Lexa stayed very still as she watched their pursuers pass beneath her perch. She calculated that she and Clarke couldn't outrun them so she decided to mislead them. She and Clarke intentionally left tracks that led into a stream nearby and hoped that it was enough. She saw them deliberate before breaking into two teams to search up and down the stream. She had hoped for that and was glad she was right. She waited a little longer to be sure they were gone before climbing down to return to the spot where she left Clarke. She softly called out to Clarke and saw her emerge from the darkness of the hollow tree she was hiding in.
"How long do we have before they realize they're on a goose chase?" Clarke asked as she acclimatized to the brightness. She saw Lexa's confused look and explained what she meant.
"Not long so we should put as much distance between us and them," Lexa said starting to head the opposite direction.
Clarke checked her gun and confirmed it was loaded. She didn't understand why it didn't work earlier.
"What's wrong with it?" Lexa asked remembering how it failed to protect her earlier.
"I don't know," Clarke admitted. "Maybe it just doesn't work here."
"Use your knife then," Lexa suggested not liking her solitary weapon against their pursuers. She tried to conjure a sword for her but she realized her power didn't allow for her to do so. She wondered why it didn't work but couldn't dwell too long on it when she heard a twig snap. She quickly reacted and threw down their unwanted company. "Why are you pursuing us?" She used her sword to compel him to speak.
"We're not after you," he said clearly displeased he was discovered. "We are after her." He nodded towards Clarke to make it clear.
"Why?" Lexa asked harshly steadily getting angry with him.
"Pramheda said she's here to destroy us," he revealed. "We have to eliminate her to free Pramheda from her confinement behind the gates."
"That wasn't …" Clarke began to say but stopped when she saw Lexa raise a hand to silence her.
"What did she say?" Lexa inquired interested in her adversary's new move.
"She is a threat to the plan," he continued vaguely knowing that Lexa knew what he meant. "We need to protect you from her influence."
Lexa noticed him look behind her and realized he wasn't alone. She turned ready to draw her sword to defend Clarke but found his arm locked around her. She struggled to break free but could only watch as his companion approach in a full run. "Run Clarke!"
.
Clarke hesitated not wanting to leave Lexa behind but seeing the man who overpowered Lexa earlier come charging after her, she took off to evade him. She drew her gun and shot at him hoping to slow him down to no avail. She knew her only choice was to outrun him if she could. Although she was nimble, her disadvantage was that she wasn't familiar with the woods. She didn't see him coming from her blind side and ended up trapped in his choke hold. She tried unsuccessfully to free herself by beating his muscular arm.
"Let her go," Lexa commanded as she ran towards them with sword drawn ready to cut him down.
"You would dare to strike me?" he said quite disappointed in her.
Clarke managed to reach for her knife and stabbed him on his forearm that made him cry out in pain.
Lexa quickly stepped in between the two to protect Clarke from him. She watched with confusion as his forearm shimmered and start to fade.
"What have you done?" he shouted at Clarke.
Clarke looked down at the knife she held and realized what it was. "You have to stop it from progressing further," she implored Lexa knowing what would happen if it kept going.
Lexa gripped her sword firmly and chopped off his forearm to stop his upper arm from disappearing as well. She saw him look fearfully at them before taking off to find his companions.
"Are you alright?" Clarke asked scanning Lexa for any injuries.
"I'm fine," Lexa said putting away her sword. "Explain what just happened." She looked at the knife in Clarke's hand warily.
"This must be the poison pill they were talking about that could destroy A.L.I.E.," Clarke said. She turned the knife handle towards Lexa before offering it to her.
"No, you hang on to it," Lexa said refusing it and showing how much she trusted Clarke.
"But you will need it when A.L.I.E. comes after you," Clarke reasoned wanting her to have an advantage over their enemy.
"We should go before the rest of them catch up," Lexa said leading them away.
Clarke knew she was right and followed quickly but wondered why she refused the weapon. She decided to give Lexa some space before bringing the subject up. It didn't take long when they both found themselves surrounded by their pursuers.
Lexa drew her sword and tried to determine who to strike first since there was no obvious path for escape.
"Command them to stop," Clarke suggested standing close to her. "They will listen to you because you are the commander."
Lexa looked doubtful but tried it. "I order you to stand down!" She saw some of them exchanged looks but continue to approach.
Clarke looked around and worried they were getting too close for comfort.
Lexa sensed Clarke's fear and closed her eyes to draw from her inner strength before raising her hand. When she opened her eyes, she found all of the commanders before her kneeling in deference to her.
.
Lexa was relieved that she was able to subdue the commanders before her including the two they've already encountered just as Clarke said she could. She could tell from their faces that they wanted to know why she was defending Clarke. "She is not the enemy."
