The group

Daryl looked up at the sound of footsteps coming from the surrounding forest, a little nervous about what he saw. She hadn't changed much from what he could tell, except the cut on her arm that she got last time they saw each other had healed and was now just a nasty scar, and one of the scraps of cloth was missing. That was still around Carl's wrist for safe keeping. He could hear Anne take a sharp breath when she spotted Rambo, could feel her body tense. The girl didn't even look at them, just kept her eyes trained on Vicky and Vincent.

"You miss me so much you kidnap my friends to get me back? I'm touched." She called out. Daryl scowled. Some people never changed. Vincent smirked.

"I see you got my letter."

"Yep. You're lucky I can read, else that would have been a waste of energy. Then I'd go hunting you down and slaughter you all, soon as I found out you'd killed these guys. But, here I am. No use dwelling on 'what if's and 'maybe's." Someone walked up behind her and slipped an arm around her waist briefly, pulling her machete out of it's sheath. Rambo smiled back at them sarcastically, then looked back at her step-dad, hatred in her eyes. Her hands were clenched into fists by her sides, and Daryl knew what that meant. She was scared. There was only one other time he could really remember her standing quite this way, and it was last year when she was betraying the League for them. He glanced over at Rick, who wasn't looking happy to see her there. Judith didn't really seem to know what was going on, she hadn't had much to do with Rambo when she was still with the group. But Carl was looking a bit eager, like he was expecting her to do something that could get them out of this. A part of Daryl thought that she was, but another part was quite suspicious that she had no plan and was making it up as she went. That was how she normally did things, and it wasn't always the best way.

"Now you have me, let them go." Rambo said, motioning to them. Daryl frowned. She didn't even seem to care anymore, her voice was flat and emotionless. But when dealing with someone like Vincent, that was probably the best idea.

"Can't do that," Vicky said. A small smirk on her face, "You see, when they were trying to get you off the hook, some very interesting information came to light." Rambo scowled, only now glaring down at them. She shook her head, as though she was annoyed, disappointed, then her eyes landed on Anne and she visibly paled.

"Evie..." Anne muttered, only just loud enough for Rambo to hear her. The girl looked back around to Vincent, now even more angry.

"You better not have laid a single of your filthy, fat fingers on her, you prick." She snapped.

"You threatening me?"

"No, a threat is where I say if you touch her again, I swear I will rip your balls off and shove them down your throat. Although that's also a promise, not just a threat."

"That's if you live long enough." Vicky said in a dark, dangerous voice that promised someone dying in the near future. Rambo looked over at her and the scowl deepened.

"If I don't then I'ma gonna come back and fucking haunt your ass." She snapped. A few people around the camp chuckled, but they quickly went quite when Vicky's scathing gaze passed over them, once again landing on Rambo.

"You haven't changed a bit, you insolent brat." She snapped back.

"Sorry, I'm lacking in an education. What does 'insolent' mean?" Vicky's glared deepened "Use small words in future." Daryl smiled. That was the Rambo he remembered. Massive temper, not really using her brain. Vincent stood up abruptly and marched towards Rambo, reaching out and grabbing her hair, pulling her head backwards. Rambo cried out in pain and Daryl tried to get up, but someone turned a gun on him while another person shoved him hard to the ground again. Rambo didn't look at him, just lashed out, kicking Vincent's knee and sending him falling to the ground. She didn't stop, following up with a knee to the face. He fell backwards, clutching his nose, then glared up at her, grabbing a gun from its holster and pointing it at her face while he stood up. Evelyn didn't even flinch.

"You aren't gonna shoot me. That's never the punishment for traitors. At the very least your first going to make me watch while all my friends are turned into walkers, and then you're going to feed me to them."

"That's for people who aren't such a pain in the neck."

"I'm sorry, what? I'm a pain in your neck? Who's the one who just tried to pull my hair from my head and snap my neck at the same time? Honey, I thought I was the stupid one." Vincent growled and pressed the gun right against Rambo's forehead. She just leaned in towards it, a glint in her eye that Daryl hadn't seen before. Anne was starting to cry beside him.

"You don't have to balls to do it." Rambo spat at Vincent.

"Wanna bet?"

"Stand down." Vicky ordered.

"But – "

"I said stand down! It's not your right to kill her, it's mine as leader. Your right is to kill whoever opened the gate and let the dead eat your son. I kill Evelyn, I kill her father, and we toss a coin for who gets their leader."

"You said that if I came alone that you would let them go. You promised!" Rambo snarled, turning her glare on Vicky.

"Never said anything. Wrote it. I never mean what I write if I can avoid it."

"You bitch."

