The next week passed without any incident. Rick, Michonne, and Carl had made a run to Rick's hometown to gather the weapons and ammo that Rick knew would still be at the local police office. During this time, Ava had taken to patrolling the gate, killing whatever walker decided to venture up close.

Since the day that she had snapped at Daryl, the pair hardly spoke one word to each other. Being the strong-willed and stubborn individuals that they were, they were taking their own sweet time in apologizing. Daryl, because he knew he didn't do anything wrong so there was no way in hell that he would apologize, and Ava, knew that she was wrong in acting that way but she was still suffering and fuming over everything that had happened with the Governor.

The day that Andrea visited, the group had made plans to meet the Governor at an abandoned farm a few miles away from the prison. When the day came that the meeting would take place, Merle found Ava sitting in the front seat of the SUV, cleaning her knife and sharpening her arrows. The older man shook his head and made his way over to her.

"And just what do you think ya doin', princess?" he asked with a slight chuckle in his voice. Ava didn't look up from her task as she answered his question, "None of your damn business Merle." The man scoffed as he rested his metal-covered stump on the roof of the car, "Well, it is my damn business, seein' as how you and my baby bro are just about fuckin' on the regular and ya basically family by this point. Don't tell me yer thinkin' of going with 'em to see the Governor?" Ava shrugged as she looked forward, her eyes squinting against the sunlight, mumbling under her breath "Okay. I won't tell you."

Merle sighed, running his hand over his short hair, "Dammit Ava! What're ya tryin' to prove?! Do you think that the minute the Governor sees your face he's gonna be on his face beggin' for ya forgiveness?" Ava shrugged half-heartedly and tucked her knife into her boot. She leaned back against the seat and crossed her arms over her chest as she admitted, "I don't want his forgiveness. I just want him to see that I'm still standing on my own two feet and that I'm fine after what he did to me."

Merle shook his head once more, chiding, "That's where you're wrong, princess. You think you're doing okay, but you're not." He held his hand up to keep Ava from interrupting, "Don't go there with me, princess. You think I haven't noticed that you and Darylina ain't even sleepin' in the same bed, let alone the same cell?" The older man sighed once more, the skin of his palm rasping over the stubble that covered his chin as he continued, "If you think Ol' Merle don't know a thing or two about PTSD or some shit like that, you got another thing comin'."

Merle looked over to the side as a door was slammed. He knocked on the frame of the door with his metal stump and pointed at Ava, "Dry them eyes, girl. Figure out what needs figurin' and then go talk to him. Lord knows, y'all probably need hash it out like animals in the sack if you get a chance." With that said, he turned and walked away, nodding at Hershel as he passed by.

Lifting a hand up to her eyes, she brushed away tears that she didn't even realize had escaped. As Hershel slid into his seat, he looked over at the quiet woman beside him. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he gave a gentle squeeze as he softly stated "You know you don't have to come with us if you don't want to." Ava looked over at the older man, a small smile gracing her lips, "I'm good. Thanks Hershel. Just ready to get this show on the road."

Hershel nodded and started the car as Rick slipped into the back seat and they made their way to the meeting point.


Ava leaned against the side of the car while Daryl paced back and forth between the two groups. Hershel stepped forward, voicing his concern about how he should probably go inside. A squirrelly looking man with glasses, who was writing in what looked like a journal, spoke up "I don't think that would be best. The Governor wanted to meet with Rick privately." Daryl narrowed his eyes at the man.

"Who the hell are you?" he wondered aloud.

The man sighed as he continued writing, "Milton Mamet."

Daryl scoffed, "Great. He brought his butler." The man shook his head and still continued to write, "I'm his advisor. I advise him on things that I don't need to tell the henchmen about." The hunter pointed his finger at the man and smirked "You better watch your mouth sunshine." Martinez kept his arms crossed, his biceps flexing as if he was trying to keep a temper down, "You know, if we're gonna be pointing guns at each other all day, do me a favor. Shut your mouth."

Daryl swung his crossbow so that it rested on his back as he stepped forward and came face to face with Martinez. Hershel spoke up, motioning towards the barn, "Save it men. If this thing goes south, we'll be at each other's throats soon enough."

Suddenly, the barn door slid open and Andrea came stomping out and moved to sit away from the small group. Ava rolled her eyes and stood up, shouldering her bow, to slide the door shut. As she looked into the barn towards the two men who were sat at a table, the governor caught her gaze and raised a glass of liquid in her direction with a smirk growing across his mouth. Rick saw the movement and turned around to see what was happening.

Rick stood up and quickly made his way to Ava, blocking her view of the Governor. Placing a finger under her chin and lifting her head so he could catch her gaze, he whispered "You good?" Ava swallowed and took a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I'm good." Her leader held her gaze for just a few seconds before nodding, stating that it won't be much longer. Ava nodded in reply and they both slid the door shut.

Ava turned around and leaned back against the door, sighing as some of the feelings that she thought were over, came bubbling back to the surface. Putting her hands over her ears, she took a few breaths to try to steady her heartbeat, blocking herself from the small group outside.

