Chapter 77: Clarke

After dinner with mom and the group of doctors, we head over to Dalia's house to continue our conversation. Mom said she had an uneasy feeling at the restaurant and wanted to go somewhere more private, and since we were apparently around the corner from Dalia's, that is where we end up.

We talk for about another hour before I got a text from Lexa saying that she was finishing up and heading back to the hotel. I ask mom if we could wrap it up for tonight and continue tomorrow. Once we were back at the hotel, mom decided to have a drink at the bar, and I head up to the room.

I open the door to the room and get a strange feeling. I'm not sure what it is, but something doesn't feel right. I turn around to leave, but a man is standing between me and the door. I turn to run upstairs; I make it to the bedroom only to see two more men. I grab a vase from the dresser and throw it at the one closest to me, hitting him in the shoulder. The vase breaks, and shards of it cut his face, but he grabs me and throws me on the bed anyway.

I look around for anything that I can use to keep him away from me. I yell, "Stop, who are you?"

They laugh, "You don't know us, but we work for Finn. He sent us to get you."

"What? What are you going to do to me?"

"We were only sent to deliver you to Finn, but he didn't say you would put up a fight. So I think we might have to improvise a little. What do you think, Ahmed?"

Before Ahmed can answer, I say, "You won't get away with this! Lexa will come for me, and when she does, there will be hell to pay! She will kill you all!" When I look at Ahmed, he has a weird look on his face.

He says, "Give me your phone!"

"No!" I scream. He walks over to the bed and smacks me across the face before searching me for my phone. When he finds it, he says, "What is the passcode to open it?"

"I'm not telling you!" Another smack and then a punch to the stomach. I start to cry and think, Lexa will find me, but I can't let them hurt the baby. I just need to buy some time until she can find me. I need to keep them talking and slowly give them what they want without hurting the baby. I don't care what they do to me as long as the baby is alright.

Ahmed says, "I'm only going to ask you once more, what is the passcode?"

"Why do you want into my phone so badly?"

He punches me on the right side this time. "Please stop hitting me in the stomach," I beg him. "Anywhere but the stomach, please."

"All you have to do to make it stop is give me the code."

"Fine! It's 1996, now why do you need it?"

"Because I need to see who this Lexa person is. If it is who I think, this job just got better for me." He opens up my phone and begins to scroll through the pictures. As he does, he gets this evil look on his face somewhere between a smile and a scowl. "I can't believe it is actually her. What are the odds? This is going to be fun!"

He grabs me by the hair and jerks me out of bed while saying, "We need to go before she gets back."

I try and pull away, but he is too strong. "What's going on? Do you know Lexa or something?"

He laughs, "Yes, I know her well, and I can't wait to get my revenge."

It suddenly dawns on me where I have heard the name Ahmed before, "Wait, are you…are you the Ahmed that Lexa helped takedown in Afghanistan?"

He replies, "The one and only." Then he punches me hard in the face, and everything goes black. The last thought I have is, you will be okay. Lexa will come for you; you know she will.

When I wake up, I am handcuffed to an old water heater in what looks like an old, abandoned warehouse. I look around and see the three men from the hotel room standing outside the door to what looks like some sort of office where they have me. I hear my phone ring from somewhere in the distance and hear one of the men answer it. From what I can listen to, it is Lexa. The man tells her that he was hired by Finn and he will send her instructions when he arrives.

No, this can't be happening. I can't go through that again with Finn. How is he even here? Then there is Ahmed. I know what Lexa did to him before she let the US Army have him. I'm sure that he will want to hurt her and won't think twice about using me to do it. What am I going to do? What if…what if he decides to rape me like she did him. I don't know if I can survive that again. Clarke, pull yourself together. If that is what it comes to, I will survive for Lexa and the baby. After all, she has endured so much more and survived. I can, too, with her by my side. She will come for me, and this time she WILL kill him if there is no one to stop her. These thoughts are running through my head as the door opens. I look up to see Finn standing there smiling down at me.

He says, "I bet you never expected to see me here, did you?"

I say, "What do you want, Finn? How stupid are you to follow us to a foreign country and cause trouble? Not only that, you are breaking the agreements of the contract you made with Lexa, meaning you will owe us both money and put in jail."

