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Bellamy POV

Clarke's small, warm hands were on either side of my face. They were gentle, and a stark contrast to her firm kiss. The shock wore off quickly, and I wrapped my arms back around her waist with renewed energy, clutching her to me as tightly as possible. One of Clarke's hands moved up, twisting into my hair as she pushed up on her toes to kiss me harder. I moved one of my hands up to cup the back of her neck, to hold her in place. I couldn't get close enough to her. We had been dancing around each other for too long; I couldn't believe this was finally happening.

"Hey, do you think I could take some m-" Grace's voice floating back into the room had us jumping apart. She was at the door, eyes and mouth wide with shock, face turning pink with a blush. "Never mind...carry on," she said with a light giggle and a smirk as she spun on her heel and trekked back into the hallway.

"Grace, wait!" Clarke called, eyes flickering uncertainly to me and back to the empty doorway just as quickly. Her hand that had a moment ago been tangled in my hair swung awkwardly through the air, moving back and forth several times through nothing before falling to her side. Grace cautiously peeked her head around the door. "What did you want to take with you?"

"A med kit, if you have one to spare," she said as she stepped back inside. Her sly eyes slid over to me as she continued to smirk in an annoying, satisfied way. I dropped my gaze from hers quickly and tried to focus on something - anything - else.

"Lots of injuries?" Clarke asked as she walked over to a cabinet and began rummaging inside. She had to be purposefully avoiding Grace's face, or she wasn't nearly as embarrassed as I was being caught making out in medical by our kid.

"A few," Grace answered vaguely. "I used most of my gauze and sterilizing wipes."

Clarke pulled down a box and grabbed a large med kit to hand over to Grace. They smiled at each other.

"Thanks," Grace said as she headed back to the door. She turned around to look at Clarke halfway there and rushed back over to throw her arms around her in a fierce hug. Clarke's eyes widened over her shoulder in surprise and I held back the chuckle I felt in my chest. "Based on the rate that we're traveling, we should be back in less than a week," she said as she pulled away. She started for the door.

"Wait up," I called. I looked at Clarke and she smiled tightly with a reassuring nod. I could tell she didn't want me to go, and after that kiss, the bigger part of me wanted to stay. But I felt responsible for Grace and Octavia's safety, and so I crossed med bay to the door and smiled. "I'm coming with you," I explained.

Grace blinked once, understanding on her face after her gaze flickered from Clarke and back to me. She nodded, and we left Clarke in med bay to find Roan and Echo.

They were saddling the horses just as dawn was breaking above the trees. Most of the sky was still dark blue, but above the forest there were spots of purple and streaks of pink.

"What are you doing here?" Echo asked me coldly. I didn't expect a lot of warmth, but the frosty look she threw my way didn't say much for the time we spent beside each other in cages. I shook the memory of the mountain from my thoughts before it could cloud my mind.

"Coming with us," Grace answered for me. She handed the med kit to Roan and he shoved it roughly into one of the saddle bags, trying to make it fit. He grunted.

"You know how to ride?" he asked as he secured the flap over the protruding med kit.

"No," I answered honestly.

"You ride with Echo," he decided. He folded his fingers together and stooped to give Grace a leg up onto the horse. She struggled a bit with her injured arm, and Roan made sure she was balanced and steady in the saddle. He followed her up easily, hoisting himself with the stirrup and swinging his leg over gracefully. Roan grabbed the reins around Grace and directed the horse towards the front gate.

"Come on," Echo said from above, already mounted and clutching the reins. She offered me a hand - nothing more - and I took it to balance and haul myself up behind her. Straddling the horse was unfamiliar and uncomfortable. Echo nudged the animal forward, causing me to slide to the side with inexperience. Before I could fall, she grabbed my arm, adjusted me back up, and placed my hands at her waist. "Try not to fall off," she grumped as the horse followed Roan's.

Outside the gates, Echo and Roan urged the horses faster, and the wind whipped against my face as we moved through the slowly waking forest.

The sun was well above the horizon when we veered off the trail and the horses slowed to pick their way across a rougher terrain. Every step seemed to shift me from one side to another, and Echo offered guidance on improving my balance with posture. It was just about noon when we saw smoke in the distance - a campfire.

