Myles is getting the hang of this. The red haired teen bounces on top of a horse by herself, with Clarke and Abby beside her on their own horses. It no longer feels out of place, and as they race down the path with three grounders behind them, she can't help feeling comfortable and free. Many books and movies on the Ark showed life before the war, and they greatly romanticised horses, but this isn't quite like that. It's exhilarating, it's intoxicating.
Her long red ponytail flaps against her back to the tune of galloping horses, their hard hooves thundering across the dirt path under the morning sun. The wind that slaps her in the face and brushes through her clothes is ice cold, and makes the skin of her right hand feel tight as it clutches the reins. Leaf-less winter trees slur past them, beautiful shades of brown with hints of green moss blending together as they fly down the path to Camp Jaha.
Abby digs her heels into the horse she's perched upon, forcing the whole group to slow down. Something itches at the back of Myles' head, and she can't stop herself from whipping her head around to scan their surroundings while a violent jitter courses through her left arm. A heavy pull sits in her gut, amplifying tenfold when Abby comes to a complete stop.
"Hold up," the doctor calls, quickly sliding off of her horse and walking towards a large puddle of water.
Hazel eyes scan calculatingly around them, the itch at the back of her head accompanying the distant buzz of a drill.
"Clarke," Myles drawls out when her blonde friend huffs as Abby crouches down and pulls out her water bottle. Blue eyes turn to her and Myles slides off of her horse, feeling too exposed. "We need to keep moving. Somethings not right here."
The words resonate with the blonde, and Clarke rapidly hops down to approach her mother, "mum. Why are we stopping?"
Abby stands to meet Clarke halfway, and Myles inches closer nervously as the grounders get off of their horses behind them, "you need to drink, too."
"I'm fine," Clarke assures in a hard tone, her red haired friends anxious shuffling and head turning putting her on edge. "We're almost home."
"Listen up," Myles declares, turning to the grounders patiently waiting. "Something's lurking near us, but our scouts patrol these woods. Be careful where you shoot."
A chorus of 'yes, ma'am's burst from the men and Clarke adds, "we're not stopping for long. Make sure you're ready to leave."
Clarke's subtle command gets the same response, a polite array of 'yes's as the men start to mount their horses again. Both teens turn back to Abby when she starts talking again.
"The grounders listen to you," the doctor observes, switching her gaze between the girls.
"Lexa told them to," Clarke divulges, her posture tense. Myles starts bouncing on her heels, her nervous energy completely consuming her features. "We shouldn't have stopped," the blonde haired teen breathes, turning to Myles, the only one left still on the ground. "Mount up."
"Clarke," Abby calls, stopping the two teens just before they reach their horses.
Myles pauses with her hands on her horse, her slender fingers touching the cool chestnut coloured fur as her splint shakes. Hazel eyes watch Clarke quickly rush back up to her mother, the blonde appearing a lot more exasperated than a moment ago.
"Mum," Clarke starts, her tone sharp, "we need to get back to that radio to see if Bellamy's made contact."
"Listen to me," the doctor calmly requests, her gaze strong as it bores into Clarke's eyes. "I know you don't think you need my protection anymore. But you do. You have to trust that I know what's right for us."
A red eyebrow lifts curiously when Clarke's jaw clenches, the blonde responding quietly, "I do… but I trust the Ghost, too."
"Okay," Abby relents weakly, flicking her brown gaze to the impatiently waiting redhead. "Let's go home," both mother and daughter duo turn around, walking towards the horses as the chancellor calls, "Let's move out."
The two moving back to the horses stirs the red haired teen into action, swiftly placing her foot in the stirrup and lifting herself up and onto the saddle smoothly. When Clarke reaches her horse beside Myles, a loud gunshot blasts through the air and the grounder directly behind the redhead shouts in pain. Whipping her head to look behind her, Orfo bends over on his horse with his arms wrapped tightly around his stomach before his grunts of pain become almost silent as he strains to breathe through his agony. Chills run through her stiff body, wide hazel eyes becoming frantic as they watch the warrior slip to the ground with a hard thump.
Abby and the other two warriors crowd around Orfo, trying to save his life but the icy blood running through the redheads veins quickly becomes hot and electrified. Myles recovers faster than Clarke, who's still standing frozen on the ground, and she whips her head to her left, behind Clarke and Abby's horses. That's where the shot had come from, and realisation instantly dawns on her, knowing that there's no way an Arker fired that shot.
"Mountain men," the red haired teen proclaims, and Clarke snaps her wide blue eyes to the redhead before quickly climbing onto her horse.
Pulling lightly on the reins with her good hand, Myles squeezes her legs and the horse immediately barrels forward. Steering the beautiful animal directly to where the shot was fired from, the red haired teen can hear Clarke following her and matching her speed as her ears rumble with adrenaline and Abby shouts for the warriors to follow them. Amongst the bushes on a slight incline in the distance, a mountain man in a hazmat suit stands, frantically snapping his head around, but he doesn't make a move to run away.
Three others join him, Indra and a warrior on one side and Octavia on the other, blocking him in. Octavia quickly closes in on he masked man, and something dark grips at Myles' heart as she watches the Blake sister fight him. Black war paint is smeared across her face and through the curtains of her long, straight dark brown hair is the grounders signature braids. The fight between the two is over relatively fast when Octavia slashes the mans hazmat suit with her long blade.
The mountain man falls to his knees as his desperate hands grapple to cover the slash made in his light blue suit, and Octavia grabs his head and holds it to her. Dread pumps through Myles' veins when the Blake sister places her machete to the mans throat, and the red haired teen flicks her wrist in a feeble attempt to make her horse go faster. Not only does he have answers, and they need him alive, but Octavia is far too innocent and young to ever have such a dastardly mark on her heart. Myles knows this from experience, and she'll be damned if she lets Bellamy's little sister be subjected to something so dark.
