Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The future's not bright. It's total chaos. Destruction all around. When did the world become like this you might ask?

The world changed forever on May 10, 2052. In 2051, the Eligius Corporation started experimenting with mutations. The division that was working with mutations in the human system was called Polaris. Among them was a researcher that was named Becca Franko. She was among many others experimenting with mutations.

Now, what exactly are mutations? Well, the eye color blue is a mutation. The hair colors red and blond are mutations as well. The Polaris division wanted to find a way to trigger mutations in the human system. Potentially, push humans in the way of evolution. Becca Franko was a genius. She had worked for only a year on the project when she discovered and made Nightblood.

Nightblood was a serum that when it was injected into human bone marrow would mutate the human DNA sequence and unleash full human potential.

Before we get into what full human potential is, we have to keep in mind that just like not all humans have the gene of creating blue eyes, not all humans have the gene to interact with Nightblood.

Also keep in mind that the eye color blue is much rarer than the eye color brown, for example. Why should we think about this? Well, Nightblood when injected mutates humans to have superpowers. Yes, you heard right, superpowers. This discovery was groundbreaking! Becca had created a way to jumpstart a key evolutionary point for humans by unleashing their full potential.

When the news came out into the world, however, not everyone was happy about it. As stated before, not everyone had the DNA to have a superpower. This is when nations all around the world started to share their opinion on the discovery. Somewhere ready to evolve and change, others were not.

Many backlashed and protested further research to be made on Nightblood. These nations struggled with many questions. Questions like: What if criminals in jail suddenly got superpowers? What if regular people suddenly got super strength and decided to rob a bank, or worse? What if the leader of one country had powers while the opposing countries didn’t?

While the Eligius Corporation struggled to figure out how to handle the politics, Becca was invested in her work. She was so invested that she injected herself with Nightblood. Although Becca had above-average intelligence so to speak, her mutation power was super smarts. Her mind worked faster than any mind the world had ever seen. With her advanced abilities, she found a way to turn Nightblood into a serum that you could just drink and the Nightblood would activate your potential power.

However, that very important fact never reached the public. On May 9, 2052, a group opposed to this discovery and change called The Mountain Men, broke into the Polaris facility with the intent to dispose and rid the world of Nightblood.

These Mountain Men were under the impression that the Nightblood serum had to be injected into bone marrow for it to work. So, convenient for them, the Eligius corporation ran the world’s most efficient water supply that supplied the whole world.

Now, why didn’t The Mountain Men just burn the place to the ground? Nightblood was inflammable. This led them to the brilliant idea of dumping all the nightblood into the world’s water supply. Not only would it all get destroyed but it would make a powerful political statement and shame the Eligius Corporation. Or so they thought. Though it did make a powerful political statement and bring shame to the Eligius Corporation, the nightblood was not destroyed.

Instead, the newly adapted Nightblood mixed quite nicely with the water. By morning, May 10, 2052, to be exact, the world had changed forever. Almost everyone around the world, billions of people, had initially ingested Nightblood. Even though billions had ingested Nightblood, only a fifth percent of the world had evolved.

That’s when the whole world went into panic mode. In this world, what people don’t understand, they fear.

The people with powers were called many names: mutants, metahumans, powered people, etc. In general, they all meant one thing: different. And different is bad. Always has been, always will be.

So what did the world do when they realized there were people with powers who were stronger, faster, smarter, and more evolved than them?

They went to war naturally.

But we don’t have to get into all that bloodshed and hatred. We all know how wars start and end. They start with anger and end with death. So. Much. Death.

Powered people sided with others like them brought together by what they were feared for. The fighters with powers were called Trikru.

The specifics of superpowers are a bit complicated. Let's dive into the facts.

Just like everyone has different DNA and is unique, every power is the same. No one has the same power. Although just like your DNA is close to that of your family, there might be powers that are similar to that of your own, but they are all different. No power repeats. Some people theoretically can have more than one power, but that is the rarest of rare occurrences and only one person has ever been confirmed to have two. Also, if your parents have abilities, there is a higher chance you will be born with a power. Just like you are born with your hair color, you are born with your power and it grows as you grow.

This being said, we continue with the chaos that followed in 2052.

After the longest of years, the fighting ceased. How? you ask.

The Lightbrone family.

The Lightbrones worked for the Eligius Corporation. They were a family of unmutated people and had the strongest hate toward those who had superpowers. The Lightbrone’s were set on ending the war around them.

Working together, Russell and Josephine Lightbrone invented: the Enforcer. The Enforcer is a machine that can detect people with powers and fight them. Enforcers are made of the strongest metal in the world. Since they are machines, they are disposable but they were indeed created by the Lightbrone’s who made them as indestructible as possible.

With that, the Eligius Corporation was set to fix the problem it started. As the Enforcers got sent out into the destruction around the world, they gathered up as many Trikru as they could find and took them by force to the Eligius capital called Sanctum.

There, they are tortured and experimented on to this day. Trikru had no choice but to retreat and go into hiding. They accepted there was no way to win the war and assumed defeat but swore that one day they would be victorious, no matter how far into the future that was.

The new era with Enforcers roaming and collecting all people who walked free was labeled as The Reform. The Reform is composed of Eligius scientists and Mountain Men warriors. However, The Reform has an enemy: The Resistance. The Resistance is said to be composed of Trikru warriors and has been expanding slowly with anyone who disagrees with the ways of The Reform.

However, The Resistance is more just a myth of hope. There have been no real reports of an actual Resistance and The Reform denies knowing of any such “Resistance.”

And what of Becca Franco?

After the big scandal, Becca’s power drove her mad and pushed her over the edge. She spent her last remaining time creating ALLIE 2. No one knows specifically what ALLIE was supposed to do because before Becca got the chance to unleash it, The Reform had found her and burnt her at the stake in Sanctum in public for her mistakes. It was horrible and inhuman, but it happened.

The Reform used the Enforcers to round up all metahumans. If the powered people resisted, they were authorized to kill. Then, this spread to not only those with superpowers but anybody and everybody. This left many, many children orphaned. The orphaned children were taken in by the Eligius corporation that soon controlled all the schools.

Bill Cadogan was the one who created the idea to form a new system of education. His daughter, Callie, rebelled for she was powered and disagreed with everything her father stood for. She was the leader of the Trikru during the war.

With all this being said, countries around the world such as Arkadia, Walden, Phoenix, Polaris, Tondc, The North, and many more are struggling to rebuild their broken and orphaned countries. The world is…

“That’s enough,” the girl said as she sighed and turned off the television. She got off the couch and stretched. She shook out her legs and threw the remote to the spot of the couch where she had just been sitting moments before.

“I swear every house has that damn documentary,” she sighed. “I bet I could recite it word for word.” She turned, gasped, and pulled out her dagger as she caught her reflection in a mirror hanging on the wall. She hadn’t expected to see anyone in the empty, abandoned house, even if it was just her reflection. She placed that dagger back on her side and returned her gaze to the mirror. It had been a while since she had seen her reflection. Days? Weeks? Months? Years? She didn’t know. The days all blurred together and it was rare to find mirrors that weren’t shattered into a thousand pieces. So, she took a moment to admire her reflection. Her blonde hair was tied back in a messy braid and lots of loose locks had fallen framing her face. Her blue-green eyes were bright and wide. Light pink lips parted, breathing a little heavier than usual due to her elevated heart rate. Her skin was porcelain white and dirty. All of her was a bit dirty, in fact, but that was just her life. She looked away. She never liked looking at herself.

“Okay, Clarke,” she said to herself. “Today is Saturday, September 13, 2149. Just another day.” She looked one last time at the shell of a house she had broken into.

“Another day,” she repeated to herself. Though something told her today would be different. A feeling really. This made her a little more on edge than usual. That’s when she heard the electronic hum of… Oh no!

She looked down at the watch she always wore on her left wrist. She had no idea where she had gotten it from, but for some reason, she never took it off. A feeling deep down told her it was of value. She had been wearing it for as long as she could remember. It was also nice to know the time of the day.

“Shoot!” she exclaimed quietly. She had accidentally stayed longer than she normally would’ve. And now, the Enforcers were already roaming this part of Walden.

She had to get out now! Fast and quietly if she wanted to live another day.

Chapter Text

So, she worked her way through the house to find and leave through the back door and escape towards the alley and find her way home. Well, “home” wasn’t exactly a home. Home to Clarke was a huge abandoned library. She stayed there because Enforcers checked houses and alleys but never thought to check places such as restaurants, movie theaters, or libraries. Clarke also loved her library. Growing up as an orphan in the streets of Walden after she escaped the clutches of the cult-like school system and the experimental facilities of the Eligius corporation that both take in any and all orphans, Clarke had run to the edge of Walden and found the perfect place to live. The library had many, many stories composed of sitting areas, sleeping areas, and wash areas. It was practically a hotel. It was one of those fancy libraries for the rich and elite before… well… you know. 

Also, the library had books! So many books! And Clarke adored learning and reading. Throughout her whole life there, she could proudly say she has read every book in that library. That is how she got her “education.” She had self-taught herself everything a regular school would fail to teach. Clarke was smart and she picked things up very quickly. She had a very analytical mind and she prided herself for it. She was 17 right now but by the time she was 13 she had completed all school. The library had textbooks from grades zero to college. She had followed the old curriculum written in the books at her own pace. 

She was well versed in every language the library had to offer. Again, she self-taught herself every language she could get her hands on. Languages that were used all around the world and even dead languages like Latin and the language created by Trikru, Trigedasleng (which translates to "forest language"), was her personal favorite since it was based on Latin. 

After she finished her “home-schooling”, she moved on to reading every book in the library. She had all the time in the world after all. Her days consisted of going out to find old cans of food that never expired in the abandoned houses then reading and exercising. This routine gave her lots of time to do what she wanted. 

And one of her favorite things to do was read. Her favorite books were books on medicine and books on combat.  She loved to learn about every type of medical practice she could get her hands on. Lots of the time whenever she was out searching for food, she would gather plants and medical supplies. She would use them to heal animals and herself whenever she would get hurt. Books on combat were her main source of exercise. 

She was very proficient in any and every type of fighting known to history such as martial arts, karate, kung fu, krav maga, judo, jiu-jitsu, etc. She had even found an old punching bag in an abandoned gym and brought it to her library to learn boxing. Though she didn’t have real people to practice all her fighting styles on, she found a way to make it work. 

All in all, she was most naturally gifted at healing and parkour. Both were extremely helpful in the type of life she lived. Besides reading, her favorite thing to do was art. She absolutely loved to draw. Though art supplies were extremely hard to come by, she tried her best to find them and spent lots of her time sketching. 

So that was the home she was thinking about escaping to as she exited the back of the house and turned the corner knowing all the streets by heart. Her mind didn’t even have to think about where she was going because her legs moved for her. 

As she was making her way through the streets, however, she heard a loud scream. Her feet stopped automatically at the heart-wrenching scream. Without thinking, her feet moved her toward where the scream was coming from. As she carefully stuck her head out to see around the damp alley, her heart clenched as she saw a girl crumpled on the floor. Although it was dark, Clarke could see the girl had dark raven-colored hair tied up in a messy ponytail. Her skin was the color of brown sugar and her eyes were dark brown and wild with fear. She was wearing a bright orange-red jacket that was stained with grease and dirt. That’s when Clarke’s heart momentarily stopped as she saw the Enforcer slowly creep out of the corner with a gun arm pointed at the girl on the floor.

“No!” the girl cried as she forced her body to break out of its fear and crawl back. Clarke knew what was going to happen and she knew she couldn’t stand by and watch. So, she needed to act quickly if she was to help the poor girl on the floor. She took out the emergency rocks that she always carried. They were used as objects that could be thrown to distract the Enforcer momentarily. And that’s exactly what she did. She threw it down the opposing alley where it collided with trash cans that fell like dominoes. The loudness of the crashes moved the Enforcer's attention to the alley. 

And at that moment, Clarke ran to the girl, lifted her up, grabbed her arm, and practically dragged the girl down the other alley. The Enforcer had taken too much time to examine the trash cans and was confused when it turned back and saw the girl from before was missing. From where the Enforcer was standing it had three alley choices to choose to follow down. One of the allies was the one it just checked so that left two. Given where the girl was located moments before the logical choice would be the closest one which was on the left. Which is why it went down that alley and exactly why Clarke ran with the girl into the farthest remaining alley. 

Also, unlike the Enforcer, Clarke knew the streets. Sure, the Enforcers had maps digitally installed in them, but they were rather outdated and there were always unexpected roadblocks. 

“Ow!” the girl cried out as Clarke grabbed for her other arm to steer her down another maze of streets. This made Clarke pause. Just as the girl cried out, Clarke felt something sticky and thick on her left hand. She turned a sharp corner and hid in the small remains of a candy store.

“What’s wrong?” Clarke asked.

“What’s wrong?!” the girl practically shouted exasperatedly. 

“Shhh!” Clarke hushed. She didn’t know how far away the Enforcer was. 

“Sorry,” the girl said, exhausted. “Um, it's my left arm. The Enforcer cut it with its sword when I was trying to escape. It hurts like hell.”

“I’d be surprised if it didn’t,” Clarke responded as she took the girl’s left arm in her hands and examined the large gash bleeding heavily. “You’re losing a lot of blood,” Clarke continued. “I have to get this cleaned and stitched as soon as possible. I’m sorry, but we are almost at my hideout. Can you make it a few more minutes?” Clarke asked, looking up to meet the girl’s pained eyes.

“Yeah. I can,” she said, determined and strong. “I’m Raven, by the way,” she added with a small smile.

“Raven,” Clarke repeated. Fits, she thought to herself, thinking back to her raven black hair she had seen in the dimly lit alley. 

“I’m Clarke,” she replied with a smile of her own in response. For some reason, Clarke didn’t feel the need to conjure up a fake name. 

“Okay, Clarke. I’m ready. Lead the way,” Raven said with determination.

Chapter Text

With that, Clarke turned to leave the store with Raven close on her tail. Clarke stuck her head out to double-check there was no other movement out in the streets and when she decided it was clear, she turned to face Raven and nodded giving the “okay.”

A few minutes later, Clarke and Raven had arrived at the library. Clarke went in the lead yet again and made her way up to the third floor where the living quarters were. This was where she kept her medical supplies and other “personal” belongings. 

She led Raven to sit on one of the many unoccupied beds and went to go get the tools she needed.

When she returned, Raven was looking awfully pale for her dark complexion and looked to be on the verge of passing out. 

“Hey,” Clarke said as she pulled up a chair in front of the bed and got out a towel she had soaked in water moments before. 

“Hey,” Raven said in return with a tired smile.

“So, I’m going to clean the wound, then disinfect it with alcohol, and after I’m going to stitch it up,” Clarke said in what hopefully was a lighthearted tone. 

“Oh yeah,” Raven said unconvinced by her light tone. “What’s the catch?”

“Can’t get anything past you,” Clarke said with a small laugh. 

“Nope,” Raven said with a laugh of her own.

“Well, it’s going to hurt like hell,” Clarke replied truthfully. “And you’re most likely going to pass out from blood loss or pain.”

“Dang,” Raven said. “Alright, get on with it.”

And so, Clarke began working through the process. Just after she had cleaned the wound and started to pour some medical alcohol on the wound, Raven let out an ear-splitting cry then almost immediately after passing out. 

“Well then,” Clarke said to herself. “At least now I can work without fear of hurting her too much.” It was always easier to work on an unconscious subject. She had learned that from some very squeamish animals she had treated before. 

Try and heal the cat, you get the claws. 

While Clarke was in the process of finishing Raven’s stitches, her mind drifted to recount the events of the night. Clarke had never throughout her whole life on the outskirts of Walden come across another person. People never came all the way out here. She wondered what had happened that made it so that Raven had found herself out here. 

Clarke’s body was exhausted, but her mind was racing. Hopefully, she could ask Raven tomorrow all the questions her mind was creating. 

After Clarke washed her blood-stained hands and carefully put all her medical supplies away, she fell into bed, and almost immediately after, she fell asleep.

Chapter Text

In the morning, Clarke awoke to a still sleeping Raven. She had practically forgotten what had happened the night before, but it all rushed back to her like a tidal wave when her eyes fell on the sleeping form of the girl. 

Clarke decided to make breakfast for the two of them so that when Raven awoke she could regain some of her lost strength. Clarke busied herself with making her world-class, canned food, breakfast. While she was making breakfast, her mind composed a mental list of the questions she wanted to ask Raven and in what order would be the most suitable for it not to seem like an interrogation. 

When she came back to the sleeping quarters, she found Raven seated up examining Clarke’s handiwork on her arm. 

“Hey,” Clarke said.

“Geez!” Raven exclaimed and she put her right hand over her heart and turned to stare at Clarke with wild eyes. “You scared the hell out of me, Clarke!” 

Clarke laughed. “Sorry,” she responded sheepishly. 

“I didn’t even hear you enter the room! You’re like a freaking ninja!”

Clarke laughed again in response. “I made breakfast. How’s the arm?” Clarke asked. First question, check. Make a comfortable environment before starting the interrogation. 

“It hurts like hell,” Raven replied with a sigh. “The stitches are perfect though. I was admiring them before you gave me a heart attack.”

“I said I was sorry!” Clarke exclaimed exasperated. “I’m not used to having, well, company. I didn’t know I had to announce my arrival by walking heavily.”

Now Raven laughed. Clarke had pulled up a small coffee table and her chair from yesterday up to Raven’s bedside and started eating. 

“I know it’s not much, but I don’t have much,” Clarke said to her plate. 

“No, no! It’s perfect, thank you so much! Seriously, I don't deserve your hospitality! I mean, seriously, Clarke, thank you for everything! Thank you for saving my life, then healing me, and feeding me. I don’t deserve any of it,” Raven replied sadly. “You don’t even know me and you’re being so nice to me.”

“Well then tell me about yourself. Let me get to know you,” Clarke said. Yes! Clarke thought. What a perfect opportunity to learn about her. 

Raven sighed. “Alright. You’re probably wondering how I got myself into that… situation. And what I’m doing all the way out here. And how I got here.”

As a matter of fact, yes, very much so, Clarke thought to herself. But she simply just nodded. 

“Well,” Raven began, “I’m an orphan, and I was taken by the Eligius Corporation at the age of 5 when both my parents died. I spent my entire life in one of their brainwashing schools, but I never bought into that crap.” She proceeded to roll her eyes. “Anyways, when I was 17, I was going to be transferred to a facility factory-thing because they realized I'm the best mechanic that ever lived,” she said with a proud smile. “Yeah, throughout my schooling years I always had this fascination of building and fixing things, and I was extremely gifted at it. So, when I was about to turn 18, they decided I was ready to be shipped off to work for them. But, I was not excited about that. At. All. So, I planned my escape,” she smiled mischievously. “I spent my remaining days at the school planning and building a mini laser.” She paused to display her right wrist to me. On that wrist was a bracelet of shorts. Clarke raised her eyebrows at Raven silently asking, “What about it?”  

Raven’s face broke a big smile as she removed the bracelet and turned it in her hand to show Clarke a small red button. Raven pressed it, and as a pocket knife would, the bracelet changed shape into a straight line. Raven then pressed on an orange button and a small laser was shown. “This laser allowed me to laser through any door, lock, window, wherever I found myself. And let me tell you, did that come in handy. They decided to transport me in the back of the van and didn’t bother to check me for ‘weapons.’ I was alone in the back cuffed to the bench. But, with quick work from my laser, I uncuffed myself and lasered through the lock on the back of the van. I proceeded to escape by calculatingly jumping out of the van at the perfect time so the drivers wouldn’t detect my absence. It worked like a goddamn charm! Then, I ran. On the run, I realized I was somewhere in Walden because I knew they were planning on driving me to Phoenix. I tried my best to stay hidden and found myself unconsciously edging to the edge of the town knowing it was inhibited. Then one day, I stumbled upon an Enforcer. And, here we are,” Raven finished and used her right hand to gesture to her surroundings. 

Clarke took a moment to process the information Raven had just shared. There was no reason to lie about what she had gone through. Raven didn’t even have to tell Clarke anything if she was being honest with herself. But why lie? Why lie? By Raven’s passionate recount of her life, Clarke had no reason to doubt her. 

“Here we are,” Clarke repeated. She decided that she trusted Raven. Raven was genuine and funny and charismatic. Clarke liked these traits and to still have so much energy in a world like this was rare and Clarke didn’t want Raven’s character to change because she thought Clarke was suspicious of her. Because the truth was, she wasn’t suspicious of her.   

“So that’s my tale,” Raven said as she began to eat the food laid out in front of her. By this time, it was a bit cold. “I would like to know yours. My mysterious lifesaver.”

“Alright,” Clarke decided. “That’s only fair.” She breathed in and exhaled. “I don’t remember the beginning of my life at all.”

This is not what Raven was expecting to hear and she dropped her fork and it clattered onto her plate. Her eyebrows knit together in confusion and she asked, “What do you mean?”

“As far as I know, my life began when I was 8. I don’t remember anything before that at all. It's completely blank. The Eligius Corporation found me on the streets, unconscious, in a pool of blood. At least, that’s what I was told. They interrogated me, an 8-year-old, to try and figure out what happened and who I was. But I had no memory of anything. The only thing I knew was my name and I wasn't even sure if it was my name. I told them what I thought my name was and that is what I proceeded to be called. When they finally came to their senses and realized they couldn’t get anything out of me if I didn't remember anything, they proceeded to run experiments on me. They messed with my mind and tried to figure out what was wrong with it. There were so many theories to what happened, but they were just theories. They did a lot of horrible things. They pushed my mind to the limit. It was horrible.” Clarke had to pause thinking back to the horrible things they did to her at such a young age. All while her mind was still growing. She shuddered as she relieved the memories that caused her so many sleepless nights, nightmares, and waking up screaming. It was scaring. 

While she had been telling her story, her eyes had drifted away from Raven’s face and fallen to the floor below her. She looked up into Raven’s eyes who were staring back at her wide with horror, shock, and something else… something like regret. 

“Clarke, I’m so sorry,” Raven whispered, struggling for words. Though Clarke hadn’t told Raven what exactly they had done to her, she could tell Raven had an idea. 

“Anyway,” Clarke said, shaking her head as if to shake off the memory, “Since I don’t have any memories, I don’t know when my birthday is. But I could tell I had been there for a few months. I decided I had enough and that I needed to escape no matter how much strength or planning it took. The experiments got less intense over time and I slowly started gaining my strength back. I won’t discuss the full details of my escape, but I did escape! And I ran! I… overheard… that I was in the area of Phoenix and that Walden was the closest wasteland of a place at the edge of its city limit. With that information, I headed to the outskirts of the city and stumbled upon this place,” Clarke exhaled as she gestured to the library enclosing the girls. 

“Then, I made a life for myself. I estimated I was about 9 and began teaching myself everything. I have read every single book in this library. I know every language, every form of combat, everything about medicine, all history… pretty much everything provided here,” Clarke finished with a smile and she looked side to side around her comfortable home. 

“Wow,” Raven exhaled. “That’s quite a story and quite a life. So… you’ve been alone out here for… what? 8 years?” Raven asked, guessing at her age.

“Yup,” Clarke replied.

“You can’t remember anything from before the age of 8?” Raven inquired.

“Yeah,” Clarke sighed. 

“Wow,” Raven repeated. 

Clarke took a second to mentally go over her options. She could kick Raven out and make her fend for herself in this cruel world and be alone again. Or, she could welcome Raven into her lifestyle and finally not be alone. And even have a friend. 

“Want to go outside?”

Chapter Text

“Aren’t there gonna be Enforcers outside? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather stay inside. You know, where it’s safe,” Raven had declared. 

“Nope. During this time of the day, they are in other parts of Walden. They only patrol out here when it gets dark,” Clarke had replied. 

“Alright…” Raven had said unsurely.

An Hour Later

Wow , Raven thought. She did a slow full 360 turn to take in her surroundings in the light of day. It looked like an atomic bomb had hit the city. Lots of the buildings were surprisingly still standing but looked as if they were breathed on a little too roughly, they would collapse. Her mechanical mind was on fire admiring these old structures around her. She was so lost in thought, she hadn’t realized at first that Clarke had called her name. 

“Raven?” Clarke asked again, this time only a few paces away from herself. 

“Yes?” she replied. 

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, of course. I was just admiring… everything. So, what do you do when you’re out here?”

“Well, I mainly enter the houses and go in search of canned food that never expires-”

“No! I mean, what do you do for fun? What do you do to entertain yourself?”

“Oh! Sometimes when I enter the houses they have television sets and some of them still work. Some even broadcast the news! Here, I know one nearby.” With that, Clarke started walking and Raven followed with interest. 

When they arrived at a rather large house compared to the others, Raven wondered if this was where the wealthier class of Waldenites used to live. As she made her way into the house, she looked around, eagerly taking in everything she saw with keen interest. It was like the houses she had read about. She saw a living room, dining room, kitchen, and bedrooms. But she followed Clarke to the living room and sat beside her on the couch. The couch was surprisingly comfortable and plush and just as she sat on it, she practically melted into the fabric and she let out a squeal of joy. 

“In this particular house, I had to use my great mechanic skills,” Clarke stated sarcastically, “to get the TV working again. It took a long time, but it was worth it in the end because, as I said previously, this TV broadcast was live news! Fun fact, every house has this one documentary that talks about how our world came to be. I can practically recite it word for word. I've watched it sooo many times.”

Raven knew exactly what documentary she was talking about. Raven could probably guess every kid was forced to see it in school. After all, it was their history. It explained the reason why some kids were mutants and why others weren’t and who was to blame for it all: Becca Franko. However, Raven, unlike the other kids, always admired and looked up to Becca. She was a genius after all. Raven felt this connection to her even though she was long dead. 

Then Raven blurted out the question she had been holding in since she had had a conversation with Clarke. 

“Why haven’t you asked me if I’m a metahuman?” Raven asked quickly. 

Clarke had been surfing through channels trying to find the one she was looking for and stopped immediately when she processed her question. Raven watched as Clarke started intensely at the remote in her hand. Her blue-green eyes were fixed with thought. 

Then those intense colorful eyes looked directly at her brown ones and Raven couldn’t help but suck in a breath. Raven knew people didn’t always like talking about the subject of superpowers. After what felt like an hour passed by, Clarke spoke. 

“Because I don’t care. I don't care if you have abilities or not. I think that whether you have them or not shouldn’t determine how people perceive you. I believe that if someone wants to share the fact that they have superpowers, they should be able to choose whether they want to. Having superpowers doesn't define who you are. Everyone has a different view on the subject, and everyone is entitled to their opinions. We are all people. Why do we have to treat anyone differently for something they couldn’t help?”

Clarke couldn’t know this of course, but Raven took those words to heart. They hit home center. Raven had to break her locked gaze with Clarke. The words were too powerful. They both knew the subject was now dropped. Clarke returned her focus to the screen in front of her and Raven followed suit.

“Yes!” Clarke exclaimed. “I found the live news.”

Raven smiled at Clarke’s accomplishment. There was a woman reporter on screen. Her hair was black and shiny. Her skin was light and her eyes contrasted with being black like her hair. 

“I’m Cece,” the woman introduced herself on screen, “And I’m here with breaking news! Just a couple of hours ago, an Eligius van carrying 10 metahuman teenagers on the way to Sanctum was flipped over by an unknown force. All 10 teens escaped the custody of the van and are now on the run about Walden being apprehended by Enforcers. Our sources say that 7 of the teenagers have been captured, but the remaining three are still on the run being pursued by Enforcers. The three metas were last seen heading towards the outskirts of Walden-”

Clarke practically shot up off the couch. 

“We have to go!” she exclaimed. Shutting off the television and spinning on her heel to the front door of the house.

“Wait! Why?” Raven inquired, startled by Clarke’s sudden determination. 

“Didn’t you see the news?! Three idiot metahumans are bringing Enforcers here! We have to leave now and help them!” Clarke exclaimed. 

“Are you insane?!” Raven exclaimed. “The Enforcers could find us instead on their search for the other three and we would be captured or killed! Do you want a repeat of yesterday?”

“No, I don’t,” Clarke said softly. “But they are in trouble, just like you were yesterday. Would you rather leave them on their own or help them like I helped you?”

Clarke got Raven on that one. 

“Okay. What’s the plan?”

“Find them before the Enforcers do and take them to the safe house.”

Chapter Text

Raven and Clarke exited the house. Raven was trying to remember the path back to the library safe house so that if she met one of the mutants, she would be able to lead them to safety. After a few seconds of thinking it over, she was surprised to think that she actually knew the way back. There were more than a few landmarks that Raven had remembered. 

“Alright,” Clarke began, “we are only a few minutes away from the house. Since you don’t know the ground like I do, we need a way of finding our way back to each other once we get separated-”

“I know the way back,” Raven interrupted, confidently. She was ready to help the others as soon as possible thinking back to how terrified she had been when she was face to face with an Enforcer. 

Clarke studied Raven searching for any hint of unease in her face. But Raven could tell Clarke was satisfied and genuinely believed in Raven’s memory. 

“Well then, what are we doing standing here?” Clarke said with a playful smile. “Let's go save some lives!”

With that, Raven went left and Clarke went right. Raven wished she had her jacket with her because it always felt like her armor. Nevertheless, her senses felt alert. She was listening for any moment and any sign of distress. That’s when she heard a sound of struggle. A fight, she thought. It was coming from up ahead and she didn’t think for a second before she ran towards the sound of the fight. She was getting closer, and closer. The noises of struggle became more pronounced and she knew that after she rounded a few more corners she would see who needed help. So close, she thought. Just one more corner and- CRASH.

She didn’t know exactly what had happened. She knew she was on her back, on the ground. But before she fell, she had collided with something and that something had thrown her down. Her eyes had closed since she had hit her head against the ground and it was rather painful. She tried to sit upright when she suddenly felt the presence of another person on top of her. She opened her eyes to see piercing ice-blue eyes already staring at her face. His skin was light and his hair was brown. His jawline was sharp, like his other features. Raven couldn’t help being entranced by the angles of his face. He was very attractive. But she couldn’t pay any attention to that right now. 

“What the hell!?” she yelled at him. She snapped out of her trance and her head was now working properly. She realized that as she was turning the corner, this guy must’ve been turning the same corner from the opposite direction and crashed into her falling on top of her pulling her down with him.

“Woah there! Calm down!” he said with amusement in his voice at her outburst. However, he didn’t move his position. He was wearing different shades of gray, but all gray. His long sleeve shirt was a lighter gray than his dark-grey jeans. His hands were bare and were at either side of her hips, but not touching her. 

“You think this is funny?!” she said as she shoved his hard, muscular chest to get him to move. To this contact, he immediately shot off her and backed away from her so quickly as if her physical touch felt like acid. He averted his eyes from her confused ones. He was looking at the floor now and shook his head violently like an attempt to shake off his thoughts. This made her extremely confused… and intrigued. Just a moment ago, he wouldn’t move off her and now he stood far away from her, almost looking afraid to be too close to her. 

Whatever, she thought. There are more important things to think about right now. 

“Are you one of the metahumans running from the Enforcers that escaped from The Reform van?” Raven promoted.

At this question, his eyes shot back to hers. 

“How do you know about that? Do you work for them?” he asked, beginning to take a step back ready to run.

“No!” she said, holding her hands up in surrender. “I saw it on the news. I… live here,” she said thinking about how technically this was her new home now. “My friend and I came out here as soon as we saw the news. We are here to help. We have a safe house that the Enforcers won’t find you guys in. I can take you there but you need to trust me,” she finished. 

He studied her. Those penetrating blue eyes examined her for her true intentions. That’s when they both heard the hum of an Enforcer coming from not too far away from where they were standing. 

“Now or never, dude,” she said, anxious to outrun that horrible humming noise. 

“Fine,” he said, giving in, shaking his head, clearly thinking he was going to regret his discussion. 

“Alright, follow me and don’t make any noise. My name’s Raven by the way,” she added as she poked her head around the corner to check the coast was clear, ready to make her way to the library. 

“Murphy.”

Chapter Text

Clarke had only shortly parted ways with Raven before she heard the distinct hum of the Enforcer. She knew it was looking for one of the three runaways and that if it was looking around here, one of them couldn’t be far. 

Knowing exactly where she was, she put herself in the position of a scared meta. She would’ve had two options. One, try and fight the Enforcer. Two, find a good hiding place. The second one was more likely. So she used her knowledge of the area to go through the process of elimination of the best and worst hiding places. 

That’s when the perfect spot came to mind. A few streets down there was this abandoned movie theater that had been extremely well boarded up making it easy to hide from body heat detection. It also had a very distinct opening that an Enforcer couldn’t fit though for it was too big. 

Perfect, she thought. 

So, she made her way in the direction of the theater with extreme stealth so it wouldn't give her position away. After all, she had done it a thousand times before. 

When she finally neared the theater so it was in sight, she made sure to double-check she wasn’t being followed. The Enforcers were smart and one would have chosen to follow her if it had caught sight of her but decided not to act because it wanted her to lead her to her companions. 

She heard and saw nothing and decided it was all clear. She made her way through the concealed, but obvious opening. 

Almost immediately, she ducked. Her instincts were extraordinarily quick. She felt the attack coming and drove into action. Just after she ducked, a large arm swung where her head used to be. She stopped and shot back up to grab the arm and flip over her attacker onto the floor of the theater, careful not to make too much noise. But he didn’t get the hint they needed to be quiet because he let out a loud groan. 

“Shhh!” she hissed. “You’re gonna give away our position!”

“What?!” the masculine voice asked in confusion. 

Clarke looked down at the guy on the floor. She could see in the dim light that he had dark brown skin and cropped black hair. His lips and nose were both wide and scrunched up. He was cute. His eyes were black-brown and stared at her with much surprise. She knew what he must’ve been thinking: How did this petite blonde girl pin him to the ground in one swift movement? Looking at him, she couldn’t help shake this feeling as if she knew him. 

“If I let you go, are you going to attack me again, or are you going to hear me out?” Clarke asked calmly and politely. 

His eyes grew even wider. “I-I’ll listen,” he said unsurely. She nodded and let go of his arm and he made sure to stay quiet so as not to get scolded again. 

“Listen, I’m here to help you. My name’s Clarke and I’m on your side. I’m here to get you away from the Enforcer to a safe house nearby where I reside with my friend, Raven. You can trust me,” she concluded looking directly into his eyes. 

“Okay,” he said shortly after. 

“Okay? That’s it? You trust me like that. No explanation as to how I knew where you were or why I want to help?” she asked, very confused. 

He signed and smiled as he shook his head and looked at the floor. “Let’s just say, I’m good at telling when people are lying and when they are being genuine,” was all he said.

“What? Is that your superpower or something?” she persisted. 

He laughed making sure to keep it quiet. “No,” he deadpanned. “This is,” and then he transformed into… into her! She gaped at him… no, she gaped at herself. She was looking at a replica of herself in front of her. Clarke smiled back at herself. Then she turned back into the guy from before still smiling at her gaping, speechless form. 

“That is why I’m good at telling when people are lying. Whenever I transform into someone else, people treat me differently and I got good at telling when people are lying and when they are being genuine. People treat you differently when you’re someone else and reveal more information to someone they trust,” he said.

“Wow,” was all she could manage to say. “That’s deep.” 

“My name’s Wells,” he stated. 

“Okay, Wells, ready to run for your life to safety?”

“Born ready,” he replied with an old saying. She couldn’t help laughing at that. Something about him was oddly familiar. 

And so, Clarke led the way into the light of the soon-to-be setting sun.

Chapter Text

Wells followed closely behind Clarke trying his best to keep his feet soundless. He noticed that she moved with stealth and purpose. She made no sound as she walked and her feet knew exactly where to lead them and where to step. His, not so much. 

He was curious as to why she was helping him but he knew her intentions were pure. She had taken him by surprise with her lightning speed reflexes and strength. But he knew by the way she had spoken that she cared and only wanted to help. He was so lost in thought that he tripped over a loose rock and almost fell but steadied himself at the last second. 

Clarke looked over at him with amusement etched into her features. She was extremely pretty, but not his type. And he could tell she felt the same way towards him. There would never be anything more than friendship in this relationship and he was looking forward to getting to know her and becoming good friends with her. He also had this weird feeling of familiarity when he saw her for the first time. 

Wells admired her courage and willingness to help a stranger who happened to be a mutant. He thought back of her face when he transformed into her. She looked so surprised, but there was something more than only surprise to see his power. He thought it was more of a surprise to see herself. She looked like she wanted to look away from herself, but couldn’t. He wondered what she had against her reflection. 

He was about to ask her when she stopped dead in her tracks. He followed suit automatically. That’s when he heard the hum. It was fast approaching and loud. It sounded like there were two of them. Wells felt his blood turn cold. 

“Run!” she exclaimed and they darted away from the right to the left only to be met by the second Enforcer. 

The Enforcer raised its arm that transformed into a blow torch and pointed it at the two. Just as it pulled the trigger and Wells was sure it was the end, but he never felt the fire enclose himself. 

He opened his eyes which he had closed on instinct and saw that the fire was bouncing off some sort of invisible shield. It wasn’t completely invisible, for there was a light blue hue to it. He looked at Clarke to see if she was the one doing this, but the surprised look of shock on her face told him his answer. 

Who was doing it then? he thought.

He turned around to see a guy wearing the same uniform of light gray shirt and dark gray pants with one of his arms outstretched. The arm that was held up had his fingers spread wide. His eyebrows were etched in concentration. He’s the one casting the field. The guy had just above shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes. His skin was light and though now his features were contorted in concentration. His face was also a little bruised like he had been in a struggle. 

Wells hadn’t realized he was staring in awe until the boy spoke.

“Anytime would be great for you two to move,” he said with strain. 

Wells turned to Clarke who was already looking at him and they both nodded and ran in the opposite direction. After the flame thrower ceased to work, the force field guy followed behind them. They ran into a large empty courtroom and caught their breaths.

“We can’t stay here for long,” Clarke said, taking a second to look around for a second exit they could use. Both boys heard but didn’t bother responding. 

Wells took this as his opportunity. 

“Thanks for saving our lives,” Wells said to him.

The boy gave the brightest smile Wells had ever seen in his life. 

“No problem,” he said, still smiling at Wells. “I’m Finn, by the way.”

“Finn,” Wells repeated. 

“And you are...” he began after Wells hadn’t replied with his name.

Stupid, Wells thought. I’m stupid. 

“My name’s Wells. And…” he turned away from Finn to spot Clarke. She was making her way back to them now with determined strides. “That’s Clarke,” he concluded, pointing at her form.

He looked up and his eyes caught Clarke’s who was looking at Wells and trying to hide a smile.  

“Clarke, this is Finn,” he introduced. “Finn,” Clarke said. Finn and Clarke shook hands formally and Wells couldn’t help but chuckle. He had only met Clarke a few minutes ago yet he had felt like he had known her his whole life. The way she raised her eyebrows and smiled encouragingly at Wells, knowing how awkward it was for him meeting people for the first time.  

“We should go,” Wells said, wanting an out to this introductory.

“I agree,” Clarke said, attempting to put her serious face back on. “I found another exit.” She turned at the two following behind her as she led the way to the exit. 

When they entered the outside world again, they got a few steps out before seeing all three Enforcers approach. Finn and Clarke both turned to run, but Wells stayed put. In fact, he walked towards the Enforcers. 

“Wells!” Clarke shouted at him.

“What are you doing?!” Finn yelled.

Then, Wells transformed into the first person that came to mind who had authority in The Reform. His father. Wells, in his father’s form, approached the Enforcers.

The Enforcers scanned Wells's form and bowed to him. 

“Thelonious Jaha,” the Enforcers said at the same time in their robotic voices.

