Author's Notes: Thank you for taking the time to read and review.

Daryl felt nervous, heading out across the top wall of the yard, climbing down the ladder that took them outside the perimeters of the prison. It was a new sensation, because all his life, he had never once backed down from a fight. Never really feared going into the unknown. Not like everyone else in this world. He was made for this place.

Maybe it was his shitty excuse for a childhood, where Merle and his daddy beat up on him everyday, but he knew where he stood with a punch or a kick. He knew how bad pain could get and he could let his mind drift over it nowadays. Huh, he never figured he'd be grateful for a proper Dixon upbringing, but it worked in his favour.

But now he felt the uncomfortable sensation of nerves, the fluttering in his stomach that had only ever made it's appearance in front of a judge in court or more recently, when he'd been with Carol. And they were still to do with Carol, but not because he was with her, but because he wasn't.

She was too far away. Up there on her perch, she was the first candidate to be taken out if shit went down and it was a scary thought. If they had to cut and run, he wouldn't be able to get to her. Not on time. He knew how long it would take him to get to her, a minute or so to run to the ladder, another three minutes to climb up and over the wall, depending on how many Walkers there were in the yard, it could be another five minutes to cross to the tower and get up it. He'd be lucky if he could do it in ten minutes. A lot of people could get killed in ten minutes.

It was definitely the man they had seen back at the medical centre. The one who sounded like a fucking politician. He looked far too clean. They all had that rumpled, creased look about them now, even straight after a scrub in the shower, Carol and the other women had long given up any attempts at ironing. But this man, he had creases ironed into the front of his pants, his shirt, crisp and fresh. It was odd.

He lead the men, striding towards them, hands on his hips. They weren't that badly matched, he had five men behind him, whilst Daryl and Rick had T-Dog and Maggie. They had weapons, guns holstered and one or two held machetes.

Daryl itched to pull his own gun out. He'd left his crossbow behind, there hadn't been time to retrieve it and he cursed his own stupidity in letting it out of his sight. His fingers fluttered at his waistband, the gun tucked neatly behind his knife sheath, but Rick held a hand out towards him, low and urgent.

"Wait." He hissed. "Just wait a bit."

Daryl's hand stilled. The men were talking amongst themselves as they approached, laughing good naturedly to each other, as if it were an everyday stroll and they were about to meet friends.

"Howdy, there." The man at the front stopped about ten foot from them, pulling his hand from his waistband to give them a languid wave of his hand. "Welcome to the neighbourhood."

"We've been around a fair while." Rick said with a tight smile. "Few months in fact."

"Really? You have been keeping to yourselves. We usually come by this area every couple of weeks or so." The man's tone was still jovial, filled with benign curiosity. "The name's Phillip Blake. I'm the governor over at Woodbury, a little ways west of here."

"I've heard of it." Rick told him curtly. "In fact, I hear you may have taken a couple of our men there?"

The governor's smile slipped some, but he quickly rearranged his face, so quickly, Daryl thought maybe he was the only one to see it. He shook his head slowly. "No, not that I know of. Woodbury's gettin' pretty big, but I usually greet all newcomers in person. You think they came over recently?"

Rick nodded. "Just a couple of days ago. Pretty sure it was you."

Daryl let his lip curl into a snarl at the bare faced lies of the governor and the man's eyes flitted over to him, giving him the once over.

"We'll keep an eye out for them." He said finally. "We just wanted to make our faces known. You see, this territory, this land belongs to us."

There was a beat of silence for a moment. Daryl felt Glenn's eyes flicker round them in confusion.

"And when newcomers arrive, they usually prefer to join us in town. It's safe, no dead running around. We have electricity, water, plenty food. Our kids go to school, our men go to work. Life goes on for us."

Rick shook his head in disbelief. "This prison is ours. We spilled blood for it. We're not up for sharing. We're not interested in Woodbury. We're only interested in the safe return of our men."

One of the men behind the governor let the grin slide off his face, hands fluttering near his holstered gun.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Rick warned, jerking his head to the watchtower. Daryl forced himself not look to see if Carol was in view, but found himself hoping she was not. "You seem to be under the illusion that things are new for us around here. We've been around awhile and we're not small in numbers."

The governor looked up at the watchtower a moment before focusing back on them.

"We mean no harm, here. You're taking a rather aggressive stance."

"We've been nice to strangers before now and it's never lead to anything good. This land is ours. If you return here again, it better be with our men. Then we'll talk some more." Rick dismissed them with a flick of his hand and Daryl had to give the man some credit, he had balls.

