Disclaimer
I do not own The 100 but I do own my badass character Grace Parker. Can we get a round of applause for my girl in the comments?
Also, Eleven from Stranger Things anyone? No? Just me? Okay.
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"My friends, this is a historic unity day. Every year we mark the moment our ancestors of the 12 stations joined to form The Ark, but this is the last time we do so while aboard her. Next year, on the ground."
"Right. After we did all the work," Miller scoffed. "Someone shut him up."
"You shut up, Miller," Raven snaps. "No one's forcing you to watch."
Grace smirks at her best friend, nudging him slightly before moving into Monty and Jasper's little hideout and away from the video. She's heard that speech about a million times— she was sick and tired of it. God, on The Ark she could vaguely remember having to participate in it with Clarke and Wells.
Grinning, Grace sat down next to Jasper as they watched Monty work his magic. He was steadily making another batch of moonshine for the camp to enjoy for today; for Unity Day. "How's it going, Green?"
"All done," the boy grinned at her. Jasper grinned wickedly, picking up the container as Monty finished sealing it.
"Hell yeah, good job Monty!" Grace grins, patting the boy on the back gently. She's been waiting all day for this. She needed it.
Jasper leaves the tent, hooting and hollering as he announced Monty's creation. "Monty strikes again! Hey, call this batch Unity Juice!" The boy moves towards the crowd of cheering people hurriedly. "Who's thirsty?"
Monty shook his head at his ecstatic friend. "Maybe you should go and get some, before it's all gone."
Grace grins. "Maybe later, someone will have to watch this idiots get drunk and act stupid."
"Yeah, but why does it have to be you?" Monty asks the girl, nudging her gently. Grace smiles at the boy, then nods her head.
"Alright, then you're coming with me!" Grace grabs the boy by the wrist.
"What? No! Grace I have to—" Monty protests.
"Have to nothing! If I'm drinking," Grace holds out two cups to Jasper to fill them up. "Then so are you boys."
"Fine," Monty grumbled, though he didn't seem to mind much.
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Grace Parker swayed her hips as she let out loud laughs, then stopped and jumped up next to Monty and Jasper who were laughing along with the girl.
"Hey, Grace, I think you have a secret admirer," Jasper tells the girl, gesturing towards where Bellamy was watching her dance in the crowd, biting down on an apple. Clarke walks up to the boy and they begin talking, Bellamy smiling at the girl.
Grace feels her stomach drop but she merely brushes it off. "Eh, he was probably just looking for Octavia in the crowd. Now come on, let's dance," Grace grins, grabbing Monty's hand and twirling herself underneath it as loud laughs left her mouth.
"Alright, alright," Monty laughed, twirling the girl again. "You do realize that there's no music, right?"
Grace rolls her eyes but nods her head. "Who needs music when you have these sick dance moves," she laughs once more as she twisted her body around and shook her hips. The two laugh at, taking small sips of the moonshine from their own cups. She steps back, letting out a small gasp when she trips on someone's foot and falls backwards. Strong arms wrap around her stomach, pulling her back into a standing position and steadying her.
"Easy there, sweetheart," Bellamy's eyes twinkle in amusement as he stares down at the girl. "Don't want you getting another concussion."
Grace stuck her tongue out at the boy childishly. "Are you drunk, Grace?"
The amusement is clear in his voice as he asks her this. Grace giggles and leans up to whisper, "No, I only had a couple sips and then gave the rest to Miller. I've never really had alcohol before, just that little bit made me kind of fuzzy headed so I figured I better stop in case something happened and I needed to fight."
"Is that right?" Bellamy asks the girl, lips curving down slightly. "You don't have to worry about that. I have security covered, just relax and go have some more to drink."
Grace shrugs. "You're not drinking, you deserve one just as much as I do."
Bellamy smiled down at the girl, watching as she looked up at him curiously. When she sees he probably wasn't going to be drinking anytime soon, she holds her hand out to him. "Dance with me?"
"I don't dance," Bellamy smirks. A sigh passes her lips, her hands beginning to wring together.
"Come on, it's a party!" Grace tries once more, but when he doesn't budge she sighs and falls in next to him with her arms crossed. "Fine, looks like I'll just stay with you then, grouchy pants."
