"Bants! Gon we!" Clarke bellowed after ignoring the first two sets of raps on their door. Lexa and Fair were studying, and Clarke was sketching them. All the guards, except this one apparently, knew that they were not to be disturbed during this time.

When it happened again, Clarke tossed her sketchbook aside and marched to the door. She wanted to throw it open, but instead pulled it in just enough to slide through and quietly close it behind her. The knocking guard ended up on his ass. "This better be good," she growled.

He looked up at her and didn't move. "Heda requests your presence."

Clarke sighed, stepped over him, and climbed the stairs to reach Ontari's suite. She didn't have to knock, wait, or be announced. As soon as he saw her, the guard opened the door and stepped aside.

Ontari sat on the bed beside Raven, who was on her stomach, bare to her thighs.

"No," Clarke said. "I don't care about your weird sex stuff and I don't want to know."

"It's not that. Feel my ass."

"Did I stutter?"

"Klark," Ontari said quietly while she stood. She took Clarke's hand, pulled her to the bed, and against resistance, placed it where the strange bump was.

"Awesome," Clarke said. "You have a knot in your ass." She looked at her hand with mild disgust.

"I think it's the bullet."

"Waht?"

"Raven is my Natblida," Ontari said.

Clarke, for once, was silent and looked from one to the other. After nearly a minute, she asked, "Who knows?"

"Us. The minions, I think."

"You can't tell anyone else. Skrish. We need Lexa and my mom."

"I do not want your mom's hands on my ass again."

"I'm not a surgeon."

"It's right there," Raven complained.

Clarke took a deep breath and waited to roll her eyes until her back was turned. She hurried to the door and gave specific instructions.

Lexa arrived first. She observed the scenario before acknowledging Ontari, then Clarke. She joined them at the bed. "Raven, are you well?"

She and Clarke talked at once. "I think the bullet's coming out."

"Ontari made her a nightblood."

Lexa looked from one to the other, and like Clarke, asked, "Who else knows?"

Raven answered this time. "Us and the minions. I don't think they know for sure, but they suspect."

"This is what I was trying to avoid," Clarke said.

"Wait, so you get to be natiblida but I'm not good enough?"

"Think about it for a minute. Now there are two Skaikru who have been made nightbloods. You think there won't be questions?"

"No one will know."

"Until there's a battle or someone ambushes one of us or"

"It does not matter," Ontari interrupted. "They will think nothing of it."

"Ontari is correct," Lexa added. "The story of my return spreads through the Coalition. The two of you are considered more than just Skaikru. Raven, you are seen as Bekka Pramheda's heir. And Clarke, you are Wanheda. Our people will see it as a reward from the gods for all that you have done for us in the short time you have been here." She turned her attention back to Ontari. "Heda, please refrain from creating additional natblida," she said before looking squarely at Raven and speaking firmly. "You, as well."

"Why aren't you yelling at Clarke?" Raven demanded.

"Because Clarke, to my knowledge, has not shared her blood with anyone."

"Nope."

"So for you, Raven, it is an order. Ontari and I will discuss all of this tomorrow."

"My ass," Raven whined.

"Go see Mom tomorrow. I am not touching your ass again."

Raven turned to taunt Clarke. "You know you want to."

"Dream on," Clarke answered, then said to Lexa, "Let's go."

Ontari stopped her. "Wanheda."

Clarke took a deep breath before turning around. "Sha, Heda."

"Please fix Reivon."

Clarke shook her head. "Remember when I explained to you the difference between me and my mom?"

Ontari nodded, recalling their conversation outside Arkadia.

"This is a mom thing. I don't know what's in there, or where, or how big it is. I'm sure Raven's uncomfortable, but it isn't an emergency."

"If Abi does it, she will know Raven is natblida," Lexa said softly.

"Gods damn it," Clarke swore softly, then looked hard at Raven. "You will never be able to pay me back for this."

"Wanna bet?"

Clarke turned and left. Lexa looked at Raven. "Stop teasing Clarke."

"She needs it."

"Klark does not need you to annoy her," Lexa said forcefully. She looked at Ontari. "You said that we are not to be disturbed in the evening, especially when Fair is with me, I understand Raven's importance to you and to the Coalition, Heda, and you know that if there is an emergency, we will arrive on the run. This is the first time I have seen Klark pick up her sketchbook for herself since before Titus shot me." She turned her glare up a notch. "You saw the last thing Klark drew. You know she used her sketchbook only for what we needed. She finally started doing something for herself, and I do not know how long it will be until she feels like she can again."

Ontari looked at the floor for a few seconds. Raven pulled up the sheet and rolled onto her side so she could put her hand on Ontari's back. She looked at Lexa. "Sorry. I didn't think." Raven paused before adding, "but I'm not gonna stop teasing Clarke. It's good for her."

"Pick your times," Lexa cautioned her.

"She will," Ontari answered. She looked at Raven.

Raven sighed. "I will," she agreed.

Clarke returned with her satchel. She started pulling a table closer to the bed. Lexa and Ontari both got up and took it from her. "I need more light, too."

"There's a flashlight in my pack," Raven volunteered, and Ontari went to get it.

"I want one," Clarke answered.

"Next one the minions find," Raven promised.

A guard knocked and Clarke summoned her inside. Lexa went to her and took the box. "Mochof." Of Clarke, she asked, "Where do you need this?"

"Table," Clarke answered distractedly. She was pulling things from her satchel and putting them on the table, vials, a small wrap that protected scalpels, a suture kit. From the box, she pulled fabric torn into pieces and strips, two basins inside each other, small pot of antibiotic cream, and a bottle of alcohol. When she had everything arranged, Clarke turned her attention to Raven. "You insist I do this, we do it my way. Your choice, get drunk, and you better be quiet, or what we used to take out the chip."

