xxxii. weakness
remember me

NOT LONG AFTER the first flames of the torch touched the ceremonial pyre, the entire wooden structure and the bodies rested around it were reduced to nothing but ashes. Sawyer adopted Clarke's position next to the Commander when the fire began to fade and the smoldering remnants settled on the packed earth. Clarke still remained at her side, but Sawyer knew that the Commander wanted only one of them to consult with through alliance negotiations.

A daunting task for the Queen of Thieves. Sawyer became a leader to a bunch of ragtag delinquents who wanted nothing more than to survive a world bent on their demise. Not the entirety of the Ark. How could she lead so many people?

The three girls were all that were left as the rest of the pyre crumbled, disappearing among the soil at their feet. The guards who followed the Commander at all hours were still around, but Sawyer tried to ignore them.

Silence encased TonDC after the Grounders moved on to fulfill their daily tasks. The rest of Sawyer's people were ushered to a building on the other side of the village, waiting near its entrance for her and Clarke to rejoin them. Sawyer did not know how long they stood there, but she would stay for as long as it took to convince the Grounders that she understood their pain and felt truly apologetic over their dead.

"I lost someone special to me, too," the Commander voiced, breaking through the quiet as she stared at the white smoke that continued to swirl up from the ashes. "Her name was Costia. She was captured by the Ice Nation, whose queen believed she knew my secrets. Because she was mine – they tortured her. Killed her. Cut off her head."

That caught Sawyer's attention. She did not expect the Commander to reveal something so personal about herself. Since she first laid eyes on the girl, Sawyer failed to believe she held an ounce of emotion, let alone loved someone. It seemed the surprises never stopped with the Grounders. Sawyer wondered just how much she did not know about them.

"I'm sorry you lost her," Sawyer told the girl. She may not know what it was like to lose a significant other, but she lost enough people throughout her life to empathize with her pain.

The Commander kept her stare on the ashes as she said, "I thought I'd never get over the pain, but I did."

Clarke looked to her, before her gaze drifted back to the destroyed pyre. "How?"

"By recognizing it for what it is," the Commander stated, tearing her eyes away from the ruins of the dead and glanced between the Sky girls. "Weakness."

Clarke's brows creased. "What is? Love?"

The Commander nodded.

Sawyer blinked, but the statement did not shock her as much as Clarke. The Grounders were not a cuddly group of people. They were ready to kill them all without a second thought. Not only that, but Lexa lost someone she loved. Costia did not just die. She was tortured, murdered for the simple fact that she had been with Lexa. Sawyer understood why she believed love was a weakness.

But, that did not mean Sawyer believed the same thing. Love made a person want to fight for something other than themselves. Without it, she would not fight for her people. Over the last month, she could admit wholeheartedly that she came to love each and every one of the hundred. How could she not? They were her friends. They stood by her side through some of the worst experiences of her life. They became more than just those who she wanted to save from the Ark's corruption. They became her family.

"I don't believe that," Sawyer said, drawing the Commander's eyes attention back to her. "You have to love your people to protect them. If you didn't, you'd just let them die."

"That is different," the Commander replied. Her placid expression never wavered. "I care enough to keep them safe. Nothing more. More puts the people you care about in danger, and the pain will never go away. The dead are gone, Sawyer. The living are hungry." She turned from the ashes and started across the central part of the village to her guards.

__________

Sawyer and the rest of her people were led into a building on the far side of the village. They descended down a set of concrete stairs, emerging into a large, equally stone room beneath the earth. Just enough light filtered in through the windows that sat high enough on the wall to remain above the ground to illuminate the darkened space. Multiples tables were positioned into one long line that spanned the length of the room. All of them covered in various kinds of foods and lit candles that helped with the dim lighting.

The Commander and a chosen few of the Grounders stood on the opposite side of the table, waiting for the Sky People to join them. Sawyer glanced around the room, before her gaze settled on Lexa and the empty seat across from her. With a deep breath, she moved forward and stopped in front of the vacant, wooden chair.

Clarke, Bellamy, and the others followed Sawyer's lead, taking their own places at the table.

