FanFicReader47: You gotta realize that Merle's only been around for around 24 hours at that point, so Carol's still assuming the worst. Don't worry, it's coming around.

So, I'm at a conundrum. I'm not entirely sure I actually want to save Andrea in the end. Why? Because I'm not entirely sure I want to save too many characters. Merle and Sophia were definites. I've got plans for one or two of the others too, but Andrea is currently up in the air...Let me know what you think, because it can easily go either way...

Andrea walked into Philip's office. Normally, he wouldn't care, but he sarcastically quipped about her coming right in this time, only setting her off more. Neither Merle nor Chrystal were anywhere to be seen and she'd heard some rather troubling news about a shootout with the prison. She confronted Philip about the situation frankly, trying to decide if it was time to run or not.

"I went to negotiate," he told her. "Bad enough we got biters at our gates. We can't have aggressors just miles away."

"So you went and welcomed them to the neighborhood?" she asked in disbelief.

"You know they shot at us? I don't know who these people were when you were with them, but they've changed. They're bloodthirsty," he told her while taking pain meds.

"You knew about this?" Andrea asked Milton.

"I was informed this morning," he told her, looking up from the papers he was looking at. "I didn't know."

"Don't drag him into this," the Governor said.

"You're right. This is between you and me," Andrea told him. "I'm sick of this. Sick of your lies. And I'm not gonna watch this town and my friends gun each other down."

"Well, it's too late," Philip told her.

"What do you mean it's too late? I don't know what you're trying to prove, but enough is enough. I'm going to see them. I'll work this out."

"Well, they're hostile. Now these," he said, holding up a stack of paper, "are all the able bodied people we have. They're gonna carry arms and receive training. We won't get caught sleeping again."

"One car, that is all I need," she tried to negotiate.

"The roads are blocked," he said looking up at her. "We barely made it back ourselves."

"I'll see it for myself."

"Andrea," he said as she turned around. "You go to that prison, stay there."

She just left him and went to find Milton. One way or another, she was going to see what the situation was. The only problem was that, leaving the building, she saw how the entire town was beginning to look like an armed camp rather than the town that they had built. Karen was disputing with one of the scavengers about her son, Martinez standing there as if her arguments about Noah having asthma meant nothing.

"The Governor wants everyone who can hold a gun in front of the town hall, now," he told her.

"No," Karen said, putting a hand out to stop Noah from moving. "Andrea, you have to straighten this out. They want Noah to fight."

"Who's talking about fighting?" Andrea asked. "You're supposed to be teaching people to defend themselves, not raising an army."

"Wake up," he told her. "The only way to defend ourselves is with an army."

A while later, Andrea was standing with Karen watching as Philip talked to the various townsfolk who wanted in on his war. It was stupid and unnecessary to arm everyone to the teeth just in case the others attacked again. Andrea highly doubted that would happen, as the only reason they'd attacked in the first place was to get their people back. As he passed Karen's son, Andrea called out to him, once again reinforcing the fact that he was asthmatic. Philip looked back to her before looking back to the boy.

"You ever shoot a gun, son?" he asked him.

"I had a BB gun once. My mom took it away."

"Well, you're gonna learn from the best," he told him before looking back at Andrea with a smug smile.

Andrea just scoffed and walked away. Sure, they should prepare in case another attack happened, but it wasn't necessary to put a gun in the hands of every able body in the town. Then she thought about how Tea had trained the kids back at the quarry and the farm. Perhaps training wouldn't be such a bad idea, but Andrea still wasn't thrilled with the fact that Philip wasn't listening to her. And even with training, what was he expecting the people of Woodbury to do? Go to the prison and fight? If that was the case, Tea would surely be prepared for it. There was nothing in the world Philip could do that she wouldn't pick up on now that she'd met him first hand and seen what kind of man he actually was. Andrea couldn't believe that at one point she had been attracted to such a power hungry and sadistic man.

She walked along the wall, looking for a way to get out. Philip had asked her to lead, and she very well couldn't do that from inside the walls if she was going to find a way for Woodbury and her friends to coexist. She needed to find a way to get to the prison and talk to her friends before she could honestly lead Woodbury out of this predicament. Taking stock of the wall, she didn't notice as Milton walked up to her, watching her movements.

"We sealed it thoroughly," he told her as she noticed his presence. "Nobody's getting in. Or out."

