Lexa Deserved Better (clexa fic)

ten

"People of Polis!" Lexa called from her seat at her throne. The crowd fell into a hushed silence, all eyes snapping away from Titus and onto her. "The man you see before you is a traitor. His charges include attempted murder, conspiracy, and assault. He has attacked me personally as well as another under my protection, that person being Klark kom Skaikru. Let it be clear: yu jomp em op, yu jomp ai op.

"Titus used his power to obtain a skaikru weapon, a gun, and attempted to assassinate the Skaikru ambassador, completely undermining my orders and possibly causing an unnecessary war that I've worked so hard to prevent. Fortunately, he was not successful. Unfortunately, I was hit."

The crowd gasped, and many began to murmur amongst themselves. Sure, there had been rumors, but nothing had been confirmed to the public. 

"But your Heda lives!" Lexa cried, bringing shouts of joy and pride. "It takes more than a stray bullet to bring down your fearless Commander. Naturally, we took this man into custody, knowing how dangerous he was. Are you ready to hear the treasonous acts he committed next?"

The crowd roared in response, and Lexa knew she had their undivided attention. 

"When I went to confront Titus, he physically assaulted me. Twice. The first time was in an attempt of defense, which he lost the right to the second he fired his first shot. The second was an outright attack. I told him what was to be his sentence, and he pinned me to a wall, pressing his palm into the wound in my side that he caused! Of course I escaped quickly and sent him tumbling to the ground, but that doesn't change the fact that he dared to put his hands on me."

By now, the citizens of Polis were going ballistic, shouting at Titus with malice. They all looked ready to kill him themselves for attacking their leader. Lexa knew exactly what to say next to regain their eyes. 

"Am I to let these acts go unpunished?" she demanded. 

Cries of "NO" poured so loudly through the crowd that Lexa was sure the people of Arkadia could here them. 

"Titus kom Trikru, I hereby sentence you to death by your own hand. And I'm sure you know full well what will happen if you refuse."

Everyone fell silent, understanding exactly what Lexa was referring to. One of Lexa's guards handed Titus a gun containing a single bullet. Titus looked helplessly out at the rambunctious crowd. He seemed to be searching for something. Then, his eyes landed on it. Or rather, her. To the direct right of the stage stood Clarke, looking intently at Lexa. Her eyes hadn't left the commander the entire time. Titus fired his gun at her then grabbed a spear from a nearby guard and stabbed himself. 

Lexa watched in horror as the bullet sailed towards Clark and hit her shoulder. A collective gasp rose up, and the next thing Lexa knew, she was running towards her love, towards the only person in the world that made her feel truly happy. 

"Clarke," she screamed, jumping off the stage and rushing to the blonde girl's side. 

She wrapped her arms around Clarke, holding her. Clarke coughed weakly, shock still plain on her face, which melted away to what Lexa assumed was supposed to be a reassuring smile when she caught sight of her panicked stricken girlfriend. 

"I'm ok," she breathed. "I'm ok, Lexa. Just a little winded."

Lexa examined Clarke to find not even the slightest trace of blood. She gave Clarke a puzzled look. 

"Whatever armor you gave me somehow stopped the bullet. It must've been made of some pretty heavy duty metal. Either that or your bullets are crap."

Realization dawned on Lexa, and she grinned. 

"It still hurts like hell, though," Clarke grunted. "That thing hit me pretty hard, and it was going pretty fast. It'll definitely bruise, but I've survived a lot worse." 

Lexa almost leaned in to kiss Clarke. Almost. Then, she remembered where she was and who she was around, so instead, she ordered her guards to clear a path and began to carry Clarke up the stairs.

"Will you put me down now?" Clarke asked. 

"No."

"I'm sure I can walk. The armor stopped the bullet. Put me down."

"No."

"Lexa..."

"No."

Lexa carried Clarke in her arms all the way up the stairs and into her chambers. She told her guards to find Nyko and have him meet her in her room when it was convenient. She made sure to clarify that it wasn't urgent so that she and Clarke could have a moment alone. When she turned back around to face Clarke, who was sprawled out on the bed, the girl gave her a pointed look. Lexa let out a long sigh and settled down beside Clarke.

"What was that all about, Commander? You totally overreacted."

"You got shot."

"And I'm fine. Look at me. I'm fine. Everything's alright. There was no need to go into panic mode."

"I was worried about you, beja," Lexa said quietly, so quietly that Clarke almost didn't hear. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you." 

She looked down at her feet and fidgeted anxiously with her hands. 

"Hey," Clarke said, her voice softer. "Look at me. Of course you didn't embarrass me. I just don't want you to get so worked up when little things happen to me. I can take care of myself, ok?"

Lexa nodded and relaxed a little and let out a quiet, "Can I at least see your shoulder?"

Clarke carefully removed the armor and her top shirt so that her shoulder was bare. The skin was already starting to bruise. It had turned a yellowish green color. Lexa frowned at the little area. Clarke put Lexa's hand gently on top of her shoulder and gave her a little smile. 

"See? It's alright."

Lexa smiled back, burying her head into the crook of Clarke's neck and wrapping her arms around the younger girl. 

"I just have one question," Clarke said, causing Lexa to look up. "What is my new armor made of and can I keep it?"

"Ruby, and it's yours," Lexa answered with a grin. 

"Ruby?" Clarke said incredulously. "That's a nine on Moh's Hardness Scale. No wonder the bullet couldn't go through it?"

Lexa furrowed her brow. Sky culture sure was confusing, especially when Clarke rambled on about something like this. 

"Science stuff," Clarke explained. "I remember learning about this in school. Don't know how or why that information sunk in. I mostly just know medical science."

"I'm glad your ok," Lexa told her. "I was so scared when Titus fired that shot."

"I understand. I felt the same way when Titus shot you. Actually, much, much worse because you almost died." She glanced down at Lexa's lips. "Smoch ai op, Heda."

Lexa was happy to comply.