/*Author's Note: Thanks to all those that read and review!*/

Abby knew she was just walking in circles. It had been a nervous habit she developed since she landed on the ground. She was used to being able to travel anywhere on the Ark but life on the ground was very different. They had an entire world available to them but she felt trapped inside the walls of their small camp. There were so many things beyond those gates that she wished she could see but there were many more things that wanted them dead. She had experienced it first hand when she was laid across a surgical table with her legs spread apart and her wrists and ankles buckled down by the Mountain Men.

The leaders of the Mountain Men were willing to trade her life and the life of her people for the ability to once again walk on the surface of the planet.

Abby can still hear the sound of the drill in her nightmares. Those are usually the same nights she wakes up in a cold sweat. She had learned to force herself to pace around the walls of her room until the exhaustion of her body forced her eyes to close once more.

Abby's hands found the scar before she even realized she had been looking for it. Through the fabric of her pants she could still feel the bump on her thigh, a reminder of where the drill broke through her skin that night on the Mountain. The smell of her own burning flesh is still fresh in her nose. She can still remember the searing pain she felt as the drill ripped through her skin and muscle.

Abby knew she should place blame where it deserved to be. She knew it was Cage Wallace, the leader of the Mountain Men, who ordered her onto the table. It was Cage who ordered his doctors to harvest the bone marrow of her people. It was the Mountain Men who had tortured Lexa's people and harvested them like cattle.

Still Abby couldn't help but blame Lexa for that night. She was the leader of twelve clans and the Commander of a massive force of ruthless and well-trained warriors. It was the alliance Lexa had formed with Clarke that had given them hope for their people. It was the alliance that had given Clarke hope and taken a little of the burden off her daughter's shoulders. It had given them a powerful ally and together the Mountain didn't stand a chance against them. If the Commander hadn't walked away, Abby wouldn't have this scar on her leg. If the Commander hadn't walked away her daughter wouldn't have had to make the decision to eradicate an entire people. If the Commander hadn't walked away, Clarke would be home and safe at Camp Jaha, the alliance with the grounders would be intact and they would be able to live in some sort of life that resembled peace.

All Clarke wanted was peace.

Instead there was one enemy after another. It was a constant stream of death and danger and her daughter constantly found herself in the middle of all the chaos. When had Clarke grown up so fast? She had always been a fighter, Abby wasn't surprised to see her rough and tumble nature translate well on the ground. That's why she was put on that dropship, she knew Clarke would lead the delinquents.

Abby had thought the arrangement was only temporary. She thought she would be able to come down and be with her daughter and they would have a normal family again. She had expected things to go back to the way they were on the Ark with the adults handling the politics and the kids off to enjoy what was left of their childhood. Abby had underestimated how strong and independent Clarke and the other delinquents would become, they had become a vital resource down on the ground. They had developed relationships with the grounders down here and had learned so much in such a short amount of time. They had become keys to their survival.

Her daughter had never wavered in her position as a leader, even after her mother's ship landed on the ground. The delinquents looked up to Clarke and even the grounders respected her. Their leader held a high opinion of Clarke and their relationship had been vital to the alliance even forming in the first place. Clarke had made some tough decisions along the way. Some that had even shocked Abby. Giving up Finn to Lexa had been the most shocking of them all and something even she had difficulty coming to terms with. Abby knows that Clarke feels partially responsible for the betrayal on the Mountain, since she had sacrificed so much in order to secure that very alliance but Clarke couldn't have never seen that coming. No one had seen that coming.

Now Abby was in a similar spot Clarke was in a few months ago. She had just shook the hand of the Commander and she was having her doubts. It had shown that it was a bad decision to trust the grounders on the Mountain but was it a worse decision to follow Lexa into a mission against the Ice Nation?

What choice did she have?

If the story the Commander told was true. The Ice Nation had Clarke captive and Clarke was in grave danger. Abby couldn't just sit by while her daughter was tortured and killed by the Ice Nation. If she sat back and left her forces to guard the camp and a scout returned with Clarke's body, Abby would never be able to live with herself. She couldn't stand by and let her own daughter die.

