A/N: Hello! Now this is my first one-shot, and my first Nick and Clem brotp. This is a birthday present made especially for my partner in crime, PeanutFangirl! I love you, and I hope your day has been fabulous as it can be! I also give you a bag of smiles :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead game.

A Reward

Daisyfan5534

One-Shot

Clementine huffed out of boredom, hoping to catch someone's attention. She glanced up at her one of new group members, Luke, seeing if he noticed. And he didn't.

She only met this new group a few days ago, and they seemed… nice. Luke was nice to her, he had been since they met. Despite dropping her on her ass and wanting to leave her to die in the woods, he trusted her. Probably the one who likes her the most out of all the group members.

Sarah was nice, too. Clementine was glad she could talk to someone around her age. Although, she seemed kind of unaware of the whole dead coming back to life and trying to eat people. Clem didn't blame her, it was her father's fault, mostly.

Sarah's father, Carlos, started warming up to her after keeping Sarah safe from the man they were running from. Not completely, though. He can't seem to acknowledge the fact that she can handle herself. True, she is younger than his daughter, but she didn't need to be fathered. That role was taken twice, and Clem won't let it exceed that.

Another family in the group is a married couple. Alvin was kind to her, he tried to make Clementine feel welcome as possible. Unlike Carlos, he could trust her to be alone with all of the groups supplies and not run off with it. Not like she could carry more than her own weight, but she liked helping the group.

His wife, Rebecca, was cold to her at first, but apologised yesterday for the confrontation in the kitchen. The woman had checked up on her a couple times, making sure she was alright and for someone to talk to. No offense to Sarah, but Clementine's mental state was closer to an adult than the teen's. Because of that, it made her the only other 'woman' in the group. She didn't mind talking to Rebecca. It helped with her pregnancy, plus it made Clem happy that someone saw her as an equal.

Then there was Nick. Instead of helping an injured girl with her arm, he nearly kills her. He did apologise for it, and that's when she got some background about him with Luke's help. He lost his uncle a few days back, and she was with them at the time. The three of them were ambushed by walkers, and she helped Nick run for cover in a shack full of whiskey. And he got drunk. Their relationship is bumpy, but he saved her life.

"You lost there, kid?" a southern accent asked.

Clementine looked up at Luke. "I'm fine. Just bored."

"I don't blame you. In a world like this, I'm surprised that you haven't died of boredom, yet." Luke responded.

"It's tempting." Clementine admitted.

"You can help me check the map." Luke said as he pulled it out and unfolded it, giving one side for Clem to hold. "Let's see… We should be about here, and if we keep on this path we should reach some sort of an incline."

"What's an incline?"

"It like a hill or a mountain. Something you walk on and it goes upward."

"So when we reach this incline, what do we do?"

"Well, that's where you come in. Do you feel like climbing a tree?"

"I've got no choice, do I?"

"Something along those lines." Luke said. "I've got something for you to do. Go see if Nick will give you a piggyback ride."

Clementine glanced back at Luke's best friend. "I'm not sure he will."

"I didn't say you had to ask him." Luke said as he put the map away.

"Well, better than walking."

Clementine left it at that as she slowed down her walking speed so Nick could catch up to her. Once she was behind him, she ran towards him and jumped on his back, latching on to him.

"What the hell?" Nick muttered on impact.

"Hi." Clementine greeted.

"What are you doing?" Nick asked.

"Luke said you'd give me a piggyback ride." Clementine responded.

"Did he now?"

"Yep."

"Well, get off."

"I figured."

The child got off his back before walking next to him.

"So why did Luke send you over?"

"I'm bored, and I'm pretty sure he's smiling like an idiot, now."

Luke was now talking to Carlos about where they were headed. Nick thought to himself before turning to the pregnant woman.

"Hey, Rebecca. You want a laugh?"

"I'd love another one." she responded.

"What do you- Oh…" Nick turned back to the child. "You want a piggyback ride?"

Clementine gave him a questioning look before she jumped up on his back again. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm going to cure your boredom."

"How?"

"Listen up."

"Alright, so once we reach to the top of the incline where it flattens out, what are we going to do?" Carlos asked Luke as they were planning out the groups route.

"I'm going to have Clementine get a birds-eye view from a tree to see if there's a place we can hole up in for the night that's not on the map. Or at least see if Carver is close." the farm boy responded.

"How is she supposed to see anything useful to us?"

"I've got a pair of binoculars that I-"

"CHARGE!"

Luke and Carlos turned at the shout to see Nick, with Clementine on his back, run straight for the farm boy, causing him to book it for the small hill ahead of them.

