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captainsophiestark · 4 months

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Parents Weekend

Platonic!Percy Jackson x Reader

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Written for my personal fic writing challenge for 2024, Sophie's Year of Fic! Featuring a new fic being posted every Friday, all year long :)

Fandom: Percy Jackson

Summary: Percy's clear-sighted mortal cousin on his mom's side flies out to California to visit Percy for his first parents weekend away from home, at New Rome University.

Word Count: 2,166

Category: Fluff

A/N: This is full of spoilers for every book that features Percy Jackson, so if you're a new fan brought in by the show, welcome! But this fic might not be for you, unless you really don't mind spoilers. Also, it is loosely related to this other platonic Percy fic I wrote, but you don't need to read one to understand the other

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"HALT! Not another step without approval!"

I jumped backwards as a talking statue appeared in front of me out of nowhere, stopping me right on the threshold of the city of New Rome. Of all the things I'd seen as a clear-sighted mortal, this ranked among the weirdest for sure.

"Who are you, and on what authority are you here?"

"Uh... I'm Percy Jackson's cousin, and I'm here to visit him at college?"

The statue narrowed his eyes at me.

"Percy Jackson's cousin, hm? I know him well. He spent quite a lot of time when he first got here disobeying and disrespecting my rules. But we killed a giant together, and he defended Rome honorably. So as long as you are not armed...?"

The statue raised an eyebrow at me, and I quickly held out my hands and shook my head to show him I didn't have anything on me. He narrowed his eyes, then nodded curtly.

"Then you may enter. Tell him hello, and to get a haircut."

"Yes sir."

The statue nodded, clearly pleased, as I walked past him and into the city of New Rome. Percy had told me all about his adventures whenever we caught up with each other, and I felt fairly confident that I'd just met Terminus, the Roman boundary god. He was even more uptight than Percy had said.

It was a beautiful fall day in California, the sun lighting up the Oakland hills and creating just the right amount of warmth. I stared around in awe at the city before me, which practically sparkled in the sun.

Percy had told me all about it, and I'd even seen a few pictures. But nothing quite compared to seeing it in person.

I joined the crowds moving through the city, laughing and talking with one another. Luckily for me, a very easy to find street sign pointed me in the direction of New Rome U, and I started heading in that direction.

Percy had just started college this fall, moving all the way across the country just when I'd finally settled for the long haul in New York. I gave him a bit of teasing for that, but I knew how happy he was to be going here (especially with Annabeth) and how hard he'd worked to get in, so I really was happy for him. I'd just made him promise to visit New York often, which I knew he would do for more family members than just me.

What I hadn't told him was that I also intended to visit him. This weekend was officially "parents' weekend" at NRU. Sally and Paul couldn't come, since Estelle was still a baby, but I had no such limitations. I'd booked a flight the second Sally had told me the date, and now, I was finally here.

Percy had no idea. As far as he knew, he had nothing special happening this weekend. I couldn't wait to see his face when I surprised him.

My head was on a swivel the minute I set foot on campus, looking for my favorite cousin. He wasn't short, so I hoped he'd be easily visible over the heads of people in the crowd, but I wandered between buildings and students with no luck. I needed a better plan.

It didn't take me long to come up with one, thankfully. A big, beautiful fountain sat in the middle of a cluster of university buildings, so I headed right for it and hopped up on the ledge, standing tall and scouting the crowds from my new vantage point. After a minute, I heard a surprised voice from behind me.

"Y/N?"

I whipped around to find Percy standing at the top of some stairs, apparently just coming from class in the building. He was hand in hand with his girlfriend Annabeth, which always made me happy to see. I beamed at him and waved like a maniac before hopping down and heading his direction.

"What are you doing here?" he called, momentarily dropping Annabeth's hand to race towards me, meeting me halfway across the square. I laughed as he picked me up in a tight hug and spun me around.

"It's parents' weekend for New Rome University, isn't it?" I asked, once my feet were back on the ground. "I might not be your parent, but I'm pretty sure the event has changed to mean 'family weekend' by this point."

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming!" he cried, laughing a little as he apparently didn't quite believe I was really here. Annabeth joined us, a smile on her face to match mine and Percy's.

"Because I wanted to surprise you, duh!" I laughed and pulled Annabeth into a tight hug, which she returned. "It's so good to see you both! Oh, and Percy, Terminus said you need to get a haircut."

Percy groaned and shook his head while Annabeth laughed.

"You met Terminus? How did you even get in here?"

"I name-dropped you for street cred with Terminus, obviously," I teased. Percy rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. "And I might have found a way to reach out to a friend you mentioned had some power here. Frank Zhang was very nice when a total stranger appeared through a very shaky Iris message asking him to let me into his camp."

Percy and Annabeth both laughed at that, sharing a smile.

