*Warning* the following chapter contains graphic depictions of violence and extreme situations. I do not condone any of the acts that have been described within this work. Many of them have been created (by some uncharted part of my creative mind) solely for the intention of this work of fiction; however, some of the techniques used are actual documented means that have used across the world for several decades. I do not own The 100 nor any of the characters (even though I really wish I did).
The look upon Dr. Wells' face as he spoke those words could only be described as deranged delight.
"Hmm," Wells pondered as he walked between the generator and the tray full of different surgical tools. Picking up a scalpel, the doctor twirled it around in his hand as he made his way back towards the chained Commander.
Clarke opened her mouth to protest the atrocity that was about to happen, but it seemed as if Lexa knew exactly what she was going to do and chose that moment to look over at the blonde with a single expression that made Clarke halt her tongue. Lexa looked at Clarke with both warning and pleading because she knew that if the Arker were to interfere with whatever this merciless scientist was going to do that his attention would be refocused on the blonde, and that was an unfathomable option. The Commander knew that she could withstand whatever physical torture that he had planned; she hoped that maybe, just maybe, if she held out long enough that the rest of the group would be able to find a way to escape.
Even if that meant her own life being consumed, it didn't matter as long as Clarke was as far away from here as possible.
The rest of the group was silent with their eyes locked on the events that were unfolding before them. They saw the exchange between the two young leaders and understood exactly what Lexa was trying to do; in that moment past indiscretions were pushed aside and the gears began to turn to create a plan. However, as the doctor came to a halt in front of the immobilized young woman, scalpel in hand and smile in place, they became transfixed on situation.
They wanted to look away, but as he raised the blade and lightly pressed it against the soft skin just under Lexa's navel, the events became a horrifically hypnotizing addiction.
Lexa's eyes watched as Benjamin Wells barely scraped the blade in mosaic patterns across her stomach, down her thighs, across her chest, and up her arms, "I've spent a great deal of my time studying your people, Commander, and I have to admit that there are certain aspects of your culture I appreciate. Culture holds such an important niche within our society, don't you agree?" he paused and looked at her, but she didn't reply simply met his gaze with an unimpressed air.
"Your people have become quite resourceful in the ways they decide to kill each other; barbaric, but innovative. And the undeniable loyalty they hold for you can be absolutely astounding, I bet you could ask your warriors to run around a mine field and they would without hesitation. But one of the things I find myself incredibly drawn too about the culture of the different clans is your use of tattoos," he walked around her, trailing the blade across her ribcage until he stopped at her back and began tracing the dark ink that covered it with more pressure, but not enough to break the skin; but just enough to draw her senses and receptors to the forefront, "They're stunning works of art that you've permanently painted across your body, and each with their own specific story. Tell me, Lexa, what do all of yours mean?"
Lexa refused to respond again and hearing her silence Dr. Wells moved around to her other side, the scalpel never leaving her skin, but when he reached the groove between her seventh and eighth ribs he dug in harder; streaks of blood followed the blade as he tore the layers of her flesh all the way until he hit the juncture of cartilage against her sternum.
Lexa felt the pain, but didn't even flinch as the sharpened edge opened her. Pain was something she had lived with all her life, something she had learned to become friendly with even. For every warrior was required to build up their tolerance for it; they had always been told that if you focus on your pain in battle then you're already dead.
"This isn't going to be any fun for you if you stay quiet." He said low and lilting as he leaned in closer to her. Lexa turned her head to look at him for a moment before a wicked smile played at her lips and she spat directly into his face.
Clarke watched in horror from her position on the floor as the doctor's temper broke.
Wells closed his eyes and slowly wiped the saliva off of his face. His breathing became nasal and heavy as he tried to keep calm from Lexa's insolent act, "My tattoos are marks of honor, I will not disgrace them or my Clan by telling their stories to the likes of you, you sadistic bastard." Lexa's words dripped with defiant venom.
