AN: Last chapter before we get back to the US! In a way, it feels like we're getting closer to the end, but we do still have nineteen chapters and a short epilogue to go, so I guess it's all relative…

I don't own anything relating to The 100

Chapter title from "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat" by Chris Rea

50

In the Whisper of the Night

Rio de Janeiro is just as overwhelming as Clarke remembers it from her one previous visit in the late nineties. Their flight gets in at four thirty in the morning, so they don't really get the aerial view of the city she got last time, even if the lights spreading out beneath them give some of it away.

"I suck at booking flights," she grumbles when they're in line at customs, pushing the heels of her hands against her eyes, which does nothing to wake her up. "I thought, great, overnight flights, we can sleep on the plane and just get right to the sightseeing when we land, but I forgot that I can't really sleep on planes."

Bellamy chuckles next to her. "There is a bit of a flaw in that plan, yeah."

"How are you more awake than I am?" she questions, leaning back against him for some support. He obligingly wraps his arms around her and she lets herself relax. "You didn't get any more sleep than I did on the plane."

"Oh, I'm tired, but I figure one of us should probably try to stay awake, so we don't get robbed or something."

"Good plan, you do that."

They make it out of the airport, into a cab and to their hotel eventually, though Clarke's half-asleep for most of the drive. He nudges her awake when they stop in front of their hotel, and she manages to stay on her feet through the check-in.

"I'm making an executive decision – we're getting some sleep," he says when she flops back onto the bed.

"Not arguing," she replies without opening her eyes. She's already wearing a soft t-shirt and a pair of comfy sweatpants, so she just rolls onto her side to unhook her bra and manages to get it out through the arm hole after a bit of wrangling. "But set an alarm, or we'll sleep the whole day away and mess up our time zones."

"That's quite a party trick," he notes, sounding amused, and then the bed dips next to her when he sits down. "Alarm for noon OK?"

It's probably around six thirty by now, and five hours of sleep sounds absolutely heavenly. "Perfect."

She vaguely registers that he moves a little next to her, and then his arm around her, pulling her closer, but then she's out.

She's woken up some time later by an incessant noise. For a moment, she's completely disoriented, because the room is completely dark. When her eyes have adjusted a little, she spots the light sneaking in around the sides of the curtains, which Bellamy must have had the presence of mind to close before falling asleep, and then the faint outline of the bathroom door. The sound of running water is coming from the other side of it, so he must have woken up before the alarm went off and decided to take a shower.

Clarke fumbles for his phone on the bedside table and manages to get the alarm off, finally, before flipping on the light and rolling onto her back again. She's not going to be jumping out of bed or anything, but she feels fairly well-rested and is pretty sure she'll be able to handle an afternoon of sightseeing with a cup or two of coffee and a long, hot shower.

She's checking her social media on her own phone when the door to the bathroom opens, revealing Bellamy with one towel around his waist and another in his hand, drying his hair.

"Morning," he greets her with a half-smile. "Sleep OK?"

"Great," she replies. "Did you seriously wake up before the alarm?"

He shrugs, crossing the room and coming to a stop in front of her. "I figured I could get a head start in the shower while you slept." He pauses, and then his eyes widen. "But I forgot to turn the alarm off, sorry. I was planning to wake you up in a much nicer way than that."

She bites her lip at the images his words make flash through her mind. "Yeah?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter," he tells her with a chuckle, making to turn and round the bed to the side where his suitcase is lying open, but she reaches out to grab onto the towel still wrapped around him.

"Why? It's much more fun there…"

He just looks at her, eyebrows raised, but doesn't object when she tugs on the towel, making it drop to the floor.

"I thought you wanted to explore the city a little today?" he notes, but he also leans down above her, placing one hand on either side of her, his mouth just brushing hers when he speaks.

"There's no rush," she assures him. "We have plenty of time."

It's almost one thirty by the time they finally leave the hotel, but they don't really have anything planned today, so it's not like they're in a hurry. Their hotel is across the street from Copacabana, and they stroll along the beach all the way to Ipanema, grabbing a late lunch at one of the many restaurants lining the boardwalk.