"I'll have to remember to thank Frank for the assist," said Percy.

"I actually have some of your mom's cookies with me for that exact purpose."

Percy's mouth dropped open in outrage. "And you didn't bring any for me?"

"Did I say that?"

I turned and reached into my bag, then pulled out a tupperware container of Sally's famous blue chocolate chip cookies.

"These are for you. I ate mine on the plane, and I have a batch of purple ones for Frank, since that's Camp Jupiter's colors."

"My mom is amazing," Percy breathed, the box of cookies already opened with one in his hand.

"Yeah. Yeah, she is. Now come on, I flew all the way out here from New York to hang out with you. I want to see your new school and hear about all your classes and everything else. Just tell me where we're going first."

Percy grinned. "I know the perfect spot."

My cousin didn't disappoint. Annabeth had to do a bit of work to prepare for the coming week, so after getting a promise from her to meet us later, Percy and I hiked to the top of a beautiful hill overlooking the entirety of Camp Jupiter, apparently called the Garden of Bacchus. With the sun shining and a slight breeze blowing, I quite literally couldn't have imagined anything more perfect.

"You know, I love New York. But I could stand living somewhere with more weather like this," I mused. Percy laughed.

"Yeah, it's a perk. I do miss the city sometimes though."

"Of course. But you'll be home for the break, right?"

"Yup. Annabeth's coming with me. I can't wait to see my mom, and Paul and Estelle. And we'll probably visit camp, which will be nice."

"I'm sure everyone will be excited to see you. Just don't forget to come visit your favorite cousin in fun places I can actually get to," I said, nudging him in the shoulder a little as I teased him. He grinned right back at me.

"Never."

"Good. Because otherwise I'll have to come track you down, and based on what you've told me about Camp Half-Blood, I'd have a hell of a time getting into that place."

"If any mortal could pull it off, I bet it'd be you."

I grinned, and Percy smiled. We paused for a minute, taking in the gentle breeze and bustling city below us, then I spoke up again.

"Alright, so catch me up. How's everything? Classes? Annabeth? Being on the West Coast? Any more of the Olympians trying to give you trouble?"

Percy frowned at the mention of the Olympians, which seemed incredibly fair to me.

"Thankfully no, at least for now. Otherwise, things have been good. It's still a little weird to be here, and I miss a lot of people back home, but I have a lot of friends here too. Mostly I'm just happy to finally have some normal life time with Annabeth."

"I can't think of two people who deserve it more." Percy huffed in agreement as I continued. "And one of the hardest parts of college is leaving behind people you love to go do what you need to do out in the world. But like you said, there's a lot of people you love and who love you here, too. And you know me and Sally and everyone else in New York will always leave our doors open for whenever you want to come back."

Percy gave me a small smile.

"I know. And I'll always be happy to see you visiting me here, or wherever else I might go. Especially if you keep bringing my mom's cookies with you."

I laughed. "Yeah, that makes sense. I think her cookies could open most doors for me, honestly."

"For sure."

We took a moment, smiling and laughing and breathing in the fresh air. Then finally, I sighed and stood, facing Percy with my hands on my hips.

"Alright, I've gotten the bird's eye view and I'm finally warm again after New York got that early cold snap. Now let's see what else this Roman camp has to offer."

The more we walked around, the more my jaw dropped. It looked just like the pictures I'd seen of Rome and Italy as a whole, places I'd always dreamed about visiting. Only bright, shiny, new, and right here in front of me, where I could reach out and touch it.

As we walked around and Percy gave me the full campus tour, we found more and more people who knew him, smiling and calling out hellos as we passed each other. I beamed every time, happy to see my little cousin doing so well. He'd been through hell, but he seemed at peace here. Settled, in a way I hadn't really seen him before.

"The camp itself has pegasi stables and stuff, but we'd need to get special permission to visit them," Percy explained as we walked into the plaza where I'd first found him, headed for 'the best coffee shop this side of the Mississippi'. The basic tour was completed, so we were on our way to meet Annabeth. "I can ask Frank about that, maybe. How long are you here?"

"I'm staying for the whole parents' weekend, so hopefully that means I get to see the pegasi! The day I met Blackjack might still be my best day ever."

Percy laughed as we walked through the door, a bell jingling happily over our heads. Annabeth waved to us from a table near the window, and we headed her direction.

"I think Blackjack enjoyed that day, too. He always likes to be appreciated."

"He's a flying horse. Who the hell isn't appreciating him?"

Percy just shrugged as we joined Annabeth at her table. She grinned and slid two drinks our way, one for each of us.

"Percy told me your order. Hopefully they got it right."

"I'm sure they did," I said, taking a careful sip. My jaw would've dropped, if I weren't incredibly determined not to let a single drop go to waste. "That is... actually maybe the best thing I've ever had."

