The screeching of metal against metal was the only thing to echo out in the small passageway Clarke now found herself. The light from the sun was replaced by the flickering unnatural light spat out from small holes in the ceiling. The passageway itself was long and narrow and sloped down sharply into the depths of the Mountain. Everything seemed unnatural, from light, to the odd pressure Clarke could now feel pressing against her ears as if the air itself was overwhelming, wanting to suffocate and press down its will upon any and all that were brave enough to wander within.

Shadows cast against the wall, and the echoes of a shuffling foot did little to put her at ease, but Clarke forced herself to remain steady and still as she found herself looking at Emerson more completely.

The man stood a little ways in front of her, the weapon in his hands still levelled at her chest, his gaze never wavering as if he couldn't believe his eyes. Or perhaps because he suspected a trap, something a little more than her simple surrender.

The first man, though, he moved, he fidgeted back and forth from one foot to the other as his apprehension seemed to take more and more control of his body as time went on.

"Remove her weapons," Emerson said carefully and Clarke's gaze snapped back to him to find him taking in every little detail he could presumably see upon her body.

It didn't take long before all her weapons were removed and placed on the ground out of reach. Part of her was loathe to part with them in such a manner and yet she knew it needed to be done for the moment.

"Bag her," Emerson's voice was a little more confident now that her visible weapons were removed and it didn't take Clarke long to find out what he meant.

A thick bag was roughly pulled over her head, she winced as the first man pulled at her hair and then she felt it tightened around her neck enough that she wouldn't be able to removed without help.

And with that Clarke felt hands grab her and drag her into the depths of the Mountain.

Clarke lost track of how many twists and turns she took. The bag over her head did enough to disorient and keep her unaware of just how deep into the Mountain she was being led. But before too long Clarke felt more hands grip, she felt what seemed like shackles placed around her wrists and then she felt herself pushed down into a chair beneath her, its surface cold, metal, the bite of it enough to make her shiver just a little.

A sharp tug was all she felt before the bag was lifted from her head. It only took her a few moments before her eyes adjusted to her new surroundings. She would have recoiled at any other time if Maya hadn't told her what to expect, and for that she was thankful.

The room she sat in was white. So starkly white that it almost reminded her of the blinding frozen wilds of Azgeda when the sun would hit the lands at that perfect angle.

But there was no snow, there was no ice.

Instead she was in a small room, the floor, the walls and the ceiling were a tiled white. A single metal table was in front of her, its construction ugly, inelegant, void of any kind of love. Clarke glanced down at the chair she sat on to find it much the same as the table. In the corner of her eye she could see a small object recessed into the corner where two walls and the ceiling met, a single red blinking light the only thing that gave away its presence.

But Clarke paid little attention to all those things she noticed for she found herself looking upon a man who sat in front of her.

This man was different to Emerson and the first man she had seen. He was older, thinner in stature than Clarke would have anticipated the first person to question her to be, she saw an intelligence in his eyes, she saw something a little more thoughtful.

"My name is Dante Wallace," he said. "President of Mount Weather and what remains of the United States of America."

Clarke let her head tilt to the side ever so slightly. She let her lip turn up at the corners into something between sneer and smile and she made sure to pin the man in front of her with a focused look before speaking.

"Clarke," she said. "Victor of the conclave. The last Natblida. Heda. Commander of all twelve clans and Ruler of the Coalition."

Dante remained quiet at her response, perhaps to take the time to process what she had said, perhaps in an attempt to unsettle her as he kept his eyes locked on her.

But Clarke wouldn't let herself be broken first. Not after everything these people had done to her people and so she kept her eyes locked on him, her stare intense and as unsettling as she knew it could be.

Dante's eyes flickered from hers for just a brief second. But it was enough for her to notice.

Weakness

"Why are you here, Clarke?" Dante asked, his gaze settling back onto hers quickly.

"I am surrendering," she said and she lifted her arms and jangled the shackles around her wrists to emphasise her point.

