Definitely Karma

=Then=

Glenn wandered over to his husband, hands gripping the rifle a little too tightly. His eyes kept finding their way back, behind him, to where Maggie stood on the porch. He couldn't take long, but after what Maggie had just said, he felt like he needed to check in. Ground himself somehow.

"Hey." The word was halfhearted at best and kept soft so no one could overhear.

Daryl grunted, glancing up at him briefly before going back to his crossbow. From the way he snapped his fingers to the side, Glenn figured the spring mechanism was messed up. Most of the parts didn't make him do that when he was inspecting it.

Glenn shifted the rifle in his hand so it hung down near his knees and kept his hands busy, "I'm going to go with Rick. Try to find Hershel. Bring him back."

His husband nodded like he'd expected as much, eyes back on the bow.

"Could you do me a favor?" Glenn asked after a moment, gulping and shifting on his feet as his own eyes darted back to Maggie.

This time Daryl's eyes followed his. He squinted, first at Maggie and then at Glenn, "Something up with her?"

"Something," Glenn sighed. He wanted to talk about it but they didn't really have time. Having a woman tell him flat out she loved him was just... And she'd barely known him a week, too. It was unreal. It was- He shook himself out of his thoughts and found Daryl looking at him with a raised eyebrow. Glenn shrugged, "I'll tell you after we get back. I just... could you keep her company? If she's up for it? Please?"

Daryl's brows knitted together and he did that thing where his mouth dropped open and his tongue stuck out along one side but didn't actually move to lick. Like he was almost biting it, but not quite, and couldn't figure out if he should be or not. Glenn's lips quirked with the idle thought that the man looked a little like a confused puppy. But Daryl saw that almost-smile and his tongue darted back inside as his mouth pressed into a line and his eyes narrowed.

Glenn did smile at that and the scowl was worth it. He shrugged again, "I'm worried about her. She hasn't really made any other friends in the group with how her dad's been about all of them keeping their distance. And I know she feels safe around you. Hershel falling off the wagon like this has her scared."

Daryl gave him another look, this one a more distinct 'you owe me' as he snorted and muttered, "whatever," and then went back to his 'bow.

"Thanks," Glenn grinned as he jogged off, the expression fading as he got to the car. Maggie's eyes were still on him. Still worried. Still hurt.

=Now=

"Did you tell Shane?" Lori asked softly, her head against Rick's shoulder as they stood watching Daryl out in the field. He'd come back from his daily search for Sophia about an hour before, but he'd stopped at the edge of the forest and brought his bow up to start hunting. T was on watch, called down to Rick when Daryl looked like he was on the defensive. But after a good ten minutes of looking for a walker, they saw the man fire into the wheat. The only thing that came up was a small group of birds that scattered as Daryl darted forward to claim a prize. The group had relaxed after that, most of them excited about the possibility of eating something other than rabbit and squirrel without reducing the farm's already limited meat supply.

Lori had found Rick not much later and invited him for a walk that took them down the road a ways and gave them a better view of Daryl doing his thing. It was actually pretty fascinating to watch. The man was rarely ever still even when standing in place. But when he was focused like this, he could sit or stand without moving long enough to make even Rick nervous and feel like he should be doing something.

Rick let his cheek rest against his wife's head and shifted his arms so he could hold her a little closer, "No. I figured after the talk we had... well, that's something you get to decide. It's not mine to make."

He was still dealing with having to acknowledge that Lori and Shane had been together like that. Acknowledge that the child his wife was going to have might be Shane's. Even if only by blood. She'd still be Rick's, there wasn't any way he wouldn't love that baby as his own. But Shane could very easily have a hand in bringing her into the world.

Lori sighed and relaxed just a little more, nodding slightly. Not enough to disturb Rick or force him to move his head, though. "Good. I don't want him to know. Not yet. So many people already do it's a miracle he doesn't."

"Why don't you want him to know?" He asked softly as another group of birds scattered skyward. He wasn't exactly eager to tell Shane himself, and he knew Lori had been trying to distance herself from his friend. But he didn't understand the sudden need she had to clam up about it. "Is it 'cause of the morning after pills?"

"No," she shook her head and was quiet again for a time. She waited until Daryl was moving toward another patch of birds, where some of the previous ones had looked like they'd settled anew. "I think he killed Otis."

