Orbiting Infinity

Clarke's POV

Clarke whimpered as she felt a cool, ice cold blade press deep into her clavicle.

'Do it' a voice roared. It was a voice filled with exasperation and irritation, emitting power that radiated throughout the space in which Clarke was being held. It seemed they had reached the end of their patience.

'Commander, don't make me ask again' whispered the same voice, breaking slightly at the end due to the unexpected change in volume and tone.
Clarke's vision was obscured due to an uncomfortable cloth blindfold covering her eyes. It was itchy and cold, heavy, and it weirdly felt as if it was covered with a strange frost like substance. The lack of sight was distressing because Clarke was clearly outnumbered and unarmed. There was a freezing, glacial temperature circulating that lead to Clarke feeling a subtle breath, ghosting across her face, fanning out, leaving a faint scent of mint in the air with just a hint of lavender. A smell that made her almost pass out due to the Deja-vu that followed. It left Clarke intoxicated and brought a strange sense of longing and familiarity. Whilst Clarke could clearly sense the temperature dropping, it only seemed to make her more alert, more aware of her surroundings.

'I want it done by the time I return Commander, if it isn't, I will do it myself. You know what I expect, so don't go easy on her. Remember what I told you.' Footsteps clicked across the floor, and with each step they grew quieter and more distant. Then they could be heard no more.

A clang of metal could be heard and a soft hand caressed Clarke's face, making her shiver, she closed her eyes as she leant into the touch hoping to find solace in the calming gesture, however that was her first mistake. The hand was dainty, and feminine but as it gripped her jaw, turning from caring and delicate into rough and violent, Clarke realised this mysterious person wasn't going to help her.

She cried out as her head was slammed against what felt like a cold, solid slab of marble. Clarke panicked, how could she defend herself if she couldn't see what was going on. A sudden pain ricochet through her body, starting just under her ribcage and expanding into every fibre of her being, making her arch up, doing everything in her power to get away from the source of torment. The same hand shoved her back down again, yet it lingered on Clarke's abdomen for just a second too long.

Clarke tentatively reached out her own hand, pushing past the pain pulsating through her body. Her fingers made contact with the stranger's hand and she interlocked their fingers, a gesture that felt right, as if it had been done hundreds of times before.
Clarke heard a quick intake of breath and then a quiet voice whispered 'I can't' and the hand was yanked away.

Silence flooded the room, suffocating Clarke and she whimpered as fragments of what seemed like memories flashed through her head from out of nowhere. The memories were fleeting, getting quicker and quicker, but as each one emerged from the depths of Clarke's mind it brought with it a sharp, dagger like pain. Recollections of a young girl hunched over, with her braided hair being whipped around by the howling wind. She had an aura mainly black, with streaks of jade green flickering throughout it, round her crouched form, screaming for someone called Raven to stop. The same girl, looking older than in the previous memory, with tanned skin and eyes emerald like the forest, mysterious and sparkling, disappearing into the shadows and suddenly reappearing with a smile so bright it made Clarke blind to the rest of the world.

And Clarke saw herself. She saw herself in a room, entombed in ice, silent and unmoving. People dressed in lab coats circled her and as they moved she noticed a shadow at the door.

Suddenly it all stopped. As the pain slowly dissipated, Clarke felt a fire ignite with inside her and she started kicking and punching blindly, her foot connecting with something solid. Two strong hands slid down her biceps, down to her wrists and held her arms down and the weight of a body rested lightly on her legs, preventing her from moving. The faint aroma of mint and lavender was now everywhere, strong and heady, making Clarke's head spin. She could feel something on the edge of her consciousness, waiting to be remembered.

This person, Clarke knew them, she was sure. The hands round her wrists were shaking, yet as soon as she moved to pull her hands away and leap up, the grip tightened, making sure she was unable to move and as it tightened, the shaking became non-existent.

'Why am I here' Clarke began but she was cut off by a gentle, tender kiss. Clarke's head almost exploded, the way the strangers lips enclosed her own was comforting and safe, they moulded together perfectly, yet as Clarke leant in to deepen the kiss, tilting her head, the person pulled away. Clarke was still gasping for breath when she felt a warm drop of liquid splash onto her exposed leg. She heard a heart wrenching sob and then the pained murmur of 'may we meet again my love.' A burning sensation slicing across her neck, hot and sudden. Then nothing.