The sun sets even earlier here than it did in Peru, and it's basically completely dark by six, so they start heading back in the general direction of the hotel.

They're both still pretty awake and alert when they return to their room after dinner and some more exploring, but they manage to tire each other out enough they still get a good night's sleep.

Saturday is their sightseeing day, so after breakfast, they catch a cab to the cable car station for Sugarloaf Mountain. It's not that crowded yet, despite it being the weekend, and they don't have any trouble getting great pictures of the city below and surrounding rainforest.

Back in the city, they take a lunch break and then head over to the station for the cog train up to Corcovado and the Christ Redeemer statue. Last time Clarke was here, she took one of the vans up to the statue, but when she was looking into it this time, she found the train instead.

And judging by Bellamy's fascination with the forest they pass through, it was definitely the right choice. They catch glimpses of colorful birds on the way, and he swears he sees a monkey too.

The statue itself is spectacular, of course, even though she's seen it before. It's early afternoon, so the crowd's worse than at Sugarloaf Mountain, but she picked the time carefully – last time, she didn't get here until late afternoon, which meant that all the pictures she took of the statue were basically a blur due to the backlight from the sun.

"So that's one to go, right?" Clarke asks once they've both gotten great photos of the statue and the city. They even got some other tourists to take a photo of the two of them, since it's been a while since they actually posted a selfie, which Raven pointed out in her last text.

"One what to go?" Bellamy replies with a frown.

"The new wonders of the world, remember?"

The expression on his face clears to amusement. "That's right, I can't believe you remembered. Only Chichén Itzá to go now, yeah."

She does a quick mental check of their itinerary. "And we'll get to that one in six days."

"Yeah?"

"Yup, got tickets for Friday."

He nods but goes quiet, eyebrows a little furrowed as he looks out over the city and sea far below them.

"You OK?" Clarke asks after a few minutes and he gives her a half-smile.

"Yeah, just… I can't believe we'll be back in the US in a week. Right? We're flying to San Francisco next Saturday?"

She nudges his arm a little and he lifts it so she can tuck herself under it. "We are, yeah."

He lets out a deep sigh that she feels reverberating through his entire body. "I know we have the whole road trip after that, but still… it feels like the end, sort of, getting back to the US. Or the beginning of the end."

She could tell him that it's not, but they both know that would be a lie.

"I'm sorry," she offers instead, tightening her grip around him and burying her face against his neck. She knows that there are a bunch of tourists around, can hear the chatter, but in that moment, it doesn't matter.

"I know," he replies, pressing a kiss to her hair. "And I'm so grateful for… all of this, it's been such an amazing experience. I just don't… I don't want it to be over."

She blinks, trying to keep the tears at bay. "Me neither."

They stay like that for a long while, the calm eye in the middle of a storm of tourists crowding around them, until Bellamy clears his throat.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring the whole day down."

She presses closer for another moment, trying to commit the smell of him to memory, before she pulls away and offers what she hopes passes for a smile.

"Don't worry about it," she replies. "Anytime you need to talk, we'll talk. OK?"

His mouth tugs up into an almost-smile as well. "I know."

The sun has started to set when they get back down to the city, and Clarke pulls her phone out of her pocket to check Google Maps. "You want to walk back?" she then asks. "Get some fresh air."

He gives her an amused look. "You mean as opposed to all the non-fresh air we've been getting all day?"

She elbows him lightly in the side. "I just thought… clear our heads a little. It takes about an hour and a half, but it's not like we're in a hurry or anything."

"Yeah, sounds good."

So they wind their way through the streets of Laranjeiras, and Flamengo, and Botafogo. The city darkens around them as they walk, but it's Saturday – not that Rio sleeps on any other days of the week, really – so in another way, it's just waking up. They don't meet a lot of obvious tourists, mostly locals, some dressed in the typical outfits for a night out, on their way to one of the samba or forro bars, or maybe for a beer and some food at the local botequin.

