Disclaimer: Refer to the Pilot.

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"So...I don't think I understand," Takeo began wearily, out of breath as he and Alessia stood sparring in the training field in front of the Ark. Their fellow fighters attempted to concentrate on their own sparring, but Alessia and Takeo were taking the show. The young Kane dodged a punch at her and slithered her way to the other side of Takeo, who turned around sharply and continued. "You loved Calix and then he died?"

They circled each other as if they were sharks in a tank. Heads were turning while Alessia moved hers into a shrug-like gesture while clarifying, "Not...really. I thought he died." Abruptly, she swiftly kicked forward, but Takeo rolled over the maneuver to the side. She turned to face him. "Turns out, my dad was just being a jackass."

"So he's still alive?"

"Sure. Haven't you seen him around? Or is he still sulking...?"

Takeo dropped a punch, but she grabbed his wrist and instead twisted it over her shoulder and took a knee to his back, forcing him on the ground. Takeo winced and hissed, "What do you mean 'sulking'?"

Alessia sighed. "He's still a little mad at me for falling for Bellamy. That, and I haven't been that nice to him lately."

She was just about to reset their match when Takeo managed to wrap two fingers around her wrist and flipped the switch on them, falling backwards onto her and flipping over quickly to gain the advantage. As he moved to pin her hands, he asked, "Bellamy, the one who has infiltrated the Mountain Men?"

"That's the one."

"This is very complicated." Alessia chuckled as she could hear the confusion in his sigh. At the distraction, she broke free of one of his legs that had kept her on the ground and bent her knee to kick him in the thigh, lowering his defenses enough so she could flip him onto his back and stand up, getting away from the tricky situation that was begging for a stalemate.

"Complicated? No, I thought it was fun." She gave him a bitter smile while he brought himself up to the floor and Alessia held out her fists in front of her face. At this point in their match, almost all of the other Grounders and Guard members were looking at them for an example. A few hits were thrown before Takeo spoke, half-chuckle, half out of breath.

"So who did you choose?"

"Excuse me?"

"Who did you choose, Skaigada?" He grabbed her arm and whipped her around so that her back was to his chest and his arm was enclosed around her throat. Her fingers ached to keep his arm from smothering her airway and barely managed to choke out her confused reply.

"Choose? Why does there have to be a choice?" Finally managing the upper hand, she decided to give the other people watching them a real show. Bending her back, she smoothly flipped Takeo so hard onto the ground that he landed with a concerning thud, unable to continue their match. She was concerned for his safety, but she knew she didn't hurt him too bad. He would probably be sore in the morning, though. Everyone around them clapped for Skaigada before she extended a hand to him as a kind gesture, but he instead swept his foot back and caused her to fall to the floor on her ass. Alessia frowned. "Should've seen that coming."

"You should have. That was good, though." As the crowd began to disperse in order to continue themselves, Alessia lifted herself from the ground as Takeo went back onto their original topic. "There has to be a choice, Skaigada. Are you telling me that you haven't told either one of these poor boys who you love?"

Alessia rolled her eyes. "What, like it's physically impossible for me to love both of them? I didn't think I had to tattoo some guy's name on my ass to be in a relationship." She turned to look at Takeo seriously. "I can love more than one person at a time. I don't understand what's so strange about that."

He lifted himself onto his elbows with a scowl at her. "Haven't you considered that it may be a little selfish of you?"

"I know that. But isn't it selfish for me to have to 'choose' or whatever?"

"I think the term you're looking for is unfair, not selfish."

"Well I don't agree." She lifted herself up from the ground and wiped some of the dirt off her pants. Takeo followed suit, standing up to level with her. He crossed his arms and shrugged.

"Suit yourself, Skaigada. But you should consider telling them how you feel. You can't hold on to them forever."

"Thanks for the words, oh Wise One. I'll take it under consideration, then." Just as Takeo opened his mouth to say something to refute her snarky tone towards him, he was interrupted when Clarke came up behind Alessia and grabbed her arm softly.

"Hey, Alessia, can I talk to you?"

Alessia flinched away from her friend's touch slightly, but with a look thrown towards Takeo to say that she would come back, she went off with Clarke in another direction. Alesia looked at her and nodded.

