- Polis -
A tall and imposing man was slumped in his chair, nursing his beer and watching the drunkards talking nonsense but if anyone had looked closely they would have noticed that his glass was still half-full and that his nonchalance was tainted with tension.
Another man marched into the busy tavern, he calmly walked to the innkeeper and ordered some ale to try and blend with the other patrons but the tall man recognized him instantly, his clothes were old and a bit dirty but did not look cheap, no matter how much he tried he looked out of place in this watery hole.
The corners of his mouth turned up in a twisted way when the silvery blond hair man finally sat at his table. He was late.
When Alistair stared at him, the blonde simply smiled like he was amused and without saying a word, held out his palm expectantly.
A big bag of cloth landed noiselessly on the table, the blonde opened it and started to count the coins, only once he was satisfied with the amount of money he started to speak.
"Some ambassadors believe Heda is turning soft" The last word burned his tongue like poison, there was probably no worst insult for Heda.
"By some you mean Azgeda"
"Delier is not the only one. Syra has raised some concerns too"
The tall man lifted his eyebrow, compelling his companion to keep talking. The tattoos on the right side of his neck glowed eerily under the light of the candles around them.
"A small metal cage landed in Boudalan territory. Thankfully only a few crops were lost"
"Why is she complaining?. Heda sent an envoy with grains to help her tribe survive through the winter"
"Heda ordered to spy and report and forbid anyone to engage. Some ambassadors seemed to believe she cares more for the intruders than her people"
"That's ridiculous," Alistair said loudly thumping the table.
"Is it?"
The murderous glare of his companion made the blonde swallow loudly. If it wasn't for the bag of coins in his pocket he would have already run away from the tavern, the tall man scared the hell out of him.
"I mean… why doesn't she just kill them?" He tried to backpedal "They are only a handful… all children if my sources are correct"
"Children are not made from mud"
"What?" The blonde asked confused. Had he been drinking while waiting for him?.
"If only children arrived the adults are not far behind… if Heda has this scouting party killed it would be the same as declaring an open war" Alistair took another swig of his beer before talking again "what if this sky people have weapons like the maunon?"
"I haven´t thought of that"
"Obviously," He said, pursing his lips in annoyance. What worried him was that the ambassadors did understand the meaning of Heda's apparent inaction so it begged the question, who was fanning the flames and why?
"How did you get that information anyway? The ambassadors are not prone to sharing their opinions so freely"
"The flamekeepa," The blonde said proudly "I invited him a few rounds and paid a woman to seduce him… he gets chatty when he is drunk and lost in pleasure"
The taller man was pensive and his silence prompted the blonde to keep sharing the information he gained; the faster he did, the faster he could leave.
"He thinks Heda has lost direction. He said she is distracted. Daydreaming I think was the word he used"
"Has Heda taken another permanent lover?". It would make sense for her to be distracted if that was the case, new lovers often made even the most level-head people lose focus for a while.
"Not as far as I know. A few women have caught her attention but never for long, a few hours at the most. Nothing noteworthy to gossip about".
"She is not distracted then, he is just scared she is not listening to him" Alistair whispered under his breath in a harsh voice.
"What are you talking about?"
He had not meant for his companion to hear, but it didn't matter if he did. No one else would know.
"Since her last lover was killed by Azgeda, Heda has been side-lining him. I guess dear old Titus doesn't like it when he can't call the shots".
Could Titus be the one trying to turn the ambassadors against Heda? But if he was, what was his end-game?. He would need to gain more information first; there was no need to worry Heda unnecessarily.
"I was not aware there were issues between Heda and her Flamekeepa" The blonde mumbled, his gaze involuntarily shifting to one of the paintings in the tavern; Sheidheda, the dark commander infamously famous for killing his Flamekeepas, stood tall, brandishing a sword and smiling broodily.
"You can go now; I have no further need of your service"
"Pleasure doing business with you and don't worry I won't tell anyone about this conversation" The blonde smiled wryly and continued speaking in a saccharine sweet voice, trying to mask his fear.
"Oh, I know" Alistair's tone was soft but malicious, devoid of any type of warmth.
