Clarke heard people before she saw them and took off at a run, her mom calling her name behind her. She jumped over fallen branches and flew past stray bushes until she could hear talking as clear as day. Nearly seconds later, the village came into view and she gasped. The trees were gone, revealing an open space filled with stone huts and small buildings. Kids were running around laughing and grounders and sky people alike were standing next to each other locked in what seemed to be friendly conversation.
Then Clarke heard it. A weird rushing kind of sound similar to what she'd heard back at the waterfall. She turned to her left and her mouth fell open with amazement.
The ocean.
The sun was bouncing off its blue waves, making it glimmer and sparkle every time one crashed into the other or hit the shore. She inhaled, surprised that she didn't notice the smell from a mile away. She couldn't even begin to describe the scent, it was like nothing she had ever smelled before. The breeze was intoxicating, wrapping around her body and providing her with a feeling that warmed her to her core.
Her bottom lip began to tremble, and she felt tears prick the corners of her eyes. The scene before her pulled at her heart, bringing back a memory from what felt like decades ago.
Clarke's entire body ached and her feet were killing her as she trudged through the darkened woods at Bellamy's side. Dax had beaten them up pretty badly, but they both knew staying away from camp even for a night, wasn't an option. They were the leaders and it was their job to grin and bear it. So they pushed forward.
"You know if Jaha really doesn't kill me-" "Which he won't," Clarke cut in sternly.
Bellamy shrugged, "Then I'd like to see the ocean someday."
Clarke looked over at him surprised, was Bellamy Blake, self-elected leader of the 100 really opening up to her twice in one night?
"Why are you telling me this?" Clarke asked him curiously.
Bellamy shrugged, "I don't know. But for some reason I wanted to tell someone, and right now it looks like you're my only option."
Clarke didn't know if she felt like smiling or rolling her eyes, so instead she just asked him, "What's so special about the ocean?"
Clarke knew why the ocean was so amazing obviously. She herself had also longed to see it ever since the first day of her Earth Studies class. But she wanted to hear his answer. Bellamy thought for a moment, his shoes crunching softly on the forest floor beneath them.
"Poseidon," he said finally.
"What?" Clarke asked startled. How did Bellamy know about a Greek god? How did Bellamy know about anything that you found in a book?
"He was the god of the seas. And horses, but I'm not placing a bet on seeing any of those."
"You never know," Clarke replied quietly, her eyes glued to Bellamy as they walked, "sometimes life has a way of surprising you."
"Maybe," Bellamy said thoughtfully. "But there was just something about the ocean that seemed so endless. So free."
Bellamy slowed down and a glassy look appeared in his eyes as he continued, "The Ark was like a prison, it was small and confined. My own sister was trapped in a room under the floor. Whenever my mom would read about the ocean to Octavia and I, or I would look out the window and see all that blue, I just always held out hope that I would really be there someday. I guess I never really gave up on it."
Clarke's entire body felt warm then and she ached to find a way to fill the loss this man had suffered from. A couple of hours ago she would have laughed at the idea, but now all she could think about was that Bellamy deserved more out of life. He deserved better.
"You will go there some day," Clarke said coming to a full halt. "And I'll come with you," she breathed before she could stop the words from tumbling out of her mouth.
Bellamy stopped too and looked her over, "I don't think Spacewalker will like that."
Clarke rolled her eyes, "Finn is not the boss of me and we're not even together. And don't flatter yourself. I just want to see if the ocean really is as good as you say it is. I couldn't miss an opportunity to prove you wrong."
But Clarke knew he wasn't. She didn't know how, but she knew he was right about this. And he knew she knew it too.
"Did I say you could tag along princess?" he asked, a teasing tone to his voice.
"No," Clarke admitted. "But in case you haven't notice, I've never been good at taking orders from you."
Bellamy chuckled, and the sound tugged at her heart. It was the sound of happiness from someone who had been sad for so long.
"Fine," he relented. "Some day when all this grounder business is behind us and we can afford to take a leaders' day off, we'll go see it."
"Bellamy Blake," Clarke said grinning from ear to ear. "Did you just refer to me as your co-leader?"
Bellamy turned away, "Don't get used to it."
"Well you've got yourself a deal."
They started walking again, until Bellamy broke the silence a minute later.
"And Clarke?"
"Yeah?" she replied.
"If Jaha does decide that I'm worth a public execution, you have to promise you'll take Octavia and go see it for me."
"Miller!" Monty yelled coming up beside Clarke and snapping her out of her trance. Miller's head snapped towards them and he ran over, grinning from ear to ear.
"I see you got Abby back."
He looked around the group and stopped at Clarke's tearful face, his smile quickly turning into a frown. "Where's Bellamy?"
Clarke shook her head and pushed past him, jogging through the village and looking around.
"Commander!" she shouted as she spotted the young girl about to enter a large tent in the center of the area.
Lexa turned around quickly at the sound of her name, and smiled as soon as she identified its speaker. "Clarke," Lexa said walking towards her, "It's good to see you're alright."
Clarke tried to offer her a smile, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
"You too. Have you seen Octavia?" she asked wasting no time with small talk.
