Disclaimer: The usual. I don't own anything.
Clarke and her team reached Lexa and others in quick time. With the excitement of having the veil down, they wanted to get to Mount Weather as soon as possible.
Lexa was in her commander gear at the front when Clarke joined her.
"Was Bellamy successful in bringing down the acid fog?" Lexa asked her as soon as she saw Clarke.
"Bellamy did it." Clarke said, proud that she was right in trusting him.
"You were right to have faith in him. Now we fight." Lexa commented. Clarke smiled brightly at the compliment.
"We need to send the three teams as we planned." Clarke pointed out. Lexa turned to her people and started issuing commands. Clarke turned to her people.
"Raven. You, Jasper and Monty will go to the dam with the grounders and take down the generator. Lexa is sending Gustus along with his team. Remember. Disable, not destroy." Clarke reminded Raven.
"Yeah, I remember. Makes my life more interesting." Raven chuckled at the risk she'll be taking.
"Miller and his team will join you on your way to the dam. You will make a stop at the Alpha station. It crashed close to the mountain and you should cross it on your way to the dam station. We need you to create a portable bomb that we can use to blow up the door." Clarke said. Raven's eyes went wide in understanding.
"Damn. We forgot about how to breach the doors after bringing the power down. Good thinking Clarke." She complimented Clarke for remembering it.
"Bellamy will be opening the tunnel door to let the injured grounders out and a team in." Clarke addressed the other issue.
"I'll be going in." Octavia stated, not looking for any arguments.
"I expected you to. I thought Lincoln will also join you." Clarke said looking at Lincoln. He nodded his head in confirmation.
"Lexa said that Indra and her team will be coming with you in the tunnel. You guys will join the grounders who can fight and Bellamy to attack from inside." Clarke informed Octavia.
"That's great. I have been training with them. We should be good." Octavia beamed with excitement.
"Only worry is the reapers in the tunnels. We still don't have a way to neutralize them. And if you go in the tunnels and get ambushed, you may be in trouble. Or the survivors from the mountain will be." Clarke addressed the issue that doesn't have a solution. She doesn't want to kill all the reapers. But she's not seeing any other way out.
"I may have a solution for that." Monty said and Clarke perked up.
"What is it, Monty?" She asked, eager to find out.
"Last few days, I have been working with the healers in the village. We have been sharing information regarding the herbs and medicine that can be found in the forest. One of the herbs we found can be converted into a paralysing agent. It's quite effective and instant. If we manage to create some way to apply it to the reapers, it should keep them down for a day. We have been looking at it as a way to numb people from feeling pain." Monty explained.
"That's great." Clarke beamed. "But how do we apply it?" She asked for ideas.
"I was thinking, maybe we can make it into a liquid and tip the darts in them. I've seen the grounders use the darts effectively. They can take down the reapers from a distance." Monty suggested.
"Monty, you're a genius." Clarke complimented him. Monty blushed under the praise and the focus on him.
Clarke turned to Lincoln. "Can you get people who are skilled with the darts to join you to go into the tunnels?" She asked him.
"I'll go talk to Indra." He answered and left. Octavia followed him behind.
Once they left, Clarke turned to Monty.
"How long will it take to make it?" She asked him.
"Not long. We already have some. I can make more in an hour." He told Clarke.
"Ok. Get to it. We will be leaving soon and I'd like to have it ready by then." She ordered. Monty left to get to work and Jasper joined him.
Clarke turned to Raven. "Everything depends on the dam. Once Mount Weather realizes that the veil is down, they're going to worry about the dam security. You may be walking into a trap or get attacked once you get there." Clarke pointed out.
"Realizing that now, are you?" Raven teased. "We'll be fine. Once the dam is down, they will be focused on you breaching the door to worry about us. We will be safe. You have plenty to worry about when you get inside." She said in return.
Clarke looked confused.
"I'm talking about what to do with Mount Weather civilians. And Ark survivors. Lexa will be out for blood and you need to face that once you have control of Mount Weather. Don't worry about us." Raven said.
Clarke had pushed it to the back of her mind. She thought she had a deal with Lexa on what happens to the people inside the mountain. But having seen her ruthlessness yesterday, she wasn't sure anymore.
"I'll face it when the situation comes." She answered vaguely. Raven nodded and decided not to push the matter any further.
