KEZZ 1: Thank you for the review! I hope you enjoy this one as well!
Tea was getting ready. Her birthday celebration was happening tonight and Jesse and a couple coworkers were taking her to the bar to celebrate. She didn't want to have to come home and change after work. While Jesse claimed it was a woman's tradition to take hours getting ready when they went out, Tea preferred to get things done in a timely manner. Throwing on a pair of black skinny jeans and a black crop top with neon green claw marks on it, she tossed on one of her Dropkick Murphy t-shirts over top and headed to the bathroom. While her clothes hugged her body, she didn't need much make-up to look good. Eyeliner, mascara, and a deep red lipstick combined with her leather bracelets, black steel choker, obsidian dragon pendant, her snake rings, and her four long, angel wing earrings was all she added to it, though the number of things added certainly outweighed the number of clothes she wore. After deciding to just brush out her hair, she deemed herself ready for the day and to go out. After work, all she needed to do was take off the t-shirt and the crop top would be perfect for a night at the bar.
Grabbing her mid-calf combat boots from her room, she headed into the living room and placed them by the chair by the door. Even after all these years, she couldn't bring herself to break the habit of taking her shoes off as soon as she entered the house and carrying them to her room, nor of putting them on right by the door before she left. Tea supposed it was because she actually agreed with that rule. As much of a nuisance as it was, it did keep the floors from being mucked up too bad. Jesse's boyfriend was always teasing her for it and would purposely walk around the house with his shoes on because he knew how much of a rise it would get out of the autistic girl who liked things to be just her way. He never could quite understand how Jesse could tolerate such a controlling person as a roommate, even when Jesse told him Tea helped keep her head on straight. Jesse, for how lovely a person she was, was a raging tornado if her time wasn't controlled, so for everything she did for Tea, Tea returned the favor through helping manage her life.
It was gratifying to Tea, because it helped Jesse save money, helped her to feel accomplished at something other than just work, and made it feel like her mental deficiencies weren't as much of a hindrance as she originally thought. She knocked on Jesse's door as she passed by it and into the kitchen for a cup of tea before having her single morning coffee. The tea was to help her wake up, the coffee was for focus. Caffeine had never really been her friend until she discovered this system. The tea was detoxifying, though Tea didn't really didn't believe in the thought, but it did help her wake up without caffeine. And then she could drink her coffee without wanting to go back to sleep afterwards. Of course, maybe neither the coffee nor the tea did anything and it was just her routine that got her up and moving and ready for the day. Placebo affects could be quite strong if a person believed in the thing enough.
Practically moaning at the feel of the heat of the mug on her skin, Tea took a long draw off her tea as she heard Jesse's shower turn on. Smiling to herself, she sat at her desk and turned the TV on, switching it over to the Discovery channel. It was airing a fascinating piece on the cosmos that she listened to as she worked, one of her CDs playing quietly from the stereo behind her. After about half an hour, and half a report later, Jesse finally emerged from her room, hair still wrapped in a towel with nothing but her dressing gown on.
"Coffee," she groaned out while walking like a zombie.
Tea smirked and shook her head, "Cowboy style."
"Ugh, why do you do this to me? We have a perfectly good coffee pot right there on the counter! Why do you insist on makin' it in that metal piece of crap on the stove?" Jesse complained.
"'Cause it tastes betta," she laughed, watching as her friend nevertheless grabbed a mug and poured out the 'sludge' as she called it, even though it was the only coffee she ever drank black. "Why ya always bitch and moan and groan and then drink it anyway, ya skank?"
"'Cause it tastes betta," Jesse mocked. "Slut." They shared a laughed as Jesse sat at her desk, "So you're really not comin' back here to change after work?"
"I got somethin' I can wear ta the bar unda this. Lucky the station don' care what I wear so long as I'm not expected in court."
"So, what's on your agenda today while I'm off at campus? What's goin' on at work?"