"What's wrong? Shouldn't you be heading out to go to Tondc soon?" There was a bitterness that Clarke could detect in her voice, but she decided not to care. At that particular moment, whatever was going on between them in light of their differences didn't matter. There was one thing they still had in common that could keep them on track.

"I was, but I'm not going anymore." Alessia cocked an eyebrow worriedly. "I just talked to Bellamy. Something's happening to our people in Mount Weather. They're taking them somewhere, most likely to cages like the ones where we found Anya."

Alessia's eyes widened, and no longer was there a sassiness in her tone towards Clarke. "Shit. What are we going to do? What is Bellamy going to do?"

"I told him to find them. But we still need to focus on the acid fog..."

"One thing at a time, Clarke."

"I know." The blonde crossed her arms. "And like I said, I'm not going to Tondc anymore. I'm going to stay here to make sure that Bellamy finds them and I'm going to help him get them out."

Before she could say what she wanted to, Alessia nodded her head immediately and agreed. "Great. I'll help you. I actually haven't spoken to him since he radioed in, we keep missing each other—"

"No, Alessia. I don't need you here, I need you there." Clarke reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her from going in the direction of the Ark to meet Raven in the mechanics room where the radio was. The teenager turned back and waited, confused. "Look, I asked Kane to go...but even though I know Lexa trusts him, I need you to represent me. I know you don't agree with my methods, but I know that you want Bellamy out of that mountain more than anyone. And I know that you also agree with my alliance with the Grounders more than anyone..."

"Let's not push it." Alessia gritted her teeth. She understood what purpose it served Clarke, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She was indifferent with a step closer to the weary side, if anything.

Clarke sighed. "Lexa will protect you. I made sure of it." Seeing Alessia's eyes narrow, Clarke quickly added, "Not that you need...protection or anything, I'm just saying...she's got your back if you need it. You can take Takeo, too."

Alessia stood quietly for a moment, but Clarke could see the agreement on her face and smiled slightly before walking away. Kane frowned at her as she left and muttered under her breath, "Gee, how generous of you, Clarke, to allow me to take a friend."

With a hard shake of her head, desperate to rid the anger she felt towards Clarke, Alessia turned back to Takeo who was sharpening a few arrows on a log. She felt bad that she was turning against Clarke lately, but on the other hand, she felt as if she were being almost too forgiving. Clarke killed Finn. Clarke made a deal with the Grounders that could put them all in danger. Clarke sent Bellamy to Mount Weather. Clarke was making the decisions that she had once forced Alessia to make, and some of them she didn't agree with, but what did it matter? Clarke and Lexa share a bond that no one else could recreate, and because of that bond, Clarke became the spokeswoman for all Sky People. It was hardly fair.

"You up for a trip to Tondc?" Alessia asked as she approached Takeo, who looked up from his arrow-whittling to listen to her question. He cocked an eyebrow.

"Your friend Clarke was supposed to attend that."

"Change of plans. My father and I are going in her place, I guess. You coming?"

Takeo opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, he stopped as his eyes came across something that interested him. Alessia was about to turn and look at what he was staring at with a suspiciously triumphant smile, but before she could, Takeo quickly brought her attention back to him by rushing out quickly, "You know, Skaigada...I am not allowed to leave the camp without Indra's orders."

"Okay but—"

"Mercer!" Takeo shouted suddenly, and before Alessia realized what was happening, Takeo lifted himself from the bench and beckoned Calix to them. Alessia kept her back turned, an anger rising in her chest. Son of a bitch.

"Morning, Takeo." Calix smiled at him carefully before Alessia turned around, a forced smile on her lips. Calix stiffened and nodded to her. "Hey, Les."

He could hear her half-snarl out of her mouth, and she knew he had called her that on purpose. She reminded herself not to be angry, but it was starting to become very difficult to deal with. She didn't know how much longer she could take Calix's bitterness without exploding to him. Instead of directing her anger towards Calix, however, she decided to take it out on someone else, someone far more deserving.

"Takeo," Alessia said through her teeth. He smiled at her innocently. "You didn't tell me you knew Calix."