"Let's go join others. We should prepare for our march to the mountain." Raven said and walked with Clarke back to the rest of the delinquents.
- 100 -
Bellamy woke up from his slumber. He felt much better than he did before. The burns still hurt, but he was able to breathe better. The fire has gone out and the alarm has stopped blaring. Bellamy realized it must have been hours since he fell.
He slowly crawled to his knees and then stood up on his feet. He looked at the surrounding to figure out where he was at. He had a general idea based on the exit he took. But he couldn't tell which section he was in. He looked for a way out and saw a vent that was reachable if he jumped up and latched on.
It took a few tries. His legs were jelly from the fall and he needed to steady himself before he was able to jump and hold onto the vent. He pulled out the cover and pushed himself inside the vent and start crawling. He couldn't wait to get out of the mountain and never crawl in vents his whole life.
He reached one of the vents in his path and saw the familiar lab away from him. He has been taken to that lab a few times that he can see the bed he was tied into. Flashback of the pain he endured ran through his mind. He shook his head and focused on what he was seeing before.
He saw the female doctor who experimented on him stand in front of a computer. She was busily working on it, while a guard stood behind her for protection. Bellamy observed around and saw that there was no one else to be seen in the vicinity. He pushed the vent cover out and dropped out into the corridor. He placed the cover back to avoid any suspicion. He used the cover of the walls to keep himself out of the eyesight of the guard. The doctor was busy to take notice of anything else.
He moved to the exit that was right behind the guard and took a moment to steady himself. The guard was bored and wasn't being alert to his surroundings. Bellamy can see that the guard was armed. If Bellamy can catch him by surprise, he believed that he can take them down.
He sneaked behind the guard in silence and pounced on him, putting his arm around the guard's neck to put him in chokehold. The guard caught in surprise, choked and gurgled, trying to claw himself free. The noise caught the attention of , who turned around to take in the scene. Seeing what was happening, her eyes widened in fear. She involuntarily stepped back away from the computer.
The guard managed to push Bellamy back into the wall using his body weight. Bellamy grunted in pain at the force of hitting the wall, but he didn't let go of his hold. The guard tried to pull the shock stick out of its holster. Bellamy noticed it and swung the guard as he unclicked the holster. The stick fell to the ground and rolled away from the guard. The lack of oxygen was making the guard weaker in his struggle. The guard made a last attempt to pull out his handgun. Bellamy smashed the guard's hand to the wall, putting his body weight to add to the force as he still kept hold from behind. The guard cried out in pain and gave up his struggle. He slumped to the floor, unconscious.
Bellamy picked up the shock stick and the gun from the unconscious guard. He also found a keychain hooked to the belt buckle of the guard's uniform. He unclasped it and put it inside his pocket. He looked up for the doctor. had taken the opportunity during the struggle to run away from the lab towards the lift. He ran after her, not willing to let her go. He saw her standing in front of the lift, frantically pressing the button to call the lift. She realized it was too late when Bellamy reached her. She stepped away in fear.
"Listen to me. I can help you." She said, trying to pacify Bellamy.
Bellamy let out a chuckle in contained anger. "Lady, you helped enough." He replied back as he closed in on her. put her hand out and Bellamy snatched the key card from her hand. Lorelei stepped back further away.
"Wait." She yelled in fear. "I know who your father is." She blurted out.
Bellamy froze in his tracks. He expected her to plead and beg, but he never expected her to say what she said.
"What?" He asked in surprise, not knowing what to say.
"When we extracted your blood, I ran it against other blood samples we have for compatibility. I found something interesting. A partial DNA match. It was close, but with age differences, the only relationship possible is father and son. And seeing how he didn't identify you as his son, I figured out that you didn't know." She explained.
Bellamy's body shook with emotions. He never knew who his father was. His mother never mentioned him. He didn't know who Octavia's father is either. But finding out that his father was in the complex caused him to feel a turmoil of emotions.
"Who is it?" Bellamy demanded to know.
"Promise to let me go and I'll tell you." Lorelei bargained.
"Tell me now." Bellamy threatened, pointing the gun towards . She cowered in fear.
"Chancellor Jaha. He's your father." She revealed.
