✧】ix. reign in your boys【✧

[ twilight's last gleaming - his sister's keeper ]

"I CAN'T BELIEVE he threw it in a lake this shallow," Amery scoffs as she wades through the water beside Raven, the chill of the liquid soaking through the fabric of her pants. The lake is no more than a foot deep, punctuated with clusters of rocks breaking the surface, but she's grateful she thought to leave her shoes and socks on the shore. "At least dispose of your contraband where it's unretrievable."

Raven snorts as she pushes the sleeves of her jacket up to her elbows, eyes still wide with wonder at the combination of fresh air, green trees, and survival. "Well, he's not the brightest bulb."

Amery's gaze is pulled to where Finn stands talking to Clarke in the center of the water. She frowns, the urge to say something clawing at her chest, but what could she say? There's no evidence and no use in hurting her friend without it. Instead, Amery lets herself look back at her longtime friend, the one who worked alongside her in Zero-G, urged her on with bites of sarcasm and constructive criticism, held her when her parents and Keaton were gone.

"I missed you," Amery confides, scanning beneath the animated lake surface for the telltale glints of metal, unable to meet Raven's eyes as the words slip out.

"God, I missed you too," Raven says softly, nudging Amery with her shoulder. "Next time you sneak on a ship to earth, invite a girl, yeah?"

Amery grins, daring to glance at her, the girl's gaze just as penetrating and intense as it always was. "Promise."

"Mer!" Keaton shouts, and she glances to where he and Monty are standing submerged knee-deep several yards away, pointing eagerly at some weeds. Amery rolls her eyes and turns to Raven apologetically.

"Go," the girl smirks, jutting her chin in the boys' direction. "Reign in your boys."

With a smile playing on her lips at Raven's words—her boys, she had called them—Amery crosses the distance between them, careful not to slip on any loose rocks as they shift with the movement of the water under her feet.

"You find drugs or something, Green?" she asks as she approaches, only half-joking.

"You wish. Look at this wacky seaweed," Keaton answers instead, snickering. "It's red."

Amery blinks, entirely unimpressed. "You made me come over here to look at seaweed?"

"Red seaweed!" Keaton exclaims, as if it makes all the difference.

"This is the stuff we used to heal Jasper," Monty explains, pulling some up by the roots with one hand and pushing strands of dark hair from his eyes with the other. "Gonna stock up on some. Honestly, nobody needs to risk that again." He shudders, earning a sympathetic smile from Amery.

The image of Jasper convulsing on the dropship floor, weak and in pain and covered in blood, is something she doesn't think she'll ever forget. It has seared itself into her mind alongside her father and mother and Keaton's arrest, all painful memories too far gone but still too near, reminders of the unforgiving forces of the universe.

Monty crams some of the drenched seaweed into his pockets, lacking anywhere else to put it, and Amery laughs.

"What?" Monty asks incredulously, and the sight of him crouching in the lake, pockets overflowing with red seaweed and flecks of water dotting his hair, is enough to send her reeling.

"You—"

Amery is cut off by the shock of cold water running down her spine, causing her back to arch and her now damp hair to stick to her face as she spins around to face the culprit.

"Asshole!" she shouts, gasping as she bends down and allows some of the cool water to pool in her hands. Without hesitation, she tosses the weapon right into Keaton's smirking face.

"Oh, no you didn't!" he shouts, dancing backward in the water, almost running into Monty on the way. "C'mon, Green! Help a brother out!"

Amery glares daggers at the wide-eyed boy, warning flashing in her eyes. "Don't you dare," she hisses, gaze flickering between Keaton and Monty.

"Green, c'mon!" Keaton urges, kicking up some more water around Amery. The internal battle Monty wages isn't at all well-masked, the boy's eyes darting between his two options and then down to the water.

Amery watches in horror and disbelief as a smile grows on Monty's lips, and she dives out of the way with a squeal as he rises and sends a swath of water right at her with one arm.

"I hate you both!" she shouts, scooping up another handful of water and darting behind Monty to pour it directly down the back of his shirt. The boy's jacket lay abandoned on the shore near Amery's shoes.

"Woah!" Monty shouts as the water hits his back, spinning and losing his balance in the process. He grabs Amery's shoulders tightly and she stumbles back, just barely managing to gain her footing.