"Oh, I gotta go ta the nursin' home, check on the old ones who got hurt. Let 'em know we got a good case and they'll get what they're due. Then I gotta go ta the precinct, drop off these case files and I get ta end the day at the campus droppin' off me paypa. Finally got the damn thing done."
"That mean you're finally turnin' in your dissertation?"
"Yeah, can' be puttin' it off any longa."
"Why have you been?"
"Ya know why. This dissertation, it's 'bout the likelihood a bein' abused and committin' crimes and drug abuse and how the severity a abuse causes the severity a the crimes and addiction. I've spent the past year talkin' ta inmates, detainees, scourin' ova case files and studies involvin' abuse and criminality. I've gone ova a hundred different studies involvin' addiction and abuse. This..." Tea spent a minute trying to gather herself. "This hits close ta home. If me mind...I could jus' as easily be a part a this study as I am the one writin' it. It explains all the stupid shite I love doin'."
"Like stealin' Mark's keys?" Jesse asked, her arms folding over her chest from drying her hair. "Yeah, I know what you did to his car."
"He was bein' a jackass ta ya," Tea said petulantly, crossing her arms and looking very much like a child defending her favorite toy.
"Tea, you can't be actin' out like that with my boyfriend. I know you only took his car to his brother's house, but you can't steal a car because someone's bein' a jackass."
"What 'bout 'cause said jackass was wasted and high as fuck and wanted ta get behind the wheel with me sista, huh?" Tea challenged.
Jesse sighed and gave up the fight, knowing that Tea hadn't actually done anything wrong aside from not telling anyone she'd taken the car, "You don't even have your license. You shouldn't be drivin'. Give it to Tony next time. You know he never drinks more than two and sticks to weed, like you."
"Who's Tony?" Tea asked confused.
"Seriously?! Don't you guys smoke together?!"
"Ya know I don' share me bowl! Neva have and neva will! It's me bowl!"
"You gotta learn how to share, Tea," Jesse chuckled.
"Yeah, tell me that without the smile and I'll start. Bitch."
"Jerk."
They looked at each other before bursting out giggling, the phrase coming from their favorite show and favorite characters. Almost as soon as they heard the phrase said by Sam and Dean on Supernatural, they'd adopted it as their inside joke as well. The joke being that Jesse was in love with Sam and Tea was absolutely enamored by Dean. Or at least she had been; Castiel had begun to confuse her which had made watching the show difficult over the last season. Tea really hated change, but she related so much to Castiel's stunted emotional abilities that she found herself drawn to that character more than Dean. Nonetheless, Jesse made her sit and watch it every Sunday night as a way to get over her emotional turmoil. She both hated and loved Jesse for everything she did, whether she knew it or not.
"How can you focus on that report when you're watchin' TV and listenin' to music?" Jesse mused for the hundredth time in the six years they'd lived together. "I mean, seriously, is this how you've gotten four degrees while I'm still workin' on my second?"
"Nah, I'm jus' smarta than ya. And me brain works fasta than yas. How can I have all this goin' on and still work? 'Cause I can' fuckin' work unless me brain is fully engaged, and it ain' fully engaged without all the distractions keepin' me focused on this."
"How the hell does that work?" Jesse mused once again.
"Ya ask me damn near every few days, Jess. Jus' stop."
"Well, I can't help it! I wanna know how my beautiful friend's freaky mind works! I mean, that's why we both went into psychology, isn't it? It's just that you ended up lovin' the Criminal Minds show back when you were plannin' on goin' the same route as me and into clinical psychology focusin' on abuse victims. Still don' get why you changed it all of a sudden. You were brilliant with the kids," Jesse said.
"That's jus' it. I didn' wanna work with the kids. I didn' wanna see them as weak and helpless victims, but that's all I could, 'cause that's all I was. And then, seein' that show, it was eye openin'. I had all the classes and degrees needed for forensic psychology, so why not? 'Sides, I was already internin' with the fuzz by then. Jus' kinda opened me eyes ta the otha side. Think I can do more for those kids on this side."
"You'll be the best damn forensic psychologist this world has ever seen!" Jesse said, pouncing on Tea from behind and wrapping her arms around her front, squishing her breasts in her hands. "And the bounciest!"
