Chapter 32 - A Smile That Steals me, A Heart That Heals Me

XXXXXXXX

Clarke watched, through the scope for her gun, as one person in body armor walked down the ramp of the ship, their face covered in a mask and oxygen strapped to their back. She watched as the person looked around slowly before taking off the mask and revealed a woman, her face impassive.

It wasn't long before more people were coming down the ramp. "Bellamy, they all have guns." They shared a long look before sighting down their scopes again. "They are splitting up."

Bellamy pulled Clarke back, helping her to her feet. "We have to get to the cave and get more weapons, then you go back for Madi and I'll follow the bigger group."

Clarke leaned against his chest, her hands running worriedly over the bump that carried her child. She rested her chin on his sternum as he ran his hands up and down her back soothingly. "I'm scared, Bell."

He pressed his lips to hers gently. "I know, I am too, Clarke." He sighed pulling back from her. "But our daughter is out there all alone and those people are armed to the teeth. We need to get moving. I need you to promise me that you will keep our children safe."

Her hands grabbed for his and laid them over her belly, pressing them against their dancing child. "I promise, but I need you to be careful too. I can't do this without you, Bell."

"I will. Now let's go." Nodding she followed her husband as they took off towards the cave.

After loading up on guns and swords they shared a brief kiss before taking off after the groups of men. Clarke's pulse pounded in her ears as she covered the ground as quickly as she could. The sound of a gunshot ringing in her ears as she neared the group of men she was supposed to be following, quickened her feet.

She could hear the indistinct arguing of the men as she jumped over a log, sprinting up the hill to get to higher ground. Fear almost choked her when she saw how roughly they were handling her daughter, one of the men argued for her little girl to be left alone but she couldn't take any chances. She lifted her gun and fired, dropping one man quickly.

Madi's terrified voice, calling for her, chased her as she dropped off the hill into the clearing. Raising her gun again she fired at one of the men, the bullet that hit his knee toppled him to the ground. She fired again at the third man that was in the clearing. He dodged the bullet and tackled her to the ground, his arm banding around her neck as they wrestled for control. She scrabbled at his arms as she tried to free herself for a moment before she heard the clicking of a gun being cocked. She turned her eyes up to her daughter's only to see her daughter's shaky hand pull the trigger and the man behind her fell away from her, dead.

She jumped up to her feet and gathered her little girl to her chest. "Hey, it's ok, baby. Nomon's here."

Madi's little fingers clutched the fabric of her shirt around her waist. Clarke soothed her child for a moment before the sound of a strangled moan had her pushing Madi behind her as she raised her gun to the wounded man on the ground. She leveled her gun at him.

"Wait." Madi pressed her hand to Clarke's back. "He tried to help me. I think he might be a good guy."

Clarke risked a glance back at her daughter. "There are no good guys. And I can't take that risk if it means keeping us safe." She pulled the trigger, killing him.

XXXXXXXXX

Bellamy's heart was in his throat as he heard the sound of more gunshots ringing off in the distance in the direction his daughter was supposed to be hidden. He knew that the sound meant that she'd been in trouble and Clarke was in danger. He wanted desperately to leave his hiding spot and race off after his girls but the sheer volume of people that were ransacking their home had him rooted.

He watched as the woman called out to her people and it eased his heart momentarily when she got no response.

When the dark skinned man asked her what the lack of response meant, he thought she might have seen him as she turned her eyes in his direction as she said. "Means we're not alone."

He watched as she told them to keep their eyes up as they marched off towards the gunshot sounds. He pulled back, further into the trees before slinking off. He watched them slowly exit the camp, one man lingering gave him an idea. He moved as quietly as he could, flanking the distracted man. He knocked him out, quickly hefting him over his shoulders before he made his way towards a clearing that was very near where the group was heading but that would have them veering away from where his daughter was hopefully still hidden.

He impaled the man on one of the many tree traps they had hidden all around their forest in Eden. The pain pulled the man from unconsciousness, his gasping breath had him silent for just long enough for Bellamy to pull away and hide in trees. Bellamy held his breath as the man started screaming.

His daughter's little feet skidded to a halt next to him as she crouched down behind him. He dared a moment to look behind him, noticing that Clarke was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is your mother?" He asked quietly.

"She said she was going to circle the area, make sure there weren't any more stragglers." Madi said as she crouched down behind him. "Nontu, this isn't right."

He looked at her, quickly. "Madi, I know that this is our home, and they want to take it from us. That isn't right."

She looked back sadly. "But he doesn't have to suffer. We can kill him now, right?"

