Chapter 33 - Baby Your Perfect, I Guess The Good Lord Heard It

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He watched patiently from where he stood, as the Colonel and her right hand man watched him back, waiting for their man to confirm what he'd told them. His heart prayed that Murphy was sure and had given him an accurate run down of what had happened and what they'd had control of. But for the first time in years he felt the tug of the commanders in his head, confirming the general information Murphy had given him.

The dark skinned man finally called over the radio "Colonel, it's me. He's telling the truth, somehow they blocked the remote access to the cryo-room and the pods. We can't wake anyone up."

"Do I have your attention now?" He asked as he watched them shift uncomfortably in their seats.

"I don't know how you got on my ship," the woman stood up moving towards him. "but if anything happens to any of my people." Her threat hung, heavy, in the air.

"Nothing will happen to them" He shrugged, fixing his commander's face firmly in place. "as long as we can make a deal."

Her right hand man, who was still sitting, started to pick at his nails with the knife in his hand, "I say we kill him now."

"What do you want?" The woman shot a look at the arrogant man as she spoke to Bellamy.

"We need your help opening a bunker." He heard Becca's voice whispering to him. Miners. Murders. Don't deal. He took a breath, ignoring the woman that had been the cause of all his problems and had been suspiciously quiet for the last 6 years. "You're miners, so that shouldn't be a problem for you. If you do that, I'll let your people go.

"And then what, happily ever after?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Then we'll split this valley down the middle." He shrugged, looking over his shoulder at the others that still milled about. "Whether or not you're happy is on you, but I'd like to think that we can find a way to coexist."

Her right hand man stood up laughing but her eyes never left his as she considered his offer. "Threatening to kill 283 of my people is one hell of a way to start a friendship."

He stepped closer into her space. "Let me make this very clear to you. My wife, who you have collared out there, killed 381 in one go. I, myself, killed many more. I don't need my people in the bunker to wipe yours out. All I need to do is wait, if I don't give the signal to the person on your ship, your people will die. So do we have a deal, or not?"

He was impressed when she didn't flinch from the intensity of his stare. Either she was made of stone or he must have gotten soft over the last 6 years with just his girls for company. She nodded her head, held out her hand and finally named herself, Diyoza. By the time they reached the room that held Clarke, she had been uncollared and was laying on her side on a bench, he could tell even from her back that her hands had gone around their baby. He could tell she was running her worried hands over her bump.

He rushed towards her and helped her sit up as she groaned with pain. Her tearful eyes turned up towards him. "Oh, you're really here." He nodded, trying to keep his own tears at bay as her hands came to rest on his cheeks. "Madi?"

He smiled, pressing his forehead to hers. "She's safe. She's safe in the woods with the others. Diyoza won't look for them as long as we're in control."

"They're all still alive?" He watched as the tears started to track down her face as he nodded. "Murphy, Monty, Raven, Harper, Echo and Emori?"

He nodded again. "Clarke, you saved them all."

"And now they're home." She hugged herself to him tightly, he let his hand drop down to rest against her side, his thumb subtly rubbed over the side of her bump. She pulled back for a moment. "Wait. Why'd she release me?"

"We made a deal." He smiled, pressed his lips lightly to her own as he helped her to stand. "She agreed to open the bunker."

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Clarke watched as her husband put a radio to his lips. "Raven, can you hear me? Come in."

"Bellamy?" She could hear the choked sound of tears in her friend's voice, emotion shaking it. "Tell me everyone's OK."

The smile on his face was effervescent, "Everyone's OK. We reached a deal with the people from that ship and by the way, the lasercom is an open line, so they can hear every word we say."

"Nice to meet you." She heard the sweet voice of Harper come across the radio. "We're not bad people."