"Right?" Percy grinned as he sipped his own drink.

"So, what did the two of you get up to?" asked Annabeth.

"Percy gave me the whole campus tour," I said, smiling as I leaned back in my seat, leisurely sipping my drink. The sun coming through the windows gently warmed my face, and I could've stayed right there for the rest of the day and been perfectly happy. "We hiked up to the Garden of Bacchus too, and I got a bird's eye of this whole place. I know I'll probably never get to see Camp Half-Blood to compare, but... this place is stunning."

"It really is."

Annabeth and Percy shared a smile, and he took her hand across the table. I beamed. I loved Annabeth, and I loved the two of them together. I'd never met somebody other than Annabeth who got such an immediate, unanimous family seal of approval.

"So, I got the tour of campus. I heard there are pegasi stables, which I will not be leaving without seeing. But what else is a can't-miss?"

"Don't worry," said Annabeth with a grin. "I had enough time after homework to make the perfect plan."

"Athena always has a plan," said Percy. He and Annabeth shared another smile, and I couldn't help smiling with them.

"Well good. Because I'm here all weekend, and this seems like a city I don't want to miss."

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989

Percy Jackson Taglist: @valkyriepirate

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sadslay · 9 months

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HEY can you dorg a rick grimes x readertsxdr wbere its enemies to lovers i really life your fsanfics AND think rhye are super cool.

- CLOSER⋆☆ 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

warnings — depictions of heavy violence & gore, coarse language, mentions of cannibalism [terminus era], light nsfw content/fluff

if there is true evil in this world, it lies in the heart of man kind.

when the world fell it became all the more evident that evil was rooted into humanity, and it only took a devastating, world-ending event for me to realise. those who were left in the world didn’t need to fear the dead that roamed the earth but instead they should fear the people that survived.

after weeks of traveling up and down the various railways running across georgia i was finally on my way home. my back ached and my feet were almost numb. i had been walking all night, never stopping because if i did, there was no way i’d be able to start again. i had endured weeks of unrest and uncertainty all to avoid the brutalities of my brother's ideologies.

not that my brother knew but the real reason i left our hellish home was to protect the greater good, not because i particularly cared but because i couldn’t bare seeing helpless people coming to us for refuge only to be thrown in train carts to have their heads served on a platter days later.

i dreaded each step that pulled me closer to home. every part of me just wanted to turn around and forget about everything i had left behind but i couldn’t. as evil as they were, they were still my family. as my eyes rose to the horizon - the sun barely peaking through the tree line - i noticed something about a mile down the road. i momentarily froze, my eyes narrowing as i focused on the pair.

it was two men, leaned up against an old rusted vehicle, causing my steps slow as i continued to cautiously creep closer. listening to them closely, i began to listen in to their quiet conversation. one man was wearing a leather vest and had straight hair that went past his ears while the man beside him was wearing a brown suede jacket and his hair was curled and tinted slightly red, along with his beard and chin.

i moved off the road, walking towards the treeline only to catch their attention seconds later. "hey!" one of the men yelled as they both rose to their feet.

my hands rose into the air in the blink of an eye, choosing to leave my pistol hidden as i crept back onto the road. “i don’t want any trouble.” i spoke firmly, my eyes wandering between the two men as the man with curled air pulled a barrelled colt python, keeping two hands on the gun as he kept it pointed to the ground. “m’just passin’ through.”

"passin' through?" one of the men asked, his southern accent as clear as day as his head tilted to the side by half an inch.

i nodded, staying still as i stood opposite to the two men. "just headin' home." i added, lowering my hands slightly, only for the man's gun to rise. "will you get that thing outta my face?" i scoffed, my hands freezing beside my shoulders.

the bloodied man looked at me for a moment before lowering his gun, placing it back inside the holster attached to the belt sitting around his waist.

"you have a group?" he asked, both his hands resting on his hips.

i shrugged weakly, finally dropping my hands back to my side. "guess you could call 'em that." i mumbled, internally debating if i should tell the two men of terminus, although i'm sure my brother would find a use for them.

“that didn’t answer my question.” the man with the gun quickly responded, his southern accent thickening as he spoke.

"kinda did," i smirked, weakly shrugging my shoulders as my eyes narrowed. a moment of silence fell between the three of us, the soft wind blowing through our hair as we all stood on the long-abandoned road. "can i go now?" i asked.

the two men looked at each other before their cold eyes returned to mine. "you heard about terminus?" he asked, his hand momentarily leaving his hip to vaguely point in the direction of the community before returning to his hip.

