Raven's nose was pressed into a book, the tattered edges spoke to its age, as they rocked back and forth in the rover, headed back towards the cave to meet up with the others who'd been left behind. There was a tint of envy in her voice as she spoke to Sinclair. "Becca's journal is amazing. At 26, she found a pathway to access a human mind. That same year, she had to lock up A.L.I.E. because her answer for what was wrong with the world was too many people. She was 27 when it launched the bombs."
"That's Becca's journal?" Clarke asked as she tried to catch a look at it over Raven's shoulder. Raven nodded absentmindedly. "What did she write about the Flame?"
Raven looked up at her before responding. "A.L.I.E. 2.0. She saw it as a way to atone for her sins. She designed it to not just access a human mind but to merge with one. It could never wipe us out because it would be one of us. She would put it in herself first, altered her genes so her body wouldn't reject the implant."
Clarke turned to look at Bellamy. "Becca Pramheda, the first Commander." she said in amazement before turning back to Raven. "The gene therapy made her blood black, didn't it?"
"Yeah." Raven said, looking at Clarke curiously. "How did you know that?"
"Night blood. That's where it came from. Somehow it became hereditary."
"Get back to the mind pathway." Monty said, the first time he'd pulled his sad eyes off his fidgeting hands in his lap. "If A.L.I.E. uses it to upload our minds to the City of Light, then there's a chance my mom's still alive."
"That depends on your definition of "alive"." Raven said, sarcastically though her eyes softened, and her hand reached out to him.
Kane turned around to look at them, cutting off their conversation. "Eyes sharp. Weapons high. We're almost home." He pulled a radio up to his mouth. "Miller, come in." When there was no response he called for the others with increasing urgency.
"I hate to say this but maybe we should go to Arkadia." Clarke said, unable to meet Kane's eyes.
"Actually, that's probably a good idea." Raven agreed, shrugging. "A.L.I.E. wanted to increase the population in the city of light. No point in staying in Arkadia if it's tapped out."
"Maybe they moved back to Arkadia?" Bellamy offered, scooting closer to Clarke on the seat of the rover.
They rolled through their hideout only to confirm that it was truly empty. They loaded up the rover with the remainder of what was left in the cave, no more than a day's worth of food for the group and a couple small medical items. Clarke took a moment to lean into Bellamy's side while everyone was busy moving supplies into the rover. She sighed when she felt his lips press against the crown of her head. They pulled away from each other as the rest of the group finished up and started to climb back into the rover. Bellamy's hand lingered on the small of her back as they followed suit.
Clarke couldn't believe her eyes as they pulled up to the deserted camp. "We left two days ago. Why haven't they fixed the gate?"
Jasper's voice was just as angry when he answered. "Maybe because there's no one here to fix it."
"It's like a ghost town." Raven's voice was unsurprised as they exited the rover.
"Miller, where the hell are you?" Kane whispered to himself before turning back to the group. "I don't like this."
"Maybe they got chipped." Jasper offered as they moved further into Arkadia.
Sinclair turned to him with a raised eyebrow, "If they got chipped, they'd been waiting for us at the cave."
"If they are chipped, A.L.I.E. already knows we're coming." Clarke said as she moved forward. They needed to get in and out before A.L.I.E. came looking them. "We should move the rover in further while we go searching for the rest of the group. Best not to give A.L.I.E. any reason to believe we are here."
Kane nodded in agreement before walking back to the rover to move it into the hanger bay. The rest of them continuing forward on high alert. "Close it up and turn it around. In case we need to get out of here quickly." He said as he turned the rover off once they were all inside.
"It's like they just got up and walked away." Clarke said looking around the hanger, piles of unfinished work and forgotten tasks were laid out before her. She closed her eyes against the memories of her mother just a day ago shooting at her, with that sinister smile plastered on her face.
Bellamy surprised her by pulling her away from the rest of the group, forcing her to open her eyes and focus on him. He looked around to make sure one else could see them before pressing his lips to her's. The gentleness of his usually demanding lips caught her off guard, shocking her into inaction for a moment. When she came back to the present, she wrapped her arms around his waist, sliding her hands up under his shirt. His hands caging her face in as he pulled back slightly, resting his forehead against her's.
His deep brown eyes, resonated desire as they opened. "I have been waiting for a moment we could be alone to do this." He said before pressing his lips back to her's.
She shuddered as he pulled back again. "I've missed this too." Her hands wandered around his lower back, relishing in the warmth of his skin on hers, she leaned up to press her lips back to his for a moment before resting her head against his chest. "So much."
Bellamy ran a hand through her hair, his other hand rested on the small of her back as he rocked them gently, back and forth. "I wish we could get away, back to our own solitude."
