I do not own The Walking Dead.

Previously:

"My hair is awesome and you know it."

"Your hair ought to crawl back under the hat, sheriff."

"The hat was holding me back!"

The two continued this as they left the cell, a baffled Michonne trailing behind them.

It seemed life was willing to give them a good day, if only the one, as the sun shone brightly in the sky. It wasn't quite twelve o'clock - maybe an hour before, but Faye didn't have a watch so she rarely checked the time – so the rays of light didn't bare down on them completely. Instead, they quietly gazed down across the land and the air was as warm as the atmosphere around them – an excited buzz seemingly infecting the inhabitants of the prison. The breeze flustered the busy people's hair as they walked along, helping with any finishing touches wherever they were needed, the breath of wind rustling the trees beyond the prison fences.

Faye rolled a pebble under her foot. Although her bangs were no longer affected by the air current, she swiped back a layer of hair out of habit. Under her jacket, the heat was currently bearable. But she wasn't out in the open, and the sun would soon be out completely. It was Georgia, it was obviously going to get very hot very quickly. That meant she might have to take off her jacket, which Faye had zero intentions of doing. She'd had worse than this, more clothes on hotter days, she'd survive this easy.

Leaning her head against the door of the cell block, the girl sighed. She'd narrowly escaped Beth, which was an achievement. The older girl had been determined to touch up her face with make-up, but Faye was unwilling, not thinking it would suit her. The Greene girls, however, took to it like a charm. Well, Beth had, but Maggie too, although slightly less willing than her sister, looked fantastic with it on. Not that either of them weren't naturally pretty. Faye had always been jealous of the blonde's good-looks.

(Not that she would ever admit that because she was so incredibly not jealous of Beth-)

Rick rounds the corner, dressed smartly as Faye would expect him to be. He was, after all, marrying the happy couple. It had taken some convincing from the group, but he eventually agreed to the task with the assumption Hershel would help him with the speech itself. The man spoke as he approached her. The child could tell he was a little nervous, perhaps only because she was nervous herself. "The girls nearly ready?"

"With any luck, yeah." Faye replied with a shrug. "They were putting on make-up last time I checked."

He raised his eyebrows. "And you're not?"

"Ew! No! Have you ever tried it?"

Of course he hasn't, idiot.

"It's disgusting and slimy and I always blink when they tell me not to when they put on the mascara stuff." Faye crossed her arms as Rick chuckled. "I wouldn't wear it if you paid me."

"Okay, okay, point taken. We're ready to go whenever Maggie is so give us a heads up and we can start this all up." Rick said with a vague smile before turning around and leaving once more.

Faye stood straight, awkwardly pushing her hands behind her back to brush whatever dust had collected on her jacket as she had been leaning against the door. "Alright-y then." She said as she forced a cheery tone to her voice. "Time for a wedding."

Whistling the wedding tune she'd always heard on the television, she opened the heavy cell block door and entered to retrieve the bride.

Faye stood beside an archway that had been painted white for the occasion, chairs lined in front of her and the girl was pointedly avoiding Carl's gaze. The walk down the makeshift aisle had been embarrassing to say the least, and she was definitely going to be teased about it later. Beth had certainly taken the walk with more grace than she had. Beth always did.

Looking to her left, the child looked beyond the blonde in the pretty blue summer dress to Glenn, and next to the nervous groom was T-Dog as his best man. In the middle stood Rick, who was intently looking into his book. It looked like a Bible from where she was standing, but upon closer inspection she saw a folded piece of paper that likely had his words on.

Hm. Classy.

The man himself seemed to notice her eyes on him, and looked towards her. Faye found herself raising her eyebrows towards him, instead of the other way round like usual. In response, he gave a minute shrug, a small, sheepish grin upon his face. He had no clue what he was doing, which made a change. Rick was uncomfortable here, and the girl shook her head, chuckling quietly. As she turned her head away, the child accidently landed her eyes on Carl, who quickly took his opportunity to grin mockingly at her. So what, maybe she was stood there a little awkwardly! This wasn't her natural habitat! Faye stuck her tongue out at the boy, before receiving a jab in the side from Beth. Carl's grin only widened.

