Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead… and since I can't buy the franchise, it's lucky that I can keep the characters inside my head for free.

Author's Note: Thank you to my wonderful reviewers! There are a few of you who encourage me so consistently, it's like having my own cheerleaders. If only we could all have so much positive reinforcement in all parts of our lives! :) Here's one more chapter of cuteness before it all goes to hell... Hope you enjoy it... and feel free to let me know what you think! :)

Season 3, episode 1

The Prison, Morning

Rick, Daryl, T-Dog and Hershel stood around a table in an empty room, looking through the stash of weapons that they'd managed to find that morning in the prison armory. Carol had been doing her best to comfort Lori, who was worried sick about the baby and needed to talk to someone who could calm her down. So Carol had gone to get Hershel, since he was the only one with real medical knowledge, hoping that he could say something that would ease Lori's mind. Hershel had headed up to the cell the women were sharing to talk to her, so Carol decided to make herself scarce. No doubt Lori would rather have a private conversation with him.

There was no cooking or washing up to be done at this hour, and everyone inside the prison walls seemed to be occupied with one thing or another, so she decided to see what was happening outside. Anything to take her mind of off what so many people that she cared about were about to do, which would mean putting themselves in danger yet again…

The weapons inventory had been completed just after Hershel had left with Carol. Rick had decided hopefully that whatever Carol had asked Hershel to do, it should be finished within fifteen minutes or so. She knew the importance of the task they were getting ready for, so he doubted that she would ask him to do anything that would take longer than that. "Let's meet back at that gate that accesses the inside of the building in fifteen minutes," Rick had told Daryl and T-Dog. "I'll let Glenn and Maggie know." The other two nodded. They grabbed the weapons they needed and headed out of the room, going their separate ways.

Daryl couldn't have explained why, but he had the urge to seek Carol out before they left on their "expedition." They had no idea how many walkers they'd encounter down there, how dangerous it really was… he supposed he just wanted to have a minute to talk with her beforehand, the way some people wanted a kiss for luck. Not that he wanted one. Just the accidental thought alone made him blush, and he was glad no one was around to see his face flush as he stalked through the empty hallway to find her.

No, it wasn't that he wanted a kiss. He flinched at just the thought. Not that a kiss from her would be a bad thing, but… STOP, he told his jumbled emotions. It was just that he always felt calmer – albeit often more confused – in her presence. And it wasn't that he was afraid of what they were about to do, exploring the inner parts of the prison… He'd be the first to say that he took the threat of walkers very seriously, but afraid of them? No, that didn't seem like the right word. Granted, there were times when fear did seem like the correct thing to feel where walkers were concerned… that night at the farm, for example… But in general he knew how to take care of himself around them. Would it be possible to get into a situation he couldn't handle? Of course. He could only fight off so many on his own. But afraid to clear the prison? No. Cautious might be a better word for how he felt.

He sighed internally at himself in frustration. Surely he didn't need to spend so much energy analyzing this. Really he just had the urge to go talk to her before they went to see what was down there. She was his friend, and he just felt like talking to her. Simple as that. That alone was an unfamiliar enough feeling to him, without introducing any other elements into it. He didn't need people. He just didn't, never had. Until now, that is. He kinda liked it and hated it at the same time.

She had almost reached the stairs that led to the cellblock door, thinking she'd go outside and see if whoever was on watch in the guard tower wanted to be relieved, or check the fences around the perimeter, do something, when she heard footsteps behind her. She didn't have to turn around to know that they belonged to Daryl. Their weapons inventory must have broken up shortly after she'd come to retrieve Hershel. She wondered if Daryl's presence there was a coincidence, or if he'd been catching up to her on purpose. In a place this size, coincidences were possible but less likely…

It only took a few minutes before he found her. She was at the other end of the hall, heading for the stairs to the cellblock door that went to the outside yard. He fell in step behind her, almost catching up with her when she stopped and turned around, smiling at him. She stood and waited for him to catch up with her, looking glad to see him, if he wasn't mistaken. "Y'all leaving soon, to go down and… explore?" she asked hesitantly. Just the idea of the unknown down there and what might be waiting for them made her nervous. She knew that they had survived encounters with walkers many times since the camp outside Atlanta, however, they'd also lost many people to walkers along the way. It only took one mistake… Daryl's voice broke her out of her momentary flood of thoughts.

"Yeah, bout fifteen minutes," he replied. She nodded slightly, looking down to try to hide the nervousness she felt. He watched her bite her bottom lip unconsciously. Is she worried? he wondered in surprise, realizing that it wouldn't be the first time. She worried about everyone in the group. It was just in her nature. But he wasn't used to people worrying about him, hadn't yet gotten used to her worrying about him, though she'd been doing it for some time now. He looked past, up her towards the cellblock door. "Y'on yer way somewhere?"

"Not really, just trying to give Lori and Hershel some privacy to talk. Nothing needs to be done in here right now. I figured I'd see what was happening in the yard, if anyone needed help out there." She only hesitated before adding, "Come get some fresh air with me." She tilted her head toward the cellblock door.

