Though I'm annoyed with Maggie for her easy acceptance of Rick's banishing of Carol, I actually like her rather a lot most of the time. But somehow in this story she hopped the bitch train and won't get off. So apologies to Maggie and Maggie fans.

Sorry also for the delay in getting this done. This last couple weeks were ass-tacular, and I didn't have much chance to write.

Disclaimer: The Walking Dead and all related characters do not belong to me. Hain't no profit happenin here.


Carol paused at the top of the stairs. Daryl stayed half a step behind her, waiting until she was ready to take the plunge. The shit had already hit the fan, and this morning he expected they'd see where it landed. She turned to glance uncertainly up at him. He peered back at her through his overly long hair and let his fingers drift to the small of her back as both a gesture of support and encouragement to get this the hell over with. She sighed and started making her way down.

There was no one in the front room, so they went to the kitchen. The murmuring voices went silent as soon as they appeared in the doorway. Daryl eyed everyone cautiously, waiting to see what would happen. Maggie was the only one who seemed hostile. Sasha was staring out the kitchen window with red-rimmed eyes and tear tracks on her face. Beth sat at the table feeding Judith and watching everyone nervously. After a moment, Bob stepped forward apparently as an intermediary.

"Morning. So...uh. We're just about finished with breakfast in here. Gonna go lay Tyreese to rest after." He shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "We're leaving Lizzie to you."

Daryl glanced over to the table where Mika was sitting. She had been finishing her food, but now she stared down at the last of it with teary eyes.

Carol nodded with eyes lowered, accepting that she was to be excluded from anything to do with Ty's burial. "And after that?"

Bob turned back to Maggie for a moment of silent communication. Sasha continued gazing blankly out the window. Then he turned back to Carol and Daryl. "After that, we're continuing on to this Terminus. Maggie's sure that if Glenn made it out, he'd go there looking for her. We...would prefer you not come with us."

Pressing her lips together to hold back whatever she might be feeling, Carol nodded again.

"We're taking the kids," Bob added reluctantly.

"No!" Carol's eyes snapped up, and she took a step toward the table, but Maggie stepped forward, too, as if to intercept her. "You can't take Mika away! If you think I'm going to let you leave with her-"

"Well, we think she'll be safer with us!" Maggie interrupted her. "None of us have a history of letting kids die. You're two outta three already – I think it's pretty clear who ain't fit to be a mother."

Carol's hand flew to her mouth, and she shrank back as if the words had been a physical blow. Shocked to the core that anyone, let alone Maggie, could be so vicious, Daryl stepped in front of Carol protectively, though he knew the damage had already been done. Bob had wisely put a hand on Maggie's arm and pulled her back. He spoke softly into her ear, then pushed her to stand behind him near Sasha.

Daryl shook in his rage, but kept himself in check for Carol's sake. He snarled, "What the fuckin' hell is wrong with you? How could you say somethin' like that?"

Bob held up a placating hand. "Sorry, that was uncalled for. But we are taking the kids with us." He turned to fix Maggie with a warning glare.

"Fuckin' A, it was uncalled for! And there ain't no way in hell you're takin' Mika with you," Daryl growled.

Bob shook his head. "We've discussed it and decided-"

"Did anybody ask what Mika wants?" The sharpness in the normally soft voice surprised them. All eyes turned to the table, where Beth sat, her eyebrows up and her jaw set.

Mika had been watching the exchange with terrified eyes, looking as though she might burst into tears at any second. Now she turned those eyes to Beth in confusion. "Nobody ever asks. I'm just a kid."

"Doesn't matter. You're a person, it's your life, and you should be allowed to choose." Beth threw the rest of the group a blistering look before returning her attention to the girl across from her. "So who would you choose to go with?"

Mika's eyes flicked back and forth between Beth and the others in the room. "I want to stay with Carol."

Maggie snorted, but managed to keep her mouth shut.

Bob frowned, but nodded. "Fine, but Judith comes with us. There's more of us to protect her."

He took a step forward and continued earnestly, "Look, I'm sorry it's gotta be like this, but you know we can't all stay together. We split the supplies as best we could, so nobody's going without."

Daryl gave an abrupt nod acknowledging that Bob was right. The group was fractured beyond repair – he'd known before they came downstairs they'd be left on their own. As long as Carol had Mika and he had Carol, they could deal with it.

"Sasha? It's time to go bury Tyreese." Bob took Sasha's arm and led her away from the window. Her devastation over her brother's death left her unresponsive, and she followed Bob without question or any apparent interest in what was happening. But as they approached the door, she lifted her face to meet Carol's gaze briefly. Neither of them spoke, but Daryl could feel the powerful weight of the look they shared, laden as it was with anguish, sorrow, and regret.

Maggie followed behind, and other than a sneer, she kept her opinions to herself. Daryl kept himself between her and Carol as she went, but was surprised to feel Carol's hand on his arm, gently pushing him aside.

"Maggie?" Carol said as she stepped up beside him. "I hope you and Glenn find each other again."

Maggie's face twitched as emotion rippled across her features too rapidly to identify. She lifted her chin and strode out the door without looking back.

Beth gathered up the baby and her things from the table. "I'm so sorry Maggie's bein' so awful. She's hurting...'cause of Daddy. And she's scared about Glenn. Not knowin' if he's alive or dead is killin' her."

