you guys wanted an update. happy five years since i peaced out !

FOUR | RIP DORIS

She couldn't believe it.

Carter had run through every single reunion in her head when the nights stretched out the silence became too much, even with the aid of Ren's soft snoring. She thought about the camp, who would see her first and who she would run to the second those steel gates opened.

However, through all the faces she imagined to see first, she didn't even consider her car in the line up, and for how hyped she was to have it, she almost felt bad as she staggered to a stop by the edge of the treeline, eyes wide and lips parted as she stared at it. Well, at least some variant of what her car was.

Her steps were thoughtless, leaving the cover that the trees provided as she closed the distance between her and the vehicle. Who did this to her? Carter's brows pinched and she sucked in her lips, taking in each new sheet of metal welded to the body of the car, the passenger windows had been replaced with thick, iron bars and among the several additions, there looked to be some kind of gun bolted to the roof. It disturbed her, seeing something that was once a relic of times passed now jacked up to be a force of destruction.

Running her fingers over the scratches that were made on the remaining paintwork from beneath, Carter exhaled, "Damn," Her brows slowly raised, "What did they do to you, Doris?" She didn't know exactly who she would blame for this, but Wick felt like the right person to pin it on.

Before she had a chance to turn around to see if Ren was still behind her, or forgotten to the trees, she felt something cool press against the back of her neck and her breath hitched, her hand falling down to the knife tucked in her belt, fingers curling around the hilt– "Drop your weapons or I'll shoot!"

She stiffened, but not for the same reason as before. That voice. She knew that voice. Any threat that coiled around her muscles ebbed away at the panic in their voice and she dropped her knife to the ground, watching as it landed with a small thud, "Take it easy," She smiled, despite knowing he couldn't see it and with the gun still against her neck, "If anything, shouldn't I be the one threatening your life? You destroyed my car."

Pause.

"C..." The force of the gun wavered and she could hear their weight shift between their feet, "Carter? You're alive?"

Just as she was about to try her luck and turn to face Monty, there was a sudden scuff behind her followed by the sound of something heavy hitting metal with a gasp and her eyes widened, spinning around to see Monty now forced against the side of the car, the gun he had in his hands now aimed directly between his eyebrows. His breathing was short and choppy as he held his hands up, a tremor now in his arms, "Don't shoot!" He exclaimed, "I wasn't gonna shoot her!"

It took a few more seconds for the scene to fully register in Carter's brain, partially because she couldn't believe how quick Ren reacted, and partially because she didn't want to believe it.

The atmosphere between them plummeted, and there wasn't even an ounce of warmth on Ren's face as he held the gun with a deathly still precision, lips pursed into an emotionless line and his eyes hollow. He didn't say anything, only stared at Monty, not unlike how a predator would stare at its prey before pouncing. There had been very few times Carter had seen Ren's goofy, careless demeanor slip away to reveal someone far more cold and calculating, but seeing him like this, even after all the time they had spent together unnerved her.

"Ren," She said his name slowly, the end catching on her tongue as she stepped in front of Monty, the gun now aimed at her, "He's not going to hurt us," She assured, cringing at the quake in her voice, "Put it down."

As if hearing the confirmation was enough to crack whatever had taken over, he blinked a few times, his expression immediately relaxing as his smile returned, "Oh," He dropped the gun to the ground, kicking it away from them, "My bad."

Now with the weapon out of everyone's hands, Monty sighed, his back which was once pressed against the car out of fear was now the only thing keeping him from collapsing on the floor, "Jesus Carter," He lifted his hand to run through his hair, "Where'd you find the guard dog?"

Feeling whatever chill had weaved between them fell away, Carter laughed nervously, "What, you finally decided to drop that stupid nickname?" She asked, eyes crinkling. Was this something she needed to bring up with Ren later? Because for a few seconds back then, she didn't even see her friend. Just a man willing to pull a trigger with little to no hesitation, "This is Ren. He's not like that usually," But was he like that before they met? "Uh– He's a survivor from Tesla," Turning her attention to the aforementioned man, she gestured to Monty, now sidestepping so she wasn't in the way, "Ren, this is Monty. He's part of the Hundred that I came down with... and Camp Jaha now, I guess."

"Wow," Ren drawled, "I feel like I'm meeting a celebrity, if I knew this was gonna happen, I would've prepared myself better, now I just feel insecure."

Monty let out a small chuckle, the sound uncertain as his eyes bounced between Carter and Ren, almost like he was struggling to connect this Ren to the one who threatened his life, "So... there are survivors from Tesla too?"

"No," Carter shook her head, "He was in Hydro when they came down. He's the only one left." Her expression was grim, but she didn't elaborate. It wasn't her place to tell Monty about Ren's past, or what he had to do to survive after the landing. Besides, after what happened, it was probably best to keep it between the two of them until they knew that Ren really didn't pose a threat. Well, at least she didn't think so. "Is it just you out here? Where is everyone else? And who did this to my car? More importantly, who allowed this to happen to my car?" She frowned, "What if I died, Monty? That's literally like grave robbing– except you defaced it and made it ugly."

