Chapter Text
Clarke sat back on the couch as they argued around her. As soon as Abby had mentioned the number they could save she had fallen back against the cushions as Bellamy erupted, hands waving, pushing his body into Kane’s space. Raven, Miller, Monty and Murphy formed a semi-circle behind him each offering their own opinion, outrage or concern about what was going on. For her part, Abby had moved back behind the desk, sitting down wearily, mirroring her daughters movements from across the room.
She met her mother’s eyes, a weary smile crossing her face as she stared back at her daughter. It occurred to Clarke that Abby may be the only one apart from Bellamy that understood the agony of only having bad choices. Clarke did the calculations and tried to find where she would have turned left or right or back instead of continuing on the path Abby had set.
Would truth lived in anguish be better than ignorance in peace? Her father hadn’t agreed with her before, but Abby stayed on the same course once more.
Was saving only a hundred worth it? Hardly enough to ensure the survival of the human race, genetic diversity aside.
Was she angry that her mother had hid this from her? Or did she understand the woman’s pull to protect a daughter that had endured enough, given enough. But no, Abby had sent her into a hornets nest not six months ago. She would have come to her for council on this, unless...
“I’m not on the list, am I Mom?” She asked into the din of voices, Bellamy whipping his head around to meet her, his eyes widening in confusion.
Abby’s lips shook, but she steeled something within herself, “Clarke, the list isn’t final yet, we’re still looking for options. I’m not trying for subterfuge by keeping Jaha sedated, we need him coherent, I don’t want to go off looking for fairytales, that’s why-”
“You’d need to weight it to young females that can have children, and I sustained a pretty significant abdominal injury last year,” she interrupted, “that’s why you didn’t say anything.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Bellamy said harshly at Abby, the disgust written across his face, “she’s your daughter.”
Abby refused to meet Bellamy’s glare, she stared back at her daughter, “I’m so sorry baby,” she said softly into the now muted room.
For a few brief seconds, no one said anything, Raven stepped forward but a knock on the door turned their attention. Abby cleared her throat, “come in,” she said her voice not betraying the emotion heavy in her eyes.
The door cracked open and the tall figure of David Miller entered the room, frowning when he saw both his son and Bellamy inside. Both men looked down at the floor, knowing they’d been caught out from their duties.
“Yes, David, what is it? Abby asked, as he the guard captain looked around the mess of people in the room to his Chancellor sitting near the back.
“Thought you should know, Octavia and Lincoln have returned, with a few guests in tow, some of them are pretty sick. The people from the kru they were visiting near the water-”
“Octavia’s sick?” Bellamy said, stepping forward his face panicked, “where is she?”
The older man put his hands up, “she’s fine son, but I need the Chancellor’s permission to bring the rest of them in.”
“Do it,” Abby said quickly, “get Jackson on your way out I’ll meet them in medbay in a moment,” the Captain nodded quickly and turned to move away when she called out again, “oh and David? Bellamy and Nathan are here on my request, I’ll be needing them for a time on a special project, if you could spare them?”
Bellamy met Clarke’s eyes as Miller’s father made his exit, nodding quickly at Abby’s ask, his stare concerned toward his son before closing the door behind him.
“If you don’t mind,” Abby cleared her throat carefully as the delinquents all turned to stare at her. For her part, Clarke looked down at her nails, picking at them. “I’m more than aware that this news is devastating, but I would ask that you keep the information you’ve learned quiet. When Jaha is awake, we’ll have a better idea of where we stand. I promise to bring you in then.”
“Good plan Mom,” Clarke said into the space, standing and leaving the room before a fresh round of yelling could erupt. She was out of the hallway and halfway toward the gate before she realized she hadn’t taken a breath.
She forced her legs to keep moving, the world narrowing to a point as she walked into the main yard, the people moving around her without understanding the borrowed time they lived on, once again.
But their faces, they weren’t real. Instead of Collin and Mason tilling the soil in the west yard she saw Anya and the small child that was her second. The faces of the children playing tag near the greenhouse were familiar to her, but not as skaikru. Instead, they were the children left bent and bloody on the Mount Weather dining room table. All around her. Atom. Wells. Maya. She squeezed her eyes shut against the onslaught.
