"You may be chancellor, but I'm in charge." - Clarke Griffin, "Coup de Grâce"

"I heard you brought back a Mountain Man." Kane walked down the hallway to the airlock where the prisoner was being kept. Abby sat on the floor near the door, her head against the wall, eyes closed.

"He tried to kill Clarke," she replied, without opening her eyes. He walked passed her and stopped, watching the unconscious man through the door with his arms crossed over his chest. "I hear you released Thelonious while I was away."

He turned away from the prisoner and crossed the hallway to sit next to her. He nodded, saying, "I did; I didn't see the point in making him wait until you returned."

"And where is Thelonious now? I haven't seen him."

"I can only assume enjoying his freedom," Kane replied nonchalantly.

"He's still apart of the Council, he needs to be involved in these matters. In the treatment of him," Abby's eyes flickered to the airlock before meeting Kane's again. "The Grounders think we're weak. Clarke thinks she's stronger than she actually is, strong enough for all of us. She thinks she's in charge."

"She is strong," he replied, taking her hand. "You are too. But Clarke's the one holding the alliance together; Mount Weather sees it, the Grounders see it, Lexa sees it. We should accept it to. She's in charge out there, you're in charge here."

"She's a child," Abby said harshly.

He shook his head. "Not anymore, you have to stop treating her that way."

"You think trusting Clarke to advocate for us is wise?" She asked, pulling away from him.

"Why don't you trust your own daughter?" He asked, staring at the wall across from them.

"Why do you?" She snapped. His head shot to her and all he saw was the anger there. "You told me that Clarke wasn't in the right place to lead us, not after Finn, but you have such faith in her now. Where does this blind conviction come from?"

Kane sighed. "I know what's best for the alliance—"

"Do you?" She laughed.

"I do. In case you forgot, the Grounders trust me too," His jaw was set, she had angered him. "Where's their trust in you?"

Abby scowled and pushed herself to her feet. "You can watch him. I have patients."

"Always your excuse."

The man's name was Carl Emerson, but that was all Kane had been able to get out of him. Clarke and Abby wouldn't let him torture him for information even though that was the only way to get it out of him. He had stormed off, feeling a little childish. Now, he drank at the bar, away from responsibility for the moment.

It seemed like it was Argument Day, every conversation with Abby had been one. Even what little he had spoken with Clarke had been done with anger. He couldn't win with the Griffin women, not today.

"You look like you could use another," Gina said, refilling his metal mug with moonshine.

"Thanks," he said with a small smile.

"I'll take one of those." He glanced to his right and watched David Miller sit down next to him, wearing his guard uniform.

"Shouldn't you be on duty?" Kane asked, raising the mug to his lips.

Miller picked up the one Gina handed him. "Shouldn't you?"

Kane laughed silently to himself. "Let's hope Gina doesn't tell the Chancellor on us."

"I would never betray your confidences, Councillor." She said, smiling. She set the bottle of moonshine in front of them, warning, "There'd better be some of this left when I get back."

As she walked away, Kane topped off his mug. David asked, "What's causing Councillor Kane to drink during the day?"

"The Chancellor. Clarke."

"Is this about that prisoner they brought back?"

"They don't see that torture's the easiest way to get the answers we need." He took a gulp of the drink, relishing the way it burned his throat even after all of these years. "Their hearts are too soft for these types of decisions. If we're going to get those kids back — your kid — we can't have any reservations about how we get there."

David nodded. "I'm glad one of you is thinking." His mug was already empty, Kane reached to fill it. "Thanks."

"I've never asked you how you're doing."

David stared down at the counter and slid the mug between his hands. "I'm not giving up. That's all I can focus on, getting Nathan back."

Kane nodded. They sat in silence for nearly a quarter of an hour, drinking moonshine and refilling their mugs. A voice broke over the PA system, "Councillor Kane and Clarke Griffin, please report to the south airlock immediately."

