Chapter 25

Taylor could see Clarke giving up her futile attempt of looking for an exit right over Lexa's shoulder.

"Where are you hurt?" the commander asked in a worried tone. She honestly would have preferred herself to take the brunt of the fall and not Taylor, the blonde doctor had already taken a bullet for her and was still recovering.

Taylor had pressed her lips together. She could slowly feel the adrenaline ebb away and her body seemed to be getting weaker with each passing moment. "My shoulder is probably dislocated and I twisted my ankle" she said in a strained tone. She found it needless to mention how the wound in her stomach had taken up pulsing angrily again.

Lexa appeared rather helpless as there was nothing available which would help to ease Taylor's pain. The tutelage she had been given as nightblood had not prepared her for any medical emergency as commanders were usually not expected to end up alone somewhere.

"There is no other exit" Clarke exclaimed in a frustrated huff stepping over closer to them.

Taylor just meekly nodded as she already had known that of course.

"Here, let me help" the blonde Skykru leader offered as she teared a strip from her shirt to make a kind of sling to put Taylor's arm into.

It was obvious that Lexa only begrudgingly took a step back from Taylor to make room for Clarke and her green eyes flashed in annoyance for a moment "You should have left me behind. Now three will die here, instead of one".

Taylor could barely stop herself from rolling her eyes. First, she did not care one bit if she would die here and second and most important, neither of them was going to die here and technically Lexa already must have understood that.

Clarke spoke up "I am still new to your culture, but when someone saves your life, my people say thank you" she commented, blue eyes glaring at the commander.

"I am serious, Clarke," Lexa continued still serious, watching the blonde leader, while Clarke tied the sling cautiously around Taylor's arm "to lead well, you must make hard choices" the commander added after a beat of silence.

"Hard choices?" Clarke asked, whirling around to face the commander, in an almost mocking tone she added "You are telling me that…"

"I have seen your strength, it is true" Lexa answered still calm "But now you waver. You couldn't kill Quint, you couldn't leave me to die. That was weakness."

"I thought love was weakness" Clarke retorted angrily.

"Mockery is not the product of a strong mind, Clarke" Lexa answered, a hint of anger laced into her tone.

"You wanna know why I saved you?" Clarke had turned to Lexa again "Because I need you. God forbid one of your generals becomes commander. You may be heartless, Lexa, but at least you are smart."

Taylor watched the exchange rather unimpressed. Although Lexa appeared unaffected and calm in Taylor's eyes both of them were just unnecessary dramatic right now.

Lexa actually smiled slightly, when she answered Clarke "Don't worry. My spirit will choose much more wisely than that."

"Your spirit?" Clarke asked obviously confused.

Taylor ground her teeth together. She knew the exchange and she in contrast to Clarke already knew about the flame. For a moment, the scene of the show where Titus extracted the flame from Lexa's dead body and how Clarke wept for her flashed in front of her eyes. She would do everything in her power to prevent this from ever happening.

"When I die, my spirit will find the next commander" Lexa explained calmly.

"Reincarnation" Clarke said in realization almost just to herself "That's how you became commander?" she asked, honest interest evident in her blue eyes.

"How are your leaders chosen?" Lexa asked with open interest, after nodding in agreement.

Taylor actually would have been interested to hear Lexa's answer, but just as in the show, the pauna made it reappearance and roared loudly from the other side of the small closed door.

"It found us" Clarke panted with wide eyes.

"Do not be afraid Clarke" Lexa said completely calm "Death is not the end."

Taylor slightly rolled her eyes now and to her amusement Lexa caught her at it and the commander's expression was clouded by confusion for a short second.

"We are not dying here" Clarke countered sounding slightly angry "I need your spirit to stay where it is."

If Taylor had been in a better constitution, she would have just told them what to do, but she had begun to feel dizzy and was occupied enough with staying upright on her feet.

"Stay behind me" Lexa positioned herself in front of Taylor and pulled out her dagger "Then get ready to fight, he is coming in."

"Maybe we let it in" Clarke said suddenly, as if she had an idea and sprinted past Lexa who watched the other leader with a confused stare.

Clarke had moved to the door and said urgently to them "Come here".

Lexa put her free arm gingerly around Taylor's form, trying to support her while she kept her dagger up in the other hand.

Right when the gorilla made a short pause in hammering its enormous fists onto the small door, Clarke pulled out Lexa's sword which had held the door closed previously.

On the next impact of the gorilla's fists the door flew open and Taylor winced at the loud sound. While the gorilla leapt into the small room, slipping on the dried leaves strewn over the ground, Lexa pulled Taylor outside and Clarke hastened behind them, pulling the small door close and securing it with a heavy metal hatch.

The beast started pounding against the door from the inside angrily only a brief moment later.

Taylor breathed out a sigh of relief; she knew they were out of danger now.

"Let's go" Clarke said urgently, wanting to get as much distance between this door and themselves as possible, before the beast would break free again.

"This must have been a zoo" Clarke mussed thoughtfully "But a gorilla was not supposed to be this big".