It was all for nothing. The blood on her hands. For nothing more than a few painful breaths of life more than another. She’d never hated irony more than she did at that moment.
“Clarke!” Bellamy was there suddenly, pulling her hand and leading her away from the middle of the yard, away from prying eyes. Did she look like she needed to be away from people? She hadn’t taken a breath yet, her lungs were burning as she watched her feet move across the dirt and grass. She was suddenly in a small alcove, looking up into Bellamy’s dark brown eyes, filled with worry.
Her vision was tunneling and she remembered this happening before, after the mountain but before Azgeda. The panic attacks, how had she’d solved them before? She shook her head as the world went dark, when she felt his hands grasp her shoulders and throw her back into the glass greenhouse wall.
The shock of it made her gasp, her lungs filling with air as though she’d finally broken the surface of the watering hole near camp. She coughed and wheezed, hunched over in the middle, her hands on her legs as Bellamy’s large hands circled her back.
“It’s not enough,” she said, her voice cracking as she looked up at him, and she knew then there were tears streaming down her face. “We can’t have done it all just for a few months of peace, it’s not enough Bellamy. Did we kill those children for just a few months of life? Did we kill to save people that were already dead?”
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close so she could bury her face into his chest, “I’m not giving up, I’m not giving you up,” he said hoarsely.
She smelled the guard’s uniform, the sweat and wood fire and mold of paper from the pre-bomb books he was slowly finding and lining their one shelf with.
“Clarke,” he said shakily and she pulled her face away from his chest to stare up at him, “we’ve faced worse odds, right?”
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Bellamy was still, at his core, the heart. The head saw a lost cause and knew when to cut its losses, the heart marched on, refusing to let reality dictate the terms. They’d faced humans she wanted to scream at him. An enemy with motivations they could manipulate and destroy, or an entity to ally with. Swords, guns, bombs, were nothing to what was coming. Fairytales of nightblood, flames and commanders of death, what was that to a wave of radiation?
He was still looking at her, staying with her instead of running to the gate to check on Octavia. The world had fallen around him too, but he was still with her, not running away. What could she say to comfort him? “Praimfaya,” she said, wiping away the lines of confusion on his face, “that’s the grounder word for when the bombs fell the first time.”
He took a breath, seemingly relieved that she’d spoken and was no longer in the throws of a panic attack, “nerd,” he said, softly wiping away the tears on her cheeks, pressing quick kisses to her temple.
“I’m sorry,” she said weakly, “I promise I won’t start hiding in walls again, it was just-”
“I know,” he said, turning toward the sound of noises from the yard, before quickly meeting her eyes again, “But Praimfaya never met us, or Octavia.”
She laughed, despite the terror lodged in her chest, “go, honestly I just need a minute. Find a way to talk to Octavia and Lincoln about this.” She shoved against the wall of his chest gently, she could tell he wanted to go see his sister.
He stepped away hesitantly, “at our quarters, 30 minutes okay?”
“Yes,” she said decisively, “now go get her before she scares Jackson again, he’s barely recovered from the snake she brought in last month.”
He grinned, but it didn’t meet his eyes, he hand squeezing hers tightly before he turned away, disappearing around the corner.
Clarke let out a shaky breath, before sliding down the smooth walls, watching the trees sway slightly outside the fence line. The colors of the leaves seemed to glow brighter every time she glanced at them. She had kept meaning to paint them, thinking there would be more time the next day, or the next.
She’d forgotten, in her happiness, the ground promised no tomorrows.
***
Bellamy walked into the sunlight of the open yard of Arkadia feeling an odd kind of detachment from the reality of the situation. It was as though his brain could simply not broach the concept of the end of the world, and decided to focus on more mundane tasks. Like greeting a certain sister that couldn’t seem to stay in one spot at a time.
