Lexa listened as Clarke related what she had somehow overheard. She was glad that they had succeeded in conveying their plan because they sure could use all the help they can get. "We should get going."
"We'll probably get there quicker if we," Clarke began to say before she heard the neighing sound of horses nearby. She turned and saw two waiting to take them where they needed to go. "Did you read my mind?"
"I can't read your mind Clarke," Lexa stated with amusement. "But I can anticipate your needs."
"What I want is to save our people and get out of here alive," Clarke said taking that opportunity to let Lexa know what she really wanted.
"I know; it's what I want, too," Lexa confirmed. She was rewarded with a hug by Clarke.
"Kiss me," Clarke whispered in her ear. She felt Lexa move to indulge her wish for a moment.
"We should go," Lexa said finally pulling away and turning to mount her horse. She would've wished for the kiss to go on longer but knew time was running out. She had to stay focused if they were going to stand a chance.
Clarke followed her lead and got on her horse confident that they would succeed and beat A.L.I.E. in the end.
"Think you can keep up?" Lexa teased trying to gauge how fast to go.
"The sooner we get there and finish the mission, the sooner we can get out of this place," Clarke replied with a smile accepting the implicit challenge and made her horse start with a gallop.
Lexa gave her horse a quick kick and off she went right behind Clarke.
.
Lexa and Clarke rode almost non-stop until they arrived at what seemed to be the end of the road. Lexa dismounted and peered over the edge of the cliff into the darkness below. She kicked in a rock to test how deep it was but after hearing nothing back for a while, she was quite disappointed that an abyss stood between them and their destination.
"There has to be a way across," Clarke said looking both ways for any signs of a path.
Lexa closed her eyes to try to build a bridge for them to cross over in her mind. It started to materialize in front of her and replicated over the chasm for quite a ways until she felt the strain of the effort give her an excruciating headache. She fell to her knees quite drained and in pain.
Clarke dropped down next to her to help ease her discomfort. She saw Lexa's nose was bleeding and quickly pinched it to stop the flow.
They both watched in silence as the bridge half-formed fell back into the dark pit. It was obvious to them that the gap was too wide for Lexa to finish the task.
"I have to try," Lexa said wanting to give it another shot when she had slightly recovered.
"No! There has to be another way," Clarke said not wanting her to suffer the ordeal again.
Lexa had to admit that she was in no shape to attempt it again.
Clarke could clearly see that Lexa was saddened by her inability to get them closer to the mountain that loomed in the distance. "Why don't we rest here for a while? Something might present itself if we wait."
Lexa was glad Clarke was there to keep her spirits up. It was rare that she got frustrated but right then, she was close to second-guessing herself. She decided it was time to calm herself through meditation. She saw Clarke gave her a nod figuring quickly what she was about to do.
.
Clarke fell asleep as she waited for Lexa to finish meditating. She drifted into a dream that seemed very real. She was with Lexa but then the ground under them rumbled and a rift appeared between them. It grew quickly separating them from each other. "Lexa!"
"She left us," Bellamy had reminded her the night they became the thirteenth clan.
Clarke watched as Lexa turned away from her. "No! Lexa!"
"Clarke!" Lexa called to her and shook her from her sleep. "Clarke, wake up."
Clarke opened her eyes and found a very concerned Lexa hovering over her. She didn't know how she ended up having such a nightmare.
"Are you alright?" Lexa asked moving to cradle Clarke in her arms. "It was just a bad dream." She planted a quick kiss on her temple to calm her down.
"It felt so real," Clarke said vividly remembering what she just dreamt. "You were leaving me again." She revealed sadly.
Lexa realized that A.L.I.E. was probably trying to make Clarke doubt her. "I will always be with you." She took Clarke's hands in hers and studied her face to see if she believed her.
Clarke looked deeply into Lexa's eyes and saw the truth in them. She felt bad for showing even a little doubt in her. "I'm sorry."
Lexa appreciated the apology but had to get them back on track. "I think I may have found a way to get us across but you might not like it."
Clarke followed Lexa and they rode on for a little while before arriving at a precariously hanging rope bridge. "You've got to be kidding." She walked over to test the stability of it and was concerned. "How did you even know this was here?"
"I remembered seeing it on one of the monitors," Lexa explained. "I didn't know the significance before until now."
"So she knows we're here then?" Clarke said worriedly looking around.
"It's possible," Lexa guessed. "But we got here before she could so we have an advantage."
Clarke agreed and looked at the rickety path. "Should we go then?"
Lexa set their horses free before cutting off some excess piece of rope from the bridge. She tied one end around her waist before walking over to Clarke and tying the other end to hers.
