I don't own anything to do with Rick or any character from the Walking Dead. I own the OC characters, Ruby and Paul, however, and I adore them.

Summary: Shane's been killed by Rick and the group doesn't trust him anymore. So what does Rick do? Snap. He finds a girl in the woods and takes out his aggression.

Yes, I know if you've read my other stuff you know that I was a Shane girl, but Rick is awesome, too. So I decided to play with him a little. Rate and comment if you like! Thanks, and please, no flames. They are... unhelpful.

+++So, the group has a new home now. The challenge here, besides the obvious of course, is to manage to turn the darkness and bad memories of the place around and make it a home. If that's even possible in this world. But I have faith, if anyone can, it's our heroes here that can do it. Don't you agree?

++++To my friend Noell- I know I promised you romance, and I didn't fib, I swear! This chapter was so long I had to split it up, so keeping reading. It's sooooo close now! LOL. And thanks, baby girl. You are amazing!

They'd gotten back to the main house, the reality that the farm was not a protected little bubble was sinking in for Rick. They no longer had watches, so he took stock and asked Paul and Glenn to go to the front gate. Stay out of sight, he'd told them, and he would come relieve them in a few hours. When they disappeared over the hill, he turned and went into the main house.

"Rick," Beth said, coming to him in the front hall. "We need to try and find our stuff, if that's ok. I don't know what they did with it."

"Yeah, I'll go with you. Just give me a minute." He nodded, and she went back to the living room. He followed, and found Maggie with Carl, waiting for him.

"Daddy went back to check on Jimmy. What do you want to do with the kids? Carol got the little ones to talk, but Rebeccah is pretty out of it." Maggie said, stuffing her hands in her back pockets.

"I'll go see her. Maybe taking her to Jimmy will help, a familiar face and all." He bit the inside of his cheek as he thought out loud.

"Yeah, I think so too. I'll go check on him, why don't you bring her by?" Ruby said, and headed for the staircase. Rick watched her go, and wondered if he was going to tell Rebeccah what really happened to her mother. In the end, he figured he'd wing it, feel the girl out and see what the best thing to do was when the time comes. He told Beth he'd be back to take her to the other house, and headed on up to see Carol and the kids, Carl by his side.

"Hey. How you feeling?" Ruby asked when she peered around the partially open door, and saw Hershel checking Jimmy's bandage.

"Better. Where did you get all that medicine?" He grinned at her, looking over Hershel's shoulder.

"Found a pharmacy right before we got here that wasn't completely empty. It was lucky, huh?" She came in and took a seat on the other side, out of Hershel's way. Leaning back, she watched the older man work for a moment.

"Yeah. We never had anything like that. Bob said it would just lead to wantin' it, instead of needin' it."

"All depends on the person, young man." Hershel said softly, injecting a needle into his arm, and patting the site with a cotton ball. Jimmy winced, but settled back into the pillow after a moment, and looked back at Ruby.

"You went into town, or Rick and the guys did?"

"Me, Rick, and Paul, why?"

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Just not used to it, you know. The girls here never left the farm. Didn't carry guns, didn't kill anything but the chickens for dinner."

"Times are different now, I suppose. Ruby here is mighty good at protecting us, Maggie is great in retrieving things we need. And if I didn't have all of them I wouldn't be able to patch anybody up, I think we're lucky to have them all." Hershel said, and Ruby winked at him. He smiled, and stood back, looking down at Jimmy. "Take it easy, young man. Sleep when you can and you'll be up in a couple days. If you don't stress it."

"Yes, sir." Jimmy nodded, and Hershel went for the door.

"Thanks, Hershel." Ruby called out, and he waved as he vanished through the door, leaving it open a crack in case she needed anything.

"So, will you tell me about you guys now? Haven't had much chance so far." Jimmy sighed, obviously feeling the medicine, and settled further back in the pillows.

"What do you want to know?" Ruby asked.

"How'd you meet?"

She launched into the story, about how Paul had been with her since the beginning, but she'd lost him for a short time and Rick had found her, brought her back. How Paul had found them, the farmhouse they had stayed in, the road, the cave. She left out Lori and T-Dog, figuring it didn't much matter if Jimmy knew that stuff. Might confuse him.

"And Rick, what kind of guy is he?" Jimmy's eyes were drooping slightly, and he yawned.

"Brave. Strong. He cares about everybody, keeps us safe. He was a cop, before all this. Guess it's in his nature."

"A cop?" Jimmy asked interestedly. "That makes sense. He seemed... I don't know, like authority I guess." He paused, and raised an eyebrow at her. "You guys together, you and Rick?"

