Disclaimer: Still don't own it. Again un beta'd so all mistakes are my own, be kind please.

Author's note: Bunch of stuff happens here and even though I'm not that happy with the way this turned out I might have a riot on my hands if I don't post something soon, lol.

"Meg, we gotta talk and we gotta talk now."

She looked up from the maintenance she was doing on her bow to Adam and simply nodded; it was easier then try to talk around the screws she was holding in her teeth.

"Not here where people can hear us. I'll grab you a gun and we'll take a walk."

He walked away while she spit the screws out and placed them on the table. Whatever it was he wanted to talk to her about must have been important if he didn't wanna risk anyone else in the group hearing it. She stood up and stretches placing her hands on the small of her back to work out some of the tension that was there, it was an almost constant knot from always bending to check the snares and fishing lines that she had set up around their area. It usually liked to join forces with the knot in her left shoulder from using her bow so much as well as the near constant tenderness from rifle kickback. What she wouldn't give for one of Daryl's massages right now, that man had the hands of a god and not just for massages either.

A blush started creeping up her neck as she shut the door on those memories before they could fully surface. Thoughts of him kept popping up in her mind at the oddest times, just the other day she could have swore that she smelled his brand of cigarettes being smoked.

"Man, I would kill for a smoke right now."

"Filthy habit does horrible things to your body. Ready?"

Adam held out the 9mm Desert Eagle she preferred to use most of the time and grinned when she rolled her eyes while she took it. Meghan automatically made sure it was in working order and that it was fully loaded before tucking it back into its holster that also contained an extra clip, attaching it to her belt and strapping it around her thigh she returns his grin with a smirk of her own.

"So would havin' a bottle of Jack to go with it but I'd kill for that too and yeah, I'm ready."

The two of them make their way to the gate where he tells Jason, the guard on duty, that they were going to make a quick circuit of the area around the fence just to make sure everything was fine and that no repairs were needed. He waves them through after telling them to be careful while closing and securing the gate behind them.

They walk for a while in silence keeping an ear out for anything out of the ordinary until they come to the road where Adam motions for her to take a seat on the hood of an abandoned car. She does so and watches him pace in front of her for a few minutes before speaking.

"So what's going on that you couldn't talk back 'round the others?"

"I didn't want anyone to overhear this and get worried."

"Why would they get worried?"

"You're also gonna be pissed. Like maybe pissed enough to take a swing at me."

"What the hell are you going on about?"

"I've been keeping an eye on things over at the prison and something's going on."

Meghan held up her hand up and hopped off the car, she goes around to the passengers to reach in the open window. Adam watches her reach into the glove box and grab a crumpled looking pack of cigarettes; she slips one out before putting them back and moving back to her spot on the hood again. Leaning back against the cracked windshield she lights it with a lighter she had pulled out of her pocket.

"You keep a secret stash?"

She closed her eyes taking a deep drag of the acrid smoke and just held it in her lungs for a moment enjoying the rush of nicotine flooding her system.

"Found a carton in an abandoned car a few months ago when I was out with Chris lookin' for supplies. Figured since I was the only smoker in the group I'd stash a few packs here an' there for emergency situations."

"I thought you quit when you ran out of the last carton you found, didn't I see you wearing those nicotine patches I found you last year?"

"I did an' yes, I was usin' the patches an' they were a big help but since I live everyday not knowin' if I'm gonna die or not I'm not gonna deny myself the occasional smoke. A walker or somethin' else is gonna get me long before lung cancer will, Adam. An' no changin' the subject I told ya I wanted you to leave the folks at the Prison alone so things didn't get riled up. We don't need to get put on their radar, we know about them but they don't know 'bout us an' I'd like to keep it that way."

"Their shoring up defenses and a lot more activity is going down, Meghan only thing missing is them bringing in weapons. I've seen shit like this before, either these people are preparing for an invasion or they are going to war. It also looked like they were recovering from some sort of ambush, there was a truck in the yard that hadn't been there before, a busted fence and there was a shitload more walkers then I had seen before."

He stopped pacing to come over and sit next to her on the hood. He lets his legs hang over the side and watches her place a hand under her head when she moved over to make some room for him. She waits for him to continue as she flicks some ash over the side of the car.

"Either they found out about us and are looking to start something before we can or The Governor decided he wanted the prison. If that's the case these people aren't going to stand a chance against him and his mercenaries, if he takes the prison it's only gonna be a matter of time before he finds us."