"Finish it!" Indra exclaims when Octavia only holds the mountain man to her for a beat.
"O!" Myles calls loudly, rushing the rest of the way up to them with Clarke and another warrior closely behind her. "No!"
The Blake sisters deep brown eyes snap to them as they slow to a stop in front of them, and Clarke continues, "he's from Mount Weather. We need to keep him alive."
"Check to see if he's got a patch kit," Myles requests, sliding off of her horse to jog the few metres between her and Octavia. Another mountain man lies dead before them, an arrow sticking out of his back and Myles' hands fumble with Octavia's over the still alive mans light blue suit. Indra and a warrior with a bow and arrow share a pointed look while the girls search the mountain man who shouts in pain, "we need to get him back to Camp Jaha."
Octavia thrusts the mans head away from her, sending him crashing to the floor to writhe around aimlessly. The warrior with the bow comes up to hold the yelling mountain man down as the two teens move to the dead man and his belongings. Myles' hands quickly check the dead mans suit, but Octavia moves to his bag and unzips it. When nothing besides a sniper rifle and some ammo is found on the dead man, the redhead shifts to join Octavia as she huffs over the bag.
Both teens pant quick breaths while their hands ruffle around rapidly, listening to the mountain man beg behind them. Octavia's hands freeze on the front of the bag, but Myles continues to check the rest of the pockets until the Blake sister lifts up several brightly coloured pictures to examine. Flicking her hazel eyes to the dark brown haired teen lazily, her whole body stiffens and she does a double take. The pictures in Octavia's hands are all high quality photographs of Clarke, Myles and Lexa near Tondc, their faces circled with red pen.
"What is that?" Clarke asks worriedly when Myles stills and gently takes some of the photos out of Octavia's hands.
"Us," the red haired teen breathes, flying to her feet and hurrying to show the blonde. "Lexa and us were the targets." Clarke freezes as she stares at the photos and Octavia stands, still looking at the few she holds in her hands. Myles whips around to face Indra as the Blake sister slowly makes her way to them, "we have to warn Heda."
Indra tilts her head up, speaking loudly, "sen op oso mou snap hosa gon Tondisi." The warrior behind Clarke, Altim, shifts on his horse, "nau!" [AN: "send our fastest riders to Tondc. Now!"]
Myles slips around Clarke's horse to swiftly pull on her horses reins as Altim turns and hurries off. Octavia stares at the teens with their horses, her deep brown eyes filled with worry but Myles' hazel gaze is stuck on the writhing mountain man yelling in pain between them and Indra. Bringing her horse up to stop beside the screaming man, Myles locks her eyes on Indra's hard gaze before letting go of the reins.
The second her hands grip the mountain man, he flails, but his weak movements are easily overpowered, even with one good hand. His screams only seem to become louder and louder, making the redheads ears ring as she lifts him up. Indra huffs, stepping towards the two when the mountain man starts fighting back again, flinging his arms back and whacking Myles in the face. Gripping the light blue thick plastic around his neck, Myles brings up her knee roughly to slam the back of his head down with a harsh grunt. When the limp man falls in a heap silently, Indra pauses but footsteps jog across the dirt behind her as she takes of her jacket hastily.
"Oh, my god," Octavia breathes, helping her red haired friend tie the jacket around the hole in the unconscious mans suit tightly. "Are you okay?"
Myles doesn't answer as she starts to lift the man off of the ground with the Blake sisters help, only grunting as she tries to ignore the sharp pain shooting through her broken hand at the mans weight. It's significantly easier now that the man isn't struggling, and it takes only a moment to toss him over the horse. The relief that floods through her veins when his weight leaves her arms makes the freezing winter air feel sweeter, a heavy sigh falling from her lips as her skin prickles over her skinny body. With her thick jacket gone, she's left in only a form-fitting grey shirt with strips torn from the bottom of it and sleeves that reach her elbows.
"The more I see of you," Indra's authoritative voice booms, "the more I see what the commander and Anya have seen in you." Hazel eyes flick to her, before Myles saunters up to place her foot in the stirrup and climb onto the horse. Red eyebrows raise at the warrior as her good hand lowers to help Octavia climb up behind her, the Blake sister sits flush against her back and holds the mountain man in place when Indra continues. "A warrior."
"I'd offer you a seat," Myles winks at Indra jokingly, getting her horse to trot past the woman, "but I've run out of room."
The last glimpse of Indra's dark eyes almost makes her fall over in shock. Amusement dances around dark brown irises, a small smile gracing her usually hard features and softening them.
"That's fine," the dark skinned woman replies stoically once they've completely passed her, "you ride like you're blind."
Everything erupts into chaos the second they reach the gate to Camp Jaha. Clarke had gone to get Abby and meet them there with the wounded grounder, and they have managed to reach the gate within seconds of each other. Myles hadn't heard the gate shut behind her and Octavia when Abby and Clarke started shouting to radio Jackson, but the two teens don't stop their fast galloping until they reach the doorway to H Corridor.
Before the horse can come to a full stop, Myles slides off and yanks off her pack. Pulling out her bedroll, the red haired teen quickly flicks it out as Abby and Clarke's horses stop beside them. A dozen guardsmen's boots sprint across the dirt to reach them as Octavia slips off of the horse and immediately helps the redhead lift the mountain man onto the material. Guardsmen take over carrying the man inside the hallway before the red haired teen can even register them there, and a quick flick of her eyes can see guards ready with the wounded grounder a step behind her.
The dull thumps of boots across dirt switch to the incessant sharp echoing of metallic thuds when their sprinting steps hit the Alpha Station's floor. Myles' heart thunders to the beat of their steps, and she slows down her urgent pace to run beside Orfo instead of the mountain man. Clarke quickly takes her place up front beside the guards who shout assertively, and the redhead barely has a moment to notice Octavia is no longer with them before a door whooshes open in front of them.