The governor paused for a moment, his men bristling with anger around him. "I know that in due course, you'll come around to the Woodbury way of thinking." He backed up, never once taking his eyes of Rick and his men formed a circle around him.

They took their time getting back to their cars. Again, chatting as if what had happened was nothing.

"Oh, I forgot." The governor, tapped his forehead, as if something had just come to mind, although Daryl could tell that it was all an act. The man was about to play his trump card. "You got a...Daryl, around here? Daryl Dixon?"

His heart stopped. Time froze and he heard the sharp intake of breath of some of the those around him and from the corner of his eye he could see T-Dog looking at him. The governor saw too and smiled right in his direction. He opened the door to the jeep, got in and leant out of the open window. "Your brother told me to say hello."

Well, shit.

Daryl jerked the gun out of his waistband, lunging forward towards the car without thinking, without seeing. The governor barked out a laugh and the engine kicked up and peeled off into the distance before he'd even gotten half way there.

"No, Daryl!" Rick caught him by the shoulder, jerking him back with both hands.

"Get offa me! That sonnova bitch, Imma kick his ass!"

"No! Daryl, hold off!" Rick tightened his hold and suddenly T-Dog was behind him, wrapping his arms around his midriff pinning his wrists to his side, locking him into one spot. "No, Daryl! It's a trap!"

The two cars sped off into the distance and Daryl's body stilled against T-Dog and Rick. Their grip slackened and he shrugged them off aggressively.

"I don't give a fuck! He's got my brother!" Daryl took two steps towards the direction the jeeps had taken off, even though there was no chance of catching up.

"Got? He hasn't got your brother, Daryl." Rick stepped towards him, arms outstretched. "Think. It's been a long time since Atlanta. How the hell would Merle know you were here? Because there's no way these people would know you were here just by looking at you. And how long? Has he been following us?"

Daryl brought his hand to his eye, pressing the heel of his palm into his eye, stinging with rage. The hot, white anger that consumed him just a moment ago began to ebb away and he tried to focus on Rick's words. forcing him back to reality.

"They gotta be watching the place." Glenn offered up. "Maybe Merle was one of them. Maybe he didn't know we were here until he saw Daryl. Or one of us."

"Let's get inside, see what we can figure out."

"Ain't nothin' for me to figure out. I'm gonna go to Woodbury an' I'm goin' today." He muttered to Rick, pushing past the men to get back into the prison. He was all for going that second, but he quickly he realised he needed his crossbow and some more ammunition.

"Connor, stay up in the tower, I want you and Axel watching out for those guys. Keep tabs on their direction as long as you can and make sure we don't have any stragglers. Send Carol down to meet us in the mess hall, quick as you can." Rick barked the order down the radio and Daryl turned to give him a dirty look. He knew why Rick had called Carol down - an attempt to get him to stop in his tracks.

As they made their way back inside, he could hear Glenn talking nervously but he tried to tune him out.

"Maybe, those guys. Those ones with Keith? They got away, we never saw no Walkers that looked like them. It could've been them. They'd be pretty angry."

"Yeah, could be." Rick agreed.

Daryl didn't wait for the gathering group at the mess hall, pushing through to the storage cells to pick up his crossbow. He ignored the others as they came out of their hiding spots, wanting answers and he didn't stop his gathering of ammunition and weapons until he heard Carol's voice in the hallway, her light footsteps on the metal hallway floor.

He had expected begging and pleading, braced himself for the look he knew he would get, the one that made his innards twist and churn, made him feel like the lowest piece of shit on the planet.

What he didn't expect from her was her to come striding in, kicking the door as far shut as it could go and immediately launch herself at her backpack, tearing out clothes and toiletries at an alarming pace and replacing them with bottles of water and snack bars. When the bag was zipped shut, she tugged her jacket on, pulled the bag over her shoulder.

He could hear the click of her rifle as she pulled it apart and the clink of ammunition as she loaded it into the weapon. He straightened up from loading the bolts into the homemade quiver and she gave a tight lipped smile.

"Tyreese is on his way back, we can take the truck." She murmured before clicking the gun shut and shouldering it.

"We?" He leant forward and tugged the gun off of her shoulder. "Ain't no we."

"Yes." She tore it out of his hands and pulled it back on. "There is."

"I don't want ya to go." He spat out at her. There wasn't time for this. No time for laboured goodbyes and pleas for him to stay. So he wielded his words like weapons, because it didn't matter if she was pissed at him, at least she'd be safe inside the prison walls. Or safer, anyhow.

