Hey guys, here's the next chapter. This one was really fun for me to write and I hope you all like it. Please leave your comments and let me know what you think. I really love and appreciate hearing all that you have to say. Enjoy!
After a few days of riding, the group finally made it to the entrance to Mount Weather. Clarke had been adamant that she ride out with Raven and Monty, and Lexa had been unwilling to let the blonde leave her sight. She left Luna and the other clan leaders in charge of Polis and saddled up her own horse for their journey to the mountain.
The journey was easy. There were no problems and there was a lot of time for Lexa to think. Her and Clarke had talked a little more about her being The Shadow, but there was still a lot more for them to talk about. Lexa didn't blame the blonde. She was trying to protect her people and Nia was torturing her. Anyone would have done as Nia ordered.
Lexa used the time she had to think of all the ways she was going to make Nia suffer and coming up with her own thoughts on how to keep Clarke and her identity safe. She wasn't going to let anything else happen to the woman she loved. She kept her thoughts on these issues for most of the journey, unless she was speaking with someone, and after days of travel, they finally made it.
So here they were, Heda, Wanheda, and a decent sized contingent of warriors stopping in the clearing in front of Mount Weather. A Trikru warrior dropped from a tree and approached his leader. "Heda," he said with a slight bow of his head. "There have been scouts on watch ever since your order reached us. No one has attempted to approach the mountain."
"Thank you. You may return to your post," Lexa said. The man bowed and did as he was told. Lexa turned to the rest of her men, "We set up camp here. I want scouts reporting to me of anyone found near the mountain, and I want eyes on the entrance at all times. We do what needs to be done and eliminate the threat here, before Nia can make her first strike."
A chorus of 'sha heda' was heard and everyone quickly began to make camp. Lexa and Clarke both climbed down from their saddle and faced the mountain. Clarke took a shaky breath as she stared at the giant metal door that lead into her own personal hell. Images of her past flashed through her mind and she squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself to clear her head of those memories.
It was true that she had learned to accept and live with what she had done in the mountain all that time ago, but being back here was certainly not a comfortable feeling. "Clarke, are you alright?" Lexa asked, noticing the blondes obvious distress.
Clarke shook her head to rid herself of her thoughts, "I'm good."
Lexa was going to question her further, but, Raven, Monty, Octavia, Lincoln, and Indra approached. "Let's do this," Raven said, leading the way inside.
The group followed behind and wove their way through the metal hallways until they came up to the control center. Sinclair and Gina were inside and they turned to greet the group when they arrived. "It's good to see you guys," Sinclair started. "I have everything set up as you requested Raven. We aren't any further on trying to disable the missile."
Raven moved to the set of computers and took a seat in the chair grinning at the technology that surrounded her, "Well don't worry. Genius extraordinaire Raven Reyes will figure it out."
"Good to know my own knowledge is important too," Monty said sarcastically, taking a seat beside Raven.
"Aww Monty, don't worry. I can always use an assistant," Raven joked.
Monty rolled his eyes and started to type something, "Yeah, yeah. Let's just figure this out."
Raven nodded and started typing on her own keyboard. "You guys don't all have to wait in here. I'm a genius and I'll figure this out, but genius takes time. I'll let you know when I get close," Raven said, eyes never leaving the screen before her.
"I'm out," Octavia said quickly, not wanting to stick around and wait for Raven to start talking technology to her again. She had listened to Raven's rambling enough back in Polis, and she never understood a word that was said to her, so the opportunity to avoid the technology talk was not one she was going to pass up. Lincoln grinned at her eagerness to leave and followed her out along with Indra.
Sinclair and Gina both took their own seats in front of a computer and got back to the work they had been doing before their friends arrived.
Lexa wanted to leave as well, not liking the unnatural walls of the mountain, but she wasn't leaving without Clarke and the blonde was frozen in place, staring at the ground for some reason. She had zoned out the moment they entered the room and for some reason, her eyes automatically locked onto a spot on the ground and hadn't moved since.
Lexa approached her cautiously, knowing that this was not a place that Clarke would feel comfortable being in, and something had clearly spooked her. "Clarke?" Lexa questioned softly.