Bellamy shook his head slightly but his smile still stayed. "Anyway, they know the rules, but just to be safe, Colonel Diyoza, here they are again. If anyone tries to get around your security, you pull the plug. If anyone does anything that wasn't agreed upon, you pull the plug, and if you don't hear from me every hour on the hour, you pull the plug. And Raven, lock it down, everything, you understand? Because if anyone tries to circumvent our agreement then, you pull the plug"

"Is that all?" She heard Raven snort, pulling a quick laugh from both of them.

"No. That's not all." He shook his head even though she couldn't see them. "Someone wants to say hello."

He handed her the radio. "Raven, Harper, it's really good to hear your voices."

"Clarke?" The tears thickened, Raven's voice. "I don't believe it."

Clarke leaned into her husband's chest, her own tears coursing quickly down her face. "Hey, you guys just be careful up there, okay? Just keep breathing until we get you back, okay?" She wiped at the tears, sniffling.

"We'll talk more once all this is over." Harper responded, her voice was tear heavy as well.

"I want to hear everything." Clarke's voice was just as whisper as she looked up at her husband. His hand ran soothingly up and down her back as he smiled down at her.

"Okay, but first," Raven choked on her tears. "Thank you for saving our lives."

"I miss you both." Was all that she thought to say.

Bellamy gently pulled the radio from her hands as the engines underneath them started up. "We've got to go. Raven, stay safe. We'll talk soon."

"Yeah," She snorted. "Every hour on the hour."

He clipped the radio to his pants, his arms coming back around her waist as he pressed his forehead to hers. She pushed up on her toes to run her nose along his. "Thank you. I've missed them so much. Thank you for making that time for us."

The ship rocked them as it lifted off, almost taking them off their feet. He smiled gently as he steadied them. "You're welcome" He pressed his lips to hers softly. "Now, let's go get our family."

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He watched with bated breath as the ship tore apart the tower that was still toppled over the bunker, his wife's hand was clammy in his. The work that they had accomplished over the last 6 years was put to shame in minutes as rubble was reduced to nothing more than dust in the air.

The hole that was opened was barely wide enough to get more than 3 people out at a time and when he peered over there were no stairs to be seen, he turned quickly to Diyoza about to pose the question of how to get them out when their ropes were unrolled and she held up some harnesses with her eyebrows raised.

He nodded to her as they walked closer, McCreary helped him put the harness on, but he stopped him before he could touch Clarke again and helped her into the harness, trying to keep the pressure off their baby.

"Ready to go?" Diyoza asked as they hooked onto the ropes.

He nodded and they started to lower into the bunker. Before long he was looking around at a bloody floor, Octavia and Indra were standing within the open space, looking thin but not unhealthy. Tears filled his eyes as Octavia flew into his arms. "I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come." He heard her whisper as he rocked her.

He nodded as he pressed his cheek to hers. "Of course I did, where is Lincoln?"

She nodded her head to the stairs where all his people were standing, Lincoln smiled widely at him as he called out "Heda!". The others around Lincoln picked up on the word and started to crowd the fence that surrounded the stairs, chanting for him. He pulled back from Octavia as he held his hands up to the cry of his people. He watched from the corner of his eye as Octavia launched herself at Clarke, Diyoza and McCreary looking wary as they descended into the hole.

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Octavia's arms were strong around Clarke as she hugged her but her voice quiet as she pressed her lips to her ear. "I heard you. We heard you."

Clarke felt tears well in her eyes. "On the radio?" When Octavia nodded, the tears rolled down her cheeks and she felt Octavia's as they wet her shoulder. "Everyday? All of our calls?"

Octavia shook her head. "Not all of them, but enough." She pulled back her hands coming to rest on Clarke's belly, her eyes saddened.

Clarke's eyes cut to Diyoza as she pulled her sister back into her embrace. "This one still seems okay. We have much to talk about, but later. There are ears that don't need to hear them and your brother will need time to find the words."

"Who are they?" Octavia asked as she pulled away for the second time, her hands finding Clarke's.

