Chapter 20 - You Should Know, It's Hard To Forget the Past

The next few days were a whirlwind of activity. The Skaikru congregation, left hours after breakfast was served and when Murphy was unable to meet Clarke's eyes and she just knew he was the one in their room. The rest of the Polis petered off, back into the groove of normal, peaceful life. Bellamy and her stayed up in their room for two days after Skaikru left, getting lost in each other.

When they finally emerged from the tower, Bellamy took her wandering through the marketplace. Though they made sure to keep the facade up, they couldn't seem to stop touching each other, knuckles brushing against each other as they walked, a hand placed on a lower back as they looked at the items on a vendor's tables. And everywhere they went, their people congratulated them, wanting to give them something to honor their sacrifice for peace.

She watched as Bellamy handled the many offers for gifts, his kindness showing through at every interaction, turning down the large extravagant ones in favor of a smaller one, always handing over money though the vendors tried to refuse it. She was in awe of him, her heart fluttered, and she couldn't deny that she was falling for him. This man in front of her was not who she expected.

They strolled the market for hours before they came upon an artist. His beautiful paintings displayed haphazardly. Bellamy almost breezed passed him on their way back towards the tower, until she stopped him with a small tug on the cuff on his jacket. She didn't say anything to him as she dropped his arm and moved closer to view the gorgeous works. The serene view of a waterfall meeting a quiet river, surrounded by the most beautiful flowers caught her eye. She could almost hear the water as it bubbled over the rocks. Her hand wanted to reach out and touch the flowers.

"I know where that is." Bellamy said as he reached around to pull the painting the rest of the way out of the stack. The sight of two lovers embraced on the banks that had been hidden before, had her pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. "It's just as beautiful in person."

She looked up at him and he gave her a soft smile, his fingers briefly intertwining with hers before he turned back to the painter. She watched him speak with the man who's smile only grew wider and wider as Bellamy went on and on. They seemed to come to some agreement that she only half understood, but it seemed like there was going to be new paintings delivered to them soon.

They turned and continued their trek back to the tower just in time to meet with his advisors over dinner, their feet playing under the table as they talked of politics and meetings that were upcoming. When they were finally alone for the day, she collapsed into his arms on their bed. "It was a good day today, Bellamy. Thank you for showing me that."

"It was my pleasure, but I was thinking that there is more I would like to show you. The place in the painting should be in the final weeks of blooming. I would love to take you and show you." He said as he stroked her back, his large hand sending chills down her spine.

"That would be nice, but what about everything here? We already spent the last three days sheltered from the outside world."

He nodded. "That's true but most of the time I don't get to spend but one day a month meeting with my people in the market, and the same amount receiving people here. We could push meetings back and get out of the city for two weeks. I could show you where I grew up, where Lincoln and O have made their home. We could be just Bellamy and Clarke, two people who just got married and are enjoying each other."

"Two people who are falling in love?" She asked, even as she looked away from him. Afraid for what she would find on his face in response to that.

His hand gripped her chin, turning her face up towards his, a wide grin plastered on his face. "Yes." he said breathily.

"We could be those people here." She whispered back, her heart in her throat as she leaned up, closer to him.

"Why do that here, when I could have you all to myself?" he asked her, his tone turning husky. She hummed in response before pressing her lips to his and the rest of the conversation fell away.

XXXXXXXXXX

Bellamy woke up early as he did every morning, rolling over, he pulled Clarke closer to his chest. She nuzzled her head under his chin before settling back into sleep. He'd come to understand that she was not a morning person. He let his hands trail up and down her back as he watched the goosebumps rise on her naked flesh. A smile that he couldn't contain broke out on his face.

He knew that the peace of the last several days couldn't last forever, but he wanted to make the most of these next few weeks. Last night his words had been said on a whim of wanting to make her happy. Now that he considered it, he knew he could make this work. He just needed to get Indra and a couple others on board.

Sighing, he pulled away from Clarke, pulling the sheets back over her. He got dressed and headed to make the plans. He knew they wouldn't want them to leave by themselves, but he had a promise to keep to his wife, that they would keep their private life private from now on. And he was going to bring her lots of pleasure.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, she woke up to a cold bed, Bellamy seemed to have been long gone. She rolled over to see that breakfast had been set out on the table and she moved to pull her robe over her naked body. As she was combing her fingers through her hair, moving towards the table, Bellamy walked in through the door. He was fully dressed with the sign of the commander pressed firmly to his brow. She smiled widely at him as he met her at the table.