"You both are assholes!" Luke hollered at Nick and Clementine as he continued to run while the chase started up the incline.

"That's it! Get ready, Clem!" Nick said to the child on his back.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Clem said with a smile on her face.

The two caught up to Luke who was still trying to outrun them on the hill.

"Clementine, I chose you! Go!" Nick said as he prepped her for launch

On that command, Luke caught a glimpse at how close the two are. Then the little girl jumped from Nick's back and latched on to Luke's, the impact knocking him down to the ground.

"I see that Nick gave you a piggyback ride." Luke spoke as he pushed himself off the ground, with Clementine still on his back.

"Yeah, he did!" she responded.

"Nice job, Clem." Nick said as the little girl got off of Luke.

"Should have known you'd do something stupid, Nick. And I see that you've teamed up with this little spitfire." Luke told the two as he rolled over and sat up. "Alright, kid. Help me up."

Luke stuck his hand out to Clementine and she helped him. Once he was on his feet, Luke tightened his hold on Clem and pulled her into a headlock as he backed up away from Nick, a fist over the child's head.

"Take one step closer, Nick and I'll give her a noogie." Luke threatened before he whispered in Clementine's ear. "Play along, kid."

"Oh, Nick. Save me!" The little girl begged sarcastically.

"Let her go, you dirty criminal!" Nick said.

"I ain't letting her go! She's too cute!" Luke responded.

"Cute?" Clementine repeated.

Nick used his thumb and index finger to make a 'gun' and he aimed it at Luke. "I'll shoot." He said.

"You wouldn't." Luke said.

"Oh, yeah? Pew! Pew!" Nick fired his hand-shaped gun.

"Ow!" Luke let go of Clementine as he clutched his chest and fell to his knees. "No, I'm dying a dramatic death. And I'm dead." Luke fell to the forest floor just in time to see the child giggle. Seeing that smile on her face was worth pretending to die for.

"My hero." Clem said to Nick.

"All in a day's work, my fair lady." he replied as he knelt down to her

"I guess I have to repay you for your bravery, don't I?"

"That's usually how it works." Nick responded before turning his head slightly. "Right here." He tapped his cheek.

Clementine stared at him for a moment. "No way."

"What? I saved you, I get a reward. That's how it works."

"You saved me from Luke." Clementine pointed out. "Plus you've got cooties!"

Luke couldn't hold in his laughter at Nick's rejection.

"Shut up, Luke! Shouldn't you be dead?" Nick snapped.

"I'm a ghost, now. I can laugh all I want."

Nick rolled his eyes before turning back to the kid. "Aren't girls the one who have cooties?"

"No, it's the guys." The little girl responded.

"So, Luke has them too?"

"He's dead, he doesn't have them anymore."

"What? This is bullshit!"

"Call it karma, Nick. You shouldn't have teamed up with her." Luke said to him.

"Now I know why, because she's a little shit."

"Hey, Luke's a ghost. I can't kiss him either."

"Enough with the pretend shit!" Nick snapped only for Clementine to giggle. "Don't make me give you that noogie! I'll tickle you, too!"

The rest of the group emerged to join the three. Saving Clem from Nick's wrath.

"You can get her back later, Nick." Luke said to him before turning to Clementine. "Kid, come on."

The farm boy and the little girl walked up to a tree before Luke handed her his binoculars. Nick followed them to the tree to avoid telling the group about how the child wouldn't kiss his cheek.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah, you'll be fine." he responded.

Clem bit her inner cheek. "Just so you know, you have cooties again, Luke."

"Ha!" Nick exclaimed.

"Hey, you got them, too!" Luke responded.

"Luke!" Carlos called.

"Give me a sec!" he yelled back. "Clem, you climb the tree, and tell us what you see. Try to find something useful like a cabin or someplace we can take shelter. Nick, I need you stay here and keep an eye on her. And don't try and kill each other while I'm gone."

After Luke left to tend to the group, Nick and Clementine stared at each other for a while.

"You're still a little shit." Nick said to her.

"Something tells me that you don't like kids." Clementine responded.

"Can you just climb the tree?" he asked.

Clem turned to look at the tree then turned back to him. "Can you give me a boost?"

Nick made his way closer to the tree, cupping his hands in front of him for a foothold for Clementine to step in. Once she was ready, with a foot in the hold, Nick pushed her up to the lowest branch and the child grabbed ahold of it.

"If you fall, I'm not catching you." Nick said to her as she climbed.

"I won't fall." she responded.

Nick watched the small girl scale the tree up higher and higher. It was then he noticed how small she was. Poor kid must freeze every night because she's so thin.

