Hollow Heroes [Open to all]

That's horrible. It's amazing that she still trust anyone. You should feel special that she's bonded with you, and has such trust with you then.

Michonne ran her fingers through Daryl's hair, leaning in kissing him softly.

Mmmmm...More wine?

It wasn't safe. Going out there.. was not safe. Eugene's entire body was shaking. A walker child... that appeared to be like Mikko. This was a new level of crazy. He pressed his ear to the door, listening... and it sounded as if things were quieting down. Perhaps it was safe to venture out... no. It couldn't be. But maybe, have a peek. See where the threat was currently...



Cracking the door ever so slightly, and waiting... nothing happened. The door opened a little more, and he cautiously poked his head outside...


That's when he saw it. Mikko and Wade 'close', sharing a tender moment as .. parents? The child appeared to be theirs, considering what he could collect...


His heart sank to the depths of his stomach. It was clear just by the closeness, she would never be over Wade. As much as she tried to convince him otherwise. As much as she tried to pretend that she could move on. As much as she wanted to move on.... there would always be something between them, especially now that they had created a life together...


This certainly put him twenty steps back....

A soft grin stretched across his lips when she called him handsome... her compliments never got old. Still amazed that he, the underdog, the 'pizza boy' was able to snag the heart of the most amazing woman. Content, close to her and embraced in her warmth, her rhythmic heartbeat lulling...


Then she shifted, causing his tired eyes to flutter open, seeing the stuffed animal she as holding, before shoving it under her pillow....



"So, that's what a butt monkey looks like..." He teased, tone faint and obviously tired. But hearing her last comment caused him to frown, worry quickly building. After finding out the entire mall had been 'treated' to their earlier love-making, the thought of another 'spy camera' had him on edge...



Reaching beneath her pillow, he unearthed the sock-like creature and began pinching it between fingers and thumb, trying to find anything hard....

Hearing the bedroom door creek open, Mikko looked over her shoulder and spotted Eugene. She smiled brightly at him. Her bright blue eyes filled with new life. Eugene. Come here and meet Anton. She motioned for him to join her and Wade.

You should get to learn about your new step son. He's a little, uh....rambunctious but give it some time and I know you two will get along. And look! No more infection. I'm clean.

Lilo, Stitch and Erica walked about slowly, there was no need for Lilo in the infirmary she checked and to her amused and Erica's her bathroom there was still occupied. Erica lightly remarking the pair where taking longer than she and Leo had in the morning and she hoped it was cause of stamina not due to there being some issue in the sexin parts. This made Lilo had giggled madly and dragged Erica away before she spoke loud enough to be heard beyond the door or by some of the other aids.


So they and Stitch were at loose ends for the moment, no one was seeking them out, wondering about, Erica wanting to take in and memorize the shops that were in this mall so they took their time. " you and um... Leo happened fast, how could you be certain...?" Lilo finally blurted out the question to the girl after they left the lingerie shop both a little flushed and blushie and were strollin about, literally just doing laps to waste the time for now.


Erica grinned a little she was not going to tell Lilo the full version of that answer, like she gave Leo in the early hours between sessions that still made her spine tingle thinking about them. She caught the pretty islander girls hand and held it, " I watched him move, I liked what his movements told me... And then in closer proximity he made me think of ... pretty tropical islands, his smell, and color and those eyes... So blue... And his voice... I swore I could hear music. As for fast, we could all be killed soon, something is sweet, is special, could be... Soul full filling... You take the plunge these days. We may all die horrifically, but first... Live."


Lilo thought over this, looking down at Stitch whom gives a chuckle and nod, " Ick, live live!" he agrees. So Lilo did too! Grinning and nudging Erica a bit with and elbow.


" that is actually quiet beautiful... Hum me the song?" Lilo asks - 


Stitch eeeps eagerly, climbing the wall near his best buddie's shoulder nuzzling there whilst nodding.


Erica nods, she wouldn't say no, " I could even sing it.... Though I am not singing the song I have in mind later when the pretty blues come out." the trio of trouble sniggered then Erica cleared her throat calling forth the song that came to mind mind filling with Leo as she does so.