They walk mostly in silence, now and then commenting on something they pass, but not trying to keep a conversation going. When they've reached the park that's the border between Botafogo and Copacabana, Clarke speaks up.

"So, what do you want to do tomorrow?"

Bellamy glances at her. "What are the options?"

She shrugs. "There's a bunch of stuff to do here, so maybe not quite anything you want but close enough."

"You had something in mind, though."

"Not anything specific, but I have a couple of options." He gives her a questioning look, so she continues. "Well, depending on the weather, we could just veg out on the beach, or at the pool."

"The hotel has a pool?"

"Yeah, on the roof. Or we could head over to the Tijuca National Park, if we're feeling, you know, out doorsy. Or we could check out my favorite neighborhood, Santa Teresa."

He's quiet for a moment, considering her suggestions. "Well, to be honest, I don't think I'm up for hiking," he then says. "So I'd rule out the national park, unless you really want to check it out?"

"No, that's fine, I don't mind skipping it."

"I wouldn't mind just lounging around the pool all day, but knowing myself, I might get bored after a few hours, so maybe we can start out there but keep the rest of the day open?"

She squeezes his hand. "Of course."

Sunday ends up being another beautiful, sunny day with temperatures reaching well into the eighties, so they spend the morning at the pool on the roof but still get some sightseeing in later in the day, when they head to Santa Teresa for dinner.

Considering the short amount of time they had in the city, it feels like a pretty good visit.

-100-

Panama City isn't much more than a blip – their flight is delayed, so they don't get in until after dark, and then they're at the airport again at seven in the morning not even two days later. But they do have time to check out the canal, which was the main draw, and even stroll around both Panama Viejo, which is the original settlement, and the newer old town, Casco Viejo, to satisfy Bellamy's history requirement.

Their next stop, and the last one before they're heading back to the US, is the city of Mérida on the Mexican Yucatán peninsula. They have two full days here, and since there's nothing either of them really want to see in the actual city, they have two day trips planned.

The first one, on Thursday, takes them to the colonial city of Valladolid, with its beautiful architecture and historical buildings. They get some free time in the city, and after lunch they continue to a nearby cenote, a sinkhole with fresh water where they get to swim for a little while – which is kind of nice since the temperature has risen to around a hundred degrees. Their final stop is Izamal, a picturesque town that apparently has a strong Mayan history, where they get a first look at one of the old society's pyramids.

The second tour is to Chichén Itzá, of course, the main reason they're even here, and it's really just a half-day tour in the afternoon. When they start to get close, Clarke can see some of the excitement she remembers from Rome and Athens in Bellamy's eyes.

"You're really looking forward to this, huh?" she asks, and he tears his eyes from the landscape on the other side of the bus window to smile a little sheepishly at her.

"Is it that obvious?"

"It is, but it's nice." When he frowns at her, she continues. "I mean, you got so excited when we were in Rome and Greece, I like seeing it again."

"I've been excited about places since then, haven't I?" he muses, clearly thinking about it.

"Not quite on this level," she says.

"Maybe not… but those places were kind of special… and I was really excited about the Lord of the Rings stuff."

That's true, now that he mentions it. Maybe Clarke was the one who was a little subdued during their time in New Zealand, after everything with Roan in Sydney…

"You're right, I forgot about that," she admits, squeezing his hand.

"And I promise I will be excited about a bunch of stuff during our road trip," he continues, turning his attention back to the view. "I mean, Alcatraz is going to be really interesting, Las Vegas will obviously be cool, the Hoover Dam… trust me, you're going to get sick of me acting like a kid on Christmas."

She wants to tell him that she would never get sick of that, but she doesn't want to bring the mood down, so she just leans her head against his shoulder and closes her eyes.

"I didn't know there was so much more here than just the main temple," Bellamy notes a little later, when they're following their tour guide around the archaeological site. "I mean, I've read about the games court too, but that's about it."

They're currently being introduced to something called Templo de los Guerreros, the Temple of the Warriors, which is another pyramid flanked by several rows of stone columns, supposedly depicting warriors. It mostly looks like large blocks of round stones stacked on top of each other to Clarke. Still impressive though, especially considering when they were created.

