Heterochromia Iridum

Daryl and Katty won't be together for a few chapters now, so hopefully last chapter can tide you over for a bit haha. I debated for a long time how to write these next chapters up until the Season 5 finale basically, but I think I've got it mapped out properly.

Thank you to these lovely people: Bactrian Camel, addicted2memories, TheHungryRainbow, jeanf, Steph, Guest, JenTen and everyone that added this story to their alerts and favourites.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.

Chapter 10: Thriving

Some words are fun to say. Especially short, monosyllabic words, ones with sounds that you can pop or roll off your tongue in a short reply.

"Nope."

Katty liked the word 'nope'. There were so many inflections and tones you could enunciate it in. A million ways to draw it out, jolt the 'p' sound in the four letter word. However, coming from Aaron in the current situation, it just made her pout.

Katty sighed and resisted making a whining noise at her declined request. She perched herself on the workbench of Aaron and Eric's garage and stared blankly at the two men in front of her.

"You can't miss your own party, Katty," Aaron explained with an amused expression on his face.

Katty scowled. "It's not my party. It's just an excuse for everyone to drink and pretend there isn't dead people walking around."

Sure, she was being negative. Deanna had said she wanted to properly welcome and introduce her to everyone tonight. Katty, of course, was trying to find a way out of it and had asked Aaron and Daryl if she could tag along on their expedition. Aaron had, much to her dismay, immediately and plainly replied with the aforementioned 'nope'. Daryl hadn't even bothered to reply, he just let Aaron reject her and turned away from them both.

Katty attempted to stay out of the way as they both busied around the house and garage, getting ready to go out. Daryl was doing some last minute alterations on his motorcycle, and Katty took that time to watch him.

Her eyes lingered over his exposed arms as he worked on the bike, his creased expression showing how focussed he was on the task at hand. The memory of his arms around her yesterday filled her mind and she clenched her legs together and felt her breath catch as her throat closed up.

Fuck, he was attractive. Arm porn galore.

Katty cleared her throat. "You should build a side car so I can stow away," she suggested as a joke, which ended up being a thinly veiled attempt at distracting herself from his muscles. She resisted laughing out loud at the picture that drifted into her mind. Katty in a tiny, two wheeled side car as Daryl drove, both of them wearing comical goggles and scarves. Very Aristocats, she thought.

Daryl snorted and her brain popped back into the present moment. "Not a chance," he grunted at her. Daryl turned so that he was now facing Katty as he messed around with the motorcycle. She couldn't help but stare when he leaned over; she hadn't seen much of Daryl and was curious. Did he have a bunch of tattoos? What about chest hair? A discolored line of skin peaked out from under the top of his shirt, and it caught her eye. She couldn't see much of the scar, but it looked old. Not like any of hers, which the entirety of her scars and marks were acquired post-apocalypse. She wondered vaguely what Daryl's was from.

Her eyes drifted downward to her exposed legs and at the lighter colored, oddly shaped marks that graced her previously unblemished skin. She frowned at the gouge on the side of her left thigh above her knee. It was a scar that appeared in exactly five different places, one that made her scrunch her eyes shut tightly to try and forget how exactly she attained them.

Her fingers moved downwards to her knee and Katty traced the rough outline that was there. It happened during one of the training sessions that Merle had put her through. He had shoved her to the ground at some point, and then laughed at her when she wanted to stop so she could bandage her knee.

"Biters ain't gonna wait, Kitty Cat. Quit yer snifflin'," he had taunted. At the time, Katty thought she hated him. It hadn't been a serious, mortal enemy hate. More of a familial detest that you felt when your dad pissed you off or wouldn't let you have your way. It was strange, knowing that she had looked at Merle in some fucked up, fatherly way. Even stranger, she thought with a pang in her heart, knowing that he was now dead.

Katty glanced up with a start to see that Daryl was no longer working on the bike. He was stood a good few feet closer, wiping his grease covered hands on an equally as dirty rag as he watched her face carefully.

She wondered if Daryl would ever tell her how Merle died.

"Cheer up, Sunshine," Daryl called gruffly at Katty and then proceeded to throw the filthy cloth at her. Uncaring, Katty watched disinterestedly as it hit her arm and plopped on the table next to her.

"Be back in a couple days," he continued, and Katty smiled at his somewhat encouraging tone. "Not that long."

"I'll wait with bated breath," she drawled sarcastically.

Daryl's expression scrunched slightly. "With what?" he asked, and Katty couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her at his confused face.

"Nothing; just me being daft," Katty explained with a wave of her hand. She picked at the rag absentmindedly. "You two can't put off going for another day to save me from the party?" she asked in a hopeful, higher pitched voice. Katty knew she was being needy and probably annoying, but if it worked, she could forgive herself.

"Nah. Just gotta suck it up, Sweetheart," Daryl chided casually as he collected a bag off the ground and secured it to the side of his bike.

