Author's Note: Be warned, there is sexual content in this chapter again, so young children turn away and go watch Sesame Street. Also, this is the last chapter until October 2015 when Season 6 returns to AMC. I've appreciated all the reviews and feedback and I have loved writing this story so far and cannot wait to continue doing so in five months, lol. That being said...ENJOY! And don't forget to check back in the fall for when I update again!

As always, R&R!

xoxo

"I might have a reckless streak

At least a country-mile wide

If you're gonna run with me

It's gonna be a wild ride

When it comes to loving you

I've got velvet hands

I'll show you how a real bad boy

Can be a real good man."

—Tim McGraw

Rick continued to look around the room after Carol left. He folded his arms across his chest and tilted his head back against the wall, thinking about what he would say at the meeting and how he could say it without losing his cool. He needed Deanna and the rest of the safe-zoners to understand him; to see that their way of living, their ignorance about the outside world, would get them killed. They needed to be prepared for anything and, if his people, the ones he loved, were gonna continue to live in Alexandria, he needed to know things were gonna change.

Realizing there was no longer a reason for him to stay in the basement of this particular building, Rick pulled himself up to his feet, tucking the gun Carol had given him into the back of his pants and then pulling his shirt down over it. He leaned forward and picked his constable's shirt and jacket up off the floor in one hand and looked at the mattress.

Without a second thought, he walked out of the room, toward the door and opened it. Stepping out into daylight, he squinted, raising his hand to shade his vision a little. Walking up a few steps, Rick turned left onto the red brick sidewalk and approached Tobin and two other men he hadn't really caught the names of, who were standing around with rifles slung over their shoulders.

"Hey, Tobin," he greeted politely.

"Rick."

When he reached the corner, he glanced up to the side porch of Deanna's home and found her standing there, staring sternly back at him. Continuing down the road, he passed Glenn sitting on the porch of the Infirmary. He didn't stop to talk, but he gave a nod of his head. He had already said what needed to be said earlier when the younger man visited with Carol and Abraham.

Reaching the intersection, Rick's eyes wandered over toward Jake's house and saw the bed sheet covering the front window and his mind immediately conjured up the memory of the fight from the day before and how much rage he felt inside of him. He hadn't had that kind of one on one beat down with another person since The Governor.

He knew the house could be useful for other people to live in, but he would personally prefer to see the place burn to the ground.

Turning away, he looked down at the pavement as he continued walking; eventually reaching his house and casually climb the steps. He hadn't had the door open a foot when Carl came running up to him.

"Dad."

Rick embraced his son with his right arm after shutting the door behind him.

"You okay?" Carl asked.

"Yeah," he nodded, taking a step back and walking in the direction of the stairwell. "Look, I'm sorry."

"I heard about the meeting."

"You're staying home," Rick stated and continued on.

"That's what it is now, right?" Carl questioned, hopefully. "Home?"

Rick stopped and looked back at his son. "Yeah," he nodded.

"They need us. They'll die without us."

"I might have to threaten one of them," Rick said as he walked back up to Carl. "I could have to kill one of them."

"You won't."

"I might."

"You have to tell them."

"I told them last night."

"You have to tell them so they can hear you," Carl insisted, looking his father in the eye.

"I don't know if they can," Rick replied. "Does that make you afraid?"

Carl shook his head. "Just for them. You have to tell them; not just about what Jake did to Georgie and those people we found in Greensboro, but about everything. The world outside."

Rick looked at his son, and admired how grown up he'd become. He was proud and also sad. Sad that his son had his childhood stolen and was forced to live in this new world and go through everything he'd had to go through.

Placing a hand on the back of Carl's head, Rick pulled him in closer and placed a kiss on the top of the boy's head. "I'll do what I can," he finally agreed.

Carl nodded in acceptance. As he father began to walk away toward the stairwell again, he called out, "Georgie's upstairs with Judith and Tristan, in case you were wondering."

Rick threw a look over his shoulder at his son to see him smirking. Pausing, he looked up at the stairs and nodded.

He walked up the stairwell slowly at first, but once he reached the landing, and was out of Carl's eyesight, he took the stairs two at a time. He went straight to his bedroom first, throwing his constable shirt and jacket onto his bed, and then slipped back out to walk over toward the room where Judith slept now. There he found Georgie sitting on the floor with his little girl, while Tristan laid on his stomach about a foot away; reading a comic book Carl had most likely given him.

"Hey," Rick uttered, announcing his presence. He began to smile at the trio on the floor and it made his day considerably better.

Georgie smiled back up at him. "Hey yourself." Picking Judith up in her arms, she walked up to Rick with his daughter and handed the baby girl over.

Rick happily took her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. He shifted her around so he was holding her with his left arm only and then used his right to encircle around Georgie's waist, pulling her in for a kiss.

His girls.

Looking down at Tristan, he noted that the boy was looking up at him shyly. "You doin' alright, buddy?"

The boy nodded and hesitated to return to reading the comic book until his mother looked down at him with a reassuring smile.

Georgie turned her face away from her son and leaned in to whisper in Rick's ear. "He's still a little shaken from watching the fight yesterday."

Rick frowned guiltily. "I'm sorry you had to see all that yesterday, Tristan."

Tristan looked back up and shrugged sadly. "It's okay."

Georgie squeezed Rick's hand that was gripping onto Judith. "He'll be okay," she assured, not wanting him to take on yet another burden.