"I'm not stupid. According to the passport I used, I'm Finnis O' Collins from Ireland. So no one will ever know that I was here."

I laugh, "You mean at least until they find your body if there is enough left to identify after Lexa is finished with you. She promised to kill you if you ever touched me again, and she always makes good on her promises. So just ask Robby, oh wait, you can't because he's dead. So what do you expect to accomplish here, Finn?"

"I'm going to use you as bait to get that stupid dyke girlfriend of yours here so that I can kill her, and then things can go back to the way they are supposed to be. Me and you in the White House with kids."

"Like that is ever going to happen! There is no way in hell I will ever come back to you. Not after what you did to me! Besides, with all the police records that you have racked up in the past couple of months, there is no way you will ever run for office."

"What do you mean after what I did to you? We had sex like we used to, that's all. You know that you wanted it and enjoyed it. As far as my record goes, my dad will take care of all of that, and it will be like it never happened. So now why don't you just take it easy and let's have some fun like we used to."

Ahmed steps inside the office, "Did I hear you say that this is Lexa's girlfriend?"

I look up at Ahmed and say, "Yes, Lexa is my girlfriend, and if you are indeed the Ahmed, she knows then you know that she will stop at nothing to find me."

He laughs, "What happened to Ash? Did she finally die from her injuries?"

"What? No, she is alive, and if I had to guess, will be Lexa's backup plan."

Ahmed says, "Even better. I can get them both."

Finn looks at Ahmed, "How do you know Lexa and Ashley?"

Ahmed smiles and says, "Let's just say we used to work together in Afghanistan and leave it at that."

I think it finally hit Finn because he says, "Wait, are you the one that held Lexa captive?"

Ahmed just nods and smiles.

Finn says, "It doesn't matter to me what you do to Lexa as long as you get her out of my life for good." He starts walking towards me, and I begin to struggle against the cuffs, but it is no use. He just laughs and says, "You can't stop me this time either because you are weak."

"I'm not weak, and I never enjoyed sex with you even before being with Lexa. I just endured it because I thought that was what women did for their men. I had never even had an orgasm until Lexa." If I can just keep him talking, Lexa will get here.

"You are full of shit! You're just saying that to piss me off. All of those times we were together, I know that I made you come."

"Nope, not even once! I got really good at faking it, so you would just get off of me. If you were a real man who cared for someone other than yourself, you would have realized how bad you were. You would have taken the time to learn or even ask what I wanted or needed. Instead, you just took what you wanted, like you did when you raped me."

Ahmed starts to laugh, "I can see why Lexa likes you. She always did like strong women. But, Finn, you might want to go ahead and do whatever it's you want with her before Lexa shows up because once she gets here, all hell is going to break loose, and you won't get another chance."

I gasp, thinking I have to keep them talking so that they can't do whatever it is that they have planned. I need to give Lexa time to get here. "So, what's the plan, Finn. You going to rape me again just to prove you are a man even though you don't know how to please a woman?"

"Just shut up!"

"Why? Do you not like hearing about how you lack the skills to give a woman what she needs. Now, Lexa, on the other hand, loves it when I take control and tell her what I want, and she never fails to give me…."

I don't get to finish the sentence because he punches me in the face, hard enough to open a cut above my eye. I see stars and feel the darkness trying to take over, but I force myself to stay awake. I can't let him repeat what he did last time. He's standing pretty close to me as he begins to unbutton his pants. I yell, "NO!" standing up, kicking at him as hard as possible, and catching him in the shin. As he stumbles back, Ahmed laughs and says, "That's why you have to tie up not only their hands but also their feet. Hold her ankles while I secure them."

I start to cry not because of what is about to happen to me but because it's precisely how Omar and Ahmed did this to Lexa. They lay me face down on the table and tie my hands and ankles to the legs of the table before stripping off my clothes. I'm sure I know what is about to happen, so I start to shut down like I used to when I had sex with Finn. Once they have me ready, Ahmed says, "Finn, I know you want to make Lexa watch what you do to her, but I'm going to go ahead and take what I want now."

Finn says, "No! That isn't part of the plan. I am the only one who gets to touch her. You work for me, remember."

"That was before I found out that Lexa and Fletch were involved. Now I'm going to get my revenge. Do you know what Lexa did to me?"

