Authors Note: No I don't own anything. Just playing with the characters. This is a shorter chapter but I think you'll see why I've ended it there. Enjoy.

They hiked North towards the next beacon with sunlight glinting of the water to the west of them until they stopped for lunch. The air was cold and crisp beneath the clear blue skies. Bellamy warned against drinking the lake water but Lincoln insisted it would be okay if it was boiled first. Bill impressed them all by catching fish before the water was boiled so they lingered longer than they intended and added roasted fish to their meal. Wick talked Bellamy though how to set up the radio and they checked in with camp Jaha. The council had agreed to move everyone to the Mountain although they were leaving guards at the ship for as long as the weather allowed. Essential supplies were being moved now. Bellamy told them about the City of Light soldiers and the Chancellor assured him that she could handle commander Tucker and reminded him that the trees had ears. They would have to be careful what they said over the radio until they figured out a system for sending and receiving encrypted transmissions.

In the mountain Raven and Monty were scanning the radio searching for other transmissions. They hadn't found any yet, but it didn't mean they wouldn't. The third signal had stopped transmitting. Probably a power problem, but it made getting to the location it had been even more urgent.

For the rest of the day they walked on in relative silence. Every now and then Lincoln would point out an edible or medicinal plant to them. Stopping occasionally long enough to harvest some. He left frequently to scout ahead. Sometimes he would take Octavia. Sometimes one of the Bobs. But never Bellamy or Wick. When they stopped to rest in the evening Bellamy confronted him about it. "That one," he said indicating the direction Wick had headed clutching his toilet roll, "was not born for this world. He would not see a wolf until it attacked him. He is smart in your ways. But not in ours." Bellamy nodded, Wick was still new to the forests. Even on the ground he spent most of his time inside if he could. "You are the leader. Leaders do not scout." Bellamy had begun to protest but Lincoln had cut him short. "You are more important to your people than you know. You have proven yourself in Battle this is paramount to the people of the tribes. Word of your bravery had already spread to the Tree people before I left. The people you freed from the Mountain thank you more than they thank the commander. They expected blood for blood. Her betrayal of your people did not sit well with them. Once they learn that you Bellamy were victorious in the Mountain you will become legend." Lincoln looked at him hard. "I wish I had met your mother. A strong woman I think. Do not underestimate your value Bellamy Blake. Sometimes I don't think you can see yourself at all."

Bellamy digested those thoughts. Perhaps Lincoln meant to compliment him. But they tasted sour in his mouth. Sitting back and waiting for others to act on his behalf was not somethings he was good at. He was good at seeing what needed to be done. But he liked to lead from the front. By example. With Clarke he had been able to do that and she had remained the nexus about which their brief lives together had swirled. Now that center was gone.

On the Ark he had envied the privileged class their better accommodation and increased rations. But he'd never thought about the price they paid for the decisions they made. He'd been too angry to care about difficult, impossible choices. He'd never thought that one day he'd be the one throwing the lever. Killing hundreds. Being a leader drained him. He wanted to be free to do what the hell he wanted. But he couldn't just stop, the job wasn't done people he cared about still needed him.

He walked a short distance away from camp, dry pine cones crunching beneath his boots, and looked back over the path they had taken. Somewhere out there Clarke was running away. He still couldn't believe it. He'd never expected her to be a coward. He grew angry as he thought about her words to him before "I can't lose you too." Whatever she had meant her need was clear so he had stayed. He hadn't agreed with her and she'd eventually seen reason as he'd trusted she would. He'd been itching to get into the mountain to save his people. He'd needed to be doing something. But he'd stayed. Until she was ready to let him go. Ever since she had given him her forgivness, they had borne this burden together. But when he had asked her to stay. When he had forgiven her, when he had needed her to share his guilt, she had left. He was angry with her. He could see now that Killing Finn had changed her. She'd lost something. What would he have become if he had done the same for Octavia, or Clarke. He didn't know. Yes he was angry with her, but just now as he looked back to where she must surely be, free from this responsibility, a part of him wished he had gone too. Would he have, if she had asked? No, probably not, not without Octavia.

As he walked back into camp the others were preparing to leave. The Ben's each hoisting a spare radio pack onto the shoulders with their other gear. Wick stowing his dwindling supply of toilet paper. Earlier Octavia had asked Lincoln if there was anything they could do to help Wick with his stomach, but the grounder had nothing. Right now though Octavia's face looked like thunder and Lincoln was beseeching her to do something. Bellamy was too far away to hear what they were fighting about but in an odd way it was nice to see them argue. Bellamy liked Lincoln, but sometimes he was too perfect. How was a big brother supposed to compete. He chuckled to himself at the absurdity of that thought and picked up his gear.

