By the time they had reached the prison gates Daryl had gotten more background story out of Leah, not that it was hard to get her to talk. She was clearly a chatterbox and spoke more eloquently than Daryl expected most kids her age did. Her dad was a paramedic and her mom a nurse in a big hospital in Atlanta and when things had gotten really bad her dad, who was a "prepper" in Leah's own words, had them hunker down for months in the house. When their supplies had finally started to run low they had loaded up their truck with what was left, piled the family of five into it, and hit the road. She didn't know where he was heading sadly, just "out west". Her dad and older brothers all fished and so they tended to stop and do so whenever possible.

It was during one of these fishing stops that Leah had gotten separated from them. Walkers had appeared in droves cutting her off from the rest of the family leaving her no choice but to retreat into the forest and find a good tree to hide in. She had been stuck up there through the night because a bunch of Walkers had remained below waiting. It was only when some animal had made noises toward dawn and lured them away that she could come back down to look for her family. But her sense of direction sense must have gotten completely confused because she couldn't find her way back to the lake and ended up deeper in the forest instead.

She had found a gas station/mini mart at some point in her wanderings and while most of the food was gone, the candy had been overlooked and she'd stuffed as much as she could into her little backpack and pockets and this had sustained her. Between that and scrounging for berries much as he had done when he'd gotten lost in the woods as a little boy she'd survived. But Daryl had a feeling she was close to starving by now though having lived like this for what he estimated was about one week and his offer of food to entice her down had to have been a big motivator.

They made it to the prison gates without any further mishaps just as the rain started to patter down. As Carl quickly pulled the gate shut behind them Daryl caught the bewildered look in his eyes at the site of him toting a little girl along by the hand instead of some game. But Carl said nothing, merely jogging after them. They met no one else in the courtyard and entered the main living area where the first person they saw was Carol with her back to them. To get her attention Daryl eloquently grunted "Hey."

Immediately she turned around and Daryl saw she'd been feeding Judith her bottle. A welcoming smile was on her lips but then she noticed Leah still clutching his hand as if her life depended on it and her face froze, eyes widening. Speech seemed to elude her.

"This is Leah. Leah, this is Carol who I told you 'bout. Say hi."

A "Hi" dutifully emerged from beside him but then an uncomfortable silence descended again. Daryl wasn't sure why exactly. Maybe he needed to provide more information. "Found her hiding in a tree. Got separated from her family while back. I just couldn't leave her out there on her own could I?"

Carol blinked and came back to life. "No of course you couldn't Daryl, of course not." The smile returned to her face and she said to Leah "I'm glad Daryl found you honey and brought you back. You'll be safe here."

Leah found her voice again now too saying eagerly "I'm really glad too. Daryl didn't tell me you got a baby. I love babies." Letting go of Daryl's hand finally she moved forward slowly to Carol adding "My mom lets me hold babies if I'm sitting down. Can I hold her? I'll be careful." And she plunked herself down in a nearby chair, clearly hopeful she might get a shot.

Carol contemplated her for a minute and then knelt down beside her murmuring directions to her softly and soon Leah was smiling happily down at the cooing Judith.

"Be careful with her." Carl's voice sharply interposed from behind Daryl, "she's my sister you know." He'd been so quiet Daryl had forgotten he was there. Leah was the first kid Carl had spoken to in a long while because as far as Daryl knew he ignored the Woodbury refugees completely. He wondered if Carl even knew how to interact with another kid anymore.

Leah looked up at him and solemnly answered "I'm always careful with babies. You're lucky you have a baby; I'm the youngest in my family so I never got a baby of my own. I got two older brothers though. You look like you're the same age as Michael. He's eleven."

The sounds of footsteps approaching made Daryl turn. Rick, Hershel, and Maggie all appeared and stopped short when they saw Leah sitting there placidly cuddling Judith.

"Oh my God, it's really true. Glenn said he could see from the tower…" Maggie whispered.

