KEZZ 1: Thank you. I am definitely happy with how the last chapter, and this one, turned out.

RapaeltheCowboy: It is a regular thing that happens in society, especially when I was growing up. Being ADHD in a time when ADHD was the 'it' thing, as in everyone had it, I was told to suck it up, told a lot of what Rosita told Ani. And we really do get blamed for how we're treated even though we're just living our lives. So I'm using Rosita to bring to light some information on what autism is and what it looks like, because it is by far a one size fits all, even if we have the same symptoms.

So, this chapter gets really heavy. I apologize. And before I get asked, yes, they will show back up again.

Ani woke up with a sigh, running her fingers sleepily through Daryl's hair as the man stirred himself. "Mornin'," she said as he looked up at her lazily.

He didn't respond right away with words, instead shifting to where he could give her a kiss as he ground into her. "Mm-hmm."

Ani chuckled at his morning antics as he nuzzled into her neck, spreading light kisses across her clavicle while she ran her fingers through his hair. Rick cleared his throat from next to the bassinet which caused them both to look at him, though Daryl with only one eye as Ani stifled a yawn. He just gave them a look as he bent to pick up a fussing Judith as if he was a parent catching his kid doing something bad. She'd managed to talk to him about what she was doing with Carol and Beth the night before, quietly informing him of her plan to gain as much information as she could about this place.

"Shut it," Ani said before groaning at the loss of Daryl's heat and weight as he roll onto his back. She quickly rolled on top of him, throwing her arms over him while childishly saying, "Five more minutes!"

Rick couldn't help but chuckle at them as Daryl's arms wrapped around her as he yawned himself. They ended up falling back asleep as everyone else began to rise and get ready. It wasn't until Merle went over and kicked their feet, startling them both awake and Merle getting a kick to the shin by Ani, that they actually got up. After getting their shirts back on, they listened to the others talk about what they had going on that day. Neither really cared to go exploring the town nor did they have jobs to attend, preferring instead to keep to themselves. Daryl dragged Ani out onto the porch where they sat with their backs to the yellow house as Daryl smoked. She sat next to him, playing with the kittens with a piece of string tied to a piece of fabric and trying to teach them a bit about hunting even though they were clearly too young.

"How old you think they are?" she asked him.

"Four, maybe five months, tops. Still got a lot of growin' to do," Daryl told her. "Should get about triple what they are now."

"That big?"

"Between twenty and forty pounds about."

"Damn."

"Mm-hmm. Want one?" he asked, offering her a smoke.

"Nah, I'm good. Heard they have hemp, though," she said with a devilish smile. "Might see if I can' nick some buds."

Daryl chuckled and nudged her with his shoulder, "Don't need none of that."

"And ya don' need that, but ya still puffin' away," she said with her own chuckle, laying her head on his shoulder and just enjoying the feel of him being next to her.

They sat silently as he smoked, watching as the others left the house followed by Rick. "They said explore. Let's explore."

Daryl felt Ani tense beside him before saying, "Naw, we'll stay."

Rick side-eyed them, realizing neither of them particularly liked it here, "Alright." He took a few steps before stopping to watch a woman with her dog walk by, saying, "Lori and me. We used to drive through neighborhoods like this. Thinkin' one day..."

"Well, here we are," Daryl said, a chuckle escaping Ani as Rick sent them a short glare.

"We'll be back."

"We'll be waitin'," Ani said jokingly before turning to Daryl. "What ya wanna do?"

Daryl gave her a pointed look that made her blush. "Nuh-uh. No nookie 'til ya get ya filthy ass in the showa!"

"We'll see about that."

~x~

Merle was walking behind the kids, just thinking, when someone called out if they could see the baby. He'd seen the way Daryl and Ani were being and knew they just needed some time alone to work out their stress. Ani in particular was still looking a little sick to the stomach when he'd left the house. Deciding the kids were safe enough, he left them with the elderly people and went exploring.

If his younger siblings would just give this place a chance, it might be what they needed, even if it was similar to Ani's upbringing. Even if Daryl didn't want to admit it, he had never really had a stable home since their mom's house had burned down. He'd been raised in various houses and mobile homes ever since, never staying in one place more than a year before they were kicked out due to their dad's excessive drinking and temper. In the end, they had to move into their dad's danky old hunting cabin that didn't even have any heat.