Eyes still closed and without hesitation Benjamin Wells struck the already injured triceps of the Commander, thrusting the scalpel into the healing wound and ripping it wide open. Lexa's jaw tightened and her teeth gritted as he tore through her muscle before it stilled in the angle where her arm met her shoulder.
"You don't want me to lose my temper again, Commander. This is a process and I refuse to deviate from it, but if you tempt me again I won't have a choice." he twisted the scalpel around before removing it and letting the thick crimson drops fall to the floor. Wells walked back over to the tray and wiped the bloody scalpel clean with a cloth before depositing it, all the while getting his temper back in check.
"But since it seems you're not in the mood to make polite conversation," he said as he removed a small tank canister connected to a welding torch from underneath the tray of instruments and began to fit one of the assorted receptors to it, "We'll do something that doesn't require talking on your part."
Lexa's eyes grew slightly wider as she watched the man before her place a set of dark goggles over his eyes and light the small metal torch. "I've always fancied myself to be a fairly decent artist," he continued as he adjusted the flame until it was a small and slender light blue cone, "Although I've never tried anything like this before."
His grin grew and Lexa's tried to hide the fear that was inching up from her core as he approached. She could feel the heat of the flames rising as he lowered the torch to the top of her bare left thigh. Clarke, however, could see past the brunette's façade and witnessed the fear for herself that was trembling beneath as the flames closed in and felt her own resolve to do as Lexa wanted, and focus on finding a way out, begin to slowly break down; she couldn't sit idly by and watch the woman who had completely stolen her heart be tortured.
"Any requests?" Wells said tilting his head to one side, but Lexa wasn't looking at him. She had her eyes fixated on the camera in the corner of the room; she wasn't going to look away from that camera, she was going to memorize every part of it and give it her full attention. She gritted her teeth together even tighter and inhaled sharply as the tiny blue inferno touched her skin.
The pain was excruciating, it was some of the worst she had ever experienced, but her eyes never left the camera as the doctor began to slowly move the torch through the lines of an intricate design. The pain intensified with every stroke of the tool and Lexa felt her body begin to sweat, her breathing became heavy and staggered, and her head was starting to feel incredibly light.
"This is actually quite a lot easier than I thought. Fire can be such a wild thing, but when its controlled like this its precision can be unmatched," Wells said as fed the flame a bit more oxygen, causing the slender cone to grow and Lexa to bite down on the inside of her mouth until she tasted her own blood, "Your mother and father were killed in a fire were they not? Such a travesty; they had the makings to be greats in their own rights and luckily you got the best genetics of the both of them."
The stench of smoke and burning flesh filled the room, causing the eyes of the other prisoners to water. He continued working and working with the torch against her skin and eventually through the escalating pain, Lexa lost focus on the camera and slammed her eyes shut. She felt her mind reaching for memories, drawing joyous occasions up from their resting places but Lexa forced herself to stop. He will not break you, so don't give him your memories, she thought, pain is not your enemy. Pain is not your enemy.
It is your friend.
The moment Lexa's eyes shut and the pain was visibly beginning to be readable on her face, Clarke's resolve broke, "Stop!" she cried and began to struggle against her chains, "You're a fucking dead man, you son of a bitch! What the hell gives you the right to do this to a person?"
Her shouts didn't seem to have the desired effect on the doctor who continued working on his canvas, "Would someone muzzle her?" he finally said with annoyance. At his command, Myra walked forward and grabbed one of the cloths from the tray before striding over to Clarke. But as the soldier tried to stuff the fabric into her mouth, Clarke began to fight her, thrashing her head from side to side and as her anger towards the doctor grew and grew as she spewed more profanities and threats to him.
Clarke's rage seemed to spur her friends who began to fight their own bindings creating a lick of chaos in the stone room causing Emerson and the other guards to try and stop the prisoners already failing revolt. Myra was getting increasingly annoyed by the second at the defiant Clarke and finally closed her fist and punched the young leader in the jaw causing the blonde's lip to break open and blood to mix into her mouth, but instead of stopping her fight Clarke spat the bloody saliva into the woman's face.
