"There's nothing like a little pain to remind you you're alive." —Raven Reyes, "Echoes"

The Council meeting was delayed a few days while Kane was scouting Mount Weather. It was finally set for ten o'clock on Thursday morning. Abby walked into the room at 9:45 to find Marcus sitting at the table. He had been missing all morning, but Abby had been at a meeting with Sinclair to discuss Benja's future in engineering, leaving her with no time to search for him.

He held one of Thelonious' chips in his open palm, staring hard at it. Abby paused in the doorway, afraid he was about to take it, but he turned when he heard her footsteps and looked at her as he squeezed the chip tightly in his hand. She walked toward him and asked, "What are you doing with that?"

He shrugged. "Thelonious gave it to me. He told me I wouldn't feel pain."

Abby took his hand and said, "Those aren't safe. They block out your bad memories and everything associated with them."

"I know. I wasn't going to take it," he said, opening his hand and offering her the chip. She took it and placed it in her pocket, vowing to smash it later. She gently took his hand and ran her fingers over his.

"Are you okay?" She whispered. He nodded, but he was frowning. She sighed, "Please, Marcus, tell me if I can do anything to help."

He said, "I just have to deal with it on my own."

"What is it this time?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "The nightmares; my mind is constantly replaying that night in the school. Then there's the pain in my leg." He looked like he was about to cry; she squeezed his hand tighter, causing his eyes to meet hers. "I can't take it, Abby."

"You don't have to bare this burden alone, Marcus," she whispered. "I'm always here for you."

He nodded and squeezed her hand back. "I'm sorry if I've worried you, ai niron. I never meant to."

"I know."

He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. He whispered, "Ai hod yu in."

"Ai hod yu in seintaim," she replied, smiling because he was using Trigedasleng.

They were silent for a few minutes before Abby asked, "When do you leave?"

"As soon as the meeting is through," he admitted. "We're going early to set up a perimeter. The army will arrive tonight."

All she could do was nod. He squeezed her hand, forcing her to look at him. "Don't worry about me. You have problems to sort out here."

She nodded and replied, "Don't remind me — Thelonious is almost as difficult as Ontari."

"If anyone can solve him, you can."

"Are we interrupting?" Sinclair stood in the doorway, Bennett behind him.

"Please, join us," Kane said. They walked into the room and took their seats at the table.

"I hear you're heading out today," Bennett said, leaning forward against the table. "What does that mean for Jaha?"

"Abby has that taken care of," Kane answered.

"Are you sure you should put all of that on Abby?" Sinclair asked. "You're taking Murphy and Jackson with you, who does that leave her with? The other trainees?"

"I can manage. I have Raven too," Abby replied.

"Actually," Kane hesitated. Abby frowned at him. "I need her for Mount Weather if we get in."

Abby sighed. "Fine. I'll manage somehow."

"Just throw him in Lockup and be done with it," Bennett suggested.

"And what about the other people he's influenced?" Sinclair asked.

"Throw them in too. Give us time to figure out what needs to be done." He replied.

Abby sighed — she didn't like the plan, but she had to admit that it was the only thing that made sense. He couldn't be on the loose while they tried to slow the effects of the drug. Reluctantly, Abby nodded. "He's not going to go without a fight."

"Who?" Gwen asked, walking into the room. "Jaha?"

Abby nodded again.

Gwen sat next to Bennett and frowned. "Are we throwing him into Lockup? I had to confiscate one of his chips during a lesson today. He's giving them to children."

Marcus and Abby shared a look. Kane said, "We'll place a 24 hour security detail on him—"

"We don't have enough of the guard left to fight Jaha's forces," Bennett reasoned. "He's already turned 30 people to his side. I'm sorry, Kane, but we can't fight two battles right now. You're going to have to choose between Ice Nation and our own people."

"We're not turning our back on the Coalition," Kane said sternly.

"So you're choosing the Grounders over us?" Bennett asked.

"We are Grounders," Kane said, "like it or not."