"Oh, I must've forgotten to mention." Takeo shrugged while she threw darts at his eyes. He turned to Calix. "Anyways, Skaigada has informed me that she must take Clarke's place at Tondc later today. She asked me to go with her, but I'm afraid I can't leave without getting permission from Indra, and I don't think that's possible right now. Maybe you would be willing to go with her, Mercer?"

Before Calix could answer, Alessia stepped in. "Takeo, it's fine. Kane's probably gonna grab one of his lapdogs anyway—"

"That lapdog would be me," Calix interrupted, forcing Alessia to turn his attention to her. He shrugged. "He just told me we were heading out a few minutes ago so...I'm going anyways." Calix nodded to her cautiously. "I'll meet you at the front gate in ten. Bye, Takeo."

"See you, Mercer." When he was gone, Takeo felt a sharp sting on his arm and looked back at Alessia, who had just finished taking a hand to his shoulder, most likely living a sharp red handprint to accompany the big purple bruise he would have on his tailbone from the fall earlier. Takeo hissed. "What was that for?"

"Meddling in my life! What was the point in you asking him to come with me? I thought I made the whole 'I'm not choosing' thing clear!"

Takeo crossed his arms. "You can say it for centuries, Skaigada, but that doesn't make it right. Going to Tondc with Calix is the best opportunity you'll get to speak to him about your situation."

"What situation?! I don't have a situation!"

"Have you decided whether you prefer to be with Bellamy or Calix?"

"I told you, I don't need to decide!" At this point, she was frustrated so badly that she could feel the heat rising to her cheeks which caused her skin to inevitably turn a tomato-like shade. She'd only ever turned that way when she was lying, when she realized that someone else was right and that she was wrong. It was annoying, but it happened. And the second it did, she relaxed and watched as Takeo's smile grew, along with his ego. "You know what, we're no longer friends."

He chuckled. "That's very unfair, Skaigada."

"Unfair my ass! No one cares, Takeo!" she shouted as she stormed off to grab her gun and meet her father and Calix at the gate. After two or three minutes had gone by, she was still frustrated, but having the gun in her hand was almost soothing to her. Her thoughts about Takeo managed to escape her mind for a good five minutes, but when she saw Calix and her father conversing at the gate with the riders that were to take them to Tondc, she suddenly felt very unsettled. Takeo was right, and she hated it. Damn morals.

"Alessia, what are you doing here?" Kane asked as she approached them, gun strapped on her shoulder ready to move out. Calix avoided her eyes and she let herself look at him only for a moment before clearing her throat and turning to her father.

"Clarke asked me to come, too. Said something about understanding her more than anyone else." Alessia shrugged. "I said I'd go."

Kane nodded. "I'm glad you are. It'll get you out for a while."

"Hmm. And away from the forbidden radio, right?" she threw sourly. Her father opened his mouth to reply, but she shook her head and moved on. "Come on. We better get moving if we want to make it there on time."

Without waiting for her father's approval, Alessia walked in between her father and her ex-boyfriend and moved into the forest, two Grounder Riders on either side of her, sent with them by Lexa to accompany whoever was attending Tondc's peace meeting. She knew Kane and Calix would follow her, but she figured the more space there was between them, the better things would be for everyone.

Bellamy had never really been claustrophobic. He wouldn't classify himself as one, but in one particular moment, he was. As the warrior inched through the small tunnel vents of Mount Weather, he could feel the signs. The tightness in his chest. The sweat on his brow. The squeeze in his breath. Regardless, he pushed the tiny feeling out of his mind and instead focused on the voices he could hear through the echoes of the vent, and a more important one that was in his ear.

"Okay, so tell us where you're at now." Raven demanded. Bellamy stopped himself at the vent, looking both left and right realizing there were two different options he could take.

"I'm at an intersection. Which way?"

Cautiously, he crawled forward and waited for Raven's response. Instead of Raven, however, it was Clarke who spoke to him.

"Bellamy, we think you're close. The lab should be up ahead."

But as he crawled on his hands and knees, he realized—there wasn't just two different routes that he could take. No, there were several, perhaps six or more passageways through the vents that led to different places. He swallowed thickly.

"Any chance you could be more specific?" Radio silence. They were just as confused as he was. As he could feel the sweat from his brow drip onto the vent underneath him, he heard something. A drill? Some sort of other power tool? Regardless, it was his best bet. He sighed. "Never mind. I got this."

