Chapter 1: Day Thirteen
A/N: Except for Jaha's little adventure in the prologue, Seasons 1 & 2 are canon to this story. This will essentially be an AU Season 3. There are several plot points I will be keeping, but the ones I don't agree with I'm pretending don't exist.
Marcus Kane held his rifle close to his chest as the group of six trudged through the forest. It had been thirteen days since they had escaped Mount Weather. This was the first scouting exhibition Kane had gone on since the explosion at Tondc. According to Dr. Abby Griffin, his leg was healed, albeit a little tender to sudden movements. When she had given him the all clear to go back to work outside of the newly christened Arkadia, he had immediately set up a trek to the north.
For thirteen days Kane had been shut behind the gates of what was left of the Ark. Sure, he had organized search parties for Clarke Griffin and with the help of Bellamy Blake, begun mapping the surrounding areas. He had helped Abby, who was still acting as chancellor, to put together a temporary council. But being cooped up while his officers and volunteers ventured out had been agonizing. After being on the Ark for his entire life, it had almost driven him crazy to not explore the Earth around him.
When they had first crash landed on the planet, they had immediately began searching for the missing one hundred kids. Then had come the tension with the grounders and the resulting scar that stretched down Kane's forearm. The next two weeks had been spent trying to break their people out of Mount Weather. Of course, then there had been the bombing of Tondc where so many souls had been lost and he had nearly been crushed under layers of concrete.
Every day had brought a new problem or enemy. And every day the people of the Ark survived. But that's all. They just survived. But for the past thirteen days, they had lived. The makeshift tents were disappearing and more sturdy rooms were taking their place. A few people had cut out a piece of land just outside the gates to create a farm. It even had irrigation. People were experimenting with cooking for the first time. For thirteen days, the people who had considered themselves to be of the Ark were slowing becoming people of the Earth.
And those thirteen days of being kept hostage by a bandaged leg and a cane had left the natural explorer in Marcus Kane hungry. He oversaw every plant and animal brought back to Arkadia and listened in great detail as his officers talked animatedly around the bonfire in the evenings. But that wasn't enough. Kane needed to be out there in the wilderness. He finally had the time without the threat of war to explore.
So here he was, wandering through uncharted territory. Or at least uncharted by Arkadians. Lincoln had been extremely helpful while they were charting the land around them. He would explain where each of the clans drew their boundaries and what areas were considered to be common ground for traveling. They still had an uneasy truce with Trikru people and the rest of the clans that Lexa commanded. Kane guessed that the Grounders were keeping a close eye on the Sky People's exploration. Even with all of that weighing on his mind, Kane was happy to be out in the open. The crunch of leaves and grass beneath his boots and sounds of the forest were music to his ears. The constant scanning of the trees and ground for any danger had his senses alert.
It had been about forty-five minutes into their trek. Sergeant David Miller had insisted on going with him this first time out and had brought two other officers of the Guard. Monty Green had wanted to get out for the afternoon so the young man had strapped on a bullet proof vest and was sporting a small hand gun on his hip. In his hands was a data pad that he was using to track their movements. The last member of their group was Bellamy Blake. The young man had been outside more than behind the gates of Arkadia. At first he had been searching endlessly for Clarke. Then his treks slowly become a healing process. Bellamy carried the weight of what happened in Mount Weather just as much as Clarke had.
Abby had encouraged Kane to talk to the young man and Kane had given it his best shot. But unlike Abby, who was grieving her daughter, he understood the guilt. When Kane closed his eyes at night, images of the dead haunted him as well. Three hundred and twenty people with eyes opened stared at him in the empty hallways of his mind. He guessed that Bellamy had similar dreams and that Clarke featured greatly in them. So instead of trying to counsel Bellamy with words, Kane just let him go on any exploration party he wanted.
Today, he noticed that Bellamy wasn't just scouting the trees for Grounders; he was looking for any sign that Clarke may have been here. Kane guessed that this was normal practice for him now. He had heard from officers of the Guard that when they came across trading posts or Grounder camps, Bellamy would ask about Clarke. Apparently Octavia or Lincoln had taught him enough Trigedasleng to ask about the blonde Skaikru leader. But thus far, he had no answers to where Clarke had disappeared to.