Rick gave Judith another kiss to her head and then walked over to the Pack-n-Play crib and set her inside with a stuffed animal to play with. "Hey, Tristan, can you keep an eye on Judith for a little while?"

Tristan nodded. "Yeah."

"Thanks, buddy." Placing a hand on the small of Georgie's back, Rick led her out into the hall. "You sure he's okay with what happened?"

Georgie nodded. "Yeah. He asked me if his dad tried to hurt me, and I couldn't lie to him. I just told him that his dad got messed up in the head because of how the world changed; that he, unfortunately, did a lot of bad things," she explained in a quiet voice. "Then he asked if you were fighting him because you were saving me." Georgie smiled. "I said yes, because 'Rick is a good guy and that's what good guys do. They save people.'"

Rick looked down at the floor between them, shaking his head as if embarrassed by the label of being a good guy. "I don't always feel like the good guy."

"Just because it's a cloudy day don't mean the sun ain't shining."

Rick smirked. "So, he's not scared of me, after how I acted?"

"I think he was a little freaked out by the violence, but he's unfortunately seen plenty when he was out on the road with those people. He'll bounce back. He's just a little shy. Once he gets to know you better, he'll open up more," she guaranteed.

"How are you doing after yesterday?"

"I'm better than I was," she replied, grabbing onto the bottom of his T-shirt and leaning up to kiss him. "I'm better now."

Rick smiled against her lips and wrapped his arms around her back and hugged her gently. When Georgie lifted her arms to wrap them around his shoulders she buried her face into the side of his neck, kissing the skin there.

"What about you? Are you doing better?"

"I hope so," he answered honestly, as they pulled back from each other. "Did you hear about the meeting tonight?"

"Yeah," Georgie nodded. "And I'll be there in your corner, no matter what happens."

"I might have to make some threats, maybe kill," he informed, keeping his voice low so that it didn't waft into Judith's room and upset Tristan at all. "Not just Jake."

"What if they don't exile either of you? How do we take care of him then?"

Rick shrugged. "I'll think of something."

"I could pull a Lizzie Borden," she offered.

He narrowed his eyes as her and tilted his head slightly. "How do you mean?"

Georgie smirked a bit slyly. "Well, first I'd need you to keep lookout." Off his nod, she added, "Then I would sneak in on Jake while he slept, take off all my clothes and then stab him to death while he slept with a big ol' blade. When I'm done, I'll take a shower, put my clothes back on, wash the blade and sneak back out, like a ghost."

Rick chuckled, brushing a hand over his mouth as he nodded. "Well, as great of a plan that is, I think you and I will still be the prime suspects no matter what happens to him."

"So, basically, you're saying why bother sneaking around? Just walk right up to him in broad daylight and put a bullet in his brainpan?"

Rick shrugged. "That's another great plan," he said. "Or we could knock him out cold in the middle of the night and drag him outside the walls, tie him to a tree, cut open his stomach and alert some walkers; let them deal with him."

Georgie shook her head and gave Rick a slight shove backward as she laughed under her breath. "We sound like a pair of psychopaths, discussing all the ways to kill my ex."

Rick sniffed and smiled. "Two peas in a pod, you and me."

Letting out a sigh and looking past Rick, Georgie ran a hand through her hair. "I really don't care about how it happens. I just—I need it to happen; sooner better than later."

Lifting a hand up to the side of her face, Rick nodded. "It will," he insisted. "He doesn't get to live; not after everything he's done."

Looking Rick in the eye, Georgie smirked appreciatively up at him. She reached up and pushed a stray curl off his forehead, and then pulled his head down toward her to place a kiss upon the tiny bandage over his left eyebrow. Leaning back, she dropped her hand to his shoulder, and then down his arm.

"I'm gonna take a shower," she said.

Rick nodded. "Alright," he replied, as she stepped past him toward the main bathroom.

Georgie turned and stopped, looking back at him when he remained standing where he was outside Judith's room. When Rick sensed she wasn't staring, he cast a glance over his shoulder at her.

"Why are you just standing there?"

He seemed confused. "I don't follow."

She curled a finger at him, while reaching a hand behind her and opening the bathroom door. "You could use a shower, too."

Rick caught on without needing to be told twice. Turning around completely, he practically stalked up to Georgie before grabbing her up by the waist and hoisting her. Kicking the door shut as gently as possible with the heel of his boot, the pair slipped into the bathroom together, smiling at one another.

Without hesitation, Georgie lifted her shirt up off her head and dropped it to the floor. After Rick did the same, in removing his slightly soiled white T-shirt, he took note of the recent bruises on her abdomen and arms that had been caused by Jake. Frowning, Rick knelt down before her and placed his hands softly upon her hips and leaned forward to kiss her stomach where the bruising was more pronounced. Smiling appreciatively down at him, Georgie ran her fingers through his hair when he leaned his forehead against her, just resting like that for a moment.

"Get off your knees," she whispered.

He tilted his head up, looking at her, and obliged her by standing back up. Leaning in toward her face, he stole a chaste kiss before reaching around her back and unclasping her bra. He pulled the straps down off her shoulders and slid it completely off, letting it drop carelessly to the floor. Then, they both rather quickly fumbled their way out of their pants and underwear — and boots, in Rick's case.