There was a massive herd of people surrounding a group walking oddly toward the main structure of the Ark. he could see Lincoln’s bare head, standing a foot above the melee, a small child in his arms. As he got closer he made out the wild tangle of dark strands belonging to Octavia, a red-headed woman leaning heavily on her shoulders as they made their way toward the Medbay.
He blinked a few times, the sun striking his eyes after huddling in the shadows with Clarke before calling out, the chaos palpable. His people were surrounding a group of sickly, blotchy looking people, Luna’s people he thought dimly as stretchers were brought out and people were carried in. Jackson was running around the shouting orders, and he could see Abby’s slim figure striding out to begin helping.
He didn’t yell his sister’s name, but sidled up next to her, swooping the woman she was carrying out of her arms and into his own.
“Bellamy,” she said, the relief evident on her face, the woman barely reacting to the change in support her head lolling back, dark sores lined her face.
“You making friends again O?” He asked.
She grimaced, “Luna’s kru, this is all that’s left Bell, the rest are dead.”
They were nearing the med bay as he scanned her quickly for the sickness saw around him, “you feeling okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, stopping quickly to pick up a young boy, a scab on his shaved forehead, “whatever this is doesn’t seem to affect Lincoln and I.”
Her eyes narrowed when she didn’t see a flicker of surprise, “hey, what aren’t you telling me?”
He shook his head, settling the young woman on the nearest gurney, Abby cutting in front of him, barking out orders to the assistants milling around. He backed off as they surrounded the remnants of Luna’s kru and Lincoln joined him and O, his arms now free of the child he’d carried in.
Bellamy pulled Octavia in quickly, hugging her and breathing in the sea salt on her hair, before pulling away before he could think too much about the risk she had put herself in, how much extra radiation she’d already been exposed to by being out on the ocean rig, just a little closer to the affected zones.
Lincoln grasped his forearm in greeting, his expression grim. “It’s good to see you Bellamy,” he said, stepping away and placing a hand on Octavia’s back, “but I don’t think either of us bring each other good news.”
“No,” Bellamy sighed, “but it can wait, why don’t you guys get something to eat, you’re not the only surprising arrival today, Jaha is back.”
“Thelonius?” Octavia exclaimed, her dark brows going up in surprise, “he’s alive?”
“Yeah, sedated in a private room,” he said quickly, his mouth twitching a little at Octavia’s eye roll, “yeah yeah, ark class system still in full effect, I need to get Clarke, meet you in the bar okay?”
Octavia bit her lip, her eyes tracking him. He knew she saw it, the barely restrained panic, Clarke wasn’t the only one teetering on the edge.
“Okay, Bell,” she said hesitantly, “we could use a shower anyway, Luna’s people were already dying when we arrived, it was hell to convince her to bring them off the rig. Hopefully Abby can figure out what’s going on.”
“I’m sure she will,” he said tightly, “but I really need to-”
“Yes, yes,” she replied rolling her eyes at him, “go get your girl, god you guys are just nauseating sometimes,” she laughed as Lincoln pulled her away.
He hoped he smiled at her as she left, leaning on Lincoln’s broad frame, he hoped he didn’t give her a reason to worry. These might be her last minutes left with the freedom of ignorance.
Before he left the bay he watched Abby as she wrapped the sores on Luna’s arm her expression widening as the blood on the bandage turned up black.
***
Clarke was laying on their bed staring at the ceiling when Bellamy opened the door slipping inside. She didn’t turn to look at him, listening instead to the now familiar sounds of him unzipping the guard’s jacket, the groan on the chair beneath him as he sat down to remove his boots. She shifted over towards the wall giving him space beside her, before curling up at his side, her head resting on his shoulders, his arms wrapped around her.
“How’s Octavia?” She asked softly into the soft cotton of his shirt.
“She’s fine, both her and Lincoln don’t seem to be affected, at least not yet, Luna and her people though-”
“Abby can’t help them,” Clarke said, “she won’t use radiation pills up.”
“There are kids in that bay,” he said tightly, his grip curling into her top, “this isn’t their fault.”
“This time it’s no one’s fault,” she said and he could feel tears drop onto his shoulder. He turned over fully so they were both on their sides, facing each other.
