Who We Are [Bellamy Blake]

Chapter 54

Athena slipped through the hoard of warriors, all ready to fight, but waiting for the signal. By now, Athena knew that Bellamy had to be close to figuring out how to turn them off. She had heard only silence from the radio, but he had warned her about using it in case they were being listened to, and their plans would be foiled. Worse, Bellamy would be discovered, caught, and probably shot on sight. She slid the gun into the back of her pants and walked into Lexa's tent; it was small, as they had only moved closer to the acid fog's reach recently, and Lexa didn't need the luxuries that she had back down when it was a simple matter of creating a truce. Now it was war, and in war, luxury was surviving.

"I heard there was a missile launched at Tondc." Athena started, staring at Lexa's brown hair.

The commander didn't turn when she spoke, "We knew of its arrival, so we slipped out before it could kill us."

"How many died?" Athena didn't care about the numbers, not really. She knew what needed to be done in war.

"Many. And I fear that too many of the Sky People believe that this decision I made was evil."

"You kept Bellamy alive by not telling anyone." Athena knew, Aslan had told her what had happened, his thoughts on it, how he thought it the right call. Athena agreed; she knew more about sacrifices than most.

"And you're back." Lexa finally turned.

Athena didn't say anything about Lincoln, it was not her place. "We were caught, but there is more help inside than we expected."

"Tell me."

"Not everyone in Mount Weather wants to use our blood, or the Sky People's."

"Would they negotiate?"

"I do not know." Athena didn't want to negotiate with them after what they had done, "I'd rather them all dead than the leaders alive."

"Have you reconsidered my offer?"

"Yes." Athena stated, "I will be your temporary second. After all this is over, whether or not I go back to the mountain is a decision I must face."

"The boy would not be enough to keep you here?"

"Bellamy." Athena corrected, disliking Lexa's word of choice. "Bellamy will influence that decision, but all I know is the mountains."

"All you know is war, and hardship."

"So tell me," Athena steadied her gaze on Lexa's, as if they met in the middle as a physical thing. "Would there be more war down here? Three conflicting groups that are constantly on edge, hardly anything pulling the two together. How long do you truly think this alliance will last? I may know hardship on the mountain, but war is only down here."

Something flashed in Lexa's eyes. "The alliance is fragile, I will admit it, but I do not think once Mount Weather is abolished there will be any issues."

Athena sensed a lie, but nodded, understanding that sometimes leaders had to keep secrets, even from their temporary seconds. "My decision to stay will be made after this is over."

"I hope you stay. I know you love the mountains, though I don't understand why."

"Those who were not born in the cold will never understand it." Athena knew this to be a true fact, as no one ever moved up to the Ice Clan, only temporarily to increase their training. You either died up there, or you left. No one ever stayed, except those who learned the chill before they were even born.

"We march as soon as Bellamy contacts us." Lexa changed the topic, not going to argue an Ice Clan member about the dreadful lifestyle of the Ice Clans. "Raven will be the first to know."

Athena pursed her lips together; perhaps he had a safer way of contacting Raven than he had with her. She turned and left the tent, this time as Lexa's second. She scanned the crowds for some familiar faces, and decided that it was in her best interest to check on Leia. She had insisted that she come along, even though she needed someone to help her walk. She wouldn't be going into the battle, but she was an asset as she knew some of the ins and outs of Mount Weather, just as Clarke and Athena did as well.

She knocked on the wooden beam of the medical tent, and waited, but heard nothing. Opening the flap, she ducked her head and stepped in. Her eyes studied the frame of the man before her, and a devious little smile crept onto her lip. Before Aslan turned, Athena wiped it from her face, even though he would have been able to appreciate it. He was one of the few people who got her to smile, Bellamy was inching upwards on that list now, and would soon bypass Aslan, she suspected. In her mind, the decision to go back to the mountain with Aslan lingered, but it was not Aslan she wanted to be with anymore.

"She's asleep." Aslan stated.

"And you were just watching over her?"

Aslan grinned, his white teeth flashing. "We have both lost our mates."

"I am not lost." Athena said, but she understood what he meant. "She will be good for you."

"Yes." He walked out of the tent beside Athena and looked up at the bright sky. "The wait is killing me."

Athena pulled the small radio from her hands and looked at it; it was on, but whenever she channeled it to the right station, it was just static. There was an anxious feeling in her stomach; he was pushing his limits in there, and Mount Weather had to at least begin to suspect something. If they were paranoid before, they would be more so now. They would be looking for people, they would be trying to take them marrow from the forty-eight as quickly as possible. If they were going to have a war, they would want to come out on top, as every side hoped they would. But with their eyes not knowing where to look, they might not be thinking rationally.

It was her only hope that Bellamy was still completing his task, still wandering Mount Weather with no one suspecting him. Although it was a foolish hope, she held on to it. Glancing up the tall and ominous mountain, Athena breathed in the fresh air. Time was ticking, war was coming.

Could hardly get out of bed today, but I still managed to crank a chapter out. Now, off to work, and then after work, off to work. Also, Lynn Collins is Leia.