A/N: I made an upload mistake and skipped a chapter! If things didn't make much sense, that might be why. Sorry.

[*]

Arthur shows Carol to the library and says Jefe will be with her "momentarily." It's a long, nervous fifteen minutes before the woman does arrive, however, and when she does, Jefe is silently fuming. Carol can almost see the steam coming off her ears as she paces across the library floor and orders, "Take a seat" before sitting down in the great chair behind her desk.

As Carol eases down cautiously into the chair opposite her, Jefe says, sternly, "I'm told Daryl was shot? And that he's recovering at the camp that kidnapped Garrison."

Carol tells her everything – omitting the part about the kiss – and puts in a good word for the prison camp and all they did to help and how little they asked in return. She mentions that Oscar would like to meet with her to discuss an alliance and relates that she found several of her old friends in the camp. "I trust their intentions."

"First, let me just say one thing." Jefe raises a finger to her as if scolding a child, and her voice rises as she speaks. "I told you so. I told you so." She slaps her open hand palm-down on the desk with a smack. "I told you so!"

Carol wants to say, That's one thing three times, but instead she says nothing.

"I told you not to go on that frivolous furniture run!" Jefe roars.

Carol knows, all too well, how to remain silent and maintain her composure when some is expending their anger, and she does now.

"But you just had to," Jefe continues, "You just had to have your pretty furniture. And now my best hunter is lying in an infirmary bed with a gunshot wound to his chest!" Jefe breathes in, almost a hiss, and looks at Carol as though bewildered that she's neither breaking down nor making any response. "We're probably going to have to butcher one of our cows now, a month or two earlier than we planned, and what do you have to show for it? Some barbecue sauce and cooking oil?"

There was more than that in the truck, but Carol judiciously remains silent. She also wonders how Jefe got all this information in the fifteen minutes Carol was pacing the library and waiting.

"And then you have the audacity to bring one of Garrison's kidnappers to my very gates, revealing to him the location of my camp, without my permission?" Still Carol waits, not sure if she's done with the torrent, but when Jefe asks, "Don't you have anything to say for yourself?", Carol finally replies.

"Daryl explicitly wanted Oscar to accompany me here. And I really think that what happened with Garrison, while the prison camp was in the wrong – "

"- Of course they were in the wrong! They jumped my man, held a gun to his head, and extorted our camp. They're lucky I didn't take Merle's advice to feed thrashers to the pigs we gave them."

"I understand your anger," Carol says calmly, "but the man who kidnapped Garrison, Rick, is dead. And Garrison has clearly forgiven Oscar for his role in holding him. And I think an alliance wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea. They have a lot of medical supplies."

"So do we, after that run – "

"- that run I suggested." Carol interrupts. "You know I have good ideas. Sometimes. Maybe not all the time. Maybe not when it comes to furniture runs – "

"- No, I definitely think somebody was thinking below the belt with that one."

Carol's not sure whether she means Daryl or her. "They have even more medical supplies than we do. Especially antibiotics. The medic who treated Daryl had entire crates full of powerful antibiotics in his Army ambulance. And I know that's been a particular concern of yours. So letting the past be the past and establishing a trade relationship with that camp might be in the best interest of Copper Creek."

Jefe sits back in her chair, hard, and it bounces slightly and rolls. She taps her fingers on the arms of the chair. "Garrison mentioned Oscar when we ransomed him back. He's a trade representative for this camp now?"

"He's the chairman of their council."

"Very well. Send him to my office for a meeting in one hour. Just him. Alone."

"Okay," Carol tells her, surprised by this sudden agreement to negotiate after such a torrent of indignation. She's also a little concerned for Oscar.

"You've discovered old friends at this camp? I suppose you'd prefer to settle there now?"

Jefe wants her gone, Carol thinks. No doubt about it. "They're willing to take me in, yes, and that's where I'll go if you kick me out."

"Kick you out?"

"Yes. If you kick me out of Copper Creek, I'll move there."

"Well, now, that wouldn't be very intelligent of me."

"Oh?" Carol asks.

"My daughter has had a very hard time making friends. Her entire life. She's at least like me in that regard. I wouldn't send Sophia away from her for the world. Carina would never forgive me if I did that. And I'm not a blind woman. I can see you provide value to the camp."

"Me?" Carol asks.

"You're useful at keeping Daryl productive, when you aren't cajoling him on runs that get him shot, that is. After his brother was killed…" Jefe shakes her head. "He just spent all his time tracking Merle's shell, and then tracking Merle's killers, and then the raid…He was so eaten up by his brother's death, I was afraid he would never be quite the same again. That he wouldn't be able to concentrate on the hunt, even after he had his revenge. And he's not the same, but he's certainly productive again. Even more than he was before Merle died. It's as if he has more motivation now that he's a provider not just for the camp, but for people in his own household. People he cares about."