Even after he'd moved out of his dad's cabin, the boy had pretty much had his ass in a truck or on a bike following him along like a lost dog. Well, the lost dog had a proper master now, so it was time for him to go home. Merle couldn't even be angry about who the master was, or the fact that Daryl was truly and rightfully whipped by the girl. Ani was every bit the stubborn jackass their mother had been and just as feisty. Daryl didn't remember much about the woman, mostly that she was sweet on him and a drunken smoker.

Merle knew, though, what the woman had really been like. She would have loved Ani, Merle was sure of it. Especially since Ani was like her; Daryl thought it had been a one way street when it came to their dad's beatings, but no sir, not their ma. That woman used her weight against the man that was as sickly thin as he was strong and more than once had knocked him on his ass. She had tried to protect him, and had done so a lot when he was younger, but a diagnosis of kidney failure when he was eight ended that streak. Daryl had been a surprise to the couple that were already struggling with him, but that woman fought heart and soul to keep him. She managed to hold on for six more years fighting failure until there was no point in fighting. While she might not have planned to burn the house down, Merle had known she had given up the fight long before that incident.

He'd already known, which was why he started acting out. Getting into trouble seemed to be the only way to get away from his father's fist with his mother sick. And Daryl, he'd taken the brunt of Merle just wanting to be gone. Somehow he still ended up a mighty decent man more than worthy of a woman like Ani. Hell, Merle was still wondering how he'd ended up with such a sweet little girl calling him Pops like he actually meant something. If they let themselves relax a bit, they could really make this place a home, Merle thought to himself as he wandered around, catching sight of the priest standing in front of the town's abandoned church and Abraham walking with Sasha, Eugene and Rosita trailing behind. This'll be good for 'em.

~x~

"We're almost always here after school, so you can come by any time," Ron told Sophia and Carl as he lead them through his house and up to his room.

"You go to school?" Carl asked.

Chuckling nervously, Ron replied, "It's in a garage. Little kids go in the morning, than it's us in the afternoon. Probably the two of you, too, right?"

"Probably," Carl replied, looking behind him at Sophia.

Giving her a questioning look, she just shrugged and said, "Might not. Ani might want to keep training us."

"Ani?"

"She's my sister."

"She's kind of our teacher," Carl said sheepishly.

"Cool," Ron said. "What does she teach you? We learn all the basics here."

"That's what she's taught us. The basics," Sophia told him a little haughtily; something about the kid was just off too her. "Though, I doubt our basics are the same. Taught us hunting, fighting, healing, and weapons."

The teen boy looked shocked by this information before clearing his throat and introducing them to his friends, "Guys, this is Carl and Sophia. Guys, this is Mikey and Enid."

"Hey," Mikey told them, getting up from his seat.

"Hi," Enid said quietly while not even looking up from her comic.

"Enid's from outside, too," Ron told them, putting his hand on the girl's shoulder as she finally looked at them.

"She just came eight months ago," Mikey explained while Sophia noticed how Carl was staring at the girl's face.

"Oh, um," Carl said, pulling out the comic book from his back pocket. "Is this yours?"

Ron sighed a scoff, "Sorry. We didn't know you guys got that house."

"We mostly just hang up there and listen to music. That's Enid's," Mikey told them as the girl rudely snatched the comic out of his hand.

"Wanna play some video games?" Ron offered. "Or Mikey's house has a pool table, but his dad's kinda strict about it, so..."

"It's okay," Mikey said, smiling at Sophia. "He's at work."

Sophia blushed and averted her eyes at Mikey's smile, not really getting why he'd smile at her as Carl went silent. Neither really knew the answer to that question. They'd gone from being twelve year old normal kids to fourteen year old teenagers that knew nothing about being teenagers but were well trained warriors. Giving each other the same troubled sideways glance, not knowing what to say, they remained silent. Carl looked more sad than anything while Sophia just looked confused. After being away from any form of civilization for so long, the thought of being able to play video games overwhelmed Carl while Sophia never had to begin with.

"Sorry," Mikey told them. "I guess we come on kind of strong."

"We can just hang out," Ron suggested.

"You don't even have to talk if you don't wanna," Mikey said.

"Yeah, it took Enid three weeks to say something," Ron said.

Enid, glancing over for all of a second, said, "Pull it together, sport."

That caused Carl to snap out of it and say, "Let's, um—let's play some video games."

