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Chapter 4

It was later on in the day, when Bellamy was reviewing the food stocks, that Monty came running up to him with a sheaf of papers. He recognised the shading on them and felt a twist of unease in his stomach as he thought of the blonde whose characteristic pencil strokes had the created the maps before him.

'It worked' Monty was beaming, proffering his work, 'Raven and I worked the GPS and got into the old Ark files – we got data and we even managed to drag Clarke away from the med bay to make it visual, with maps and stuff.' Monty gave him a sideways look, 'By the way, Clarke seemed a bit pissed – you know that now's not the best time to be causing arguments…' Bellamy made such an affronted face that Monty had to laugh.

'And why do you think I started it?' He jutted his chin out and crossed his arms. Monty just shook his head with an amused grin on his face and shoved the papers at his chest.

'Sure, man…' and he sauntered off. Bellamy gave a pout and looked closer at the papers. Clarke's work really was beautiful, and, when paired with the sheets of data Monty and Raven had provided, giving GPS coordinates and distances to locations, it may just be their saving grace.

'Time to get these to the big boss' he muttered as he strode out of the pantry towards his office, as he planned a trip to Polis.

'No.' Well that wasn't unexpected to be honest – sometimes Bellamy had to remind himself that Clarke wasn't fighting him every step of the way. Though it sure felt like it.

'You're place is here with your people. You're their leader.'

'My people? Are you not one of us anymore, Clarke? Or just eager to go back to being the centre of attention in Polis?'

The two of them were stood opposite each other in the medical room, where Bellamy had visited her after reviewing the details. After she had dismissed her latest patient and listened to his proposal, it didn't take long for her to outright reject it.

'It would only be for a few days – a week at most.' Bellamy was planning to visit Polis – from what he had heard, another Commander had been chosen from the Nightbloods – one who, although not as lenient towards Skaikru as Lexa, certainly understood the need for temporary peace after the horrific nightmare which they had all recently come through. He needed to explain the situation to all of them, and present them with the rough semblance of a plan they had. Unfortunately, Clarke was doing her usual and trying to veto his actions.

'What if something happened in Polis? People look up to you, Bellamy, you can't leave them now!' Bellamy gave a harsh smile at that, remembering the same conversation that they seemed to always have. Once before the rest of the Ark landed, and he tried to run from Jaha, and again when he begged Clarke to stay after irradiating Mount Weather. It hadn't escaped his notice that on only one of these occasions did the escapee actually stay.

'So what do you propose then, Clarke?' Bellamy was tired of this – he wanted her blessing, but he would go without it. It seemed that the girl in question was also tired, Bellamy looked at her face and saw dark marks under her red eyes – neither of them had been sleeping well recently. 'I know it's not ideal for either of us to go, any of us really, we all have things we could be doing, healing people, organise the stores, supply electricity to the camp… but this is important, we need to take action fast.' Clarke sighed, she knew it was true, but that didn't make it any easier to accept.

'Ok, fine. I should probably go – I know the people there, how to do things. Raven can't move, but maybe Monty? Jasper too…' Clarke braced herself for the next inevitable comment.

'And what about me, Princess?' He gazed up at her from beneath long lashes, so feminine it seemed an absurd contradiction to his clenched muscles, knotted on his arms and visible beneath his taunt shirt.

'You…' she faltered. It was important that Bellamy met with the Grounders, showed that he was the one in control of the Sky People at the moment, but she couldn't risk something happening to both of them in Polis… 'You can come…' she muttered reluctantly, 'but only if you can find a suitable substitute who can lead the people whilst we're gone. Who can' she swallowed, 'take action if need be…'

Bellamy grinned at her, and she couldn't help smiling back.

'Now if you'll excuse me, Doctor, I must go and find Miller and talk to him about certain responsibilities he may need to undertake in the near future…' He winked back at Clarke as he left the room, and Clarke was left wondering whether this unsteady equilibrium would ever rest. Could they live in peace together these days? Or had just too much happened to set them at odds?

At the gates, Bellamy gazed back at his people – they had assembled in a dreary mob to send him off. Not cheering, as the 100 might once have, but not unhappy either. There was a wary trust of the leader – many remembered how ruthlessly yet effectively he led the delinquents through the early horrors of the Earth, yet his latest exploits with Pike still lay fresh in minds too. He met his crowd of confidents at the gate – Clarke, Monty, Jasper and a few of the older guards heading off with him, and Raven, Harper, Miller and Bryan saying farewell. Bellamy gripped Miller's forearm and pulled him close in a hug, whispering in his ear.

'You look after them. Thank you.' Miller nodded at him and they locked eyes. Bellamy trusted him to do right – he always did.

The group leaving hefted their bags and headed off, walking in the direction of the local Grounder village. They had agreed to buy and collect horses whilst there, to carry them the long distance they would have to traverse. Bellamy tried to think about the journey ahead – a lot would depend on this going well. Looking across at Clarke, he could tell by her pensive yet determined expression that she was thinking the same thing right now.

As the group approached the Grounder village, the inhabitants hushed, and moved around quietly – the elders keeping their gazes down whilst the youngers looked up with awe and reverence. Although they didn't recognise Bellamy – definitely for the best, considering that he was part of the group that had massacred the defenceless army – it was hard to forget Clarke. The famous Wanheda who, for better or worse, had been Lexa's confident, her favourite. They also understood that she had been instrumental in the fall of the murderous regime of Ontari, or, more accurately, A.L.I.E.

Bellamy went ahead silently, and collected the horses, paying for them quietly and leading them towards the others, who each took a set of reigns. It would take about a week to get to Polis – through hard riding and minimal rest, they intended to make it in four days. Time wasn't exactly on their side. As they mounted their horses, and secured supplies in their saddle bags, Clarke was reminded of the last time she had ridden a horse along this route – it had been one Titus had given her to find Luna. After Lexa had died. Clarke chewed her lip silently and nudge the horse on until they were all standing outside the gates and staring at the road ahead. She turned to her left and saw Monty and Jasper – both looking a little confused at the prospect of riding any horse, let alone one from the Grounders. Monty was holding the reigns so tightly that his knuckles had gone white, and he was hunched forward, looking dead ahead in intense concentration. Jasper, sitting next to him, was holding the reigns oddly, with his thumbs facing towards him, and leaning back in his saddle. Somewhere along the line he had found a bit of wheat which he had stuck in his mouth and was lazily chewing. Clarke kind of wanted to laugh, although she will still very confused – he looked like he was trying to imitate cowboys of the Wild West they had heard about in stories.

Looking at them together, they made the perfect pair – one obviously frazzled by the pure concept of riding a horse, and the other feeling like it was a game, and just living in the moment. For a second, Clarke was struck with the thought that they looked kind of like they did when they first arrived – they were all still kids in some ways, new to experiences that the Grounder children had known for years. Jasper gave her a cheeky grin as he caught her looking. She swore that if she caught him wearing goggles… well… something bad would happen to him.

She whirled back to the front and turned to her right, seeing Bellamy close behind her. He was watching her steadfastly, and with an earthy assurance. Enough to allow her to exchange nods and kick her horse, so the group of them cantered off down the beat track.

A/N: thanks for reading :) Please review