It is a miracle.


Clarke was drowning.

The bone-chilling water was pressing down on her dragging her down to the murky depths below. A corona of light was visible high above her but it gradually shrunk and faded until darkness was all that surrounded Clarke.

Her chest ached and pinched and burnt from the pressure and lack of oxygen. She floated and flailed against the enveloping blackness before finally succumbing to the cold embrace.


Clarke sat up and her hands instantly grabbed at her neck. Sharp and heavy breaths escaped her as she tried to scramble to her feet. She tried to rise without processing her surroundings before an overwhelming sensation of pain forced her to lay on the ground.

She tried to sit up again but she abandoned her plan when someone gently pushed her back down to lying on the floor. She struggled against the hands for just a bit until a voice with a powerful timbre made her freeze up.

"Stop."

Clarke stopped struggling immediately. The haze of grogginess faded away and Clarke looked up at...Luna? The worry and concern in Luna's eyes that made Clarke remember what had happened to her.

She'd almost died. Livia had sent her all the way through Polis and her neck had—

"Stop."

Clarke tried to rise again, but another firm command from Luna stopped Clarke in her tracks. She was unsure if it was the urgency in Luna's voice, the worry on her face or both that made Clarke submit.

"You are not healed, Clarke," Luna said as her hands glowed green, "Your neck was broken. I just finished healing your lungs. Your ribs popped them both. Like that blister, Madi had for weeks."

Madi.

"I need to go fight," Clarke said and this time she was able to rise to her feet.

They were inside an abandoned house by the look of things. She got up to her feet and Clarke groaned as she pushed through the pain wracking her entire body. She tipped over a table with her apparently still active wings as she rose and then fell onto a couch.

Clarke clenched her fists in pain as her wings were pushed up against the old couch. As it turned out, her wings had not disappeared when she had been knocked out.

Instead of spreading out high and wide behind her, they were crooked and dropped towards the floor. Trying to move them was a pointless endeavour that made pain radiate from her back and throughout her body.

To make matters worse, retracting them proved to be even worse. What had once been as easy as breathing now felt like hot knives were being dragged across her back. An extended grain escaped her lips as the wings folded back into her body. Finally, they were gone and Clarke felt the pain she was under alleviate by a fair margin.

Clarke did some inventory on herself and it wasn't good. Like Luna had said, her ribs and lungs had just been healed and they still felt very tender. Her arms and legs had various breaks, fractures and cracks that she focused on healing.

A groan broke through her lips as she repaired her body. Luna had done a very good job of the greater details but there was still a lot to be done. Clarke wasn't sure she'd get to full health before heading out again.

"You cannot go out there, Clarke," Luna said as if reading her mind, "You need to stay here while the others fight."

"You know I can't do that, Luna," Clarke was at once sorry and not sorry for her words, "A fight in the middle of Polis is a disaster waiting to happen. There are thousands of normal people who live here. Someone like Ontari could kill hundreds of them on her own."

If the fighting had already spread out from the tower then things would only get worse. Even civilians used to hardship, like the Grounders, were no match for warriors. She, of all people, would know.

The hundreds of civilians she had killed at Mount Weather had been brushed aside in short order. If anything, this would be worse with the civilians being caught in the crossfire and with there being nowhere to run to.

"Thousands will die if you die," Luna said as her voice wavered and cracked, "When I found your body, I almost..."

Luna took a deep breath to steady herself as she gently placed her hand on Clarke's thigh, "This is nothing like the gauntlet. Nia will stop at nothing to kill you. Especially after your...bonding with the Commander."

Clarke didn't miss Luna using Lexa's title instead of her name. The surprise marriage had thrown a spanner into the works and despite it, all Clarke knew now was not the time. Clarke took Luna's hand off her thigh and wrapped it up in her hands.

"I know we have a lot to talk about, but now is not the time," Clarke said looking into Luna's eyes that were awash with all too many emotions, "Which powers did you copy?"

"Earth and Light Manipulation," Luna said while biting down on her lip.

She was angry.

The powers she had were good, though. Luna used Indra's power quite well and there was an abundance of earth for her to use in Polis.

"Are you happy with that?" Clarke asked anyways and she got a small nod as her answer, "Okay, I need to go. I'm going to the top level first. You should probably keep to the bottom levels since you have earth manipulation."

Clarke gave Luna's hand one last squeeze before she rose to her feet. She grimaced as her body ached in protest. Her healing factor would have to take care of the rest, but with all the fighting Clarke was about to do. it would take longer than usual.

"You can barely walk, Clarke," Luna said concern bleeding into her tone, "After your injuries, you shouldn't be fighting so soon. What if you see Livia again?"

Then she'd kill her.

"You should stay here," Luna said rising to her feet, "I'll get Madi here and protect the both of you. Just...just stay here."

"I k-know you're worried and I appreciate it. I really do," Clarke stuttered a bit as she pushed through the pain, "And I know you hate fighting, but there is nothing for us to do now but fight. My people need me. Our people need us. I would never force you to fight, but you can't make me stay."

Clarke's words were just a bit harsh. Her tone had soured by her pain and her mounting anxiety. She walked or rather hobbled past Luna without a word. It was only once she reached the door that Luna spoke.

"I can make you stay here."

"What?"

"I can make you stay here," Luna repeated, "You do not know everything about me. Do not make me do this, Clarke."

A chill ran down Clarke's spine and she froze. Psionic energy began to emanate from her spreading out into the room. She turned to face Luna. The purple energy was like a solid fog between the two of them before disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared.

"I'm not making you do anything, Luna," Clarke bit out, "If you don't wanna fight then that's fine but do not drag me into your mess. I will never hide from a fight. Not when so many people need me."

Luna flinched back as if Clarke's words had punched her right in the gut. Anger and frustration boiled over in Luna's eyes before she spoke. It was just two words with more venom and anger than Clarke would have ever thought possible from Luna.

"Get. Out."

Clarke did leave.

She did leave and she left quickly. She was a passenger in her own body as she walked out the door and slammed it shut behind her. Clarke still had more to say, but the sensation of being forced out the room like a puppet had quashed her desire to do so.

What was that? It had to be Luna, right? Clarke shook her head. It wasn't important. Not right now. She'd handle that later.

Clarke took a deep breath before her wings spread out behind her. She flapped the newly-created wings as hard as she could taking her up into the air. Looking down on Polis from above, Clarke could see a line of destruction going about halfway to the tower ending at the walls.

Clarke had to be sure to avoid Livia's attacks from now on. If she got hit with that beam again then it would definitely put her down for the count. And with her body still not fully healed, things could actually end worse for her.

There was probably a limit on how many times you could break your neck. Even for her.

"Enough of that," Clarke dispelled the negative train of thoughts as her eyes morphed before her vision was enhanced rapidly.

The fighting had not yet spilt into the streets which was probably the first bit of good news Clarke had heard (technically seen) all day.

She wasn't sure how long that would last, though.

That meant she could head for the tower and help her friends out. Her wings were flapping rapidly behind her to keep her hovering before she kicked off the air and sped towards the tower. She had no idea how long she had been indisposed for, but she could only hope that everyone was better off than she was.

If not then there would be hell to pay.


"Anya, move!" Raven shouted as she raised her hands towards her.

Anya obeyed Raven's order as she teleported away. She left a fading cloud of smoke in the middle of a group of traitors that had tried to swarm her. The group barely had any time to react before two dazzling laser beams crisscrossed through their ranks.

Screams of pain tore through the air as Raven's beam sliced through the traitors. The smell of burning flesh washed over Raven making her just a little queasy.

Why the hell did it smell just like regular meat?

There was a rustle behind Raven before a woman tried to gut Raven with a dagger. She turned just in time to catch the woman by the wrist. Her dagger stopped barely an inch above Raven.

Before Raven could react though, five long and wickedly sharp nails burst through the woman's chest. A river of blood poured out her mouth before the nails were withdrawn. The woman was then shoved forwards to the ground revealing her killer.

"We need to find more of the generals," Anya said as she flicked the blood off her hands, "What can you see?"

