Disclaimer: The usual. I don't own anything.
Clarke was sitting in front of the radio, listening to the static noise. She took over the duty from Jasper who left with protest. She knew he was getting obsessed with the girl on the other side of the radio. But at that moment, she needed some alone time. In the camp, the radio tent is where nobody would come looking for her.
She had no answers to people looking for one. Everyone was looking to her for answers. The grounders are wary of them once again, now that the rumour of the mountain men using their people and the sky people are with them have spread around the camp. Luckily, all they did was stare. They still trained with the delinquents and let them be integral with the daily duties around the camp. Those who have become friends with the delinquents seem to remain friends. But those who haven't interacted, have a concerned look when they look at the sky people in their camp.
Things in their own group wasn't much better either. Finding out that Bellamy is alive caused quite a stir within the group. There were lots of questions about why he's there and what he's doing. Some asked if he had switched sides. Clarke couldn't have them thinking wrong about Bellamy. So, she told them the basic truth. He was captured by the mountain men and being kept prisoner, without the Ark survivors knowing. He managed to send out the message to them by using the girl. They have a plan in place to rescue him. She didn't reveal about the experimentation or her mother's involvement in it. She still can't accept it, even though she has seen Abby make ruthless decisions before. Her father's death and her own imprisonment were clear evidence of that. But facing her mother's actions affecting another person she loved was too much for her to handle. As a result, she suppressed that information.
Instead, she focused on the information that mattered the most. Bellamy was alive. She still can't believe it. It was as if her wish had somehow come true. The tiny flicker of hope that kept her going became a full-blown fire in her heart. She felt energized and motivated to get to the mountain now, more than before. She had to get to Bellamy before anything else happens to him. And the only way forward has to come from the radio. That's why she chose to camp herself in front of it, eagerly waiting for the static noise to fade away and someone to tell her that it's done.
Instead of the radio, she heard the flap move and turn towards the entrance of the tent. Raven entered, looking as if something was weighing on her. Clarke turned in the chair to focus on her.
"Am I disturbing you?" Raven asked nervously.
Clarke looked back at the radio to confirm that it was still static noise coming over.
"Just waiting. What's up?" She asked Raven, knowing she needed to talk.
"I've been talking to Lincoln about Mount Weather." Raven started. Clarke focused her attention on her now. "Once we have the acid fog down, we still need to get inside." Raven pointed out.
Clarke realized that she didn't have a plan for that. She made plans on getting to Mount Weather, but not for how to get inside.
"What did you find out?" She asked, glad that Raven thought of it.
"Lincoln said that he knew of two entrances into the mountain. One is through the tunnels. But that door is not accessible from the outside. It needs to be opened from the inside. The other is the main door. He said that it's electronically sealed shut." She explained.
"So, we can't get in from the outside?" Clarke asked, worried.
"No. But that got me thinking. A bunker like that must be generating power from somewhere. I asked Lincoln and he said that the mountain is next to a dam and there's a building at the base of the dam. They must be generating hydroelectric power from the dam. If we destroy the generators, then we should be able to cut off the power to the bunker. Then it is all a matter of getting inside by blasting the door open using explosives." Raven suggested her idea.
Clarke thought about it. The idea was sound and it should work. But it would leave the people inside the mountain in a very risky position. As a daughter of an engineer living in a metal box all her life, Clarke could tell that a bunker inside a mountain would need power to operate the air vents to filter the radiation from outside. Cutting off the power would mean the deaths of all of the people inside the mountain. If the vents remain open without power, radiation will leak in and kill all the mountain people. If the vents close, everyone will suffocate inside and die, including the Ark survivors.
"I don't think a bunker that size would just rely on those generators alone." Clarke pointed out. Any good system would have fault tolerance plans.
Raven nodded, already have thought of the same. "They probably will have a generator inside as a backup, when the one from outside doesn't function. It's logical for them to have one inside. But any generator would take time to warm up and start. There will be a gap between the dam generators shutting down and the backup generator powering up." She answered.
"How much time?" Clarke asked.
"I don't know. I'd be guessing, but for a size of an industrial generator, it would probably take a minute to power up." Raven guessed.
Clarke looked pensive at the plan. "Do we have to destroy the generators? Can't we disable it?" She asked Raven.
Raven looked at her curiously. "Why?" She asked in return.
