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BabySlothXYaoi- Man, I can't wait to get to season 6 where Sasha mellows out/ becomes less sad in life, writing for her at this point is so emotionally draining, I swear! I'm happy that Rhys has Sasha too- although Maggie acts as his guardian, I feel like Sasha is the closest thing he has to family... that's just me, though. Enid gives Carl nothing and he does the same, they both wanna be friends but don't know if they trust each other close enough... damn I like that. Thank you for the love!


-Rhys' POV-

After a thorough shower that gets the walker entrails out of my hair, I'm in the watchtower with Sasha. Both of us are armed with our rifles, watching the world beyond through their lenses.

Sasha decided that since the four of us got back, she wants to be up here, and I decided that I want to be with her.

"Don't think I didn't notice your aim out there," Sasha tells me. "Three shots to take out one walker," she tuts.

"Why were you really out there?" I ignore her chastising.

She leaves her scope, staring at me. "Because this place isn't real."

"It is real."

"I-" Sasha stutters, blinking at me, "I know-" She shakes her head like she's trying to empty it. "-Just not for me."

Sasha gives me a confused squint when I start smiling at her.

She takes the bait.

"What?" Sasha asks.

"I'm going to break a promise," I tell her after a moment's pause. "A promise that I made to Tyreese."

Sasha reacts a little at the name in a way that's hard to describe- like it hurts, but in a way that can only hurt her. She holds her face stern.

"He made me swear not to tell you," I tell her.

Sasha just waits.

"Back at the prison..." I sigh, "he smoked pot."

Sasha is so taken aback by that, so disarmed by the traditional revelation that she can't help but let out a laugh. A laugh that's guttural and immediate. Nothing could have kept it from escaping her.

"He did what?" Sasha laughs at me.

"He told me that he'd never done it before because your dad would have, and I quote, 'beat his ass.'"

This makes Sasha laugh harder.

"He would have!" She wipes a tear from her eye. "Damn, I can't believe him."

Sasha's smile doesn't stop, and I realise I'm smiling too. But as she studies me, her smile suddenly looks very sad. More tears falling. Not from laughter this time.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," she whispers. She pauses. "I think I want to die."

It takes me a long time to hear what she said, and Sasha sees it. It breaks her heart and mine in the same instant. I watch as I hurt her and it kills me. Hurting each other over the same sad consequence.

Wiping her eyes, Sasha leans back into her rifle.

I'm close to saying something, spending so much time building a sentence to pull her back... only, I realise words can't do that.

There's a far-off sound of shattering glass that steals our attention. I'm almost grateful until I realise where it came from. A commotion coming from inside Alexandria's walls. We both rush to the far side of the tower... a side we don't use... The side danger isn't meant to be on.

"See anything," I ask Sasha, both of us scanning the community with our scopes, people screaming and running at the end of my own.

"Yeah," Sasha mutters. "Check out Jesse's street."

I swivel my rifle in that direction.

Rick is hunched over Pete, hands wrapped around the doctor's throat, squeezing the life from him.

A crowd is gathering around them, watching.

"Shit," I hiss, spotting Carl and Enid amongst the crowd.

Pete lands a blow on Rick, rolling them over and scrambling on top, throwing punch after punch.

"I'm not sure I've got a clear shot on him," I tell Sasha.

"Leave this one to me," she growls, fiddling with her scope's focus dial.

I think about it for a second...

"Don't shoot," I warn her.

"Why?"

"Tara still needs a doctor."

"Rosita said she's stable," Sasha takes a deep breath.

"Sasha!" I bark.

"What?"

"What if she isn't? You're smarter than that."

Sasha lets her breath go, pushing away from the scope and swearing in frustration. Returning to it calmer.

Jesse tries to stop it, grabbing at her husband's arm only for Pete to throw it around and strike her across the face. The whole situation is muffled, too far for us to hear more than the occasional yell. Rick uses the interruption to gain the upper hand, bringing his knee into Pete's side, rolling them again. Through the scope, I can see their bright red faces, bloody and wild.

Carl tries to pull his father off the doctor, but in his blind rage, Rick shoves his son away, sending him to the floor hard, Carl's head whips back and cracks against the road.

I jump.

Carl lies there, not moving.

I throw my rifle aside and jump to my feet. Rushing to the hatch.

Sasha barks at me. "They need us here!"

"We're useless here," I shout back at her.

"No," Sasha tells me, still looking through her scope. "If something happens... our people are going to need us to start shooting."

"Our people?!"

"The gate guard went to help," Sasha yells at me, "you won't get in."

Worried about Carl, I Ignore her, descending the tower. I push out the door and dodge a walker that swipes at me, more and more turning up as people keep shouting.

"Damn it, Rick! I said stop!"

Deanna's voice comes from inside the walls. Walkers snapping their jaws at its call, Sasha starts to pick them off.

I run the opposite way, around the outside of Alexandria, knowing Sasha's right about the gate being shut. I look for the spot Carl told me Enid uses to sneak out.

"Or what?" Rick shouts in his defence, which seems to be crumbling around him. "You gonna kick me out?" Their voices are faint but I can still hear them.

