"What do you want?" Casey asked, her voice flat as she kept her eyes trained on the puncture wounds in her leg rather than look up to see him standing there.
Octavia had talked to Clarke about possibly stitching up her wounds, but when Clarke came to check, she assured them both that they could heal on their own as long as Casey didn't put too much stress on her leg.
Octavia was reapplying gauze made from the cloth from one of the dead floater's pants. They were talking amiably until he came.
"Listen, I think I figured out your problem with me," Bellamy claimed, shifting from foot to foot and trying to relax his shoulders as he stood in front of her.
Casey slowly looked up, squinting her eyes as the sun settled into the horizon, and smiled mockingly at him. She nodded her head and asked, "And what's that?"
"You think I'm on the Guard," Bellamy explained, waving his hand down his uniform before dropping it to his side. "And I'm not. I know a lot of you guys have been hurt—"
"That's not it," Casey told him simply, lowering her head back down so she wouldn't have to look at him.
"Then what is it?" Bellamy asked, his voice rising.
Casey laughed, turning her head to the side Octavia wasn't sitting on and adjusted her jaw as she debated how to respond.
"I don't have to explain myself to you," Casey told him, shaking her head. She caught Bellamy's gaze out of the corner of her eye, burning with rage at her response.
Bellamy huffed loudly and readjusted his stance, standing with square shoulders.
"Despite our differences," Bellamy tried to continue through grit teeth, shifting his gaze to Octavia and then back to Casey. She turned to face him, interested in what else he had to say. Bellamy stumbled on his words. "... But you saved my sister. So, thank you."
"Don't worry," Casey whispered to him. "I didn't do it for you."
"Right," Bellamy scoffed, knowing he should have expected that response.
Casey pushed herself to her feet, knocking Octavia's hands away from where she'd been trying to pull the last knot of her bandage, and stared at Clarke as she approached.
"I'm ready when you are," Casey told her.
"I'm sorry," Clarke apologized, a frown flickering an inch further down her face to express that she really was. "But your leg's just gonna slow you down."
Casey returned the frown, wanting to argue, but she knew Clarke was right.
"I'm here for you," Clarke stated, turning to Bellamy.
"Clarke, what are you doing?" Wells hissed from where he trailed behind the blonde.
"I hear you have a gun," Clarke continued, ignoring Wells.
Bellamy stared at Clarke for a moment, considering her words, before he lifted his shirt slightly so Clarke could see the gun resting between his hip and the hem of his pants.
"Good," Clarke nodded. "Follow me."
Bellamy chuckled, putting his shirt back into place and staying firm where he was standing.
"And why would I do that?" he asked.
Clarke had taken to leadership well. She was direct, level-headed, and knew exactly what needed to be done to get people to fall in line behind her. Even if Clarke had to give a little power, so they felt like they were in control. While Casey didn't know her well, she could already respect her.
Clarke rose her eyebrows at Bellamy's response, asking him in her stare if he didn't see it already.
"Because you want them to follow you, and right now, they're thinking only one of us is scared," Clarke stated matter-of-factly.
Bellamy took in her words before deciding. He knew Clarke was right. He turned to Murphy, who had slipped in when he noticed the crowd, and Bellamy nodded him over.
"Murphy, come with me. Atom, my sister doesn't leave this camp. Is that clear?" Bellamy asked, turning to a teenager with a square jaw, thick black hair, and a scowl.
"I don't need a babysitter," Octavia told her brother, annoyed by his overprotective nature.
"Let's go," Bellamy called, ignoring her, and headed out with the group following behind him.
"Hey!" Casey called as Murphy attempted to pass her without acknowledging her standing there. She grabbed his hand before he could completely ignore her. He turned back to her, his face blank. "Stay safe. If you die, I kill him."
Murphy's face brightened. Happy to know she wasn't still mad at him. Like she could ever stay mad at him for long.
"No promises," he teased.
