A small hum left my mouth as my hand started to stir beside me, feeling the grains of sand between my fingers. In my other hand, I felt my gun laying gently in my palm, fingers curled around the grip. My eyes cracked open to be met with a familiar dull grey sky, and as I sat up, looking at all the rock statues, I realized that we were back on the beach we were on two nights ago.
As I put my gun in its rightful place, I realized that I was the only one awake; Clarke, who lay just a few feet to my left, had the casing for the second AI in her hand. Jasper was closer to the burnt-out fire, Octavia was just a few feet in front of him, and then Bellamy lay closest to me, with his head turned towards me as his rifle sat beside him.
I crawled over to him and sat on my knees, beginning to shake his shoulder gently. "Bellamy. Bellamy, come on, get up." He groaned softly before turning on his left side and nestling his hands to his chest, the action making me smile, allowing me to forget what had happened the previous day for a moment. I reached down to his cheek, rubbing the sand sticking to the side of his face off. "Bellamy, wake up."
Shaking his shoulder a little more aggressively this time made him slowly wake up. His eyes barely opened before his head turned to me, then they opened more widely. "Where are we?"
"Back on the beach." I answered as I stood up, wiping the sand off my pants before reaching out a hand to Bellamy, who took it graciously. "Here, come on."
"Thanks." He smiled, looking up at me.
Even though I wasn't sure how helpful I was in getting Bellamy up, I pulled him off the ground, steadying him as he wobbled slightly. His hand squeezed around my own, attempting to convey assurance, but we both knew the hard truth. We were back at square one of our plan and had made absolutely no progress on stopping ALIE.
He released his grip on my hand and bent down to pick up his rifle, adjusting the hold of it on his hands. I stared out at the never-ending water, letting a sigh leave my mouth as I closed my eyes. Beside Bellamy and I, Clarke had begun to stir, her eyes fluttering open and enclosing a fist around the casing. Bellamy pursed his lips at the blond, the two of us giving her similar defeated looks.
As Clarke sat up, he started walking towards the edge while I went over to Jasper, patting my hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Jasper. Time to get up."
He awakened, sitting up as Octavia began to do the same, grabbing her sword that was next to her. The three of us followed Clarke and Bellamy to the shoreline. I stood between the Blake siblings as we all stared out for a moment, and Bellamy was the one to ask the daring question, "Now, what?"
We all turned our heads to Clarke, who was at the end of the line, and all the blond could do was look back at us before blinking back at the water because there really was no plan from here. We had our plan — Luna was our plan, but that failed miserably, and now we were left with nothing. No thoughts, no ideas, and no way to stop ALIE.
We had made the collective decision to head back and find the Rover, which we left in an open clearing, knowing that there was no point in staying by the shore, but that was all we had agreed upon. We hadn't made a plan or any indication of what we were going to do next.
Clarke was ahead of the four of us, determined to get back to the Rover for whatever reason, as Octavia and Jasper followed behind her. Then Bellamy and I were at the end, walking side by side, both of us knowing we needed each other's presence to soothe us right now. My hands were shoved in my jacket, seeking any sort of warmth as we walked on a thin layer of snow. Bellamy still held his rifle, eyes scoping the forest for any oncoming threats.
It was silent between us for a bit, neither of us needing to say anything to comfort the other, but I could tell Bellamy wanted to say something. He wanted to ask why I was acting differently since my walk at the oil rig; he's just never gotten the opportunity until now.
"We'll figure this out, Jo." He assured, taking a step closer to me as we walked.
"I know." I nodded, staring straight ahead at Octavia's back. "We always do, right?"
Bellamy smiled sadly, dipping his head down before looking back up at me, seemingly afraid of speaking his following words. "You've been acting different since the oil rig. What's wrong?"
"Nothing." The word came quickly from my mouth — too quick, and Bellamy knew that. He knew that word came out too fast for it to be actually true. I looked up at him, letting a huff of air leave my mouth. "Fine. When I took a walk, Luna found me, and... she said some things."
"Like what?" Bellamy inquired.
"Like about the baby." I winced as the words left my mouth.
"You told her?" Bellamy raised his voice loud enough for the three ahead of us to hear and turn their heads back. They all stopped, and a deadened silence came over us as they looked back at the two of us. My heartbeat was racing, even though they didn't hear the first part. I shared a look with each of them before they started moving again, with Bellamy and I waiting an extra moment before following.
A small sigh left my mouth as I looked up to Bellamy. "I didn't tell her. She just knew."
"How is that even possible?" Asked Bellamy.
"I don't know." I answered with my eyes growing wide. "She said 'a Mother carries her self differently than others'.