"—good thing they're sitting down," said Milton as Ava came back to the conversation, "especially after what happened. No one wants another battle." Wrapping her arms around her stomach, Ava let out a short, harsh laugh causing everyone to look at her. She kept her eyes focused on Milton though as she asked, "Is that what you're calling it? A battle?"

Milton swallowed as he pushed his glasses up his nose. He held up his small book, his hands slightly shaking as he answered, his voice growing stronger as he explained, "Yes. I even recorded it. Someone's got to keep a record of our history. I already have dozens of interviews from-"

Ava held her hand up, interrupting the man. "And just how are you portraying your lovely governor?" she said with a sneer. Pointing to his book, she continued to interrogate him, "Do those interviews only have good things to say about him, like he's some prophesied Messiah?" Ava continued, not hearing Daryl mutter her name under his breath, "Do you happen to have an interview where one of his men took two strangers off the street, beat one to near death with a walker in the room and almost raping the second, just so he can get the location of where my group is?"

Milton stood there, his mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air. With the silence that had come over the small group, the loud bang of metal against metal startled them into action. As Ava, Andrea, Daryl, and Martinez stalked to the sound with their weapons drawn, Hershel and Milton stayed behind.

As the four rounded the corner, they paused as they saw about five walkers stumbling towards them. Daryl loosened his grip on his crossbow and swung his arm out as if clearing the way for Martinez. "After you", he said mockingly. Martinez chuckled and pointed his bat at Daryl, "You first, redneck." Andrea huffed and ran forward, driving her knife into the eye of one walker as Ava let her arrow fly into the head of another. That was apparently the green light for the men because as soon as Ava's arrow hit the walker, Martinez started to swing his bat before smashing the head of another against the siding of one of the silos.

With a cocky smirk, he looked over his shoulder at Daryl and Ava. Andrea rolled her eyes and left, shaking her head. As the men continued to clear the last few walkers, Ava stood there and watched, laughing to herself as she saw Daryl's knife fly from his hand and take out Martinez's last kill. When all was silent, Ava cleared her throat and said teasingly, "Do y'all need a ruler?"

The trio grew silent as Daryl walked forward and began to look through one of the walker's pockets. With a small grunt, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Taking one out, he held the carton out to Martinez, who refused by saying that he only smoked menthols.

After a few minutes, Daryl mumbled around the cigarette in his mouth "So, you army or somethin'?" Martinez shook his head as he flung the blood and skin off his bat, "Nah. Just hate these things after what they did to my wife and kids." After a second thought, the man turned to face Ava and said, "Sorry about what happened back at Woodbury with John and the Governor. They shouldn't have done that. Had I known what was happening, I would've tried to step in."

Ava nodded in agreement, "You're right, they shouldn't have, but you can't always stop men like them in this world now." She looked over to Daryl and caught his gaze before continuing, "But a one-handed redneck told me that I needed to talk it out. So, I will." Martinez nodded as he saw the look shared between the two. Smirking, he snorted out a question, "Is this meeting a joke or something? Sure, they'll do a dance for a few days but after that…" Daryl nodded, the toe of his boot scuffing the ground as he muttered, "I know."

Martinez shook his head and turned and walked away.

Daryl was quiet as he puffed on his cigarette. Ava stood with baited breath, waiting on him to say something. Taking the last puff, he tossed the butt to the grass and ground it out with the toe of his boot. The hunter looked up at the sky, squinting in the sunlight as he directed a question to the silent woman, "So, does this mean you're over all that now?" Ava shrugged and slowly made her way to stand in front of Daryl, "I don't know if I'll ever be over it, Daryl. That's just something that sticks in your mind for a while." Daryl, still not wanting to make eye contact, looked over to the direction of the barn before letting go of the breath he was holding, "OK, I get that. Where does that leave us? You ain't gonna bite me anymore, are ya?"

Ava laughed softly causing Daryl to whip his head towards her, a scowl crossing his features. Ava reached down and slowly linked her hand with his, sighing at the feel of his rough palm against hers once more. Looking back up, she gave a small shake of her head and smiled in answer, "No, Daryl. I won't bite you anymore. Not unless you ask me." Ava laughed once more as she saw a blush creep up from his neck.

Rising on her tiptoes, she gently pressed her lips to his in a short kiss. Daryl released her hand and brought it up to cup the side of her neck as he rested his forehead against hers. As his eyes stayed closed, he whispered, "Fuck. You have no clue how bad I've missed you sweetheart." Slowly he opened his eyes to see her own eyes sparkling with unshed tears as she nibbled on her lower lip.

When Rick and the Governor were finished talking, each group respectfully left and headed their own separate ways. The only difference being that Ava rose on the motorcycle with Daryl instead of in the SUV.


Once everyone was gathered back at the prison, Rick called a short meeting. He took his time looking over his family before starting. Swallowing down the lump in his throat he began, "The Governor wants the prison. He also wants us gone and dead for what happened at Woodbury." The leader paused, letting the news sink in before delivering the last bit of information,

"We're going to war."


Whew! This took me two days to write! But I'm so glad I got it out! Let me know what you think!

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