Never Leave

She was finding herself wishing she had died three weeks ago.

Life at the prison was going from Heaven to Hell in a short matter of weeks. Woodbury's makeshift army was scouting the prison, and had shot up the place on more than one occasion. It was dangerous to be outside for more than a few minutes if you didn't know how to fire a gun, or wear body armor for that matter. Everybody was extremely angry or extremely paranoid and scared, and most were at each other's throats.

Kati found herself spending more time in her cell, writing down her thoughts several times a day in her old diary. She was keeping away from Rick, who was turning more and more into a loose cannon. She helped the others with Judith, who was now only a few months old. She and Daryl were on the outs, and for what reason she didn't know. Her aunt, Carol, was livid that she had slept with Merle, who was a good thirty years older than her, and not exactly liked in the group. Glenn avoided her as much as possible, and Maggie wasn't as friendly as she used to be.

"Just gotta give everybody some time, Kati." Hershel had told her a week ago. "With everything going on, everybody here isn't very stable. We're still a family no matter what, and we will be okay."

She and Merle spent their nights together, when mostly everyone was asleep. He would sneak into her bunk and fall asleep cuddling with her, or they would talk about everything that was going on.

"I think we should leave, babygirl. You, me, and my baby brother. Just get the hell out while we still can. There's a small winda of time left." He told her one night.

"This is our family, Merle. We can't abandon them." Kati replied, sliding her fingertips up and down his chest, her head resting on his shoulder. "We just can't. What about Judy? And Carl? And my aunt...?"

"Y'all don't know The Governor like I do. Once he has something, or someone, that he thinks is a threat in his sights, might as well bend over and kiss your ass goodbye. I don't want nothin' happening to you and Daryl. Y'all are my family."

"We can get through this, together. We're weak without each other. I can't leave. And I don't want you leaving me." Kati said, looking up in his eyes.

"Fine," Merle sighed. "I'll stay. But only to save your pretty little ass, which will need saving."

"Promise?" she asked quietly, looking deep into his eyes.

"I promise. Ain't nowhere I wanna be if you ain't with me, darlin'." he replied, kissing her lips tenderly.
Two weeks had passed since Kati and Merle had their talk. War was approaching, and the entire prison was on guard. Kati was helping Carol, Maggie, Glenn, Carl, and a new member of the group, Michonne, stock up the prison inside and out with loaded firearms and grenades. Daryl, Rick, and Hershel had gone for a meeting with The Governor, set up by their friend Andrea. Merle was hostile and on edge. His baby brother was out there without backup, and he didn't like it.

"Don't set right with me, my baby brother being out there. They sittin' ducks. Y'all know that?" he said as most loaded the guns with bullets, and others packed bags full of weapons to place in certain areas of the prison.

"They will be fine. The Governor won't do anything that rash."Michonne spoke up.

"You don't know him like I do. He will. And if anything happens to Daryl... Well, it's y'alls asses." Merle warned.

"There's nothing we can do. If we go back them up, they could be killed on the spot. Then we could get killed. We told Rick we would hold down the prison while they're gone, and that is EXACTLY what we are doing." Glenn snapped.

"And what if your pretty little girlfriend had gone? Would we be doing what Officer Friendly wanted then? I don't think so, China Boy." Merle scoffed.

"Merle, please." Kati said, eyeing him with pleading eyes.

"My dad will be fine. He can take care of himself!" Carl said, handing a heavy bag of guns to Maggie.

"Sorry, son, but your daddy's head may soon be on a pike."

"Merle, shut up. Don't tell him that!" Maggie cut in, glaring at him.

Carl went off with Carol outside to load up the dock and the towers with their weapons.

"I'm just bein' honest. Y'all must be dumber than a box of rocks. Fuck this. I ain't letting Daryl get killed, or my girl. I'm doin' what shoulda been done by now." Merle replied, walking over to a filled back of weapons.

"Merle, no. You said you wouldn't do this!" Kati hissed, standing in front of the bag.

"I'm doing this for you, babygirl. You and Daryl. You two are the only ones who matter to me. I'm blowing The Governor's Goddamn head off then comin' back for you." he said, lightly pushing her out of the way and grabbing the bag.

"Merle, go take Kati up to her cell. You aren't leaving. We told your brother and Rick we would stay here. That is what we're doing." Glenn said, standing in front of the door.