Locking the bathroom door so no one would just waltz right in on them, Rick turned back to look at Georgie as she turned the water on in the shower, sticking a hand in to check the temperature. Sensing him approach from behind her, she threw a look over her shoulder at him, but without making eye contact; just watching him in her peripheral vision.

Slowly, like velvet, he touched his fingers on the sides of her thighs and trailed them up over the softness of her hips, and then around to her stomach to pull her back up against him. As they stepped forward into the shower together, warm water immediately rained down over their heads, washing away the dirt and feeling rather like a baptism of sorts.

It went unspoken, but this moment between them felt like the beginning of a new path for them.

They were washing away the past and starting fresh together.

Rick lowered his face to her shoulder and kissed his way up her neck, while reaching over to grab the shampoo bottle. Leaning his head back a little, he squirted a considerable dollop of shampoo into his palm. Setting the bottle back down with his free hand, he clapped his hands together and then brought them into Georgie's hair. He rubbed his fingers along her scalp in a massaging fashion, lathering up her long red locks. She tilted her head forward, bracing her hands on either side of the shower walls, feeling so physical and emotional comfort with him that tears began to fall down her face, but went unnoticed with the water showering upon them both.

Piling her sudsy hair on top of her head, Rick grabbed the bottle again, but Georgie turned around to face him and snatched it out of his hand. Squirting shampoo into her hand this time, she did the same as him. After replacing the bottle where he picked it up from, she pressed her palms together and brought both palms to his hair and massaged the shampoo into his scalp. He just watched her, blinking away the water in his eyes, and leaned into her ministrations.

Neither spoke; they just cleaned each other in comfortable silence.

When she was done, they both stepped closer to each other and pressed their faces cheek to cheek as the water continued to pelt them and begin to rinse away the shampoo in their hair; although, hers took a little longer because there was more of it.

While he helped get the remaining suds out of her hair, Rick cupped the back of her head and pulled her in for a kiss so insatiable that it was a surprise neither cut their teeth on the other's lips.

Next came the bar of soap that they took turns lathering into their hands, in turn running over each other's body, cleaning each nook and cranny, which easily got them a little more hot and bothered. As a result, Rick turned her around so that he was pressed against her backside. He brought his right arm up across her chest, her left breast fitting perfectly in his hand, while his left hand snaked down to the apex of her legs, which elicited a shaky gasp from her lips.

Pleased with the reaction he got, he let his fingers continue their dance upon and within her. Georgie had to once again brace her hands on both sides of the shower walls that were just as wet and slick as he was making her.

As he leaned his head forward again to kiss her neck, she tilted hers back as the fire in her belly began to grow. But that wasn't how she wanted to peak. Bringing a hand down from a wall, she pushed his hand away and turned around to face him, causing him to look at her first with confusion and then with concern.

"I'm sorry," he finally spoke. "If you're not ready to yet—"

"I am," she assured. "With you." Georgie leaned in to kiss him to demonstrate her certainty. "But I want to do this old school," she added with a small grin.

Nodding, Rick wrapped his arms around her shoulders and reciprocated her kiss. Instead of turning off the water, he let it continue to run as he pulled them out of the shower, both dripping wet all over as he gently lowered down to the floor to lie on her back. Georgie looked up at him as he knelt between her legs and lowered his body down upon hers, but not yet placing his entire weight upon her.

When his blue eyes looked into her green ones, Rick reached down between their bodies and positioned himself at her entrance, toying with her at first before slowly easing himself in. All too aware about what had been done to her, even though she had been unconscious for it, Rick still felt guilty in being with her like this so soon after she'd been violated. However, Georgie was very insistent that she was fine; and that was only because she knew he loved her as she loved him and he made her feel safe.

When he saw the consent in her eyes for him to press on, Rick entered her fully with a driving thrust. He kept his movements slow at first, feeling as if he might exacerbate the pain from her recent injuries. However, the way Georgie reached her hands down to grip his ass and encouraged him onward suggested otherwise. So, after pulling out halfway, he plunged in deeper, over and over, as he laid his body more fully on top of hers and concealed his face in her neck to muffle his groans. With a consistent swivel of his hips, Rick continued to slip in and out of her.

Georgie moved her hands up Rick's back, dragging her nails across his soft skin and biting gently into his shoulder, which elicited a delighted hiss from between his lips. In response, he picked up momentum as she arched her back and lifted her hips to his thrusting. Their breathing became quick and shallow, with punctuated gasps.

As they continued writhing on the floor together, she wrapped her legs around his waist with her feet crossed just under his ass. Leftover water from the shower rolled off their bodies as perspiration formed between them. Lifting his face to hers, Rick claimed her lips just as that familiar white hot heat began to form in his loins and suddenly bolted forward through every nerve ending in his body as he released himself into her. Riding out the jarring, pulsing waves of his orgasm, Rick soldiered on, ever the gentlemen, until she got hers.

It took a few more moments, but that strong, lovely sensation began to claim her again. Digging her nails into his shoulders and pulling him down more upon her body, Georgie peaked with a blinding, shuddering sense of completion.

Once the tremors began to subside, he finally allowed his full weight to lie upon her, pinning her to the tiled floor, where he remained in her welcoming arms for a minute or two.

After coming down from their mutual high, Rick unsheathed himself from within her and rolled onto his back, lying on the tiled floor beside her and staring up at the ceiling. Resting one hand upon his chest, he emitted a contented sigh and turned his head to look at Georgie's profile. She had her eyes closed and looked so peaceful.

