There was a loud ringing in Harley's ears. Every part of her body hurt, as if she was one giant bruise. When she breathed in slowly, her chest warning her with a sharp pain to do otherwise, she was inhaling heavy smoke and ash. She was still as confused as before, and she wanted to sit up and figure what was going on to calm the swirling thoughts in her head, but Harley wasn't sure if she could move, even an inch. She told herself repeatedly that she had to at least try and forced herself to dig her fingers into the dirt, aiming to pull herself up.

As Harley began to shift, there was suddenly a stinging pain in her shoulder and upper arm. She nearly screamed at the burning sensation, panting and remaining still again. Now that she was more awake and alert, she could hear people sobbing and screaming. Others were hurt, in the same state she was, if not worse. Harley wanted to give it her all to help, but the scorch on her arm was still there, and the leftover ache left her believing that she couldn't move as of now.

Harley could hear footsteps, heavy ones racing towards her and she grimaced as they got closer. "Harley? Harley, is that you?! Are you alright?!" They sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't answer. The words were stuck in her throat.

However, Harley was able to slowly adjust her head to the side. She had to blink a few times, feeling tears build up, but managed to make out Octavia's blear figure. She had a darker shadow behind her, who was tall and equally recognizable, but Harley was confused when she thought she was sure it was Lincoln. "W-What.." She began to whisper, her voice hoarse, but was quieted quickly.

"It's alright," Octavia said in a soothing voice, her gloved hand coming to brush Harley's long hair out of view of her injury. She inhaled sharply, seeing the singed skin, an outcome of the fire blast. It didn't look bad, possibly only a second degree if not less, but had to have been painful still. "You're gonna be okay. Lincoln, we need Abby here," she requested. Harley heard him leave, to fetch Abby, but she still needed answers. Her head felt as if it was spinning.

"What happened?" It hurt to even speak, Harley thought, but she needed to know. Her, including a lot of other people, had gotten severely hurt, or worse, even killed.

A look of distressed crossed Octavia's face. "A missile," she replied, doing her best to keep Harley calm. "Tondc was hit by a missile."

It was hard to get, but Harley trusted she was being told right. There was only one civilization on Earth that had the power and engineering to do something like this; Mount Weather. Before Harley could let it sink in any deeper, Lincoln had returned with Abby, and the doctor went to work. "Sit her up," Abby ordered, forcing Octavia to give her a hand in helping Harley move upwards.

The pain shot through Harley as Octavia grasped her good arm, helping to move into a upright position. She nearly cried out, but bit her lower lip instead, trying to keep stiff as Abby inspected her arm. "It's not bad," Abby confirmed. "It's just the worst." Compared to Harley's bruises and scrapes, it was the most severe wound, despite it only being minor. She got lucky. "I need to clean it, but it's going to hurt."

That was more of an understanding, Harley knew. She tried to keep her breathing even and still to stay motionless, leaning onto Octavia and gripping her hand as Abby cleaned it. It hurt, possibly more than the impact, and she wanted to cry, but tried to bring herself elsewhere. From what she was witnessing, there was an endless horror. It was nothing compared to the war at the dropship or Finn's massacre.

It was both grounders and her people, mourning losses of friends and family as they laid dead from the collision. There was still flickers of fire, crashed buildings, and more dead than injured people. Harley felt her blood run cold and a nauseous wave hit her. She tried not to get sick as her burn was bandaged cleanly by Abby before Nyko was calling her name. "We have to help them," Harley uttered softly, using all her strength to try and rise.

"Harley, no." Octavia was the one protesting, attempting to push on Harley's better shoulder to keep her grounded. "You're hurt. You need to stay here."

"Octavia," Harley whispered. "Please."

The one plead had Octavia's hardened face softening before she caved with a nod. She helped Harley stumble to her feet, watching as she grimaced when feeling the soot crunching underneath her boots. She limped at first, feeling her burn practically flame up in agony again, but she drove herself towards the sound of Nyko, who was dragging a small figure out from underneath a collapsed structure. Once Abby was crouched beside him, out of the shadowing view, Harley saw who it was. Her eyes widened, and she suddenly wasn't sure if she could feel the scorch on her arm anymore.

