ChildishAssassin: I did not actually know that. I don't think I'm going to be changing the terminology too often, I just wanted it put in there because the show never addressed it and not knowing they addressed it off show...*shrug*

FanFicReader47: I hope you like this one too. The next one I post will involve her sit down with Rick individually, but the entire group as a whole.

Tea had been busy. She had driven the bike close enough to the meeting spot to be able to run to it without getting caught when the Governor's men showed up, but far enough away not to be noticed when she started it up. She'd avoided any and all buildings just in case the man had scouts and even traveled off road for a bit. Even though the bike wasn't necessarily meant to go off road, it managed to handle the terrain relatively well. She parked it under a copse that had low hanging branches and some overgrown ferns. It wasn't entirely camouflaged, but no one would find it unless they were looking.

Making her way to the meeting site, she considered how she was going to work the traps. Trip wire and grenades, obviously, but that would only be so effective and she'd only grabbed a couple dozen or so. To maximize their effectiveness, she'd need to pile shrapnel around the grenades and/or carefully plan and place the damn things in an order where if one was tripped they all were. Perhaps doing both in various places would be the most effective. If she could find some zombies and bring them close to the explosions, there was the chance that she could do damage that way in the form of turning some of the Governor's men. How effective that would be, she wasn't sure, but it was definitely something to think about.

She wormed around the silos and double checked to see if there was a guard or lookout around. So far, it looked as if she would be able to set up her traps in peace. Carefully making her way into the building where the meeting was held, she got to work setting up a few traps inside the building itself. She managed to find a bunch of scrap metal in the old storage shed to carefully construct what would essentially be a shrapnel bomb. If someone tripped the wire, it'd pull the pin from the grenade which would then explode and send the blown metal outward.

She did this a couple more places within the meeting building before entering the smaller storage shed. In there, she set two more shrapnel bombs up. She didn't have time to set tiger pits up, or she would have set up several of those. Silently working as the morning wore on, Tea managed to set traps up by the silos, a few hidden inconspicuously throughout the area where small piles of junk could easily hide the grenade and the grass was long enough to cover the string. She was humming happily to a few of the tunes in her head when she heard what sounded like loud rock music.

Sure enough, a car being followed by walkers showed up just as she finished setting a trap and she watched in horror as Merle tucked and rolled out of it and ran right through the silos, thankfully missing the snares, and into the main storage house. Before the walkers could reach her, she ran after him and hoped and prayed she could get him out of there. If those walkers tripped any of the traps, they were dead. To make matters even worse, just as she entered the shed Merle had, the Governor and his men showed up. Now they were really screwed.

~x~

As Merle was making his quick escape through the tombs, he found Michonne doing some walker clearing, "Might wanna steer clear of Rick, chika."

"Oh? And why's that?" the woman asked coolly.

"Governor made him an offer, you for safety. Ani didn't want to take it, Rick does. Asked me to take ya. Pretty much givin' 'im the big middle finger by telling you. But, if I'm followin' anyone's orders anymore, it'll be that little girl's."

"You sure do have a thing for Parker, don't you?" she asked.

"Don't call her that! If you gotta call her a last name, call her Dixon. Otherwise call her Ani," he growled at her. "She's my little sister. Spent the last eight months listenin' to stories about her and thinkin' 'bout what I would do if I had a little sister. Now I got one thanks to my brother bonin' her."

"Goes deeper than just boning," commented Michonne.

"Don't matter. She's gone and I'm goin' after her," Merle said. "You stay here and keep an eye out on Rick. Don't tell him 'til I'm long gone, ya hear?"

He made his way out of the tombs and into the woods as quickly as he could. There was no way he would be able to catch up to her if she left as soon as she found out, but he could potentially help her if he got there fast enough. He desperately needed to find a vehicle as quickly as possible, but the first thing he had to do was high tail it out of the area. Walkers were close enough to where if he wasn't careful, he'd be spotted and turn into walker chow. He didn't plan on dying today unless his life meant saving hers.

Once he was clear of the walkers, he managed to find a hotel with a couple cars in the lot. Attempting, one handed, to hot wire the car landed him with the alarm going off, bringing numerous walkers into the works. He worked furiously to get the car started and the alarm off, but all he managed to do was work his way through the different alarm sounds. In the end, he had to fight off one of the walkers and shot several others before jumping in the now silent and running car and high tailing it out of there.

