Here's the chapter, hope you enjoy. This fic is also being posted on AO3 if anyone is interested. But I try too keep the uploads there and here about even so so feel free to use whichever format you prefer. For now I will continue posting to both.

I own nothing but my alterations to the storyline, yadda yadda. Enjoy,

A Month and a Half Later

Clarke sat in the Cafeteria with Wells sitting directly across from her. They both had a free period and had decided to play chess, something they hadn't done in far too long. They sat and they talked and they played and Clarke found herself missing the old days when it was just the two of them. Wells was there in her earliest memories and had been her first and, for a while, only friend.

After her recent relationship development with Raven, Clarke had wanted to talk with someone and had hung out with Chrissy for the first time in a while. Her friend had been congratulatory but had also mentioned something weird about Wells, that he was looking upset or Jealous? Clarke looked at Wells now and he looked up briefly from his pieces and offered a smile, but it did seem a bit more strained than it used to. Maybe Chrissy had been right? Clarke frowned, but she and Wells had been best friends practically since infancy, they didn't have any romantic feelings towards one another. At least, she didn't. Distracted as she was, Clarke lost their game fairly quickly, not that she won often anyway. She tried to clear her head. She really needed her best friend, she sighed as she flicked over her King. "Hey, Wells?"

He looked up with sudden worry on his face at her tone, "what's the matter Clarke? You ok?"

She shrugged, "Yeah I just, well no." Clarke paused, then changed her mind and switched topics. Though not to anything less serious. "Listen you have to promise not to say anything to anyone about this, not even your dad ok?" This issue was not the one that had been going through her head the moment before but it was certainly the more pressing one.

Wells frowned but nodded, "yeah ok, what's this about Clarke?"

Clarke licked her lips, "Ok so last week I overheard my parents arguing, apparently my dad found some problem with the air filtration and oxygen system."

Wells' shoulders relaxed a bit, "yeah so? Happens from time to time, they always fix it. This time should be no different."

Clarke shook her head, "no, this time is different, he doesn't think there IS any way to fix it." At Wells' slightly alarmed expression Clarke held up her hands, "apparently it's still about five to ten years away from being a real issue."

She paused to take a breath, "the problem is, my dad wants to take the information public. Says that the people have a right to know." Clarke crossed her arms at the incredulous look on Wells' face, "which they do" she added pointedly.

Wells spread his hands in surrender and gestured for her to go on.

She glared at him slightly but continued, "the council, including my mother, doesn't agree and has ordered him to secrecy." She took a deep breath, "from what I gathered from last week I think their argument was because he is planning to come forward anyway."

Wells' eyes widened and he shook his head, "no no, Clarke he can't do that, if he defies the council they will-"

"I know."

"How can I help? Maybe I could go to my dad, convince him to-"

"No!" Clarke said it way too loudly and looked around at the few others in the room waiting for them to go back to their own conversations and activities. "No," she said in a more measured tone, "if you go to your dad he will be bound by his oath to carry out the law."

"But Clark if I just explain that-"

"Wells no, you promised." Clarke squeezed her eyes shut "just, just let me try to talk to him first." She looked up at him pleading. "I'll talk with him tomorrow, I can convince him not to do anything rash."

Wells took a deep breath, "ok but Clarke if he does this, goes public, after that there will be nothing and no one that could save him."

"I know." She sighed, "hey Wells?"

He looked back up, "yeah?"

She smiled, "thanks for listening, thanks for being my best friend."

He smiled back, a genuine smile this time. "Of course, anytime Clarke."

And as they set the pieces back up Clarke decided that for the moment she was going to forget about all her worries, she was gonna get her head in the game and beat him, and she told him so.

After almost an hour she narrowly came out victorious and whooped aloud just as Finn and Raven walked over and took their seats. They were soon joined by Bellamy and the five of them joked and laughed while they ate. After everyone was pretty much finished Raven got up from the table and, walking around gave Clarke a peck on the cheek, before smiling and saying goodnight to everyone else. She was met with a chorus of happy birthdays as she went.

