Lexa washes her hands at the bathroom sink, contemplating her next move.

Clarke Griffin suspects something. That much is obvious. Lexa just needs to gauge how much she suspects.

And, for fuck's sake, why did Griffin have to help her with the one bag, the only bag, carrying all of her weaponry? Lexa kicks herself for not bothering to bring those bags up, first. All she can do is hope that Griffin won't look into them.

Lexa can't blame Griffin for being suspicious, nor is she surprised that Griffin is suspicious - the NSA hasn't been subtle about their ongoing investigation on Bellamy Blake and his team. Lexa distinctly remembers reading a file about a series of interviews of the Blake team conducted by NSA agents, and she curses her agency for their lack of discretion. All she can do is keep going with her "lost, new student" facade, and hope that Griffin's suspicion fades away.

She dries her hands off and leaves the bathroom, turning the corner to see that Griffin has disappeared. Lexa stops in her tracks.

Oh, no. This can't be good. Lexa inhales through her nose at an attempt to keep calm - maybe Griffin has gone into the kitchen to get some water. Lexa couldn't bear to have failed a mission less than two hours in. The General would never give her the end of it.

"Clarke?" she says tentatively. "Where'd you go?'

Everything after that happens in a flurry; Lexa feels someone grab her from her side, spin her around, and throw her back against a wall. She's suddenly faced with Clarke Griffin, who has her effectively pinned down against the wall - she's got one arm across Lexa's chest, and a knife held to Lexa's throat. They're nose to nose.

The Intersect tells her to react, defense movements already whirling through her mind, but Lexa holds still. Maybe she can still lie her way out of this.

"What the hell is going on?" she sputters, attempting to look as scared as she can be - which is difficult, since Griffin's hold on her is pathetically easy to get out of. "What are you doing?"

"Nice knife," Clarke says, her voice low. "Found this in your bag - funnily enough, I didn't get the memo that Berkeley students needed bulletproof vests. Or SW99 semi-automatic pistols."

The Intersect doesn't exactly have a lying mechanism programmed into it. And as great of an agent Lexa is, as good as she is at putting up cover lives, she is not a good liar when it comes to being put on the spot. "That's not - that's not mine." Jesus, really?

This is met with Griffin pushing Lexa even harder into the wall. "Fuck off with the act. Who are you?"

Lexa sighs, and rolls her eyes - only one way out of this, now. Using the wall and her extra height for support, she uses both of her arms to effectively push the palms of her hands into Griffin's gut, winding her, and Griffin stumbles back in pain. Lexa pushes off of the wall, grabbing the wrist holding her knife, and twists it behind Griffin's back, causing the knife to drop.

Griffin fights back, though. She fights back hard. Twisting her wrist out of Lexa's grasp, she turns to face Lexa, swinging a fist square into Lexa's jaw. Lexa only staggers back for a moment before she runs back at Griffin, tackling her to the ground. She pulls out the gun tucked in the back of her pants, straddles Griffin, and points it directly at her forehead.

"Don't move."

Griffin raises both of her hands in submission, panting. She stares Lexa directly in the eye. "Why did they send you to follow me? I haven't done anything wrong. If this is about my father -"

Lexa cocks her gun. "I've dropped my act, you drop yours. You know damn well that this isn't about your traitorous father."

This seems to get a rise out of Griffin. Dark blue eyes flare in anger. "My father wasn't a traitor. He wasn't the one killing hundreds of innocents for The Intersect program."

Lexa pauses. How does she know about The Intersect program? Hundreds of innocent people? What is she - She quickly regroups, knowing she doesn't have the time or patience to listen to Griffin stall.

"You're going to tell me exactly how you know about The Intersect program, and what you know."

"Or what?" Griffin says, sneering. "You'll shoot me?" She lifts her head slightly from the ground, eyes still boring into Lexa's, still panting. "Go ahead."

Lexa opens her mouth to speak, but she doesn't get half a word out before she's tackled from the side by a black-haired figure. Instinct tells her that it's Bellamy Blake.

Blake stands above her, pointing a gun of his own at her head. Out of the corner of her eye, Lexa sees Octavia Blake help Clarke up, and the two of them move to stand on either side of Bellamy. Great. Lexa stands, holding her hands up. Bellamy's gun follows her the whole way.

"Look what we've got here. The ringleader and his girls. Where is Reyes?" The Intersect scans her surroundings, and instantly, she's got strategy to get out of here. She stays put, though. This is a good way to extract more information out of them, before she fights her way out. She sees Blake give Griffin an interesting look - one of...amusement?

Griffin speaks. "Really? You think he's the ringleader?"