I can't find the spot.

"You still don't get it," Rick tells them, "None of you do!"

Walkers appear from the woods as sound persists from within our home.

"We know what needs to be done and we do it. We're the ones who live!" Rick bellows.

I start climbing up one of the support beams, slipping when a walker grabs at my foot with rotten fingers.

Rick keeps monologuing from over the wall.

"You- you just sit and plan and hesitate- You pretend like you know when you don't!"

I kick the walker off, my leg aching despite being healed. The walker tumbles into the grass, my right shoe falls with it.

"Your way of doing things is done! Things don't get better because you- you want them to!"

I clamber the support, my shoeless foot sliding against the metal as I climb. I reach the top, slipping again. The peak of the steel wall is sharp, and my hands start bleeding as I cling to the summit of the jagged metal, hauling myself up. When my head passes the top, I see Rick pointing a gun at everyone, the snub-nosed revolver I stole in his hand.

"We have to control who lives here!" Rick spits the words at Deanna's feet.

She says something back quietly, and I don't hear it. Once on top of the wall, I hang down the other side, the cuts in my hands only getting deeper as I lower myself, dropping into the grass below.

Whatever Deanna said, Rick scoffs at her, pointing at himself.

"Me? You mean- You mean me?"

Deanna nods at Rick. There's a crazy look in his eyes as he keeps speaking to her. A look I last saw from the man that got us out of Terminus.

"Your way is going to destroy this place... it's going to get people killed... It's already gotten people killed. I'm not gonna stand by and just let it happen," Rick growls at her. "If you don't fight, you die!"

I can't see Carl. I pull myself up, blundering towards them, blood pooling in my hands as I clench them tight.

I see Michonne marching up to Rick from behind.

"I am not-" Rick shouts at Deanna, "I am not gonna stand by-"

Michonne punches Rick in the back of the head, knocking him out cold.


Rick has been locked inside the basement of the Brownstone building. Still unconscious, with Rosita treating him and Michonne watching over.

I'm sat at the dining table in 99.

Maggie is wrapping my hands in clean bandages as she scolds me. Carl's sitting across the table from us, looking worried.

"Why the hell didn't you use the gate, like someone with half a brain?" Maggie tuts angrily.

"I told you, I was in the guard tower and saw Minnie leave the gate. No one would have been there to open it."

"So you decided- instead of waiting up there where it's safe! -you would fight off walkers and climb the wall, damn near getting tetanus in the process?"

"I guess," I shrug, wincing as Maggie finishes bandaging my right hand a little too tight. "Sounds stupid when you put it like that."

"It was stupid," Maggie corrects me. "I just don't get why you did it."

"I thought Carl hit his head... it looked bad from up there."

Maggie huffs. Full of anger and worry. She gets up. "I've gotta go smooth things over with Deanna. Can you manage the other hand?" She looks to Carl.

He nods.

Maggie leaves, still blowing smoke out her ears.

Carl silently gets up, moving around to sit in Maggie's chair. He takes my hand gently, wrapping bandages around it with care.

"I'm okay," he whispers.

"I know."

"Even if I wasn't... I would have been."

"I know."

He keeps wrapping as he speaks. "I went out there today. With Enid."

"I did too... but with Michonne and Rosita."

Carl nods.

"We went out to get Sasha," I tell him when he doesn't ask. "Not because I wanted to."

"I wanted to," he admits. "Is that okay?"

I nod.

Carl finishes the wrap, not too tight, kissing it after.

"How's your head?" I ask.

"Fine," he reaches back to feel it, pressing his forehead into my knees so I can see.

"Pretty big bump," I mumble, rubbing my thumb over it gently, not certain why I feel bad, just knowing that I do.

I look when I hear the door open. Sasha enters, my trainer in hand.

"Dropped this," she throws it to me.

"Thanks," I smile lightly, fiddling with the laces after catching the shoe.

She goes to leave but stops. "What I told you," she mumbles, "I'm sorry I said that." She pauses. "I think Ty would be happy you broke your promise."

Then she's gone.

More voices come from the front door.

"Where is he!?"

I laugh at Mikey's frantics as he and Enid rush in. Mikey- from excitement. Enid- to keep up with him.

"You climbed the wall!? what the heck, Rhys?" Mikey sounds out of breath.

"Pretty dumb of you," Enid adds, definitely not out of breath.

"Pretty amazing more like," Mikey corrects her.

"We've all done it," Enid grimaces at how impressed Mikey is with me.

"Not without those peg-thingys you use. Or that towel."

Enid waves him off, pointing to my hands. "That's why I use the towel."

"How's Ron?" I ask awkwardly. Noticing Carl squirm as he thinks about his dad's fight.

"He's at home with his Mom and Sam," Enid tells us.

"What about Pete?" Carl asks.

"He's being kept separate from them," Mikey answers. "They're safe, thanks to Rick."

"He was out of line," Carl tells them.

"He was right, though," Mikey shrugs. "We're weak."

"You'll get stronger," Carl tells him, Enid too, who just scoffs.

