The morning sun brought Marcus back into the world, his mind restored though still reeling and his body sore from the extensive punishment he put it through yesterday. Groaning at the stiffness in his legs and arms, he tried sitting up only to have Abby come scampering next to his bed, her eyes full of worry.
"Morning Abby, how did you sleep?" He asked, his smile breaking up the sentence as if it were a normal day and a normal question for him to ask.
"How are you feeling? Do you still remember everything?" She asked in return, checking to make sure his eyes were tracking and that his temperature was normal.
"I believe I asked you first but, yeah, I remember everything. I'm feeling sore from being an idiot yesterday though," he said lightly, stretching out his legs and swinging them over the side of the bed.
Wrapping her arms around him without warning, Abby squeezed him in a hug and rested her head on his shoulders, not caring about who could walk in and see them. Marcus was startled but only hesitated a moment before returning her hug, enveloping her completely in his arms and holding on tight. Swallowing hard to keep from crying in relief, Abby held on to him like she would never let go and a few tears escaped her eyes to fall on his bare skin.
He held her a little tighter, whispering, "I'm back, I'm here."
"Are you guys aw-" Clarke stopped in mid sentence at the opening of the tent and stared at the sight of her mother hugging Marcus Kane with all her being.
At the sound of Clarke's voice, Abby untangled herself from his arms and wiped at her eyes before turning around to smile at her daughter, "yeah we're awake. Is the grounder delegation leaving?"
"Yeah," Clarke said with a frown, "they were asking for you."
"Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can," Abby said with another smile and Clarke nodded before exiting the tent in a hurry.
Marcus kept his head down while Abby and her daughter talked but at the information that Indra's people were leaving, he eased himself off the bed and made for the door, slipping a thin shirt over his head as he went. He had to apologize to Indra for his behavior and then apologize to Lincoln as well. He liked the quiet man and couldn't afford to lose his support with the stern Indra.
"Marcus wait!" Abby called and went after him. Clarke was waiting for her mom when they came barreling out of the tent and she fell into step behind her mother, noticing red marks around Abby's throat and feeling as if she were missing an important piece of information. She would have to get answers later though as she could see Indra's party up ahead and her mom seemed desperate to stop Marcus from talking to the forbidding grounder.
Marcus and Abby approached Indra together and two men stepped in front of their leader to protect her. Marcus held up his hands and stopped moving, showing that he was no longer a threat to their leader.
"Indra," he called, "I have come to offer my apologies and receive whatever punishment is necessary to keep peace between us."
Abby gasped and tried to pull Marcus behind her but he stood as sturdy as he always had and she couldn't move him.
Calling out to Indra as she clutched at his arm, Abby said, "Please, there is no need for punishment, he wasn't thinking clearly."
"I attacked Lincoln, that doesn't change regardless of my state of mind Abby," Marcus said with a glare, pulling his arm out of her grasp and stepping away from her.
Indra watched them glaring at each other with amusement before answering, "I am leaving for home and as Lincoln has assured me that your memories have returned, I will not seek retribution for the attack. He was not injured and we do understand the circumstances. I would say if Lincoln does not wish to enact retribution, then all is forgiven."
Marcus bowed his head, drawing a sharp breath to argue but Abby put a hand on his arm and shook her head at him. He was not going to get himself into further trouble just because he wanted to hold onto his self-hatred and Abby wouldn't allow him to go through any more trauma after she just got him back.
Abby drew a shakey breath and walked toward the tough grounder leader, "thank you Indra. Marcus is too stubborn for his own good. I hope you have a safe journey and I hope the mineral packets keep helping."
"We like a little stubborn in our men," Indra said with a smile, and yes, the packets have been doing their job nicely, thank you."
Indra then drew Abby close and whispered in her ear, "if you care so much for him, take him to bed and have done with it. You are both stubborn so it will be good for you to settle down."
With a final wave to the camp and a pat on the arm to the stunned Abby, Indra led her people through the sturdy gate and they melted into the woods. Abby stood until the last grounder disappeared and tried to organize her jumbled thoughts. Being mad at Marcus seemed the safest path so she turned to him with fire in her eyes.
"Why do you have to be so infuriating? Why would you offer to have them punish you when you are still healing from being tortured for two months?" She shouted at him.