Wells and Finn had both turned away as Raven had kissed Clarke and though Clarke had completely missed Wells' reaction she had most definitely seen and taken a small amount of pleasure in Finn's. Clarke had immensely enjoyed Finn's face when she and Raven had strolled into the cafeteria holding hands the day after Clarke's birthday and even after a month the slight taste of victory hadn't lost its appeal. Wells however... She glanced at him and he smiled back, but she could tell that it was strained and it hurt her to know that she might be causing her friend pain.

Clarke was pulled from her confusing thoughts by Raven squeezing her shoulder and then grabbing their tray. "All right, see ya guys, Finn, see you in a half hour, Clarke, see you around ten. Your parents are still gonna be out, yeah?"

Clarke nodded, "yep, dad's working late and my mom will be at a council meeting."

Raven smiled before turning away and then calling over her shoulder "it's a date then."

Bellamy bumped Clarkes shoulder and grinned over at her and, smiling, Clarke realized that it didn't really matter what anyone else thought of them being together, Raven was happy and Clarke was happy and that was all that mattered. Little did Clarke know, she was not going to see Raven that night, and all of that happiness was about to be shattered.

Clarke arrived home a short while later, as she approached the door she went through a mental checklist of everything she had set up for Raven's birthday. She still had about two and a half hours to kill before Raven would arrive. Opening the door and stepping inside she was greeted by the rare sound of her parents arguing. They were all the way back in their bedroom but their voices were loud and the one door and open living room did little to muffle anything. Clarke shut the door behind her and sighed, doing her best to tune them out. That is of course until she heard her name.

"-Clarke huh?! Jake, what happens to our daughter if you are caught? At best she will grow up without a father! At worst she..."

Clarke heard her mother trail off, Clarke had planned to stay out of it but...

Then her father spoke up, though he was much quieter and more collected. "Abby, I have to think of what's best for everyone. People have a right to know that they and their children may only have a few years left to live. If I bring this to everyone's attention now, less than a month after I found it myself," her father paused, "if I bring it forward now everyone can band together to try and find a solution. The council may think that this will cause panic and chaos but they aren't the only ones living up here and I truly believe that this will bring everyone together."

There was a long pause before her mother responded, "you do as you must, I have to go to the council meeting, I beg of you at least this, don't do anything until after we have made a final decision."

"You and I both know you already have."

"Jake."

There was no response but her father must have nodded his consent because a moment later her mother spoke again, "ok, I'll be back late, Clarke and Raven will be here tonight if you see her before you leave remind her that there is a chocolate cupcake in the cupboard and I even managed to find that half a candle."

Clarke started slightly as she heard her mother turn the handle to the bedroom door and Clarke quickly tiptoe-ran back to the front door opening it quietly and then making sure to let it slam slightly as it closed. She then walked forward pretending to have just come in.

She came around the corner just as her mother was walking through the living room,"hi mom, heading to your meeting?" Clarke feigned innocence.

Luckily it seemed to work and her mother looked up a bit surprised, "oh Clarke, you are home a bit early, yes I'm headed out now." She sighed, "I think its going to be a long one so don't wait up, there is a chocolate cupcake and something special in the cupboard over the sink." She smiled and gave Clarke a quick hug "your father should be leaving in twenty minutes or so, make sure to wish Raven a happy birthday for me."

"Ok mom, thanks, see you tomorrow."

"Good night honey." With that her mother grabbed her keycard off the counter and stepped out the door. It closed with a click and Clarke sat heavily down into the kitchen chair. She stayed there for what must have been at least twenty minutes because she didn't move a muscle until she felt her father's hand on her shoulder.

"Clarke everything ok? You saw mom, yeah?"

She looked up and shook herself a bit, "huh? Oh yeah dad, saw mom on her way out, all good, sorry I must have spaced out."

He smiled, "you do tend to do that." He bent down and kissed the top of her head, "love you sweetie."

She closed her eyes and smiled softly, "love you too dad."

He stood up and ran his hand over her head ruffling her hair slightly before pulling his bag up over his shoulder, "well I'm headed out, I shouldn't be back until around one at least so you two crazy kids have fun." He turned back with a huge smile on his face and winked.

Clarke felt herself blush, "daad!" She made to get up but he just laughed, snagging his keys and ducking out the door.

