[A/N: I've obviously taken quite a few liberties with Tony's character. hope that doesn't bother anyone too much.]

Daryl reached out a hand to Asha's wrist where she hung limp over Tony's shoulder, feeling for her pulse at the base of her thumb. He didn't bother counting. He had no idea how many beats per minute an ordinary heart rate was, but the feel of her blood fluttering in some sort of rhythm under the skin was reassuring.

He'd carried her himself to start with, but the lack of rest and food was telling on him and he'd lagged further behind. Tony was built like a front rower and hadn't asked so much as just taken her out of his arms – muttering disgustedly that he wasn't going to hurt her when Daryl had snapped at him to keep his hands to himself.

The huge man carried Asha's weight as though it was nothing.

Daryl wasn't thrilled with the change to their travelling circumstances. He was pissed he'd let half a dozen men sneak up on him, and he was focussing on that anger in preference to the worry that had knotted his guts since Asha's eyes had rolled back in her head as she'd collapsed.

Her loss of consciousness hadn't left him with much choice. There was no way of knowing how long she'd be out. They had no immediate shelter. He could carry her for a bit, but not fast, so they were at the mercy of anyone – dead or living – that came past. Their encounter with the horde and car the night before was too fresh for that risk to be discounted.

Still, even with all that, he might have taken their chances if it hadn't been clear that Asha had recognised Tony, and whilst Daryl had been crouched over Asha's unconscious form, anxiously checking she was still breathing, the huge Hispanic man had sounded genuine when he'd told Joe that he wasn't ok with leaving her behind in to die. He'd sounded a little too genuine, truth be told, like Asha had once meant something to him.

Daryl knew men like this. He recognised them for what they were, a pack – not of wolves which might imply some sort of family or honour – but jackals, thrown together by circumstance and bound by the thinnest veneer of order. He'd known men like this before – hell, most of the men he'd known before the turn had been like this.

His position at the rear of the group let him discretely assess their new travelling companions.

Tony and Joe were nearest to him. Whatever his discomfort about Tony's familiarity with Asha, the big man's unwillingness to leave her to die meant he wasn't the most immediate threat. Joe was obviously in charge, and Daryl was careful not to read too much into the genial face the grey haired man had been showing them so far – he was pretty sure Joe wasn't keeping control of this group with smiles and kind words.

The four remaining members were ranged at the front of the group. Harley and Billy were two virtually indistinguishable scrawny guys who seemed largely ambivalent about Asha and Daryls' presence. Dan, a balding somehow still slightly pudgy guy, seemed downright uninterested in them. The three of them walked with their attention on the road.

The asshole with the bow, Len, tailed those three, tossing frequent glances over his shoulder at Asha's arse where she was draped over Tony's shoulder. Daryl's lip twitched in a snarl every time his eyes fell on the man.

He'd seen that look in other men's eyes before, even felt it in his own on the odd occasion. It was the look a man gave a woman when he was stripping her naked in his head.

He was gonna gut that leering bastard if he didn't keep his eyes to himself.

Needing to distract himself as much as out of any real interest, he turned his attention back to Tony. 'Ya knew Asha before this?'

Tony ignored him.

'Hey I'm talkin' to you.'

Tony gave him a flat look over his shoulder.

'Yeah. I knew her. She was tight with my sister.' His voice softened slightly. 'Carla. They used to bartend together.'

Daryl grunted. He couldn't recall Asha ever mentioning someone called Carla, but the bartending was consistent at least. He'd reached out to her wrist to take her pulse again when he realised Tony was giving him a carefully weighing look, his arms tightened a little too familiarly around Asha's limp form.

'Knew her well,' he said.

Daryl snarled, half raising his crossbow, ready to demand Asha be handed back – noting from the corner of his eye that Len had dropped back, a look of lean anticipation on his face.

'Enough,' Joe snapped.

Tony grumbled slightly under his breath but settled Asha more comfortably on his shoulder and turned away from the argument. Daryl grimaced but didn't push the issue. Len looked as though he was still spoiling for a fight, and it was too risky to take him on with Asha unable to defend herself.

'She in the habit of passing out like that?' Joe asked, falling into step beside him. 'Doesn't strike me as the wilting flower type.'

'Hit her head the other day,' Daryl said tersely, automatically limiting their story to the bare details. For all he knew Joe's group had a camp somewhere with a car with a white cross painted in the back window. 'Smacked it on a window frame when we got run out of a house by a horde. Been travelling all night.'

