The musical accompaniment for this chapter is Hex by Mt Wolf.

- I took the stars from my eyes, and then I made a map. And knew that somehow I could find my way back.

"Walk with me," Becca said, rising from her seat.

Clarke blinked for a moment, trying to clear the fog that felt like it had wrapped its tendrils around her capacity for coherent thought.

She stood, noticing as she did that she felt no discomfort; all of her aches and pains had evaporated. She also noticed that her feet were no longer filthy with mud but were clean and she was wearing her own pair of sandals, similar in style, but not identical to Becca's. She was in fact wearing a whole new outfit, everything feeling clean and new, yet at the same time unfamiliar and strange.

She looked down at her wrists, rubbing a thumb over one, but found no trace of the deep cuts and bruising she had sustained from the handcuffs back on the Ark. She remembered her father's watch then and her thoughts flickered briefly to Lincoln's cave.

It all feels like another lifetime….

"Is this a dream?" she asked the other woman, eyes widening slightly as another possibility came to her. "Or is this death? Did I die?"

Becca's expression changed to one of concern and... pity?

She shook her head. "Oh no, Clarke. You're not dead." Her dark eyes searched Clarke's own. "Do you feel your pulse?" She nodded to where Clarke still grasped her wrist.

Clarke glanced down, pressing two fingers to her pulse point. "Ye….yes," she replied, tripping over the word. She took a deep breath and focused on the steady beating of her heart pulling her back from a full-blown panic attack. "A dream then? Something happened when they put the Flame into me. One minute I was there and the next…" She trailed off.

"I know it must be confusing for you. I have to admit, I'm not entirely certain of what's going on either."

"Well that's comforting," Clarke said, somewhat sarcastically.

Becca smiled, and admittedly that was comforting.

"I can tell you this is not a dream, if that helps. Where we are is very much a real place. You are real here."

"Are you?" Clarke asked.

"That question has a more complicated answer," Becca replied. "Will you walk to the shore with me? I'd like to show you something."

Walking down the steps from the deck, Clarke felt herself almost overwhelmed with the sounds of waves crashing and birds calling overhead, and the strong smell of salt that came to her on the breeze.

And the ocean….what a sight. It stretched out before her like a seemingly limitless giant, it's deep blue punctuated with white crested peaks. She had seen it as she hurtled to Earth in the Escape Pod, but nothing could have prepared her for the immense power of actually standing physically before it. She realised now just how sterile and removed from nature life on the Ark had been. It was incredible to look out into the vastness of space, but the blue planet that lay beneath was always what had captured her imagination.

On reaching the bottom step, Becca slipped off her sandals.

Gesturing to Clarke's feet she said, "Trust me, you'll want to feel this."

Clarke did the same and then stepped off into the soft sand. She looked over at Becca who smiled back at her as she took in the pleasant sensation.

"I think I like the beach," Clarke said, wriggling her toes.

Becca laughed. "Just wait until you feel the ocean. Come on."

Together they walked down to the water's edge, the light breeze whipping Clarke's hair around her face. She watched as Becca put her feet in just at the water's edge, a small wave reaching her toes before retreating again. Clarke stepped forward too, the feeling of the squishy wet sand delighting her. The wave returned and washed over her up to just above her ankles. The water was cold, but not unpleasantly so.

It felt good to stand there.

She looked out to the horizon and she felt herself begin to cry.

"Tell me about where I came from again, Daddy," Clarke said, wrapping her small arms around the back of the big man's neck whilst he sat at his drawing desk.

"Again?" he asked, mock incredulity in his voice, turning his head to look at her. "Are you a fish?"

She frowned, confused. "I'm not a fish, silly. I'm a girl."

He turned fully and scooped her small body into his lap. "I thought you might be a fish because your memory is so bad. I've told you this story at least a hundred times before," he teased.

She threw him a serious look. "I have a good memory. I just like to hear the story."

"Well, if you insist," Jake replied, pretending to sigh but smiling.