Clarke sat for another minute alone, at first with a lingering smile on her face which then slowly turned into a frown. The way he had become serious and said he loved her, then joked almost as if just to lighten the mood... He did that all the time but something felt different, almost like a goodbye.

Clarke shook herself, no, he had agreed to at least wait until after the council had made their decision. But what if he was going now to record himself? Then he was going to release it the moment her mother got home and told him the council's verdict? Clarke put herself in her father's shoes, determined to do this and certain that the council would never allow it. Recording it was the smart move, but he would never do it here at home, endangering her or her mom. So he'd do it at work. Late at night after everyone had gone home. He was the senior engineer, no one would find it strange, him working late.

Clarke made up her mind, she had to go now. She grabbed the magnet board and stylus and scribbled a quick note of apology to Raven if she arrived before Clarke got back, saying that it was extremely important and promising to be back soon. She had told Raven last week when she had found out about the problems with the oxygen but hadn't mentioned the part about her father wanting to go public. Now she regretted it, wished she had told Raven the whole thing, but there was no time now. She grabbed her jacket and slipped out the door, leaving the magnet board propped up on the floor.

Clarke reached the engine room just fifteen minutes later. She hadn't wanted to draw attention by full out sprinting but she hadn't been able to go any slower than a light jog. She quickly input the passcode and entered the large space. She made her way behind several pieces of large machinery and around the main furnace. Then she saw him, her father was inside the small office that took up a small portion of space along the far end of the left wall. Through the glass windows Clarke could see him with his back turned, he was faced towards a video camera and Clarke could see the small green light blinking.

"Dad!" She moved into a full sprint knowing that he couldn't hear anything from inside the office. Reaching the door now panting Clarke slapped her hand down onto the print scanner. Having long ago added herself to the clearance database the light flashed green and there was a slight hiss as the door swung ajar. Clarke pulled it the rest of the way open and stepped inside just as her father turned around.

"Clarke! What are you doing here? You can't be here." He stood from his seat and quickly leaned forward stopping the video before turning and moving towards her, "Look it isn't safe I-"

"-Dad, I know exactly what you are doing, I heard you and mom." Clarke crossed her arms and frowned while her dad just stopped in his tracks. "Both last week and again tonight."

Her father sighed and slumped back down into his seat raising a hand to cover his face.

"Look dad, I agree that everyone has a right to know. It's their lives, their choices. If everyone put their heads together it might even be a solvable problem..." She hesitated, "but dad, there has to be a better way to tell them, a way that wont get you floated." Clarke was close to tears now and suddenly her father was holding her close. She hugged him tight and tried to hold back her silent sobs.

"Clarke, I'm so sorry. I was an idiot to believe that you were still oblivious to all of this." He put his hand under her chin and tilted her head up until they were looking directly at each other. "You are so brave and the fact that you understand what I am doing makes me so proud of the young lady you have become, of the incredible woman you will be." He smiled sadly, "I trust your judgement more than my own sometimes you know that?"

He looked up then, towards nothing in particular, a genuine smile on his face. "Remember that day a few years ago when you asked to tag along to see my work?" Clarke nodded even though her father was still seeing something elsewhere. "You came down here, and when we came into this office I told you to stay close." He suddenly squeezed her a little tighter, "silly of me, I should have known better than that. I began to pour over these monitors with the senior engineer to try and find a solution to the problem we had been having where one of our generators had for all appearances stopped working. We looked over every piece, had scans run of each section and still couldn't tell what was wrong."

Her father shook his head and then looked down at her with a smile, "after realizing you had left the office and a frantic minute of trying to find you, you called down from the upper level where you said you had found the problem. I ran up to get you, embarrassed and angry that you hadn't behaved yourself only to find that you had indeed found the problem. You were standing there pointing to a mass of electrical cables and upon closer inspection it turned out that the one that powered one of our turbines was simply unplugged. Knocked loose at some point by a worker or the coming and going of machinery." Her father shrugged, "we had been working on the problem and staring at the schematics on our monitors for a day and a half and then you came along, stepped back, thought about how you would solve something like a light bulb not flipping on, and then proceeded to find the simple solution."

