A/N: Please, please trust me. That's all I have to say.

Lexa stood atop a hill looking over the rest of her makeshift camp. They had made great progress the previous night. She pushed them as hard as she dared, eventually letting them catch their breath and rest. Every ounce of her body had wanted to keep going but the others were not as motivated as she was. None of them had seen what Nia's butcher did to those children. This was the second time the ice bitch had taken something she loved. There would not be a third time. With another hard march, they would reach the heart of Azgeda territory by midday.

Behind her, scouts made their way up the hill. She had sent them ahead right before they settled down for camp. It felt like an eternity passed as she waited for them to reach her, tapping her right foot ever so slightly. "What news?" Lexa asked, barely able to keep her voice in a calm level. A small part in her begged that they had found Nia so she could run off and kill her on her own. She could only wish.

"We found.. her army... Heda.." the scout replied in between breaths. Lexa paused shortly to let the man regain his breath. "At least.. part of it. In the mountains."

Excellent. "Where?" She asked, pulling out her map and laying it flat on the ground. She had used the mountains before when she conquered the Azgeda the last time. Using them again would be easy.

The scouts took a second to scan the map over, then the silent one pointed to a smaller section of the mountains. "Here," he said. "We were able to see several camps, mostly up in the mountains." The scout pointed out a few locations on different peaks. "I've seen the Azgedan army before. It looked to be about half of them."

"No doubt waiting somewhere just out of sight," Indra commented, walking up behind Lexa. Lexa stood and gave the woman a nod as she approached. "The easiest path to their damned city is through those mountains. Smart of them to take the high ground."

Lexa knelt back down to study the map. She remembered the lay of the land well. After she received her love's head in a box, Lexa studied every inch of that map. A smile crept onto her face when she saw the geography. "Here," she pointed to a flat part of the mountain. "A natural flatland. If they want to stay high up on their mountains, let them. We'll go straight past them."

"They won't just let us walk to their city undefended, Heda," Indra commented, kneeling down next to her. The warrior general dragged her finger across the mountaintops to a point on the far end of the flatland. "We need to go through that passage. The second they see us they have a clear path to block us."

"You forget one thing, Indra," Lexa commented to her general. "To block us in they will have to come off their precious high ground." She gazed off in the direction they would soon be heading, and felt her blood start to boil. "If we are fast enough, they won't have time to block us. Nia is who I want. I don't want to waste time and warriors fighting a meaningless battle." She looked up at the two scouts who still stood next to her, waiting patiently, and waved them off. They had served her well. She would see them rewarded when she had Nia's head.

"As you say, Heda," Indra replied, shades of doubt coating her voice. "What happens when we are not fast enough?" The woman faced towards Lexa and raised her eyebrows slightly, waiting patiently for the answer she already knew.

Lexa lowered her gaze. Her general knew her well enough. Even through her outrage at Nia's actions, bloodshed was not Lexa's preference. Other Commanders would have no problem cutting through any resistance. She personally was tired of her people killing each other. "I will... do what is necessary, Indra." With a slight sigh she stood up while snatching the map from the ground, crumpling it slightly in her hands.

"Will you?" Indra asked, laying a hand on Lexa's shoulder.

Lexa's nostrils flared slightly and she stared Indra directly in the eyes. From anyone else, she would have issued severe punishment for daring to openly question her in such a manner. From Indra, however, she would tolerate it. The warrior had earned her trust. "They rebel against the Coalition, they know the price," Lexa said, clenching her fist. "They may only be acting on orders, but they will kill us without second thoughts. I need to do the same."

Indra nodded her head and placed her other hand on Lexa's remaining shoulder. "Then I look forward to following you into battle. When do we move out?"

"Now," Lexa replied, lowering her forehead to rest against Indra's. "And let us hope that we are fast enough."