This was the little game they liked to play. Teasing each other but enjoying every moment they got to spend in each other's company. Clarke was the very definition of a daddy's girl, having inherited many of the man's traits. Although with every year that passed she was displaying more of her mother's personality as well, which Jake knew could prove for some difficult clashes in the future between mum and daughter once the teenage years hit. As it was, he adored his only child, and loved nothing more than teaching her what he knew of the old world and trying to equip her with the tools to survive in the new one.

He reached over to a drawer and pulled out a tattered old book entitled 'Atlas of the World', faded and dog-eared with use, and set it on down on the desk.

"Page a hundred," Clarke said.

"It's one hundred, kiddo," he corrected. "And good memory. Maybe you don't have a fish brain after all."

Clarke rolled her eyes, although her father couldn't see.

He opened the atlas to the requested page and Clarke traced her finger along the outline of the East Coast of the United States.

"Washington DC," she murmured, her eyes scanning over the words.

"That's right. That's where the capital was and that's where your great-great-grandmother helped to make the laws and run the country."

"And what about the rest of our family? What did they do?"

"Well, I don't have allthe details but I know we had a college professor - that's like a teacher - and there was definitely an engineer like me somewhere along the line that worked on some famous bridges. I think there was a fairly well known artist - that must be where you get your talents from. There was a scientist too. She was involved in something to do with the Ark but my father never knew what exactly."

Clarke mulled this over for a few moments, still looking at the map.

She tapped her finger on a place just to the west of DC. "And this is how I got my name?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Yup," Jake replied. "Clarke County. I wanted you to have a tie to your roots because that's where a lot of family were."

"What's roots, Daddy?"

"Your roots are where you come from, kiddo. Your family tree, so to speak."

Clarke continued to study the map before landing on another place name just outside of the capital. "Some of the kids tease me and say I have a boy's name. Like some guy called Superman from old comic books." She gently stroked the place name. "Couldn't you have called me something pretty instead like that?"

Jake looked to where she was indicating. "Alexandria? Well that ispretty. But it just wasn't the name for you. Both your mother and I knew that Clarke was it. We looked at your cute little face - " He pinched her cheek and tickled her side and she squealed with laughter, " - and you were our Clarke. And if any boy tries to make you feel bad about it, you just tell them that you're SuperWOMAN."

She laughed again at this.

"Do you think we'll ever get to go back there?" she then asked in a small, wistful voice.

He paused for a moment, tightening his arms around her as they both looked down at the map.

"I don't know, kiddo. I really don't know."

After another few moments of silence she turned her face round to his and said so sincerely, "Daddy, I think I know what I'd like to be if we ever get to go back to Earth."

"What's that, sweetheart?"

"A mermaid."

Jake dissolved into guffaws of laughter, delighting in his young daughter's innocence.

"See?" he said in between the laughter. "You area fish after all!"

And now she laughed too. They sat laughing together until their sides hurt and tears streamed down their faces.

Clarke walked with Becca along the beach, the soft sand pushing up between her toes a good feeling.

It was strange knowing that the woman beside her was long dead, yet was very much here with her right now. In whatever... this place was. Her mind couldn't really compute the two pieces of knowledge, but if she was being honest with herself, she was finding comfort in the familial tie, no matter how tenuous, after being so long without one.

After they had paddled their feet in the ocean for a while and Clarke had allowed tears to flow for reasons she wasn't entirely sure about, Becca had said there was something further up the beach she wanted to show her.

As they walked round the curve of the coastline, Becca stopped. "There," she said, pointing.

Clarke squinted, the afternoon sun glinting off of the shiny steel structures up ahead.

"What is that?" she asked, although from the rocket she saw she thought she had a fairly good idea.

"The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, or MARS as it's commonly known. And those other buildings beyond it make up the NASA Flight Facility. All located on Wallops Island on the Eastern seaboard of the state of Virginia, United States of America."

Clarke's mind flashed to the old tattered atlas from her dad's desk drawer. "I remember seeing this place on a map. My dad used to say it was named Wallops because people would come here to practice their right hook."

"Well I don't know about that," Becca said smiling, "but it is where I worked when I existed in this timeline."

Turning to her, Clarke said, "You keep saying that; 'timeline'. If this isn't a dream then what is it? Is this real?"