"Both?"

"One or the other," Clarke said firmly.

"I don't think I can get drunk enough fast enough," Raven answered after a few seconds, remembering when that was the only painkiller available.

"Good choice. No booze for 24 hours after. Any questions?"

Raven shook her head and Clarke posed the same question to Ontari and Lexa, who both said, "No."

"Awesome." Clarke poured some alcohol in the smaller basin and dumped a small pile of fabric into it. She splashed her hands in it to disinfect them and soak the fabric.

After another deep breath, she handed the vial of sleeping drug to Ontari. "Half of it should do the job," she instructed. After Raven swallowed the potion, Clarke had her stretch out on her stomach and started wiping Raven down with the alcohol soaked rags. That finished, she wrung them out and set them up to catch any blood.

While she waited for Raven to sleep, Clarke went to Lexa. "This shouldn't take long."

"Are you sure you can do this?"

"I can. I don't want to. I don't care about fixing up you or Ontari or the Natblida, but Raven knows Mom should do this." Clarke sighed again and looked at Raven. She heard a soft snore and laid her forehead on Lexa's shoulder, one of Lexa's hands holding the nape of her neck, for a few seconds before returning to the table.

Clarke dumped the scalpels into the basin of alcohol and left them there while she felt around the lump in question, deciding where to cut and how deep. Lexa and Ontari watched Clarke rinse her hands again. She looked at them. "I need one of you beside me to keep it clear of blood. The other one needs to hold the flashlight."

Clarke picked up the basin. Ontari took it from her and held it on her hip so it was accessible to both she and Clarke. Lexa picked up the flashlight and pointed it over Clarke's shoulder so Clarke could easily see where she would be working.

When she was as comfortable as she was going to be with what she had to do, Clarke made an incision beside and slightly longer than the lump. She made a short incision perpendicular to that one, over the lump. "Wipe," she instructed Ontari and folded the two small flaps back. She held them in place with the index and middle fingers of her right hand.

The bullet was close to the surface, stuck in the striations of muscle it was trying to push through, so the tweezers were useless. Clarke exchanged them for a scalpel and made another small incision. While Ontari wiped blood away, Clarke got the forceps. She made certain she had a good grip on the lump of metal and slowly pulled it out.

Raven made a sound then, and both Clarke and Ontari waited to see whether she would wake. When she didn't, Clarke filled the wound with antibiotic salve and put in three small and probably unnecessary stitches. She finished by rinsing her hands again before putting more salve on the incision and covering it with a bandage. Finished, she pulled the sheet up to Raven's shoulders.

"How can I help?" Lexa asked quietly while Ontari sat on the bed with Raven.

"I need to dump the basin."

"I will do it," Lexa said and took it from Clarke.

When she returned, Clarke was waiting with the second basin. It had alcohol in it to clean and sterilize her tools. When they were dry, she put them up and took the second basin to the bathroom before Lexa could.

Clarke watched the murky water run into the drain and wondered how many more times her hands would be covered in black blood.

100 – 100 – 100

Raven felt great in the morning. She didn't bother with her brace when she got up to use the bathroom. Ontari was half asleep but came fully awake when Raven whooped. She was in the bathroom in seconds. "What is wrong?"

"Nothing," Raven answered with an enormous smile. "Watch." She jumped up and down a few times, then hopped around, alternating legs. "It worked!" she said excitedly and jumped up in Ontari's direction.

Ontari, with her own enormous smile, caught her. "No pain?" she asked.

"None."

"Stiffness?"

"Nope."

Ontari put her down and used her index finger to indicate her desire for Raven to spin in place. Raven did, slowly, and Ontari continued to smile. "I don't think you need the stitches any longer."

"Clarke," Raven began. "I mean, Nyko, I'll see Nyko this morning and get him to remove them. He can keep a secret."

"Sha," Ontari agreed, nodding. They wouldn't bother Clarke about this, and given how Abby and Raven felt about each other, it was best if she not know anything.

"I don't have to wear the brace anymore," Raven realized.

Ontari waited, knowing more was coming.

"Ohmygod I hate that thing. You'd think there'd be an actual knee brace in the medbay somewhere, but no, I had to make it myself. The first one," she hurried to add. "I haven't been able to move like this since Murphy shot me."

"What?!" Ontari roared loud enough to be heard through the hallway.

"Shit, no, he didn't do it on purpose. Well, he kinda did but he wasn't trying to kill me or anything and it was a long time ago and I'm over it."

Ontari vibrated with rage and Raven cautiously reached for her.

"It's all good, honest," she promised. "Murphy more than made up for his stupidity. Do not punish him for something that happened forever ago."

"Roan can."

"Please don't, Ontari," Raven said softly. "I know Murphy can be an asshole, but you're here and I'm here and Clarke and Lexa are here because he stepped up when Clarke needed him, even more than you did. Only a few people remember what happened and it was years ago." She stepped closer, until they were nearly touching. "I ask you for a lot, I know, and now I'm asking for this. Leave Murphy alone. Please."

Ontari worked to calm herself. Raven's tone helped, and she listened while Raven made Murphy's case. They stood in the bathroom silently, not quite touching, while Raven prepared a second round of arguments and Ontari thought about what Raven said. It felt like longer than it was before she Ontari slowly nodded. "I will not punish Murphy. I will not order Roan to punish him, either, but I will not forget."

Recognizing it was the best she was going to get for now, Raven agreed. She took a tiny step forward and put her arms around Ontari. "Thank you. Mochof."

"For you, anything," Ontari answered while she returned the embrace.

Fortunately, neither had anything urgent on their schedules because the morning passed while they discovered all the new ways Raven could move.