Echos And Repercussions
Chapter 44 : Echos And Repercussions
Song : Graveyard Whistling by Nothing But Thieves
Echo was standing in front of the police station, checking once again she had all the papers and stuff she would need for her meeting with a responsible.
Echo, you can’t fail this, the girl told herself, Nia is counting on you. And only God knows what she’ll do if you fail... Echo shivered at her own thoughts.
She pushed the door open and was instantly met with people running around. She was a bit lost at first; too much cops for her.
“Excuse-me” Echo said to a man typing on a key-board behind a desk, “I’m looking for... Bryan Adams?”
The cop looked up, a frown on his face. “That would be me. What is it about?” Bryan said, surprised to see someone ask for him.
“I’m the new recruit, Echo Snow?” Echo introduced herself, “I’m supposed to start today in one of your team.”
Bryan raised a brow at the girl, but left the desk for a few minutes and came back with a black haired-boy. Very good looking, Echo added in her head.
“Hello, I’m Bellamy Blake, I am your superior in the team you’ll integrate” the man introduced himself, holding a hand to shake Echo’s.
Echo was a bit stunned, because she had not expected the man to look that good. Really, the pictures on Nia’s board didn’t do him any justice.
“Echo Snow” Echo repeated, shaking Bellamy’s hand.
“Thanks Bryan” Blake said to the other guy, “I’ll take it from here”.
Bryan nodded, returning at his desk.
“Come on follow me” Blake said to Echo.
They walked past a few offices where people were animatedly talking with other cops. Echo tried to take in everything she could; since Nia had just told Echo she needed to actually be a cop again, she didn’t had any time to do researches on the police station or anything. And Echo didn’t like surprises; she needed to be aware of everything, to be in control. Nope, surprises were not for Echo Snow.
“So, here’s the place where you need to check in every morning” Bellamy said, gesturing to a desk and the woman behind it. “You are expected to be here at eight in the morning until I say you can go home” Bellamy continued. “Questions?”
Echo shook her head no; she did have some questions, but she didn’t want to give the impression she was unfocused. Plus, her questions had nothing to do with what the Blake boy just said.
“Here’s your desk” Bellamy pointed towards it, “Mine’s this one. Today the team is staying here. Take this time to get familiar with the system and everything”.
Bellamy then left. Echo looked around to take in her surroundings, and sat at her new desk. She watched as Bellamy was chatting with one of the cop, a few meters away. Echo has to say, that was not how she had expected the man to be. When Nia talked about him –about the whole group really-, she was talking with so much anger and hate that Echo thought they were necessarily bad people. Well, Blake did seem a little harsh with people, but he didn’t look like a bad person.
It was four in the afternoon and Raven was getting ready to leave. All day, she had pretended to be busy with Trikru stuff, having forgotten about the list and everything; but it was poking yourself in the eye if you thought Raven had dropped it. Every hour, she was making sure the USB drive she had copied data on was still on her pocket for her to take home.
“You’re leaving, Raven?” Anya asked as she was coming towards her.
“Yes” Raven nodded, “You said I was not to be in the bunker after four this week”.
Anya nodded back. Usually, people were working very later than that, but today Lexa Woods the CEO was to pay a quick visit – her first official visit in the bunker - before her meeting with ambassadors. Raven had taken the occasion to meet with Clarke and Ayden after she had gone fetch her son at school.
Raven headed towards the stairs when she crossed path with Lexa, heading down.
“Lexa?” Raven asked, surprised to see her here.
“Hello, Raven” Lexa said with a formal voice, “Are you leaving?”
“Yes I am” Raven nodded, “My shift ended at four”.
“Good afternoon then” Lexa smiled at her.
“Thanks. I’m gonna meet with Griffin at your place by the way” Raven said, without thinking. Lexa, of course, had heard well.
“What?” Lexa breathed.
“I’m going to see Clarke” Raven reformulated, still not thinking, “Bye Lexa”.
Lexa was left speechless in the stairs. Griffin? Was that Clarke’s last name? No. It couldn’t be... Then, Lexa spotted Anya waiting for her down the stairs, eyes wide open. And it clicked into Lexa’s brain. Anya knew.
“Anya” Lexa said through her teeth, “tell me this is a joke”.
Anya not saying anything was enough of an answer to Lexa.
“She’s a Griffin” Lexa murmured, “As in Jake and Abby Griffin?”
Anya only nodded.
