002.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❃ ◦ ━━━━━━ 

     "These woods must be the border," Bellamy, holding his usual, strong stance, informed. 

     Stumbling around beside the Gray girl, Jasper eyed their surroundings, with a slack expression, "So where's all the ice?" 

     "Much further north," Octavia upheld her posture, (which had come to be a norm, amongst many of her other habits), "Azgeda stretches for 1,000 miles." She hadn't taken it in the jokingly manner the Jordan boy had intended for it to be, although deciphering between the two was something that even the closest of his friends found difficultly in doing anymore.

     Eyes super glued to the radar, Monty replied, "Good thing we only have to walk 200 meters."

     "Slow down," Bellamy, taking the as-per-usual leader-like approach, that frankly should've dissipated when the role didn't belong to him anymore, but it hadn't, "Remember, rules of engagement are non-lethal force. Tight formation on my command— Raven, you stay in the rover."

     "Yeah, right."

     Scoffing, Maggie agreed. If anyone knew Raven other than Raven, it was her, "Like hell she is." It was a funny joke while it lasted.

     "We need every gun we've got," Octavia pointed out with one singular, dignified nod.

     Breathing out, Monty flickered his gaze back and forth, from the device to the ground out in front of them, "They're coming. 120 meters. 110," he noted each time, taking a step forward, only to be guarded by Bellamy, "They're our people, what are you—"

     Looking behind himself, the older Blake kept his weapon aimed in that direction. "We hope they're our people," he corrected smartly, while his sister unsheathed her sword from its' holster on her back, "On my command." 

     Grip tightening on the weapon, Magnolia squinted her eyes while peering through the scope of it. Soon, she had realized that it wasn't any of their people who had the beacon that once signified the group. Rather, warriors on horses trotted up— three to be exact. "Ice nation?" 

     "Yes," Octavia answered, with a lack of emotion— and enthusiasm, "White war paint."

     After all, it made sense. Maggie hadn't really had any form of contact with any Azgeda warriors— the one she could remember most was Echo, but even she was nothing but a distant memory. As opposed to black war paint in some elaborate fashion, these Grounders had their entire faces covered in white. Their layers upon layers of clothing and equipment made Maggie sweat just thinking about wearing it, even though the winter air was breezy. 

     "Stay calm," Octavia tried to alleviate some of the tension with the Sky People— it was evident in the way that Monty rocked on his feet and Miller's breath hitched that they felt uneasy. 

     "Chon you bilaik?" one of the men spoke up, voice stern and attempting to intimidate them. Magnolia knew the basics of Trigedasleng, thanks to her best friend and Lincoln, but even if she hadn't known the foreign language, she wouldn't of felt imitated anyway. Not much had come to phase her and shake her to the core anymore, if anything at all. 

     Just another day on the Ground.

     "Skaikru."

     "Ste lufa osir kru au," Gray added on, providing an explanation, as for their goal of being out there. 

      To that, the men looked to each other. "Ste lufa Wanheda au," one of them answered, causing a sense of confusion to rise amongst those who could understand what it was they were saying. Meaning, Octavia, Maggie, and partially Bellamy (he had recently begun learning). 

     No, they weren't looking for some— Commander of Death. Hell, they weren't looking for any Commander— just their people. That was it. 

     "They think we're looking for Wanheda," Octavia repeated to those who were unaware, as one of the riders dismounted from the horse. 

     "—Who's that?"

     "I don't know."

     "The light," Monty suddenly piped up, a realization in his tone, "That's the beacon." At that, Magnolia's eyes grazed the red light, swinging from a string on the man's side, while beeping nonstop. 

     Coming up on her peripherals, Maggie saw as Jasper ambled forward, a slight stumble in his step. Undoubtedly hungover, he paid no mind to the warriors on horses preparing their arrows that could make him drop like a fly in a split second. 

     He didn't care. And Magnolia knew that.

     Jasper Jordan wanted to die. He had told the girl himself. Sure, maybe in a drunken haze, but hey: a drunken man's words are a sober man's thoughts. As much as it pained her to admit it to herself, the Gray girl was well aware of the plain old truth. 