"yeah." i responded nonchalantly shrugging my shoulders. "if yer know what's good for ya, you'll stay away."

i'd soon realize my word of warning was not merely threatening enough to keep them away.

i was standing beside the grill where my mother was cooking some of the freshly marinated mystery meat when a grin appeared on my mother's lips. "hi," she smiled. "heard you came through the back door, smart." she added, causing me to spin around to find the two men from the highway along with a tall slender woman, holding a katana and a younger boy wearing a brown sheriff's hat wandering towards us. "you'll fit right in here." she added, flipping a small portion of meat.

shit.

"hey mary, could you fix each of these new folks a plate for me?" alex asked, briefly looking across at me, giving me a weak nod.

that's when he looked at me, his eyes filled with a type of betrayal that cut deep. only when the woman with dark brown hickory dreadlocks spoke.

"why do you do it?" she asked, stopping a few feet away from the grill that alex and i stood in front of. "why do you let people in?"

alex offered them a smile, taking two plates from my mother's hands. "the more people become a part of this, we get stronger." he explained, a sentence i had heard dozens of times. "that's why we put up the signs," my eyes met the man's standing behind the woman, his face now clean from blood. "invite people in. it's how we survive." alex continued, began to wander over to the younger boy, extending one of the plates to him before mumbling, "here." before giving the second plate to the woman.

i took the next set of paper plates from my mother before wandering across to the two men who i had met on the highway mere hours before. his eyes were now focused on alex, scanning his body carefully before stopping at the pocket watch that dangled from his waist. his icy blue eyes snapped in my direction as i took another step closer, and all in a heartbeat he had smacked the plates of food from my hand before wrapping one hand across the top of my chest, pulling me up against his chest as the end of his gun rested against my temple.

"where the hell you get that watch?" the man snapped, looking at alex as he kept my body restrained against his.

"put the gun down!" alex stressed, stepping back as the stranger's weapons rose, creating a spaced-out semi-circle defending the unappointed leader of the small group.

my hands latched onto his forearm, trying to ease the immense amount of pressure he had applied to my chest. "you want answers handsome?" i sneered, my voice lower as my face paralleled his. "put down the gun 'n i'll give 'em to ya." i tired to bargain, keeping my voice low.

"i see your man on the roof with a sniper rifle." he spat, tightening his grip across my decolletage as his fingers dug into my shoulder. "how good's his aim?" he snickered, his hot breath blowing onto my cheek before he turned his attention back to alex. "where'd you get the watch?" he yelled, his voice demanding and stern.

"don't do anything! just put the gun down!" alex's instructed, his voice weary and riddled with nerves.

i let out a sigh as i noticed alex trembling, his very cowardness making me roll my eyes. "i've got it." i muttered, causing alex to look at me before turning to the sniper on the roof. "tell 'em to back off." i instructed.

although the idiot was my brother, it didn’t mean i liked him. he cowered at the first sign of danger, his entire body would shake and he could be incapable of forming a complete sentence without becoming a stuttering mess. so when he turned back to look at our mother, it didn't surprise me that he wanted her approval.

"back down!" mary yelled, causing the sniper from the rooftop to disappear.

"listen to me." i snapped, keeping my voice relatively quiet giving us some sort of privacy as everyone stood three or four feet away. "there's a lot of 'em, be smart about this," i whispered near his ear, causing him to shoot me a look of disgust.

"where'd he get the watch?" the man repeated, beginning to sound a little like a broken record.

scoffing at his question, i turned my head a little more, his coarse beard tickling my cheek. "i don't know." i hissed. "i got here an hour before you did." i spat.

"what about the riot gear?" he questioned, turning his body to face a man a few meters away covered in black riot gear, taking my body with his as he spun again to face a blonde woman wearing a red poncho. "the poncho?" he snapped in my ear.

before i could respond, my brother walked into the courtyard, his hands up by his shoulders. "got the riot gear off a dead cop." gareth explained, the man spinning in the direction of my brothers voice, taking me with him. "found the poncho on a clothesline." he added.

i pushed myself onto the tips of my toes and leaned into his before whispering, "don't trust him."

the stranger flashed me a look of confusion before turning his focus to my brother, breifly point his gun at gareth before pushing it back into the side of my head.

"you talk to me!" he demanded.

"what's there left to say?" gareth queried, his eyebrows pinching together as he continued. "you don't trust us anymore."

"gareth!" i snapped, only for him to bitterly snap, "shut, up. it's okay." he took in a breath of air before continuing. "rick what do you want?" gareth asked.

rick. now i had a name for the idiot that didn't listen to me.

"where are our people?" rick yelled, his grip tightening even further as my skin began to turn into an ivory white from the pressure.

a devilish laugh escaped from gareths lips. "you didn't answer the question."

bullet shells littered the floor. a bullet scrapped across my shoulder causing me to fall to the group as rick and his people ran off. by the time i had gotten back up to my feet they were gone and the commotion had gone with them.

