Just a short missing scene from DNR because I was missing that kabby reunion ) Thanks to Akachankami for the beta!
The Eye Of The Storm
The cell smelt like mold, sweat and clotted blood.
Abby wished she hadn't gotten as used to it as she had but, when Azgeda's warriors pushed them in Polis holding cells, the smell that would have repulsed her once upon a time now felt familiar. The others were arguing. Well… Clarke and Marcus were arguing and the moment the guards left them to themselves, the volume of that fight increased.
She caught words like "shouldn't have", "Roan", "behind my back", "Chancellor", "right" and "survive". She didn't try to cut in. She had known from the start Clarke would have been furious with their choice, had warned Marcus when he had exposed his plan to her over the radio but hadn't gone out of her way to talk him out of it either.
She was tired.
Extremely tired.
She sought the furthest corner and sank down on the dirty dusty floor, her back to the bars, her tied hands propped on her knees.
She stared at the ropes around her wrists, tried her hardest not to remember John's damaged skin after Raven had cut his bounds… He had refused her help. For hours, he had refused her help. Until she had lost it and destroyed the radiation chamber. The accusation in his eyes…
It was one thing to experiment on a random man, easier to reason with herself and compartmentalize somehow, but purposefully putting someone she had grown to know and like in danger? No… That had been too much. Even if the human race as a whole had been at stake.
She wasn't sure what kind of woman that made her.
A headache was throbbing behind her left eye. She couldn't really tell if it was just blood pressure or if her brain was starting to deteriorate the same way Raven's was. If…
"Hey." Marcus said softly, sitting down next to her. Clarke, she noticed, had chosen the opposite side of the cell and was making it very clear she wasn't talking to them yet. Exactly like the sulking teenager she wasn't anymore.
"Hey." she replied, weariness creeping in her voice. She was glad to see him, more than she could have been able to express at that very instant. Something had uncoiled in her the moment she had caught his eyes over what had quickly become a battlefield. Despite the danger… She felt safer, stronger… "I thought we agreed there would be no more kidnapping or being held hostage?"
She nodded to his bound hands with a small smile that wasn't entirely genuine.
He chuckled and it did things to her, that sound… It took her back to better days, flesh flushed tight together, his nose bumping her neck, his rich voice in her ear… What she wouldn't have given to go back to those too short days of bliss…
If they really didn't make it to that bunker, if they failed their people and were forced to accept the inevitable – although she couldn't see that happening because that wasn't who they were, they would fight to the last second, fight until the fire came and devoured them all – it was how she wanted to go: with him buried deep inside her, his sweet whispers promising everything would be fine, his presence engulfing her in a safe warmth…
"Are you okay?"
Her mind had drifted away like it tended to do lately. It could be sleep deprivation. It could be her brain.
He was frowning a little, studying her with concern and far too much perceptiveness.
She had told him about Raven. She supposed he had connected the dots himself.
"Yes." she promised and meant it. She was alright. For now. She had only hallucinated once. Her symptoms weren't as obvious or as fast as Raven's… Brains were mysterious things. Maybe… She chased that out of her mind and rested her head on his shoulder, leaning into the warmth of his side. "I'm happy to see you. I missed you."
She was aware they weren't alone and that the others were doing their best to give them a semblance of privacy, pretending they couldn't hear her low words even if the cell was far too small for that not to be the case. She didn't mind really. Each of them had walked on enough late night radio conversations to figure out what was going on between them.
"I missed you too." he offered quietly, carefully resting his cheek on the top of her head. She closed her eyes, thought that maybe she could sleep for a little while… They might need to escape later or to fight or… Being rested might do her good…
His bound hands found hers and she awkwardly clasped his fingers as best as she could.
She had to believe there would be time for a proper reunion later, once they'd be free – once someone had rescued them or they had managed to negotiate for their release by themselves. With kisses that never ended and hands that wandered.
But this, this right now, was the eye of the storm.
And, huddled against his side like she was, she could almost believe they would be able to survive it when it finally hit.