Lion's Roar (Clexa)

9. The Grand Finale

"Everybody stop! On the ground, now!"

The door of the tent was thrown open and a tall Asian man in black tactical uniform strode through, pointing a handgun at Kane as he surveyed the room. His eyes scanned the crowd and their faces methodically - he was clearly looking for someone in particular.

A woman entered behind him, her hair dead straight and her expression straight-up deadly. One hand held a gun identical to the man's, the other a shiny black motorcycle helmet.

"Connors, any sign of her?" she asked.

"Not yet." Connors pointed at the woman. "Rossi, you secure the perimeter."

Rossi gave a quick nod and left the tent to do as Connors ordered.

"Griffin, I know you're here. Give yourself up!" he commanded. Silence.

Clarke was still backstage, frozen with fear. Polaris was beside her, tethered with a silver chain. The lion paced anxiously. Should she go out there? Should she surrender?

Kane looked Connors right in the eye. "What do you want with her anyway, you bootlicking James Bond wannabe?"

Connors gave an exasperated sigh. "This girl is harbouring information potentially detrimental to national security. If even a singular foreign agent gets their hands on that data, I can assure you, Ringmaster," - he spat the title as if it was something to be ridiculed - "our country will be at war."

Kane rolled his eyes. "Good to know. But if she is after foreign agents, why in the bloody hell would she join a circus? Not everyone wants to screw over the government all the time, you egotistical nationalistic buffoon. I think it's pretty obvious that she just wants to be left alone."

Connors cocked his gun, pointed it at Kane's head. "Cut the bullshit, where is she?"

Kane was silent.

"She's behind that curtain."

The voice came from above. Ontari was crouched on a trapeze, a sharp manicured finger pointed at the curtain behind the ring.

Connors turned his gun toward the opening. "You'd better be out here in the next five seconds Griffin." he snapped. "Otherwise I'll shoot the ringmaster." Nobody moved. "Four. Three. Two."

The curtain parted and Polaris the lion came bounding out, steel chain trailing behind him, Clarke following with her hands raised in a gesture of polite surrender.

The lion charged across the ring, making a beeline for Connors. The agent's smug confidence turned to disconcerted fear when he laid eyes upon the creature and he whispered tersely into his earpiece. "Rossi, get the hell back here now."

When it became clear the lion was not going to stop, Connors turned and ran back toward the door, but the animal proved too fast. Polaris leapt towards the man and brought his jaws down hard on the arm holding the gun. Connors hastily discharged the weapon, aiming for Clarke but instead firing upwards and narrowly missing Ontari. Taken by surprise, she fell from the trapeze and landed on the floor of the ring in a cloud of dust.

"Don't shoot me you imbecile," screeched the acrobat, "I'm the one who tipped you off!"

By this time the others had flocked to the commotion, and Lexa, Octavia, Lincoln, Jasper, Monty, and Raven stood in the ring. They all craned their necks to glare at Ontari. Sure, she was a bitch - but a traitor of this calibre? Everyone was shocked.

Connors, still struggling to escape Polaris' jaws, fired another shot, this time catching Lexa square in the chest. She fell backwards; there was a scattering of screams and Clarke rushed over to her.