"I don't believe you," Dante responded.

That wasn't surprising either. She knew it would involve an explanation that would make sense.

And so, in the seconds that followed Clarke let herself think over every single thing that had happened to her, every single promise of victory and every single sacrifice she had endured in her life to get her to this point.

There was no going back.

"The arrival of the Sky People has changed my calculations," Clarke said, her eyes narrowed a fraction as she studied the man who sat in front of her.

"How?" Dante asked.

There was no going back anymore and for the briefest of moments she hoped that every person she was about to sacrifice would understand their role in securing a future for their people free of the Mountain.

"I have gathered three armies who are preparing to destroy the dam that supplies your Mountain with power," she said and she saw a brief flicker of surprise in his eyes before he masked it. "One army is stationed at the border between Azgeda and Trikru," she said. "The other is spread out amongst all the villages in the surrounding forests to act as surprise reinforcements. The last is hidden in the tunnels that stretch out beneath us in this very moment. They are the ones who will launch the main assault through the tunnels."

Dante remained quiet for a longer moment then and Clarke watched him look up into the corner of the room and stare pointedly at the blinking red light before focusing his gaze back onto her.

"If what you just said is true you just sentenced thousands of your people to death," he said, and now there was suspicion in his voice, there was uncertainty, and yet there was something else, something she would let go for the time being. "Why?"

"Just as you have studied my people," Clarke said. "Just as you have kept watch on us over generations, so too have we kept watch of your people, of how you move through our lands, of how you supply yourselves with the resources to survive," she sneered a little at that. "We know your people stash vials of natblida in the forests. We know you use them as emergency supplies if your acid fog descends on us and accidentally traps your people outside. We know you torture our people and turn them into reapers and unleash their torment on their families."

Clarke let herself pause, she let herself think. And she let her gaze harden just a little further as she kept her gaze pinned on Dante.

"My people would suffer a thousand, thousand deaths if it ensured your destruction," she paused for a moment once more. "And we had secured all we needed. We had prepared. We were ready."

There was a slight shift in Dante's eyes then as he seemed to understand.

"Until the people from the Ark came and introduced a new variable," there was a slight smirk then, something more sinister than Clarke thought him deserving of in that moment. "You don't know what they're capable of."

"No," it was a simple answer. An honest answer. A safe answer.

"So why surrender?" Dante leant forward then, enough that if Clarke was quick she knew she could break his neck if she wanted. But she'd refrain. Sadly.

"I wish to offer you a deal," and she shrugged a single shoulder.

"What kind of deal?"

"I surrender willingly. And you cease all hostilities against my people and my people will do the same."

"That's it?" Dante asked, his tone coloured by the slightest of incredulous chuckles.

Clarke inclined her head a little bit more and for the first time she realised the person she was sitting in front of was not as smart as she had anticipated. But most of all, she realised he was not as smart as he thought he was.

And so Clarke fought back the annoyance at having to play this game even further.

"The nightbloods you have already taken are weak. I know this simply because I know they would not willingly submit. Their use for you will continue to wane as the years go by without a healthy replacement," Clarke wondered just how far the Mountain Men had begun to search for any nightbloods that may have existed in the further clans. Perhaps they hadn't even considered that as an option yet.

She continued, "You will release them. But I will stay healthy," Clarke said. "I will eat, exercise, ensure I am a viable donor for your healers to use for years to come. And I will survive for decades more," she leant forward a fraction. "With these new Sky People and their tech, just as they are able to destroy my people, so too will they be able to find a permanent cure for yours."

"With your help," Dante added. "And you're willing to sacrifice yourself?"

"Yes," Clarke said.

She was willing to sacrifice everything to ensure her people would survive.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Dante countered.

At least he was smart enough to not take her word at face value.

Clarke let herself for just a split second think of the warriors who had volunteered to be the early warning for the others inside the tunnels. She let herself for just a split second worry about Ontari and those she had promised would be taken care of forever. And then Clarke spoke.

