The first thing Clarke notices when she wakes up is the overwhelming amount of white in the room, she's in. The overhead lights glaring off all the white, making her squint. Sitting up she looked around before taking stock of her own body. The pinch of a needle moving under her skin as she moved her arm brought her eyes down to her arm. She looked back at her surroundings as she tried to twitch her muscles back into wakefulness.
She reached down to yank the iv from her arm as the tingling in her legs started to subside. Once on her feet she made her way to the door to see if she could make out anything thing about where she was. Her eyebrows shot up her forehead as she found herself looking into Monty's deep brown eyes.
"Monty?"
If he responded, she could not hear him. Turning her eyes to the wall beside Monty's door she read: Mount Weather Quarantine Ward. Clarke stood staring at Monty until he moved away from his door and her view. She finally turned away from the door to settle in against the far wall where she could protect her back and keep an eye on her front. She'd find a way to get out of there and save her people⦠again.
XXXXXXXXXX
"What do you mean there are no bodies in their ship?" Bellamy turned his eyes up to meet the scout in front of him.
The man in front of him kept his eyes glued to the ground in front of him. "Heda, there were charred remains of our people and theirs surrounding their ship, but inside there were no people, no bodies. Only canisters from the mountain men."
Bellamy felt a twinge of regret in his ribs. "So, they are lost to the mountain then." He says before turning back to the maps back on his desk. There were more crash sites and more sky people to be dealt with. They would get no quarter.
"Okay, I need to know where all of their people that just reached the ground are, you may go now. Find me that information."
"Yes, Commander."
XXXXXXXXXX
After several hours of waiting, Clarke has had enough. She stands up, hoping that there will be someone in the hall who can answer her questions, if only she can get them to pay attention. She knows they've been watching her through the lens of the camera hanging above the door. What she doesn't expect to see is Monty's cell door open and someone in a blue biohazard suit in there without one trace of the boy himself. She bangs her hand uselessly against the door, knowing that whoever it is, can't hear her.
That doesn't stop the shouting that rips its way out of her throat. "Hey! Where is Monty? What the hell did you do to him!"
The fear and frustration claws at her insides pulling her away from the door and shoving her hands up to tangle in her hair as she gripped it tightly. Her heart beating frantically, she leans forward to drag in a few deep breaths. She knows she has to calm down and use her mind if she's going to save him.
She looks around her room from her bent over position. When her eyes land on the IV pole she is struck with inspiration. That might be just strong enough to break through the mesh in the window of her door. Darting over to the pole, she knows she has to work quickly because once she has the pole and breaks the camera, they will know. She does it anyway.
The crash of the glass encasing the camera still doesn't draw the attention of the person in Monty's cell. Hoping that they won't hear her break the window, she presses forward. Swinging the metal in her hand as hard as she can, the window shatters. Knowing that she doesn't have a lot of time to get away before they send reinforcements, she drops the pole and leaps towards the gaping hole in the window.
Keeping her eyes on the person in front of her, Clarke throws her arm through the hole to unlock the door. As she draws her arm back, she feels the sting of glass running the length of her forearm, leaving a slick and bleeding wound behind. Her heart rages against her sternum with the pain, as she grits her teeth.
The tick of her mental clock drives her forward again once she gets the door open. Stooping she grab a large chuck of glass from the floor, padding on silent feet towards the stranger. Taking a deep breath, Clarke grabs the arm of the person in front of her. Dragging them back towards her, she rips off the helmet. The mass of dark hair that spills out to frame the pale face of a young girl, no more than her age. But she can't hesitate, her people aren't safe.
"What are you doing?" The desperation in the girl's voice, matches the churning in Clarke's gut. "I'll be contaminated!"
She knows she can't stop now as she presses the glass shard into the soft skin of the pale girl's neck. "Where are my friends?"
"He's fine! You don't understand He's -" Clarke is sure that she is lying as she presses harder to make her point and effectively cutting off her words.
"You will take me to them." The girl starts shaking as she nods her head. "Which way?"
The gloved hand points off to a short hall. She drops her shard from the girl's neck but moves it down to dig in above where the kidneys hide inside her body, as she adjusts her hold to allow her to maintain control and move.
She starts to move them forward when the young girl pipes up, more frantic than a moment ago. "Clarke, you're bleeding!"
