Disclaimer: Buffy The Vampire Slayer was Created by Joss Whedon and is property of many companies but not me. The Walking Dead was created by Robert Kirkman and the show, which is the world I am referencing in this, is shared with Production Creators Frank Darabont and Angela Kang.

Arthur's Note: I'm aware it's been more than a month, maybe even two; I've started reading the Game of Thrones book series and that got me onto a Tyrion/OC and alternatively Podrick/OC fanfiction binge and I lost myself for a bit. Anyway, hope this finds y'all well.

[8]

The walk through the stone hallway had felt much longer than it was though the few flights of stairs disappeared under soft feet, Tara glad to have passed only one of her sister casters along the way before it had been clear where she was headed. The room was one located in the center of the Coven's stronghold, beneath the floor in the center of the building. Although she had never been in it herself, it was easy to ferret out with her extra senses, even with the power that emanated throughout the building she remembered the feeling of walking across the area when they had first arrived. Spotting the sigil on the door she paused only a moment before trying the handle, allowed entrance her mouth set in a grim line theory confirmed, she slid inside and closed it firmly behind her.

The room was warmer than the hall, a faint sweet smell along with metal and chalk permeating the air. "Lux," the word was quiet in the dark, but to no avail and she sighed, fishing the matches from her pocket. Quickly struck, she could see just enough to locate the candles around the room and lit two; one to keep the dark behind her from pressing in and the other to see what she needed. The ladder was long; a fraying loop hanging from one corner of the room, braided into hair long enough to decorate each of the four walls before starting back again beneath the point it originated. The chord represented generations of members all tied to one another, the spirits of which continued to feed into the next age. There were many other smaller ladders, dangling from one section or another, spells that required the entire coven's consent or were to the benefit of it and feeding back in. Knowing it would be at the newest point Tara found the most recent strands, leaning in to see.

Brown and red shimmered in the candle's light, miniscule knots tied in each single strand every ½ inch of itself, halfway down twined together before being bound around the braid itself three times and then slipped in. Setting the candle down to keep from burning the entire thing she set to work to unbind them from the coven's grip.

Behind her the door opened, light from the hallway spilling over the floor.

[Break]

Despite not being on watch the night before, Daryl was up before the sun, moving as soon as the sky started to lighten. The other cars were cold on the pavement, grass dewy as he trekked off the highway and into the woods after listening to make sure it as quiet as it seemed. Wanting to keep clear of the creek for when they resumed the search later, he only walked the perimeter, eyes open for anything to catch after relieving himself but he'd either the wildlife hadn't returned after yesterday's excitement or was already safely tucked away. Returning empty handed, Daryl saw Dale stepping out the camper to stretch.

Perching against the car opposite the man's door he nodded, arms crossing in front of his chest, "T-Dawg?"

Dale gave an affirmative, hands clasping in a quick rub, "Still sleeping. You saved him with that medication, we're lucky to have you."

Jerking his shoulder, Daryl looked off where they'd sat the night before, watching Dawn change the quick patch he'd made for their injured, "Merle'd get a kick out of that. Just holding onto them for the next woman he shacked up with." The blunt statement didn't receive a reply, but he moved on within the next couple of minutes as he saw the new one pass by with a searching look on her face, "S'matter?"

"Spike's not back and I can't get him on the radio," her gaze stayed on the tree line before looking between them, "You see where he went after shift?"

[Break]

It was only T-Dawg, Dale and herself later, the rest of the group gone again into the woods to look for Sophia and Dawn couldn't stand to be around Andrea. Was Spike an adult? For a century more than any of them, yes, but no one else knew that but her and the blonde hadn't thought to mention her friend's jaunt into the wilderness until she'd asked if anyone had seen him over breakfast when he wasn't in the car when she woke. Andrea's attitude that she'd done nothing wrong was unhelpful to boot. Given that Spike had undoubtedly had to go to ground, Dawn wasn't surprised she couldn't raise him on the walkie but that didn't make her feel any less anxious, but she refused to let it get the best of her, continuing to work searching the cars.

"That is one tricky hose huh?" T-Dawg faced the old man on top the camper as she set down another milk crate beside the blue one behind Carol's wagon, the T-shirt sticking to the man's back with sweat.

Wiping her hands on the back of her jean's pockets, Dawn looked up at the small grin on Dale's face, "Still having trouble?" Beside her T-Dawg guffawed,

"Like I said, tricky hose."

The RV's captain fiddled with the brim of his hat before waiving off her worries, "Just taking a break for now. We'll get her moving, don't worry." Gesturing to the addition he questioned what more she'd found,

"Few snacks, some blankets, first aid kit." Thinking on it, the former intern turned to the man beside her, gaze dropping to his arm, "Speaking of, have you changed that yet?" Shaved head shaking a negative she directed his arm by the tips of his fingers, flipping it over, "Come on."

The wound wasn't one to take lightly given normal circumstances; rusting car part meeting a dirty arm, and then adding a rotting corpse over it? No. Rechecking her stitch work she was glad to see it was holding with minimal reddening around the edges, "No puss, that's a plus…" She dabbed at the edges of skin with antiseptic and let it breathe before adding another layer of ointment and pulling the adhesive bandage back into place.

Covering the injury with his opposite hand, assuring himself of the work, T-Dawg watched the young woman as she repacked her bag, "Thanks." As she nodded in acknowledgement, he noticed the skin under along her neck and shoulders was a brighter red then it had been at the beginning of the day, "You two really didn't travel at all during the day, did you?"

Feeling the heat as soon as T-Dawg brought it to her attention, Dawn's covered the area briefly before nodding, answering his follow up question a moment later, "It's safe enough with the two of us. Spike sees as well at night as he does during the day." Sweat trickling along her collar she smiled as she wiped it away, "Definitely the cooler option."

