Chapter 4:

"Who was that?"

Rick stomped up his porch steps tiredly, while Carl stood at the top, a pensive expression on his young face.

"No one. Where's your sister?", Rick breathed, squinting into the home.

"Sleeping", Carl hurriedly answered, "Now who is she?"

His eyes slid down to his son as he glanced at him. He peaked behind him before he spoke, "A Savior"

Carl's brow furrowed.

"Someone that works pretty close with Negan"

"What are you doing with her?"

"I don't know yet, but… we'll get what we need from her-"

"Won't he come looking for her?", Carl pressed, his brow raised.

"He doesn't know where she is. Said so herself"

Carl huffed as he thought about it, his eyes darting all over the porch.

"Don't worry about it, we'll figure somethan' out-"

"Did you think this over properly? If you hurt her and send her back, we'll still have to fight him, and even if you kill her, we'll still have to fight him-"

"I said don't worry about it", Rick reinforced in a sterner tone.

Carl shook his head as he rolled his eyes, turning back to the house, "Whatever"

Rick rubbed his index finger and thumb together feverishly as he watched his son walk back into the house. He knew the two of them didn't see eye to eye often, but it was draining him. He felt as if Carl was looking for any reason to distance himself further from him and it was taking its toll on his patience.

The next morning Rick took the opportunity to spend some time with his daughter before starting his day. He knew he had important matters to deal with, but he was still trying to figure how he'd deal with them.

"You think she knows about the kingdom?"

Rick tore his eyes from Judith to look at Daryl as they sat on his front porch, "Maybe. Could be why she was out there yesterday. We still need to go back and talk to Ezekiel about everythan'"

"I don't think he'd be on board… somethan' about him... you can tell he likes the little world he's got there", Daryl paused from sharpening his arrows, "Thinks he's a king or somethan'..."

"I got all that too"

"He's got a damn tiger"

Rick smirked, then smiled widely when he caught Judith's attention, "You looking at daddy?"

Judith giggled as she put both hands on his face. Rick sat playing with her until Carl emerged, and he handed his son the little girl for the day.

First on his agenda was passing by to see Michonne, and it was something he was a little nervous about. Having her made him feel like he had some sort of leverage, but as his son had pointed out, they would still be going to war whether he had her or not. It was a tricky situation, but he wasn't going to let her go so easily.

"Hey Rick!"

He stopped in the street when he saw Tobin jogging towards him. He eyed the tall man.

"Hey, uh", Tobin caught his breath, "I heard about Carol… she's up at that other place?"

Rick nodded as he shielded his eyes from the sun, "Yeah, she is"

"Are you going up there again soon? It's just I wanted to see her… make sure she's okay?"

He nearly grimaced at the idea. It wasn't that Rick didn't want Tobin to see her, it was just that the man had proven himself pretty useless outside matters of construction. He preferred to take only the capable beyond the walls and Tobin was not one of those people.

"I know it can get dangerous out there…", it was as if Tobin had read his mind, "But we're all getting better with handling the Uh… walkers… and I really do want to see her"

Rick bared his teeth at the idea, "Yeah… well. Alright"

Tobin nodded his appreciation, "Thank you"

"Go see Rosita", Rick instructed as he started walking.

"Why?", Tobin frowned at him.

"Because she'll help brush up your skills and nobody's getting killed trying to protect you"

He didn't need to turn around to see that the man probably took some offence to his bluntness, but he didn't particularly care either.

The sound of beeping alerted him to look at the front gates, and he was glad to see Tara and Heath back from their long run. He quickly went to greet them and rush over their inventory, feeling some kind of relief that they wouldn't have to ration dramatically since the Savior's took their cut.

As soon as he was done with them he continued on to Michonne, and nervousness began creeping up on him again.

When he stepped inside the home that held her, he sent Scott off for his break while he pulled up a chair outside the door. She was laying on her back, staring at the ceiling with her arms crossed. Two bottles of water sat unopened and a plate of food untouched.

"Why'd you agree to give us three weeks?"

Rick knew she heard him, as she blinked considerably slower.

"Does it matter?", her eyebrow rose, "You still kidnapped me"

His head titled only a fraction as he agreed, "Did you hear what we were talking about at the Hilltop?"

She sighed, rolling her eyes, "Your little pep talk?"

"So you heard?"

"You can't take him on. You can try but all you'll be doing is getting innocent people killed"

Rick narrowed his eyes at her as he sat forward, "Is that somethan' you're okay with?"

She turned her head a fraction to look at him, "I would love to ask you the same thing"

"Your leader, kills and steals from people"

She frowned at him, "Who did you hear that from?"

Rick stared at her, an eye twitching, "What are you talking about?"

She sat up on to her forearms, "What are you talking about?"

"Your leader-"

"He's not my leader, but go on"

Rick stored that piece of information away, but carrier on, "That's his deal, give him half our shit and he won't kill us"

"Because you killed our people first"

Rick sat back in his seat, confused at her understanding of the situation, "Because they tried to kill us first"

Her eyes darted all over his face as if she was searching for the truth.