He nodded, and together they climbed the stairs and walked to the door. He pulled it open, then stepped back to hold it for her to go through. That hadn't happened to her very often in the past.
Someone, besides an occasional stranger, holding a door open for her was almost foreign to her. She was fairly certain she would never get used to this small courtesy. She smiled awkwardly as she walked past him through the open door, whispering "thank you" and looking at the ground. He shook his head in a dismissive gesture, as if to say that he hadn't done anything worth being thanked for, as the two emerged out into the sunshine. They were happy to note that the days were slowly getting warmer as spring arrived, and the sun was a welcome change from the dark interior of the prison.

She was glad he was there. She preferred his company to the others' most of the time. And yet, she'd been trying not to think about how nervous she was about the group of them going down into the unknown depths of the prison, so of course it was hard not to think about it with one of them – the one she was most worried about – walking beside her. She looked at the ground, willing herself to be calm. One foot in front of the other. But it wasn't working. She felt her heart pounding in her throat. They'd been through so much already, lost so many people in so many truly horrible ways. She just had a bad feeling about this foray into the unknown, one she couldn't explain.

She couldn't tell him not to go, she knew that. She wouldn't ask that of him, and she wouldn't expect him to stay while others put themselves at risk. He was always the first one to put himself in harm's way to help others. It was one of the first things that she had loved about him, back when he'd tried so hard to find Sophia. Still, it didn't mean she had to like it. She couldn't bring herself to speak as they walked out into the field.

They continued in the direction of the fences that held the walkers at bay, turning towards the middle of the field and walking parallel with the fence when they got close enough to start hearing their moans. Daryl couldn't help but notice that Carol didn't seem like herself as they walked in silence. She was staring at the ground in front of her, her face unreadable. He kept glancing at her, but it was as if she'd suddenly gotten lost in her own thoughts. His footsteps slowed until he stopped right there in the grass, and she went only a few steps beyond him before realizing he had stopped. She turned around and walked back, looking up at him only reluctantly.

They knew each other well enough by now that he didn't have to ask. " 'S gonna be fine," he told her.

She nodded quickly, looking back down. Inhaling slowly, she tried to steady her breathing and willed him not to notice, despite the fact that she knew he would. She couldn't, wouldn't let herself, lose control now. Not that she hadn't broken in front of him down plenty of times before, but she knew how uncomfortable it made him. Besides, she hated feeling weak. She didn't want to be that person anymore.

They heard someone calling their names, and looked back at the prison building, where they saw Rick waving at them from the door into the cellblock. "Gotta get back," Daryl mumbled, and Carol just nodded again. Daryl waved at Rick in acknowledgement, and Rick went back inside, letting the door close behind him. Neither of them moved. Daryl felt like he had to do something, but was momentarily paralyzed, unable to think what that something should be. While he wasn't exactly afraid, he could see that she was afraid on his behalf, afraid for all of them. He knew that nothing would reassure her except for their safe return, and he couldn't offer her any proof that that would happen, despite the fact that he believed it.

After another moment's hesitation, he cleared his throat. "Hey," he grumbled. She met him eyes, again reluctantly, and he could see that she was making an effort to smile. "You're not getting rid of me that easy. Alright?" She nodded, maintaining eye contact this time but not quite trusting herself to speak yet. He tentatively raised one of his hands and rested it lightly on her arm, just above her elbow, giving it a small squeeze before releasing it and dropping his hand again. To anyone else it would have been no big deal, but she knew better. That was a grand gesture from Daryl, and her smile became a genuine one. She tilted her head toward the building, and they started walking back slowly.

They walked the rest of the way back in silence, but it was a different silence than they'd shared on the way out. She would absolutely still worry about him, about all of them, but she couldn't allow her fear to control her. There was so much to be done, so many people here who needed her. She would be strong, because that was the person she wanted to be. He wasn't afraid, not exactly, she could tell, so she'd somehow manage to be strong as well.

They climbed the steps and reached the door, and once again he stepped forward to pull it open and then stepped back to hold it for her. She shook her head at him, mumbling "thank you" and walking through to the other side. Without another word they made their way to the locked gate that marked the entrance to the unknown, the so far unexplored part of the prison. Her feeling of foreboding hadn't gone away, but she chose to ignore it for now. She stood silently and watched while they suited up in leftover prison riot gear. Daryl didn't, of course… he never even wore shirts with sleeves, so there was no way they were going to get him to put "that shit," as he had called it, on.

While Rick was breaking the news to a disappointed Carl that he had to stay behind, and Maggie and Beth embraced quickly, Daryl glanced up at Carol, who was standing beside the gate, watching him carefully. Their eyes met for a second, and her lips turned upward slightly into an almost-smile. He nodded at her once, as he usually did. There was nothing else to say, but as usual, no words were needed. Daryl filed through the gate, the others following him, and Carl locked the entrance after them.

And now the waiting began.