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.

When Ruby woke up the next morning, she laid there for a few minutes, listening to Rick's deep breathing and snuggling into his side. He was bare chested, and smelled like fresh air and sandalwood, and she wondered what he had used to shower with the night before. Whatever it was, it sent a tingle from her top to her toes, and she wanted to do nothing more at that moment than wake him up and keep him in her bed for the next six months straight. Finding him there next to her gave her the best feeling in the universe, and she didn't want to let it go just yet. Eventually, however, her bladder would not be denied, and she slipped into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, put her hair in a messy bun on her head, and clicked the light off. Rick must have been absolutely exhausted, because he didn't budge as she moved around the room.

The sound of water picking up outside sent her to the window, and she saw it had started storming sometime in the night. Rain still fell in sheets against the glass, the sky a beautiful dark purple color pocketed with black around deep storm clouds. She smiled to herself at the normality of it all. Turning around, a slip of paper on the floor next to the door caught her eye, and she went over to it, picking it up.

"Ruby, thanks for letting us borrow these. We washed them for you, plus we found a few other things. Hope they help. -Beth"

Ruby opened the door and found a small stack of garments on the floor before her door. "When did they have time to do that?" She murmured, picking them up and taking them back with her. There was the shirt she'd lent Maggie, along with some things she didn't recognize. A long sleeved black shirt caught her eye, and she quickly stripped and pulled it on. A pair of her jeans were there also, and they had just been washed. God, that feels good, she thought as she pulled them on, sighing happily.

"You look amazing." Rick's voice came from the door, making her jump a little. He smiled and came up, wrapping his arms around her. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"It's ok." She said, kissing him deeply. "How did you sleep?"

"Hard. But you should be happy you were asleep when I came in last night." He said, tracing her side with his finger, trailing it up under her breast.

"Why's that?" She grinned, looking up at him.

"Because if you weren't, neither of us would have slept at all." His voice was low, almost dangerous, and spoke volumes of his need. The feelings she had earlier returned with full force, taking her breath away. In a fluid motion, his hands went to the space where her shirt didn't reach her jeans, his fingers rough against her skin as they came up, taking the garment with them. A second later, it was on the floor, and her jeans were joining them. She didn't care that she had gotten dressed less than thirty seconds ago or that there was a whole house moving around them, when she felt the hardness of him against her lower stomach she almost melted away right there. He picked her up, her legs wrapping around his waist, and he sat her right there on the sink edge, his body pressing her into the cold marble.

She gasped when his hand went down her stomach to her thighs, then between them. Pushing the thin fabric of her underwear to the side, he ran a finger across her most sensitive parts while his tongue pushed into her mouth in a rapid tattoo of movement. Her whole body was alive then, hands twisted and caught in his curly dark hair, scratching the smooth skin of his shoulders and back. Thrusting his finger forward, she cried out at the feeling, and felt his breath catch in his throat. She was so wet, so ready for him, so when he began to use two fingers a moment later, she very nearly came right then. No, she scolded herself, not yet, she wanted him inside her so badly it hurt.

He moved his mouth down to her chest, sucking and licking her firmly, sending shock waves through her body while his fingers worked the most wonderful magic.

"Not yet," He whispered, feeling her body tighten around his hand. Pulling his hand back and grinning when she gave a disappointed hiss, he pinched her ass, then rubbed the tingle away with his palm. Her hands had moved to the pants he wore, and tugged the zipper down between them. Slipping her thumbs into the band, she pushed and he kicked them off. Her small, cool hand found him then, circling his thick, hard length and she began to stroke him, slow at first, then quicker. When her thumb flicked across the tip, he physically jolted and pulled back, all sense lost. He turned her around in a flash, grabbing her hair and pulling her head back gently. With the other hand holding her hip hard, he plunged himself into her in one movement and she cried out. He couldn't stop like he normally would, let her adjust to him, his brain had long ago shorted out. Instead, he thrust blindly, listening to her moan and feeling her burn like fire around him. A bright flash of color behind his eyelids and he was coming, his own moans joining hers in a crescendo of sound and feeling, touch and wetness.

