This takes place in the gap between S2 and S3 and it's probably very silly.
The Difficult Demands Of Chancellor-ing
Abby sank on the couch with a long sigh, glaring at the pile of reports she had yet to examine. Her glare turned into a pleading look when Marcus came in the war room, arms full with more reports.
"You know, in retrospect I think Jaha made being chancellor look easy." she complained.
Marcus smiled at her with obvious amusement and placed his reports at the top of her pile before dropping next to her.
"To be fair, he wasn't a doctor on top of it." he replied. "And it has its perks. The couch is comfy."
The couch he had claimed on one of the first raids of Mount Weather by using Chancellor priority pick in her name even though nothing like that was supposed to exist and despite the fact she hadn't authorized him to use her title like that. However, the couch was comfy and she had spent more nights on it than she could count since Arkadia had started to expand so she wasn't complaining about the liberties he took.
"Any word on…" she asked because he was coming back from a survey mission.
"No." he cut her off, shaking his head with a sad face. "Sorry."
She forced a smile on her lips but ducked her head, pretending to read the first report on the pile. "It's alright. We'll find her."
She needed to cling to that hope. Clarke would be found. When she wanted to be found probably… But she would be.
"We will. I promise." Marcus offered before dividing the pile in half. "Here, I'll help you."
It went beyond his duties as commander of the guards but she didn't protest. It wasn't the first time, it wouldn't be the last time and, really, she might have been Chancellor in name but they took every decision together. They might as well be co-Chancellors.
"Have I told you how much I love you recently?" she sighed in relief. Maybe she could actually afford a few hours of sleep in her bed that night before she was due to medical in the morning.
"I'm not sure you ever said it but it's always good to know." he chuckled, his eyebrows shooting up.
There was a veiled question behind the joke and she found herself furiously blushing like a teenager because she hadn't intended to say that at all. That should teach her to watch her tongue when she was sleep deprived and lacking coffee.
"Don't look so smug." she teased, pretending to be more at ease than she was. "I also love Jackson because he makes sure I have coffee waiting for me in the mornings, I love Sinclair because he includes a summary that avoids me to read the techno babble in his reports and I love Lincoln because he never complains when I send him to collect herbs for me."
"I see. You have a type." Marcus openly laughed, standing up to put the kettle to boil. He grabbed the two mugs that now permanently resided next to each other on the desk and rummaged around until he found the pot where they kept the tea. "You love guys who do things for you."
"Guilty as charged." she admitted. Lately, she tended to love people who would make her already complicated life easier instead of more difficult. It didn't mean she loved the latter ones any less but she did tend to get irritated with them more quickly – and right now Clarke and Raven were on top of that list, the first one for leaving her without saying goodbye and not giving her news, the second one because she was stubborn and refused to let her help with her leg.
"So… Is it a proportional system?" he asked, glancing at her over his shoulder. "If I start bringing you coffee in the mornings, does it win me any point?"
Truth be told, if she had been counting points, Marcus would have been ahead of everyone by a large margin. Not that she was counting points. Or reflecting on how much she loved Marcus. Or comparing the exact nature of that love with the one she felt for other people.
"You would steal poor Jackson's points." she accused, shaking her head with mocked disappointment.
"All is fair in love and war, Abby." he shrugged. "You know me. I like to be the Chancellor's favorite."
There was a note of self-deprecation in his voice she chose to ignore. There were wounds that took longer than others to heal. The Culling and his behavior on the Ark were things he still hadn't truly forgiven himself for – she wasn't sure she had forgiven herself for a lot of the things they had done up there but then again she was of the opinion some things were simply unforgivable, you could let go of them but forgiving them now… that was another story.
"The overachiever." she teased, keeping her tone light. "I wouldn't worry too much. You are in a good place on my list of favorites."
"Good place." He wrinkled his nose and handed her a mug before sitting next to her once more. "That's not good enough. Who comes before me and how can I beat them?"
She laughed outright, letting her head fall against the back of the couch and wedging the mug on her lap, careful not to spill anything on her pants. She rested her cheek against the frayed fabric of the couch and looked at him with a smile. "You always make me laugh. I like that."
His eyes were kind, twinkling with amusement and something else she wasn't quite ready to identify. "Does that make me rank higher on your list of favorites?"
"We should get to work." she said but she didn't move to grab the first report.
He took a sip of his tea, his smile deepening. She tried not to notice how much younger he looked when he smiled like that and she utterly failed.
"You have to tell me who comes before me on that list." he insisted.
"Chancellors don't have to tell anyone anything." she countered. "That's law."
"No, it's not." he scoffed.
"I think it is, actually." she argued. Not that either of them had read the Charter in a while. They were trying to build a new society down there not to replicate all the mistakes they had made on the Ark.
He took another sip of his tea, watching her. "I need to know who my rivals are. Call it political strategy."
"I thought you were tired of politics." she remarked, bringing her own mugs to her lips. She blew on it before taking a sip, she didn't know how he could bear to drink it when it was still scalding.
"One name and I will handle the requests about housings." he bargained.
She hesitated because it wasn't something she felt she should be delegating. People wanted to build, to leave the Alpha's wreckage for houses and ideally she was all for it because the station was crammed but that required space and space required moving the fence – a fence Sinclair wanted to reinforce – as well actual materials that could only be acquired by cutting down trees and trips to Mount Weather both of which might bring trouble with the Grounders. So they were examining the requests case by case to see who would be allowed houses first and who would remain in the station but it was tedious work and often not very fair which she hated.
"Fine." she surrendered. "Clarke."
He shook his head, turning to face her completely, stretching his arm on the back of the couch. It brought his hand very close to her hair – which she actively didn't notice.