"Not yet." He turned back to the scope. He watched as they hesitantly left the woods to see to their struggling man, just as he knew they would. He knew they weren't trained warriors by the fact that the helpless man hadn't stayed close on his commander's heels as she left the village.

He fired off a round into one of the enemy's heads, dropping him and felling the rest of the men as their eyes searched for him. He cocked the gun a second time, intending to pick off a few more if he could before he felt the overwhelming jolt as something collided with the rock they were hidden behind. Knocking both of them off their feet.

"Madi." He called out, not hearing her respond sent panic through his chest. "Madi? Madi, are you OK?"

He watched her eyes flutter as she nodded. "Get up." He said quietly as he could with the spike of fear that had him scrambling for his feet, hauling Madi up as well. "Run! Run."

They tore off into the trees behind them, his eyes taking in the surrounding as they ran, trying to pull up a mental map of where they were. He veered off to the left as he spotted a good spot to hide his daughter. "Right here. You need to get in here."

"Not without you." Madi pleaded as she clutched at his sleeve.

He shook his head, pressing a gun to her hands. "There's no time to argue about this, Madi. Get in, now. I'm gonna lead them away. Now I need you to stay out of sight, no matter what, okay? And if I'm not back by nightfall meet your mother at the cave. You know that's where she will be looking for us. Promise me."

He wiped the tears that trailed down her face as she nodded. "I love you. Now hide."

He spared her only a moment to make sure she was hidden before he took off to the trees making as much noise as he could.

XXXXXXXXX

There were many times in Clarke's life that she regretted her decisions but getting captured by these people while she was supposed to be keeping her unborn child safe was one that she regretted before it even happened. Her eyes moved quickly over the trees as she hoped that her husband and daughter were safe, that they were trying to come up with a way to get them out of this.

The green capped man shoved her to the ground as he called out to the woman they'd seen exiting the ship earlier that day. "We got one."

"Let me see her face." The woman commanded. When the man pulled her head up by her hair the woman was just as stone faced as she had been when she unmasked herself.

The dark skinned man, who she noticed was dressed differently than the others, moved closer. His face angry as he spoke to the man who held her."You only caught one?"

"We only saw one." The man who held her responded.

"I highly doubt she was alone." The dark skinned man hissed at the woman.

Clarke's heart dropped as the woman eyed her. This woman was smart and that made her more dangerous than anything. "How many others in the woods?" She looked towards the capped man who'd only just let her go.

His hand stung as he backhanded her. He kneeled in front of her for a moment before a sinister smile rose on his lips and he leaned closer, venom dripping from his words. "Answer the question."

Clarke held her tongue, hoping that her silence would buy her some time. She prayed that they wouldn't notice the bump under her clothing and that would keep her child and herself safe while she tried to find a way out of there. But her silence only seemed to anger the man in front of her. His hand cocked back and she braced for the pain she knew was coming.

"Not yet." The woman's voice surprised her. Clarke looked up at her and something about the look on her face had her more scared than she'd been when she had known the pain from a beating was coming, had her wishing that they would just beat her and get it over with. "First we pray."

Her eyes caught the dark skinned man's eyes and terror flooded her. The angry man that clung to her, manhandled her into one of the buildings as she struggled. He forced her into a chair, tying her down as others took their places around the room. She kept her teeth gritted as he ran his fingers delicately over her face. When he made a grab for the jacket that was keeping her child hidden she hissed at him before she tried to bite him, her teeth snapping together inches from his face as he jumped away slightly.

He grinned as he pulled away from her, his hand cocking back before making contact with her chin. "Hey, hey, stop!" The dark skinned man yelled as he pulled the capped man off of her. "We need her."

The capped man surged into the dark skinned man's space, his hands going for the other man's throat.

"Hey! Enough!" The woman shouted as she attempted to pull the men apart. No one else came to her aide. "That's enough."

Clarke watched as the capped man met the woman's eyes almost seeming to gentle before he let go of the other man. He paced away before turning back on her. "He is not one of us. We lose four men, and he doesn't even care."

The woman shook her head and Clarke knew if she wasn't there the woman would have sighed in exasperation as she had so long ago when trying to get Murphy to work with her instead of against her. "He is one of us. None of us is here without Shaw."

The man she now knew as Shaw looked at her, she could feel his eyes examining her face but her eyes didn't stray from the woman and the capped man. "None of us is here without me, either." The capped man argued. "You remember that."

The woman grabbed at the capped man's armor, pulling him in close and her words were hissed through her teeth. "We all have a role to play and we're all upset about the loss of our men." She shook him slightly. "Take a team and sweep the woods for her friends."

