Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
A/N: I might be bringing in some more characters from The Walking Dead, however they will only be background characters, they won't have major roles in the storyline. They're just characters our main guys have run into and I don't think Rick would just forget about them.
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Everything was ready to go, and now Rick looked between Buffy, the portal and the group he'd been leading. He'd quietly explained Shane's death to his friends and it had broken his heart to see Carl crying. He knew his son loved the other man; hell, he'd loved the other man. Rick felt like he'd betrayed them all. He still didn't quite understand why Shane had pushed him to that point.
That was when Daryl and Glenn had explained how they'd found Randall. How Shane had killed Randall, and Randall had turned into a Walker.
"We can't go," Rick blurted out.
Buffy frowned at the man. "Um, why?"
"Rick," Lori questioned.
"I kept this to myself, and I shouldn't have… but I didn't want to scare everyone…" the guilt was eating at him and everyone could hear it in his voice. "At the CDC, Jenner told me… We're all carrying the virus… What that man, Jack Hodgins said, it's true. We do have this sickness." He faced Buffy. "We've already risked your lives enough. Hell, just by bein' here ya coulda picked up this virus."
"Good grief, he's a brooder like Fang," Faith stated and took a seat on the tailgate of a pickup realizing they weren't going anywhere for awhile.
Buffy smiled gently, "You are truly what my Seer said you'd be." She'd planned on having Healers on hand like Jack had suggested, but now she didn't think they'd just walk through unless they knew there was no risk. She did some quick thinking and came up with a plan. "Vi, change in plans, go through and bring the Healers here. Bring Mopsy here as well. Send her through first. I want her to set up a clean bubble for the Healers. We'll have everyone enter one by one and get the all clear before going through the portal." The little redhead grinned and headed off for the portal to collect the others, and Buffy turned back to the people who would be joining them in Colorado.
Rick looked at the women as if they weren't real. "I'm starting to think Glenn is right… this is all a dream or hallucination."
"It's all real," she promised. "No one will be risking anything or anyone. You're a good man, Rick Grimes… It's time to lead your people to their future."
Rick looked to Lori and saw the tears glistening in her eyes. She stepped forward and clasped his hand in hers. "We're gonna have a future, Baby," she told him huskily. She knew they still had to talk about Shane; knew they'd have to deal with the repercussions of his death, and Carl's having to shoot a zombified Shane, but right now all she could focus on was that these girls had saved their lives… her life and that of her husband, son and unborn child. They'd saved the lives of her new extended family and her new friends, and now they were offering the chance of a future. Sure they had Walkers where they came from, but they had food, electricity, other people and safety as well.
"There is one thing though," Buffy frowned.
Rick felt dread deep in his belly. "What's that?"
Buffy stepped forward and knelt in front of Carl. "Back home little boys don't carry guns," she spoke gently, but treated him s an adult, with respect. "I know it's been different here, but there you won't be under constant threat and danger. There are a lot of kids and they don't know how to handle weapons like you do. One day I'm going to count on you to help me train them, but for now I just need you to be a kid. Will you be able to do that for me?"
Carl looked at her somberly for a moment before turning and stepping over to the man with the crossbow. "Daryl, I… I took this from your bike," he said softly, his voice filled with shame. "I'm sorry. I don't blame you if you hate me now."
Daryl was speechless. Now he knew where the damned thing had gone. Never in a million years would he have thought the little boy had it. "I don't hate ya," he said bluntly. "Next time ask." Daryl met Rick and Lori's eyes and saw relief and gratitude in them. He wondered when he'd become something close to friends with these people.
"Promise," Carl swore, and turned back to Buffy. "We're gonna be safe now," he asked quietly.
"I'm not gonna lie to ya, Buddy," she told him. "There's still some danger, but it's a lot safer than it is here. And the only times it's really dangerous is when we're out on a mission. I'll make you a deal, since I heard your Dad say you're a good shot, if we're ever in danger, I'll make sure you have a weapon."
The little boy's shoulders slumped in relief. "Deal."
"Do you have kids," Lori asked the other woman. "You seem real good with 'em."
Buffy smiled at Carl's mom and stood back up before answering, "No, but my guy has a little boy."
"And Jack thinks the world revolves around Buffy here," Emily Prentiss added. She and JJ shared a grin. All of the BAU agents had enjoyed seeing the romance bloom between Hotch and Buffy. It was nice seeing something beautiful amidst the horror.
"Aaron and I met when the world went to Hell," Buffy shared, "so we haven't been seeing each other long, but these days you have to grab happiness when you can."
"Amen to that," Maggie agreed.
"Oooohhh, look at all the treeses," Mopsy's voice brought everyone's attention to her sweet voice at the portal.
Carl's mouth flopped open as soon as he saw the little house-elf. "Mama, look," he gasped.
"I see it," she whispered. She couldn't believe it.
"I making a cleany bubbles rights now Missy Buffys," Mopsy told Buffy earnestly. "Then we can makes everyones healthys, and we can makes all the moomoos, neigh-neighs, and cluck clucks healthys too."
"Sounds good, Mopsy," the blonde nodded.
