A/N: Anyway, I am glad some people liked the last chapter. Got a few more followers and favorites. I'd appreciate more reviews. *hint hint* ;) Sorry it took so long to update, been busy with school. This chapter isn't that good as I've been busy with school but it is longer I hope I didn't dissapoint.
I keep forgetting this but...
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing and never will. No profit. Purely for fun.
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Physical and psychological torture, forced watching of said torture.
Clarke's body felt like it was on fire, it had been on literal fire earlier that day but that wasn't the point. Everything hurt, and every part of her body screamed at her to do something, to make the pain go away. But she couldn't; for starters she was tied to a fucking chair. And she was to weak to go anywhere. Plus, she couldn't leave Lexa behind.
After about ten days she lost count of how long she had been there. She didn't care, she just wished she could die already. She hated Argus with every ounce of energy she could muster. She eventually tuned out the torture but soon, he would probably begin on Lexa.
Argus, speaking of that bastard, he had started a routine with the Commander and Skai Praisa. Every morning her would come into their room and ask Lexa the same questions; Where are the weakest military positions?, What are Skaikru weaknesses?, Military strategies, etc. And every morning Lexa would meet his questions with stony silence. Argus would then pick between his many different torture methods and try to make Lexa answer his questions...she never did. She could tell he was usually a patient man but now he was slowly losing it. She dreaded hearing the scrape of metal against metal which meant he had entered their room.
Clarke flinched at the sound this morning as she bit her lip to keep her look of fear off her face. She wasn't sure how much more her body could take, she knew she looked like shit, hell she felt like shit. She knew her body was covered in deep gashes, some old and some new, she was covered in bruises and injection sites, and she had branding marks which spelled out ARGUS. He had started on her ribs and moved toward her back and was now making his way down her chest with his branding marks. Branding didn't hurt the worst, they were more of a mental torture, knowing she would have to carry his name with her everywhere she went. She would never be able to look at herself the same way again. He would always be there, taunting her, sneering at her, torturing her. She didn't feel pretty anymore, she wouldn't be able to make love with anyone ever again because they would see, and then they would ask and judge. Her eyes snapped up at the sound of Argus' footsteps walking toward her. She felt her lower lip tremble slightly as tears pricked at her eyes. She swallowed thickly and braced herself for the torture that would begin today.
Argus felt pride swell in his chest at the sight of the Skai Praisa starting to break in front of him. Perhaps, she would break today. And with her broken, hopefully the Commander would break as well. He walked toward the table that held his torture instruments and picked up a pair of pliers, time to try something new. Today, he wasn't even going to bother with questions as he knew Heda wouldn't answer them.
He placed his hand on Clarke's forehead and pushed her head back onto the chair. "Now, today is going to be fun. A few new things." He murmured to himself. He glanced at Clarke's tied wrists, they were raw and red now and would bleed later from her instinctive pulling away. He placed the pliers at the tip of her fingernail and raised an eyebrow at Lexa.
Lexa met his gaze with stony silence but she couldn't hide the look of pain in her eyes, getting your fingernails ripped off was excruciating. But she couldn't answer, she wanted to but she couldn't put her people in danger either. She knew they would be rescued soon, Indra would be looking everywhere for them. Then she would get her revenge, she would make sure he was tortured every day for months and months until his body finally gave out. He would not be given the rights of a funeral pyre. He didn't deserve it. His soul would wander, lost and empty for eternity. All because he had caused her love harm, because it was Clarke. She couldn't help but flinch at every scream that left Clarke's mouth, at the end of the day Clarke would scream herself hoarse and Lexa would give her words of encouragement, and tell her how sorry she was and how much she loved her. She didn't think Clarke believed her, or really that she cared, she was to busy trying not to die.
Clarke bit her lip so hard that she could taste the metallic tang of blood, she didn't want to lose her fingernails thank you, she enjoyed them and if he took those away she wouldn't have anything remotely pretty left on her body. He didn't give her any warning as he ripped the pliers away along with her fingernail, she screamed as pain shot from her finger tip through her finer and arm. She fought against her body's natural instinct to jerk away and shake. If she jerked her wrists would bleed and that would cause more pain, and shaking from the pain only showed how much it hurt to Argus. And she didn't want to show anymore weakness then she already had. She felt a few tears fall but once she locked her eyes with dark green ones she calmed slightly, Lexa always calmed her and whispered words of encouragement, words of love once Argus left. And they helped, they were the only reason she had stayed alive this long.