The blonde man felt shivers down his spine. He turned around to confront him but before he could speak a bearded man grabbed his head with one hand and slammed him against a nearby wall. Those around them fled in shock.
Alistair side-step the wrestling pair and calmly walked towards the terrified man behind the counter.
"Please, don't kill me! I have a young daughter… she is only two summers old" Tears were running down his face. Had he told his family he loved them? He couldn't remember and now he may never have the chance to do it again.
The tall man didn't acknowledge his pleas; instead, he took another bag from his pocket and deposited it in front of the innkeeper.
"We were never here. If anyone asks you will deny everything"
"I was restocking the wine, I didn't see anything," The innkeeper said with a wobbly voice, he was shaking like a leaf.
The tall man smiled at him and simply turned around and left. He would have liked to keep this meeting under wraps, witnesses were always a risk, but the blonde had insisted on a public place thinking he would be safe that way. Idiot. Oh well, he could always have the innkeeper killed if he babbled, he honestly hoped he wouldn't, he seemed like a nice man.
The blonde struggled with both hands, trying to get free from his captor.
"What the hell?! Let go of me! Let go of me!"
The bearded man didn't let go. Instead, he reached out his other hand and grabbed the man's neck as if to crush it.
"I have money, I can pay you!"
"I do not care for your money"
As his windpipe was being squeezed and his head pressed with tremendous force, the blonde waved his arms in panic. Hastily pounding on the wall where his head was pinned, the man begged for his life.
The bearded man continued strangling the blonde until his eyes turned completely white and his body slumped on the floor like a sack of potatoes. He threw the now lifeless body towards a far-off wall and walked serenely towards the door.
"Take care of the body," He said to the innkeeper, and without adding another word he left as silently as he had appeared.
Fiddling around in his pocket he found a cigarette. He looked at it for a few seconds before lighting it on and taking a few drags, he had promised his husband he would stop smoking but these jobs always left him a bit anxious. Just one and he would go home, maybe he would buy something to get rid of the smell, there was no reason to make Enver mad at him.
- Arkadia -
Once they were safely inside the barrier of their camp Clarke guided Raven to the tent where Octavia was sleeping, she thought about looking for Murphy and Wells too but knowing Finn was nearby she decided to delay the dreaded reunion as much as possible.
"Hey, O. We are back; time to wake up for a little bit," The blonde said to her friend who didn't acknowledge her at all.
If Charlotte was to be believed Octavia slept like a log so more drastic measures would be needed. To Raven's amusement Clarke started to shake the brunette who simply rolled away and tried to bury herself in the covers again.
"Five minutes, Clarke," Octavia said still asleep
"O, Charlotte and I came back from our mission. Don't you want to know what we found?"
The brunette's eyes shot open and she sat up immediately. "I'm up," she said, making the others laugh.
"O this is Raven. She is the one who fell on the pod we all saw tonight"
Clarke turned to the mechanic "Raven, this is Octavia, she will keep you company while I talk to Bellamy"
"Cool. Now sleep" The brunette rolled to give the other girl some space and went back to sleep.
"Is she always this pleasant?"
"Only in the early mornings"
"Could be worse, I guess. At least she made room for me" Raven said with a shrug.
"Rest for now, I will come and get you both later"
- Bellamy's tent --
"Hi Clarke"
"Hello Roma, I'm sorry to disturb you but I need to talk to Bellamy"
"Say no more, I have things to do anyway"
"Thank you"
"It's no bother, really" The delinquent was getting dressed when she suddenly turned towards Clarke "Hey would you mind passing me my top?"
"Ohh yeah, sure" The blonde rummaged through the piles of clothes in the corner and lifted a blue shirt "This one?"
"No, I think that's Bree's spare one. Mine is red with white lines on the sides"
"Here. I found it"
"Thanks, Clarke"
"So… Bree is here too" Clarke felt pretty stupid for pointing out something that obvious, the other girl could be easily seen under the covers sleeping soundly next to Bellamy, but in her defense, Roma's unabashed nakedness had completely melted her brain.
The brunette giggled at Clarke's awkwardness, the blush on her cheeks was simply too adorable to ignore. She thought it was truly sweet how the blonde made quite an effort to concentrate on her face while avoiding looking at the rest of her; it had been quite a long time since anyone had bothered to show that much respect to her.