Harley's legs ached as she dashed forward, staggering through ash with tears welling. She could hear people crying in anguish and pain, but she felt a million miles away. The stabbing pang on her arm was numb as she fell to her knees beside Abby, hovering over the child with blood and soot coating what Harley could see. She was suffering.

Nova was suffering.

"Help her," Harley begged, her small voice breaking.

It only took one look before Nyko made his decision. "It's no use." It was clear he was right. The wound in Nova's chest was too deep, and she was going to die any minute. But Harley didn't care. She shook her head, desperately, as wet tears streamed down her cheeks, leaving tracks in the dirt stains.

"She's still alive," Abby argued.

"We save those who can be saved," Nyko stated, before he was gone in a hurry.

"Abby," Harley begged, her hand reaching out to stroke through Nova's hair. "You have to do something."

Abby gave Harley a single look of regret before apologizing. "I'm so sorry," she said softly. Harley didn't know if she was expressing regret towards her or Nova, and unable to grasp onto the state they were in, she was gone too.

Feeling sick as she looked back down to Nova, Harley watched as she cried in fear. She cleared her throat, knowing it was useless to sit there and watch. She couldn't do anything but console her, she thought, as she ran her hand through Nova's hair again. "Sh, you're going to be okay," she hushed. Nova sucked in deep gasps, close to being unable to breath. Harley leaned down, keeping her words gentle and quiet. "It's okay, Nova," she whispered.

Short tears fell from the corners of Nova's eyes. She trembled, her small hand reaching out to touch Harley's wrist. Harley turned her hand over, catching the hand and giving it a gentle squeeze of comfort. Nova's mouth dropped open, and with a gravelly tone, spoke. "I'm scared."

Harley's heart shattered, and she swallowed harshly. "Don't be," she said, soft, the lump in her throat hurting as she did so. "You're gonna go to the stars." Her thumb gently ran down the side of Nova's face, unsure if she could feel the touch over her scalds. Nova's frightened expression turned into one of slight happiness, the spark in her eyes slowly burning out. "They're so beautiful, Nova. You're going to love them."

The words faded as the light finally died and Nova's hand fell limp in Harley's. She let out a choked sob, a shaking hand raising to shut her eyes before uttering a few, faint words.

"Your fight is over. Rest easy."

━━━━━━━━

Even if Harley couldn't help Nova, she knew she could help others. She chose to fiercely ignore the stinging pain on her arm, and the pounding ache from her bruises to work in digging people out of the rubble. She cared for each and every person, even the ones she hadn't known, but her mind wandered when she thought of how she didn't even know where Clover was. She had disappeared to be put on guard, and after that, Harley didn't see her anywhere. She could only hold her breath and hope she was already being helped, or somewhere close.

Tightly gripping a large and heavy rock, Harley gritted her teeth and tugged. Octavia was beside her in seconds, grasping the other end and hauling it along too as it was shoved to the side. "Do you got this?" Octavia questioned, panting, as she motioned to the rest below. Harley nodded quickly, her hands moving quickly to dig further. She could see the peek of a hand, and it made her pick up the pace as Lincoln joined her in helping.

Lincoln's breathing picked up when realizing who they were working to dig out. "Harley, hurry," he urged. "She's alive." While he picked up the much heavier rocks that Harley couldn't, she swept aside the soot and threw to the side what she could. "Octavia!" Lincoln called, tossing a rock to the side. "It's Indra!"

Now that the soot was gone and more rocks were out of the way, Harley could see Indra more clearly. There was blood dripping from her forehead, and she looked unconscious, as her lower half was stuck under more boulders. Lincoln grasped underneath her arms, letting out a shout as he tried to pull her out. Harley rushed to grab the edge of a boulder over her, grunting as she wrenched it back to give him more room to free her.

As she was pulled out, Indra woke up, thrashing to get out of Lincoln's grip. "Sen ai daun, Ripa!" She shouted, anger laced over the pain. (Put me down, Reaper!) Harley let go of the boulder once she was free, watching in shock as Indra stumbled to her feet. There was an astonished look on her face as she observed the area and wreckage they were struggling through.

