I'm The Violence In The Pouring Rain

And there's a storm you're starting now
And there's a storm you're starting now
And there's a storm you're starting…

Rick sat on the porch steps, shoulders hunched, still disturbed by his altercation with Alexis even now. He was starting to spend a lot of time on these porch steps, almost like it was a border between both his worlds, the inside and the outside. There was a harvest moon high above; reminding him of the night he'd killed Shane, the memory almost worn threadbare by thinking.

At that point in time, he'd left Merle handcuffed to a roof, as well as killing the two men in the bar, but those assaults had been oddly impersonal, executed with icy precision. But Shane had been like his brother, Cain and Abel; killing him had killed a part of himself. That had been the turning point, where he'd changed, evolved even. There was a new world now, a new order to ascend above, hunt or be hunted.

"Rick."

He glanced up, only to see Alexis standing in front of him, the moon casting shadows across her face, making it even more unearthly as usual. She had a face that couldn't be tired of, the kind that could be appreciated like a painting, the passing years adding depth to the patina. "What do you want?" he said quietly, echoing his earlier words.

"You," Alexis snapped, startling him, "handcuffed to my bed, making me the envy of every woman in Alexandria."

"Even Deanna?"

"Especially Deanna."

Rick just looked at her for a long moment, before bursting out laughing, the sound strangely rusty, ringing through the darkness. "I said you were nuts," he said, shaking his head at her, "and I was right."

"At least I don't go around offering people death," Alexis flared up, rounding on him, "ordering them to barf or die."

"At least I don't go around jumpin' out from behind trees at complete strangers," Rick retorted, getting angry now, "nearly gettin' myself killed in the process."

"It sounds like you're stuck in a timewarp," Alexis said tiredly, sitting down beside him, startling Rick for the second time.

"If you wanna talk about timewarps, look around you," Rick said, recovering himself, "it's like steppin' back into Stepford."

Alexis shook back her hair, making it flash strangely silver in the moonlight, falling over her shoulders like a shimmering veil. "I don't like playing house," she said, staring off into the distance, "I never did."

"What, you'd rather be out there playin' with death?"

"I don't fit in here, Rick." Alexis said tiredly, wondering why she was even telling him this. "I'm not interested in catching a husband or recipes or anything. If I hear Mrs. Niedermeyer talking about that goddamn pasta machine one more time" -

- "See, this is precisely what this place's problem is," Rick snapped, startling her this time, "you keep missin' the bigger picture, focusin' on the things that don't matter. All you're thinkin' about is that your face doesn't fit, your horizons are too narrow; that outside these walls is your escape, but you're just talkin' through a hole in your head. You wouldn't last two seconds out there, Alexis, so keep within your walls and learn how to play house - shack up with some douchebag and bang out a few babies, live what's left of your life because that storm never passed you by; it's been here the whole time."

Alexis just looked at him, her full mouth mocking. "I didn't have you down as a philosopher," she said, elbowing him in the side, "Plato better watch his back."

Rick just shook his head, torn between being annoyed and amused. He'd been walking dead for so long, but Alexis was waking him up against his will, forcing him to see another side to the world. "Make it more like Nostradamus," he said tiredly, "I've got quite the eye when it comes to apocalypses."

"Where were you when it all went to hell?" Alexis asked curiously, unconsciously edging closer to him, her knee brushing his.

"I was in a coma," Rick said quietly, eyes distant, "I'd been shot on the job - I... I was a cop - and when I woke up, everythin' was gone, changed."

Alexis studied him, something in his face making her heart twist in her chest. "You really want to know who Earle was?" she asked, her voice cracking, becoming almost oddly high.

Rick nodded, hesitating before reaching for her face, gently cradling her cheek with his rough hand, his thumb tracing an outline around her black eye. Alexis froze, not because she felt under threat, but because it felt like her flesh was being burned by his touch. "Did he do this to you?" he asked in a low voice, holding her gaze hostage, making her snap.

"Take your fucking hands off me!" she snapped, jerking her head away, stumbling to her feet. "Don't think acting the good guy is going to get you a golden ticket into my pants. Your Paul Newman routine won't work on me, batting those baby blues to make me drop my drawers" -

- "What!?" Rick said in disbelief, getting to his own feet. "You cracked in the head or somethin'? I ain't tryin' anythin' with you!"

"What's with you turnin' on the Southern charm, then?" Alexis exploded, completely losing control. "Think I'm a fool? Well, I've got a newsflash for you; we ain't in Kansas anymore, Dorothy."

"No, we're in Oz," Rick snapped, looming over her, "with Deanna as the goddamn Wizard duping you all into believin' this bullshit you all have a future here" -

- "You don't know that" -

- "You seriously think I was hittin' on you?" Rick said, silencing her. "You think cos you got every other male and then some within these walls pantin' after you, that I'm gonna fall into line and do the same?"

"Why - why did you do that?" Alexis said brokenly, remembering his touch, tender and too soon. "You - you shouldn't have done that."

Rick exhaled sharply, before studying her, realising there was more to this than met the eye. "I'm sorry," he said slowly, "I shouldn't have put my hands on you. I didn't mean anythin' by it. There's no ulterior motive behind it, and I apologize if it offended you."

Alexis nodded, biting her lip, before turning away from him.

"Look whatever this Earle did to you, I'm not him," Rick said quietly, gently taking her hands in his, echoing Alexis's earlier gesture, forcing her to face him. "You're safe with me, I swear."

Alexis glanced down at her hands in his, the sight of them so contradicting his words, but she sensed that he meant there was no motive behind his actions. She raised her gaze to his, eyes almost wondering, her brow furrowing slightly.

"Alex?"

Rick dropped Alexis's hands like they were hot coals, half turning away from her, Alexis schooling her face into its usual inscrutable lines as Jessie came over, brow furrowed as well, throwing the resemblance between her and Alexis into relief, Olivia at her side, eyes goggling behind her glasses.

"Hey," Jessie said, glancing at Rick, his harsh profile making her raise an eyebrow, "is everything alright?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Alexis flared up, her face flushing angrily. She hated Jessie babying her, trying to protect her, when her big sister's bust lip plainly showed Jessie couldn't even protect herself, never mind Alexis.

"We heard yelling," Olivia explained, refusing to be intimidated, "it sounded like you were giving somebody what for."

"As usual," Jessie said under her breath, rolling her eyes.

To Alexis's fury, Rick snorted at this, startling the two other women. A reluctant smile tugged at the corner of Jessie's mouth, and she held her hand out to him, Rick hesitating before taking it, not missing her cut lip, the sight making his jaw tighten. "I'm Jessie, Alexis's annoying older sister," she said, introducing herself, "and this is Olivia."

"Rick," he said, nodding at Olivia, who waved back, clearly liking what she saw.

Jessie hesitated, as if caught in some internal dilemma. "I hear you have a son about my oldest boy's age," she said almost nervously, balancing the basket on her hip higher, "you should bring him round for lunch tomorrow, Ron and him could hang out, if - if that's okay? We're having Philly Cheesesteak" –

- "He'll be there, alright?" Alexis said abruptly, her stomach turning at the thought of Rick under Pete's roof, "Rick and his children, the whole damn county" –

- "That's if you don't put me off my food," Rick said, ruffling up her hair, startling Alexis.

"I think that's you told, Alex," Olivia said smartly, smirking.