Katty's lips twitched. "Sunshine, Sweetheart? Daryl, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were being flirty," she could feel the shit eating grin on her face as she teased him. Since she wouldn't see him for a few days, Katty decided it was justified for her to badger him a bit.

In the end, it was just an attempt at making him squirm. Daryl hadn't been anything more than friendly with her, and the majority of her doubted that he was interested whatsoever. A small part of her, though, tingled at the memory of the look he had given her the other day when they were pressed against the tree. She was undoubtedly delusional, but the heat and intensity that simmered below the surface was still fresh in her mind.

Daryl scoffed loudly and turned away from her, "Ya wish, girl."

Katty wondered briefly if she was pushing it, but decided to continue the short banter.

"Maybe I do," she joked lightly, scratching her chin as she stared at Daryl's back, tracing her eyes over the wings on his leathered back. How ironic, she mused.

He visibly stiffened and Katty waited for Daryl to snap something back at her, a short, direct reply to shut her up. That's how it usually went between them, at least. His hand went into the pocket of his vest, however, and he didn't reply right away. Katty's brows furrowed as she watched him fiddle with something.

"Are you two just about done?" Aaron's amused voice sounded to Katty's left. He was leaned against the doorframe as he observed the two of them, and Katty cringed.

"Ready. Meetcha out front in a sec," Daryl retorted with busy hands as he rearranged and attached the necessities to the bike.

Aaron cast them both fake suspicious looks with squinted eyes and then nodded. "See you in a few, Katty," he waved at her before retreating back away from the door and into the house. He was probably saying a quick goodbye to Eric before he went outside.

Eric wasn't coming to the party either, Katty remembered with a scowl. Stated he had been to "far too many" of these parties to put himself through another. Katty wrote a mental note to herself to whine at Eric until he caved and went. If she had to suffer, so did he.

Daryl cleared his throat, and her attention snapped to him once more.

He was shuffling awkwardly, and fiddling once more with whatever was in his pocket. Katty quirked a brow at him, perplexed.

"Stay outta trouble, alright?" he finally said after another moment of hesitation, and he met her eyes for a brief second before they were glued to his feet or his bike, anywhere but her.

Katty rolled her eyes. "What trouble could I possibly get into here, Daryl?"

"I mean it," Daryl said firmly, disregarding her previous question. "Stick by Glenn and Maggie or Carol or someone. Stay away from Aiden," at this, his eyes were levelly fixed on hers, and she couldn't find anything to do but nod at him. Daryl was being serious, and she didn't want to disrespect that.

He continued to watch her, and Katty realized that he wanted more of an affirmation than a nod. "Alright," she said simply, meeting his intense eyes.

Daryl went back to the bike without a word, and it was apparent to Katty that he was getting ready to wheel it out front to where Aaron was probably waiting. She slid off the wooden table that she had been perched on.

"Daryl," she called just as he started to walk away, out of the garage with the motorcycle and packs strapped to it. There were a few bags, and she assumed that Aaron had even more in the car that he had been packing. They were definitely prepared to be gone for a few days.

He paused his quiet steps to glance over at her, curious.

Katty found herself suddenly shy, but decided to spit it out before she lost the nerve.

"Stay safe out there."

The words were familiar and it felt like a mantra whenever she spoke them to him. It was like an unspoken ritual that she would tell him to 'stay safe'. Daryl never accosted her or rolled his eyes at the obvious reminder. Staying safe was all anyone tried to do nowadays, so it could have been seen as a stupid gesture.

But, like usual, he just nodded once at her, turned, and walked out.

Katty was left, standing in the garage, thinking about goodbyes and leather printed wings and half smoked smokes that she hoped they would share again soon.

It was early afternoon, and Katty was walking to her house to grab food before she looked for something useful to do. It would probably consist of either helping in the infirmary, going to Deanna's house to help with whatever plans her and Maggie were discussing or starting to implement, or relieving whoever was on watch. She hadn't been assigned a scheduled watch shift yet, so Katty had started to offer to take over a couple hours to whoever happened to be there. She would have to remind Rick or Deanna about that whenever she saw them next.

A flash of red and brown caught her attention, and she jerked her head towards the figure that had quickly passed by. Whoever it was, they were already out of her sight and Katty made the quick decision to follow whoever it was.

When she jogged, Katty made sure she was virtually silent. Running between two of the houses, she avoided the few twigs or rocks that were scattered along the path.

She came to a stop as she broke from the shadows of the two homes, and frowned at the sight in front of her. A person, presumably a girl, with long brown hair and wearing a red jacket tied around her waist, was climbing the wall.

Enid.

She climbed confidently, Katty noted. She had obviously done this quite a few times. Enid carried a number of what looked like white sticks or spokes of metal, sliding them into slots on either side of the support beam she scaled as she went. Katty scowled for a brief moment, reflecting on what she had thought about the wall during her first glimpse of it. Easily infiltrated.

