I do not own The Walking Dead.

Previously:

Maybe she didn't need a God at all. She had Daryl, and Carl, and everyone else.

"That no evil shall befall thee. Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling."

But, hey, if God felt like giving a miracle, he could give her a call.


When Faye searched for Daryl, she found him.

She knew he would be on watch, and Carol gave the okay to go, but that wasn't where she found him. The hunter had been positioned in the yard, but Faye found herself spinning in circles on the spot to see where he had wandered off to.

But then she got dizzy and stopped doing that.

If Rick had seen her after that point, she would have definitely been told off, as she chose to continue by herself to look for the man. Carol had technically given her permission. Kind of. Enough to get away with, at least.

This was when she found Daryl.

Daryl, speed walking to the prison gate, preparing the crossbow as he went.

Daryl, about to run past the fence.

Daryl, leaving.

She should shave shouted to him, or run over to stop him leaving, but she found herself staring in silence. Daryl was going again. He was abandoning her. No word, no goodbye. At least this time he didn't fool her with a promise, she thought bitterly. At least this time she wouldn't have her hopes up of his return, no, he might as well leave her with nothing.

Wait, he had left her with something. The bandana was just a replacement promise, nothing more.

You know what, screw Daryl, how many times-

"Faye!"

Oh. Alright. He was talking to her. This was unexpected.

Unsure of how to respond, the girl just stared back at the man. He seemed to be searching her for something-

(Faye realised at a later date it had simply been trust.)

-but whatever he wanted wasn't there. Running a hand through his hair quickly, Daryl strode towards her with a command. "Come 'ere."

Oh. Alright. He was using his do-what-I-damn-well-say voice. This was unexpected.

This meant one of two things. The first was that she had done something wrong and the second was that he was pissed. Sometimes it was a mixture of both.

So, since she had no idea what she'd done wrong, Faye assumed he was pissed.

Wasting no time, the hunter bent down to her level and spoke immediately. "Look, I ain't leavin'. Don't got much time to waste, Merle's taken Michonne to hand her over to the Governor so he won't attack, I gotta go stop 'im. Get it?"

Well, he got straight to the point, the girl gave him that at least.

"Wait, wait, what? When did this happen, since when was there a deal?"

"Governor told Rick, Rick asked Merle, Merle took Michonne. But, Rick changed his mind too late n' now I gotta go."

Faye scowled. "But Michonne's one of us now!"

Kind of. Maybe. It was unconfirmed.

"Exactly. I've seen you two talkin' rubbish 'bout some cat, she's ya friend, right? That's why I gotta go. And I'm bringing 'em back." He added at the end, knowing just what she would be concerned about.

But that wasn't the point.

Perhaps he thought it would be that easy because she didn't make too much fuss when he left as Rick's bodyguard of sorts. Back then, however, she had Hershel's word too, and at the time, the old man's was worth more than the hunter's.

So, no, Faye was still unhappy about this.

But, no, Faye didn't want to say it to his face. Not directly, at least, because, well, she didn't know why. Maybe part of her didn't want to disappoint him.

The other half shouted that he disappointed her.

"You can't go by yourself. Why can't Rick or somebody go with you?" She said, folding her arms as she thought of a way to slip in that she herself wanted to go, no matter how unlikely a yes was.

"Rick can't track for shi-!" The man censored himself. "Rick can't track."

"Why do you need to track?" The girl replied. "You know where he is going, wouldn't it be quicker just to get on the bike or something. You know, me and you could just get on now and be there in no time!"

Sneaky, Faye, just drop the hint-

"No."

"But-"

"No way in hell."

"I'm not useless, Daryl! You said it yourself, I'm a good shot." Faye had used the words so many times she was pretty sure he regretted saying them.

Apparently, though, this meant the man had a reservoir of replies to counter "Yeah, and so's the Governor. I ain't takin' you nowhere near 'im."

She was fighting a losing battle, she knew that, but giving up so easily wasn't in her nature.

"Come on, I'll just be your back up, it's not like I'll go running in there! I could snipe them."

"You don't know how to use a rifle, ya asked for training."

Oh, yeah.

That may have been a little white lie. He'd said no to training with the crossbow, but if Faye could have got him to train her in something, she could pass with flying colours and then she could try the crossbow! That was an amazing plan, if she did say so herself.

