✧】i. some kind of undertrained ninja【✧

[ pilot ]

"IS THAT GOOD or bad?" Keaton asks nervously, his fingers drumming along the fabric of his jeans in a clear display of anxiety and impatience. Amery's gaze shifts from Keaton's wide-eyed expression to the boy who had spoken, surveying him with muted interest. His dark hair is falling into warm brown eyes, and a curious little smile tugs at the corner of his lips as he elbows the lanky, goggle-clad kid next to him. Although his quick notice of the lack of machine hum indicated mechanical knowledge, Amery has never seen the kid around Mecha or Tesla, or even Go-Sci.

Before Goggle Kid or his machine buddy can answer Keaton's question, Abby's daughter is out of her seat and panicking over whether Spacewalker and his companions are alive. 

"Finn, is he breathing?"

Amery's heart falls at the sight of two boys splayed across the floor, unmoving, a distraught looking Spacewalker– Finn, Griffin had called him– kneeling by one of the bodies. They never even made it outside, she thinks, closing her eyes momentarily to gather herself.

She's jolted from her reverie by Keaton jumping from his seat and bounding across the aisle. Grinning, the redhead clicks the buckles of her seatbelt meets him halfway, falling into his arms and letting him lift her from the ground. He laughs into her hair, warming the nape of her neck with his breath as she sighs into his shoulder.

"Keats," she whispers, tears stinging her eyes again at his touch. "I'm– I'm so sorry, I'm so, so sorry," she mutters, pulling away to hold the boy at arm's length. "I shouldn't have let them take you, I should have told the truth. I didn't want you to– you didn't deserve, I mean, I should have–"

"Mer, hey. Amery. Hey," Keaton laughs, putting his hands on the girl's shoulders and leveling her with a firm look. The quiver of her bottom lip only makes his gaze harden, leaving no room for argument. "That was my choice, okay? It was my decision, and I have never once regretted it. Do you understand me?" His thick brows pinch together in the way they always do when he's concerned, and Amery can't even hold back her smile. "Besides, who do you think I trusted more to take care of my old man?"

A giggle forces its way past Amery's lips, breaking her pensive expression into a gleeful one. "You never were very level-headed," she hums, triggering a noise of offense from Keaton. 

"Hey, how's Dad?" he asks hesitantly, eyes sparkling with hope.

"Great," the girl responds truthfully, offering Keaton a smile. "Still the smartest man I know. Still... still misses you every day," she says softly, looking down at her shoes. "I really am sorry, you know."

For a moment, Keaton takes a step back and studies the girl before him in silence. His bottom lip disappears between his teeth, and dark eyes filled with depth beyond their years look Amery up and down. She tenses, clasping her hands into tight fists behind her back. This is it. This is where he comes to his senses, where he lashes out and gives her what she deserves. This is the end of the friendship they've been building since they could walk, the end of her four years of regret and the beginning of a treacherous journey of single-sided pining for reconciliation, a–

"Cool. I accept your apology. Now no more sorries, alright?"

Amery goes slack-jawed as Keaton flashes her that lopsided grin she's missed so much. She has to bite her tongue to keep from saying "sorry" yet again. 

There's no use arguing, she knows, because his jawline is set in the way it always is when he's determined and cannot be swayed. It reminds her of the expression on his face when Sinclair had taught him to play chess. He'd worked the younger boy into a checkmate, but Keaton refused to admit defeat. He stared at the board for hours, trying to come up with a move that would save his king, before he fell asleep right on the board and Sinclair had to carry him to his bedroom, shaking his head fondly.

Argument out of the question, Amery nods once and throws herself back into Keaton's arms, letting the stress of the situation fizzle out for just a moment as the nostalgia of his scent envelopes everything. 

"Thank you," she whispers in his ear, standing on her tiptoes to get within range. In response, Keaton squeezes tighter.

She was going to get him out. Keaton turns 18 in two weeks, and Amery knew they'd execute him. She could have gotten access to the Skybox security system with just a little hacking. After all, the one in charge of it is the one who taught her everything she knows. Granted, the plan was a little rusty. Even if she nabbed an escape pod after breaking Keaton out, where would they have gone? They didn't know Earth was a viable option at the time.

It doesn't matter now. He's here, and he forgives her, and everything is finally okay again.

The two teenagers embrace as the others filter through the hatch and onto the lower deck. They bask in each others' presence, long-lost friends reunited after years apart. The shouting and pounding footsteps of kids on the floor below isn't enough to tear their attention away– until Keaton realizes something, his head shooting up as he takes a step back. 

