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chapter twenty-three, Your choice

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NOVA WALKS OUT AND PUTS ROAN AND IRIS IN THE BACK of the rover while Raven, Miller, Monty and Jasper finish loading it with supplies. "Knockout gas. Mount Weather's finest. As soon as they bring Ontari out, we put them to sleep" Miller states as he shows everyone the knockout gas and puts it back in the rover.

"Because she's chipped, you'll have to EMP her like you did me before you give her the Flame" Raven warns and Nova and Clarke nod their heads in unison.

"I thought Jaha destroyed all the wristbands" Jasper states and Nova looks to Raven who snaps her fingers like she came up with an idea.

"He did but then I came home and there were only enough usable parts to rebuild one, so use it wisely. Made a few improvements, too" Raven states and Nova grabs and it looks at it admiringly. "Wow" Nova says widening her eyes at the sight of it.

"None of this is going to matter if you can't get us access to A.L.I.E.'s code" Clarke whines and Raven sighs placing a hand on Clarke's shoulder "You worry about the Night blood. I'll worry about A.L.I.E" Raven reassures and Clarke smiles slightly and helps Nova pack the EMP in the rover.

"What are we waiting for?" Octavia asked, peering her head out of the rover and scanning the surroundings with restless eyes.

"Let's move out," Bellamy replied, hugging Raven and Jasper tightly before climbing into the vehicle. Clarke followed suit, embracing Monty, Jasper, and Raven before stepping inside. Nova was about to enter the rover when Raven caught her arm.

"Um..." Raven breathed out, hesitating before slowly wrapping her arms around Nova. Nova stiffened at first, feeling the awkwardness of the unexpected embrace, but soon softened and returned the hug. "May we meet again," Raven whispered as she pulled away, her voice tinged with emotion.

Monty and Jasper approached slowly, the weight of their impending separation heavy in the air. Nova cleared her throat, trying to ease the uncomfortable tension as she hugged each of them in turn.

"May we meet again," Jasper and Monty said in unison, their voices echoing the somber sentiment. Nova grasped their hands firmly, a silent promise passing between them.

"We will," she assured them, offering a small, reassuring smile before entering the rover, leaving the group outside with a mix of hope and uncertainty.

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THE ROVER STOPS AT THE POLIS CITY LIMITS. "There it is. We stop here" Clarke says as everyone exits the rover. "Alright, this is where we split up. The entrance to the tunnel is right over there" Roan points and Iris walks over to Nova and Clarke.

"Because I didn't take the chip, they might want to kill me. Who should I go with?" Iris asks genuinely scared. Nova looks over at Fio who nods his head and Nova looks back to Iris.

"You can follow us through the tunnel" Nova suggests and Iris nods her head. "I'm going to need the Flame. Look, this only works if they send Ontari out to get it. If they don't see it, they won't do that. Not much of a trap without the bait." Roan states and Clarke hesitantly gives Roan the flame and Roan takes it with care.

"I'm coming with you" Clarke states and Nova furrows her eyebrows. "Like hell you are" Nova says as she grabs Clarke's arm gently. "That is not the plan" Bellamy interferes and Clarke sighs.

"It is now. I'm not letting that flame out of my sight. And I'm the only one who knows the passphrase. So, you can tell them that without me, Ontari can't ascend" Clarke states as she looks back over at Nova.

"Clarke..." Nova breathes out before Clarke places her lips on Nova's. Nova kisses Clarke back and slowly pulls away.

"We will see each other again" Clarke states as she pushes a hair strand behind Nova's ear and sends her a smile. "You'll need to look like my prisoner" Roan says and Clarke turns her head towards him and nods.

"Let's go. Clarke be safe" Bellamy says as he leads everyone to the tunnel. Bellamy, Nova, Iris, Fio, Octavia, Miller, and Bryan are now running through the tunnels.

"Move, move, move. Come on. Let's go. Alright, this way. This is it. Get these grates open." Bellamy orders and everyone follows those orders even Iris and she helps open the grates.

"Let's get ready" Bellamy states as him, Nova, Octavia and Fio look through the small railings trying to spot Clarke and Roan.