Enid chucked her jacket over the top of the wall before slinging a leg over to the other side, and Katty decided to move. As soon as Enid disappeared, Katty started to climb the wall and utilized the foot holding spikes that Enid had graciously left for her. Unless you were looking for them, they were difficult to spot, so they worked well as a climbing aid.

Katty declined to put a piece of clothing over the wall, and carefully navigated over it as to not cut herself on the metal. She perched precariously on the slated steel beam on the other side, and shuffled her feet so she could basically sit on the metal. Katty manoeuvered both legs over to one side and steadied herself with a hand. She glanced around and saw Enid a short distance away, walking cautiously through the woods, and Katty carefully slid down the metal. She was still mindful not to cut her bare legs on any rough patches that may catch her skin, and took off as a steady, quiet pace in the direction Enid was going.

She followed at a distance and easily avoided any unnecessary noise. Katty ducked under low hanging branches and made sure to stay out of Enid's line of sight or anywhere close enough that the younger female may hear her.

It wasn't as exciting as Katty had pictured, unfortunately. Enid didn't appear to be going in any particular direction, she wasn't out to conspire with the enemy or give away intel. Enid wasn't murdering or pillaging neighbouring camps, and Katty was bored of trying to follow her quietly.

Enid paused, and her head tilted to the side slightly, and Katty froze. A groan and shuffling sounded to her right, and Enid immediately slipped between two trees and hopefully out of sight of the Biters. There were two, and they ambled past Katty, a distance away. She should probably pay more attention to Biters, Katty mused to herself. That was almost a close call.

The two did not appear to notice Enid, hidden behind a tree, and they took their time stumbling lazily in her general direction. An unfortunate, warm breeze blew by and Katty saw a wisp of brown hair float away from Enid's face in the wind.

It was almost animalistic, and Katty watched in wonderment. The closer Biter paused and lifted its face into the wind and she would have sworn that it had sniffed the air. It's own scraggly, oily hair drifted in the wind briefly as it turned its stiff head more in Enid's direction.

Move, Enid, Katty thought at the girl. She didn't. The two Biters grew closer to Enid, one moving with more interest, and the other simply following.

She waited another moment to see if Enid would make an appearance or leave, and then quickly pulled two knives from the wrap on the thigh. Katty barely aimed as she hurled the pointed blade towards the closest one's skull, and then repeated the motion with the other. The knives stuck in the back of their heads with a sickening noise that you couldn't describe as anything but an impaled skull, and both slumped to the ground.

Enid's cross face appeared from around the trees.

"I had it under control," she bit out at Katty, "and why are you following me?" Her eyes were narrowed suspiciously and Enid's tone was accusatory.

Katty strode forward, now unconcerned with being silent. She leaned down and removed her knives from each of the Biter's brains and cleaned them on the rag she had taken from Daryl before returning them to their place at her leg.

She scoffed, "What, it can't be a coincidence? I enjoy a good stroll through an undead infested forest as much as the next girl, Enid."

Enid just looked at her with an expression that was a mixture of annoyance and disgust, neither of which Katty appreciated.

Katty sighed. "I saw you climb over the wall and wondered where you were going. Didn't have much else to do, as it seems, then follow a girl who didn't end up doing anything evil or even remotely interesting." The end of Katty's explanation took on a tone that almost sounded like she was personally offended from the lack of entertainment.

Enid didn't smile, but her expression wasn't as disgusted as before. In Katty's mind, it was an improvement.

She started to walk away, and Katty quickly strode to walk near Enid, almost beside her.

"Why is everything a joke to you?" Enid muttered, but she sounded more curious than angry. "How can you find anything funny anymore?"

Katty considered the question for a while as they walked.

"How about a trade? Honest answer for honest answer."

Enid turned to stare at her for a minute, probably wondering what Katty could possibly want to know.

"Alright," she said after a stretch.

"I was angry when the world ended, and I didn't appreciate the few people I had left. I didn't really look out for anyone but myself, didn't see past my own disappointment with life. Definitely didn't try to make anyone laugh," Katty chewed her lip at the memory, annoyed with how selfish she had been. "Then, people die, and you realize that you can't remember what they looked like when they smiled." She cast a small, sad one of her own at Enid. "Got tired of that, I suppose."

Enid didn't say anything, just looked at the ground as they walked slowly. She seemed to be considering Katty's words, and Katty wondered what the girl was remembering.

"What're you doing out here, Enid?" Katty asked softly, and Enid glanced up at her.

"It's just weird, sometimes, being in a house again," Enid replied, and Katty didn't react to the defensive tone. "I was on my own for a while, and I just need a break from it. From people. That's it, I'm not doing anything wrong," she pointed out, and Katty shrugged.

"You were alone too," Enid pointed out, and Katty wondered how much the other girl knew about her. "You're not worried about when the Walkers get in?"