Bellamy shook his head, running his tongue on his bottom lip before settling his gaze back on me. "Did she say anything else?"
My head went to the ground, my encounter with Luna replaying in my head, especially the question she asked me. I bit on the inside of my cheek so hard that a metallic taste formed in my mouth, and I diverted my eyes to the ground. My hands started fiddling with one another as we continued to walk, and I could feel Bellamy staring at the side of my head, waiting for an answer.
I finally looked back to meet his eyes, opening my mouth and beginning to reply, only to be cut off by Clarke, who had stopped and turned back towards the four of us behind her. "Come on. We need to get back."
Both mine and Bellamy's eyes went ahead to the blond, with the former of us two looking back at me, furrowing his brows and urging me to say something, but I shook my head. No matter how much I hated it, Bellamy didn't need to know what else Luna said. It would just be another thing added on top of all the things going on in his life, and he didn't need that right now.
The little bit of time it took to get to the Rover from there was spent in silence, everyone indulging back in their own thoughts. Once we did get there, everyone started to do their own thing. Bellamy was working on charging the Rover while Octavia loaded what little gear we had into the Rover and then began sharpening her sword in the back. I sat on top of the Rover with my legs dangling against the bared windshield, watching Clarke pace back and forth as Jasper sat on the hood, one leg pulled to his chest.
"The Rover's almost charged. We need to pack up. We'll be home soon." Bellamy announced, hopping down from where he worked on the solar panel.
"Than what? Run away?" Clarke quizzed.
"We're not running away, Clarke." Bellamy shut the driver's side door, walking to where Clarke stood in front of the Rover. "We need to regroup with the others and find another way to defeat—"
"There is no other way." Clarke cut off, the desperation in her voice growing at an abundant rate. "We need to find a Nightblood. We need to unlock the Flame. It's the only way to stop ALIE."
"What do you expect us to do, Clarke?" Jasper spoke up, turning his head to look at her. "Walk into random villages asking for their Nightbloods?"
Even though that was obviously a rhetorical question Jasper had asked, Clarke still nodded. "If that's what it takes."
"We are not doing that." I snapped in a harsh tone.
Octavia, who had walked from the back of the Rover to the front, sent me a small thankful look before looking back at Clarke. "Jo's right. If ALIE can find us on Luna's rig, then she can find us anywhere. I won't help you destroy another innocent Grounder village."
A small sigh left my mouth as I rested my forearms on my legs. "I'm with Octavia on that."
Clarke switched her gaze from me to Octavia as she stepped forward. "If we don't find a Nightblood, there won't be any Grounder villages." She then turned her head to Bellamy. "Or a home for us to go back to."
"That's all the more reason we go there and make sure our friends are okay." Bellamy argued.
Clarke switched her gaze to each of us, realizing that none of us were on board with her crazy plan of marching into villages. She dipped her head down and nodded once before storming off, leaving the sound of her boots hitting the snow. I lifted my head, watching her march off into the woods, angry.
"She'll be fine." Jasper assured in a monotone voice. "Just let her cool off."
Octavia slung another bag over her shoulder, walking behind the back of the Rover as Bellamy waited a moment before walking back to the driver's side door. As he walked by, he tapped Jasper's leg and sent me a reassuring look, leaning up against the door and crossing his arms. There were a few moments of silence that settled between the four of us, all of us just lost in our thoughts.
As I pushed myself off from resting on my arms, sitting up straighter, I asked, "Do you think Clarke is serious?"
"Serious about what?" Bellamy questioned.
"Waltzing into villages and kidnapping their Nightbloods."
"It's Clarke." Jasper drawled on, shifting in his spot. "It shouldn't surprise you if she does."
"She'll do what she thinks is right." Replied Bellamy.
I shook my head. "It's whether what she's doing is actually right. Clarke will do what she thinks she has to if she thinks it's the way to save everyone. It doesn't matter what it is. Hence why she agreed to go to random villages."
"Clarke's not just gonna stop." Octavia spoke, emerging from the back of the Rover.
"No, she's not." Jasper sighed.
From where I sat, I decided lean to my left to check the solar panel on the roof of the Rover to see if it was charged. When I saw that it was fully charged, I announced, "Well, the Rover's charged. It should be enough to get us back to Arkadia."
"We need to get back as soon as possible." Bellamy urged. "We need to make sure everyone home is safe. I'm going to get Clarke so we can leave."
When he started walking away, my head shot up, and I pushed myself up straighter. "You're not going alone. I'm coming with you."
As Bellamy was shaking his head, already trying to come up with an excuse for me to say, I stood on the hood of the Rover and jumped down, walking around it to the other side where he was. Octavia and Jasper diverted their gazes away, trying to avoid this confrontation, and they only received an annoyed look from me.
