Alexandria
Caroline moved the cloth while she polished the handlebars of her motorcycle as Daryl walked closer and she smiled at him.
"Hey," she said.
"Hey," he said with a nod. He looked at the squirrel head necklace around her neck as she looked down then she looked up at him.
"Want me to make you one?"
"Hell no," he said with a shake of his head. She moved the cloth over the handlebars when he mounted his motorcycle and he noticed how shiny the handlebars were. "You cleaned my bike?"
"Yeah," she said with a nod.
"Thanks."
They went silent when he thought of something and he turned his head to look at her.
"It wasn't a dream," he said and she frowned.
"What wasn't?" she asked, placing the cloth on her lap.
"What we saw at Jeb's."
"Yeah, I figured as much."
"We really saw them."
Caroline became confused when her mind replayed the strange dream she had and she blinked her eyes a few times.
"You mean Merle and the others?" she asked and he nodded. She flexed the fingers of her right hand as he noticed she didn't have her fingerless gloves on and she sighed.
"You're not wearin' yer gloves," he said.
"If you're ok with people seein' yer scars then I'm ok with people seein' mine."
"I don't show all of them."
Her mind went back to the time she had gone to his room to talk to him and she had seen the scars and the brand on his back. Michonne had told her about how she and Daryl got the brand, but it was Daryl who told her about the scars.
"Did you need me for somethin'?" she asked after a few seconds.
"No."
They went silent as he looked at the stairs which lead down to the prison cell where they kept Negan and her eyes followed his gaze.
"What's down there?" she asked.
"Nothin'."
She watched him dismount the motorbike as she followed him and they headed for the stairs which led to the front door. He glanced at her as he sighed and she gave him a blank look.
"Hey! Who's she?!" came from down below and she looked down at the barred windows.
"None of yer damn business," Daryl said, looking down at the barred window.
"Aw, come on! I've seen her going by a few times, but no one's telling me who she is!"
"Shut it!"
Caroline watched Daryl go upstairs then he went into the house and the door closed behind him. She looked down at the stairs when she heard whoever it was laugh and she sat on the ground so she could see the bars. She could just see into the cell when Negan appeared and she crab walked back a few inches.
"Well, there you are," Negan said with a grin.
"Who the hell are you?" Caroline asked.
"You first."
"Not gonna happen."
"Shit. They really got to you," he said with a sigh and he shook his head. "I'm Negan."
"Negan," she repeated as she tried to remember if anyone had mentioned him and he rolled his eyes, shaking his head.
"They haven't told you about me, have they?"
"Nope."
"Then I'll enlighten you."
"Hey!" made her look up when she saw Daryl standing in the doorway as she stood and he pointed for her to go inside. Sighing, she got to her feet while Negan watched her leave and he leaned against the wall. He folded his arms over his chest when he decided to see her again and he smiled.
Caroline watched Daryl close the door when he gave her an annoyed look and she arched her eyebrows up.
"What the hell was that all about?" she asked and he walked down the hallway and she watched him head for the kitchen. "Daryl!?"
She followed him into the kitchen when he removed a box of edible chocolate chip cookies and he placed the box on the counter. She looked at the box as he grabbed the box and he pointed to the sink. She went to wash her hands as she dried her hands off with the towel and Daryl leaned against the counter. He wiggled the box as she walked to him and she removed two cookies from the box. She went to stand next to him as she leaned against the counter and she handed him a cookie. She started eating after he took the cookie and they looked out the window.
"Well?" she asked and he looked at her. He wasn't sure why, but he was starting to feel like he could tell her anything and he took a bite out of the cookie. After he chewed and swallowed, Daryl told her about Negan. The intense feeling of anger moved through his head as he bit into the cookie again and Caroline looked up at the ceiling. "Son of a bitch."
"Yeah," Daryl said.
"Carol told me about Glenn. He sounded like a cool guy."
"He was."
It was her turn to feel the intense guilt and sadness moving through her head and she reached into the box, handing him another cookie.
"Now I get why no one told me about Negan," she said, biting into her cookie.
"Stay away from him."
"Yeah," she said with a nod. Daryl closed the box when he placed the box back in the cabinet and she had poured them some glasses of water. After they drank, they placed the glasses in the sink and they left the kitchen.
