Chapter 27

Taylor awoke late on the next morning. The place beside her on the bed was empty and bright sunlight already flitted through the thin material of the tent.

Her whole body felt like one big ache as if she had just been in a car accident the other day. Taylor guessed that together with the shot wound which was still healing, the run in she had with Jaha and now the bad fall from the jump, it was hardly a wonder that everything ached. She also knew though that she should try and get moving again.

She remained lying on the soft surface for a little while later, simply feeling into her body. Thankfully her abdomen hurt a lot less indicating that the wound on her stomach was healing nicely still.

Taylor was a little disappointed that Anya was not with her though. She smiled when she remembered how carefully the general had lied down next to her during the previous night. It had been very obvious that Anya was afraid to touch her in the fear of just increasing her pain. Once Anya had noticed though how Taylor tried to scoot closer to her, features drawn with the pain, the general had carefully closed the distance between them and Taylor had drifted of surrounded by Anya's comforting scent.

She would have liked to see the general's behaviour waking up next to each other, but Taylor knew that there ought to be enough other chances to have such moments together in the future.

Taylor could not know if it had been Lexa or Anya who had ordered for the tea which was already waiting by the bedside for her, together with a plate filled with a variety of foods for breakfast. She did note though that she was currently alone in the tent as there was neither woman in sight.

While she started to devour the plate of breakfast and sipped on the tea, Taylor tried to sort through the plot of the show. She needed a little while to remember that it should not take Clarke more than a few hours to get back to the army camp, wanting to warn Lexa of missile. She knew that Lexa was going to urge Clarke to leave TonDC under disguise, not warning anyone to not expose their inside man in the Mountain.

Suddenly the breakfast did not taste that well anymore as the knowledge of the impending missile attack set into her mind. Would Lexa decide the same way, if she had the chance to speak to her before Clarke arrived? Or could she convince the commander to evacuate the village already now?

Taylor clearly remembered having seen not only warriors in the village, but also elder people and families with children. It was one thing for warriors to die during a war, but in her mind, it was a complete other thing for innocents to be killed in such a fashion. Taylor vividly remembered the degree of damage the missile had done to TonDC in the show.

What if Lexa would decide exactly the same? Taylor's heart sank a little at that as she was not sure if she could forgive herself and in extend also Lexa for making such a decision. If they were to evacuate the village now long before Clarke even made it back to TonDC could the Mountain somehow guess that they had known of the missile from a spy?

Taylor closed her hands around the cup of tea, jugging down the foul-tasting liquid in large sips, wanting to get up and speak with the commander.

Just as she placed down the now empty cup again by the bedside, the tent flap was opened and Lexa herself stepped into the tent.

The commander's features showed her mostly sleepless night, she smiled slightly though when she noticed Taylor sitting upright in the bed. The blonde doctor had slept through most of the day already, but she had asked Anya to let her rest, knowing that the doctor's body needed all the rest she could right now.

"How do you feel, Yssa?" Lexa asked kindly, stepping closer to the bed immediately and looking down at the blonde doctor with fondness.

"I am alright" Taylor quickly deflected the question while her mind was still heavy with the knowledge of what would happen today.

Lexa's brows creased together in confusion, sensing immediately that something was up with Taylor. "You seem upset" the commander assessed with a frown, sitting down on the edge of the bed to get off her feet for a moment.

Taylor sighed lightly under her breath "I need to ask you something, Lexa" she said in a careful tone. Something was holding her back from just telling the young leader outright of what she knew. There were some things she needed to know before she could make a decision.

Lexa inclined her head mutely, waiting patiently for Taylor to say what was on her mind. She could not read exactly what it was, but something was clearly troubling the blonde doctor.

"Lexa, if I tell you something now which gives you the chance to change the future of a few which would save their lives, are you going to save them?" Taylor formulated her question carefully, keeping her words vague. She knew that she could take nothing back, once she had said it out loud and she was still afraid of influencing the future in a horrible way. The confusion which now clouded Lexa's features, made Taylor add "Or would you let a few die in order to save many others?" a moment later, looking up at Lexa's piercing green eyes, trying to decipher the thoughts being hidden behind them.