"Jo, you should stay here." Bellamy insisted, looking down to meet my eyes.
My head turned back to Octavia and Jasper for a brief moment, my head turning back so my eyes could meet Bellamy's as I took a step forward. "You're out of your mind if you think I'm letting out of my sight. You're not walking through the woods alone."
Bellamy huffed, but nonetheless, he nodded. "Come on."
Bellamy and I ventured into the forest, side by side together, each of us holding out our handguns aimed at the ground. As we descended further into the woods, I trailed behind Bellamy, covering behind us. The snow was disappearing from our feet and turning into soft dark green moss, similar to the color of my old jacket. It didn't take long for us to find Clarke, who stood off in the distance talking with a man dressed in thick Grounder garb.
My eyebrows knitted together as I leaned closer, murmuring to Bellamy, "Who is that?"
He projected his voice behind him. "That's the guy who took Clarke the day Pike showed up."
My mouth formed into an 'o' shape, realizing whoever this was had kidnapped Clarke and dragged her all the way to Polis. We stalked forward; our steps were very quiet, making our presence as discreet as possible. The only sound under our feet would be a low squishing noise from the wet and soft ground. When we got close enough to vaguely hear what the two were saying, our minds worked as one as Bellamy went on one side of them, staying hidden, while I went to the other, hiding behind a large tree.
"Please just stop." Clarke pleaded to the man, who was walking away but stopped and turned back at her words.
"'Cause of you, Ontari never ascended. So, no, I won't stop. Not until the Ice Nation has its Commander." Said the man, his voice gruff, scratching against his throat — his voice was gruffer than anyone I've heard before, even Bellamy. Before the Grounder started to walk away, Bellamy gave me a nod signaling that it was time to interfere.
Bellamy's gun cocked before lurking into view with his aim trained on the Grounder's head. "You were saying?"
He turned away from Bellamy, starting towards my direction but stopped again when I appeared. My gun made a similar cocking sound, with its aim trained on his head and a tight-lipped smile was on my face before I spoke.
"Yeah. What was it you were saying? I didn't quite catch it." The Grounder let a low sigh in defeat as I nodded my gun forward. "Hands where we can see 'em." Bellamy and I walked closer, closing in on him as he obliged, raising his hands, one of which held a bow. "Drop the bow."
He again did as told, dropping it in my direction, sending me a tested look as Bellamy asked Clarke, "You okay?"
My eyes glanced at Clarke, who nodded. "Yeah."
"Then let's go." Bellamy ordered.
"He's coming with us." Clarke revealed, nodding to the Grounder.
"The hell he is." Argued Bellamy.
The grip on my gun tightened, looking at the blond with widening eyes, hissing, "Clarke."
"Why would I do that?" The Grounder asked.
"Because we both want the same thing, to put the Flame in Ontari." Answered Clarke.
My face scrunched in undeniable confusion at the plan Clarke was conjuring in her head, but I didn't have time to question it further as Bellamy spoke. "How do you know he's not chipped?"
"If he were, do you think he would've saved me?" Clarke disputed.
"Still," Bellamy spoke with a clenched jaw, "we need to be sure."
Without hesitation, Bellamy turned the aim of his gun on the Grounder's arm, not taking a second before shooting him. A single gunshot flew through the air, followed by a grunt from the Grounder's lips, and so did another when Bellamy stalked forward and knocked him upside the head with the same gun.
"Bellamy!" I chastised in a low hissing tone, eyes moving to the older Blake to see him nod once at me.
"Now we're sure."
❣︎
So apparently, the guy Bellamy shot was Roan, the freaking Ice Nation King. Clarke had explained that while in Polis, his Mother, Queen Nia, challenged Lexa but had Roan fight Lexa in her place. There supposedly was a very theatrical fight that ended with Lexa spearing the Queen in the chest, making Roan the new King and tying the Ice Nation back in the coalition.
Now, since Lexa had died — with Clarke sharing very few details about how that was possible — there was to be a conclave with the Nightblood novitiates, but of course, that went wrong. Ontari, a Nightblood, and the girl Roan had spoken of before in the woods, killed all the novitiates in their sleep, therefore, she was the "last" Nightblood. I had loudly voiced my opinion that Ontari sounded like a murderous crackpot, and Clarke assured that she was, but she was also our only hope in stopping ALIE. And now, since Luna declined the Flame, Clarke had a plan to use Roan to get to Ontari — who, might I add, had been chipped — and put the Flame in her head after being EMP'd like Raven was, who also has to build another EMP. Then once Ontari gets EMP'd, we put the Flame in her head, and hopefully, she'll give us the kill code that we'll radio to Raven so she can put it in the computer. And, bam, our problem's solved.