"What is this for?" Clarke asked curiously.
"It's so one of us can prevent the other from falling," Lexa said matter-of-factly. She turned to start leading the way across.
"What if we can't stop her?" Clarke asked letting her self-doubt emerge momentarily.
Lexa turned back to give her a quick pep talk. "I've seen what she intends to do; she will turn Polis into dust and kill all of our people. We can't let that happen. We have to try and stop her so our people will stand a chance."
Clarke drew courage and strength from Lexa's words and prepared herself for what awaited them on the other side of the bridge. She stood a little taller and got ready to cross the chasm with Lexa.
"Step where I step," Lexa instructed as she began to take her first step. She tested if the board would carry her weight tentatively before committing to it and taking the next.
.
Clarke carefully watched where Lexa stepped before taking her own. She heard a few boards creak as they went over them but so far they were making good progress across.
"We have a problem," a voice warned suddenly. "Jaha is coming."
Clarke reacted to the warning by looking behind her causing her to lose her footing and slipped. She went down hard and the sudden impact made surrounding planks break sending her through.
Lexa heard the commotion behind her and quickly positioned herself to prevent Clarke from falling further out of reach. "Clarke, are you alright?" She could tell from the tension on the rope that Clarke was dangling below.
Clarke hung on to the rope and felt foolish for causing such a predicament not only for herself but for Lexa.
"Clarke!" Lexa yelled louder unable to see what was going on with her.
"I'm ok," Clarke shouted back trying to steady herself knowing that the swinging could worsen her situation.
"Can you climb up?" Lexa asked trying unsuccessfully to pull her back up on the bridge using the rope tying them together.
Clarke tried to reach for edge of the intact plank to pull herself up but couldn't grab a hold of it. She heard ominous creaking above and worried that more of the planks would give way sending her further away from it.
"Grab my hand," Lexa ordered as her head appeared over the edge. She stretched as far as she could to help Clarke.
Clarke reached up to grab her hand and after a few tries manage to catch it. She managed to get a hold of the plank with Lexa's help and used it to pull herself up. She immediately hugged Lexa once she was safely on the bridge again.
"What happened?" Lexa asked trying to determine where she miscalculated her step.
"Didn't you hear the warning?" Clarke asked. "Jaha is on his way." She wondered if only she heard it.
Lexa looked off to the distance and saw smoke billowing up from where A.L.I.E.'s compound was. "She is trying to come through." She knew it wouldn't be long before A.L.I.E. made her move after seeing them cross the bridge but she had faith that the commanders before her would slow her down.
"What do we do now?" Clarke asked.
"I need you to focus on the steps I take," Lexa instructed her. "Tune out the voices for now until we get to the other side."
"Don't you hear the voices?" Clarke asked worrying that she was being influenced by A.L.I.E. to slow them down.
"You can hear the voices of your friends and mother because they are familiar to you," Lexa explained. "Don't let them distract you."
Clarke nodded in agreement and got on her feet with Lexa's help. She followed in each footstep and before long they were on the other side. She was glad to be on land again even if it was just in the virtual world. She watched as Lexa quickly drew out her sword and cut the ropes of the bridge to prevent anyone else from crossing over.
"There's no going back now," Lexa declared. "Do you still hear the voices?"
Clarke tried to listen for them but only heard silence. She shook her head sadly wondering if that was the last she would hear from the real world.
"You will soon be reunited with them," Lexa assured her seeing her disappointment.
"Does this mean we're on our own now?" Clarke asked.
"I'm sure your friends will find a way to reconnect with us," Lexa said. "Right now we have to stay ahead of A.L.I.E. and whoever she brings along with her."
Clarke was glad for the immediate task they needed to do to keep her mind off of the possibility of losing her connection to the real world.
"What do we do now?" Abby asked guessing that Jaha's intention was to either capture them all or retrieve Lexa and Clarke for A.L.I.E. before the missiles are launched.
"We'll try to slow them down," Octavia said knowing that Lincoln and Quark were already doing just that. She turned to Harper and silently asked her to join them.
"Where are we with the missile codes?" Kane asked Raven and Monty.
"We're close but we need a little more time," Monty said.
"We don't have much time if Jaha is already on his way here," John pointed out. "He won't stop unless we kill him."
Everyone turned towards him quite shocked by the extreme measure he was suggesting.
"You know I'm right," he defended himself. "Even if we stop him, A.L.I.E. will just send others."
"Do what you can to keep him away without killing him," Kane told Octavia. He still felt that they could somehow save him.
.
Lexa was quite pleased with their progress and watched as Clarke slept out of sheer exhaustion. She wished she could summon horses like she did before but even after trying over and over again while they walked, she had to concede that she no longer had that ability.
