Clarke's hand stung from the force of her slap but she glared at the surprised man in front of her, "that's for the marks on my mom's neck."
"Clarke, you apologize right now!" Abby shouted as she ran to step between them.
"It's alright Abby," Marcus said, rubbing his face to take off some of the pain but not backing away from the glaring blonde in front of him.
"Mom! Are you okay?"
Turning around to face her daughter, Abby crossed her arms and said, "I am just fine. I am wondering why you felt the need to accost Marcus as if I wasn't capable of looking after myself."
Clarke switched from rage to confusion, "he choked you mom! You are just going to forgive him?"
"Maybe I should go," Marcus said awkwardly from behind Abby. Being the subject of a fight between the Griffin women was not a good thing and being there to witness it was even worse.
"It's not up to you who I choose to forgive Clarke," Abby said, " he was also traumatized and medically I should have realized that. I put myself in the situation without accounting for all the variables and he wasn't Marcus then and he is now so no more slapping."
Clarke looked at Marcus, "you remember everything again?"
He nodded, "yes, and I am sorry that your mother was hurt. If I had been myself, that would not have happened."
It was Clarke's turn to nod, "alright, I wasn't aware of the memory upload so I'm good now."
"Are you going to apologize?" Abby asked with a tone of impatience.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm not sorry yet," Clarke replied and walked back to where Murphy and Bellamy were waiting. The two men fell into step beside her and Abby gripped her hair in annoyance before focusing on Marcus once more.
"How's the cheek?" She asked, walking to where she kept the cool packs and grabbing one from the pile.
"I'm fine Abby," Marcus told her, giving the reddened skin of his cheek a final rub, "Clarke has every right to still be upset considering the fact that you are her mother and she was worried about you. "
Walking back to him, Abby put a hand on his shoulder, "No one who was in that room blames you for what happened. You know that I forgive you right? "
"So you have told me," he said though his eyes reflected doubt.
Abby felt the need to hold him grow stronger but she let the feeling wash over her instead of acting on it. Making Marcus see his own worth was never going to so easy that a hug could make everything better. It was morning and they had jobs to do and she wasn't ready for more emotional upheaval today so giving his shoulder a squeeze of solidarity, she stepped back and gave him access to the door.
"See you at dinner then," was all she said and he walked out of medical and back to work. She sat down at her table and stared unseeing at her pad, wondering just when Marcus Kane had made a home for himself in her heart.
And life continues…
"What the hell happened to you two?" Abby asked as a mud covered Marcus stood in the doorway with a blood and mud covered Bellamy leaning on his arm. Octavia followed close behind them, looking like she was torn between laughing and yelling.
"My brother is an idiot, that's what happened," Octavia answered with a snort.
Bellamy grinned at her through a split lip and bloody nose, "Kane beat me up."
Giving Bellamy a shake, Marcus frowned, "you asked for it Blake so don't go blaming me for your desperate lack of hand to hand combat training."
"Well then jokes on you 'cause I was trained in the guard," Bellamy quipped back to him.
"I didn't train you Blake," Marcus shot back, "so again, not my fault."
Abby sighed and brought the bleeding man over to her table, making Bellamy sit on the table while Marcus leaned against the wall in exhaustion. He looked dead tired but unharmed so Abby made sure he wasn't going to fall over before focusing all her attention on Bellamy. Octavia stood by her brother, poking one of the bruises on his arm just to see him jump. Slapping her hand away, Bellamy pulled on her braid and then tried to be serious as Abby brought over a tray with cleaning supplies and some bandages. He was in a good mood for someone who just got beaten into the dirt.
She handed the tray to Octavia saying , "just keep it steady so the alcohol doesn't spill."
"Why were you trying to beat on each other in the first place?" Abby asked, wiping the blood from Bellamy's face so she could take a look at the damage to his nose.
"I wanted my people to understand that they needed the training while also deciding whether or not Kane could provide it for us," Bellamy said, his voice muffled by Abby's cleaning, "I figured the best way to accomplish both those things was to have a simulated fight. I didn't expect to lose so spectacularly that's for sure."
