The Walking Dead Game What Ifs: What if the New Frontier stole from the Saviors?
[TWDG What Ifs Master List] [Volume 1]
[First] [Previous] [Next] [Next Alternative Link]
Settle the Score
What if the New Frontier stole from the Saviors? (TW: Violence and Negan)
Clementine swallowed, Javi was at the base of the gallows, while Tripp, Ava and David were being held hostage. She hadn’t been at her best, especially since she saw the Saviors mark on some of the supplies in the warehouse.
Then, without warning, a flare went up, cutting Joan off and making everyone go silent. Then she heard it. The whistle. That fucking whistle. As if everyone knew who it was, the crowd parted and he casually strolled up to the stage.
“Hello.” Drawled Negan, looking around the group, “Now, I usually wouldn’t just, invite myself in.”
More people started to appear, with Clementine freezing, recognising some of the faces.
“But,” Negan grinned up at Joan, “a little fruit told me that you,” he pointed Lucielle at Joan, “had your people stealing.”
Clementine looked down, ashamed of how fast she told Negan.
“Clementine,” Sighed Joan, before Negan cut her off.
“Oh no, she’s smart.” Negan looked around, “I mean, your surrounded by a bucha guys and you just happen to have stabbed their leader? Ooh, she was in a really bad position.”
Negan looked around, “Alright, round ‘em up.”
Everyone in the square soon found themselves on their knees, with one Savior roughly shoving Kate down next to Javi.
“You okay?” Whispered Javi, getting a brief nod from Kate.
He pointed his bat at someone, “Eeny.” He pointed his bat as he counted them off at random, walking up and down the line up, leaving a word for each person, “Meeny. Miny. Mo. Catch. A tiger. By. His toe. If he hollers. Let him go. My Mother. Told me. To pick. The very. Best one. And. You. Are. It.”
Negan looked down at his victim, “If anybody moves, anybody starts something,” he pointed at Clementine, “cut her hand off and feed it to that prick next to her.” He looked back at his victim, “It’s okay, you can breathe, you can blink you can cry. Hell, you're all gonna be doing that.”
STS
Gabe sat in the church; Clementine had fallen into an uneasy sleep. He saw the council sitting towards the front. Clementine’s hand was in bandages, Lingard managed to sew up most of the damage, so with some hope, it would heal, even if it would take the better part of a year and it wouldn’t be as strong as it had been.
“Their definition of half isn’t half,” Said Eleanor, “it’s most of what we have.”
“David?” Lingard looked at Gabe’s father, “Anything to add?”
David didn’t respond, instead getting up and walking out of the building.
“Does he usually do that?” Asked Eleanor, getting a scoff from Clint.
“No, but Joan did get people killed.” Clint glared at her, “We should’ve listened to him.”
“I was going what I thought was best.” Sighed Joan, trying to ignore the blood on her clothes.
Clint glared at her, before leaving after David. Lingard sighed, “Clint has a point. Your…greater good got people killed, and, if what Clem told us is true, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill the rest of the community if we fought him.”
Joan sighed, before she looked over at Clementine, “Why did she tell them where to find us?”
“Who knows.” Eleanor glared at Clementine, getting a snort from a guy lounging in a pew at the back of the church.
“He probably already had this place cased out,” The man sat up, “he wouldn’t have a force this big if someone squealed to him. He was coming already, he just wanted to play mind games with someone who managed to get away from him.” The man glanced at Clementine, “She’s probably scared out of her mind, given she’s just a child.”
STS
Tripp scowled, getting up and walking off as Eleanor approached him, while Gabe helped a limping Clementine to the truck.
“Dr. Lingard told us that AJ’s at a place called McCarroll Ranch.” Said Gabe, as Kate looked on from the truck, “He’s given us some supplies, but we’re going to need to scavenge for stuff.”
“You’re leaving?” Eleanor spoke up, walking up to them.
“Er…” Gabe looked around, “Yeah, I mean, look at this place, it’s not safe.”
“Because the plan was going to get all of us killed,” Eleanor looked around them, “I was trying—”
“To save your own neck.” Kate snapped, glaring at Eleanor, “You might like living in a prison, but some of us prefer to live freely.”
“Richmond isn’t a prison.” Protested Eleanor, as the group joined Gabe and Clementine in the truck.
“Maybe,” Kate looked around, “but, from what we’ve been told about…them, it’ll soon be.”
Kate got back in the truck, before they drove off, leaving Eleanor staring after them.
STS
Clementine winced as AJ tugged on her hand, collecting AJ had gone more or less smoothly, she supposed having David with them helped.
“Clem.” Babbled the toddler, prompting Clementine to readjust him.
“Hey goofball.” Clementine’s response got a giggle from AJ.
To the group, the change in Clementine’s demeanour was like whiplash, especially since they hadn’t actually heard her laugh before.