"Hey, how's she doing?" Luke said as came up to Nick.

"She's climbing." he responded.

"So, what were we in? The old west?" Luke asked.

"I kind of got a knight-in-shining-armor vibe from it." Nick told him.

"Some knight you were."

"Shut up, she wouldn't have kissed you either."

"She really is some kid. I wish the kids we babysat for were like her."

"I still can't believe you convinced me to help you in that babysitting business you joined to impress a girl. If it wasn't for the cash, I would have said no. Especially, since you know I hate kids."

"What about that one family, the one with the seven-year-old twin girls who both had crushes on us."

"That one I didn't mind. Remember on Halloween that year when we took them trick-or-treating and they shared their candy with us."

"And their parents made us take the rest home." Luke looked up to Clementine who was looking through the binoculars. "What do you see, kid?" he yelled up to her.

"Nothing! I think I see a bridge, but it's really far!" Clem yelled back.

"It's okay, come down so we can keep going!" Luke told before turning to Nick. "I'll let them know." he said before walking towards the rest of the group.

Leaving it at that, Clementine started making her way down. It was slightly harder to climb down the tree, but manageable. It wasn't until she got a few branches down when the branch she was currently standing on started to crack, causing Clem to lose her footing and leave her hanging on the branch by her arms.

The little girl looked desperately at the branch across from her. She'd be safer on that branch. Clementine lowered herself so only her hands were holding on to the branch, then used one arm to reach for the next branch.

Just when she was about to grab hold of it, the branch she was hanging on cracked even more and she lost her grip. The little girl screamed as she plummeted towards the earth. She closed her eyes tightly, bracing for impact, pain, and probably death.

Except the impact didn't happen with the ground. Something caught her and pulled her small body towards the owner. Upon realization that she wasn't going to die, she shivered at the near death experience as her hand clutched the shirt of her savior.

"Hey, it's okay. I got you." A voice whispered to her.

"Clem!" another voice called. "Nick, is she alright?"

"I don't know, Luke! She just fucking fell out of a tree!"

Nick caught her. He saved her life. Clementine opened her eyes slightly to confirm it and it was him. It took her a bit longer to tell because her eyes were kind of blurry.

"I'm going to put you down now, Cl-" Nick was cut off by the child wrapping her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. Nick could feel his shoulder dampening because of the child's tears, and it surprised him. Clementine was so strong, hearing her cry almost caused pain to him.

Nick adjusted his hold on the child as she started trembling. He look at Luke with a questioning face, he didn't know what to do with Clementine.

Luke shrugged his shoulders in response. He didn't know what to do either. Clementine was quietly crying on Nick's shoulder after a fall to near death.

"Give us a minute, I'll try to calm her down." Nick finally said.

What he said surprised Luke, but he did what Nick requested and walked towards the rest of the group.

"Clem?" Nick spoke softly to the child. "I can't hold you forever. I'm going to have to put you down sooner or later. I just need to know that you'll be okay, and I can't do that if you don't tell me."

A small sniffle came from the little girl as she turned her head from the man's shoulder to the tree she fell from.

"Hey, come on. You sewed up your own arm, I could never do that. Speaking of which, Carlos should look at it after that fall." he mentioned. "Say something so I know you aren't traumatized."

Clementine took a few deep breaths before she spoke. "I'll be okay."

"Good." Nick replied.

"You can let me down now." Clementine informed him.

He set her down before the two walked back over to the rest of the group.

It's been a few hours after the incident. Clementine was spending time with Sarah and Rebecca to keep her mind off of what happened. Her arm was fine, and she seemed to be doing alright.

"So, the bridge, huh?" Nick asked.

"It's all we got right now. And the map says the bridge leads to a ski resort. We should lose Carver after we pass there."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure, I doubt Carver will continue to track us that far once we pass it and the mountains ahead of us. Plus the map doesn't extend that far. Since Carver has the same one, he can't track us." Luke explained to Nick. "So about you and Clementine?

"What about her?" Nick asked.

"This is about both of you. You don't like kids, yet you wanted to calm her down."

"She's not the average kid."

"Yes, but after the pretend game, you still calmed her down."

"Have you seen her cry? It scared me."

"I overheard you and Clem talking before she climbed the damn tree. You told her that you wouldn't catch her if she fell."

"Yeah, so? I didn't think she would fall."

"She thought that you wouldn't catch her, Nick. Why do you think she acting the way she was? Clem thought she was going to die."

"I don't care. I caught her, that's all that matters."

"That's bullshit." Luke smirked.

"What's bullshit?" Nick asked.

"That you don't care about her."

"I don't."

