No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get the blood off of her hands. Cage's blood. She couldn't rid of the image of him dying in her arms. Of him spitting blood and telling her that he loved her. If he died, it would be the last thing he'd ever said to her. It made for the perfect goodbye with no actual regrets. All the things they wanted to say to each other, all they wanted to make clear, they had. But she refused to let it end like this. She wanted more. A couple of weeks spent in Mount Weather, marred with accidents and manipulations she didn't want to remember, wasn't enough for her. She needed more. She needed a whole lifetime. After everything Sara had been through, she deserved more. She deserved to have a whole life by the side of the man she loved.

She still saw everything in red. She didn't pay any attention to the camp she found herself in since her thoughts were occupied by something else. She was worried sick and the fact that Cage was screaming so loudly on the operation table at the moment didn't make it better. It should've, at least she was sure he was still alive, that he kept on fighting while Abby was performing the surgery, but she just couldn't stand him screaming like this. She wanted to be there for him, she wanted to hold his hand, but doctor Griffin needed to preserve as sterile environment for the operation as possible. At least until the wound would be sewn up.

At the moment even the presence of Lily didn't make it better. Her sister was sitting right by her side, her arms put around her tightly as she was trying to give her as much comfort as she could. Still, it wasn't enough. Nothing was enough anymore. The only thing that could soothe Sara's pain now was the knowledge that Cage would be all right, that he would pull through, survive the worst since just because he was alive now didn't mean that it would stay that way.

In the meantime, Kane was interrogating Lincoln in the confinement, being furious with the Grounder.

"I did what I thought was right," Lincoln actually dared say and Marcus just glared at him.

"Do you have any idea what you've really done?" he spat out when throwing his hands up into the air. "Without Wallace, we won't have peace with Mount Weather! Their bunker is a fortress and without your people's help, we will never get inside without an invitation! If they find out that their leader is dead… scratch that! If they even find out that we nearly killed their leader, they'll launch an attack on us! They have a silos, Lincoln! If they want, they can level this whole camp with the ground!"

"Well, then it's only convenient I'm not a Sky Person, isn't it?" Lincoln just asked, not caring about what Marcus was telling him at all. "If the worst happens, I will answer for what I did and I will tell them that you had nothing to do with it."

"Oh, really?" Marcus just snorted. "And what about Octavia? Did you even think of her when you did that? Did you think at all? Or were you just doing what you, Grounders, do best? You keep on fighting and killing and hating each other!" Kane screamed.

"He turned me into a reaper!" Lincoln also raised his voice. "I just wanted to cause him the same kind of agony that he caused me!"

"I don't care!" Marcus roared and was met with Lincoln's murderous look. "You know," he then added in a quieter voice, "I wonder how your people managed to survive for so long when all you do is fight. You believe that you can only stop fighting with death, but this is not the way. You can have peace while you live."

"Says a Sky Person who never really knew real life until he got to the ground," Lincoln just answered.

"It doesn't matter where we live, Lincoln," Marcus said when directing himself to the exit, "life is real everywhere and it's always hard. If you think that living in space was idyllic, you're wrong. It was actually worse than living on the ground." Then he finally left, closing the door behind him and nodding towards the guards so they would keep an eye on the prisoner.

"Kane!" he immediately heard Octavia and then she was right there by his side. "What are you going to do with him?"

"Not now," Marcus brushed her off, directing himself to the medical.

"Please, I need to know… You can't execute him… He was just…"

"Not now!" Kane yelled once again and left the girl in the hall whereas he went to see Abby.

As it turned out, she just finished her surgery.

"How is he?" Marcus asked when making his way to Griffin. "Is he still…?"

"He's alive," Abby confirmed when wiping the sweat from her forehead. "But it was a difficult operation, Marcus. I'm still worried he may not pull through. He passed out and we won't know more until he wakes up."

"We have to keep him alive. We have to save him," Kane said. "Right now Cage is the only person who holds this peace together."

"It's kind of like what you said about Clarke before," Abigail pointed out when getting out of the protective wear she had on her clothes.

"In meant it then and I mean it now."

"Marcus, do you actually see a way out of this situation? If he doesn't report back to his people, they'll come looking for him and once they see him like this…" Abby just shook her head, her voice trailing off. "How can this peace ever last?"

"Through bone marrow donation," Marcus said in confidence. "It's our only bargaining chip. In exchange we'll receive shelter for the winter, we'll get food and actual beds to sleep in."

"I get it and I want it, too. I'm just afraid that if we don't get him back to Mount Weather, if we don't get him to the kind of a medical unit he really needs, he'll die."

"Where is he?! Is he all right?!" they suddenly heard Sara's terrified voice as she was now standing in the door. "He stopped screaming…" she said in a shaky voice. In fact, her whole body was trembling. If Cage was dead… She knew this love would eventually crash and burn her. She just knew it and it was happening right now. They were doomed just as Cage always thought. "I couldn't stand him screaming like that, but then-then the screaming stopped and I'm-I'm just so afraid that he's…"

"It's all right," Abby spoke in a soothing voice when coming over to the younger woman and putting her hands on her shoulders. "Cage is alive. He's just unconscious now. He survived the operation, but I'm afraid we need to get him back to Mount Weather as soon as possible."

