DAVINA [Rick Grimes AU Series]

| CHAPTER ONE |

He pulled out a small piece of paper. "I usually work two nights a week, 10 pm til 7 am, and two late shifts, 2 pm til 10 pm," he began as he scribbled on the piece of paper, "I would appreciate it if this wasn't used for any other purpose than dire need," he informed as he held the slip of paper with his cell number on towards her. "I know, I know, I shouldn't be giving it to you at all," he stated as he watched her furrow her brows, "but this isn't a nice area, and I would prefer to break some rules and drive you back safely if you ever need it then come across your body in the centre of a crime scene," he said bluntly, worrying her slightly.

She knew the area was rough, beyond rough, but she hadn't expected him to be so brutal with his words. She took the slip of paper from between his fingers, "thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

No more was said, and Davina exited the car swiftly. She was ignoring the hollering and whistling from random men. She swiftly entered room 132 and slammed the door shut behind her. She peered out of the curtain and watched as the police cruiser drove off slowly.

She tugged the curtains closed quickly and sat down on the bed. The room was dark and smelt of stale cigarettes; she couldn't wait for the day she could finally leave, but first, she needed to make some more money; she imagined she had lost out on close to a hundred dollars that night, but she couldn't imagine Officer Grimes would have let her go if she had told him she was waiting for a client.

She looked down at the piece of paper she had scrunched in her hand. When she first took it from Rick, she had decided to throw it away immediately, but instead, she tucked it safely into her purse, just in case.

_____

Rick Grimes entered the station. It was the final hour of his shift, and he had a small amount of paperwork to complete before heading home for a much-desired sleep.

He sat down in front of a computer in the small room. He was the only officer in the room, but he knew that would change as the early shift started to come in.

He typed his username and password into the computer, logging into the database.

He casually scrolled through his emails before an idea sprung to his mind.

Rick had been curious about the young woman he had met in the early hours of that morning. He had many questions left unanswered and knew that it was a possibility she was a prostitute.

"It wouldn't hurt to find out," he thought. Just in case.

He typed her name into the database, knowing it was somewhat unethical as she wasn't a suspect, witness, or anything to do with his current investigations, and he didn't have any suspicions as such; he was just curious; he continued with his search anyway.

He was surprised to see that her name brought him no new information, no drug offences, no soliciting. She was completely clean; there was no record of Davina Cooper. However, it did cross his mind that she could have given him an alias.

While he could have left it there and forgot about her, it only left him more curious.

_____

Three uneventful weeks passed, and Rick had almost completely forgotten about the mysterious woman he had escorted home. However, she did occasionally plague his mind on his quietest of shifts.

He was on shift in the early hours of a chilly Friday morning. The most excitement he had all night was when his partner -Officer Shane Walsh, got the wrong burger given to him in the drive-through, leaving the man complaining for over an hour about his disgust towards the pickles and tomatoes he had to pick from his food.