A/N: I need to start off by apologising for not warning you angels before I took a little hiatus - I had to take a break because I was losing my mind (again) BUT thank you so much for all the kind messages I've received! Xoxo They have helped A LOT - I'm trying to get back into writing regularly again and I need to figure out what my new schedule will be (though I really want to stick to every Sunday) I might just have to cut down on the amount is fics I update… I'll let you guys know either way - Until then I hope you enjoy! xoxo

Chapter Nine:

"...You've been avoiding me, and I understand why. I did somethan' that I shouldn't have, at a time when you didn't need that, and I'm sorry."

Rick watched Michonne closely as he spoke, while she kept her gaze low and away from him, but he still continued, "I wanted to come by and apologise sooner but I figured that you might not want me around. I'm trying to respect that- what you want. I'm trying to respect what it is that you want. I wasn't trying to make matters worse for you, or confuse you… I just wasn't thinking"

He wished he could see what she was thinking, but the fact of the matter was he didn't have a clue, and she didn't give him a hint either. She eventually looked up at him with eyes that held a familiar kind of sadness, "...We can put that behind us, I don't want it to interfere with what we have to do here"

Rick sat back in the pew feeling a tad confused, "...What we have to do here?"

"You asked me to help you run this place and I said I will. I meant that.", She explained, "And we have the kids to think about. They're old enough to know when something's off, and I don't want them to pick up on any tension between us. They like what's happening here and they're getting along great so I don't want anything to ruin that"

There was something about her words that left Rick feeling uncomfortable. Although he did agree with the points she made and he did wish for things to go back to normal between the two of them, a part of him wanted to hear her speak on their kiss. It was in poor choice for him to choose to kiss her at such an inappropriate time and he did regret that side of things, but there was no denying that it felt right for him to do so.

When he was crouched down in front of her, holding her while she cried and trying in earnest to show her that she wasn't alone, he felt certain that it was his place to do so. Everything he said and everything he did come straight from the heart, and when she looked up at him with glistening eyes he saw need. The same need that he had looked for at times of devastation. A need for someone to make sense of what was happening and a need for console.

In hindsight he could admit that a kiss may not have been what she needed, but he was so swept up in the moment that all reasoning had escaped him, and now he was paying for it.

"...Rick?"

He snapped out of his thoughts and saw that Michonne was waiting for his response. He cleared his throat as he nodded, "Yeah, uh, you're right. I won't allow that to happen either"

She eyed him for a second or two before moving to the edge of the pew to stand, "Well then-"

"Hold on", He raised a hand to stop her, not wishing for her to leave just yet, "Uh...Have the girls spoken to you about doing somethan' for...Dominic?"

She stilled, "They have."

He blew out a breath, "Alright. Well um, I told them I can take them out and help them find a nice spot in advance-"

"You don't have to", She replied in a dismissive tone that caught Rick off guard, but she immediately softened, "I mean… I really want to do this with them. They admitted some things to me last night that… I always knew, but finally hearing it… it helped. And the fact that they even thought to do something for him-"

"I get it", He insisted tenderly, "That's fine."

She looked around the front of the chapel aimlessly, as if she were looking for the next thing to say when one if the doors creaked open.

"Uh, Rick?", Father Gabriel spoke in a feebly, "I have to…"

Rick raised an eyebrow at the man, giving him one of the most threatening looks he could muster in the space of a few seconds. Gabriel sighed in defeat as he backed up and closed the door.

Michonne frowned at Rick as she crossed her arms over her chest, "That needs to stop"

His face smoothed as he looked at her, "What?"

"That. The way you treat people. If you try to lead with fear alone then they will resent you for it, and that will divide a community not build one"

Rick exhaled through his nose as he dragged his hand down his face, "Yeah, I get it-"

"No you don't", She ejected firmly, "Because at the end of this day, there will still be only a select few that you'd fight for, and you can't continue to look at things that way. There are a lot of dangerous things out there and I don't just mean walkers, and I suspect that you know that very well"

He tilted his head as he looked at her, "I do"

"Then you also know not only is there safety in numbers but there's safety in loyalty. You want everyone here to stand by each other- to stand behind you when the time comes that we need to protect this place. We can't let our personal problems decide whether that happens or not"

Rick scratched the side of his ever growing beard as he took the time to accept her message, "I understand that"

Michonne's darted up and down his face as if she were trying to look for any sign of dishonesty, and when she found none she looked away. He glanced back towards the chapel doors knowing that Gabriel probably hadn't gone far, so he prepared to the up their talk when she announced, "I thought you told Maggie about the girls"

His light brows sprung to life, "Maggie?"

