Summary: Non-canon, Drama/Romance, hopefully with some Action/Adventure thrown in. Bellarke, Linctavia and probably more once I get going. :D
Rated M – for adult themes.
Disclaimer: Just borrowing The 100, not for profit!
A/N: While this story is set in canonverse, kinda, the story is not canon compliant. There's a lot that happens that is canon and a lot that happens that isn't. I don't hate any of the characters on the show, but I needed Pike to be who he is here, for the sake of my story! Please don't hate me!
The Homestead
Chapter 12 – Marcus.
"I'm glad you're here Marcus," Clarke passed him a bowl of greens as they sat to eat after a long day negotiating the constitution. "Honestly, I'm finding the details of these meetings more and more tedious every day. It's nice to have someone by my side who can navigate diplomacy so efficiently."
Marcus laughed. Clarke was an excellent leader. She could make the tough decisions and strategise like a boss - especially in an emergency. But mapping out the future of human relations amongst an entire race of people was a monumental task, even for somebody as capable as Clarke.
At least she was honest with herself about her shortcomings.
"Glad to be of use, especially if it means lightening your load, Clarke."
The commander smiled at him appreciatively.
She had been smiling a lot more in the last few months, he realised. She seemed to be taking stock of moments rather than barging through them onto the next, like her life depended on it, like she was at war with time itself.
Marcus liked to think he and Clarke had slowly built a comfortable working relationship based on their common goals. She had supported his ideas and beliefs when the Ark crash landed, and whilst they hadn't always agreed on the way to do things – peace had been the shared ideology that connected them.
And then there was Abby.
Clarke had looked at him differently since he and her mother had begun exploring their romantic feelings for each other. At first she had eyed him suspiciously, almost like an overprotective parent, unaware of his motivations. After a while, she seemed relieved that Abby had found somebody to love and comfort her.
Marcus may have been amused by Clarke's reaction to her mother's relationship, if he wasn't aware of the underlying meaning.
She had shouldered so much responsibility since they'd sent her and the 100 to the ground.
It pained him every day to know that he was one of the ones who had made that choice. He had sent a bunch of kids into a battle for survival. He had stripped them of their innocence and youth. And he had continued to do so, even after the rest of the Skaikru had landed, even after the council had resumed controlled, even after Mt Weather, and the coup and everything else that had occurred since.
He knew they weren't kids anymore but that didn't change the way he felt.
Clarke had endured more loss and depravity than any twenty year old ever should. Yes, life on the Ark was not easy, but down here their humanity was all they had. And these kids had been forced to the brink of losing that, more times than he'd like to admit, often by his own hand.
He had asked them to do the unspeakable and he had seen firsthand the damage it had caused them.
Helping Clarke now, felt like nothing in the face of what they'd done for him, his people and the notion of peace in general.
Marcus slammed his fist into the metal bench, clenching his teeth to try and hold back the obscenities on the tip of his tongue.
"I knew there had to be someone else involved! It just didn't sit right – Pike's story about the landing, their interaction with the Ice Nation – none of it…"
He was disappointed with himself for not having seen it earlier. The whole thing was starting to come together now. Now that Bellamy had agreed to help him and filled in the missing pieces – risking his life, and his sister's, to feed Marcus the information he needed.
"We don't have time for this," Octavia interrupted his internal workings. "Bellamy's gone, and it won't take long for Pike to find out what we did, what we know."
"Bellamy's gone?" Marcus stood upright, concern etched on his features. "Why? Where?"
Octavia cocked her head and raised her eyebrows. "Have you even been listening?" She scowled. "Ontari is about to execute Lexa and all of the existing night bloods. You think she'll stop at them if anybody tries to intervene?"
"He's gone to Polis." Marcus breathed in realisation. "He's gone to get Clarke."
"He's gone to get himself killed," Octavia corrected - a bitterness to her voice that hinted at the stupidity of her brother's actions. "There's nothing we can do about that now. We have to get you to safety."
"We have to stop them." If Lexa's night bloods were destroyed, there would be only one left who could take her place.
His people couldn't afford to allow Ontari the throne.
What was Pike thinking? Marcus couldn't understand what the farm station leader - the elected Skaikru Chancellor - could possibly seek to gain from this deal with the devil.
"It's too late for that," Octavia cried, wrenching his arm and dragging him towards the hole in the wall she had been using to get in and out of the Ark for weeks now. "You have to come with me."
"No! Octavia - I can't leave my people."
"He'll kill you!"
"I have to believe that there's still some good in him. I have to believe that I can reach him -like I reached your brother." He watched as Octavia's eyes turned to fire.
"Are you crazy? Pike has been playing us since day one. He made a deal with the Ice Queen and her sicko night blood. Bellamy may be an ass who makes a lot of shitty decisions," she looked down at the ground. Marcus could tell it pained her to talk about her brother. "But he's not a psychopath like Pike."
She had a point. Maybe Pike was beyond reach. But he still couldn't leave Arkadia. There were people here who'd helped him. People that would suffer if he slunk away - people like Abby.
"You go." He commanded. "Get the others together. Find Bellamy. Save the night bloods if you can. Save Lexa. Do whatever is necessary to stop Ontari becoming The Commander. I'll do what I can from in here to put an end to Pike's plan."
Octavia shook her head, dumbfounded by his decision.
"When it's done, you know where to meet me."