Clarke stood at the entrance of the medium sized room herself and all her friends and family were working. Each of them doing their own work, but still striving towards the same goal. Stopping whatever plot Pike had going. The sight of them all working together again, as a whole group, brought a smile back to her face. It had been a long time and she had much catching up to do with each of them. She spotted Raven working in a corner and walked over to her. "Hey," she said, taking a seat next to her friend.

"Hey yourself," Raven replied back, setting down the tools she had in her hands and spinning to face Clarke. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail quickly before settling her hands in her lap. "What's up?"

"Just came to check on you," Clarke said. "My mom told me what she did for you. How does it feel?" She had been ecstatic at the news when she heard it. Raven had done so much for the group and sacrificed so much. To learn that she would not be permanently disabled was a huge relief to her.

Raven smiled and rubbed her hip. "Much better than it was," she admitted. "The pain was unbearable at times. Now its more of a minor annoyance." Clarke loved seeing Raven smile. Despite their rocky start, she had grown quite close with the woman. "I heard I'm not the only one with some wicked scars," Raven said, reaching over and patting Clarke's thigh. "Did you really cauterize the wound?"

Clarke's leg jumped at the mere thought of the incident. "Unfortunately," she replied. "I tried to hunt down a boar." She dipped her head in shame, still pissed that she missed out on the meal. "It was an even fight." Part of her hoped that boar made it. It put up one hell of a battle and it deserved to live. "That wasn't even the worst of it, though."

"It must have been rough out there, all alone," Raven commented. Clarke watched her get up and shift her seat so they were facing each other. "Wanna talk about it?"

Clarke stared off to her right, to the monitors behind Raven. It showed the front gate of Mount Weather, where they had fought to get in not too long ago. Rain was pouring down outside. Lightning strikes lit up the camera view every few seconds. Each one made her think of Lexa and her army. She wondered where they were now and if they were safe. Her head shook slightly and she looked down. "I hated her, so much," Clarke spoke. "She betrayed us and left all of you to die. I did what I had to and got everyone out alive, but I payed the price. Bellamy and Monty too. But she was the cause and I blamed her for it."

"Lexa?" Raven replied softly.

Clarke nodded. "At first I just ran," she began, recalling her whole journey. "Away from home, away from all of you, away from everything." She still remembered how out of breath she had been when she finally stopped to think. "I reached my limit, and I broke. I couldn't handle it anymore." Her eyes felt watery and she took a few breaths to steady herself. "Every piece of me hated her. That type of rage changes you. I went insane for a while." The memories of her delusion at the drop-ship still haunted her dreams at night and she couldn't fight the shudder that went down her spine.

"You've had to make some incredibly hard choices, Clarke," Raven said, scooting closer and laying a hand over Clarke's. "We all have, but you most of all. All of us just process them differently." Raven shook her head slightly. "You're here now, and that's what matters." Raven reached over and wiped a single tear that had formed on Clarke's cheek. "Do you still hate her?"

Clarke shook her head and let out a small, defeated laugh. "That's the thing, though," she replied. "I never did. I blamed her for everything I had done, because it was easy." She reached behind her and unsheathed Lexa's sword, holding it in her two hands. "I tried to kill her," Clarke admitted. "Not with this, but with the dagger she gave me before we attacked the Mountain Men."

"What happened?" Raven asked, staring down at the sword's blade.

"I couldn't do it," Clarke blurted out, louder than she intended. "That's when I knew."

"That you didn't hate her?"

Clarke shook her head, letting her hands collapse into her lap. "No. That's when I knew I had... still have feelings for her. And it broke me." Clarke looked up to see Raven staring at her in disbelief. "It started before we attacked the Mountain. She... we kissed the day before the attack. I wasn't ready for it, not so soon after Finn, but I wanted to be."

"And then she betrayed you," Raven finished for her. "Jesus, Clarke, its a wonder you're standing here. You're the toughest, or most stubborn, person I know." Raven sent a soft punch to Clarke's shoulder and she laughed.

