Beth, cowering behind Carl and Carol, watched the assault unfold around them with terror. Gunshots perforated the air around them as tears poured down her face. Axel's body lay only feet away from them, where he had been shot in the head only moments ago. Beth looked down at the discarded body, heaving sobs racking her lungs. She had given her gun to Carol, knowing her aim was much better, so she crouched huddled behind them, her knees tucked to her chest.

The gunshots stopped. Beth looked up at Carl, Carol and Maggie, who were still poised.

'Oh my god,' Carol breathed.

Beth looked up, glancing over the upturned table she was hiding behind. A bread van had driven into the chain link fence, knocking it down. It came to a standstill in the prison courtyard. Beth watched in agape horror as the back doors opened and several dozen walkers fell out, overrunning what was once their safe ground.

'Daddy is down there!' she screamed, going to jump up.

Carol grabbed the hem of her sweater, pulling her back down.

'Rick's with him,' she said, 'he'll be okay.'

'Look!' Maggie said, 'there's a car! It's Glen!'

They watched as a silver truck drove towards the gates. Together, they ran down to open them, pulling them aside for the truck to come through. Maggie, spotting her father through the window, ran to the passenger side door and pulled it open, helping her father out.

Beth hurried to his side, kissing his cheek, relief washing over her at the sight of him, uninjured.

Together with her sister, she helped carry him into the safety of the prison.

. . .

The sisters helped him into the common room, setting him down at one of the tables.

'I'm okay,' Hershel said, batting them away, 'really, I'm okay!'

Glen followed them in, pulling Maggie into his arms.

'The courtyard is overrun,' he said to her.

'We'll get through it,' Maggie said, though her voice was shaking.

Beth was sitting beside her father, her head resting on his shoulder.

Soon, Rick fell into the room, followed by, to Beth's delight, Daryl, and then to her surprise, Merle.

'What's he doing here?!' Glen yelled, rounding on Merle.

'He helped me, him and Daryl-' Rick said, falling down onto one of the seats.

Beth got up, glanced down at her father, then walked out of the room. Her emotions were too frayed to stay in there.

. . .

Beth reached the quiet solitude of her own bedroom, folding her arms across her chest, holding her upper arms, clinging to herself. She felt exhausted, her head was spinning. Her nerves had been fraught over the last couple of days, with her sister and now this. She had spent the last couple of days feeling distraught over Daryl's leaving, feelings which had left her both confused as well as heartbroken. She had no reason to be so miserable over his leaving, but she had been. She had been growing to trust him, to like him, and he had just turned his back on her, on all of them, after everything they had been through together, after everything that had happened.

And then he had waltzed back in. As if nothing had ever happened, he had just wandered back in to the common room, his brother in tow.

Beth stood in her room, her back to the door, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. She was being ridiculous, she had absolutely no reason to feel so strongly about anything. He had left, that was his prerogative. It was a dick move, in her opinion, to the entire group, not just her, but it was his choice. No one had a claim to him. And she had started to accept that. But then he had walked back in. Did that mean he was back? Or just stopping by? She ran her hands through her hair, crying out her frustration with the situation, but mainly with herself.

'Hey girl,'

Beth spun round, her blonde hair whipping back. Daryl was standing in her doorway, his head bent down, looking up at her through his hair. His hands were in his pockets, no crossbow in sight. He looked sheepish.

'What're you doing here?' Beth asked, glaring at him.

'Wan'ed check you was a'right,' he shrugged, 'y'walked off.'

'So what?' Beth spat, 'what do you care?'

Daryl looked at her, his eyes narrowed.

''M'sorry I left,' he said after a while, looking down at his boots.

'Yeah,' Beth said, watching him.

'Got y'sister back though,' he said, looking back up at her.

'What help were you?' Beth spat again, turning her back to him.

'Don't turn away from me,' Daryl said, stepping into her room. He grabbed her forearm and pulled her around to look at him.

'Get off of me!' She cried, yanking her arm out of his grip.

'I promised I'd get ya sister back, di'n' I?' he shouted at her, his faces inches away from hers.

'I didn't realise that meant without you,' she snapped at him.

'What did I have t'do with anythin'?' Daryl said, looking deep into her eyes, 'it was ya sister ya wanted.'

'I wanted you, too, Daryl!' Beth implored.

Daryl looked at her, his eyes dark and brooding.

'It was m'brother,' Daryl said, stepping back, 'm'blood.'

'But we're your family, Daryl,' Beth said, reaching out to him to touch his arm. 'We're weak without you.'

'Nah, you're fine,' Daryl shook his head, 'don't need me.'

'I do,' Beth said softly, placing both hands on his upper arms, feeling the hard muscles beneath his shirt, 'I need you here. I thought we were friends, I thought you were going to teach me how to hunt, to fight. I wanted you here.'

Daryl looked at her through his hair, solemn and grave. She could see him inwardly struggling with himself, holding himself back. Beth reached up and placed her hand on his jaw, stroking the inside of her thumb along the scruff of his beard.

They kept their eyes locked on one another, both of them breathing heavily. Beth could feel the tension radiating from him, could see the emotion swimming behind his eyes. She felt his body heat rising from her touch, and her own hand grew hot. They had created something, the two of them, something Beth had only had an inkling of until now. She had tried to repress the feelings he aroused in her, putting down her misery at his absence to fear for her safety and her families safety; but as she stood there, her hand against his cheek, his eyes staring in to hers, she realised it was something more than that.