Bellamy stumbled back in shock. He felt the world spinning. The most powerful man in the Ark was his father and they lived in poverty, scrapping for food. His mother had to degrade herself to keep them fed. While the man who was supposed to take care of them lived in luxury. And when the situation came, he floated his mother. Bellamy felt justified at shooting Jaha now. He wished he had succeeded in killing him. His hand was twitching to finish the job.
His eyes focused on the person in front of him. Everything she did to him felt more than how it felt before. He needed to lash out. He needed vengeance.
He took hold of the doctor by her hand as she struggled against his grip. She yelled and tried to pull away, but Bellamy had a tight grip, ignoring her pleas. He brought her to the lab and pushed her onto the bed he was strapped in before.
He strapped the doctor onto the bed like he had been. tried to pull out against the straps without any success. Bellamy pulled out the injections she has used on him to circulate the blood.
"Let's see how you will feel when you are on the other end of the needle." He said and pushed the needles into her roughly.
"Don't. Without a receiver, the radiation will kill me." She cried out.
"Oh well, you'll know what all of us felt when you did it to us." He said and switched on the machine.
cried out as the radiation infected blood went through the tubes into her body. Bellamy saw her skin change colour as she got infected from the radiation. He stepped away, letting her die from the radiation.
He used the keycard to access the restricted area towards the prisons. The floor was empty with all the guards have been pulled up to secure the entrance. He was able to reach the prison door where he was kept without any trouble. He used the key card he had snatched on the card reader. The light turned green and the door unlocked. He pushed the door inside and walked in.
He went to the cages inside the prison. He found the girl he met when he was there first.
"Echo?" He called out. The girl came closer to the door of the cage.
"Get up. It's time to go. Come on out. Our people are marching on Mount Weather right now." He told her. He pulled out the key chain and tried the keys on the lock of the cage. After a couple of tries, the third key worked. He helped Echo get out of her cage.
He opened the next cage using the same key. It seemed to work on all the locks in that area.
The grounder inside the cage recoiled in fear.
"Hey. It's ok. We're getting you out." Bellamy said in a calm voice, hoping to make the grounder relax.
"Slow down. They just bled him." Echo told him. Bellamy looked at her.
"Listen to me. There's an army inside this room, and I need you to help me get them ready to fight. Can you do that?" He asked her.
Echo looked at him for a moment before nodding.
"Good. Start with him." He said, pointing to the grounder he was trying to help out. Echo reached in and the grounder came out willingly.
When the other grounders saw them escaping, they started shouting in Trigedasleng.
Bellamy looked around in concern. "Too much noise." He commented.
Echo took a step forward and yelled out loud in Trigedasleng. The grounders immediately quieted down.
"Ok. How do we do this?" Echo asked Bellamy.
"There's an army outside going for the main door. When they get it open, all hell will break loose. We will go to the tunnels and open the door. Those who are injured to fight can get out through there. Those who can't will join the team coming through the tunnel." Bellamy told her the plan.
"The reaper tunnels?" Echo asked alarmed. "We will be killed." She said in concern.
"The team coming through the tunnels are taking care of the reapers. They will be safe." Bellamy assured her.
Echo looked unsure. After a moment, she nodded.
"You get your people ready to go. Do it quietly. We will be getting out anytime soon." He told her.
Once Echo and others got to work using the key chain he had, Bellamy stepped back and observed while the grounders helped one another get out of the cages.
- 100 -
Octavia walked next to Clarke in the front. Lexa was marching with her generals and Lincoln was walking with Indra and the team going into the tunnels.
They have been walking for a while from where the grounders were camping at. They have got close to the mountain. Raven and her team split with the rest of the group to go towards the Alpha station a short while ago.
Lexa paused in her movement and the army stopped. Indra walked up forward to where Clarke and Octavia were at.
"This is where we go our way." Indra told them. Octavia nodded at her and looked at Clarke.
"Be safe. We'll see you soon." Octavia told Clarke. Clarke reached out and hugged her. Octavia hugged back.
Octavia walked with Indra to the team that was getting ready. They had the paralysing darts packed and the weapons they were going to carry with them. Lincoln let out his hand for Octavia to hold and they walked together with Indra towards the entrance of the tunnel.
When they reached the tunnel, Lincoln took the lead as he was most familiar with it. Octavia covered his left flank and Indra covered his right. The grounders equipped the darts into the crossbows. They stood back to give themselves some room from the forward attack.