"Yeah. I though she did, but she does now"

"Oh", Rick dropped his gaze to the ground as he realised just what that meant, "That's fine"

She finally rose from her seat and faced towards the back of the room, "And I won't be here for the meeting later"

"I know, I'll come talk to you about it after", He responded, also rising from his seat.

"Okay", She replied quietly as she started for the door.

Rick couldn't honestly admit what he was expecting from his first conversation with her in weeks, and he really shouldn't have been surprised that she simply vouched to sweep the incident under the rug, but he still came away feeling that same frustration that he had been carrying around beforehand, now for a different reason.

They both were about to step out of the chapel when Gabriel appeared with eyes wide with alert, closing the door quickly behind him, "There's people here"

Rick stepped forward, "What?"

"People- I saw them, they have knives", Gabriel spluttered, "Two of them, running through the bushes- they were dressed in dark clothes- dirty clothes"

Rick instinctively reached for his waistline, expecting to feel his Colt but he had purposely left it in his home earlier that day, "Shit"

"We need to warn everyone", Michonne announced while Rick marched up to the door and cracked it open.

"Which way did they go?", His hissed back Gabriel, eyes looking in every direction he could.

"Uh, up the street? N-near the solar panels", Gabriel informed with a stutter as he fidgeted nervously.

Rick closed the door and looked back at Michonne, "I'm gonna' head over to the armoury, you go-"

"I need to get to the house", She insisted firmly, "I'll find you"

Rick didn't think he had the time to tell her that that was exactly what he was going to tell her do, so he nodded and turned back to the door, cracking it open again to see if they were free to leave. When he was certain the coast was clear they snuck out, Rick running in one direction and Michonne in the other.

At first glance the community appeared undisturbed, almost as if nothing were fine, until Rick caught a glimpse of someone running between the homes on the edge of the Safe Zone. It was then that a switch in his mind flicked to hunter mode.

"Psst! Hey!"

He stopped by the wall of the nearest home to him and looked around, knowing he heard someone call but he couldn't see who.

"Over here!"

Rick crouched down and squinted at the tall grass nearby, where he was sure he could make out a familiar face, "You see them?"

Daryl nodded before springing from the grass and making his way to Rick in a low sprint, "I've seen four of 'em so far"

"Gabriel said he saw two, so that's six", Rick breathed, eyes darting from one place to the other, "We need to get to the armoury and warn the others-"

A woman's scream erupted nearby, causing both men to look in the direction from where it came. Daryl hissed, "There's our warning"

"Let's go!", Rick rose from his position and the two of them began to run behind the homes, looking out for the intruders. Adrenaline was already coursing through his veins, even though they knew nothing about what they were up against, Rick didn't need to. There was a threat present and in his mind, it needed to be eliminated.

The sound of gurgling caught their attention as they prepared to cross the street, and lying in on the lawn was a resident that neither of them had spoken to directly, but one they recognised as Mrs Niedermeyer. Blood poured from the wound on her neck, Daryl pulled out his hunting knife and moved towards her while Rick kept watch, and it was then that he finally caught sight of the trespassers.

Men and women dressed in all black darted from home to home, twice as many as he suspected, but they all carried knives. He tried not to lose sight of the nearest ones to them when he heard two sets of gunshots go off; one from a rifle in the tower, which he knew was from Sasha as she was on watch, and another from somewhere on the ground.

"Come on", Daryl rasped as he stood with a bloodied knife, having put the woman out of her misery.

"Change of plan, were closer to the house", Rick informed as he point tipped his head in the direction of his home, "My guns there, and Carl's- let's go"

They could hear the odd scream from here and there, but only stumbled across the body of one intruder when they were near the Grimes household. Rick took the machete from beside the dead man's body, and made a note of the letter 'W' carved into his head, before bursting through the back door of his home go retrieve his python, while Daryl went to look for Carls weapon.

The moment they were armed they ran out the front of the home and began shooting whoever they could. Rick ran to one side of the street while Daryl stayed on the other, being sure to avoid residents that also ran out into the street in fear.

"They're trying to ransack the place!", Abraham boomed as he came around the corner hard in a vehicle, with Rosita hanging out the passenger side with a gun in hand.

"We need to make sure they don't leave with anything!", Rick barked as he ran past the car, having seen two masked trespassers bolt out of the Anderson home.

"Got it!", Abraham sat back in his seat and looked out the rear view mirror before reversing, giving Rosita the chance to shoot an unfamiliar young women who appeared from between two houses.

