I'M BACK BITCHES!
S I X | GREEN EYED CARTER
"Ah! If you swerve like that one more time so help me god-"
"-Oh I'm sorry, I wasn't really listening in class when they taught us how to drive a car-- oh wait." Ren quipped as he shot a quick glare at his seething friend in the passenger seat. "I don't know how to drive a freaking car!"
"Pull over." Carter demanded impatiently.
"What?"
"Pull... Over."
"Why wou-"
"Just pull over!" The blonde snapped and Ren raised his brows at her sudden mood swing before he reluctantly complied to her instructions.
"Jeez, no need to get snappy..." He trailed off with a lopsided smile on his face, switching his gaze from Carter's broken arm to her very unamused glare. "See what I did there?"
Without a single word, Carter opened the car door and promptly threw up directly outside the vehicle, making her companion shudder in disgust. After three rounds with her stomach, the nauseous car sick feeling faded slightly. With an elongated sigh, she leaned back in the car seat and closed her eyes briefly, wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve idly.
"Are you okay?" Ren asked hesitantly.
Opening one eye slowly, Carter sent Ren a pointed look, her eyebrow raised incredulously. "My arm is broken, I just threw up and I'm on the road trip from hell with the most unsympathetic person ever."
Ren blinked a few times before nodding slowly. "A simple no would have sufficed."
Carter resisted the urge to roll her eyes and punch him. "Wake me up when we get to camp."
"Oh no," Ren scoffed, putting the car into the wrong gear and making them stall. "Dammit. You aren't going to sleep Carter, I don't really want to deal with lugging your possibly dead body around. Or your boyfriend-- I'd rather not deal with angry version of a naturally angry looking guy."
Carter changed the gear for him and then rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to die if I fall asleep you idiot, I'm just... tired."
"Look we're like, I don't know-- five minutes away from camp, just stay awake before I slap you around the face." He sighed, growing tired of her constant back chatting. She didn't respond to him and instead decided to sulk and look out of the passenger window in a dramatic manner. Ren took it as a sign of defeat and smiled smugly to himself, driving on.
Looked like she wasn't that stubborn after all.
___
It looked the same, but so much different at the same time.
Carter couldn't help but widen her eyes as they drove up to the secure gate of what once was Camp Jaha, but now a sign stood boldly over the gates, thick steel letters which were hard to mistake. Arkadia. She smiled faintly to herself. It was was just a sign, sure, but it wasn't just a sign at the same time; it was change, it was evolution for the people of the Ark. It proved that they weren't just a rickety bunch of survivors, it proved that they were a community, ready to build themselves up from the dust of their fallen home. They were ready to live, really live, rather than just survive.
It was the beginning of their civilization.
"Looks kinda dull if you ask me." Ren murmured in a bored and disinterested tone, drumming his thumbs on the steering wheel impatiently as they waited to for the two guards on the gate to advance towards the vehicle upon realizing the people who left in the car weren't there.
As the guard approached Ren's window, he tightened his grip on his gun and frowned in suspicion. "Who are you and where is Councilman Kane?"
Ren inhaled deeply through his nose and leaned back, allowing the guard to see Carter cradling her throbbing, slightly bloody arm. "We don't really have time to introduce ourselves, she's already lost a lot of blood and needs to see a doctor."
The man pursed his lips and looked up at the other guard in advise, who merely shrugged in answer before nodding his head curtly. "Let them in!" He shouted towards the other guard, who ran back to the gate to open it before he turned back to Ren, his face cold and clipped, pointing towards Carter. "She can see a doctor, you can answer some questions."
"Yeah yeah whatever, what a warm welcome to Arkadia." He scoffed before putting the car into gear and driving into the camp.
They drove in a few meters, passing familiar faces, yet none of them seemed to recognize either Carter or Ren. It wasn't like Carter blended into the background in the Ark, her father was a freaking Councilman, it was odd how not one person noticed them. They pulled up alongside a small group of horses tied to a pole of some sort and got out, eyeing the camp cautiously.