Becca's expression turned more solemn. "This is 2049. One hundred years before where you've just come from."

Clarke looked between Becca and the spaceport in the distance, struggling to absorb the information.

"Three years before the bombs," she murmured, swallowing thickly.

Becca nodded. "Yes. And just as I was about to finish building the quantum computer that would eventually go rogue and launch those bombs."

Clarke sucked in a breath, trying to gather her thoughts. "So that's what happened," she stated flatly. "You were building some kind of supercomputer for god knows what, and it got away from you?" Her voice rose as she felt the anger flare inside her and she scrubbed her hands through her hair.

Becca did not look away or look shameful. Instead she looked at Clarke with eyes that had seen too much and felt everything as many times as it was possible for someone to feel.

"I've had a century to blame myself, Clarke. Stuck in this suspended state of animation, trapped in the Flame, with nothing but guilt most of the time for company. But you need to know that my intentions for the work I was doing were the complete opposite of the destruction of humankind. I was making breakthroughs in the field of quantum consciousness, trying to find a way to reverse the seemingly unalterable damage that humanity had wrought on the planet. The code I wrote ended up thinking there were 'too many people', and in essence it was right. Almost twelve billion people on this tiny speck in the universe, widespread famine, air pollution, ocean acidification, constant war. And throughout all of that? It was always the poorest and the most vulnerable who suffered the most. I was trying to find a way to make things better."

"Well your rogue code certainly saw to that twelve billion-strong problem," Clarke shot back bitterly, feeling her stomach roiling with each new piece of information.

"I don't look to absolve myself," Becca replied softly. "I never have. And as long as I live on in some form or another, I will never and should never know peace."

It was Clarke who looked away then, feeling the weight of it all settle between them.

"Why did you bring me here?" she asked, her eyes on the sea.

"I didn't. I believe the Flame did that. And to a larger extent, you did."

Clarke swung her eyes back to Becca. "What?" she asked, incredulous. "That's impossible. I don't know anything about it. How could I control where I went to? I didn't even choose to put that thing in me. Those bastards back at the Mountain did that and I was powerless to stop them. And why have two Flames anyway? Why wasn't one enough to achieve what you wanted with the Commander legacy? "

Becca looked at her with such intensity that it momentarily made Clarke's heartbeat stutter.

"A part of me always knew that the potential of the Flame would far exceed my original intention. A good scientist always has a back up. Why would I have made only one?" she asked, keeping that intense gaze on her. "There must be balance in everything, Clarke, and you are now standing on one side of that scale. The universe often works in dualities and the Flame is no exception. It was always designed to work best when both AI's were used together in harmony. But I'm starting to think that the power you possess is transcending the need for the tech at all."

"What power?" Clarke asked, feeling more confused than ever and now so so tired. "I just told you, I didn't choose to take the second Flame...or the original Flame….gah!" She threw her hands up in the air in frustration and paced a few steps away.

"They held me down, Becca," she said, rounding on the other woman, the trauma of every event that had occurred since she was pulled from her cell on the Ark catching up to her all at once, causing her chest to constrict and her throat to burn with yet more tears that threatened to force themselves out. "They killed innocent men inside and out of that mountain because of me , and god knows what's happening to Maya. And before that I was locked up by the people who I'm meant to call my own after they executed my father….your...I don't even know...your relative. So where was my power then? I've not been in control of anything for longer than I can remember and I've never felt so lost or far away from home than I do right now."

She dropped down to the sand, drawing her knees towards her and pressing her face into them. She screwed her eyes shut, willing herself not to cry again.

After a few moments she heard Becca sit down beside her. She jumped slightly when she felt a soft touch rub gently on her back.

"I'm sorry this is happening to you. I never could have predicted things would unfold this way. A part of me wishes I had never set the wheels in motion at all, but after so long to contemplate it all, I've come to the conclusion that everything would have happened regardless. We are here now, together, because it is exactly where the universe wants us to be."

Clarke raised her head slightly, looking at Becca. "For a scientist you're not sounding very sciencey right now. You sound like Lexa."