"God, Rick!" She gasped as she came as well, bucking her hips back against him to take him in further, and he had the presence of mind to find her nub with his fingers as he continued to thrust against her back. A high pitched ahh from her as he rubbed, and the orgasm she'd kicked into went up several notches, not stopping. She pushed back harder, convulsing around him until he thought he would either come again or die from the sheer bliss of the feeling. Slowly, she stilled, and he relaxed against her back, his breath coming in gasps and pants that matched hers. He'd have stayed there forever, if he didn't feel like his legs were going to collapse under him.

He pulled away gently, and she turned, visibly trembling, but smiling. Pulling her into a tight embrace, he rubbed her face and hair with his fingers, sighing deeply.

"You are amazing." He said softly, and she scratched his back lightly with her nails.

"You should talk. That was... oh my god." She chuckled softly against his chest. A sound from outside the room caught their attention, and he laughed nervously.

"You think we made too much noise?"

"Mm, don't care." She grinned, and pulled back, grabbed her clothes from the floor and began to pull them back on. "But, we better get back out there. Still have a lot to do, don't we?"

"Fine, but I get this again tonight. With a quick run through about noon if we get the chance." He said, listening to her amused laughter as he walked back out into the bedroom.

The house was bustling when Rick and Ruby got downstairs. Most everyone were either there or in the kitchen, and Carol was busy feeding everyone. Ruby went to the coffee pot and poured herself and Rick two cups. Oh, caffeine... how I have missed you, she thought as she took a sip. He grinned at her when she brought his to him at the table, and they joined the conversation already going.

"Maggie and Glenn are keeping watch, Rick. Went out when Paul came in this morning, he's getting some sleep now." Carol said, bringing a plate of eggs to the table and taking a seat. Becca was, typically, next to Jimmy, who had reappeared from his room, and the kids chatted quietly with Carl, Sally taking tiny bites of a biscuit and listening to the older boys talk. Ruby dipped herself out some eggs and began to eat. She hadn't realized how hungry she was till just then.

"How you feelin', Jimmy?" Rick asked through a mouthful of food.

"Better, thanks to Hershel. Man's a miracle worker." Jimmy nodded toward the old man, who just shook his head shyly.

"No, you're the one who'd pulling through young man. He hasn't complained once."

"What do I have to complain about? I'm still here." Jimmy grinned, and Becca smiled back at that. "You guys got any questions about the farm, yet?"

"I do want to take a look at the water systems again, maybe go through the crops, get a game plan down." Rick mumbled through a mouthful of eggs.

"Oh yeah. I can show you all that right after breakfast if you want. Got a good system, too. Been there longer than I been here, always worked right. The fuel tank was replaced a couple years back, we're gonna need more gas in a month or so, wanted to make sure you knew about that."

"We can go to the highway, see if the cars there have anything." Ruby suggested.

"I can do you one better. All the farms around here had tanks just like ours, we've just been draining them one by one. I know of at least four more we ain't even touched yet."

"Well, that's a relief." Hershel said, surprised. "You didn't have a big run through here?"

Jimmy shrugged. "It's a pretty tight place, so when people started getting sick it kind of happened all at once. Didn't give folks a chance to use much before they passed on. And the people on the highway passing through didn't know they were there, so they weren't touched."

"How do you carry that much gas, get it back here?" Rick asked.

"Got a truck. Usually only takes two trips to drain one of them. Three if it's big like ours or the Martin's farm down the road." Jimmy explained.

"I can't tell you how nice it is to cook on a stove again. I think I'm going to be baking for days, I can't stop." Carol said with a wide smile, and they looked up to see Daryl come in the back door, and go to the coffee pot. Ruby grinned at him and he nodded to her over his coffee cup.

She got up, letting the others talk, and began to scrape her plate off and get it into the sink.

"Jimmy boy get the all clear?" Daryl asked, leaning against the counter next to her.