Clarke jerked awake and gulped in huge quantities of air as she adjusted to her surroundings. She hurried to recall her dream, it felt as if it was of great importance yet all her memory retrieved was a blank. Nothing, she remembered nothing! She gave a frustrated sigh, this always seemed to happen. She could always remember she had a dream but naught of its content. As she looked around she realised she was in the medical bay, tied down to a bed. The bed was thin with a metal frame making it stable yet uncomfortable. Her wrists were strapped tightly to the bedframe along with her ankles. She was all alone, or so she thought.

From the corridor outside the room, leading to the medical bay, she heard brisk footsteps striding towards the door at the far end and then she saw her mother, Abby Griffin and Jackson, the head nurse, enter through the opening at the end of the room. Clarke quickly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep, she didn't want another lecture from her mother on what she had done wrong this time to end up in the medical bay. Thinking back Clarke couldn't actually remember why she was here, and although that worried her slightly she was drawn back to reality by the quiet tone of Jackson's voice whispering to her mother.

'Abby, you're not thinking this through, we're three years too early. You heard what Jaha said, the programme isn't even in the final stages of planning. We have another three years before we need to begin experiments, why now, why your only daughter?'
Clarkes hand twitched as she realised tomorrow was her twelfth birthday, she almost laughed aloud as she thought how ironic it would be if she was in hospital for her birthday, she wouldn't even get to see her friends because there was a strict policy of only family members allowed to visit. Since her mother was her only surviving relative it would be just the two of them and she probably wouldn't even be able to make time to see Clarke due to her busy schedule as a doctor.

Just as Clarke was about to open her eyes her mother spoke. 'In three years it might be too late, in three years their might be no one left to save.'
Jackson sounded desperate. 'You realise what this means right, you're disobeying the Chancellor's direct orders, you'll be banished and unable to return. What about Clarke, she'll have no mother and father, do you really want that for her?'

Clarke's heart ached as she remembered her father's death, only two years ago. He was an honest, respectable man, loved by everyone. An engineer that found out about a radiation leak in Section Two. He decided to keep it secret as not to panic the rest of the population and went to fix it himself. The radiation was stronger than he predicted and Jake Griffin died of deadly amounts of radiation poisoning that left him screaming as his life slowly ebbed away. Section Two was out of bounds for almost a year until the radiation became diluted enough for members of the community to move back in and resume their lives as if nothing had ever happened. For Clarke however, her world had turned upside down and only thanks to the support of her closest friends did she regain a sense of normality.

Clarke drifted back into actuality and caught the end of her mother's sentence. 'If the Astra Programme is a success, Clarke won't remember anyone anyway.'
Clarke wondered what the Astra Programme was. She had never heard of it before. Whatever it was it left her feeling scared and confused. If it made her forget everyone, how would that be a success?

'It doesn't have to be like that' Jackson almost shouted.
'Keep your voice down' Abby whispered. 'We'll be heard.'
'No' Jackson said adamantly. 'If you just wait a few more years the serum will be perfected. It will be legal and Clarke will be safe. We have no idea what it will do to her, no results from previous experiments to base anything on! No proof Abby, that your daughter will even survive the process.'
'Jackson.' Abby cut him off, 'No more will be said about this. I have made up my mind. Jake would have wanted this, an opportunity for our daughter to be strong, to be a leader. To be remembered as a hero.'

Jackson laughed. 'Abby, you're kidding yourself if you think Jake would ever have wanted this. He wanted what was best for Clarke ...' A silence threatened to overtake the room until Jackson continued. 'Jake's death has changed you Abby, you need to move on. You must realise this can only end badly. An almost inaudible sigh was heard. 'If you decide to go ahead with this, I can no longer work alongside you. This goes against everything I believe to be right. Poor Clarke doesn't deserve this. Don't punish her for something that she had no control over.'
'She'll thank me someday' came the biting response.

After a brief silence, there was a squeak of a shoe and the sounds of heavy footfalls shuffled away. They were slow and reluctant yet as time advanced, they grew quieter and quieter until a door clicked open and slammed shut. The footsteps could no longer be heard.
Clarke sensed that her someone was still there as she had only heard one person leaving. She was proved correct as she felt a sharp prick in the crease of her elbow and a throbbing that began from the same point.

