The morning after, Clarke woke up with a really bad headache. She opened her eyes to see what was on her nightstand, after she fell asleep: water and ibuprofens. She smiled, took the pills and drank the water. This felt so good. She looked at the hour on her smartphone and got surprised: it was 3:35 pm. She had been sleeping all this time?

She got out of bed, trying to remember what happened the night before. She knew she played a drinking game with Octavia and Lincoln at the bar, and that her best friend's boyfriend proposed to give her a ride instead of letting her call a taxi. The only thing she remembers is that she was locked up outside the house because she left her keys inside before leaving. Since there was nobody home yet, she fell asleep on the porch and that was pretty much all she could remember.

She looked at herself into a mirror. She had still the same clothes from the day before, so this meant that she or anybody didn't remove any layer of clothes from her body. Great. Clarke changed herself for something clean, putting a white t-shirt and black jeans. She would shower in the evening.

The blonde walked outside her room to head into the bathroom: she brushed her teeth at least five minutes so the awful taste of booze disappear completely. She washed her face and headed to the kitchen. She found Lexa there, preparing dinner. The brunette smiled at her, cutting some vegetables.

"Hey, you're finally up. How are you?" She asked.

"Like someone have been smashing my head with a hammer all night long. I feel dizzy." She answered, slowly walking towards the coffee machine. She could probably drink two liters of coffee and it would not even give her an ounce of energy. Even if she might have slept more than 11 hours, she felt tired. "I'm so glad I'm not working today."

"Yeah, you told me that yesterday." She informed the blonde.

"Oh, so you were the one who got me inside." She said, blushing. She couldn't remember anything of that.

"I'm not even surprised you can't remember." She smiled. "You were really drunk."

"Thanks for taking care of me, Lexa. I hope I haven't been too hard to get to bed?" Clarke knew anything involving a pretty girl and a bed would have normally finished by her making a move. She hoped she didn't do that with Lexa – this girl would have probably been afraid from her.

"Not that much. The hardest part was to get you to walk – you also made me a hug and a few compliments." She answered. "That was quite entertaining."

She blushed and turned her back on her to pour herself a cup of coffee. She joined her at the table, sitting in front of her. "Did I say anything… wrong or compromising?"

She shook her head and Clarke had a sigh of relief. "Good then. I'm not used to drink that much anymore… so… yeah. Where were you last night?"

"I helped my uncle with the kids. He had to do a night shift and his babysitter didn't answer his calls."

"Were are Octavia and Raven?"

"Working, I suppose. I haven't check their schedules." She said. "I know they're not coming for dinner, so that would be the two of us only." She looked at Clarke. "I'm preparing a soup."

"You're an angel, Lexa."

"I know right." She added, winking at her. They were much more closer than when she moved in three months ago, but Clarke felt like Lexa was still mysterious. It was driving her crazy, because she really wanted to get to know her new friend. Yes, she might have a slight crush on Lexa Woods."

The 16th division have been selected to help drugs and gangs for a drug bust. Octavia was happy because her older brother Bellamy would be a part of it and she would get to see him. Clarke was excited too, but Lieutenant Kane remembered them not to talk to him. He was still undercover and they didn't wanted to miss that shot. This drug bust was important for their division so they keep their reputation.

Indra assigned the partners. Octavia was teaming up with Lexa, since she was no longer considered a rookie, while Raven was with Clarke. Jasper and Monty were together too, but that was totally normal. They were making a good pair. Finally, Lieutenant Kane was working with Indra and Harper with Sterling.

"Is everyone ready?" Kane asked in the radio.

They all agreed, parked their patrol car and got out. Everything went really fast and it turned out to not be in their advantage: the suspect had a gun and he was locked inside the house with three hostages. Clarke was really nervous and tried not to show it to Raven.

"I'll sneak out from behind the house." She said. "Someone should take the front door at the same time, so we could take him by surprise."

"I'll go with you." Harper answered. "At three."

And they started counting. At three, Raven kicked the back door and entered, gun pointing in the air. It was supposed to be a simple drug bust, no hostages, nothing complicated. But something went wrong and the suspect took the police officers by surprise. Clarke knew Octavia was probably freaking out because her brother was in there.

They heard gunshots and immediately took cover. The house was dirty, it really was disgusting, especially for Clarke. "I think he's in the living room." The blonde said to Raven. She nodded and looked in the hallway from the kitchen, where they were. When she confirmed it was clear, she walked slowly, crouched.

They moved until reaching the living room and they saw the man crouched as well, situated close to the window. Bellamy was there, along with two woman. The man probably didn't trust him and discovered he was an undercover cop. He was Clarke and Raven but stand still: they had the chance to get closer to him. Raven didn't let another second fly and she jumped on his back, smacking his hand so he let go of the knife.

At the same time, a larger man jumped on Clarke and backed her into the wall. He put his hand to her throat started to strangle her. She tried to remove his hands but it was not effective, so she reached for her holster and took her gun out, pointed at the man's stomach and shot him. He released Clarke's throat and she took a deep breath as he fell on the ground. It wasn't the first time she shot someone, but every time it left her a bit shocked for some reasons.

"Clarke." She heard her name and looked at Raven. She was not doing well with her opponent and Clarke asked in the radio for help. She jumped on the man to help her best friend but he had the time to punch her in the ribs before. The other officers entered and the man surrendered to them. They cuffed him and Clarke lowered herself to take a look at Raven. She might have broken ribs and a broken wrist too, by the color the skin turned.

Kane took the situation in control and Octavia hugged her brother as soon as she untied him. Clarke was on the ground, keeping an eye on Raven, when the paramedical arrived. Lexa came to see them and saw Clarke's marks left on her skin. She knew the blonde had been strangled.

"Are you okay?" She asked, taking her hands to Clarke's neck. The touch was soft, but her skin was burning. She wanted to speak, to tell her she was good, but couldn't talk. Raven lost consciousness, not surprising because the man beat the hell out of her. Clarke was sad seeing her like that and being unable to help – paramedics didn't wanted her in the way.

Two hours later, Clarke, Octavia and Lexa were at the hospital – after what happened, Lieutenant Kane told them to get their day off and take care of Raven. They were sitting into couches, Lexa with Clarke and Octavia was alone. No one was talking – even if she could, Clarke wouldn't. They wanted to have news from Raven and the doctor, which was no one other than Clarke's mother, came to see them. She immediately saw Clarke's neck and opened her mouth, but the girls asked for Raven's news first.

"She's going to be fine. Her wrist is the worst, it broke at two places – she already had it broken before, we are guessing this is why it's bad. She also have three broken ribs." She looked at Clarke. "We just got her into surgery."

"Good, thanks Mrs. Griffin." Lexa thanked her.

Clarke stood up and walked away with her mother. She looked at her neck and made a grimace. "How are you?" She asked her.

"I'm fine, mom." She answered with the rustiest voice ever. She sounded like an old lady who smoke three packs of cigarettes a day. She hugged her and Clarke left for the bathroom. She was no longer wearing her uniform, she left it in the patrol car so she could be more comfortable. She saw the bruises for the first time – they were violet and red. She could perfectly define where the man's hands where when he started strangling her. She felt tears trying to escape her eyes.

Wondering where Clarke went after their talk with Abby, Lexa searched for her friend and found her in the bathroom. Her hands were shaking, touching at the marks on her neck. "Hey." She simply said. She put a hand on her back and gently rub. Clarke looked at her and wrapped her hands around her neck, resting her head on her chest. The tears finally escaped and wetted the blonde's cheek. Lexa accepted the hug, trying to reassure her friend. "Thanks." Whispered Clarke to Lexa.