bullseye • ftwd

3.2 - the new frontier

madison moved forward and turned the loud music off, getting a glare from troy.

they'd turned it on a few hours ago to keep themselves awake, but ivy had managed to fall asleep, which only shocked madison and nick. she sat between troy's legs with her thighs tossed over his, facing the driver. his arm stayed protectively around her, holding her against his chest so she wouldn't fall.

it was a strange sight to see for both madison and nick. madison had an image of troy in her mind; sadistic, cruel, rough. but seeing how he acted with ivy made her rethink those assumptions. he was sweet to her - gentle. just by their actions, she could tell that they had some type of relationship that was definitely not sibling-like.

the truck moved harshly on the gravel road before coming to a stop at the entrance of the gate.

"joe" troy called "man, who'd you piss of to draw guard again, huh?"

the man walked over to troy's window with a completely straight face "your father wants to talk to you."

"jake already talk to him?"

the man looked at the driver and shook his head "jake ain't here. he ain't been here since he left. he's overdue"

troy also looked at the driver, as if he knew something troy didn't. "alright, get out. get out of the truck" he said to nick and madison while tapping ivy to wake her up

"what?"

"get out of the truck and wait outside." he repeated. "now, let's go. come on."

ivy woke up then, the sound of troy's loud voice firing her awake.

the truck took off again, but madison could hear troy say something to ivy as they left.

"sorry, dolly."

a crowd had formed around the front gate at the arrival of those who were in the helicopter. it was shot down in the night, and only jake, madison's daughter, and the woman who was shot made it out.

ivy moved closer to troy so she could speak quietly. "she can't come in."

troy nodded. the woman looked bad; her face was grey and she was unconscious. it only took one resurrected to turn the whole ranch.

"she can't hear you" one of the doctors told nick, who had been trying to get her attention

"what - what do you mean?"

"she's not gonna make it is what he means" troy told him

nick glanced at ivy, and then back to troy "help her"

"no. we take her to the infirmary, she may turn. it's against policy"

"it's your fault, you shot her"

troy cut him off "i was defending my people...i'll do it again. i know what to do"

he walked toward the woman and pulled the pistol from his waistband despite nick's protest.

"this is how it has to be."

nick pushed his hands back on troy's chest to keep him from moving any closer to the woman "no, no, come on"

"out of the way. move aside."

nick reluctantly moved out of the way, his eyes falling to ivy. the look on his face was pleading, as if she could tell troy no.

troy cocked the gun, and nick's expression changed. he turned back to troy.

"i'll do it. i'm allowed this."

troy looked between the woman and nick before handing him the gun with a nod. he moved back to ivy's side, placing his hand on her back.

nick looked down at the woman for only a second before the gun was raised at troy. "let her in."

madison called his name, but he didn't move an inch. the gun stayed pointed at troy just above ivy's head.

jake shook his head from beside his father "nick, this is not how we do things here"

"not this time."

troy nodded toward madison, who called his name yet again. "do what your mommy says"

nick began to walk forward toward troy and ivy, but his father, jeremiah, moved in front of them. his hands were up defensively as he talked nick down

"whoa, nick, easy there. let me have the pistol, son."

"you can't let her die" nick's voice broke

"if she has a pulse, we'll let her in. but you've gotta give me the gun."

he stood his ground and it seemed that jeremiah didn't get through to him. madison seemed to understand this and spoke again

"do it, nick. give him the gun."

the sound of his mother's voice knocked some sense into him. he seemed to realize that he was surrounded by soldiers holding guns. there was no way he'd get out alive if he shot troy.

nick lowered the gun and held it out to jeremiah. jeremiah handed it back to troy "get her to the infirmary. secure her before you treat her."

two other doctors from the infirmary hurriedly brought the woman a stretcher and jeremiah turned to the crowd.

"all right, everyone, funs over. go back to doin' whatever you were doin'"

troy pressed a kiss to ivy's pouty lips with a smile "i'm not going anywhere, doll. don't worry about me, okay?"

ivy sighed "i can't help but worry". she grabbed his wrist to keep his hand on her cheek, as if their skin to skin contact in the bed wasn't enough "this is the second time in two days that you could've been killed."

"i won't die" he said surely, running his thumb over her lip "i won't leave you behind"

"promise?"

troy laughed at her childishness "promise." he said, his eyes then falling to the hickeys on her neck. he brushed her hair off of her shoulders to get a better look, making ivy shy away.

"hey, i don't need you to be staring at them, too. i get it enough from everyone else."

he frowned a bit, still looking at the bruises "what, you don't like them?"

she smiled "i do, i just don't get why you always gotta make them so dark."

troy then smirked and looked at her, his fingers tracing over them "i just want everyone to know you're mine."