"Okay, wait," he says, holding up a hand. "I'm so damn glad to see you, don't get me wrong. But what the hell are you doing here?"

"I—"

"I mean, we're halfway to the planet and then there you are, dropping from the ceiling like some kind of undertrained ninja, and—"

"Undertrained ninja?" Amery scoffs in offense. "I'd like to see you try landing on your feet while a dropship hurtles to the Ground at ten billion miles an hour!" Her knee throbs from the landing and is undoubtedly bruising over, but she can't find it in herself to care. She grins at the pure lunacy of the argument. The playful banter takes her right back to when she and Keaton were thirteen, chasing each other around panels of one of the electrical rooms as Sinclair reprimanded them without meaning it.

Amery is about to launch into a rambling explanation of the circumstances leading up to her undertrained ninja ways when a bout of shouting echoes through the hatch, drawing the teens' attention away from each other and down to the first floor. A screeching noise nearly makes Amery's heart stop.

They're opening the door.

Keaton meets her eyes in a moment of panicked understanding, and the two dart to to the ladder. Amery's feet hit the ground just as a girl's shrill voice screams, "We're back, bitches!" 

Amery winces at the proclamation. A hundred years in space, and that's the first thing Earth hears from the remainder of humanity? 

Before she can voice her opinion on the recklessness of the other girl's actions, Amery's jaw drops and any ability to speak is torn away. Outside the door of the dropship is the most color she's ever seen. It's even brighter than she imagined, tendrils of sunlight curling around vibrant plants in every shade of green possible. The fresh air invites itself inside and surrounds Amery in a bubble of purity that the Ark's air could never have supplied. Blinking through the blinding presence of the sun, she takes a step closer to the door, where the others are pouring out onto the ground in a flurry of laughter and joyous shouts.

"Holy shit," Keaton says from beside her, slack-jawed. Amery couldn't have said it better herself.

He grabs her arm and drags her into the wild outdoors, the soft dirt squishing beneath her feet and long pieces of grass brushing her exposed ankles. Amery spins in a slow circle, eyes to the tops of the highest trees. It's everything she ever dreamed of and so much more, pages of children's books come to life. The scent is overwhelming. Moss crawls up the trees, trunks in every size and height, leaves jutting from branches long and short and high and low.

Amery closes her eyes and breathes in the freshest air she's ever known, letting a grin spread across her face. This is where humanity is supposed to be. 

This is home.

Her deep inhale is cut short by a bout of harsh sneezing, a dry tickle in her throat refusing to let her breathe as she doubles over, tears stinging at her eyes.

"Mer? You alright there?" Keaton asks, rubbing her lower back and lifting her head to meet his eyes.

"Yeah," she coughs, sniffling. "Damn. I– I don't know what that was about. I'm good."

A lanky boy with dark hair and sharp jawline bounds across the grass to Keaton, nearly out of breath, his eyes dancing with a childish enthusiasm that's sort of endearing.

"Dude!" he cries, nearly tackling Keaton to the fresh earth. "We made it! We're alive! It's Earth!"

Keaton chuckles, hugging the guy back and then pulling away with a huge grin across his face. "Yeah, man," he agrees, letting his eyes wander around the clearing. "It's Earth."

For a moment, the three teens are silent, and then the new boy's eyes land on Amery and he raises a brow. "Who's this? Your girlfriend?"

Amery snorts, and the dark-haired boy holds up his hands defensively with a quick, "Kidding, kidding! You're the best friend, yeah?" Intrigued, Amery elbows Keaton in the ribs.

"You talk about me?" she asks teasingly before her eyes drift to the smoke the dropship is emitting. Her heart drops. She knows without looking that the systems she's worked so hard on for the past few weeks are beyond help. The remains have set fire to some unfortunate branches, but the joy pounding in Amery's chest overwhelms the practical part of her mind. Fire means oxygen, and oxygen means she's alive.

Amery has never felt more alive, despite her persistently runny nose and suddenly watery eyes. Fresh air blows leaves past the toes of her leathery boots, and she bends to pick one up. Grinning at the small plant, she tucks it into her pocket, tangible evidence that this is really happening, that she's really here.

Keaton draws his attention away from the other delinquents, who are still shouting and tackling each other to the ground, and gestures to the redhead beside him. "This is Amery. Mer, Cash. He was my cellmate in the Skybox." That explains the familiarity and enthusiasm with which Cash greeted Keaton.

A pang of jealously washes over Amery at the thought of her best friend spending four years in isolation with this boy instead of her. She shakes it off quickly, knowing that she has no right to be upset. Keaton never should have gotten arrested, anyway.

