Ickle bit of fluff for everyone. It all kicks off next chapter.

Sorry I haven't updated in ages but college was coming to an end and I've been having some problems with reading and writing lately so I've been struggling a bit. Not sure what that's all about but we shall see. Whatever it is I'm not going to stop writing but I just want everyone to be aware that updates might not eb as frequent as they usually are and that counts for all my fics. Sorry, Shit happens haha.

Anyway enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nope

Times of great calamity and confusion have been productive for the greatest minds. The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace. The brightest thunder-bolt is elicited from the darkest storm.

Charles Caleb Colton

Wick was driving her crazy. She was trying to concentrate on making the explosive to help take out the door but every time she looked up he was smirking at her across the room. Raven rolled her eyes as, for the tenth time, Wick quickly ducked back down to the information in front of him. She pushed the explosive away carefully having finally finished then stood up and limped over to the man now refusing to meet her eyes.

"How far off are you with the fog?"

"Without a clear view on it?" He shrugged, "Hard to tell. We really need Bellamy to get in there"

Raven glanced over to the corner where Anya was sat tapping her foot steadily against the ground. She looked back to Wick and gave him a slight nod, "I'll be right back… I need some food"

She didn't even wait to see if Anya was following knowing full well that the grounder would be there. Sure enough another set of footsteps joined hers.

"You are harsh to him"

"I don't remember asking for your opinion" Snorted Raven.

Anya kept the blank expression on her face and Raven was surprised to feel the annoyance shoot through her at the lack of reaction. She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything and instead carried on outside where Raven paused momentarily to adjust to the light from the sun.

"Should you not be concentrating on the task at hand?"

Raven grit her teeth and shot a glare at Anya, "I'm taking a moment to collect my thoughts. Is that alright?"

Anya snorted, "The sooner you finish your job the sooner the commander can lead the attack on the mountain. You have a job to do and they've already left so no" She sneered, "No it's not alright. You don't have time to collect your thoughts"

Raven let out a low growl then turned on her heel and stormed back inside the Ark followed closely by a smirking Anya.

XoXoXoX

Clarke was pacing. Not the slow thoughtful pacing but the fast, burning a hole in the floor kind that was currently forcing Lexa to rub her temple as she watched the blonde spin on her heel yet again.

"Clarke" She growled, "I can hear you thinking from here"

Honestly, even though she was trying to sleep, she wouldn't be surprised if half the camp were awoken by the sound of Clarke's footsteps. Lexa cracked an eye open to see Clarke biting her nails whilst staring down at the war table.

She let out a heavy sigh and pulled back the furs so she could stand beside the blonde. Lexa hesitated slightly but wrapped her arm around Clarke's side and pulled the blonde into her. At first she froze at the contact but then she sunk into the embrace and tucked her head into the crook of Lexa's neck.

"What if it doesn't work?" Clarke sighed.

Lexa kissed the top of her head, "Plans don't last very long in battle Clarke"

"People died for this. We have to get our people back but I can help think that it won't work or something's going to go wrong…"

"Clarke" She pulled back and forced Clarke to look her in the eye, "It's war. There's no guarantee of anything and we cannot predict the way it will turn just like we cannot guarantee that our plan will work. We have to trust that we will know what to do in the situations that are then presented to us"

Clarke nodded as Lexa turned away to pour herself a drink , "Do you think Raven will have the acid fog down by the morning?"

"Possibly. It all depends on when Bellamy makes contact"

Lexa leant back against the table, "I don't like waiting on Bellamy"

The blonde snorted and shook her head, "You just don't like Bellamy"

"That too"

"What do you have against him?" Clarke inclined her head. Lexa paused before taking another sip of water and raised her eyebrow.

"Besides the fact that he captured, tortured and tried to kill me?"

"Right" She winced, "Besides that"

Lexa sighed, "I have nothing against Bellamy. However I find him to be hot-headed and destructive in certain situations… I have yet to see him actually think a plan through before going forward with it"

"He's not the same person that knocked you unconscious and tied you up in the dropship"

"No" She agreed, "And neither are you"

Clarke nodded, "I don't think you are either"

"Perhaps not"

Silence fell over them for a moment as Clarke's thoughts wandered to their first few weeks on the ground. So much had happened and so much had happened since that she wasn't sure if any of them could go back to who they were before all this began. Then again she wondered if she even wanted to go back to who she was before… A part of Clarke missed the safety that the Ark provided and yet there was the other side of her, the part that had trusted Lexa from the beginning, that knew she was better off here. Better off with Lexa.

Lexa stood from the table and came to stand behind Clarke as the gazed down at the table together, "What will you do when it's over?"

"The war?"

"Yes"

Clarke paused. She wasn't certain what she wanted and there had certainly not been any time for her to focus on the aftermath of all this…

"I don't know"

"Well…" Lexa sucked in a breath, "What do you want?"

She frowned, "Nothing…" Clarke stopped herself from continuing. What did she want?

"You"

Lexa raised her eyes to see Clarke watching her with a firm stare and gave her a slight smile, "Come to Polis with me?"

"Polis?"

"Our Capitol" She answered with the look of surprise on Clarke's face, "Polis will change the way you think of us"

Clarke leant forward to lightly kiss Lexa's lips and murmured, "You already have"

"Is that a yes?"

"It's a definitely"

XoXoXoX

A rough kick against the leg of her chair shocked Raven out of her sleep. She lifted her head from where it had been resting in her arms to see Anya rolling her eyes as she sat back down next to the mechanic.

"There's nicer ways to wake a person"

"Maybe" The grounder snorted, "You fell asleep on the job"

"At least I'm trying to sleep" Raven grumbled.