"A group of your people stopped some of mine, told them they were gonna kill them and bring 'em back here to take whatever we had, so they killed them. We found out about Hilltop, they told us the same thing happened, but Negan killed some sixteen year old kid to scare them all"

He couldn't pinpoint what it was, but something in her demeanour changed as she turned to face him.

"That's why we killed those people. So they didn't get a chance to do the same to us-"

"That's not right. We trade with the Hilltop so whoever told you that-"

"What? You trade with the Hilltop?", He sat on the edge of his seat.

"Yes we do"

"When?"

She exhaled, "I don't know when but-"

"Did he tell you that? That they 'trade'?", It all started to fall into place for Rick, "Let me guess, the trade happens when you're not around, right?"

Her gaze fell to the floor as she did her own calculations.

"He hasn't given them a damn thang. He kills and he steals"

She stood up and zipped her jacket up to the top, she stomped over to the door, "Let me out"

Rick sat back as he shook his head, "I can't do that just yet-"

"Let me out!", She screamed kicking the bar.

Rick rose from his seat, "Calm down, now-"

She kicked the bars again hard, alternating legs each time.

"Hey!", He barked, "Look! I'm gonna go ahead and assume you didn't know he was doing these thangs so I get that you're mad, but you need to calm the hell down. I'm not letting you out any sooner like that"

She began to pace, and Rick felt as though he was watching a caged lion behind the bars.

"We can sort somethan' out here-"

"I'm not turning against him just because I'm mad!", She snapped

"I didn't say that now, did I?", His tone was firm as he bit out the words, "What I meant is we obviously want him to stop what he's doing-"

"What part of 'I'm not turning against him', did you not understand? Do you know what loyalty is?"

"Does he? He obviously hid all this from you because you must not agree with doing thangs like that but he still did it! If I didn't bring you here, you would have been none the wiser!"

She turned her back on him as she paced in a new direction, "You won't use me to get to him"

"I'm not trying to use you", He sighed as he looked toward the front door.

She didn't say anything else, she just continued to pace with her glare to the floor. Rick chose to leave, seeing she was in no position to make arrangements with him.

He came away from the discussion feeling strange. He didn't mean to rile her up that way but he felt an odd sense of relief knowing she didn't stand for Negan's actions. He saw a light at the end of the tunnel through her and he was ready to figure out his next move.

He gathered his closest members to tell them what he learned. Most had the same shocked and confused reaction he had.

"So we can use this right? To our advantage?", Tyreese sat up, hopeful.

"She might be mad at him but that doesn't mean she's willing to kill him", Sasha countered.

Rick nodded as he looked off in the other direction, "She's right. She's still with him but... I think she can get him to stop what he's doing"

"Might make it worse though. If she goes back and kicks his ass, then he's still gonna come looking for whoever told her", Daryl ejected from against the wall, "He obviously kept this hush for a while"

Rick groaned, "That's somethan' else to consider"

"So are you going to let her out?", Sasha eyed him as she awaited an answer.

"Not yet", He shook his head, "We have to be careful-"

A knock on the front door caused them all to whip around to look at it. Rick sighed, standing up answer it, but soon regretting it when he saw who it was.

"Hey… Uh is this a bad time?"

"It is", He dismissed, scratching his brow with his thumb, "What do you want?"

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "I just wanted to have a quick word with you?"

He exhaled as he looked back in the house, then shut the door behind him as he stepped out further, "Go on"

"...Rick, I know I've apologised before but… I really am sorry-"

"Is that all?"

"Please, Rick. Let me just explain why I did what I did", Her brown eyes pleaded with him.

He crossed his arms as he looked down at her.

"When those men broke in here… I panicked, I didn't know what to do, I've never seen anything like that and-and I just went into fight or flight mode-"

"Is that what that was?"

"Rick, my children where my first priority-"

"Then why'd you try to play mother to my child?", He cocked his head at her, "Why say all those things you said, and then the first opportunity you got, you left her?"

"I just wasn't thinking clearly-"

"Jessie. You left my daughter in a house, all by herself, when this place was being ripped apart and yet I still tried my best to save your kids when that wall came down"

"I know-"

He ran his hand over his mouth, "Look. I don't feel like we have anythan' else to say to each other. It happened and it's over, and we both know who we can trust now. Alright?"

Her shoulders fell, "I don't want things to be this way Rick. I can't tell you how sorry I am for what I did but you have to remember that I'm not like you, I haven't been the places that you have or seen the things that you've seen or even had to do a quarter of the things that you've done, but I'm trying. I really am trying and I don't want you to feel like you can't count on me"

He inhaled slowly as he looked at her, then nodded, his hand back on the door handle, "Alright well… goodnight Jessie"

When he first arrived at Alexandria the woman was the closest thing he had seen to home. She reminded him of everything he missed of his dead wife, and he all but clung to her. But when she made the decision to leave his daughter alone in the house when Alexandria was under attack, everything he felt for her died. He was grateful that his son had gotten to Judith before anyone else, but the fear of losing the little girl had never really left them.

