Disclaimer: I do not own The 100. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Author's note: This story takes place at the end of Season 4.
*****
"Clarke, it's okay."
"Shut up Raven." Clarke snapped.
"Just let me die." Raven whimpered in exhaustion and pain.
"No! You're not allowed to die! Do you hear me Raven?" Clarke yelled, before softly adding, "You came back to save me. I can't let you die."
"You kept saving everyone." Raven said weakly, "It's about time somebody saved you."
"You did." Clarke said softly, "You saved us both."
*
Clarke and Raven had some version of that conversation over and over again, which was extremely worrying. Raven normally refused to give up, regardless how bleak the circumstances were, but things for her had never been worse, so Clarke thought it was understandable. Either that or the radiation was already frying Raven's brain.
Either way it wasn't helpful. But they would both probably be dead if Raven hadn't insisted on driving out after Clarke as soon as she found out Clarke's jeep was attacked and damaged, ensuring that they could get to the satellite dish so their friends could escape. More to the point, it allowed them to get back to the relative safety of the underground lab, where they would at least be safe from the initial wave of Praimfaya.
The problem now was the radiation which was killing Raven fast, and even with the Night Blood running through her veins Clarke's skin was burning and her insides felt like they were melting. It was a miracle that they were still awake, let alone could move around, but somehow through sheer stubborn determination Clarke was able to get Raven to lie down on a table and find a syringe so she could just start using it as a blood transfer device.
It was a truly desperate attempt to save her friend's life, and might even endanger her own, but it was all Clarke could do at that moment, and she just couldn't let Raven die. She just couldn't. And yet eventually the overwhelming pain became too much and Clarke found herself passing out, cursing her weakness with what could be her final breath.
*
It was impossible to tell how long Clarke remained unconscious for, and when she finally came too she was so disorientated she wondered for a few long seconds if she was in some kind of afterlife, as she couldn't remember dreaming and she wasn't sure she should have survived that much pain.
In fact, she didn't feel great when she woke up. Just better than she had before she passed out. Then she remembered, Raven. Her almost certainly dead friend, whose body she was lying on top of, quickly getting up and studying her friend for a tiny sign of life. When the signs were inconclusive she just started smacking her face and desperately screaming her friend's name.
"Raven! Raven! RAVEN!" Clarke screamed desperately over and over again.
As she got no response, and her friend didn't even appeared to be breathing, but Clarke refused to be denied, especially if that meant she was left alone to die. So she continued hiting Raven and screaming her name, completely forgetting her medical training in the face of her pain and sorrow.
Then just as she started doing something useful, namely CPR, Raven suddenly started coughing, barely turning her head before violently vomiting up what looked like blood. But Clarke didn't care, Raven was alive! And maybe still dying, but she was somehow alive, meaning there was hope. So she screamed her friend's name one more time, this time happily, and then frantically embraced her, the two girls then breaking down and crying with relief and exhaustion.
*
Hours later...
Raven wasn't sure how she was alive. It should be scientifically impossible, but then again Night Blood was still very much a mystery to her. One hopefully that she would study some day. But right now, she was just so grateful to be alive. And not just for the obvious reasons, but because it gave her a chance to do something she should have done a long time ago.
Something she almost did when she thought she was dying, and something she'd almost done many times before. Every other time she had back down at the last minute, but not this time. Not now that she'd had a chance to freshen up, and the Night Blood had mostly fixed their appearances. And fix something else, which was even more unexpected.
"Clarke..." Raven began, waiting until she had her friends attention before walking forward slightly.
"Oh, hey Raven." Clarke greeted, "I've been checking out supplies, and we should have enough to wait out the initial storm if we... hey, your leg's fixed!"
"Yeah." Raven grinned shyly, "I guess you've got Wolverine blood."
"We both do now." Clarke grinned happily, before closing the short distance between them and hugging her friend, "That's really great. I'm so happy for you."
"Me too." Raven said softly, hugging her friend tight.
For a few long seconds Clarke just enjoyed that hug, and then pulled back slightly and began rambling, "Wow. I mean, wow! I was going to say we need to seriously ration ourselves, but we should totally pig out in celebration. Because, I mean..."
"Can I kiss you." Raven said abruptly.
"What?" Clarke said softly in surprise.
"Can I kiss you." Raven repeated, before quickly adding, "I wanted to when we first woke up, but my mouth tasted like puke."
"Okay, yeah... thanks for not doing that." Clarke said in disbelief, before cautiously asking, "Raven, you... you don't think you owe me something, do you? Because you don't. And you don't have too."
"I want too." Raven said quickly, before clarifying, "I mean, I am grateful that you're always saving us. Saving me. And maybe that's a small part of it, but mostly I, I just want you. I've wanted you since the beginning. I didn't want to admit that even to myself back then, because I hated you for it. Both for Finn cheating on me, and him dying. Which weren't your fault, but it was just easier to hate you, and I'm so sorry for that. I wish I'd been nicer to you back then, been able to see your side of it, but I was just blinded by grief. And then you just kept saving me, us, even from ourselves, no matter the cost to yourself, and... and no matter what, you tried to do the right thing. Make life about more than just surviving. And I couldn't help but love that about you. Plus you're smoking hot, so that helps."
The two girls briefly exchanged a smile, and then Clarke cautiously began, "Raven... I... I don't know about this. I-"
"I'm not proposing to you Clarke." Raven quipped dryly, "I just really want to kiss you, and maybe fool around a little. Where it goes from there is up to you. I just want you to know that it isn't just about showing gratitude. I just truly want to kiss you. And see you naked. And, well... it's not like we have anything better to do for the next few days, so why not?"
There was a long silence in which Clarke bit her lip and stared at Raven, thinking about all the reasons they shouldn't do this. Luckily Raven had thought of all of them to herself, and while some of them had kept her quiet for a long time Raven was also more than prepared to argue against them now she had finally gone for it.
Especially now that she finally had the nerve to see it Raven realised just how badly she actually wanted to kiss her. To kiss all over that beautiful body of hers. To see that beautiful body naked. And most of all, just to fuck the beautiful girl. God, she wanted to do that so bad. Thankfully she was finally about to get her wish.