“So,” David looked back at them, “about…what happened back there…”
“At the ranch or Richmond?” Asked Tripp, returning David’s look.
“At… at Richmond.” Clarified David, “I…I know that I should’ve done more.”
“Negan’s a psychopath.” Said Clementine, “He’s the type of crazy that keeps everyone afraid.”
“He’s not gonna chase us, is he?” Asked Conrad, looking at Clementine.
“No.” Clementine shook her head, “He chases large groups, not small ones or individuals. I ran into him a couple of years ago, the woman I was with got hurt, so I took some of his group’s medical supplies. He caught me and, in a panic, I stabbed him. It was almost funny, he seemed more amused than angry and had me sit down and tell him what I was taking them for. It was like a teacher finding you taking crayons or something.”
STS *Three Years Later*
“So,” Clementine looked over at Kate, “about… Gabe.”
Clementine noticed the others stiffen up, “I’m not going to break every time he’s brought up.”
“You get angry though.” Said AJ, getting a flat look from Clementine.
“He’s watching Mari.” Answered Kate, “He’s… going through losing Gabe.”
“You don’t have to speak like I’m going to go crazy.” Said David, returning to the group, gently cradling the new born, “There’re signs for a school nearby, hopefully, we can have separate rooms to sleep in soon.”
“If it’s clear.” Said Clementine, giving him a look as she took the baby from him, “I don’t think Tripp want to deal with another Walker while he’s…”
“Taking a shit.” Finished AJ.
The group stared at the toddler, before Tripp sighed, “Why’re children like sponges?”
STS
Clementine looked around the school grounds, they, somehow, managed to get the people to let them in. Apparently, they survived since the outbreak, with the help of the school Nurse, Clarissa Martin. Unsurprisingly, she and Conrad hit it off and the residents slowly came around to them, especially since they managed to drive off those raiders that’s started giving them grief.
“So,” Louis leaned against a wall next to her, as the group sat around a fire, “Do you want to talk about that day?”
“It’s pretty sickening.” Warned Clementine, “But, we might as well. You see, David and I we were part of this group, called the New Frontier. I was kicked out for taking some medicine for AJ and David found out that the New Frontier was raiding and stealing from other communities, one of which being the Saviors.”
Clementine swallowed, “They were led by this man, Negan. He followed the who ‘eye for an eye’ approach. So, when he found out that the New Frontier had stolen from him and killed some of his men, he decided to settle the score.”
STS *Flashback*
He raised his bat, as Clementine tried to move to stop him. As he brought his bat down on Ava’s head, Clementine was shoved to the ground and had her left hand struck by a Savior’s machete.
Negan continued to beat Ava over the head, until she collapsed forwards and Negan smashed her head into a bloody pulp of shattered bone, brains and teeth. Clementine grasped at her bloody wrist, with one of Negan’s followers making sure she watched the beating, tears running down her face.
“Whoo!” Yelled Negan, stepping away, “Now that—”
David rushed forwards and punched him, making Negan stumble back and laugh.
“Ooh,” Negan touched his face, “that was uncalled for.” Negan looked down, “Now, I’ve got to show you that there are consequences to your actions.”
Without any warning, Negan brought Lucielle down on Javi’s head. Kate let out a short scream, as Negan gave another blow, making one of Javi’s eyes pop out of its socket.
“Oh, god!” Negan laughed, “Look at this gross shit!”
Javi tried to speak, turning to Kate, getting a laugh from Negan, before he brought Lucielle down on Javi’s head again. Kate screamed and cried and pleaded, as Javi’s skull split open and Lucielle pulled his brain out, killing him.
Negan looked around, as Kate started screaming herself hoarse, “You know what, I don’t think that does it. Kill half of ‘em.”
Almost immediately, the Saviors gunned down half of the residents of Richmond, leaving the remaining line up member in steadily growing puddles of blood, with Kate trying to get Javi to speak to her, despite his head being destroyed.
STS
“He didn’t kill any children,” Said Kate, “but, he made his mark.”
“We had a friend, Eleanor, she seemed to think that Richmond could be saved.” Tripp continued, “We left her behind and haven’t looked back since.”
“What about that Gabe guy AJ mentioned?” Asked Tenn, making Clementine look down.
“He was David’s son and…” Kate glanced at Clementine, “and Clementine’s boyfriend. He got bit on the back of the next while looking for supplies about three or four weeks ago and…had to be put down.”
“Whoa.” Muttered Louis, “So…It was a horrible few days for you?”
“That’s the understatement of the century.” Muttered Clementine, as Mari started fussing.
“Are you still thinking of moving on or…” Violet looked around, “because it’d be nice to have all of you around.”
Clementine and her group shared a look.
“Yeah,” David spoke, “We’ll stay.”