     The once jubilant, gregarious boy had completed shifted his outlook on life, and nobody could help him get out of the dark hole he had sunken into like quicksand. Especially if he wasn't giving any lead-way— it wasn't as though Jasper was trying to climb out of that darkness; he had only been sinking deeper and deeper. And, who could really help him to the fullest degree if he didn't want to even help himself? Many had given up, or taken some troublesome measures to do what they could— Maggie had done the absolute most. She felt as though it was compensation to Maya Vie. 

     Maggie wished she could do a better job. 

     It wasn't like she had the best role models to go off of, when she was little. 

     "Hey—"

     "What are you doing?" Raven seethed, gun still ready to shoot. 

     Latching onto his forearm, Magnolia lunged forward, "Jasper, hey— don't—"

     "It's okay, I got this," he forcefully shook out of her grasp, giving absolutely zero shits towards any of their useless coaxing. 

     Leaning towards his sister, Bellamy's jaw set, "Tell them we observe the Commander's truce. Do it now." She obeyed and said so as Jasper continued to stalk up to them, his eyes being unreadable, as always anymore. 

     Grabbing onto the beacon, Jasper tilted his head, not even threatened by the Grounders he used to be afraid of so badly. "This belongs to us," he dangled it in front of the man's head, preparing to turn on his heel and go back into the Rover; however, one of the warriors tugged the back of his vest and held around his head. Through gritted teeth, the guy demanded, "Weron Wanheda kamp raun?"

     "Breik em au!" Bellamy didn't give the Grounder another chance to talk. 

     Octavia shouted out after her older brother, but Maggie was too fixated on the knife to Jasper's throat to pay any sort of mind to what she had said. More importantly, the way his lips upturned into a sick grin, as if that had been his plan all along. It wasn't, but the Jordan boy didn't seem to be fighting it or complaining. By the looks of it, it appeared as though he was comfortable even, or in a state of serenity with the blade just centimeters away from slicing his skin. 

     "Yo vout in dison ste leyos?" the Grounder could sense the amusement and lightheartedness the teenager had felt, so as a punishment for the mockery, the knife was pushed into Jasper's skin, leaving a long cut as blood trickled down. 

     "Fuckin' hell," a bitterness came on Maggie's tongue; lining up the shot— she was not about to let one of her friends die because of some Azgeda warrior— no matter how much he yearned for it. So, she shot him square in the face with precision, making sure that the bullet wouldn't graze Jasper. A relieved breath escaped her mouth at the boy's safety, and the others took care of the remaining. As horrible as it was, the group couldn't leave any alive. 

     "Hold your fire!" Bellamy yelled out to the others, after they killed the others. Their bodies fell limply from the horses like dead weight, as the faint sound of static came through the radio back in the rover. 

     "Rover One, come in. I repeat, Rover One— come in," the voice was revealed to be Kane, which happened to be a downright relief for all of them. If the person speaking on the other line was Abby, or someone else, things would turn more complicated. Marcus had changed to easily be the most understanding out of the adults throughout the past few months. And saying that they just had to shoot down three warriors wasn't something that was taken lightly, anymore. 

     Maybe in the past, but everything had changed. Killing wasn't instinct, or nature, anymore for the teenagers— unless deemed necessary, that is. 

     Admittedly, nobody in the particular group that had been mustered up to go was overly familiar with medical-like procedures and treatments. Improvement over the past three months was evident in some of them, but they needed to get the boy to Abby— she knew best of all, realistically speaking, and Jasper wasn't exactly one to accept help when it was due. 

     Being as Octavia was doing everything that Magnolia would think to do in that scenario, she darted for the passenger's seat of the Rover, to get the scoop on what Kane was attempting to contact them for. "Bellamy, Maggie— anyone—" he continued to inquire, before Bellamy clicked the radio on on their end to speak into it. 

     "Kane—" Magnolia huffed, the events that had just unfolded finally seeming to catch up with her, "We just had to shoot three Ice Nation scouts."  

     "That's alright. You guys need to get here, as soon as you can."

     Urgency lacing the man's voice was enough to make the couple eye one another in curiosity— what was hell was going on? It was some odd coincidence that both them and Kane had news to share. Nothing had happened in ages to this extremity, so for two things to happen at once? A double-whammy? "Where are you? Can you tell me what's going on?" the Blake questioned in a deep tone, suggesting that he wasn't messing around, meaning business.