He was sure his son blamed him for that incident also.

That night he sat out on the front porch long after everyone had fallen asleep, as he was barely able to sleep himself. He felt as if he was on a roller coaster. One moment he was relieved to find some sort of solution to their problems, then the next he'd hit another brick wall. He was glad his people wouldn't have to starve but then he was still worried about the upcoming weeks. He growled to himself as he ran his hand over his face.

"Rick!"

His head shot up as he looked down the street. Abraham waved for him to follow him, and Rick was up in a flash. He sprinted down the street to follow his friend to the front entrance. Five cars and a school bus were driving in the safe zone, with even more vehicles waiting to come in and Rick was dumbfound.

"What the hell?", He frowned at them as he joined Abraham at the gate.

"From Hilltop", He exhaled, "Negan got 'em"

"What?", Rick spat out.

"Rick!", Jesus shut one of the car doors and jogged over to him. The man looked tired, and was covered in blood that Rick could immediately smell wasn't his, "We were attacked"

"Why?", Rick pressed, searching the man with his eyes.

"Negan, he came", Jesus shook his head as he recalled it, "Looking for Michonne"

Rick's stomach fell.

"We told him we didn't have her but they just started to tear everything apart, then someone started a fire and they knocked down the wall, then the walkers came…"

"Great", Rick growled as he dragged his hand over his face. He looked around aimlessly as he thought, "Alright, Abe, go get Sasha, Rosita, Tara, all of you sort out somewhere for them to stay-"

"Got it", Abraham nodded as he marched ahead.

"There's plenty of room so...", Rick turned his attentions to the community.

"We brought as much as we could, we might even be able to go back and salvage a few things", Jesus breathed deeply.

"Don't worry about that now, as long as everyone's safe. Go on and get them all out", Rick patted him on the back, sending him on his way.

"What's all this?", Daryl looked as confused as Rick as he approached him.

"Negan. He tore down the Hilltop looking for her"

Daryl's head whipped around to look at him, then slowly turned back to the line-up of vehicles, "Shit"

"Yeah… I have a feeling he's gonna come looking over here next"

Daryl bit his bottom lip as he thought about it, squinting at the new residents as they poured from the vehicles, "We gotta be ready then"

"We will"

Rick wanted to rip his hair out for being so oblivious to what Negan might do to find Michonne. Guilt swarmed him at the fact that his neighbouring community had to flee their homes because of his negligence. He was on the cusp of losing his mind.

Once he helped get the Hilltop residents in homes around the safe zone, he found himself marching to Michonne's cell. It was in the early hours in the morning, but he had a feeling she wouldn't be asleep.

He was right. She was sat with one of the bottles of water resting on her shoulder, but quickly removed it when she saw him. He soon realised that she must have hurt it when she dived from the RV. He sighed as he took out his keys and opened the door to her cell, being sure to shut it behind him.

She eyed him suspiciously as he stood over her.

"Let me see it"

"Get away from me", She warned.

"Let me see it", He bit out, "We can help with that-"

"It wouldn't have happened if you didn't kidnapped me"

"Then let me fix it"

"You know how to fix a dislocated shoulder?", She mocked.

"I do actually. So take your jacket off and lay down"

She didn't move.

"I can leave, go get somethan' to put you to sleep and do it then? Would you prefer that?", He tilted his head at her, "You won't be very useful with a sword when your arms-"

She groaned as she pulled down her zipper and gingerly pulled the affected arm out. Rick looked to the floor when he saw she only wore a bra underneath.

"Let's get this over with", She laid down and kept her eyes on the ceiling.

He kneeled down beside the mattress and placed one hand on her forearm and the other under her armpit. She bit her lip as he began to move it around, her eyes tightly shut. He hadn't actually done the procedure on someone, but he had seen it done and figured it would be easy enough.

He squinted at the wall as he tried to feel for the socket, cursing in his mind as he realised it was harder than he thought. The temptation to give up to stop causing her pain was almost too great, when he was sure he felt what was a socket. He shoved her arm up, and she cried out in pain, slapping her other hand over her mouth.

He moved the arm around a little more and immediately noticed a difference in the movement, "It's in"

She was breathing deeply, her eyes still shut.

He thought the urge to look at her stomach and quickly stood, "I'll send someone down with some ice"

She gathered herself as she slowly sat up, striking the area as she inspected it.

"Alright", Rick quickly left the building, having accomplished nothing from seeing her.

He genuinely intended to speak to her about what Negan had done, but he saw more than he bargained for and heard more than he needed to. The moment replayed in his mind when he finally made it to bed and he reprimanded himself for it, but it was if he couldn't help himself.