A/N All characters belong to the writers and creators of The Walking Dead. Except those that arose from my own twisted imagination.

Chapter Nine-Lies and Memories

Andrea stretched rolled over in bed. The sun was shining through the window. She sat up, the sheet pulled around her, and looked for Phillip. The room was empty. She got up, dressed quickly and walked out of the bedroom. As she started down the stairs, she heard voices.

"So they do have her," she heard Philip say. She looked over the railing and down into the living room. She couldn't see the Governor but did see Merle and two of his crew.

"Yeah they have her," Merle confirmed. "Looks like she's part of the family now." One of Merle's boys laughed. Merle turned and frowned.

"What you laughin' at boy? It's your fault we're in this mess in the first place. If you boys weren't so busy thinkin' with your dicks we coulda' wiped them out weeks ago!" Andrea watched the younger, taller man cower in front of Merle and hang his head. Merle waved them to the door.

"Get on outta here! Go do your goddamn jobs for once!" Once they left, Merle turned back to the Governor. Phillip walked into her view and Andrea ducked back out of sight.

"You shouldn't give those boys such a bad time. You were the last one to see her before she took off. You were supposed to keep an eye on her." Merle had a hangdog look on his face.

"I told you she attacked me. Took me by surprise." The Governor laughed.

"Yes I bet you she did." He took a sip of tea. "Did you see your brother?" Merle nodded.

"Ungrateful little bastard wouldn't talk to me. You ask me, the bitch got him pussy whipped." Phillip nodded.

"That's a shame. This would be so much easier to do if I didn't have to put you in this situation. Brother against brother. Funny," he said, chuckling. "That seems to be the history of all important battles of the South." He sat his tea cup down on the counter and appeared to be deep in thought. Merle looked anxious.

"So what do we do now Governor? Want us to make another run at 'em? We can get in through the back side of the prison where the fence is down. My boys got it scoped out. There's some biters but we got enough men…"

"No," Phillip cut him off. "Not just yet. I want to let them get comfortable again, let their guard down. We need to up the patrols on the road. Watch them when they go for supplies, keep an eye on them." He walked over to the staircase and glanced up before continuing.

"We still have the other one, right? Your boys haven't let her escape as well have they?" Merle shook his head.

"We've got her locked up tight. They're not gonna make the same mistake twice."

"Good. Tell your boys that I don't care what they do beyond the wall but I will not tolerate that kind of behavior here. We're trying to rebuild civilization, give people some hope. Word of that kind of thing happening to one of our own people could start making everyone nervous. When people get nervous, that's what starts a revolution."

He walked Merle to the door and Andrea hurried back to the bedroom. She didn't know what was going on. Did Rick's group make it this far? Or had Daryl gotten mixed up with another group, one that was a threat to Woodbury? She'd heard about the escape of the two people who had attacked and robbed a supply team a couple of weeks ago. Their group must have been spying on the wall because a team of ten people had walked right in, shot two sentries and killed three guards before making off with the prisoners and a large cache of weapons. It was a highly coordinated attack and the Governor had told the people that he had discovered information that it was a rogue group of ex-military who were roaming out beyond the walls. He cancelled all supply runs by "civilians" and Merle's group was now in charge of all Woodbury security matters. She definitely wouldn't put it past Daryl Dixon to make it this far, and his tracking skills would be an asset to any group.

She jumped when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Quickly she started making the bed, trying to make it appear that she had just woken up. The Governor entered the room and smiled when he saw her.

"Good morning." Andrea returned the smile and walked over to kiss him. This was what she liked. Having a normal life away from running and walkers and worrying where your next meal would be coming from. He looked down at her and brushed her hair from her face.

"I didn't wake you did I?" She shook her head.

"No. I thought I heard Merle's voice a while ago. Is everything alright?" A shadow passed over the Governor's face for a brief moment before he smiled and shook his head.

"Of course. Everything is just fine. Merle was just giving me an update on their efforts to find that crew we've been having trouble with, that's all." Andrea nodded. She wanted to ask about Daryl but she didn't want to let it slip that she'd been listening in. The Governor kissed her again and took her hand.

