Present
June 4. 2017. Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta airport 11:23 P.M.
"Next!" The passenger assistant called out, rubbing her eyes She looked at the next person in line, her mouth gaped wide open.
A young boy who looked to be around thirteen to fifteen years old stood in front of her with his luggage and a backpack.
It wasn't completely out of ordinary for minors to travel unaccompanied, but it wasn't his lack of guardianship that baffled the woman.
His scared lip and blackened eye contrasted heavily from his lighter brown complexion. He looked as though he belonged in a Nickelodeon version of 'Fight Club'. She was vastly concerned by the amount of bandages all over his bruised face.
She observed his shifty and odd behavior, and narrowed her eyes. Bitting his nails, the boy tapped his foot on the ground and started to look around his surroundings. Almost like he was in panic.
"Hello-" she was instantly interrupted.
"One ticket to L.A." the boy gruffly requested.
The woman raised an eyebrow, as she watched his eyes shift anxiously. His finger tapped on the metal desk separating the two, whilst turning around as if he verifying that he wasn't being followed.
"Are you all alone?"
"Yes," the boy confirmed, "I'm thirteen."
"Can I get confirmation from a parent or guardian?" The woman asked, looking around, "Is there anyone with you?"
"No, just me- me."
The woman was skeptical and looked at the boy closely. His behavior was suspicious. Very suspicious.
"Is there anyone I can speak with?"
"Uh, yeah, here," the boy handed her a slip of paper that contained an email, home phone number, and a work phone number.
"Who is this?" The woman asked.
"It's my- it's my dad," The boy sniffed, "He paid for my ticket, and signed a consent form online."
"How do I know if you're telling the truth?"
The boy's face soured, "Why would I have any reason to lie? Are you going to call him or not?"
"You have to have a guardian with you, kid. To confirm your ability to travel alone, and to sign a consent form in person."
"Just talk to him," he snapped, his face heating up in frustration. His hands shook, when he noticed a cop on duty in his peripheral vision.
"Hm," she punched in the numbers on the phone. The boy stood in silence, as his russet brown eyes darted around erratically.
He couldn't see anyone he knew, which was a relief but his troubles weren't yet over. It'd been at least an hour since he'd left the house, and he didn't know if anyone knew he was gone.
With his old phone and SIM card destroyed, there was no way he could be traced. His burner phone was secured safely in his pocket, and had no one in his contacts. Except one person.
"Three hours till the plane takes off," he thought to himself, checking the time on his watch. He watched as the woman started to speak to the person on the other side of the line.
It was professional at first, but soon it derailed from a proper security and safety conversation to a more personal one. He huffed in impatience, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.
She was smiling and twirling her dark brown hair, as if she was flirting with the caller on the other side. What could possibly be the topic at hand?!
He watched as she typed something in her computer and wrote down some things on her notepad, and nodded in agreement at whatever the person on the other side of the phone was saying.
She finally hung up, and looked at the boy. He couldn't tell if she was contemplating on calling security, or whether she was just happy to be living in the bleak existence of the world.
"So you have your passport and birth certificate with you?" She asked.
"Yeah," the boy rummaged through his bag and handed them to her. He watched anxiously as she thoroughly observed his identity papers, and prayed there wouldn't be a spontaneous moment of recognition in some capacity.
"Alright, Andre Anthony Grimes," the woman smiled, "Head over to that hall to get to TSA. All of your expenses are paid for, and once your ticket prints you're all set! Just wait until your escort arrives to take you to your destination."
"Thanks," Andre nodded, "Wait... what class do I have to sit in again?"
"You're a lucky boy," she cheerfully said, "First class!"
Andre was a bit taken aback. He expected economy or at least business class. But first!? That was a score.
"Cool," he smirked, "And that's it? Everything is handled? Just like that?"
"Yup... but if I may ask," she started, tilting her head in curiosity, "Where is your mother?"
Andre's face broke out into a sweat, "Um.. she's on a trip... in New York. I was staying with my friend, and his mother dropped me off. So."
"Huh. Your father sounds like a great man. You're lucky," she gushed.
"Yeah... he's- he's cool. I like him," Andre awkwardly nodded.
As relieved as he was for no further questioning, he was still a little bit confused as to why. As far as he knew, unaccompanied minors were heavily monitored and tracked by officials at the airport. So why did this woman let him off so easily? Why was she so easily swayed?
The woman gave Andre the copy of his ticket, and waved at him, "Safe trip, Mr. Grimes!"
Andre scowled, "Andre. Andre Anthony," and with that, he pulled his luggage and headed towards the benches to wait for his adult escort.