"You should get dressed and pack lightly." He grinned just as wide. "I've cleared the next two weeks. You and I are going to get out of here."

She ran her bare foot up his leg, drawing his pant leg up with it. "Really? Just us?"

He nodded, leaning forward to kiss her. "Yes." Was all he said before he pressed another kiss to her lips.

The next week was more than she could have hoped for, it was better than she could have ever expected when they first fell to earth. But the reality of Earth caught up with them with the crackle of a staticky radio from Clarke's bag.

"Clarke?" Murphy's voice came over the radio. "Clarke something weird is happening here. I think Jaha's chips are messing with the people here."

"Murphy?" She called back, just to make sure it was him. "What do you mean? What's going on?"

"Look Clarke, I think you need to make a trip out to Arkadia soon. You need to see this."

"What does my mom say about it?" She looked around the tent that she had been laying in, waiting for Bellamy to return with supper, trying to find her clothes.

"That's the thing. Your mom was totally against it." He paused with a deep sigh. "Then she wasn't, and I think something happened to Raven."

"Is she okay?" She asked with a slightly frantic edge to it.

"Yeah, yeah. She seems okay now, but she was freaking out. She wanted to get something out of her head. I don't really know, I only overheard her talking to Jasper and your mom. She wasn't actually talking to me, so I don't know."

"Where is Wells? Kane? Any of the others?" She asked as she started to pull her clothes on.

"They were headed back to Polis." She shook her head. "They left yesterday."

She huffed out her frustration. "Murphy, Bellamy and I aren't in Polis right now. You need to go out and catch them. We will meet you in Arkadia in a few days."

She could practically see him running his hands through his hair as he agreed. She set the radio down on top of her bag before standing and starting to pull her pants up her legs. She didn't get them up very far before she felt the warm hands of her husband on the skin of her thighs pulling her back into his chest and stopping her progress of dressing.

"Don't do that now. I have so much planned for you that doesn't require clothes." He said against the skin of her shoulders before he started to trail kisses up her neck.

She let herself relax against him for a moment, her hands never letting go of the rugged material. She pulled away from him gently, "Bellamy, I just got a call from Murphy. Something is happening at Arkadia. He needs us there."

He sighed. "Does he need us right away?"

"He sounded pretty urgent." She shrugged, finally having wiggled her hips into her pants. She turned to look at him only to see his eyes following the sway of her hips. She chuckled. "Bellamy?"

He shook his head, clearing whatever thoughts had his pupils dilating. "Hmm? Oh, oh yeah. Um, well, it's about to be dark. There is no point in breaking camp tonight. Let's eat the fish I have roasting, and we will get an early start tomorrow, if someone can get herself out of bed at a reasonable time."

She laughed as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Well, if someone didn't keep me up so late then maybe, I'd be more inclined to wake up early."

He wrapped his arms around her waist, hands brushing softly against the top curve of her ass. "Well maybe, if someone didn't look so good in our bed, I wouldn't keep you up so late." He breathed against her lips.

"Well now, I can hardly help that." She breathed back before pressing her lips against his, before she knew it, her worry was gone as were the clothes she just managed to pull on.

XXXXXXXXXX

When Bellamy woke up the next morning, he was surprised to see the bed next to him empty and he sat up in a panic looking around for Clarke. He rushed to the entrance of the tent only to be stopped short at the sight of her making breakfast over the fire she must have stoked when she woke up.

Her blue eyes turned to him with mischief in her bright blue eyes. "Not that I don't enjoy the view." She said with a quirk of her lips, her eyes flitting down before meeting his again. "But you should probably get dressed. We have some ground to cover today."

He looked down only to realize too late that, in his haste to find her had not pulled on any clothes. He started to blush before he shook out his shoulders and sauntered toward her. He watched as her eyes darkened with every step. "See something you like?" He asked her playfully as he pulled her into his chest.

