Someone was humming. It was something tuneless. Just random notes that sounded like a song. It pulled me out of deep slumber enough to register the noise of somebody moving in my hut. The hum was female, and as I continued to wake and listen, the voice it belonged to registered. Octavia.

The petite brunette was moving about my hut, and knowing she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon, I groaned in annoyance. That elicited a chuckled from the brunette, and I sleepily raised a hand to flick her off. I sighed and let my hand fall onto my face as my other joined it to rub the last vestiges of sleep away. I sighed again, rather gustily, as I blearily blinked my eyes until I could focus on the fabric of my ceiling moving from a breeze.

"Morning, Harlee," Octavia called out, sounding way too happy for this time of day. "I thought you always woke before dawn. The sun's been out for a bit. You feeling okay?"

"It's the tonic," I croaked and then cleared my throat. "I sleep deeper and longer. Plus, I am still recovering from being stabbed. The body needs sleep to heal, Octavia."

"Oh," she sighed. "I went outside camp this morning. I was hoping I'd catch Lincoln, but no luck. But I found a bag and a jug or something outside your door. The jug is cold to the touch."

I nodded, pushing myself up until I was sitting and making sure that my blanket still covered me below the waist. Octavia didn't need to see what I woke up with.

"He brought me breakfast," I said, looking around and spotting the bag and jug.

Reaching, I grabbed both and brought them closer to me. That move seemed to be what Octavia was waiting for, and she joined me on the bedroll.

"Sure, you can sit there," I drolly said as I opened the bag.

"Thanks," she happily replied, and I rolled my eyes at her eagerness.

I pulled over a dozen turnovers. From the delicious aroma wafting from them, they were a mixture of fruit turnovers and what my Riders had dubbed breakfast pastries. A concoction of eggs, cheese, and whatever leftover meat from the night before. All delicious and filling. I set them aside, dividing them by smell, and opened the cooled jug. It smelled like fresh goat's milk, which meant someone had gone to Tondc and fetched me breakfast. And somehow figured out that I'd be sharing to boot.

I looked around and spotted a couple of cups, "Octavia, can you go and get those cups, please?"

"Yeah, sure," Octavia replied and got up to retrieve them. "So, what are those things? They smell delicious."

"I would say that these" -pointing to a group of ten- "are fruit-filled. And these" -pointing to the other group of ten- "are filled with meat and something else. There's enough here for both of us, but maybe we'll save some for Clarke and Raven. What do you think?"

"I'm not sure I can hold back, Harlee," Octavia replied, her eyes wide and practically drooling. "These smell so damn good, and I am starving."

I nodded, grinning, and pulled a few aside, "I understand. Lincoln's shared a couple of these with me, and they are amazing. And if I'm smelling the jug right, I believe it's fresh goat's milk."

"They have goats here," Octavia said in amazement as she held out the cups to me.

"I was surprised too. But it's delicious. Since meeting Lincoln, he's been giving me food. Said I was too skinny and that my muscles would weaken if I didn't start eating better. I can't disagree with him. As active as I've been, my muscles haven't ached as much as they used to."

"I was wondering something about Lincoln," Octavia said after a lewd moan from biting into one of the pastries. "How do you meet up with him? Do you just go walking in the woods, and he drops down?"

I shook my head, swallowing some milk, "No. Lincoln has morning watch where he has to remain here at the camp. So, we arranged to meet at his cave about midday or shortly after. So, I spend my mornings, hunting, and exploring. Then meet Lincoln for lunch and training. I come back to camp at sunset."

"What does he train you in," Octavia curiously asked.

From that point, I started describing basic survival skills we teach all goufa, hunting, tracking, plant identification, basic fighting skills, and a few other things. The more I explained, the more Octavia grew in excitement. And the longer I watched her enthusiasm, I realized why I was giving her so much attention. Octavia reminded me of myself when I was young. When I needed encouragement and support to move away from what had happened to me and begin to live. I realized that I had found a kindred spirit. I followed that thought, forgetting that I was talking until a hand started waving in front of my face forcing me to blink several times to focus.

"Sorry," I said, looking at her sheepishly. "Octavia, why all these questions?"

Octavia blushed, ducking her head for a moment. Then she tucked a strand of hair behind an ear and looked up at me, "When you took me to that ruin and started teaching me how to use the bow, I felt something in me click. I don't know how to describe what I felt, but it felt right, you know. Like it was…I don't know…just that I was supposed to be doing that. Learning to walk in the woods silently. Holding the bow in my hands. And talking with Lincoln…I was fascinated. By his people, his culture. Then you told us that he was the one who had been teaching you, and suddenly, I can't stop thinking about any of it."

I leaned forward a little bit, studying her as I asked, "Octavia, is this something you want to learn?"

Octavia nodded and blushed again, "I do, but I want something more. I'm just not sure what it is."