Lexa contemplated the two options carefully and her expression was torn all the while. As a strategist she had always been taught that a few sacrifices were always needed to win the larger battle, but that did not diminish how she personally felt about them. She knew that all of her warriors had loved ones of their own, villages and families they were supposed to return to. As the political leader of her people, she could not save each and every one of them, but just as herself she still wished that she could.

"You clearly know something which you do not want to tell me right now" Lexa spoke up a while later. Her voice did not sound accusing as she had decided to trust Taylor's judgement for now.

Taylor bit at her lower lip indecisively, but she remained silent.

"You must know that as the commander and leader of the coalition, I cannot put a single life above the survival of my people" Lexa said while she looked into Taylor's grey eyes.

The blonde doctor nodded in understanding as she had not expected another answer. What she actually wanted to know though was if Lexa would decide different if she told her about the missile now.

"Commander" a male voice suddenly resonated from outside the tent, interrupting them before Taylor had the chance to really explain what was going on.

Taylor could see Lexa sighing and frustration flashed over her features "I will return immediately" the commander assured in a calm tone, standing up abruptly and turning on her heel before Taylor could do more than give a nod in acknowledgement.

She watched the commander storm out of the tent mutely, but once the tent flap fell closed behind her, Taylor carefully swung her legs out under the furs and got to her feet, testing her balance and body gingerly.

Taylor was relived to note that she was physically able to stand up and walk through the tent without too much discomfort.

She stepped over the tent flap, pushing it away and looking outside.

Taylor's grey eyes widened slightly when she noticed just how many warriors already had arrived. With a frown she also already could spot Markus Kane together with a few other members of Skyru. Lexa was standing with them and from a distance it seemed that she was greeting them.

Taylor frowned. In the show it had not appeared as if Clarke got to TonDC much later than Markus did. She had assumed that it was still morning. Her heart sank into her stomach at the realization that she must have slept through the majority of the day already and with this her chance to warn Lexa on time of missile had already evaporated. If she warned her now, it would be too late to not appear suspicious.

Taylor's fingers tightened around the material of the tent flap. There were so many people already in the village. She spotted Indra and Octavia together with Markus and she only then remembered the sniper which shot Indra and forced the survivors of the missile attack to halt the search for other survivors under the debris.

Once she felt her vision starting to blur, Taylor let go of the tent flap, stepping back inside with a gasp. How could she have let this happen? She wanted to save people and not stand by while the tragedies were about to happen.

Taylor tried to force the impending panic down, knowing hat she needed a clear head at this moment more than anything. She fervently tried to think of a way which would bring as many people out of the centre of TonDC and with that away from the point of impact without outright telling them that a missile was about to hit the village.

For some reason she remembered how Finn and John Murphy had started a fire to distract the grounders. Could a fire be the solution now as well? The buildings were all about to be destroyed anyway. She guessed that starting a fire should not be that hard. She had no idea though if Lexa had already assigned a guard to her and Taylor knew that she should not be seen while doing this.

"Lexa told me that you finally woke up" Anya's voice suddenly penetrated the silence around Taylor, stopping her fervent thoughts for a moment.

Taylor smiled just a little bit. If she could somehow start a fire, someone would have to take down the sniper.

"Do you trust me?" Taylor asked in a meaningful tone, stepping closer to the general, looking up at her with hope on her features.

Anya raised a brow questioningly, obviously taken of guard by the sudden inquiry. She nodded though "What is this about?"

"Please, do not question me now, Anya" Taylor answered with urgency in her tone. Once Clarke came to TonDC, she knew that it could only take little moments before the commander the Skykru leader would leave the village and she also knew that the missile would hit while the two of them had just left the village, barely making it out on time.

Alarm settled into the brown eyes of the general, but she nodded once again.

"There will be sniper from the Mountain Men around TonDC already. He has to be taken down. I unfortunately do not know his exact location. But he will be hard to spot with his camouflage attire" Taylor tried to explain in rapid words, hoping to convey the urgency of this.

