Pinch Me

Clarke managed an entire day before her curiosity spurred her into action. She twitched every twenty minutes from soulmate pains, which was annoying and certainly contributed to her irritability, but it made her stand out. Dante watched her closely, his hawkish gaze following her everywhere she went. Finally, Clarke decided that she needed help.

“Monty, I’m telling you, something isn’t right here.”

“Look, Clarke, I know that’s what it seems like, but they’re taking care of us. They’re feeding us and keeping us safe from the grounders. They said they were going to pick up the others back at camp tomorrow. And I bet we can use their radios to contact the Ark and direct a drop nearby so that we can protect them from here.” Monty reasoned. “They’re more like us than the other grounders, it’d be an easier transition to ground living if we started here.”

Clarke furrowed her brows. “Something’s not right though. Why didn’t they leave the mountain a century ago?”

“Why didn’t we come to Earth a century ago? I was talking to Maya, and she says the air is poisonous to them because of the radiation.” Monty shook his head, just as troubled as Clarke but for very different reasons. “But I think that’s unlikely, if they lived in a low radiation environment like us, then we should be incapable of living outside as they are. I think it’s a genetic mutation that only turns on when exposed to something in the air outside, an isotope of some sort maybe? I’m no biology expert. But the filters probably filter it out. It’s less an evolutionary thing and more like an allergy or intolerance.”

Clarke ignored Monty’s babbling. “Monty, I don’t care what the scientific reason behind their radiation poisoning is, I care about what they’re doing to the other grounders and what they plan on doing to us. Lexa mentioned that they had been kidnapping her people for generations, but there are no grounders here. Where are they going? What are they doing with them?”

Monty squirmed. “What do we do? I don’t think they’ll let us leave if we just ask nicely. Dante is-“

“Not who he says he is.” Clarke finished for him. “He’s sly. We’ll figure out what we do next as soon as I find Lexa.”

“And how are you going to do that?”

“Miller was a thief wasn’t he?”

Bellamy paced through the dropship like a panther stuck in a cage, and the fact that his sister had gone missing was the sharp stick poking his face through the bars.

“Would you calm down already? You’re making me anxious.” Murphy snarled from where he was perched on a metal ledge near the ladder leading up to the upper decks. “So she’s getting some grounder ass, let her be. What was your little mantra? Whatever the fuck we want? My ass.”

Bellamy refused to respond until he heard the clambering of boots on metal. “News from the Ark, Bell.” Wells sighed. “I talked to my father, he’s alive and healing. If we manage a truce with the grounders, he’ll pardon you, if you can’t get that, he wants you dead. I tried to reason with him-“

“He puts the law above anything else.” Bellamy crouched and placed his head in his hands. “I figured.”

Wells crossed his arms. “Anyway, there’s more. They want to come down ASAP, so they’re planning on coming down during their next turn, which will be tomorrow night. Diana Sydney made a power grab, tried to take a dropship down immediately and blew the whole system, killed a lot of people, mostly working station.” He paused for Bellamy’s sharp intake of breath. “Any word on Octavia? Clarke?”

Bellamy shook his head. “Nothing. Not a word.”

“Bellamy! Wells!”

Bellamy looked up from his spot. Wells turned his head disinterestedly. “What is it, John?”

John Mbege, one of Murphy’s friends. He wasn’t bad, from what Bellamy knew, but frankly he wasn’t paying much attention. He was tall and pale, brown hair growing a little shaggy, but he looked unnaturally nervous. “You need to come see this, there’s a guy in a hazmat- they’ve got guns and like darts and stuff. He says he wants to speak with Bellamy. He knew your name. He knew MY name.”

Bellamy jumped up, without bothering to wait for Wells, he marched from the drop ship.

Bellamy was met with dozens of men in hazmat suits, guns pointed to the ground, but without a doubt ready to be fired. A few were poised in the back with no weapons to be seen. Bellamy’s guards, the one’s stationed at the wall, had all been disarmed. They fidgeted and twitched, looking for the safety of the weapon.