I smiled reassuringly, "That's okay. It's alright not to have all the answers, Octavia. How about this? Since I can't meet up with Lincoln, you go in my stead. Talk with him and see if he can teach you."

"Are you serious," she exclaimed, looking at me to see if I was joking.

I nodded, "I'm serious, Octavia. If this is something you want to do, then go for it. It's better to learn from someone who already knows the stuff than from someone who is still learning."

"Are you sure," Octavia asked, uncertain and excited at the same time. "I don't want to take away your training."

"You won't be," I reassured her. "Until my stitches are out, I can't do much of anything. And once they're out, the three of us can sit down and figure out a schedule or something. But I'll leave it up to you to decide. You can either sneak out and meet with Lincoln or stay here and be bored."

Octavia lunged forward and sent us back as she hugged me. Then she was scrambling off me, accidentally connecting with both the wound and my groin, as she ran out the door with a cry of thanks. I rolled onto my side and curled into myself as I waited for the waves of pain to subside, cursing Octavia in my head.

"Oh my god, are you okay," Clarke's concerned voice called out a minute later.

I blinked my eyes open as she came to kneel beside me.

"Depends on what you mean by 'okay,'" I gasped out, groaning as I forced myself to uncurl. "Octavia was a bit excited and maybe forgot about my wound and extra body part. Fuck, that hurts."

Clarke dared to giggle at my pain, and I glared at her, "It's not funny, Clarke. It hurts worse than someone taking your nipple and twisting it. And not in a good way."

"I'm sorry, Harlee," Clarke said, trying to control the smile on her face. "But in Octavia's defense, I don't think she knows that about you."

I groaned, glaring at her, "That's no excuse, Clarke."

"Want me to kiss it and make it feel better," Clarke joked.

"If for a second I thought you were serious, I'd say go for it," I replied, sitting up again.

"Ass," she said, smacking me lightly on my shoulder, smiling and shaking her head, "You'll be fine if you're cracking jokes like that."

I shrugged, smiling, "I joke or else I'd cry. So, what brings you here this morning?"

"Your wound," she replied. "I need to check and change your bandage."

I pouted as I laid back down, "And here I thought it was to see me. I should have known you'd be more interested in stab wounds than my charming self."

"Charming, huh," Clarke smiled as she gently removed the bandage. "Is that what we're calling it nowadays?"

I shifted until I had my hands behind my head, making my muscles stand out more. I watched with a growing smirk as Clarke's eyes slightly widened and her hands stopped to hover over my abdomen.

I purposefully dropped my voice, "Call it what you want, Klark, you can't deny its effectiveness. Can you?"

Clarke blinked, licked her lips, and turned her head to glare at me, "You are evil, Harlee. Just evil."

I chuckled, shrugging, "Maybe, but you are also easily flustered, Clarke. It's hard to resist teasing you."

Clarke sighed and shook her head, returning to cleaning the wound, "Hmph. Your skin's a bit irritated where you popped the stitches. We'll need to keep a close eye to make sure that infection doesn't set in."

I noted something stiff in Clarke's demeanor, making me frown, so I reached down and took a hand in mine. She looked at me in confusion, and I asked, "Clarke, does my teasing make you uncomfortable?"

Clarke shook her head just the slightest bit, but then sighed, "I…maybe a little bit." Then just as quickly, "It's not that I don't not like it because let's face it, you're gorgeous and, and from what Roma and Bree have said, you're, you're quite…um, talented, and—"

I smiled and sat up, forcing Clarke back before her face collided with my chest. It got her to stop rambling, which was what I wanted, and the blush that sprouted across her face was adorable.

"Clarke," I gently said, rubbing my thumb across the knuckles of her hand I still held. "It's okay. I'm not offended or hurt by your admission. If my teasing makes you uncomfortable, I'll stop. Do you want me to stop, Clarke?"

I held Clarke's gaze as she searched for any lies behind my words and watched her body relaxed when she found none.

"Please," she admitted. "I would like it if you didn't tease me like that."

I smiled, nodded, and drew her hand to brush my lips across her knuckles before I let it go, "Then I shan't anymore, Clarke. You have my word, which I know isn't much, but it's all I have to give."

I settled back down as she looked at me in confusion and said, "Do you realize that sometimes your speech is a little off? Sometimes formal and sometimes centuries-old speech."

I internally cursed myself for the slip, but shrugged, crookedly grinned, and countered, "Did it ever occur to you that I learned to speak from what I read? It wasn't just informative texts and self-help books. I read Shakespeare, Homer, Chaucer, Locke, Machiavelli, and so on. I am afraid to say that it did affect my speech patterns."

Clarke wrinkled her nose in distaste, "That sounds boring, but no, it never occurred to me. Most of the time, I forget that the way I grew up wasn't the same as Monroe's, who grew up in Factory. Or that you and O never had to go to school. Not until moments like this where I get forcibly reminded of our differences."