It brought a smile to his face.

Slowly, Rick sat up and stared at the still running shower. Pulling his knees up toward his chest, he draped his arms over his knees and then looked back at Georgie again who was finally looking at him as well.

"Third time's definitely a charm," she remarked as a grin toyed at the corners of her mouth.

Rick stood up, smiling back at her, and then walking up to the shower and turning the tap off. The sudden silence in the room was almost deafening, but it allowed them to ear Carol talking to Carl downstairs. Although, whatever was being said was considerably muffled through the closed bathroom door and the fact that they were a floor above. Turning back around and reaching a hand down to Georgie, he pulled her up to her feet before cupping her face in his hands and kissing her once more.

"I think we just defeated the purpose of our shower," he commented against her lips.

Georgie snickered. "We'll just have to take another one later."

"As long as I'm still here later tonight after the meeting," he said, stepping back and reaching for two, large and fluffy towels for each of them. "Things might get messy."

"We do messy well."

Rick nodded. "We do."

Georgie looked him over; from his lean, muscular legs, to his taut torso and up to the way his damp brown hair clung to the sides of his face in limp curls. The latter actually brought an amused laugh out of her which piqued Rick's curiosity.

"What?"

"I was just thinking that, if I was still capable of having children and you and I created a child together, that poor thing would have the curliest hair ever," she remarked. "Between you and me, we'd have our very own Orphan Annie."

Rick smiled at the image. He could've easily seen having children of his own with her down the line, if life remained protected and safe for them inside Alexandria's walls. However, since she no longer had the necessary equipment, that option was off the table, and he was okay with it. They had three children between them to raise and love together. They didn't need to create new life because they had three perfect ones already to bring up.

Although, as much as they would like to hope, they were both very much aware that this life no longer had any guarantees that any of them would live long lives. There were too many dangers. And, as they wrapped their towels around their bodies and picked up their discarded articles of clothing, the reality of a clear and present danger was at the forefront of their minds.

Rick and Georgie had managed to discreetly slip into their bedroom, wearing only towels before closing the door behind them to throw some clothes back on. Rick simply put the same pants back on, his old brown T-shirt, which had since been washed, and a button down, camel-colored shirt. All the while he dressed, he kept casting coy glances over at Georgie as she slipped on the same black jeans she had arrived to Alexandria, a snug black tank top and a blue, plaid button down shirt over it. Whether it was subconsciously done or not, the pair had seemingly made themselves over to look how they were before Alexandria than after it, as if they were going back to their survivalist roots via wardrobe.

They both sat down beside each other on the bed and pulled their boots on, and afterward Rick checked the time on his watch. There was still enough time before the meeting would start later, but the waiting around for it had made them begin to feel jittery, so Georgie went downstairs briefly to get a first aid kit Carol said was in the closet at the base of the stairs. When she returned with it, Georgie sat back down with Rick and dabbed antibiotic ointment back over the cuts on his face and then reapplied nine, new small bandages since the previous ones had come off in the shower.

All the while, Rick just sat there, watching her closely as she tended to him. It felt so nice; the little touches on his face and the overall attention she paid to his well-being.

It used to always feel like it was the other way around; that he was the one looking out for everyone one else, making sure they were okay. He was still getting used to the tables turning.

When she was down playing nursemaid to him, Georgie had laid back upon the bed with an arm under her head while Rick remained upright. It wasn't even ten seconds later when Carol knocked on the door and stuck her head in to say she was going to bring Jake a casserole to continue keeping up appearances.

Rick whipped his head around, insisting that might not be a good idea, but Carol just smirked and pulled out her knife.

"Trust me," she assured. "He won't try anything with me."

"Still," Rick insisted. "Be careful."

Georgie propped herself up on her elbows and looked at her friend. "Yeah, and don't kill Jake. Don't take that from us."

Carol nodded. "Oh, don't worry. I won't."

When Carol had left the room, leaving the door ajar, Rick looked back upon Georgie and then laid down beside her; both of their legs dangling over the end of the bed.

"Are you nervous about tonight?" Georgie asked.

"No."

"Liar."

Rick turned his head. "I'm not," he maintained. "I know what needs to be said and, if they won't listen, I know what'll have to be done."

"Well, I'll admit I'm nervous," Georgie spoke, rolling onto her side and propping her head up with her hand as she looked at him. "I like this place for its sense of normalcy and for how it could be a safe place for our kids, for years to come, if the walls can be vigilantly maintained and protected. I don't necessarily want to leave, but I will if you do. I will take my son, and you will take Carl and Judith, and we will leave this place and find somewhere else together, and with anyone else that cares to join us." Moving closer up to him, Georgie threw a leg between his and then lay partially onto his chest with a hand holding onto the side of his torso. "You know—united we stand, divided we fall, and all that."

Rick snaked an arm under her and around her waist to keep her there with him. He nodded at what she said and then glanced down at her. "If I knew you'd be safer here without me than outside these walls with me, I'd ask you to stay here with all three of the kids."

"And I wouldn't listen," she remarked stubbornly, resting her head down on his chest. "We made it this far. We can make it further."

Another knock at the door made them crane their heads back toward the door and untangle themselves from each other.

Carl was standing there, holding Judith in his arms, with Tristan standing just behind him. Both adults smiled at the scene and sat up.

