Chapter Text
You've got feathers, I've got skin
But both our outsides hold us in
You say quack and I'll say neigh
But we're talking either way
You're born to swim and me to spin
But we both love this world we're in
We share the sun, the Earth, the sky
And that's the reason why
We've all got lots in common where it really counts
Where it really counts, we've got large amounts
What we look like doesn't count an ounce
We've got lots in common where it really counts
-Irwin Kostal & Debbie Reynolds, We've Got Lots in Common (Charlotte's Web)
"Daddy, can I see your scar?" Madi asked, walking backwards with her hat sliding down over her eyes.
Finn chuckled from the wheelchair the hospital required for discharge as a transport tech pushed him alongside Fox. "When we do bandage change, okay?"
"I bet it's super cool," Madi guessed as Niylah reached out and adjusted her hat for her.
"It is," Lexa assured her. "Your dad is incredibly brave."
"Suuuuperdad," Madi cried, running ahead with one arm extended like she was flying. "Supermom! Super--um.." She paused. "Everyone else sounds dumb with 'super'."
"Superfox sounds like a cartoon," Niylah teased, and Fox made a face.
"Pass on the superhero time slot. I actually like the fact that I've never been blown up or shot, because it makes me sound like less of a crazy person when I tell people my lore," Fox remarked, then paused and glanced between each of their faces, wincing. "Sorry."
Lexa snickered as she unlocked her car, opening the passenger side door and gesturing the transport tech to steer Finn her way.
"There is no need to apologize for stating accuracies," she advised Fox, whose shoulders relaxed slightly.
Madi pushed at the back tire with her foot, drumming her fingers on the bumper. "You know, some kids get to write essays about family vacations. Instead of family explosions and being on the lam."
They all looked at her, and she quickly lowered her eyes to the ground with an awkward shrug. "Just saying. Maybe we can go to Disney or something next time."
Above her head, Clarke and Finn exchanged a glance, and Clarke cleared her throat. "We can definitely chat about Disney. Just not today, okay, Mads?"
Madi leaned on the car a little, watching as Fox and the tech helped Finn into the car with a little bit of a frown. "Well. Can we... go to the diner, then? Today, I mean? All of us, together, like we are now?"
Clarke briefly studied the sort of desperate expression on her daughter's face and her increasingly anxious body language, then glanced around and quickly met each of the other adults' eyes in turn, starting with Finn's already nodding head.
"Sure," she replied with a nod of her own. "Okay, let's go get Daddy some real food, yeah?"
"Sounds good to me," Fox replied as she gave Finn a kiss on the cheek.
Clarke opened the back door for Fox as Madi climbed in the other side. "Niylah, can I grab shotgun?"
"Only if you don't call it that," Niylah replied easily, unlocking her door. "Like, ever again."
"I can't believe you finally caved," Clarke informed her as the tech left with the wheelchair. "Miss, I'll never ever own a car in DC. My, how the mighty have fallen. How does that crow taste?"
"Tastes a little bit like you being a bitch," Niylah shrugged. "Since you so irresponsibly went and got your car blown up, and we all know you have such an addictive personality, I thought it was time for us to divide our assets. I'd prefer to stay a member of the shot but not blown up level of the club, if you don't mind."
Clarke smirked as she climbed into Niylah's passenger seat. "Coward."
"Yes," Niylah concurred, joining Clarke in her new SmartCar. "Besides. This thing is barely a car, anyway. It's kind of just an electronic shoebox."
"And now it's full of clowns," Finn added with a playful grin, prompting Madi to giggle in the backseat, and Lexa as she started the ignition.
♾️
"How are you feeling?" Fox asked Lexa once they'd gotten their drinks, one hand fumbling lightly with the hospital bracelet Finn still wore.
Lexa glanced up from the placemat and around the table briefly before realizing Fox meant her. "Oh. I suppose.. Well enough, considering Agent Monroe's funeral was yesterday. Thank you for asking."
Fox glanced a little nervously to Finn, who cleared his throat a little. "Was the, uh, service.. nice?"
