Author's note: I have given many warnings from the beginning that this goes to very dark places. I fully understand if that is not your cup of tea. Given the show that's the inspiration, the canon lends itself to dark subjects. This one goes to dark places, as well.
For the guest review, I appreciate the review, but it's based on a series where you have to suspend belief quite frequently. Almost all of our characters have been shot or stabbed; they respond to it like a bee sting. Octavia survived being stabbed with a sword and then falling off a cliff. CPR, which doesn't have a high long-term success rate at all in the real world, is used to suddenly make everyone wake up and be fine. No one is forcing anyone to read it; if you want a story to go a different way, this is a great platform to put that story on in your own words.
Redlox2: yes, there is a little intentional time distortion in the last chapter. By showing Lexa's experience first, I felt it helped the reader understand how she was feeling, but Murphy and Emory found Clarke when she had been there about a day. By the end, they finish at the same time, so this chapter is taking place right at the end of where both Lexa and Murphy's points of view were left off.
: Gracias por tu reseña. Desde el punto de vista médico, depende de la profundidad y la longitud de los cortes. Si son bastante superficiales, entonces esto podría sobrevivir. La cordura puede ser otra historia. Muerte por mil cortes de papel; afortunadamente, Clarke solo tenía 381.
Chapter 30
None of Lexa's companions had ever seen the look in Lexa's eyes. There was a darkness and rage that wasn't even there after Costia died. She stood tall, her anger radiating off of her. It wasn't necessarily surprising given what they had found, but it was terrifying nonetheless.
She locked eyes with Octavia, "We find them and then we kill them. Then we find her body and put her to rest." She spoke with an eerie calmness, as if she were stating that the sky is blue. If one were to simply hear her, they might think she were perfectly fine with what had happened. Her eyes betrayed her calm words, the storm in them causing Octavia to suck in a breath before nodding.
They went to the entrance where the sun was shining through the green. Lexa squatted down and began tracking, her mind focused only on find and kill. She found the trail easily, blood drops every so often. They had moved Clarke's body.
Echo squatted next to her. Something was odd about the trail; it went in several directions, blood droplets on two of the paths.
"One of them was bleeding," she said.
Lexa couldn't hope, not after seeing the blood in the room. She nodded, "Two groups. Follow the blood. If you find them, try to take them alive."
Echo looked at her in confusion; she had just told Octavia that they were going to kill them.
Lexa clarified, "The kill is mine," she growled out.
Out of the rat's underground tunnel, the vermin were easy to find as they wandered the woods. Emerson didn't have time to reach for his grenade before Lexa's sword went through his throat, thrown as he reached for the device, pinning him to the tree behind him.
Johnson took off running like the coward he was. Lexa looked completely unconcerned as she loaded an arrow and aimed for his leg, shooting him in the back of the knee. Her companions had caught up with her quickly, those on the other trail being called back by the radios. While her guards kept a watch, no one pursued either man. No one wanted to get between their Heda and the object of her rage.
She walked over to him as he tried to crawl away. She kicked him onto his back and then bent down over him, reaching down to grab him by his shirt.
"Where is she?" she whispered, her knife at his throat. A sane person would have immediately told her, would have begged for mercy or death.
Johnson laughed and then spit in her face.
She removed her knife from his neck and stabbed him in the groin, the man letting out a cry that was more animal than human.
"Where is she?" she spoke low and clear, her words clipped. When he didn't immediately answer through his screams, she twisted the knife.
The bastard passed out instead of answering her. She let go of his collar and kicked him in the face, ensuring he wouldn't wake up any time soon.
"Restrain him and bring him back to Polis," she said as she pulled the knife out, walking back to the trail, "his kill is not mine alone."
Three of her guards went to grab him, tying his hands behind his back, and then began to haul him back to Polis. If they dropped him a few times they knew their Heda wouldn't mind.
Lexa didn't give either man a backwards glance after she pulled her sword from Emerson's neck, his body and nearly severed head falling to the ground without ceremony. She now had one focus: finding where they had put Clarke's body. Her rage ebbed out of her body, her lust for vengeance slaked for now. If she stopped to think of anything other than tracking, she knew she would break. If she broke, she knew she wouldn't recover. Not this time. So, she focused only on the task at hand: follow the blood.
Echo grabbed Bellamy's arm, "You and I will take the other trail. There is less blood, but it's worth checking."