     "Sector four. I'll explain when you get here— over and out," Kane stated, it being the last thing he said before the other end went cold. 

     Raven coming up on the driver side door, tilted her head to the side as a way of expressing her perplexity, "Sector four? What's Kane doing so far outside the wall?"

     "That's what I wanna know," Magnolia's lips were parted, using the scraps of what they were told, as well as what had just gone down, to try and piece together some kind of conclusion. Unfortunately though, nothing was lining up— there wasn't enough evidence to decide on anything logical, "Do we think it's connected to whatever the fuck that was?" she pointed towards the bodies, sprawled out on the ground lifelessly. 

     As opposed to receiving an actual response from Bellamy, the girls only saw him shake his head, before turning onto his heel to give orders. "Take him home! Miller— get one of their horses. Mags— get another one. Raven, since you can't ride, you're on the back. Monty, you're with me. Let's go."

     Initially hearing her boyfriend's orders caused the girl to be even more puzzled than before; why wasn't she a part of the trip? Being as she had a title just as important as Bellamy, if not more important, going to see what Kane was so uptight about on the radio mere seconds prior seemed about right. 

     Hopping out of the seat, Maggie grabbed his jacket as he made it around the Rover. "I can come with you guys— I should be there," she insisted, holding up strong eye contact with him— a silent method of convincing. 

     Lowering his voice a few notches, so he wasn't announcing every word to everyone anymore, his jaw set, "I want you to go back to Arkadia. Make sure Jasper actually sees Abby. And while you're at it, I want you to talk to her."

     Maggie gulped.

     She knew it was coming, really. 

     Not too long following the battle at Mount Weather, contraceptive implant removals became an option for any women who had the interest having children; since they weren't up on the Ark anymore, population control was not a priority. Especially since crops were just starting to grow, and there was still a decent amount of meat coming in from those on hunting duty. Everything had settled. 

     So had Bellamy and Magnolia. 

     Call it quick, or call it impulsive, but Maggie Gray was one of the first ones to take the doctors up on that offer. Her reasoning might not've been the most cogent, but who's call was it except for her own?

     Life was short on Earth, and life was precious. Despite all the utter hell that she had been dragged through, Gray still believed in miracles. To a certain extent, of course. And if the world worked out and wanted them to have a child, then Maggie believed that that was what should happen. 

     Things were nothing out of the ordinary the first month and a half or so, after the procedure. They went on with their business, as if nothing had changed in the first place. 

     But for the past month, every morning that Maggie woke up, no matter the time, either the room was spinning, her head was pounding like someone was repeatedly knocking her in the skull with a baseball bat, or she happened to be puking her brains out. Sometimes, all three. It was unnerving, really. 

     Truthfully, they were kicking in for Bellamy too. Of course, it could've always been that she was just ill, or something was wrong that needed a diagnosis, but the timing felt a bit too coincidental. 

     Gray shrugged. 

     Was it to the severity of talking to Abby Griffin, was the question. 

     "I'm getting worried as hell, baby," he tucked a russet lock behind her ear that was shielding her face to a certain degree. His eyes softened for a terse second; he wasn't speaking as a leader, trying to demand orders. Instead, he was speaking out of love and care for the girl standing in front of him, "Do that for me?"

     "Yeah," she rapidly nodded, "Yeah, sure. Be careful."

     Before hopping into the Rover, Bellamy lifted the girl's chin, to connect his lips to hers briefly. Maggie smiled into the kiss, the overpowering feeling of warmth, and familiarity being just what she needed to feel comforted about the situation at hand. 

     "You guys too."

———

     "Open the gates!" Magnolia ordered from a distance, the horses going at a nimble speed. Raven's palms rested on the girl's shoulders from behind her, steadying herself while they briskly made it back home in record time. Or, so they thought. 

     Octavia made it first— she stood with Helios, awaiting her peers' arrival impatiently. 

     "What took you guys so long? Jasper's hurt!" she emphasized, waving her hands as the horse that Miller was riding came to a halt. 

     Scoffing, Maggie lifted her one leg over the side, so she was able to hop off and help Jasper, "We can't all be prodigies, Tavia."

