Electricity
Chapter Two: Electricity
Lexa's mouth was dry as a desert when she woke. Turning her head, she spotted the cup of water that Clarke had given to her before. She reached for it, grunting with the effort. It was just in her fingertips before her hand shook and the water tipped, spilling onto the small table and the cup fell off, clattering onto the floor.
Cringing as she noticed Clarke jump up from sleeping on the couch, Lexa settled back down into the bed. Clarke's anxious look went away when she realized that the noise had just been the cup.
"You could've asked," Clarke mumbled, giving Lexa a kind look.
Lexa shook her head. "I just wanted water, I should be able to do that for myself." She was frustrated, by the tone in her voice.
"Now that your girlfriend is okay, can you help me out?" The sudden voice of a male made Clarke whirl around, brandishing a knife. Murphy.
Lexa tried to sit up and show that her injury wasn't as bad as it truly was, but the effort made her cry out as a sudden jolt of pain like a lightning strike ran up her abdomen. Clarke turned back around to face her, a hand gently resting on Lexa's shoulder while she stood between her and Murphy.
"Don't worry, I've been unconscious. If you two had sex, I wouldn't have noticed," Murphy grumbled.
Clarke moved toward him, much to Lexa's dismay. She didn't trust him but said nothing as Clarke freed him from the chains. Murphy stood, stumbling for a moment before standing straight and stretching.
"Murphy, what the hell happened to you?" Clarke asked him quickly.
"Ask your pal out there," Murphy responded, but he seemed to be addressing Lexa.
Her confusion was obvious until she realized who he was talking about. Her expression darkened. "Titus," Lexa realized. "Titus did this to you, didn't he?" Murphy nodded, still staring at the Commander. "How long were you imprisoned?" She questioned him.
Murphy just shrugged. "Long enough to realize that whatever religion you follow is connected to how we ended up in space," he told her.
"What do you mean?" Lexa frowned, not understanding what Murphy was getting at. How could anything her people did have anything to do with how the Skaikru got into space? It didn't make sense to her in the slightest.
"This place is Polis, right?" He began, taking a seat but stretching his legs out. Lexa nodded. "The thirteenth station in the sky was called Polaris. There's a woman in some cave paintings down where Titus kept me. That woman definitely escaped the station, landing on Earth just as we did," his eyes drifted to meet Clarke's for a moment, before turning back to Lexa's. "Your very first Commander was the same woman who escaped the thirteenth station."
Lexa let out a breath of air, doubtful, but not toward Murphy's statement but toward everything she had ever learned. It made sense. Their history and Skaikru's history overlapped, that much was for sure. It wouldn't be completely wild for this to be true.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Clarke asked, studying him closely. She didn't trust him either, Lexa noticed. She didn't blame her.
"It means whatever dope Jaha has been smoking is the same dope that created this whole Commander thing," he waved his arms in front of him.
Lexa's head began to spin. This was a lot to take in and she wasn't sure she wanted to take it all in. Clarke noticed this and began to move toward Murphy, ready to kick him out of the room.
"Hold on, hold on!" Murphy flinched away from Clarke. "I can help!" Clarke pauses, letting him continue. "Jaha has people taking the same shit, talking about some sort of City of Light. If I could kill him, it would end that mess."
Clarke began to protest before Lexa cut her off. "Very well. But not only are you going to kill Jaha but Pike as well."
Her voice seemed to startle Clarke, who turned to face her. "Lexa, I thought you were going to give my people a chance to overthrow Pike," she said.
Lexa studied her face but stayed firm on her decision. "Murphy is going back to Arkadia to kill Jaha but I'm sure he could manage to kill Pike as well. There is no other way, Clarke. Surely you must see that too. Your people will not bend with Pike in charge. They will if he's dead."
She watched Clarke's internal battle of morality, not wanting to be part of a murder, but understanding that Lexa was right. Clarke nodded solemnly, stepping back to let Lexa speak to Murphy.
"You will be escorted to Arkadia, where you will carry out your orders. If you don't succeed, Murphy, your people will suffer." She tried to ignore the way Clarke flinched at those words. She needed to appear fierce so Murphy would understand the severity of the situation.
Murphy nodded, getting to his feet. Lexa looked at Clarke, letting her take control of the situation. She watched Clarke nod to her before escorting Murphy out of the room. She would prepare him for his departure and send him on his way immediately. Clarke knew that the faster he got to Arkadia, the better chance her people had at surviving.
Meanwhile, Lexa started to work on sitting up. She still didn't get her water and she felt as if she were dying of thirst. She began to slowly inch herself up into a sitting position, panting heavily and starting to sweat. She hated how hard it was for her to do something as simple as sitting up.