“Are you scared?” She asked
“I know I’m supposed to be,” he said slowly, “but it doesn’t seem real, even seeing those people sick, knowing it’s already on the way, I keep thinking I should start feeling afraid, panic even, but-”
“But it’s somehow much less scary than a bunch of grounders armed to the teeth, vampiric mountain men, and a crazy pants ice queen?” She said solemnly.
“Yeah, this is a much less epic way to go out,” he agreed, “I could see if Murphy wants to tick off some grounders and make it more interesting than hair loss and boils.”
“I was kinda looking forward to the hair loss,” she said, eyes widening, finally dry, “if I can’t go out as a blonde, I might as well go bald.”
He reached up and tugged a lock of the colored hair lightly, “great plan Princess, best one yet,” they held each other’s gaze until they both burst out laughing, the small room ringing. Clarke snuggled in closer, lining her hips up with his as he buried his nose into her head.
“How much more time do we have until we tell them?” She asked into his shoulder. He took a deep breath, feeling while not reassured, calm. The edges of panic settled as she wrapped her arms around him.
“I think we can hide for a few more minutes,” he said, “but before we do, I need to hear you say something.”
The contented smile slipped off her face and Clarke rolled her eyes, flopping back over to look up at the ceiling, “I know, I panicked, but-”
“No, not that,” he said sharply, sitting up off the mattress, facing the door, away from her, “we said we’d do things together, after the shit you pulled in Azgeda.”
“Here we are, together, dying together,” Clarke said sourly, “don’t see why you’re getting salty with me about it.”
“I’m not,” he looked back down at her, “I’m just making sure you remember your promise to me.”
Clarke inhaled sharply, clenching her jaw. She felt an odd zing of pain on her stomach and let her hand trace the black lined scar, wishing they could have stayed in the time before, when they were laughing at the absurdity of it.
“No more cutting you out of plans, I remember Bell,” she said. “I haven’t actually had a lot of time to come up with a way to betray you and sacrifice myself in the last few minutes since finding out we’re all doomed.”
Bellamy sighed, hanging his head but he reached behind him, to hold her hand, “that’s the last time you say you’re doomed, you got that?” His voice was rough, but she heard the desperation behind it.
She opened her mouth for a smart reply but came up with nothing, the heaviness of his hand on hers feeling like a weight upon her chest. She wondered if she should lie to him, say that she was ready to fight, to lead, to find a way to save their people. But she dismissed that. He would see through it, he always could. She licked her lips, eyes drifting over to the little drawings tacked up all over the walls. She imagined them curling in the flames of Praimfaya, edges blackening.
She reached for the fire, the defiance she had found time and time again to face the world bent against her and found...nothing. Nothing but want for more time with him, curled into his side. It didn’t feel like giving up, it felt like making peace, but he wouldn’t see it that way. She should tell him, she should find a way to say it, but was given a reprieve with a sharp knock on their door.
She met Bellamy’s eyes, dark and conflicted. “Come in,” he called shortly and Clarke sat up to sit next to him on the mattress curling her hand into his, grateful it grasped hers despite the tension in the room.
Kane poked his head into their room, his expression weary and a little bit sheepish. “Clarke, Bellamy, Jaha’s awake.”
“Oh, are we being invited to the big kid’s table now?” Clarke asked icily, yet reached down to grab her boots as Bellamy sighed and reached over for his own.
“She means well,” Kane said defensively, “she wanted to spare you this as long as possible Clarke.”
“No, she wanted to stop me from doing what needs to be done,” Clarke lashed out, “or is there a specific reason why the Commander hasn’t been informed of the impending apocalypse? Apart from, you know, making sure she doesn’t try to get anyone besides Skaikru into Arkadia?”
Kane visibly paled in front of them as Bellamy snapped his head to look over at her, “Clarke?” He asked hesitantly, but she shook off his grasp and pulled her jacket on, zipping it up to her neck, pulling a scarf around her neck too. She wanted armor, she wanted a face mask, she wanted to stop breathing this air. None of these things she was going to get. At least not yet.
