THREE
The barn was unguarded; all she'd have to do is sneak out and slip up on the kid. She remembered now, in vivid and disgusting detail everything they did to her when she tried to quietly slip away from her old group during the night and hell yes.. Jenny wanted her pound of flesh.
Stopping, she slicked on some Chapstick she'd found in the pockets of Shane's sweats and she made her way quickly and quietly towards the barn on the other side of the yard.. But arms wrapped around her and held her tight against a muscular body; when she turned around, she was shocked to see herself looking up into the deep brown eyes of the man who saved her life almost two weeks before. "What tha hell were ya gonna do, woman?" Shane asked in a hushed whisper, trying to will himself not to react to her body being pressed against his right now so he could keep a clear head, keep Jenny from doing whatever dumb shit thing she'd been about to go off and do to that kid in the barn.
"You know exactly what I was going to do."
"And I told ya, me n Rick will take care of it."
"He's still breathing, Shane Walsh and to me? Doesn't fucking look like anything is being done about it. And if my old group finds you guys? You're all fucked." Jenny grumbled; giving an annoyed eye roll as she looked up at the other.
"That I doubt, Jenny." Shane insisted, keeping a firm grip on her upper arms as he looked down at her and then pointed out, "You're not goin in there. We clear? Now get back inside."
"Why, so you can go in there and do whatever you were coming to do and screw me out of my revenge?" Jenny snapped, her arm freed from his grip, resting on her hip as she looked up at him, anger flashing in green eyes.
"No. This is me keepin you from getting yourself hurt worse. You ain't healed, darlin." Shane gripped her body, hands on her thighs, sliding her up his body, over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes and he began to walk with her to the house, sitting her on the couch.
He was starting back out the door, she called out quietly, "You know Rick won't do shit to him."
"And you're not either, woman, damn it."
The screen door banged shut and Lori spoke up from the doorway, giving Jenny a wary glare as she sat in a nearby recliner. "You need to stop encouraging Shane."
"Who the hell are you? His momma?" Jenny snapped as she glared out the screen door, arms folded over her chest, annoyed with Shane and irritated that Lori was now apparently going to give her the 18th lecture in almost 3 weeks about how 'dangerous' Shane was or how he was going down a very dark path and Jenny was only going to get hurt.
Lies, Jenny thought to herself, the bitch just wanted him all to herself or something. She wasn't stupid, three weeks there and she'd pretty much figured out the group dynamic. When Lori wasn't putting Shane and Rick against each other, she was making Shane feel like shit for whatever reason.
Jenny knew it shouldn't bother her, but the fact remained.. It did.
She stood and walked out of the room before Lori even finished talking; no longer interested in a damn thing Lori Grimes had to say. She found Shane standing near the shed, pacing, his hands interlocked on the back of his head.
"Hey, look.. Let's go for a walk or something."
"Get back in that house, now."
"Fuck you. Look, you kept me from doing it, now I'm gonna keep you from doing it."
"Go inside!"
"This is not your fight, Walsh, god damn it. It's mine. he's one of the ones who did this shit to me. I'm going to kill him. Not anybody else. Me." Jenny snapped, the admission about her memory returning and her knowing exactly what happened to her the night Shane found her shocking him into a standstill.
But then she saw the look in his eyes and saw him take off towards the barn and she caught up with him, grabbing him roughly. "Don't you fucking dare. If anyone kills that little piece of shit, Shane Walsh, it is going to be me."
"Oh he's dead, darlin."
"What about Rick? Look, you're on thin ice enough with him as it is. He's got you out here, in the cold, away from the group. It ain't right."
"He ain't entirely wrong about me, either.. But he's gonna realize that how I am now? it's the way that keeps us alive."
"Killing this damn kid isn't going to do anything but get your ran off; you'll be on your own, Shane… What if we just left.. Tonight." Jenny was desperate now; grasping at straws to keep him there, to keep him from doing something she'd been about to do herself not even five seconds before and she had no idea why. Because if she stopped to think about it; if she really gave it more than a seconds thought, they didn't get along most of the time, even if he had saved her life..
"Not gonna happen. You still ain't well."
'I'm well enough. I don't want to be here, okay? If the guy is going to run things like he is, I just don't have any interest."
"You're not leavin." Shane insisted, the panic at her leaving setting in as it did, scaring him and surprising him all the same.. It also made him angry with himself. He didn't want to feel this urge to protect her. He didn't want to feel like he wanted to be close to someone again. He wanted to hate everyone, to walk this darkness he felt inside himself all alone.
Yet, here he was, desperate to keep her with the group.. With him… Because when she suggested leaving, just the two of them, he couldn't deny, it took all he had not to just say yes and get their shit and hit the road…
But they fought constantly, they kept a wide berth of each other if they were not fighting. And to be alone in a post apocalyptic hell with someone you barely knew, let alone you fought with constantly, well.. It was probably a recipe for disaster.
"When I'm better, yeah I am." Jenny insisted as she grumbled to herself and glared up at him.
"You're better off in a group."
"No, Shane, I'm not." Jenny argued, going silent, huffing as she twirled a strand of hair around her fingertips.
"Get back inside, woman." Shane practically snarled at her as Jenny glared and gave a derisive snort as she said to him, "You're not my daddy, asshole. My daddy died when I was 4. I don't have to do a damn thing you say."
"If I ain't goin near him, you ain't. Clear?"
"Fine. But you're coming in too."
"I ain't. I'm going on a supply run."
"Whatever, just.. stay the hell away from that barn. If anyone is going to get their vengeance, Shane, it's gonna be me." Jenny called out over her shoulder as she made her way towards the farmhouse and disappeared inside.
Shane stood there, torn between what he'd come out to do after hearing her relive what was done to her in her sleep the night before and doing what she asked, going back into the farmhouse.. Instead, he went with his gut and started to slip into the barn….
Because someone had to do what needed to be done… And deep down, even if the scowling and irritable man would never admit it, seeing her wince and hearing her cry out from the bed in her sleep the past few nights she'd been remembering things, well…
It got to him.
He wanted to keep her from feeling what she felt the night Randal and his group had beaten her again ever..
And he wanted to start by getting rid of Randal, purging the poison from the current situation. Even if he was about to go about it the wrong way...
At this point, I feel that thank yous are in order, so.. I want to thank my two favorites and four follows for being rad and following this story, even if it's slowly moving along.. I'm doing my best to play two very different and conflicting sides of Shane Walsh here, so... Sorry if he seems OOC from time to time. The darkness is there, but there's still that good guy he was before the end of the world trying to surface too. And no, it's not just because of Jenny...
Also, I love my anon reviewer for reviewing. Thank you for your input I appreciated it and you made my day reviewing because honestly, Shane is not everyone's cup of tea.
Question for you all now.. Should I turn this into a total AU where the events of Better Angels happen but slightly different ( IE ending with him living and leaving the group with Jenny only to meet up with them later on in the storyline) or should I do a total AU where Shane comes back to the 'good side' and he lives and remains with the group and Jenny? I'm interested to know what people think here because both plots have their own merits.
