Author's Note: I do not own any part of this franchise, nor to I expect or seek profit from my musings.

Here's another AU story that I've been noodling around with involving the politics of office relationships (with just a dash of corporate intrigue). Although it starts off sounding thriller-esque, the story mostly follows the connections that are made between Daryl and Michonne over time.

Fair warning: I'm not using my beta for this one (because I'm already making her slog through Muted and The Left Turn) and I'm still fiddling with the tone of this and some other technical things. If you're inclined, drop me a review and let me know what you think. Otherwise, thanks for reading and enjoy!

Chapter One

Daryl strolled down the hallway, actually in a decent mood for once. The past few weeks, hell the past few months, had been hard and he actually had some good news to relay today.

Checking in with Rick's assistant, he discovered that his boss was in a meeting. Ms. Richards hadn't been Rick's secretary for long but she knew her job pretty well. According to her, although Rick hadn't said anything, she got the feeling he didn't want to be disturbed. Daryl frowned at that. If something was going down, then he should probably be there. He turned around and headed for the conference room.

As he stomped through the hallways of the complex, he nodded at the people he passed, still amazed that he fit in with all the suits and squares tucked away in their offices. He was sporting his usual casual attire. Unless it was absolutely necessary, there was no way he'd be caught wearing a tie or a dress shirt. He'd been raised in cheap hand-me-downs and scuffed shoes and there was only so much shine he could spray on himself before he felt like he was putting on airs.

He and his brother had originally agreed to work for AGD, The Atlanta Group Development, Incorporated, as a stepping stone, learn what they could about the business, maybe drum up some resources and contacts of their own and then take off to go solo. That's not now how it played out, though. Merle had shot his mouth off early on and got himself fired when Rick Grimes took over the operation. Daryl had been on the road on business when it happened and flew right off the handle when they told him about it upon his return. Still, he tried to go about fixing things by working with the new guy, Rick, to salvage his brother's plan. Too bad the old bastard took off before he got the chance. Merle was an asshole like that—he'd disappear for months when things got hot and then reappear with a trail of debt and dysfunction a mile long.

Daryl had been pissed about his brother leaving him. Again. But it ended up being the best thing that could have happened to him.

He stuck around to work for Rick since he hadn't figured out anything better to do. The two of them ended up getting on pretty good. He turned into Rick's right-hand man and had made a place for himself at the company. Rick knew how to work to his strengths. Daryl hated being in the office so his job mostly involved travelling to meet with vendors or scouting out sites. And the longer he stayed, the more responsibility he was given.

And it wasn't just Rick that had given him a fair shot.

Carol in HR took a real shine to him and they looked out for each other. They'd started around the same time, she coming from some shitty company that screwed her over and a home life that wasn't much better. AGD had meant a new job and a new life after she'd dropped her abusive, deadbeat husband and gotten her daughter away from him too.

He'd gotten on real well with T-Dog too after a rough start. From the way folks had explained things, T-Dog had a hand in Merle getting canned—but it had turned out to be more complicated than that. And Daryl wasn't used to hanging with folks who weren't like him, but he figured he'd have to adapt if he wanted to make things work at AGD. So strangely enough, he and T-Dog ended up being buddies. When the guy got laid off last week, Daryl had been pissed. T-Dog had busted his ass and sacrificed a lot so that AGD could get ahead. He didn't deserve that kind of treatment.

Even the young crowd had their charms. Glenn was a young upstart and had been working his way up the ladder. He and Maggie were both the best and the worst office hookup in the company. Maggie had signed on along with her dad, Hershel Greene, the new Board of Directors president after the previous year's big merger. Maggie now ran things in the sales department and her little sister Beth could be spotted around the office too, interning before going to college. He'd been wary of those gals at first being Hershel's kids, but they pulled their weight and were a kick to make fun of on occasion, along with Glenn.

The only person he hadn't gotten along with was Shane since the guy only saw him as a dumb redneck and was never willing to give him a chance. But he was long gone, fired by Rick himself despite their childhood friendship, and working for some company in London now. That situation reeked of all kinds of drama that would probably never come to light. Once Daryl figured out that Rick's wife Lori had been involved, he'd kept far away from that mess.