“She’s a Skaikru, then..?”
Anya nodded again, confirming Lexa’s statement.
“I thought all Skaikru people were dead...!” Lexa whispered again, not believing what she was discovering.
“Some of them are still alive” Anya said, “Lexa, Clarke and all of her friends... They are all Skaikru”.
Lexa froze. It was impossible. “No way”.
“Yes way” Anya answered, taking a step closer to her very shocked cousin, “Lexa, do you know what that mean?”
“Do they know?” Lexa asked, ignoring Anya’s question, “Do they know they are Skaikru’s descendants?”
“If you’re asking that question to know if Clarke took advantage of you, she didn’t” Anya said, “They don’t know they are Skaikru; Well,” Anya added, “Raven knows; she helped me with stuff”.
Lexa just nodded. She hadn’t asked the question to know if Clarke was playing her; she knew the girl wasn’t. Clarke hadn’t even recognised her as Lexa Woods when they had first met. But knowing there were still Skaikru members alive was changing the game completely. They could bring back Skaikru Company to life, Lexa thought.
But then, something else clicked in Lexa’s mind. Nia fucking White.
“Anya, would it be possible for Nia to know about the remaining Skaikrus?” Lexa asked, her brain thinking at a thousand miles per hour.
“Hum, about that...” Anya said, “it is possible Azgeda has a list of all Skaikru members ever being born”.
“Possible?” Lexa asked, gritting her teeth together.
“We don’t know if they had a copy of the list we stole years ago” Anya explained.
“The list I stole” Lexa said, putting the pieces together.
Anya nodded.
“Anya, if Azgeda still has that list, then they are all in danger” Lexa added, beginning to walk in circles and then stopping abruptly.
“They have to have the list. That’s the reason Nia White was talking to Clarke. She knows. Nia knows who Clarke really is” Lexa said, her eyes widening in horror, “She was not bothering Clarke because of me” Lexa began to walk in circle again, very stressed out, “Well because of me of course but also because she’s a Griffin and...”
“Lexa stop!” Anya said, putting her two hands on her little cousin’s shoulders to calm her down, “I don’t understand what you’re saying”.
“Nia knows Clarke is a Griffin. She will wipe them all out!” Lexa almost whispered as fear was crawling through her all body.
Anya removed her hands as she understood Lexa’s words. She had thought about all this before, with Raven. But now, they were pretty sure Azgeda was plotting something. And it was always a bad thing.
“I have to go” Lexa then said, grabbing some bike’s keys hanging on the wall, “I have to get to Clarke and Ayden to make sure they are ok and...”
Lexa was already half-running towards the tunnel leading near Ayden’s school, grabbing a helmet on a shelf.
“Lexa wait!” Anya yelled as her cousin was already leaving, “What about your meeting with the ambassadors?”
“Tell them I’ll rain-check!” Lexa yelled back before starting the bike and taking off through the tunnels.
“But Lexa you can’t...” Anya trailed off, seeing her cousin was already gone. “I’ll tell them you’re going to rain-check the meeting, very professional” Anya added to herself, rolling her eyes at her cousin.
Clarke was waiting in front of Ayden’s new school next to other parents as the bell was ringing the end of class. She was a bit nervous; because there were a lot of parents looking at her as she was a new face, but also nervous about how Ayden’s first day had gone.
“Clarke Griffin, we meet again” A voice said behind Clarke, making the blonde jump in surprise. She turned around, and her body froze when she saw who had spoken to her.
“Nia White from Azgeda” Clarke acknowledged the woman. It’s not like she could ignore her anyways.
“Coming to fetch your boy, Clarke?” Nia innocently asked, looking at the kids who were beginning to come out of the building.
“What I’m doing in not of your business” Clarke answered, “But I believe you’re clever enough to figure what I’m doing here on your own”.
“I see you have inherited of your father’s sense of humour, too” Nia hummed. “But tell me Clarke, do you at least know how big your fathers were?”
Clarke didn’t answer; but she was curious as hell about what Nia was talking about.
“Do you know about Skaikru Company, Clarke?” Nia asked again.
“I only know about Skaikru neighbourhood” Clarke hummed. “That is where I live. But I believe you already know that”.
Nia smiled at Clarke’s respondent. “Years ago, there was a thirteenth company, called Skaikru” Nia explained. “But unfortunately, its people all mysteriously died or disappeared in the same period of time, killing the Company at the same time, because of no leaders to take care of it. What a shame” Nia falsely sighed.
