Bellamy knew they didn't have much time, but he forced himself not to rush. It was important to find exactly the right words, the ones that would tear down the wall that seemed to have sprung up between Clarke and himself over the past couple of hours.
"Let's sit down," he said. "I know we need to get out of here but I'm not having this talk while we're standing in a doorway."
"Okay," she said, dropping gracefully onto the same couch that doubled as Madi's bed and smoothing the skirt of her new dress.
"You look beautiful in that dress, Clarke," Bellamy said impulsively as he took a seat next to her. Not so close that she'd feel cornered, he hoped, but not so far it would seem like there was a chasm between them.
She shrugged, plucking at the skirt and rubbing the material between her fingers, "Rosa said I should get this one…"
"And she was right," he said quickly. "You look… perfect."
Clarke flushed. "You really don't have to say that, Bellamy."
"Why shouldn't I say it? Why should I never say all the things I want to say to you?"
"Look, I know you're trying to be kind…"
"Kind!" Agitated, Bellamy raised his arm to run a hand through his hair, stopping himself just in time from turning it into an unruly mess.
"I'm not trying to be kind, Clarke, I'm trying to tell you that I think you're beautiful. Even in your everyday jeans and t-shirt, you're beautiful. But in that dress, you just… you take my breath away."
He sighed. "But I don't have time now to explain all the ways I think you're beautiful, inside and out. That'll have to wait for some other day. Right now, I want to talk about earlier, when you saw me talking to Echo."
Clarke hesitated a moment before she finally said, "You weren't talking to Echo, Bellamy, you were hugging her."
He nodded. "I was. But you came in on the tail end of what had been a tough conversation for her. And… if you want to talk about being kindto someone, then that's what I was doing at that moment, trying to be kind to Echo."
She blinked in surprise. "Why?"
This time his sigh was tinged with embarrassment at how arrogant his explanation might sound. But she was never going to understand if he wasn't honest.
"You remember I told you I broke off our… relationship back on Sanctum?"
Clarke nodded. "Yes, but when I saw you today I thought," she shrugged, "you must have changed your mind. Or… maybe she persuaded you …"
"No." He shook his head. "That's not what happened at all."
"Then what?"
"Look, I was sure Echo had understood and accepted my decision that she and I weren't meant to be together like that, but it turned out I was wrong. All this time she's been holding onto this idea that I'd… I don't know… reconsider, I guess. But I told her today that was never going to happen."
"Are you sure? I mean, you never know…"
"Jesus, Clarke! Sometimes I don't know whether it's more frustrating talking to Echo or to you!"
She stiffened. "What does that mean?"
"It means…" Bellamy's eyes shifted away, and he realized he was going to have to spell it out.
He grabbed her hands from her lap and squeezed them tightly, startling her.
"Clarke," he said earnestly, "I won't be getting with Echo or anyone else, because the only person I ever want to be with… is you. And… that's how it's been for a long, long time. But when you and I got separated, and I thought you were dead…" his eyes closed briefly at the remembered pain and grief. "Anyway, I made a promise to Echo that things wouldn't change when we got back to the ground. But as soon as I found out you were alive I should've known I couldn't keep that promise. I tried for a little while because I guess I thought I owed her. Which was just stupid, because that can't possibly be a good basis for…"
He stopped suddenly. "Shit! This is coming out all wrong. I'm just… crap at this kind of thing."
Clarke stared at him, eyes wide. "Just say it, Bellamy, whatever it is. Straight out."
He nodded. "Okay. So… here it is. I have feelings for you, Clarke. Some… pretty intense feelings. I have almost from the start, but there never seemed to be a right time to say anything about it. But when we got back from the ring, and you were still alive, it didn't take me long to realize I still felt exactly the same way, and that those feelings… they were never going away."
As Bellamy spoke, a smile had begun to tug at the corners of Clarke's mouth.
"Yeah?" she said softly.
"Definitely, yeah. So today, when you saw me… hugging Echo… she was just finally accepting we were never getting back together. But I felt bad about hurting her, so I just… I hugged her. Just for a moment."
"Oh." The single word was spoken so softly that he barely heard it.
But then she cleared her throat and asked, "So how come you've never said anything to me about these… feelings you have?"