"Sorry," Carl muttered at interrupting his father and Georgie talking.

They didn't mind.

It's not as if the kids had walked in on them in the middle of having sex. That was why Rick locked the bathroom door earlier.

"What's up?" Rick asked his son.

"I know you said you want us here tonight but is it okay if we went next door for a little while?"

"I don't see why not," Georgie remarked with a shrug. She looked at Rick to see if he was cool with it.

Catching her eye, Rick turned his gaze away from Georgie to Carl. "Yeah," he nodded. "But make sure you come back here by the end of the night. And don't dally. I don't want any of you wandering around outside while the meeting's going on and we don't know how long or extensive it's gonna get."

"Are you going next door now?" Georgie asked.

"No," Carl replied. "I was gonna feed Judith first."

Rick smiled proudly at his son and stood up. He reached forward and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and kissed his head and then Judith's head. "Your mother would be proud of how grown up you've become."

Carl smiled up at his father just as Tristan slipped into the room and ran up to his mother. Georgie pulled him up into her lap as he looked at her.

"What's gonna happen to dad?" he asked. "Is he gonna go away?"

"Do you want him to go away?" she asked, catching both Rick and Carl's eyes.

"I think dad is a bad man who did a lot of bad things and bad people shouldn't be here," Tristan replied. "I'll be sad if he goes away, 'cause he's still my dad, but dads are s'posed to be good guys, like superheroes. They're s'posed to take protect their family, not hurt them." Turning his head, he looked over at Rick. "Are you gonna protect us now, Rick?"

Rick smiled humbly and nodded. He extended a hand and placed it on top of the blonde, nine-year-old's head. "I am," he assured.

Tristan nodded back. "'Cause you're the good guy and you're gonna keep the bad guys away."

Rick and Georgie looked to each other at what a burden her child had just given Rick; to be Tristan's father figure now, to keep him and his mother safe — to keep everyone safe.

"I'm gonna do my very best, Tristan."

"Okay." Tristan accepted Rick's word as face value. He hopped off his mother's lap and hugged her before walking up to Rick and hugging him, too.

Wrapping his hands around the boy, Rick smiled along with Georgie. Even Carl smiled. For the teen, in the last week, it would seem he finally had a home again, and he had more or less gained a mother and a brother in the form of Georgie and Tristan.

"C'mon," the teen said to his new, surrogate brother. "Let's go feed Judith and get something to eat downstairs."

"Okay," Tristan agreed.

As both boys left the room with Judith, Rick and Georgie looked at each other again with proud smiles upon their faces. Rick took a seat back down beside Georgie on the end of the bed again, placing his hand upon her thigh and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Well," Rick began, "now I definitely can't let 'em get rid of me. I gotta be here to keep my family safe."

Georgie smirked and rested her head upon his shoulder.

As usual for them, their privacy was interrupted, but it was nothing they weren't used to.

Michonne had approached and was standing in the doorway. "Rick. You ready?" she asked.

And suddenly Rick's shoulder's slouched a bit more with the weight of what would have to be done fell back onto his shoulders after forgetting all the seriousness of it for a few moments. He turned his head slightly in the other woman's direction as she looked between Rick and Georgie just sitting there.

"Carol, Daryl and me—we worked it out together," he confessed, turning his head fully to look at Michonne as she stepped into the room, holding her jacket in her hands. "Carol took three guns from the armory. I still have one, she still has one." He sighed. "We lied to you because I wasn't sure how you'd take it—what you'd do." He stretched out his arm, holding the gun Carol had given him over to her.

Michonne tossed her jacket onto the bed and sighed. "You think I'd try to stop you?"

Rick dropped his arm when it looked like Michonne wasn't taking the gun from him anytime soon. "Well, you did hit me over the head."

"That was for you, not them," she answered, almost sounding as if she was offended that he thought she wouldn't stick by him still after all this time.

Rick looked to his right, at Georgie, gave her leg another squeeze and then pushed himself up to his feet. He walked over to Michonne and looked her in the eye. "I was afraid you'd talk me out of it," he admitted. "You could've."

Michonne's expression and tone of voice softened. "We don't need them here. I don't need my sword," she remarked, as Rick cast a glance back over his shoulder at Georgie, but only briefly. "I think you can find a way. We can find a way. And if we don't…I'm still with you."

Georgie smiled and looked over at the pair. When Michonne caught her eye, the two of them gave each other a silent look of solidarity; both in agreement that Rick was their leader and they would both follow him to the ends of the earth.

"Something's gonna happen," Georgie muttered, standing up and sidling up between the pair.

Michonne looked at Georgie, taking in what she'd said, and then back to Rick. "Just don't make something happen."

Rick looked down at the gun still in his hand and handed it to Michonne, but she simply covered his hand with hers and pushed it back.

"Georgie made something for that," she mentioned, flashing the ginger-haired woman a knowing look. Stepping away, she grabbed her coat up off the bed and walked out the bedroom. "Don't be too long."

Rick was still looking down at the gun when he turned his body so that it was facing Georgie. "What'd you make?" he wondered, lifting his eyes up to her face.

Smirking slightly, Georgie held up a finger for him to wait a minute before walking over to her pile of dirty clothes on the floor that had been removed before their shower. Crouching down, she lifted up her pants and shoved a hand into one of the pockets, digging around for a few seconds. When she stood back up and approached him, she had her hand closed, but then she opened her hand, palm side up, to reveal the gold bullet.

