Chapter 6: Earth Changes Us

A/N: I present you a double dose of what you have requested: Jake and Clarke and some Kabby. Let me know what you think! Also, to make up for last week, this chapter is extra long!

Jake spread out his arms and stared up to the clear blue sky. It was everything he had dreamed of as a child. He had read books to Clarke when she was a child about Earth. Jake couldn't believe he was here now with Clarke to live in this moment. The wind on his face was something he never thought he would experience.

"It's wonderful, isn't it?" Clarke's voice was just as soothing as the smell of the trees. And her smile, oh how he loved to see his little girl smile. When he had been drudging through the sand and the forest with Jaha and the other floaters, all he could think about was Clarke's smile.

Jake put his arm around Clarke's shoulders and pulled her close. "It really is." The two were walking to the dropship, because Jake wanted to see where Clarke and the other hundred had first landed. Clarke had jumped at the opportunity to spend time with her father.

"I thought about you a lot when we first got here." Clarke slipped out from under his arm and walked a little farther up the path. Even after she had left Bellamy outside of Arkadia and disappeared into the forest, she hadn't thought much about those early days. She actually laughed when she remembered the incident with the jobi nuts. "In fact, I had some intense hallucinations about you."

"Hallucinations?" asked Jake in concern, but upon seeing the look of nostalgia on Clarke's face, he relaxed.

"Yeah, don't eat the jobi nuts," Clarke laughed, but then turned more serious and said, "I needed you. And you knew just what to say."

"Well then it was definitely a hallucination," joked Jake as they walked along the path. They continued in silence for a while before Jake asked, "Why did you leave?"

"What?"

Jake stopped walking and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "When I got here and your mother tried to tell me where you were, but she couldn't tell me why you left after that thing in the mountain."

Clarke took a deep breath and leaned up against a tree. She had been back for two days and everyone was treating her as if she would break. She knew they were all wondering why she had left and where she had gone, but thankfully, no one had been asking questions, not even her mother.

"The Clarke I knew-" started Jake, but she quickly interrupted.

"I'm not the Clarke you knew." Her blue eyes bore into him and Jake swallowed hard. The woman in front of him was not the little girl he had raised. And it was more than the scars on her face or the clothes that she was wearing.

Jake placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed affectionately. "But you are…and I'm still the father you knew. I love you, Clarke. I just want to understand."

"So do I," whispered Clarke. Her father was really here, standing with her on Earth. She remembered the stories they used to read together and the plans they had made for whenever they made it to Earth. But the treehouses of her imagination and how they would learn to swim was all a dream now. "That's why I left…I was trying to understand."

"I know you've been through a lot since I got floated and I'm sorry, because it's my fault-"

"It's not your fault. Mom turned you in!"

Jake's eyes grew dark at her accusation. "Clarke, your mother was only-"

"Only doing what she thought was best. Yeah, I've heard that before." Clarke started walking again and Jake fell into step behind her. She didn't know how to explain it to him; she wasn't even angry at Abby. Clarke wasn't sure when she had actually forgiven her, but Abby had always been there when she needed her. "It's not about Mom."

"Wells?"

Clarke stopped at her friend's name. When she laid awake at night in the forest, alone, she often saw his face. But he wasn't alone in her memories. Finn was there and so was Charlotte. And every other member of the original hundred that never made it to Arkadia. And of course, there were the faces that she didn't know: the invisible faces of the people of the mountain and the grounders that were melted ash around the dropship.

"Clarke?" Jake was staring at her a little while up the path, having not realized she had stopped. "You want to talk about?"

"Talk about what, Dad?" Clarke's hands balled into fists. "Talk about how you got yourself floated and left me behind? Or how I had to kill Finn? We can talk about how I murdered hundreds of grounders or let Tondc blow up without warning anyone! How about what I had to do when Lexa…when Lexa…"

Clarke sat down on the ground and buried her face in her hands. Jake took a seat next to her, but let her have her space. "Lexa is the grounder commander, right? Your mom told me about her."

"I don't want to talk about Lexa," Clarke stated flatly. She was tired of crying over Lexa's betrayal. After she had left Bellamy at Arkadia, it had been days before she finally broke down in a cave a couple of miles from the dropship. She didn't know what had brought it on, but soon the tears had started falling and they didn't stop for a long time. But she was done crying over Lexa.

"We don't have to talk about her. Your mom just seemed to think that you two were close."

Clarke gritted her teeth and replied, "I thought so too."

Jake looked at her as if he wanted to say more, but Clarke heard something in the trees. She leapt to her feet and looked around them. "What are you doing?"

"Shhh!" hushed Clarke. She reached behind her and pulled a handgun from her waistband.