Carol doesn't know if she's fishing for information about their relationship there, but she doesn't say anything.

"And I think you'll keep him closer to home," Jefe continues. "When you're not taking him on furniture runs, that is. That four-day bear hunt he went on? It would have been six, seven days in the past. The supply run to the vet clinic? Two or three nights instead of one. Any excuse to wander, be away from camp. But not anymore. He takes just as long as he needs to now. And if he's home more, he'll want to keep busy while he's home, and Copper Creek will get more out of him."

"You've really thought this through," Carol says.

"I think everything through. That's why I'm on this side of the desk."

Everything but her emotions, Carol thinks. Jefe doesn't have much time to spare for those.

"And then there's what you provide apart from the way you motivate Daryl," Jefe continues. "You're an efficient pike cleaner and an efficient organizer. Andrew tells me you do the work of two people in half the time in that warehouse. In fact, with Daryl laid up, if you volunteer to take on some extra community work shifts on his behalf, you can make up for his loss in rations during the disability period, until he's back to hunting."

"I…Yes! I'll take any assignment."

"Good."

Jefe puzzles Carol. She never says quite what Carol expects, and it jars her, because she thinks she's gotten pretty good at reading people. Maybe what Jefe really needs, like Carina, is a friend. "Would you like to come to dinner sometime? You and Carina? At our cottage?"

"When would I have time to come to dinner?"

Or maybe not. "It was just a thought," Carol says.

"Perhaps you can do something else for me," Jefe suggests.

"What's that?"

"Once he's back in hunting shape, convince Daryl to take on an apprentice. Someone under the age of thirty preferably, in consideration of the future. I suggested he take on Halley three months ago. She's good with a compound bow, after all. But he just couldn't manage to tolerate her. Jorge's been teaching Zach to duck hunt, but trying to get Daryl to play nice with others…" Jefe shakes her head. "Perhaps you could persuade him. I don't care who it is—he can be the judge of that—as long as he trains someone up."

"I'll see what I can do." After all, Carol agrees it's a good idea. "But I can't promise you anything. I don't have the level of influence over Daryl you seem to think I have."

Jefe makes a skeptical sound, but she drops the topic. "I suppose you'll want to update Sophia about the friends you've found?"

"Yes. Where is she now?"

"On the jump course with Carina."

"The jump course?"

"For the horses." Jefe makes a jumping motion with her hand. "You haven't seen it yet? It's back behind the pond."

"Oh, I saw it. I didn't know that's what you called it." There's an area beyond the pond, in a dirt field, with partial fences, barrels, logs, various debris, and scarecrows made to look like walkers. Carol's seen the course, but there was no one using it at the time, and she wasn't quite sure what it was for.

"Sophia is just watching Carina at the moment, but in a month, she might be riding that course. Normally, we don't let anyone on the jump course who hasn't already been training in riding for at least four months, but…Sophia's a natural. Like Carina. Do you want me to send for her?"

"If you don't mind. I hate to interrupt her fun, but she'll want to hear this news. And early tomorrow morning, I want to take her back to the prison to see our friends, and then we'll come back with Daryl in two or three days, when he's fit to travel."

"I presume that means Oscar is staying the night here? He'll have to stay in your cottage, and you'll have to provide him with dinner."

"I'm happy to do so."

"From what Garrison told me after he was ransomed," Jefe says. "I understand Oscar was initially one of the prisoners at that facility?"

"Yes, but, he was convicted for breaking and entering. Not murder or anything like that. And he's since become a valuable member of their camp. Like I said, he's the chairman of their council now."

Jefe appears intrigued. "So he's a competent bad boy?"

Daryl was right. Oscar was definitely the better choice over Glenn for this diplomatic visit. "You might say that," Carol agrees, though she doesn't really get the impression Oscar is much of a bad boy, despite his criminal background. Given that Jefe likes to surround herself with good-looking men, she adds, "Tall, too. And muscular."

"Well, tell him to be in the mansion in one hour." Jefe stands. "I'll have the page boy send Sophia home." She walks around the desk. "I need to go get showered and changed."

"Changed?" Carol asks, swiveling in her chair as Jefe walks toward the library door.

"Of course," she replies. "Into my sexy librarian costume. It's a first meeting."

[*]

When Sophia comes to the cottage twenty minutes later, her overnight backpack slung on her shoulder, she's grumpy. "Why did I have to come home just because you're back?"

"Because I have very important news. First off, Daryl is alive and doing to be fine, but he was shot."