The delinquents needed Clarke back just as much as Abby did. They had become some of their strongest soldiers and most inventive citizens and every one of them looked to Clarke for leadership. Her disappearance had been hard on them. Bellamy and Monty seemed to have been the hardest hit. Clarke hadn't been alone in that control room. Monty and Bellamy were part of the destruction of Mount Weather and they each had weight to bear. They didn't speak of it often but Abby could see the pain in their eyes and she could hear it in the hollowness of their laughs.

"Abby."

Abby jolted at the sound of her name and turned to find Marcus Kane standing in the doorway. He pulled the door shut as he stepped inside.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you." Marcus said.

He took several steps forward and placed his hand on Abby's arm rubbing it up and down in a comforting manner. It was only then that Abby noticed there were tears rolling down her cheeks.

She wiped them away with the back of her hand.

"No, it's okay." Abby said.

Abby pulled out of Marcus's grasp and took several long strides until she reached the far corner of the room. Putting as much space between Marcus and herself as she could. For some reason being vulnerable around him was still something she hadn't gotten used to but, if she were honest, she had never gotten used to being vulnerable around anyone.

"There's just a lot going on." Abby said.

She took a second to gather herself and turned to see Marcus still standing in the middle of the room, his arms now folded across his chest. She knew he felt slighted by her rejection but he was trying his best to bury his own pain. He had been so patient with Abby for so long, but she knew he could only last for so long before he gave up on whatever was going on between them.

"I don't trust her, Abby." Marcus said.

Abby studied him for a moment. There was Kane, the leader she had come to trust in the war room and then there was the Marcus she had come to know behind closed doors and she wasn't sure who she was speaking to now.

"I know you don't either." Marcus said. He took several steps forward and cupped her cheek in his hand. "I know you want to get Clarke back. But if she is really there, we've got to find another way."

Abby held his wrist to keep his hand where it was. She hadn't realized how much she had needed his touch. It seemed as if she had only been able to fall asleep when she was in Marcus's arms. She hadn't bothered to think about what that all meant. She hadn't had time to think of such things. Not with Clarke gone. Not when they were always on the brink of war.

"There is no other way." Abby said. "If the Commander is telling the truth. Clarke could be executed at any moment."

"The Commander is hiding something." Marcus said. "I've spoken with Octavia and Lincoln. The strings that keep the alliances of the clans intact are thinning and the alliance with the Ice Nation is holding on by a thread. The Ice Queen wants to rule over the twelve clans. She wants Lexa's power. The grounders believe that taking someone's life with your own hands gives you their strength."

"Marcus are you-" Abby began. She turned to face him and saw the sternness in his eyes.

"We can't." Abby said.

"We can't betray her?" Marcus said. "Because she has always honored her alliance with us?"

"We aren't like them Marcus." Abby said. She pulled away from his hand, suddenly disgusted by his touch. "I don't want to change who we are."

"Abby, we aren't safe in the sky anymore." Marcus said. "We have to make tough decisions to survive out here. We have to pick a side."

"Who says we have to do it like this?" Abby said. "Who says we have to be deceptive and ruthless?"

"Did you already forget what Clarke did to the people of the Mountain?" Marcus said.

Abby whipped around. "That was different."

"How?" Marcus said. He stepped forward again but Abby pushed him away.

"Abby, It's just one life."

"It's the Commander's life." Abby said. "She isn't just one person. She's practically a god to them. If we give her up to the Ice Nation they'll come for us."

"The grounders are on the brink of war." Marcus said. "They'll be too busy fighting each other to fight us."

"What about Clarke?" Abby said. "If we give the Ice Nation Lexa, Clarke will never forgive us."

"Clarke's life is more important. We need her back with us." Marcus said. "Eventually, she's understand why we had to do it."

Abby looked into Marcus's eyes, she was shocked to hear these words come from him. He had been one of the biggest supporters of negotiation and peace with the grounders. Perhaps he was more angry from the betrayal on the Mountain than he ever let on before. Even if they did manage to get Clarke back what would be the cost? What else could the lose?