'Just the two of you?'

'Had a group once.' Daryl found his eyes back on Asha, blonde braid swinging where she hung upside down. 'But lost 'em a while back.'

'How do we know this ain't who we're looking for?' Len cut in aggressively. 'White guy, 40s, dark hair? And there was that woman's shirt. It coulda been hers. She coulda been hiding somewhere nearby.'

Daryl squinted, hoping he didn't look as baffled as he felt.

Joe looked questioningly at Tony.

'It ain't him,' the large man said, sounding a little reluctant. 'Puto had a serious beard.'

'He coulda shaved,' Len suggested.

Tony gestured at Daryl with his head. 'He looked like he's shaved lately? It ain't him I'm tellin' ya. Face is wrong.'

'Good enough for me,' Joe said dismissively.

Len glowered at him for a moment, but eventually he too turned his attention back to the road.

Daryl kept his face impassive and voice only mildly curious. 'Ya looking for someone?'

Joe's look weighed him a moment before he answered. 'Yeah. Guy matching the description Len just gave. Tony's the only one who saw him. He'd mostly healed up, but it looked like he'd been in a fairly serious fight. Was hiding out in a house we searched. Killed one of our friends.' Joe's eyes narrowed at him. 'Why? You know someone who matches that description.'

Daryl snorted. 'Ain't much of a description, but it sure ain't match her.' He pointed at Asha. 'She's the only travelling companion I've had lately.'

Joe nodded, seemingly satisfied, and they walked on in silence.

Despite what he'd said - and despite the description being very vague – Daryl couldn't shake it from his mind, especially the detail about the beard.

He knew one man who had that stand out feature.

Asha woke up groggy. As the mental fog slowly shifted, she panicked as she realised she was physically restrained. The weight across her chest tightened, and she twisted, suffocating, forcing her eyes open against the too bright light, and then relaxing as she recognised Daryl's arm draped across her. He was warm against her back and blinked at her bleary eyed as she looked over her shoulder.

'Had to sleep,' he muttered, lifting his arm from over her and detangling the other from inside her shirt where it was looped through the back of her bra strap. 'But wanted to wake if you did.'

A feeling of warmth swelled outwards from her belly.

'Well I'm awake,' she said, forcing a small smile against the blinding pain in her head. She lifted a shaky hand to her temple. 'How long have I been out?'

Daryl pushed himself to a sitting position and raked the hair off his face. 'All night, most of yesterday too.'

Asha grunted noncommittally, carefully resting her head back on the ground. Longer than she would have liked, but the way her head was hurting she figured she should be grateful it wasn't days.

Daryl scowled as he looked around, Asha following his gaze.

Although the light had seemed unnaturally bright to her when she woke, it was early morning, the sky only lightly stained by the dawn. A handful of slumbering blanket wrapped shapes lay on the ground, and Asha stared at them perplexed before her eyes travelled past, settling on a large dark man, awake, back settled against a tree, presumably on watch.

'Tony,' she whispered, the events of yesterday suddenly rushing back to her.

She glanced back a Daryl, feeling anew a bolt of terror at how close she'd come to losing him. The glower on his face now looked to be etched from stone.

'Hola sirenita,' Tony said and Asha's gazed snapped back to him.

'Hey yourself,' she said, feeling somewhat like she'd slipped into the twilight zone. She'd never thought to see anyone she'd known from before the turn again – especially not someone she'd had a history with.

But the longer she stared at Tony's face, the more real it seemed. The time since the turn was marked subtly but clearly in the new hard lines on his face, the wary set to his eyes.

'Gonna hunt,' Daryl said abruptly, getting to his feet.

'Wait,' Asha said, latching a hand around his calf, the nearest bit of him she could reach.

He glanced at her, face unreadable as he picked up his bow. 'Ya gotta eat.'

Her stomach was so sunken in on itself it was hard as a stone. But there was another need she needed tending to first.

She bit her lip and forced herself into an upright sitting position, head spinning. 'I, ah…need to…' She waved towards the bushes, uncomfortably feeling Tony's eyes behind her. 'I don't think I can get up myself,' she admitted.

Daryl moved quickly, slinging his bow across his back, and scoping an arm under her. 'Ready?' he asked.