Rick knitted his brow together, picking the bullet up with his free hand. "You made a bullet?" He seemed thoroughly impressed.

Georgie nodded, lifting her left hand and wiggling her fingers at him. "Notice anything different?"

Rick refocused his attention away from the bullet to her hand and then looked up at her face. "Your ring."

"Yep."

"You turned your wedding ring into a bullet?" He was even more impressed now, and definitely a little amused.

"Along with some other pieces of jewelry lying around that godforsaken house," she replied, rocking on the heels of her boots.

"This makes me feel guilty."

"Why?"

"You—taking this step, removing your ring," he commented. "I've been meaning to do the same. I find myself twisting mine around my finger, wanting to take it off, but something stops me."

"It's okay, Rick," Georgie insisted, placing her hands on his upper arms. "You loved your wife in the end and just because I'm in your life now isn't gonna change the fact that you're still gonna miss her from time to time. There's absolutely no rush for you to take it off, but when you are, you don't have to do what I did. You can put it around a chain and give it to Carl or Judith. Maybe Judith, because she never got to know her mother. I did what I did because my marriage was over and I will not mourn Jake. I didn't want the reminder anymore."

"It's like kismet, you making this bullet and giving it to me," Rick spoke, tilting his head slightly as he looked at her. "See—this gun Carol gave to me this morning; it has no ammo. And this," he held up the bullet between both their faces, "happens to be the right size for this particular gun."

"Well," Georgie smiled. "Whether you use it or not, I want you to hold on to it." She curled his fingers around the bullet, encasing it within the palm of his hand, and then just holding onto his hand. "I took something that didn't feel good anymore and I turned it into something better for me, just like how you're better for me." She watched how Rick just stared back at her, studying every inch of her face. Moving her hands up his arms to his shoulders, Georgie then moved her hands up so that her fingers could play with his curls at the base of his neck. "And I love you, Rick Grimes — no matter what happens."

Rick tipped his head forward and brushed his nose alongside hers before leaning down to kiss her. Enfolding his arms around her waist, while still holding the gun in one hand and the bullet in the other, he lowered his face to her shoulder and inhaled her scent and tried committing it to memory in case things went south for him during the meeting.

"I love you, too, Georgie Brant," Rick replied against the skin of her neck.

"Higgins."

"Hmm?"

"Higgins," she repeated. "It's my maiden name." When Rick lifted his head back from her neck, he looked at her and she smirked. "I kinda sorta publically divorced Jake last night. So I guess I'm Georgie Higgins again."

"Alright," he nodded. "Then, I love you, Georgie Higgins."

Georgie's smirk turned into a bright smile. Slapping Rick playfully on the chest, she leaned in and kissed him once more. "I think we should head out for the meeting now."

"You go ahead, save me a seat or something," he said. "I need a minute."

"I could wait for you," she offered.

"No, that's okay. I'll be there soon enough."

Georgie pouted slightly, but it was mixed with a slight smile in her eyes. "I kinda didn't want to walk into that meeting alone."

Rick leaned in and whispered in her ear, "You ain't alone no more." Leaning back, he smiled lovingly at her and gave her a nod of his head. "Go on. I'll be there."

With a nod of her own head, Georgie reached for her Rick's constable jacket. It was roomier than her leather jacket and it smelled like him. It was more of a comfort thing than anything. Slipping it on, she untucked her hair and threw a look over toward him and he winked back at her.

"Looks good on you," he admired.

"Looks better on you, Officer Handsome."

Once Georgie left the room, Rick sat back down upon the bed, and opened the chamber of the gun — a Walther P22 — and slid in Georgie's bullet. He then reached for his red-handled machete and pulled it out of its sheath; just staring at it for a while.

"…and you're gonna find yourself in a place where it's like how it used to be. And if you let too much go along the way, that's not gonna work. 'Cause you're gonna be back in the real world."

Bob's voice echoed in his memory as he put the machete back and then tucked it into the back of his pants; draping the back of his button down shirt over it.

"This is the real world, Bob."

"Nah, this is a nightmare. And nightmares end."

Walking over to the window, out toward the street, he didn't see Georgie, but he figured she had already made it to the meeting already. When his eyes lingered toward the gate, something looked off about it and he became immediately concerned.

Grabbing his suede leather jacket with its dirty fur collar, Rick hurried out of the bedroom.

It was dark out by the time everyone had gathered in the courtyard beside Deanna's home. Well, almost everyone. Glenn and Nicholas were missing, as were Sasha and Gabriel. But, more importantly, Rick still hadn't shown up. There was a fire crackling to provide both warmth and light as everyone talked among themselves or looked around waiting for the stragglers to finally arrive.

Standing off to the side with Michonne, Georgie had told her Rick had sent her ahead, assuring her he would be there for the meeting.

"We're going to start," Deanna announced.

"Can we wait?" Maggie asked. "There's still people coming. Glenn, Rick."

Deanna looked back at her and repeated, "We're going to start. It's already dark. We're going to talk about what happened. Not the fight. Not what precipitated it. We're dealing with that. We're going to talk about one of our constables, Rick Grimes. We're going to talk about how he had a pistol he stole from the armory, about how he pointed it at people. And we're going to talk about what he said. I was hoping he'd be here."