He stopped then and took a deep breath, "but now I'm rambling. The point Clarke is that you were the one who taught me that sometimes the best solution is the simplest one, that if you take a step back from the problem you can often identify the most probable cause. I have done that with the oxygen problem Clarke. I've turned it upside down, looked at it backwards, forwards, and even from what I imagined would be your perspective. There is no solution that I can find, without help this problem will only get worse. The council will not allow me to give this information to the people, Clarke, I know this. It's how they do things, at best I can see them revisiting the issue in a few months. Maybe bringing another engineer or two into the loop, Clarke, we don't have that kind of time. The sooner we get everyone working on this the more likely it is that someone will find a solution. I'm so sorry that this is causing you pain, but I hope that one day you will understand."

Clarke looked up at her father and, pulling a smile onto her face, she wiped away her tears. "I do understand dad." She swallowed hard and nodded her head taking a deep breath, "ok, what can I do to help?"

Her dad's eyes widened suddenly, "no no Clarke you have to go back home, if this doesn't go well and I am caught neither you or your mother can in any way be suspected of knowing my plans." Her father grabbed her by the shoulders, "Clarke promise me."

Clarke couldn't meet his eyes. He had finally made her understand fully why he had to do what he was doing and now she just had to sit back and do nothing? While her father risked his life to save everyone? No, it wasn't fair.

"Clarke, look at me." He brought her head up again until their eyes met, "promise."

Clarke closed her eyes tight before slowly letting out her breath and opening them again, "I promi-"

Suddenly the hairs on the back of Clarke's neck stood on end and her head whipped to the side. Looking out the window Clarke could just make out several pairs of boots coming in through the engine room doors.

"Dad, guards!"

Her father followed her gaze and cursed under his breath, "nonono, dammit. Hurry Clarke." He pushed past her and slowly opened the office door hurrying her out. They silently made their way towards the back of the space where all of the large machines were and, when they got to a large metal table, her father turned and stopped her. "Clarke get under here, don't argue just do it."

"But what about you? I can't just-" She turned and saw the look on her father's face, she quickly dropped to her stomach and scooted underneath the table. Looking out she saw her father from the waist down and heard his voice.

"Stay silent, whatever happens. I love you Clarke."

As her father stood up Clarke's mind raced, why had they come for her father now? As far as the council knew he wasn't going to tell anyone yet right? No one else knew!

Suddenly the realization hit her, no one but Wells.

Suddenly there were shouts and boots pounded the ground. Clarke watched in horror as guards surrounded her father, he fell to his knees and looked straight ahead.

"Jake Griffin you are under arrest for endangering the lives of everyone aboard the Ark."

Her father, hands still behind his back, made to stand and was immediately brought back to his knees by an electric baton to the stomach. He cried out in pain, his hands slamming to the ground and it was all Clarke could do to keep herself in check. Tears ran down her face as her father slowly rose, now kneeling in front of the guards. Another guard stepped forward and cuffed him before several moved to haul him to his feet.

Then he made the mistake of trying to speak, "guys please let me explain, I-" her father was cut off as one of the guards behind him shoved his head forward causing him to stumble and half fall to the ground.

"Silence! You're coming with us."

Clarke whimpered slightly and she felt her hands dig into the ground benath her, the hard concrete floor actually cracking slightly as her fists clenched and her breath hitched. Not that Clarke noticed.

"Please you don't understand, the council-"

Clarke watched in horror as another electrical batton was shoved forcefully into her father's back. He fell to the ground now writing in pain as the guard followed him down keeping the batton pressed to his back. Her father screamed out in pain and Clarke watched his form writhe on the ground, the guards standing above him. Clarke snapped.

The sound that erupted from her throat was closer to a roar than a growl, it was a snarling sound that carried out and echoed off the walls. Clarke stood in one motion, shrugging the huge metal table off like a blanket. The sudden shock and fear of the guards was, for a moment, perfectly reflected in Clarke's glowing purple eyes. She took a step forward and the squad of five Alpha guards and three Betas fell to their knees and exposed their necks.

Then her father was there, he had her in his arms. "You have to run Clarke, go to your mother, tell her I said that it was time and there is no other way." He looked back to where the guards were already coming back to their senses, "Clarke, Go NOW!" He turned her around and shoved her, and she ran. She ran until she made it to the corner of the large furnace and turned in time to see her father tackle one of the guards that had been making to chase her. They went down and the other guards jumped on top. Tears streaming from her eyes she turned from the scene and ran, she had only made things worse.