"Mmhmm, very much so." She said as she wound her hands around to squeeze his backside. She pushed up onto her tippy toes before pressing her lips to his. "But you should still get dressed."

He sighed before pulling away from her. "Fine." he swatted her butt before he moved quickly out of range with a laugh. "This isn't over though."

She laughed. "Just hurry up and get dressed. Breakfast is almost ready, and we still need to pack up before we can head out."

They had moved out quickly after breakfast and over the next several days, as they passed around the outskirts of towns, they started to notice things were not as they normally were. The normally loud villages were suddenly quiet, though they still saw people moving around the village.

He could feel the unease of the commanders in his head as they watched the people move through though none of them knew exactly why they felt uneasy.

The crackle of the radio made them both jump as they pulled further into the forest. "Clarke?"

She put the radio up to her lips. "Kane?"

"Clarke, I know Murphy said that he contacted you, but we really need you back here," He heard Kane take a bracing breath. "something is going on with your mother."

"Is she okay?" She asked as her scared blue eyes meet his. He reached out to grasp her hand that trembled.

"She's not hurt, but I don't know how 'okay' she is." He said.

Clarke turned to him. "How far are we from Arkadia now?"

"A day and a half maybe." He told her as his thumb stroked across the back of her hand.

She nodded as she told Kane, "We are less than 2 days from you guys, we will be there soon. Stay safe."

"Clarke?" Kane's voice came back through the radio she was about to store. "We won't be in Arkadia. A few of us got out and are holed up in a cave not far from it though. Radio when you are close."

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They moved much quicker over the next two days and when she pulled out her radio to call in, she wasn't terribly surprised to find out they had been watching the camp. She knew they had to split up for a time so she could go get Murphy and so he could go work out a strategy with the others in the cave. She knew they had to but that didn't stop her heart from dropping into her stomach.

She leaned into the hand that pressed against her cheek. "Just for a couple hours." He promised. "Then we will be back together."

She nodded wordlessly before pulling away and stalking out of the clearing they had stopped in. She didn't stop moving until she saw Murphy who was leaning casually against a tree just outside of Arkadia. A commotion seemed to be coming from within.

"Fancy meeting you here." Murphy tossed over his shoulder at her. "Where is Bellamy?"

"He went to meet up with Kane and the others." She said, squeezing his bicep as she moved closer to Arkadia. "What's happening in there?"

"I don't know. It just started a moment before you showed up." He shrugged, pushing off the tree to follow behind her.

"Should we get a closer look?" She tossed over her shoulder at him. "Maybe pretend I'm here for a visit. I really need to see my mom."

She could see the nervous tension radiating off him, but he shrugged again. "Sure."

They had barely gotten to the gate when a rover bust through the it, stalling out as it did so. Jasper's terror filled eyes met her's through the windshield. She could see him saying her name as she swung around to the passenger side door.

She pulled it open and he yelled for her to get it. She shook her head "I don't understand Jasper, I need to see my mother."

His angry eyes round on her. "No! You don't understand. Your mother isn't home right now and if you don't get it, we won't be either! Get it the damn Rover."

The first pop of a gun sent her and Murphy scrambling into the rover. She moved towards the back making room for Murphy to get in as well. Her eyes fell on the unconscious mechanic who was laid out in the back. "Raven?" She whispered before turning back towards the two in front. "Jasper, why are they shooting at us?"

She watched Jasper's frantic movements as he tried to start the rover. His mumbling is overridden by her repeated question. "Shut up!" He screamed at her; Murphy shocked into a quiet that is unusual for him. "You really are the angel of death, aren't you?" Jasper tossed over his shoulder at her, hands still working the key in the ignition.

The sound of gunshots still ringing out hit her ears over the recriminations that Jasper continued to mutter at her as he tried to get the rover to turn over. Just as one of the guards wrenched the door open, the rover roared to life. As she kicked out at the guard who tried to scramble in, Clarke saw her mother standing at the gate with a sickeningly satisfied smile. Clarke reached out to pull the door closed but not before seeing her mother pick up a gun and start shooting in their direction. Jasper shouted in excitement before pressing down on the gas and tearing away from Arkadia.

They drove through the forest quietly for a while before Clarke couldn't stand the silence any longer. "Jasper, please, talk to me."