Next Story: What if the Bandits captured the Motel group? (TW: Rape/Non-Con, somewhat Graphic Violence and homophobic language)
Mini-zine from Clint Barnes (Amish Ways zine, Four Letter Words and Audrey’s Diary record labels), circa 1992.
This tiny curiosity is a mere 3 x 3.5″ (or so), and spends as many of those precious square inches on photos from the movies Howards End and Roman Holiday as it does words.
Of those words, some are about James Joyce, some about U.S. professional basketball and—and, oh yeah—some about music: Black Tambourine, Heavenly offshoot Bugbear and Tiger Trap.
Author: @mwolfe13
Beta: S.Joan
Artist: @thescarletphoenixx
Fandom(s): Harry Potter, Marvel
Main Pairing: Clint Barton/Hermione Granger
Rating: Teen and Up
Summary: Being the Master of Death is not what it seems. In order to hide the Deathly Hallows, Hermione is forced to flee to the United States, bringing one along with her. She hopes to fly under the radar under orders to wait it out until it's safe to return home but as events unfold, her path becomes tangled with one Archer from SHIELD.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/BigBang2020/works/25390231
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, homophobic violence, Canon-Typical Violence, This is mostly schmoop though
Series: Part 1 of Historic Features
Summary:
“Electrical surges with no source, and music coming from the air, and that damn baseball game no one was watching, and I swear I sometimes hear voices right on the edge of hearing when I should be alone,” said Tony. “What does that sound like to you?”
“Sounds like-” said Steve, then hesitated. Tony gave him a pointed look. “Sounds like a haunting,” he finished, reluctantly.
“Oh no,” said Clint, in tones of mock-horror. “Ghosts!”
Bucky laughed and kissed him. “Man, I hope they’re friendly.”
Clint and Bucky are haunting the new apartment that Tony bought in Brooklyn to try and impress Steve.
The Walking Dead Game What Ifs: What if Clem found out AJ was at McCarroll Ranch before she met Javi?
[TWDG What Ifs Master List] [Volume 1]
[First] [Previous] [Next]
Child
What if Clem found out AJ was at McCarroll Ranch before she met Javi? Prompt Submitted by Worker72 on AO3
Clementine quietly walked along the dust covered road. Her mind was on AJ, she should’ve fought harder to keep him. Ava had given her some supplies, as well as the drawing he’d done. Sighing, Clementine looked around, before walking over to a small clearing. Deciding it was safe enough for her to get some sleep, she dropped herself down on the ground, silently taking AJ’s drawing out of the bag Ava had given her.
The drawing was a mess of squiggles, Clementine couldn’t discern what they were supposed to be, but she stared at it intently, before she idly flipped the piece of paper over, revealing a note.
He’s going to McCarroll Ranch – D.
Clementine blinked. One. Twice. McCarroll Ranch wasn’t far, hell, it was just a couple hours walk from where she was currently. Clementine jumped to her feet and continued down the road, before breaking into a run.
C
Clementine found getting into McCarroll Ranch was easy. She found some car keys and located the car they belonged to. She’d managed to get some guns and supplies into the car without being noticed. Quietly ducking her head into rooms, she found a lot of sleeping children, but none of them were AJ. Frowning, Clementine wondered if David’s note was lying, before she ducked behind a cabinet as a couple of people walked past.
“That kid is terrifying,” Said a man in a beanie, “why did the guys ask us to look after him.”
“He’s been sick.” Shrugged another, “I’m just glad that Helen has him in time out, away from the other kids.”
Clementine frowned, slinking out of her hiding place and looked at the doors. Each door had a small sign saying what it was for. Clementine finally found the door that said Time out room, and quietly pushed the door open. She could hear the sound of a toddler throwing a tantrum, she didn’t need to listen long to know it was AJ. Looking around the room, Clementine spotted a woman asleep in the corner. Quickly and quietly, Clementine snuck across the room and crouched down in front of the toddler. She smiled as he started to calm down, before his crying started up again. Frowning, Clementine picked AJ up, only for something to drop off him producing the foulest stench she’d ever smelt.
Looking down, Clementine located the source of the smell. AJ’s pants and diaper had come off, scowling she held AJ out and looked him over. They’d left him to sit in his own filth and they were saying he was trouble? Looking around the room, Clementine spotted some diapers and some clean clothes roughly AJ’s size. Quickly walking over, Clementine cleaned him up, dressed him and started calming him down. Quickly making sure the woman was still asleep; Clementine grabbed a bag and stuffed the baby stuff into it.
Without anyone noticing, Clementine hurried back to the car, carefully put AJ in and drove away. Leaving the people to find AJ’s dirty clothes and some weapons, supplies and a car missing.
C
Clementine finally managed to find Prescott, AJ was asleep, and she’d managed to get them entry. A woman, Eleanor, was checking them both over. AJ, somehow, managed to sleep through being manhandled, although Eleanor frowned at the rash he had.