"That's cheating." he complained. It really was because obviously Clarke was her favorite person. "And we were talking men."
"We were?" she frowned a little. She had been talking favorite people not men specifically.
"Last time I checked Jackson, Sinclair and Lincoln were all men." he teased. "But you're the doctor, maybe you have info I don't have."
She rolled her eyes at him, a smile playing on her lips. "I didn't know you were interested in them."
His eyes were twinkling so much it was difficult to look away. "I'm really, really not." She had no trouble believing that. "I'm just curious."
His voice had dropped to a low tone that made her lick her lips. It was instinct really. And when his eyes darted to her mouth and back up it was also instinct to lean a little closer. And if her forehead was now brushing his fingers… Well it wasn't her fault was it? It was him who was taking a lot of space on the couch.
"Curious about Jackson, Sinclair and Lincoln?" she asked, playing dumb.
Marcus could be very straightforward. He didn't beat around the bush if he could avoid it but she had still expected him to end this on a joke. She wasn't expecting the undeniable truth to spill from his lips or the serious look on his face. "Curious about you."
For a moment everything that was unsaid floated between them, carried by his rather innocent admission. Well… Innocent in words but loaded in intent.
It wasn't like Abby hadn't seen it coming.
She had been watching it coming for a long while now.
"You already know who's my favorite, Marcus." she replied and it was probably telling that she had lowered her own voice to match his tone.
"Maybe I want to hear it." he pointed out.
His finger twitched the slightest bit and briefly stroke her forehead. It could have been intentional and it could have been accidental, there was no way of telling.
She thought he might kiss her and suddenly it was too much, too fast and too complicated. She wasn't ready yet. She liked the fragile balance they had now. She liked the easy banter and the long nights spent in comfortable silence studying reports and exchanging ideas about how to ameliorate the camp. She liked the possibility of more that was there, slightly out of reach. She liked the comfort of thinking that it was an option. Soon. Soon but not now.
"Fine." she snorted, sitting up straight and grabbing a report. "Monty Green."
She finished her tea in long mouthfuls, skimming through Sinclair's description of possible fences ameliorations. She was careful not to glance at Marcus as he sat up too, grabbing his share from the pile.
"That's not the name I was expecting." he said, neutral.
"No?" she hummed, turning the page and wishing engineering would send shorter reports. "Monty never gets in trouble. Unlike other men I know."
"I don't get in trouble." he grumbled. She shot him an incredulous look and it was his turn to roll his eyes. "Fine. Maybe sometimes I get in trouble but that's rich coming from you. How many times did I have to arrest you, Abby?"
He looked like he regretted his words as soon as they were out of his mouth but she simply shrugged, choosing again not to linger on the awkward mix of remorse and guilt that was so obvious in his gaze.
"I think you liked arresting me." she chuckled.
"I really didn't." he answered, more seriously than she would have liked. "Think what you want but I never wanted you dead. Never."
"I don't think that." she frowned. "It was just a joke."
He didn't look at her, he stared at whatever report he was reading and she made a mental note to review it again later because it was obvious he wasn't paying attention.
"So why Monty then?" he asked with painful detachment. "I thought you would be going for Bellamy. With Clarke and everything…"
She didn't quite understand what sort of relationship Clarke and Bellamy shared, to be honest. It seemed even more complicated than the one she had with Marcus and she didn't want to intrude in her daughter's life any more than she had to. The peace between them was still too fragile.
"Bellamy is your favorite." she stated. "We can't have the same favorite. It would be unfair to the other kids."
Kids who all seemed to gravitate around her and Marcus as if they had suddenly been promoted universal parents. She didn't mind for the most part but the responsibility of it felt crushing sometimes.
"Bellamy certainly isn't my favorite woman and you're very good at avoiding the main subject." he mocked. "I won't tell you who she is, by the way."
"I didn't ask." she grinned. "And I can take a wild guess."
"You're thinking Octavia." he said. "Wrong again."
"I'm thinking Indra." she shrugged, keeping her head bent but very much watching him from the corner of her eyes. "According to my sources, she's your new best friend."
"You're my best friend." he protested offhandedly as if it wasn't a big deal – and given the madness that were their lives, it probably wasn't. "Who's your source?"
She hesitated only a second before snorting. "David."
Who, it turned out, was a bit of a gossip once he had drunk two glasses of moonshine.
"Turning my guards against me, Abby?" Marcus smirked.
"Technically they're my guards." she pointed out. "Chancellor thing."
"That makes me yours then." he commented, falsely detached.
"Was that even a question?" she challenged.
He focused on his report, sipped his tea and very much ignored her. She rolled her eyes but turned to her own report, forcing herself to give her whole attention to the suggested ameliorations for the fence. It was a good ten minutes before Marcus' boot nudged hers.
He cleared his throat. "Indra's not my favorite woman. Or person. Just so we're clear."
"Well, I'm not spending all my nights with Monty, am I?" she mumbled, reaching the end of the report and starting again because she had barely registered a few sentences. After five minutes, she nudged his boot back with her own. "You do realize we're ridiculous and if the kids ever get wind of this they will laugh at us forever for being old and rusty, right?"
He chuckled, sounding a little embarrassed, and ran a hand through his hair. "I used to be so good at this. I was smooth, Abby."
"What happened then?" she snorted.
"The Ark fell apart." he shrugged.
"See, you missed a golden opportunity here." she taunted. "If you had been smooth you would have said…"
"The Ark fell apart and you were trapped on the wrong side of it." he cut her off. "And I've never been so scared in my life. Smooth enough?"
There was a lot to answer to that but she settled for resting her boot against his.
"Smooth enough for now." she declared.