Two Commanders

Lexa cleaned herself up and curled up in bed next to Clarke. Clarke woke up with a pounding headache and her stomach felt like it had ridden a roller coaster all night without her. She groaned and stumbled out of bed, not noticing Lexa’s absence. Clarke groggily staggered around the house, barely able to keep her eyes open with the pounding in her head. In this weakened state, Clarke easily got lost as she blindly tried to navigate to the bathroom and managed to knock a few things over in the process. Anya heard the noise and hurried towards its source.

“Clarke, honey? What are you doing?” She asked confused.

“Stomach… Headache… Can’t see… Please don’t shout again…” Clarke managed to explain. Anya sighed and took pity on the blonde, leading her to the bathroom and holding her hair out of her face as her stomach emptied itself into the toilet. Anya heard the door to the bar open and footsteps come up the stairs and assumed it was Lexa coming back from her run.

“Lex! Thank god! Your poor girlfriend still hasn’t learned not to fuck with the thousands. Can you please run and get the Advil from my bathroom for Clarke?” Anya called out. Her face paled as Octavia moved towards the bathroom, whose door Anya had neglected to close.

“Clarke…?” Octavia asked confused, seeing the blond limply against the toilet.

“Fuck.” Anya swore. She tucked a towel around Clarke’s shoulders and stepped out of the bathroom, closing the door and cautiously moving towards Octavia.

“Octavia, what are you here for?” Anya asked slowly.

“I… Lincoln… Fuck what? Clarke’s dead! Why is she here? I was at the funeral!” Octavia exclaimed, moving towards the stairs.

“Shit. Well you see-” Anya began, pausing to tackle Octavia to the floor. She easily pinned the smaller and quite surprised girl beneath her and kept her there. Lincoln came sleepily out of his room at the noise and Lexa made her way up the stairs at the same time, taking out her ear buds.

“Ah! Lexa, perfect! Your girlfriend is dying of a hangover in the bathroom, go get the Advil from mine. Lincoln, a package came for you. She saw Clarke. Don’t let her near anything electronic and keep her here yes?” Anya greeted both in a faked cheerful voice. Lexa hurried to get past Anya as Lincoln hurried to her to get her off Octavia. He led the smaller but no less angry brunette to his room and shut the door. Anya dusted herself off and sighed, going to wake up Indra. This was not how she’d wanted to start her morning.

“Clarke?” Lexa called softly into the bathroom.

“L-Lex…” Clarke rasped weakly.

“Hey… I’m here. I have Advil, you need to take some.” Lexa told her gently. She handed Clarke two of the red capsules and a glass with water, rubbing soft patterns into her back as she swallowed.

“Ok. I’m going to bring you back to bed.” Lexa warned, carefully scooping Clarke up in her arms. She slowly maneuvered them back to her room and tucked Clarke back into bed, murmuring soft comforts and sweet things until the blonde was asleep again. Lexa then showered and changed before moving out into the kitchen. Indra, Anya, Lincoln, and a very angry looking Octavia all sat around the table.

“Lexa, what the fuck is going on?” Octavia demanded.

“It’s your call Heda.” Indra told her.

“This is not how I envisioned my Tuesday.” Anya sighed. Lincoln sat quietly between Indra and Octavia.

“Fuck.” Lexa sighed. She pulled up a chair and sat down.

“It’s Clarke’s call. She made the original list.” Lexa began.

“What list? What’s going on?” Octavia asked again.

“The list of people to be in on her plan and help her. The list of who would know she was alive.” Lincoln explained softly after looking to Lexa who nodded.

“B-But she died! She was dead, I saw the body… Abby saw it… Jake’s watch…” Octavia protested. Lexa shook her head.

“Wanheda is smart. With help she found a jane doe who looked enough like her and accessorized it… Gustus and Roan took care of the scene and the body drop. It all went off without a hitch…” Indra told her.

“You all knew? Who else knows?” Octavia asked in disbelief.

“Lexa, Indra, Lincoln, Myself, Roan, Gustus, Nyko, the clan leaders. That is all.” Anya answered. Lincoln winced when his name was listed.

“What’s going on? Clarke wouldn’t do something like this…” Octavia shook her head.

“That’s not our place to tell. Only Clarke can. But she needs to rest. You’ll have to wait. All I can tell you is that it is of the utmost importance that you tell no one. Not Raven, not Abby, not your brother. No one.” Lexa warned. The kitchen was silent as Indra rose to leave for work and Anya set about making breakfast for the rest of them. Lexa went to check on Clarke every so often, and soon she was awake again. Clarke was able to sit up and listen as Lexa quickly filled her in on what had happened. She sighed and let Lexa help her into the shower and then to the kitchen when she had dried off and changed.

“Hey O…” Clarke greeted softly. Octavia rose from the table and hugged Clarke tightly.

“What the fuck is going on Clarke?” Octavia asked gently when she pulled away.

“Sit. We’ll talk. Breakfast first.” Clarke promised, sitting down next to Lexa. Anya served the pancakes she’d made and set about mixing up and hangover cure for Clarke. When everything was done, she left the four at the table and went to shower.

“You can’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you.” Clarke began, setting her utensils aside. Octavia nodded.