Michonne gestured to Georgie. "She said he's coming."

"I'm sure he'll be here," Carol added with a smile. "And I'm sure we can work this all out."

Georgie folded her arms across her chest and shot daggers at Deanna. From what the older woman was saying, nothing Jake had done to her or before he arrived to Alexandria — the sole reason for Rick's intense behavior the day before — mattered.

It wasn't right.

One by one, members of Rick's group began speaking on his behalf.

"And after being out there and then not being how you were out there…it can drive you crazy," Michonne was saying. "Rick just wants his family to live. He wants all of you to live. Who he is is who you're gonna be," she looked over at Deanna, "if you're lucky."

Carol stood up, her arms wrapped around herself as she took her turn. "Rick Grimes saved my life over and over. There's terrifying people out there. And he rescued me from them. People like me, people like us, need people like him." Carol turned toward Deanna. "I know what happened last night was scary. And I'm sure he's sorry for that. But maybe we should listen to what he was saying."

Georgie kept zoning in and out of the testimonies. She was starting to feel so angry.

Why was Rick on trial? Why wasn't Jake? Jake was the bad guy, not Rick.

Georgie could feel her nerves bouncing all over as she dropped her hands to her sides. Her hands shook so she balled up her fists and tried focusing on the flames from the fire.

"Simply put," Abraham stated, "there is a vast ocean of shit you people don't know shit about. Rick knows every fine grain of said shit…and then some."

Georgie lifted her eyes to Abraham and followed his firm gaze over to Deanna and she was sure the woman caught her gaze as well when Maggie offered up her own testimony.

"My father respected Rick Grimes. Rick is a father, too. He's a man with a good heart who feels the things he does, the things he has to do. And all of us who were together before this place, no matter when we found each other, we're family now. Rick started that. And you won't stop it. You can't. And you don't want to. This community, you people—that family, you want to be a part of it, too."

"Before we hear from anyone else," Deanna stated, "I—I would like to share something in the spirit of transparency. Father Gabriel came to see me the day before yesterday and he said our new arrivals can't be trusted, that they were dangerous; that they would put themselves before this community. And not one day later, Rick seemed to demonstrate all the things Father Gabriel said. I had hoped Gabriel would be here tonight."

"I don't see him here, Deanna," Georgie finally spoke. "So you're just saying what someone said. Did you tape him?"

Maggie caught Georgie's eye and looked back at Deanna. "He's not here."

"Neither is Rick," Deanna retorted.

"Excuse me," Maggie said, taking leave of the meeting.

Georgie looked back, watching the younger woman leave before bringing her focus back to the older woman leading the meeting. She couldn't stand back anymore. She had to say her peace.

"I'm tired of this. This meeting is a joke," she declared, glaring right at Deanna. "You know what happened yesterday and why it happened, and the wrong person is being put on trial here. Rick is a good man who has fought hard and tirelessly to keep his family safe. You don't know what it's been like out there. Ya'll been locked up in your ivory towers here for too long to know or remember what it's really like; to have to live in that day in and day out. The walkers, the dead, aren't the only threat. We've encountered the worst of mankind several times and Rick was there to lead us out of it, never once thinking of himself."

Georgie stepped out from behind the chairs set up around the fire and took a more central place across the fire pit from Deanna so that the others could see her better and that she could see them as well.

"Jake arrived here with three other men about five months ago, and ya'll were so thrilled to finally have a doctor in your midst that you easily overlooked his association with the people he arrived with, letting him stay while the others were exiled, simply because he's a doctor and our son happened to have been brought here weeks before by Aaron and Eric. What ya'll don't know is the monstrous things Jake did prior to arriving here. I won't go into detail, but I will say Jake wasn't the innocent bystander among those men he apparently painted himself to be. He was their leader, and six months ago, while coming upon a home in Greensboro, he gave the orders to kill the innocent people already in that house who were asleep in beds or on sofas." Georgie focused on Carol for a moment before continuing. "My son was there and he recognized the hat Jake was wearing, and he committed it to memory. Jake murdered upwards of fifteen innocent lives, including two children who were friends of my son. Jake and those three men hid those bodies away in a panic room in the house's basement, and then they flipped the mattresses and cushions over and went to sleep as if nothing happened. My son and a woman he was with escaped, but my son never forgot."

"That's true," Eric commented, speaking up. "Tristan told us about a man in a red Atlanta Braves hat that killed the group he was with when Aaron and I found him, alone, on the side of a road, outside of Charlottesville."

Georgie looked at him with indebted appreciation.

"A few days ago, my son found Jake's hat in his closet and realized Jake, his father, was the monster he feared in his dreams. And that is exactly what Jake is — a monster," she claimed. "He's not a good man. Good men don't walk out on their families when the world falls apart like Jake did. Good men don't murder more than a dozen men, women and children in their sleep like Jake did. Good men don't threaten the lives of their wives and then beat and rape them like Jake did." Georgie pursed her lips together and took a steadying breath to keep herself together. "Rick was protecting me yesterday when the fight began, because good men protect the ones they love. Good men save people. Rick is the best man you'll ever meet and you can all thank your lucky stars that you have been blessed with knowing him and having him here to help protect you, too."

Georgie looked around at all the faces, finding the most comfort in those of her own group within Alexandria that were present. Carol stood up again and put an arm around her in support as Tobin stood up as well.