Raven's eyes glowed yellow as she scanned the floor, "The stairways are looking bad. A lot of fighting going on, but I think the tower guards have that covered. Probably...They are the ones with the red ribbon, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then they're good. Numbers are going down fast."

Raven turned around the as she scanned in every direction before finally spotting something, "I've got something. It's Indra...She's on floor 13, no wait, floor 12... Why isn't she with Le–your Commander?"

Raven could not keep the suspicious tone out of her voice.

"Heda can take care of herself," Anya said gruffly clearly remembering their argument about Indra, "Is Indra fine?"

"She's the only person over there," Raven said biting down on her tongue to prevent a snarky retort, "Only alive person, actually. There is a lot of dead people. Wow, did she do all of that on her own?"

The corridor was filled with corpses. They were just strewn across the floor like discarded trash. It was scary to think that someone could do that. Someone other than Clarke, that was. Indra was a dick, but she wasn't weak.

Joy.

"Then she will go somewhere else," Anya said with some urgency, "Where is the nearest—"

"Take us to floor 12 now," Raven cut Anya off as she took in the two figures cutting a swathe through warriors and tower servants, "Indra is on her way there now. By the elevator. "

"Why?"

"I found Ontari and Livia," Raven was hesitant to say the next part, "We need to get to them before Indra does. I feel like that will make things worse."

Her last statement was a bit ambiguous on purpose because that was how Raven felt about Indra. There were only two possibilities really. Either Indra was very exhausted after clearing an entire hallway on her own and would their help or Indra wasn't as on the level as previously thought.

Thankfully, Anya didn't seem to pick up on it. She placed her hand on Raven's shoulder before they teleported away.


"There's the last one!" shouted an Azgeda man leading a group of seven.

Bellamy sighed as he realised that the man was pointing at Madi. The two of them had managed to escape the throne room shortly after Clarke had flown out the window in a rage.

It was a bit unsettling that she hadn't been seen since.

They had managed to avoid confrontation for the most part. It was a miracle that they had managed to go so long without fighting especially since Madi was an active target. Their luck had just ran out, though. They were now in a long hallway with the exit being blocked by the group of traitors.

"Get behind me, Madi," Bellamy said as he prepared an attack, "It isn't safe."

One of the traitors had taken out a bow and in a flash, he fired three arrows. Another two warriors threw spears to add to the arsenal. Bellamy blocked them with a telekinetic pulse and the weapons clattered to the ground.

"Jomp em op!"

Bellamy knew what that meant.

Attack.

Fine by him.

Bellamy lifted both his hands and fired a crushing blast. The group were all knocked off their feet as their charge was stopped dead. Two unfortunate souls were sent all the way back into a wall. The cracks that their heads made upon impact made it clear that they wouldn't be getting up anymore.

Because they were indoors, Bellamy had to restrict the force he used. There were probably hundreds of people in this tower. If he went overboard then the tower could collapse in on everyone. He doubted Clarke could be able to save anyone from underneath tons of concrete.

One of the men rose to his feet and his body morphed and cracked as distortions appeared all over his body. Shaggy hair grew from around the man's head as he transformed into a half-lion half-man. Wickedly long black claws formed on the man's hands and feet. The final addition was the array of sharp teeth in the man's maw.

"Run, Madi!"

The man charged at Bellamy with a roar and it was supported by the charge of the other warriors. He heard Madi's footsteps reverse course as she went back the way they had come. The lion-man was heading right for him and Madi was still too close for him to let out a strong blast.

It was upon him sooner than he expected. The weight of the lion-man barrelled into him driving him into the floor. The lion-man tried to sink his claws into Bellamy's chest, but after a punch from Bellamy, he was only able to rake Bellamy's side.

Bellamy fired off a telekinetic pulse freeing him from his opponent's clutches. His side throbbed with pain, but he ignored it as he saw no sign of Madi. He was about to go after her, but a clubbing blow to his back stopped him in his tracks.

Bellamy rolled out of the way of another slash from the lion-man. The force behind it was strong enough that the Grounder's claws got stuck in the ground. Bellamy grabbed onto an arrow on the floor.

Bellamy used his telekinesis through his other hand to keep the lion-man pinned to the floor. The man strained against his telekinetic prison to no avail. He wouldn't get out. Bellamy turned the arrow over before plunging it into the eye of the man.

The man let out a deafening roar and he thrashed so hard, Bellamy's telekinesis wavered for just a moment. It held strong in the end and Bellamy was free to charge up the arrow. Orange lines crisscrossed the shaft of the arrow even as all sorts of gunk covered it.

"You should have left," Bellamy said to the downed man, "This is your fault."

There was a small explosion of blood and bone and brains as the arrow exploded. Bellamy ignored it as he turned away from the sight and ran after Madi. Chances were the fighting above them would catch up to them soon enough. That was just asking for Madi to be captured or worse.

He passed a woman who was slumped against the wall her eyes open and unseeing. Blood was leaking from her chest ruining her clothes which he could tell were from Ingronarona— Livia's clan.

Was that Madi's work?

If she was fighting then Bellamy was failing at his job. The girl was far too young to have to kill or defend herself, Grounder or not. He pushed his body harder and finally, he began to catch up to them. They had covered a lot of distance in a rather short time.

Just how fast was Madi?

Something flew through the air at him and Bellamy caught it with his telekinesis. The object in question was a Trishanakru man with a half-burnt body. His face was caved in one side, clearly from someone a lot stronger than him.

"Thank you," the man said in Trigedasleng, "That demon child—"

The rest was lost to the air as Bellamy threw the man out the window. The man let out a short scream before he plunged to the ground many stories below. Bellamy kept running and he kicked open a set of doors which led to a staircase landing.

Things weren't looking good.

Madi was fending off attacks from two different warriors— both from Azgeda. One was a behemoth of a man standing at least eight feet tall and the other was a woman who seemed to have the same psionic powers as Clarke.

Madi was weaving and dodging punches and kicks and blasts and Bellamy could tell she was flagging— badly. Bellamy wanted to send out a large blast but he'd probably end up hitting Madi too.

Bellamy had to pick a target and so he did. He used his telekinesis on the giant and threw him across the room. The man slammed into the wall with a loud boom. Bellamy was about to help Madi with the other Azgeda but a low voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Ina, kill the natblida," the giant said rising to his feet, "This boy is mine."

Bellamy tensed up as the man turned to face him. It was clear that the man was probably just ungodly strong and durable. All Bellamy had to do was trap him in a telekinetic hold and then blow him up.

Bellamy pointed both his hands at the man. He tried to force the man into a bind, but to his horror, the man began to resist Bellamy's telekinesis. The man's body bulged and warped and grew as Bellamy's telekinesis began to waver.

"How are you doing this?" Bellamy asked the man trying to buy some time, "No one's ever done this."

He doubted Clarke could do this.

"A weak prison cannot and will not hold me," the man said as he began to overpower Bellamy's hold, "My body is too strong to be chained down."

The sound of glass breaking washed over Bellamy as his telekinesis failed. A sudden and piercing headache made Bellamy fall to one knee. He saw blood on the floor—his blood— before he heard Madi scream his name.

"Bellamy—"

A powerful blow smashed into his ribs with a loud crack. Bellamy was sent flying through the air before he smashed into a wall. His head struck the wall with some force and his vision swam as he tasted blood in his mouth.

Bellamy raised his hand towards the giant, but he was seeing at least triple. His blast missed and the giant of a man picked him up before delivering a powerful to Bellamy's stomach. All the air left his lungs causing him to gasp desperately for air.

The giant's hand was tight over his neck and Bellamy held onto it with both his hands. He tried to wrench the giant's hand away to no avail. The man was sneering at Bellamy as he choked the air out of him.

Bellamy tried to let out a telekinetic pulse, but all that did was intensify his headache. In sheer desperation, Bellamy reached out with his hand and jabbed the giant in his eye. The man didn't let go even after howling in pain.