The movement beyond Octavia's shoulder had her eyes cutting up to the still stern looking general, Indra, who if Clarke didn't know better, would say was crying as she held Bellamy to her body. Lincoln's warm presence moved towards them as he watched his aunt with Bellamy. Her eyes met his kind face as she finally answered Octavia. "We're here to rescue you, but I don't trust them." She lifted Octavia's hands to the welts at her throat.

"Do you understand what I mean?" Octavia and Lincoln nodded. "I think it would be wise to bring out our warriors first, because they are the strongest and will be able to help get the rest of our people out, yes?"

Diyoza moved in closer to them and Octavia turned her sharp eyes to the woman. "Why are you armed?"

Bellamy walked over, his general flanking him. "O, it's okay." He stared at his sister, their conversation silent for a moment. "We have an understanding."

Clarke leaned into his side for a moment before she noticed Kane entering the room. "Before we get to that, where's my mom?"

"I'll take her to her mother." Indra said, and Clarke could feel her steel eyes on her back as she shared a brief hug with Kane.

"So I take it you're his sister." Clarke turned back around at the sound of Diyoza's words.

She watched Bellamy introduce the two very dangerous women. Octavia's eyes narrowed at the woman at the word colonel, but the unflappable woman just shrugged at the warrior's question.

"Okay, so how do we do this?" Bellamy asked as he met Clarke's eyes and she could read the nervous question in them. She offered him soft eyes and she watched him relax infinitesimally.

"Two at a time." Diyoza said to him before raising her voice to the people around them "Why don't you people get your things and we'll get started as soon as we're ready topside?" She turned her eyes back on her sister-in-law. "Exactly how many people should we be prepping for extraction?"

"1,200." Bellamy offered before being quickly cut off by his sister shaking her head.

"814." Clarke cut her eyes to Octavia in question as Diyoza called up to the surface letting them know how many people they were going to be bringing up.

Indra called over to Clarke before gently grabbing her arm as she led her towards the door. She turned her eyes quickly to Bellamy as he watched her leave the room, his worry was heavy on his face. The last thing she saw before the door closed was Octavia reaching for her brother's hand.

"Thank you." Indra's steady voice said, surprising her enough to pull Clarke's eyes off the door and onto the usually quiet general.

"Indra?"

Indra sighed, stopping as she turned to face Clarke. "Thank you, Wanheda for keeping Heda alive. I know that it was not easy for you both. We heard enough to know of some of your struggles. I hope you don't mind that we recorded some and played them to our people to keep their hopes up that we would one day reach the surface. We heard you digging above us sometimes but your words brought more hope than the sound of your digging."

Clarke was floored by that, so much so that she couldn't pull any words out of her brain. Before she could scramble her words, Indra's hands reached out and rested gently on her bump, hands caressing her stomach for a moment almost as in surprise. "We didn't share your losses. We thought it would be too much for our people who had too little hope otherwise. Though this is news we did not know off before now and I," she paused, squaring her shoulders. "I am happy for you and Heda."

Clarke stared at the woman for a moment, her own hands coming up to rest on Indra's. "Thank you. So far this is the longest we've kept one in here, but there is still so much that could go wrong, that has gone wrong. And it's okay, if I could offer any hope from my words I'm happy to share them. If I had known, I would have tried to stay more positive so you had more words to share."

Indra's hands slipped out from under her fingers before coming up to rest on Clarke's cheeks. "No child, no matter how small or unformed, should be lost before it is known by its parents and you both have lost much. Do not worry about sharing your grief how you could. What matters is that you didn't let your losses tear you apart or consume you. Your little foundling is very lucky to have you."

Clarke felt tears well in her eyes and Indra's quick fingers caught them as they escaped over to her cheeks. "Thank you, but I think we were the lucky ones." She choked out.

Indra nodded, "Now wipe your tears and dry your eyes. It would not due for our people to see the mighty Wanheda cry."

She laughed before wiping her eyes and nodded at Indra when the woman motioned for them to continue down the hallway. The sight of the wasted woman that was her mother shocked her, as did the locked and guarded room that she found her mother in. Indra's eyes refused to meet hers as Clarke turned to question her.

