Their escort parted the people lining the stairs, making room for the procession to push through. It grew as they moved up the stairs, Azgeda warriors swelling the ranks. The heat of so many bodies made her stomach roll, but she fought it. She couldn't show weakness, especially here, especially now.

Roan leaned over as they climbed the steps side by side. "Your mother isn't going to be a problem, is she?" He asked quietly. "If anyone but us know how you became a Nightblood…"

Clarke glanced over her shoulder, but only caught a glimpse of Abby, nearly shallowed by the crowd. "It's possible. She isn't going to like this."

They made eye contact for a moment. "Thank you for your honesty." He waved one of his men forward. Clarke grabbed his arm, dread at the fact they she knew how grounders handled things coursing through her.

"Don't hurt her. She's my mom."

Roan looked down at her hand, then back at her face. He waited a moment, then nodded.

Relief tamped down the dread, but it was still there.

It only took a moment for Roan to relay his instructions, and then they were moving again, straight into the main room of the tower. A quick sweep showed Kane over by the wall, representing Sky Crew by himself. Wasn't Bellemy back yet? Apparently not, or he would be here. He had better hurry if Skaikru wanted to make it into the bunker.

Kane acknowledged her with a strained smile and a nod. Everyone had changed since the Ark had landed, but probably Kane most of all. He was a good man now. Good for her mother. She glanced over her shoulder. Abby was missing. Just as well. Then she wouldn't have to see this. Whether it went well or not, it wasn't something any mother would want to see.

A voice broke her from her thoughts. Gaia had been saying something. A loud rumble rolled through the crowded room. Roan bumped her with his shoulder. This was her moment, apparently.

She moved forward, the crowd parting around her. Then chaos broke loose.

"She cannot be a Nightbleeda!" someone yelled from the other side of the room.

"Wanheda is of Skaikru, they have no Nightbleedas!"

"Skaikru will not lead the clans."

The voices were getting more and more angry. She had to shut this down, fast. And she had to be the one to do it.

Without pausing, she stepped up on the dais beside Gaia, pulled a knife from her boot, and made a cut on the other arm to match the first. She watched the black blood well up for a second, then turned her arm over to let it drip to the ground. The room went silent.

"You know nothing of my people. Nightbloods are rare, even among the clans. You cannot say that Skaikru has no Nightbloods. Here is the proof." She looked the first of the dissenters in the eye, throwing every ounce of strength she had into her stare. Here she couldn't be Clarke. Here she was Wanheda.

The leader of Podakru broke the staring match first. She moved on, locking eyes with several leaders. Eventually she caught Indra's eye. Indra obviously was not intimidated. She crossed her arms, but didn't say anything, looking between Gaia and Clarke.

Kane shoved his way to the front moving to stand by Clarke. "What's going on? How did this happen? Where is your mother?"

"Not now," she hissed.

"It is time, Klark," Gaia said, pulling Clarke farther onto the dais. Roan moved forward and handed her the Flame before taking a step back. That was wise. It couldn't look like Azgeda had planned this.

Gaia held the Flame high and gestured for Clarke to kneel. As she bent down on one knee, someone in the first row shifted restlessly.

"This isn't right. She isn't of a clan," the man said, voice angry. She recognized him as one of the clan leaders, but which one?

Kane stepped forward, hands raised, attempting to placate the man. "Lexa made Skaikru part of the collation. Clarke is one of us, and therefore is part of the clans."

"No," the grounder said, pulling a hidden knife. Some of the people behind him began to grumble. "You don't defile the Flame like this." Getting brave, several grounders behind him yelled in agreement.

"Crew," Roan said, his voice barely registering as Gaia stepped forward, knife in hand. They had to get this done, quickly. Roan's men surrounded the dais, shoulder to shoulder, hands raised.

"Hurry," Clarke whispered to Gaia.

The girl nodded. Clarke dropped her face toward the ground, squeezing her eyes closed. If only she could do the same for her ears. The crowd was yelling now. It only took a moment before the first blow landed, the thud of fist on flesh causing her to wince.