He'd only gotten a few miles down the road when he spotted a bar. Stopping in, he grabbed a bottle of liquor before turning on the car's stereo. The thing had an old cassette in it that he could rock out to just fine. Drinking from the bottle and rolling the windows down just a little, he gathered and led a large group of walkers to the meeting sight. He was worried as all hell as he rolled out of the vehicle and ran like a bat out of hell to the storage shed.

He carefully made his way around while the Governor's men ran towards his vehicle. The men opened fire on the walkers as he watched. In return, Merle started firing on the Governor's men. As far as he could tell, Ani wasn't even here, which meant either she never made it, was already gone, or had already been captured. None of those options were viable in his opinion. The walkers were now moving towards the soldiers of Woodbury, many of whom were taken down. He watched the carnage and managed to take another few of the enemy before a walker came out of nowhere. It didn't even manage to touch him as the hilt of a dagger he knew was sticking out of it's head. Ani came into the room looking frantic and grabbed the dagger before pulling him.

"We gotta book it!" she told him in a quiet yet somehow yelling voice. "I've got the place rigged and it's only-" A very loud boom from outside, but close by, and the sounds of screaming got both of them running without her needing to finish her sentence. "Watch the wire, Mer!" she yelled at him as she jumped over it, him hot on her heels and following the action.

Following her footsteps, they managed to make it to the trees just as a bullet flew into the tree next to Ani's head. They ran like crazy as another bullet skimmed past his leg and another explosion went off behind them. The explosions and screaming continued for a while as they ran, making Ani grin like a Cheshire cat while she lead him through the woods. It took about forty minutes to get to the bike, Merle hooting in triumph when he saw it well hidden and away from the road.

"When the hell did Daryl teach you how to ride?" he asked around his smile.

"Every time 'e rode it," she answered. "Rememba? I learn by watchin'. Watched 'im do it 'nough times I jus' followed the same steps 'e does. Only a little different from ridin' a snowmobile."

"So, you learned how to operate a deadly piece of machinery by sittin' and starin' at my brother's back?"

"Yeah, kinda, and?"

"Damn, Ani, is there anythin' you can't do?"

"Lots a stuff; socializin', handlin' me anga, sewin' ta name a few," she told him with a shrug as they took a few to catch their breath, the sound of explosions having stopped off in the distance. "Not so good at dealin' with people. Literally called the Gov'na a psychopath ta his face! I got no fuckin' filta!"

"You're a dumb bitch for comin' out here like this, you know that, right?"

"I know. But they were gonna send ya, and as much as I love ya and love havin' ya as me brotha, can ya blame me for not trustin' ya ta not do it?" she asked him.

He mulled it over and considered her viewpoint, she wasn't wrong had it been before, "You know, I had him in my sites. The Governor. Took the shot. A boy stepped in front of him or he'd be dead."

"Ya shouldn' a followed me. Why'd ya come?" she asked. "Hell, how'd ya know I was gone? Or was this jus' coincidence?"

"Carol seems to trust me. Told me you'd left and packed a bag of weapons for me. Caught Michonne on the way out and told her to lay low. I ain't Rick's bitch," he said, hoping on the bike. "Get on."

"Get off, let me get on, and then get on," she replied with a smile.

"Ain't no way in hell I'm ridin' bitch," he growled. "Especially not behind a little thing like you."

"Mer, me man, ya forgettin' one supa important detail for ridin' a bike," she said cheekily.

"Yeah? And what's that?" he shot back.

"Ya need two hands."

The look on his face was so priceless and hilarious that she burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, holding her stomach and tearing up. Eventually, he resigned to his fate, not wanting to risk getting caught if the Governor or his men managed to make it out of her little trap. Of course, what he thought was going to happen simply didn't. He expected her to head straight to the prison. What she did was go back to the meeting spot.

"Gotta see if we got 'im or not," she shouted back at him as they traveled.