“So,” the leader of the community, Tripp, “you got separated from your boy, found him again and came here.”
Clementine nodded, “I know it doesn’t sound very believable.”
“The dead getting up and walking doesn’t sound very believable,” Scoffed Tripp, “a kid knowing how to drive doesn’t sound very believable. Trust me, your story about your journey probably the most believable thing I’ve heard in a while.”
“What condition did you find him in?” Asked Eleanor, as AJ let out a small snore.
“He was in timeout because he was ‘misbehaving’,” Clementine gave air quotes, “they’d left him to sit in his own shit so long that his diaper fell off when I picked him up.”
Eleanor frowned, before handing AJ over to Clementine, “He’s got a rash, but that should go down in time. Any other issued can be fixed by some food and sleep.”
Clementine tried to give Eleanor a smile, “Thank you.”
Eleanor blinked at her, “You… er, you might want to get used to smiling, because you look like you’ve stood in a bear trap.”
C
Clementine scowled, she’d gone with a couple other people to an old junk yard with the plan on finding a vehicle in decent enough condition and using it to help guard Prescott. Instead, they found a girl hiding in a car and Clementine got flattened by one of the guys from Prescott landing on her after they were shot at. Clementine, the surviving guy from Prescott, and the girl, who gave her name as Mariana quickly got behind a car, with Clementine and the guy, Gus, returned fire. Clementine recognised them as New Frontier, taking the opportunity to nail Badger in the face. She continued firing at the other grunts, before her gun clicked twice. She pulled the trigger a third time and the gun fired.
“Fucking Eli.” Cursed Gus, as a bullet hit him in the neck.
Grabbing his gun, Clementine killed the last couple of New Frontier grunts. Sighing, Clementine looked at Mariana, “We’ve got to go.”
“Wait, I, I need to get Gabe and Kate.” Said Mariana, running off.
Clementine groaned, before snagging the keys and following after her. Clementine took out some Walkers, allowing a woman and a boy roughly her age to hop out.
“Mari!” Gasped the boy, hugging Mariana, “Thank god you’re okay.”
“Where’s Javi?” Asked the woman, as Clementine walked up to them, “Who’s this?”
“I’m the one that dealt with those Walkers,” Said Clementine, “you’re welcome, by the way.”
“Is Javi with you?” Asked the woman, looking around for someone.
Clementine looked around, “Nope, who’s Javi? Please don’t tell me he’s your dog.”
“Javi’s our uncle.” Said Mariana, “Those guys took him.”
“Oh,” Clementine frowned, “No, he might be at the community I’m from, Prescott’s not far from here.”
The woman looked conflicted, “We… we need gas to get the van to run.”
“What van?” Asked Clementine, frowning.
“They torched the van, Kate.” Said Mariana, looking at Kate, “But, Clementine’s got a truck.”
Kate looked Clementine up and down, before gesturing for the girl to lead them to the truck. Now, Clementine watched as Eleanor checked Kate, Mariana and Gabe over.
“You’re certain that it was the New Frontier?” Asked Tripp, getting a nod from Clementine.
“When I was with them, they didn’t have the numbers to hold onto multiple places.” Said Clementine, “I would’ve thought that the junk yard would’ve come under Richmond’s control. Then again, I spent most of my time in one of their other camps, Richmond itself could be New Frontier for all I know.”
Tripp nodded, looking at their new guests, “Thanks, for not confronting Eli before talking to me. I know you can get carried away when you’re angry.”
Clementine rolled her eyes and walked off, ducking into Conrad’s bar and finding AJ, who had a jar of, what Clementine hoped was, red paint. Looking him over, Clementine looked at Conrad, “What happened?”
“It’s tomato sauce.” Said Conrad, “I was hoping to use it, but he took off with it.”
AJ messily stuffed a fist into his mouth, freezing and looking up as Clementine loomed over him.
“Okay, Goofball,” Clementine picked him up, “you’re getting a bath.”
AJ suddenly started wriggle, whining and starting the throes of a tantrum, before he hit Clementine in the face. Clementine stopped walking, as AJ stared up at her, sighing, Clementine looked down at AJ, tomato sauce smeared on her face. AJ continued to stare up at her, before he started whining again, letting out hiccups, and AJ started to full on bawl. Frowning, Clementine adjusted him and checked him over. Sighing, Clementine grabbed the baby bag and continued to a bathing area near Tripp’s office.
Kate watched the girl walking off with a crying toddler, as Eleanor tutted, “What?”
“Clementine needs to get him on a tighter leash.” Said Eleanor, “He acts like he’s spoilt.”
Kate frowned, as Tripp snorted, “You know that’s bullshit. We all saw her control him with a look.”
“How old is she?” Asked Kate, looking at them.
“Thirteen or fourteen.” Shrugged Tripp, “Don’t know how she got a hold of the kid, but she cares for him.”
