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Had Clarke Griffin told someone ten years ago that her lovers and romantic partner soulmates, were the Avengers and the Defenders?The reactions she would have received most likely would have been disbelief, but then awe and fascination and admiration, wanting all the information in the world, with stars in the eyes of those that were asking the questions.But now? Ten years later?Well, things had………………changed.Were Clarke Griffin to tell people who her romantic partner soulmates and lovers were now?There would no longer be awe or admiration.The shock and fascination most likely would remain, but it would be tainted by something.Fear.Just plain fear.Terror even.Because everyone knew nowadays, you didn’t cross the Avengers or the Defenders, ever.You did? And you wouldn’t survive.Over the years, Clarke had seen her lovers…………change. They had become darker. Had become twisted, even. Vicious.Clarke’s romantic partner soulmates and lovers; Steve Rogers-Captain America, Tony Stark-Ironman, and his wife, Pepper Potts, agent Maria Hill, Natasha Romanoff-Black Widow, Pietro Maximoff-Quicksilver, Wanda Maximoff-Scarlet Witch, Carol Danvers-Captain Marvel, Sam Wilson-The Falcon, Clint Barton-Hawkeye and his wife, Laura Barton, Bruce Banner-The Hulk, Brunnhilde, Thor Odinson, Loki Laufeyson and Sylvie Laufeydotter, Hela Odinsdotter, James Rhodes-War Machine, Danny Rand-Iron Fist, Matt Murdock-Daredevil, Elektra Natchios, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Jessica Jones’s sister, Trish Walker and Frank Castle-The Punisher?Not to mention Clarke’s other lovers and romantic partner soulmates who were unofficially part of the team, Yelena Belova, Natasha’s adoptive sister and Melina Vostokoff, Natasha’s adoptive mother, and Clint’s older brother, James Bernard-“Barney,” Barton-Trickshot, and Barney’s wife, Simone Barton?They were…………vile. Dangerous.Now, they had always been dangerous. Always.But never like this.Never.But they had changed so much in the past ten years.After they had killed Thanos?After they had realized how easy it was to kill an enemy and get rid of someone so powerful? It was like a switch had been flipped on.They had stored away the infinity stones in different parts of the world, so, that only they could access them.Doctor Strange went back to guarding the time stone.Vision protected the mind stone.The power stone was kept in SHIELD custody.The reality stone was kept in a pocket universe by Doctor Strange.The space stone had been put in Carol Danvers’s custody, and she had brought it to the far reaches of the galaxy and had put it on a desolate planet-too desolate for anything to touch.The soul stone had been given to Clarke-who the Avengers and Defenders trusted more than anyone and they trusted she’d know what to do with it.Wanda-Scarlet Witch, had offered a way of helping-had offered to keep it safe, but Clarke promised she’d be fine with it.At first, Clarke had contemplated destroying it, but then, as time went on and Clarke saw what her mates did to people? Saw how they treated enemies-any enemies now.After Thanos? And after the infinity stones had been scattered again and the infinity gauntlet destroyed, not to mention all of Thanos’s forces wiped out?More and more just started to happen.Clarke wasn’t sure when it happened fully, but she recalled when it got worse. Only two months after Thanos was killed, Wilson Fisk, in prison, was murdered.How did it happen? Clarke had no idea.He was one of the most high-profiled prisoners in all of New York City. Hell, maybe the most high-profiled prisoner in all of the United States.So, how had such a thing happened?But it had. In his cell. Someone had shanked him right in the neck, while he had been reading a letter from his wife.And he had bled out all over his cot.And after that?Only a day after Fisk had been killed, Vanessa, Fisk’s wife, had been hunted down and killed. And so had every single person who had ever worked for Fisk.Soon, anyone who answered to Fisk, was dead.Then every last one of the connections to Dreykov and the Red Room, were killed. Dreykov had been killed by Yelena and Natasha a year before Thanos ever reached Earth, to find the mind stone and take it from Vision.But there still had been people who had worked for Dreykov and had helped him.So, they had been wiped out.Then after that, two years after Thanos and his forces had been destroyed? Things just kept happening.Enemies of the Avengers and enemies of the Defenders just kept getting knocked off.Honestly, Clarke didn’t get how people hadn’t seen what was going on ages ago.But people kept believing that all of the disappearances were coincidences.And they believed that any people that the Avengers and the Defenders had killed in battle, was simply out of self-defense, not planned murder.But Clarke had started to figure it out early.Had figured it out when the last of Fisk’s goons had been killed.Because it just made too much sense.At first, she had thought that it was only Matt that was involved, but then after Dreykov’s people started getting wiped