Katty considered her wording, noticing that she said 'when' and not 'if'. "I am," she said simply. "But for Rick's group, I'd fight."

Her confident committal of arms made Enid stop and stare at her. Enid's expression was irritated, disbelieving.

"You haven't even been here that long. Why do you care what happens?"

Katty remembered their trade and considered ignoring the question for one of her own, but decided to humour Enid. She stopped walking to sit on a stump, deciding that they had walked far enough. Enid sat on a fallen log a few feet away.

"Surviving is important. Thriving is elegant. Maya Angelou," Katty recited, and Enid looked at her with a frown. "That's something that my dad said once to me. Everyone thrives in different ways, but I've figured out I need people. I was empty on my own." She admitted as Enid traced something in the dirt with a stick she had snapped off the horizontal log.

Katty watched her stick neatly spell out 'JSS' and pondered to herself what it stood for. Japanese Social Services, Jiggly Special Squirrels, Jesus Sings Songs, Jewish Sexy Sex.

"My dad used to always say, 'Just Survive Somehow'. That's how I thrive, I guess," Enid said quietly to herself.

Ah, so she had been close when she guessed what it meant.

Katty thought it sounded like a bleak existence, but didn't voice that opinion. She wanted to ask what had happened to her parents, but inwardly, Katty already knew. It was probably a story that she had heard before, common in this cruel, unrelenting world. All the more reason to make people smile.

Conflictingly, there was a part of her, and she wasn't sure how large it was, that agreed with the message that Enid was hinting at. It's simpler on your own, not worrying or crying about other people. Not digging graves, not waiting for someone to betray you, not watching people get torn apart.

In Alexandria especially, where the people lived in a bubble of naivety, it was hard not to feel like you were counting down the days until tragedy struck.

Katty cringed to herself over her negative thoughts, and decided it was time to go back.

"Should probably head back, wouldn't want to miss my party," Sarcasm dripped from her words, and like everything else that was negative, she covered up her destructive thoughts with a joke.

She wasn't expecting Enid to come back with her, but the younger girl stood up and brushed her pants off. Katty was staring at her, and Enid looked at her with a quirked brow.

"What?"

"You have to admit," Katty commented, "we do look related."

Enid rolled her eyes and walked away from Katty, who snorted and followed her.

"You're supposed to hold your sister's hand when you cross the street," Katty scolded her and tried not to laugh.

Enid didn't even turn around to reply. "You're more of a weird aunt than a sister."

Katty let out a noise that sounded like a badly wounded animal and clutched where her heart would be. Enid jumped and quickly looked around for Biters before she glared over her shoulder at Katty for being loud.

"That cuts so deep, Enid."

Katty hoped that they would forget about her and that the residents, along with Deanna, would be too drunk to care what she was doing. Especially since she had turned off the lights in the house and was sitting in the living room, doing nothing. Which is where Maggie found her, and proceeded to laugh at her. What a cruel, cruel world.

"What the hell are you doin'?" she asked her incredulously.

"I'm quite busy, Maggie. I don't think I'll have time to make it to the party," Katty called dramatically from her spot on the couch, staring at the wall. She threw her hand to her forehead dramatically and let out a sigh.

"Oh, no you don't. If I'm goin', you are too. Get dressed," Maggie clapped her hand at her twice, as if it would make her move faster.

Katty frowned at her friend. "I am dressed," she claimed, gesturing to her outfit of shorts and a vest top.

"I brought you some nicer clothes. It'll make them like you more; those women love to talk about crap like this," Maggie explained as she shoved the few items into her arms.

Katty grumbled something that was incoherent, even to her, and dragged herself into the downstairs bathroom to change.

The shirt wasn't much different. Just another vest top, but it was a great deal cleaner and in better shape than the one Katty had previously been wearing. She, however, grimaced at the skirt she had been given. It wasn't that it was ugly, just that Katty hadn't worn anything but jeans or shorts since the apocalypse began. It was short, black and made of a mixed blend of fabric. Wearing the skirt unsettled her, because it reminded Katty of what she wore when she was a server in California.

She walked out to Maggie's smirking face.

"Why aren't you dressed up?" Katty grumbled at her.

"Guest of honour wears a skirt," Maggie replied simply. She noticed the apprehensive look on Katty's face. "It'll be alright, Katty. And if it's not, we'll just get you drunk."

Katty snorted. "Words to live by."

And drunk she got.

The walk over to the Monroe residence had been short; they grabbed Glenn from the other house and went on their way. Glenn had informed them that the majority of Rick's group was in attendance, and not because anyone actually wanted to go.

They explained to her that it was mostly to keep up appearances, and due to the fact that Deanna had requested they come. There was still an obvious tension between Rick's group and the residents, that neither side had done much to dispel. Katty had expected it to be awkward, assuming that the majority of residents would lump her in with Rick's group, especially since they were basically the only individuals that she talked to regularly.