The sound of her name on the lips of a stranger, strangles her for a moment at the thought of what they might have done to find that information. "How do you know my name?"
The girl cries out as Clarke digs into her. "It was on your chart!"
"How do they know my name?" Clarke is almost breathless but thankful that her voice still sounds steady.
"Please, I don't know." The tears pouring from her prisoner's eyes send a small twinge of guilt through her. "Don't hurt me."
Clarke pulls the girl around to look at her face. "You want to live?" When the girl nods at her she tells her to do exactly as she says. When she raises a shaking hand to her chest, Clarke is quick to stop her.
"Key card." the voice meeting her ears is shaky. "I just need my key card."
Clarke nods before readjusting her grip on the girl to start moving her forward. When the green light flashes she sees the elevator in front of her, another first on the ground. "Which level?"
The girl chokes but when she doesn't answer immediately after Clarke shakes her frail form. "Answer me! Who are you people? How many of us did you capture? Where are they? SAY SOMETHING!"
Without noticing, the girl must have pressed a level because the next thing Clarke hears is the automated voice digging from above her that they had arrived at level 5. She pulls the terrified girl out of the elevator around the corner, expecting to see guards rushing her. What her eyes land on stops her short. People dressed in nicer clothes than Clarke has ever seen are seated at long tables enjoying the food that seems plentiful. The lull of conversation turns to a rawr of a crowd rushing away from her after a woman screeches about a containment breach.
The next moment, alarms sound above her and the sight she was expecting to see comes to fruition. Her only leverage having slipped away from her when she stopped in surprise. The raised guns in the hands of soldiers meet her at the steps of the area. Clarke only has time to question where the hell they ended up before her hands were twisted behind her back and the glass shard forcefully removed from her hands.
XXXXXXXXXX
Bellamy's hands smooth over the map in front of him as Octavia pleads for Lincoln's freedom. He ignored her to focus on the three dots on his map from the crash landings of the sky people.
One was just outside of Trikru territory and had already had sky people infesting it. They'd have to deal with that one first. One landed on the edge of a cliff before falling over and hopefully killing everyone in it. The final one was in Azgeda territory and he knew they'd be dead before they had a chance to mount a defense. That had been their first mistake, they'd allowed the sky rats to plan before they made their first move.
"Bellamy, are you listening to me?" Octavia slammed her hand on the table housing the map he was studying.
"No, O, I'm trying really hard not to." He flashed his eyes up to hear face for a moment before letting them fall back to the map.
He could hear the sharp sound of her grinding her teeth. "He's not a traitor, Bell."
"Tell that to the 300 warriors that burned because he helped those people." He ground out to her. The fight still raged in his head between the other commanders. They didn't agree with Octavia, but they couldn't agree with each other what was appropriate punishment either.
She sighed. "Bell, Anya didn't give peace a real shot. I told you this, Lincoln was only trying to follow the heart of your instructions."
"That fact is the only reason he's not dead now." He met her eyes with a fierce stare. "You should be grateful because the other commanders of the flame, still call for his blood. The blood of a traitor."
Her eyes widened. "Bell?"
"I'm not your brother right now, Octavia. I am your Heda. I will be obeyed. And if I'm not, there will be consequences." He softened as he watched his baby sister worry at her lip.
She was a study of contradictions in this moment. Her hands fretted at the leather on the blade at her hip, the warrior braids and war paint framed her fearful eyes and the heavy dark leather that cloaked her in her fit for battle attire hid her soft heart pleading for the man she loved. "I can't be your brother in this, O. It could kill me. I can't afford to be weak and love is a weakness that people who don't agree with me can use against me. I'm sorry."
He closed his eyes against the sight of her tears. "I will release Lincoln in due time. I'm sorry."
She had nothing to return to him, except a fierce glare that she used to try to cover up her fears. He watched her open her mouth one more time, before closing it without a sound. She turned away from him and strode out of the room.
He sighed, his heart clenching in his chest. He had locked up his best friend and his sister hated him for it. He'd been as soft to Lincoln as he could be. The fact that he would keep all his body parts without any permanent damage had to be good enough. Running his hands through his hair, he turned back to the map in front of them.
They'd have to take some time, but he felt sure that they could set up a siege and route the rats out of their hold of the ground. He'd send for someone tomorrow. Tonight, he needed to not be needed for a moment to let his heart break for his sister. For what he couldn't do for her.