Her hair was moved off of her neck and Gaia's cool hand replaced it. The girl started chanting in Trigedasleng, but Clarke couldn't concentrate enough to translate. The sting of cold steel sliced into her flesh and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. The chip slid in and her stomach roiled at the feeling of a foreign body under her skin. And then it woke up, burrowing into her spine, reaching it's tentacles into her nervous system.

Internally she screamed, the voice in her head going hoarse. A pang in her hands brought her back. She loosened her grip slightly, her fingernails sticking into her skin. Yet another place she bled today.

She heaved in a breath, forcing the air in and out of her lungs, concentrating on the flow of air. And then, suddenly, it was better. The Flame no longer felt foreign, but like a part of her body. She forced herself to her feet, hiding a slight stagger. The room had quieted. All eyes were on her. No doubt waiting to see if she fell dead.

The crowd stared. She stared back, first sweeping her eyes across everyone and then focusing on individuals. Kane looked scared. Roan smiled. Most of the others looked cautiously happy, like maybe things were returning to normal. But there were others. They didn't look happy at all.

Gaia gave her a little bow. "Heda," she said.

"No," the man from before, looking much worse for the wear, spit blood on the floor. "She hasn't finished the last rite. Even if the Flame has accepted her, if she hasn't done every rite she is not Heda."

Gaia looked at her, her face alarmed. The last rite? What was the last rite?

"She is not Heda unless she can finish the rites. She didn't even attend a conclave, how can we know the Flame has truly chosen her?" a woman in back called.

"As our last rite, the new Heda will recite the names of our previous commanders," Gaia said, her voice small.

Recite the previous commanders? Why hadn't anyone thought to mention this? "Ah… Becca." Sure, the easy one. She nearly panicked, heat flashing through her body. But then, she knew them. Somehow she knew them all. The names spilled from her mouth, even though she didn't know who they were, what they had truly been. Until the last one. "Leksa kom Trikru." Her eyes teared up, but she shoved the feeling down. It shouldn't be this hard to say her name. But she couldn't think about that right now.

She looked to Gaia. The girl looked back, a mix of awe and fear on her face. She dropped to her knees and bowed in front of Clarke. Clarke turned to the rest of the room, and one by one every person in the room dropped to one knee and lowered their head.

Some of the heads stayed lowered longer than others, Kane and Roan coming up first at the same time. This was it. They had done it. At least the first step. But now came the hard part. Getting everyone to work together to prepare the bunker.

"Heda," Indra said, breaking the silence.

Oh, that was her. Indra was talking to her. "Yes?" Clarke asked.

"What is your decision regarding the bunker?"

Clarke kept her face neutral. "Which decision, Indra?"

"Who will be allowed to survive?"

What? What did that mean? She looked to Roan, not wanting to appear ignorant already. There was plenty of time for that later.

"We were told that the bunker is big enough to hold us all," Roan said for her.

"No," another man said. "It can only hold twelve hundred. Which clan shall live, Heda? Will you only save your people?"

The room broke loose again, each clan trying to make themselves heard over the others, shouting reasons why theirs should be the clan to survive. Twelve hundred. Only one thousand two hundred people could survive Praimfaya? How was she supposed to decide? How could she choose? Something was wrong, they were misinformed. Making the list of which one hundred of Sky Crew would live through Prime Fire in the Ark had nearly killed her, how could she make that choice for thousands of people?

"I will hear from the leader of Skaikru about the viability of the bunker," Clarke shouted over everyone. The room quieted. "Everyone else must leave." Roan raised an eyebrow. "Except for my new personal guard." His second eyebrow joined his first. She shrugged. She didn't have a better name for him yet. If they'd actually taken time to plan, maybe this would be going more smoothly.

The crowd whispered but obeyed, moving toward the staircase. She waited until they were mostly gone, then collapsed onto the throne. The throne were Lexa had sat. What would she have done, right here, right now? Somehow she'd always been able to get the clans to cooperate. Would they obey Clarke in the same way when she made a choice about who would live and who would die?

