Clarke POV

"Clarke," Raven said, panting as she ran to the table I was at with Bellamy. She was practically dragging her leg behind herself; her eyes were wide with urgency. "You guys need to come with me."

Abandoning our breakfast, we followed Raven back to the garage and then outside where the ship had landed and was being carefully unloaded of its precious cargo. Raven slid into the small cockpit and motioned for me to follow. I took the seat beside her and Bellamy leaned in to see as well. Raven's eyes locked on my face as she pressed a button and an urgent voice filled the ship.

"Eligius IV to pod, Eligius IV to pod."

"Is that..." I began, feeling my breath get caught in my throat at the familiar sound.

"You," Raven confirmed.

"Dammit, Grace," my voice cursed. "Turn that pod around right now!"

"Grace," Bellamy's deep rumble said. "Please, listen to your mother." Bellamy and I exchanged a look and turned our eyes back on the recording on the screen.

"Can she hear us?" my voice asked, thick with tears.

"I don't see why not, unless she's already passed through the anomaly," Raven's voice answered.

"Grace, you don't have to do this. We've discussed this," Bellamy's voice pleaded. "Please...don't go."

There was a long silence - so long that I was sure the transmission had ended. And then...

"In peace...may you leave this shore. In love...may you find the next. Safe passage on your travels...Until our final journey to the ground...May we meet again." My voice trembled through the words.

"May we meet again," Raven's and Bellamy's voices echoed.

"Clarke," Raven's voice said. "I'm so sorry."

TRANSMISSION COMPLETE blinked across the screen.

The silence stretched on in the ship. Bellamy hovered nearby, and I could feel his eyes on me. Thoughts swirled in my head, fogging my brain and preventing me from speaking. Finally, one latched on long enough for me to vocalize it.

"How did you find this?" I asked.

"When I was waiting for the nightblood to combine in zero-g, I got bored so I just started looking through files on the computer," Raven explained, voice soft. Her brown eyes were wide and earnest - emotions swirled in her eyes like I had never seen before.

"Anything else?" I asked brusquely. I couldn't deal with her emotions and my own and Bellamy's. She shook her head and I nodded as I moved to get out. Bellamy offered me a hand and helped me, Raven crawling behind me. "I'm going to head to medical, help my mom with the nightblood," I explained to them as I hurried off.

"Clarke," Bellamy said softly as he slipped in through the doors. Med bay was nearly empty around noon and he was taking advantage of that. I couldn't help my muscles stiffening when I heard his voice - I was still processing, and I wasn't ready to see how this made him feel yet.

"I'm busy," I lied, bustling around with gauze and medical tape, trying to seem as though I had important things to do.

"Clarke," Bellamy repeated, voice tense.

"I have to sanitize these needles for the nightblood distribution," I decided busily, grabbing the bucket with empty syringes. "We'll need to start distributing immediately."

"Clarke," Bellamy hissed. I looked up at his tone, surprised, to see him wilting with emotion against one of the cots. I cursed myself for being so selfish and touched his arm tentatively in support.

"I'm sorry," I said quickly. His free hand reached over and covered mine.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I shook my head. "Yeah, same."

"I...I don't even know what to think," I stuttered lamely.

"We knew she came against our will," Bellamy reminded me softly. He leaned over, resting his head against my stomach. I brought my free hand up to run my fingers through his curls. We were still tiptoeing around each other, but there had been a shift in our relationship. We were closer, more intimate. Casual touching was more common, as well as less casual touching. He leaned into my touch, reassuring me that I wasn't outside of the comfort zone we were establishing.

"Clarke," my mom said as she walked purposefully over with an arm wrapped around a large, clear container. Dark black liquid splashed inside. Her other arm was looped over a container filled with empty, sterilized syringes. "Oh, hello Bellamy," she said when she saw him. We broke apart reluctantly and Bellamy stood from the cot as my mom set both of her packages down. "I was hoping you could start distribution. Everyone in medical, everyone in engineering."

"Sure," I nodded, walking over. She plucked a piece of paper from the container with syringes.