"Kane's right," Gwen said quietly. "We can't back out of the Coalition just because we have some unruly citizens. We can control Jaha with the forces we have. We still have 20 guards in Arkadia, we'll be fine. Besides, Penn's army is just outside the gates; if need be, we can call for help. And forget about Reyes, we have Sinclair to deal with the problem."

"Never say, 'forget about Reyes,'" Sinclair said, his brows furrowed. "You should understand how valuable she is. I wouldn't be standing here without her."

Everyone knew that Sinclair had fallen into a spiral when his wife was murdered by Charles Pike. It wasn't common knowledge, however, that Raven had helped pull him out of it. Kane knew that Sinclair had done the same for her after the loss of Wick. They were as close as father and daughter, he knew that Sinclair considered Raven his own daughter at this point.

"So," Kane began, watching Sinclair's anger dissipate. "Abby, Sinclair, and Helm will deal with Jaha. Start with confiscating his chips, but we can't lock him up because he hasn't technically broken any laws. What we can do is place a 24 hour security detail on him. I would suggest Jones Meikle — he's smart enough to resist Thelonious and strong enough to overpower him if need be.

"I'll be taking Clarke, Raven, Jackson, and Murphy with me to Mount Weather for some recon before the army arrives," Kane said, a little grim faced. Abby knew he had to be worried about today and the upcoming battle.

"And what if it doesn't work with Jaha?" Gwen pressed.

"We'll figure something out," Abby said, trying to turn Gwen's attention away from Marcus. He was getting tense, she could see. He would either blow up or just leave the room, that was his style nowadays as far as she could tell.

Thankfully, Gwen dropped the subject. The meeting moved on with the war dominating the discussion. Jaha was set on the back burner for now as Ontari took precedence. They concluded the meeting and the others filed out. Kane grabbed Abby's hand and steered her out of the room.

They walked in silence along the hallway until they reached the hangar. He stopped them just inside the door, against the wall. He held her hand tightly in his as he watched everyone load up the rover. Clarke was leading the group, telling people where to put the supplies. Benja sat on the back of the rover, hindering the group's progress, as he chatted with Clarke.

"You could stay behind," Abby whispered, her eyes on Marcus. "You're the Chancellor, you can just lead. You don't have to go off to war."

"What do you think members of the Coalition would think of us if our leader didn't join the warriors?" Kane said, frowning. "I am the leader, I have to lead by example."

"Just be careful," she said, squeezing his hand.

"I can try," he replied, turning his attention back to the workers. After a few moments, he whispered, "How are you feeling?"

"About you going…?"

"No," he said, facing her and taking both hands. "How are you feeling?"

"Oh!" She said, realization dawning on her. "I'm okay."

"Are you telling me the truth?" He asked. She nodded. "Abby."

"I've been feeling a little nauseous," she said candidly.

He frowned. "That's normal though, isn't it?"

She smiled at him, stroking his beard affectionately. "Yes, it is."

She didn't want to tell him that nausea this early in a pregnancy was uncommon, as she was only a month or so along. She wasn't going to worry just yet. She knew older pregnancies were always risky but she was certain that hers would be successful.

Benja ran over to them after his goodbye to Clarke. He hugged Marcus tightly around the waist. He whispered, "Ste klir. | Be safe."

"En yu | And you," Kane said, hugging him back with as much strength as he could muster. "Kep em klir in. | Keep her safe."

"I don't need anyone to keep me safe, Marcus," Abby muttered.

"I know, Abby." He leaned forward and pressed his lips against her forehead.

A throat cleared to their right and they found Clarke standing there. She said, "We're ready to go, Kane."

"I'm coming," he replied. He wrapped his arms around Abby and squeezed her tight. He slung his arm around Benja, too, and pulled him against them. He whispered to Clarke, "Are you allergic to hugs?"

She rolled her eyes and joined for a few brief moments before pulling away. "Okay, enough of that. Let's go."

"Be safe," Abby whispered, squeezing Clarke's hand.

"I will," she replied before walking off to the rover. Kane kissed Abby's cheek before following her.