"I try." She waved a hand and someone took Rambo by her arms, forcing them behind her back, then shoving her to the ground. Rambo glanced around at Daryl with a confused look in her eye, but it vanished in seconds and a small smirk slipped once again onto her face.

"Hope you're vaccinated." She muttered to the man holding her.

"What?" Then Daryl noticed the snarling and a dog leapt out of nowhere, biting the man on the arm, forcing him to let go of Rambo. She stood up and snatched her machete from him and promptly embedded it in another person's shoulder, wrenching it out sharply. The man who the dog attacked stopped screaming when the dog chomped down on his throat, then Vincent turned his gun on the dog with rage in his eyes.

"Shoot him and I promise you, you won't get the chance to get your revenge." Rambo spat, pulling him backwards so his face was on level with hers. Anne was sobbing beside Daryl, not wanting to be seeing what her daughter had become. A single shot rang out and the man behind Daryl fell over, blood soaking his shirt.

"What – ?" Vicky raged, looking around in surprise. Evelyn didn't look around, suddenly finding herself thrown to the ground and her step-dad pinning her with one arm behind her back, knee between her shoulder blades. Daryl stumbled to get to his feet, but Anne was – somehow – faster.

"Leave her alone, you son of a bitch!" She hissed, ramming her shoulder into Vincent. Evelyn pushed herself up, then quietly cut the wire keeping Anne bound, not saying anything. Mother and daughter glared down at him.

"You're going to regret that, Annie." Vincent whispered.

"Lay a finger on her and I'll kill you myself." Daryl snarled, joining Anne and his daughter. Evelyn calmly cut the wire that bound him too, then handed him the machete. She glanced up the hill and nodded once, another shot ringing out and hitting another person in the chest.

"Good to know he isn't as hopeless as he seems." She muttered.

"What?" Daryl asked, looking around at her.

"I made a couple of friends. Happy and Dillan," She explained, then turned to Vicky, "I know you blame me for what happened to the boss. I know you want to take it out on them because it'd hurt me. I know the way you think, it's just like him. You're not human anymore. I understand why. I know who you lost, what you lost, I know you blame you self for that. You don't feel like you deserve to be human anymore. What mother kills their children? And then, to make things worse, you didn't have to. Because August did it for you. And now he's dead. And I caused those events to unfold. So now, for some reason, you think it was me who killed your kids, killed your brother, killed your best friends. You want revenge. So try to take it. Not on them. Don't get them involved. Just me. Combat. One on one. To the death." Anne looked at Rambo like she was crazy.

"Evie – " Daryl shook his head.

"She needs to do this," Rambo looked at him and smiled, nodding in thanks, "Still making it up as you go?" He asked. She thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Pretty much, yeah." Rick had stood up and was crossing over to her.

"Think about this." He said.

"Surprised you're talking to me."

"Believe me, I don't want to be. Just because I don't like you doesn't mean I want to see you dead."

"Such faith in me," Rambo looked back at Vicky, "I can do this. Yeah, she knows me, knows how I fight, my weaknesses. But that works both ways. I've fought her before, in training. I can do this." A new guy arrived on the scene, cutting the nearest person to him loose – Glenn – then passing him a knife. Rambo looked over at him as the dog trotted over to her, blood dripping from its mouth.

"You're an idiot," The newcomer said, "Not going to think this through?"

"Told you before. I'm a Dixon. Not exactly known for our ability to think," She looked back at Vicky, "So how about it? The opportunity to kill me with your own two hands. Sounds like a good deal to me." Vicky thought for a moment, then held out her hand for a weapon. The woman nearest to her stepped forward with a knife, which she accepted.

"Let's get on with it then." She said. Rambo nodded, quickly tying her hair up in a ponytail, revealing the cut on the back of her neck, and adjusted her grip on her machete.

"You guys might want to get back. Not uncommon for this to get a bit out of control." Daryl didn't like it, but he did as Rambo asked, making sure someone kept Anne back while he had a quick word with his daughter.

"So you're admitting you're a Dixon now?" He asked.

"Better late than never." She smiled back. Daryl scoffed, but he was happy that she was accepting the last name, despite them not having been the best of friends when she left.

"Good luck." He grunted.

"Probably gonna need it. Something I didn't say, I never managed to best her in practice." Daryl froze for a moment.

"Don't get yourself killed."

"Great advice, thanks. Now move it, before she decides to take you out first." Daryl walked over to the rest of them to watch, snatching his crossbow away from one of Vicky's men. Anne looked at him.

"So you're just going to let her fight this woman to the death?" She asked, horrified.

"Rambo's got this."