"Funny," Clarke laughed. "I think the same about you. Whenever I felt like giving up out there, I thought of you and how you would fight, and I kept going."

"Aren't we the sappiest people left on the whole Earth," Raven joked, bowing her head. "So, you and the Commander, huh?" she whispered.

"Not yet," Clarke replied seriously, shaking her head. "I'm still not sure it can work between us. I don't even know if I want it to. But its there and I'll deal with it when the time is right, if she doesn't kill us all for not giving her Pike."

"Right," Raven's smile dropped. "Back to saving everything. Not a dull moment on Earth." Clarke watched her get up and walk over to her desk, grab a medium sized black box, and return back. "Speaking of Pike, I made this handy radio scanner to try and find out his plans."

Clarke took the box into her hands with wonder. "Seriously?!" she exclaimed. "Is there anything you can't do?" She turned the box over in her hands and was amazed that Raven got it working. "What have you found out?"

"Not much, unfortunately," Raven said, reaching out and taking back the scanner. "It's really hit or miss. They have to be on the radio's while we're listening, and we have to be on the right frequency. I'll give him this, Pike is smart and rotates which frequencies he uses." She grabbed a nearby notepad with some notes jotted down on it. "From the small info we've been able to gather, it's mostly just talk about the village and what to do with it. Talks about Polis and someone named Niylah, but that's about it."

Clarke's eyes shot open. Niylah. She had completely forgotten about the woman who had helped her so much. Her name being on Pike's radio could mean anything, though most of what she could think of weren't pleasant. "What about her? Is she okay?"

"She mean something to you?" Raven replied, flipping through the pages.

"She helped me out... brought me back from the brink of death," Clarke replied. "I owe her my life." Clarke rubbed the back of her head and dipped it slightly. "I also... slept with her."

Raven raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Instead she kept looking through the pages of her notes. Eventually stopping on a line. "Here," she replied, pointing to a briefly jotted note. "All we've got is they said 'Niylah won't be leaving the castle ever again' and something else I couldn't make out."

Clarke's heart sank slightly. Niylah had risked so much to free Clarke and help her out. Now, she was a prisoner in her own home. Her only hope was that Lexa would free her when she attacked the Azgedan capital. "Thank you," Clarke replied.

Raven nodded and had begun setting the notepad down when a crackling noise filled the room. Everyone stopped and looked over towards Raven. The crackling continued and Clarke watched Raven almost leap for the scanner she had built. "Monte, get over here!" she exclaimed, instantly going to work on the various knobs on the device.

Monte was already at her side before she finished the sentence, grabbing the pad and working with Raven on the scanner.

Clarke stood up and walked up behind them. The crackling became static, and slowly but surely voices started to be made out.

"Almost there," Raven said, carefully and slowly turning a few knobs. After a few clicks, the voices became clear, and it was Pike.

"Are you sure these are correct?" Pike's voice came through. "The maps show it in the middle of nowhere. Can we even trust that they know how to give coordinates?"

"That's what they gave us." The second voice replied, a woman. Clarke looked around and Monte sat there, frozen, and she knew then who was the other voice. Hannah, Clarke thought. She still hadn't told Monte the full story of why she was there. Asking him to hand over his mother for a death sentence was not something she looked forward to.

"So be it," Pike replied. "They wanna blow each other up, fine by me. Less of them to deal with when this is all over. We're pulling up now. Let them know it'll happen soon."

Blow each other up? Clarke thought to herself. The blood drained from her face when she realized, and it seemed like the others arrived at the same conclusion she did. "The missile system..." she muttered in disbelief. "They're going to use it to..." Clarke trailed off as she saw two trucks pull up and a dozen men armed with rifles pile out. "Lexa... We have to stop them!" she exclaimed, already making for the door. Strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her back.

"We can't go out there, Clarke," Bellamy's voice sounded off behind her. "We don't have any guns here. Pike isn't fucking around with things he considers treason. He'll shoot us if he has to."

