meanstreak
rick grimes 𝘹 fem!𝘰𝘤
© WANDARYEN ──── 2024

"We're going to work this out right now and it's going to go our way."

I looked over at Rick and whispered, "what are we going to do?"

He didn't respond to me in the moment but nodded his head as a way to reassure me before telling Daryl and Paul to help pick up the man from the ground.

Daryl pointed his gun towards his head and Rick raised the walkie to speak to the woman again. "You can see we have one of yours. We'll trade."

"I'm listening."

"First I want to talk to Maggie and Carol, make sure they're all right." Rick lowered the walkie as we stood around in a circle with caution, still checking our surroundings but keeping our focus mostly on the woods.

After a brief moment of silence, Carol's voice came in from the other end. "Rick, it's Carol. I'm fine but — " she was cut off and the walkie clicked again until I heard my sister's voice. "Rick it's Maggie. We're both okay. We'll figure this — "

I clutched my fists by my sides as I waited eagerly for another response. "You have your proof. Let's talk."

"This is the deal right here," Rick immediately spoke. "Let em' go, you can have your guy back and live."

"Two for one, that's not much of a trade."

"You don't have another choice," he shook his head. "Or you would've done something about it already." There was another long pause coming from the other end so Rick spoke up again. "Look, I know you're talking it over. It's a fair trade. Just come out, we do this, we all walk away. Do we have a deal?"

"I'll get back to you."

"Come on," I muttered anxiously, running my fingers through my hair out of stress and frustration. "They're not going to make this easy," I spoke to Rick and he nodded his head knowingly. I rubbed my hands against my face now and took a few steps backwards as the men started to discuss things.

I walked over to the nearest tree and wrapped my arms around myself, closing my eyes briefly and taking a moment to collect myself from all the stress. But as of now I was having flashbacks of events that I never wanted to experience again.

This could've been it for Maggie and I wouldn't know what to do with myself any longer.

The built up anxiety in my body was starting to force itself out and I found myself tumbling over, my hand gripping the tree as I began to puke all over the ground.

For a short moment it sure as hell felt like I was throwing up for an hour until Rick came running up and immediately had his hands on my back.

I was finally able to catch my breath and stand up straight, wanting to move away from the smell but Rick held my shoulders before wiping my lips with his sleeve. "Relax, relax. Take it easy," he directed while gently leaning me back against the tree.

"I don't — I don't feel good." I mumbled in between breaths. "I don't know what's happening. I feel light headed."

He gently brushed the hair from my face and examined me closely before nodding his head. "You're pale, come on, i'm going to get you in a car."

Suddenly I was being swept off my feet before I had time to protest. I needed to help my sister. I needed to find her, but with my body suddenly feeling heavy and my head growing fuzzy — I was starting to drift out unconscious.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, sweet pea?"

"Am I going to own this farm one day? Will I be the one taking care of it?"

My father turned to me slowly, a smile stretching across his face. "If you want it."

I kicked my legs out in front of me — my boots barely touching the porch floor. "I think so," I shrugged. "I like having the horses."

My father laughed, reaching over and stroking my long brown hair off my shoulder. "It'll take more than just feeding the horses, honey. Gotta take care of the land too. Lots of acres to tend to, the field goes on for miles — fences to repair. You need to be up early to do all that."

"Oh," I smiled sheepishly. "Okay. I think I could."

"Really?"

I nodded my head eagerly, looking past my father and towards the sun peaking over the horizon. Our horses running in the distance as a group — the field was the brightest shade of green I've seen all spring.

"I want to be like you," I admitted. "I want to take care of animals."

"You can do that." He nodded, encouraging me softly. "But you can also do other things — whatever your heart desires. Doesn't just have to be taking care of home."

I tilted my head to the side while I gazed up at him. "But I like helping you. I like helping Maggie and mama. I like to feel important."

"You are important." His eyebrows raised, head tilting towards the side while he smiled. "There's other ways you can help people. Not just me or your mother or Maggie — but more people out there could use your help."

"Like doing what?"

"Who knows, sweet pea. Whatever your heart decides for you. Whatever feels right — you could be a natural born leader one day."

My cheeks redden instantly from the compliment but also sparked joy in my heart. "You really really really think so?"

He laughed softly. "Of course. When have I ever lied to you?" I lowered my head and giggled, just before he placed my cowboy hat on my head, giving it a light tap. "Okay, miss independent. How about we take the tractor out and check on our fields — see what needs tending to."