"Hold position!" called Sgt. Miller from up ahead in the trees. Instinct kicked in as Kane brought his gun up to scan the area Miller was looking in. Through the crosshairs of his scope he could see figures moving in the distance.
"I count seven," reported the officer positioned in front. Bellamy nodded in agreement.
"Trikru?" asked Kane. They had the best relationship with Trikru and apparently Indra had given orders for her people to ignore the Sky People if they ever crossed paths. Hopefully, the group in front of them would just keep walking.
"Not sure," answered Bellamy from his position behind a tree. "I don't see any tattoos..."
"They look like they're wearing normal clothes," noted Sgt. Miller in astonishment. Glancing back at Kane, he asked, "Could it be people from one of the other stations?"
Kane hesitated to answer. He could see the hope in Monty's eyes at the thought of finding Farm Station on the rest of his family. "Keep your guard up. They could be Grounders disguising themselves."
"They've seen us," called out the officer in front. "They've got at least one gun. Small caliber."
"Stay here and cover me." Kane moved forward, never lowering his rifle. Once he was in position that he could see the strangers, he called out in a commanding voice, "This is Marcus Kane of Skaikru. We are operating under the terms of the truce with your Commander."
"Kane?" a deep voice called out. It looked as if the man in front was speaking. He had a gray hood wrapped around his head. The others were huddled around a second man carrying a small handgun. Again, the man called out, "Marcus Kane?"
It took him a moment, but Kane finally recognized the voice. Turning behind him, he smiled and said, "Stand down. It's Jaha."
Jaha removed hood and walked away from the six other people with him. "It's good to see you!"
The two men met in the middle with a handshake and a hug. Even though they had parted on less than agreeable terms, Jaha was an old friend. And friends were hard to come by these days. After everything that happened, Kane was glad to see another Arkadian still alive. "We thought you were dead. We haven't heard from you in weeks."
"I am as far from death as a mortal man can be," murmured the older man. There was a twinkle in Jaha's dark brown eyes as he clamped a hand down on Kane's shoulder. "I found it. I found the City of Light. And so much more."
"It'll be good for everyone back at camp to hear some good news, my friend. Let's get you home."
Kane turned to walk back to Miller, Bellamy, and the others, but Jaha stopped him. "I have some people you should meet."
It was just then that Kane gave a second look to who was with the previous chancellor. He had assumed that it was the people who had followed him to search for the City of Light, but now he wasn't so sure. Upon closer inspection, he could see that it was John Murphy that was holding the pistol, but the people behind him weren't as easy to recognize. There as something familiar about them, but they certainly hadn't been in Arkadia when Jaha left.
Jaha was already walking back to the group, so Kane motioned for his team to follow him. He was trying to see the faces of the people Jaha had brought with them, but many of them were obscured by hoods and face wraps. There was an older, rounder man to the left of Murphy that Kane felt like he knew. The white tuffs of hair that outlined the man's head continued around his face in a beard.
Suddenly it hit him. "Dr. Whalen." But the old chief medical officer of the Ark had been floated close to five years ago, when Abby had taken over. He had gotten caught handing out extra medications and had not bothered to defend himself at his trial. It was impossible for him to be here, on Earth. Kane had been there when the doctor had been floated. He'd witnessed his death.
"Marcus!" Behind Dr. Whalen and a woman who Kane also recognized, but couldn't name, came an all too familiar voice. A connection in his brain was failing to register who the voice belonged to and Kane had a nagging feeling that his subconscious had tried to forget it. A well-built man about Kane's size came out from the back of the group and Kane's breath caught in his throat.
There was no mistaking the dark head of hair and stubble around the mouth and chin. With a broad smile Jake Griffin was standing in front of him, very much alive. And in his shock, all Kane could say was: "Jake?"
"Man, is it good to see you!" Jake wrapped his arms awkwardly around a stock still Kane. It was an awkwardness that Jake didn't seem to notice in his excitement to see a friendly face. Kane on the other hand was staring at a literal ghost. When Jake pulled out of the embrace, he finally noticed the staggered look on Kane's face. "You don't look too happy to see me..."