She ran and ran, hot tears rushed down her cheeks and she didn't even bother to brush them away as she continued her course towards the council room. Suddenly she came to a halt, she couldn't go to the council room, her father had said to go straight to her mother but if she went to the council who knows what they would do to her. Her head spun and she stumbled against the wall, grasping it for support she squeezed her eyes shut. How had her world gone so horribly wrong so quickly? A week ago her biggest concern was keeping her eyes concealed and planning Raven's birthday.

Her eyes! All those guards had seen her eyes! She wasn't only going to be condemned by the council for conspiring with her father, she was going to be persecuted for the crime of being born different.

Suddenly, Clarke heard her name called from the far end of the hall. The voice was panicked and relieved all at the same time and it was followed by the sound of rushing feet. Clarke tore her eyes open to meet whoever had found her only realizing when she saw her mother's face that she had desperately wanted it to be Raven. Her mother closed the remaining gap quickly and wrapped Clarke in a hug to which Clarke responded numbly.

"Mom, they took dad. It- it was Wel- it was Wells." Clarke burst into full on tears, "I told him, I told him everything, I trusted him." She sniffled and her sobs quieted, "now they are gonna execute dad and probably m-me too."

Her mother ran her hand soothingly along her back, "shh shh, Clarke no, I- I'm sure Wells only wanted to help." She paused for a moment, "I don't know what is going to happen to your father but listen to me." She pulled Clarkes head up looking her dead in the eyes, "You are going to be fine, there is no way to prove that you were in any way part of or knew about what your father was doing, when you are questioned you will deny everything, act like the guards showing up was the first time you knew anything wrong was even happening."

Her mother continued to talk but Clarke tuned her out. So the council knew about her being there when the guards showed up but not about her eyes. The guards must have barely gotten off her name before she had done... Whatever she did to them, but the council would soon find out, those guards would talk and Clarke's secret would be out.

"Mom" Clarke cut across whatever her mom had been saying, "when they attacked dad I lost control." She closed her eyes bracing herself for her mother's anger, "they saw my eyes, my real eyes. Dad said to tell you that it was time and that there is no other way." She looked up at her mother, "I don't know what that means but..."

Her mother stopped whatever she had been saying mid sentence and just stood there stunned for a moment. Then Clarke was being pulled back down the way she had come. "Hurry, you are to go into your room and lock the door, I am going to talk with the council." Her grip was painfully tight despite Clarke now keeping pace with her as they wound their way back to their home. They got to their door and her mother opened it roughly causing the small board on the floor to clatter to the ground. Her mother bent and picked it up reading it quickly she tossed it through the doorway and then pulled Clarke in front of her and through the door as well.

"If Raven comes knocking you will not answer, you will not make a sound." Clarke started to argue but was quickly shut down, "no Clarke, if you truly care about her you will not involve her in this in any way." Clarke lowered her head, anger gone, her mother was right she couldn't endanger Raven any more than being her soulmate already would. She nodded her head in consent. "Good, stay in your room, I will be back."

-LINE BREAK-

Abby POV:

Ending her connection to the conversation with the council Abby made her way quickly to where she knew both her husband and the council would be. She had never wanted to uproot her family, she loved both Jake and Clarke with all her heart. However, the survival of the Ark had to come first. If Jake had gone through with his plan it would have caused mass panic, it could have been the end of them all. She nodded her head and felt her resolve harden, she had done the right thing. It had been the only choice.

Arriving at the sealed execution doors Abby was met with the sight of what she had done. Jake was being held between two guards and was in the middle of being read his charges;

"-conspiring against the people and disobeying a direct order from the council. You are guilty of hiding your daughter's true nature and endangering the lives of everyone aboard the Ark. Further, as your wife has just informed us, you are also guilty of building an unauthorized drop ship with the intention of using it as a means of escape for your daughter."