Kane held a wrapped bottle of moonshine in his hands as he voiced, "please accept this gift, Commander. We drink this at, uh, special occasions. I believe this qualifies." He took off the brown cloth to reveal the clear, round bottle and held out it toward the girl.

The Commander stared at him, before she glanced to Gustus on her left. The massive man reached out and took the bottle, then handed it to the shorter girl.

The Commander examined it for a moment and met Kane's gaze. "Thank you, Marcus of the Sky People."

Kane nodded. "You're welcome, Lexa – kom Trikru," he spoke the last bit in the Grounder's language.

Sawyer's lips twitched a bit when the statement registered. If only the rest of her people were like Kane. Hard to believe the man had been one of the worst Council members on the Ark. She could honestly say that she liked the current version of him more.

"Just, uh, don't drink too much of it," Kane added in a joking manner.

The Commander did not reply as her gaze shifted to where Sawyer stood on Kane's right. "Sawyer, let us drink together."

Their eyes connected, and Sawyer nodded. "I'd love to." Her attention went to a man who moved behind the Commander, holding out two golden colored cups to Gustus. She watched the large man set them onto the table, and then Lexa filled them up with the clear moonshine.

The Commander picked up the cups and handed one out to Sawyer. She took it, glancing down to where the liquid sloshed against the cool, metal cup.

"Heda, allow me," Gustus voiced, reaching out toward the cup in the Commander's hand.

Lexa did not look at him as she offered him the drink. Gustus lifted the cup to his lips and sipped on the moonshine, staring at Sawyer the entire time. After a moment, he gave it back to the Commander. Sawyer held his pointed gaze until the girl spoke.

"Tonight, we celebrate our newfound peace," the Commander addressed everyone in attendance. "Tomorrow, we plan our war." She raised the cup into the air as her eyes drifted to Sawyer's. "To those we've lost, and to those we shall soon find."

Sawyer held her own cup up, giving Lexa small nod, before she angled the golden rim to her lips. Before it could touch the plump skin, Gustus pitched forward and collapsed against the table. Sawyer's eyes widened as the man coughed violently, stumbling back against the far wall. She could only stare at him when a hiss slipped through, claiming that the moonshine had been poisoned.

Sawyer jumped as someone reached out and smacked the other cup from her hand. Her stare snapped to where Bellamy retracted his arm. She turned back to the chaos that unfolded around them. Grounders crowded around Gustus, who slumped onto the ground, unsheathing their swords and other weapons, aiming toward the Sky People crowded together, ready to defend themselves with whatever they could find.

"It was the Sky People!" Indra shouted with the blade of her sword pointed toward Sawyer.

One of the Grounder men shoved the tables apart, removing the little barrier that separated them from the Sky People.

Sawyer tried move forward to speak with the Commander, but Kane's arm shot out to stop her. "We didn't do this!" she called out loud be heard over the madness. "This wasn't us!"

Clarke tried to help, shoving against Bellamy's arm that forced her to stay back. "You have to know this wasn't us!"

The Commander ignored them and ordered to a few of her men. They hurried to Gustus, hauling him up from the floor to carry him out of the room at a quick pace. Indra yelled to the others, causing them to leave the room, while the rest of them grabbed the nearest Sky Person and began to search them.

Sawyer shoved away from Kane when he was grabbed by one of the Grounders and pushed through the crowd to reach the Commander. "We didn't do this, Lexa. We wouldn't risk this," she rushed out.

Lexa did not seem convinced. Her expression hardened beneath the dark, black paint around her eyes. "Gustus warned me about you, but I didn't believe him," she sneered, striding toward the Wesley girl.

Sawyer shook her head. "No. No, you were right. We didn't poison him. I wouldn't..."

"Tell me something, Sawyer," the Commander cut her off as her tone dropped into a low tone. "When Clarke plunged the knife into the heart of the boy she loved, did you not wish that it was mine?"

