Carol gazed thoughtfully at Rick and Carl as they held onto Judith, sighing with satisfaction that something kind of miracle would come out of this horrid place.

She wrapped a supportive arm around Tyreese, causing him to lean down to place a comforting kiss on top of her head.

It was a silent acknowledgement between them, a wordless gesture, encompassing everything they had been through to get that baby back to Rick safely.

An impossible feat considering all that had happened, and they had done it together.

A large victory that soothed the continuing forgiveness and understanding that flourished between them solidifying the forgiveness and understanding that grew through such nightmarish tragedy.

They had become close, Tyreese, softening her heart with his ability to move on, and Carol, giving him the strength to push past his demons, leaving him able to protect Judith at any cost.

They had both had been given a gift to help them move on as friends, which was all that they were and would ever be.

Unfortunately for Daryl he misunderstood their closeness mistaking it for something much deeper.

Seeing them together had hit him harder than he could've imagined, and considering what he had been through, it was just too much.

He always thought he had time to develop a relationship with her, something that with his history was something he needed, to be that vulnerable and trusting was near impossible for him.

Only now having lived without her for so long, believing she was gone forever, and suddenly having her back, he wished he hadn't taken one minute for granted with her, but it was too late.

As dusk fell over the makeshift camp, Daryl knowing that sleep would be impossible volunteered for the first shift on guard.

Glen feeling obligated raised his hand, still traumatized by how close he came to dying, still unable to get the flow of blood swirling around the drain just inches from his face out of his mind.

After the necessary traps were set up around the perimeter, Daryl set out to the west side of his post, while Glen settled in on the east, the two weakest areas of the camp.

Sliding down along the large trunk of an oak tree, he set his bow on his lap eyeing the surrounding clearing listening for anything unusual.

He was determined to keep his mind focused on protecting the camp, but it was impossible not to think of her.

Too many emotions ran through his mind as he replayed her appearing out from the trees behind Rick just hours before.

Guilt, for not looking for her the moment Rick told him about his decision to banish her, anger for accepting her fate and moving on, but most of all incredible happiness mixed with heart wrenching relief that she was alive, well and once again with them.

He knew this was not the time, but soon he would have a discussion with Rick.

Carol had more than proved herself to be an invaluable member of the group, but beyond that she was family, and he needed Rick to know that what happened between them would never happen again.

They needed her, if truth be told he needed her, now more than ever he felt it in his heart. Losing her again was not an option.

"Ahem."

Lifting his bow Daryl scurried to his feet, squinting through the darkness, watching as a slim figure appeared out of the dense fog that had fallen over the valley.

"Am I disturbing you? You seemed like you were having some deep thoughts sitting here by yourself."

Still getting used to physically seeing her, Daryl shrugged raising an awkward, sideways grin along his thin bottom lip that he nervously began to chew on.

"Nah, just trying to wrap my head around everything that just happened I guess. What are you doing up? Is Judith ok? Are you sure that son of bitch didn't hurt her - "

Raising her hand in an effort to calm him, Carol gave him one of her signature warm, reassuring smiles that instantly put him at ease.

"Judith is fine, sleeping soundly with Rick and Carl, who are practically hovering over taking turns staring at her."

Flashing a slight smirk, Daryl nodded settling back down on the ground feeling weak from days without food, not to mention the trauma of waiting in line for his throat to be slit.

Keeping his steel blue eyes planted on the ground, he angled the end of his bow next to him inviting her to sit.

Gazing back towards the camp, that was now invisible due to the dense fog that was rolling in, she pulled her revolver from the pocket of her cargo pants and sat next to him sharing the support of the wide tree trunk against her back.

Letting her head fall back restlessly, she sighed looking up at the star filled sky, feeling anxious at the lack of noise in the woods. it seemed implausible that there wouldn't be a hint of an animal, not even a squirrel to be heard.

Jarring her out of her worries Daryl whispered so as not to disturb the others.

"How did you know... not that I'm surprised, but how did you know that place wasn't safe... that we were even there?"

Shaking her head she shrugged her eyes still edged up towards the night sky. "I think you've been through enough for today Daryl, we should save that talk for another day, when you've had enough rest, and food in your belly."

Grunting softly he knew she was right, she was always right, always able to know what he needed, how he felt, all of this seemed to occur to him as they sat there in silence for what seemed like hours.

He knew how grateful he should feel, how incredibly lucky he was to have her back, but all he could think about was that her and Tyreese were now together.

His conscious was swearing up at storm in his head, ripping him a new one for being so selfish, and petty. For fucks sake if anyone deserved to have someone decent to care for them it was Carol.