"I will relish killing that—" the giant began before an orange glow from his skin made him cut himself off, "What did—"

The rest of what he had to say was lost forever as his eyeball exploded. That made him let Bellamy go. Bellamy collapsed to the floor in a heap and he looked around on the floor for a weapon or anything.

There was nothing.

The giant was still alive as he roared and flailed in pain. Bellamy hadn't been able to put enough in the explosion to make the man's head explode. As it was, the man was probably just blind in one eye.

Bellamy was about to use his explosion induction again, but before he could even move an arrow punched into the man's skull. The man stopped moving immediately. His death as quick as it had been unexpected.

Had that been Madi?

Bellamy looked towards Madi who seemed to be overpowering her opponent. The girl was I'm a fight of her own as she tried to cut Ina apart with a light sword before Ina sent Madi flying away with a psionic blast.

Madi rose to her feet and immediately fired a wave of flames from her left hand. The conflagration washed over Ina and it was hot enough to make Bellamy's skin tingle. It was for nothing, though, as Ina had raised a psionic dome just in time. Madi didn't seem bothered by this as she raised her right hand.

A blast of psionic energy was fired from her right hand and it phased through Ina's dome before slamming into the Azgeda woman. Ina was sent flying to the back of her own dome. The impact was hard enough to make Ina's dome dropped and Madi's flames washed over Ina causing the woman to let out shrieks of pain.

Madi stopped the assault as Ina flailed on the floor trying to put out the flames. It was the wrong thing to do. Whilst she was still on fire, Ina rose to her feet and just rushed Madi who had turned away from the sight.

"Madi, watch—"

An arrow punched into Ina's knee stopping the woman's charge cold. This time Bellmaybwas able to trace the source of the arrow and he relaxed as he saw a blood-spattered Lexa holding an ornate bow in her hand.

"Are you okay?" Lexa asked the two of them as lowered her bow, "Where are the rest of your people?"

Bellamy wanted to answer, but with the adrenaline of the fight gone, his wounds were too much to ignore. His side stung sharply and a quick touch confirmed that his ribs had been broken by the giant. His head was ringing like a bell and despite his efforts, he couldn't rise to his feet much less speak.

Mercifully, Lexa and Madi seemed to realise this as they walked over to him. A green light washed over him and to his surprise, it came from Madi. The pain in his body slowly began to fade away for the most part. She could heal too. What couldn't she do?

Once Madi was done, his head was still throbbing in pain but to a far lesser degree. He vaguely remembered Clarke being hesitant to heal head trauma. Madi didn't seem to have the same issues or maybe this case wasn't as bad as the last time.

Either way, Madi had done enough for him to be able to move around.

"I don't know where the others are," Bellamy said to Lexa who helped him to his feet, "I just took Madi with me and ran. Have you seen them?"

"No," Lexa said as she and Madi helped him walk, "I've been in fight after fight. The last I saw of Clarke she flew out the meeting hall and Luna followed after her."

"Luna can fly?" Bellamy asked and it was Madi who answered.

"Luna can copy powers so I think she got that from Clarke," Madi said before turning towards Ina with a scowl, "That woman can copy powers too. That's how she was using Clarke's power."

"She copied it from Clarke?" Bellamy asked his brow furrowed, "Wouldn't she need to touch her or something?"

It was Lexa who answered him.

"She copied it from Madi," Lexa said which seemed to surprise Madi just as much as did Bellamy, "Clarke gave you all her powers, correct?"

"All of them?" Bellamy said as his curiosity got the better of him.

It made sense though. Madi could make portals, control fire, heal grievous wounds and she used Clarke's psionic power.

Bellamy wasn't even sure how many that was. All that power to a little kid? It was crazy, but Bellamy would be lying if he said Clarke hadn't done the right thing. He and Madi probably be dead right now if it were not for Clarke doing that.

"A few others too," Madi said and her voice was soft and hesitant, "I also got Octavia's invisibility and some from Luna too."

She had more powers than Clarke? It was obviously done to protect her. Clarke was not one to do things halfway, but even then a wry smile came over Bellamy's lips. Of course, he would only have two powers while a toddler had a ton.

If they won here, he was going to ask Clarke for some powers. Out of principle.

Lexa, on the other hand, did not seem too bothered to find this out, "Madi. Can you use Luna's power sense?"

"I can," Madi said as they stopped walking, "Why?"

"I need to find someone," Lexa's voice was dripping with rage, "We need to sneak past the fighting to get to him, though. Could you please use your invisibility on us and guide us away from the fighting? We need to get to the top floor."

"Why don't we use the elevators?" Bellamy asked and he was surprised when Madi shook her head vehemently.

"There's something in there," Madi said her face set into a deep frown, "My technopathology can sense it. We should avoid it for now."

"Do you mean technopathy?" Bellamy asked drawing a nod from Madi.

Admittedly, neither made much sense to Lexa initially. It obviously had something to do with technology. Was it a weapon of sorts? How would it have even gotten into Polis?

"Can you find us a path using the stairs?" Lexa asked instead. They had to find another way to deal with whatever Madi had sensed.

"Thank you, Madi," Lexa said with a small smile before she scowled. The switch from gentle to fury unsettled Bellamy quite a bit. He'd never seen Lexa look so pissed off before.

"I need to find Titus. I know he knows what you found."


Octavia wasn't having the best of times, to out or mildly.

Her crystal armour was littered with cracks and fractures. She had barely had time to breath let alone repair her armour. The people she was currently fighting seemed very intent on killing her. She had been on a roll so far so she could understand their frustration a little bit.

Octavia had taken down around twenty warriors on her own and only a few remained as others either fled the room. She would have gone after them and crushed them to dust, but a few obstacles stopped her from doing that.

And by obstacles she meant warriors.

It was only three of them and on her own, Octavia probably could have, no would definitely, beat them. However, the way they were working together made that a very tall order. It was evident why they were all generals.

The primary threat was Quint from Yujleda. He could control earth which unfortunately for her included concrete and her crystals. Erica from Ouskejon could swap places with anything at all— even Octavia.

The final one was Sagan from Trishana. Other than being able to run on air, he didn't do much or so she suspected. She was pretty sure he was helping the other two in some way. She just had to figure it out. Their chemistry was just too good for people from different clans.

Octavia dove out of the way of a spire of rock. It smashed into a wall behind her sending tremors through the floor. Octavia looked past Quint and fired a shockwave at an unsuspecting Ouskejon woman. The woman was the last remaining person that wasn't involved in the fight. The others were probably too far away for Octavia to catch.

She just had to settle for this one, then.

The shockwave ploughed into the woman. She was sent flying across the room at a breakneck speed and that was exactly what happened when she hit a wall. There was a muffled and somewhat squishy crack before she slumped to the floor.

"Mia!" Erica screamed before throwing a barrage of knives at Octavia. She deflected most of them, but one bounced off her chest. In a flash, the knife was replaced with Erica who was then immediately replaced with Quint.

All Octavia saw was a rock-covered fist bearing down on her before her world got rocked. The sound of shattering glass assaulted Octavia's ears as she was sent across the room and through the adjoining wall.

Blood was dripping from the side of her face and she could feel her armour begin to recede. Her body felt like one big bruise. The armour slowly faded away and her invisibility began to haywire as she began to flicker in and out of sight. What was this?

She remembered almost immediately.

Right. Physical drawbacks. This was just like that time when she had been abducted. It had been a long time since anyone had ever beaten her up that badly. And it just had happened here of all places. She was at the end of her rope.

Quint walked through the hole in the wail with no sense of urgency. He walked as if his victory was assured. His rock gauntlet morphed to some sort of spear that he dragged on the floor beneath him. Octavia wiped some rubble from her face as she pointed her hands at the bastard.

Or at least she tried to.

A gut-wrenching sensation filled her as she abandoned that idea. She looked down and swore under her breath as she took in her twisted and mangled arms. If she had restored her armour them she'd be fine.

Once her crystal armour took some punishment, it got worse at defending against powerful attacks. Like getting sent through a wall for example.

"How disappointing," Quint said as he stopped right by Octavia, "If you are the best Skaikru has to offer then this war will be over in an instant."