Argus smirked at the Skai Praisa's scream, at the tears that fell. He placed the pliers on the next finger and pulled again, he didn't give her time to recover before he moved to the third finger and ripped off another fingernail. He was met with silence from Lexa once again, he threw the pliers down onto the table, and grabbed a knife before pushing into into Clarke's neck enough to leave a small line of blood.
"I have been patient, tell me or she dies." He said calmly. He was serious, the Queen had wanted this information days ago and he intended to get it. He was going to get it, he was going to kill the Skai Praisa and start his work on the Commander.
Lexa felt her face contort in pure rage as he threatened Clarke's life. How dare he? Who the fuck did he think he was? Someone who was going to die in a very painful way soon. She locked eyes with him and could see he was serious, she felt her stomach tingle in fear and knowing. Her gut was telling her that he wasn't lying, he would really kill her. And she couldn't let that happen, not even for her people. Because if Clarke died, she would too. And without the Commander; the Coalition would die, without the Coalition, the people would die.
She swallowed thickly but kept her voice steady. "How do I know if I tell you, you won't kill her anyway?"
Argus narrowed his eyes. "You have my word as the Queens Royal Interrogator."
She scoffed. "Not good enough. You place a meeting; Indra and Oktavia kom Trikru meet us somewhere for her safety and then I will tell you anything and everything you need to know."
Argus raised an eyebrow. "How do I know you are telling the truth?"
"I vow with Spirits as my witness, as the Commander of the 12 Clans, on my spirit, that if I lie I may be stripped of power and be put to death." She stated coldly. She looked at Clarke as she lost consciousness and knew she had to do this, though she hated saying those words. A vow by Heda was the most revered and couldn't be broken because it was believed to be bound by the Spirits.
Argus pursed his lips and nodded once as he removed the knife from Clarke's throat. "Sha." He opened the door. "Send a messenger to Indra and Octavia Kom Trikru. Tell them we will meet where the Commander and her whore were taken from. The Skai Praisa will be safely returned and the Commander is returning that promise with one of her own."
Argus nodded to the guards before whispering instructions to the guards and walking out. The guards cut Clarke's bondings and dragged her from the room leaving the Commander in a screaming rage. Lexa was furious, he promised the Clarke would be safe, why was she being taken away from her? She glared as the door opened and the guard came back. "Heda, come with me to the Skai Praisa. If you fight, she will be harmed. Understood?"
Lexa nodded and watched as he untied her arms from above her head, her shoulders ached, and she probably had muscle damage from staying in the same position for so long. She rubbed her wrists and followed the guard down a long corridor to another room. "She is here." He said. "Argus wants you presentable."
Lexa raised an eyebrow and slowly opened the double doors in front of her, she couldn't contain her surprise as she walked into a room fit for royalty. Probably some room for Azgeda royalty. There was a mirror in the far corner with a small table adorned with makeup and warpaints, a dresser a little to the right of that, a small table with a couch in the middle of the room, and on the far side a huge bed covered with furs and pillows and...Clarke.
Clarke was starting to regain consciousness. Lexa ran over to Clarke and kneeled by her quietly. She brushed the hair out of her face as she blinked away tears. She was Heda, and she can not show how much this hurt her. They would use it against her. She gently traced Clarke's face with her finger, she couldn't remember the last time her face wasn't covered in scars...all of these scars were her fault. She but her lip as she looked around for something to get clean with...She noticed an adjoinging room to theirs and walked over, she opened the door and looked inside to see a tub filled with water and a shelf with soaps and candles. She pursed her lips and looked at Clarke, she had to take care of her first, plus she didn't trust anything Azgeda gave them. She walked toward Clarke again who was trying to sit up.
"Clarke. We need to get you cleaned up." She whispered quietly as she took in the blonde's battered form.