Rick held his gun low as he flicked open the barrel and fished more bullets from his mean pocket, "We need to find the others!"

"I caught two trying to get in the pantry!", A female yelled as the person approached Rick, and if he hadn't recognised her voice or piercing blue eyes, he would have raised his gun in lightning speed.

"We can't let them get out alive, Carol", Rick repeated, slapping the barrel back into the body of the gun, "We need to check every house"

Carol ran one way and Rick the other, his eyes narrowed as he rounded the next corner. He could have almost breathed a sigh of relief when he saw members of his own group in the streets, fighting to protect their community. Rick moved to join them, taking shots whenever he had a clear path.

"Tara! The armoury?!", He called to the dark haired girl as she stood on the steps of a town house.

"It's fine! I've got it!", She insisted, holding her gun out in front of her as she looked everywhere else but at him.

A low growl rumbled from one of the corpses at the bottom of the steps, but was quickly silenced by Rick before he started running again, "They're starting to turn!"

He spotted Michonne in the middle of the street, removing her sword from the skull of a large man sprawled out in front of her. She met eyes with Rick for only a second, "The houses-"

"I know, check the houses!", He ordered, and she nodded, lowering her weapon before she bolted up the nearest set of steps to a home that had the front door open. She carefully stepped over the resident's body that was face down over the threshold and disappeared inside.

Rick was tempted to wait and see her for her return but he wanted to check her home next. He knew that's where all the kids were and he didn't doubt that she would have told them to stay put, but he rather be safe than sorry.

"Help me, please! Please! I'm sorry, please!"

Rick froze when he hear the desperate pleas coming from a man rolling around on the floor, holding his bleeding knee. The pale man also had a 'W' etched into his forehead.

With only one or two bullets left in his gun, Rick stomped over to him and aimed at his forehead. He was in clear view of Michonne's home that she shared with the girls, and with no over threat around the house, he questioned the man, "What's the 'W' stand for?"

"...W-Wolves", The man stammered through a wince, exposing his blackened teeth.

"Wolves?", Rick repeated with a curled upper lip.

The man only glared back, still holding his bleeding knee.

"And how many 'wolves' are there?", Rick tilted his head as he moved to look at the men properly.

The man's snarl was interrupted by a crazed smile, "More than you will ever know-"

Rick didn't feel he needed to hear the end of the man's sentence, and lowered his Colt Python after planting a bullet between his eyes.

"Dad! Behind you!"

He looked up when he heard Elodie's voice yet couldn't see her, but he still spun around and just in time too, as a burly dark skin man charged towards Rick with a hatchet in his hands. Rick raised his gun again and shot him in the centre of his neck, although he was meant to aim for his head.

The man dropped the hatchet and immediately grabbed hold of his throat as he fell to his knees. With no more bullets, Rick slipped his gun into his belt and retrieved the machete he had taken from an earlier body. He drew it back and swung it forward, embedding it in the back of the man's skull.

It was hard to believe that in a matter of minutes, there were a string of casualties and deaths throughout the Safe-Zone. While Rick only took a glance around him, he could immediately tell that that were more residents killed than intruders, and It angered him.

Holding his machete, he marched over to Michonne's home with his shirt covered in fresh blood and his hair damp from sweat. The door flew open as he climbed the porch steps, and Carl was the first to appear, holding A hunting knife at his side.

"You alright?", He asked to his son as he wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

"We're fine", Carl answered faintly as he looked past his father, "What happened?"

"We were attacked, but it's still not safe so I need you to wait here until it is"

Carls gaze slid over to fathers, and the young boy couldn't look any more offended if he tried, "I can help"

Rick knew without a shadow of a doubt that that was true, "I know that, but Judith's in there and so are a few others that would need your help"

The point stopped Carl's argument in its tracks and he begrudgingly nodded in agreement, just as the other kids in the neighbourhood appeared at the door.

In spite of everything that had just happened, and the lives Rick had yet to discover they'd lost, the one thought dominated his mind in that moment, and that was hearing Elodie call him 'Dad'. She was stood behind Colette, who was holding Judith on her hip, both of them peering out at the street.

"The rest of you alright?", Rick asked gently, looking at Mickey, Ron, Sam and Edith too.

"Can I go see my mom? She was home alone", Ron asked hurriedly, slipping his way to the front of the crowd.

Rick was struck with the memory of seeing two wolves leaving the Anderson's home, and he began to back away, fearing the two boys could also be orphaned like the others, "I need you all to wait here, I'll check on your mother and if everythan's okay then I'll send her over to get you, alright?"