"Cool, yeah," Ron said.

It was different, that was for sure, sitting around playing video games with the others like they were normal kids. That thought though, of being normal kids, had both Carl and Sophia questioning staying here themselves. If they became normal kids, they'd be weak and defenseless, just like those kids. Even Enid, for having been out, wasn't a fighter. It ended up being too stifling for them and they left only after an hour or so, saying that they'd told his Dad and her Pops they'd be back by certain time. They went to the blue house and walked up to the room Carl had claimed; Merle, Carl, Sophia, Michonne, Rick, and Ani and Daryl had lain claim to the bedrooms in this house.

They laid on the bed not even talking, just staring at the ceiling laying shoulder to shoulder before Rick came in. "How was Ron's house?"

"What do you think of this place?" Carl asked his dad.

"Well, I think it seems...nice," Rick said.

"Yeah. I like it here. I like the people. But they're weak," Carl told him.

"We don't want to get weak too," Sophia informed the older man.

"It'd be easy to if we let our guard down," Carl said.

"Hmm," was all he got as a response. "Come downstairs. We'll have some dinner."

~x~

They'd all slept in the living room again the next night, Daryl and Ani in their claimed spot while the kittens curled up between their entwined legs. Daryl woke up first and just watched his wife sleeping in his arms. She was curled up into his chest, laying on her side, one arm loosely wrapped around the arm he had holding her to him, hand resting on his shoulder. He'd done the same thing last night as he had the night before, whispering sweet nothings to her, telling her he was always going to love her and that one day they'd have a kid just as quirky as she was and he'd love them too. It was all to cover up those damn voices she always heard when shit went down, give her new ones to listen to, and it was at least working to help her relax. A smile was playing on her lips as a tear slid down her nose while he watched her. He wondered what she could be dreaming about as he wiped the tear from her face, her eyes flitting open slowly.

"Mornin'," she told him, that smile growing softly as she looked at him.

"What were you dreaming about?" he asked softly, watching as a blush stained her cheeks. "Know you weren't dreamin' about me, girl," he said with a smirk.

"Always dream a ya," she told him, leaning up and giving him a soft kiss. "Dreamed a a baby. Little boy, blue eyes like ya's, but me crazy locks. I want that so bad," she admitted when she pulled away.

"I know, baby girl," he said with a sigh as he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. "I want it too."

They redressed and headed outside, neither really wanting to be in the house any more than they had to. Daryl wanted to go hunting, and Ani was more than happy to get out of the fences and away from the town. They weren't planning on leaving until the next day, though, as both their bows needed a good cleaning and tuning and Ani wanted to sharpen the knives. Daryl was sitting on the rails while Ani was sitting on the porch beneath him, fiddling with his bow when he pricked his thumb.

"Ow," he said, sticking it in his mouth.

"Ya ok?" Ani asked, standing up and taking his hand to check the offended appendage. "Ya'll live."

"Gee, thanks."

"Time to punch the clock and make the casseroles," Carol's sing-songy voice rang out from behind Ani.

"What?" she and Daryl asked in unison before Ani turned around and Daryl leaned to have a look.

Ani burst out laughing when she saw Carol. A pale yellow button shirt with a sky blue cardigan adorned her top while a nice pair of grey slacks she wore for her bottoms. She even had on flats! Ani lost her shit and damn near made Daryl fall off the railing with how bad she was laughing. After a couple moments of unamused glaring from Carol and Daryl just staring at the older woman horrified, not even caring about Ani's bout, she finally calmed down.

"Oh gods, Cars," Ani said still chuckling. "The hell? Ya dressed up like ya a propa momma hen!"

"I'm making dinner for the older people," Carol answered, slightly offended that her two friends would respond the way they did; even Merle had commented that she looked good. "Moms who need a break. People who can't cook. Get to meet a lot of neighbors that way."

While Daryl scoffed, Ani told her, "Makes sense. Wanted ya gatharin' info, nah betta way than stickin' right in their homes with 'em."

"That was the plan," Carol told them, looking them over. "Have either of you taken a shower yet?"

"Mm-hmm," came Daryl's response, even though he hadn't.

"Take a shower and I'm gonna wash those vests. We need to keep up appearances, even the two of you."

"Hey, I ain't startin' now," Daryl told her.

"What appearance I got ta keep up otha than bein' 'is wife?" Ani asked.