"Sorry," he blushes, and Amery finds his face is alarmingly close to hers, his hands somehow warm through the thin fabric of her shirt despite the chill of the lake water. His breath sends shivers down her spine, and their eyes lock, the pupils of Monty's eyes seeming to gain even more depth as they stand at a loss for words. "I, uh..."

"Hey! I found it!" someone shouts, and Amery is jolted from her stupor, spinning to see Jones pulling a dripping hunk of metal from the water. Raven runs over, holding her hands out for the soaked radio. Monty's hands fall from Amery's shoulders, but the warmth remains, a spot of sun contrasting with the rest of her drenched clothing.

As Raven runs to the shore, a handful of other campers on her tail, Amery can't help but notice Bellamy's place in the grass. Not searching. Not stressing over the broken radio. Selfish, but what did she expect?

"Can you fix it?" Clarke asks urgently.

"Maybe, but it'll take half the day just to dry out the components to see what's broken," Raven explains, fiddling with the mess of wires as she addresses Clarke. Amery wades through the water until she reaches Raven's side. The girl's stature screams irritation, but Amery doesn't doubt that she can fix the thing. Raven is the mechanical prodigy, the only member of Sinclair's team who rivals his own ability. There's nothing she can't do.

"Like I said, it's too late," Bellamy says, arms across his chest and gaze on the ground. Whether the gesture is ashamed or apathetic, Amery can't tell.

"And whose fault is that?" Amery mutters, earning a hard glare from the boy.

"Watch it, Mecha."

Amery cocks a brow and gestures to Raven. "You can't just keep calling me the name of my station. You know how many kids are from there? It's just going to confuse everyone."

"Okay, Mecha."

Clarke snaps before Amery can, but not about the nickname.

"Do you have any idea what you did? Do you even care?!" she shouts, getting right up in Bellamy's face. Amery startles at the level of emotion in the blonde's voice, the tension in her stature. The binds around Clarke's temper have finally been severed, no trace of the collected doctor and leader remaining as she tears Bellamy apart with only her vicious glare.

"You asked me to help. I helped," he says, cool and matter-of-fact, a calculated gaze betraying no emotion boring into Clarke's.

"You sat on the grass and watched," Amery deadpans, glowering. Raven nods in approval.

"Three hundred people are gonna die today because of you!" the blonde shouts, the realization clenching Amery's heart.

Sinclair. Kyle. Monty's family.

"Hold up!" Raven interrupts, a thoughtful expression on her face. "We don't have to talk to the Ark. We just have to let them know we're down here, right?"

"Yeah, but how do we do that with no radio?" Finn asks.

Raven smiles.

"Oh, I know that face," Amery murmurs, drawing her attention away from a seething Clarke and analyzing the way Raven's eyes gleam with enthusiasm. "You have a plan."

✧✧✧

"Came from the sky to save us, didn't you?" Amery grins, elbowing Raven playfully as she watches the organized chaos unfold. The pod Raven came down in turns out to be a mechanical goldmine, silver and wire in a mess of green, only recognized by the pilot herself, who's figured out a way to signal the Ark without the radio.

"Just for you," Raven smirks, then turns away and launches into Leader Mode. "We need to launch those flares ASAP if we have any hope of saving those people. Finn, get that control panel to camp."

Raven's tone doesn't alter as she addresses her boyfriend, the same level of command saturating each word, and Amery takes a small amount of pleasure in it— in Finn being ordered around just like everybody else.

Raven turns back to Amery, tilting her head in thought before making a decision. "Ames, go with Finn. Take Green and Little Sinclair with you and see if you can rewire the panel to the dropship batteries."

Amery nods resolutely as she scans the mob of kids for Keaton and Monty, hearing the latter's telltale bark of laughter and gravitating toward it.

"Hey," Raven says, catching Amery's elbow and drawing the redhead's attention back. "Thank you."

"Thank you," Amery says back, and Raven pulls her into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're here, Ray. Really."

"God, me too," Raven breathes, then pulls back and holds Amery at arm's length. She cocks a brow and smiles. "Get to work, Mecha." Amery snorts at the name, at the way Raven has already taken up mocking Bellamy.

"Yes, ma'am," Amery teases, turning and bounding toward Keaton.

"You, pull out those fire circuits in one piece or they won't work. Clarke, can I have a hand?" Raven's chatter dies off as Amery moves further away, finding Keaton with Kip pulling scrap metal from the pod's paneling.

"Hey, we're going back to camp to rewire the control panel to the dropship batteries," Amery says, tapping Keaton on the shoulder. Keaton grins.