"And you didn't enjoy the twins braiding your hair."

"Screw you, Luke. I don't care about her."

"Whatever you say, Nick."

While that conversation ended, Clementine's conversation with the girls was still going.

"Yeah, it was scary." Clementine said to Sarah.

"But, what was it like to fall? Did you feel anything else?" the teen asked.

"Sarah, why don't you talk to your father for a bit?" Rebecca asked.

"Okay." she responded, before catching up to her dad.

"Thank you." Clementine said to the pregnant woman.

"Are you okay?" Rebecca asked.

"I'm fine." the little girl said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I just didn't think Nick was going to catch me."

"Why's that?"

"Well, we got into a fight then he said that he wouldn't catch me. A part of me knew he was joking, but when I fell… I didn't…"

"What was the fight about?"

"It was when Nick, Luke and I were messing around. After I tackled Luke, he put me in a headlock, threatening to give me a noogie. Nick pretended to shoot him, saving me, I guess. Then he wanted a kiss on the cheek."

"Did you kiss him?"

"No. That's what the fight was about. I didn't want to because he had cooties."

Rebecca laughed to herself. "I wish I could have seen the look on Nick's face."

"Rebecca?" Clementine said.

"What?"

"Is it the boys or the girls who have cooties?" She asked.

"There are no such thing as cooties, Clementine."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just something parents tell their children so they don't start kissing each other or dating when they're so young. If all of this wasn't happening, I'd probably tell my baby the same thing." she explained. "But generally it's the girls who have the cooties. All the boys would run from them so they didn't get it. What gave you the idea that the guys had them?"

"I overheard a group of boys in my class saying they had to avoid this other boy because he had cooties. I went home and asked my mom what cooties were and she said boys have them and they give them to girls if the girls try to kiss them." Clementine explained. "I was a bit confused on why the boys would be afraid, but my mom said that the boys would get cooties too if they touched him."

"That's some great logic, right there." Rebecca said to her.

"I was only seven. How was I supposed to know?" Clementine responded. "So what do I do about Nick?"

"Wait for a good time to talk to him."

"When will that be?"

"You'll know it when the time comes. Sometimes a single action can be the same as a thousand words." Rebecca informed the child.

"This seems like a good place to set up camp." Luke suggested.

"Alright then." Carlos said.

Clementine looked at Nick. This might be a good time to talk to him.

"Luke, Nick, you two start gathering firewood." Carlos added.

Maybe not.

"I'll come with you, in case we are able to catch dinner tonight." Alvin spoke.

"Sarah, Clementine, You girls can go play until dinner's ready." Carlos insisted before checking in on Rebecca and her pregnancy.

Clementine would have protested, but Sarah pulled her away already. The little girl wanted to help, but she got stuck with babysitting. Okay, it wasn't that, but she was supposed to keep Sarah distracted from the world.

It was fun at first, playing hide-and-seek and tag, but it got boring very quickly. Most of it was Clem's fault, having been matured into practically an adult after everything was to blame. She just wasn't that little girl any more. Maybe she could convince Sarah to help her look for things that are useful, teach her about the world she lives in, because her father won't.

"Hey, Sarah?" Clementine spoke.

"What is it, Clementine?" she asked.

"Do you want to learn about what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"About how different the world is now. How everything isn't the same as before."

"Yeah, sure."

"Good, just don't let your dad know. He probably won't let us be friends anymore if I talk to you about this stuff."

"Okay, so what do you want to tell me?"

"Damn it, Nick! You let it get away!" Luke exclaimed.

The three guys were trying to catch a rabbit, but unfortunately it looked like they were having food from a can for dinner.

"Man, I was really excited to eat a hot meal tonight." Alvin said.

"We'll get the next one, besides I bet Nick was getting worried about Clementine." Luke added.

"Shut up, Luke! I was not!" Nick snapped. "I couldn't catch the damn rabbit because I'm carrying most of the firewood."

"Look we got what we need. Let's head back." Alvin suggested.

"He's right. We don't want the group to worry." Luke said.

Nick shoved the firewood he was holding to his friend before walking off. "I'm going to take a piss."

"You want us to wait?" Luke asked.

"No, I'll meet you guys back at the camp." Nick responded.

Leaving it at that, Luke and Alvin made there way back to camp. Once they got there, Alvin went to check on his wife while Luke started to set up a fire pit, quickly being greeted by Clementine.

"Hey." she said.

"Hey, kid." Luke responded.

"Where's Nick?" she asked.

"Pissing, he'll be back soon. You want to help me with the fire pit?"

"Yes!" she said with a smile, glad that she could finally help out."Luke? Do you think Nick is still mad at me?"