She nodded against his chest, squeezing him tighter. She pulled away reluctantly when she heard the rest of the group breaking up and starting to move around. She was looking up into his face when she heard Murphy call to them, "Hey, break it up love birds." a smirk heavy on his lips.
She turned to face Murphy with a grin on her face. "Murphy, what trouble are you getting yourself into?"
"I'm headed to Polis to check it out with Kane and Lincoln." He shrugged an arm over Clarke's shoulders. "But you two are staying here, Kane doesn't want to risk either one of you if they are chipping people in the capitol."
Bellamy started to protest, "Those are my people, I need to be there."
She turned her eyes to the floor, not wanting to meet his eyes. "He's right Bell, you're too important, but I can go. No one needs me."
"You are important and besides the decision has already been made, you are both staying here, for your own good." Murphy said as she shrugged out from under his arm. "Everyone is pairing off and checking out the rest of the Ark for anything useful, you two should head out as well."
XXXXXXXXXX
Raven called out to Clarke as they turned to leave, asking her to leave the chip with her, the one that Clarke had confiscated from Jasper at Niylah's.
"Why?" Clarke tilted her head to the side, her blue eyes curious.
Raven looked up at Clarke, for the first time since being saved without derision on her face. "I think I know how to activate it."
"Without a host?" Clarke asked. He could hear Becca Pramheda whispering against the back of his mind.
"This section here codes for activation with a spoken passphrase." Raven said, pulling him back away from the other commander, who'd become more insistent over the last few days, no matter how he tried to ignore her.
Clarke looked at the book on the table with Raven, "What phrase?"
"Doesn't say. It could be anything." Raven shrugged before turning to Bellamy. "Any ideas, Bellamy?"
He shook his head, squeezing his hand at his side, against the screeching of Becca. "I didn't even know I was an AI until yesterday."
"You're not an A.I. Your mind is just enhanced by one." Raven said, her hand reaching out to squeeze his forearm in a reassuring gesture. "I'm guessing the reason you didn't know was because the program degraded over time. Parts of it got lost."
Clarke spit out a couple phrases that his people spouted off with equal parts anger and vigor. Monty and Sinclair who'd stayed with Raven and kept quiet up until then stepped closer to them. He watched Monty's hand reach out and pick up the book, reading out the words on the front of it. "Seek higher things?"
"Wait," Raven said, pulling the book back into her hands, flipping pages rapidly. "Becca's book is full of Latin phrases."
"I take it A.L.I.E. didn't leave Latin behind in your brain." Monty said in a teasing voice.
"I studied some Latin." Sinclair offered, reaching out for the book. "Seek higher things. Altiora petimus." Ascende superius, he heard, the whispered words floating around his head in a familiar voice. "No, go for a less literal translation." Sinclair continued.
"Ascende superius." He offered. Sinclair and the rest of them looked at him in surprise. He shrugged. "What?" He asked looking at them. "Was it wrong?"
Sinclair shook his head. "No but it's like you read my mind. Okay, let's try it."
"Ascende superius." Raven said as she leaned over the chip. The small blue device glowed, lighting up Raven's eyes. "I think I can work with this."
She deflated when not a moment later the chip dimmed. "Ok there must be another way to access the code then." Sinclair offered to Raven's defeated face.
"Okay, well keep working on it. We are going to go check out the rest of the Ark like the others." Clarke said, pulling them away.
"Ok, we'll catch up." He heard Sinclair say to their retreating backs before turning back to Raven.
They explored for a while, hand in hand while no one was around. She peeled away from him a couple times to check down various halls, talking quietly to herself as she did. He couldn't stop the feeling of dread from leaching into his soul every time she walked away from him.
The last time she moved down a hallway while he checked the rooms adjacent, he heard the eerie tinkling of music coming from the same hall she'd just turned down. He moved to follow her when suddenly a red cloud of smoke started to billow towards him. "Run!" He heard Clarke's scared voice scream.
He heard a scuffle from within the smoke before he saw Clarke rushing out of it, grabbing his arm and hauling him back the way they came. "Bell," she said haltingly. Her words raspy as she coughed up the irritants. "Emerson."
They stopped and he pulled her into an empty room. She pulled the radio off her hip as she called out to the other teams. He put his hands on her shoulders as she started to shake apart, when she got no response. "Miller, Harper, Bryan. This is all my fault, I let Emerson live."
"No," He shook his head. "How could this be your fault?"
"In Polis, I had a chance to kill him I let him go." She said, if reminding him.
Raven's voice crackled to life over the radio, stopping him from saying anything further. "Clarke, what's wrong?"
"Raven are you ok? Where are you?" Clarke asked clinging to the radio.
"Still in engineering, we're fine." She said and he watched Clarke's shoulders slump in relief.