Ruby opened her mouth in surprise, but just then a knock came at the door. She could have kissed Rick when she saw his head come around the door, he had perfect timing.

"Brought someone to see you." He said, shooting a look at Ruby, but smiling at Jimmy. He came in, and Rebeccah trailed in behind him.

"Bec! Hey, girl." Jimmy said happily, and she went quickly to his side, kneeling at the bed.

"What happened?" She asked worriedly, looking at the bandages on his shoulder.

"An accident, but don't you worry. I'll be fine." He took her hand in his good one and squeezed it tightly. "I don't want you to be afraid of these people, you got me? Do what they say, they're good."

"But the others are gone. They won't tell me what happened." She said, tears in her eyes.

"It's something you and me need to talk about, not them." Jimmy frowned, looking into her face. "But I can tell you things are gonna be better now. We're safe, probably more than we were before. Understand?"

"You two want to talk? We can leave?" Ruby asked, standing, but Jimmy shook his head.

"No, I'm way too tired right now, and I need Bec to do something for me first." Rebeccah nodded, and he continued. "Keep up the chickens like you were. You're gonna have to show them where we keep the feed for the animals, and where everything is in the kitchen. Show them anything they need while I'm stuck here, you do that for me?"

"Sure, Jimmy." She nodded enthusiastically. She obviously lived for having a purpose. "When are you coming out?"

"Eh, few days at most. Gotta let this heal a little." He grinned. "Now go on. And come back and see me tonight, ok?"

She smiled, and got up, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "Bye Jimmy." She said, and Rick led her back to the door. She followed him out, throwing Jimmy a tentative glance as she left.

"You should get some sleep." Ruby said, still standing, and Jimmy waved his hand at her.

"I'm stuck here for a while, I'd much rather have somebody to talk to. If you don't mind, that is."

She bit her lip, but sat back down. Please, don't let him ask about Rick again, she thought. She didn't want to go into all that with this guy, this stranger, even if he had thrown himself on a bomb for them. He seemed to understand that, or he was just really loopy, either way, he changed subjects.

"Beth said Hershel was a vet. I'd have bet anything he was a regular doctor, the way he acted."

"He's had to do it a lot, I'm afraid." She grinned. "Probably better than any person doctor we could have found."

He nodded, yawning again. "Tell me how you learned to fight."

She shrugged. "Didn't do it before, I'll tell you that. Paul was a marine, taught me almost everything I know. And of course, being with Rick and Daryl, you pick up some things."

He kept asking her things, and she kept telling him. What she liked to do before all this happened. Food. Where she came from. Little things that didn't make any difference anymore, but that lent a human aspect the the crap world they lived in, the things they saw and experienced. She stayed there until his eyes closed and he went into a deep sleep.

When Ruby got back downstairs, everyone was in the living room, and she slipped in to hear what Rick was saying to them.

"I think we should stay. What better place are we going to find?" Glenn said, and Ruby knew Rick must have broached the topic with them. She noticed Carol was gone, and assumed she was with the children while the adults spoke.

"We'll adjust things, make it better for us. But it's the best way." Rick nodded. "We've seen the workings, we have everything we need. The crops, the animals, and try finding another place with generators so we have electricity. It just isn't gonna happen."

"We have enough gas for that?" Ruby asked. "That's what they run on, isn't it? Gas?"

Rick nodded. "And you aren't going to believe it, they have a tank still half full. It'll give us plenty of time to salvage some from the highway. Won't last forever, but it's plenty good enough now."

"I didn't think we'd ever have a fridge again." Beth grinned. "I think we're lucky."

They all smiled at her. She was right. Hot water, a working kitchen, it was a miracle that they hadn't truly had the chance to appreciate yet with everything going on.

"We'll shut down anything we don't have to use. Move all into one house, close up the rest. You thought about where you want to stay?" Rick asked the group.

"We haven't seen the men's house yet. I'd like to." Ruby said, not really wanting to stay in the main house where Bob and Margie had lived, and the women's house held just as bad memories."

"I'll show it to you. Why don't you guys go get cleaned up, relax a bit. You earned it. Beth, you want to come with us and you and Ruby can see if any of your stuff is still around?" Rick asked, and Beth nodded. The three of them excused themselves, and began to walk across the yard to the house Rick and the guys had used the night before.

Getting inside, Ruby saw it looked much like the women's house, except the kitchen was not well equipped at all. A single stove, fridge, not even a table. The guys must have eaten all their meals in one of the other houses. If they very much wanted to stay there, it would work, but it wouldn't be as comfortable. Going upstairs, it was confirmed. The bedrooms were larger, but only because they housed three beds instead of one or two, and there were only four of them.

