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The Mountain Men are dead.
Well, almost all of them.
It is a vicious, unforgiving battle. Nyko is dead. Jasper is dead. Indra is seriously injured. A lot of people have died, but the time for mourning will come. Those who joined in alliance with the Grounders and those who surrendered (families, children) are showed mercy. Even after everything, even after seeing the cages, the pain the Mountain Men caused their people, they prove to be more human than the monsters living in the bunker. And now Cage Wallace is hiding with a handful of his men somewhere in this mountain.
Lexa wants his blood on her hands.
Thanks to a quick check with Monty at the security room, they realize that most of the cameras are broken, surely by the Mountain Men trying to hide. So, Lexa runs through the corridors, with Clarke hot on her heels, shouting orders to her warriors to divide and find the missing soldiers.
(“But leave their leader alive and bring him to me.”)
They take one side of the tenth floor, checking in every room with their weapons ready. There’s a room with heavy metallic doors that open automatically when they approach. It’s huge, with high ceilings and rows of bookshelves. Lexa stills, lowering the sword in her hand.
“What is this place?”
“It’s a library.” Clarke runs her fingers over some tomes. From the time she stayed in Mount Weather, she recalls there were some books in the recreational room, but Clarke’s never been in here before; she would definitely remember. As she walks further into the room, her eyes jump from one title to the next: The Origin of the Species, The Complete World of Greek Mythology, A Life of Picasso.
“I’ve never seen so many books before.” She turns to Lexa, a bit excited. “Do you know what this means? All this knowledge, now we can share it with everyone.”
Lexa smiles in that way that seems reserved only for Clarke.
“Think about all the resources we’re gonna find in this place. Food, weapons, medical supplies,” Clarke trails off, a crazy look in her eyes that tells Lexa she’s already planning how to make everyone’s life that much better.
That’s what she admires about her; Clarke is a fair leader, strong but inherently good. She fascinates Lexa in a very familiar way and against her better judgement.
“This is good news indeed, Clarke, but now is not the time to celebrate. Not yet.”
“Right.”
“Come on, we must finish combing this floor. They can’t hide forever.”
But they haven’t even reached the first row of shelves when the sound of gunshots breaks the silence, followed by quick footsteps that seem to be approaching the library fast.
Clarke and Lexa stare at each other and seem to come to the same conclusion: they can’t leave the room without being seen. Lexa holds out her sword, ready to fight whatever comes through the door. Clarke does the same with her gun. But there are so many footsteps and she realizes they are more outnumbered than she originally thought. Clarke grabs Lexa’s arm at the last second and pulls her to the back of the library, crouching behind one of the bookshelves just as the door bursts open.
By the footsteps and voices, Clarke counts about six Mountain Men. Lexa glances at her, holds out both of her hands with nine fingers spread and Clarke can hardly swallow past the knot in her throat.
The door closes with a swish and then there’s a beeping noise, followed by grunting and the sound of wood scraping the floor. A moment later, they can hear the muffled voices of their friends as they pound on the strong door uselessly; it’s not a coincidence that the Mountain Men chose this room to hide.
“Flint, search the room,” Cage says. Clarke sees Lexa’s jaw clench worriedly. “You two, do you see that vent?” Clarke braves a glance around the corner and sees the air vent above them. “Find a way up and open it. The rest of you, defend the door.”
Lexa leans into Clarke, her mouth right above her ear. “We need to get to the door to let the others in,” she says, her warm breath fanning over Clarke’s cheek.
The blonde doesn’t move an inch, knowing she can whisper as low as she needs to and Lexa will hear her. “There’s no way we can reach it without being seen.”
“We can fight them.”
“All nine of them? Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”
The soldier turns two rows down from theirs and his boots squeak on the floor. He is nearing their position and the only thing behind them is the wall. There is nowhere to run without being seen.
Lexa invades Clarke’s personal space even further to look around the corner at the group of men. She recognizes their leader immediately. She pulls back and stares at a fixed point on the wall, a plan clearly forming in her mind.
“Maybe we only need one.” She turns to Clarke. “If I can reach their leader and use him as leverage, they might surrender- or at least walk away from the door.”
Clarke starts shaking her head. “No, no, no, no…”
Lexa stands slowly, looking up as her hand test the wooden surfaces. “These structures, I can climb them. Jump on the bastard from above.”