"That's where I shot him," Clarke said, her eyes never leaving the floor.
"What?"
"Dante. He was standing right there. He posed no threat, and I shot him in the chest. I wanted to convince his son that I wasn't weak and that I would do what needed to be done to save my people. I only made it worse. I watched as he bled out right in front of me," Clarke whispered.
Lexa knew reliving these memories would do nothing good for Clarke. She wrapped her hand around the blonde's bicep, "Come on. Let's get out of here."
"No. I need to see the rest," Clarke said. She turned on her heels quickly and left the control room, walking deeper into the mountain. Lexa sighed before leaving the room, following behind the blonde.
Clarke walked with determination, knowing exactly where she wanted to go. She didn't stop until she came up to the dining hall. The last time she had entered this room, it was full of bodies and the acrid stench of burning flesh. Since then, the room had obviously been cleaned, but Clarke could still see them. She could see where the bodies had fallen.
She slowly walked into the room and stopped in the spot she remembered standing when she looked down at Maya. Her skin was burnt and bleeding and Jasper was holding onto her, sobbing, yelling at her for killing the girl he had grown to care about maybe even love.
Clarke closed her eyes to keep her tears from falling and took another step forward. She still remembered how the room looked. She didn't know anyone from the mountain, but she remembered where the little boy's body had crumpled. She could still see the mother holding onto her dead infant and the teenage girl who had a book in her hand. She could see each of their bodies laid out and she swore she could hear them whispering to her now, blaming her for their deaths, calling her a murderer.
Clarke couldn't take it. She sunk to her knees and squeezed her eyes shut, but not before a few tears escaped. She had accepted what she did long ago, she did what she had to do, but that didn't mean she didn't feel for these people.
She could feel herself starting to spiral, but before she could fall, she felt strong arms wrap around her. Lexa had given Clarke her space. She didn't know exactly what had happened in this room, but it was clear that whatever did, was hurting Clarke immensely.
She left the blonde to walk the room, but when she dropped onto her knees, Lexa had to intervene. She couldn't let the blonde succumb to whatever pain was resurfacing, and she couldn't let her lose herself in it. "Clarke, look at me," Lexa requested.
"I killed them all. This is the room where their bodies burned," she croaked.
"You did what you had to do," Lexa said.
Clarke opened her eyes and shifted out of the hug she was in to stare fully into green. "I know. But that doesn't make the children any less innocent. They didn't know what was happening. And Maya and some others, they tried to help. Without them, we wouldn't have won, and I killed them all." Clarke sighed and her shoulders deflated a little more, "I have killed so many people since I landed here. I killed over three hundred of your people, I killed over three hundred in the mountain, and I killed so many as The Shadow. Some were guilty. A lot were innocent."
She turned away, unable to look into Lexa's eyes. "You should hate me," she whispered.
Lexa raised Clarke's chin so their eyes met and she shook her head. "Never. You did what you had to, and it hurts, but it's what needed to be done. You have sacrificed so much for your people because they asked you to, because they needed you to. And it's not fair. Trust me, I know. They needed someone to make the hard choices, to do what needed to be done because they couldn't, so they turned to you. They expected you to make these sacrifices and they judged you and blamed you and they didn't understand you, and it hurts and it's not fair. It's not fair of them to ask you to sacrifice everything, but they can't, so they asked you because you are the only one who can."
"But I don't want to," Clarke rasped, eyes wet with tears.
"No one ever does, but you have to anyway. You do what needs to be done. You carry the pain, you make the sacrifices, because they're your people. Because it's your job to keep them safe. So you do it, no matter the pain," Lexa replied.
"But how do you live with it?"
"You push forward, and you keep doing what needs to be done. You live for your people, for those who need you, and you find a way to hold on to who you are. You find a way to remind yourself that you're a good person, that you're still you, even after everything you've done. You find a way to hold onto your humanity and you find a way to move on as best you can," Lexa explained.
"How do you live with it?" Clarke asked weakly, desperate for an answer.