"Are you telling me you didn't read everything you could get your hands on before we got here?" she asks amusedly and he rolls his eyes.

"You make it sound like I've done that for every single place we've been so far."

"Haven't you?"

"Shut up."

She has to laugh at the slightly petulant hint to his voice. "You know I love when you argue with the tour guides."

"Sorry to disappoint."

They spend the whole afternoon in the old Maya city, first getting a comprehensive tour of everything and then strolling around themselves for a while, checking out some of the sites again at their own pace.

"When's the bus leaving?" Bellamy asks after they've grabbed some food at the restaurant in the visitor's center. It's a little after seven, and the sun has finally started to sink a little towards the horizon.

Right – Clarke has almost forgotten that he doesn't know they're staying for the light show after sunset.

"Not for a while, actually," she tells him.

His eyebrows shoot up. "OK… you know I love historical stuff, but I'm pretty much set. And it's not like we'll be able to see much once it's dark."

She rolls her eyes. "It was going to be a surprise, but we're staying for some sort of light show that's supposed to start as soon as it's dark enough."

"Oh." A slightly sheepish look replaces the questioning one on his face. "That does sound pretty cool."

They get another quick tour after the sun sets but before darkness really falls, when their guide tells them more about Mayan astronomy, which Bellamy is much more familiar with, and to Clarke's amusement, he pulls her along to the front of their group so he can pitch in with things he thinks the guide misses.

The light show isn't as spectacular as some of the others they've seen over the last few months, but it's still a nice end to the night.

They both doze a little on the way back to Mérida, the dark landscape soothing around them.

"So, last night outside the US," she notes after a while. "You OK?"

He turns his head to face her, eyebrows furrowing slightly as he considers the question. "I think so, yeah. There's a whole bunch of things I'm excited about during our road trip, so that's something to look forward to. I honestly don't know where that… mini freak out the other day came from, but I'm OK now."

It's her turn to frown. "You don't need an excuse to freak out about any of this," she tells him, voice coming out a little harsher than she planned, but Bellamy just smiles.

"I know. I just wasn't expecting it myself, honestly, so it was a bit of a surprise. Ask me again when we're getting closer to New York, that might be… worse. I've tried to do what you said before we left, focus on the trip, and it's been working pretty well, but when we're back there… just waiting, that'll be…"

"It doesn't have to be like that," Clarke cuts him off. "Not if you don't want that. I can schedule stuff to do every single day, if you want. Keep busy. There are so many places in the city I would love to show you."

His eyes slide closed but he nods, mouth still quirked up in a small smile. "That sounds good."

So that's how she keeps her mind busy for the last half-hour of the drive, while Bellamy sleeps with his head on her shoulder.

-100-

They do explore Mérida a little on the last day, since their flight isn't until the afternoon. When they checked into the hotel, the receptionist recommended a free walking tour that starts at the main square, just a couple of blocks from the hotel itself, at nine thirty each morning, and since they've finished breakfast by nine, they decide to give it a go.

It feels a little backward to get an introductory tour to a city they're leaving in a few hours, but it's still interesting, and they get to check out some beautiful buildings, bustling plazas and lush parks, as well as learn more about the city itself.

And then it's time to leave. Clarke hadn't really thought about it before Bellamy brought it up, but now that he has, it does kind of feel like some sort of ending, and she finds herself reluctant when they get to the airport. As if they can postpone the inevitable if they just… don't go back.

As if fate cares about countries and borders.

She squares her shoulders and pushes on, leading the way through the entrance of the airport.

"Is everything OK?" Bellamy asks once they've gotten through security and are seated at their gate.

She glances up at him, finding him frowning slightly at her. "Yeah." She pauses, runs a hand through her hair, considers how to put it. "I guess you got in my head, sort of. The whole… going back to the US thing. I know it's… we have a four week road trip ahead of us, and it's going to be a lot of fun but it's still…"

Her eyes dart to his forehead where it feels like his Number is mocking her. 35, 35 it's yelling. You're running out of time.

