Lightning Only Strikes Once - Clexa

Chapter 20: Choose Your Battles Wisely

"If we move the knight to take that pawn," Clarke whispers.

Lexa gives a minute shake of her head. "In three turns that will cause us to lose our bishop, Clarke."

According to Clarke, the Skaikru will not be able to come down for at least two weeks. Her choices were to return to Polis for this time, or find things to occupy them at TonDC – Lexa, without any hesitation at all, chose TonDC.

She could justify it to herself in any number of ways. She could say she wishes to be on hand to receive any new information immediately, or pretend she is giving the ambassadors a chance to experience more direct authority over the day-to-day affairs of Polis. She could talk about training the gonas here.

But, truth be told? Lexa is here because here is where Clarke is. Even if they took the radio to Polis, she would be so distracted by responsibilities she might have no time to spend with Clarke. Here, in TonDC, Indra and Anya are well able to manage things. So Lexa can lie with Clarke, and touch her, and speak to her, and right now with her help attempt to beat Wells in this confusing strategy game.

She has gotten extremely close twice already, and once has caused the end of the game by both sides having only two pieces and finding it impossible to complete the trap known as a 'checkmate'. But now Clarke is here, no longer sequestered with the radio speaking to her mother or Kane, and Lexa does not wish to lose in front of her.

Also in the audience, Anya lounges in the corner, cleaning under her nails with a knife as Tris stands big-eyed beside her; Octavia is seated cross-legged on the floor frowning at Clarke like she is the one looking at a puzzle; Jasper and Monty are ignoring the game to mutter quiet commentary to each other and have twice had cause to slap their own palms in an odd yet self-congratulatory manner; Finn sits next to Wells with a deliberate space between them and tries to smile encouragingly at him, only to be ignored for some petty reason; and finally Raven is standing on the other side of Anya fiddling with several pieces of metal, oblivious to Anya's annoyance about her closeness.

Lexa hesitates. She cautiously moves one her pawns forward a space, and looks at Wells from under her lashes nervously. "This game is most confusing," she says innocuously, and watches as he falls for her assumed air of innocence.

"I know," Wells assures her, moving his queen to take the pawn without looking closely, too focused on reassurance to double-check his play. "It took me years to -"

"Checkmate," Lexa says serenely, moving her own queen. He is blocked from returning his to the defence of his king by an unfortunately placed bishop, and anywhere he can move his king is now covered by one of several pieces of hers. It has been the careful work of multiple turns to place these so without being noticed.

"Oh, no way," Finn says, looking comically annoyed. "Not fair. I haven't even gotten close to beating him yet, and you can checkmate on your third day playing?"

Raven chuckles and looks up from her work. "Babe, you're good at a lot of things -" she wiggles her eyebrows flirtatiously, "-but strategy is not one of them."

Wells looks away, and Lexa suspects that under the camouflage of his dark skin he's flushed. She's observed that he has strong bonds with both Clarke and Finn, and has noticed that suggestive comments regarding either of them – even joking ones, such as those Jasper occasionally lobbies towards Clarke – make him uncomfortable.

Then Wells returns his gaze to the chess board, evaluating possibilities. Eventually he raises his warm, thoughtful eyes to her and smiles. "Well done," he says ruefully. "You should play my father – the Chancellor – when he comes down. Normally he's the only one who can beat me."