Jake's eyes widened when he saw the weapon in her hand and he started to get up, "What are you-"

"Get down!" shouted Clarke and pushed him back as an arrow flew through the air and lodged itself into Jake's left shoulder. He cried out in pain, but Clarke had already started moving in the direction the arrow had come from. Suddenly, she could hear hooves on the path in front of them and she raised the gun with a steady hand.

As soon as the grounder and his horse came into view, bow and arrow in hand, Clarke pulled the trigger. The grounder fell from his horse and hit the ground, dead. The horse continued to run into the trees, away from them. From behind her, she heard her father call her name. Turning quickly, gun pointed, she saw another grounder holding a knife to Jake's throat. The man had triangular scars on his face and white paint on his neck and forearms.

"Wanheda, fou daun yu fayogon!" the grounder shouted. Clarke recognized the word for 'gun' and by the motion the grounder was making, she could infer that he wanted her to drop her gun. There was no way to shoot him without hitting her father and Jake didn't have the experience to take out the grounder himself. So, Clarke slowly lowered the gun to the ground, carefully weighing her options.

The grounder obviously thought he had an upper hand, because he grinned menacingly, "Wanheda. Nau osir don uf gon Wanheda."

The grounder was so occupied with his prize that he threw Jake to the side and approached Clarke with is long knife in hand. Thinking fast, Clarke charged forward, knocking the grounder on his back. She pulled the knife hidden in her sleeve, but before she could strike, the man elbowed her in the jaw and flipped her over so he was on top now and her hand holding her knife was pinned under his knee.

It surprised Clarke that the grounder did not slit her throat now that he had the advantage. To her, this meant that he intended on taking her alive, and she could use this to her advantage. However, before she could make her move, Jake grabbed the man's hand with the knife and pulled him backwards. Clarke scrambled to her feet and tackled the grounder once again. Jake was shouting now, but he wasn't a fighter. Usually a two on one situation would even the playing field for wresting with a grounder, but Jake was hurt and had no experience with weapons.

Therefore, she had to make a quick decision. Clarke forced her knife into the exposed skin around his neck. The grounder gasped and tried desperately to seize her arms to no avail. Still choking, the grounder spat, "Wanheda…"

At his words, Clarke pulled the knife out, and blood surged out of the opening. As the grounder gagged, blood spurted across Clarke's face and it seeped through her shirt. She watched the man die with hollow eyes. It was then she remembered that her father was standing near her, watching her stand over the dying grounder. She looked up and her heart stopped at the look of terror on Jake's face. But before she could talk to him, the sound of someone running in the trees stopped her.

Lunging for the forgotten gun, Clarke turned to face whoever had come to challenge her now. Relief overcame her when she saw Octavia and Lincoln emerge from the trees and she lowered her gun. Octavia had her sword drawn, but as she assessed that the situation was under control, she placed it back in its sheath.

"What happened?" asked Lincoln. He bent over the now dead grounder Clarke had just stabbed to investigate.

"We were attacked," answered Clarke, now focused on her shell-shocked father. "Dad was hurt, we need to get him back to Arkadia."

-THE 100-

Back at camp, Kane was finishing up his dinner when Abby pulled back the chair across from him to sit down. He smiled at her, but went back to shoveling food into his mouth. He had to be at the command post to relieve one of Pike's men soon.

"You've been avoiding me."

Kane glanced up to look at her, his spoon hovering between the plate and his mouth. "I promise you that wasn't my intention."

Abby studied him for a moment before crossing her arms and adding, "You're avoiding Jake."

"That might be a bit more accurate," Kane admitted and he focused on his plate instead of her face. Ever since the dance he had shared with Abby, he was feeling a bit guilty about almost kissing Jake's wife. But he hadn't necessarily been actively avoiding either one of them, but with the upcoming election, he had a lot on his mind.

"It's more than just being there to push the button to float him, isn't it?"

She knew him too well. He had pushed the button to float a number of people and Jake wasn't the only one he had sentenced to death that he had known. But he couldn't admit to Abby that it wasn't the look on Jake's face that had haunted him in his dreams- it had been the look of devastation on her own. "It's that...and more."

"You used to be friends," she pressed on.

He really wished she had not confronted him about this. He had hoped they would all be too busy for her to notice. Trying to cover for his lack of attention, he muttered, "Not like him and Thelonious."

"Still..."

"Abby, let it go. You've got your family back. You finally get what you want and you're here watching me eat. Take this chance to be happy...you never know what's going to happen."

"He keeps asking about you and why you can't stand to be in the same room."

"I don't know what to tell you." That wasn't a lie. He had no idea what she wanted from him. In his opinion, avoiding Jake was working exceptionally well.

