[A/N: Just a little short one. But since I don't think I'll get time to post again before next weekend, I wanted to get another chapter up this weekend.

Reviewers, again, so much love!]

Daryl leant against the door frame of Asha's cell, arms crossed against his chest. He grit his teeth against the ache in his throat at the sight of her packing.

'How long ya going for?' he asked.

She glanced over her shoulder at him, jaw clenched and eyes tight.

'As long as it takes.'

She flattened out a map on the bed. 'Where was that farmhouse?'

Daryl pushed off the wall and stood next to her, painfully aware of how the skin of his arm tingled in anticipation of brushing against her.

He traced the route they'd followed in his head, before jabbing a finger at a point on the map. Asha quickly drew a circle around the point he'd indicated, then dragged a finger to the south west, tracing a line that crossed a river and passed near a little town called Braysville.

'What d'ya reckon? If he kept on that line he probably passed through there?'

Daryl gave a single shouldered shrug.

'What?'

He chewed his lip for a moment, then sighed. 'Ya chasin' shadows Asha, it was an old sign. What if you lose the trail again?'

She glared at him. 'I'll keep going till I find it again.'

'Damn it Asha, ya can't just leave.'

'I can't not leave,' she snapped. She spun on him, eyes flashing. 'How can you even say that to me? I thought of all the people here, you would understand this. You would have the done the same for Merle.'

'That ain't the point. I know when t' let somethin' go. Ya gonna follow an old trail halfway across the state, longer if ya gotta—'

'He might have a camp, not far away.'

Daryl passed his hand wearily over his face. 'Ya taught me the damn code Asha. That dash in the bottom corner—meant he was just on the road travelin'... He'd be out lookin' for you too. First summer since the turn right? Means that sign's near twelve months old.' He hesitated for a second, but it was the damn truth. 'If Nash was camped anywhere close, ya would have found each other again by now.'

Asha looked like he'd slapped her. She gaped, and then shoved him angrily. 'So I've just been wasting my time this whole time?'

He ignored her question. 'So ya follow him across the state, long as ya need to, then what?'

She looked at him baffled. 'We come home.'

He snorted. 'Home. What if ya come back in we ain't here. Ain't nothin' permanent in this world anymore. What if ya brother's got his own people. What then? Ya just gonna abandon—' his lip twitched '—us. All the people here.'

Her eyes narrowed. He turned away, breath hissing through his teeth. How could she be willing to just leave them?

You did it once for Merle. Yeah, and that lasted about five seconds before you realised what a stupid idea that was.

The corner of his mouth lifted in a snarl and he realised he was pacing. Why the fuck did it matter? This sure as shit wasn't the first time someone had walked out of his life.

He turned on her. 'Why bother even comin' back. Ya always talkin' 'bout the fuckin' coastline, why don't you and ya brother just fuck off there. We don't need ya.'

Asha reeled back. 'What the hell.? My damn home is here and you don't mean that.'

'Like hell I don't. I ain't the only one with responsibilities round here.'

'What does that mean?'

'Ya know what it means.'

Asha glared at him. 'Ya want me to give up on the first sign I've seen.'

'Ya could damn well be out there forever. Ya abandoning us. Like we don't mean nothin'.' His voice was bitter as he spat the last words in her face.

Asha's shoulders suddenly collapsed in on themselves and her eyes filled with tears. 'What do you want me to do?' she asked in a tiny voice. 'I can't not look for him.' She took a shuddering breath. 'Not now. Not when I've finally got a trail.'

Daryl felt a surge of guilt under his anger as the tears spilled down her cheeks.

He grasped her by the arms, his large hands fitting comfortably around her biceps and pulled her to face him. Her green eyes wavered before she dropped her gaze.

'Just—' he snapped, then swallowed deeply and tried again in a calmer tone. 'Just...I don't want ya out there on ya own. Ya never let me finish, out in the courtyard earlier. I gotta go on a supply run tomorrow, but I'll come with ya the next day.' He shook her slightly until she looked up at him. 'But we give it a few days. If we don't find him or some more recent sign, we come back.'

Asha was shaking her head. 'You don't need to, Michonne's gonna come.'

'Nah, I'm coming too.'

She looked at him blank faced for a moment. 'No,' she said softly. 'You got responsibilities remember?' There was a bitter twist to her lips and she turned her head away. 'And I don't want to look at you the whole time we're out there and know you think we're wasting our time.' Her shoulders shuddered.

Daryl jerked his hands away from her and grimaced, cursing his earlier words. 'Asha, I didn't—'

'Don't Daryl, just...don't.'