The house-elf concentrated for but a moment and then motioned. "The Healers is comings."
A minute later eight more people, five men and three women, came walking through the portal. "Everyone, these are our Healers… well, our Healers and… guests? Gibbs, Michael? What are you two doing here?"
Gibbs and Michael Weston looked at each other, and Gibbs answered first, "You have three of my people now in a different reality, Summers'; David and both McGees… I'm here to cover their six."
Michael shrugged, "My mom's a Healer, and I'm not letting her come here without me."
Maddie Weston sighed in annoyance, "Oh for Heaven's sakes, Michael."
Buffy just rolled her eyes and looked back at the Georgian survivors, "Sorry, back to introductions… my Healers are Maddie Weston, Marco De Luna, Tim McGee, Sarah McGee, Martha Rodgers, you all know Jack, and then of course their babysitters Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Michael Weston." She turned back to the Georgians. "I know I need to get all of your names, and I've gotten a few of them, but let's wait for full introductions when we get you all home."
Finally they were ready, and they started to head through the portal. Dawn, Herschel and Jimmy were taking all of the animals through one portal with the help of Vi, Rona, Nora, Kennedy, Helena and Kasumi, and everyone else was entering through the hotel.
Daryl had just entered the room, striding next to Rick and his family, his friends behind him. He'd never been in a place like this. Even before the end of the world. This hotel had to be somethin' like a five star resort or some shit like that. It was fuckin' opulent. He was fuckin' filthy. How the hell was he supposed to fit in here?
"Well, would ya lookee there, Murph, he does have yer face," the thick Irish accent came from the left drawing their attention. Looking over, the survivors from the alternate reality were speechless to see two men, a sandy blonde and a dark brunette approaching. The dark brunette was almost the spitting image of Daryl accept for the fact that his hair was darker, he was a few years younger and he had many religious tattoos adorning his flesh. "What do tem books say? It's like a doppelganger… yeah, dats te word."
The brunette scoffed. "He doesna have me face, I have me own face," his accent was just as thick as the blonde's. "His is jus' similar… Mebe."
"Mebe," the blonde looked at Murphy like he was crazy. "Have ye lost what lil' facilities ye have, brudder o' mine? He's da spittin' image o' ye!" Connor moved closer, a mischievous grin on his face. "Widdout te ink."
Now Murphy drew closer to Daryl, and squinted at the man who looked so eerily similar. "I don' see it. Surin' he's a handsom' fella, but that's where it ends," he said stubbornly.
"Get him decorated… closer to our Father in Heaven…" Connor snorted, "He's even got yer Rambo knife on 'is belt!"
Now Murphy threw up his hands, "Now yer back to the damned knife! I'm tellin' ye now, Connor, I'll bet ye tha' knife a damned bit more useful where he's a comin' from than any fuckin' rope ye'd be carryin' around!"
Ayane who'd been standing next to the survivors, now watching the brothers fight escalating, sighed, "And we're back to the knife/rope fight… Boys," she raised her voice to be heard over them, getting their attention.
"Sorry, Darlin'," Connor gave her a charming grin.
"Meh apologies, beautiful, Ayane ," Murphy added. During the brothers' fight, people had started to trickle in, different groups moving towards the different Slayers.
Buffy stepped onto a table. "Allow me to introduce our new members," she announced. "As most of you know, a little while ago Tina Cohen-Chang had a vision that led us to go to another version of Earth that had a different plague. It had zombies but they called their zombies Walkers." As she spoke, Herschel, Dawn, Jimmy and the others joined the group inside. "They were being attacked. I'm really glad to be able to say we were able to talk them into coming back with us. It wasn't a good place to be." Everyone started clapping, and there were lots of happy sounds from all around, making Buffy smile. "There are so many of us now that I'm going to let you all introduce yourselves over the next few days, but I wanted to introduce them now. And I wanted to make sure they know how very welcome they all are, and point out a few of the people in charge." Buffy turned to her Watcher. "This is Rupert Giles… Giles would you?"
"Of course, my dear girl," he murmured. The older British man stood and walked forward, smiling at their new members. "I hope you all know that Buffy speaks for all of us when she says that we are all so very glad to have you. Everyone we bring back is a true gift… you're going to help us rebuild the world," he shared. "I'm Rupert Giles. I've been Buffy's Watcher since she was fifteen years old… I suppose now that's not really important, if you want a more in depth explanation I can give you one at a later date. Buffy, I, Willow, Dawn, Faith and Xander," he pointed to a muscular, one-eyed man, "make up the Council, again that doesn't really mean much right now, but we were rehabilitating this hotel when Angelspawn was breached. That's why we're able to offer sanctuary. Angelspawn is the name of the virus causing everyone to turn into our undead creatures outside. You'll learn over the next few days. For now let me tell you who to go to with any needs; Dawn Summers and Kit Horvath will assign you rooms. Riley Finn, Graham Miller, Dean Winchester, Jethro Gibbs or Jack O'Neill can help you if you need any weaponry, if you need medical attention Lisa Cuddy is in charge of our infirmary and we have several doctors on staff as well as several Healers, Charles Gunn is in charge of keeping track of our supply cabinets. Andrew Wells is in charge of our kitchens. Willow Rosenberg is head of our witches and Severus Snape is head of our Wizarding Wizards and Witches, Layla Adams and Judy Newman are in charge of our gardens and animals… Samantha Finn, Jinx Walters and Emma Pillsbury are in charge of our clothing and toiletries and Will Schuester, Mona Kraft and Fran Rowan are in charge of schooling." Giles took a deep breath. The people he'd named had all moved to the front of the room. "Sometimes for entertainment in the evenings our exceptionally talented Glee club children will perform for us."