"Ooh, aah, ooh, ohh,"

Lonely mountains,
And tragic abodes,
Forbidden woodlands,
Dark haunted roads.

Seas of stardust,
Light-years apart,
Fields of undead,
That'll rip your heart...." 


Listening and humming along Lilo opens her medical bag to dig down into the bottom of it handing Stitch the baggie of chocolate pods, twix flavor to share loving the tune, their progress slowed at the moment.

"I faced them all, 
And I survived,
To be right here,
As he arrived.

And when I heard,
His voice in song,
I knew that,
I finally belonged." true it was more in speech than song she heard Leo's voice but it might has well been to music for her.


Enjoying her small captive audience. Adulation even so small was always sweet. "Now I know we'll never part,
'Cause this magic lives inside my heart,
And I know we'll fight together,
'But his magic lives,
Inside my heart forever...
And ever........""


They were slow closing on the lobby again as Erica finished, curtsying for Lilo and Stitch both of whom clapped enthusiastically for her.

Leo remained silent and by Raph's side through this meeting.  He listened to his family as they said their pieces.  Once Raph finished speaking, Leo sighed heavily.  "It wasn't the position he gave you, Raph.  It was the reason why he did it.  We all know he only trusts you and he was using you to brush off the rest of us."  He glanced up at the rest of the people in the room.  "We're all in this together.  We make decisions as a team.  Whomever is the leader in this doesn't matter.  What does matter is that we all agree to do our parts."  He looked down at his brother again and smiled softly.  "Raph is right.  This is bigger than Bruce.  This is about saving good people."  He glanced around the room again.  "We need to keep that as our goal."

" We agree to do our parts, and we all understand this is bigger than the bat... however like I told Mr. Wayne and young Carl, you Leonardo are still Hamato clan leader and will remain as such until necessary or you or I choose to change that, he will acknowledge this and respect it as such, decisions regarding us should be put to us as a family, should be run by you our leader, we are not owned pets after all. Maintaining our family dynamics protects us, it does not hamper or harm people of this mall and it does not in any way question his ownership of the mall, we are guests here and we will be helpful, we will not buy his flimsy excuses for how he has treated two of our number or butting into our clan." He meets boths eldest sons eyes, " Raphael do not down play your new role among these people, it is an important task, be proud of it, I am for you, as are your brothers as you have heard. Leonardo, you know we would never have just abandoned these people. Whether we do it within the mall or without will be Mr. Wayne's choice. Erica has advised me against allowing Mr. Wayne to speak to me alone and I intend to take it. He can come see us here and we can attempt to resolve our differences with the man."


" Also eat, Erica and Michelangelo have made food, eat whilst it is warm. Donatello has something he wanted to run by us if we remain here, I am behind the idea... what would you two think?" he encourages the boys to eat and Donatello to bring up them moving to a shop floor closer to their battle shell back up.

"I blame me..." The guilt was still there but some of his agitation was gone and he stopped pacing coming to a stop near Leo and Raph and lightly bumping his brothers shoulders with his fist. " Raph, I recommend strongly you part take in whatever Lilo has to teach you about this sort of connection, we briefly discussed it, some of her... aliens like Stitch had alien tech bio mechanic attachments and she knows a more little on ... this sort of thing than I do even given this is Kraang tech." Well she knew more than Donnie did for now. After all Donatello knew he had a steep learning curve and tended to soak new things up like a sponge. And if his brother in red sought the lovely island girl out she could put her question to him.


He listened to rest of the talk and nodded a bit of a huff, " I can play nice, but the man will know I do in fact know better than he does in regards to our medical care and he is not touching yous with a vaccine I have not had a chance to look at... probably all medical care, as far as I know Bruce is a engineer not a geneticist or doctor or has any grounding in Herpetology or Xenobiology which covers us mutant turtles..." Donatello was not usually one to brag or be boastful or be competitive about his abilities, but the bat had questioned him!


