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T W E N T Y N I N E | AWKWARD SMALL TALK
Kane grew increasingly anxious the longer he stared at the list of the 101 criminals accompanying his daughter until he got down. There no argument between the council that Abby and Kane would be on the first Exodus ship so the reunion between them and their children would happen sooner rather than later.
He remembered the horror on her face when he told her the truth concerning Mia, he knew it would take her time to get over that kind of information, but he was willing to accept that. All he wanted was his daughter back safely in his arms, so he could treat her the way a parent is supposed to treat their child. He hoped it wasn't too late for that, after all, she was eighteen. Her childhood is over and she begins adulthood-- the time when children don't need their parents.
He exhaled loudly, scanning over the faces of the Hundred, briefly checking their bio as he did. He didn't know why he was doing it to himself, he already knew there was killers down there with her, but he wanted to know every threat, which didn't exactly give him the peace of mind he was looking for.
Then one name stuck out. Finn Collins. Carter's best friend.
He didn't know whether the fact that Finn being down there was a good thing or not. The boy was reckless and had no care for the law. He dragged Carter down a path Kane did not want for her. Councillor Kane had never approved of their friendship, but that only made the two kids become closer, since Carter would do anything to piss Kane off. He didn't know at the time it was her way of crying for attention, he just thought it was a 'phase' brought on by the people Carter decided to surround herself with. If he knew then, what he knew now, things would be different. Kane himself would be different.
With another quick scan of Finn's bio, Kane sighed. At least he knew Finn would protect Carter. That was something Kane could never deny of the boy. Finn Collins had always protected Carter and Raven Reyes. That gave Kane some peace, at least.
"Councillor Kane, sir?" A sudden voice interrupted the solitude Kane had built for himself. The man in question startled slightly and snapped his attention towards the voice. Of course it would be Shumway. You promote the guy to Commander and suddenly he won't give you a moment alone...
"Shumway." Kane swallowed the urge to sigh yet again. He turned off his tablet so Shumway couldn't see what he was doing and stood up, giving the Commander his full attention. "Can I help you?"
"Actually, sir, you can." Shumway replied, almost too calm for Kane's liking. Usually, he was very uptight and Kane could recall the man sweating a few times too.
"Well then, what are you waiting for?" Kane frowned, his impatience was getting the better of him.
"Not here," The Commander lowered his voice slightly, there was almost something menacing about it. "Somewhere more private, sir."
Kane glanced around the empty control room and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What is it, Commander?"
"It's concerning Carter, sir," Shumway whispered. "We need to talk somewhere more secluded."
At the name of his daughter, Kane flagged down any warning bells and red lights in his mind and nodded slowly, allowing Shumway to lead the way.
***
"Are you sure you don't want to take this one? It might be lighter."
"I'm fine, Bellamy." Carter sighed, trying to keep the strain out of her voice. To her, one gun was pretty heavy. So having to carry a whole makeshift sack of the things was more than just a task, but she refused to let Bellamy help. She wanted to be able to do it on herself.
"Suit yourself." Bellamy rolled his eyes at the blonde's unwavering stubbornness and silence ensued once again.
Ever since Carter practically begged Bellamy to come back to camp with her (Although she will profoundly state that she did not beg,) Bellamy had hardly spoke a word, seemingly too lost in his thoughts to engage in any conversation. For a long time, Carter was worried he was still hating himself for everything that happened, though when they left the bunker, Carter noticed his expression was more thoughtful than self-loathing. She didn't mind the silence this time round, it gave he a chance to think over everything her mother-- or the hallucination of her mother had said to her. A large weight was lifted when Mia had told Carter it wasn't her fault for her death and it allowed Carter to fully grieve the actual reason behind the loss of her mother, but also left her relieved. Now all that was left for her to do was mend the relationship between her father and herself and then she could finally leave the past where it belongs. The past.
And of course, now that she could finally think, it was almost predicable of her train of thought to slowly go back to what happened in the bunker between Carter and Bellamy. Sure, it wasn't like it was anything life-changing but there was just something about how physically close they were that made Carter's cheeks warm, even hours after it happened. She would have never thought so much about it had it not have been for the intense look that lay in Bellamy's eyes. She had never seen it before, so she didn't even know how to comprehend it. Yet it still left her wondering. Although one thing was straight, she sure as hell wouldn't mind seeing that look in his eyes again.
"Uh, Bellamy," Carter coughed, not liking the way her thoughts were going. "This is your choice, right? Coming back to camp, I mean. You're not doing this just because I'm incredibly persuasive with both my words and my looks."