"Clarke no!" Lexa's voice rang out and Clarke's attention was immediately grabbed by it and so were the rest of the youth who stopped their fighting. Lexa met Clarke's eyes with fear for not herself but for the woman who wanted to protect her.
Ignoring the sudden silence Myra reached for one of her daggers, but was stopped short by Dr. Wells who, amidst the chaos, had stopped his work and was now standing over the blonde with the still lit torch firmly in his grasp.
Dr. Wells knelt down in front of her and held the torch out towards her cheek so that the heat began to caress her face, "It will be your turn soon enough, Clarke, but if it will settle your nerves I promise I'm not going to kill her. I will suggest, however, that you stop your interruptions, unless you want any more of your friends to end up like the scrawny one you so valiantly tried and failed to save." he moved the flame slightly forward and singed a golden lock, "And I really would hate to damage this pretty face of yours."
Taking the cloth from Myra, Benjamin forced the fabric into Clarke's mouth then moved back to the Commander whose glare rivaled the sun with its intensity. Looking down at her bloodied and seared thigh he said, "We're almost done and I think it's coming along quite nicely," before he set back to work on her leg.
Lexa could feel Clarke's eyes on her, but couldn't bring herself to meet them. The last thing she needed was to see the hurt and horror that she knew was painted across the girl's face.
A few minutes later the doctor switched off the torch and removed his goggles. Wiping the sweat from his brow he smiled up at Lexa whose gaze hadn't lost any of its intensity. Red tinged sweat was dripping off of her body and the lights above her made the work he was so proud of look even more gruesome. Lexa refused to look down at what he had permanently done to her body, but Clarke and the rest of them saw the intricately done long stemmed, thorny rose that rained blood down her leg and onto the floor.
"I think I'll let Myra take over for a bit," he said as he stood up, "judging by how the first trial ended it seems as if she has some unfinished business with you." The doctor turned his head towards Myra who was still standing watchfully by Clarke. "Have a good time, but don't kill her." he directed towards her as a devious smile graced her face and he turned back to look the Commander up and down, "and have her cleaned up when you're done, we don't want an infection to take hold."
As he walked out of the room, followed by Emerson; Myra stepped forward and cracked her knuckles. For a moment there was a challenging, silent stare between the former Azgeda and the Trigedakru leader, and then Myra exploded with all of her superhuman force.
Clarke watched as Lexa's head was snapped side to side with each rotating punch, she heard the crack of bone as Myra localized her kicks to Lexa's ribs, she even felt a few droplets of blood that had been launched from Lexa's lips with one of the devastating blows, land on her bare leg, but she never heard Lexa voice.
She felt so useless; so hopeless as she watched. She had tried to escape from her cuffs, but the bands were too thick to pull her hands through and were so tight that she felt the skin of her wrists becoming so raw that it was breaking.
She waited and watched for the Commander to make some sort of eye contact, but she never did. And by the time Myra had gotten her fill and left, Lexa's face was covered in blood and dark bruises were starting to from across her torso. As Myra and the other guards were walking out of the door with the tray and generator, Emerson entered with a man of about the same as he who began to clean Lexa's wounds to prevent infection but did not bandage them; she was nearly unconscious from the beating the she hardly felt anything.
The room was still when they left, the sole noise being the hum of the lights. After a few minutes of trying, Clarke was able to spit the now blood soaked rag from her mouth, "Lexa?" she said, her voice rough and hoarse from the fabric.
The Commander didn't respond, but Clarke could see her eyes were open and were focused directly on the floor. "Lexa." she said a little louder, but the Commander refused to look at her still.
"Lexa!" the blonde's voice cracked on the word and Lexa's eyes shut.
Clarke wasn't sure how many days had past, but she was certain they did. The conversing of strategy or talk of simple distracting subjects settled when they weren't enveloped in silence and thought, but Clarke hardly spoke. Sleep had come in spurts of exhaustion to the group, but it seemed like when they finally had drifted off into whatever dreamless void their minds took them too they were awoken by Dr. Wells' arrival.