"Well, thankfully, I can make my own decisions about where I go." Carol's tone was light, dismissive almost. But she chose that voice deliberately, the last thing she wanted him to hear was the panic that coarsed through her veins. "You're going to have your hands full with finding Merle, so I'll look for Simon and Riley."

"You're not comin'." Daryl repeated, turning away to pick up the crossbow.

"You don't get to do that, Daryl." Her voice got a little shriller and she cleared her throat. "You don't get to tell me what I can do. You don't get to tell me I get left behind."

"Dammit, Carol! This ain't the time to fuckin' worry 'bout gettin' left out! This is Merle! My brother! There's a whole heap of shit goin' on -"

"Exactly! There is too much to do. If that man - the Governor - told you about your brother, it's because he wants you there. They are using the knowledge against you, they know you're going to go." She stopped her own screeching and waved her hand out at him. "But then, you're a smart man, I'm sure you know you'd be walking into a trap."

Daryl swallowed thickly and blinked at her. Carol smiled inwardly, pleased that he was finally listening to her. She could literally see the calm wash over him as she managed to delay his exit. She knew she couldn't stop him. She wouldn't stop him. But she wanted him to think clearly, see straight.

Rick had called her down to persuade him to change her mind, but she had absolutely no intention of doing so. Daryl would not be stopped. He had every right to go find out what happened to Merle.

But she'd be lying if she said that was her only motive. She wanted to get Simon and Riley back. They deserved the help. She was using a different angle with Rick, though. They needed Simon. For Lori's sake.

"And Rick and Glenn are coming too." She told him quickly. She knew that it wouldn't go down well.

"I don't want y'all comin'! It's too risky! And if I know anythin' about my brother, it's that he's gonna wanna kill Rick."

"I take it back." She huffed out, exasperated. "You aren't all that smart. Why don't you get it? We are your friends. No-one is letting you go this alone. You can't...you can't be with me like we were this morning and expect me to just watch you walk. You said to me last night, that you weren't going to pick someone else. That you'd always save me."

Daryl averted his gaze as she stepped forward, wrapping her fingers around his wrist.

"I feel exactly the same. I am always going to follow you, Daryl."

She waited until he finally looked up at her and she couldn't read his expression. "You gotta do what I tell you, ya hear? Whatever I say?"

Carol nodded firmly. "I promise." She let go of his wrist. "Let's get out of here."

She gave him another thin smile, the strongest she could muster and turned for the door.

Just as her hand curled around the edge, his hand clamped over hers, his body right up against her back.

"Whatever I say?" He murmured into the bristly curls of hair near her ear.

She nodded. "Whatever you say." Carol repeated, turning her head to meet his and pressing her lips against his mouth.

He kissed her like it would the last time they'd ever touch, fierce and rough, she was sure he would leave her lips sore and swollen by the time they were done and even though it gave her great pleasure to be with him like this, it terrified her too. It was like a goodbye and that was too awful to contemplate.

She clutched the side of his neck, as much as she could reach as she twisted her own neck around to kiss him properly. Despite the awkward position, she could have stayed in the clumsy embrace forever. But soon, she heard Rick's voice, whispering harsh words to Lori outside the cell door and she sighed into Daryl's mouth, reluctantly loosening her lips from his.

"Anything out there, Connor?" Rick murmured into the radio as he strode down the corridor, the rest of them fast on his heels.

"Nothin' out there." Came the crackly response.

As they came closer to the door, Rick started talking to Tyreese, there to bolt the door behind them.

"If this goes to hell, I need you to get everyone out of here. T-Dog has the location of a place we've stayed before. I need you to watch over my wife and son." Rick stopped in front of the heavy metal exit door, turning to face Tyreese behind him.

To his credit, Tyreese didn't even hesitate. "Of course. Any inkling of trouble and we're out of here." Rick nodded his appreciation.

"Enough of the chit chat, let's roll." Daryl ordered, reaching past them for the door handle. As he made to pull it, it twisted under his palm and he froze.

The others noticed his reaction immediately and hands went to weapons.

"I thought Connor said it was clear!" Glenn hissed.

"Loose Walker?" Tyreese murmured.

Daryl pushed Carol back, made a gesture for Rick to raise his weapon as he reached for the door once more. He wrenched it open quickly, stepping out of Rick's line of fire. From Carol's position, she couldn't see the doorway, only the beam of afternoon sunlight as it burned a trail into the dark corridor.

"Hold it!" Rick held his gun firmly in front of him and Carol saw the shadow of the figure across the floor, the long mark of a weapon held in the air.

"I mean no harm." The voice was cool and measured. A female. The weapon was lowered. "I am a friend of Andrea. And I come seeking help."