After years of abuse at the hands of Ed, and suffering the unimaginable loss of her daughter in such a horrific way, she deserved to be loved by someone capable of showing her how much he cared.

Rubbing the back of his neck in frustration, he knew that was something he could never be capable of doing.

"What's wrong?" she muttered quietly, nearly inches from his face.

"Hmm, nothin' … just itching to get as far as possible away from this place I guess." he mumbled, stumbling over his words, a blatant tell that always gave him away when he was lying.

Raising her eyebrow skeptically, she stared at him for a few moments unconvinced that he was telling her the truth before resting her head on his shoulder.

"You don't have to tell me what's really going on, but don't bullshit me sweetie, we've been through too much for that, besides you know there's nothing you can tell me that would ever change the way I feel about you."

Squeezing his eyes shut, screaming in his head to stop being such a pussy, tears once again stung his eyes as they did when he first laid eyes on her in the woods.

Choking back the visible emotions brewing up inside him he nodded unable to dodge what was on his mind.

"Tyreese is a good man, it seems as if he's past his issues of having to do what's necessary, killin' that boy an all to protect the baby. I can see how you two have… gotten close, seeing how much you went through. It's good Carol, good that you have… him."

Lifting her head she whispered softly, so low that only he could hear her.

"Look at me."

Suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, he attempted to push himself off the tree to stand, not willing or able to hear how she valued their friendship, it was too much for him to handle knowing that he would be alone in this world, not after finding her again.

Now realizing what he had concluded in his mind, she refused to let him push her away, she was not the same person, even before being banished.

She knew more than anyone there was no use for shyness, or insecurities, none of them knew how much time they had left in this world. Death could be around the corner, life was precious, and she refused to waste one more second.

Jumping up she took him off guard as she blocked him from making his way back to camp.

Staring up at him, he was blindsided as she walked him around the opposite side of the large tree making them even less visible, hidden in the dark, shrouded in the thick fog.

Securing her pistol back in the side pocket of her cargo pants for easy access, she kept her ear open for any possible suspicious noises as she backed him up against the rough bark.

"Do you think that Tyreese and I are… involved?"

Emotionally exhausted Daryl lacked his usual skill for skirting an uncomfortable issue.

The past few days had taken it's toll, evidence of this was proven when he broke down crying as he realized it was her standing there just a few hours ago, knowing in that moment that she was still alive, and what that truly meant to him, what she meant to him.

The truth was he was too tired to lie, knowing how vulnerable he was he remained quiet, keeping his intense stare level with the ground beneath his feet.

Taking his silence as a yes, knowing him all too well, she closed the space between them, forcing him to look her in her eyes.

Her confidence, her overwhelming strength made it all that more difficult for him. She was intoxicating, powerful, no longer a victim, held to no man's rules or demands.

He couldn't help but to recall the frightened, cowering, abused frail woman she had been when he first met her.

To see her now, standing tall before him, a true warrior, brave beyond words, the person who single handed saved them all from certain death.

The transformation, her journey to who she had become was more than he could take, it only made it harder for him to accept that she belonged to another.

"Listen I get why you're with him, and there's no mystery why he's with you, so just let it be Carol, please just let me go, I'm sure Glen won't mind taking my watch. I'm beat and I just - "

Pushing off the tree with his boot he was sent backwards against the rough bark as her hand connected with his chest.

"I'm not with Tyreese… we grew close, we went through a lot together… but that's all."

Grunting he gave her a single nod as he once again attempted to get free from the tree only to be shoved back into place. "Okay, enough said. I'm gonna head back now."

"No, we're not done here."

Her voice was calm but determined as she lifted the stray hairs that had fallen across his tired eyes that still refused to look at her afraid she would see the truth of his feelings.

"There are some things I need to say to you Daryl, and you're going to stand here and listen."

Nervously he shifted his feet scraping the bottom of his worn boot along the uneven bark.

"He wouldn't let me say goodbye."

Chewing on his lip desperate to keep his emotions in check, Daryl knew exactly what she was talking about.

Whispering softly now her voice began to waver as emotions that had been buried out of necessity and survival rose to the surface in waves.

"That was the hardest part, not Rick acting as Judge, jury and executioner, not the deceitful way he carried out his secret plan manipulating me into thinking we were going on a supply run, only to reveal his true intentions all along to leave me there, alone, banished from the people that had become my family. Hearing him actually say to me that he didn't trust me with Carl, with the children… with Judith."