     Helping Jasper stabilize himself against a wooden pole, the girl bared much of his weight, as Octavia held the cotton to his neck. Following behind Abby was her assistant, Jackson stood, awaiting instruction. 

     "What happened?"

     "Ice Nation," Octavia upheld a look of dread— Maggie and her mentally determined that keeping the fact they shot three Azgeda warriors as a secret. At least, until Kane got back, or until everything settled down. 

     Ushering Jackson into the proximity, Abby ordered, "Get him to medical." Looping Jasper's arm over his shoulders, they clumsily ambled, Jasper's legs dragging along slowly, but still managing to keep up the pace. 

     The chancellor then flashed her gaze from Maggie, to Raven, who still sat atop the horse. "Clarke?" she queried the dreaded question— the one she had been holding onto since the second her daughter went off on her own. 

     Three months, give or take, and the blonde was nowhere to be found— that much time was a lot of time. By then, the blonde could've been nearly anywhere. Search parties had been sent out and all— the whole shebang. 

     Perhaps Clarke and Magnolia didn't always tend to see eye-to-eye; from the time the Griffin girl tattle-taled on the mysterious girl conniving through the Ark corridors, to even certain times on the Ground. 

     Putting all of that aside, though? 

     Maggie was well-aware that if Clarke was still gone, she had no intentions of being found. She'd be hidden damn well, wherever that might've been; it was a coward's move, but there were other priorities. 

     Unanimously shaking their heads as a means of declining, Ms. Griffin sucked in a sharp breath; it wasn't as though she expected any different news than she had been receiving since October, but it still stung. 

     "You want me to take her?" the younger Blake held out a hand in generosity. 

     "Uh— it's okay," Reyes hesitated, a concise moment, "I'll bring her in."

     Abby sent a glare the mechanic's way, then Maggie's— almost as if she had caught on. And she had. "You can't get down, can you?"

     "Yeah, I can," she answered, almost a little too quickly, to the point where her voice didn't match up with the expression finely written across her features. Remaining silent, being as it wasn't Maggie's truth to tell, her eyes cast downward, towards the dirt pathway. 

     Nobody was aware of the total truth— except for Maggie, that was. But it was a wonder Raven had opened up her heart to even her about it. 

     It wasn't intentional. 

     Magnolia had caught the girl a limping mess heading from work and going to her room; not the type of limping that was solely an effect of her injury, but the kind that she was really feeling it, too. To the point where every ten steps she made a pit stop to press her hand to the wall and to regain her composure to continue to walk. 

     After that, Raven couldn't hide it from her sister. It'd be a lie that wouldn't even be possible to formulate to be believable. 

     Her fib wasn't convincing enough, clearly— because Abby extended her arms for the Reyes girl to use as assistance. Shutting her eyes succinctly, she accepted the reticent offer after hesitating. Magnolia placed her hands on her injured leg, guiding it over the horse with ease, while the doctor caught the blunt of the weight. 

     Raven broke out into a fit of exhales, winces, and grunts, all while trying to keep her cool in front of arguably the two most concerned people for her well-being. 

     "Raven—" Ms. Griffin attempted, although she was cut off almost immediately. 

     "I'm fine," the mechanic ran a hand through her ponytail, "I'm good. Thanks." And with that, she was already on her trek away, not leaving another spare second for anything to be thrown her way. 

     There wasn't anything Gray could do about it; that's why she began to stray away. She couldn't overthink it. 

     "Maggie."

     Turning on her boot's heel, she peered back to Abby, awaiting a followup, "Yeah?"

     "Bellamy radioed back," she answered, hoping the response would strikes some chords. Letting out a small 'fuck' under her breath, Maggie allowed her hands to rub her face, and then fall down to her sides. "He told me to make sure you came and visited me— he figured you wouldn't listen."

     Nerves ran perpetually through her veins, at that. "I just—"

     Fuck you, Bellamy Blake. 

     "You're gonna have to face it sooner or later, if it's what evidence is leaning towards. Just come with me to my office."

     She did have a point, admittedly. Magnolia hated to be wrong, but ignoring the inevitably was an act she could only uphold for so long— maybe it was time she gave in, before she was too far into the act. 

     "Fine."

★━━━━━━━━━━━━★