"Fuck."

"My thoughts exactly and you know once he finds us he's going to want what we have. We can't stop a full on assault by Woodbury, it would be a complete massacre. I've got no desire to end up under The Governors rule or on display in one of his tanks and I highly doubt you want to repeat your experience with him."

She closed her eyes and mentally counted to ten to try to stop the panic she felt rising in the back of her throat whenever she thought about what happened at the hands of that sadistic bastard before she went through that again she would put a bullet in her brain as well as Allie's. There would be no way in hell Meghan would put either of them through that shit again.

She felt her heart rate speed up and her breath started coming in short uncontrolled gasps while flashes of memory play out behind her eyelids.

She was thrown down on a table being told that if she wanted to keep her daughter safe she'd do this.

Sour whiskey scented breath reaching her nose while the ropes binding her to the bed cut into her wrists.

Her daughter's screams as the walker child advanced on her.

His knife cutting through her flesh like it was warm butter.

A sharp stinging pain in her arm and a surreal feeling of calm disconnection brings her out of her panic. She opened her eyes and saw Adam standing over her capping a syringe before slipping it back into his jeans pocket, she started to reach out to him and saw that her hand was covered in blood and it hurt like hell.

"It's just a mild sedative so don't freak out I only gave you a low dose to calm you down but not impair you. I'm sorry, Meg I didn't think just mentioning him would start a panic attack since it didn't last time."

"Had a long night, Allie's nightmares were pretty bad so my nerves are a bit frayed right now. What happened to my hand?"

"You punched the windshield and cut yourself pretty good, I'll check it when I'm stitching up those cuts to make sure it's not broken. Why didn't you come get me? I would have helped you out with her."

He started wrapping her hand in a t-shirt that had been on the front seat of the car before continuing.

"Before you say you didn't want to bother me I'm going to say that's bull spit and you know it. I love that little girl like she's my own and would do anything I could for her. And if you didn't want to come to me you could have gone to anyone else and they would have helped in a heartbeat.

We're all family now; blood doesn't make a family anymore. It's about the people that you trust, the ones you would put your life on the line for, and they are the ones that you exhaust yourself hunting for.

Like it or not, Meghan Jackson, you're stuck with me and everyone else like white on rice."

"Why are you carrying sedatives anyway?"

"Same reason I carry painkillers, emergency suture kit, pressure bandages and some pretty strong antibiotics. Never know when you're going to need them."

"Thanks for having my back."

"No big. You got mine and I've got yours, it's kind of our thing now."

"So, what do you want to do about the things goin' on at the prison? The way I see it we have three options: We start packin' up an' find somewhere else; we cross our fingers an' hope for the best or I go talk to these folks. If they are goin' up against Woodbury it's in our best interest to join up with them."

"We do that we're going to war against The Governor and people will die, Meg. Our people will die."

"Our people are dead anyway if he takes out the prison, we ain't far enough away for my likin' if that happens. Everyone will have a choice if they wanna fight or leave but we're getting' way ahead of ourselves here. The first order of business should be talkin' with whoever's in charge there an' see what the hell's goin' on, after we do that we can decide as a group if we leave, stay or fight."

"When do we go?"

"I'm gonna go tomorrow."

Adam crosses his arms and shakes his head, "No way in hell are you going without me."

"We both can't go, if somethin' happens to me I'm gonna need you to take care of Allie an' look after the group. We can't afford to put both of ourselves at risk an' you know it, the group needs a leader that can keep everyone in check an' only the two of us seem to be able to do that."

"Then I'll go and report back to you."

"You suck at barterin' an' negotiation."

"No, I don't. I may not have the same knack for it you do but I'm not that bad at it."

With a sigh she slides off the trunk and grabs another cigarette from the car. Lighting it she motions with her head and starts walking down the middle of the road, it didn't take long for Adam to fall into step next to her. She watches him from the corner of her eye and can't help but chuckle at the way he still held himself like he was marching in his squad.

"What's so funny?"

"You can take the boy outta the army but you can't take the army out of the boy, I guess."

"Come again?"

"You, Army Boy, even after all this time you still fall into step an' stand at attention like its second nature."

"It is. I served for about 10 years before all this shit happened."

"You know none of us really talk about our lives before the outbreak? Where we lived or what we did, it's like those people don't exist anymore."

"Well, you tell me yours and I'll tell you mine."

"What?"

"You tell me about the fabulous life and times of Meghan Jackson and I will tell you the tale of a poor boy from PA who wanted to see the world."

