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John wasn’t doing this for his own benefit. No doubt Rook thought this would get her friends to warm up a little to him though they both knew nothing would make them forget or truly forgive all that he put them through. He gave her everything he could, but she was lonely of late, cooped up in the ranch with her friends giving her the cold shoulder. After the Resistance found out that John Seed was not, in fact, dead and their Deputy was nursing him to health after the scuffle, most were understandably furious, denouncing her a traitor to their cause. Others, while not actively shunning her, became colder towards her when they found out how close she had become with the Baptist.Even if they wanted to reach her, they wouldn’t attempt it for fear of having to go through him. She had calls with Nick and Kim before but they were strained. The Ryes sounded uncomfortable, trying not to bring up John but ultimately knowing he was likely hovering over her. And if doing this for her friends would help regain their trust in her, perhaps least show them that their Deputy clearly had things under control, then he’d do it. Though not without complaining about it all the while.“Remind me why we’re doing this again?”Rook turned to the source of the voice, John came into view as he set the boxes he was carrying onto the ground and the two stood side-by-side, looking down the length of the landing strip.“Because it’s the right thing to do? And because you're trying to be a better person?”“Or perhaps because it’ll make you happy?” he murmured, leaning down to kiss her jaw and she groaned at the sap but smiled at his affection nonetheless. “If it was the plane, I’d understand. But why are we giving the baby stuff back? We’ll be needing it ourselves before long and I'm sure they've long forgotten about it.”“It’s the least you can do after what you did back at the Church.”“I was helping him atone, dear.”Rook rolled her eyes at that but made no further comment. She knew he understood that he was wrong and what he did was awful and uncalled for, especially threatening Nick’s family like that. Getting his ass kicked by the Deputy in the confrontation afterwards put things into perspective but he still acted like the same old John, defensive and unwilling, at least out loud, to accept he was in the wrong. He was, however, trying. When she came to him, he barely questioned her idea, probably because he was slightly fearful of inciting her wrath or perhaps he knew it wasn’t a request and she wasn’t asking permission. She expected him to do this for her and he did.“Call him over then, I’ll tell the guards to let him through.”Rook smiled at that and went to retrieve her radio as John disappeared inside the ranch. Sitting on the steps, she held the radio in her hands for a few moments just staring at it. Her hands slightly shook as she tried to gather the courage to reach out. She was scared of rejection. She knew it would be justified, she’d totally understand if he refused to come and see her but it would hurt nonetheless. Rook knew that things were complicated, that perhaps she shouldn’t have done what she did. If she let John die that day, she would still have the trust of her friends. But for some reason, she couldn’t have his death on her conscience and she’d rather not continue running around inflicting violence all day, constantly afraid for her life. Giving a sigh, she stroked her stomach for a moment before biting the bullet and taking the plunge. She could hear the chattering of the guards from inside the ranch.“Hey, Nick. This is the Deputy.”Silence. Then a curt response.“Deputy! How’re you doing?”Rook pursed her lips. “I’m- I’m well. Uh, I was wondering if you could come over to the ranch for a little bit. We want to give back something that belongs to you guys.”“As much as I’d love to see you, Rook, you know I’d rather not be around Seed. Not to mention the guards...”“The guards have been told to leave you alone and John promised to behave. I would really love to see you, Nick. I- we want to make things right.”“I guess I can come over for a bit. I’ll just go and tell Kim and I’ll make my way over, alright?”“Well that went well,” John remarked taking a seat beside her and snaking an arm around her middle.“He sounds suspicious and I don’t blame him...Can you maybe try not to antagonise him?”“I’ll keep my mouth shut, if that's what you want, dear.”“Thanks, John.”Rook couldn’t help but pace while she was inside, a jittery mess waiting for Nick to arrive with Carmina. John made a passing comment that she should probably sit down, take some deep breaths, but they fell on deaf ears. He himself sat at his table, reading something or the other, but looked up every now and again to see her still at it, knowing that her mind was racing with worst-case scenarios. Then the familiar roar of an engine and she froze in place. John gave a sigh and gently led her to the door, coaxing her to go out and greet her friend.The yellow was almost blinding in the summer sun as she stepped out, walking around the boxes. John stayed by the door, leaning on the frame as he watched her slowly approach Nick once he climbed out of his plane.An uneasy smile rested on her face as she stopped in front of her friend, his gaze travelling down to rest on her stomach, frowning. When he saw how distressed she seemed though, he slowly pulled her into a hug, closing his eyes to avoid the piercing eyes of John Seed, watching the pair carefully.“Are you okay? Is everything alright?” He whispered to her, holding her tightly. Rook couldn’t help but smile at the fact that Nick was worried for her. Pulling away, she patted him on the arm, trying to seem reassured so as not to worry him more.“I’m fine, Nick, really. I was just worried you wouldn’t show up, y’know.”Nick nodded carefully. “So you said you had something of mine?”“Yeah, come on!”Nick trailed behind Rook, approaching the ranch, catching sight of the boxes. He tried to ignore John’s hovering. “What’s all this then?”“Your baby clothes. We’d like for you to have them back.”“Oh, Deputy,” Nick began “we never thought we’d get these back. Kim and I’ve begun gathering more stuff. Thank you but you can keep ‘em.”Rook’s face slightly crumpled. “No, Nick. We can get our own stuff. This is stuff everyone gifted you, they wanted you to have them and it was wrong for John to ever take them. You have to take them back, okay? Please.”“What I did was uncalled for and I want you to know that I am sorry,” John spoke up. Nick’s eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses, his apology sounded rehearsed. Whatever was going on between John and the Deputy made him uneasy and he didn’t approve, nor was he prepared to put any of what happened behind him but he gave a nod of acknowledgement nonetheless. Mostly for Rook’s sake. At least Seed had the decency to acknowledge that he was a dick.“Alright. But just give me a ‘sec, okay?”Rook looked confused but nodded. She watched as Nick crouched down and began to open the boxes, rummaging through them, clearly looking for something. Then he suddenly stopped and pulled something out, standing up and holding it out to Rook. It was a tiny onesie that had a slice of pizza, a dog and a cat on it. They were all smiling. Rook raised a hand to her mouth, feeling her eyes water slightly. John's eyes darted between them, confused as to what was going on.“I want you to keep this one for your own kiddo, okay?”Rook reached forward and carefully took, giving him a watery smile.“Thank you.”Nick smiled back before reaching down to close the boxes up again.“Kim is really gonna appreciate this,” he said, picking one up. “It’d be nice if you could visit sometime. It would be good for Nick junior to meet his godmother when he’s born.”“It’s gonna be a girl, Nick. I don’t know why you’re still in denial,” Rook laughed.“If it’s a girl, I’m gonna have to spend ages changing all the signs. It’ll be a real headache.”“If it’s really that much of a bother, I’ll come help you with it.”“Not until your baby is born, you won’t.”With that, Nick made his way back to Carmina, the boxes in hand. Rook followed, after handing the onesie to John, laughing as she chattered. John held the onesie, feeling its soft fabric in his hands as he watched the Deputy see her friend off, sadness or unease gone. She waved happily after it as the plane took off and zoomed forward, up and out of view, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. And as he watched her skip back to him and pull him into a hug, relieved that the meeting had gone well after all, he decided it was worth putting aside all this pettiness, all this anger, all this wrath, if it made her happy.