"Okay!" I jumped off the porch chair, my feet hitting the ground with a small thump before I raced my dad out towards the barn.

I furrowed my eyebrows, releasing the mental hold I had on myself in my dreams before reaching up and pinching the bridge of my nose. A migraine lingered and my stomach felt empty — growling like I haven't eaten for weeks.

I finally opened my eyes and was greeted by the sun peeking through the windows.

When I realized the surroundings of my own home — I quickly sat up in bed before an arm gently grabbed my shoulder. I looked to see who it was and met those familiar blue eyes.

"It's okay," he whispered. "She's okay."

I opened my mouth but then closed it when he held up a finger, getting up from the bed and leaving the room briefly before Maggie appeared. She took a seat beside me and I closed my eyes, pulling her closer to my chest. "Thank god."

We pulled away and I gently brushed down her hair, doing a once over on her body to make sure she wasn't injured. "You okay? The baby?"

She nodded her head and smiled, "we're both okay."

I noticed Rick enter the room again, leaning his shoulder against the door frame as he crossed his arms over his chest. "It was a long day, but i'm glad you're okay too." Maggie spoke, gently rubbing my hand with hers. "Rick said you got sick out there. That never usually happens." She tilted her head to the side.

I nervously nodded, my gaze flickering towards Rick's momentarily before looking back at my sister. "I'm not sure. Could've been a mild anxiety attack — I thought I was going to lose you."

Her hand traveled up my to my shoulder before she gave it a gentle squeeze. "You don't have to worry about that, not ever." Her voice was filled with promises and I believed her. We had made it this far, there couldn't be anyway we would lose each other now.

"We lost Denise — Daryl was out on a run with her and Rosita. Savior's got her." Rick expressed. "Everyone's on their feet today to get work done."

I looked over at Rick and nodded my head, pulling the blanket back and climbing out of bed. "Is there anything I can help with?" Rick shook his head as Maggie stood up as well. "You both take it easy for the day," he held out his hand and I extended my arm, taking his in mine.

"I'll be around don't worry," Maggie promised. "Just holler if you need me." She passed by the both of us and I nodded my head in response just as Rick smiled down at her. My steady facial expression slowly turned down into a frown as I leaned my back against the wall.

Rick turned as I moved away, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as he rubbed my hand. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, focusing my stare on the laundry basket by the bathroom as I started to subconsciously pick at the skin around my nails. "This — this isn't the end. I feel it, I know it."

Rick inhaled slowly while placing his hands on his waist. "We'll handle it. Whatever happens, you know that."

I pressed my lips into a firm line and looked over at him, nodding my head. "Yeah." I couldn't stop the anxious sigh that suddenly overcame me, causing Rick to shift on his feet. "What's wrong?"

I needed to tell him. Even if I was sure — even if it weren't true, I still needed to communicate with him. We never hid anything from each other and with what just happened between Carol and Maggie — If I don't get it out now then I may not ever get the chance.

"I need to tell you something," I softly spoke, slowly turning to him.

He reached for my face and gently held it in the palm of his hands. "Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" A knock at the front door echoed all the way upstairs, causing me to pull away until Rick pulled me in closer. "It can wait — talk to me, angel." His voice was soft, calm — reassuring and it was already bringing me the comfort I needed.

When the person at the front door knocked again but this time more desperately, I shook my head and purposely stepped back. "It's okay, we'll talk about it later. We need to make sure our people are okay." I tilted my head and offered him a smile.

He hesitated before nodding. "Alright." His hand connected with mine and we jogged down the stairs with haste — coming face to face with Tobin upon opening the front door.

He handed Rick a note silently but his facial expression told me almost everything I needed to know.

I leaned over Rick's arm and read it along with him inside my head. It was long and thoughtful, just for Tobin from Carol until she stated that she was leaving. I looked up at both men before running to get our jackets and quickly slipping my boots on.

"What time did she leave? Do you know what she took?" Rick, Tobin, and I were speed walking down the streets towards the front gate.

"Sometime in the night. I never heard her go," Tobin explained. "But she made a bunch of food, you know. She took her pack, one of my coats — "

"Did she leave on foot?" I asked quickly.

"I—I don't know."

"Rick, Sienna," Sash came walking up to us when we met her by the front gate with Morgan. "I took over at 12:00, I was on till 6:00. I never saw anything."

