For the trigger warnings summary, go to the bottom of the chapter!! Since it's quite explicit, there's a * at the start and the end, just as a warning even if you don't want to check my little summary
The sun was gone, replaced with a full moon. It was the only source of light, the clouds covered the shining of millions of stars. The bright, full moon was a bit ironic considering that night was anything but light. Brooks had kept Michonne at gun point for three hours before Will decided to call it quits for the day. He led himself and the two into a bar off the side of the road.
'Joey's Jolly Bar'
The three were sat in the kitchen, Michonne was leaning against a cabinet, Brooks leaning against the island facing her and Will was laying on top of a work surface. His arms were behind his head, his eyes shut. They had found sustainable wires to tie Michonne's hands to the cabinet handle, just to be safe.
Brooks didn't want to be doing this. She didn't want to be holding Michonne at gunpoint. She wanted to go back to Daryl, Merle and everybody else. However, she found herself needing to see her friends in Woodbury. Despite the fact Michonne was her aunt, the two hadn't spoken since Brooks found out about Marliya.
The young girl got sick of the quiet. "Did you know that fat people weren't referred to as jolly before Coca Cola took the folk law of Saint Nicholas and turned him into propaganda for their company?"
Michonne pursed her lips together. "I did not."
Brooks clicked her tongue. "Well, now ya do... Maybe the Joey that owned this jolly bar was overweight, or somethin'. I'm just tryin' to figure out the name, because bars aren't typically jolly, you know?"
"Brooks, you don't have to do this." Michonne tried, eyeing the gun in the little girl's hand.
"I trained my girl well." Will stated. "She's gonna keep you like that till day-break. Isn't that right, baby? You wouldn't wanna upset me, now, would you?"
She swallowed thickly. "Course not, daddy."
/----------\
Michonne carefully listened to Will's snoring, as she watched Brooks slowly falling asleep. Her head bobbed up and down a couple times, as her hands slowly lowered to her lap. The gun quietly fell from her grip and onto the ground. Michonne reached over with her leg, and used her foot to bring it over.
Her main goal? Make sure Brooks didn't accidentally hit the trigger in her sleep and get herself hurt. Michonne was worried for Brooks, not herself. The woman listened as Brooks' breaths got deeper, before she managed to slip through the wires on her wrists. She didn't make it obvious earlier, but she could've escaped. She just didn't want to abandon Brooks.
She shook her hands out a couple times, before she grabbed the gun and tucked it into her belt. Michonne peered over at Will who was sleeping on her katana and the strap. She cursed under her breath, but getting it wasn't worth the risk of waking him. Michonne could've shot Will there and then, but Brooks would wake up and never forgive her. Michonne needed Brooks to realise on her own that Will was a bad man, then, she'd kill him.
Carefully, Michonne tucked one arm under Brooks' back, and the other under her knees before she slowly lifted the girl. Brooks has always been a light sleeper, a single creak would wake her. She'd been like that since birth, trained to always be on the lookout for her father's iron fist. However, Brooks' body felt drawn to Michonne. Her subconscious let her stay asleep, because it felt it was safe with Michonne.
It was easy for Michonne to escape the bar while holding Brooks since Will didn't think it necessary to put out any precautions against walkers. Behind the bar was open farm land, just in front of it was the long stretch of road they'd been walking and on the other side was a forest. She decided the woodland safer for herself and Brooks, that taking the forest would be the advantage if Will were to wake up soon.
As soon as Michonne was in the forest, Brooks still safely tucked into her chest, she ran. She ran, and she ran. She tried to keep her pace slower, make the bouncing less, a weak attempt to not wake up Brooks. Michonne knew it could come to the possibility she'd have to overpower Brooks to get her back to the prison, and she was prepared to do that.
/----------\
Michonne managed to keep Brooks asleep for all of five minutes before she stirred, a loud, walker attracting, terrified scream left Brooks' lips. She struggled out of Michonne's grip and fell to the ground with a thud and a groan.
"Brooks, stop!" Michonne yelled, the forest being very dimly lit as the leaves on the trees barely filtered through any moonlight.
"Get away!" Brooks shouted, shuffling backwards.