"I saved your life," Jasper's angry eyes meet hers in the rearview mirror. "it's more than you deserve."

She sucked in a harsh breath before blowing it out and shaking her head. "My mother let them shoot at me." Clarke said, turning to Murphy. "She shot at me."

Jasper's laugh is derisive as he met her eyes in the rearview mirror. "I can see the appeal. Stop talking and look for the cave, Sinclair said it'd be around here somewhere."

"You know it wasn't her that killed, Maya." Murphy words were sharp as he turned towards Jasper. "She's been trying to save us a-"

"No, don't make excuses for me, Murphy." She shook her head as she cut off his words. "If he needs to hate me, that's okay."

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Bellamy was surprised to see Lincoln and Octavia in the cave when he arrived not long after splitting from Clarke, but he was grateful for the steadiness he felt rolling off of Lincoln. They had been discussing what had happened in Arkadia for most of the time they sat around waiting to hear back from Clarke and Murphy.

That was until Jasper had called in and told them that Arkadia had fallen and was no longer safe. Though he was desperate to ask if Clarke was safe, he had refrained from doing so. The look that Kane and Miller had shot in his direction, glued his mouth shut.

"I don't understand something about those chips." Monty said as he moved back towards Sinclair, who only offered a "We'll know soon enough." in return.

The silence was frustrating, and he felt less quiet then Clarke had been before they started the assault on the Mountain. He wanted to pace. He wanted to go out and look for Clarke. He wanted to keep moving until she was in his arms again. Miller's voice broke his tortured revere, "They're here."

The whirl of the moving metal boxes could be heard as he moved towards the entrance of the cave. His heart thudded loudly in his chest as he watched with bated breath until he saw the flash of blonde peek out of the back of the metal box. A scrawny kid moved around to meet her at the back though his face was filled with contempt as he looked at Clarke. He saw Murphy join them before hoisting up Raven and rushing towards them.

The scrawny kid, who must have been Jasper shouting as he followed Murphy. "We need your help! We have to get her inside before she wakes up."

Bellamy turned to the group as they walked quickly back inside. "Were you followed?"

"Maybe, I don't know." He said shaking his head not looking at Bellamy.

"Get to the ridge, radio if you spot anyone," Miller's quiet voice rang out with command, which impressed Bellamy. "Harper will stay here on watch."

Clarke met his eyes briefly before turning to the rest of her people who were huddled around a fire. "Clear some space."

Sinclair moved around to meet Murphy who was settling the brunette on the ground. "What the hell happened to her?"

"I told you on the radio." Jasper bit out, shooting a glare at Clarke before turning back to Sinclair. "Raven is not Raven anymore none of them are. Jaha's been chipping everyone."

"Jasper's right I've seen it with my own eyes." Clarke agreed.

The fire with which Jasper rounded on Clarke with surprised him. He saw her flinch back as Jasper shouted. "I don't need your help! Alright?"

"Just take it easy and explain." Bellamy gritted out towards the insolent boy.

Jasper turned a sneer towards him before turning back towards Sinclair again. "Jaha is using the chips to control people. You swallow the chip and changes you; you forget who you are, and you see this thing A.L.I.E. only she's not really there. She made Raven slit her own wrists. I was trying to get it out of her head, I was trying to help her but," He trailed off as if not knowing how to finish.

"Ok, let's help her now did she say how?" Sinclair said, putting a hand on Jasper's shoulder.

"She was working on building something, she needed one of our old wristbands but Jaha destroyed all of them." He sighed out, some of the fight seemed to drain out of him.

They lulled into quiet contemplation for a moment, until Raven jumped up and took off out of the cave too quickly for anyone to stop her.

"Don't let her get away!" Clarke cried out as they chased her from the cave.

Raven was turning in circles when they finally caught up with her. "I can't see anything!" She cried. Jasper was the first to reach her, "Stop!" she screamed as he grabbed her. Bellamy was the next one to reach her, hauling her back against him as she flailed.

"It's for her to find where we are." Jasper cried, letting her go to reach into his pocket.

"A.L.I.E. will come for her." Jasper explained as he pushed the syringe into Raven's neck. "Reaper stick, last dose."