'Hmmm,' she murmured, teeth set to her bottom lip.

She tried to straighten her legs, but Daryl basically lifted her to her feet. Swaying alarmingly, but at least she managed to take her own weight once she was up there.

She was grateful Daryl kept his arm tight around her ribs.

'Don't go too far,' Tony said. 'Wouldn't want to mistake you for one of the dead on your way back.'

Daryl grunted sourly, steering Asha away from the slip shod camp. Asha said nothing, it was taking all her energy to stay upright.

They walked far enough into the trees to give them some privacy. Daryl leant Asha against a tree trunk, and she gripped on to it, legs shaking and breathing harder than she would have liked. Her vision was shot through with sharp white lights.

'What the hell are we doing with them?' she hissed quietly.

'You passed out,' Daryl hissed back, scanning their perimeter. 'Couldn't risk us being out in the open like that, not after Beth. And you knew him, Tony.'

'A long time ago.'

'Well he sure as shit recognised you.'

Asha looked at him, wondering at the hard tone in his voice.

'Sirenita?' Daryl asked, voice falling somewhere between bitterness and incredulity.

'We're not sticking with them,' Asha said. It was only half a question.

'Ain't that simple.'

She furrowed her brows at him

'They're following someone,' he said voice dropping, watching the trees again. 'Someone who'd looked like he was recovering from a fight, someone with a serious beard.'

Asha's head jerked up, and she winced at the sudden movement.

Rick.

She mouthed the word, not even daring say it out loud.

Daryl chewed his lip and lifted a shoulder in a slight shrug. His eyes gave nothing away, but Asha couldn't help the spark of hope that fluttered to life in her belly.

'Wait, why are they following him?'

'Killed one of theirs. Ain't reckon their intentions are friendly if they find him.'

Asha swallowed hard, stomach twisting a little. 'What about Beth?'

Daryl 's shoulders slumped. 'No trail. Got as much chance going in this direction as any other. I ain't said nothing 'bout her. Didn't want to let anything on, not yet anyways.'

Asha nodded. That was smart. 'We can't abandon her,' she said in a small voice.

'We ain't,' but he grimaced sourly as he said it.

It felt like they were.

'You gotta go?' he asked, probably more roughly than he intended to. 'Or that just a ploy to get us out here.'

'No, I do.'

Daryl nodded and turned his back to give her some privacy.

It was a little awkward doing what she needed to whilst leaning against the tree but she managed. Frustratingly she was trembling again by the time she levered herself back upright against the tree.

'Done,' she mumbled.

Daryl growled in the back of his throat, gripping her under the arm to steady her where she clung pathetically to the tree. 'Ya need food,' he said.

'Still a jar of peanut butter in the pack.' Unfortunately their better stocked pack had been lost with Beth. Asha kicked herself for not splitting their supplies more evenly.

'That ain't gonna get ya far,' Daryl said. 'Ain't like leaving ya alone, but I might not get another chance to hunt for a bit.' He frowned, and ground the words out between clenched teeth. 'Ya trust that Tony guy enough t' stay behind if I hunt?'

Asha's brow furrowed. 'I think so, I mean he could be a whole new person, but I think there's probably enough of who he used to be for it to be ok.'

Daryl was frowning at her, she could see him weighing whether the risk was worth it.

'It'll be fine,' she said, forcing a tired smile. 'They could have killed us while we slept if they'd wanted. Besides, if we're gonna have to stick with them for a bit you won't be able to stay with me every second. Might be important to try reconnect.'

'Hmmm,' he scowled, clearly unhappy with that suggestion.

He took her weight to steer her back towards the camp. Her legs were visibly shaking by the time he deposited her back on the thin blanket they'd been sleeping under.

The grey haired man in the denim vest was awake and watched them silently.

'Joe,' Daryl acknowledged him with a short nod. 'Gonna hunt, I got time?'

'Hmmm,' Joe nodded. 'Hour or so till these guys are up and we need to be on our way.'

Daryl nodded, squeezing Asha's hand gently and shooting a hard glance at Tony before slinking away between the trees.

Asha was heart warmed by the tenderness of his grasp, and she tried to hold on to the feeling as he disappeared from sight.

He'd been gone barely a minute, just long enough for Asha to start to feel uncomfortable under Joe's unrelenting gaze, when one of the blanket shrouded shaped shifted and the bowman from yesterday unfolded from the ground. He showed no signs of having just woken from sleep and gave Asha an appraising look before speaking to Joe.