“Enforcers,” he responded, voice even and unconcerned by their proximity. “I came out here to inform you that the three runaway metahumans have been apprehended by the guard and killed. There is no more need to look for them. You may retire back to Sanctum.”

“Yes, sir,” the Enforcers at the same time, again. They then turned and left with haste. 

After they were out of sight, Clarke and Finn ran up to him. He had now transformed back into his regular form and was standing in front of them taking in their expression. 

Clarke looked angry and Finn looked worried. 

His heart did a mini backflip as he realized they were scared for him. 

“Are you actually insane!?” Clarke shouted. “You couldn’t have known that was going to work!”

“No, but it did,” Wells replied calmly. He looked at Finn to back him up. 

But Finn said, “I gotta agree with Clarke on that one. You could’ve died,” he said, his eyes falling to the ground. Wells's heart lurched. He wasn’t used to having people care about him. And these were just people he had never known before today. 

“Clarke!” they heard a shout from a distance away.

“Raven!” Clarke called back to her. They ran to each other and hugged when they came into arms reach. 

Wells and Finn made their way towards the hugging girls and Wells caught another figure doing the same from the other direction. He was wearing the same outfit as himself and Finn and concluded him to be the other runaway. 

When all three boys reached the two girls, Wells could hear their conversation. 

“I was so worried about you!” Clarke said to the brown-skinned girl with glossy black hair tied up in a high ponytail. 

“Same here! I was on my way to help someone who sounded to be in a fight when this idiot,” she paused to gesture to the guy behind her, “ran into me. And I didn’t hear the fight anymore. Looks like it was you dude, though,” she said now gesturing to Finn. “Sorry I didn’t make it in time to help you out,” Raven said sincerely and Wells was touched by her kindness towards a stranger.

“That’s alright,” Finn said lightly. “I handled it myself. I’m Finn and this is Wells,” he said, nodding toward Wells. Wells felt those butterflies again. Finn didn’t have to introduce him. He would have introduced himself, but Finn did it anyway. 

“Nice to meet you,” she said with a nod to both of them. “I’m the famous Raven. I’m sure Clarke has mentioned me. And this is Murphy,” she said yet again gesturing to the guy behind her who had taken a step forward but was still hovering away from the group. 

Then Murphy said, “Now that all the introductions and pleasantries are over with, I would like to see that safe house now.”

Chapter Text

“A library,” Murphy scoffed.“Really?” he asked with an amused smile on his face. 

“Hey, if you would rather take your chances on your own, be my guest,” stated the blonde girl… Clara? Claire? Clarissa? He couldn’t remember. 

Murphy had followed the merry band of outcasts up to the third floor. There, he saw enough beds for everyone and more. 

Okay, they thought, this isn’t a complete dump of a place. He consciously kept his distance from the others.

“Wow,” one of the guys said. 

Wait, he could do this. He could remember his name. Ugh, what was it?! He should’ve paid attention. The only one of them he was sure he knew the name of was the girl Raven. 

Unconsciously, his eyes drifted to her. She was talking to the blonde one. He thought back to their meeting. 

He had literally run into her and tackled her to the ground. How could he have been so careless?! It was a miracle he hadn’t touched her skin. He couldn’t live with himself if he accidentally did. 

Then, not only did he run into her, he didn’t move his position off of her immediately. When he realized what he had done, he scolded himself. He couldn’t help but be infatuated by her. He had been in a trance as he stared at her closed eyes with long, thick, black lashes and beautiful face. Her brown skin and jet black hair sprawled around her head. 

When she opened her eyes, he was greeted with the richest brown color he had ever seen. He was so captivated by her, he hadn’t realized how close he was to her, and almost forgot about his power altogether. Keyword being: almost. When she shoved her hands against his chest, it came crashing back on him like a tidal wave. He needed to get away from her as soon as possible. If she had accidentally touched his skin… he shuddered at the thought. How could he have been so goddamn careless! 

“You okay, dude?” one of the guys asked. Murphy was clutching a bed frame so hard his knuckles were turning white. He looked up to find the guy with long hair… oh whatever the hell his name was … was standing only inches away. Murphy jerked back suddenly to create some distance between him and the other guy. 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m good,” he said, running a hand through his hair. The guy's eyebrows were knitted in confusion as Murphy’s sudden need to back away. 

“I’m a big fan of personal space,” Murphy said over exaggeratedly, and a bit too loudly. 

“Yeah, what’s up with that?” came a feminine voice from behind. He turned to see Raven with her arms crossed and her proximity a little too close for his liking with all the bare skin showing from her short sleeve shirt. 

“Uh, nothing,” Murphy replied, not paying attention to his answer. He was still looking at her arms as he unconsciously took a step back. He wished he had his gloves on, but he had to take them off to uncuff himself from the van cage. And after he did, he needed to get away as soon as possible. Meaning, he had to leave them behind. He would literally kill for a pair of gloves. 

“Uh-huh,” Raven replied unconvinced, for she had noticed how he had taken a step back. She took a step forward and he took one back. He was approaching the wall and he could feel it. She took another forward and he took another back. 

His back was now against the wall. 

She took another and another step forward and he blurted out, “You need to stop!” 

His voice was harsh and he could tell Raven’s brave demeanor had flickered for the tiniest of seconds at his tone, but it was back to the instate after. 

“Why?” she inquired. He could tell she was curious and wasn’t going to stop until she got an answer. 

At some point, the other girl and guy had walked over and were now standing in a backward semi-circle around him; Raven being in the front. 

“Does it have something to do with your superpower?” the blonde girl asked. 

Dang, he thought. She was quick-witted. 

“Yes,” was all he said. He looked from one pair of eyes to the other. Then the dark-skinned guy took a step forward and said, “I’ll tell you my sob story if you tell me yours.”

“Me too,” Finn agreed as he looked at Wells who looked back at him. 

Ugh, get a room, Murphy thought. 

Raven looked at Clarke who after a moment nodded back. 

“We’ll tell you ours as well,” Raven added. 

“Why, isn’t this heartfelt?” he asked, rolling his eyes. He was trying so hard to keep his nonchalant facade on, but on the inside, he was terrified of revealing himself. They would never dare to be this close to him if he did. 

But that’s just my life, he thought to himself. The truth’s gonna come out eventually. Might as well be sooner or later. They did save my life… 

“Fine,” he reluctantly agreed. “Storytime, kids.” He waited for the others to disperse first so then he could keep his distance and follow after them. The blonde led them to the second floor where there was a nice sitting area perfect for the occasion. 

The sitting area had a low rectangular coffee table in the center. On the ends were two identical armchairs. Across the longer side of the table were two identical adjacent couches two seats per each. 

“Why, isn’t this adorable!” Murphy said as he dramatically sat down in a big armchair at the head of the table. He watched as the two guys sat together on the couch to his left and the two girls sat on the opposing couch. 

“I guess I’m first up to share,” he stated. They all looked at him. “Well then, where to begin? My name’s John Murphy, but everyone calls me Murphy. I was orphaned at the age of 16. My dad was executed for stealing medicine to heal his sick son when the doctors wouldn’t give enough medicine to save me. After that my mom couldn’t handle the pain of losing the love of her life and became a drunk that constantly blamed her 14-year-old son for killing her husband. Two years later she died of alcohol poisoning. When the guard came to take me to an orphanage I fought back and they threw me in Skybox prison instead because I ‘attacked’ an officer. I  spent a year there before I turned 17 and scientists decided I was worth more to be experimented on in some Eligius lab because I had an ability. What is my ability, you ask? Pain. I cause the most excruciating pain when someone touches my skin and vice versa. Sometimes, if I hold on too long, the pain can in fact, kill. And it’s not only by touch anymore! After my father was executed my power intensified just as my emotions and I discovered I can also will someone to feel unbearable, intense, agonizing pain,” he finished. 

He looked up to see all eyes staring unblinkingly at him, mouths agape. He had told the story so calmly with no emotion which only made the shock worse. He could tell by their body postures they had all unconsciously leaned away from him.

Typical, he thought. It was funny. He’s gonna hear some other stories today but he knows that none of them will be as horrible as his. I mean, did any of them kill anybody by accident? I don’t think so. Did any of them grow up having parents that couldn’t hold their child? Nope. Could they all be touched by other people? Have simple physical contact and not worry about someone touching them? Yes.

“Any questions?” he asked, enthusiastically. They were all speechless and it was amusing to him. “Oh, and I normally wear gloves so that if I accidentally touch someone they don’t die,” he added. “Do you have any gloves, Blondie?” 

The blonde just shook her head in answer. 

“That’s okay,” he said as he stretched his arms over his head to rest his head against his hands. “So, who’s next?”

Chapter Text

Speechless. Raven was speechless. Murphy had rendered her speechless! Raven was normally a very optioned, very talkative girl that always had something to say. 

She had listened with immense curiosity eager to learn about his “personal space problem.” She had not expected one word that came out of his mouth. Nothing as tragic as his backstory and as horrible as his superpower. 

It all made sense now. Why he had shot off her after she shoved him in the chest. Why he was staring at her arms as she backed away. Her skin was too exposed and he wasn’t wearing the gloves he claims to normally wear. Raven could tell that he was still leaving something out though. But she wouldn’t dare pry. 

Finn was the first to speak. 

“I think I’ll go next. Not that I can top your story,” he joked attempting to lighten the mood. Clarke, Wells, and Raven all gave awkward chuckles. 

“Floor’s yours, man,” Murphy replied, gesturing to the floor. Raven couldn’t stop looking at him. She was so curious about him. And once Raven was curious and her mind had set on something, there was no going back. As if feeling her eyes on him, Murphy’s blue eyes found her brown ones. His face was unreadable. Despite knowing what his power did, Raven felt the urge to get closer to him. 

Finn cleared his throat and Raven averted her eyes quickly from his, dispelling her thoughts. 

“My full name is Finn Collins. My life was pretty simple. I lived with my mom and never knew who my dad was. When I was little I discovered I had the ability to make force fields. When I told my mom, she encouraged me to keep it a secret. Even though we lived in a pretty accepting neighborhood, the fewer people know is always better. Then one day at the age of 17, I illegally went out with my friends after curfew. They were having a party and were getting wasted. Then my friends went into town. We lived in a town near the ocean and snuck onto one of the docking boats where they keep supplies. My friends were so drunk that they took the boat we were on out to sea. It was rough tides that night and at one point, the ship turned violently and my friends were too intoxicated to grab onto anything to keep them upright. Everything tilted and my friends and the supplies were about to fall off. Since I never use my power, I’m not that strong with it. I could only make one force field that was just big enough to save my friends from drowning. They looked like they were walking on air. Anyways, when we got back to the docks, we were greeted by the guard where they charged us with underage drinking and breaking curfew. I was charged with wasting two months' worth of supplies getting the worst punishment because I was a metahuman. As a result, the guard took me to the Skybox prison. And just like Murphy, some scientists found out about me and wanted to experiment on me. Why waste my ‘gifts’ right? But when that van broke down, I ran for it. Now I’m here,” Finn finished. 

Raven couldn’t help notice how Finn was trying to avoid Wells's eyes. Raven thought it was sweet that even though Finn felt ashamed for what he did, Wells's feelings didn’t seem the least bit affected by the story Finn had just recounted. She turned to face Clarke who also turned to meet her eyes and they smiled at each other knowing the other was thinking the same thing about the two. 

“I guess it’s my turn,” Wells said next. “To begin with, my full name is Wells Jaha.” He stopped there, letting his name sink in. 

“Jaha?!” Murphy and Clarke exclaimed at the same time. Raven was just as stunned.

“Yup. Jaha,” Wells repeated.

“Oh my… I can see it!” Clarke said, pointing at him. “And that’s why you took the form of Thelonious! And that’s why you looked confident in that form and knew how to speak!”

Now, Raven observed, it was Wells's turn to look guilty and Finn's turn to offer a comforting gaze.

“You know, it makes sense,” added Murphy. “That the son of one of the most powerful men in the world is a runaway mutant.” Both Raven and Clarke glared at Murphy. Murphy was unaffected by the glares and said, “So are you going to continue or what? This is the most interesting story so far. I wanna hear it.”

Wells sighed. “I discovered my ability early in life. From the moment I could talk I started shifting into the forms of all those around me. It was fun. Like a game. My dad, let's just say, he wasn’t too thrilled about it. He wanted me to stop. He wanted it to be hidden that a man of his ranks in The Reform had a mutant child. At first, I couldn’t control my ability well, but over time, I got better and better at controlling when I shift. My father was the only one that knew of my ability and worked hard to keep it that way. And once I had it under control, it was easier to pretend it didn’t exist. Then, as I got older, I got more interested in what my dad talked about behind closed doors with his close acquaintances. There was so much secrecy to him and he valued his privacy. But I was curious. I had overheard snippets of conversation. I had always hated what my father stood for. He was part of the system that tortured and killed people like me. And so, I started transforming into my father to talk to his ‘friends’. And I started turning into his ‘friends’ to talk to my father. I turned into the kids of the adults and explored their houses. Throughout this, I found out the most horrible things. I saw blueprints for new and ‘improved’ Enforcers. I saw experiments written in detail describing the process and results of what they do to metahumans. And two days ago, I went as my father into one of the facilities. I was horrified by what I saw. I can't even begin to describe the awful practices I saw…” 

Raven turned to look at Clarke beside her who was stiff as she had been when she told her about how she was at one of those facilities when she was only a kid. She focused back on Wells's story. 

“After I left, I had talked to some scientists who said they were getting a new shipment of mutants in a day. I knew that I couldn’t allow that to happen to more innocents. And so, I ran away from home and transformed into a guard the next day as I met up with another guard that was going to drive the van of mutants being transported from the Skybox prison. I offered to join him on the ride and he let me, thinking I was just another guard. I planned to swerve the van so that the impact would loosen up the awful, dehumanizing, prison cages in the back and allow people to escape. My plan worked for the most part, but my absence was registered by my father and he sent Enforcers to look for me. Those Enforcers caught sight of the destroyed van and passengers fleeing the scene and got orders to capture them instead. I knew I couldn’t stay dressed looking like a guard, so I changed back to myself and put on some extra gray clothes. And that is what really happened with the van and how I ended up here,” Wells ended. 

Everyone was silently admiring his courage to stand up for what was right and help as many people as he could. 

“That’s quite a story,” Murphy sounded satisfied. 

Wells just rolled his eyes. “I’m glad it met your expectations.”

“No man, don’t get me wrong, if it weren’t for you, I would’ve been in a lab being someone's experimental rat.”

Wells smiled at that. Just like Raven, Wells knew it was the closest thing to a “thank you” he was going to get out of Murphy. 

“Clarke?” Raven asked. 

“Yeah,” Clarke said. “I'll go next.” And so she did. She retold the story she told Raven earlier today, but vaguer. She recounted the basic points as to having no memory before the age of 8, where and how she was found, how they took her and experimented on her mind, how she escaped, and how she lived for the rest of her life alone in the library reading every book and self-teaching herself. 

It was a fascinating story and Raven enjoyed listening to it again. The boys asked the same questions Raven did and Clarke answered them truthfully. Then as the day was coming to a close, they had just enough time to listen to Raven’s tale.

Chapter Text

Clarke barely listened to Raven as she retold her story. She had heard it before and she was tired beyond comparison. It had been a long day and she was a little overwhelmed at all her sudden company. She had spent most of her life, well the parts she remembered, alone. 

After Raven finished her story, they were all yawning and didn’t even have to say anything to each other as they all got up and started to make their way to the stairs that led to the third floor where the beds were. 

As Clarke stood up, Raven’s laser bracelet fell off the couch. Raven must’ve forgotten to put it back on. She had taken it off to demonstrate its use and the guys were extremely impressed with it and her. Even Murphy, who tried to look bored, couldn’t help but be intrigued by her hand-crafted laser. 

“Hey, Raven,” Clarke called out to Raven who was on the second step of the stairs. 

“Yeah?” Raven asked.

“You forgot this,” Clarke said, displaying the bracelet. Raven groaned as she looked at the distance between her and Clarke versus her and a nice, comfy bed. 

“You know what? Keep it,” she decided and made her way up the stairs before Clarke could argue. For only knowing her a day, she sure knew her. Clarke laughed at that. Was she that predictable? 

Fine. I will keep it, she said to herself. 

Clarke put it on her right wrist since her left was occupied already by her watch. Then, Clarke made her way up the stairs not needing to try and be quiet for she already was the definition of stealth. 

As she walked by, she looked at the already sleeping forms. Raven was in the same bed as yesterday. Finn and Wells happened to occupy the two closest beds. And Murphy was on the other side of the room, far away from them all. She couldn’t blame him. She thought back to the life he told them about. How horrible. A life where you had to constantly live in fear of touching someone. Let alone never be touched by anyone. Clarke couldn’t remember her parents, or if she even had parents, but if she did, she couldn’t imagine her mother and father not being allowed to hold their baby. 

Clarke had also read that big emotional stressors sometimes break the regular barriers on powers. So when Murphy’s dad died, it was no surprise his powers increased to inflict more pain because he himself felt more pain. 

Poor guy, Clarke thought as she made her way to her bed. Once she flopped onto her bed, her head full of thoughts didn’t matter once she closed her eyes and let the darkness consume her.

Chapter Text

When Finn awoke, he was greeted by sunlight. Real sunlight! He had been in the Skybox for a few months and awoke every morning to artificial light. He was calmed by the real, yellow rays of the sun. 

He sat up to get a sense of who was awake and who was still sleeping. His eyes first drifted to the bed next to him. There, he saw Wells's sleeping form. He lay on his back but his head was facing towards Finn. 

Finn smiled at him, even though Wells couldn’t see him. He liked Wells. When it came to people interested in him, he never had a shortage. He liked both guys and girls and never had trouble getting a date. He was charming and confident after all. 

He never truly felt anything strong towards anybody from his hometown. Sure, he was fond of a few over his life, but there was something about Wells. Like whenever Finn would smile at him, he would shy away and look at the floor. He found Wells's awkward demeanor around him adorable. And Wells was taller and stronger built than Finn. Finn was rather short for a guy but he was, for example, taller than Clarke (but everyone was taller than Clarke). 

He looked over to where he assumed Clarke would’ve been sleeping. It was the only bed that looked like it was used for more than just one night. It also had personal items hung and scattered around. It was in the corner and it was empty so he concluded she was awake.

She was the only one not in her bed. He scanned the room to spot Raven and Murphy both still asleep. 

He decided to quietly go and search for Clarke. He proceeded to the second floor where he smelled something cooking. He let his nose lead the way and when he spotted Clarke, he found himself in the likes of a kitchen. 

“Hey,” she called, facing away from him and standing next to an open fridge. “Believe it or not, but this thing still works.”

“That’s cool,” he said as he neared her to see what she was doing. He passed a table that caught his attention. On the table, there were five plates all with assorted food. Quite a bit of food too. Nothing like the portions he received at the Skybox or even at home. 

“How long have you been up?” he asked her after stopping short to admire the food. 

“Not that long. I thought it would be nice to have food ready for when the others started to wake up,” she replied. She closed the fridge door with a water filter. 

“You can eat if you’re hungry. I think the others are going to wake up soon,” she said as she put the jug of water down and opened a cabinet to retrieve some cups.

“Okay,” he said as he sat down at one of the chairs surrounding the round table. “So what’s the plan?” he asked, curious as to what was to happen now. He wanted to know how long he and the others could stay here. Would she kick them out when the heat died down? 

“The plan?” she asked as she closed the cabinet door and made her way back to the table where she began to set the cups. 

“Yeah. Are you… How long… “ he trailed off hoping she’d get what he was trying to say. 

She looked at him quizzically. There was nothing harsh in her stare. It was more like she was studying him. 

“I don’t know,” she said as she turned her gaze to the floor. 

“I mean, I’ve been alone all this time… I like the company. Everyone seems genuine. Additionally, I don’t think it’s safe for you four to leave just yet. On the other hand, I don’t know if it’s safe here. If the Enforcers come back or they bring the guard out here to search for everyone…. I don’t know,” she finished sitting down in the seat next to him. She put her head in her hands and stayed like that in silence most likely contemplating what best to do. 

Finn admired that she had already put thought into this topic and was worried about the safety of people she only just met yesterday. After all, she didn’t have any reason to trust them. 

He heard descending steps from the stairs in the distance. Clarke heard them too and she lifted her head to see who was about to enter the kitchen. They watched as Wells entered, followed by Raven, who was followed by Murphy. They all looked tired. 

“Hey, guys,” Finn greeted. “How is everybody?” He watched as the three filled the empty three chairs of the table. Wells sat next to him and Finn mentally smiled at that. 

“Shut it, pretty boy,” Murphy scowled as he drank the glass of water in front of him. 

“Woah,” Clarke said. “Who pissed in your water?”

Murphy looked up and glared at Raven. Raven rolled her eyes. 

“Someone,” Murphy scowled, “had to practically fall off their bed creating a loud thud with no consideration for those sleeping in the same room. Then,” he glared at Wells, “another somebody had to stomp around the room, not bothering to try to be quiet.”

A moment of silence passed where Murphy was glaring at Raven and Wells, Raven was looking unconcerned, and Wells just looked annoyed. 

Then, Clarke let out a loud laugh. All four looked at her like she had lost her mind. It took her a whole minute to calm down and stop laughing. 

“Look at us! Already getting along!” she said, smiling brightly. 

“Whatever you say… psycho,” Murphy said, mumbling the last word under his breath. 

“So, Clarke? What’s the plan?” Raven asked.

Clarke looked at Finn who looked back at her. She started laughing again. 

“Okay, something is seriously wrong with her. Maybe she’s the one that fell out of bed this morning and hit her head and not Raven,” Murphy said looking wide-eyed at Clarke. 

“Will you shut up?!” Raven exclaimed. By this time Clarke calmed down again. 

“Clarke, are you okay?” Wells asked with concern on his face. Finn couldn’t help feeling jealous at the concerned look he was casting at Clarke. 

“Yes. I’m spectacular,” Clarke replied. “The plan. I don’t have a plan. Does anyone have a plan? Nope? Okay. Option 1: We could stay inside and lay low hoping they don’t find us here. Option 2: We could try to flee to a nearby city like Tondc, Polis, or Arkadia. Option 3: We could explore a bit outside carefully seeing what The Reform is doing and check a house with working news as well to see what’s going on. What do you guys think we should do?” 

They all proceeded to contemplate their options while taking a break from talking to eat their breakfast in silence. After everyone was done, Finn was the first to speak.

“I vote Option 3. I think it’s the most logical. We should know how exposed we are here and how dangerous it is for us to leave.”

“I don’t know,” Raven replied. “I would like to know what is going on out there, yes, but I think it might be too dangerous to go out. We don’t know what’s out there. We barely managed to escape last time.”

“That’s true,” Wells contemplated. “On the other hand, I think it's safe to assume it’s just Enforcers out there. I mean, who else could be looking for us here. To the outside world, they think this part of Walden is radiation infested and that people can’t enter without dying of radiation poisoning after being exposed to it. I don’t think the guard will come here if they think there might be any truth to it. I mean, I thought the same thing until I learned Clarke has been here for years and she’s still alive. So besides Enforcers, who else could be out here with us?

“The Delinquents,” Murphy muttered under his breath, but not quiet enough as he thought because everyone heard him.

“The Delinquents?” Wells and Raven asked at the same time. They looked at each other confused then back to the others. 

“Who are the Delinquents?” Raven asked, making eye contact with Finn, Murphy, and Clarke. 

“The Delinquents are said to be a group of teenage criminals. I’ve heard most of them are orphaned,” Finn said.

“Why do I think that’s not the whole story?” Wells asked.

“Cause it's not,” Murphy scoffed. “They are kidnappers. I heard they kidnap kids without families, runaways, and then they sell them to The Reform.”

“I’ve heard worse,” Clarke said looking at her hands. 

“I’ve heard that they kill you on the spot then sell your organs to The Reform,” Finn added. 

“I’ve heard, that after they kidnap you, they take you to their base where they torture you for ‘information’, then strip you apart, and then kill you and send whatever's left of value to the Reform along with any ‘information’ they tortured out of you,” Clarke said grimly. She had heard these stories being tossed back and forth by other orphans when she was held in her lab days. 

Everyone was silent now. 

“Have you ever come across them? Have you ever seen them around here?” Raven asked, worried. 

“No. I’ve never come across them or seen them in these parts. These are just stories that people hear. Like the Bogeyman,” Clarke replied and turned to see both Murphy and Finn nodding in agreement. 

Finn had heard so many stories about the Delinquents growing up. All of them were a bit different than the last, but all bad. He sighed. 

They’re just stories. If Clarke said she had never seen them around here in all her life, then why worry? As Wells said, this place is supposedly covered in radiation. Surely they couldn't know it was safe, Finn thought. 

“I still think we should go with Option 3,” Finn said confidently. “We can’t just stay here like sitting ducks and we need to know if it’s safe to stay or if we have to leave. All those in favor of Option 3?”

Everyone exchanged glances with one another. They all thought it was the best option and they didn’t need words to say so. 

“Alright,” Clarke declared. “What are we waiting for?”

Chapter Text

Clarke was the first to exit the building. She took a deep breath and exhaled. She felt a hand gently being placed on her shoulder. She turned to her left to see Raven smiling at her. 

“How’s your arm?” Clarke asked. Raven was wearing her red-orange jacket again. Her right arm fell off Clarke's shoulder and Clarke lifted Raven’s left arm and pulled up the jacket sleeve. She examined it. No signs of infection. That’s good, Clarke thought. 

“It looks good. Stitches intact. No infection. Huh. It looks a little bruised…” Clarke trailed off looking questioningly at Raven. Like someone grabbed it… 

Raven shrugged. “I don’t know, girl. But I toss and turn in my sleep.”

“Well, try to avoid doing that. Doctor’s orders,” Clarke said with a smile. She let go of Raven’s arm and Raven rolled her sleeve back down. By this point, the others had made it out of the building. Wells made his way to stand next to her. 

“I got everything you asked for,” he said, taking off the backpack he had on his right shoulder to show her the contents of the bag. He pointed each out, “Your medicine kit. I double-checked to make sure everything was in it. Your art supplies and sketchbook.” Clarke had asked for him to bring that so when they got to the house with the working news she could draw out the map they would show on the screen. Sure, Clarke had maps of the place and the places around it, but they were at least a hundred years old. The names were different and the land was definitely different. War had made it so. War changes everything.  

“A few knives.” Weapons. “And of course: some food and water,” he finished. Satisfied, Clarke nodded and he put the backpack back on. Clarke was also carrying her dagger at her side, where she always did, and rocks for distractions. They were ready. They could do this. There was nothing to worry about. Just your average Enforcers. And they always had Wells and Finn who could use their powers if necessary. Murphy’s wouldn’t be useful in this situation because his power couldn’t cause pain to a machine. Could it? 

“Ready?” Clarke asked, addressing no one in particular. 

“Ready,” the four said in unison. 

“Okay. Raven? Want to lead? You should get more familiar with the surroundings if we end up staying here.”

Raven's grin was wide beyond wide. Clarke could tell Raven liked feeling useful. Plus, Clarke wanted to talk to John Murphy. 

“Of course, boss girl,” Raven said, stepping to take the lead. Clarke knew Murphy would follow last to keep his distance from the group. As she predicted, Finn and Wells followed immediately after Raven, Clarke followed after the two, and Murphy trailed behind her. And so, after a minute or so, she slowed her pace to meet up with Murphy who didn’t realize she was nearing him because his head was focused on the ground. 

Soon, Clarke was right next to him. Right next to him. Clarke wasn’t afraid of him. He didn’t want to hurt people and she knew that even though she didn’t know him. He still hadn’t realized she was walking beside him. 

“Hey,” she prompted. His eyes shot up at how close her voice sounded. He looked at her and she could tell he intended to create some distance between them but she knew her eyes said, “ You don't have to .” He studied her. And then, probably against his better judgment, didn’t move away from her. 

“Hi?” he practically asked. 

“Look, I can’t even imagine what your life was like. And no, before you say it, I am not pitying you. I just wanted you to know that all of us are in this together. There is no need to be afraid of each other. We have to fear The Reform. We have to trust each other, John,” Clarke said, hoping he wouldn’t immediately backlash. He was quiet for a while.

“You don’t even know me. You don’t know what I’ve done,” he said. She was relieved he didn’t make a joke or try to laugh off what she said. 

“It doesn't matter what you did in your past. What matters is what you choose to do now. And trust me, I know what it’s like to have no control and hurt people on accident,” she hadn’t known why she had said that. But trust works both ways. He looked at her, eyebrows drawn. She was indeed being cryptic. But she couldn’t go down that path. Not yet anyway. 

She turned her attention back to the path. In front of her, she saw Wells and Finn talking together. Smiles on both of their faces. She smiled at the sight of Wells happy. Why? Why did that make her happy? That’s when Raven abruptly stopped walking. She must’ve heard something. Clarke stopped as well. She turned to look behind her. She trusted her senses and right now, they were telling her one thing: something is not right. It’s too quiet. She scanned her surroundings. 

“Clarke?” Murphy asked quietly beside her. She turned to see his confused face, probably thinking why she and Raven stopped. She turned to see the others had stopped as well. They were all looking at her. 

“Something’s not right,” she said quietly, but the whole group heard her. It was that quiet. Raven made her way to stand on the other side of her. 

“I feel it too,” Wells said. By it, he meant the eerie aura surrounding them. 

Everyone was on high alert. They had made a circle. Their backs were facing in and their heads were scanning their surroundings. 

That’s when, out of nowhere, people started coming out from behind buildings, statues, and jumping off roofs. They were all walking towards them. They were surrounding the small group of five. They all had devious faces on. Some were smirking, some were glaring. When they stopped appearing from the shadows, it looked like there were twenty of them. 

“Are they who I think they are?” Raven asked quietly so just the group could hear her. 

“I’m pretty much one hundred percent sure they are,” Finn replied. 

“Finn…” Clarke said hoping he would get the message. If they attacked, they would need a force field to protect them. That would be their only chance of escape. 

“Yeah, I know,” Finn replied. 

Before they had left, they had made a “plan.” The plan was Finn would cast small force fields around them as they all made a run for it in opposite directions. This way, they could get a head start with protection, and then hopefully, some of them could escape, if not all. This plan was originally made for an Enforcer attack. They surely had a worse chance of getting away with so many people chasing after them. But how were they supposed to know the Delinquents knew about the prison break and the radiation?

“So, what’s the plan?” Murphy asked as a few Delinquents started making their way towards them. 

“RUN!” Clarke shouted.

Chapter Text

No one hesitated once Clarke gave the signal word. Now or never, Finn thought as he ran and concentrated on the force fields he created for everyone. He would hold them as long as possible. 

When Clarke laid out the plan and asked Finn if he would be able to do it, he didn’t hesitate to say, “Yes.”

Even if it meant that he would be weak after casting them for that long. Which meant that if he was caught, there was no way of getting out for him. But he was fine with that if it gave the others a chance. 

As he ran, several of the Delinquents made a dash at him but couldn't get to him because of the force field. He knew he was being chased and he had no idea where he was going. 

Crap, he thought as he felt his power weakening. It had held up longer than he thought it would so that was a win in his mind. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. He couldn’t hold it any longer. He gave in and felt them dissolve. Hopefully, the others were okay. How far had they made it in their directions? He was tired now. If the Delinquents didn’t knock him out, he would collapse from exhaustion. 

He was rounding corner after corner when finally he reached a dead end. 

Great, he thought. He turned to run out but was stopped by three Delinquents making their way towards him. Two guys and a girl. 

“Jasper?” he heard one of them ask. He had long shaggy black hair.

“Nah, man. I’m not running into a force field again. That hurt,” answered the other lanky of the guys wearing these weird… goggles?

“We don’t even know if the force fields are still up. Or if this is the guy that cast them,” Shaggy Hair said. 

“No, this is the guy. He looks exhausted,” Goggles replied. 

“Jessica?” the other guy asked.

“On it,” she replied. She inhaled deeply and when she opened her mouth, she screamed. The scream was so piercing and loud, Finn put up a force field. It was holding up rather well to his surprise. The scream was bouncing off the field. Maybe if he hadn’t used so much energy earlier, he could’ve escaped this. But he did, and that meant he couldn’t. 

Damn, he thought as it started to fade. Once it cracked, he immediately put his hands over his ears to try and define the ear-splitting scream. But the force the scream created knocked him off his feet and he fell back hitting his head against the wall knocking him out. 

“Why thank you, Jessica,” Jasper said. 

“Anytime. I’ll signal Miller that we caught one of them. You guys go help the others,” Jessica said, taking out her wrist band to transmit her location to Miller. 

Jasper took out his wristband to find a signal for help. Sure enough, he saw one. He showed his best friend.

“Alright, Monty. Let’s race. First one there gets the other’s rations for the day,” Jasper challenged. 

“You’re on,” Monty smiled.

Chapter Text

After Clarke yelled, “Run!”, Wells took off running. The force fields were holding up and he ran for his life. Wells was never too athletic. He preferred things like reading to exercise. But when it counted, he was fast. He knew the Delinquents chasing him were struggling to keep up with him and he would use that to his advantage.

However, it didn’t matter when he got punched in the face. What the- he thought as he tripped over his feet and turned to look behind him. His eyes caught on an arm that was over five feet long. The arm contracted back to a red-headed girl. So, he thought, elasticity. While he was running, his eyes caught on a blonde girl. He quickly transformed himself into that girl. 

As the redhead neared him, he pretended to be hurt, which wasn’t hard. 

“Bree?” she questioned when she saw Wells on the floor. 

“I tried to take a different route to catch up to the runaway, but he put up a fight which caught me off guard. He ran that way,” Wells lied, pointing towards the nearby alley, pretending to be whoever Bree was. 

Just as the redhead was going to leave him, the real Bree rounded the corner. Of course! Just my luck. 

 “Bree?!” she questioned looking back and forth between the two identical girls. 

“That’s him! It has to be! He's a-a shapeshifter!” Wells cried out angrily. He hoped that gave him the upper hand. 

“No, I’m not!” the real Bree said as she neared them. 

Then another girl came. This one had dirty blonde hair. 

“Monroe? Bree? Bree?” She looked absolutely confused. 

Wells, as Bree, got up on his feet. He faced the other Bree. 

“Monroe, you have to believe me! She’s the runaway! She’s trying to confuse us!” Wells exclaimed with fury. He thought he could pull this off.

“No! She is! Well, I mean, he is!” The real Bree cried. Wow, real convincing, Wells thought as he rolled his eyes inwardly.

“Harper?” Moreno questioned. “Which one do we trust?”

“Neither,” Harper declared as she ran forward. Close enough to the face-to-face Brees, she put up both her hands out and touched both Brees before either could escape.

Wells instantly fell unconscious. After he fell unconscious, he transformed back into his original form.  

“Wow,” Monroe said surprised. “I thought he was the real Bree.”

“So did I,” Harper admitted. “He’s good,” Harper praised. “I’ll let Miller know we caught one of them,” Harper said as she took her wristband out. “After, let's help the others.”

Chapter Text

Running in the opposite directions, what a great plan, Murphy thought to himself sourly. We needed to have come up with a better plan. We are just gonna picked off one by one, no matter how long it takes. This is dumb. They want a fight? I’ll give them a fight. 

He stopped running. He turned around. He didn’t know if the force shield was still working or not, but he didn’t care. Let them try and touch him. For once, he was glad he didn’t have his gloves. 

They think they had the upper hand? I don’t think so.  

He let the two guys chasing him catch up to him. They looked surprised to see he stopped. Good, he thought. Let their feathers be ruffled. 

Murphy didn’t have control over willing people to feel pain, so he didn’t want to risk trying it. He didn’t want to kill them. Just hurt them so he could go and help the others once he got these lackeys off his tail. 

“Well? What are you waiting for?” Murphy asked confidently. 

The first guy, the younger one, ran towards him. 

“Myles don’t!” the guy behind called as he neared Murphy.

“I got this, Connor!” Myles called back. 

Then, to Murphy’s surprise, the Myles kid grew in size. Well, okay, he wasn’t expecting a size shifter. But it wouldn’t matter how big he was. 

The boy looked to be 7 feet tall now. He was close enough now to throw a punch. Murphy put his bare hand up before the huge fist coiled with his face, and sure enough, the fist hit his hand. It hurt A LOT, and he was pretty sure every inch of it was broken, but he knew it was nothing compared to the pain Myles was feeling. 

Myles immediately shrank back into his original size after touching Murphy. He cried out in the most agonizing screams possible. He collapsed to the floor screaming bloody murder and Murphy's face contorted in agony. He looked away from the screaming, trembling form of the boy on the floor. It brought back too many, too many memories. Now is not the time, he scolded himself. Like Clarke said, “It doesn't matter what you did in your past. What matters is what you choose to do now.” 

He looked up at the other guy, Connor. Shock was written all over the boy’s features. He looked at the poor boy on the floor back to Murphy. You think that’s bad? Murphy thought. That’s just one touch from me. 

“What did you do to him?!” Connor scolded. 

“He’s the one that touched me,” Murphy said sadly. He shook his head. These Delinquents were evil people. He remembered every story about them. They deserved what they got. 

“Come on. Touch me. I dare you,” Murphy said darkly. 

To this, Connor lunged forward prepared to punch his face. He let the punch come. He didn’t even move to defend himself. He deserved a little pain for the pain he was about to cause. 

As his fist collided with all the force the guy had, Murphy felt something. He knew what he felt was the guy’s power. Sometimes, when two powers collide, it's then a battle between two powers. Whoever's stronger will win. Murphy’s always won. He would never find out what Connor’s power would've done. His power had won. Connor, just like Myles, was now feeling the most awful pain he would ever feel in his life. And It was all because of Murphy. 

Murphy couldn’t take the scream anymore, he closed his eyes and walked around the forms trying to drown out the screams. Then, silence. Murphy opened his eyes and looked back to where the forms used to lie on the ground. They weren’t there. 

“What the?” Murphy questioned. It was awfully quiet. The last time it had been this quiet, was just before the Delinquents came out of the shadows and Raven and Clarke had stopped. 

That’s the last thing he thought before something hard hit the side of his head and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious. 

“Why did you do that, Miller? Why didn’t you just let me touch him?” Harper asked, staring at the runaway Miller had just knocked in the head with a pipe. 

“Because you came here later than I did and didn’t see what he did to Myles and Connor when they touched him,” Miller said gravely as he looked at the two boys on the floor still in pain.

“What’s wrong with them?” Harper questioned, concerned for her friends. 

“I have no idea. But at least they’re alive,” Miller sighed.

Chapter Text

Raven had a faint understanding of how the streets and alleys of Walden worked. She grasped concepts quickly and was proficient with anything mechanical. 

But she was not prepared to take on three metahumans. Especially when one could create ice. And let me tell you, ice is hard to run on. 

While she was running, she would like to pride herself on how far she got, but that doesn’t matter when a girl can touch the floor and make ice cover the floor of the street you’re running on. Raven would like to say that she fell with grace, but Raven was never one for grace. She slipped and fell on her butt. She. Was. Mad. She tried to stand up and slipped again. Damn.

“Nice going, Roma!” a Delinquent girl prided that ice girl. 

“Thanks, Fox,” Roma replied with a smile.

Raven had had enough. She got up and set her mind to not falling. Once she set her mind to something, she always followed through. And so, she walked across the ice. And she turned a corner like a figure skater and smiled at herself. 

Who said I couldn't be graceful? 

Once Raven turned the corner, she was greeted by another Delinquent. He was walking towards her and she decided to use the ice to her advantage. She knew she couldn’t escape with the other two Delinquents on her tail so she decided to at least go down fighting. 