At that Jake's head snapped up to Abby who gave a subtle nod, confirming that Clarke was indeed ok and that she would follow through with the plan. Jake's head fell forward once again and Abby heard his sigh of relief. As Kane finished reading the charges Abby stepped forward and, nodding to the guards, she embraced her husband. He fell heavily into her and they exchanged words of love and regret. When Abby admitted to turning him in she felt him tense before he simply let out a sigh, "you did what you thought was right, just promise me this," he lowered his voice until it was barely a whisper, "send Clarke away, the guards saw everything, she will be executed, I'm not even sure the council will wait until she turns eighteen. Abby promise me."

Abby nodded into his shoulder, "I will."

Jake pulled back slightly and pressed something cold and metal into Abby's hands, "for Clarke." Then he was being pulled back and over towards the sealed doors, and Abby could only stare numbly as she watched her husband, her soul mate, a final smile on his face, sucked out into the vast emptiness of space.

The next thing Abby felt was Jaha's firm hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry Abby but the others won't wait, we have to discuss what to do about Clarke.

-LINE BREAK-

Clarke had been alone in her room for exactly two hours and forty seven minutes, though it felt more like years. It was the not knowing that was killing her. Was her father locked up? Dead? At any second guards could break down the door and do the same to her. She felt so small, so helpless. Raven had come and gone, she had stayed for an hour but finally given up. It had nearly broken Clarke to stay silent. But she had, and the minutes continued to tick by. Finally, Clarke heard the sound of the front door opening and closing. Clarke braced herself for whatever would come next but when the door opened it was just her mother. Her eyes were red but other than that her face was all business. "Come, you have to leave."

"Leave?" Clarke cried out in alarm as her mother grabbed her by the arm and dragged her off the edge of her bed and out the doorway. "What do you mean leave? Leave and go where?"

"Ever since we found out about you, your eyes, your strength, Clarke there is something your father and I perhaps should have told you years ago." Her mother stopped at the medical cooler and pulled out a large syringe, larger than any Clarke had seen before, tapping the sides she held her hand out for Clarke's arm. Reluctantly Clarke complied and as her mother prepped her arm she continued to explain, "Clarke, as you know, on the ark children born of two Alphas are all but non-existent. You are the first one in over seventy years." Her mother rubbed a sterilizing pad over a spot just above her right bicep. "In the old world there were no mating laws and it happened all the time. Usually it results in the child being an Alpha, though Beta and Omega offspring were not particularly uncommon. However, on very rare occasions, maybe around once every four hundred years, a different kind of Alpha was born. These were known as Apex Alphas, they were stronger, faster, and more powerful than any regular Alpha and-" Her mother paused, tip of the large syringe needle and inch away from Clarke's shoulder, "-their eyes were always different from those of any of the other classes."

Her mother jammed the needle into Clarke's arm, Clarke let out a muffled cry but her mother just kept talking while she slowly and painfully pushed down on the thumb plunger. "Clarke, you are an Apex Alpha, this is why you have always had to hide your eyes. The rest of the council," Abby paused and in one fluid motion pulled the large needle from Clarke's arm before immediately using a napkin to apply pressure, "they are afraid of you, of the leader you might become."

Her mother wrapped Clarke's bleeding arm tightly and hurried her out the door, they were a long way down several unfamiliar halls when her mother spoke again. "Fearing this day would come, your father and I created a last resort. Clarke, I spoke with the council and their decision is final, you are to be imprisoned until the age of eighteen and then executed. There were a few that voted in your favor but not nearly enough, it was decided that you know too much and hold too much power."

At Clarke's fearful expression her mother grabbed her arm firmly while they kept a steady pace. Clarke's mind was spinning, in less than twenty four hours her entire world had flipped upside down. Her most guarded secret was now known by the very people she was meant to hide it from, she was forced to hide from the one person she was closest to, her best friend had turned on her, and her father... Clarke shook her head pushing that thought out of her head as the tears welled up in her eyes once again. Clarke snapped back to focus, her mother had taken them deeper into the belly of the Ark than Clarke had ever been before, well at least in this particular area. Her mother let go of her arm and bent down to open up a hatch in the ground. As her mother wrenched it open it made a deafening screech, the noise echoed down the hallway and once the noise had stopped Clarke strained her ears for any sign that guards had heard and were now in pursuit. But there was nothing and at her mother's gesture Clarke began the descent down the ladder into the darkness. Her mother had joined her on the ground then turned, leading the way down another series of twisted hallways.