She huffed out a breath before turning back to her mother. "Mom?" At the sound of her voice, Abby's head raised up to look at her, "Hi, Mom."

Abby scrambled to her feet, clumsily. "Clarke?" She rushed to Clarke, her hands sweeping at her hair at the sides of her face, Abby's eyes unfocused as they roamed her face."How? How? When? When did -"

Indra's voice cut off Abby. "We should move, now."

Clarke nodded, her arms coming around her frail mother. "Everything's gonna be okay but first, we have to get you out of here. Come on."

"Where is Marcus?" Abby asked, her hands shaky as she walked.

"We are going to the ground" Indra said, eyeing Abby with some distrust. "And he will be there."

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Bellamy was glad that Miller and Indra were next up after him and Clarke and Octavia, it helped him relax now that there were other eyes on this enemy, his hand reaching out to help Miller over the lip of the opening. "Come on."

Miller grinned at him as he thanked him. Bellamy watched Miller's eyes dart towards his wife as Bellamy told him it was good to see him. Miller's distraction made him laugh as he urged him to go on. Miller's eyes darted to his quickly with a sly smile on his face before he moved quickly over to Clarke, scooping her up and spinning her around. Miller's hands fell to his wife's hips as he set her down. Miller's eyes widening as he felt the bump at her waist. The smile as Clarke settled her hands over his nodding, put a smile on his own face.

Octavia pulled him aside, he heard Diyoza saying something about the deal not including weapons as they passed her. Octavia's eyes flicked up to his with a sly smile. His own lips twitched up as he looked up at her. "I need to talk to you in private." She raised her eyebrow at him but nodded. "Give me a second, then follow me."

He moved off towards an old building that still looked semi-intact and he barely had time to turn around before his sister was standing right in front of him, bouncing on her toes like she had done when she was just a small child.

He raised his eyebrow at her. "Tell me about the fighting pit. How did that happen? Because it looks to me like someone read Ovid a few too many times."

She laughed. "6 years is a long time but I promise we can discuss it."

"We have a lot to talk about, O." He tried to give her a stern look but he was too happy to have her back in front of him.

"We do," She agreed, her own grin turning up her lips for a moment before she turned serious again. "Just not right now. I don't trust these people, Bell. Who are they? Where'd they come from? Why are they helping us?"

"I don't trust them either." He agreed. "But I need you to trust me. We have leverage, we have their people up in space, held hostage."

She grinned up at him wickedly. "I like this plan Bellamy."

He nodded. "It's as good a plan as any but there is still a lot of risk, we need to be on alert. I need you and your best warriors to keep your eyes on them, I still don't trust them."

He dove in on a quick review of the moving parts they had right now and the most pertinent information that needed to be shared. It had him thrilled to have to run down plans with his people once again. It also seemed the more danger they were in the louder the commanders were in his head.

"If you're right and that valley's the only survivable place," Octavia said. "Then we need to maintain that valley in our possession."

"I agree, however, the commanders have learned from the last time we tried to fight sky people, if they are truly about to follow our peace agreement, I'm going to let them until they give me a reason to otherwise."

The sound of a blast cut off any further conversation. Octavia moved to the open space that used to house a door. "What the hell was that?

"I know what that was. Come on, they have some explaining to do." He gritted his teeth as he pulled the radio from his belt. "Raven, lock it down. Everything. You hear?"

"Copy that Bellamy. Someone is trying to access the vents and shut us out but I'm on it. You say the word and we will flip the lever."

By the time they rounded the area the blast had come from one of the new sky people had the sonic blaster, threatening the remainder of his people, some who'd drawn their swords. The man's words were mocking as he swung the blaster wildly. "Sorry about your pretty fountain but that was only half power. I know most of you are armed. If anyone moves for a weap-"

The sound of a gunshot rang out, cutting off the outraged man as he crumpled to the earth. His eyes dragged up from the dead man to see his wife with her arm outstretched, gun in hand. Diyoza's eyes cut over to Clarke's for a moment her eyebrow raised, impressed with his wife.

