A/N: I'm back! Sooo sorry it took so long for me to finish off Earthbound, get the sequel figured out and started, and get this one going again but I'm here now and hopefully you'll be getting regular updates again!
The first of the political gatherings was scheduled to begin the following day. Bellamy had decided not to wake Clarke for her turn at watch and instead tried to stay up the whole night himself. But when he woke, he found himself tucked in against the wall with a blanket firmly wrapped around him and Clarke nowhere in sight.
He scrambled to his feet, his eyes darting around the room, making sure they hadn't somehow deceived him into thinking she wasn't there when she really was. He frowned when he saw she was truly gone and dove for the door just as it opened.
"Hey," Clarke said in surprise, finding him suddenly so close that she nearly had to reach out and grasp his arms to keep him from slamming into her.
"Where were you?" he demanded, the underlying fear clear in his tone.
"I went out to get a feel for the city before we start our day," Clarke explained.
"Are you out of your mind?" Bellamy demanded angrily, "Why would you risk it when so many want you dead?"
"Because if anyone's going to end my life, it's going to be in public and on Lexa's direct order," Clarke responded calmly. "Besides, I was hungry. I figured you would be, too, when you woke up."
Smugly, she offered him the covered basket she held in her hands and watched with a twinkle in her eyes as he lifted the cloth to inspect what was inside.
"You're welcome," she said as she reached for a muffin of her own.
After they finished their breakfast and had gathered their belongings, Bellamy asked as casually as he could, "So what's the plan. Where do we start?"
"We start by going to Luna. She's the leader of the water people and Lincoln said that they would be welcoming and open to us. We should take advantage of that while we can," Clarke responded.
"Do we know where or how to find her?" Bellamy questioned.
"We do," Clarke said affirmatively with a determined smile. "Come on. I found it on my walk this morning."
Bellamy immediately frowned but he held his tongue and followed her out. There was no use arguing with her. He'd learned that a long time ago.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
There was something different about Luna. She wasn't what either of them had expected. She was subtle. Nuanced. Calm. Tranquil like the sea. She wore her power regally, like a cloak floating around her. Where other leaders were loud and fierce, she was quiet and steadfast. Her presence was soothing in a way that neither Clarke nor Bellamy understood.
The two glanced nervously at one another while Clarke swallowed hard, giving herself a mental pep talk.
"Luna," she began, but the woman stopped her before she had really managed to start.
"Clarke of the Sky People," Luna declared, her gaze curious and assessing. "I have wondered when I might meet you. What has brought you into my presence today?"
"A mutual friend," Clarke replied honestly, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach. "Lincoln of the Trigedakru has told me of his friendship with you. He advised that I seek you out as an ally here." She paused a moment, wishing she could take Bellamy's hand, but instead she stood still and flexed the fingers of both hands into fists for a moment before she asked carefully, "Did Lincoln speak true? Are you an ally?"
Luna studied the pair before her calm, curious eyes returned to Clarke. "If Lincoln has sent you, I will listen to what you have to say. If your words ring true and there is something that my people can do to assist yours, we will do so."
Clarke and Bellamy communicated with their eyes, Clarke's heart pounding in her chest. She took a deep breath and swallowed hard before saying, "The Commander would like to silence me. Us. She left us to die in Mount Weather. It was a calculated move. A move that dishonors your people and should bring into question the viability of the alliance among the twelve clans."
"We are aware of that," Luna said without even a flicker of emotion in her eyes or voice.
"You are," Bellamy repeated, watching as Luna nodded in response.
"The leaders of the clans have been meeting," Luna said, without any further detail than that.
"Is there anything we can do? We've been sent to secure an honorable alliance between our people and the clans, but we have no trust in anything The Commander says at this point," Clarke stated, wondering what exactly they had gotten themselves into by coming to Polis.
Nodding, Luna looked Clarke directly in the eye without blinking and said, "You can leave. Let us take care of our own, bring justice and honor back to our people. When the time is right, we will send for you and a new alliance will be forged."
Clarke's jaw flexed and she looked at Bellamy uncertainly.
"How can we be sure that your people won't hunt ours down? That we'll be safe regardless of what the outcome is here?" Bellamy asked.
"You have my word," Luna responded, "And if necessary, the river and water people will defend you against all others. Let ours be the first alliance that you make."
"What would you expect of the sky people in return?" Clarke wanted to know, again wishing for the comfort she knew she would feel from even the briefest touch of Bellamy's hand.
"Support. Technology. Medicine," Luna replied. "Sigma has told us much about what you have accomplished in her village. Her words and ours will go a long way toward securing your place with the other clans as well."
Doubt clouded Clarke's eyes as she thought of Lexa's words about Costia. "What about the in-fighting we witnessed? Bellamy was already harmed in the crossfire on the way here. And what about The Ice Nation? They've left Polis already. Do we have anything to fear from them? Or any clans that may remain loyal to The Commander?"
An amused little smile curved Luna's lips as she said, "The Ice Nation is fierce but they do not act unprovoked. And there will be few who will side with The Commander. Do not fear what you do not understand. Trust that all will be concluded in righteousness."
For the first time, Clarke felt unsettled by what Luna was saying. Hesitantly, she asked, "Will Lexa survive being confronted about her actions?"