Hearing Splinter Donnie draws out the map, the one with the Atlanta Compound where they snatched their father back from along with Casey and April - now assured Raphael was not blindly going to sell them out in a fit of fan boy love and pushing the bowls of Erica's creamy carbonara bacon pasta she made and the mugs with Mikey's mug cakes in them towards Leo and Raph, well towards chairs to further encourage his brothers to sit and eat laying the map out flat on the rest of the table. " If the Bat backs off and we reach some common ground with him and stay I think we should leave the rooms clear for others and take one of these large shop floors near the garage for access to our Battle Shell where we can make ourselves comfortable and have each others shells not be all spread out through various rooms. And if bat is going to be a moron and stick to the 'my way or out' crap then I have marked in a few possible defensible locations all within at most three hours of this mall in the Truck so we can still be close to support and be able to defend ourselves. And closer to that place we took our family back from." he says to the room. "Lilo helped me mark in a couple of hospitals and the industry warehouse districts we may still find decent loot within... Whatchus think?"


He wanted to be prepared for either outcome.

machine guns, Sniper rifles, grenade launchers, Fragmentation grenades, and a plethora of other military grade weapons had been packed in two large military Humvees along with all the ammo. They hitched the truck they drove into the city with to one of the humvees and headed out.

It was Simon that had spotted the sign that indicated what was behind the overgrowth. Further inspection led them to a military base that was well hidden. Of course Simon got a pat on the back which only helped his ego grow.

But there was more then hidden weapons and trucks.

Hiding in one of the Humvees was Sherry. She was had been living off of MREs Hoping Dwight would come for her, find her. Too scared to go back to Sanctuary to get him, or let him know she was alright. For that she felt such horrible guilt. When Negan opened the back of the truck and she seen his face, his grin, the face of the devil. She could only weep.

Well fuck me sideways! I've missed you.

................Two days later

The three of them finally returned to Sanctuary. Simon drove one of the Humvees, and Negan had Sherry in the other with him. They pulled in and parked. Right away Negan started instructing his people to unpack the trucks and left Simon in charge while he took care of their new gust.

He took Sherry back to his house. The other wives there looking on sadly. Lets show Sherry some hospitality. Get the woman some food. Clean cloths. The Wives walked off to get the poor woman a hot meal and warm cloths to wear while Negan took Sherry to a room.

The room was bare other then a bed. A bed that Negan proceeded to pull the mattress off of. bad girls don't get mattresses. Maybe you can earn it back if you're good.

The poor woman took a spot in the corner of the bedroom and sat down saying nothing. She was dirty, too thin, Her cloths were torn. Negan had grabbed a Polaroid camera on the way to the room. He lifted it and took a series of pictures of her curled in the corner. Then left shutting the door behind him.

He walked into the kitchen with the pictures and pulled one of his women to the side. He handed her the pictures he took. I need you to do something for me.........

Grinning a bit Casey moves from the bed and April's side, though when he pulled up a chair he made sure to leave the other two for Leo and Raph to sit and eat, he would be close to his beloved red head woman.


" You over think everything Donnie, though it is cool when you get all grr like this ya know? And huh - I refuse any treatments that is not April or yours." he looks over the map very interested, it covered a great deal of Atlanta and surrounding county's - like where they were. "I.... actually like this idea, if we cant make it work in here at least we can still help out."


Don hums a little and chuckles, "Well thanks... but for all of use we can trust Lilo and Stitch with our medical care, unlike the idiot in charge she actually has xenobiology and mutant medical grounding and knows what she is doing, and from what i have learned from Stitch he has alien genetic experiment enhanced cognitive abilities as well as experience in the medical grounding... so barring emergencies those two we can trust."

Cleaning up the fur mess Mikey first then dragging the recliner chair over to the table so their father could sit with them and see the map. A chuckled grin as he stands beside Donnie looking at the map spread out with a grin, " hey Lilo is pretty I'ma say she can doctor me any time..." then a bit of a pout.


"I still say we should make plans to head out to the coast and take over a big ship and become pirates... rum and all... we get to then sing all those awesome sea shanties!"

Maggie chuckled at the butt monkey comment. She then tiredly started to rap a little song.

Butt monkey, the funky monkey. Butt monkey Monkey, that naughty monkey. She ended her amazing freestyle with a yawn and nuzzled her face against Glenn's chest. even without seeing what he was doing she could tell he was inspecting the plushy.

babe. I was kidding, I really don't think that there's anything in there. Let's get some sleep.

