Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

The day of the trial came, Nina had explained her role with the Shah and how she was cast out, and several people spoke on her behalf. Carol felt for them but wouldn't be moved. Daryl ensured she stayed beside him the entire time to keep her from wandering to have another chat with Nina when she was escorted back to the cells. The council when into deliberation, and Carol wasn't sure how they would vote.

They had no means of keeping Nina here long term. They had the cells, but only two, and it wouldn't be an ideal situation to pamper her there for being a rat. She would be safe and fed if she were to remain here, and that wasn't exactly a punishment fit for her crimes. She had betrayed every single person, and those who sympathized with her had no idea the cruelty the Shah would inflict upon Judith and Charlotte should they get their hands on them. Otherwise they wouldn't speak on her behalf. They wouldn't have pleaded for her to stay and find some way to make amends. If Nina deserved amends, she would have come clean about the potential threat outside their walls.

However, they couldn't just exile her. She could return to the Shah, using inside information to win her way back into their inner circle. With that information, they could easily swoop into their town and steal the children they saw matched some psycho profile. Or were close enough to it to pass. Desperate times called for desperate measures, so they likely would allow her back into their ranks. Her and her information.

That only left one true option: death. They would have to kill her. It would ensure none of the Shah learned of any other entrances and exits to Alexandria, and they had no more access to view and select matching profiles from their children beyond what they saw when the gates briefly opened. Well, that and whatever information Mordin had given them. They had no way of knowing what Mordin had given them, but they knew they couldn't allow Nina to give them any more. It stopped with her. It all stopped with her.

The council returned from deliberating, Gabriel said Nina had one final request—to speak to Carol—and then they would handle her as decided on. Carol was stunned but accepted the offer. Daryl said he was coming with her, and they headed to the cells to speak with Nina Rizzoli for possibly the last time in her life.

Carol laced her fingers through Daryl's as they approached the bars, and Daryl offered her a reassuring smile.

"I thought you both might come." Nina sat on the bed, wrapped up like a mummy. "I'm glad."

"Glad?" Carol narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"Because I have several things I'd like to say to both of you." She drew air into her lungs and tried not to cry. "I'm sorry, for starters, about the events that happened on your wedding day. I hope I didn't ruin it."

"You didn't," Carol murmured. "How'd you even know we got married?"

"I could hear the music and announcements." She smiled. "You must have been a beautiful bride."

"She was." Daryl smiled at his wife then turned his gaze back to Nina. "What do you have to say to us? Beyond the apology."

"I wanted to say…" She shifted on the bed, trying to get comfortable, but that was impossible with her kneecap in tatters and her shoulder torn up. She hadn't received any pain meds for hours now, and she was on the verge of a mental breakdown. If she was lucky, she wouldn't have to deal with it much longer. "…they're going to get Charlotte. That's not a threat; it's a promise. They will find someway to get by the walls and the guards, and they will snatch her. You might want to accept that now."

Carol started to lunge at the bars, but Daryl set a hand on her stomach, reminding her of the life she needed to remain calm for. She tightened her grip on his hand and did nothing more.

"And thirdly…" A tear fell free, and she smiled softly, "just kill me."

Carol frowned, her brows knitting together, and she met Daryl's eyes. She shook her head and turned back to Nina. "Why would we do that?"

"Because you can't keep me here indefinitely. You can't send me on my way. So, death is the only choice there is. I'm choosing to embrace it rather than fight it." Her shoulders trembled and she laughed. "I should have been honest from the beginning, but I wanted to put distance between me and the Shah. I couldn't…forgive them, but I could forget them. I could try."

Daryl lowered his eyes. "Nina, we can't do that."

"Yes, you can." She snuffled and tried to stop crying, but she was terrified. She wasn't going to see tomorrow, and that terrified her. She wanted nothing more than go back to the beginning and explain it all to Deanna and Reg, but she couldn't. She could no more go back in time than she could fight her fate right now. She was trying to embrace it, but she couldn't stop shaking. She didn't want to die. She didn't want this to be the end of her life.