They moved slowly into the tunnel. Lincoln paused when he heard the shouts in the tunnel. He moved slowly until they came to the centre of the tunnels where the reapers were camping.
Lincoln signalled the grounders towards the reapers. The grounders took up position with their crossbows. Lincoln, Octavia and Indra got ready to face the reapers.
On Indra's signal, the grounders let out the darts. It hit their targets. A line of reapers fell to the ground almost immediately as they got struck. The other reapers saw them fall and let out a surprised yell. Once the surprise cleared, they looked for the source of the attack and saw the grounders. They let out a growl and ran towards the attack team.
Before they reached their target, the crossbow wielding grounders fired another set of darts that took down more reapers. Other reapers leaped over the fallen to get to their targets.
Lincoln took the first reaper full on. Another went for Indra who cut him down quickly. The one went for Octavia also fell quickly. Other grounders who are not part of the crossbow army also joined the fray to face the reapers.
The crossbow grounders kept reloading and shooting as fast as they could. Those whom they didn't take down got killed by the first line of attack.
Octavia was relishing in the battle. She didn't get to fight last time. This was the first actual battle she is involved in. The training she got from Indra and Lincoln helped her face the ferocity of the reapers. Her slender body and her training helped her move fluidly between the enemies and attack from different angles.
Lincoln hadn't fought the reapers before. He has seen them and evaded them in previous times. This was the first time he had to fight them on purpose. They were stronger and faster than he expected them to be. But he was able to hold his own and defend himself as they took them down using the darts. He wasn't killing them unless it was necessary.
Indra has faced the reapers before. People she cared about have been victims of the reapers. And seeing them triggered an anger that was buried deep inside her. She fought hard and bloody to kill any reaper she came across.
The battle was over in short time. While the army of reapers outnumbered the grounder attack team, the tunnel prevented the reapers from attacking in all fronts. This allowed the attack team to take down the reapers in batches. Most of the reapers were paralysed on the ground. Those that were not knocked out were killed by the first line of attack. There were a few casualties in the attack team. Indra said a prayer over their bodies and they moved forward in the tunnel to the door.
- 100 -
Situation at Mount Weather complex is very tense. Everyone is worried about the impending attack. All the civilians who can't fight has been moved to level five and six where the emergency generators will keep the power running.
The soldiers have been assembled near the entrance where they were expecting the grounders to break through. President Dante and Cage figured out that once the grounders were able to pass into the veil area, their goal will be to reach the Philpott Dam to cut the power. They sent out a team to protect the dam, but they couldn't spare more since they needed to protect the complex.
Chancellor Jaha and the Ark council members offered their assistance in that regard. When they approached President Dante with the offer to stand together to protect their home from the intruders, Dante accepted it gratefully for two reasons. First was that they did indeed need more manpower after half their soldiers were dead or down because of the acid fog leak. Second reason is that if the other sky people were with the grounders as he knew they were, they may hesitate to attack their own people. Which will give his soldiers the time they need to eliminate the threat.
"President Dante, thank you for allowing us to be with you in your oval office during this difficult situation." Chancellor Jaha offered his appreciation politely. It was magnanimous for the President to offer protection to the council.
"It's the least I could do for your people willing to help us in the time of need." Dante responded in kind.
"Besides, this room has a hidden exit that will take us to the upper level that has a secret exit out of the complex." President informed the council.
They all looked surprised. Chancellor Jaha couldn't hide the shock at hearing the escape plan President Dante had in mind if Mount Weather falls.
"But, how will you survive outside? Won't you get sick from radiation in the air?" He asked, not understanding.
It was Abby who answered that question. "President Dante and his son have been treated with the bone marrow transplant successfully. They can walk outside without falling sick." She told Jaha. Jaha turned around to look at Abby.
"You found the cure?" He asked in surprise.
"Not exactly." Abby said vaguely. She felt uncomfortable revealing what she found out the night before. Seeing how Jaha didn't drop the matter, she continued.
"They used my idea on a different source." She told him. Seeing Jaha confused, she elaborated. "It's us Thelonious. They used our bone marrow."
Chancellor Jaha looked between Abby and the President, trying to understand what he's being told.