"We thought you'd be bringing home some squirrel for supper tonight not little girl." Hershel said with a twinkle in his eye.

Daryl shrugged. "Sorry Hershel but she was lost and I can always bag some squirrels later."

Now Rick spoke up. "Daryl, can I speak with you a moment in private?"

Daryl knew what was coming. They both kept silent until they were out of Leah's earshot and then Rick turned to face him with his hands on his hips. "Daryl are you sure she was really alone? What do you know about her people?"

Daryl summarized her story in his typical brief way finishing off "She's a real fine climber. Probably what kept her alive this long."

Rick contemplated all this silently for a bit then sighed. "I get it Daryl. But we gotta be careful, what if she was a decoy and you were followed back?"

Daryl marveled at the new heights Rick's distrust had risen to but who could blame him after all they'd been through? "Rick, you know I'm a good tracker. I'm tellin' you there weren't no sign of another soul anywhere near where I found her. She was alone and scared. And close to starving I think."

Rick was silent another minute, brows furrowed. Then scratching his head wearily he said "Sorry Daryl. I know you did a good thing. I just can't help but worry after the Governor…"

"Yeah." Daryl nodded, in full agreement. But Leah wasn't going to be a problem, he just knew it in his gut.

"Do you think the parents are still alive?"

"Hard to say. But I promised her I'd look for 'em so I will. I just need to figure out where to look first though." He waited to see if Rick would offer to help. He didn't disappoint.

"Let's pull out the map and get started then. What landmarks can she give us to help us locate where they were?"

As they walked Daryl explained what little he had gotten from the little girl's impressions of where her family had been. "The lakes in the area are probably the best way to narrow the search down." he said.

"I agree. What are the chances that if they survived that they'd have given up searching for her and cleared out of here by now though?"

Daryl looked hard at Rick and Sophia's ghost seemed to hover there between them for a moment, there was no need to even say a word.

"No, they wouldn't give up would they? Not til they found a body… or worse." Rick shook his head, laid out the map, and they poured over it a long while, oblivious to all else until they were summoned to dinner.

Daryl was pleased to find Leah in the midst of eating with gusto, Carol sitting beside her and heaping more food on her plate. Carol must have made her wash up first because she looked a whole lot cleaner. As soon as Leah saw him she stopped eating. "Daryl!" she exclaimed, her face lighting up. " I was telling all about how you found me."

Carol looked up smirking. "Yeah, she told us everything Green Arrow."

He now regretted not telling Leah to keep that particular detail their little secret because judging by everyone else's faces he wasn't going to hear the end of that one for awhile. Choosing to ignore the comment he drew up a chair and dug in. There was no meat on the menu tonight but Carol had managed to put together an extra nice spread anyhow, probably in honor of Leah.

Now that he'd appeared Leah seemed to forget about the food completely and eyes bright she said "Maybe you can teach me how to shoot the bow and arrow like that too Daryl?"

"Then you could be his sidekick huh? Every superhero needs a sidekick right?" That was Carol again, baiting him.

"Yeah, I could be Artemis! That's Green Arrow's girl sidekick's name."

"You sure do know your superheroes don't you?" Beth said kindly.

"My brothers taught me. They watch Justice League, X-Men, the Avengers. And they had a lot of the comics too." Growing more solemn now she added "Michael was really upset he couldn't bring all his comics with him when we left the house. My dad said 'No extraneous stuff'. But he did let me bring my Raggedy Anne doll. She was in the car when I got lost so I don't have her with me though. I really miss her."

Carl suddenly piped up "Aren't you a little old for a doll anyway?"

Daryl flicked a look of annoyance at the boy but Carl was staring at Leah with a belligerent look on his face so he didn't notice.

Leah didn't seem to mind the question though. "No. All of my friends still play with dolls too."

"All of your friends are probably de—"

"That's enough Carl!" Rick snapped. Daryl was watching Leah, hoping she hadn't realized what Carl was about to cruelly reveal to her. She looked a bit taken aback but that might have been just because she was surprised by the unprovoked animosity he was directing toward her. Carol saved the day by saying brightly "Well I slept with my old doll til I was almost twelve I think."