"Get out of my way, boy." Merle snapped as he stood in front of Glenn, glaring down at him.

"No. Take your girl and get out of here." Glenn replied calmly, standing his ground.

"Merle, come on. Come with me. Please." Kati said, anxiously.

"You wanna play it that way? Fine." Merle said, smiling.

He grabbed Glenn by the waist as they tumbled down the steps. Kati tried grabbing Merle and pulling him off, but he shoved her into the table, where her back hit the sharp edge of it. Merle punched Glenn in the face twice, then drew his knife from his armored forearm. Maggie jumped up and on his back, putting him in a choke hold. Michonne went over to help Maggie, trying to pull Merle off of the now bloody Glenn. Kati sat there shaking, her eyes wide and her back searing with pain. She was frozen and didn't know what to do.

"Merle, stop!" Kati screamed, trying to stand up on shaky legs.

"Get off him!" Maggie screamed, smacking him with her free hand.

"ENOUGH!" Beth shouted and fired two shots into the ceiling, making everybody look in her direction.

"Get off me! Get off of me!" Merle yelled, finally freeing Glenn from his grasp.

Maggie checked on Glenn, who had a busted lip and his right eye began to swell. Beth walked over and helped Kati up on her feet, Carol speeding toward her as Michonne took Carl to check on his sister.

"Are you okay?!" Carol asked, hugging Kati.

"I'm fi-fine. Just a scratch." Kati stammered.

Carol turned Kati around gently to see the so-called scratch. What she saw sent her into a rage.

"You EVER touch my niece like that again, Merle, and The Governor will be the least of your problems!" she screeched.

"What? Shit... Kati..." he said, looking at her.

She had a gash on her back that went down her spine. The sharp edge of the table cut into her from the top of her back between her shoulderblades, and down to the small of her back. She hit the floor after and landed on a bag of guns. It had started to go light purplish in color, and she had tears in her eyes.

"Sweetheart I'm sorry... You can't get in the way like that..." he said, inching toward her slowly.

"If you-you're going to leave, th-then leave. Don't t-t-touch me." Kati sniffled, and walked off to her cell, Carol and Beth in tow.

"Shit..." Merle mumbled, and walked after them.

Beth sat with her, cleaning up the little blood from the scratches. She tried to carefully clean up the dried blood around the bruising on her back, and Kati was sobbing into Carol's shoulder, while Carol promised her it would be alright.

"I don't kn-now what to d-do. I..." she trailed off, wincing every time Beth touched her cuts and bruise.

"Can I talk to you alone, honey?" Merle asked from the doorway.

"Get the fuck out of here, you asshole!" Carol barked.

"I'm done here, I gotta go check on Maggie and Glenn. Call if you need me, okay?" Beth said, giving Kati a hug.

"Thank you.." Kati said, looking over at Merle with puffy red eyes.

"Please... I didn't want to hurt ya. I was tryin' to prevent that. Kati, please... You know I wouldn't do that. " He said, looking at her with an exasperated expression.

"I'll come see you when we're done here. Thank you aunt Carol." Kati said, giving her a hug.

"You scream if you need me. I'll come running." Carol said, walking out and glaring at Merle.

She stood in front of the bunk, her arms wrapped around herself and her eyes on the floor. Her long brownish-blonde locks of hair hugging her shoulders, and covering most of her face. She let out a small whimper as her blue-green eyes looked up at him.

"Come here." Merle said, standing still in the doorway.

"Please don't. You promised me. You promised me you wouldn't leave. We would stick it out." Kati said, looking up at him with fresh tears in her eyes. "Not too long ago you asked me if I was gonna try to leave you again. I said I wouldn't so long as you weren't goin' anywhere. Then two weeks ago you promised me you'd stay. You promised me, Merle Dixon. You promised me you was staying. And now you're trying... You're... You're trying to..." Kati trailed off, her whole body shaking and her bottom lip quivering.

He sighed and finally walked over to her, taking her in his arms. She shoved him back, slapping him hard across the face.

"No! Don't! Just please don't..." she sniffled.

He grabbed her and held her tight against his body as she tried to push him off. Once she finally gave in and gripped his shoulder blades, she leaned her body into his and cried into his shirt.

