Under My Tail

chapter 2: chase

Rick bounded into the house, throwing the door open too hard, having to kick it to keep it from swinging back in his face. He stormed into the living room to find Carl armed and angry, gun pointed at two of the Saviours.

“Carl.” he called, voice tight, trying to calm the situation before Negan could see. This was the last thing they needed. They’d gotten through the day so far without any damage. No one was dead, or hurt. Despite the odd..conversation he’d just had, Rick had managed to keep everything together. But if Negan saw this-

‘I want you to think about what can still happen.’

“Carl just put the gun down.” Rick hissed desperately.

“No.” Carl shot back, tightening his grip, “No, they're taking everything! They said half!”

“Carl-!”

But it was too late. Negan appeared then, sauntering in slowly, all eyes on him, the bat swinging lazily in his grip. His eyes found Rick’s and stayed there, greeting his men without looking at them. He turned, tearing his gaze away to look at Carl, eyeing the gun in his hand.

Rick watched the other man closely, trying to discern how he would react. He looked calm for once, if a little amused, but mostly bored.

“Of course.” he exhaled with a loud chuckle, stepping in front of Rick, blocking his view.

“Really kid?” Negan said tiredly. Carl fixed him with a glare, his hand twitching with the desire to point the gun toward Negan.

“You should really go.” Carl spoke, his voice a poor imitation of Rick's raspy drawl, “Before you find out how dangerous we all are.”

Negan looked taken aback at that, a smile blossoming on his face. “Holy shit.” he turned, shooting Rick an excited glance before turning back to the teenager.

“We got ourselves a regular Barney-fucking-badass over here, Rick!” Negan laughed, “You giving out lessons on that stink eye of yours or is that shit just hereditary?”

“The Grimes family trait..” he trailed off with a grin.

Rick squirmed when Negan walked closer, watched him lean in toward Carl like he had a secret.

“Your old man does it better.” Negan teased him, Carl’s jaw tightening.

Rick felt like he might have a heart attack. Carl was standing feet away from him, throwing himself in the way of wolves for what he believed in, and while a huge part of Rick admired his son for his bravery, an even bigger part cursed the world for it. He felt powerless. It was a feeling he’d never appreciated, and one he was forcibly becoming more and more familiar with.

“Carl.” he tried again, his voice firm but pleading “Just put the gun down-”

“No.” Carl barked, his glare heating up, “I'm serious.” he continued, his words directed at Negan, “You all should go.”

“Now.”

Negan’s smile disappeared, a look flashing across his face that was too animalistic to be worn by a person.