“Mount Weather Industries killed my dad. They’re also deep in some other more complicated shit that I’ve come across on my mission. They knew I was getting onto them so I faked my death. I’m so close to getting what I need. From what I heard, they’re up to something big and it’s definitely not good for the rest of us. Lexa and the others have been helping me, I needed them the most. I knew the mountain might be suspicious of a falsehood and I had a hunch as to who they’d be watching for a genuine reaction so I couldn’t tell, you, Bell, or my mom. Lexa’s immune, they won’t fuck with her, they know who she is and she has Roan whom they won’t dare fuck with either.” Clarke tried to explain, keeping certain aspects cryptic.

“That’s fucked Griffin. That’s really fucked, but I guess I get it.” Octavia told her after a few minutes of silence. Clarke sighed feeling tired again and leaned against Lexa, resting her head on the brunette’s shoulder. Lexa put an arm around Clarke’s shoulders and traced soft patterns into her upper arm, finishing her breakfast with one hand.

“Are you tired pretty girl?” Lexa purred softly. Clarke nodded against her shoulder, eyes closed.

“Ok.” Lexa sighed and moved to scoop Clarke up in her arms again, doing so with ease. Rocking gently, she brought them back to her room, tucking Clarke back into bed. Lexa quickly checked over Clarke’s injuries, meeting no resistance from the now barely conscious girl. Lexa moved up to kiss Clarke’s forehead, promising to return once she’d cleaned up the mess from breakfast. Lexa closed the door to her room softly and went back to the kitchen to help Octavia and Lincoln finish cleaning up for Anya.

“Is she ok?” Octavia asked Lexa softly as they finished cleaning.

“She… She’s been better… She’ll be ok once this is all over. She has me… And the others.. It’ll all be okay again once this is over O…” Lexa sighed, seeming as if she was trying to assure herself as much as she was Octavia. Octavia watched Lexa silently for a few moments before nodding and following Lincoln back to his room and closing the door.

Lexa padded back to her room and slipped back into bed behind Clarke, wrapping her arms protectively around the sleeping girl. She wasn’t surprised when Clarke rolled to face her, still very much asleep, and pressed herself against Lexa’s front. She let out a content sigh once she’d stopped moving, her head tucked under Lexa’s, soft breaths tickling the brunette’s neck as she slept. Lexa purred softly and simply marveled at the peace they had for the moment.

Clarke woke again as Lexa was getting ready to help open the club. She’d already run her pre-gig set up and was getting into her usual attire as Clarke sat up rubbing her eyes.

“Lex?” Clarke mumbled softly. Lexa immediately reacted and came over to her lover, pulling her into a warm embrace.

“Hey there Skai girl.” Lexa greeted with a smile.

“Hey… Can… Can I braid your hair..?” Clarke asked shyly.

“Of course. Let me just finish everything else.” Lexa nodded, pulling away and rising from the bed again. She finalized her outfit for the night and finished her commander mask, deciding to save the sword for last and sitting on the bed in front of Clarke. Clarke set to work, her hands gently weaving the thick brunette locks into the fine tribal braids Lexa wore them in for work. When she finished, she wrapped her arms around Lexa’s stomach and rested her head on the warriors shoulder.

“What troubles you ai niron?” Lexa rumbled, tilting her head until it touched Clarke’s. She waited, feeling the grip on her tighten slightly before Clarke spoke.

“I-I love you…” Clarke whispered, her voice shaking. Lexa picked up on the shaking and turned to face the blonde.

“Clarke?” She asked gently. Clarke shook her head and buried her face in Lexa’s shoulder, her grip tightening again. Lexa held her close and murmured comforts as sobs shook the blonde. She knew Clarke would explain when she was ready. After a few minutes it stopped again and Clarke just held her loosely, enjoying the close contact.

“I killed so many people… Wanheda… Commander of death…” Clarke began, her voice still shook slightly.

“We do what we have to do to survive Clarke… But what we do to survive doesn’t define us. You’re one of the kindest people I’ve ever had the joy of encountering. You care so much Clarke… Not just about me, but about your people too. You do what’s best for them. They may not always agree but we have to make the hard decisions for them… That’s what leaders do.. This is our burden, but you aren’t alone. Not then, and most definitely not now. Nowe.” Never. Lexa promised. She knew exactly what had shaken Clarke like this.

“Nowe… Feva…” Forever. Clarke mumbled. Lexa nodded, kissing the top of her head.

“Sha ai niron. Feva. Together.” Lexa agreed. Clarke pulled away and nodded. Lexa gently wiped away the last of Clarke’s tears and helped her pick something to wear for the night. When Clarke was ready, Lexa donned her sword and led them to the V.I.P box again.

“No Thousands tonight Clarke. Lincoln won’t give you anything stronger than a moon walk anyway but still.” Lexa warned, starting to walk away. Clarke nodded and reached for her hand, stopping her. She pressed a gentle kiss to the back of the D.J.’s knuckles, while looking up to meet her surprised gaze. Lexa came closer and lowered herself to guide Clarke into a gentle but heated kiss. Sometimes touch conveyed what words couldn’t with these two.

‘I love you’

‘I need you’

‘I miss you’

‘I’m so glad you’re safe’

‘I’m here’

‘We’ll be ok’

Lexa broke the kiss and pressed her forehead against Clarke’s, green eyes meeting clouded blue.

“I love you too.” She purred before moving away again. Clarke nodded with a small smile and let her go. She watched as Lexa readied herself behind the rig and Ryder opened the doors. Little did they know, that soon, all hell would break loose again.