Echo was as graceful as ever sliding down from the horse. I followed with considerably less care to my movements, nearly landing in a heap. My thighs felt like jelly.

Lincoln had appeared to help Roan get Grace down. Roan helped her swing her leg over the side of the horse and then held her under her left arm as Lincoln grabbed her waist and eased her down. She winced, but offered Lincoln a smile once she was safely down.

"Bellamy?" Octavia called in disbelief. I turned to the sound of her voice just in time to catch her in a welcoming hug. "What are you doing here?" I shrugged noncommittally in answer; I didn't want to hurt her feelings and suggest that I had come to protect Grace.

"Bellamy!" Monty called in relief. His worried eyes found mine. "Thank god you're here."

"What's going on?" I asked. Monty crowded closer to Octavia and me, pitching his voice low.

"Pike has farm station riled up and ready to fight the grounders. Grace..." he trailed off, finding her a short distance away, unloading her med kit from Roan's horse with one hand. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, Jackson got the bullet out. She'll be fine," I reassured him, clapping him on the shoulder. He nodded and let out a relieved breath.

"It's good you're here," Octavia said. "Pike's not too keen to listen to us. And he didn't give Grace much of a chance before he shot."

"Where is he?" I asked, searching the camp openly. We were by the makeshift stables, it seemed. Horses were tied to low hanging tree branches and there were troughs of water and bales of hay. To the right, there were tents pitched. In the center, there was a large fire with a slain animal roasting over it. To the left, there were several warriors that looked to be guarding the rover.

Monty and Octavia led me near the rover, where Grace and Roan had joined Lexa and Indra. Indra stood back, watching with Roan as Grace and Lexa spoke in low voices, looking at the warriors and the guarded vehicle often.

"Bellamy," Lexa greeted me. Her face didn't change from its usual calm mask, but she did offer me a welcoming nod. I returned the gesture. "Bring out the prisoner," she said to the guards.

The guards stepped aside, opened the back of the rover, and pulled a man out. His hands were bound in front of him, as were his feet, and he was gagged. I winced at the treatment before remembering this was the man that had shot my daughter. He wasn't the gentle teacher I remembered from the Ark.

Pike's eyes widened a bit in recognition as Lexa nodded for the gag to be removed.

"Bellamy Blake?" he asked in surprise.

"Pike," I nodded. "What's going on?"

"What's going on is these savages are claiming we're on the same side now," Pike grit out, eyes flashing angrily.

"Well they're not savages," I began, not liking the taste of that word in my mouth. Grace's love of and devotion to the grounders had changed my view of them considerably, as had my time in Polis. I saw them more as allies and friends than the foes that had killed us at the dropship and left us at the mountain. "And we are on the same side. There's a wave of radiation coming and it's going to wipe us all out if we don't work together."

Pike's disgust was clear on his face.

"You're just as brainwashed as the rest of them!" he claimed.

"I'm not brainwashed. Chancellor Kane has joined our forces with theirs."

"We march together now," Lexa said coldly, eyes narrowed beneath the war paint. Her chin was tilted at that regal angle she excelled at, which only fueled Pike's animosity.

"This can't be," Pike muttered darkly.

"Well it is," I said shortly, reaching the end of my fuse. "We'd like to bring you back to Arkadia, but we can't take you there if you're a threat to our people."

"I'm not a threat to the people of the Ark," Pike said carefully.

"Then why did you shoot my daughter?" I asked him plainly, feeling my protective instincts start to swell. I stepped closer to Grace and a bit in front of her to shield her. Pike looked from her face to mine a few times.

"Daughter?" he demanded. "That's the least believable thing I've heard since we got here."

"It's true," Octavia supplied from my side. "She's from the future. It's how we know about the death wave; it's how we knew about you and the rest of farm station."

"The rest of farm station?" Pike asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"They were in Ice Nation, but Miller got them back to Arkadia," I explained. "About thirty of them."

"That's impossible, we've been in contact with our camp."

"Not your group. There's another group," Monty told Pike impatiently.