"Jezzebelle Mae Scott!" Tea yelled, bringing her head back and butting Jesse's forehead and crossing her arms over her chest. "How many times I have ta tell ya! I don' fuckin' like that!"
"Oh, come on! I just got to get a cop of those things! How is it you never wear a proper bra, are a fuckin' D cup, and still don't sag or anythin'! It's not fair! You're short and small and got tits galore while stuck with these tiny Bs! Not fair!"
"Quit bein' a petulant baby and go get dressed. Ya only got an hour and a half 'fore ya gotta head ta campus," Tea sighed in exasperation, knowing that her friend didn't actually mean anything by it; the woman would come home and fall face first into her chest on days that were particularly bad and act as if she was a pillow.
"Yes, ma'am."
Shaking her head with a chuckle, Tea couldn't help but smile at her friend's antics. She was so much older than her, having celebrated her twenty first in Boston with Tea at a Flogging Molly concert when Tea was only seventeen. Even though she was young, it didn't stop the friendly, mostly Irish-heritage, citizens attending the concert from handing her beers and later shots of whiskey when they learned she didn't like beer. It had become a matter of pride for some of the men as they knocked back shot after shot after the concert had ended, Jesse leaving to have some fun with one of the guys. In the end, she'd impressed the men so much that when they'd gone back to Boston a couple times for other concerts, the same crew welcomed them with open arms and even gave them a place to crash so that the after party could commence. Truth be told, that was the first time she'd smoked weed, too, and the world had momentarily been righted.
That's how she started smoking, she reminisced as she picked up her bowl and took a hit before taking a draw off her coffee. After doing some research, although it was extremely limited, she'd learned a little about the effect weed could have on people and realized that she could potentially use it as a medicine to help her keep her mind calm and her anger at bay. It wasn't always effective, but Jesse had done her best to help cover Tea's usage up so that Tea could get the best out of life. The bees weren't so loud when she smoked, the troll not so giant, and that made it so much easier to handle life.
"Hey, you want me to give you a ride to the nursin' home?" Jesse asked about forty five minutes later while coming out of her room holding her heels.
"Not when ya wearin' those damn things ta drive."
"I can drive in heels just fine," Jesse pouted.
"Jess, ya know I love ya, but ya can' drive for shite with propa footwear. I drive betta than ya, and I can' even pass the test 'cause I can' parallel park for the life a me!"
Jesse just laughed at her, "Have it your way then! Don't get killed on the bus!"
"Ya mean don' kill anybody on the bus."
Jesse came over and gave her a one armed hug, wanting to give her a kiss on the cheek but knowing she'd already crossed a line once today and it would be a few days before she could again without serious bodily injury, "Love ya, whore."
"Love ya too, cunt. Now git."
As the door closed behind Jesse, Tea took a minute to calm her mind by taking another pull on her bowl. Jesse was a handful she couldn't help but love, but sometimes she felt like a mom taking care of a teenager. She finished off her coffee and her bowl before printing off her report. Once done, she grabbed it and placed it in the manila folder with all the evidence and witness statements and placed that in her leather work case. Picking it up and heading to the chair, she put on her boots and headed out.
She spent two hours at the old folks' home, sitting with a couple of the patients she had helped the most and reading out in the common room at the request of an elderly man who said her way of talking reminded him of his wife. Tea hadn't been able to say no, because such a bond was special and it helped him feel it again, which made her feel special. Stopping at the station next, she went to the Captain's office and handed him one of the reports that he needed for a specific case he was involved with himself before heading to her department to drop off the rest of the files to her boss. Along the way, she was stopped by another colleague who was going with them that evening and chatted for a minute, Tea ensuring they were just going to a little dive bar and not one that was crazy busy or had a lot of loud music. Only problem, there would undoubtedly be a few of the bad crowd since they were heading a few counties over. Atlanta didn't have the kind of bar Tea was comfortable with, so they'd had to search farther out just to get her to agree.
