Clarissa was surprised when the unknown turned out to be cold asphalt, the darkness masking the man that had grabbed her. She went quickly into survival mode, feeling the harshness of the man's hold making her realize he wouldn't hesitate to hurt her. As the man brought his body over her, she resisted against the pain and kicked up her legs, one of her feet landing against his gut while the other hit probably the worst place for a man. As she heard him groan, his body swaying away from her, she quickly got out from under him. Bringing herself to her knees, she saw that it was Nicholas, the same man she had taken down when he went after Glenn. Clarissa couldn't help but scoff. "Come back for more?" The man only looked at her with distaste and anger. "You little— you're not innocent. You don't deserve to be here—" the girl nodded in agreement, causing him to furrow his eyebrows in confusion. "That's why I'm trying to leave, asshole." Nicholas seemed to snarl before he launched himself at her, setting aside the confusion and making room for anger.
Clarissa was steady as she rolled away from where he had aimed. She got up to her feet, kicking him in the back and causing him to fall forward. She took his fall as time to get onto her horse once more. But as they only got a foot closer, so close to the entrance, he latched a hand upon her foot and back of her shirt before pulling her off once more. Clarissa landed with her back against the road, trying to catch her breath until she felt white hot pain at my wound. She looked down to see Nicholas digging his fingers into it, causing her to let out a scream, her hands shooting up to claw at his face in an effort to get him to release her. However, nothing stopped him as he continued to harm the girl, her cries of pain also including frustration as all efforts to be released seemed in vain. As she was still in the process of healing, she was weak and the pressure of his hand on her wound caused her to feel the blood begin to flow.
Nicholas found himself sneering at her, surprised as she sent a punch to his gut. He let his determination push away the pain, pulling her up to stand before entangling his hands in her hair, tightening his grip before pushing her against the metal wall, ramming her into it. As he pulled her away from it, blood gushed from her nose and mouth where her teeth had dug into the soft skin of her lips. Clarissa sneered at the man, her eyes dark and even causing him to falter for a moment. "What do you want from me?" Clarissa asked, causing his doubt to fall away as he threw her to the ground, kicking her side as she heard the crinkling of paper. As he straddled her, he forced the paper in her face, her eyes widening as she saw her own face staring at her. "You're a killer. You're not innocent. You don't deserve to live your life when you've taken so many others. You have a bounty on your head, for Christ's sake, and I'm going to save my people from you." Crumbling the paper again, he threw it far from them and brought his hands around her throat. As she scratched at his skin, gasping for air, he seemed to smile. She could only fight back with what little strength she had. "I'll fucking kill you—" Nicholas only clenched his jaw. "You'll try Angel—"
"Let her go!"As light seemed to fall on the two, Nicholas' eyes widened before he pulled her body from the ground. He held Clarissa in front of him, grabbing the gun she had tucked into her jeans and pulling it on her, aiming at her temple. Clarissa was surprised to see the people behind the lights. She could see Glenn, his eyes landing on the piece of paper as his peers pushed forward. He looked up at the girl, meeting her eyes in disbelief before he crumbles it and put it in his pocket. As Clarissa's eyes moved away from the Korean man, she noticed Deanna was followed by Rick, Maggie, Michonne, Carl and Enid. Along with them was an unknown ginger haired man with a badass mustache that almost made her laugh in light of the danger she was in. As Deanna came closer, Clarissa could see the anger evident in her eyes. "Nicholas, enough! What are you doing to her?" Deanna questioned in a shrill tone, her voice displaying anger. "She was trying to leave, Deanna. Because she's guilty." He pushed Clarissa forward, causing her to fall on her knees. She looked up at the people surrounding her and the man, wiping at the blood that had fallen from her nose. "I didn't want to be dead weight—" Nicholas let out a snarl. "Oh shut up!" She could heard the cocking of the gun, causing her to clench her jaw as Nicholas put it to her head. Clarissa could only look forward as his voice filled her ears. "You left because you were guilty!" He pressed the barrel of the gun harder against the kneeling girl's head. "You didn't want us to find out who you were, but I did!"
As Clarissa looked back at him, she could see Nicholas' eyes avert towards Glenn. Glenn stared down the man, a cold fury in his gaze. "I saw you pick up the paper. Show them, show all of them who she is!" Clarissa, with her set jaw, stood up as she did not want to die on her knees. She knew that if she was to be killed, she would do so standing with her honor intact, not kneeling to the poor excuse the man threatening her was. Her eyes looked quickly at the people before her, surprised at the range of emotions she saw. Enid looked on the verge of tears, Carl in disbelief. Her eyes then fell on Maggie, who's eyes softened but were filled with worry as her eyes met the teenager's. Clarissa's thoughts faded as she felt the gun against her head move slightly, not displaying any ounce of fear. Clarissa then averted her eyes to meet Glenn's, his eyes meeting hers before he gave a small nod.
Clarissa's heart fell to her stomach as she realized her time had come. A man she had, by some miracle, began to trust was going to spill the one secret she had kept even from her own people. Whether she would be killed or cast out, Clarissa knew it'd be at his hand. Watching Glenn, she saw his eyes steady on the man. "Right now, Nicholas, all I see is a man that can't believe he got beat by a young girl." He took a step forward, anger evident in his eyes. "You're so angry that you're willing to kill her for nothing. She's been nothing but honest, but maybe this shows we can't trust you-" Nicholas let out a frustrated yell. "You liar!" Nicholas dropped the gun, his movements just as fast as he made his way to launch towards Glenn. Clarissa, realizing Glenn had kept her safe, turned towards the angered man and launched herself at him. As her body collided with him, the pain seemed to grow but she pushed it away as she collided her fist with his head. He was quick to fall unconscious at her hands, and, as she saw this, she slid off of him and caught her breath as she sat against the asphalt.