A week passed since Caroline encountered Negan. Negan had finished doing his morning chores when he saw Caroline doing some target practice with her crossbow and she aim for the target on the practice dummy. He quietly sat down on the crate as he watched her pull the trigger and the arrow hit the dummy in the crotch. She fired again as the arrow hit the dummy in the forehead and he whistled. She quickly spun around while the crossbow fell to the ground and she tossed the knife.
"Fuck!" he shouted as he dived out of the way and the knife became embedded in the crate behind him. Before he could get up, Caroline was on top of him and her left hand was clamped around his throat. She had an arrow in her right hand and he saw the sunlight shimmering on the fishhooks embedded in the wood. "Damn, you're fast!"
"How did you get out of yer cell?!" she demanded. Daryl, Aaron and Rosita ran to her as Negan smiled up at her and she lowered the arrow toward his face. "Answer me!"
"Stand down!" Daryl shouted as she shook her head and he cautiously knelt down on his haunches.
"Shit. If I didn't know better, I swear she's you," Negan said, glancing at him then Negan gagged as she tightened her grip on his throat. "Take it easy, Wild Thing."
"You're not helping," Aaron said as he knelt down next to Daryl and Caroline breathed hard and fast through her nose.
"What is her problem?"
"You are!" Caroline growled.
"What the fuck did I ever do to you?"
"You're breathin' the same air as I am!"
"That's enough," Daryl said. She glanced at him when he held his right hand out and she slowly handed him the arrow. She slammed Negan's head against the ground when she got up and they watched her walking away. Daryl got up as he ran to catch up to her and Aaron helped Negan to his feet. Negan cleared his throat while moving his head side-to-side and he smiled.
"Caroline!" Daryl called out while she headed for the house then she turned, glaring at him. He never saw such anger in her eyes before as he came to a stop and he held his hands up in surrender. "Take it easy."
"Go away," she growled when she stormed up the stairs, opened the door, went inside and she slammed the door. Daryl stood at the bottom of the stairs when he sighed and he headed up the stairs. He cautiously opened the door when he looked inside, but the hallway was empty and he walked inside. Closing the door, he looked around when something pointed him toward the stairs and he slowly walked upstairs. He stood in the hallway when he saw Judith standing in the hallway and she was looking at the close door which lead to Caroline's room.
"Go downstairs," Daryl said in a soft voice and Judith nodded. She moved by him when she went downstairs and Daryl walked to the door. He went to knock on the door, but he lowered his hand and he placed his forehead against the door. "Caroline?"
He waited for her to open the door when he heard someone walking to the door and he stood back. The door clicked open a crack as he opened the door and he saw her walking to the window. He walked in the room as he noticed she had redecorated Carol's old room with some of the things she had found during raids and he admitted he liked the motor cycle posters she had on the wall to his right.
"You good?" he asked, placing the arrow on the top of the dresser near the door and she shook her head.
"He shouldn't have been able to do that!" Caroline said. "I promised myself I would never let anyone sneak up on me again!"
She lowered her right hand toward where the handle of the knife should be then she remembered she had left the knife outside. He had wondered why she automatically did that as he sighed then he walked toward her.
"I ain't gonna hurt you," he said.
"I know that," she said when Michonne appeared in the doorway and they looked at her.
"You forget these," Michonne said when she walked to the bed and she placed the quiver, Caroline's crossbow and her knife on the bed.
"Where's Negan?" Daryl asked.
"Aaron took him to the clinic."
"Is he ok?" Caroline asked.
"His throat's bruised and he has a headache, but he's going to be fine."
"Good."
"Mind telling us what all that was about?" she asked and Daryl gave her a "Not now!" look.
"I was about to tell him," Caroline said as she looked at Daryl. Michonne nodded when she sat on the edge of the bed and Caroline went to sit next to her. Daryl went to lean against the wall as Caroline gathered her thoughts and they waited for her to speak. "Not sure if Daryl told you this. I was on my way to Atlanta to meet up with Will Dixon…I mean Merle Dixon…when everythin' went to shit. When we landed, the airport was shut down. There were military people everywhere. They told us we were safe, but they didn't tell us what was goin' on."
"You must have been terrified," Michonne said and Caroline nodded.
"Most of us were. As the days went by, people started gettin' antsy."
"I bet."