~x~

Daryl ran as fast as he could to the place the exchange was supposed to be made. He was anxious as he heard what sounded like explosions off in the distance. They continued for a while until nothing but smoke rose in the distance. Ania really does think this is a fuckin' action flick, he thought as he pushed himself to go faster. His legs were burning and his lungs were on fire as the black smoke billowed into the sky. When he finally cleared the distance, what he saw was not what he was expecting.

Between the walkers that were stumbling around on fire, the missing buildings, the walkers eating the Governor's dead men, and the metal sticking out of seemingly everything left, the overall sight of it all put him in a state of shock. He heard the sound of his motorcycle closing in and turned towards the sound, only to damn near pass out from what he was seeing. His girl and his brother were just fine, sitting on the back of his bike, his brother sitting behind Ania with a permanent scowl that only deepened when he saw Daryl. Daryl fell to his knees, not knowing what the hell to think or feel, looking around and back over to the pair as she slowed and parked the bike, both getting off to walk to him. Neither said a word to him, just stood on either side, admiring her handiwork.

"Damn, Ani, did a mighty fine job here," Merle praised her.

"Would a been betta if we'd a gotten the Gov'na, but 'e ain' 'ere. The cars are gone," she noticed.

Daryl finally managed to have a reaction at the fact that they seemed to be ignoring him. The anger at their level of stupidity and at Rick for even thinking this deal could work, making him doubt Ania's judgment, was crushing. He felt guilty for almost betraying her but also betrayed by what she'd done. She'd risked herself without letting anyone know where she was going and might as well have destroyed a small town with how much damage had been done. The buildings looked like they had been blown out and collapsed on themselves after the explosions. The silos were misshapen and two had completely fallen over while one would before the winter was over with how leaned over it was. There were several large holes in the ground, all with scraps of metal and severed limbs and blood scattered around them; at least two were fresh. He turned to them shoved Merle back before rounding on Ania.

"What the fuck were you thinkin'?!" he shouted at her, grabbing her biceps and shaking her. "You could have died, Ania! You don't even know how to operate the damn bike and you just take it?! And what the hell is this! This ain't a damn action flick! This ain't the time to try to play hero, Ania!"

She brought her forearms up and used the side of her hands with force on his elbows until he was forced to release her and she could take a step back, "I could ask ya the same damn thing, Daryl. Goin' behind me back with Rick. I told ya no. Told ya he'd kill ya when ya showed up. Jus' a good thing I got 'ere long 'fore he did and had the place rigged. Damn near had a heart attack when Merle rolled through and barely fuckin' missed me traps and bringin' a shite load a walkas with 'im."

Anger clouded his judgment for a moment as he grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her back up to him, getting in her face and all but snarling, "Dammit, Ania! When the fuck are you goin' to get it together?! This ain't a fuckin' game!"

"Back off boy," Merle told him, grabbing his wrist and removing his hold on the girl's shirt. "Take your anger out elsewhere."

"Fuck you, Merle!" Daryl yelled. "You should've told me before you left! You knew she was gone and just went after her! Did you even think to tell me my girl was missin'?! No! Ya just fuckin' took off! Again!"

Merle thought about it for a minute, "You know, I don't think I did think about it. Was too busy thinkin' she was gonna get herself killed."

"Yet you had time to stop and talk to Michonne!"

"A quick warnin' on my way out the door ain't exactly stoppin' and talkin', Daryl."

"Fuck the both of y'all!" Daryl said as he shoved Merle away from him again before he turned around and walked away.

Tea looked at the carnage and then back at Merle and told him to follow with the bike, but she needed to talk to his brother alone. He felt betrayed, she got that. He was angry, she got that. He was hurt and scared and that was all her fault, but the thing is, she was feeling all those things too. That lack of trust, agreeing with Rick's decision, it was worse than if he had smacked her. Hell, trust was the biggest thing that she believed in, and he didn't trust her. Then again, she hadn't done much to earn his trust with how many times she closed up or ran off.

"I'm not a very good partner, am I?" she asked him as she caught up to him.

"Fuck's that supposed to mean?" he asked angrily, marching on without giving her so much as a second glance.

She scoffed, "Ain' done much ta earn ya trust. Always runnin' off on me own like this."

"What the hell were you thinkin'?!" he asked, finally turning on her, throwing his crossbow behind him as he gestured angrily.