Marcus pursed his lips and walked away without a word. Searching out Lincoln was his next course of action and even with a furious Doctor Griffin shouting at him, he would do this his way. His sense of justice demanded it. Lincoln proved easy to find as no one wanted to stand in the way of Kane on a mission and an encounter with Wick directed him to Camp 100. Wick was carrying a piece of scrap metal over to where Raven was in the middle of welding repairs on the station when Marcus stalked by. Having no sense of self-preservation, Wick dropped his load of metal off at Raven's workbench and followed after the man on a mission. Marcus arrived at the line of cut trees indicating the border between Camp Jaha and Camp 100 to see Lincoln and Octavia sitting on the rough stumps, talking quietly. Seeing Marcus approaching, Octavia pointed him out to Lincoln and then kissed the tall grounder before disappearing into the camp behind her.
"Lincoln, can I have a word?" Marcus asked, standing as straight at his worn body would allow.
The younger man nodded and walked with Marcus to the other end of the stump line, sitting down on one of the shorn trees and waiting for him to talk. The older man paced in front of him, releasing some of his aggravation before speaking.
"I came to apologize from my behavior this morning," Marcus began, his voice steady if a bit rough as he looked at Lincoln's unwavering expression, "I know that I have not been myself lately but that is no excuse for attacking you. I am willing to do what it takes to make things right and keep the peace between our people."
Lincoln placed a large hand on Marcus' shoulder, "I know you were not in your right mind Marcus and we are friends. The peace is kept and there is no apology needed."
Sitting down next to Lincoln, Marcus leaned his head into his hands and groaned, "I don't believe in actions without consequences Lincoln, especially not my own."
"You are a good man Marcus and it is part the time for you to see that," Lincoln told him, "I know a little of what you have been through so I can tell you that your actions were reasonable considering the circumstances. Now you are back in your head and all will be well. Abby will make sure of that at least."
At Abby's name, Marcus dropped down onto one of the stumps and with his head between his legs and sighed.
Coming up to stand in front of the two men, Wick took stock of Marcus' distress and collapsed on the ground in front of his leader and friend with a groan. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Wick spoke.
"So, Abby looks like she is going to skin the next person who walks into medical," the engineer said with a laugh.
Marcus' head popped up at the mention of Abby's name to see Wick grinning at him.
Giving the younger man a glare, Marcus turned back to Lincoln,"Please tell me you have something for me to do to make up for what happened yesterday and then I'll leave."
Lincoln stared at his friend for a minute before answering, "if you are able, I would appreciate your help in patching the wall and then, I want us to set up a training schedule for Camp 100 so that they can defend themselves properly from attacks. "
Marcus let out a huff, "the wall I can do but training those kids is going to take more patience then I think I have these days. It will have to happen after I am fully recovered or-"
"Or else Abby will make sure he never leaves medical again," Wick chimed in, earning him a smack on the shoulder from Marcus and a slight smirk from Lincoln.
"I can start on sword and rough hand to hand," Lincoln said, returning to the conversation, "until you are well enough to join me."
They clasped their arms together to seal the deal and Marcus flinched at the gesture but did not back down. He would not let those men break him apart.
Noticing Marcus' reaction, Wick nudged Lincoln and asked, "can anyone get in on this training cause personally, I want to at least be able to watch Marcus systematically lose his cool if I can't actively participate in it."
Lincoln answered with a wider smirk and his remark earned him another shove from Marcus but the man no longer looked like he was going to bolt for the nearest gate so Wick took it with grace and stood to walk with Marcus back into the heart of Camp Jaha while Lincoln walked back to where Octavia was sitting with a final wave at his friends.
As they entered the busy hub of the camp, Marcus asked, "how upset is she?"
Wick smiled, "I think you are in for some serious glares but I think she will eventually say she understands. You could just kiss her and bypass the whole thing though."
Stopping in his tracks, Marcus turned to Wick with a look of suspicion and a tinge of murder so the younger man held up his hands in surrender.
"Hey, you weren't all here when you arrived so you don't really know but I saw. She broke down when she found out you didn't have your memory and in front of everybody. It's like she was holding it all in until we found you and then when you weren't you, she lost it."
"Keep your voice down," Marcus hissed at his younger friend, "and don't talk about your Chancellor like that. You owe her your respect."
Wick nodded quickly, ducking his head in embarrassment, "sure thing, sorry."
The silence didn't last long though, "You know, people respect you around here too dude and we could all do with seeing some happiness right now. It might boost morale."
Looking over to where the medical center was busy with the days incidents, Marcus tried not to react to Wick's less then decorous comments.
"Get back to work Wick, and thank you," he said with a squeeze to the young man's shoulder.
"For what?" Wick asked with the grin Marcus was so familiar with.
