Chapter 2

Octavia hadn't left Lincoln's side for a moment since she found out he'd returned. She cleaned him up, he was covered in mostly minor cuts and bruises and she stayed with him while he slept some of the exhaustion off.
Finn and Harper were in much the same shape as Lincoln, most of their injuries were from exhaustion, although minor burns were present. No one but Clarke had much medical knowledge, all they knew was the clean any wound, apply clean dressing and apply pressure if it was bleeding. The basic stuff.
It was night, it was also dinner and while everyone was sitting around the fire eating their meal Lincoln began speaking, began answering all the unspoken questions. "It's all thanks to Clarke." He began.
"Everything usually is." Octavia didn't mean for her comment to come out as snarky as it did. She liked Clarke, even looked up to her, but sometimes she just didn't like how Clarke always had all the ideas and was always the hero in every story. Although, her big brother was usually the co-star in those stories but Octavia couldn't help often feeling forgotten about.
"She didn't just save us, she saved all of you." Finn added, glancing from face to face but pausing on Octavia and Bellamy's. Everyone but Clarke was awake and around the outside fire.
"What do you mean?" Bellamy asked, his mind suddenly on the story rather than Clarke's wellbeing.
"The Mountain Men." Lincoln nearly whispered, his eyes fixated on the fire.
"There were survivors living inside of Mount Weather, they used to kidnap Grounders." Harper explained.
"They took us during the fight with the Grounders. Supposedly we weren't prisoners, and at first everyone but Clarke believed them. There was more food than you could imagine, music, beds and art. It was amazing. We asked them about finding all of you and bringing you to us, but they said we were the only survivors. Clarke refused to believe them." Finn paused, obviously beating himself up some more over not believing her from the beginning.
"She eventually planted doubt in our minds, it was small but it nagged at us, and then one of the friends Finn had made was exposed to radiation." Harper chirped in.
"Wait, radiation?" Octavia asked.
"Yeah, apparently, we can survive down here because we were constantly exposed to solar radiation on the Ark, and the Grounders, well, they survived by genes or something but all the people living in Mount Weather, the slightest amount of air from outside burned them." Finn explained.
"They convinced Finn that they could try something they'd never tried before, they could do this blood transfusion to save her and it worked, all too well. Clarke found a door that was connected to their med bay. Inside were hundreds of Grounders in cages. They were using Grounder blood to keep themselves alive, but our blood worked better, faster and lasted longer."
"She convinced us to help her snoop in their presidents office, there she found surveillance photos of all you guys, your location, their plan to kidnap you and cage you with the grounders." Harper continued for Finn, knowing how painful the story was for him.
"They planned on extracted the bone marrow from all of our people and injecting into theirs so that they could live on the ground. It would have killed everyone." Clarke spoke softly but firmly. "I killed a guard in the cage room, unlocked the cages, found Lincoln and Anya – the leader of the Grounder army that attacked us – and together we had an army of hundreds. We fought our way through Mount Weather to the control room where we killed the air filtration system, opened the door that would release us. It killed thousands of people, it killed children. We no longer have to worry about the Grounders being a threat to us, they're on our side now. We earned their respect, their trust." She had sat next to Bellamy who wrapped his jacked around her shivering body.
"Let me get you some food." He whispered.
"She saved hundreds of Grounders, all of us and probably even more grounders. There were thousands of inside that mountain, they were probably going to do the bone marrow treatment with them as well. They would have taken as many as they needed until they were all living on the ground." Harper was not only trying to make Clarke feel better but she was telling the truth.
"But I also killed the girl Finn had fallen in love with. She was one of us through him." Clarke snapped.
"Clarke, I would have done the same thing. I wouldn't have chosen her and her people over all of us. Friends and family come first and this, us, we are like a family." It was hard for Finn to say, but he didn't hate her, not one bit. He was grieving like a normal person would, but he could never hate Clarke.
"Wait, one thing I don't understand is how did you find us? Even if you knew our location, how did you get here? What did you map off?" Raven asked.
"Harper found a digital GPS, your location was saved on it so all we had to do was follow that, until the battery died. After that, Lincoln lead the way. He knew were you were because of a mark on a map. We've been walking for two days I think." Finn responded.
"We need to go back though. We need to assemble a team to gather supplies. The medical supplies they have there will save us, the blankets will provide extra warmth for winter. We could even haul the mattresses here so everyone has a proper bed. I mean, from what I've seen you guys have done so well, and we don't have to get those things. I just thought that after all the hard work everyone has put in, luxury would be deserved. Especially after what they were planning to do to everyone." Typical Clarke, already devising plans.
"Clarke we can talk about that in the morning. For now, you eat and you can stay in the cabin with me tonight. Harper you can share with Raven because I'm not even going to fight Octavia on her and Lincoln sharing a cabin and Finn you can share with Myles." Bellamy directed.
"One other thing. After we landed, they used their radio tower to block all frequencies. They're the reason the Exodus ship crashed. The radios work here because the channel is far enough away and the range is short. They're the reason our parents didn't get here."
"Clarke, what are you doing?" Bellamy whispered in a scolding tone.
"They deserve to know, plus the Mountain Men are all dead so they can't go on a revenge spree." Clarke defended.
"Okay, you're right. They deserved to know but I think they've been told enough for one night, let's not overdo it. I think we need to get you to bed."
"Yeah, maybe you're right. Just give me a minute, I need to speak to Lincoln quickly." Clarke replied before standing and walking away without waiting for his approval, after all, she didn't need it.