Amery holds out a hand expectantly, but instead of shaking it, Cash grabs it and pulls the shorter girl into a warm hug. For a moment, she tenses and stands in shock, staring wide-eyed at Keaton from over Cash's shoulder. The younger Sinclair just shrugs with a quirky smile on his face, and Amery takes it to mean that this is normal, so she wraps her arms around the other boy and pats him on the back awkwardly. 

"Nice to meet you," she says into his shoulder, her voice muffled by the denim material of his shirt.

"Feel like I already know you," Cash says, pulling back and exchanging a look with Keaton, "but likewise."

The trio is herded closer to the dropship by an accumulating crowd, and Amery peeks through the shoulders of two taller boys to see the Griffin girl making an announcement. Machine Hum Boy stands behind her, a pensive look on his face, hands tucked into the pockets of his mahogany jacket.

"Do you think we care who's in charge?" she shouts, daring anyone in the crowd to question her. The Neil Armstrong wannabe stands with her arms crossed, glaring at the blonde, a boy in a Guard uniform at her side. He's garnering an abundance of incredulous stares, likely spiking curiosity similar to Amery's in the kids around her. Did the Council send a member of the Guard down to Earth to keep tabs on the delinquents? If floating's not an option, what's the punishment for breaking rules?

"We need to get to Mount Weather," Griffin explains, her voice high and clear. "Not because the Chancellor said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we'll get and the harder this'll be."

Keaton turns to Amery and murmurs, "What's that mean?" His brows pinch together and Amery says the words he's too afraid to say.

"I don't think this is Mount Weather," she whispers lowly, twirling her finger around the leaf in her pocket. Cash tenses on her other side.

"If we want to get there before dark, we need to leave now," the Griffin girl is saying, light eyes scanning the crowd for volunteers. 

Then the boy in the Guard uniform speaks up. Amery expects him to support the Griffin girl, seeing as he's supposed to be the authority figure in this situation, but he surprises her. Instead, he challenges, "I got a better idea. You two go, find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change." A buzz of agreement ripples across the crowd.

"That's Bellamy Blake," Cash whispers to Amery, not taking his eyes off the scene. His voice, even in a whisper, sounds strained. "That girl next to him is his sister." 

Amery blanches. Nobody on the Ark has siblings. It's one of the most important rules for population control. Cash has a longing look on his face, a deep sadness in his eyes that Amery knows well. His gaze flickers from Bellamy to his sister and back again. Before she can ask if everything is alright, Cash gives her a name to put to the face.

"They found her hiding under the floor. Octavia," Cash murmurs knowingly, directing Amery's gaze to a girl with a denim jacket and long, straight hair. "Arrested her. Floated her mom."

"Why's he down here?" Amery whispers back, chancing another look at Bellamy.

"Before they opened the doors, he said he stole the uniform," Cash whispers in response. Keaton is all ears, brows raised and perked up in his cellmate's direction like a dog on alert. "So he could be with her."

Interesting. Amery thinks she might respect the decision. It's somewhat reassuring to know that she's not the only one who isn't supposed to be here.

"You're not listening," Wells pleads, his hands up at his sides. "We all need to go."

A boy with ratty brown hair and a slim figure comes out of nowhere and shoves Wells from the backside. "Look at this, everybody," he drawls, not taking his eyes off of Wells. "The Chancellor of Earth." The title elicits laughter from the kids around Amery, but she tenses, not liking where this is going.

On the ground, she is surrounded by convicted criminals. They could be petty thieves or wrongfully convicted like Keaton. They could have been apprehended for things that should never have been considered crimes in the first place. But they could also be murderers. Arsonists. Psychopaths. A shiver works its way down Amery's spine in spite of the warm air.

"Think that's funny?" Wells spits, a humorless smile gracing his features for a moment before the other boy tackles him to the ground. Griffin moves to help, but a brunet holds her back. Amery grips Keaton's forearm tightly as Wells struggles back to his feet, limping, and jeers from the surrounding delinquents spur Rat-Hair to keep going. He's smiling, not making any moves, a large smile on his face. Without even speaking, the boy exudes sarcasm and an irritating level of self-confidence. He's enjoying this. Wells is not a threat.

And then Finn drops to the ground out of nowhere, leveling Rat Hair with a serious expression. Silence falls over the crowd, dozens of spectators holding a collective breath.

"Kid's got one leg," Finn says lowly. "How 'bout you wait until it's a fair fight?" It's barely a question, his voice monotone and unwavering.