"Hey, cars aren't allowed near the horses, it scares th- Carter?" A voice broke through their thoughts and they both snapped their heads in the direction, Ren frowned in confusion, but Carter's eyes widened.
"Rae?"
The vibrant red hair immediately confirmed Carter's thoughts and she smiled widely. Though they hadn't actually known each other long, the relief Carter felt knowing she was alive and well was mountainous-- pun somewhat intended-- it had felt like forever since she saw her red head companion.
Though, the happiness was no reciprocated. Rae's shock quickly turned into a tight anger and Carter's smile faded slowly.
"I ought to stab you for leaving me like that, what were you thinking?!" Rae suddenly yelled, mildly furious. Carter was too taken back by her reaction that her words escaped her. "I didn't know anyone properly and you just left me here! I didn't even get a freaking goodbye! I had to hear it from Lucy!"
"Who's Lucy?" Carter scrunched her face up in confusion.
"Exactly." Rae grounded out. "Who is Lucy? I'll tell you who Lucy is; someone who knew you were gone before I did. What, was I not worthy of a farewell, or even a sticky note saying B-R-B, X-O-X-O Carter?"
"Rae-"
"-Don't you Rae me." The red head seethed, folding her arms over her chest stubbornly. "You risked your life for me, how the hell am I supposed to pay you back and get rid of the guilty feeling on my conscious if you decide to become Tarzan?"
"I'm sorry!" Carter exclaimed, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I'm sorry I didn't get in touch, but I'm not sorry for leaving. I did that for me, and I regret nothing, I feel so much better; stronger. I did what I had to do, and now I'm back... For good. I promise I won't leave again, I'm done running."
Rae's face didn't soften as she took a step forward. "If you even think about ditching me with these losers again, I'll shove a cactus down your throat so hard, you'll be shitting needles for a week." Carter's jaw fell slack and Ren snorted from behind her.
"I'm totally using that one," He smirked in amusement, shrugging innocently at Carter's glare. "What? It's a good threat."
"I'll make your death look like an accident, Ren, that's not a threat; that's a promise." She responded evenly, her tone deadpan.
"Okay, I'll shut up, jeez." Ren threw up his hands and stepped back towards the car. "I better go find those guards before our visa runs up anyway."
Carter nodded and turned back towards Rae, who eyed Ren with an indistinguishable scowl. "I'm sorry, Rae."
"What happened to your arm?" Rae suddenly noticed, ignoring Carter's apology. The concern was evident on her face and Carter gripped her bicep tighter, more aware of the throbbing pain.
"I broke it."
Rae's eyebrows rose. "That's metal as fuck."
"Sure," Carter nodded slowly, not entirely understanding the sentence. "Do you know where I can find Abby?"
"Mount Weather."
"Sweet, thank y- wait what?" Carter frowned. "Mount Weather, as in your old home Mount Weather?"
"Did you hit your head when you broke your arm?" Rae raised an amused eyebrow. "Unless you know of any other Mount Weathers, then yeah."
"Ah, shit. Jackson?"
"Same place. There's other doctors, you know." Rae rolled her eyes. "Damn, you leave a few months and the entire camp changes..."
"You're telling me." Carter scoffed. "I feel like an outsider among my own people."
"Don't let it get to you too much, I mean, you do look different, so I can't blame them." Rae shrugged.
Carter frowned and turned around, looking at her reflection in the car window. It was the first time she actually took in her appearance ever since she left camp. She inhaled sharply at the girl she saw.
Correction; the woman she saw.
Her hair was in a wild dirty blonde, almost light brown, pony tail with various small braids among the strands from when she get bored, her face wasn't as full as it used to be, her freckles had faded, replaced with thick layers of dirt and grime, her skin even looked thicker and held a bronze color from exposure, but above all it was her eyes. Her eyes had changed the most and no one had decided to tell her when they ran into her and Ren.