Finn replies, "Yeah, she took out your whole crew and turned you over to the US military. Speaking of how did you get away from them?"

"The same way you apparently get out of trouble, my dad is a high-ranking government official in my home country, and he was able to get me released. But, unfortunately, I can never return home or get back what Lexa took from me."

I speak up, "It doesn't feel good when someone takes something from you, and you can't do anything about it, does it? I know what she did to you, and given a chance, she will do it again to both of you before she kills you this time."

Finn says, "What is she talking about?"

I say, "I'm talking about how Lexa used Omar's…to fuck Ahmed like they had her. She wanted him to feel as violated as she did. How did it feel, Ahmed? Will your asshole ever be the same?"

The next thing I feel is being punched on the right side again. I know what is coming. I scream, "No! Stop, please!"

I hear one of the other men come in and say, "Boss, I think she is here."

Finn says, "What do you mean you think she is here? Go and find out for sure, and if it's her, bring her to me so that she can watch me have my way with her girl."

The guy just nods and walks out. Finn says, "It won't be long now until this is all over."

I start to scream for Lexa, but Finn smacks me hard across the face, and I black out again.

Lexa

When I arrive at the warehouse, it looks empty. I slowly open the door, and in the dimly lit shell of what used to be some sort of factory, I see at least five men. Two of them are positioned on each side of the doorway to what looks like an office. Another two are on what's left of a catwalk to my right across from the office. Then the last one is walking towards me, pointing a gun at my chest.

From the information, Ash was able to collect from the security cameras and her contacts at the agency, these guys are just your basic run-of-the-mill thugs, which should work in my favor. Their typical jobs are drug runners for the local drug lord, but apparently, they are branching out independently.

As the guy approaches, I say, "Where is Clarke?"

"She's in good hands. Do you have any guns on you?"

"Only one."

"Slowly toss it to me."

I take out the one sidearm I brought with me and toss it to him at the same time I throw the knife in my hand. The gun lands between us, and the blade hits its mark dead center in his throat. He drops his gun, grabs the knife, pulling it out as he falls to the floor. The guys on the catwalk turn towards me and aim their rifles at me. I lunge for the gun I just dropped, pick it up as I roll, shooting one of the men on the catwalk just as the other guy's head explodes. I give a thumbs up to Ash and head for the office door.

I pull out my swords and sprint towards the door at full speed. The guys at the door are still trying to figure out what happened on the catwalk. By the time the guys at the door see me, it is too late. I was already on top of them. They tried to run, but I sliced them down with the swords. I kick open the door, startling Finn, who was standing pointing a gun at Clarke's head while another guy is…not again. I yell, "Stop! Leave her alone. You can have me. Just leave her alone."

The guy laughs and says without turning around or stopping. "I've already had you, and now you are going to watch me, and your buddy Finn here have your precious Clarke."

I take a step towards Clarke, but Finn says, "Don't even think about it. I will shoot her if you move."

"I don't care what you do to me. Just let Clarke go. Now!"

The guy with Clarke turns to look over his shoulder at me, and I can't believe who it is. It is Ahmed. The monster burst out of the darkness fast and hard. It only takes a minute for me to formulate a plan. I pull a knife so quickly that Finn didn't see it until it hit him in the hand holding the gun. The gun clatters to the floor as I step towards Ahmed and pull him away from Clarke, and hit him with a spinning back kick, sending him into the wall.

"Clarke, are you okay? Did he…" She doesn't answer me. I walk around the table so that I can see her face and realize that she is unconscious. I reach out and move her hair from her face and…I cut her loose. Just as I release her hands, she comes to. I help her up, I see that she is bleeding from a cut above her eye, and she has some bruising on her right side and some other marks. I can feel the tears in my eyes start to run down my face as I wrap her in a hug. "Baby, I'm so sorry. I should have been there. This should never have happened…I'm going to kill them after I make them feel the pain you have."

She says, "I'm okay, sweetie. Let's finish this so we can get out of here."

I hear the click of a trigger then I feel the impact of the bullet hit my shoulder, but I don't feel it go into my skin. However, it does make me stumble backward a few steps. I hear Clarke yelling in the distance, but I'm focused on Finn. I take two quick steps to him and land a knee to his forehead knocking him out. I run to Clarke and grab her face in my hands so that I can see the damage. She starts to cry, and I say, "Hey, it's fine. I'm here. He can't hurt you anymore."