"What the hell are you doing? One call from me and your people are dead." He gritted out his eyes flicking between Clarke and Diyoza.

Diyoza looked smug. "Make your call."

"Raven, come in. You read me?" He heard the crackle of the radio silence for a moment.

It took longer than he would have liked but Harper's voice clicked over the speaker, "Bellamy, we are a little busy here, looks like someone is trying to hack into the door lock system. Looks like they are trying to vent the ship."

"The deal's off." Diyoza's face showed the first flicker of fear as he moved in closer to her. "but

nobody has to get hurt."

The sound of feet running towards them pulled his attention for long enough for Diyoza's hand to clamp around Clarke's, disarm her and yank her towards her body, pressing a gun to Clarke's waist. His heart leapt into his throat as he felt the press of his people at his back. His eyes stayed glued to the gun pointed at his unborn child. He held up his hand to stop any further movement.

"Hold your fire." Diyoza said to her people, a smug smile on her face. "Because my guy can keep your guy busy long enough for me to wipe out you and your whole army."

"Let her go." He gritted out.

Diyoza moved her gun, caressing Clarke's neck, her eyes trained on his face. "Where's your mother?"

"She's our doctor." Octavia called out, stepping up to Bellamy's side. "You can't have her."

He cut his eyes to Octavia, his words hissed through his teeth. "She has my wife and unborn child."

McCreary stepped forward picking up the blaster that had fallen from the dead man's hands, pointing it at Bellamy. "She asked you a question. Where is the doctor?" Bellamy stepped slightly in front of his sister as McCreary swung the blaster back in their direction. A wicked smile pulled at his lip as he watched Bellamy shift. "That's right. You're not so tough now, are you?"

"No!" A voice he hadn't heard in years yelled out, Diyoza calling out to her men to hold still. Abby pushed through the crowd, Kane keeping pace just behind her. "I'm right here. Don't shoot. We'll come without a fight."

"Abby?" Octavia breathed at his back.

Diyoza raised an eyebrow, her gun still running along his wife's neck "We?"

"The two of us." Abby nodded, her thin face, determined. "Those are my terms."

"I see where your daughter gets it from. Take them both." Diyoza watched as her men roughly grabbed Abby and Kane.

He could see the tears starting to well in Clarke's eyes as she called out to her mother. "Mom, what are you doing?"

Abby called back that she loved her as the men loaded them on ship, Diyoza shoving Clarke forward as she stepped on the ramp next to McCreary. Her voice rose above the din of engines starting. "Okay then, here are my terms. The valley is ours. Any attempt to get there will be met by overwhelming force. As long as you stay here, we won't have a problem. Is that a problem?"

"Diyoza, are you stupid? It won't take long for Raven to gain full control of your ship again and even less time for her to pull the lever, killing all your people." He moved closer, his feet moving quickly towards Clarke.

Diyoza smirked at him. "You have faith in your man, I have faith in mine."

He scooped up Clarke, helping her settle onto her feet as the doors to the ship closed and they took off toward their home. Her worried face turned up towards him. "What do we do now?"

"Now we go to war." He turned them around, facing his people, raising his voice. "Now we go to war! We get our valley back! But first we get the rest of our people out of the bunker. I need some people setting up temporary space to sleep, preparing food for tonight, etc. while we come up with a plan of action."

The cheers rose up from their people as they started to chant his and Clarke's titles. He sent people off on their tasks before he tugged his wife over to the building him and Octavia had occupied earlier. He pulled Clarke in tight to his chest once they were out of sight. "I was so scared, Clarke. So, so scared."

Tears poured from her eyes as she sobbed against his chest, for a moment he wasn't sure she was going to talk, her lips pressed against his sternum as they were. "I was too. What if this war takes this baby from us?" She lifted her head to look at him. "What if it takes our little girl from us?"