June 5. 2017. Atlanta, Georgia. Grimes Residence 2:23 A.M.
Carl gasped, as he woke up in a cold sweat. His pale fingers grasped the suffocating comforter, as he attempted to regain control of his breathing. 2:23 A.M.
His throat felt like it was on fire, he needed to quench his thirst. Getting up from his bed, Carl opened the door of his room and crept down the hall to the stairs.
The usually very lively home was eerily quiet, and had a off putting feeling attached to it. It was the dead of night, so it wasn't something Carl put too much thought into. Except, it was different.
Carl made it to the kitchen, and poured himself a glass of water from the sink. He hated filtered water, but made due since it'd been a while since they'd make a grocery run for bottled water. Despite the taste, the refreshing feeling of cold water running down his parched throat was a relief beyond measure.
It didn't take long for him to creep back up the stairs and into the corridor. Instead of heading back to his room right away, he decided to check on his family.
Opening the door on his closest right, Carl held in a laugh, seeing his father practically hanging off of the edge of the bed. He was clearly catching up on at least a week's worth of sleep. With how hard he worked, he really needed it.
His mother on the other hand, layed in complete still. In comparison to her husband, she had absolutely no worries whatsoever. It must have been all the yoga that she does, Carl might actually consider joining her if his sleep would improve.
Closing the door, Carl opened the next one, and smiled at his little sister peacefully sleeping. The sheer light pink duvets concealed most of her in the darkness, but Carl could still still see her light blonde curls sprawled across her silk pillows.
He thought twice about readjusting her hair scarf, but reconsidered when he realized that he had no idea how to wrap it around her head like their mother did. Plus she'd most likely attempt to scratch him if he disturbed her beauty sleep. He still had a scar on his right eye from the last time.
Stopping at R.J's room, Carl nearly cooed at the sight of his little brother curled up into a little ball at the center of his Lightning Mcqueen bed. He could hear his soft snores, and occasional gibberish mutters. He must be having a very eventful dream.
Compared to Judith and Andre, R.J was the only one who didn't actively try to find any issues with Carl. But then again, he was only five. Meanwhile, Judith was a diva and Andre… Carl didn't know what was happening to his best friend.
So when Carl stopped in front of Andre's room, he leaned his head on to the door frame solemnly. He had no idea what was happening to his brother, finding his behavior in the past few months to be out of character.
He missed Andre. He was there physically, but it was like he was a whole other person. It hurt Carl beyond words.
Slowly turning the knob, he was hit by a gust of wind once he opened the door. It was strange, considering Andre was a cautious person. Oddly enough, the window was wide open. In the dead of night.
Brushing his long hair out of his eyes, Carl squinted at Andre's bed. He laid completely still similarly to their mother, and didn't have any sign of movement. Except something was wrong. Very wrong.
Andre was an avid snorer, Carl had lost sleep because of him on a multitude of nights. It was very off that he was dead silent. Carl swore he couldn't hear breathing either.
"Andre," Carl called out in a hushed tone, "Andre."
There was a still, a complete still. Carl could make out a silhouette in the darkness, but failed to see any movement. No flinching, no rousing, and no breathing.
A sense of dread washed over him, as he imagined the worst. Why wasn't his baby brother breathing?
Running to the bed, Carl ripped off the blankets and comforter in urgency. His face paled.
Instead of finding his lanky thirteen year old brother, Judith's human sized stuffed caterpillar laid in his place.
Sirens were going off in Carl's mind, his heart beating erratically beyond measure. At this rate, he was sure he would faint.
Andre was gone.
Turning on the light, Carl opened the closet door and tired to find if any clothes were missing. And they were. His shoes, hoodies, shirts, and even his school backpack was gone.
"Shit, shit, shit!!" Carl bellowed, kicking in the closet door. The loud slam must have been enough to wake up the some of his family, since not even a few seconds later they were gathered in front of Andre's room.
"Mhm.. what's going on?" Judith mumbled, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Her frizzy curls framed her cherubic face, giving her the appearance of being electrocuted.
"Carl!" Rick exclaimed, shoving his way past the door, "What's wrong?" Carl gulped at the sight of Rick's revolver in his hand.
Rick was usually a calm and levelheaded man, but when he felt his family was in danger? There weren't lengths he wouldn't go to protect them.
The teen blanked out, his eyes becoming glassy. Rick's gaze was pulled toward the empty bed with the caterpillar, and the wide open window.
He put two and two together, and at that moment he swore his blood ran cold.
"Daddy?" Judith's hushed voice called out, "What's going on?"