Sawyer's lips parted to let her speak, but nothing came out. In truth, she did wish that Lexa had died inside of Finn. Any of the Grounders, really. They terrorized them since their dropship crashed to Earth. All they wanted was to live their life on their own terms. The Grounders ruined that, and everything they did had been ordered by the Commander. It was her fault that a little more than half of her friends were dead. Sawyer could not force herself to forget that, possibly not even forgive.

The Commander's jaw clenched when Sawyer failed to say. Silence gave her the answer she needed.

"Heda."

Sawyer tore her gaze from the Commander to where one of the Grounder men stood near Raven. He raised his hand with something pinched between his gloveless fingers. A small, glass vial.

"That's not mine!" Raven snapped to him.

The man stepped toward the Commander to hand her the vial. He spoke in their language as the girl took it.

"I'm telling, you that's not mine!" Raven continued to shout, before she whirled one the Grounder man. "He put it there when he searched me!"

Sawyer would have been inclined to believe Raven, if she did not witness her explosive reaction to the Commander's request for Finn's body. The confrontation about it would come later. Sawyer turned her gaze back to Lexa, meeting her jade eyes with her honey toned. She silently pleaded with the girl that they were innocent, but the fire in her stare told her that she would not get her wish. A pang of hurt stung deep within her chest.

The Commander's voice rose as she declared, "no Sky Person leaves this room!" Without a second glance, she kicked off the concrete floor and stormed toward the exit. The remaining Grounders followed, slamming a metal gate closed behind them.

They were screwed. Completely and utterly screwed.

__________

The Commander or the Grounders failed to return, leaving the Sky People alone in the underground room for hours on end. It began to worry Sawyer. If Lexa wanted them all dead, they would have been killed soon after Gustus collapsed. The prolonged silence and isolation meant she wanted to debate her next move. To give them all a quick death, or give the villagers of TonDC the torturous execution they desired.

Sawyer released her hair from the tight braid down her back, giving her scalp a well-deserved break from the constriction. It also helped lessen the headache that began to develop throughout her skull, pounding relentlessly behind her forehead. She claimed one of the forgotten chairs as her own, leaning against the backrest to stare up at the distressed ceiling above their heads.

The others tried to look for a way out, at least Bellamy did. He searched the room top to bottom for an escape route, buzzing around as if a new exit would materialize out of thin air. Kane and Abby spoke to one another in hushed tones, most likely debating their next move, while Octavia and Lincoln sat on a portion of the floor raised higher than the rest of the floor. Raven stood alone, readjusting her leg brace, and Clarke kept to herself like she did since Finn's death.

Sawyer pushed herself up in the chair when voices erupted nearby. She looked to where Clarke approached Raven, asking her if she actually tried to poison the Commander. Raven advised her to walk away, but Clarke persisted. Before Sawyer even thought to react, Raven whirled around and slammed her clasped fist against Clarke's cheek.

"You're the only murderer here!" Raven screamed toward the blonde.

Sawyer leapt to her feet and rushed to the Reyes girl. She raised her hands, eyes narrowing in her direction. "You need to back the hell off."

Raven snapped to her with a look of disbelief. "Did you not hear what she said?"

"Yeah, I heard, and honestly, it's a valid question," Sawyer countered as she quirked a brow. "Stop taking your pain out on other people. Clarke saved Finn from a horrific death. You should be grateful he didn't suffer."

Rave scoffed. "Grateful? He's dead. He's dead, Sawyer, and Clarke killed him," she hissed, flicking her gaze to where the Griffin girl stared off toward the other side of the room.

Octavia and Abby swarmed the girl, giving her worried looks, but Clarke did not pay them any attention.

Sawyer's hardened gaze stayed on the Reyes girl. "And if she didn't, I would've." Her statement caused Raven to step back as if she received her own right hook to the cheek.

It was the truth. Sawyer left the Ark camp for the Grounders with the sole intention of mercy-killing Finn. She did not want him to experience a death so horrible that he would not last through the first few stages. Finn may have been a cold-blooded murderer, but he did not deserve to die like that. No one did. And if Raven failed to see that, then maybe Clarke should have let the Grounders torture Finn.