Clarke opened her eyes, seeing the silhouette of her mother in the corner of her blurred, fuzzy vision. Clarke jerked her arm to pull against the restraints. Abby glanced up at the sudden movement and a look of surprise crossed her face.
'How long have you been awake?' she asked, a look of panic set on her face. 'How much did you hear?'

Clarke opened her mouth to demand her mother tell her everything. Why she was there, what was the Astra Programme? To ask her about the conversation she had just heard and why she was strapped down to the bed like a mentally unstable patient. However her vocal chords failed to cooperate and she was unable to form anything that even vaguely resembled a sentence. Her already tainted vision flooding black and before she could even utter a word she felt herself arm falling down and her body slumping flat, her head hitting the metal headboard. As she became fully sightless, the last thing she heard was her mother's voice, embedded with distress, shouting her name.

As Clarke awoke again, everything came back to her. She yanked her arms up expecting resistance from the restraints yet there was none. Clarke's arms weren't tied down. Glancing left and right, the room was empty, her mother was nowhere to be found.
The clock on her bedside table showed the time to be 18:03, which was dinner time for the almost 3500 inhabitants of the underground military base Clarke lived in. Her stomach rumbled and Clarke wondered how long it had been since she had eaten. She couldn't remember. Clarke shook of the feeling of unease from the forefront of her mind and proceeded to swing her legs over the side of the bed. Slowly she planted both feet on the ground. She noticed her lower legs and feet were bare and all she was wearing was a plain white hospital gown, compulsory for every patient to wear. Once Clarke was sure she was stable enough to walk she pushed off from the bed and stood straight. Her legs trembled momentarily, leading Clarke to deliberate at how long she had been bed bound. She placed her left foot forward and began to walk at a steady pace towards the exit. She needed to find her friends.

Lexa's POV

Lexa was beginning to get concerned over the whereabouts of her best friend. Clarke hadn't shown up for breakfast or lunch and it didn't look like she was making an appearance at dinner either.

'Lex, calm down. I'm sure Clarke is fine.' Bellamy whispered as he noticed Lexa's leg bouncing up and down. This was a common occurrence for Lexa if she was nervous or worried. From the seat next to her he gave her a reassuring smile and leant in to give her a quick hug.
Octavia slid into a seat opposite Lexa and rolled her eyes. 'You look like a lovesick puppy Alexandria. Can't you even go a day without seeing her' she laughed.
'Don't call me that' Lexa muttered, her eyes flicking to the double doors of the canteen.
'Not helping O' Bellamy exclaimed.

Raven and Anya appeared and took a seat either side of Octavia. 'Trouble in paradise' Anya started until she caught the murderous look Bellamy was sending her way. She proceeded to stab at her broccoli, avoiding the furious gaze of Lexa.
'How can you even say that?' Lexa cried. 'Clarke's our friend and we haven't seen her since lights out last night. Something might have happened to her. Aren't any of you worried?' When Lexa had awoke in the morning to find Clarke's bed empty she had presumed that Clarke had already left to go and help her mother in the medical bay. However when she also didn't appear for lunch Lexa began to question her best friend's whereabouts.
Raven started to laugh and Lexa let out a whine of frustration, causing many people to glance her way at the high pitch noise she had emitted. 'I would be worried my dear Lexi, but I can see her from here, you need to chill. She looks fine.' Raven high-fived Anya and Bellamy rolled his eyes at their childish behaviour.

Lexa turned slightly to see a slightly confused looking Clarke dressed in a pristine white medical gown. Lexa jumped up and ran to Clarke, ignoring the sniggering of her close friends round the table. Closing the distance swiftly, Lexa flew towards Clarke and halfway there Clarke's eyes met hers and she gave her the biggest smile.

Clarke and Lexa had been best friends since preschool. And especially after Clarke's father's death their bond had grown immensely. Clarke had needed somebody to help her through the painful experience and Lexa was by her side the whole time. Whilst everybody saw their close relationship and labelled them as friends, Lexa often wondered if she and Clarke could ever be anything more. Whenever she thought about Clarke in a way as more than friends, she became awfully conflicted and thought of something else instead. She couldn't encourage thoughts like that especially when Clarke clearly wasn't interested and it had the possibility of ruining their perfect friendship.