He scrubbed a hand through his hair and his shoulders slumped. 'Ok. Just you and Michonne. But ya come back with Michonne. If ya find something new, I will go back out with you. But ya come back first.'

Asha's lips compressed into a thin line and there was a flash of defiance in her eyes before she looked at the ground.

Damn stubborn woman.

He gripped her by the chin and pulled her face up to his. 'I mean it Asha. Ya damn well come back. I am gonna be pissed as hell if I have t' come find ya.'

There was a polite cough at the doorway and Michonne's dread locked head peered around the corner. Asha jumped and Daryl dropped his hand from her chin and flinched back.

'She'll come back,' Michonne said. 'These people need you here and she ain't self centered enough to make you come out looking for her.'

'Ain't no one ever tell ya its rude to listen in,' Daryl grumbled.

The dark skinned woman laughed. 'You know there's no privacy in this place. Besides, it was either me or you'd have half the camp hanging out outside this cell...Not that it matters.' She arched an eyebrow. 'You two aren't exactly being quiet.'

Daryl grunted, then looked back at Asha. 'Well?'

Asha looked from Daryl to Michonne, jaw set, a muscle in her throat twitching before she eventually grimaced. 'Fine, ya damn pair of bullies.'

Daryl shared a glance with Michonne, who gave a tiny shrug before disappearing back around the door frame.

Asha's had turned back to the bed, stiff backed with her shoulders drawn in as she angrily crammed things into her pack.

Daryl took a deep breath, feeling a heaviness in his stomach. It would have to be enough. Michonne would make sure she came back.

By lunch the next day, Asha was pacing the fence line.

It had only taken her the morning to get her gear sorted. Then she had thrown together some supplies for Michonne and had chucked them in her cell—since she knew her friend's tolerance wouldn't extend to her actually packing anything for her. With all of her tasks complete, she was consumed with restless impatience. She couldn't bear to be anywhere other than the yard where she could keep an eye on the road for the group returning from the run—even though they weren't expected back before dark.

She listened to the steady sounds of her boots sweeping through the grass. She didn't see the faces of ever present dead pressed against the outer fence. Her eyes were locked beyond them, on the woods, the trees shifting gently in the summer breeze.

It wasn't long enough. Only five days.

The south west line from the farm house ran through some fairly extensive woods, working through them looking for a sign was going to be labour intensive and time consuming—and could be a complete waste of time if her gut feeling that Nash had passed through Braysville was right. She bared her teeth. Time that she didn't have to waste thanks to Daryl and Michonne's bullying.

Maybe they should skip the woods and try Braysville to start with? Asha had left a sign in every town she'd been through—and she would have bet everything she owned on Nash doing the same thing.

Her head snapped up and she froze mid pace.

She had half a day now. A run out to Braysville by road wouldn't take that long—and if she was right and Nash had left a sign there, they could pick up there tomorrow. Better yet—her heart leapt in her chest—she might be able to reason out the next town he'd passed through and they could pick up the trail there. An afternoon's work could save them a full day, maybe more, tomorrow. If she didn't find anything, well, then tomorrow they would start combing the woods looking for where he changed course.

They'd be no worse off.

She grinned and set off at a run across the yard, to the ever expanding vegetable patch.

'Rick,' she yelled. 'Rick.'

Rick was kneeling in the dirt between the rows of vegetables, the leaves of a tomato plant held gently between his fingers. His head jerked and he stood up at her cry, scanning immediately for the source of her alarm, his hand automatically going to his hip where his gun used to be. His eyes clouded with confusion when he couldn't see anything other than her running towards him. Carl stood up near him, shovel in hand.

'I'm going out,' she called, pulling to a stop just short of the rows of plants.

His eyes hardened. 'Out? Where?'

'The sign from Nash, Daryl told you right?'

Rick nodded carefully.

'I reckon I know where the next marker is.'

She could see Rick starting to shake his head and she held up a hand to forestall him. 'I'm not asking Rick, but I'm not stupid enough to go running off without telling anyone where I'm going. Braysville, Daryl knows where it is. I'm gonna duck out, check it out, and come back. I'll be back by dark.'

'This is a stupid idea Asha,' Rick said. 'Don't do it.'

'Like I said, not asking.'

Rick frowned at her. 'Duck out? How the hell are you doing that. They took all the vehicles except the bus on the run.'

'I'm taking the bike.' Asha turned to head back to the cell block for her gear.

'Wait, Asha. Daryl's bike?' Carl laughed incredulously. 'Are you insane? He's gonna kill you.'

'Oh he's gonna be pissed as all hell, I agree,' she said over her shoulder. 'But I'll be gone for five days tomorrow, so—provided he doesn't kill me this evening—he'll have plenty of time to cool off while I'm gone.'