Clarke and Raven could hear the whirring over the radio as Bellamy crawled through the air vents as silently as he could, getting closer and closer to whatever was making the whirring noise. He was sure that Clarke and Raven could hear it through the radio, so he didn't have to say anything. As he came up to a vent that opened his vision to the room inside, he realized he would have to keep his speaking to a minimum.

"Is that a drill?" Raven asked her blonde friend under her breath as they both listened to the noise Bellamy had stumbled upon. Clarke suddenly realized what it could be used for. Suddenly, she knew what was going on. Her voice was but a whisper.

"Bone marrow extraction."

Bellamy stared into the several slits that let him see into the room, and his eyes widened to the size of the moon. One of his friends, lying on a table with blood from his eyes, was subject to the powerful doctor who stuck a needle into his hip and extracted whatever it was that she needed.

The doctor turned on her heel and walked over to the other side of the room, but the acoustics were in their favor. Bellamy could hear every word she was saying, which meant that Clarke and Raven could as well.

"You ready for the last treatment you'll ever need, lieutenant?"

"You have no idea. I've waited my whole life to breathe fresh air."

Clarke frowned. "That's Emerson."

And then another voice spoke. "Let's get back to this secret army that she claims to have. She tell you anything that might help us find it?" Before anyone could answer, there was a drill that continued in the background, causing whoever had asked the question to become ten times more irritable than he already sounded. "Stop drilling, please!"

The doctor frowned at him. "The window for extraction after death is incredibly short."

"I only need a minute."

"No, Sir. Nothing about the army," Emerson continued. "She did say she was coming for you. And that if we let her people go, she'll let our people live."

The other man scoffed. "Well, it's a little late for that."

"I'm sorry I failed, Sir."

"No, it's okay. We'll finish the job tonight. Whitman just radioed in. Apparently there's a War Council meeting happening tonight in one of their villages and all their leaders are gonna be there."

"Sir, I feel good. Let me take a team out, support Whitman—"

"No...he has less chance of being spotted if he's alone."

"Sir, Whitman's good, but he can't take out that many targets alone."

"Which is why we're gonna use a missile. This time, we're not gonna miss."

Bellamy didn't say a word. Once everyone had cleared out of the room and there was nothing else to get from being in the vents, Bellamy quickly turned back the way he came and made his way to the entrance of the vents. When he settled down on solid ground, he touched the earpiece in his ear and sighed nervously.

"Please tell me you heard all that."

"We heard it," Clarke said under her breath into the radio. At the station, Raven came up extremely close to Clarke, panic in her lungs.

"We have to warn them!"

"Did Kane take a radio?" Clarke asked, but Raven shook her head, still panicking.

"No. This is the only unjammed frequency. We have to keep it open for Bellamy."

Clarke reached forward and grabbed the radio and spoke into it for Bellamy to hear. "If I leave now, I can make it in time."

"In time to be blown up, you mean!"

"When I get back, I wanna know our friends are safe and the acid fog is down. Can you handle that?" Clarke commanded, as if her going into the ring of fire was a day trip. Raven stared at her for a moment, maybe a moment too long, but finally nodded.

"Yeah, we can handle it. Go."

"Clarke, wait!" Bellamy stopped her, pausing in his steps as he waited for their attention. "Octavia was in Tondc when I left. Is she, um...?"

Clarke didn't hesitate. "She's here. She's safe."

"Okay. Good." He waited for a moment, and then asked, "And Alessia? She's with you?"

Raven's eyes widened as Clarke shut her eyes tight and nodded. "Yes. She's here too. She's fine."

Clarke could feel her chest tighten with guilt as Bellamy let out a relieved sigh and nodded to himself. She heard him through the radio quietly. "You be safe, too."

"I will."

When she turned off the radio, Raven widened her eyes at Clarke and looked at her disappointedly. "Octavia and Alessia are both in Tondc for the meeting. Why did you lie?"

"Bellamy can't be distracted. It helps no one."