Lexa shrugged a little. "It was quite loud. I think I would have preferred to continue to mourn Agent Monroe independently."
"Marine funeral honors," Clarke explained. "The President authorized the firing of three rifle volleys."
"There were seven guards," Madi volunteered. "So they fired twenty-one shots. But it wasn't the same as a 21 gun salute, because I asked Mom, and she said it wasn't. But I think it is."
"I concur. Twenty one bullets is as loud as twenty one bullets," Lexa replied.
"So, Dr. Woods," Niylah began, emptying her fifth packet of sugar into her coffee. "What are your plans now? I mean, OSHA probably has a few issues with the Arkadian at the moment."
"Mm," Lexa agreed, nodding a little. "Well, I actually received an offer from my alma mater to--"
"Who had the steak and eggs?" their server asked as he appeared; and for the next few minutes, they sorted their orders while Clarke stole worried glances at Lexa.
When the server had left once more, Clarke immediately looked at Lexa. "Your alma mater is Northwestern. That's in Illinois."
"Yes," Lexa agreed, and Niylah bit her lip as Madi set her cup down a little loudly.
"You're leaving us again?" she asked in dismay, her face darkening quickly. "Already? I thought we were finally gonna get to be a family," she continued, her voice growing rapidly in pitch as Fox reached out to touch her shoulder. She shrugged away violently, addressing Lexa accusingly, "You lied. You said we would get to spend way more time together now, and we aren't going to spend any time together at all because you're going to Illinois!"
"I turned the position down," Lexa responded easily, and every head at the table turned towards her in sync. "I spent much time comparing my options, and given my considerable financial wealth, my preference for work at the Arkadian specifically, and the excessive amount of trauma I have experienced the past few years, I have decided to take a semi-sabbatical. A real one. A uh," she paused, glancing briefly to Finn. "A staycation, so to speak."
"What?" Clarke's eyes widened a little, and Madi was simply staring in disbelief. "Seriously, Bones? You're gonna like, retire early? Temporarily, I mean."
"No," Lexa replied a little sharply. "I am far too young to refer to this as retirement, and I do intend to work. I will be consulting with the far less impressive lab at Quantico on a freelance basis, while I work on my next book."
"Bones," Clarke began. "That's great. Better than great, actually. Because Finn and I were talking about it.."
She paused, glancing at Finn, who considered it briefly, then nodded.
"And we thought, actually, the same thing Madi did. That a family vacation of some kind--not necessarily Disney--was overdue," Clarke glanced to Madi then, who had turned her look of disbelief on her mother instead. "So maybe you come with us, Bones."
Lexa blinked, searching Clarke's face first, then Finn's. "Are you serious?"
"Or delirious?" Madi breathed reverently. "Fox, you're coming too, right?"
Fox gestured at her in an 'are you kidding' sort of a way. "Obviously. I'm not missing out on any more adventures."
Madi looked to Niylah next, who paused mid-sip to ask, "What?"
Madi sighed heavily. "Auntie Lala.."
Niylah smirked as she set her cup down. "Yeah, of course I'm in. You owe me a decent vacation, anyway," she informed Clarke. "Paris sucked."
"It really did," Madi agreed, then looked at Lexa and gave her the most pathetic puppy dog eyes she could manage. "Bones, you can't be the only one not going. You have to go. We can all be really good, and let you work on your book and stuff, so you could still come with us."
Lexa paused before softly replying, "That would align well with the same new priorities I've settled on that led me to decline the offer at Northwestern."
"What priorities are those?" Madi asked before stuffing a spoonful of couscous into her mouth.
"Like remembering presents I meant to give you weeks ago," Lexa shrugged and reached into the pocket of her bag, removing a small box and setting it in front of Madi's plate. Madi looked at her curiously as she retrieved it and opened it, her eyes suddenly growing wide when she realized what it was.
"Are you serious or delirious?" she gasped. "Look, you guys! Bones got me a real scorpion from Egypt!"
Clarke looked vaguely worried until she leaned over to see the professionally mounted creature.