"Here's your list. Jackson and I are working on farming and the grounders with us at the moment." She grabbed a syringe and pulled a dose from the nightblood dispenser. "I'll help with yours; roll up your sleeve."

I did as I was told, watching as she slid the needle into the vein at my elbow and gently pushed the dose in. The vein right at the surface of my skin turned dark.

"This is different from Raven's, since it was made on a larger scale," mom explained. "It will take longer to kick in. I'd like to monitor your blood every twelve hours so we can get an approximate time when your blood has converted."

"Yeah, fine," I agreed as she placed a bandage over the tiny wound. She smiled tentatively, gave me a quick one-armed hug, and left med bay. I grabbed a fresh syringe and filled it. "Roll up your sleeve," I directed Bellamy, echoing my mom.

"I'm not on your list," he protested.

"You're in the age priority group," I countered.

"That's not one of the groups receiving right now," he argued. I glared up at him, narrowing my eyes as I stared into his.

"If I get the nightblood, you get the nightblood."

"Clarke - "

"Do you want Grace to give more bone marrow?" I demanded, changing tactics. His jaw tightened, as did the skin around his eyes. Wordlessly, he rolled up his sleeve. I injected the serum in the vein at the crease of his elbow, then covered the pinprick with a bandage. He rolled down his sleeve, threaded his fingers through my hair, and gently kissed my forehead. We both stiffened for just a second - that was a line we hadn't quite toed or crossed yet - but then I relaxed and so did he.

"See you at dinner?" he checked. I nodded, and he offered a half smile reminiscent of Grace's as he strode to the doors and exited swiftly. I grabbed both containers and headed to engineering.

In the next few days that passed, the priority groups present at Arkadia were given the nightblood. Grace had been gone for four days when we got a radio call from Miller - he was nearing us with the cargo truck, filled with farm station survivors.

We waited for him at the gate. When he pulled in and we opened the back of the truck, it was a grim sight. They were emaciated, eyes sunk into their faces and screaming with hunger. They had bruises circled around their wrists and ankles, I was guessing from chains. A roll of nausea hit me as I helped some of the children down from the truck beside Bellamy. We exchanged a long look as I walked some of the survivors to med bay.

The day flew by in a blur of IVs, fluids, and food for the new patients. Mom and Jackson worked with me to make sure everyone was examined and treated as quickly as possible. When I finally stumbled to the mess hall for dinner, Bellamy was waiting with Miller and Raven.

I set my plate down and collapsed beside him.

"How are they?" Miller asked, leaning across the table. His face was concerned and earnest.

"They're going to be okay. We're treating them with fluids and some food." Bellamy squeezed my thigh reassuringly under the table and I pressed my hand over his, appreciating the comfort.

"Was there any trouble getting them out?" Bellamy asked. Miller shook his head.

"No, the Commander and the King rode in and the grounders gave them up. Loaded them up and drove back." He shrugged. "It was a long ride."

"And Grace?" I asked.

"Happy to see us, especially Octavia," Miller told us, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Do you know if Monty found his group yet?" Raven asked.

"He was still looking when we reached the crash site and loaded my group," Miller explained. "We separated; I headed back this way and they went looking for the group and a depot." I nodded, listening as I pushed food around on my plate. Despite my exhausting day, I wasn't very hungry. The faces of the survivors from farm station flashed behind my eyelids, turning my stomach.

"You okay?" Bellamy asked softly. Raven and Miller were already talking about something else. Bellamy's eyes were trained on me.

"Not hungry," I explained.

"You have to eat something," Bellamy prodded. "Just to keep your strength up."

Obediently, I started eating the stewed meat and vegetables.

Dr. Jackson to front gate. Dr. Jackson to front gate.

The voice over the loud speaker was urgent and I exchanged a confused look with Bellamy. The sun was setting and the hunting groups had long since returned.

"That's odd," Raven realized across the table.

"Yeah," I agreed, a sense of dread washing over me. I stood and started for the doors and the front gate.

"Hey - where are you going?" Bellamy asked, voice closer than I expected. I shook my head, trying to dispel the confusion and the dread in my gut.

"Call it mother's intuition," I offered.

We reached the front gate only seconds after Jackson - and it was worse than I could have imagined.