"Berry shoulda been on Broadway," a little Latina yelled out, drawing the newcomers attention.
The Slayer, Rachel Berry, blushed and ducked her head. "Doesn't much matter any more," she murmured. A tall youth with a Mohawk stood next to her, his muscled arm slung around her shoulders.
Carl grabbed her hand, "I wanna hear ya sing! What's yer name? I'm Carl," he asked the boy next to Rachel.
"I'm Puck. It's nice to have you here, Carl," Puck told him very seriously. "Ya know, I think my sister's about your age."
"Yeah?"
"Yep, she's a Slayer like Berry here."
Carl wrinkled his nose, "You call Rachel, Berry?"
Puck grinned, "Yeah… just kinda stuck."
Rick had stepped forward and was introducing his group. "I'm Rick Grimes. I was a Sheriff's Deputy in Cynthiana… I woke up out of a coma to find all of the world had gone to this… This is my wife Lori, and our son Carl… and in… God, I don't know how many months, six or seven, we're gonna have a baby…" Rick took a minute, fighting his emotions back. He hadn't let himself think about it too much. It could be Shane's baby… No this was his baby no matter how you looked at it… Shane was dead… now this baby had a fighting chance. And there were doctors.
"I'm Rebecca Stroud," a woman broke in from the back. "I'm an OBGYN, we'll set up an appointment and we'll get Lori all taken care of," she promised.
Lori and Rick shared a look. "Thank you," he told the woman gratefully. Then he turned to the others. "I'm gonna let the others introduce themselves."
A blonde stood up next. "I'm Andrea Yates… I was on vacation with my sister, I was taking her back to college… she didn't make it. I was a civil rights attorney."
"I'm Carol Peletier, they killed my husband and my little girl Sophia," her voice cracked and she sobbed when she mentioned her daughter, Andrea wrapped her arms around the other woman.
"My name's Glenn, I'm pretty boring, I was just a pizza delivery guy…"
"That's not true," Rick interjected. "You saved my life."
"It was your plan that got the bag of guns," Daryl added.
Andrea nodded, "And you kept sneaking in to get more supplies from Atlanta after it got overrun."
Glenn was blushing profusely now. Maggie was smiling proudly, "Plus you got that rope around that Walker… you were always puttin' yourself inta danger, and ya saved me." She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "I'm Maggie Greene. I'm with Glenn. And I'm just real glad to be here with him and with my sister and Dad."
"I'm Herschel Greene, Maggie and Beth's Daddy. I can help farm and tend to those animals," the older man offered. "I'll need somethin' to help keep me occupied. I'm also a veterinarian."
"My name's Patricia Brown. I lost my husband to this plague. Otis was a good man. I was a nurse, still am if you need me. Jimmy here's my nephew." The blonde teen nodded.
"Call me T Dogg… I hate my given name. Been called T Dogg since I was six. I was a locksmith before this hell began."
"Shit, guess it's my turn," everyone was looking at him, and it made Daryl uncomfortable. "Name's Daryl. Started off this thing with my older brother but he was a dumb bastard and he got left in Atlanta… we went back for him but… he took himself off and couldn't find him. Don't know where he got to and guess I won't find out now. Guess I can't be worryin' about it neither. Worked on cars and cycles before it all." A part of him felt like he'd betrayed Merle, leaving, knowing he'd never be back, knowing he'd never find him; then again, Merle had left him as well. Can't be worrying about someone who hadn't come lookin' for me, he told himself.
People made their way over and started shaking hands, and Dawn Summers and a petite girl with vibrant purple hair came with her to start handing out room assignments. Rick Grimes made his way over to Buffy Summers.
"Ms. Summers," he got her attention.
"Please, Rick, call me Buffy."
"All right, Buffy… I don't know if this is possible, but… in my world, back in Atlanta, there was a group of survivors… they couldn't join us because they were caring for a group of elderly and invalids. All the doctors and most of the nurses just took off, but these guys and gals stuck around to take care of 'em… I don't know if there's anything we can do for them, but I had to ask. We gave them some guns…"
Buffy's heart went out to this man. He'd gotten his family and people to safety and still he was thinking of others. "And you know where this location is?"
"I gotta map, and can show you."
"Let me talk to Giles, and get my girls together. I'll need to take someone they know and trust with us, so they'll believe us, but you'll have to be outfitted and you'll have to follow my orders," she was stern to make sure he understood she meant business.
Relief flooded him. If he could help any of those people… "I understand."