"We have to go now!" Clarke said as she moved in Bellamy's space, brushing the hair that had fallen in Raven's face when he'd caught her, off her forehead.

"Why?" Bellamy asked as he stared into her worried blue eyes. "A.L.I.E. doesn't know where we are."

"Because I know where we can get a wristband." She said, squeezing the hand that held Raven up.

XXXXXXXXXX

Bellamy and her quietly talked in the back as Kane drove them towards the outpost that she'd told them about. Worry that the chips had been the reason for the quietness they'd seen on their way to Arkadia, raced up and down her spine, despite the comforting hand that Bellamy had laid on her thigh.

When Kane threw the car into park outside of the trading post Niylah was staring suspiciously at the rover, her sword drawn. "I'll talk to her." She said as she moved to climb out of the rover.

Bellamy's hand landing on the small of her back as he moved to follow her. "I'll come with you."

Octavia looked suspiciously at the other blonde who still hadn't lowered her sword. "I thought you said she was a friend?" Octavia turned to look at Clarke with a raised eyebrow, her hand reaching down to rest on the sword at her hip.

She looked up at Octavia, cautioning her. "We'll handle it, just stay here." Clarke moved around the rover watching Niylah's hand lower from she recognized them. "Niylah, what's wrong?"

Niylah opened her mouth to respond when Sinclair's frantic voice cut in over them. "She's waking up, hurry! We have to get her inside!" Niylah motioned for them to move quickly inside to the back bedroom, where she had patch Clarke up a few months ago.

Niylah bowed her head to Bellamy as he passed, following Sinclair to the back. Clarke heard someone shouting to tie her to the bed. "Niylah, I have to get back there but what has been going on. Where is your father?"

Niylah just shook her head. "Go, help your friend we can talk later."

Raven's voice was loud as Clarke entered the room, "Where the hell am I? Let me go! Let me go!"

"How the hell do we get that thing out of her head?" Clarke asked Monty as Raven continued to scream and thrash.

"Working on it." Monty said as he and Sinclair moved away from Raven.

Clarke reached out to Bellamy's hand as they moved towards the front room, leaving Murphy and Jasper to look after the brunette screaming to be untied. "What do you need from me, Clarke?" Niylah asked as she looked at Clarke's hand in Bellamy's.

"Last time I was here, you had one of our wristbands." Clarke said, pulling her hand from his. Her eyes flicking to meet his quickly, turning back to Niylah when he gave her a nod with soft eyes. "We need it now to save our friend."

"Stay here." She said before moving out of the room, leaving Clarke alone with Bellamy for a moment.

His hands reaching out to grasp her shoulders, pulling her into his chest. "You ok?" He asked as his hands stroked the hair at the back of her head.

"Fine." She said, squeezing his waist before pulling back. "Thank you for coming with me."

His hand cupped her face, "There is no place I'd rather be right now."

She smiled up at him, her hand dropping over his. The rustling of fabric had them dropping their hands to their sides as they turned to Niylah who had returned triumphant with the wristband held out in her hand.

They returned to the back, pulling Sinclair and Monty out to the side room. "Niylah said we can work in here, so how do we do this?" Clarke asked, looking between the two men.

Sinclair smiled at her. "We think Raven wanted to use this wristband to generate an EMP. Which is freakishly brilliant."

Bellamy looked at him. "What does that mean?" She could see by the tilt of his head that he was hearing more than just the response that Sinclair offered.

"A targeted electromagnetic pulse could destroy the chips circuitry." Sinclair said, looking uncertainly at Bellamy, not knowing if he would really understand what he was saying. "We could use this to send an EMP along Raven's own nervous system. Just need to reverse the polarity, a wire for external input and attach of battery."

She nodded, "But what would that do to her?"

"Well EMPs don't affect our bodies. But I don't know the mechanics of how this chip integrates with her brain." Sinclair offered looking nervous.

"This was Raven's plan; she wouldn't do it if it would destroy her brain." Monty chimed in.

"Depends how bad she wanted it out." Bellamy said.

The quiet lasted a beat before Sinclair jumped back in. "Regardless, without an electromagnet, this is just talk."

"Where do we get one?" She asked.

Sinclair paused again, "The Ark. Every station had a pulse inductive thruster-"

Bellamy cut him off, "Arkadia's out of the question. You heard them."