She pressed a few light kisses against his chest then pulled the blankets over their heads.

Good. Things seemed to be simmering down. No one was totally shooting down where he was coming from, his point of view, his desire to help these people. They all seemed to be on the same page there. A small, faint grin at Leo, a nod at the others.. feeling the exhaustion set in. Fatigue, from being unwell and getting worked up over feeling that he needed to defend himself on an emotional level... against family. But, all of that was easing. His father discussing and stating that Bruce would not dictate their rank.. another nod, agreeing. Though, he never felt that's what Bruce was doing. They were all seeing this from different angles, and his seemed to be the most distant, but at least there was a common ground. Agreement. Family first. That would never change.


There still seemed to be guilt held by Donnie, something that would surely take time to ease.. if even them. Reaching the give his purple clad bro's fist a firm squeeze, forgiveness, yet there had never been blame. A connection that words could never convey. Another nod, agreeing to meet with Lilo and learn what he could that would make the changes a little more bearable. To adapt as best as he could.


Food, yeah. That was definitely a good idea. Pushing himself up, a small grimace as sore muscle protested, but made his way over to the table where food awaited, plopping down, and in true Red fashion, dove into his portion. Man, he couldn't remember the last time he ate! Feeling his aching stomach as he continued to listen, nodding at the plan to move closer to the battle shell... and moving out, but within reach if it came to that....



"I don't think we'll have to go to such dramatics.. but better to be prepared..An' if there's loot to be found, we should check it out. Lot of mouths to feed aroun' here...supplies are gonna run low, too. Can't just have one group scavengin to care for this many..." A nod, then snorted at his little bro's comment about taking to the sea, living on a ship and becoming pirates....


" You'd get sea sick... and alcohol poisonin' on day one..." He teased. Catching a glimpse of April from the corner of his good eye, wiping his mouth with his good forearm, he looked at Casey. "How she doin'? She musta gave a lot, huh.." One of the many things Raph had always admired about April. Her unselfish nature, but it was also the one trait that often landed her in trouble....

Taking Laz' hand with her free one, she gave it a slight squeeze. Luckily Kai was finally calming down after Abby's 'abuse'.. thinking about it still upset her, but she also remembered, Abby was still just a child herself..


"Yes, I'm ready to check this place out... it's been so long since this gal has been 'shopping'.." She teased. "And I have the perfect date..."

Laz returned the squeeze and leaned over giving her head a kiss. He then turned to Kai and with his free hand gave him a little tickle under his chin. You ok little man? Don't worry. I think when girls pick on you it means they like you.

His attention then went back to Lexi. he let go of her hand so that he could wrap his arm around her and pull her closer. He was feeling a bit more confident around Lexi now. But he was still new to this relationship thing.

I would say the one with the perfect date is me. So what would you like to go first?

Eugene hesitated, debating his next move. Venture out to bed as if nothing ever happened? Make a run for it? But then, Mikko called out to him. Maybe she had seen him peek out? Run? Stay? Join? Act? Be honest? His mind was spiraling. He felt incredibly anxious, but finally stepped out from his safe place, joining Mikko and her ex.. and the little boy. keeping his distance, standing safely across the room, knickles pressed together, almost appearing as if he could cry at the drop of a hat. Scared beyond words, but.. trying to be okay with this...


And he had noticed Mikko's new, beautiful appearance, no longer infected.... "Hhh..how.." He stammered...


And Wade had caught her comment. She called the dork their son's 'step-dad'... was she still planning on keeping this guy around? He had to remember.. it wasn't his business. If Mikko wanted to put her human boy toy at risk by being their son's snack, then that was on her, and on the lug for sticking around...



"Are you seriously about to cry??" He asked Eugene, quirking a brow at the guy...

Glenn managed a soft chuckle as she 'rapped', lungs protesting but muffled as he pressed a soft kiss against the top of her head. "My girl's got talent.. you'll be rapping lullabies.. putting every other parent to shame.." He quietly teased, eyes fluttering, not objecting to the pitch darkness as she pulled the blanket over their heads...