out, she had begun to realize that it was so much bigger than just Daredevil.Oh, she knew that some of her lovers regularly killed people even before that.But that was just Barney, Trish, Elektra, Yelena, Melina and Frank.Frank would always be the Punisher, and Trish, Barney, Elektra, Yelena and Melina would always be Trish, Barney, Elektra, Yelena and Melina.And Natasha and Steve and Tony and many of the Avengers had had to kill in the past-but only because they had to.So had Jessica. Everyone knew about Kilgrave.But…………it wasn’t just them. It hadn’t just been them, and Clarke had learned that.All of her lovers were involved and always would be.The Defenders and the Avengers were murderers now. Mass murderers.Clarke wish she could hate them.But she didn’t. She couldn’t.How could she?Even after all they had done, she still……….she loved them. More than anyone or anything.And everything……………the worst part was? She knew that everything they had done, had all been for her.She tried to pretend that they hadn’t.But she always would know.It was when one particular enemy, Ross, Thaddeus Ross, was found dead in his home, with a single gunshot wound to the head, in his bed, killed instantly, it was more or less the last nail in the coffin for Clarke, realizing who her romantic partner soulmates, truly were.They were cold blooded murderers now.It was like something had clicked for them when they had killed Thanos. As if they realized that no matter how powerful an enemy was, as long as they were ruthless enough, they could get rid of their problems, their enemies and make the world cleaner.And again, Clarke knew that they were doing it for her.She could see it. Every time they took a life, making this world brighter and happier? They would look at her sometimes and have this overjoyed smile.As if trying to tell her that the world was a happier place and she wouldn’t need to worry about seeing the horrible and unclean things happening in this world any longer.And the worst part? They were right.Crime had gotten better.Bad people were being tolerated less.Rapists, murderers, pedophiles, human traffickers, abusers, cartels, gangs-they were afraid to make another move.So many people like them had been wiped out, and now many were scared of committing any sort of crime-afraid of attracting attention.Afraid of being murdered too.And Clarke? She wasn’t going to pretend that she wasn’t happy to know that. That she wasn’t relieved that people were safer. That there were less people being sexually assaulted, trafficked, abused and murdered.And she felt a certain happiness knowing monsters like those that were afraid to commit those acts, were shaking in their shoes.Wasn’t being afraid what they deserved if they even thought about doing those things?Still, it didn’t change that there were so many people dead.And it wasn’t just those that had thought about committing murder, rape, child molestation, abuse, human trafficking, arson and other horrors, that were scared.Clarke had seen it in the eyes of many citizens. Yes, they knew that the world was safe from those sorts of crimes. But what if they did something that was interpreted the wrong way? What if they said or did something that might be interpreted by the Avengers and the Defenders and those that worked for them, as threatening or as dangerous?Would they be killed too?People were scared. Everyone was. Not just those that intended to commit vile acts.And Clarke was too.She knew that her lovers would never hurt her. She knew that.She wasn’t scared for herself.She was scared of what her lovers would do to other people.She was scared of what they planned to do next to the masses.She was scared of how many more people would die. How much more blood would be spilled.Clarke? She used to have so much blood on her hands. Then again, she still did. Just because she didn’t kill anyone anymore, didn’t mean that she wasn’t a murderer.She had killed so many people. So, she knew she had no right to judge anyone who killed.Even for a zombie, she had a lot of blood on her hands. She had killed her own mother, Abby Griffin.Granted, her own mother had treated her like garbage from day one-had tried to kill Clarke, as soon as the woman had figured out that Clarke was a zombie from the experiments that the Ark people and the Mountain Men had done to the unborn children of the Ark, as soon as the Ark had set down to the ground.But it still didn’t change, that Clarke had killed her own mother.So, Clarke knew she didn’t have grounds to judge anyone about killing.But she honestly was scared.Ten years had passed since Thanos had first been killed.And there had been so many people that had been killed since then.Clarke stopped trying to keep track of how many people her lovers had murdered a long time ago.It was around five years ago, when she had given up trying to keep track.All of HYDRA was dead, at least. So, Clarke supposed some good things had come from her lovers becoming dark.As for the tribes? The twelve tribes of the lands?The Azgeda, the Ingranrona, the Ouskejon, the San, the Trishana, the Luwoda, the Yujleda, the