Kane sighed and downed the last of his alcohol in one final gulp. "Don't drink too much. We'll get Nathan back, I promise."

He clapped David on the shoulder before walking away. It was a long way to the airlock and each step was a reminder of how much he had just drank. Maybe six mugs of moonshine hadn't been a great idea.

Abby and Clarke were waiting for him outside of Emerson's cell. The elder Griffin took one look at him and scowled. Kane ignored her and asked, "Has the non-tortured prisoner said something?"

Abby's scowl intensified. "Not so much in words. I took a blood sample prior to our transfusion and it revealed anomalies that he could only have gotten if he had grown up on the Ark."

"Which means?" He didn't try to hide how little the talk of blood samples interested him.

"They're bleeding my friends, Kane." Clarke was glaring at him. She walked toward the airlock door but he intercepted her.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked, holding her by the shoulders.

"Killing him."

"I can't torture him, but you're allowed to kill him? How fair is that?"

"Have you been drinking?" She actually seemed surprised.

Before he could respond, Abby said, "You're not killing him, Clarke. Despite what you may think, I'm in charge here. We're doing this my way."

Clarke shook her head, looking from Abby to Kane and back again. "Keep telling yourself that, Mom."

She walked swiftly down the hallway, away from the airlock.

"You need to control your daughter," Kane muttered as he began to walk away too.

Abby grabbed his arm, whispering, "And you need to be sober during the day."

He shook his head. "Why bother? You're running the show. What's the point of me?"

Abby glanced at the guards posted outside of Emerson's cell and pulled Kane away from them. She kept a strong grip on his arm all the way to his home and pushed him through the door. She shut it behind her and said, "I don't know what's going on with you, but you can't act this way."

Kane stood with his arms crossed as he stared at her defiantly. "I had a nice talk with David Miller at the bar. He seems to think that I'm the only one who's willing to do what it takes to get those kids out of Mount Weather. You're being too soft with Emerson, just like you're being too soft with Clarke."

"Don't you dare lecture me on how to deal with my daughter."

"She's not just your daughter anymore!" He yelled, walking toward her. "She's leading us to war, Abby. When you realize that she's not just your child, but our commander too, maybe you'll be able to see that you failed in Tondc in getting any real power back!"

Abby pushed him away from her, toward the bathroom. "I can't even look at you. Go shower off that alcohol stench, then maybe we can talk like adults."

He walked out ten minutes later in a pair of jeans, drying his hair with a towel. Abby sat on the couch, still seething. He walked to the galley kitchen and grabbed a glass of water, drinking the whole thing down. She didn't look at him as he sat down next to her. She asked, "Better?"

"Just buzzed now. So, yes."

"Good." That was when she slapped him. He just nodded slowly and moved his jaw back and forth. He admitted, "I deserve that."

"Yes, you do." She replied, staring at the coffee table in front of them. "I'm glad we're in agreement on something."

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the couch, sighing. He knew he was the one messing this up, whatever they had. She was only reacting as anyone would to an idiot who refused to let himself be happy.

"What happened with the Grounders yesterday?" She asked.

"Murphy and Penn started a huge fight, Thelonious thought he was so much better than me for knowing it would happen. The Grounders refuse to use our weapons, which doesn't help when Mount Weather has better ones. Octavia thinks she's some Grounder-born warrior, she was trying to train with them. She might be useful though, she knows a lot about their culture." He peeked at her under his eyelashes. "How was your day?"

She actually laughed, but the sound was unnatural, hollow. "It's just like you said, I failed to get any control back. They didn't even let me into their meeting about Mount Weather, Marcus." She sighed and finally looked at him. "I've lost Clarke to this war."

"We'll get her back, I promise." He wrapped his arm tentatively around her and was relieved when she sank against his chest. He hadn't realized how much he missed the feel of her against him until the moment he had it again.

"You really should put a shirt on," she said, looking up at him with a blush.

