Two
There were few things in the world Clarke liked more than being on the road. There was just something about driving that endless mile, moving through towns and cities and empty stretches of highways. Music blasting and car moving along, it's what she imagines heaven must be like, if it even exists.
She considered her next stop. There were a few places she has in mind, but all she really cared about is going somewhere sunny. Clarke had enough of the dreary weather she's been stuck with in North Carolina. But most of all, she wanted a distraction, something to make her forget about Octavia and her brother entirely.
Clarke never made a habit of keeping in contact with most of the people she's met along the road. As much as she wanted to sometimes, there was a line she couldn't cross. What these people often see aren't things they should have to see again. That was her burden, and it wasn't fair to drag anyone else along for the ride just because she got lonely sometimes.
Sure, she had people who could have the label of friend, but they're like her: hunters. And if that means anything in this world, it means they're never easy to contact. Her people were excellent at disappearing off the radar for months, even years at a time.
Suddenly, her phone buzzed in her pocket, its obnoxious ringtone piercing through the music. Sighing, she pulled over to answer it.
"Hello?" she asked. There weren't many people who knew this number, so she hoped this was someone friendly.
"You're alive," a familiar voice said and sighed in relief. Clarke felt her stomach drop.
"Finn?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said softly. "It's me."
"Why are you calling?" Clarke didn't understand his call. What did he want? Sure, they'd be close once, as hunting partners and even lovers, but that was a whole other time. He had no reason to call her now, especially not after the way they'd ended things.
"There's something strange going on," Finn said.
"There's always something strange going on," Clarke replied dryly.
"This is different." Finn insisted. "I didn't know who else to call, but I think you might be able to help. Have you still got your dad's journal?"
Clarke glanced down to the passenger seat where a worn moleskin journal lay. The book was overstuffed to the point of nearly bursting; filled entirely with everything her father had known about the supernatural world. It was all she really had left of him. A lump formed in her throat.
"I do," she said and held back the tears that threatened to fall at the thought of her father. No, she was not going to cry while on the phone to Finn Collins like some emotional train wreck. She was better than that.
"Well, what can you tell me about werewolves?"
Clarke's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Werewolves?" she asked incredulously.
"Yeah," Finn replied. "I think there's one around here. There have been some suspicious deaths in the area."
"Where exactly are you?" she asked, but she was distracted. A werewolf of all things? It wasn't possible.
"Ark," Finn replied.
"Where the hell is that?" It wasn't someplace she'd heard of, and that was saying a lot.
"It's in Virginia, just past the Carolina border," Finn explained. "Are you anywhere nearby?"
Clarke wanted to lie, but instead she found herself telling him the truth. "I'm near there, maybe a night's drive away?"
"Good," Finn said with a relieved sigh. "I need you here, Princess."
Clarke ignored the old nickname. "I'll try to be there," she replied, desperately hoping she wouldn't regret it.
/
When Clarke finally arrived in Ark, she almost drove right through it. The town itself was situated in a valley, as if it was tucked away from the outside world. There really wasn't much too it, just a main road with shops houses tucked behind them and of course, an endless amount of fields.
Ark wasn't as small as some places, but entirely unexpected. There were no road signs bar the small, cheery 'Welcome to Ark!' sign with peeling paint tucked away on the side of the road.
This was exactly the kind of place you didn't find unless you were looking for it.
When she walked into the small and only café there, Clarke felt all too-aware of the people watching her with curious eyes. She knew she looked out of place, with her new dark coat and suit, but it wasn't like she hadn't ever dealt with this before. Clutching her (fake) FBI badge in her pocket, she spotted Finn and sat down across from him.
He looked so much like the last time she saw him, his long brown hair nearly reaching his shoulders and that same neat suit he always wore for the first day on the job.
For a moment, it was like no time at all had passed. But then she remembered Raven and it all came back to her in full force.
"You're here," Finn said, looking up at her with a smile exactly like the one that used to make her melt.
Clarke smiled back, trying to shove away the sad ache in her gut. There was no time for that drama now. "So I am," she replied.
"It's good to see you," Finn said with a smile. "You haven't changed much."
"And neither have you," Clarke said and sat down. "So, what's up here?"
"Strangely, a lot," Finn said. "The EMF is crazy."
Clarke rolled her eyes and looked around. A waitress was in the corner, watching them in a way that was trying not to be obvious, but was, in fact completely obvious. "Let's take this conversation elsewhere," she said.
"You can come back to my place," Finn said. "I have a lot to show you."
"Maybe not there," Clarke said and tried not to think about how this kind of situation would've unfolded back when they were together. It was better to leave all of that in the past.