Katty immediately grabbed a glass of something – she quickly sniffed it and assumed it was vodka and minute maid lemonade mixed – and started drinking. It wasn't good, but Katty didn't want to drink straight scotch like Reg and this would get her buzzed faster than wine or beer.

"Are we gonna find your skinny ass under the table later?" a low voice sounded behind her, and Katty turned. Abraham in all his big fuckin' glory greeted her.

"Anyone ever tell you you're built like a brick fuckin' shit house, Abe?" Katty asked conversationally.

Rosita snorted from beside him. Abraham looked amused and then reached over to clink his glass of scotch with hers.

"Drink up, girly. I'll put a pillow under the table; comfy as shit," he tipped her glass towards Katty's face before throwing his own drink back. Katty was foolish and accepted the challenge, only taking a few chugs to finish her own.

"Spencer is looking for you," Rosita bounced her eyebrows at her.

"Who?" Katty frowned, the name not really ringing any bells. Rosita pointed over Katty's shoulder to a tall man with shaggy brown hair who was making his way over to them. She vaguely remembered him during her first few hours here but hadn't seen him much after that.

"Good thing Daryl ain't here," Abraham noted in a voice that was far too casual.

Katty sent Rosita a withering look. She had heard more than enough of the comments from Rosita, Tara, and Maggie the other day, and had been unable to convince them that nothing was going on between Daryl and herself. That's great, now it's gotten around to Abraham, Katty thought.

Rosita raised a hand in defense, "Don't look at me, I didn't say anything to him."

"Don't have to be a bloodhound to smell the pheromones you two got."

"What the fuck does that even mean?" Katty asked through a laugh. Rosita was shaking her head at Abraham with an amused smile. Abraham opened his mouth to explain, which Katty wasn't sure she wanted to hear, when Spencer finally reached them.

"Hey, Katty," Spencer tapped her on the shoulder. Rosita let out a snigger and bumped shoulders with her as she and Abe left.

"Can I get you another drink?" he offered politely. Spencer didn't sound flirty or suggestive, so she shrugged.

"Not sure if I wanna get drunk and messy, actually," she hesitated after a short deliberation.

Spencer glanced over to where Deanna was standing with Reg, greeting people. "She's going to make a speech about you in about five minutes."

"Drunk and messy it is," Katty chirped after a quick cringe. "Extra vodka or whatever it is, thanks."

Spencer nodded with a laugh and went to grab her a drink. Katty looked around to see where everyone was. Maggie and Glenn had immediately left her and were off to the side, talking with Tara. Rosita and Abraham were sitting on some couch with Eugene and Noah, and Rick, Carl, and Michonne were nearby to where Deanna was, casually drinking and chatting amiably. Carol was in a group of women that she had been introduced to before and had the now familiar fake smile plastered to her face as she laughed at something one of them said.

Katty was looking around and attempting to plan a route that kept herself away from Deanna, when Spencer returned and shoved a drink in her hand.

"Start drinking, because I'm supposed to bring you over now."

"Say no more," Katty tipped the glass back and resisted coughing at the familiar burn of alcohol. "Fuck, how much did you put in here?" she scowled at him.

He shrugged and proceeded to clap her on the shoulder. "You said 'extra'. C'mon, mom's waiting," Spencer said with a hand on her shoulder to lead her.

Katty looked up at him with a scrunched face, "Aiden's your brother then?"

Spencer nodded. "Yeah, I know he's hard to deal with sometimes. He's not a bad guy though."

She didn't really believe that, but just shrugged and let Spencer lead her over to Deanna.

Deanna greeted her with exuberant, open arms. "Katty! Don't you look lovely. Come, come, let's introduce you."

Katty's first instinct was to run, but Deanna reached a hand out and clasped her wrist before she could, so she froze instead.

Deanna released her briefly to clink her glass with a spoon to get everyone's attention. There were quite a few people here, Katty wouldn't be surprised if it was everyone in the safe zone. There were people in the living room, kitchen, hovering around the staircase. Deanna and Katty were in the centre of it all, standing around the table in their makeshift dining room. Everyone quieted as Deanna clinked and shushed the crowd, and Katty squirmed slightly at the unwanted attention. Near the front door, she caught a brief glimpse of Aiden and Nicholas sneaking out with a bottle of something dark, and she tried to ignore it. As long as they weren't near her, it wasn't her business. Katty quickly chugged the rest of her drink to ease her anxieties.

Unhealthy, sure, but she figured she deserved a crutch considering there was going to be a goddamn speech.

"Hello, everyone, and thank you for attending this little soiree," Deanna greeted, her hand firmly on Katty's wrist again. It was like she knew Katty was a flight risk. "As many of you know, this was held to welcome out newest resident to Alexandria. You may have seen her before, maybe helping out on watch, in the infirmary, or perhaps knocking my youngest son around."