"But…he shot you."

"I'm fine! Look, I have on the armor Kane has been working on. It didn't break the skin. Did he…are you…is the baby…"

Clarke starts to cry, "I don't know…I-I blacked out when Finn hit me in the face…."

Then I hear laughing, and Ahmed says, "Now it makes sense why you were begging me not to hit you in the stomach. You're pregnant. How sweet. It will make what I'm going to do even better for me."

"And just what do you think you're going to do? You don't have any backup. They are all dead, and my team is watching the entrance, so no one else will be joining us. So I'm the one who is going to have all the fun. If you thought what I did to you last time was bad, just wait until you see what is going to happen this time."

I look at Clarke and say, "Clarke, I need you to go outside. Bellamy, Reed, and Jose will be waiting on you, and Ash is keeping watch from the tower. I can't let them live this time. If I do, we will always be looking over our shoulder."

"I know, Cielo. I told them that you were going to kill him this time, but I'm not leaving here without you."

"Ya Amar, I promise you are safe, but I don't want you to see what happens next. So no matter what you hear, don't come back. Do you understand?"

"No, I'm not leaving. I want to see them suffer! I…"

I interrupt, "If you watch what I'm about to do, you may never look at me the same again. When I heard you scream as I walked in the door, I let the monster out of the darkness, and I can't make it leave until I finish this, and it isn't going to be pretty. Please, just go. I promise they will feel everything you did and more."

"I could never look at you differently for anything that you do to them. You once said that I deserved someone who would walk beside me, not in front of me. I need to do this with you. If not, I'm still walking behind you, to a degree. I want us to be equal in everything, not just the good but also the bad. I need to walk beside you, Cielo. Please let me be here for you."

"Clarke, it's different knowing that I've done questionable things and seeing me do them. I would really prefer you let me do this alone, but I won't make you leave." My phone vibrates with a text from Ash: Everything good?

Me: Just an unexpected old friend I need to take care of. How long before the cleanup crew gets here?

Ash: About 15 min. Who? Someone other than Finn?

Me: Yeah, nothing I can't handle though, meet you at the car in 12.

"Last chance to leave Clarke, we only have twelve minutes, and he looks to be coming too."

"I'm not going anywhere, Cielo. What do you have in mind?"

"Grab the handcuffs while I pick him up." I pick Finn up and lay him face down on the table with his pants down around his knees. Then I take the handcuffs from Clarke, handcuffing one hand to one table leg and then the other hand to another leg.

"Clarke, you're the one he hurt the most, so it's up to you what you want me to do to him. I told you before what I would do if it were left up to me, but since you insist on being here, I will leave it up to you."

"I say we stick to your plan. I want Finn to feel what I felt. I want him to feel helpless and violated, then I just need to know that he won't bother us anymore."

By now, Finn is conscious and screaming for us to let him go. "How does it feel laying over a table with your ass in the air and nothing you can do about it?" Clarke says.

He replies, "What do you think you are going to do? You don't have what it takes to do to me what I did to Clarke? Besides, you will never get away with this."

"Really? To me, this all looks like a drug and weapons buy gone bad." I place a brick of cocaine beside his head. "See, drugs and out there, dead dealers. In here is a soon-to-be dead buyer and arms dealer."

"You can't kill me; my dad will come after you."

Clarke says, "According to you, you aren't even here. You entered the country on a fake passport which will only fuel the evidence of a bad drug buy."

I look at Clarke, "We don't have much time. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes."

I let Clarke take care of Finn while I handle Ahmed. I use my swords to give him some of the same marks that I have before letting Clarke have her turn with him. I walk over to Finn and bend down so that I can look him in the eyes, "So, how does it feel to know that the last thing you will ever feel is being tortured by your ex-girlfriend who you raped?"

He manages to spit out, "You…you won't get away with this. My…my dad will figure it out and come for you."

I can't help but laugh, "Let him. He will end up just like you. Dead." I slit his throat and watch the life leave his eyes before doing the same to Ahmed. Neither of them will ever hurt us or anyone else again.