"I'm here, babygirl. I'm here. I'm sorry. I won't leave." Merle said, quietly whispering into her ear while his hand rubbed where she was bruising. "You know I ain't goin' noplace without my lady." he whispered, taking in the scent of her hair and kissing the top of her head.

"Please don't leave. Please." Kati sobbed into his tight black shirt, gripping his shoulder blades even tighter than before.

"Hey, hey look at me now." He said, his hand moving up from her back and gripping her chin. "I go no damn place without you. You're by my side the entire time, no matter what or I don't go. I won't leave you, darlin'. I'm so sorry I hurt you..." He said, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand as she leaned her cheek into his hand, his eyes searching hers for some sort of recognition of his words.

"Its o-okay. I know you'd never hurt me inten-tentionally." She said, holding onto his waist now, tears silently falling down her cheeks.

"That was not okay. What I did to the poor bastard wasn't okay, and laying my hand on you like that... I lost my cool and I'm sorry about that, baby. I would never touch you in a violent way. I... You know." He said, avoiding her stare.

"I know what?" she asked, holding on to him to keep from falling down. She was still so shaken up.

"Let's lay you down, huh?" He asked, lifting her up in his arms, their lips meeting for several seconds as they made their way to the bunk.

He set her in the bed, then crawled in beside her. She crawled closer to him, gripping his side and laying her head on his chest. He pulled the sheet over them to keep her warm and close to him, looking down at her as she rested her head on his chest comfortably. His heart was trying to beat out of his chest, which made her look up at him worriedly.

"Your heart... It's beating like crazy. Are you alright?" she asked, cupping his face in her hands, her body leaning against his.

"I'm fine. I just.. I love you." He mumbled.

"What?" She asked again, ,moving her hands down on his pecs. She was sure she misheard him.

"I said I love you, babygirl," his arms locked around her protectively and his hand rested on her ass. "I really do."

She didn't know what to say. Merle and feelings didn't go in the same sentence. But hearing the words, and seeing the look of sincere affection and care on his face. Her heart melted. She loved him too.

"And I love you, Merle Dixon. So much. That's why I just can't lose you." she whispered.

"You'll never lose me. I'll always be here, fighting alongside you. Keeping you safe." he whispered, his eyes looking from hers and down to her body.

She moved to the side of him and looked at him, a devilish grin stretching across her pouty lips. She pulled off his tear soaked shirt before beginning to kiss his neck passionately. He grunted in her ear, his upper body tensing from each delicate, deep kiss. His nails gripped into her ass, holding her lower body against him.

"Damn, baby... What you do to me." he moaned.

"Shhh. Your babygirl is gonna take care of you for once." she whispered, leaning down to kiss his lips as she straddled his lower body.

She whimpered, feeling him getting a hardon as she moved her lower body on top of his, nice and slow. His hand grabbed her hip and guided her down, allowing her to feel everything. She grinded her hips forward, becoming wet as she felt his cock fighting to be freed from his pants. His arm muscles tensed up, and she eyed them. She always loved his arms. They were so big, and so strong. She never felt anything but safe when he locked them around her waist. And holding onto them during sex made her so wet.

He grunted, moving his lower body up into hers roughly, making her moan. He tore off her tight camo top, revealing she had gone braless that day. His hand cupped one of her C-cup breasts as he leaned up a bit to take her nipple from her other breast in his mouth. She cried out his name, her nerve endings going into overdrive as she slammed down on his clothed cock. She raked her nails down his muscular chest, making him grunt as he continued to suck on her nipple, and his other hand rubbing her breast and pinching her other nipple gently, making both perk up from the attention they were receiving. As he let go, he looked in her eyes again, panting.

"Sweetheart, you deserve to be taken care of, especially after this..." he trailed off, his eyes growing sad when he ran his hand over the scratches on her back.

When she winced it made him feel even worse. He flipped her down onto her back gently, his arms locked around her protectively and his body lying atop of hers.

"I want to cater to you, Merle." she whispered sweetly against his lips.

"Later. Right now, my babygirl gets pampering." he whispered back, his lips overtaking hers and their tongues fighting once more for dominance as her hands rested on his muscular back. She moaned, taking in his saliva as their tongues glided against each other, enjoying the texture of each other's tongues. She pinned him down on top of her, her nails digging into his back.