"Leave me alone."

Sawyer turned when the quiet exclamation slipped through Clarke's lips. The Griffin's girl's slit gaze fell to a spot across the room where the metal gate locked them inside. She appeared to see something, but Sawyer saw nothing but concrete walls and black bars.

Clarke sucked in a deep breath as she muttered, "you gave me no choice." Tears began to gather in her eyes. "Why did you turn yourself in?"

Sawyer froze. Had Clarke started to see things? More importantly, started to see Finn?

Clarke's breaths grew harsher and deeper, noticing Sawyer, Octavia, Raven, and Abby's worried stares drifted to her.

Abby moved forward, blocking Clarke's line of sight. "Baby."

Clarke shook her head and stumbled back, spinning on her heel to race to the other side of the room. She dropped into a chair and faced the wall away from everyone.

__________

A tense silence followed Clarke's hallucination induced outburst. No one knew what to say or how to react. Out of all the things they witnessed since they landed on Earth, an unseen, figment of imagination jarred them. The notion sounded ridiculous when Sawyer thought about it. After all, there were scarier things in the world. Why should they be unnerved by something that was not even real?

To Sawyer, the hallucination itself did not frighten her. The fact that Clarke had been the one to have it did. If Clarke, one of the strongest and levelheaded people she knew, could start to lose herself, then what did that mean for her? For any of them?

After a little while, Abby tried to talk to her daughter. From the small bit Sawyer overheard, the woman attempted to empathize with Clarke's grief, bringing up the own struggles she held when her husband died. Correction, when she got her husband floated. Clarke did not take the comparison of herself and Finn to her mother and father well.

Sawyer expected as much as the statement slipped from Abby's lips. Clarke killed Finn to save him from a horrible death. Abby turned Jake Griffin in to maintain the Ark's dictatorship. There were no similarities in their actions. But by the end of the conversation, Clarke seemed to think there was. In fact, she believed she and her mother were one in the same. That they killed the ones they loved to protect their people. Sawyer did not believe that for a second, but she knew Clarke would not listen to anything she had to say for a while.

The Grounders neglected to return, leaving the Sky People imprisoned within the underground space for hours on end. Sawyer hoped the prolonged silence from the Commander meant that she debated on how to handle the situation. If that were the case, they still had a chance at surviving the day.

Sawyer stood from her chair and moved to lean against the brick wall near Bellamy, Octavia, Lincoln, and Kane. None of them said much, pondering their next move when the Grounders returned. But the more Sawyer thought about their options, the less she believed they were obtainable. They could not fight their way out of the village. They were vastly outnumbered. And she failed to think the Commander would speak to her after the betrayal that flashed in the girl's eyes.

Kane spoke to Clarke for a few moments when she joined them, before his attention shifted to Sawyer. "I think there's still a chance to make this work. Lexa needs this alliance just as much as we do. She's shown herself to be flexible." His gaze met the Wesley girl's as he said, "she listens to you."

Sawyer shook her head, leaning off the wall with her arms crossed. "I doubt she will, anymore. She thinks we tried to poison her. She's not gonna listen to a thing I have to say."

"We know we didn't," Kane stressed. "So, let's figure out who did. Who would want her dead?"

"Too many to count," Lincoln voiced when he overheard their conversation. "Forming an alliance was a risk, especially after what Finn did to this village."

"So it had to be someone trying to break the alliance," Octavia supplied.

Before anyone could answer, the sound of the metal gate unlocking echoed throughout the room. Sawyer dropped her arms and turned to watch Nyko, Indra, and a few more Grounders enter. Her heartrate spiked. Time to learn of their fate.

"How's Gustus?" Lincoln questioned the healer.

"Gustus will live," Nyko replied.

Indra's hardened stare fell to Raven and commanded, "take her away."

The two men behind her surged forward in the Reyes girl's direction.

Sawyer's eyes widened and her stomach dropped to her feet. "No, you can't take her. She didn't do anything," she exclaimed to the Grounder woman.

"Wait. Wait. What're you doing?" Kane questioned at their actions.