Becca gave her a wry smile. "That's just it though, it is science. Or a more evolved version of it. In this world, in this time - " She gestured with her free hand to indicate she meant where they currently were, "- thinking on these subjects was always so black and white. Something was either considered hard science or it wasn't. But the mistake they all made was to not look beyond. That's what I was trying to do. Think of it this way; the atoms of our bodies are traceable to stars that manufactured them in their cores and exploded these enriched ingredients across our galaxy, billions of years ago, making us biologically and chemically connected to every other living thing in the world. And atomically connected to all atoms in the universe. Nothing is accidental and I believe our paths are set."

"And my path?" Clarke asked.

"We're connected by blood, Clarke. And I believe you've been sent here because of the connection you also share with Lexa, because of how your blood is connected to hers. I made that Nightblood that runs through her veins. And she was chosen because she's special, and because that was her fate. I know you may feel powerless but I am telling you, you have more power than you could possibly imagine."

Clarke stared back at her, breathing deeply.

"Tell me what I need to do."

Lexa could feel Anya's incredulous stare on her even as she kept her own gaze focused on the fire.

They had arrived at Lincoln's cave some time before, and the three of them sat inside around the flames, Iona and Conic standing guard outside.

"You can't be serious."

Lexa lifted her eyes at this to look at her old Mentor, her closest confidante . "Have you ever known me not to be?" she replied softly.

"But it's suicide, Lexa. It was suicide when we discussed it days ago, and it remains that way now. Nothing has changed."

"Everything has changed, Anya. One way or another that Flame is now in Clarke, and it hasn't killed her. Which means it's only a matter of time before Cage takes what he needs from her until there are no longer any barriers to him taking the Flame for himself. I am certain, beyond any reasonable doubt that he will not allow Clarke to live after that. I cannot allow either of those things to happen."

Lexa's voice had remained low and soft throughout and her eyes locked onto Anya's, silently pleading for her support.

Anya looked back at her for a long moment, before sighing deeply and looking back to the fire. "What do you think?" she said, and they both knew she was addressing Lincoln.

Lexa looked to him, the flames dancing in his dark eyes. She knew regardless of what had gone on between he and Anya, that Anya would listen to his opinion and respect him for it. She always had. Even if she did not always agree with it.

It struck Lexa of just how long it had been since she had sat like this, simply, in front of a fire, with two old friends. Perhaps she never had. A small part of her wished it could have been under different circumstances where they weren't strategizing life and death. But the Heda part of her quickly dismissed that frivolous yearning for normalcy. Now was not the time.

Lincoln's fingers were steepled under his chin, elbows resting on his knees. He looked deep in thought.

He raised his eyes to Anya. "I think that you're right to be wary of the plan. Your duty to protect your Heda, to protect Leksa, is something you promised a long time ago and you should honour that vow at all costs. But you also swore an oath to protect your people, and if Cage finds a way to rule beyond the confines of that mountain, then Trikru will be the first to die."

"And who is your duty to?" Anya asked, with no edge to her voice.

"You may have banished me, but I am still Trikru," he replied, his eyes moving between both of them. "My duty will always be to you both, to our people, and now….also to Clarke," he finished.

Lexa felt a swell in her chest and the corner of her mouth ticked up almost imperceptibly.

"Well, you're no help at all," Anya grumbled.

At this Lexa did smile, the warmth of the fire finally spreading through her.

"Thank you, Lincoln. I will not forget your loyalty. Neither I'm sure, will Clarke," she said sincerely, trying to convey the gratitude she felt for his presence and support.

He dipped his head in acknowledgement.

Anya prodded the fire rather aggressively with a stick she had picked up from the floor. "Is there any point at all in suggesting that as Commander of the Twelve Clans you should stay behind and allow your devoted warriors to carry out this probably doomed rescue plan?" she asked somewhat pessimistically.

Although the smile had faded from Lexa's mouth, it remained in her eyes but with now added determination as she addressed the other woman. "I must go, Anya. Ihave to go. As Commander of the Blood, it is my duty. However it ends, it is the will of the Spirit and the stars that I be there."