Rick stilled, sucking in a breath. She remained where she was. They still looked like they were sharing a romantic moment.

"Dale does, too," she continued softly. "And Shane he's... he's been acting different lately. He scares me, the way he talks. The way he looks at me. Like I'm his."

He wrapped his arms a little tighter and kissed the top of her head, not sure what to say. Not sure what to do. Just that he needed to reassure Lori somehow that she was safe with him.

She pulled away though, turned to look at him, wrap her arms around his neck, "I need you to promise me you'll watch out for him."

"Lori..."

She cut him off with a steely gaze, "No, Rick. I know he's your friend, but... I think he's dangerous to us. To our people. To me. And to you."

"Has he threatened you?" he asked, looking into her eyes and praying the answer was no. He didn't want to think badly of Shane. He didn't want to have to watch out for his best friend. Even if things were strained between them. They were still brothers.

Lori shook her head and smoothed his hair back, "Not me. But he said something to Maggie the other day that has me worried about Daryl. And Dale's scared of him. Glenn avoids him like he didn't used to."

Rick felt his brows raised, "You're worried about Daryl?" That was new.

"Yeah," she nodded and laughed, a short bitter chuckle. "I am. I was wrong about him. He's good people, Rick. And I'm worried Shane might decide to do something about him, thinking that he's helping the rest of us. Shane watches him like Daryl's about to kill all of us in our sleep."

He sighed, rested his forehead against hers, "What do you want me to do?"

"Just keep an eye on him," she answered before kissing him. "Don't let your guard down around him. That's all."

=Then=

Daryl settled himself in the chair Hershel had used when checking him over in that bedroom turned sickroom. It was tucked back in the corner opposite the hall entrance and next to the entrance off the parlor. Gave him a good view of things. Was even close enough to the window he could check outside every so often if he wanted to.

Maggie was in the other one, the 'visitors' chair, and pulled up close to the bed. Her hands held one of her sister's and she was talking softly, begging the girl to respond. But Beth wasn't listening. Or couldn't hear her. Eyes were wide open, but nothing and nobody was home. Patricia was pretty sure it was shock.

According to Lori, who had been told by Patricia, who had been told by Maggie, the girl collapsed in the middle of doing dishes. Just shut the hell down and ended up in a pile on the floor. He'd seen the plate, the remains of it, still in the kitchen when he'd rushed to follow the commotion that came after. There wasn't no saving it. Even superglue couldn't hold it back together. He quietly hoped the same wouldn't have to be said of Beth.

"They should be back by now," Lori's soft words, worried and a bit too frantic, filtered in from the hall. Someone else answered, female it sounded like, but just far enough back from the door he couldn't make out the words. A third voice joined the first two and he was pretty sure that one had to be Andrea. So the second was probably Patricia. The three clucking about like hens that didn't know what to do with themselves.

The conversation came to an end when Lori leaned inside the room and glanced his way, then looked back out to say, "I'll ask him."

Daryl scowled when she stepped around Maggie, one hand coming down to rub the woman on the back, and made her way over to him. He spoke before she could get a word out, "The answer's no."

"You haven't even heard the question," she protested, face hardening into a scowl of her own.

"I can guess it," he answered, looking down at his hands as he crossed one leg over the other so he could start picking at the frayed edges of that pant leg.

She crossed her arms and cocked one hip out, that universal way women seemed to have in conveying how pissed off they were. Maybe it was a learned thing. It worked for one of them one time and they all adopted it and passed it on. It certainly had his hackles raised and he did his best to sink further into the chair, as if it would somehow help.

"It's been an hour. They should have been back by now," she said, tone firm. All motherly and shit. He hated that tone. Hated it every time she took up with Carl. It was the kind of tone that created an instant ticket for a guilt trip for anyone that heard it.

"They're grown men, they can handle themselves," he responded, voice softer than intended, but still gruff. Like he was being dressed down by his own Ma for breaking something he shouldn't have. 'Cept his Ma was dead and had been for over half his life. God damn he hated when women could make him feel like that.

She didn't reply, just kept looking at him. His scowl deepened and he turned his head to the side like that would make her break off her staring. It just made him more agitated and after a few seconds he snapped, "You tryin' ta say they can't?"