When she reached Clarke, almost colliding and knocking her to the ground, she picked her up and swung her round. Setting her back down again, Lexa stared into Clarke's sky blue eyes. A wave of emotions crashed over Lexa as the earlier panic disappeared and a state of calm washed over her. Burying her face in Clarke's long, golden curls she sighed in content and whispered 'I missed you.'
As she pulled back Clarke looked stunned and a dazed look flickered in her eyes. She watched as Clarke shook her head and glanced back up at Lexa. She smiled yet it didn't reach her eyes. Something was wrong Lexa knew. What had happened to Clarke in the time she was gone? Physically she looked fine, yet there was something concealed in her blank expression.

'Clarke what's wrong' Lexa asked quietly.
Clarke shivered and spoke, her voice cracking. 'I need to speak to you later, alone. Something happened. Something is going on. Lexa you need to help me, I'm scared. Please, you can't tell anyone I'm not even sure what it all means, but you have to help me.
Lexa nodded worriedly. 'Of course I will Clarke, but I think we need to sit down. We're drawing quite a bit of attention to ourselves.'
Clarke seemed to register what Lexa had said as she glanced round and noticed multiple individuals staring at her and Lexa, whispering to the people sat around them.

Usually mealtimes were a very controlled affair. Lexa was surprised they hadn't been reprimanded for their dismissal of the rules already. As Lexa glanced to the guard station she noticed it was empty. Lexa felt slightly alarmed at the sight, usually there's always at least two guards.
Lexa inhaled as she realised that Clarke was reaching for her hand. As their palms connected, Clarke interlocked their fingers, as she always did, pulling Lexa towards the table their friends were seated at. Lexa mentally flattened the fluttery feeling in her stomach as she sat back down in her seat, Clarke to the left of her.

'Back from the honeymoon already' Raven taunted, earning a chuckle from Anya.
Lexa just shook her head and ignored them both, she was just happy Clarke was safe.
'Here comes Lincoln' Octavia smiled. Everyone knew about Octavia's not so secret crush on Lincoln, but instead of making fun of her, everyone thought it was adorable and they even had a ship name of Linctavia. Lincoln pretended like he didn't notice or care but everyone suspected he liked her back. The way the two of them flirted was evidence enough. He was just too shy to say anything.
Lincoln sat down on the end of the table, smiled lightly at Octavia and began to speak. 'Something weird is going on today. I was pulled off guard duty in the laboratory and told to take the day off. That's practically unheard of. So I thought it was just me, but two other guards I know Emori and Jasper was told the same thing.'

It was common for children who belonged to a military family, like Lincoln, whose father was a general, to begin training around the age of twelve. The aim was to instil determination and strength into the young children so they could protect the base from any possible attacks when they became official guards at sixteen. That's what the council believed anyway.

Lincoln continued, 'I had a quick look around in the guard stations near here and they're all empty. Look over there.' Lincoln pointed to the empty guard station. 'Where are they? Paragraph Six, Section M, any guard caught leaving their post without permission is punishable by death.' Lincoln's spoon fell from his hand and clattered on the floor. There was silence round the table.

Bellamy broke it by saying 'we should finish up here and go back to the dorms. All this suspense is making me jumpy' he gave a nervous laugh and began to dig into his pudding. The rest of the table followed suit, quiet chatter occasionally passing between them.

Lexa sat in silence trying to figure out what it all meant. She prodded her food, taking note that Clarke was sat staring into space. Lexa set down her fork and moved to link her hand with Clarke's. It was meant to be a soothing gesture, and whilst it brought Clarke out of her trace, it made her jerk away. Clarke moved her hands away and folded them together in her lap. Lexa cringed in embarrassment and picked her fork back up. As she glanced up, hoping nobody had noticed, she saw Raven's gaze flickering between her and Clarke. Raven frowned and went back to picking apart her meal.
'Sorry' Clarke whispered. 'You surprised me'
Lexa nodded in acknowledgement. 'It's ok' she relented. 'I just wanted you to know I'm here for you. Always.'
Clarke smiled briefly.