“Lexa stop.” Clarke grabs her arm, then her collar and whispers angrily: “It’s a suicide mission and I’m not letting you die here today.”
Lexa looks at her with a calm curiosity. Then she smiles, serene and beautiful, like she’s at peace.
“Thank you, Clarke.”
Clarke is totally confused. “For what?”
“I was afraid of ever feeling like this again. I realize now that it was meant to happen this way.”
“Lexa, what are you talking-“
Nothing could’ve prepared Clarke for the feel of Lexa’s lips pressing against hers and silencing her words. Her eyes widen and the hand at Lexa’s collar spreads open on her shoulder, ready to push her off on instinct. But she never does, because for a blissful moment, her eyes flutter closed and she forgets she’s in imminent danger. The only thing in existence is Lexa’s lips brushing against her own and the warm hand on her waist.
But it doesn’t last forever. In fact, it’s only seconds later that Lexa pulls away, her forehead coming to rest against Clarke’s. She pushes gently, affectionate, and Clarke pushes back.
“As soon as I have him, run for the door.”
The words are like a cold shower, cutting through the haze in Clarke’s mind like a knife.
“Lexa? Lexa!” She whispers harshly as Lexa starts climbing the bookshelf with the swiftness of a true Grounder.
Clarke holds her breath as she watches Lexa jump from one shelf to the other, approaching where Cage is standing, supervising the mountain of chairs and tables his men are building to reach the vent. Lexa catches Clarke’s eyes as she peaks around the bookshelf and Clarke shakes her head, although she knows Lexa’s going to do it anyway. She’s waiting for the perfect moment to pounce on Cage when her eyes fix on something near Clarke and widen in panic. Clarke realizes the guard searching the room is about to find her. So Lexa jumps, not on Cage who’s still out of her reach, but on one of his men. She slices his throat before he can blink. Noticing her, the other soldier grabs her and pries the sword from her hand. Cage screams “Grounder!” alerting the rest of the Mountain Men who run to his aid.
From there, it all happens in a blur.
Lexa gets a punch in the stomach and doubles over, but manages to unsheathe her hunting knife and plunge it into the soldier’s gut before he can shoot her. Cage has his gun up, but it’s clear he’s never used it before. He shoots and Lexa uses the soldier’s body she just stabbed to shield herself. Cage shoots again and again as Lexa approaches him. The first Mountain Man arrives as Cage’s bullet finally hits their target, piercing her shoulder. With a loud groan she drops the dead soldier, and covers the rest of the space separating her from Cage. His gun clicks empty and he backs against the wall. The other soldiers are shooting and a pain on her side and leg registers faintly in the back of her mind. But her only focus is Cage and the satisfaction of feeling his stench of terror as she pushes the blade of her knife against his neck and holds him against her front.
The guards aim at them.
“Don’t shoot! Don’t fucking shoot you idiots!” Cage screams, a bead of sweat falling down his brow.
Clarke recognizes her cue and makes her way towards the door as silently as she can. There’s a bookshelf blocking it and she goes to push it, her teeth clenched and her muscles trembling as she tries to move the heavy wood.
“Drop your weapons.” Lexa grunts. Clarke can hear how her labored her breath is and realizes she’s been hurt, badly. The Mountain Men seem to realize this too, because they don’t move an inch. “Drop them or he dies!”
Clarke holds in a sob at the desperation she hears on Lexa’s voice, at her impotence. She can hear her friends pounding on the other side of the door. They’re so close. She doesn’t want to die here. She doesn’t want Lexa to die here.
Gathering all her strength, she gives another push, holding back a scream that wants to rip from her throat. The bookshelf moves a couple feet.
“We got you good, Grounder. Just drop the knife and we might let you live.”
Lexa can feel the blood flowing from several parts of her body, staining her armor, warm and sticky. Her arm feels heavy, her side burns and she can barely hold herself up on one leg. But Clarke hasn’t opened the door yet and she needs to make more time.
She laughs humorless; it comes out as a cough. “If I live you will suck me dry of my blood and then dump me like I’m an animal, like you’ve been doing with my people for as long as I can remember.”
“You are an animal,” another soldier sneers.
