Chapter 27

Lexa checked in with Raven for the third time in the last half an hour. Clarke and the others should have already reached Arkadia, but there was no sign of them yet. To make matters worse, Clarke wasn't answering her radio, either. It was time.

"Tell Kane to send a party; we'll meet him halfway. Something must have happened," Lexa finally said, when again there was no news, "Be ready to leave in ten minutes!"

Lexa swept out of the room, forcing her emotions down. Maybe they were just going at a leisurely pace. Lexa knew in her heart that that wasn't the case. Even if they were, they should have already arrived and she knew Clarke would keep that radio on her at all times. She had promised.

Bellamy, Raven, Echo, Roan, and her assortment of guards were ready in five minutes. They left Polis at breakneck speed, each dreading what they might find. They tried to remain hopeful, but the air was permeated with dread.

They saw the carnage from a fair distance away. Horses and bodies strewn where they had fallen. Lexa's warriors spread out, on guard lest the culprits were still near, but they knew it was unlikely. Bellamy jumped off his horse and ran when he saw his sister laying on the ground, not moving, Lincoln not far and in the same condition.

"Octavia!" he yelled as he scooped her up in his arms. He felt for a pulse and sighed when he felt the faint flutter under his fingers, but she still didn't rouse. "What happened to them?!" he yelled at no one in particular.

Raven dismounted her horse, her leg preventing her from getting there as fast as she wished. She accidentally kicked the metal canister that still lay on the ground. Picking it up, she knew what it was. Echo gave her a hard look; the pieces were falling into place.

The warriors with Lexa went to check the others. One of the guards was dead, the other two in similar shape to Octavia and Lincoln.

"Electric grenade," Raven said as she reached Lexa, "Mount Weather tech."

"Emerson," Echo said, "He had to have been involved."

Lexa looked like a statue. She wasn't breathing, just staring at the carnage, trying to make her mind make sense of it, but the only thing she could see was that the party had left with six people, and there were six horses on the ground, but only five people. Clarke was gone.

The pieces fell into place then, as a pained, rage-filled cry escaped her. That was how he was hiding. How he had found Emerson was beyond her, but they would certainly bond over their hate for Clarke. They had found various Mount Weather service stations since the fall of the Mountain, but there was little doubt there were more they didn't know of. The Mountain people had lived like rats below the ground; they would know of more tunnel systems than even the grounders, allowing them to move undetected. They had likely been waiting and watching for their opportunity, using tech from Emerson to guarantee their success. She should not have let Clarke choose to banish him; she should have slit his throat the moment he was brought in.

They heard a commotion up ahead, her warriors poised for attack, when they saw the vehicles coming towards them. Abby jumped out, taking in the scene, before rushing to Octavia and Lincoln. She gave orders to load the four injured warriors into the vehicles, before coming up to Lexa.

"Where is Clarke?" she hissed. She almost didn't want the answer.

"Johnson…and Emerson," Lexa could barely get the words past her lips, her body beginning to shake in rage that masked her deep fear. This wasn't supposed to happen. Clarke was healing. She should never have been at risk for them getting her again. She should have not allowed Clarke to leave her side until Johnson was captured. Until Emerson's body was brought in to her, ideally killed by his own hand.

"You bring her back," Abby said harshly, before jumping in the vehicle to transport the wounded to medical, Raven jumping in on the other side. Lexa just nodded, before shouting orders to find their trail.

They found it easily, neither man adept at hiding his tracks. It was clear that one of them was carrying something, almost certainly Clarke. They followed it to an old reaper tunnel, weapons at the ready, but the tunnel was just the entrance to a labyrinth of other tunnels. They were able to follow the trail inside for a while, but then it was just gone, a series of other tunnels going off in every direction. Lexa continued to look, to see even the smallest sign of it, but it was in vain. Her determination turned to horror and grief, the realization that she had lost Clarke…again…hitting her like the bullet Clarke had saved her from. She didn't care who saw or if she was perceived as weak. Her knees gave out and she fell hard on them as she screamed her fear and rage into the tunnels.

Back in Arkadia, Abby put her fear for her daughter into helping her companions. The shock was powerful enough to knock them out for quite a long time and she worried about long-term nerve damage. She started an IV in each of the wounded and injected them with medicines that would lessen any damage. Then, they just waited.

Octavia was the first to stir, waking up in a panic…and with a pounding headache. She tried to sit up to make sense of what was going on. She caught sight of a still unconscious Lincoln and tried to get out of bed to check on him. Abby, Raven, and Jackson pushed her back down, assuring her he would be fine. Her head, hurting as it was, felt fuzzy as she tried to remember what happened. Then, it clicked: they were going back to Arkadia. She looked from side to side, making a mental note of who was in medical and, more importantly, who wasn't.

"Clarke!" she tried again to push passed those holding her down, but she felt so weak. And there were tingly, sharp shooting spasms randomly wracking her body, causing her to gasp, as tears started falling down her face, "Where's Clarke?!"