"Are you ready for breakfast?" She smiled and reached up to stroke his face.

"Of course." He led her downstairs.

Merle and Cash walked through the halls towards the interrogation room. In front of the door, Travis and Baylor stood waiting. They stepped aside as Merle approached.

"She in there?" Travis nodded. Merle frowned at him.

"You boys haven't been messin' with this one have you?" Baylor shook his head.

"No sir." Baylor opened the door and Merle stepped in. He closed the door behind him.

"Well now," he walked to the end of the table and looked down the prisoner. "I think you've had enough time to cool off. I don't expect you'll want to do anything stupid this time around." He slowly leaned over the table.

"Now, you're gonna tell me everything you know about the group at the prison. And you're gonna do it right quick."

At the other end of the table, Michonne glared at him defiantly.

Carol woke up early to check on Danielle and found her still asleep and curled up against Daryl with her head on his chest. He was propped up with one arm behind his head, the other wrapped around Danielle, his thumb stroking the bare skin of her shoulder. He was awake, keeping watch over her as she slept. When he saw Carol, he carefully slid out from under Danielle and laid her head gently on her pillow.

"Hey," he said quietly, getting to his feet. Carol walked carefully around Dani and Daryl walked with her down the stairs.

"How's she doing?" Carol asked. Daryl crossed his arms and frowned.

"She's ok. Had a nightmare a couple hours ago but settled right back down." The sun was rising, light filling the cellblock. Everyone would be getting up soon. Daryl started out the door.

"I'm gonna go see if Oscar needs help diggin' Abigail's grave." Carol hurried after him and followed him out the door.

"Daryl, what are you doing?" He looked at her, confused.

"I just told you." Carol shook her head.

"No I mean with Dani. If you really care about her, that's wonderful. But if you're just doing this to help her heal…you're going to hurt her in the long run. Because she does care for you, a great deal. Everyone can see it." She raised her hand to shield her eyes from the rising sun. "I just can't understand why you don't." Daryl frowned and squinted in the bright light.

"Y'all need to be a little less concerned with mine and Dani's feelings and a little more concerned about those sons of bitches over in Woodbury. Why don't you worry about that alright? What they did last night, they were just messin' with us. They were messin' with Dani big time and they got in her head. I ain't about to let them in mine." As he walked away, he called over his shoulder, "But y'all just keep talkin' and gossipin' like a bunch of ol' biddies in church if it makes you feel better." Carol watched him walk down to Oscar, pick up a shovel and finish burying Abigail.

Hershel recited the Lord's Prayer over Abigail's grave. Rick held Judith in one arm while keeping a hand firmly on Carl's shoulder. He'd had another nightmare about losing the boy. This time, Carl was the walker and Rick was begging for help to save him from Merle. He flinched at the memory. Maggie stood with Glenn, her head on his shoulder. Oscar and Axel stayed behind Hershel, their heads bowed. Oscar tried not to acknowledge the few tears that ran down his cheeks, thinking of his own kids, while Axel wept openly. Beth and Carol stood with Dani, ready to be there for her if she broke down again. Dani stood with her arms crossed staring down and the dirt and rocks that covered the body of her little girl. Flashes of memories went through her head. The first moment she saw her daughter after a long and difficult delivery, her first steps, first birthday, first day of school. Packing her daughter up into the car as they fled the city, ignoring phone calls from her angry ex-husband. Trying to keep Abigail calm as they navigated the roads and the traffic. Teaching Abigail how to shoot and being so proud of how accurate she was. Finding Woodbury…

The memories stopped there. She couldn't allow herself to think of that place at this moment. Those people killed her daughter. The anger that she had for everyone in the town was growing, shutting down the grief and blocking out the memories of her daughter that she wanted to keep seeing. She looked up from the grave and saw Daryl standing by Rick, watching her. He was the one person she wanted by her side at that moment because she knew he understood her. They both grew up poor, both told by society that they were a lower class than everyone else. They grew up learning how to rely on themselves, that no one else was going to do anything for them. They both knew what it was like to be abused by a parent, his physically, hers emotionally. The only real difference was that Dani grew up knowing how to love, thanks to her father and her grandparents. He grew up having every positive feeling quashed by his alcoholic father and that asshole Merle.