"I guess. He's gonna go show Rick some stuff around the farm today." She said, getting more coffee. "Man, I didn't realize I missed coffee this much."

"Yeah." He grunted. "Slept late today, didn't ya? Hope you're not gonna go and get lazy on me now."

She grinned, elbowing him in the arm. "We've earned it. You could have too, but it doesn't look like you did much."

He shrugged. "Don't need much sleep. Got the animals fed, figured they didn't get much yesterday."

"Aw, you an animal lover, Daryl? I usually just see you aiming your crossbow at them."

"Well, yeah. You wanna eat don't ya?" He raised an eyebrow but chuckled. Rick and the others started to get up, and she looked back at Daryl.

"You wanna walk around with them? Is it still raining?"

"Slowed down. Get a jacket though. It's getting' cold."

"Ok, mom." She grinned. "I don't have one."

He gave a dramatic roll of his eyes but went to the back door and grabbed a heavy sweater with a hood off a hook behind a cabinet. "Do I gotta do everything around here?" He said low, handing it to her. She grinned and pulled it on, and when she put the hood up he pulled it down over her face. She cackled loudly, swatting his hand away.

"You two havin' fun over here?" Rick came up behind her.

"He tried to smother me." Ruby grinned. Playful wasn't the word for Daryl, but he was obviously in a good mood, and Ruby like to see it. Carol caught her eye, smiling down at the sink of dishes as Becca helped her clear up. Daryl's mood clearly wasn't lost on her either.

"Let's go then, people." Daryl said, and Jimmy fell into step behind Ruby as they walked out the back door.

They started with the garden, and Jimmy started running through how the irrigation was set up. This was more of a chance to stretch her legs, and Ruby only half listened. The rain had, indeed, slowed to a soft drizzle, and when they were finished with the garden, it had stopped altogether.

They got to the animals, and Jimmy was talking about feed or something when Paul came out of the main house. Seeing them, he jogged over, and threw a arm over Ruby's shoulders.

"You sleep?" She asked.

"I did. Did you?"

"Oh yeah." She looked up at the cloudy sky, colored gray and pale blue. "The rain helped I think. It was a nice storm, wasn't it?"

"The thunder woke me up once. It was great." They both loved thunderstorms. Wherever they used to be, whenever it stormed they would get together in the hotel and watch it. Ruby missed those days.

The small group started to move on, and she called over to Rick. "Hey, you guys go ahead. I want to take a look at the stuff you said was stored in the barn."

"You sure? We haven't gotten a chance to take care of the bodies yet." Paul said, and she nodded.

"I'll deal."

"I'll come with you." Paul said and Rick kissed her cheek as he, himself, departed the house with Jimmy and Daryl.

They got into the barn, and Ruby took the lead, climbing the side staircase to the loft above. "Holy shit." She breathed when Paul joined her at the top. Jimmy hadn't been kidding. Margie and Bob must have been raiding and looting everything and everyone they could, the loft was full to bursting with bags, trunks, and boxes.

"Why would they even keep this stuff?" Paul asked, wandering over to a box and poking through it. Ruby shrugged as she unzipped a nearby red canvas duffel. A red piece of fabric caught her eye and she pulled out a tiny red camisole edged in lace.

Holding it up, she grinned. "Indecent. Right."

"I'll take that, if you don't want it."

She looked at him with wide, laughter filled eyes. "I don't think it'll fit you, dude."

He blushed fiercely. "I don't mean for me."

She burst out laughing then. "Oh my god, I love you, man, but I do NOT need to know about your sexy time."

He chuckled, going to another box and looking through it. "Good, because I wasn't planning on telling you anything."

She grinned, sitting the cami aside. She was absolutely going to slip it to Beth now. She quickly went through the remaining contents, and then dumped everything she didn't want into a pile on the floor. Using the now empty bag, she started to fill it with the most useful things she could find. "So, details aside, how's that going? You two, I mean."

"She's a pretty amazing girl." He said vaguely, but the smile on his face spoke much more.