"Front's been quiet since the others left," Abraham spoke up as he came up beside Sasha. "What? Who?" Rick quickly asked. "Daryl. He went ICBM after the saviors from yesterday. Glenn, Michonne, Rosita, they all went to shut that shit down."

"Where's the other car?" Tobin suddenly asked while he stared between the bars of the front gate. "We added two more cars yesterday. One of them is missing, the one we put right between those houses."

"You can barely see between the houses from up top," Abraham stated. "Especially at night."

Morgan stepped closer to Rick and held out his hand. "The note — can I see it?" Rick pulled it from his pocket and handed off towards Morgan as he faced the others. "You never saw any headlights, taillights? She's smart enough to cover her tracks."

Sasha shook her head, "she must've left during the shift change."

Suddenly Morgan turned away from our sides and I turned my head as Rick shifted on his feet. "Where are you going?" He called out.

"I'm gonna go find her!"

"Wait!" Rick shouted before turning to the rest of us. "Tell Carl I'll be back soon, no one else leaves." Just as he was about to turn away and chase down Morgan, I grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Wait, I'm going with." Rick turned to face me and held up his hand with a shake of his head. "No no, you stay here. I need you to take care of the kids and watch over your sister. Just take it easy." His arm slipped from my grasp and that anxious feeling made a return — the words weighing on my tongue would have to wait.

I nervously crossed the hallway and towards the guest bathroom where Maggie currently was, brushing out her hair and silently measuring it with her fingers.

"Hey," I appeared in the doorway, lightly tapping my fingers against my leg. "Uhm, can I ask you something?"

She turned to me briefly with a smile before turning back to the mirror. "Go ahead."

I glanced over my shoulder, waiting to see anyone else appear or snooping on our conversation. I took one step into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. "I know you went to the doctor at Hilltop to confirm your pregnancy — "

"Uhuh?"

I could feel my chest tightening with every breath I took. "I was just wondering — if you had any pregnancy tests."

I watched her slowly turn away from the bathroom sink. "Pardon?" I nervously shook my head, "Well, I missed my period and I just wanted to be sure. I've been nauseous a lot lately — probably just from the tremendous amount of anxiety I've been having, so it's probably nothing but I thought I could just check to be sure. Yeah." I nodded quickly and watched her blink once in my direction.

In an instant she dropped down to the ground and flipped open the cabinet doors under the sink. She rummaged through all the person hygiene stashed away before retrieving a single test.

I carefully watched her stand up, eyeing the object closely before holding it out to me. "I want to be here when you take it." Her voice was stern and suddenly I felt like a child getting scolded by my mother. Her facial expression was unreadable and it caused me to feel more anxious.

"Okay," I muttered while ripping the package open before getting comfortable in the toilet. "It could be nothing," I insisted again.

Once I felt the sensation to pee, I quickly held the test underneath me and stared blankly at the wall in front of me.

"Three minutes," Maggie nodded towards the test once I placed it on the counter. "Okay," I nodded once while wiping and fixing my pants immediately after.

I put the toilet seat cover down and sat directly on top of it, shoving my hands between my thighs to keep myself from anxiously picking. Maggie's soft giggles forced me to meet her gaze and a wide smile was stretching across her lips. "If you're pregnant — our children are going to be best friends."

"It could be nothing." I repeated more sternly. I mistook her silence earlier as something with disappointment — but the look on her face told me the exact opposite. She was glowing and her eyes glossed over while they bore straight into mine.

"Are you against having a baby?" She asked curiously, slowly kneeling down beside me on the floor.

My lips twisted nervously as I glanced down at my legs, watching them lightly shake. "No — I don't know, I'm not exactly sure how I feel. How should I feel?"

Her shoulders shrugged, holding them upwards for a heartbeat before slowly lowering them. "That's not something you can ask me. It's something you have to ask yourself."

I nervously looked at her again, my voice dropping down to a whisper. "I don't think I'm against it — but I think I'm scared. What if Rick doesn't want it? What if I'm not actually a good mother and — "

Her eyes narrowed in an instant. "Don't say things like that when you know it's not true." Her hand hit my calf and I furrowed my eyebrows with a pout. "Ow." I watched her reach up towards the counter and retrieve the stick without looking at the result but her gaze holding steady with my own. "I think — how ever you feel with the result, is exactly how it's meant to be."

I carefully took the test from her, suddenly overwhelmed with a new wave of anxiety until I forced myself to look down. The solid lines staring back at me and my heart nearly coming to a complete stop.

"What? What does it show?"