His expression was wry. "Let's see. You and Finn. You and Lexa. You feeling responsible for both their deaths. Miserable fucking fate separating us. Us somehow ending up on opposite sides of the war between Octavia and Diyoza and almost getting each other killed." He shrugged. "Take your pick."
"But we've been here for months now. And… and sleeping in the same bed."
"Yeah, and that's been fucking torture, but… I didn't want to say anything because I wasn't sure how you felt."
She gawked at him. "I kissed you, Bellamy! I kissed you."
"I know that, but then you didn't ever want to talk about it!"
"Well, because Madi arrived just then, and… and I didn't know what to say to you!"
"Okay, fine! But can you just… tell me right now if you feel the same way?"
"Of course I do!"
By that time they were nearly shouting at each other, but paused when both suddenly realized exactly what Clarke had just said.
"You do?" he repeated, his frustration rapidly evaporating.
"Yeah," she said softly. "I do."
Bellamy sighed heavily as he reached up and stroked his palm down her cheek, his thumb just barely grazing her lips.
"Clarke," he whispered, "I really do have fucking awful timing, don't I?"
"Yes," she agreed, voice low. "Still, if you were to maybe kiss me right now…"
He groaned. "How the hell can I do that without wanting to rip that beautiful dress right off you?"
She grinned. "Because you know we have a date with destiny coming up, and I need my makeup to be perfect for it."
Bellamy laughed, but then he cupped the back of her head and leaned towards her across the space he'd carefully left between them, and she met him in the middle. When he slid his lips across hers, she responded immediately, and the feelings he'd been suppressing forever just welled up inside him, filling his mind and suffusing his body. One, two, three slides across her soft mouth, but then she pulled away just as his tongue slipped out from between his teeth.
"If we don't stop now, Bellamy, we never will," she said shakily, and he knew it was true.
"Let me just fix my lip gloss and then we have to go," she said, pulling out a mirror from the small purse that lay between them and retouching her lips with a tiny wand.
They stared at one another for a moment, and then he shrugged.
"Yeah, this does kind of suck," he said. "But I'm still glad we had this conversation."
"Me, too," she smiled, reaching over and leaving another small peck on his lips. "Now, let's go."
She was up then, tugging at his hand, and only minutes later they were in Gabriel's fancy car, speeding toward Alexandria to attend a party where their only mission was to save the world.
XXXXXXXXXX
They'd had a final meeting that afternoon about how and where everyone should be deployed.
The primary objective was to get Raven and Octavia through the rear door and up the passageway to meet Becca in Cadogan's office, so they could do their thing with the computer. Miller would be assigned as their backup, but he'd remain in the bunker and only enter the passageway if he was in danger of being detected or if Octavia asked for his assistance.
Of the others, Indra and Echo would keep an eye on things by dressing like the servers so they could mill around the outside area without being detected. Unless there was an emergency, they wouldn't enter the building where the brighter interior lighting could give them away.
"A server?" Echo had asked with a frown while they were discussing the plan. "What exactly does a server do."
Rose had explained, smiling. "Nothing too difficult, dear. Bring in trays of food and drink from the kitchen, pass them around to the guests. Uh… be generally helpful."
Echo's frown had deepened. "I'm expected to be a servant? That doesn't sound like a job for a trained warrior, Bellamy."
"You remember this is a covert operation, Echo, not a battle. The idea is for you and Indra to provide backup for everyone else without being noticed. Maybe you won't have to do anything at all because the whole plan goes off like clockwork, and Cadogan's access to ALIE is eliminated. But we can't count on it being that simple, so you have to be ready for anything."
Echo had nodded slowly, her expression reflecting comprehension, if not enthusiasm.
Jackson was to stay with the van, in case they needed to depart abruptly.
"Should I just keep driving around and around?" he'd asked.
"If you can find a place to park on the street within a couple of blocks you can do that. Just make sure the thing is fully charged before you leave the beach house."
There hadn't been much discussion after that, although Jackson had had one further suggestion.
"I've been thinking. We don't know what kind of backlash Becca might face once both ALIE and the Second Dawn computer are destroyed. There's no reason Cadogan should blame her, but considering he's a cult leader bent on destroying the world, I'm not about to give him high marks for logic."
"Can't say I disagree with you there, doc. What'd you have in mind?"
"That drug you asked me to bring from Sanctum. I think we should give some to Becca in case she needs to use it on her guards."
