A/N- Wow. Y'all are great. I can't believe the outpouring of new story follows and the great PMs I've gotten from people. I love getting them and I'd LOVE to read your feedback new followers! The next 2 chapters are a little slower, but needed!
The two brothers stared at each other, neither willing, nor sure how, to make the first move. Neither noticed the others around them going silent and still with uncertainty. Alex sighed in exasperation and gingerly walked her way towards Merle. She got close and murmured quietly to him. "You forget how to talk Hotshot?" Her eyes flashed in challenged.
Merle sneered at her and turned back to his brother. "Ya had to go an' get a woman with a smart mouth didn'tcha boy?"
Daryl stiffed at the verbal jab and Davis started forward. Alex just laughed and then grimaced in pain. "Someone has to keep you Dixon men on your toes. Guess that honor falls to me."
Merle's arm went around her waist and pulled her against him. He gently guided her over to his brother and slipped his arm away. Glenn's jaw dropped in disbelief. He never believed it possible that Merle could be gentle. Daryl angled Alex closer to him, supporting her with his own body. "Thanks," he said gruffly.
As the adrenaline coursing through her dissipated, Alex began to sag against Daryl. "Not to break up the family reunion, but could we go home now?" she questioned.
"Yeah lady, we'll head home. Ride might be tight, but we'll manage."
Davis offered to drive. Andrea wedged herself between Glenn and Maggie in the back, needing the comfort they offered. Daryl opened the back hatch and helped Alex in, climbing in behind her. He refused to let her go. Merle hesitated slightly until Alex shot him a look again. He refused the passenger side and go into the hatch with his brother.
The silence on the ride back was one of comfort. Andrea kept a tight hold on either of the people next to her, as if she expected them to disappear. Alex was curled around Daryl as best she could. Merle noticed idly that even wrapped together, she left his brother's dominate hand clear for weapons, even though it meant her good hand was useless. Her head rested on Daryl's shoulder, eyes drifting shut. At first, no one spoke. It seemed they were all afraid to break the spell that their missing friends and family may disappear if they spoke. Eventually Alex roused herself enough to disturb the silence.
"Lucas is dead," she announced in a subdued voice. Every head turned to look at her. She sighed deeply. "Kevin told me. Said he'd been chewed on by walkers."
"Ria, he may have been lying." Daryl tried to keep his voice level.
"He knew about you and me, the rest of the group. So, even if he isn't dead, they were together at some point in the last week."
"He's dead." Merle's voice was flat. "'Bout three days ago Kevin broke his own rule 'n brought back a bitten. Put 'im in a back cabin 'n kept 'im comfortable before puttin' 'im down. Punched a wall when he died. Started rantin' about a woman. Guess he meant you Spitfire."
Daryl tightened his hold around Alex. The primal part of him was reveling in the fact that Lucas was dead. The more rational part knew that, even though Alex had been betrayed, they had been friends for many years. He felt a shudder roll through her body.
"There's nothing we can do to change what happened. I won't say he deserved it because no one does, but I won't mourn him." The tone of her words betrayed what she said. Alex knew she wouldn't mourn the man he had become, but she did mourn the man he had been.
Daryl rubbed his hand up and down Alex's injured arm gently. Andrea hesitantly began to ask Maggie and Glenn what had happened while she was apart from the group. They filled in missing pieces quietly. Alex knew they all felt guilty about how they left her at the Greene farm. Carol had voiced her guilt multiple times that Andrea was dead because of her.
The SUV rolled into the front courtyard, Rick and Hershel already striding towards it. Rick's stride broke as he saw the newcomer, before letting out a shocked cry of "Andrea!" The blonde woman took off and threw herself into his arms, crying slightly. Glenn opened the hatch of the vehicle and Rick took in the body emerging. He couldn't see the man's face, but it was instantly immediate to him that it wasn't a member of his group.
Rick brought himself to full height as he watched the man lean in and helped the feminine form he associated with Alex out of the car. Daryl hopped out immediately after, wrapping an arm around the woman. The trio walked around the car. "Well hell," he murmured as he realized that, somewhere, they had found the long lost Dixon.
"That was my thought," Andrea murmured back. "But, he seemed oddly quiet at the other camp."
Rick eyed Alex up, his jaw tightening as he took in the bruises along her face, ripped and torn shirt, and left arm in a sling. "You're a sight for sore eyes," he drawled when she drew close enough.
"Yeah, well, didn't want Hershel to get rusty," she tried to joke, knowing it fell flat.
Rick turned to Merle, sizing him up. "Merle," he stated in greeting.
"Officer Friendly." The two men began a stare down, both remembering the last time they saw each other. Irritated, Alex broke the tension.
"Merle, you and Daryl going to get me down to Hershel's clinic? I'm not sure how much longer I'll be on my feet." Her comment drew the men's gaze, but she wasn't joking. Adrenaline spent and pain flaring, Alex was swaying slightly on her feet, even with Daryl's arm wrapped around her. He grunted in response and surprised everyone, including himself, by pulling her up into his arms.