Sophia gasps. She drops her pack on the living room floor and runs and hugs Carol, who is standing by the mantle. When Sophia pulls back, she says. "Did anything bad happen to you?"

Carol shakes her head. "Some bad men attacked us, but they're gone now. And Daryl is going to be just fine. But he's in an infirmary right now in another camp." She proceeds to tell Sophia about who she found there, and about the deaths of Jimmy, Patricia, T-Dog, and Rick. It's a rollercoaster of delighted squeals and sobbing no's, of joy and sadness. "I'm taking you there tomorrow."

"What?" Sophia asks, sounding alarmed. "I don't want to!"

"You don't want to see your friends?"

"No, of course I want to see them. But I don't want to move! I don't want to leave Carina! Or Ivan! Or Duane!" This is the first Carol's hearing Duane in her list of friends, though it makes sense, as Duane is only a year younger than her. "Or Cody or Daryl, either."

"For a visit," Carol clarifies. "Two days, three maybe. And then you and Daryl and I will come back here."

Sophia lets out a sigh of relief.

"I was going to talk to you about which place you'd prefer to live, but I guess you've made up your mind."

"I'm sorry," Sophia says. "I wasn't even thinking about you at all. That was so selfish of me! Would you rather move to their camp?"

Carol shakes her head. "No. I think I've settled in pretty well here. I'd like to stay. But maybe if Oscar is successful at setting up a trade relationship, we can see our friends from time to time."

"Who's Oscar?"

"A member of that camp's council, along with Glenn and Maggie and two others."

Sophia sits down on the loveseat. "You're sure you want to stay here?"

"I have friends here, too," Carol reminds her. "Nadia, Ryan, Cody. Noah, Zach, and Garrison, too. And, of course …Daryl." She comes and sits beside Sophia on the loveseat. Some people at the prison camp already seem to assume that she and Daryl are boyfriend and girlfriend. It all still feels so up in the air, but Sophia might hear the suggestion, so Carol had best address it now. "I like Daryl," she says. "I really like him. And like I promised you, I won't ever do anything with him I don't want to do." She places serious emphasis of the word want.

Sophia peers at Carol as if there's a hamster running in a cage somewhere in her mind, starting out slowly and then going faster and faster. "Is there something you want to do with Daryl?"

Carol smiles, bigger than she means to. "Maybe. But nothing serious anytime soon. You just need to know you might see us…being affectionate. And you need to know, you will always be my first priority. Always. I will never take Daryl's side over yours." Carol considers those words for a second and then says, "I mean…unless he's right."

Sophia snorts.

Carol puts an arm around her daughter and hugs her into her side. "Is that okay?" she asks.

"That you're major crushing on Daryl?" Sophia asks. "It's braining."

"It's…what?"

Sophia rolls her eyes. "Braining. It means, you, know, like…what did your generation say? Cool?"

"Braining," Carol repeats. It seems the kids at Copper Creek are creating their own slang. "What's the origin of that, exactly?" She hopes it doesn't have anything to do with braining a walker to death.

"I don't know," Sophia says. "It's just…braining. Braining is braining."

"Well, that's braining then. Right on!"

Sophia groans. "Mom, please."

"Awesome!" Carol says. "Dope. Super fly!"

"Mom, stop! God, please!"

Carol laughs.

Then Sophia laughs, too.

[*]

Sophia returns to watch Carina at the jump course while Carol locates Oscar and tells him of the meeting she's arranged. Garrison promises to show Oscar to the mansion when the time comes.

Next, Carol pays a visit to Dr. Eastman, who leads her to his bedroom office. She updates him on the events of the past 38 hours, lets him know that she and Daryl are "dipping a toe in the water," and asks for his advice on how to proceed.

"You know I maintain complete confidentiality with my patients," he tells her. "So without betraying anything Daryl may have said to me, I will say this. Whatever becomes of this, I'm happy for you both. This is a huge step forward for both of you. It's a step out of the shadows of your past toward a light. And it's going to be a little scary for both of you, I suspect. But especially for Daryl. I would advise patience. And I would advise allowing him to take the initiative."

"If I had waited for him to take the initiative, we never would have kissed at all."

Dr. Eastman tilts his head back and forth. "Perhaps. But now that he's aware of your interest in him, I think it's safe to put the ball in his court. Think of Daryl the way Daryl thinks of the prey he's hunting."

Carol laughs.

"I'm serious. You have to be careful not to scare him off. Lay the bait, and let him come to you. Because if you make any sudden moves he's not prepared to receive, it might remind him – " Dr. Eastman, perhaps realizing he was about to reveal too much, waves his hands as though dismissing his own words. Either Daryl has shared the story of his father's girlfriend with Dr. Eastman, or, much more likely, Dr. Eastman has deduced some form of it through his gentle questioning.

