[A/N: Hello strangers! Sorry for the unplanned hiatus and radio silence. I had a few unexpected distractions arise earlier in the year that cut into my writing time – new job (somewhat of a distraction), new puppy (super cute and a huge time waster), and it turns out my partner and I have a new baby on the way. This is pretty damn exciting, but holy hell I have spent a lot of time vomiting or wanting to vomit – and for a while there I needed to sleep for 12 hours at a time!

There is also a whole section of this story (coming up in a few chapters time) that I seriously struggled with. My first draft was complete crap (and it put a bit of a dent in my writing mojo), but I've managed to wrestle it into something that at least kind of works.

Thanks to all those who have favourited or followed, and especially those who have taken the time to leave a review. I'm hoping I haven't alienated too many of you with my complete lack of responsiveness! But I have plans of updating regularly again (now that I'm able to function like a human at least most of the time) - and have a good few chapters up my sleeve now that I've sorted out that above mentioned bit of crappy writing. Anyway, time to push on with the next chapter.]

The air was thick, stale and the corridor was dark, even though she knew it was only mid-afternoon outside. She paused with the palm of her hand against the door to the small room in the bowels of the prison, reluctant to go into the room in which Lori had died.

God she hoped Rick wasn't in there, but the sinking feeling in her stomach– and the fact that she'd been looking for him for at least an hour and had checked just about everywhere else– told her to expect otherwise.

She paused, eyes closed and steeling herself, then pushed the door open.

Rick was slumped in shadow against the wall, head in hands with elbows on drawn up knees, staring at the dark stain on the concrete floor. Even after all these months it was still visible,

'Rick?' she asked softly. 'What are you doing down here?'

He looked up, and she was relieved to see that his eyes were sad, but calm, and missing the ice that had been there that morning.

He scratched at his beard. 'Just wondering where we went wrong.'

She sunk down against the wall opposite him. 'Went wrong? I don't think we can blame anyone for people getting sick. People have gotten sick for as long as people have been around.'

'Yeah... That's not what I meant.'

'Karen and David?'

He nodded. 'Karen and David.' There was a heavy pause. 'You know it was Carol right?'

Asha drew in a long breath, letting it out very slowly. 'Yeah.'

Carol had been too calm about it all. Asha could clearly remember the tone of her voice when she'd suggested Andrea kill the Governor, and her focus last night on acting for the good of the group. The only other person Asha thought was capable of making such a decision and following through on it was Rick– the old Rick, the one who'd reappeared that morning in the encounter with Tyrese. She looked carefully at the man in front of her, wondering if he was more old Rick or farmer Rick.

He just looked tired.

'You know she did it to protect the people here right?' Rick said.

'Yes.'

'But you know it's not ok right?'

Asha swiped her good hand down the side of her mouth. This should be simple. She should know it wasn't ok. She shouldn't be able to rationalise it. 'Would you be saying that if it had worked?'

Rick shuddered. 'God I'd like to think so. I just keep thinking, it could have been Carl, Judith, that was sick. If she saw them as a threat…'

Asha sighed heavily. 'Reckon anyone else has figured it out?'

He snorted. 'No. They're all a bit distracted with so many people sick now, and I don't think anyone else is willing to see this yet.' His head tipped forward into his hands. 'I just can't get past the thought, what if it was Carl, or me or you, or Michonne. Hell, maybe even Daryl. I mean, I'm trying to think where she might have drawn the line and the only thing I'm thinking is maybe, if it was Daryl, maybe she wouldn't have been able to go through with it.'

'Surely if it was one of the kids that was sick, she wouldn't have been able to. She genuinely cares Rick, you know she does.'

Rick spoke to the ground, head still resting in his hands. 'You know she's been teaching the children how to use weapons? That's what "storytime" is, knife lessons with Carol. Their parents don't know. Carl only told me about it the other day.'

Asha shrugged. 'Seems pretty practical actually, and after what happened to Sophia can you really blame her?'

Rick's brows shot up.

'Don't look to me for parental outrage Rick, there's a reason I don't have kids.'