Now was not the time to deal with this, though. "Then I could just hang back-"

"Faye," He said, looking her in the eye. "It ain't happenin'. You're stayin' where it's safe, don't argue no more. You want Michonne back? I've gotta go 'fore Merle gets himself in more shi- trouble."

The girl gave Daryl a hard stare, but didn't protest any longer. She may have won the battle but she would not lose the war.

(Faye wasn't sure what the war was, exactly, but she was determined to win it.)

She had begged Daryl not to leave again, in a very distressed state.

She had also reasoned with him, in a way. Made deals with him and others to try and make him stay.

Thinking back now, she saw those options as weak. The way a child would choose. Of course, it didn't occur to her that that was an alright thing for her to be. As far as she was concerned, she was old enough to make her own decisions. Carl had even more resolve than she had.

(Faye wouldn't admit it, but there were moments where Carl's cold maturity scared her. Would she ever be like that? Did she want to?)

However, she chose the third option. It was a ridiculous one, considering who she was talking to and the likelihood of the girl going through with the threat.

But, hey, empty threats were turning into her thing.

"Fine. But if you don't come back, I have permission to hunt you down and shoot you with your own crossbow."

The smirk she received in return made her blink and realise that she had just threatened a Dixon. Daryl might not have been as scary as Merle, but still. She hadn't said anything to their faces. Faye unknowingly stood straighter, proud of herself for being so bold.

"Alright." His compliance was probably due to the fact she could not track, he could simply hold the crossbow out of her reach, and that the simple fact that she wanted him to return meant it was unlikely she would hurt him.

There was little more said, the end being Faye commanding the man to hurry up with a point to the gate, as if it had been her idea in the first place.

Watching Daryl as made his way out the field, not having too many problems with the stray walkers, the girl barely noticed Rick walking to her. "He'll be fine."

"Hmm." She hummed a reply, not confirming or denying his words, unsure what to say after he startled her slightly. Then, she remembered one important thing. "You were going to give Michonne to the Governor." Her tone wasn't angry, but it was certainly accusing.

"'Were' being the key term." The man replied calmly.

Good. That meant she could continue. Probably.

"And you didn't tell us?"

"I thought that was the right thing at the time. To protect the group."

Faye wasn't completely sure why he was defending himself against a thirteen year old, but maybe it meant he valued her opinion, she was someone he wanted on her side. Then again, it might have been he simply didn't want her to tell Carl and taint the image he had of his father. It was probably the latter, but she pretended to believe the first. "Are you going to tell the others? Were you ever going to in the first place? What if it's too late now?"

"Yes and yes." He replied, but the last answer took a little longer for him to figure out. "If it's too late? Then... I have her blood on my hands."

A third option appeared in Faye's head. Maybe Rick wanted to reassure himself. Tell himself he had now made the right decision, that he was doing right by the group. Or, maybe, he was confessing the fact that he was willing to hand over a woman to be totured.

The only thing she couldn't guess was why he was dumping it on her.


"Come on, Carly boy, we're rounding up the crew!"

Carl frowned, but amusement was in his voice. "What got you in a good mood?"

Good mood? No. The mood Faye was in was hardly good. Restless, annoyed, upset, worried, all in one big ball of uneasiness? That was getting there.

She needed a distraction, and Rick, being the leader and father of someone her age he was, sensed it and told her to round up the group. Carl hadn't been part of the order, but the girl had added him in anyway. If there was anyone who could distract her, it was Carl.

Faye turned towards him as he stood up from his bed. The smile on her face was too sweet to be her own - sweet smiles weren't her thing, her smiles were cheeky or her grins were kind of goofy, and her smirks were an attempt at being cool, but none of them were sweet - in hope her friend would realise what she meant. "Who said I'm in a good mood?"

Carl's expression faltered, suspicious of the situation he was now in - although, Faye hoped it was also because he was concerned for her - but seemed to go along with whatever she had planned. "...Why are we collecting everyone?"

"Why, shit's going down, Sheriff, we're just rounding up the flock."

"Alright." He crossed his arms as he walked beside. her. "I know something's up, and you aren't actually going insane, but will you stop talking like a hyper nine-year-old?"