Lexa studied her face for a minute and nodded. "Last I saw her she was on the east side of camp."
Clarke nodded in thanks and took off, moving as fast as her exhausted feet would carry her. She looked from side to side, even passing by some of her friends who were trying to call out to her. They would have to forgive her, right now there was someone else who needed her more.
Clarke finally spotted the mass of long, braided brown hair and she called out her name, still running at her at full speed.
"Octavia!"
The moment Octavia turned around, Clarke was barreling into her arms and sobbing.
"Clarke," she said her voice full of alarm. "What's wrong?"
Clarke pulled away and looked her in the eyes without saying a thing. Horror slowly began to overtake Octavia's face and she took a shaky breath. "Where's Bellamy?"
Clarke just shook her head again, her throat beginning to close up. She tried to open up her mouth to speak but no sound was coming out.
"Clarke," Octavia said again, taking her by the shoulders. "Is he…"
"No," Clarke said pulling herself together. "He can't be."
She saw Octavia relax slightly as she took a deep breath. "Okay," she said releasing her hold on Clarke. "I need you to tell me everything that happened."
Clarke nodded and launched into the story, starting at the journey to Mount Weather back to the drop ship, Clarke trying to sacrifice herself and Bellamy sedating her and taking her place, and finally waking up on the way to the village. She saw Octavia clench and unclench her fists multiple times, but she remained silent and allowed Clarke to finish.
When she was done, Octavia pressed her hands against her face and her bones became rigid. Clarke could almost see the strain of her muscles through Octavia's armor.
"I'm going after him," she said bluntly dropping her hands and turning around to go look for something.
"I'm coming with you," Clarke said quickly, running to catch up with her.
Octavia snorted, "Like hell you are. Clarke I think you've done enough. And besides, Bellamy would kill me if anything happened to you."
Clarke stopped in her tracks crossing her arms. "And you don't think Bellamy would kill me if I let anything happen to you? Last time I checked, you were the little sister and I was the leader," she spat out bitterly.
The moment Clarke said it, she regretted it instantly. But she was desperate and angry, and she was too tired to care about anything right now.
Octavia let out a sigh, and when she finally turned around, Clarke noticed that she had tears running down her face.
"Do what you want Clarke. I can't stop you."
"You're right, you can't. So we need to leave now if we want a chance of-"
Wait. Octavia was a leader now, the leader of Indra's clan. Or maybe she should start calling it Octavia's clan. That was the reason she couldn't come with them in the first place.
"Hold on, what are you going to do about all your people?" Clarke asked curiously. "Whose going to be in charge?"
"Simple," Octavia said. "They're all coming with us."
It didn't take much for Octavia's people to agree to come along. After shouting some things in grounder that Clarke didn't understand, they all looked more than happy to oblige. Clarke did however, notice that Octavia left Bellamy's name out, making her wonder what exactly she told them.
"Hey," Clarke said as Octavia was stuffing things into her pack. Lincoln was standing next to her, his face masked in war paint. Of course Lincoln was coming. There was no way he'd let Octavia charge into a life or death situation alone. Clarke's heart ached, Lincoln's simple loyalty to Octavia reminding her of Bellamy. The man who would do anything for her, and her for him. She had to get him back. She had to believe that whatever they were doing to him, he was still alive.
Lincoln gave her a half smile, and Clarke did her best to return it. A large group of grounders were stationed behind them, waiting for Octavia to lead them to the drop ship. "What did you say to them?" she asked Octavia curiously.
"That there were Mountain Men at the drop ship and we needed to take them out." She didn't even glance up at her as she talked.
"Did you tell them about Bellamy?" Clarke asked.
Octavia shook her head, the brown hair not held back by braids falling into her face. "I told them all that they needed to know."
Clarke just nodded. She knew the grounders wouldn't pass up on an opportunity to get rid of the last remaining mountain men. Telling them it was really a rescue mission would just complicate things.
Octavia sheathed her blade a flung her pack over her shoulder. Clarke tightened her grip on her own and looked back at the grounders who were so ready to follow Octavia's every command.
Octavia turned around to address her people, voice ringing with power. "The mountain has cast a shadow over these woods for too long. Now that we finally took it as our own, these cowards think they have a right to walk on our ground with no consequences! But they don't realize that jus drein jus daun!"
Clarke recognized the last part as blood must have blood, hearing Lexa say it on multiple occasions. Cries of "jus drein jus daun!" echoed throughout the village, and soon they were all marching forward, with Octavia at the head and Clarke and Lincoln on either side of her.
Then, when Clarke thought they were really going to do this, a loud cry of "Hod op!" brought everyone to a stop.
The commander stepped in front of them, guards surrounding her and ready to protect her at a moment's notice. She looked Octavia, "What is the meaning of this?"
Octavia stared back and crossed her arms. She obviously wasn't fond of Lexa and Clarke couldn't blame her. She did try and kill her after all.
"The last group of mountain men are hiding out at the drop ship. We're getting rid of them."
Lexa narrowed her eyes, "While I am stationed here only I can give war orders." The commander turned to Clarke with a look that she couldn't quite decipher, "Where is your second?"