"I don't think Clarke would ever forgive me." Abby said. "We could just lose her again."

Abby looked up to see the Marcus and finally saw the piece of the compassionate Marcus that she had come to know in these past few months. Clarke would hate it, she knew she would but if anyone would know the sacrifices that had to be made down here on the ground, it was Clarke. Sometimes it meant giving up someone she cared about for the greater good. She had done it with Finn, she would understand the decision her mother made about Lexa. At least Abby could only hope she would one day. She had no other choice. She saw no other alternative.

Abby nodded in agreement with Marcus. She still hadn't the strength to say the words aloud as if speaking them made them more devious then they already were. But Marcus understood her decision. He gave Abby a quick kiss on the lips before he turned to leave. Abby grabbed his wrist before he could reach the door.

"Now?" Abby asked.

"She's defenseless." Marcus said. "She came without a guard, I doubt she even has scout's positioned in the forest. This is the best time before they notice her absence."

Bellamy laid his back against the cool metal of the space station that sat at the center of Camp Jaha. He looked across at a group of soldiers sparing in the glow of a large fire to their backs. Their eloganated shadows seemed to dance in the flicker of the flames as a pair of soldiers circled one another. The rest of the group shouted commands of attack or just jeered their comrades as they watched the fight. The sparing soldiers seemed to ignore the group on the sidelines, their eyes intensely focused on each other, waiting for one to make the next move. The pair remained silent, their breath sprayed out in puffs of white clouds. Even in this cold fall night the men were shirtless and still coated in a thick layer of sweat, indicating that they had been fighting for some time before Bellamy's arrival. The group cheered as one of them finally jumped forward and tried to wrap the other in a headlock but he was easily thwarted and thrown to the ground with a kick to his lower leg. The fallen soldier kicked at his assailants ankles, knocking his opponent off balance as he rolled away and rose to his feet, escaping any further blows. The soldier stepped back into the middle of the sparring ground, a layer of mud now caked his back.

Bellamy could already see the grounder influences in their fighting style. Octavia and Lincoln had been giving a couple of the more adventurous soldiers lessons in grounder fighting techniques. Instead of focusing on fists and strength, the grounders focused on using an enemy's body weight against them. It evened the playing ground in a number of ways. Bellamy remembered watching with pride as Octavia knocked down a 250 pound guard flat on his back.

Bellamy had to admit that his sister's embrace of the grounder culture had worried him a bit. He had always wanted her to find a place to be herself. He wanted her to feel at home but he had wished she had felt at home with him, with their people. She was the only family he had left and he didn't want to lose her too. He wasn't sure he could handle losing anyone else. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to it.

"Bellamy." Marcus Kane said. He mirrored Bellamy's stance next to him on the wall.

Bellamy nodded in Kane's direction and continued to watch the group of fighters near the fire.

"If you're here to ask me to join the Commander's group heading north, you can save your breath." Bellamy said. "I'm in."

"I actually have other plans in mind for you." Marcus said.

Bellamy eyes shot to Marcus.

"If you think I'm staying behind. You're out of your mind." Bellamy said.

"Don't worry. I still have you traveling North. You're just leaving a little sooner than originally planned." Marcus said.

Bellamy straightened himself and turned his body to completely face Marcus.

"What do you want me to do?" Bellamy said.

Lexa hadn't yet gotten used to being inside one of these metal structures. She wasn't really sure how the Skaikru could consider this a home. It felt so hollow and empty. Sounds echoed oddly off the metal hull and it all smelled so artificial. When Lexa was at home she slept in the comfort of her furs but when she travelled Lexa liked to sleep in the grass and under the stairs with the cold wind whipping her face. She especially liked sleeping outside during cold nights in the early fall. She loved how the ground would be covered in a thin layer of leaves and create a natural mattress for her back.

