Sweet and Salty ~ Carl Grimes

Own Your Sins - 105

Throughout the day, Brooks had a couple of visitors. Merle came down to speak with Sophia and Brooks, but Brooks gave him nothing other than cold stares and harsh words. It wasn't long later he took himself and Sophia away, to spare Sophia's innocence, and make sure Brooks didn't taint the girl. Daryl came down and tried to speak to her, but it was no good. Carl made the mistake of going down there when Daryl still was, and had to run to avoid being strangled by the man who still had yet to reveal what he knew.

When Rick came down, Brooks didn't react, just sat on the bed, and stared up at the man who was once her cherished leader. He fiddled with the keys to the cell as he stared at her. "Did you get my message?" Rick asked, his tone calm.

"Brooks, only he knows how to beat him. You have to let them take you." His words from the day of the line up echoed in her mind. She'd played them over and over in her head for hours until she finally understood the message. Rick knew that Negan was too powerful to take down just from the outside, he knew straight away that they needed someone on the inside. He knew Daryl was a soldier, not a spy, that he wasn't the one for the job... But, Rick also assumed Negan would take Brooks, considering his actions leading up to it. Rick knew Brooks could lie, she could lie till her tongue fell off, he knew that teenage Brooks Dixon was the only person who could take down Negan's forces.

"What message?" Brooks played dumb, not wanting to let Rick in on her secret.

Rick pushed a breath out through his nose as he looked to the left, taking a second before turning his head back to the young girl in the cage in front of him. "You're many things, Brooks. A killer's one of them... But, a traitor isn't. I know you wouldn't turn on us, on Carl, Sophia... Merle, and Daryl. You've got near everyone fooled, even Michonne's lost faith in you... I think it's because she still hates herself for how she was back in the day, and every time she looks at you, all she can see is herself... But, you've got her tricked. Carl, Merle and Sophia are convinced you're just scared of Negan, Daryl thinks you're just doing what you have to so you can survive."

"And what do you think?"

"That the last man you were truly afraid of was Will Dixon. Negan may have scared you at the line up, but that wouldn't have lasted for long. You're too cocky, too good at what you do. You're not scared of people anymore, because you don't lose anymore."

A small smirk pulled at Brooks' face. "Ain't you know it."

"I'm not gonna tell anyone, not Merle, not Carl, not Daryl, or Sophia, Michonne... I'm proud of you. You'll get us out of this, Brooks."

Brooks let out a small breathy laugh, and said in a soft, and innocent voice. "I have no idea what you're talkin' 'bout."

Rick couldn't help the grin that pulled on his face. For the first time, in a very, very long time, he had hope that they could actually beat the saviours. "You should know... There are people calling for your death. I've heard people saying they want your head on a stick to show Negan."

"From the day I was conceived someone's always wanted me dead, Rick. If you're tryin' to shock me-"

"The trial was Michonne's idea." Rick had to interrupt. He felt awful for the girl, but he felt she had a right to know. His heart sunk at the way Brooks' eyebrows creased, and suddenly she was looking down and blinking rapidly. "This just proves how good you're doing. Our people are fired up; angry. This war shouldn't go on for too long, and then you can come home."

"I can't ever come home, Rick. No matter what you believe, the sanctuary has actually become my home... And, after this war... If I'm still alive, I can't come back to this. I can't come back to being the hated outcast that survives off scraps of love from people who care when it's convenient for them." Brooks admitted, talking truthfully for the first time. "If I survive this, I have to go off somewhere. Maybe I'll go back to the hills in Atlanta, or rebuild the farm or the prison... Or, start new somewhere fresh... All of that is if I survive, of course."