"Why are you just standing here, then?" Sara asked the perfect question. She was both relieved that Cage was alive and anxious that they weren't doing anything to keep him that way.

"I'm still not sure we should move him just yet," Abigail explained slowly. "He needs a few hours before we can do that. Also," she shot Marcus a worried look, but then said it anyway, "we're afraid that once his people see him wounded, they'll kill us and start the war all over again."

"They won't. They want our bone marrow, so they need to…"

"They don't need peace in order to get it, Sara," Kane explained carefully, "they can just take it since they're stronger than us. We have no Grounders on our side anymore."

"Ok, ok," Sara just said, processing those words and doing her best to keep her blood cold, to actually think and not let the emotions cloud her judgment. Think, Sara, think. "When will he wake up?" she asked.

"It's up to him, really," Abigail informed.

"Ok, then once he does, Raven will contact Mount Weather and he'll simply talk to his people. He's still in charge. He'll explain the situation and then we'll bring him there."

"But will he want to explain it?" Marcus asked which according to him was a very good question.

"Yes," Sara answered with no hesitation. "He will. He knows what he's done. He's well aware that Lincoln had a reason for attacking him and I'm sure that as long as you keep Lincoln away from Cage, there'll be no problem. Can I see him now, please? I just need to see him."

"Yes, of course," Abby agreed, letting her through. "Let me know as soon as he wakes up."

"Sure."

"What are we going to do with Lincoln?" Griffin then asked Kane. "It's just such a mess, Marcus. We can't let Wallace and Clarke meet and now we have to keep him away from Lincoln as well."

"We can't possibly execute him," Marcus decided. "What will that make of us? We came down to the ground, promising that we would stop killing people. There is enough room on this earth for all of us, so I think that we should just banish him."

"What about the girl, Octavia?" Abby followed, thinking about the proposition.

"It's up to her what she'll do. She's free."

"If we banish him, she'll go with him and don't forget that she has a brother here."

"Abby, it's really up to them to figure it out all. We can't keep anyone here. They're free to leave anytime they want."

Griffin just nodded. "All right. What about Clarke, then?"

"I don't think Wallace will like to stay in this camp anyway," Marcus just said, "and I do believe that Clarke knows what she's done and that she's learnt her lesson. She's already proved it to us by showing her remorse. Lincoln, on the other hand, doesn't regret anything."

"All right. Let's do this," Abby finally agreed.

Sara had been already sitting by Cage's side for about three hours and he still hadn't woken up. She was actually pretty scared by now. She was afraid she could still lose him. Just because he'd survived for so long didn't mean that he would pull through in the end. Although if he didn't, it would seem like such a waste. He'd already been through so much pain since the moment he'd been stabbed by Lincoln that he needed to keep on fighting so this pain wouldn't go to waste. Of course, she already told him that. She kept talking to him, telling him a lot of things. She told him to fight, to wake up so they could have the life they wanted together. She kept imagining what that life would be like even though she was hurting more and more with every word leaving her mouth. She just didn't want to let herself hope for this bright future if she wasn't sure she would have the chance to actually live it.

Eventually, she ran out of things to say and she just held his hand in one of hers and kept on stroking his hair with the other. Raven had already brought the radio to the medical and they could contact Mount Weather immediately. All they needed was for Cage to wake up.

Suddenly, Sara thought that she felt his hand squeezing hers a little, but she still wasn't sure if she didn't actually imagine it happening.

"Cage?" she asked tentatively when looking at his face. "Cage, can you hear me? Wake up."

This time she couldn't possibly make a mistake. He did squeeze her hand and after a moment he finally managed to open his eyes, looking into hers in slight confusion.

"You're all right. You're alive," she told him with tears in her eyes as she cupped his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he stopped and winced. "You want some water?" Soon, there was a bottle pressed against his parched lips and he drunk it all with appreciation.

Then he just asked, "Are we out of the woods yet?" with a smile on his face.

And Sara couldn't help but reciprocate this smile and then she leaned towards him to kiss him. Yes, she could feel it in her heart now - they would be all right. Everything would be all right despite all the obstacles.

While Cage was recovering in the medical unit in Mount Weather, the Sky People were slowly donating their bone marrow so the Mountain Men could join them outside. Eventually, every single one of them would be able to walk out, to enjoy the fresh air, the beauty of nature, the sun and the moon. Eventually, they would all make new friends and even start mixing together. Sara and Cage were only the first ones to enter a relationship and after them, many would follow. The Grounders were still out there in the woods, but they were too afraid to actually attack in fear of the weapons both the Sky People and the Mountain Men possessed when united.

In the end, Sara would stay with Cage in the bunker while their people would slowly begin building an actual city. A year later Sara would get pregnant and they would start their own family, leaving all the pain from the past behind them. They would build an amazing life together and they would finally be happy.

The end

AN:
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