“We wanted all the information possible,” Kane said wearily, “it was always the plan to share what we knew-”
“Sure, yeah, of course,” Clarke said nodding her head and turning to look at Bellamy as he shrugged his own jacket back on. They’d only gotten a few moments. So they were back to this again, being pulled apart for the sake of others.
She walked up to Kane, motioning for him to step out of the room, “come on, let’s hear what the old Chancellor has to say, I’m sure it will be riveting.”
***
“Start from the beginning Thelonious,” Abby said, her tone gentle, but her eyes told a different story. Clarke watched her mother replace the IV bag with a new one and lift and replace the bandages on the former Chancellors arms. There was gray in Jaha’s hair now, new lines around his eyes that were both from staring into the desert sun and the grief over losing his son.
Wells was the only reason Clarke was halfway cordial with the man. She had a feeling that Abby kept her peace as well because they were both parents that had the gall to send their children hurtling to earth for the sake of a secret kept.
“I, I saw the city of light,” he said, “the woman, she showed it to me, it was beautiful.” Clarke lifted her eyes at the cracked and dry voice that came out of a man she only knew as so self-assured that even a broken space station couldn’t shake his resolve.
“Is he totally cracked?” Bellamy asked and Clarke had a wild urge to laugh at the absurdity of their situation.
Jaha’s roving eyes settled on Bellamy, narrowing and Clarke could see something of the old man in there still. “Why is my would-be assassin in the room?” He asked confused, turning to Abby and Kane, “are we letting children decide our fate now?”
Abby’s mouth twisted, “you’ve been gone a long time Thelonious, far longer than we thought you would be. They have saved this community many times since then, you would do well to speak honestly in front of them.”
Clarke didn’t look over at Abby, but her cheeks warmed. It was as much of an apology as she would be getting. Abby didn’t believe she’d done anything wrong, she just knew she’d hurt Clarke.
Jaha raised his eyebrows, and Clarke could feel his appraisal of both her and Bellamy. It seemed to shake something loose for him though and he blinked several times. “I went out into the desert for answers,” he murmured quietly.
“Want to share what those answers were with the rest of the class?” Bellamy asked sharply.
Jaha’s lips curled up in disdain, “how much do you know of Becca Franco, Mr. Blake?”
“Oh fuck off Jaha,” Clarke said walking up to him and pulling the morphine drip out of his arm.
“Clarke!” Abby cried walking over to stop her but Bellamy slipped in front of her, blocking her.
“It’s okay Abby,” Jaha said tightly, “I understand one’s own mortality can make you do surprising things.”
“I’m sure your sunburn hurts, but you can have your painkillers back when you stop talking in riddles,” Clarke said quickly, “yeah, we know who Becca Franco was, we also know that the grounder’s worship her as Pramheda because she came back for what was left of humanity while our forefathers huddled up in space. You’ve got old news Jaha, sorry you can’t play oracle today. No where did you go? What did you see? What do you know? Those are the answers we need, in that order.”
“That’s pretty hot Princess,” Bellamy whispered over her shoulder and she couldn’t stop the smirk on her face as Jaha’s expression grew a little more frantic. Respect was a commodity to Jaha, always had been. Clarke knew he covered his desires to control situations by saying it was ‘for the for the good of the many,’ but it usually just ended up being for the good of him.
“Was there a new election Abby?” Jaha asked angrily.
“Answer her questions Thelonious,” Abby said wearily, and Clarke couldn’t help feeling a little spark of satisfaction at the way his eyes widened at the realization he was no longer in control.
“The first one was ‘where did you go’,” Clarke supplied helpfully.
“I went into the desert,” Jaha said nearly sarcastically, but then he seemed to settle, knowing suddenly he did have a captive audience, and telling stories would give him command of the room, at least for awhile. “I nearly died from the elements, but was rescued by a tech trader and her brother, they are called friekdreinas by the grounders, people that were born with abnormalities because of the radiation from the first round of bombs.”
“Are you just that lucky or-”.
“they were told to save me though her, by her, by A.L.I.E.,” Jaha said.