Rick shook his head. 'You know it's not ok,' he repeated after a minute.

They weren't talking about the knife lessons anymore.

Asha sighed. 'No, it's not.' She rubbed tiredly at her temples. 'So, when are you gonna tell the Council?'

Rick gave her a steady look. 'They're not exactly functioning at the moment.'

'That's only temporary.'

Rick shrugged briefly. He continued to watch her quietly and she felt a faint quiver in her belly. 'The line between what is and isn't ok anymore just keeps getting blurrier,' she said eventually, 'but I think taking it upon yourself to get rid of one of our own should stay firmly on the wrong side of that line. It was wrong before, when you tried to give up Michonne, it's wrong now...and it'll still be wrong if you take on yourself to do something about Carol.'

She wished he'd flinched, or looked shocked– something to suggest he hadn't already been thinking along those lines. He just looked down at his hands.

'Yeah,' he said slowly. 'I'm not going to hurt her, but she can't stay here. I can't– I won't– have her near Carl and Judith.'

Asha chewed her lip a little uneasily. The problem was, she could equally rationalise what Carol had done and what Rick was suggesting.

'I'll take her out on a run in the morning,' Rick continued. 'There are still some suburban areas no too far out that we haven't fully picked over yet, might be able to pick up some medicines that'll help us hold out til Michonne and Daryl get back. I'll take some supplies, set her up with a car that works, and send her away.' He scratched at his beard. 'She can't be here when Tyrese finds out, he'll kill her.'

'No,' Asha said softly. 'Not if we don't let him...and I don't think he'll do that anyway.'

'Why not?''

Her mouth twisted. 'He's not us. He's angry, but you know it's not in him.' Tyrese's anger would burn bright and burn out, and then he'd be able to move on.

Rick pursed his lips in a non committal way.

She sighed and tipped her head back to rest against the wall. 'Why are you telling me all this?'

'I guess I'm trying not to do this on my own, and you've never been afraid to tell me what you really think.'

Her eyes narrowed. 'You sure it's not because this time you think I'm gonna tell you want you want to hear? You know Carol and I haven't been getting along that well lately.'

He leant forward. 'She's dangerous. If she's capable of doing this, what else will she do? What if she decides one of us is a threat?'

Asha snorted, for all she knew Carol already had decided she was a threat. She scrubbed her hand through her hand. 'I don't want any part of this Rick. You're not sending her away because of what she did. You're sending her away because of what she might do. Why are you so unwilling to hand this over to the Council. Don't you think they've got it in them to kick her out?' To be honest she wasn't entirely sure about that herself.

Rick rolled his shoulders. 'It'll be easier for them to accept if it's already done.'

There was a sour heavy feeling in her stomach. 'Just because you're capable of making a decision Rick, doesn't mean you should.'

'Sometimes you've gotta do what's going to keep people safe, even when they don't want you to do it.'

'I'm sure that was what Carol was thinking too.'

They stared at each other in heavy silence.

'Even making no decision's a decision,' Rick said eventually.

'Don't.' Asha snapped. 'I don't want that fucking responsibility. Hell, the reason you're not on the Council is because you don't want it either. It near broke you last time. I'm sorry, but it's true.' She noticed she was clenching and unclenching her good hand into a fist, palm clammy with sweat, and she growled angrily before tucking it under her leg to stop it moving.

'So you're not going to back me on this?'

'Jesus, Rick, I don't know what the right thing to do about Carol is. Hell, at this point I don't even know how I'd vote, if I had a vote, and I had to pick whether she stayed or went.'

'I thought you agreed it wasn't ok?'

'Yeah. That's not because I can't understand what she did Rick. It's not because I can't rationalise it.' She rubbed wearily at her temple. She could feel one hell of a headache coming on and she suddenly wished it was still the night before and she was stretched out beside Daryl in the guard tower. 'My gut doesn't tell me what's right and wrong anymore. It tells me what I can and can't do, but that's not the same thing.'

She stared at Rick, wondering if anything she was saying was making a dent.

Rick stared back.