"Well, this isn't going to work. But you already knew that, didn't you?" She said teasingly to Rick, and he shrugged sheepishly.

"Wanted to give you the option."

"I appreciate it."

They helped Rick gather the guys stuff, and carry it out to the yard. They put it in a pile near the front porch, and headed back in to see if there was anything else they needed. Clothes from closets were gotten, anything to help flesh out what they already had, and a few blankets. They put the little bit of food stored in the kitchen into bags and carried it back to the main house. The whole thing took just over an hour, and dusk was starting to set in as they finally headed over to the women's house.

The first thing they did was go check the two rooms they had been given to see if anything remained, and they were pleased to find that Margie's crew must not have had the time to dispose of anything else, because their bags were left where they had been dropped. Gathering everything quickly, they left them at the stairs. After all, the house they would choose had not been decided yet. Instead, they began to take stock of the rooms, to see how everything would fit for the group.

The houses were plain, and very similar to the main house in that there was no real decoration outside of the crosses on the walls. Some religious paintings hung on the walls, pictures of Mary, Jesus, or sunsets were the only thing to be mentioned here. It was all ugly, but really only because of what it represented to them.

"A smaller house means less fuel." Rick remarked as they were checking bedrooms together, and Beth and Ruby nodded.

"Yes, but we can use the fireplaces for heat. Might help." Ruby reasoned.

"In that case, we should use the main house. There are fireplaces in almost every room. And... the bathrooms are bigger. Beds too." Beth said.

"So, we use the main house then?" Rick asked.

They thought for a minute, and Ruby nodded. "Yeah, let's do it. But the crosses come down, ok?"

Rick chuckled. "Whatever you want."

They did the same thing here that they had done in the other house, but this one was going to take a while. The kitchen was much more extensive, and Rick told them that they would come back for all the food and the wood for the fireplaces. In the end, they lugged over several trips worth of usable things, not even including their own personal effects, and Ruby was near to exhaustion when they were done.

"Ruby, go get some rest. I'll help you carry your stuff up, let's find a bedroom you like." Rick said when they got everything back to the main house, and she smiled gratefully at him.

"A bedroom, huh? Do, uh... do we need to find one that will fit more than one person?" She said sneakily as they headed up the stairs, and he raised an eyebrow at her, his eyes darkening in the dim light.

"Most definitely." He said low, and she laughed delightedly.

Skipping the second floor altogether, they started on the third floor. There were three bedroom up there, and they checked them all. They were similar, wooden plank floors, full size beds in the first two, the same sparing decoration, but the third had a queen size bed, and a bathroom attached.

"Oh, this is the one." Ruby said when she walked in, and went straight to the bathroom. The tub had claw feet, and she was surprised to see it was equipped with a shower head too. She hadn't expected that, everything was so old fashioned. Rick walked in behind her, and stood in the doorway watching her.

"What?" She asked with a smile, looking at him in the mirror.

He came up behind her, his arms snaking around her waist and his face buried in her neck. "I told you I would find a safe place for you. Someplace you would like."

She turned around, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I do like it. I know things started out bad, but it's turned around now, isn't it?"

"Absolutely. We're going to make it ours. All of ours. And you're gonna be happy."

She smiled, her lips brushing his. "I already am."

He kissed her hard, his hands massaging her waist and finding their way into her hair. Pressing her back against the sink, he felt like stone against her sore, tired body, and it was immensely comforting. If you had asked her several hours ago if she thought this would be happening now, she'd have told anyone they were insane. How exhausting it was to go from thinking you were going to die to being in the arms of the man you loved with all your heart.

She broke the kiss reluctantly, but smiled against his mouth. "Babe, it occurs to me that I need a shower badly, and that I think you're too polite to tell me that I need to brush my teeth."

"I don't know what you're talking about. You look beautiful." He murmured, his eyes closed and his nose nuzzling her face.

"Mmm. Always the gentleman. And I intend to pay you back, in spades, when we're done and alone tonight. But not right now when someone will inevitably be searching for us any minute."

"Promise?" He asked, opening his eyes to stare into hers.

"On my heart."

He reached up and cupped her breast, over her heart. "Care to test that out."

She laughed then, pushing his chest. "You are persistent, aren't you?"

"You have no idea." He said flatly, but allowed her to push him back. Smirking at her, he raised an eyebrow. "Fine. But the longer you wait, the harder it's gonna be on you."