"I dunno what I was thinkin'!" she hollered just as angry, Merle watching the two like a hawk to pull Daryl away if he tried another stunt like earlier. "I was thinkin' me lova was goin' behind me back on a decision I already said wouldn' work! I was thinkin' me brotha was gonna be sent ta his death! I was thinkin' I could get ahead and get a handle on things 'fore shite got outta control! And I did!" she yelled at him. "Ya were gonna let Rick send ya brotha ta die! For what?! A chance ya didn' even know ya'd get?!"

"He wasn't gonna do it!" Daryl yelled back, knowing full well he hadn't been sure at the time but not wanting to admit blame. "You put him in danger coming out here on your own!"

"I came out after her on my own, don't you put that on her," Merle snapped at him.

They both shot him angry glares and in unison said, "Stay outta this, Merle!"

"How the hell was I s'pposed ta know Rick'd bulk?! How the hell was I s'pposed ta know Merle wouldn' do it?! Tell me, did ya know Merle would tell Rick off, or did ya expect 'im ta gobble up Michonne and bring 'er?" she growled at Daryl while pointing to Merle before stepping up to Daryl and poking him in the chest. "Which did you think would happen, Daryl? Ya tell me, if ya knew, then why didn' ya come right ta find me when Rick told ya, huh? Why did ya keep it from me 'stead a comin' ta look for me?! It's 'cause ya knew I'd stop it 'fore he could! Ya kept that from me Daryl! Ya knew I'd react badly and decided ta make yaself scarce instead a comin' ta me!"

Daryl was still fuming, but completely silent as he watched her fall silent. She wasn't wrong; he had no idea Merle would change so much that he would side with Ania over Rick in the entire situation. He also had done what he needed to do to keep her safe and out of the entire situation, hoping Rick would cave. Daryl knew he should have gone to her, but she could have gone to him, too. Instead she'd stormed off on a suicide mission.

"You didn't come to me either!"

"I was pissed off and not thinkin' straight!" she countered. "I was beyond rational thought, jus' actin' on impulse! I couldn' fuckin' help me reaction! What's ya excuse?!" she screamed, pushing his chest though only pushing herself away; Daryl stared down at her as tears began streaming down her face while she crumbled. "Dammit, D! I was so fuckin' stupid. I know I was. And when Merle pulled up in the car and almost tripped a wire, me heart jus' 'bout exploded. But ya goin' behind me back, ya lack a trust in me decision, and Rick pullin' Merle inta it, I jus' wasn' fuckin' thinkin'. Jus' thought I could do somethin' ta keep 'im safe. Jus' tryin' ta keep 'im safe."

"Don't go blamin' me for this," Daryl spat at her, seeing her in the state she was doing nothing to help his anger. "You did this. You made the choice to come out here. Stole my bike."

"I'm not blamin' ya for anythin' ya shouldn' be!" she spat back. "Ya should a come found me. Ya should a told me. But I was a complete idiot for what I did. I know it. I'm sorry, Daryl."

"How the hell'd you even manage to get out the gate?" he asked her after a pregnant pause, trying to get his anger under control.

"Carol and Phia," she answered honestly, voice completely defeated.

"You roped them into it too?" he spat at her, his only friend and the girl he'd so desperately looked for being involved as well. "What'd you do? Pull the leader card to make them help you?"

"I begged. Neitha a 'em once tried ta stop me. I jus' told 'em the gist a it and begged," she replied, realization dawning on her that they'd never once tried to stop her; she'd have to address that when they got back. "I was jus' throwin' shite in a bag when Carol came in and called me Ani and told me what Merle said 'bout 'Tea' and it was all too much and I jus'...I was an idiot and I know it."

"Damn right you were! You could have gotten yourself killed, Ania! I could've lost both you and Merle in one go 'cause you were so stupid! What do you think I'd do if I lost you?!" he growled at her, glad she at least knew how stupid she was.

He was angry at Ania for what she'd done, but now he was angry at himself too. He really should have just told her what was happening and accepted the responsibility for doing so from Rick. Daryl had known Ania wasn't going to take the situation very well, which was the entire reason he had kept it from her. But in doing so, he had hurt her deeply and broken her trust. At the very least, he'd inadvertently told her that he didn't trust her. That had been the last thing he wanted, especially when he knew how important trust was to her, both given and received. And she was blaming herself for the fact that he didn't trust her. The fact that he was hurting at her choice just compounded the pain he was now feeling at having hurt her himself.