"We found someone among the outsiders who had a higher rate of radiation immunity." President Dante explained. "When Abby came up with the idea of the bone marrow, we tried it on him and the results were amazing. It's a permanent cure." He told Jaha.
"Who was it?" Chancellor Jaha asked. He wanted to know which of his people were the guinea pig to their experiment.
"Bellamy Blake. The man you said shot you and escaped here with the others." Dante informed him.
Jaha was shocked. According to Abby, Bellamy died during the grounder attack. He didn't expect the boy who shot him to be the victim of Mount Weather experiments. He was conflicted in his feelings.
"Why were we not told of this before?" He demanded to know instead.
"Before we could, your council member Kane found out and helped Bellamy escape. He opened Bellamy's doors and let him out. We couldn't tell you and create more unrest here. That's why we had to find out where he helped Bellamy escape. Once we had him in custody, we planned to reveal everything to your council. Before we could, Bellamy retaliated by leaking the gas that killed many of our people." Dante said, justifying his reasons for not telling the council.
Chancellor Jaha didn't know what to say. He could see the rational argument of the President. He had to compartmentalize information in the Ark for the safety and peace of governing the people. His biggest secret caused the deaths of many as he remembers well. He also had to send a woman he loved to her death for a crime they both committed and kept it a secret. So he knew about keeping secrets from people who deserve to know. President Dante was in the same situation and he couldn't judge him for not telling everything.
"I understand." Jaha said in response. President Dante visibly relaxed when he realized that his argument was heard by the Chancellor.
Once that was settled, Jaha sat down next to Abby, waiting for the next events to take place.
"How many volunteered for the first line of defenders?" Abby asked Jaha. She wasn't there when he made the arrangements with others.
"Most of our security went to help them. Pike and Finn have taken charge of our security force. They will be working with Emerson in defending the complex."
"Do you think the grounders will use our kids as bargaining chips to get inside?" Abby asked, afraid that her daughter will be caught in the conflict.
"If they do, we'll deal with it then." Chancellor Jaha comforted Abby.
Abby looked up at the President and his son, standing in the corner talking amongst themselves.
"Do you think they're right to use us for their cure?" She asked Jaha in a soft voice. "Kane didn't approve of it. He didn't agree with the grounders being used and finding out it's one of ours must have pushed him over the edge to act on it." She rationalized his behavior. It made more sense, now that she had more information.
"We could have volunteered if they had told us. But it's too late now anyway. If we survive, maybe we can see what can be done about it. For now, let's focus on surviving the attack." He said, putting the discussion for later. Abby nodded and sat back, settling down in the sofa.
- 100 -
Lexa and Clarke reached the door to the entrance to Mount Weather. The rest of the grounders surrounded the entrance and waited patiently.
Lexa turned to her army.
"Field commanders, today's the day we get our people back. The enemy thinks it's safe behind its doors, but it's not. When it realizes that, it will fight back... Hard. We need to be ready." Lexa announced. She was every bit the commander she is supposed to be.
Clarke listened to her speak. She felt the need to speak out to make sure the army knew about her agreement with Lexa.
"This is not a kill mission. We are not here to wipe them out. There are people inside that mountain that have helped us, children who have nothing to do with this war. Sky people who survived the landing are also inside. We kill their soldiers, their leadership if we have to, but we are here to rescue our people. Is that clear?" Clarke spoke out loud.
There were loud murmurs among the army. Lexa looked upset, but she didn't overrule what Clarke said.
"We have a team to blow the generators that is powering the door. Once it's down, we blow the lock. As the commander said, once the door is open, the shooting will start, and they'll throw everything they have at us, but that's what we want." She told them and paused for the grounders to absorb it.
"We want them focused on us because we have Indra and her team going by the tunnels to get inside. They will get the prisoners released and join the attack from the inside. We will have them surrounded and at our mercy. This battle will end with their surrender."
She heard a chorus of cheer from the grounders when Clarke spoke about their victory.
"The mountain has cast a shadow over these woods for too long. They've hunted us, controlled us, turned us into monsters. That ends today. Thanks to thirteenth clan, the mountain will fall. As Clarke said, we spare the innocent. As for the guilty... Jus dren just daun (Blood must have blood!)"
"All we need to do is wait for the power to go down." She told more softly to people close to her.
She heard Miller call out to her. She turned around and saw Miller approach her with a metal box similar to what she has seen before.