Monty opened his mouth to respond to the slew of questions thrown at him, still overwhelmed from the fact that she was alive in the first place that the voice that filtered across the space didn't belong to him.

"That would have been me."

Carter's breath caught. Her eyes moved to the figure that now stood just behind the vehicle and she had to force her body into gear before running straight for her father, her arms wrapping tightly around his chest, her heart jumping and a small sob spilled from her lips. She knew she missed him, of course she did, but seeing him there, feeling the warmth of his body, it was just like all of those emotions she tried not to give too much focus to hit her all at once, "I'm so sorry," She swallowed hard, pulling away so she could see his face, "Leaving you a letter was such a dick move, I don't know why I ever thought it was the right thing to do."

"You're right, it was a dick move," He agreed, but there was no edge to his words, no malice or anger in his voice. If anything, it was comical to hear her father swear, even in a tender moment like this. Hugging Carter tighter, Kane smiled, "I'm just glad you're okay, Carter. I've missed you more than you could even imagine."

"I have a pretty good idea," Carter said, pulling away and wiping her eyes before he could clock on to the fact that they were watering.

"Wait," Ren whispered, side-stepping closer to Monty as he leaned, "Who's the old man?"

Monty eyed the taller man cautiously before stepping away again, "Her father."

"Oh," Ren straightened, "Are you sure? They look nothing alike."

"Ugh, so sentimental." Indra grimaced, seemingly and unsurprisingly materializing from thin air as she stood on the back of the car, climbing in through a door that Carter was certain wasn't there before.

Noting that it was an odd group of people to be out in the woods together, Carter's brows furrowed, her eyes following Indra until she disappeared again, "Hang on, why are you three all the way out here? Where's everyone else?"

"Clarke's being hunted by everyone," Kane answered, the lightness in his voice faded at the sudden reminder of why they were there, "Call this a search and rescue, if you will."

"Clarke's in danger?" Standard, Carter added inwardly, already able to use both hands to count how many times Clarke had actually found herself to be in danger, though she supposed it was basically an occupational hazard for her at this point, "We're in. Let us help."

"We?"

"She means me too," Ren lifted his hand, somewhat awkwardly and with a heavy sigh, "I am regrettably a part of that collective noun."

"Regrettably?" Carter repeated, "You know what, it's fine. You don't have much of a choice anyway."

"Mhm, you're so romantic when you speak to me like that, Carter."

Kane regarded their conversation through squinted eyes. It wasn't exactly at the top of his priority list to find out who this man traveling with his daughter was, not when he had already let the initial mission slip once, but he put a pin in it, making sure he asked Carter about him when they were back in the safety of their camp, "You also didn't have a choice," He said, "I'm not letting you again, Carter. That means even directing you back to camp. We're just waiting on one other person and then we'll go."

"Okay, so who are we waiting on?"

The words hung in the air when Carter rounded the car to go in the same way that Indra did when she stuttered to a stop, her question was answered by the very person who stood in front of her. For someone who had thought of this moment countless times in her head, she ran through the dialogue, even practiced what she would say, but it was all in vain. Not a single line remained concrete the second she met those dark eyes, widened in disbelief.

Three months may have been wedged between them, but he looked no different. Slightly longer, more disheveled hair maybe, but Carter was wholeheartedly convinced he'd make anything look good.

Except a bald head.

"Bellamy," His name sounded so flat leaving her lips, but it was because she couldn't find her breath to even give it volume and honestly, she wished she could rewind time just to give him the reaction he deserved.

Carter willed herself to say something, anything, but nothing was coming to mind, not when all she could hear was her own heart thumping in her ears. She wanted to at least appear cool when she saw him again, but all she was doing was staring. Come on, Carter, do something.

As though he heard her thoughts, Bellamy was the one to close the distance, his eyes only on hers when his hands cupped her cheeks, tilting her head upwards as he kissed her. It was soft, in stark contrast to his chapped lips, but his fingertips dug into the plush of her cheeks, almost like he was scared of both hurting her and her being a figment of his imagination. She kissed him back, scrunching her eyes and falling into his touch.4

God, how she missed him. Every single part of him.

Reluctantly pulling away, aware that there was an audience that included her father, Bellamy pressed his forehead to hers, but his hold on her didn't waver, "I knew you'd come back," He murmured, his smile wry yet restrained, like part of him still thought she wasn't really there.

"I told you I would," She said, her hand reaching up to brush along his cheek, "And I promise you, I'm not leaving again."

hey. 

i know, i'm surprised i'm here too. i guess i just want to see if i can finish this. it has haunted me for literal years that i just left this unfinished. i also felt super bad that some of you are reading a fic that was written literally a decade ago and then just left on a cliff hanger.

i'm not saying this is gonna be good, because i need to watch the tv show again, but hey, i'm rewatching the walking dead, so how hard can it be? let's just hope my writing style has improved and not worsened. 

it's not as cringy that's for sure. anyways, because i'm a sickening little people pleaser, welcome back, carter.