"I have a vanguard team of warriors in the reaper tunnels. Not too many to be noticed so close to the Mountain, but enough to slow any of your reinforcements while the rest attack the dam," she said. "If you attack fast, if you attack with overwhelming power you will be able to eliminate this vanguard force without losing too many of your own warriors. Their presence should be evidence enough that I am telling you the truth."

"So you sacrifice your freedom and a small number of your best warriors to ensure peace?" Dante asked.

"I sacrifice all of that so that my people will live free from your horrors," Clarke said.

It was Dante's turn for his head to tilt to the side slightly as he let Clarke's words settle within his mind. She could see him juggling what she said with what he must know. She could see him trying to figure out the hidden message, the subterfuge and the lie.

But if everything had gone to plan, if Lexa's existing was still hidden, and if Anya and Lexa's other friends in the Mountain came through then everything would fall into place. All Clarke would need to do is trust that Maya would tell Lexa her one last plan should things go awry.

And so Dante nodded his head, she saw him come to whatever conclusion he had and she knew it had sealed all their fates forever.

"I accept your deal."

It was quiet on the other side of the interrogation room. The wall in front of Emerson was covered in screens, each one showing the same image of the President and the nightblood sitting face to face. Emerson couldn't entirely believe what he was hearing. Mostly because he didn't trust the thing that just beyond his reach. And yet what was being said did actually make some kind of sense to him.

As he continued to watch, as he continued to listen he found himself feeling a little more hope that this would be the thing for which they had been waiting for generations. The people from the Ark had already proven helpful with their ability to grow food in the open soil. The base camp they had set up had already slowly been further and further reinforced. Even the savages that roamed the lands had been too afraid to even attack when once they might have.

Perhaps it really was because the Ark's arrival had thrown all their plans out of sync. Why wouldn't it have though? They didn't know how to use technology. They relied on shamans and hunting, climbing trees and living in ruins to survive. They probably couldn't even understand what living in space event meant.

"What do you think Carl?" Cage's voice startled him from his thoughts and he looked to his left to find the President's son eyeing him carefully. "Think it's telling the truth?"

"I'm not sure," he said. That was truthful. "It makes sense."

"I'm sensing a but," Cage continued.

"Is it too easy?"

In answer to his question Cage hummed a thoughtless sound for a moment before speaking.

"You show them a torch, you show them a computer or a tv screen and they'll think they're going insane," he laughed. "The Ark coming down in a ball of fire and people coming out of it? They'll believe anything. Doesn't matter that that thing bleeds black, was the result of some long gone experiment they don't even understand. Yeah, I believe it when it says they're all afraid."

Carl nodded his head again.

Movement caught his eye and he looked back to the screens to find the President slipping out of the room to be replaced by a number of their security, each one eyeing the nightblood cautiously as they pulled the bag over her head again.

The far door opened then as President Wallace stepped inside.

"Well," he said, his gaze moving between the few who stood in front of him.

"I believe it," Cage said with a simple shrug.

"I see, Cage," the President said but he turned his attention to Doctor Lorelei Tsing. "And you Doctor?"

Tsing kept quiet for a moment and Carl watched as she chewed her lip before coming to whatever answer she was searching for.

"There's a strong possibility that what's been said will work," she looked back at the screens only to seem a little disappointed that their new captive was gone. "If anything, a healthy subject will give us years more of research, of donor material to find a permanent cure. There's so many resources on the Ark out there that we would have access to if the savages weren't allowed to attack us, too."

"I agree," Carl decided to add. "It would be worth the risk sending out small teams with the Arkers to recover as much as possible regardless of whether we were going to be attacked or not. But with a truce in place we'd be able to do it more safely. More quickly."

"Yes," the President said. "I came to that same conclusion. Doctor Tsing, quarantine, decontaminate and then test her first. I want to make sure we've got a viable subject before we show our hand."