She lunged forward and tackled the Delinquent guy to the floor. He was taken by complete surprise - she could tell by the look on his face. But as she fell, she over-calculated the force she needed and hit her head against the ice. She wasn’t unconscious, but when she heard the other two girls were already near them, she pretended to be. She could use that to her advantage later. When they would let their guard down, she would escape. 

“Sterling!” Fox cried as she neared him. 

“I’m okay,” Sterling said. 

“What happened?” Roma asked.

“I was walking towards her when she lunged at me. She hit her head on the ice though and now she’s unconscious.” Sterling recounted. 

Raven smiled inwardly. 

“Why didn’t you turn invisible and sneak up on her?” Fox asked.

“I thought I was invisible. But, I guess not,” Sterling shrugged. 

“Well, whatever. Let’s just call Miller,” Roma said as she took out her wristband. 

But while they were all huddled together talking and had no regard for Raven, she was escaping and was on the run once again with a generous head start.

Chapter Text

Clarke had grown up here. She knew every single inch of this place. She was leading them in circles and they had no idea. But her plan all along was to get them all in one place so she could fight them. She knew running couldn't last forever, and she was determined to fight and win.

She was good at conserving her energy when running. She was purposefully leading them in circles to tire them out.

When she thought they had had enough, she purposefully ran into a spacious alley. This alley was a four-way intersection. They could all come in from different directions and she would be waiting in the center. 

The first Delinquent that came was a guy. He looked fit and Clarke was expecting that all of the Delinquents she would encounter would have powers. So she was on high alert.

As he neared her, she didn't run away. 

“What? Finally chosen to give up?” he asked through panting breaths. She just smiled. 

She raised her arms in surrender. He laughed as he got closer, his guard down. Once he put his hand on her arm, she attacked. She spun around and changed it so that she was the one grabbing his arm. She then took his arm, angled it, and broke it with one swift movement. She knew if he had a power he would surely use it now. And thankfully he was facing away from her when he did. Lasers shot out of his eyes as he screamed in pain.

Yeah, okay. She wasn’t expecting that. She needed to knock him out as soon as possible. And so, she moved her arms to position him in a headlock. Although he looked stronger than Clarke, he was exhausted from running and it's not all about strength as much as it is positioning of the arms. After maybe ten seconds, he was unconscious and she let his body sink to the floor. 

“Oh my gosh, Atom!” called a voice from behind Clarke. She spun around to see a blonde girl standing a few feet away. Next to her was a ginger-haired girl. 

They both looked angry. 

“I got this,” the blonde said as she ran towards Clarke. Clarke let the girl rush as her and didn’t move until the last possible second when she used the girl's force against her. Clarke stepped to the side and grabbed her right arm and redirected her energy into the wall. Aikido, she thought to herself. The girl slammed into the wall and slumped back. 

“Bree!” the ginger shouted. 

She was about to fall unconscious but said, “Fox, she has a knife.” Clarke was genuinely surprised. Her knife was hidden from view. She must have some sort of x-ray vision. 

Clarke turned back to Fox. However, there wasn't just one girl, there were 6 of them. Self-manipulation. Great. Now that her knife wasn’t a secret anymore, she took it out and got into her fighting stance. 

All she had to do was take out the original Fox she guessed. But how was she to know which one was the original? She didn’t know how the copies worked. If she knocked out one of the copies would it knock out the original? Probably not. Well, maybe if one of the copies got, let’s say, a slash across their face, surely the other copies would as well. It was worth a shot. 

All 6 girls came charging at her. Once one girl got close enough to attack, Clarke blocked a punch and ducked as another one swung at her. Then another one tried to kick her and she moved so that it ended up kicking one of the other girls. Then Clarke took one of the girls by the shoulder and kneaded her so the copy doubled over. Another one tried to punch her again but she ducked, somersaulted, and slashed one of the girls in the thigh. The cut was large and easily visible. Sure enough, when she stood back up, five of them had the same cut. She smiled. 

But her victory was cut short when the real Fox came up behind her and grabbed her from behind trying to coke her. So, Clarke elbowed her solar plexus, stomped on her instep, thrust her head back to hit Fox’s nose, and for good measure, again elbowed her in the stomach. Now released, Clarke punched Fox in the side of the head knocking her unconscious. 

She didn’t give herself time to smile this time. She was ready for the next attack. And sure enough, it came in the form of two. 

She heard a joyous cheer come from behind her. She turned to see a Delinquent boy wearing goggles on his head with his fists in the air as a show of victory. 

Ummm okay? Clarke thought. 

Then, out of nowhere, another Delinquent boy with shaggy black hair appeared out of thin air next to the goggles kid. 

“Beat ya!” the boy with goggles taunted. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I might have accidentally gotten the coordinates wrong…” the other boy trailed off as his eyes caught on the scene before him. It must've looked bad. A crazed-looking blonde girl standing in the middle of the ally surrounded by three unconscious bodies. Both the boys were looking at her, jaws dropped to the floor. 

They looked positively idiotic. 

Clarke was pretty sure they had raced over here. Judging by their speech and appearance, the shaggy-haired one would most likely teleport. He did in fact appear out of thin air. The other one, she didn’t see him appear but she knew if they raced, his power had something to do with speed. 

Okay, I can make this work. It’s all about predicting what your opponents are going to do. Just hold them off until you can recognize their attack patterns. I got this. 

She got into her fighting stance. They would play dirty and they would play fast. She had to trust her instincts. 

The two didn’t miss her change in position and looked at each other and nodded together. Then, the one with goggles sped toward her in a flash. She jumped to the side just in time to miss the collision. 

Okay, okay, super speed. 

Because she was unbalanced from jumping to the side, she tipped over to the side by accident, yet because she did, she missed the punch that the other Delinquent had thrown at her. She smiled inwardly and was for once glad for her natural clumsy nature shining through. 

The shaggy-haired boy fell over. He put too much force into his punch. She took note of his location. He had chosen to teleport behind her. She didn’t waste any time watching his fallen state. She positioned her dagger to slice his leg. But just as she thrust down, he disappeared. The super-speed kid came at her, again from the front, and she somersaulted to the side dodging him again.

So, goggles attacks from the front and shaggy hair from the back. Now, she could expect their attacks. They also attacked as a team. One attacks, then the other. So, right now she could expect the teleporter to attack from behind her. 

Like clockwork, he did and she sliced behind her with the dagger, initially aiming for his leg because she was nearer to the floor. She planned to go for the legs on both Delinquents. Legs are needed to run and need to land on after teleporting. They are focused on their upper body power leaving their legs exposed. 

And so, she spun and sliced his right calf with a long cut. He cried out and instantly teleported away. Now the other would attack her from the front. He did. The next step of her plan was to wear them out. They were using their powers which meant they would tire out faster. And so, this “routine” continued for a minute of back and forth, dodging and slicing. Let’s just say, it worked very well in her favor. They were tired and their legs were badly bleeding. It was time to put them out of their misery. 

The next time goggles came at her she used the butt of her dagger to knock him out. She did the same with the other Delinquent when he came one last time. 

She couldn’t help herself.

“Beat ya,” she whispered under her breath.

Chapter Text

She was breathing heavily as she stared at the unconscious bodies. Clarke couldn’t help the small smile that crossed her face. She knew she had to keep moving, so she turned to run down the alley, but stopped short after barely moving a step. Her eyes locked at the end of a gun - automatic rifle to be exact. Slowly, her eyes drifted up to see the face of the assailant. 

Her eyes landed on a boy’s face. He was smirking at her. Actually smirking. She closed her open mouth (which had fallen open from surprise) and glared at him. He had curly dark black hair and deep, deep brown eyes. They were almost black in intensity. He looked to be a few years older than herself. He was a whole head taller than her, looking to be about almost a foot taller than her (for she was incredibly small). His face was tan, freckled, and… very, very attractive. 

He clicked his tongue and said in a surprisingly deep voice, “Not so fast.” 

Clarke glared harder. Seemingly unaffected by the intensity of her gaze, he casually glanced past her to the unconscious bodies on the ground. 

“I saw you take out five of my guys. All without using a power. I gotta say, I’m a little impressed,” he said, the smirk growing on his face (if that was even possible).

Clarke took his appearance and word choice into consideration. She deduced that he was the leader of this group of Delinquents because he was the only one she had seen with a gun, his older age, and his use of “my guys.” 

Clarke stayed silent. Silence was her only advantage. The longer she could stay quiet, the less he knew about her. He, however, knew that she was intentionally avoiding speaking and was thinking the same thing as her. This prodded him to continue talking hoping to say something that would cause her to retort verbally. 

“I mean,” he continued with his previous line of thought, “I saw as my guys fought, if you could even call it that, your companions.” At this, Clarke’s hands formed into fists by her sides. He didn’t miss the action and smirked knowing he had just hit a nerve. 

“Yeah, I watched the girl with no powers from your group try to run from my men. She didn’t get that far and didn’t even try to put up a fight.” Clarke’s jaw was clenched so hard it was starting to hurt. The leader didn’t miss that either and went on with his anecdote. 

“The other three, however, they tried to fight my men. But they couldn’t even land a single punch! It was so sad. They were knocked down in seconds. All in all, it was pretty pathetic.” 

Clarke was so angry she didn't even think as she took a step forward ready to punch his smug face. 

“Hey there! Don’t forget about this,” he said nodding forward at his gun. She lowered her right fist and unclenched it as she took a step back. She was even angrier now with his arrogance and the upper hand he had in the situation. All she could see was red. She was worried about her friends and couldn’t help thinking about the horror stories about kids getting captured by these Delinquents. 

She couldn't keep quiet anymore. 

“I’m going to rupture your hubris face,” was all she said with as much calmness as she could muster, head held high. His eyes glistened with victory. He had gotten her to speak.

“Well, look at that! She can speak!” He laughed.  “Who are you? The Queen of Arkadia? With your fancy words and proclamations. Well, no. Not queen. More like: Princess,” he smiled to himself for coming up with a clever nickname that would most definitely annoy her. 

“What did you do to them?” she asked, voice laced with fury and defiance. 

“Yeah, I don’t know how they do it in Arkadia, Princess, but here, I don’t have to answer any of your questions,” he countered, smirking. Clarke’s hands clenched into fits, again, at the infuriating name. 

That's when a loud crash sounded from the right. One of the Delinquents rounded the corner and ran towards the two. The boy in front of her was taken off guard by the intrusion and Clarke didn’t hesitate a single second. She took the distraction and turned it to benefit her. 

She was quick. She grabbed with all her strength the gun from his hands and he was so taken aback his face shot back towards her, surprise etched in all his features. She trusted the end of the rifle hard onto the side of his face, kicked him in the space between his legs, and turned, running left down the alley. She sprinted knowing exactly where to go to one of her many hiding spots. 

Clarke realized she still had the gun in her hands and even though it was useful, she had no idea how to shoot it. So, she thrust it to the side randomly and continued to run. She turned a corner and stopped abruptly by the sight in front of her. In the middle of a fairly large clearing, she saw Raven doubled overlooking wary and tired facing Clarke. But what drained all the color from Clarke’s face was the Enforcer on the other side of the clearing raising an arm that turned mechanically into a gun pointed right at Raven’s heart. She barely registered that the leader of the Delinquents had just rounded the corner into the other side of the clearing and was standing a distance away from the Enforcer. 

All she could focus on was the pure terror clenching at every inch of her for Raven. She started running for Raven hoping to reach her in time to get her out of the way to safety. She was only a couple of feet away when she heard a gunshot. That’s when a single bullet launched from the Enforcers' gun and headed straight for Raven’s heart.

“NO!” Clarke screamed with all her might. At that moment, Clarke felt a part of her mind tear open with excruciating pain. A split second later, Clarke stumbled back a little being thrown off balance. She could feel a horrible pain pounding in her head, but there was another pain altogether coming from the bottom left side of her torso. 

As she looked down, she realized both her hands were clutching over the painful spot. She turned her hands upwards to find that they were coated in blood. Where her hands had just been, she saw a huge red stain growing on her white shirt slowly in diameter. Her mind couldn’t comprehend what had happened. She looked up to see Raven… still alive! She was unharmed and Clarke felt a sense of relief flow through her.  

“CLARKE!” Raven cried as she ran over towards her. She was in front of her within seconds. Clarke stumbled back again, momentarily losing her balance, but Raven steadied her by grasping onto her shoulders. 

“You got shot!” Raven exclaimed while her eyes scanned over her wound. 

“Great day to wear white, am I right?” Clarke said with a tired smile. 

“I can’t believe you’re making a joke right now!” Raven said on the verge of tears with a breath of a laugh. “Actually, I can,” she reconsidered. 

Clarke's eyelids started to feel heavy, but she was determined to stay upright. That’s when she looked up and saw that the Enforcer had been making its way over to the girls and was now only a few feet from being upon them.

“Raven!” Clarke gasped as her eyes filled with fear for their lives. Raven saw that Clarke was looking behind her. She followed Clarke’s gaze and by the time she turned around, the Enforcer smacked its metal arm against Raven’s side knocking her onto the floor where she lay unconscious but alive. Clarke’s eyes returned to the Enforcer and its arm lifted to prepare to deliver the same fate as it did to her friend. Clarke knew that if it did, she would most certainly die. Clarke struggled to move her legs back, but her body and mind still ached from the pain of everything 

The Enforcer’s arm was now at full height and just as Clarke expected its arm to come crashing down on her small figure, a blur of light purple (well it wasn’t really a blur, she just couldn’t focus properly) shocked the entire Enforcer and it crashed to the floor with a loud thud. Clarke’s eyes drifted from the Enforcer on the ground to the tall boy in front of her. She blinked her eyes, forcing them to focus. That’s when she saw the Delinquent leader in front of her surrounded with what looked like… lightning? Or electricity? Whatever it was, it surrounded him like a live wire.  

“You?” she breathed out in disbelief right before she felt the scene in front of her shift out of focus and her body fall to the side like the world was tilting on its axis. And just before the darkness eclipsed her, she realized she never felt the impact of the ground.

Chapter Text

Bellamy couldn’t believe his own eyes. 

Throughout the whole evening, while his Delinquents were chasing and fighting the runaways, he was watching from the roofs above. He watched as three guys and two girls strolled through the outskirts of Walden while his crew slowly surrounded them. They had originally expected only three runaways, but there were five. Good thing they brought extra people. His tactic was to watch and learn about the five. Find out what they could do and how skilled they were. 

When Miller put up his illusion of silence (Miller’s personal favorite), Bellamy watched as the black-haired girl in the front stopped walking. It was supposed to be silent, but she acted like she had heard something. Weird, Bellamy had thought. Then he watched as the blonde-haired girl stopped as well and looked around. She looked like she had stopped because she knew something was wrong. Clever, he had thought to himself. 

After the others realized that the blonde was right about something being off, they stood in a circle, backs in, ready for whatever came out of the shadows. He was impressed by their show of teamwork and trust. 

Once his men came out to face the five, Bellamy expected it to be an easy fight. He didn’t expect one of the runaways was able to cast force fields, let alone five at the same time. 

He decided to follow the force field caster first. Bellamy watched as Jasper, Monty, and Jessica caught up with him when he turned into a dead end. He expected it to be an easy grab from there – the runaway was obviously tired. Bellamy was genuinely shocked when he was able to cast another force field that blocked Jessica’s powerful sonic scream. Maybe he could’ve gotten away even if he didn’t use so much of his power earlier. 

Then, Bellamy followed the next runaway. This one was being chased by Bree, Monroe, and Harper. He was fast and probably could’ve outrun the three girls, but Monroe had elasticity. He watched as the guy fell to the floor and Bellamy was sure it would be over from there, but he was shocked again as in a blink of an eye, the runaway transformed into Bree. Shapeshifter, Bellamy thought. He was interested to see how it would play out. The shapeshifter was doing great until the real Bree showed up. But he still carried on the ruse. He was very intelligent, Bellamy added to his mental notes. He could tell by the end, Harper and Monroe thought that he was the real Bree. But then Harper awoke the real Bree with her touch and pretended they knew it was her all along. Bellamy laughed at that. 

And so Bellamy moved on to the last of the three guys. He didn’t run that far compared to the others. In fact, he had stopped running on purpose to face Myles and Connor who were chasing him. Bellamy smiled at that. Myles could shift his size and Connor had paralysis by touch. There was no way he would be able to win, no matter what his power was. Or so he thought. He was not expecting what he saw. Myles shifted into a literal giant and the runaway just held up his hand. One giant punch to the meta’s hand and Myles was back to his original form screaming in pure pain. Bellamy, once again, was shocked. A recurring event for today clearly. 

What shocked Bellamy the most was that the runaway didn’t relish his victory. He looked just as pained as Myles was. He saw the runaway’s face contort and look away. He doesn’t find joy in using his power. He looked like he detested himself. When Connor came at him, Bellamy wanted to yell for him to stop, but he knew he couldn’t make it in time. The runaway didn’t even move a muscle when the punch came to his face. It was like he wanted to be punched. Connor had the same fate as Myles. Bellamy watched the runaway closed his eyes, probably trying to rid himself of the screams. Then the metahuman stopped abruptly and turned around to find the bodies gone. Miller, Belmany thought. He then saw Miller hold back Harper as he swung a lead pipe to knock the runaway unconscious. 

Bellamy left almost immediately. He wanted to get away from the screams. His next viewpoint was on the dark-haired girl. He watched as she clumsily made her way across the ice Roma had cast and watched as she turned the corner. She looked like she saw something right in front of her, but Bellamy didn’t see anything. She then lunged forward and knocked over Sterling. Sterling had been invisible though. How did she see him? Oh, she probably heard him. Then her head hit the ice and she too was unconscious. 

That leaves the girl. He watched from above as the blonde led his Delinquents in circles. He could tell she knew the area by heart. She was jumping and running over the craziest of places and never seemed to tire out. He was mesmerized by her. 

Then she stopped. He knew what she was doing. She knew she couldn’t run forever, so she was going to fight. The first one who came was Atom. It didn’t take long to take him out. She didn’t use any powers though. Her movements were swift and strong. Then Bree and Fox came. Bree never stood a chance. One move, just one side step, and redirection of energy, Bree was down. Again, she didn’t use her power. Then Fox came at the girl. Even from this height and distance, Bellamy could see the wheels turning in her head trying to figure out how to decide which one was the original Fox. 

Whenever the Delinquents fought at the base, Fox was constantly a winner. Even Bellamy had some trouble fighting her, but he always won. 

This fight was the longest of the three so far. But at one point, the blonde figured out the secret of the copies. He smiled despite himself. She was smart. But Fox grabbed her from behind like the sly fox she is. Bellamy thought it was over but the blonde had a different thought in mind. She escaped Fox’s clutches and proceeded to knock her out. 

Next up were Jasper and Monty. Though Jasper and Monty weren’t the best at combat (because they never bothered to pay attention), they were fast. He watched as the blonde dodged Jasper and Monty by inches. It went on for a while and Bellamy could tell she was wearing them out on purpose. He could practically see the gears in her mind turning as her eyes calculated every move the boys made. She figured out their attack pattern quickly and went for the legs. This girl was incredible. He didn’t know how long it took before both Jasper and Monty were down, but as they fell, he decided he had to get involved or she would most certainly getaway. 

He was relieved he had brought his rifle with him. It wouldn’t do him much good in terms of actually firing because he made sure that being the ‘welcome wagon’ they would bring empty guns and he was the only one that left with a prop gun this time. 

He loved the look on her face when her dreams of escaping drained from her face when she came to the end of his empty rifle. He was the first to speak. She didn’t answer. He wanted her to answer. He had this strong urge to know what her voice sounded like. When he mentioned her friends, he knew he had gotten to her. When she finally spoke, he was surprised by how soft and harsh a voice could be at once. 

That’s when everything went to hell. 

Miller rounded the corner and shouted for his attention. A split second later, he felt the gun being yanked out of his hands and trusted at his face. 

Damn, he had thought. Miller informed him that the raven-haired girl escaped, but Bellamy didn't hear. He was too focused on the blonde that got away. He chased after her. It took him a while because unlike her, he didn’t know the areas of Walden as well. He wondered how she knew them so well.

When he found her, he was on the opposite side of the space… and behind an Enforcer. Thankfully, the Enforcer wasn’t facing him. The Enforcer was pointed at a figure in the center. He recognized her as the other girl. From his angle, he could tell that the Enforcer’s gun was aimed at the brunette’s heart. 

Then, a gunshot sounded. 

He heard the most painful cry of the word, “NO!” he had ever heard. It all happened so fast. His eyes couldn’t keep up with the scene. He blinked. 

No, I didn’t see…  

He expected the brunette to collapse, but that's when his eyes caught on something red. His eyes landed on the blonde’s shirt that was covered with blood near the bottom. 

…the bullet curve?

What the- no. No. The Enforcer shot her? No! I saw it aim at the brunette! Or did I? I was so sure… 

He didn’t have time to wrap his mind around it because the Enforcer was making its way to the huddled girls. 

Well, it’s now or never.  

He watched as the machine delivered a hard blow to the brunette and was about to make the same impact on the petite blonde. He caught a glimpse of fear swimming in the blue of her eyes. That small show of vulnerability shocked Bellamy all around. He placed his hands on the Enforcers' back and fried every inch of the circuit with his power. His eyes trailed down to the blonde who looked stunned at him with her mouth agape. 

“You?” she asked in disbelief before her eyes started to close and she swayed off balance. On some unknown instinct, his power shut down immediately and he caught her in his arms before she had the chance to hit the ground.

He was holding the girl bridal style. He gently shifted her in his arms as he stood up to his full height and the movement caused her head to rest on his collarbone. 

He stared at her unconscious face. She was easily the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She looked younger when she was asleep. He now guessed she was younger than him by a few years. Most likely only 17 or 18 like his friends. 

He thought back to how his anger had both taken over him and left instantaneously. He had only on rare occasions been able to shut his power off that quickly. His powers have only ever shut off that fast for one other girl. His sister.

Who was this girl? What was so different about her? Did that bullet really curve? Questions on top of questions flew into his mind. Not all about her too. There were only supposed to be three runaways, so, who were the two girls? 

That’s when he heard his name being called and he quickly shot his eyes away from the blonde’s face to see Miller. 

“What the hell happened here?” Miller asked out of breath, running towards him. Miller looked from the girl on the floor to the Enforcer on the floor, to the girl in his arms, to him. He looked so confused. 

“Long story short, Enforcer knocked her out and shot her,” Bellamy said as he nodded to the brunette then the blonde. 

“Shot!?” Miller exclaimed, coming closer to examine the girl he was carrying. His eyes widened as his eyes caught on the blood covering her torso. 

“Shit,” Miller whispered under his breath. 

“Yeah. We have to get to The 100 as fast as possible. If we don’t, the brunette over there might suffer from permanent head trauma and the blonde might bleed out and die. Her pulse is already getting weaker,” Bellamy declared.

He watched as Miller quickly took out his bracelet to call over Harper to bring the jeeps. After he finished he picked up the brunette and slung her over his shoulder. 

Miller turned to face Bellamy and asked, “Dude, you were watching everything that went on today, right?”

Bellamy only nodded thinking back to the chaotic day he had witnessed and been a part of.

“They are different from others we’ve picked up. These guys are all smart and powerful.”

Bellamy just nodded again. 

“What are you thinking?” Miller asked. 

“I think we need to learn as much about them as possible.”

Chapter Text

The journey to The 100 base wasn’t that long, but it had felt like forever. Every minute felt to pass by slower than the last. Bellamy had placed the blonde on the floor of the jeep he was in and was watching her turn paler and her clothes turn bloodier. 

Harper had wrapped her wound to slow the bleeding, but that was as far as anyone’s medical expertise went. When they got her to The 100, they would hand her over to Jackson who would use his medical training to help her… if he could.  

When they finally arrived, it was nighttime. Bellamy stood and picked up the blonde to carry her in. They were returning much later than they were supposed to and he was sure he would get yelled at. 

Practically all his Delinquents were banged up. Myles and Connor were still in pain, though the worst of it had subsided. Then there were the five that the blonde girl had taken down single-handedly without a superpower. And so on. Everyone was tired and sore.

Bellamy took in the familiar and comforting surroundings of the base. On the surface, it looked like an empty beat-up spaceship (thanks to Miller). But on the inside, it was humongous and pretty high-tech. 

He followed as Miller led the way to the secret door and entered. Everyone followed suit. They were instantly greeted by the faces of the council. They were a bit, and by a bit, I mean really late. 

“What the hell happened?!” was, of course, the first thing Indra shouted as she approached her beat-up Delinquents. 

Bellamy already knew they looked awful. He was up in front carrying an unconscious girl in his arms. Miller was right next to me with the other unconscious girl slung over his left shoulder. Myles and Connor were able to walk now, but every step pained them, and anyone could see they would rather be lying down instead of standing. And don’t even get started on Adam, Bree, Fox, Jasper, and Monty who looked like they had just been in a brutal Enforcer fight. Also, the three runaways were being dragged on a tarp because no one wanted to touch them not knowing the full range of their powers. 

“Hello to you too,” Miller muttered underneath his breath so she couldn’t hear. 

“I thought there were only three runaways? Why are there five? Did you get ambushed by Enforcers?” Kane prompted when no one responded. He looked straight at Bellamy. 

“Not exactly,” Bellamy said, feeling a little bit ashamed of how 5 of his men, with powers, got beat up by the small blonde in his arms who looked completely harmless at the moment. 

Oh shit, he thought. Her face was ghost white and the other girl could have some sort of concussion and should not be carried upside down. 

“These two need instant medical attention!” Bellamy blurted out all of a sudden. Kane approached Bellamy and his eyes landed on crimson red blood staining the girl's shirt. His eyes widened in shock, processing the urgency of the situation. 

“Someone get Jackson!” Kane shouted behind his shoulder. “I specifically said not to load the gun!” he said furiously. 

“I didn’t! My gun was unloaded! An Enforcer did this!” Bellamy said anger rushing into his voice. Did Kane seriously think that he would shoot an unarmed runaway?

Jackson and a few others rushed over with two stretches for the girls and left hurriedly to the medical wing. 

“Bellamy,” Indra said with an edge entering her voice, “Tell me what happened. Now.”

Bellamy sighed. He began to explain it from the beginning. He started with when they spotted the gray ensemble of clothes on three guys and the unexpected presence of two girls.  They carried on with the original plan, but the brunette girl and blonde caught that something was wrong. So, they attacked and thought it would be simple until one of the guys cast 5 force fields at a time. He went on to describe all the encounters of each runaway in depth. 

He started with the force field caster and stated how even though he was weak, he still made one more force field. He moved on to the guy who he saw shapeshift into Bree and how Harper and Monroe thought he was the real Bree. After a moment, he continued to the last runaway. He told Indra about how he stopped running to take on Myles and Conner. He described this encounter in the most depth so far trying to conjure up every detail. How with one giant punch to the boy's hand Myles collapsed to the floor. How the boy looked regretful for the pain he caused. How Connor’s power didn’t stand a single chance against the boy's power and doubled over in pain. Again he described the sadness that fell over the boy's face when he defeated both without moving a muscle and accepting the punches that came towards him. 

Then he moved on to describe the brunette encounter and determination with the ice. How she lunged at Sterling, probably hearing him for he was invisible, and then how she ended up faking being unconscious to run away. 

And finally, he got to his favorite story. The story about how one girl, with no special power, took down five of their guys. He described her combat skills, the way she observed and learned from her attackers, how she led them in tiring circles before she led them to a spacious alley, and how she clearly knew the layout of Walden extremely well. Then explained how he had to approach her or she would have escaped. 

He went on to explain how Miller came and she didn’t wait for a second to take his gun and hit him with it, but he left out the part where she kneaded him and he saw see Miller still at his side holding back a laugh and smiling at the ground. 

And finally, Bellamy described the encounter with the Enforcer. He hesitated, debating whether or not to mention how sure he was that the Enforcer was aimed at the dark-haired girl and… that the bullet curved. One look at Indra's face and he knew he had to tell her. And so he told her exactly what he thought he saw and then wrapped up the end to when he shut off the Enforcer.

Throughout this retelling, they stayed in the hall as the Delinquents behind Bellamy dragged the three runaways to the interrogation rooms, left to get patched up, or stayed to hear the story from his birds-eye view perspective. 

So, he stood and waited for Indra to say something. To his surprise, she smiled and started laughing. He was completely shocked at her response. She hadn’t laughed like that since… 

“That non-meta human, tiny, girl took down five powered Delinquents and ‘The King?!’” Indra said through a laugh. 

His jaw clenched. It was all true and soon the word would get around. That’s when whoever was left standing behind him, left. Now alone, with a calmed down Indra, he wanted to ask her a question. 

“Do you think that the bullet really curved? Or did I just imagine it?”

Indra looked thoughtfully into his eyes. 

“I don’t know, Blake. How could it have curved? You saw the girl take down five of our men without using an ability. And the other one was facing away from the Enforcer, she didn’t even know it was there. The Enforcer could have changed targets at the last moment. Or, the blonde could be hiding a power. We won’t know until we ask,” Indra said with her eyebrows raised. 

She turned around and left Bellamy standing there going over her possible explanations in his mind. They all could be the truth. Maybe it did choose another target last second. 

No. No! I saw what I saw! That bullet curved. And that girl is hiding something.

Bellamy would find out what she was hiding.

Chapter Text

The runaway boys were each put in separate interrogation rooms. Indra, Kana, and Bellamy were standing behind the double-sided mirror as the first interrogation began. 

Miller was the interrogator, as always. Since he could make illusions, he could make people see whatever he wanted. That way, we can torture them for information without actually torturing them. 

Bellamy sighed. His mind wasn’t on the interrogations about to commence. It was drifting everywhere and nowhere. 

“Bellamy?” Kane asked, bringing him out of his head. 

“Yeah?” he asked. 

“Ready?” he asked. 

“Always,” he answered. 

The first one being integrated was the shapeshifter (because he was the first one who woke up). He was surveying the room around him trying to figure out where he was. 

Interesting, Bellamy thought. 

Then, Miller entered the room. He dragged with him a small table displaying torture devices. The shapeshifter's eyes widened. 

“Alright. I’m going to assume you know how this goes. I ask the questions, you answer. If you don’t answer, well… “ he trailed off gesturing towards the table beside him. 

“No you won't,” the shapeshifter stated simply. 

Miller scoffed. “And why is that?”

“Because you won’t torture yourself.” In an instant, the boy in the chair transformed into Miller. Now Miller was glaring at Miller. 

“You don’t enjoy doing this. And if you do, you’re sick,” fake-Miller spat out. 

Miller was taken aback. 

“How can you live with yourself? How can you look in the mirror every day after everything you’ve done.” 

“This isn’t good,” Indra said. 

Miller was Bellamy’s right-hand man. His second in command. But underneath that strong demeanor, was a fairly sensitive guy with a dark past like all of them. And like Bellamy, Miller tended to blame every wrong thing on himself and it ate away at him. Kane and Indra both knew that. 

“How can you let your friends go out into danger every day?” the shapeshifter continued. Then, he shifted into Harper, Bree, and Monroe. 

“Okay, we have to stop this!” Bellamy said with worry and anger rising in his voice. 

Miller was silent. His mouth hung open and his eyes were fixed on the shapeshifter. 

Kane gasped. Then, he smiled almost victoriously. Bellamy and Indra both turned to him. 

“I got this,” Kane said as he left the room to enter the integration room. The two watched as Kane walked in and led the real Miller out of the room then stood in front of where the faux Miller was sitting. 

“You can shift back now, Wells Jaha,” Kane said, enunciating the last two words. The shapeshifter was so shocked he lost control of his shape and returned to his normal form. 

Ohhh, Bellamy thought. He could see it now. He was like a Jaha Junior. 

“How do you know my name?” Wells asked. 

“Let’s just say, I have connections. I’ve seen you before. You were much younger then, but you’re growing to look a lot like your father.”

Wells's face fell at that and he looked at the floor. It was like he didn’t want to be associated with his father. 

“I’m not going to tell you anything I know,” Wells said, still looking at the ground. 

“Oh, I believe you. Being the son of the most powerful man, I’m sure he taught you all about how to be interrogated. Plus, you got a few tricks of your own. I must say, I was surprised to find out just now that Thelonious ended up having a mutant son. How did he take that?” Kane probed. 

Well’s jaw clenched. 

Kane could tell that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with mini Jaha. He was trained after all. We needed someone untrained in the art of interrogation. 

Next up, the blue-eyed bastard.

Chapter Text

“Hopefully this interrogation goes better,” Bellamy muttered under his breath. But he had this sneaking suspicion it wouldn’t. 

The next to awake from their beauty sleep was the one who tortured Myles and Connor. Bellamy insisted he be the one to interrogate him. They all knew that they couldn’t make an illusion of torturing because he, like them, knew they couldn’t touch him. And if Miller was on the bench, he was the next best interrogator. 

Before he entered the room, Bellamy watched him from the double-sided window with Indra and Kane. Unlike Wells who survived the room trying to gage it, this guy just sat there looking bored. Bellamy could already tell they wouldn’t get along. He rolled his eyes. 

Here goes nothing.

He left the safe side and entered the lion's den. The runaway’s eyes lifted to survey Bellamy. His eyebrows rose in surprise. Bellamy thought it was because he had covered every inch of his body with clothes and put gloves on his hands. 

“Hey, dude, can I have those?” he asked, jerking with his head towards Bellamy’s gloved hands. 

“If you answer a few of my questions honestly,” Bellamy stated as he sat down in the chair that was placed in front of him, but farther away than a normal interrogation. 

The runaway scoffed. “Knew it,” he said bitterly. 

“Simple as that,” Bellamy said. 

The other boy laughed. 

“Simple as that indeed. Sometimes, I do like my power, because clearly, we both know you can’t torture me the old-fashioned way. Plus, nothing you could do would be worse than what I’ve already been through nor what I could do to you,” he said with a straight face. 

Interesting. “Nothing you could do would be worse than what I’ve already been through.”

“So, what have you been through?” Bellamy inquired. 

The boy scoffed. “Like I would tell you. I didn’t even tell that to my merry band of misfits and I’ve known them for about a day longer than you,” he said with a smile. 

Okay, he doesn’t know it but he has just given me the information that he didn’t know any of them before yesterday when he escaped a prison van.

But Bellamy could tell that even though he didn’t know them long, they were thick as thieves those five. He thought back to how the force field guy sacrificed his energy and chances to escape to give the other a fighting chance. How when he brought up how he captured the blonde's friends, she was ready to throw punches. And now the way this pain inflictor said “ my merry band of misfits.”

He could work with that. 

“Yeah, speaking of your friends, don’t you wanna know how they’re doing?”

He was still looking Bellamy dead in the eye. 

“No,” he stated with no emotion. 

“So, you wouldn’t care to know that two of them are in the hospital wing because one of them got shot and the other got a concussion?” Bellamy asked innocently.

His eyes glared at Bellamy. The calming bright blue eyes he had turned into an icy blue stare. 

“Who?” That was the only word he asked. He could tell it was a long shot to even ask. But Bellamy had a plan in mind. He wanted to gauge his reaction to who was in critical health and who was fine like him. 

I mean the other guys were in much better shape than him. His left eye was bruised from Connor's punch and his right hand was limp in the cuffs probably broken from Myles’ punch.

“The two girls,” Bellamy said. 

“Shit,” the tied-up boy said under his breath, closing his eyes and then looking at the floor. The small reaction Bellamy got was perfect. Bellamy was sure that if it was the guys he would have remained more passive. 

“Are they okay?” he asked the ground. 

“Which one?” Bellamy asked. 

“Both, jerk,” the boy said and now looked at Bellamy. 

“I’ll only give you one,” Bellamy said. He was interested to see which one he would pick and why.

“Does it matter? If I ask, ‘How’s Raven?’ I’ll know after that the other gal is the one with the other of the two injuries,” he said. 

“Raven?” Bellamy asked. “Which one is that? Is that her name?”

“No. You know one of them has raven-colored hair and the other has sunshine gold hair.”

It was a good answer, but Bellamy didn’t know if it was a good cover story because he slipped up her name or it was actually how he distinguished them. 

“Yeah, well, she’s the one with the concussion,” Bellamy let that sink in. 

“Is Blondie okay?” the boy asked, trying to hide his concern. 

Again, Bellamy wondered if he was calling her by her hair color on purpose or if that was just his nickname for her. 

“We’ll see,” Bellamy said. He didn’t know if she was okay. He hadn’t checked on her yet. He was kind of avoiding that. 

“What do you mean ‘we’ll see?’ Is she going to live?” he asked.

“Are the girls metahumans?” Bellamy asked. 

“What?! No! You didn't answer my question, asshole! Is she going to live?”

With that, Bellamy stood up and exited the room. The perfect way to end the integration was to leave with something they want. Information that can be traded later for their information. 

Bellamy made his way to the medical wing and could hear Kane and Indra following behind him. As he entered, he first saw the raven-haired girl lying still unconscious on a bed. Jackson walked over as he was examining the girl. 

“How is she?” Bellamy asked. 

“Well, it’s not a terrible concussion. She should wake up in a day. However, with her mind in this state, I won’t be able to invade and look around. It would be too dangerous.”

That was Jackson’s power. He could enter the memories of the mind and adjust them to his liking. He could make people forget memories or simply roam around and look at their memories. 

Bellamy nodded. That’s when he noticed her arm. It was slightly bruised but what caught his eyes was the large gash with perfectly stitched stitches along the cut. 

“Did you do that?” Bellamy asked Jackson. Bellamy had seen his work and had it first-hand done on Bellamy, but Jackson was never that skilled. 

“No, I didn’t. It was like that when she got here and I saw it after we took off her jacket. The cut looks fairly fresh. I’d say it’s only a day old. I’m surprised it's still holding up together.”

Bellamy nodded again. Kane and Indra were still behind him as he made his way to the only other occupied bed. The girl. She was still wearing her bloodied shirt and she was unconscious as well. He was glad to see there was color in her face that had started to return. 

“She’s alive?” Bellamy asked. 

“She’s alive,” Jackson confirmed. “I cleaned the wound and stopped the bleeding then stitched it up. Luckily, the bullet went through her so we didn’t have to dig around for it,” Jackson finished, but Bellamy could tell he had more to say.

“What?” Bellamy asked. 

“Well, she doesn’t have a concussion like the other girl, but when I tried to enter her mind… I don’t know how to explain it, it was like there was a wall that I couldn’t get past.”

“What?” Bellamy repeated. Jackson could get into anyone's mind. Sure, some were easier to get into like Jasper’s versus Bellamy’s mind which took Jackson a much longer time to enter, but he always got in. 

“I can’t get into her mind,” he repeated. “It’s never happened before.”

“Interesting,” Indra said from behind me. 

“Interesting how?” Bellamy asked. 

“Maybe she does have power after all. Maybe what Jackson is experiencing is a battle of the mental powers. But that’s a lot of speculation. It could just be something else interfering.”

That’s when Kane stepped closer to examine her face. 

“What is it?” Indra questioned. 

“I- I don’t know. It’s something about her face. It looks familiar. Like she reminds me of someone that I can’t put my finger on,” he replied. 

This girl is just one big mystery.

Chapter Text

A soft beeping. A faint beeping. That’s all Clarke could hear. It was dark too. 

Probably because your eyes are closed, Clarke thought to herself. 

It was a state of consciousness where you are waking up from a dream but you're not fully awake. After a few more minutes, she was opening her eyes. 

Artificial light stung her eyes. She tilted her head to the side and closed her eyes to avoid the light. She instantly regretted turning her head for there was a painful shock that pulsed through her head. 

