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''I know him''
He watched as every person in the room froze at the sound of his voice, their faces showing confusion and incredulity. Nick couldn't blame them, after all he was just as surprised as they were, even though he was the one to speak in the first place.
He never thought he would have heard that name again though.
He never stopped thinking about him, the regret made it hard to forget - or to live - and yet here Nick was, hearing it, hearing that Troy was alive.
He couldn't believe that, he shouldn't believe that, after all nothing good ever happened in the world, a world that punished people for believing and for having hope. He knew that, and yet he couldn't help it. If there was even a chance, then he had to try. He owned it to him, he desired that opportunity more than anything else.
''I know Troy''.
He gulped and mustered all the courage he could find before talking again.
''You want him to talk to you right? You want him to... Spill the beans about Negan's plan, right? I could... Help you with that, but you have to take me with you. I need to see him.''
Rick was the first to enter the basement, everyone else following closely behind.
He searched the prisoner with his eyes and noticed him lying down on the pavement, his arms were under his head, he was using them as a pillow, and his eyes were closed but Rick knew better.
He wasn't sleeping, he never was.
He questioned him about it some days ago, thinking that maybe, just maybe the guy had an escape plan or an accomplice - or again, something in mind that would lead to more chaos and destruction.
But the guy surprised him, with just one phrase
''I'll sleep when I'm dead'' he said, his tone flat, like stating something obvious. His eyes seemed to indicate the opposite though. They focused and brightened while stating the phrase, as if remembering something dear, something important that should always be remembered and never shared, a precious treasure.
There was definitely more, but whatever it was, it was nothing that could have been useful to him, and so Rick let it slide and stopped the interrogation.
''Daydreaming aren't we?''
The voice full of sarcasm brought him back to the present, he was in front of the cell, his companions near the walls of the small room, and their new addition, Nick was still at the entrance, hesitation clear in his stance.
He ignored the question, in favour of telling Otto the news.
''You've got a visit.''
''A visit?''
At that Troy couldn't help but open one of his eyes, watching the ex-sheriff intently with it, his smile grow wider and he let out a laugh full of mirth.
''What do I owe the honor, sheriff?''
He watched said sheriff opening his mouth only to be interrupted by the redneck.
''It's useless, this punk ain't gonna say anything! We should have left 'im to rot.''
''Daryl'' Grimes whispered back, his tone full of warning and fond exasperation.
''Ahahhhhhhhh, he made a good point'' Troy said, smile never faltering, and not moving from his position. He didn't bother watching the room, prefering the view of the celling, even so, he still felt the hard and cold gazes pointed at him, and half expected someone to insult him, but before that coul have actually happened, a new yet familiar voice reverbered into the room.
''Troy''
It was soft and hard at the same time, concerned but relieved. It was a warning yet a plead for him to stop.
He knew that voice.
He didn't wait a minute and immediately shot into a sitting position, his playfulness long gone, searching through the plain room for a voice that was distant in his memory.
There was only a person that would call him by his name without any hint of venom or disdain, and go to such lengths as to show him care and concern. A person that he have been searching for the last year and half, maybe more, without success.
He could feel the shock distorting the features of his face as soon as his eyes landed on the owner of the voice.
He opened his mouth without thinking about it, wanting to make it real, afraid to make it not real, and trying hard to speak just to close it again.
He gives up on talking after a few seconds, marking it as an impossible task, and opting to observe Nick.
Nick that is here, alive and watching and scrutinazing him back.
They continue to stare at each other for a few minutes, sharing looks of disbelief and relief, hesitating.
Rick coughs and reality finally crashes back, things start to make sense again, and hope for once start to feel like something that actually exist.
Rick doesn't talk, just looks at Nick, pushing him to do something, and just like that Troy knows that there is more, that this isn't any casual visit - normally that would have been more than enough to make allarm bells sound in his head and make his guard go up, but the one visiting him is Nick, and Troy knows he can trust him, even after all this time, he knows that nothing has changed between them - he could read it in his eyes, and so he relaxes, trusting him to do his good, to want the best for him.
He watches as Nick takes the first steps into the room, walking slowly towards the cell, towards him.
It's only when he reach his destination, being as close as possible to him, that Nick speaks.
''You're alive.''
He can't help but smile at that
''That I am. And so are you.'' He's pointing out the obvious, he knows that, but Troy can't still wrap his head over the fact that the person he's been searching for so long is finally here, close to him.