"People were dividin' up into groups and they started mappin' out territories. I was… I was out lookin' fer supplies when this guy… He just… He was just there. He threatened to kill me if I didn't give him what little I had."
"Asshole," Daryl said in a soft voice and he shook his head.
"I did know some defense moves, but he was on top of me before I could do anythin'. He started hittin' me. I screamed fer help, but he just slapped me and he said he would break my neck if I made another sound. That's when Benji showed up. He was one of the soldiers. He slammed the guy in the head with the butt of his rifle and the guy went down. Benji told these guys who were with him to take the guy away then he took me somewhere to get cleaned up."
"What happened to the guy who attacked you?" Michonne asked.
"Dunno."
"Then what happened?"
"Benji found a way fer us to get out of the airport. He kept us all together and he taught us how to survive."
Michonne noticed the look in Daryl's eyes and she knew he was thinking of Rick.
"He taught me to always be alert. To scan the surroundin' area. To never just look straight ahead, but to be aware of what was left and right of me and what was behind me."
"That's the way of the hunter," Daryl said.
"That's why I went off on Negan. I didn't hear him or even sense him. What if he had been a Walker or a Whisperer? I would have died."
"What happened to Benji?" Michonne asked.
"He was bitten by a Walker. That was the first time I ever shot one in the dick," Caroline said with a small smile. The smile faded as she went to lie on her back on the mattress and she looked up at the ceiling.
Michonne saw the look Daryl was giving his sister. Michonne stood up when she walked to Daryl and he gave her a puzzled look. She nodded her heard toward Caroline then she left the room and Daryl walked to the bed. He sat down next to his sister as Caroline sat up and he slid his right arm around her shoulders. She was a little surprised when he pulled her against him and she placed her head against his right shoulder.
"Why'd you let yer guard down?" Daryl asked, softly.
"I dunno. Maybe it's because I finally feel safe. Like there ain't anyone out there who wants to hurt me."
"Alpha does."
"Yeah."
They went silent as he looked over at the motorcycle posters and her eyes followed his.
"Dad had a bike like that one," she said, pointing to the blue chrome Honda poster. Daryl noticed she hadn't said "my dad" like she normally did when she talked about him and he moved his head to look at her.
"Why'd you say it like that?" he asked.
"What? Why did I say "dad" and not "my dad"?" she asked and he nodded. "Don't you want me to?"
"He's not…," Daryl said when he remembered something,
"So, you did want to adopt me!?"
"Yes, of course I did."
Caroline lightly nudged him as Daryl shrugged his shoulder and they became silent.
"It would've been nice," she said and he frowned.
"What would've been nice?"
"You. Me. Growin' up together. Doin' stuff with him. Goin' places with him."
"What about…?"
"What about…her?"
"Yeah."
"I have a feelin' you wouldn't've cared what she said or did."
"You're right," he said then he glanced down at her right hand.
"I think you would've stopped her."
"Or I would've end up in jail after I killed her."
She heard the honesty in his words as she tried to cover her hand, but he moved her hand away.
"I wonder what it would've been like growin' up with you and Merle," she said after a few seconds and he pressed his lips into a thin line. "You told me about the scars on yer back. I have a feelin' you or Merle would have tried to stop him from doin' that to me."
"Yeah, we would've."
They looked at the wall when she felt like he wanted to tell her something and she lightly bumped her elbow into his side.
"Go on," she said.
"Go on and what?"
"Tell me what you're thinkin'."
"Nah. You'll think I'm nuts."
"Won't know unless you tell me."
"Well…," he said with a pause then he looked at the ceiling. "I've been thinkin' about my life and I've been tryin' to find ways to add you to it."
"Like what?"
"Like the first time I met Rick."
"Rick Grimes?"
"Yeah," he said with a nod.
"I've heard some stories about him. Think he would've like me?"
"Hell yeah."
"What else?"
"I wonder what you would've done while I was off lookin' fer Sophia."
"You wouldn't've let me go with you, right?"
"Right."
"What would you've made me do?"
"I would've made you stay with Carol."
"Well, I know someone would've gotten punched after they shot you," she said and he heard the honesty in her voice.
"I wonder who you would've went with when we had to scatter after the Governor had destroyed the prison."
"Who did you go with?"
"Beth."
"Who?"