"There's not really that much to tell, I'm a small town country girl from right here in Georgia. My Daddy was a preacher an' my Mama, well let's just be nice an' say she wasn't gonna win any mother of the year contests. I never really got along with Sarah until all this shit started, she was always the golden child an' I was the one who could never do anything right. It was only when the reports about the dead comin' back started airin' on TV did we even start speakin' again before that we hadn't even talked for, musta been 'bout 10 years or so."

"You two always looked pretty close to me."

"Well, the end of the world can be a bonding experience for even the most estranged of families. I'm thinkin' of writin' one of those new age self help books about it, I'll call it something' along the lines of Along Came A Biter: The Essential Guide to Family Bondin' an' Reunification."

Adam laughs and lightly bumps his shoulder against hers; he was enjoying seeing her so relaxed. He knew it was just from the sedative but he enjoyed seeing her laugh and joke around with him just the same. She was always so busy trying to make sure that everyone else was taken care of that she forgot to take care of herself most days, she had the biggest heart out of anyone he had ever met and even though she hadn't wanted to take on the responsibility of leadership she did so without hesitation when it had to be done.

None of them would ever have survived this long if it hadn't been for her and her survival skills. Everyone in that group owed her their lives in one way or another, some because she kept them fed, others because of her compassion and willingness to just listen while he owed her everything.

When he had met up with her he was battling a heroin addiction that he had managed to hide from just about everyone but she had seen right through him. Under the guise of a supply run she had confronted him about his habit and told him in no uncertain terms that she would not have an addict around her family so he had two choices.

He either gets clean or he gets out.

If he chose to leave she would make sure that he had weapons and enough supplies to last him a few weeks.

If he chose to get clean she would help him through it every step of the way.

He tried denying he had a problem, screamed, threatened and even tried to bully her but she just leaned against the wall calmly watching him. Even when he stood nose to nose with her after punching the wall by her head she didn't even blink, just crossed her arms and asked him the one question that would change his life forever.

"Can you bring yourself to trust me?"

To this day he still didn't know why he said yes but there had been so many times in the past couple years that he was grateful he did.

She had gone through the withdrawal and detox symptoms with him every step of the way just like she had said. It hadn't been easy, there had been times those first few months when he would have given anything for a fix but she had been there for that too. She never let him give up even when he'd be begging one minute and calling her names the next, if it wasn't for her he would have died with a needle in his arm a long time ago.

"There's a couple of cars a head I'm gonna check out, maybe we'll get lucky an' find some medicines to restock our supply."

"No more cigarettes if you find them."

He ignored her flipping him off with a grin as she sprinted ahead, he tried to watch out for her the way she watched out for everyone else but most of the time she would have none of it. She had a stubborn independent streak at least a mile wide and it was infuriating at times dealing with it.

Especially when it came time to get her to deal with the things she didn't want to deal with.

Like her sister's death and the fact it was Meghan that had to finish things when they went south. Or trying to get her to talk about what happened with the Governor, he had treated the injuries to her body but she wouldn't let him treat the ones to her mind. The rope burns around her wrists and the tally mark slashes were easy to treat even though they scarred but it was the unseen wounds to her mind and heart that worried him the most. She hadn't been the same since the one handed man had brought her and Allie home, she barely slept and when she did he had a sneaking feeling that it was interrupted by nightmares like her daughters was.

He just wanted to be there to help her shoulder some of the burden she insisted on taking on herself. Let her know that he wanted to be there to fill the void that she insisted on keeping in her heart. To be a father to Allie so he could help raise her to be the type of person this new world of theirs needed.

But most of all he just wanted to take her in his arms and tell her how much he loved her without being rejected because she was still in love with a ghost.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the person coming up behind him until the gun was pressed against the back of his head.

"You make one wrong move and I'll put a bullet in both your skulls."

Meanwhile deeper in the woods a few miles away-

Merle watched his brother walk away so hurt that he would choose that group at the prison over his own blood that he spoke without thinking.

"If you're so ready to abandon blood it's no wonder Angel never told you about the baby."

"She told me about losin' the baby the day she come home from the hospital an' for you to bring that up you're even more of an asshole then I thought ya were."

"Not talkin' about that one, Baby brother. I'm talkin' 'bout the little girl the two of you made the night you walked out on her, she named her Allison Susanna Dixon after our momma an' her grandmother. Pretty little thing all blond curls like Angel but one look in her eyes an' ya know she's a Dixon."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth Merle wished he could take them back, he had just broken a promise he had made to the second most important person in the world to him all because he was pissed Daryl wanted to go back to the prison.