Ron didn't look pleased with that arrangement but he had no choice, as Rick had already began making his way down the porch steps.

More residents started appear in the streets, which only made Rick's anger simmer more beneath the surface. Everything he was trying to teach the original inhabitants of Alexandria was falling on deaf ears and he found it impossible to accept that they couldn't protect themselves, but he was beginning to believe that they didn't want to. They were frightened; so frightened that they would rather hide away then help their neighbours, and that wasn't something that Rick could allow to happen again.

"We've checked the house on this side", Glenn informed as he made his way across the lawn, his pants covered in dark blood, "We can't find anyone else. Maggie's with Deanna and Douglas at their house"

"Alright, I'll be out to help, I just need to check the Anderson's", Rick informed him as his boots pounded the pavement, "We need to find out how many there were"

"Got it"

"We need more than three guard towers", Michonne declared as she appeared seemingly out of nowhere, "There are blind spots on the east and south walls, that's how they could have gotten in"

Rick looked at her briefly for a moment, "It's just one of many thangs that need to change around here"

Morgan, Daryl and Carol were also occupying the same street, checking bodies and impaling anyone before they could reanimate. Michonne looked at the others, then asked Rick, "Where are you going?"

"The Andersons", Rick slowed as they reached the open garage, where all of Jessie's metalwork had been discarded on the floor, and the door to her home sat ajar. He got a better hold on the machete as he crept forward, listening closely as he neared the home. He looked at Michonne when he heard the faint growls of groans, and she raised her sword in front of her.

They followed the sounds to the main area of the home, where they found a tall male walker scratching at a pantry door near the kitchen. It took Rick only a second to realise it was Pete and not one of the intruders. He raised his free hand to signal for Michonne to wait, then placed himself directly behind Pete. Moving as quickly as he could he grabbed the man by the back of his neck and brought the machete down on his head, causing blood to spray on both him and the door.

Pete crumbled to the floor by Rick's feet, exposing the neck and stomach wound that most likely killed him. Rick stepped over him and yanked open the pantry door, causing Jessie to jump back in fear. Rick back away and used his forearm to wipe his face, "Come on out, it's safe"

Michonne sighed as she lowered her sword, while Jessie inched out of the pantry with pure horror written on her face, her skin as pale as a sheet.

Rick scratched at his brow with his thumb as he looked at the petrified blonde, "You alright? Were you bit, scratched?"

Jessie began to cry hysterically as she fell against his chest, her shoulders trembling, as she stuttered, "I c-can't believe it"

Rick brows shot up and stayed that way as he looked down at her, his hand falling to her back. He instinctively looked to Michonne but the mother of his daughters had simply turned and left the room. He snapped his eyes shut and held back a sigh, "Hey, it's… it's alright. The boys… they wanna' see you. Make sure you're alright"

Jessie continued to cry, though she stopped trembling as much.

"Come out in the garage and give yourself a moment", He instructed with a little firmness, "I'll get someone bring the boys over and-"

"They can't see this", Jessie shook her head as she emerged from his chest, "I don't want them too"

"We'll move his body, then you just take them straight upstairs", He explained, though her eyes were still wide with fright so he further explained, "You have to. You have to talk them because they need you right now"

She bit her bottom lip as she dropped her gaze, her eyes glistening with tears once again, "Y-you're right… You are".

The plan for a town meeting was thrown aside and residents quickly began to help search homes, removing bodies and digging graves for those that they knew. Rick oversaw the removal of the intruders bodies, making sure they were piled on the bed of a pickup truck and driven as far away as possible. He didn't care if they were dumped in a ditch or set alight in a barn; he just wanted them gone. The attack had reignited the fight his rage against the world beyond the walls. He wanted Alexandria to truly be a safe-zone and in order to do that he needed to use the wolves as an example of what could very easily happen again if residents didn't commit. He knew that there was a chance that he would butt heads with the Michonne and several others over his new way of thinking, but as far as he was concerned it was a necessity.

"Need help?"

Rick was surprised to see Colette approaching him while made the wooden signs for the fresh graves. He shook his head as he sat back on heels, looking up at her from his position on the lawn, "Thank you but I've got it... Shouldn't you be at the house?"

"I went to give my mom some chocolate", She informed as she took a seat in front of him and crossed her legs, "She's on watch"

"Yeah. I know, she should be finishing up soon", Rick stopped what he was doing to give his full attention, "You gave her chocolate?"