Daryl felt his heart hurting at the thought of telling her about Beth as he sighed then he told her. She slid her arm around his waist while she waited for him to say something and he bumped his shoulder into hers.
"I might've gone off with Rick."
"What about when we got back together?"
"I would've run to you, jumped into yer arms and never let go."
Daryl imagined her doing that after he had hugged Rick and he could see Rick laughing at him spinning Caroline around in circles.
"Do you remember what Merle looked like in the dream?" she suddenly asked and he frowned.
"Yeah."
"He looked like a Walker. You said someone shot him."
She felt sadness and anger coming from him when Daryl explained and she gave him a slightly stunned look.
"Shit."
"Yeah," he said and they became silent.
"I would've been pissed off if I hadn't been there when you had to do that."
"Could you have done it?"
"No, but I think he did it on purpose."
"Did what?"
"Walkers just attack, right?"
"Right."
"He didn't. He just moved toward you."
"Like he recognized me?"
"Yeah. And he might've remembered he had to get you angry enough so you had no other choice."
They went silent again as she thought about Negan and what he had told her. She tried to put herself at the moment Glenn was killed and Daryl noticed the look on her face.
"What're you thinkin' about?" he asked.
"I was thinkin' about Glenn and what Negan…"
"Stay away from Negan," Daryl said and she nodded. They were surprised at Judith knocking on the doorframe as they looked at her and she had a piece of paper in her hands. "What's that?"
"I made this for Miss Caroline," she said as she walked to the bed. She handed Caroline the piece of paper as Caroline looked at the drawing of what looked like her and Daryl and Daryl tilted his head to one side.
"Is this supposed to be me and Daryl?" Caroline asked, smiling.
"Yeah," Judith said with a grin.
"I love it."
"Why do I look pissed off?" Daryl asked, looking at the drawing.
"You usually look that way," Judith said with a laugh and he arched his eyebrows up.
"She's right," Caroline said, smiling.
Daryl snorted a breath of air when he got up, walked around to the other side of the bed then he picked up one of the pillows. Before she could move, Daryl swung the pillow and the pillow slammed into Caroline's head.
"Oh, you asked for it!" Caroline said as she got up and she picked up the other pillow. She climbed up onto the mattress as she swung the pillow and the pillow smack him in the chest. Judith had run to get the pillow from her room when she swung, but the pillow missed hitting Caroline's leg as Caroline got out of the way.
RJ and Michonne had run up the stairs after they heard screeching and the sound of fighting and they stood in the doorway, watching Daryl trying to get out of the way of Judith and Caroline swinging pillows at him.
"Hey! We don't have that many pillows, you know!" Michonne said. Daryl, Caroline and Judith stopped as they looked at her and Daryl nodded.
"Uh-oh," RJ said.
"Run!" Michonne said. They headed down the hallway then down the stairs as Daryl, Caroline and Judith, who had the pillows in their hands, followed them and laughter echoed down the stairwell.
Negan laid on his back as he gently moved his right hand over his throat and he blinked his eyes a few times.
"How are you feelin'?" came from the window above the bunk and he could just see Caroline through the bars.
"Felt worse," he said. "You ok?"
"Been better."
"Mind telling me what set you off?"
"You snuck up on me."
"Do you normally choke people who sneak up on you?"
"No."
"Well, I'll tell you this. You have the biggest fucking pair of lady balls I've ever seen," he said with a grin and he could just see her smiling. "Ah, I saw that!"
"Fuck off."
"Look, I'm trying to be nice here."
"I know."
"Wanna know something, Wild Thing? If things had been different, you would have been one hell of a Savior."
"I don't think so."
"Are you kidding me?! With your skills and those moves, you would've been one of my top officers."
"Or one of yer wives?" she asked and his eyes widened.
"Who told you about them?"
Caroline stayed quiet as he figured something out and he rolled his eyes.
"Guess now that you know about me, that makes you someone who wouldn't give a damn if I live or die."
"Haven't made up my mind yet," she said.
"Caroline!" made her look to her left as she nodded then she looked down at Negan.
"Sounds like Big Brother's calling. Better go see what he wants," Negan said and she frowned.
"He's not…"
"Don't bullshit me. You got the same eyes and the same "don't fuck with me" attitude. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. Now get going."
She stood up then she ran off as he looked at the ceiling and he started laughing.