Euphoria. That was the first emotion that overcame me, followed by the steady sensation of peacefulness and suddenly all those nervous butterflies disappeared.

I pressed my lips into a tight line, my gaze lifting up towards Maggie and I couldn't stop the smile spreading slowly across my face. My cheeks large and round — fully displaying the joy I felt in my heart.

Her mouth gaped open, quickly looking down at the test as I stifled a soft giggle.

"Sienna."

"Maggie," I giggled her name.

She quickly grabbed my face in her hands and pressed a firm but loving kiss against my forehead. "We're having babies!" She shouted, her voice bouncing directly off the walls before I quickly covered her mouth with my hand. "Shhh!"

She laughed happily underneath my hand until I removed it, slowly shaking my head. "I was going to tell Rick earlier, but it was only based off a hunch. I think — I was more scared of it not being true and disappointing him. Getting him excited only to rip that away from him."

"You worry too much," she placed her hands on my knees and gave them a reassuring rub. "You worry about things that may never happen. You create an illusion in your head and get yourself worked up—"

"For good reason," I corrected with my eyebrow raised.

She smiled wide with a knowing smile. "Yeah, but this is different. This is Rick." I gently bit down on my lower lip before exhaling softly. "Is that why you asked about mustard and pickles?"

"— I was just trying to be funny." I mumbled softly, quickly looking towards the ground.

She laughed again before standing up and bringing me to my feet with her. "We should celebrate. A change." I watched her nod and place herself back in front of the mirror. "I want to cut my hair."

"That's your celebration idea?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Yeah! Like when you changed your hair at the prison." She reached for my hand and tugged me into her side — forcing me to stare at myself through the mirror. "It's grown out so much since then. You barely have any blonde left. Would you dye it again?"

I shrugged lazily. "I'm not sure — maybe. I kind of miss being a brunette. It was just something I felt like doing in the moment."

She kneeled down onto the floor again, this time retrieving hair scissors and a portable mirror. Before I had the chance to speak, she grabbed my hand and her brush, forcing me down the stairs and into the dining room where Enid was sitting.

"Enid," my sister smiled sheepishly at the younger girl. "Would you mind chopping my hair off for me?"

The teenager lifted her head swiftly with an eyebrow raised curiously. "Huh?"

"She's having an epiphany." I stated, while pulling out one of the chairs and sitting at the table.

"What the hell, sure," she shrugged while getting up from the chair and grabbing the scissors. "How short?"

I watched my sister sit down where Enid was previously sitting. "All the way." She was grinning from ear to ear. I laughed softly and monitored Enid's hair cutting skills — which truthfully wasn't awful, but I didn't expect it to be difficult when Maggie was waiting to chop off most of her hair.

Enid took one last snip of hair off Maggie and I slid her the mirror with a smile. "I like it," Enid nodded and I agreed. "It suits her very well," I smiled while she looked herself over in the mirror. "Why did you want a hair cut?" Enid then asked.

"We have to keep going," Maggie smiled. "Not just for ourselves — but for others too." She glanced over the mirror in my direction and I smiled softly at her. "And I don't want anything getting in our way." She stared at herself a moment longer in the mirror before her eyebrows furrowed and her back hunched over with her hand covering her stomach.

"Man, did I cut too short?" Enid asked with her shoulders slouching.

I tilted my head to the side, "Too late for that. What's wrong?"

She was suddenly winded momentarily, a few quickened breaths escaped her lips as she tried to calm herself down with her arm still wrapped around her stomach. "I—I don't," she dropped the mirror onto the table and leaned forward while releasing a painful groan.

Enid jumped backwards and I stood up so fast from my chair that it skid across the floor. "Maggie?" I walked over to my sister just as she released another painful cry, falling off the chair and onto the floor.

I quickly got down beside her with my hands hovering over her back. "Maggie!?"

dylan
so just really quick — i've done COUNTLESS of research on twd timeline, and it's lowkey so messy. i've tried to track the timeline between each episode, judith's age, maggie's pregnancy, and each season. it annoyingly goes back and forth so i'm kind of making up my own timeline here to the best of my ability. so if something doesn't make sense then truthfully just take that shit with a grain of salt. i wanted to mention this because of Sienna's pregnancy, she does get pregnant before maggie but obviously doesn't KNOW that. this is very important for the timeline between season 7 and 8. but like i said, take everything with a grain of salt IM DOING MY BEST </3 im sorry if its not entirely accurate!!