She let out a small, sharp, painful breath. That’s when the whole day came rushing back to her. Flashes of the ambush, the running, the fight, the people, the leader, the Enforcer, the bullet, the feeling of her head splitting open, the blood, the brown eyes, the purple light, the darkness.  

With her eyes still closed, she took a deep breath in and out. She willed the pain in her head to go away. Calming her mind used to always help the pain. But the pain had only been this bad once before when… 

After she felt the pulse in her head subside, she sat up in her… medical bed? 

Slowly, she moved her head left to right, taking in the scene. There was no one in the room except for Raven’s unconscious form. She let out another deep breath as she saw Raven’s chest rise and fall. 

The pain in her head was leaving for the moment. She just had to keep a calm mind. Thankfully no one was in the room except for a sleeping Raven so she didn’t have to worry about hearing anyone else's thoughts other than her own. 

She knew that when she shouted that one word, one word, nothing would ever be the same again. It would be like it was before. Torture. 

She had gone so, so long without letting them surface. She knew one day they would come back. 

She tried to move off the bed and that’s when she realized that her hands were cuffed on either side of the bed. 

Great. How am I supposed to get out now?

That’s when she heard the click of metal against metal. Her eyes fell onto her right wrist. 

Raven’s laser bracelet!

She couldn’t keep the smile from forming her face. 

And so, she maneuvered herself to open it and position the laser how Raven had demonstrated twice in front of her. 

Please, please don’t burn my skin. 

After a few seconds, the sound of sizzling metal finished and she shut off the laser then took off her right cuff. With more ease, she lasered the left cuff off. Victory! 

She put the bracelet back on and stood. She immediately regretted standing up so rapidly. She clutched at her stomach as a new rush of pain from her bullet wound spread through her torso. 

Wow, today is not my day. 

She definitely couldn’t fight her way out. And how was she supposed to get Raven out? She was pretty sure Raven had a concussion. And what of Wells, Finn, and John? Did they escape? Or were they captured somewhere else in this hideout? 

All the stories of the awful Delinquents flooded through her mind. If they were as bad as they were though, why did they close her bullet wound and not let her bleed out? And Raven looks to be taken care of too.  

No. No! They are just prepping them up for questioning, then slaughter. 

She had to get out of here. Find an exit and drag Raven out. If she heard the others on her way out, she would help them escape too.

She closed her eyes and steadied herself. She imagined strength flowing through her body. Meditation. She loved to read. 

She opened her eyes. Now is the time for strength. She couldn’t ignore the pain in her head and her torso, but she could work with it, not against it. 

Here we go.

Clarke walked out of the room. Surprisingly, the door wasn’t locked. Then again, how could they have known she had a laser bracelet. The farther she got from the hospital wing, the louder the whispers in her head grew. When they got too loud, she knew she was getting too close, too close to people. She tried listening for Wells, Finn, or John’s thoughts, but so far nothing. They must’ve been far away from where she was. 

Clarke tried gaging the layout of the building as she walked around - see if there were any patterns or rooms of significance. She assumed that the voices would be most quiet at the edges of the hideout. And so, she followed her hunch. 

She followed the growing silence down darker halls than before. 

This place is a maze.

Just as she thought that she saw the glowing sign saying, “EXIT.”

How convenient.

She walked up to the door and tried opening it. Locked. Her eyes looked to the left next to the doorknob and saw there was a four-digit combination. 

Why did I have to jinx myself? Okay, think! That’s kind of hard to do right now considering the pain in my head. Focus! If I was an evil group of teenagers, what would I make the code? Well, it’d have to be something everyone could remember. For example, some people like the kid with goggles, and his shaggy-haired friend might forget if it was too random. Wait. I remember reading a book in the library about this old four-digit combination joke. I think it was: 1234. It’s so dumb nobody would think of it. 

And so, she gave it a guess and typed 1-2-3-4. There was a small beep of approval followed by a small green light illuminating above the number lock. Clarke couldn’t help but smile at herself. She guessed these people enjoyed the old ways as much as she.

“Hey!” She heard a deep voice call from the end of the hall. She spun around so fast that her vision blurred for a second from the pain. After it cleared, she saw him! The potential “leader” of the Delinquents. 

“Shit!” she said under her breath. 

She turned back around and opened the door quickly and closed it behind her. If it was like the old doors she read about, it would reset the lock when closed so that gave her a few seconds to get a head start. Before she closed the door, her offender ran towards her and that gave her the adrenaline rush she needed to have enough energy to hopefully escape. 

She looked before her and saw that she was on a platform and in front of her was a large garage full of vehicles she’d never seen in real life before. She ran forward down the stairs and thought about her options. 

1. She could hide.
2. She could try to find an exit.

When she heard the door from up top open, the only option that came to mind was, “ Run! ”

Thankfully, the lights in the garage were off. 

A second after she thought that, they turned on. 

Great. Why do I have to keep jinxing things? 

Clarke had gotten a good head start, but she was also in much pain. 

“You know you can’t escape! Come out and make this easier on both of us. Princess,” a loud, deep voice echoed. He practically spat out the last word, but Clarke could hear the smile in his voice. She rolled her eyes. 

“There’s nowhere to go!” 

The voice was taunting. But, she kept running, crouching, and hiding. 

Okay, Clarke, think. 

But it was so hard to think. Her head hurt and there was a faint voice creeping into her mind.

“Tell me, Princess, why were you shot by the Enforcer? I don’t know if you saw, but I was on the other side of the square, watching. From my point of view, I could see that the gun was aimed at the raven-haired girl, but it hit you.”

No. No, no, no. Don’t say it. Don’t say-

“The bullet curved.”

She sighed, closed her eyes, and banged the back of her head against the car she was hiding behind. 

“No. That can’t be true. That would mean that they’re both back,” Clarke said under her breath. 

“Hello, Princess,” a voice to her left came. 

A shock of fear passed through her. Her eyes shot up and she so fast every inch of her body protested but she couldn’t, couldn’t get captured again. 

Clarke had grown up hearing the most awful stories about what happens when the Delinquents snatch you. Stories of torture, interrogation, cutting off of limbs. She only knew one thing and that was she would not let herself be another experiment. 

So, she got into her fighting position. She was sure he was a mutant, but she didn’t know what his power was. 

Just another fight, she told herself. You have no injuries and you’re at your best. 

He smirked at her and raised his eyebrows in questioning.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” he asked. 

“Are you sure you do?” she retorted. 

His smile grew. He was intrigued. 

She studied his stature. He looked like that kind of guy that wouldn’t strike first. The kind of guy that would wait to be provoked. The kind of guy that had some serious anger issues. Probably an uncontrollable power. 

And so, she struck first. She stepped forward, threw a distraction punch to move his attention and position, then with her right leg she forcefully hooked his legs and pulled, in doing that, he fell on his back. 

“Ow!” he let out. 

She didn’t waste a second to run. 

But he got up fast and chased after her. She turned a sharp corner and grounded herself. As turned the same corner, he came at her with his arm slowly raising, and in his hand was a ball of what pure lighting or electricity would look like. He threw it at her and Clarke dogged at the last second. She watched as it landed on a car and then watched as the car lit up in flames. 

That could have been me, she thought. 

Clarke felt his presence slowly creeping up behind her and as he was about to grab her she turned around and put all her power into a punch aimed at his stomach. He flew back like he was flying in the air and was thrown onto and crushed against a car. 

Just like when the bullet curved, the retearing of her mind occurred and a new wave of pain entered her mind. Not all of it was her pain she realized. 

That’s new, she thought to herself. 

But the thought was lost in the wave of other thoughts which were not hers.  

How did she do that? Why is she holding her head like it hurts? What’s her power?

“AH!” Clarke screamed in pain. Too much! Too much at one time. She had to distance herself from him and his mind. She turned and ran forward in hopes of finding some sort of escape. 

Where is she going? What is happening to her? 

Distance. I need distance from him. 

She saw a staircase that led to a platform and she ran up it. She could get far away from going up. When she reached the flat platform, she looked for some railing to hang onto for balance, but there was none

The voices had quieted for a while but they were getting louder, and louder again. He was on the lower level looking up at her. He started making his way closer thinking of going up the stairs to her. But the closer he was the worse the voices were. 

“Stop!” Clarke pleaded. She raised her hands to her ears and clutched them in a pointless attempt to drown out the voices. “Your thoughts are so loud!” 

Did she just say “thoughts”? A loud voice in her head drilled. 

Why is there so much going on in his head? Clarke thought to herself in agony. Questions about his thoughts started in her mind as well. 

Who is Octavia? He saw the bullet curve. Who am I? What is happening to me?

“What is happening to me?” Clarke wondered out loud. 

Why is everything so messed up? Why are my abilities feeling like an uncontrolled live wire? What will happen when my other power starts acting up?

Every question was flowing through her mind. Hers and his. Then the voices started getting fainter. She let go of her ears and swayed on her feet. She steadied her balance but felt very, very lightheaded. 

Ironic, she thought. 

Some instinct told her to look down at her gunshot wound. 

Oh wow. That’s a lot of blood. 

Her medical mind concluded that her stitches must have come undone some time in the chase and now she was suffering the effects of massive blood loss. 

She was losing her footing and she didn’t notice she was slowly making her way backward until her feet didn’t feel the ground and she knew she was falling off the platform. 

But yet again, before passing out completely, she never felt the impact of the ground. 

“Bellamy.”

Chapter Text

She said my name. 

That was the first thought that came to his mind as he looked down at the girl passed out in his arms, yet again. 

How did she know my name? Bellamy thought to himself as she started making his way back to the door they originally came through. As he walked, he thought about how nothing that just happened made any sense. 

He had been walking the halls of the 100 base trying to clear his thoughts when he saw a flash of bright blonde hair turn a corner. It took him a while to find the owner of the hair, but when he did, he saw the girl . You know, the one that he had seen in the medical center not just an hour ago on a cot who was now in front of the garage door with a smile on her face. 

How did she get out? She was wearing handcuffs. Two of them! 

But as her hand went to the knob to open the door he shouted, “Hey!” in a meaningless attempt to stop her. 

She opened the door and went through then closed it behind her. 

Um, how did she know the code?

He knew it was a dumb code. So dumb not even a smart person would think of it. Not that he was calling her dumb. She was clearly above average intelligence. 

So he typed in the code, walked into the garage, turned on the lights, and tried to get her to reveal her location by taunting her. She didn’t bite the bait, but he found her eventually behind a car with her eyes closed and face in pain. 

He thought it was over then, but she, to his surprise, wasn’t going down without a fight. Even in her condition. She took the first strike which turned out to be a distraction which he figured out too late and by the time he did, he was lying on his back on the floor. 

Well then. Remember not to underestimate her, he had thought. 

After that, his anger took control. When he chased after her, he used his electrical power to conjure up a ball of electricity. She dodged at the last possible second. And when he thought for the second that it was over then, she turned around and punched him in the stomach so hard that he had flown backward into a car. 

It had hurt like actual hell. 

But when he recovered and looked at the girl, she looked to be in much, much worse pain than him. She was holding her temple like she was having the worst headache ever. Afterward, she started running away from him again. 

And so, he went after her, again. When she got into his viewpoint again, she was standing on the platform. When he tried to step closer, she shouted, “Stop!” It was such a sharp command that he did indeed stop walking. 

Then… Then she said that his thoughts were loud. 

He couldn’t understand what her power was. He was sure she had one. But first, he saw a bullet curve, then she flung him across the room like he was nothing, and finally she claims she could hear his thoughts.  

It didn’t make any sense. She didn’t look like she was faking the pain one bit. And then she suddenly stopped clutching her ears and swayed back and forth trying to keep her balance. That’s when he noticed all the blood that was on the platform she was standing on. Then, she was falling. 

On instinct, he caught her with ease. She was deathly pale and Bellamy could feel the blood starting to soak his clothes. And then just before she passed out from what even he could tell was blood loss, she said one word. Just one word. 

“Bellamy.”

Her eyes were already closed and the word was barely a whisper. 

At this point, he made it back to the medical center where Jackson, Kane, and Indra were all standing around the empty cot that used to be occupied by a petite blonde. When they heard the door open, they all looked up at him. They must have just checked to see how she was doing because if they noticed she was gone before, the whole building would be looking. 

It must have been some sight to see. Yet again, Bellamy was carrying a blooded ghostly pale girl in his arms. What didn’t shock him was the way Jackson shot into action or the accusatory looks both Indra and Kane were throwing at him. 

Of course, they thought it was his fault. It’s always his fault after all. Bellamy rolled his eyes. Jackson had called the only other Delinquents who knew a small amount of medical knowledge. That would be Monty and Jasper with their plant knowledge as well as Bree who had X-Ray vision. 

Once Bellamy placed the still bleeding girl on the cot, Kane dragged him by the collar of his shirt to the other side of the room where Indra was already standing. They didn’t even need to say anything he already knew by their looks; they wanted to know what happened and why. So he told them. Told them about every little detail of another long day. A day where he hunted down the girl that escaped her cuffs (still unknown how) and got all the way to the garage where he had the most confusing encounter ever. Whenever he paused to take a breath in recounting the story, he couldn’t help but look over his shoulder to check that she was still alive. When he finished retelling the events of the day, Kane and Indra stood silent with their eyes locked on the blooded girl. 

“Indra. Assuming this girl does indeed have an ability, what should we assume it is? First, a bullet curved, then she throws Blake across a room with a punch, and in the end, she says she can hear his thoughts?”

Indra was quiet for a long time. “Maybe she has more than one power,” Indra finally said. 

To that, Bellamy scoffed. 

There had only been one documented case of a metahuman with two powers and the rest were whispers and speculation. The only documented case was of Callie Cohagen. She was the original leader of Tree Kru and her powers were earth and weather manipulation. The undocumented cases included theories that Becka Franko had two powers and not just super smarts. People said her second power was fire immunity because though she had been burned at the stake, there were several claims of sightings of her walking around in perfect condition after he reported the death. There might have been more people that died in the global nuclear war who had more than one power as well, but they’d never know. All they knew was that they were the rarest probability ever. 

Even Kane shook his head in disapproval. 

“Just a possibility. Anyway, what we should be focusing on is why and how? Why did she fight five mutant Delinquents without using a power? Why was she in so much pain after she threw Blake across the room? Could the same thing have happened before when the bullet curved? How does using her possible ability affect her physically and mentally? Why does it affect her so?” Indra questioned. 

“I have heard of cases where individuals go years without using their abilities or their whole lives and then they finally do, it's painful since it’s like a muscle that hasn’t been worked in ages. It’s too overwhelming at once, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of something this bad. Maybe since her possible power could be centered around her brain it is worse because the brain is the mind that controls, well, everything,” Kane proposed. 

“All good questions and possible answers. But for the meantime, since we can’t do or assume anything until she wakes up again, we need to figure out what we are going to do with the rest of the runaways,” Bellamy voiced. 

“Oh, yeah…” Indra said like she had completely forgotten about them.

“I mean, they escaped from the Reform and now we are holding them like dogs in cages. From what I’ve seen, I don’t think they are evil. I think they are just scared. I mean, we all know the stories that circle about us. I think we should tell them who we really are and what we really do. I think we can help them and they can help us. They are all very powerful after all and just teenagers like the rest of you,” Kane said, mostly to Bellamy. 

Bellamy nodded. It was logical and beneficial to both parties. And like Kane, he didn’t think they were bad people. They were just five unfortunate teens that were on their way to be lab experiments. 

“Alright. Let’s let the ‘dogs’ out.”

Chapter Text

When Finn awoke, he had a feeling that he had been knocked out for a while. The room he was in was dark with a large mirror to his right. A few minutes passed until someone opened the door. He had never seen this boy before. He was extremely tall and had dark, black, curly hair. The boy approached him and went to stand behind him. After that, Finn felt the cuffs that were cuffing him to the chair he was sitting on come undone. 

“Uh,” Finn said, not knowing how to react. Should he fight? Should he run? 

“Follow me,” the voice of the boy said as he made his way out the door. And so, not knowing what else to do, Finn followed him. When he left the small dark room, he entered a hallway and looked left and right.

When Finn saw Wells led out of the room adjacent to his own, he felt a weight lift off his shoulders. They walked directly toward each other, not saying a word, then hugged. Though they had only known each other for less than a day and had barely spoken, they already cared for one another. 

“Ugh. Get a room,” a groan of a voice called at them. When Finn let go of Wells, his eyes landed on Murphy. Murphy was the only one with cuffed hands behind himself.

Wells was making his way to Murphy, probably to hug him too, until Murphy said, “Hey! Woah! Remember, don’t touch me,” with concern in his voice for a fatal mistake Wells could have made. 

Wells just smiled and said, “I remember. But I can still pat you on the shoulder.” And that he did. Murphy flinched a little at the contact, still worried for Wells. Finn couldn’t help but smile at Murphy. He was happy that pain in the butt of a guy was okay. That all three of them were okay. All three…

“Where are Clarke and Raven?” Finn asked, suddenly concerned. 

“Dude,” Murphy shook his head and looked at the floor.

“So her name is Raven,” the tall dark-haired boy said with a smile, dark eyes glistening. He turned to Murphy and said, “Gotta say, you had me convinced.”

That’s when Finn realized what he did. He had given away the girls’ real names. 

“Sorry,” Finn said, not really knowing what else to say. He felt bad.

“It’s okay,” came Wells's reassuring voice. 

“That means that the blonde girl’s name is Clarke,” the tall, lean boy said out loud, yet more to himself. 

“Yeah, yeah. Congrats, dickhead,” Murphy said, annoyed. 

The dark-haired boy laughed deeply. “Don’t worry. It's no big deal. My name’s Bellamy. We already know that’s Wells. And soon enough, you two will willingly give up your names,” the boy now known as Bellamy said. 

“And why would we do that?” Finn said concerned, sensing a threat in his tone. 

“Follow me. I’m going to tell you a story,” Bellamy said. 

The three runaways had no choice but to follow since while Bellamy was talking, three other Delinquents had shown up behind them. 

“I’m sure you all know the story of Trikru and its part during the war. So I’m gonna skip over that part and go straight to the end when they retreated. I’m also sure you’ve heard of ‘The Resistance.’ Well, we, The Delinquents, are The Resistance,” Bellamy shared.

Murphy scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“Don’t believe me?” Bellamy asked, as though he was expecting that response. 

That’s when the boys stopped out into what one could only describe as the “common room.” It was a vastly large spacious room with lots of people talking, eating, and using their powers. Finn’s mouth fell open. 

“Then why did you attack us?” Wells asked. “From what I’ve heard, you’re supposed to help people like us.”

True, Finn thought. Why would they attack them if they were indeed the only safe place for metas?

“To be honest, we didn’t intend to. We thought it would be an easy grab, but you five surely put up a fight,” Bellamy said with a chuckle. 

“Then why did you integrate us?” Wells asked. “Those knives didn’t look that friendly to me.”

“Yeah, you got a funny way of showing you want to help. Going around and knocking people unconscious and shooting them,” Murphy jabbed. 

“Shooting?” Finn asked. All of this was news to him, but the one word that stood out the most was “shooting.”

“Yeah. Oh! They didn’t tell you two? They shot Clarke,” Murphy stated with venom seeping through every inch of his voice directed at Bellamy. 

“Is she okay? Is she alive?” Wells asked, clearly worried for his friend. 

“I don’t know. Ask our new friend Bellamy. He wouldn’t tell me,” Murphy continued, also worried for his friend no matter how much anger he hid it under.

“She's alive. Follow me. I’ll take you to them,” Bellamy said, unconcerned. “We didn’t shoot her. An Enforcer did. And I know we all got off of the wrong foot, but this is a safe haven for people like us. Everyone here started where you three are: skeptical and untrusting. Now, they are part of this messed-up family. We fight against everything you guys stand against. We want a better future for all metahumans. We want to take down The Reform just as much as you all do. And we have the power to do it. If you choose to stay here with us, you will be fighting for your freedom,” Bellamy finished. 

“Nice speech. Do you tell that to all the new kids? Try to brainwash them to give their lives to a hopeless cause? But I did like the part where you said ‘choose to stay,’” Murphy said, unconvinced. 

Finn couldn’t blame him. He said exactly what the three boys were all thinking. But something in Finn lit up at the thought of taking down The Reform so that he could live a normal life where people don’t have to fear him. But he guessed that was exactly what the speech was intended to do. It had been hundreds of years since Trikru retreated into the shadows. The addition of three mutants wasn’t going to change anything… right?

They got to a closed-door that Bellamy opened and went inside. The three boys followed ushered by the three Delinquents behind them then left, closing the door. Finn’s eyes landed on two unconscious girls. One with dark raven-colored hair, the other with light sunshine blonde hair. The girls were lying on cots right next to each other. When Finn approached them, he was worried to see how still they looked. But they were indeed breathing. 

Finn sighed. They were all okay. Well, as close as they could get to being okay. That’s when his eyes drifted to Clarke’s side which was heavily bandaged. 

“She really was shot,” Finn said, looking up at Wells and Murphy who both had concern in their eyes. 

“When will they wake up?” Wells asked the question on all their minds. 

“One already did. Clarke put up quite the fight. I have the bruised ribs and back to prove it,” Bellamy informed them. 

“That sounds like Clarke,” Wells smiled. 

Then the door to the room opened again and another of the 100 walked in. 

“Jackson, these are the three runaways. Boys, this is our doctor,” Bellamy introduced. 

“Doctor?” Murphy mused, raising his eyebrows as he gave Jackson a look over. “Tell us doc, when will the girls awaken from their beauty slumbers?” Murphy inquired. 

“It’s hard to say. I’d say they should both be up soon or by the end of the day,” Jackson informed. 

“Sounds good,” Murphy stated as he moved to a chair on the opposing wall and seated himself in it. 

Everyone looked at him. 

“Oh, well, I’m staying here to make sure none of you strip them of their organs. But please, pretty boy and junior, you can go ahead and go on the grand tour. I know you want to. Have fun joining this cult,” Murphy said civilly. 

Finn looked over at Wells who was already looking at him. 

“We can’t stay,” Wells said to Finn, ignoring everyone else in the room. 

“Where can we go?” Finn asked. 

“What about Arkadia?” Wells prompted. “Last time I checked, the Queen is a mutant. We could all be safe there.”

“There will be a manhunt for us all everywhere. Plus, last I heard, the Queen is considered dead. No one has seen her in years,” Finn argued. 

“I’m telling you, staying here is the best option. And it’s in your best interest,” Bellamy chimed in. 

Before any of them could get the chance to reply, the most unusual thing happened. The medical supplies on the table in the room started shaking. And floating. Finn was speechless. He turned to see Jackson had one of his hands on Clarke’s forehead. 

“What the fu-” Murphy began to say but what cut off when Bellamy asked sharply, “Who’s doing this?”

Everyone in the room shared questioning gazes until Jackson spoke. 

“I- I think it’s her,” Jackson said as he removed his hand from Clarke’s forehead as if it had been burned. 

Suddenly, the room started shaking and the lights started flickering. More and more objects in the room began floating and moving as if the gravity had been turned off. 

“You think Clarke is doing this?” Wells asked. 

“But she doesn’t have any power! Doesn’t she?” Finn questioned, suddenly doubting himself as he looked at the pained expression on Clarke’s sleeping face. It was like she was having a bad dream. 

“The bullet curved.” Finn heard Bellamy whisper. 

“We have to do something before the whole room collapses on us!” Wells exclaimed, looking around for ideas.

“Yo, doc! Undo whatever you did!” Murphy shouted, getting up out of his chair to walk over to Clarke’s side. 

“I didn’t do anything!” Jackson yelled in response. 

“Bullshit!” Murphy countered angrily. “We all saw your greasy little paws on her forehead!”

The chaos in the room was coming to a crescendo and Finn had no idea how to stop it. 

“Wake her up. Wake her up! We need to wake her up!” Bellamy shouted suddenly. 

“And how do we do that?!” Wells questioned, looking to Clarke. “If this is her – her power – the only thing that can wake her up is a power that would win in battle.”

Everyone in the room looked at Murphy. Murphy saw every pair of eyes on him and he shook his head, dead serious. 

“No. No fucking way,” he stated, no room for argument. 

“We will all die if you don’t,” Finn said to him. 

“She could die if I do,” Murphy replied. 

The walls started to crack at that moment. 

“You won’t let that happen,” Wells said confidently. 

“Well my hands are tied behind my back so I can’t even if I was considering it!” Murphy exclaimed. 

“Turn around,” Bellamy instructed walking up to Murphy. Murphy death stared at Bellamy, but then turned around. Bellamy took up the key to the cuffs, and with the care of a surgeon, released him. Murphy turned back around and looked at Clarke. 

“Sorry,” he whispered just before brushing the tip of his index finger on her hand for the briefest of seconds before pulling it away as if the touch had burned him. 

Finn watched as Clarke’s body seized up and tensed. For a moment, everything in the room stopped. The tools froze midair as if the Earth had frozen. Then, Clarke opened her eyes and everything in the room went flying back. The five boys that had been standing were thrown against the walls along with the tools, machines, cots, everything. Everything expect for Clarke. 

Pain exploded in Finn's back as he slumped down on the ground after colliding with the wall. Every boy gave out a pained groan as they tried to sit and stand up. Clarke, now awake, sat up slowly.  She hissed at the effort. 

“No way,” Murphy whispered as he stood up. He acted as if being thrown against a wall was nothing. He walked over to Clarke and looked at her with this joy and wonder Finn never could’ve imagined on Murphy’s face. 

“Your power beat mine,” Murphy said, baffled as he gave a small half laugh-half scoff. 

Finn watched Clarke give a pained smile in return.  “You’re alive,” she said to Murphy. Then she looked around the destroyed room and saw Wells and Finn. “You’re all alive,” she added with a small smile. 

Wells and Finn walked over to her side. Then Clarke took in the room around her. 

“Did I do that?” she asked in a whisper, as if she was afraid for the answer.  

“You got some explaining to do,” Murphy laughed. 

There was another loud groan and everyone turned to look at Raven who was by the looks of it, waking up.

“Well, would you look at that? Our second sleeping beauty has awoken,” Murphy said as Raven sat up, clutching her right hand to her head. 

“I was never one to sleep through, well, whatever the hell just happened,” Raven replied looking around the room. Raven’s eyes landed on Clarke and her face lit up. 

“Clarke! Holy shit! You’re okay!” Raven exclaimed, swinging her legs over her bed and trying to stand up. She took a step forwards, then swayed on her feet. Wells caught her and righted her up. Raven patted him gratefully on his chest then tried walking again to Clarke’s side.  

“‘Okay’ might be a bit of an overstatement,” Clarke began to laugh which quickly turned into a cough.

Then Raven’s attention finally landed on two unfamiliar faces. 

“Who that?” Raven asked, pointing at Bellamy and Jackson. 

“Evil,” Murphy replied. 

“Mmm,” Raven hummed. 

“We’re not evil. We already told you, we’re the good guys,” Bellamy said, rolling his eyes. 

Clarke, Raven, and Murphy all scoffed in unison. Finn, however, wasn’t so sure. And as he looked over to Wells, he wasn’t the only one. At that moment, the door to the room opened and two adults ran in. 

“Woah,” the man stated, taking in the room as he skidded to a halt. 

“What happened?” the woman demanded. 

Everyone looked to Clarke who just looked down at her hands. 

“Her?” the woman asked, face unreadable. 

“Yes,” Clarke replied sadly. “I haven’t been totally honest with you four.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Raven said. Clarke looked up at Raven. Then, they both started laughing. 

“What did I say? There is seriously something wrong with her,” Murphy said with a small smile.

Chapter Text

They were in what Clarke guessed to be a conference room. The room was encased in double-sided glass. So from the inside of the room, you could see what was going on outside the room, but you could not see from outside in. She was sitting at one end of the table and the boy she knew now as Bellamy was sitting at the other end, staring at her. Beside him were a woman and a man. Sitting closest to her was Raven to her left, Wells to her right, and Finn next to Wells. Murphy was standing behind her in one of the corners of the room. Bellamy had given him gloves to wear, but he was so used to distancing himself. They were all looking at her intently. 

“What I told you about my past is all true. I just left out a few things,” she addressed her four friends. “Truthfully, I can’t remember anything before the age of eight. As I said before, The Eligius Corporation found me on the streets, unconscious, in a pool of blood. They interrogated me to try and figure out what happened and who I was. I didn’t even know if the name I remembered is mine or not. When they realized they couldn’t get anything out of me if I didn't remember anything, they proceeded to run experiments on me. They messed with my mind,” Clarke explained. 

“All sounds familiar,” Raven said, confused. 

“What I didn’t tell you is that they didn’t just run experiments on my mind because I couldn’t remember anything, but because my powers too,” Clarke said. 

“Powers? Plural?” the man at the other end of the table asked. Clarke nodded. 

“I can move things with my mind. And, I can read people’s minds. The terms are-”

“Telekinesis and telepathy,” the women at the other end of the table finished. Clarke nodded again. 

“They did a lot of horrible things. They pushed my mind and its abilities to the limit. It was horrible. All while my mind was still growing… The memories still cause me so many sleepless nights, nightmares,” Clarke paused, looking down at the table. “Anyways, I could tell I had been there for a few months. I decided I had enough and that I needed to escape no matter how much strength or planning it took. The experiments got less intense over time and I slowly started gaining my strength back.” Clarke looked to Raven, then to Wells. She sighed. 

“I didn’t tell you how I escaped. Reading minds was not the extent of my telepathy ability. I could read, sense, communicate with, and control other people’s minds. I think it was because of my telekinesis. My two powers merged and grew. Evolved. Because telekinesis allowed me to influence a physical object without physical interaction, I think that worked hand in hand with my telepathy. Just my educated guess,” Clarke mused allowed. 

“I can’t help notice you’re talking about your powers in the past tense. Why is that?” the man asked. 

“Kane,” the women warned. 

“What, Indra? Surely you noticed it too,” Kane responded. 

“Believe it or not but I was getting to that,” Clarke replied, looking directly at Kane. “On the day of my escape, I entered the mind of one of my captures and forced him to undo my bindings and release me. Free, I made my way out of my prison and around the building. I read the mind of a passing-by scientist and got the layout of the place. But you have to understand, I was not at my best and I was using a lot of my mental ability. A guard saw me and I started running. Every alarm in the building started yelling and guards were coming from every direction and when one of them grabbed me I just screamed. I poured my whole soul into that scream and I used all my power to enter the minds of everyone around me and all my power to tear down that awful place. When my voice died and I stopped screaming, the guards once around me were all on the floor… dead. Blood was running out of all their orifices. And the whole building around me had collapsed in on itself. ” 

Clarke closed her eyes shut painfully. Being brought back to that day was not something she enjoyed. She could never seem to go a night sleeping soundly because the memories of the blood and destruction were ingrained in her brain. She was so young when it happened. She opened her eyes. 

“So I ran. I overheard that I was in the area of Phoenix and that Walden was the closest wasteland of a place at the edge of its city limit. I didn’t know that it was supposedly a radiation wasteland. With my little information, I headed to the outskirts of the city where I made a life for myself and I began teaching myself everything I know now. And my powers… I never felt them after that day. It was like they disappeared. I used every bit of power I had to escape. I thought they were gone forever. Until now,” Clarke finished. 

“They didn’t disappear though. You just buried them,” Kane told her, amazed. Clarke shrugged in response. 

“And they resurfaced to save your friend’s life,” Kane continued. 

“Are both your powers back?” Indra asked, still hung about the fact she had two. 

“Oh yeah,” Bellamy replied for her. “They both are. Aren’t they, Princess?”

“Stop calling me that,” Clarke muttered. Bellamy just smirked at her. 

Insufferable numskull, Clarke thought and she watched Bellamy’s eyes widen. 

“I- I heard that,” he said, bewildered. 

“Shit,” Clarke cursed, dropping her head into her hand. 

“What?” Wells asked her, concerned. 

“I don’t have any control! I was never taught how to use my powers before. And now they’re all back, and more, in an instant like my mind was hit by a tidal wave and I have no control. I never have,” Clarke explained into her hands.   

“But you can learn how to control them here,” Indra’s voice sounded. “All of you can. You four were never allowed to use your powers before. But here, you can learn. That’s what we do here. We help people like you.”

“Here we go again,” John sighed from his corner. “We don’t need to hear your little recruitment speech again.”

“So where will you go then if you don’t stay here? After all that commotion, you caused in Waldan, there will be hundreds of Enforcers swarming that place. And worse, now that they know the place isn’t full of radiation, maybe The Reform will pay a visit. You can’t go back. Nowhere is safe for you. Other than here,” Kane said. 

Clarke looked up again and focused her attention on the man Kane. She breathed in and out deeply then attempted to voluntarily read his mind. Surprisingly, she caught chopping glimpses of his thoughts. Of these surface thoughts were memories. She saw him training teenagers, talking with Indra about battle strategies against The Reform, and-

Are you reading my mind?

Clarke flinched at the question that echoed in her mind, thrust back into reality. She shook her head at his question on reflex. But that just confirmed his suspicion and she watched him smile at her. It was a kind smile. One that you would make after someone tells a funny joke. 

“Marcus Kane,” Clarke said. She had learned his name when Indra said it in one of the choppy memory glimpses. “Why should we trust you?” she asked him.

“You should trust me because I do not need to lie to you,” Kane replied simply. 

Clarke looked at Wells. Wells looked at her. 

You once told me you were good at telling when people were lying, Clarke thought to Wells. When Wells nodded in response, Clarke knew it worked. 

What do you think? Can we trust them? Are they lying? Clarke asked him silently. 

I don’t think they are. They are not being defensive. They believe everything they are saying. Also, they are not forcing us to stay. Plus, we can always just escape. 

Clarke considered his words. 

I agree with Wells, Finn’s voice joined in. 

This is insane. You realize we can all hear each other’s thoughts because Clarke can’t control her powers? John’s voice asked in her head. You opened up a telepathic chain to all of our minds, Blondie. 

“Oopsies. My bad,” Clarke giggled aloud. 

“What?!” Raven asked. “I feel left out!”

Clarke, Wells, Finn, and even John, all started laughing. 

“Are we staying?” Raven whisper-asked Clarke. 

“Where else are we to go? And if this is The Resistance, this is the safest place we can be,” Clarke whispered in return. Raven nodded in agreement. 

“Alright, where’s the food? I’m hella hungry,” John asked, making his way to the door. 

“Dinner is in two hours in the mess hall. Until then, you can meet the other Delinquents. Follow me,” Indra said once she got to the door and began walking out. 

Clarke stood slowly and winced at the pain in her stomach. 

“I got ya,” Raven said, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Damn, you smell like death.”

Clarke laughed so hard she had to clutch her stomach because it hurt so much from laughing. 

“Bellamy, will you show Clarke to the showers and get her some clean clothes?” Kane asked in the form of a command. 

“Whatever,” Bellamy replied as Kane left the room and Bellamy walked up to her side. 

Raven stared up at Bellamy, protective of Clarke. 

“It’s okay, Raven. Go catch up with the boys. I’ll see you at dinner,” Clarke said and stepped away from Raven. 

“You sure?” Raven asked, looking up at Bellamy again. 

“Positive,” Clarke lied. 

Raven turned slowly and left the room. Bellamy reached out an arm to Clarke and she swatted it away. 

“I can walk on my own,” Clarke replied defiantly. 

“No, you can’t,” Bellamy replied sternly. 

“Yes, I can,” Clarke deadpanned. She determinedly began limping away from him. Every step was painful. But! No pain, no gain. 

“Yeah, nope. Sorry, Princess,” Bellamy’s gruff voice came from behind her. 

Before she knew what was happening, she was lifted off the ground and in his arms. He carried her with ease down unknown hallways. 

“Put me down,” Clarke ordered. John was right. This is insane. The last time she had seen this guy, he had tried to kill her. Twice.

“Make me,” Bellamy challenged. 

Clarke sighed. Theoretically, she could. She could force his arms to let go and his legs to stop or enter his mind and move him like a puppet. But she could just as well attempt to do either and break his legs and arms by accident. She couldn’t risk using her powers like that right now. She needed to start slow and build a foundation she never had. 

When he finally stopped, they were in front of a door. Clarke hadn’t bothered memorizing the layout. She was too tired. He finally set her down and then he opened the door and walked in. She hobbled in after him and was met with a bedroom. 

The room had gray colored walls and a big black sheeted bed in the middle. There was a desk with papers and maps stacked messily and there was a small closet and another door which led to a private bathroom. The room was so depressing. There was no life. No color. 

“Bathroom’s over there,” Bellamy informed her, nodding to the open door. “Didn’t think you’d want to be showering in the public bathrooms, Princess.” Bellamy turned to leave the room. “I’ll be back with some clothes.”

She watched him leave the room and close the door behind him. Then, she made her way into the bathroom. She undressed and hopped into the shower. She was disgusting. Blood was all over her. She watched the water at her feet tint red as she carefully moved to clean herself. For a minute, she just stood with her head against the tile and the water rushing over her hair and down her back. Mind blank. But she was always one to conserve water and she got out after she was cleaned. 

Everything was just so crazy. Her whole world was turned upside down. She couldn’t ever go back to her home. She was now to live in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people. She was shot. Her powers were back. 

Wrapped in a towel, she opened the door and poked her head out. She looked down to see clothes folded neatly at the foot of the door. She picked them up and closed the bathroom door and dressed. The shirt was short-sleeved and dark blue. The pants were black jeans. And there was a bra and underwear thankfully as well. The clothes were a little tight, but they fit well. 

After dressed, she stepped out of the bathroom and walked out into the room only to find Bellamy there waiting for her. He looked at her and Clarke could feel emotions that weren’t her own. The emotions were sorrow, protectiveness, and anger. 

“Who’s Octavia?” Clarke asked suddenly. 

Bellamy’s dark brown eyes burned like fire as they stared at her. Clarke didn’t expect him to reply, but he did. 

“My sister.”

Clarke guessed these were Octavia’s clothes. Well, that would explain the emotion of protectiveness he felt. But what about the sorrow? The anger?

“Where is she?” Clarke tried. 

Bellamy stood up abruptly and walked to the door. That meant the conversation, if you could even call it that, had ended. Everyone had their secrets she mused. She was a stranger to him after all. 

Not knowing what else to do, she slowly followed after him.

Chapter Text

Murphy had always been an observer. He had never been one to insert himself into situations with lots of people present. He’d like to use his power as an excuse, but he just didn’t like people. 

So there he was, leaning against a wall of the room, watching what he could only call an event of “showing off powers.” Indra and Kane had led the four of them to a training room. It was the biggest room he’d ever seen in his entire life. There were four distinct corners. One was designated to weights. One was an intense-looking obstacle course. One was full of weapons. And one was laid out with mats. But where the people in the room currently were was crowded around an elevated large square in the middle of the room. It was like a stage where people would fight in the olden days and he guessed it was where the teens trained for the rest to see. 

On the stage were Wells and some other random teenagers. Indra and Kane had brought them there to meet the rest of the Delinquents. It quickly turned into a showcase of what the newcomers could do. 

“So, you can turn into anyone?” Kane asked Wells. Kane was standing between Wells and the three other boys. 

“Anyone,” Wells confirmed. 

“Impress me,” Kane said. 

To that, Wells turned into an exact replica of Kane. Wells as Kane walked up to the real Kane and stood next to him, mimicking his stance. They were identical. If you didn’t see Wells transform, you could not guess which was real. 

Satisfied with the cheers and applause he received, Murphy watched Wells transform into one of the three Delinquents on the stage - the boy had shaggy black hair. Now there were two of him. The original boy stared at Wells as himself with a jaw dropped to the floor. 

“Fascinating,” Kane voiced. 

“Fascinating,” Wells repeated in Kane’s voice while still in the form of the other boy. 

