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

Chapter Seventeen-Get Over It

"Dammit Daryl. It's bad enough I have to worry about you runnin' off and doin' something stupid, now I have to worry about you being an ass here too?" Daryl glared at Rick.

"This ain't your concern." Rick walked across the room and stood right in front of Daryl, staring him down.

"It is my concern when it affects the group. Danielle is not stable. You know that. You've been worrying about that for days. So why the hell would you say all that to her, huh? Everyone knows what's goin' on with you two, don't think we don't. She risked her life for you Daryl. You owe her something." Daryl shook his head.

"I don't owe her shit." He started to walk past Rick but Rick stopped him.

"Daryl, you know I don't care what you do because generally, what you do benefits the group. I know you think that if you let anyone see that you have any kind of feelings at all for Danielle that it will somehow make you look weak. That's not true. What you're doin' right now, being a stubborn asshole, that makes you look weak. Now you need to fix this. I don't care what you need to say or what you need to do but you need to fix this now. Because all you're doing is keeping the group on edge and it's going to be bad, do you understand? We have to pull together because the storm that's about to hit is going to be huge. And if we're not whole, if we're not strong, we're all dead." Rick stepped aside. "Now you go find her and you make things right." Daryl smirked at him.

"Is that supposed to be some kinda order?" Rick's eyes narrowed.

"It's whatever it needs to be to get you to do what needs to be done." Daryl looked behind him and saw Carol standing just behind the stairs. Her face mirrored Rick's and Daryl knew that she had heard what he'd yelled at Dani as well. Seeing her disappointment in him was harder to take than Rick's. Daryl turned back around and glared at Rick.

"If you're so concerned about saving Danielle, then why don't you go deal with her?" Rick frowned.

"Because I'm not the one in love with her." Daryl flinched. He felt like he'd been punched in the gut. He tried to respond, to deny it, but instead walked towards the door. Rick called after him.

"Fix it Daryl." Daryl flipped him off and walked outside.

Danielle had finally calmed down and was staring at the fence. Three more walkers had joined the original two and the noise was oddly soothing. It blocked out her thoughts and helped her focus. To hell with Daryl Dixon. To hell with everyone at this prison. She didn't want to leave but maybe it would be easier to just let one of these things bite her and she could die the same way her daughter did. What was the point of going on anymore? She didn't have anyone. Daryl didn't want her, he'd made that clear. She stood and watched as another walker joined the others at the fence. It was getting louder. She debated how she should do it. Should she let one of them bite her arm and die slow? Or should she press herself up to the fence and let them tear her to pieces? She took a step forward when an arrow whizzed past her ear, killing one of the walkers. Dani turned and saw Daryl standing behind her. The anger came back.

"What the hell do you think you're doin?"

"I should ask you the same question." He walked over to her, grabbed her arm and started hauling her away from the fence. She struggled but he wouldn't let go.

"Stop it Daryl! You're hurting me!" He let go of her arm and she backed away from him.

"Don't you dare touch me again, do you hear me?" Danielle hissed the words at him. He frowned at her.

"I'll do whatever I have to do to keep you from killing yourself. Were you just gonna let them walkers bite you?"

"What's it matter to you if I live or die? You've already made it clear that you don't give a shit about me so why should I? I don't have anything now. Might as well check out." She glared at him, hate evident in her face. She waited a moment and then walked past him towards the prison.

"Dani, I'm sorry." The words stopped her cold. Danielle turned slowly and laughed.

"Wow. This makes the second time in the past few days that you've apologized to me. Big bad Daryl Dixon isn't going soft is he?" He ignored the mocking tone in her voice, something he had to try very hard to do. He knew Rick was right and that he needed to fix things with Dani. He had taken his own self-loathing out on her and it wasn't right. Merle had always said that no one was going to ever take care of him the way that Merle did and Dani had proven that wrong. He was being stupid trying to push her away. She wasn't the distraction. His inability to recognize what it felt like to love someone was the distraction.

"I didn't mean to say those things to you, alright? I was pissed at myself and you were an easy target." She stared at him, trying to understand.

"You made me feel like shit Daryl." He nodded.

"I know. I'm sorry. Just get over it..." Dani's laugh cut him off.