"She has a weapon that could destroy us," the maimed commander accused Clarke getting up on his feet.
"She was defending herself just as you think you are by attacking her," Lexa reasoned.
"Are you saying Pramheda is wrong?" one asked.
"She isn't who she claims to be," Lexa claimed. "You must have noticed the difference. Wanheda is here to help me defeat her."
The commanders exchanged looks and conferred in the process. They expressed doubt in her objectivity.
"Wanheda is the reason you were shot," one reminded her.
"And she's the reason I'm still alive," Lexa shot back. She saw some of them agree with her while others still wavered in trusting Clarke.
Clarke watched as the group seemed to be divided and made an attempt to win them over. She drew the knife and watched as all eyes turned to her including Lexa. She knew one wrong move and they would charge at her no matter what Lexa did to stop them so she made a deliberate show that she meant no harm to any of them. She held the knife gently with two fingers and offered it to Lexa again.
Lexa hesitated but then understood the gesture and accepted it. "Doesn't this prove that Wanheda is not here to harm us?" She turned and addressed the others then saw them all won over by the act.
"What should we do now?" the commander who restrained Lexa asked.
"Make sure that A.L.I.E. stays within the walls of her compound," Lexa ordered. "She will use your weaknesses against you," she warned as well.
"It might help if they go in pairs," Clarke suggested remembering how she was able to snap Lexa out of A.L.I.E.'s hold on her.
Lexa nodded her approval of that plan and watched them head off in pairs. She then turned to Clarke and gave her a quick smile before they headed off to their destination.
.
Lexa led in contemplative silence. She was running possible scenarios in her head to be prepared this time should she encounter A.L.I.E. again. She knew it wouldn't be long before A.L.I.E. figured a way to break free of her confines. Her hope was that the commanders before her would at least buy them some time to reach the mountain top unobstructed and figure a way to render the nuclear missiles inoperable.
"Clarke to Lexa," Clarke called out to her after they've gone on like that for a while.
Lexa turned to look back at Clarke with a questioning look.
"You've been awfully quiet," Clarke pointed out wishing she would start talking again. "Don't you have any lessons for me today?"
Lexa wondered if Clarke was ready to hear what they would be facing knowing that each of her plans led to unacceptable outcomes.
Clarke looked at Lexa intently willing her to share her thoughts. She knew there was more to what Lexa had already revealed to her about A.L.I.E.'s plan but gave her time to think about it.
"Let's set up camp," Lexa said instead. She wasn't ready and would prefer to redirect Clarke's attention. She quickly gathered kindling for a fire.
Clarke could tell that Lexa needed more space so she decided to give her just that. "Will you let me hunt now?"
Lexa looked up curiously at her. "What do you mean?"
"I think you didn't want me to get hurt hunting so I didn't find anything yesterday," Clarke pointed out knowing for certain that she had the ability to conjure things in their current reality.
Lexa smiled realizing she was right about that. Her concern for Clarke's safety had put constraints that otherwise wouldn't have been there. She nodded as she relaxed the rules in her mind. She still didn't understand enough about it like why it allowed the previous commanders to attack or why guns obviously were ineffective but enough to give Clarke her wish to hunt.
Clarke smiled and walked towards Lexa to claim a knife. "Since my gun is useless here, I need to borrow this." She left without another word.
Lexa was glad for the time alone. She hoped to find alternatives that would at least give her an acceptable solution. She started a fire and stared into it deeply. "You're not alone," she heard a familiar reassuring voice.
.
Clarke waited quietly for any sign of a prey and didn't have to wait long before she spotted a rabbit hopping along. She stayed still so as not to scare it away before making her move.
"We have to get her out of there," a voice interrupted her concentration. "She's in danger and could die in whatever that is at any moment."
"She has Lexa to protect her," another deeper voice said. "Together they can survive this."
Clarke tried to refocus as the voices subsided and saw that her prey had eluded her. She tried to find it again using its tracks and was so intent she hadn't noticed the uneven terrain that she slipped and slid down a small ravine. She felt foolish until she realized that the rabbit had done the same misstep and was right there in front of her. She wasn't going to let it get away again.
Abby paced back and forth further away from Clarke's slumbering form as she wondered what she could say to convince Kane to get Raven and Monty to find a way to free her from the chip. "Lexa has trained for this all her life; Clarke wasn't even aware of it until now. You saw how those people tried to attack her."
"And we just saw Lexa stop them from harming Clarke," Kane reminded her choosing to see the bright side of the encounter they just witnessed. He had followed Abby when she left the computer room to check on Clarke out of obvious concern.
"Lexa can't always be there for her," she continued. She was comforted when she saw that the knife Raven sent protected her but was aghast when she saw her hand it over to Lexa.