"Jackson," Abby calls loudly the second the door opens, "we've got two patients. You get the radiation burns, I've got the gunshot wound." The doctors hands are coated in blood from keeping pressure on the wound, and they don't leave the mans side even after the guardsmen place him down on a bed. "I need blood," the doctor orders, her brown gaze flicking up to the guardsmen as they step back, "O-neg. A lot."
Clarke speaks urgently to Jackson behind her, but her words are drowned out by the rapidly moving atmosphere in the room. Lifting up Orfo's side slightly, Myles slips her good fingers underneath to feel his skin and her wide hazel eyes lock on the doctors brown.
"Didn't go straight through," Myles mutters, her red eyebrows furrowing as she focusses on the feeling under her fingertips. Abby says something but the redhead can't hear it, not tuning back into the world around her hand until she feels exactly what she's looking for. "Bullets fragmented. Three pieces are at the back of his upper abdomen, moving around between his 11th and 12th ribs."
"Did it puncture the stomach?" Abby asks, and Myles spins around to quickly grab some pressure dressings off of the table against the wall.
"Can't tell," the red haired teen answers when she returns, shoving a dressing into the doctors hands to hold to the wound. Orfo's skin is incredibly pale and covered in a sheen of sweat, sending spikes of worry through Myles' chest. Placing shaky fingers to his throat, hazel eyes barely glance up as Raven enters the room and beelines for Clarke, "Doc, his heart rate is dropping fast."
Abby places her bloody fingers to his throat, feeling Orfo's pulse for herself while Raven and Clarke exchange heated words. Myles pulls up the warriors shirt to get a better look at the skin around the wound, thankful that Abby had taken the majority of his armour off before bringing him to Camp Jaha. Leaning over, the redhead tries to get a good look at his horrifically discoloured and bloody side to pinpoint the extent of the damage.
"Damn it," Abby huffs frantically and Jackson spins around to look at them. "I'm losing him, I need that blood now!"
Jackson quickly comes up beside Myles and she moves to cradle Orfo's head as the doctors work, "Come on, Orfo, stay with me." Brown eyes flicker open weakly, "Come on, fight. You're gonna make it through this Orfo."
"Is it through and through?" Jackson questions quickly beside her and Myles starts answering before he even finishes the question.
"No," the red haired teen rushes out, "three fragmented pieces sit between the 11th and 12th ribs, they're moving around and causing more damage. His side is black, the bullet's caused massive internal trauma." Tapping the warriors face again when he closes his eyes, "Come on, Orfo, just keep looking at me. I'll get you through this, just fight."
Brown eyes open wide for a moment, staring into Myles' hazel as the two doctors confirm everything the redhead had just said. Orfo's eyes flutter with a cloudy look but don't close, and Myles' heart stutters, knowing he's dying. The man lets out a quiet, long, strangled groan before freezing, his unseeing eyes staring straight ahead. Myles doesn't know what to do for a moment, staring into his dead eyes while her mind tries to comprehend the sudden shift. Her shaky hand, now lightly coated with blood from quickly examining the warriors wound, gently pulls Orfo's eyes shut before falling to her side.
"Yu gonplei," the red haired teen whispers, pulling out one of her knives that she got back when they left Tondc. Bringing the knife to his hair and starting to cut off one of his braids, "ste odon." [AN: "your fight is over."]
Pulling back and stepping away, hazel eyes finally look up from the dead man to see Indra approaching slowly. Her hand isn't shaking as hard as it was a moment ago when she holds out Orfo's braid to Indra, the adrenaline that was coursing through her veins quickly depleting. The dark skinned woman takes the braid, tearing her stony gaze from the redhead to look down at the dead warrior for a moment. After a tense beat, Indra lifts her head to look to Clarke standing alone beside the mountain man and stalks towards her.
"A killer lives," Indra grits out, slowing to a stop between the two teens, "but a warrior dies. This is your way?"
"I'm sorry, Indra," Clarke says with conviction, shaking her head, "but he can help us beat Mount Weather."
Stepping forward to come to a stop beside Indra, Myles adds quietly, "he's one of their warriors." Indra's dark eyes turn to her, "he might just be our army's way in. We might not have to wait for Bellamy, he might know the acid fog's blindspots."
"Then let me make him talk," the warrior orders slowly, her harsh eyes never wavering.
"No," Clarke refuses immediately, making Indra snap her head back towards her. "We're not torturing him."
"Clarke's right," Abby agrees, coming to join them, "he might just talk because we saved his life."
"After what you have seen them do," Indra starts, looking at Myles, "you don't want to give some of it back?"
Myles doesn't flinch, but her left arm shakes as she replies smoothly, "I'll get what I need in the mountain."
"Your people are so weak," Indra declares, sending one last pointed look over the group before she storms out of the room.
Clarke looks as though the words have slapped her in the face, distractedly fiddling with her hands and looking at the ground. Abby slips around Myles to stand beside her daughter and Myles looks around awkwardly. Trying to inch away from the mother and daughter discreetly, the red haired teen stops when Jackson walks up to stand beside her.
"Are you okay?" Abby asks her daughter softly, but Clarke doesn't even look at her when she flinches away from the question.
The blonde haired teen opens and closes her mouth for a moment, so Myles decides to end her suffering, "he's gonna need a transfusion." Both doctors look at her in confusion, so the redhead elaborates, "of our blood."
"I'll type him as soon as we can take off that suit," Jackson complies haltingly, and the blonde teens blue eyes jut to Myles' hazel.
Sensing Clarke wants to leave, the red haired teen walks around the table and moves towards the door. Clarke's footsteps quickly follow her, before they're both stopped by Abby's voice.