"We will be dooming all the people in the bunker to their deaths if we destroy it. Without a cure, they can't leave the bunker. What if we disable it instead of destroying it?" Clarke suggested an alternative plan.
Raven thought about it. Destroying will be easier. All she needed to do was blow it up. Disabling would need more work.
"I'll have to look at the generators to know how to disable it. It should be possible but it's riskier than blowing it up." She answered Clarke.
Clarke nodded her head. "Let's take that risk. We can't condemn all the people in the bunker because of the actions by the administrators. It will be like condemning all of us for what the council did in the Ark." Clarke pointed out.
Raven nodded in understanding. "When we get inside, Lexa is not going to go easy on the people inside. They will all want revenge. How do you plan to stop her from killing everyone inside?" Raven asked.
Clarke had thought about it. She had put it in the back of her mind because she had no idea on how she was able to deal with it. Right now, her focus has been on getting to the door. What happens after they get in can be dealt with later.
"We'll deal with it when it happens." She answered vaguely. Raven's eyebrow rose at the answer but she didn't push it further.
Any further conversation was interrupted by the cracking sound in the radio. They both turned towards it.
"Dropship, this is Mount Weather. Can anyone read me?" A familiar voice came through the radio.
Clarke froze in her place, unable to move. Finding out that Bellamy was alive was one thing. Hearing his voice even if it's over the radio is another. She couldn't move, afraid that it is an imagination that will shatter if she did.
Raven had no qualms about moving. When she noticed Clarke not moving, she did quickly. She pulled out the mic and pressed the button.
"We can read you Mount Weather. Glad to have you among the living Bellamy." Raven said, genuinely happy for him to be alive.
"Raven. You guys made it too. Did we have many casualties?" He asked, concern evident in his voice.
"A few. Would have been worse if you didn't bring in the reapers. That gave us the time to escape into the dropship. We thought you were dead." Raven stated.
"I thought I was too. Instead, Mount Weather caught me. Not sure which is better. But now that I'm here, I met some people who can help take them down." Bellamy informed them.
"Great. We have been looking for a way in." Raven told him.
"Is Clarke there? I don't have a lot of time." Bellamy said in a hurry.
Before Raven responded, Clarke snatched the mic from her hand. She had moved closer as Raven kept talking to Bellamy. When he asked for her, she couldn't stand idly by anymore.
"Bellamy?" She said, her voice shaking with emotions she had kept in bay.
"Clarke!" Bellamy exhaled soundly at hearing her voice.
"I thought you died. I thought I killed you." Clarke said, voice breaking.
"You didn't. You know me. Hard to kill." Bellamy chuckled. "You did the right thing Clarke. It was the only move. We both know it." He said, serious once again.
Clarke nodded, aware that he won't be able to see it.
"Are you ok? Maya said that you were recovering. Did they hurt you?" Clarke asked instead.
Bellamy paused before responding. "I'm ok now. Kane helped me escape yesterday. He got captured instead. I think the council is dealing with his release now. They found a cure for their radiation sickness. It's our bone marrow. Right now, they haven't done anything to the Ark survivors. I heard from Maya that they are monitoring her for any side effects and if its permanent. Once they figure out it is, then they will come after the survivors." He explained the situation there.
"We need to get there before that happens. How long do you think we have?" Clarke asked him.
"I don't know. Maybe a few days. Now that I've escaped, they will be in a hurry to act on the cure quickly. Things here have changed. The bunker is in lockdown now. They are probably searching for me, door to door." He told her.
"Where are you now?" Clarke asked, concerned.
"Maya's father Vincent brought me to a maintenance area where they have hooked up a radio. That's how they've been talking to you." He told her.
Clarke looked at Raven. Raven, understanding the question, took the mic.
"Can Vincent get some parts you need, to make the radio wireless and portable?" She asked Bellamy.
Instead of Bellamy answering, another male voice came over the radio.
"I can. We have a lot of broken parts abandoned in the scrapyard." He answered Raven's question.
"Great. I'll give you the list of things you need and how to retrofit it." Raven said and went through the list with Vincent quickly. Once they were done, Vincent handed over the mic to Bellamy telling him that he's going to scavenge for the parts.
"Bellamy?" Clarke once again had the mic in her hand.
"I'm here." Bellamy answered back. Clarke sobbed, unable to control herself.
"Don't cry princess." He tried to comfort her over the radio. Hearing it only made her cry even more.