Lexa swallowed. "For a long time, I didn't. I did what I had to do, but my demons were eating me alive. I suffered, and I let the pain consume me, and I lost my humanity. And then something changed. I met an infuriatingly stubborn, unbelievably strong woman who challenged me at every turn. She helped me to remember who I am; she helped me find my humanity again. She helped me find myself again, and helped me to save my people and reminded me of what I'm fighting for and why I'm fighting for it. She makes it easier for me to wake every morning and continue to make sacrifices, and I hope that I can return the favor," Lexa finished, her eyes boring into Clarke's with so much love and admiration.
"I love you," Clarke whispered before leaning in to capture the brunettes lips. Their bodies molded together and Clarke felt a weight lift from her shoulders, and a new determination set in. She could do this. She could fight and make sacrifices for her people because she had Lexa by her side to help pull her out of the dark when she needed it. She didn't have to shoulder this pain alone and suddenly, it all became a little more manageable.
/
"What is all this?" Lexa asked as Clarke looked through a box full of supplies.
"They're medical supplies," Clarke answered and she pulled out various items and explained to Lexa what they did.
They were in a large warehouse full of supplies in the mountain. Everyone figured that if they couldn't disable the missile but found a way to make it self destruct, then they should look around see if there are any supplies worth keeping. So Clarke, Lexa, Bellamy, Echo, Octavia, Lincoln, Indra, Abby, and Kane were all in this room rummaging through supplies.
The mountain had a lot of stuff. Skaikru had taken all of the important items they could find and brought them back to Arkadia already, but they figured it wouldn't hurt to take a look around and see if they could find anything that was missed or hidden that would be worth taking. "Anyone find anything good?" Clarke asked.
"Just some useless junk," Bellamy replied.
"I found a few medical supplies over here, but it's nothing too important," Abby answered.
"Nothing good over here either," Octavia reported. "It looks like we already got everything that we could use."
"Yeah you're probably right. Let's keep looking anyway. Maybe we'll find something, and we have to pass the time somehow," Clarke replied. The group grunted their assent and they continued their search for supplies.
/
"Damn it!" Raven yelled frustratedly. "They really didn't want anyone getting into this missile system."
"Can you blame them?" Monty asked from beside her, fingers still typing away.
Raven sighed, "No, but I just want to figure this out. I want get rid of this threat to our people, and it's the least I could do for Clarke. This is the reason she was forced to serve that Ice Bitch and we owe it to her to disable the missile."
"And we will," Monty said turning to put a comforting hand on Raven's shoulder. "Just keep working. You're a genius remember, you got this."
Raven nodded her head in thanks and the two got back to work. "How the hell did Dante even remember this launch code?" Raven questioned as she typed more code.
"Maybe he wrote it down somewhere?" Monty suggested.
"Maybe," Raven considered. She turned to Gina and Sinclair, "Did you guys look anywhere to see if they wrote down the codes?"
"I looked around here, but I didn't see anything. I wasn't really sure where else I should look," Gina replied.
"Dante could have had it in his office," Raven said.
"Where is that? I'll go check it out," Gina replied.
Monty pulled up a map of the facility and showed Gina where to go. "Here, take a radio with you," Monty said once he finished giving her directions. He handed her the radio, "Keep in touch. Let us know if you find anything."
"Will do," Gina said and she made her way down to the president's office.
/
Emerson and his group came up to the backside of the mountain where the third and final entrance to Mount Weather was located. Not many people knew about it and the terrain around it was very dangerous, so it wasn't used often. It's the route Emerson had used to escape the mountain without being seen after Cage and his people died, and it was how he was going to get back into the mountain now.
He had been escorted to the mountain by a group of maybe thirty Azgeda warriors, but he had insisted that only a few would be able to come with him to the entrance. The rocky slope was slippery and dangerous and any more than a few would cause problems.
The warriors had argued at first, but eventually agreed. Those who stayed behind set up camp for Emerson's return and he took only four guards with him.
Emerson came up to the metal door that would get him back into his old home. He reached for the panel beside it and entered a five digit code before hearing a click and the door unlocked.
He pushed it open and entered the dark, metal hallway of Mount Weather, the four Azgeda warriors behind him.