Reaching a large metal door her mother input a code and then stepped through as the door hissed open. On the other side was a large workspace, metal tables, power tools, scraps of metal and various machine parts strewn around. It reminded Clarke of the back engineer room that Raven loved so much. As Clarke took a moment to look around her mother walked straight to the back of the room and approached what looked like an airlock. The primary airlock doors opened and Clarke hurried over to where her mother was inputting another code for the second set of doors. Beyond the second set of doors was the cockpit of what could only be a tiny drop ship. Clarke's eyes widened, this was her mother's plan? This was the 'last resort' that her mother and father had come up with?

"Mom, this is crazy, you're sending me to the ground? It's not even survivable yet! There's radiation and what about you? What about Raven? I can't leave her." Clarke knew she was rambling but she didn't care, this was insane. "And what about you? You're coming too right? You have to, the council will kill you when they learn that you sent me to earth!"

"Shh shh, sweetie this is the only way." Her mother embraced her then and kissed the top of her head, "Clarke, honey, listen to me, I will be fine ok, I have a plan. There is only room for one on the ship, I love you so much and if all goes well I will see you on the ground in less than a year." Her mother pulled back then and held her at arm's length, "Clarke listen to me because this is very important, onboard there are rations that should last you at least a month, I am sending you as close as I can to a place called Mount Weather, there is an old fallout shelter there that should still be stocked with enough food and provisions to easily last you until the rest of us come down."

Her mother took a deep breath and looked Clarke in the eyes to make sure she had understood everything, and at Clarke's nod she continued. "There is no way for me to send down suppressants with you but because you will be alone there shouldn't be any need. As for blockers, that shot I gave you earlier contained a small device that should at least serve to hold you in your human form, effectively preventing a full shift for at least a couple of years, more than enough time."

Her mother closed her eyes briefly before continuing, "there is also a radio, this is very important, as soon as you are on the ground I need for you to contact the Ark. The only way we can follow you down is if we know that earth is survivable." She suddenly grasped Clarke's hands tightly, "and I truly believe that it is." Her mother then placed something in Clarke's hand and curled her fingers around an object that Clarke identified as her father's watch. "He wanted you to have it, he loved you so much Clarke."

Clarke felt the tears begin to gather in her eyes, her head was spinning and she was about to respond when all of a sudden her ears perked, from far off, out the door and down the twist of hallways, came the loud and unmistakable screech of old metal hinges. Clarke looked up wide eyed, "mom they are coming down the hatch."

Her mother responded immediately, "Get in the drop ship, now!" Her mother gave her a last squeeze, "I love you Clarke, see you soon and talk to you sooner." Clarke watched, still rooted to the spot as her mother hurried away from the doors and over to a large control panel. Her mother turned when she reached the console and, glancing up, saw Clarke still unmoving. "Clarke NOW. As soon as those guards reach us I will have to open the door for them!"

Clarke shook herself, her mother was right. The only way for both of them to survive was for Clarke to leave and for her mother to make it look like she had tried to stop it. Clarke pushed the incoming thoughts of her father away and scrambled into action. She hurried into the small ship and proceeded to sit down and buckle up. The airlock doors behind Clarke suddenly shut and sealed; looking up suddenly a bit frantic Clarke met her mother's glowing red eyes. Clarke knew that her own eyes must be a deep purple but she could do nothing to stop it. Her mother's lips moved and though Clarke couldn't hear her she knew what her mother had said. As the door to the drop ship began to lower Clarke stretched her arm out pressing her palm against the airlock. Still staring into her mother's eyes Clarke returned the farewell, "may we meet again."

Then her mother's head snapped to the right and, as the drop ship door finally cut off Clarke's vision, she could only imagine how her mother was going to spin this all in her favor. As the door shut tight Clarke squeezed her eyes tight, her mother would be fine, she herself would be fine, Raven would be fine, all the others would be fine, Clarke would prove the ground was survivable and then she would see them all in less than a year. She could do this.

Then the entirety of her small world lurched and, as though a switch had been flipped, Clarke was suddenly weightless.

END NOTES: Hope you all enjoyed, this was kind of the end of the beginning. Leave a review if you feel so inclined, I am always curious as to what people thought.