"We use the dropship," Monty said jumping in. "It has PI thrusters just like the Ark."

"That's good, ok I'll go salvage the magnet." Sinclair said standing and starting to move towards the door.

"Uh, no." Monty said, his hand shooting out to stop the older man. "You should stay with Raven and figure out how this thing works. I'll take the rover; be back by the time you finish the device."

"I'll go with you." Octavia said, making everyone jump, not having heard her enter the room. Bellamy's eyes shot up to hers. She shook her head and offered him a tight smile. "Don't." He stared at her for a moment longer before nodding. Monty and Octavia moving quickly out of the room only a moment before they heard the Rover kicking into gear.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sound of Jasper's frantic cries, "Guys! Guys!" had them rushing back towards the bedroom, he winced at the sight of her dislocated shoulder as she tried to get herself untied.

Clarke screamed before yelling at them to "stop her". He moved quickly around to one side telling Jasper to get the other side as Raven screamed for them to get away from her.

"She's reopened her wounds." Clarke said from his side as they both looked down at the blood running freely down Raven's arms. "She's gonna bleed to death! I need bandages."

Jasper handed her the bandages and Clarke asked him to take her wrist. "Raven, stop fighting us." She begged. He could see the worry and stress lining her face and all he wanted to do was take her away from this.

"A.L.I.E., A.L.I.E., A.L.I.E." Jasper called, looking around the room before looking down at Raven. "I know you can hear me, why are you doing this? Let her go!"

"I'll let her go when you give me what I want." The voice that came out of the petite brunette was terrifying and it sent the commanders back in arms when she looked directly at him. "The technology that is in your head, it belongs to me."

"No way." Clarke said, stepping in front of him, cutting off Raven's line of sight. She leaned down and whispered into Raven's ear, "If you let Raven die, you'll never get it."

The slacked compliance had him nervous as Clarke started to move around him to fix her friend. Once her arm was back in place, Bellamy dropped a hand on Clarke's shoulder. "Clarke, she's never gonna stop trying to get away." He said, looking into her worried blue eyes. "We can't let her hurt herself again. Someone has to stay with her."

She nodded before resting her cheek against the hand that was on her shoulder for a moment. "I'll take first watch, we'll take turns."

"You don't give the orders, Clarke!" Jasper jumped up from where he had been leaning against the wall, startling both of them away from each other.

Raven turned her unresponsive eyes up to both of them. "Guess he doesn't forgive you for murdering his girlfriend."

"Jasper take a break." he said, ushering the thin man out of the room.

"You don't either, Commander." Jasper hissed at him as Bellamy met Clarke's worried eyes.

XXXXXXXXXX

Raven sounds wholly herself again as thanks Clarke when she finishes wrapping the bandages over her bleeding arms. Clarke offers her a small smile until Raven's face turns cold again, asking, "Do you ever see their faces?"

"What?" She asked pulling away from Raven.

"Of all the people you've killed." Raven asked, uncaring of the hurt that Clarke felt rush through her, making her stomach churn.

Clarke pulled her face into a sneer, hoping to mask how the words had hurt her, "I know what you're doing but you can't get to me A.L.I.E. so don't even bother."

"It's not A.L.I.E., Clarke." Raven said, her eyes still dead though her voice sounded more like herself. "It's Raven. I'm not trying to get to you I'm just trying to tell you the truth because no one else will. Everywhere you go, death follows. You always want to save everyone. But what you don't realize is, you're the one we need saving from. Pascal and Trina are dead because you couldn't see how much danger the grounder's posed. Finn is dead because you broke his heart and slid a knife into it. Hell, I bet you'll get Bellamy killed too."

"Shut up." She whispered, moving away from the bed.

"And then there's dear old dad." Raven's voice turned sickly sweet; a wave of nausea rushed through Clarke.

"I said shut up!" Clarke begged as she felt the tears building behind her eyes, locking down her body so she wouldn't turn to look at Raven.

"Your mom's in here with me Clarke. She told me you tried to convince him not to go public about the fact that the Ark was dying, guess you should've tried harder! His blood is on your hands too" Clarke turned to see the smug smirk on her face. "You think we buy this selfless martyr act, but we see you for who you really are. Poison to anyone who gets close."