"I know that, silly. I'm just saying, you two getting serious? I mean, how much talking you two gonna do?" She was teasing now, he knew, and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, you don't see us all the time. And we don't march it up and down the halls like you and Rick. Believe it or not, we do have ears, you know."

She froze, looking over at him with wide eyes, and a blush crept up her neck and settled firmly over her cheeks. "Ears? You... oh my god."

He laughed. "Oh, don't worry. I was the only one upstairs this morning, they were all in the living room or the kitchen. But you might want to watch that in the future."

She groaned, and set down on the wooden floor, pulling a large box toward her to go through. "If Carl heard I think I'd die." She sighed. "You know, I haven't had the chance to really get to know him yet. I think I need to make more of an effort."

"It's not like you've had a lot of time." He said, his voice muffled as he bent over and pawed through a large chest filled with papers and clothing. "He likes you, though. I wouldn't worry. It will be easier now that we're settling in and not on the road all the time."

"A HA!" Ruby burst out laughing, startling Paul. He looked over at her like she was crazy, but she just held up a few shirts triumphantly. "Margie lied. This is Beth's."

He grinned, nodding. "That'll make her day. Is Maggie's stuff there too?"

"I don't see it, but probably. Not that it much matters now, though. There's so much here, we could probably wear something new every day and not run out for weeks." She said, sitting the packed bag aside and grabbing for another. "Still, there's something to be said for having your own stuff."

"Hey, you want any of this stuff?" He pulled out a large ziploc baggie filled with lotions, moisturizers, even a little lipstick and things. It was fluff, not anything they really needed, and it made her want it even more. Lord, when was the last time she put on makeup? To think what Rick would look like if he saw her all dolled up... Shiver... it was enough to make her tingle all over.

"Yes, please." She said, trying to steady her voice. Thinking about Rick like that was making her all hot and bothered again. "Hey, come here. See if these clothes will fit you."

He came over, and held up the shirts and pants she held out. There wasn't much guys' stuff, surprisingly. Guess it was harder for guys to be 'indecent', she thought sardonically.

"Yeah, this is good." He said, choosing some things. "And I bet these'll fit Rick and Daryl. Maybe a little big for Glenn though."

"I found a couple shirts for him. We can come back and get more later." She stood, brushing herself off.

He started tossing bags to the floor below, and they carried everything back to the house. The next hour was spent sorting and handing things out, and Carol volunteered to wash the things that needed it. Ruby had noticed her looking longingly at the washing machine tucked away off of the kitchen, she suspected Carol would take any excuse to use it. So funny how such a menial task took on the state of luxury when you'd spent the last several months scrubbing your clothes on a rock in a stream.

When they were done, Paul went to find Beth, and Ruby saw Maggie come in with Glenn. Beth had been so happy to see her clothes out of the loft she could barely contain herself. And the camisole that had attracted such attention from Paul? Ruby had slipped it to her with a wink, and a gesture toward her large friend, and Beth had blushed even more than Paul had. Still, she took it eagerly.

"Mags!" She called out, and the pretty brunette looked over to her from the staircase she and Glenn were climbing. "Come in here for a sec."

"What's up?" She came into the living room and looked down at the pile of stuff Ruby was going through.

"I thought you might like your clothes back." Ruby said wickedly and Maggie looked confused, till she saw a very familiar looking blue shirt in Ruby's hand.

Eyes widening, she looked from the garment to Ruby. "Are those...?"

"Yup. Yours. Margie lied."

Maggie's mouth dropped open, and she swept down on Ruby with a fierce hug. "Where did you find them?" She asked, looking through the bag that Ruby held out quickly.

"The barn loft that Jimmy was talking about at dinner. You should see it. There was so much stuff! Pick out more you want, here, there's plenty!"

Maggie dropped to her knees and started going through everything, oohing and ahhing when she found something she liked. When she pulled out a long, soft nightgown with a low neckline, she actually squealed.

"I'm glad you're happy." Ruby sat back and watched her friend. "Something tells me Glenn is gonna be even happier."

