Lexa POV

We sat there in stunned silence, none of us knowing what to say. I felt guilt and anger over what had just happened. For the first time, any doubt that I had over what happened 8 years ago, was gone. She just showed me that she didn't have to kill anyone if she really wanted to take over as de Pakstoka. All she needed to do was show us her dominance and I would've handed it to her.

Sephy came back into the room and sat down in an armchair and said, "She's staying for now."

"Oh, thank god," Dani exclaimed and slumped back into the couch.

"Is she still planning on doing it tomorrow," Clarke asked.

Sephy looked at Clarke and in all seriousness, "Yes, she is. She only told y'all what she was planning because she wants your support by being there."

"But it's too risky," I said. "She could die and bring the entire bunker down, killing over a hundred humans and Apex."

"She knows this, but she is confident in what Mother Earth told her. She can't think in any other way. By you not supporting her, you're hurting her and she'll lose confidence in herself."

"How can we support something like this?"

"How can you not? She's putting her life on the line again to save the pack. To save the humans. She's been through hell and back a second time and she's not running away from doing what needs to be done," Sephy said angrily.

"You just said why we can't support this," Scarlett said. "She's just been through hell and back. She needs more time to recover."

"We don't have time, Scarlett! That's the point. We don't have until Spring to figure this shit out. We have maybe two weeks to keep the Ice Pack out. Then we can hash out the real reason why she's here."

"Saving the humans," Clarke said quietly.

"Yes," she said nodding. "Saving the humans. If you won't let her help, she'll leave and everything we've been working towards becomes ten times harder. We'll probably fail and will have to kill the humans that aren't paired with the Apex. And Ice Pack will be on our front doorstep with the Coalition behind them."

"So, what do we do?"

"You go tomorrow and show her that you believe in her. It's as simple as that. You don't show, then she knows how you feel and she'll leave."

"How we feel," I said, incredulously. "We love her and don't want to lose her."

"That's not enough for her. She's died twice. Nearly died a third time. Lost her mind. And each time, she's wanted to stay alive and finish this. Now you want to deny her the chance at a solution that may end up being our only choice. Isn't that selfish?"

"How can you say that," Dani demanded. "We just want to keep her safe."

"By keeping her away from the things that only she's capable of doing," Sephy scoffed. "Just because you love her and want to keep her safe, doesn't mean that you can keep her from doing the things that only she's capable of. No matter how well your intentions are, you're putting fetters on her. Look, I want to keep her as safe as much as you do, but she has shown me no reason why I can't support her or lose my confidence in her. She's done what she says she does and done more than what was asked of her. She's never had to prove herself to anyone, because you knew she'd do what needed to be done. Hell, she's given up her life to us multiple times and never cried or whimpered or just up and left. She has stayed after everything that's happened to her."

"She's right," Clarke said. "We can't all of a sudden say no because we're afraid. We've all been there for her through everything."

"Good," Sephy said, standing up. "She's gone to bed and I hope that I'll see you in the morning. I'm going to bed because I'm not going to miss this."

She left and we all looked at each other.

Scarlett sighed and said, "Dammit. I hate this."

"Maybe we should go to her," Dani said quietly.

"I don't know if I can do that," I said. "I'm not sure I'm strong enough."

Clarke hugged me and said, "Baby, you're not the only one who feels that way, but shouldn't we at least try."

"I know I'm not a part of y'all's pack," Scarlett said carefully, "But after what you've told me about her and knowing what she's done and been through, maybe we're wrong."

"Look, you do what you think is right," Dani said standing up, "but I'm going up there and I'm going to apologize and I'm going to show her that I was wrong."

"I'm coming with you," Scarlett said and they left together, leaving me and Clarke.

"I think we should go with them," Clarke said softly. "I don't like this any more than you do, but Sephy's right. We are putting her in a cage by not supporting this."

"We've just got her back," I said, tears streaming down my face. "I'm not sure if I can survive losing her."

"That'll only happen if this fails, but we have to let her try. We have to be there for her. She could have kept this from us, but she didn't."

I sniffled loudly and Clarke wiped the tears from my face and I said, "You're right."

She kissed me gently, "Then let's show her."

I nodded and we got up to join the others. When we got up there, Dani and Scarlett were waiting for us.

"You didn't go in," I asked.

Dani shook her head and Scarlett replied, "We were waiting for you."

The door opened wide and Nyx said, "And I was waiting for you all."

We went into the room and showed her how sorry we were and that we supported her.