Airianna sighed as she sat in the car next to Hershel, ignoring him as she glanced out the window. She only came on this trip because Rick insisted on bringing both of the doctors to the meeting with the Governor, claimed it was a sign of good faith. But she also guessed Andrea was going to try to butt her head into the private meeting and it would fall to her to keep the self-righteous woman away from the leaders as they talked.
She twitched as she felt the older man's eyes on her. She knew he was only concerned, but it made her skin crawl.
The redhead sighed when she watched Daryl zoom past them on his motorbike, keeping close to the car as they approached their destination. Normally she would have hopped on the bike with him, but she brushed past him earlier and locked herself in the car. She knew he had been trying to make amends for what happened, for him leaving. She just couldn't let it go for some reason, maybe because she always worried he would keep picking Merle over her and he proved it so simply. Airi wouldn't have minded as much if he just left her, but he chose to leave his son as well. The Dixon family were never the most well-liked in their hometown, but everyone knew how much Daryl and Merle prided their family over anything else.
"We're here," She refocused her eyes and took in the old feed store they were parking in front of.
The building had a rusted roof with decaying wood panels on the side, along with multiple feed silos nestled next to it. No other cars were in the vicinity yet and Airi breathed a sigh of relief as she opened the car door. Hershel rolled down his window as Rick joined her outside the car, waving at the three as Daryl joined them.
Rick motioned for her to stay by the car and she swung her rifle over her shoulder, instead, she took out her hunting knife as she leaned against the car next to the open window. Daryl and Rick moved towards the building to run their sweep while the two doctors kept their eyes peeled for any incoming vehicles.
"He's sorry you know," Hershel muttered.
"You have your extra gun?" She asked as she ignored his previous statement.
The older man sighed and patted his half leg, and she nodded at the slight metallic thump as his hand hit the concealed weapon. The two turned as Daryl walked back up, "He's already in there. Sat down with Rick."
Hershel glanced around, "I don't see any cars."
"Don't feel right," Daryl muttered. "Keep it running."
The older man nodded and put the car in reverse to turn it around in case they needed to make a quick escape. He pulled back up next to the married couple and they waited for any other disturbances.
The trio tensed at the sounds of an approaching car, watching warily as an SUV pulled up next to them and parked. Airianna narrowed her eys s she watch Andrea step from the car with a Hispanic man wearing a baseball cap and a bookish man in thick eyeglasses. Hershel put the car in park and carefully stepped out to stand next to Airianna. She stood tall as they turned to face the prison group members, the Hispanic man glaring at Daryl as he kept his crossbow raised at him.
Daryl glared back at the man while he addressed Andrea, "What the hell? Why's your boy already in there?"
"He's here?" The blonde asked.
Daryl nodded, "Yup."
Andrea glanced at the Hispanic mand and sighed, starting to make her way into the building to face the two leaders. Airianna patted Hershel on the shoulder as she followed after the stubborn woman. The blonde gave the redhead a strange look for following her but focused her attention on the Governor when they entered the room.
"What's going on?"
A clean-shaven man sporting an eye patch glanced over at the two females, "Nothing. Your friend isn't much for small talk," He spared a glance at Airi and she bit the inside of her cheek at the unsettling look he gave her.
Rick shifted in his seat at the table, "You want to talk, talk."
"I wanted you to talk," Andrea explained. "Too many people have died for no reason. Let's end this. Save the bullets for the real threat." She stepped up to the table and leaned her hands on it so she was between the two men. "We can solve this. That's why I asked you to come here."
"Then maybe we should let them talk in private, Andrea," The blonde brushed off her friend's suggestion, but the Governor looked at her once more before turning his good eye back to Rick.
"I know what you've done," Rick muttered. "I heard about the raids, the heads, Maggie-"
"Merle did that," The Governor calmly deflected.
"Merle took her and Glenn," Airi admitted. "But he's no molester or rapist. He at least has some morals."
Rick gestured to the female doctor, "You know what we're talking about."
The Governor shifted in his seat as he looked from Rick two the confused blonde with the angry redhead behind her. He waved his hand, "You know all about me and I know all about you. I don't care about any of that. We're here to move forward," He looked to Andrea. "Who's your friend by the way?"
"One of our doctors," Rick answered before the blonde could open her mouth.
Andrea nodded, "She's Daryl's wife." Airianna shot the blonde a heated look when she blurted her identity out, but Andrea once more ignored her, "Look, I've known both of you at different times, but only after the world went to shit. And you both stepped up for the good of others at great personal risks. There's no reason-"
"Get to it," The Governor snapped. The Woodbury woman huffed at being cut off, but let it go.
