Vintage // Clexa AU

Chp. 24

Lexa felt the shot before she heard it.

The searing pain burned through her chest. She had been shot.  By the feel of it though, it had clipped her shoulder.

The kickback from the blow threw her to the ground, the wind knocked completely from her lungs. Acid seemed to fill them.

She heard the yelling around her, Bellamy's curses through the sock in his mouth coming in and out of focus.

How could she have been so stupid? She shouldn't have counted. She should've just shot the damn traitor and escaped with Clarke and Murphy.

From behind her, Jake held up his loaded pistol. A fire burned in his eyes so fierce, Lexa felt she was being pierced with them too.

"You really shouldn't have done that. She's not yours to take," he snarled.

Lexa sat up on the ground, her hand pressed against her bleeding shoulder. The blood had seeped through her fingers and through the hole that now presented itself in her leather jacket. "She's not yours either. She doesn't belong to anybody but herself."

"She's MY daughter!" Jake was screaming now. His unhinged behavior made Lexa uneasy, especially with a loaded gun in his hand.

"By blood, yes. That much is true. But Marcus is her father. Her real father." Lexa held her hand up, so as to shield herself from any gunfire that might follow her words.

"How dare y-"

"Maybe, Jake, we both need to accept that neither one of us is good for Clarke. This life isn't for her. You shouldn't want it for her. It never ends well. Not for any of us involved. She'd have a bounty on her head if word got out that she was your daughter. Or even if she was my girlfriend. She'd be a consistent target," Lexa snapped.

He stared at her for a split second, seemingly unable to comprehend her words. "How do I know you're not just trying to throw me off my game?"

"Because I don't care about you. I love Clarke. So let's make a deal. My life for hers. It will ensure she won't end up with me, your mortal enemy. I'll no longer be a threat to you after all of these years. And in exchange, you promise to leave her alone and let her live her life without gang interference."

Jake seemed to consider to weigh his options. He kept shifting his weight from foot to foot, before cocking his pistol. "You have your deal, Lexa Kom Trikru. It pains me to say goodbye to the daughter I just introduced myself to. But you're right. Besides, I have much more to gain with you dead."

Lexa closed her eyes.

Goddammit Clarke, I love you.

The last sound to hit her ears was the sound of her body hitting the floor.

* * *

Outside of the compound, Clarke pushed away from Murphy. "Get your hands off me! We have to go back inside and help her! You heard that gunshot just as well as I did. If it came from Lexa, she would've followed us!"

Murphy shook his head. "Whoa. There's no we involved in any of this. There's me and the rest of the gang. If Lexa's still alive, she'll strip the skin from my bones if she finds out I didn't carry out her order."

"Fuck your orders. Lexa is in danger!"

"Lexa knows what she's getting herself into, Clarke," a voice from behind them said.

Clarke turned around to see Raven, Octavia and Lincoln. They looked at her with pained expressions on their faces. Indra stood close by.

"This is what she signed up to do. If she dies, she has fulfilled her purpose. No leader of these gangs gets out of it alive. There is no resignation. You serve until the end of your life. It is a position bound by blood," Indra spoke again.