Disclaimer: I own nothing.
AN: Sorry for not posting this on Sunday. My ex decided that she was going to be a bitch and steal my muse. Thank you to Sailor Sayuri and xan-merrick for your reviews. I appreciate them greatly. For everybody else who read, followed, and favorited. Thank you for tuning in. Sorry for any mistakes I may have missed.
Chapter Five: Completing Phase One
Abby was slowly making her way towards the sick bay exhausted. Her hip was hurting far worse than it had been the last few days, and she had a terrible headache. She and Indra had not been able to ease the warrior's minds, nor had they gotten the Arkers to agree to leave their weapons behind. They had a day's worth of food left in the food hut. Half the arc still had no power, and the best person to fix this was laid up in bed recovering from her injuries.
As if that wasn't bad enough, most of the remaining hundred were going through varying degrees of post-traumatic stress disorder. Some jumped at the slightest noises, a few were drinking themselves into stupors each night, most woke screaming in the middle of the night, and all of them were refusing to leave each other's side. They had set up their own little camp by the lake. It was weighing heavily on the rest of Camp Jaha. There was talk from the eldest of their people, that Abby should dis-banned the camp, and force the group to separate. Fears of the remaining hundred returning to their delinquent ways and start causing havoc for the adults were leading this charge.
Abby was trying to ease tensions as much as possible, because she knew the kids just needed some time to heal. She also knew that she was going to have to do something eventually. Not to ease the elders, but to get the kids to move on and start living their lives.
Abby looked at her watch and sighed. It was only noon. There was still so much to do before the camp had to start heading the hour long trip to Ton DC for the celebration. She had to make her rounds around sick bay, and then she had to go check on Raven. After that she and Indra were going to attempt again to gain peace between their people.
Jackson was changing the IV of one of their grounder patients. A woman in her late teens, who had been reported to have been bled several times just prior to her rescue. She had caught the flu just after she returned to Ton DC, and nearly died before she had been brought to the camp. There were several grounders in the camp recovering. All of whom had been sent to Abby on the brink of death.
Abby took a moment to sit at her desk and go over a few patient files, while absent mindedly rubbing at her healing hip. She had worked nearly non-stop since they returned to Camp Jaha. She hadn't even given herself a chance to rest when she operated on Lexa's leg. She had been sitting while patching up the bullet wound, fretting the entire time about the woman loosing too much blood. Lexa's black blood was a curious mystery to Abby, one that she would very much like to solve. During the surgery though they couldn't transfuse the woman because giving her a blood type that wasn't compatible with her own could have killed her.
Abby was midway through her third chart when Kane stepped through the doors, with Lexa just behind him. Fear settled in her chest at the sight of the woman. "Lexa. What are you doing here? Did something happen to Clarke?"
"Clarke is fine. The one you call Octavia is with her seeing that she is well taken care of. I am here to scout your terrain, and the Camp."
Abby was taken back by that. "Why?"
"To assess how much room you will need for the expansion, see how many winterized dwellings you are going to need to be built, and prepare for the spring crops. If my people are to help you, I must be fully informed of what will be needed."
"Oh."
Kane, sensing Abby's discomfort, stepped in and said. "The commander is requesting one of our people help by explaining our mechanical needs."
"Yes," Lexa said agreeing. "Clarke has mentioned that it is something called electricity that lights your dwelling, and makes your life saving machines work. I am un-familiar with how this works, and would like to be informed."
"I was thinking Raven would be the best person for the job," Kane said.
"You're right. Raven would be the best person for the job, provide you aren't planning on taking her from her bed," Abby said pointedly.
"I have much to do today before the feast. I would like Raven to accompany as I tour the grounds. Ryder has offered to carry Raven as we walk, so that she may continue to rest," Lexa said, somewhat impatiently.
Abby looked at Lexa wearily. She wanted to tell the woman that it wasn't a good idea. That Raven needed rest, but she also didn't want to piss off the commander. Not after the woman had traveled all the way to camp just to start preparing to help her people. She sighed as she said, "If Raven is willing, I will release her from her bed rest, as long as you promise Raven's feet don't touch the ground unless she is sitting."
"I promise, Abby of the sky people, Raven will continue to rest," Lexa said curtly.
Kane turned around and gestured to the door. "I will escort you to Raven's room. The arc may not be the same size it used to be, but it is still very easy to get lost if you don't know your way around."
"Mochof," Lexa said, and then followed behind Kane as he escorted her to Raven's room. As they walked, Lexa looked carefully at everything that passed. She peeked into open doors, watched as he lights flickered, and a few loose cords sparked. It was all very interesting to her.
Raven's door was propped open, and the woman was sitting up in her bed glaring at the door. A huge smile crossed her lips when she saw Kane enter, with the Commander. "How's Clarke?" she asked immediately.