“I think he’s playing it up,” Said Eleanor, as AJ screamed, “he wants attention, doesn’t want to something, he’s caught doing something he shouldn’t—”
“OW!” Clementine’s voice echoed over to them, followed by a smack and AJ throwing a tantrum.
“She needs to spank that brat some more.” Muttered a guy walking past them.
Kate looked around, before frowning, “Where’s Gabe?”
Over in the bathing area, Clementine sighed. Thankfully, AJ always calmed down when he was in the water. Glancing as her hand, Clementine winced, before grabbing a rag, “Do you wanna tell me what happened, Goofball?”
AJ stared up at her, obviously feigning stupidity.
“AJ, you know that’s not going to work on me.” Deadpanned Clementine, looking at him, “I know you can talk.”
AJ huffed and splashed the water around.
Sighing, Clementine ran the wet rag over AJ’s face.
“Clem.” Whined AJ, giving her a reproachful look.
Clementine raised her eyebrows at him, “You’ve got food in your hair. Do you want to deal with maggots?”
AJ shook his head.
“Then let me clean you.” Said Clementine, simply, as she pulled a piece of tomato out of AJ’s hair.
After she finished cleaning the toddler, Clementine turned around to grab a towel. Which was enough time for AJ to run off, giggling as Clementine gave chase. He rounded a corner and ran into someone’s legs, giving Clementine a chance to cover him with the towel. AJ started wriggling, ready to start throwing a tantrum, only to stop at the look Clementine gave him.
“I’m sorry about him.” Apologised Clementine, looking at the guy AJ ran into, “Gabe, right?”
Gabe nodded, “Er, no problem. How old is he?”
Clementine glanced at AJ, “Almost three.”
AJ glared up at Gabe, getting a sigh from Clementine, “AJ.”
AJ huffed, before there was a loud bang on Prescott’s gate. Sighing, Clementine walked back to the bathing area and dressing AJ, “Look, I know you don’t like new people, but if you keep acting out, I’ll stop going on supply runs.”
AJ grinned, getting a glare from Clementine, “No, AJ. That’s not a good thing, it means I’ll be watching you like a hawk. You won’t be able to explore, you won’t be able to play for more than an hour, you won’t be able eat what you want. You’ll be staying within my eyesight at all times, until I’m satisfied that you can behave yourself while I have someone else watching you. Do you understand?”
AJ gave Clementine a hesitant nod, his smile falling, “Okay.”
Clementine sighed, “AJ, you have to behave yourself, I don’t want to take those things from you, but I’ll take them if you keep misbehaving. Okay?”
AJ nodded, as Clementine stood up.
C
Javi stared at David’s back as the man talked to the guy in charge of Prescott. He had an unexpected reunion with his brother, which was made tense when David found out that Javi had been stealing from the junkyard David’s group owned.
He spotted Mariana and Kate, before Gabe appeared with a girl in a dirty hat carrying a baby. The girl’s face soured, before walking over to them. David looked at the girl and the baby, “Clementine.”
“What’re you doing here?” Asked Clementine, frowning, “I thought the New Frontier didn’t go this far out.”
“Javi said my wife and kids were in a junkyard near here.” Said David, getting a sigh from Clementine.
“Yeah, they had Badger shooting at them, he killed the two guys I was with.” Said Clementine, “We were looking for anything that could help keep the Walkers out.”
David frowned, before nodding, “Okay.” He looked around and his eyes settled on Gabe, “Gabe.” David rushed over to the boy, with Clementine giving Tripp a funny look.
C
David had left with his family, taking them to Richmond. David and Ava had turned up a week later with about a dozen people, saying they were redirecting a massive herd of Walkers. Clementine frowned as she looked through her binoculars.
“Have you given Joan’s offer any thought?” Asked Ava, making Clementine look up at her.
“Not really.” Said Clementine, going back to looking at the herd, “Kinda surprised it was even made.”
“You’ve matured Clem,” Said Ava, “the council—what the hell?!”
Clementine watched in horror as the herd changed direction and hit Prescott. She heard Tripp, Conrad, Javi and David join them.
“No.” Gasped Conrad, before he started rushing towards Prescott.
Clementine scrambled to her feet and ran after him, before they knew it, they reached Prescott. The Walkers had cleared out and many of their friends were lying dead and devoured on the ground. Feeling her throat get tight, Clementine ran around, looking for survivors. They found Francine and Eleanor, while Clementine ran to where she left AJ. Skidding to a halt, Clementine looked into the room, taking out a couple of Walkers, looking for any sign of AJ.
Then she heard it. A sniffle and a small sob, spotting a cupboard, Clementine ran over and wrenched the doors open. AJ sat curled into a ball, sniffling a rocking back and forth. Sighing, Clementine gently touched his arm, getting a flinch from him.