Delfi, Boudalan, the Tri, the Flou and the Poda?They were just as scared.Or rather, that wasn’t entirely the case.Many of the tribes feared the Avengers and the Defenders now, but all of them respected the Avengers and the Defenders.And the Avengers and the Defenders murdering people?The tribes considered it a just thing to do. Because all the tribes strongly believed that people like murderers, rapists, pedophiles, abusers, human traffickers and the like, needed to be brutally executed.So, none of them would ever even protest, let alone, raise a hand to stop the Avengers or the Defenders.Clarke suspected that many in the tribes were even working with the Avengers and the Defenders.The Azgeda, the Boudalan, the Trishana, the Ingranrona, the Yujleda and the Ouskejon, in particular, treated the Avengers and the Defenders with the upmost respect.The Tri were a hypocritical, self-centered lot that tried to pretend that they were better than the other tribes. But even they knew better than to piss the new leaders of this world off.Even the current commander knew better.The Raft? It had been destroyed.It was the prison where powered people were sent. It was a crime against humanity, even if it was funded by the government.But the Raft was gone now. It had been destroyed by the Avengers. And everyone within it was either set free or killed. Any funding for the prison had been withdrawn and put under the control Stark corporation.A great much of SHIELD more or less became the new prison for any super powered people.And Clarke instantly had understood why SHIELD had done this.So that any new powered prisoners? Would inevitably end up becoming servants of SHIELD and lackeys for the Avengers and the Defenders.It was obvious what the reasons behind the Avengers, the Defenders and SHIELD liquidating the staff and funding for the now destroyed Raft. They had become the new beacon of hope for the powered people who had committed crimes, to turn their lives around.But only if they hadn’t committed crimes like sexual assault of any sort, abuse and the like.The other powered criminals? They were put to work. Recruited by the new prison under SHIELD, controlled by the Avengers and the Defenders.And the X-Men, of course, had helped.The point was, there was no chance of stopping the new masters of this world.All the kings and queens of the tribes worked with the Avengers, the Defenders and the X-Men.And the Commander? She knew better than to go against the new world powers. She knew it would end badly for everyone if she did.And she knew the rest of the tribes would not agree with her decision.So, Lexa of the Trikru, the current Commander of the twelve tribes, fell in line, to prevent all-out war.As for the Mountain Men?Well, they were no longer a problem.Yes, they were gone now.All gone.Wiped out.Blown up. Everyone inside, dead.Men, women and children-all dead.The Mountain Men were all dead. Probably another reason why the tribes never went against the Avengers or the Defenders.Why go against people who destroyed the entirety of the ones known as the Mountain Men, who made your lives a living hell?And the Ark people? The people who had driven Clarke out of their home and had essentially made Clarke into a feral person in the woods, before her romantic partner soulmates found her?Oh, the Ark people were put right in their place.Four years ago, they were lined up. All along the walls of the Ark, and the leaders gunned down by those working for SHIELD.And those still alive amongst the Ark? They were given a choice, they could be servants and spies for the Defenders and the Avengers. Or they could die.So, what few Ark people that were still alive, were now more or less slaves of the Defenders and the Avengers and SHIELD.And none of the Ark people, were ever allowed any political power, whatsoever. That was not risked at all.The remaining leaders of the Ark, after Clarke had killed her mother; that being Marcus Kane, Thelonius Jaha and a few others, were killed instantly.Callie Cartwig and Clarke’s own father, Jake Griffin, were the only two spared.And they were married now.Clarke had realized that that also had been a gift for Clarke, given to her by her lovers-sparing her father, Jake, and sparing Callie, who the Defenders and the Avengers knew, saw Clarke very much as her own daughter.Clarke’s parents, her biological father, Jake and her stepmother, Callie, lived under the safety of the new lords of this world, not that far from Stark Tower.It was just one of the many reasons why Clarke had come to realize that all the violence and death that had come to pass, had been exactly for her.She knew that should have made her feel horrified.But it didn’t.Disturbing as it was, it just made her realize how much her mates loved her.It had been ten years now. And the world was so much safer. But at what price?No one had freedom. Not really.Clarke had at one time, stared at the soul stone that she had kept safely away from everyone else, and had wondered that maybe she should go find Doctor Strange and grab the time stone and turn back time to stop all this.But what would that do?It