"I'm gonna ask you something," Andrea said, considering him. "And I need you to be honest."

"Okay."

"The fight at the prison," she started, "you swear you didn't know anything about it?"

"I wouldn't advocate a move like that," he said seriously. "It's just posturing."

"Good, then you have to cover for me. I'm going to the prison, and the Governor can't know."

"Don't."

"I have to," she told him. "I was with them. I know their leader, am good friends with her."

"Don't put me in this situation," Milton told her.

"I wish there was another way.

"But if he finds out-"

"That's a chance we have to take," Andrea told him.

"Maybe you do, but I don't," Milton told her, obviously scared of the turn of events. "I'm sorry. I can't."

"Look at what's happened," Andrea said as she followed after him; him having turned to walk off after his last words. "Woodbury is an armed camp with child soldiers. Cannon fodder in a war over what? Is that what all your work is for? Please, help me get out of here. I can't take a car, they won't open the gate. I just need to sneak out, make my way to the prison, and talk to Rick."

"This is a betrayal," Milton told her.

"No," she said, fixing him with a hard stare. "This is an attempt to stop this before more people get killed. You can do this, Milton."

He left her after a few minutes of deliberating. Eventually, he went to the Governor and told him about her request, earning the green flag to help her. It wasn't that he wanted to betray her, but he knew the stories Chrystal had told. He knew the Governor had taken a certain amount of pleasure in them. And most importantly, he knew the Governor wouldn't hesitate to kill him if he did something wrong or to his discontent. With the knowledge that he was fine to help Andrea and would not be suffering any backlash, he went back to his lab to grab his coat before finding Andrea.

Under the guise of going out for research, the two left Woodbury with the intention of recreating Michonne's walker repellent. Hiding behind trees, they waited with baited breath as a walker approached. They'd seen it long before it saw them and so hid behind trees with the intention of Milton grabbing a hold of the thing with his pincer pole so Andrea could hack it's arms off. It was a struggle as Milton had barely any strength. He had to use his entire body to pin the thing to the forest floor as she got to work, trying not to puke the entire time. Andrea just went about it like nothing was wrong.

After finally hacking off the arms and then smashing the jaw open until it was useless, Andrea took down another walker that had made it's way to them thanks to all of Milton's yelling. She managed to get the thing in the pincer pole, but not before another walker stumbled out of the woods and towards them. Milton practically hid behind Andrea as it shambled towards them, only to be killed by a tall black man who appeared out of no where, a woman, man, and teenager stumbling out behind him.

They looked at the pair like they were insane before Milton explained, "It's a diversionary tactic. It keeps the walkers away."

"Didn't work so well with those two," the woman said, pointing to the walkers they fallen.

"You got a camp?" the scrawny guy asked. "It's just me and my boy."

Milton and Andrea looked at each other before looking at the larger man and woman, who said, "We've got someplace else to stay."

"We were just trying to help them find a safe place to hole up before we went back," the big man further explained.

"We have a town," Andrea said. "It's walled."

"There's about 70 of us," Milton told them. "We can take you. I'll take them back," he said turning to Andrea.

"Are you sure?" she asked him as he helped put her bag on her shoulder. "If he asks-"

"I'll handle it. I'm better with him than with them," he said, gesturing to the walker in her grip.

"Thank you," the scrawny man said, pulling his son with him. "We've had a rough couple of days."

As Andrea walked off, the big man asked her where she was going, "I've got to finish my run."

"By yourself?"

"I'll be fine. Got my guardian angel here."

"Look, maybe we could travel with you for a short time, we're going the same way anyway," the woman said. "There's safety in numbers."

"Alright, let's go," Andrea said, considering them for a moment.

They walked for a long while, Andrea leading the way, before Tyreese asked, "Are you heading to the prison?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"That's where we're headed. We were told by a kid to swing back by when the leader was there 'cause the guy that was leading was out of his mind."

"Rick?"

"Yeah, the kid, Sophia, said the other leader, T, would be more willing to take us in," Sasha said.

"Yeah, Tea's a pretty good person. I should warn you, though, she isn't what you'd expect," Andrea told them.

"How so?"

"Well, for one, she's tiny. Barely comes up to my shoulders. For two, she's autistic and ADHD. It makes her a little odd sometimes," Andrea said thoughtfully.