"There's makeup too?" Maggie's voice had a hint of wonder as she looked from the Ziploc bags and back to Ruby excitedly. "Hey, let's get dressed up for dinner."

"Could be fun." Ruby nodded. It certainly would be a trip to see Rick, Paul and Glenn's faces when they showed up looking civilized again. "I'll meet you before dinner."

"Ok!" Maggie dashed off upstairs, her treasures clutched tightly in her hands. Ruby laughed, and began folding the clothes Carol hadn't needed to wash. Walking upstairs, she went into Daryl's room and put some on his bed. Paul had taken his, so she went to her room next to put the things she had found for Rick away too.

It was then she realized she hadn't found anything for Carl, and she sighed. "Way to go, Ruby." She muttered to herself. "Forget his son. You're awesome." She left the house again and returned to the barn, alone. She was going through more bags, and had found several things that would fit Carl, when she heard the barn door open and slid back closed, and footsteps across the floor below.

"You son of a bitch." She heard the voice, mmediately recognizing it as Jimmy's. Peering over the railing curiously, she saw him standing there in the middle of the floor, looking at the pile of bodies stacked against the wall. Suddenly uncertain, she stayed quiet. She had the distinct feeling she was not meant to be seeing or hearing any of this.

"Man, you were all about "God", weren't ya? Yeah, you were real devout." Jimmy spat angrily toward the body of his uncle, and Ruby wondered what had brought this on. She guessed it was coping, Bob had just died, and he hadn't exactly gotten the chance to deal with it yet. Twisted or not, these people were his family, and he did grow up with them.

Jimmy was pacing back and forth in front of the corpses, his expression dark and intense.

"The world ended, Bob, and you and Margie just kept on goin'. Doin' the same shit you did before. Drag people into your fucked up world, twist 'em all around till they thought you were God. The shit you did to Rebeccah, that girl's never gonna be right again. Rick and his people did good by you, Bob."

At that Jimmy suddenly seemed defeated. His shoulders slumped, his bad arm still tucked close to his body in a makeshift sling. He went to the stairs going to the loft and sat down hard on the lower rung, sighing deeply.

"And what you wanted to to do Ruby, Maggie and Beth. You don't even know what those girls are, man. They're amazing, and all you wanted was..." He trailed off, and Ruby felt her heart thump in her chest. She now had an inkling of what they'd almost fell victim to, and her stomach churned violently. She backed up, her breath now coming a little faster, and her foot knocked against a trunk with a thump. She heard Jimmy jump downstairs and closed her eyes in anxious disappointment when she heard him climb up. Opening one eye, she gave him the sorriest look she could muster, and he stopped at the top of the stairs, leaning against the railing.

They didn't speak for a moment, he just looked at her with regret, and the tiniest hint of worry.

"I am so sorry, Jimmy. I wasn't spying." She said earnestly.

He took a deep breath. "I guess I have some explaining to do, don't I?"

"No. I think I figured most of it out." Her lip was clenched so tightly between her teeth she tasted blood.

He shook his head, turned, and went down the stairs halfway before stopping and sitting down. Leaning forward, he put his elbows on his knees, fingers laced in front of him, and stared out into nothing. Ruby bit her lip thoughtfully, but after a moment, she stepped quietly down the stairs and took a seat next to him. He didn't look at her, so she just gave him a sympathetic look and sighed.

"You wanna talk about it?" She asked quietly, and he didn't say anything for a few minutes.

"You sure you wanna hear? I don't want you to think... well, that I'm anything like them. I'm not. I mean, I wasn't." His eyes didn't meet hers, he was clearly distressed at the thought.

"I think you've more than proven that already. I don't want to push, though. I can leave."

He finally looked over at her. His big green eyes were filled with pain, and she felt terrible for him.

"Margie was the hard ass, you know? But Bob, he had issues, man. He acted all easy goin', didn't think we saw, the way he looked at girls. The ones in town, in church, and especially the ones here. They were always takin' 'em in, saying they were 'teachin' 'em the way'. But all Bob wanted to do was teach 'em the way right into his bedroom."

