I'm back!.
Life has been complicated, sometimes I feel like I'm trying to bite more than I can chew but in the end somehow I sort of make it work.
I hope you like this chapter!. I wanna thank you all for your suport, reviews always make my day shine brighter.
When Clarke opened her eyes everyone was still sleeping, the sun hadn't fully risen yet, only a dim light filtered through the cracks of the dropship.
Without making a sound she sat outside to contemplate the beautiful forest that surrounded them, allowing herself to relax she let her mind wandered, unsurprisingly, her first thoughts were of Lexa and what could she be doing now.
Was she sleeping or already preparing herself for the day ahead?.
Clarke smiled thinking of Heda obsessively polishing the pauldrons of her armor. Lexa had a few servant girls to attend to her needs but she never allowed anyone to touch her armor, she saw it as a point of pride to maintain it herself.
Was she alone in her room or had someone kept her company?.
As soon as the thought of some nameless woman sharing the commander's bed popped in her mind she made a huge effort to vanish it, she couldn't and wouldn't allow herself to even think about that or she might do something stupid like abandoning the delinquents to their fate to search for Lexa.
Clarke held her knees to her chest and sobbed quietly, willing her heart to start beating normally again. Her jealousy completely puzzled her; she had never been possessive about the people she dated before but even thinking about Lexa with someone who wasn't her made her blood boil and clench her fists in rage.
The blonde let out a hard sigh and closed her eyes; a strangled cry of frustration left her lips. She knew it was quite hypocritical of her to be enraged by Lexa's imaginary partners, especially considering she had slept with Niylah before and after Lexa died, but she couldn't help the crippling fear of never reuniting with Heda rearing its ugly head one more time.
She was so focused on her thoughts of the brunette that she didn't remember that Finn was coming to talk to her, that was until she heard his footsteps.
As he came to her side Clarke quickly put on a fake smile and discreetly wiped her tears.
"Awesome view, huh?" His voice shone with disbelief. They still hadn't gotten used to the beauty of the earth, maybe they never would.
"You went to the river?" She chastised herself for pointing the obvious, as he held a leaf with water inside it.
Finn smirked, confusing her troubled state for attraction to him. "Figured it was worth losing a finger or two. Here." He offered the leaf to her and smiled when she thanked him for his consideration.
"Do you think this means we're all going to grow two heads?". He tried to joke to lift the suddenly gloomy mood but Clarke simply favoured him with a small smile, she was too lost in her thoughts to fully pay attention to him.
"I made something for you"
Finn was fidgeting, since arriving on Earth he realized that long periods of silence made him uncomfortable, it reminded him too much of the sleepless nights wandering around in the Ark.
Without waiting to be acknowledged he gave her a little box made of leaves, crudely wrapped with flower petals.
Reluctantly Clarke accepted the gift; it was the same little two-headed deer pendant that she remembered. At first, it had been comforting, a sign of love even, but in the end, it had brought so much heartache and misery that she couldn't help but resent it.
When Raven had found it and she claimed it as hers it had sealed their fate, they had managed some sort of friendship but the older girl had never forgiven Clarke for sleeping with her boyfriend.
It didn't really matter that Clarke hadn't known about her in the first place, Raven had been so blind by her devotion to Finn that she blamed Clarke for what happened, absolving Finn of his sins and clinging to him, even knowing it had been his fault.
This time around Clarke had no intentions to get entangled in an ill-advised love triangle, so with a polite smile she accepted the gift but made no further comments about it, she would give it to Charlotte when she saw her.
When they saw Octavia coming their way Finn let out an annoyed huff at being interrupted but Clarke smiled genuinely at her, it seemed the brunette had the knack to show up when she needed her most.
"Hey O, you have any idea where your brother is?"
"On top or under some random girl who sees him as a hero". The playful but annoyed tone of her voice was not lost to the blonde.
When Clarke sniggered Octavia rolled her eyes dramatically; she was getting tired of Bellamy's double standard, after all, he had already slept with at least half of the female delinquents yet he had threatened every male in camp to keep away from her.
"Can you help me look for him?.
Before Finn could follow them Clarke tugged his wrist and made him look at her.
"Actually Finn, could you do me a favour?"
"Yeah, whatever you need"
"Can you look for Monty?. I think I have an idea on how to contact the Ark but he is the expert"
"Can we meet later in the tents?"