Abby diverted her eyes, which was not a good sign. She tried to push passed to get up again, as Raven tried to calm her down, "Lexa's out looking for her right now. She'll find her, but you need to lay back down!"

Her strength was failing her, "What the hell happened?" she asked, her voice cracking as she spoke.

"Johnson and Emerson. They planned the attack," Abby said, her voice devoid of emotion. If she let herself feel it, she would not be able to function and Clarke would need her to be able to function when she was found.

The tears turned into sobs, "I swore I would protect her! I failed her."

Jackson injected something into her IV, her tears still falling as her eyes fell closed.

Back in the tunnels, Lexa was pulling herself back together. Giving into her fear would do nothing to help Clarke, nor would kneeling and crying on the floor. She stood and turned to face her companions, her face blank.

"Spread out in pairs and search each tunnel. One radio to each pair. Find the trail and radio back!" She motioned for her guard to follow her, choosing the tunnel on the right. It was as good of an option as any.

Bellamy and Echo took the one to the left, Echo using all her skills as a spy and tracker to make out any hint of a trail. The tunnel came to a dead-end and Bellamy hit the wall with his fist.

"We'll find her, Bellamy," Echo said in a no nonsense way.

"Do you have any idea what they did to her?! What they could be doing to her right now," he ran his hands down his face to try to clear the images of when he found her in the dropship. "Come on, there are more tunnels to search."

Echo reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping him as he tried to walk passed her, "We'll find her, Bellamy, and Octavia will be fine."

He pushed out a breath and nodded to her, appreciating the small gesture. They radioed to inform of the dead-end and to find out what tunnels the others had entered, as they made their way back.

Hours passed and only the occasional check-in on the radio was heard. No one said it, but hope was fading. The damage they could have already done to Clarke heavy on everyone's mind. As the sun began setting, even Lexa had to admit that they needed to stop for the night; it would do no good to try to track in the dark, especially when there was still no trail. She hated herself for being unable to find Clarke, forcing her face to remain a blank mask.

They chose to return to Arkadia, hoping maybe one of Clarke's companions had some information that could help them find her and also hoping that they were okay.

When entering Arkadia, Lexa glanced back at the cabin where she and Clarke had spent so much time together. She wouldn't be spending the night in there; it would be too painful. Then again, everywhere in Arkadia reminded her of Clarke, her lack of presence permeating the place.

She entered the med bay to the groans and spasms of her warriors. Octavia locked eyes with her, her eyes pleading for both forgiveness and good news, having just come-to after Jackson had sedated her. Lexa came and sat opposite of Raven, Bellamy pushing passed Raven to check on his baby sister.

"O, are you okay? Raven, is she okay?" he asked, his voice rising in panic, especially when Octavia grimaced, mostly in response to his voice.

"I'm fine, Bell," she said, more to quiet him, the tears coming to her eyes a contrast to her words. "Clarke?" she asked softly, begging Lexa to not tell her what she didn't want hear.

"We lost her trail," was Lexa's cold response.

Octavia's face contorted in pain, "I failed her. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Sobs began wracking her body.

Lexa's face softened slightly as she reminded herself that Octavia loved Clarke and Clarke loved Octavia, "There was nothing you could have done. They were waiting for the first opportunity they could strike. We'll get her back."

"They?" Octavia asked, confused. Had it been a group that had attacked them?

"Yeah, it looks like Johnson got some help from Carl Emerson," Raven filled in for her, realizing their conversation when Octavia had first awoken hadn't fully registered. She shot Abby a look, but Abby just nodded and gave a small smile. Memory loss was a common, and hopefully temporary, side effect of electric shock.

"Rest, Octavia. We'll continue the search at first light," Lexa said, gently patting Octavia's hand in a rare show of affection.

"I'm going with you tomorrow," Octavia said, determination in her voice.

"If you are well enough. If you are not, you would be detrimental to finding her," Lexa said, her voice taking on the ice of her Commander mask again. Octavia knew her well enough by now to understand that the coldness wasn't directed at her, no matter how guilty she felt for letting Clarke get taken. She tried to wrack her brain for how it had happened, but she could only remember just leaving Polis. What had happened on their trip? Were there warning signs they had missed? She pushed thoughts of Clarke screaming in pain, blood covering her body, from her mind, but they kept coming back unbidden. The spasms also continued, her legs jerking in erratic ways, causing shooting pains throughout her body. Jackson offered her pain meds, but she refused. Lexa shot her a look when she refused. Lexa could still scare her, even with as close as they had all gotten.

"Dr. Jackson, I believe Octavia has changed her mind, especially if she wants any chance to help search for Clarke tomorrow," Lexa gave her a hard look and Octavia sighed before nodding at Jackson. Lexa sat with her until the pain medication kicked in and her eyes finally drooped, sleep taking over her.

Lexa visited each of her warriors, checking in on their prognosis. She knew she would not be sleeping tonight, her mind filled with all the horrifying images of what Clarke could be going through, if she was still even alive. No, she told herself, they wouldn't kill her so quickly, but that didn't mean she wouldn't already be in hell.

She settled in for a long night of horrifying images while waiting for the sun to rise.