Walking Dead Game Collection

"It Had To Be You"

Title: It Had To Be You
Characters: Kenny, Lee, Clementine, Duck
Summary: Instead of Duck, Clementine is bitten by a walker in season 1 and Kenny needs to help Lee cope.
Author's Note: I'm so upset
Requested By: Anonymous
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With his hand wavering dauntingly over the child's red, swollen neck, Lee watched as Kenny hauntingly entered the room, hesitation dripping from his muscles as he drew closer.
"Hey, how's she doing?" His voice was soft and quiet, as if he thought she was sleeping rather than thrust into an semi-conscious delirium.
"Not good." Lee whispered, gathering every ounce of courage he had in his body to speak; to say the words he had been dreading.
She was dying. There was no question about it. There wasn't an ounce of his body that hadn't wished he had decked that walker the moment he saw it. But when he first saw him, he didn't know. He wasn't aware how it would destroy and crush his world.
He had passed it about half an hour prior to utter terror. He had been passing through the woods on his way back to the motel after grabbing some firewood. There it stood; looming in the distance, begging for attention. Begging for food.
And he had ignored it.
He had passed by, skillfully avoiding it's slow attempt at grabbing him as he slid gracefully out of the woods and back into their temporary home.
Not even half an hour later they had stormed, taking out the gate. In the hassle of saving Duck and getting him on the RV, Clementine had lingered behind, getting snagged and snapped up by the villain he had seen before.
It hadn't bitten too deep, barely breaking some skin before Lee had shot him clear through the forehead. He thought she was safe. But just the graze of skin was enough to do a child in.
"Stop the train." He mumbled softly, adjusting the hold he had on the young girl. She was seated in his lap, her head tucked gently under his chin and her body curled into the warmth of his shirt. She was tired. Not exactly out of it yet, but she was looming closer and closer each passing second.
Kenny frowned, watching the way he clutched the child so tightly, as if his lifeline was slowly fading away. When she left, a part of him would too. "Are you sure?"
"We don't have a choice."
His voice was solemn. Soft. Not wanting to disturb the child drifting so close to eternal sleep. She was close to vanishing from his arms forever. He wanted to make the last of the times she would remain in his arms as comfortable as possible.
"Okay," Kenny whispered, nodding gently and pushing himself to his feet.
He slipped out of the room quickly and quietly, setting a palm against Duck's shoulder as he slipped by. Duck remained silent and still. Watching as Lee held his world in his arms for the longest and last time.
The train slowly pulled to a halt, but in Lee's world it felt like a slamming stop. Too fast. Too soon.
Clementine shifted in his arms, leaning her head outwards and glancing around. "What's happening?"
Her skin was tinted a light shade of green. Her golden eyes hazed over, now darker and duller. Her gentle voice lifted into the air, still as soft and as quiet as before and made his heart shatter.
"We're stopping." He whispered. He couldn't speak any louder. His voice would shatter under the crushing sorrow he felt.
"Why?" It wasn't her this time. This time the gentle voice came from above. By the exit.
There stood Duck, eyes hesitant and eyebrows squished together in concern. He didn't understand, and Lee wasn't in a position where he cared to lay out the details. That job, the explanation of where she went at least, would be given to his father.
"Because," His voice grew louder, some how finding the courage to clear his throat and speak without breaking in agony. He glanced down, eyes grazing over the weakening girl fading in his arms. He sighed through his nose, each breath burning his lungs as it was one of the few left he had with her around. "We need to."
Kenny swept back inside, brushing his son behind him and starting closer towards his friend and the young girl who seemed so much like his daughter.
"We're safe."
Lee looked up, tearing his eyes away from Clem's weakening figure. They were safe, for now at least.
But she wasn't. She never would be. Never again.
He stood, being careful not to squish the child too tightly against his chest. Comfort, her comfort, was all he cared about.
He slipped out of the train, gently hoisting himself the ground and cradled the child as he began his long, solemn walk into Clem's wooded resting place. Hauntingly drifting along the dirt pathway, the gentle cooing of Kenny to his child blurred an distorted in the distance. The blood surging through his ears was far too loud.
Lee had never liked himself. Even tolerated himself. For many days and nights he could hardly stand to look at himself in the mirror. He was sickened by himself and by the blood that remained stained on his hands.
But then came Clementine. Young and innocent but, most importantly, she saw no flaws in him. She didn't know the past he lived and the lives he claimed. She wasn't aware of the torture he had been dragged through every painful day leading to their encounter. She saw him and someone who cared for her. Protected her. Relentlessly kept her safe.
She adored him. She saved him, and loved him, when he couldn't love himself.
He kneeled down, his knees hitting the dirt with a crushing thud. Despite the torn skin, he felt no pain. His chest seemed to be tearing all his attention away from the rest of his body.
He wrapped his arms around her tightly, bringing her face closer into his neck and squeezing her fragile frame as tightly as he could before releasing the hold.
"It had to be you." He hushed under his breath, the threatening tears choking the back of his throat. "Out of everyone." He breathed. "It's unfair. It had to be you."
"It is." She breathed, her voice hoarse and worn. Exhausted. Finished.
Lee closed his eyes, feeling her fingers cling tightly to the fabric on his shirt.
"But it had to happen to someone."
Her voice, so soft and angelic, kissed his ears with such foul tongue. "I would rather have it be me than Duck."
Lee sat, staring down at the child in awe as she spoke. He didn't need to say a word before she spoke, answering any final questions that lingered in his mind.
"He has his parents to stay with."
Lee frowned. "But you have me, sweet pea."
Clementine smiled kindly. "I do." She tried to give a laugh, only allowing it to come out weak and frail. "And I'm happy." Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. "And he deserves to be happy with them, too."
"You deserve it just as much."
"But you've given me all the happiness I needed." She smiled tenderly as his sorrow filled face faded to a heartbreaking smile. "You've saved me when my parents couldn't. That's the nicest thing I could have ever asked for."
Lee remained quiet.
"Everyone can find someone to keep them company." She cooed softly. "But you were like my Dad. That's so much more."
Kenny reached forwards, setting a hand against his companion's shoulder. He gave a small nod, lowering his hand and holding it out for him to hand over his gun.
"Ken,"
"I'll do it. You don't need to do this yourself."
Lee frowned, studying the young girl's eyes close in acceptance. He gave her a hug, a squeeze as her fingers clung to his shirt for the last time before she was propped up against a tree, made to feel as comfortable as he could possibly make her.
Slowly, as if giving every moment a second thought, he removed his gun and set it in the hands of his friend.
Kenny helped him stand, Clementine opening her eyes to smile at them both once more.
"I love you, sweet pea." Lee cooed quietly. A hand rested against his back, helping him stand upright and keeping him from collapsing.
Clementine gave a soft giggle, the last one she would ever give. "I love you too, Lee."
Before he could think twice, the gun fired.
His eyes slammed shut, refusing to open until he was in sanctuary away from the brutal place where his everything was taken away.
He could feel the hand on his back turn him away, tugging him farther and farther out of the forest, attempting to speak soothing words but all he could hear was warbled static, the last living moment of her life flashing before his mind again and again.
He gave her the finale she wanted in life.
She wanted to find her parents, and in the end, she had one beside her all along.
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Original Link: http://thatglitterygeek.tumblr.com/post/144278083832/walking-dead-game-fanfiction-it-had-to-be-you