Disclaimer: Don't own.

Chapter Twenty-One- It's so Right

"It should just happen like this
Trust it so much that there's no one else but us and
This moment that says it's so right
'Cause that's all we have in this life"

Natasha found she could hardly meet Carl's eyes the next morning. She and Rick locked eyes once and smirked at each other. When they climbed in the truck to get on the road again, the awkward level went way up.

Rick cleared his throat. "Carl, about what you saw last night."

"I know, you guys were about to have sex."

Andrea snorted, covering her mouth with her hand. She looked out the window, pretending she wasn't there. Natasha's jaw actually dropped and Rick choked on air. Carl continued, "You don't have to explain anything. Daryl told me this morning."

"Daryl?"

"Yeah. He asked me what was wrong and I told him."

"Oh my god," Rick whispered, feeling the urge to hide his own face.

"He told me it's perfectly normal for adults to do things to each other and no one should be embarrassed," Carl finished simply.

"Well, okay," Rick said. "That takes care of that."

Natasha's face stayed red for hours afterward. When they stopped for the night she sent Daryl a glare that promised an ass whipping. He only smirked and winked in response.

"Rick has first watch," he told her.

"And?"

"Just letting you know, in case you wanted to keep him company." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Natasha socked him in the arm but he walked away, laughing. When the group went to sleep that night, Natasha stayed away. She fought herself on whether or not to go join Rick on watch. When she didn't make up her mind, it was too late. She heard his footsteps through camp as he went to wake Daryl. He paused outside her tent, so she unzipped it as he started to walk away.

"Something I can help you with?" she asked quietly.

"Just wanted to say good night," he replied softly.

"Good night," she said, raising a challenging eyebrow.

He hesitated for a second, then crouched down and kissed her lips. "Night, Tasha."

She wanted nothing more than to pull him inside her tent, but this was not the place for that.

"You want to come to my tent for the night?" Rick asked. "Carl is in the truck because of the cold."

"Sure," she said, nodding and followed him across the camp.

Rick zipped it closed behind him while Natasha climbed in his sleeping bag. She watched him get undressed, changed into a pair of pajama pants and slipped in next to her.

"No silk nightie tonight," he said sadly.

"It's for formal occasions."

"Formal?" he laughed, wrapping his arms around her.

"It's designed to rub against sheets on a bed, not a sleeping bag on the ground."

"Oh," he said. "Well, next time." He kissed her forehead and they were asleep in minutes.

They'd been traveling for days and had seen few walkers. The ones they had seen had been far away and not an immediate threat.

When they reached the second safe house, Carl requested a room separate from his father which caused Rick to awkwardly clear his throat while Andrea and Michonne actually giggled.

Before they even got inside, there were screams from the forest.

"What's that?" Andrea asked when the gunshots began.

"Walkers!" someone yelled.

Coulson was shouting for his group to get to the cars. Carl seemed frozen in his spot, terrified when the walkers entered the yard. Natasha screamed for him but he didn't seem to hear. She yanked him forward just before a walker could grab him. There was another one behind her she didn't even see. It got a hand on her arm before she ever saw it. A gun went off and a bullet whizzed past her head, killing it. Natasha looked up to see Rick, gun raised. He fired off a few more shots, allowing Natasha to get Carl into the truck. The group sped away from the scene. No one spoke until Coulson stopped them several miles away to camp.

They decided it was safest to set up only a few tents and everyone else stay in the cars, in case the walkers were closer than they thought. Natasha was in a tent while Rick was supposed to be in the truck with Carl. But after his watch he came into her tent and sat silently by the door.

"Rick?" she whispered. "You can come lay down."

The man gave no indication that he heard her. She got up and moved to sit next to him, her hand rubbed his back but she didn't say anything, didn't ask what was wrong. Just waited until he was ready. If he wanted to tell her, he would.

"When Maggie came to the prison with Steve and the girls, she told us what you did for her," Rick said. "For Carl, everybody. How the Governor tortured you and you just took it. I wanted so bad to go get you. I was ready to load up and search every surrounding town for you and Carl. Thinking about you out there somewhere without me…it made me sick.

"And today, that walker grabbed you and I panicked. Froze up for a second, like Carl did. The sight of that thing with a hand on you, about to bite, I couldn't comprehend it. Ever since then I just keep thinking, what if I had stood there a second longer? Every time I close my eyes I keep seeing you as one of them. I thought you were mad at me because I didn't help you sooner." He sniffed quietly.

