Lexa remained defiant when Jaha returned to see her to ask where the box was. She could tell that he had suffered a setback so he was back to get her to help him locate it.
"I only want to use it to restore order," Jaha entreated. "Don't you want that, too?"
Lexa considered her next move and decided to change her tactic. "How can the box do that?" She wanted to learn more about what he knew about it. She saw Jaha seem to consult with an invisible being.
"It contains code that we need to make things work again," he revealed.
"How does that bring order?" she inquired.
"We can rebuild the City of Light," he explained. "You should see the possibilities it brings and how peaceful it is."
Lexa determined he was delusional but wasn't going to confront him about it to keep him talking. "And who will lead the people to this new city?" She saw him hesitate and determined that was his weakness. "Will you be able to?"
Jaha felt arrogant enough that he decided to show her how he was planning to subjugate people. He motioned to Bellamy to release her from the chair and lead her to where they were manufacturing more of the pills. He picked one up and showed it to Lexa. "Soon there will be enough for everyone."
Lexa realized she and Clarke had been so close to uncovering the operation during their tour of Arkadia which is probably why he attacked her unexpectedly. She could still remember the sting of the stun stick on her back and felt her anger rise but she chose to remain calm. "I thought your people believed in voting for your leader."
"The affair with Pike has proven that they can easily change their minds," he pointed out. "I need absolute obedience." He offered a pill to her. "Join me."
.
Clarke woke up with a start and looked around for what may have startled her. She saw Quark standing guard by the cave's entrance and decided it was time to relieve him. "Go get some rest; I'll keep watch."
Quark noticed a movement outside and instinctively went for his sword. He saw Clarke also arm herself.
"Clarke," Lincoln called out revealing himself. Behind him were Kane and Abby.
"Mom," Clarke greeted her when she got close. She prepared herself for a reproach for leaving without telling her but instead was hugged by Abby.
"I'm so glad you're alright," Abby said. "But I thought you went to Polis so what are you doing here?" She was confident in the knowledge that Clarke was safe in Polis when Bellamy had warned them about Jaha's plan. Now she finds her daughter in the forest with them closer to danger than she would like.
"Jaha has Lexa in Arkadia," Clarke told her. "I'm going to get her back."
"It's too dangerous," Kane warned. "And it might be too late." He feared that Lexa would be forced to ingest a pill and become one of A.L.I.E.'s minions.
Clarke thought the same thing but hoped that he hadn't done that and Lexa's secret was still safe.
.
Lexa returned to her cell narrowly avoiding taking the pill that would have surely put her under A.L.I.E.'s control. She sat down and let Bellamy lock her in.
"That was a risky move," he opined. "Why can't you just stay out of his way?"
"If I did that then I wouldn't have learned what he is up to," she said. "Something you obviously missed."
Bellamy was surprised that she would even speak with him. "What makes you think I missed anything?"
"He isn't producing those chips just to control Skaikru," she explained. "He is planning to use them on the twelve clans."
Bellamy realized he miscalculated the extent of Jaha's plan since he thought that the pills were being made to continue controlling only his people. Hearing what Lexa thought expanded his understanding. "I'm surprised you trust me to tell me that."
"Because I know you haven't taken one," she said. "Your blood is still red."
"Hang tight. Give me some time and I'll figure out how to get you out of here," he promised realizing she head-butted him for a reason.
Lexa acknowledged him with a nod. She could see he had one more question.
"How did you know he wouldn't force you to take the pill?"
"Because he is afraid that I would take over as leader."
.
Clarke crouched low next to Octavia and Quark. The three of them made a plan to sneak into Arkadia and rescue Lexa. They arrived very early hoping that the guards were tired from the previous night's watch and everyone else was still asleep. They managed to stealthily enter into one of the less guarded section without incident.
"Where do you think they're keeping her?" Clarke asked with her knife drawn not wanting to use a gun to draw attention to their presence.
Octavia tilted her head towards the location she believed Lexa would be held in. They peeked into each cell until they found the one. Quark stayed outside to keep their escape route clear for them.
Lexa saw them and worried they were in over their heads. "Clarke, what are you doing here?"
"What does it look like?" Clarke asked teasingly. She unlocked her cuffs and helped her up.
"I expected you to talk her out of this," Lexa said addressing Octavia.
"You know her better than that," Octavia replied. "Either I came with her or she'd rescue you herself."
They turned to find Quark with his arms up and backing away from the door. Bellamy had his gun trained at them.
"Bellamy, let us go," Clarke requested walking up to him.
Bellamy reached for his stun stick and offered it to Clarke. He saw her hesitate and worried she wouldn't do it.
Lexa walked over and knocked him unconscious. She motioned for her rescuers to follow her out.
.
Lexa waited with Clarke as Octavia and Quark went ahead to ensure their path out of Arkadia was safe. "Clarke, you shouldn't have done this."
"You can scold me later," Clarke said just glad they were close to escaping. "Right now I just want us as far away from here as possible."
They both saw the all-clear signal and started heading towards the gate when they both saw a familiar object being brought into Arkadia.
"What is the box doing here?" Lexa asked Clarke knowing it was she who took it out of its hiding spot.
"I brought it with me," Clarke admitted. "I didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands. I don't know how it ended up here."
"We have to get it back," Lexa said starting to head towards it.