They'd all agreed then that it would be a good idea for Becca to have some kind of weapon, and Bellamy had asked Jackson to work out the logistics with Octavia.
But all that had been hours earlier, and now he and Clarke were finally headed towards the party. Rosa had explained about the "valet parking," but Bellamy had been reluctant to leave access to their transportation in the hands of his host and had instead parked along the street.
As they made their way up the block toward the Second Dawn building, Bellamy impulsively reached down and grabbed Clarke's hand.
"You ready for this charade?"
She smiled up at him. "C'mon, Bellamy. This can't possibly be as hard as Mount Weather or the City of Light. I think we can handle it."
"Yeah, I know. I just keep thinking about the… the consequences if we fail here."
She tugged at his hand, pulling him up short, and they both stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.
"But we won't fail. This is our destiny. I know it."
She was so sure… and so beautiful. Affection welled up inside him.
"Clarke, I just want to say…"
But then he stopped, because he knew it wasn't the time or the place.
"Yeah?" she said, her brows drawn together in confusion.
"I, uh, I think we should check in with everyone before we get to the party. Make sure they're all in place."
She looked up at him as though she knew very well that that wasn't what he'd been about to say at all, but merely shrugged and said, "Good idea."
"Everyone all set?" he muttered into the mic hidden in his tie clasp.
One by one he heard them respond via the tiny receiver hidden by the hair that curled over his right ear. When Clarke smiled up at him, he knew she'd heard them, too.
"Looks like we're a go," she said, dropping his hand and instead wrapping both hands around the crook of his arm as they continued along the street toward the gala.
There was plenty of lighting around the Second Dawn building when they arrived, but they weren't the security floodlights that Rosa had described. These were strings of small white lights strewn festively across the building's portico and festooning a few of the smaller trees.
The floodlights had clearly been turned off so as not to interfere with the party ambiance, but Bellamy was glad to see that the decorative lighting hadn't been extended to the rear of the building. That was still shrouded in darkness, its only source of light reflections from elsewhere on the property. No doubt Cadogan's security team expected there was little to no chance anyone would try to breach the building while it was filled with partygoers and security personnel.
Which was exactly what they were counting on.
Plenty of partygoers had already spilled out of the building onto the enormous lawn, but he and Clarke headed for the building. As agreed, Rosa was waiting for them just inside the door, dressed in a quietly formal gown, its color a match for her name.
"Sorry we're late, Rosa," Clarke murmured after they'd been checked off the guest list and ushered into the lobby. Huge displays of flowers were everywhere.
"No worries, my dears," Rosa said. "It gave me time to check out the lay of the land, so to speak. It looks like the party is mostly confined to the lobby here and the room up ahead, although as you saw, there are plenty of people outside, too."
The room she was leading them to seemed enormous. Bellamy couldn't imagine what its everyday purpose was, but tonight it had been transformed into a ballroom, complete with orchestra. Refreshments were set out on tables along the perimeter, while black-clad servers also circulated the room with trays of food and glasses of what Bellamy assumed was some kind of wine.
"Thanks for your help with the server costumes," he muttered to Rosa as they made their way into the large room.
"Oh, that took no genius," she shrugged delicately. "Servers always wear the same thing. So what would you like to do? Do want to take a look around and have something to eat, or should I take you to meet the man himself?"
Bellamy considered.
"He's talking to Becca, which means she hasn't yet had a chance to slip away. And that's when I want to grab his attention and hold onto it. After she's gone. I think if we just wait, he'll eventually get curious about the new people you asked him to invite, and then hopefully we can figure out a way to keep him from his office."
They busied themselves at the food tables then, and Rosa introduced them to a few of her acquaintances.
"These are my lovely new friends, Clarke and Bellamy," was all she would say, and if the well-to-do folks who met them eyed them curiously and hoped for more, they were disappointed.
The party was in full swung by then, and Bellamy wasn't sure he'd ever seen such a large group of people all at once who hadn't come together in order to make war.
Out of the corner of his eye, he tried to keep track of Cadogan's movements, relief coursing through him when it appeared Becca must have finally escaped the man's conversation. A quick but thorough look around the room told Bellamy she didn't seem to be there any longer.
"Do you see Becca anywhere?" he murmured to Clarke as she munched delicately on a tiny pastry.