"You should have guessed from how much Wick was laughing at your idea," Octavia said, jostling the tray slightly and gaining a glare from Abby, "at least it worked even if you look like hell."
Marcus smiled and patted the younger man's arm, "hey, you held your own for the most part but your foot work was all over the place. All I did was use your lack of balance against you. I didn't know you'd try to break your fall with your face."
Abby shook her head, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'boys' under her breath and took a final examination of Bellamy's face.
"Well, your nose isn't broken so that's good news," she told them, "and I don't think you need any stitches for that cut but lets get a bandage over it and for goodness sake Marcus, sit down before you fall down."
He must have been more tired then she thought because he did as she told him without any resistance. Octavia handed her a strips of adhesive to keep the bandage secure and Abby smiled at the younger woman's obvious concern over her brother even if she tried to hide it behind teasing. Having her there also seemed to keep Bellamy in check so Abby was grateful for her presence. Giving the bandage a final press to keep it in place on Bellamy's cheek, Abby declared him fit to return to his camp.
"Go on, I am sure you want to gloat about how well your plan worked," Abby told him.
Octavia smirked and set the tray down on the table, "lets hope people try not to follow your glorious example."
Abby nodded in agreement, "I'm not going to tolerate having a flood of patients once the training actually starts."
Bellamy sobered at the idea of his people hurt and nodded, "I'll see to it that only the serious injuries come here and reinforce the need to be careful."
"Lincoln and Clarke can take care of minor things anyway," Octavia added, her eyes brightening at the mention of her lovers name, causing Bellamy to push her towards the door.
"They will both probably tell them to just suck it up,"Bellamy retorted, "its not like I would have died from what Kane did to me."
"Alright you guys" Abby said with a smile, "get out of my tent and let Clarke know that if she needs more supplies, I will help with production."
"Thank you Ms. Griffin," he answered, "for wanting to help and fixing me up."
"You're a good guy Bellamy, if a bit stubborn," Abby said with a soft pat to his arm.
"Coming from a Griffin woman that is high praise indeed!" He told her, cheeky grin back in place and Octavia swatted his arm before they walked out the door.
The siblings were greeted by a worried looking Clarke and watching her daughter fuss over the injured man, Abby wondered how long it would take for those two to wind up sharing a tent. Deciding that it was none of her business, Abby walked over to the suspiciously silent Marcus and found him asleep in her chair. She sighed and draped a blanket over his frame, taking time to cover every part of him and pillow his head against the chairs metallic frame. He looked younger while he was sleeping but he still seemed larger then life, as if her medical room grew smaller with him in it. Moving a strand of hair out of his face, Abby wondered if he knew how often she wanted to touch his hair or smooth the worry line between his eyes. She knew she wanted him, knew she would be lucky to have him want her in return but the fear was a powerful force. If he didn't feel the same way, if he had to let her down gently, she didn't know if they would ever get back to friends again and it had taken them so long to get to this point of easy camaraderie. Giving her head a shake to dismiss her wandering thoughts, she went back to cleaning her surgical instruments and humming under her breath to keep it from being too quiet.
When the alarm sounded, it shocked Abby right out of her seat and she bolted for the door to see if anyone was running in the direction of medical. She couldn't see many people about and everyone seemed to be heading for their own tents. Slamming the door shut, Abby made sure everything was sealed tight and then watched from the window as yellow fog billowed in. She had been wondering when Mount Weather would get back on their feet.
"I guess they finally recovered from the assault," Marcus said and Abby yelped a little in surprise. Turning around she saw him a few feet behind her with the blanket in his arms and his hair mussed from sleeping.
"I'm sorry," he said instantly, "I didn't meant to scare you."
Giving him a reassuring smile, Abby said, "No, it's alright. I thought you were sleeping is all."
"That alarm would wake the dead," he said with a smile and then walked to where she was standing and tugged the window covering down.
Abby walked back to her little table in the back, telling her brain to stop focusing on how adorable he looked after just waking up, "Jackson keeps a stash of food in here in case we are monitoring a patient. Are you hungry?"