Anya sighed. "How did I know you would say that."

"Because you know me better than any other."

"For better or for worse," Anya muttered begrudgingly, but Lexa knew it was coming from a place of love and loyalty.

Standing, she said, "It's settled then. At first light we go in." And then turning to Lincoln, asked, "You think the tunnels will be at their quietest then?"

He nodded. "The Reapers tend to move at night and scuttle back to their lair before daybreak. It's our best chance."

Anya tutted. "I don't like those chances. Lexa, we have no idea what lies in wait in those tunnels, or what lies beyond. How do we know there will even be a way inside if we make it through?"

Pulling her sash over her head like a cloak and moving towards the mouth of the cave, Lexa replied, "That is something I am going to find out. It is time I spoke with Clarke's Raven."

Her already disgruntled old First had not been particularly pleased when Lexa had announced she was going to the Escape Pod, and the only company she required was Iona and Conic. When Anya tried to argue, Lexa had told her - Heda had told her, it was not a request.

She had two reasons for this. One was that if Anya and Lincoln were going to accompany her into those tunnels and possibly beyond, they needed to resolve at least some of their more recent issues first. Perhaps an hour or so of alone time might accomplish that.

On the other hand, it could all go horribly wrong and I'll come back to Lincoln's beaten and bloody corpse, she mused, only half jokingly.

The second reason was that she needed some time with her own thoughts. Iona and Conic were of course trailing her, but for the most part she could feel alone enough to allow herself some thinking time. She had informed the two guards that she would be going on foot, and that she expected them to follow her, at a distance, in the same way. They needed their horses to rest after the hard ride here, and besides, it had been a long time since Lexa had been out in her forest,almost on her own. Walking on this ground felt like both a homecoming and a pilgrimage.

Pulling her sash tighter around her to ward off the slight chill in the air she looked up and saw that the moon was now lower in the sky. The hour was late. Or early.

Still a few hours until dawn, she thought.

Knowing she had plenty of time she veered off to the left. There was a place she had to see before she went to the radio.

Clambering over the huge boulders and then pulling herself up and round the side of the cliff, she thought back to how many times she had been in these places as a child. Often with Lincoln. His cave was now far below, it all being part of one larger formation. A formation that stretched from here right across the entire Appalachian range. And over to where she was now looking.

Mount Weather.

A valley stretched out below before the land rose up again. Inside that peak was where the Maunon had made their home for the past hundred years.

She sat on a boulder and stared out across the darkened expanse, trying to send her mind across it to where Clarke was. Except...Clarke wasn't really there. Her body was of course, but her spirit, the essence of her….that was somewhere else.

Where are you? she thought, exhaling a long breath that fogged the night air.

She closed her eyes and willed herself to focus on the rise and fall of her chest.

After a long while with nothing happening other than an increasing frustration building inside of her at the futility of it all, she opened her eyes and spoke softly.

"Come out of the shadows. I want to speak with you both."

She had not raised her voice and yet both Iona and Conic slipped from the shadowy places in opposite directions and now stood before her.

"Heda," Iona said, a question in it. Conic simply bowed forward in greeting.

Iona was a striking looking young woman, all wild reddish afro curls, tall, lithe physique and skin deeply tanned from the sun. She had a spray of freckles across her cheeks that reminded Lexa of Costia. Perhaps it was the hair as well that made her think of her. Costia's had been dark and she had rarely worn it that way, but Lexa used to love it when she had.

Conic was taller still and made up of pure lean muscle that when coupled with his long sleek black hair and brown skin made him feel more big cat than man. Something about the way he held himself, like he was almost sniffing the air, and how his feline-like eyes were always scanning beyond what others might be able to see. Preternatural , Lexa thought.

They were quite the contrasting pair, yet somehow also seemed to blend together in a sort of flawless symmetry.

"I realise I know little of your backstories. Indra informed me of your skills of course. Iona, I hear you are unrivalled with a bow and with the spear too."

"Sha, Heda," she replied, and Lexa thought she could see a small crack in the serious facade.

"What else?" Lexa asked.

