AN: Hello readers. God bless your patience and continued support despite having the knowledge I'm completely unreliable when it comes to updating on any sort of schedule. Here's a new chapter for you. It came out a bit longer than I intended, but hey...that's life. Anyway, let me just say that I rewrote this damn chapter so much I finally had to say screw it. I apologize for any typos :( I've read through it loads and hopefully you enjoy it! Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows!

"Daryl, are you paying attention?"

Nope.

Are you even listening?"

Barely.

"Daryl –"

"Damn, I heard ya, Sasha – the first four times ya said my name," Daryl grumbled while running one hand over his face. He was standing before the rest of the council members, and he knew exactly why he was called in. He had to admit, it was weird being on this side of the council's table opposed to sitting in his usual chair.

"Well don't ignore us then, Daryl," Sasha ordered, clearly unimpressed with his earlier actions and current attitude.

"Well, Christ, what'de all want? A damn apology? Fine, M'sorry."

"Daryl, you know that's not why we called you in here," Glenn stated a little more gently. "You've already apologized to Herschel." Glenn nodded toward his father-in-law and shrugged. "If you're good by him, then that's fine…"

"Well then..." Daryl rolled his eyes. He knew there had to be something else going on for them to meet without him.

"Now hold on, Daryl –"

"Daryl this isn't about apologizing to Herschel –"

"Though you did owe it to him considering he's Beth's father…"

Daryl watched Carol raise a hand to settle Sasha down. Carol sighed, turned back toward Daryl and offered of a sad smile. "Daryl, it's not just about saying sorry…you disobeyed the council's decision. We considered what Beth wanted, but you were there. We talked about it and decided that while we appreciated her offer to help with runs, in the long run, it would be better for her to stay within the gates."

"Nah, see I remember y'all shootin' her down before she could spit…an' I never agreed on nothin' so don't go saying the council made its decision when it didn't."

"Daryl, you can't be serious," Carol argued releasing a small chuckle. "It's Beth…what do you think she's going to do out there when everything goes wrong? Do you want to be the one to tell everyone if we were to lose her?"

"I don't have to think about it, because shit did go wrong," Daryl replied looking at each of the council members. "Things went to south and she was just fine. And since when are you the four people who get to just decide who's free to come n' go and who gets holed up in here like a kid?"

"When they are kids Daryl," Sasha replied raising an eyebrow.

"So Carl will be stayin' back then? Good luck with that," Daryl muttered. He wasn't an idiot, no way were they talking about Carl.

"It's different, and you know it," Carol stated forcefully.

"Do you know how ridiculous you sound?" Sasha asked. "Carl's trained. Experienced….Beth has no idea what goes on out there. Not the way we do –"

Daryl rolled his eyes and forced himself from shooting Herschel any kind of accusatory look. "And whose fault is that, huh? 'Cause it sure as Hell ain't hers that Carl had no problem breakin' out of his bit of being kid. Kid's what…twelve? Beth's eighteen for shit's sake – Christ…"

Daryl ran one dirty hand through his already disheveled hair and cracked his neck. He closed his eyes, not needing to see the council members' faces to know where they stood. Sasha was always practical. When she first got to the prison with Ty, Carl was holding the gun and making all the decisions with Rick off losing his mind and Herschel still incapacitated. Beth was the quiet girl with a baby being kept out of sight.

Glenn would side with pretty much whatever Maggie would say. It was an annoying combination of love, respect, and fear of his wife that kept him from sometimes speaking up differently. Maggie had been beyond pissed when Daryl and Beth returned from the prison two days ago. Aside from just taking off without a word, returning Beth covered in blood hadn't been the greatest of moments. Daryl's face was still red from where she had slapped him.

Carol on the other hand, was a bit harder to read. In Daryl's mind, she should have been the one to stick up for Beth wanting to take on more active duties around the prison. Considering she started off in worse shape than Beth when the world went to Hell, she should have been all for encouraging and helping Beth. For some reason that Daryl couldn't fathom, Carol was adamant that Beth should be kept inside the gates and out of the way more than most anyone else.

Then there was Herschel. Herschel who was Beth's father and had more reason than anyone to be yelling at him, but had remained oddly quiet through this whole discussion. Daryl had already apologized to the prison's oldest resident. In fact it was the first thing the hunter had made sure to do upon returning. Herschel, while disappointed and obviously concerned for his youngest child's visual state, hadn't been angry with Daryl. Ever since, Daryl had been waiting for the old man to change his mind and allow Maggie to kill him. Even now, however, Herschel just sat in his usual chair, listening to what everyone else had to say.