"I'm sorry, did I just hear you say 'get over it'? You pretty much called me a stupid whore and you want to just 'get over' that? Are you kidding me right now? That's your idea of an apology?" She started to turn away but instead walked over to him and punched him in the face.

"Get over that asshole."

Andrea stowed her gun and ammunition in the car. She had told the Governor that she was going to the prison, on behalf of Woodbury, and try to talk to Rick. The Governor, obviously unhappy, gave her forty-eight hours to get to the prison, talk to them and then return. If she didn't, he said, he'd assume she had been killed and would proceed with a full military assault on the prison. She had quickly packed food and water. It was early afternoon and she wanted to get there before dark.

When Cash brought the car around, he had definitely not been happy. He almost threw the keys at her and left her with a young Columbian man named Miguel.

"Miguel's gonna check to make sure you ain't stealin' nothin'." Cash spit out. Andrea narrowed her eyes.

"If you're so worried about it, why don't you check?" Cash looked annoyed at the question, which pleased Andrea.

"I've got security issues to check on. Need to find out how that chick got in here to try to kill the Governor." Andrea silently thanked Michonne for making it so she could do this away from the watchful eyes of Cash.

Andrea took the keys from Miguel. The poor kid looked nervous.

"I think we're good here," she said, almost cheerful. "Just tell the Governor that I'll be back as soon as I can. I'm hoping we can negotiate without any more people dying." Miguel didn't move from in front of the door. "Was there something else Miguel?" He didn't say anything but motioned for her to follow him to the trunk.

"I think you don't want to drive up the road at the prison. You know, in case they are not your friends, yes?" Andrea frowned.

"I didn't think that but I guess you may have a point. What do you suggest?" He took the keys from her hand and opened the trunk. Miguel reached under the supply bag and removed a long pole with pincers at the end. It looked like something a park worker would use to pick up trash.

"You find a biter. An easy one, by itself. Clamp this around it's neck and use it to hide yourself. A…camouflage?" Andrea nodded. "You park the car on the road first, then find biter. Walk through the woods, see if the prison is safe. Then talk to your friends." Andrea smiled. The poor kid was sweet. He wouldn't last long in Cash's inner circle if he didn't toughen up, which might not be such a bad thing.

"Thank you Miguel. I'll use it. And I'll be back soon." He nodded and walked quickly away from the car. Andrea climbed in and started the engine. Slowly, she drove towards the gate. She waited a few minutes as the man on duty, an older man who reminded Andrea of Dale, opened the gate for her and she left the safety of Woodbury's walls for the first time in over a month.

The Governor watched her leave from the window. Cash stood behind him.

"Did she say anything to you before she left?" Cash responded quickly.

"She told Miguel she'd be back soon. Wants to try to negotiate to keep more people from dyin'." The Governor frowned.

"You know Cash, I don't know where her loyalties lie. I just don't think she is truly with us." Cash nodded.

"Want me to send a group to follow her?" The Governor shook his head.

"Not just yet. I don't want our forces split. They may decide to bring in more than a rescue squad next time. We have people who are depending on us to keep them safe. Our focus should be on them. We will need to be ready for when the next attack happens."

"Governor, I think we need to just follow the original plan we had when Merle found those two scavenging. Go clear out that prison and turn it back over to the biters." The Governor turned and focused on Cash.

"You heard what I said. You are to wait until Andrea returns." Cash nodded.

"And if she don't?" The Governor turned back to the window.

"We'll kill them all."

Daryl was stunned and it took him a second to realize that she had actually hit him. She was glaring at him, tears shining in her eyes.

"Now go ahead. Tell me how stupid I am again. Call me a whore, call me a bad mother. Hell, go ahead and pop me one. Do whatever you want. Just get it all out of your system right now so I can really hate you and we can be done with this thing. But don't you dare apologize to me unless you mean it. And I don't think that you do. Because if you actually mean it, you're gonna have to do better than just words sweetheart because, let's face it Dixon, words ain't your strong point." Daryl's jaw was set. His cheek, which was still bruised from the beating he took in Woodbury, was starting to swell again. She thought for just a moment that he might actually hit her. Instead, he walked over to her and carefully wiped the tears from her face. His eyes locked with hers and he leaned over to kiss her. It was quick and hesitant, like he was afraid she'd hit him again. He pulled her into his arms and held her. She tensed up, resisting being so close to him. She hated to admit that this was what she wanted. She still wanted Daryl and she still wanted him to want her, as messed up as that sounded after the way he had talked to her. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"You can't do this to me again Daryl. Either you care about me or you don't. Make up your mind which way it is because I can't take this anymore." His voice was so quiet, she almost didn't know if he was talking to her or to himself.