Clarke smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She nodded to Lexa but bit her lip as she debated whether she could stand or not. She shifted to the edge of the bed and braced herself as she pushed to stand up, she wobbled and was about to faceplant before she felt Lexa grab her gently but firmly. She looked up and met her eyes, and that was ll it took for her to burst into tears. She had wanted to be strong for herself and for Lexa, to not cry, to not show weakness, but she was just so tired, so done with everything.
"You...shou-...should've...l-let them...k-kill me." She sobbed quietly as Lexa wrapped her arms around Clarke's waist. Lexa held her firmly for a minute without answering before she led her to the adjoining room and closed the door, there was no lock for obvious reasons they were still prisoners but at least the door gave them privacy.
"You know why I couldn't let that happen." Lexa stated quietly. She held Clarke's hands in-between her own. She had sacrificed her own life and that of her people's for hers... she was weak. Perhaps, her spirit would choose Clarke or she could see her in the City. She just knew they didn't fight for all of this for nothing. She cupped Clarke's face in her hands and smirked. "Who would eat all my stawberries?"
Clarke stared at her before chuckling slightly, she would gladly give up strawberries if she could just go back to that day, to that stupid date and maybe choose a different location. Maybe none of this would of happened. She knew Lexa was hiding something from her, she seemed to be more open, not verbally but her eyes said everything.
"Why couldn't you let that happen?" She asked.
Lexa looked at the tub before back at Clarke. She grabbed a cloth and dipped it into the water before starting to wipe gently at Clarke's face and neck. She was careful not to put to much pressure on her injuries but she did have to clean them. She inwardly sighed at Clarke's question, she knew it had been coming. She knew she didn't have to answer but this was Clarke and she wanted to answer she just wasn't sure how. She wasn't good with feelings.
"Because." She paused as she moved down to Clarke's arms. She wrung out the cloth and got more water. "Au hod yu in. You know that." She said.
Clarke grinned at that, even in really dark times Lexa still seemed to be able to bring some light into the situation. She was really surprised that she was comfortable with touch after all of the torture she had been through but she knew that this was Lexa and that she would never hurt her, and that she was probably still in shock. She would probably have a huge breakdown later. She had seen it happen with all of her friends, and even Lexa on the night they had started to reconnect. She leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "I love you too." She whispered.
Lexa nodded and moved down to Clarke's ribs, she slowly raised up Clarke's shirt and swallowed at the name branded on her skin. It made her sick to her stomach and she silently promised that Argus was going to die. Slowly and painfully. She raised up the cloth in question and when Clarke nodded her head she started cleaning her wounds on her ribs.
"Hopefully, we will get through this..." She mumbled. "We can...go to Polis, we can recover there and be happy..." She knew this wasn't true...she was going to die soon, she was going to die and leave Clarke alone, but safe. They wouldn't be together this lifetime. She was just saying what she wanted.
"I'd like that. I'll hold you to that offer." She promised and ran her hand through Lexa's hair. "We deserve it. You deserve it."
Lexa didn't really know what to say to that. She wrung out the cloth and moved to Clarke's legs, she washed over the cuts and gashes softly making sure to get the grime out. She finished and threw the cloth in the tub. The water had moved from clear to a dark brown color. She sighed, she was exhausted and just wanted to sleep for a million years, but she was Heda and didn't have that luxury. Instead, she could keep watch over Clarke while she got to sleep. And that was a second best, making sure Clarke was safe. She grabbed her hand and led her out of the small bathroom and into the bedroom.
"Sleep, now. I have a feeling tomorrow will be long." She said softly as she tucked the furs in around Clarke.
Clarke had wanted to talk to Lexa, to ask what was wrong, why she had looked like her world had ended, but she had been so exhausted that she had fallen asleep before she could utter a word.
Lexa smiled at Clarke before laying on top of the furs and curling her body around Clarke. She wrapped an arm around her waist and made sure their backs were against the wall and that she had the best vantage point of the room. She ran her hand in circles on Clarke's stomach as the blonde slept, she would make sure Clarke was safe. As best she was could, until she wasn't breathing. Which according to Argus was probably going to be soon.