"Hey, girls," the doctor calls, rushing to reach them before they make it to the door. Turning to stare at the Chancellors brown eyes blankly, Myles slouches one of her shoulders and leans back, taking on an almost predatory appearance. Abby's bloody hands hesitate when they reach for her frustrated daughter, as if she'd forgotten how bloody her hands are until now. "Someone tried to kill you two today," the woman's kind brown eyes switch between them. "We lost someone. It's okay to be upset."
"I'll be in Engineering, Doc," Myles replies dismissively, ignoring the jitter running through her left arm and turning to continue to the doorway. Pressing the button to open the door, "waiting for Bell to radio."
And then she's through the door and back into H Corridor, listening to Abby sigh heavily behind her. It takes a moment for Clarke's rushed steps to catch up with her, but the two teens maintain a speedy pace as they traverse Alpha Station. People watch them with judge-y eyes when they pass them, the two disheveled teens looking severely out of place in the neat metal space station.
Blood coats Myles good hand and dots over the black splint covering her left wrist and most of her hand. She still walks with a slight limp, and her posture is sloppy from exhaustion and pain. Her delicate features are smeared with light grazes and bruises, coated in a thin layer of dirt that's stuck to her skin. The once neat and tight long red ponytail is lopsided and loosely sitting an inch lower than it had been, making the hair under the hairdo bunch up messily. Pale skin that's exposed on her arms, lower abdomen and chest bubble up with tiny goosebumps in the icy winter air, making the silver chain and heart shaped locket around her neck bite into her skin.
Clarke looks vaguely similar, matching her dirt slathered, bloody appearance and her rapid, confident strides. The blondes hair is down, two thin chunks from the front wrapping around to be tied together at the back of her head. Wearing her hair down accentuates the dull features of unwashed hair, making her blonde appear minutely darker and ashy.
"How do you do that?" Clarke enquires on their path to Engineering. The question jolts Myles back to the present, the words drowning out the distant whirring of a drill. "Not make any sound when you walk?"
"A habit," Myles answers vaguely, shrugging lazily, "I don't even think about it anymore. I just do it."
No one has come over the radio, only Jasper's message being repeated over and over on a loop. Now, she's back in Medical, leaning against a table behind Marcus with Clarke pacing to her left and Abby standing with her arms crossed between the teens and the councillor. The red haired teen had been standing up a smidge closer, staring at the mountain man, Carl Emerson, with the signature predatory stance and hard expression she had mastered on the Ark as a survival skill. That petty survival tic had been quickly squandered when Emerson only repeated the same exact six words in reply to anything and everything Marcus asked.
Hazel eyes watch the two men with a bored expression before flicking back down to shuffle through the pictures of herself, Clarke and Lexa from the mans bag, knowing that there isn't anything more to be done here besides wait. Wait for something, anything, to come over the radio or approach the gate to Camp Jaha.
"Please answer the question," the ever stubborn voice of Marcus implores, not backing down or showing any signs of giving up.
"Carl Emerson," Emerson recites, leaning against the glass door of the airlock that's keeping him in clean, radiation-free air. The mountain man is standing directly in front of Marcus, every bit as stubborn as the councillor, "Mount Weather Security Detail."
"You already said," Marcus rushes out as his patient stance wavers, "you don't seem to be grasping the situation here." Myles snorts loudly at that, looking from the photographs in her hands to the mountain man and Clarke's footsteps slow. "You should have died in the woods. We saved your life. Why not help us bring an end to all this?"
A beat passes, and Abby's excited straightening in her peripherals makes her eyes fly up to Emerson. The mountain man's eyebrows sit in a worried frown, his mouth opening and closing as if he's debating accepting the offer.
"Carl Emerson," the man says eventually, his eyes light with amusement. "Mount Weather Security Detail."
"I should've kneed you harder," Myles declares, looking back down to flip through the pictures with a disinterested expression. "My bad. Who knew assholes had thick skulls?"
"He's not gonna talk," Clarke deadpans, her contemplative footsteps echoing in the room as she paces.
"He will if we open the door," Marcus rebukes, not turning around during his serious tone.
Abby immediately waltzes forward, her determined steps reaching the airlock controls quickly. Dumping the pictures down on the table behind her, a sadistic smile graces Myles' face as she stalks forward to watch Emerson writhe. The man sits down on the bed behind him, watching the Arkers through the glass with a significantly less arrogant look on his face and the observation makes the chemically air in Medical feel lighter.
High pitched beeps sound from the control panel, and Clarke shuffles behind Myles as she picks up the photos from table. A shrill humming screeches through the air, before Abby spins to turn her hard eyes to Marcus.
"We are not doing that," the doctor announces in a hard tone, turning to stalk away from the airlock.
"We need to know what he knows," Marcus argues, following after the Chancellor, but Myles only steps forward slowly and comes to a stop in front of Emerson.
The smug look returns to his face, igniting a fire behind hazel eyes. An overwhelming urge to smash the glass with her bare hands is curbed by the distant sounds of Doctor Tsing and Mount Weather.
"Vulnerabilities," Marcus continues behind her, his reflection stuttering as he gestures exasperatedly while he speaks. "Troop numbers."
"She's right," Myles relents, not wavering in her silent staring at the eavesdropping mountain man. "Torture won't work."
"Aggie," the councillor reasons, stepping up behind her, "it could save your friends."
"I'm the Chancellor," Abby's hard voice reminds, clearly unhappy with the argument not ending.
"Then act like one!" Marcus explodes, and red eyebrows raise as she twists her head to watch the scene unfold. "I told you I would support you as long as I believe that you are doing the right thing."
"I am," the Chancellor countered, her authoritative tone booming in the metal room. Amused hazel eyes lock on Clarke's wide and frustrated blue, "and if you disagree… convene a vote and take my place."
Marcus' hands raise in exasperation, "I don't give a damn about the title. I just want to save our people."