Fifteen minutes later, Clarke and I climb into the car with Bellamy, Reed, Jose, and Ash. The car ride back to the plane was quiet. Clarke was snuggled into my embrace, and the only call that was made was to Abby to let her know that Clarke was alright. Back at the plane, we stored all our equipment and cleaned up. Then, I took Clarke down to the master suite to talk and get her cleaned up.

As soon as we are alone, I say, "What can I do? Are you going to be okay?"

She starts to cry and burrows her head into my chest. All I can do is hold her and cry with her. I can't help but think this is all my fault. I let her get hurt again. What about the baby? I will never survive if something happens to the little gummy bear because I couldn't protect them. How could this happen again? How did Ahmed manage to get away from the military prison?

I'm brought out of my head by Clarke kissing my neck. I look down at her, and she says, "Can we please keep what happened between us? I mean…I know that people will know I was kidnapped and beaten some but…the rest, can we keep it just between us?"

"Sure, whatever you need. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to protect you again. I should never have left you alone. I will never leave you alone again."

"Cielo, you can't be by my side 24/7. Besides, they are dead now. Will you help me with a shower, and then I want to get Dalia to do an ultrasound to make sure the baby is okay."

I help her with a shower and look at her eye. Of course, it needs stitches, but I closed it the best I could with butterfly stitches until we could get back to Abby.

Once we were back at the hotel, Abby took Clarke into the bathroom and stitched her up. While she was doing that, I gave the team the short version of the plan that Ash and I had made to infiltrate the Ukraine research facility. Of course, Bellamy and everyone else was on board with it, and it was decided that he would be the one to meet with the buyer while Jose and Reed would act as his guards when delivering the product.

Octavia says, "So, what exactly do you need from me?"

I look at her and say, "I need you to look after Clarke, Callie, and Asher while we are gone. After everything Clarke has been through, I need to know she is safe and with someone I trust completely."

"But…I could go…."

I cut her off, "No, I need to know that Clarke and my baby are safe, and the only way I will know that for sure is if you are with her. Do you understand? Your job is the most important because if I lose focus, everyone dies, and I will know if something is wrong with Clarke no matter where I am."

"Yeah, okay. I understand. I've seen how your connection with Clarke works."

"Thanks, everyone, for everything, but now I need to go and get Clarke to see Dalia and then into bed. I will see everyone sometime tomorrow, and we will talk more about the plan."

After everyone has gone, I walk upstairs just as Abby is finishing with Clarke's stitches. I ask, "How is she?"

Abby says, "I think she has a mild concussion, and I just put six stitches in her eyebrow, but overall, I think she is okay. She's going to have quite the black eye tomorrow, though."

Clarke says, "You two realize I'm right here, right?"

I lean in, kissing her on the forehead, "Yes dear, I see you. I just wanted the doctor's opinion. Abby, should we be worried about the little gummy bear? Can we call Dalia about doing an ultrasound? I don't know if she showed you her ribs. It looks like she was punched a couple of times, at least on her right side."

Abby looks at Clarke, "Honey, why didn't you say something. Let me see!"

Clarke lifts her shirt up, and Abby gasps, "Clarke, you could have a cracked rib. We need to get you to a hospital for an…."

Clarke says, "No, just call Dalia."

Clarke

Lexa showed up like I knew she would. She managed to take out all of Finn's goons before knocking Finn and Ahmed out. She tried to get me to leave while she handled them, but I wouldn't. I needed closure and to know that they experienced at least some of the pain that they inflicted on me. I know she was trying to protect me like she always does, but it was something that I needed to do.

Mom stitched up my eye once we were back at the hotel, and then Lexa pointed out my ribs, and mom went crazy. She wanted to take me to the hospital, but I said no. Instead, I told her to call Dalia so we can check and make sure the gummy bear is alright. That is all that matters.

Mom calls Dalia, and she says for us to meet her at her clinic in fifteen minutes. So we meet Dalia, Ariel, and Anny at the clinic for the ultrasound. I'm nervous because I don't think I could take it if something is wrong with the baby. Mom stands on my left with Lexa on my right. Dalia squirts the jelly onto my belly and begins to move the wand around. Seconds go by, and then the little gummy bear shows up on the screen.