The anger Clarke feels at those words helps her move the bookshelf another foot. It’s then that she notices the keypad attached to the wall next to the metal door. Her heart skips a beat. If she manages to open the door with the pad, the others can help her move the damn thing. She fumbles with the keys, soon realizing that without the password there’s not much she can do. She pulls at her hair, looking in the direction where she knows Lexa is being held at gunpoint as she bleeds to death.
“We have killed… almost every man and woman that stood in our way in-inside this mountain, and with or without me, the rest of you will follow their fate,” Lexa says with difficulty, starting to feel light-headed.
Clarke makes a quick decision. She pulls out her gun and points at the pad. The shot echoes through the library.
“What was that?!” A soldier says.
The door is not opening so Clarke shoots again. The light of the pad flickers out and she hears the familiar swishing noise. Suddenly the voices of her friends sound clearer.
“There’s someone else in the room!” The same soldier says. “Go, go, quick!”
“We’re in here!” Clarke cries through the gap. The bookshelf shakes and moves as the Grounders and Sky People on the other side start pushing it out of the way.
“It’s the Sky People leader!”
“Don’t you dare touch her!” Lexa threatens, the blade pushing harder against Cage’s throat.
“Grab her, don’t kill her, we need her blood!” The soldier orders.
“No!” Lexa roars as she slices Cage’s throat. He gurgles and drops to the floor. Lexa ignores him, stepping over him and tumbling towards Clarke. One soldier raises his gun at her and she closes her eyes, knowing she has failed. Herself. Her people. Clarke. The sound of a gunshot makes her flinch and she waits for the pain to stop. But it doesn’t.
When she opens her eyes she sees her people bursting into the room in slow motion. Grounder warriors and Sky People shooting at the Mountain Men, plunging swords into their necks. Clarke stands, gun raised and still smoking, with the soldier who aimed at Lexa dead at her feet.
They look at each other and Lexa manages a small smile before she drops to her knees, her good leg not holding her up anymore. Clarke’s face falls.
“Lexa!” She runs to her side, holding her body just as she falls to the side. Clarke’s hands are on her face, at her side, pressing down on her wound. “It’s okay, you’re gonna be okay. You’re okay.” Clarke’s voice trembles. Lexa knows it’s a lie. “Press on your wound, come on. Lexa, please.” Clarke whimpers, holding her numb hand against the hole in her leg. “Please, please. Don’t do this to me.”
“It’s okay, Clarke,” Lexa rasps, “death is not the end. Don’t be afraid.”
“No, no, God, no.” The tears are starting to cloud Clarke’s vision and she holds a bloodied hand up to Lexa’s cheek. “I can’t lose you, too.”
“My spirit will find you again, Clarke, for we are bound.”
Clarke’s lip trembles as she holds in a sob. She rests her forehead on Lexa’s and whispers: “I can’t do this without you.”
Lexa smiles, small and warm and pleads: “Say it.”
Clarke shakes her head.
“Please.”
Clarke sucks in a shaky breath. “Yu gonplei ste odon.”
Lexa smiles again, before her eyes close.
Clarke clings to her body and cries.
The Mountain Men have all been eliminated while Clarke wasn’t watching and she now sits on the floor, cradling the woman that had come to mean so much to her in the past weeks.
“Clarke!” She looks up to see Octavia running towards her. There’s a splatter of blood on her face but it doesn’t look like it’s hers. “Oh, God,” she breathes when she sees her Commander.
“I t-tried to tell her it was a stupid idea.” Clarke stutters between shuddering breaths. Out of the corner of her eye she sees the rest of her friends: Bellamy, Harper, Monty, even Maya who has lost so much in this battle has made it. She should be happy; they made it. Her friends are alive, the Mountain Men are dead; it’s what she wanted. But God, not like this. “I tried! She- I-“
Octavia is touching Lexa’s neck when she stiffens. “Clarke,” she says, tone frantic “she’s got a pulse.”
Clarke feels like she’s been swallowed by a wave. She can’t hear, can’t see. It feels a lot like the time she jumped from the dam with Anya and almost drowned. “What?”
“She’s alive.” Octavia leans down, her cheek against Lexa’s mouth. “She’s breathing, but I don’t think she has much time.” She looks up at Clarke, who just gapes at her. “Clarke! She’s alive!” She says almost angrily. “Do something!”