⋆☆⋆

watching gareth’s goons bring in rick and few other people from the train cars and lining up along the slop trays, i stood by gareth with my assault rifle in hand. eight men were lined up, each of them squirming and fidgeting as butchers worked beside them on medical tables, cutting into the bodies of unidentified victims. victims that had been taken while i was gone.

“alright.” gareth mumbled, giving his goons the okay to complete the brutal task of taking out each of the men.

a man with a bat swung the silver weapon hitting a young blonde man on the opposite end to rick and the other man from the highway. as he fell unconscious, a second man wearing a clear apron using his hand to pull up his head before slicing his throat, allowing a crimson fountain to spew from his neck into the tray.

the men began to grunt and scream as the goons moved along to the next victim. as i stood beside gareth, i looked across to find him watching each slaughter intently. he was no longer my brother. in the weeks that i had been gone gareth had turned into an unrecognizable monster. i had known about the cannibalistic urges that had consumed gareth before i left but when i returned, i had discovered how bad it had become.

“what are you doin’ this for?” i asked in a hushed whisper, my eyes remaining focused on rick and the man from the highway as they stared right back at me. “they look somewhat useful.”

i could feel gareth’s eyes watching me, his eyes burning holes into the side of my head before turning his attention back to the slop trays. “they’re threats.” he answered plainly. “hey guys!” gareth called out, catching the attention of his goons. “what were your shot counts?” he asked, pulling out a note book and pencil from his back pocket.

“38.” the man with the knife answered, standing behind the next victim waiting for them to be knocked out.

“hey!” gareth yelled, catching the attention of the good with the bat. “your shot count?” he asked.

“crap man, i’m sorry.” he sighed, causing gareth to let out a disappointing sigh. “it was my first round up.” the man weakly defended.

“after you done here, go back and count the shells.” gareth instructed. “kaylee won’t be gathering them until tomorrow.” he added, beginning to write a note down in his book. “four from a, four from d.” he began to count, wandering closer to the remaining men.

a man beside rick, that i hadn’t seen before began to squirm before grunting, “hey, let me talk to you for a minute.” his voice was muffled as he repeated, “let me talk to you!”

gareth sighed before reaching out to the man, pulling the cloth from his mouth. “what?” he spat.

“don’t do this.” he pleaded. “we can fix this.”

“no you can’t.” gareth replied nonchalantly, attempting to pull the cloth back into the mans mouth as continued to reason with my brother.

before gareth could put the cloth into the mans mouth, he continued. “you don’t have to do this.” he repeated. “we told you theres a way out of all of this.” he tried to reason, taking a few heavy breaths before continuing. “you just have to take a chance. we have a man that knows how to stop it.”

did he mean a cure?

gareth looked up from his book. “he has a cure. we just have to get him to washington.” the desperate man explained. “you don’t have to do this man. we can out the world back the way it was.”

“we can’t go back bob.” gareth mumbled, finally shoving the cloth into bobs mouth causing him to mumble gibberish.

he then knelt down in front of rick, taking the cloth from his mouth before muttering, “saw you go into the woods with a bag and come out without it.” he paused for a second, rick turning his head to the right by half an inch. “had to pull my spotters back before we could go look for it.” gareth explained. “what was in it?” he asked, waiting for ricks response but got nothing. “you hid it right? incase things went bad. smart.” he weakly grinned. “we’ll find it but it’s too dangerous to go out there right now.”

gareth had become to desperate. he pulled his knife out of his pocket, pointing it at bobs neck. “what was in it?” he snapped. “i’m curious, and it was a big bag. you really gonna let me do this?” he asked, flicking his head in bob’s direction.

“well let me take you out there.” rick responded, no doubt pissing gareth off more then he already was. “i’ll show you.” he continued.

“not gonna happen.” gareth responded sharply. “this might.” he added, once again his head motioning towards bob.

“there’s guns in it.” rick finally answered. “ak 47, 44 magnum, automatic weapons, night-scope, a compound bow and a machete with a red handle.” he listed. “thats what i’m gonna use to kill you.”

bold. threatening your captor as he had a knife pressed up to your friends neck? very bold.

gareth laughed, shoving the cloth back into his mouth before patting ricks shoulders. “thanks.” he smiled, walking back towards me as he put his notebook into his back pocket. “you have two hours to get them on the dryers. i’m gonna go back to the public face. we need to dial it all in by sundown!” he instructed.

but before his goons could respond, gunshots came from outside and just as gareth went to radio more of his men, a ground shaking boom went off causing us to all loose balance.

“stay here until i know what’s going on!” gareth yelled, running out of the room, leaving me and three of his goods with the four prisoners.

“so we just sit here?” the man asked me as i regained my ground, standing on my feet with my rifle firmly in my hand.