Blake looks slightly offended. "Okay, Clarke. Harsh."

Octavia Blake snorts.

Lexa doesn't have the time for this. "So, what? It's you?"

Griffin moves to stand directly in front of Lexa. Lexa drolly notes her lack of respecting personal boundaries as they go nose to nose again.

"It's me." Griffin's eyes are smouldering with hatred. "Go tell that to your leader. Tell them that Clarke Griffin and her team are getting closer than they think. Jaha was just the beginning."

Lexa can't help but be impressed with her bravado. She's briefly brought back to Costia acting the same way in anger, the way her eyes took on this very same look. But again, she doesn't have the time for this. "Very brave of you, Griffin. I'd love to keep talking, but I've got a schedule to keep up with."

And with that, Lexa head-butts Griffin, pushing her back into Blake. Blake holds Griffin steady as she comes back to her senses, and Octavia Blake draws a gun of her own, but Lexa easily kicks it out of her hand before she can even get it into the air. She picks it up from the ground, cocking the trigger back, and aims it at the three of them.

"You'll hear from me again," she says, moving around them, picking up two of the three bags - the one with her weapons, and the one with her clothes. The other has useless school supplies. She can leave it. Lexa is thankful that she hasn't arranged for her furniture to be moved from her old apartment, yet.

Knowing that they won't run after her, she uncocks her gun, tucks it back into her pants, and leaves the apartment.

On her drive back to The Basement, she rubs the jaw that Griffin hit, knowing that it will bruise later. Lexa contemplates ways to explain the situation to Gustus without sounding like a complete failure, but her mind simply wanders back to what Clarke was saying about The Intersect.

How do they know? What did she mean when she talked about "hundreds of people dying" for it?

Lexa can't help but remember her and Costia's last conversation - Costia murmuring about The Intersect being dangerous, Lexa taking no heed to her words as she desperately attempted to figure out ways to keep her alive.

And Clarke Griffin - Lexa and her team severely underestimated her, their first mistake being that Bellamy Blake was the ringleader. Of course, Lexa is hardly surprised - Clarke Griffin has an incredible charm and charisma about her; she's far more eloquent than a lot of students her age, and she holds a room with authority. A natural-born leader. Lexa would respect that, if not for the fact that Griffin literally goes against everything Lexa has ever worked for.

She decides that she won't call a conference with Gustus and her team, just yet. She needs to speak to Anya, first. Anya might understand.

Once Lexa gets back to her apartment, she calls Anya. Anya picks up on the first ring.

"Lexa? Are you okay?"

"Be at my apartment in ten."

"The one on campus? You know I hate college kids -"

"No. My apartment."

"What -"

"Anya, just -" Lexa sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Just come."

There's a silence. Lexa is sure Anya has figured out that something's gone wrong. "Okay. Ten minutes."

Lexa has just finished drawing up a mind-map of sorts on the situation, writing down everything she knows about The Intersect (and she doesn't know much), Clarke Griffin, Costia's life, and the NSA. She's beginning to believe in the possibility that maybe, maybe, Griffin isn't the bad guy, here.

Her thoughts are interrupted by someone knocking on the door. It must be Anya. Just in case, Lexa moves her arm back and holds the handle of her gun before she opens the door. Anya comes in without a word.

"Why are your bags here?" she says, turning to face Lexa. Lexa closes the door behind her.

"Hello to you, too."

"What happened to the mission?"

"They found me out." Lexa moves behind the kitchen counter, getting a glass of water for herself, and one for Anya.

Anya raises her eyebrows, taking the glass Lexa passes to her. "Are you kidding me? How could you be that -"

"We underestimated them, Anya. They're not just college kids with a penchant for the government. Hear me out."

Anya sits herself down on a stool at the kitchen counter. She's angry. This much is clear. "Lexa, I didn't recruit you for you to fail a mission this -"

"Hear me out," Lexa says, her voice starting to rise. Anya sardonically raises her hands. Lexa continues, standing across from Anya. "They're well-trained. If I didn't have the Intersect, they could have easily overpowered me. But - there was something about the way they were talking about us - they kept referring to us as "them". Not the NSA."

"Angry teenagers angrily refusing to say the names of the corporation they're against," Anya says, waving a dismissive hand at Lexa.

"No. There's more to it. There has to be."

"Look. You failed the mission. Gustus is going to give you hell for it, but it'll be better if you don't make any more excuses -"

"They know about The Intersect."

At this, Anya goes silent.

"They know. And they say people died for it."