Rick pulled out a map of the area and placed it on the table, "Woodbury takes west of the river. The prison takes east. No one crosses, no one trades."
"He's right," Andrea agreed. "We should hammer out boundaries, then leave each other-"
"I'm sorry, what is this?" The Governor asked over Andrea's ranting.
"It's a solution," Airi muttered as she moved to stand behind Rick.
He laughed, "Absolutely not."
Rick glared and the blonde, "What the hell and I doing here? You told me-"
"Told him what?" The one-eyed man posed.
"You told me he was willing to talk."
"I am," The suave man conceded. "But the truth is, Rick, she's in no position to make such an offer anyway. I'm here for one thing only...Your surrender."
Rick scoffed, "Oh you want surrender? Come get it. You think we hit Woodbury heavy last time?"
"Just take it easy, alright?" Andrea pressed. "We're here to settle this."
The governor nodded and gave her a sickly sweet grin, "You're right. Would you step outside?"
"What?"
"Rick and I, we got a lot to talk about," He simply replied.
She shook her head, "I'm not leaving."
"I came to talk to him," Rick agreed as he eyed the blonde.
"What and Airi gets to stay?" The doctor sighed as Andrea huffed.
"I leave when you leave, Andrea," She waited until the blonde turned on her heel before silently following her out of the room.
She made her way back to Hershel and Daryl's sides as Andrea stormed away, trying to act casual in front of the two strangers. The Hispanic man walked up and slammed the door shut to give the leaders privacy, keeping his back to the door. The six people shuffled around in silence while they waited, Daryl paced between the cars sparing small glances to his wife as he passed her.
The well put together man stepped forward between the groups, "There's no reason not to use this time we have together to explore the issues ourselves."
"Boss said to sit tight and shut up," The other man hissed.
"Don't you mean the Governor?" Daryl snapped at the other tall man.
"Daryl," Airi's sharp tone disarmed the hunter and he took a step back. "I'm Airianna Dixon," She offered to the man.
"Milton Mament," He replied. "It's a good thing they're sitting down, especially after what happened. They're gonna work it out. Nobody wants another battle."
Her husband scoffed, "I wouldn't exactly call it a battle."
The man adjusted his glasses, "I would call it a battle and I did," He pulled out a small journal and flashed it at the other group members. "I recorded it."
"For what?" Daryl asked.
"Somebody's got to keep a record of what we've gone through," He explained. "It'll be a part of our history."
Herschel nodded his head, "That makes sense."
Milton smiled at the older man, "I've got dozen of interviews-"
The six people tensed at the sound of thumping metal and growling mixed together. Andrea, Daryl, and the other man took off towards the sounds while Airi hung back with the researcher and Hershel. She leaned back against the car when the sounds of arrows flying and crunching echoed in the air. Milton spared a glance at the redheaded woman and the one-legged man as he tried to understand their importance to their group.
"What sort jobs did you have before all this," Milton asked to break the silence.
Hershel crutched over to one of the small benches against the building and sat down, motioning for the man to join him, "I owned a farm. And was a vet in my home town."
The man smirked and started to write in his small notebook, "And you ma'am?"
Airi snorted, "Is this one of your interviews?" He nodded. "I had been promoted to Chief of Surgery in my hospital right before everything happened."
"A doctor, interesting considering…" He trailed off.
"Considering I'm related to Merle Dixon? Is that what you're guessing?" She asked. Milton blushed and looked away. "Surprised he never talked about me. Guess some things stay the same."
He raised his brows as he paused his scribbling, "What do you mean by that?"
"You met Merle, now anyone with the name Dixon you think less of," He opened his mouth to argue, but she lifted her hand. "Don't lie, just a fact of life. One bad apple can ruin a bunch, but it's just harder to see Merle for who he really is."
Milton shrugged, "I just knew him as the Governor's right hand, a bit of a brute."
"It's how he gets by," Hershel surmised. "But his loyalties are obvious."
He nodded at the older man, "May I ask how you lost your leg?" He muttered to change the subject.
"I was bit."
"So you cut off your leg to keep the infection from spreading," He processed with mirth under his breath. "Interesting."
"Like gangrene," Airi added.
He added more to his journal, "How long after the initial bite?"
"Immediately."
"You didn't bleed out?" He questioned in surprise.
"We have good people," Hershel muttered. "They took care of me."
"Doctors? Medical staff?" Milton theorized.
"No, besides Airi," He corrected. "We learned mainly by trial and error."
"Me, too," He mumbled. He motioned to the limb. "May I see it? Your stump, I'd like to see where the amputation was. How high above the bite."
Airianna quirked her brow at the audacity of the man. She shared a glance with Hershel as the older man straighten up on the bench.