Daryl looked down at Carol. Seemed to him she'd been left to agonize over Sophia's fate at the farm, and she'd never taken it out on other people. In fact, she'd shown compassion for Lori and Rick when their own child was on the verge of death, and she'd reached out to him, drawing him into the group kicking and screaming until he'd become part of a family. He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to his side.

Beth brought Asskicker to Carol and passed her over. "Might as well spend some time with her before we go. I'm gonna miss you so much. But I can't leave Maggie now that I've got her back. I can't." Tears rolled over her cheeks, and her lip quivered as she tried to hold them back.

"I know. She's your sister." Carol gave Beth a watery smile and put a hand to her face before letting her go join the others preparing to bury Tyreese. After Beth was gone, Carol pressed her cheek to Asskicker's and trembled with the effort not to cry.

Daryl glanced over to Mika, who seemed to be trying her best to be invisible. When she noticed him watching, she shrank even further into herself. So he pulled Carol close to his side and kissed her on the head. When she raised her eyes to his, he nodded over toward Mika and reached out to take Asskicker. Carol handed over the baby and went to sit by Mika, who threw herself onto Carol's lap, flinging her arms around her, and burying her face in her shirt. Daryl watched the two of them as he bounced the baby, his heart breaking for them both.

Then he turned his attention to the child in his arms. In just a few minutes, she would be taken away. The thought of never seeing her again stirred a deep sorrow inside him. Her little life would move on without him, without Carol. She'd walk and talk, and discover the world – a harsh world where she'd likely learn to hunt, hide, and kill instead of reading, writing, and arithmetic. He'd never get the chance to know the person she would grow up to be, and he missed her already, mourning her as though she would be dead instead of just gone. So he talked to her. He leaned in close and told her all the things he wouldn't be able to tell her later. He told her about his brother Merle and about her mother Lori. He told her about Sophia, Hershel, and Tyreese, who she would never know, but who would have loved her. And he told her about Carol who loved her as a mother, and who he loved with all his heart.

Eventually, Mika's tears eased, so Daryl brought the baby back to Carol so she could say her goodbyes. She juggled Judith with her uninjured arm and walked around the room, talking to her much as he had, telling her she would always be loved even if they weren't together. Her voice was unsteady, but her eyes were dry.

When Beth poked her head into the kitchen a couple hours later, he felt the tension rise. It was time. They all filed out into the front room where half of their remaining family was ready to leave them. Carol passed Judith back to Beth, giving her one last kiss on the cheek.

"Be careful out there. Keep each other safe." Beth's chin wobbled with her effort not to cry.

"You, too," Carol replied softly.

After that it got incredibly awkward. Beth threw her arms around Daryl in a one-sided hug. It wasn't that he wouldn't miss her, she just caught him off guard, and he didn't know how to react. Maggie eyed them coldly and fidgeted by the front door, clear in her intention to get out of there as quickly as possible. Bob made his half-hearted goodbyes, then fussed with the bag he carried. The little group finally made its way to the door, but Sasha turned at the last minute, breaking out of her melancholy enough to catch Carol by the arm. Her voice was raw, and her sunken eyes were bleak.

"I do understand. I know you were trying to protect that little girl. I see that. But because of you my brother – my only flesh and blood in this shit world – is dead. And I won't ever forget that." After a long look, she dropped Carol's wrist, turned, and left.

The silence in the room after they closed the door behind them was heavy. Mika drifted over and slipped her hand into Carol's. Looking down, Carol smoothed the girl's hair and tried to smile.

"Sweetheart, why don't you go start collecting anything you want to take with you?"

"You won't leave without me, will you?" Mika sounded even younger than her years.

Carol knelt beside her and pulled her into a one-armed hug, leaving her wounded arm tucked against her ribs. "Of course not! We love you, and we'd never, ever leave you behind, would we?"

"Hell, no. Rather leave my crossbow behind."

Mika turned her wide eyes on him, and a little smile broke through the fear and sorrow on her face. She tucked her shirt behind the handle of her knife and marched into the bedroom she and Lizzie had shared to gather up the things they had found to keep.

Carol watched her go, still kneeling in the middle of the room. He could see the moment the walls broke down. She'd been keeping everything in since last night – trying to be strong for Mika, trying not to let anyone see the depth of her wounds. Her face was tight as she watched Mika leave, then it all crumbled. Her head dropped forward and her shoulders convulsed as the sobs wracked her thin body. Daryl knelt and put a hesitant hand on her shuddering back. She flung herself against his chest, and his arms automatically wrapped around her. He held her tight as all the heartache and anguish she'd been holding back surged up and poured out of her in a flood. She clung to him with her good arm as the sobs tore through her, but even in her pain, she was nearly silent – the only sound her gasping breaths.

Suddenly she pushed away from him, her head down, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. She pulled in a deep breath to bring herself back under control. When she finally opened her eyes, they were hollow and tired, but she smiled a little. She wiped away her tears with her sleeve.

"Sorry. Getting weird again."

He brushed away the last of her tears with his thumb. "Told you – ain't weird. Just wish I could do somethin' to make it better."

"Don't worry. You do." The faint smile faded, and she turned toward the other bedroom where blood and death awaited. "But now we need to go bury my little girl."