"Is it distracting?" He grinned, running his hand along her arm.

"A little," she admitted. "And we should be getting back to Emerson. At least try to get something out of him."

Emerson's cell was empty when they returned to it, the guards were nowhere in sight. Abby and Kane looked at each other; he asked the obvious, "Clarke?"

Abby nodded. "Come on."

They ran out of Alpha to find Emerson in his hazmat suit near the gate surrounded by Grounder warriors and Clarke. Abby yelled out, "What are you doing?"

Clarke ignored her mother and said something to Emerson before yanking on his suit. He took off walking out of the gate; it shut as Kane and Abby reached her.

"Where'd you send him?" Kane asked, staring at the retreating Mountain Man.

"Home," Clarke said simply as she pushed passed him, her shoulder shoving his arm.

"He was our only leverage, Clarke!" Kane snapped, grabbing her arm. She stared at his hand before glaring up at him.

"He's a message, a distraction to keep their eyes off of Bellamy, unless you want him to die." Clarke said, yanking her arm out of his grasp. She motioned for her Grounders to follow.

"Indra," Kane beckoned. The Grounder warrior broke off from the others with an uncertain look and walked toward him. Her eyes flickered to Abby momentarily before they settled on Kane. "Don't you think Clarke's leading you down a dangerous path?"

"Clarke's making moves, what are you doing?" She asked, her eyes narrowing. "Do something and maybe I'll follow you."

"You were right," Abby admitted as she slid into Kane's bed an hour later, "Clarke's out of control."

"So you didn't need to get mad at me earlier?" He asked, a smirk on his face.

"No, you needed that."

He grinned as he joined her, sliding under the covers. "I think we should make the rounds tomorrow, check in on everyone."

"Like who?" Abby asked, propping herself up on an elbow to look at him.

He smiled at her. "Sinclair, Raven, Wick — make sure they're making Bellamy and those tone generators their top priority. The guards — they have to be ready to go at a moment's notice. Indra — we really do need her on our side."

"You might have to do that. I still have patients."

"Abby, sometimes you need to have priorities," he reminded her gently. "Jackson can handle Medical."

She sighed and nodded. "I know, I just have other responsibilities. I'm more than just the Chancellor."

"Well, tomorrow that's all you need to be."

Abby nodded and leaned toward him. He gripped her hip and pulled her to him. Her hand got lost in his hair as their lips met. He yanked her on top of him and held her in place by her hips. She pulled away, out of breath. "We really should go to sleep."

He just gave her a wicked grin. "Sleep is for the weak, Abby."

Morning came before they would have liked. Running on just a few hours of sleep, Abby headed to Medical to alert Jackson that she would be out all day while Kane went to find David Miller. He was on guard duty at the front gate and looked thoroughly hungover.

"We need to talk about the guards," Kane began as he stepped up next to Miller. The other man turned his head and blinked at Kane, who said, "Sorry, good morning."

"Good morning to you too," Miller replied.

"You look awful," Kane said, staring out at the woods.

"That's what happens when you drink too much."

Kane glanced over at Miller for a moment. "When did you leave the bar?"

"When Gina chastised me and kicked me out."

He shook his head and sighed. "Perhaps we should talk about you instead—"

"I'm fine," Miller said hastily. "What about the guards?"

"They need to be ready to move at a moment's notice. Are they?"

David shook his head. "You know them, always a little haphazard."

"Yes, but they can't be." Kane reasoned. "They have to be ready for anything; we're losing too many of them, they're unprepared for this harsh world. I'm told we lost Byrne in Tondc."

Miller shrugged it off. "She was a good guard, not so great of a person. It's terrible what she did to Abby."

Kane nodded. "I want you training them today; tomorrow's the meeting of the 12 clans in Tondc. We go to war after." Miller understood. Kane dropped his voice so the other guards wouldn't hear and said, "I know we were both low yesterday, but it's only looking up from here. We're that much closer to getting Nathan back, all right?"