One of the suits stepped forward, he held no gun, but he was clearly in charge. He reached a hand out to Bellamy to shake. “Bellamy Blake is it? Pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Carl Emerson, we’re from Mount Weather. We’ve been watching, and we offer you and your people guaranteed protection against the savages that have been killing your people. We’ve already liberated your people from the possession of the Commander: Clarke Griffin, Monty Green, Zoe Monroe, Harper McIntyre, Octavia Blake, among others. All of them are safe inside the mountain. There is room for all of us, including those left on the Ark.”

Bellamy tilted his head suspiciously. “Octavia? She’s inside Mount Weather?”

Emerson smiled behind his mask. “She is, unfortunately we couldn’t bring her here with us, she’s still being decontaminated. Those of us in Mount Weather are incapable of withstanding the radiation that you can. So you’ll forgive us for taking extra precautions.”

Bellamy scowled. “What’s in it for you? Nobody gives anything for free.”

“That’ll be negotiated by our president, Dante Wallace.” Emerson answered smoothly. “But for now, we’ll escort you to Mount Weather, where you’ll be decontaminated. We’ll have our doctors tend to each of you to ensure your health and any injuries are taken care of. Mr. Green is currently working with some of our computer specialists to contact the Ark, Ms. Griffin is aiding in getting the rest of your people settled in. So Bellamy, come join us. We can protect you.”

“And Octavia is with you?” Bellamy stepped forward curiously. “I thought she had run off to find her soulmate in one of the Grounder villages.”

“These grounders pay little attention to soulmates. The man turned on her, tried to take her hostage for use in his village. A leg up. We liberated her and she’s now safe and sound in Mount Weather. She and Clarke were happy to see each other.”

“We should go.” Wells spoke up from just behind Bellamy. “If Clarke is there then negotiations fell through. They’ll be here to kill us all soon if we don’t go with them.”

Bellamy hesitated, before slowly nodding. “Right. Pack your things!” He called to the delinquents surrounding him. “We’re leaving for Mount Weather in an hour.”

Emerson grinned. “Perfect. “C’mon boys help them out, we’ll escort you all in groups. Easier to protect a dozen at a time rather than all of you.”

Emerson marched off to talk with some of his men and Bellamy turned back to Wells. “Something feels off. Saviors don’t just show up like this. Not on the ground.” Wells murmured.

“They didn’t on the Ark either.” Bellamy grumbled.

Wells rolled his eyes. “So, what’s the catch?”

Bellamy shrugged. “Whatever it is, we’ll find out soon enough. But if Clarke didn’t manage to negotiate a truce, then we’re screwed anyway.”

Wells nodded slowly and turned away, leaving Bellamy to watch the suited men suspiciously.

“She seems to have a higher pain tolerance, faster reflexes, and a faster immunological reaction.” The voices floated around her as Lexa stared determinedly at the lights in her eyes. She would give them no reaction, no satisfaction. “It’s incredible how fast her system reacts to outside substances. It’s like her body was built to keep her alive.”

“And the black color?”

“My guess is that there’s something preventing the hemoglobin in her blood to bond with the oxygen. Makes it confusing as to how she’s capable of distributing oxygen to the cells in her body. I can’t go down every possible path on my own, I need more scientists.”

“This is the best you’ve got, Tsing. You know it. My father doesn’t want the public to be reminded of the Outsiders any more than necessary. The more they think about it the more likely dissidents will get frustrated and revolt. Revolution will get us killed.” Cage reminded as he ran a cold finger down the length of Lexa’s bicep tattoo. She wanted to bite the damn thing off, but she was strapped to the table.

“I want to give her a CAT.”

“We’ll arrange for the lab to be vacant for you. What else do you know?”

“It just doesn’t behave the way blood is supposed to. I don’t understand why she’s different. Or how it happened.” Tsing declared, Lexa could hear the shuffling of papers and the scuffing of her shoes on the tile floors. “There’s so many unanswered questions with her biology that I just have to look at everything. It’s fascinating. You’ve brought me one hell of an experiment Cage.”

There was a soft chuckle. “I aim to please. Once you’re done studying her, start looking at interactions with our blood. Maybe she’s the secret to a permanent cure. Maybe we’re the generation to leave the bunker.”