That night they made camp on a ridge overlooking a broad valley. Down there somewhere was the second Beacon. When they first reached the ridge they had expected to see the ship beneath them. But instead there was a barren wasteland of metal, fallen and twisted structures. At first they'd thought the worst but they'd all realized that this was old scrap that had been left to rust for a century, maybe more. Distorted trees were growing amongst some of the twisted shapes but the vegetation was not as lush as that surrounding it. The ground here was not good. Still they ought to be able to see the ship already, Wick said the beacon was very close. Lincoln left in the dwindling light to fill their water bottles and catch game if he could. He did not think it would be safe to eat or drink anything from that blasted land and even Wick could see the truth of that.

By the time he came back they had lit a big fire, one they hoped would act as a beacon if there were survivors. Lincoln did not like it. Octavia looked at him in concern and asked him what he knew of this area. But this was further North than he had gone. The Ice Nation lay ahead and they were not friends of the Tree People. While backtracking to find water Lincoln had found fresh tracks that crossed their own. It made him uneasy. Bellamy trusted Lincoln's instincts, they couldn't unlight the fire. But they did set up their tents away from it and once they'd eaten Bill, Octavia and Ben took the first watch. Three eyes were better than two.

Bellamy fell asleep, fully dressed with boots on, listening to the crackle, hiss, pop of the fire, clutching his knife across his chest.

The firelight danced off her skin, casting shadows as she writhed in time to the beat. Around her bodies undulated to the sound of drums. She raised her arms above her head in abandon as her hips swayed before him. She smiled at him then threw her golden hair back as she laughed at the sky. Was she drunk?

Her top had risen up revealing her abdomen. No. Slender hands were roving over her skin, moving the material of her shirt, raising it above her head, exposing full pert breast framed perfectly by her upraised arms. Behind her Lexa trapped Clarke's hands in the material like rope binds and used them to spin her around. She freed Clarke's hands and then drew her into a deep kiss. Her hands sliding down the soft skin of her naked back and squeezing the blondes ass through her short skirt. Clarke swayed unsteadily.

Bellamy moved, or at least he thought he did, but instantly two large Grounders were sat beside him spears barring his path carelessly. Lexa's lips left Clarke's and she smiled at something over Clarke's shoulder. Then once again she spun Clarke to face him. Her mouth finding Clarke's neck as her head lolled to one side her eyes closed. But she was not asleep. Her palms reaching skyward her hips continued to gyrate to the beat pressing into Lexa's behind her, swaying towards Bellamy. Her eyes shot open and looked straight at Bellamy, dark and full of lust, as slim hands found their way beneath the band of her skirt. She kept her eyes on him as Lexa's fingers dropped her skirt to the ground to give them better access to Clarke's core. He watched her pink tounge lick her lips her gaze never leaving his, as beside her another grounder fell to his knees and sucked her nipple as his hand raced down her abdomen to meet Lexa's. His lips were following as she shook herself, and broke free of the them. Eyes locked with his she strode towards him like a huntress.

Her hands were in his hair. Her eyes dark with desire, as she sank down onto his lap straddling him. "Whatever the hell we want." She mouthed but it was impossible to hear above the sounds of the drums. He was painfully hard, trapped inside his clothes. She noticed. As his hands traced a path from the small of her back up into her hair and onto her breast, her strong fingers were already working on his pants. Around them people continued to writhe and sway and undress. Lexa herself was being attended by several grounders and Bellamy grew even harder watching them. Then he sprang free against the night air and his eyes shot back to Clarke's.

"Do you want me to fuck you?" She whispered in his ear. She didn't wait for an answer just lowered herself into him. After the cold of the air her heat around him sent him spiraling too close to the edge. He grabbed her hips to slow down the pace but she kept rising and falling to the increasing rhythm of the drums.

He rolled her over trapping her hands above her head as she tried to take back control. "Please." He whispered into her collarbone as the movement of her hips continued to drive him wild. "Please." He said raising his head to catch her lips in a deep slow sensual exchange. He could feel that she was close. "Please take me with you." He begged, as he released her hands to wrap his own arms tightly around her. Her fingers raked down his shoulder to his hips pulling him deeper into her. She thrust herself more wildly against him and as she clenched herself around him she demanded hoarsely in his ear. "Come with me!" And he was lost spiralling into her, losing all sense of place and time. "Yes!" He growled into her mouth as he continued to pump into her with the beat of the drums even after he was spent. He collapsed on her content, but she was shaking him. "Get up! You have to get up! Bellamy!"

"Wake up it's your watch!" The drums still thumping in his ear Bellamy sat up shakily. "Wh..what?" He stuttered disoriented. "It's your watch big brother come on." Octavia's face hovered before him in the darkness lit by a small flashlight. "What is that noise?" He asked cocking his head to the side listening for the source of the drumming.