"Everything will be alright. We're fine. Everyone's fine." Bellamy said, trying to find the right words to soothe her.
"My mom…" Clarke hiccupped.
Bellamy went silent for a moment. "I haven't seen Abby myself. Maya told me that she's working with the doctor who's been experimenting on me." He said, keeping his voice even. He didn't want Clarke to hear any negative emotions on his voice.
"I'm so sorry." Clarke sobbed harder.
"It's not your fault princess. None of it is. Abby may not know about me. She may be doing it to help the people instead of hurting them. We don't know the whole story." He said, trying to come up with a theory that would help Clarke deal with it.
"Experimenting on people?" Clarke asked, quizzically.
"It sounds bad. But Maya would be dead without my bone marrow now. Something good came out of it. And now that she's alive, her family and friends are helping me hide here. There's even a resistance group against how the grounders are being treated. There are kids here too. Not everyone is guilty or complicit in the actions of the administration. We need a plan that doesn't kill everyone." He informed her.
"That's good. We will." Clarke said in return. "But first, we need to find a way to disable the acid fog." She told him.
"Acid fog?" Bellamy asked, confused.
"Oh. The fog that killed Adam. It's a weapon by Mount Weather. They use it to keep the grounders from coming close to be a danger. We heard about it over the radio." Clarke told him.
It made sense to Bellamy now. How the fog came and go at random. Every time it did, they were close to the mountain.
"I need to take it down for you to come to the mountain." Bellamy said, understanding.
"Yes. We haven't been able to find a way in without it. Do you think you can find someone to help do that?" Clarke asked him.
"I'll ask Vincent. He may know something about it. Do you know how I should do it?" He asked them. He's not a technical person to know what he should do to disable the system.
"Raven will tell you." Clarke handed over the mic to Raven.
"I'll need you to find the area where they keep the fog. It should be in big tanks. Once we figure out what chemicals it is and how they produce and store it, we should be able to find a way to neutralize it." She told Bellamy.
"Neutralize? I shouldn't blow it up?" Bellamy asked, confused.
"No. Blowing it up will let them know that the weapon is not working and they may do something else. If we neutralize it, they won't know until the last minute and then it will be too late for them to do anything." Raven explained.
Bellamy agreed with her. It was a good plan. "Ok, good. I'll talk to Vincent and let you guys know." He said in response.
Raven handed over the mic back to Clarke.
"How's O doing?" Bellamy asked.
"She's fine. She's thriving here with the grounders. She fit in well, more than anyone else here. Ordering everyone around and learning to fight like them. You should be proud." Clarke said with admiration in her voice. She wanted Bellamy to know that his sister is doing well.
"I am." He said, pride visible in his voice.
"She not here. She went hunting with Lincoln in the morning. I will tell her when she's back. Hopefully you will have the radio portable to talk to her." Clarke told him.
"We shouldn't be on the radio too much though. We don't know the security around there and wireless radio signals may show up if they are monitoring. Especially now with the lockdown in place." Raven pointed out from behind.
"Raven's right Clarke. Tell O I miss her. I will try to talk to her next time I can. But we should be in radio silence unless it's absolutely necessary." Bellamy agreed with Raven.
Clarke was disappointed that she won't be able to talk to him when she wanted to. Once again, she couldn't wait to get to the mountain.
"What's the plan after you get to the door?" Bellamy asked, snapping Clarke from her thoughts.
"Raven's going to disable the generators powering the bunker. Once they are down, we are going to breach the doors before the backup generators power on." Clarke told him.
"What about all the security guards inside? They have the advantage of knowing the area. You would be walking into a trap." Bellamy pointed out.
"We have no choice. We will ask them to surrender. If they don't, then we will have to come in." She told him.
Bellamy stayed silent for a moment, thinking. "When I was brought in, they put me in a cage with other grounders. I saw a lot of cages down here." He told Clarke.
"I know. We found the bodies of the dead or almost dead grounders in the reaper tunnels." She told him of her discovery.
Bellamy remembered what he saw when he was escaping with Lincoln. He shuddered at the memory. "You saw that?" He asked her, concerned why Clarke was in the reaper tunnels.
"Yeah. We had to confirm my suspicion of what they were doing with the bone marrow. Checking the grounder's body confirmed that they were being used for radiation sickness treatment." She explained.