The soft sound of a guitar playing, the musician a man brought in from a run the other week, reminded Faye of why she was supposed to be so composed. Maggie entered the room, looking beautiful in her dress, with Hershel leading her through the room. It wasn't the smoothest of walks, considering the old man still had a crutch, but the two had practiced beforehand to make sure they were composed. Eventually, the bride and groom stood together as Rick began his words.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…"

Faye wasn't completely sure if she appreciated the amount of people surrounding her, dancing to the music hooked up to several car batteries and drinking the wine and champagne they had scavenged. Many were certainly drunk by now. The child herself had been stood with Daryl, avoiding most of the ruckus, but retreated further still when Carol had approached to try and convince the hunter to dance. The idea made Faye scoff – they hadn't managed to make him wear a shirt and they wouldn't manage to make him dance.

So, now, the girl sat on the steps of the cell block they were by, observing the dancers with Glenn and Maggie in the centre of them all. Whether they had needed a ceremony to truly marry each other or not, it didn't matter. The members of the prison were happy, and that was what mattered. The majority, and all that jazz.

From the corner of her eye, however, Faye saw the face of a familiar face of a woman with a bob of blonde hair looking oddly out of place. Diana, the third person she'd found along with Patrick and David on the hunt with Daryl all those weeks ago. She was stood on her own, looking worried and concerned. This wasn't completely strange since the woman was quite a caring person, albeit a little needy, but it was the fact that something was probably wrong for her to look like that that worried Faye. It also surprised her that Diana wasn't with her new found 'friend' James. They totally had a thing for each other. Or rather, maybe James was dancing with someone else and that was the problem. Either way, Faye felt she should probably go over and have a word.

Before the child could stand and make her way over, a very satisfied looking Carl sat beside her, his bangs beginning to fall over his eyes, which were lit up by the grin on his face. His eyes were a gorgeous shade of blue, Faye noticed, wondering how she hadn't done before.

"You'll never guess what we just did!" Oh. Patrick was here too. "We're gonna get in so much trouble if we're caught."

Carl rolled his eyes at the boy. "Calm down, we didn't get caught."

"Alright, you 'bad boys'," Faye leaned back on her hands in an attempt to look cool, slurring her words sarcastically. "What 'cha got?"

From within the side of his jacket, Carl produced a can of beer he and Patrick must have stolen behind the adults' – mainly his father's – back. "We got beer, that's what we've got." He said smugly, waving it in front of her. "Got it when they weren't looking."

Faye was about to stop him, but Patrick started talking before she could continue. "When they weren't looking? When I distracted them!"

"What, because you told them you ate too much and felt sick? That was a crap lie!" Carl said, sniggering. "There were so many better options than that."

"Carl," Faye said, and the boy turned to her immediately as he hummed a reply. "You shook that."

"Yeah, so?"

The girl shook her head. "You're an idiot sometimes, you know that? It'll all explode when you open it now, that's what happens when you shake beers 'n stuff!" She smirked as she continued. "I did it to a can Daryl was gunna drink on a hunt once, went all over his face. It was funny as hell."

Sheepishly, Carl held up the can and stared at it before turning to her and shrugging with a little pout.

(God, he was adorable and he wasn't even trying-)

Knocking his hand down, Faye frowned, but doubted the authenticity of her look. "Wave it around anymore and we'll get caught."

"Aww, no," He grinned his usual wolfish grin. "You shook up the beer, it's gonna go all over you now. I hope you're happy with yourself."

Faye bumped his shoulder and he laughed. "I am not the one opened it. He who…" The child waved her hand as she failed to think of a witty phrase. "He who shakes first opens first."

"You're terrible at that."

"How dare you, I'm fantastic." She replied. "Now open the beer, I wanna try it."

The three turned into the doorway, Patrick complaining how the drink could go all over his glasses as they did so. Facing the can towards the door, Carl's fingers pulling on the lid. The moment it was open, the contents exploded out and Faye covered her face as she laughed. Carl's face contorted for a moment before the happy expression returned, and Patrick complained only more at the state of his glasses. "He who shakes and opens first drinks first!" The boy said cheerily. He took a swig of the drink before apparently changing his mind on the large gulp. After he swallowed, there were only coughs and splutters. "God, that's disgusting."

"You big baby, it can't be that bad." Faye scoffed, taking the wet can from him. "Else why would everybody drink the stuff?"