Beth added "Me too. I might've even been close to thirteen before I stopped clutching my old pink bunny under my arm as I fell asleep right Dad?" Hershel nodded, eyes crinkling at the memory.

The diversion worked and Leah began questioning them about the names of their doll and bunny respectively. Daryl heaved an inner sigh of relief. What was with Carl? He found his gaze wandering back to him and noted Rick staring at him with a worried frown on his face. Rick had been fretting about what kind of person his son was becoming more and more and taking his gun away had only increased his sullenness. Now he seemed to be taking his anger out on poor Leah. Well, Rick was his daddy and he was a far better one than Daryl's own ever was so he'd leave it up to Rick to rein him in.

After supper Carol declared that it was bedtime for Leah and an empty cell needed to be set up for her. As she was being led away Leah called out "Could you come tuck me in Daryl?"

"What?" He was dumbfounded. He didn't even know what that entailed and looked at Carol desperately hoping she'd get him off the hook. She grinned and said "Sure honey, he'll come in a few minutes. Let's get you set up first."

That was not what he'd wanted Carol to say but clearly she was enjoying seeing him in this new role he'd been thrust into as some kind of substitute father and wanted to see more before bed. Everyone else left in the dining area, he noted, was busy hiding their faces with their hands or by turning around and sounds suspiciously like muffled chuckling could be heard too. Well, at least it was lifting everyone's spirits a little so he couldn't be too upset about it. Maybe that was Carol's real reason for encouraging Leah, because she knew everyone needed to laugh more. That would be just like her.

He waited a couple minutes and then slowly made his way down the row of cells, listening for Carol's voice to help him locate the right one. It turned out to be the closest empty one to Carol's, unsurprisingly. He stopped uncertainly outside and not even looking in said softly "I'm here."

Carol immediately appeared still smiling and said "Good. She's been asking when you'd come already even though the poor thing is so exhausted she's half asleep already. She's fighting to stay awake just to see you."

"Why?" Daryl couldn't help but blurt out.

Shaking her head Carol became serious. "Because that's how little kids are. You treat them with kindness and respect and they come to love you easily. And…you're her hero now too. She looks up to you. That's a very special thing and a big responsibility to live up to. But I know you're up to the task." She brushed her hand against his cheek lightly at this and walked away before he could argue or say another word.

Just then Leah's voice sounding a little hoarse and sleepy floated out to him. "Daryl? Are you coming?"

"Yeah honey. I'm here." He walked into the dim room hesitantly.

She was curled up under a blanket pulled up to her chin. It made her look even smaller and more fragile. Her glasses were off, folded on a ledge so her eyes looked even bigger now. A smile spread across her face as he neared.

"Uh, listen kid. You're gonna have to clue me in on what this 'tuckin' in' business is , I never done it before."

"My mom usually sings to me."

"Oh no way. You don't wanna hear me sing Leah. I'll get you Beth instead, she's got a real ni—"

"No don't go!" she said plaintively, reaching out her hand. He had no choice but to take it now so he knelt down by her head so he could reach her easier and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"You could tell me a story then."

This was not a good option either. Daryl thought for a moment, reluctant to tell her no again and disappoint her. A sudden inspiration came to him.

"How 'bout you tell me a story instead, a little about that elf fella you mentioned earlier, Legalo is it?"

She giggled. "Legolas. Okay. He's not like one of Santa's elves, he's tall like you and has long blonde hair. And he's really amazing with his bow and arrow…but it's not like yours, it's the old fashioned kind, not a…a…what's yours called again?"

"Crossbow." he grunted.

"Yeah…so he has… the best aim and…" She soon trailed off as sleep overcame her at last. Daryl stayed there anyway for a good, long while watching over her even though he knew he didn't need to. But he kind of thought she would be happy that he did.