Iona looked back, slightly bewildered.

"What else can you tell me about yourself?"

Iona hesitated for a moment. "I can ride any horse, hit a moving target with a slingshot at fifty paces and I'm the best joken tracker you'll ever find."

At this she looked slightly surprised that she had used the expletive.

Lexa tried to hide her smirk.

"Impressive. And what about you, Conic?" she asked.

He had been looking off into the distance, stroking his short beard between thumb and forefinger. He turned more fully towards her.

"He's not a big talker," Iona offered.

"I talk when it is called for," he said, his voice warm and measured, "and I fight in the same way. I am competent with a sword and in all types of hand to hand combat, Heda."

Again Lexa fought the smirk that threatened. The earnestness of this pair.

"I am well aware, warrior. I have seen you in practice though never in battle, and I would say you are far more than competent." She looked between both of them. "I could not ask for two better protectors at my side."

While Conic's face remained the same; open and almost serene, Iona looked like she might burst with pride.

"Forgive me for speaking so plainly, Heda, but with the way you handle yourself I would think it would be a rare occasion when you really needed anyone to protect you," said Iona.

Looking back out towards the mountain, thinking of the person imprisoned within, Lexa replied softly, "Everyone needs protecting at some point. Even me."

After a few moments of silence passed, Conic spoke.

"It seems to me that what they see as their biggest advantage is really their biggest weakness. They might have the firepower but without that mountain, they would have nothing."

Both Lexa and Iona turned to him. He continued to look across the valley as if he had not spoken at all.

Something clicked into place for Lexa then. She rose to her feet. "Perhaps you should share your thoughts more often. Come. We have another stop to make."

Raven flopped down into her chair. Her chair that was gradually beginning to feel like it was moulded to her ass.

"I know Clarke's being held prisoner and all, but right about now I might just swap places with her if given the opportunity."

Wells raised an eyebrow in response as he continued to type.

"Ok, ok. Maybe not," she huffed, swiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. "But I swear to god if I don't get out of Mecha Station soon I'm going to lose my fucking shit."

Wells stopped and turned in his own chair to face her. "Why don't you wander over to Farm Station and check on supplies? Stretch your legs a bit and breathe in some of those nice plant emissions. I can hold the fort here."

"I just saw Monty at the blockade. He seemed tense so it's probably best if we stay out of Farm for now. With his parents on different sides of the wall, well...it's not easy for him," she replied, tightening her ponytail.

Wells nodded, his focus drifting off.

"I guess that's your situation times a thousand," Raven added gently.

He brought his gaze back to hers. "Right now I'm glad my mom isn't alive to see what my dad's doing. It would have broken her heart."

Raven searched his eyes for a moment before responding. "You really are on our side aren't you?" she asked, cocking her head.

"Is that Bellamy guy still convinced I'm a plant, here to steal all your secrets and sell you out?"

Raven smiled. "Something like that. But I told him to back off. You've really been helping me. So even if you do end up fucking us over, I think I've got my money's worth out of you."

There was a playful glint in her eye. Wells had been invaluable since he had turned up at the barricade proclaiming to be on their side. His knowledge of the Ark and of the strategies that his father and the Council were thinking of employing had already helped the Rebels. And the information he had about loved ones trapped on the other side had been appreciated by just about everyone here.

His desire for a peaceful resolution to all of this reminded Raven of Finn. Both young men loathed violence and bloodshed.

News of Finn was scarce. All Wells could tell her was that all prisoners in the Skybox had been in complete lockdown since the Ark had been split. She just hoped he would sit tight and stay safe until they could either fix this or get to him.

Wells smiled back at her, but it was a sad smile. "I just wish I'd done more to stand up to him, and sooner. Before Clarke…." He trailed off.

She sighed. "Listen buddy, if we all could go back and do the things we wish we'd done…"

"But you got her out, Raven," he said, his eyes solemn. "You saved her life."

She let out a pfft sound. "Well for starters I was only a spoke in the wheel of the 'Save Clarke' party bus. I just did what I had to."

"But you did it for love. Because Clarke's your family. I might never get the chance to make up for what I did to her."