"Had a friend who was autistic," Sasha said. "He was really sweet kid, just didn't talk much, or at all. He was non-verbal, but high functioning. She like that?"

"Not exactly. It's hard to describe her. She's a survivalist. Has been all her life," Andrea told them as they neared the prison.

~x~

A few days had passed and they had managed to get a few barricades made, as well as clearing the boiler room again, though the field was still over run. Merle had been more surlier towards Rick than ever, but he had started making minor adjustments to the group. Mostly, he stuck around Tea and Daryl or talked to Hershel, but he was still being standoffish towards the rest of the group. It was his mouth that had him at odds with everyone, commenting about how Maggie could do better than a Chinese kid (to which practically everyone responded with, "He's Korean," earning an eye roll from Merle), how Carol had finally put her big girl panties on and bucked up (which earned him a scowl from Carol, who was starting to see why the hunters had said Merle had changed), how Sophia was a spitfire just like Tea (which earned him a beam from both girls and a scowl from Carol for how he had said it), and he was relentlessly hounding Tea and Daryl for details about their love life, much to Daryl's horror. The horror came from Tea answering all of Merle's questions, some in detail, without so much as batting an eye. She always slapped her forehead right afterwards, though, and turned red from embarrassment herself, turning the whole thing into a game for Merle. The girl really would answer any and all questions put to her, even if they were personal and private.

Merle walked into the commons and watched Michonne as she exercised. He could picture Titania being there with her if she weren't laid up in bed with his brother after spending the night on watch. When Andrea had said they were pretty much inseperable, he'd thought she was exaggerating. Apparently not as they had only had a few hours that they'd spent out of each other's company. It was off-putting to Merle; he wasn't used to having to share and the one time he'd tried to call Daryl a pussy for being up her ass, she'd chucked a book at his head. He still had the bump above his temple from how hard she'd thrown the damn thing.

"Smart to stay fit," he told Michonne, thinking about his own exercise regime. "Don't leave out the cardio. You know, if we're going to live under the same roof, we should clear the air. That whole hunting you down thing, that was just business. Carrying out orders to an extent. Didn't mean for ya to get shot. Just wanted your damn sword to take back to the Governor. Was gonna let you go."

"Hmm. Ain't you a peach."

"Look, I've done a lot of things I ain't proud of. Before and after," he said, pausing for a long moment about the various things he'd done, what he'd have been willing to do to Tea before he knew she was Titania; he'd have killed the bitch before he let Daryl fawn all over her. Now? "Anyway, hope we can get past it. Let bygones be bygones," he said as he walked away.

Walking over to the cell his brother was sleeping in, he looked in to find Tea laying and looking at his brother with such adoration on her face Merle wanted to puke. "You're too sweet on him. Gonna spoil the boy," he said as she looked up at him.

Daryl was currently sleeping on his stomach halfway on top of her, head right between her breasts, arms curled around her like she was a damn pillow. Merle couldn't understand how they managed to get on between their tempers and their lack of communicating. The argument from the other day and what he'd overheard her tell Rick about how she felt about Daryl had proven that. Yet somehow, even with just a few words between them they managed to make things work. He'd never seen Daryl so angry as he'd been that day, and yet all that fire went out of him after an argument with his girl that ended just as suddenly as it began. He couldn't understand just how the fight had burned out just like that, something that had never been possible with Daryl before. And the way she fought back. She gave no room for arguing with her, neither from a logical nor sentimental standpoint.

"You really got him wrapped around your finger, don't you?" he asked her.

"No more than I'm wrapped 'round 'is," she said, running her hand through Daryl's hair as he sighed and snuggled further into her chest. "He means everythin' ta me. If he goes, I go. I ain' livin' in this world without 'im."

Merle watched as she spoke, the love that shown in her eyes something he'd never seen on anyone's face other than his momma's, "You really love him. Ain't that a damn thing to see. Never thought anyone would love a Dixon."

"I neva thought anyone would love me," she told Merle, looking at him in the eye. "I don' deserve 'im. He should a left the otha day when 'e was packin' 'is shite. He deserves so much betta."

"Seems to me like he's got the best," Merle said, looking away as he crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. "He'd be stupid for leavin' a girl like you. I heard you talkin' to Rick. How he's angry at ya for not bein' angry. Hell, girl, I was pretty pissed at ya for that shit too. How can you just forgive and forget so easily? Then I heard you sayin' that you weren't even angry at your parents. All that shit they put you through. How can you just put it behind ya like that?"

