A/N: Thank you all for the feedback. So keep it coming! Along with the follows/favorites for those who haven't done so thus far!

Lexa

The days were beginning to blend into one another. Rumours were still flying about the instability of the coalition. The majority of it was utter nonsense. But there always is a kernel of truth behind every rumour. I'd quashed the most overt form of disharmony with my display involving Clarke in front of certain clan leaders but it was merely a bandage over a gaping wound.

Civil unrest was about with old feuds and squabbles mixed in with the distrust of the Sky people made for a dangerous cocktail of crime and aggravation which was now finding its way to Polis. This was certainly concerning for me but it wasn't the first thing on my mind these days.

I'd made very little progress where Clarke was concerned. Her condition hadn't worsened but there was very little improvement. Lately, she'd been showing signs of the absence of that poison which the mountain men had been pumping through her veins which gave her that animalistic edge only found with Reapers.

She growled and snapped frequently along with pulling at her restraints until her wrists were raw. She sweated profusely especially on her forehead which gave her hair a matted appearance. Her hands often shook and every so often she was visibly sick from her mouth. I cringed every time she wailed in agony, each cry driving another dagger into my heart.

I'd just spent the last hour or so cleaning her slowly, savouring every inch of her body, the sweetest eye candy for me. She stopped trying to hurt me every time I touched her, her eyes following my movements at first wary but now with a hint of amusement.

"I remember the first moment that I can say that I truly fell in love with you Clarke. Would you like to hear it?" A grunt was all the confirmation I needed.

"My people and I were outside of Arkadia fully intent on seeing justice delivered for all those people that boy Finn killed. I believe he was looking for you when he committed that atrocity if I remember correctly." I was running a hand down her flattened stomach, my fingers tracing the scars which now littered her torso.

"Blood needed to have blood to paraphrase the saying of my people. You had feelings for this boy, I could see it in your eyes and despite what he meant to you, and despite what you knew what it would do to you, you granted him a mercy by taking his life yourself." I placed a kisses on her torso in no particular pattern. It sounded like she purred contentedly as I looked up into her eyes now, her gaze sharply meeting mine.

"When I saw what you had done and I decreed that Blood had had blood, that was when I fell in love with you Clarke." I placed a hand on her cheek and she leaned into my touch. "To see the strength you possessed intermingled with your external beauty, you chipped away at my carefully erected fortress."

I placed my other hand on her other cheek so now I was cupping her face, "I'd always been taught that love was a weakness and that it made you blind. I bought into that after Costia was taken from me. Thinking that by loving her, I'd put her in harm's way and that I could and should never love again for fear of history repeating itself."

I sighed looking down at the ground for a moment, collecting my thoughts as I did so, "But I now know that those teachings were a lie. Through your actions, your personality and your pretty words you've restored my sight. You make me a better Commander. You see something inside of me that I thought was lost forever and I never want to let you down."

I brush strands of her hair out of her face, a rare smile tugging at my lips, "The darkness that forever follows me around disappears when you are in my life. I'm not haunted by the demons of my past and you've given me new purpose. To create a world in which all can live freely and peacefully, but I can only do that with you by my side."

I drop my hands and sigh. All of these speeches, all of these words that I've used to try and get through to Clarke as the poison is erased from her system seemingly have no effect. If she was coherent and evil, beating the words out of her is more up my alley. I'm desperately trying to do what she would do in my shoes. But I'm not sure I could ever live up to her.

I turn to walk away despondently when I hear a noise from behind me. I stop and really focus on listening, "L...l...lex...lexa?"

I turn around abruptly, crossing the floor quickly so that I'm standing back in front of Clarke. I could have sworn she just said my name.

Clarke

Rip…

Tear…

Angry…

Kill…

Blood…

Must…

Have…

Blood…

These thoughts continually swirling around in my head. A poisonous miasma blocking out everything else. The need and the want to kill is strong. My blood runs hot, pumping wildly through my veins. Can't stay still, but can't move wither. Must fight those that bind me!

I like that touch. Who is that girl who keeps visiting me? She's always polite and speaks kindly to me. I like her voice, she seems familiar to me. She speaks this name Clarke a lot. She directs that name at me. Is that my name? That is my name!

I don't know where I am, but I know who I am and that I'm with Lexa? Images flash through my mind over the things I've done. The many people I killed. Oh god! The way that some of them suffered as I tore into them literally with reckless abandon. All to satisfy my cravings. All for another shot of that good stuff.

The stuff that makes me strong, that makes me feel good. The stuff that chases away the pain inside my head that radiates out to my limbs. Pain...nothing but pain. I don't like this. I don't like this. I DON'T LIKE THIS!

There's bugs crawling all over my skin, vomit once covered my front. The smell, nauseating. The softest touches feather my stomach. I see her kissing me, and I feel funny inside but in a good way. I see how pretty she is but also the melancholy that surrounds her like a halo. Is she my saviour? Is she my angel? My salvation?

"Lexa?" My throat raw from the shouting I must have been doing gives my voice a raspy quality. She races back to me. "Talk to me Clarke!"

"Water...please."

I see her quickly bring a cup to my lips and I drink greedily, draining the cup in no time. She unbinds my feet and then my wrists. I instantly collapse to the ground, fatigue setting in. She hoists one of my arms over her shoulder and takes my weight. She calls out in the Grounder tongue I assume for help but my head feels like it weights a thousand pounds so I can only see the ground and my limp feet.

My eyelids feel like they weigh even more and I struggle to keep them open as she drags me with her. I must have blacked out at some stage because the next thing I know, I'm being laid down onto a soft bed which feels amazing on my aching muscles. I feel my boots hastily removed and the remnants of my tattered clothes torn away, leaving me in nothing but my underwear.

At this point I'm beyond tired for modesty and I'm soon out like a light. Tomorrow is another day. I have no idea what awaits me but I hope for better things. I sleep fitfully as nightmares plague me. Bloodstained victims chant all sorts of vitriol at me, pointing calling me a murderer. I try to run, I try to hide but there's nowhere I can go to escape.

I wake up with a scream, drenched in a cold sweat which is offset by the warm arms that snake around me now. "It is alright my sweet. I'm here for you, I shall always be here for you," I hear Lexa say as I relax into her embrace, still visibly shaken by the images I saw.

A/N: Okay so next installment is now out! This came to me really quick and I thought, these guys and dolls deserve the next piece earlier than usual, so thank you all for the support and for you being you! To drop a small hint as to what is to come next, we'll start to see the changes that will begin to affect Clarke on her continued road to recovery, along with an old foe putting Lexa on notice!