Clarke awoke merely hours after falling asleep next to Bellamy. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and pressed her palms over her eyelids. For a moment, she forgot where she was and what's happened; for one fleeting moment she thought she was on the Ark, floating in space, but when she looked up through the skylight, she was suddenly grounded. She rolled over, looking at Bellamy intently. He slept on his stomach, dark curls falling over his forehead. Clarke slowly got out of bed and dressed herself, careful not to wake him. A lump formed in her throat as she picked up her pack. She allowed herself one more glance before leaving the room and winding her way through the Ark.

She could still feel Bellamy's touch on her skin, still hear his labored breaths. Each step away from him became more difficult, but she kept going,reminding herself that going to Lexa's camp was the only solution. She waited until the patrol had moved away from the western gate before creeping out into the darkness, sunrise mere hours away. The smaller gate proved much easier to pass through, unseen to all but those who knew it was there. She fiercely ignored the strong urge to turn around.

The walk to the Tri Kru camp would be long, nearly a full day. She'd have to stop before sunrise and rest for a few hours over the day. She could get to Lexa's camp by the next night. Clarke could feel the eyes of Lexa's spies on her and her fingers tightened around the knife held discreetly in her palm. She was familiar with the path now, having tread it multiple times, but she knew no one could know it better than the people in the trees above her. She walked steadily, making good time and putting a good distance between herself and Camp Jaha, or Arkadia, as the Arkers now called it. What a joke Clarke thought. There is no such thing as a safe haven. We're never completely safe in this world.

Bellamy awoke with a start, gasping as though doused in water. He'd been dreaming of the Ark falling out of the sky, watching the earth as they plummeted toward it. It took him a few moments to remember where he was, his heart pounding, sweat clinging to his naked skin. When his heart calmed, with a rush of heat, he remembered last night. He could still taste Clarke on his tongue, still feel her hair and lips brushing his skin….But, when he turned to look at her, he found the bed empty. His eyebrows furrowed and something like the beginnings of panic ran through his bloodstream. He knew, even before he turned that Clarke was gone. He took a moment to gather himself before turning to see the empty space next to him.

"Damnit, Clarke…" Bellamy growls to the empty room. He knew she'd do something like this and he hated it. No matter how many times she promised to be a part of him, to be a part of this community, she would still put herself outside of everyone else. She was a martyr in some ways and he wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her. Don't you understand that you're mortal, Clarke? Maybe Clarke was beginning to believe her own legend. Or maybe that was just his fear talking.

He hurriedly dressed and checked the clip of his gun, walking purposefully from the room.

The first person Bellamy told was Octavia. He ran to her tent, sweeping the tarp aside thoughtlessly.

"Ever heard of privacy?" Octavia growled, glaring. She was sitting between Lincoln's legs as he taught her to write in Trigedasleng, but her irritation evaporated at the look on Bellamy's face. For a moment Bellamy was startled that they were awake, but he swallowed his inquiry.

"Bell, what is it? What's going on?"

"It's Clarke. She took off. Most likely to talk to Lexa."

Lincoln interjected quickly. "We're supposed to go and speak with the other Grounder clans today. The Ice Nation still hasn't spoken to us."

"I'm thinking there may be a reason for that." Bellamy sighed.

Lincoln nodded his head knowingly. "Interception."

Bellamy met his gaze. "I need to get to Clarke as soon as possible. O, go and wake up Kane and Abby. I'll swing by Raven's and get her up. She and Wick can check the feed and see what's going on in the woods."

As Bellamy walked away, Octavia grabbed his arm tightly. "You don't have to do this. Clarke has Lexa's favor. If you go out there, they will kill you."

Bellamy's eyes flitted from Lincoln's to Octavia's. He lowered his voice and said, "I can't lose Clarke, Octavia. I can't lose her like this."

Octavia detected the change in tone and felt Bellamy's worry heightening. Bellamy was her only family. He had always been there for her, as long as she could remember...and that's what made her decide. Rather than argue, she said, "It's gonna be alright, Bell. Okay?"