Roma sighed wistfully; she wished she had the guts to tell their fierce leader that while she was in no way ashamed of her body, she was not an exhibitionist either and that she only liked to put herself on display like this for her and Bellamy.
Since that faithful morning when Drew's disappearance prompted a frantic Clarke to show up unannounced in Bellamy's tent, Roma had started to see her in another light, and with time Clarke Griffin had become her low key-crush.
The brunette refused to be blatant or tasteless about her interest in the blonde; she was no Finn Collins thank you very much, so until she had a better plan to try seducing her, this harmless and playful flirting they often engaged in would have to be enough.
"Yeah, it was a wild night," Roma said wiggling her eyebrows.
"Sounds fun" Clarke wanted to smack herself for her lame reply.
"Between you and me, I like Bellamy but girls are much more fun…, especially the blonde ones"
Clarke found herself frozen. What was this, pick on Clarke day?. First Raven flirted with her non-stop since they found her on the pod and now Roma was winking at her… the girls in Arkadia were going to send her to an early grave. She honestly couldn't help but wish she could throw all her responsibilities away and find Lexa soon, maybe then her constant state of lust would be manageable.
Roma, completely unaware of Clarke's turmoil, finished braiding her hair in a messy ponytail, kissed Clarke on the cheek, and grabbed a sleepy –and thankfully clothed- Bree by the hand to wake her up and drag her out of the tent.
"Bye Clarke"
"Bye Roma, bye Bree"
The blonde mumbled some unintelligible words and waved to Clarke, following Roma outside.
"You should get laid," said an amused voice coming from the bed.
"Motherfucker, you scared me!. I thought you were sleeping"
"And miss the unflappable Clarke Griffin been all flustered and awkward as hell because a pretty girl is showing off her boobs? I rather be floated"
"Can we please not talk about… this… like ever again?"
"Look, Roma has the hots for you, maybe you should take her up on her offer… you need to get laid" Time for subtlety was over, if smoldering looks and sort of innocent touches didn't work, it was time to simply laid it all in the open.
Bellamy was prideful of never meddling in people's love life, he consider himself above such bullshit, but Clarke was so oblivious to Roma's flirting that it was getting painful to watch. The brunette better thank him for risking Clarke's anger by playing wingman.
"I'm perfectly fine Bellamy"
"People who say they are fine are never fine"
"Are you psychoanalyzing me?"
"I'm just saying you need to get laid and Roma is quite a catch"
Anyone else would have jumped at the opportunity but Clarke remained impassive to his previous declaration.
Not one to be dissuaded so easily Bellamy tried another tactic, lifting his fingers he made a show of counting "She is really hot, she is nice, she is discreet and won't gossip if you two hook up and the things she can do with her tongue are downright wicked" The last remark was a little crass but completely truthful.
Clarke grabbed a makeshift pillow that was near her and threw it at Bellamy, hitting him in the face.
"Fine, fine, I will drop it. No need to turn violent Griffin" Bellamy sighed, he would need to find a way to let Roma down easily, Clarke was definitely not interested… maybe another threesome with Bree would soften the blow; the brunette did seem to have a preference for blonde girls after all.
"So… why are you here?. If you don't wanna get laid, fine, but interrupting others from getting some is not cool Griffin"
Clarke rolled her eyes in amusement; they had certainly come a long way since their first's days on earth. They were almost friends some would say.
"A Pod crashed last night"
"Ok. Should we go and take a look?"
"I already did. There was a girl inside, her name is Raven Reyes. She is with Octavia now"
"Great. Did she tell you how she got here? As far as I know, the council didn't plan to send anyone else, well, until they knew it was safe anyway"
"I have no idea why was she so desperate to get here" Clarke lied easily "but I do know my mother helped her steal the Pod"
Bellamy raised his eyebrows in surprise at that information but didn't make a comment; he was not exactly sure what to say. From their conversations, he got the idea that Clarke and her mother weren't exactly on the best of terms.
"Raven is a mechanic; she can help us contact the Ark"
Sensing Bellamy's hesitation she immediately put him at ease "I will keep my promise to you, if they try to imprison you we kick them to the curb"
"Would you really do that?"