"Clarke is surviving," Lexa said amused. That was the sixteenth time she had been asked that question so far.
Raven smiled widely. "Surviving is better than dying."
"Yes it is," Lexa agreed.
"So what brings you by? Are you coming to break me out?" Raven asked hopefully. She was itching to get out of her bed and to get out of her room. Abby had Raven so restricted that she couldn't even walk herself to the bathroom, and it had been over a week since she had been allowed to go bathe. Every time she tried to get out of bed somebody would magically appear to put her back, or roll her to where she needed to be in the makeshift wheelchair Wick had built.
Kane smile as he stepped forward. "As a matter of fact we are."
Raven cheered and threw her arms in the air. She went to get out of bed when she was stopped by Lexa. "I have promise Abby your feet will not touch the ground unless you are sitting. Ryder will carry you."
"Kane," Raven whined. "I'm fine. It's been over a week. My hip is fine, and my leg is healing."
"Sorry Raven, not only are they doctor's orders, but the Chancellors as well. Nothing can trump that."
Raven grumbled, "Clarke can," under her breath, which Lexa and Ryder keen sense of hearing picked up. Ryder snorted, knowing all too well that what Clark wants, she gets one way or another, and Lexa hid her smirk.
Lexa stepped forward with no trace of the smirk. "Allow my warrior the honor of escorting you today."
Raven scoffed, "How is it an honor to carry around a cripple?"
Ryder stepped forward, and knelled. "Skaiprisa was able to slay the mountain because you made the dam go boom."
Raven snorted. "I also made myself go boom. Not exactly my finest moment."
"You were brave Raven of the sky people," Ryder said.
Lexa nodded her head in agreement. "Ryder is correct. You were brave to go. You have a disability which did not stop you. You risked your life to ensure that Clarke's plan worked. I would be proud to call you one of my people."
Raven stared at the Commander in shock. She could have sworn she heard a compliment come from the normally stoic woman.
"Come. There is much do and discuss," Lexa ordered, and then gestured to Ryder to pick the girl up.
Kane left them to meet with Indra and Abby about the rift between their people. He had tried early this morning to ease the tensions, and still nothing worked.
Lexa, Ryder, and Raven traveled around the arc inspecting each room, as Raven explained how the electricity worked, how they heated the arc in the freezing cold sky, how they generated air, and water. She had explained that the heating system had been damaged in the drop, and there was a party of engineers and mechanics scouring the second landing site in hopes of being able to fix it.
Lexa listened intently, absorbing all of what Raven had to say and show her. Every once in a while she would question something that Raven was telling her, or explain to Raven how her people did something. She had expressed many ideas on how the sky people could heat the arc in the heating system couldn't be fixed. This sent Raven on a long wind mini brainstorming rant, which Lexa actively participated in throwing her own people's engineering.
After every inch of the arc had been searched, the group moved outside. They traveled the lengths of the arc that was protected by the fence. Lexa was looking at all of the makeshift building that had already been put up, noting that they wouldn't stay standing once the harsh winds of winter started, nor would they survive if a particularly harsh fall storm rolled in.
Raven made them stop near a group of tents where the remaining hundred had taken up residents. The three medium sized tents were crudely built out of fallen tree branches, and tarp and blankets that had been salvaged from the dropship. The tents weren't nearly as nice as the ones that they had at the dropship sight, but they kept them relatively dry and at least kept the cold from settling in during the night.
Lexa asked why they were staying outside if there was room for them inside. Raven had given Lexa a sad look at the question. She had been talking to Monty about it earlier that day, and wasn't happy about what was occurring.
She explained to Lexa that everybody who had come to earth on the dropship had been prisoners on the arc, and despite being pardoned for their petty crimes were being shunned by the adults.
Lexa then asked, "Why is Abby allowing her people to shun the young."
"She doesn't know," Raven said sadly. "Abby thinks that they are banding together because of what they went through, not because they have no choice. Only a few of them have parents living."
"Why has nobody informed her," Lexa asked, not understanding how Abby could be so clueless to what was going on with her people in her own camp.
"I just found out this morning. I haven't had a chance to tell her yet," Raven said.
"And what of the others. Why have they not reported this to their leader?"
"The adults dropped them to earth as lab rats. They didn't know we could survive down here. The hundred were the test. They had to learn to survive on their own without them, and they did. We did. They are just slipping back into that mentality."
"And you call my people savages," Lexa commented disapprovingly.
"Well you did tie me to pole and cut me," Raven commented snidely.
"I thought you tried to kill me. It was justified," Lexa said, unwaveringly.
"Fair enough," Raven said, and let it drop.
