"From what I'm hearing, Athena's scared." Shane teased, swinging his arm around said woman's shoulder and squeezing, a large grin lighting up his features.

Athena rolled her eyes in response, gently jabbing the man in the side with her elbow to get him to let go of her, slipping out from under his hold.

"It's not being scared. It's called holding my title of reigning champion of the pool table." She held her chin high, speaking dramatically.

"Sorry, I can't hear you over your own cowardice." Rick teased as he entered the room, plopping down onto the couch.

"Don't listen to the two of them, Thea," Lori entered in after her husband, throwing the men a glare, "They're the ones scared that they'll just lose again and be forced to hold their titles of ultimate losers."

Carl giggled, turning his head up, brown hair flopping over his forehead from where he was playing with legos on the floor, "Dad and Shane are ultimate losers!" He was laughing widely, rocking back and forth.

His aunt grinned, scooping him up into her arms and spinning him around, nuzzling her nose into the back of his head playfully, "You tell them, little man."

The young boy's giggles continued as he stopped being spun, trying to wiggle out of Athena's hold. She relented, placing him gently on the floor, only for him to attach himself to her leg, resting his face against the fabric of her jeans.

She smiled softly, reaching down and ruffling his hair affectionately before turning her attention back to the other adults in the room.

Walsh was holding his hands up in surrender, "Look, I'm just saying," He huffed slightly, "It's been a while since college, and who knows if she's even that good anymore?"

Rick raised his glass of lemonade in a toasting manner, "Here, here!" Though he winced slightly when his wife threw another glare as she sunk down onto the cushions beside him.

"How much longer are you in town for?" Her sister in law changed the subject, glancing up to the blonde woman.

She shrugged one shoulder, her fingers subconsciously playing with her nephew's hair, "I can hang around for a couple more days, then I have to get back home."

Shane threw his head back with a large groan, falling into the Grime's sitting chair next to the fireplace, "I still don't understand why you moved all the way across the country."

"She did it to get away from you." Her twin brother smirked.

"Both of you." Athena amended, making the room fall into a rumble of chuckles.

"Why do you have to go, auntie?" Carl asked, angling his head upwards and staring at the woman with sad eyes.

"I've-"

"Got work." Lori, Shane, and Rick all echoed in sync, cutting her off before the words even slipping past her lips.

She bit back a smile of amusement, knowing that it was more sad than anything that they knew her well enough to know what she was going to say. They were never exactly thrilled with her workaholic nature.

"And for the record," She threw a pointed look at her brother and childhood best friend, "I moved so far because I was presented with a great job opportunity." She paused, "Getting away from the two of you was just an added bonus."

Rick threw a man over his heart, mock sadness falling over his features, "Not the four of us? Just Shane and I?"

"You're the only two bothering me at this moment." The blonde pointed out.

The cop waved a dismissive hand in the air, "Technicalities."

The laughter that followed was as full of content as it was humor.

.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .

Athena tilted her head to the side slightly, eyes narrowing and glistening with the promise of danger.

The man on his knees before her shook like a leaf. She wouldn't be surprised if he had pissed himself.

"Repeat that again," Though she spoke lowly, her voice echoed throughout the vast room.

A pin drop could be heard, even though there were dozens upon dozens of people crowded in the area. Not a single one of them dared to so much as breathe too loudly.

His already widened eyes largened even more as he vigorously shook his head, his breathing coming out in quick, short gasps of air, "N-no, I-I'm sorry-" He tried to stutter out.

"I don't care if you're sorry," Her voice was still even, tone condescending and dangerous, "I want to hear what you said again."

She curled her fingers around the hilt of the glistening knife that had been loosely hanging at her side, skillfully turning it in her hands, not once flickering her eyes away from where her gaze had been locked onto his.

A low chuckle sounded from behind her, the first sound made from someone other than her or the man stupid enough to find himself quivering at her feet.

"I don't know how to tell you this, newbie," Negan spoke from where he was, leaning against the railing of the stairwell behind the two, "But you are abso-fucking-lutley royally fucked."

Athena didn't have to turn around to know that he was grinning like a cheshire cat, being the only person in the whole room enjoying the scene before him as if it were the most interesting film he had ever seen.

The man's eyes slid away from the woman and over to the other leader, his eyes dropping and even more horror clouding his pupils when he caught sight of Lucille, still tainted with a bit of blood from an earlier excursion outside of the walls to take care of a herd.