Something should have reminded the child to learn from other's mistakes, but it did not. Raising the can to her lips, Faye quickly took almost a mouthful and immediately regretted the choice. Carl laughed at the surprised look on the girl's face as she forced it down her throat with the same coughing as he had moments before. "Why would everybody drink this stuff? It's horrible!"

"Well," Patrick began, looking a little pleased with himself. "I've dodged a bullet there."

"You're drinking it too!" Carl quickly turned to the older boy.

"'S not optional." Faye agreed. "You're taking the fall with us."

Not without muttering something about peer pressure, the boy drank a mere sip before pulling a face. "That's not nice."

"No shit, Sherlock." Faye said turning her head back towards the dancers. Music still played, and her friend Diana still stood alone. "Well, good steal boys, I look forward to your next piece of work. I'd prefer something that isn't poison, though."

Carl shrugged. "It's not exactly poison, is it?" He took another sip, pulling less of a face. The twitch in his eyebrow was enough to give away his dislike.

"Whatever you say."

The boy perked up as the song changed. "I remember this one."

Raising an eyebrow, Faye questioned him nonchalantly. "I don't. Didn't think pop was your kind of thing, anyway."

"It wasn't, but, you know. I remember." Fingers tapping over the can rhythmically, the boy turned to her. Faye didn't look close enough this time to see the slight nervousness in his eyes. "Wanna dance?"

The girl pulled a face. "I can't dance, you can't dance, and I bet you a Big Cat Patrick has two left feet."

Are you thick? Like hell he's asking Patrick to dance.

"So? Let's go dance badly then. No one will care." He continued as Faye straightened herself up again, wiping a stray drop of liquid from her jacket. "It's boring here."

She sighed. He was kind of right. And she kind of wanted to dance with him.

(Ha! Kind of.)

Agreeing to his offer, both children stood up. Patrick declined the offer, although something about the way Carl asked him to join them said there was never an invitation in the first place. And so, the children danced for a few songs. Grins and smiles seemed to be permanently etched onto their faces, and a blush didn't fail to rise to Faye's cheeks when Michonne sent her a wink. Had the child not been preoccupied, she would have sent a wink of her own – Michonne was stood with Rick, after all.

Neither of the children's dance moves was impressive, although Faye was totally not trying to mimic whatever it was Beth was doing. The girl laughed as Carl spun her around a final time as yet another song ended. From the corner of her eye, however, Faye saw Diana begin to exit the area. Nobody else was leaving yet.

"Carl." She said, speaking loudly as the next song began.

The happy look on his face seemed to fade a little as he saw a more serious one on hers. "What's up?" He asked, following her as she moved off the makeshift dance floor.

"I'm gonna go check up on my friend Diana, remember her?" Faye replied.

"Yeah," He said, looking a little warier. "The woman who came in with Patrick."

"That's the one." The girl smiled lightly. "She was looking upset and I thought I'd go and see what's wrong."

He nodded, although still disheartened. "You'll come back soon though, right?"

"I'll try."

Carl held her gaze even as she finished, and Faye saw a chance. A chance that she took.

Reaching up, the girl put a hand on the boy's shoulder to whisper in his ear. "Thanks for the dance."

And then, Faye kissed him on the cheek.

Blushes rose to both of their faces and before Faye could really think through what she had just done, she commented once more before walking towards the exit. "I'll see you later, then."

When she was out of sight, the girl missed the high five exchanged between the two boys.

Faye was growing increasingly worried as she followed Diana, barely close enough to follow the woman's path. The child was vaguely aware that they were heading in the direction of Cell Block B, where both Diana and James were housed, but Faye found the woman's choice of route through the tombs odd.

No, she wasn't supposed to call them that. T-Dog had started it off, and Hershel had cut if off, saying how it wasn't a nice name and it would spook people. The dead had risen, but no, calling the lower parts of the prison tombs would spook people. Logic.

As Faye descended the few steps down into the tombs, she heard the muffled call of Diana calling to James. What was he doing in the tombs- corridors at this time? Everyone was at the party, although a few had volunteered to take watch since they didn't know the couple all that well. As far as she knew, few people had left to their cells so far. It just wasn't late enough.

Faye gently opened the door to see the blonde woman approaching a body slumped on the ground against the wall.