''Yeah.''
After that, Nick's face becomes serious, and Troy prepares himself, listening as carefully as he can.
''Troy you need to tell them Negan's plan''.
Troy snorts at that.
''You know I can't do that, Nicky.'' he looks at him, shaking his head a little and apologizing silently to him. He dosn't want to disappoint Nick, he really doesn't.
''But you have to.''
''Why?''
''Because if you do that then they're going to let you out of your cell, and we can go away. Just the two of us.'' Nick turns his head away while stating the phrase making sure to look Rick Grimes in the eyes. Requesting. Negotiating. This wasn't part of the deal apparently, that much was obvious.
''What the hell are ya talkin 'bout?'' Again the redneck is the first to speak, overcoming the general shock brought by Nick indirect request, and looking at Rick general direction for answers.
The guy open's his mouth to say something more, but the old lady with the fake-ass smile shush him with a good nudge in the ribs.
''What makes you think they're gonna do that Nick?'' He ask, genuinely curious.
Nick, who was still busy eyes-communicating with the sheriff, turns his head around to look at him and talks, his voice more resolute and much stronger than really necessary, obviously talking just as much to him as to the others, making a point.
''Because they're not going to care about what happens to us, as long as Negan's reign falls and we don't get in the way. You say what they want to know to them, and we'll be out of their hairs in an istant.''
''Why should we trust him to not come back?'' the sheriff finally ask making his mind, his tone hard.
''Yeah, why should they, Nicky?'' He knows that that is the last thing he should say, but he can't help it, or the amused smile that crosses his face.
Nick gives him an annoyed look that basically scream 'don't make things harder than they need to be'.
''This shit-lord is going to turn on us the moment he's free'' says the hispanic girl with the scar on her face, beating for once the redneck to it.
The sheriff watch her for a second and nods his head in agreement.
Just when he thinks that the discussion is over, and that he's going to rot in the cell for the rest of his life, or going to be killed as soon as they get bored of seeing his face, dear sweet Nick opens his mouth again.
''C'mon man, I know he's an asshole---''
''That hurts Nicky'' he says posing one of his hands on his chest in mock hurt, but Nick ignores him.
''But he's not going to give you any more trouble, I can assure you that.''
''How can you be so sure?'' ask the sheriff, his eyes narrowing, probably questioning Nick's sanity.
''Because I know him'' Nick doesn't even bat an eye while stating that.
''You knew him, he's with the enemy now.''
''Just because he's with them, doesn't mean he wants to be. I may have missed a lot, but the saviors don't really sound like Troy's cup of tea.''
''He had a choice, he decided to join them''
''Has he really?'' Nick watches the sheriff with a doubtful gaze before turning to Troy and continuining.
''In this world you don't really get to make a lot of choices, you just go with the flow to survive.''
''He's a psychopath'' the redneck says as if pointing out the obvious.
Nick snorts at that.
''Needs to be one to survive this long.'' He then sighs and continues ''Why don't you just give him a chance, man? Let him make his own choice. Give him an honest opportunity, if you don't like the answer...'' he shrugh, not finishing the phrase. He doesn't really need to.
Rick remains silent, his posture stiff. He then sighs and nods his head after what feels like an eternity, a look of regret making his way on his face as soon as he agrees. The pregnant woman raises an eyebrown at that, the black one - the sheriff partner - just crosses her arms, her eyes showing dissent, but neither of them does anything more than that, deciding to respect their leader's choice.
Nick nods back and doesn't waste time, afraid of losing the opportunity.
''C'mon Troy, you need to make a choice now. What do you want to do?''
Troy already knows the answer to that but takes a second to think about it anyways.
He is a lot of things, he'll admit, but he's loyal. He was accepted into Negan's group, he was only accepted by Negan's group. Nobody else gave him the time of a day, assuming him to be too much of a danger to be worth keeping around. The saviors didn't give a shit about him, about anyone really; they were merciless and killers, they didn't judge him because they were in no position to do so. They were no better. He liked that fact but there was a difference between being accepted and welcomed, between having a place to stay and feeling like he belonged.
He wasn't a traitor at heart, it was just not a part of who he was - it didn't even matter if he didn't care about the group he was in.