Casey smiled as Murphy pulled her into a tight hug, kissing the top of her head before running into the woods after Bellamy.
Casey sat in a chair from the dropship as she and Octavia played dots and boxes in the first with two other guys Octavia also played around flirting with. Casey found that Octavia's flirting was more entertaining than the game they had been playing.
"Hey!" Octavia exclaimed, laughing excitedly as she pointed her stick at one of the boys. Casey had no intention of remembering his name. "I saw that! You cheated!"
Behind Casey, Atom approached and glared at the two boys Octavia had been toying around with.
"Hey, guys, the wall's not gonna build itself," Atom stated firmly.
The boys barely looked up to see who had given them the instruction before sprinting off to the other side of camp in fear.
"Walls won't stop what's out there. We need weapons," Octavia claimed as Atom stepped into Casey's line of sight, a roll of wire pulled over his shoulder and under his arm as he scowled at Octavia.
"So, build weapons," Atom said, rolling his eyes as if it were that easy. "Look, your brother wasn't kidding about that. He'll hurt them."
"Come on! We were just talking," Octavia assured him, holding her hand out towards Casey. "And Casey was even here to cock block."
Casey snorted, catching Atom's attention. She could tell by the look on his face he wanted her to get lost but held back, knowing she couldn't do that with an injured leg. Along with the terrifying fear that she'd snap his neck if he said anything that pissed her off. The look she had given Bellamy was one Atom did not want to be on the end of.
"You're too hot to be my brother's bitch," Octavia stated, pulling Atom from his thoughts.
"I'm no one's bitch," Atom quickly told her.
Too quickly.
It made a grin rise to Casey's lips as she watched the emotions play across Atom's face. She twirled the stick in her hand, dragging lines into the dirt as she sang teasingly, "That's what they all say."
Octavia stood, pulling herself toe to toe with Atom, but unlike Casey and Bellamy, they were all chemistry.
"Mm, good. Then prove it," Octavia whispered to him, pulling away and walking across the camp to the first guy she found. Octavia pulled him in with a flirty smile, beckoning him to follow her before eyeing Atom as she dragged him into the dropship.
Atom watched, standing beside Casey. She turned away from her dirt drawings and wondered why he was still standing there.
"So, are we gonna continue having this thrilling conversation, or are you gonna go after the hottest girl in camp and bang her like she obviously wants you to?" Casey asked Atom, placing her first underneath her chin as she looked up at him curiously.
Atom's eyes darted to hers, then back to the dropship. He hesitated for a second, then jogged off toward the dropship without another word.
Casey sat alone in the middle of the camp, no one letting her do anything useful because she was too slow, complained too much, and was overall annoying when in pain. Plus, Clarke had gone around to everyone in camp and told them she had been told to take it easy until they returned.
So, she sat, rocking in her chair with herself and her thoughts, and Casey was an easy target for overthinking.
She rocked back with her good foot and stared at the sky, thinking of the Ark orbiting somewhere beyond the atmosphere. Her mom up there. Casey wondered how much oxygen was left. How long would it be until they were dead? Until her mom was dead?
Then, she rocked back so that her gaze was on the trees, and thoughts of Murphy in the woods looking for Jasper worried her. She should have never let him go out alone. Look what happened to her. They could as soon be killed or taken away before anyone in camp realized.
Before she knew it, Casey had spun herself into a dreadful silence, images in her head that wouldn't leave her.
That was until she caught sight of Atom stalking out of the dropship without Octavia. Then, slowly, she pulled herself up from her chair, leaving the negative thoughts with it, and limped over to Atom.
"Hey, where's Octavia?" Casey asked, concerned.
"I locked her in the top of the dropship where she won't hurt anyone," Atom explained with little remorse.
"You're an idiot," Casey claimed, knocking her hands against his chest, but instead of sending him back, she knocked herself off balance and fell back into the dirt. Atom only stared at her. "Stop staring and help me up, dumbass."