"Thank you."

It was off to the mechanical room next. Abby was already there, talking with Raven about her leg, acting as Dr. Griffin rather than Chancellor. Kane cleared his throat as he walked over and Kyle Wick's head popped up from under a table. He slapped some parts on it and said, "Well look at you. You seem weird without the hypoxia and deranged rescue mission clouding your head."

"It's good to see you too, Wick." Kane said with a smile.

"What're you talking about?" Raven asked as she lumbered over to the bench and sat down in front of the parts he just set on the table.

"While you were living it up down here, Kane and I were rescuing people on the Ark after that bitch took the Exodus ship." Wick replied. "We were quite the team."

"You keep telling yourself that. I recall you were more of a damsel in distress — had your arm caught in a door when I found you."

Wick laughed, "My hero. And Sinclair told me to hold that door, I did."

Abby interrupted their banter, "How are the tone generators coming?"

"We've made one, but parts are pretty scarce." Wick replied, motioning to what little he had been able to find.

"Have you talked to Sinclair about getting more?" Kane asked.

"He's trying, but there's not much out there. These things are complicated," Wick said.

"So you two are like a team now?" Raven asked, peering up at Abby and Kane as she fiddled with several wires. "From what I've noticed, you're hardly ever apart."

"It's his stylish shoes that did it for you, wasn't it Chancellor?" Wick joked, a smirk on his face.

She averted her gaze and Kane replied, "Shut up, Wick."

He laughed and sat across from Raven, grabbing the contraption from her and taking over. She said, "Hey!"

"What? You weren't doing it right."

She scoffed and grabbed some more parts to start on another one. Abby, having regained her composure, asked, "Where do we stand with Bellamy?"

"He radioed in around six this morning," Raven answered, not looking at Abby as she spoke, her eyes on the mechanical parts in front of her. "I told him I needed consistent reports. We agreed on every three hours."

"Good," Abby replied. "And where is he now within Mount Weather? What's he doing?"

"He's searching for the acid fog system, but it's difficult because his radio's not mobile yet. He has to use the vents for most of his searching to go unnoticed, it's just a little time consuming." Raven replied.

"Make his radio mobile. Can you do that?" Kane asked.

Raven scoffed. "Can I do that? Are you serious, Kane?"

"I'll take that as a 'yes,'" he replied with a smile. "Get it done, the 12 clans meet tomorrow. We need to be ready for war."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Raven said, waving him off. He walked toward the door, waiting for Abby, who was speaking with Raven in hushed tones. He stood outside the room, leaning against the wall.

"Good morning, sir," Sinclair said, walking toward him carrying a basket.

"Good morning. More parts?"

"I hope so. It's difficult to know what we'll actually need until we've made a few more and have the process nailed down."

Kane nodded but didn't reply. Sinclair took that as an invitation to leave and passed Abby on the way into the room; they exchanged pleasantries and she walked to Kane, taking his arm. Pulling him down the hallway, she said, "I should talk to Indra."

"What was that about with Raven?"

"What was that about with Wick?"

Kane smirked. "I'm sorry he said that in front of her. Should people know that we're—"

"You kissed me in front of everyone, Marcus; they all know." She waved it off. "As for Raven, her leg's bothering her. I've been trying to get her into Medical, but she's too stubborn."

"Sounds like Raven…"

Abby smiled.

They found Indra in the woods outside of Camp Jaha, talking with Octavia Blake, who seemed more Grounder than Sky Person. Abby pulled Indra aside to talk about the meeting of the 12 clans, leaving Kane with Octavia.

"What brought about this change?" He asked, looking her over. She was even dressed as a Grounder, her hair braided like most of them too.

She shot him a glare. "Why haven't you changed? We should all be Grounders."

He chuckled. "You've fought with them, you would think that. What are you to Indra?"

