If Clarke was being discreet in her ogling before she's certainly not doing it now. Lexa is focused on the clan leaders beside her and hasn't even attempted to clean the fresh blood from her mouth. She's an image of ferocity and Clarke's kinda screwed. Anya looks absolutely famished and Clarke is certain she has the same expression. Lexa turns ever so slightly; a movement shows her hand settling on Anya's lap, whatever she's doing isn't lessening the Beta's wild gaze.
The two then look to Clarke.
Clarke quivers, unable to keep from muttering an awed. "Fuck."
Bellamy shoots up from his spot beside Clarke and growls, a rolling thunderous thing that has Wells standing and all of the Arkers looking incredibly uncomfortable.
"Bellamy." Clarke clutches her hand onto his bicep. "You're making a scene."
Bellamy looks to the hand on his arm and then challengingly back up to the throne. Lexa is still physically quite poised in her seat but her eyes are livid with repressed rage. Anya looks ready to stand and come over but they've both given Clarke the choice in who she'll allow to chase her but they had thought Bellamy was out of the question. Clarke realizes how this may look and drops her hold as if Bellamy's skin has turned caustic.
Bellamy puts his hand on Clarke's shoulder which makes her glare up at him like he's gone insane but she can't very well shrug him off when the entire front table has their attention on them. What did they think was happening? That there's dissent in her group that she wasn't able to control her own wolves? This whole thing is making their people look absurd.
"Bell, what are you doing?" Octavia's voices, uncertain if she should intervene.
Bellamy's grasp on Clarke's shoulder tightens and she almost releases a cry. It's her forearm that's broken but it doesn't mean the rest of her body isn't still sore and abraded. This was going nowhere quick. She puts her free hand on the one he's gripping into her shoulder and digs her nails in deep as she has seen Anya do to Aerius. "Bellamy, please sit down."
"Sit. down." Wells rumbles, his words disintegrating into a menacing growl. "Sit your ass down."
Bellamy looks conflicted, his instincts telling him not to submit and Clarke's earlier release of scents had him immediately receptive. He realizes the attention their table has gained but his ego isn't letting him back down so quickly. His eyes dart around the room and Clarke takes his momentary indecision as her que to trench her nails deep enough to reach bone. So much for covert intelligence gathering. She has to make her stand now. Indra had told her the chiefs are expecting a leader so she'll have to be one right this moment.
Bellamy squeals, unprepared for the aggression on Clarke's end. Clarke tugs hard and the twist she applies in her grip has Bellamy careening down back into his seat. She hopes she hasn't sprained his wrist but they'll just have to add that to a long list of injuries they've all gained since arriving.
She stands while he's still recovering and addresses the room. "Sorry for the disruption."
Lexa graciously waves her hand in dismissal and turns back to the other chieftains, drawing their attention back to their conversation. Anya's focus is however divided between the council people and making rather concerned eye contact over at Clarke to make sure she's alright. Clarke wonders if the others even notice Anya's behaviour or if she's gotten more used to reading the subtleties in the Beta's body language.
The rest of the breakfast passes with Bellamy irately nursing his injured hand in his lap while the rest of the Arkers at the table respectfully drop gaze from Clarke when she speaks.
The second he's done his food Bellamy makes for the door with Clarke taking after him just as quick. She signals Wells from following and she hopes he'll hold Octavia from interfering as well. Bellamy is making strides towards the barracks where the Arkers had stayed before. She keeps up with him but he's fuming the entire way there and yanks the doors open and tries to slam it close behind him.
"Bellamy." She won't let him, jamming her foot between the door and the frame before it can shut completely
"No." He spins on her, determined and tense when she enters. "I get it, you don't want my answer but, I just… You can't just flood the space around you smelling like," he points his finger at her chest and makes her back a step, "smelling like you want to get claimed and looking so freaking ready to get fucked only to expect me not to respond."
"Fuck you Blake!" Clarke smacks his hand from her chest and glowers back at him, she's a bit surprised at her own reaction since Ark regulations has her agreeing with him but Anya's and Lexa's reassurances from the night before are much more predominant. "I already said no and that should be enough, how much would it take for you to back off?! Would it be okay if I was already mated? If I was like this while my mates were away would you take advantage of their lack of presence?"
"Of course not!" He roars, looking ready to push her again to shut this line of questioning. "It's not the same okay, I get where you going with this so don't you dare bring up Octavia, if she rejected someone I would kill whoever still came for her, I get it okay but it's just not the same."
"It is the same, you should respect my wishes because I deserve your respect, I don't have to be related to you to earn your fucking consideration." She doesn't know his character and can only hope he'll keep himself in check. If not then she'll fight with him until she gets his submission. Whatever it takes since they have to regroup immediately. "We don't have time for your petty pity party; do you not understand why the other clan chiefs are in the village?"
"What?"
"Did you think we'll just continue leeching off this community without cost? That slaying the Lerna didn't have repercussions?"
"We killed a monster that had their own people what more could they possible hold against us?!" He's fuming, his words at a deafening roar.