Tea hadn't been thinking rationally when she'd left the prison. At one point, halfway to the meeting place, she'd even pulled over and contemplated going back to the prison. Unfortunately, the anger she'd felt had kept her from remaining rational for long. She'd continued on her way cursing out Rick the entire time. She focused on the task, not the pain at Daryl not trusting her, not the anger at Rick for risking her family. Tea had simply done what she felt she needed to do rather than allow herself to feel the negative emotions. It had lasted until Daryl had yelled at her. He had every right to since she was the reason both Merle and her had been put in danger. Thinking about how she'd told Daryl that she'd die if he did, her body felt like it had been doused in ice water.

She looked like she was going to puke as the gravity of his words hit her, "Oh gods, D! I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry!"

Flying to him, they both wrapped their arms around the other as Merle watched. Once again, he was baffled by how the fight had died before it had even really started. No matter how angry they were at each other, a few shouted words and the pair of hunters were right back in each other's arms. His brother had always been a right surly bastard, but he'd never been one who could hold a grudge or keep his anger without something truly horrendous happening. No, Daryl always solved his problems with his fists and then went right back to drinking like nothing had ever happened. With his girl, it seemed like words were his weapon of choice, but that didn't surprise Merle at all. What did surprise him was that both of them were balling like babies. Daryl hadn't cried since their mom had died, and now he was sobbing while holding Ani so tightly Merle thought he was going to break her in half.

Tea stood there with her face buried in his neck with her arms wrapped around his shoulders muttering her apologies and 'I love you' over and over again. He'd picked her up, just making her dangle in his arms, one hand firmly in her hair, the other keeping her tight against him. His face was also crooned toward her neck as he told her they were both at fault and he loved her too, though only a couple times. He'd truly been afraid he'd lost the last bit of his real family when he'd found out they both were missing. They stayed like that until Merle piped up.

"Shit, you two are worse than a chick flick," he quipped, earning a chuckle from Ani and a growl from Daryl to shut up.

"How the hell did you manage to make a damn scene out of an action movie happen?" Daryl asked as he put her down.

"Oh, jus' anotha thing I learned from watchin' shite. Loved me action movies," she said. "Got hooked on 'em through Die Hard and Lethal Weapon. Got inta martial arts in a similar way. Jean-Claude Van Damn, Steven Seagal, Chuck Norris," she chuckled before turning into an all out guffaw. "Guess I had a certain type a guy I was attracted ta," she said, eyeing Daryl up and down.

"Fuck's that supposed to mean?" he said, a strange expression across his face.

"Well, they're all badasses that kick ass, tend ta be surly and gloomy, the quiet, antisocial, antihero types, hot as fuck bods, supa loyal ta their women and family. Sound like somebody we know?" she asked Merle.

Merle stared at Daryl for a few seconds before responding with a laugh, "Shit, you really do have a type."

Daryl gave them both the stink eye before telling them both they were idiots and demanding his bike back. Walking with Tea in the middle of the brothers down the road, Merle and Tea filled Daryl in on what had happened as far as they could tell. She wasn't sure how many of Woodbury's soldiers she'd managed to take out, but Merle was pretty sure he'd taken out at least six with shrapnel, maybe more, on top of the two for sure blown up by the bombs. Whatever sizable army Woodbury had had was definitely in shambles now. Tea hoped the show of force would keep Woodbury at bay, but she doubted the Governor would halt his plans just because she blew up the meeting spot. Other than calling them idiots every now and again, Daryl was silent, only responding with grunts the entire time they filled him in.

When they finally found a house with a car, Daryl helped Merle hot wire it before hoping on his bike. Tea wasn't sure what he'd want and just stood looking at her feet, an overwhelming sense of guilt and sadness making her unable to bring her eyes up. He started the bike up as Merle climbed into the vehicle.

"You comin'?" he said, although his voice was tight.

"Do ya want me ta?" she asked as she stepped up to him.

"Need to feel you," Daryl told her, forcing her to look up at him to see that he was feeling the same thing she was. "Let's go home."

Updated 9/10/21