Octavia glared at the man and she did her best not to scream in pain as she fought past blinding pain to turn her hand over. Her palm was facing upwards and was placed right between Quint's legs.

"That's r-rich coming from you," Octavia said tasting blood on her tongue, "I killed twenty of your warriors and it was only then that three generals could take me down."

Octavia could see that Erica and Sagan were now in the room as well. She glanced at them before smiling far too brightly at Quint.

"No wonder Clarke beat the shit out of all you."

That set him off.

Quint lifted his spear up and it was in that moment that she struck. A powerful shockwave washed over Quint. Her hand was tilted slightly and so the man was sent flying away at an angle. His rock spear disintegrated as a scream escaped his mouth.

"Quint!"

Was that Erica screaming? Good.

He slammed into a wall with a sickening crack. However, much to Octavia's disappointment it wasn't the stupid bastard's skull that had made the noise.

"You broke my arm!"

Octavia smiled, but that was last of what she could do. She wasn't scared as Erica and Sagan began to walk towards her. Her arm was completely shot after that last shockwave. She couldn't even feel it or move it.

It was fine, though. She had done enough. Her friends could take care of the rest. Surprisingly, Erica all but ran past her and instead went to help Quint. From her delicate motions, as she looked over Quint, she immediately understood where their rather surprising combat chemistry came from.

"I see you finally noticed," Sagan said standing over and crucially away from her hands, "Both their clan leaders wouldn't let them retire from their duties to start a family. Let alone with someone from another clan."

A sick feeling rose in her stomach.

Octavia looked towards them and she saw Erica during over Quint who had fainted. She turned back to Sagan who had a dagger in his hand. He knelt beside her. His face was set in a blank expression as he spoke.

"I'm sure you can understand," Sagan said his eyes uncaring, "You and Lincoln have a relationship, no? Do you think Indra would allow that to continue if he ever returned to his people?"

Octavia did not answer. She did not answer because she knew the answer. Sagan knew that too. They both knew that Indra was just too strict to allow that. Especially for Lincoln who had been turned to a Reaper and defying orders since they had landed.

"Is that why they killed their leaders?" Octavia asked drawing a nod from Sagan, "What about you? Why did you kill your leader? Are you dating that scarred-up cow from Azgeda? Ontario or something?"

"No," Sagan said adjusting his grip on his knife, "The Coalition invaded Trishana, and all of my family was killed in the fighting. Instead of opposing Lexa, he surrendered."

"I could not forget that nor could I forgive him," Sagan said as he lifted his knife, "This was my younger brother's dagger. His name was Ilian. I think you would have liked him."

Sagan raised his knife and Octavia closed her eyes, on reflex. She wasn't sure where he was aiming, she just hoped it would be quick. There was a sudden barrage of noise and motion.

Octavia felt her body get swept through the air. The pain of being moved around made her open her eyes. She was being carried on someone's back like she was a backpack. Someone surprisingly short and with blonde—

"Clarke?" Octavia said as her mind caught up with her eyes, "Where did you? How—you know what? I'm just really glad you're okay."

"Me too," Clarke said not even looking at Octavia, "You almost lost to these guys?"

Octavia looked back at the three generals. Erica was still guarding Quint as she took up a protective stance. She seemed to be in a panic as her eyes rapidly scanned the room. Octavia turned to Sagan and froze.

His body had been cut in two. His lower body still in a squat and his upper half sprawled on the floor. Octavia looked to see fading green sparks from Clarke's hand. That would explain it. Clarke must have flown in and killed Sagan as soon as she saw him crouching over Octavia.

It was as amazing as it was just a bit unsettling.

"No offense, but I'm so glad you're on our side," Octavia said as Sagan's lower half finally tipped forwards.

"None taken."

Erica took that moment to escape. She grabbed onto Quint and they were replaced with corpses from the other room. Octavia shouted to go after them, but Clarke ignored that as she laid Octavia down carefully.

"Your arms are broken and your face has a dent in it," Clarke said as she hovered her hands over Octavia. Clarke frowned as she finished her check-up.

"Your body is in really bad shape," Clarke said as she began to heal Octavia. Green light washed over Octavia, and the dull throbbing pain was replaced by a warm, soothing feeling. She almost forgot to answer Clarke's question.

"My armour failed me," Octavia said as she frowned, "I couldn't take down enough people at once. My shockwaves lose a lot of power if I spread it out. I don't have anything with any real spread and firepower."

"I'm sorry about that."

"It's not your fault, Clarke," Octavia said closing her eyes as she let Clarke do her thing, "This is like the third time you saved my life. It'd be shitty of me to be mad at you for something out of your control. None of us can control what powers we get."

Clarke shifted a bit at that but said nothing. She continued to heal Octavia and soon the sensation stopped. Octavia sat up and while her body still had some lasting aches and pains, she was still good to go.

"You're gonna go fight some more people, aren't you?"

"Of course," Octavia said as she rose to her feet, "I have to help out. I don't even know where everyone is."

"Let me just help you out a bit then," Clarke said as she placed a hand on Octavia's head. A white light began to radiate from her palm and the sight of it piqued Octavia's interest.

"If you're reading my mind, you might end up seeing some nasty stuff with me and Lincoln so—"

A tingling sensation and a flood of knowledge washed over Octavia as Clarke took a step back. Octavia could sense that something was different. Not wrong, but different.

She reached for her powers and to her surprise there was something else there. A fifth power. One more than she should be able to have. She already had four powers. Cautiously, she tried to use it and electricity began to crackle up and down her hand.

It was just as easy as using her other powers.

"Did you give me one of your powers?" Octavia asked as she grabbed Clarke by the shoulders, "This is crazy! We could win the war—"

"No," Clarke said as she freed herself from Octavia's grasp, "If people know I can do this, it won't end well. They would think I could turn everyone into me."

"Right, sorry," Octavia said as she clamped down on her eagerness, "How come I know how to use this pretty well already?"

"That's the other power I gave you. I got that from Madi through Luna," Clarke said as her wings spread out behind her, "It's a kind of instant mastery. It gives you very good control of any new powers you may get."

"I'm going to circle around the outside and intervene where necessary," Clarke said and Octavia noticed that while her eyes were bird-like, Clarke's ears and nose became just a bit bigger as well as grey and leathery.

It would have been funny in any other situation. As it was, Octavia was just hopeful that not too much damage had been done thus far.

"I'm also trying to find everyone," Clarke said as she began to walk towards the window, "I'm starting at the bottom to prevent any escapes. You should move downwards and just do your thing."

Clarke gave her one last piece of advice as she stopped at the edge of the broken window.

"You should use your electricity with your armour. I don't think it can channel electricity all that well," Clarke smiled at Octavia from over her shoulder, "You don't want to know how that feels. Trust me."

Clarke then dove out of the window, somehow managing to look more graceful than Octavia even with what she was pretty sure where an elephant's ears and nose. Maybe it was the wings.

It was definitely the wings.

"That doesn't matter now," Octavia said to herself as she got back on track. She activated her armour and channelled electricity across it. It spread across her body, but other than a slight tingle there was no adverse effect.

Awesome.

If she saw Quint or Erica, she'd break both of their arms arm before zapping them. Sagan was already dead so he would be spared. Lucky him. Octavia felt renewed as she was filled with excitement and the slightest amount of fear.

"It's clobbering time."

Oh, wait. That sounded lame. Thank God everyone around her was too dead to hear her say that.

...She was spending too much time around Raven, wasn't she?


Cleaning up the tower was going smoothly. Too smoothly. Clarke was all too aware that there should have been more fighting, but from what she could smell and hear the fighting was going down for the most part.

Earlier when she had flown down to the base of the tower, a few stragglers had gotten out into the streets. They were being taken care of by a group led by Luna. As Clarke expected they were getting pushed back by Luna rather easily.

Clarke did not let her eyes linger on Luna long. Their last conversation had been...painful. Clarke did not want to fight with Luna about anything so serious. Maybe about what to eat for supper or what style to do Madi's hair in.