It was a very elaborate plan that was created in all but ten minutes by Clarke as we rode back to Arkadia. The vehicle felt smaller than ever with a larger person in the back who had been passed out for most the duration of the ride, plus five other people. Jasper sat in the passenger seat, Clarke sat next to Octavia in the back, while I had the lucky opportunity to sit next to Roan, who we had stripped of his Grounder gear and tied up.
My gun was pressing firmly into Roan's side as enough of a threat to keep him at bay as Clarke finished explaining to Jasper, Octavia, and me the plan. "There's one more thing. Jo," she set her gaze on me, "while I was in Polis, I saw your brother. I saw Murphy."
My whole stance stiffened, looking at the blond, not truly processing what she had said. My brother, the one I had not seen in four months, had been in Polis. I knew he was alive, or at least I thought I did because that was what Jaha, who's batshit crazy, had said — hearing that Clarke had seen him brought a relieving feeling that didn't come when Jaha told me. It was like this time, I actually believed the person telling me my brother was alive.
A smile tugged at my lips. "Thanks. For telling me."
Roan looked over at me, eyebrows drawing together as disbelief escaped in his words with his raucous voice. "The Skaikru Flamekeeper is your brother?"
My head tilted to the side as another smile attempted to make its way into my face knowing that only John would somehow manage to get himself that kind of job. "Yeah. He is."
Roan raised his brows while simultaneously humming and diverting his stare to the ground in what seemed like disapproval. The action had my face scrunching in confusion, but I quickly shook that look off, peering back at Clarke, mouthing another thank you, the blond giving me a nod in return.
"Someone, please gag him." Bellamy demanded, referring to Roan as I could see him look through the rear view mirror, staring daggers at the Azgeda King.
"Yes, sir." Jasper replied before shoving a cloth into Roan's mouth and tying it behind his head.
When we had returned to Arkadia, we went through the still broken gate and drove up to the hangar bay where Harper, Miller, and Bryan stood outside, awaiting our arrival. Bellamy pulled the Rover to a slow stop inside, and I let Octavia and Clarke out first before I jumped out, pulling out the king with my gun still at his side.
"We were getting worried." I heard the voice of Raven as Bellamy came around the back, nodding and telling me that he could handle Roan from here. When I came into view around the Rover, Raven's face dropped, noting the absence of a certain Nightblood. "Where's Luna?"
"Luna said no." Octavia exhaled as Bellamy and Roan appeared.
"Who the hell is this?" Asked Harper.
Bryan's jaw slackened. "He's Ice Nation."
"King of the Ice Nation, actually." Clarke corrected, looking around at everyone. "And he's our way into Polis."
"This way, Your Highness." Bellamy mocked before looking to Bryan and Miller. "You two, follow me. I'll take him to lock-up."
As the four of them went off towards lock-up, Raven turned her head to Clarke, a look of realization covering her face. "You wanna use him to get to Ontari?"
"That seems to be the consensus." I nodded.
"What happened to his arm?" Harper questioned.
"Bellamy shot him." Said Jasper bluntly.
Monty's eyes widened. "Good luck getting him to cooperate."
With his final words, everyone dispersed, going back to whatever they were doing before we got here. I decided to find Harper, languidly smiling at the blond as I walked up to her. There was nothing but glee showing in Harper's facade — you could practically see the immense amount of delight radiating off of her.
We walked side by side with me, nudging her shoulder as we fell into step together. "So, how was everything here?"
"Fine." Harper answered, nodding at me. We kept walking, and I wasn't quite sure where to, but I just kept following Harper. There was a beat of silence as we were now away from everyone else before Harper admitted, "I slept with Monty."
My head turned to her, a genuine smile plaguing my lips. "Oh, yeah."
"Yeah." She nodded, with a huge grin plastered on her face, one I hadn't seen in a long time. Harper was happy — genuinely happy, for the first time since I met her. She was glowing brightly, and a newfound youngness was added to her being.
"Well, I'm happy for you. For both of you. You and Monty deserve it more than anyone." I smiled.
"Thanks." She said full-heartedly before adding in a serene voice, "So do you. By the way."
My smile died down as we continued to walk through the Ark, another beat of silence passing before I said, trying to break the news as easy as possible, "I slept with Bellamy." Before she could even open her mouth to say something, I held up a hand, gesturing that I was not done talking. "A while ago, and now I'm pregnant."
Harper had slowly stopped as her face softened, looking at me before looking down at my stomach and pulling me into a gentle hug. "Jo, I'm happy for you."