And with their quietness, his rattley lungs more noticeable, and he felt horrible. What if she couldn't sleep? And her face was pressed against his chest. but.. if she could sleep through her own snores, this should be easy...


"G'night, beautiful..." He managed as heavy eyelids slid closed and his fingers released the stuffed animal to fall to the bed behind her, arms now wrapping around her. "Love you."

Mikko's smile dropped a bit. Eugene clearly didn't want to be there, and yeah, he looked he was about to burst into tears. It was honestly more then a little embarrassing. But finally he spoke, the question was vague though. Did he mean about Anton or herself? She would answer both.

Wade died for a bit and while he was over there was able to get Anton back after she who will not be named stabbed me and killed my child, and I guess Death just really likes me and wanted me to look sexy again. Because Wade didn't really tell Mikko that Death had give her the gift so that her and Wade could be together without worry of death or injury.

When Wade spoke up about Eugene crying Mikko finally stood up and walked into one of the other rooms. After changing him out of his cloths and into the over size shirt she was wearing to use as pajamas. she tucked the sleeping Anton into bed, moved a dresser in front of the only window, grabbed a robe from the bathroom and blocked that door as well then walked out and closed the door behind her. There. he should be ok in there for now. I'll check in on him later.

She went to the kitchen as she tied the robe close and pulled out some meat from the freezer to defrost for the next day. then came back with beers. She handed one to Wade, one to Eugene then sat back down with her own.

Now that you've had some time to process, Eugene. Will you come sit down? Do you not like the way I look now? Maybe you didn't want children? She downed her whole can of beer in one go and turned to Wade.

I understand if you need to get back to your apartment. Maybe tomorrow we can shop for kid things.

She didn't say it, but she expected that Eugene would be leaving right after him.

Maggie would have no issues getting to sleep. The rattling, though not a pleasant sound, wouldn't be enough to keep her awake. She was exhausted. even his voice started to sound distant. But she manged to hold on to consciousness long enough to respond.

Mmmm love you more. She mumbled tiredly against him.

"We need help moving some stuff to our new room..." He told Diana. He hated the fact they were asking for help, but this was one instance he needed to swallow his pride.. for Beth and Judith. The sooner they all got settled, the sooner they could rest. They all needed that. And Judith needed food.

I would be happy to help. As long as I get to hold the little one after. Diana agreed with a gentle smile. Of course it didn't matter if she was allowed to hold young Judith or not, she would of course still help the couple. She leaned down to hold her hand out to Judith.

She has a warriors soul. She will grow into a strong, fearless woman. The boys will not stand a chance.Now, let us get you all settled in your new home.

Master Splinter wrote:

" We agree to do our parts, and we all understand this is bigger than the bat... however like I told Mr. Wayne and young Carl, you Leonardo are still Hamato clan leader and will remain as such until necessary or you or I choose to change that, he will acknowledge this and respect it as such, decisions regarding us should be put to us as a family, should be run by you our leader, we are not owned pets after all. Maintaining our family dynamics protects us, it does not hamper or harm people of this mall and it does not in any way question his ownership of the mall, we are guests here and we will be helpful, we will not buy his flimsy excuses for how he has treated two of our number or butting into our clan." He meets boths eldest sons eyes, " Raphael do not down play your new role among these people, it is an important task, be proud of it, I am for you, as are your brothers as you have heard. Leonardo, you know we would never have just abandoned these people. Whether we do it within the mall or without will be Mr. Wayne's choice. Erica has advised me against allowing Mr. Wayne to speak to me alone and I intend to take it. He can come see us here and we can attempt to resolve our differences with the man."


" Also eat, Erica and Michelangelo have made food, eat whilst it is warm. Donatello has something he wanted to run by us if we remain here, I am behind the idea... what would you two think?" he encourages the boys to eat and Donatello to bring up them moving to a shop floor closer to their battle shell back up.

Leo bowed to his father slowly. "Hai, Sensei." He understood this was all on him. As the leader, he had that burden to make all those important decisions. He still looked to Splinter for guidance when it was a big decision. Since Splinter had been gone for nearly two years, it was especially hard on Leonardo. He supposed he did an okay job, because his team was still alive and whole once more. He just had to keep that confidence level up now. There were others counting on him.