The past year hadn't been easy but things were finally looking up. Daryl planned on doing his part to keep it that way, which was why he needed to find out what was going down with Rick and this so-called meeting.

When he finally got to the conference room, the door was closed and he couldn't see much of anything through the partially frosted windows. There was little movement and he didn't hear much conversation either. He opened to door to see what new problem had found its way to their doorstep.

Everyone was silent and staring at each other when Daryl walked in. They barely registered his entrance.

Rick was glaring down at a woman Daryl had never seen before. His gaze swept over her dark skin and dreadlocked hair; she was younger than him, although not by much. And behind her guardedness, she looked pissed. The woman was seated, legs crossed and tense—but not over Rick's aggression. Her eyes cut to him in mild annoyance before scowling off into the distance again. Rick's son, Carl, stood by the door watching from afar with Hershel, keeping vigil on the scene as well.

"Who the hell's this?" Daryl asked.

Rick turned back to the woman, posturing and hoping it would intimidate her. Even Daryl, newly introduced into this ridiculous standoff, could see that it wasn't working.

"You wanna introduce yourself?" The woman kept her gaze fixed on Rick, not wanting to submit to his power play. She remained silent.

In response, Rick shook his head at Daryl, an indication that he'd fill him in later.

Whatever was going on with this stranger, it wasn't something that Rick needed added to his plate right now. His friend and boss had been tied into knots for the past few months, the accumulated pressure of running the company after the merger weighing on him along with recently losing his wife in childbirth. Not only was he dealing with her death but also the care of an infant and young boy. And the company had been in constant crisis mode, sending his stress levels through the roof. Everyone in the office could tell that the man was slowly losing his grip but no one wanted to rock the boat. Rick had been good to all of them and they were loyal.

Whatever negotiation had come to a standstill here, there were more important things going on right now and he needed to talk to Rick about them.

"Hey y'all come on out here," Daryl said pointing down the hall.

Rick finally broke his standoff with the woman. "Everything alright?" He scrutinized Daryl, trying to figure out if another crisis was waiting for him to manage.

Daryl nodded. "You gon' wanna see this."

Carol had gone on the same trip with T-Dog last week to the corporate office—T-Dog had been laid off and Carol's fate remained a mystery. Until just now. They'd speculated that Carol might have been forced to leave the company too but she was back to stay.

This woman, whoever she was, could wait.

The unknown interloper finally turned her eyes to him and he paused for a brief second at how much her piercing attention unnerved him. He stared back at her, sizing her up as she likewise assessed him. She looked stressed even if she tried to hide it behind a stoic demeanor. Still, she held herself together, he'd give her that. Her clothes had a distressed look to them as if she'd been traveling and living out of a suitcase for a while. Although she hadn't said a word, he was sure tangling with her was a bad idea, just judging by the steel in her expression and the straightness in her spine.

Maybe she was from the corporate office. They'd been poking around in AGD's affairs all too much lately. And it's not like he'd know her if that's where she came from. He stayed as far away from those assholes as he could.

"Go ahead," Rick said to the others in the room. "Carl, get the files." His son complied, taking his apprenticeship as seriously as he could. It turned out to be a good way to keep the boy busy as he worked through his grief. Rick likewise picked up the briefcase at the woman's feet. "I'll just hold onto this, keep it safe and sound. There's security on this floor and no one will get their hands on you or this information while we're gone. You're safe here. This deal that fell through, well, we can fix that. But you need to think a little harder about how you wanna play this."

The woman sighed and looked around, finally showing signs of feeling like a caged animal with so many aggressive eyes on her. Yet instead of folding, she squared her shoulders and doubled down. "I didn't ask for your help."

"Doesn't matter." Rick backed away to finally join him at the door. "We can't let you leave."

Carl and Hershel had already shuffled out the door and Daryl moved away to let Rick pass as well. Being the last one out of the room, he pulled the door closed behind him but not before peering into her face again. It was defiant. Apprehensive, but also unyielding. She had secrets alright. Whether she'd give them up was anyone's guess.

He'd be sure to wish Rick luck with this one.

With one last wary glance her way—one that was met with a scowl—he closed the door behind him, locking her inside.

TBC ...