Michonne held up her hands in a desperate surrender. "I'm not here to hurt you, Brooks!"
Brooks stood up. "I couldn't blame you if you were, why ain't you gonna hurt me?"
"Because you're terrified of your father, you'd do anything to please him. Nobody could blame you for that, my darling." Michonne spoke softly, trying not to spook her.
A lump grew in Brooks' throat that she tried to swallow away. "I ain't scared of nothin'."
Michonne smiled softly and with pity. "It's okay that you are. I'm scared of him, too."
"You are?" Brooks whispered.
Her aunt nodded, feeling a small sense of relief. "I want to take you back to the prison. To Merle, Daryl, Sophia, Cam, Beth, Maggie- all of them. Your family. I'm your family. Will... He's just... He's just a bad man, okay? He's a very, very bad man."
"No, don't talk 'bout 'im like that!" Brooks weakly tried to defend Will's name. "He... He just wants me to be strong, that's all. Ya know what he'll do to me if we don't go back right now? We have to go back, Michonne!"
"No." Michonne shook her head, keeping her tone gentle. "No, we don't, Brooks. I'll protect you from him, but you have to let-" She was cut off when she was forced to scream out in pain. Brooks' eyes widened in terror as she watched the recognisable blade on her father's hand tear through Michonne's right shoulder.
"You're lucky the Governor wants you alive, or that would've gone through your head, you damn bitch." Will hissed, pulling out his... Knife hand? He shoved her onto the ground so she landed on her injured shoulder, she screamed out in agony. Michonne could feel her hot blood pumping out of her body and onto the mud, the sticks and the brightly coloured leaves on the ground. Will sighed. "Brooks, baby, what are you doin'?"
"I- I- I woke-"
"Shut up!" Will bellowed. "You know how I feel about stuttering! Get to the damn point!"
Brooks swallowed, thickly. "I woke up and she was carryin' me out, sir."
Will laughed, humourlessly. "Woke up? So ya fell asleep? On watch?"
"Yes." She whispered. "I'm so sorry, I didn't-"
Brooks cut herself off when Will took a few steps closer to her. She wanted to turn on her heal and run away, but she knew she wouldn't win that battle. She's tried before, it just doesn't work. Brooks' only option was to stand there, and take whatever punishment was coming her way.
*
Will used his flesh hand to shove her, Brooks lost her footing and fell backwards. Not one attempt to get up was made from her, she'd accepted her fate. She knew that this is what she deserved. Will kneeled in front of her and grabbed her ankles, pulling them apart and that's when the desperate, fearful cry escaped Brooks' lips, because no matter the beating, the hits, the belt, the cigarette, the wardrobe, the fire, the grief... Nothing would compare to this.
Before Brooks tried to run away in January, she'd convinced herself that he never remembered doing this. It used to only happen when he was drunk, so Brooks assumed he didn't know. Then, she tried to run away from Woodbury, from him, and he showed her a side of him that was eviller than what she'd ever known before.
Brooks couldn't breathe. She didn't know when she held her breath, but she did. Keeping her lips together meant she wouldn't scream. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't beg for him to spare her. She wouldn't pray for mercy. She'd done all of those things in the past, but it had never stopped him from tearing her in two.
She was broken, and perhaps beyond repair. Her heart was racing in her chest, but she could feel it in her stomach and in her head. Maybe this time she wouldn't throw up on him and get herself locked in the wardrobe in a puddle of her own piss and vomit for three days.
His hands reached up her baby yellow skirt, and grabbed ahold of her pink princess underwear. The faces of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Ariel were scattered around them. Brooks didn't know the stories of any of the princesses, nobody had ever told her, but she always liked the fairy tale idea of a princess and her prince.
The pink fabric was ripped in two, by each of her ankles when the gun shot went off. Will screamed out, turning to see Michonne trying to aim again. Unfortunately, the bullet only scraped his arm, but the weak man cried out anyways. He lunged away from his daughter, before pinning down Michonne's injured arm, the one she was trying to shoot with. This process knocked the gun away from Michonne and Will... It landed close to Brooks.