"Hey!" Raven called out as Clarke rushed to leave the station. Clarke turned around, partially irritated because she didn't have time to rationalize with Raven. But instead, Raven just pulled her into a quick hug, which had caught Clarke extremely by surprise, considering what had happened with Finn and its aftermath. When Raven pulled away, Clarke could see her eyes swell and Raven tried to fight it. "Don't get blown up."

Clarke said nothing, she just nodded. Two seconds later, she was gone, Raven turned back to the radio to finish what Clarke had started.

In spite of the fact that weapons were 'not allowed' in Tondc, Alessia felt anything but safe in the village. Weapons didn't matter when you had more than a hundred Grounders who could band together and turn against them. Fists were enough. She felt uneasy being in Tondc, probably because the last time she was there, Bellamy had been tortured because they believed that she had attempted to poison the Commander. This very detail was first addressed when Alessia, Kane, and Calix first approached the Commander at her post.

"Commander," Kane began respectfully, bowing his head. Calix did the same, and although Alessia did so, it was half-assed at best. When they all looked up, Lexa was staring at them with a frown situated on her lips.

"Where's Clarke?"

"She sends her apologies, she cannot make it." Alessia was surprised. She'd never seen her father so...diplomatic before. "We have been sent here in her place instead. I hope that's okay."

Lexa seemed to waver. Her eyes moved from Kane to Calix, and then settled upon Alessia, who looked extremely pissed off. Then again, wasn't that always her face. Lexa stiffened and walked two steps to her right to come face-to-face with the brunette-haired Kane.

"Alessia Kane," she welcomed. Alessia forced a begrudging smile. "I realize what happened to your protector here last time was out of line. I offer a sincere apology."

Strange, Alessia thought, but she could tell that her father was giving her an ice glare telling her to take the fucking apology and be as diplomatic as he was. She hated it, but she forced out of her mouth, "Apology accepted. No hard feelings."

"Clarke sent you?"

"Yes. My father, too." Alessia narrowed her eyes at the Commander. "Although she wanted me to remind you how important I am to her and our cause."

Lexa stared at Alessia with the same amount of power in her eyes. "I see. Well, I can assure you that you will be protected here." She turned out towards Calix and Kane. "You all will. Thank you for joining us. Although I would be lying if I said that I am not hoping Clarke would make an appearance. I feel it is in the best interest of your people for her to interact with the twelve clans."

Alessia scoffed. "Well, everything doesn't always work out the way we want it to."

Lexa turned back at her and cocked her head for a moment before nodding respectfully. "Indeed, it doesn't."

With the painful welcoming out of the way, Alessia was permitted to disperse from the crowd, although Kane had chosen to stay by the Commander's side. While she was around, she talked to Octavia for a little, to make sure that she was okay standing along Indra's side, who had accepted her as a "Second" ever since her stunt at camp. Lincoln still hadn't made contact, and Octavia was getting worried (even though she didn't explicitly say so).

A while later, she had caught up to her dad when she found that Clarke strolled into the village, an alarmed look on her face. Alessia was confused; she thought that Bellamy needed her on the radio more than they needed her at Tondc. Lexa was a little bitter once Clarke walked up to her.

"Clarke of the Sky People has honored us with her presence."

"I'm sorry I'm late, Commander," Clarke apologized. Kane interrupted.

"You made good time. I assume the kids at Mount Weather are okay?"

"For now." She nodded to him and then turned to Lexa urgently. "Can we talk in private?"

Lexa, realizing the distress on Clarke's face, nodded and turned her body to where they could speak. "Yes. This way."

"Clarke." Alessia stopped her friend as she moved with Lexa, and Clarke looked up at her with blank eyes. She knotted her eyebrows. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

Clarke opened her mouth to say something, but she realized she couldn't. She looked around at all the people around them and realized that if she said something it would cause a panic. And she had to talk to Lexa first. Alessia waited, but Clarke eventually shook her head.

"Yeah, everything's fine." With that said, she was released and walked off in the direction that Lexa had gone and left Alessia concerned, but at ease. Clarke raised a sigh deep in her chest, knowing that she should've said something. But instead, she walked on.