The rover stopped 5 kilometers away from Mount Weather. Ellicott, the Grounder, wobbled out of the back door. Kane knew he didn't want to come, but he had important information for the king and Kane didn't think Roan would believe them if it didn't come from the horse's mouth. The Grounder had been rather silent the short trip and Kane hoped he would be willing to testify to Roan about Erie.

Murphy, stepping out of the rover, asked, "What's the plan?"

"I want you, Clarke, and Ellicott to scout the area, see how far Ontari's perimeter extends," Kane replied. The three of them set off with their radios. Kane turned to Raven and Jackson. "I'll help you two to set up the medical station. There's not much we can do before the army arrives."

"You got it, boss," Raven said, grabbing the largest crate from the back of the rover.

"Whoa, let me take that," Jackson said, lifting it easily from her hands. He walked away toward the clearing and Kane saw Raven glare at her own useless leg.

She caught his eye and said, "Jaha offered me one too."

It took him a moment to realize that she meant the chip. He asked, "What did you do with it?"

"Used it for research," Raven said with a casual shrug. "What else would I do with it?"

"Nothing, I guess," he replied.

She was silent for a moment before she said, "You know we're meant to feel the pain, right, Kane? Even if it gets in the way of our happiness."

He nodded, but she didn't believe he was convinced. She continued, "It's how we remember we're human. ALIE makes people into shells of their former selves — mindless bodies. You don't want that. You have a kid on the way."

"I know," he said, smiling slightly. "I was never going to take it."

"Good," she said. "That'd be a mind wasted."

"So would yours," he commented.

"I know, I'm awesome."

He smiled as she grabbed a smaller crate and headed toward Jackson, who was setting up the tent. They had camp set up by the time the others returned. They all sat around an unlit fire and listened to the report — Murphy had found several encampments of Ontari's warriors about 2 kilometers west of Mount Weather; Clarke reported that the warriors to the south were 3 kilometers out; Ellicott had found another few groups 1 kilometer out to the east of Mount Weather, nearest to them.

"We should be fine if we can get past the warriors in the east," Kane thought aloud, looking at the map Clarke had drawn out. He focused on the many Xs, marking every spot they had found warriors. There were 14 Xs. "That only involves three camps and a kilometer of ground to cover to the door."

"You want us to go through the front door? We should attack from the north," Ellicott suggested, drawing his finger along a trade route. "They won't be expecting that."

"They'll be expecting everything, they have Emerson," Clarke reminded them. "He's faced us before, he knows what we'll do."

"The north's no good anyway, we barely made it here," a deep voice behind Kane said.

The army had approached so silently, they hadn't noticed their presence until Roan had spoken. Bellamy was quick to embrace Clarke, pulling her tight against his chest and burying his face in her hair. Kane smiled to himself before turning to his people. Octavia and Lincoln stood front and center, holding hands. He noticed that Bryan and Nate Miller were still upset with each other, standing as far from each other as they could.

Finally, he turned his attention to the king, letting the smile fade. "We need to talk."

They gathered in one of the newly erected tents. Lexa, Roan, and Kane stood on one side of the table, Ellicott stood on the other side like he was on trial. Roan didn't like the idea of having to listen to one of his villagers — he preferred to listen to his advisors.

"So what's this about?" Roan asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ellicott took in a deep breath and said, "You have a traitor among you," everyone looked at the others before Ellicott continued, "no, not in this tent. One of your chiefs, Haihefa, has betrayed you. I know because he is my chief. With the help of Knox and Tara, I managed to spy on Erie. While we were still in Tonawa, he was meeting with a man called Emerson. He would sneak off into the woods, but I'm not sure what he told him."

"How did you follow him?" Roan asked. "Erie is smart."

"I understand, Haihefa. He is not observant when he should be," Ellicott said simply. "He never knew I was following him."

"And you heard nothing of his conversations?" Lexa asked, leaning against the table.

"No, Commander, I could not get close enough," he said, hanging his head.