would just set back time to the way things had been before her lovers had chosen to take control over everything.It would be just like one of those old VHS tapes. She’d just be rewinding everything, then her mates would do everything all over again, the exact same way.And that was its own sort of purgatory.There was, of course, the other option. Death. The murders of her lovers.And Clarke knew that that option was not an option at all.Murdering her mates and lovers, was not an option at all.Clarke knew she’d never be able to do it. Ever.It might be devastatingly tragic, as her romantic partner soulmates were the ones that had taught her how to gain a moral compass, taught her that she was worthy of love, and here they were now, years later, gruesome parodies of their former selves, but she knew, she knew damn well, that she would never, ever be able to kill them.Whatever they had done? No matter how many people they had killed? No matter how much blood was on their hands?They were hers. And she was theirs. And they had made sure that the world belonged to her, as well. Even if she didn’t want it.
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There were some horrors that people were capable of, that were so incapable of being denied, that a person could feel those horrors just beneath their skin, ready to be unleashed upon the world.The Avengers and the Defenders and their cohorts, they had realized now that those horrors must have been bubbling beneath the surface for some time now.Right under their skin.How long had this been a sleeping beast waiting to awaken? A while now.The sleeping beast that had been lurking beneath the skin of the Defenders and the Avengers, when Loki had allowed the Chitauri through that wormhole in New York City, when the Avengers had first allied with each other. It had been lurking when the Hand had begun its attempted destruction, when the Defenders had first allied with each other.It had been lurking when Ultron had escaped the lab and had almost killed everyone. It had been lurking when Wilson Fisk got out of prison and had tried to hunt down and kill Karen Page. It had been lurking when Thaddeus Ross had tried to collar the Avengers under the government’s control, using the Accords. It had been lurking when the government’s attention had been put onto the Avengers and the Defenders, demanding they either obey the government’s every command or end up in the Raft.And it finally had been unleashed, after Thanos’s death, when the government, under Thaddeus Ross’s command, had threatened Clarke-Wanheda.It just finally had stopped lurking and simply had snapped.All of the Avengers and the Defenders knew that Clarke, by this point, had long since figured out what the hell was going on.Wilson Fisk’s goons being eliminated most likely had helped her figure out the last of it.After the last of Wilson Fisk’s underlings had been killed, and the man’s death had been announced on national TV, Clarke had slowly turned to stare at where her mates and lovers stood, and the Avengers and the Defenders could all but feel Clarke’s blood turn to ice.They knew that Clarke knew.They knew that they had killed before in battle, but now, Clarke knew that they were cold blooded murderers.All of them were.And now, Clarke knew.“Clarke,” Steve had said, when they had received that frightened look from Clarke, “You know you have nothing to worry about, right? We’d never let anything hurt you.”They knew that it wasn’t herself that Clarke feared for.But they still felt the need to say it.After all, it was the truth. And they were doing everything they were doing, exactly for her.It had been a few years since then. Clarke never brought it up, never tried to get them to stop, but they could see it in her eyes. She wanted to get them to stop. But didn’t know how to.It wasn’t like she could say anything that could get them to stop.They had all the weapons in their arsenal, an alliance with the Wakandans, which allowed them some vibranium.Then they had run into a terrorist named Namor. Namor, who king T’Challa’s sister, Shuri, had developed a humidifying device, to drain the moisture out of Namor. It had worked, and Namor lost his strength. Which allowed him to be captured, skinned, then beheaded by the Avengers and the Defenders.And an echo type of machine had destroyed the other Talokans hearing, making them leave the water, leaving them vulnerable and they were bombed.Then SHIELD’s army was sent down and all of Talokan, killing everyone within the city. Killing every man, woman and child inside.All of the resources were stripped. All of the vibranium that had been in Talokan, was claimed then, by SHIELD, the Avengers and the Defenders, which they chose not to share with the Wakandans, as the Wakandans already had enough vibranium.So, now, all of Talokan was destroyed and everyone, including Namor-the Flying Feathered Serpent, himself, dead.And all of the vibranium, was property of the Avengers and the Defenders.Who could stop them?So, when the newest trial for one of the newer criminals amongst the tribe was called forward and it was