Katty visibly cringed and there was a twittering of laughter from the residents. She wasn't sure if it was from what Deanna said or from her uncomfortable face, but the loud laugh that Abraham erupted in relaxed her slightly. Or was it the alcohol. Did she really even care?

"This is Katherine Harvey, if you haven't crossed paths with her yet –"

"Katty," she corrected without thinking, and Deanna shot her an amused look.

"Right, Katty," she confirmed with a nod. "I wish Aaron and Eric would have been here to say a few words, since they've known her the longest, but I think that it is easy to see that Katty is an intelligent, helpful young woman and will help us make Alexandria even greater than it already is. She's helping myself and Maggie with agricultural plans and is going with the group tomorrow to fix our power problem." There was a murmur and nodding from the crowd. Apparently the key to winning their hearts was to make sure they were still able to blow dry their hair.

"Just watch out for her right hook," Deanna joked, and a few people laughed. "Alright, I'm done. Have a good time everyone."

Katty kept drinking. She was half aware of the multitudes of people that periodically approached her to introduce themselves, and tried to babble a civilized conversation without giving off the drunk vibe. It was difficult, but she made her way through the numerous faces she still couldn't remember the names of.

Maggie and Glenn had approached her a few hours into it. "We're going," Glenn explained. "Rick and some other people have left already," he stated slowly and clearly to Katty, who nodded dumbly. She glanced around. Rick's group had certainly thinned out, and Bob and Natalie Miller had evidently retired for the evening.

"You should too, sweetheart," Maggie cooed at her, who was apparently affectionate when she drank. "Don't wanna be too hungover for the run tomorrow," she reminded, which vaguely registered in Katty's hazy mind. She wasn't completely wasted, just content and drunk. Katty had actually remembered about an hour ago about the plan tomorrow, and had cut herself off.

"Alright, I just have to thank Deanna and I'll leave too," Katty decided. Maggie gave her a hug, which made Katty laugh, and Glenn wrapped an arm around Maggie's waist to lead her out. Katty smiled. They really were sweet.

Katty approached the former politician. "Thank you Deanna, this meant a lot," Katty awkwardly gestured to the room around her, which was still pretty full of people. Deanna smiled and nodded at her. "I'm going to head out now, so just wanted to thank you and say goodnight."

"I think the evening went well, don't you?"

Katty bobbed her head in a sloppy nod, though she was pretty sure she wouldn't have noticed if anyone was an asshole to her. The benefits of alcohol. "Yeah, everyone was nice."

Deanna swirled her glass of wine, and Katty wondered how many times it had been refilled. She thought that Deanna looked a bit more put together and coherent than Katty did, though, no matter the number.

"Alright, well, have a good night, Katty," Deanna smiled briefly at her before turning back to talk to someone Katty couldn't remember the name of. She waved at the remainder of people she recognized on her way out; Tara, Abraham, and what she guessed was the mullet styled head of Eugene.

It was dark out, and a pleasant warm breeze floated through the street. Katty was walking slowly and enjoying the night air, weaving towards houses. She decided to take the long way home, walking in between and around the different abodes. It didn't really make sense to anyone that would have been watching her, but to Katty's drunk brain, it was the only plausible path.

She had paused in between two houses to look up at the sky, when a fast approaching shuffling sounded behind her. Katty hoped it was a bunny, and tried to turn to meet it.

A body slammed into hers and shoved her form into the siding of one of the homes. Her head bounced painfully off the hard surface, and Katty let out a noise somewhere in between a groan of pain and a harsh exhale of air.

"Long time no see," a voice growled in her ear. The stench of liquor filled her nostrils, and she gagged. It was strong, probably whisky, and didn't mix well with the hot breath on her face.

"What the fuck – " she grunted as she struggled to move away from the foul odor. The larger, male form pressed her harder into the wall.

"Did you enjoy the party, Katty?" he sneered into her face before looking over his shoulder. Katty tried to squint and make out who it was, but her eyes were having trouble focussing on the close proximity as well as in the dark.

"Nicholas, grab her for me," he quickly instructed, and Katty groaned. Of course it was them.

Aiden roughly shoved her towards the other male, and she stumbled in the process. The world started to spin, and Katty wondered if she was going to chunder on Maggie's skirt. Another set of arms encased her, locking her arms to her sides and her wrists painfully behind her back.

"The only reason you got the better of us is because you surprised us. Who would have thought a skinny thing like you could fuckin' punch so hard?" Aiden let out a sharp, humorless laugh and approached Katty. "First things first though."

Pain bloomed on the right side of her face as Aiden's fist made contact with her cheek. Her head snapped to the left and the combination of pain and the still spinning earth around her made her legs give out. Nicholas grunted as he supported more of her weight.

"Hold her still," Aiden snapped, and she felt Nicholas tense behind her at the same time that something glinted in the moonlight.

"Man, I thought we were just goin' to scare her." He sounded nervous, and Katty felt her heart pick up speed. If Nicholas was nervous, she definitely should be. Her tongue felt thick and heavy and she tasted something sharply copper. Katty wanted to threaten him, scream, but she couldn't.