Clarke moved towards the bed with a length of bandage in her hand, intending to place a gag over her mouth. She didn't expect for the blunt blades of Raven teeth to clamp down on her arm and tear into the meat of it before she pulled back with Clarke's blood dripping from her chin. A scream tore from Clarke's throat as Bellamy rushed into the room. "You're done A.L.I.E., you hear me? We're gonna fry you!" She screamed as Bellamy grabbed Clarke and pulled her away from the grim smile on Raven's face.

Bellamy grabbed her hand turning it over to look at the bite from Raven. "I let her get to me." She said softly as he started to clean up the wound.

"You don't say?" he said as he looked up at her wryly. "Take a break, I'll let her beat me up for a while." He finished bandaging the wound, tracing his thumb over her wrist before heading back to the room to sit with Raven.

"Truth hurts, huh?" Jasper scoffed.

Clarke turned to look at her angry friend. "I'm sorry." she said before explaining further at the confused look on his face. "I never wanted Maya to get hurt. I never wanted any of this. I tried to give you and Octavia as much time as I could, but I had to save our people."

Jasper's broken expression turned towards the floor. "I was going to save her, but you pissed them off."

"I wish you could've." She said softly.

"Shove your regret up your ass." He said before turning away to follow Bellamy into the room with Raven.

She sighed, bending forward to press her hands against the counter that stood next to her. Her forehead falling to her hands. The stress of everything, the weariness that flooded her, left her weak against her body's reaction to it. She rushed out the front of the store to vomit into the bushes. The feel of small hands rubbing her back had her standing up straight and adjusting her posture into that of Wanheda before turning to meet Niylah's eyes. She could see the question in her eyes. "Please, don't. I'm okay, it's just been a stressful day."

"You should talk to Heda. He can set your worries at ease. He is your husband now." Niylah said.

"You know about that?" She asked. "You've heard about that out here already?"

Niylah met her eyes with a nod. "Nothing about the Heda stays secret for long, well at least it didn't before all this madness started."

She nodded, turning back to the trading post, stopping at the door to tell Niylah, "Once this is all over, we will talk about everything. I promise."

She hurried through the door and into the side room. Sinclair was posed over the wristband with tools in his hand and magnifying glasses perched on his nose. She shuffled a little louder, making noise so not to scare him when she said. "Hey."

Sinclair looked at her over his glasses. "Just rewiring the firing mechanism and we're good to go." he said offering her a strained smile.

"Raven will be alright." She said moving to rest a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't know that." He said, shrugging her hand off. "She's all I have left, Clarke. What if this thing that I build destroys that brilliant mind of her's how do I live with that?"

"Jasper said that she was trying to disconnect herself from ALIE. That's not Raven anymore." She said, remembering the pinpoint accuracy with which she threw her pointed words.

"You sure about that?" He asked, turning back to the wristband in his hand.

She sighed, turning her head to the ground before answering. "I'm not sure about anything. But this is our only choice."

She turned and fled the room before her mind could add any more recriminations on her shoulders.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sound of the rover pulling up outside Niylah's shop pulled him outside to meet his sister and Monty. The drawn look on his sister's face set his nerves on edge. Monty's face was tear stained when he rounded the front of the rover, holding out the magnet to Sinclair.

"What happened?" He asked, grabbing his sister's arm as she moved passed him. She looked at Monty before shaking her head.

"Everyone, let's go!" Sinclair shouted, drawing them back in the shop.

Monty fiddle with some wires as Sinclair held the wristband close to the magnet. "We're all set." he said.

"All we have to do is connect her and activate the electromagnet." Sinclair said, his eyes darting to Raven who was looking off to the side.

Before they could make any more moves, Raven started thrashing. Clarke started screaming her name as they rushed over to hold her stop her. Everyone was shouting and begging in equal turn for Raven to stop. Raven paused for a moment before she threw her head backwards repeatedly. "She's trying to kill herself." He yelled to Clarke.

Bellamy laid over her chest as his hands cupped her head after they got her laid down on the bed. Holding her head steady for Sinclair to attach the EMP thing to her head.