"Still better than jackass," Bellamy says, nudging the girl and laughing as she stumbles from the strength of the actually very light push.
"Shut up," the girl said, though her mouth was curved up into a smile at the boy. Her eyes raked the crowd as a comfortable silence fell over the two.
She spotted Monty and Jasper dancing with Harper now— except Harper caught her eye and glanced at Bellamy, then winked at the redhead with a knowing smile. Grace's face burned at that,— Sterling and Fox playing some type of game, and Raven was chugging some more of Monty's 'Unity Juice' off to the side of everything. Her eyes catch a familiar blonde haired girl beckoning her over, Finn standing beside her with a serious expression.
Furrowing her brows, Grace sends Bellamy an awkward smile as she turns away from him. "I'll be right back."
The girl jogs over to Clarke and Finn, frowning at the two. "Come on, you guys too? This is supposed to be a party!"
"I need you both to come with me, but I can't tell either of you why," Finn says quickly. "Okay?"
"Finn, tell us why," Clarke demands. Finn ignores her, grabbing her wrist to pull her forward but she pulls away from him. "Hey, don't."
Finn sighs, stepping in front of the two girls who both sent him looks that said 'we're not moving until you tell us what the hell is going on'. Grace and Clarke share an equally curious and fear-filled looks, then place their gazes on the long-haired boy in front of them.
"I set up a meeting with the grounders."
"A meeting? I don't understand," Clarke says, clearly confused. Grace just stares in shock. How the hell had he managed that? "With who? How?"
"I was just with the grounder that we had in the drop ship. His name is Lincoln," Finn informs the two girls.
"Wait a second, he spoke to you?" Grace asks incredulously. She was pretty damn sure Bellamy had told her he didn't know English.
"It's not important," Finn states. "If we want to live in peace—"
"Finn, we can't live in peace with people who've done nothing but kill us," Clarke says, staring at the boy in apprehension.
"Can you think of a better way to stop the bloodshed?"
"Yeah. With the guns that the guard bring down," Grace snaps, eyeing the boy in annoyance. He wasn't being serious right now, was he? Not after everything the grounders had done to them.
"You both really want a war?" Finn says, staring at the two girls in anger. "Because at this rate, that's what's coming. Look. I know it's a long shot, but this is our world now, and I think we can do better than the first time around," Finn tells the two. "I trust him."
Clarke shakes her head. "I don't." Clarke closes her eyes for a second. "But if we go, we have to bring backup."
"No way. We're not bringing guns," Finn scolds her. "Those weren't the terms and if were gonna do this, we got to give it a fair shot."
Grace pauses for a moment, then grabs Clarke's forearm and nods. "Okay. Okay, we'll get out packs, and we'll meet you at the gate."
Clarke watches Finn nod his head and leave before the two girls turn, Clarke leaning in to the girl. "We're bringing backup, right?"
"Damn straight," Grace says, pushing her way through the crowd to where she was just with Bellamy. "There's no way in hell we're going unarmed."
Grace stops when she sees Bellamy coming out of the trees in front of them. Hurrying to catch up, Clarke calls out to him. "Hey, we need to talk to you."
"Have fun yet, princesses?" Bellamy asks, smirking at the girls.
"I'm serious, Bellamy," Grace tells him. He stops, sending the girl a small smile.
"You always are, so talk."
"Finn's set up with a meeting with the grounders," Grace starts off, watching as Bellamy's face seems to get more and more serious with every word. "Clarke and I are leaving to go talk to them."
"Because you figure that impaling people on spears is code for 'lets be friends'?" Bellamy asks, shaking his head at the girl in clear annoyance. "Have you lost your damn mind?"
"I think it might be worth a shot," Clarke steps in. "I mean, we do have to live with these people."
"They'll probably gut you, string you up as a warning," Bellamy tells the girls. Grace sighs at the boy, shaking her head. She didn't like the idea either but that didn't mean she wasn't going to at least try.
"Well, that's why we're here," Grace gestures to Clarke beside her who nods her head in confirmation. "I need you to follow us, be our backup."
"Does Finn know about this?" Bellamy asks, eyeing the girls suspiciously.
"Finn doesn't need to know," Grace says quietly. "And, Bellamy, bring guns."