"And you say I have a big ego..." Bellamy scoffed, smirking lightly as he did.
"Difference is, I was joking, I doubt you could say the same thing," Carter retorted, her mood brightening at the playful atmosphere that had been brought back between the two. "Answer my damn question."
"No," He shook his head once, his smirk still intact. "I'm not just coming back because you begged me."
"I didn't beg, jackass." Carter narrowed her eyes.
"You can deny it all you want, we both know you begged me to come back because camp would suck without me." Carter scoffed at his statement but didn't say anything. After a long pause, Bellamy finally answered her question, all playfulness dropped. "I'm all Octavia has left, I can't just abandon her. Or the rest of camp. We have a potential war on our hands and we don't have to be afraid anymore, leaving would just be suicidal." Another pause. "And you're right, I have a better chance with Jaha than I do out in Grounder territory," His smirk returned. "And yes, before you say, you did help convince me. I'm surprised you don't give the speeches, Carter, you can be pretty damn convincing when you want to be."
"I'm not exactly a fan of speeches. My dad used to give me one every time I did something wrong, which was pretty much most of my life, and I'm sure I'll need psychological help if I have to listen to one again," Carter shuddered momentarily and then shrugged. "Besides, my good looks doesn't help me win everyone over."
Bellamy opened his mouth to make a smartass comment but then settled with a light chuckle and a head shake instead. Just then, the familiar subtle glow of camp caught the pair's attention and relief rolled through them. Just before they reached the gate, Bellamy put his free hand on Carter's shoulder to stop her from walking any further. She looked down at it with confusion and then up at him.
"Can you not tell anyone about what happened? Not about me planning to leave and not about Dax either. If anyone asks about him, we don't know where he is and we haven't seen him since yesterday." Bellamy instructed lightly, a sense of urgency behind his words. Carter was mildly offended he would think she would even think about telling people about what happened, but let it go with a small smirk.
"Your secret's safe with me." She repeated what he had said to her regarding her little retreat all that time ago. Bellamy seemed to notice her reference and returned her light smirk. They walked through the gate and into the heart of camp just in time, by the looks of it.
"He's gone! The Grounder's gone!"
Carter's eyes widened at the sudden statement and she involuntarily gulped out of nervousness. She felt the slight nudge of Bellamy beside her and looked up at him. He gave her a reassuring nod of the head and she returned with a weak, slightly terrified, smile. Panic began to rise amongst the Hundred and Carter leaned in closer to Bellamy's ear, she didn't want to speak normally as the Hundred was yet to realize their appearance.
"I'm going to find Kara, ask if she can teach these amateurs how to shoot," She whispered, trying not to think of how close they were and how increasingly flustered she became. "I'll leave you to deal with the camp and Clarke."
"Yeah, thanks for that, Sparky." Bellamy murmured back, taking the sake of guns off her. Carter was mildly shocked that he called her the nickname she had managed to successfully get off of Monty and the rest of the Hundred. Bellamy had only ever called Carter by her name. She shook off her surprise and instead weaved her way though the Hundred and towards the Drop ship since she didn't see Kara anywhere outside. Just as she entered she heard Bellamy's gruff voice call over the crowd.
"Let the Grounders come!" That was the last she heard from him before she made her way up to the top level of the Drop ship where a sleeping Kara lay. Carter was hesitant to wake her at first, but then decided it was for a good cause, and poked her.
"Kara, Kara wake up!" She whisper-yelled. Almost instantly, the brunette shot up with groggy eyes, yet half alert. She stared at Carter for a moment until she finally came to her senses and yawned sleepily.
"You're back already? I thought it was a day trip?" Kara stifled another yawn and stretched her arms.
"There was no way in hell I was sleeping in that bunker. It was bad enough having to go back in there to get the guns." Carter shivered involuntarily, remembering the state of the depot. Almost subconsciously, she pulled the jacket around her tighter, grateful that Bellamy went back in there after she forgot it again. She really didn't want to leave it in there, not with the cold weather coming especially.
"Guns?" Kara seemed to perk up at the sound of the weapons and Carter almost smirked at her. "What kind of guns?"
"Machine guns, I think... but I know jack squat about them, all I know is the majority of them work and they can kill Grounders..." She trailed off before pulling her best innocent smile. "Which is actually why I came to you. Since you're the only one I know that can shoot a gun, can you teach some of the Hundred?"
"I haven't got anything else to do, so why not?" Kara shrugged, heaving herself to her feet.