Clarke stirred in her sleep obviously having a fitful rest. She was obviously unsettled by the day's events.
Lexa watched and tried to calm her with a touch on her shoulder. She was glad when she successfully did before checking the rope she carried. She knew they would need it again when they climbed the mountain and wanted to be sure it would be reliable.
"Thank you," Clarke said startling Lexa slightly.
"For what?" Lexa asked setting the rope aside.
"For being my strength," Clarke said sitting up next to her.
"You are stronger than you think," Lexa reminded her. "I've seen it especially when your people …"
"Our people," Clarke cut her off quickly. "Our people needs me to be strong just like you."
Lexa was glad to hear that from her and know that they were in agreement about their commitment to their people. "We have a long journey tomorrow; get as much rest as you can now."
"You need to do the same," Clarke said. "If the commanders before you are half as good as you, they should be able to keep A.L.I.E. busy for at least a good night's sleep."
Lexa couldn't argue that so she lay down next to Clarke. She pulled away slightly when Clarke turned to give her a kiss. "I thought you didn't want your friends to know about us."
"Maybe it's time they knew if they didn't already," Clarke said claiming her lips for a quick kiss before snuggling next to her to go back to sleep.
Lexa watched Clarke sleep for a bit before drifting off to sleep herself.
.
Clarke woke up with a start and stared directly at a horse's face inches from her own. She moved up and away from it before looking around for Lexa.
"You're awake," Lexa said leading another horse towards her.
"Where did they come from?" Clarke asked standing up and giving the horse near her a quick head rub.
"I don't know," Lexa admitted. "I'm not sure if I or your friends made them come to us."
Clarke knew that she had been trying all the time they were walking and loved her for it. "Maybe both." She didn't know for sure but was glad they now had them to make the travel up the mountain faster.
"We should go," Lexa said getting up on her horse. "Clarke, did you hear me?"
Clarke was slightly distracted because she thought she heard someone else speak. She tried to listen closely but then decided she must have been mistaken. She quickly got on her horse and followed Lexa.
"What do you mean we should go?" Abby asked startled by Bellamy's sudden appearance.
"Jaha is close and we need to get to safety," Bellamy said having broken ranks while his sister and her team kept Jaha engaged in a battle not far away. He wasn't expecting Clarke to also be unconscious when he got to the mansion. He quickly figured out why.
"Where will we go?" Kane asked not sure where it would be safe knowing Jaha was intent on capturing Lexa.
"We could go to the lighthouse," John suggested. "It will also be safe if they don't succeed in stopping A.L.I.E. from launching the missiles."
Abby was surprised he hadn't revealed that sooner. "When were you planning to tell us about this?"
"It's not big enough for all of us," John said unrepentantly. "Besides, I'm not absolutely sure it's safe either because A.L.I.E. controls it."
"I'm sure Raven and Monty can override her," Kane said willing to move to a safer location.
Bellamy picked up Clarke from the bed and started to take her where Murphy led them.
.
Lexa and Clarke raced up the mountain as fast as their horses could take them until they felt the ground shake. Lexa was ahead of Clarke and turned to check on her only to find a rock slide quickly separate the two of them. "Clarke!" She shouted as she steered her horse towards the rubble.
Clarke was thrown off her horse as the rocks came down blocking her path. She could only watch as her horse ran off to safety. Surprisingly she was clear of the debris and was able to get back on her feet. She heard Lexa yell out her name and replied. "I'm alright! Just a little bruised."
Lexa was glad to hear her voice and tried to find a route for her to cross.
"I can climb over," Clarke shouted from her side until she heard someone yell stop.
"Stop!" Raven yelled as she found Bellamy carrying Clarke off. "You have to stop or she will fall and die."
Bellamy turned quite confused but alarmed. "What do you mean?"
Raven quickly showed him the live feed on the tablet Monty had rigged to make the video they were watching portable.
Abby came up behind them and watched Clarke trying to climb over a pile of rocks. "What is she doing?"
"I think she's trying to get to Lexa," Raven said showing the other view.
Bellamy looked skeptical and didn't believe his action could cause that much danger to Clarke.
"Go ahead, move her," Raven challenged him knowing he needed proof. She saw more rocks fall as Bellamy took a few more steps.
"Stop!" Abby ordered restraining him by his shoulder. "She will get buried under those rocks."
Bellamy realized he was wrong and agreed to gently take her back.
"Why don't we take her to the computer room?" Kane suggested. "At least we can fortify that one room instead of the whole mansion from Jaha's attack if he breaks through."
Bellamy liked that idea and took Clarke there while Kane went to get Lexa.