'Guess I'll go catch me some breakfast too,' he said, strutting off in the trees.

'Still can't believe it's you,' Tony said giving her a sidelong look. 'Ain't real.'

Asha eased her head sideways to look at him. 'I know what you mean.' She hesitated, wary of asking a touchy question, but part of her needed to know. 'Carla?'

Tony's face closed over and he shook his head. 'Early on. Got bit.'

Asha felt a swell of sorrow as Carla's bright eyes and ready laugh sparkled in her mind before darkening under the harsh reality of Tony's words. She reached out and touched Tony's arm. 'Sorry,' she said softly.

Tony nodded, eyes on the ground. Then he looked back at her, breaking into a suddenly smile that lifted all the hard lines from his face. 'It is good to see you though.'

Asha smiled back, and was surprised to feel a faint flutter of her old feelings for Tony - a mere echo of what they'd once been but disconcerting for their existence at all.

She blinked, looking away quickly to mask her sudden confusion. She hoped it wasn't noticeable, but as the silence dragged into awkwardness, she suspected she wasn't so lucky.

Joe coughed briefly and pushed himself to his feet. 'Well, I am gonna leave you two to get reacquainted and go keep an eye on our two hunters.'

'You been with this group long?' Asha asked Tony, eyes following the grey haired man as he ducked under the cans strung around their camp and disappeared between the trees.

'With Joe since early on, the rest we've picked up along the way. Lost a lot of others too.'

Asha sighed. 'That's the way these days.'

Tony grunted.

'Has Joe always been in charge?'

Tony grunted again. 'Yeah. He's got a system.'

She raised a brow, waiting for him to elucidate.

Tony waved a hand dismissively. 'He'll tell you about it when he's ready.'

'Are there more of you? Got a camp somewhere?'

'Not for a long time. The scavenging's better if we just keep moving. Haven't been going anywhere in particular until lately.' He grimaced as if he'd said more than he meant to.

'Lately?' Asha frowned as if this were news to her.

'Hmm. Following a guy.'

'Oh yeah? Why?' Asha tossed it out casually, hoping there was a new piece of information she could shake loose.

'Killed one of ours.'

'Hmmm. Been following him long?'

Tony shrugged. 'Few days. Joe reckons were catching up.'

Tony didn't sound as though he cared either way, scratching in the dirt at his feet with the end of a stick.

Asha let it lie, but after a moment of silence Tony looked up, a hard but hollow look in his eyes. 'Ya ain't gonna ask what we're gonna do once we catch up to him?'

Asha looked at him flatly, carefully stilling her hands against her knees so they wouldn't shake.

'No,' she said bleakly.

But even though the words weren't said aloud, her understanding of what they intended was clear as day – and part of her wondered, if she didn't suspect it was Rick, how much she would care.

With that uncomfortable question hanging over her head, the time, the distance, the hard reality wrought by the turn flooded back, erasing the false sense of familiarity that had been hovering since she'd seen Tony's face.

There was no going back to the way things had been.

Suddenly feeling both bitter and vulnerable and hating everything about this new life she turned away, carefully laying down with her back to Tony, figuring she could at least pretend to sleep until Daryl came back – even if the reality escaped her.

She didn't sleep. The ground was too hard and her head was too sore and every sound as the men stirred behind her made the skin tighten across her back. The moments dragged interminably until finally there was a rattle of the cans strung around the camp.

Asha's eyes flashed open as Daryl ducked under the line, a bloody scrap of carcass in one hand that he slapped on the ground beside their blanket.

Asha pushed herself slowly up. The sharpness of Daryl's movements and the hard set to his jaw communicating clearer than day that something had happened.

Behind him, Joe and Len trailed into camp, the later with a decidedly sour set to his face.

'What happened?' Asha asked quietly as Daryl shuffled her off their blanket so he could roll it up.

He ignored her, packing up their gear, but she could almost feel the growl hovering in the back of his throat.

'Daryl' s just been learning the lay of the land,' Joe said blandly. He glanced around at the group. 'But he'll have to explain it to you later. It's past time we were gone.'

Daryl finished cramming gear in their pack and held out a hand.

'Later,' he agreed bitterly, and Asha let him grip her around the forearm and pull her unsteadily to her feet.