Eventually she sighed. 'You'll do what you think is best Rick, I know that.' Sadly, the thought didn't give her much comfort. 'But if you do this, you're just as wrong as Carol– and for the same damn reason– you're making the call without involving the rest of the group. How are you going to explain this to everyone?'

'I will.'

Asha closed her eyes. 'How are you going to explain it to Daryl?'

'I will.'

'Just...at least give her the chance to talk you out of it tomorrow.'

He nodded slowly, 'Ok.'

But Asha could see he'd made up his mind and Carol would have to perform a miracle to change it. Still, she sighed resignedly and nodded. It was the best she was going to get.

She closed her eyes again, tipping her head back and raking her good hand through her hair. Her mind immediately drifted back to Daryl, God knew where on the way to a veterinary college which may or may not have what they needed. At least Michonne was there watching his back– whilst she was here keeping an eye on Rick.

She narrowed her eyes at the bearded man sitting across from her, his head hanging again and eyes fixed once more on the black stain.

'We're friends right Rick?' she asked. 'Despite the way we started, we're friends now right?'

'Of course.'

'Good. Try to hold on to that feeling for a minute, 'cause you're not going to like this.'

'Less than the conversation we just had?'

'Probably. Why are we here Rick, in this room I mean?'

His eyes flattened. 'You know why.'

'I know what happened here,' she said carefully, 'but that's not what I meant. Why do you keep coming down here?'

'Well I don't have a grave to visit,' he hissed angrily.

Asha twitched. She hadn't thought of that. There was a cross in the line of graves for Lori, but she wasn't buried there.

Mind you, she wasn't in this room anymore either.

'Why do you keep visiting Merle?' Rick bit back.

'He was my friend. I miss him.'

'Yeah well…' He waved vaguely around the room.

'This is different. This room, you're not visiting Lori, you're wallowing in your guilt.'

'You don't know what you're talking about,' he said bitterly.

'I know she died with a lot of things left unsaid between you. I know that even though her death was in no way your fault-'

Rick's shoulders jerked.

'It wasn't Rick, it's childbirth, shit happens. I know you're carrying guilt around about never fixing your relationship before she died. But it's been long enough. This doesn't help you, and it doesn't make any difference to Lori anymore…But it makes a difference to the people who are still around you. You need to let it go.'

Rick watched her sullenly. 'If you hadn't started this by reminding me that we're friends, I wouldn't be listening to this shit.'

Asha sighed. 'None of us have the life expectancy we used to. I don't want to see you add more guilt to this when more people around you go with things left unsaid.'

Michonne would kick her ass if she said anything more obvious than that.

Rick stared at her blankly.

Asha figured she'd pushed her friendship with Rick about as far as it would go for now. She got up and held out her good hand. 'Now get up. Self pity isn't your style and Hershel needs to look at that hand.'

Rick looked at her hand as though he wasn't sure what it was before eventually taking it. Asha grunted as she pulled him up.

He paused for a second after she let him go, then gripped her shoulder firmly. 'I'm sorry about your brother.'

Her throat and chest were suddenly in a vice. 'Yeah.'

'You say everything you wanted to there?

Asha snorted. 'Course not, no-one ever does, but I said enough.' She took a deep breath and then another, feeling a little tension in her chest loosen.

She had said enough. She had a thirty year bond with her brother that may have shaken occasionally, but it had never fallen. All the conversations she'd been having with him in her head– whilst he was missing and since Seth and the woods – all the things she thought she'd say to him when she saw him again, they were all repetition. Sure there was a bit of fine tuning, maybe a restatement of something she hadn't perfectly enunciated in the past, but at the base of it, it was all repetition.

She gripped Rick's hand on her shoulder. 'I did. I said enough.'

Ren, of course, was a different issue.

'Then you're lucky,' Rick said.

'Wasn't luck that we said those things to each other Rick. We made that happen– usually with a bit of helpful intervention by beer if I'm being totally honest. Reckon you should do something about it with the people you still can.'

Rick grunted. 'Yeah well, we've been outta beer for a while now.'

'Guess you'll just have to be braver than I was then.'

[A/N: Sorry it's only a short one. Hope you're all enjoying season 6!]