"Come on Heda!" Octavia shouted from ahead, motioning with her hand for the Commander to catch up with her. They were coming close to the borders of Mount Weather, but they weren't Skaikru. The deal was not against them, they weren't breaking the deal. They were Trikru. They were more than that, they were the Commander and the Commander's personal guard of the Trigedakru. And it had been a year since that deal was taken.
"Oktavia, shof op!" Clarke jogged to catch up with Octavia, who was now kneeling down behind a bush, the clearing out in front of them. The graveyard of hundreds of Trikru warriors. And Lexa.
"Well I'm sorry if you're the slowest Commander yet, Clarke." Octavia pulled Clarke down to her level, and the duo watched as the group of 15 Sky People left the Mountain. This was the end of the 12th Donation Day. And they couldn't stand for a 13th. In Lexa's honour. Give closure to the brutally murdered Trikru. Raze the Mountain to the ground.
"Acting Commander." Clarke reminded Octavia as she mapped out the lay of the land with her eyes, left hand gripping the sword by her waist, mirroring Octavia. "I'm only the Commander until they find the child with Lexa's spirit in it."
"It's been a year, Clarke. They found Lexa in a month after the last Commander died." Octavia shook her head, something catching her eye as she continued. "I know you said not to get wound up in silly hope games, but I don't think we know everything that went down after you left."
"I already mourned her, Octavia. Then I took over her post. I had Indra backing me up. I had to. And now I have to take down the Mountain. Love is-"
"-Weakness, I know, you keep saying. But here you are, planning to take out the Mountain once and for all, 'for Lexa'. You're still in love with her." Octavia glanced at the blonde Commander, and her eyes widened. She motioned with her hand for Clarke to say quiet, and pointed over to the right, a little bit from their hiding place. Clarke followed her gaze, gripping her sword tighter.
"Emerson." Clarke whispered, jaw clenched. Octavia put her hand on Clarke's shoulder, holding her friend and leader back, scanning the area.
"Make sure he's alone." Octavia whispered into Clarke's ear, and the blonde nodded, laying low and moving to the next point of cover.
The two girls tracked Emerson into another clearing, where he was focused on the door to what looked like an old bunker. He was so focused, he didn't hear the two of them silently approach him until they were right behind him, Clarke's gun drawn. His movements stilled when he heard the safety click off her gun, and he turned to face them.
"Clarke." Emerson dropped his hands to his side, nodding at the girls in turn. "And Octavia." He looked back at Clarke, tilting his head. "I distinctly remember agreeing to the terms that no Sky People were to come inside our borders."
"We are not Skaikru." Clarke locked her arm in place, levelling the gun at his head. "Ai laik Heda Klark kom Trigedakru. And you're going to come with us." She glared at the man, who was still smiling back at her.
"Heda? The new Commander. Better be careful, could meet the same fate." Emerson smiled at Clarke, and her finger tensed on the trigger. "Although. Maybe she didn't actually meet her fate."
"What?" Clarke and Octavia tensed, left hands dropping to their swords, and Emerson dove to the right, pulling the bunker door open as he did, and suddenly Clarke and Octavia were on the floor, rolling as they fell to the floor. Octavia was the first up, springing to her feet with her sword drawn. Her eyes flicked over to Emerson, who was pressing buttons on a controller. Then she looked over to Clarke, who was rolling a reaper off herself. It took all of two seconds for it to click in Octavia's head. Emerson was controlling the reaper. And Octavia could only go for one. Emerson or the reaper. Stop the problem, or save the target. Her commander. So she dove.
Clarke rolled the reaper off her, slamming her elbow into the reaper's nose. With the brief distraction, Clarke pushed herself off the ground, flipping the positions of her and the reaper, who in turn rolled them again. Clarke raised her head, forehead connecting with nose with a sickening crack as she rolled again, bringing a fist up to bring down onto the reapers head. The reaper growled out and looked up, shaking her hair out of her eyes, and Clarke's fist stopped in midair.
"Lexa?!"
"The Sky People are gone?" Emerson paced by the door, looking out of the small window to the outside, where they had just come in from. The guard that shot Lexa was stood next to him, watching his boss pace back and forward, waiting for the right moment.
"Snipers are watching right now." Emerson stopped pacing and looked at the guard, Johnston, and nodded.
"Get on the radio with them. I need to know as soon as Clarke's out of viewing range. The Commander won't be out for long. The shock charge will tide her over, but not for long. We need to get her in here and to the cells before she wakes up." Emerson scratched the back of his neck, waiting the word.
"Sir, the snipers report she's gone." Another guard, Stevens, yells from further down the hall. Emerson turns to Johnston and Reeves, taking their guns from their hands.
"Go, now. Get the commander. Take her to the cells upstairs. If she wakes up, knock her out, however you want. I have to go find Cage. He's going to die when he sees this." Emerson smirks and quickly heads off down the halls, leaving the two guards to go outside and grab the unconscious leader.
Clarke is flipped back over, pinned under the Commander and the world slams back into place. She ignores all the feelings slamming back into her, and grabs the Commander's shoulder blades with her arms and holds her back. Her face is marred with some old and some fresh scars. Blood leaks out of her nose and Clarke knows that's her doing, the break is clearly visible. Before Clarke can gather the energy and will herself to look into her eyes, Octavia's barreling into Lexa, bringing her hard down to the ground with her. Something breaks, Clarke can hear that. And from the way Lexa springs up, she guesses that something was Octavia's something. Clarke and Lexa circle eachother as Octavia scrambles up from the ground, holding her arm with her other arm.
"Lexa?" Octavia breaths out, not believing what she was seeing. Emerson claps as he steps up next to Lexa, small device still in hand. Lexa looks to him and backs down slightly, eyes pinned on Clarke.
"The wonders of shock pellets to the base of the skull. Instant knockout." Emerson laughs again, and Clarke snarls at the man, picturing his death at her hand. Only, her gun is over by the door, and the amount of rolling they did, she's nowhere near it. "The commander here is the greatest reaper we've ever had. So bloodthirsty. I bet she'd have taken any deal we threw at her." Emerson slapped Lexa on the shoulder, pushing her towards Clarke slightly. She drew her sword, and narrowed her eyes at Clarke. "Well? What are you waiting for? Kill her!"
And Lexa swung her sword, and Clarke closed her eyes.
A fist connected with Lexa's face again, slamming her head to the side. She spat out the blood in her mouth, turning her head back to face Cage. He laughed in joy, slapping Emerson's shoulder.
"You actually did it. I doubted you, Carl. But here she is." Cage kicked at Lexa's leg, tied to the chair like the rest of her limbs. "The great Outsiders Commander."
"What are we going to do with her? Bleed her? Kill her?" Emerson asked Cage, who was stalking around the tied up Grounder. He paused behind her, hands on the back of the chair, and looked Emerson in the eye.
"I'm going to make her a reaper." He smacked the back of her head, laughing.