Their argument had been short, but had more venom in it than even their fight on the beach all that time ago. It made Clarke feel a bit ill to think about it and so she spared herself any more pain by not looking at the swathe of destruction Luna was carving out.

With her enhanced senses and speed, it was rather easy for her to sweep up. She could hear footfalls from far away as well as the clashing of swords. A sickening smell hung in the air that Clarke could only attribute to the amount of blood that must have been spilt in the tower.

Her body ached and groaned, but she ignored it as she beat back and subdued and put down as many traitors as she could. The only problem was that there were fewer people than she expected. By a long way.

Polis was open to everyone and Clarke was dead sure that all the traitors would have snuck their warriors in for an assault. Yet, there now seemed to be a dearth of warriors despite the fighting going on at the top and bottom of the towers.

Where had everyone else in-between gone?

Clarke finally got her answer as she used her invisibility to follow a gaggle of Trishanakru warriors on the eight floor. They weren't fleeing or scrambling or anything. They walked with a purpose and an urgency.

They finally stopped in front of what looked like a closet. One person opened the door and walked in, but before the others could do the same, Clarke struck. A tempest of wind erupted from her hands sending the stragglers flying.

Clarke flew through the air with a light dagger and she was upon them before they stood up. A slash here, a thrust there and a stab over here and they were all dead. Clarke ran to the open door and she was only able to catch the fading embers of a closing portal.

They were leaving? Why? The tower was a very valuable position within the capital of Trikru. It would be extremely difficult to win back if they won it here. They had already committed a lot of forces to this attack and had gotten the element of surprise.

What would they gain from abandoning it so quickly?

They wouldn't get another chance to make Polis's stronghold fall—

Clarke took a deep sniff of the air. Not dismissing it as quickly as she had earlier.

No.

No. No. No.

They wouldn't, would they?

Of course, they would. This was war.

The only question was how would they pull it off. Not even a second later, the answer was clear to Clarke.

"That smell."

It wasn't the smell of blood and dead flesh like she had assumed. It was some sort of gas. Someone or something was spreading gas throughout the tower and Clarke would bet her life that they planned to ignite it.

The smell had started on the lower floors and was rising up through the floors. Even now the smell became more and more prominent. Whoever had started the process was probably controlling it from a safe location.

Where would they be and what would set the tower off?

The answer to both question was one and the same.

The eternal flame.

The tower's fire was hot and big enough to cause a powerful explosion if the gas reached it. It would kill cause a massive explosion and kill everyone inside the tower who were by and large the Coalition's strongest fighters.

Clarke grew four wings out her back ruining her shirt to just tattered remains. She jumped out the nearest window and dove down to the bottom level. Her feet didn't even touch the floor as she flew around the first level while controlling a strong storm of wind.

She had to constantly vent the gas and somehow kill whoever was emitting it. Clarke was pretty sure they had a back up plan in case the gas didn't reach the flame. Hell, they probably only needed a few levels to be flooded with gas to bring the tower down.

Clarke just hoped she made it on time.


"Does it smell a bit funny to you?" Raven asked Anya as they walked through a corridor of dead bodies.

There were a lot of dead bodies. This had obviously been a major battle between both sides and unsurprisingly (and maybe suspiciously) Indra had been the last one standing.

That probably wasn't odd, though. If what everyone from Lincoln to Clarke to Anya said was to be believed, Indra was the real deal. A bonafide badass. Still, though, there was something about this scene that set her off.

As awful as it sounded, the scene wasn't gruesome enough. It sounded crazy to Raven, but as they walked through the hallways and past more and more bodies, she could not help but feel that was the case.

Raven had sliced people in half with her lasers or blown them to pieces with a cannon. Anya had uses her claws to devastating effect as well, often going overboard with the slicing and dicing. Raven had gotten a rather good look at people's insides thanks to Anya.

This was treason. A fucking rebellion. So, why was it that there were barely any signs of a struggle? No scattered limbs or scorch marks or anything approaching that. Just bodies with slit throats lying in a pool of blood.

There were mostly Coalition warriors too. Who on the opposite side was so strong to blitz these many people and yet be so merciful? She may have been generalizing but she doubted the side with people like Ontari and Quint would allow mercy.

"I do smell it," Anya said drawing Raven out o her thoughts, "It is not important now. Where are they?"

So she wasn't going crazy? That was great. Well at least about the smell. There was no way she'd tell Anya about her suspicions about the bodies. Anya had blown up at her for suggesting something about Indra.

It would be way worse if she said the same thing during an active rebellion.

"They're in the room at the end of the hall," Raven said instead and she frowned as she got a better look, "They're not fighting. At all. It's weird. They don't even look angry."

Anya stopped walking and turned to her, "Are you sure?"

She couldn't blame Anya.

Anya's tone was filled with the very same confusion Raven had been carrying with her for some time now. It was one thing for Indra to secretly meet with Nia, but for it to happen during an active rebellion made things a lot worse. They both could barely comprehend it.

"Grgggh."

Raven almost let loose a shriek, but her mouth was covered by Anya's hand. Raven's back was flushed against Anya and her voice made Raven shiver as she spoke right into her ear.

"It was one of the corpses," Anya said pointing towards a man with a wound in his chest, "They do that sometimes. Now scan the room because we're going in."

Raven's X-ray vision had deactivated out of fright. Between the jump-scare as well as Anya's proximity, it took her a few seconds to reactivate it. However, what she saw was a lot more concerning.

"Oh, shit," Raven said stepping a bit away from Anya and forming two cannons on her hand, "We need—"

Anya teleported in.

"—go in guns blazing," Raven said and there was a slight pause before the fight resumed.

Raven aimed both her cannons at Ontari and to her surprise, Ontari was able to move just enough that only one of the two blasts brushed up against her. The wall behind Ontari was blown to bits exposing the outside air.

Ontari, despite having been grazed by a blast, looked perfectly fine.

Raven spied Livia scrambling to stay ahead of Anya who kept blinking from place to place, her claws swinging wildly at Livia. It was only a matter of time before Anya made contact.

A flicker caught her attention and Raven morphed her cannon into a large shield. She dropped to one knee slamming the shield into the ground at an angle. It covered the front of her entire body and even had a viewing panel that she could see through.

Two large dents formed immediately as a weight settled on her arm. Through the viewing panel, she caught sight of Ontari perched on the shield. Ontari's smirk was far too arrogant for her current position.

Idiot.

Raven made a cannon appear from the shield. She winked at Ontari whose face dropped before Raven unleashed a powerful blast. The cannon let out a loud crack that rattled Raven's very being as the room was painted with green light. Raven wiped a deluge of sweat away from her face as she morphed the shield-cannon back to her hand.

Her organomech transformation still took a lot out of her, but she'd made a lot of progress since Mount Weather. Being able to stack or make one creation from the surface of another was one of them as Ontari had just found out.

Speaking of Ontari, she had been sent flying up and through the ceiling bu Raven's attack. The hole in the ceiling still glowed a hot red—presumably from Raven's cannon. The fighting in the room had momentarily stopped from the sudden and vicious attack.

"Ontari! Get down here now!" Nia all but screeched as she made the mistake of looking away from Indra and Anya.

Anya teleported away from Livia—whose body was littered with cuts as well as three rather deep ones across her face. Anya appeared a few feet away from Nia— who along with Indra was still in remarkable condition. A guttural scream escaped Anya's mouth as she dove at a static Nia.

Unfortunately, Nia didn't seem particularly bothered by this. Nia reached for Anya with her hand and time seemed to slow down for Raven. She remembered how Nia had all but disintegrated one of Ontari's bones with a touch.

If Nia touched Anya...

Raven raised her own hand as she prepared to fire a laser beam at Nia when the room turned upside. A squall of wind all but broke down the door and sent everyone flying in different directions. The rancid smell of the corridor blew past Raven before she finally found her bearings again.

"What was that?" Anya said from somewhere near Raven, "That wasn't you, was it?"