“you got a job to do.” i instructed, motioning towards the men that was fallen.

this was one of the few times i was grateful to be on gareths good side. i had a silencer attached to the end of my assault rifle which allowed me to take down the two butchers on the other side of the room without the brainless goons noticing. and with two more shots - each of them to the head - both of those brainless goons were on the floor, leaving the four prisoners startled.

slinging my gun over my shoulder i ran over to the four men, pulled my knife out the black leather holster strapped to my thigh. i knelt down, cutting the zip ties that had been used to keep them restrained. as i began to cut bobs i looked across and rick and the others.

“out that door, theres a hallway that leads to the armoury, all your shits in there.” i explained, motioning my head towards the door gareth had gone through moments prior. “you get your people ‘n get outta here.” i added, moving across to rick, beginning to cut through the tie.

“thank you.” bob spoke, his voice shaky but genuine as he stood up to begin searching the room for a weapon. “why are you helping us?” he asked.

i scoffed as i cut through rick’s zip tie, allowing him to stand up, following bob’s actions of looking for a weapon. “i should’ve taken down all those stupid signs.” i muttered, moving along to the man from the highway, beginning to cut through the zip tie.

“why didn’t you?” rick asked, his hand pointing at me accusingly.

“i thought he might’ve changed!” i snapped, moving along to the final prisoner. “doesn’t matter now,” i mumbled to myself. “i can get out to that tree-line where y’all hid your bag in about five minutes.” i announced to the group of men. “i’ve got a view of the train yard from there so i can keep an eye out for you and your people.”

“why should we trust you?” rick muttered, his voice bitter and mistrusting as i freed the last man. "you could've told us this place wasn't safe."

i stood up, handing my knife to the man i had just freed before turning to the others. "do you have dementia?" i asked rhetorically. "i warned you assholes not to come here." i snapped, taking a step closer to rick, looking up into his eyes as i muttered, “you don’ have to listen to me, but my brother’ll kill the lot of yer the first chance he gets.”

rick did nothing. he just stared at me. rolling my eyes at the mans stubbornness, i pushed past him, wandering towards a door that led out to the courtyard, disappearing from their sight.

⋆☆⋆

i watched ricks group - larger then i thought- run towards the tree line i had been hiding in for the past hour or so. hundreds of geeks swarmed terminus as flames bellowed from the numerous builds and warehouses. by the time i had reached the group they were preparing to leave. swinging my gun over my shoulder - not wanting the significantly large group to think i was a threat - i quietly approached them. as i grew closer, i made the idiotic mistake of stepping on a dried stick, sending a loud crack throughout the woods.

"the hell are you doin' 'ere?" the man from the highway spat, pulling away from a lady that had short grey hair.

"i just saved your life jackass, a thanks would be nice." i snapped, continuing to walk closer to group.

a tall man with amber hair and a thick mustache stepped forward from the outer circle of the group, both his hands holding onto some sort of military grade machine gun. "i'm sorry honey, who the hell are you?" he asked in an even thicker southern accent then ricks.

"she saved our lives." a man spoke sternly, his hand extended holding my bowie knife i had given him no more then an hour prior. it was the man from the slop trays. "here." he smiled.

"save is a strong word." rick muttered, his eyes meeting mine a few seconds later. his hand sat on his hip - which seemed to be a habit of his - while the other wiped the bottom half of his face. "we barely made it out alive." he spoke a little louder.

choosing to ignore rick's idiotic comment, i turned my attention to bob. "you." i pointed at the stranger. "you serious about that cure?" i asked.

bob nodded along to my question before turning a dark haired man standing beside the taller redheaded man. he had a black mullet and a poorly shaven face, he was also shaking as he stepped forward, one hand rising into the air as he spoke, "that would be correct ma'am." he answered, also having a thick southerner accent. "my names eugene porter and i know the cure to save this mess." he spoke proudly.

"you still need a ride to washington?" i asked, my attention remaining on the two men standing beside each other.

"we-well yess ma'am." eugene stammered.

"i know a place 'bout a days way from here." i noted, nodding my head in the general direction. "s'got a bus round the back, s'been there since the beginnin'." i added, the very news making the two men smile.

"nah." the man from the highway grumbled, causing me to spin in his direction as i let out a sigh of frustration. "las' time we listened to you we ended up 'ere." he spat bitterly, throwing his hand across his chest as his jaw clenched.

"sorry, listened to me?" i repeated sarcastically, my eyes widening in shock as the man stood there, looking at me as if he was ready to knock me out. "i told you fuckin' idiots to stay the hell away." i spat, my voice unintentionally rising as i grew more frustrated.

"hey!" the man with the moustache hissed, causing me to spin back in his direction. "where the shit is this damn bus?" he demanded, taking another step closer to me.

i exhaled through my nose, trying to control my temper as i explained, "'bout a days trip." i repeated. "n' if it's alright with eugene i'd like to help-"

"you're not comin' with us." rick cut in, his voice forceful and alarming as he stepped closer to me, making sure his point was heard.

looking up at rick, who stood a foot or so away from me, i forced a smile onto my lips. "didn't ask you cowboy."