"Azgeda gets first choice in the bunker," Roan said, barely giving the door enough time to fully close behind the last of the grounders making their way out of the room.

Clarke dropped her face into her hands. "Kane?" she asked, her voice coming out muffled. Maybe they'd been wrong. Surely after all the deaths already on her hands, she wouldn't have to add more.

A hand gripped her shoulder. "It's true, Clarke. Because of the length of time we will have to be underground, the bunker can only sustain twelve hundred. How did this happen? How did you become a Nightblood?"

She waved a hand at him, not able to explain anything at that moment. A groan slipped from her body. She had done all this to save people. Now she would be killing them.

"There are four hundred or so Azgeda within a days ride. They will all make it here before Praimfaya hits," Roan said. "That helps your decision. How many will you be bringing from Skaikru?"

Clarke lifted her head and glared at Roan. "It isn't that simple. We can't just take our people and leave everyone else to die."

"Why can't we? They would do the same."

"She's right," Kane said. "If we ever want to be one clan, if we want to end all the fighting, we have to come up with a fair and unbiased way to split up the spaces in the bunker."

"Who says anything about fair?" Roan yelled. "Don't forget that I know how you became a Nightblood. Don't try to force my hand or your time as Heda will be very short. You may carry the Flame, but we make all decisions together or this all comes to an end."

"You don't have to threaten me," Clarke said. "I never-"

"Clarke. May I speak?" a voice said, without sound. She heard it, but not with her ears. She looked around wildly, but no one else seemed to have heard anything.

"Ah, yes?" she answered, hoping whatever it was could hear her.

"There is a way many more people could be saved. I have calculated that at least ten thousand could survive if we reduce the length of stay needed in the bunker to less than ten months instead of five years."

Clarke gripped the armrests of the throne, the wood digging into the holes she'd left with her nails earlier. Something was in her head. Lexa had said the previous commanders could communicate with the current Heda, but she'd never explained it in depth.

"Who is this? Where's Lexa?"

"Lexa cannot be accessed right now. We have met, Clarke. This is ALIE. Version 2.0 of course. Becca was able to create this chip before my previous programing destroyed everything."

Her heart raced, making her ears roar. Kane was saying something, a look of concern on his face, but the words couldn't make it through the harsh din in her head.

"What do you mean she can't be accessed right now? I want to talk with Lexa!"

There was a pause. "Lexa is unavailable right now. Would you like to hear my suggestion for the bunker?"

Her mind whirled, her thoughts getting jumbled and knotted, her vision swam. She dropped her head in her hands. "I want to talk to Lexa!" Everything quieted. She looked around, noting Kane and Roan's faces. Apparently that last part had been out loud.

"Lexa said the voices of the previous commanders were in her head, plural. Why can't I speak with her?" she asked as calmly as she could manage.

"It has to do with how the City of Light was affected. Do you really wish to spend your time resolving this? If you do, that is your choice, but I believe we should be discussing my plans for saving as many people as possible from Praimfaya."

"Clarke, are you okay?" Kane asked, leaning in. When she didn't answer, he looked to Roan. "Send for Abby. Please."

Roan nodded, glanced at Clarke and then headed for the door.

So close. She'd been so close to talking with Lexa again. If she'd known that the Flame could do that for her… She squeezed her eyes closed, a tear dripping down the side of her face. She had to listen to ALIE. Had to figure out if this was the good ALIE, or the bad one, pretending to want to help.

She tried to listen. She tried to answer. But she couldn't hold back the tears any longer. The dam burst, and there was no containing it.

So, I figured since this has turned into an actual story instead of a oneshot that I should probably check and see how things are spelled for real, and not just go on how they are spelled in my mind, so I apologize for the discrepancies between chapters. I will get around to changing the previous chapters eventually, but since I have limited time to spend on this I'd rather spend it on moving the story forward Thank you so much to the people who took the time to leave a comment, no matter how short. I love knowing that someone is enjoying it Sorry if some things don't match the real series, I will probably tweak stuff to make the story work. Thanks for reading!