Clementine frowned, before looking around, aside from the mess made by the Walkers, nothing seemed out of place. Clementine heard Eleanor and David enter the room.
“Is he alright?” Asked David, as Clementine continued to look around the room.
“He seems to be,” Answered Clementine, “but he keeps apologising for something.”
“We…” Eleanor looked around, “we were trying to toilet train him when the Walkers hit.”
Clementine frowned, before gently removing AJ from the cupboard, sighing when she saw the stains on his clothes. AJ continued to bawl his eyes out, his voice turning into babbling nonsense, making Clementine adjust him, “AJ. Goofball, look at me.”
AJ hesitantly looked at Clementine, the girl sighing at the mixture of fear, embarrassment and shame on his face.
“You have nothing to apologise for,” Said Clementine, firmly, “you were scared and there were Walkers. It’s not your fault.”
AJ hiccupped, as Clementine hugged him.
“You might want to clean yourself up.” Said Javi, from the doorway.
“I’ve walked around covered head to toe in Walker guts.” Said Clementine, throwing a glare at him as she picked AJ up, “Besides, it’ll wash off. Okay?”
AJ gave her a small nod, as they left the room.
C
Clementine quietly cleaned AJ up in the quarantine area in Richmond, David had managed to get a small bath and some new clothes down so Clementine would clean AJ. AJ quietly sniffled as Clementine washed him, she thought she heard someone come up behind her.
“How’s he doing?” Asked Conrad, making Clementine look around at him.
“I think the Walkers really scared him.” Said Clementine, turning and grabbing a towel. She started to get up, only to realise that AJ hadn’t moved. Sighing, Clementine dried him off, dressed him and picked him up, the toddler gripping tight to Clementine as she walked around the room, burying his face in her chest.
“Clementine.” David’s voice came from the doorway, “You’ve been okayed.”
Clementine nodded at him, carefully adjusting AJ as she walked past. Wincing as the light hit her, Clementine wandered around, absently bouncing AJ as she walked. She thought she heard Max arguing about something with someone, she thought she heard something about raiders or raiding. David had mentioned finding people who survived the attack on Wellington, and that there were people who mentioned three other cities that survived the outbreak, so maybe it had something to do with that.
Deciding that it wasn’t her problem, Clementine walked into the hospital, wincing slightly when she felt a stab of pain in her abdomen. Exhaling, Clementine continued on her way until she reached Lingard’s office. Pushing the door open, she saw Lingard going over some things with Eleanor.
“Clementine.” Lingard noticed her presence, “Do you need something?”
“Yeah,” Clementine awkwardly shifted, “AJ’s gotten… clingy, since Prescott. I was wondering if you had anything that could help him.”
Lingard frowned, before walking over to Clementine and AJ. After some coaxing, and gentle reassurances from Clementine, AJ was sitting on one of the beds.
“Eleanor said he was being toilet trained when the herd hit,” Said Lingard, “and that he was embarrassed about having an accident.”
Clementine nodded, “He’s had them before, but he’s never reacted like this.”
“But none of them were when a herd overran us.” Said Eleanor, as AJ started whining, “I know I’d behave differently if I was halfway through something, and Walkers attacked.”
Clementine frowned, as AJ started hiccupping. AJ’s hiccups turned into small sobs, before turning into loud wails. Stepping forwards, Clementine quickly scooped AJ up, checking the diaper and finding it was dry. Slowly, AJ started to calm down, as Lingard frowned at them.
“In some high stress situations,” Said Lingard, “people will regress to a younger mental as a form of defence. Especially if they were in a vulnerable position. It should pass in time, just try to continue the routine you’d started and, hopefully, he’ll get back to normal soon.”
Clementine nodded, as AJ started chewing her shirt’s collar.
C
Clementine didn’t know what was going on outside the apartment block she’d be placed in, since someone had started yelling about something, but she was trying to coax AJ into walking towards her. AJ had started crawling around and babbling in baby talk, which wasn’t ideal. Especially when he hurt himself and Clementine had to awkwardly check him over, while he bawled and wailed.
“Maybe he needs some motivation.” Said Gabe, getting a flat look from Clementine.
“With what?” Clementine looked at Gabe expectantly, “There isn’t anything here he’d want.”
AJ squealed and rolled onto his back. Sighing, Clementine gave up trying to get AJ to walk. Picking the toddler up, Clementine set him on the couch and walked towards the kitchen. AJ stared after her, before he started to whine, feigning hiccups, getting a flat look from Clementine, “That’s not going to work AJ.”
The toddler stopped and huffed, giving her a scowl and crossing his arms.
“Y’know,” Gabe leaned against the counter, as Mariana, Kata and Javi arrived, “maybe we could find something he likes and use that.”
“Like what?” Asked Clementine, grabbing a bottle of water, “We’ve got flip booming all.”
