Chapter summary: They finally make some *real* progress on the case. The second half is just clexa who are also making progress. And Lexa is pretty useless in front of cute girls.
A/N:there's probably more clexa in this chapter than any of the other chapters but idk tbh, i felt weird writing it. but i don't think it was a bad weird *shrugs* idk. basically there's just a lot of clexa and they're making progress and it ended up being way longer than i expected.
"Where is Detective Griffin?" Lexa asked, sounding almost breathless as she rushed out of the car and towards Detective Blake at the crime scene.
"She's inside." He told her and Lexa didn't wait to hear what else he had to say before making her way towards Clarke's apartment building. "I already talked to her." Bellamy stopped her, thinking Agent Woods wanted to ask Clarke about what happened and he didn't want anyone to bother her right now. "She's shaken up, maybe wait till we get to the precinct to ask her about it."
"I won't." Lexa replied. "You already talked to her about it right?" Bellamy nodded. "Okay, then I don't need to." With that she walked away, making her way inside the building and finding Clarke standing in front of the elevator. "Hey," She said to her, stepping closer.
"Hi," Clarke replied, looking up at her. "What are you doing here?"
Lexa thought for a moment, "Dead body…?" She hadn't intended it to come out as a question.
"No," She shook her head, correcting herself, "I mean, shouldn't you be outside?"
"I wanted to make sure you were alright." Lexa hesitated, biting down on her lower lip.
"I am." Clarke gave her a small smile, trying to sound reassuring. "I'm just waiting for them to be done with it so we can head back to the precinct."
"Do you know who…?" Lexa trailed off, deciding it was best to leave the question unfinished.
"No," She shook her head slightly. "And I don't want to see him, not while he's still in my backseat."
.
They were all back at the precinct within the next half an hour. There wasn't much to see at the crime scene but this time it was clear that their killer hadn't thought this murder through. Unlike the previous murders where the victims were killed off site and then dumped on the crime scene, their new victim was killed where he was left. Not only that, but Cage even left Clarke a note; blaming her for this murder, saying that it wouldn't have been necessary if she hadn't gotten his partner killed. Everyone else knew better than that, this wasn't Clarke's fault but she couldn't help but blame herself for it.
She was quiet for most of the day, not really up for talking to her partner or the two agents. Bellamy had pulled her out of their room once, wanting to talk to her and make sure she was alright, trying to convince her that this wasn't on her. But he didn't get too far with Clarke, if she had already accepted something and believed it, there was almost no chance in convincing her otherwise.
A little before 6pm, someone called in an anonymous tip saying they had spotted Cage. Knowing that most time tips like this didn't pan out, the team wasn't expecting much when they drove to the location they were given – a run down motel about an hour outside the city. On the drive there, Bellamy tried to talk to Clarke about it yet again, telling her that Cage would've killed someone anyways, he would just find another excuse to do it. But it didn't help, Clarke refused to so much as respond to him, choosing to stare at her phone instead. The only that that was enough to distract her mind off of all this was the Octavia and Raven and the fact that Raven hadn't called.
"Do you know what's going on with Octavia and Raven?" Clarke asked suddenly, stopping Bellamy from whatever he was saying – she had stopped paying attention a few minutes into their drive. He wasn't saying anything important, just going on and on about how this murder wasn't her fault was getting annoying to say the least and if he wanted to help, he needed to stop talking.
"What?" He asked, clearly not knowing what was going on with his sister and Raven.
"Octavia called me at two in the morning from my place," She started. "And when I got ther-"
"What do you mean when you got there?" Bellamy interrupted. "Where were you?"
"I was at Lexa's, we were working." She brushed it off but before he could say anything to it, Clarke went back to what she was talking about, "Octavia was drunk, okay? And I don't remember the last time I actually saw her drunk."
Bellamy didn't say anything, only gave her a worried look before turning back to the road. "Drunk? O?"
"Yeah." Clarke nodded, "Now stop worrying about me for a moment – because Bell, I'm fine." She told him. "And maybe worry about your sister. Something's going on with her and Raven and it seems serious this time. But when I asked her what was wrong, she didn't say much."
"Did you talk to Raven?" Was all he asked.
"I asked her to call me but I haven't heard from her." Clarke told him. "I just want to close this case so we can get back to our lives."
Her partner nodded. "I'll talk to Raven, you just take care of Octavia, you know she won't let me talk to her about this."
Clarke nodded as they pulled up to the motel and she practically jumped out of the car before it had come to a complete stop. Bellamy shook his head at her disapprovingly as the car finally came to a halt and he took the keys out of the ignition before stepping out. He circled to the back of the car where Clarke was already waiting and he popped the trunk open. Clarke leaned in, pulling out her bulletproof vest and handing Bellamy his. She pulled it on, fastening it in place as they made their way towards the two agents who seemed more than ready to go inside.