Clarke struggled against Bellamy's strong grasp, desperately prying at his arms. "Let... go...!" she screamed. "They're going to kill her!" I can't let this happen. "Please, you don't understand!"

"Raven made changes to the guidance system. Relax, Clarke," Octavia said, laying a hand on her shoulder.

Clarke stopped struggling and turned around to face Raven. "Will it work?" she asked, tears streaming down her cheeks. If it didn't, she was about to watch another person she cared about be killed. She was met with utter silence from Raven. "Raven!" she yelled, more tears coming out. "Tell me it will work!"

"I... don't know, Clarke," Raven replied honestly. "I'm smart, but I can't figure out a whole missile guidance system from scratch." She walked forward and placed her hands on Clarke's face. "I know what you're feeling right now. That helplessness. Pike's using a system he's never used before, and who knows where he got the coordinates from."

Clarke heard what she was saying, but it still didn't matter. She felt in her gut what was about to happen. Bellamy's grip around her loosened for just a second and she was about to make a dash for the door when she took another look at the monitor. All of the men Pike brought with him were inside. She was too late. Clarke sank to the floor, Lincoln beside her. They both knew they were about to watch the Heda die, and there was absolutely nothing they could do. Please, not like this, Clarke thought. I love her, was the last thought she had before the whole building began to shake around her.

Lexa stood in the center of the clearing they had planned to enter, her entire army standing behind her. Heavy rain poured down around them, hammering their soaked clothes. Nia's scouts must have been farther out than Lexa anticipated. The entrance they had counted on getting through swiftly was now blocked by the Azgedans. She would have to fight her way through them to get to Nia. I didn't want this, she thought to herself.

Through the rain and cloudy sky, most of the mountains around here were shrouded in shadows. The force before her was quite large and she had no idea of knowing how many flanked her. So many lives are going to be lost today, she lamented. She hated the bloodshed and war that their culture loved to engage in. Only one person, Nia, needed to die to see justice be done in her eyes. However, her people would see that as weakness, and she could not afford that. So here she stood, on the precipice of a battle she never wanted, about to slaughter several people and going against all of her ideals.

Footsteps approached her from behind and she didn't even need to know whom they belonged to. "Indra," Lexa commented.

"The armies are ready," her general replied. "As best we can tell, most of their army is in front of us. Scouts spotted smaller forces at our flanks, but nothing to do serious damage." Indra pulled out a small ribbon and handed it to her. "This was found by one of the scouts. They're using birds to send messages."

"Thank you, Indra," Lexa replied, staring straight at the sea of torches on the other side of the plain. "Is that all?"

Her general shook her head. "Something is not right, Heda," Indra began. "Even accounting for the flanks, the numbers do not add up. Where is the rest of their army?"

Lexa lowered her head. "No doubt waiting until we are tired and weak from fighting those in front of us," she said. "Nia has no regard for her people. She will throw them away to serve whatever purpose she deems worthy." This is all so pointless, Lexa thought, even though it was herself that brought them all here. Her rage was only towards Nia. These people didn't need to die for that, yet here they stood. Stupid, she thought as a few tears escaped her eyes, thankful that the rain covered it up.

"Should I sound the attack, Heda?"

Lexa nodded. "Save those who you can, but show no mercy to those who try to fight until the end," she commanded. "We will regroup wh-"

Lexa was interrupted by a deafening roar coming from behind them. The whole army turned in unison to the direction of the noise. At first they did not see anything, until Lexa cast her gaze upwards. Streaking through the sky was another one of the missiles Skaikru had used to destroy TonDc. Lexa collapsed to her knees and knew right then and there she had failed. Clarke had failed. Nia had played her right into a trap. I failed them all, she thought as her army screamed around her. All she could do was close her eyes and wait for the inevitable to happen. I'm sorry, Clarke.