"Sure, as soon as I talk to Bellamy I will head there"
"Anything you want to share?" Octavia asked suggestively once Finn was out of sight.
"I have no idea what you are talking about O"
"You just have arranged a rendezvous with Finn, who totally has the hots for you, might I add"
"I did no such thing. We are meeting with Monty"
"Right"
"I'm serious O. I told you once, he is not my type"
"What's your type then?"
"Not Finn that's for sure". She had to bit her tongue to not describe her type; shorter, feminine, and a lot stronger and more fearsome than Finn could ever be.
"You know? Maybe you should take him on his offer on exploring the woods, it would help you relieve some tension and then he will probably move on and leave you alone".
Octavia smiled with fondness, they had started to use the euphemism exploring the woods whenever Charlotte was around but it seemed it had become their go-to word when talking about sex. Another little inside joke she shared with Clarke and their not so merry band of misfits.
"Or he will keep chasing me and believe I'm open to a relationship".
"I honestly don't get you, Finn is a bit of a dick and an airhead sure, but he is hot"
The blonde laughed unabashedly at her friend's remark; leave it to Octavia to spare no punches.
"He is handsome, yes, but honestly I look for more than a pretty face in a partner, casual or otherwise"
"Just so you know, he didn't get that memo"
Bellamy's face light up at the sight of Octavia but merely acknowledged Clarke with a silent nod.
"Can I leave you two kids unsupervised?"
"Just go Octavia. I promise we won't trade blows… again"
Clarke chuckled at his words and Bellamy smirked when Octavia raised her eyebrow, unimpressed by his joke.
"We will be fine, O. I just want to have a little chat"
The blonde lead Bellamy to a secluded area and gestured for him to sit next to her.
He made a show of warily inspecting their surroundings "You are not going to kill me and try to dispose of my body. Are you?"
"Funny. No, I just really want to talk to you"
"I'm listening"
"You are not a guard and you are over 18, how did you get in the dropship?"
"Why does it matter to you, Griffin?"
Bellamy's hard and defensive tone was not lost on Clarke, who hastily tried to reassure him, she really didn't want to antagonize him.
"I know you did it for Octavia, I admire your commitment to her. I just want to know how you did it"
Bellamy remained stoically silent but he started to fidget anxiously under her scrutinizing stare.
"I have the feeling you did something stupid and I want to help you"
"Why would you?. We are not friends; hell if it wasn't for Octavia we wouldn't have this truce either"
"Whatever you did will bite us all in the ass" Clarke exhaled loudly, trying to curve her own anxiety, this moment could finally set all her planning in motion or shatter it to a point of no return.
"Bellamy, we can't afford a divided front; not with grounders all around us and certainly not with the impending future of the Ark coming down"
"You don't trust them". It was an affirmation, not a question, yet his voice still held a taint of disbelief. He had been so sure that Clarke, as a privileged one, would favour the Ark's ruling class yet the bitterness on her voice told a different story.
"They imprisoned me because I wanted to tell the truth, so no, I don't"
"Why do you want them to come down then?. Why not let them die?"
"I'm not gonna lie to you, I did think about it but as I said before, we can't sign everyone's death warrant just because our council was full of assholes"
Bellamy chuckled at her admission of vengeance; it was honestly comforting to know that Clarke was just as human as the rest of them.
"We can't sink down to their level Bellamy; we can't condemn every Arker to die, they deserve the opportunity to see this wondrous place. Earth might not be the peaceful paradise we were promised but it's a thousand times better than the metal cage we used to call home"
"I believe you about the oxygen supply and I do agree they deserve better but…" Bellamy felt dizzy and nauseous; he needed to tell someone, he was bursting with the secret.
"I shot Jaha". It was said so fast that if she hadn't known beforehand she would have not understood him.
"Why?"
His eyebrows rose in surprise, he was certainly not expecting her to be so calm about his confession.
Bellamy told her all about Commander Shumway and Diana Sidney's plan; how she wanted to take back the position as chancellor so she ordered Shumway to kill Jaha but the commander wanted to avoid the inevitable fall out so he offered him a seat in the dropship if he did his dirty work for him.
"I didn't want to kill him, Clarke, I really didn't" Bellamy sighed, pausing to wipe his nose on his sleeve "but I didn't have a choice"
"It's ok Bellamy, everything will be ok".