Lexa was quiet as they walked towards the gates to inspect the land surrounding Camp Jaha. There was another reason why she had insisted on Raven accompanying her as she inspected the camp. She felt like she needed to talk with Raven just as she had with Abby, and Octavia. More so because Raven had just cause to be upset with Clarke, and with her. Clarke explained to Lexa after Raven pitched the plan to destroy the dam, that Finn had been Raven's love. That he had been the only person she could call family.
Lexa wanted to make sure that Raven understood why Clarke did what she did, and why she had ordered the boy's death. She wanted to make sure that Raven was moving past her loss, and wouldn't hold a grudge against Clarke.
They spent an hour walking outside Camp Jaha's limits, ideally talking about expanding the walls, where would be the best spot on the land to start farming, and if each clan would be comfortable with the changes that were to be implemented.
Once Lexa was sure she had all the information she needed to present to the clans, she motioned for Ryder to sit Raven on a fallen tree near the lake. She quietly told the man to leave them and sat down next to Raven. The sun was already dipping low into the sky, but the sky was still a sunny shade of yellow. The feast in Ton DC would start once the Moon was just peeking above the mountains. She still had a few hours before she had to return home.
"Your home has fallen in a good spot," Lexa told Raven, in an attempted to break the silence that had fallen between them. "Right by the water, close enough to the trees for hunting and building, but far enough away for you people village to grow and prosper."
"I think I liked it better at the drop ship," Raven mused. "More cover to protect us from your warriors. It's too open here. You can hear and see everything."
"As long as your people fall in line, then you have nothing to fear from me," Lexa said. She continued to stare the water. The sun was dancing on the surface, birds were bathing and swimming, a beaver was making its home in the center of the large body of water. It was serene.
Raven turned away from the view and stared daggers at Lexa. "And what happens if we don't fall in line?"
Lexa turned to look at Raven. "Camp Jaha will seize to exist, but only if your people demand war. Each clan are their own people, with their own traditions, and their own laws. Most clans have similar ways of life, but there are a few that are more brutal then others, or more forgiving. Peace between my people rests solely on one law. No clan is to attack another, for doing so without my permission is an act of war."
"So all we have to do is not attack your people and were safe? Seems simple enough, but there's always a catch," Raven said skeptically.
Lexa nodded her head, slightly, weighing her options. With each sky person she spoke with her annoyance of them grew. She was not used to explaining herself to people. Titus often forced her to speak of her plans to him, but he knew his place. He was her subject, and he did as she was told. The sky people were different. With them she had no choice but to explain herself in some way, or she would never achieve her goals.
"Clarke is that catch," she said, carefully choosing her words wisely. She needed to give Raven just enough information to sate her curiosity, without actually giving her the whole picture. "Clarke is that catch. My people may not be as accepting to the Skaikru, as the Trikru have been, but they see Clarke as their savior. Many of the warriors who fought at the mountain have returned home to tell the tale of the Skaiprisa. The daughter of the Skaikru's leader, who rose above even she, and slayed the mountain. I received word from Polis yesterday that Clarke's tale has already reached each of the twelve clans, and they are hailing her Wanheda, The Commander of Death. Clarke is feared as much as she is revered."
"So you want to do what with Clarke?" Raven asked, not understanding why they were even having this conversation.
"I want Clarke to be a good leader," Lexa said. "Clarke is what will get my people to accept Skaikru, but in order for her to do that, her mind has to be whole."
Raven's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she thought over Lexa's words.
"Clarke is haunted by what she has done to protect her people," Lexa continued. "The dead haunt her dreams. Your Finn haunts her dreams."
Realization dawns on Raven.
"She lets her heart cloud her mind. She knows that killing Finn and irradiating the mountain as the right choice. The only choice to save her people, but the grief of her actions clouds that."
"Don't talk about Finn," Raven spat. Her voice was heavy and wavering, as she fought back the tears that were welling in her eyes. "She killed him because of you."
"No. She killed Finn because of his actions. Jus drein jus daun. Life is the most precious thing this world has to offer, and to take an innocent life is the greatest crime. The only way for my people to move past a death is for the dead to be at peace. That doesn't happen if a murderer if alive, and hasn't suffered as his victim did. Clarke saved Finn from the torment of eighteen deaths. She gave him a merciful death. She save her people from seeing it happen. She did it to fortify the alliance, and now she is tormented by it."
"Good," Raven spat. Her anger for Clarke was renewed. The pain she had felt as she watched Clarke step away from Finn's lifeless body was reignited in her heart.
"Tell me Raven of the sky people. How do you think the families of Finn's victims feel?" Lexa asked.
Raven opened her mouth dumfounded. "I…um…I…I guess they hurt."