"I'm not mad. I just didn't want to distract you," she said, referring to watch. "I let you in here didn't I? If I were mad at you, you would know. I would have shot you."

He smiled a little. She wrapped both arms around him, hugging him tight.

"You can't protect everyone of us all the time, Rick" she told him softly. "You can't save everyone. I thought as a cop, you would understand that."

"I do. But this was my group, this was my job to keep them safe."

This all sounded very familiar to her. "It's not your fault," she told him firmly. He started to protest and she silenced him with a kiss. Her hand reached up to tug on his shirt.

That was all the invitation he needed. Natasha found herself on her back, Rick's lips on hers, his hand creeping under her shirt. He pushed it up and over her head, rough hands exploring the smooth skin of her legs, up her sides and around to her back. Natasha reached for his shirt and it soon lay on the tent floor. Rick's mouth closed around her nipple, his hand caressed the free one. Natasha's fingers tugged at his curls, arching her back against him. Rick moved his kisses south, across her toned belly, pulling off the pair of sleep shorts she had on.

His fingers barely grazed the skin of her thighs. He kissed along the inside, biting down gently before he reached what he was looking for. The stubble on his chin scratched and delighted her. She bit her lip to keep from screaming as he began his work. Stars danced before her eyes as she felt her orgasm building. Her grip on him tightened as she came.

Rick moved up her body to kiss her lips again. She sighed into his mouth, hand undoing the button on his jeans. Natasha used her feet to push his pants down his thighs. He only had do move a little to get them off. Rick kissed her again, moving to kiss her neck. "Just so you know," he whispered. "It's been a while, this may not last long."

Natasha kissed him back. "Make it up to me later."

Rick smiled at her implication, positioned himself and entered her. They tightened their hold on each other, enjoying the sensations washing over them. Rick kissed her, feeling as if he'd explode at any moment. He pulled out and thrust in. Repeated the action and it was done.

He bit Natasha's neck to keep quiet. "Told you," he whispered.

She laughed softly and kissed his temple. "I'll give you another chance."

Rick lay down next to her, holding on tightly. He looked into her green eyes, so calm and full of promise. She smiled a little and set his heart a flutter. So badly he wanted to tell her how he felt but he didn't seem to know exactly what he was feeling. It had been so long since he felt genuine happiness, an emotion that was dangerous in this world.

Natasha lay her forehead against his check, feeling his heartbeat. She was having her own internal struggle to decipher her feelings. With Rick, she felt safe and happy. She trusted him without question. On the other hand, he was a weakness. Someone like her couldn't afford to have weaknesses. The words bounced around her head, danced on her tongue but she didn't say them. She closed her eyes and counted Rick's heartbeats.

They awoke the next morning, Coulson looking at a map before breakfast.

"How far are we?" Andrea asked.

"We're making good time," he announced. "We're close to the North Carolina border."

"How far until the next safe house?" Sasha asked.

"We'll get to the next one tomorrow, maybe."

"Is this one actually safe?" Abraham snapped.

"It should be," Coulson said, ignoring the attitude. "That group clearly had some issues going on. Let's load up and get on the road." Fifteen minutes later, they were going again. Andrea had decided to ride in the SUV with Michonne, leaving Rick and Natasha alone with Carl.

Rick and Natasha gave almost nothing away that their relationship had gone to the next level. Their constant glances went unnoticed by most of the group. Rick had been sitting by the fire eating breakfast. Natasha walked by past him, her hand barely grazed his back but it sent a wave of electricity through his body. When they were in the truck, Rick itched to reach out and take her hand or rest his hand on her knee but he held himself back, unsure of how she would react to that.

Carl fell asleep in the back, snoring loudly for a boy his size. Rick couldn't hold it back any longer." What are we doing?" he blurted.

She turned to gaze at him. "What do you mean?"

"You and me? What are we?"

"What do you want to be?"

"Together," he answered.

Her heart skipped. "Then we are."

"Just like that?"

"You like me, I like you. We've already done 'adult things' as Carl put its. Why dance around it? We're adults we know what we want."