Maggie's head whipped up in his peripheral and Daryl flinched before he could catch himself. She didn't appreciate the raised voice, he could tell. But she was giving Lori the accusing look for what she was suggesting.

"Of course not, but-" she started and Daryl cut her off, standing up so fast she had to step back.

"But you are," he growled, not really in her face, but in the tight quarters it probably felt that way. He took a deep breath, moved so she could retreat through either door if she wanted to, then spoke a little calmer. He was still mad, but it was more offended than anything. "You're worried about your husband. I get that. He ain't been back to you more'n two weeks 'n he's always off tryin' ta help other people with their problems. You got every right to be worried about him an' that this time you might not get lucky enough to have him come back to you."

Daryl crossed his arms, fingers tucking into the armholes of his vest, and leaned back against the wall. He kept his eyes on his feet as he crossed them at the ankle. Andrea and Patricia were peeking in from the other door now. The eyes of four women were on him and the only reason he was even there was because Glenn had asked him to keep Maggie company.

"But even if you don't have faith in Rick," he said slowly, choosing his words carefully. "You should have faith in Glenn. He did how many runs inta Atlanta for us? All on his own? Hell, he saved Rick from being walker food the day your man rode into town. Kid knows what he's doing."

Lori moved then, turned herself to face the window and hung her head. He heard a sniff and he knew she was fighting back tears even before her choked up voice filled the room, "I know but... they should have been back by now. What if something's happened?"

"What if it's just Hershel being a stubborn bastard," he countered with, no bite at all to his tone. "Even if ya do need him here, there's no saying he's sober enough to do anything. If he really went out to get himself lit, he could be three sheets to the wind right now and fighting Rick and Glenn all the way. Man might be old, but he's strong."

Daryl's eyes flicked up to look at Maggie and found she was looking at him. Sad eyes over a pained grimace as if she'd just laughed at his words and hated herself for finding it funny. He dropped his gaze straight away, feeling guilty for what he'd said.

But he looked back up again when he heard the woman sigh. She was staring at him still. Her head tilted to the side as her brows lifted and she choked out a soft, "Please?"

God damnit all.

Had she picked that up from Glenn? Fuck him running if that wasn't enough to get him to push himself off the wall and start out the door. He made sure to curse as loudly and rudely as possible once he was out of the room. Stir up as much racket as possible while he made his way to his bike and peeled his way down the drive.

=Now=

"How's he doing?" T-Dog asked as Hershel left the shed. He was as nervous about the kid as everyone else was and hoped he'd be well enough to kick off their land soon.

Hershel shut the door and locked it like they had been since they moved Randall there. He waved his hand for T to follow and once they were sure to be out of earshot, he said, "He should be able to walk on it in a couple days. Rick said he's going to take him out ten or fifteen miles and leave him once he is. That still the plan?"

"Yeah," he smiled, relieved that they didn't have much longer to wait. "I think he's planning to go with Shane."

"He should take Glenn," Hershel sighed. "Or Daryl. Both of them were there when we got him. I think they could handle him better than Shane."

T laughed and at the look he got, he put his hands up, "Not disagreeing. But Shane's who Rick looks to for advice. He's Rick's old partner. They've been working together for years. And Shane was watching out for us after Atlanta. He's not so bad."

"I don't like him," Hershel answered, repeating what he'd said more times than was worth counting.

T didn't really want to get into it with him, so he changed the subject, "Hey, so... it's starting to get really cold at night. Rick was talking earlier about us moving into the barn now that it's cleaned out..."

The older man shook his head, "No. Not the barn. It'll still be too cold come winter."

"There's not really any-"

"You all can move into the house," he finished, cutting T off.

T-Dog stopped walking and looked at him, surprised. But also relieved. And then concerned, "Is there enough room? I mean, we still have the RV. Some of us can stay out there."

Hershel shook his head, "It'll just waste power you don't need to waste. We don't have enough bedrooms to go around, but we have the living room and the parlor. Plenty of floor space and a couple couches. I expect Glenn will be sharing with Maggie. Jimmy already sneaks into Beth's room."

The man frowned, giving T-Dog the stink eye, "They don't do nothin' and I don't want to encourage them to try. But if he's already giving up the bed space, someone else can use it."

"I wasn't going to say anything," T laughed and started to walk again.