Bellamy sends the girl a look that she was very familiar with, one that said 'okay, don't be a dumbass and get yourself killed'. Grace nods back at the man with a small smile, then turns on her heel and walking away with Clarke right beside her.
✧
"I'd love it if you were right about this, but did you ever consider this was a trap?" Clarke questions Finn. Grace stays a step behind them, watching the trees for any signs of a grounder attack. Just because they were headed for a meeting with them doesn't mean they weren't already waiting in the trees, watching them and waiting to kill them instead. Uneasiness seeps into the girl as she remembers the group that was following them, silently hoping that they would be okay if this went south.
"Yep, but since it's Unity Day, I decided to have hope instead."
Grace couldn't help but roll her eyes. He was putting this whole meeting on hope? This boy was fucking crazy.
Finn let out a small wince as his foot fell down a slope, hand clutching his bandaged side. "Oh! Hey, let me have a look at that," Clarke said quickly.
Grace merely nodded at the blonde and stalked a little bit farther behind, close enough to reach them if anything happened, but far enough so that she couldn't hear their conversation.
Clarke sent her back a look as Finn stalked ahead, then watched as Grace dropped some of those stupid Jobi nuts onto the ground. Grace sent her a nod, then jogged to catch up.
✧
The trio could hear the distant sound of water running and someone pacing. Grace rose her brows at Clarke, but the red head pushes through the trees after Finn with a curious expression. When Grace pushed through the trees as well, her eyes raked over the large bridge in surprise. That thing had survive down there all that time? Damn.
Much to Grace's surprise, Octavia stood on the bridge a few feet away with a nervous expression on her face. Grace stepped towards the girl, sending her best friend her bitch face as she crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips. Since when did Octavia start keeping things from her?
"So that's how you set this up," Clarke states. Octavia sends her an annoyed glare. "You helped him escape, didn't you?"
"I trust him, Clarke," Octavia tells the girl. She turns to her best friend who squints at her. There's something she's not saying.
"There's a lot of that going around," Clarke mumbled, sending a glance towards Finn.
Grace's head snaps up at the sound of footsteps. "Someone's coming."
The grounder, Lincoln, emerges from the tree in a light jog. Octavia smiles and jogs towards him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug when they meet in the middle. They pull apart, both looking back at the trio behind them. She could see Lincoln visibly tense.
Right, so that's what Octavia wasn't saying earlier. They're either together or screwing. Or both.
Grace keeps her gaze on the trees, fingers twisting around each other as a pit grew in her stomach. She couldn't help the small glance she sent down towards where Bellamy and the others were. Bellamy was already staring at her. The girl purses her lips slightly, watching as he gave a slight nod of his head to tell her he had her back, but it didn't seem to calm her nerves. Something wasn't right.
There was another sound coming from the other side of the bridge, but it didn't sound like footsteps. It sounded like. . . Galloping? The group watches as three, large horses emerge from the trees on the other side. Grace couldn't help the amazed smile that spread across her face. She's only ever seen them in books she used to read to Avalon in their complex.
The smile is immediately wiped off of her face and covered in her emotionless facade when she catches sight of the two men wearing completely what she believed was leather. Oh, and also the giant weapons attached to their chests.
The woman on the horse in the middle was also wearing only black— Grace was starting to wonder if they had even seen other colours before— with long streaks of what Grace thinks is war paint. She holds a threatening gaze on Grace for just a moment, then turns it back to Clarke, Lincoln and the others. Grace forces herself not the tense up at this, trying to seem like she wasn't bothered by it at all. She couldn't show that she was afraid of what could happen to her friends, she had to pretend not to care.
The woman held some sort of impressive authority around her, one that both Bellamy and Clarke had as well. She was obviously the leader of the grounders.
"Hey, we said no weapons," Finn jogs towards Lincoln, his eyes flickering between Lincoln and the horses. Grace follows a couple feet behind him, her face remains passive. She watches the woman curiously, taking in the way the woman did the same to both her and Clarke. It must've been an attempt at making the girls nervous— and it worked — but neither of them would ever let her know that.
"I was told there wouldn't be," Lincoln turned around, catching sight of the weapons in their hands. He seemed betrayed, which Grace understood. If she had been told there was going to be no weapons, then there better be no damn weapons. . .