"Hey Octavia, can I borrow Lincoln for a minute?" Clarke asked politely, feeling a pang of guilt for interrupting them.
"Sure thing. I'm glad you're okay Clarke." O gave her a warm embrace before heading off to her cabin.
"Is everything okay? You should be resting." Lincoln scolded.
"Yeah, Bellamy is making me go to be in a minute. I just wanted to ask you, please don't say anything to anyone, especially Octavia." Clarke nearly begged.
"I won't say anything, it's not for me to share. Just keep in mind you can't keep it secret for long, you grow every day and they're all going to realise. If I was in Bellamy's shoes, I'd want to hear it from you before figuring it out on my own." Lincoln wasn't harsh, he was the opposite actually. His words were insightful and comforting.
"I know and I don't plan on keeping it from him for long. I just need some time to figure out how to tell him. Play a few scenarios out in my head. In the mountain all I thought about was telling Bellamy, but now that we're here and he's just over there…I don't think I thought it through as anything more than a fantasy." Clarke explained her reasons.
"I understand. Just try not to take too long, remember what I said." He encouraged.
"He's on his way over here to drag me to bed so I can't ask Harper or Finn to stay quiet, do you think you could do that for me?" Clarke rushed.
"Of course I will. But if he doesn't drag you to bed, I will put you down myself. It's not just you anymore Clarke, keep that in mind when you're over exerting yourself." Lincoln murmured the last bit so Bellamy didn't hear.
"Thank you."
"Come on Princess, you need rest." Bellamy stated, not in an ordering fashion but she knew if she resisted it would quickly turn into an order. He didn't want to interrupt their conversation but at the same time he didn't care. His main priority was the woman he was beginning to realise he was in love with.
"Yeah, I'm ready." Clarke turned and followed him to his cabin.
It was cosy. There was a fire smouldering away to keep it warm.
"There's only one bed because it's always just me. Just pick a side and we'll stick to our sides…or if you prefer I can probably bunk with Miller or Jasper. Most are two per cabin, in case of attack, everyone has a buddy. Monty, Jasper and Raven all have a separate work station though because they work with wires and explosives. Their work stations are away from everything though. There's also a medical cabin with stretchers that will be your station when you're feeling ready."
"You guys have done so well and I'm fine with sharing a bed with you, it wouldn't be the first time." Clarke replied and without another word, she climbed under the animal skin blankets and was asleep nearly straight away.
Bellamy lay awake for a while, smiling to himself and feeling like one of the luckiest guys on Earth to have her back. She was the strongest woman around and if he they hadn't been sent to the ground, if he hadn't shot Jaha to get on the dropship to protect his sister, they would've never met and his whole life would consist of mopping floors after he lost his place as a cadet Guard. Eventually sleep found him, after his breathing and heart slowed to match Clarke's.

Bellamy woke to the chattering of teeth and a shivering body. "Clarke." He whispered, his hand on her shoulder, but there was no response. He sat up to check that the fire was still lit and it was but it was dying down pretty low. Careful not to wake Clarke, he got up to stock the fire with some more wood before sliding back into bed. His body pressed against hers, one arm under her head and the other around her swollen abdomen. He was too tired, too happy to have her there with him to notice the growth though. Sleep found him quicker than before.

Comment and Reviews are always welcome!