"Ready to go?" Clarke asked, scanning her eyes over Lexa, she was wearing a vest identical to her and Bellamy's, only it said 'FBI' instead of 'Police'. Lexa had taken her jacket off and the sleeves of her shirt were rolled up to her elbow. The double barrel shotgun she was holding is what did it for Clarke really, it took a lot of effort to tear her eyes away. Anya was wearing a FBI jacket over her vest and carrying a gun similar to Lexa's but Clarke realized it looked better on Lexa. Okay stop, She stopped her train of thoughts, doing her best to bring herself back to reality.
"Think he's really in there?" Anya asked.
"I hope so." Clarke replied. "Anonymous tips don't usually pan out, but god," She sighed, "I hope this one does."
"Uniforms are meeting us in a few minutes," Bellamy spoke. "But I think we should head inside."
.
Turns out, it did pan out. It didn't take them long to find which room he was in and from there…it was all pretty quick. Their killer wasn't what he made himself out to be anymore, not when he had four guns pointed at him. Clarke was relieved more than anything that it went way better than their encounter with Dr. Tsing. Everything was taken care of after getting to the precinct, Agents Rivers and Woods wanted to take point on the interrogation and both Clarke and Bellamy agree that it was impressive because in no more than ten minutes, they had a confession out of Cage.
Clarke was sitting at her desk, making a start on the paperwork. Bellamy had already left, saying how they deserved to call it a night given everything that happened today. Clarke wanted to get started with the paperwork because there was a lot to get through but Bellamy was okay with leaving it till the next day. She had assumed Lexa and Anya were gone too because she had seen Agent Jones walking towards the elevator a little while back but Clarke hadn't seen Lexa since the interrogation. She wanted to think Lexa would at least say goodbye before leaving but apparently not. Maybe it was because of today, Clarke knew she was more than a little off because of how her day had started. And right now, she really just wanted to go home and sleep but at the same time, she knew that was the last thing she would be able to do right now. So working right now seemed like a better – more productive – option than sitting in front of her TV watching reruns of reality shows.
"Hey."
Clarke heard a familiar voice say as they walked up to her. "Hey," She couldn't help the smile that broke out on her face when she noticed it was Lexa. "I thought you left already."
"I couldn't leave without saying goodbye." Lexa tried to say causally as she sat down on the chair next to Clarke's desk, not wanting to think about what she really wanted to ask. "I thought you would be going home straight after we closed the case."
"Paperwork." She nodded towards her desk, going back to writing; it was easier than saying why she didn't actually want to go home right now.
"You could start that tomorrow, you know that right?" Lexa asked. "Your partner seems to." She looked over at neat stack of files on Detective Blake's desk.
"I can't sleep now, so I thought might as well make a start; I mean, there's so much to go through." Clarke replied with a shrug, not looking up from the file on her desk.
Lexa hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say as a part of her wanted to close the file Clarke was writing in to get her to pay attention to her. "Since the case is finally closed…" She finally spoke. "I was wondering if you wanted to go get a drink…" She did her best to not sound as nervous as she felt; god, everything Lexa Woods was as a Special Agent, she was not in front of cute girls. "I think you could use one after today." Lexa added quickly.
"Thank you but…" Clarke looked up at her. "I don't drink."
She could just say no if she doesn't want to, Lexa thought to herself before speaking "If you don't want to that's fi-"
"No, no." Clarke shook her head, realizing she was turning Lexa down without really wanting to. "I mean it, I don't drink." She clarified, most people assumed when she said that, it was just her way of turning them down. "And I should really get on with this…"
"Maybe a soda or something…?" Lexa tried, her voice unsure.
Clarke watched her for a moment, she didn't sound like Special Agent Woods anymore; if anything Lexa sounded nervous right now. She doesn't really remember the last time she let someone take her out for a drink – well, meeting someone at a bar wasn't the same things as going there with someone. "Lexa I-"
"I'm sorry," Lexa shook her head. "Forget I ask, I'll leave you to your work." She gave her a polite smile, beginning to get up.
"Wait," Clarke stopped her. "It's just…" She sighed, trying to find her words. "It's just been a long day and I don't get really like to get my professional life mixed with my personal one."
Lexa nodded understandingly, she should've let it go at that but she couldn't. "But I'm done here; hopefully we won't be won't be working together again." She stopped herself, "Not that I didn't enjoy working with you, I just meant…I hope we don't have to work together again given the circumstances…" Lexa bit her tongue, mentally kicking herself because it was ridiculous how bad she was when it came to talking to someone outside of work. "And it doesn't mean anything; just going to grab a drink because we finally closed the case, nothing else." She shrugged. Thinking back their first day together, Lexa really just wanted to the detectives in her bed for one night and nothing else. But now…she was intrigued, there was something about Clarke that made Lexa want to get to know her; who knows, maybe they could be friends – nothing more because Lexa wasn't one for relationships, not like they ever work out so why bother.