Bellamy looked at her with wide eyes. His chest felt tight. They had failed Clarke and hadn't gotten there in time. He should have killed them all in the dropship. The end result, if he had, at least had a chance of Clarke living. Now, that chance was gone.
They followed the blood and it turned in an opposite direction from the other trail, deep in the woods. Then, it just stopped at a boulder covered in vines. Bellamy ran his hands through his hair, but Echo put her finger to her lips.
She pulled the vines to the side and then there was a gun pointed directly at her head. Bellamy leveled his gun at whoever was holding the gun.
"You shoot her and I shoot you," he yelled.
"Bellamy?" Murphy stepped out of the vines, his face incredulous, and his gun still pointed at Echo.
"Murphy," his voice had pain in it, but not malice.
"Are you…are you still with Pike? Are you with those two bastards?" Murphy went from incredulous to angry, the gun touching the skin on Echo's forehead as she put her arms up in a show of surrender.
"What? No, that was…what do you mean 'those two bastards?' Did you see them come this way?" Bellamy said, stepping towards Murphy.
"If you're playing with me, I swear to God, I'll kill her and you!" Bellamy put his hands up and stopped moving.
"Did you see them?" Bellamy asked again, forcing his voice to be calm.
"You mean Emerson and that guy from Farm Station? Are you with them, Bellamy?!" Murphy's face was contorted in anger at the thought that Bellamy was involved with what happened to Clarke.
"I'm not with them, Murphy," his eyes filled with tears and he didn't move to stop them as they fell, his voice cracking as he spoke, "They took Clarke. We just want to find her body."
Murphy looked confused. Confused and still angry.
"The Commander took them out, but we were too late to save Wanheda," Echo spoke in Trigedasleng, hoping he understood and would connect that Pike's men wouldn't be working with a grounder.
"If you're telling the truth, where's Lexa? Bring Lexa here and I'll let her go," Murphy said, cocking the gun. He was willing to wait all day if that's what it took.
"I'm just getting my radio," Bellamy said as he slowly went to reach for it. He lifted it to his mouth, "I need the Commander to come to the far northeastern side of the forest. Follow the second trail of blood and you'll find us."
Then, they waited.
Lexa heard the radio call and her heart sank. She didn't even bother to radio back; she had little question of what she would find. She took off running towards where the other blood trail had started, Octavia on her heels, the others following rather slowly. What she needed to face quickly the others weren't as anxious to see.
Following Bellamy's tracks was even easier than following the blood trail and they chased it quickly. Lexa expected to see the bloody and mutilated remains of the woman she loved. She did not expect to see Bellamy with his hands up in surrender nor Echo with a gun pressed against her forehead. She instinctively started to unsheathe her sword, ready to take out some more of her rage on whoever was holding it, when she met eyes with John Murphy.
She pushed the sword back in its holster, rounding on him quickly.
"John Murphy, why do you have a gun to one of my warrior's heads?" she asked, still feeling the rage.
He dropped the gun back to his side, "Oh, thank God. He was telling the truth."
She glared at him, angry that he had distracted her from her task.
"Lex…ah, Heda, I need you to come in here," he said, motioning towards the vines with his head.
And now, Lexa was suspicious. Octavia stepped in front of her, also suspicious, and followed Murphy as he disappeared into the hidden cave.
It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the dimmed lighting of the cave. The first thing they made out was the dark-haired woman holding a sword towards them. Octavia immediately drew her own sword, ready to protect Lexa from this new threat.
Murphy jumped between their swords, "Woah, woah, woah, we don't need weapons." In a show of either trust or stupidity, he turned his back on Octavia's sword and addressed Emory, "It's okay, they're here to help."
Lexa wanted to roll her eyes. They didn't have time to help right now, they needed to find Clarke's body and put her to rest. Then, the woman stepped to the side and looked down. Lexa's mind didn't register it at first, what, or who, was wrapped in the blankets.
Then, she flew to her, her tears beginning to fall, as she kneeled and lifted Clarke into her arms. She expected the limp form to stay that way in her arms. She didn't expect her to stiffen, and then start fighting and crying.
Lexa gasped, her tears turning to sobs of relief and pain, as she gently lay Clarke back down, keeping her arm under her head.
"Clarke, it's okay. It's okay. We found you, we found you," she sobbed out, pushing Clarke's hair out of her face with her free hand. She could see the deep bruise even in the dim lighting and her rage returned, but she was able to temper it. The people responsible were either dead or in excruciating pain as they were transported to Polis. She was scared to see what was beneath the blanket.