"She's trusting us with that? Glad she's not too mad at you, then," he says, slapping Kip on the back before turning to Amery, who fixes Keaton with a somewhat childish glare. "Where's the panel?"

Amery draws her lips into a thin line, jabbing a thumb in Finn's direction as he stands impatiently near the treeline, the device resting near his feet.

"Oh," Keaton sighs. Oh is right. Amery has no interest in spending any unnecessary time with that kid.

"Red!" a voice shouts, and Amery turns to catch sight of Monty trotting over. "Raven told me we're going back to camp?"

"Sure are," Amery says, grabbing both boys by the wrists and dragging them in Finn's direction. At least she won't be alone with the two-timer.

"Ready?" Finn asks gruffly, the panel tucked under one arm as he turns toward the woods.

"You want help with that?" Keaton asks, but Finn just nods him off dismissively, hands occupied.

"I got it," he mutters, holding the panel of red and white buttons in both arms. Always have to have it all for yourself, Amery thinks bitterly. Control. Strength. Women.

"What's up with you, Collins?" Keaton says cautiously, falling into step with Amery and Monty just behind the Spacewalker.

"Just another lovely day on the Ground," Finn says dryly, and Amery's jaw clenches as she watches his back.

As the four teens make their way through the woods, Finn with the control panel against his chest, Amery bristles in annoyance. Here she is, walking beside the boy cheating on one of her best friends.

The leaves don't seem as vibrant, the forest not as serene, the wilderness not as vast, because the secret itches just underneath Amery's skin like a parasite, needing to get out.

"You gonna tell her?" Amery blurts before she can stop herself.

Finn freezes, the leaves beneath his feet protesting with a series of crunches. "What?"

"Raven," Amery says lowly, avoiding eye contact. "About Clarke. Are you gonna tell her?"

Monty's mouth forms a small "O" as he realizes what's going on. Keaton's eyes narrow in on Finn, having made the connection at the same time Amery did.

Finn hesitates, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. "There's no point," he insists, turning back to Amery, and the look on his face is so desperate she almost feels bad for him. Almost. "Clarke knows it's over. I never thought I'd see Raven again, I— knowing would just hurt her when she doesn't need to be hurt."

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?" Amery shoots back, her voice biting. It takes a substantial amount of restraint to not take that hunk of metal and smash it over Finn's head.

"I..." Finn, for once, is at a loss for words. Amery doesn't give him the satisfaction of allowing her fierce expression to flicker.

"God. Just get moving," Amery bites out, storming ahead of Finn and snatching the dropship panel from his grasp along the way. It's heavier than expected, but Amery doesn't let it show, hoisting it up with both arms and making her way through the trees without looking back.

"Mer!" Keaton calls, jogging to catch up to her. "Hey, come on, let me help."

"I got it," Amery growls, and Keaton knows when it's time to back off.

"Anything I can do?" he asks quietly, and Amery lets her shoulders sag just slightly, sighing.

"Not unless you want to punch him in the jaw for me."

Keaton chuckles. "I do want to. But I can't. You know that, Mer."

"Yeah," she breathes.

Monty makes pointless, idle chatter with Finn behind Keaton and Amery as the camp gates come into view. The campers who stayed behind rather than searching for the radio crowd the four as they push through the wooden gate.

Keaton hesitates, then turns to Finn.

"Explain to everyone else what's going on. We'll take care of this," he says flatly, no room for argument, as he gestures toward the panel still making Amery's back and arms protest loudly. Keaton's tone is unusually condescending, the underlying message very present– you aren't capable of this, you aren't helpful, and we don't want you here.

"Fine," Finn says.

Amery has to bite back her mocking retort of "fine" in a high-pitched voice.

As Finn turns away, Amery accepts Keaton's hands on the control panel, hauling it over to the dropship with Monty close behind. A crowd gathers around Finn like he's some sort of magnet, and Amery knows he'll be spinning some overdramatized tale of the day's events. Fine. Amery grits her teeth. Keep them busy.

"There we go," Keaton grunts, plopping the panel on the ground and brushing off his hands. Amery rolls her shoulders in relief. "What now, captain?"

Amery smirks. "We have to get to the dropship batteries and tie them in. The panels are probably already cracked, but we might need a crowbar or something to really get them off."

"On it," Keaton says, leaving Amery and Monty alone.