He wraps an arm around her and pulls her in, and Clarke lets herself lean against him, closing her eyes. Not that it helps – the numbers are still flashing on the inside of her eyelids. "I know. Let's just…" He huffs. "I don't know, try to keep enjoying ourselves, I guess? Our eternal mantra."

"That's the plan, yeah. Maybe it'll be better when we're actually back in the country, this is just some sort of… hurdle." She pulls away enough to be able to smile up at him. "I am really looking forward to showing you San Francisco. It's definitely my second favorite place in the US, after New York."

"And I'm looking forward to getting to discover the city with you," he tells her. "We're staying at your place, right? Not a hotel?"

They did initially have a hotel booked, but then Clarke got an email from the family that was renting her house that they were going to be moving out at the end of May, since the dad in the family had gotten a new job somewhere on the east coast, and instead of trying to find new tenants right away, she decided that they could make use of the empty house instead.

Also, it feels like a good idea to have somewhere she can escape to, if staying in New York ends up being too much after… everything. She can't get relocated there, since she came from San Francisco before returning to New York last year, but she can hide out and grieve for a while, if she needs to get out.

"We are, yeah."

"Is that place as daunting as your apartment in New York?" Bellamy asks.

"Daunting?" she replies with a huff of a laugh. "What do you mean 'daunting'?"

He shrugs, a slightly sheepish look on his face. "Maybe not daunting… Overwhelming might be a better word? Just… the first time I was there, I still wasn't sure what was going on or if you were actually even interested in me, and seeing your place… it was basically 'OK, why would a girl who lives like this want to hang out with someone like me?'."

His words wipe the last traces of the smile off her face. "I'm sorry, I had no idea."

He shrugs. "No big deal, I got over it pretty quickly. But maybe give me a heads-up if this is going to be something similar."

"I honestly don't know," she admits, thinking it over. "I mean, size-wise, it's about the same, but the house is split over four floors, so it's not as obvious, I guess. And it's more… homey, I think. I mean, the apartment in New York is just that, a New York apartment, but this is a traditional Victorian house from nineteen-oh… three, maybe. Somewhere around there. I didn't want to make it all contemporary and sleek, so it's not. I don't know if that answers your question?"

"How long have you had it?"

Clarke glances around quickly, making sure nobody's listening to them. "I bought it in the late twenties, so ninety years or something like that. I mean, I've obviously only lived there for twenty years or so, all together, but it's still home, just like my place in New York is. It doesn't matter how long I'm away, it's always nice to come home."

There's an almost wistful smile on his face when she stops speaking. "That must be nice."

"It is," she agrees. "I think you'll like it. Unless you get overwhelmed."

Bellamy rolls his eyes. "I knew I would regret telling you that."

"And still you did…"

"Trust me, I'm kicking myself right about now."

She leans in close again, resting her head on his shoulder. "If it makes you feel better, it totally wasn't obvious. You were cool as a cucumber."

"Good to know."

Talking about their first date brings back Clarke's own memories of it, and she can't keep a smile off her face. "You know, I was so annoyed when you just took off that night."

She feels him tense for a second or so. "You were?"

"Of course! After that kiss on Halloween, and then there was all this… sexual tension that night, I had certain… expectations, I guess."

"Ah." It's impossible to discern anything from that, so she's glad when he continues. "Sorry I disappointed you, it definitely wasn't my intention."

"I know. Raven said you were probably just trying to take things slow, since you thought I was getting over a bad breakup."

Bellamy snorts at that. "You called Raven after I left?"

"I was frustrated! She's usually good at talking me through stuff."

"That's good, I guess. And yeah, that was basically what I was doing. But trust me…" He pauses to move slightly, so he's speaking directly in her ear. "If I'd done what I really wanted that night, I would have followed you upstairs and fucked you until you never wanted to let me out of your bed again."

The combination of the words and his breath tickling the skin on her throat makes her shiver, which he of course picks up on, if his low chuckle is anything to go by.

"Well, you got there eventually," she notes, trying to keep her voice casual and failing miserably.

"Yeah," he agrees. "We got there eventually."