Clarke waited for Nia to continue as she was scanning the crowd to see Ayden and get the hell out of here.
“Your parents, Clarke” Nia continued, “Were part of Skaikru’s board. Leaders”.
At this, Clarke turned her head towards Nia. It was impossible. Her father had been an engineer, and her mother a doctor. Neither of them had been leaders of anything.
“They were not” Clarke stated; but her voice couldn’t hide the doubt that was growing into her.
“But they were” Nia said again, “Griffin is a known name into the Coalition, because of your fathers. Why do you think Lexa took care of you and accepted you into her home?”
Clarke didn’t answer, but her teeth were gritted; Nia noticed, of course.
“Come on Clarke, you’re clever” Nia said again, “Lexa is Coalition Corp’s CEO, you obviously read about her in the press. She’s not known for doing into relationships.”
“What are you saying?” Clarke asked, teeth still gritted.
“I’m saying” Nia said, smirking to herself, “Lexa is using you for your name. Because you’re a Griffin”.
Clarke said nothing; not wanting to give Nia the satisfaction of anything. Finally, a little boy was running towards Clarke full speed dragging his backpack behind him.
“Mommy!” He shouted, happily meeting with his mother again. He jumped into Clarke’s open arms, hugged her, and then threw a sceptical look at the woman standing near his mother.
“Yexa doesn’t like you” Ayden said, still looking at Nia with accusatory eyes.
If Clarke was internally smirking for the brilliance of her son’s mind and if Nia was speechless by the little boy, they both tried to hide it but neither of them really succeeded.
“Your kid definitely has the family’s mind” Nia said, starting to leave, “Remember Clarke, Lexa is not someone you want near you”.
Clarke watched as the White witch was walking away.
“Yexa!” Ayden suddenly yelled, gesturing behind Clarke.
The Blonde turned around, surprised to indeed see a Brunette running towards her.
“Clarke” Lexa panted she had reached her, “Are you ok? Is this Nia I see, walking away? What happened? Did she...”
“Lexa” Clarke stopped her with a smile, “Everything is fine. Let’s go home, alright?” She asked, looking at her son. “We just need to talk about some things, tonight” Clarke added, only for Lexa to hear.
“Yeah, ok” Lexa said, still a bit out of breath. She didn’t really know what Nia had said to Clarke, nor did she know about what Clarke wanted to talk about; but Clarke didn’t seem too shaken up, so Lexa took her chance and let her hand slide next to Clarke’s as they were walking.
“You can hold my hand, Lexa” Clarke murmured, still with a smile. Lexa smiled back, and linked their hands together.
“Hey, I want to hold hands too!” Ayden protested, wriggling his arms and feet for her mother to put him to the ground.
Both women laughed as Clarke was putting the boy on his feet. He took his mother’s hand in his right one and Lexa’s in the left with a big smile on his face.
“You’re happy now?” Clarke laughed at her silly boy.
“Yes!” He happily shouted, “Both my mommies went to pick me up from school!” And he started to explain his day, the names of his new friends and what he had done in class, as Clarke and Lexa were looking at each other in shock.
Clarke, because she didn’t think Ayden would say something like this to Lexa this soon, and Lexa, because she didn’t think Ayden would ever considerate her as an official second parent, even less referring to her as such. Lexa was nervously looking at Clarke as Ayden was rambling, waiting for the Blonde reaction.
Clarke sensed her girlfriend’s nervousness and smiled at her. “The truth comes out from children’s mouths” Clarke said, “Is it not the expression they use in France?” She winked, as Lexa was left even more speechless.
Clarke just approved what Ayden has said, Lexa thought, her mind blowing up, and she just quote a french expression to me.
“What?” Clarke asked to the smiley Lexa, still whispering as Ayden was still talking.
“I am just so in love with you” Lexa whispered back.
It made Clarke blush, “And I love you too”.
“Hey, is someone listening to me?” Ayden protested seeing Clarke and Lexa were looking at each other and not paying attention at all, making the women burst into laughters.
Octavia was waiting in front of the police station for Bellamy. She was meeting with her brother; Bellamy was getting a bike today – for his work he had said – and he had asked Octavia to go with him, as she knew more about bikes than he did.
Bellamy had just texted her, telling her he would be ten minutes late because of the new recruit they had on the team. Octavia didn’t mind waiting for a bit; in fact, she rarely had time for herself, so she was glad she had ten minutes to sit on a bench and just think about stuff.
