Anya continued looking at Kane as his voice echoed inside the command centre. It didn't surprise her when he had said that they were all going to the ground sooner rather than later. It made sense to reinforce everyone already on the ground and yet Anya couldn't quite shake the feeling that Kane wasn't telling the whole truth. Or perhaps it was simply that he didn't know the whole truth. There was still that nagging voice that whispered caution in the back of her mind that she couldn't shake.

But Anya would hold her tongue until she could get proof. And the easiest way for her to get that was to get to the ground as soon as she could and to find out what had happened to Lexa, and to rescue her if she was still alive.

It also didn't surprise her that GoSci would be the first station sent down. It made sense to have their command and control staff on the ground and able to directly communicate and negotiate with Mount Weather. If anything she hoped that would make things a little easier for everyone involved.

She took a moment to study the holographic map projected onto the table's surface in front of her. It helped that Mount Weather had provided coordinates of outposts, known threat areas and potential landing zones for each station that would maximise their people's shared territory once all stations made it to the Earth's surface. But it also didn't surprise her to find that Mount Weather had so conveniently placed themselves in the very centre of the ring that would be made of the dropship and all the stations once they had made it down.

Reapers were another thing she didn't really know how to deal with. Not yet at least. Mount Weather had sent them blurry images captured by their scouting teams of packs of reapers roaming the lands, and Anya couldn't shake the terrible feeling that should Lexa still be alive, she might have been better off dead. But Anya couldn't worry about that, not yet anywa—

"Any other questions?" Kane's voice cut through her wondering thoughts and Anya looked up to find him looking around and at every other face that gathered around him.

Heads being shaken, a shrug of a shoulder or the silence of steely determination was the only thing to answer.

"Ok then," Kane said as he straightened and nodded to himself. "GoSci will be the first station down, we'll make formal contact with Mount Weather and then we'll begin sending the rest of our stations down as prepared," he paused for a moment to let those writing notes down finish before he continued. "Station heads," and he inclined his head to those in command of their given stations. "We can't afford anything to go wrong. Every station is as important on the ground as it is up here in space. We must double and triple check every system, every contingency. Every plan."

And with that Kane dismissed the room.

Anya's feet clipped against the metal plating of the Ark's corridors, her mind already cataloguing each little thing she would need to do and check before GoSci separated from the rest of the Ark. There were nerves, something close to butterflies pulling and twisting in her stomach. Perhaps she needed to be somewhere a little less loud, a little less noi—

"Hey."

Anya startled, she hadn't even noticed someone had fallen into step beside her.

"Octavia?" and she looked at the younger woman, an eyebrow raised and her head tilted to the side ever so slightly. "How long have you been here?"

"Just a sec," Octavia said with a shrug. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" Anya thought she already knew.

"That we're all going down to the ground soon."

Anya sighed as she continued walking, the conversation perhaps better had in private and out of range of curious ears.

"Yes," Anya said as she stepped into her office. "We're going down to the ground."

Octavia nodded to herself as she folded her arms and leant against the edge of the closest table, it's surface still covered by myriad of broken radio pieces.

"Hey," and Anya cocked her head to the side in curiosity as she took a seat in her chair before leaning back. "How do you manage to hear all this so quickly?" it hadn't crossed her mind the first time she had met Octavia, but over the last few days Anya had found herself realising that Octavia had been able to know more information than most on the Ark knew.

"It's my job," Octavia answered, her tone somewhere between the bashful and the embarrassed. "I got good at going unnoticed. You sort of have to be when you're job's just cleaning."

"Ah," the explanation made sense, not that Anya thought Octavia was some kind of spy or something. "You're not facilities maintenance anymore though," Octavia wasn't, Anya had seen to that.

"Hard habit to shake, I guess," Octavia said with a shrug. "Most people are used to leaving me be when they see me around."

"Cool," Anya said, she didn't really know what else to say when Octavia seemed just a little saddened at whatever her past life had been.

"So we're going to the ground?" Octavia said, her eyes lighting up at her own words.