Clarke and Lexa were gone for such a long time that Alessia decided not to wait. The politics of Tondc began to bother her, so she decided to instead go on patrol outside the perimeter. It was frowned upon by her father, but she couldn't give two shits less about what he thought. As she weaved in and out cautiously though the forest to make sure that the village below was safe, she had an odd feeling that she was not alone. Yet, every time she turned, she saw no one—not in the trees, not on ground, not in the bushes. But the feeling grew stronger with every passing second until, in a last-ditch effort, she disappeared behind a tree and waited for her target (if there was one) to show itself. Suddenly, she saw someone come up from behind her, looking lost and confused. The gun in her hand immediately moved into position, pointing at the intruder's back.

"Drop your weapon," she warned, but whoever had been following her did not. Instead, he turned around quickly, angering Alessia, but right as her finger ached to squeeze the trigger, through the darkness of the night, she saw that it was Calix. Alessia scowled and set her gun down. "Calix, what the fuck are you doing following me? I could've killed you."

"Well that would've been nice for you, I'm sure." He commented snidely before crossing his arms. "Look, Kane told me to come out here with you."

She looked at him, annoyed. "And that translates to you creepily following me? For the record, I don't need protection." Alessia waved the gun as if it were a reminder of her awesomeness. "Perfect shot."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Les."

Alessia shuddered, and she could see it made him extremely happy. "Damn it, Calix! Don't call me that!"

"Call you what, Les?"

"You're being annoying. You know I hate annoying people."

"And that would be any different than the way you normally feel about me how...?"

"Oh, come on. I don't hate you. You know that." She scoffed and rolled her eyes as if it were obvious. Calix cocked an eyebrow at her, and when she realized that he didn't agree, she suddenly turned serious. "Oh...no. You think I hate you? How could you think that?"

Though the darkness masked it, she could see that Calix shifted. Maybe out of relief, maybe out of frustration. "Alessia—"

"I don't hate you." She rushed it quickly, as though if she didn't say it fast enough it would become a lie. "I don't. If anything, it seems like you hate me."

"Alessia..."

"And I can understand why." At this point, she wasn't even paying attention to him. She had put her gun back over her shoulder and was now basically talking to herself with a frustrated, tired tone. It was as if her thoughts turned into words without a filter. "I've ben really terrible to you lately. And I don't really know why. I think it's because there's just...so much going on, with Clarke and Bellamy and my dad and then I—"

Calix reached forward and clasped a hand on Alessia's mouth, preventing her from talking any longer. She stared up at him, and he could see the annoyance in her eyes. Calix frowned. "I'm sorry, but I just had to. It's the only way to get you to stop talking."

She smacked his hand away, but he had practically already pulled it from her mouth. "What the hell are you talking about? I don't talk that much." She paused. "Oh, shit. Yeah, I can see how that was annoying. I was starting to sound like Margot."

He looked at her, confused. "Who?"

"No one." Alessia waved her hand. "An old friend. I'm sorry, I just...I don't know what to say to you anymore. Things have just gotten so out of hand."

"I agree." They both stared at each other for a long while. It was as if this was the first time, in the dim moonlight, that they were actually looking. So much had happened since Calix had made his way back, since she had found out that he was alive. First, there was the problem of finding her. Then, there was her guilt for turning away Bellamy. And after that, Calix's jealousy. And then Finn's death. The list could go on and on with reasons for the thousand and one ways that Alessia and Calix had grown apart. But it was as if, strangely, in that one moment that the pieces had all come back together and it dawned on her: this was the man that she had loved for a year. A man that she had fought for, a man that she would die with. She loved him, she did. Takeo could say what he wanted, but she loved him, even if there was a small 'too' at the end.

Then it got complicated.

They hadn't realized how close they were to it happening until it actually happened. Calix lowered his head and Alessia raised hers and they kissed. It was different from their kiss in the tent, which was more like a kiss that tried to make up for lost time. This was on a completely different realm, a kiss that was meant to heal. Whether it did so or not was up to them, but it was a starting point. Alessia found herself completely distracted by the familiarity of the embrace that she couldn't bear it to pull away. Rather, it was Calix who broke their lip-lock because of the guilty conscience that was eating away at his head.

"I slept with Zoe."

