Part 3/?

Merle kneeled beside Daryl, careful not to touch him. His little brother was tough, he had seen him take down countless walkers, sit through a beating and hold his own. However, when it came to people the boy was weak. His pa was a mean son of a bitch, and their ma cold and frigid. Daryl's panic largely stemmed from people touching him, even if the touch was fleeting with no malice behind it; Daryl would tense up or shy away. Sometimes, when Merle let himself be pulled into the dark past, he wondered what else his pa did to his little brother, whether all his abuse had been purely beating on him or if there was a more twisted secret behind Daryl's reluctance to be touched.

" Daryl, try to sit up." Merle commanded softly. Daryl shifted and brought himself to his knees, the action difficult because of his bound hands and his erratic breathing. Merle could tell that his brother was becoming light headed by the way he swayed slightly when he had finally settled onto his knees. His shoulders rose and fell; short panic filled gasps.

"Deep breaths in through your nose, out through your mouth slowly. That's one." Merle counted, intending to go all the way to ten and begin again. However, by the count of five Daryl's breathing had calmed and he ground out a low, " Jesus Merle, shut the fuck up."

Merle laughed and moved away from his brother, shuffling back to sit against the concrete wall. He waited for Daryl to get his shit together, before he gestured to the spot next to him. Daryl moved towards him and sat down against the wall.

Daryl laughed shakily, " Some group you found fer yerself Merle."

Merle didn't have a response to that just looked away and settled further onto the concrete floor. A couple moments of silence passed before he spoke, "First group left me handcuffed to a roof like some animal."

" We came back for yah, they're a good group. Rick's a good man, done righ' by me."

" Done righ' by you? Leaving yer kin on some roof in Atlanta?" Merle growled.

" Never stopped lookin' fer ya." Daryl glanced at him, fear and worry etched in his features, " Don' be mad at them or me Merle, I –" His breath hitched before he looked away, something passed over his features, slight anger. "ya know what? It was your own damn fault, gettin' high all the damn time. Just like before the world wen' to shit, me bailing your ass out of jail, taking care of your junkie ass."

Merle chuckled, causing his younger brother to stop mid rant, shooting a perplexed look at his brother. " Didn' know you had it in ya Darleen, standing up to ol' Merle." Shaking his head he fell silent and rested his back against the concrete wall, a smile darting across his lips, pride filling his chest. It felt good to be back with his lil' brother, even if their time together may be short.

Daryl let out a small breath of laughter and rested the back of his head against the concrete, " what's the plan?"