The silence threatens to drown Amery, and then her body decides to break it for her. Her hand flies to her mouth as she realizes what's about to happen, but there's no stopping the loud sneeze that erupts from her throat moments later, turning every head in her direction.

"Sorry," she squeaks, staring intensely at the ground and begging it silently to swallow her up. Keaton squeezes her hand in reassurance. And then Octavia Blake struts into the line of fire, a coy smile on her face as she approaches Wells' saving grace.

"Hey, Spacewalker," she drawls flirtatiously, batting her eyelashes. "Rescue me next." 

Just like that, the tension is broken and the crowd breaks apart in a wave of disinterest in Octavia's love life. Suddenly, Cash is running in the direction of the dropship, dust and dirt billowing from the untrodden ground in his wake. Keaton shrugs and follows, dragging a sniffling Amery along with him. She nearly trips, realizing she never actually took the time to lace up her boots.

"My man!" Cash cries, racing up to Goggle Kid and tackling him with another embrace. "You're alive!"

"Would you look at that?" Goggle Kid smirks, pounding Cash on the back and snagging Machine Hum Boy's arm, turning him around. "Guess who?"

"Cash!" the boy grins, holding out a hand. Amery knows where this is going. Cash pulls the same move, pulling the unsuspecting boy into a hug and squishing his face against his shoulder. Amery puts a hand over her mouth to stifle a chuckle, making eye contact with the wide-eyed boy from over Cash's shoulder. She shrugs, raising her eyebrows, and the boy's eyes squint in a smile.

"Hey, Keats, Ginger Ale, these are my buddies from back in Agro," Cash explains, eyes gleaming as he shoves the two boys toward Keaton and Amery, whose lips purse at the new nickname. "Jasper Jordan," he introduces Goggle Kid, "and Monty Green. Jas, Monty, meet Keaton Sinclair and his lovely lady friend, uh... Amy?"

"Dude," Keaton says flatly, and Cash erupts in laughter.

"I'm kidding! It's Amery."

"You're Sinclair's kid?" Monty asks, giving the boy an impressed once-over and earning a signature Keaton smile and nod, though the slight tension in his shoulders at the mention of his father doesn't go unnoticed.

Jasper and Keaton exchange pleasantries, leaving Monty and Amery awkwardly staring at the space between them. The boy seems hesitant to extend a hand, probably fearing a Cash-like hug ambush, so Amery makes the first move.

"Hi," she says softly, holding her hand out. Monty shakes it. It's not firm, but gentle, like his words back in the dropship. 

"Hi." His smile is close-lipped, but it reaches his eyes. Monty is a subtle presence, light with a hidden depth that Amery finds herself wanting to unpack.

Amery sneezes again.

"Sorry," she murmurs, feeling heat rush to her cheeks as she scratches the back of her neck uncomfortably. The puffiness around her eyes probably makes it seem like she's been crying, and she'd really like to go back into the dropship and never look at anyone ever again. "I really don't normally get sick."

Monty just laughs, but not in a mocking way. It's sympathetic, and it makes Amery laugh quietly along with him. "Are you allergic to, uh," Monty gestures to their surroundings, "this stuff?"

Amery pauses, tilting her head to one side as she considers the question. "I didn't even think about that," she admits sheepishly, meeting Monty's gaze again. "That'd make a lot of sense."

"It's probably not all of it," Monty reassures her. "Some of the plants down here are pretty pollen-crazy with the wind right now, but it should settle down soon." Suddenly, the boy's home station makes a lot of sense.

"Agro, huh?" Amery asks. She's done some decent work with the water systems in that station, but before Monty can respond, a hand wraps around his shoulder and whips him around.

"Four of us," Finn says to Wells, arms around Monty and Jasper, who look around with confused expressions. "Can we go now?"

"Sounds like a party," says Octavia Blake lightly, grinning mischievously and clapping her hands together. "Make it five." She's drawn into an argument with her brother while Griffin and Finn bicker about something else.

Monty looks back at Amery with a panicked look, as if to say, what do I do with this? Amery just grins, folding her arms across her chest with a shrug.

"Go where?" Cash asks, and Amery and Keaton follow him to the ramp where Griffin and Wells are speaking. "Ah, yes, my lady. I'm Cash. You must be the infamous Clarke Griffin."

Clarke just stares at him, unimpressed. 

"What? I know your mom. Nice gal," Cash mutters, hands up in defense. He turns to Finn, Jasper, and Monty, sizing them up. It's an amusing sight, seeing as Cash is significantly scrawnier than the spacewalker. Actually, Monty and Jasper are also relatively lanky and slim, making Finn look like the default babysitter none of them asked for. "Room for more?"