"Why are you asking me?" he asked.

"I need to talk to him." Clementine responded.

"I see. Well, when he gets back, you can." Luke told her. "Can you hand me that?"

Clementine handed him the rock by her feet. Once the two were done making the fire pit, they stood up.

"Listen, Clem. Nick is a bit emotional. He's a great guy, just-"

"Luke! Get down!" Clementine yelled as she pulled him to the ground just as a bullet was fired.

"Everybody, get down!" A new voice yelled as he and two others emerged from the trees.

"Luke, what do we do?" Clementine whispered.

"Wait for Nick. he'll be back soon." he responded before he and Clementine were pulled to their knees by two of the crooks.

"All of you shut up!" one of the crooks yelled. "One, two… Hey, I thought you said there was seven of them."

"There were. I swear." another spoke up.

"Well, let's make number seven come out then."

Nick was making his way back to camp. He was thinking about talking to Clementine about him saving her life. Nick didn't know how to bring it up, though. It might be a hard subject for her since she almost died.

"We can play our favorite game."

An unfamiliar voice cut Nick from his thoughts. Upon inspection, he found a group of three with his group. Nick hid behind a tree, just as one of the men came next it. He grabbed the guy, covering his mouth with his hand so he didn't scream as he pulled him away from the what was happening.

After putting him in a sleeper hold, the crook soon was unconscious. Nick grabbed his rifle before he heard a click and a gasp. He went back to his hiding place to see one of the men shift his aim on his pistol from Sarah to Carlos before pulling the trigger. Another click.

They were playing russian roulette. One bullet was going to kill one group member, but no one knew which one.

After Carlos, it was Rebecca.

CLICK!

Alvin.

CLICK!

Luke.

Nick felt his blood boil. He wouldn't let them kill his best friend. When he was about to come out, he accidently stepped on a stick. Breaking it. Retreating back to his hiding place. They didn't notice.

CLICK!

"Lucky number six." the man with the pistol grabbed Clementine and pulled her to her feet. "It's a shame I have to kill such pretty face."

Not her. She wasn't going to die today.

Nick came out of his hiding spot, hitting one of the men in the head with the butt of the rifle, knocking him out before aiming at the crook threatening to kill the child.

The crook held the child in a tight headlock, practically choking her, as the cold barrel pressed against her temple.

"Let her go!" Nick yelled.

"I was wondering when you would show up." the man said. "She's pretty isn't she?"

"I said let her the fuck go!"

"And if I don't?"

"I'll kill you."

"Is that before or after I have fun with her."

"If you do one more thing to harm her, I swear…"

"Don't worry. I'll make she enjoys-"

BANG!

Nick shot him. He fell to the ground dead. Clementine was dropped, her head colliding with a rock, knocking her out.

Clementine felt warm. She could feel someone's arms wrapped around her. She could also feel her throbbing head. Clementine remembered what happened.

The child opened her eyes only to the last face she saw before hitting her head.

"Nick?" she spoke.

"Clem, you're okay."

The little girl looked around seeing a new setting, it was night time, everyone else asleep, a fire fighting for it's life.

"What happened?" she asked.

"After the guy who held you guys captive was dead, we gathered our things and moved to find this spot to sleep for the night. I carried you since you were out. I agreed to take first watch, so here we are." Nick explained.

"Are you still mad at me?" Clementine asked.

"What about?" Nick said.

"The kiss thing. Even though there are no such things as them, you were right, it's the girls who have cooties."

"I'm over it. Just get some sleep."

"Thanks for saving me today."

"We're all family here, aren't we?" Nick glared at Luke. "I should probably wake him up, he should be taking watch soon."

"In your dreams, Nick." Luke muttered with his eyes closed.

"You're taking watch in the next hour." Nick told him. "You should get some sleep, Clem. It's been a long day."

The little girl looked at Sarah sleeping alone then back at Nick. "Okay." she said, up from Nick's lap and walking towards her friend. Clementine paused for a moment before quickly making her way back to Nick, pressing her lips against his cheek.

"There's your reward." she said to him before making her way to Sarah.

Nick felt himself blush for a second at the kiss. He watched the little girl crawl under the blanket with Sarah and fall asleep.

"Shut up, Luke." Nick muttered to his friend.

"I will once you admit it." Luke said.

"Fine, I care about her." Nick said.

"Good. Now that we have that out of the way, you have to deal with cooties."

Nick kicked Luke. "Now you have them, too."

A/N: Again, Happy Birthday, girl! Everyone, go wish her a happy birthday, and I'll see you in the next update!

Bye :)