"Hey," Monty says quietly, forcing Amery to look at him.

"Hey."

"I know Raven's your friend. And Finn's an asshole. But you did the right thing confronting him about it," Monty says. "It'll come out sooner or later. And whether you tell her or not, his actions aren't your fault."

Amery's silent for a moment, analyzing Monty's face, the angle of his jawline and the depth of his eyes. "When did you get so wise, Green?"

"I like to think I always was, but maybe it was the weed," Monty shrugs, Amery bursting into laughter as Keaton returns. He's alarmingly excited to be holding a crowbar, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Where can I use this baby?"

"Oh, stars," Amery mutters, leading the boy to the back of the ship.

✧✧✧

As darkness falls over the camp like a sheer curtain, a chaotic buzz of hope and determination surrounds everything and everyone. Some campers haul tall metal braces over to the fire pit, creating three sets of pyramidal stabilizers to hold the flares.

Amery's hands are warm from the residual heat of the wires. A small smile plays on her lips— the familiarity of working in tandem with Keaton was reassuring, homely, and Monty had fit himself right in. The flares are ready to be powered with the dropship batteries, and Amery thinks there might be just a little bit of hope brimming in her chest.

At some point, the rest of Raven's party returned, and now the girl herself bounds over to Amery and surveys the finished control panel. She claps Amery on the back as the mechanic presents the finished project.

"Knew you still had it," she smirks to Keaton.

"Of course I still have it. Do you?" Keaton quips back.

"I'm sorry, who just got to the Ground on a pile of scraps from K-Deck?" Raven cocks a brow, and Amery snorts, elbowing Keaton in the side playfully.

"Message received," the boy sighs overdramatically, mock-saluting Raven as she turns away to skim the camp, leaving Amery to survey the rest of the scene.

Harper and Zoe herd Fox through the crowd to the furthest flare setup, chatting animatedly and securing a few ties near the bottom of the posts before taking a step back. Kip trails Clarke as she oversees the final movements, ready to offer his assistance. Even Murphy pitched in to build the flare launch site and now lingers off to the side with his cronies.

Amery is struck by the teamwork the camp is demonstrating. Everyone wants this. It's efficient and smart and enthusiastic as people who she's never even seen speak to one another work as one.

"I'm impressed," she says to Keaton, who turns his attention back to her and nods his head in agreement.

"If we worked like this all the time..." he trails off wistfully, and Amery knows just what he means. If all the time spent screwing around and fighting in these woods were spent building up the camp, who knows what strides could have been made by now?

"Alright, come on, let's count 'em down!" Raven shouts, her voice triggering a wave of campers to crowd the three sets of flare launchers, the energy infectious. Keaton's eyes light up, and Amery is about to make a quip about his excitement over explosions when she realizes that's not what Keaton is reacting to.

The redhead follows her friend's line of sight all the way to where Cash emerges from his tent, running a hand through his short hair and glancing around.

"Cash!" Keaton shouts, and the boy in question spins and flashes Keaton a quirky smile before making his way over. He winks at Amery as he approaches, and her heart warms. Back to charismatic, mildly annoying Cash. "Thought you were gonna miss it," Keaton says, planting a hand on Cash's shoulder and turning him toward the flares.

"Miss your face when you watch something blow up?" Cash scoffs, and Amery chuckles at the thought matching her own from only moments before. "Never."

Keaton keeps his retort light, easy, elbowing Cash in the side as he laughs. But Amery sees the relief in his shoulders, in the line of his jaw, the release of the tension and worry that's been clouding Keaton ever since the panic attack.

"You ready?" a quiet voice asks as Amery stands near the middle launcher, carefully watching the control panel to make sure it doesn't malfunction. Monty.

"As I'll ever be," Amery murmurs, offering the boy a small smile as he falls into place beside her.

She shoots a glance at Raven, ready for her friend to step forward and do the honors. But Raven shakes her head with a small smile.

"It's all you, Ames," she says softly, and Amery's eyes widen in protest.

"Ray, I–"

"It might have been my idea," Raven says, her voice quiet but firm, "but you powered it. You did this, Ames. It should be you."

Amery makes eye contact with Finn over Raven's shoulder, watching the boy's eyes immediately look anywhere but at her. She considers. If Raven wants to stand back and watch her brilliance light up the sky, even if it's in Finn's arms... let her. She deserves it. The relaxation, the relief– not the greasy-haired Spacewalker, but like Monty said...