He forced her legs open and pinned his lower body into hers, grinding his boner into her, making her squirm and moan. He pulled away and started leaving sweet kisses down her neck and slender shoulders, his hand sliding down her stomach. She raked her nails down his back, leaving little pink scratches that made him grunt and look in her eyes with a look of lust and annoyance.

"What have I told you, girl? No touchin' of any kind 'til I say so." he said in a deep voice.

"What you gonna do if I don't, hm?" she said in a small yet seductive voice.

"Mmm you wanna play those games, huh? I'll show you what I'm gonna do then." he grunted into the moist flesh of her neck, making a shiver run down her spine.

He bit her bottom lip, tugging on it hard as he ripped down her capri pants, making her gasp. He was getting harder and she could feel her whole body starting to quiver. She went to slide down his beige slacks but moved her hands away, his tongue forcing its way into her mouth, quieting her moans and cries.

He lifted her ass a bit off the bed to finish pulling off her capris, throwing them in the corner of the cell. He then leaned down and used his teeth to drag down her booty shorts, looking up at her as she watched him in delight. He threw them with the rest of her clothes and his shirt, then unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, sliding them and his boxers down to his ankles as he leaned over her body again, looking down at her curves in awe.

"I think we gotta get you warmed up first, huh?" he said, plunging two of his fingers inside her wet pussy. "Damn, you're already so wet for me."

"God, Merle. Don't tease me like that. Fuck me, and fuck me hard!" she growled impatiently.

"In due time, sexy." he winked.

He curled his fingers inside her as he began to pump them in and out, making Kati moan his name quietly. His thumb played with her clit, applying pressure on it as his fingers pumped up against her g-spot, making her gasp and cry out. He smirked, feeling her inner walls clutching around his meaty fingers, and just as she was about to cum, he removed them and stopping playing with her clit. Her legs were shaking violently and her body shook, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Now, I think you're ready." he said, licking her moistness from his fingers. "Come here, now." he ordered, pulling her body up against his as he plunged his throbbing cock deep into her soaked pussy.

"Oh my God, Merle!" she gasped, biting down on the sweet spot of his neck.

She rocked her hips against his as he slowly and torturously slid inside her. She felt every solid inch of his cock, the tip hitting her g-spot slowly at first, and then hard again and again. She was so close to cumming. Her nails were digging into his shoulder blades as she kissed his biceps and stared into his eyes. He was looking back into hers as he grunted and bit his bottom lip in concentration.

"God you're tight, just how I like it." he moaned seductively in her ear.

"I'm about to cum!" she cried, her walls tightening, making it tougher for him to enter her.

"Cum for me, baby. Come on." he said, his eyes never looking away from hers.

His arms wrapped around her waist, and his lips traveled from her shoulders and down her chest bone. He sucked hard on her collarbone, down to her breasts, and over her stomach. He ran his tongue up her body and into her mouth as she let her tongue slide against his, her hands resting on his lower back. Just as she was about to grab his ass and force him deeper inside her, his hand grabbed her throat and held her down on the bed, looking in her eyes.

"Fuck, I'm coming!" she gasped, her eyes rolling back in her head.

"Babygirl I'm almost there. Cum for me, come on. That's my girl. Oh!" he grunted as her cum sloshed over his rock hard cock.

"Oh God, sweetheart, there it is." he moaned against her left breast, his own cum filling her and sending a warm wave throughout her entire body.

His body collapsed on top of hers, his arms locking tight around her again. He let his head rest against her boobs, panting. Their sweat mixed together as they held each other, their hearts hammering against their chest cavities. She kissed his forehead and rubbed his back, whispering that she loved him.

"I love you, too, Kati." he said, looking down at her as he pulled out and slid over beside her.

"I think that's the first time you've ever said my name." She smiled, moving over to him and resting her head on his chest. "I like it."

"You have a very pretty name, darlin'. I should say it more often." he chuckled, taking her body in his arms and kissing the top of her head.

"So no more fights? No more trying to leave?" Kati asked, sliding her fingertips up and down his chest.

"No more. I can protect you here just as good as going to Woodbury." he replied, his fingertips sliding up and down her spine.

"We're all in this together, Merle. We can make it." she said reassuringly.

"I know. I know, Kati. Its us against the world, babygirl."