"Clarke is quite capable of taking care of herself and she has proven that many times," he reminded her. "I have faith in them; you should, too." He moved to give her a reassuring hug.
.
Lexa tended the fire but looked up when Clarke returned and noted her disheveled look. "What happened?"
"The rabbit and I slipped and slid down a small ravine," Clarke explained.
Lexa stood up and walked over to check for herself that Clarke was alright. She was beginning to regret letting her go off hunting alone.
"I'm alright," Clarke reassured her. "The rabbit, not so much." She handed her kill to Lexa and watched her prepare it quickly. "You make it look so easy."
Lexa smiled and placed the rabbit on a spit over the fire to roast before sitting next to Clarke. "Would you rather I create a meal quicker?"
"No, this is fine," Clarke said resting her head on Lexa's shoulder and reaching for her hand. "When will you tell me what's bothering you?" She had decided enough time had passed and it was time to pry into her private thoughts.
Lexa loved how perceptive Clarke was and already knew she had to tell her something. "Do you think your friends will find a way to change the missile codes in time?"
"I hope so," Clarke said hopefully. "They delivered on the poison pill haven't they?" She thought back to how they had drawn on the ground to send a message to them hoping that they would understand what they were planning to do. She took the knife as a sign that her friends understood what they needed.
Lexa agreed that they must've gotten the point of their drawing and communicating back through the sudden appearance of the weapon. She pulled it out of its holder and offered it back to Clarke.
Clarke lifted her head to look questioningly at Lexa. She didn't understand why Lexa hadn't wanted it even after seeing its power.
"She knows my weakness and I'm afraid I may not be able to protect you from her," Lexa confessed. "I want you to have this to protect yourself."
"What about you?" Clarke asked knowing that she was the real target. "How are you going to defend yourself from her?"
"That's why I have you," Lexa gently teased with a smile to lighten the mood.
Clarke nodded in return and accepted the knife from her. "How long do you think we have before she comes after us?"
"She's already gathering her forces," Lexa guessed correctly. "She is determined to launch those missiles to start her new world."
"Well, we're just as determined to stop her," Clarke declared confidently. She saw Lexa nod in agreement.
.
Clarke stared at the knife in her hand and wondered how such an ordinary weapon could be so powerful. She felt the weight of the responsibility on her shoulders but quickly chided herself for feeling so burdened when Lexa was probably more so. She looked at her sleeping form not too far away and marveled at her calm under pressure. Even with the impending doom, Lexa stayed focus on trying to save their people.
"She wants to rebuild the world by destroying it first," Lexa had said when she revealed what A.L.I.E. was planning to do with the missiles. "She will send the people under her control to bunkers while leaving the rest of our people out in the open to die from the nuclear blast and fallout."
Clarke knew from Lexa's tone that this time there won't be any survivors like there were before. A.L.I.E. clearly learned from her first attempt that she still needed people to not be isolated and obviously didn't want to go dormant again.
"Why doesn't she just use the knife on A.L.I.E.?" a voice asked what she was thinking. Clarke closed her eyes hoping to concentrate and hear the response.
"It's not that simple," Raven replied. "We need access to all of A.L.I.E. to effectively destroy her." She could tell her audience was baffled given the looks on their faces. "Monty and I discovered that she can be in multiple places because she replicates pieces of herself in the chips. She regularly updates them to keep control and if we infect her before that, a piece of her could escape and regenerate somewhere else."
"That must have been how she escaped destruction before," Monty supposed.
"So what's the plan?" Abby asked showing a little frustration that they couldn't just end it then so Clarke would be released and safe back with them.
"We're following Clarke and Lexa's plan," Raven revealed. She hoped that they understood the drawing correctly but seeing how precise it was, she was quite certain they were on the right path.
"Which is?" Abby prompted when Raven was sparse on the details.
"To find the codes for the nuclear missiles, change it but make it look like they haven't been tampered with so A.L.I.E. won't suspect a thing, let her think she's launching them, have her update her remote copies then hit her with the virus," Monty jumped in and started rattling out the things they were going to do.
"How long before you are finished?" Abby asked coming across as impatient.
"We've been working day and night," Raven defended themselves.
"We know you have," Kane assured her giving Abby a quick look to remind her they were all doing their best.
"Of course you are doing the best you can," Abby said in lieu of an apology. "Why don't you two get some rest and start fresh in the morning?" She saw Monty jump at the chance for sleep but Raven was less enthusiastic. "I'm glad Clarke has you helping her." She saw Raven smile weakly to acknowledge she understood that was meant for her.
Clarke opened her eyes feeling more confident and ready to face what lies ahead.