Attention On Me

492 8 1
                                    

"Come on." I mutter as we brush past Bellamy and into the hallway, leaving him in the room as we run towards the exit. We burst through to see O, Abby, and my dad all standing at the entrance. 

"Took you long enough," Octavia huffs as she shuts and locks the side exit door. 

"Mom!" Clarke says, hugging her. I offer my dad a smile in acknowledgment of my leaving. 

"We know what happened. We know what Pike did. Is there anything we can do to prevent a retaliation?" My dad asks, eyeing Octavia and I. 

"We came here to give them Pike." She says, referring to her and Clarke. 

I shake my head as my dad does the same. "The people voted for him, O." I say, making her frown. "They knew what they were getting themselves into."

"We don't kill our own." Abby says, making me roll my eyes. 

"When people like Pike are labeled as 'our own,' I think it voids that moral." I say, pushing past her to hug my dad. "I'm leaving." I say, squeezing him tighter. "Bell knows I'm not on Pike's side."

"It's okay." He murmurs into my hair before leaning back and kissing my temple. "Just do good out there." He says, squeezing me even tighter. "And stay safe, Lee." 

I shut my eyes tightly, reminiscing the hug before pulling away and sniffling away the tears threatening to come. "We'll watch out for each other, dad." I say, offering him a small smile. 

Security breach. 

My eyes widen as the intercom repeats the phrase. 

"You three need to go now." My dad says, pushing us towards the hole in the fence. 

"What about Lincoln?" O voices at the same time as I say, "What about Miloch?" 

"You want to help them, do it from the outside with this." My dad says, handing us a walkie. "The range isn't great – you stay close and wait for me to contact you." He says, sending me a small smile. "Now go." 

And so we do. 

--------------

Being cooped up inside Arkadia for the weeks I've been parading around as Pike's posse has definitely been one of the worst experiences of my life. 

But the feeling of racing through the trees with Clarke and Octavia by my side, albeit under some not-so-desirable circumstances, makes it worth it. 

"We should be coming up on the camp soon." Clarke says as we continue running before we burst through the trees to find a collection of huge tents spanning over the open area. We pause before Clarke grabs my arm and pulls me forward, leaving Octavia to look over the camp. 

We enter the tent, making Indra's eyes widen. 

"I thought for sure you'd be killed for the stunt you pulled back there." She says, walking forward to grasp my forearm with her hand, making me do the same. "I'm glad you weren't." She says, stepping back. 

"Heda." I say, dipping my head. 

"Hello Hailey." She says, her lips curling into a wide smirk. "With all the time you've spent in Arkadia," She stalks towards me, making me cast a glance over to Clarke. "Is there any chance that your boyfriend can be talked down?" She asks, making my nose wrinkle. 

"I left him there." I say, my jaw ticking. "But, maybe." I sigh, making her head tilt. "If Pike is turned over by our people, then the chaos would cease."

She nods, before turning to Clarke. "Clarke, how does this end? What's your opinion?" She asks, her eyes narrowed. 

"I have no positive opinion about my people anymore." She says, glancing at me. "I can't end this. Only you can do that. What happened here was an act of war." She grits, making me nod with a grimace. "Your army was here to help us and my people slaughtered them. You have every right to respond. Every right to wipe us out." She pauses, making me jump in. 

"Or, you can change the way you do things." I say, crossing my arms. "You're used to killing those that kill you, which," my lips turn downward. "I don't oppose, but in this case I do." 

Lexa's eyes narrow. "And why is that?" 

"I'm biased." I say, glancing at Indra. "I did my best for your people that were there to help us and I'm sorry, but I can't let you take revenge on my people." I say, making her eyes narrow. 

"Are you telling me what to do, Hailey?" She asks, angry. 

I shake my head. "I'm imploring you to give us time to get Pike out of there." 

"You consider letting massacre go unavenged a better way?" Lexa asks, taking a step closer to Clarke and I. 

"If it ends a cycle of violence, yes." Clarke inforces, making me bring my gaze to her. "If it brings about peace, yes. Someone has to take the first step. Let it be you." She finishes, pointing at Lexa's chest. 

Lexa watches her for a moment before turning and walking towards her table in the far corner, making Clarke and I follow. 

"You say you want peace," I say, laying my hand on Lexa's shoulder, making her turn to face me. "That everything you've done was to achieve that, yet here we stand on the brink of another war." Her eyes narrow as she watches me. "A war you can stop." I squeeze her shoulder in emphasis as her eyes soften. 

"Commander, you can't seriously be considering this." Indra butts in, her tone cold. 

"I'm not considering it." She says, making me press my lips into a thin line. "I'm doing it." She finishes, making a small smile spread across my lips. 

"Heda, please." Indra pleads from next to me. 

"Indra, our people act as if war is easier than peace. If that's so, should we not try and achieve the more difficult goal?" Lexa says, making me glance at Clarke to find her already watching me. 

My smile grows as she reaches over and grabs my hand, intertwining our fingers. 

"Polis will not support you. Titus-" Indra starts, her voice frantic. 

"Titus is my subject!" Lexa explodes. "They're all my subjects. Do you say they will defy me? Will you defy me?" Her eyes widen in emphasis as she watches her. 

"No, heda." Indra says, her cold eyes finding mine, but I catch a glimmer of admiration in them. 

"Then let it be known." Lexa says, catching my attention. "Blood must not have blood."

------------

a/n

yeah

xoxo

- abigail <33333

RED | Bellamy BlakeWhere stories live. Discover now