Bellamy didn't answer. There was nothing to say. "Tell Kane I went ahead. Tell him to do everything as planned. Go to the other Grounders and gather them. Send someone to the Ice Nation. If something goes wrong with Lexa and Clarke, things could get real ugly real fast. It'll take her a full day to get there on foot. I can find her." His face was serious, his brows furrowed, his heart pounding like a broken metronome in his chest.

Octavia nodded and kissed Bellamy on the cheek before brushing past him. Lincoln clapped him on the shoulder and followed suit. Before Bellamy could put any more thought into it, he moved forward, his chest searing, his head pounding. He had to do something. He couldn't stand by and watch her walk away again- not without talking to her first.

Clarke's back ached from carrying her pack. She'd packed very little, but what she had packed was heavy; one of Bellamy's guns, some fruit and vegetables from the gardens, and a blanket in case she needed to stop and rest. She was making good time, but it never felt like she was going fast enough. And when it did she desperately wished that time would slow down. She tried to keep her mind focused on the task ahead, but tears pricked at her eyes either way. This wouldn't be easy. Either way a piece of her was going to be damaged forever. She stopped in her tracks in the pitch black and for the first time in her life she considered what it would be like not to exist at all. Then she remembered the freckles dotting Bellamy's nose and cheeks, the way his voice sounded in the mornings, and the feel of his hand wrapped around hers and she realized it was impossible. No matter what happened, she would always feel an instinctual pull towards him. She was sure that they could bury her 6 feet under and her soul would still find a way to reach him and hold on.

Clarke closed her eyes and felt the hot tears fall down her face in the darkness. She roughly wiped them away and continued to wind her way through the night, keeping to the shadows of the trees, wary of Lexa's spies. A rustling noise reached her ears and Clarke whipped around, her eyes searching the shadows through dappled moonlight. It grew louder and she pulled her knife from her boot, slowly moving backwards up the hill. Suddenly someone grabbed her around the waist and clamped their hand over her mouth, half dragging her behind a thick tree. She cut their arm with her knife and a grunt sounded behind her, the hand sliding from her mouth. She knew that voice.

"Bellamy?" Clarke whispered, trying to turn around, but he held her to him tightly whispering "shhh" into her ear. She fell silent, the only sound that of his breath in her ear and the sound of her own heart beating. She began to grow impatient but just as she opened her mouth to speak she heard a twig snap.. Bellamy released her but kept his hand on her arm as he craned around the side of the tree. A grounder stalked through the night, listening. When nothing but silence greeted his ears he ran past Clarke and Bellamy and up the hill.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" Clarke growled, finally turning to look at him.

"I could ask you the same thing." Bellamy said slowly, holding a hand to his bleeding arm. "But, I already know the answer."

"Bellamy, I had to-" Clarke began.

"I know." Bellamy said, his expression hard to read. "But, you're not going alone this time."

"It's not safe out here." Clarke sighed. "You have to go back. I….I need to talk to Lexa. She'll listen to me."

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll be fine." Bellamy said rolling his eyes and rubbing at them. When he looked back, Clarke was staring at him with wide eyes.

"When are you going to understand that we're not fine? We're never going to be fine, Bell." Clarke said. "We're damaged goods. I'm damaged goods."

Bellamy looked her over slowly then met her eyes. "Clarke, you are anything but damaged."

His voice was full and warm as the words left his lips. Clarke didn't know what to say so she crossed her arms and turned her back to him.

"We need to keep moving if you want to make it there before dawn. It's only a few hours away and there's no way we can get through these woods in daylight without one of Lexa's warriors finding us." Bellamy said, brushing past Clarke and making his way up the hill.

"Bellamy, wait! You're….You can't go with me. Lexa won't be okay with you being there. And Emerson will be there too. I can go in and speak with her. I think she might listen to me."

