The Commander of Death

Chapter Three

They made it to the door, Gaia and Indra as well as two of Lexa's four guards who had joined them inside to protect the Commander followed behind them. Raven dropped Clarke's hand when they stepped outside, but Clarke didn't notice, still holding Lexa's hand in her own. Lexa tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach and the ache in her chest, longing for Clarke; to hold her, to kiss her...

The rover stopped inside the gate, the grounder warriors lingering by the door while the other three, led by Clarke with Lexa's hand in hers, continued forward. Clarke's steps became somewhat hesitant. Would they even want to see her? Certainly, Octavia wouldn't. The last time she and Octavia had spoken, the girl had hated her.

Clarke grew weary, Raven hanging back because she'd been pulled into a conversation with two engineers who wanted to discuss the progress on a new project. Lexa noticed the shift in Clarke's disposition, her green eyes scanning the girl's expression for any sign of distress, wanting to make sure she was alright.

She gently squeezed Clarke's hand, drawing blue eyes to meet her own. Lexa didn't say anything, but everything she needed to was communicated through her gaze, prompting a small smile and a nod from Clarke, thankful that the brunette was there with her and supporting her.

"I will give you some time with your friends; I need to speak to Kane, anyway." Lexa told her softly with a smile, Clarke frowning, slightly disheartened, but nodding. "I will come find you after." She added, lifting some of the worry off of Clarke's shoulders, who took comfort in Lexa's promise. Lexa gave her one last smile before dropping her hand and turning around, approaching her guards.

Five figures hopped out of the vehicle, Clarke's eyes landing first on the two closest, which were Bellamy and Monty. Behind them was Miller, Octavia, and Harper. Bellamy noticed her first. "Clarke?" He said in disbelief. Clarke halted for a tense moment, waiting to see how he would react to her presence.

Her worries were dashed when a bright smile graced his lips and he took off at a run towards her. Clarke smiled in return with relief as the tall, scrappy boy threw his arms around her, hugging her tightly. Clarke felt relief and joy rolling off of him in waves, the palpable emotions making it clear that he had missed her and been worried about her, thankful she was safe and back.

"Hey." She offered rather uselessly, not sure what to say, causing Bellamy to chuckle as the blonde hugged him back.

"Hey yourself." He muttered in return, reprieving her of his tight embrace by taking a step back. Before he could say anything else or even get a good look at her, the others swarmed her, Monty beating the others to the punch and wrapping his arms around her.

Miller hugged her after Monty, Harper after him, the friends exchanging greetings and joyful smiles. Once Harper had stepped back, Clarke's eyes landed on Octavia. She froze for a moment, swallowing hard. She didn't put it past Octavia to just deck her in the face after what she'd done, so she was shocked when the shorter, raven-haired girl stepped forward and pulled her into a hug.

"I missed you, stranger." Octavia admitted, Clarke feeling a smile tugging at Octavia's lips against her shoulder.

Clarke smiled, relieved and overjoyed as they lowered their arms, a semi-circle of Clarke's friends now surrounding her. "I missed all of you too." She said genuinely.

"I'm still pissed at you for leaving, though." Octavia added with a slight smirk.

"Yeah, you suck for that." Monty agreed playfully with a nod and a grin.

Clarke laughed. "That was kind of shitty of me. Sorry about that."

"All adventured out?" Bellamy asked with a grin.