"It's the cycle of violence. Can' even tell ya how many genarations it goes back in me family. Know it goes back at least three in ya's. Once it starts, it's hard as hell ta break it, specially since there's only three ways ya come out a it. Ya are a prime example a the first way; ya learned how ta act like ya abusa, how ta treat othas like ya abusa would. How ta think like ya abusa. And ya jus' now comin' outta that, and I'm proud a ya for it," she told him, earning a scoff from the older man, but she could see the tinge at the tip of his ears. "Daryl's the second kind, the kind still stuck in that same mentality, in the same moment a childhood where he wasn' even nothin', he jus' was. He's jus' comin' 'round ta thinkin' he's worth somethin' more'n nothin'."

"Let me guess, you're the third kind?" Merle asked.

"Ya, but only 'cause I'm a versie. If I weren', I'd be like a lot more like Daryl. 'Cause a how me mind works, I focus on the why more than the what. Why did it happen, not what happened. Why did me parents abuse me? Why was it me and not me sista? Me daddy's family placed a lot a emphasis on bein' like everyone else in the family. I wasn' anythin' like anyone eva. Right down ta me looks on me daddy's side. Neva met me momma's since she immigrated and then married 'im right afta. Neva went back ta Ireland, neva talked 'bout 'er family much. So I neva knew if I looked like them. The only thing I got from me daddy was me build, me frame. Wide shoulda's and bulk muscle's all from 'im. All I got from me momma was me eyes. We both 'ave green eyes, though mine are somehow darka and brighta than 'ers if ya can undastand. And me mind bein' so different, bein' ADHD, autistic, and supa smart, I was as different as different could get. Me daddy's family was the kind that ya beat the different out 'til the kid acted right. Only problem is that I ain' eva gonna act right. Not their kind a right. The kind that sits still without bouncin' a knee. The kind that keeps their mouth shut when they know somethin' othas don'. The kind ta jus' follow ordas without question. Might a been the only one who was drugged and tried bein' sold off, but I wasn' the first one on me daddy's side ta get the abuse. Jus' the only one ta know it wasn' right, ta know I didn' deserve it. Took a long time ta undastand that, though."

"What you mean?" Merle asked, neither realizing that Daryl had woken up and was listening to her talk.

"It used ta keep me up at night. When I first left, I'd cut meself jus' ta feel 'cause I didn' know how ta feel anythin' but pain, but I wasn' gettin' beat, so I wasn' feelin' pain. So I hurt meself instead. Used ta wonder why constantly. Why me, not me sista. Why I was so different. Why I had ta be born inta a family like theirs. So many whys I damn near drove meself nuts with 'em. Was so depressed I started drinkin' at fifteen ta numb the pain. But I learned 'bout the cycle in me classes, and learned that it wasn' really their fault. And then I jus', I dunno, once I had the answa for, well, why I was abused, the anga, the sadness. It all left. Least ways 'til Chrys showed up. And even then, it wasn' anga, it was fear." She chuckled and pulled a hand through her bangs, "I was fuckin' scared. Scared she was gonna hurt me family. Scared she was gonna hurt Daryl. Scared for the kids and Judith. I was jus' plain fuckin' scared, Merle. And now she's gone and I still don' know how ta feel." She wrapped her arms around Daryl and forced him closer to her as she whispered, "I'm still fuckin' scared."

"It's alright to be scared girly," Merle told her, uncharacteristically trying to make her feel better. "Shit, I'd think you really were crazy if you weren't scared right now. Yet here you are, leadin' and makin' somethin' of yourself and my brother. Hell, somethin' of me, too. All you gotta do is stick by us and we'll make sure nothin' happens to you. From now on, always within our sights. Got it, Ani?"

"Ani?"

"Well, can't call you Ania 'cause Daryl'l kill me and every time I call you Tea it makes my skin crawl, so you got Titty or Ani, take your pick," Merle told her.

"Ani. Definitely Ani," she said quickly. "Ya know, when we got ma-, well, I guess when we got engaged, since ya ain' happy with the fuckin' vest like we are, I said I liked the name Ania Dixon betta than Titania Parker."

"Does have a certain je ne sais quoi to it," Merle mused, chuckling at her shocked expression. "Yeah, I know a little French. Know a little Spanish and German too. I ain't all good looks, you know?"

