Clarke paced. The truce she forced on Raven and her mother was tenuous, but they joined forces to remove Clarke from the lab so they could do the tricky final steps. The hall was long and Clarke's steps were nearly silent. She wavered between fear that they wouldn't be able to return Lexa and hope that they could. It had been weeks since Clarke last heard her. The night before they left Polis, Ontari finally stayed in Raven's bed and Clarke's night was full of Lexa, some dreams, some promises, some memories. She woke aching for the other woman. Their minutes together in the City of Light were a dream that Clarke repeated whenever her eyes closed.
And now she didn't know what to do with all of the anxiety. From time to time, she saw guards at the far end of the hall, but no one approached her. She had no idea how long she'd been waiting when Murphy came for her.
"What?" she snapped.
"C'mon, Griffin, you need to get your mind off of what they're doing. It's almost time to eat. The guards will bring their food, but they won't open the door if you're out here."
"What?"
"That's what they said. So c'mon. You can try to kill me."
"If I haven't done it yet, it's not happening," Clarke answered, and reluctantly went with him.
100 – 100 – 100
The next time Clarke saw her mother, Abby looked haggard. "Are you OK?" Clarke asked.
"Exhausted."
"Did it?" Clarke couldn't bring herself to finish the question.
"We'll know in a few days."
Clarke nodded and walked her mother to her bed. Abby was out before Clarke covered her with the blanket.
100 – 100 – 100
It was a week before they let her into the lab again. Clarke stood in front of the glass chamber and stared. It wasn't Lexa, not yet, but Clarke could see the changes. "How long?" she asked shakily.
"Another week in there, and who knows how long after that," Raven answered.
"The chip?"
"It's ready. It's been ready," Raven reminded her.
Clarke stared for another minute before she left them.
Raven and Abby looked at each other. "I'll go," Raven volunteered.
She came back half an hour later. When Abby looked at her, Raven said, "I didn't find her."
"Did you see Murphy?"
"No."
"Good."
"Good?"
"They're sparring or hunting or doing something so Clarke doesn't obsess over this."
"Good," Raven agreed, and returned to her terminal. She went back to reading code, looking for a way to completely contain A.L.I.E. and learning how the City of Light worked. It was ingenious and frequently elegant, but she expected nothing less after reading Beka Pramheda's journal.
100 – 100 – 100
Murphy saw Clarke race out of the lab building and took off after her. He didn't catch her until she stopped on a rock jetty. She stared at the water as she tried to believe that she would hold Lexa and be held by her in a matter of days.
"Princess," Murphy said as he came up behind her.
She didn't acknowledge him, and he stayed close enough to hear if she spoke, but didn't touch her. It was a long time before she turned around, and her eyes were red.
"Everything all right?" Murphy asked.
"I hate waiting."
"It's just a little longer," he comforted.
"I haven't heard her since we left Polis. What if it doesn't work?"
"Raven and your mom will blame each other and we'll never hear the end of it."
Clarke's laugh surprised her.
On the walk back, she answered all the questions he didn't ask.
100 – 100 – 100
Clarke spent the rest of the week in and around the lighthouse. She couldn't be too near the lab; the process moved at its own speed, and she was impatient for the final result. She sketched and tried to meditate. Murphy checked on her regularly, but mostly spent his time with the guards, preparing them for what was supposed to happen. He was pleasantly surprised to find that Azgeda were fine with resurrection. The five of them had many long talks about what they believed. Murphy was relieved they wouldn't completely freak out when Lexa returned.
Raven came to get Clarke. Clarke heard her climbing the stairs and waited.
"Nice view," Raven said when she stepped out onto the walkway around the top of the light.
"Yeah."
"We're gonna open the tank and put the chip in. After that, it's just waiting until she wakes up. No, we don't know how long that will take. But her body's ready." Raven waited for Clarke to say something. "Breathe," she prompted when she saw Clarke's white knuckle grip on the railing.
"When?"
"As soon as you get there."
"OK."
"You coming?"
"Yeah. I just need to get my things."
"Don't keep us waiting," Raven said, and started the long climb down.
Clarke continued to stare out at the ocean. The hope she tried to suppress flooded through her, but she waited to see Raven crossing to the lab building before racing to the room she stayed in and shoving the few things that were out into her pack. Clarke kept her movements deliberate and resisted the urge to race to the lab.
