I'M BACK BITCHES!

Okay, so technically I'm a day early, but it's my birthday tomorrow so I'll be pretty busy buying my first legal drinks.

Can I also just state..  I WAS GONE JUST OVER A FREAKING WEEK AND THE SECOND I GOT MY INTERNET BACK, MY PHONE CRASHED FROM ALL THE NOTIFICATIONS! Over 14k views and 400 votes? You guys are making me blush :3 Thank you so much!

Whilst I was away I did not one, not two, but three chapters. I was on fire!

Alright I'll go now and let you read :)

P.S Please excuse all mistakes, I'm at my friends and I usually correct my grammar on my laptop... which is still internetless. Like seriously, I haven't even proof read these because I haven't got the time. I promise I will tomorrow when I have the chance.

Bold=Swedish.

T H I R T Y   T H R E E | VIOLENCE IS NEVER NOT THE ANSWER

"H-How?" She stammered out, breathless. He was supposed to be dead. Kara said he was taken by Grounders, yet there he was, being helped into the Drop ship by the very people who stuck a noose around his neck.

Her brief moment of astonishment was quickly diminished by a seething anger that burned through her veins. He was supposed to be dead. She began to grind her teeth together until her teeth ached from the pressure and she clenched her fists, ignoring how her nails nearly cut into her palm. Images of Charlotte's scared, innocent face filtered through Carter's mind and any rational part of her mind was clouded and stormed forward, only seeing red. She didn't stop when she rounded Murphy. Instead, one hand grabbed the scruff of his torn shirt and she swung her other fist back, lunging forward with every ounce of strength she possessed, landing a forceful punch right on Murphy's nose. A satisfying crunch sounded and Carter clutched her fist, seething as she did. An aching pain soared across her entire hand and she looked down to notice the thin sliver of blood on her middle knuckle. That wasn't just her blood either.

"Son of a bitch!" She hissed, attempting to shake away the pain before she reeled her fist back again with every intention of striking Murphy with another blow. Just as her knuckles were about collide with his face once again, someone grabbed Carter's elbow and forced her back before wrapping their arms around Carter's shoulders in an attempt to restrain her. She thrashed against the person and tried to nudge them away as she tried to get back to Murphy. He was grasping onto his nose as crimson poured freely from his nostrils and his eyes were locked on Carter's, wide and terrified. Conner and Derek were quick to assist the injured boy before he fell down and it only fueled Carter's anger more. He didn't deserve anyone's help. "No! Get off me! He should be fucking dead!" She growled, trying to wriggle out of the grip of the one that restrained her. "Get off me!"

The person who stopped her from attacking Murphy again shoved Carter back, momentarily shaking Carter from her fury and stepped into view, blocking Carter's sight of the broken boy. "What the hell has gotten into you?!" Kara demanded, an angry frown weaved in between her eyebrows.

"Me?" Carter scoffed incredulously, zoning in on Kara. "What the hell has gotten into you? Murphy was banished for a goddamn reason so why are you helping him?"

"Look at him!" Kara snapped, taking a step back so Carter could see the cowering boy in the corner of the Drop ship. She made sure to stay close still, just in case Carter decided to lunge again. "Don't you think he's suffered enough without you adding to it?"

"If you want my opinion, I don't think he's suffered enough." Carter stared at him vacantly, her voice void of emotion even though she was boiling with anger on the inside. She turned her gaze back to Kara. "He should be dead for what happened to Charlotte."

"Are we really back to this?" Kara shook her head and scoffed. "Charlotte chose to jump off that cliff."

"Because it was either that or Murphy killed her," Carter retorted, not missing a beat. "You heard him, Kara, how pissed he was that the camp hanged him for what Charlotte did. He was out for blood and he wouldn't have stopped until she was dead."

"And you was there when Charlotte jumped. You saw how bad Murphy felt for that, he never wanted to kill Charlotte! He was just trying to get to Bellamy-- he was the one that kicked the box out from underneath Murphy." Kara contended defiantly.

"Why are you defending him so much? I'm beginning to think he's more to you than just a 'fellow camp mate'." Carter narrowed her eyes accusingly. Kara never got a chance to reply as Carter continued. "And why the hell is he alive if he was taken by Grounders like you said?"