Bellamy rushed them and tried to hold them at bay. "She didn't poison anyone!"

Indra's stare fell to Sawyer, before it drifted to the others. "I argued for all of you to die, but the Commander is merciful. She wants only one."

"She's innocent," Lincoln countered.

Indra stepped down the small collection of steps and hissed, "I don't care." Her glare shifted to the men. "They move, they bleed."

The man closest to Bellamy shoved him aside and stormed toward Raven. The other man pushed at Octavia when she made an attempt to stop them. They snatched ahold of Raven's arms and dragged her from the room, despite the angered protests at their back.

"The rest of you are free," Indra stated, setting her pointed glare on Sawyer. "When she is dead, so is the alliance. You should run."

__________

The entire population of TonDC returned to the center of their village. Their infuriated stares were aimed toward a thick, branch-less tree situated in the large clearing. Deep gashes were noticeable in the greyed bark, as while as the dark, red stain that covered the bottom half. Even if Sawyer did not know what they used it for, she figured it out when the Grounders tied Raven to its surface.

Sawyer and her friends were allowed to leave the underground room when Nyko, Indra, and the other Grounders hauled Raven away. The threat of death hung over their heads, but none of them dared leave. Not with Raven about to endure a horrific execution. Sawyer could not bring herself to tear her wide gaze from the trembling body of her friend. Raven visibly shook from where she hand been tied to the tree with her hands above her head.

The Commander stood in front of Raven. They conversed for a moment, before the Grounder girl raised a knife in her hands and set the edge against her exposed bicep. Ready to drag it through Raven's skin.

"We have to do something," Bellamy exclaimed, rushing forward to stop the barbaric act.

Kane moved to his side and held out an arm to stop him. "Wait."

Sawyer cringed as Lexa sliced into Raven's arm, causing the girl to release a painfilled yell. Blood oozed from the wound, dripping onto her rolled up sleeve. Sawyer's breaths grew harsher as Indra stepped forward and ripped the front of Raven's shirt, exposing the tanned skin of her stomach. The Grounder woman dragged her own blade across the area, forcing an anguished scream from her lips.

As more people moved to take Indra's place, Sawyer ducked away from her friends and headed for the building they escaped minutes earlier. She could not stand to watch Raven die in such a terrible way. Her footsteps were quick as she ducked into the open doorway and descended the stairs to the underground space. She slowed her pace when Clarke's blonde hair shone in the dimly lit air. The Griffin girl remained inside when everyone left to try and help Raven. And after what she witnessed, Sawyer wished she did the same.

Clarke stared off to the other side of the room. Sawyer could not see what her friend looked at, but she hoped it was not another hallucination about Finn. Raven's screams reverberated between the concrete walls, causing Sawyer's stomach to curdle.

"It wasn't in the bottle," Clarke muttered loud enough for Sawyer to hear.

Sawyer snapped to the blonde and questioned, "what?"

Clarke whirled at the sound of her voice. When she spotted the Wesley girl, she rushed up to her and exclaimed, "the poison wasn't in the bottle. It was in the cup."

Sawyer's brows creased, before the realization dawned on her. "And only two people touched the cups." She spun on her heel and took the stairs two at a time. Footsteps were heard at her back, letting her know that Clarke was right on her heels. Sawyer exited the building, nearly running into Abby as she strode toward the mass of Grounders in the clearing.

"Sawyer, Clarke, stop," Bellamy's voice called after them. "What're you doing? You'll get yourselves killed."

Sawyer paid him no mind and glanced around for someone to get her what she needed. Her eyes landed on Nyko. "I need that moonshine bottle. Where is it?" she asked the healer.

Nyko looked from Lincoln, who stood next to him, to the Wesley girl. "I'll get it."

Sawyer nodded and continued to where the Commander observed the torture of Raven.

Clarke beat her there, getting stopped by a few Grounders at the edge of the crowd. "Stop!" she shouted, bringing everyone's attention to her.

Sawyer hurried to Clarke's side. Her stare fell the Commander, and their eyes met.