"Go on, newbie," Smith didn't even bother to hide his excitement as he pushed off of the spot he was leaning and making his way to stand beside the woman, "Tell her what you said again, I wanna hear it- better yet, I dare you to say it." Though there was still a shit-eating, his voice dropped an octave, showcasing his absolute seriousness in his threat, "If she doesn't kill you for it, I will."

"I-I'm sorry, okay?" Athena was ninety-five percent sure the man had pissed himself, "I didn't mean it- I didn't know! I'm new here!"

She tsked, head tilting menacingly to the side, "But you've been told the rules, have you not?"

"I didn't mean-"

"Have you not?" Her voice was slow, but her tone was impatient.

A shaky breath left his lips, "I have, but-"

"Come on, newb! I dared ya! Spill it out!" Negan cheered, though he lifted his bat to point at the man, making sure he got the message.

"I-I asked why a w-weak woman l-like her was running this place." His voice shook so much that it was hard to make out what he was saying, had she not been right behind him when he had spoken them for the first time, she would have had a hard time understanding.

Negan let out a low whistle, "I thought so." Whatever bit of amusement that he had let light up his face vanished completely.

Suddenly, she dropped to a crouch in front of him, forcing her to look her in the eyes, which held a venomous glint to them, "I didn't get where I am right now by allowing people like you to talk down to me. Say something like that again and I'll remind you why my name is one to be feared."

He audibly gulped, "It will never happen again-"

"Damn right it won't." Negan growled, going to take a step towards the man.

Athena rose to her feet, holding up a hand casually to halt the man in his steps, "We gave him the warning. Next time, he won't be so lucky." The promise she held in her eyes as she looked pointedly at the man at her feet had him nodding vigorously, not daring to speak in fear of setting one of the leaders off.

Negan looked down at the woman, agitation briefly flickering in his eyes before disappearing and allowing his smug grin to return to his features once more, "Well, aren't you just one lucky son of a bitch!" He exclaimed, pointing Lucille at the man, "Spared by the merciful lady. Had I had it my way..." He trailed off with a chuckle.

The woman rolled her eyes slightly, deciding that she was done there, pivoting on her heel and striding out of the room through the crowd, everyone scrambling backwards to part for her like the red sea as she did so.

She didn't bother to so much as send a glance back, even as she heard Negan's footsteps following behind her.

.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .

"So," Lori smiled as she sank into the seat at the kitchen table across from Athena, "Tell me everything that's new with you."

The woman shrugged, sipping on her coffee as she glanced across the room to where Rick and Shane were, arms slung over each other's shoulders, singing Christmas carols loudly and very much off key.

They both chuckled slightly to themselves at watching the men, but Lori turned back to her, reaching over and patting her knee, "Come on, I'm serious! Tell me everything."

Athena sighed slightly, "I'm telling you, Lor, there's nothing interesting going on in my life. It's just a lot of work."

Her sister-in-law playfully pouted, "You're no fun."

The blonde simply stuck her tongue out at her in return, "I get it, I'm just turning out to be as boring as you." She teased.

Lori gasped in mock offense, playfully swatting at the woman's shoulder, causing them both to fall into a fit of laughter, ignoring the two men as they changed songs, singing even more terrible than before.

Athena's eyes flickered down, reaching out and touching Lori's stomach softly, "You know, I still think Athena's a great name for a baby girl." She grinned playfully.

The woman scrunched her nose up, "I've never been a fan of that name." She laughed loudly again when her friend's mouth dropped open, "I'm kidding." She reassured, "Rick and I decided that we don't really want to talk about names until we know if it's a boy or girl." She admitted.

"I know, I know," She held her hands up in surrender, "I'm just giving you ideas."

"Terrible ideas." Lori joked.

"Wonderful ideas." Athena amended.

"Come on, ladies!" Shane called over, both the men turning to look at them, "It's Christmas! Come sing with us!"

"And make it so my ears bleed even more?" The blonde woman asked jokingly.

"What we have is a gift!" Rick argued, a wide grin resting on his face.

"Oh, is that what it is?" Lori threw a pointed look at the woman across from her.

"Talent is a gift, ladies, you've got to treasure it!" Shane yelled before continuing to belt out lyrics.

.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .

"Well, would ya lookie here!" Negan called out, a wide smile evident in his voice.

Athena turned her head over the top of the couch, pulling her attention away from the sheets in front of her that held the Saviors inventory count from one of their latest runs, "What is it?" Her eyebrows furrowed as she watched the man approach, a large box in his arms.