"Oh, kinky!" She said with fake innocence, and he laughed. They kissed one more time before he helped her carry her things in the room, and when he left to go check on the others, she shut herself into the bathroom.

While Ruby showered, Rick went down to the first floor. Daryl was carrying their finds into the house, putting them in the living room for the others to go through, and Rick left him to it when he heard dishes clanking in the kitchen.

"Hey Carol." He said, pleased to find her there with the children. The little ones were at the long table coloring on blank sheets of paper with worn crayons, Carl watching over them peacefully, and Carol and Rebeccah were preparing dinner.

"Thought we'd go ahead and get this done. I think everyone must be starving by now." Carol smiled at him, and Rick realized she was right. His stomach hurt from the adrenaline of the day and his newly discovered hunger. He hadn't even thought about it, but that wasn't surprising.

"Thanks." He said, looking over at Rebeccah. "And thank you, Rebeccah. I know it's been a long day, confusing."

The girl looked up at him from the pot she stirred, and nodded faintly. "It has."

"How are you?" He asked.

She bit the inside of her cheek, keeping her eyes down. "I'm ok."

"Is there anything you need? We're moving everyone over to this house to stay together. You can be close to Jimmy."

"The same house?" She looked up at him, startled.

"It's safer. Is that ok?"

"Um... I guess. If Jimmy says it's ok."

"He does. I want you to be comfortable, Rebeccah. Please don't be afraid of us. Everything's going to be alright." Rick leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. "If you need anything, I don't want you to hesitate to tell someone."

"All my belongings are already here. I shared a bedroom with Honesty." She said timidly, and he nodded.

"You can have your own room now, if you like." She looked a little startled again, and he thought quickly. "Unless you'd rather share with someone."

"No, I'll be ok." She shook her head, and he smiled.

"Alright. Whatever you like." He walked around the counter to Carol, and leaned over to smell what she was preparing. "Smells good."

"Beef stew. I found the meat in the fridge." She said happily, and he felt his stomach rumble.

"Great. Hey, you find any tea or anything? Ruby hasn't had anything in a long time."

"There's tea in this cupboard." Rebeccah spoke up, and he grinned. She smiled back a little, and went to a cabinet across from him. Pulling out a box, she went to a teapot on the stove and began filling it with water. "I can make a lot, in case anyone else wants some too. If you like."

"That would be wonderful, thank you Rebeccah." He nodded, and started to look for cups to put it in.

"You can call me Becca, if you want. Everyone does. I mean, they used to." She said shyly, turning on the stovetop under the pot, her eyes still downcast.

"Becca." He nodded, watching her.

"Rick, we'll take it to Ruby. Go on, do what you need to do." Carol said. The conversation between the two of them had made her smile widely. The fact that, after such a violent day, they found themselves in such a safe and comfortable place together, in fact, made her smile. She hadn't felt this good in a long time. He thanked her, and left the room to find Carl.

Ruby was getting out of the shower when the knock came at her door. She'd stayed under the scalding hot water for a long time, scrubbed until her skin was bright red, and she felt wonderful.

"Come in!" She called out, brushing her hair in the bathroom mirror. It couldn't have been Rick. He just walked in, he didn't bother knocking.

Carol came in, toting a cup, and Ruby grinned. "Rick wanted you to have some tea. I put extra sugar in it." Carol said excitedly, and Ruby looked at her with wide eyes.

"Sugar?" She asked, and Carol laughed. "Oh my god, give that to me!" She took a sip, and rolled her eyes back happily. "I don't think anything has ever tasted as good as this does."

Carol nodded. "I know, right? When you're done, Becca helped me make dinner. You feel like eating?"

"I'm starving. But what about Jimmy? He can't come down yet, can he? Or Paul. He's out at the gate with Glenn still."

"Hershel said Jimmy could get up. He and Maggie are helping him now, and Daryl ran something out to the gate. I think Rick said he was going to relieve them after dinner."

"Ok, then. Let me get dressed and be right down." Ruby nodded. Jimmy was getting up and about, that could only be good. After Carol left, she dressed in a clean pair of jeans- her last. She was going to have to do laundry soon. Also her last fairly clean shirt, a blue tank top with a eagle stretched across the chest, and a high ponytail, and she tapped lightly down the stairs to join the others for dinner.

Everyone looked relaxed and happy around the table, and Ruby quickly took the empty seat next to Rick. The beef stew Carol made was delicious, and they all dug in fast and hard. Jimmy looked well, smiling there across from her with Rebeccah at his side, and the girl looked well more at ease having him there. From the conversation, she gathered that the two young children they had found were named Jeb and Sally, and they sat with Carl, taking small bites and looking around the table interestedly. Ruby wondered absently who their parents had been, and wished she had paid more attention that first night at dinner.