Indra had given them their missions; Octavia was to leave in two days, for a three weeks mission. One part of her was thrilled to go back on the field – this was what she was living for – but the other part was broken with having to leave again. She knew what she was leaving behind, every time she had to go on a mission; Lincoln first, of course. The man was the love of her life, and she was only truly herself when she was with him. Then, her brother; they were often bickering, but he was family. He had taken care of her when they were little, and even if he could be a real pain in the ass sometimes, he was the only relative she had. Finally, all of their friends; Octavia was sometimes saying she didn’t belonged anywhere, but that wasn’t true. She belonged with all of them. And now that Clarke was back in the group again, and their lives were going to get better with the new apartments and everything thanks to Lexa, she really wanted to share their everyday lives.
But Octavia knew well that, even if she would have loved spend her days in Arcadia, she would have internally exploded. She was never meant for a quiet life; she was a warrior, a fighter. She needed action; and Indra and her teammates needed her. She knew all of her friends understood why she had to be on that team, and they were supporting her; and this is what was making leaving a bit easier.
Bellamy finally exited the building, waving goodbye at someone. Octavia raised a brow; Bellamy had a tiny smile on his face, and Octavia knew that smile well.
“Who is it?” Octavia asked, her brow still up.
“Oh, her name’s Echo” Bellamy shrugged, “She’s the new recruit”.
“The new recruit, hmhm” Octavia falsely hummed.
“What?” Bellamy asked, sensing Octavia was making fun of him.
“Nothing” Octavia shook her shoulders, “Is she pretty, the new recruit...?” Octavia trailed off, struggling to keep her laugh at bay as Bellamy was rolling his eyes at her.
“I hate you” He grumped, beginning to walk away.
“You wish!” Octavia shouted back, laughing at her brother and jogging to catch up with him.
Clarke had texted Raven to say that Lexa was home early and that she didn’t need to come over, so Raven was back in Arcadia, typing on Monty’s keyboard. She huffed; she couldn’t find any way in Azgeda servers.
She didn’t hear Monty coming back home, and didn’t see his surprised face when he spotted Raven messing with his computer.
“Raven?”
The girl jumped from her seat, causing her to fall of her chair. “The fuck, Monty?” Raven growled at her friends, massaging her now bruised body.
“I’m sorry” Monty said, “But why are you at my desk? Don’t you have one at home?”
“Yeah, about that...” Raven trailed off, wondering if she should tell Monty about what she was working on. One part of her knew it would only put him at risk, and that would make two people having to hide things from Clarke. But the other part knew she wouldn’t achieve anything being on her own; she was a brilliant engineer, but her speciality was not computers. Monty was their geek genius; he was the best.
“Promise you won’t say a word about it?” Raven sighed, knowing it was in their best interest to tell everything to Monty.
“Not a word” Monty answered, now very curious to see what Raven was talking about.
Clarke, Lexa and Ayden were in Clarke’s apartment in Arcadia, as they were going to have dinner with their friends tonight. When they arrived, Clarke had had the surprise to find her convocation for Finn’s trial, which would take place tomorrow afternoon. Lexa had taken the letter from Clarke’s hands, put it on the kitchen’s counter, and told Clarke that everything would be ok. Clarke had smiled and had kissed Lexa; reassured by the fact she was going to be there by her side to face him.
But Lexa was still nervous, as she was watching Ayden paint and Clarke complimenting him; she hadn’t forgotten about Clarke saying they needed to talk. Lexa then couldn’t wait anymore, so she got up and lightly poked Clarke in the shoulder.
“Clarke, can we talk?” Lexa asked with a tiny voice.
“Yes” Clarke breathed, kissing her son’s hair, “Keep painting honey”.
Ayden barely nodded, absorbed by his task.
Clarke gestured at Lexa to go in the bedroom where Ayden couldn’t hear them.
“You said you wanted to talk?” Lexa asked shyly, “Is everything ok?”
“Yes and no, Lexa” Clarke sighed. “Nia and I talked today. Well, she talked”.
Lexa nodded, waiting for Clarke to elaborate. But Clarke didn’t continue, and instead looked at Lexa with curious eyes.
“What is my last name, Lexa?” Clarke asked again, surprising the Brunette.