Well, she was being hypocritical but Finn would get over it.
"It's too late now," Clarke says, turning back to Finn and Grace. Slowly, Clarke's hand wrapped around Grace's for reassurance. Finn and the two start forward, only to be stopped when Lincoln held an arm out to stop Finn in his tracks.
"They go alone," Lincoln says. Grace's stomach drops as she feels Clarke's grip tighten.
"We'll be fine," Grace tells the others, already keeping her voice from wavering. The way it came out sounded like she was almost bored and she couldn't tell if anyone saw how scared she really was. Well, besides Octavia who bit her lip and sent her a knowing look. Clarke just seemed to be relieved that one of them could remain brave until this meeting was over, no matter how it ended.
"Clarke—"
"Hey, it's time to do better," Clarke tells Finn who just nods grimly. Slowly, Grace tugs on the girls hand and pulls her slightly away from the boy. They had to do this now, they were wasting time. The redhead turns towards where the grounders wait, her eyes squinting slightly as she watches the woman from before climb down from her horse easily, confirming her suspicion that she was in fact the leader.
She plops down beside the horse, her fierce and curious gaze never leaving the two. She stalks towards them as the girls do the same. Grace finds herself lifting her chin slightly and moving forward in small strides. If she wanted to seem tough, she figured she had to look it.
Clarke and Grace stop directly in front of the woman, exactly in the middle on the bridge. Grace crosses her arms over her chest, watching the grounder with curious eyes. She finds a flare of panic flare through her chest when Clarke's hand bumps against her thigh, a sign that Clarke was wiping her sweaty palms on her pants in case she needed to do something.
Grace never lets the grounder see it.
"Your names are Clarke and Grace?" The woman's voice is firm and smooth/
"Yes."
"I'm Anya," she introduces herself. Clarke nods, holding her hand out towards the grounder leader. There's a pause of uncomfortable silence as the woman stares at Clarke's hand with a stoic expression. Clarke pulls her hand away awkwardly as Grace inwardly cringed. This was going lovely already.
"I think we got off to a rough start," Clarke begins. Grace could feel herself mentally facepalm. A rough start? Seriously, Clarke? Was she trying to get them killed? "But we want to find a way to live together in peace."
Anya's lip curls back into a second lasting smirk, then it drops. "I understand. You started a war that you don't know how to end."
"What? No. We didn't start anything," Grace tells the grounder, speaking up for the first time since being in the presence of the her. "You attacked us for no reason."
"No reason?" Anya steps forward, her voice raising. "The missiles you launched burned a village to the ground."
Confused, Clarke sends Grace a look. "The flares?"
"No. That was a signal meant for our families. We had no idea—"
"You're invaders," Anya spits. "Your ship landed in our territory."
"We didn't know anyone was here," Clarke explains. "We though the ground was uninhabited."
"You knew we were here when you sent an armed raiding party to capture one of us and torture him," Anya sneers. Clarke's gaze flickers down slightly. "These are all acts of war."
Clarke nods. "I see your point. That's why we need to put an end to all of this."
Anya crosses her arms. "Lincoln said there are more of you coming down, warriors."
"The guard, yes, but also farmers, doctors, engineers," Grace tells her, though Anya doesn't seem pleased. Another flicker of panic in her chest. "We can help each other, but not if we're at war."
"Can you promise that these new arrivals won't attack us, that they'll respect the terms you and I agree on?"
"I promise I will do everything I can to convince them to honour the terms that we set," Clarke says.
Wait— what? Clarke. You just killed us.
"Why would I agree to an alliance that your people can break the moment they get here?" Anya asks, sounding even angrier than she was when she first arrived.
"If you fire the first shot, those people coming down won't bother negotiating," Grace warns. "Our technology— they will wipe you out."
Anya doesn't miss a beat. "They wouldn't be the first to try."
"They're gonna shoot! Clarke, Grace, run!" Jasper suddenly shouts from the bottom of the bridge. "Run!"
Anya rips a blade from her jacket in one quick movement. She raises her arm to send the blade into Grace's chest when a bullet flies through her shoulder blade, successfully stopping her.
"Clarke, get down!"