And suddenly the wave passes and she’s above the water, the air rushing back into her lungs and she grabs onto that sliver of hope viciously.
She looks around at her friends. “We need to get her to the medical area. Now!” Lincoln is quick to lift Lexa’s body and Maya motions for them to follow her through the maze of corridors.
“We have tons of blood saved from the- from- well-” Maya stutters as she pushes the doors to the medical area.
“Are there any doctors still alive in Mount Weather?” Clarke cuts her off curtly; she doesn’t have time for this now.
“Yes, yeah, Dr. Huang is part of the-“
“Get him.” Clarke spots an operating table immediately. “Go!”
When asked, Clarke would admit she doesn’t remember much of what happened from the moment Lexa was laid on the table. Much later, her friends would tell her she was quick and precise, barking orders and taking control of the situation with a scary intensity.
A bag of blood is already being pumped into Lexa’s body by the time Dr. Huang arrives and he immediately gets to work, injecting different substances into Lexa’s bloodstream.
Clarke trusts him, if only because she doesn’t have any other choice. There are moments she wants to break down, but from the second he connects Lexa to the heart-monitor, he gives her another reason to keep going; there’s no way she’s going to let that beeping noise stop.
After hours of operating under the white light of the room, all three bullets are pulled from Lexa’s body and her wounds bandaged.
As they stand there, Dr. Huang tells Clarke how lucky they are that the bullet on her torso didn’t hit any major organs. But when Clarke looks at her hands, red with blood and shaking with nerves, she doesn’t feel very lucky.
However, when she wakes up hours later, her neck in pain from falling asleep in the armchair next to Lexa’s hospital bed, and hears the beeping of her heart, slow but steady, she thinks herself the luckiest girl on Earth.
It has been days; five, six maybe, Clarke isn’t sure. She hasn’t seen the sun since the last time she entered Mount Weather to start a war.
It seems like a lifetime ago.
She barely leaves Lexa’s side these days, although the girl hasn’t woken up yet. The wounded in battle who were being taken care of inside Mount Weather are already healing. But the Commander isn’t making any visible progress. She just… lays there. Sleeping. Beeping. Giving Clarke hope.
Dr. Huang says it’s normal, that her body needs time to heal, but Clarke’s getting antsy, she knows what it means if Lexa doesn’t wake up. She knows how much blood the Commander had lost and how long it had taken her to realize she was still alive. She beats herself over it every minute of every day.
Octavia keeps Clarke updated on all the news. Tondc is being rebuilt with the help of the Sky People. The people from Mount Weather who had surrendered or joined forces with them, are being relocated to the safest floor in the bunker along with all the kids. A consensus on how the resources are going to be shared is still in progress, but that can wait. Some of her people have started moving into Mount Weather, finding the commodities worth the slight claustrophobic sensation. Others decided to stay at Camp Jaha, preferring the fresh air and open spaces. The Grounders are spread everywhere, but mostly rebuilding Tondc or at the new camp just outside the door to Mount Weather.
Clarke can hear their celebrations sometimes late into the night. Her people are safe and happy, and that’s great. She wants to celebrate their victory with them. But she can’t, not yet.
A week into the new era of peace, Indra comes around Lexa’s hospital room. She’s limping slightly but she seems to have regained her strength.
She doesn’t say much, just touches Lexa’s forearm and mumbles: “yu gonplei nou ste odon.” Clarke knows it’s her way of asking Lexa to wake up.
But she doesn’t.
Clarke talks to Lexa every day. Her mom comes around often to check on her and tells her that people in her condition hear everything and it helps to talk to them. So Clarke talks and Lexa listens.
“I miss your voice,” she says on day ten. “I wouldn’t mind listening to one of your lessons now.” She chuckles. “Be strong, Clarke. Remember who the enemy is, Clarke. Caring is weakness, Clarke,” she imitates jokingly.
Only silence is her answer.
“I guess I didn’t listen to that last one.”
On day twelve she blurts out what has been plaguing her mind from the moment she could stop worrying about Lexa’s imminent death.
“You kissed me.” Her cheeks feel warm at the admission, even though she’s not sure if Lexa’s listening. “I wish you could tell me what that was about ‘cause I’m very confused.”
She receives the usual answer.