His eyes were sadder than ever and Raven thought with a slight feeling of horror that he might cry.

"Come on, dude. With what you've found out about that Mountain? That can't fail to help her. We just need to know what to do with the information," she said before rolling over to where he sat and punching him in the arm.

"Ow!" he cried, rubbing the point of impact. "What was that for?"

"Just my own special way of showing affection in an awkward situation," she responded jovially, pushing off the floor with her foot and returning to her own work station again.

"Right," he said huffily, still rubbing his arm. "Remind me never to piss you off."

"A mantra to live by, my friend," she replied absentmindedly, engrossed in her screen once again.

They both fell silent, the only sound the tapping of keys or clicking of a mouse.

After a while Raven stretched her arms over her head and began to rise from her chair. "I'm going to make some coff-" She was cut off by a loud crackling sound filling the space.

Her gaze swivelled to Wells and she held her breath.

And then, a woman's voice came from the radio, distant and tinny yet still projecting a sense of authority -

"I am Lexa kom Trikru and I wish to speak with Raven. Do you read me, Raven of the sky?"

Wells' eyes bugged out of his head and Raven grabbed for the receiver.

"I read you," she sputtered out. "This is Raven of the….sky." She felt ridiculous using the term but pushed on. "Is this Commander of the Twelve Clans Lexa?"

The answer came back quickly and convincingly. "Yes. And I need to once again ask you for your help. Clarke is now in graver danger than ever, and we need to get her out."

Wells had rolled himself over beside Raven and when she looked over at him she saw he wore a distressed expression.

"Your army is attacking?" she said into the receiver.

"No. They could still deploy the acid fog on us as we approach in large numbers, or launch a missile. And it is too risky to Clarke. A more stealthy approach is necessary."

Raven shared a look of understanding with Wells.

"We might have something that could help you with that."

"I had hoped you would say that. Please accept my gratitude for all that you've done, Raven."

Raven cleared her throat a bit before answering, for some reason feeling a combination of bashfulness, and oddly, as it had just appeared with no warning, mild agitation.

"I'm just here for Clarke, Commander. And it's not just me. My partner in crime here, Wells, is the one who unlocked this particular golden nugget."

There was silence on the other end for a few moments and Raven thought that perhaps her way with words had possibly confounded the Commander.

"My gratitude also extends to this partner, and anyone else who has put themselves in harm's way for Clarke."

She felt the agitation lessen slightly.

"I need you to get us inside. Anya said you told her you had maps for the Mountain."

Raven smirked over at Wells briefly, who had started to look slightly calmer.

"Oh we can do you one better than that. Not only do we have floor plans and schematics, we have every piece of architectural and construction document ever made for that place. And we're about ten steps away from hacking into their internal systems."

A pause.

"When you say internal systems….would that mean you could take control of, for instance, their security system and their….ventilation system?"

Raven frowned, thinking for a moment about what Lexa was asking.

"You mean their air?"

"Yes."

The word, and its implication hung in the air for a few moments.

"In theory, yes," Raven finally replied. "But for what purpose?" She glanced at Wells again who was back to frowning and now rubbing at the back of his head. "I'm not sure if we're up for some casual genocide, even for Clarke."

"There will be no genocide," Lexa replied quickly, her voice clipped. "We just need them to know that we hold an advantage. Without it there is nothing stopping them from wiping out MY people. And that includes Clarke."

Wells looked at her and shrugged. She could read in his eyes that he thought they would be able to do it.

Immediately he propelled himself back to his station and eyes fixed on the screen, had begun tapping frantically at his keyboard.

She lifted the receiver to her mouth again. "Ok. Threats are something we can be on board with. Let's talk about what needs to happen."

She swallowed thickly. Shit was really getting real.

"I thought you might like to see this."

Lexa turned at the sound of Lincoln's voice. He leaned against the cave wall, casting a long shadow above him in the firelight.

She had been sitting at the fire after returning from the Escape Pod, gazing into the flames and trying to still her mind in preparation for what was to come. Anya had disappeared sometime before, muttering something that Lexa hadn't caught.