"Awesome," Carter half smiled before finally taking in the room, which was no Grounder-less. "What happened here anyway? Did the Grounder break out or something?"
"Something like that." Kara muttered an overly innocent look on her face and Carter instantly noticed it. She always wore that look on the Ark when she was hiding something.
"Oh no," Carter shook her head, putting the pieces together. "Please tell me you did not have something to do with the Grounder escaping."
"They had him tied up like an animal, they treated him like he wasn't even human," Kara defended, her eyes glancing over to where the chains lay discarded on the floor. "He didn't deserve that."
"This is great, seriously, it is." Carter drawled sarcastically, narrowing her eyes. "Not only did the enemy escape, but someone from camp was the one that did it... Did anyone help you?"
"No," Kara shook her head, her reply was almost too quick, though Carter didn't say anything about it. "It was just me. But are you even listening to yourself? One minute you're disgusted by them for torturing Lincoln and now you're getting pissed because he escaped-" Kara cut herself off as soon as she realized her mistake. She called him by his name.
"Lincoln?" Carter repeated, a dumbfounded expression on her face. "He... He talks English?" Instead of lying, Kara nodded her head slowly and Carter stumbled back a little, her eyes wide and face white. "Holy shit, he knows English and you still let him go?! He understood everything we've ever said! He can go back to his people and tell them all about us. Did you ever consider that?!"
"Stop being over-dramatic," Kara rolled her eyes. "You didn't see him, he wasn't a bad person! Everyone just made him out to be this monster when really he was just like us. Don't start yelling at me when you don't know the full story, Carter. It doesn't work like that."
Carter narrowed her eyes at the harshness of Kara's words and put her hands up, signalling that she had heard enough. "Do you know what? No. We're not doing this, I've got other stuff to do. Just... make sure you're ready to teach the Hundred with the guns." And with that, Carter span on her heel and jumped down the hatch, ignoring the slight ache it left in her bad foot.
"What, no hello?" A sudden voice startled Carter just before she left the Drop ship. She was supposed to be talking to her father and instead, kept getting distracted. With a sigh of annoyance, she turned around to see Finn quirking an eyebrow at her.
"Why aren't you resting?" She asked, noticing how he was stood slightly crooked to ease the strain on his wound.
"Why are you over reacting?" Finn retorted, lightly. She knew he wasn't talking about how she acted regarding his well-being. He had been listening to her and Kara.
"I'm allowed to overreact," She shrugged. "That's two people who are out to get everyone in camp and know everything about us. The first being Murphy."
"He never meant to stab me," Finn sighed, understanding why Carter really disliked the Grounder. It had nothing to do with the knowledge of camp. It was all to do with the fact that he almost killed Finn.
"Whether he meant it or not, he still did it." Carter looked to the ground with a frown. "I still almost lost you."
"But you didn't," Finn put a hand on her shoulder and sent her a reassuring smile. "You don't have to be so hard on Kara just because she acted on her morals."
"But what if he comes back, with more Grounders?" Carter looked up to him, fear evident on her face. "I'm a lover not a fighter."
Finn scoffed lightly. "Liar." He muttered. "And if he does, then that's something we can deal with together, but I doubt he would. I don't think this Grounder is like the others, he saved Octavia more than once, he saved us and when he was unchained he could have killed us... most of us were high enough for him too, but he didn't. You might not want to hear this, Bambi, but you're in the wrong for getting pissed at Kara."
Carter sighed, but didn't respond. Maybe she did overreact?
"You should have seen it earlier," Finn suddenly spoke, wanting to change the subject. When Carter looked up at him, his smile grew with amusement. "The camp was stoned. Raven had to tell Connor how he was a beautiful broom."
"No way? I missed that? Dammit, why does all the good stuff happen when I'm gone," Carter muttered, trying to imagine what the people at camp were like after eating those nuts. At least their hallucinations weren't as bad as Bellamy's and herself. "Wait, how come you and Raven weren't baked, too?"
"We were too busy to be hungry, if you know what I mean," Finn wiggled his eyebrows with a grin, though the grin didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Nice." Carter scrunched up her nose. Though she was mildly disturbed that Finn felt the need to tell her about his sexual activities, she was secretly relieved that the two of them had managed to work past the whole 'sleeping with Clarke' thing. Or at least, that's what she thought. "Well, I need to go talk to Jaha and my dad, I'll talk to you later."