Abby wasn't backing down, though. Her eyes narrowed and she said, "I think you do. I think this is about feeling guilty about your feelings for me."

Kane almost dropped his fork. He wasn't going to flat out deny he had feelings for her, but they had been ignoring it for weeks and now that her daughter and Jake were back, why would that change anything? What was the purpose of this conversation? "Abby, forget it."

"No. Because if you really don't have feelings for me past being friends then I've been reading the signs wrong for weeks."

"I said forget it. It's nothing."

"But I don't want to forget it." Abby put a hand on his own, forcing him to put his fork down. "And I don't want to ignore what is happening between us."

Kane gritted his teeth in frustration. "There is nothing between us. Go back to your family, Abby."

"How can you say that?" The dark ponytail she wore shook behind her. "I need to know..."

At this, Kane got up and picked up his plate to take it to the wash bin. Abby followed him stubbornly and shouted, "Marcus, don't walk away from me!"

He walked directly toward the lockers where he would pick up his rifle for his duty. Abby walked quickly to keep up, as she required two steps for each of his long strides. To Kane's great surprise Abby didn't talk, but when they reached a deserted section of the hallway, she pushed him into the wall.

"Abby! What are-"

Kane didn't get to finish his question, because she had grabbed the front of his guard jacket to meet his lips with her in own in a searing kiss. Abby's action caught him completely of guard and he nearly toppled them both over trying to find something to hold onto. Kane could feel Abby's firm body pressed against his and he knew she was on the tips of her toes to reach him.

Her hands traveled upward from his jacket to wrap around the back of his neck. His skin tingled at her touch and he felt the faint pressure of her trying to force him to lean into the kiss. It would be so easy to give in. Kane couldn't deny that he wanted this- wanted her. She felt so right up against him and the tip of her tongue brushed up against his lips…

"Stop!" Kane pushed Abby back and side stepped her to move away from the wall. His threw his hands into the air and whispered, "I just can't…"

Abby's brown eyes widened at his action. He didn't blame her for her for thinking he would have wanted to kiss her; he did want to kiss her. He could still feel the ghost of her lips on his and there was nothing he wanted more than to take her into his arms and continue. If it was two weeks ago, he would have done just that and probably more. But Jake was alive; her husband was alive.

"You're married, Abby," he managed to say as he avoided her eyes. Instead, he ran his hand over his beard in trepidation. Kane was afraid he wouldn't be strong enough to resist her.

"Jake was dead," she stated flatly and she clenched her hands into fists at her sides. Knowing that Kane might bolt if she tried to touch him, she kept her distance. "Marcus, my husband was dead. And for a while, I was afraid my daughter might be as well. I have changed, Marcus. We both have."

"He loves you and I know you love him."

"On the Ark, things were different," Abby tried to reason with him. "I loved Jake and a part of me will always keep a part of him close to my heart, but we're not on the Ark anymore. I'm not the person on that Ark anymore. You and I- we would have never been in this situation on the Ark because we were too different!"

"You can't just ignore your husband!" Kane's shoulders were tense and he kept backing away from her. This time, Abby followed him. In her eyes was the determination Kane had come to love here on Earth. Abby's strength of mind and soul during everything they had been through together had led him to reconsidering his feelings for her. But now he had to walk away and she needed to understand.

"I'm not ignoring Jake! But I'm not the woman he married. He'll see that. He has to…"

"What about Clarke?" Kane knew that bringing up her daughter was a low blow, but he was getting desperate.

"Clarke has her father. Just because I don't love him anymore doesn't mean she loses her father!"

"Are you sure you don't still love him?" There it was. Kane finally pinpointed the exact reason he couldn't give in to her completely. He felt he was betraying Jake, but he was more afraid of Abby betraying him. "Because we're not kids, Abby. You don't get to flip flop between us depending on your mood…I can't take that."

Fury caused Abby's cheeks to turn red. In a seething voice she replied, "I'm not a child. And neither are you. I know what I want, Marcus. I know that I love you and I thought you may love me too. I'm not giving up on you."

But the implications of his comments had hurt her and she didn't stick around to hear his answer. Abandoned in the hallway, Kane squeezed his eyes shut and let out a shuddering deep breath. He had never been good at relationships and when he finally did fall in love, of course it had to be with Abby Griffin. But she had her family, why couldn't she see that? He didn't want to hurt her; he had seen her in pain too many times over the last few weeks. And some of that pain he had been responsible for.

It would be better if she hated him though. He could love her from afar. It would be better for both of them, he told himself. Jake was a good husband and a good man and Kane had known him for a long time. Although the Griffins' were often the opposing viewpoint of his own on the Ark, they were good people. Jake was good people. Kane didn't see himself that way. Oh, he would love Abby- he did love Abby. But he wasn't good people. He was the people that made the hard decision and got things done.