"A zoo?" Lexa echoed in interest. She slightly remembered having read the term in a book from the old world, but it had no real meaning to her. She adjusted her grip on Taylor and encouraged the blonde doctor to put more weight onto the side she was supporting.

"A zoo is an establishment which maintains a collection of wild animals, typically in a park or gardens, for study, conservation, or display to the public" Taylor brought out through gritted teeth almost automatically.

Clarke threw a weird glance at the blonde woman. She still had not figured her out and the definition sounded almost as if straight from a dictionary. Was this woman some kind of expert in the old world and thus a kind of consultant to the commander here? Did she look so misplaced among the grounders because she upheld a connection to the world before the bombs destroyed everything?

Taylor just in time stopped herself from telling Lexa about her latest visit to a zoo. She had always enjoyed visiting zoos and just watching the animals there.

Lexa tried to navigate them back towards TonDC while she helped Taylor in walking. She could feel the other woman losing her strength more and more quickly and she knew they would never make it back to the village like this before night fell. She had lost her sword and Clarke was out of bullets, so, they would need to stay out in the open for the night. Hopefully some rest would also help Taylor regain at least a little strength. She would have preferred the doctor to be back at TonDC and to be seen by a healer, but she could not help it now.

"We will have to spend the night in the woods" Lexa proclaimed a little while later. By now, she was almost carrying Taylor all the way.

Clarke turned around and looked back at Taylor before she nodded as well. "She needs something to drink and eat" she assessed in a caring tone.

Taylor just weakly shook her head. She knew that she would definitely make it through the night and back to TonDC without water and on an empty stomach. They had not crossed by any river to her notice and she knew that it would have to be Lexa to leave to search for food and water and she wanted the brunette to stay.

Lexa nodded in acknowledgement. It had been hours now since they left TonDC and she grimaced at the thought of the state of the army, if they noticed that their leader was missing. She could also clearly picture how worried Anya would be once the general noticed both of them being absent.

Lexa had let them continue for some more moments, nearly dragging Taylor along, until she found a place she was satisfied to settle down for the night.

Gingerly, Lexa helped Taylor sit down against a fallen tree log. She let one of her hands shortly ghost over the blonde's forehead. Taylor was sweaty and her skin had taken back on a ghostly pale complexion, worrying Lexa even further.

"I will be fine" Taylor tried to reassure the commander, noticing the deep worry within her green eyes, but the weakness of her tone made it hard to believe her words.

Lexa shook her head though. She quickly got to work and constructed a small fire, lightning it with practised moves.

"It took us days to get the first fire burning without matches" Clarke commented from the other side in a thoughtful tone and there was a clear admiration in her blue eyes. The Skykru leader had also sat down, but leaving some respectful space between them.

"Your people are not versed for life on earth" Lexa said plainly but without disdain in her tone, merely stating a fact.

Clarke slightly huffed under her breath, but she could not really say anything against it.

Lexa had finished the construction of the fire and got up again, turning her back on Clarke. She looked down on Taylor for a moment. Although she did not like leaving Taylor basically defenceless with Clarke, she also knew the blonde leader to be right. So, she would quickly search for some water and food for Taylor.

The conversation she had had with Clarke encased in the small room flashed through her mind unbidden. Did the other girl really think her heartless? Forming the coalition had not always been easy. She had had to make a few very hard choices, locking her heart away in the process and solely listening to her head. But she strived to form the coalition for her people, all of her people. Too many children lost their parents in senseless skirmishes for land and resources. She knew that her people would prosper once they had learned to efficiently share and trade their goods and knowledge.

The willingness to sacrifice your own personal feelings and wants was what made her a good commander or so Lexa thought. Her sacrifices would have been worth it, when her people would finally have peace in the end. Lexa thought that Taylor most definitely did not regard her as heartless; the blonde doctor appeared at peace in her company. She was also fairly certain that Anya would not describe her as such either.

With an annoyed huff, Lexa wondered why she even cared about what the blonde Skykru leader thought of her. She had never before been personally offended, when another clan leader insulted her in any way, which had happened quite frequently in the past, especially in the first years of her reigns, where she still had to establish her claim on the role of the commander. She was annoyed with herself for feeling slightly hurt at Clarke's comment. So, Lexa firmly banished all of her thoughts from her mind and kept her consciousness solely focused on her surroundings.

Thankfully, she encountered a small rabbit and one quick throw of her dagger later, Lexa had at least something to eat in hand. She unfortunately knew though that the next river was too far from their location now and she preferred to return to Taylor and Clarke.

She was sure the blonde doctor would have warned her if the pauna managed to get free again, but she could not be sure of other predators lurking in the woods.

Lexa returned to the small burning fire easily and thankfully nothing seemed to have disturbed Clarke and Taylor. A slight anger flared in her chest though when she noticed Clarke being slumped over, obviously having fallen asleep.

"You're back" Taylor greeted her in a powerless tone and the hint of a smile with her features otherwise drawn with pain.

Lexa merely inclined her head, feeling a flash of pain at the other woman's obvious suffering.

"I have survived worse" Taylor tried to meekly lighten the commander's mood but only got a slight huff in response. So, instead Taylor watched mutely how Lexa quickly skinned and gutted the small rabbit, before she pushed its body onto a long stick and placed the right into the fire.