"The more, the merrier," the babysitter agrees. "Finn Collins." Clarke turns to face Amery.

"You're quiet. You wanna come?" Amery hesitates, but then gives Clarke a shy nod. She wants to explore whatever crazy green stuff this planet has to offer, maybe crush a few pollen-crazy plants underfoot in an act of wild and unprecedented revenge.

But Keaton grabs her shoulder and levels her with a pleading expression. "I just got you back," he says softly, and Amery's heart swells. "Please don't leave again."

Clarke has already turned her attention to her band of explorers. Amery nods and pulls Keaton in for a hug. "Okay," she whispers.

"Hey," Clarke demands, suddenly grabbing Amery's wrist. 

"Hey!" she cries, trying to wrench it out of Clarke's grasp. "What?"

"You, too? Where the hell is your wristband?" Clarke glares with angry eyes, examining Amery's empty wrist. Amery's heart drops. Clarke knows she's not supposed to be here. A spike of panic inches its way up the redhead's throat, threatening to pull her under in a wave of sudden insecurity and doubt.

"I, uh... I didn't have one," Amery stammers, intimidated by the sheer authority Clarke seems to exude without trying. "I'm not exactly supposed to be here." In an effort to avoid Clarke's piercing gaze, her eyes flicker to Collins, who's looking at his wristband like it's the most puzzling thing he's ever seen in his sad spacewalking life.

"What the hell does that mean?" Clarke asks, dropping Amery's wrist like it's a hot coal.

"I..."

"She's the mechanic that helped with the ship," Keaton steps in, voice level and firm. "She hid after repairs, and now she's here."

"You hid?" Clarke says incredulously, throwing her hands up in exasperation and taking a step back. She rubs her forehead with one hand, leaning against the dropship ramp before turning back to her audience. "Do you realize how reckless that was? You think we have the supplies for another person down here? We don't even have supplies for one person! We're on the wrong damn mountain, okay?"

Amery takes a step to the side, nearer to Keaton, who is quick to defend.

"Hey, she's the reason the ship's comms even worked in the first place. If she hadn't fixed it, you wouldn't even know we were on the wrong damn mountain," he says flatly, eyes blazing.

"And the comms are completely fried! Gone! Some handiwork you did there, Mecha!" Clarke cries, groaning and leaning into the ramp on her elbows. Amery's blood turns to a boil, remembering the weeks she spent holed up in that dropship to make sure the comms worked perfectly, the musty air filling her lungs and sparks singing her hands. No mechanic could have prevented those systems from breaking during a crash landing to Earth. This isn't on her.

"Calm down, Princess," Collins murmurs, reaching a hand out to place on Clarke's shoulder in attempted reassurance.

"Shut up!" the two girls exclaim at the same time, eliciting a snort from Cash that he quickly tries to cover with a cough, averting his gaze quickly to avoid Clarke and Amery's combined wrath. Collins' hand flies off of Clarke's shoulder as he takes several steps back in surprise.

"Are you actually blaming me for the inability to contact the Ark?" Amery seethes, getting up in Clarke's face and jabbing a finger to her sternum. "If you miss your privileged family so much, maybe you shouldn't have been so reckless and gotten arrested to start with—"

Then there are strong hands on Amery's shoulders, pulling her back.

"Back down, Mer," Keaton murmurs in her ear, and it takes everything Amery has to not fight against his grip and spit more angry remarks at the Griffin girl. She stills, and Keaton hesitantly lets go of her shoulders. Eyes flashing, she turns away.

"Now let's go," Clarke demands, turning abruptly and stalking off into the woods. Her band of boys and Octavia follow loosely behind, the latter kissing her brother on the cheek before bounding away excitedly. Monty takes one last look over his shoulder, waving apologetically to Amery with a leaf in his hand. When did he get a leaf? 

Then Amery's hands wrap around the leaf in her own pocket. She pulls it out and waves it at Monty with a goofy smile, earning a grin from the boy as he follows Jasper away.

And then they disappear into the forest.

✧✧✧

a/n:

boom.

haha this was so much fun to write, what do you guys think of amery/keaton/cash? cash is my love and he is played by drew roy, who has my whole heart. also don't get me wrong i love clarke

anyway, i would love your thoughts on:

- amery not going with on the first expedition

- keaton and cash as cellmates

- the pacing of this story so far

deuces, homies, love you

[ word count | 4.4k ]