"No please don't the EMP will give me brain damage!" She cried and he watched as Sinclair hesitated at her words. "You know it will please don't do this!" Clarke begged him not to listen to her while Raven pleaded with him not to do it. Bellamy struggled to continue to cage her head while Sinclair looked between the two women. Jasper almost losing his grip on the leg opposite to Kane.

"We've only got one try and this the EMP will fry the wristband too." Sinclair said as he looked into Clarke's eyes.

"Just," Bellamy started before Raven threw her head forward trying to connect with his. He grunted before continuing. "Do it! Do it!"

Sinclair nodded. "OK!"

"Got it, go!" Monty said as he held the machine to the back of Raven's neck. Sinclair threw the switch on the EMP, but nothing happened.

Clarke jumped into help Jasper when Raven's foot got loose as he yelled, "What's happening?"

Bellamy looked up into the confused face of the engineer, "Nothing" Sinclair said. "The battery's not strong enough."

"Then get one that is." Clarke cried as she looked up into his eyes, his arms beginning to shake from the strain of holding Raven's head still.

Monty set the EMP down as he looked at Sinclair, "The rover." They said in unison, both rushing out, tripping over one another in their hurry to get out and return.

He set his forehead against the straining muscles in his arm as he clenched his teeth. When he lifted his head, he met Clarke's stare, her blue eyes soft as she watched him. The chaos of the room faded for a moment as their eyes locked, he desperately wanted to reach out and touch her worried face, when suddenly Sinclair and Monty were back, and the latter was pressing the EMP back to Raven's skin. The jolt hit her, and she slumped in his arms, finally going quiet.

He let go of her slumped body and made room for Clarke to come up and check her friend over. "She's breathing." Clarke said to the room before turning back to Raven, her voice desperate. "Raven, come on Raven, come on Raven, wake up."

Jasper's voice quivered as he said. "She warned us." He picked up a metal pole and started to rush at Bellamy. "A.L.I.E. did that to Raven she's never gonna get him!"

"No, you can't! No! Stop!" Clarke cried out as Bellamy intercepted Jasper, pulling the metal from his hands. Her voice trailed off before looking up into his eyes. "Both the AIs were made by the same person. Both tap into human conciseness, they must work similarly, right?"

Sinclair nodded. "There's a probability of one pathway into conciseness so yeah."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Monty asked.

Clarke paced for a moment before turning back to the bed. "I think I know how to remove it; I'm going to need a knife and some help to get her on her side." Her nervous eyes met his, he pulled the knife his side pocket, offering it to her as the others rolled Raven over.

Clarke pressed the knife to Raven's neck and sliced down. He heard her murmur to herself, "This has to work." She pressed the soft cloth in her hand to Raven's neck when a black liquid bubbled out with small bits of metal in it.

"What is that?" He asked looking between Clarke and Sinclair.

"It must be whatever's left of the chip." Sinclair said, stunned when Raven started to cough. He leaned down against the bed, his face nearing Raven's, a happy smile gracing his face as he said, "Hey."

The commotion of the rest of Skaikru drowned out in his ears as he looked at Clarke. She stood off to the side watching Raven reunite with her friends. She seemed unable to move forward into the people she had risked everything to save. "We gotta move." He said, pulling everyone back to focus. They started to pack up in a flurry of movement.

Clarke stopped by Niylah as they moved passed her. "You can't stay here. If you do, you'll end up just like my friend. You need to run."

Niylah gripped Clarke's arm before bowing to him as she said, "It's time for a supply run anyway." before moving to the back room.

They all piled back into the rover, Clarke sliding into his side. Their pinkies linking quietly on the seat space between them. She looked up and met his eyes for a moment and all he wanted to do was lean into her and press his lips against hers. He could read her desire to be alone again clear as day.

She pulled away from their gaze before interrupting Raven and Jasper. "Hey, there's one thing I don't understand. Why did A.L.I.E. want you to kill yourself?"

Raven looked up from where her head rested against Jasper's shoulder. "Because I know why she wants the second AI."

"Why?" Kane asked from his spot in the front.

"It's the only thing that can stop her." She said.

Octavia's voice cut across the understanding the other commanders had come to, his pinky finger curling harder against Clarke's. "Then let's stop her. We survive together.