"We are, I'm not really going to do anything," Aiden sounded exasperated. "Just hold her still."

Katty head a ripping noise and felt a cool draft as Aiden cut the front of her shirt down to her belly button in one swift move. She let out a strangled yell, which was silenced immediately by a large hand. Aiden leaned close and traced the knife across her throat.

"You're fuckin' hot, even if you are a bitch," he slurred angrily, and Katty felt her eyes water. Aiden was obviously drunk; one wrong move and she could be dead. She felt a tear slip down her face, and Aiden laughed again before he put the knife back into the holder at his hip. She yelped and struggled at the sudden intrusion of his hands roughly on her breasts.

Nicholas' grip loosened on her arms and wrists. "Aiden, we weren't going to do this," he said before pushing Katty back into the wall. "Sorry, man, I'm out."

Katty bounced off the wall once more and vaguely heard Aiden cussing drunkenly at Nicholas' retreating form. She felt less vulnerable and scared now that she wasn't being held back by Nicholas, and anger bubbled beneath the surface.

Katty righted herself as Aiden finally remembered she was still there and tripped over his feet as he turned to face her. The scalding new emotion bubbled over the sides of her mind, and she could feel herself shaking. It was molten lava, leaving a trail of burnt skin and a hardened exterior as it coated her. Anger.

"Your mum told everyone to watch out for my right hook," she commented smoothly as she flexed her grip, lengthening and curling her fingers of her right hand.

"Wha –?"

Katty squared her body to mirror Aiden's and then swung her fist into Aiden's face. Pain shot all the way up her arm when it made contact with his left cheek, and Aiden stumbled before he tripped over he feet and slumped to the ground with a grunt.

"Fuck," he groaned and raised both his hands to cup his face. "Katty, I didn't mean – "

Katty had decidedly heard enough of his voice, and stepped roughly on his chest. Aiden let out a strangled, winded noise as the air rushed out of his lungs and he coughed loudly. Katty bent down and removed the short knife from Aiden's hip. She felt eerily calm as her fingers strung through his short hair and she roughly fisted as much of it as she could. With a jerk, she pulled his head forcibly towards her and pushed the blade against his own throat.

Aiden's eyes were fearful as she glared into them, and she felt a strange satisfaction in the emotion.

"I should slit your fucking throat and leave you here," Katty spat into his face, and Aiden winced away from the words. "You sack of shit coward. Can't face me normally, have to attack me with your mate while I'm alone and drunk."

She considered pressing a little harder and sliding the knife simultaneously, she really did. She considered killing him. Katty had never murdered anyone and taken it lightly. Even with the guards at Woodbury, she had been shaken up and sobbed uncontrollably afterwards. When the adrenaline and desperation had died down, she had felt guilty. Those men had had families. And in front of her now, Aiden was no different. Deanna, Reg, and Spencer flashed through her mind and Katty knew she couldn't do it. It wasn't an excuse, but she was sure that Aiden was wasted and probably only half aware of what he had done. He had still assaulted her and frightened her though, made her cry, and Katty scowled at him.

She tucked the knife away before throwing her fist into his face again, the same side as before. Aiden let out a pitiful noise and cowered on the ground, away from her.

She wished she could kill him.

"I'm still going to the warehouse tomorrow," she snapped at him. Her voice was shaking and Katty knew she was halfway between crying and hallway between screaming and many other halves of many other emotions. She was about to break. "You aren't going to kill any of my friends. And I won't hesitate to put a bullet in your fuckin' empty head if you try anything."

"Katty, I'm so –"

"I don't give a fuck," she ground out and stood up, taking a couple strides backwards to put some distance between them. Katty pulled the knife out, ready in case he decided to come at her again. However, Aiden just scrambled to his feet and cast one last, guilty look at Katty before he stumbled away at a run.

Katty didn't move for a few minutes, she just stood in place and breathed deeply in an attempt to calm herself. After she had stood back up, the world had started to spin again, and the combination of everything brought fresh tears to her eyes. She shivered and glanced down at the jagged cut down the front of her shirt. It wasn't even her shirt, Katty thought sadly as a few tears fell. Maggie's shirt was ruined.

She probably should have just gone home. She had originally planned to, but her drunken mind brought on irrational guilt over Maggie's torn shirt. In any other scenario, Katty would have realized that her friend wouldn't have given a flying fuck about the vest top, but currently, it was the straw that broke her back.

Katty half ran, half staggered, to the second house. Her fists raised and she rapped on the door impatiently. After unnecessarily knocking for a minute straight, Katty finally noticed that the lights were off and she looked over at the house to the left. Rick's house still had lights on, and she could see shapes of multiple people moving around. They were probably there, she decided.

She haphazardly and chaotically thwacked her fist on the door until a concerned looking Michonne answered the door.