"They still have thousands of grounders left in cages here. Some are in worse conditions but most are able to fight. With you at the door, the attention will be focused on you. I can sneak in and release them. Once they are free, I can open the doors to the reaper tunnels and let you in." Bellamy suggested.
Clarke was impressed. Having Bellamy back is proving to be useful in more ways than one. He's a good strategist when it comes to battle.
"Are you sure it will be safe for you?" She asked, wanting to make sure he's not risking himself.
"Yeah. There's an army inside the mountain, waiting to be released. Unleashing them will surprise the guards and attack from both sides will overwhelm them." Bellamy explained his plan.
"Trojan horse." Clarke said, remembering the ancient Greek story she has read. "I like it." She was happy to have a plan that had minimal risk of lives.
"I will let Lexa know. She will be interested in the plan." She said, thinking of the commander's demands for a plan.
"Lexa?" He asked, confused. It was a name he hadn't heard before.
"The commander of the grounder coalition." Clarke told Bellamy, realizing he would have not met Lexa before. "She took us in after Anya's attack. Made us the thirteenth clan under their coalition in the condition that we help them defeat Mount Weather. We are being provided for and trained with as part of the coalition." She explained.
"Oh. Do you trust her?" Bellamy asked, worried about his people. Indra had told him that the commander is headstrong and ruthless at times. He didn't know her well enough to tell one way or another. He's wary of trusting new people. If Lexa is on their side as Clarke says she is, he wondered why she didn't stop Anya's attack. But this was not the time to go into details about all that.
"I do. We would not be alive right now if not for her." Clarke told him.
"They've been talking regularly in the commander's tent. Clarke should know Lexa very well by now." Raven piped in from behind. Clarke turned to glare at her friend who was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Bellamy was silent on the other end. Then he said "I see" in a voice that didn't show any emotions. Clarke reddened with embarrassment at the insinuation that Raven had made, and what Bellamy would have thought of that.
"It's not like that." She protested at the underlying meaning behind it.
She knew that Lexa sometimes flirted with her. She wasn't oblivious to that fact. Raven and others must have noticed it too or heard about it. But she never showed any interest or welcomed it. True, she didn't reject or refuse it either. But it wasn't as if she was interested in pursuing it. And it mortified her what Bellamy would think from Raven's comments.
"As long as you trust her. I trust you to do what's right for our people." Bellamy said quickly in response. Clarke didn't know what to say to that.
Thankfully she didn't have to say anything because Vincent showed up at that moment with the parts he needed. Bellamy handed over his radio to Vincent and Raven took hers from Clarke.
Realizing that it's the end of her conversation with Bellamy for the day, Clarke walked out of the tent, letting Raven to talk to Vincent.
She was in a much better mood than before. Talking to Bellamy helped, even if the ending put a damper on it. She will have to talk to Raven and clear any misunderstanding of her relationship with Lexa. She wondered if everyone in her group and the grounders thought of the same way. She felt uncomfortable about it. She didn't want people to think she was getting special treatment because she and Lexa were together.
With that in mind, Clarke went to Lexa to inform her of what she planned with Bellamy. She hoped that Lexa will remain patient until Bellamy neutralizes the acid fog.
The guards have become used to Clarke visiting Lexa's tent on a regular basis now. The initial security precautions are not there anymore. Clarke didn't realize it until now when Raven mentioned the closeness. It was obvious now when she started to notice the small things. The guard peeked his head in to ask permission before letting Clarke into the tent. She walked in as always.
Lexa, relaxed in posture was lying on the bed when Clarke entered. She got up and took a seating position in the bed, asking Clarke to sit next to her. Clarke hesitated before taking the seat, not willing to offend the commander. She is now second guessing her every move, worried that she may be giving the wrong signal to the commander.
"You're positively glowing. I take it you have good news?" Lexa asked, commenting on Clarke's appearance.
Clarke couldn't help the blush that showed up in her face. "I do. We just talked with Bellamy. He escaped yesterday with Kane's help. He's in hiding inside the mountain." She informed Lexa.
"Ah." The commander commented with a knowing look. Clarke avoided her stare.
"Bellamy said the mountain is in lockdown now. I told him about the acid fog. He's going to neutralize it and let us know." She informed Lexa.
"And you trust Bellamy will be able to do that alone?" Lexa asked, not believing that one person could achieve it.