"Guys, thanks for checking on us," I sit up in my chair, waving bandaged hands at them. "We're gonna go check on Rick, though."


Carl and I spend the afternoon in Rick's new room, although it feels more like a cell. We even bring Judith, who just finds it funny that her Dad is sleeping so much. Michonne sends us home after a couple of hours.

With Judith in her stroller, we stop by the infirmary to check on Tara, Rosita too. Tara's still out, and Rosita looks dier. Scowling at me when she sees my hands.

"Idiota."

"I know."

We head to 99 around five-ish. Handing Judith over to Carol, who I don't say anything to before we head next door.

Just as we finally relax on the sofa, there's a knock on the door.

I groan, having just gotten comfy, dragging myself to the door and opening it.

Enid, Mikey, Ron, and Sam are on the other side.

"Sup losers," Ron barges past me and into the house. The others following after him.

"Sure, come in," I say sarcastically as I close the door behind them.

"Thought we'd all be feeling a little blue after seeing so much red," Ron says far more cheerily than I'd expect him to be. "So, I brought the cure for our emotional rainbow rollercoaster of a day." He holds the film Airplane! above his head.

"This movie can literally solve anything."

"Isn't Sam a bit- erm, young?"

"Am not!" Sam yells, pouting.

"Nah," Ron shrugs. "He's good."

Ron puts the movie on with no complaints, and we all stuff ourselves onto one couch despite there being two.

With Ron right next to me, I whisper, "You okay?"

He nods, "Mom needs some time on her own right now." Then he turns to Carl, "No hard feeling, right?"

Carl smiles, "None."

"Sweet."


Jesse came to get Sam after the movie finished, leaving the rest of us in 99. She looked so sad when she took Sam, but despite that, I could see a light in her that wasn't there before. A light I felt like I recognised.

"So..." Ron builds tension in his voice as he rustles through a backpack that he'd arrived with, a suspicious amount of clatters within. "Who's thirsty?" He whips out a full bottle of rum from the backpack, then another, then another.

"Damn," I laugh. "Your dad really likes rum, huh?"

Ron shakes his head, "Nope, these are just for display. He drinks shitty beer mostly."

Mikey goes to get glasses from the kitchen, but Ron insists we drink from the bottles.

"When will Maggie and Glenn get back?" Carl looks at the door nervously.

"They're probably going to be with Mikey's mom for a while."

"Yep," Mikey agrees.

"Fantastic," Ron holds up a bottle. "To a night without dumb adults!"

We all cheer as he takes a swig, coughing violently at the taste.

"Give it," Mikey snatches the bottle, only to have the same reaction.

Carl tries some and reacts better, still coughing, though.

I'm the same.

Enid seems to drink more than the rest of us.

The evening goes on, and we all get more accustomed to the taste, that or we just can't taste it anymore. We play a game of truth or dare. Mikey agreeing as long as we don't leave the house, which he regrets when Ron dares him to dance around to Queen while trying to balance a shoe on his head. More drinks are drunk, and more dares are dared. Enid gets dared to hold a handstand for a minute which she manages just about on her third attempt, knocking a painting off the wall in the process. Ron gets a dare to not speak for a whole round, which he definitely doesn't manage. Mikey dares me at some point to sing a song for them, which I pass up, opting to finish the first bottle of rum in ten seconds as an alternative. One of Carl's dares is from Enid, telling him to do his best impression of a wolf, which we all find hilarious when his voice breaks halfway through his howl. Carl dares me at some point to kiss Ron. I stare at him, not sure if he's too drunk to realise his dare.

"You're opting out again?" Ron laughs. "Coward!"

"Am not," I retort. I look at Enid apprehensively. She just shrugs and says, "fine with me." So I kiss him, and we all roll around laughing about it afterwards.

"I've got an idea," Enid hiccups at some point after we finish the game. The second bottle, long gone. She gets up staggering around, dragging chairs into the living room from the dining room. She grabs blankets from the upstairs closet, falling up and down the stair multiple times as she does.

"What are you doing?" Ron laughs as she puts the chairs in between the sofas, pushing the coffee table out the way violently.

"Careful!"

Enid ignores us as she drapes the blankets from the sofas to the chairs, pinning them down with cushions. We all realise what she's doing, but only when she's finished. A tent now built around us from motheaten blankets and pillows, it feels grand and marvellous.

"See," Enid climbs under the tent with us all, little light reaches us now. Then she pokes Ron in the ribs. "Did you bring the thing I got you for your birthday?"

When he just smiles drunkenly at her, obviously a million miles away, Enid rolls her eyes, climbing over him to search through his bag, pulling out a star projector, only, it's also a turtle plush.

When she switches it on, I crawl over to Carl, resting my head on his stomach as we both stare up at the blanketed roof. It reminds me of starry night by Van Gough. Only rather than abstract swirls and midnight fires, we see a storm of colourful dots and crescent moons lighting up our awestruck faces. The Five of us completely enchanted as the drink sends us into space.


A/N

The turtle plush is 100% a reference to fear the walking dead 5x10. Love that episode.