The capped man shoulder checked Shaw as he left and Shaw moved to follow him, anger written all over his face before the woman called after him to 'let it go', halting his feet. She watched as the woman paced around her before she felt the woman's hand grab her chin. The ache from her fingers remind her of the man's fist meeting her face either.

She felt the woman's thumb swipe at her lower lip before she pulled back, showing her fingers to Shaw. "You see this?"

"Blood alteration like they had on Eligius III." She watched as they both looked at her black blood on the woman's fingers. "Two suns, no sunscreen needed."

"Must be how they survived down here." The woman said before bringing a radio up to her lips. "Bring me a med kit. Over."

She watched as the woman clipped the radio to her hip, ignoring the chatter that flew over it. But Clarke couldn't ignore it as she listened to them discussing their search of her woods. The woman watched her as she settled a chair in front of Clarke.

Her intelligent dark eyes scoured her face as she sat back in the chair, folding her hands over her waist. "We got off on the wrong foot, you and I. We had no idea that there was anyone alive down here. How could we have? We were just trying to get back home. Imagine our surprise when we found that there was no home to get back to."

Clarke looked up to Shaw's face for a moment, his saddened eyes had her turning back towards the woman as she continued her monologue. "And then your people started killing mine. Surely you can understand why I'm upset. Just like you were upset when we took your village. I don't blame you. When a fascist government tried to take my home, I wanted blood, too, and I got it."

Clarke tried to listen to the chatter that continued on the radio, praying that she wouldn't hear anything about her family being captured, but she still refused to say anything. The woman watched her for a moment before she continued. "Nobody else has to die today. You tell me what I need to know, and we can come up with an arrangement that works for all of us. Sound like a plan?"

"Maybe she doesn't speak English." Shaw interjected as he sat himself on the table behind the woman.

"She speaks English. She just wants us to think she doesn't so we'll speak freely and reveal

something she can use against us." The woman studied her face and Clarke tried to keep her face blank. "Every time the patrol checks in she looks at this."

The woman grabbed for the radio at her waist, waving it at Shaw before continuing. "She's tracking our movements; that's all she cares about." She leaned down towards Clarke. "You don't want to talk, that's fine. Don't talk. But we'll see how you feel when we find whoever it is you're protecting."

Clarke watched the woman bring the radio to her lips, a sinister smile curving her lips as she said. "Change of plans, ladies and gentlemen. No more prisoners. Shoot to kill." Fear flooded her as she set her lips.

XXXXXXXXX

He settled against the tree above the invaders, his breath stuttering in his chest as he listened to them calling out their position to someone back at camp. His home. Two of their people looked between each other before hanging back from the group ahead of them.

He jumped across to another tree, following the two stragglers. When they paused by his daughter's favorite patch of berries, he tied himself to the tree with the bungee straps like so many Trikru warriors before himself. It took him only moments to snatch one of the men below him, hauling him into the trees and slitting his throat.

He watched the man below him turning around to look for his friend and when he called out to the rest of the group Bellamy dropped the dead man, untied himself and took off. His heart eased in his chest at the sound of their panic.

It took him hours before he found another group of men. He noticed that the groups still out were smaller than the one he'd followed earlier in the day. He wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. He slithered through the copse of trees as he neared them. He could see the way they wandered around, only a few paying attention as he had noticed all morning. Moving on quiet feet he grabbed a man from the side, slicing his neck before shoving him back towards his friends and taking off into the trees again.

Until the hours drifted by bringing the dusk, he stalked the men in the forest, trying to scare them the way his people had scared Clarke's when they first landed. Only this time it was different, they had gone after his daughter, he'd heard the gunshots and that was something he could not forgive. His people may be trapped in the ground but he was still Heda and he would protect his people, his family.

XXXXXXXXX

Shaw walked over to her, away from the fire where his commander stood and offered her some water. She thought about spitting it back in his face as he kneeled in front of her but the fluttering of her child in her womb reminded her that she needed to keep herself as safe as she could.

Shaw's face was kind as he watched her. "Come on. What harm can come from telling me your name?" He sighed as he stood back up. "Well, believe it or not, this is the best conversation I've had in over a hundred years."

Her eyes shot up to his wondering how was that possible. He looked not much older than she was herself. He sat down in the chair his commander had vacated earlier in the day. "I was an altar boy in a church just like this. Saginaw, about two hours outside Detroit. On my Harley, I'd make it in one. God, I miss that bike, more than I miss most of the people."

The sound of someone calling over the radio had her eyes cutting back to it where it rested on the table. Shaw's eyes roamed her face as she listened to their people talking about someone racing away from a cave and her heart dropped. When they said that the thing was little, she knew it had to be Madi. She hoped that Bellamy was out there looking for their little girl. She knew that he was out there doing something because at least two of their men had failed to check in over the course of the hours she'd been held captive.