They had scouted out the area a while ago and learned that Clarke, the Commander and some of her best warriors were currently inside the mountain. Emerson knew the control room would be occupied and likely guarded so he wouldn't be able to get in that way.
At this point all he wanted was his revenge on Clarke, and he would get it with her death. He had wanted to make her suffer in the same way that he did, but he just didn't have the opportunity and he was tired of waiting. Her death would be enough.
All Nia wanted was the death of the Commander and she was in the mountain, so Emerson figured he'd go stray from Nia's orders. He was supposed to launch the missile at Arkadia, but he wouldn't be able to do that without making it to the control room. Instead he figured he blow the mountain up, kill Clarke and the Commander in one go and be done with it.
He led the warriors down a series of hallways before he came up to President Wallace's old office. He expected to be alone, but he heard a voice coming from inside, so he crouched down to hear.
"There's nothing in here," Gina said into her radio.
"Just keep looking," Raven replied.
Emerson could tell that the second voice was coming over a radio, so whoever was in that room was in there alone. He ordered one of the guards to kill her and he slowly snuck into the room.
Gina had her back faced to the entrance and was looking through a stack of papers she had pulled from Dante's old desk. She was talking into the radio as she read. The guard came up from behind her and stabbed her in the stomach twice before he dropped her unceremoniously to the ground.
Emerson entered the room once saw the girl hit the floor and he walked to Dante's desk. He pulled out a knife and cut through some material on the desk to reveal a panel.
As he was working he heard a voice come over the radio, "Gina… Gina are you there… Gina answer me."
Emerson continued his work, pulling the panel up from the desk and turning it on. The screen lit up and Emerson pulled up a screen with with the words 'SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE'. He entered the code quickly and then ran from the room with the other Azgeda warriors quickly on his heels.
He was going to escape through the old Reaper Tunnels because the way they came in would be too unstable after an explosion. He ran down the halls quickly, knowing them by heart, making his escape.
/
Gina gasped as she tried to bring enough oxygen into her lungs. Blood was pouring from the puncture wounds in her gut and her vision was starting to blur.
She had stayed on the ground in shock when the men had entered, but she snapped out of it when they left her alone in the room. She pushed herself to her knees and grabbed the radio before crawling over to see what the men in the room had just done. "Raven… Raven come in," she choked. Her eyes widened as she took in what was on the screen.
"Gina? Gina what's going on?" Raven asked from the radio.
"Raven someone got into the mountain. They started the self-destruct sequence. The mountain is going to blow in less than two minutes. You need to get out now," Gina managed to say between breaths. She was starting to lose focus and she knew she wasn't going to last much longer.
/
Raven, Monty, and Sinclair were all on their feet, waiting to hear a response from Gina. One minute they had been in the middle of a conversation, the next there was a gasping breath and then silence.
"Raven… Raven come in," They heard Gina's voice through the radio. She was panting and she sounded like she was in pain. Something was wrong.
"Gina? Gina what's going on?" Raven asked as she looked onto the panicked faces of Monty and Sinclair who likely matched her own expression.
"Raven someone got into the mountain. They started the self-destruct sequence. The mountain is going to blow in less than two minutes. You need to get out now," they heard through the radio.
Monty turned to the computer he had been using and started typing before a timer came up on the screen. It was at 1:36 and counting down. "Holy shit," Raven breathed as her and Monty both raced to their keyboards to try and stop it.
"Raven, this isn't going to work," Monty said after a few seconds. "There are more people in the mountain. We need to warn them and get them out."
"We'll never make it to them in time," Sinclair said.
"An intercom, please tell me there's an intercom," Raven prayed.
"There is!" Monty said and he started to pull it up.
"Gina?" Raven questioned into the radio as Monty worked. No response. "Gina?" Raven said louder, again with no response. "Shit," she yelled, knowing why there was no response.
"Okay talk in here," Monty directed Raven.
"Guys," Raven said, her voice filling the halls of the entire facility. "The Mountain has been infiltrated. It's set to blow in one minute. Everyone get out now."
"What do we do now?" Monty asked when Raven was done.