You did the right thing.

Amery shifts her attention back to the control panel, surveys the expectant faces surrounding her. Her heart skips a beat.

And then Monty's hand is on the small of her back, warm, encouraging.

He says nothing, instead offering her a small smile that conveys everything it needs to. You got this.

Amery flips the switch.

She steps back as her head tilts skyward, Monty's hand steadying her as the ground shakes.

With a fizzing sound and a surge of blinding light, three flares shoot into the night at breakneck speed, leaving Amery to shield her eyes with a hand as she gazes up at them.

Her mouth hangs open slightly as the flares become orbs, ricocheting among the stars in a dizzying new constellation, gone as fast as it came. "They're..."

"Beautiful," Monty finishes, and Amery angles her head to look at him.

But he's already looking at her.

As the second set of flares go off, punctuated by a wave of rambunctious and exhilarated cheering, Amery is glad for the orange tint of the projectiles hiding her blush.

The last set of three identical flares light up in a blaze of pink and purple and orange, sending another wave of heat into the crowd. Amery's eyes water from it as she stares at Monty, then blinks furiously and turns her attention once again to the sky, the blasts making themselves known with crackling sounds as they abandon the three teepee-like contraptions that launched them.

As sparks light up the atmosphere, Amery squints as if she can see the Ark from the Ground. She hopes they work. The lights get about halfway into the sky, a floating triangle of bright, before they really hit the ignition, blasting faster and harder through the atmosphere in streaks of neon.

On her other side, Keaton has an arm slung around Cash's shoulders, eyes glassy as he looks to the stars. Cash murmurs something in the other boy's ear, and Keaton nods, blinking a few times.

Amery is thinking about him, too. Sinclair.

A few yards away, Raven and Finn are standing together, Raven's head on Finn's shoulder as he wraps an arm around her. Amery's lips tug into a frown at the sight of Clarke off to the side. Alone.

She's contemplating making her way over to the blonde and striking up a strained conversations, but Bellamy beats her to it. Clarke's eyes lighten a bit she glances at him, then murmurs something quietly. Bellamy smiles.

Amery grabs Monty's hand again.

Maybe there's hope.

✧✧✧

There's no hope.

Not for Amery's desperate need for a good night of sleep, anyway.

Hours have passed since the last of the flares' lights went out, the camp dispersing as tired eyes and sagging shoulders disappeared into tents dotted around the clearing. 

Amery's not sure when she fell asleep, the sound of Harper and Zoe's quiet snores lulling her into oblivion. But she wakes up gasping, sweat coating her skin and blankets, the image of Sinclair on the metal floors of the dropship– dead, his skin pale with lack of oxygen, as the Guard appears to eject him into the stars– seared into her eyelids.

She had returned to the tent smiling, the hope of the flares succeeding leaving her a bit lighter. But a twisting feeling in her gut says it wasn't enough.

It seems she's woken up in tandem with a good half of the camp, though night still makes edges blend together with shadows. Torchlight drifts past the canvas of her tent, Zoe propping herself up on her elbows as it does.

"The hell?" she murmurs, yawning as she tries to shake herself into awareness.

"Everybody gather around!" a deep voice barks outside.

"Oh my– what now?" Amery groans, sharing a long-suffering glance with Zoe as the girls register the voice as Bellamy's.

"Harp," Zoe grunts, all but smacking the other girl to get her to wake up. She turns to Amery. "Scout?" 

Amery nods, reluctantly pushing herself to her feet and stumbling out the folds of her tent, letting her eyes adjust as Bellamy tells everyone to... grab weapons?

"Hey," Keaton appears at her side. Amery is grateful she won't have to do much investigating of her own, the grim look on Keaton's face meaning he's already aware of the problem.

"What the fuck has everyone up at hell in the morning?" Amery grumbles, her lack of sleep jading her temper. 

"Sweet as always," Keaton retorts, then sobers, his eyes pooling with concern as he looks at Amery. 

She softens at the expression on his face as Zoe emerges from the tent, dragging a half-asleep Harper with her. "What?" 

"Octavia's missing."

✧✧✧

a/n:

the very end of this episode on the ark absolutely destroys me every time, with the music and the sacrifices for the culling and UGH MY HEART MY SOUL AHHHH

a short chapter and kinda fluffy but HAPPY NEW YEAR it better beat 2021 (not that that's difficult)

thoughts?

[ word count | 4.1k ]