This made the third time Nia and by extension Azgeda had spat in Clarke's face. To make matters worse, it was Madi being targeted this time. She wouldn't suffer Nia to live any longer, she no longer cared for the politics involved.
"This means war," Clarke stated matter of factly to Lexa while she stared intently at the table in front of her.
They were in the study the morning after the kidnapping attempt, for what else could it have been but a ploy to gain leverage over Wanheda? Clarke had already pulled out maps of Azgeda, laying out a plan of attack in her head.
Lexa paced the other side of the room, hands behind her back, brows creased. "We certainly can't keep ignoring these slights, but war? Many innocents in Azgeda would die if we marched our armies north."
Clarke slammed her hands down on the oak table, the wood shuddering from the force, her cool facade breaking. "Innocents!? Nia has ruled them for decades as a tyrant! Anyone one of them could have stood up and stopped her! Her guard could have driven a dagger through her back rather than continue enabling her cruelty! Her cooks could have poisoned her, her handmaidens could have slit her throat while she slept! There are no innocents! Any one of them could have killed Jaha! I could have…I should have…so didn't I? How many would still be alive if I hadn't been a coward? Would my father?" Clarke finished quietly, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.
A hand came to rest against her cheek, calloused from many years of wielding a sword yet oh so gentle as it turned her to face its owner. Concern was shining bright in Lexa's evergreen eyes, eyes that never failed to remind her of the time when dreaming of the ground was just that, a dream. Clarke let out a shaky breath as she pressed her forehead to Lexa's.
"You overthrew Jaha and the system that allowed him and ones like him to rule, you led your people to the ground, you faced hordes of monsters, crushed the Mountain and saved the innocents within. You are many things, ai Hodnes but a coward is not one of them. Nia will die screaming, that I promise you, but we need a plan that doesn't involve marching the armies of the Kongeda to bring one person to justice." Lexa said, warmth blooming in Clarke's chest at the words.
Clarke's fingers tucked a stray braid behind Lexa's ear, and continued to trace a path to where her hand rested on the back of her love's head. She tilted her head, allowing her access to Lexa's full lips.
"I love you," Clarke whispered once they broke from the chaste kiss, marveling at how good it felt to freely admit that.
Lexa smiled, her eyes filled with warmth. She grabbed Clarke by the thighs and hoisted her effortlessly onto the map-strewn table, making herself at home between her legs.
"I love you too, ai Keryon," Lexa whispered, her breath hot against Clarke's nape.
"Keryon?" Clarke asked, unfamiliar with the word.
Lexa placed a kiss to Clarke's neck instead of answering immediately, goosebumps prickling the blonde's flesh.
"Spirit," Lexa answered before placing another kiss on Clarke's neck.
XXX
Raven stretched as she blinked the sleep from her eyes, she was alone in the large fur covered bed, Luna and Anya had wisely let her sleep in.
She swung her legs off the side of the bed, her mood souring when she saw her stump, it ruining yet another morning. It might sound ridiculous to others but she always forgot she was missing part of her leg.
See, most people had dreams of flying.
Her?
She had dreams where she was running. To be specific, she was running down the halls of Mecha station as a child, Griffin chasing after her, both laughing their heads off.
She had that dream almost every night, and as a result she often forgot about her leg until she tried getting out of bed.
Sure, if she really wanted to go running she could just put on her blade prosthetic, but that wasn't the point. It was a metaphorical bucket of ice water being dumped over her every morning, without fail.
Grumbling to herself, she fitted her prosthetic on and got up.
Raven Motherfucking Reyes got over it and came to terms with her disability like she did every damn morning before going in search of her girlfriends.
At least she had that to brighten her mood.
She found them in the training pits, gathering a crowd as a result. She watched as the two women clashed in a near blur. Anya was a skilled warrior and a general of Heda. Luna however, was trained to fight since she could walk, much like the Sardaukar. Raven could tell that Luna was holding back, and by Anya's expression, so too could she. Luna's cutlasses moved like water, one motion flowing into the next. Anya was all experience, she might have had more combat experience but she was still getting used to her new strength and speed. It was clear that once Anya got the hang of her newfound abilities she would truly be a force to be reckoned with.
Luna spotted her in the crowd somehow and, apparently deciding she was done soldering back, swept Anya's legs from under her.
Anya spotted her as she took Luna's offered hand, her creased brows smoothing.