"It was guarding against something worst and I don't even want to imagine what could be possibly worse than the thing that was slaughtering every one of us, but the Grounders permitted it to live!" Clarke matches his ferocity, glaring up at his snarling face. "If Nyko didn't have the antidote then Octavia would've died, you can't just take everything they have given us for granted!"
"I'm NOT!"
"You are when you disrespect their customs or judge how they conduct themselves!" Clarke shoves her hand into his chest and he stumbles back in disbelief, he didn't defer to her like when Wells willingly subsided under her hand, she had honestly surprised him yet again. His ego and instinct making him think she won't defy his desires. "Do you think your snide comments haven't been heard? They know our language so anything you and Murphy have gossiped about they've just let go cause you're acting like children." Octavia had brought this up with her and she had already thought to address it so why not bring up all grievances at once.
"That's not… I mean they have kids training as-"
"That's their prerogative!" Clarke thunders. "You can't fucking take their hospitality and then raise your nose at their way of survival, we know nothing on this Earth and we need them, we need the alliance."
"Alliance?" Bellamy is utterly out of it now; he hadn't heard of any such agreement, he had assumed what they had at the moment was going to keep.
"Wake up, do you know how fucked we are if the Grounders consider what we did to their guardian as a hostile act. We won't just loose medical aid or whatever else they've given to us! Think about the consequences to our people if they consider that our group may be a threat to how they live." She quiets her voice to a whisper, the shock of her own realization making her cold.
Bellamy watches her, studying the flux of emotions on her face with concern.
"According to Octavia, Lexa brought a small army," she pauses, the uneasy words coming now that she can think through the ordeal, "and she could've brought her people to fight off a beast all the clans have agreed to let live," Clarke stumbles, clenching her fingers tight as she forces the rest of her conclusion out, "or she could've been coming to annihilate those that invaded her territory."
"Oh. Fuck." Bellamy paces the room, hand tangling into his hair. "We just sent them to our wounded without thought, they know where our dropship is and they know-"
"We are at their mercies, Blake, and if they've already treated us like guest instead of prisoners we should hope that our people at the dropship are safe for the time being."
"I shouldn't have just given away our position." He falls down onto a bed, head in his lap as he laces his fingers over the back of his neck. "Everyone was injured and it just felt like salvation came."
Clarke tentatively puts her hand over Bellamy's laced fingers, waits until he drops his hold and she has her touch against the bone ridge of his neck. "You did best with what you knew at the time, you sent help to our injured and we're going to have work together to keep everyone else safe."
He's resigned now, realizing just how out of depth he was against the situation at hand. They don't have their technology, they certainly don't have the man power and the Grounders have been more than generous to all their needs. He shouldn't have just expected that they deserved the aid they've so readily received.
"I don't know what I'm doing either." Clarke kneels down in front of him, fingers on his chin to tilt him into looking back at her. "I know you're trying but being a leader is acting like one and we did not show ourselves in best light during breakfast."
"Fuck."
"Yeah, I know." Clarke laughs and drops back, sitting on the wooden floors with a sigh. "We are leading our people and there's not that many of us left, we really don't have room for error."
He nods, demeanor serious now that he's been cautioned by Clarke.
"I think their groups functions with a single leader instead of a counsel and you have to be aware that the other leaders all think they've been waiting to begin the meeting at my wakening, I'm not taking over completely but I'm going to need your support while we are in public, everything else I'm more than willing to leave to discussion."
"Ha." Bellamy rubs his palms into his eyes, the strain of everything weighing on him, and he can only make penance by keeping those left alive safe. "I know you rescued us," he holds up his hand to stall Clarke's modest denial, "we weren't making any ground without the fuel and fire and I would've thrown each and every one of us in until I got to my sister, you saved us and the others know that, they'll follow you with or without me on your side."
"I'm not asking for your support just for niceties, Bellamy, I need people I can depend on and our people look up to you, I'll need your sway." She reaches out and beams when he takes her hand.
…
When they exit the barracks they see that the Arkers at the breakfast are all in the training grounds but the Grounders are suspiciously absent.
Clarke and Bellamy both agreed silence on what could have been massacre on the beach, there's no need to stir up antagonism between the remaining 100 and the Grounders. They will tell the Arkers of the gracious hospitality they've found in TonDC and if an alliance is achieved everyone will adhere to the rules set out. They both surmised at their people's amenability considering Nyko and others having been sent to the injured. Clarke can only hope that everyone there really was present to aid and not as a backup plan to execute the remaining 100 if things went sour in TonDC.
Clarke has Bellamy arrange for their remaining people to travel back and prepare their dropship. The injured Arkers have all regained enough movement to make it back to camp. She's sure it has to do with her wolf side awakening since her own arm feels almost healed and considering that she may had had comminuted fractures that would've taken at least 3 weeks to fully mend. If the alliance isn't agreed upon then they'll prep their camp. If questioned on their defensive action then Clarke has already thought to site the other local fauna as a worry to her people's safety. Lexa and Anya have assured her that the meeting will go according to plan but Clarke has her pack's lives on her shoulders and she will manage every possible circumstance.