"Look, by all rights, I shouldn't have to answer to any of you," Daryl continued on. "We all know Beth's an adult…and two days ago she proved to all ya she ain't no weak little kid like the ones thrown at her to watch every day."

"We know she's not weak, Daryl –"

He rolled his eyes at Glenn and continued. "See you do though, an' it's bullshit is what it is. You think everyone here doesn't see how ya treat her and don't follow along. The doc sees it, you know that Herschel. How is it some outside stranger can come in an' see it and you can't?"

"Once again, Daryl isn't about Beth," Carol explained firmly. "It's about you and your casual disobedience toward the council."

"The council you are on, by the way," Sasha added.

"A council I never asked to be on," Daryl grumbled, beginning to pace once more.

"Nevertheless, when you of all people go against our decisions, it makes everyone stop and begin to doubt the rest of our decisions."

"Bull…"

"Not really, man. I mean everyone kind of instinctively looks to you when stuff happens. Need food, talk to Daryl. Specific supplies on runs, talk to Daryl…it's just how it is," Glenn chuckled. "It's kind of hilarious, you going around scowling at everyone, I mean." Daryl shot him a scowl of his own.

"Look, I apologized, but I ain't gonna say I was wrong, because I wasn't," Daryl said while picking up his ever present crossbow. "You want me off the council? Just let me know, an' I'm gone." Heading for the door, Daryl turned once more to face the others. "If Beth wants to go out again, I'll bring her. This is me givin' you a heads up, not me askin' for permission." With that, Daryl turned and left the library and the council to fume in his absence.

After his argument with the council, Daryl was still more than a little pissed off. Rather than head toward the main cell blocks or out into the yard, he decided to wander the inner areas of the prison he usually didn't bother with. Most of the prison's residents avoided these halls and rooms, not because they were dirty or dark, but because there wasn't anything there. Anything of value to anyone had been hauled out months ago and why would anyone want to venture further into a prison's interior anyway?

As we walked up and down various hallways and paced back and forth, Daryl couldn't help but wonder what it was that was making him so frazzled. The council, sure, but had he really needed to argue with them like that? And why had Herschel just sat there, not saying a word. Daryl sighed and pushed his crossbow into a more comfortable position behind his back. Before he had the chance to walk on from where he had paused he heard a cough behind him.

He whirled on the sound and forced himself from drawing his weapon. Rolling his eyes, he leaned back against the wall and pulled out a cigarette.

"Hey there, Chuckles," Mal greeted him while leaning against the door frame of her infirmary. That's right. There was something down here. Daryl had forgotten this was where the doctor had chosen to set up shop with all her tools and drugs and shit.

Realizing what she had called him, Daryl scowled at Mal and inhaled the smoke from his cigarette deeply.

"That supposed to be funny?" he grumbled as he blew smoke toward Mal. Unfazed, she merely raised one eyebrow.

"I don't know," she replied. "But are you going to offer one of those up or are you going to make a lady ask?" Daryl caught her eyes lingering toward his shirt pocket where he had stashed his pack of smokes and snorted.

"Ain't you doctors against smokin'? I hear they cause cancer," Daryl muttered while opening the pack and offering one to her. He handed her his lighter and watched her light up.

After taking her first puff, she ran the fingers of her free hand through her tangled red hair. "I have to say that I highly doubt lung cancer is going to be what kills me at this point," she replied easily. Daryl watched her turn back into the infirmary, lighter still in her hand.

"You coming in or what?" she called out to him. Releasing a sigh, he reluctantly followed her into her office and watched as she pulled herself up onto the countertop. He noted she was still playing with his lighter and couldn't help but wonder if she planned on returning it. Unsure of what to do next, he leaned up against the opposite wall and chose to stare mindlessly at his feet.

This was the first time being alone with the doc since handing over the meds she had asked him for, and it was just as awkward as it had been then. He could feel her eyes upon him and wished she would get to whatever it was that she wanted. Why wasn't she outside with everyone else anyway?

"I don't like people," she finally stated, taking another drag from her cigarette and tapping the ashes into the sink. Briefly, Daryl considered the idea she might be able to read minds with those weirdly observant eyes of hers. It was weird, really. Both she and Beth had blue eyes, yet while Beth's were a clear blue and as open as the sky, Mal's were far more unnerving. Darker than he thought blue eyes could be after seeing Beth's. He shook himself from his thoughts of Beth (again) and shrugged.

"And?" he asked with a sigh.

"I'm just saying, people…they bother me," she replied never taking her eyes off Daryl.

Christ did the woman ever blink? he asked himself.

Again as if reading his thoughts, she blinked once and reached into her pockets. Daryl couldn't believe what he was seeing. She was actually starting to paint her goddamn nails. Who did that nowadays? He watched in confusion as she started the process, keeping her cigarette tucked between her lips.