She couldn't keep silent when the man said they had a shot. "No. She's just a child."

"She speaks." The woman said as she paced closer. Shaw's face was tight with worry as he watched her, surprising her.

"Please." She begged.

The woman eyed her. "How many others are in the woods?"

"None. It's just the two of us." Her eyes flickered back and forth between the woman and Shaw. She felt tears well up in her eyes."I am begging you. Tell him not to shoot.

"Fire at will." The woman called out and Clarke's head slumped forward as she heaved out an unsteady breath.

Clarke listened as they continued to chase her little girl. Madi was leading them right into a trap, her smart, brave little girl was out there all alone and who knew where her husband was. "I know where they 's our summer hunting 's leading them into a trap." Clarke lifted her head to stare at the woman as she heard the men on the radio closing in on her daughter. "Listen to me. If they don't stop right now, those men will die."

Shaw stood up and darted closer to the woman. "I believe her."

"It's the truth." Clarke pleaded, her eyes meeting Shaw's. "If you let her go, I'll

tell you everything."

"All units," Clarke held her breath as the woman eyed her. "Stand down. Over."

She heard the men arguing against the woman over the radio as she held the woman's eye. Lifting the radio back to her lips the woman said, "Falk, if McCreary disobeys, shoot him in the leg. Harris, if Falk disobeys, shoot him in the head."

She breathed a sigh of relief as the man called back that they were standing down. "Good choice." The woman called back. "There may be traps near your position. Check it out and report back. Over."

The woman raised her eyebrow at Clarke as the men over the radio reported the bear traps. She called the men back to camp and Clarke slumped back into her chair. "Thank you."

"Thank you for telling the truth." The woman said, sitting in the chair Shaw had just vacated. "As long as you keep doing that, your friend in the woods will stay alive, and so will you. Do we understand each other?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Good. Then let's begin." The woman leaned towards her. "Start with how the world ended."

Clarke eyed her quietly for a moment. "Which time?"

XXXXXXXXX

Bellemy's eyes were pulled up towards the sky as he heard something booming overhead, the rocket that he'd watched take off all those years ago was returning. He took off running towards it.

His feet flew over the ground for miles. His daughter colliding with him almost took him off his feet as he tore through the trees. "Madi?" He brushed her hair out of her face once they'd untangled themselves. "Are you okay? Where is Clarke?"

She cried as she surged back into his space, her arms wrapping around his waist. "They got her. I took off towards the cave like you said and they, they caught her. I should have gone after her but there were so many of them."

"Shh, it's okay Madi." He pulled her back so he could look in her face. "We are going to save her, but first we have to go collect our friends, we need backup."

"Friends?" Madi looked confused. "I don't understand, we've never been able to get into the bunker, what makes you think we can get into it now?"

"Not the bunker. Our friends from the sky. Did you hear the big boom overhead a while ago." She nodded and he brushed the hair back off her worried face. "That was them. We have to get to them before the other people do. So we have to run, okay?"

"Okay." She grabbed his hand and they took off running.

It was slower going but he couldn't leave her behind. As they neared the area the rocket had landed he realized it was near where they'd left the rover earlier that day and for that he was thankful.

He slowed down to a creeping walk as the edge of the forest met his eyes. He held up his hand as he signaled to be quiet. The sight of the invaders on the other edge of the clearing, had him pointing it out to his daughter.

"Madi. We have to stop them. There is a spear in the rover, go get it. Then I want you to flank them. I need you to throw it to distract them, if you hit them great but if not don't worry I just need their attention elsewhere while I get close."

She nodded. "Okay, Nontu."

"Okay let's go get our friends and then we can save Clarke." He sent her off as he crept in closer.

His eyes darting to the rocket to make sure they hadn't gotten out yet. Much to his disappointment, nothing seemed to be going his way today as he watched them disembark. He listened to them as they excitedly took in the world for a moment before Murphy took the lead, heading towards the forest.

"Okay, so how do we find them?" He heard Monty ask as they closed in on the invaders.

It was Echo who responded. "We don't. They'll find us."

"They already have." Murphy said as he raised his hands.

Bellamy drew his gun as he crept closer, waiting for Madi to make her move. He heard the invaders calling for them to get on their knees as Murphy tried to calm them down. The man screamed, getting impatient with Murphy.

"No, wait!" as the man shoved his gun in Murphy's face. "We just want to talk."

One of the men brought a radio to his lips as Bellamy watched his friends all raise their hands, some of them starting to drop to their knees.