Clarke tentatively tried to reach his arm, pausing mid-air, not sure if he would appreciate it. To her astonishment Bellamy let himself be enveloped in a hug, hiding his face in the crook of her neck. They stood like that until his tears subdue enough for him to regain his voice.
"I shot and probably killed a man, why would you help me?"
"Shumway put you in an impossible situation; it was not your fault,"
"If they come down, they will imprison me"
"I won't let them, you have my word"
"How will you stop them?. You said it yourself, they are our farmers and engineers but also our guards, with quite a lot of weapons may I remind you"
"We will use your knowledge as a bargaining chip but we make it clear that you will only tell them everything if they pardon you"
"And if it's not enough?"
"Let's take it one moment at a time. First, let try to make contact, and after we hear what they say we can re-evaluate our decisions"
"Ok, it sounds reasonable"
"So, do we have a formal alliance?"
Clarke extended her hand and waited to see his reaction, to her relief Bellamy clasped it tightly and nodded in agreement.
A bit of silence passed until Bellamy spoke again "You know, for the life of me I can't figure you out"
"Because I'm not the spoilt jerk you expected me to be?"
"Well, yes, that too, but I meant that you are a quick thinker and unlike the rest of us you seem to understand how to adapt to this environment so why do you seek an alliance?"
"I need you. They listen to you, you have charisma. Between the two of us, we might have a chance"
"So you want to rule like the council did but you just don't want to do it alone?"
"Don't you dare compare me to them" pure and unadulterated vitriol emphasized the last word.
Bellamy could almost swear he saw her eyes briefly flash red but instantly wave it off, believing it was a figment of his imagination.
"I just want the best for us. They think we are expendable and a waste of resources but I refuse to die without putting up a fight"
"What do you propose?"
"We can vote on all major decisions and everyone should be able to propose ideas if they believe it will help our community"
"Like ancient Greece?"
"Yes, but with no restrictions, everyone gets to vote"
"So we establish ourselves as the official leaders but everyone would have input?"
"Exactly. We need hierarchy in case of an emergency and to run the day-to-day business, otherwise, it will become impossible to decide on something. Besides, we won't be able to negotiate with the Ark if we don't have a visible face"
"Well Miss Griffin, consider me converted to your cause".
Unknown to them Tris had listened to their whole conversation and as soon as it was over she ran to Lincoln's hideout to inform him about it.
At first, she had been surprised to learn Lincoln was also spying on the intruders, Anya hadn't said anything about a joint operation, but assuming he had been sent by Indra, Tris started to share information with him, simply asking him to do the same in return.
When Tris arrived at the cave she saw a woman trying to look like she was casually walking around but her nervous posture and the constant check of her surroundings gave her away. She definitely didn't want anyone to question where she had been. Tris hid behind the bushes and waited until the woman was no longer visible.
"A sky girl, really?" was all she said in a lieu of a greeting.
Lincoln shrugged nonchalantly but Tris didn't miss his clenched fists, he probably hadn't planned to inform her of this development. She couldn't blame him for trying to keep whatever their relationship was a secret; he had no guarantee that she wouldn't babble to Anya about it when she had to give her report.
"She is pretty, I give you that".
"More than pretty, my Octavia is fierce" The pride in his voice was unmistakable.
"Yours?. Aren't you getting a bit ahead of yourself Linc?". Tris's eyebrows rose in surprise at his declaration, it was a pretty serious relationship then.
"Mine" He reiterated "I dare anyone to try and take her from me". The veiled threat was not lost on Tris.
"I mean you no harm" She held her hands up in a universal gesture of surrender "I just want you to be careful"
"I am, don't worry. Octavia understands this has to be a secret". They haven't exactly talked much, only communicating with drawings and signs, but he trusted her.
"Good. Did you…?"
"No, I didn't tell her about you"
She nodded, grateful for his discretion "I won't say a word to anyone either, I promise"
"Thank you"
Tris smiled warmly at him and left to comply with her duties. If her report lacked a few details here and there, well, no one would ever have to know.
The full quote is "Strategy is not the consequence of planning, but the opposite: its starting point." by Henry Mintzberg (Canadian academic, author on business stategy and management. One of his most distinctive features is his strategic planning theory)