She shook her head. "No. I hope she managed to get upstairs to meet Raven."
He'd have liked to use the comms to check, but there was so much noise in the ballroom he doubted he'd be able to hear anything. Maybe they could just slip back into the lobby for a few seconds…
"Ah, these must be your new finds, Rosa."
The words came suddenly from behind, and the voice was one Bellamy was surprised to find he remembered from the one short video he'd watched all those years ago.
He and Clarke turned in tempo, both pasting smiles on their faces.
"Yes, these are my lovely new friends, Clarke and Bellamy," Rosa said, smiling. "My dears, this is Mr. Cadogan, who owns this wonderful building."
Just like they weren't keenly aware of exactly who he was. Like every other man there, he was dressed in formal black evening wear.
"Oh, Bill, please," he said genially, holding out a hand for Bellamy to shake before turning to look him fully in the face.
And for one split second as he stared at them, the smile on Cadogan's face seemed to falter, the hand to pause in mid-air. But he recovered quickly and turned to shake Clarke's hand as well.
"Oh, I see some old friends over there," Rosa murmured then, "so I'll just leave you here with Bill, shall I?"
"Of course, Rosa," Clarke said graciously, and then she was gone.
All part of the plan.
"We've never met before, have we?" Cadogan asked them, a curious expression on his face.
Bellamy shook his head. "I don't think so."
"No, of course not," Cadogan contradicted himself then. "I would certainly have remembered Clarke," he added with a fatuous smile.
"Yes, most people do remember meeting my beautiful… wife," Bellamy agreed.
"But there is just… something about the two of you," Cadogan insisted, like he couldn't seem to shake off his odd reaction to them. "Like… I know you from somewhere else. Or perhaps… from the pages of a book?"
His voice trailed off as though he wasn't quite sure of his own explanation.
"I assure you we're quite real," Clarke said with a bright smile, "and while we are from somewhere else, Boston isn't really that far away. It's even in the same time zone."
"That wasn't quite what I…" Cadogan frowned. "Never mind. What I meant to say was … welcome to our anniversary event. I heard from Rosa that you've developed an interest in our… organization."
The genial facade had slid back into place by then, his initial reaction dismissed.
Bellamy shrugged. "We heard about you — I can't quite remember where — so when we found ourselves in this area and heard Rosa was coming tonight, I'm afraid we kind of… invited ourselves along."
Bellamy made his explanations with the confident air of someone young enough and wealthy enough to be certain he'd be welcome anywhere.
"I hope you don't mind," he added politely.
"Not at all. May I show you both around? Explain a little of what we're all about here at Second Dawn?"
"That would be lovely," Clarke said enthusiastically.
It was fine with Bellamy. Wasn't the plan to retain Cadogan's presence and engage his attention?
Several elevator rides took them all over what Bellamy might have considered to be a very impressive building — if he hadn't known that its owner was a man bent on starting World War III. There seemed to be a lot of security everywhere, but there were also plenty of partygoers roaming around both inside and outside the building, all of whom had clearly wandered away from the designation party area.
"Everyone is always so curious about this building," Cadogan said, "so I don't mind if they look around a little as long as they leave the private wing alone."
"And where's that?" Clarke asked casually.
"Top floor,"Cadogan whispered conspiratorially. "My office suite."
"Ah! Well, we certainly don't want to invade your private spaces," she said quickly. "What do you usually show to, uh, newcomers."
"Why don't you come along to the fourth floor membership module and I'll give you the whole speech."
Another elevator ride brought them to the fourth floor, and they'd almost reached the door marked Membership when Clarke suddenly clutched Bellamy's hand and turned her face into his shoulder.
"You okay?" he whispered, just as Cadogan reached for the doorknob.
"Let me get that for you, sir," one of the security men said, opening the door to the Membership module with a flourish.
"Thank you, uh…"
"Jensen, sir," the main said, no doubt delighted to be able give his name, and perhaps earn some credit, for performing the onerous task of opening a door for the big boss.
That's when it clicked in Bellamy's head. Jensen was one of the men who'd been chasing Clarke.
Shit!
"You okay in those shoes, hon?" he asked, improvising quickly, as Clarke continued to turn her face into his shoulder.
"Just a little dizzy. I think maybe I just need to sit down for a minute," she muttered.
"Let's get you a chair," Cadogan said, quickly shoving one underneath her.