"hey!" another voice cut in, this time a woman i hadn't seen before. "she's got a bus, lets just check it out." she insisted, her eyes focused on rick as he seemed to be some sort of leader amongst the group.

"fine." he grumbled, his jaw remaining clenched as his head tilted to its side, another mannerism that he commonly did. "but hand over your weapons." rick bargained.

i turned to face rick, our bodies now parallel to each other as looked up at the infuriating man. "i ain't givin' you shit." i spat. "we're surrounded by geeks n'i need to protect myself." i explained, although nothing was getting through his dense stubborn head.

"it's not negotiable."

⋆☆⋆

walking up the squeaky white church steps behind ricks group, listening as he interrogated the priest that had let us into the church to begin with. it was poorly lit but well kept as we wall stood in the isle, listening to rick as he continued with his questions.

“how’d you survive here for so long?” he asked, holding his daughter, judith on his hip. “where did your supplies come from?” rick continued.

“luck.” the priest answered. “our annual canned food drive, things fell apart right after we finished.” he continued, a grin plastered on his lips. “it was just me.” he continued as rick passed his daughter to carl, who i had learned was his son. “the food lasted a long time, ‘n then i started scavenging. i’ve cleaned out every place near by.” he paused for a moment before continuing. “except for one.”

“what kept you from it?” rick asked, resting his hand on his hip.

“it’s overrun.”

thats how i ended up waist deep in mirky, geek filled water in a thrift store basement. it was a situation i did not intend on being apart of, but here i was, marching through the grey water to protect the wimpy priest had run and frozen to avoid an old withered librarian.

rick was taking down a near by geek that had lunged towards him in the blink of an eye, allowing me to take one step forward before grabbing onto the back of the librarians head. with all my body weight i pushed the decaying body toward a near by shelf, smashing the geeks head against the metal pole. the sounds of its skull cracking and its blood oozing down into the water let me know my job was done.

"grow a pair dude." i huffed, pushing decaying body into the water before scanning the near by shelf for canned goods.

sudden movement coming from the opposite side of the small flood room caught my attention seconds later. by the time i had tracked through the filthy water, sasha was lifting a plastic container above her head before slamming it down onto the head of the water bloated geek. once the commotion had simmered down, i spun around to collect more unspoiled cans only to bump right into rick.

our bodies pushed right up against one another as his calloused hands firmly held onto my shoulders. the sudden closeness caused me to freeze. his frame was undeniably larger then mine as his body towered over mine, a few damp curls falling forward as he looked down at me. as much as he was overbearing and generally unpleasant, i couldn't deny that he was somewhat alluring.

"you alright?" rick asked, pulling me out of my hypnotic state allowing my eyes to meet his.

i pulled myself away from his grip, weakly nodding. "fine." i mumbled, pushing past him to begin the tedious job of gathering all the canned goods.

⋆☆⋆

holding onto the wooden shovel with both my hands as i dug further into the ground, i heard chatter coming from inside the church. rick and his people were deciding what to do with my brother and the last remaining people of terminus. i continued to dig a shallow grave as the group squabbled and fought over the fate of people i used to call my friends and family. my back ached and my arms felt like jello as i finished off the four foot deep hole -no where near deep enough to bury each and every body - before turning to face the group.

“we’re burnin’ ‘em!” i announced, causing every pair of eyes to look over at me in the dimly lit moon light.

“why?” abraham asked, his voice sounding almost sarcastic as he stood meters away from me with bloodied fists. “this ain’t the time for barbecuin’ sweetheart.” he chortled, his very words causing me to scoff as i pushed the shovel to the ground.

“we’re burning them.” i repeated more clearly, taking a step or two closer to the group as i continued, “‘til there’s nothing left but bone ‘n ash.” i pushed my way past the group, making my way to the first body lying on the church floor. “now, you can either help me or fuck right off.” i spat as i picked up the mans hands, pulling them over my shoulders like a backpack before pulling the heavy corpse back outside.

a trail of deep red blood followed me as i pulled the body outside, nonchalantly dropping the body into the newly dug hole before marching back inside to find the group had dispersed, the only person remaining was rick. he stood and watched me closely as i made my way to the next bloodied body, beginning to pull their body towards the door.

“you jus’ gonna stand there ‘n watch me, or yer gonna help cowboy?” i asked, never once stopping as i neared the church steps.

without speakinh rick held onto the mans feet, lifting him up as he helped me carry the corpse down the steps before dumping it into the near by grave. we continued this same action two or three more times before we eventually reached my brother. i stood by the almost unrecognizable face, frozen as i had realized he was finally gone. my last piece of surviving family had been torn away from me in front of my very eyes but here i stood, helping the very man that killed him, drag his body out to the mass grave.