He pressed his lips to hers gently as his own tears started to fall from his eyes, his hands moving to rest over their growing child, a gentle fluttering of movement against his hand. "I won't let that happen, Clarke."

"You can't guarantee that." She pressed her lips to his, before resting her forehead against his, her hands rising to his cheeks. "I can't lose this baby, I can't lose our little girl. Bellamy, I can't lose anymore babies."

"No, Clarke. We won't." His thumbs brushed over her stomach gently. "I will do everything we can to keep this baby safe, keep you and Madi safe. I know you're scared but we need to come up with a plan together. To get back to Eden. Back to our little girl."

She nodded, running her nose along his. "Okay, my Heda. Let's go get our baby back."

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Clarke held Bellamy's hand as they walked back out to their people, tents were going up and more people were on the ground than before. She was overwhelmed with the sheer volume of people that milled about. People reaching out and softly calling out to them as they passed. She tried to stay focused and ignore the voices as they made their way towards where they'd last seen Octavia, Lincoln and Indra.

The sound of a familiar voice yelling her name turned her head just in time to see Wells' beaming face before he collided with her. "Wells!" She could feel the tears welling for the millionth time, it seemed, that day as she wrapped her arms around her friend. "Oh Wells, it's so good to see you."

He pulled back, brushing her hair from her face. "It's so good to see you. Where is everyone one else? Raven? Murphy?"

"They are safe, for now. There is a lot to go over, come to the war council and we will give a run down of what we know." She pulled out of his arms, drinking in his face. "It's so good to see you Wells."

"War? Clarke?" He looked at her confused. "I don't understand. We just got back to the ground."

Bellamy interrupted before she could begin to explain, grabbing her hand again. "We are going to war, Wells. We have a lot to discuss and I'd rather do that once. Please join us in the war council and we will discuss it there."

Wells looked stunned as he stepped back. "Yeah, yeah, okay. Of - of course. When, where?"

She looked up at him. "Give us an hour to wrangle everyone up and we will meet in the house that's still standing at the north west corner from here."

He nodded as Bellamy tugged on her hand, pulling her towards the others. They found Octavia and Lincoln supervising people coming up from the bunker, Indra and Miller nowhere to be seen.

Bellamy looked at her for a moment squeezing their laced fingers before he turned back to them.

"Octavia, we need to convene a war council. Get your strategists and anyone else that might be useful to this conversation and have them meet where we met before, within the hour."

"We have learned a lot about this world in the last 6 years and we need to make sure our people are prepared." Clarke supplied when Bellamy paused.

Both of them nodded before taking off in different directions, handing their current task off to others. "Clarke, we should head back towards the house to wait for people to start arriving."

She nodded and they turned back the way they'd come from. She caught the sight of her mother's former apprentice out of the corner of her eye as they walked and gently extracted her hand from her husband with quick words that let him know she would follow him shortly. He looked over at the medic who was checking on the people injured in the blast before nodding.

"Don't be long, Clarke." He gave her a nervous look. "Bad things seem to happen when we are separated."

She laughed lightly. "Yes they do. I won't be long, Bell, I just want to check in with him quickly."

He nodded. "I love you, Clarke. In case I hadn't told you that today."

"You have, but I'll never say no to a reminder. I love you too, Bellamy. With everything I am." She smiled gently at him before she turned towards Jackson.

Jackson's smile was bright when she called his name but it didn't quite meet his eyes. "We could've used you in the bunker, Clarke." He said; his tone just as falsely bright as his smile had been.

"You had my mother." She pressed. "What happened to her?"

He turned away quickly from her questions, moving over to another patient. She let him finish his conversation with the man he was working on before she put her hand on his shoulder, turning him around to look at her. "Jackson, please help me to understand what happened down there."