Six times he walked through the door to the room and six times the torture of Commander Lexa continued; all the while, Clarke and the others were helpless to stop him. Each time, however, he would ramble on about something and try to make conversation with her, but the Commander stayed silent and stoic in her pain. With every session, he would use a different tool; a whip, a chain, and blades in an assortment of shapes and sizes.
And every time when he left Clarke would call out to the unbroken woman, and every time she still got silence.
Every once in a while the man who cleaned Lexa's wounds would return and give them all drinks of water and another, rather disgusting, liquid that he said would give them everything that food would, "Dr. Wells wants to make sure that all of you are healthy and maintained." He would say as he stopped at each of them. This man wasn't a Grounder from any Clan; in fact he reminded her more of the people who had lived in Mount Weather with his paled skin and dull brown hair.
On one occasion, it had been what seemed like a very long time since the last session, a strange noise roused everyone from their exhaustion. It sounded like grinding metal and as the noise grew Clarke turned her head and realized that the sound was coming from the wall behind her, more specifically from the metal plate that held her chains in place. Clarke's eyes widened as she felt the tension tight chains begin to slacken; experimenting she pulled her wrists.
The chains came with her and length after length they gave her more room to move. She looked around to see the shock and confusion on her friend's faces. Once she had enough chain she immediately tried to release her wrists, but the cuffs weren't budging so she crawled to where Bellamy was still bound and attempted to loosen the plate behind him but again nothing would budge.
"Clarke." The young man said; once he had her attention he nodded behind her. Clarke looked back and her heart leapt in her chest. Testing the chains again she used the wall to brace herself as she stood up. Her unused muscles sent shooting pains through her legs and her joints cracked and popped with each movement. Once she had steadied her balance, however, Clarke took long strides and closed the distance until she was standing face to face with Lexa.
Lexa's eyes were still closed, but Clarke knew that she was awake. She lifted her hand and stretched herself to try and reach the chain that bound the brunette to the metal hook, but her own metallic bindings snapped with tension halfway up, so Clarke gently rested her hands upon the Commander's face.
At the touch Clarke felt the brunette take a sharp inhalation, but shut her eyes even tighter and began to shake her head from side to side. "Lexa." Clarke whispered and the Commander continued to shake her head with what little strength she had, but the blonde's hands never left her face, "Lexa, please, open your eyes."
Lexa stilled her movements, "Hodnes laik kwelnes," she finally whispered, "it has to be, for now. I won't let him break me. I will not let him have you."
The Commander lowered her head even more, "He's letting you do this. He's trying to get me to unbury my memories, to let my love show so he can shatter it. He'll break me if that happens so please find a way out and get the others to-"
Lexa's words were cut off when Clarke raised her chin with a thumb and gently pressed their lips together. She didn't care who was in the room with them or was watching on the camera feed as she kissed the leader before her, firmly but gently. When the kiss finally broke Clarke pulled her head back, but kept her thumb against Lexa's chin to hold the Commander's head level.
"I'm not leaving you behind so get that ridiculous idea out of your head." Clarke spoke, forcing Lexa to look at her, "We are not going to become pawns in his power game. He is not going to break you, and we are going to make him pay for everything he has done."
"Clarke, you need to get yourself and the others out of here." Lexa said with more strength in her voice, "If I die a new Commander will take my place and if you get out of here then you can destroy him and this place for good with the entire army. He needs to be stopped no matter the cost and I would much rather my death be the last one he ever takes. So, please-"
"I'm not leaving you here to die! That's not an option, Lexa." Clarke broke in stubbornly moving her hands so they both her were cupping the Commander's cheeks, as the rest of the group watched on.
"Damn it, Clarke!" Lexa said, now with her full voice, "Why do you always have to be so stubborn about everything? This is not the time"-
"Because I love you."
