Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Chapter 97

Author's Note: Almost 400 reviews! You guys blow me away! I can't believe I am close to 100 chapters already, and trust me I have ideas. Good ideas, some evil (this is the Walking Dead) and some sappy ones. Reviews make me happy. Happy New Years! Carl and Michonne isn't going to be shown cause there little arc isn't changing.

Rick walked around the room and studied everything. "This could have been me," he said quietly.

Jewel placed her hand on his shoulder. "But it's not," she told him as she kissed his neck.

"We were the same….we started out at the same place. He was trying to protect his son, lost his wife. I wanted to find Carl, Lori…Shane. I wouldn't have met you if it wasn't for him," Rick told her.

Jewel caressed his face. "Things happen for a reason. If Jane taught me anything', it was that. Me finding Jane, you finding Morgan….it was all meant to be. God I swear I've been hanging out with Hershel to much," she said with a small smile. "You stay here, I'm going to look around. I'll just be in the next room," she told him as she kissed him.

Rick nodded as he bent down by the cot. "I'm sorry this happened to you Morgan. Whatever happened, whatever you did, you can come back from it," he said as he cradled the radio and got up.

Jewel looked in the other room and filled a bag with guns and ammo. She turned her head as she heard noise in the other room.

"You know me!" she heard Rick yell.

"You don't clear!" Jewel heard the other man yell. She ran into the room just as she saw him bring a knife down to Rick's chest.

Jewel grabbed her gun and held it to the other man's head. "Put it down, don't make me pull this trigger," she warned.

Morgan turned and grabbed her wrist causing her to drop the gun. Rick pulled his. "You crazy son of a bitch!"

Morgan pulled the gun closer to his head. "Do it, just kill me, do it," he asked begging.

"Rick…." Jewel warned.

Rick pulled the gun away and backed away. "Jewel you alright?" he asked as he helped her up.

"Yeah, I'd be better if you stopped getting hurt. Sit, shirt off, you know the drill. And you, stand up," Jewel warned as she pulled her gun on him again. "Do it, nice and slow," she warned. "Arms out," she instructed as she nodded to Rick to frisk him.

Rick did it. "You know me Morgan, look at me. You and…you found me last year," he said as he finished and sat down and took off his shirt. "You found me on your front yard," he reminded him.

"I don't know you! I don't know anyone!" Morgan exclaimed.

Jewel kept an eye on him as she inspected the wound. "Damn hand," she said as she took off the bandage in her hand and flexed her fingers and grimaced.

"You shouldn't have that off yet," Rick told his wife.

"It'll be fine for a few minutes," Jewel said as she got behind Rick and glanced at Morgan.

"You fed me, Morgan. You told me what was happening Morgan," Rick stated.

"I don't know anyone. People wearing dead people's faces. You don't clear!" Morgan yelled.

Jewel looked at him as she put a bandage on Rick's wound. She took longer then she normally would because her hand was still tender.

"My name is Rick Grimes. I'm not wearing a dead person's face. I gave you this," he said as he held up the radio. "I said I'd turn it on everyday so you could find me," Rick reminded the other man.

Morgan looked at him, a slight recognition in his eyes. "Rick? Oh man, damn it I… Man I know you. I know who you are. You said you'd turn yours on at dawn…that's what you said. I mean I hadn't worked up to it, yet then I did. On the roof, every morning, for days, for weeks, me and boy. Then just me. Just static, nothing but static. And then nothing. NOTHING! You weren't there, you never were," he said accusingly.

"I was," Rick told the other man.

"Not when I tried!" Morgan accused him. "Every day at dawn….and you were not there!"

Jewel bent down. "Easy…Morgan..I'm Jewel. Listen to me. I heard him try. He wanted to find you and your boy. He owed you his life….he dropped the bag in Atlanta. He went back to get his gun and radio. He kept getting pushed out more."

"Jewel's right. I found my son, my estranged wife. I met Jewel, you made that possible. I had people that counted on me, we kept getting pushed out of the country. I swear to God that I didn't have a choice!" Rick told him.

"You can have your radio back, because I finally found you!" Morgan told them. "You found your wife and son, that's what happened right? You met someone? You right?" he asked Jewel.

"Yes," Jewel told him.

"Your wife did she turn?" Morgan asked Rick.

"Jewel's my wife, my ex wife Lori, she died but she didn't turn," Rick told him.

"Well at least you didn't have to witness that. Of course not, not like me. No, not like me. Not like my wife. You remember what happened to her? You remember what she was?" Morgan asked.

Rick nodded. "Yes."

"Oh, you gave me the gun. You tried," Morgan told him.

Rick and Jewel looked at each other. "What did he try Morgan?"

Morgan looked at her. "He tried to get me to do it, cause I was supposed to do it. I was supposed to kill my Jenny. Knew I was supposed to do it, but I let it go. You ever talk about what would happen Rick, if your wife here gets bit and turns? It's going to happen, it always happens. You need to be prepared Rick, you need to be ready."

Rick looked at Jewel then at Morgan. "You can't be ready for such a thing, Morgan. You may try to be, but you can't be."

"I let it go, like there wasn't going to be some sort of reckoning. We was always looking for food. It always came down to food. And I was..I was checking out a cellar. And I didn't want Duane to come down there with me. And then I came up…and she was there. Standing right in front of him and he had a gun. He couldn't do it. I called to him and he turned to me, and then she was just just on him. And I see red, I see red. Everything I is red, everything I see is red. And I do it. Finally. But it was to late. I was selfish, I was weak, you gave me the gun," Morgan told Rick. "You son is he?"