"Yeah, I could eat," he said and she grabbed the bag of mixed nuts, dried berries, and jerky from under the lower cabinets as well as a water bottle. Passing him the bag, she looked around for something to occupy her hands and tried to figure out why she was so nervous. She couldn't help thinking about her earlier thoughts and how her heart raced every time Marcus looked at her. Normally she would distract herself with work or convince herself that they didn't have time for nonsense. The fog had left them on their own though with no distractions till it passed and Marcus' eyes were following her around the space as if he was trying to figure something out.
"Come on," Marcus said, holding out his hand, "we can at least wait in relative comfort till the fog passes."
She took his hand, hoping it wasn't too sweaty and he couldn't read the nervous energy radiating off of her. Leading her down to the infirmary which had thankfully not been put to use yet, he pushed a couple of the mattresses onto the floor and lowered himself down. Patting the space next to him, Marcus watched her brow furrow in confusion and indecision before taking the offered seat.
A voice that sounded suspiciously like Wick echoed in his head as he watched her settle next to him and offer him the water bottle.
Kiss her man.
Taking the bottle from her, Marcus swallowed a few mouthfuls and tried not to think about her lips and how they felt and what kissing her could mean for them if he was wrong.
Just freaking kiss her already.
Watching him drink water shouldn't affect her this way but her brain was focused on the way his throat moved with each swallow and how badly she wanted to taste his skin. When he handed the bottle back and their hands touched in the exchange, every part of her lit up and she couldn't hold back her shiver.
"Are you cold?" He asked, stripping his jacket off and offering it her.
Shaking her head, Abby got her voice under control and said, "no, not cold, just worried about the camp. Do you think everyone is alright?" The alarm wasn't too far ahead of the fog this time."
"We will see when it lifts," he answered, bumping her shoulder with his own, "and we can figure out which building gets upgraded next. I am thinking Raven and Wick deserve a new workbench since their's is being held together with tied rags as this point."
Her mind was racing towards recklessness as he talked and something inside of Abby snapped open. If she didn't take the chance to kiss him and tell him how much he meant to her, she would always wonder if she had missed out on a lifetime of happiness. Whether he felt the same way or not, she wasn't going to waste another minute losing to her own fear.
When she didn't answer his suggestion, Marcus turned to see Abby sitting much closer then before and he watched in what felt like slow motion as she placed a quick but firm kiss on his lips. She backed away instantly and he stared in shock. The silence stretched between them as Abby stared into Marcus' eyes with fear filling their dark depths. Taking control of his whirling thoughts, Marcus placed his hand on the side of her face and returned the kiss, pressing his lips to hers with gentle slowness. It was what Abby needed to stuff the fear back inside and give in to her own wants. Soft lips crushing together, hands tangling in hair, and tongues stroking tenderly, Abby reveled in each new action and moans of pleasure filled the room as she melted into her soldier. He twisted his hands in her hair like the silky strands were keeping him grounded in the moment and if he let go, he would float away. Wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself into his lap, she kissed her way down his face and neck till she could nibble at his collarbones. His groan was enough to tell her that he was enjoying her attentions. When she finally pulled back to look in his eyes again, they were both out of breath and Marcus swallowed hard, trying to gather some sort of proper thought process.
"Abby," he growled at last in a voice so rough that she shuddered, "are you sure?"
Her own voice was almost as rough, her body flushing with hormones, "I am completely sure and I should have told you sooner but you were hurt and then Indra and–"
"Shh," he pressed a finger to her lips then replaced it with his mouth, kissing away her panic and soothing her fears before speaking again, "it's alright, it's alright my darling."
"Am I yours?" she asked, her hands already making their way back into his hair to scrape her nails against his scalp and she felt like touching him for the rest of her life would never make up for all the times she held back.
"Only if you want to be," he answered, trying to focus on speaking instead of the sensation of her fingernails against his skin, "but you should know I am already yours."
"When?" she asked, her eyes searching out his and smiling at the adoration shining in their warm depths, "when were you mine?"
Marcus pulled her hands out of his hair and held them in his, "when you told Jake that if he kept pulling your hair, you would pull all his teeth out."