Clarke huffs, leaning back on the chair and crossing her arms against her chest. “So yeah, you kissed me and then you got shot,” she says, her tone biting. “Which is pretty fucking unfair if you ask me.”
Clarke is getting worked up all on her own. She feels confused and frustrated and just really lonely, but mostly, she needs Lexa to just wake up.
“And, what am I supposed to- how-” She rubs her hand over her face. “You can’t give me something like that and then take it away from me before I can even- before I’ve had time to realize that- that I-“
Words fail her and Lexa’s silence doesn’t help either.
“You know what? Never mind,” she mumbles. “Forget it.”
Exactly two weeks after the battle, Lexa’s eyes open. Clarke is drawing, her sketchbook on the bed next to Lexa’s hand. She’s drawing a clearing in the woods, the one where she and Lexa made camp after escaping Pauna.
At first she thinks her eyes are betraying her; she could’ve sworn Lexa’s finger twitched. She’s about to bring her eyes back to the page when it happens again.
Clarke gasps, standing up in a hurry as if she has to be ready for something. And then, like she’s just waking up from a nap, Lexa’s eyes flutter open and she stares right at Clarke, green eyes clear and focused.
“Lexa,” Clarke breathes out.
Lexa smiles weakly and says: “houmon.”
And then falls back asleep.
“She woke up.”
Octavia stills, the charred rib halfway to her mouth. She’s sitting around the fire in the camp right outside Mount Weather next to Lincoln and another Grounder girl that Clarke vaguely remembers. She puts the food down and wipes her mouth with her sleeve. “When?”
“Right now! Five minutes ago. She just opened her eyes for a few seconds but she looked at me, she- she woke up.”
Octavia grins wide and stands up. “Everyone!” She exclaims, commanding everyone’s attention. “Clarke brings us good news. The Commander woke up today.”
The group explodes in gasps, cries of joy and a short chant of “Heda! Heda! Heda!”
Clarke can’t stop smiling.
Her mom and the rest of the Sky People are the next to find out. Clarke is pleased to see that people are relieved with the news. They have come a long way.
“Lexa said something before falling back asleep,” Clarke comments as she eats her breakfast with Octavia and Bellamy the next morning. The word has been echoing in her mind all night and she finds it sounds nothing like the Trigedasleng she knows.
“What'd she say?” Octavia asks around a bite of her toast.
“I’m not sure, it sounded like… houmon.” Octavia starts chewing slower as a smirk grows on her face. “Does that mean anything to you?”
“Hm,” she replies with a mischievous tilt of her head and taking her sweet time to answer.
Clarke glances at Bellamy who just shrugs, as confused as she is.
“Houmon,” Octavia explains, “is a word used to refer a partner or life companion.”
Clarke blinks at her.
“Sort of a term of endearment, I guess. It literally means ‘home one’.” Octavia resumes her eating, but not before flashing her a cheeky grin. “It’s kinda sweet.”
“Wow,” Bellamy says, “that is exceptionally sweet coming from the Commander.”
Clarke’s cheeks are burning and she’s sure even her ears are red. Octavia is clearly having a blast with this information and Bellamy stares at her with a cocked eyebrow, as if expecting an explanation.
She grabs her plate and stands. “You guys suck,” Clarke mumbles before leaving the dining room.
Clarke’s in the warehouse, taking inventory with Maya and Miller when her radio cracks to life. “Clarke, do you copy?”
It’s her mom. She answers it absentmindedly. “Yeah, what’s up?”
“Lexa’s awake. She’s asking for you.”
Clarke’s heart skips a beat and she looks at her friends with wide eyes.
“Go, we can finish this up,” Maya says.
“Yeah, go see her. We’re almost done anyways,” Miller adds.
It’s clear that, at some point in the last couple weeks of Clarke moping and falling asleep next to the Commander’s bed, her friends have realized just how important Lexa is to her, and she is so very grateful.
She pushes the button on her radio. “I’m on my way.”
Lexa’s sitting up when she comes in, flipping the pages of her sketchbook, the one that she always keeps around the hospital room.
And that’s why the first thing she thinks at seeing the girl awake is not “I’m so happy” or “she looks so much better” which are all true, but actually “oh God, she’s gonna see I drew her sleeping”.