"I've seen her fight. She's saved my arse so many times I've lost count. She'll be fine." The boy said. Carl looked at him, slightly confused.

"How long have you two been – "

"Travelling together? Not long. I'm Dillan."

"No one cares, Dill!" Rambo called back, not taking her eyes off Vicky, who smirked.

"Oh look, another person for me to kill once I'm finished with you."

"It's surprising no one dropped dead as soon as they saw your face, it's so horrifying."

"You're gonna pay for that one."

"Enough chit chat. Can we just get on with killing each other already?"

"Couldn't have put it better myself." Then Vicky threw herself at Rambo, who only just managed to get out of the way of the knife, trying to get a slice in with her machete. Daryl watched as they tried exchanging blows, tense. Rambk was a good fighter, but not exactly in one on one fights, not always anyway. Sometimes she lost track of what was happening in them, lost track of where her opponent was, of where the weapons were. He didn't even know what had happened back at the League base of operations, just knew that when she showed up again her arm was sliced open – again – and she was pretty bashed up. He wanted to help her, but knew that if he did they'd all get killed. That was just how the League worked. She was stupid to do this. Chances were that if she did manage to kill this woman, Vincent would just take over. He glanced over at the man, now standing with his men, and thought of all the ways he'd like to kill him. While he was distracted, Rambo managed to get the upper hand – somehow – and disarmed Vicky, shoving her to the ground and pointing her machete at the woman's throat, sweat beading on her forehead as she looked down at Vicky, panting heavily. She glanced over at her mom, seeing how afraid the woman was, how little she wanted to see her daughter kill someone. Rambo paused, a little unsure of what to do, then stepped backwards, lowering her weapon and shaking her head.

"I don't want to kill you." She said, making Daryl turn his attention back to her. Beside him Anne breathed out heavily with relief as the girl walked away, turning her back on Vicky.

"That's too bad," Vicky sneered, "Because I want to kill you." No one saw what happened next coming. Vicky drew a gun and pointed it at Rambo, pulling the trigger without hesitation. It was like time slowed down. Daryl raised his crossbow and shot Vicky just as Evelyn started falling to the ground, blood seeping onto her shirt around her shoulder, a cry of pain escaping her. The dog shot forwards and pounced on Vincent as he started lunging towards his step-daughter, murder in his eyes. Anne was frozen in horror at what had just happened. Then Carl and Enid slipped past Rick to check on Rambo, who was only just holding onto consciousness. Daryl lowered his crossbow, a single bolt in the back of Vicky's skull.

"Anyone else want to try anything?" Rick yelled at Vicky's men, "We have a pissed of dad and overly protective mom here, so if I were you I'd go. Before anyone else gets killed." The remaining League members thought for a moment, but clearly they weren't as experienced as either Vicky or Vincent, so they just dropped the weapons of Rick's group and left, slinking back into the forest. Daryl went over to Rambo and pressed his hand against the wound to try and stop the bleeding. She winced in pain, but didn't object.

"So that's what being shot feels like." She muttered, her face draining of colour.

"Evie..." Anne whimpered, collapsing to her knees next to her daughter.

"Oh God... Sound like that again and I swear that you will never see me again. I had enough of that already, and you never did anything to help back then either." There was venom in her voice and Anne looked away. Daryl frowned, but didn't say anything.

"No exit hole." Carl said, looking up at Daryl.

"Bullet's still in there." Michonne muttered.

"Hmm... might be nice if someone got it out." Evelyn planted a false smile on her face and Daryl shook his head.

"Idiot."

"Getting the dad treatment, huh? Always when I've done something to try and save your butt." She was starting to lose consciousness.

"Grow some balls, would ya? Don't go fainting on me, you're a Dixon. You're stronger than that."

"If ya say so." She shook her head and rubbed her cheek, struggling to keep her eyes open. Daryl looked over at Eugene.

"Think you can get it out?" He asked.

"I can try."

"Thanks Doc. You're the best. Speaking of docs..." Rambo looked at Daryl while Eugene took his place, "What happened to that nurse?"

"Went with a group that needed him more."

"Interesting." She stopped talking and just did her best to watch what Eugene was doing, obeying him whenever he ordered her to do something – like take her shirt off so he could see the wound better. She wasn't nude, she had a singlet on underneath (she'd found it in the last safety cache), and it helped Eugene get a better look at the wound. They didn't really talk until the next day when they'd gotten a bit of rest and Evelyn was patched up.

Merry Christmas everyone! I realised I hadn't updated in a while, so here we go! My present to you all! Now I just have to work out how to continue this story haha, bit of writer's block, but I shall overcome! Hope your Christmas is better than Evelyn's.