Kane’s eyes lit up in amazement. 

“I’m impressed,” Kane admitted and Wells transformed back into his original form followed by even more applause. Even Murphy was impressed. He didn’t know the extent of Wells’s power, but that was impressive. 

“I noticed that your clothes changed to match as well,” Kane said. 

“Yeah, I don’t know. I think it’s because I have this image in front of me and everything replicates with it. What my skin touches, changes with it. I don’t even have to think about it. And it’s the same for voices. Once I hear someone speak, I can automatically mimic it perfectly no matter what form I’m in,” Wells explained. 

“Yes, I see. If you touch, let’s say, a piece of paper, could you turn it into a rock or something?” Kane questioned. 

Wells blinked. “I’ve never tried before. I’ve never thought about it,” Wells admitted. 

“We’ll have to try it out someday. If what you told me about your clothes is true, and because you touch them you can transform them, I wonder if it could be the same with objects,” Kane mused. 

Wells looked excited about the possibilities he never thought to imagine. Murphy’s face turned sour. Of course, it was cool that Wells could change not only himself but objects to. But Murphy couldn’t help but think about his own power. His was only meant to cause pain and death. He had recently learned he didn’t even need to touch anyone to make them feel pain. Revelations like that were amazing to others, but never to him. 

Murphy watched as Wells walked off the stage and Kane motioned for Finn to come up. Finn obeyed and made his way up to stand beside Kane. 

“Force field guy,” the boy with goggles on his head said aloud, shaking the shaggy-haired boy beside him. They both looked at Finn with awe and Murphy rolled his eyes. Pretty boy always had that effect. 

“Jasper? Monty? Force fields?” Kane prompted. 

Finn raised one of his hands and projected a forcefield around himself and Kane. It was almost invisible if not for the slight light blue hue it had. Kane’s mouth was moving and Finn was saying something in return, but no one outside the force field could hear anything. Then, the force field disappeared. 

“Soundproof,” Kane stated with a smile on his face. 

“Is that all?” the third boy on the stage asked. This boy had his arms crossed over his chest. His skin was dark brown and his hair was buzzed cut. 

“Miller,” Kane warned, looking at the boy with a disapproving face. 

Then Finn did something unexpected. He created a mini force field and stepped up onto it. It looked like he was floating. Then, he started making one in front of the other and continued walking. Now it looked like he was walking on space itself. At this, everyone in the room cheered and clapped enthusiastically. 

“Alright. That’s enough, Spacewalker,” a deep voice called from the door jam. Bellamy was leaning against it.

“Spacewalker?” the boys, Jasper and Monty, asked at the same time before wide smiles broke off on their faces. “Spacewalker!” they both exclaimed at the same time looking at each other with wide eyes. “Yes!” Jasper exclaimed as he high-fived Monty. Monty then snapped his finger and pointed at Finn and said, “That's your official nickname.”

Finn laughed. “Spacewalker, huh?”

“You’ll still be ‘pretty boy’ to me, dork,” Murphy called from his leaning pose against the wall. 

Finn looked at Murphy and laughed. Murphy rolled his eyes at the laugh that Wells joined in on. Out of the corner of his eye, Murphy saw Raven approach him. He tensed as she got closer and closer to him. Finally, she was beside him, only inches away. She leaned her back against the wall and looked at him with a smile on her face. His stomach did a weird thing at the sight of her bright smile.

“I know you like them,” Raven teased. 

“You’re mistaken. This must be your concussion talking,” Murphy replied. To his remark, Raven let out a loud laugh. 

“Hey! What’s your power?” 

Murphy looked away from Raven to see Jasper looking at him. The room was quiet. 

“You saw two boys in agonizing pain the other day, didn't you?” Murphy asked. 

Jasper swallowed audibly and nodded. 

“I did that,” Murphy smiled wickedly. 

Monty, besides Jasper, let out an uncomfortable laugh and everyone in the room who had just been staring at him turned away. Murphy smirked. He did like the reputation that came with his power. 

Then he felt his shoulder get shoved. He looked at Raven with wide eyes. The girl was either fearless or had a death wish. Thankfully, she was wearing her orange jacket and he relaxed a smidge. 

“You wanna go kick some puppies? Make some babies cry?” Raven asked, shaking her head with a smile on her face. 

“I think I just did,” Murphy smiled in return. 

“Dinner time!” someone shouted. To that, everyone in the room started making their way out, no doubt to whatever mess hall or cafeteria they had. 

“Didn’t you say you were hungry?” a soft, yet strong, voice asked. 

Murphy turned his gaze away from the fleeing Delinquents to see Clarke. She looked better than ever.

“Clarke!” Raven shouted as she tackled Clarke in a hug which made Clarke stagger back uneasily. 

“Woah. Go easy,” Bellamy said to Raven who just glared at him after letting go of Clarke. Murphy was stunned at Bellamy’s words. 

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Raven shot back, annoyed. 

“Well, look who doesn’t look like a walking corpse anymore,” Murphy said to Clarke, trying to relieve the sudden tension in the air. 

Clarke smiled at him. “Thanks, John.”

“Ew. Don’t call me that,” Murphy replied. 

“Whatever you say,” she said, walking past him with a limp and adding, “John.”

Murphy let out a groan. Bellamy was walking beside Clarke. Murphy noticed it was the perfect distance to give Clarke room to walk on her own, yet close enough that if she stumbled he would be an easy lean of help away.  He began walking after the two with Raven by his side. He was surprised that she chose to walk with him and not Clarke. Then again, Bellamy clearly ruined her mood.

“What was that? ‘Go easy,’” Raven mimicked then scoffed. “As if he’s Mr. Gentle.”

Murphy agreed. But then he thought about it harder and said, “Clarke has that effect on people.” He looked at Raven to gauge her reaction to his words and she was looking at him with a smile. 

“She does. She really does,” Raven agreed, nodding her head. “I’m so glad she’s okay. That we’re all okay. That we’re here.”

They entered the mess hall then and were greeted by the sight of tables full of kids and teens. Murphy guessed that Kane and Indra were the only real adults at the base. 

“Give it a few days and you’ll be saying otherwise,” Murphy said, eye scanning over all the new faces. All the new people he would have to avoid. 

“Oh, cheer up! Just pretend you don’t hate everything for like two seconds, my gosh!” Raven exclaimed as she grabbed his gloved hand and led him to the area where food was being served. 

Murphy resisted the urge to pull his hand away from her grip automatically. Instead, he breathed. In and out. Slowly. This was his life now. He had to admit, it was better than being someone’s lad rat. He could do this. The only thing he couldn’t do was get his stupid heart to calm down whenever he was beside Raven.

Chapter Text

There were too many people. Too many. Clarke had gone nine years without speaking to a single soul. She talked to the little number of animals left that she saw roaming around Walden. She had a pet dog once. She named it Picasso. Picasso had died after a few years though. Of course, she wanted to talk to people, but this was too much. It was like she just got thrown into the deep end of a bottomless ocean. 

“Clarke?”

Clarke looked up to see Wells looking at her with concern. 

“Yes?” she asked. 

“I asked you a question.”

“Oh.”

“Are you okay?” Wells questioned. He was looking straight at her. 

They were in the cafeteria. There were so many people in the room. So many voices. She was focusing all her energy on not letting any internal voices flow through the cracks of her mind. She was focused on the motion of clenching and unclenching of her fists under the table. 

“Tired,” Clarke replied. And it was true. She had needed to eat to regain some strength, but she also needed to rest. She wanted to get up and run out of the cafeteria and collapse onto the floor and sleep.  

Wells opened his mouth, about to say something when two boys seated themselves beside Clarke. It was the speedster and teleporter. 

“Hey! You’re the girl that kicked our asses!” the speedster exclaimed. 

“Uh,” Clarke intelligently replied. 

“I’m Jasper! This is Monty!” the speedster said, gesturing to his teleporting friend to her left. He waved at her enthusiastically. 

“I gotta say, we were both super impressed by your fighting!” Monty exclaimed. 

“We all were! Adam, Bree, Fox, Monty, and I were all talking about that girl that handed out butts to us without using any power!” Jasper added. 

“Like wow! How’d you even do that?” Monty asked. 

“For real! And how’d you get shot? Was it an Enforcer?” Jasper questioned. 

“And I heard you woke up and escaped the med bay! Is that true?” Monty inquired. 

Clarke was overwhelmed. Too many questions at once. Her head hurt already, but now, with all the looking back and forth with wide eyes like a deer caught in headlights, her mind was racing. 

That’s when the table cracked. 

It cracked down the middle and the cracks branched out to the edges and the table folded in on itself like the Earth tearing open during an earthquake. Clarke blinked at it then looked down at her hands. Her fists were clenched. 

When Clarke looked up again, the whole room around them had quieted at the loud sound of the table which had echoed and cracked like lightning. They were all looking in her direction. So many eyes. Clarke unclenched her fists and whispers started to fill her head. She stood up abruptly and ran out of the room. It hurt to run. It hurt a lot. Her torso was screaming in pain, but she needed to get out of there. 

When she couldn’t possibly stand the pain any longer, she threw her back against the nearest wall and slid down to the floor. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them. 

Why is my life like this? Why do I have these awful powers? Why am I so different from the others? 

She didn’t know how much time had passed until she heard him speak. 

“Rough day, Princess?”

Of course, it was him. She couldn’t catch a break. Couldn’t he tell she wanted to be alone? Seriously, you see someone curled up into themself in an empty hall and think “Gee. Let’s go bother them!”

“Not in the mood for talking I see,” he said when she didn’t reply to his jab. “Jasper and Monty… those two don’t know how to read the room. Nor do they know how to take a hint. I gave them a good old-fashioned scolding after you made your dramatic departure. They’re honestly like two children. But not the fun kind that makes you smile and laugh at how dumb and naive they are. More like the ones that make you think children are a menace to society.”

Reluctantly, Clarke smiled and even laughed a little at his comparison. She lifted her head out of her knees and looked up at Bellamy. He was leaning against the wall adjacent to her, looking down at her. 

“Well, look at that. She can smile,” he said, satisfied with himself as he changed his position into a seated one. He extended his long legs in front of him, back against the wall. If Clarke wanted to, she could reach out and touch his feet. That’s how tall he was, even when seated. 

“So, what’s the problem?” 

Clarke looked at him and wondered why he was bothering to talk to her. Why had he followed her? Did he want something from her? She had conflicting emotions about this boy. For one, the last two times they were alone together, he had tried to kill her. Two, she couldn’t get an exact read on him. There was so much to untangle in the emotions that emanated off of him. He was a mystery. Everything about him was so intense. Three, she would never admit it out loud, however, she was attracted to him. That’s what scared her the most. The fact that he was handsome and intriguing. But four, he was rude and a total meanie. So what was he doing sitting across from her?

“Feeling a bit overwhelmed?” 

She blinked at him. How did he know? She was the one that was supposed to read people. 

“I paid attention to your story, Princess. You could have had a nice life before, but you can’t remember anything. So, the only association you have with people are those psycho scientists who kidnapped you and experimented on you. I could see how you wouldn’t trust anyone and how you’d feel overwhelmed by meeting all these new people after spending all those years alone. On top of that, you’ve been shot and are in a lot of pain physically. And your powers just resurfaced. Ones you have no idea how to control which let you know how everyone around you is thinking and feeling, giving you no chance to decipher your own thoughts and emotions,” he said. 

She felt like she was sitting in front of him completely bare. Had he really just said all that? 

“How? Wha-?” She swallowed air like a fish out of water. 

“I don’t believe it. I’ve rendered her Highness speechless,” Bellamy laughed deeply. 

Clarke bit her bottom lip hard. 

“What? Don’t like to be the one being read, Princess?” 

“Stop calling me that,” Clarke snapped. It was the only four words she could get a grip on. 

“You may be surprised, but I know a thing or two about having an uncontrollable power. It takes one to know one, after all,” Bellamy said.

“What is your power exactly?” Clarke asked. It was the perfect question to veer away from the subject of her. 

“Electricity.” 

Clarke nodded. She thought back to the fight in the garage where he conjured up bright spheres of what looked to be electricity and threw them at her. It had missed her, but the car that was hit had gone up in flames – it had exploded. 

“You shut down the Enforcer that shot me?” Clarke said, but it sounded like a question. 

It was his turn to nod. So, she hadn’t hallucinated that bit. He had saved her life. In fact, he had saved her life twice. Once with the Enforcer, and the next when she almost bled out to death. 

Clarke didn’t know much about electricity. She knew that it powered everything nowadays. The lights above them. The cars which still worked. The Enforcers. The fridges and microwaves. Now that she thought about it, it was everywhere. The human body runs on electricity. 

“What about the human body?” Clarke asked. 

“What about it?”

“Well, we have nervous systems that conduct electricity. So, you could shut someone off. Not just machines, but people.”

Bellamy looked at her for a while before saying anything. 

“Yes. I could kill someone, or put someone to sleep, with a touch. The former is easier. Like turning off a light switch versus decreasing the volume on a stereo. However, Harper helped me control and practice that so the ladder would be the easier one.”

Clarke digested that information. His power sure was a powerful one. One that could bring kingdoms to their knees. 

“You know, if you do end up staying here, you will also learn how to control your powers. Everyone here was once like you,” Bellamy said. 

Clarke raised her eyebrows at him. 

“Okay, fine. No one is like you, but you get what I mean,” he added. 

Clarke smiled, but it quickly turned into a yawn. 

“Tired?” 

“Maybe just a little,” she replied, her eyelids already feeling heavier. “It’s been a long day.”

Clarke watched as Bellamy got up to his feet and extended a hand to her. Clarke looked from his face to his hand. 

“Do you want to sleep here on the cold floor?” Bellamy asked when she didn’t move. 

Clarke sighed and stood up on her own. 

Bellamy scoffed and shook his head at her, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. 

Stubborn , he thought to himself. Little did she know that she heard it. 

Clarke followed him, eyes half shut. When he stopped in front of her, she crashed into his back. 

“Sorry,” she whispered, taking a large step back away from him. Bellamy didn’t bother responding as he opened the door to the room. When Clarke stepped inside, she recognized it as his room – the one she had been in earlier. 

“Knock yourself out,” Bellamy said, gesturing to his bed. 

“This is your room,” Clarke observed. 

“It is? I had no idea,” he replied. 

“Won’t you…” Clarke began then stopped. She wanted to ask “Won’t you be using it?” but blushed at her words unspoken words and the innuendo that came with them. 

“Won’t I what? Oh! No!” Bellamy exclaimed, running a hand over his face, through his curls, and resting it on the back of his neck as he turned away from her. 

“Oh. Okay,” Clarke said, sitting tentatively at the edge of the bed. 

“You forget, Princess, but I can also generate electricity,” Bellamy said as Clarke ran her hands over the fabric of the bed. 

Clarke furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She didn’t know what that had to do with sleeping. 

“Technically, I don’t have to sleep. Not really. I can just, for lack of a better term, zap myself and re-energize.”

“Wow,” Clarke said, no better word, or words, coming to mind. It was just… wow. 

“I also look younger than I actually am because of my power,” Bellamy added, shrugging his shoulders. 

“How old are you?” she asked. 

“How old are you?” he countered. 

She gave him an annoyed look but was smiling on the inside. 

“When you can answer my question, I’ll answer yours,” Bellamy smirked. He began walking towards the door. When his hand was on the doorknob, back to her, she spoke. 

“Thank you,” she said sheepishly. It felt odd thanking him but even worse not to. 

He turned around to look at her and said, “‘Night, Princess.”

Then, he was gone. 

And she was alone again.

Chapter Text

Clarke woke up to the sound of knocking. She slowly opened her eyes and sat up. She sighed, then smiled a little. She had been so mentally exhausted that she had no nightmares. She woke up as any normal person would today. She stood and walked to the door.

“Rise and shine!” Raven exclaimed with a blinding smile on her face. 

“What time is it?” Clarke asked, stepping out of the room. 

“Lunch time. Figured we’d let you sleep in. But! You gotta eat. So, shall we?” Raven asked, linking her arm into one of Clarke’s. 

“We shall.” Clarke laughed. 

They walked together to the cafeteria making small talk. Raven updated Clarke on what she had learned about the layout of where everyone slept and so forth. 

“So, girls have their own living quarters and their own communal bathrooms. It’s the same for guys. The girls were pretty nice and accepting, actually. Nothing to worry about,” Raven explained as they sat down at a table in the cafeteria. 

Clarke’s eyes roamed over to the one missing table. AKA: the table she had broken. She sighed. She hated her powers. 

“Hey,” Raven said, getting Clarke’s attention. “Check out that guy. Ten o’clock.”

Clarke moved her head in the direction Raven stated and saw a boy. His hair was shaven off and his skin was a dark brown. His whole body was broad and muscular. He was sitting alone at a table, looking murderously at the wood like it had wronged him. 

“I wonder what he’s thinking,” Raven spoke, resting her chin on her palm. Then, she suddenly sits up straight. “Good thing I have a telepathic friend who can tell me!”

“What?! No! I- I can’t…” Clarke tried to say but failed. 

“What do you mean? Of course, you can! I know you just got your powers back and all. This could be a test run! I want to know what the scary brute is thinking!” Raven exclaimed, excited. 

Clarke was hesitant at Raven’s request. After looking back and forth between the two, she sighed. After all, what was the harm?

And so, Clarke focused her attention on the boy. She breathed in slowly and deeply and breathed out the same. She honed in her ecstatic powers onto one single target. At first, there was nothing. Then, there was more of nothing - just indecipherable gibberish. But finally, her senses focused and she entered his mind. 

There were little words in his mind. Some people had more talkative minds. Others had more image-based minds. Memories versus thoughts, so to speak. When she got a reading on his mind, she got a glance at the surface-level thoughts through the memories he was pondering. 

Clarke saw a girl. A beautiful one. She had long black hair and the most striking blue eyes. She was slender but stood strong with her head held high. Clarke felt the emotion of love swell up in her when seeing her in the boy’s mind. Clarke sifted through the images of the girl and in all of them she was smiling brightly. 

But then, there was a dramatic change in emotion. Sadness. Anger. Fear. Rage. 

Clarke saw the memories of the beautiful girl get distorted with images of battle. …War. 

Flashes of fighting and shouting filled her mind. There was blood. There was screaming. Clarke saw the familiar faces of The 100 brawling against Enforcers and Reform soldiers. And then there was the girl. The one with black-as-night hair and blue-as-the-ocean eyes getting knocked out and taken prisoner. The sorrow and rage that came from the boy that had to what the love of his life ripped away from his arms while he shouted her name. 

Clarke gasped. 

“Octavia.”

Hearing the name, the boy Clarke’s mind had just invaded looked over at her, alert. He narrowed his eyes in her direction. Then to her utter horror, he stood and started making his way toward them.

“Clarke? Who’s Octavia?” Raven asked concern, and borderline panic, in her voice. 

“She’s…” Clarke began to say but trailed off when the tallest boy she’d ever seen stood before them. 

“How do you know her, foreigner?” the boy’s gruff voice asked. 

“I… I uh…” Clarke tried and failed to form a sentence. How do you kindly tell someone that you just invaded their mind to find out that their lover is the sister of the King of the Delinquents? 

The boy slammed his hands on the table making both Clarke and Raven jump in their seats. Although the table didn’t break, Clarke felt the power through the slam reverberate into the floor. 

“Answer me!” he demanded. 

“Lincoln! Calm down!” a voice yelled. Clarke turned to see the boy named Miller approach. Miller put his hand on Lincoln’s shoulder and then addressed Clarke asking, “What’s going on?”

“N-Nothing,” Clarke replied, looking to Raven, eyes pleading. “We were just-”

“You four! Come with me.” Clarke looked over to see Indra standing a couple of paces away. She nodded her head in one direction and started walking. Not knowing what else to do, Clarke followed after with Raven by her side. 

None of them said anything as they walked down corridor after corridor and turn after turn. Finally, Clarke saw the familiar room where she had for lack of a better term confessed about her powers to her peers. The large conference room was somehow comforting to her, away from prying eyes and all. When Clarke entered, she saw more familiar faces. Wells, Finn, and John were all standing together in one corner of the room, and Clarke and Raven walked over to them. Clarke also saw Kane, Harper, Monty, Jasper, Jackson, and Bellamy all sitting down at the table respectively. 

“Sit,” Indra ordered the ones left standing. No one dared disobey her orders. 

“Why are we here?” asked Wells. 

“It has come to our attention that you five don’t know what’s going on in the world. Not really. Furthermore, now that you have joined our fight, you need to know what it is we do here,” explained Kane. 

“I wouldn’t go as far to say we’ve ‘joined your fight’,” Murphy muttered and received a sharp elbowing from Raven. 

“To begin, we will start with a brief overview of what exactly lies out there in the world. The domains of land, are split up into the main five kingdoms:  Arkadia, Walden, Phoenix, Tondc, and Azgeda. As you are all now familiar with the disaster-ridden lands of Walden, we will briefly describe the others, and most importantly, the clans,” Kane began. “Phoenix is where the rich and untouched life. A high-powered society that wants nothing to do with gifted individuals and goes about their lives in frolic and fluff, oblivious to all the suffering of the world. It’s also home to the scientists that experiment with powered individuals. In contrast, we have Arkadia.”

Clarke felt the instant Kane’s emotions changed. The word Arkadia had brought a feeling of warmth. And… something else. It was fondness, maybe a bit of… pinning?

“Arkadia with its long lineage of royals is currently run by their Queen who is gifted. Arkadia is a haven for powered individuals that has been through its own fair share of tragedy,” Kane finished, the emotion of sadness and… regret falling over him.

“Tondc,” Indra picked off where Kane left off, “is home to the descendants of the original Tree Kru people. Lincoln is from the first grounder villager, Tondisi,” she said, gesturing to the mind Clarke had invaded minutes prior. “Now Tondc is composed of Heads of Houses that are all members of Trikru. They are the Woods Clan, also known as People of the Wood. Next, we have Azgeda. Also known as the Ice Nation run currently by their King, Roan. The cold weather makes for an even colder people who only care for their own interests.”

“We also got Floukru. The Floudon Kru, or rather, Pacifist Clan, as we like to call them, led by their Queen, Luna, have control of the oceans. And another big player is Sangedakru, the Desert Clan, who have control of the hot, sandy climates. Overall, there are 12 clans. I’ll give you a nice headache and list the rest right now so they sound familiar in future discussions. Boudalan, the Rock Line. Louwoda Kliron Kru, the Shallow Valley. Trishanakru, the Glowing Forest. Yujleda, the Broadleaf Clan. Podakru, the Lake People. Ouskejon Kru, the Blue Cliff. And Ingranronakru, the Plains Riders,” Bellamy added. 

“Yeah, yeah. Loving the history lesson. I’m still confused as to what this has to do with us ,” Murphy said, gesturing to the five new kids. 

Clarke couldn’t help but wonder the same. They were in a room full of the most important people on the base getting this chess overview of the important players on the board. Why?

Clarke watched as Kane and Indra exchanged a glance and nodded. 

“I think it’s time we reignite The Coalition,” Kane stated.

That brought a lot of shocked faces from her group, but Clarke was blank-faced. 

Bellamy must have noticed her confused expression for he elaborated on Kane’s words.  

“Kongeda. It’s where a Commander was chosen through a Conclave. Instead of having a lot of small clans working independently for their own needs alone, there was Wonkru. It was led by a Heda, much like a Chancellor.”

“And you want to bring the clans together again to overthrow The Reform?” Wells asked, eyes practically sparkling. 

“Bingo,” Kane said, snapping his fingers and pointing at Wells in praise. 

“What makes you think they’ll all say yes? If it didn’t work in the past, what makes you think it will work now?” Clarke asked, mind running a thousand thoughts a second. 

There was a long pause where Clarke scanned the faces of Kane, Harper, Monty, Jasper, Jackson, Lincoln, Miller, Indra, and Bellamy. Their emotions were all so… raw . 

To her shock, Lincoln was the one that answered her questions. 

“It’s never been this bad. The war… has gotten so much worse. It has to work now. Too many people have been killed, tortured, taken…” Lincoln trailed off. 

“We’ve been fighting for so long now. Just us. This rag-tag group of misfits. We’ve all lost people,” Miller said, looking to the side. Clarke followed his gaze to Bellamy, Lincoln, and Indra. 

Clarke, curiosity getting the better of her, tried a surface glance with her powers to see who Indra had lost. An image of a headstrong, dark-skinned, short-haired girl came into view. Gaia , Clarke mouthed soundlessly. Indra’s daughter . And then a second later, the same maternal feelings flashed another girl’s image. Octavia . Wow, that girl must have been something if she was this loved by so many people. Clarke selfishly wished she had people that thought of her like that. The thought was fleeting, but it was there all the same. 

“So, you’re not only preparing for the biggest battle of all time, but you’re also preparing to rally the winning team?” Finn said, raising an eyebrow at the map displayed on the table. 

“Yes. Yes, we are,” Indra confirmed. 

“And you all are on that team,” Kane smiled.

Chapter Text

A chair flew by her face, inches from taking off her head judging at that speed. 

Raven turned to Clarke and said, “Seriously, Clarke?! You almost took my damn head off!”

“Sorry, Raven. Really,” heard Raven, but Clarke’s mouth didn’t move when the words spoke. Clarke pointed to the left and Raven’s eyes found… Clarke. Again. Two of them. Oh. Raven sharply turned her gaze to Wells/Clarke and glared. 

This… was giving her a massive headache. This being the training of the four new recruits.

To say the recruitment speech hadn’t worked on the lot of them would be a straight-up lie. After that whole “winning team” speech, the five runaways had looked at each other and knew that they would stay. Stay and fight, that is. Well, the ones that could fight would fight. Firstly, they needed to train though. That’s what unfolded before Raven’s eyes. She was at the obstacle corner of the huge training room, currently steaded on top of the monkey bars. She had been doing endurance training and now rested atop the bars taking a break and watching the chaos unfold below her. 

Clarke, as exhibited by the flying chair moments prior, was working on her telekinetic power. Raven had gauged, probably like everyone else, Clarke didn’t like using her powers. But damn she was powerful. Wells, like Kane had suggested that the first test day was trying to make objects transform. But first, the boy needed to focus on how he got the clothes he wore to change. That was his “homework” and what Raven witnessed at the moment. 

Raven’s eyes drifted and she found Finn beside Kane. Kane was testing the limits of his forcefield projection. How far Finn could expand a single one, how long he could hold one up, and how many a time he could make. Kane had voiced a question and it was if maybe Finn could change the transparency of the shied, rather, if the force field was invisible, could the people and objects under the eclipsment have the cover of invisibility? Raven had to hand it to that guy, Kane. He had great questions. Raven wondered if he had a power. Maybe it was a super-question-generating ability. You never knew these days. The possibilities were endless. And sometimes, they never even began. 

Raven had gone her whole life without a power, but she never felt this useless before. From her bird-eye view, she felt powerless. Ironic, wasn’t it? 

“Penny for your thoughts, Reyes?”

Raven jumped at the voice. She turned her head and saw Murphy sitting there. When had he gotten up here?

“What… does that mean?” Raven questioned his question. 

“It’s something my dad used to say. It’s an old expression. Just a fancy way of asking, ‘What are you thinking about?’” Murphy explained, eyes shifting to the motions below them. 

“Why aren’t you training?” Raven countered, not about to divulge to him her thoughts had been those of self-pity. 

“Uhm, I don’t think anyone is willing to be my training buddy,” Murphy said with a scoff. 

“Oh, right. Forgot about that,” Raven replied feeling awkward, her hands found her ponytail and moved it from one shoulder to the other. 

“What about you? Why aren’t you training?”

“This is my break time,” Raven said, stretching her arms over her head and cracking her neck by tilting it from side to side. 

“Yeah, uh-huh. We’re a great pair, you and I. One has a power and can’t train the other has no power and takes too many breaks,” Murphy chuckled. 

“Hey!” Raven exclaimed, a hand flying in his direction in an attempt to shove him. He dodged it easily. “I just– I feel…”

“Spit it out, already before I age a year,” Murphy said, rolling his eyes, amused all the same. 

“I want to do something,” Raven admitted. 

“Something helpful to their ‘cause’, I see,” Murphy shrugged.

“I feel useless right now,” Raven continued. 

“Cheers to that. We can start a club,” Murphy joked and Raven laughed heartedly. 

“Raven!”

Raven got her laughter under control when she heard Clarke call her name. Raven looked down to see Clarke beside Kane who motioned her down to them. 

“Looks like we’ll have to continue this club meeting later,” Raven sighed and began moving down from the bars. 

“Shame,” Murphy whispered, eyes distant and unfocused. 

When Raven was on the floor again, she walked over to Clarke and Kane.

“What’s up?” Raven asked, looking between the two. 

“I told Kane about the laser bracelet you made,” Clarke started. 

“And?” Raven said, not catching the drift. 

“Follow me, Raven,” Kane said, turning around. Raven looked at Clarke who just nodded encouragingly. So Raven shrugged and followed after the mysterious man. 

“It has come to my attention that you are a great mechanic. So great that the Reform was itching to get their clutches on you?” Kane said as they walked together down the maze of the base. 

“Yeah. I’m the best mechanic there ever was,” Raven said smugly, straightening her jacket. 

“Next to Becca, I suppose,” Kane said, not condescendingly, but thoughtfully. 

“Give it time. I’m sure I can be better,” Raven said, smiling brightly. 

“Well, what’s stopping you?” Kane asked as he stopped before a door. Two doors to be precise. Sliding doors?

Sure enough, Kane slid them open dramatically and Raven’s jaw fell open. Before her, it was a mechanic's dream. It was half junkyard and half workshop. And it was huge!

Raven’s feet moved on their own as she entered the room. She felt like a kid in a toy store. There were a few bodies inside, some working the forge, some sifting through metal, very few people though. Maybe five?

Kane whistled from beside her suddenly and called out, “Kyle!”

Raven followed Kane’s gaze and saw a tall, rather built, dirty blood boy walking over. The boy looked her up and down and gave a little smirk when his eyes landed on her face again. Raven just rolled her eyes and crossed her hands over her chest. 

“Raven, this is our head mechanic, Kyle Wick. Kyle, this is one of the five new runaways, the self-titled Becca Franko prodigy, Raven Reyes,” Kane introduced. 

“Nice to meet you,” Raven said, holding out a hand. 

“Likewise,” Kyle said, taking hers in a firm grip, but her grip was stronger, and she made sure he knew. She was used to “men” in the mechanical world looking down at her for being a girl. But she was smarter and stronger than all of them combined at the end of the day, and every day. 

“Raven, you’re not useless. In fact, you’re one of the strongest assets we could have received at this time,” Kane said once the handshake finished. Kane, when he spoke, looked as it seemed deep into her soul. 

“How did you–” Raven began, then cut off. Clarke. She must have heard her thoughts or felt her self-pity and talked to Kane!

“Over the years, we’ve collected damaged Enforcers, disables their trackers, tried to pick them apart, learn their secrets and the secrets of the Capitol. We’ve collected any tech scraps and anything we could turn into a weapon. What we’re standing in actually used to be a police station. We’ve collected their guns and use them still today. You are brilliant, and we need your help. Make something great. Discover something we missed about the Enforcers. Anything,” Kane said, and Raven smiled. 

“Consider it done,” Raven said, reaching to her ponytail and pulling it so that it sat tighter on her head. 

With a nod, Kane turned to leave and Raven did another turn, taking in the room. Now this should be fun!

Chapter Text

Kane’s world was becoming more dangerous as of late because a small feeling had crept into his mind recently. That feeling… was hope. He hadn’t felt it in years.  

These five runaways were like a gift. No, better. They were a miracle. The Resistance had been losing for so long now that life was starting to feel pointless. And with their most recent loss, well, no one could blame anyone for feeling hopeless. But then these five teenagers showed up. And they were extraordinary.  

A week had gone by since the five runaways had been dragged in unconscious. It had been a rough start with gaining their trust, but slowly, day after day, they were assimilated. The other teens started talking to them, two of them had started training and he had gotten the non-powered one into a mechanical room. The other two were still tricky. Sure, Wells and Finn were powerful, two of the most powerful Kane had ever seen. Finn was able to make himself invisible in his shield and Wells had turned a nail into a flower as of yesterday. Kane just had to keep the two together and they would encourage each other to progress. 

Then there were those other two. Murphy hadn’t even bothered to show up to training after Raven was moved to the mechanical bay. Kane understood. The boy was terrifying. And, worst of all, the boy was terrified. So, he hung around Raven in the mechanical bay and the two kept each other company. Even around Raven, Kane could tell Murphy was still weary of getting too close. And finally, there was Clarke. She still bothered Kane. There was something he just couldn’t pin about her. But besides that nagging feeling he got whenever he saw her, there were her powers. Plural. Clarke had shown up each day to train, but Kane could tell she wasn’t even remotely giving anything more than ten percent of her ability. He wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, she was healing still after all, but he knew that wasn’t all there was to it. She was holding herself back. 

They both were. Murphy and Clarke were the two most powerful people he had ever met, other than the past King of Arkadia, of course. Kane smiled sadly at the thought of the Widowed Queen, as they called her. The Queen lost both her husband and daughter on the same day. Kane shook his head. No matter. He would see her soon enough if everything went to their very loose, very ballsy plan. Until then, he needed to get Clarke and Murphy to get past their mental and physical barriers. The ease on those two ended today. Kane would make sure of it. 

It was morning which meant all of the kids would be at breakfast. Good, he could pick them up together. Kane made his way through the familiar paths of the base only to find Bellamy doing the same. 

“Good morning, sir,” Bellamy greeted as he joined Kane in stride. 

“Good morning, King,” Kane joked in return. 

Sure, Kane and Indra may be in charge, but it’s Bellamy all the Delinquents consider to be their “King”. 

“I keep telling you not to call me that,” Bellamy said with an unamused sigh. 

“And I hear there’s a certain blonde who keeps asking you not to refer to her as ‘Princess’,” Kane mused. 

Bellamy choked on whatever words he was about to say when the two entered the mess hall. Kane made a beeline over to the table at the farthest end and corner of the room. That was the table the star runaways always sat at. And of course, there they were. 

“I know that face. What are you planning, Kane?” Bellamy asked, following him all the same to the table. 

“You’ll hear soon enough,” Kane replied, as they approached the table. Kane and Bellamy stood at the end of the table as conversation ensued before them. 

“Then I picked up the screwdriver!” Raven practically shouts to her friends who are already laughing. 

“And this–this–! Cockroach ! This Cockroach, the one and only Mr. John Murphy, not only dodges the flying screwdriver but scurries out of the damn room!” Raven finished, breaking out into laughter of her own. 

“I did not ‘scurry’, you no good, lying–” 

Kane cleared his throat then, saving Mr. Murphy from whatever he was about to say. Seven pairs of eyes turned to face him and Bellamy. The kids settled their laughter down rather quickly, all except Jasper and Monty who were still howling with laughter. 

“Can I help you?” Murphy says, venom in his tone as always. 

“Actually, yes. That’s why I’m here. To collect you and Clarke,” Kane replied, smiling at the sharp-edged boy. 

“Why?” Murphy scoffed, glancing at Clarke. 

“You two are training with me today,” Kane answered simply. 

“We are?” Clarke asked, maybe even a little timidly. 

“Follow me,” Kane instructed, turning around and walking away. He didn’t wait for them. He knew they would follow. Those two, above all else, were curious. 

Footsteps were behind him soon enough. A pair of them. 

“Where are we going?” Clarke asked.

“You tell me. Read my mind,” Kane challenged. 

Sure enough, Kane felt a brush in his subconscious. But the touch was short-lived. Maybe not even a second long. 

“I-I can’t!” Clarke exclaimed so loudly and joyously that he turned around to look at her wide eyes. 

“What do you mean you can’t?” Murphy said, and Kane knew that the both of them were intrigued now. 

“You…” Clarke trailed off. 

“Yes. I am one of you,” Kane replied, turning around and walking again. He finally found the door he was looking for. “Recognize this door, Clarke?”

“The garage door?” Clarke inquired as Kane typed in their clever passcode. 

The three of them entered and went down into the middle, far enough from the vehicles and other hidden treasures. 

“Murphy, I would like you to touch me now,” Kane said, holding out his arm. Kane’s short-sleeved t-shirt meant for optimal skin touching. 

“N-No way,” Murphy said, stepping back from Kane, hiding his gloved hands behind his back. 

“Murphy, Clarke’s power beat yours. I assure you mine can too,” Kane smiled warmly. 

“You can’t assure that!” Murphy exclaimed and Kane’s eyes softened. This poor boy. 

“I am quite literally betting my life on it,” Kane smiled, raising a brow. 

“John, it’s okay,” Clarke said, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

“How do you know?” Murphy asked, looking a little less on edge at her assurance. 

“Because I can’t read his mind. I… I can’t even move his body,” Clarke said, eyes almost sparkling. 

Kane watched as Murphy’s hands moved back before him. Kane watched as Clarke nodded as Murphy removed his gloves and pocketed them. 

Murphy slowly stepped forward and reached a hand out slowly. Kane rolled his eyes and grabbed the boy's hand. Murphy tried to pull away sharply but Kane held on. And nothing happened. 

“What the!” Murphy gasped, looking at Kane in astonishment. “Are you immune? Is your power immunity?” 

“No, it’s not. I’ve read his thoughts before,” Clarke mused, mind racing no doubt. 

“Then are you…” Murphy trailed off and Kane let go of the boy’s hand. 

“Invulnerability,” Kane stated, placing his own hands in his pocket. “I can make any part of my body, and mind, invulnerable.”

The two stared at Kane with awe. 

“And most importantly, I can choose when to turn it on and off. I can hold it without even thinking about it. And that’s what I want for you two,” Kane explained.

Kane turned to Murphy. “Murphy, I have lots of questions about your powers. You claim it’s ‘pain’ and–”

“I don’t ‘claim’ anything! It is!” Murphy suddenly exclaimed defensively. 

“Let me finish, please. Let an old man speculate aloud?” Kane asked, and Murphy motioned for him to continue. “Pain. Such an odd power. One only felt through skin-on-skin contact?” 

“Yeah, I’ve said this before–”

“But that’s not true! You once told me that you made someone feel pain without touching them!” Clarke exclaimed, catching Kane’s thoughts, if only a little. 

“Yeah. And I… They…” Murphy struggled to say. 

“Killed them. They died,” Kane finished and he watched Murphy flinch. 

“Was that really necessary?” Clarke scolded, eyes fiery as she placed another hand on Murphy’s shoulder. Kane blinked and for a moment he saw someone else in Clarke’s spot, staring at him with that expression. He blinked again and it was gone. Why had he thought of…

“Yes! It is. I’ve killed my share of people. You have too, Clarke. We are what we are. We do what we do to survive. This is war. Although, you have to believe me when I say: Who we are and who we need to be to survive are very different things,” Kane said, fervently looking between the two who started at him with shocked eyes. Kane breathed. “And this is exactly why these lessons are so individual. You two, I haven’t even gotten to you yet Clarke, but I’ve been watching you a week. But first, Murphy. Listen to me closely. Pain is enough to kill someone. We know that much. Too much pain can drive them into shock. That is most likely what happened with that man,” Kane explained. 

“Where are you going with this?” Murphy asked, teeth gritting. 

“I’m saying it’s all in here!” Kane exclaimed, poking his index finger against Murphy’s forehead. “It’s all mental. Your cages are mental. And you’re wasting all your potential.”

“Sorry if I don’t want to go around making everyone suffer all the time!”

“And I’m telling you, you don’t have to!” 

“And I’m telling you I don’t want to!” Murphy yelled and took a step forward. Kane looked down at the floor and… sighed. He was disappointed. Kane was almost always right about his hunches. Actually, Kane had never been wrong. Still, maybe this boy would never understand his real power if he was never going to let go. 