"I'm gonna hose the two of you down in your sleep," Carol told them as she walked away.

"You look ridiculous!" Daryl shouted as she left.

"Ya know, everyone else is gone ta their jobs," Ani said, moving to press against Daryl's leg.

"So?"

"So, take a showa with me," she said with a seductive grin and her come hither eyes, Daryl just staring at her for a moment. "I didn' make ya yestaday and ya still got what ya wanted. I want a showa taday, especially one with ya company. Eitha way, I'm gonna go get wet."

She left him sitting on the porch and went into the house and up into the master suite, leaving the door slightly ajar while leaving the door to the connected bathroom wide open. Taking her time to adjust the temperature until it was the perfect amount of heat, Ani stripped out of her clothes and into the shower, hissing and then moaning at the feel of the hot water. Daryl must have followed faster than she thought and heard her, because the slam of the bedroom door was loud enough she heard it over the water. Her breathing was ragged by the time she felt him step up behind her, turning her around and pinning her to the wall.

~x~

Daryl and Ani had finally gotten out of the shower and left the house, deciding to explore for a change. Ani was going stir crazy at the house and all but pulled the man down the steps of the porch. As it was, she wanted to know where Merle and Sophia had gone, the two disappearing before Carol had come out. While she remembered Sophia had gone with Carl to Ron's house, she wanted to see where this house was. They were walking hand in hand along the wall towards the gate when they heard a rather loud dispute.

"You tied up walkers!" they heard Glenn say as they, and several others, walked closer.

"It killed our friend!" the dark haired dude said. Ani didn't hear what he said next so much as read his lips when he decided to not explain himself. "You obey my orders out there."

"Oh, then we're just as screwed as your last run crew," Glenn responded, prompting Ani to drop Daryl's hand and take a few steps forward.

Glenn could handle the asshole in his face, she wanted the one who tried to take their guns. It was stupid, foolish, and petty, and she knew it, but gods she wanted to kick his ass. Not only had he asked for their weapons, but if she got the gist of the conversation correct, they actively tied walkers up. Walkers, former human beings. Sure, they might be monsters now, but they were once people. She pictured the walker Jesse had been tied up like some sort of animal and it infuriated her. One motion, that's all she needed to make this guy pay. But the more logical, rational part of her mind was looking for a non-violent solution. Something that involved words instead of fists would be better than essentially showing off the threat these people had let in.

"Say that again," dark hair repeated.

"Back off, Aiden," Tara stated.

"Come on, man," Noah tried. "Just take a step back."

"Come on, tough guy," Aiden, apparently, said while pushing Glenn's shoulder like a schoolyard bully.

"No one's impressed, man," Glenn said.

"Ain' that the truth," Ani chimed in, drawing attention to herself intentionally this time. "Those walkas were once human bein's. How would ya like it if it was a family memba ya found chained up out there? How 'bout if it was ya? Ya been inside these walls the entire time. Ya ain' shite compared ta what we've faced."

"Yeah? And who cares about what you think, shrimpy," Aiden told her, making hers and Glenn, Noah, and Tara's eyebrows hit their foreheads and several mouths to drop in shock. "I was ROTC. I kn-"

"Ooo, Reserve Offica Training Corp. Not even a part a the actual military, which is the only reason ya still standin' while they've been wiped out. 'Cause ya didn' have ta report for duty. Funny thing, we actually have not one, but two military veterans in our group. So, again, not a single one a us thinks anythin' a ya. Ya ain' impressive. Ya ain' shite. Ya a walkin' dick. And that's why ya keep killin' ya crews."

Aiden drew a sharp breath that had Glenn pushing Ani out of the way as the man reared back. The punch that was meant for her was dodge by Glenn who then laid Aiden on his ass. Nicholas went to move but was met with a kick in the stomach followed by a knee to the face by Ani as it hadn't taken her long at all to recover her balance from being pushed. Deanna, Rick, Michonne, Sasha, Abraham, Rosita, Merle, and Eugene, along with other citizens of Alexandria had all convened to watch the goings on, but it wasn't until Ani was roughly body-checked into the steel wall that the world seemed to halt.

"How dare you show up here!" a tall woman with dark hair and familiar green eyes screeched as she walked up to Ani and full on slapped her across the face.

The man that had slammed Ani into the wall, an even taller man with blonde hair and broad shoulders, slammed her into the wall again, shouting, "Where is your sister?! She was supposed to be here! Not you!"