"Katty, what happened? Are you – ?" she started urgently, but Katty bustled by her.

"Maggie," she loudly called out to the girl once her sights landed on her. Maggie was sitting at the island in the kitchen, staring at Katty with wide, worried eyes. They all were, really. Glenn was beside her, Rick, Carol, and Michonne were all close by. Everyone else was probably still out at Deanna's, Katty mused, somewhat relieved.

She was aware she looked like a mess. Her shirt was half hanging off of her, the skirt dirtied and half hiked up her legs. She could feel a trickle of blood that had made it's way down her neck, and her eye and cheek throbbed. Katty figured she couldn't hope for anything less than bloodshot eyes from withheld tears to go along with the black eye she would undoubtedly sport soon.

"Katty," Rick addressed her, and his voice was urgent and loud but still held an unwavering calm that only he could accomplish. "What happened?"

Katty glanced at him before she focussed her sad eyes on Maggie again. "Your shirt is ruined. I'm sorry." She knew she was being difficult, but she really didn't want to talk about what had happened. Katty was still incredibly angry and conflicted about the entire situation, and didn't want to have to sit and explain herself to anyone.

Maggie reflexively skipped her eyes down to Katty's exposed bra and the torn front of the shirt, before she looked back up to her. She couldn't seem to find any words, and Katty thought Maggie was probably a combination of shocked and still drunk.

"Michonne," Katty looked over to the other woman, "May I borrow some clothes?" The slur in her voice was evident, even to herself, as Katty tried to hold herself together.

Michonne nodded quickly and pointed her in the direction of her room. Thankfully, it was on the ground floor and Katty didn't have to navigate any stairs. Katty, quick as she could, changed into a dark pair of jeans and an oversized shirt that Michonne had in a drawer. She heard a masculine voice mumble something to the rest of the group, and assumed that Rick was giving them some sort of instructions of how to deal with her.

When she returned back to the main living area, everyone was silent and calm, and it unsettled her. Rick cleared his throat quietly, and Katty snapped her attention to him. He watched her levelly and seriously, and moved slowly towards her.

"Katty, is anyone else in danger?" Rick spoke slowly and directly, and Katty appreciated that the sentence was short enough that she could focus on it.

She wanted to say that Aiden was, but that wasn't the answer that Rick was looking for. "No," she said finally, and Katty didn't like how quiet her voice was in response.

"Okay, did anyone get inside the walls?" he asked next. Katty shook her head in response and then blinked at the spinning room. Bad idea.

"So someone in Alexandria attacked you?" Katty froze at that question, and side stepped around Rick towards the door.

"I'm fine," she snapped, "I just need to go to bed," her response was weak, even to Katty's drunk brain. Katty took a couple steps towards the open door, before she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Katty, wait," the voice was too close, and panic set in immediately.

"Don't fucking touch me," Katty snapped as she jerked out of the grip, and realized too late that it was Glenn. His concerned palm on her shoulder had felt like Nicholas' rough grip on her arms and wrist. Her heart dropped at the look on Glenn's face, and she felt a guilty expression slide onto her own.

Katty wanted to say sorry, assure Glenn that he had done nothing wrong, but she couldn't find the words in her panicked mind. Instead, she skipped back a few paces before she turned and bolted out the door.

She stumbled down the stairs and aimlessly ran towards the shelter of trees by the water, in the centre of Alexandria. Her legs all but gave out as she reached the tree, and Katty slumped on her knees in the grass. She wracked her cluttered brain for a story to tell them all, but couldn't think of anything. Katty needed to make sure that she was at the warehouse tomorrow, and she couldn't risk telling them. Rick might take her off the supply run if she did.

Katty knew she was angry and panicked and that she wasn't thinking clearly. But all that was going through her mind was that everything had been so much simpler on her own. When there had been no Aiden, no one to protect but herself, and no one to disappoint. Every time she tried, something seemed to get fucked up. She tried to protect Jessie and made enemies with the one doctor Alexandria had, she went on a simple collection run and ended up causing a scene and beating up Aiden and Nicholas, she tried to make nice and go to the party Deanna organized for her and ended up getting assaulted. She had almost killed a man tonight. Alexandria was poison.

She had done what she had intended to do. She had found Merle's brother and appeased Aaron by giving Alexandria a chance.

Maybe it was time to leave.

A/N: Hello, you! This was actually hard to write and I kept rearranging passages and rewriting scenes. I tried hard to make it followable but also jumbled at the end, since it is from Katty's half drunk mind.

I was wondering if you guys would like me to include little snippets and short quotes from the next chapter at the end of each chapter, sort of like a "next time on". It would be something short and wouldn't give away too much. Just so you get a clue what's coming up or who appears in the next one. If no one's interested then I won't bother, but just a neat thing that I've seen a couple other fanfics include.

Let me know what you think and feel free to leave a review! Thanks for reading!

-Submechanophobia