Sorry for the delay in posting, it's been a rough week for me and I have not had time to put everything together. I'll be dropping quite a few chapters today, and over the weekend to get caught up.

I will also be posting a new story, completely AU, it's what I wanted to write before the third season started. I will continue this story through the end of season two, and then will start a new one for season three, which I am about halfway caught up writing! That story will have a higher rating, because if the show won't give me Clexa, I will write it myself!

Hopefully this is something people are still reading, 25 chapters and no reviews! Yikes!

XO

With her usual stoic reserve firm on her face, Lexa stood at the table watching an impassioned Clark answer question after question from her generals. She stood transfixed, an imperceptibly raised eyebrow being the only indication that she was actually listening to anything that was happening around her as ideas were thrown around, all countering Clarks plan. Lexa wasn't sure if they were merely trying to come up with a strategy, or if they were just adamantly opposed to anything the Skaiprisa had to say.

Quint's baritone voice snapped her out of her thoughts, "this argument is a waste of time. It is simple. If they can't breath our air, why not just open the door and be done with it? Let them burn."

Murmurs of agreement from around the room echo his words, "burn them! Burn them!"

Clark shakes her head adamantly, "No, because they have a containment system." She's already explained this point, Lexa realizes. "Multiple airlocks, just like we had on the Ark. Our inside man can shut that down" she emphasizes, bring attention back to her original plan.

"If he gets inside" Quint growls back, rolling his eyes.

Growing tired of the back and forth between them, Lexa speaks up for the first time, voicing a thought that she had rolling around in the back of her mind. "What if we shut it down from the outside?" She turns to Clark, eyebrows raised in expectation. Clark looks at her, surprised by the option. Her brows knit as she thinks through Lexa's question. "You say the dam gives them the power. Lets take that away."

Lexa feels a small flicker of hope at the potential for a new plan to work, she watches Clark mentally process her idea before responding in a softer voice then how she's responded to anyone else in the room, "that dam withstood a nuclear war, Commander. I highly doubt…"

"AGH!" Quint slams both fists on the table in angry frustration, glaring at Clark who rolls her eyes at the gesture. He turns his attention towards Lexa, "all she offers is no!"

Lexa snaps her attention at him, growling his name, "Quint." She simply states, her eyes bearing down the only words that need to be said. Her menacing glare warning him, waiting for him to make his decision. Give me a reason, she begs as a flicker of doubt crosses his face.

Quint stands up slowly, maintaining eye contact for a moment before glancing down. "Apologies, commander", he says bowing his head slightly in a subservient gesture. "But the biggest army we've ever had waits for us to give it a mission. The longer that takes, the more of our people will die inside that mountain."

Lexa's mask is in place, she knows that, but she can't help the flare of desperation that fans across her body at the reminder of those trapped inside the mountain.

"Its the same for all of us" Clark challenges back, breaking her out of her reverie.

Rage flickers behind Quint's eyes at her statement, "We've lost thousands. How many have you lost, girl?" he stares down Clark, his fists balled as he waits for a response. Clark doesn't respond, but Lexa can see her bravado falter for a moment. "She says she has a plan. I say waiting for one man to get inside" Quint continues, shaking his head as he meets her gaze, "is not a very good one."

She stares Quint down, listening intently to his impassioned plea, focusing on keeping her stoic mask on in order to not reveal anything. Off to her side, she hears another general speak up, "I agree with Quint. We have an army, lets use it."

Clark steps in, responding quickly, "we will. After Bellamy lowers their defenses, turns off the acid fog. I don't care how many men you have. If you can't get to your enemy, you can't win."

"You are the enemy" Quint growls out, getting a few nods from generals in the room.

This is getting out of hand, Lexa thinks to herself as she watches Clark flinch at Quints words before stepping up to him, "I'm sorry. Have I done something to offend you?" Her eyes lit with blue fire as she looks up at him.

Quint takes the bait and approaches Clark, while her guard moves closer to protect her. "Yes" he spits out, eyes wide with barely contained rage, "You burned my brother alive in a ring of fire."

Clark's face betrays her for a moment, as she looks around. Inhaling, she steps forward and closes the space between her and Quint, looking up to his eyes. "He shouldn't have attacked my ship" she says in a strong quietly voice.

"You're very brave under the commander's protection, aren't you?" Quint responds, his hand moving towards his dagger slowly, never breaking eye contact with Clark.

"Nou mou" (Enough) Lexa orders, stopping him before he can do something stupid.

Quint after a moments pause keeps his eyes on Clark, "Ai ni nou hon hukop" (I cannot be in an alliance), he breaks eye contact with Clark, turning his attention to Lexa before continuing, "ni kom disha kru" (with these people). He stalks back to his spot, waiting for Lexa to make a decision, ignoring Clark.

Glaring at Quint as he walks back, she waits until he drops his gaze from her before picking up the drawing of the mountain that Clark had drawn for her earlier that day. "Quints right." she says not looking up from the parchment. After a moment she looks up at Clark and narrows her eyes, "waiting for Bellamy is not a plan, its a prayer." She sees Clark bristle slightly at the comment, as if wounded by Lexa's words, "one that is not likely to be answered." she continues, standing with her people in his regard. She needed Clark to fight harder for her plan, to convince her people that it can work. It was necessary, they needed to buy it from Clark, not her. In order for the alliance to move forward, Clark needed to prove herself as a capable commander of the Skaïkru, like she has proven herself as Heda.

