Chapter 29:

The trap was set at the market. Everyone was in position. Bellamy had insisted that the message went through on the radio and that if York needed supplies, he'd show up. Kane seemed less sure, but that didn't surprise Clarke. After about 30 minutes of waiting, Clarke decided she'd better settle in for a long day. They'd only told York and Brooklyn, via the radio, that they were going to be away from the market for the events of the executions. They failed to mention a window of time. Clarke only hoped that they actually heard the message. Raven and Wick had put together a device that could track the radio, but the radio had been turned off or the battery was dead. They weren't entirely convinced the device would actually work. They did their best working through the night, but they'd never built something like that before with the supplies they had. If the radio did come back on though, they had it with them and would hopefully be able to pick up the signal and track them within about 100 feet.

It felt like an eternity to her as she knelt in her ready position waiting for someone to arrive and try to steal supplies. After a few hours though, it was clear that if York or Brooklyn were showing up, it may not be today. It was nearing noon. Clarke stealthily moved through the building, still hoping they'd arrive. She made her way toward Lexa and knelt back down.

"How much longer do we stay?" Clarke asked her.

"You and I should go. I'll leave people behind to continue watching for them just in case."

"I'll leave Bellamy and Lincoln and Raven." Clarke offered.

"Let's go." Lexa said. They made their way outside toward Indra who'd been hiding behind a large tree awaiting an order.

"Heda, I will remain behind." She offered.

"No, come with us. You should remain at my side." Lexa told her.

Octavia approached.

"Octavia, you will act in my stead." Indra shared. "That means you are in command."

"I can handle it." Octavia replied confidently.

Raven and Wick approached with Kane.

"What's up?" Raven asked.

"We're heading to the trials. You should come with us. We need as many people on our side there as possible." They'd decided on public trials for the Ice Nation members that remained. Glacia wouldn't be present given her role in the near coo, but the rest would be there. It was mainly for show. York and Brooklyn thought they'd all be executed. It was only Clarke and Lexa's inner circle that knew even the trials would be for show; just a distraction for now to give some kind of closure to the battle, to show that they could be fair, but that no one should try to pull this kind of thing again.

"Okay. Are we just giving up here though?" Raven asked. Just then, the small device attached to Raven's hip lit up. It had a small screen they'd taken off of a portable television they'd found scrapped. It was black and white with numbers on it. Clarke didn't know what it meant, but she guessed Raven and Wick did. "They've turned the radio on."

"Where are they?" Clarke asked.

"Not where you expect us to be." It was York's voice over the radio attached to Wick's hip.

"Wick? You had that on the whole time?" Raven asked. "What if someone would have said something and it spooked them?"

"I just turned it on… after I thought we were ditching the plan. I hit the button. Sorry." He explained.

Clarke took the radio from him.

"Where are they?" Clarke asked Raven. Lexa stood next to her waiting for the screen and Raven to reveal a location.

"Clarke? Are you there?" York asked.

"I'm here, York. Where are you?" She asked and then looked at Raven.

"It's still calculating." Raven answered.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that." York said. Clarke heard him sigh. "If only things had been different. When Carolina told me she thought you and I would make a perfect match, I had to agree with her. You're pretty hot, Clarke." He stated. Lexa stared at the radio with contempt.

"Well, I don't think it would have worked out."

"You've got your little commander girlfriend."

"Yes and also, you're a psychopath."

"I am what my mother made me." He replied. "You try being raised by that woman and not turning out like this. Even Brooklyn ended up like me because of Carolina."

"What do you want, York?" Clarke asked.

"My city." He replied quickly.

"Why is he talking to us?" Wick asked.

"He doesn't know we're tracking him." Clarke answered. "He figured out the trap, but he doesn't know about the tracker." She clicked the radio. "It's not your city. It never was."