"Hey," Raven said intelligently, not all flustered by the sweat that dripped down their lithe forms or the hot breath she could see in the cool morning air.
Luna and Anya raised identical eyebrows at each other before smirking.
Damn them and their silent conversations!
"Hey yourself, Rayvon~" Luna said, the way she said her name sending a tingle down her spine.
"Enjoy the show, Striksora?" Anya asked in a tone that both said she damn well knew the answer and made her shudder from head to toe.
"Yup," Raven answered with a super cool head, definitely not about to melt into a puddle on the floor.
Anya and Luna grinned like they had won something as they wiped the sweat from themselves.
"We have something to show you," Anya said.
"It's tek!" Luna exclaimed, Anya elbowing her in the ribs.
"It was supposed to be a surprise," Anya chastised.
Raven laughed the whole way to the basement of Heda's tower until she saw what they had wanted to show her.
It was a veritable medical treasure trove! There were EKG machines, ultrasounds, x-rays, defibrillators, even a fucking MRI! All of it was pristine if you didn't count the thick layer of dust.
"Holy shit!" Raven exclaimed excitedly.
"That's not all," Luna said somewhat smugly.
"There's something further in," Anya added, frustratingly mysterious.
The two led her past technological treasure after technological treasure until they finally came to a stop at a wall.
No, not a wall.
It was a bunker's bulkhead door with a faded symbol marking its surface.
A triangle within a triangle, two words spelled within, 'Second Dawn'.
XXX
Ontari and Octavia stood guard outside the door to the Commander's study.
"Any luck with that Azgeda prisoner we took in the forest?" Octavia asked her fellow guard and girlfriend? Friend with benefits? It wasn't exactly clear and Ontari wasn't exactly the type to talk about her feelings. Hell, neither was she.
Ontari snarled something under her breath in Trig before responding, "Only that he is Azgeda like I suspected. He has proven well trained in resisting torture," She said through gritted teeth.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Octavia asked, she might not be as skilled in interrogation as Ontari but she would try, for her.
" ' .help," Ontari bit out, seemingly offended at the very idea.
"You don't need to do it alone," Octavia tried.
"I do. It's what I'm best at. It's what I'm best for," Ontari said, her lips settling in a hard line.
Octavia strode from her place on the other side of the doorway and poked the glowering woman in the chest, hard.
"Knock that shit off, you're pissing me off," Octavia warned, tired of the thinly veiled self deprecation.
Ontari's eye twitched, the vein on her temple pulsed.
"Why?" She asked angrily.
Octavia poked her in the chest again, even harder this time.
"Because I love you, you fucking idiot!" She admitted, a little pissed that this was how she was telling Ontari how she really felt.
Ontari's anger vanished in an instant, surprise clear on her scarred face as she blinked multiple times.
"What?" Ontari asked sagely.
" . ," Octavia spelt out, every word punctuated with a poke to the chest.
"Really?" Ontari asked, her wisdom shining through again.
"Yes, Idiot! This is the part where you tell me how you feel," Octavia instructed, done beating around the bush.
"I…I love you too…I've never loved anyone before…" Ontari admitted.
Octavia leaned in and kissed the woman, it wasn't hungry and primal like the ones before it, it was soft and filled with emotion that had her humming into
Ontari's lips before they broke apart.
"What about Lincoln? I love him too," Ontari asked, her cheeks somewhat pink. The things they had done and that was what got Ontari to blush? Octavia almost couldn't hold in her laugh.
"I love him too, and don't worry, he loves us back even if he doesn't realize it yet," Octavia said with a smirk.
Ontari smirked as well, Lincoln wouldn't know what hit him.
Raven came limping from around the corner then, moving faster than Octavia had ever seen her move since losing her leg. She was moving so fast that she was essentially using her prosthetic as a peg leg, swinging it to the side as she lurched forward. Anya and Luna were on either side of her ready to help if she tripped, trying to be respectful while still worried.
Octavia was officially worried, Raven never moved fast enough to call attention to her limp, ever.
"I need to speak with the Commanders, there's an unopened bunker under the tower!" Raven all but yelled.
Ontari waved a hand dismissively. "That's been there since Praimfaiya, there's no way to open it."
"Well me and Monty sure as fuck can! There might still be people in there from before the bombs!" Raven exclaimed.
The door at their backs swung inward, Lexa and Clarke stepping out.
"What the hell is going on out here!?" Lexa demanded in annoyance, her lips slightly swollen.