The green flecks shone brighter than ever, they seemed so much more fiery and determined than before. It was then she realized the sudden truth. She looked more like a Grounder than she did part of Arkadia, and she didn't even feel bad about it. Instead she felt stronger.
"Woah okay... Point taken." She grinned, running her fingers along her dirty jawline in wonderment. "I don't look like me, I look better."
"Yeah sure, if rolling in dirt and leaves does it for you, who am I to judge." Rae shrugged in amusement. "Come on, let's get you to a doctor."
Carter nodded, peeling her eyes away from her reflection and down to her wounded arm. "I hope it's quick and easy to repair."
___
"I'm not getting a makeshift cast."
Lucia, Carter's appointed Doctor, pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled deeply. For the past ten minutes he had been insisting that the blonde's arm wouldn't heal properly unless she had a cast put on it. She was fine with the idea right up until he accidentally mentioned that she would be incapacitated for a few weeks until the bone had fully healed.
Turned out, she didn't like the idea of doing nothing.
"Can you not just put a brace on it or something?" Carter furrowed her brows, pleading the man to find an alternative route so she didn't end up becoming a useless sack of potatoes. "Or just wrap it up really tight? I don't mind."
"It won't heal properly if I do that." Lucia sighed, running a hand over his face. "You need a cast, it's the fastest healing route we have for you."
"You don't understand," Carter laughed emptily, swinging her legs as she sat on the end of the medical bed. "If you do that, I can't leave camp, I can't help out when it's needed, that's not really my style."
"No, your style is more like screwing up when people need your help." Ren snickered, leaning against the metal wall, out of arm's length of his friend. Rae had stayed for a while with Carter until Ren appeared, then she snuck away, back to the horses without giving Carter a justifiable reason for leaving.
"Carry on Ren, and I'll gouge your eyes out with a rusty spoon." Carter quipped in a worryingly calm and even tone before turning her attention back to the doctor. "Is there really no other way?"
"I'm afraid not, Miss Kane, not without more complications arising." Lucia smiled sympathetically.
"Abby wouldn't say that." Carter mumbled, disheartened. According to Lucia, Abby and a few others were in Mount Weather in order to help save someone's life, information Rae had failed to produce. He was vague on details, which Carter didn't get, but she didn't push for answers either.
"I don't get what the big deal is," Ren commented from his place against the wall, his hands stuffed into his pockets nonchalantly. "It's just a cast, and then your arm's fixed. What's the issue?"
Carter swivelled her head to face him properly and glared. "If you haven't been listening, you moron, I'm gonna be useless. I don't know about you, but I'm not down with being as useless as a freaking paperclip."
"You don't need a cast to be that, honey." He smirked, though vigorously began to apologize once Carter violently threw a pillow in his direction. "Oh come on, I'm sure you'll find jobs to do, you're an engineer aren't you? Why don't you just make something that'll cover the cast so you can still help out?"
Carter straightened her back, suddenly interested. "Ren, you're a genius."
"I know."
Confused, Lucia squinted between the two of them and cocked his head slightly. "Does that mean you're okay to go through with the cast?"
"Indeed I am, Doc," She nodded firmly. "Cast me up."
"Okay then," Lucia smiled. "I'll go get some general anesthetic to numb the pain and we'll get started."
___
"Carter it's not going to set if you keep poking it."
"But it feels weird." The blonde went to poke her still damp cast again when Ren batted her hand away with a scowl. They had been left alone for about ten minutes whilst the Doctor filled in some forms after he had successfully given Carter the bulky cast she didn't desire. Thanks to the anaesthetic, she couldn't feel the pain of her arm, but she did feel it tingle every now and then, however, all she wanted to do was hurry up and make a brace for it so she was rendered entirely useless.
