It's late at night by now – nearly morning, in fact – but Lexa's not sure she's ever felt so awake.
She goes with Clarke to the radio tent as soon as they return, pausing only to give Anya curt orders to spread out and double the number of people on watch. Octavia, hard-faced but apparently now a believer, takes charge of John and bears him off to get sleep and food. He's still processing what they told him – only about the Mountain Men, and only the basic facts that every Trikru knows. Nothing about Emerson, or bone marrow, or their memories.
Lexa hasn't really been into this tent since the radio was carefully placed there. All of her communication with the Ark has happened through Clarke. But they need to talk before Clarke contacts the Ark, to decide what she should tell them.
"I think Octavia believes us," Lexa comments.
"She's getting there," Clarke agrees. "And she'll tell Lincoln, so that's two people..." her voice trails off and she switches subjects. "Is there any way we could get inside Mount Weather before Murphy and Drew are dead? If they're being interrogated... we might have time. I could be our person on the inside this time. I know the way in."
Lexa can hear in Clarke's voice that she knows it's hopeless. "We don't have a former Ripa on our side to fake a capture," she says, stating things Clarke is already aware of but wants to hear confirmed by another. It seems easier for Clarke to face bad things in this way. "We don't have any allies inside. We have no Skaikru warriors or scientists with us, Raven has yet to make any bombs or even radios, we have no tone generators. They still have missiles and the acid fog and Ripas. If Emerson's told them everything then they'll be expecting us to do the same things as last time, so we will not even have the element of surprise. We will need to leave TonDC as soon as possible if we want to remain safe, not stay here attempting to attack a fortress and making ourselves easy targets."
"If I told the Ark to come down sooner," Clarke says thoughtfully. Then she sighs. "It wouldn't help at all, would it? We'd lose more of them because they'd have less time to prepare, and I don't even know what we could have them do once they get here. All the plans I had for the Mountain required them to be willing to deal with us, or at least for us to be able to surprise them and get in that way. There's no point telling the Ark to do anything, is there?"
"How about telling them to land elsewhere, so Emerson will not know to have Maunon there waiting?" Lexa suggests. "Perhaps far away."
Clarke blinks, considers it. "And maybe keeping them that far away? With only a dozen or so people able to go outside without suits, if we get my people far enough away, we could make it very hard to get more of them. That could give us leverage if we get my Mom to start collecting bone marrow from volunteers – we could agree to trade those to them."
"How could we guarantee they would keep whatever terms we ask them for?" Lexa says doubtfully.
Clarke starts to pace. "What if... um... maybe we could promise that anyone from Mount Weather who leaves and comes to TonDC with one of the Grounder prisoners to trade will be given bone marrow."
"That will leave them with none of my people as prisoners eventually, but they will then have the ability to go outside as well as all of their weapons," Lexa points out. "They will still have acid fog and Ripas and gas grenades and knock out darts and guns and missiles. They will also still believe their people are superior to mine." It itches, as it always does, when she thinks of the tones in which the Maunon spoke to her as they made the deal at Mount Weather. The disrespect towards her and her people had been hard to stomach. She had only been able to because of the number of her people's lives at stake. They could default to such a deal if they had to – in the other world she did, after all – but she would prefer a plan that does not leave the Maunon stronger.
"We also don't know if their children will be born with the immunity to radiation as well," Clarke says. "Just like my people, I think they're going to have to integrate."
"They consider us savages."
"Not integrate with your people, with the Skaikru," Clarke explains. "Eventually they'll have to get used to Grounders too, of course. But in the short-term, if we have the Mountain Men come live with my people, we can keep any new children born supplied with bone marrow. And with four hundred of them among more than two thousand Skaikru, after a few generations of intermarriage nearly all of them should be immune – assuming we can pass immunity on like that. And in return for that, we could get them to destroy the Mountain, we know they have the ability to do it. Get out all the medical supplies and food then use the self-destruct."
Lexa pauses, unsure what to say. Her thoughts must show on her face though.
"I know it's a naïve and idealistic plan, Lexa," Clarke says softly. "But it's the only one I've got." She swallows hard, fighting to keep her face smooth. "And regardless of if we manage to make any kind of deal, it's a very good idea to keep my people far away from them. If things get desperate and we end up needing to come up with a plan to take them all out -" she shudders at the thought, no doubt plagued by her memories, and closes her eyes to block them out. "- then using radiation again would be the easiest way." She moves towards Lexa and Lexa folds her into an embrace. For a long moment Clarke is tense, then she sighs and relaxes, leaning against Lexa and allowing herself to be comforted. Lexa places a gentle kiss on the top of her head.
After consideration – slightly extended as she is distracted by trying to stem Clarke's sadness – Lexa nods. "It is our best option. We will have to see where else your people can land."
"Can you stay?" Clarke says pleadingly, revealing for a second how much she likes having Lexa there to lean against. Then she clears her throat, and attempts to straighten, stepping out of Lexa's hold. "I mean, you could tell us which clan we'd be invading in each area, so we could choose where best to go."
"Of course, ai hodnes," Lexa assures her. "Hmm. We will have to see where they are able to land. The Boat People to the east would doubtless be kindest to your people after the Woods Clan, but are surrounded by water. Can your people safely land in water?"
"No, probably not," Clarke admits.
"The other clans close by are the Desert Clan and the Ice Nation. It would be best not to land in the middle of the desert, but if necessary we could manage that. Perhaps your people could land further south? It is Woods Clan territory quite far in that direction, and then the Glowing Forest People, who have always been closely allied with us. If I order that no Skaikru are to be harmed, they will obey."