"Look around you Bellamy" She made an encompassing gesture, pointing at their camp "They sent us to die and we built Arkadia from the ground. They might need us but we certainly don't need them"
"Well, what are we waiting for then?" He may have been wary of her at first but Clarke Griffin had proven to be a woman of her word, if the blonde said she had her back Bellamy had no reason to doubt her.
They found Raven, Charlotte, and Octavia sitting in a far corner of the tent. Somehow the younger blonde had managed to fully rouse Octavia from her sleep and now the three of them were engrossed in a lively conversation about the differences between living in the Ark and on Earth.
"Bell this is Raven" Clarke turned to the brunette and pointed to her companion "Raven, this is Bellamy. He is Arkadia's co-leader"
"Clarke gives me too much credit. I'm just the muscle" His faked shyness amused Octavia to no end; it seemed her dear brother was hunting again.
"So… should I start working on that radio?" The truth is the brunette wanted to find Finn first but as she didn't exactly know them she didn't want to sound ungrateful. If for some reason they decided they no longer wanted her in their camp she had nowhere to go, better prove her usefulness first and make demands later.
"Let me take you to Monty, he is our tech expert" Bellamy offered.
"That would be great, thank you"
"It's my pleasure"
Clarke rolled her eyes and made a face at Octavia who simply shook her head and bit her lips at her brother's predictability.
"I will get the others and met you at Monty's"
The young genius had taken to sleep inside the dropship, near the computers, and with time it had been unofficially dubbed Monty's place. No one, not even Jasper, dared to enter his domain without a good reason; the usually affable Monty Green was quite ferocious when defending his precious babies from strangers.
A few minutes after meeting for the first time Raven and Monty were joking like they had known each other forever; Raven was her most relaxed around machines and Monty was happy to finally find a kindred spirit in the mechanic; no one else could empathize with his love for the computers, they thought he was weird and too much of a nerd to fit in, but Raven completely understood -and shared- his passion.
They were so lost in their work that they didn't hear the door opening; in fact, it wasn't until Clarke called for them that they realized they had company.
Raven was shocked and anxious to finally see Finn but more than anything happy. She got up from her seat, engulfed him in a hug, and gave him a brief kiss on the lips.
Finn didn't return her kiss but hugged her back instantly, he didn't feel particularly inclined to do so but he didn't know what to do with his hands. If he was honest with himself, he hadn't anticipated seeing Raven again, and now, after meeting Clarke he was not sure how he felt about his girlfriend. He would always love her, they had shared too many things for him not to, but he realized he was not in love with her.
"I am so happy to see you," The brunette said and he smiled a little bleakly. He knew he should talk to Raven but how do you start a conversation like that? He had never broken up with someone.
"When Clarke said a Pod had crashed I should have known it was you. You're the only one crazy enough to try something like that" He joked, making her laugh.
"Oh please, fixing a hundred years old piece of junk and launching straight to earth, that's nothing," she said with mocking humbleness.
Raven had instantly known something fishy was going on with Finn; she anticipated his confusion and surprise but not his standoffishness. Had he met someone else?. Well, no matter the status of their relationship she had been given a job and she was not about to fail, putting aside all worries in a little box and plastering a fake smile on her face she turned to address the rest of her audience.
"With the transmitter from my Pod and a few things that we salvaged from the Dropship Monty and I managed to build a Radio"
Cheers and claps could be heard all around them, Raven waited for the excitement to die down a little before she kept talking "We couldn't get the video to work but I'm fairly confident we can find their signal so at least we can talk to the Ark".
Clarke hugged an unsuspecting Raven and to everyone's surprise, actually managed to lift her from her chair. The delinquents were shocked; they knew Clarke was strong but not that strong, lifting a grown woman like she weighed nothing was not a feat to scoff at.
"Be careful little one. Your strength is rapidly growing"
The blonde coughed, trying to mask her embarrassment and help Raven sit again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I'm just so excited!"
"It's ok really; I get it" Raven squeezed the hand that was still on her shoulder and simply turned to look at the machine.
"Well… what are we waiting for?" Monty exclaimed, making everyone forget why they had fallen silent.