THE UNDERGROUND / GXG (The 100)

5

That night Zalia was provided with a room in the tower. She was surprised, to say the least. She thought she was gonna be sleeping in the cells, but it seemed that Lexa was rewarding her for helping at rescuing her people. Two guards were standing outside of the doors. She was still a prisoner, and for the looks of it, she would remain one for a while.

The room was fairly simple. A small bed was in the middle of the room, similar to the one she had back at the underground. Yes, she was the Captain, but they didn't have big beds in the underground. There was also a small window in the room, and a door to what she assumed was the bathroom. With much pain, she managed to make herself a bath. God knows she needed one after such a long day. After she was done, she put on the clothes they had left for her and sat down on the bed. Her thigh hurt badly, but she needed to redo her bandages, so she wrapped a cloth around her wound and laid down. The bed wasn't as comfortable as her bed, but it was more comfortable than the floor. So she was grateful for that.

Zalia closed her eyes and thought about her family. She hadn't had the time to say goodbye to her sister, to her best friend or her mentor. But past her sadness was a comfort. Comfort anchored in that they knew her plan and they knew she probably would be okay and that she would see them again.

***

//6 months ago//

"We're talking about you being captured, Zalia. This is not like any other mission. As soon as you walk into that meeting, you'll be tortured, and you could get killed!" Osias said to her while they were discussing the mission. They were in the Underground Conference Room. Zalia was seated on the chair at the head of the table. Osias was to her right and Marian was to her left, she was typing away on her computer while Osias talked. Zalia's best friend T was there as well, sitting next to Marian, while Echo sat beside Osias. "I know, Osias. And I don't love it. But we've been through this. There's no other way to have peace between us and you know it. I can't just set up a meeting with the Commander. And it's not like I'm gonna win her trust by kidnapping her. Even less her people's trust. We have to make her see she's in control. Let her make the decisions." Zalia said. She knew Osias was worried about her. He has always been worried about her, ever since she became Captain. He has been taking care of her and her sister since their parents died. He taught them everything they knew, and in his mind, Zalia and Marian were still the little girls he took under his wing when his best friend was killed. The girls' father had made him swear he would take care of them, and he was doing as he promised. But ever since Zalia became Captain he couldn't help but worry. It also didn't help that Marian is a general in the underground army as well. So he had double the worry now.

*******

Zalia woke up the next day to the sound of someone knocking on her door. She groaned softly when she felt the pain of her aching muscles. One of the guards opened the door and looked inside. "Gyon op. Heda hod au yu." (Get up. The Commander is waiting for you) he closed the door after that.

When Zalia walked in through the familiar doors of the conference room, Lexa was already there waiting for her. Zalia noticed all of her equipment lined up on the table, her suit and broken helmet along with Gunner's equipment, weapons, and everything. The guards led Zalia to a chair and tied her to it while the Commander watched her with the same stoic expression. Lexa studied Zalia as she walked in, she looked much more relaxed now, she didn't seem guarded like before. That was interesting to Lexa since she was still a prisoner waiting for trial. The swelling of her eye was reducing, Nyko's remedy was working. She noticed that Zalia was walking better, even when she was limping still.

Zalia remained silent while the guards tied her up. "Your information was vital to rescuing our people," Lexa spoke up while she looked at Zalia. She nodded and spoke softly. "Glad I could help," Zalia said before Lexa continued. "And my spies have confirmed that Azgeda has a Natblida. That is why you'll continue to give me information. I don't trust you, but it seems that you're telling the truth." Lexa said while she played with her knife. Zalia noticed that it must be out of habit. "But the moment you stop telling the truth, I will kill you. Get em in?" (Understand?) Zalia nods "Sha, Heda." (Yes, Commander.) she said. "Tell me what are these things you and your people had," Lexa ordered.

"Let's start with my helmet. Many of your people use masks or helmets, but we use them because our eyes are more susceptible to direct sunlight. We live in an underground compound and we don't go outside in broad daylight. We hunt at night and most of our day is spent underground. That causes our eyes to be more sensitive to the light." Zalia saw Lexa grabbing the helmet while she talked about it. She seemed to be very interested in what she was saying. "So the helmet helps with that when I'm gonna go outside during the day. The people that are not warriors use eyewear instead of helmets." Zalia explains. Lexa wanted to ask more questions about their lifestyle, but she decided to wait for Zalia to finish talking about their equipment. "My suit.. those metal rods attached to straps.. that helps me run faster, be stronger, jump higher, and it prevents me to get injuries. Obviously, arrow wounds are not something it can prevent." Lexa noticed a small smile in the corner of Zalia's lips after that sentence. Zalia made that small joke in hopes Lexa would relax a bit. A task that seemed impossible if you were to ask anyone else. But Zalia had hoped she would start trusting her soon enough.

***

"Any news?" Osias asked T, while he walked in the Command Center. Back at the Underground, Osias was serving as the Acting Captain and many people have started to question what was happening. First, their Captain is captured and then a team sent to rescue her haven't returned. So now, Osias was gonna announce to the people that Zalia was doing well and that this was all part of her plan for the Underground to be at peace with the grounders.

"Nothing new, sir," T said to Osias while she prepared the microphone for him to give the announcement. When she was done, T stared at the numerous computer screens in front of her. She was now very familiar with all the screens. But the first time she walked in, the whole room was overwhelming for her. The lights were not that bright, which caused the place to feel more secret and mysterious. A long desk with numerous chairs was in front of the main wall, which was covered in computer screens and monitors. That place was the brain of every mission. In that room, the past Captain decided to kill the Commander before Lexa. There, the past leaders formulated the plan to stop the great war between Trikru and Azgeda. And in that same room, Zalia decided to assassinate Queen Nia just after she became Captain.

As Osias prepared to give the announcement to the people, he thought about the words Zalia said to him when they were going over the plan. 'Make them feel peace. Make sure they know that I know what I'm doing. Make sure they don't think bad of the grounders.' He repeated that in his head over and over again before he started speaking through the microphone.

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