100 – 100 – 100
Ontari had too much time on her hands. She spent time with the Natblida, sparred, hunted, and did anything else she could to stay occupied. Nights were the most difficult. Without Raven, Clarke, and even Murphy, she had far too much time to fill. She didn't like being kept in the dark and worried that the length of time they'd been gone meant there were problems. She worried that Raven and Clarke weren't taking proper care of themselves. She worried about bandits and the City of Light and that they might not return.
Miller worried, too. Things were going well, and in his experience, that meant that everything was about to hit the fan. When he took his concerns to Marcus Kane, the older man listened and did his best to ease Miller's fears despite his own. He wasn't sure what would happen if Clarke and the others returned. Abby continued to insist that while Clarke might look good and sound good, her belief, the one that it seemed everyone who spent any time with her soon accepted, was a textbook definition of legal insanity. "We're supposed to raise Lexa from the dead," Abby whispered to him in the dark before she left.
"Stranger things have happened," he answered.
"Please tell me you don't believe her," Abby groaned.
"I don't believe that she can have you literally raise the dead," Marcus said cautiously. "But you've seen the commander."
"I've seen Ontari."
"Not Ontari," Marcus chided.
Abby sighed. "I'm worried what Clarke will do if this doesn't work."
"Clarke will be fine. Eventually."
"And in the interim?"
"She'll do her duty."
100 – 100 – 100
It was Lexa's body in the bed, except for a few differences. She had no kill marks, scars, or tattoos. Her hair was short. She lacked muscle definition. But it was her face, her chest that rose and fell, her fingers that sometimes flexed. Clarke sat beside the bed and kept careful watch until she had to leave to sleep or eat. Her mother repeatedly came and left, checking on both of them.
When Lexa began to wake, she kept her eyes closed while she cataloged the external stimuli. Her last conscious memory was of Clarke bending over her, blue eyes full of tears. The voices coming from the combined chips didn't bother her, except for Titus, and she commanded him to remain silent until she addressed him.
When she was ready, Lexa opened her eyes. She looked around the room, and stopped looking when she saw Clarke, who spoke her name tentatively.
Lexa smiled at her. "I told you you could do it." Her throat was thick and her voice scratchy.
Clarke tried to smile back, but burst into tears. Lexa tried to sit up, but was too weak. She was able to reach out. Her hand landed on Clarke's knee.
"Do not cry, niron."
"I'm sorry," Clarke said.
"There is nothing to apologize for."
"I tried to save you."
"I know, Klark. Come closer."
Clarke moved from the chair to the bed. She hesitantly cupped Lexa's cheek and covered her mouth to muffle her ongoing sobs. It took her several seconds, but Lexa was able to move her hand to hold Clarke's hand there.
Abby came in, and moved more quickly when she saw Clarke sitting beside Lexa. She stood at Lexa's bedside. She checked the monitors, and when both women ignored her, decided to return later.
"It's really you?"
"Sha, Klark. Who else would it be?"
Clarke giggled, and her tears stopped. She leaned down to kiss Lexa, and was relieved at her response. When she sat up, she continued to stare at Lexa. She had a thousand questions, and none of them really mattered right now. Lexa was alive, and everything else could wait.
Abby came back. "I need to check my patient," she said as she entered. She stood and looked at Lexa for a few seconds, and when Lexa tore her gaze from Clarke to look at Abby, said, "Welcome back, Commander."
"It is good to be back," Lexa answered, her eyes returning to Clarke.
"I need to check you out," Abby said. "Can you sit up?"
Lexa tried, and Clarke moved to assist her. Lexa frowned. "I have no strength."
"We'll work on that," Abby promised. "Follow my finger with your eyes." Abby made other requests, and when she finished, said, "Everything seems fine. I'll be back later."
100 – 100 – 100
Raven's whoops of triumph brought everyone running to the room she claimed as her work area.
"What?" Clarke demanded breathlessly.
"I got it," Raven said, pointing at different places on the screen.
"You got what?" Abby asked.
"The code. I have her code. Watch."
The others turned to look at A.L.I.E. who spent most of her time trying to talk Raven out of what she was doing. A.L.I.E. flickered.
"How's that feel?" Raven asked smugly, her fingers flying over the keyboard.
"Do not do that," A.L.I.E. warned.
Raven chortled and kept working. It took more than half an hour longer, but A.L.I.E. flickered and finally faded out. "Gotcha," Raven said smugly and kept working.
"Is the show over?" Murphy asked.
"Yeah. Get me a sandwich."
"On it," he answered, chuckling, and left.
Abby looked from Raven's back to Murphy's before following Clarke out of the room. "What was that?"
"What was what?"
"With Raven and John."
"Don't know."