“What were you hoping for?” Clarke asked, too curious for her own good. 

“Nothing. I guess I was wrong. Wrong about only one thing. Correct about that other. Johnny boy,” Kane said, looking back up. “I’m sorry I got you all riled up. I hope you see now that if you work on controlling your power, it won’t happen anytime soon, someday you won’t need those gloves for the others.” 

“You’re saying, if I train, I can…” Murphy said, eyes becoming distant and Kane recognized the look. The small glimmer of hope.  

“Now, Clarke. You are quite the enigma. But why, oh why, does she not want to be in control?” Kane questioned sincerely. 

“I… do,” Clarke said, but he sensed the lie. 

“Clarke, you’ve never been given a chance to develop your powers properly, on your own time. And now that you’re given the chance, you use maybe ten percent of your abilities?” Kane asked, eyebrows raised. 

Clarke had the decency to look a little ashamed. 

“That true, blondie? Ten percent makes chairs fly across the room?” Murphy asked, shoving her shoulder with his. 

Clarke smiled timidly and answered, “I just don’t want to lose control.”

“Children, losing control is part of life. But if you keep living life inside those four mental walls, you’ll never discover and thus control your full potential. Lose control here so that later, when it counts, you have control,” Kane said, looking between the two. Judging by their thoughtful silence, Kane knew he had gotten through to them. 

“So, where do we start?” Clarke asked. 

“Now, that’s the question isn’t it,” Kane beamed. 

The rest of the day was spent in the garage training. Murphy was Clarke’s test dummy, and in return, Clarke became Murphy’s sparing partner. The boy didn’t know how to do hand-to-hand combat, and Clarke needed to relearn her foundations. Murphy learned how to throw a punch, how to attack, how to dodge. Clarke learned how to levitate objects, how to coax his body to raise an arm, how to read surface-level thoughts, and most importantly, how to shut them out. They didn’t take a single break, and frankly, to Kane, it didn’t appear like either of them wanted to. For the first time in the seven days that these two had entered their new home, Kane saw them have a semblance of determination. 

“Alright, that’s enough for today,” Kane said when the artificial lights started looking a little too artificial. 

He watched Clarke easily dodge Murphy’s fist and then she took his outstretched arm and flung him onto his back. Holding him down, she checked her wrist. 

“Wow, time went by fast,” Clarke said, releasing Murphy. She held out a hand for him to take. Murphy had put his gloves back on, not even remotely trusting himself and his powers yet. Kane watched as Clarke helped him up in one easy motion. But then Kane’s eyes caught on Clarke’s wrist and he felt like he was punched in the gut.

“Clarke, is that a watch?” Kane asked, his mouth suddenly dry. 

“Yes,” Clarke replied simply. 

“Can I… see it?” Kane asked carefully. 

Clarke walked over and held out her left wrist for viewing pleasure. 

“In all my days,” Kane whispered. He thought he was losing his mind, but no. He knew this watch. He looked up at Clarke and really, really looked at her. It… was impossible. Wasn’t it? But how… And he had thought she looked familiar… So very familiar…

“What? You’ve never seen a watch before?” Murphy asked, almost amused. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen one this old,” Kane replied, and it was the truth. 

Kane let go of Clarke’s wrist, which he hadn’t realized he grabbed. His mind was working too fast to make sense of a single thought. But oh my, if he was right…

“Unfortunately, my duties are with Indra the whole day tomorrow, we’re planning all the logistics for the journey to reignite Wonkru. However, Murphy, you will be training with Miller tomorrow. He can create illusions and essentially warp your idea of reality so he will be creating people for you to practice your hand-to-hand combat with without actually touching anyone. And Clarke, you will be training with Bellamy,” Kane informed. 

“What?! But–” Clarke started but Kane lifted a hand to silence her. 

“I know you two haven’t had the most pleasant of starts, but he’s the best mentor and coach in this whole facility. Surely there’s no one better suited to handle you and your powers,” Kane spoke, and he was impressed he was still speaking for that matter. With everything he just discovered, at least thought he discovered… 

“Now, you two use your intelligence to find your way back on your own, I have business to attend to.”

Business wasn’t the word for it. It was more like… treason.

Chapter Text

“Good morrow, Princess.”

Clarke rolled her eyes at the greeting. She felt the bench shift beneath her as Bellamy’s weight sat beside her. He was close. So close that his knee was touching hers under the table. The contact sent sparks through her entire leg. She was sure she only imagined it, nonetheless, she scooted away from him and his electrifying touch. 

She heard Bellamy make a “tut-tut” sound and she turned her face to glare at him. 

“My, my, Highness. Here I thought you were finally warming up to me. After all, you so kindly warmed my bed those first two nights,” Bellamy said, smirking. 

Clarke gasped at his words and turned her face away, an angry blush taking hold of her entire face. Why did he have to say things like that? Did he even know the effect he has on her? And for that matter, why did he have any sort of effect on her?!

She felt the bench shift again as he scooted closer. Clarke couldn't stand for it anymore. Instead, she stood up. 

“Easy, Princess. Don’t go cracking any more tables on me,” he said, holding his hands up in faux surrender. 

“It’s not that. I’m just– I’m just… a big fan of personal space!” Clarke replied, quoting John from the first time she’d met him. 

“Yup, I see the problem,” Bellamy said, standing up beside her, towering over her. Clarke’s heart raced. Did he know? Know that she found him… Oh, to hell with it! He was gorgeous! And he knew it! So what?!

“You’ve been spending too much time with the Cockroach,” Bellamy said, and Clarke’s shoulders relaxed. 

“You mean John?” Clarke asked, sidestepping Bellamy and walking away from the now empty table. All her friends had left ten minutes prior, off to train and/or work. Clarke was still waiting to be called upon by her babysitter of the day. And here he finally was. 

“Yeah, whatever his name is. You’ll find here we have adapted to calling people by their nicknames. At least, Jasper and Monty influence us all more than we’d like to admit,” Bellamy explained, catching up with her in a simple stride of his long legs. 

Clarke wanted to trip him and his cocky long legs. 

“Then do it,” Bellamy said. 

Clarke blinked. And then, she cringed. 

“Kane was right, you need a lot of training. I, unlike most, can take my fair share of snide remarks and death threats. But if you keep projecting your thoughts, boy are you going to make some enemies,” Bellamy said with a deep chuckle. 

Clarke’s eyes drifted to her left where she found Lincoln staring at her. She didn’t even need to sense him out, her powers were so wide-ranging and all-consuming she knew where he was. Where most everyone was. It felt like background noise mostly, she didn’t mind it. But my goodness did she miss quiet; miss peace. 

“I think I already have,” Clarke whispered, head falling to the floor as they walked on. 

“Don’t sweat it, Princess. Lincoln doesn’t like anyone,” Bellamy comforted. Clarke briefly wondered if Bellamy knew his sister was dating Lincoln. But that thought was quickly squashed as she looked up at him. Had he just said something comforting? She looked back to the hallways before her. She didn’t know why Bellamy tried to comfort her. She didn’t know why Bellamy did half the things he did. Sometimes, he was all flirtatious and joking, and then he could be serious and threatening, and then he could be almost… nice? Rest assured, his emotions gave her whiplash. 

“Whiplash, huh? I didn’t know I was so bipolar,” Bellamy said and Clarke actually let out a groan as she slapped her hands over her face in embarrassment.

“I’m so sorry,” Clarke moaned into her hands. She might not tolerate the boy, but she would hate to overhear what he was thinking of her so she empathized. 

“Don’t worry, Princess. Like I said, I’ve heard it all before and worse. It’s a shame you didn’t get to meet my sister,” Bellamy said. Clarke instantly felt the shift in emotions from him. But then, just as quickly, he shook his head and the atmosphere was back to being playful. “You really having this much trouble controlling your powers?” he asked.  

“Uhm, you could say that,” Clarke said, moving her hands to the end of her braid, nervously fidgeting with it. 

She would never admit it, but it wasn’t this bad around anyone else. No one else heard Clarke’s thoughts so easily except for when she purposefully opened a link. But, of course, around Bellamy, it wasn’t the case. Her powers went all weird around him. She just didn’t know why. She wished she could make it stop. 

Bellamy just hummed in reply. 

“We’ll start with that then,” Bellamy said and stopped before a door. Clarke thought she recognized the door. 

“You should. You’ve been here before. Twice,” Bellamy answered and Clarke yet again chastised herself inwardly. He chuckled. He must have heard her scolding herself mentally too!

He opened the door and his bedroom was before them. 

“We’ll start with your telepathy, seeing as that’s giving you more of a problem. I don’t see random objects floating, but I do hear random thoughts,” Bellamy said, pulling a chair away from his desk and placing it before the edge of the bed. He motioned for her to sit at the edge of the bed. She complied, trying not to think about the fact that they were alone together in his room and she was sitting on his bed. 

Clarke wasn’t an idiot. Had she ever kissed someone? No. Had she ever had sex? Gods no. Had she read about it? Yes. Had she had the unfortunate “pleasure” to find several old porn tapes in the houses she would raid? Yes. Had she read countless romance novels in her library? Yes. Which, above all else, was her guilty pleasure. She loved the contemporary and fantasy ones released in the 2020s and she equally, even more so, loved the classic ones; her favorite of all being Pride and Prejudice. 

“First, tell me about how it works,” Bellamy instructed, placing his elbows on his knees, leaning forward, and listening intently. 

Clarke shifted on the bed a little and said, “Well, uhm, the best way I can describe it is like creating a link between my mind and the other person. Mentally, I look for a sort of invisible string and tug on it. Then, I connect that with my own and just focus on the words I want them to hear. The last time I remember doing this willingly was in the conference room after I told my whole life story. I reached out for Wells and then got Murphy and Finn’s lines too, opening, well, an open mental communication. Ending the connections I make is harder. You’d think I’d just cut it off, but it’s more delicate than that. The mind is so complex and even delicate. To cut the tie is painful, for both parties. So, I have to untie it. But I’m sure throughout your long life you have found untying things harder than tying them.”

Bellamy nodded thoughtfully at her explication. 

“There’s something else. I’ve been able to mute the lines I created in the conference room. So, they’re still there, and sometimes I forget which, uhm, causes some havoc,” Clarke laughed, thinking back to Wells’s dark red face when he found out Finn (and Clarke and Murphy) had overheard one of Wells’s thoughts. She would never forget the way Murphy gagged. 

“I see,” Bellamy said, a smile tugging at his lips. 

“The most peculiar thing of all however is that I don’t remember ever making a connection with your mind,” Clarke voiced something that had been eating her away. “Hearing other people’s thoughts, I do that all the time, no links required to make. They float around, never-ending. But them hearing my thoughts, me getting them to move like a puppet, influencing what they see, hear, smell, that requires a connection to be made.”

“I assume it’s just that. You don’t remember. I was there when you got your powers back. Maybe the sudden onset made your powers reach out to the first mind they could get their hands on,” Bellamy mused. 

“That does make sense. That’s also probably why it’s harder to control the connection between us,” Clarke said, chewing on the bottom of her lip. Then, the words she had just spoken played back in her head. It being hard to control their connection. Clarke looked up at Bellamy who suddenly straightened his back and cleared his throat, rubbing his hands over his thighs. 

“Yeah, uhm, that does make sense. Wait, hold on, you can not influence people to move like puppets, but you can also control what they see?” Bellamy asked, focus regaining on the conversation. 

Clarke just smiled evilly. She lifted her hand and she reached out for his mind and conjured an image for him. Bellamy gasped at the butterfly that now sat in her open palm. Then, she refocused and seized control over his body like she had practiced with Murphy yesterday. She made Bellamy stand and move the chair away and she stood as well. 

“Okay, Princess. I get it now,” Bellamy said, and Clarke just smiled again. “You can stop now.”

“Make me,” Clarke said, requoting his words back at him. Clarke refocused again and conjured something that was already playing in the back of her head. She conjured a ballroom. One that she had seen in old museum catalogs in her library. She was recreating a scene from Pride and Prejudice, her favorite book. She had always dreamed of doing this. Of going to a ball, and meeting a handsome, rude, and powerful man. One that would sweep her off her feet in a dance. She stepped toward him and made his hands move to her holding one of her hands and the other hand to hold her waist as she placed one hand on his shoulder and held his hand gently. She thought about the music of an old record player she had found in one house and suddenly it played.

“This is… incredible,” Bellamy said, looking around at the ballroom that was once his room and the music that was playing ghostly in the background of his mind. 

“And now, we dance,” Clarke said. 

“Hold on, Princess. I don’t know how to dance,” Bellamy said, looking down at her and she swore she sensed a bit of fear. 

“Good thing I do,” she said, and took off in a waltz. She tried controlling Bellamy to follow easily, but it was hard to keep everything up and still control his body. 

“The rhythm is one, two, three. One, two, three. When I step forward, you step back. And then like this to the side. It’s meant to take us in a circle around the room,” Clarke said, releasing control over his body and letting him catch onto the waltz on his own. After a few more choppy steps and him stepping on her foot a couple of times, he got it down. And they were dancing in his room. Or rather, waltzing in a ballroom. 

“This is ridiculous,” Bellamy muttered under his breath as he spun her on his own accord. “I can’t believe you’re making me do this.”

Clarke smiled brightly. Oh my, he still thought she was controlling his movements. 

“What’s so funny, Princess? Where did you learn how to do this anyway?” Bellamy asked. 

Clarke wasn’t going to tell him that all her energies were on keeping up the picture for both of them that she had given him free reign over his movements and he was willingly dancing with her. That was too cruel. And it was so nice. 

“I learned how to do this at… At…” Clarke said, drifting off. Where had she learned how to waltz? In a book? No? There was something very hazy in her mind as she tried to remember. Something there, just so out of reach. Where had she learned? Why couldn’t she remember? Was it… did she learn it before? In her previous life? The life she couldn’t remember? 

“You don’t remember?” Bellamy asked and Clarke snapped back to reality. They had stopped dancing now. They were back to standing in his dark, gloomy room. Not the golden, light-filled ballroom she had conjured. 

“I don’t remember,” Clarke admitted, placing a hand to her head as if that would help her jumpstart her forgotten memories. 

“Muscle memory. You might not have the memories, but the body remembers all the same,” Bellamy explained.

Clarke nodded and dropped her hand back down and looked at the floor. That’s when she saw that he was still holding her hand. Even though the dancing had stopped and reality was back, he still held onto her hand. And they had gotten so close too. Her downturned head was practically touching his chest. Then, as if he noticed it too, he grabbed his hand away and cleared his throat, even taking a step back from her. 

“Well, uhm, that was fun. Very informative. Maybe you really are a Princess? That’s why you know how to waltz in this day and age,” Bellamy joked and Clarke looked up at him with a face that said, “Seriously?”

It was Bellamy’s turn to laugh. “Yeah, what am I saying? There’s no way you are one. Not with your mannerisms.”

Clarke gapped at his rude words and then she slapped him. Well, she made him slap himself. Even better. 

“Okay, that, was uncalled for,” Bellamy said, pointing his traitorous hand back at her. 

Clarke just shrugged and smiled, walking back to sit on the edge of the bed. Instead of grabbing the chair and sitting before her like he did when they first entered the room, he sat beside her on the edge of the bed. Again, his knee was touching her leg. And again, she scooted away from his electric touch. 

Bellamy laughed and Clarke looked over at him. 

“You’ll waltz with me, but you won’t sit next to me?” he said, shaking his head in befuddlement. 

“Would you rather I lie on top of you?” Clarke said and regretted the words immediately. She shot up from the bed and walked toward the bathroom. Before she reached the adjourning door, he spoke. 

“If anything, Princess, I’ll be the one on top.”

She stopped dead in her tracks. There was absolutely no way he had just said that. She turned around and sure enough, he was looking at her. Clarke had felt a swell of new emotions from her week of living amongst hormonal teenagers, but the emotion radiating off of Bellamy was so much more than all of that. She swallowed and his eyes trailed the motion. 

Then, thank all the stars, someone knocked on the door. And the moment, whatever it was that had happened between them, was gone. 

Clarke watched as his long and lean form rose from the bed and opened the door. 

“Yes, Harper?” Bellamy asked and Clarke moved from her hiding position to stand behind Bellamy and see Harper. 

“Indra and Kane are calling for you. The both of you. They’re ready to share their plan,” Harper said, glancing over Bellamy’s shoulder and flashing a smile to Clarke who waved back. 

“Well, what are we waiting for then,” Bellamy said and without looking back at Clarke, he exited the room and started down the hall. Clarke followed suit and closed his bedroom door. 

“What was that about?” Harper asked, looking between Clarke and Bellamy’s back. 

“What was what about?” Clarke asked, doing the same and looking between Harper and Bellamy’s back. His muscled back. She thought back to the way she had rested her hand on his hard shoulder. 

“Nothing, I guess. Just Bellamy being Bellamy,” Harper said with a shrug and a smile. 

Clarke laughed a little. That about summed it up. And she could think that after only knowing him a little over a week. 

But Clarke knew that wasn’t all Harper had seen. There was something else. Clarke’s skin prickled thinking back to his dark eyes staring at her in his room. She shivered at the memory of him holding her hand even after they stopped dancing. Then, she shook her head in order to shake off the thoughts. There was no time for any silly little crushes to start forming. And that’s all this was, right? Just a little crush. And he wasn’t really interested in her. He was just toying with her, playing with her for fun. Right? 

Little did she know how wrong she was. On both accounts.

Chapter Text

“We split up?” 

Bellamy was stunned. Indra and Kane’s “grand plan” was that they split up into teams to act as diplomats trying to give lovely speeches on a world without the Reform and the rise of Wonkru. They would be split up into groups and set out on a journey to each kingdom to recruit them for the cause. A team goes to the North to talk with Roan, another heads to the seas to get Luna onboard (which Bellamy didn’t think was even possible), and another goes to see the Queen of Arkadia (who might I remind you hasn’t been seen in years)! 

“I’ve already created the groups. It’s a divide-and-conquer mission, Blake. We don’t have the time to go as one big happy Delinquent family. We need to get the word out. We need to plant the seed of hope into all their minds. We aren’t the only ones that are being oppressed!” Kane further explained his grand plan. 

“We go to the main regions. We forget about Phoenix and Walden. Walden is a wasteland, only we’re here. We’ll have the younger kids and enough ‘adult’ supervision to stay and guard the base. And then there’s Phoenix which we avoid like the plague… for now. We storm the capitol together as Wonkru, and we have a key player for that,” Indra says, looking directly at Jaha Junior who stood behind Clarke’s seated form. 

“I already wrote down everything I know. I also got Raven and Clarke to sketch the layout to the best of my remembrance,” Wells informed the group, raising his chin a little as he did so. Bellamy resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 

“We have Arkadia, which Kane and his chosen few will head to find the Queen and get her to see the world still runs even after those you love die and need saving,” Indra said and Bellamy almost flinched at her harsh wording. 

Bellamy saw a few others around the room either nod or try to look sympathetic. They’ve all lost people we love, but as a leader of a kingdom, you can’t let that be the end of it. Especially when your subjects are being hurt. 

“But no one has seen her in years. How will we know where to look? If Arkadia is even the right place to go?” Harper asked and Bellamy knew yet again others were thinking the same thing. 

“Anyone know the old saying, ‘A captain always goes down with their ship?’” Kane asked and Bellamy saw Clarke’s head nod a little. “Well, if I know one thing about Abby, that’s–”

The sound of Indra clearing her throat cut him off and with one glance at her, Kane regained his footing on his words. 

“I meant, if there’s one thing I know about Queen Abigail, it’s that she would never leave Arkadia,” Kane finished. 

Bellamy wondered at his words. He knew Queen Abigail closely enough to refer to her as Abby? Bellamy briefly wondered what the man’s life was like before coming to join the 100. But just as quickly as the thought came, it was gone and he focused back on the briefing at hand. 

“Tondc is another. We will need to speak to their commander, Lexa, and Lincoln has promised to get us that meeting,” Indra continued, undeterred. 

Bellamy glanced at Lincoln who just nodded once and curtly. 

“He will go with me and that will be all most likely given Trikru isn’t the most friendly to outsiders and no one else can speak Trigedasleng,” Indra said, setting up another team. A rather small one at that.

“I…” Clarke said, then stopped when every head in the room turned to look at her. 

Bellamy hadn’t looked at her since leaving his room. She looked so cute when flustered, all timid and pink in the face. 

“Yes?” Indra said, looking rather annoyed to be interrupted by a newcomer. 

“I can… Well, I learned– I don’t know how good I am at speaking it,” Clarke said, grabbing at the end of her loose braid and fidgeting with the strands. 

“You speak Trigedasleng?” Lincoln said, doubt in his loud, deep voice. 

Clarke cleared her throat and spoke a few words in Trigedasleng, no doubt about it. Bellamy could recognize it. He knew Octavia had been learning from Indra before… Before…

“Impressive,” Indra stated and some warmth had entered her demeanor again as she appraised Clarke. “How did you learn to speak so well? Perfect grammar and pronunciation, though your accent is ungodly.”

“Self-taught,” Clarke said, letting go of her braid and sitting up a little straighter. Bellamy smiled at her renewed confidence. He could tell she was slowly starting to feel more comfortable with them all and he was oddly happy about that fact. 

“Then maybe you could–” Indra began to say when Kane coughed loudly, turning her attention to him. 

“Oh, right. Thank you for volunteering Clarke, but you’re already assigned to go with Kane to Arkadia,” Indra informed her and thus everyone else.

“We can’t miss out on any last-minute training,” Kane said by way of explanation and Clarke nodded in understanding. 

“Alright, what else? That’s all the kingdoms but we have three most important players that need to be had a talking with. We can’t do it without them all. Azgeda is one of them. The Ice Nation run by Roan is large, and most importantly, has amazing warriors. We need their strength and numbers. And speaking of needing numbers, we have decided to give Flokru and chance too. As we all know, they have a long-standing history of staying out of any conflict, but if we want our attack on Phoenix to be as successful as possible, we plan a land and sea attack that would give us that. And thus, we need to get Flokru to hear us out. Maybe we won’t recruit them, but if we could get them to help us sail the waters, it could be the thing that makes or breaks our chances of success,” Kane continued in Indra’s sted. “And lastly, speaking of large nations that have resistant warriors, though maybe not as many numbers, we have the Sangedakru. The Desert Clan is also essential mainly because, like Azgeda and Flokru, so many of the lesser clans look up to it. If these three along with the Queen of Arkadia and Commander of Trikru are ready to make a much-needed change in this world, we can get the rest of the clans to agree to holding a Kongeda and forming Wonkru to fight the Reform.”

There was a heavy silence in the room. It all sounded great… in theory. In theory, it was masterful, the best chance they’d had in a hundred years. 

“When do we get started?” Miller asked from beside Bellamy. 

“Three days from now. We pack supplies, finalize groups, and map out the journeys and routes best to take. Then, we start the newest chapter in this never-ending story,” Kane answered, and heads from all around the room nodded in determination. 

Three days. And then how long would the journey be? How long until he could see his sister who was locked up and being tortured in the Capital? No matter. He would. That was the most important thing. For the first time in a long while he had hope. And from the looks of his friends around him, so did they. But then there was one face that didn’t look as happy as the others. As people left the room to prepare for a hopeful future, Bellamy found his way to Clarke.  

“Why the long face, Princess?” he asked as they walked down the chatter-filled hallway. 

“Not now, Blake,” Clarke said, shoving her hands into her jacket pockets. 

“Come on, I’m being genuine and you know it,” Bellamy replied, reaching out and putting a hand on her much lower, much smaller shoulder. 

Clarke stopped walking and looked up at him. She narrowed her eyes and he knew that she was trying to get a read on him with her powers. And then she sighed and looked around to make sure everyone else had left. 

“This is going to sound ridiculous, but I was just getting comfortable. Of course, I want to take down the Reform and get a semblance of a normal life, but… I’m tired. I don’t know if I’m ready to fight and give it my all. Possibly give it my life when it’s already taken so much from me,” Clarke said, each word she spoke quieter than the last. 

“Shit,” Bellamy said in response and Clarke laughed. He was happy to see her beautiful smile back, even for a moment. “That’s totally understandable, Princess. Every word you spoke is completely valid. You know, you don’t have to go.”

“I know. But I still want to. At the end of the day, I’m trading one cage for another and another. I love the open sky. There’s still so much of the world I haven’t seen. I hear Arkadia is magnificent,” Clarke said, sighing again but this time looking up at the artificial lights above and closing her eyes like she could feel the sunlight instead. 

Bellamy watched her, completely mesmerized. She was so beautiful. So pure. This world had been too cruel to her. 

Clarke opened her eyes and tilted her head to look at him. She gasped lightly when she saw his face again. 

“What?” Bellamy asked, furrowing his eyebrows. Was there something on his face?

“Yes, there is something on your face. Right there,” Clarke said, reaching one delicate finger to poke his nose. “Actually there’s hundreds of them,” she laughed, poking his cheeks next. She was referring to his freckles, no doubt about it. 

“Alright, stop,” he said and when she didn’t, he let loose some of his power and zapped a bolt of electricity into her shoulder. 

“Ouch! No fair!” Clarke said, jumping away from him at the zap. 

“Who knows, Princess? If we’re in the same group, you’ll be getting a lot more of that if you keep pushing my buttons,” Bellamy threatened. 

“Well then, let’s hope you don’t electrocute her beyond the point of no return,” Kane said, walking over to them. 

“Sir?” Bellamy asked in confusion. 

“Seriously?!” Clarke exclaimed a moment later. 

“Yes, yes. You two are coming to Arkadia with me.”

Chapter Text

Wells was thrilled. Thrilled that he getting the chance to see more of the world. Thrilled that his powers were developing nicely. Thrilled that Finn was going to be in his group. A little less thrilled to be leaving the others, though. 

“We had so little time together,” Wells said, watching Clarke pack a small bag. It was the same one she had on when she had found him hiding in Wadlen all the time ago. 

“This isn’t goodbye, Wells,” Clarke said, throwing the bag over her right shoulder. “It’s a see you later.”

“You’re right. But what if–”

“Don’t think like that! Think about how freedom will feel when we can all sit down outside and, I don’t know, have a picnic!” Clarke said, laughing as she threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. 

Wells found himself smiling too. 

“Come on, let’s go see if the others need any help finalizing things,” Clarke said, and they both walked out of the storage room where Clarke had been pocketing some medical supplies given she was one of the only ones on the base that had any training in medicine. 

“Sooo, how are things?” Wells asked as they walked to the mechanical garage where Raven and Murphy practically lived together. 

“What things?” Clarke said with a laugh, obviously confused. 

“How is training going? How are your powers doing?” Wells questioned. 

“Actually it’s going really well. And I have a lot better control already,” Clarke said with a small smile. “I heard you can turn small objects into other things?”

“That would be correct. I would have never guessed if Kane hadn’t asked. And now, I’m slowly working on larger objects,” Wells said. 

“Can I see?” Clarke asked, pausing her footsteps. 

“Let me see,” Wells said, stopping and patting his pockets. He found a spare napkin he had stuffed into his pocket stars only know when. He held it out for her to see and then he focused on the crumpled paper in his palm. After a few seconds, it transformed into a leaf. 

“Incredible,” Clarke stated in awe as she picked up the newly formed leaf from his palm. 

“I’ve shown you mine. You show me yours?” Wells asked, stepping back into stride. 

“If you insist,” Clarke said as she began walking again, she stared at the leaf, and then, she threw it into the air. And before Wells’s very own eyes, the leaf turned into a hundred leaves floating in the air and slowly falling down. The leaves then turned to orange butterflies and fluttered all around the hallway. And then, they exploded into tiny fireworks and the hallway was back to being... unlivley. 

“Now that’s incredible. How did you learn that?” Wells asked, stunned and looking at Clarke with sparkling eyes. 

Clarke shrugged and said, “My training session with Bellamy wasn’t as ridiculously useless as I thought it would be.”

“Oh? Really?” Wells said, his voice extending on the last syllable of each word, an eyebrow and an amused smile looking at Clarke. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Clarke asked, flustered and Wells nodded at the conformation to his suspicions. 

“Nothing. Princess, ” Wells said with a large smile. 

“Oh my, stop it right now! Whatever you’re thinking, you’re wrong!” Clarke said, shaking her head but the pink in her cheeks was a dead giveaway to the fact that Wells was indeed correct. 

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. That man is one fine specimen,” Wells said and Clarke shoved him in his shoulder, so much so that he stumbled a bit but regained his footing quickly. 

“I’m serious! Have you seen Murphy and Raven, my goodness? Just like with them, everyone can see it with you two,” Wells said. 

“What about Murphy and Raven?” Clarke asked, eyebrows furrowing. 

“You’re joking, right?” Wells asked as they turned a corner. 

“No, I really don’t know what you’re talking about. They hate each other too! Just like Bellamy and I. They’re always arguing and threatening each other!” Clarke exclaimed. 

“Wow, Clarke. You are serious. This is just concerning. You, of all people, the person who can read people’s thoughts and emotions doesn’t know when two people like each other,” Wells said, shaking his head completely dumbfounded. 

“Murphy and Raven what?!” Clarke exclaimed. 

“Murphy and Raven what?” came none other than Murphy’s voice. Wells and Clarke had made it to the open double doors of the shop. And Murphy was standing before them with his arms crossed, suspicion etched in his brow. 

“You guys gossiping about us?!” Raven exclaimed from her place behind a wire-infested desk. 

“We were just placing bets on how long it would take before you two tear each other apart on your journey to Flokru,” Finn said, striding up from the opposite end of the hallway to stand by Wells and place a hand on Wells’s shoulder. Finn must have heard Wells and Clarke’s conversation for he very much just saved their butts. 

“Miller made us agree to be civil for the sake of the others in the group. So, we have a rocky truce right now,” Murphy explained turning to walk over to Raven. Wells and the others followed into the chop shop. 

“Tear each other apart?” Wells whispered to Finn, leaning down a little. 

Finn shrugged and said with a devious smile, “I didn’t specify whether it would be a hateful tear apart or a lustful one.”

Wells glanced over at Clarke who was looking intently at the pair before her. If he had to guess, she was taking Wells’s words to heart and trying to decipher the feelings in the room. But after a moment, she shook her head and sighed. 

Too many emotions in the room. Wells heard her voice in his mind. Can’t focus. 

“Are you two almost done making last-minute preparations?” Finn asked the pair before them. 

“We would be done if this cockroach hadn’t lost my screwdriver,” Raven huffed, rummaging through some scraps on the table before her. 

“I didn’t lose it, Reyes! You misplaced it and are unrightfully blaming me, as always!” Murphy exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air in frustration. 

“It doesn’t matter who lost it. We’ll help you look, Raven,” Clarke said, stepping further into the room and joining Raven in her search for the contents on the messy table. 

Wells and Finn followed suit, moving further about the room. Wells traced his hands along the corpse of an Enforcer. 

“The day I never have to see another one of these is the day I can breathe happy,” Wells said under his breath, sighing as he picked up a tiny shiny piece. 

“Found it!” Raven yelled, catching everyone’s attention. “It was on the floor.”

Wells made his way back to the center of the room and looked around one last time. They were the only ones left there. The base all around them was rather unlively as well, everyone saying their goodbyes, making final arrangements, and finding their groups if they were leaving. 

“Ready to go?” Raven asked cheerily, but at those words, everyone in the room was hit with the feeling of finality. That their time here, safe and sound, was over. Once they left these walls, there would be only uncertainty out in the unknown. 

“Ready,” Finn said. “I’ve concealed a part of my identity long enough.”

“I’m ready too. I’ve hidden long enough,” Clarke said, determinedly and Wells smiled. But then something the smile faded. Wells had been doing his fair share of concealing and hiding just as much as the both of them. But what he would be facing if this all worked was different. The stakes were almost worse for him.  

“What about you, Junior? Soon enough, you’re going to have to come face to face with your father if we pull thing whole thing off,” Murphy said, like he was the one who could read minds.

Wells was quiet for a moment. He had thought about that. He thought about it a lot, actually. Dreamed about it. 

“My dad,” Wells began to say, staring at the piece of Enforcer metal in this hand, “he's not the one we need to worry about.”

“What do you mean?” Finn asked, confused. 

“My dad, for all his faults, he really just wants what’s best for me,” Wells said, cringing at the words. 

“And what’s best for you was to hide away your powers and work for the very people who destroy people like you?” Murphy asked, skepticism dripping at every syllable. 

“Yes. When I first learned that, I thought it was absurd too. But seeing it from his perspective, he didn’t out me. He provided me with a comfortable, blinded life. I had friends growing up. No one whisked me off into a lab. That doesn’t excuse anything he’s done, I promise you I know that more than anyone. But he’s not a monster,” Wells said, finally looking up at his friends. 

“Then who is? Who is the monster we really need to worry about?” Finn asked. 

“Is that even a question? Pike, of course,” Wells stated. 

“Who’s Pike?” Clarke asked. 

“Right, I forgot you lived under a rock your whole life,” Murphy said. “He’s the damned leader of the whole Reform. He’s the Chancellor of Phoenix.”

“Chancellor Charles Pike,” Wells reiterated. “His core beliefs are the eradication of our kind at all costs. He’s ruthless, cunning, and–”

“Okay! We get it!” Raven exclaimed and every head turned to her. She cleared her throat and said, “It’s not something we should dwell on now. Focus on the positives!”

“What positives?” Murphy asked and everyone laughed a little. “I’m not kidding, though! What is one positive thing about all of this?”

“Adventure?” Finn suggested then added, “Heroics?” 

“The chance at a free future where we can be happy without worrying about our differences,” Wells spoke. 

“Ever the Jaha Junior,” Murphy said and this time he was the one laughing. 

“Come on. They’re all probably waiting for us,” Clarke said, and she started walking out of the room and no doubt headed to the garage door. 

“And so it begins,” Wells said, ready to make a difference.

Chapter Text

“How do you think the others are doing?” Wells asked Finn as they walked side by side, following behind Jackson. They were heading to the North to meet with Roan. There were three others in their group, they briefly introduced themselves as Roma and Sterling.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about them. It’s us we should worry about,” Finn replied. 

“You still don’t think this group makes sense?” Wells questioned and Finn nodded. “Now that I’ve had a few hours to think about it, I see why Kane and Indra made it this way. There’s the obvious that Roma has ice manipulation as her power and we’re going to ice-infested lands. Sterling can become invisible so he will be our scapegoat if anything goes wrong. He probably will stay invisible the whole time just in case to provide backup, I heard Azgadians are brutish folk. Speaking of going wrong, the other offense we have is Jessica’s sonic scream. One scream at the mountains and we trap anyone trying to kill us under their homeland. Then there’s Jackson who is the most experienced and eldest of us all, thus he’s leading. He also has the memory abilities that can show Roan the tragedies being committed and how they’re spreading and will soon reach the North no matter what they think which could sway Roan into helping us. Then there’s us two. Warriors, we don’t have, that’s clear enough. We do have good defense. Exhibit A is you. Finn, you’re brilliant. Your power is unmatched in defense. We sure can’t fight the Azgadians if anything goes amiss, but we can get out unharmed. And then there’s me. Indra and Kane had more important places to be, let’s be honest. But also, thanks to me, they can be in two places at once. Roan won’t take us seriously unless he thinks he’s talking to Indra,” Wells explained and Finn stared at Wells with his mouth open. 

Finn had thought it was a bizarre group, but Wells had decoded Kane and Indra’s scheme easily. 

“I don’t think we need to worry. If anything, I feel bad for the others. Clarke was roped into doing training on her journey to Arkadia. She’ll be overworked and exhausted. Murphy and Raven headed to Flokru, I have no idea what Kane and Indra were thinking there. They put the two most hot-headed people on the planet on their way to meet up with the most passive clan to ever exist. And poor Jasper and Monty are stuck trudging their way through the desert. Those two will die of boredom before anything else. But, that was smart on Kane and Indra’s end given the vast emptiness and expanse of the desert, no two can cover land faster than them,” Wells finished with a smile. 

“Wow, Wells. You’re exceptional,” Finn said just in awe of this boy before him. 

“I–” Wells choked on a blush. 

“Hey, Spacewalker, Junior! Keep up!” Jackson yelled from far ahead of them. The two had inadvertently fallen behind.

“So, what do you think the others are doing right now?” Wells asked as they caught back up with the group. 

“I can only imagine,” Finn said with a laugh. 

“I miss her,” Lincoln said to Indra as they journeyed to their homeland. 

The two were not very talkative people, to begin with, but they hadn’t talked about that horrible day months and months ago yet and Lincoln just couldn’t take the silence anymore. 

“Me too,” Indra replied not missing a bit. “I miss her every moment of every day. And I miss my other daughter too.”

Lincoln always loved how Indra considered Octavia her own daughter. It was nice given that she had no family other than her hellish brother. It was good for her to have a maternal figure. 

“I’m sorry about Gaia too,” Lincoln said, the guilt eating at him again. 

Indra didn’t know this, but he was the reason Gaia had gotten captured by the Reform. He was supposed to be protecting her, watching her back. But the moment he heard Octavia’s screams, he had abandoned her without a second thought. And then, she had been taken. In only minutes of being away from her side to go after Octavia…

“There’s no need to apologize, Lincoln. You’re not at fault. If anything, I am. It was stupid to attack the Reform’s supply base. We didn’t have enough warriors and we paid a heavy price for our eagerness to win something ,” Indra spoke with a heaviness to her voice. 

Lincoln remembered Kane had expressed his concerns on the mission, but in the end, they had all been greedy and overconfident. And it lead to such a detrimental blow to them all. Months and months, Lincoln didn’t know how much time had passed until the spark of fight came back to the 100 base. It had been too long. Every day, every day Lincoln wondered if Octavia was even still alive. 

He couldn’t let his mind keep going down the path. But as more and more time passed… No. They had hope now. They had a solid plan. They were getting more people to join their cause. This time when they attacked the Reform, they would be ready, and they would be well armed. Things would be different this time. Things would be better this time. 

Now his only worry was if Lexa of Trikru would accept and help their fighting cause. He hoped she would. He hoped he would soon get his girl back. He needed her back. 

“We’ll get them back,” Lincoln said determinedly. “We will.”

“I know we will,” Indra replied, the same determination flowing through her. 

“You’re going to ruin this mission,” Raven muttered under her breath. 

“What was that?!” Murphy exclaimed. 

“I said you’re going to ruin this mission!” Raven yelled back. 

“Children, please. I can’t take your bickering anymore! Just kiss and make up,” Miller moaned in exasperation, running a tired hand over his face. 

“Wha– Kiss?! Are you out of your mind?” Murphy exclaimed, completely appalled as he looked over at Raven with wide, unbelieving eyes. 

“No! You two are! It’s barely been a day and all you two need to start getting along because everyone else already has the biggest headache!” Miller exclaimed. “There are three other people here! If you two can’t stand each other, talk to them!”

Murphy turned to said three other people. He didn’t remember a single one of their names. It was three girls. Three girls. 

Raven looked at him with her eyebrows raised. 

“He’s just salty because he misses his boyfriend,” Murphy said by way of excuse, thinking of that boy they called a “doctor”. Murphy never bothered to remember his name, but he remembered the way the two lingered in a kiss before parting ways on this journey. 

“Nah, that’s not it. You forgot their names, didn’t you?” Raven whispered beside him in an evil, victorious tone, referring to the three other girls of the group. 

“I did not! That’s Vixen. That one is Tree… or was it Cheese? Nah, definitely Tree. And that’s Z…Zone,” Murphy replied. He knew it was all wrong, but it felt kind of right. 