"Let her pass," Lexa commanded the men.

The second their weapons were lowered, Sawyer strode forward and stopped right before the Commander. "It wasn't us who tried to kill you, Lexa. It was one of your own people."

Indra stepped up and sneered, "you should have run."

Sawyer kept her gaze on the Commander. "I have proof."

Right then, Nyko appeared next to Sawyer and held out the clear bottle of moonshine. She reached out and took the cool glass in her hand. With a pop of the cork, she lifted the bottle to her lips and let the burning liquid flow across her tongue and down her throat. She resisted the urge to wince as the strong tang consumed her taste buds.

Sawyer swallowed hard, lowering the bottle to her side to reconnect her gaze with the Commander's. Everyone waited, holding their breath as the drink settled in Sawyer's stomach.

After a few moments passed and Sawyer failed to collapse in a foaming-at-the-mouth mess, Lexa's painted brows furrowed. "Explain," she demanded.

Sawyer nodded to the Griffin girl on her right. "Clarke figured out that the poison wasn't in the bottle, it was in the cup."

Gustus leaned toward the Commander and muttered something in their language.

Sawyer's stare narrowed toward him. She began to wonder how Gustus managed to survive the poison meant to kill Lexa. After all, if someone really wanted to murder the Commander, the dosage would have been strong enough to do the job on the first try. Not only that, but Gustus tested the drink. Sawyer doubted many people were allowed to touch items meant for the Commander.

"It was you."

Sawyer glanced to where Bellamy appeared on her left. She did not even notice his presence until he spoke.

Bellamy's sole attention fell to the massive Grounder man as he continued, "he tested the cup. He searched Raven."

Lexa shifted her gaze to the eldest Blake and stated, "Gustus would never harm me."

"You weren't the target. The alliance was," Bellamy clarified.

"You know this wasn't us," Sawyer said, drawing the Commander's eyes back to her. "We didn't do this."

Lexa stared at Sawyer for a long moment, before she turned on Gustus. She seemed to question him in their language, but Sawyer could not tell. Not until he replied.

"This alliance would cost you your life, Heda," Gustus told the Commander. "I could not let that happen."

Lexa's expression faltered and morphed into a hardened glare. "This treachery will cost you yours." She held his stare as she shouted to her people in their foreign words.

Men moved to grab Gustus, holding him in place so he could not escape. Bellamy, Abby, and the others hurried over to Raven, cutting the bleeding and exhausted girl down from the branch-less tree to whisk her away from the vengefully charged atmosphere.

__________

Gustus met a gruesome and violent end. He had been tied to the tree in the middle of the village, receiving hundreds of cuts from his people, before Lexa ended his suffering with a sword to his heart. The Grounders were delivered their retribution for the near poisoning of their Commander, while the Sky People were granted their alliance.

As night fell across TonDC, Sawyer and her friends settled down in a makeshift camp erected at the edge of the village. Most of the Grounders retired to their homes, leaving them alone to recover from the harrowing events of the last forty-eight hours. Come morning, Sawyer would wake bright and early to begin preparations for their fight against Mount Weather. With the alliance forged and the Grounders on their side, they no longer had a reason to wait.

Sawyer laid flat on her back, ignoring the way the hard ground felt through the poor cushioning of her sleeping bag. Her eyes were focused on the starlit sky, watching the way the distance balls of gas blinked in and out of existence. It made her wonder about the remnants of the Ark that continued to orbit the Earth, like Go-Sci, the circular station left behind when the rest of the stations fell to the radiation soaked planet. Would it remain there, vacant and dark for years to come?

Sawyer did not know why the sudden thought entered her mind. Random things tended to emerge when she were tired. Like, if there were life on other planets. Although, she decided not to dive into the can of worms. She needed to deal with the current population of her own planet.

Conversation from Bellamy, Octavia, and Lincoln could be heard from where they sat around a small fire a few yards away. Sawyer failed to catch what they said, but she did not care to listen. She wanted to sleep. Days without left her exhausted and off her game. She needed to regain her edge if they wanted to save their friends from Mount Weather.