"I think the Grounders had their fun with him," Kara muttered bitterly, sparing a glance back towards Murphy. He hadn't moved an inch since Conner and Derek set him down-- the two were now outside trying to calm down the crowd leaving only Carter, Kara and Murphy in the Drop ship. After there was a long pause between the two of them, Kara ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "Look, I get today hasn't been the greatest day for you and at the moment you're not exactly in the right place, but-"

"- What I have 'been through' has jack squat to do with how I'm reacting," Carter cut her off more harshly then she intended but she carried on, unnecessarily and aggressively pointing towards Murphy."I want that asshole there to feel exactly what I felt when he practically made Charlotte jump-"

"- And what will that solve?" Kara interjected, her tone firm. "You'll just feel worse for it, believe me. I tried the same thing on the Ark, I made the man who got my parents floated feel the same pain he left me with and it got me locked up in the Skybox. And guess what? I still felt shitty even after I was done with him. Making them hurt like you doesn't work," Kara averted her gaze and her voice lowered. "It just makes you worse than them."

Carter had no idea on how to reply to her. All of her anger dissolved as Kara opened up to her, it was the first time Carter had heard anything about how Kara became a prisoner and she had been rendered speechless.

Kara noticed Carter's sudden wordlessness and exhaled through her nose."Don't make the same mistake, Carter. If you wanna be pissed at Murphy fine, I'm not gonna stop you. But don't outright attack him, because it won't make you feel any better." A pause. "Why don't you go to your tent and calm down? I'll come get you later, okay?"

Carter glanced one more time at Murphy before closing her eyes and sighing. She did not like the fact that he was back, she didn't like any of it and there was no way in hell she was going to let him stay without a fight, but she was too tired to argue with Kara, especially after all that had been said. So, very reluctantly, Carter nodded and reopened her eyes. "Fine. But I'm doing this for you, not for him." Carter muttered, making her way towards the exit of the Drop ship, but before she left entirely, she turned back around and addressed Kara. "And just for the record, you can do so much better." With that, she left them alone and made a beeline towards her tent, ignoring the imploring stares from people who had witnessed Carter punching Murphy.

***

A little over an hour had passed since Carter went to her tent and boredom could no longer describe how she felt.

As she looked back on her violent actions towards Murphy, she realized that punching was probably the wrong thing to do especially since he looked like he had taken enough beatings, but she didn't regret it. Carter was never the sort of person to do the 'right thing' anyway, but that was the first time she had ever acted out on pure emotion and she didn't like it. That wasn't her. Carter had always been able to contain how she felt, save for the times someone close to her had died, and very rarely acted out in anger. The only other time she had lashed out at someone was when she was sixteen and went to her first illegal Ark party. Some guy had decided to make all the wrong moves on her and she slapped his across the face and kneed him in the balls, and that was the first and last time she hit someone. It was safe to say that the guy often went to extreme terms to avoid Carter after that.

She sighed loudly, pulling herself out of her thoughts and focused on catching the metal cup she was chucking in the air. It had been her only entertainment since she came into her tent giving that all of her tools were in the weapons' tent. She was laid on her back in her cot and was trying to see how many times she could catch the cup one handed before she dropped it. Her record was six.

Suddenly, she heard the rustling of the flap to her tent and sat up so she could see the person entering, catching the cup one last time as she did.

Bellamy ducked his head under and his gaze fell straight on Carter, who had a quirked eyebrow. "You're up." He observed lamely.

"You're back." Carter returned with a small smile before standing up, leaving the abandoned cup on her cot. "How can I help you, Mr Blake?"

"I just heard how you managed to knock our guest on his ass," Bellamy's lips tugged up in a ghost of a smirk. "Didn't think you had it in you."

"Neither did I," Carter looked down at her still bloody knuckles and frowned distastefully. "Think I did more damage to my hand then I did to his nose." She clenched and unclenched her fist, trying to work out whether it was broken or not. When she moved it easily and there was barely any pain, she came to the conclusion that she just broke the skin and not her knuckle. After a few moments of silence, Carter sighed and looked up from her knuckles. "You're not here to talk about the jackass that is Murphy though, are you?"

Bellamy shuffled awkwardly in his spot before running a hand through his hair. "I looked for it, Carter, but there was just so much rubble..." He trailed off and Carter didn't need three guesses to know that 'it' was her father's wedding band. "And then Raven found rocket fuel and we had to clear the area. But I did look."

"You just couldn't find it." Carter concluded, nodding her head in understanding. She knew she was supposed to feel upset about the fact that she couldn't have proper closure, but she didn't. She felt relieved if anything and a spark of hope ignited within her. If there was no proof her dad was even on that Drop ship then maybe her theory still had a chance, maybe he was never on that Exodus ship to begin with. Without any word, she made to rush past Bellamy with every intention on finding either Raven or Monty. But, before she even made it out of the tent, Bellamy grabbed the top of her forearm, preventing her from moving passed him.