Octavia and Bellamy, getting over their shock, pushed past Emory and Murphy to kneel next to Clarke.
"Murphy! How…?" Bellamy managed to get out as his tears continued to fall.
"We heard her screaming. That Farm Station bastard…I hit him over the head and then Emory smashed his face in with her feet. We snuck her out before the other one noticed. She's barely woken up," Murphy said crossing his arms over his chest, stepping in front of Emory in a protective stance.
"She's burning up," Octavia said, holding the back of her hand to Clarke's forehead.
"They put killmarks on her," Emory said with more strength than she felt, "a lot of them. We dressed them as well as we could, but we didn't know where was safe to bring her."
"We need to get her back to Arkadia," Lexa said, now controlling her emotions by focusing on a new task: getting Clarke to her mother where she could be healed.
Bellamy gently took her from Lexa's arms and grimaced when she arched and cried out in pain. Her eyes were glazed, the fever controlling her mind.
"You two, come with us," Lexa said to Murphy and Emory, needing to make sure she fully understood what had happened. She spared a glance at Emory as the woman shrunk further back from her and softened her tone, addressing Emory, "You are not an outcast today and have nothing to fear from me."
Bellamy was experiencing a horrible sense of déjà vu. Only this time, the girl in his arms wasn't silent or unconscious. She would whimper or cry as they walked.
They made it back to the horses and Bellamy helped lift Clarke onto Lexa's horse. Lexa cradled her with Clarke's back against her chest, which caused Clarke to try to arch away from her.
"I know it hurts, Clarke," she whispered, Clarke calming slightly, "We're going to get you better."
It was hard to find the balance between speed and not causing Clarke more discomfort. Lexa finally decided that, regardless of how fast she went, Clarke would still be in pain, so she chose to get her to the person who could help her as quickly as possible.
Back at Arkadia, the people were already grieving. The other Arkadians had updated via radio what they had found. That they were looking for Clarke's body now and that Bellamy had apparently found it. In their haste to get Clarke help, Lexa and her crew had not radioed ahead.
When Lexa came riding up with a still alive Clarke, her people looked on dumbly in shock, until Lexa yelled at them to get Abby. Abby came out, grief heavy on her shoulders, believing, when they said Lexa had Clarke, that Lexa was bringing back her daughter's body.
Bellamy helped get Clarke off the horse, causing Clarke to scream out again, Abby's head shooting up at the sound. Her daughter screaming in pain should not have made her feel so much joy, but it proved that Clarke was still alive.
She rushed over, getting others to spring into action, as she yelled out orders. A gurney was brought and Clarke was laid on it, arching her back at the contact. Abby knew better than to tell any of Clarke's friends to stay out of medical and instead just focused on getting Clarke in there.
Raven actually looked like she had seen a ghost when Clarke was brought in. Clarke had to be restrained to put in an IV, her fever ravished mind still fighting her enemies. Raven finally jumped up to help.
"They radioed and said she was dead!" she yelled over Clarke's screams, wondering who she needed to kill for making her think her best friend had been killed.
They finally got the IV in and a sedative, as well as pain meds, were given. Clarke finally succumbed to them and her body stilled. Abby began the examination. She should have been horrified to see so many uniform, small cuts over her daughter's body, but it was nothing compared to what it had been when she was brought in the last time. She was relieved. The wounds had led to infection, but the cuts themselves weren't life-threatening; they wouldn't even need stitches, though the sheer volume of them made them look worse than the individual cuts were.
She told Jackson which antibiotic to administer and at what dosage. She turned and noticed a familiar face she hadn't seen in a while, as well as the unfamiliar one standing close behind him. She'd get the whole story soon enough.
"The cuts aren't deep, but she's got a pretty good infection. With antibiotics, she should be okay," she said to the worried faces in the room.
Raven radioed the others still out looking, telling them to get their asses back to Arkadia and that Clarke was alive in Medical.
Lexa went and sat by Clarke's bed, leaning over to kiss her still too hot forehead. She still felt the rage that Clarke had been taken and that Johnson had had a chance to finish what he started. She hoped that taking Johnson to Polis, rather than killing him on the spot, was the right choice.
They all set up the all too familiar vigil, Lexa never leaving Clarke's side at the bed. This time, sleep came to all of Clarke's friends and Lexa easily, the extreme emotions of the day leading to exhaustion.
Lexa laid her head down on the bed next to Clarke's hand and rested her eyes for just a moment. She was awoken several hours later by a hand gently stroking her hair.