He looked over and smiled at her, she returned it. Then she surprised him by reaching over and taking his right hand from the wheel and holding it in her lap. They shared a look that made both of their hearts beat faster. Natasha felt like a love sick teenager when he looked at her. Rick was surprised by her all the time. Where she initially came off as cold and distant he had found her to be warm, passionate and quite affectionate. He hoped what they had could last.

Pepper Potts stood in Tony's lab in shock. "My blood is clear? I'm cured…?"

Tony was nearly bouncing with excitement. "Yes! Look!" He brought some images up on the screen. "This was your blood sample. This is the one we took from Lori, Sophia, Maggie and Carol." He pointed at a dark area in each photo. "That's the virus, parasite, whatever it is." He pushed some buttons. "We mixed our serum with your blood and this is what it is now. The virus is gone."

"Oh my god," she gasped. "Bruce, you're they key. Will it be forever though, it won't come back?"

"I don't think so, but we're going to keep checking. It's been eight hours and it's been clear so far," Tony said. "Let's get the vaccine together for Lori and the others."

"What about Maggie?" Pepper asked. "She's pregnant, would it hurt them?"

Tony looked at Bruce who shrugged. "There's no way to know for sure. Let's not risk it. Wait until Maggie has the baby, give it to them separate."

"Got it," Tony said.

"Does this cure everyone or just the ones that aren't dead?"

"Just us," Bruce answered. "We tested a number of walkers with no results. Once they're a walker they stay that way until they're killed for good."

"What if someone has been bitten and hasn't turned yet?"

Tony and Bruce shared a look. "It may work," Bruce said. "They aren't dead yet but the virus may be increased in their system. We don't have anyone to test it on, though."

"Sir," Jarvisinterrupted. "I may be able to help with that. Agent Hill has just arrived, she's been bitten."

Pepper gasped in shock. She tried to run and get her but Tony stopped her and went instead. Maria was trying not to cry when she came in.

"What happened?" Pepper asked sadly, eyeing the bite on her arm.

"Fury sent us out to clear more of the city," she said. "Fucker came out of nowhere." She slammed her gun down on the table.

"Maria, listen to me," Tony said. "Put your arm out and roll up your sleeve."

She did so with a curious expression. Bruce drew blood from her and passed it to Tony. He then injected her with something in her other arm.

"Sit in that corner please," Tony said. "Pepper watch her but don't go near her."

"What the hell is going on?" Maria demanded. "I came here for you to kill me because I couldn't do it myself."

"We may not have to, Maria, listen," Bruce said. "We may have a cure.'

She sputtered. "What?!"

Bruce knelt down and began wrapping the bit on her arm, explaining how he'd been bitten and the research he and Tony had. They showed her the pictures.

"They've been working night and day on this since they got back from Georgia," Pepper said.

"Will it work on me?" Maria asked.

"We don't know, you're our test subject," Bruce said.

"How do you feel?" Tony asked.

"I have a headache. A little hot."

The men shared a look. Bruce came over and drew more blood. "She's showing symptoms of change but it seems slowed down." A few minutes later, Bruce said, "Give her another dose of the vaccine."

Tony did so without question. After half an hour, Bruce drew more blood and turned to them. "Okay, this is the first sample we drew from Maria, the virus is much more visible than in Pepper's blood. This is the second sample, it's not as potent here. This is the third sample." He smiled wide.

"It's gone!" Maria exclaimed in disbelief.

"It worked, I can't believe it worked," Tony said.

"The virus fought the first dose but the second wiped it out," Bruce explained, staring at the slides.

"Am I cured?" she sputtered.

"I think so," Bruce said. "If you don't mind I'd like to keep you here overnight and take blood every hour just to be sure."

"It's fine, absolutely, oh my god!" She put a hand to her mouth. "I thought I was really done this time." She started to cry.

"You were wrong, you live to see another sunset," Tony said with a smile.

"Just don't say anything to anyone yet, we want to be absolutely certain this will work before we give it out," Bruce said.

"What about Coulson? Shouldn't we let him know?" she asked.

"Late time we spoke with them, Pep, where were they?"

Pepper thought. "They'd just crossed the North Carolina border this morning."

"How much longer till they get here?"

"Depending on the roads and the amount of fuel they have it could be anywhere from a few hours to a few days."

"Let's see how things go with Maria tonight and talk about it in the morning," Bruce decided. He turned back to the blood slides in front of him.

A/N: So sorry for the long wait, I was a little nervous about posting this chapter for a few reasons. Please review? ~JLL