"Where're you going?" He asked, frowning slightly as he did.

"Find Raven, I've got work to do." She answered vaguely. If she told Bellamy the truth, he would more than likely shoot her theory down like the rest of the people she told.

"You're up to something." He accused, narrowing his dark eyes suspiciously.

"I'm not up to anything." Carter denied with a forced laugh, batting her eyelashes in an attempt to look innocent.

It didn't work. Bellamy only narrowed his eyes more. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing," Carter blurted plastering a fake smile. "It's nothing."

"Sure as hell doesn't look like nothing." Bellamy retorted, letting go of Carter's arm and folding his own across his chest in an act of intimidation. "Now spill."

"I don't think my dad is dead." She cut straight to the point with a defeated sigh. Carter averted her gaze so she couldn't have to see the same disbelieving look in his eyes as she did with Finn and Raven.

"And what makes you think that?" Bellamy finally questioned, his tone was slightly hesitant and Carter didn't dare look up.

"The crash. The launch. Everything." Carter waved her hand to emphasize her lack of explanation. She ran a hand through her knotted hair and sat back down on her bed, keeping her eyes glued to the floor. "It's okay if you don't believe me. God knows everyone doesn't.  It's just... the way the Drop ship just fell from the sky, something wasn't right. The thrusters never kicked in which means they couldn't have been fully charged." She paused for a moment before finally looking up. "Even... even if my dad was on that Exodus ship, at least if I can get in contact with the Ark I can find out what happened."

"But there's been nothing but radio silence since our Unity Day party." Bellamy informed, sitting down beside Carter.

"Which is exactly why I need Raven or Monty," Carter pursed her lips. "I was never the best at engineering, but I passed my exams and I'm handy with tools, if I can just get one of them on board with my plan, then maybe we can find out what happened with that Drop ship."

"What if they don't, then what are you gonna do?" Bellamy asked, glancing at Carter sidelong.

"Then I'll have to do it myself." Carter shrugged. There was no way in hell she was going to let the opportunity to contact the Ark slip. She needed to know she was right, that the doubt Finn and Raven had on her was wrong. "Either way, I'm fixing that damn radio and I'm contacting the Ark. I'm gonna prove to all you assholes that sometimes being a naive, hopeful optimist pays off. My dad is alive, and I don't care who thinks I'm crazy for thinking that."

"For the record, I don't think you're crazy." Bellamy affirmed, turning his head to face her. She simply stared back with wide eyes, speechless. "I believe you."

Carter expected anything but someone that believed her theory, even she knew it was a long shot and she was the one that was putting it into action. She implored Bellamy's dark eyes for any signs of doubt or a lie yet found nothing. "Why?" She asked after a long pause. It was probably the sentence she could muster, but at that moment she didn't care.

"Call it having hope," Bellamy smirked, though it wasn't his usual full-on smirk. After Carter narrowed her eyes in both curiosity and suspicion he shrugged. "You're an engineer Carter, you should know what you're talking about."

She maintained his eye contact, still looking for any sign of doubt. It shouldn't be that easy for someone to put so much blind faith into her. Yet, he did and it was warming feeling to know that someone believed her, even if the odds of her theory being true was stacked against her. "Thank you." Carter smiled sincerely, still holding his gaze. Suddenly, the air around them shifted and Carter saw that intense look in Bellamy's eyes. What the hell is it? She wanted to ask but she knew he would either shut down or straight up deny it. "So, Murphy's back." She quickly blurted, having no control over her tongue and just like that, whatever tension had been building up vanished and Bellamy seemed to snap back into reality.

"Uh, yeah." Bellamy nodded, clearing his throat. "I'm not happy about it either, but he's got intel about the Grounder's camp and that's something that we need."

"If the Grounder's declare war."

"When the Grounder's declare war," Bellamy corrected. "It's already begun Carter, we're already at war."

Carter sighed, running an exasperated hand over her face. "We've been here a few weeks and we've already managed to successfully piss off a clan of freaking Grounders. I'm beginning to think Jaha made a stupid decision sending troublemakers down to earth."

"No shit." Bellamy scoffed. "But you heard the man, they're expendable."

"Isn't everyone on the Ark?" Carter asked rhetorically. Their home was dying and yet the only people made expendable was prisoners. If they really wanted to save their asses, more people-- specifically maturer people-- should have been sent down. After a long pause, Carter realized she was going off topic and quickly backtracked. "What happens when Murphy gives you everything he knows?"

"He's gone." Bellamy answered bluntly and Carter back muscles relaxed. Living with a dick like Murphy would not go down too well with her.