He held out what looked like a notebook.

Taking it she frowned as she looked at its plain cover.

"It's Clarke's," he said simply.

She ran a thumb over it and looked back to him.

"And this," he said, stepping forward and pressing something into her other palm.

She looked down at the object.

"This is her watch?" Her voice cracked slightly and she swallowed before clenching her jaw.

"I don't know. But it seemed like it was important to her," he replied. "I think she would want it back."

With that he walked out of the cave leaving Lexa alone.

She looked down at the watch again, turning it over in her hand and studying it. Watches were not something that anyone on Earth any longer wore, batteries of course degrading a long many years before. But Lexa knew what they were. There had been a few in the artifacts room in Polis Tower, their once ticking hands long since frozen in time. Lexa wondered if Clarke had worn the timepiece in her day to day life up in the sky. It seemed bulky for Clarke's wrist. It was then that the small symbol inscribed on the back caught her eye.

It was a creature with the body, legs and tail of a lion, and the head and wings of an eagle. It rose up, its talons reaching out as if in defence of something. Or perhaps attack.

The king of all creatures, she thought. The griffin.

She knew that the griffin was thought to be especially powerful and majestic. Scanning her memory she remembered that they were known for guarding treasure and priceless possessions. In antiquity they had been a symbol of divine power and a guardian of the divine.

It didn't feel right to put the watch on, but she felt like it was important that she take it for Clarke. So she tucked it into an inside pocket at the front of her snugly fitting jacket, which lay under a light piece of body armour. She had forgone her Heda sash and pauldron, preferring to be dressed in a more streamlined and practical outfit for entering the Mountain.

Turning her attention to the notebook she opened it to find that it was actually a sketchbook. On the first page there was a beautiful drawing of the forest, seemingly of the view right outside of Lincoln's cave. Lexa drank in the detail of the lines and shading and marvelled at how Clarke had achieved this in what must have been very little time.

Turning the page her eyes fell on two portraits. One was clearly Lincoln, the likeness unmistakable. The other was of a young girl, perhaps an older teenager. She had long hair and intense eyes. Lexa wondered who she was.

When she turned the page again she felt her breath catch. On the page before her she saw herself. In a scene that she had lived barely more than ten days before. There she stood on the balcony of her Tower, watching as Clarke fell from the sky.

Despite now knowing how strong their connection was, Lexa was nevertheless stunned at what she was looking at.

But before she could think on it any further, Anya was standing before her, her angular face darkened by the war paint that Lexa had mirrored on her own eyes and cheeks.

"Time to go."

She nodded and tucking the book into a gap in the seat, she stood and they walked outside where they found the others waiting. The sky was starting to show signs of dawn breaking, and the forest was coming to life with birds singing out their early morning calls.

Lexa looked to her four loyal companions, the Heda in her shining out with every fiber of her being. Each of their eyes sparkled back at her, reverence and adoration there.

She felt a buzzing sensation within herself, like she was standing on the edge of a precipice.

She drew herself up and as was often the case when it came to the Commander, appeared taller than she really was.

Her voice was low yet still thunderously powerful, and all in the group felt their heartbeats quicken in anticipation.

"It is long past time that we made this land safer for all of our people. For too long we have been terrorised in our own home. I do not know what will happen once we are inside that place, but I know that my path is leading me there." She looked to the latest recruits. "Iona, Conic. I wish you to escort us to the tunnels but I cannot ask you to continue any further. Not only is the risk too great, I also need someone to get word back to Indra should anything happen to us."

"But Heda_" Iona objected.

Lexa held up a hand and the woman fell silent.

"It is the way it must be," she continued. "You do me a great service to keep us safe up until the point of entry. But it is not the will of the Spirit for you to join us inside."

Anya smirked almost gleefully. "It is definitely the will of the Spirit to let me get inside that Mountain and kill some of those nomonjokas."

Lexa allowed herself a small smile at this in return.

Narrowing her eyes slightly at the pink sky that was now creeping up over the horizon, she turned back to them and said:

"Let us go now and end this."

Feedback as always is the lifeforce which waters my very soul.