Lightning Only Strikes Once - Clexa

Chapter 92: Can't Go Home Again

Lexa still takes care to remain hidden as they make their way to the place the missile is kept, skirting around the truck. They have taken down the usual number of guards, but that does not rule out the possibility that for some reason there are extra Skaikru or Azgeda wandering around tonight.

She has avoided the missile, mostly, not wanting anyone to notice her interest in the building. But she has managed to glance at it when she walks by and she does have a plan. Throwing the gas grenade in via the door would be extremely tricky, as the large door is always locked and barricaded. "Octavia," she says instead, and cups her hands for a moment meaningfully. Octavia looks confused for a few seconds and then understands. She cups her hands in the same way, crouching slightly for balance. "Two steps to the left," Lexa clarifies quietly, and Octavia obeys. Lexa drops her two swords on the ground.

Then she is running towards Octavia. She leaps at the last second and pushed her foot hard against Octavia's hands, so that she hits the branch hard with her middle and is able to cling to it, gasping. She pulls herself up and into a standing position, pushing up on her toes to grasp the branch high above. Her arms ache with the effort as she slowly pulls herself up, muscles clenching and straining, and then she is straddling that branch as well. It's not a strong branch but she is light and fast and she makes it onto the roof of the building before it can do more than groan ominously.

She steps onto the roof lightly and carefully, trying to be as quiet as possible, but it's impossible to walk on the metal roof noiselessly and she can hear the sound she's making. Luckily, it is not unusual for small animals to scamper across the roofs of the building or even try to scratch their way inside, seeking food and warmth. Lexa crouches and uses her knife to carefully lever off the weakest-looking part of the roof. The building is just one giant shed, really – that is how Raven described it. Perhaps once the village used it as a storage shed. It was not used a house, certainly, since a normal home could never have fitted the missile inside. As a result, there is only one room, it is not very well insulated, and the roof is quite thin. Once she's pried up the metal scale there is some straw and wooden ply board beneath it, easily cut through. It is probably not good for her knife's sharpness, but she does have her swords as well, safe on the ground.

She can see the instant she makes a small hole and the light winks through it. Someone below says something, sounding confused, and Lexa realises sawdust must be drifting down. She slams her knife through quickly, enlarging the hole until it is just big enough, and then pulls out one gas grenade to drop through it. Someone beneath starts to yell, but Lexa is already rolling down the side of the roof to get away as the gas grenade explodes. She ends up at the edge, staring at the sky and waiting.

Wisps of smoke puff out of the small hole she created. The yelling inside has stopped almost as quickly as it started. Lexa looks to the side to see Octavia's upturned face below her and gives her a nod. She needs to make a bigger hole now, go inside and unlock the door from the inside.

Lexa takes a deep breath and hopes the smoke clears quickly. She wriggles back to where she was before but keeps her face well away from the hole she made, widening it by hacking away with her knife at arm's length. She covers her mouth and nose with the sleeve of her other arm, uncertain if it will help, but willing to try.

Then when it is large enough she takes another deep breath and slides in.

She lands on painful bits of metal. She lands and is entangled in wires.

She lands in the middle of a nuclear missile.

Her immediate instinct is to struggle her way out of it, but she forces herself to lie still. She has wires wrapped around her limbs, if she struggles, she could pull them out. While Lexa does not completely understand Raven's explanation of electronics, she understands enough to know that pulling out wires does unpredictable things to devices such as this.