"Oh, wow. Bones. That's beautiful," she breathed. "They must've had a hell of a gift shop in town."
Lexa blushed a little, ducking her head a bit as Fox obediently took the box from Madi, looking at it in awe. "Er, thank you. Actually, I preserved the specimen myself, shortly after I found the specimen biting me," she told Madi, who looked even more enchanted as Niylah handed the scorpion back to her.
She gazed at it, still fascinated as she asked, "You really made this yourself?"
"The slide part, at least. Billions of years of evolution is primarily responsible for creating the scorpion itself," she amended.
"Yeah, but then you slayed it for vengeance, and made it even prettier than evolution did," Madi countered, stuffing a wad of fries in her mouth as she continued inspecting the item lovingly. "All for me. Thanks, Bones."
Lexa smiled contentedly as Clarke rested her head on her shoulder gently. "You're welcome, Madi."
"This is the best day of my life," Madi announced, stealing one of Clarke's fries. "I get couscous, and a pet scorpion named Khaleesi, and a family trip, and a whole big family to go on it. Maybe we can invite Echo and Special Agent Blake, since Murphy and Raven probably don't wanna go on a trip right now. But more family is better, right, Mom?"
"Exactly right, Madi. More family is better, even if they can't be with you sometimes," Clarke easily replied as she nudged Finn a little bit.
Now? he mouthed at her, and she nodded sternly. He sighed heavily and bit his lip before leaning forward on the table in Madi's direction.
"You know, uh, Madi, if you're up to it, you know, I'd really like to tell you about another family member I think you would've liked," Finn began nervously, rummaging in his pocket and retrieving his wallet. Beneath the table, Fox rested her hand comfortingly on his leg as Niylah gave him a firm nod of approval. Beside the urging gesture of Lexa's hand, Clarke reached out to pat his back reassuringly as he held the photo of himself and Huck out to Madi.
"This is my little brother. Your Uncle Huck. He um.. He loved riding horses, too," Finn began, watching as Madi took the photo with the same gentle reverence she'd held the little scorpion with.
"He looks like me," she noted with surprise.
"Yeah," Finn agreed softly, gazing at his daughter affectionately. "He does, doesn't he?"
♾️
Echo woke up screaming aloud again, and Bellamy startled awake instantly, reaching out to cup her cheek as she gasped into the dark.
"Hey," he said softly. "You're safe, Echo. Breathe; it's okay. Breathe with me."
Her eyes closed and she gulped in a breath, letting it out a shaky sort of sob. Bellamy slid closer as she shifted towards him, taking another slow, shaky breath. He wrapped his arms around her as she curled into his chest, and kissed her head softly as she let out a soft whimper of frustration.
"The duct?" he guessed softly, and she just nodded silently as she held onto him a little tighter.
"I landed on Raven this time," she murmured after a moment. "It was my fault, her leg; not Rome's. We both just.. died there."
Bellamy kissed her forehead softly, rubbing her side lightly as Tigger leapt onto the bed to join them. "It's not your fault. Not what happened to Raven or what happened to you."
Echo scowled a little, but reached out to scratch Tigger's head as she replied quietly, "I should have told Hope to take her back. If I hadn't let them sneak in.."
"Whatever happened, happened, Echo," Blake interrupted gently, combing his fingers through her hair soothingly. "We didn't have control over the situation we were put in, and we all did the best we could. If you want to blame someone, blame me. I should never have let you go off alone in a disaster area. I know better."
"Like you could've stopped me," she murmured, burying her face deeper into the safety of his neck as Tigger curled up on the pillow above their heads.
Blake sighed, drawing his nails lazily up and down her back as he felt her relaxing against him. "I know. But I could've tried a little harder to talk you out of it, right?"
"No point," she replied, her pounding heart finally beginning to return to a reasonable rate; despite her latest nightmare playing on a loop behind her eyes. "You would've just aggravated me, and we would've argued again, and then everything that happened after would have been even worse, because the last thing we did was fight."