"I just want to keep my family safe. You know? And I don't even know what that means anymore, but if it means that we've got to get rid of—"

Whether or not he was going to say Rick's name, Jake's name or both, was anyone's guess.

Tobin was interrupted by Rick appearing in the entrance to the courtyard with a blood all over his face and jacket once again, but also with a body draped over his shoulder.

Without decorum, Rick tossed the body to the ground like a sack of potatoes, revealing it to be a dead walker, and everyone, aside from his group, seemed to leaned back or jump up to their feet in horror. He looked around at all the faces looking back at him and not at the walker.

"There wasn't a guard on the gate," Rick announced. "It was open."

Deanna snapped her head toward her son Spencer and he looked defensively back at her. "I asked Gabriel to close it."

"Go," she advised her only remaining son.

"I didn't bring it in. It got inside on its own," Rick continued. "They always will—the dead and the living, because we're in here. And the ones out there…they'll hunt us. They'll find us. They'll try to use us. They'll try to kill us. But we'll kill them. We'll survive. I'll show you how." Rick looked around at everyone, focusing on Georgie a few times, but he was only addressing the Alexandrians as he itched at the blood that was starting to dry on his face. "You know, I was thinking—I was thinking how many of you do I have to kill to save your lives? But I'm not gonna do that. You're gonna change." Stepping closer to Georgie, he took her hand and then focused his attention upon Deanna. "I'm not sorry for what I said last night. I'm sorry for not saying it sooner. You're not ready, but you have to be. Right now, you have to be. Luck runs out."

Turning away from Deanna and back to Georgie, Rick pulled her nearer to him, not giving a damn about what anyone in the community thought about him. He would've kissed Georgie right then and there, too, but with the all the walker blood and guts all over his face, in his hair and on his clothes, he wanted to spare her that messy transfer.

Footsteps approaching grabbed everyone's attention as they looked over toward the courtyard entrance to see Jake sauntering in, holding Michonne's katana.

Georgie's mind immediately went to wondering how he got it. It had been mounted above the fireplace at home where the kids were supposed to be. She panicked a little and just hoped the kids were next door in the second house still with Jake snuck in and stole the sword.

"You're not one of us. You're not one of us!" Jake shouted in a growling tone. He pointed the katana at Rick and Georgie. "She's my wife, not yours."

Reg ran up to play mediator. "Jake, you don't want to do this."

"Get the hell away from me, Reg."

"Jake, just stop."

"Get away from me!"

"Reg. Reg," Deanna was saying, trying to keep her husband back at a safe distance with Jake revealing the crazy person he truly was, the bad man Georgie had just said he was.

Rick held an arm out protectively in front of Georgie as he grabbed for his gun that he had tucked into the front of his pants as Carol leaned in to him.

"Not now," she whispered.

"Jake, leave," Georgie spat out. "You're digging your own grave here."

"Shut up, Georgie or I will make you shut up, you whorin' bitch."

Rick's nostrils flared and he gripped his gun tighter as Reg maintained his position in front of Jake, trying to get the tall blonde man to back down and see sense.

"Now, Jake, stop."

"Get away," Jake growled at Reg.

"Jake—"

"Get away!"

Reg was cut off, no pun intended, when Jake pushed him back with the same hand holding the katana and slit his throat right open.

Deanna screamed and blood began gurgling out of Reg's neck as he fell back into his wife's arms. Abraham and Michonne were on Jake in seconds. Michonne stole her katana back with ease as Abraham grabbed Jake's arms and pinned him down to the ground, kneeling on his back.

"No, no! Oh, no, no!" Deanna cried out.

"This is him! This is him!" Jake continued to shout.

"Shut up!" Abraham shouted right back.

"This is him!"

Deanna was sobbing as her husband twitched and gasped for breaths that would not come. "Oh, God! Oh, my love. My love, my love," she cried. "No, my love, no. No, my love."

Both Rick and Georgie stepped forward as he held his gun at his side. Georgie reached a hand out and squeezed his wrist. Rick looked at her with a sigh.

This was the moment.

"It's him! This is him!" Jake continued to growl.

Looking over at Deanna, who was now holding a dead Reg, she looked up at Rick; abandoning her earlier position on the subject of execution within the community. It had to take her husband getting killed for her to see Rick was right.

"Rick, do it," she pleaded.

Rick held her gaze, and then looked at Georgie who nodded back at him.

"Do it," she agreed.

Without hesitation, Rick aimed his gun and fired Georgie's bullet into Jake's head without flinching. Several women within Alexandria screamed at the noise and the execution in general. Rick's group didn't. They were used to these things happening and they knew Jake deserved what he got after all he'd done, inside and outside of these walls.

As Rick lowered his gun, he looked at Georgie again and saw she seemed at peace with what just happened, and that was what mattered to him. That she was okay, physically and mentally. As if to prove she was fine with Jake being killed, Georgie stepped into Rick's arms, not giving any shits about the blood and the guts because she was going to be there through thick and thin with him; through good times and bad.

Since she didn't seem to care about getting dirty, Rick kissed her temple, as if to show appreciation for her sticking beside him.

"Rick?" came a voice at the entrance to the courtyard.

Everyone turned their heads, especially Rick, to find a black man standing there with Daryl and Aaron behind him, and he looked rather disappointed and shocked at what he clearly had just caught the tail end of.

Rick just stood there staring back.