Anya was clearly still confused by that but she agreed, only asking if Taylor would be accompanying her into the woods.

Taylor shook her head though, knowing that she would try to start a fire and at least save some lives "I will only hold you back" she reasoned "and I need to do something else. You gotta leave now, Anya".

The general only hesitated for a brief moment and there seemed to be something she wanted to say, but she only reached out and let a finger gently trail along Taylor's face in mute farewell before she left the tent again.

Taylor looked around the tent for a moment after Anya had left. She knew that her light blonde hair was obvious to spot and she wanted to cover it to make herself less suspicious. She gladly found a brown shawl only shortly later and quickly draped it over her hair, concealing her identity at least slightly.

Taylor slipped out of the tent quickly, walking a few steps away without any clear direction, only hoping that no guard would follow her. Thankfully most people seemed to be watching the commander interact with Skykru.

When Taylor looked back over her shoulder, she thought to make out Anya just disappearing between a few trees, armed with a bow in addition to her sword. She really hoped that she would see both of them again. A little further away, Taylor could distinctly make out dust being swirled up by a horse and she knew that this could only be Clarke hurrying towards the commander.

When Taylor looked back over to Lexa for a moment, her heart skipped a beat. The commander had noticed her leaving the tent and although Lexa was not moving in her direction, she was looking over to her.

Taylor only slightly shook her head, pulling the shawl deeper into her face and turning away. She could only hope now that Lexa would not attempt to follow her. She desperately needed to figure out a way to set up a quickly spreading fire. She could only have a few minutes left now.

Lexa spotted Taylor stealing away from the tent with confusion. Anya had stormed away only a few moments later, disappearing into the woods without alerting her to her plans.

Before Lexa could make up her mind about investigating why Taylor was wandering through the camp alone now, ignoring completely what they had told her the previous day, Clarke finally arrived.

"Clarke of the Sky people honours us with her presence" she jeered slightly at the blonde leader telling her that just sending Marcus Kane in her stead was unacceptable.

The other had the decency to blush, but she also just ignored the jab asking for a private audience. The urgent tone of her voice told the commander, that whatever Clarke wanted was important, so she motioned her towards an empty building. Had Taylor known that Clarke would arrive like this? Was she bringing bad news?

"We have to leave the village right now. The Mountain Men are sending a missile to TonDC, it can hit any moment now" Clarke proclaimed in a hurried tone "But I need you to remain the commander to free my people from the Mountain, Lexa. So, we have to leave".

Lexa felt irritated at being told what to do like that. The missile could only have been what Taylor had hesitated to tell her about. She knew just how many warriors were in TonDC right now. The loss the army would suffer in addition to the villagers which would be killed would be disastrous. "It will be my people who will die here, not yours" she said through gritted teeth. She understood though what Taylor must have meant. If she told the army of the missile now, the Mountain Men would surely understand that they had a spy among them.

"Did you not just tell me about hard choices, commander?" Clarke retorted in a hard tone "Are you not willing to sacrifice a few now, to save many more from the Mountain in the future?"

Lexa clenched her jaw. The strategic part of her mind knew that she had no other choice. She threw a shawl at Clarke, covering her own hair as well. They needed to leave TonDC undetected. She was very aware of the fact though that Taylor was still in the village.

Once the commander stepped out of the building, followed closely by Clarke, she looked around fervently, hoping to spot Taylor. She wanted to take the blonde doctor with her to safety in the woods. She failed to find her though.

Lexa stopped a warrior passing them by and commanded him to look for Taylor with the strict instructions to bring her out of TonDC and as far into the woods as possible.

"Lexa, we need to leave" Clarke urged in a hushed tone, already turning towards the outskirt of TonDC.

Lexa nodded and led Clarke into the direction where she had seen Anya leave into the woods. She turned back around once more though when she heard sudden shouts. She looked up at the sky, but there was no sign of the missile just yet, instead, smoke visibly rose from various places of the village.

"Lexa" Anya suddenly appeared behind them "Yssa is not with you?".