At the mention of food, he glanced over at the table where Raph was now, smiling. Yeah, he could definitely eat something now. Things had settled down enough...for now. Leo took a seat next to his brother and dug in. He listened to Don as he spoke, trying to eat quietly enough that he wasn't a distraction while his brother explained everything. The plans seemed solid to him. He paused briefly in his eating to voice his opinion.

"Good work, Donnie. I want to talk to Bruce again about the situation...as much as I feel as if I'll be talking to a brick wall," Leo stated with a roll of his eyes. Why was it so hard to get the guy to even be civil to them? It's not like they outright attacked him or anything. They just told him 'no' when it came to using Raph as a guinea pig. Leo nor Donnie wasn't going to stand for that.

Leo rolled his eyes again for Mikey's 'idea'. "That won't be necessary, Mikey. We stay close and keep our enemies closer. That way we can calculate their next moves." However, that only worked for the others living in the compound that saw Leo and his family as threats. The real threat was outside the walls of the compound. There was no calculating those since they were unpredictable at best. At least they weren't entirely organized.

Lexi smiled when he kissed her hand, blushing ever so slightly. For someone that had little experience in the love department, this guy was good. It felt nice being pulled against him, savoring the warmth she so dearly missed and the human contact with another living soul... she could get used to this.


Kai's cries finally softened, a small smile at the man...


"Well, you took care of all the baby stuff while I was sleeping. So, it's your pick." She smiled at him. "Maybe check out the sporting goods store? May be a good idea to have a couple of guns on hand in case things go south. There's more than just the Saviors and the dead to worry about.."

Normally Carl was hesitant to let strangers hold Judith. But Diana had already proven herself by helping Daryl get Glenn back to the mall after he almost became cannibal chow the first time around. Giving a small nod, and a faint smile as she complimented his sister. "Yeah. Daryl calls her Lil'Asskicker. I think she's gonna live up to that.


It seemed that Clark was distracted with his girlfriend, which was fine. He was certain that Diana would be more than enough help.


Giving a nod, he led them out of the lobby,and towards their old room to hopefully collect their possessions, what little they had. But their priority was Judith's things...


Passing my Gwen and Pete's room, the trek halted when the sound of shuffling could be heard, followed by whimpers, then soft howls...


It was enough noise that, had anyone been there, they would surely try to quiet their pet. But there were no other sounds. Having no idea who the room belonged to,Carl wondered if maybe the animal's owners had been taken by walkers, and would not be returning...


"Hold up a minute.." He told the others, noticing the door had not been latched completely which made it easily accessed . He was not expecting the little furball to come darting out, and there was no mistaken it for a normal 'puppy'. A wolf pup, which, in her hungry state, caught the whiff of Beth's white rabbit and made a bee-line straight for the basket...



Carl was quick to snatch it up, holding it away from the bunny... "Can't leave it to starve.." But it was clear, the wolf and rabbit would not be able to stay in the same apartment, and the destruction the little one had caused inside its former owner's apartment only signified that it had been alone for quite some time..[/color]

Diana agreed that Judith would live up to the nickname. She then followed three to their old room to help gather their things. She knew that they must be exhausted by now after everything that had gone on that day. She would be sure to make as few trips as possible as fast as possible so that they could finally rest.

On their way they heard a sound coming from one of the rooms. Carl was quick to stop the group and investigate the noise. Soon a wolf pup emerged and was headed for a food source.

Beth at first let out a squeal of excitement but as soon as the pup went after Angel her excitement turned to panic and she put herself between the pup and her pet and Judith. She let out the breath she was holding when Carl grabbed the hungry canine.

Diana ran a hand over the wolf's head. She says she's been locked in here all day with no food or water. the poor thing is starving and dehydrated. She carefully took one of the front paws in her hand. the nails were warn down and bleeding. She's injured from trying to get out. Whoever kept her in here are the real animals. If you can not care for a living creature then you should not have one. Come. Let's get your things and take care of our new charge.
I'm sure someone here will be willing to give her the care she deserves.