“Maybe,” Tsing was doubtful. “That’s not quite how biology works, but perhaps I can make a therapy treatment using her blood to combat the radiation intolerance.”

“Perfect. I’ll keep my father off of your back. Do whatever you think is necessary, aside from killing her.”

“Yes sir.”

“You, my dear,” Cage pinched Lexa’s cheek with calloused fingers. “Are beautiful.”

Lexa clinched her fists tight enough to draw blood. This man had long since earned himself a painful death.

Clarke wasn’t surprised when Wells and Bellamy appeared inside the bunker a few days later. But what did surprise her was how entirely voluntary everyone had entered the mountain. There was a hiccup when Bellamy found out that Octavia was, in fact, not in Mount Weather, but Emerson had been given a stern warning and Dante promised to find her immediately.

“Clarke,” Wells voice was all too welcome here. “I don’t like it here. It’s not right.”

Clarke looked up into the eyes of her former best friend. “I don’t either. There’s got to be a catch.”

Bellamy ducked into the dorms just then, glancing around, nodding at the greetings from the other children before his eyes landed on Clarke and Wells. “Guys, Dante wants to talk to us. It’s about our stay here.”

Wells didn’t hesitate to follow after him, which was strange, but Clarke supposed Wells spent more time with Bellamy than she did. He’d know him better.

The guard sent to summon them led the three of them down the twisting halls of Mount Weather without comment. Clarke, flanked by both boys, didn’t say a word, but each step brought waves of dread washing over her and settling in a knot at the base of her stomach. That morning she had woken to pinpricks up and down both forearms and the pounding in the base of her skull that had lasted since she got there. Her muscles were unbelievably sore; her soulmate was having a rough day.

“Welcome, Clarke, Bellamy, Wells. Wonderful to see your people are settling in well. Once we’ve come to a conclusion at this meeting and we’ve cleared more space we’ll start integrating your people further into the bunker. You’ll forgive us, we weren’t exactly prepared for a hundred new beds to be made.” Dante smiled, running a hand along a sword on his desk, gesturing towards three chairs set before it. “Please, have a seat, there’ll be tea ready in a few minutes. Negotiations always begin with hospitality.”

Clarke was the last to sit down, once again in the middle. She subtly moved her chair closer to the desk, she needed to take charge, now, or Bellamy would do something dangerous. “So, you’re preparing for a long term stay then? Why?”

Dante’s smile never faltered. “You see, Clarke. You’d make an excellent chief of police I think. Interrogations are not about asking questions and getting the right answers, but about asking the right questions and accepting nothing but answers. I’m sure Maya told you about our inability to go outside. It’s an inconvenience at best, and until the radiation levels go down, we will never escape this bunker. What once was a savior is now a prison.” Dante knitted his fingers together and leaned forward, making eye contact with Clarke. “My job is to lead and protect my people. You three know a lot about that. But one of the things I need to worry about, that I’m sure you haven’t thought about, is that I have to protect their futures too. It’s not just about the here and now, but about the next and the then. My people, just like yours, dream of feeling the rain on our faces and the breeze through our hair. We want to swim and climb trees and watch the sun rise and set along the horizon. We’ve been denied that for generations because of the radiation. The end goal is to leave Mount Weather. And I think, after a few generations of integration between your people and mine, we will have a mixed enough gene pool to survive outside as well. Of course, there are many other advantages. Your people can go outside, which means we can greatly expand our outdoors military beyond just what suits we have available. Outdoor farms and filters and resource gathering means we can expand within the bunker as well. Our population is, albeit slowly, beginning to reach an unsustainable limit, and by welcoming your people I’m pushing those boundaries, but once everything is secured, that population limit will be impossible to reach before my people have developed the biological capacity to go outside. Your people have far more advanced technology and STEM knowledge. All of this, all of this, is a huge advantage for everyone involved.”

Clarke could see Bellamy and Wells make eye contact behind her from the corner of her eyes. “And what about the Grounders?”

“You’ll be protected from them.”