"So do I," Abby insists, keeping her harsh stare firmly stuck on the councillor. Marcus throws his hands up again, storming angrily out of the room and red eyebrows quirk up. An awkward beat passes before the doctor turns to the guardsman in the corner of the room, "I want this man under 24-hour guard. Is that clear?"
The guardsman nods, and Abby hurriedly stalks out of the room as well, leaving the two teens behind. Walking up to Clarke with slow steps, the redhead tilts her head in a half nod and looks back at an amused Emerson.
"This place is a shit-show," Myles mutters, before glancing back at her blonde haired friend. "They have no idea what they're doing."
"Do any of us?" Clarke huffs, shaking her head and staring at Emerson with her eyebrows drawn together.
Looking between the girl and the mountain man, "this is boring. I should've been the one to go back to that fucking mountain."
"I'm glad you weren't," Clarke replies, locking her sincere blue gaze on the redheads hazel. "Bellamy wouldn't have been much help with Lexa or the gorilla."
Myles snorts, a humourless smile spreading across her face, "life on the ground, huh?" Nodding her head to Emerson, "Shame we didn't kill him."
"This is Jasper Jordan," her best friends voice repeats again from the radio sitting beside Raven. "We need help. Forty-seven of us are trapped inside Mount Weather." All of this going back and forwards is beginning to wear Myles down, either that, or it's the lack of any new developments. "They've taken Harper. She may already be dead – "
Raven switches on the cylindric radio that the mountain men carry to control the reapers, lighting up the top of the device blue while the constant high pitched tone blares into the still air in Engineering. With the piercing sound comes memories crashing in, making Myles' left arm jitter violently as her mind is overtaken with everything that is Mount Weather. The worlds no longer bleed into each other gradually, but flashing back and forth as if someone is flicking a light switch.
The burnt smell of fire lit torches mingles with the heavy stench of sweat and blood, the whole world dimming while animalistic growls from reapers tear through the air. Her fitted boots are no longer on the metal floor of Alpha Station, but untied, fur-covered shoes slip and slide up her heel while her desperate limping steps drag across coarse dirt and rubble. Excruciating aches blast through her tired and hungry body, accentuated with every weak motion her panting body makes.
Her back is pressed against the rocky wall of the tunnels under Mount Weather, and reapers cower away from the mountain men that swarm them, blasting that piercing tone. Thick hazmats suits crinkle and crackle as the men move towards them, their voices muffled through their gas masks.
"Get back," a suit-clad man demands sternly, "get the hell away from them."
"Aggie," Clarke shakes her arm, and hazel eyes snap to see her standing against the tunnels wall beside her. The grounders clothes that they stole from a pile on the ground beside the minecart practically swallow her stiff form. Her blonde eyebrows draw together in worry over her cut up face, "are you okay?"
Hazel eyes blink, and she's no longer in the dark tunnels under Mount Weather but the brightly lit Engineering room in Alpha. It's a seamless transition, the only two things that are even remotely reminiscent of their time in Mount Weather being the hand on her arm and the worried expression on Clarke's face. The cuts and grazes on her face aren't in the same place as they just were a moment ago, and she's wearing her blue top and jacket instead of the grounders clothes.
Nodding distractedly, red eyebrows furrow and turn to Raven as she finally registers the tone is no longer ringing in the air.
"We don't know how much time we have left."
"Yeah," her quiet voice rasps, not sounding like a word at all, and the two girls in the room look at each other in concern when her hazel gaze gets stuck on the radio.
"This is Jasper Jordan."
"Raven," Octavia calls, her footsteps pounding into the room behind Myles and Clarke. "Any word from Bellamy?"
"Nothing yet," the brunette reluctantly answers, and the Blake sister comes to a stop beside Myles.
"Lincoln's still missing, too," Octavia replies, looking off and lifting her arms in frustration.
"Wait," the red haired teen interjects over her best friends looped voice. Slowly bringing her blank eyes up to meet Octavia's deep brown, "Lilo isn't back yet?"
"No," the Blake sister frets, meeting Myles' empty eyes. "He should be back by now!"
"They'll be okay," Clarke promises sternly, holding Octavia's arm.
"They better be," Raven grovels, spinning back around in her seat to fiddle with something. "Your whole plan rests on Bellamy getting in."
"He will," Myles declares confidently, snapping her hazel to the brunette.
The awkward moment is quickly cut short by the P.A. system beeping to life.
A mans voice calls over the speaker, "Councillor Kane, Clarke Griffin and Agnes Mylinski please report to the South air lock immediately."
"'Agnes Mylinski'?" Octavia scrunches her face up in confusion when Myles sighs heavily, turning her perplexed deep brown to the red haired teen, "is that your name? We've all been calling you by your last name?"
Spinning on her heels, the redhead barely glances at the Blake sister as she quickly hurries out of the room. Clarke's footsteps follow hers, but the blonde turns back to the two left behind.
"We'll finish this later," Clarke dismisses before catching up with Myles. Blue eyes turn to her, but the red haired teen pointedly doesn't meet her gaze. "Agnes, huh?"
"No," Myles huffs, red eyebrows twitching on her face, "he wasn't even close. That man's a liar."
"Why would he say Agnes?" Clarke queries, her tone bubbling with curiosity.
"It's almost like a part of my name," the redhead shrugs evasively, before a prying look from Clarke makes her continue. "It's long and weird. No one says it right."
"Long and weird?" The blonde haired teen quizzes, "what the hell kind of name do you have?"
"Trust me," Myles sighs, her shoulders sagging in defeat, "it's so much easier to just call me Myles."