He sighed. "I don't know what to tell you right now Clarke. So much has happened, I just -"

Miller's voice calling his name cut him off as they both turned to greet their friend. Miller surprised her when he pressed his lips to the doctor's. She lifted her eyebrow at him and Miller ducked his head for a moment, a light blush rising on his cheeks. She smiled, "I'm glad you found happiness."

"Thanks, Clarke." Miller said, "It looks like you found some happiness too. Must not have been the hardship we all imagined it would be when you were forced to marry the commander of assholes."

A startled laugh pulled from her lips as she shook her head. "No," she unzipped her jacket for the first time since before she'd been captured, exposing her small 6-month-along belly. "Not all a hardship."

She heard the sharp intake of breath from Jackson. "We didn't know about this one. Abby, I, we - um, Octavia played us the calls about the other one, the one you lost."

"She must have been keeping this one from you for a good reason." She offered with a shrug, pulling his unconsciously reaching hand to rest on her belly. "She probably wanted to protect you, just in case."

Miller moved in closer, his own hand reaching out to settle on her belly as his eyes met Jackson's. "I found out earlier." Jackson's mouth dropped open for a moment before he smiled at his partner.

"Jackson, we need to discuss my mother at some point because I need to know what is wrong with her if we are going to save her and Kane. But you are in luck for now because we are getting ready to sit down and discuss war and if I don't get back to my husband soon he will come for me. But there is something I would like you to do before we head off to war," She paused to steady herself, both men's hands slipping from her belly. "I would like you to do an examination of this baby, an ultrasound if you have the capability. I mean this pregnancy feels different than the last but I need to know if this baby is viable before I go charging off."

He nodded. "Sure, Clarke. But if the strength of their kicks are anything to go by then that baby will make it."

"I wish I could take that as a positive sign but the last one seemed strong too but it wasn't strong enough." She offered him a sad smile. "I just need to know."

"Sure, absolutely, come find me after and we will head back into the bunker and take a look." he nodded.

"Thanks, Jackson." She turned her attention to Miller. "I'd like you to come to the war council. Jackson, you are welcome to come as well."

"We'll be there, Clarke." Miller nodded, his hand reaching out to his lover.

"Okay, perfect." She pointed out to the meeting house. "We will meet there in less than 30 minutes."

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He looked around to the faces that filled the room, less than he would have liked against such a smart enemy. It took twice as many to even attempt to wage war on Clarke's people and the only reason they made peace was because of their feelings towards one another. But their peace took months and hundreds of lives that they couldn't waste now. They didn't have the people and their children didn't have the time.

He could feel his wife's frustration at his side as she turned towards the group, her teeth clenching, "You can't just do whatever the hell you want here." her fingers stabbing at the map on the table. "Which route were you planning on taking? Huh? It's sandstorm season; the wind moves in a predictable path. We've made the trip dozens of times. We can't just -"

She cut herself off, looking up at him. Indra jumped on the silence, "They don't know we're coming, so all 3 northern passes will be wide open but the village will be fortified."

"Where's the water source?" The general from Yujleda asked.

He pointed it out. "Here. Why? What are you thinking?" The general dragged his finger along the map, his eyes turning up towards Bellamy. "We can't take that route."

"Why? You said the sea is gone." Indra asked, moving closer to the table. "Is it passable or not?"

"Yes, maybe. But you have to understand," Clarke paused, taking in a steadying breath. "No one wants to get to that valley more than me. It's our home but that way is too risky."

"Risky how?" Indra asked.

"You chose the shortest route which makes sense but the dry seabed is hit by almost constant sandstorms." He cut in before Clarke could.

"We have the tents from the second dawn. Sand shouldn't be a problem." Miller offered.

He shook his head. "It's not just sand. Some of it crystallized in Praimfaya. I'm talking shards of glass like razor blades. The tents will be torn to shreds and so would we."

"We can only carry rations for 7 days. The sea route will take 6. The next shortest path adds 50 miles. That's two days if we're lucky." One of the others in the room argued. "How do we know there won't be sandstorms on the longer routes?"