Lexa squeezes my hand and says, "Look, babe, it's our little gummy bear. It's so cute."

I look up at her, and she has the biggest smile I have ever seen on her face, but as more seconds tick away, I do not hear a heartbeat. I look at mom and then the screen looking for any signs of what is happening. I feel the tears burning in my eyes, ready to erupt at any moment, and then…like music to my ears, I hear the fast beating of the little gummy bear's heart, and the tears begin to flow. Suddenly, mom and Dalia gasp, and I can tell by looking at their faces something isn't right. I squeeze Lexa's hand and look at Dalia, "What's wrong? Why are you…."

Dalia interrupts, "Everything looks good, but..."

Lexa looks at mom, "Abby, what's wrong. What is the but?"

Abby smiles, "Everything is fine, Lexa. The but…is well it looks like you are having twins!"

I look at the screen closely, and that's when I notice the second little gummy bear peeking out from behind. "Holy shit! Lexa, there are two gummy bears. Do you see them?"

She looks at me, confused. Mom walks over to the monitor and points them both out to her. Lexa's bright smile starts to fade a little, and she turns pale. "Two-twins? We are having two…." She starts to sway a bit.

I hold her hand tight and say, "Cielo, breath. Take a deep breath, hold it and slowly let it out. Now do it again, okay." So she does, and slowly the color comes back to her cheeks, and she begins to smile again.

She leans in to kiss the top of my head and says, "Seriously? We are going to have twins. This is amazing!"

Dalia smiles and says, "Both heart rates are exactly where they should be. Would you like another picture?"

Lexa says, "Yes, please. I can't believe there are two!"

Dalia takes the picture and wipes off my stomach, and then she and mom leave the room. I look up at Lexa, and she has tears running down her cheeks. I say, "Hey Cielo, it's okay. Everyone is okay."

"I know, but…but what if-what if something had happened? I would have never gotten over it because it would have been my fault. On top of everything, we are having twins! I love you, my babies' momma!"

I chuckle at the name before saying, "No, it would have been Finn's fault. But that doesn't matter. We are okay. I'm okay, the gummy bears are okay, and you are also alright. Everyone that matters is alright, and Finn can't hurt us ever again.

Before we leave the clinic, I ask the doctors, "When can we do the procedure?"

Ariel says, "It shouldn't take long now that I have a sample of Finn's DNA to work out a serum to isolate it in the fetuses. Once I have that completed, we can proceed anytime."

Anny says, "Lexa, you need to realize that when we harvest your bone marrow, it will weaken you for a few days, so I would suggest doing it once the fight is over. If Ariel is ready by then, we can do it here in the clinic before heading home."

I look at Lexa and then the doctors before saying, "That sounds like a good plan. What do you think, Lex?"

"That sounds amazing. I can't wait until we know the little gummy bears are truly ours."

Lexa stayed up all night watching me sleep and waking me every couple of hours to check on me and make me drink either water or juice. At one point, I jerked awake in a panic, the same panic that I had felt when they tied me to the table.

"It's okay, sweetie," Lexa promises, rubbing my back.

"I tried to find a way to make them stop, to keep them from…."

"I know you did everything you could. But, there was no way for you to get out of there by yourself."

"You know…you know what he did to me?"

Lexa nodded, blinking back tears. "I know."

"But you still want to be with me?"

Lexa frowns. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I'm broken, again."

"So? I've felt broken before, many times in fact. We both know it doesn't last forever. We will survive this like we have everything else because that's what we do. We survive and prove to everyone that we aren't broken. We are strong together and will thrive despite what the world has done to us. Everyone's a little broken. That's where the strong parts come from."

"Some of us are stronger than others, to begin with," I say.

"Most of us are stronger than we think."

"I know it's not logical, but I feel…ruined."

"You're right. It's not logical, but it's understandable. I promise that you're not, though. You are still perfect and gorgeous to me." Lexa kisses my face gently. "I love you," she says softly, taking my hand in hers. "I love everything about you." She kisses my hand. "I love you more than anything." Lexa carefully laces her fingers through mine. "And you will never, EVER be ruined or broken to me."

The next morning when she woke me up, she had ordered room service with all of my favorite foods. I tried to get her to go to her training session, but she refused, saying that she was staying with me today and would make up the training tomorrow.