"For being your usual pain in the ass," he answered with a laugh, "and for not treating me like an invalid."
"You're tough man," Wick said with a shrug, "I'm not worried."
With a final nod farewell, Marcus left the engineer to find Raven and explain his absence to the prickly mechanic while he went to face his own trial. Walking into the medical center, he found Abby and Jackson sitting around a small table, going over yesterday's supplies and writing lists for the gathering teams. Jackson gave him a side eye but didn't say anything as he walked over to their table and stood next to Abby.
"Chancellor, can I have a word?" He asked, hoping a professional manner would keep her from turning him away. It didn't work.
Looking up from her pad, she frowned, "I don't have time to argue with you Kane."
"Abby."
His voice was tired and gentle and she sighed. Letting Jackson take her pad to continue inventory, she stood and walked to where Marcus had moved, waiting by the operation table. Giving him an assessing look, Abby couldn't see any new injuries so the talk with Lincoln must have gone alright. Not that she thought the quiet grounder would make a fuss about the attack since it brought Marcus back to them and the two of them were friends. Her mind was in shambles about the whole morning though and she wanted to hear his explanation since she had been having both sides of the argument inside her brain for the last hour.
"What is it?"
He sighed and ran his hands through his hair before speaking, "Abby, I know you didn't approve of my actions this morning but I was hoping you would give me a chance to explain."
Crossing her arms, Abby leaned against the wall and waited for him to keep talking. She knew what he was going to say and it scared her to know that while logically she knew he had been right to do it, she had been so terrified that it hadn't mattered.
"I brokered this peace Abby," he said, hands clenching at his side, "if I had ruined it, if I had caused this camp any more trouble - even though I didn't have my memories at the time, I wouldn't be able to live with myself once they came back. Indra and her commander needed to know that we do accept responsibility for our actions, regardless of the circumstances around them. I've made plenty of mistakes Abby but peace with Indra wasn't one of them and I plan on keeping it that way."
"Are you done?" Abby asked.
He ran his hands through his hair, nodded, and waited for her response.
"I get it," she said softly, tucking her hair behind her ears and coming to lean next to him by the operating table, "I get it why you did what you did and I understand and I would still have tried to stop you Marcus. You don't get to think you aren't important around here. I have gone months without a word that you were alive and we find you only it's not you and you don't know who you are so it's like you are still missing. You get your memories back and the first thing you do is volunteer to be punished for a crime that is completely understandable. How could I not do everything in my power to keep you safe? You just got back to us."
Turning his head, he saw her bowed head and clenched hands and took one of them in his, holding it as he shifted to stand in front of her, "I am glad that they didn't take offense Abby, and I am thankful that you were willing to stand up for me but you didn't need to make it seem as if I was an invalid."
"Of course I am going to stand up for you," Abby said with a scoff, "I just question your sanity of running out in front of everyone instead of asking for an audience with Indra."
"It let our own people see that I accept the consequences for my actions."
"Well, they certainly got a show this morning," she quipped. In a softer voice she added, "I know you aren't an invalid Marcus but, the mind heals slower then the body and you need to give yourself some time to process your time with the other grounder tribe."
Abby looked into his eyes at that and saw the shadows of self hate and fear still floating in their depths. Squeezing his hand; the hand he had burned rescuing her, the hand that had caught hers as he walked away to his death, the hand that had held her when they found the drop ship and no Clarke, the hand that had placed a pin in her palm because there had to be a better way, she leaned into his chest and cradled that hand to her heart as if she had found something precious and couldn't let it escape. His heartbeat sped up as she laid against him but he didn't move until she had calmed down and released his hand. Stepping back from him, Abby looked into his eyes with an emotion other then frustration and she nodded as if reaching the conclusion to a problem only she knew.
"Are you alright?" he asked hesitantly, not sure how to react to the strange happenings and trying to ignore the voice of Wick in his head telling him to kiss her.
Abby nodded, her voice strangely light after the tense discussion, "yes Marcus, I'm okay now. We are okay now. I'm…I'm going to finish the paperwork with Jackson and then deliver my lists. You need to go eat something and then have Byrne fill you in on whats been happening."
He heard the hesitation in her voice but didn't comment, choosing to let whatever this moment has morphed into dissolve into familiar territory once more.
"Yes Chancellor Griffin," he said with a smirk.
"Go away Councilor Kane."
Walking into the medical tent while Marcus was walking out, Clarke took the opportunity to tell him what she thought of the marks around her mothers neck.
SLAP.
"Clarke!"