It had been agreed that Bellamy and Wells will remain while Octavia will lead everyone back. It'll be at least two days of traveling with the speed that they'll make. There's some worried disagreement among the healing but Clarke and Bellamy had stood firm together and reassured everyone that their pack should remain whole at the dropship. It was strangely reassuring to find that their people were mostly worried for their wellbeing and not at leaving the safety of TonDC. They hadn't want to abandon Clarke unprotected and while the notion was appreciated she doubts her untrained group could do much against the Grounder army.
Clarke's exhausted when they've finally hashed out all the details. The others head out before the meeting begins, the goodbyes short. Octavia lets Bellamy grip onto her like he'll never see her again and she teases him on it but soon drops the cheer when she notices his solemn expression. Octavia can turn off her playfulness but Bellamy's modus of operation is trained into him by the Ark's security forces. Clarke hopes she doesn't notice his more than usual stiffness but he's like his sister or his sister is like him, they both roll with the punches and are quick as a whip with their instincts. Octavia knows something is off and Clarke can only ask for her trust and secure a promise from her to follow Lincoln's trail to the dropship.
…
Clarke is flanked by Bellamy and Wells as they make their out the training grounds and back towards the village square, at the wooden gates they find an aggravated Anya glaring at Bellamy. Clarke motions for the boys to wait and asks them to meet up with her later.
Wells is reluctant to leave as always while Bellamy takes one look and makes a quick get away from Anya's ire.
"Clarke." Anya greets softly.
They are the only two here, Clarke's people scrambling out of the village with what little they have to pack. "I'm guessing you had something to do with clearing the Grounders from hearing us yelling at one another."
"There are many visiting." Anya does something close to a shrug. "Our banquet halls require a hunt to provide the meat we'll need."
Clarkes pretty sure that the 3, 4 days she was out like a light was time enough for the village's skilled hunters to supply food so Anya was just looking out for her. Her heart flutters at the thought but she reigns herself in. She has to know though, she wants to irrationally fault them if her hunch was true but she wants to hear Anya admit it. "Was Lexa bringing her army to kill us for what we've done?"
"You had broken the law." Anya's softness is gone, a mask of impassivity slipping on. "Gustus advised for it."
Clarke feels her heart squeeze. She gets it. She does but an unreasonable kind of irritation sets up in her mind. Why hadn't they told her? Would they have taken her into their bond and never mentioned this if she hadn't figured it out. They certainly hadn't worked to hide it and Anya was being truthful now but still. Clarke crosses her arm, feeling like she had to protect herself against her own suitor.
"We did not heed his advice." Anya's voice is steady, firm.
"And I should just be thankful you didn't annihilate every one of the Skaikru?" Clarke glares askance at Anya.
"Under Lexa's order, you would have been spared." Anya's irritation is rising at Clarke's suspicious tone. "That was in the past and there's no time to discuss it now, the meeting will begin soon."
"You think I would've been amendable if my people had perished?" Clarke growls, stalking forward until Anya's hand holds against Clarke's hipbone.
Anya narrows her eyes at Clarke's bold actions and looks over her shoulder to make sure no one was present, when she's sure they are still alone she drops her hand from Clarke and backs until she's leaning against the wooden post of the wall. "You can't hold us accountable for what did not occur."
"I can!" Clarke approaches again. She almost wants to say she will but she pretty much only has Lexa and Anya on her peoples… no her side so she can't exactly burn bridges but she's livid over this. "Don't you get what I'm feeling?"
This time Anya sighs and averts her gaze when Clarke is practically right against her. "Clarke, I don't know what you want me to do."
"I don't either," with a sigh Clarke backs off slowly, turning towards the barracks, "I'll grab Bellamy and Wells then we can go to the meeting."
…
Anya leads them towards a small concrete hut. Clarke watches the other chiefs enter with their people; she can only assume this led to a basement dwelling. This must be where the meeting will be held.
Lexa nods to Gustus and Indra, both going in without another word to let Lexa welcome them alone. Everyone else has already headed in by the time they make it. There's still a village around them but Lexa watches them approach with just a hint of pleasure on her face. "Clarke of the sky people has honoured us with her presence."
"I'm sorry I'm late, Heda." Clarke scowls as she spits extra emphasis on the title, she knows Lexa has no idea of the mood she's been placed in which only infuriates her more.
Lexa's brows raise, she's taken aback by the sour tone of Clarke's voice. Her eyes glance to Anya and Clarke can feel the Beta subtly shake her head to deter any more questioning.
The boys flanking Clarke are equally confused at the sudden hostility. Bellamy leans forward to remind Clarke of the stakes of the meeting and what she herself has just shared with him. She waves him off and confirms she's aware. She won't disrespect Heda Lexa or Unit Leader Anya but she can very well get away with being a tad spiteful at her suitors.
Clarke marches pass the stunned Alpha and glares at the tall guard at the door. He looks to Lexa for permission and when he receives it backs away and lets Clarke yank the door open for the Grounders to enter before following.