"Alright," Clarke gave in; getting out of here sounded good right now and the only reason she hadn't left yet was because she didn't want to be home alone. So getting a drink – a non-alcoholic one, she reminded herself – with Lexa didn't sound bad. Fine, a part of her did want to get into the Agent's pants; but that was when they'd met, Clarke isn't sure whether she felt the same way now. Yes, she may have been annoying but she was hot and the annoying part was probably one of the reasons Clarke found herself attracted to her. But it was different now; she had felt almost upset at the thought when she thought Lexa had left without saying goodbye and Clarke was doesn't want to admit the relief that washed over her when Lexa walked up to her.
.
There was a bar about ten minutes away so it wasn't long before the two of them were sitting on bar stools with their drinks in front of them. Lexa had gone with a beer and Clarke an iced tea. Much like Clarke, Lexa doesn't remember the last time she had asked someone to get a drink with her. It's been a while… She admitted to herself, picking up girls here was easier than actually bringing someone.
It had been a few minutes and they had a light conversation going and Lexa was doing her best to not notice how Clarke tense seemed. "Are you alright, Clarke?" She finally decided to ask.
"Yeah," Clarke nodded.
"Are you sure?" Lexa asked gently. "Because you still seem a little shaken up about today."
"I don't know." Clarke sighed. "I mean, there was a guy in the backseat of my car with his brains blown out because of me." She said lightly with a shrug.
"He wasn't killed because of you," She tried telling her. "You know that."
"Do I?" Clarke looked at Lexa, sounding more serious this time. "I mean, Cage wouldn't have killed him if his partner wasn't killed."
"He would've just found another reason to." Lexa reasoned. "And I'm the one that killed his partner-"
"Because of me." Clarke reminded her. "Can we talk about something else?"
Lexa nodded, thinking of something else to ask. "Can I ask why you don't drink?"
"I have my reasons." She gave Lexa the same answer she gave to everyone. "How long have you had Lincoln?" Clarke perked up slightly as she remembered the dog.
Lexa smiled. "Two months." She replied. "I rescued him because I really hated going back to an empty apartment at the end of the day." Lexa's not really sure what made her continue because as far as anyone needed to know, she got Lincoln because she wanted to and nothing else.
Clarke's not sure what it was, but there was something in the way Lexa said it that made Clarke want to make sure she was okay. But from what she gathered in the last few days, Lexa didn't seem like someone who would truthfully reply to 'are you okay?', so Clarke decided to let it go and keep the conversation light. "I've always wanted a dog but as a kid my mom never let me and life hasn't really gone my way so I can't get one now because of work. I mean, I'm almost never home."
"Me neither, but I have a really great neighbor who absolutely adores Lincoln."
The next couple of hours went by pretty well but at the end of it, it was clear that neither of the two were too excited about leaving for the night. Lexa was almost going back home because she was still getting nightmares and knew they wouldn't stop anytime soon. Clarke was still reeling from today, it wasn't fun walking up to a dead body in the backseat of your car. And it had only gotten worse from there because she couldn't let herself of the hook for it, this was her fault; no matter how much anyone told her, Clarke couldn't let it go. If it wasn't for her, Dr. Tsing wouldn't have been killed and if she hadn't been killed, Cage wouldn't have killed again.
"Your hand's shaking." Lexa commented as she noticed it after Clarke put her glass down. "Clarke?"
"I can't let go of what happened today." She finally replied. "He was killed because of me." Clarke looked at Lexa, slowly shaking her head before the Agent could say anything to it. "Every time I close my eyes I see his face." It wasn't like Clarke to be talking about this because every time Bellamy had asked, she had blown him off or changed the subject immediately. "I don't think I'm going to get any sleep tonight."
.
Lexa drove her home, once again waiting until Clarke had gone inside and worrying about her as she drove away. She wasn't sure why she cared so much about the detective because only a couple of days ago Lexa couldn't so much as stand being in the same room as Clarke for even a couple minutes. There was something intriguing about her but Lexa couldn't really place what it was because the two of them hadn't even talked much about anything other than the case. But a part of Lexa wanted to know more about her, she wanted to know what drove the detective to do the job and afford to care as much as she did. It was safe to say that Clarke cared about her victims, she was torn up about their last one, – Jonathan Smith, as Clarke kept reminding the team earlier that night – still blaming herself for his murder.
As Clarke walked up to her apartment, the only thing on her mind was Agent Woods. She had a good time with her tonight and Lexa seemed like an interesting person so Clarke didn't see why she wouldn't want to get to know her a little better. She was good at her job, that was a given, but Clarke felt like there was more to Lexa than that. Lexa. She liked how the name felt on her tongue. Maybe she could give her a call later on, go out for a coffee together or something. No, she wasn't violating her no dating policy. Just because she's cute and I want to hang out with her doesn't mean anything.
Locking the door behind her once she walked inside, Clarke turned the lights on and made her way to the living room. The person sitting silently on her couch almost made Clarke jump; she knows it wouldn't have so much as made her flinch if it wasn't for what happened this morning.
A/N: dun dun dunnnn. *smh myself, i'll leave now*