After everyone had eaten, Daryl volunteered to go switch watch posts with Paul and Glenn, and everyone else walked slowly out to the front yard. The sun had set long ago, and the sky was bright and alive with twinkling stars, the yard sang with the crickets hidden in the grass. Rick set about building a small pit fire, and they took places around it, sitting back and looking up at the stars and chatting quietly. They were all tired, but so grateful to all be there, they didn't want to go in just yet.

"Jimmy," Rick was saying, and Ruby brought her attention back to the group. "You're gonna have to let us in on your schedules here. The animals and so on."

"Yeah, no problem." Jimmy nodded, sitting across the fire from her and Rick, Becca at his side. "The horses are going to need to be fed before bed, but that doesn't take long. The cows can be taken care of tomorrow, and the chickens already got done this morning." He went on for a moment about similar things, and Ruby yawned, leaning against Rick's side to listen. Paul and Glenn came back then, and Maggie got up, slipping around the fire. She and Glenn disappeared a moment later, and she grinned. She was shocked they had waited this long. Paul took a place between her and Beth, and they chatted quietly to each other.

"Hey, you guys been lookin' around, you made it to the barn loft yet?" Jimmy asked, and Ruby shook her head. The bodies were in there, so no, no one had gone to look further.

"No, why?" She asked.

"When we would get new people in, or find things in town or whatever, the stuff they didn't want to use got stored. It's mostly clothes, stuff like that, but I know there's other stuff too you guys might want. Stuff they thought was... well, not for us." He said, and Becca looked at him, stunned.

"Jimmy, we aren't supposed to use that stuff." She whispered, and he looked down at her patiently.

"Becca, it's a whole new world now. We're on our own, we can do what we want now. Ain't you even a little curious about what's up there?"

She thought about it, and blushed a little. "A little."

He laughed lightly. "You find anything up there you want, you take it, girl. Live a little."

Rick looked at Ruby, amused. These poor kids must have been so sheltered from anything normal, this must be so scary for Becca. Jimmy, on the other hand, seemed to be slightly bitter about how he was raised. He was looking for any excuse to break out of the mold. She grinned back at him, the same thought going through her mind.

They sat and talked for a little while, but eventually, Ruby's exhaustion took the better of her. When she stood to go back in, the others obviously thought it was a good idea because they all started to do the same.

"I'll be in in a second. I want to check with Daryl. Make sure everything is locked up." He said softly.

"Ok. Hurry back." She winked at him and he felt a pang of desire shoot through his body like an electric shock.

Shaking his head, he whispered, "Girl..." She laughed, and he began the quick walk to the front gate. Ruby watched him go, and felt Jimmy come up beside her as the other drifted back in the house.

"Walk you in." He said and she grinned.

"Night Paul. Beth." She called out. The two of them clearly wanted to be alone, because they were looking impatiently at the others leaving.

Ruby yawned again as they walked. "I am gonna sleep for days." She said, stretching her neck.

"It's tempting, isn't it?"

"You have no idea. We've not been in a place where we could do that since the farmhouse we were in ages ago. Well, feels like ages. I'm just so glad to be off the road."

The night air had turned colder, and she shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. "Cold?" Jimmy asked, holding the front screen door open for her with his good hand.

"Nah. It's getting to be winter here soon, though. We have wood for burning?"

"Oh yeah," He said, walking with her to the kitchen. "Good amount, stacked behind all the houses."

"Awesome." She said, getting glasses and filling them with water from the tap. She handed one to him, and he took a drink. "Well, I'm done. Get some sleep, Jimmy."

"Ok. See you in the morning." He said, and tipped his head to her as she left the kitchen. She said goodnight to people as she made her way up the stairs. Shutting herself in her room, she quickly changed into a long teeshirt she found in the bureau and went to the bathroom. Clicking off the light, she crawled into bed, fully intending to wait for Rick to come in, but when he arrived twenty minutes later, he found her sleeping deeply. He stripped his sweaty shirt off and went to the bathroom, turning the shower on hot. The chill of the night had made him shiver, combined with the adrenaline that had been coursing through his body the whole day, and he stayed in much longer than he had to. It felt amazing, and when he was done, he felt sleepier than he could remember ever having been. Still, when he crawled into bed next to Ruby, he laid there staring at her sleeping face for a long time. Before he knew it, sunlight was streaming in the window.