"He said he has help on the inside. There's people inside the mountain who's willing to help him and stand against their leader." Clarke said. She wanted Lexa to know that not all people inside the mountain are bad.
"They are living on the blood of my people. They are all guilty." Lexa said in a tone that showed no compassion.
"We are not going to wipe them out. There are people inside that mountain that is helping us, children who have nothing to do with this war. They're innocent families who have no control over what their leaders do. We kill their soldiers, their leadership if we have to. But I won't be on board for killing the innocents. If you do, then you're no better than what they did in your village." Clarke said, resolute. The tone of her voice brooks no argument.
"You are asking me to show mercy to people who have used mine for their survival." Lexa pointed out.
"They didn't have a choice. Punish those who made that choice. Not those who didn't." Clarke answered back.
Lexa wanted to argue, but she chose not to instead. Knowing that Clarke will not change her mind, Lexa decided to agree with her. After all, she gets to have her vengeance on the soldiers and the leaders.
"Ok. We'll go with your plan. But if they attack my people, they will be killed. Agreed?" Lexa offered a compromise. Clarke nodded, agreeing to that. The grounders will defend themselves if they are attacked. She can't tell them to stop.
"Now that it's sorted, Bellamy came up with a plan to strengthen our attack from the inside." Clarke said, excited to reveal the plan.
Lexa's eyebrows rose in curiosity. Clarke was giddy with excitement.
"What is it?" She asked, genuinely curious.
"Trojan horse." Clarke said. Lexa scrunched her face in confusion. "When we reach the door, their soldiers will be focused on defending the mountain from us. This will leave their prisons inside unguarded or with minimum guards. Bellamy is going to release the grounders in prison. An army on the inside, joining our attack. The soldiers will be caught between both armies." She explained to Lexa.
Lexa's eyes went wide in surprise. "That's a good plan." She nodded in approval.
"Bellamy came up with it." Clarke said, wanting to give credit where its due.
"He's a good battle minded warrior." Lexa commented. Clarke beamed with pride at the compliment.
"How long do we need to wait?" Lexa asked Clarke.
"I don't know. But we need a plan once we have the fog down." Clarke pointed out.
Lexa looked in confusion. "I thought once the fog is down, we can get to the door." She said, worried about a new complication.
"We can get to the door. But it will be sealed from the inside. We need to cut the power to unlock the door. Raven has come up with a plan to cut their power off from the dam. We need a team to defend it." Clarke told her.
Lexa nodded in understanding. "I will send Gustus and his men to protect your people." She stated.
"Bellamy plans to open the door to the tunnels from the inside after he releases the prisoners. We can send a team through there as backup. Help those who can't fight escape through the door to the outside. Rest can join Bellamy and others to attack from the inside." Clarke suggested.
"I have a feeling that Octavia will be volunteering for that team. And Lincoln is the most experienced in the tunnels. Indra as their commander will be leading the team. She can take those who she wants with her through the tunnels. But what about the reapers?" Lexa asked.
Clarke hadn't thought of that. They needed to neutralize them somehow.
"I'll talk to my people. See if we can find a way to neutralize the reapers." Clarke answered. Lexa nodded, satisfied with the response.
"Cutting power for the door is only going to unlock the seal. We still need to breach it. You don't have any explosives, do you?" Clarke asked. Lexa shook her head negatively.
"Then we need to get to one of the stations that crashed. The closest one is on our way to the mountain. Raven's team needs to go there first on her way to the dam." Clarke said. They can build another bomb like the one they prepared to blow up the bridge. But they need the fuel from the station that crashed near the mountain to make it work.
"I'll tell Gustus. They will take more people just to be safe." Lexa said, agreeing with the plan.
"Great. I'll let you know when Bellamy confirms that the fog is down." Clarke told her. She got up from the bed to leave.
"You have a lot of faith in him." Lexa pointed out.
"I do." Clarke said without a doubt. She had no reason to question it.
"I hope he will live up to it." Lexa said, still not convinced he would get it done.
"I know he will." Clarke said as her parting words before leaving the tent.
A/N: I checked Season 2 to figure out how they got the schematics for the dam and the generators and the doors. Maybe I missed it, because I couldn't tell when and how they got it.
So, I wrote it as its something Raven and Clarke would know coming from engineering background and having an engineer father. Apologies if its not accurate to the show.