Ani managed to block a punch from him, but in doing so left herself open to her mother's claw grabbing the side of her head by the hair and slamming it against the wall, making Ani tumble. Her father's kick to the stomach she managed to block, but not his punch to the clavicle that made her entire arm go numb. She could feel the blood run down the side of her face and her vision went blurry as she curled in on herself, trying to at least protect her head and organs, bringing her knees up to her chest and her arms above her head as the two continued beating her and throwing insults her way about Chrystal not being there and how she didn't deserve to be. All of a sudden, she was back in the house, back in the basement, and she just knew no one was coming to help.

"Get the fuck away from her!" Daryl shouted as he ran for the man.

It was shock that had everyone just standing there in a daze before most of her group moved. Abraham and Sasha had been the closest aside from Daryl and the three of them began running in unison. Abraham wrapped his arms around the man and literally picked him up and threw him to the side while Sasha used a standing arm triangle choke Ani had taught her on the woman. She didn't let up until the woman was on the ground, not letting go until Michonne told her to. When the man stood up, Daryl charged and had him on the ground, choking and punching him wildly as Rick went to him, Ani still in shock at what had just transpired.

Her parents, her fucking parents, lived in Alexandria and they never even knew it. In shock and anger, Merle looked at Deanna who's expression was extremely grim as Rick finally managed to pry Daryl off her father. Rosita was staring in shock; Ani hadn't even done anything and these people that ran past her to catch the girl in a surprise attack while she was defending their people. Every single one of their group members present ended up in a line between her and them, Deanna joining at the front.

"That's enough!" she shouted. "Thomas, Eileen! You will check your gear and leave, immediately! Do not come back!"

Deanna had gone back over some of the videos she'd taken for the people here until she'd found the video for the Parkers. In it, they'd said they'd had two children, both girls, though the youngest being an extremely difficult child they had, at the age of fourteen, sent to a group home. Titania Marie Parker, the bane of their existence according to them. A child that would have violent outbursts and could not be reasoned with. She had self-harmed and blamed them, causing investigations from CPS during a time when he was trying to get elected Mayor. She had become increasingly violent towards her older sister, Chrystal, who they had gotten separated from at the beginning of everything. Her sister was said to be the genius. Her sister was said to be the psychologist. It had been Chrystal that had been praised with all the things that Ani's group had praised her for.

Deanna had felt something was off when this couple had come to Alexandria last year. They seemed sincere enough, but she could just tell; she was exceptionally good at reading people and they were definitely hiding something. While they never openly did anything, they were close friends with Pete, whom she suspected of spousal abuse. They were also very cruel to Aaron and Eric, which was the actual reason they went out recruiting people. Both had come to her more than once feeling unsafe living near the couple, which was why their house had been traded out for one on the other side of the town, closer to the unfinished houses. When the young lady had come in and started having a panic attack over her parents' treatment of her, Deanna had pieced it together pretty easily. In fact, she had been looking for Ani to warn her and ask her a few more questions.

Having been given quite the well rounded picture of Ani, with only Rosita saying anything bad about her attitude and mental state and Eugene saying she was scary, Deanna knew that Thomas and Eileen had lied. The woman had not only defended her group not once, but twice, from larger enemies with minimal casualties considering but had also built a system to train all those that fell into her family, which was essentially everyone they accepted. She did not tolerate any form of abuse, had turned the group's hardened criminal and druggie into a decent grandfather-figure for the girl she adopted as a sister when she'd lost her parents in a walker attack at the quarry. It seemed like she had single handedly prepared the larger group they were with at the prison with medicine to combat the illness that took hold before it was destroyed. There was no way the woman was disturbed when she was able to do all that.

"I thought I recognized her name," Deanna said, stunning everyone as Merle and Daryl cussed and moved over to Ani, who latched onto Daryl as soon as he picked her up bridal style, making to carry her away. "Stay, she needs to hear this," she told him, making Ani's hold around Daryl tighter.

"She's got a bleedin' gash on her damn head! It can wait!" he spat at her, carrying Ania to the infirmary, Merle following close behind as Abraham stopped the man from trying to go after them.

"Try it, shit stain," he said to the man, looking down into his eyes as Abraham stood a couple inches taller than him.