put between being a modern trial, where he’d be put in prison, but alive, or tribal trial, where he most likely would be bound to a tree and given a thousand cuts, he had naturally, chosen a modern trial.This would not help him.The Defenders and the Avengers had already decided what the man’s fate was going to be.Vetkorrm of the Boudalan tribe, was a muscled man who liked to consider himself a warrior, but was far from it. At the most, he threw his weight around and pushed others into doing his work for him.As a whole, though, they hadn’t said such words yet, the Avengers and the Defenders, considered most of the Grounder tribes as weaklings. And this Boudalan man, Vetkorrm, was no different.He only stood up straight and proud, when the other witnesses at the trial there, were his own fellow Boudalan tribe members-and that was, of course, because he felt like he had his gang in tow.Oh, there were some truly strong and fearless tribes within the coalition of twelve tribes.Like the Azgeda. And the Ouskejon. And the Luwoda and the Flou.The Trishana, even, had their redeemable qualities.But for the most part?Most of the tribes in the coalition, were made up of a bunch of fragile cowards that reacted dramatically, as soon as someone so much as put a toe out of line.You wanted to see just how weak and cowardly one of the tribes were? Especially the Trikru? All you had to do, was have someone from outside of the tribe enter one of their villages, and suddenly, they reacted as if they were being bombed, or something. That was just how weak and insecure the Trikru were.Pitiful, whimpering cowards.The Boudalan might not have been the worst. But they certainly were pathetic.So, when the trial ended and Matt Murdock, the lawyer against Vetkorrm, gave his final verdict, there were a series of disgusted sneers from the Boudalan and Matt tried not to smirk, as he heard the distinct tone from each Boudalan tribe member.It was quite typical of the tribes. The people of the twelve tribes, could say whatever they wanted about other people like the Ark people, zombies and the more modern communities that were born and raised on Earth, but the moment anyone at all criticized any of tribes? It was suddenly World War 5 or something.Matt already knew how this trial would play out. The evidence of what Vetkorrm had done, was bulletproof.But even though Vetkorrm was going to end up in prison? It didn’t matter.He was going to be killed in prison for what he had done.Now, were it just Vetkorrm’s usual bullying and insulting of other people from other tribes or of people from modern communities, Vetkorrm would not be targeted as he was going to be.But that wasn’t all he had done.He had raped five women from one of the modern communities and claimed that those women should be happy to be raped by someone from a strong tribe-to be “honored” by the Boudalan.Crime had been reduced over the years.But occasionally? You still got pieces of scum like Vetkorrm.And that was where the Avengers, the Defenders, the X-Men and SHIELD came in.Matt slowly turned to where he could sense Vetkorrm, himself, to be and said pleasantly, smiling, “Vetkorrm kom Boudalan, I think we all know that you are going to end up behind bars. But let’s hope for your sake that that’s the only place you’ll end up.”Everyone heard the threat, but didn’t understand it.Matt turned on his heel, after the judge commanded that Vetkorrm spend twenty years in prison.He walked out of the courtroom as Vetkorrm was dragged away in chains.Twenty years for violating five women, traumatizing them and very possibly leading some of the to some form of drug addiction to cope with the trauma or some other unhealthy form of coping?Oh, no. Matt wouldn’t allow that.Why allow such a maggot to live off of the safety of prisons, getting three meals a day and a bed to sleep on, after what he had done to those five women?No, Matt would take care of the matter.He would wait, though.In two months, Daredevil would come for Vetkorrm and deal out the killing blow.But in the meantime? Matt had a date with one of his darling romantic partner soulmates.He could smell her natural scent, before hearing her voice greeting him.“Matt!” Clarke’s voice rang out, as she approached, her delectable scent filling Matt’s nose as he smiled at her, “How did it go?”“Well, Clarke,” he said, “It went well. He’s going to be sentenced to twenty years in prison.”