He really should have been prepared for the punch his brother threw into his gut so it wouldn't have knocked him to the ground. Before he could even catch his breath Daryl was on him punching him in the face yelling and swearing up a storm.

"You fuckin', lyin' piece of shit! Of all the low down dirty tricks ya could use to try an' get back at me, you gotta bring Meggie Jo into it? She loved you an' you pay that back by lyin' about something like that?"

"I ain't lyin'. If ya give me a chance I'll prove it."

Daryl got up and stepped away from his brother trying to control his temper he couldn't wait to see this supposed "proof" he had. He knew his brother could be a royal bastard at times but to lie about him being a father when he knew how much he had wanted to have that with Meggie Jo? That was hitting a new low even for Merle.

Merle watched Daryl stand there with his fists clenched looking like he was about ready to attack him again. With his good hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a well worn photo and took a good look at it, mentally apologizing to the two people in it he hands it out to Daryl.

"Whatca do? Have a fake picture made up in case you ever needed to try an' blackmail me into somethin'?"

"Just take a look at it before you say anythin' else."

He took it and gave it a quick glance before getting ready to throw it back in his brother's face when he froze.

"Oh my God."

"I found out when I stopped by her place to talk to her about somethin' an' she was sittin' on the floor of the bathroom holdin' one of those damn sticks that you piss on. She was freakin' out an' begged me not to tell ya about it. She said that she could handle it an' didn't want you with her just because you had to be."

He staggered a few steps back as his mind and emotions started reeling from the shock of what he saw in that photo. His back hit a tree and he slid down to the ground just staring at it.

"I told her over an' over again that it wouldn't be like that, you'd do right by her an' the baby but you would never be with her just because of it. That you loved her an' that's why you would be with her, also told her you were an idiot for even leavin' her that mornin' at all but that's just my opinion.

She said that what happened between you two that night only happened because you both were so drunk an' that you didn't love her anymore. I told her she was bat shit crazy if she believed that."

"When was this taken?"

"Almost three years ago."

"That makes her about a year or so old in this then. You promised Meggie Jo you wouldn't tell me but did you ever think that I had a right to know about this in all the time that you knew? I'm your brother, Merle an' this is my kid we're talkin' about, I woulda liked to have had the chance to know I was a father before all this shit went down."

"She was freaked out big time, baby brother. Enough to consider either getting rid of it or givin' it up, it was only my promise on our mama's memory that kept Angel from going to a clinic the very next day an' doin' something she'd regret afterwards."

Daryl reached out to trace the curve of Meghan's cheek on the glossy paper, she had straightened her hair for the photo like she always did and he never thought it suited her. He preferred her wild untamable curls to anything else, he loved just running his fingers through them while they sat on the couch watching TV or just burying his face in them when he held her.

"I can't blame her for not wantin' to tell me, I was an ass for leavin' her but I really thought she'd be better off without me. Like, you always said I was never good enough for her an' I guess she knew it too."

"No one is ever gonna be good enough for her in my eyes but it was always you she wanted, she was terrified of endin' up like her parents which is why she never told you about Allie an' by the time she wanted to it was too late. A few days before Atlanta went to hell she called an' said that the two of them were gonna be home an' she wanted to know if I would watch the kid while she talked to you. She asked me if I thought you'd forgive her for not telling you an' if I thought you'd give her another chance."

His eyes travel to the child in the picture and boy was Merle right, she had her Mama's curls but the rest was all Dixon. She had his eyes, same nose, same stubborn tilt to the chin and his smile; even if for some reason he wanted to he couldn't deny she was his.

"Did you know her?"

"A little bit. I wasn't really around her that much for a year since Angel was doing art shows in Boston an' New York but she wrote letters an' sent pictures though. Allie has her mother's sweetness and the Dixon temper, smart as a whip too."

Daryl studies the picture committing every little detail of it to his memory before slipping it into his pocket with his other picture of Meghan. He looks at his brother and gives him a look daring him to say a word about not giving it back.

"Anything else you've been keepin' from me that I should know about? Like, I won the lottery or somthin'?

"Just one thing, little brother, an' I didn't know about it until about six months ago."

"What? I'm an Uncle too?"

"Our girl an' your daughter are alive an' livin' about twenty miles or so away from that prison of yours."