Glenn rushed to her side, supporting her upper half as she fell back. Deanna watched as the man held the girl before turning to the others. "Rick, Abraham, get Nicholas to the infirmary. Michonne, go get Pete from the party and let him know what happened. Maggie, go with her and let everyone know that the party is going to end a bit early." Clary looked up as Deanna barked orders. Rick and the ginger man, who Deanna had declared Abraham, made their way to Nicholas' unconscious body. They both grabbed and arm and hoisted him up, dragging him towards the infirmary. Deanna moved closer, looking back at Enid and Carl as they remained with their eyes on the bruised and bloodied girl. "Carl, go find her horse and get him back where he was. Enid, get Olivia to open up the armory and pantry to put back what she took." Carl looked at Clary with soft eyes before nodding and heading down the road where the tired girl hadn't noticed her horse had run off. Enid stayed looking at her, the familiarity passing between them once more before she headed back towards Deanna's house. Deanna made her way closer to Clary and Glenn, who still held her close. "Get her to the infirmary, we'll deal with all of this once everything is settled." Glenn nodded as the woman walked away, helping her stand at her insistence before wrapping her arm around his shoulder.
As they walked, his taller frame supporting her, he gripped his hand around her waist and applying pressure to her reopened wound. She found herself looking towards the man, so confused as to why he would protect her. Her crimes were on that paper. Everything she'd done. The person she had been, she was dangerous, yet he protected her. But before she could ask him why he protected her, he shook his head. "Why'd you go after him, Clary? I could've taken him—" the girl immediately cut him off. "You didn't tell them who I am. Why?" He averted his eyes to look at her, her short frame chasing her too look up at him. He smiled softly yet reassuringly at her. "We've all done bad things to protect those we love. But who you were out there doesn't have to be who you are now." Clary didn't know how to tell him how much his words were appreciated, staying silent as she wondered what had allowed her to be in his good graces.
As they approached the infirmary, he took her back to the room that she had been in, seeing the pile of clothes and the note. Helping her lay down, he cleared the clothes and picked up the note, reading it. Clary looked at him, her eyes falling as she saw he was reading it. Clary bit the inside of her cheek, wincing as she hit the tender flesh. "I was scared that who I was would get you hurt. I can't- I can't be the reason another community falls, not again." Glenn said nothing as he folded the piece of paper, placing it into the pocket he hadn't placed the wanted poster of hers in. He then sat in the chair he had when she had first been in there, his eyes kind as he looked to her. He brushed away the hair that had fallen in her face and she closed her eyes, the feeling of someone taking care of her so foreign. "You won't. You'll make Alexandria stronger. You need to be here, with us, I know you do." He let out a deep breath, causing her to open her eyes to look to him. As the pain became a dull thud, she heard his voice once more. "After Pete heals you up, we're going to have to talk about it. You need to tell me everything, okay? I just want to understand." Clary looked to the man, nodding her head as much as she could while in pain. "Okay, I will." Glenn only nodded at her words before the door opened, Pete rushing in with his supplies. He looked between Glenn and Clary before turning back towards the man. "I'm going to need room. I'll let you know when she's all good." Glenn nodded, giving a reassuring look to the young girl before he stepped out.
As he shut the door, he was surprised to see Rick standing there, his eyes falling from the Korean man. As Glenn made his way to Rick, he spoke with a sureness in his voice that surprised even himself. "I want her to live with us. We can't have her where Nicholas can get her, not after tonight." Rick's eyes widened as he turned towards his friend, shocked at the suggestion. "But what about what he said? I saw you pick up a paper, Glenn. Now I'm sure you had your reasons but—" Glenn pulled out the piece of paper in his pocket, the folded sheet being opened before he showed it to Rick. His eyes glanced over the paper, seeing the goodbye letter Clarissa had written. What Rick didn't know was that it wasn't the paper he had picked up, the wanted poster in his other pocket. "It was this. I don't know where she had left it but he got it." Glenn took a moment as he watched Rick reading the letter. "But he could very well just be a prideful guy that couldn't sit with the fact that a girl knocked him down." Rick looked to Glenn, seeing that his face gave no signs of lying. But he was still unsure, something about the girl not sitting right with him, mostly because he knew you couldn't be that scarred without suffering just a little, and suffering drove people to do crazy things. Rick brought his hand to his chin, deep in thought. "I don't know Glenn, maybe we should be careful with her-" Glenn scoffed. "She's not fragile, Rick, and she's not dangerous either. She's a survivor, like any of us, and she's just been through a lot but I know she's a good kid."
As Rick met Glenn's eyes, he clenched his jaw. "And who do you trust more, me or a man we just met?" Rick looked at Glenn for a beat before letting out a deep sigh, nodding his head. "Fine, we'll take her in. But I'm sure Deanna's going to want to keep her on lockdown just in case." Another sigh fell from Rick's lips as he turned to Glenn. "I trust you and your judgement. If you think she's not a threat, she can stay with you and Maggie in the other house. I'm sure she'd be more comfortable with the two of you than with Michonne, Carl and I or any of the others." Glenn nodded, thankful to Rick for being understanding, but his gaze was torn away from the man as the door to Clary's room had opened. Pete walked out, taking off gloves as he looked to the two of them. "Nicholas just put pressure on the wound, causing some of the stitches to tear her skin. It wasn't as heavy of blood loss as before but she still needs some rest." Glenn nodded before he looked to Rick momentarily and heading towards the room where Pete had just emerged from. Rick watched the young man shut the door, wondering if he made the right choice in trusting Glenn's intuitions. He gave no more thought to it as he walked out of the infirmary to find his son.