And amazingly, as soon as she sat — and the hallway door was shut — Clarke made a remarkable recovery.
"Can I have, uh, Jensen fetch you some water?" Cadogan asked solicitously.
"No need," Clarke said quickly. "I'm fine now."
"Wonderful! Then if you're both comfortable, I'll tell you all about what it means to be a part of Second Dawn."
Bellamy imagined he was supposed to be both flattered and impressed by Cadogan's personal attention, but he'd heard way too much propaganda in his lifetime — from the Ark, the grounders, Mount Weather, the Primes — not to recognize the Second Dawn manifesto as more of the same. Yet another plan for how things should be, and how the world would be a better place, if only humans would give up their individual foibles and follies and follow this strict and uniform code of conduct.
Nevertheless, Bellamy kept a rapt expression fixed firmly on his face while his new friend Bill droned on, the words going into one ear and then directly out the other.
"Don't you think we owe it to ourselves — to all of humanity really," Cadogan said, his voice never wavering from those even persuasive tones as he wrapped up his talk, "to build a better society if we can? Perhaps the Second Dawn of mankind can do a more effective job than the first did, and produce a society that's less random and less chaotic."
Bellamy nodded on what he felt sure must be his cue. "Maybe you're right. I guess Clarke and I will have to think about it."
Cadogan smiled. "You know, not everyone who wants to join us gets to be a part of Second Dawn. There are certain… requirements and prerequisites for membership."
Now this was an interesting bit of news.
"Yeah? And what might those be?"
The smile that Cadogan produced at that moment was astonishingly coy for someone of his age and wealth, while behind the man's back Clarke exaggeratedly rolled her eyes.
"Now that would be telling," he said. "But I have a good feeling about you, Bellamy. About both of you. But try not to take too long to make up your mind."
Right. We'll want to make sure we're saved when you blow up the rest of the world, right?
"Of course," Bellamy nodded, surreptitiously glancing at a desk clock and dismayed to see that barely an hour had passed since they'd hooked up with Bill. Raven and Becca would surely need more time than that.
"Are there any other interesting places in this building?" Clarke asked brightly, and he knew they were once again in sync. "Before we end the tour, I mean."
Cadogan smiled. "You know, I really like you two. I can tell there's something special about you both. So I'm going to take you to the best spot in the building, a place that's going to completely blow you away."
"Really?"
Clarke's enthusiastic expression was nearly over the top, and it was all Bellamy could do not to laugh.
"Thanks, Bill, that's pretty flattering," he said, laying it on as thick as he dared. "So…what are we talking? Have you got the eighth wonder of the work hidden somewhere in the building."
"Not quite," Cadogan laughed softly. "But I do have the most amazing view in a hundred miles from the 120-degree expanse of windows in my office."
XXXXXXXXXX
Clarke supposed she should be grateful Jensen wasn't there when they exited the Membership room, but all she could think about was how they'd failed. The plan had been to capture Cadogan's attention in order to keep him away from his office, and now here they were, headed for the exact spot where Raven and Becca were working under Octavia's watchful eye.
"You know, you really don't have to take the trouble of bringing us to your office," Bellamy said as they made their way toward the elevator, his voice perhaps just slightly louder than normal.
In her earpiece, she heard Octavia's sudden tense whisper.
"Shit! Did you just say Cadogan's coming to the office?"
"Nonsense!" Cadogan was saying. "You don't want to miss that view. Besides, there are a couple of papers I forgot to sign earlier, and I can take care of that while you check out the view."
"That's so kind of you," Clarke said hurriedly, "but would you mind if we took a quick detour past the restrooms first? Before we hit your office, I mean?"
"There is a private bathroom up there…"
"Oh, no, I'm so sorry but this can't wait."
"Are you still ill, Clarke?" Cadogan asked, a slight frown on his face. "Because you can stay here if you'd prefer and I'll take Bellamy up…"
"No! No… I definitely don't want to miss out on that view, if you wouldn't mind waiting while I take a, uh, quick trip to the restroom," she said, at the same time vaguely patting her stomach.
To her own ears, she sounded utterly absurd, but she'd recalled Becca's remark about men in this century being embarrassed by female bodily functions, and she hoped that still held true for self-absorbed megalomaniacs.