Lexa nodded her head slightly. "I lost somebody I loved. The Queen of Azgeda believed that she knew my secrets, because she was mine. Costia was taken from me, tortured, killed, and her head was delivered to my bed. My heart ached for revenge, ached for her to return to me, and it still aches because the Ice Queen lives. To kill the Queen would have brought about a war that I wasn't ready for. A war that would have annihilated half my clans. So I made an alliance with her, and welcomed her into my collation. To save my people, I will feel the pain of Costia's death until the queen meets her demise."
Raven's anger eased slightly. "I forgave Clarke for killing Finn, after you almost killed me. I realized why she did it. I'm still angry at Clarke, Finn's death still hurts, but I forgave her."
"Your anger is what can hurt Clarke. It will make her heart ache more, and that ache will make Clarke second guess her decisions. Your people need her to be whole, to know that you accept what she has done, and that you are grateful for her sacrifices."
Raven sighed and turned back to the lake staring thoughtfully over the rippled surface. So much had happened since she fell to earth in the pod. They had lost so many people, and all she wanted was to put everything behind her like a bad memory. She unconsciously rubbed her bad hip and leg. She was slowly starting to accept her disability, and get used to not being able to feel one of her legs. She supposed this is how she wanted all the pain she felt since coming to earth to be like. It was there, a part of her, shaping who she was, but not being able to feel the pain of it all. She knew from experience that over time pain eased and you were just left with memories and longing.
Raven looked back at the Commander, who was looking at the lake, and asked, "Why are you going through all this trouble?"
Lexa looked at Raven. "For peace. My people will look to Clarke as the leader of Skaikru. She can insure that the alliance is upheld, and that anybody who wishes for Skaikru's demise are swayed to the other side. She can provide peace for your people. Clarke is strong. She is willing to do whatever it takes to protect her people, but at a great cost to herself. True and lasting peace can only be achieved if she is at peace with herself."
"Earth is nothing like we thought it would be," Raven told Lexa. "It is more beautiful, and more devastating than we ever imagined. All we want to do is survive. If Clarke wants my forgiveness for killing Finn, then she can have it. She saved him from the worst this world has to offer. She saved him from himself."
"Clarke needs her friends as much as she needs forgiveness," Lexa said softly.
"Clarke doesn't have to worry about me not having her back," Raven scoffed. "She killed my only family, and I still did what she needed me to do. Jasper is the one you have to worry about. Clarke killed his girlfriend when she irradiated level five."
"He will see, just as you have, that Clarke only didn't it to save them. Times of peace are different then times of war," Lexa told her. "Tonight we celebrate the victory Clarke brought us. Come with me to Ton DC and join us in our celebrations."
"Abby will never allow me," Raven said.
"Then I will make her allow you," Lexa said, and the stood. She motioned for Ryder to return.
"Wait," Raven said. "You are so worried about me holding a grudge against Clarke, but you have said anything to sway me from holding a grudge against you."
"That is because there is nothing to hold a grudge for. I had thought you tried to poison me. I had proof that you did this," Lexa said.
"And what if I don't feel like it is justified?" Raven asked.
"Then that is for you to figure out. I cannot control your emotions, only you can do that," Lexa stated. She looked down at the woman. "For what it matters, I am glad that Clarke saved your life. Clarke needs you, and so do your people."
"It matters little coming from you," Raven told her. "And a lot at the same time."
Lexa let her facade drop, and looked at Raven with confusion written on her face. She did not understand the Skaikru at times.
"I won't get over what you did until the cuts are healed, but it does mean a lot to know you are glad I'm alive. Besides, it's not like it was personal. Not like with your general."
Lexa nodded her head, but she didn't trust herself to say anything about Gustus. His betrayal still hurt her immensely, and having to kill him hurt even more. He was just one example that she put her head over heart, and suffered for it. She prayed her plan would work. She prayed that she could lead her people into a peaceful time. So that she didn't have to kill somebody else that she cared for.
"Then let us leave this behind us, and forge a new future," Lexa said. She extended her arm out as an offer for a truce.
Raven looked at the arm and then back up at the Commander. It was such a simple gesture, and yet the meaning behind it was bigger than either could imagine. Raven wrapped her hand around Lexa's forearm, and then nodded her head. She had a feeling that Lexa was a woman of few words, and would easily understand what Raven was saying with the nod.
They dropped their arms, as Lexa began speaking. "I must find your Chancellor. Ryder will take you back to your room, for you to gather whatever you need for the trip. There is a tent sent up for the Skaikru, so you can stay in Ton DC as long as you like."
"Thank you Commander," Raven said.
"Thank me after I get Abigale to agree to this," Lexa said, and Raven could have sworn she heard a slight chuckle amongst the words. "We ride in an hour."
Lexa walked away from where Raven was sitting with an ease in her chest.
Phase One: Complete