"No we don't," Clarke said pulling Lexa back. "It's not important because it won't work without you; I also took out the contents and hid them."
Lexa was glad to hear about the proactive measures Clarke took and was willing to abandon the box until they both saw who it was that brought it there. As soon as he saw them, he sounded the alarm and everyone under A.L.I.E.'s control turned to pursue them. "Run!"
Octavia and Quark saw the mob that gave chase and prepared to help Clarke and Lexa over the wall since the gate was no longer an option. Quark got a hold of Lexa when she jumped up but Octavia couldn't reach Clarke. All three tried to reach her to no avail so Lexa jumped back down to give her a boost. With the swarm getting closer, Lexa looked up and signaled to Quark before facing the crowd to buy them time to escape.
"No!" Clarke yelled wanting to follow but was held back by Quark who pulled her off the wall to safety on the other side of it. "Let me go!" She struggled to get back on her feet quickly to run back in.
"We have to go," Octavia said as she landed beside them. "They'll be here soon."
Clarke ignored her and pushed past her to run towards the gate again only to be picked up by Quark and slung over his shoulder as he ran the opposite direction away from Arkadia.
Octavia followed making sure that no one followed them as they made their escape. She could see that Clarke wasn't pleased and trying to reach for her weapons to make Quark stop.
.
Clarke pounded on Quark's back all the way back to the cave. She couldn't reach any of her weapons so resorted to the ineffective method of expressing her displeasure with him as best she could. She didn't care how ridiculous she looked or that her hands were starting to hurt.
Quark set her down gently when they were back and prepared for the worse of Clarke's anger.
Clarke initially thought her rage was spent but as soon as her feet hit the ground, she reached for her gun and aimed it at him. "Why?" She had already figured out that he was following Lexa's order so she demanded to know that much.
"The commander will never forgive me if anything happened to you," he explained hoping it was enough.
"You're supposed to follow my orders! I will never forgive you if anything happens to her." she seethed.
"Clarke, what's going on?" Abby asked as she and Kane approached the three of them. She tried to understand what had happened since they found out they had left without telling anyone.
"Clarke, it's not his fault," Octavia tried to defend his action. "We had no other choice." She knew it could have gone very wrong quickly if they hadn't left.
Clarke was visibly struggling with herself on what she wanted and what was the right thing. She eventually lowered her gun and stormed off wanting to be alone.
Abby was about to follow when Octavia pulled her back.
"She needs time to clear her head," Octavia noted. "And you, I think you should stay out of her sight for a while." She addressed Quark who obviously didn't want to but agreed.
Clarke got to a small clearing and fell to her knees. She felt like she could hardly breathe as she tried to accept that she had failed to rescue Lexa.
.
Lexa found herself back in the cell she had just left and Jaha hovering over her with a smug smile as she was restrained once again.
"You can't fight the inevitable," he informed her signaling for the box to be brought in. "You can't stop progress."
"What you call progress I see as suppression," she pointed out.
Jaha looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before looking at the box. "Someday you'll thank me for this." He took her free hand and placed it on the box to activate it.
Lexa strained to pull her hand off it but eventually it was placed over the biometric scanner. To her surprise, it didn't launch the hologram as expected.
Jaha turned to look at the invisible being trying to determine his next move. He tried again and realized it would not help any.
Lexa realized that somehow the box wasn't only tuned to her handprint but her will. She smiled to herself and silently thanked Pramheda for that deliberate design. What happened next took her by surprise and she had no way to avoid or counter it.
.
Clarke returned to the cave calmer than when she left it earlier. She had resolved to do better on their next attempt to get Lexa back. She found her friends and mom packing up ready to leave.
"Ready to go?" Octavia asked when she noticed her. "I'm surprised Jaha hasn't sent anyone yet but it's better to get going before they come for us."
Clarke agreed but had to go back into the cave to retrieve something. She made it a point that no one followed her.
"Is she back yet?" Lincoln asked when he returned with Quark. They had scouted ahead for a new place and found one that was easy to defend.
Octavia nodded and gave Quark a quick push to start hiking back to their new camp to get it started. "You can bring them along when they're ready." She gave Lincoln a quick hug before leaving.
"I'm worried," Abby said as she worked with Kane to put the last of their supplies into the vehicle. "She's putting herself in danger trying to save Lexa. We don't even know if she's one of them yet."
"She's not. Besides, we need her if we want to stand a chance against A.L.I.E.," Clarke reminded her.
"Does she even know how to fight A.L.I.E.?" Abby ventured to ask.
"None of us do," Clarke replied. "We just have to work together to find out."
"In that case, remember that we need to work together to get her out of there the next time you try," Kane noted. "Maybe we'll do better as a team."
"I'm sorry," Clarke admitted her mistake. "I just wanted her out of there before anything happens to her. If A.L.I.E. takes control of her, we don't stand a chance against the other twelve clans."
Abby gave her a hug knowing how frightening that thought was. She mouthed a thanks to Kane.
"We should go," Clarke announced and looked around at her friends.
"What about …" Monty began to say.
"He's one of them now," Clarke told them sadly. "I want everyone to cut yourselves to prove that you're not one of them." She watched as each one proved that they were A.L.I.E.-free. With that out of the way, they started to head to their new camp.