“A.L.I.E?” Clarke asked hesitantly, “is this the woman in red you were yelling about?”
“Yes,” Jaha said simply, “but she’s not real, she’s an AI developed by Ms. Franco. She’s the reason the bombs dropped in the first place. She went rouge with her prime directive. The AI thought that making the world better would be solved with less humans.” He looked around at the shocked eyes, “I know, it sounds unbelievable, but it’s true.”
“Not that I don’t love a history lesson,” Bellamy spoke up, “but what does that have to do with our current issue of the other nuclear plants breaking down?”
Jaha sighed, “the grounders that helped me, Emori and Otan, they brought me to an island, Franco’s old compound where she came up with all her brilliant technology before it destroyed the world.”
“Did you find anything that can help us besides a genocidal video game?” Clarke asked.
“I did actually,” Jaha said shifting himself up higher on the hospital bed, “the AI can become visible when you take a chip, a piece of nano technology that gives you the ability to speak with Becca’s AI.”
“So the woman in red isn’t real, it’s just a simulation?” Bellamy asked, “cause if so, I need to tell Miller to stop looking for a lady in a red dress, not that he’s been trying real hard.”
“Yes, I mean,” Jaha hesitated, “no, I destroyed her.”
“You destroyed Becca Franco’s tech?” Clarke asked bewildered, “why? We could have used it to-”
“I learned what I needed to, but the AI is, was, dangerous. It was still trying to accomplish its prime directive. So after I learned the location of the active reactors I destroyed all the chips she had. Her plan won't come to fruition.”
“So you're saying you know which reactors are still active?” Abby asked.
“I do,” Jaha said wearily, “there are three of them, west, north, and south of us. We can’t escape what’s coming by ocean from the east, but there are three reactors that, once they go, will obliterate the terrain. If we can stop them from going off, the eastern seaboard has a chance of being spared from the fires, but-”
“But the radiation, the levels are still going to be too high for humans to survive outside, aren’t they?” Clarke asked quietly.
“For five years, we’ll need to stay underground or in a sealed area until the levels drop. But if we can make it through that, at least the world we step out on will not be a dead zone. Vegetation can survive. Possibly animal life.”
“It doesn’t make a difference, then,” Clarke said quietly, “we still only have space for a hundred in Arkadia.”
“What about Mount Weather?” Bellamy asked.
“It’s been discussed, but we risk alerting the grounders to something by working there to fix the hydro,” Abby said sadly.
“Mount Weather and Arkadia, together they have enough room for Skaikru,” Jaha said decisively, “I think it’s worth the risk, we still have the advantage in firepower to keep any grounder away if need be.”
“So all the other people don’t matter?” Bellamy said icily, “that sounds familiar.”
“I’m just thinking of our people first Bellamy,” Jaha said grimly, “it’s what a leader does.”
“So I’ve been told,” Clarke said softly, “strange how small a group your people can refer to sometimes.”
Jaha lifted his chin defiantly, “any parent knows the truth of it,” his eyes flicked over to Abby as a stone dropped in Clarke’s stomach. “The next steps are clear, but the groups going to the reactors must be briefed immediately. The two I brought with me, Emori and Otan, they’ve volunteered to go in exchange for safety measures we can provide from the radiation.”
Kane’s brow furrowed even more than normal, “they haven’t turned up.”
“They don’t trust people,” Jaha waved his hand away, “they’ll be farther in the woods. We’ve agreed on a spot once I negotiated terms.”
“So you’ve lied to them?” Clarke asked, “because we don’t have anything that can stop anyone from dying after getting so close to those reactors. We think what Luna’s crew came in with is bad? That will be nothing compared to the signs of poisoning the teams will endure, and die from, regardless of hazmat suits and vitamins.”
Jaha held her gaze, surprise flickering across his face that she had put it together so quickly, “there’s a chance it wouldn’t be immediate, and they have better luck with us than the other grounders, apparently they are shunned from krus based on their defects.”
“So is that it?” Clarke asked, shaking her head in disgust as she plugged the IV back into Jaha’s arm none too kindly. “Convince three teams to die for the cause, get Arkadia and maybe Mount Weather sealed right under the Commander and Coalitions’ nose, and then don’t give them a chance to survive it themselves?”