"Come on, Clarke. Just go back to your capital with your warrior princess and leave this place to Brooklyn and me. We can find others to help us… repopulate." He laughed a little. "You go your way. We go our way. No more violence. I'll even let you take the planes and since you're already at the market, take some rations too."

"I will end him." Lexa stated.

"This is our city now, York." Clarke stated confidently. "You want it, come and get it."

She heard him laugh on the other end of the radio.

"I thought you were smarter than that, Clarke. It's why I liked you so much. I thought you were worthy." There was a long silence. "I don't have to come to you to get what I want. I'm just going to take it." With that, the radio went silent.

Clarke made sure the radio was off just in case.

"Raven?"
"He's near the city center."

"What?" Octavia asked.

"The latitude and longitude match. That's where he is."

"They're going to take the city." Clarke warned.

"They can't. There are only two of them." Wick responded.

"They might have picked up a few people. They had followers." Raven said.

"They don't need them." Lexa realized. "We'll all be at the same place at the same time. The trials. They think they are executions. Everyone was going to attend."

"They're planning an attack." Clarke shared.

"Something fast. Something that doesn't require a lot of people." Lexa elucidated.

"Bombs." Raven added. "That's the only thing they could do to take us all out at once."

"No resistance." Clarke stated.

"We have to cancel everything today. We need to get word to everyone to go back to their houses and wait-" Raven started.

"We cannot cancel." Lexa retorted. "We know where they are. We've figured out their plan. They made a mistake in telling us."

"What if they didn't?" Clarke questioned. "What if this is a trap just like our radio transmission to them was supposed to be? Maybe there are no bombs. They just want us to think there are."

"We can stand here guessing all day, but those people-" Raven began again.

"I know." Clarke told her. "We need to find a way to keep up appearances, but still find York and Brooklyn."

"And a bomb apparently." Raven replied.

"We'll find it, Raven." Clarke assured her without entirely assuring herself. "Let's just get over there."

"Some of us should try to stop the people who aren't there yet from going. They should at least stay away." Octavia mentioned.

"Okay." Clarke replied.

"Lincoln and I will take care of it. Gather a few people and make sure word only gets out to who we want." She explained.

"Thanks." Clarke answered.

When they arrived at the location, Lexa's protective instincts emerged. She pulled Clarke aside after Clarke had issued orders to start looking around covertly. She was hoping they'd find the bombs if there were any and at least move them away from the crowd of people already gathering and in good spirits with the impending trials. If they found York and/or Brooklyn, that would be even better, but she wasn't hopeful. York was smart, but Clarke sensed Brooklyn was even smarter and they probably figured out a way to get what they wanted without getting caught.

"Clarke, I don't like you being here." Lexa admitted.

Clarke just looked at her.

"I don't like either of us being here, Lexa, but we don't have a choice."

Lexa tugged lightly on her arm.

"This isn't about us, okay?"

"What's not about us?" Clarke asked her.

"What I'm about to say."

"Lexa, just-"

"One of us has to go, Clarke."

"What are you talking about?"

"If there's a bomb and it goes off and we are both here, there will be no one left to lead the people."

"We've fought side by side before."

"Not like this. Your people would not follow Indra and mine would not follow Bellamy or Kane or even your mother."

"Lexa, I'm not going anywhere."

"My people will follow you, Clarke. Your people would not follow me."

"How do you know that?"

"You know I'm right." Lexa spoke with confidence. "One of us should leave. If there is a bomb and we can't stop it from going off…" She drifted for a second and looked around. Clarke took in the sunlight reflecting in Lexa's eyes when she looked to the side.

"I can't just leave everyone here. I can't just leave you here. What would I do? Just go home and sit there? Wait?"

Lexa looked at her as if she was unsure how to respond.