"Of course," Cadogan nodded, and Bellamy gave Clarke a discreet thumbs up as she rushed into the woman's restroom.
There was no one else in the room, but she nevertheless locked herself inside one of the stalls before bending over to better access the tiny mic attached to her bra.
"Octavia!" It came out as a harsh whisper.
"Shit, Clarke! What the hell's going on?"
"He insists on taking us up to his office to see the view, so get the hell out of there and make sure nothing looks out of place."
"But they're not done yet…"
"We'll try get him out of the room as fast as we can so you can come back. Look, I've gotta go before he gets suspicious."
Clarke flushed the toilet, then washed her hands and smoothed the bodice of her dress before returning to the men in the hallway.
"All set," she said brightly, hoping that Bellamy had gotten the message, too.
Cadogan's office was on the twelfth floor of the building, with the elevator opening up directly across from the doorway. Clarke held her breath as the man swung the door open, releasing it only when it was clear that the room was empty.
She glanced at Bellamy and he gave her a brief reassuring nod, from which she understood that everything looked just as it had when he and Octavia had been there last.
Without turning on the office lights, Cadogan strode across the room and pressed a button, and the half-circle of opaque glass that covered the wall at the end of the huge office became suddenly transparent.
He turned to look at them. "What did I tell you?" he said, waving his arms towards the night sky as though he owned it.
She and Bellamy made their way across the room to find that the view, as promised, was indeed spectacular.
"I can see the whole of DC from here, you know." Cadogan said. "All those delusional men and women who think they have so much power."
Clarke turned toward Cadogan in surprise, wondering if he might expand on that, but it almost seemed like he was talking to himself.
"They've always seemed pretty powerful to me," Bellamy said with a shrug. "Do you know something I don't know?"
"Perhaps," he nodded, his gaze swinging between them. And as they stood there beside him, his expression became even more enigmatic.
"What is it I can feel from you two? Whatever it is, it's very strong."
Bellamy laughed. "I'm pretty sure we have no special powers, Bill, although Clarke makes terrific pancakes."
"No, not special powers, but perhaps… an important destiny."
This was so near the truth that Clarke gave an involuntary gasp, which she tried to cover up with a fit of coughing.
"I fear you're really not well tonight, Clarke," Cadogan said in a kindly tone. "Perhaps you should have a seat on the couch. I can assure you it's quite comfortable."
He began to steer her across the room before Bellamy could move.
And that's when she saw it.
It was just sitting there on the floor, halfway between the couch and Cadogan's enormous desk, the metal glinting in the light that spilled into the room through the wall of windows. Clarke held her breath when Cadogan missed stepping on it by the merest fraction of an inch.
She'd known what it was at once, of course.
A delicate metal sculpture hanging from a chain. Clarke had once had one very much like it.
But hers had been a two-headed deer and this one was a bird.
She thought that Raven must have dropped it while they were rushing around to clear everything away and hide themselves. Otherwise, they'd surely have seen it themselves, sitting there right in the middle of the floor.
But no matter how the necklace got there, Clarke knew it was imperative she find a way to retrieve before Cadogan saw it.
Not that anyone would connect the necklace with the unknown Raven Reyes, or even with Clarke or Bellamy. But if he found it, Cadogan would surely know that someone had been in his office, and all by itself, that would be a catastrophe. The success of their plan — as well as Becca's safety — depended on Cadogan's complete confidence that no one could possibly have invaded his office or interfered with his dedicated computer system.
As Cadogan sat beside her on that couch, Clarke wracked her brain for a way to distract him so she could pick up the necklace. She glanced at Bellamy, and from the expression on his face she knew he could see she was distressed but had no idea why.
She tried not to look at the necklace, tried not to even think about it lest she somehow give its existence away. But in her mind the damn thing grew and grew, until she wondered how it was remotely possible that neither man could see it.
Soon, she grew so agitated that her throat constructed and she coughed.
Delicately at first… until a thought struck her.
As both men stared at her, Clarke's coughing suddenly increased in both strength and volume until she finally panted out the word, "Water."
"Yes, of course. I believe there are bottles back there," Cadogan said, rising immediately to fumble through the small refrigerator that sat behind his desk.
With the speed of lightning, Clarke was off the couch and scooping up Raven's necklace, stuffing it inside her small purse, coughing all the while. She was back on the couch before Cadogan had even turned to ask if sparkling water would do.