"Well, it is what it is. We're gonna have to get used to living in close quarters," he sighed. "I don't really want to ask my girls to give up their space, but if we need to, we might be able to make up something like a men's room and a women's room. For those who are unattached."

T-Dog nodded, doing a mental tally and trying to figure out how dorms would be divided if they did that, "The only ones attached right now, officialy, are Rick and Lori. I don't think anyone would object to them getting a room alone with Carl if we did that. You got how many bedrooms again?"

"Six," he answered. "The one on the first floor we been using for the injured and five more upstairs. We also have an attic. It's not insulated, but we can probably fix that easily enough. That subdivision your people searched for that little girl has plenty, I'm sure."

"Our people," T said, looking over at Hershel and smiling.

Hershel looked back at him and nodded, "Our people."

=Then=

Carol was inside as soon as Daryl was on his bike and driving off. She rushed into the house, to the sickroom, and glared around at the four women gathered inside around Beth.

"What was that about?" she asked, breathing a little heavily from the run.

Shane wasn't that far behind her, nearly running into her as he used the door frame to stop his momentum, "Why did Daryl just run off like his ass was lit?"

The four women exchanged looks before they started to laugh. For Lori and Maggie, those laughs were inter-spaced with soft sobs they couldn't quite hold back. But for all of them it was a scene of relief, not worry.

Andrea got herself under control first, "Daryl's just going out to find Hershel. See what's taking Rick and Glenn so long."

Carol pressed a hand to her chest and sighed, letting herself collapse on the empty chair in the corner, "Oh thank god."

"That's all?" Shane asked incredulously, his eyes darting around.

The women continued to nod before Andrea smirked mischievously, "Wasn't gonna do it until Maggie batted her eyes at him and asked all sweetly." She brought her hands up to her face, mocking, "'Please, Daryl? For me?'"

"I did not!" Maggie turned around and slapped Andrea on the hip, but she was smiling and laughing. Even with Beth right there, still out of it, still worrying them, the tension had eased some.

Andrea pushed lightly at her shoulder while Lori giggled. She wiped at her face to try and get rid of the tears and grinned over at Carol, "Think Daryl might be holding a candle for Maggie, too. Think Glenn's got some competition there."

Carol's jaw dropped and she looked between Lori and Maggie as Shane made a face. As much as it offended her that Lori might have picked up on something about Daryl she hadn't, it was Shane's continued ill-treatment of Daryl that had priority. She gave him a scathing glare, "What? Something wrong if he does?"

"He ain't the kind of man any woman should have wanting them," Shane met her look dead on before looking around at the gathered women and ending on Maggie. "If he really does like you, you'd do well to keep Glenn away from him or your boy'll end up dead." Warning given, he left.

"Asshole," Carol muttered into the silence the buzzkill had created. The chokes of laughter that followed helped, but Maggie was looking between her and Lori with concern. Carol sighed and shook her head, "Ignore him. Shane doesn't know what he's talking about. Daryl wouldn't hurt Glenn like that."

"He did that one time," Lori said softly, finding a seat on the edge of the bed, genuine worry in her tone.

Carol shook her head, though, "He didn't mean it. He was scared."

"Scared?" Maggie asked, obviously confused for a second before comprehension took over, "Oh! Is this about when Daryl kicked Glenn over the kiss?"

The three from Atlanta looked to Maggie in surprise and she shrugged, "Glenn told me about it. Most of you people were acting like Daryl would skin him alive at any moment. It was weird. So I asked him about it."

"So... you're not worried?" Lori asked her, searching her face.

Maggie shook her head, "Nah. 'Sides, Daryl ain't got eyes for me. Of the two of us, I'm the one that should be more worried about suddenly ending up dead. And I ain't."

Carol tilted her head, not quite sure what Maggie was implying by that and not liking what came to mind, "He's not going to hurt you if you break Glenn's heart. He might avoid you for hurting his best friend if that happens, but Daryl wouldn't ever hurt a woman that way."

Lori gave her a look like she was crazy for thinking that, but Maggie was shaking her head so Carol ignored Lori for the moment. Maggie took a deep breath and shifted her grip on Beth's hand, "No, he wouldn't hurt me that way."