"Hey wait," Finn grabbed the top of Carter's shoulder and she hissed with pain, backing out of his grip and holding onto her shoulder tightly. Finn frowned at this, and without a word stepped closer and pulled the jacket that was far too big for her down. That's when he saw a piece of ragged cloth tied awkwardly around her shoulder, the top of it stained with blood. "What happened to your arm?"
"Oh, I got shot." She shrugged, pulling the jacket back up to hide her wound.
"What?!" Finn barked, startling Carter. "Who did this?"
"Look, I really have to go and talk to my dad." Carter sighed, backing away slowly.
"Carter you are not leaving until.you tell me who the hell shot you!"
"Finn, please, my father's life is more important than my arm. I promise, everything I haven't been able to tell you, I will the second I'm done talking to my dad. Please, just for once in your life, be patient." After much thought over Carter's offer, Finn sighed and nodded his head slowly, allowing his protectiveness to subside for a moment.
"Oh, and Carter?" He called, just before she left the Drop ship. She turned her head slightly and flicked up a questioning eyebrow. "You may want to fix your hair. You look a mess." He winked playfully and Carter's brows dropped into a frown as she subconsciously went to touch her hair.
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" She asked, more to herself than to him. She was lucky enough to keep her hair band around her wrist and the second she left the Drop ship, she began to re-braid her hair to the side. As she raked her fingers though it and tugged away the knots, she scanned the main area of camp for a certain leader.
"Guns? Seriously?" A sudden voice spoke from beside her, making her jump and yank on her hair. She hissed at the dull ache it left her and span around to see Clarke looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "I didn't think.you were that kind of person."
"You're kidding me, right? Guns are awesome, just wait until you shoot one." Carter smirked, finally finishing with her hair and allowing it to fall down to half way down her ribs. It needed to be washed, that much was obvious. "At any.other time I would love for you to give me a speech on how guns are bad, but right now I've really got to go."
"Relax, I was never gonna give you a speech, you've made it quite clear on how much you don't like them," Clarke half smiled. "You're right. I don't like the idea of having a bunch of criminals walking around with guns..."
"I sense a 'but' coming on," Carter grinned.
"But, it's for the safety of camp and that's all I want." Clarke smiled
"How about that? The princess is on board." Carter smirked, causing Clarke to roll her eyes.
"Don't you start calling me that either," Clarke scolded playfully and Carter chuckled lightly. Before any other words could be conversed between the two, another voice, this one was a hell of a lot more gruffer than the pair, interrupted them.
"Are you ready?" Bellamy kept his eyes focused on Carter and Clarke shifted her gaze between the two with a raised eyebrow.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Carter sighed, turning back to Clarke with a smile. "I'll talk to you later." Clarke nodded and Carter bidded the girl goodbye before she walked towards the tent where the conversation with Jaha will take place. She noticed Bellamy's footsteps slow as they approached the tent and Carter turned to him with a small, reassuring smile. "We've got this." Her tone was full of confidence yet soft. Bellamy bit his bottom lip in anticipation before nodding. He pulled himself together, his expression assertive and Carter followed him into the tent.
"Bellamy Blake." Jaha greeted the second they both sat down and put a headset on.
"Chancellor," Bellamy nodded in greeting. Carter noticed the sudden discomfort Bellamy felt and coughed lightly, capturing the Chancellor's attention.
"Before this topic continues, I'd like my father to be present." She disguised her order with a sweet smile and a professional tone.
Jaha frowned slightly yet saw no obligations to her request and nodded, sending one of the guards to find Kane. An awkward silence fell between the three of them as time went on, Carter tried to keep herself cool and collected though only managed to look scared and Jaha and Bellamy were staring at each other in a disgruntled kind of way.
"So, uh, how's the Ark?" Carter asked, somewhat awkwardly as she attempted to make some form of conversation with the Chancellor.
***
Kane fell behind Shumway as they walled through the halls. There was many places they passed that they could have spoken about Carter, but it seemed Shumway had a specific place.
Just as they were coming to the end of one of the long, winding halls that were a lot more deserted than the others, a shrill of a voice sounded from behind him.
"Councillor, sir!"
Kane turned around to see Major Byrne jogging up.to him, her posture as stiff as ever. "Yes?"
"The Chancellor requests to see you, he's talking to your daughter and one Bellamy Blake, sir." Byrne explained, her eyes shifting between the Commander and Councilman Kane.
Shumway muttered something under his breath, the look of pure shock on his face but Kane paid him no mind, instead he nodded to Byrne and began to follow her the way she came.
"Wait, sir!" Shumway called in a desperate attempt to stop Kane from leaving. "What about what I have to tell you?"