Clark swallows hard, keeping her gaze for a moment. She could see the conflict playing out in her eyes. Lexa trusted Clarks instinct just as much as her own, but she couldn't place all her faith in one man. It was reckless and they both knew that. "Excuse me" Clark finally spoke up, breaking eye contact and scanning the room, "I need some air."

She watches as Clark leaves the room, Sgt. Burns following in her wake quietly. Frustrated, she pretends to study the plans for another moment as silence fills the room. After another beat, Quint leaves with his second following close behind him. Having lost any momentum from the meeting, Lexa calls for a brief break, releasing everyone from the room.

She stares down at the table, frustrated at the turn of events. She could listen to the warnings of her generals, bypass Clarks plan and attack the mountain on their own. She could just as easily ignore her generals warnings, push past their concerns and follow Clarks lead, placing the weight of their hopes on one mans ability to climb inside the depths of hell. Neither option was attractive, and the more she searched her mind for an exit strategy that would guarantee freedom for her people, the more frustrated she felt at her lack of options.

After a while, she notices that Clark has not returned and Quint is still missing. A realization hits her like a wall of bricks, a cold clamminess takes hold as her heart begins to pound in her ears. Clark is in trouble, her mind screams at her, demanding she do something about it.

She stands frozen, she has no proof, no indication that this is in fact true; but she feels it with every fiber of her being. "Guards!" she bellows, moving swiftly to the entrance of the room. Three men appear alarmed at the door, hands ready to pull their swords out to protect Lexa. "Search the woods, find me the Skaiprisa!" she orders, running past them and out to the woods "I need her alive!" she warns.

Without Indra or Gustus at her side, there is no one to be her anchor now. No one to stop her from being erratic, no one to remind her of her place or her training. No one to calm her fears and remind her of her role. Her chest tightens as she thinks about the possibility of Quint hurting Clark, about finding her mangled and destroyed body. She was losing control of her people, of her generals. The more she fought to include the sky people, the more her people fought her on it. The more desperate she felt to get them to work together.

She quickly found tracks in the soft mud, Clarks boots, she thought as she tracked them through the mud. "She went this way" she says as she quickens her pace, not pausing to see if anyone follows her.

The sounds of a struggle echoes in the woods, but they are reverberating amongst the canopy and the sound is disorientating as she tries to pin point the location. It feels like an eternity of blind running before she hears Clark scream to her left. Without saying a word, she changes directions and can finally see through some thick green branches, Quint wrestling Clark to the ground.

She isn't sure how she could still be breathing, because the sight of Quint choking Clark causes her heart to jump to her throat and her vision to go a hazy red. Steadying herself, she pulls her dagger out and in one swift motion throws it at Quint, hitting him directly in his forearm, thereby rendering him useless.

Pure adrenaline is pouring through her body as she see's him fall off Clark. She fights the urge to run to her, to pick her up and check her for wounds or damage. Instead, she forces herself to walk, although with purpose, catching up to them just as Clark is picking herself off the ground and pointing her gun at the man.

Makanu pulls his blade out, stopping Quint from retaliating as she walks up to him and pulls her dagger out of his arm, intentionally turning it slightly to cause more pain. He screams in pain at the action, staring up at her in confusion.

"Jomp em op en yu jomp ai op" (Attack her and you attack me) she growls out her answer his confusion with a simple response.

"Thank you." Clark stares back at her breathless.

Stupid girl, Lexa thinks as she looks her over, a tight ball of fear unwinds itself in her stomach at the knowledge of close she came to losing Clark. She doesn't look damaged, no blood and nothing broken, she realizes as her eyes continue to scan Clarks body. Relief washes over her at the welcomed realization, before she notices that Clark is alone and relief is replaced with rage. "Where is your guard?" she snaps out.

Clark glares down at Quint, "he killed her."

Quint is still panting from the pain as he responds, "em ste spichen. Ai gonplei kamp raun em en nou moun" (she lies. My fight is only with her) he adds, sitting up as he stares Clark down.

Disgust filling her mouth, she only wishes she could be the one to end his life for the pain he intended to inflict on Clark, "yu gonplei, ste odon" (Your fight, is over) she informs him. Turning to Clark as a sign of honor, "the kill is yours, Clark" she puts her dagger away and takes a few steps back, giving Clark the necessary room to enact her revenge.

Clark glances down at her gun as Quint stands up, turning his broad body towards her. He does not fight, nor does he argue for his life. She can see Clark fighting internally with what to do. She sees a certain level of pain mixed with confusion on her face. Softening her own features, she tries to encourage her with a simple raising of her eyebrows. If Clark is to survive in this world, she is going to need to harden her heart and deliver hard choices just as she does.

Suddenly, out of the woods comes the most fierce and angry roar. A chill runs down her back as she turns towards the sounds direction. She can hear the trees groaning and snapping in protest as the sound edges closer. Her eyes scanning the green landscape, she tries to gauge how far away it might be, how much time do they have before they are torn to shreds.

Panic fills Clarks voice, "what is that?" she asks in a hushed tone.

Lexa does not stop scanning the trees, just barely making out the shaking movement of the creature in the distance. We can run if we have a distraction, she thinks to herself before answering "pauna" (Gorilla) in nearly a whisper. Perhaps this will give us just enough time to disappear into the trees, she thinks before pulling her sword from behind her back and slashing Quints leg in one swift motion. "RUN!" she screams in a slight panic as black fur breaks through green branches.