For some reason, Carol got the impression Maggie was saying there was something else there. But she wasn't volunteering what it could be. Carol decided she'd have to keep a closer eye on Daryl and Glenn to try and figure that out. If Maggie saw something she didn't, then she wasn't paying enough attention.

=Now=

"I don't like it," Carol muttered, wiping down the sink and staring at Glenn out the window as he held Maggie's hand and practically rubbed the fact that he and Maggie were together in Daryl's face.

Dale raised an eyebrow and looked over her, surprised, "I thought you were in support of Glenn and Maggie?"

"I was," she snorted while she finished her cleaning so she could lean against the counter. Her eyes never left the three. "Until I realized he's stringing them both along."

"Daryl?" Dale asked and she shot him a dirty look. "What?"

"Not Daryl," she said and nodded. "Glenn."

Dale shuffled over to take a look and watch the three talking. Daryl was dressing down some quail he'd managed to shoot in the middle of one of the fields on his way back from his continued search for Sophia that morning. Carol had told him to stop, that at over a week it'd been too long. The man was stubborn. She appreciated it, but it also frustrated her. She just wanted to be able to mourn now.

It took a couple days after the men had gotten back from town with that Randall kid, but she'd finally figured out what Maggie had meant. Daryl wasn't interested in Maggie. He was interested in Glenn. And she was pretty sure Glenn and Maggie both knew it. The way Glenn was always hovering around Daryl, flirting with him as obviously as he flirted with Maggie. And Maggie just let it happen. Smug and secure in the fact that Daryl wouldn't go for it while she was around.

It made Carol sick to her stomach. To think, she'd actually hoped the three could be friends. But this wasn't friendship. This was just plain mean.

"Glenn?" Dale asked, squinting, and drew Carol's thoughts back to the then and there.

She nodded, "Daryl's finally returning his looks and instead of doing the right thing and giving up that girl, he goes and plays with both of them. Maggie's just as at fault for letting it happen, make no mistake, but Glenn's the one doing it."

Dale tilted his head and gave her a look like she was crazy, "You really think Daryl's... it's Daryl."

"And he's obviously been struggling with it," Carol answered, giving Dale a pointed look. "You think he could just come out and tell people he's interested in men? With how Merle was?"

"But what about when he beat Glenn up," he asked, shaking his head and trying to work this out.

Carol raised her eyebrows, "He didn't have to kiss him before he tossed him on the ground, Dale."

=Then=

Daryl pulled into town in the middle of a gun fight. Walkers were everywhere and folks that weren't his people were shooting at ones who were. It was only luck that the geeks were clearing the others out and they didn't stay long enough to pay attention to a guy rolling in on a bike. He was witness to them pulling their asses out and leaving one of their own high and dry as he fired his gun into the back of the truck while they drove off.

"Glenn! Rick!" he shouted as he fired at the nearest walkers, taking out three of them in quick succession before he spotted them coming out of an alley.

"We're here!" Rick answered, cautious in his approach as he went to check out the one that was left. Hershel was with him, but Glenn wasn't in sight.

Daryl put his gun up and brought his crossbow up, taking guard, "Where's Glenn?"

"He's getting the car," Hershel answered, attention on the screaming kid begging them not to leave him, "It's stuck. Went right through him."

"Can we pull him off?" Rick asked, eyeing the walkers drawn by the screams on the other side of the fence.

Hershel shook his head and Daryl couldn't believe they were having this conversation as the man answered, "If we do he might not be able to walk again."

"Hurry it up," Daryl hissed, a bolt thudding to one of the walkers. "We got company."

"Maybe we can cut it off," Rick suggested. All of them ignored the kid's sobbed protests.

Hershel put that idea down, too. But there wasn't really a lot of time left. If they were going to save the kid's sorry ass, they had to do something.

Rick decided it for them as Glenn came around with the car, slamming to a stop in front of them. He grabbed the kid's leg and pushed it straight up. They were lucky the scream cut off on it's own as the idiot passed out from the pain. Rick lifted him into the back of the car and Hershel climbed in with him to try and stop the bleeding.

"Can you get back to your bike?" Rick asked as he went to get in the passenger seat and Daryl saw Glenn's head as the kid leaned forward, eyes wide at the sight of him.

Daryl grinned, then gave a nod, "Yeah. Get your asses on the road. I'll be right behind you."