But she had no choice. She hadn't been honest when Deanna spoke to her. She hadn't been honest when she judged Carol for being dishonest. She hadn't been truthful to the woman her parents had wanted her to be. This wasn't how she wanted to remember her life. As a lair, as a traitor, as…a person who put a child in danger to save their own skin. This wasn't at all who she had hoped to become.

"Please, don't let them decide to kill me in front of a bunch of strangers." Her voice shook as she bawled. "I—I want it to be my choice. For the fi—first time in years, please, please let it be my choice."

Carol and Daryl exchanged a look, Nina trembled and sobbed as she pleaded for them to kill her, and Daryl told Carol to get a car. She wasn't sure what he needed a car for, but she nodded and headed out to retrieve one. Daryl unlocked the cell and picked up a bottle of morphine setting outside her cell that Denise had likely forgotten about. He filled a syringe and injected her with it carefully, dulling the pain he knew she was in.

She was a messy of snot and tears, big round eyes finding his, and she thanked him, grasping his hand and holding onto it tightly. "I really did love you," she whispered. "I was never lying about that."

"I know." He set the needle down on the bed beside her. "And I'm sorry, Nina."

Carol returned ten minutes later, Daryl was carrying an unconscious Nina out in his arms, and he carefully placed her in the backseat. Carol asked what he was planning to do, and he told her to stay and watch the kids, but she refused to sit back and leave this all to him. They were a team, and they would handle this together. He closed his eyes and nodded, knowing Rick would watch the kids overnight if neither of them came to fetch them.

They drove out of Alexandria, Carol looked back at Nina with worry as she hadn't moved in since Daryl had brought her out of the cells, and Daryl told her he'd sedated her for the trip. She asked where the end of this trip was, but he didn't answer. He simply kept driving.

They drove for several miles, the sun was beginning to sink beneath the clouds, and Carol was starting to get hungry. Daryl said there were granola bars in the glove compartment when she asked for a food break, and she frowned, wondering what made him so determined to keep on the road.

No one spoke as they continued to drive, Nina breathed lightly in the backseat, and Carol drifted off herself. Daryl continued to drive in silence, listening to the sounds of breathing around him, and he gripped the wheel tighter, his jaw clenched, and he hated this trip even more.

When the car finally stopped, Carol was starving for something other than granola and a bathroom break, and Nina was beginning to rouse. Daryl asked Carol to get out of the car, and Carol realized where they were. She hadn't even thought to guess how long she'd been asleep after the third time she'd passed out, but apparently, it'd been a while, because they were back at the grove.

Daryl helped Nina out of the car and carried her over to the house, Carol followed and noticed the bodies had been cleaned up from the last time they were here. Blood stained the steps, and there was no avoiding the memories it invoked. Carol hurried up them and caught Daryl as he placed Nina down on the couch.

"It's gettin' dark. I'll go collect dinner and some wood." He covered Nina up with a blanket. "Y'all wait here."

"Daryl, wait." Carol tried to grasp his arm, but he dodged her. "Daryl, please."

"Just wait here," he softly instructed and smiled at her, heading out.

Carol pressed her lips together and looked around, seeing everything was still in the same condition as they had left it in, and she went to the bathroom. Emptying her pressed bladder and washing her hands, she went back to the living room and sat down in the armchair. She rubbed her arm and looked over at Nina, who was still out of it from the sedative, and she exhaled, wondering what on earth Daryl had in mind for them.

"What's going on?" Nina murmured groggily, trying to shake her head and clear it, but the fog of morphine kept dragging her down.

"I don't know." She glanced over at the woman beside her and frowned. "You okay?"

"Some executioner." She heaved a sigh and shook her head. "I'm not crying, right?"

"That doesn't mean you're all right."

"True, true." She laughed dryly, wearily, and she looked over at Carol. "I've always liked you."

"Don't."

"It's the truth. I have nothing but the truth now." She wrapped her arms round herself and wet her lips. "We were friends, weren't we?"

"Yeah, at some point, I think we were." Carol dropped her hands to her stomach. "But you threatened my baby, and I can never look at you like that again."

"I did…do that." Tears once more sprang up in her eyes. "I threatened a baby."

"You did more than threaten."