He sighed running his fingers through his hair. He looked down to Clarke's face and he could see the conflict on her face. Her desire to get back to Madi lined every crevasse of her face. He turned back to the groups. "We don't. What's the status of our supplies here? Guns, warriors, etc.?"

Lincoln's voice joined in, laying out everything they had and even the most reckless of commanders in his head seemed hesitant to go to war with what they had. Though all of them seemed to agree that doing nothing, given the state of the hydrofarm was not an option either.

"Raven?" He called out over the radio. The crackling of silence clung heavy on the air. "Raven? Harper?"

He hailed them several more times and he could see his wife's concern rising with every call that got no answer back. Her eyes begged him to find them a solution.

"Raven and Harper are in trouble. Madi and the rest of them could be too." He heard her soft words as she leaned towards him, though it looked like he wasn't the only one based on the way the rest of the group was leaning in, ears turned slightly in their direction.

"Well it looks like we will have no choice but to go with a 6-day hike through sandstorm country." He said, leaning forward to brace his hands on the table in front of him. "I want everyone to eat and get some sleep tonight, get bags packed and if we can find something more sturdy than the tents let's pack those too. This trip will be hot but I want everyone to wear the thickest, strongest clothes they have. The sandstorms will offer no mercy to us. We will reconvene as the sun rises and I'd like to be on the way just after."

Indra issued several more instructions and Clarke's hand rested over his on the table, pulling his focus to her. She looked exhausted and the bruises on her neck had him worried. Before he could force himself to turn his attention back towards the room it was cleared out, leaving only his wife, his general, his sister and her chosen.

He stood back up to his full height, wrapping his arm around Clarke as he pulled her body close to his. "You guys should go get your rest as well. We have a long few days ahead of us."

"Heda." Indra stepped forward, "I think it would be wise for you and Wanheda to be escorted like before, it would do our people well to see us getting back to some sense of normalcy."

He inclined his head. "Very well, but not too many. It's been just us for 6 years, this will be an adjustment."

"Well, then it's decided." Octavia said, clapping her hands together once. "You will have supper with us."

He could feel Clarke's eyes on his face, he opened his mouth to agree, but Clarke's voice cut in off. "We would love to, but first Bellamy and I have an appointment with Jackson. He is going to examine the baby."

He looked down at her face, "We do?"

"It's been a long time since I've had access to a doctor." She offered as an explanation loud enough for the others to hear before dropping her voice to a whisper. "I have to know for sure that everything is okay."

He nodded, his hand resting on her shoulder gave her a gentle squeeze. He turned back to his sister. "We will find you after?"

His sister's eyes were kind as she nodded.

XXXXXXXXX

Madi eyed the group of her mother's friends, Echo had taken off hours ago, as the sun had started to rise. The rest of them were standing around talking quietly, their eyes darting to her every so often, but they weren't looking now.

She slipped away, threading through the trees quietly back towards their home. She just hoped to catch a glimpse of her parents, to know that she wasn't alone in the world once again. She eased around the back of the village, up into one of her hiding spots.

The stone-faced woman with the scar on her throat; the lady that had her parents was just coming out of the meeting place. The music was loud until the woman turned it down, raising her voice. "You're not safe. There's an army on the march toward us right now. An army who's willing to fight to the death for this miraculous place that you've been in for two hours and are already desecrating. I said I'd get you home, and I did. It may not be the home that we expected, but we're here and we're free. You have one day to get used to your new reality. We start your training in the morning. For God's sake, play something with a beat."

She moved to lean back against the tree as a new song was turned up. The army must be her parents coming for her and the knowledge almost made her cry. She watched the people in the camp mill about and she wondered if this is what her mother's people had been like when they first came down to earth, but not her mother. Her mother was a busy body and she missed her.

She curled against the tree as she felt a few tears leak from her eyes. Sniffling she climbed down from the tree and made her way back to her mother's friends. She was going to help her parents any way she could.