By the time she was done at the precinct, she had just enough time to pop into her Dean's office to turn in her rough draft and an application for her dissertation presentation before he left for the day. All that would be left was actually presenting her thesis and showing the evidence she'd gathered in front of a panel of experts. If it was accepted, she would graduate with her PhD and would have her study published widely and potentially be further researched, which would earn her even more fame. She met up with one of the other guys going with them and waited for a pair of their friends to join them before piling in a car. When she was asked by the girl if she was really wearing a band t-shirt to a bar, Tea simply took it off and tucked it into her bag. She then got told she was going to have to break hands and feet to keep men from touching her and it might be better to put the rock shirt back on. While they were used to Tea's love of comfort, her brazen choice of clothes in the South made others either uncomfortable or a little too casual.
Tea chuckled at them as she fell into silence as the other three in the car continued chatting away, leaning her head on the window and closing her eyes. She listened as they went on their way, Keith and Mary arguing about what drink Tea was going to have first. Johnny didn't drink, so he was content just listening to them as he drove his car. Tea chimed in that she was drinking whiskey or vodka, either or, but only one of the two. You never mixed clear and amber liquors, her papa had told her, and she'd only made that mistake once at a bonfire with some other collegians. She had never puked so much in her life and the next day she had to call into class and say she'd gotten the stomach flu. The bar was an hour's drive away, not too far out to celebrate but far enough out for Tea to knock a few back before having a legitimate reason to leave.
"We're here, birthday girl," Mary said before all but pulling her from the car and dragging her inside.
The rest of their little group were already inside drinking, Jesse included, much to the dismay of several of the regular customers. Tea could tell why, as her city-folk friends were completely out of place in this backwoods bar. Sighing to herself at the fact that she couldn't believe they'd talked her into this, she walked in and felt as if all the eyes in the bar turned on her. Though she had come with friends, it was more Jesse wanting to bring Tea out for a change. While the group called themselves her friends, they never talked unless Jesse was around or had something planned. It was awkward for most of the group to view the youngest of their numbers as one of them when they were, in fact, their professor as well. The night slipped away as they fed her shot after shot, finding out that she loved Boston Sours and ordering them for her over and over again. Making sure to drink water with every shot, she was nowhere near as blitzed as the rest by the time they became too much for her to handle and started picking fights with the locals.
Walking outside, she sighed to herself as she felt the fresh night air and wished she had brought some cigarettes. Looking around, she noticed a guy off by himself smoking and decided to take her chance. Most Southern men were gentlemen to a single woman, though there were always those who would have to learn their place. Tea walked up to him and noticed that he was older than her by a good bit, but still handsome in his own right. Her mind was racing with different scenarios involving what Jesse would say about him and tell her to do, but right now, there was literally only one thing on her mind.
"Hey, can I get a fag?" she asked, completely forgetting where she was.
"The fuck's a fag?" his gruff voice asked, Tea watching as his eyes raked over her.
"A smoke...sorry, fag, smoke, cig, called 'em any a that since I was a kid-kid, not jus' a kid ta ya," she chuckled as she slurred her words, thanking the man as he offered one to her and then lit it. "Figured ya might a known what a fag was as far as a cig goes. Ya look the type ta."
"Fuck you mean by that?"
She chuckled, "Ya know how ta start a sentence with anythin' but fuck? And ta answa ya question, ya eitha a redneck or a hillbilly, one a the two."
"There's a difference?" he asked, sounding slightly interested.
"Redneck's an asshole with a good heart. Hillbilly's an asshole, racist, sexist prick. Think there's a huge difference 'tween the two," she sighed wistfully as she she exhaled a drag of the cigarette.
"You from around here? Should put a fuckin' shirt on."
"Nope," she said, popping the p. "It's me birthday, and me friend insisted on bringin' me ta a bar 'cause that's what twenny one year olds do apparently. And I have a fuckin' shirt on," she attempted to take a step towards him, but she stumbled just slightly, making the man stand just a little straighter in case she fell. "I'm good...jus'...the ground wobbled for a minute..."