"You had me against the wall, and you would have done the same in my shoes. Don't deny it."

"You aren't pregnant, Nina. There would have been no risk."

"We're not so different, you know." She snuffled. "We were both scared of being alone and made stupid choices because of it."

"We're nothing alike."

"We both love Daryl. We both love your kids. We both—"

"Nina, please, just shut up. He'll be back soon, and we'll find out what's going on here." She stood up and walked over to the fireplace, seeing the pictures of the family that was here before. She picked up a frame and saw Nina's reflection in it.

A beat.

"Nina?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you want to die?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't want to die, but if I were to be exiled, I wouldn't be able to make it on my own. I'm weak, physically broken, and I wasn't meant to survive. There are people who thrive under change, and I'm just not one of them."

Carol's heart sunk at those words, recalling a time when she believed she was a burden and nothing more. She lowered the frame and faced Nina. "How do you know you wouldn't survive?"

"Look at me. I can't even walk. How do you expect me to tend to the garden, fetch water or even move into the bedroom?" She gestured to her broken body. "You made the impossible."

"You threatened my unborn child and stabbed me!"

"You stabbed me first," Nina pointed out.

"Why am I even talking to you?" She stormed out of the room and down the hall to her old bedroom, seeing the mattress was still on the bed, and it was made up. She frowned and recalled not leaving it in this condition. The Shah must have decided to use this as a safe house. And if that were true, then they were in danger, and they needed to get out of here.

"Nina." Carol ran back to the living room to find Nina still lying on the couch. "You okay?"

"Why do you care? I'm here to die, remember?"

"Get up. We need to wait in the car." She grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch. "C'mon, move."

"No." She shook her head. "If the Shah are here, if they are to return here, let them have me. They'll just kill me anyway, because I'm not fit for their tribe."

"It's a cult, not a tribe. And my husband brought you out here for some purpose, and I intend to see him see it through, so get up."

"Your husband is very lucky to have you, but no." She shook her head. "No. I am going to die. Stop trying to save me."

"I can't!" Carol snapped. "I can't just let you take this lying down. Literally lying down. You could easily survive your injuries, and you're not even going to try. You didn't try when you on the stand, and you're not trying now. You're just waiting for the easy way out."

"And you think dying is easy?"

"Yes, it is, because it's over for you. You don't have to lose anymore. You don't have to go hungry, or long for anything, or ache for those gone. You simply cease to be, and we will continue to mourn and move on for those gone, for those who were taken and left us with nothing, not even answers. We don't get to know what happens, like with Emily. She's just done."

"Do you blame me for that?"

"I just might." She tossed the blanket hard at Nina. "But for right now, get off your ass and move it, Rizzoli!"

"All right." She sat up with difficulty. "How do you know someone's even here?"

"Trust me."

Carol moved and helped her stand up, there was a sound of creaking coming from the back porch, and Carol escorted Nina down the hall to the bedroom. It was a tough walk to the back room, but they managed it. Carol set her down on the floor beside the bed, looking for the baseball bat she had left behind and arming herself with it since she didn't have anything but a knife. It wouldn't help her right now. She couldn't let them get too close.

There was the sound of someone exploring the house, stopping now and then to examine a room, and it wasn't Daryl. The steps were too light, and Carol positioned herself by the door, ready to kill anyone who walked through trying to take them or just one of them. She motioned for Nina to stay low in case they had a gun, and Nina nodded, gripping the blanket Carol had thrown at her anxiously, helplessly.

But no one ever entered their room. Carol waited and waited as they walked all through the living room and whispered to his or herself—likely herself by the light steps—but they never went any further than that. Carol frowned and strained her ears to try and make out any more sounds, but there was nothing. There was only the sound of the wind blowing in from the open back door.

"Wait here." Carol tossed the bat at her and pulled her knife from its sheath and explored the house room by room, creeping silently along, and she discovered the house was completely abandoned by them mystery member of the Shah. She headed to the back porch and found a basket of food. Its contents ranged from a freshly killed animal wrapped in plastic to jars of pickled foods, and there were unopened bottles of water there, too.