"Yeah," Anya didn't miss the fact that Octavia had changed to subject so quickly. "GoSci is going down first. Kane thinks it important that leadership meet with Mount Weather and open up official lines of communication first."

"And we'll be able to look for my brother?"

"That, too," Anya said, thoughts turning briefly to Lexa before she pushed them aside. "There's more reports that reapers are growing more and more violent."

"So what's the plan?" Octavia asked, an eagerness clearly visible on her face.

Anya took a moment to consider her next words. She didn't really know, if she was truthful with herself. Part of her was happy to simply go with the flow, let whatever happened dictate her next moves. And yet part of her wanted answer, wanted explanations for the slightest of inconsistencies that Mount Weather had said about the reapers, about the attacks. But she'd keep those thoughts to herself for the moment. At least until she could see for herself what the reapers were like.

But Octavia's words started to echo through her mind, of being able to go unnoticed, of being able to listen, to hear. And so Anya smiled, if only because she found a plan, however foolish, slowly beginning to solidify in her mind.

"We're going to the ground, Octavia."

It wasn't surprising that the dungeons were cold. But what was surprising was that the cold seemed to breathe around Lexa with a rhythm that reminded her of a sleeping beast. In theory it wasn't that much different to the air that was recycled through the Ark, but on the ground it seemed more omnipresent and foreboding. Perhaps it was simply because she was in fact walking through dungeons that looked very much like they housed a slumbering beast. As another cold draught stabbed into her Lexa stuffed her hands into the leather jacket she wore, its presence very welcomed given the circumstances.

"Where are we going?" Lexa asked quietly.

She hadn't really said anything when she had been led out of the dining hall, if only because she knew it not her place. Of course she still had so many questions she needed answering, and Maya's words had simply given her more questions than she had had before. Hopefully she wouldn't have to wait too long. But for now she was content that she wasn't being punished, in fact, she thought herself far better taken care of than anyone would have expected. She knew that part of Clarke's ploy though, she knew at this very moment that the only thing keeping her alive was the fact that Clarke believed she would be helpful in some way. So for the moment Lexa would play along, or at least be open minded, if only because what Clarke had said and what she had seen while trapped in that small bunker with Carl had lined up more than perfectly.

"Where are we going?" Lexa whispered again, her gaze drilling into Ontari's back as if to will the other woman to take notice of her.

Ontari simply sighed at her question and continued walking through the dungeons dimly lit by fire-lit torches hanging from sconces bolted to the stone wall.

"You speak too much, Lexa of the sky-people," though Ontari's words weren't so insulting, there was a distinct threat that lingered in her tone.

"I wouldn't need to speak so much if you answered me," it was cheeky, even Lexa would admit that.

But that seemed to steal Ontari's attention for the warrior barked out something between a snarl and a laugh and Lexa didn't really know which one she preferred. Unsurprisingly Ontari continued walking in front of her without answering her question. But whatever silence they shared ended shortly. Ontari took one last corner before they came to another set of stairs that must have led up above ground.

It only took a moment longer before Lexa found herself standing in another small building, the steps down into the dungeon behind her. Through a shuttered window before her she could see afternoon's light dappled as it touched the ground.

"Where are we?" she asked, in part to break the awkward silence as she waited for Ontari to make a move, in part because she was genuinely curious. The dungeons and tunnels she had been led through did an exceptional job of disorienting her and making it almost all but impossible for her to figure out how far away she was from the dining hall. She didn't even know if she was in the same village she had been in earlier.

"The other side of Ton DC," Ontari said quietly, the woman carefully peering through a crack in the shutters.

"What are we waiting for?" Lexa was almost certain that Clarke had told Ontari to be tolerant of her, if she hadn't Lexa was sure she'd have been slapped or smacked or pushed around from asking the questions she had.

"We wish for the Mountain to think you dead," Ontari said as she looked back over her shoulders. "Or at least not with us," and she turned back to look outside at whatever it was she was in search for.