“There are no good choices here Clarke,” Abby said gently, “but if we can get Mount Weather up and running again we don’t need the list, you’re safe.”
“Doesn’t mean you haven’t condemned thousands to death Mom,” Clarke said sharply.
“They would do the same to us,” Jaha said darky. “I heard about the betrayal at the mountain on my trek back Clarke. I heard about the way we were forced into the coalition. I expected you to be dead after hearing of what happened in Azgeda and the death of Wanheda. Don’t think for a moment if the Commander finds out about the situation she won’t kill all of Skaikru to take this camp and Mount Weather for her people.”
“You know less than you think you do, Jaha,” Clarke said sourly.
Jaha’s eyes narrowed on her, “why Ms. Griffin, do you somehow know something we do not?”
Clarke glanced in Bellamy’s direction, as in tune as they normally were, she was pretty sure he couldn’t read her mind on this account. But it was what Jaha had said before that triggered a memory of a night around a campfire on the way to Azgeda. Of a few moments in Lexa’s tent at the peace summit.
“You may have interfaced with Becca Franco’s AI, but we have direct access to Becca Franco.”
“That’s preposterous,” Thelonious said, wincing as he tried to move forward in the bed.
“It’s not,” Bellamy said, now stepping up to Clarke and grasping her elbow in reassurance, “Becca Franco's AI may have destroyed the earth but she created another to help the grounders. She passed her consciousness down to each subsequent Commander, passing on knowledge to help lead, tools to keep the human race going. It can be accessed."
Clarke smirked, Jaha looked shocked and uncomfortable that a man he’d known as a janitor on the ark could school him so thoroughly. She’d never told Wells how much of a pompous asshole she’d always found his father, for obvious reasons.
“So keeping this from the grounders isn’t going to work,” Clarke said softly, “we need to tell Lexa, we need whatever knowledge she can access. Becca found all the first bunkers, that knowledge can help save so many more. And if Jaha won’t help without his conditions being met, perhaps she knows the locations of the reactors we'll have to shut down too.”
“Alright,” Abby said softly, but Jaha whipped his head in her direction.
“Abby, you can’t be serious, my plan ensures Arkadia’s survival, we have to keep this under wraps, we-”
“You are no longer the Chancellor Thelonious,” Abby said drawing herself up to her full height, “Clarke is right, we put ourselves at risk by saying nothing as well. Becca Franco always seemed to have cards up her sleeve, at least by the archive’s records. Perhaps she has a few more than that can save, well, more.”
“Good plan Mom,” Clarke said sincerely, happy that this time she could mean it. Abby smiled tightly in thanks.
“That still doesn’t solve the need to shut down the reactors,” Jaha said sullenly. “Those teams need to be chosen now, they need to go at first light.”
Clarke tried to take a deep breath to well the anxiety rising in her. Those teams, those people would be on a suicide mission.
“I think it’s time you rested, Thelonious,” Abby said swiftly grabbing a syringe from beside him and adding it to the saline bag. Jaha’s eyes widened at the action and he made to remove the IV from his arm, but both Kane and Bellamy moved forward quickly holding him down until his struggling ceased, and he fell limp into the bed.
The four of them looked up at each other. Abby took a breath to steady herself, “there’s something else I need to tell you both. It’s about the people Octavia and Lincoln brought in.”
“Luna’s people?” Clarke asked.
Abby nodded, “just before you got here, Jackson told me. They’ve all succumbed, except for Luna.”
“Even the kids?” Bellamy asked tightly, “did you even-”
Clarke rested a hand on his arm, and he stopped, his dark gaze holding hers. “But Luna, you think she’s going to make it?”
Abby hesitated, “well, yes, her case is interesting. She was nearly the worst of them when they came in but now it’s as though the radiation has barely touched her.”
“You make it sound like that’s not good news,” Clarke said slowly.