"Because she likes you?" Bellamy asked delicately. "Or because you like her?"

Clarke's brows furrowed at his words and her heart sank to her stomach. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Bellamy looked at her sadly, but kept moving. Clarke rushed to his side and gently turned him to look at her. Clarke looked like she was about to cry. "Who told you?"

"Clarke…" Bellamy breathed softly. He took her face in his hands and pressed his lips to her forehead. She closed her eyes and a tear escaped from beneath her eyelashes. He touched foreheads with her, saying, "No one told me. I know you, Clarke. When Lexa left us in that mountain, she didn't just leave our people, she left you."

Clarke looked up at Bellamy and he wiped a tear away from her cheek. His fingers were a gentle caress against her skin. "I trusted her. All of our people trusted me and I made the wrong choice. I let so many people die, Bell. I have so much blood on my hands." Clarke's breath caught in her chest.

"Then we match." Bellamy said darkly, his large hands clenching. He looked away then, scanning the shadows. Clarke stared at his profile in the darkness. Bellamy looked back to her and said gently, "You're not at fault for loving her, Clarke. We don't choose who we love."

"But, I love you," Clarke whispered into the night. "I don't love Lexa. I did...I don't know Bellamy. I don't know, but I know that I love you. Right here, now, always.

"My mother used to tell me that there were different kinds of love and they were always ebbing and can love more than one person at a time on different levels in different ways. Loving Lexa doesn't undermine your love for me. And loving me doesn't taint your love for Lexa. You just love us differently." She couldn't see much of his expression in the darkness.

"Bellamy…" Clarke sighed. She looked into Bellamy's dark eyes and stood on tiptoes to kiss him deeply. He opened to her, unraveling at her touch. When they parted she ran her thumb across the soft swell of his lips. She couldn't even begin to explain the depth of her love for Bellamy so she tried to let her body do the talking, hoping that he could feel how much she cared about him. They wrap up in one another, clinging to each other tightly. It almost felt like a goodbye of sorts even though both of them tried to convince themselves it's not.

"Come on. We need to keep moving." Bellamy says again. This time they both move forward in unison.

They'd been walking together for nearly 2 hours before it happened. They were getting close to Lexa's encampment, halfway between Polis and Camp Jaha. Clarke and Bellamy had been keeping to the shadows, eyes sharp, muscles tense. The closer they got, the more dangerous the forest felt. Bellamy's palms were sweating under the gun he held cocked and ready in his hands.

"Bell." Clarke whispered, hand on his arm. "Look."

Bellamy looked towards where her finger pointed to see an odd shape in the darkness. He kept his gun high and moved stealthily forward with Clarke at his heels. The closer they became, the clearer they could see what lay before them.

A body.

It was nailed into a large tree, blood soaking into the bark and dripping down the person's legs, arms, and chest. Bellamy's stomach turned and he breathed in deeply before moving closer. Clarke's eyes were wide and it felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her.

"Oh my god." Clarke said, louder than she meant to. It's no stranger left to rot on the great tree before them.

It's Echo.

"Echo." Bellamy breathed. Something inside him was crumbling. He fought against the bile rising in his throat and forces himself to look away. Clarke moved forward and carefully checks Echo's pulse. She turned to Bellamy and shook her head.

"Bellamy, she's only been here a few hours." Clarke said.

"We need to get away from here." Bellamy couldn't stop looking at the body before him. "This is why we haven't heard from the Ice Nation. We have to le-"

Before Bellamy could finish his sentence a hard thump to the back of his head floored him. He dizzily fell to the ground, eyes watering with pain.

"Bellamy!" Clarke screams. Then she's knocked to the ground too. Her eyes were on Bellamy as a grounder, one from Tri Kru, tied Bellamy's hands and put a sack over his head. Ropes were wrapped around her wrists tightly. Then a tan burlap sack fell over her eyes until all she saw was a mottled night between the threads of her captivity. She felt so alone in the darkness.