"It's her favourite", Colette nodded, "Can Judith eat chocolate?"

"Well I haven't given her any before-"

"I gave her some the other night", The teen quickly divulged, "And she ate it"

He smiled as he exhaled, "Well then yeah, Judith can eat chocolate"

Colette's gaze travelled to the freshly dug graves, "She really liked it…"

He examined her stoic expression, "So are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah…", Her eyes roamed the purple sky as she shrugged, "I guess. Stuff like this happens now so… you get used to it"

He nodded in agreement, noticing that her brown eye appeared black in the evening light. He shifter his position, sitting directly on the grass with one leg bent on front of him, "You do get used to it. It shouldn't be like that but it is, and you do"

"...At least this place is still standing, though"

"It is", He smirked at her joke, "I'll do what I can to make sure that it does"

"But what if it doesn't?"

The smile vanished from his face, "Is that somethan' you're worried about?"

"Not really", She answered unsurely, "Well, maybe? It's always at the back of my mind but… that's just how it is now. Everybody probably thinks about it too"

"You're probably right about that, but like I said I'll do what I can to make sure it that this place continues to stand", He repeated, "I have to. This is your home now too, and I won't let anyone take this away from you"

"Okay…", She looked down and frowned at the blades of grass between her fingers. He was going to say something else to her but he could see she wished to speak further, "...My sister called you 'Dad'..."

Rick could have cursed himself for reacting so nervously, "Yeah… I heard that- She did"

Colette continued to frown as she looked up at him with pensive eyes, "Can you, like… not make a big deal about it? She's feeling pretty weird…"

He narrowed his eyes at her, "She said she feels weird for saying it?"

She shook her head, "No, she didn't say anything. I just know… She overthinks things sometimes"

Rick exhaled as he tried his best to read between the lines of his daughters comments, "Well I'd like to reassure the both of you that I'm fine with whatever either of you feel comfortable calling me. Whether it's 'Dad' or 'Rick'... I don't mind at all"

Her brow smoothed, and she began to nod her head but stopped, "...I don't think I'm ready to call you 'Dad' yet…"

He gave her a small smile at hearing the word 'yet' used, "And that's fine"

"Okay", She nodded with a little more confidence.

Rick was beginning to recognise the advantages of speaking with the twins individually from time to time, "But other than that, you're alright?"

"Yeah", Colette placed her hand on the lawn and leaned back, "We're okay."

"Well I'm glad to hear that-"

"I did have a question, though", She blurted out, "Did you not like Dominic because you like my mom again?"

The question caught Rick off guard, so much so that he could have sworn he felt the ground beneath his hand treble. He blinked at her as he repeated, "Did I not like Dominic because I like your mom again?"

"Yeah?"

Rick continued to blink at her, "What made you think that I didn't like Dominic?"

She gave him her signature innocent shrug, "You guys didn't really talk"

"Well that doesn't mean that-"

"And I saw you giving him the stink eye a few times"

"The stink eye?", Rick gawked at her with bewilderment, "What does that mean?"

"It's when you don't like someone so you give them a dirty look", She explained with an amused giggle, "Like this"

He watched his daughter curl her top lip and peer at him scornfully, leading him to ask her, "I did that?"

"You did. You did that a lot"

Rick was sure he hid his distaste for Dominic around the girls, but obviously not well enough. He took in a deep breath as he prepared to explain himself, "I wanted to make sure that you girls had someone to protect you that was just as capable and just as dedicated as your mother. I'm afraid that I didn't see that in Dominic, and I didn't like that"

"Yeah, he wasn't good with that stuff… but you could have taught him?"

"That was easier said than done", Rick informed a little dryly, "And people tried to help him but sadly, not everyone is cut out for a time like this, even if they make it this far"

"Well I guess that's true… But what about my mom? Do you like her again?", She probed casually, her head tilting to the side.

He took another deep breath, "I care about your mom because I know that she's very important to you girls and that makes her very important to me. I can't afford to have anything happen to any of you"

"...But do you like her?"

His gaze darted behind her as he frowned, "Well of course I like your mother, she's a very likeable person… Wouldn't you agree?"

Colette narrowed her eyes at him, "...You haven't really answered my question"

"You know what? Why don't I find you somethan' to do to keep you busy…", Rick shifted back onto his knees as he avoided her gaze, "You any good with a hammer?"

Colette gave him an unimpressed look, "I know what you're doing, and I'm not that easy to distract"

"I'm happy to hear that", He smirked, holding out the hammer to her, "Now let's get started".