'I have to tell you that thing later, it's really important.' She looked as if she was about to continue but Bellamy interrupted.
'So Clarke, how does it feel to be almost twelve?' He had a childish grin on his face. 'I mean you're kind of the last one, but better late than never right?' Everyone laughed at his comment. It was true, Clarke was the youngest out of all of them. Lexa smiled. Even though Clarke was the youngest she took on the role of the mother figure within their group, looking after them all and bossing them around, which was her quiet demeanour was unusual and worrying.
Clarke laughed and said 'I guess so, I mean it won't be much different from being eleven.' Typical Clarke answer Lexa thought as everyone groaned thinking essentially the same thing as her.

Bellamy was about to continue however he was cut off by a huge crash. The double doors to the cafeteria were blown open and six guards in black armour stormed in with guns. Some people screamed and jumped to hide under the tables. Lexa panicked. The guards were striding across the cafeteria, straight in the direction of her table. She glanced to her side and saw Clarke frozen.
'Clarke.' Lexa waved her hand. 'Clarke you need to move.' The guards looked menacing and they each had an orange band tied tight around their upper arm. That wasn't part of the offical guard uniform.
A man, who Lexa recognised to be from the agricultural section stepped forwards and said 'why are you here, what do you want?' One of the guards raised his gun and knocked the man to the floor. The whole room gasped and silence filled the room.
The same guard who knocked the man to the ground announced 'we are here for Clarke Griffin, give us Clarke Griffin and no one will be harmed'
Lexa heard a whining sound come from Clarke and she turned to face her. Clarke had tears streaming down her face. 'Lexa, help me please. Don't let them take me.'

The guard noticed their exchange and began to walk towards them. 'Are you Clarke?' he called out. The rest of the guards followed. Two men stood up from the table next to Lexa and one of them said 'What do you want with Jake griffin's daughter, she ain't done you no wrong' The two men were blocking the path to Clarke and the guards were almost upon them.
'Move' the guard commanded.
'Not until you tell us what you want with her' the man stood strong.
Clarke was still whimpering so Lexa shifted, her body blocking Clarke's, so that she was protected. They'd have to go through her first Lexa thought determinately.

The guard raised his gun. 'I'm giving you till the count of three to get out of my way. One, two.' As the countdown began Lexa panicked. Why did they want Clarke so bad? Why was nobody stopping these clearly rogue guards?
'Three.' An ear-splitting bang rang across the canteen, echoing off every surface making it sound like hundreds of gunshots. People screamed out. Children were crying and Lexa turned to her friends to see Lincoln with his arms wrapped around Octavia with a fierce expression on his face. She saw Anya, her face white as a ghost. Lexa's gaze travelled to the man who had been shot and saw the bullet wound and the red seeping into his clean blue shirt. His face frozen in a shocked expression. The man next to him cried out. 'That was my brother you asshole.' He stood up and lunged forwards and the same guard raised his gun and aimed.

Boom. His body slumped to the floor with a loud thud. At this point the children were screaming and even some adults had tears streaming down their faces. Then there was chaos. Everyone started shouting and some people even stood up. The guards raised their guns and fired multiple shots into the air.

'Stop' a voice from the canteen doors commanded. It was Abby Griffin. Lexa panicked, Abby couldn't get shot as well. The guards all turned and lowered their guns. Lexa froze. Why were they following Abby's orders?
She gulped and called out 'Dr Griffin, what going on here?' Abby ignored her and began swiftly walking down the aisle, towards Lexa's table. The guards parted to let her through. As Abby saw the bodies on the floor Lexa expected her to be upset but instead she stepped right over them as if they didn't even exist. She stopped right in front of Lexa and spoke softly. 'Let go of my daughter' Lexa could feel Clarke trembling in her arms behind her. 'She's done nothing wrong, leave her alone' Lexa set her jaw and planted her feet. She didn't care if this was Clarke's mother. Something wasn't right and Clarke was terrified. Lexa wasn't letting her go.