"Don't feel shame, you've done well, Ellicott," she replied. He nodded and let himself out of the tent.

"What are we going to do about it?" Kane asked, turning to the other two.

"We'll convene a council and vote on the matter," Roan said.

"You could provide the punishment, Roan," Lexa suggested. "It would save us the trouble of gathering the leaders."

He shook his head. "We must follow the laws, no shortcuts, Commander."

The Council found Erie guilty and he was sentenced to death by a thousand cuts. The punishment was carried out the following morning at dawn. Everyone was there to watch and nearly all of Azgeda had a hand in his death. They spend the rest of the day devising an attack strategy before they told the armies that they were going to attack that night. They kept their cheers low, though Kane was sure that Ontari's forces knew they were there.

The sun fell and the moon shone bright in the sky. The armies were spread out, each near enough to each camp to hear their chatter. Skaikru was with Lexa, Indra, and their army. They would take the three easternmost camps. Clarke tried to persuade Kane to stay back with Jackson and Raven, but he wouldn't listen to them, not with the way Roan had been looking at him all day, like he was about to fall over if the brace on his leg wasn't holding him up.

The horn sounded and they all moved at once toward the camps. Once he cleared the trees, Kane saw that the other Azgeda army was ready for them. Their weapons were drawn. Kane was forced to quickly dodge a blow from a warrior, feeling his brace protest the movement. A sinking feeling went through his body — he knew wouldn't last long if his brace broke. He wouldn't be able to get off of the battlefield before being killed.

His gun at the ready, he fought with the Blakes and Lincoln by his side. It was like they were protecting him from the others, like an honor guard for fallen soldiers in the old days. He was both grateful and embarrassed for having their protection. They blocked blows for him, taking wounds themselves. He knew he should tell them to leave him be, but he didn't have it in him — he needed them.

What seemed like hours later, Kane found himself backed against a rock with Lincoln, Jasper, Harper, and Bellamy. They were surrounded, Ontari's forces closing in. Kane checked his clip and saw that he only had two bullets left. He asked, "How much ammo do you four have?"

Lincoln checked his quiver of arrows and found five; Bellamy had three bullets; Jasper had one; and Harper had none. They all looked at each other; they knew what was about to happen. Or at least they thought they did.

"Tell Abby I'm sorry," Kane whispered. He dropped his gun by Bellamy's feet and walked out despite the hands that grabbed at him. He raised his own and called, "Ai laik Markos kom Skaikru. Tsa dison laik odon. | I am Marcus of the Sky People. Let's get this over with."

"Yu ste set daun? | You are surrendering?" A tall man with braided hair asked, pointing his machete at Kane. "Skaikru ste odon? | The Sky People are finished?"

"Sha | Yes," Kane said, his hands dropping an inch.

"Eni las telon? | Any last words?" The same man asked.

Kane nodded. "Bellamy."

Six shots rang out as five arrows sailed through the air. Two more arrows came and Kane felt a sharp pain in his side. He clenched his side and fell to the ground in pain. It wasn't the worst he'd ever felt, but it was up there. A thunder of footsteps surrounded him and soon Bellamy was crouching by his side.

"You're okay, you'll be fine," Bellamy muttered more to himself than to Kane. The sound of gunshots rang in the woods, but they soon died out and there were cheers. Kane clung to consciousness as he tried to figure out who it was that was cheering. There was too much noise to decipher and Kane felt pressure on his side as Bellamy tried to stop the bleeding caused by the arrow wound.

"Kane!" Clarke screamed, shoving her way through the crowd and kneeling next to him. She gripped his hand, tears in her eyes. "No, no. Kane, hang in there. We'll get you to Mom. Please, you'll be okay!"

He squeezed her hand as tightly as he could, but saw that his strength was weak. He felt himself losing consciousness. He clung to the thought of Abby and Benja and the baby, but it wasn't enough. Everything went black.

Thanks for hanging in there with me. I know It's been a long time and I'm sorry, but I've been extremely busy/depressed lately. Sorry!

Love,

Lauren