Everyone stared at Clementine.
“I’m not swearing in front of him.” Stated Clementine, before going through a draw, “At least, I’m not until he’s grown up a bit.”
“I’m hungry.”
Clementine paused, before looking at AJ, “What?”
“I’m hungry.” Repeated AJ, just as his stomach released a loud gurgle.
Sighing, Clementine started checking the cupboards for some food.
C
A few days later, Clementine was looking through a draw when Joan walked in.
“Clementine.” Said Joan, making Clementine look up, “What are you doing here?”
“Lingard’s asleep.” Said Clementine, “Or high, or both and I’ve started bleeding.”
“Where?” Questioned Joan, as Clementine shifted uncomfortably.
“Er,” Clementine coughed, “down… there…”
Joan frowned, before pointing at a draw, “In there.”
Clementine nodded, “Thanks.” Opening the draw and taking some of the pads.
“How’s your boy?” Asked Joan, making Clementine look up, “I heard he had a bad experience with the Walkers.”
“He’s moving past it.” Answered Clementine, “He’s back to normal, for the most part. He’s still getting nightmares about Prescott.” Clementine paused, “He… he said some of the Walkers spoke.”
“Maybe he imagined it.” Said Joan, crossing her arms.
Clementine was quiet, “In my time wandering around, I heard, and saw, Walkers that could climb and use tools. Almost like they evolved or something.”
“Well,” Said Joan, after a moment, “everyone’s safe in Richmond.”
Clementine gave Joan a nod, before leaving. Joan watched after her, she hadn’t ordered Max’s men to lead that herd into Prescott, they’d managed to salvage the supplies and weapons from the community, but they had to take the surviving members in, as not make people suspicious. Some, like Eleanor and Clementine, were assets. Eleanor with her medical experience and Clementine with her experience with Walkers.
She’d initially wanted to fit one of them up for killing Badger, but the man had started to become a liability. Given how he’d gone about killing everyone he came across, he’d almost brought the Saviors down on them, fortunately, Max had managed to stop him. Shaking her head, Joan glanced at Paul and left the room.
C
Clementine frowned from the roof of the apartment block, someone had blown a hole in the wall, letting a massive herd of Walkers into the city. David and Ava had managed to stem the casualties by getting the place locked down.
“Any thoughts, Clem?” Asked Ava, as Clementine looked amongst the dead.
“This is going to screw up all the progress AJ’s made.” Remarked Clementine, “Is Javi’s friend still herding the Walkers?”
“Yeah,” Ava nodded, “Eleanor’s managed to contact Lingard in the hospital.”
“He’s sober?” Snarked Clementine, wincing at the glare Ava gave her, “Sorry.”
“Clint’s safe too,” Continued Ava, “Joan’s missing, though.”
Clementine hummed, “I take it there’s been no word from David.”
“He left with Tripp and Javi, they’re bringing the truck and some stuff to block the hole.” Said Ava, “You did good down there, covering people so they could get inside.”
“I’m just glad I got to pick off some of the Whisperers.” Said Clementine, “You know, for how they all preach about keeping quiet and becoming ‘one with the herd’, they screamed really loudly.”
Ava let out a snort, as a truck and a bulldozer carrying a large vehicle drove towards the hole in the wall. Ava and Clementine started picking off the Walkers in the bulldozer’s way, with Javi and David doing the same from where they were standing on the bulldozer. From their position, they couldn’t see a Walker grab David’s leg, but they did see him fall off the bulldozer.
After plugging up the hole and helping Jesus herd the Walkers out of Richmond, the church’s bell tolled twice, signalling that the threat had passed. Clementine and some others spent the next few hours cleaning up the dead, they found Joan with her throat ripped out, as well as some others. Clementine had to put down a little girl that had been bitten, she recognised her as Rufus and Fern’s daughter, she wasn’t looking forward to breaking the news to the girl’s parents but knew she had to. Ava found David, barely alive with his guts scattered around him. It occurred to Clementine that she never thanked him for telling her where AJ was.
In the following days, Clementine found herself working closely with the council, with Ava filling David’s role and Francine and Conrad filling Joan’s. Clementine, Javi and Tripp were given some leading roles, Javi was in charge of recreational tasks, particularly sports, Tripp was in charge of expansion and repair efforts, while Clementine was tasked with teaching the younger, and some of the older, members of the community how to deal with Walkers. Clementine managed to find some thick clothing, so the supply runners would have some more protection against Walkers while outside Richmond.
In the next couple of years, they’d managed to set up supply/trade routes with Wellington, Portland, Omaha and Philadelphia, as well as set up some satellite communities, reestablishing Prescott in the process. They’d gotten into a ‘war’ with a group called Delta, with Clementine taking a group to West Virginia and stumbling across a group of survivors holed up in their boarding school, losing a leg in the process. They’d managed to end the war, with Clementine discovering that Richmond had fired the first shot. She went back to Richmond, taking a couple of the boarding school survivors with her, and relayed that news to the council. They’d investigated it, leading to Max and some of his guys, revealing that Joan had ordered raids on other communities for their supplies.