“No,” Clarke stopped, rolling her eyes. “I’m talking about what happened to them. I was talking to Lexa before you came in and ‘rescued’ us. They hate you, say that you’ve been terrorizing them for generations. What have you been doing to them? Where did Lexa go and what happened to the rest in the negotiations site?’

Dante sighed, smile falling, replaced with exaggerated grief. “I didn’t want to go over this immediately. But it’s how we survive here. Everyone in the bunker knows, and kids are told about it when they come of age. I suppose, if you’re to live here, it’s your right to know as well. Even though you’ll never have to participate.”

Dante heaved another sigh. “It’s a great source of shame for us, but we do what we must to survive. You understand. You’ve done things you’re not proud of too, haven’t you? Torturing that grounder and all.” Dante paused again. “The filters clean out most of the radiation, but not all. We’ve found that with frequent blood transfusions with the grounders we are able to survive much longer and heal the beginning stages of radiation poisoning. Of course, there comes a point where not even all of the blood in our stores can save our people, but usually we get to them before that happens.”

Clarke stared in open mouthed horror. “You’re kidnapping them and draining them of their blood.”

Dante met her outrage with calm silence.

“Aren’t you?”

Dante nodded once. “Again, this is very shameful for us, and we had many people outright refuse treatment, and they died because of their stubbornness. The outsiders, they feel no pain. We sedate them and withdraw only as much blood as they can withstand losing. It’s all very humane, I swear to it.”

Clarke stood. “No.”

“Clarke, be reasonable.”

“Listen to Bellamy, Clarke.” Dante’s voice was still friendly, but it took a warning edge to it that sent shivers down Clarke’s spine.

“Absolutely not. You kidnap people and drain them of their blood for your own gain. The people out there hate you, because you take away their friends, rip apart their families, and kidnap their soulmates! They’re not as savage as you say they are!” Clarke snapped. “The Hundred will agree with me, this is wrong.”

“Clarke-“

“You can’t possibly be defending them, Wells.”

Wells clenched his jaw. “I’m not. I couldn’t. But he’s right. We need this. Negotiations fell through-“

“Is that what they’re telling you?” Clarke rounded on them. Looking between the two shocked boys and a dangerously calm Dante Wallace. “They were going fine until they showed up with dart guns and gas grenades!”

“Clarke.” Dante ended her tirade immediately. “While you were in the tent they were preparing to ambush you. You didn’t see it, but my people did. It was a miracle we got there in time to save you. In fact, one of my people even reported that the Commander had pulled a blade on you. Yet you’re defending their incapability of civility?” Dante scoffed. “These people took evolution in reverse. They’re the base of what humanity was before the invention of the written word!”

“Ironic that you rely on their blood to survive.” Clarke snarled. “You know, the Aztecs made violent and useless sacrifices too. Except their reasons had more scientific base.”

Clarke stormed away from Dante’s desk. “Perhaps the grounders were right in calling you people monsters.”

Clarke slammed the door behind her.

“Damn, they managed to get everyone out that quickly?” Raven gaped as she walked through the deserted camp surrounding the dropship. “Don’t get me wrong, our detour was for the best, but still…”

Anya swung from her mount and motioned to the troupe behind her to do the same. “Search for anyone left behind.” She spoke in English for Raven’s benefit. It was clear the girl was uncomfortable surrounded by armed warriors talking around her in a language she didn’t understand. Anya didn’t blame her, but even she had to admit it was unusual for her to be so accommodating.

Anya followed Raven, hand on the hilt of Lexa’s sword at her hip. “You know, three swords is a bit overkill don’t you think?”

“Yu Skaikru are unobservant.”

Raven scoffed. “You think I’m stupid?”

Anya held back a smirk. “Those weren’t my exact words. But they will do.”

“You and I both know that this wasn’t an ambush, then.”

Anya managed to cover the stumble in her steps as she followed. “We do. I’m surprised you noticed.”

“C’mon.” Raven matched Anya’s smirk. “Everything’s all orderly, everyone’s valuables are gone. I’m not talking about the stuff that’s useful, I mean like little trinkets and sentimental things. No bullet holes, we had guns remember? No grenade casings. No missed darts. The delinquents left voluntarily. Which is very not good.” Raven crossed her arms triumphantly.