He only grinned at her, rounding the couch and setting the box down on the table in front of her before standing back and sweeping his arm out in a dramatic showing fashion.

She only stared at him blankly, raising her eyebrows, "What?"

Negan's eyes rolled playfully, "It's a gift, Thea darling. You're supposed to open it." He teased lightly.

After eyeing him supposedly for a moment, Athena gently pushed herself to the edge of the cushions and gingerly reached for the box, ignoring Negan's burning gaze watching her every movement.

Lifting the top, she raised herself slightly to look inside of the cardboard, eyebrows flying upwards in surprise, "A record player." The surprise was evident in her voice as well as her face.

"And a shit-ton of records!" Negan cheered, plopping down onto the cushions beside the woman and taking the liberty of removing the machine from the box, "Found it in the trucks after a grab, figured you'd enjoy it."

Though he spoke confidently, he was carefully watching the woman from the corner of his eye, desperately trying to gauge her reaction.

Very slowly and almost unnoticeably, the corners of Athena's mouth lifted upwards, making Smith's own smile widen even further.

They were interrupted, however, by loud pounding on the door, causing her smile to vanish as quickly as it had appeared, which- in turn- made Negan's face drop into a scowl.

"What the hell do you want, dickface?" He called out to whoever was on the other side.

"Uh, sir..." A meek voice called back, "They need you out there for inventory."

Negan rolled his eyes, pushing himself to his feet and snatching Lucielle, which he had gently rested against the wall on his way into the room, "Dumb fuckers can't do anything themselves," He grumbled before glancing back at Athena, his face softening the slightest bit, "You can start listening while I'm gone, if ya want."

"No," She spoke, pushing herself to her feet and striding towards the door, picking up her leather jacket and shrugging it on, "I can handle this. Haven't done anything all day, anyway."

Before he could argue, she swung the door open, a hard look already sitting on her face, making the man that had called into the room immediately shrink back with a flinch.

Negan sighed slightly to himself before following after her.

.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .

"How'd you do that?" Carl looked up at his aunt in awe, eyes wide and full of wonder as well as adoration.

The woman chuckled slightly to herself, leaning back against the boy's bed from her spot on the ground, twirling her creation in her hand slightly, "Your dad and I used to play legos a lot as a kid." She revealed.

A small pout formed on her lips from across from her, "Yours is much cooler than mine." He grumbled slightly, glaring down at the makeshift plane he had made out of lego bricks.

"That's not true," Athena shook her head, gesturing to the truck he had made, "Yours has much more colors and has six wheels. That's so cool! I wish mine was more like yours."

His eyes lit up, "Really?"

"Really." She promised, offering her nephew a smile, watching as he regarded his truck in a new light.

"Hey, we're home!" Familiar voices suddenly called out as the front door open and shut.

Carl jumped up in excitement, snatching up his lego and sprinting out of his room and down the stairs, barreling towards his parents as Athena watched in amusement, trailing after him.

"Mom, dad! Look what I made!" The boy was practically jumping up and down as he proudly held up his truck, "It's super colorful and has six wheels! It's so cool!"

Rick chuckled, reaching out and ruffling his son's hair affectionately, "It is really cool, Carl."

"Very nice," Lori agreed before moving her eyes to the blonde woman the descended the stairs behind him, "Was he alright?"

The woman rolled her eyes with a smile, waving a dismissive hand in the air, "He was perfect, we had a ton of fun." She looked to the two adults, "How was the dinner?"

"Delicious." Her sister-in-law answered before steering her son back upstairs to get ready for bed.

Rick smiled at his twin sister once the two were out of sight, "Thanks for watching him for a couple of hours, we really appreciate it."

"No need to thank me, we had fun." She answered honestly with a smile.

In turn, her brother smiled and pulled her into his arms, "It's nice to have you around more often again."

She smiled, embracing him back, "I've missed Lori and Carl." She said seriously.

He pulled back slightly, looking down at her, "Oh, not me?"

Athena paused, as if to think, turning her gaze upwards in a contemplative fashion, laughing when he reached out and flicked her forehead, "Okay, okay, I guess it's pretty good to see you too."

He smiled broadly, "Damn right it is. Now, come on, let's get a drink and watch a movie."

A/N: Sorry that this chapter seemed kind of useless, it jumped between flashbacks to showcase how Athena was before the outbreak vs after as well as to get a better understanding of her relationship with her family