"The world needs some hyper nine-year-olds, Dumbass." She replied smoothly. Annoying Carl was definitely good stress medicine. It felt good to act this childishly for a little while. Maybe, if he gave into it, the boy could have fun too.

"You're avoiding the question."

"No, I'm not," Faye grinned. "You asked if I could stop talking like a hyp-"

"Quit it!"

The girl laughed.

"You're just ignoring the problem."

Raising an eyebrow, she continued. "What problem?"

"I don't know, but whenever something bad happens, you get annoyed for a while and then you act like it never happened. You ignore it."

"Do not!"

"It's your thing."

"I do not have a thing!"

"You do. And you're doing it right now."

"Fine." She said, slipping out of the happy-go-lucky persona as quickly as she slipped in. "We're getting these guys first," Faye meant Carol, Hershel and Beth. "Then Glenn, he'll be with Maggie. The other's will be quickest and I think those two were supposed to be outside on watch. T-Dog after them, too."

Once they were outside the building, Carl spoke up again. "Are you going to tell me what's going on, then?"

"You listen until I'm finished." After she received a nod, she explained very quickly, as if hoping he wouldn't actually hear. "The Governor made a deal with Rick that if he handed over Michonne he wouldn't attack us and Rick agreed at first but then he changed his mind but it was too late and Merle had already taken Michonne and now Daryl left to go get them back but it might be too late."

"What?"

"Yeah."

"How..." Carl seemed at a loss for words.

"Yeah."

Just before anger began to seep onto the boy's face, the two found Glenn. After listening to him say he would go get Maggie himself, the two headed to the meeting, already knowing which words would come out Rick's mouth.


Sat on the bench by her friend, Faye waited as Rick walked up to the group, Maggie and Glenn coming behind him. The other's were anxiously waiting for whatever the news was, Carl seemed to have stopped his anger at his father's decision, and Faye sat twiddling her fingers.

Daryl wasn't back yet, and although it hadn't been long since he left, she was still worried. Part of her mind told her the lack of trust in him was illogical, but she couldn't help it. It wasn't like she wanted to feel this way. It would be a lot easier to not feel the need to worry every time he took a trip outside the prison.

"When I met with the Governor," Rick began. "He offered me a deal. He said... he said if he would leave us alone if I gave him Michonne."

A look of realisation were on the group's faces, Faye noticed as she look around to gauge the responses, as the woman in question was not present.

Carl looked down to avoid his father's gaze - perhaps ashamed, or still angry - as the man continued. "And I was going to do that, to keep us safe." He paused. "I changed my mind."

Yeah, he did. He took too long doing it though. What's your next move, Grimes? Faye couldn't have been the only person to like Michonne's company.

"But now Merle took Michonne to fulfil the deal and Daryl went to stop him and I don't know if it's too late." The way their leader rushed the last words reminded Faye of the way she had told Carl. "I was wrong not to tell you. And I'm sorry."

No one argued with him.

"What I said last year, that first night after the farm, it can't be like that. I can't. What we do, what we're willing to do, who we are, is not my call. It can't be. I can't sacrifice one of you for the greater good because we are the greater good, the reason we're still here. Not me. This is life and death. How you live, and how you die. It isn't up to me. I'm not your Governor. We choose to go, we choose to stay. We stick together. We vote. We can stay and we can fight, or we can go."

If there was ever one thing Faye wanted to remember of Rick, it was those words.


Author's Note:

I'm sorry! This was never supposed to take so long, but writer's block attacked me and I had my end of year science test (which turned out to be ridiculously easy, everyone in my class - including me - had been freaking out for no reason). I am also sorry that if this chapter isn't up to the usual standard, but I have left it too long to update anyway. To the guest asking me to update - don't worry, you didn't annoy me! It encouraged me to finish the last part of the chapter.

Anyway, so in the end, Faye does not join Daryl. Right up until I was writing it, I did not know how it would turn out, so the scene ended up writing itself out. And Daryl did not let her join him.

Also, thanks to the reviewer who told me about saying bangs instead of fringe, I will go back and swap it!

So, I'll see you in the next chapter!

Please review, I love to hear your thoughts and advice.

Thanks.

Cobalt Flame.