Atom stuck his hand out despite wanting to leave her in the dirt. If he did, he'd most likely get a lecture from Clarke and a punch in the face from Murphy. He'd rather avoid that.
Casey huffed, wiping off her clothes before turning to Atom. She sighed, running a hand through her hair to keep her anger from exploding.
"Can I at least go up there and keep her company?" Casey asked. "There's nothing I can do but feel sorry for myself out here."
Atom paused, then reluctantly nodded and led the way to the dropship. She took over a minute to get up the first ladder, then the same for the second one for the top one. She had to unlock the hatch and force herself inside. Once she had, Atom reached up and yanked the hatch down with a sharp slam, and the lock clicked into place.
"Hey," Casey greeted, finding not only Octavia but Monty staring back at her. "What's going on?"
"I could ask you the same thing. What are you doing here?" Monty asked curiously, furrowing his brows together.
"I had nothing better to do, and Octavia was my only company," Casey explained with a shrug, sliding down the wall opposite Octavia. "You?"
"I'm trying to find a way to contact the Ark, but I need a wristband to test it," Monty explained.
Casey stiffened at his statement, but Octavia reassuringly set her hand over Casey's, squeezing it.
"He's taking mine," Octavia assured her with a small smile.
There was a companionable silence between them as Monty worked to remove Octavia's wristband, trying to find the weak point in the clasp.
"He may not be my brother..." Monty said into the silence, settling on what had been most prominent on their minds since the river. "But he's always been there. Every memory I have, there's Jasper," Monty said, faltering in his work, shoulders slumped as he concluded, "I should be out there."
Casey knew what Monty was feeling like an old friend. Constantly worrying that her mom would be floated while she was in the Sky Box when Casey had tried to protect her. Now, she feared she would die with everyone else on the Ark. Her eyes watered at the thought, tapping in fours against her wristband.
"You're not gonna cry, are you?" Octavia asked, her question directed at Monty, but Casey couldn't help but wipe the tears from her face as if she had been speaking to her.
Monty turned his gaze from the floor to Octavia, a smile coming up to his face.
"Shut up," he laughed, the two girls joining him.
"You sure about this?" Monty asked, the lightness escaping them as they returned to the dire situation. "Your brother won't approve of you helping us contact the Ark."
"He's not my keeper. Let's just do this. Let's do it," Octavia stated, holding her wrist out to Monty. Her other hand reached for Casey's, holding it tight as Monty tapped along the metal. He found the weak spot and used a piece of metal from the dropship to pry the wristband open.
Octavia cursed in pain as the wristband unclasped, the teeth of the needles removed from her skin. She held her arm up to her chest and watched Monty.
"Sorry," Monty muttered, taking the wristband delicately in his hands and setting it down, only to watch the electrical currents fade immediately. "Dead... damn it!"
"If we can't even take it off, how do you expect to turn it into a radio?" Octavia asked softly, her brows furrowed in concern.
Monty didn't have an answer for her.
Atom popped his head back through the hatch, turning to the three in the corner of the room before disappearing back down, leaving the door open. Octavia looked at the open hatch door, then back to Monty and Casey, who had small smiles on their faces.
"Go on," Monty encouraged her. "I have Casey to keep me company and work to do."
Octavia smiled at them, climbed to her feet, and made it halfway down the ladder before turning to Monty.
"Hey, Monty? Jasper would understand why you stayed," she assured him.
Monty, moved by her words but not wanting to show how much it meant to him, asked, "How is someone raised beneath the floor, not a total basket case?"
"Who says I'm not?" Octavia asked, grinning before dropping down the ladder.
Author's Note
Season 1, Episode 2: Earth Skills
Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you'd like. However, this is an all kind of reader safe space. So even if you ghost read or comment every chapter, I hope you know it means the world to me that you've come into this fic I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and until the next one.