"Should head home if the ground's wobblin'," he suggested.
"Yep, ya a redneck. Ya sweet."
"I ain't sweet," he said, his voice starting to sound very familiar.
"Where ya at, Darylina? Or are you bein' a little bitch again?"
"You gonna be alright?" he asked.
"A-okay!" she said while giggling. "Catch ya around...Darylina..."
"Knock it off," he growled, coming closer to her while snarling.
Tea began backing up, something about this causing her to panic. This wasn't how this happened. There was no growling, no snarling. Why was a baby crying? What was with the hissing? What the fuck was going on? As the man growled at her, she had to bite back the scream that wanted to rip through her, something telling her that screaming right now would be worse than the crying baby. As his teeth closed around her neck, a searing pain dragging downwards caused her mind to began to register what was happening.
Ani's eyes slammed open as a searing pain hit her cheek and neck, Bobby or Catty trying to scratch it's way up her head while crying as the other one was hissing away in the bag. Her brain didn't have time to process what she'd dreamt as she looked out the window of the small train station she'd found. It hadn't been the most secured place, but after running for most of the night before finding the cabin and then running the rest of that day, through the night, and into the next day with barely a rest except for food, she'd needed sleep. Exhausted, she'd passed out here yesterday afternoon only to wake up in the middle of the night to feed the kittens before going back to sleep. They were their very own wake up and warning alarm, fearing the walkers and becoming completely dependent upon Ani the last two days.
Pulling the one off her face and hissing at the claw marks surely left, she picked the other one up and carefully put them in their bag. Grabbing up the other to bags and securing them to a rope, she tossed one end over the rafters and hoisted all three bags high enough for the walkers to not be able to reach them. She'd found the station at the same time as she'd found the tracks, trying to figure out which way she was supposed to go. Deciding to walk towards where there were signs and such, Ani had hunkered down for some much needed rest. She was hoping there would be a station where she could get a map and figure out where the hell she was. If it weren't for the kittens, she would have gone completely insane after finding the cabin burned.
It'd taken her a good chunk of the day to come out of the comatose state that finding the ruin put her in. If it hadn't been for the kittens beginning to make noise, she would have probably just sat there completely unmoving even as the walker closed in on her. It was only their terror and the fact that she had promised to protect them that got her moving, killing the walker with brute force and her fists alone. She had been surprised that the kittens hadn't run when she'd gotten up and left them, but instead jumped back in their bag from running around trying to climb on her. After that, she just wandered around, following some game trails to make sure she could feed the kittens, making sure she ate enough to keep up her strength and health herself so that she could keep them safe. Now, she knew which was which because of their attitudes.
Bobby, the one that had been hissing like a madman at the incoming threat, by far was more the hunter and fighter. He was already practicing pouncing on his brother. Catty, on the other hand, was a damn scaredy cat. He would mewl and cry every time something bigger than him even came close, once running to her because he got spooked by a crow. Even though she didn't know if they were males or not, she decided to consider them such until she knew. Their personalities were as plain as day even if they were identical in looks. It made Ani smile as she readied her knives, no longer bothering with running when a group of walkers came around as long as it wasn't a horde.
Dancing her way through the ten or so walkers, she took the lot down with twists and thrusts to the skull, base of the neck, or up through the chins. The kittens were crying to her by the time she was done dispatching the group and wiping her blades off. Telling them to hold their horses, she slowly lowered her bags and put them on before leaving the relative safety being in the station had offered her over night. There wasn't much else to do but head down the train tracks and hope she could find a map or sign or something that let her know where she was. Hell, she wasn't even sure she was still in Georgia anymore after being chased by the Claimers the night before; she'd killed another of their number before hiding high in the trees and keeping the kittens in her bag and purring rather than out playing. Her mind wandered back to the dream she had as she started talking to the kittens, who purred away as she cradled them in their bag in her arms.