Clarke nodded, and a moment later accepted the bottled water with the most grateful look she could muster.
She took a long gulp and said, "I've no idea where that came from, Bill. I'm so sorry to have spoiled your wonderful treat. You're right, the view from your office is fantastic. But I think we've taken up much more than our share of your time tonight."
"Nonsense! I've enjoyed your company. In fact…"
But they were never to hear Bill's next thoughts because his phone rang then, and apparently he was needed elsewhere.
"I'm afraid it looks like we're going to have to cut our time short after all," he said, hanging up. "One of our most faithful members has been looking for me…"
Most faithful and no doubt most wealthy, Clarke thought cynically.
"Then we mustn't keep you," she said as they all rose. "But I've enjoyed our visit to your office. Um… aren't you going to shut the, uh, the blinds so no one can see in?" she asked, looking back at the windows as they headed for the office door. "The way they were when we got here?"
Cadogan laughed. "I suppose I should," he said, pressing the button so that the fantastic windows once again became opaque. "But believe me, this office is impregnable."
"And thank goodness for that," she said with a fawning smile.
Cadogan walked them back to the ballroom before he went off to meet with his faithful member, muttering all along the way about his regret that they'd been interrupted.
"Well, now I'll at least get to dance with… my wife," Bellamy told him, smiling.
And although Clarke knew it was just a part of their cover, it was still hard to ignore the tingle in her chest every time he referred to her that way.
"Yes, well… perhaps I'll find you later," Cadogan said. "I'd really like to make you understand."
"Please don't bother," Bellamy said, reaching out to shake the man's hand. "We've taken up far too much of your time already."
And Clarke knew just how sincerely Bellamy meant that.
She and Bellamy wandered into the ballroom then, nodding to Rosa across the room to let her know that all was well but still seeing no sign of Becca.
Which meant they were presumably still at it.
"So am I going to get to dance with you?" Bellamy asked, smiling down at her.
She shrugged. "If you want to. I never really took you for a dancer."
"I think I can manage not to trip," he said, pulling her close. "And at least I get to put my arms around you."
Clarke's senses were swamped almost at once by the feel of Bellamy's heavy body surrounding her as they shuffled their way across the floor to the sounds of the soft orchestral music. So intensely was she enjoying that feeling that she nearly missed his murmured question.
"What was all that back there with the coughing?"
Clarke huffed softly and stepped back in his arms to look up at him. "Raven dropped her bird necklace — you know the one Finn made her — right in the middle of Cadogan's office. And for a few seconds, I really thought it was all over. That he'd see it and know someone had been in there."
"So that's what you picked up when he went for the water."
"Yes. Raven's probably noticed it's gone by now and is worried about it. Should I try to let her know I have it?"
"I'll tell Octavia as soon as we get away from the music."
But the prospect of staying in each other's arms for just a little while longer was too tempting, and they were still swaying on the dance floor twenty minutes later when Bill Cadogan made an unexpected reappearance.
"Glad you're still here enjoying yourselves" he said, coming up behind them and looking utterly pleased with himself.
"Bill!" Bellamy said, pulling away from Clarke in surprise. "I thought you had a member of your, uh, flock to tend to…"
"All taken care of," Cadogan assured him, and then he frowned as he gazed around the still- crowded ballroom. "It's quite noisy in here. Perhaps we can step into the lobby area."
"Of course," Clarke said.
Because… wasn't that why they were there? To keep Bill Cadogan occupied?
"The flowers in here are so lovely," she told him with a smile as soon as they entered the lobby. "And I really haven't had much chance to look at them…"
"I'm afraid you won't have time now, either, Clarke," Cadogan said, dismissing her horticultural pursuits with a wave of his hand. "I have something much more important to tell you about. And to show you."
As they trailed after him across the lobby, Cadogan glanced around him seemingly casually, but Clarke had the distinct impression that he was looking around to make sure that no one was noticing them. Or following them.
And then she saw where they were headed… a door that she'd barreled through in a panic weeks earlier when she had only a vague idea of where it led. But she knew now.
That's when she understood what it was the Cadogan was so eager to show them. The thing he was sure must be more powerful than all the governments in the world.
He was bringing them to see the stone.
But the stone was in the bunker, and the bunker was Octavia and Raven's only avenue of escape.