A/N: Wow. Know I've not scripted anything in a while or updated current Caryl fics. No idea where this came from …

I don't much care for Philip and yet I felt like he could be redeemed with Jessilynn's help. Takes place in TWD:S4 after he was abandoned by his men and begins wandering aimlessly. AU from there. No meeting Lilly Chambler or leading the River Camp on a second strike of the prison, therefore no Hershel death!

"You better let me look at that wound," Jessilynn Parker said, staring at the tall dark-haired stranger who hovered nearby, favoring his right leg. She shouldered her rifle and motioned to him to follow her.

Philip Blake one-eyed the white blonde from under the mane covering his face like a wild animal but sensed she meant him no harm. She waved him to the porch steps of her rickety shack and he obediently sat as she disappeared inside.

Jessilynn wondered how long the man had been out in the woods as she gathered gauze and alcohol before returning to him. She also wondered how long he'd been wearing a patch over his eye. She hiked up his pant leg and he hissed as she brushed her fingers over the bloody gash on his calf that was starting to fester.

"Lordy!" she exclaimed. "Good thing I spotted you. You'd be one of those things before long."

He made no other sound as she doctored him, flushing out the infection as best she could, and wrapped the wound in gauze.

"Got a name?" she asked, peering at him as she finished tying it off and pulling the pant leg down. His one flinty blue eye met her pale icy blue ones. "I think I at least deserve that for patching you up."

"Philip," he hoarsely uttered with a voice he hadn't used in months.

"Well, Philip, I'm Jessilynn," she said, standing. She glanced out into the fading sunlight.

"You're welcome to share some stew with me and then bunk on my couch tonight before you go on your way in the morning," she offered with a hard smile. "If you try anything, I will kill you without hesitation."


A week later, a clean-shaven Philip was wrestling with bailing wire Jessilynn had scavenged, wrapping it around a tree before stringing it around another tree to create an extra barrier to the house.

He heard rustling behind him and whipped out his gun, releasing his grip on the wire and spinning around.

"Easy, there, it's just me," Jessilynn said, a couple of animals dangling by the tail from one hand and her other hand gripping her rifle strap.

Philip gave her a tight smile and holstered his gun before resuming his work. She had told him he could stay if he pulled his weight. He had nowhere else to go so he had settled in doing chores around the place while she hunted and cooked.

He quickly learned Jessilynn was one tough woman and he admired her willingness to stand up to him. She didn't let his gruffness deter her from trying to draw him out of the funk he was in.

She had a quiet faith that kept her going after her father and brothers had sent her to the hunting cabin for safety. After months passed, she realized they were probably dead so she hunkered down and fended for herself.


After they had been living together for a month, Philip felt compelled to confess all of his sins to her, but she stopped him before he could spill the ugly truth about Woodbury and his vicious greed for the prison.

"The past is the past, Philip. I'm not the one you need forgiveness from. That's between you and God," Jessilynn said, effectively ending the conversation.

She found him later that day sitting on the porch steps with his head in his hands.

"How far is too far gone?" he asked as she settled next to him, her shoulder against his.

"With God, there's no such thing as too far gone," she replied. "It doesn't matter how far you've wandered from Him. It doesn't matter what you've done. If you seek Him and are willing to lay it at His feet, He will forgive you. Others may not be so willing if you've wronged them, but He can give you a peace that passes all understanding."

Philip lifted his head and glanced at her.

"You don't know what I've done, who I was," he said. "Even if He could forgive me, I don't think I can forgive myself."

Jessilynn gave him a soft smile.

"I don't think you're the same person you were then," she said. "God accepts broken people where they are at … Let Him in and He can help you forgive yourself."

She patted him on the knee and left him alone with his thoughts.

As darkness fell, Philip and God had a meeting.