"He's alive," Rick told him. "I've got two daughters now. Jewel's daughter Summer is 16 and we have a newborn."

"They'll be dead, some time. The good people like you Rick, they always die. And the bad people do too. But the weak people, like me, we've inherited the Earth," Morgan told him.

Jewel ran a hand through her hair. "Morgan, you aren't weak. If you were, you wouldn't have made it this far. I'm real sorry 'bout your wife, your son. I can't imagine the hell it is. I can't imagine the pain you went through. But, you can't do this alone, not anymore."

"She's right Morgan. I would have been the same place as you, I could have been you," Rick told him.

"But you aren't me are you? No, I saved you, you found your family. You found someone to love. But me? I lost my son, I lost everything," Morgan told him.

Jewel took a breath and placed her hand on Morgan's knee. "Morgan I need you to look at me. Look me straight in the eyes. Focus on me. I need you to see me, I need you to listen to my words. But I need you to understand me," she said as she grasped his face gently. "Look at me Morgan."

Rick watched Jewel. It was in these moments that he fell more in love with Jewel. It was sides of her that she hardly shared with anyone. The moments that he could see what an amazing nurse she had been in the real world. The calmness that she brought out in people, brought out in him.

Morgan struggled to get his face from her grip but she just tightened it on his chin. "Look at me Morgan. I'm not a dead person, Rick isn't a dead person. We are alive. I know you've been letting guilt eat you up, and I get it, Morgan. We get it. You've had to do it alone, and I'm real sorry for that. But you helping Rick a year ago, that is the type of man you are. He's still in there Morgan, the person you were. You don't have to do it alone anymore, you can get him back. If it wasn't for you, I would have never met Rick. And I owe you more than a thank you can ever cover. I could have been you, Rick could have been you. To survive in this world, good people got to find each other. You are not weak, Morgan. If you were, you wouldn't have survived. And you aren't a bad person, if you were, you would have shot to kill, you wouldn't have warned us away. The Morgan that helped Rick that day, he's still in there. He just got a little lost. Would your Jenny or Duane wanted you to end up like this?"

"You don't know anything about them," Morgan told her.

"No, but I know that if I lost Rick, or my kids, they wouldn't want me to live like this. They would want me to fight. They would want me to move forward, would want me to continue doin' good. Continuing helping' people. Would it be easy? No. I don't even think I can imagine the hell it would be. I'm not even going to try to imagine what it's like for you Morgan. But what I know is that right now, Rick found you again Morgan. That wasn't by chance, that was for a reason. You helped him, let us help you," Jewel begged.

"How can you help me? How can either one of you help me?" Morgan asked.

"I'm not going to kill you Morgan. I don't think that's what's supposed to happen today. I think you're supposed to come back with us," Rick told him.

Morgan looked at both of them. "After all this? After me trying to blow your head off, stab your heart out, live happily every after together?"

Jewel glanced at Morgan. "You weren't really close to his heart, which don't get me wrong, I appreciate that."

Rick glanced at Jewel. She was calm but she was nervous. He gave her a small smile. "You didn't kill me, I didn't kill you. I'll take that as a sign."

"A sign?" Morgan asked.

"We found a prison, the fences keep them out," Rick informed the other man.

"Is that where your son's mother died?" Morgan asked. "Just go Rick. Just take your wife and your son and the other woman and go. Don't go back, don't stop. Just give yourself more time. That's all that matters these days, those precious few extra minutes you can squeeze out with your family."

Jewel took a breath. "We can help you, Morgan. Give you a chance to regroup, heal," she told him.

"You're taking a lot of guns Rick. Lots of guns," Morgan informed him. "Why you need all those guns?"

Jewel glanced at Rick. "We could ask you the same thing," she said.

"You've got something good that means someone is trying to take it. And that's what's happening isn't it?" Morgan asked.

"We're going to win," Rick told the other man. "You can be there, you can help us."

"You will be torn apart by bullets, or teeth. You and your boy. Your wife, your daughters. Your people. But not me, because I'm not going to watch it happen. Not again. You take those guns," Morgan told him.

Rick looked at him. "You know there's a chance, and that's what you can't square. That's what hurts! You know there's a chance! I don't think you heard a damn word we've said! We both started at the same place, things went bad for you and things went bad for me. Yes, I got lucky, I met Jewel. You have to take the little glimpses of good that comes into your life, especially now. You aren't seeing things right, but you can come back from this, I know you can. You have to, this can't be it. You got to be able to come back from this."

"No!" Morgan yelled at the other man.

"Morgan please," Rick begged.

"No! I have to clear. That's why I didn't die today. That's the sign. I have to man, I have to. I have to clear," Morgan told them.

"Rick," Jewel said as she put her hand on his shoulder and picked up a bag of guns and went with him out to the car.

"Hey we were just about ready to look for you," Michonne said.

"He OK?" Carl asked as they started to put things in the car.

"No, Carl he isn't, not in the least," Jewel said.

Carl looked at them before turning to see Morgan.

"Carl, wait," Jewel said. "Load up the car I got it."

"Morgan?" Carl asked. "I'm sorry I shot at you, I had too, you know that right?"

"Never be sorry son, never," Morgan told him.

"Carl come on, we need to be headin' back," Jewel said as she looked at Morgan and gave him a nod.

Rick looked as they came back. "Everything go alright with Michonne today Carl?"

Carl nodded. "I think she may be one of us," Carl told them.

"Let's go home," Jewel said as she took bandages out of her bag. "Don't you tell Mar or Hershel I had this hand uncovered!" she warned as she got in the car.