Suddenly, the bell on the door rattled. Clarke looked back at the door, expecting to see some hairy old man wearing plaid walk in, as expected of a place like this. But instead she got a face that was a lot more familiar.
Bellamy was here.
Clarke sucked in a short, sharp breath.
He hasn't seen her yet, so maybe if she just—
Bellamy's eyes fixed on her. His expression had been neutral before, but now it was downright hostile. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, his voice icier than it had been the last time she'd spoken to him.
"My job," Clarke replied and pulled the FBI badge out of her pocket. "Special Agent Clarke Cooper."
Bellamy looked taken aback. "Is this about my sister?"
"It's about another incident," Clarke replied and ignored the look from Finn. She'd forgotten he didn't know that she saved Octavia. "Though I assure you we have the proper authorities working on that case."
"Then why didn't you say something when we met?"
Clarke pursed her lips. "Finding your sister was unexpected. And I didn't have my badge on me at that point," she lied. "But I assure you, the proper authorities are working on it now."
"It's true," Finn cut in. "I called agent Cooper out here on another matter. She was on her way here when she ran into your sister."
"And who the hell are you?" Bellamy asked. He looked at Finn like he was some kind of cockroach he'd found in a cupboard.
Finn flipped out his own FBI badge. "Agent James Carter," he replied calmly.
"So what exactly are you doing here then, Agents?" Bellamy asked. He didn't have the kind of look on his face that said he was entirely convinced.
"We're here about the death of Mr Lawrence Palmer," Finn replied smoothly.
"That was an animal attack."
Finn didn't blink. "We've had some new evidence come to light," he replied. At times like this Clarke was reminded of how charming she first found him. Now, all she could think of was how manipulative he really could be. "So, can you tell us anything you've heard or seen that might have been considered out of the ordinary these past few days?"
"I've been preoccupied," Bellamy replied, "as Agent Cooper here knows all too well."
"Are you sure? Maybe there was something that struck you as odd, even if you think it might not matter right now."
"I really wasn't focusing on any of that. I just wanted to find my sister."
"Well then, thanks for your time, Mr …?"
"Blake. Bellamy Blake."
"Thank you then, Mr Blake. Please contact us if you see anything else," Finn said and slid over his 'card', yet another clever prop. The only reason she even had any made were because he'd bought up the idea. Just another reason as to why Finn was so good at deception. Not for the first time, she wondered how she hadn't spotted it before. Maybe if she'd seen it sooner, she'd have gotten the sense to not get involved.
Bellamy took the card, though he had a look on his face that made Clarke think that he was going to throw it away the moment he was out of sight. God, she hated people like him on the job. They were always out to make life difficult, thinking there was actually something sinister about what she was doing.
Once he'd left, Finn turned back to Clarke. "What happened there?" he asked.
"Nothing," she replied. "I just rescued his sister not long before you called."
"You didn't tell me that." Finn sounded almost hurt.
"I didn't think it'd be important," Clarke replied with a shrug.
"And now it is," Finn said.
"And now it is," Clarke agreed.
/
Bellamy looked at the card in his hand and turned it over and examined the details. James Carter, Special Agent it read, with a Bureau address and a phone number for the 'agent'. It looked genuine enough, but then again he'd only ever had one experience with an FBI agent before.
But that was a time he preferred not to think about, if at all.
When Bellamy tossed the card into the nearest trashcan, he decided that since Clarke was here it was as good as opportunity as any to make sure she really was who she said she was. Maybe this was all just coincidence.
However, the only problem with that plan was Bellamy didn't believe in coincidences. There was something more to this, something Clarke wasn't saying and was damn well going to find it out. Not for himself, but for O.
She deserved to be safe after the hell of what had happened. No matter how she tried to brush him off, Bellamy knew she wasn't okay. There was a look in her eyes, a haunted detachment that scared the hell out of him. Not to mention the way she clung to that damn necklace like it was life itself.
Whatever had happened to his sister, the ordeal that bastard had put her though was permanent damage on her psyche. He hated whoever the hell did that to his baby sister. She didn't deserve that on her.
He then wondered if that was what Clarke was here for. Maybe Octavia wasn't the first and there was a whole other side to this bastard. Maybe Octavia was the lucky one.
The thought made him feel sick. How many others were out there? People who went missing just like Octavia and didn't come home. How close had she become to being one of them?
It's over now, he told himself, but Bellamy didn't feel convinced about it like he had this morning. Thanks to Clarke's appearance, he felt unsettled. Whatever the real reasons he was here, Bellamy knew it had to boil down to trouble.