Anya shakes her head. "That can't be true. We're basically Team Intersect, and we know nothing about it. How could they possibly -"

"I think it has to do with Jacob Griffin, and why the NSA executed him. But -" Lexa moves to the kitchen table, grabs the paper with her notes, and brings it back, sitting next to Anya and placing it in front of them. "Look. There was a trend in NSA executions right around the time The Intersect program was instated. All sanctioned by Director Jaha."

"They were all traitors -"

"Anya, the NSA executes agents for being traitors once every five years, at most. There were twenty-seven agents killed in a two-months period, here. Twenty-seven. Including Costia."

"Indra did that," Anya says, "And if you're implying that Indra is a part of some secret, murderous government operation -"

"Indra was just following orders from Thelonious Jaha. I don't think she's a part of whatever is going on. The last thing Costia said to me was that The Intersect was dangerous. To not let "them" use it." Lexa looks desperately at Anya. "Anya, there's something more to this."

"Lexa." Anya places a hand on Lexa's shoulder. "Costia shot a group of the programmers working on The Intersect dead. I know you loved her, but she had that one coming."

"Why did she kill them, though?" Lexa adds that to her notes. "What was dangerous about it? Clarke Griffin said that hundreds of people died in the process -"

"You're doing this off of what Clarke Griffin said to you?" Anya says, bewildered. She stands. "Lexa, we have to go report back to Gustus -"

"Anya, wait." Lexa grabs Anya's wrist. "We can't tell him. Not yet. I have to figure this out. I cannot go back empty-handed."

Anya stands there for a moment, then takes her wrist out of Lexa's grip. "Lexa, I cannot conceal things from the General. We have to tell him."

"At least - give me 48 hours. Give me 48 hours of a head start. Tell Gustus I'm still at Berkeley, still trying to find things out. For 48 hours."

"Fine." Anya starts to leave. "48 hours. And Lexa." Anya turns back, her hand on the doorknob. "You're going dark, now. If you don't come up with anything..."

"I'll come up with it. I will."

Anya stares at Lexa, and Lexa could swear that she sees a hint of pride in Anya's eyes. "Keep yourself safe."

Lexa turns back to her notes, reading over them, trying to put the pieces together in her mind, but she knows she needs one more person to help her do that - to help her find the missing pieces. She writes one last thing down at the bottom of the page:

CLARKE GRIFFIN.


One Year Ago

"Are you ready?" General Terram and Lexa stand in the middle of a white room. The front wall of this room is made entirely of large tiles - and these tiles look like screens. Dr. Tsing, stands behind them.

"So, what," Lexa says, her eyes flitting around the room. "I just..stand here, and what?"

Dr. Tsing speaks from behind them, and both Gustus and Lexa turn to face her. "You keep your eyes on the front wall. The Intersect will download itself into your brain chemistry."

"Yes, but how?"

"Photographs have pixels," Dr. Tsing says. "There are fifty screens, here. Fifty photos. Millions upon millions of pixels in every photo. In each pixel is a specially-programmed optical technology. Your eyes see every pixel. Your eyes, to put it simply, download every pixel into your brain. These pixels, put together, create The Intersect."

"Go over the risks with me, again. Before she died, Costia told me this would be dangerous. Why did she say that?"

Dr. Tsing pauses. "I apologize for your loss -"

"Save it."

"...From what I have heard of the...situation, Agent Abramov was not in the right state of mind when she revealed the production of The Intersect to you. She was likely just discussing the potential risks involved with downloading the program into your brain."

"Okay. Tell me what the risks are."

Dr. Tsing sighs, and looks down at the clip-board. "It's possible that your brain may not be able to handle the sheer capacity of information in every pixel, let alone millions, in fifty photos."

"What happens then?"

"Your brain would essentially melt. But we've run all the tests, Agent Wilde. Your brain chemistry is incredibly compatible -"

"With The Intersect. I know." Lexa turns to face the wall again. "Who created this?"

"It's best for you to not know the fine details."

"I'm downloading this into my brain. I'm risking my life for this project."

"Well, it isn't as if you have much to lose -"

General Terram sharply interrupts. "Dr. Tsing."

"No, no," Lexa murmurs, staring at the screens. "She's right. I'll do it. Start it up."

"General Terram, you and I will have to leave the room."

Gustus addresses Lexa. "Director Jaha will be thanking you personally after this."

"Director Jaha ordered Indra to kill my partner," Lexa says, her voice a monotone. "I don't want his thanks."

The general is silent, and then he nods. "See you on the other side."

Lexa is left alone in the room, and all goes dark except for the white tiles. A computerized voice sounds from the speakers above.

Intersect program initiated.

Intersect program commencing. Intersect will engage in five seconds.

Four.

Three.

Lexa takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Costia."

Two.

One.

Intersect program engaged.