A smile twitched my lips while in the hug. "Thank you."
She smiled, noticing how I wasn't as happy as she'd expected me to be but chose to ignore, which I was grateful for. I didn't want to relive all the strain this has put on mine and Bellamy's relationship. Harper has always been good like that, knowing what I was feeling and knowing what to ask.
"So how far along are you?" She asked, pulling away.
A breath of air left my mouth as I thought about how long it's been since I first found out when Abby told me, which in retrospect, wasn't that long ago. "Um, six weeks. You're technically the first person I told. Abby told me, and then Raven knows because both she and Abby were in the City of Light. And then chipped Raven told Bellamy at the trading post, so that's how he found — which is not the best way to find out. And then—"
"Jo." Harper said, a smile still on her face, and that's when I realized I was just rambling on to her. "You don't have to explain yourself. I trust you."
This time it was me who brought Harper in for a hug, my chin resting on her shoulder with a sigh of relief leaving my mouth. I was glad to have this conversation with Harper, with it being probably the first semi-normal conversation I've had in a while. This was why I loved Harper like a sister; she was easy to talk to and knew how to comfort me.
The remainder of my time in the hangar bay was spent with Raven, who was building the EMP. As she worked, and as I tried to help her as much as I could, we talked about what had happened with our respective teams. She explained that she and Monty mapped a majority of the time, but she ended up attempting to find the kill code herself and that before she could hit the kill switch, ALIE disconnected herself from Arkadia. Raven assured me, though, that she could still do it and that she and Monty had a plan, and I trusted that they did. Then I told Raven about everything that happened at Luna's rig, with her refusing to take the Flame even after ALIE infested her rig.
When we were done, Raven and I walked up to the Rover to see everyone packing as much gear as possible into the Rover. "Knockout gas. Mount Weather's finest." Miller said, handing the small canister in his hands to Bellamy as they both stood at the back of the Rover. "As soon as they bring Ontari out, we put 'em to sleep."
"Nice." Said Bellamy, clamping a hand on Miller's shoulder.
Raven and I approached them, Raven having the EMP in hand. "Because she's chipped, you have to EMP her like you did me before you give her the Flame."
She handed the device to Bellamy as Jasper spoke. "I thought Jaha destroyed all the wristbands."
"So did he. Then I came home." Raven shrugged. I grinned at her over-flowing confidence, which was rightfully placed given how Raven was the most intelligent person I've ever met. "There's only enough usable parts to rebuild one, so use it wisely. Made a few improvements, too."
"None of which is gonna matter if you can't get us access to ALIE's code." Clarke said, raining on Raven's parade.
"You worry about the Nightblood. I'll worry about ALIE."
"How can you access a code that doesn't exist here anymore?" Jasper asked, making me knit my eyebrows together.
"We've got a plan." Monty replied, walking up beside Raven and giving her a nod.
"What are we waiting for?" Octavia called from where she and Roan walked side by side, the Azgeda man back in his Grounder garb.
"Let's move out." Bellamy announced and everyone began to say their goodbyes to each other as he turned towards me. "You coming?"
I took a deep inhale of air, eyes flickering between the people staying here safe in Arkadia, ready to crack ALIE, and the people who were coming prepared to face an army of our people who were mindlessly chipped and don't feel pain. If I was being completely honest, I don't think I could help in either areas all that much. But I wanted to stay with Bellamy and do everything I could to ensure he was okay when going up against senseless drones of people, so I found myself nodding to him.
"Yeah, why not." I answered, eyes moving across to where Raven, Monty, and Harper stood. "Just have to say goodbye."
Bellamy nodded, allowing me to go and say goodbye to everyone as he did the same. I walked up to Raven first, giving her a gentle hug. "Be safe. Let that big brain of yours work, Rave."
She smiled in return. "Always."
My sights then set on Monty, who was in the middle of a laugh with Jasper, the sight making me smile seeing the two best friends have a joyous moment together. When they pulled away, I took my chance to come up to Monty and him. "You two stay out of trouble, okay? Don't do anything stupid."
They gave each other a look, both with a small smile, before looking at me with Jasper grinning widely. "No stupid decisions. Got it."
I gave each of them a nod before turning to Harper and giving the blond yet another hug today. When pulling back, I gave her an inadvertent halfhearted smile. "Be safe, okay."
"You, too." She replied before dropping her voice and leaning closer to me. "Both of you."
And with my final goodbye, I walked up to the passenger side of the Rover, pulling the door open and taking a seat, and passing Bellamy a smile that reassured both of us on our long journey to the Grounder capital, Polis.