Osu Throu Daun Ogeda || We Fight Together || A 100 Fanfiction

XXVII

- Jordan's POV -
The night is still and quiet as I make my way through the dense woods outside Mount Weather. The light from the many fires of our encampment behind me flickers through the trees, just a scattering against the looming darkness. My steps are careful, my eyes scanning the trees around me as I approach a familiar figure standing guard near the edge of the camp.

Octavia is a shadow herself in her dark leathers and armor, her posture tense and alert. I can see the hard set of her shoulders, the way she gripps her weapon with white-knuckled intensity. Something is clearly on her mind.

"Octavia." I call softly as I approach, not wanting to startle her.

Octavia turns her head slightly, acknowledging my presence with a curt nod. "What are you doing out here?"

"I needed some air." I reply, moving closer. "And to check on you. I know it's been... a lot."

She lets out a bitter laugh, her gaze turning back to the camp. "A lot? That's one way to put it." She pauses, her voice lowering as she adds, "How much did you know about the missile?"

I blink, taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"The missile that hit Tondc." Octavia snaps, her voice sharp with anger. "The one that Lexa and Clarke knew about and did nothing to stop."

My breath catches in my throat. "What? I didn't know anything about that. I was in Polis—I didn't even know a missile was coming until I saw it light up the sky."

Octavia's eyes narrow as she studies me, searching for any sign of deceit. "So, you're saying you had no clue? Nothing?"

"Nothing." I confirm, my heart sinking as I realize the full weight of Octavia's words. "I would've done something if I had known."

"Well, they did nothing." She spits, her voice laced with bitterness. "They just let it happen. How could they? How could she?"

I am stunned, my mind struggling to reconcile the image of the fierce, determined Commander I know with the cold calculation Octavia is describing. "I... I don't know." I stammer, my voice faltering. "But this is war. Sometimes—"

"Don't give me that." She cuts in, her eyes blazing with anger. "They sacrificed innocent lives, our people, like they were nothing. That's not just war—that's murder."

I feel a slight wave of nausea roll through me. I don't want to believe it, don't want to accept the information. But the truth is staring me in the face, and it makes me sick.

Why? I have no clue as this is what I have been around the past few years and I understand this is war.

"I'm sure they had their reasons." I say weakly. "They're trying to save everyone. Maybe they thought it was the only way."

"Is that what you really believe?" Octavia asks coldly.

I don't answer immediately. I want to defend them, to say that there has to be another side to the story. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that maybe there isn't.

As this is the brutality of the world we're in.

"War isn't clean." I say firmly after swallowing hard. "Sometimes... people die, even when we don't want them to. And sometimes, we have to make choices that we'll regret for the rest of our lives."

Octavia glares at me, her jaw clenched. "You really think that excuses what they did? How can you defend them?"

"No, I don't think it excuses what they did." I admit. "But I think it explains it. As for defending them, I'd trust either of them with my life and I'd lay it down if it meant protecting either one of them or myself."