"I understand," Carol says simply.

"I know it won't be easy for you. You'd probably like to take the initiative for a change. But consider that your power here lies in knowing that unlike in your previous relationship, you now have the strength to refuse any unwanted advance and to set the parameters for the relationship in terms of what you will and will not allow and when you will allow it."

Carol smiles. She doesn't think any advance from Daryl will be unwanted at this point. If anything, she's probably going to want more than she's getting. The idea is simultaneously frustrating and titillating. It's been so long since she actually looked forward to being with a man, to welcoming his touch, and she tingles with excitement at the thought of returning to West Georgia Correctional Facility tomorrow.

[*]

Oscar has been at his meeting with Jefe for an awfully long time. Carol has already started making dinner. She's not sure if the length of the meeting is a good sign or a bad sign.

Garrison must be nervous, too, because he stops by the cottage and asks, "Is Oscar still in that meeting?"

"Apparently."

He sniffs the air. "Damn that smells good."

"Do you want to stay for dinner? I made enough for three, but then Sophia told me she's eating at the mansion again tonight."

"Seriously?" asks Garrison, bright eyed.

"With me and Oscar," she clarifies. "Because I have extra food."

"I knew you weren't asking me on a date," he insists. Garrison wanders over to the open window on one side of the fireplace and looks outside. "Here he comes!"

"I'll dish the stew."

Garrison goes outside to greet Oscar on the porch, and of course Carol can hear them through the open windows.

"Did the meeting go smoothly?" Garrison asks.

"It went well," Oscar replies. "Though I wouldn't say smoothly. It was a little rough at times." And then he chuckles, low and amused.

"Was there something funny about it?" Garrison asks.

"No, no. I made my amends. And now I'll be stopping by twice a month for trade and information exchanges."

"Information exchanges?" Garrison asks.

"To meet with your boss and share what both our camps have learned about the area, potential threats, herd movements, that sort of thing. We'll update our maps together. Isabella's something else, ain't she?"

"Who?"

"Isabella. Your leader?"

"Oh. Everyone just calls her Jefe."

"Well, that's not what she asked me to call her."

"You know your shirt's on inside out."

"Oh. Shit," Oscar mutters.

Oscar must take off his shirt to turn it right side out, because Garrison cries, "Is that a hickey?"

"Shh!"

"That must have been some negotiation!"

"What can I say?" Oscar replies. "We got off on the right foot."

"Seems like you got off all right. No wonder it took so damn long."

"This goes no farther than this porch, you understand?" Oscar says.

"All right, all right."

"I swore to her I wouldn't say anything, and if she finds out I did, that's the end of the information exchanges."

Garrison chuckles. "Information exch-ay-hey-hey-hey-is! Gotchya."

"I meant the actual information exchanges. But it'll be the end of that, too. And I know stuff about you, Garrison. You really spilled the beans that second night when we had that tequila. So if you go blabbing about this, then I'll go blabbing – "

"- No one's going to go blabbing about anything to anyone!" Garrison assures him. "But I tell you what, that's the last time I drink with you!"

"That's too bad, because I brought a bottle of Jim Beam."

"After tonight, I mean."

Oscar laughs. "Something sure smells good."

"Carol's got a reputation," Garrison says. "As a cook, I mean!" he adds hastily.

"I knew what you meant," Oscar assures him. "I'm pretty good with context clues."

Carol pretends to be busy and oblivious when they walk in. Garrison has apparently forgotten she can hear everything through these open windows. She sets the steaming bowls on the table and says, "I hope you gentlemen like mystery meat stew."

[*]

After dinner, Sophia comes home, and Garrison and Oscar go over to DeShawn's cottage with Oscar's bottle of Jim Beam, because Oscar's hoping to make amends with DeShawn, too. Carol and Sophia can hear the men on the back porch because they're so loud, their voices and laughter rising and falling. Carol shuts all the windows, and Sophia goes to bed with those little orange shooting earplugs she uses on the range rolled up and stuffed in her ears.

Carol waits up, reading by the fire in the armchair. When Oscar returns, smiling and bright eyed, she asks, "I guess it went well?"

"It turns out I went to high school with DeShawn's ex-wife."

"Oh?" Carol didn't even know DeShawn had an ex-wife.

"Small world, huh?"

"I suppose so. Well, that's Daryl's room over there." She points to the open doorway. "I changed the sheets. Just be careful not to touch any of his things."

Oscar holds up both hands. "I wouldn't dare." He looks down at the loveseat and stumbles back a step. "Good Lord! I think my grandmother had that exact couch." And then he stumbles to the bedroom.