The fall had always been her favorite time of year ever since she was little. She loved the color of the leaves as they drifted from the trees. She loved that no leaf seemed to be the same but they all had matching shades of yellow, red or orange that seemed to blend in to the horizon of a fresh day. When she was little she and Costia would push piles of leaves together until they formed large soft mountains just so they could jump into it. They had spend hours outside in the mornings before Lexa had to start her training sessions and Costia had her classes. Even when trainings had left Lexa's muscles sore and tired they still made time to jump and giggle until their stomachs hurt. It was a time when she was young and didn't grasp the choices she would have to make as they grew older.

Lexa had to steady herself against the smooth metal table. The memories of Costia had come rushing back so quickly. She had thought she had buried them for good after her death. Though, if she were speaking true, she thought she had tried to bury them long before then. They had made time for one another in their youth but they had been naive to think they would have any sort of future together. Lexa was destined to be a Commander if the spirit had ever needed to chose her. She was always going to be a target of her people's foes and in turn Costia was going to be a target as well. But still Lexa had loved her and she couldn't keep herself away. It was selfish of Lexa and she knew it but still Lexa stole away in the night to visit Costia. Lexa had kept the dreams of a romance alive when she should have squashed it all long before it ever blossomed. She confessed a love she knew she could never honor and she broke a heart she should have never taken.

She had driven Costia away with a betrayal of the heart and right into the arms of the Ice Queen. And now she had done the same to Clarke with a betrayal on the Mountain. But she refused to let the Ice Queen get her way this time. She would walk into the Queen's Palace with an army if she had to.

She thought she had buried all of these regrets and memories long ago but that moment Clarke fell from the sky and marched into her tent everything came rushing back to her. She wasn't sure what it all meant but she knew she felt something she thought she'd never feel again. It was something she wasn't supposed to feel again. She knew it would hinder her decision making. She knew those feelings could hurt her people. Worst of all those feelings could hurt Clarke. These were especially tumultuous times. The alliance with the Skaikru had earned Lexa a lot of enemies. The burning of her warriors at the dropship had made Clarke known and the eradication of the Mountain Men had made her notorious. Clarke was already walking around with a number of targets on her back, the last thing she needed was an association with Lexa painting more targets there. But somehow Lexa had behaved like a silly little child and somehow the hints of her feelings had been obvious enough that members of the Skaikru had noticed it.

And that could only mean that the Queen's spies had noticed as well.

Clarke was in danger because of Lexa. She knew this was all her fault again and she would do what was needed to bring Clarke back. She could do nothing to ease the pain in Clarke's heart caused by all the lives she has taken, but she could bring her home to her family and friends.

There was a soft knock at the door that stirred Lexa from her thoughts.

Lexa took a breath to steady herself before she studied the foreign metal mechanism where a simple handle should have been. She pulled at it and then jumped back as the door slid on its hinges of its own accord. She would never get used to that. She found Bellamy standing in the threshold. She could see an edge of uneasiness in his features and Lexa instantly thought the worst as he pushed into her room, closing the door behind him.

"Have you heard news of Clarke?" Lexa asked.

A flashback of an Ice Queen's messenger carrying Costia's head stole its way into Lexa's mind.

"Oh no." Bellamy said. "No news."

Lexa let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.

Bellamy looked over at the mattress Lexa had pulled onto the floor.

"Not much for beds?" He asked as he noted.

"I hope you don't mind." She said.

As part of her training Lexa had been thouroughly educated in all the diverse grounder traditions here on earth. But the Skaikru were never part of her studies and she found she was still learning their cultures and traditions and she could only hope she wasn't breaking some taboo traditions she was unaware of. These people were so foreign to her.

"You really do care for Clarke, don't you?" Bellamy said.

He still had his back to Lexa as he stared down at the pile of blankets on the floor. He pulled something out from the the pocket of his vest and turned to Lexa holding a white cloth in his hand. Lexa eyed the cloth. She wouldn't have felt threatened by simple piece of fabric but the look in his eyes hinted to something malicious behind it.

Lexa reached for her sword on pure instinct but her fingers fell on air and she looked over to the side of her sleeping corner where she had left her sword as she readied for sleep, the sword still laid in its sheath.