"Stop it, jeez it's like looking after a kid." He sighed, elated. Carter giggled as she looked up at him with a half lidded expression. Ren immediately regretted the decision to let her have more anaesthetic. She was as high as the Ark once was.
Her childish giggling stopped abruptly and she frowned, looking down at her hands with a perplexed expression. "Ren, I need to ask you something."
"Go on..."
"It's been bothering me for a while, y'know..."She trailed off, her face solemn. He narrowed his eyes, wondering what it could have been that had her so perplexed. He briefly thought he was going to ask questions about Caroline, and his heart contracted. He wasn't ready to talk about her properly yet, even the mere thought of her name hurt him deeply, the gaping hole in his heart ached more. Carter blinked a few times before pursing her lips and looking him dead in the eye. "Why the hell is there a 'D' in fridge but not refrigerator?"
His jaw fell slack along with the rest of his body, she was kidding surely. "Are you serious?"
Her expression remained stoic as she nodded, "I'm very serious, Renaldo."
He opened his mouth ready to insult her for calling him such a stupid name, when there was a sudden knock on the wall. He turned his head to see a young woman stood at the threshold awkwardly, holding a clipboard of some sort in her hands.
"Hi," She mumbled, smiling stiffly. "My name's Gina, I'm here to take the names of the patients in the doctor's wing if that's no trouble to you two."
"That's fine!" Carter smiled broadly, her tone annoyingly chipper. "We're just discussing refrigerators at the moment."
Gina raised her brows in confusion when Ren shook his head, "Ignore her, she's high."
"Right." Gina drawled out, walking further into the room, eyeing Carter uncertainly. "I won't be long, I just need to take your name, first and last."
"Carter Kane... or am I Conners in the files?" She began to mumble to herself before shrugging. "Eh, just go with Carter Kane."
Gina's eyes widened slightly. "As in Councilman Kane's daughter?"
"Bingo!"
"And Bellamy's girlfriend?"
Carter's back suddenly straightened from her makeshift hospital bed, "His girlfriend, spirit animal; it's all the same," She shrugged in an attempt to look nonchalant. "How do you know him?"
"We've worked together a few times... He's a great person." Gina smiled and Carter nodded her head.
"He sure is, great kisser too."
Ren snorted but quickly covered it with a cough as Gina shuffled uncomfortably.
"Well, I better get going, it was nice to finally meet you." the brunette smiled before backing up out of the threshold.
"You too!" Carter called waving her hand rapidly in the air until Gina was out of sight, then her facade dropped and collapsed back into the bed. "Ugh."
"Jealous much, Carter?" Ren snickered, earning a light punch from the blonde with her good arm.
"Did you see the way her eyes lit up at his name?" She asked, scowling at midair.
"Maybe," Ren shrugged, a ghost of a smirk still on his lips, "It's ironic, isn't it?"
"What?"
"You can see the light in someone else's eyes, but you can't see it in your own boyfriend's when he looks at you." Ren pointed out smugly, settling down in the chair beside Carter's bed. "I guess we can say you're the green eyed Carter..."
"... Was that a pun?" Carter narrowed her eyes at him.
"Yeah, you know, the green eyed monster is jealousy, but you have green eyes anyway so it makes you the green eyed Carter except you're jealous."
"It's not funny when you have to explain it." Carter quipped.
"Still a good pun though. It's both funny and factually correct." He smiled in mock sweetness. "Carter is jelly..."
"Shut up." The blonde rolled her eyes, fighting the appealing urge to smile. Sure, she was jealous, but there was no way in hell she was admitting it out loud.
___
I'M SORRY ITS JUST A FILLER CHAPTER AND IM SORRY IT HAS TAKEN ME TWO MONTHS TO UPDATE IVE BEEN VERY VERY BUSY BUT HEY IM BACK NOW
and hey, bright side, you've met Gina in the book hah hah hah... I won't make you wait so long for the next update, scout's honor.
I love you and thank you for reading!