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BabySlothXYaoi- Ngl that was a very spur of the moment decision to give Carl a fear of heights, but I'm excited to write more with that... less excited about how I'm definitely going to forget... it's on a sticky note now, stuck to my monitor, so thank you for the reminder! I would love that if I didn't have extreme ophidiophobia, aha, I'd rather face walkers than snakes any day. Poor Sasha... in the show she really goes on a downward spiral from here, but I promise to give her some high points too! Yeah, it's nice to write the boys a little distant at the moment, gives some interesting opportunities, but when they do come back together, they'll be better than ever! At least for a while! Thank you for taking one for the team, humanity thanks you for your service! Thank you as well for all the lovely comments!

Guest- Rick doesn't officially know anything, no... but just between you and me, I think he may suspect something... not everything, but something... he was a cop after all!

Chapter Warning- Themes of survivor guilt.

My eyes flicker open.

Light fills the square room I'm lying in.

It's my room.

Mine and Carl's.

Our cell back in the prison.

Comics are scattered across the concrete floor. A crooked side table is beside my bunk, filled with empty space. Judith's fold-out crib lies empty. The most out of place thing about the room is that I'm in the bottom bunk, not my top one.

I sit up, confused, rubbing my eyes, even though they're not tired, in fact, I feel better than I have in over a month.

My leg feels strange, so I place a hand against it, realising why. The wound from the prison bus is gone, my leg feels lighter, and like everything else, better than it has in a long time.

"Mornin' Kiddo."

I look to the woman sitting at the end of the bed, leaning against the cot's metal railings with her arms folded as she smiles at me.

"Karen?"

She keeps smiling, overwhelming me with it.

I move across the bed towards her, and my body feels like it's floating. I hug her, and it feels strange, loose, and unspecific. I pull away.

"I'm dreaming, right?" I ask.

She bites her bottom lip through her smile and nods, curling a strand of dark hair around her index finger.

"Why here?" I ask, not sure why I do.

"I don't know," Karen shrugs. "It's home?"

When she says it like that, it makes sense, and I smile.

I beam.

It doesn't feel real.

It couldn't be.

"So you're not real?" I ask, hoping she'll say otherwise.

"Sorry, kiddo. I'm just what you can remember."

"I didn't think I could remember you," I sink into the sheets, grabbing fistfuls of them to keep myself anchored to the bed, still feeling like I'm floating. "I can't ever see you how you were... like this."

"Maybe not when you're awake," she laughs. I don't know why she laughs, because I find it sad. Maybe it's a strategic laugh? A laugh to fill something otherwise painful.

"You know that you come here a lot?" Karen tells me.

"I do?"

"Mm-hmm," she hums. "You just can't remember when you're awake."

"Why?"

"I have absolutely no idea."

"That's sad..." I sigh, Karen nodding in agreement.

Then I do remember something.

"Tyreese," I mutter.

"Rhys, it's okay."

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

My gut feels like it should be twisting, and my eyes seem like they're meant to be crying, but they don't.

"I don't know," I admit.

I look around the room while Karen sings to herself, echoing through the small space, ringing deep in my ears.

I'd sacrifice anything come what might,

For the sake of having you near,

In spite of a warning voice that comes in the night,

And repeats, repeats in my ear.

I notice that the cell door is shut, nothing beyond it except a blinding light. A warm light, spilling through the bars and irradiating the concrete floor.

"This is weird," I tell her.

She stops her song. "It is?"

"Yeah... you're meant to wake up when you realise that you're dreaming."

"Do you want to wake up?" She asks.

"No," I shake my head. "It's just strange."

"Rhys," Karen sighs. "Why are you here?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"It's your dream," she chuckles.

"I'm just visiting," I argue without arguing. "You live in it."

"You wanna know why I think you're here?"

I nod.

"I think you want someone to talk to."

"Yeah?"

"Yep."

I think about it.

"Is there something wrong with that?" I finally ask, feeling defensive.

"Why don't you talk to the others?"

"Because I'm scared."

"Of?" Karen asks it like she knows the answer because she does.

"Ty being angry at me," I whisper. It feels like I should be sobbing, but I think this dream has robbed me of the ability. "He's dead, and I'm here. How can I enjoy that I'm the one still here?"

Karen frowns, tilting her head, bringing a hand to touch my face. "I'm dead." She says it with such certainty that it hurts. "You managed to be happy after I died."

"You dying wasn't my fault..."

"Nore was it with Ty."

"If I'd listened to him... he would have made it."

"That's not true."

"If I'd stayed with Ty, he'd be alive."

"Maybe not."

I stand up.

Karen looks sad. "You know Tyreese wouldn't be angry with you."

"I know," I nod, angry at how right I know she is.

"He loved you so much."

I nod again.

"He would want you to look after Sasha..."

"She can look after herself," I point out.

"Sure, in some ways, but not all ways."

"She's like me," I sigh, "She tries not to talk."

"Why do you think that is?" Karen asks. It amazes me that even in a dream, she sounds like a teacher.

When I don't answer, she tells me what I already know.

"Sasha's doesn't have anyone to speak to," Karen reminds me. "Her brother... her boyfriend... they're both gone."

"I think you should speak to people," Karen says. "Speak to Carl."

I stare at Karen, trying to take in her face, hoping to remember it, heartbroken that I know I won't.

"I wish I could have told you about him," I tell her. "He's amazing..."

She smiles. "I wish you could have too."

I sit back down. "I never got to tell you my last name either."

"You didn't," Karen whispers sweetly.

"I could now."

"Why, there would be no point. I'm not real. You'd just be telling yourself."

Karen puts an arm around me and asks, "Did you finish the book?"

"Born to Run?"

She nods.

"No."

"Hmm," she tilts her head onto the top of mine. "Shame, I would like to hear how that one ends."

I tell her that I agree with her.

"Is Ty here?" I ask hopefully.

"He's not, kiddo."

"You think you should go now?" Karen asks into my hair. It feels shorter here.

"Can't I stay?"

"Afraid not."

"Do you get lonely?" I ask.

"No," I can feel Karen smiling into me, "I'm not real."

"Right."

"How do I go back?" I ask. "Wake up, I mean."

"Just go to sleep."

I lie down on the bottom bunk.

Sinking into the sheets as Karen tucks them to my chin. Stopping me from floating away.

"Remember what I told you?" She asks. "When you told me your name is Rhys."

I shake my head, feeling like I should be tired. Instead, I grow more awake as she speaks. I wonder if that's how it feels to fall asleep in a dream.

"I couldn't always fit in, so I pretended... pretended I was normal until I was."

She brushes hair from my face and kisses my forehead. "Goodnight, Kiddo."

A/N

Song was, of course, I've got you under my skin by Frank Sinatra. She got to sing the bits that Ty didn't.

Not the biggest fan of dream sequences, personally. So I wrote it that Rhys knew it wasn't real. It would feel cheap otherwise. Karen's gone, this isn't her, just the way Rhys sometimes speaks to himself in his head, and he knows it. The only advice she could give is what he could give himself.

Okay! I promise the next chapter will be back to Rhys properly! No dreams... only walking, storms, and a cosy barn.