Wick coughed loudly from his work station and raised a hand to call Raven over. She let out a deep sigh and pulled her body up out of the chair.

"Have you got something?"

"Possibly… What we need now is for Bellamy to make contact"

Raven nodded and grasped the radio. At first there was static then she called through, "Bellamy you there?"

More static sounded.

"I'm here Reyes"

"Good because Clarke needs that acid fog down now and we might just have found a way to do it"

"Are you sure? You're only going to get one chance at this Raven… I can't keep sneaking around forever. They're going to find me soon"

Wick laughed from his spot beside Raven, "Relax pretty boy. Just be ready with that inside army"

The heard Bellamy snort from the other side, "Alright I'll let you know when I'm in… You need anything else?"

"Nope" Raven glanced over at the bomb she finished that morning and the set of detonators lying ready in wait at the side, "Everything else is up and ready"

"Nice work Reyes"

"You too Blake"

The static sounded again and Raven leant back against the desk as Wick stood to walk over to the plans of the mountain. Anya had moved from her seat to stand beside Raven and she was looking over the floor plans as well.

"Now what?" He asked.

Anya and Raven glanced at one another as they spoke at the same time, "Now we wait"

Anya raised an eyebrow at Raven but said nothing as she walked back over to her seat in the corner. Raven watched her go with narrowed eyes and rolled them as the grounder sat back silently in the chair.

XoXoXoX

Octavia walked over to where Clarke was sat beside the fire and placed herself down gently next to the girl.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be"

Octavia raised an eyebrow, "Do you think Bellamy's doing okay?"

"I promise" Clarke sighed, "He's going to be fine… He'll get out of this"

"Except you can't promise that. You can't promise any of us are going to come out of this alive" Octavia laughed bitterly.

"No… I guess I can't"

"I'm worried about Lincoln" She confessed, "He hasn't been the same since we brought him back"

"Have you tried talking to him?"

Octavia shot her an affronted look and Clarke raised her hands in defence, "Sorry. Just asking"

She spotted Lincoln approaching warily from across the camp and rose from her seat, "Looks like he's going to come to you. I better get back to the commander anyway it's almost morning… Maybe what Lincoln needs isn't to talk necessarily maybe he needs to listen"

Octavia frowned, "What do you mean?"

"That maybe Lincoln needs to hear some truths" Clarke shrugged, "Just a thought"

Lincoln had reached them now and Clarke shot him a small nod before making her way back over to the commander's tent. Octavia smiled as Lincoln sat down where Clarke had been seated previously.

He glanced to her nervously before his gaze flickered over to where Clarke disappeared, "Does she not want to be around me?"

"It's not that. She had to get back to the commander"

"Right. You don't have to lie" He snorted.

Octavia rolled her eyes, "Nobody is judging you. People still want to be around you… It's all in your head what you think people see"

"Nobody wants to be around me"

She jumped up from her seat and glared down at him snarling, "Get up"

"What?" He looked shocked and slightly scared at her outburst.

"I said get up"

Lincoln shook his head.

Octavia just narrowed her glare at him, "Either you get up and fight or you crawl away like a coward. We're about to go to war and here you are just giving up on yourself… We're grounders and grounders don't give up. We fight. So get up"

His eyes were wide and he stood slowly from his seat. Octavia glared at him until he was standing at his full height as his eyes flashed and for a moment she thought he might hit her. Instead he wrapped his arm around her middle and pulled her forward into a searing kiss.

Her eyes were wide in shock but once her mind caught up with what was happening she wrapped her own arms around Lincoln's neck deepening the kiss.

XoXoXoX

Raven shared a shocked glance with Wick. His brow was glistening with sweat as they waited anxiously for Bellamy to respond. They had run through the whole plan perfectly, he found the switch and shut it off so why it suddenly went back up she didn't know the only thing Raven knew was Bellamy decided to blow the whole thing up. Static was the only thing they could hear now.

"Bellamy?"

Even Anya was standing anxiously awaiting his response.

"Bellamy?"

"Hey Raven… I don't think they're going to be using the fog anytime soon"

She let out a relieved breath as Wick collapsed back into his chair with a nervous laugh. He sounded exhausted but alive none the less.

Raven looked to her left where she was shocked to see Anya grinning at her though the moment she realised Raven had caught her it was replaced with a blank stare. The mechanic rolled her eyes and shot Anya a knowing look then turned back to the radio.

"Thanks Bellamy. We'll let Clarke know… Get everyone ready"

"Will do" He paused, "See you soon Reyes"

"See you soon Blake"

Raven grabbed the flare from the desk and made to leave but she spotted Wick smirking from his seat with hopeful eyes. She let out a slight growl and handed the flare over to him.

"You want to fire it"

He jumped from the seat, taking the flare, and darted from the room calling over his shoulder, "You know me so well!"

She rolled her eyes with a shake of her head and glanced over to Anya who was still watching her with that blank expression. A bored look passed over the woman's face as Raven inclined her head with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"You were smiling" She sniggered.

Anya snorted, "I'm happy we can move forward"

"You were impressed"

"No. I really wasn't"

Raven laughed and sang, "You were impressed"

"Stop that" Anya spat.

"You were impressed" She continued.

"You're incredibly annoying"

"You were impressed"

"Shut up!"

XoXoXoX

Clarke awoke to see Lexa sitting upright pouring over the maps and plans one last time as daylight shone through the gaps in the fabric. She forced her body into an upright position and her movements must have jolted Lexa because the commander turned her head to smile down at the blonde.

"Are you ready?"

She frowned with a small yawn, "Ready for what?"

Lexa nodded to the table, "The flare appeared. We leave for the mountain in an hour"

Here we go!