*
Will used his strength and Michonne's weakened state, before he pinned her right wrist above her head with his flesh hand. Of course, Michonne had tried to fight but she was losing too much blood to do much back. Will put his knife hand to her abdomen, and Michonne grabbed it with her left hand. It was a losing battle. Michonne was screaming out, desperately trying to push him away.
"Tonight, you die." Will grinned, his knife hand was about to penetrate Michonne's skin.
In that devastating moment, it was like something snapped in Brooks. Quickly, she sat up. She hadn't even processed anything yet, it was all going too fast for her growing brain to keep up with. Hastily, she picked up the gun and took aim. Not one breath had left her, she was holding it. Ever since her father pinned her down she felt as though she couldn't breathe. Not a single thought had gone behind Brooks' eyes before she pulled the trigger and watched as the throat shot knocked Will off of Michonne, and onto the ground beside her.
And that's when she released the breath.
Michonne managed to sit up as she shuffled backwards in shock. Brooks' small hands dropped the gun. Her legs felt numb, she couldn't feel them making her stand up and willing her to walk over to him. The pink fabric around her ankles dragged as she did so. Brooks stood over her father, who was looking up at her. He wouldn't survive, he'd be dead soon. However, Brooks had missed that spot in his neck, if it was a mm to the left, then he'd have died on impact.
Instead, he was grasping onto his neck which was pumping out red, hot blood all over his hand. He was bleeding out. He was in agony. He didn't have the air in his lungs to breathe, or speak. He was gasping, desperately trying to swallow down air that would just never stick. He was squirming, his right hand on his neck, his left reaching out to Brooks. His cold, blue eyes never left her own, wide brown ones. She was in too much shock to cry or speak, instead she just watched him... And, watched as he slowly stopped twitching.
That's when it all hit her.
'I just killed my father.'
A loud, gut wrenching, bloodcurdling scream left her lips as she stumbled backwards. Michonne tried to get to the child, and comfort her. "Stay away from me!" Brooks screamed, tears forming in her eyes and streaming down her face in terror, agony, guilt, grief... Relief.
"Brooks!" Daryl's voice echoed through the forest.
"Bambi, we're comin'!" Merle shouted.
Brooks' ears perked up at the sound of her family, but then she remembered what she'd just done. "No, no, no, no, no." She muttered to herself over, and over.
"They're going to help you, Brooks." Michonne insisted, holding onto her painful wound.
"No, they ain't! They ain't never gonna forgive me!" She sobbed, wrapping her arms around herself as her loud sobs wracked her body. Her entire being began to ache with how guilty she felt. She didn't mean to kill Will, it just all happened so fast. All she wanted to do was protect Michonne, but now she wanted to take it all back.
In the distance, she could see the quick moving torches. She felt the scene being surrounded by light as they slowed, staring at the scene. "Brookie?" Daryl's scared voice called as he looked to the three.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She screamed. "I didn't mean too! I'm so sorry! Please don't hate me! I'm sorry!" Brooks fell onto her side, hugging herself as she screamed and sobbed.
Merle ran over to her, and kneeled, pulling her onto his lap. She clung to him without hesitation. The older man furrowed his eyebrows when he thought he realised she was bare underneath her skirt, he looked down and noticed the fabric around her ankles. His heart instantly dropped to his stomach as he paled, and felt like throwing up. Although, he said nothing as Brooks screamed into his neck, begging for mercy, forgiveness. She prayed for Merle to make it all better, to make it all go away, to bring Will back from the dead. Merle just squeezed her, and kissed her head. He told her that it's okay, and that she'd be okay, he told her that she did nothing wrong... He told her that he loved her.
Daryl, however, was helping Michonne. He was holding his cloth to both sides of her shoulder and keeping the pressure there. She was weak in his arms, but he kept her close and safe, he wouldn't let her bleed out. However, his eyes were on his dead father. Tears didn't come to his blue eyes, no memories came to his head. He felt numb. He just stared, blankly. If anything, a smile tugged on the sides of his lips. Finally, after thirty one years, he felt free.
-Trigger warnings!
Attempted sexual assault, Will attacking Brooks. He doesn't get too far, but it's still quite explicit. If you'd like to skip it, there's a * at the start, and the end of that scene