"She made me her second. She's going to train me to be a warrior." She seemed proud as she said it.

Kane nodded. "Good, you should be one."

Her brows furrowed in the middle as she stared at him. "Why do you say that?"

"Watching you fight, you didn't give up. You're tough, Octavia, you're strong. I understand what Indra sees in you."

Her eyes grew wide and she smiled. "Thanks."

One corner of his mouth twitched up into an almost-smile. "You're welcome."

They stood in silence for some time, Octavia eventually sat down and began to sharpen a blade. Kane sat across from her and watched. "How's Lincoln?"

"I don't know." She said it almost angrily, like she was upset at him for being gone and at Kane for mentioning it. "He's still missing, he should have come back from Mount Weather by now." She stopped sharpening her weapon and looked over at him. "I think they got him too."

"Do you want to go after him?"

She sighed. "Isn't that against your rules, or something?"

"Rules are made to be broken," he replied with a shrug.

Octavia scoffed. "This coming from Councillor Kane is laughable."

Kane stood from his stump and started to walk away. "I hope he's okay, I really do. Let me know when you want to understand that people can change, Octavia. You should know better than anyone."

He walked away, she stared after him before sighing and going back to her weapon, feeling like an asshole.

After meeting with Indra, Abby checked in on patients and met with Raven again, who was alone this time — no Wick to crack jokes and distract her. She was working on the radio dilemma and looked irritated that Abby had shown up. She sat down next to Raven and just waited, watching her work.

"What do you want?" Raven asked harshly, turning toward her. "I'm really not in the mood to talk to you, Chancellor."

"What's wrong, Raven?" She asked.

"Your daughter's put the fate of all of us on me." She replied, glancing down at the wires in front of her. "She thinks I know everything. Don't get me wrong, I'm brilliant. But, she just assumes. What's she even doing, other than bossing everyone around? She even bosses you around."

Abby took in a deep breath. "She does; I've lost her."

Raven looked at her, a furrow appearing between her eyebrows. She sighed. "I'm sorry, Abby."

Abby shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be complaining to you. How's that leg doing?"

Raven laughed, "I knew we'd get here. I said it's fine, Abby."

"Raven—"

"God! Abby, it's fine! Leave it alone!" Raven yelled. Abby leaned back, her eyes wide. Quieter, Raven continued, "When I collapse in pain and can't move, then you can look at the damn leg, okay? Now, leave me alone! Unlike you, I have important work to do."

Abby let out a short breath, her mouth hung open a little after as she stood and marched out of the room, not giving Raven a second look. She went to dinner but barely ate. Marcus didn't show up, either at his lesson with Penn or supervising the guard training. After, she went to her room.

It was well after dark when Kane showed up, letting himself in. She was on the couch, reading an old book. He sat down next to her and she leaned against him as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

It was all second-nature to them; they didn't even have to think about it anymore. They moved together so comfortably, like they had been doing it forever. Abby leaned up to kiss him and he met her mouth with ease. Pulling away, Kane asked, "How'd it go with Raven?"

Abby sighed and rested her head on his chest and her book on his lap. "She's resisting, of course. Refuses to let me even look at that leg." She shook her head. "These kids are too head-strong. They think they can keep going on their own like we're not even here."

He nodded slowly. "That's where you come in, Abby. You have to lay down the law."

She sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time. "What if I don't want to?"

"You're Chancellor, it's kind of your job." He reminded. "I personally enjoy not having to make the tough decisions anymore."

She watched as his face grew cold then his whole body slumped down into the couch. She placed her hand on his cheek. "Hey," she said, making him look at her. "Are you okay?"

He laughed quietly.

She whispered, "It's only been a month, it's okay to admit that it still bothers you."

He closed his eyes and said, "It doesn't just bother me, Abby, it eats me up inside."

"You have to start forgiving yourself," she said, taking his hand in hers. "Or, you're never going to make it."