Roan was on a huge white horse, clutching Grace in front of him in the saddle. Her head was resting heavily on his shoulder, her right arm limp at her side, and there were streaks of black blood running down the side of the horse. Another horse and rider were with them - a woman with a bow in her hands and a quiver of arrows on her back. Her eyes roamed Arkadia warily; even with her weapon lowered I wasn't sure she wasn't a threat.

"No - don't call Clarke and Bellamy," she commanded as Jackson, Kane, and another guard gently pulled her down from the saddle. "Just Jackson."

"I'm here," he told her as Bellamy and I hurried over.

"Don't call Clarke and Bellamy?" I asked, hearing the blatant hysteria in my voice.

"That's why," Grace grimaced.

"What happened?" Bellamy demanded.

"Pike," Grace hissed as Jackson pressed a clean rag to the wound.

"Let's get her to medical," he said. Kane wrapped Grace's good arm around his shoulders and began carefully towing her towards the Ark. Bellamy and I followed.

"Where's my mom?" I asked.

"Grace asked for Jackson," Kane said shortly, his eyes apologetic. We followed the trio through the winding halls to med bay. A glance over my shoulder told me that Roan was hot on our heels, the woman not far behind him.

Jackson helped Grace onto a cot, and then carefully cut her shirt so he could reach her shoulder. It was a grisly, bloody mess.

"What happened? The whole story now," Bellamy said, jaw twitching with tension. His hand found the small of my back, the warmth reassuring me as much as my presence did him.

"We found Pike," Grace grit out as Jackson grabbed some tools.

"The sky man shot at me and the Commander," Roan said in a low, gravely voice. "Grace knocked us out of the way."

"You threw yourself in front of a bullet?" I screeched. Grace winced - though I wasn't sure if it was from Jackson digging the bullet from her arm or the octave of my voice. Bellamy's hand began moving, rubbing small circles in my back, attempting to soothe me. If it were anyone but Grace, I'm sure it would have.

The bullet clinked in the medical waste tray and Jackson reached for a needle and thread.

"Just cauterize it. I need to get back," Grace said.

"You're not going back out there," I said immediately. Grace's eyes turned up to me at that and narrowed.

"Let me clarify. I need to get back if anyone wants Pike to live."

"The Commander will take his life for hers," Roan explained to me. "Blood must have blood." I looked between the two of them, floundering and trying to stutter out something better than just sounds.

"Well, Grace will be fine," Kane said placatingly. "Perhaps you could tell the Commander - "

"I'm not an errand boy," Roan growled out, stepping towards Kane threateningly. "I brought her here as a courtesy for saving my life. If you want a message delivered, send one of your own."

"I'm not so sure she'll be fine," Jackson countered hesitantly. "She's lost a lot of blood, and we don't have any nightblood set aside for transfusions."

"Take mine," I said immediately.

"That won't be enough," Jackson said, not unkindly. The tilt to his head was apologetic.

"You can have mine too," Bellamy stated. Jackson nodded, but I was following his train of thought.

"Still not enough," I said, feeling hysteria begin to grip my chest again. I forced it back, swallowing my emotions. I forced my voice to be calm, measured. "I'll get some volunteers."

I hurried from the room, praying that Bellamy stayed, and went in search of our friends. Back in the mess hall, I rounded up Miller and Raven for the cause, and found Harper as we were heading back to med bay. Jackson was bandaging Grace when we returned, and a peek before the bandage covered her skin revealed a dark burn - she had gotten her way.

Jackson had already hooked Bellamy up to a machine that would pump his blood into Grace. She was laying on a cot beside his, eyes closed. Bellamy's eyes locked on mine when I walked in and I went to his side quickly, pressing my fingers to his wrist to sneak a reading of his vitals.

"I'm fine," he informed me, glancing at my fingers with a quirked brow. "Check on Grace."

I nodded and sat on her cot, pressing my fingers to her wrist. Her pulse was hard to find, but it was steady. I wet a cloth and began cleaning the black blood from her left hand. Roan and the woman were hovering nearby, leaning against the wall and speaking softly to each other. I tried to keep my curiosity at bay and not watch them, but I couldn't really help it.