Her entire body was shaking and the hold she had on Daryl was painful. He knew he was going to have a bruise later, but she had no control over it right now. Daryl couldn't even see her face, but they were both covered in blood as they entered the infirmary where the doctor was. Taking one look at her, he had them bring her in and lay her on one of the beds, calling for his assistant, Denise, who ended up being a bigger blonde girl studying medicine. Her wilds eyes were looking everywhere and nowhere at the same time. She was almost crazed with her pupils blown and her head on a swivel as the doctor came to check her. The only problem was that as soon as she saw the hands reaching for her face, she attacked, knocking the doctor right onto the floor and making to grab a knife.

"No, Ania!" Daryl said, lunging forward and grabbing her around the middle before she could fully . "Go get Maggie and Rose, Merle!"

"They ain't doctors," he cautioned, watching as Ani struggled even in Daryl's arms as he tried desperately to hold onto her to keep her from running. "Shit, you sure you don't need help?"

"She ain't gonna let no one else look at her! I got her! Just go!" he told Merle as he struggled to keep Ania in his arms and from going for the knife. "Ania, baby girl, it's me! You gotta calm down!" he shouted, trying and succeeding at getting Ania onto the bed and laying his full weight on top of her as she struggled to get out of his hold. "Baby girl, come back. You gotta come back. You ain't there. Ain't nothin' to fight. I need you to come back," he started whispering in her ear. "You know I love you, I'm here. You just gotta come back to me. Come on, baby girl. I don't wanna see you like this. Come back. Gotta come back, Ania."

"D...Daryl?" her own broken whisper sounded out.

"I got you, girl, I got you."

"Where?" she looked around as Daryl slowly stood up with her, turning her around to see her look of confusion.

"We're in the infirmary. We have to look at that gash."

"What?" she asked, seemingly confused as to everything that had happened not long ago as she reached her hand up and felt her wet hair. "What—We were walkin'."

"She's got a concussion," the doctor told him. "I can tell that even from here. Her hair's going to need to be shaved to get a look at the wound. Most likely will need stitches."

"Shave?" she repeated, looking even more horrified and starting to panic. "Nah, D, nah! Tell 'im! No one's shavin' me head!"

"Ania, baby girl, we gotta shave that side. We gotta get that looked at and you're bleedin' real bad. I'm sorry, baby girl, but we gotta," Daryl told her, moving as much hair as he could to the right side. "Only gotta shave this part. We can cover it after it heals, let it grow back. It's not forever."

"Nah! Nah, D! Ya can'!" she cried as he held her close, knowing this was a lot to ask. "Ya can' take me hair away! It's the only thing that's always been mine! Ya can' take it! Ya can' take me hair!"

"Ania, look at me," he said as she began to have a panic attack on top of sobbing, making her hyperventilate. "I know, I know it's the only thing you've had control of. I get it. I know. I don't want it touched either, but we have to clean and stitch that gash. It's still bleedin', baby, I know. I know, but it's gotta be done."

He was still wrapped around her when practically their entire group walked into the infirmary. Sophia, Merle, Abraham, Carol, and Rick were visibly seething while the rest had various looks of upset and concern etched across their faces. Rosita was waiting on the porch with Eugene, Tara, and Noah, quietly discussing what had happened. No one could believe Ani had been attacked in broad daylight, especially after she'd said they'd kept it quiet.

"Why would they do that? Didn't you say they kept it in the dark?" Daryl growled at Merle.

"Apparently, they didn't care this time around. From the hootin' and hollerin' that damn shrew was doin', as long as Ani's dead, it don't matter," he answered.

"The hell are they?"

"Gone," Rick said. "They were exiled."

"Exiled?" Ani repeated, going right back into the panicked state she had been in before Daryl had her in his arms. "Nah! They gotta die! They gotta...they'll come back! Don' she know! They'll jus' come back! Always come back! They gotta die! They gotta! They...they...the..."

"Ania?" Daryl shouted as she went limp in his arms. "Ania?!"

"Lay her on the table. She's out, so I can look at her," the doctor told him. "You need to help me shave around the wound as best as possible. Just around the wound! I need one of you to prepare to give her a blood transfusion."

"Right here," Daryl said, moving to Ani's right side, clasping her hand in what would soon be his free hand, as the wound was on the left. "You give her my blood."

"Might not be the same blood type," the doctor, Pete, told him.