"How safe are we here?" Lexa wasn't under any misconceptions that these people lived in a continuous state of readiness, and yet perhaps she hadn't realised just how precipitous the situation might have been given that even inside one of their villages Ontari was wary and overly cautious.

"It is not your safety I am concerned about," Ontari said as she stepped back from the window and turned to her, head cocked to the side as she eyed the clothes she wore. "You will blend in well enough for now," and Ontari gestured to her hair. "But you will need to fix your hair."

It came out so simply that Lexa shouldn't have felt insulted, but she did. And she knew exactly what Ontari was talking about. She had noticed quite quickly that every warrior's hair was braided in intricate patterns, the braids that adorned the male warriors perhaps more centred on their beards, whilst the women's hair was full of patterns and woven detail that it was in part pretty and in part so very fierce.

But it wasn't Lexa's fault she hadn't had time to do much more than to pull her hair into one single messy tail that had far too many loose strands then even the most unkempt of warriors she had seen.

"Come."

And with that Ontari reached out, grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her out into the open.

They moved quickly and with purpose, Ontari's feet taking them through the open air and towards a group of buildings that lay recessed on the other side of what Lexa realised must have been a small street. To the untrained eye or to the unaware Lexa was sure that the surrounding buildings would have appeared more abandoned ruins than lived in dwelling, but as she neared the closest door she realised she could see the telltale signs of life, of care that had been taken to keep the dwellings habitable by those that must have called it home.

But Lexa wasn't given long to marvel at the majesty of whatever was in front of her for Ontari reached out for the door and pushed it open. Lexa stumbled past the threshold as Ontari shoved her inside before following her in, the door quick to shut behind them.

As Lexa's eyes adjusted to the dimmed light she took a moment to reorient herself, to gather her thoughts and to try to make sense of everything that had happened. She knew herself in a village called Ton DC, it didn't take a genius to guess which city it had once been. Lexa knew she was in part prisoner, in part unwilling ally. And she knew that there was an army of warriors deep underground, whose purpose was clear, whose intentions were so very easy to see. And then there was Maya, the woman who Lexa realised was someone from Mount Weather, who for whatever reason had sided with Clarke and her people over her own. At least the why seemed to make sense if what Lexa had seen and what Clarke had briefly mentioned were true. She still had so many questions, she still had so many things she needed answered and she didn't think it accidental that each new thing thrust upon her had come with hardly a moment for her to digest the previous happenings.

But then she remembered Bellamy, the man who had been taken prisoner, perhaps beaten, perhaps already killed, already lef—

"Lexa?"

She blinked. She spun around and she came face to face with the man in question.

"Bellamy?"

"I thought they killed you," his voice came out carefully as he took in Ontari who hovered close by, whose presence was so overbearing.

"Same," it was an awkward shrug. "Or I thought they might have been beating you," she eyed his face for signs of wounds yet she found hardly any save for a simple reddened mark across his face from the blow he received when they had first been captured.

"Yeah," Bellamy took a cautious step forward, "I thou—"

"You have ten minutes to talk," Ontari snapped before turning for the door. "Make the most of it."

And with that Ontari slipped outside as the door closed behind her.

Lexa waited a moment longer to settle her nerves before she turned back to Bellamy who stood in front of her, hands on his hips now, head tilted to the side.

"I see they've given you clothes, too," and he gestured up and down her body before doing the same to his.

She hadn't noticed it at first, but as Lexa took him in she found that he wore clothes more than similar to hers. A simple leather jacket hung a little too loosely off his shoulders, the pants seemed to fit a little better and even his boots seemed a close match to whatever size he must have been.

"What happ—"

"Where'd yo—"

"Sorry," Bellamy said with an awkward laugh. "You go first."

"What happened to you?" Lexa said as she began to turn in a slow circle as she took in the building Bellamy had been locked in. There were shelves, a few dusty tables and even chairs and other pieces of furniture stacked as neatly as could be expected given their haphazard shapes.