Hershel finished the prayer and Carol put her hand on Dani's shoulder.

"You ready to head back?" Dani shook her head.

"No. I want to stay for a bit." Carol nodded and put her arm around Beth, leading her back to the prison. Maggie and Glenn both hugged her, as did Hershel. Axel nodded to her but kept his distance. Oscar wordlessly took her hand in both of his and she stood on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek and thank him. Rick put his hand on her shoulder as he passed and Carl smiled at her. Soon, it was just her and Daryl left. He walked over to stand beside her. She linked her arm with his and leaned against his shoulder. She waited for him to tense up or pull away but he didn't.

"Thank you for everything." He didn't reply. They stood there like that for a moment.

"I meant what I said. I'm gonna make this right." Dani looked up at him and saw he was staring intently at Abigail's grave. She stood in front of him and forced him to look at her.

"Daryl, this was not your fault. I told you before that what Merle Dixon is, what he does is not a reflection on you. For God's sake Daryl! It's a goddamn miracle that you're not like him! Look at everything you've done for the group. You went out lookin' for Sophia when Shane wanted to give up." He looked surprised. "Yeah, Carol told me that. And you helped keep everyone safe last winter." He shook his head.

"Nah, that was Rick." Dani shook her head.

"Rick couldn't have done it without you. He's a good man, a smart man but you are the one he leans on. All of this," she motioned around the prison, "you have to take credit for a lot of it." She paused, waiting until his eyes finally locked on hers.

"And there's me. Do you get that at all? You saved me last night. I was ready to lay down and die right in that driveway. I lost everything. I had no reason to keep going. Then you held me and you showed me that I do have a reason. It might be stupid and it might be some goddamn romantic notion out of some cheesy movie but I realized that you need me. And I need you too. I know that's hard for you to accept and you'll probably deny it with your last breath but you know it's true." He stared at her and while his jaw was set and his face expressionless, she could see the conflict that was in his eyes. She tried to think of something else to say, something to keep him from running off or shutting her out when he kissed her.

It surprised her so much that she almost didn't respond. His hand gripped the back of her neck so tight it almost hurt. She reached up to touch his face and that's when he pulled away.

"We can't do this, not now." He walked away from her, heading back into the prison. She waited until he was almost inside before following.

In the cellblock, Dani saw that Daryl had grabbed his crossbow and gun and was preparing to head out on his motorcycle. Glenn and Axel went out first to clear the fence and unlock the gate. Dani followed Daryl back outside.

"Where the hell do you think you're goin'?" She asked him, angry at him for running away.

"We need some stuff." She shook her head.

"No we don't Daryl. You know we don't." She swallowed hard and whispered, "Please don't leave because of me."

"I'm not. I'm just gonna go for a quick run, grab a few things we missed and I'll be right back, alright? I promise you, I'm comin' back." He turned and got on his motorcycle and fired it up. Glenn opened the gate for him and then quickly closed it. Dani watched as he disappeared out of sight.

Daryl tried to keep his head clear. This was not the time to let the mind wander but he couldn't help it. He'd kissed her. He couldn't believe he'd been so damned stupid as to do it. As he rounded a corner, he didn't notice the man hidden in the bushes. The one who'd been waiting for the sound of a car to come from the prison. Daryl didn't see the walker the man pushed out in front of him until the last second and laid his bike down. He felt the burning in his leg as he skidded across the asphalt. He laid there, breathing hard trying to reach for his gun when someone else's gunshot rang out. Daryl heard the walker drop to the ground and footsteps approaching him. Suddenly, Merle's face came into view.

"Why thank you baby brother. You brought me back my bike."