"I know it is unfair to ask and I know you are not someone who stays behind. You charge into battle. It is one of the things I love about you, but-"

"You're right." Clarke told her. "About my people not following you. You're right." She considered her options. She knew logically Lexa was correct. If their people were to stick together, it had to be one of them in charge. It wouldn't work otherwise. The thought of just sitting around waiting for a possible bomb to go off killing hundreds of people including her friends and the love of her life wasn't an option and she knew it. "I'll go to the hospital and help my mom. If more people get injured from a bomb, we'll need all the hands we can get." She took Lexa's hand. "But make sure to-"

"I will." Lexa interrupted.
"And-"

"I know." Lexa put her free hand on Clarke's cheek. "We will be fine."

"We've come too far to lose it now, Lexa."

"And we won't." She kissed her gently on the lips. "I will find you. After."

Clarke didn't want to say goodbye. If she did, she thought there was a chance it might just be. She turned and walked briskly at first in the direction of a car and then she started to run. She ran because if she didn't, she knew she'd stop walking and turn back around. The more time she had to think about leaving Lexa, the more likely it would be that she couldn't do it and Lexa was right. They shouldn't be together. She two leaders of their respective groups were the only two people who could keep those groups united, but the truth was that Lexa's people had already accepted Clarke while the Sky People were less sure of Lexa despite all she'd done. It was smart and that was what Clarke focused on as she drove off in someone's car toward the hospital to help her mother.

When she arrived, Abby was tending to someone that had been stabbed during the battle earlier. Clarke rushed over to help her.

"What are you doing here?" Abby asked her as Clarke took some bandages and applied them with pressure to a wound in the man's side.

"Lexa thought it would be best for us to separate in case something happens to one of us." Clarke shared bluntly with no emotion.

Abby looked over at her.

"And you left?"

"There was a much longer conversation and it made sense, but I really don't want to talk about it because if I do, it will drive me crazy to think of her there without me with a possible bo-" She stopped herself. She looked around at the mass of people. "Can we…"

"Yeah." Abby motioned to another woman to continue working on the injured man and followed Clarke over to a corner where they could speak privately. "What's going on, Clarke?"

"York and Brooklyn might have planted a bomb at the execution site."
"What?"

"We don't know for sure, but if they did, both of us shouldn't be there. Lexa is leading the group trying to locate it or them or-"

"Don't get me wrong, as your mother, I am happy you're away from the possible bomb site, but why were you the one that left?"

"Because her people would follow me, but mine wouldn't follow her." She didn't need to explain more. Abby nodded that she understood.

Clarke watched as an injured grounder woman walked past them. As the woman made her way toward the open doors of the hospital, Clarke noticed something. There was a man wearing a janitor's uniform and a baseball hat walking in the direction of the stairs leading to the second level of the hospital. He had a backpack over his shoulder and appeared to be moving with purpose and with his head down.

"Mom." Clarke whispered. "Can you move these people?"

"What? Why?"

"Can they be moved out of the hospital?"

"Some of them. Some of them are too-"

"I need you to get them all out of here." Clarke pulled the gun out from behind her back. She watched as the man moved out of sight and looked back at her mom. "York's here and I think he has a bomb with him."

"What?" Abby turned to follow Clarke's former glance, but saw nothing.

"He just went upstairs. I need you to get everyone out of the building as fast as you can and keep them away." Clarke started to walk in the direction of the stairs. "Clarke, you can't go after him yourself."

"Have someone take a car and go tell Lexa and Raven. If he does have a bomb and he sets it, I'll need her help in shutting the thing down."

"Call them on the radio."

"I can't risk one of them hearing it. Please mom." Clarke pleaded.

Abby eyed her daughter with both fear and anger. She knew she would be unable to convince her not to go after York. Her daughter was stubborn as she had been in her youth. She really only had herself to blame for Clarke's stubbornness. Her genes combined with the genes of her husband and Clarke never stood a chance. She was born to be a leader. Abby could only nod at her because even with those thoughts and her knowledge, Clarke was her only child. She was all she had left. If she lost her, nothing else would matter.