“Oh, that’s great!” Clarke said, “Good job.” Matt’s smile turned almost sad. He knew what Clarke was hoping.She was hoping that if Vetkorrm was in prison for twenty years, then hopefully there wouldn’t be bloodshed for a while.But that wasn’t how this worked. Matt was going to kill Vetkorrm one way or another.A person like Vetkorrm? While not as influential or nearly as rich as the now long since dead Wilson Fisk-the Kingpin, still had his supporters. Still had a tribe that would be willing to give gold to lawyers in order to find loopholes in the evidence found. And on a technicality, Vetkorrm could still be released.That was just how the so-called justice system was and always had been. If there was just one slight detail that was a technicality, and suddenly mass murderers, rapists, serial killers, pedophiles, abusers, stalkers and human traffickers were back out on the streets.But hey, who actually cared about keeping victims and potential victims safe?The Defenders, the Avengers, the X-Men and SHIELD, they cared and did what they needed to, in order to clean up this world.And to Matt? It made it all the more worth it, for both his romantic partner soulmates, Clarke Griffin and Elektra Natchios, to be happy for it.But then, Elektra had never cared much for a safe and beautiful world. She rolled with it, and enjoyed killing those that got in the way or threatened her loved ones.Clarke was the one who wanted a safe world.And well, could either Matt or Elektra deny her anything? No, they couldn’t. No more than any of Clarke’s other romantic partner soulmates could deny her anything.So, Vetkorrm would be killed in two months’ time. Matt would don the Daredevil suit and would hunt Vetkorrm down in prison, killing him slowly.But Clarke didn’t need to know that.Matt said, nodding in the direction to the left, where he smelled particularly tasty scented food, “Come on, let’s get lunch.”“Okay,” Clarke said and he could sense her smiling, “Matt? Just promise me that Vetkorrm is going to live to see his twenty-year sentence finished.”Matt sighed, “I can’t promise you anything, Clarke. Vetkorrm might be let out on a technicality, so, no, I can’t promise that.”Matt could almost feel Clarke tense.Because she could predict what else would keep him from making that promise.Like Vetkorrm being killed brutally in prison.Which would be done by Matt himself, or one of the others.But Clarke just didn’t want to say it.“Right,” Clarke said and Matt could feel her looking away from him, “Let’s just get some lunch.”They moved away from the court buildings and went off to lunch.Seated across from each other at the diner, they had food put out in front of them both.Clarke had plate full of fries and hot cheese in front of her and Matt had a burger in front of him.As Clarke almost instantly started eating, commenting that she’d been waiting for this exact meal for hours now, her eyes occasionally went to the cane that Matt folded up and placed on the table next to his plate.She knew that Matt had killed people with that cane before.Self-consciously, as she held some fries dipped in cheese in her left hand, her right hand went to her throat, touching her red, leather collar.It had been a gift to her from all of her romantic partner soulmates.Their promise of protection and a home, to her.And it had meant something very different to her back then, than it did now.Back then, it meant to her that her mates were good people that extended their protection to everyone and she could trust them.Now? Now, to her, it meant that they were going to keep her safe, but kill everyone else that they didn’t like. Now it meant that her romantic partner soulmates and lovers, were people that she didn’t know.They were strangers to her now.Clarke wondered to herself, as she eyed that cane and ate the fries, how long it would be, till Vetkorrm ended up dead in his prison cell.She got her answer two months later.The news announced the brutal murder of Vetkorrm, found dead in his prison cell, his limbs hacked off while he was still alive, then his lower jaw ripped right off, then his head sliced off.And well, Clarke didn’t need to hint at her suspicions, did she?Not to mention, Vetkorrm’s supporters from the Boudalan tribe, soon were found dead in various……………accidents.Anyone who barely even had a brain-like someone who barely even had a quarter of a brain? Would know what was going on.Know that what had happened to Vetkorrm’s supporters, were no accidents.One of them found at the bottom of a great stairwell, one of them found, having fallen off of the roof of his house, one of them having choked on an apple slice, one of them having “accidentally” stabbed himself in the throat-it just went on and on and on.Everyone knew it.But no one wanted to say it.Because why would they try to find evidence against people that kept the world safer?It had now been almost a month since the last of Vetkorrm’s goons’ deaths.Clarke and three of her other romantic partner soulmates, Jessica Jones, Yelena Belova and Natasha Romanoff, near the Brooklyn bridge-or what was left of it after the bombs hit, and Clarke was seated between them on one of the benches alongside the river.Yelena was on one end, with Natasha next to her and Clarke was on Natasha’s other side and Jessica was on the other end of the bench, flanking Clarke’s other side.Jessica leaned next to Clarke and kissed Clarke’s neck, just above the zombie’s collar.Clarke quietly moaned, enjoying the pleasant sensation.When things were quiet like this? Clarke could pretend sometimes, that her lovers were not a bunch of serial killing dictators.At least, she could pretend for a time.Before reality decided to rear its ugly head.And with it, would bring everything that Clarke tried to ignore.Mass murdering, planned and calculated killings, people