After coming to an uneasy peace, with the Coalition of The Kingdom, Alexandria, Hilltop and Oceanside acting as a neutral third party, Delta settled itself in West Virginia and adopted the boarding school as a satellite community. They’d set up supply lines and, were working on setting up phone lines.
Sighing, Clementine glanced over ay AJ, the toddler scribbling on a piece of paper with a crayon. He hadn’t had any of the turns he did when he was younger, which Clementine was happy about, although he’d taken what he’d learnt in the Walker lessons and applied it to people.
“Penny?” Asked Javi, dropping into a seat at the table Clementine was working on.
“Just going over the past few years.” Said Clementine, after a moment before looking at Javi, “Has something happened?”
“No,” Javi shook his head, “just thought I’d drop in.”
Clementine let out an amused huff, “Well, Dan suggested I make a lesson plan for the next few Walker classes, said I shouldn’t be ‘winging it’ to them.”
“He said the same thing to me, too.” Said Javi, glancing at AJ, “Gabe’s going to be out of the hospital in a couple of days.”
“That’s good,” Said Clementine, looking through the notes she’d written, “I get the feeling AJ’s bored without him.”
“Am not!” Protested the toddler, looking up from his scribbles.
“Oh, really?” Clementine raised an eyebrow at AJ.
AJ paused, “Well, maybe a little bit.”
Clementine let out a short laugh, before getting up and limping over to AJ. Javi looked at Clementine’s prosthetic, before sighing. Getting up, bid goodbye to Clementine and AJ and left the apartment, he had his own lessons to plan.
Next Story: What if Howes fell before Carver returned from the ski lodge?
Idk if you've ever seen doctor who but there's this scene where sally sparrow meets di shipton and they flirt and he asks her name and she says sally shipton instead of sally sparrow and earlier I was thinking about winterhawk and said (cont)
Clinton Francis Barnes instead of barton and was like what if Clint and Bucky meet randomly on street and they flirt and bucky introduced himself first and then Clint says Clint Barnes and buckys like maybe we should have dinner before marriage :D
***
“Hey!”
Clint turned at the shout, mildly surprised to see the one-armed veteran from the day’s meeting waving at him. He had something in his hand, small and purple and very familiar.
“You dropped this,” the vet said as he approached, holding out the wallet for Clint to take. “Saw it on the floor of the restroom.”
“Shit - sorry - thanks,” Clint sputtered. He opened it out, checking that everything was in order. Kate would staple it to his forehead if she found out he’d lost it again.
“No worries,” the man said with a smile, and moved to leave.
Before he could stop himself, Clint was calling him back - maybe because he vaguely knew the guy, maybe because he wanted to say thank you properly, or maybe because he found the guy mildly attractive, and that smile had been the first one directed at him that hadn’t come from Steve, Nat, Kate or Sam in too long. “You were at the VA meeting just now, weren’t you?”
He smiled again, though his eyes were slightly wary. “Yeah, I was.”
“Are you, um - are you going again next week?
"Uh… maybe?”
“Great! That’s great… I might too, so…” Clint could hear his Kate-voice groaning, asking Where the heck are you going with this, Barton? Say ‘see you next week’ and leave before you make an ass of yourself! “Sorry, I didn’t get your name?”
“James Barnes,” he said, offering his hand, and Clint shook it.
“Clint Barnes.” What? “No! No, that’s not - Barton. It’s Barton. Clint Barton, I mean. That was just - I slipped - my tongue - and, uh -”
“You know,” James said, “if we’re gonna share a name and hold hands in public, dinner might be a good idea first.” Amusement shone in his eyes now, though Clint didn’t miss the faint tremor in his hand. But man, those eyes -
“Oh!” He let go of James’ hand, hoping the heat in his cheeks wasn’t visible in any way. Rubbing the back of his neck, he scraped up the last threads of his dignity and said, “We could - we could do that. If, uh, you wanted to…?”
James studied him for a few heartbeats, and just as Clint began to brace for the rejection he heard: “Okay.”
He blinked. “Yeah?” And received a nod in return.
“But, maybe not an actual restaurant?” James asked hesitantly. “I’m… still working on that.”
“Of course,” Clint said. “How about takeout after the meet?”
James agreed, and that was that. After awkwardly thanking him again for finding his wallet, Clint kicked himself into gear and finally climbed back into his car, dropping his head onto the steering wheel and blowing out a breath.
You are a wonder of the world, Clint Barnes.
“Barton!” Shit.
***
I know exactly which episode you speak of, Anon. Those fucking angels... Thanks for the idea - hope you like :-)