"Ya know, I know it happened how it happened, but I don' know if it was D I actually spoke ta. Was dark, didn' really see his face too good. But I know I heard someone callin' out a really funny name and I teased 'im 'bout it. Got all angry and stormed off. Felt like a bitch the next mornin' 'cause I know betta than anyone what teasin' 'bout a name can do ta ya," she told them. "Was so drunk on whiskey sours I actually fell asleep out there afta the smoke. Don' even know when Johnny found me, but they said someone let 'em know I was out there when Max had picked a fight with a hillbilly ova not knowin' where I was. Knew that man was a sweet redneck. Prolly wasn' D, though. I miss 'im." She cuddled the kittens close as she walked and listened to them purr. "I miss 'im so much I'm puttin' 'im in memories 'e ain' got no business bein' in. Don' even rememba the name a the bar." When Catty looked up at her, Ani got snarky and chastised him, "Don' look at me like that. Seriously, the odds a it bein' Daryl that night is slim ta none, and if 'e was that man, gods I hope 'e don' fuckin' rememba it. I was half tempted ta kiss 'im 'fore I opened me mouth ta tease 'im."
Looking up at the sun, she looked back down before turning around and walking backwards for a while, "Don' fuckin' know what way I'm goin'. Hope I can find somethin' soon ta tell me where we are. Not gonna find no one if we can' figure out where the fuck we are. What do y'all think? Abandon the tracks? Go back ta the woods?" Bobby and Catty both looked at her with their twin looks and made her sigh, "Fine. Ya right. Was dumb ta leave the tracks the first time, though if I hadn', I wouldn' a found ya, now would I?" she asked, scratching both their heads. "So don' look at me like I'm an idiot jus' 'cause I suggest they ain' helpin' us get anywhere. Gotta go ta the woods ta hunt, too. The two a ya can' hunt and ya can' survive off a what I forage, so what do I do? Gonna have ta leave the tracks from time ta time and come back ta 'em."
As night fell, she climbed a tree and tied herself to it, holding onto the bag with Bobby and Catty, although she put them on the branches so they could continue practicing climbing the tree. Even if she had claimed them as hers, she wanted them to be as feline as possible. How could she expect them to hunt if they didn't retain their natural instincts? Sure, they were a bit spoiled and had already put on a couple pounds it seemed from how much she fed them, but she couldn't help but make sure their little tummies never went empty! At least for now. When she started training them, they'd have to go hungry a little bit, but getting them to that point would be easier if she kept them fed now. That and they'd grow bigger and stronger being fed so well like this so long as she kept them active. She smiled as they played around until the sun had fully set. They were quite playful, although Catty was by far the more timid one while Bobby was always the first to attack.
Before the moon breached the overhead branches of the trees, the kittens settled down in their sack, purring away as she hummed to them. She fell asleep, once again dreaming of Daryl and startling awake to the nightmare of finding him turned and tearing at her flesh. This time, she kept the knowledge of where the tracks were as she hunted, not bothering to cook the squirrels she caught this time and just chewing some of the meat for the kittens and eating some raw herself. It wasn't the smartest thing to do, but she didn't feel like stopping if she didn't have to. Eventually she made her way back to the train tracks as they opened up and splintered off.
Crying out a laugh, she not only found a map that showed where she was, but also two different notes. One saying that there was a place called Terminus where all the tracks met that was a place for everyone to survive. The other was to Glenn from Maggie, telling him that she would meet him there. So they are still alive, Ani smiled to herself. She'd spent a week without human contact aside from running from that Claimer group. And even then, as soon as they had passed and she could no longer hear or see them, she started tree-hopping in the opposite direction, which was how she ended up finding the train station to begin with.
Now she had a proper heading, and if she was where she was on the map, it meant she was only maybe a day away. She'd only have to spend another night out in the open before hopefully she'd be able to reunite with all her people. With a pep in her step, she kissed the heads of both Bobby and Catty before she took them out of the bag to walk and began down the tracks. There were so many tracks that lead to the same place, if her people were actually alive, they'd be heading there. Even though Ani didn't know if Daryl was alive anymore, she was certain that she would find him at Terminus.