Abby moved toward one of the women acting as nurse and Clarke watched as she whispered something in her ear before making sure the safety was off on her gun and beginning her walk toward the stairs. She held it level as she climbed and turned on the landing between levels. She checked for York and he was not there. She continued up the stairs while Abby watched her daughter move out of sight.

Clarke reached for the radio on her hip and flicked it into the off position just in case someone forgot that the enemy had one of their radios and knew their frequency. She looked left and then right and then left again. The second floor was deserted. The lights were off, but the sunlight from the windows was enough to light her way. She took a chance and went left. The gun was shaking slightly in her two hands as she held them out in front of her and turned repeatedly to look inside rooms with open doors. The doors that were closed, she left that way so as not to make noise. There were more floors to this hospital and York could be on any of them. She didn't know how much time she had or if she had any. If he had a bomb in that bag, he could have set it already and ran out another exit. She could only have a few seconds left to live, but she pushed that out of her mind. After clearing the open rooms on the left side, she moved back toward the right. She heard a door open and it sounded like it was behind her. She turned quickly and stood, staring at a startled York. She aimed the gun right at him. He stood still, his eyes boring into her.

"Well, I didn't expect to see you here." He confessed.

She looked at the backpack that was still on his shoulder. It looked lighter.

"Where is it, York?" She asked and took several steps forward.

"Where's what, Sky Girl. That's what they call you, right? Sky Girl?"

"Where's the bomb?" She stood about 10 feet away from him.

"Bomb? Whatever gave you that idea?"

"What is your endgame here, York? If you've already set the bomb, it's going to go off with you in the building. You'll die too."

"Clarke, you know how much I value self-preservation."

"So you didn't set it?"

"Oh, I set it, but it's not that kind of a bomb." He smirked. "You see we have more than just the basics here. There were a few gadgets left over from the war all those years ago." He paused. "Some of them still work."

"What do you want?" She asked him.

"I want this city. You know that. Originally, I thought I'd just have to bide my time until I could catch Carolina in a vulnerable moment. We couldn't just take her out. She had people that were deeply loyal and would never support Brooklyn and I as leaders."

"And then we showed up."

"Let's just say I thought you'd be more… malleable. I thought I could convince you to join our cause."

"Well, that didn't work."

"Clearly. I doubted your affection for that cave woman commander, Lexa. Brooklyn's never going to let me hear the end of that one." He turned his head to the side. "I thought you'd be with her now. You should be at the execution site. We left enough clues. We thought you were bright enough to figure them out."

"I was."

"Then, why are you here? Spat with the girlfriend?" He took a step toward her.

"You've never really known love, have you?" She asked him and held the gun tighter. "My guess is that your parents knew you were a little sociopath and Carolina only gave you any kind of attention when you were following her orders. Your cousin is just using you to get her way now. So, you've never really had someone that cared about you so much, they were willing to die for you."

"So, you're going to give me a lesson on love now?" He started. "The person you love is somewhere very dangerous, Clarke. You left her there. What does that say about you?"

"That I was willing to lose her to save our people."

"That's depressing." He didn't sound depressed. "Even more depressing is that it will all be for nothing. Most of those people you're being so brave for will be dead by the end of the day and the rest won't be far behind them."

"So, you and Brooklyn will take over a city that has no people? What's the point, York?"

"Some people will survive. There will be a few stragglers, people who will come to appreciate our leadership. We have a few people who already want us in power and we've kept them safe."

"Why? Why all this? Why does everyone want to be in charge?" Clarke asked the air around her. "Because it really isn't all it's cracked up to be. You have to make decisions for an entire civilization. You have to live with the consequences of those decisions. You lose people and you have to act like you sacrificed them for the good of everyone else, but really you just end up having nightmares starring everyone you've had to leave behind."

"The difference between you and I is that you care. I don't."

"I know." She said. "And I know what I have to do." She pulled the trigger and the sound of the gun firing nearly burst an eardrum.