"You're staring," Roan stated in the quiet room. It was a challenge, and I didn't back down.

"I'm wondering why you brought Grace instead of Octavia and Lincoln."

"Octavia is helping the sky boy to keep the peace," Roan answered, arms folded over his chest. The explanation made sense.

Jackson shuffled around near Bellamy, and then Raven was taking his place on the cot. Bellamy came up behind me, hand curling around my shoulder as I let Grace's now clean hand fall to her stomach.

In the end, we didn't need Harper's blood. Miller and I were each hooked up to Grace briefly, and after Jackson monitored her vitals, he determined she had enough blood circulating again. Harper stayed and donated blood to have some on standby, and I began drafting a schedule for more donations the next day. In the frenzy of preparing for praimfiya, we had neglected the impracticalities of changing more than half the camp's biological composition.

"Hey," Bellamy said softly across the room. I looked up at his voice to see Grace sitting up on the cot and looking around the room. I tensed and considered standing from the desk I was at and heading over, but something in the way Grace looked around stopped me. If she wanted me, she would make it known.

"How long have I been out?" she asked, rubbing her eyes and face with her left hand. Her right arm hung limp at her side.

"Just a few hours," Bellamy assured her. "Want to tell me why you threw yourself in front of a bullet?" Grace rolled her eyes at Bellamy, but responded.

"To be fair, I didn't throw myself in front of a bullet. I just moved Roan and Lexa out of the way."

"Isn't that the same thing?" he challenged. Grace pursed her lips and offered a one-armed shrug with her good shoulder. It was both confirmation and contradiction.

"If Roan dies we go to war with Azgeda. If Lexa dies we go to war with the 12 clans. Neither of those are good options at the moment."

"So you saved them," Bellamy said quietly. I admired his understanding tone and the soft way he looked at her - and apparently she did, too, since she was speaking to him freely and openly. I didn't usually inspire that openness when I asked her about difficult things.

"So I saved them," Grace confirmed. Her eyes trailed around the room again, finally landing on me and stopping. A tentative smile stretched across her face, beckoning me over. "Hey," she greeted me as I stood beside Bellamy. I rested a hand on his shoulder while he remained seated. "You still mad at me?" she asked.

"I'm not mad at you," I said, brows raised. "I'm worried about you. There's a difference."

"I've told you, you don't have to worry about me," Grace said with an affectionate eye roll. I poked her injured shoulder lightly and she winced.

"Clearly."

"Where's Roan and Echo?" she asked, changing the subject as she tried to subtly rub the pain in her shoulder away.

"They're getting water and some rations," Bellamy told her. "They want to leave at first light."

"Soon?" she asked. He nodded. Grace pulled herself up from the cot. "I'd better find them."

"Woah," I protested gently, grabbing her left hand. "Do you have to go back? We could send someone else instead."

"I'm fine, Clarke. Really," she said, squeezing my hand with firm pressure. "I would stay if I needed to."

I took a deep breath and released it, recognizing this would not be a battle I would win. Instead, I curled my hand around Bellamy's and watched Grace stride out of medical, dark curls bouncing along with her gait.

"Should one of us go with her?" I asked, turning my face to look up at Bellamy's. His brow scrunched in thought and his hand tightened around mine.

"Octavia and Lincoln are there," he hesitated. I tilted my head, catching his dark gaze.

"And she still came back injured," I pointed out. He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair quickly.

"I'll go," he offered. "I can keep an eye on her and Octavia."

I fought back the lurch in my stomach that demanded I hold Bellamy as close as possible. I fought it back and released it, recognizing that the better place for him would be at Grace's side. Then I looked at him, finding his eyes already on me. His jaw was locked and his shoulders were tense, but his eyes were as soft as ever. He pulled his hand from mine so that he could wrap his arms around me in a firm hug. His head dropped to rest on my shoulder and his arms squeezed around my waist. I wrapped mine tighter around his shoulders, hoping that he could feel how much I already missed him.

"I should go pack some rations," he said into my hair. I bit my lip as he started to pull away, threw caution to the wind, and kissed him.