If they were looking into the death of Mr Palmer, then what was next? Would the past be dug up too? He hoped not. Whatever had happened then was nothing he wanted to relive. Or maybe Clarke already knew and that was why she was really here.
Whatever it is then, I'll damn well find out, he resolved and headed back towards home.
/
It was late when Clarke's phone rung, the shrill ringtone sharp enough to jolt her out of sleep. She'd decided to crash in her car despite Finn's offer to share his rental house with her. There was no way Clarke would spend that much time in such close proximity to Finn Collins ever again. The more distance between them, the better.
"Since when does the FBI deal with demons?" Octavia said the moment Clarke answered.
"Hello to you too," Clarke replied. "I told you not to call unless it was an emergency."
"I didn't expect you'd turn up here."
"Well, I am," Clarke said.
"So you're FBI?" Octavia asked again. "What's the policy on demonic possessions?"
Clarke laughed despite herself. "No, sorry, I'm afraid the government doesn't give much in the way of compensation. Or acknowledgment of its existence."
"So you're like the X-Files?" Octavia said excitedly.
"No," Clarke said with a sigh. It'd be nice to actually get paid for what she did. "I am who I am."
"Oh," Octavia said. "I really thought you were FBI. Bell said he saw your badge."
"Don't tell him I'm not," Clarke said.
"I won't. So you're really investigating some death? Or is it something else?"
"It's a werewolf," Clarke replied.
"They're real?" Octavia asked.
"Apparently," Clarke said. "And they're right in your backyard."
"I never knew…" Octavia said, trailing off. "I guess I have a lot to catch up on."
"I'll spare you the worry: if it goes bump in the night, it's probably real," Clarke said.
"Even aliens?"
"Who knows?" Clarke replied. Truthfully, she'd never really given much thought to the matter, but then again, she'd already seen an awful lot. So why not aliens?
"Well, I'll let you know if I see a werewolf around here," Octavia said.
"Thanks," Clarke said, though she didn't like the idea of Octavia werewolf spotting.
"And before you go, who was that guy you were with?"
Clarke rolled her eyes. "Just Finn."
"Finn?" Octavia asked, her voice dripping with suggestion.
"Oh god, no, not like that. Not anymore, at least," Clarke said.
"What happened?"
"He had a girlfriend."
"Oh," Octavia replied. "Not now?"
"I didn't ask."
"Well maybe you should."
"Still, no. Finn wasn't the best choice," Clarke replied. Though her time with Finn had been some of the best months in her life, it was now tainted by the fact that she'd ended up being the 'other woman' in someone else's relationship.
Octavia sighed. "Oh well."
Clarke glanced at the clock. "Anyway, I should go. I need to check out this place at night."
"You won't find anything exciting here. Ark is boring as hell."
"Somebody died last week."
"Well, that was new, but people will talk it to death, like they do with everything here," Octavia said, a hint of bitterness in her voice.
"They've been talking about you?"
"They always have," Octavia said. "It's not anything unexpected."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I'm used to it. Anyway, how did you find the werewolf was here?"
Clarke thought back to the conversation she'd had with Finn after they left the café. "He found the article in some paper and worked it out from there."
"That's not exactly scientific," Octavia commented.
"We've gone off less before," Clarke replied. Most of the time, what she found was nothing, though for every nothing they had found, there was always a something that waited in their next find. "And we'll see the body tomorrow."
"Hot date," Octavia said suggestively.
"God, no," Clarke replied.
"What can I do?" Octavia asked suddenly. Clarke caught on quickly.
She flipped through a few pages of her father's journal until she found the entry. All of it was mostly notes and questions, with little concrete answers. Her father had only ever encountered a werewolf once and what he did have was essentially speculation from other hunters. "Silver is supposed to work, and wolfs bane," Clarke replied. "But mostly, I'd avoid going out at night."
"I have a necklace that's probably silver."
"Good," Clarke replied. "Stay safe."
"I will," Octavia promised and hung up.
Clarke wasn't sure if this was a promise that could be kept.
A/N: And this chapter comes to you at an abnormally fast update pace. I wish I could write this fast all the time, but I know I won't have the time. Also, if you're thinking there might have been a Twin Peaks reference in the chapter, it probably was. If not, then please just watch that show anyway. It's amazing (though odd, but I guess that's David Lynch for you).
Anyway, thanks so much for all the support so far! It's been amazing. Reviews/Comments are always appreciated so much.
PS. If you're wondering, yes, the mythology of this whole piece is based around the mythology of the Supernatural tv series, though I'll probably alter things (and no, it doesn't mean this will turn into a crossover. This is firmly a story about Clarke, Bellamy & co.)