"Seems kind of sloppy." Bellamy said as he followed Lexa's glance to her sword. "That's not like you." He added.

He was right. It wasn't like her.

Bellamy jumped forward and put the cloth to her mouth. An oddly sweet smell filled Lexa's nostrils as she felt herself slowly drifting in and out of consciousness. Lexa's body went limp as Bellamy pulled her body against his, pushing the cloth further and covered the rest of Lexa's face. She inhaled more of the dizzying fumes. The world around her started to spin and she swayed. Her body felt foreign as Bellamy guided it gently to the cold metal floor.

It all feels so unnatural. She thought to herself before everything faded to black.

Lexa could feel the bitter cold wind whipping against her face. She reached to cover her frozen cheeks but she found her hands were bound. She felt the familiar muscles of her favorite stallion beneath her legs but she wasn't the one holding the reigns. Her feet were bound by the ankles to the sides of his mount, a man's chest was pressed up against her back and with a clench of her jaw the clouds around her groggy mind began to fade as she realized what had happened and who was controlling her favorite stallion.

She wasn't sure which infuriated her more.

They were already much deeper into Ice Nation territory than she had expected. Whatever it was the Skaikru had used to knock her out was strong and no doubt one of their many mysterious and unnatural chemicals.

Lexa could see they were following a well worn path that was surrounded on either side by snow. She knew it wouldn't be very long now.

She had expected the Skaikru to do something stupid, but she hadn't expected them to do something as stupid as this. She had thought they would come for Clarke with as many numbers as they could muster. She had expected them to demand Clarke's safe return with a well armed force standing outside Queen Nia's door. Sending Bellamy alone was a well intentioned gesture but the Queen would take advantage of this weakness.

"You misunderestimate and misunderstand Queen Nia." Lexa said.

She had to practically shout over the howling wind. It caused the front of her head to pulsate with pain as she felt the side effects of the chemicals. She kept speaking anyway. She didn't have time to wait for pain.

"She's more dangerous than you can imagine." Lexa said.

Bellamy looked over at the horizon. He slowed the horse down to a trot but still kept a steady pace. They were close.

"I bet the Ice Queen would say similar things about you." Bellamy said.

"I thought we had an agreement in the war room." She said.

"I thought we had an alliance on the Mountain." He countered.

"Is this some petty revenge mission?" She said. "Because its going to get you killed."

"We'll see about that." Bellamy whispered into her ear.

She slammed her head back hard into his face. She heard a satisfying crunch. Bellamy pulled at the reigns and her stallion came to a halt. She felt pressure on the small of her back. It inched closer and closer. She remained still as a statue as she felt the knife puncture her skin. She refused to give Bellamy the satisfaction of hearing her stir or cry out at the pain. Bellamy stopped as soon as the knife drew blood.

"You will go to the Queen alive." Bellamy said. "Or you will go to her in pieces. It doesn't matter to me."

Lexa remained still. "It matters to her." She said.

She could feel a drop of blood flow down her side. Bellamy pulled the knife from her, she heard the snap as Bellamy clipped it back onto his belt.

"You owe us." Bellamy said. There was a hint of venom in his voice. He spit over Lexa's shoulder, she could see the snow turn pink with his blood. Bellamy kicked the sides of Lexa's Stallion and took off at a full gallop.

She watched as the peaks of the watch towers came into view and felt herself in awe of the pure size of Queen Nia's defensive structure. The Commander's tower in Polis was easily ten times the height of Queen Nia's highest tower. But this palace was a defensive masterpiece. The warriors that spoke of it could not truly grasp it's strength, it was something that could be only understood in person. Like most of the buildings still left on Earth, this castle was from the old world. It had existed before the civilized world fell apart. Lexa had to give Queen Nia credit, she had put a lot of her resources into maintaining her home. Hints of repair were shown in the many discolored bricks that littered the wall.

Bellamy slowed her stallion as they came upon massive wooden doors. The doors stood at least two horses tall and six horses wide. There were no guards stationed on the outside of the doors, nor did there need to be. The doors were thick and powerful and with her scout towers, her warriors must have seen Bellamy and Lexa approaching from miles away. An army of two wasn't going to penetrate these walls. Queen Nia was comfortable behind her walls.