"11 o'clock. Roan will signal when he sees Ontari. We wait until she's standing in front of them and then we launch the gas" Bellamy says as Nova turns around looking at Miller and Bryan getting the stuff ready for launch.

"They're going to be holding their breath. So, we got to move fast" Bryan states looking to Miller and Nova turns her head back to look through the railings and sees Clarke and Roan walking up.

"Anyone who gets in our way, we use non-lethal force. These people are not the enemy. They're being controlled. The only thing we're here to kill is A.L.I.E. Is that clear?" Bellamy says holding his weapon and keeping a close eye on Clarke and Roan.

"Clear" Nova and the rest of the group says in unison.

"Who's that approaching?" Nova asks quietly as she points. Bellamy looks over with his scope on his gun "It's Jaha" He answers, and Nova widens her eyes.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Octavia wonders.

"You see Ontari?" Fio asks and Bellamy shakes his head. "No, hold on" Bellamy states and Nova looks over at his face and his face is filled with worry.

"Something's wrong" Bellamy says and Nova's breathing becomes uneven.

"What? What is wrong?" Nova asks frantically and Bellamy mumbles under his breath. "I don't know, okay! I don't know" Bellamy shouts and Nova looks back through the railings.

"Do it. Do it now" Bellamy orders and just before the orders are to be done a bunch of guards' rush in the tunnels and Iris tries to run but is knocked down by one of the guards.

"On your knees! Drop your weapon! Blake, against the wall. Drop it. Turn around!" The guards shout and roughly push Fio against the wall.

"Hey!" Nova shouts as she lunges towards the guard but another grabs her and throws her against the wall and points his gun towards her.

After a while everything was calmed down, but the guards never dropped their weapons. They paced back and forth slowly keeping an eye on everyone. "Let's go. She wants Bellamy" One of the guard's states as they force Bellamy to stand to his feet.

"Where are you taking him?" Octavia asks as she stands up to, but the guard knocks her down. "Leave her alone. O., O., it's okay, O. It's okay." Bellamy states and Octavia looks at her brother with a worried look.

"You know, if I were you, I'd hit the deck" someone calls out, and Nova turns around and sees Murphy, Indra and Pike in the tunnel. "Murphy? Everyone hit the ground!" Bellamy shouts and everyone falls to the ground as shots are being fired and guards drop to the ground.

Nova lifts her head up as the gunfire died down. Indra went around and untied everyone's arms and Murphy helped Bellamy stand to his feet. "Fancy meeting you here" Murphy jokes and Bellamy shakes his head.

"More will come. We have to hurry" Indra says as ha whelps Fio stand to his feet, and she sends him a nod. "Thank you. What are you doing here?" Nova asks and Murphy sighs.

"You're welcome" Murphy says and Nova crosses her arms over her chest.

"You're with Pike?" Octavia question angrily as she looks at the man who killed Lincoln. "Only way we get out of here is together" Indra states and Octavia scoffs.

"He killed Lincoln. Put him on his knees. Shot him in the head" Octavia states recalling that moment in her head.

"You guys missed the part where it's time to go?" Murphy asks and Nova shakes her head. "We can't just leave" Nova states.

"We just saved your lives. Why do I think I'm going to regret that?" Murphy says leaning his head back in annoyance.

"Clarke is in trouble and we need to save her" Nova says and Murphy shrugs. "She's always in trouble" Murphy says. "They took her and the Flame to the tower. It's a safe bet Ontari's there, too. Everything we need to stop A.L.I.E. is in the same place" Bellamy says and Iris sighs.

"Problem?" Nova asks looking to Iris. "If we go up that tower, there's not telling we will be able to fight our way out again" Iris announces.

"Doesn't look like you have better places to be" Nova says and Iris rolls her eyes.

"We used to like each other you know?" Iris asks and Nova scoffs picking up her sword off the ground. "That was before you told me you killed Naira and before you tried to kill Clarke" Nova states as she walks past Iris and stands next to Fio.

"We're saving Clarke with or without you Murphy. Your choice" Nova says as her, Bellamy, Octavia, Fio, Miller, Bryan, Indra, Pike, and Iris start walking down the tunnel to get into the tower. Murphy lets out a sigh and starts following the group also.