Disclaimer: I don't own TWD. I sit on my couch and write random stuff that pops into my head about it, but I don't own it.
Glenn sighed as he helped Michonne pick Rick up off the sidewalk, "He does this just to spite us doesn't he?"
"What?" Michonne asked, looking at him.
"Wait until Daryl leaves before going crazy. He never goes crazy while Daryl is here unless he's directly threatened by someone. I think we can all agree that he started this fight even if Jesse said he didn't throw the first punch."
They had all heard Jesse's side of the story while Rick and Pete were unconscious on the pavement. She explained that Rick was trying to save her and her boys when Pete came in drunk and started throwing punches. She tried to stop them, but both men were too set on fighting to hear her. Deanna had left after hearing that Pete had started the fight, but the group all knew what had really happened… Carol had told them all about what Pete liked to do in his spare time. They had all been watching Pete closely, especially when he was near Tara. No one was willing to let a known abuser be alone with one of theirs when she couldn't take care of herself.
"Coincidence," Michonne told him.
"Maggie, you agree with me right?"
"I don't know. It seems a little spotty," his wife told him.
"Think about it," he told the group. "The first time he went crazy, I was with Daryl looks for Randall while Shane was trying to murder Rick. The second time was at the prison with Lori while Daryl was off with Merle. Third was when the governor killed Hershel, but we all went crazy then, so I don't think it counts."
"The fourth time," Carl spoke up, "was when the group Daryl found attacked us, the fifth was when the Termites caught up to us at the church after Daryl and Carol disappeared, and today was the sixth."
"So, out of the six times he's gone crazy, Daryl has only been there for two of them?" Glenn asked.
Michonne looked as if that thought had never occurred to her before, "You're right. Unless he's threatened, he's not crazy when Daryl is there."
"He probably knows that Daryl would kick his ass if he were here," Carol told them, helping to get Rick up the front steps of their house. "This was not the way to go about this, and if Rick were thinking clearly, he would know that. These people need us, but they don't know it yet."
Getting Rick settled in his bed didn't take long for the three of them, and by the time they had him flat, Rosita and Carl were at the door.
"Carl asked me to patch him up," Rosita stated. "Help he get his shirt and jacket off and get me the first aid kit."
Between them all, they got Rick patched up and in a clean shirt before they set up a watch and let him wake up in his own time. They knew he wouldn't die from this, but they didn't know if he had a concussion from Michonne's blow and didn't want him to be confused when woke up. They all knew that it was going to be a long night for their group.