Lexa had counted on that.

Bellamy paced Lexa's stallion back in forth in front of the main entrance. It seemed as though he had expected some sort of welcoming party and had no idea what to do when it wasn't there.

"You could try knocking." Lexa said.

He shoved her from behind.

"I don't really find you all that threatening." Lexa said. She had brought men twice his size to their knees and when she didn't have her sword.

A mechanical sound filled their ears and the wooden doors creaked as they were slowly raised. Bellamy dismounted from Lexa's stallion, leaving Lexa tied to the sides of her horse. He grabbed the reigns and led the horse to a group of guards that came past the door to greet him. The guard in the center held up a hand and Bellamy stopped.

"I am Bellamy Blake of the Sky People. I've come with a message for the Ice Queen." He said.

The guards stared at him and then looked up at Lexa. She could see the smiles on their faces as they recognized Bellamy's guest.

"Then you may deliver it to her yourself." The Ice Queen said. She separated the line of guards with a simple flick of her wrist and walked down the center.

In the few times Lexa had met Nia, she had always seemed much older than her claimed age. Lexa had always wondered if the cold had done something to the citizens of Ice Nation to make them age quicker. In Lexa's teachings she had learned that the Ice Nation had been a very different clan than the one it had become under Nia's rule. The Ice Nation was know to value wisdom and negiotation while all the other clans were more prone to action and violence. Queen Nia had come to power by overthrowing an elderly queen and, at the time, Ice Nation was one of the most respected of the twelve local clans. They were the most educated clan thanks to a stockpile of old world books and artifacts. They hung onto the history of the old world and spoke often of the things they had studied. The Ice Nation elders had been welcomed to any outsiders' fire. They were known to tell intricate and exciting tales that were so rooted in history and fiction that it was hard to tell them apart.

It was when Queen Nia had taken over that things inside the Ice Nation had quickly taken a dark turn for its people. Instead of fairy tales, stories of the Queen's ruthlessness had travelled through the campfires. The Queen had taken many of those storytellers lives and soon most travelers passing through the Ice Nation didn't even utter her name for fear of being brought up on charges of treason and having their heads sent back to their families.

Queen Nia looked up from Bellamy and laid eyes on Lexa, the smile that graced her lips caused a shiver to run up Lexa's back.

"I see you have brought me a present." The Queen said. She took a step towards the stallion but Bellamy stepped in front, blocking her path to Lexa. The Guards pulled their swords from their sheaths and stepped forward. People have lost their hands for less. However Bellamy's was fortunate, Nia was feeling gracious, she put her hands up to stop her guards.

"I have come to negotiate a trade." Bellamy said. "You return Clarke and I will give you the Commander."

Nia shifted her eyes to Bellamy with an amused smile on her face. Bellamy had bitten off more then he could chew and the Skaikru had underestimated Queen Nia's ruthlessness. She would never let a trade happen. It would undermine her authority.

Nia let out a laugh and Lexa watched as Bellamy shifted uneasily on his feet. His hand landed on his handgun, still in its holster on his belt. Lexa made a clicking noise with her mouth. Bellamy turned his head just enough that Lexa knew he could see her shake her head slowly and deliberately. Even if he managed to take out a few guards, he would have been easily overpowered and killed on the spot. Even he knew that. Pulling his weapon here, on the Ice Queen, would cost him his head. She wasn't sure what the Ice Queen had in store for him inside of those walls but if he held on for just a little bit longer maybe they could find a way out of the mess the Skaikru had made of this plan.

Then again, maybe he was better off dying right here in the snow.

Bellamy sighed but put his hands up and allowed the guards to seize him.

"I don't do negotiations." The Ice Queen said as the guards wrestled Bellamy to the ground.

The next guards pulled Lexa off her horse and she felt hard onto the frozen ground. She let out a grunt as the guards pulled her to her feet.

"It's so great to see you again, Heda." Nia said.