"Enough of this," Lexa commanded, voice rising over ours. Everyone instantly quieted, looking to the Commander. "He's not seeing reason, and we don't have time for this. He joins or he dies." She looked to Grace, and I processed quickly that Grace was considered our leader out here, and the decision would fall to her. Grace's face was a stony mask that reminded me too much of Lexa's leader face. I checked her hands at her sides, searching for the shaking or the clenched fists. As I focused on them, they trembled just slightly, reassuring me that underneath that facade, my Grace was still in there.

"I need a minute," she said to Lexa, offering no other excuse. Her hand shot up and locked around my wrist to tow me away, under the thick canopy of trees and out of earshot of the grounders. Octavia and Monty followed, concerned.

"What is it?" I asked her when she released me. Her bright blue eyes widened as she looked up at me. She looked so innocent and uncertain, and my heart faltered. I couldn't fail her.

"I can't make this decision," she stated. The words were slow coming out, emphasizing her hesitance.

"Why not?" Octavia asked pragmatically.

"I'm biased," she offered with an uncomfortable shrug. She moved to grab her right arm with her left and winced slightly when the movement jostled her shoulder.

"Biased?" Octavia prompted. Grace sighed softly.

"I know what he's capable of. I know what he did in another time. I don't like him, I'm biased towards him, so I don't think I should make that call."

"What do you mean?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips at her cryptic explanation. The gesture always seemed to make me feel more in control, and I leaned on it now, needing every bit of confidence I could muster. We didn't have time for her to vaguely reference her time. Grace raked her hand roughly through her curls and braids, fingers snagging briefly in the tangled mess around her neck.

"Pike was the villain in a lot of the stories you and mom told me. He killed Lincoln and he convinced you to kill 300 grounders that were meant to protect Arkadia. Look, he's done bad things and he's not a good person in my mind, but none of that has happened here, so I don't think I should decide if he lives or dies."

"Grace?" Lexa interrupted quietly. She was just a few feet away. With a lingering look at my face, Grace went obediently to Lexa's side and I strained to hear their voices.

"...did those things, he's not trustworthy..."

"I can't...my decision...Kane..."

"...guarantee...not a danger..."

"I...know..."

"He shot you. He's a danger to us all."

Lexa turned and walked back to where the guards were with Pike. Grace squared her shoulders and followed. Octavia, Monty, and I hurried behind her to see what would happen. When the tittering voices died down, Grace made her declaration.

"He dies," Grace said decisively. Pike's mouth dropped. Grace's hands were still.

"By your hand," Lexa said, gesturing to a guard. He handed Grace a long blade and she walked over to Pike calmly. Another guard shoved him down on his knees.

"Any last words?" Grace asked politely. Pike glared at her.

"None for you."

"Yu gonplei ste odon," Grace said softly as she slid the knife into his neck calmly. Dark red blood ran out, covering her hand and the grass beneath them. Pike slumped, gurgled, and fell over.

Grace handed the knife back to the guard and walked past Lexa, Indra, Roan, and Echo to a tent on the other side of the camp. Lexa's green eyes found mine.

My thoughts swirled with uncertainty. Grace - my sweet, kind daughter - had just killed a man and barely batted an eye. A man that she desperately didn't want to pass judgment on. Part of me blamed Lexa for Grace's sudden change in demeanor, but I ran through the conversation with her again. The villain in the stories...killed Lincoln...convinced you to kill 300...not a good person. It was a bad situation. There didn't seem to be a right answer - if Grace hadn't killed him, he could have ended up doing what he did in her time or worse. But with him dead, we would never know, it didn't promise the rest of his group's cooperation, and it was something Grace was going to have to carry with her for the rest of her life.

Had Lexa pushed her too far? I wasn't sure. Lexa and Grace seemed to have a connection, even a friendship of some kind. And Grace did look up to her and looked to her for direction, but I knew for a fact that Grace did what she wanted.

I ran a hand through my hair in frustration and followed Grace over to the tent she had entered.

"Hey," I said as I walked in. She was crouched down, rifling through a bag.

"Hey," she answered. Her voice was even, steady. She didn't seem like someone who had just killed a man. She pulled out a clean shirt from the bag. "Could you turn around?" she asked. I obeyed, and heard her begin to struggle to get out of her bloody, torn shirt and into the fresh one. It was several minutes before she gave me the okay.