"It is not much but better than nothing" Lexa said with a slight sigh once the rabbit was ready to eat and handed the complete stick over to Taylor.

Taylor frowned a little when she concluded that Lexa had no intention of eating anything herself or offering anything to Clarke.

She broke off a leg of the rabbit and handed the stick back to Lexa "Have some yourself and Clarke is surely hungry as well" Taylor said in a soft tone.

Lexa pressed her lips together in clear discontent "I can wait until we are back in TonDC and so can Clarke. She fell asleep before I was back".

Taylor slightly chuckled at the last comment, regretted the movement instantly though and grimaced only stronger in pain.

"You should rest, Yssa" Lexa said tone void of annoyance now "I will guard you" she promised.

Taylor nodded weakly as she knew that one of them would need to stay awake to keep guard and Clarke obviously would not do it and she also was not in the physical constitution.

Lexa indeed had a little of the rabbit herself, before she begrudgingly walked around the small fire and woke Clarke up again, offering the rest to her.

Clarke accepted the food with gratitude. No words were exchanged between though before Lexa returned to Taylor, sitting down close to her and Clarke went back to sleep.

Taylor woke with her head being pillowed by Lexa's legs. She could not remember having moved over but it certainly had improved her sleeping quality just the slightest bit.

The morning around them was misty and Taylor wondered how long it would take for winter to arrive here. When she looked up, she was already met by Lexa's green eyes.

"How do you feel, Yssa?" the commander asked in a soft tone.

"Hurts" Taylor answered bluntly and sighing slightly. She really could not wait to be back in TonDC and get some tee against the pain.

Taylor smiled just a little when she distinctly made out the remains of the rabbit next to Clarke "You did give her some then as well" she commented in an approving tone, slightly edging into a more sitting position, leaning against Lexa.

Lexa nodded; she had thought a lot about Clarke during the night. Clarke seemed to possess another kind of strength just as Taylor did. "She is not as weak as I thought" the commander said in a thoughtful tone.

Taylor furrowed her brows and she felt jealousy coiling up her stomach just a little.

"What is it?" Lexa asked, having spotted the switch in expression on Taylor's pale complexion.

Taylor sighed again under her breath. She had wondered before if she should tell Lexa about this or not, but she also would not lie to the commander. "In the future I know of…" she began, trying to keep the distaste from her tone as much as possible "… you and her were together".

Lexa's green eyes widened almost comically as she quickly glanced over at Clarke who was still sleeping.

Taylor felt her heart sink into her stomach. It seemed that the attraction between the two leaders was already there.

Surprisingly though, Lexa shook her head a moment later with a resolute expression. Her features softened completely when she met Taylor's gaze again "And now you are here, Yssa" she simply said.

Taylor felt her cheeks heating up with a blush and she smiled slightly.

Before Taylor could say something, the pauna suddenly roared again in the distance, waking Clarke up instantly.

"We should go" Clarke suddenly said, standing up "That cage won't hold forever" worry flitted over her features.

Lexa nodded and helped Taylor to stand up, brushing some leaves from her coat as she stood. The commander wondered, if the beast was still in the cage or if the loud roar a few moments prior had marked its escape. But she still had to tell the other leader something, before they returned to TonDC. Something that she had not managed to push from her mind the whole night, no matter how hard she had tried.

"Wait" Lexa said to Clarke lowly, stopping her movements and stood up, coming to stand next to the other leader and letting go of Taylor for a moment "I was wrong about you, Clarke. Your heart shows no sign of weakness" she proclaimed in a serious tone.

The blonde seemed slightly surprised to hear her say something like that, but she just nodded in acceptance, before Lexa could see an idea flash up in her blue eyes.

"The cage won't hold" Clarke mumbled before turning back to Lexa and speaking louder again "I think I know how to take Mount Weather. We have been trying to get inside. But they have already let us in".

"What are you talking about?" Lexa asked confused by the other's thoughts. They were quite obviously all outside of Mount Weather and not inside.

"Your army is already there" Clarke explained with confident words "Locked in cages. We just need someone on the inside to let them out."

Lexa pondered her words for a moment. They had seen how weak Anya had been when she made it to TonDC. The question was how her health had been before she had been shot by Skykru. She remembered how Clarke had enumerated that Anya had already been physically drained, when she had freed the general from her cage. They had no idea just how long her people were already caged in the Mountain, but Lexa strongly doubted that a high percentage of them would be physically in a better condition than Anya had been in. And Clarke's plan was still based completely on Bellamy's ability to infiltrate the Mountain. She still was sure that relying on one man was not a good plan. "So Bellamy" Lexa said with distaste, her face clearly showing her reluctance to accept such a plan. Taylor had told her though that in the future she knew about, Bellamy would succeed. She still would have preferred a plan in which she had more influence of the events.

But Clarke nodded vigorously in agreement, so Lexa asked "You have faith in him?" looking deeply into her blue eyes and searching for the truth in them.

"I do" Clarke retorted in a heartbeat, obviously not doubting Bellamy's ability to succeed for a second.