-"Save yourself a-" Lexa cut herself off when she registered the words that the blonde spoke.
"Ai hod yu in." Clarke repeated softly in Trigedasleng, "I'm not leaving you here, because I can't live without you."
Lexa couldn't find her words as she stared into the glistening blue pools before her.
"And honestly you really don't have a choice in the matter. I've already lost you once and I'm not doing it again."
Lexa felt the four words on the tip of her tongue, but before she had a chance to reply the door to the room opened and as soon as it did the rapid clinking of metal drew their attention as Clarke was ripped away from her and pulled back to space on the floor. The chains locked into their original tautness with a thud and the young leader was once again trapped from stopping the atrocity that was going to happen.
The sound of clapping echoed through the room as Dr. Wells, followed by his four companions entered, "That was very touching, honestly. I'm so glad I allowed that reunion; things were getting a bit boring in these sessions of our Commander. Hopefully now you'll be a bit more invigorated."
Lexa's solid exterior walls were immediately put up with his arrival, but she spared one last look at Clarke before refocusing on whatever hell he was about to unleash. This time, however, the only thing that was wheeled into the room was the generator that had yet to be used.
Dr. Wells stepped up to the Commander and inspected the wounds that he had created upon her before turning back and brining the generator into the center of the room, "Your threshold for pain has proved to be quite a bit higher than I anticipated," he began as he removed several wired electrodes from slot on the machine. "But even with all of the failures, I like to think about it as a puzzle and trying to find the right piece to solve it."
Dr. Wells began to attach the white, circular nodes to Lexa's body; placing one on each palm, on the underside of each foot, on the back of her knees, on each side of her already injured ribs, on each of her hips, the inside of each upper thigh, one under her navel that slid just beneath the top of her underwear, and one In the center of her abdomen.
A perverse smile grew on his face as he moved his hand underneath the fabric that held her breasts and placed one directly on each nipple.
"I've read about this technique several times," he said as he placed the final two nodes on her temples, "This isn't an exact replica, but it will do for these purposes. I've always wanted to try it, but I've never gotten a chance; everyone else has broken with what you've experienced so far."
The doctor walked back to the generator and rotated the dials before flipping a switch that turned it on. Lexa felt a low vibration start running through her body, but it didn't hurt and when her body started to traitorously react to it she knew he was simply getting her to become hypersensitive so that when he was ready the pain would be even more intense than before.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked, "This plan of yours is to what? Create the perfect population of humans with you leading them? You won't live long enough to see that day."
"Your right," he said as he stepped up to her with his hands clasped behind his back. "I won't live to see my dreams come into reality, but that's not my goal. I know I only have a lifetime to do what I need too , but I'm simply trying to give a jumpstart to evolution. Then natural selection will take its course and create the race we could always be."
"What makes you think you can force nature?" Lexa said, her voice becoming breathy as her body continued to become more and more sensitive.
"Science can do more than you could ever imagine, Commander. But, you see, I'm not the first to try this." he started to circle around her as he talked, "My grandfather started all of this. He was a young man working as a biochemist for the United States government when the war broke out. He worked in this very facility, developing biological weaponry and ways to try and enhance the soldiers that were giving their lives for a country that had become distraught with power and pride. When countries started firing nuclear weapons at each other he and the rest of his colleagues brought their families down into the bunker for protection and thus survived the destruction of everything above ground."
Dr. Wells walked back over to the generator and moved the dials again until the vibrations through her body grew to be prickling sensations, "He had a dream to rebuild society in the way it should've been, without all of the corruption, the war, the greed, the poverty, and the singular powers who killed on whim for their own personal gain in wealth. So he began experimenting. He taught my father and they both taught me everything I know. My grandfather died when I was young and I promised him that I would continue on with his work; and I have, I've made it better and I finally have a chance to give the human race a fresh start."