Faye pushed the door further to see Diana bend down to the man's eye level with a caring outstretched arm.

Faye yelled the woman's name, racing towards her as the man growled and lifted his arm, sinking his nails into her wrist.

Diana cried out in pain and yanked her hand away, which even Faye could see from her distance only tore deeps gashes into her hand. All she was doing was pulling the newly awakened walker to its feet as it reached towards her.

No, Faye could still save her yet, just amputate the arm, and everything would be fine.

Only the child couldn't have been fast enough, feet not pounding the concrete as fast as her heart was beating. Teeth sunk their way into Diana's neck as she was metres away, and as the woman screamed Faye could only cry in anguish at her failure.

Her legs stumbled to a stop as she reached for her gun, only to realise that the retched dress she was wearing couldn't have allowed her to wear it, or even her knife. The child had too much adrenaline to merely watch and begin to cry, and so ran again to the two.

Gripping James's- no, the walkers sides, she let out her own growl of frustration as she yanked him back, and both the dead and the child were sent tumbling to the floor. Struggling to her feet, Faye couldn't feel the throbbing in her elbows and knees as she fully let the smiling, laughing girl who danced with Carl vanish as she brutally kicked the man's head, sending it back to the ground again before it had the chance to stand.

Faye stood over the snarling body before pushing down his arms with her knees as she straddled the body. She should probably have disabled its arms better, and had she taken any longer killing the creature it may have sunk its fingers into her legs like it had done in Diana's arm, but she never gave it the chance.

Without a weapon, the girl found herself reaching for the one sheaved in what was once James's knife. Now, it was just a weapon on a corpse. Corpses were only good for looting those days.

The child gripped the knife between her fingers before shoving it through the man's eye with all her strength. She did it again, and again, and again because she had failed and wouldn't- couldn't lose again.

Weak.

Faye heaved for breath as she yanked the knife from the mangled head, hands stained with blood as she pulled herself away from the body.

Then she heard a tortured moan of pain from behind her and she turned, dropping the blade. It clanged against the hard, cold floor and the girl dropped to her suddenly aching knees and slid the dying woman into her arms despite her suddenly aching elbows. Stroking the hair away from Diana's eyes, Faye listened to the scared mutterings. Those scared mutterings would be the final ones, the deserved ears.

"I was just- I was just-" The woman stuttered. "He got bit on the run yesterday and I promised- I promised, I did, not to tell anyone. And know he's dead. He's dead."

And so are you.

"I'm sorry." Faye whispered, words barely formed in her mouth.

Diana continued to cry, seemingly more delirious with the blood loss. "He's dead!"

"I know," The child could only hope she was soothing. She wasn't the person Diana would have wanted to see in her dying moments, but she was all she was getting. "He's gone now, he's okay. He's alright."

"Why did you kill him?" The words made her freeze, muscles locking up and she ceased her movements. "He didn't want to die, he was just so angry and he wanted to live!"

So weak.

Faye said nothing for a long time. She didn't cry, either.

Heartless.

"I'm sorry." Faye murmured again finally, as the woman's pain filled twitches began to subside. Death was near, the child new the look in someone's eyes. "You're alright, you're just fine."

But Diana couldn't see anymore. Or hear. Or feel. She could only bleed.

Adrenaline disappearing, the child didn't have it in her to sink a knife into the dead woman's brain. The lifeless body simply fell from her lap onto the ground.

Faye merely sat unmoving as blood stained her pretty green dress, the failure and death scarring into her skin.

Author's Note:

Happy New Year! I present to you a depressing end to a supposedly happy chapter! Best wishes to all!

Uh, I'm a terrible person.

Sorry for the wait, but I can confirm to you that Chapter 50 of this story shall begin Season 4! Which is helpful, as writing will be easier and I have my first GCSE in January which I really should be working on right now - it's a Spanish exam which means memorising 400+ words - but I prefer writing. Next week, I will be combining this chapter with it's part one, so there will be three chapters before S04 E01. Yey!

Anyway - check out the Christmas oneshot I wrote called 'Lights', where S2/S3 Faye finds herself in a lot of snow.

Happy New Year to you all, let's make 2015 a good one.

Please review, I love to hear your thoughts and advice.

Thanks.

Cobalt Flame.