“you alright?” rick asked, his voice almost startling me after almost half an hour of silence.

i looked up at the man, his greying beard more prominent in this lighting as the moon shone through the church windows. “m’fine.” i hummed. “there wasn’t much left of him anyway.” i added, picking up his shoulder as rick picked up his feet.

another silence fell between us as we pushed my brothers body into the now full grave. as rick stepped back, i leant forward, grasping onto my brother as i search his pockets, finding a lighter. standing up, above gareth as he laid limp brought me a sense of closure as i sparked the lighter, watching the small orange flame flicker in the wind before dropping it into the grave. the bodies were soon engulfed in flames as i stepped back, sitting down on the near by steps where rick followed my actions.

“m’sorry about bob.” i spoke quietly, as the church doors blew shut while i watched the flames roar as smoke bellowed into the skies above.

“it wasn’t your fault.” he spoke calmly, almost authoritatively as he watched me closed from the other side of the steps, mirroring my action of leaning up against the balustrades.

i let out a breathy chuckle at ricks generic response. “i’ve been takin’ the blame for his shit since we were kids.” i mumbled, my laughter slowly fading as i was reminded of the terrible person he had become within the last year or so. “he wasn’t always like this you know.” i spoke, my voice a little softer, almost sympathetic.

“a cannibal?” rick questioned, a weak smirk creeping onto his lips as he looked across to meet my eyes.

i let out a giggle before muttering, “yeah.” i took in a deep breath of the cool night air, the smell of burning flesh now beginning to fill the air as the fire continued to grow. “‘nd ‘n asshole.” i added earning a weak exhale of laughter to slip from ricks lips. “he was actually a good guy, but this world changes people right?” i asked, my question filled with rhetoric intent but more or less sounded like a genuine question that required an answer.

“right.” rick replied.

i looked across at rick, his face lit up by the auburn flames detailing every feature, especially his eyes. “did it change you?” i asked after a beat of deafening silence, observing him as his eyes looked back at me.

i knew the answer. i think we both did. the world changed you, no matter who you were before, but as i sat beside rick, no more then a foot or so away from him i almost saw a glimpse of an older version of him. the way his eyes looked into mine and the way he had himself positioned showed me who rick was before all of this. he was no longer the up tight, overbearing asshole i had gotten to know over the past few days.

i turned to the side, my body now facing rick as i asked, “your not scared of me are you?” not giving rick an opportunity to answer my last question.

“could ask you the same thing.” he mumbled, his head cocking to the side as he now mirrored me, our bodies paralleled with one another.

a laughed escaped my lips as my eyebrows pinched together as i tried to decipher the meaning of bus question. “why should i be scared of you?” i teased, already building a list in my mind of all the reasons a normal person would fear rick grimes.

“i’ve killed people.” rick spoke quietly.

“who hasn’t?” i replied sarcastically, weakly shrugging my shoulders.

“innocent people.” he added.

“so have i.” i compared, knowing there was no possible way that anyone could top the things ive done. “‘nd not just at terminus.” i added. “we do what we need to survive.”

“i killed your people.” rick challenged. “your family.” he added, his head slightly tilted to the side as he waited for my response.

“trust me, if i had an inkling of love left for my family you’d be in a whole world’a hurt.” i teased, earning a breathy chuckle from the man before he lent in closer.

his soft breath tickled my cheek as he whispered, “threaten me again and i’ll have you begging for me to stop.”

“i don’t beg.”

“we’ll see about that.” he smirked, his accent more apparent then ever as he inched a little closer.

i mimicked his actions by inching closer, his breath now hitting my lip as i mumbled, “you are infuriating,” in a low whisper.

as his lips parted, his hand began to rise. it felt like an entire life time but within seconds, ricks lips hovered near mine - barely touching - as his hand connected with my neck. the near by fire crackled on as his lips met with mine with desirous and ravenous intention. momentarily out bodies swayed together before his hand snaked its way down my body before resting at the tops of my hips. and suddenly everything began to move so quickly. ricks hands tugged at my hips, leaving them partly exposed as he pulled me across to his lap. i craved a sudden closeness, pulling myself closer to rick our bodies molded together like two puzzle pieces.

rick leant upwards, kissing you with every fibre in his body had his hands controlled your hips movements while your hands latched onto the base of his neck. his beard prickled against your lips while your finger tip’s entangled themselves in his dampened curls. after a moment you could feel ricks hand inching upwards, his cool finger tips creeping beneath your tightly fitted shirt as small gasps and moans left your lips. ricks hands quickly made their way back down to your hips, bringing to roll them to create some friction between you.

“who’s beggin’ now?”

this was my first time writing rick so- this is defs terrible- i am so sorry

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