Alex wasn't much shorter than the two brothers and was the first to admit that she wasn't built like a stick. Daryl was strong, his body covered in corded, lean muscles developed from years of hunting. Merle had a broader build and military trained muscles. He'd hauled more than one passed out body through the desert in his short military stint.
"Lead on," he intoned, then followed Herschel who had cajoled Andrea into getting a full checkup.
Rick grabbed Daryl's arm, stalling the other man. "Where'd you find him?"
"We didn't. Found 'em with Ria and Andrea on the side of the road. We didn't stop and have a tea party Rick." He disengaged and stalked after his brother and the others.
Rick rubbed his temple, knowing that Merle was a complication that they hadn't planned on.
The two brothers stood in the hall outside the infirmary. The silence was uncomfortable, neither of them knowing how to broach the subjects that needed to be discussed. Eventually Daryl broke.
"We went back for ya."
"Sure ya did baby brother. That's why I cut my own hand off." He waved the stump to emphasize the point.
"Ya'd already cut it off. Followed the trail ya left through the building. Saw the geeks ya took out and where you cauterized the wound on a stove."
"Got there a little late then brother."
"Wadda want me to say Merle? We came back and ya were gone. Ya took our van. We figured ya were headin' back to camp. Got there and the damn place was crawlin' with geeks. Couldn't stay there."
"Van? I didn't steal no god damned van. Hauled my ass into a clinic, took some pills for infection 'n pain."
They were in each other's faces, neither used to the emotions that boiled under the surface. The sound of a throat clearing pulled the two apart. Rick eyed the brothers cautiously, Davis and Morgan behind him. He was slightly dismayed to see Daryl already starting to revert to the overly emotional man he had been before.
"I have a few questions for you Merle," he said calmly.
"Why the fuck ya think I'm gonna answer 'em Officer Friendly? Never said I was rejoining yer Merry Band. Came to get my brother. Don't plan on stayin' long."
"Who said I'm going with you big brother? Best not think you know me that well."
"Get a cushy place with walls 'n ya forget who's family? Shoulda figured ya'd do that." Both men's hands had clenched into tight fists. They were scant inches apart from each other.
"That's enough," Rick yelled, seeing them near throwing fists as their voices raised. "We don't need this right now."
"So ya think ya can tell all of us what to do? Fuck that."
The infirmary door flung open. Alex stood facing the men in the hallway. Her skin was pale under the bruises and her arm was encased in an actual sling. Only the tips of her fingers were visible beneath the edges of her father's black jacket. "Excuse me gentlemen," she began, her voice soft, so soft they had to shut up to hear her. "Not everyone living here wants to hear y'all roaring at each other."
Her gaze settled on all of them before continuing. "Now then, I want y'all to remember something. You don't have to like each other. I can't force you to respect each other, but I will not let you disrupt or upset other people here. I expect everyone here to work with each other. Am I clear on that?"
All of the men nodded their heads in assent. "Good. Now that we have that cleared up, Merle." She twisted to look at the man. Daryl knew no one else saw the brief flinch that crossed his brother's face. He was expecting to be sent away again.
"You've got more knowledge of the other group than anyone. Do you think they know we've gone?"
Merle's eyes widened for just a moment, thrown off by being asked a question, not being kicked out. "Probably seen 'ole Jackson passed out. Dunno about y'all yet."
"How long do you think they'll search for us?"
"Eh, a bit. 'Til they figure out I'm with y'all. They'll head here right quick then."
Alex contemplated his words for a moment. "Okay then. Doc doped me up, so I'm no good. Davis, you and Rick know our security routines best. I want you to make sure we stay secure. Merle, you and Daryl are our best hunters. Grab a group and see if you can head 'em off before they get here. Morgan, you grab T-Dog and make sure all interior projects are done just in case there's some sort of standoff."
The five men stared at her wide eyed. In the course of five minutes she had diffused a blow up between siblings, assessed a situation, and begun a plan. She slumped against the door lightly. "Guys, I ran a classroom with eight to ten volatile teenage boys. Y'all aren't that much different." She gave a giggle which spurred Daryl into moving.
"Ya alright lady?"
Hershel appeared in the doorway behind her. "Miss Cane needs a decent meal and rest. I gave her some muscle relaxers to help with the pain. They can make people. . .giddy."
Daryl snorted. "Great, a high Ria. Just what we need. C'mon lady, let's get ya to bed." He wrapped his arm around her again and began walking her to the stairs.
"Hey Spitfire, hold on." Merle stalked up to them, reaching into his pocket. "Figure ya want this back little sister." He held his mother's locket out to her.
Alex smiled softly at him as she grabbed it, sliding it into a pocket on her coat. She disentangled from Daryl and wrapped an arm around Merle's neck, hugging him. He stayed stiff, almost afraid of the display of emotion. "You can blame the meds if you want," she whispered to him, "but thank you for bring me home."
She pulled away and he nodded to her once. Merle pushed his way towards the stairs, not meeting anyone's eyes. Alex turned back to Daryl. "Walk me to the room hunter," she drawled, her accent on full, medicated display.