Realization hits Grace before she tackles Clarke to the ground and away from an arrow. The arrow instead slices through the skin on Grace's thigh, then embeds itself into the bridge beside it. Grace lets out a cry of pain, then grunts and rolls onto her stomach. She catches sight of Clarke who is staring at her in shock and grief. She nods her head in thanks before her head whips around to stare at the long-haired boy already running their way.
"Finn, get back!" Clarke cries, but he doesn't listen. Instead, he runs forward and pulls the girl into a standing position as arrows continue to fly past the two. Grace rips the arrow from the fabric of her pants, rolling to the side and narrowly missing an arrow to the face. Her eyes widen in shock for just a second before she pulls herself into a crouching position beside the bridge wall.
"Grace!" Clarke calls, turning back momentarily as she noticed the girl wasn't behind her.
"Just go!" She screams back, watching as Clarke and Finn met up with Octavia and Lincoln, the ladder appearing to be limping now. She doesn't have time to see what happens next when she turns and sees an arrow flying straight towards her face. Her eyes widen and her hand snaps out, her head ducking and the arrow splicing through the skin on her arm. She grunts, the arrow lodges itself into the area her head just was.
Large hands wrap around her biceps and pull her into a standing position, steadying her. She stares up at Lincoln's dark eyes for a moment before he's shoving her in the direction the others disappeared to.
"Go! Make sure Octavia is okay!"
Grace finds herself nodding before she even realizes what is happened. She breaks through the tree line and out of sight, her hands flying out in front of her in a blind panic. She crashes into a strong build and she would've been on the ground had it now been for them wrapping an arm around her waist. "We have to go!"
Bellamy wraps a hand around hers, pulling her forward and toward camp. She could feel her chest and body burn in exhaustion but the adrenaline from almost being shot with an arrow kept her weaving through the trees gracefully. She hadn't even remembered running for long before they were back at camp, despite it being light when they started and dark now.
Grace grunts as she stops next to Clarke, bending over to take a look at her leg. It was bleeding profoundly from the small wound but it was nothing compared to the water snake bite from before. She'd just need it bandages, maybe a stitch or two if they had them— which they didn't.
She pulls her jacket off and throws it to the ground, beginning to poke and prod at the slice on her forearm. It wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be which was a huge relief. It would only need a bandage as well.
"You got something to say?"
Grace's head snaps to Bellamy who's watching Finn intently.
"Yeah. I told you no guns!"
"We told you we couldn't trust the grounders, we were right!" Clarke spat.
"Why didn't you tell me what you were up to?" Raven demanded, watching Finn with a hurt look. Grace felt bad for the girl. She deserved better than that assbutt.
"I tried, but you were too busy making bullets for your gun."
"You're lucky she brought that!" Bellamy shouted at the boy. "They came there to kill you, Finn."
"You don't know that! Jasper fired the first shot!" Finn shouts, pushing a finger at his face. Grace tenses though she's not sure why.
"You ruined everything," Octavia panted, glaring at Jasper before turning away and running into camp.
"I saved you!" Jasper screamed after her, scoffing and storming away straight after. "You're welcome."
"Well, if we weren't at war already, we sure as hell are now," Finn says. "You didn't have to trust the grounders. You just had to trust me."
Finn shoves past Clarke with Raven following. Grace let's out a sigh, holding her pants up slightly so it wouldn't rub up against the wound.
"Like, I said, best Unity Day ever," Bellamy rolls his eyes. A booming sound is heard up above and the trio look up, catching sight of the falling exodus ship. "The exodus ship?"
Grace's brows furrow. "Your moms early."
Clarke chuckles, growing a smile. Grace's face drops as she takes in the ship. "Wait. It's going too fast."
"No parachute? Something's wrong," Clarke says quickly. The trio watch in horror as the ship crashes straight down into a mountain not too far away, creating a massive amount of fire and smoke in the air. "Oh my god."
Grace catches Clarke as she falls to her knees, holding her close as she lets out a strangled sob, holding back her own tears.
Abby Griffin was dead.
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Poor Clarke :(.
Also, #leaveGracesthighsalone2k17. Seriously, first the water snake and now an arrow? God!
Comment, vote, whatever the hell you want.
Gif | Grace walking towards Anya