"Good." Carter nodded once before standing up and sighing over-dramatically. "Right, you've already distracted me enough, I've got to go find Raven and I'm sure you've got things to do too."

Bellamy followed her out of the tent and just before they could part ways, he grabbed her wrist, halting her actions. She turned around with an almost impatient look on her face but before she could say anything, Bellamy was talking. "I hope for your sake, you're right and Kane is alive."

"Me too." Carter smiled weakly before covering her slight vulnerability with a faux scowl. "Can I have my wrist back now?"

Bellamy smirked and let go of her, throwing a 'see you later' over his shoulder as he turned and left her. She did the same, turning her attention to find Raven.

***

"This is so weird," Raven murmured holding the headphone to her ear as she readjusted the tuning dial. The two girls had been stuffed in the weapons' tent pretty much all night and most of the morning, trying to reconnect with the Ark. "I'm getting nothing."

Carter lifted her head over the top of the radio and frowned. "It can't be us, I've already checked the satellite, the wires and I'm in the middle of rewiring the back of the radio to see if I can make the signal stronger."

"I don't get it, we lost connection during the party-"

"- Which was a few hours before the ship crashed." Carter interjected, bending back down so she could merge two wires together. There was a large spark, but she didn't yelp or jump back, she just carried on trying to connect them. "That's no coincidence, Raven. Whatever has happened on the Ark was because of that Drop ship."

Raven didn't say anything and Carter stood back up, dusting her hands. When Carter had first asked Raven to help with the radio, she was hesitant and said that she didn't want fill Carter with false hope on the off-chance that her dad was alive and they both went through different scenarios as to why the Ark wasn't picking up from solar flares to maybe they accidentally tuned out, but now Raven wore a new expression and Carter knew she was one step closer in convincing her best friend that something wasn't right about the Exodus launch.

"Try it now." Carter broke the silence, gesturing to the radio with her head as she used an old rag to wipe off excess oil from her hands. Raven did as she was told and began to turn the dial again, a look of pure concentration on her face. After a long, tension filled pause,  Raven sighed with frustration.

"Nothing." She shook her head, throwing the headset onto the table.

"Hey, what happens if a ship is launched too early from the Ark?" Carter quirked a brow at her friend.

"Why are you asking me? You should know." Carter's expression didn't waver and in turn, Raven rolled her eyes. "If a pod or ship is launched without proper authorization it's still attached to the main power of the Ark which means that if a ship launches abruptly..." She trailed off and her eyes widened with realization. "It cripples the Ark system so they lose power, oh my god how did I not see that before?"

"See? It explains why we can't reach the Ark." Carter added.

"Yeah, but we lost contact with the Ark before the ship even launched." Raven contended, putting the headset back on.

"But how do you know that?" Carter returned, not missing a beat. "Something could have happened up there, something big. I know it's a long shot but... I believe there's more to it than an unlucky launch."

"If you're right about this and that's a big if," Raven began, ignoring the slight scowl Carter sent her. "Then what are we supposed to do? We can't reach them."

Just as Carter was about to answer, Clarke stumbled into the tent and stopped in her tracks the second she saw Raven and Carter. "Oh sorry, I- I didn't realize anyone was in here."

"Are you okay?" Raven asked, straightening up.

"Yeah, you look a little sick." Carter agreed, noticing the bleak color Clarke's skin was and how tired she looked.

"Yeah." Clarke nodded, dismissing the pair's concern. Though her answer was far from convincing.

"Still nothing from the Ark," Raven changed the subject, gesturing vaguely towards the radio. "It's like they shut it down from their side. It could be solar flares..."

"... But you don't think so." Clarke concluded.

Raven shook her head hesitantly, glancing over to Carter who sat opposite her. "We've got a theory-"

"-But it's nothing." Carter rushed out, sending Raven a meaningful look before she continued. Carter didn't want to tell Clarke that there was a chance both of their parents were alive, just incase they weren't. Carter didn't want to be the one to give her false hope. "We've just got a bad feeling."

"There's a lot of that going around." Clarke mumbled, a forlorn expression on her face. Carter could merely blink in response, not able to find the right words in order to comfort her friend. When Clarke sent an apologetic smile towards Raven, Carter knew she was on about when she slept with Finn. Carter winced at the memory.

Just as Clarke was about to leave, Raven sighed and took off the headset. "Clarke wait," Raven stood up and scrunched her eyebrows up in remorse. "I'm sorry about your mom." Clarke looked down as tears threatened to spill. Only when they did spill, they weren't tears.

It was blood.