Raven and Anya had ended up rather close together whilst Livia and Nia were rather far apart. It took Raven a moment to find Indra, but she finally spotted Indra near the fireplace in the room.

She was upside down and laying on her back. The position looked like sheer torture on every extremity, but Indra contorted her body to a standing position as if things like a skeleton and joints didn't apply to her

"No," Raven answered Anya activating her X-ray vision, "Woah, fast. I can't really see...is that Clarke? It is...What the hell is she doing?"

It looked as though Clarke was tearing a path of destruction through the tower. She was flying so fast doors were knocked open and everything not tied to the ground was sent flying. This included a few stuff like paintings, vases, weapons and of course corpses.

What was she up to? Even now, Raven could still feel aftershocks. The very air in the room seemed to twist and turn.

"Anya, Raven," she heard Indra say her voice perfectly calm despite the hell that Clarke had unknowingly unleashed on them, "How are you? What was that?"

Indra actually used Raven's name? Somehow, that was more surprising to her than pretty much everything else that had happened today.

"Indra!" The panic in Anya's voice drew Raven's attention away from Clarke and back to her current location, "Your back. It's—"

Anya trailed off igniting a spark of worry within Raven. She turned to look at what Anya had noticed. A fire poker was lodged into Indra's back and sticking out the front. It dripped with blood from both the exit and entry wounds and was even bent out of shape.

Raven had to hold back a gag as she took in the damage Indra had sustained. To make things worse, Raven noticed there was also a lot of blood dripping from Indra's nose and she pointed it out almost immediately.

"Your nose..."

"My nose? What do you two—" Indra began before her face went through a myriad of expressions as if only now realising the pain she was in.

Indra actually dropped to one knee and instead of removing the poker— and probably a few organs— Indra clutched her head in her hands. She seemed to be going into shock from the sheer amount of pain she was in.

Out the corner of her eye, Raven saw one of Nia or Livia move and she sprang into action. She had to move and think fast. Speed over power. A small barrel formed on her hand and she fired bullets of energy towards Nia and Livia.

That seemed to halt their advance and Raven was only a few steps away from Indra when the woman looked up at her. The ceiling above them creaked and Raven saw Indra's gaze sharpen before she jumped into the air all with a nasty head wound and a metal rod sticking out of her stomach.

In another majestic display of acrobatics, Indra's body weaved and turned through the air in a series of flips and twists. The reason became clear as Ontari dropped out from the hole in the ceiling like a bat out of hell.

Indra was between Raven and Ontari now.

She had a large bone spear sticking out of her arm and Raven feared she was about to see Indra get run through. Instead, she saw Ontari's face skip from a snarl to a confused one as Indra came into her sight.

What was more instead of choosing to run Indra through, Ontari simply chose to punch Indra with her other hand. The one without a sharp spear sticking out of it. Both generals fell to the floor, but it was only Ontari who was still conscious.

Indra was clearly knocked. Her blood leaking out of from the puncture wound and also from her nose. Ontari went to help her master up while Livia opened a portal. Raven had to throw her arm up to Anya to stop her from attacking. They couldn't risk it with Indra still out.

"A shame we could not continue this," Nia drawled as Livia and then Ontari went through the portal, "I hope your leader survives this. I imagine Trikru would riot if their leader were to fall."

It was with those smarmy and mocking words that Nia left them. The portal snapping shut behind her. Raven barely cared about that as she looked over Indra. It was looking bad. Clarke was the only one who could stop this and she was busy now.

A wave of exhaustion crashed over Raven as her adrenaline finally ran out. She wanted to go and join another fight, but she couldn't leave Indra here to die. Not after she had just thrown herself between Ontari and Raven. It was only right that she stayed here and Anya seemed to come to the same realisation.

Speaking of which...

"Nia could have killed you," Raven said to Anya once she settled down near Raven, "You saw that thing she did in the throne room. One touch and you'd be dust."

"I'm too fast for that witch to touch me. I should've fought Nia instead," Anya said looking down at Indra, "This wouldn't have happened then. Or I should have caught her—"

"It's not your fault," Raven said ignoring the dull throb of exhaustion as she placed her hand on Anya's. She expected Anya to shake it off and she was surprised when Anya instead grabbed onto it tightly.

She didn't dare face Anya, but even from the corner of her eye, she could see the beginnings of tears in Anya's eyes. This was obviously hard for Anya. Raven was sure she'd be much the same way or worse if something had happened to Abby.

It was plain wrong to see Anya like this.

"She'll be fine," Raven said giving Anya's hand a squeeze, "I'd never say it to her, but she's a different breed. She didn't even realise she was in pain until we pointed it out."

Raven was very sure all the painkillers in the world would not have been enough to do the same for her. And not just because there was probably a dearth of painkillers after the Apocalypse.

"At least that smell is gone," Raven said drawing a snort from Raven, "It smelt terrible."

"At least we now know it wasn't you."

"Wait," Raven turned to face Anya who had a ghost of a smile on her face, "Is that what you thought? You thought I was stinking up the place?"

A moment passed.

"Anya? I asked you a question. Are you deaf?"

Silence.

"Anya?"


Hearing about Madi from Luna was one thing. Seeing her in action was another.

It was a strange feeling for Lexa to be guided around by a girl less than half her age. It was a bit more strange to know that the girl in question had so many strong and useful powers. Madi was probably stronger than the vast majority of warriors.

She didn't even come up to Lexa's shoulder.

The strangest thing by far about Madi had to be her relationship with Clarke and by proxy Luna. Lexa knew they probably were not related. Madi's accent was an odd mix of Skaikru and Louwoda Kilron. Plus her clothes were that of Floukru.

It must have been sheer luck that Madi had been found by Clarke instead of Titus. If not, she would have been amongst the novitiates who had been slaughtered. The memory of her students made Lexa's blood boil.

This had to have been Titus' doing. Gaia had not been anywhere near the tower during that time. Furthermore, Lexa trusted Gaia very much. They had grown up alongside each other after all. They weren't as close as say Lexa was with Anya, but they were close enough for Lexa to know that Gaia couldn't do something like this.

This was all Titus.

She was all but certain that Titus was the one who had spread word of Madi being a nightblood

. From when it had been exposed earlier that day, Lexa had been thinking. Even while engaged in battle, it had not taken her long to realise Titus must have been working with Nia.

Despite his immense hatred of any and all things to do with Azgeda, it seemed as though his hatred of Clarke surpassed that for some reason. Titus had been one of Lexa's staunchest allies through everything and he was loyal throughout all her decisions no matter how controversial.

Except for when it had anything to do with Clarke.

She was pretty sure that a part of the reason had to be Clarke's undeniable power. Her performance at TonDC had spread like wildfire. Twelve generals (although Luna had sent a stand-in) having been defeated by one person who had not even been raised as a warrior.

Naturally, it was only a matter of time before people began to compare Lexa and Clarke's powers. In all honesty, Lexa had measured herself up against Clarke before. More from curiosity than any sort of maliciousness.

It did not take her long to accept that she may not be able to beat Clarke. Despite her lack of experience, Clarke seemed to have an endless list of powers to call upon and a keen mind to boot. It made for a tougher combination than anything she had faced before.

That was not all. Lexa remembered how Clarke had subdued the man who had attacked her when she had first arrived in Polis. The dodge, grab and throw. Even the boot on the chest. She'd seen it countless times before. From Luna.

Luna was also probably just about as strong as Lexa. Luna's mimicry was a problem for most people to deal with since she had the intelligence to know how to use any copied power effectively. Plus, even without powers, she was a formidable warrior.

Luna had obviously taught Clarke how to fight which only made Clarke's weaknesses shrink in number. Lexa was not, could not be mad at that. However, it did mean that her position as a Commander would be weaker.

Perhaps she could have prevented this rebellion if Clarke's impostor had been caught. Lexa had not attacked Skaikru or captured Clarke which lead credence to the idea that Lexa was afraid of Clarke. That combined with greedy generals led to their current state of affairs.