"I'm not showing you my leg," Hershel brushed off.
Milton pressed, "it's important data."
"I just met you," He reminded the researcher. "At least buy me a drink first."
Airi snorted at her friend's humor and Milton awkwardly laughed as well to lighten the mood. They stemmed their joyful sounds when Daryl returned with Andrea and the other man came back from dealing with the walkers. The redhead crossed her arms when she noticed the pack of cigarettes sitting in Daryl's jacket and the smell of smoke that hung over him.
He blushed and looked away from his wife, "Martinez didn't want them."
She shot a look over at the Hispanic man, Martinez, and huffed. She tilted her head to the spot next to her against the car and Daryl quietly moved to stand next to her. She leaned her body against his and watched as Hershel crutched from his spot next to Milton to the crate Andrea was sitting on by herself.
"How's it going in there?" He asked the blonde to break the ice.
She glanced up at him, "They kicked me out. I don't know what I'm doing here."
"You're trying to help," Hershel observed.
"What happened with Maggie?" She whispered while trying and failing to keep her voice level.
The older man sighed, "He's a sick man."
She looked away from her friend and over to Milton who actively avoided her gaze, "What am I gonna do now?" She shuddered. "I can't go back there."
"We're family. You belong with us," He claimed. "But if you join us, it's settled."
"I know."
Airianna sighed and tried to tone out the blonde's pity party, not her issue if Andrea couldn't or wouldn't notice how slimy that man was. Hell, one look at him made her extremely uncomfortable. She shook her head lightly and nudged Daryl in the side.
"What?" He muttered.
"Hope you throw those death-sticks out," She grumbled.
He groaned, picked them out of his pocket, and flung them into the grass, "Happy?"
"Nope," She popped the p.
"Man, she has you whipped," Martinez chuckled as he watched as the couple interacted.
"That's what happens you slip one of these on a girl's finger," She pointed to her ring finger and the man frowned at the two rings resting there. He sighed but strolled away to sit on the other side of his car.
"Rude much?" Her husband asked.
She shrugged as she got up from the side of the car, "Not much of your issue is it?" Daryl glared lightly at her retreating form, hoping her passive aggressiveness would go away soon.
"You need to apologize to her. She's still angry," Daryl huffed at Hershel's kind voice.
"Already did that."
Hershel hopped back to the driver seat of the car, "Try again."
The door to the feed store creaked open and both leaders came walking out, a serene smile on the governor's lips and a stony gaze in Rick's eyes. Airianna and Daryl both paused as they watched the one-eyed man stride over to his car, Daryl growling when the man winked his one good eye at the female doctor. Everyone loaded into their perspective vehicles, but the redhead paused with the back door open as Andrea glanced between the two cars. She frowned and slammed the door shut when the blonde lowered her eyes and made her way back to the Governor. She and the other two in the car waited for the Woodbury people to drive off before Rick signaled for Daryl to follow them back to the prison.
It wasn't long for them to arrive back at the prison and safely reach the courtyard. Airianna smiled as Sophia rushed up to greet her when she clambered out of the car. But she let the girl go to Maggie as she followed Rick into the cell block. The man waited for the whole group to congregate together and started to explain what happened.
"So, I met this Governor...Sat with him for quite a while," He shuffled his feet.
"Just the two of you?" Merle asked from the back of the group.
"Yeah," Rick confirmed. "He wants the prison. He wants us gone. Dead. He wants us dead, for what we did to Woodbury. We're going to war."
He walked away after his declaration and Airi passed a look with Hershel, motioning for the man to follow after Rick. As she watched Hershel leave she turned to where Sophia and Beth were standing holding the two youngest kids. She nodded at them but paused when she noticed eyes watching her. She walked away from the cells and picked up one of the rifles in the common area, muttering to Maggie about going on watch. She reached the small caged area and looked out to the walker infested field.
"You avoidin' me," Daryl spoke up from behind her.
"Really?" She sarcastically asked.
"Look, I know I fucked up, leavin' and all that," He admitted. "I know it ain't right for you or Eren, and I'm sorry."
"Did you do it cause I was dead? Or would you have still done it if I was alive?" She posed.
"I...I wasn't thinkin' straight then. Thought I lost ya and Merle...He was there, felt like it all could disappear and I could just go back," Daryl rubbed the back of his head.
She gazed out where the walkers were lumbering around, "We can never go back."
"I know," He agreed.
"Just promise me," She whispered. "If anything actually does happen. You will never, ever, abandon our son again."
He moved closer to her slowly, "I promise. I will do anythin' to make this right."
She brushed his hand away as it was moving to her arm, sidestepping him so she could slip back inside, "It's a start, Daryl."