"What the hell?" She bent down and picked up a card with her name written on it. She opened it and found a brief note inside.

—For the little one. Safety ensured. We would not wish harm upon the boy. Be well, Mother.

She crumpled the note and grabbed the basket, taking it inside and setting it on the kitchen counter, going through it and finding nothing suspicious. They honestly meant well in handing over this basket of food, but Carol wasn't going to chance it. She was going to leave this here for Nina, or cook it as Nina's final meal, or whatever else Daryl had in mind for her.

Carol closed and locked the back door, glancing out to see if she saw any movement, but there was nothing among the trees. She turned on her heel and nearly ran smack into Daryl, who had carefully edged inside the house at the sight of someone running from it. He grabbed her up in his arms and held her close.

"You're all right?"

She nodded. "They didn't get to us. They just left a basket of food."

He looked it over and frowned. "We'll leave it here."

"For Nina?" He nodded. "So…you're not going to kill her?"

He stroked her hair and smiled gently at her. "I'll be right back."

"Daryl—"

He left before she could finish speaking, and she was getting rather annoyed with him. Daryl returned from his gathering the items he discard on the porch to investigate the person who ran away, and he tossed logs into the fire, glancing at Carol and Nina who were both silently sitting in the living room, avoiding eye contact. He asked Carol to skin the rabbits he'd found. He would help her out in a second, he just wanted to get the fire started, and she nodded, taking them over to the kitchen to be skinned and cleaned. He asked Nina how she was holding up, and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Depends on what you have in mind for me."

"You'll see in the mornin'." He pulled a lighter from his pocket and grabbed a ball of newspaper from the stack beside the fireplace, using it as a starter.

Carol and Daryl prepared the meal of rabbit and potatoes—some had grown out in the garden and were still there and good to eat—and Daryl brought a plate over to Nina. She wasn't sure about eating it, and he told her to consider it a last meal of sorts, and she attempted to thank him, but she ended up in tears instead.

"I'll keep watch throughout the night," Daryl told Carol, joining her in the kitchen. "You need some sleep."

"What I need are answers." She met his eyes and asked, "What are we doing here?"

"We're gonna do what Nina asked of us," he replied. "We're gonna kill her."

"But out here?"

"Better us out here than them at home where every one of her former student can pass by her grave." He had a lot of good memories from their last visit here, and he could get a clear head here. If this was the right decision or not, he'd know by morning.

"That's true." She shook her head and prepared their plates. "Here."

"Thanks." He kissed her temple and set a hand on her stomach, stroking it carefully and murmuring, "We're doin' the right thing here."

"Then why does it feel so wrong?" She didn't like how it settled in her guts. "Hmm?"

"You'll feel better about it tomorrow," he assured her. "C'mon, eat."

They all picked at their meals before them. Carol didn't speak as Daryl made plans for heading home tomorrow morning, Nina lied down and cried herself to sleep from both pain and the death sentence she'd gotten herself into, and Daryl moved outside for the night. Carol wasn't able to fall asleep, so she picked a book from the shelf and curled up in the chair to read it. She looked over at Nina, at how peacefully she slept, and she returned her eyes to the book, trying to keep her focus.

When that didn't work, she joined Daryl on the back porch and sat on the steps, lacing her fingers together. She peered over at him, and he reached over and grasped her knee, rubbing it with his thumb and asking her why she couldn't sleep.

"I don't like this."

"I don't either," he confessed, "but she asked for it. All we can do is follow it through."

"That doesn't make me feel any better about it." She scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "I wish there was a better middle option."

"Yeah, me too." He kissed the top of her head and stroked her thigh. "We'll be okay."

"It's not us I'm worried about."

"All we can do is what she asked of us. It's why she wanted us to come down and see her. It's all we can do is answer her request, even if it sucks." He searched the night sky overhead. "The council wouldn't have decided to keep her, no matter how many people spoke on her behalf. You and I both know that. This is the best choice for her."

She buried her face in his shoulder. "I know you're right, even though it doesn't feel like it."