He expected them to do just that, but Glenn was in the driver's seat and he spun the car around like one of those guys in the racing movies. It wasn't something Daryl had ever seen up close and it was genuinely scary having it happen as he ran past and back towards his bike. The car followed him, plowed into a couple walkers, and generally kept what it could of the road clear for him. When he got to his bike, he peeled out of there and took point.

They arrived back at the farm after dark. Hershel and Rick got people moving with a few shouts and Daryl helped Glenn move the kid inside behind them. There was a lot of panic, general disarray, that Daryl got himself out of as soon as he could. He found his way to the porch, happy to find it deserted while everyone else was packed inside.

It didn't remain empty for long, though. Glenn and Maggie came outside, their presence announced by the banging of the screen door behind them as Maggie held Glenn in a tight embrace and pushed him up against the side of the house. They were kissing each other like their lives depended on it. Daryl supposed that with how things had gone down out there, they probably thought it did. They were lucky to come back to each other.

The sight made him a little uncomfortable. It was too personal. Something they should share with each other. He did his best not to draw attention to himself, but he had to move past them to get to the stairs. He didn't want to risk jumping the rail in the dark. He didn't know the house well enough to know where it was safe to.

A hand caught his arm as he hit the first step down. Daryl turned to see Glenn staring at him, eyes red. His other hand was still in Maggie's and she was holding it tightly. She smiled at him, relief and more in her eyes. Like Daryl was personally responsible for Glenn coming back to her. Daryl looked down, away, started to mutter about letting them have some time alone.

But Glenn had other ideas.

Daryl wasn't sure how long the kiss lasted, or how the man had managed to pull him into it and hold him there with just that one hand on his arm. He did know that Maggie kept looking at him with those same eyes. Still relieved to have Glenn back. Still holding onto his other hand. Not looking at all surprised or even hurt. Like she'd known it was going to happen.

Maybe that's why he didn't punch him. Or maybe he was just too much in shock from it that getting back to his tent was enough of feat to worry about.

=Now=

"I don't think he's doing anything wrong," Andrea sighed, leaning back in the passenger seat of Shane's car as Shane glared out the window. He was watching Glenn again. It had become his hobby the last few days while the group waited for Randall to get well enough to drop somewhere far away from the farm.

Shane didn't even look at her but she could hear the disgust in his voice, "How can you say that? He's stringing them both along. Flaunting it and rubbing it in their faces. Playing 'em both. He doesn't even have the decency to be ashamed of himself. Shouldn't toy with people like that."

"Or maybe," she said, reaching over to push her hand in his crotch and give him a good rub. Draw his attention back to her. "He's just taking advantage of what he's being offered while it's still being offered."

Shane gulped and she could feel him starting to get hard. The two weren't really together, but they'd been helping each other with the relief of tension off and on since the shootout at the subdivision. He licked his lips and looked at her, confused but aroused, "What?"

She smiled, raising an eyebrow and kept working on him, "I'm just saying... the world as it is now... we don't know who will die, when they will die." Amy came to mind. Otis, too. Even Sophia, who was sure to be dead even if they'd never found her body.

"I don't think he's 'toying' with them. He's..." She licked her lips and started to idly undo Shane's belt buckle. "He's taking what he can while he can. They're both willing to let him right now. And I don't think if one of them tried to stop it, that he'd try to force anything. He's a good kid with a good heart, Shane. I don't blame him one bit for taking whatever joy he can where he can. Lord knows we do."

Her hand in his pants made that point quite clearly as he let his legs open up as wide as they could so she could pull him out. He went quiet after that. Let her get him off with her hand. She couldn't exactly sit on his lap in in full view of everyone. Not when they both knew the horn would draw way too much attention. But she also knew that as soon as they headed off on another run, he'd be giving her a much needed return.

Twenty minutes later, after the two had done a little cleanup and Shane was relaxed, he set his hand on the ignition and gave it a turn, "You still want to leave?"

The question caught Andrea by surprise. She eyed his hand before looking at him to find his brows lifted and his mouth open. He was serious. He was ready to just get up and go. She tilted her head in thought and asked, "What happens if I say no?"

"You get out of this car and I go. You can tell them whatever you want."

"And if I say yes?"

Shane smirked, "They'll eventually figure out we ain't coming back."

Andrea eyed him up and down, then pulled her seat belt on.