XXXXXXXXXX
After being brought to another white room, the guards had bound her hands to the bed they'd set her upon. A nervous looking healer stitched her arm up as she sat under observation of several more guards than she really thought was necessary.
The guards tensed up the next time people entered the area she was being held. A woman with dark hair and complexion in a lab coat came in ahead of an older man who seemed to be discussing something with the girl she'd held in her possession earlier in the day.
"How's the arm, Clarke?" The woman in the lab coat asked as she flipped through a chart. When Clarke refused to answer, she saw the woman's jaw work the muscles in irritation before her voice took a tone of amusement. She would have to keep an eye on that one. "Not much of a talker, is she?"
Clarke glared at her until the deep sound of the old man's voice cut across. "Skill picked up from the savages, no doubt. That's fine." As he stepped closer, dragging the young girl behind him, the guards all tensed up. "Maya has something to say first anyway."
The girl must have felt brave surrounded by her people and with Clarke in the chafing restraints. "You were the next one to be cleared through quarantine. Another ten minutes and you would've-" The old man cleared his throat, sending her a pointed look. "I'm not pressing charges."
After the old man thanked her and sent her off for some sort of treatment. He turned to the guards behind him and told them to remove the restraints. And it was then that she discovered that this man was their president.
Once they released her hands, he held his out to her to shake. "Dante Wallace."
She examined his hands covered in what looked like paint when her hands were barely clean of blood. He noted her stare and called her out on it. "Oil paint. That's right. You're an artist, too."
Her eyes shot up to his, the fear for her people almost choked her. "Who told you that?"
"Your people did. They also said you were their leader. Looks like you and I have a lot in common, kiddo." He seemed to be genuine, but the rolling of her gut told her that she couldn't trust him. If anything had confirmed that this place wasn't safe it was his lack of concern when she asked about her father's watch, the one that had sat on her wrist since the day he died.
"How many of us did you capture?" She rubbed at her raw wrists in worry.
"Forty-eight. But, Clarke, you've got it wrong. You're not prisoners. We saved you." A bright smile lit upon his face.
He was a good liar she thought. "Well, in that case, you won't mind if we leave. If there are forty-eight of us here, we still have people out there."
"The patrol brought in everyone they could find." But the subtle shake of his head told her that even as he said that they hadn't.
"What about the Ark?" She moved on to the next thing she could hope for. "It came down last night?"
His face flickered with exasperation before falling back into a gentle smile. "We saw it. There were multiple crash sites over a hundred square miles. If there were survivors, we will bring them in, too. You have my word."
She looked at him and hoped he could read her disbelief in her eyes. "I want to see my people."
He nodded as if expecting that. "Of course, you do. I would, too" He motioned to the trunk of luggage that was wheeled in. "Change and meet me in the hall." was all that was said before he moved off with the guards to leave her alone to change.
In the trunk she saw what she knew were once shoes that women wore all the time. The point on the heel of the shoe might be weapon enough to get her away from them once she'd seen her people. She ripped it off and then changed into a long sleeve shirt only to tuck the heel into the sleeve.
Dante turned to her when she exited the room into the noisy hall. "Sorry about the noise. Hydroelectric power from Philpott Dam. Fresh water from our own underground reservoir. Fresh food from our hydroponic farm." He pointed out the turbines in a bragging manner.
Deciding that she would get more from him if she played a she questioned him. "I don't understand. You're on the ground. You know it's survivable. Why would you stay here?"
As if expecting her question, he told her that it wasn't for them. Her disbelief came out when she said, "the Grounders seem to have managed." in a snide voice before she could stop herself.
"Natural selection works." He commented as if talking to a child who didn't have anything but irrelevant questions. "The Grounders who couldn't survive in the radiation didn't. Those who could pass on their DNA. For better or for worse, we never went through that process."
"Well, neither did we. We've been on the ground now for-" she cut herself off realizing her mistake. "Solar radiation."
"Very good. Your DNA ran through the same gauntlet as the Grounders." He praised in his slightly condescending voice. "Only because radiation levels in space are even higher, your ability to metabolize that radiation is even stronger. Truth be told, our scientists were blown away by the efficiency of your systems. If not for that, your friends would still be upstairs in quarantine. Please."