"Shut it, Merle," Daryl grumbled between her breasts as he finally decided to 'wake up,' making both of the other people in the room laugh. Moving his head to where he looked up at her, "What's the third kind?"

"Huh?" she said, her laughter stopping abruptly at the odd question.

"The third kind of survivor, the kind you are?" he elaborated, watching as shock overtook her face for a second before concentration set in.

"The kind that fights back, fights against it. The kind that doesn' let the past keep ya down for the most part. We all have flashbacks and insecurities. That's jus' part a survivin'. But ya eitha turn inta an abusa, stay in that abused mentality, or ya rise above it all and come out somethin' new. I think the two a ya are well on ya way ta becomin' that third one. Me? I didn' have ta fight and claw me way out like the two a ya are, I jus' let it go."

"Did it have anythin' to do with you shootin' your daddy?" Merle asked.

"Not really. I shot 'im 'cause 'e'd drugged me again. Didn' get a clear shot 'cause a that or 'e'd be dead right now," she spat.

"Really now? And here I thought you'd been too soft on him," Merle chuckled.

"Nope. I was done by that time. Already undastood the cycle a violence, but was still workin' through a lot a the shite they'd done ta me. Only thing I knew was that I didn' give two shites 'bout any a 'em anymore."

"Good, now get off 'er, boy. We got work to do," Merle said, coming in the room to smack his brother's shoulder before leaving, running into Carol in the process.

"Was just coming to get them for some food," she explained while giving him a once over.

"Well, there they are," he said before moving on, messing Sophia's hair up in the process.

Carl came back in from his watch with Maggie and called to Tea, who had been on the receiving end of Daryl's lips. She rolled her eyes as he groaned and shifted off her, letting her get up as he went to put his boots on. Tea had to avert her eyes and smile at the fact that both Sophia and Carol were red faced having caught the hunters having a moment. Leaving the room, she looked down at Carl who had a look of shell-shock.

"What's up, dude?" she asked him with a smile.

"Andrea," he said.

"Come again?" she said, not believing her ears.

"Andrea, and Tyreese and Sasha. They're coming up on the prison now," he told her.

"D, grab Jewel and ya crossbow, we got company," she called back into the cell, seeing the man doing as she asked as she made her way to the stairs.

She was still moving slowly and with a limp, but all three of her wounds had scabbed over and were healing nicely with the help of her poultice and Hershel's expert stitching skills. Tea was happy that she'd been passed out for that part of the treatment. Getting stitches taken out wasn't a bad thing, but having them put in without a local anesthetic? Nope, even her high pain tolerance balked at the thought of that. As they left the prison and piled into the courtyard, Tea made sure everyone had a weapon, even Beth. They moved in tactical formation, Tea expecting Merle to take the lead as far as giving the all clear as he knew how best to look for the Governor's men. The unspoken agreement worked wonders as they carefully made their way to the gate.

"Are you alone?" Rick asked her.

"Open the gate!" Andrea yelled back.

"Are you alone?" he repeated.

Tea motioned for Daryl to follow her and made her way over to the gate, unlocking the chain and opening it wide enough for her to walk through but no further than that. As Andrea entered the gate, she went to give Tea a hug, but was roughly pulled away by Rick and man-handled to the gate, her bag being torn off as he frisked her. Sasha and Tyreese entered as well, seeing the three people they'd been told about.

"I asked if you were alone," Rick said to Andrea, not even bothering about the other two; he knew they were staying and had nothing to do with Woodbury as they had been at the prison while everything had happened there.

"I am, minus these two who said they were coming back anyway," she answered him.

"So ya must be Tyreese and Sasha!" Tea exclaimed. "Phia told me 'bout ya. Glad ya came back and ain' holdin' it against Rick."

"Seemed like you could use the help," Tyreese said. "And I couldn't just sit by when trouble's at the door and you got a baby."

"Well, ya help is much appreciated," she told him. "Welcome ta the gang."

"Welcome back," Rick told Andrea as he hauled her to her feet.

"Is that really necessary, Rick?" Tea asked him, flinching a bit at how rough he was being.

Sighing, he let go of Andrea, who immediately went over to Tea and gave her a hug. Tea returned the hug with a couple pats on the woman's back; happy she might be to know her friend was alive and well and to see her. That did not magically cure her of her dislike of touches. The kids she'd forced herself to get used to, Beth too. But the others? The most they got was shoulder squeezes if she was feeling generous. Aside from Carol.