Storming into the locker room, Kane slammed his fist into one of the lockers. Pain shot up his arm, but for once he welcomed it. For a few seconds, he forgot about the touch of her lips and her hands on his jacket and face. He forgot about how natural it had felt to hold her. But just for a few seconds. Kane shook his hand out and tried to concentrate on work. He grabbed his rifle from his locker and stalked out toward the front gate.

He nodded at a few of the people he saw as he walked to his post, but didn't involve himself in any of the chatter like he normally did. Abby would have berated him for not socializing with the election coming up, but it was her fault he was irritated in the first place. Kane relieved one of the new officers that had come with Pike and took a seat in the watchtower.

Barely five minutes had passed when he saw Octavia running out of the edge of the forest waving her arms over her head. Kane slid down the ladder as quickly as possible and ordered the front gate to be opened. He could just make out what the young woman was yelling as the metal clanked.

"Get Abby! We need a doctor!"

The only people out today that Kane knew of were Clarke and Jake Griffin. Panic seized in Kane's chest as he rushed to Octavia's side. He knew that someone else would be running for Abby. "Octavia, what happened?"

Octavia turned and pointed to the path that led into the forest. Clarke and her father were slowly making their way back to camp with a protective Lincoln trailing behind them. Clarke appeared to have blood on her, but Kane's eyes immediately diagnosed that Abby would be needed for the arrow sticking out of Jake's shoulder.

Once inside the walls of Arkadia, Clarke and Jake were surrounded by Abby, Jackson, Kane, and to Kane's dismay, Pike. Upon further inspection, Kane realized that the blood on Clarke wasn't her own and except for her rumbled clothing and a few scratches, Clarke was in good health. Adrenaline was working in Jake, because he was currently joking with Abby about his wound.

"Hey, if being floated out an airlock didn't kill me, there's no way a little arrow will!"

Abby didn't seem to agree with her husband's humor as she inspected the injury. "It doesn't look like it hit anything important, but it could be poisoned."

"Those men weren't warriors. They were bounty hunters from the Ice Nation. Azgeda doesn't believe in poison. They make their kills personal," said Lincoln from behind Octavia. "I also checked the other arrows."

Abby nodded at his words and turned to Jackson, "We need to get him to medical so we can get the arrow out."

"What about the men who attacked us?" asked Jake as he looked at his daughter who was still clutching the gun she had used to defend them.

Pike stepped forward. "This is exactly what I was trying to tell you! The grounders have no respect for the truce. We need to take action!"

"Those men weren't Trikru! They belonged to the Ice Nation- we need to figure out why they were here," argued Octavia. Her hatred for Pike had only grown during the last few days of his campaigning. And his distaste for both her and Lincoln was one of the worst kept secrets in Arkadia.

"They were here to kill them!" Pike could see the opportunity to convince the people of Arkadia that action needed to be taken against the grounders, Trikru or Azgeda alike.

"No," protested Clarke, finally speaking up. She shook her head in confusion and thought back to the altercation. "They weren't there to kill me and they basically ignored Dad. The one grounder kept saying 'Wanheda'."

Everyone turned to look at Lincoln, whose eyes had narrowed at the word. "It means Commander of Death. If they wanted you alive, they were taking you to the Queen."

"I thought there was a Commander, not a Queen?" asked Pike.

"Lexa is the heda- the commander of the Coalition and of all the grounders. But each group has its own command. Queen Nia rules over the Ice Nation and if anyone were to go against Lexa's orders, it would be her."

Now that Abby was certain that no ill fate would become of Jake, her attention turned to protecting her daughter. "What does this Queen want with Clarke?"

"If those men were calling Clarke Wanheda, it's possible that Queen Nia is planning to overthrow Lexa by killing Wanheda and assuming the power that she possesses," explained Lincoln quietly.

"But I don't have any power…"

Lincoln addressed Clarke now when he spoke. "You brought down the mountain and formed an alliance with our Heda. You have killed hundreds of grounders and mountain men alike. You are the Commander of Death."

The group stood in silence at the meaning behind Lincoln's words. Abby reached out to take Clarke's hand, but Clarke was more concerned about her father. Jake's face had turned pale at Lincoln's description of his daughter. Clarke was no longer the little girl he had read stories about Earth to; Wanheda stood in his daughter's place.

Translations:

Fou daun yu fayogon: Drop your gun.

Nau oso do uf gon Wanheda: Now we have the power of Wanheda. (This is probably incorrect, and if you can correct it, please let me know)