Lightning Only Strikes Once - Clexa

Chapter 45: Get the Message?

"The Mountain?" Octavia looks uncertain. "How could they take that many people?"

"I don't know," Clarke says wearily. She knows she sounds older than her years. She passes the watch to Lexa – she doesn't want to be touching it anymore. "But they've done it before. I never knew how they transported me and the others to the Mountain when they captured us in the first world, but they did." It's never actually occurred to her to question that until now.

Lexa swallows hard. "We must be sure," she says strongly, though it's clear from her expression a part of her already is. "Get the list from Bellamy. Mark off names as best you can. I will have the gona scour the area around, find any that have been flung far."

It takes several hours, and is unpleasant work for everyone. Eventually they conclude there are probably seventy-four Skaikru missing, eight children and sixty-six adults, including Clarke's mother and a council member named Muir.

"That's enough for them to top up on bone marrow," Clarke comments quietly to Lexa. They're inside one of the parts of station, talking privately. The only time they can mention bone marrow. The others are dragging all the bodies into one of the other parts of the station, getting them together to light a proper fire.

"It might not be Maunon. It could be Diana Sydney," Lexa replies doubtfully.

Clarke gives her a look. The trail in the snow's been covered better, the supplies haven't been carefully scavenged as they were from the other station, Diana Sydney took the injured with her instead of executing them, and there'd be no reason for her to light fires here to cover her actions when she didn't bother at the other station. This is the Maunon and they both know it.

"No, it can't," she says, tired and sad. "Besides everything else, she would have executed Muir first thing, like she did with Kaplan. She probably would have executed my mother as well."

"Whereas the Maunon won't," Lexa tells her fiercely. "They won't kill her at all."

Clarke turns to face Lexa properly, instead of staring off into the distance feeling miserable. "What?"

"Emerson knows you," Lexa tells her. "He knows your mother. Why would he kill the greatest hostage he could have gotten? He may threaten her, he may harm her, he may even take some of her bone marrow. But he will not kill her."

Clarke blinks. She feels slightly better, hearing that, and Lexa takes the watch and carefully closes Clarke's hands around it.

"Thank you," Clarke says automatically. Then, when Lexa lets go, she hands the watch back to her.

"Clarke?" Lexa asks, confused.

"That used to be a link to my father , the person I loved most in the world, before everything went wrong," Clarke says quietly. "Now it's a symbol of different things, and not all of them are good. I'd like you to have it. If you wear it, maybe someday I can look at it and associate it with the person I love most in the world again. Maybe I can look at it and feel happy again."

Lexa swallows and blinks back sudden tears. "I... I thank you, Clarke kom Skaikru. Will you perform the same service for me?" She reaches into the pouch attached to her belt, no longer filled with sleep darts, and pulls out the hair sheath Costia made her.

"Yeah," Clarke says softly, "Of course." She wouldn't have taken it before, but now it makes her heart overfull to think of what Lexa's asking. What Lexa's saying. She takes the sheath with shaking hands. It's beautiful and clever, and it makes her ache to think of a fierce young woman spending hours fiddling with her gift to make it perfect. Praying all the time that it would help keep her lover safe to come home to her.