A hardness entered Luna's eyes that Clarke and Bellamy hadn't yet seen from her and she said with a harsh finality, "Blood must have blood."
Clarke's heart skipped a beat while Bellamy watched her warily. Finally, Clarke gave a single slow nod and said, "We will take your advice to heart. May we meet again."
Understanding the significance of this saying among the sky people, Luna nodded as well and repeated, "May we meet again."
When they were back in the cabin that they'd shared the night before, Clarke turned to Bellamy and asked, "What do we do now?"
Before he had a chance to respond, a knock sounded on their door.
"Lexa again?" Bellamy murmured as he went for the door. He wasn't about to let Clarke answer it in case it was The Commander.
But it wasn't.
"Murphy?!" Clarke exclaimed from over Bellamy's shoulder, finding her voice before her companion could find his.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Bellamy demanded gruffly. The last he remembered hearing of Murphy was that he'd disappeared around the same time Jaha had. How had the bastard ended up in Polis after all this time?
"I'm here to find you assholes. Who knew it'd be so easy?" Murphy responded in his usual snarky manner. "You gonna let me in?"
"I don't know," Bellamy said dryly, glancing at Clarke with a look that was impatient and wary at the same time.
"Let him in," Clarke said, resignation in her tone, a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth. "If we don't like what he has to say, we can always leave him here."
"Oh, you mean the way he ditched us?" Bellamy asked, speaking to Clarke but very pointedly glaring at Murphy.
"Hey, now," Murphy responded, hands held up as if to show he came in peace, "I just wanted to get your help in saving the world and all but if you're not interested…"
"What the…?" Bellamy trailed off as he yanked Murphy inside and closed the door.
"What do you mean?" Clarke demanded.
"Jaha's gone all psycho," Murphy said with a careless shrug. "He's conspiring with a rogue computer program to destroy the world. Again."
Neither was able to react before another knock sounded. Bellamy clenched his jaw and gave Clarke a disbelieving look before he answered.
This time he opened the door immediately, and without any discussion, he let the newcomers in. He met Clarke's gaze over and between the heads of the new arrivals and suggested blandly, "Maybe we should have uprooted the whole camp and brought them with us."
Clarke shook her head in mute disbelief as she recognized Monty, Harper, and Miller. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she asked, "What are you doing here? How did you figure out where to find us?"
The three shared looks as if they were debating who would speak for them and finally Monty said, "Well, we thought that Lincoln and Octavia would come find you but when they decided to stay at Camp Jaha, we figured we'd better come instead. Luna told us where you were staying." He paused a moment before continuing, "Your mom is sick, Clarke. And so are half our people."
Immediately, Clarke was all business, asking, "What do you mean half the camp is sick? Sick with what? And why did Lincoln and Octavia not come? Do they know that you're here?"
Miller caught sight of Murphy and asked, accusation in his tone, "What's he doing here?"
"Trying to save the world," Murphy shrugged. "No biggy."
"Shut up, Murphy," Bellamy said in his usual 'no nonsense' way, then looked at Monty and added, "Feel free to answer her any time now."
Monty nodded and glanced at Miller and Harper before responding. "Right. Ok. So here's the thing. We don't actually know what they're all sick with. We just know that there are a lot of people who are really ill. Lincoln and Jackson are working overtime trying to figure out some kind of treatment but nobody's getting better and just before we left, a couple of people died."
"And I'm needed here so they didn't want to let me know and be torn…" Clarke pieced together.
Harper gave her a sympathetic look and nodded. "That's what we figured anyway. We thought you should know, though, just in case…" Her voice trailed off and Clarke nodded. Just in case her mother didn't make it.
Her eyes searching Bellamy's, Clarke said instantly, "We should go back. The camp needs us and we've already been told we shouldn't stay here."
Bellamy nodded in agreement but Murphy interrupted to clarify, "So that's a no on saving the world today, then? Right. I'll just be getting back to my safe-haven, ride out the second apocalypse there."
"What the hell is he talking about?" Miller demanded, looking as if he were ready to punch Murphy in his smug face.
"Never mind," Bellamy told Miller before looking at Murphy in annoyance. "What exactly do you need from us? Your story wasn't crystal clear on that."
"Help," Murphy responded, but before Bellamy could punch him for being an ass, he added, "Preferably from someone who knows something about AI."
"AI?" Monty repeated, looking in bemusement at Murphy, Clarke, and Bellamy.
Something in Clarke's demeanor, her countenance, changed, and suddenly she was in charge, just like she had been from the moment they'd landed on the ground right up until she'd turned her back on her people and walked away.
"Ok, here's what we're going to do. Murphy, you're going to come with us back to Camp Jaha. On the way, you can tell us, but particularly Monty, all about whatever is going on wherever you were. Monty, you can let us know if you think it's a situation you can handle with your tech skills or if you'll need help. In the meantime, Harper and Miller can fill me in on this illness. We can decide from there what needs to happen next."
Bellamy gave her an approving look, one corner of his mouth turned up in a smile, but it was Murphy who shrugged and expressed with his words the sentiment they were all feeling.
"Whatever you say, Princess."
The nickname felt foreign to Clarke but when she saw the gleam in Bellamy's eyes, she couldn't help but smile and admit that it felt right. She was back. And she'd do anything she needed to do to take care of her people. Just like she always had.