"Raven listen to me, Emerson is here." She said leaning her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms up around her tiny frame. "Are the others with you?"
Raven's voice crackled back to them. "Negative, just Sinclair. Mount Weather Emerson?"
"Lock down the hangar bay don't let anyone in but us." Clarke said before looking back to his eyes. "We need to go back to them."
He nodded, squeezing her one more time before letting her go. He turned to leave the room before Raven's voice came back across the radio, terrified. "He's here, he's inside the hangar bay."
Clarke took off without another glace in his direction and he was left to scramble behind her. When they finally got in through the hanger doors from the outside, they found the space devoid of any light. "Raven! Sinclair!" He called out as they walked through the dark.
He heard Clarke gasp as they came upon Sinclair, laying in a pool of blood. He chest still as his dark eyes stared up at nothing. "We're too late." She said, checking his pulse, confirming what they both already knew. She closed Sinclair's eyes before turning to look back at him. "He didn't kill Monty or Raven. He would've left their bodies. He took them somewhere."
"If you're right, Octavia and the others are there too." Bellamy said, reaching down to pull her back to her feet.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Where would he be taking them?" She asked herself out loud.
Bellamy looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Could be anywhere, does he even know his way around?"
She nodded. "He was here. You were in TonDC." She looked around before the thought struck her. "The airlock."
She grabbed his hand and turned on her heel without another word, dragging him behind her again. They were less than two halls away from Emerson when he dug his heels in, halting their progress. "Clarke, slow down. We need a plan."
"I can't slow down; our people are in there. Your sister." She said as she tried to pull him along again, though he held firm.
He pulled her back to him, his hand coming up to cup her cheek. "Clarke, we can't go marching in there without a plan. We don't know what we are going to be walking into. It could be a trap and I'm not going to lose you because we didn't make a plan."
"Okay, here's the plan." She pulled away from him, her hand pulling the radio up to her lips. "Emerson, I know you're here. We need to talk."
If they weren't trying to save her friends from the mountain again, the look of utter disbelief on Bellamy's face would have made her laugh. She started walking again, this time not making a grab for Bellamy, instead letting her free hand grab the gun from her waistband.
The radio crackled in her hand before she heard Emerson respond. "I don't need to do anything. You should've killed me when you had the chance."
"And now you're here to kill me is that it?" She asked as she moved, trying to quiet her steps as she got closer.
"Something like that." He responded.
"Then let my friends go. Do that and you can have me." Bellamy sputtered at her words, his large hand grabbing her and swinging her around, his eyes wide with panic.
Emerson laughed into the radio. "You're brave, Clarke, I'll give you that. They're lucky to have a friend like you."
"Clarke." Bellamy's voice was pleading as he tried to keep her there, to keep her from running off.
"Come to the airlock, no weapons. Right now." Emerson voice cut off anything Bellamy would have said to try to stop her.
She pushed the radio and her gun into his hands. "Here."
"Clarke! What the hell are you doing?" He roared at her.
"Saving them!" She cried. "When it's over, take Raven to engineering, help her then save the rest of our people." She leaned up to press her lips to his gently. "Promise me."
"No. You're out of your mind if you think I'm letting you do this alone." He said, dropping the radio and gun as he dragged her to his body, dropping his lips roughly to her's. Their chests heaving when he pulled back. "I can't lose you. I just found you."
She reached up to stroke his face. "Bellamy, this is my fault. I'm not letting anyone else die for my mistake, ok? So, take them."
"You through?" He asked, his voice raw with anger. "I don't know what happened between you and Emerson in Polis when you met with him alone, but I do know that letting him kill you here today is a stupid plan."
Her teary eyes met his as she leaned into his solid chest. "You got a better one?"
"Distract him. I kill him." He said, leaning down to kiss her again.
"Okay." She pressed her lips to his once more before pulling away. She turned on her heel and headed back down the hall again. She heard Bellamy sigh before the sound of his footsteps met her ears.
As they got to the last corner, she motioned for him to stay before lifting her hands up and walking around the corner. "I held out my part of the deal. Your turn. Let my friends go." She called out.
"Tell the Heda to show himself first." Emerson called out his hand tightly gripping Octavia's hair his knife tauntingly running up and down her neck.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Clarke said as her eyes watched the knife. He pulled Octavia tighter to him as he pressed the blade against her throat, drawing a grant from the angry grounder girl.
No one moved, a tense moment passed before Emerson pressed the blade harder, drawing blood from her sister- in- law. She heard Bellamy move before the sound of his voice met her ears. "Ok, ok! Just stop!"
Emerson's cruel laugh filled the air as he moved closer to the airlock controls "Ok, now, put the weapon on the ground and get inside."
"Please you wanted me." She said, her voice holding a frantic edge. "I'll get inside once you let them go."