"Dad?" Carl hesitantly started, immediately shutting up after catching a glimpse of Rick's heavy breathing. He could feel his father's hand tightening on the handle of the colt python.
Without a single thought, Rick pushed past his children and stormed downstairs. Carl and Judith followed after him, and Carl picked his sister up to prevent her from getting any closer.
"Where is he going? Where's Dre?" Judith's voice wavered, as the two watched their father swiftly pull his dark jacket from the coat rack.
The sheer strength at which the front door slammed shut caused the picture frames on the walls to shake.
"Shh, let's go back to bed," Carl reassured, "Dad will bring him back," he could hear the sound of their father's black 2500 Silverado pull out of the driveway, and screech down the street.
The teen carried Judith back upstairs back to her room. But before he could make it to her door, their mother stood silently in front of Andre's bedroom. He could hear soft sniffles coming from her.
"Mom?" Carl cautiously called out, "Mom?"
Michonne turned her head towards her two children, and let out a choked out sob, "My- my baby is gone."
June 5. 2017. Atlanta, Georgia. American Airlines. First Class. 4:08 A.M.
Andre sat on the comfortable seats, and wriggled his body to maximize his luxurious state. First class tasted sweet, especially with all the expenses paid for.
Taking a sip from his glass of sprite, Andre shuddered and squinted his eyes at the movie playing on the screen in front of him.
"Everything to your liking, sweetie?" A hostess asked, fluttering her long faux lashes.
"Yeah, thanks," Andre nodded, "Can I get more peanuts?"
"Of course, darling. Would you like anything else?"
"Do you have beer?" The teen asked with a cheeky grin.
The woman laughed, "Nice try. I'll bring you your peanuts in a few minutes, alright?"
Andre sighed, and nodded. It was worth a shot at least. He laughed at the ridiculousness of Jonah Hill and Micheal Cera's characters on his movie, and imaged it being him and Carl instead. A frown crept on his face.
Suddenly, a buzz vibrated against the pocket of his hoodie. His hands shook, as he was brought back to reality.
410-186-2097
Andre sighed in relief, and answered the call, "Hello?"
"Hey, kiddo, you on the plane yet?" A smooth sounding voice asked. Andre could hear the faint sound of music playing in the background.
"Yeah, we're about to take off soon. It's really nice here, I didn't think first class would be this cool."
"Anything for you, kiddo. Hey, so, I'll send someone to pick you up from the airport, alright? Just let them know if you wanna make any stops along the way."
"Oh... you're not gonna come to get me?"
"Nah, bud. I have some things I need to take care of, sorry. But I'll see you when you get home, alright? And if you're not jet lagged, I'll take you sightseeing around the city."
Andre frowned, "Yeah, okay. So... what's it like there?""
"You'll see it when you get there, Andre. I gotta go now, kid. See you later, okay? Have a safe flight."
"Yeah, I'll see you later," Andre hung up the phone and sighed. He wondered what was happening back at the Grimes household, and if they were all still asleep.
He knew Rick would be up first, checking on everyone before he went on his usual morning jog around the block. Hopefully the pillow he stuffed under his covers would be realistic enough.
The window. Shit. Did he close the window? Or did he leave it open? Andre couldn't remember. The thrill of escape was too much for him to even conjure up a single thought of rationality.
But either way, he'd won. He was finally leaving just like they wanted. No point in being upset, especially after everything that'd happened.
If they wouldn't see him for who he was, maybe someone else would.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to your flight..."
A/N: omg what is happening!? Why is Andre on a flight to LA? Who is he talking to on the phone? Where is Rick going? What is Andre talking about "everything that happened"!? Anyways... this is kinda a test run on a concept that I've been think about for a bit. Ofc this is a Richonne/Grimes 2.0 story but it our beloved couple wouldn't be the center of it. Instead it'd be following Andre Grimes and his journey through teenage angst and inner turmoil. I know it was important to Michonnes character development in the show, but did they have to kill him off? He deserved so much better :( I really wish they stuck with the comics and just gave michonne Yumikos arc at the commonwealth. But instead Andre is older (ALIVE) and meets TF and later michonne when she returns with Rick from the Crm. I think that'd been sm better cuz... wtf was the point of tomi's character lmao... I mean he helped TF but he wasnt really that interesting. Anyways I feel sb not updating my other stories so take this as an apology. Although I will admit, I don't think I'll update this particular story often... I still have to finish blue lagoon (Which is not meant to be a long story and most likely has one more chapter and epilogue) and red canary (which is supposed to be a long ass story) (Plus more young richonne one shots from the blue lagoon universe) anyways please leave reviews and comments! Thanks
-Starlight