"My daughter comes first, Commander," Kane stated with a firm tone. "Whatever you have to say, it can wait." And with that, Kane left a rather anxious Shumway behind.
***
"So, uh, how's the weather down there?" Jaha asked Carter, who in turn shifted uncomfortably. Neither liked the awkward atmosphere yet couldn't stop asking each other pointless questions.
"Pretty grey, but hey, that's a radioactive Earth for.you." Carter forced a light chuckle. Thankfully before anything else could be asked, the door to the room Jaha was in opened and a few beats later, her father came into view, allowing Carter to breathe in relief-- not only because the small talk would be put to an end, but also because he was safe.
"Sorry I took my time, I was on the other side of the Ark." Kane sighed, sitting himself next to Jaha. He looked up at the screen and instantly caught Carter's eyes with a smile. "Hello Carter."
"Hi dad." Carter pulled a tight lipped smile before turning her attention to the Chancellor. "Okay, you can proceed," She paused for a moment and then quickly added "Sir."
"You shot me, Bellamy Blake." Jaha stated bluntly. "There is not much to discuss other than that."
Bellamy opened his mouth to reply to the Chancellor's curt answer, but Carter had beaten him to.it. "With all due respect, sir, there is a hell of a lot more to discuss than just the black and white facts. Don't you want to know why Bellamy shot you? Or why a person with such a decent aim would shoot you in the stomach rather than the heart or head?" When he didn't reply, she continued. "He shot you in the stomach so you had a higher chance of surviving." Another pause. "Sir."
"Be that as it may, Miss Conners, he still shot me. That is a capital crime and he must be punished, just like any other citizen of the Ark." Jaha spoke in a monotone voice.
Carter noticed Bellamy tense beside her and swallowed the urge to sigh. "But we're not on the Ark anymore. And you could say that about all the people down here, yet there you are promising to pardon them of their crimes. Well, Bellamy is one of them-- One of us." She chuckled humorlessly. "He, along with Clarke, has been positioned as our leader because he's the best one at keeping us safe. Without him, I doubt half of us would still be alive. He's doing a good job, and people trust him. I trust him. And I'm sure that's a lot more than what you can say, Chancellor. I mean no offense but how many people on the Ark trust you like we trust our leader?" Carter glanced at Bellamy sidelong and noticed how he wore a small smile, genuine nonetheless.
When there came no reply from the other end, Bellamy finally spoke up. "Besides, I think you should reconsider the choice to punish me, sir. Especially when we are the only people who knows who wants you dead on the Ark."
At this, both members of the council seemed to perk up. "What do you mean?"
"And this is why you're here, dad. And actually, it's the whole reason I'm down here anyway because believe me, this wasn't an optional choice." Carter explained vaguely.
"Commander Shumway." Bellamy elaborated, seemingly getting his confidence back. "He was the one that ordered me to shoot you, I had to do it for Octavia and if it wasn't me, it would have been someone else," He paused and turned his attention to Kane. "And he was the one that stuck Carter on the Drop ship. He threatened her with your life, saying that if she said a word to anyone, you were dead."
Kane's eyes visibly widened and he shot his gaze towards his daughter who had gone quiet, simply sitting beside Bellamy and listening to what her leader had to say. "Is this true?"
"Yes," Carter nodded slowly. "I was working on the air vent above them when Shumway asked Bellamy to kill Jaha. I tried to get to him, warn him about what was going to happen but that asshole of a Commander got to me before I could. Stuck me on the Drop ship and said that if I told anyone about him or what he made Bellamy do, you were dead." With a shaky breath, Carter looked away from her shock-stricken father and to the Chancellor. "Now you know and you can punish the real criminal. But Bellamy is to be forgiven and won't be punished for anything when you come to the ground. Do we have an understanding... sir?"
Jaha almost smiled fondly at how assertive the young blonde was. But he didn't instead he gave her a small nod and met Bellamy's dark gaze. "Bellamy Blake, you are hereby forgiven for your crimes."
"Thank you, sir." Bellamy couldn't hide his smile of relief. Carter glanced at him, a triumphant grin on her face that had an element of cockiness it it.
"Told you we'd figure something out."
Boom. Chapter done. I seriously have no idea why they keep going over 4000 words, they just do. What the brain wants, the brain gets. Well, at least that's out the way. UNITY DAY NEXT *Throws so much confetti* I'm gonna try and have fun with the next chapter, for the most part at least!
Thank thou for reading, as always :)