Raven burst out laughing so hard that she had to hold her stomach and stop for a couple of seconds. When she regained her composure, she rushed back to his side. 

“Fox, Bree, and Zoe, you dipshit!” Raven said, smacking the back of his head with her hand. 

“Hey!” Murphy exclaimed, clutching the back of his head. “Ow!”

“Aw, I’m sorry, baby. Did that hurt?” Raven mocked breaking out into a laugh again. 

Murphy shook his head, so completely over Raven. The way she tilted her head back when she laughed. The way she was always reaching out to touch him, even though it was dangerous. The way her loose ponytail hair framed her pretty face. 

Holy shit, Murphy thought as he watched Raven. He was always watching Raven. He turned his gaze away from her. 

What had they even been fighting about this time? Bickering away like some old married couple. The last intrusive thought made his face burn red. 

“Yo, dude. What do you reckon the floaters are like?” Raven asked, unaware of Murphy’s internal turmoil. 

“Boring, antisocial freak shows. In other words, the opposite of us,” Murphy said, even though his mind was still racing over his, oh my stars, over his feelings. 

“My sentiments exactly,” Raven replied in agreement. “How do you think the others are doing?”

Murphy thought about her question for a second. He was welcome for the distraction. How were the others doing? 

“I don’t know. I can only imagine Blondie is being hounded to practice her powers with those two. And Junior and Pretty Boy are doing just fine, probably enjoying the lack of chaos we always bring,” Murphy said, imagining the others on their journeys. 

“Sounds about right. Hey! Look!” Raven exclaimed, pointing ahead of her. 

Murphy turned his attention in the direction she pointed and saw… saw…

“Water?” Murphy asked, never having seen a body of water before. 

“Bingo! That’s a river, no doubt! It’ll lead us straight to the ocean!” 

So, they were heading in the right direction. And in some future, they’d be closer than ever to making their plans a reality. 

As Murphy looked at the glimmering surface of blue, he thought for the first time that maybe they could really do this.

“Okay, little birdy. I’ll play nice in front of the water freaks if you do,” Murphy said, smirking at her. 

“You know ravens eat cockroaches, right?” Raven said, clearly not enjoying the new nickname Murphy concocted. 

“Don’t do that,” Murphy replied, blood running hot at her words and the innuendo that came with them. 

“Do what?” Raven asked, completely oblivious. 

“Make statements you won’t follow through with,” Murphy said, turning away from her. 

The only response she had to words was a delicious gasp and it made Murphy the happiest man on the planet in that moment.

“I have an idea!” Jasper exclaimed, removing his scarf from around his mouth, and holding a raised hand in the air. 

“I don’t want to hear another one of your ‘ideas’,” Harper said, walking on, undeterred. 

“But this one is actually a good one!” Jasper complained with puppy dog eyes that were only amplified through his goggles. 

“This better be a good one,” Monty said, stopping next to Jasper and wrapping an arm around his best friend’s shoulders. 

“Myles will shrink himself and sit atop my shoulder and Monty will teleport with Harper! We’ll cover much more damn sand that way. I feel like we’re getting nowhere. By the time the others make it and assemble their armies, we’ll just have spotted these desert dwellers!” Jasper explained. 

Jasper and Monty watched as Harper and Myles paused their walk. They both turned around and glanced at each other with confused faces. 

“Why is that actually not a bad idea?” Harper said slowly, one gloved hand rubbing the sweat off her brow. 

“Woah, owah. You’re forgetting one tiny detail, Jas! I can’t teleport anyone with me,” Monty said, taking a step back from Jasper and holding his hands up in a show of surrender. 

“Sure you can! You’ve done it with me before!” Jasper countered. “That time when–”

“That was a dangerous joke. And you were sick the rest of the day. You threw up like so many times and–” 

“Monty! You still did it! We’re the perfect pairing! Kane doesn’t do anything without a devious plan in mind. Before we left he said something to us, remember!? He said he was ashamed of us for not reaching our full potential!” Jasper recounted with a smile. 

“Ouch,” Harper chimed in, referring to Kane’s words about their abilities no doubt. 

“I guess you’re right,” Monty said, crossing his arms over his chest in thought. 

“We can always try it and if it doesn’t work, we go back to walking mindlessly,” Myles chipped in and Jasper snapped and pointed at him in agreement. 

“It’s up to you, Harper,” Monty said, looking at her. She was the one who would suffer the consequences of teleporting. 

Harper was quiet for a moment as she turned back around and gazed out at the scenery. It felt like they were getting nowhere. 

“Let’s do it. It’s a solid plan and makes a lot of sense given our abilities. And one more thing, I can put myself to sleep with my power. That way I don’t have to suffer the possible consequences,” Harper said. 

“Bingo! It’s perfect!” Jasper exclaimed excitedly. 

And so they went through with it. Myles shrunk his entire body until he was the size of a mouse and Harper prepared to knock herself out. 

“Don’t worry. I won’t let you fall and hit your head,” Monty said, standing beside her. 

Harper gave a small laugh. “Thanks.”

Then then, she collapsed right into his awaiting arms. 

“Are you blushing, man?” Jasper exclaimed, stepping toward his best mate in an attempt to poke his reddening nose. 

“Shut up! No, I’m not! See you at that hill,” Monty said and teleported away a second later.

“He totally was. Well, Myles! Hold on tight! I don’t want you flying off my shoulder!” Jasper shouted to the tiny boy clinging onto his scarf. 

And with that, they were sure to reach the clan in no time. 

“Put me down, Princess.”

“Take back what you said.”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“You thought it!”

“Children! Please, I’m getting a headache,” Kane said, rubbing at his temples in clear distress. 

Clarke glanced between him and Bellamy who was currently floating on his back in the sky above. 

“I’m just practicing my powers like you both insisted,” Clarke said innocently. 

“Why you little–”

“Bellamy!” Kane yelled, cutting off Bellamy before he could finish his sentence. 

Clarke giggled but when Kane turned a sharp glare to her, she quickly turned the laugh into a cough. 

“You two know that you will have to behave yourselves in front of the Queen, right? I don’t want any of your squabbling ruining our chances of gaining her support. We have to come off as a mature, united front. Understand?” Kane asked, harshly looking between Clarke and Bellamy. 

Clarke sighed and slowly let Bellamy drift back to the ground, not making eye contact with him even though she felt his eyes bore into the back of her head. 

Clarke rationalized that there was something more to this meeting with the Queen than Kane was letting on. He was much more on edge, and he was always keeping his power active at least by way of the mind because Clarke had not been able to read him ever since that day he had trained her and John. But Clarke remembered that one day so many days ago when she had read the surface of his mind and she sensed many odd emotions when it came to thoughts of the Queen. And then there was the casual way he said her name in the meeting, she was sure there was something more to their relationship than he was letting on. He was very confident that a Queen that hadn’t been seen in years would talk with them. 

They had been on their journey three days now, and according to Kane, they were almost there. On the second day, they had already walked onto Arkadia land. It was the closest of all the places the teams needed to visit. They passed by small farms and vineyards. Even saw some wildlife. 

“Are we there yet?” Bellamy asked from beside Clarke. She hadn’t even realized he had caught up with her stride, she was so in her head. 

“Bellamy, if I hear one more snarky word leave your loud mouth, I’m going to–”

Clarke gasped and broke off into a run, stumbling a little at the suddenness of her takeoff. She couldn’t believe it. It was unreal. It was so beautiful and the sight took her breath away as she stood on the top of the hill looking out at the castle. Castle. A real, large castle with a humongous city around it. 

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Bellamy said with a whistle punctuating his statement. 

The three of them stood, staring at the seemingly abandoned castle that was larger than a town and overgrown with vines with purple flowers that one could even see at their great distance. 

Clarke didn’t know why, but she felt an odd sort of comfort looking at the castle. The air was different and as the wind blew through her hair, she could have sworn it whispered to her:

Welcome home.

Chapter Text

With the rejuvenated energy the three got upon seeing their final destination, they made it down into the city in no time. 

Clarke’s first observation was that there was little life in the shops and houses she walked by. They walked on and on in silence and there was… nothing. It all almost looked like a shell of what she could imagine to be a beautifully vibrant place brimming with life in its prime. And before she knew what she was doing, the world around her took on the image she had created in her head. All around her, the barren, bleak, and gray buildings were freshly coated in paint and all the cracks of age and negligence disappeared. Clarke was in awe of the scenery she had crafted. It had come so easily. It was like she knew exactly what it looked like in its prime. 

“Clarke?” 

Clarke blinked and realized she had stopped walking. She was standing before a large fountain that had gorgeous crystal blue water pouring from all its sides. She turned to see she must be standing in the town square. She felt like she was in a dream and she turned and saw Bellamy and Kane looking at her with confused expressions. She realized then that the vision wasn’t being shared with them. So, she reached out her power and let them in on her vision. 

She watched as Bellamy scoffed and smiled, taking in what she was seeing. Then she watched as Kane gasped and staggered back, almost tripping over his own feet at the shock of the sights before him. 

“I don’t know how. It just happened,” Clarke said, walking to the outskirts of the spacious town square, running a hand over what appeared to be a bakery. How had she known what Arkadia looked like in its prime, she had no clue. She did feel a soft pulse at the farthest, darkest end of her mind. The place she knew her forgotten memories were. Did that mean… She had been here before? Was what was happening, what her powers were projecting, was that… a memory? 

“ Clarke, ” Bellamy said sharply. Clarke snapped her head up to look at him, she had heard a warning undertone in his voice at the simple use of her name. 

That’s when she saw it. Well, them. Whereas when they had entered the city and it had been devoid of life, now, there were tons of people. They were all closing in on the three intruders who had huddled together by the fountain in the middle. Clarke felt both Bellamy and Kane were on edge, but when Clarke looked at the faces of the hundred or so approaching cityfolk, they all looked dazed. They were looking around as if in a trance at their surroundings. 

Clarke sighed and shook her head. Clearly, her vision had stretched farther than she had realized. Much farther. Even after all that practice, she had opened up the vision she had created for all life in the area. Had she known there were still people in the buildings they passed, she would not have made that simple mistake. But it was too late now. 

“What…What is this?” one of the men in the crowd spoke in a bewildered tone, his eyes falling upon the three outsiders. 

“N-Nothing,” Clarke said, and she promptly shut off the illusion. The moment it was gone, she heard large handfuls of gasps from all around the square. 

“Nice going, Princess. Love to see that you’ve gotten a real handle over your powers,” Bellamy said from beside her. He was brimming with anxiety. 

“ Seriously? It was an accident, you apathetic imbecile!” Clarke practically shrieked. 

“Children! Please!” Kane hissed. 

“Who are you?” a woman from the crowd shouted, a child hiding behind her legs. 

“What are you doing here?” another man shouted, pointing his cane at them.

“What do you want!” yet another woman shouted. 

Clarke was overwhelmed by the onslaught of shouts and unconsciously found herself inching to Bellamy. He took his hand, wrapped it around hers, and took a step forward, essentially putting her behind him. Clarke then watched from the safety of Bellamy’s back as Kane took three measured steps forward, holding his hands high in the air in surrender. 

“We come in peace! We mean none of you any harm! We are mere travelers from Walden hoping for an audience with your Queen!” Kane’s voice boomed. 

Whispers emerged from the crowd as they took in his words.

“Her majesty's subjects aren’t too privy to welcoming in outsiders! Neither is Her Majesty!” the man with the cane shouted. 

“What was that earlier? What we all saw?” the kid that was hiding behind his mother’s legs asked. 

“Yeah! What was that?” several shouts from the crowd voiced all around. 

Clarke felt Bellamy’s grip on her hand tighten slightly. This…this wasn’t going well. And it was all her fault. Why was everything always her fault?

“One of yer is powered, ain’t ya?!” came a shout. 

“What trickery did you do with our minds?!” another angry voice called out.

Chaos broke out from the crowd. Shouts from all directions. Some were accusations, others were more questions. It was chaos and Clarke’s head was starting to pound. 

She hissed as the headache grew unbearable, and her breaths became labored. She was overwhelmed and panicking. This was not how things were supposed to go! She dropped Bellamy’s hand and held both of her hands up to her temples. There were so many people. So many different terrible emotions. Fear. Anger. More fear. Then some of their thoughts started trickling through her carefully crafted mind barrier. Emotions were harder to keep out, but when the thoughts started leaking through, she worried her whole mental damn would break and she would surely collapse at the overflow. 

“Princess?! Hey! What’s wrong?!” Bellamy shouted from beside her. She felt his hands on her shoulders. 

“It’s- Agh! It’s too much! Too many people! Too many emotions! And the thoughts– Agh! No…” Clarke replied through gritted teeth as she tried to keep her mental barriers up that Kane had taught her that were supposed to prevent her from this exact scenario. 

“Kane!” Bellamy called out as Clarke warred with her mind. 

“I know! I’m trying!” Kane shouted back. And he really was. But one man couldn't get that many people to calm down. 

But one woman could. 

“What’s going on here?”

The voice carried throughout the entire square and all the Arkadian subjects stopped. 

It was deadly calm and quiet in the square now and Clarke sighed in relief. She felt the instant douse in hostel emotions over the kingdom folk and she was able to restable her mental barriers. She let go of her head and slowly straightened herself. She noted that Bellamy didn’t release his hold over her, but simply moved his grip on her shoulders down to her forearms. 

Clarke looked straight to see a figure gliding through a parted section of the crowd. The woman carried herself with the demeanor of a…a… Queen.     

That’s when Clarke saw her. The Queen of Arkadia. Her Majesty, Queen Abigail. 

Another tug at the back of her mind. This one sharp, instant, and unforgiving. Something was breaking through her forgotten memories. 

“In all my days, I don’t believe it. Is that you, Marcus?” the Queen asked as she neared him. Clarke could have sworn she saw a small smile form on her lips. The curve of her lips made the stabbing sensation in her mind worse. There were forgotten memories that were reacting to this woman in a way nothing ever had. 

“Hello, Abby,” Kane said and Clarke could hear the smile in his voice. Clarke watched as he reached for the Queen’s hand and brought it to his mouth, placing a gentle kiss atop her hand. 

“What are you doing here? Causing such a commotion within my kingdom and its subjects,” the Queen said, a hardness returning to her presence. “And who…” the Queen added, looking behind him to Bellamy and Clarke. Clarke saw the exact moment the Queen looked at her. The exact moment her breath caught. The exact moment when her head shook a little in disbelief. 

“It…No. It can’t be,” the Queen said taking shaky strides over to Clarke, paying no mind to Bellamy. 

The Queen’s eyes scanned over Clarke’s face, searching, unbelieving. 

“Clarke?” Queen Abigail whispered, almost afraid. 

The word that left Clarke’s mouth was not one she ever thought she would say:

“Mom?”

Chapter Text

The memories came to her in a flash. Memory after forgotten memory. A life that she didn’t remember was suddenly flashing before her eyes. 

Her name was Clara Griffin. And she was the Princess of Arkadia. Her parents were Jake Griffin and Abigail Griffin. King and Queen of Arkadia. And her dad… was dead. But her mom, her mom was standing right in front of her. 

As Clarke stood in the middle of the town square embraced by her mom, she could feel how right and familiar it was. As her mom hugged her, Clarke relaxed for the first time in… forever. 

Finally, they broke apart and Clarke looked at her mom. She had aged. But she was still the same. Still so beautiful. 

“How is this real?” her mom asked, holding Clarke’s face in her small hands. 

“I don’t know. The last thing I remember…” Clarke said, trailing off. What was the last thing she remembered. The last thing she remembered was… was… her dad being stabbed. “Is Dad being…” Clarke said, trailing off. She felt tears whelm in her eyes. 

“Oh, honey, ” her mom said tenderly, more tender than Clarke ever remembered her mother speaking to her. 

“Not to break this heartwarming scene, but we do have quite the audience,” Kane said, placing a hand on Abby’s shoulder. 

“Right,” her mom said, stepping away from Clarke and quickly whipping at the tears on her face away. 

Clarke heard nothing as her mom addressed the crowd. The world around her was pure silence as more memories played back through her head. She remembered her dad taking her out in the square when there was a festival celebrating his birthday. She remembered her mother scolding him for loosing her in the crowd when the dancing began. 

She jerked back into reality when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. 

“Mind explaining what the hell just happened, Princess?” Bellamy asked. 

Clarke looked up at him and smiled. 

“You know that nickname you call me by?” Clarke asked, a hysterical laugh in her lips. “You sure your superpower isn’t clairvoyance? Guess the nickname I hated so much has much more merit to it that I originally knew.”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Bellamy asked, eyebrows to the heavens. 

“I’m 18,” Clarke said, smiling again. 

“Do you…remember? Everything?” Bellamy asked. 

“Bits and pieces. More or less. I do remember you saying you’d tell me your age when I could tell you mine,” Clarke said, the smile on her lips turning devious as she playfully shoved a hand at his chest. He caught it in his free hand and held it against his chest, right over his heart. 

“So, tell me. All of it. Who you are,” Bellamy said, brown eyes searching hers with a newfound intensity and eagerness. Clarke felt a blush rise at the look he was giving her. 

“I’d like to know who you are.”

Clarke’s head snapped in the direction of her mother who was once again by Clarke’s side. Clarke quickly lowered her hand from Bellamy’s chest, but he held onto her hand, undeterred. 

“Greetings, your Majesty. My name is Bellamy Blake. I’m Kane’s right hand man,” Bellamy introduced. 

“It’s nice to make your acquaintance, Blake. Now, what’s your relationship with my daughter?” Clarke’s mom asked. 

“ Mom! ” Clarke squealed, making sure this time her hand left Bellamy’s intoxicating touch. She felt the loss of his electricity like the loss of a limb. 

“Abby, why don’t we all regroup in your home. I’m sure Clarke has missed it,” Kane cut in and Clarke sent a grateful look his way. 

“Marcus, how– Never mind. We have so much catching up we need to do,” Abby said, shaking her head and linking her arm with Clarke’s now free one. “Let’s head home, dear.”

They began their way to the castle and Clarke couldn’t hold back her questions a moment longer. 

“How long have you known?” Clarke asked Kane who walked on the other side of her. 

“I knew from the first moment I saw you something was strangely familiar. It’s only when I saw your father’s watch on your wrist did I know for sure. I don’t know how much you remember, but you’re name is actually Princess Clara. Had you introduced yourself as such, it all would have clicked much earlier,” Kane admitted, running a hand through his hair. 

“I do remember that now. But dad would always call me Clarke. Clara of Arkadia. It was too long to say as a child so he told me I combined them, that I created my own nickname. Clarke of the Ark.” Clarke recalled, picturing her dad playing chase with her in the throne room, calling out after her as Clarke. 

“I hated it at first. But then you refused to be called by anything else. So stubborn,” her mom said, laughing lightly, her hold on Clarke tightening as if any moment she would loose her again. 

“That much hasn’t changed at least. She’s still the most stubborn person I know,” Bellamy chimed in and Clarke sent a glare his way which he only smirked at. 

“Some things never change, I guess,” her mother replied, looking of into the distance. 

“But some things do. Mom, what happened here?” Clarke asked, gesturing with her free arm to the city around them. The castle was on a hill over looking the land below it, and as they walked up the incline, the barrenness of her homeland shown before them. 

“Well, ever since that day…” her mom began and stopped to clear her throat. “The day you disappeared and your father was…”

Murdered, Clarke thought, finishing her sentance internally 

“I was forced to go into hiding as the rest of the land did the same. We were attacked, my dear. And the iron clad hand of the Reform still watches us. We were, I mean are, a land that accepts all powered people. The Reform obviously saw that as a threat. What was meant to be a safe haven to us came off as a assembling of a superpowerd army to their tainted, hateful eyes. And your father, the most powerful man of all, he was a threat to them that had to be taken out,” Abby explained solemnly. 

Clarke remembered her dad clearly. She remembered how gentle his eyes were as they looked down at her and told her to run and hide. And when Clarke did, she hid and saw as a sword went straight into his heart. There was so much blood. Clarke had to bite back a scream and sob silently to stay safe as the whole scene played out right before her very eyes. She didn’t remember anything after that. Only waking up in a pool of blood when she was taken by the Reform to be experimented on. 

She relayed this information to the other three as they stepped through the grand double doors into her childhood home. After she finished telling them the last things she saw and remembered, she then looked into the beautiful entrance. And then a sharp pain stabbed at her mind again and more memories flashed before her eyes. Memories of a boy with dark skin, hair, and eyes…

“Oh my gosh! I remember Wells! He used to come here with his dad! We grew up together!” Clarke exclaimed, clutching her head and smiling brightly. That’s why he had been so familiar! Why she felt like she knew him so well!

“Indeed. That’s how I met you, Clarke,” Kane spoke. “You see, Thelonious Jaha was, is , a double agent. The moment his son was born, he found me, the overseer of the Resitance at the time, and explained how he couldn’t bare for his son to grow up in the world he helped create. He would come here under the guise of spying for Pike but in reality, he would meet with your parents and I as we devised a plan on how to fight back and overthrow the reform. That very plan that we’re following right now. Reforming Congeda and crowning a Heda to overthrow the Reform was your dad’s idea.”

“Is that why you’re here?” Abby asked, letting go of Clarke’s arm as they entered the throne room. 

“Yes, Abby. Everything Jake planned is happening as we speak,” Kane said with ferverance. 

“Oh, my,” Abby said, placing a hand on her chest as she lowered herself onto her Queen throne. Clarke looked at the one beside it and placed a hand on it. She would never again see her dad sit in it. 

“Why is it that Wells doesn’t remember me either?” Clarke asked Kane while her mother took in the full implications of Kane’s one spoken sentence. 

“You recall Jackson’s powers?” Kane replied. 

Clarke thought back for a second until Bellamy beat her to it. 

“Memories. He wiped Wells’s memories?” Bellamy asked. 

“Yes. Jackson was just a child like you when I took him under my wing. When the Reform attacked and Thelonious was being questioned, he wanted to make sure Wells wouldn’t suffer interrogation and questioning from a bloodthirsty Pike. Thankfully it never came to that. Pike had no idea Jaha is a double agent. But at the time, we wanted to take no chances. Especially with Arkadia’s King dead and his sole heir and only daughter missing,” Kane explained, looking directly at Clarke. 

“Then, why did I forget everything? I didn’t have my memories wiped, I couldn’t have,” Clarke said, rubbing her forehead. 

“The answer is unfortunately quite simple: Trauma. Clarke, you watched your dad get brutally murdered before your. His last words to you were run and hide and don’t look back. It must have been too much for you to comprehend as a child, especially when both your powers are so mental. The trauma of it all must have caused your brain to suppress everything that could have broken your mind into pieces,” Kane said placing a hand on her shoulder. 

“My poor girl,” Abby said, standing from her throne and wrapping her arms around Clarke once again. “I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you all these years. Taken by the Reform then forced to live on your own for years and years thinking no one was out there that loved you and missed you.”

And that was it. The tears fell out of Clarke eyes and her arms wrapped out her mother and she cried into her shoulder. They were almost, if the not same height, and Clarke nuzzled her head into her mom’s shoulder and just felt all the years and years of pain flow out. She felt it all in the moment and was happy for it. She was numb with half her mind for too long. Now, she could be full again. Now, she could start her life again. 

A knock sounded on Clarke’s door, waking her up. At first, she didn’t know where she was. Then as she felt the covers beneath her and took in the golden sun soaked room, she breathed deeply in her childhood room. It was the same as she left it. 

“Come in,” Clarke called out, rubbing sleep out of her eyes as she sat up. She didn’t recall getting there. She only remembered hugging her mom. 

“Good evening, Princess, ” Bellamy called out from the door as he stepped into her room. His black leather jacket and gun were gone and he was in a black t-shirt and cargo pants. “Did I wake you, Princess? ”

“Stop calling me th–” Clarke began to say out of habit, but then stopped and held a hand over her mouth. 

Bellamy let out a loud and long laugh at her words. She watched in annoyance as he sat on the edge of her bed. 

“Are you quite finished?” Clarke asked, as his laughter slowly ceased. 

“Yes I am, quite finished, Princess. This is quite the place you got here,” he said, scanning around. “How are you feeling?”

“I feel…drained,” Clarke replied as she also refamiliarized her eyes with the room. “If you dont’ mind me asking… What happened? How did I…”

“Well, you cried so much that you passed out from exhaustion, according to your mother who is a doctor. I mean, I would become a doctor too if my power was healing,” Bellamy recounted. “She supposedly healed your external injuries. Feeling less tense and sore?” 

“I do, actually. Maybe that’s what’s different. I feel less tightly wound. I don’t remember the last time I felt so relaxed,” Clarke admitted, running a hand over her bare shoulder. She was stripped down to her white tank top. 

“Well, if I had know I could have helped you out in that department easily,” Bellamy said, winking at her. 

Clarke looked at him confused at his words, but when the meaning hit her she squealed. 

“Ugh! Bellamy! ” she exclaimed, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at his face. It struck dead on and Clarke laughed at her perfect aim. 

“I’m just saying–”

“Well stop it right now!” Clarke cut him off. 

“Is that Her Highness’s wish? Or rather, command?” Bellamy flirted and Clarke dropped her head into her hands to hide her reddeding cheeks from him. 

“Please, if all you’re here to do is is to tease me, you can show yourself out,” Clarke said into her hands. 

“Now, why would I do that?” Bellamy said, running a finger along her arm. 

Clarke’s head jerked at the contact and she found him sitting right next to her. When had he moved? And so silently? 

“Have you realized we always end up on a bed together?” Bellamy asked, raising a suggestive eyebrow. 

Clarke opened her mouth to refute, but came up with nothing. It was true. 

“Maybe we should do something about that,” Bellamy said, reaching out and tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. 

“What are you getting at, Blake?” Clarke asked, refusing to back down and flee like last time. 

“I think you know,” Bellamy said, slowly leaning in closer to her. 

“I want to hear you say it,” Clarke whispered, eyes glancing down at his lips. 

They were a breath apart and then…

The sound of the door opening and voices incoming forced the two to jump apart. Bellamy got to his feet, running a hand through his hair angrily and Clarke turned her head down to her hand on her bedding which had become fisted at the intrusion. 

“Really, Mom? Ever heard of knocking?” Clarke exlciamed, glaring at her and Kane who entered her room like they owned the place. 

“Sorry, dear. Still getting used to these rooms being filled with life again,” her mom said, looking genuinely apologetic. Clarke almost giggled at her mother’s expression. If she had known what she was intruupting, she was sure her mother wouldn’t have looked so apologetic. 

“We’re here to get you two for dinner,” Kane explained, standing awfully close to her mother. 

“Be there in a minute,” Clarke replied and the two adults left and Bellamy sighed as Clarke stood from her bed. 

“One day, I swear, one day, we won’t be intruepted,” Bellamy promised and Clarke smiled at him. 

“One day soon I hope,” Clarke added, walking past him and gently flipping her hair over her shoulder, even going so far as to swing her hips a little as she left the room. Even at that distance she could hear Bellamy groan in frustration at her teasing and she laughed. 

One day soon, Clarke thought. She was happy. Happy, safe, and around people that loved her for the first time in a long time. And she wished for it to stay this way.

Chapter Text

Flokru was more frustrating than everyone had led Murphy to believe. First off, when the merry band came across the river people, they were met with sharp, stabby weapons pointed at them. Already off to a bad start. 

Miller had to assure the heathens repeatedly that they meant no harm and just wanted to talk. Then finally after what felt like hours of back-and-forth shouting, they had summoned their clan leader. Murphy almost scoffed when he saw the messy-haired girl step out. That was their leader. Some broad by the name of Moon or something. He wanted to laugh but one sharp glare from Miller shut him up. 

Currently, they were all sitting around a fire. All being the intruders and the important clan members, none of whom Murphy remembered the names of. Murphy’s leg was bouncing up and down in anxiety and annoyance. Hours of swapped words and stories and these bastards wanted nothing to do with them. 

“My answer remains the same. No. We want no part in your war,” Luna, the clan leader said, addressing Murphy who sat at the opposite end of the circle. 

“And I’m going to point out, yet again, that it’s your war too, and you know it. You just want to accept it. Remind me again how many of your rivers and oceans are being regulated? How much territory you’ve lost?” Miller said. Murphy could see the frustration rising in the poor chap. 

“This getting nowhere,” Murphy muttered under his breath. Murphy had the pleasure of sitting ride beside Miller on the same uncomfortable lump of wood. 

“You know what Murphy, be my guest. If you think you can do a better job,” Miller said, shaking his head, and opening his arms in a gesture that the floor was his.

Murphy smirked and stood from the uncomfortable log.  

“Listen, Looney, is it?” Murphy began saying as he walked around the fire. “I know you’re full of crap.”

Three river clan people stood up, spears pointed at him. Murphy just smirked at the bushy-haired girl. If only she knew what his magical little power was. 

“Murphy,” Miller warned. The welcome wagon team had been stripped of their weapons before entering their camp. But they weren’t defenseless. Not nearly. Especially Murphy. 

“Listen, lady. When I say I agree with Miller, that’s really saying something. You may believe that your pacifist ways will keep you safe, but they won’t. Enforcers and Reform soldiers don’t care whether you are singing kumbaya around the campfire. If you’re powered, they are out to erase you. And with things heating up in the world as they are now, it’s only a matter of time before your little serene ways are demolished. This isn’t a threat. It’s fact,” Murphy said, staring into Looney’s stoic, brown eyes. 

“He’s right.”

Murphy glanced behind him to see Raven stand. 

“As much as I hate to admit it, Murphy’s right. You’re not safe here. None of you are. I’ve seen what the Reform can do firsthand. All of us here have,” Raven said, gesturing to the Delinquents behind them. “If you’re not going to fight, at least leave this place, because they’re coming for all of you. Hell, don’t just leave, hide. Run and hide. If you don’t want any part in the useless fighting, which I honestly admire, just leave.”

Murphy got chills at Raven’s words. Something about her persistence for them to run and hide seemed… scary. Like she knew something no one else did. And he wondered for a moment if maybe she did. But that thought was gone as soon as it came. Even now his stupid trust issues would act up. 

Murphy turned back around just in time to see the water girl stand. She raised a hand and the three with spears pointed at Murphy lowered their weapons and sat back down. 

“We may be a peaceful people, but we are not cowards,” Luna said, her chin head high. “We will not fight, and we will not run.”

Then this was all for nothing, Murphy thought. Stars above, he just wanted to go back to the 100 base and sit at the corner cafeteria table with his friends and laugh for the rest of his life. Murphy turned and made eye contact with Miller. Miller just gave a lopsided smile and a shrug. They tried. They had tried. And now, it was time to move on and regroup with the others. They could still win without the power of the ocean and rivers. They had to. 

“So be it,” Miller said, standing up, and dusting off his thighs as if there was something there. “We’ll be on our way then.”

The rest of the 100 gang followed suit and Murphy sighed. At least they could go see their friends now. Regroup and really make a difference. Here, there was no difference to be made. He couldn’t understand it. How could people be so passive when everything was being taken away from them and they were being persecuted for something they couldn't control?

Whatever. It wasn’t their problem. And certainly not his. 

They left the cozy warmth of the campfire and headed back the way they came. Dawn was breaking. They had talked the whole night. And now with the rise of the new day, they could finally begin the action portion. 

Closer to the exit, the group was given their weapons back. Murphy, excited to leave and a non-weapon-carrying man of the bunch went ahead of the group, ready to get the hell off this cliff that only held a watery death below. 

Just as he was about to step out of their territory, he was blinded by a flash of light. He closed his eyes and rubbed at them. It was like the rising sun had reflected off of something metal and the wavelength of light found its way to blind his eyes. Before he could think anything of it, he heard the first scream. 

Murphy opened his eyes and saw what had caused such a frightening reaction from a nearby pour soul. 

Enforcers. Not one or two. But ten maybe twenty and was just those that he saw standing before him. 

Everything was deathly quiet and calm for a final second. 

Then all hell broke loose. 

Screaming, running, crying, fighting… It was an ambush. 

In the blink of an eye, Murphy had turned and run back inward to the river clan territory. Head turned back as he ran, he saw the river warriors running toward the Enforcers. 

Idiots, Murphy thought as he searched the hysterical crowd for Raven and Miller. He caught sight of Fox. And then Fox again. And counted a blur of five redheads that were trying to take down an Enforcer. The Zoe girl was nearby struggling with an Enforcer of her own, bending her body this way and that trying to subdue it. Bree, useless with her x-ray had picked up an axe of her own and was swinging it trying to ward off yet another of those damn Enforcers. 

Murphy hated his power, he really did, but the thought of Raven going up against an Enforcer of her own right now and he couldn’t just touch an Enforcer and be done with it made his heart race in fear. 

Where was she?! How could he find everyone but the one person he only cared about?!

A flash of light again and Murphy ducked the metal saw for an arm an Enforcer. Murphy silently thanked Kane and the man’s ruthless training that had enlisted real reflexes within Murphy. Murphy tucked his head and rolled away just as Clarke had taught him in one training session and cursed. 

How was this happening? The Reform must have gotten wind of the Resistance’s recruiting scheme. But how ? No one but those in the camp had known! How had the Enforcers known to find them here? And this many of them?! It wasn’t a routine patrol, no. 

Murphy got up quickly and ran even more into the camp. 

He caught sight of the daft Lunar Queen wielding water from a nearby well. The water was keeping an Enforcer at bay, but low and behold Enforcers were waterproof. Chalk up another useless power to have while fighting Enforcers that were so cleverly and brutally designed to take down any metahuman. 

Luna made eye contact with Murphy and all he saw was sheer determination in her eyes. He almost laughed. Even after everything, while her people were getting attacked even though they had nothing to do with the war, she still had the audacity to be brave. The strong will reminded him of Raven and his heart clenched again. He still hadn’t seen her and he was nearing the cliff which meant he was nearing the end of places she could be. 

Murphy turned to start looking and running again when he caught from the corner of his eye the Enforcer break through the water barrier Luna had been holding up. He briefly debated leaving her to her own devices to continue to look for Raven but he sighed and turned to run over to help Luna. He was defenseless, of course, but at least he could always provide a distraction. 

“Hey, wires for brains! You big, tin monstrosity!” Murphy called out. The Enforcer redirected its attention to Murphy and away from Luna who could momentarily regain her strength. 

Murphy looked frantically for a weapon but couldn’t find one. Everyone was using one, as they should. Because no idiot would willingly attract the attention of an Enforcer with no offense in place. Oh, wait. 

“Shit,” Murphy cursed as the Enforcer floated toward him menacingly. 

Murphy took off his gloves and threw them to the floor. It wasn’t going to do anything, but it made him feel less defenseless as he put his fists up just like Clarke had taught him. 

A second away from him Murphy breathed out and prepared to strike immovable metal with his fleshy, useless fist. And right before he made the move, he heard:

“Duck!” 

He followed the command and ducked just in time for a sword to slice at the Enforcer. It didn’t cut the Enforcer, whoever swung the blade had done it at an awkward angle, but it did stun it. 

“Are you out of your goddamn mind?!”

Murphy’s heart skipped a beat and he stood and turned in a flurry. 

“Raven,” he breathed in relief. “You saved me.”

“You wouldn’t have needed saving if you weren’t such a bonehead! What did you think you were doing going head-to-head with an Enforcer?! Your power doesn’t work on metal, you complete numbskull!” Raven shouted at him. 

He just smiled at her. Hair from her ponytail had come loose and was framing her face in a delicate way that he would have never expected to see from her. Her lips were parted from her heavy panting and she looked absolutely radiant amidst the chaos unfolding around them. The only thought in his head was that of kissing her. And that brought him back down to reality. And just in time because an Enforcer was coming at Raven from behind. 

“Run!” he exclaimed grabbing her jacketed forearm and turning them to sprint away. He let go of her the second she was running beside him on her own. 

“I was looking everywhere for you!” Murphy exclaimed as they ran. 

“Yeah? I got caught up! Stole sword from their armory!” Raven said back, glancing at him with a smile of her own. 

He was about to smile back, but a blur of metal caught his eye and he stopped abruptly, pulling on her jacket again, halting them right before the arm of an Enforcer. 

“Swing that sword of yours!” Murphy demanded and Raven didn’t need a second more as she swung it down and cut the Enforcer’s arm in half. 

Before they could celebrate, the Enforcer, pulled at jacket Raven’s collar, pulling her up off the ground with its good arm. She cried out and dropped the sword to the floor. Murphy went to pick it up and help and as he stood back, he saw Raven maneuver out of her jacket and fall to the ground, escaping the Enforcer’s grip. 

Murphy’s first instinct was to back away from her, and that’s exactly what he did. It was involuntary but the amount of skin that she was now on display made his bare hands burn. Why had he thrown away his damn gloves?!

“Raven, run. I got this,” Murphy said, raising the sword.

“Look out!” Raven exclaimed and grabbed the front of his shirt pulling him forward and off balance. He quickly escaped her grasp and saw that she had saved him from an Enforcer that had been coming at him from behind. 

“Stars above! How many are there?!” Murphy exclaimed, backing up slowly. 

“Too many,” Raven said in a deadly calm voice. 

The two Enforcers were closing them in and Murphy glanced around. He finally caught sight of Miller to his right, fighting an Enforcer with a freaking morning star. 

Everyone was occupied and they only had one sword. So, Murphy wanted to be heroic. Maybe for the first time in his life. 

“Sorry, Raven,” Murphy said and shoved her in the back to the side so that she fell out of the way and line of vision of the Enforcers so that he could determinedly take on the two Enforcers before him. He swung and ducked and danced and it was all too much and too fast but he was keeping up until he wasn’t and felt the first knife slice to the side of his abdomen. 

Murphy hissed in pain and stabbed the sword in the one-armed Enforcer. The sword sank deep and then so did the Enforcer, falling down to the floor. Victory! But there was still–

“Woah!” Murphy exclaimed, sidestepping another swing from the Enforcer. And that side step turned into another step back and then he was falling. 

“Murphy!” 

Murphy flailed his arms and caught onto a large root protruding from the edge of the cliff that he was now hanging from. 

Murphy glanced down and instantly regretted it. An infinite drop into the sharp, rocking, watery coastline awaited his human form. 

Wow, I’m going to die. 

It was an oddly calm thought. He thought he would be more scared when face to face with his death. Maybe having so many near-death experiences and growing up in a time of war made it more inevitable and thus less dramatic. Thought handing for your life from a cliff about to fall to a painful death seemed to be as dramatic as it got. And Murphy was always one for dramatics. 

“MURPHY?! Murphy!” Raven exclaimed as she appeared at the edge of the cliff, looking over at him. And again he was hit by how beautiful she was. Staring down at him with the most scared expression he’d ever seen on someone.

“Take my hand!” Raven yelled at him, reaching a bare hand toward him. 

He could easily grab her hand, but she couldn’t easily pull him up. Grabbing her hand would be the worst thing ever. His bare hand holding hers. Murphy almost laughed at the situation. It was almost poetic. The only way to save him would be a sure way to kill both of them. 

“NO!” Murphy shouted back. “I could kill you!”

“You’re going to die if you don’t take my hand!” Raven yelled in return. She even reached down further, pushing her luck with the cliff’s edge. 

“And you’ll die if you stay here! We both know even more Enforcers and probably coupled with Reform soldiers are all on their way! Run away! Now!” Murphy shouted at her. 

This was it. He would die like this. Falling off this cliff to a painful, yet swift, death. Murphy couldn’t believe the odds of the situation. He cursed his power for the millionth time in his soon-to-be-ending life. 

“JUST TAKE MY HAND!” Raven screamed at him, but he ignored her. 

No way in hell. He would rather die than have her hold onto his bare hands as she tried to pull him up while being in pure, agonizing pain. If she couldn't handle the pain, which no one ever could, they would both end up falling. 

