. Their armor was thick but it wasn't thick enough.
"Our people are through that door."
"We need the Sky People to open the door." Indra said.
"We will buy them time." Lexa said looking past Indra around corner. Indra recognized the look in her Commander's eyes, the look of someone willing to make a great sacrifice. "I want every Mountain Men dead."
"It will be done."
As if on cue there was a large click that seemed to echo in the entire compound, the sound of locks unlocking and the doors opened. Clarke had done it. When Lexa walked into the room where her warriors were kept she saw them all kept in cages like animals, starving and beaten and it made her blood boil.
"Heda! Heda!" The cheering started and fighting against their cages at the very sight of her.
"Free them."
Lexa had told Clarke that once the fighting had started no matter how prepared they were plans get forgotten. The anger at seeing what the Mountain Men had done to her people made Lexa want to find the man responsible and make him pay for the death he had caused. She was supposed to go regroup with Clarke and collect the rest of their warriors before conducting the second strike. She couldn't wait for that.
"Octavia of the Sky People." Lexa said drawing the attention of the younger girl. She had fought well and her sword was dripping with the blood of the Mountain Men.
"Heda."
"These men have killed your friends, will you come with me and make sure that their leader meets our justice?" Lexa asked seeing Octavia's eyes light up at the idea.
"It would be my pleasure."
They searched room by room, knowing that Cage Wallace was hiding somewhere in the walls of the mountain, hiding like the coward that he was. Every Mountain Man they found that held a gun was killed without mercy, they had agreed that for the time being the children would be spared until they could figure out what to do with them. Taking prisoners was not something that the Grounders were used to. But during times of war even children could do horrible things. But it was something that Clarke had made her promise and for the time being Lexa was inclined to allow it.
It took the better part of the day to completely take the Mountain, but Lexa wasn't satisfied. They had yet to find Cage, or his father. And she wasn't done hunting. She owed it to her people. There were still pockets of resistance hiding out in rooms. When she found them she killed them in as brutal a way as they deserved.
"They are collecting as many of the Reapers as they can to heal them. Our people are being looked after." Indra reported, she could see the look of murder still in Lexa's eyes. Lexa wasn't done fighting.
"No one rests until we find the leader responsible for the death of our people."
"Clarke!" Clarke looked up from the wounded she was treating when she heard Bellamy's voice echo into the woods. She ran to him, forgetting the scrapes and the cuts she had and she threw her arms around her joy numbing every bit of pain she had at seeing her friend alive and well. They'd done it, they had triumphed over the Mountain Men with minimal casualties.
"I'm so glad you are okay." Clarke said into his shoulder feeling the way that his arms tightened around her.
"Thought you could get rid of me huh?"
"Knew I couldn't be so lucky." The two parted but Bellamy's kept his arms around her. Clarke found the intimacy of the closeness uncomfortable. Looking around for Lexa, in the sea of grounders she didn't find Lexa or Octavia, or Indra. Worry crept through Clarke's mind, surely they would have told her if Lexa had fallen.
"Where is Lexa?" Clarke asked moving away from Bellamy.
"I'm sure that she can take care of herself."
"And Octavia? She's with Lexa." Clarke watched the worry spread to Bellamy's face too, he'd been way from Octavia for such a long time. He had worried about her every day he had been gone, knowing that she had been in the fight was enough to make his worry triple. He took off with Clarke back into the mountain.
The Mountain seemed so empty now that all the Mountain Men were dead, the silence was almost deafening. Most of the Sky People had left the mountain, except for those who stayed behind in the control room. There would be time to scavenge what they could use later, but for now they needed to make sure that the threat was totally neutralized.
Lexa found Cage by luck. They had been smart to hide in the abandoned passageways and rooms in the depths of the mountain that most people had forgotten about. Cage had with him his finest warriors and despite his differences with his father he had forced his father to come with him to be protected. But in their arrogance they had let themselves be heard.
Gripping her sword Lexa led the other two women into the room knowing very well that they were outnumbered and they would probably not emerge from the room. But none of them hesitated, even Octavia who was not bred into war like Lexa and Indra did not hesitate. She fought just as passionately as the older women. Making sure that each of her strikes found purchase in a Mountain Man and she took the lives of the men who had killed her friends and tortured the Grounders. The fighting seemed to go so quickly, as they fought it was a blur of motion and sound, pained screams and sounds of last breaths being taken.
"So you're the Commander of the outsiders?" Cage asked hiding his fear behind his arrogance. Lexa straightened, ignoring the sting from one of the bullet wounds she had received. She'd barely felt the way the bullets had hurt when they'd hit her. There would be time for pain later.
"You have murdered my people." Lexa said lifting her sword, feeling its weight in her hand like she never had before. It dripped red with blood.
"I'm sure we can work out some kind of deal." Cage suggested sensing his power slipping and the final moments of his life upon him.
"It is our tradition to take murderers, tie them to a try and let every single warrior take the blood they are owed. However, I think they will forgive me for killing you myself." Lexa dropped her sword, she wouldn't need it for this. Indra and Octavia watched as Lexa advanced on the former president. He tried to swing at her, but he wasn't trained for battle. He was used to hiding behind soldiers and hiding behind muzzles of guns. She brought him to his knees with only a few hits. Lexa watched the life drain from his eyes, felt it leave him under the tight grip of her hands on his windpipe. Looking up from Cage's body, still held in her grip to the old man who had started all of this Lexa never took her eyes off of him when she snapped Cage's neck.
"I am ready to die." Dante said holding his head up high.
"And so you shall. But your fate will not be as quick as your sons. I will give you to my people for judgment." Lexa said nodding for Indra to take the old man.
"Commander you're bleeding." Octavia said. Lexa looked down and saw that blood fell from many wounds down her body. Her body suddenly grew heavy, and he knees gave out falling heavily against Octavia her vision blurred and the last thing she was aware of was Octavia running to get help.
So...thoughts?