The two of them bump into Marcus not far from H Corridor, and the three called upon walk together. Nervous energy flutters through Marcus' body, emphasised in his quick strides, but Clarke and Myles remain calm, following him curiously. There's not much on the ground that surprises the blonde, and even less that surprises the red haired teen, leaving them either frustrated or anxious in any given situation. Marcus and the rest of the Arkers don't seem to catch on to the teens train of thought, and both girls can't help giving each other a knowing look. The two of them sharing the same burning desire to stop the Arkers from ruining their plans and progress on the ground, and with each passing moment, they get more and more restless.
If the two girls had been in charge for the entirety of the Finn situation, the resolution could've been made a long time ago and Camp Jaha would be held in a higher standing in the commanders eyes. All Marcus, Jaha and Abby have been able to achieve since their landing on Earth is to destroy every last shred of progress the two teens have made, making them have to start all over again.
"Did he say something?" Marcus rushes out the second the door slides open and Abby comes into sight, leaning against the airlock door.
"No," the doctor replies simply, sliding her hand away from the glass to turn to the three approaching her. "But his blood did."
Hazel eyes lock on blue, Myles muttering quickly under her breath, "if she says what I think she's gonna say, I'm going to kill him."
"Jackson found genetic marker anomalies that can only come…," Abby glances towards the two teens, "from someone who was born on the Ark."
"It's started," Clarke weakly states as Myles brings her hands up to her head in distress, the harsh material of her splint scratching against her skin.
Marcus looks at the two teens horrified and angry expressions, before turning back to the Chancellor, "it didn't come from the blood transfusion that we gave him?"
"No," Abby answers with a downtrodden sigh, but fiery hazel eyes watch Emerson pace around with a smug expression on his face. His radiation burns are almost completely gone, uncovering his sharp features, "I took the sample before that."
"They're bleeding our friends," Clarke continues bitterly, neither one of the teens shifting their searing gaze from the mountain man.
Myles' whole body is shaking violently, flashes of her memories in Mount Weather appearing behind hazel eyes, but Clarke is dead still. The blondes frozen form radiates tension, and Myles is almost certain they're thinking on the same wavelength.
"We don't know that," Marcus tries to soothe, staring at the two worriedly.
"Yes, we do," the red haired teen bites out, tearing her hands from her head. "We were genetically engineered. They weren't."
As soon as the words are out of her mouth, Myles shoots forward with determined steps. Something in her eyes or her long strides must warn Marcus of her murderous thoughts, because the man bristles.
What's a little more blood?
"What are you doing?" Marcus quizzes, stepping in front of the closet thing he's ever had to a daughter and stopping her quick movements.
Hazel eyes lock on the mans brown when he stops her, her strong gaze burning into his, "killing him." Pulling her arms from his kind grip, Myles moves to slip around him, but the councillor is prepared. His hands grip her forearms and he holds her still, making the redhead thrash her arms weakly, "get out of my way, Uncle Marcus."
"Hey, hey," the councillor probes gently, ducking his head to meet their eyes. "Calm down. That's not going to help you."
"Yes, it will," Myles whimpers, Marcus swimming and blurring as tears fill her eyes and her movements still. "I need to."
"He's bleeding our friends," Clarke's hard voice shouts behind the red haired teen, the blonde stepping close to the redhead.
"Clarke," Abby's voice warns in shock. Clarke takes a shaky breath in and meets her mother's harsh gaze, and the woman looks between the two girls, "you two are not in charge here." The woman's unshakable tone hardens Myles, flicking her eyes to Clarke as her calculating mind turns the words over. "We do things my way."
Bitter and defeated hazel lock on the concerned brown of Marcus, before pulling away from his grip and storming out of the room. Clarke follows not a second later, and as soon as the door whooshes shut behind them, Myles turns to the blonde.
"I'm not a leader," the red haired teen whispers, keeping her steady gaze on her blonde haired friends blue. "But apparently, neither are those two. We need someone who won't get everyone killed."
"This is Jasper Jordan. We need help," the radio crackles out repetitively on Ravens desk while she works, her best friends voice is the first thing that Myles hears as she and Clarke approach the door to Engineering with rapid and distressed steps. "Forty-seven of us are trapped – "
"We're too late," Myles declares when she walks through the threshold, and the brunette snaps her head up the two of them.
"They're already bleeding them," Clarke finishes as she comes to a stop behind Raven, but Myles walks all the way up to the radio beside Raven, staring down at it.
"They've taken Harper. She may already be dead. We don't know how much time we have left."
"It's over," the red haired teens hoarse breathes out, brushing her fingers over the device longingly.
"No," Raven stands up suddenly beside her, her head snapping between the two of them. "You can give up Clarke, but Myles – you don't get to give up." Defeated hazel eyes flick up to meet the brunettes ablaze brown, "You're the Ghost, and you never give up," Ravens voice wavers through her words, "you were in the Skybox, and you didn't give up. Every day down here, you didn't give up." The brunette lifts her hand to push on Myles' shoulder harshly, "you gave Finn away, and I didn't give up. I'm building a damn tone generator, you do your job."
"What is my job?" Myles grits out, her tone weaker than the brunettes.
"You save everyone!" Raven shouts, "you always come up with something."
"I have tried," the redhead pleads with Raven to understand, her red brows sitting in a worried frown on her forehead.
Suddenly, the radio signal quivers with static and Jasper's message goes quiet. Hazel eyes snap to the radio, her gaze widening as her heart flutters with hope.
"Camp Jaha," Bellamy Blake's beautiful voice flutters over the radio, and Myles falls to her knees, staring at the device. "This is Mount Weather. Anyone read me?"
"Holy crap," Raven breathes above her as Myles good hand fumbles for the radio and Clarke hurriedly steps up behind her.
"Yeah," Myles breathy voice replies once she presses the transmit button, "we read you, handsome."
"Aggie?" Bellamy responds, sounding equally as relieved as the red haired teen.
"Are you alright?" Myles quickly asks, worry and dread sitting heavily on her chest.