“JUST GO! PLEASE!” Murphy said, staring down at the ocean below him. It wasn’t only the rocks. The waves were strong. He didn’t even know how to swim. There was no chance. 

“I’M NOT LEAVING YOU! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO ARGUE WITH ME! JUST TAKE MY HAND!” Raven screamed again. He looked up at her to see she was crying. He gasped at her broken face. For the first time, he wondered if she cared about him the same way he did. Too late for that now.

“Raven, you have to go! I’ll be okay, I promise!” he lied, his own eyes tearing up. He blinked away the wetness. His hands were getting tired but he promised himself he wouldn’t let her watch him fall to his death so he grimaced and gripped the root harder. 

“I never meant for it to get like this!” Raven cried. “I didn’t know it was going to turn out like this! I’m so sorry!” 

The words confused Murphy. How could she blame herself for his current position? 

“It’s not your fault!” Murphy assured her. “It’s–”

“But it is! This whole thing! I can’t– I can’t let this happen! I care about you too much to see you die!” Raven said and before he could shout at her to stop, she stabbed the sword behind her into the edge of the cliff and gripping it moved herself even further down the cliff. 

“Raven! DON’T!” Murphy yelled and closed his eyes, wanting nothing else in this world but not to be one to cause her the worst pain of her life. 

He felt the exact moment her hand wrapped around his bare wrist. The touch was always welcome for him, but never for the other. He waited for her to scream, but he heard nothing. She pulled him up with all the strength and he opened his eyes in shock. Why wasn’t she screaming? A second later his reflexes moved for him, grabbing onto her bare hand with one of his as she pulled him up. The only scream that left her lips was one of pure exhaustion and strength that was required to pull him up. And just like that, he was clawing a hold onto the edge of the cliff and pulling himself up and over. He fell onto the grassy edge with relief. Relief of being alive and relief of not… not…

He sat up a second later and looked at Raven who was panting heavily beside him. 

“Wha… How?” Murphy asked, completely at a loss for words. For any explanation. He could touch her. He could touch her. Without thinking he reached out and ran his fingertips over her bare bicep. 

She looked at him sharply at the sudden contact, but again she didn’t have any reaction. 

“Impossible,” he said, redirecting his fingers to move a loose strand of hair behind her ear. 

“Murphy,” Raven whispered and he watched her eyes flicker down to his lips. Holy shit. He could touch her. Could he kiss her? She did just save his life. Three times. 

The hum of an Enforcer broke the moment and Murphy cursed. Couldn’t they have one damn moment without fearing for their lives?!

He turned and grabbed the sword from the ground and stood ready to fight this seemingly never-ending ambush. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced to see Raven step in front of him and put her other hand on his grip on the sword, lowering it down. 

“Raven?” Murphy questioned, but she was looking at the Enforcer.

“Alpha access code: Becca,” she said and Murphy’s brow furrowed. 

The Enforcer lowered its arm. It was so ludicrous to watch that Murphy lost the ability to speak. What was going on? What was an alpha access code? And how did Raven know it?

“Little Bird. Your dad sends his regards,” the Enforcer droned out in a sexless, emotionelss, all-around robotic voice that sent shivers down Murphy’s spine. 

“Tell him I’m coming home,” Raven replied and the Enforcer bowed and turned around. 

Murphy was… honestly there were no words for it. He just stood there and watched as Raven turned around to face him. He just stared at her. 

And then finally, he spoke. 

“Who… are you?” Murphy asked. 

“I’m sorry,” she said and hit him in the head with the pommel of the sword, knocking him unconscious.

Chapter Text

They were just about to finally convince the Azgadians after two days of back-and-forth story-swapping to join their cause when the Enforcers attacked. 

It was horrible. No one had expected it. And when the sound of a bell ringing filled the cold air, Finn saw the moment Ronan’s face turned from irritated ice man to warrior King. 

Shouting in another language, gathering weapons, and racing to the front of their territory all unfolded in the blink of an eye to Finn. 

“We’re being attacked,” Jackson voiced, observing the chaos. No Azgadian thought to stop and tell their guests what was going on or what to do. 

“Attacked?! By who?” Sterling spoke for the first time in two days, shucking off his invisibility and scaring Finn nearly out of his own skin. 

 “There’s only one culprit I can think of,” Wells said, also transforming back into his own form for the first time in two days. He had been masquerading as Indra since the moment before they stepped foot in the camp. 

“The Reform soldiers? Enforcers?” Jessica questioned, looking nervously around. 

“Enforcers definitely if not both. I don’t know if my dad would send real soldiers this far out into the unknown icy death trap,” Wells reasoned aloud. 

“Okay, the only plan we have now is to stay alive? You hear me? We wanted a battle, this may not be the one, but it’s sure enough here right now at our doorstep. So, you all know the plan. Sure, it was if war broke out while negotiations were taking place, but it can apply here. We’ve all battled Enforcers before! Let’s go!” Jackson shouted, breaking off into a run that everyone matched pace with a second later. 

Finn gasped. A few Enforcers had already broken through the Azgadian's defenses. Roma’s ice flashed as quickly as lightning, sealing up the broken ice barrier before another Enforcer could get through the hole they had made. 

Finn covered his ears quickly at the sound of Jessica’s sonic scream being directed at an oncoming Enforcer. Finn scanned the battle and spotted Rona about to be slashed from behind, and threw up a quick shield to stop the impact. He spotted another Azgadian in a similar position and threw up another shield. 

“Hey, Wells! What is that old saying you love so much?!” Finn shouted above the chaos to Wells who had his back to Finn. 

“The best defense is a good offense!” Wells shouted back and Finn smiled as he saw a flurry of powers being fired from all around him. As she dropped Ronan’s shield seeing as he was now out of that tricky situation, Finn was surprised to see Ronan shoot out a gust of wind from his palm and throw an Enforcer back over their wall. Huh, Finn thought. Air manipulation? 

Jackson, Wells, and Sterling kept close to  Finn, Jessica, and Roma, not being much help offensively, or even defensively. 

Finn thought now would be a great time for Wells to have mastered his ability to change objects into something else. Maybe he could have gotten his hands on an Enforcer and turned it into a bowl of petunias. 

The battle went on like this for what felt like hours of holding off the Enforcers that made it in and keeping the ones that were on the other side out. 

In the end, though, people get tired and not machines. 

There was a still moment when Finn swore he could pick out every individual snowflake falling from the sky, and then there was an explosion. A loud “ BOOM” , a flash of bright light, and the force of a tidal wave made of wind throwing everyone onto the floor. Dazed from the impact of the explosion, Finn got up onto his elbows and saw through blurred vision that the wall had been blown up and now stood only a crater and about a couple dozen Enforcers hovering menacingly toward them. Finn put all his energy into standing and then the rest of it into throwing up the largest force field he’d ever created. Strange what a life-or-death situation can bring out of people. The force field was quite marvelous, keeping every Enforcer at bay. From the corner of his eyes, he could see he was giving everyone around him a moment to collect themselves and retreat. He smiled at that knowing that he was saving lives at the probable price of his own. But, my, did it feel good and it was truly magnificent to see his force field hold strong while Enforcers pounded at it and tried everything left in their arsenal to no avail.  

Finn’s ears were ringing from the explosion and he couldn’t really hear anything around him. He thought he heard someone shouting his name but it was growing fainter and fainter every passing second. 

No one saw the arrow that flew from the blurred sky above, especially not Finn. It grazed his left shoulder and he winced. He looked up frantically seeing nothing else flying down to hit him. He was surprised given that the person who had shot it clearly missed, but now he was expecting it and expanded his force field to curl up and over him too. 

But a second later, he felt it. He didn’t know what “it” was but he knew something was wrong. His instincts told him to look at the graze on his shoulder and that’s when he saw the green puss. It was an infected arrow and it was taking its effects working fast in his already dazed state. Finn tried to fight it, but it was no use. The toxin, whatever it was, was already in his system. He staggered a bit in place, righted himself, but inevitably fell to grown. Just before he lost consciousness, he opened his eyes to see Wells being forcefully pulled back by Sterling and Jackson. 

Idiot, Finn thought. Retreat. Live to fight another day. I’ll be fine. 

I’ll be fine.

Everything was going so well for once in Bellamy’s life that it was only inevitable when the other shoe dropped. 

Bellamy was suspicious at first. He was happy . He was with Clarke. They were safe . 

When Clarke asked yesterday why Bellamy was looking off into the distance from the balcony of her room while she sketched on the floor, he had opened up to her about his anxieties. She told him that it was only natural to feel that way after everything he’d been through. His whole life was about surviving. He only had to live his life like that because there was always something bad waiting to get its hold on him. 

But he assured them that they were safe. That their plan was working . That it was going to work!

They had every reason to be confident in it and their friends. 

However, all good things must come to an end, right? That old saying…

It had been a quiet morning at first. He woke up in one of the guest bedrooms like he had been doing for the past couple of days, and all was quiet. 

Too quiet. 

Normally, he’d awake at dawn because his circadian rhythm hated him and he would listen to the telltale signs of the city waking up with him. Birds chirping, the bustle of shopkeepers reopening after years of living underground, kids playing in the square, excited to start a new day. 

But today… there was nothing. It made his blood run cold. His instincts told him that there was something wrong. Very wrong. 

Before he knew what he was doing, he was dressed, strapped in all his weapons, and heading to Clarke’s room. 

Expect, he didn’t make it very far. 

With a hiss of air, a wrench of the finest metal, Bellamy ducked. And surely enough, getting out of his somersault, he saw an Enforcer. One with its arm now stuck in the stone wall where his head had just been. 

He didn’t even have to curse aloud or question how the fuck this bastard got in here because he knew if there was one, there was more. And that meant there were more crawling through the castle with the goal of taking their bloody heads off. 

A door opened at the end of the hall and Bellamy breathed a sigh of relief at the blond-haired beauty that stepped out. She too always started her day at the brink of dawn, the only thing was, that she must have opened the hallway door while right in the middle of getting ready because she was not wearing a shirt. 

Why did the universe hate him so?

Under any other circumstance, any other, agh fuck it! Can’t be thinking like that right now! 

“Bellamy!” Clarke exclaimed in panic as she saw him in the compromising position of almost being decapitated by an Enforcer of all things in her castle home. 

Bellamy heard an ear-splitting scratch of metal and turned around to see the Enforcer free its arm from the stone wall. Without a second thought, Bellamy raised his hand and shot a massive ball of electricity at it. It was hit dead center and started to convulse and the glow of red eyes went dead. 

He ran toward her open room of Clarke not a moment later. 

“Shut the door!” he exclaimed once inside. “We don’t have much time before more come, I’m sure of it. Where one is, there’s always more of those damned bastards.”

He went to her opened the window and peeked outside it. Sure enough, there were some crawling their way through the town below. But these townspeople were skilled in the art of living undetected. They’d done it all these years; ten years of hiding, convincing the world there was nothing here but abandonment of a former safe haven. 

“Stars, Bellamy, you were right! I should have listened to you, I’m sorry. I was just so… happy,” Clarke said from beside him, a hand over her mouth, eyes on the edge of tears. 

“No need to apologize. Come on, we gotta find the others and get out of here. Hurry,” Bellamy said, turning away from the window and picking up Clarke’s daggers from their perfectly seated position on her desk. 

He turned and handed them to her. 

“Okay, ready,” Clarke said, determinedly placing them in the holdings along her pants. 

Bellamy’s face was sure to be the brightest shade of red known to human existence. 

“Clarke,” Bellamy said through gritted teeth, turning his head up to look at the ceiling of her room. It was a nice ceiling. But nothing compared to the view he had forced himself to look away from. 

“Yeah, what? Let’s go!” Clarke said, her footfalls moving to the door. 

“ Shirt, ” Bellamy almost growled. 

“Huh?” Clarke said, confused. But that’s when he heard her gasp. “Oh, my Stars!”

Bellamy glanced back down to see her turned away from him, putting on a white tank top. And his shoulders relaxed. Hell, his entire body did once the last evidence of perfect fair skin was covered by her jacket. 

She turned around to him, her eyes darted up to his face and then down to the floor. Her cheeks were a delicious shade of dark pink. God, the world was ending all around them and all he could think about was all the other ways he could make her gasp. He was especially delighted in stealing away those sounds with his kisses. 

Bellamy cleared his throat and opened his mouth to say something when she beat him to it. 

“Ready?” Clarke asked with what Bellamy could only call her Warrior Princess to look on her face. 

“Nope, but who gives a crap?” Bellamy joked, making his way in front of the door. 

He put his right ear close to the wood and listened intently. He heard nothing, but his nerves told him otherwise. He closed his eyes and reached out consciously, feeling for any electrical connection from outside the door. There! He felt one. No, two. Moving slowly, hovering low off the ground. 

He opened his eyes and turned his head to the side where Clarke had materialized. He held up his left hand, only two fingers up indicating the immediate amount. She nodded in understanding. 

Three seconds later, they opened the door and went on the offensive. Clarke swung the first Enforcer into the ceiling with a flick of her wrist and Bellamy sent a charge bolt of electricity at the second. They were on the run in no time, making their way down the now-familiar maze of corridors and heading to the wing of the castle where Kane and Abby slept. 

But they never made it. Instead, as they turned a corner, they were ambushed by three more Enforcers. The robots attacked without hesitation. The one closest to Bellamy fired a blast of air so powerful it caused him to fly backward and into a window. The glass shattered all around him and before he knew what was happening, he was falling outside the castle. However, right before he would have hit the ground in an impact that would have only resulted in death, he froze. He was still several feet in the air. 

He looked up to find Clarke’s upper body sticking out the window, an arm reaching out for him. She must have used her powers to stop his descent. 

Their eyes locked, and for a moment, everything was going to be alright. But moments are exactly that: momentary.  

The next thing he knew, her golden head of hair disappeared from view and he was falling again. For this height, he surely couldn’t die. However, when the entire back of his body hit the ground, the horrible, painful blow to his skull knocked him into unconsciousness. 

Darkness pulled at the edge of his vision just as his head turned to make out two sets of feet running toward him. 

Then, everything went black.

Chapter Text

Wells woke with a start. He was panting, sweating, and all around panicked. 

Finn!  

He looked around himself. He had been lying on the floor on some kind of makeshift bed. The walls around him were gray and looked to be on the verge of crumbling right then and there.

He sat up and winced. He didn’t remember how he had passed out. All he remembered was being dragged away while Finn risked his life to save everyone. That bastard! Why had he done that?! Been so careless with his own life, dammit! 

Wells stood and walked over to the window. Well, “window” was a polite term for it. It was just an opening in the wall furthest from the door. 

His jaw fell open at the sight. He looked to be in the middle of some kind of wasteland. Rubble all around, barely any buildings still standing, a bustling market at the bottom. Where…

Could this be?

The door opened and Wells spun to see none other than Lincoln. 

“Good to see you’re up. Follow me,” Lincoln said. 

“Nice to see you too,” Wells mumbled under his breath. But what the heck did he expect from the cold as iceman? Surely not a Hello or How are you?

“Where are we?” Wells asked, striding beside Lincoln. 

“Polis,” Lincoln answered. 

Wow, Wells thought. He had been right. Sure, he had never seen the infamous Polis before, but he had heard detailed, descriptive rumors of its existence. 

“What happened? How did I get here? Where are the others?” Wells asked in quick succession. 

Lincoln was quiet a moment. But answered nonetheless. 

“There was a traitor in our midst. Enforcers attacked every traveling party that was sent to recruit others to our cause. They all attacked the base. That is why we are not there. There’s nothing left to go back to. Not everyone made it here…”

Wells’s heart lurched at Lincoln’s last sentence.  

“Many, many of us were taken. To the Capital,” Lincoln continued as they turned a hall into a big… meeting room. 

In the room, Wells saw many familiar faces. Those of Kane, Indra, Miller, and even Ronan. But a few new ones. At the head of the table, looking down at a huge map laid out on the table, was a stunning girl. She had long brown hair that held some braids, blue eyes highlighted by black paint around them, and tanned skin that held some kind of circular symbol between her eyebrows. She glanced up at him. 

“Wells Jaha, meet Lexa, Head of Trikru,” Lincoln introduced. 

“Future Heda,” Kane whispered to Wells so that no one else heard. With a nod of his head, Kane indicated Lexa. 

Wells’s eyes widened at that. If Kane said what Wells was pretty sure he was saying, that meant that their plan…

“Jaha?” Lexa asked, her voice free of any emotion. 

“Son of Thelonious, yes,” Kane clarified for her. 

“What’s going on here?” Wells asked, stepping closer to the table, and looking down at the map. He saw miniature figures spread across it. It looks like they were planning something. 

“Wells, as I’m sure Lincoln has told you, we were all attacked. There was a rat in our midst,” Kane began to say. 

“Who?” Wells was almost afraid to ask. 

“Raven,” Miller replied. 

Wells’s jaw dropped. His blood ran cold. He sputtered in surprise. 

“R-Raven?! No! How could that be?!” Wells asked, taking a step back from the table, and looking between Kane, Indra, and Miller. 

“I know it comes as a shock, but I saw it with my own eyes, Wells. She knocked out Murphy and spoke to an Enforcer. Commands. She spoke commands and it listened, ” Miller recounted. 

“She was a strange one, that one,” a new voice spoke. 

Wells turned to see another girl, this one with shaggy red-brown hair. There were water tribe logos on her tattered clothing. This must be the head of the river people. Luna, was it?

“We were all attacked. Miller by the coast, you in the icelands, me by the castle in Arkadia, and… Harper in the desert. None of Harper’s group was found. We assume they were all taken to the Capitol,” Kane recounted. 

“Wait, wait. What about Clarke? A-And wasn’t Bellamy with you? Is the Queen okay? Did you find her?” Wells questioned. 

“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but like Finn and Murphy, Clarke was taken,” Kane answered. 

Wells’s back hit the wall behind him. He used it for support as he ran a hand over his buzzed hair. 

“Bellamy is here, resting off a concussion. He’s being overseen by Jackson. We did find the Abby, yes. She’s in Arkadia, she wouldn’t leave her people,” Kane said, saying the last sentence rather bitterly. It was almost like he was upset over her decision to stay. 

“However, though many of us were taken, and our base was destroyed, the intention to sabotage us and our cause wasn’t,” Indra said and Wells looked up at her, at her words. Confused. 

Hadn’t they just lost? Someone who Wells considered a close friend was a traitor? All his friends, every single runaway was gone but him. How is their cause still alive? How could it be? With another failure like this?

“They didn’t succeed in breaking us down and apart, Wells. Look around you,” Indra said and Wells did. 

Oh. How had he not seen it? Here they all were the most important heads of the biggest clans, surrounding a map laying out battle strategies. And what had Kane said? Future Heda?

“Wonkru?” Wells asked quietly, hopeful but not ready for that hope to be taken like everything else he held dear. 

“Yes. The Reform’s attacks did the opposite of what they hoped,” Indra said, and Wells could almost have sworn she was smiling. 

Wells looked to Ronan. The last time he saw him, they were battling side by side. They had been story-swapping, trying to get them to help their cause. And now, now that each clan was attacked, in their homes, they couldn’t stay passive anymore. It was personal now. 

“Kongeda starts now. We will hold a Conclave and choose a Commander. We will form Wonkru through the crowning of a Heda,” Kane said, determination in his voice. 

And by Kane’s whisper earlier, he bet his money on Lexa. The girl looked as fierce and sharp as they came.

“And we’ll need your help the most, Wells. No one else knows the Capitol like you do. You grew up there. You know it’s ins and outs. The layout. The security, the guards. He started drawing it up at the base, well, I need you to continue,” Kane said, moving to pull another paper from under the map, this one being the one Wells had worked on with… with… Raven.

The losses were heavy. To get here, to get to this moment of collective action. But they would get them back. They had to. Wells would get his friends back. 

With a determination like no other, Wells nodded, taking the familiar paper from Kane, and turned to leave the room. He needed to grieve, he needed to hope, and he needed to plan. 

Kane put a hand on Wells's shoulder, leading him out of the war room he said:

“Wells, I have something to tell you. It’s about your father.”

Chapter Text

Darkness, from beginning to end. 

Recently Clarke had grown accustomed to waking with the morning light of dawn warming her face. 

But now, she wasn’t even sure she had opened her eyes. Because everything around her was the same, horrible color of black. 

She blinked, or at least, she thought she did. 

Her eyes adjusted. She sat up slowly, for she had been lying down. As she rose, her right hand immediately clutched her throbbing left bicep. Those damned Enforcers had flung Bellamy near to his death out the window and then injected her with some awful substance that rendered her almost instantly unconscious. And now, she shivered. She knew where she was without even knowing. 

She was back. 

Back to the horrid Capitol. 

She just knew. 

The feeling went bone deep. She had spent too much time here as her earliest memories at the time had formed. Some part of her always thought it was a matter of time. She had called Bellamy’s anxieties misplaced, but here she was. Attacked in her own home. For it had been her home. With her mom.  

But no Dad. 

She shuddered, even though her jacket still remained on, along with every other article of clothing she had worn after leaving her room. Starting off the morning in her room, with Bellamy there, well… that had been… 

Clarke blushed at the memory. 

Even captured, back to be tortured and held captive by the very people she hated more than anything in the world, Clarke still found the time to blush at what Bellamy Damned Blake thought of her. 

Clarke shook her head. This was serious. This was hell. And this time, she was sure to make it her bitch. 

Clarke’s head raised. She was met immediately by the sight of metal bars. With her telekinesis, it would be the easiest feat to overcome. However, if she knew anything about the obscene interworkings of the Capitol…

Clarke stared at the bars. She focused her telekinetic abilities on bending the bars. 

Nothing. There was some mental register, but other than that, nothing. 

Clarke looked down at her wrists. Yup, she thought. Those bracelets. They kept all powers at bay. They administered a power sedative that was developed from the blood of a previously powered individual that had the power to cancel out any ability, as the story went. 

Clarke bit her lip. No. No! This wouldn't do! She wasn’t some helpless eight-year-old anymore, for crying out loud!

Think, think!  

Alright, her mental abilities seemed to have barely any effect, but still some. Physical powers were always easier to sedate. But the mind, Stars the mind, no one, not even a sole doctor from this day and age could explain the interworkings of the mind away. There was a light at the end of the dark, deeply dank tunnel. 

So, Clarke focused. All the remaining might of her powers on reaching out to gage… hell, anything.  

“She awakens.”

Clarke gasped and opened her eyes. She stared forward. Across from her cell diagonally was a… a girl?

Clarke stepped closer to her bars and stared openly at the girl. The girl whose tan arms were lying against the horizontal steel, positioned outward in defeat and maybe even boredom. 

The girl had crystal blue eyes that practically pierced Clarke’s soul. Her long black hair was greased. Her nose was small, her cheekbones were high, and her glare was so very… familiar.

She had seen this girl before, she just knew it. But where? This was the first time ever met her, surely Clarke would remember this enigma but where then? A-A memory?  

“Octavia?” Clarke whispered. 

To Clarke’s address, the girl laughed. Actually laughed. Openly and loudly.
It was not a reaction Clarke had been expecting. 

“Do I know you, sunshine?” Octavia asked, tilting her head to the side, and looking Clarke up and down. 

“It-It really is you! You’re Bellamy’s sister, right?” Clarke asked, her heart beating out of her chest. 

After all this time, all this time… Clarke was finally meeting the famous Octavia. Cared for by three people Clarke looked up to: Bellamy, Indra, and Lincoln. Clarke imagined this was like what meeting a celebrity was like. 

“And who the fuck are you?” Octavia asked, sass on another level. 

“Oh, my Stars! Bellamy will be so happy to know you’re alive!” Clarke exclaimed, pacing in her cell. 

“Hey! Oi! Blondie! I asked you a fucking question!” Octavia called out to her. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry. My name’s Clarke,” Clarke said, stopping her pacing and facing the gorgeous girl before her again. 

“Okay… Clarke. How the hell do you know Bell?” Octavia asked her voice almost on the edge of suspicion. 

To Clarke’s utter horror, she felt her cheeks heat up at the question. Thank the Stars for the darkness of the cells and corridor because otherwise, how was she supposed to explain that away? 

“I know everyone. Indra and Lincoln too,” Clarke said tentatively. 

Octavia inhaled a sharp breath at the mention of Lincoln’s name. 

“I was… rescued by your brother. He brought me and my friends back to the 100’s base of operations. Kane and Indra took us in and helped us develop our powers. Over these past few weeks, we’ve been…” Clarke lowered her voice and stepped closer to the bars. She continued in a whisper, “We began planning a revolution. Everyone back in the base is set on getting you, and the others, back. However…”

Clarke bit her lip and shook her head. They had been so close. At least, in Arkadia they had been. If Clarke had been attacked, had the others? And how? How could the Enforcers have known where they would be? The exact corridors of the castle they resided in? No, there was something wrong. Something not adding up. 

Had… Had they been betrayed? And if so, by who?

No. No! Clarke couldn't think like that. She couldn't spend the rest of her life not trusting anyone. But then again… What else would make sense?

No. No.

“We were attacked. Bell and I were at Arkadia getting my mom, erm, I mean, the Queen of Ark to side with us on our revolution. Other teams were sent to the ice mountains, river coasts, and desert oasis,” Clarke explained. “But… I don’t know what happened. If the other succeeded. Or… Stars forbid… They were attacked as well.” Clarke winced. “I hate to think it.”

“Wait, wait. Wait a damned minute!” Octavia hissed and Clarke stood attentive again, refusing to give into the what-ifs. “Wow, I don’t even know where to begin,” Octavia breathed, clutching her head in her hands. 

“It’s a lot, sorry,” Clarke said, almost shyly. She had this weird need to have Octavia like her. She didn’t know where the feeling came from, or how in all the Stars with was relevant when the state of the world was such. 

“Clarke, was it?” Octavia asked. 

“Yes?” Clarke affirmed, not knowing where Octavia’s line of inquiry was going. 

“Alright, so, you were a stray picked up by my big brother. You spent time at the base learning to best your abilities, whatever they are. Kane, I bet, saw something special in you, probably that you were the Princess of Arkadia. Yeah, don’t even give me that look. You slipped up, Princess by saying ‘my mom’ and then ‘correcting’ it with ‘the Queen of Ark.’ Save your puppy dog eyes for someone else. So, the plan I have been gunning for years might I add was finally implemented and it all went to shit. Okay, cool. So, Highness, wherein the seventh heaven is my brother? And Lincoln?” Octavia spoke. 

“I… I don’t know where Bell is. The last time I saw him, he was, ugh, outside the castle. I was drugged unconscious before I saw what happened to him. But I have a feeling…” Clarke began and trailed off. Something told her he was safe. She just… knew. “I have a feeling he’s okay. And Lincoln, last I saw, was headed to Trikru with Indra to get their leader, erm, Lexa, was it? Yeah, uhm, Lexa was hopefully convinced to help the revolution and invest in the Resistance. And that’s all I know. Now I’m here…”

They were both quiet for a while. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, they were just both… processing. 

“Hey… Clarke?” Octavia finally asked. 

“Y-Yes?” Clarke asked, looking back to the girl who was already looking at her. 

“Indra’s daughter…” Octavia began but trailed off. 

“Gaia, right?” Clarke prompted. 

“We have to get her out of here, too,” Octavia said. 

Clarke smiled at that. Octavia didn’t doubt she would get out of here. That her brother, her boyfriend, and her mentor would come for her. 

“We’re going to get everyone out of here,” Clarke said and never spoke a truer sentence. 

“I know. I know. I just… Sometimes I think I have it hard, locked down here, mostly alone except for that nice girl, Maya, who brings me my food to keep me company. But Gaia… Stars above, the Reform is bleeding her dry. Her power is a mental one. The power of persuasion,” Octavia explained. “The moment we got taken together on that horrible day… They’ve been using her. To her limit. Persuading those in power to keep their funding flowing and the researchers that have a lapse in humane judgment on the path of pain.”

“Yeah, I know what it’s like,” Clarke whispered, memories that she kept locked away threatening to surface. 

“What? What do you mean?” Octavia asked. But her words were kind, not harsh. Unusual for her so far. 

“When I was eight… I was taken here. Experimented on for months,” Clarke said by way of explanation. 

“Oh, Clarke. I’m so sorry. That’s awful. And so young,” Octavia expressed, true sympathy in her voice. 

“One of my powers is telepathy, so they-”

“Sorry, one of?” Octavia repeated. 

Clarke smiled, but it was a sad one. 

“One of. I have two. Telepathy and telekinesis,” Clarke supplied. 

“Woah, that’s hella cool!” Octavia exclaimed and Clarke smiled, this time more genuinely. 

“I guess…” Clarke said with a heavy sigh. “What about you?”

“Hmph, no way, Highness. You’re the telepath, you tell me,” Octavia said. 

Octavia must have spent enough time here, either with Gaia or gaining information from her “friend” Maya to understand the cuffs and their limitations. So Clarke took in a deep breath. 

“Challenge accepted,” Clarke said under her breath, but she could tell by Octavia’s killer smile she had heard. 

Clarke closed her eyes and focused the tiniest glimmer of her mental abilities on the girl’s mind before her. It was both easy and hard. Easy in the sense that Octavia was supplying the memories for the taking on the surface, but hard with so little mental power available to her. But still, Clarke saw it. 

She saw the beautiful, ocean-eyed girl before her crouching, hands to the floor, shaking the very Earth below her and toppling buildings like dominos. 

Clarke opened her eyes with a gasp. 

The Blake siblings sure were powerful.

“Earthquakes,” Clarke breathed. 

It was a spectacular feat of power. Clarke could feel the seismic waves shake in the very memory. She couldn’t even imagine witnessing such devastating beauty in real life. The Blake brother with the power to knock down entire countries and peoples through electricity alone and the Blake sister who is ready to topple over every building and open every crack in the Earth against anyone that looks at her the wrong way. 

No wonder the Reform had taken Octavia. She had a devastating power and beauty that would send countries to beg at her feet. 

“Impressive,” Octavia praised Clarke’s invasion of Octavia’s mind. “I can’t wait to see it in full swing coupled with the other.”

“Hopefully, you won’t have to wait too long,” Clarke said, moving to her metal cot with its thin mattress and even thinner blanket. 

“You really believe that?” Octavia asked. “You believe Bellamy will come for us?” 

Clarke laid down on her uncomfortable mattress. She closed her eyes and pictured the boy that made her pulse run wild. The sheer power he held in his stature alone was enough to make her shiver. That coupled with his glorious electrical abilities was simply unmatched. She had never met anyone more determined than Bellamy Blake. How far they had come, from strangers fighting one another to allies fighting alongside each other, knowing how to move together as one unit with one heartbeat. Clarke opened her eyes, a soft smile played on her lips as she pictured his brown eyes with their smile lines, freckles face tanned with sun, and curly black hair fresh from a spar. In her vision of him, he was smirking down at her. 

That’s when Clarke finally spoke:

“If I believe in one thing. Just one thing. I believe in him.”

Chapter Text

Raven stared at the security feeds in front of her. Each glowing box held one of them. Her friends. Could she even call them that anymore? After what she had done to them? 

Raven sighed alone in her room. She was full of guilt looking at them: Clarke, Finn… and Murphy. 

She was regretting her choices. But had she had a choice to begin with? She was the one that started the whole thing. The backbone of the whole operation of infiltration in the first place. 

Raven debated the question as she reminisced on how it all began. 

The Reform had a way of scouting for recruits. They would go to orphan schools comprised of un-mutant kids and survey their abilities and usefulness level. Raven had been off the charts, even at the young age of five after her parents died. Pike especially had taken a liking to her eagerness to build new things with anything she could get her hands on. To him, she was the perfect epitome of what a real human being should be: her strength and intelligence had nothing to do with mutant abilities. She was perfect and… what he wanted in a daughter. 

So he took her under his care. From the already extremely bright age of eight, she grew up under his fatherly wing. He gave her access to everything she could ever want; that being every piece of metal and technology the Capitol had at their disposal. 

Her life was good. 

And she was always eager to do more. 

Hence, the mission. She had heard a whisper of her pops and the board planning an undercover mission. They knew for a while that The Resistance liked to take any mutant teens they could get their hands on. There was a lull in the ongoing war and The Reform wanted to strike while both sides were quietly sizzling. They would send out someone to wander about where they had narrowed down their search of the 100 base and surely a faux Enforcer encounter would get a Delinquent to help and take them back to their base. Thus, they would infiltrate and discreetly report back to the Capitol. 

Raven’s heart raced at the thought. The opportunity to get out into the world and help her dad! Sign her up! 

And that she did. 

She was the most qualified candidate, trained by the one and only Charles Pike. 

He had approved. 

But then… things didn’t go according to plan. Not one bit. 

The heat signature the Enforcer picked up on in Walden was not that of a Deliquient, but a girl surviving on her own in an abandoned library. Raven hadn’t been derailed from her mission. She knew she should have right away requested to be drawn out, but the girl had piqued her interest. What was she doing out here? And with no powers? Why didn’t she just take refuge at the Capitol? They would surely have her. Then she had heard her story… Taken at the same age Raven was, but treated far differently. Raven had reasoned that with Clarke’s strange loss of memory, the Capitol had reasoned she was a mutant and tried to find out what she was hiding. However, Clarke wasn’t. At least, at the time Raven had thought she wasn’t. And so Raven’s rose-colored glasses had lifted a little. She had questioned if she should tell Clarke the truth right then and there, but she had been too stunned by her taste of the outside world. And to a fault: Raven was curious. So she stayed. She liked Clarke. She wanted to explore Walden with her so they went out exploring. 

And that’s when part two of not going to plan happened. Three runaways. The TV that they had brought to life had informed them of a prison break. Still undercover, Raven was now tasked to go out, find, and bring back three mutants to Clarke’s library. Raven had wondered briefly if these mutants were like her, spies released under false pretenses. However, she didn’t recognize a single one. She had never even met Wells Jaha who had been kept out of the light by his dad, and she had finally learned why and it shocked her to her core that Thelonious himself lied to everyone , including her Pops about his son. But… it was his son. 

Every so slowly, the Capital she grew up in looked less and less like the one she knew. 

But thankfully, the mission had its perfect success, and that was the Delinquents. She had played dumb about who they were because if Wells didn’t know anything and was at the Capital his whole life, she assumed she shouldn’t either. After all, none of her peers talked about them. 

So, the Delinquents were surrounding them and they were each running off to try and escape but no doubt they all got captured (they had been so severely outnumbered). 

But then, Clarke got shot. And Raven was knocked out cold. When Raven woke up, she was so unbelievably happy to see Clarke was okay. And then she saw that they were surrounded by unfamiliar faces. So, they had been taken. And they there had been: in the 100 base. 

However, Clarke had lied to her. She was a mutant. And she had two powers. But that didn’t matter. Because she had been tortured. Relentlessly. At the age of eight. It was worse hearing the full story. So much worse. 

Raven didn’t know what to think.

But then, a requirement speech later, the original plan was going well. 

Until it wasn’t. 

Because let’s face it, not a single thing had gone to plan. 

Raven made friends. Clarke, Wells, Finn, and…

Murphy.  

Raven’s heart raced and she bit her lip as she outlined his figure in the enlarged security feed. 

What was happening to her? What was this feeling? She honestly couldn’t believe it. Out of all the guys in the entire world, she had to fall for him?! 

Raven knew she was an attractive girl. Growing up, she had never had a shortage of interested guys. She had never felt any romantic feelings towards any of her potential suitors. And being the Chancellor's daughter didn’t exactly help either. Sure there were many guys interested in the sassy spitfire that was Raven, but not if her Pops had anything to say about it. 

So naturally, when a cocky, annoying, cockroach of a guy with ice-blue eyes and a devilish grin came along, her heart just had to fall for him. And to make it all better, of course, he was a metahuman. And his power had to be the most destructive and dangerous. She just couldn’t believe it.

She couldn’t believe that it didn’t affect her. 

There he had been, on the verge of death because of her. And he wouldn’t take her goddamn hand! She had been half out of her mind reaching out for him, begging for him to take her hand. She didn’t care! She could fight off the pain that his power would bring her! She would do anything… for him. And she did. She grabbed hold of him only to feel… nothing. Nothing other than his skin against hers. And the feeling was more than welcome. When he had run a hand along her bare arm and then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, she couldn’t help but look at his lips. 

All their bickering, all their friendly jabs at one another, all the time they spent together, all the times she kept noticing how unbelievably handsome he was…

And… she had immunity. Against his horrible power. 

Against every power. 

She had come to that conclusion fairly recently as she thought back to the times that had her questioning… things. 

It began as early as when the Delinquents attacked them. Raven had stopped at the sound of what she thought had been a sneeze. But she later found out that the others had heard nothing because Miller had cast his ability and that’s why they had stopped. Then there was Sterling who had invisibility and yet Raven had lunged for him on the ice-covered ground only to hear afterwards when she was pretending to be unconscious that he was sure he had been using his power. And there was Clarke in the room after she had revealed her past again and the runaways were questioning whether to stay at the base or not and she had opened up a link with all her friends' minds… except for Raven. That one was the most reachable by far because Clarke’s power was so wonky at the beginning. But still. 

Immunity. To it all. That was her theory. Of course, that meant admitting something she wasn’t ready to come to the conclusion of. But what did it matter now? Nothing. Nothing because all she could think about was Murphy, dammit! Stars be damned she couldn’t stop thinking about him. 

A knock sounded on her door. 

She quickly turned off the monitor and sat at attention as Chancellor Pike entered. 

“What’s up, Pops?” she asked, nonchalantly as she lounged in her desk chair. 

“Nothing, Little Bird. Just checking in on you,” Pike said as he leaned against the edge of her desk, back to her black-screened monitor. “How are you?”

“Honestly, a little sad,” Raven admitted, blowing a raspberry with her lips. 

“Oh? Why’s that?” her Pops asked, concerned. 

They had already talked. He had asked her to report on everything. And that she had done yesterday. …She only kept out the personal things. 

“I’m sad we didn’t get all those…” Raven said, trailing off. She didn’t like using the word mutants anymore. It sounded so belittling. 

“Cockroaches,” Pike said. 

Raven’s heart skipped a beat. And then started beating like crazy. 

“What?” Raven said, her heart clenched. Did he know? Did he know about her and Murphy? Not that there was a her and Murphy… but that she wanted there to be. No! Did he–

“The word you're looking for,” he Pops smiled. “Those cockroaches. Won’t die and hide away in the cracks when real humans are near.”

Raven let her heartbeat slow. Pike couldn’t know. She had nothing to worry her pretty little head over. How could her dad know that was the nickname she had given him? The boy she l–

“Don’t worry, Little Bird. We’ll find them. That’s what birds do,” he said, standing up and ruffling her hair with his hand. 

“Ugh! You know I hate it when you do that!” Raven exclaimed, swatting his hand away and trying desperately to fix her ponytail. 

“Don’t stay up too late,” Pike said with a chuckle as she left her room. 

She muttered a “Yeah, yeah,” he would never hear and turned her attention back to the black screen. Her reflection stared back at her. She looked away. She didn’t like looking in the mirror lately. 

Her head went back to its never-ending thoughts. She wondered about the true evil in the world. She wondered about what she was. She wondered about the feeling of friendship and– and… love.

She shook her head. What was wrong with her? What was she?! What was this Capitol really doing? What was she fighting for? What did she even care for anymore?

It was almost a relief when she had an answer. What did she care for, her mind had asked? Her heart told her she cared about those people she had met out there. The ones that weren't under the watch, the ones she didn’t know to be safe. But that raised a new series of questions. 

Where had they gone? Did it matter? It didn't matter. Not as long as they were safe. No thanks to her. All the same, the question did remain: 

Where were the others?