Lexa notices her presence and closes the sketchbook, a small smile tugging at her lips. “Clarke.”
The blonde stands at her side, her hand coming to rest on her forearm, not confident enough to hold her hand. “Hey,” she says dumbly. She’s sure her smile is gonna get stuck on her face. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I slept for weeks.”
Clarke snorts a laugh. “Funny.”
“Is it?”
Clarke sighs, her fingers trailing down to Lexa’s hand. The Commander turns it without hesitation and laces their fingers together.
“Not really,” Clarke admits. “I- we thought you might never wake up.”
Lexa frowns. “I’m sorry I caused you grief.”
“Yeah, well, that’s what I get for caring, right?”
She expects Lexa to say yes, to remind her of how weak she is for not being able to let her go. Instead, the other woman looks down at their hands and the thumb rubbing at Clarke’s wrist.
“I wasn’t very good at following my own advice either.” Lexa looks up at her again, her eyes squinting in the same ways cats do to show affection. “But I find myself not minding too much. It seems that almost dying has taught me something about myself that I didn't know.”
Clarke’s lips twitch in amusement. “Which is?”
“I am not as afraid of dying as I am of dying alone.”
She recalls the word Lexa said in her state of semi-consciousness a few days ago. Partner. Life companion. Home one. Her heart feels light and she has to breathe a few times before talking. “That’s some life lesson.”
Lexa laughs, soft and quiet and Clarke’s chest feels like it’s going to burst.
It takes the Commander more than a week to be able to walk on her own again and still she sometimes has to hold onto Clarke because her muscles feel like jelly.
Clarke doesn’t mind in the least. She loves any excuse to be close to Lexa, who she’s realizing, is not as intense and serious during times of peace. And it’s this softer, more open version of the woman that solidifies what she already kind of knew: she’s on her way to falling in love.
They go on walks, partly to exercise and partly to get away from the stifling air in Mount Weather. Although Lexa is still technically in charge, Indra has taken the job of commanding the Grounders while she gets her strength back. On the side of the Sky People, Bellamy and her mom are doing a pretty good job too, which is great because it gives Clarke time to focus on helping Lexa.
It’s almost a month after the battle that they manage to walk farther than any other day before. Lexa sits against a fallen tree and throws her head back groaning.
“You okay there, grandma?”
Lexa frowns at her. “What is this you call me?”
“Grandma?” Clarke walks a few feet away to pick up a beautiful purple flower growing in the shadow of a tree. “It’s like… an old lady.”
Lexa barks a laugh. “Well, you are a very disrespectful young child, then.”
Clarke throws her a glance over her shoulder- such a flirty move. She’s been doing that for days, almost unconsciously. Lexa always responds in kind which only encourages her.
“Clarke,” Lexa says in that way only she knows. “Come here.”
Clarke twirls the flower between her fingers before walking back to her. She doesn’t know what makes her do it (probably the bedroom eyes Lexa’s giving her right now), but she finds herself straddling Lexa’s lap, careful not to put any of her weight on her bad leg.
Lexa’s hands immediately rest on her thighs. Clarke brushes a few hairs that have escaped her braid back into Lexa’s scalp and then snaps the stem of the flower into a shorter one and winds it between the two braids, right over Lexa’s temple.
Lexa’s eyes are wide and vulnerable, her mouth parted slightly. Clarke’s hand goes from the flower to her cheek, cupping it as she leans down and kisses her.
Lexa’s lips are so full, so sweet, Clarke feels like she wants to devour her. But she holds back, kisses her slow, languid. Lexa wraps an arm around her waist, pulling their bodies closer and deepens the kiss, parting her lips to let Clarke’s tongue in.
Minutes later when they part, Clarke blinks at the ray of sunlight that filters through the leaves and warms their skins. Lexa’s smile is soft, content as she nuzzles her nose against Clarke’s cheek, leaving small kisses on her jaw, making Clarke grin like a fool.
“I don’t think I ever thanked you for not dying.”
She feels Lexa smile against her cheek. “I told you my spirit would find you again. And it did, it came back to you.”
“Yeah,” Clarke says, feeling like she’s floating sitting in this forest clearing, against the rough bark of an old tree, with the sun beaming down on them. Kissing Lexa with flowers in her hair. “You came back.”