When she finally had gotten in a sitting position, she let herself rest against the headboard of the bed as she caught her breath. Her abdomen was throbbing, a pain that seemed to increase with every heartbeat she had.
Heartbeat. She was incredibly aware of how lucky she was to be alive. How lucky she was to have that heartbeat.
She swung her legs carefully over the side of the bed and stared at the cup below her. It didn't seem like it was far away, but she knew it would be harder to get to than it seemed. She was already feeling faint.
Taking a few steadying breaths, Lexa carefully put weight on her legs, settling into a crouched position. Her pain was causing her to sweat even more. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, studying the cup a few feet in front of her. She slid toward it, her fingers grasping it.
Lexa clutched the cup tightly in her hand as she reached for the table to pull herself up. Her breathing intensified and spots danced in front of her eyes, shifting with the pain in her abdomen. This was hard, she realized. This was very hard.
Wanting to just go for it, Lexa pushed herself up to her feet. She gasped at the sudden pain and her free hand hovered over her stomach, afraid to touch it. She placed the cup down on the table with a heavy hand and sat on the bed. The darkness around the edge of her vision threatened to completely consume her eyesight, but Lexa steadied her breathing and blinked many times, each blink causing the darkness to recede a bit.
When the darkness was gone, she reached for the pitcher with the sudden realization that she couldn't lift it. It was heavy, filled more than halfway with water. Every time she went to try to lift it a strong and sudden pain would shoot through her body, causing her to wince.
Frustration pooled within her as she stared angrily at the pitcher.
"Lexa," Clarke gasped, hurrying to her side. "What are you doing?" She asked, before following Lexa's angry gaze to the pitcher of water. "Here, let me," she said softly, pouring the water into the cup.
Lexa took it, embarrassed that she was unable to do this.
"Please lay back down," Clarke begged her. "You need to rest or you'll burst your stitches. I did a lot of work on you and I can't let you get hurt from straining yourself too hard."
"I'm fine," Lexa waved her concern away, setting the now empty cup down on the table. "I need to get up, Clarke. I have duties to fulfill."
"Not while you're hurt like this," Clarke frowned at her, her hands resting gently on Lexa's shoulders. The Commander softened at Clarke's touch. "There's nothing to be done, Lexa. Murphy is on his way to Arkadia. He'll get help and take care of Jaha and Pike. Then, my people will become the thirteenth clan, just as we had originally planned."
Lexa studied Clarke's face. "Your faith in your people is impressive, Clarke. Especially after all they've done to you," she told her softly.
Clarke seemed to think about this before she responded, saying, "I have to protect them and do what's right for them, regardless of how they feel about me or how I feel about them."
Again, Clarke gently pressed on Lexa's shoulders, willing her to lay back down. Lexa obliged, noticing how it made Clarke relax.
Just as Clarke was about to walk away, Lexa reached out and grabbed her arm. Clarke stared at her, confused. "Stay," Lexa whispered, then swallowed. "Please."
Clarke nodded and without a word, she slipped into the bed with Lexa, turning on her side to face her. It was so strange for her to think about that almost twenty-four hours ago, they were laying in bed together in bliss, unaware of the chaos that would follow.
"What is it?" Lexa asked, noticing the furrow of Clarke's brow.
Clarke smiled, reaching out a hand to push away stray hairs in Lexa's face. "I'm just glad you're alive," she told her, suddenly finding herself blinking away tears.
Lexa noticed the tears and felt the need to reassure her. "It's thanks to you, Clarke. You saved my life," she smiled back at Clarke, putting her hand on top of Clarke's which rested on her face.
The smile dropped from her face as she glanced at Clarke's lips, wanting to feel them on hers once again. Her gaze was intense and Clarke recognized it immediately. Clarke leaned forward, capturing Lexa's lips with her own in a soft, careful way. When they pulled away, Clarke was crying.
"What's wrong?" Lexa asked, concerned.
"Nothing, I--" She paused as her breath hitched in her throat. "I...I love you," Clarke said just as another tear slid down her face into the pillow. "I love you and I was so afraid that I would never get to tell you, that you would die before I would ever tell you. That you'd die not knowing how I felt." Her tears increased.
Lexa shushed her softly, her thumb brushing over Clarke's cheek, wiping away tears. "Hey." Her soft voice was music to Clarke's ears. "I love you too," Lexa smiled at her, her heart full. Clarke loves her. She could hardly believe what she heard. Clarke told her she loves her.
Clarke noticed the smile on Lexa's face, which elicited one from her too. She leaned in and kissed her again, whispering once more, "I love you."