Taking a break from looting the cars, they talked through lunch at Dale's reminder to eat until finally she stood, "I should get back, so we have something to show when they return." Passing him a new water bottle she lifted the empty one to save, "Keep hydrating."

/p
/p
The cars on both sides of the highway had been emptied of usable items by the time Dale signaled the group was back. Standing from their crouched positions where they'd been going through the her haul, T-Dog and Dawn walked over in time to hear the Dale's questioning, "Where's Lori? Carl-"

"Carl's been shot," agitation warred across Glenn's face, shaded by the bill of his hat. Shifting his pack over his shoulder, he crossed over the guard rail, sarcasm tailing his answer to the older man's follow up question, "I don't know Dale, I wasn't there. All I know is this chick rode out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori."

Offering a hand, T-Dog helped Carol over the rail after Andrea had waived the assistance off. Squeezing his hand, Carol thanked him with a brief rise of her lips before they joined the group in their small huddle where the look captain of the camper was pressing they follow, "Well we need to go after them. Be there for them."

Small voice strengthened with her resistance to the idea, Carol shook her head, "I can't do it," she looked between them all, eyes wide, "we can't just leave." Her fingers grasped at the sleeves of her shirt and down her arms in a gesture of self-soothing against the issue.

Firmly, Dale reminded them all that they were separated, that their separation weakened them. Standing against the RV's door he looked to Glenn and Daryl for support in his point, Glenn wavering until Andrea backed up the other woman, "If Sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful."

Thinking it over, Daryl nodded, trying to offer middle ground, "Okay, we gotta plan for this. I say tomorrow morning is soon enough," gesturing they round up he drew them in, "to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rid a big sign, leave her some supplies. I'll hold here tonight, stay with the RV."

Bolstered by the decision that they would move on, even if it wasn't immediately Dale grinned, "If the RV is stayin' I am too."

"I'm in," Andrea met the man's gaze for the first time in a while free of judgement and Dawn followed immediately after,

"Spike's still missing, I'm going to stay too."

Carol thanked them all, tension seeping away for a moment even as Dale gave directions for Glenn to take T-Dog on, "He'd do better to have a real doctor look after him," blanching he looked at Dawn apologetically, "No offense, you did all you could but-"

Shrugging, the young woman shook her head before T-Dog had been able to say anything on her behalf, "I'd feel better if he went too. Never hurts to have someone double check." She looked at Daryl, acknowledging she'd been the one to go behind his own job before. Mouth turning up on one side, the hunter didn't quiet grin but she saw it just the same.

"Not that I don't want more people prodding at me, but won't it seem a little odd; just the two of us rolling up in the middle of the night when they know about all of us?" T-Dog had sat on the metal railing, elbows perched on his knees, eyebrows raised.

The others frowned, each considering before Daryl nodded, "He's right. They saw Glenn earlier, but they know about Andrea and Carol too. Might be better if we had a woman go along with you."

Neither Carol nor Dawn made a move, Andrea backing up a step with her hands raised, turning in to gesture to herself, "What, me?" A small guffaw rang out, "Because we need a woman to make them seem what, less threatening?" The tone indicated the level of insulting she found that but knowing neither of the other women would go she stalked towards the RV to get her things, "Fine, fine."

[Break]

It hadn't been clear to Willow what had been going on until her strength had returned, standing outside waiting for Tara when she had felt a sudden rush of power. Alarm had taken place of surprise within seconds, appearing in the entrance as soon as she thought of it, to see the other witches gathering in the stone room as well, confusion clear on their faces. Before either made a move against the other, a rush of magic billowed out from below the center of the room followed by Tara's voice resounding in her head, urging her patience.

Knowing the other woman was alright, the energy around the redhead pulled in, the other women still looking unsure, the thought not having been communicated to them. As some even made to move to investigate Willow cut off their path, "Just a minute."

A cursory look around the room told her who it was Tara was returning with before they made their way into the room, the Coven's oldest member frowning at the woman's whose hands were kept behind her back, "Tara, what is the meaning of this?"

In front of her, Analise stood with her head down, eyes cast aside in shame, cheeks colored high with frustration. Giving the other woman an opportunity to speak for herself rather than drag her name into misdeed, Tara nudged her, "Analise?"

Fingers ran the length of the rags that held her hands together, unable to untie them but not sure it would help if she could. When she didn't answer Riona right away, supple fingers slipped between hers squeezing softly, encouraging, and guilt ran up her throat at the wrongness she'd done to the other witch and her lover, "I abused our ladder, and worked in new knots that fed off of Tara and Willow, instead of…"

A sense of unease built in the room, Analise's actions having broken everyone's trust; each woman provided a length of their hair upon joining the coven and each benefitted from the other's strength, but it was never one sided. Syphoning another witch's power, preventing them from even healing on top of that, "What would possibly make you do such a thing?"

Leaving her side, Tara crossed the room to be with Willow as the woman began explaining their need for the two witches to stay, Willows palm warming as her skin came in contact with Tara's, the brunettes free hand running up the length of her short arm until it reached her shoulder. From the group, Edithe frowned, "We have been managing-"

"Only because of their help! We didn't know how to fight; you went to pieces when that man came back-"

Riona held up a hand, the younger woman stopping her line of excuses as another gesture had her escorted by her sisters to be dealt with amongst themselves. Mouth grim, the oldest member turned back to the two visiting practitioners that had provided them their aide since the world had gone askew, "I'd apologize for Analise but it's not nearly enough." She looked between the two, both obviously in better spirits with the return of their magic, "Is there anything we can do?"

[Break]