They stayed there together until Carol fell asleep, he carried her back inside the house and put her to bed. He checked in on Nina before returning to his post, and he sat down, picking up a thick branch and a spare knife from the kitchen. He got to work while keeping an eye on the forest for movement. He had a long, heavy night ahead of him, but it was for him to bear, and he would bear it. He had no choice.

In the morning, Daryl prepared the meat from the basket for Nina, adding in the pickled veggies while he prepared a nut and fruit meal for Carol from the food he'd gathered outside, and he set both bowl and plate at the table, carrying Nina over and setting her down gently. She thanked him weakly and stared at the food on her plate, and Carol joined them a moment later. He kissed her good morning, and she managed a smile.

"I'm not hungry." Nina poked at the cooked meat and let go of a whisper of a sigh. "Thank you, though."

"You should eat." Daryl helped himself to a peach from the basket since it had no puncture wounds when the skin was removed. It was safe to eat. He hoped.

"Why? I'll be dead before sundown." She set the fork down and straightened in the chair. "Can we not drag this out?"

He looked at Carol, who looked green around the gills, and he frowned. "You—"

She shot up from the chair and ran out of the house to the back porch, puking, and Daryl went after her. He rubbed her back through the wave of potential morning sickness, and he sat her down outside. She began to cry, and she said she couldn't do this.

"Do what?" He frowned. "Kill Nina?"

She nodded. "I know I should hate her for what she did, and I know I almost killed her in that cell, but it's not the same circumstances anymore. I can't just stand by and let you kill her—or kill her myself. I just… can't go through with this."

"We have to, Carol." He cupped her cheeks. "We just have to."

"Daryl, please, don't make me sit through this."

He sighed and kissed her brow. "C'mere." He helped her to her feet and pulled her into his arms, holding her close and whispering assurances into her ear. He had her wait there on the porch while he went inside and walked Nina out to the backyard. Carol was furious with him for continuing with this plan, and Nina was pale, shaking, and he stood her up beside the yellow wildflowers.

"Daryl," Carol warned, and he pulled that same kitchen knife from his belt. "Daryl!"

He met Nina's eyes, she was trembling and likely in pain from being forced to stand, and he readied himself. Carol tore off the porch to stop him, but by the time she reached him, she thought it was too late. However, the scene before was different from what she had expected.

He had raised his knife up, but instead of striking, he grabbed her ponytail and cut her hair off. He dropped the chopped hairs onto the ground and handed her a crutch crafted from the thick branch he'd found in the woods. It would support her weight, and she would be able to use it as a weapon should she need it.

"There. Nina Rizzoli is dead." He handed over his knife. "Be someone else—someone better—and let Nina die."

Carol was stunned, and Nina matched her in both feeling and expression. "Daryl…"

"I ain't gonna kill you," he stated. "That ain't for me or anybody to decide. You made bad choices, but we all have. You deserve a chance to make it right. Just not with us. You ain't welcome in our community ever again. Do you understand me?"

She nodded hastily. "Yes."

"You've got food and water here. You can walk with that crutch, and there's plenty of ways for you to survive out here. I don't wanna hear any complaints. You're on your own." He dug out the bottle of morphine and held it out to her. "I know you grabbed the syringe."

"Guilty." She pulled it out of her back pocket.

"This is a partin' gift." He let her accept the bottle. "Take care, stranger."

She smiled faintly as tears bunched up in her eyes. "Thank you."

He said nothing to her, simply grasped his wife's hand and guided her back to the car. She wrapped her arm around his, and he kissed her forehead, "Let's go home."

She couldn't agree with that statement more, ans they pulled out of the grove and headed for the road, Carol inquired, "Do you think she'll make it?"

"Maybe," Daryl replied, looking back once before the house fell out of sight. "But it ain't for us to know."

She gripped her seat belt. "She deserves whatever comes to her."

"Yeah," he agreed, "she does."

When they finally arrived home days later, Rick and Michonne were concerned and demanded to know what the hell happened to Nina. Daryl explained that they had done what needed to be done, and Nina was out of their lives forever. It was the same decision the council had come to, and there was no point in arguing. Daryl was just glad to be home with his girls. He would protect them come hell or high water, and that wasn't a threat; it was a promise.