For some reason, ever since they'd found the prison and their heart to heart on top of the bus, the woman had been behaving motherly towards her and Tea could not find it in her heart to tell her to stop. She'd wrap an arm around Tea's shoulders and give her hugs that way or just walk up behind her and hold onto her side, bringing her closer to the older woman's own side. Any time Daryl wasn't with her, which wasn't often, Carol seemed to be right there filling in the gap he left. Carol was the one exception in the prison that just got a free pass, even with the stupid forehead kiss, which she'd done twice more now, even though Tea had just gone on watch. She'd allowed Daryl due to attraction; even she was stumped at why she wasn't bothered by Carol.

They walked into the commons where Carol was waiting; the last time they'd seen the woman was at the farm where she and Tea had saved Carol. They hugged for a long moment as the others put down there weapons, or at least most of them. Merle wasn't sure about the newcomers aside from Andrea and so kept his rifle right where it belonged, safely in his hands. He watched as Ani walked up to Daryl and leaned back against him as he leaned against the wall, his hand coming up to wrap around her hip. She caught his eye and gave a nod, looking at the gun in his hand; apparently she agreed with his choice, making him inwardly scoff.

Andrea noticed Hershel's leg then, "Hershel, my god. I can't believe this. Where's Lori?"

"She had a girl. She didn't survive," Hershel told her.

"Neither did T-Dog," Sophia said.

"I'm so sorry," Andrea whispered. "Carl," she couldn't even find the words to say. "Rick I am...You all live here?"

"Here and in the cell block," Glenn told her.

"There? Well, can I go in?"

"I won't allow that," Rick said, walking up to her.

"I'm not an enemy, Rick," Andrea said.

"Last person I let in there from Woodbury stabbed Tea three times in an attempt to kill her. We had that field and courtyard cleared until your boyfriend tore down the fence with a truck full of walkers and shot us up," he said.

"He is so not my boyfriend," Andrea said with a tone of finality. "And he said you fired first."

"'Course 'e fuckin' would! The man's a psycho nutjub!" Tea said incredulously.

"He killed an inmate who survived in here," Hershel said.

"We liked him, he was one of us," Daryl said.

"Dumbass, though, I mean, seriously! Who robs a store with a toy gun?!" Tea said, looking back at him.

"Wait, that's what got him in here?" Maggie asked.

"That's what he told me," Carol said. "Had to show him how to turn the safety off and load it."

"Yeah, that sounds like Axel," Tea said with a laugh.

"I didn't know anything about that," Andrea said, bringing the conversation back to topic. "As soon as I found out I came. I didn't even know you were in Woodbury until after the shootout."

"That was days ago," Glenn said. "Almost a week."

"I told you, I came as soon as I could," Andrea said, looking around at all the hard faces, even Tea's was unusually hard. "I've been trying to escape. They're turning Woodbury into an armed camp using everyone and anyone who can hold a gun. They've got kids learning how to shoot rifles and the wall's security has been tighter than ever. It took a while to get out."

"Andrea," Tea sighed. "It's not that we don' trust ya, but, well, it's kinda hard ta trust ya afta what the Governor's done."

"I don't get it. I left Atlanta with you people and now I'm the odd man out?"

"He almost killed Michonne and he would have killed us," Glenn told her.

"With his finger on the trigger," she said, pointing to Merle, who just scoffed. "Isn't he the one who kidnapped you? Who beat you?"

"Oh yeah, I beat 'im good. You still got a shiner for that. But no, Blondie, I wasn't the one who snatched 'em up. That was Martinez and the scavengers. I just happened to be there too. And I was plannin' on helpin' 'em get out, or did you forget me telling you that shit was going down and offering to bring you with me?"

"Look," Andrea sighed, holding the bridge of her nose, "I cannot excuse or explain what Philip has done. But I am here trying to bring us together before a blood bath ensues. We have to work this out."

"There ain' shite ta work out, Andrea. The man's a dead man walkin'. Don' know how, don' know when, but it's gonna happen one way or anotha."

"We can settle this," Andrea told him. "There is room at Woodbury for all of you."

Merle chuckled, "You know better than that."