"Are you okay?" I asked her gently, craning my neck and attempting to make eye contact. She was avoiding my efforts, shoving the dirty shirt into a different pocket of her bag and zipping it up. She stood and looked at me, revealing her face - it was already different. There was a tightness to her features that hadn't been there before. A little bit of that innocence and uncertainty was gone - likely never to be seen again. And in that moment she looked more like her mother than ever before - because she looked like Clarke did after the Mountain, and that was something I hoped I would never see on her face.

"My shoulder is a little stiff, but that's expected."

"Not your shoulder," I said, trying to curb the frustration in my tone. She and Clarke both had a knack for avoiding topics they didn't want to discuss. "The thing with Pike-"

"I'm fine," she cut me off quickly. Her blue eyes flashed in annoyance and she strode out of the tent. I hesitated for a beat before heading out after her again, determined to have the conversation.

She had disappeared in the commotion of the camp. The warriors were following directions that Indra was giving; some were saddling horses and mounting while others were attaching large carts to the horses. Echo watched from in front of a large tent, eyes steely and staring forward. I crossed over to her, taking a deep breath to shake the unfinished conversation off.

"Where are they going?" I asked briskly, attempting to inject the same cold indifference she spoke to me with in my tone. She gave me a considering glance before returning her eyes to the departing party.

"There's one of your storage places just past the hill. They're going to raid it before we head to the next one." Echo paused, still staring forward, but her voice defrosted just the smallest bit. "She made the right decision." I folded my arms over my chest, not sure I wanted to hear this from her in particular. "You didn't see what happened. Perhaps if you did you would understand."

"He shot her," I said simply. I knew the story, and I didn't want to hear Echo defending anyone. It didn't suit her.

"She was trying to talk him down. We were ready to subdue him, but she wanted to speak to him. She spoke of you. He didn't listen, and he aimed for the Commander. She knocked the king to the ground and pushed the Commander out of the way. He could have killed them. He could have killed her." Echo's gaze was heavy, even as I watched the warriors and avoided eye contact. "She's brave."

I didn't need Echo to tell me Grace was brave; I already knew she had inherited that trait from Clarke.

"Bell!" Octavia called, nearing with Lincoln. Her face was determined, and I decided she probably had orders or a mission. "I'm going with the group to the depot. I have to show them some of what we're looking for. Lincoln is staying to look after Grace." I nodded. Lincoln took a spot beside me in front of the tent, and it dawned on me that Grace must be inside, with Roan if Echo's presence was anything to go on. Octavia jogged over to her horse and hopped on to lead the group out of camp. Lincoln shifted beside me.

"Octavia said that man killed me where Grace is from," he said in a low voice. I nodded once, tightly, not sure what else to say to that. Lincoln opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by Roan striding out of the tent. He threw an unconcerned look our way before striding off, Echo following.

Lexa and Grace emerged then. Grace ahead of Lexa, and seemingly in the middle of a discussion if Lexa's irritation was anything to go off of. A small swell of amusement filled my chest - she wasn't just running out of my conversations. Grace looked surprised to find both Lincoln and myself waiting outside of the tent, and she shook her head briefly before hurrying across the camp to Monty's side at the rover. Lexa eyed Lincoln and me, focusing on Lincoln as she jerked her head in Grace's direction. Lincoln sauntered off after his charge, showing he didn't need her reminder as I bit back a smirk.

Lexa stood beside me and looked out over the camp with me. We didn't look at each other, but we didn't have to.

"She's going to be fine."

"I certainly hope so," I snipped. "Considering you're the one who pushed her to do it."

"I offered an opinion," Lexa said smoothly. "I'm entitled to that, as leader of the Coalition." I made a noise in the back of my throat, one of agreement.

"Yeah," I said. "But you know that she listens to you."

"Do you know what she said to me, just now?" Lexa asked. Her tone had changed, it was more admiration than critical. "I'll bear it, so he doesn't have to."

Clarke said that at Mount Weather, right before we pulled the lever together. It was the mantra that got her through the worst day of our lives - through the worst time in our lives, if I was being honest. She had come out of the mountain with that phrase, and used it through the whole damn war.

"It seems that she doesn't just listen to me," Lexa said softly, disappearing back inside the tent.