He motioned towards the same elevator she had stormed earlier. As she started to move forward, he laid his hand over her shoulder. "First, give me the heel."
Though he said, "You're not fighting for your life anymore" before he welcomed her to Mount Weather, her stomach plummeted as she handed over the heel. She could not shake the feeling that she was not safe. She turned to the doors of the elevator and entered the carriage, shying away from Dante as he leaned into to press a button.
When the carriage stopped moving the same automated voice announced she was back on level 5 again. She exited the doors as they opened and turned to enter the hall again. This time the tables had been moved off slightly to make more room for mingling on one side of the room.
Her clenching heart eased slightly as she saw her people for the first time. She walked forward briskly as the kids in front of her listened to the young blonde in front of them was talking about Mount Weather as if she were a tour guide.
When she had almost reached the group, Jasper turned to look behind him. As if catching up with the lag in his brain he leapt forward to pull her into a tight hug, calling out her name which caught the attention of everyone else who moved in to hug her or touch her in some way.
Jasper pulled away from her to look at her with a sheepish. "Hi. You're okay." aimed in her direction.
Monty pulled her to him next. "Hey."
She pulled back from him to stare at the best friends in front of her. She couldn't help the smile on her face. "Hi." Her eyes dancing across the faces of the kids that surrounded her. "Finn and Murphy? Wells?"
The sadness on Jasper's face told her everything that she needed to know. "Clarke, they- they didn't make it."
She gripped his elbow; she'd know if they were gone. And she told him as such. "We don't know that. What about Raven?"
He shook his head as the tour guide girl stepped up to her and handed her a folder of information with a too polite smile. "Welcome, Clarke. If you have any questions, I'm Keenan."
She didn't like that they all seemed to know a lot about her, and she still knew nothing about them. But she would find out more, she'd just have to bide her time.
Several hours after their reunion the 48 that had survived were exploring the area, when Clarke caught sight of Monty and Jasper goofing around at one of the tables in the center of the room. She made her way over to them, knowing that would be the best place to watch from.
With a quick greeting Clarke sat down next to Monty her voice quiet as she looked around. "Pretend you're happy to see me."
The smile on Jasper's face dimmed a little bit as he said, "We are happy to see you." with a curious glint in his eye.
Monty told Clarke that she needed to try the chocolate cake around a mouth full of food, his eyes finding the humor in Jasper's eyes reflecting back at him. Jasper's reply fell on deaf ears as she looked around again to make sure that no one was close enough to make out her next words, even if she couldn't get the feeling of eyes on her back to go away.
"I'm not eating their food." She told them as she pulled out the map from her folder. "Look. They gave us a map with no exits. I need you to tell me everything you've seen. Every room, every hallway, every way out."
Jasper's surprise deflated the joy completely from his face. "Way out? Look around you, Clarke. There's no one hunting us here. First time in our lives we're not hungry. Why would we want to leave?"
Her tone came back unnaturally sharp. "Because we have friends out there who need our help."
"They're looking for survivors," He shook his head at her. "and they're way better equipped to find them than we are."
Clarke felt tears well up in her eyes and her heart start to race in her chest. "This place is too good to be true."
"You're bumming me out." He said before standing from his chair and trying to recapture the humor that he and Monty had been cloaked in before she had showed up. "I'm gonna get more cake."
Clarke watched Jasper walk over the table full of sweets with hope in his eyes before he watched another person grab what must have been the last piece of cake. She watched his shoulders slump before his head swung around to look at the girl behind him, Maya if she remembered correctly. She watched them for a moment longer as Monty studied her.
"He's happy here, Clarke. I wasn't sure he'd ever be happy again." Monty's voice was soft the tone was passionate.
She sighed but didn't respond to him as she stood up, making her way over to Jasper and Maya.
Plastering a smile on her face she walked up to the table they were sitting at. "Hey. It's Maya, right?" She noticed the key card on the pile of books in front of Maya. She settled her folder on top of it, keeping her hand on it as her thumb inched the card towards her. She kept her voice light to distract them from what she was attempting to do. "I just wanted to say sorry for this morning. I was scared and worried about my friends. I hope you can understand that."