"I want to fix this." Dani pulled away from him to look him in the eye.

"Like I said, you've got to figure out what you want. You're not the abused little boy anymore. You don't have to hide your feelings from anyone. No one's going to beat you or tell you that you're not a man or say you're nothing. I'm not asking you to be the way Glenn is with Maggie but you have to give me something. I swear, the only time you show that you care about me is when you think no one's looking." She waited for him to look away, to run away but his eyes were fixed on hers. She reached up and touched his cheek. He closed his eyes, his forehead creased as if in pain.

"Daryl, you told me you were done runnin' from me." He nodded. "You also said you'd try. Everything was going fine the way it was. What happened?" He opened his eyes.

"I can't talk about this. Not now. Let's go back inside. I promise you, I'll try harder alright? But you gotta stop tryin' to make me tell you I feel somethin' when I don't…" The fear on his face was evident. "Why did you do that last night Danielle?" Dani bit her lip.

"Because I don't think the Governor is gonna let me out of this alive. And I didn't want the last time I was…I didn't want it to be…" she struggled over the words. "I just wanted it to be with you." Daryl didn't respond and didn't change his expression. "Are you sorry it happened?" Dani could have kicked herself for asking yet another question that she didn't want answered. After a moment, Daryl shook his head.

"No. I'm not." He looked over her shoulder and saw Tyreese waving them in. "C'mon. They want us back inside." Dani sighed. Dammit. They were just getting somewhere. Daryl saw her expression change and kissed her quickly.

"Hey. Don't start. Everything's fine. And you're not gonna die, you hear me? I'll kill that son of a bitch myself before that happens, alright?" Dani nodded. Together, they headed back for the prison.

Andrea stopped her car on the road, not far from the turn off to the prison. She stowed the map on the seat next to her and checked around for walkers. She saw one shuffling towards her in the middle of the road. Andrea got out of the car, popped the trunk and pulled out the grabber Miguel had given her. The walker saw her and, growling, picked up the pace. Andrea steadied herself, fighting the fear that welled up inside her.

"Get your shit together Andrea and do this," she ordered herself through clenched teeth. She raised the grabber and held it ready in front of her. When the walker got closer, she lunged and grabbed it around the neck. She struggled with the pole as it fought with her but she tried to keep the image of bringing in a fish on the line.

Andrea carefully walked behind the walker and began walking it in front of her. It tried to turn and reach for her but she was well out of reach. She marched it into the woods, keeping careful watch on her surroundings. A few walkers went past her, not giving her a second glance. When the wind shifted, she caught a whiff of her companion and almost gagged. She stumbled once which almost caused her heart to stop but she kept going. As she walked up a slight hill, she finally saw beyond the trees. The prison. She could see the fence and the building. There were more walkers near her so she picked up speed. She didn't know how long it would be before they would pick up her scent. That had happened sometimes with Michonne and their walkers. But Michonne was quick with her katana. Andrea had her gun and a hunting knife.

She saw a field beyond the trees. There were about a dozen walkers moving slowly towards the prison. At the fence, another dozen were gathered and Andrea could hear their growls as they reached through the fence for the people standing inside. Two large black men were at the fence, stabbing the walkers. One of them, Andrea recognized from the first attack on Woodbury. She froze. She quickly scanned the nearest guard tower but saw no movement. Then she saw Glenn and Carl join the other men at the fence to kill the walkers. Andrea began moving again though slowly and carefully, keeping a watch on both the walkers in the field and the people inside the fence. As she got closer, Glenn saw her and she heard Rick's name being called. Rick and Daryl ran to the fence, guns raised. Andrea kept her eyes fixed on Rick.

"Dammit, let them remember me," she hissed under her breath.