"Some of our colleagues, however, didn't understand what we were trying to do. They thought like those fools in Mount Weather, that's why my grandfather cut communications off with them early. They were focused on the short term and not the larger picture that was in play, and there was no room in the utopia he was creating for the selfish acts of small mindedness. So he did what had to be done."
He stepped back up to her, "You know all about that don't you, Commander, doing what needs to be done for the survival of not just a few, but for the best and many to get to the future. To rebuild, to thrive you need to start at the most basic level. Genes. That's why I need you, I need your genetic code and the sooner you become willing to accept and participate in the restoration of the future the sooner this will stop."
With the last word he twisted the dial further and the prickling vibrations became full electric currents racing through her hypersensitive body. Every nerve ending, pain receptor, muscle, and bone were on fire within her but she refused to scream against the pain. It lasted for what seemed like a very long time, but in fact it only lasted for a few seconds. "I will make you scream, Lexa." he said as he removed some clips attached to cables from the generator and attached them to the chains that held her wrists and ankles.
"Your chains are made out of a silver composite. Do you know silver does, Commander," he didn't wait for a response, "It's an incredibly useful conductor of both electricity and heat and should add a bit more to your experience here."
With the clips firmly in place the doctor turned the dial of the generator off and on again and again; the agonizing pain radiated through her body for but a few more seconds. She could feel her muscles contracting involuntarily, freezing at certain points before releasing their tension. It was nearly impossible to breathe, but still she did not scream.
When he stopped the electroshocks, Lexa's entire body twitched and trembled with painful aftershocks. "What do you say, Commander?"
Lexa met his gaze with a glare of her own and growled a breathless, "Fuck you."
Another smug smile graced his face as he turned the dial even higher and let it last a little longer before stopping it; Lexa could feel her heartbeat becoming scattered and erratic. He stepped up closer to her, "I will do this as long as I have too until you are broken."
"You will never break me." She said with a smile of her own.
"We'll see about that."
As the shocks grew in intensity and timespan, Lexa could feel the silver around her wrists and ankles begin to burn her flesh. Her entire body was heating up and she was losing control of her muscles, but her glower never left him.
"I will give you credit for your determination and resilience, Lexa, but let's see how much you can actually take."
The doctor adjusted the generator once more before turning a dial and sending a massive electric current coursing through her body and with it she lost all control.
The scream that escaped her throat was bloodcurdling, but it only lasted a moment before it suddenly stopped and her entire body went slack and deathly quiet.
"Lexa!" Clarke screamed as the Commander's body went limp while the blonde was ferociously fighting the chains that held her in place.
Dr. Wells gave a frustrated sigh and turned the machine off before motioning to Emerson who gave him a large syringe. With a few strides he was in front of her and pushed her head back to expose her chest before sticking the syringe directly into her heart and pumping it with adrenaline.
Within a moment, Lexa was heaving a large breath and coughing roughly as her body came back to life. "Welcome back, Commander," Wells said with a satisfied smirk settling on his lips, "I told you I would make you scream."
Lexa's eyes were dilated with the drug that filled her veins, but not even death would break her into submission, "I wouldn't celebrate too soon, you haven't broken me yet."
The smirk evaporated from his face at her words and a dark expression replaced it. "I didn't want to do this, Lexa. I wanted this to be your reward for your compliance, but with the revelation of your relationship with Ms. Griffin, I feel as if this might be the piece I've been looking for."
He turned and gave a nod to Myra who swiftly left with a turn of her heel.
When the door opened next and Myra returned she was not alone. The young woman who had tended to Clarke before the trial began was following her. The woman's hair was now down and feathered around her face in black silky waves and the blue rim of her grey-green eyes seemed even brighter in the light of the room. She was wearing a light colored tank top that showed the rest of the tattoo Clarke had glimpsed before. Looking at it in its entirety, Clarke realized it looked very similar to the one that Lexa wore on her own biceps.
Clarke looked over to Lexa then and she froze as she watched all of the layered walls and masks that Lexa had in place shatter into millions of pieces with one broken whisper.
"Costia?"