Maya just nodded at her before looking away. Acting as if she took the obvious hint about how uncomfortable she made Maya. She lifted her folder, palming the card in her had before moving swiftly away. She only had a short window in which she could get out of her. She only hoped that Jasper would hold her attention long enough to give her a head start.
Jasper I know she's intense, but Clarke's the only reason we survived.
No more than five minutes and a couple of hallways later the same sirens that she'd heard earlier upon her prison break, sounded again. "Not a prisoner, huh?"
Turning to the left she saw the sign for the stairwell in front of her. The guards at the end of the hall yelled at her as she moved quickly towards the door. Scanning the card quickly she enters before yanking the door shut. Knowing that they would be only moments behind her she pulls the wires out of the door before she turns and starts to race up the stairs in front of her.
Her heart is racing faster than it should be, even with the amount of exertion that she is putting in as she runs up the steps. She takes a moment to try and settle herself when she reaches the doors at the top of the stairs. Counting to 20 as she tries to slow her breathing, she braces herself for the next run she's going to have to do.
She swings the door open and takes off in the direction she hopes will get her out of this prison hold; hopes the signs for emergency evacuation are still relevant. She reaches a giant door and her frantic hands try the lever which won't budge. Seeing the wheel in the middle she turns it hoping that will allow her to open the door. She just hears the click of a lock open before she moves to the lever. As her hand brushed the lever, she hears Jasper calling her name.
"Clarke, no!" He begs her. She can hear fear in his voice, and it brings a vicious well of tears to her eyes. "If you pull that lever, these people will die. Even a little radiation can kill them."
She looks at him meeting his eyes with her watery ones. As she does, she hears Maya cocking a gun in her direction. "Don't make me shoot you." Her voice is steady, though her hands shake.
Jasper jumps in front of Maya's loaded gun which spikes the fear in her body to dizzying heights. "Wait." he says with a brief glance at Maya. "Wait. Clarke. Don't do this."
The tears in her eyes slip unbidden down her cheeks as she drops her eyes to the ground. "I don't believe them."
She sees Jasper approaching her with his hands up as if approaching a wild animal. And she just might be one with the way her chest heaves and her hands tremble. "Why would they lie? Listen to me. We are safe here because of you. We're safe."
She shakes her head at his gentle tone before looking up into his eyes. "Not all of us."
He sucks a breath in through his teeth. "I'm the one that fired the rockets. Should I not have done that? Clarke, when you pulled that lever, you saved lives. Don't throw that away by pulling this one."
His eyes beg her to let go, to just trust him and she's not sure she can do that. But she lifts her hands in the air as the guards approach her. She won't be the reason that Jasper gets hurt.
XXXXXXXXXX
Bellamy slouched in the seat in front of the map again. It seemed he would never be able to step away from it anymore. All he wanted was peace for his people. He'd come so far in uniting his people but then these people fell from the sky and threatened everything he'd worked for. Everything he'd struggled against the other commanders in his head to achieve.
The sound of the door opening drawing his attention. He'd had runners in and out for the last 24 hours with information on what had been happening around the new crash sites.
"Heda." The devotion in his people's voice makes him sick to his stomach sometimes. He nodded for the man to continue. "Tristan is dead."
Bellamy's eye knit together in confusion. He'd already assumed that, and that he'd been consumed in the fire that the sky princess had caused. "Why are you telling me this?"
He shifts uncomfortably in his chair as the man continues. "He was found shot to death in the woods. It looks as if he had taken someone or multiple someone's captive before he was intercepted and shot down."
"Sky people." He grits his teeth. There is only a nod to confirm what he'd known they moment the runner had announced that a shot to his lieutenant is what killed him. "Anything else to report?"
"It seems that what the leader of the people who first came down was telling the truth to Lincoln." Bellamy winced slightly at the name. He'd gone to see him the night before and the steely gaze that met him halted him in his tracks. He couldn't apologize but he held Lincoln's stare, hoping that his best friend would understand what he was saying with his eyes but words that could never leave his lips. "The people that have arrived are indeed warriors, not all of them. But they move with practiced efficiency."
This brought him up short. They had told the truth, and now they had to prepare for the potential retaliation that might occur. He steepled his hands and nodded to the runner allowing him to leave him to his thoughts. This would require the other commander's input; he knew it would. Though he dreaded it, he sucked in a deep breath before closing his eyes, falling inwards towards the flames that licked at his mind.