XXXXXXXXX

Clarke shifted as she looked at the woman before beginning her tale. "On the Ark, they taught us that the war started as a Chinese first strike, but they were wrong. It was started by an A.I. called A.L.I.E. Her intention was to reduce the popu-"

Clarke was cut off by the sound of the radio calling out for the Colonel "Colonel, we have five more hostiles. At least one is armed. Are we still playing nice?"

Her eyes darted back and forth as she tried to figure out where the other people might have come from at most they should have found only one other person.

The woman, the colonel, raised her eyebrow in Clarke's direction studying her. "Stand by." She turned to the men in the room with her. "Find out where they are and reinforce their position."

"You heard her. Grab the gear." The green capped man said as he moved towards his own gear.

The colonel stopped him quickly, "Not you, McCreary." She turned back to Clarke and the man now known as McCreary moved in on her. "What did I tell you would happen if you lied to me?"

"I didn't lie. I don't know -" Clarke's words were cut off once again, this time with the Colonel's fist to her face.

"Take her outside." The Colonel said, turning to McCreary. "Use the collar."

McCreary's excited face had her fear spiking again. "I thought you'd never ask."

"Colonel," Shaw called, moving in on her as McCreary moved closer to Clarke, the metal collar gripped tightly in his excited hands. Shaw's words had her looking back up at him for a moment, hoping that this strange man could help her. "She's cooperating."

The colonel looked him up and down before agreeing. "Which is why she'll live. Her friends, on the other hand," She pulled the radio back up to her lips. "Four of ours are dead. It's time to even the score."

XXXXXXXXX

"Congratulations." One of the men said after pocketing the radio. "One of you gets to live."

Just as the man went for the trigger the spear shot out of the woods and thudded in the man's neck, dropping him. He moved in swiftly, firing the gun, taking out the other three.

"She's just a kid." He heard their friends whisper to themselves as Madi cleared the trees. He followed her out into the clearing.

"Bellamy?" Murphy asked, in disbelief.

But Madi, bouncing on her toes, cut in before he could find his words. "Clarke knew you would come."

"Clarke's alive?" Murphy's eyes cut to him and he nodded. A smile pulled at Murphy's lips.

"She's in trouble." He said, stopping them from any further excitement. "We have to go."

"What about the others in the bunker?" Monty asked, his eye darting between Bellamy and his daughter.

He shook his head. "Still there."

"What? No, no." Monty looked at their friends, he moved in closer. "How can that be?"

Bellamy turned, "Come on, I'll explain on the way." He turned towards his daughter, his hand outstretched as they moved quickly into the forest.

XXXXXXXXX

McCreary shoved her down the steps of the building, tripping her as she started her descent and rolling her over the stairs. The ground was hard against her stomach and her fear was tangy against her tongue. She moved to sit up, her fingers attempting to wrap around the tight collar at her neck.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you." McCreary called, with laughter on his breath. "You might burn your fingers."

She didn't have time to contemplate his words as the sting of electricity was burning through her body. The pain of it halted every thought as she gasped for breath and writhed on the ground. When the sear of pain finally let up she tried to sit back on her knees, begging "Please. I wasn't lying."

"Hit her again." The colonel said and pain ripped through her again.

"I don't know who that was." Clarke gasped out.

She could hear Shaw as he ground his words out towards the Colonel. "I guess you made your point."

"You might be right. But just in case," Clarke was able to pull her muscles together just in time to watch the Colonel nod towards McCreary. "hit her again."

Tears flooded down her face as she writhed and gasped, the headlights of the rover barely noticeable over the pain. The Colonel's shouts to "Hold, and fire on my command." were fuzzy in her ears.

XXXXXXXXX

Madi was quick to reach for her gun as they stopped in the clearing. He laid his hand over hers. "Madi, no." He shook his head. "Take the Rover back. That's the plan. I won't let anything happen to Clarke. I promise."

He leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead as his eyes caught Murphy's in the back. He heard the woman calling out for him to "come out with his hands high" and he pulled in a deep breath, the sight of Clarke laying on the ground was threatening to his very core.

He opened the door and raised his hands. "Unarmed. Just want to talk."

His eyes flickered down to Clarke as she looked up at him, her tears still falling down her face. The woman's voice pulled his attention away from his wife. "Talk and give me one good reason not to kill you where you stand."

"How about I give you 283?" He gritted his teeth, in anger. "That's how many of your people are gonna die if you and I can't make a deal."

He moved in closer, his hand reaching into his pocket to pull out the cup that Murphy had given him, one that was apparently from their ship. He watched as recognition filled the woman's eyes. "That's far enough. 283 lives for one. She must be pretty important to you."

"She is." He nodded.