“Did you happen to notice the color of her blood?” Abby asked delicately, “it’s black, you mentioned that the Commander also…” Abby trailed off, her hands wrapped around her own arms. They all ignored the softly snoring Jaha.
Clarke tilted her head, trying to make sense of it. “You think that makes her less susceptible to the radiation?”
“It’s the only variable I can see,” Abby said, “I was hoping to run more tests. Perhaps you could talk to her?”
Clarke took a step back, turning away from her mother as the information rolled around her mind and something that felt eerily like inspiration flashed through her. Maybe her well of fight wasn't totally dry. Bellamy must have thought she was upset because he stepped forward.
“Octavia, she and Lincoln should speak with Luna. They’ve built up some kind of trust with her,” Bellamy said decisively staring down Abby and Kane until the former nodded shortly, looking away.
“So, what now?” Clarke asked tentatively, schooling her features back into detached concern as she looked back at her mother.
“Now, I figure out who to send to the reactors,” Abby said stonily. She looked up at Clarke, “get ready to head to Polis. Kane will go ahead of you and tell the Commander you’re on your way so you can get into the city in secret. Roan’s hold on the name Wanheda may be cemented but there’s no reason to push it.”
“Do you really think that’s necessary?” Kane asked, eyebrows raised, “I feel like I’ve developed a good relationship with the Commander. And I’m the liaison after all. ”
There was an uncomfortable beat, Clarke shifting away from the awkwardness. Lexa was still a hard topic for her and Bellamy, but it had to be said. “Kane, I think it has to be me. Unless you’ve had long conversations about the voices in her head, I don’t know if I was really permitted to talk about that.”
Bellamy snorted next to her and she closed her eyes against the stress headache. Great, just what she needed.
Kane looked chagrined but nodded hastily, “fine, I’ll leave tonight,” he replied shortly turning and leaving the room as Abby snapped her mouth shut.
Clarke raised an eyebrow at her mother but Abby shook her head, shutting down the questions before they could begin, “go on, I’ll check Jaha’s vitals. I’m assuming you’re heading to deal with the rest of your people,” she finished softly.
“Thank you, Abby,” Bellamy said stiffly and Clarke looked up at him in surprise. Abby’s eyes widened as well. Bellamy and her did not get along well all the time, he chafed at the restraints at camp more than anyone.
“It’s the least I can do,” she shrugged, “I hope you understand, the deception wasn’t about thinking you two couldn’t handle this, it’s hard to stop being a parent, even when your children are as accomplished and brave as you both are.”
Bellamy opened his mouth to respond but Clarke could see the shock in his face. Abby, talking about him as though he was one of hers, a child to be cared for just as much as her daughter. If Clarke had the energy to process yet another bombshell today she might have teared up. But instead she softly tugged his arm and led him away from the medical room.
They shifted into step, walking the way to the bar in silence.
“Clarke?” He said softly.
“Yeah?” she replied, twining her fingers into his.
“You won’t be on those missions to the reactors,” he said, his voice low but tight.
She didn’t break her pace him, but tighten her hold on his hand, “that’s not up to you,” she said.
“You promised me,” he replied harshly, stopping her and turning her to him as they reached the entrance to the mess hall. The din of noise reaching them, “you promised you wouldn’t give up on me.”
She looked up into the face she loved so much, the freckles dusting his cheekbones beneath fury-filled eyes. But behind that, the look that made her flinch. He was in pain, she was doing this to him, again.
She took a deep breath, and tried to put into words the streak of understanding that had flashed through her. “Lexa’s blood is black. Octavia told us that Luna was in the conclave but ran. I’m betting all the Commanders have that blood, and it’s for a reason. We need to talk to Luna, but if she’s resistant to radiation, it may mean going to the reactors doesn’t have to be a death sentence. But we'll need more than just Lexa and Luna, if they even agree to go.”
Bellamy took a step back from her, her hand dropping from his, “you’re saying the kids in the conclave? No, Clarke they’re too young we can’t ask that, we can’t-”
She shook her head fiercely, stepping toward him and grabbing his hand again, pulling it to her heart.
“No Bellamy, us. We need to find a way to become nightbloods.”