Daryl placed his own hand on top of hers, then reached down and stroked her hair from her face.

'I'm back now,' he said softly, his lips barely moving as he spoke.

'Promise me,' Beth whispered.

'I promise,' he said, to which Beth's stomach flipped a thousand times over.

Then he broke away from her, turning to leave.

'They're keepin' Merle in a cell,' he said, his back to her.

'Right,' Beth said. She sounded breathless.

'Dunno wha' they'll do with him, but this shit wit' the Governor,' he ran a hand down his face, sighing, 'it's bad.'

'How bad?' Beth asked, coming to stand beside him.

'Bad.' Daryl just said.

. . .

Beth wandered into the common room later that day, Judith in her arms, to see her father talking with Merle from his cell. It was the first real time she had seen Merle, and he frightened her. He didn't look like Daryl; his hair was short and his face was harder. His deep set eyes looked out from a heavy brow, the eyes of a caged animal, Beth thought. There was a menacing energy about him, a deep, dark understanding and patience. He wasn't how Beth had pictured, some low-life, idiotic redneck. She understood what Carol had said to her before, about abusive men being clever. She could see that in his eyes. He was smiling at her daddy, but Beth could not see the sweet tenderness she had found in Daryl's face.

Slowly, rocking Judith, she approached her father, watching the man in the cell uneasily.

'Baby, everything okay?' Hershel asked her, noticing her arrival.

'Mhmm,' she nodded, not taking her eyes off of Merle.

'Cute baby,' Merle said, nodding at Judith, 'she yours?'

'No.' Beth said.

'Beth here just does a fine job looking after her,' Hershel said, 'why don't you take Judith to her daddy, Beth?'

'Can you take her?' Beth asked, 'my arms are so tired.'

Hershel looked at her for a moment, deliberating.

'Okay,' he said, taking the baby from her.

Once he had gone, Beth turned to face Merle.

'So you're the brother,' she said, folding her arms.

'I guess I am,' Merle said, smiling at her, 'what you know about me girly?'

'That you're no good for Daryl,' Beth told him.

'What you know about Daryl?' Merle laughed.

'He's a good guy,' Beth said.

'Oh ho is he now?' Merle chuckled, rubbing his chin, 'is he indeed.'

Beth stayed where she was, searching Merle's face for a while, but she saw nothing of any goodness in it. She turned her back to him and walked off.

'Where're you going, Blondie?' Merle called after her, 'I thought we was getting acquainted!'

. . .

Daryl felt sick. He stood in the watch tower, looking down at the walkers which now roamed freely in their courtyard. Clearing it would waste all of their bullets. He ground his teeth together; the Governor sure had some answering to do. Yet that wasn't what was making him queasy.

Beth had brought to the surface feelings he had been trying to suppress. He didn't understand how she had began to make such an impression on him, someone so young and so different from him. How old was she, anyway? He still wasn't sure, but he was damn certain she was young enough to be his daughter. Hershel was older than him, by a lot he thought, but how much really? His head was pounding, he didn't understand himself any longer. The world was a whole lot of fucked up, but it made a fair amount of sense to him, more than it had before the fall. There was always a reason to be on edge, to be aware, to mistrust. But now he found himself, gazing down at the shambling corpses, mistrusting himself. Merle was locked away in a prison cell probably causing God knows what kind of havoc, and Beth... Beth was in there somewhere.

She's a kid he told himself, shaking his head, you care about her as a daughter, or a niece or something.

He tried to convince himself that was true, that he wanted to look out for her, protect her, the same way he had with Sofia and Carl and Judith, but there was more to it than that. The way he had looked at her. Her blue eyes, her full, pouted lips. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get the image of her out of his head. It was wrong, on too many levels. Frustrated with himself, he kicked the wall of the guard tower.

'Daryl?' Carol asked. She was on guard duty with him.

He turned to look at her and she instantly recognized the black look across his face. She bulked slightly.

'What is it?' she asked.

'Nothin', Daryl said, looking away from her, 'everything's jus' fucked up.'

'I know we're in a difficult situation,' Carol said, 'but we'll get through it. We always do.'

'Nah,' Daryl shook his head. His chest felt constricted, he felt sick, his heart was pounding so hard he could hear it in his ears. He stayed silent for a while, brooding, looking down over the grounds. The fact that they had lost so much territory was not helping his mood one bit.

'Do th' rules still apply no more,' he said, more to himself than Carol, 'does anythin' matter?'

'Huh?' Carol frowned.

'Rules.' he said, 'moral codes.'

'Oh,' Carol walked over to him, leaning on the wall beside him, 'If they do, I don't think the governor lives by them.'

'Fuck the governor' Daryl spat, aware of Carol watching him, 'what about us? Me?'

'You?' Carol asked, 'I think you live by moral codes.'

'Do they matter, though?' he asked, looking down at her, 'do the rules we had in place, in society, before it all went to shit, do they matter?'

'Daryl,' Carol said softly, putting one hand on his arm, 'what are you talking about?'

Daryl shook his head, trying to remove Beth's young, innocent face from his mind. He was starting to feel awful, like a leering, dirty old man. He wanted to jump down from the tower and go and punch every single walker in the face until they were all gone and he was spent.

'Forget it,' he murmured, closing off.