"Universal donor," Daryl said, thankful, for once, of all the time he'd spent giving blood and platelets for cash.

"Alright," Pete said as he got to work setting up the transfusion.

The buzz of the razor was the only other sound in the room as they watched the doctor and his nurse working. Long tresses of blood-soaked hair fell to the ground, Daryl watching it fall as tears began to sting his eyes. He tried, he really did, not to let them fall, but holding her hand and watching her lose the locks she had spent years growing, and let grow as wild and free as her spirit was, they slipped down his cheeks. Bending over and bringing his other hand to hers, he openly wept at what she was losing, even if it was a small part, and what it represented. He didn't even notice as Denise finished and bent over, carefully picking up the strands and taking them with her rather than throwing them in the trash.

An hour later, Ani woke up, the long, deep gash along her skull stitched and bandaged. Daryl was right there for her as she gingerly felt the area and the entire side of her head missing hair. She couldn't help the tears that poured from her eyes as she realized what she'd lost. From cutting to dying, her hair had been the one act of rebellion she'd always been able to maintain. She'd kept it short when she was younger because it was easier to grab, but when she was fourteen, when she'd finally left home, she'd quit cutting it. She'd let it grow and it really had come to symbolize how strong she was to her, how much she had fought for her freedom. And now she'd lost a part of it, along with knowing they were alive. They've taken from me again and got away with it, she thought.

"Oh good, you're awake," Pete said as he walked over, putting his hands up and stopping a foot from the end of the bed. "I'm going to come closer to look at the wound and change the bandage, then you can go home. While normally I'd admit you to the hospital with a severe concussion, you've already woken up from passing out, so I think it's safe enough," he joked, receiving a blank stare in return before he moved to change the bandage. "So, the bandage needs to be changed every morning and night," he told Daryl. "I'll give you some medicine for the pain."

"Save it. She won't take it," Daryl told the doctor for her, realizing she was in no shape to be able to talk. "Prefers this tea made of herbs she has in her pack. Don't like pills."

"Alright. This is going to be one gnarly scar when it heals. You'll probably be able to feel on the skull where the metal bit into the bone. You said Tom and Ellie did this?"

Ani pulled away from him so fast she literally fell into Daryl's lap, her legs still up on the table as her butt hung off his knees. His arms wrapped around her protectively as he shifted her so that she was sitting fully in his lap while he glared at the doctor. Told the asshole not to say a damn thing about them, he thought to himself.

"Why don't you call that assistant of yours in here to finish up, hmm?" he said, not planning on letting this man come anywhere near Ania again.

"Denise!" Pete said with a scoff and a roll of his eyes. "Pretty messed up she's afraid of her own parents' names."

"You see what they did to her?!" Daryl roared causing Merle to come back in.

"What's goin' on in here?"

"Asshole don't know how to keep his trap shut," Daryl answered.

"You better get to steppin' if you know what's good for ya, then," Merle threatened, coming to stand in between Daryl and Pete while Abraham, Rick, Sasha, and Michonne came in.

"You called?" Denise said as she came in. "Oh, hello."

Ani didn't say anything, just held onto Daryl as the woman came up and cleaned the wound as best she could from the position they were in. At the very least, Ani did shift her head so the woman had a better go of it. She was trying to form words, but she was locked inside her own body and mind right now, unable to open her mouth to speak as tears slid down her cheeks.

"I know it's not my place," Denise said as she finished up. "But, your hair? It seemed like something really important to you. It's so long and strong, well, I made these," she said, pulling out identical braided bracelets made from her hair. "I know it's not much, no where near enough, to cover your loss. But, I just thought you might like to have something back."

Ani's hand was at her mouth looking at the gift as fresh tears fell from her eyes. When Denise handed her the bracelets, Ani wrapped her hand around the woman's, the only way she could convey how much it felt as she cried. Bringing the bracelets to her heart, she turned to Daryl and just sobbed. He held onto her, picking her up and carrying her out of the infirmary and all the way to their home. It was only midday, but he was done with the town for the day. He and his girl needed to recover, and that wasn't going to happen around everyone else. Taking her right up to the master suite, he slammed the door shut behind him, effectively locking them out of the world. He took the plain shirt she'd been changed into at the infirmary off, followed by her pants, before tucking her into the untouched bed. Removing his own clothes, he climbed in with her, pulling her to him as she cried herself to sleep.