But with Nick he belonged, he was wanted, he felt at home and at peace, independently of the place and of the situation. Even now, just being again in his presence made him feel a lot better, more himself than he ever felt in the last year and half, a feeling he had almost forgotten.
He didn't want to be a traitor, it was hard for him to be, but above all things he wanted to be with Nick again, he craved and longed for that, to find his place again by his side.
And so he sighed, defeated, and opened his mouth to answer, giving away all the exhaustion he really felt, feeling too tired to pretend that he wasn't.
''I want to be with you.''
Maybe it was the lack of sarcasm or the sincerity behind his words, but it was obvious that his response took everyone's - except Nick - off-guard.
''After you say what they want to know, we leave. We aren't coming back, we're on our own.''
The 'you aren't going after them' remained unsaid, but heard by him.
''I don't care as long as it is you and me.'' he says softly but firmly.
He can almost feel their eyes on him, questioning, almost as if seeing him for the first time. Judging.
Nick gave him a small smile, showing his approval, and then turned back to Rick, pointing his thumb behind himself.
''There is your answer.''
Rick doesn't seem fully convinced but he does looks uncertain for a change and so Nick continues.
''You're not going to see us ever again after this. We would be crazy to come back anyway, you know, with the war and all of that in the way.'' he instist. And that seems to do the trick.
Rick puts his right hand on his face and sighs, visibly tired.
''Whatever, let's just... Let's just get this over with.''
And so, even if he isn't fully convinced about the Sheriff's group intentions, he starts talking, telling what they want to know.
It takes more than Troy had anticipated. Their question are incessant, but he answers them as best as he can, trying hard to not say anything rude, and receving some harsh looks from Nick when he does, but it's finally over.
When he's done, the sheriff surprises him by actually freeing him.
There is a moment when Rick opens his handcuffs were Troy sees the Sheriff's gun and watches it with interest - but discretly - with the corner of his eyes, he's doing a good job, he's pretty sure nobody can see his eyes or read his thoughts. He doesn't plan on doing anything, not now that he's so close to freedom and that Nick's here, but he does wonder, 'what if' scenarios making their way in his head. He doesn't get too far though.
''Troy?'' As expected Nick calls him softly, making is tone seem unimportant, casual even, as if he was just calling him to ask an harmless question. But Troy knows better, knows that Nick realized what was going on in his head and called him to put a stop to it before the temptation started to feel concrete. He also knows that he did so to not attract any unwanted attention to him.
It works for the most part.
The only one that seems suspicious of their exchange is the old lady, but she's too unsure about the nature of it to say anything.
Seeing this, Troy decides to follow Nick's lead and nods.
''Yeah, Nicky, I'm coming'' he says using the same casual tone Nick has used before, and starting to take small steps towards him.
There is an awkward moment when Troy reach him, where neither of them knows what to do, time apart making them feel suddently shy around each other.
That doesn't matter to Troy though. It actually makes him happy.
It might feel awkward, but this is definitely home and he wouldn't have it any other way.
Maybe it's because of that, or because he's finally close to Nick and reality is finally starting to sink in but he cannot wait any longer and so he hugs the other boy.
Nick seems taken aback by the action, but wastes no time in patting his back, slowly, gently, letting him know that it's alright, that everything is fine. He doesn't want to let go just yet, but after a few seconds has passed he knows that the limits is near, Troy's a fighter at heart though, and so he decides to compromise.
He rest his head over Nick's, tilting it a bit to not let the others see what he's about to do - he doesn't want them to see him at his most vulnerable state, he had already showed them too much for his liking.
It's just when he's sure that they cannot see him, that he press his lips over Nick's head. Not quite a kiss, but an affectionate gesture all the same, meant to let Nick know how much he missed him and how happy he is to see him again, he feels Nick's grip grow stronger as if to say 'Me too', and that's how he knows that his message was successfully delivered. He doesn't linger more than what's deemed normal, and then he start to move away.
Luckily, despite the obvious scrutinizing, nobody comments on the display of affection.
After they're again two foot away from each other, Nick offer his right hand to him, which he takes without hesitation.
''Time to go'' says Nick, nodding his head in thanks towards the sheriff who acknowledge him and returns the gesture.
Troy doesn't comment on it, and doesn't watch back, he doesn't need to, there is nothing there for him after all.
He just follows Nick out of the room, looking forward, towards a better future with just the two of them.
And for once in his life, he feels complete.