"Oh." Ruby suddenly very nauseated again.

"And Ruth, you don't even know. She lived down the way a bit, her family had a farm. The boy of hers, there was always talk..."

"You mean Bob was his father? Did Margie know?" Ruby asked, wondering if it would bother him for her to ask questions. It didn't seem to, however, because he just kept going.

"She had to, but we never talked about it. And if I woulda brought it up, he would have belted me like nobody's business." He shook his head. "Anyway, that's bad and all, but once all this happened and we started taking in people Bob looked at it like his chance to start a new community. The way he wanted it to be, you know?"

She nodded. "Like a cult?"

He laughed bitterly. "Yeah, the cult of Bob."

She smiled, picking nervously at her cuticles as she listened. "They had this idea that they could decide how people were gonna live by scarin' them with this God stuff. I don't know if they even believed it, but they sure used it. Hell, they made Amelia and Jonathan get married. They were looking for girls for me and Mark and the rest. When you guys came along, it was like Christmas. Bob came home that night he found Daryl and Glenn at the lake and said, "They got women, I know they do. We just gotta get 'em here."

Ruby swallowed hard. This was almost too much to take. By wanting to come here, she realized at that moment that she had probably almost committed them all to death, or worse. She stood up, feeling very claustrophobic, and walked down to the bottom floor, crossing her arms over her chest. Jimmy looked alarmed, and stood up.

"Hey, I'm sorry. Please forget all that, I shouldn't have said anything."

She shook her head quickly. "No, it's ok. I asked you about it, and you needed to get it out. It's just, the thought that somebody could... just be like that. It's scary, that's all."

"Well, that's why I did what I did. I just couldn't do it." He sat back down, and rubbed his head with his palm.

"I guess, what I wonder is, what was it about us that made you snap? I mean, I get you never thought it was right, but that is a big difference between thinking it, and doing what you did. You sacrificed your own family to save our lives, and you didn't even know us."

He frowned. "It was different with you guys. The others, they wanted to be led. They walked in here and just handed themselves over. But you guys didn't do that. That first night, I saw Paul leave the dorm. Don't be mad, but I followed him."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "You did?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I got curious. I saw him go to the window, and I listened while you all talked. The way he stayed so long just because it made Beth feel better even though he probably knew it would make Bob and Margie lose it. I could have listened to that all night. You think I'm some weirdo now?"

She smiled, shaking her head. "I don't."

He smiled sadly back at her. "It's over now though. It's all over."

"Yeah, Jimmy. You don't have to worry anymore, about you, or Becca. We take care of our own. And you are, most definitely, one of the family now."

He seemed so pleased with that it made her smile grow wide. "So, what happens now?" He asked.

"Well," She thought. "We make it work. And we stay away from strangers. You don't even know what's out there, Jimmy. Some of the people we've run across are way scarier than any walker, maybe even more than Bob and Margie, but from what you said, that's probably a stretch."

"And the bodies? What do we do with those?" He threw a distasteful look over to the corpses.

"That's up to you. We could bury them-" She began, but he cut her off.

"Burn 'em." He said flatly, and she nodded.

"We'll do it right away." She came and leaned against the railing below. "I think we'll keep Becca away though, I doubt she'll understand. You gonna be ok, Jimmy?"

He nodded, mustering up a grin. It made his face seem much less worn and tired, and she hoped it stuck around. "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks for listening."

"Anytime." She said pleasantly. He stood up, walking down the stairs, and to the door. He looked back just before he left, he turned and looked back at her.

"You know, one thing Bob was right about. I'd be lucky to find somebody like you." He blushed a little, his eyes going to the floor.

Ruby felt so sorry for this damaged young man, and chose to ignore the implications of what he'd just said. For someone so young, he'd lived a harder life than most of them, even with the walkers. She went and grabbed the things she'd found for Carl, hurrying now. Her talk with Jimmy had made her want to be with Rick so badly she could taste it.