Tears welled in his eyes now knowing after all this time exactly what happened, feeling the weight of his guilt for not being there to stop it, remembering what it was like knowing she was out there alone, how he would never see her again.

Silently he begged her to stop, unable to allow himself to feel what he had been burying down deep inside for so long.

Closing her eyes she rested the palm of her hand on his chest feeling a deep shiver run through him in response from the warmth of her touch.

Her voice became soft, like a breath caressing his neck drifting over him breaking down his defenses, destroying what little strength he called upon when things became too intimate, too real.

Powerless at that point, unable to fight desires that had been twisted into something wrong and ugly, forcing him to run from anything nearing any level of intimacy, demanding him to do the one thing that had been beaten out of him from neglect and malicious abuse he froze almost helpless against her.

"Daryl, what hurt the most was not being able to say goodbye to you, wondering if you would be left thinking that I was nothing more than a murderer, that everything between us was a lie."

His voice wavered lowly, gruffly as she moved flush against his body causing him to lower his bow to the side easing it to the ground.

"I could never think that, no one… would ever make me believe that about you."

Her breathing became uneven as she brushed her mouth to his ear, now pressing both hands upon his hard chest, abandoning all the negative thoughts that Ed had drilled into her head for so many years.

She was reborn, forged from unimaginable agony and loss, hardened into an intelligent, strong woman who could survive anything, who was no longer living in fear but thriving in a world where she demanded respect and dignity.

Among it all she understood that this moment in time may just be all that they had, that maybe in a week or a few days, hell even in the next hour it could all be gone.

The Carol that existed four years ago would never be brave enough to take what she knew in her heart they both wanted, but she was dead, long gone.

Gently taking his hands she wrapped them around her waist as she swept her mouth along the side of his neck breathing him in, molding her body to his, gasping as he reacted in turn, his body becoming hard with a desire she always knew was lying just below the surface of his cool protective demeanor.

Now breathless grasping the long strands of wispy hair along the back of his head she pressed her mouth hotly against his ear.

"Do you want me to stop, tell me now, and I'll walk away, we can just leave this in the past along with everything else."

His head was spinning, her body felt so soft and warm, so inviting as she drifted her hands down to the button of his pants lifting his shirt smoothing her fingertips along his toned stomach.

"Daryl, what do you want - "

Cutting her off, unable to hold back any longer, he captured her mouth parting her lips diving his tongue inside to meet hers, deepening a kiss that was far too long in the making.

Grasping at their clothes, they knew there was no time for delicate measures, and polite exchanges of romance.

Still he treated her body as if it were sacred, a gift that he was humbled to have for his own.

Running on pure instincts, he lifted her shirt, breaking away from her mouth needing to taste her skin, longing to feel her as he fumbled with tiny buttons that suddenly became a barrier between the hell surrounding them and the heaven that was now in his reach.

Taking over not wanting to waste any time, she quickly opened her shirt releasing the front clasp of her bra welcoming his tentative touch as he cupped her gently smoothing his calloused fingertips over her sensitive peaks evoking sounds from her that drove him to distraction.

Within seconds she had released his pants freeing him from their confines, she desperately bit down hard on her bottom lip as he ran his tongue along her heated skin nearly bringing her to the edge as she wrapped her hand around him feeling him so hard and warm for the first time.

With every stroke he felt his knees buckle overcome with pleasure finally easing her down to the ground unable to fight the urge to be inside her.

Pushing her pants down far enough she pulled him down over her stopping for a moment to stare into his eyes finding nothing but love looking back at her.

Pained by the situation, hating that their first time was in the dirt on the cold ground, he lifted her chin brushing his thumb across her bottom lip as he settled between her thighs.

Breathless, barely hanging on as he felt how warm and wet she was for him, he struggled to hold back needing her to know that he wished things could be different.

"You deserve so much more than this."

Hovering over her parted lips he gasped as she took him in her hand and led him inside.

"Daryl you are all need."

They both cried out in pleasure as he began to move slowly at first until she took control rocking with him, urging him to go faster and harder as he buried his face in the crook of her neck as he fell over the edge.

Covering her mouth with his hand, still panting hard trying to catch his breath, he heard a twig snap close by.

Pulling her up against the tree, they quickly fixed their clothes as he reached for his bow and she pulled her trusty knife from her inside her boot, they listened silently hearing the rustle of a nearby branch.

Suddenly reality came flooding back as they watched three walkers wander past them away from the camp.

Looking back at each other before silently taking them out, he reached for her hand grazing her fingers lovingly.

The world may have remained the same, but for two once very lonely, broken people nothing would ever be the same.

~ the end ~