“Griffin” Lexa said, sensing where the discussion was going and fearing the discussion would turn in a shouting match yet again, “But I swear I didn’t know and...”
“I know, Lexa” Clarke stopped her with a smile, “I’ve never told you my last name. When did you find out?”
“Raven blurted it this afternoon” Lexa said, now breathing a bit better knowing Clarke wasn’t mad.
“Typical Raven” Clarke smiled, making Lexa smile too. “But Nia said things to me, Lexa” Clarke spoke again, “Things I don’t if they are lies or truth, and I need you to be frank with me”.
“Always” Lexa said, frowning a bit because she knew well that Nia could say horrible things.
“Do you know what my name means? What it represents?” Clarke asked.
“I do” Lexa nodded. “Your fathers were leaders of Skaikru Company, a Company which no longer exists”.
Lexa didn’t waste time trying to explain things to Clarke; she was sensing the girl knew about that already.
“But my mother was a doctor. My father an engineer” Clarke stated, asking a hidden question.
“Skaikru was a secret company” Lexa explained, “working in spying tech, secret technologies and stuff like that. That’s probably why you haven’t heard about it before”.
Clarke nodded, trying to take Lexa’s words in. So Nia wasn’t telling lies.
“And the Company drowned when its influent people mysteriously disappeared or died” Clarke stated again, wanting to confirm everything Nia had said.
“Yes, that is correct” Lexa said, “But we have a theory. We think Azgeda is behind it. Skaikru would have been a great ally for Trikru and a true strength into the Coalition. But I think Nia wanted power, and she saw Skaikru as a threat”.
“You think Nia provoked Skaikru’s fall” Clarke said.
“Yes”.
“Lexa, Nia said you was going to use me because of my name” Clarke added.
“I would never!” Lexa protested, “I didn’t even know you were a Griffin when I...”
“Calm down Lexa” Clarke chuckled, taking Lexa’s hand in hers, “I wasn’t accusing you. I’m just telling you what she told me”.
Lexa took a deep breath to calm herself down.
“But why would she think you could use me for?” The Blonde asked.
“To bring Skaikru back to life” Lexa sighed, having to recognise Nia was clever. But she purposely avoided telling Clarke about the threat that might hang above her head and all of their friends’. It was something Lexa had to take care of, not Clarke’s responsibility to bear.
“Could I do that?” Clarke’s brows rose.
“You could” Lexa nodded, “You and all your friends. You are all Skaikru descendants, when we thought every each of Skaikru had died”.
“What? We are all Skaikru?” Clarke was even more surprised now.
“Yes” Lexa nodded again. “Clarke, you represent so much power and value right now, to anyone who knows what your name means” the Brunette continued, “You could lead an entire Company, if you wanted to”.
Clarke let go of Lexa’s hand to walk in circle, thinking hard. It was beginning to be a lot to take in, in a single day. First she was learning her mother and father had lied to her, her entire life, and then she was learning she could be some dead Company’s leader if she wanted to bring it back to life.
“Clarke, I know this must be a lot” Lexa calmly said, taking a step towards Clarke, “But you don’t have to do anything about it. I won’t ask you to do anything. You’re just Clarke to me” Lexa added, showing Clarke that her legacy was not what mattered to Lexa.
“I know” Clarke whispered, burying herself in Lexa’s open arms.
“Tomorrow is Finn’s trial” Lexa said, running a hand along Clarke’s back, “Let’s put that behind you first, ok?”
“Behind us” Clarke corrected, looking up to smile at Lexa.
“Behind us” Lexa smiled back. They stayed silent a few minutes, content to hold each other.
“Clarke, about what Ayden said earlier...” Lexa began her voice full of insecurities.
Clarke looked up. Those were the moments Clarke cherished the more; when Lexa would show a bit of her brokenness, a bit of her own vulnerability, only for Clarke to see.
“He chose his words on his own, Lexa” Clarke murmured, kissing her behind the ear.
“But doesn’t it bother you?” the Brunette asked again, still murmuring.
“Nope. I chose you. Looks like he chose you, too” Clarke smiled before kissing Lexa on the lips.
The doorbell suddenly rang, interrupting them. Clarke removed herself from Lexa’s embrace and walked to the door.
“I’ll tell them to wait a few more minutes before we come down for dinner and...” Clarke said, thinking some of her friends were here to tell them dinner was ready. But Clarke froze when she opened the door and saw who was on the doorstep.
“Hello, Clarke”, the person said.