Abby signalled to the guards and they all stepped forwards. 'Lexa.' Abby whispered 'Don't make this more difficult than it has to be. You're a lovely girl, I don't want to have to make this physical. Let go of Clarke because if you don't we're going to have problems.'
Lexa set her jaw. 'No'

Abby's eyes flashed dangerously for just a second then her expression went blank. 'Take her by force' she shouted.
Lexa gripped Clarke tighter as Clarke clung to her and sobbed 'don't let them take me, don't let them take me'
A guard lunged forwards and before Lexa could react he stabbed a syringe into her neck. She felt a burning at the point of entry and that's where it all started to go wrong. Lexa felt herself lose control of her muscles and her grip on Clarke became slack. Her eyesight started to become blurred. She looked around and saw people rioting, throwing chairs and climbing over tables in a bid to escape. She saw Raven and Bellamy rushing towards her as her legs started to become weak. She felt them collapse beneath her and as she fell she lost her grip on Clarke completely.

'Clarke' Lexa howled. All she could hear was shouting and then suddenly she felt a pair of strong hands grip her arms and pull her up, she flopped on the person for support, feeling a thick pony tail flick her in the face. She caught a whiff of the familiar smell of vanilla that lead her to believe the person was Raven. 'Lex' the person was shouting. Lexa was now blind. She couldn't see a thing. It was like she was in total darkness. The scent of vanilla was now gone and so was the set of strong hands. It was like all her senses had been muted. Apart from her hearing. She could still hear Clarke screaming her name. And then suddenly, even that faded into nothing.

Clarke's POV

Clarke would have laughed out loud if she hadn't have been in the situations she was in. She was strapped to a gurney. Restraints round her wrists, ankles and even one wrapped round her stomach. Clarke felt groggy as if she had just woken from a deep sleep, and in light of recent evens Clarke wouldn't put it past her. As she struggled to recall how she got there, fragments of broken memory came back to her. She was in the canteen, two men were shot. They were her dad's old work colleagues. And Lexa. Defending her. Protecting her and holding her in her arms. Her arms had felt so safe. Where was Lexa now Clarke wondered? Then she remembered Lexa having a syringe implanted into her neck. 'Lexa' Clarke cried out. A rush of hysteria was threatening to overcome Clarke so she took a deep breath and called out again. 'Lexa'

'I see you're awake then.' a soft voice called out from behind Clarke. Clarke recognised that voice.
'Mum' she whispered 'What's going on? Where's Lexa' Clarke heard a rustling and suddenly her mother came into view. She was holding a syringe filled with what looked like mercury. A silver, glistening liquid that was deadly even in small doses.
Abby gave a strained smile. She leant over Clark, syringe in hand.
'Stop, stop. Please stop.' Clarke began to thrash but it was useless. The restraints prevented her from moving. She felt a tiny prick in her neck. Clarke expected a burning sensation, however as she felt the liquid enter her bloodstream, she felt a calmness overcome her. Clarke relaxed as a soothing rush flooded her body.

Clarke looked up at her mother to see her smiling victoriously. Clarke wondered if she had got it all wrong, but that didn't explain all the guards and the feeling of dread she'd been feeling these past few days.

All of a sudden there was a banging on the door. A voice Clarke recognised to be Jaha's shouted out 'Abby you open this door right now. This is illegal, you'll be banished do you realise that. How dare you go against my orders'

'Mum in don't understand, why am I here? Where's Jackson?' Clarke's words were slurred and it was an effort to accentuate the words correctly.
Abby glanced towards the door, not seeming to care that whoever was on the other side was clearly trying to break it down. Abby turned to Clarke and whispered 'Happy birthday Clarke, see you on the other side.'

Clarke froze. Her mother smiled. Something inside Clarke snapped. She let out an ear piercing scream that tore through her body. People on the other side of the military base probably heard it. Clarke felt like she was being ripped in two. Her skull cracking in half as if being cleaved apart by a deadly blade. A burning sensation consumed her, igniting every part of her body. She continued to scream as that was the only sound she could form as her bones felt like they were being broken hundreds of times over. Her skin was scorching hot, like she was submerged in pure lava, her flesh sizzling and blistering on her bones. She felt every beat of her heart like it was trying to rip itself out from the inside. Cracking the ribcage and piercing the lungs in its desperation to be free. She couldn't see. She couldn't hear. She couldn't think. It was all over.