"That's not such a bad thing," I carefully told her. "Because the way things worked up on the Ark doesn't work down here on the ground. To survive, you've had to let go of those mindsets. I mean, yes, there are carryovers, but you can't expect people just to let go of old feelings and hates like flipping a leaf. Change takes time. But time isn't exactly on your side when it could mean death. So, you either hate the guy next to you and possibly die. Or, shove the hate away and possibly live."

Clarke sighed as she finished bandaging me, and leaned back on her heels, "You're right. I've seen it. And it's working with us, but I can't see it continuing when the Ark comes down. I can see everything we've done falling apart the moment we're back with the Ark. How can a bunch of Delinquents get the Council and everybody else to see that what worked won't anymore?"

"You don't go back," I succinctly replied.

"What," Clarke looked at me in confusion. "They're our people. We did all of this for them. Why wouldn't we go back?"

I sat up and scooted around until I was facing her and looked at her seriously, "That was what the Council told themselves to make themselves feel better, Clarke. To justify sending children to their deaths to save themselves. Jaha said what they all believed in that video. That everyone here is expendable. That's why Bellamy was so successful in turning people. Most of these kids don't have anyone to go back to anyway. So, why not offer them the alternative? An alternative where their worth is based on what they can do, not who their family is or what station they're from. Where everyone has a chance to live under a society, they built from the ground up."

"But what about the ones who still have parents," Clarke weakly asked. "Or the ones who don't want to stay?"

"Simple. You don't force them. Leave the choice up to them. Offer those with family a place here and let the ones who want to leave, leave. Or watch them go back and see all that pride and self-confidence that's built up in the last two weeks get thrown out as they're forced to conform to laws and a society that will no longer work. Watch as the hate they've let go of come back ten-fold."

"What if we decide to stay and they try to take us by force," Clarke asked, glancing at the camp beyond the curtain. "They have guns, gas, trained men. We have none of that."

"You know this land better than they will, Clarke," I said, leaning forward and taking her chin gently to look at me. "And you're smart. Use what you know to keep your people safe. Use the land against them if they try to take you by force. Scatter and hide. Hell, here's an idea. Talk with the Grounders. See if you can't come to an alliance or something to keep your people safe, Clarke. The scouts haven't attacked us in all the time we've been here. We've even got a Grounder on our side. Well, somewhat. Lincoln could probably, maybe, get you a meeting with his leader. Clarke, I know you feel responsible for everyone, including those on the Ark. I know you want to do right by everyone, but these people. The ones in this camp. They are the ones who need you. They are the ones you need to do right by."

"How," Clarke breathed out, her face morphing into worry.

"Use what you know, Clarke," I told her, letting her chin go and grabbing her shoulders in reassurance. "You already know you're going to have to manipulate Jaha not to come out ready for a fight with the Grounders. So, manipulate them more to gain a stronger advantage. You know what you need to keep your people safe, Clarke. This camp is your priority. Just don't let the Council know you're playing them. Between you and Wells, I have faith that you can get it done. You can do this, Clarke. I know you can."

"I…I think I need you there," Clarke whispered.

I smiled reassuringly, "Then I'll be there. But remember our deal. No mention of me, and I stay in the shadows."

Clarke nodded, "Thank you, and we won't mention you."

"You're welcome," I replied, let her go and pulled the bag with the leftover pastries. "Now, that's over. I saved some breakfast for you. Somehow, Lincoln knew I'd be sharing and gave me quite a bit. They're pastries filled with either fruit or meat, eggs, and cheese. And they are delicious. Plus, there's some fresh goat's milk to wash it down. You eat some of these and make sure there's some for Raven. And I am going to go answer the call of nature that I've been ignoring since I woke up."

Clarke laughed and started to pull out the pastries, "Ooh, these are still warm."

I grinned and wrapped my blanket around my waist, got up, and walked over to where my clothes were. I chuckled, hearing Clarke's moan as she started eating one, ignoring the lewdness of the sound as I began to get dressed.

"These are sooo good, Harlee," Clarke moaned in pleasure.

I glanced at her over my shoulder, and grinning cheekily, said, "Another reason to get an agreement with the Grounders. They can teach us how to cook food properly."

"I'll talk it over with Wells and see what he thinks."

"Separate from any talks with the Council, Clarke," I said from the entrance of the hut. "Let the Council handle its own negotiations. Remember, this camp is the priority. You need to do what's best for them. And it just might not be joining back with the Ark when it comes down. Remember that."

Clarke nodded, and I headed out to finally take care of morning business. Not just taking care of nature, but I also needed to touch base with whoever was watching over me this morning. Hopefully, both sides would agree to a meeting, and everything would work out. And somewhere along the way, I can make things right with Raven.