"'Sides, I ain' takin' shelta from a man who got 'is socks off listenin' ta me sista tellin' 'im stories of my past. Anyone who gets off listenin' ta tales a torturin' kids don' deserve ta live."

"What makes you think this man wants to negotiate?" Hershel asked Andrea. "Did he say that?"

"No," Andrea said in a defeated tone.

"Then why did you come here?" Rick asked.

"Like I said, he's gearing up for war. The people are scared. They see you guys as killers. They're training to attack," Andrea explained.

"I'll tell you what," Daryl said, pulling Ania closer into him. "Next time you see Philip, tell 'im I'm gonna take his other eye."

"We've taken too much shit for too long," Glenn told her. "He wants a war? He's got one."

"Rick, Tea, if you don't sit down and try to work this out, I don't know what's gonna happen. He has a hole town. Look at you, you've lost so much already."

"It's not my call," Rick told her, making her look to Tea with shock.

"I took ova. Sole leada for now. Got some ideas 'bout how ta go 'bout it, but gotta get through this first. And I ain' gonna say no ta a sit down, but I'm tellin' ya right here, right now, that man ain' gonna stop. One way or anotha, don' matta if this place is ova run or not, he wants us gone and he'll do anythin' ta make it happen. A sit down ain' gonna do nothin' but havin' us comparin' the size a our sacks. Ya really wanna make this right? Get us inside, get us ta the Govanor and the scavengas. Take out those who won' yield ta us, let the citizens who wanna take their chances on the road 'stead a with us go. Ain' no skin off our backs. But that's the only way Woodbury and us cohabitate. The Govanor's death, and our control," Tea told her.

"There are innocent people!"

"Then we got nothin' ta talk 'bout," Tea said with a shrug of her shoulders, standing up and walking into the cell block.

~x~

A little while later, Tea let Andrea into the cell block. Rick be damned; they knew Andrea and Andrea had every right to meet Little Lady before she went back to Woodbury. Tea walked up to Carol with the woman who was smiling brightly at the babe.

"You can't leave without meeting Little Ass-kicker," Carol said.

"That's Little Lady!" Tea whined.

"May I hold her?" Andrea asked.

They fussed for a few minutes before Andrea looked up and said, "Let me guess, Daryl named her Little Ass-kicker."

"That's not her real name," Carol chuckled, bringing Tea into chest and wrapping her arms around her front, putting her chin on her shoulder in a motherly fashion. Tea squirmed for a moment before settling, scowling at Merle who chuckled at her predicament; he'd learned the hard way two days ago that she still didn't like to be touched when he'd kept pestering her and wound up with a sprained finger.

"Judith, pretty baby Judith," Tea gushed.

After a few more moments of cooing at the baby Andrea asked, "What happened to Lori?"

"During a c-section. Maggie. Carl had to," Carol sighed.

"Oh my god," Andrea gasped.

"T-Dog died leadin's us ta safety," Tea said.

"And Shane? Did we ever find out what happened to him?"

"I killed 'im," Tea replied. "The night we left the farm, found him in the woods."

"The Governor, you need to do something," Carol said as Tea took Judith back.

"I am."

"No, you need to sleep with him. Give him the greatest night of his life. Get him to drop his guard. And then when he's sleeping, you can end this."

"Savage, Cars! I like, and it'd work," Tea said. "Michonne said 'e was a charma."

Andrea didn't answer her and it wasn't long before she left the safety of the prison. The survivors watched her as she went, Merle and Tea manning the gate with Daryl watching them. She made her way back to Woodbury and to the Governor's office where he was sitting, listening to music and drinking liquor.

"I went to the prison," she told him. "They're broken. Living in horrible conditions."

"Michonne there? Merle?"

"Yes."

"And Rick and Tea?"

"Yes."

"They send you back here?"

"No. That was my call," she told him honestly.

"Why?"

"Because these people need me. You're arming children to fight a group that has spent the entire winter fighting for their lives while these people barely know how to use a gun. We need to end this before there is more bloodshed, Philip. You asked me to lead, so that's what I'm trying to do."

"And what is it you suggest?"

"Meet up with Tea, talk to her. See if we can't come to some sort of agreement, some sort of truce. That is what would be best for both the town and the people at the prison."

"Alright. If she agrees to it, I'll give it a shot," he told her, though Andrea wasn't entirely sure he was telling the truth. The only thing she could do was try.

Updated 9/9/21