He reached up and gently traced one reverent fingertip across her brow, her cheek, and drew it down the bridge of her nose to her lips like he was drawing her, his voice soft but solemn as he advised her, "You're the most amazing human being I've ever known. I am just constantly in awe of you."
"I know," Echo replied softly from his chest; but her heart clearly wasn't in it.
♾️
"Bones?" Clarke's voice echoed from the bedroom, and she sounded terrified. "What the hell is this? Why is this happening?"
"Clarke?" Lexa frowned, setting her cup down and heading towards the room. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, jesus. Everything."
Lexa sped up as she came through the door, her heart pounding with fear. She stopped when she saw Clarke standing in front of her dresser with her hands pressed to her cheeks and a look of absolute devastation on her face.
"Clarke," she sighed, realizing what the issue was.
"No," Clarke turned and pointed at her.
"No, I will put up with so much as your partner, Bones. So much. I'll walk through fire for you, break the law for you, I'll fight a dragon for you, I will go outside into nature for you! I'll even still watch shit with you, even though you either talk or have your tongue in my ear the whole time, and as a direct result of that, I haven't finished a piece of media since before Susan Lucci had an Emmy. But I will absolutely not sleep in a room with the world's worst art installation," Clarke pleaded a little desperately. "I would do anything for love, Bones, but I won't do this."
Lexa sighed heavily as she obediently retrieved the articulated and mounted limb, carefully carrying it to the door. "You are overly dramatic, Clarke. You've never had objections to being in the same room as Raven's leg before."
Clarke whined a little as she followed her down the hallway. "When it was attached to her, Bones. I don't just hang out with people's legs when they aren't even present; so while I'm genuinely terrified to ask this, I unfortunately need to know.. why are you doing it?"
Lexa very carefully set the piece on her kitchen table, and Clarke blanched as she replied, "Well. Raven is not thinking clearly right now, which is understandable. Presumably, she will be able to heal to some degree eventually, and when she does, she may wish she had made different choices right now. I am.." She paused, then gestured a little helplessly at the macabre art. "Attempting to allow her to reconsider some of those choices in the future, where possible."
Clarke tilted her head a little, confused. "I'm sorry, Bones. I don't know what that means."
Lexa turned and leaned back against the table a bit so she was facing Clarke. "If they had not been able to reattach the piece of my parietal that Ontari removed from my skull, I would have preferred to keep it, rather than dispose of it, because it is a part of me. So I requested the surgeon keep the limb after her surgery."
She paused for a breath and to gauge Clarke's expression before continuing, "Raven claimed she didn't care what happened to it, but she was in crisis when it was asked. Someday, she may regret that choice and will allow me to give it back to her. And if not, it seems more appropriate that a discarded piece of Raven should remain with someone who values the entirety of Raven, rather than with medical waste, which no one values."
"C'mere," Clarke moved closer then, reaching out and taking her hand, guiding Lexa into her arms gently. "You're a good egg, Bones. She just needs time, and you know all about that, right?" she asked, but gently.
"Yes," Lexa bit her lip, letting Clarke embrace her and resting her head on her shoulders. "Did it hurt for you, like this? When I made you wait to love me, as well?"
Clarke rubbed her back comfortingly, holding her as close as possible as she murmured into her hair, "Just because you couldn't let me show you yet, doesn't mean I wasn't loving you. I loved you way before you agreed to it, Bones; I couldn't have helped it. I think maybe I loved you before we ever even met," she admitted softly.
Lexa held her tighter, her voice small. "That's impossible, Clarke."
"Nothing's impossible for us," Clarke disagreed, pressing her lips to the top of Lexa's head softly as she swore, "You and me? We can do anything. Face anything that comes. We can.. get lost, and find each other again. We can do it over and over if we have to, a million different ways in a million different lifetimes. I'll always find you, Lexa; no matter what. I'll never leave you. And if you ever left me, I'd go and find you and bring you back, because you'd be wrong."
Lexa just closed her eyes with an emotional smile playing across her lips, letting Clarke's warmth envelope her as they rocked slowly together in the soft glow of the sunlight.
"I love you, too, Clarke."