"Is that the bomb?" Clarke asked him, taking it off his hands.
"Yes. Raven said it's volatile. She said to blow it up from a distance. She wired a trigger to help you blow it up." Miller informed what Raven told him. He handed over the trigger to Clarke.
"Thanks Miller." She said and took the trigger.
Clarke took the box to the door with grounders covering her back. She attached the box to the door's electronic lock. It was in place, ready to be blown up. She returned back to the safety with the others.
They waited for hours patiently. The sun set and nightfall came. Silence had fallen around them which is why they were able to hear the loud explosion from a distance. They heard a loud whirring noise and the outer lights went out before the buzzing sound of power in the building went silent.
"This is it. Everyone, up on your feet." Lexa ordered. The grounders let out a yell and started getting ready.
"Let's do this." Clarke said and raised the trigger. She aimed it to the door and pressed it.
"What's wrong? Why isn't it working?" Lexa asked, worried.
"They're jamming us." Clarke told her, frustrated. She pressed it a few more times to be sure, before she threw it to the ground.
"We need to blow it up manually." She stated. All of a sudden, a loud gunfire let loose. It missed her by inches. Miller pulled Clarke back behind a boulder to take cover from the gunfire.
There were lot of gunfire raining at the army from higher ground. It struck the grounders in the front line. Lexa took shelter behind the same boulder Clarke was hiding at.
"They have the upper ground." She pointed out.
"We need to blow up the bomb right now." Clarke tried to stand up with her rifle in hand. Lexa pulled her back down.
"You can't do this. You can't risk your life." She ordered.
Lexa called out in Trigedasleng and a group of grounders came to the front with metal shields in hand. They created a shield wall on Lexa's orders.
"Can one of your people shoot from the cover?" Lexa asked. Clarke nodded and turned to Miller standing near her.
"Can you take the shot?" She asked him. He nodded and took cover behind the shield wall.
The wall started moving closer to the door. The gunfire focused on them, shooting at the metal wall. They settled in a stationary position for Miller to take aim. Before Miller can shoot, one of the grounders in the corner of the wall fell from being struck in the foot by a ricocheting bullet. It exposed the defence of the wall and the following gunfire started shredding the wall.
Clarke watched helplessly as they started falling one by one. Miller tried to fire, but with the bullets striking everywhere, he wasn't able to shoot at the bomb accurately. Miller was struck in his arm and fell to the floor.
"Miller!" Clarke yelled out in concern. The gunfire turned towards her and she hid back behind the boulder again.
Clarke turned behind towards the other delinquents.
"We need a shooter." She told them. She was looking for someone to volunteer. Her accuracy to shoot under pressure is poor at best. She didn't want to waste time.
"Lucky you have me then." A voice spoke from the back. Clarke looked at where the voice was coming from. Murphy walked up with a long rifle in his hands.
"Quickly." Clarke urged him. Murphy took cover behind the boulder.
"How much time do we have?" Murphy asked Clarke.
"Another ten seconds." Clarke told him, looking at the time. She took note of it when she heard the power go down.
Murphy tried to aim and every time he did, the gunfire focused on him. He let out a frustrated growl after the third time he was forced to take cover.
Clarke looked at the time. "Five, Four, Three, Two…" she counted down the seconds.
Murphy let out a big huff and took aim. He ignored the gunfire that was hitting near him and started shooting at the box. The burst of gunfire hit the bomb.
She heard a loud boom next to her as Murphy fired. The bullets hit its target and the door crumbled from the explosion.
A loud celebratory shout came from behind when they saw the door blow apart.
The shooting stopped and Clarke peeked above the boulder to look up. She saw Lexa standing there with her team.
"This is the moment. Everyone, Attack!" Clarke yelled. She ran in front with Murphy beside her.
Clarke stopped at where Miller was at to check on him. His arm was bleeding, but he was otherwise out of danger. She wrapped a piece of cloth she ripped from her dress over his wound. She signalled to one of the healers in the grounder army. She didn't know the language, but she knew they understood from her signs.
The other delinquents joined at the front with grounders following them.
A/N: One of my biggest issues with Lexa was the way she switched sides at end of Season 2. It made no sense for that to happen. So, I decided to skip it in my story. Lexa is more agreeable with Clarke in my story and has faith in her.