"What?" Abby said, looking up at him in shock, "we were children!"
"Yeah, and I remember the look of horror on his face and I remember going home and telling my mother that I was going to marry that Walter girl."
Abby laughed and kissed his knuckles, "you never said anything though."
"Yeah, well my mother wasn't very supportive of my decision. It wasn't too hard to convince me that you were out of my league," Marcus said softly, trying not to think back to the past and his own failings that should have put her out of his reach forever. The idea that she was here, sitting in his lap and stroking her fingers across the rough skin of his hands, felt like dreaming.
Frowning at his confession, Abby placed his arms around her waist and brought their foreheads together, "well you are mine now and I am not letting you go."
Marcus' smile was Abby's favorite thing about earth. He didn't speak but rubbed circles on her back and then tilted his head to kiss her again. Placing her hands on either side of his face, Abby deepened the kiss and elicited groans from his throat that echoed in her chest. She was straddling his lap, the bulge of his erection pressing firmly against her sex and she marveled at how in control he still seemed. Wiggling her hips, Abby giggled at the glare Marcus threw at her and he retaliated by rolling them over and pinning her to the mats.
"Chancellor, are you trying to take advantage of me?" He asked with a look of feigned shock.
"Absolutely," Abby answered and brought his head down until her lips were at his ear, "and you wouldn't want to disappoint me right councilor?"
He was nipping his teeth along the side of her throat when a sound at the door broke the spell.
"Ms. Griffin?"
Abby looked up to see Octavia Blake and Lincoln looking down at them and while Lincoln's face said amusement, Octavia looked disturbed.
"Are you kidding me?" The young woman said before throwing up her hands and groaning.
"Is the fog gone?" Abby asked, trying to ignore the flames burning in her cheeks and pushing Marcus up so that she could sit on her own. He held out the water bottle to her and she took a few swallows, trying to calm her heart.
"The fog is gone and the mountain men have left a surprise on our doorstep," Lincoln told them.
"I am guessing it isn't a peace offering," Marcus said, standing at last and helping Abby to her feet while giving her a smile. He knew that she was embarrassed about being found making out like teenagers but he couldn't bring himself to care. They could pick up where they left off later tonight as soon as they took care of whatever the mountain men had left behind.
"No shit," Octavia said from the back, "but they are back to their old tricks so we need Abby in medical as soon as you two are finished making out in here. Everyone is pretty freaked."
"Octavia," Abby said, warning in her voice but Lincoln's laugh stopped whatever she was going to say.
"She is just upset because we were in separate places when the fog came," the large man said with a little bump to his lover's arm, "we've been alerting people that the fog is gone and I guess everyone took advantage of the downtime to reconnect."
"Three different couples, all in various states of undress while I had to listen to Raven and Wick argue about which wires are best suited to what kind of electrical current!"
Marcus laughed, "well lets go take a look in medical and sort this out quickly then."
"Hey, I am just glad I get to tell Raven that Wick was right about you two," Octavia told them, "worth it to see her brain go sideways."
"Actually," Abby said with a glance as Marcus, "I would appreciate it if you could keep quiet about us. It's all very new and I think we need some time before the whole camp knows."
Looking at Marcus, Octavia saw him nod his agreement and she sighed, "fine but when Raven finds out, I want to be there to watch her brain come out of her ears."
"Deal."
Lincoln gave both Marcus and Abby a pat on the shoulder before placing his arm around Octavia and pulling her out of the room.
"Are you alright with keeping it quiet for now?" Abby asked, caution coloring her voice.
Pulling her close, Marcus kissed her firmly, putting all his desire and want into the way his lips moved with hers before whispering, "I am with you Abby and I will enjoy having you all to myself for at least a little while."
"I was thinking the same thing," Abby answered, giving him a smile that lit up his heart.
They walked into medical to see Jackson, Carter, and Byrne standing around someone on the operating table. With a sense of foreboding, Abby walked and looked down at the body laying unconscious on her table. He was covered in scars, missing half and ear, and caked in blood and grime but Abby's body froze in recognition.
"Thelonious?"