Pain shot through Clarke's chest. "He's…unable to make the trip."
Lexa stared at her suspiciously. "Clarke, may I have a word?"
She nodded and walked over, with Octavia shooting daggers in both of their backs. She knew they didn't have time to lose.
"What is it?" Clarke asked as soon as they were out of earshot.
"I saw your…affection for Bellamy back in Mount Weather Clarke," Lexa replied, jealousy woven thickly into her words.
She stared at her with emotions that Clarke felt guilty for not being able to reciprocate. Yes, they'd kissed and yes it was nice. But it was the same type of connection she'd felt in relationships back on the Ark. It had just been a simple attraction.
There was no one else she wanted to be with besides Bellamy. There was no one else who could hold her with the same strength and warmth, eliciting feelings from her that she didn't even know were possible from such simple contact. No one else who could press such gentle kisses to her shoulder and murmur such comforting things in her ear. No one else who could give her strength, just be hovering nearby. No one else who could ignite the fire inside of her that Bellamy had so lovingly planted.
He was it for her. She had to bring him back.
Relenting, Lexa dropped her gaze and cleared her throat. "I know that if he's not coming with you, it's because he's not here," Lexa continued sternly. "So tell me, is Octavia risking dozens of my soldiers' lives for one boy?"
"No," Clarke said quickly. "Octavia isn't forcing anyone into anything. This is a perfect opportunity to defeat the mountain men once and for all. And yes if I can save Bellamy while we're at it, I'm going to."
Of course, Clarke's only purpose of going there was for Bellamy but Clarke tried to keep it to herself. Unfortunately it was written all over Clarke's sunken face and bloodshot eyes.
Lexa shook her head, "Clarke you know I can't allow this."
Clarke tensed. She was getting to Bellamy and there was no way in hell the commander was going to stop her.
Clarke leaned in until her face was a mere inches from Lexa's. "Then don't," she spat, the commander looking at her in shock. And then she spun around on her heels, a rush of heat flooding through her veins. There was a fire in her bones, and it was going to push her towards Bellamy.
"Let's go!" Clarke yelled making her way Octavia, her voice holding more strength and power than it ever had before.
"Move out!" Octavia yelled.
The grounders cried out and followed her faithfully towards the edge of camp. Clarke looked back to see Lexa with her arms crossed, sending a hard glare in her direction.
Clarke turned around and smiled, keeping her pace up. Not even the commander could stop Clarke and Octavia from leading their army into battle.
Bellamy lay limp against the chains, his aching wrists the only thing stopping him from crashing to the floor. But he honestly didn't care anymore. He'd lost his voice by now from all the screaming.
Clarke had screamed on and off for hours, and Bellamy had screamed at Cage thrashing against the metal. Eventually, he stopped screaming at his captives and started yelling things to Clarke like, "I'm here," and "You can do this princess," and "I love you." But it had all fallen on deaf ears when Clarke never elicited a response except more screams of pain. Screams of pain that he hadn't heard for at least twenty minutes. He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
He loved her. He loved her so much and she might die not knowing it. The only time he'd actually gathered the courage to say it to her, was when she was already far out of it from the sedative. So he tried to tell her here, because she needed to know that she was loved unlike anyone had been before. She needed to know that she was his sun and moon and stars and everything after that, but she didn't. He constantly tried to get the words to her ears, but it was too late.
So he slumped against his bindings, his voice hoarse and raspy from the shouting, not even flinching when Cage's head popped out of the floor as he ascended the ladder.
"Clarke," he said, his voice resembling a tuberculosis patient. It hurt to talk and they hadn't given him any water since he'd been taken, but he didn't care. "Clarke, is she…?"
Cage snickered at the sound but answered him. "She's alive for now. If you continue to cooperate that is."
Bellamy let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding while Cage paced around the room.
"After you all broke into my home and killed the woman I loved, you also took away something else very important to me. My little grounder experiment."
Bellamy lifted his head up and looked at him, startled by his words.
"What are you saying?" Bellamy wheezed out, fear laced in his voice.
Cage shrugged, "I just think now would be a good time to start it up again."
The older man walked over to a small case against the wall and bent down to open it. He tampered with some weird vials until he looked satisfied. Cage finally stood up and made his way back over to Bellamy, a syringe similar to the one he used on Clarke in his hand. But this one was filled with liquid red.
Bellamy knew where he was going with this. He couldn't let this happen, not now. He couldn't leave Clarke on the floor below him, unaware that a reaper had taken his place. He'd rather die.
"Please," Bellamy choked, "Don't do this. At least let Clarke go."
Cage just chuckled, "Don't worry," he said mockingly. "The first dose is the worst."
And then the needle was being plunged in his neck and all Bellamy saw was red.
A.N. Hey guys! So I know Bellamy and Clarke are still separated but hopefully that'll change really soon. Even though who knows what's gonna be up with Bellamy when they reunite ;) I tried to update as quickly as I could, but this chapter actually took me a few days. I usually get it all done in one sitting. Anyway, every single review makes my day so let me know what you think!