Despite Luna and Indra's words, the majority of her people did not believe that Clarke had been framed. It was just seen as the Commander being afraid to fight. Lexa, the Commander who had personally led her clan into battle against ten different clans, was afraid of fighting.

It was laughable.

It was foolish to think that Lexa was scared of fighting. Just like how it was foolish to think that Clarke had been behind the attacks. Even if the impostor had been caught, the people behind them would have found some other way to undermine Lexa's power. Most likely through Skaikru once more.

That was why Lexa had to do what she did.

The bonding was as good a way to ensure people that Skaikru were to be trusted. At least those that were still on her side. Some may even still think Clarke was guilty, but they would rather point her towards the other side than towards their own people.

The weakest clans had all remained loyal which was unsurprising. They were smart enough to know that even if they were with Nia and they did somehow topple the Coalition, they would be cannibalised by Nia all the same. This way, they had a chance of keeping their way of life.

Once more, Clarke and Lexa's wedding probably had some to do with that as well. With Luna being a perennial ally of Lexa's that made three natblidas on the Coalition's side. Any Commander before her would have been overjoyed to have even one natblida on their side.

Lexa did not feel any sort of joy. She had done something particularly underhanded to Clarke once more. The surprise proposal was as underhanded as her ploy at the Mountain. Lexa did not regret either of them in the traditional sense.

It was for the best of her people, after all.

That being said, it pained her to put Clarke through something like that. She carried her guilt from the Mountain like, well, like a mountain. The days following the Mountain's fall did not feel like they had won.

Even with Costia back, things were just wrong.

Lexa knew herself well enough to know she had deep feelings for Clarke. It was similar to what she had once felt for Costia but different at the same time. Clarke's determination and power and selflessness was inspiring to Lexa.

Clarke was not stoic like most of her people tended to be— no matter how much she tried to hide her emotions they were always there. At least when she was around Lexa that was. Clarke's tell was her eyes. They would glimmer with sadness or sparkle with joy or burn with desire.

Perhaps it was the openness Clarke had, that made Lexa drop her guard around Clarke. She had not even noticed just how different she was around Clarke at first. Parts of Lexa that she had thought long dead seemed to come back to life around Clarke.

She wished it would have been simple to pursue Clarke. Ironically, with them being married, it would be more easily accepted and yet Lexa knew the sun would go out before Clarke would return her feelings. Not after how she'd gone about it.

Clarke was still conflicted when it came to her heart. Costia was rather taken by Clarke. Lexa had heard the whispers about the inside of her room after all. Lexa did not blame Costia. Clarke was easy to fall for even more so when she saved you from years of imprisonment.

Lexa's heart still twisted when she thought of Costia and Clarke together. The first time had been awful. Truly awful.

In truth, Lexa had devised an operation of sorts to clear the air between her and Clarke.

Of course, small things like making the general's feast geared to Clarke's preferences (which she remembered from before the Mountain) and placing her in a room that was only beaten by Lexa's in opulence would not register with Clarke.

Their biggest breakthrough had been their argument. All the things they had wanted to say had been aired out for better or worse. They had both lost control. Lexa had lost her cool when Clarke had all but mocked her.

She could handle being taunted or insulted or abused, but Clarke mocking Lexa for her feelings towards Clarke had hurt. Clarke had looked horrified immediately afterwards, but the damage had been done.

Maybe that was why she had told Clarke to have both Luna and Costia. They were both beautiful. They were both warmer and more approachable than Lexa was. And Lexa knew that they would be willing to share Clarke between them, for lack of a better word.

A piece of someone so...amazing as Clarke was better than none at all. It would have been...difficult for Lexa to accept that and Clarke knew that and had seen right through Lexa like always.

The slap Clarke had given her had been well-deserved. Despite Clarke's words, Lexa knew she had to do more to right her wrongs. She was not trying to be a martyr per se. She just felt awful for what she had had to time and again.

She had done too much against Clarke to have a chance with her. Their 'marriage' complicated matters since Lexa was sure Clarke could not stand the sight of her currently. They also would not be able to get another partner.

It was not a problem for Lexa exactly. Between what happened with Costia and then Clarke perhaps she did not deserve anything of the sort. Clarke and Luna did, though. They were both better than she ever had been.

"Lexa!" Bellamy's voice drew her from her rather deep thoughts, "We're here. Madi just said they're only two people up here. No new fighting and only one strong human scent aside from Skaikru. They're on the opposite end of the level."

It had to be Costia.

Now that she was out of her haze, Lexa noticed that Madi's invisibility had dropped. Had she been so invested in her thoughts she had forgotten all about the tribulations that laid ahead for her people.

"I apologise," Lexa said before a wave passed over her. Gone was the conflicted, sad woman and in her place was the ruthless Commander who had brought nations to its knees.

It was easier to be this godlike and invincible killer than it was to be the one at the mercy of her feelings. Both sides were explicitly Lexa, but there was only one side of her that she was scared of facing.

"Madi can you make a portal?" Lexa asked drawing a slow nod from the young girl.

Lexa balled her hand into a fist as she turned to her two companions, "I have a favour to ask of the two of you. The other person on this floor should be Costia. Take her and get on a portal to Arkadia. Bellamy you are past your limits and Madi is a prime target."

"I can still fight," Bellamy said but even as he said this he stumbled and had to catch himself on the wall.

"Your people will be fine," Lexa said to him before turning to Madi, "Clarke and Luna too. They would want you guys to be safe. This is for the best."

"What about you?"

The question came from Madi, surprisingly.

"Your powers aren't...awake," Madi said after finding the right word, "You need our help too."

Lexa crouched down to one knee. Madi reminded her a lot of her novitiates. After going through the Conclave, Lexa knew she had to change that rule. She was met with firm pushback from everyone, save for Luna and Indra, just for suggesting it.

None of those opposed it knew what it was like to have to kill people you had known your whole life. They simply reaped the benefits when a Commander happened to come from their clan and relocate to their clan's capital.

"I may be without my powers, but that does not make me powerless," Lexa said as she placed a hand on her shoulder, "I cannot and will not let you die today."

Enough blood had already been shed.

Lexa was about to stand up, but she was surprised when Madi pulled her into a hug. Her arms were frozen stiff before she slowly returned the gesture. Lexa was not sure how long it lasted, but the hug calmed all the inner turmoil she had been going through.

What had been a raging and broiling sea storm was now a calm and placid lake.

"Stay safe, Heda," Madi said while still hugging her tightly, "She may be angry at you, but I know she wants you to be safe. We all do."

Lexa wanted to believe that.

"Thank you, Madi," Lexa said instead, "And please call me Lexa."

Lexa rose to her feet and turned to Bellamy, "If Costia is not there then you guys leave. Do not try to find her or whatever is in the elevator shaft."

"Got it," Bellamy said before his face changed, "Do you smell that?"

It was a putrid smell that was only growing stronger. Lexa had no idea what or where it was coming from, but she was sure that Titus would know.

"Can you still smell Costia?" Lexa asked Madi drawing a nod from her, "Good, I will see you once all of this is done."

"Good luck. A lot of us wanted to kick that guy's so don't go easy on him," Bellamy said and Madi waved her goodbye.

"Stay safe, Lexa."

Her heart warmed at both of their words. She watched to make sure they made it round the corner safely before she began the walk upstairs. Immediately, her mood plummeted.

The three guards assigned to the floor were all dead. She could only tell who they were based on their different bodies because their heads had been cut off. A favourite of Azgeda and particularly Nia.

Her boots were soaked in their blood and she took a moment to dip her fingers in it. She traced the blood over her face and over her warpaint. She rose to her feet and began to walk down the hall.

There was one large pair of bloody footprints that lead down the hallway. Judging by the distance between the footprints, Lexa could tell whoever it was had been running. They must have been in a rush.

It was a blatant trap. Titus would have never left such an obvious trail unless he wanted to be found. Lexa was not sure what she was about to walk into, but she knew that one way or the other she'd win.

She had to.


Clarke slowed to a stop as she got to the second level from the top. She had stopped right in front of the elevator. She hadn't seen anyone from Skaikru during her flight through the towers. They were probably in one of the rooms then. They probably knew it was her who was causing an indoor hurricane.