disappearing.And Clarke’s romantic partner soulmates and lovers becoming people that Clarke didn’t even recognize, most of the time.Clarke wondered, as she looked out on the sloshing river before her and her lovers, feeling Natasha cradling Clarke’s right hand, in her left, stroking Clarke’s palm and wrist with her right hand, just how exactly things got the way they got.Because killing Thanos? That might have been the trigger, but it was just the last straw.Having a threat like that most likely had made her mates decide to finally go over that last edge and kill anything they perceived even remotely as threats.But that hadn’t been the full cause. There had been build up to that.But what?Clarke liked to think that she knew almost all of the things that had happened to her mates.But still, even knowing what she knew? She still wasn’t sure she understood how this had happened.What had made things mount to the extent that they had?Loki and the Chitauri? Ultron? HYDRA being revealed to have a hand behind SHIELD’s existence? Kilgrave? The Hand? Wilson Fisk? The Accords and Thaddeus Ross? Dreykov still being alive around that time.Clearly, there had been build up for years and Clarke hadn’t even realized it.But all of these enemies, save for Loki, were dead, and Loki was now one of the Avengers.But that didn’t matter, did it?Because there were always new threats that just seemed to pop up from out of nowhere.Thanos? He honestly had seemed to just come out of nowhere.Coming down from space in his ship, carrying the infinity stones that he had and looking for the mind stone and the time stone.Thankfully, Wanda had destroyed Thanos, before he could do anything.But it hadn’t changed that right there, when Thanos had come down to Earth, that that was just the proof the Avengers and the Defenders had needed-that there would always be enemies everywhere.Which meant vigilance was no longer an option.Now the only option? Was murder.Killing the threats, before the threats could even put a toe out of line.Do to enemies, including to potential enemies from the Ark and from the tribes, what they would do to the Avengers, the Defenders, the X-Men, Clarke and their other loved ones.That was the only option left open to them.Still, even knowing that that was essentially what had happened, since it had just built up over time, and made sense, and Clarke knew that this was a fact of what had happened, it still felt surreal.It still felt like it couldn’t have happened.But it had.Clarke knew that that one guy, Killian, using his tech to try to control Pepper and Tony, had escalated things to get to the point that they were now. And the Accords had just been one last nail in the coffin.Clarke had seen it after Tony and Pepper had killed Killian. She had seen it in their eyes. They were different after ending Killian’s life. Something dark had entered their eyes-as if they understood that the next even remote threat, would be killed brutally.And Clarke had seen the same look in her lovers’ eyes when they had been presented with the Accords by Ross.She had seen that same look in their eyes. A look that told Clarke that they understood that the government was going to try to control them, and they wouldn’t stand for it.So, really, it shouldn’t have been a surprise at all, that Thaddeus Ross was found dead in his home not long after.And Thanos? His brutal death and the brutal deaths of all his followers, shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone.But Clarke could feel her stomach turn, knowing that there was nothing she could do now.She might be a strong, powerful zombie, but she couldn’t stop them. And she knew it.Even if she used the time stone, that would just start things over again. And killing her lovers, was of course, not an option. Not to her.She stiffened when she heard Natasha chuckle, “I know what you’re thinking, detka.”Clarke glanced nervously at Natasha.“Do you?” She asked cautiously.Natasha nodded as her hands remained on Clarke’s hand, leaning her head to the right and kissing Yelena’s forehead as Yelena leaned her head against Natasha’s right shoulder, “I do. And you know that this is for the best, don’t you? Did Ross not get what he deserved?”Clarke shivered. Natasha had an uncanny way of detecting what Clarke was thinking.There were a million reasons why Clarke knew she couldn’t do anything to go against her mates.But amongst them?She wasn’t sure her mates weren’t in the right.Because, well……………hadn’t Thaddeus Ross been trying to control the Avengers? Hadn’t Ross gotten what he deserved? And hadn’t everyone else who the Avengers, the Defenders, the X-Men and SHIELD had killed?It turned Clarke’s stomach to think that.But she said nothing as she nuzzled against Natasha’s left arm and Jessica snuggled against Clarke’s left shoulder.All three Jessica, Natasha and Yelena chuckled at Clarke’s refusal to deny them.And Clarke found those sounds the most foreboding sounds she had ever heard, in the history of hearing threatening words and laughs from enemies.Ironic, wasn’t it? Her enemies had never made her feel this much dread as her lovers did.