"You're dead." Kane couldn't remove the confusion from his voice. After all that had happened in the past few months, nothing surprised Kane anymore. But this. This did.
"They all were. Or at least, they were supposed to be," interjected Jaha. All of the others had joined them now and at Sgt. Miller looked as confused as Kane. He had been present when Jake Griffin and Dr. Alistair Whalen had been floated. Kane hadn't had time to take in who the other three were.
"They were floated?" Sgt. Miller questioned slowly, obviously still processing the situation.
"They were selected by the Chancellor to be sent to Earth instead of being floated. They were chosen to find out if the Earth was survivable."
"So when sending down adult criminals didn't work, you thought why not send down one hundred kids instead?" commented Monty sarcastically from the back of the pack.
"No one knew about them except for the Chancellor that sent them. They were saved by ALIE for the perfect moment. And I'm bringing them back now."
"ALIE?" asked Kane and Bellamy at the same time.
"Never mind. All will be explained," replied Jaha cryptically. "Let's get to the camp. We wouldn't want to run into any Grounders."
"We have a truce with them. A lot has happened since you've been gone." That may have been the understatement of the year. Kane turned his attention back to a gleeful Jake. His friend. Whom he had a hand in floating. Or at least, he thought he did. He remembered that day all too well now that Jake was standing before him, alive. And he had no idea what to say. What is there to say to the man that you watched die; that you helped make the decision that led to his death and his daughter's imprisonment.
"How are Abby and Clarke? Thelonious said they were back at camp. That they were leading the fight against the Grounders..."
Bellamy's attention quickly jumped to Jake at the mention of Clarke's name. It took the young man a moment before he realized who Jake was and the connection to Clarke, but Bellamy eventually recognized the previous Councilor and engineer. "You're Clarke's dad?"
"Yeah, is she alright? Thelonious told me about Wells and some of the other kids. But he said that Clarke was fine."
"She is. Clarke's fine as far as we know," said Kane quickly, refusing to look at Bellamy or Monty for fear that they would give away his false confidence. "Abby is the Chancellor still. We can talk about everything when we get back."
"You haven't removed her from power yet," asked Jaha. His disapproval was clear, but no one but Kane seemed to notice as they began walking south again. Kane saw out of the corner of his eye that Murphy was trying to get Bellamy's attention, but the older boy was ignoring him, along with everyone else it seemed.
Kane looked back to Jaha and answered, "No. She's done a great job. You left us on our own. We had a war to fight and you ran."
"Look, I don't know what happened, but why don't we save this argument until we get wherever we're going," interjected Jake on the behalf of his friend. The tension between Kane and Jaha spoke to something larger than just Jaha no longer being Chancellor. "I for one am starving. We haven't had anything but nuts to eat for the past few days."
"I kept saying that if Murphy would use the damn gun to hunt, we could have some actual meat," muttered an olive skinned man in the back of the group that Kane didn't recognize.
"Shut up, Abbot." Kane tried to think back to files he had read when he was the Ark. Elias Abbot was a biologist that had been floated for treason about five years ago, but Kane couldn't recall exactly what he had done to get floated. Or in this case, sent to Earth.
"Don't tell him to shut up. You're the one who won't let anyone else use the gun!" A second man with dark skin next to the only woman whose name Kane couldn't remember, was glaring at Murphy. It seemed that no matter who the kid was with, he wasn't adapt at making friends. The man would be Darius Marlowe. He had been caught smuggling goods between sections of the Ark, but Kane didn't know Marlowe's occupation before he had gotten caught.
"Well you won't have to wait long for some real food. We have plenty back at Arkadia," assured Sgt. Miller. The head guardsman nodded his head to the other two officers and Bellamy to get back into formation. They had about an hour's walk ahead of them.
It had been thirteen days without incident in Arkadia, Kane thought with a sigh. He guessed that nearly two weeks was too long on Earth before something had to disturb the peace. Glancing to his left, Kane tried not to think about the effect of Jaha's return would have on Arkadia. And he was certainly trying not to think about how Jake Griffin would affect Abby.