Emerson sneered at her. "I was talking to Bellamy."
He pressed the blade harder against Octavia's throat, the blood trailed down her pale skin quicker, "Don't do this." Clarke begged as Bellamy dropped the weapons in his hands, the gun that was useless tucked in his waistband join the knives on the ground.
She watched helplessly as Bellamy walked to the airlock. Emerson motioning for him to put his hands in the cuffs that dangled from the wall. She watched as Bellamy locked his own wrist in them before Emerson walked back out of the airlock, Octavia still in his grasp. "Get on your knees, Clarke." He said, sheathing his knife and pulling a gun to point at Clarke. "Put your hands behind you head."
Her heart started to race as she put her hands on her head. Her mind whirled, trying to find a way out of this situation. She watched Emerson shove Octavia back into the airlock before slamming his hand down to seal the door before Octavia could recover her feet.
"No, you can do anything you want with me. Just let them go!" She begged, tears flooding her eyes. She watched as he pressed another button on the panel before moving towards her.
She felt the press of cold steel against her temple. "You murdered 381 people. You took the lives of my children, my brother, my friends. Did you really think that I would be happy with just one life in return, hmm?"
The sound of air venting from the airlock hit her ears with a hiss. The automated voice announcing the undeniable truth. "I want you to feel what I felt like." Emerson said as he leaned over her. "Beg me to stop it"
"I beg you." She said as tears trailed down her face, her eyes meeting Bellamy's through the thick glass.
"Louder!" Emerson screamed in her ear.
"Please!" She screamed. Octavia rushed into her brother's arms as he started to droop. "Aaron wouldn't want you to do this."
"You don't say his name!" Emerson screamed, the gun falling from her head as he hit her. She grunted from the impact.
She used the moment of distraction to shove him back and scramble to her feet. Her hand almost hitting the button to free her friends before Emerson catches her hair and yanked her back to the floor, climbing on top of her. His large hands pressing down on her throat as her arms swung at him wildly.
"Gotcha." He said before he slammed her head against the floor. When she stopped moving from the impact, he lifted her to her knees. Drawing her eyes to the door. All her friends were stooped, gasping for breath. "Now you get to watch them die. Any last words for your friends?"
Clarke's eyes dropped to the floor the gun, forgotten in their struggle, laid near her kneed. "Yeah." she said slowly before throwing her head backwards into his face. The crack of his nose met her ears as she made a wild grab for the gun. Turning she fired, the shot hitting just off center of the middle of his forehead. "Fuck you."
As he fell to the floor, blood leaking from his mouth, nose, ears, and bullet wound, he took his last breath. She turned and ran back to the airlock as quickly as she could make her unsteady feet move. She had to close one eye to get her brain to focus on the words enough to find the right button. The doors opened and she heard all her friends gasp for air. She staggered into the airlock and started untying them as quickly as her uncoordinated limbs could manage.
By the time she had freed half the group everyone was awake enough to help. Monty guiding her out of the airlock as Harper and Raven worked on freeing the rest. Octavia dropping down next to where Monty placed her. The blood still flowing freely down her neck. Clarke pulled off some of her shirt handing it to Octavia and telling her to apply pressure until the blood stopped.
Bellamy came racing to them when he was finally free. He gripped her face in his hands, pressing his lips against hers harshly. "There's something that I'd thought I'd never see." She heard Octavia say in a rough voice as Bellamy molded his lips more firmly against hers.
He pulled back from her only once they were both out of air again. He turned to his sister and hugged her, she hugged him back just as fiercely.
"I think we deserve a break for the rest of the night." Someone said, she agreed wholeheartedly and would tell them so, just as soon as she could get her brain working again.
Bellamy pulled her up to her feet before they all trudged back towards the hanger. Monty pointing out empty rooms as they got closer, everyone breaking off into separate rooms. Bellamy pulled Clarke into the one nearest the hanger. He set her into the bed. She laid back against the pillows, her hand going to her pounding head.
She expected to feel the bed dip beside her, instead she felt Bellamy drop a kiss to the part of her forehead not covered by her hand as he whispered that he would be back shortly. When she asked what he was going to do, he told her that he was going to go take care of Sinclair's body, that he deserved at least that much respect, not to be laid out overnight. When she tried to get up to follow him and help, he pressed her back into the bed. "Stay." He said. "I won't be long."
She relented, laying back down. She watched through slitted eyes as he pulled the door open. "Bellamy," She called, stopping him. "I love you."
She saw the smile pull his lips wide. "I love you too, Clarke." He turned and closed the door.
It was less than an hour before she felt the bed dip behind her sleep heavy body. His lips pressed to the back of her head as she drifted deeper into sleep. The aches of her body drifting away with her as he draped his arm over her waist.