"I'm fine," the Blake brother answers, and the redhead sags, pressing her forehead against the edge of the table. "But that's the good news. We have to talk fast. Something has changed. Jasper, Monty, everyone, they just locked them in the dorm."
"But they're alive?" Myles questions, rising to her feet to lean over the table with the other two. "All of them?"
"I think so," Bellamy supplies, "for now. Maya says they're already using their blood. And things are gonna get ugly in here real fast."
The three teens look at each other with wide eyes, and Myles presses the transmit button again at the girls name.
"Maya's with you?" Myles confirms, relief and respect fluttering through her body for Jasper's crush.
"She helped me escape," the Blake brother crackles over the radio. Red eyebrows draw in confusion, "if not for her, I'd be dead." A tense pause follows as the reality of the mans words wash over her, "and Aggie, there are kids in here. We need a plan that doesn't kill everyone. Please tell me we have one."
Myles gulps, "I hear you." Taking a steadying breath before continuing, "But we can't do anything until you disable the acid fog. Raven's gonna help you."
"Got it," her boyfriend readily answers, and the teens look at each other again. "What else?"
"You have to figure out a way to free the grounder prisoners," Myles replies, "there's already a whole army inside that mountain and they don't even realise it."
"Trojan horse," Bellamy praises, "good plan."
"What does Maya think?" The redhead queries, the thick sense of dread still looming over her. "Is it doable?"
"She says it's not a problem," the Blake brother instantly agrees, and all three teens let out a quick breath of relief. "Aggie, if I'm gonna pull this off, I need you to buy me some time. It won't be long until they realise I don't belong here and if that happens – "
"That can't happen," the red haired teen cuts her boyfriend off, refusing to dwell on the idea. "I'll come up with something."
"Come up with it quick," Bellamy breathes, and hazel eyes snap to blue.
"Copy that," Myles agrees, tearing her eyes away from Clarke's to stare at the radio again. "And Bell?"
"Yeah?"
"I knew you would come through," the redhead praises, her voice strong with conviction. Adrenaline pumps hotly through her veins, reminding her that she's alive and has things to do. "Stay alive. I love you."
"I love you, too, Aggie," Bellamy replies, and Myles pats Raven on the back before turning away from the table.
"You're up," the red haired teen informs the mechanic, locking eyes with Clarke and moving to rush out of the room. "We're on, princess."
"What are you gonna do?" Raven enquires when both Myles and Clarke reach the doorway.
The red haired teen turns around, slouching back predatorily with a smug look on her face, "buy him some time. We're gonna keep them busy on the outside, instead of the inside."
Their determined steps march down H Corridor again, but this time, Clarke and Myles aren't alone. It was ridiculously easy to get some of the Arkers on their side, and it was even easier to get the grounders alongside them. Behind the two teens, half a dozen footsteps echo against the metal floor, bouncing off of the walls of Alpha. Turning her head to lock her determined hazel on Clarke's strong blue, both girls wear matching smug looks across their faces and ooze an authoritative air. Out of the corner of her eyes, Myles can see Octavia, Indra and several of the grounders warriors marching behind them.
Pressing the button to Medical, the door whooshes open, and the group continues up to the guardsman standing guard in front of Emerson's airlock. The arrogance and confidence only intensifies inside of Myles when she recognises the guard to be Sergeant Harrison. Sgt. Harrison's hand twitches as the group march towards him, and he opens his mouth but Myles cuts him off.
"Don't," the red haired teen orders, slowing to a stop when she and Clarke reach him. Locking her hazel eyes on his brown, "I'm calling in that favour, George."
"Are you going to help those kids in Mount Weather?" Sgt. Harrison asks, his arms hanging limply by his sides.
"We are," Clarke answers definitively, matching her red haired friends hard gaze.
"I need him to get dressed," Myles replies vaguely, and a dark smile twists across the guardsman's face.
"Then you're not calling in a favour," Sgt. Harrison retorts, stepping away from the airlock. "Do your thing, Ghost."
Locking her hazel eyes on Emerson as he shifts on his feet, the redhead repeats, "get dressed. You're coming with us."
"Where are we going?" Emerson enquires, squinting his eyes at the two teens.
"Home," Clarke supplies simply, and the mountain man's features cloud over in shock.
Tilting her head, Myles can feel her long red ponytail sway against her back when she speaks, "you might want to put that suit on."
Whether it was something in the two teens eyes, or the tone they spoke with, Myles doesn't know, but Emerson smirks and quickly grabs his suit. Clarke saunters over to the airlock controls, and presses two buttons before resting her hand over a large red switch. Blue eyes turn to Myles, but the redhead doesn't meet her gaze until Emerson is fully suited up. The second their eyes meet, Clarke flicks the switch and the glass airlock doors slowly open with a gust of air.
Indra's warriors quickly slip around Myles, their rough hands eagerly gripping the mountain man and hauling him out of the airlock. Hazel eyes watch him, before turning and storming out of the room with Clarke by her side. The two girls lock gazes and smile darkly as they make their way out of Alpha with the grounders keeping a tight grip on Emerson.
It's almost pitch black outside, the only light coming from the moonlight raining down on them, and the flashlights and fire pits scattered over the Camp Jaha land. Echoing metallic thumps turn to the consistent crunching of the Earth beneath their feet as they beeline for the gate. Goosebumps flutter over Myles' jacket-less arms, the cold winter air nipping sharply at her skinny body. Curious heads turn to them, watching the group escort the mountain man through the camp. They're halfway to the gate when Abby and Marcus shoot up from their seats at the bar and rush to them.
"Aggie," the councillor calls, jogging up to them and Indra hastens her pace to walk closer to the teens, "What are you doing?"
"Clarke," Abby's hard voice demands, standing in their way and forcing the teens to stop. "Stop."
"No," the blonde replies, her tone equally as hard. "We're letting the prisoner go."