"We get the hell out of here," Raven replied before she took off through the exit as fast as her bad leg could take her, Monty and Sinclair following behind.
/
"Hey, I found a weapons crate," Bellamy exclaimed as he pulled a box off a shelf full of guns.
"Nice work," Marcus said coming over to take a look at what Bellamy found.
Everyone else in the room came over to take a look too after having no success in their sections they had been checking out. "At least we got something," Bellamy said to the group.
Before anyone could respond, they heard a crackling noise over the intercoms in the room and they all jumped when they heard Raven's voice come through. "Guys," they heard her voice come through, sounding panicked. "The Mountain has been infiltrated. It's set to blow in one minute. Everyone get out now."
The group all looked at each other with wide eyes, frozen in place for a moment before Clarke broke the spell they were all in. "Run!" She yelled and her and Lexa took the lead to escape the mountain, Bellamy and everyone else following behind them, and Octavia and Lincoln taking up the rear.
They ran through the maze of hallways as fast as they could when Octavia caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She paused to take a look and saw a familiar face before he turned down a different hallway. "Emerson," she growled, and she changed directions, taking off after the last Mountain Man.
"Octavia," Lincoln called grabbing her arm to stop her.
"He got away from me once. I'll be damned if he does it again," she said and she ran deeper into the mountain, chasing after him.
Lincoln groaned as he watched Octavia take off in the opposite direction of the exit and he sprinted behind her.
/
Raven, Sinclair, and Monty were the first to get out of the mountain. They ran from the entrance and yelled at the grounders who were camped outside to run with them away from the exit. It took them a moment to understand what was going on, before they all started to run away from Mount Weather.
Clarke, Lexa and the others emerged from the mountain next and they sprinted away from the entrance to catch up with Raven and the others. When they felt they were a comfortable distance away, they stopped to catch their breath.
Bellamy looked around and noticed his sister was missing. "Where the hell is Octavia?" He yelled, dread sinking into the pit of his stomach.
Clarke looked around and noticed that her and Lincoln weren't with them. "They're still in there," she realized and she started to run back towards the mountain.
"Clarke, No!" Lexa yelled and she took off after the blonde to stop her.
Clarke ignored her and she ran forward. She wasn't going to lose anyone else to this damn mountain. She almost made it back to the door.
BOOM!
Clarke and Lexa were thrown backwards as flames burst from the entrance of the mountain. Lexa was launched backwards onto the ground landing hard on her back and Clarke was sent colliding into a tree.
Lexa sat up groaning, her ears ringing, and she immediately looked for Clarke.
Her eyes scanned the area and they caught sight of blonde on the ground underneath a tree. She pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the pain she felt course through her and she sprinted towards her. "Clarke," she yelled as she bent down beside her love.
Blue eyes were open but unfocused. Lexa put both her hands on Clarke's cheeks and held her face so they made eye contact, "Clarke. Clarke you're okay," Lexa said frantically.
Clarke groaned as she looked up at the blurry figure above her. Her ears were ringing and she could feel blood dripping down the side of her face. Her back had to be badly bruised and her head was pounding.
She felt two hands on her cheeks and she heard something above her, but couldn't make out the sounds. She slowly sat up and wave of pain ran down her spine causing a whimper to escape her lips.
The sound only made Lexa panic more and she tried to comfort the blonde, checking her over for any major visible injuries. The next moment Abby was at her side and she started looking over her daughter.
She ran through a few checks quickly before Clarke seemed to finally regain her senses. She pushed her mother away and looked at the still burning entrance to the mountain.
She used Lexa and the tree behind her to help her to her feet and she stared at the mountain, waiting, hoping, that Octavia and Lincoln would walk out, but nothing happened.
"No!" She heard Bellamy scream out in anguish and she turned in his direction to watch him drop to his knees, tears pouring from his eyes.
Echo stood behind him with a hand on his shoulder and Raven limped over to him and crouched down beside him. She wrapped her arms around him and her own tears fell.
Clarke looked back to the mountain before turning to face Lexa. She couldn't stop the tears from spilling out of her eyes. "No," she whispered before she collapsed into her lovers arms.