"When we were separated," Bellamy began. "They took me away, to be honest I thought I was done for. I thought you were done for," and he laughed again, a nervousness colouring his tone. "They took me underground, no idea how long I walked for, then I ended up here," and he gestured around to the room. "Gave me clothes and then left. I've been alone in here ever since."

"You didn't try escaping?" and Lexa turned back to him to find the man leaning against a table, arms cross over his chest.

"No," he shook his head. "I didn't think I'd get very far even if I tried," and he gestured outwards. "Plus, if they were going to kill us they would have done it by now. So I figured they needed us for something, especially given the clothes and the food," Bellamy gestured to a small plate of mostly eaten food he had left on the table. "I saved some for you," and he pushed it towards her. "I didn't know if you were fed. I haven't eaten anything half as good in probably my whole life."

Lexa tried not to feel too awkward at the fact that the food she could see on the plate was quite clearly adequate and not at all as lavish as the feast she had been almost forced to eat.

"I was given food," and she bit her lip as she turned away and eyed the door she assumed Ontari still stood in front of. "Thanks."

"Cool," and Bellamy reached for the plate and started picking at the scraps. "So," and he paused as he swallowed a piece of bread and cheese. "What happened?"

To say Bellamy had taken her news well would be an understatement. Of course Lexa had left out the shared bath with Clarke, she even left out the details of how exquisite the food she had been given was. But the rest she had told Bellamy with as much detail as she could remember.

Part of her expected the man to freak out, part of her had expected him to feint or to not even believe her. But to his credit he had listened, nodded his head and asked for clarification when he had clearly needed it.

"So what are we going to do?" he asked as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"I—" Lexa paused before continuing, her voice lowered enough that she thought Ontari unable to hear. "I think we help them, at least until all our people are on the ground."

"You believe them?" Bellamy asked. "You believe this Maya woman?"

"I think so," and Lexa shook her head as if to shake the doubts away.

"What if she's a spy or pretending to be from Mount Weather?"

Lexa had considered that, but she didn't think it likely, if only because the few words Maya had spoken to her had seemed much more like how she and Bellamy spoke, like how Carl Emerson had spoken. There was a distinct way Clarke and her people had a way of speaking that she thought hard for them to leave.

"No," Lexa sighed. "I think Maya's telling the truth. Or at least as much as she believes it's the truth," Lexa paused though. There were so many unknowns still at play, so many things she needed to find out and discover. Perhaps the only thing clear to her in that moment was that her life, Bellamy's life, and the lives of everyone else who was already on the ground were all in the balance. Lexa was certain that the only thing keeping them alive in that moment was the fact that Clarke thought she could use them against Mount Weather. That much was certain.

"I know what you're thinking," Bellamy said quietly.

"What am I thinking?" and Lexa looked over her shoulder and to the door half expecting Ontari to burst though it at any given moment, whatever time alone they had left surely soon to end.

"We need proof," Bellamy said. "Right? If what you think is true is true, then everyone in Mount Weather is a monster. If they created the reapers, if they use Clarke's people as some kind of cattle, then I can see it from their point of view."

"Yeah," and Lexa chewed her lip. "But I don't know if I'm willing to sacrifice anyone over this. Not yet. Not without proof."

"Then we get it," Bellamy said with a shrug. "We get a message to Raven, Monty, Harper, anyone from our team and tell them what we know and get them to confirm it for us."

"Then what, Bellamy?" Lexa said, but she didn't say it to challenge, perhaps it was coloured with exasperation, perhaps something else she hadn't had the time to analyse just yet. "We go to war? We fight people who are probably closer to us societally than we are to these grounders? We'd end up wiping ourselves out."

Bellamy shook his head but Lexa thought the motion more aimed at himself as he tried to juggle with whatever thoughts he warred with.

"Yeah," he sighed. "That's where I get stuck, too. I can't see where we go from he—"

The door opened and Lexa turned to find Ontari standing there, one hand resting atop a knife strapped to her hip, her lips turned up into something between a sneer and a smirk.

"Come. Both of you."