“You look happy about this turn of events.”

Raven’s triumph melted into slumped shoulders and a worried frown. “If there’s an alliance between our people and this Mountain, then one, I’m dead. Two, they abandoned me. And three, things are going to get really ugly really fast.”

Anya furrowed her brows. “Help us retrieve Heda, and I’ll personally assure your survival, Raven kom Skaikru.”

“Is this a confession? You actually like me?” Raven smirked.

Anya rolled her eyes. “You are less useless than your people.”

Raven laughed. “That’s practically a proposal, by your standards.”

Anya turned and marched away.

They spent twenty minutes searching the camp and the surrounding foliage before screaming and kicking caught Raven and Anya’s attention. Three guards marched through the underbrush attempting to hold Octavia still as they brought her forward to their general. Lincoln followed calmly, with just one guard’s hand on his shoulder.

“Octavia!” Raven jogged towards the other girl as she settled down and regained her footing.

“Raven? You’re alive?” Octavia stepped forward. “What happened? Where is everybody?”

“The Maunon took them.” Anya answered coldly. “The ripa want more of your tek.”

Octavia gaped at the two as they gave her near identical, puzzling glares. As if they were struggling to work through a riddle, Raven hardly noticed at all, but perhaps she was mirroring Anya just a little. It helped to get someone to take you more seriously. It’s how she gained respect among the other mechanics and engineers on the Ark. “What’s the plan then?”

Raven grinned. “You and I will get along swimmingly.”

Anya shook her head, dismissing the strange Skaikru behavior. “We are moving to TonDC. We will be safer there with more warriors to protect us from further attacks. From there we can plan our extraction of the Commander.”

“And our people.” Raven reminded.

“Of course.” Anya conceded. “Raven, you needed your tek?”

“Yeah, the radio should be upstairs. With that, we can contact the Ark and arrange their landing. With them, we’ll have even more mechanics and engineers to help us crack open the bunker. Especially since they can pull up the original blueprints. We’ll have detailed access to every twist and turn of that ant hill.”

Octavia crossed her arms. “Barring any major renovations.”

“Barring any major renovations, but since they can’t survive outside, something tells me they wouldn’t risk major changes.” Raven waved her off and jogged away towards the dropship. “Let me message the Ark and let them know what’s going on, and then we can remove the radio and get going!”

When Raven returned, her excitement and interest had morphed into fear. “Anya, I need to talk to you.”

“So speak.” She drawled, turning just slightly from her warriors.

“No, it needs to be privately, this is too important for it to be overheard by some talkative warriors.” Raven snarled.

Anya glared at Raven’s retreating back, hand returning to the hilt of Lexa’s sword as she followed. Once they reached the dropship Raven whirled around. “The Ark is coming down tonight, and they’re planning on joining the Maunon- Mountain. Mount Weather. The delinquents inside Mount Weather used their technology to send a signal up to the Ark. They’ve arranged for protection. They’re going to enter the mountain.” Raven cut Anya off before she could snarl her own violent response. “I have an inside man. Clarke’s mother, Abby Griffin. She’s a member of the council. Did some sketchy, illegal shit to get me here on the second dropship- what’s with the face? Whatever- my point is, she managed to talk her way back into Jaha’s good graces. I gave her a basic rundown of the situation and she’s going to do everything she can to stop this new alliance.”

Anya crossed her arms. “And how do I know that you do not plan to turn on us?”

“That’d be suicide.” Raven rolled her eyes.

“It would be.” Anya watched her carefully. “Would you be able to turn on your own people should you be unable to talk them out of this alliance?”

Raven raised her chin slightly. “Once they learn the truth they won’t keep the alliance.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I’ll make them. And if I can’t, Clarke will.”

Anya furrowed her brows. “I believe you.”

Raven nodded once. “Good. We have a lot to do. It’ll be impossible if we don’t trust each other.”

Anya looked away, avoided eye contact. “I trust you.”