At first, his head leaned against hers, but once the words were out and Alessia had a chance to process them, she pulled away farther, as did he. His heart broke when he saw her face. Rather than getting angry with him, he could see the hurt in her eyes. It was unfair of her, selfish even. He hated it. He couldn't stand it. After watching her with Bellamy, she expected him to be faithful? But even though a hatred burned in his stomach, he realized that this wasn't about Bellamy or Zoe. This wasn't about him sleeping with her at all—

BOOM.

She didn't know how long it had been before she woke. Alessia's hands grasped at the soil beneath her fingers as she slowly lifted herself up from the blowback of whatever it was that had just struck them. Her ears were aching, a high-pitched shrill blaring in her ears with distant sounds of cries. Her eyes, crusted with dirt, adjusted to the sight of the village, Tondc, lying just below her that was aflame, lit with smoke. She coughed from the dirtied air that managed to make its way to her and scrambled onto her knees, attempting to piece whatever she had together. Mount Weather, she assumed, was responsible. Cage. Dante. The catastrophe spelled their names.

And then another name came across her mind. Calix.

She spun around on her knees, searching through the darkness with strained, already hurt eyes to find him. She knew she was injured, but not badly. There was a cut on her head that she could feel was stinging from the wind that carried the smoke to her lungs. In the cloud of dust, she searched for an outline of his body. A few seconds later, she found it.

"Calix," she breathed, but her own voice sounded like she'd been speaking with ear muffs on. Despite the wood chips that dug into her hands, no doubt causing them to scrape her flesh, she trudged through the dirt and found him as he started to stir, coughing from the dust in the air. He was alive. She let out a relieved sigh. "You're okay. You're okay."

"Alessia..." he choked with difficulty inhaling. She shook her head at him and watched as his eyes connected with hers and then slowly led her to the real problem.

The first half of his body was visible, unscathed other than a few minor elbow scratches. Then, at his waist, though it bled in with the darkness, she could see the outline of lumber. And then beside her, she saw the rugged edges of a tree stump. Alessia's breath caught.

"No..."

"I can't feel my legs. I can't..."

The tree that had fallen landed just below his hips, cutting off circulation to the lower part of his body. Alessia looked around, but there was no one. No one to help her lift the tree, no one to help her try to get him out. Every available person fled to the destruction zone, to deal with the wailings that were echoing through the night.

She had no one. And she didn't know what to do.

Thanks for reading! Please review!

RHatch89: Thank you :)

Pluv143000: Thanks! It's alright. Season 3 is going to be one hell of a ride, I'm so excited for it. I'm trying to push through the rest of this season ASAP so that I can get to it because it's gonna be awesome!

Tiffany Blake: Thank you! Here's the update :)

Audrie-13: I'm glad you enjoyed it! Here's the update!

caymanislands: Thank you! Here's the update! Yes, I've been planning Season 3 and I think...well, I think a lot of people are gonna be mad at first but I think it's going to be interesting. We're gonna see Alessia and Bellamy in a whole different way and it's gonna be fun. Thanks for the review!

mgaleaz8: Aw, thanks! I'm glad you enjoy the story!

nerdygirly811: Thank you! You know, I was honestly a little weird about creating a Grounder character because I feel like I don't really know how a Grounder works so it's awkward, but I'm so glad that it's working out. I definitely see a Spacewalker-Robin Hood thing going on, I just have to find a nickname for her to call him :P I realized about halfway through this season that I wanted Clarke and Alessia to have some real issues this time around, just because with everything changing (to Clarke taking more of an active role in the decisions), Alessia had to have some sort of opinion on it. The fact that this bombing has happened and Clarke didn't warn Alessia about it when she explicitly asked will put a definite rift in their relationship, despite everything with Bellamy. The Kanes are just cute in general :) Bellamy and Alessia will have their time, but I've decided to keep them at arms length for a while until Alessia can get her life together first. Anyways, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Guest: Thank you! Haha, my friend always says that too. I'm so glad that everyone's enjoying her addition to the storyline. Thank you so much and here's the update! Hope you enjoyed it!

xXEndlessImaginationXx: Thanks! :)

diakappers: Thank you. If you know me at all, you know that the one thing I worry about when I write my stories is that the main character will be completely unrealistic both as a character and with his/her pairing and it'll just be a trainwreck lol so thank you for that. Haha thanks for reviewing!