"Guys!"

Sawyer pushed herself up from her relaxed position when Raven burst from one of their tents with the radio they used to eavesdrop on the Mountain Men's transmissions. She clambered to her feet and hurried over to the girl.

"What is it?" Bellamy questioned as he stood, moved to their sides.

"Listen to this," Raven said, holding out the radio in her hands.

Clarke, Octavia, and Lincoln joined them.

Sawyer paused when the speaker's cracked and a voice broke through the quiet air. Not just any voice. The voice of Jasper Jordan.

"Forty-six of us are trapped inside Mount Weather."

Sawyer's eyes widened when the statement registered. "Oh, my God. Jasper."

"They've taken Harper. She may already be dead."

Sawyer's stomach dropped. They were too late. Her worst fear had come true. The Mountain Men turned their attention away from the Grounders and set it on the rest of the hundred.

"Talk to him. Say something," Clarke told the Reyes girl.

"We don't know how much time we have left."

Raven stared at the radio, before her gaze lifted to Clarke. "It's repeating."

"Please, hurry. This is Jasper Jordan. We need help."

Octavia released a long breath. "They're alive."

Bellamy's round eyes fell to Sawyer and Clarke. "We need to do this, now. We've got the alliance, now is the time to use it."

Sawyer did not even want to ponder the notion Bellamy brought up earlier, but they may not have another option. Even with their alliance with the Grounders, they needed more to take down Mount Weather. They needed help from the inside.

With a deep breath, Sawyer set her gaze on Bellamy. "You know that plan we talked about?" she voiced, drawing his attention to her. "About being the inside man? It think we need to do it."

Clarke's looked between them with a placid stare. "Sawyer's right." Her eyes fell to the eldest Blake. "Without someone on the inside to lower their defenses – turn off the acid fog, an army's useless. You should go."

Bellamy glanced from Clarke to Sawyer. His narrowed, brown eyes remained on her as he said, "I thought you hated that plan. That I would get myself killed."

Sawyer sighed. "I do. Really, I do, but our friends are dying in there." She pointed to the radio. "You heard Jasper. They already took Harper. I'd do it myself, but I'm apparently the only one who can negotiate with Lexa."

"It's worth the risk," Clarke blurted out, pulling everyone's surprised stares turned to her. She ignored them and reached into her jacket to reveal a folded piece of paper. She held it out to Bellamy. "My map of Mount Weather. Find a way to get on that radio and talk to us." He took it as his expression slacked. "Good luck," Clarke told him, before she pivoted on her heel and strode away.

Sawyer gaped after the blonde. What the hell got into her? It was not like Clarke disregard the safety of their people, especially when it came to Bellamy. The way she acted made it seem like she did not care in the slightest. Sawyer would have to talk to her about that later.

"Bell, how are you gonna..." Octavia began to ask, but Lincoln cut her off.

"I can get you through the tunnels."

Sawyer quirked a brow when Octavia whirled on the Grounder. She knew that would not go over well. Her gaze drifted to Bellamy and Raven, who wore similar expressions.

Raven looked the eldest Blake and nodded to the tent behind them. "Let me show you what to look for."

They started for the cloth structure, before Sawyer stopped them. More so, stopped Bellamy. "Hey, wait," she called out, forcing the man to stop. Raven glanced over them for a moment and then continued for the tent. Sawyer moved closer to Bellamy and said, "I still hate this plan."

Bellamy nodded. "I know."

Sawyer did not want to let him go into Mount Weather alone. If the alliance would hold without her, she would not hesitate to go with him. But that could not happen. "Just – don't die in there."

Bellamy's lips twitched into a small grin. "As you wish, Your Highness."

Sawyer rolled her eyes, but she could not help but smile in return. "You're so annoying."

<May 20, 2020>

I want everyone's honest opinion. Does you guys ship Sawyer and Lexa?

I don't know why, but I'm finding it kind of difficult to write them. I just hope nothing seems forced. If it does, the next chapter should help with that.

Don't forget to vote and comment.

-Jordan

P.S. Unedited chapter.