"Do I really need to be here for this shit?" he asked while crossing his arms. The woman didn't even look up as she continued coating her nails.

"Oh calm down, it's not like you've got anywhere to be." She gave a small laugh as she paused what she was doing. "Unless you're looking for someone? In which case she's got fence duty right now, but I'd hold off. Matron Maggie is with her…"

Daryl blanched at Mal's insulation and tightened his arms across his chest a bit more. "I wasn't lookin' for no one."

"Mhmm. You go on and tell yourself that," she laughed again. She took her cigarette between two of her fingers with still wait nails and carefully blew out a bit of smoke. You going to actually smoke that Starshine, or are you planning on let it all turn to ash? Seems a waste," she stated nodding toward his own cigarette. Sure enough, a good amount had turned gray and crumbling. He tapped it out over the floor which made Mal frown.

"Problem?" he asked. Maybe she would tell him to get out. No such luck.

"You know I had six older brothers?" she asked, pointedly ignoring the mess on the floor.

"Six?" Daryl raised his eyebrows. He could barely handle Merle, let alone 6 Merles.

"That's right," Mal said with a grin, clearly pleased he had involved himself in the conversation. "Bjorn, Peter, Mikal, Anders, Liam, and Colin…truthfully they were all a bunch of self-righteous assholes, but hey, I probably should talk right?"

Daryl couldn't help but agree with the doctor. She definitely thought highly of herself, especially when she compared herself to some of the other residents of the prison.

"But hey, a bit of a God Complex kind of comes with the territory when you're doctors…at least in my family."

Daryl furrowed his brow and held up one hand.

"You sayin' you're all fuckin' doctors?" he asked disbelievingly.

Mal nodded again. "Christmases were always fun. Most of the time we were either trying to one up each other with cases we had handled or else telling each other why our field was more important and meaningful than the other siblings…good times."

Daryl frowned as he tried to decide if Mal was being serious about actually enjoying those memories. Deciding it really didn't matter, he stubbed out his cigarette,

"Not that hearin' your life story ain't fascinatin', but there a point to this? For hatin' people, you sure do talk a lot."

Mal laughed and closed the top of her nail polish. I don't hate all people. For example, I don't hate you, though you can be mildly irritating in frustrating sort of way…like my brother Anders. He was a bit of a moron when it came to things outside of work – namely girls. How he ever got Cynthia to marry him is beyond me."

Daryl started going red once more. There she went again. And it was clear from her comments that once more she was referring to Beth.

"Unless you want to come out and say whatever it is you're getting' at, I'm goin.'" He grabbed the crossbow he had set on the exam table and turned to leave but he froze at Mal's hand on his arm. He wasn't sure how she could move so fast in those heels of hers, but she could.

"Beth had a real nice time Daryl," she paused. "Apart from the walkers trying to eat you both and the dead kid she found, I mean. Yeah, she told me about that…"

Daryl looked down at his hands and clenched his jaw.

"She's been wanting to speak to you, but I think you both know there hasn't really been the chance what with Maggie watching her like a hawk and you being – well you being you. Because, and I'm going to say this as kindly as I can muster, you avoiding her has been eating away at her since you both came back.

"No, don't say anything," Mal ordered upon seeing Daryl begin to protest. "Just listen. Shit you're a defensive one, aren't you?" Daryl only glared.

"Now I'm thinking you're being all lurky, because you either A. don't want to get Beth into more trouble or B. are afraid Maggie's going to hit you again. But Beth doesn't see it that way. She sees it like maybe the whole thing didn't go as well as she thought it did. Maybe you're disappointed in her or you're mad about getting in trouble."

"That's not –"

"I've tried telling her she's being ridiculous, but as I stated earlier. Since I hate people as a general rule, I'm not exactly a mother hen when it comes to trying to comfort those I don't actually despise. Sometimes I might even make things worse…"

Daryl smirked at the grimace on Mal's face.

"So to make a long story short –"

"Too late," he muttered under his breath, making Mal give him a little shove.

"Fix this. Go talk to her or something. At this rate I'm going to become the new Dear Abby, and God knows no one wants that." Daryl watched as Mal went back to her countertop and picked up a book Daryl hadn't noticed before. He watched her read for a few seconds in confusion.

She looked up with raised eye brows. "You can go now." He rolled his eyes. She fucking would be someone who felt she could summon and dismiss others. Whatever, he was just grateful was finally being released from what he determined had to be either the most informative or most awkward conversation he had ever experienced. Then again, maybe a little from column A and a little from column B wasn't such a stretch in this case.