Her four wings were retracted into her body a few seconds later. A vein on her forehead bulged and her muscles coiled as she focused on one of her powers. Her plan to vent the gas had been a bit too rudimentary so she had gone for a step up from that.

"Clarke?"

She looked up to see a battered Bellamy and—

"Madi?" Clarke ground out, "You guys need to leave. Something's up in the tower."

"Did you sense the thing in the elevator?" Bellamy asked and she almost lost control right there.

The thing in the elevator?

"What are you talking about?" Clarke asked which seemed to confuse the other two, "I had to deal with what you're smelling right now."

The smell was actually thicker up here than it had been on the lower levels. Clarke had assumed the person was on the lowest level because that was the furthest from the fighting. Now, though, she realised they could have gone up while everyone went down.

Bellamy and Madi did not share her knowledge, though.

"That smell is a gas that I'm pretty sure is explosive," Clarke said and their expressions became grim. Madi and Bellamy exchanged a grave look between the two of them.

"I basically started a weak tornado that will keep venting the gas out on all levels. Somehow, whoever it has been able to gas all floors at once. I don't even know anyone with that sort of power. It's taking a lot of my focus to keep something like this up."

Was there another nightblood they didn't know about? Or maybe one of the generals she had blitzed had this up their sleeve?

"It's not a person, Clarke," Bellamy said as he glanced at Madi, "Madi used your technopathy and she figured out that there's something in the elevator shaft. Lexa sent us to rescue Costia and then go to Arkadia while she went to fight Titus—"

"She did what?" Clarke's tentative grip on her ventilator/tornado, "Her powers are gone. He might kill her!"

Clarke grit her teeth. Why was Lexs throwing herself headlong into danger? Especially without any powers? Clarke had to finish dealing with this gas before Lexa got herself killed. All this without considering what was in the elevator.

Clarke wanted to activate her technopathy, but she was afraid that it would overwhelm. As it was she barely had room to think.

'Let me help you.'

Darah's presence squirmed its way into Clarke's brain. The feeling grossed her out. It felt as though a mass of caterpillars were wiggling around in her head.

"Not a chance."

'I suppose you'll let your people die? I recognise this gas. A military innovation from some stupid woman who was just the absolute worst. Just the absolute worst. Trust me, you'd want her dead too if you knew her.'

On the contrary, someone who didn't like Darah sounded right up Clarke's alley.

"Get to the point," Clarke bit out.

Bellamy and Madi were looking at her reproachfully. There was a brief silence before Clarke realised she had been speaking out loud.

'It only works with a specific trigger. Another chemical. Not fire, electricity or anything like that. I can handle and refine your crude ventilation system while you deal with whatever is causing this.'

Internally this time, Clarke said, 'I don't trust you. How do I know this isn't a ploy to steal my body.'

'It's not,' Darah sounded annoyed, 'Even if I did, the trigger would blow us all to bits. This much gas could level the city. Even you couldn't survive that and my survival is dependent upon you surviving.'

Clarke tried to think of other options, but she hitting a blank. Bellamy was definitely not up for another fight and Raven's weather control could have helped, but Clarke was certain that Raven didn't have enough control or time to test that theory out.

"Clarke?" Madi asked and the fear on her face ate at Clarke, "I can sense it. I think it knows you're here."

That settled it.

'Fine, let's do this.'

Not even a second later it felt as though another presence had settled in her mind. It was the strangest feeling Clarke had ever experienced. The closest thing she could liken it to was the autonomous self-preservation of Instinct.

She was at once in control and not in control of her body. She could feel Darah focus on the ventilator storm. Even as Clarke lost control of it, she could still sense that it was still active and maybe working even better than before.

'I've got control. You couldn't think of a better way to do this?' Darah said sounding rather distracted, "Take down whatever or whoever is causing it then go save your lovely wife before she gets herself killed. Congrats on the marriage, by the way.'

"You guys need to get Costia and get out of here," Clarke said to Bellamy and Madi. She pulled Madi into a hug. It was rather unsettling to see Madi so stricken with fear whatever she had sensed had thrown her off.

"I'll be fine," Clarke said in Madi's ear, "Luna and I need to you be safe. We love you too much to lose you."

"I love you too, Clarke," Madi said her trembling dying down, "Please save Lexa. I know you're angry at her, but she needs help. From you and also from Luna. If anyone can help her—"

There was a rattling sound coming from the elevator that cut Madi off. It was just as well since Clarke wasn't sure what her response would've been. She was filled with an odd sense of pride that Madi was keen enough to even realise how Lexa felt.

Then again, Madi had once been in the same place.

"I'll save Lexa. That's a promise," Clarke said and she opened a portal of her own, "This should get you to Costia's room. Get her and get out. Please. I don't want to guys here when I fight this thing."

Madi and Bellamy gave her one quick hug before they went through the portal and Clarke closed it behind them. She amplified her hearing and at the same time, she activated her technopathy.

She heard Madi and Bellamy running down a hallway as well as innumerable fights going on down below. However, this was all drowned out by the sound she heard in the elevator. It was hauntingly familiar.

The sliding sound of metal on metal punctuated with an unnatural groan.

This could not be happening.

Clarke took a few steps away from the elevator and immediately she formed a mass of flames on both her hands. Her technopathy latched onto something just as the elevator doors were sent flying towards her.

A blast of fire split the door in half before it could reach her. Both remaining pieces went sailing past either side of her, but Clarke barely cared about that. She unleashed a mass of flames towards the now open elevator.

The fire was hot enough to eat away at the skin on her palms. The cycle of burning and healing continued on and on and on as Clarke kept the inferno burning. Finally, after a minute had passed, Clarke let the flames die down.

The floor was flooded with smoke and Clarke almost thought it was over when a bright blue light pierced the smoke. A blast of psionic energy blew the smoke away and finally, her eyes confirmed what her hearing and technopathy had detected.

The monstrosity had a sleek black finish. It was a lot smaller than the previous models and was a lot closer to a humanoid shape. The Eligius logo on its chest glowed a bright blue almost blinding Clarke from the intensity. The Guardian turned its blank face towards Clarke.

'...You see that, right?'

Even Darah sounded dumbfounded.

How could she not be? They were staring down at a new and improved version of the Guardian robots. Her technopathy went haywire the moment Clarke tried to take control of it. A wave of nervousness and trepidation and fear rolled down her spine before she deactivated it.

Was that what Madi had been sensing? No wonder she was so scared. A bead of blood leaked out of Clarke's nose and she wiped it away. This seemed to set the Guardian off as it's lights switched to a sinister red.

"Sydney-Franconian lifeform detected," A shrill metallic voice said, "Scanning... Target identified. Clarke Griffin, ID 17776, Alpha Station. Scanning... Novus strain detected. Priority Omega. Loading P2P communication."

'Did you understand any of that, Darah?'

Clarke did not receive a response despite the fact that she knew Darah was paying attention.

"Clarke Griffin," a familiar voice said from the robot, "We meet again. You look good with all of that blood on you."

A sneer formed on Clarke's face as she recognised the smarmy and arrogant voice immediately.

Red psionic energy began streaming off of Clarke's body. The walls and floor began to crack from the pressure she was exerting. A wave of white-hot anger filled Clarke as she stared down a ghost from her past.

Clarke dodged a spray of bullets from the robot before charging in. She unleashed a powerful punch that the Guardian couldn't react to. Its metal shell did not even budge beneath her fist. She barely cared about that, though. she glared right into the Guardian's featureless face right where she knew the camera was.

"I should have killed you when I got the chance...Cage."


Author Notes:

And scene.

Sorry that this took so long to get out. Inspiration and motivation were a bit hard to come by. Still, though, it has been way too long since the last update.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. This story isn't dead I can promise you that.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. As always, I love hearing from you guys so please do drop a comment.

I've also written a Clarke/Luna oneshot. It's about 12K words of them being together in Becca's bunker/house following Praimfaya. Check it out if you wanna.