Suddenly, there was a gunshot ringing in the air. Indra's upper chest was pierced with the bullet, blood flying out, and making Harley gasp and duck. There was a hand on her back, from Octavia, keeping her lowered as she looked around wildly. Lincoln pulled Indra up, his hand over her bullet. "Who was that?!" She shouted over the commotion.

"Let's go, stay down!" Lincoln demanded, dragging Indra back for cover. The hand from Octavia was lifted, and Harley kept her head ducked, but followed Lincoln to a hiding spot. She was rushing behind them, hearing more gunshots, and refused to look behind to see who else was being shot at. She had to keep going.

Lincoln came to a stop behind an overly large, metal barrel, propping Indra up against it. Harley dropped beside them, her hands digging into the dirt. There was a whipping sound, a missing shot, and Harley turned her head to see Nyko crouching behind a wooden plank. He couldn't get any closer without being shot. "You must stop the bleeding!" He shouted to them.

Nodding, Lincoln's hand went to cover Indra's wound but she shoved it away with a dark glare. "Indra, let me help you," he pleaded.

"No," Indra spat out.

Taking a chance, Harley outstretched next, her hands pressing together over Indra's bleeding chest. Indra narrowed her eyes towards her, but Harley gave her a soft look. "I know you don't like my people, or agree with this alliance," she said gently. "But please, let me help you," she begged. She didn't want to see anyone else die, not if she could help it.

The warning scowl didn't change, but Indra didn't move to push Harley away. She was relieved, pressing her hands harder against the injury. "What do I do?!" She called out to Nyko desperately. She didn't have any bandages, or any useful medical experience, especially for a gunshot wound. There was no way Harley could do it, and Indra wouldn't let Lincoln pitch in.

Nyko looked lost on how to respond. Harley wasn't a healer and had nothing to use, and he shook his head in defeat. Lincoln huffed loudly, before making a huge choice. "Harley, we are going to have to run." There were still gunshots ringing in the distance, some even flying past them. Harley knew he was right, but that didn't stop the fear settling in her chest. She weakly nodded back.

Not giving Indra a chance to argue, Harley pulled her hands away and Lincoln grasped her arm and threw her over his burly shoulders. She shouted, but he refused to listen, breaking out into a run across the destroyed village. Harley was right behind him, practically on his heels as they bolted to Octavia and Nyko the safest way to avoid gunfire. A shot nearly hit him, but he was quick enough to miss it.

Once they were towards Nyko, in the safest part of the village, Indra was rested onto the ground. Harley tried to catch her breath, landing on the ground and barely allowing herself to be grateful they were still alive. Atohl, a war chief that came for the meeting of the twelve clans, watched as Nyko inspected Indra's wound. "What're we gonna do? We can't move," he says.

"I'm going for the shooter," Lincoln declared boldly, making Harley pick her head up. "I'll sound the horn when it's done."

"Alright, my friend," Nyko agreed, putting his hands over the blood on Indra's chest.

"Be careful," Harley pleaded with Lincoln, who nodded in a promise.

"Harley, my bag, please." The request from Nyko had Harley moving quickly to grab what she assumed was his medkit, pulling it open and hauling out whatever supplies she saw first. "Pressure, here," He demanded, moving position and having Harley be the one to put push next.

Indra's eyes glazed over, looking towards Octavia. "This is my village," she grunted. "You're the chief's second. Save our people."

"We're pinned down," Octavia responded worriedly. "And the other seconds won't follow me."

"So make them," Indra demanded. Harley watched in silent horror as she let out another gasp before falling limp, unconscious.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Harley let her hands remain in position, but looked from Nyko to Octavia. "Is she still breathing?"

Nyko checked her pulse quickly before nodding in confirmation. "She's breathing. She's losing too much blood."

"We have to do something," Octavia stated.

"What can we do?" Harley practically exclaimed. "Octavia's right, we need to help her!"

From the other side of them, a female grounder let out a snort. "Thanks, Skygirl, but there's nothing we can do until the sniper is dead."