"Absolutely not," the Chancellor refuses, shock and disbelief cloaking her features.
"He hasn't told us anything yet," Marcus tries to amend, looking between the teens.
"He doesn't have to," Myles declares, meeting their strong gazes with her own. "He's gonna tell them something."
Abby scoffs, before turning to address the guardsmen behind her, "get the prisoner back to the airlock. Now."
"Yes, ma'am," a few guards reply, stalking towards them before jolting to a stop and lifting up their rifles when the grounders around the teens yank out their weapons.
"We said," Myles repeats loudly, looking at the frozen guardsmen around them with their weapons drawn, "we're letting him go."
"That's the Ghost," Sgt. Harrison appears behind them, walking up to the commotion slowly. The statement gets an instant reaction from the Arkers, all of the guards heads snap to the redhead as their hands shift over their weapons and their boots shuffle hesitantly. Only two guardsmen stay firm, "do what she says."
Content the guardsmen won't stop them, Myles turns her hard eyes back to the baffled Chancellor, "you may be the Chancellor…"
"But we're in charge," Clarke finishes, neither of the teens backing down or wavering in their stance as Abby's face falls.
"Indra," the doctor calls shakily, not tearing her eyes away from the two teens in front of her, "tell your people to stand down… before this gets out of hand."
"No," the dark skinned warrior says simply, and Clarke lifts her chin up higher.
"People could get hurt," Abby tries quietly, and Myles takes a predatory step forward to stand toe to toe with the Chancellor.
"Not if you get out of our way," the red haired teen promises darkly and Clarke comes up beside her.
"You need to trust that we know what's right for us," the blonde states, maintaining eye contact with her mother.
"The grounders trust them," Marcus announces, "the kids trust them. Our people trust them. Maybe we should, too."
Abby tilts her head, thinking the councillors words through before stepping back, "let them through."
Clarke and Myles march forward, continuing up unrestrictedly to the gate with the grounders hauling Emerson behind them. When they get closer to the gate, Myles tilts her head.
"Open the gate," the redhead calls out in an authoritative tone, never once wavering in her determined stance.
"Now," Clarke adds, when the guardsmen start to slowly comply.
The two men standing beside the metal gate hasten, pulling the gate open with an airy whoosh as the group approaches them. Clarke and Myles stop inside of the gate, and the grounders don't stutter in their steps to bring Emerson in front of them. Small flecks of white and yellow reflect off of the hazmat suits mask back to the teens from the lights inside of Camp Jaha, partially blocking the arrogant look on the mountain man's face.
"Can you hear us alright?" Clarke questions, staring into the mans smug eyes, "because I need to make sure you get this."
"Loud and clear," Emerson replies shortly, locking his eyes on the two girls.
Blue eyes flick to Myles, but the redhead is already talking, "I have a message for Cage, your leader. We're coming for him." Emerson's eyes flicker with amusement, "he's got you watching us, but you haven't seen anything. The grounder and Skaikru army is bigger than you think. And even if you could find it, your acid fog can't hurt them. And now… thanks to you…" the red haired teen lifts the tone generator they took from his bag, switching the tone on, "neither can the reapers."
Switching the tone off, Myles takes great satisfaction at how Emerson's face falls as he watches the cylindric device get tucked into the redheads jean pocket.
"So you have one last chance," Clarke adds, when the mountain man lifts his eyes back up to meet theirs above the condensation his breath leaves on his mask.
"Let our people go," the redhead finishes, "and we'll let yours live. It's just that easy."
"I got it," Emerson replies, the smug look appearing on his face again.
The mountain man's expression makes the chill running through Myles' body feel a lot more pleasurable as she steps forward to pull at the man's oxygen tank strapped to his side. Gently tugging the valve connected to the hose off of the hook to look at the little red arrow indicating how much air he has left.
"It's an eight-hour walk back to Mount Weather?" Myles asks rhetorically, her red eyebrows drawn together as she notes the notches labelled with hour marks. Emerson doesn't answer, merely blinking blankly but it's all the redhead needs to know she's right. Pressing down on the metal opening at the end of the valve, cold air starts hissing out, chilling her fingers to the bone and making them feel numb. Hazel eyes watch the little red arrow dip down slowly as the oxygen in the tank is slowly released. Lifting her fingers away from the valve when the arrow dips just under a quarter of the tank left, the red arrow stills, "you're gonna need to do it in six."
"Six hours?" Emerson grits out, his arrogant expression long gone when Myles looks back at him. "That's not enough. How am I supposed to deliver your message?"
"That's your problem," Clarke informs him, stepping up beside Myles. Emerson's face twitches aggressively, "Now go."
Immediately, the grounders release the mountain man's arms and Emerson backs up slowly, maintaining eye contact with the teens. Once he's passed all of the grounders warriors, he turns and starts to jog into the tree line. Hazel turn to Clarke's blue the second the mountain man is out of sight, and both teens shift to enter into Camp Jaha.
"Clarke, Myles," Octavia bites out, looking bitterly at the ground before flicking her angry eyes up to the two teens. Black war paint is smeared over both of her eyes, accentuating the harsh look she sends them, "do you wanna explain to me how this helps my brother?"
"I just told them we have a secret army to worry about," Myles explains slowly, not fazed by the teens angry eyes. "The more they're looking at us, the less they're looking at him." The Blake sister grits her teeth, turning her gaze to the dirt again, "Bell is the key, O. To everything. If he dies, we die, and I'll be damned if I let anything happen to him, do you hear me?"
Octavia nods slowly, and Clarke presses forward, walking back into the camp but Myles stays looking into the Blake siblings deep brown eyes for a moment more. Flicking her hazel gaze to Indra, the fierce woman meets her eyes instantly.
"I hope your warriors are ready," Myles states, stepping up to the dark skinned woman. "We're gonna have one hell of a fight on our hands."