"Sounds like a plan," Clarke says, "South if possible, with the desert as a back-up plan." She flicks on the radio. "Hi? Anyone there?"
"Clarke?" a worried voice replies.
Lexa identifies it immediately. Abby.
"Hey, Mom," Clarke says, though she doesn't seem particularly happy about it. Perhaps, like Lexa, she would rather talk to Kane. "I'm here with the leader of the Grounders. Mom, this is Lexa, Commander of the twelve clans, creator of the alliance, Heda of these lands. Lexa, this is Abby Griffin, Council member – well, sort of – and my mother."
Lexa notes that Clarke has added or repeated things somewhat in her description of Lexa, no doubt to impress upon her mother the need for deference. She inclines her head towards the radio, though she knows Abby can't see it. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Abby Griffin. You have raised your daughter to be a wise leader."
"Oh," Abby sounds surprised. "It's – it's nice to meet you too, Commander. Your English is very good."
"As is yours," Lexa says, and there is a prolonged silence in response as if Abby is searching for something to say.
Clarke intervenes. "We need to speak to Sinclair, Mom, is he there?"
"He's working on some calculations with his people," Abby says. "I can go get him if you like. What did you want to talk to him about? What's the Commander want to talk to him about?"
"His calculations, actually," Clarke says.
"Why?" Abby asks. She lowers her voice. "And should the Commander really – I mean, Clarke, should we really be -"
Lexa decides to interrupt before Abby becomes offensive by saying that she shouldn't be there. From that it is only a short step to Abby admitting she doesn't trust the Grounders. 'The Grounders', as the people above call them, have given food and homes to the goufas the Skaikru chose to sacrifice, have taught them how to survive and worked to ensure they are safe, yet their leaders still insist on viewing Lexa's people as a threat. It annoys her. "It is important. Fetch him for us now, please."
"I'm not going to get him until you tell me what this is about," Abby snaps. She sounds somewhat offended by her brusqueness, which Lexa thinks is something she'll have to get over if she expects to deal with her people. But then, Abby in the old world had never entirely learnt how to deal with Lexa's people, either.
"You may remain while we discuss it, if you wish. We simply do not want to go through the issue twice." There's still a pause, and Lexa adds a hint of steel to her voice. "If you do not trust me, you must at least trust your daughter. Find him for us now." She makes sure her tone is deliberately commanding. From the information Clarke has given her, Abby is part of the Council, seven people who share command over two and a half thousand Sky People at most. Lexa is the Commander, leader of at least thirty times that, a large proportion of whom are warriors, and who are the rightful owners of the land the Skaikru plan to descend to. She will not behave as if they are equals, and set a precedent she has no desire to follow.
Abby in her capacity as Clarke's nomon – that is different. That is something she will have to navigate when the Ark returns to Earth, if Abby survives the fall. Perhaps there is some set way Sky People deal with the parents of their lover, and Clarke can inform her how to follow it.
"I'm here with Abby now, hello, Clarke, and uh, hello Commander," a man's voice crackles through the radio, tense and breathless. "What's the matter?"
"Hi, Sinclair," Clarke says, "Mom, you remember when I mentioned that there were already people in Mount Weather? How I said they were unfriendly?"
Lexa quirks an eyebrow at Clarke. Unfriendly seems like perhaps an understatement.
"Yes," Abby says.
"They've gotten more unfriendly. Specifically against us."
"What did you do?" Abby says.
"Nothing," Clarke says, "Maybe they just don't like people falling from the sky." She gives Lexa a little shrug, as if to say it's easier than explaining the whole story. Lexa agrees – besides anything else, there's no way they should know what the Mountain want the Skaikru for, and if Lexa's people become aware she has information she should have no way to get it will produce suspicion. "We found out earlier that they're specifically trying to get as many Skaikru – sorry, as many of our people – as possible. I need to know what areas we could safely land the Ark in."
"The Ark's in a geosynchronous orbit, Clarke," Sinclair says. "We deliberately aimed when the stations joined together to have the Ark be above Mount Weather part of the time for when we came to Earth. That means we're always around the same area – not the exact area, because we're not along the equator, but reasonably close, moving like a distorted figure eight every day. So if you mean you want us to land in another country, we can't do that."
"We wouldn't do that anyway," Abby says immediately. "We need to come down where you are, Clarke. We can't just leave you kids -"
"We'll be fine, Mom," Clarke says firmly. "And I wasn't thinking another country. How far away from Mount Weather can you get?"
"We sent you kids down when we'd just passed the southwestern-most point of our orbit, close to the bottom of the eight," Sinclair says. "So we could do slightly south, but not much. Reasonably far east because of the distortion, but we'd be over the ocean then. Best bet is to go further north if you're looking for us to be any distance from Mount Weather."
Clarke looks at Lexa, unhappy. "It will have to be north then. North, and the Azgeda."
Lexa nods silently, and Clarke turns back to the radio to begin organising this. There is a Skaikru saying she heard Clarke use once – from the frying pan to the fire. Lexa hopes they have not just committed this.
>>> Author's note: "I'm writing most of the Skaikru as reasonably xenophobic (though obviously to varying levels) - partially on the basis of the show, and partially because they've been a very insulated society for a hundred years and they literally believed they were the only people who existed. Groups like that, especially when they have a higher level of technology than the other people they eventually meet, tend to develop both a superiority complex and a habit of treating the new people badly. The twelve clans, on the other hand, are used to dealing with new groups of people fairly regularly, so I like to think that if it wasn't for a) the 100 invading their lands and immediately trying to go to the Mountain, b) the 100 resembling the Mountain in many ways, and c) the 100 accidentally destroying a village, they would have been much nicer. "