The commander shook her head. Organised chaos seemed to break out in the village while the fire quickly spread. While a large number of warriors quickly started to flee from the crowded village, away from the fire and into the woods, Lexa could finally get a clearer few of the village behind them.

She finally spotted Taylor in the distance. The shawl had dropped down around her bright blonde hair and she was carrying a burning torch, quickly setting fire to even more tents than which were already burning.

Before Lexa could formulate an answer to her former mentor, Clarke suddenly looked up at the sky with a gasp. The missile was approaching TonDC, soaring through the sky quickly.

Only a few seconds passed before the ground beneath their feet shook heavily from the impact and they were swept from their feet by the sudden blast wave.

Lexa got to her feet quickly again as she felt her heart grew heavy while the breath she inhaled were filled with smoke.

Anya got back to her feet as well and the general frowned deeply when there were shots quickly resonating through the woods. A few of the warriors which had flown into the woods were shot down.

"I have already taken out the sniper" she proclaimed in disbelief.

Clarke intercepted with a frown "The Mountain must have sent two, in case one of them was detected by your scouts".

The warriors who had tried to return to TonDC to look for survivors under the debris of the destroyed village had to keep to the cover of the woods now.

"We will find him" Lexa said with her green eyes burning angrily, turning her back to the village and striding through the forest quickly. Taylor had still been right in TonDC when the missile hit. She could not think right now of the fact that the blonde doctor had sacrificed herself.

Finding the remaining sniper had taken much longer than Lexa would have liked and what soured her mood even further was that Octavia had been there as well. It was clear that the dark-haired girl had a sharp mind and already connected that both, Clarke and she, had known of the missile.

Anya was silent while they made their way back to the remains of TonDC. She knew that Taylor must have been the one to start the fires in the village. They had seen many warriors in the forest, showing just how many Taylor's interception had saved, but her heart beat heavily at the thought that the blonde doctor most likely had not survived the missile herself as there had been no sign of her.

When they entered the village, warriors had already begun to start and lift the larger pieces of debris, looking for people who may have survived the missile and needed help now.

Lexa went ahead into the centre of the village, knowing that this had been the last place she had spotted Taylor in. At her direction, warriors quickly started to remove the rubble there as well.

"You saw her here?" Anya asked in a hushed tone, stepping closer to the commander.

Clarke had spotted her mother, attending to Markus who was obviously hurt, and walked over to her.

Lexa nodded with her features in a grim expression.

Only a few moments later, the warriors had dug deep enough for Taylor's blond hair to peek through the debris and Lexa felt her heart sink fully. The blonde doctor did not move when the debris was fully removed from her body.

Lexa stepped over immediately, bending down and looping her arms around the blonde's body, hoisting her up from the ground easily. Taylor's body felt lax within her arms and Lexa could not tell if she was still alive or not.

Anya followed the commander carrying Taylor fearfully. The commander's tent had been far enough away from the centre of the missile's impact to still be standing and she entered the tent right behind Lexa.

"Is she alive?" she asked in a worried tone just as Lexa gingerly placed Taylor's body onto her bed.

Lexa shook her head, reaching out and placing a hand around the doctor's neck, trying to feel for a pulse. Her heart sank further when she failed to spot one, she moved her fingers right before the blonde's nose and immediately felt relive flood her system at feeling faint breathing ghosting around the tips of her fingers "She is still breathing" she said in deep relief, looking over at Anya with her gaze turmoiled.

The general let out a large bout of breath and her features seemed to lighten with relief. "She did not tell you of the missile either?" Anya checked with a slight frown.

Lexa immediately shook her head "I would not have let her stay in the village" she said immediately without further thought, knowing the words to be true.

Anya nodded in acknowledgement, shortly retrieving a bowl of water and a wash cloth again. The blonde doctor was now much dirtier than the previous day. She wondered just how often Taylor could try to intercept the future in such a way without losing her own life. Would they constantly be forced to stand around a bed, nursing Taylor's wounds because she had not shared her knowledge. They would need to work out something together soon or they would both die of a heart attack soon.