Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own The Walking Dead or anything affiliated with said series.

It hadn't taken Aaron long to dispatch the men he'd been after, dealing with the women took a bit more time. They'd all been pretty shaken up and he'd had to calm a couple of them down enough so they could console the others before he could get back out and help his friends.

When he stepped through the door he saw that most of the remaining men outside were down for the count and those that weren't were being hunted down by a very pissed off Daryl. Figuring the other man could handle the last ones on the ground Aaron took off in the direction of the tower where he'd last seen Chelsea, frowning when he saw that several men had joined her while he'd been otherwise occupied.

Raising his gun he growled in frustration when it became obvious that he didn't have a clear shot and he was about to call out for her to duck out of the way when he saw her stumble into one of the men. Seconds later he watched in horror as the two of them fell off the platform and dropped to the ground below.

When he heard Daryl's cry and saw him sink to the ground several feet from the bodies Aaron nearly collapsed as well, but he had to see for himself -to make certain she was truly gone- so he ran towards them as fast as his shaking legs would carry him. Sliding to the ground next to the bodies, his knees becoming slick with the blood that was spreading slowly from unseen wounds, Aaron reached out his hand and held it hovering barely an inch above Chelsea's still form as he felt tears well up in his eyes.

She wasn't moving, didn't appear to be breathing either, and he let out a ragged breath as he allowed his hand to gently come to rest on her back while choking out, "Chelsea."

Hearing her name said with such pain and anguish had Chelsea wondering if perhaps her body looked even worse than it felt. "Oh god, don't tell me I'm hideously disfigured," she groaned as she slowly forced herself away from the broken body beneath her.

Patting herself down she frowned when other than some seriously tender spots that would no doubt become very impressive bruises in the following days, she couldn't find any apparent damage to her body.

When she turned to face Aaron the look on his face was a mix between sadness and relief and she raised an eyebrow in question. "What's the matter, you look like someone nearly died."

As soon as she finished speaking it dawned on her that he'd probably thought she was the one dying and she rubbed the back of her head with a sheepish grin. "Yeah . . . sorry about that."

Aaron let out watery chuckle and shook his head before reaching out and pulling her into a tight hug, which Chelsea returned with equal enthusiasm . . . for all of about two seconds.

Wincing at the sudden pain, she pulled back and was opening her mouth to joke how he was crushing her to death when a bullet flew past her head, grazing her cheek in the process. With a hiss she stumbled backwards as fast as her wobbly limbs would carry her, Aaron doing the same in the opposite direction as her eyes darted around in search of whoever was shooting at them.

When the next shots were fired she ground her teeth in preparation of the burning pain that she knew was coming, but forced herself to continue moving. If they wanted to kill her they were going to have to work for it dammit!

Surprisingly enough none of the bullets hit her and a moment later frantic movement above her had her not only figuring out who was firing at them, but also that said men were currently reloading. Aaron had apparently seen them as well as he was on his feet in an instant with a gun in his hand, but before he could take them out there were two shots fired off in quick succession and the men dropped almost immediately.

Spinning around in search of another possible threat Aaron relaxed slightly when he saw Daryl standing nearby with his gun still raised in the air. "Nice shooting," he called out, wiping his forehead with his sleeve and taking several deep breaths now that they appeared to be out of danger.

Rushing over to give Chelsea a hand when she tried to climb to her feet Aaron looked her over carefully. "Anything broken? Bleeding? How's your head? Any problems breathing?"

"Gee, you'd think I took a dive off a tower of something," she said with a touch of humor. Grinning when he shook his head she answered honestly. "As far as I can tell nothing's broken, can't see any blood at the moment, and other than being a bit tender all over I feel fine."

"Good." And then with a glare he added, "If you ever do something stupid like that again . . ." He trailed off but it was clear the threat was made out of worry and not something he planned on actually following through with.

Realizing that Daryl hadn't joined them Chelsea looked over and frowned when she saw he was still standing in the same place he'd been in, the only thing he'd done was allow his arm to fall to his side. "Yo, hunter boy, you okay over there?"

Daryl snapped out of his thoughts of she's alive, she's really alive, which had been on repeat in his brain ever since he'd seen her move earlier and forced himself to return to the present. Shaking his head he took a shuddering breath before slowly making his way towards his companions, half afraid that any second the two of them would disappear.

When he was close enough Aaron reached out and gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze. "You did good man, saved us both back there."

Unsure of his voice at the moment Daryl dipped his head in acknowledgment, his eyes never leaving Chelsea's form. Honestly he hardly even remembered pulling the trigger, he'd reacted on pure instinct when he'd spotted the two men firing at his friends and his hand had moved without conscious thought. At that moment the only thing he was thinking was that he was not going to let anyone else he cared about die.

He still appeared to be slightly out of it, his eyes seemed almost vacant, so Chelsea waved her hand back and forth in front of Daryl's face and grinned while saying, "Yoo ho, earth to hunter boy. Come in hunter boy," knowing that would get his attention.

Narrowing his eyes at the childish behavior Daryl snatched her hand out of the air with a muttered, "Brat." When she wrapped her fingers around his hand and squeezed he felt the tension slowly leaving his body. She really was okay.

As her fingers slipped from his grasp Chelsea smirked and couldn't resist adding, "Please, you know you love me."

Aaron practically choked on his tongue when she said that and barely managed to suppress his grin when Daryl turned a delightful shade of red and shoved his hands in his pockets with a grunt. "Well," he began, only to have to clear his throat to keep himself from laughing when Chelsea pouted cutely at Daryl's obvious dismissal. "If you two are done playing around," he tried again. "I think we should probably discuss what we're going to do."

Chelsea looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

"He's talkin' 'bout the girls," Daryl muttered.

Still not sure what the problem was Chelsea cocked her head to the side. "Yeah, what about them? There are bound to be enough vehicles around here for us to take them all back at once so what's the problem?"

When Aaron and Daryl shared a look she growled in frustration. "Okay, enough. One of you needs to explain to me what the issue is . . . now."

Running a hand over his face Aaron hesitated before speaking. "They won't all be coming back with us," he said slowly, bracing himself for her outburst.

Chelsea's mouth fell open. "The hell they won't!" she snapped. "We're not going to leave these poor women out here by themselves!"

"Trust me I don't like the idea either, but in situations like this there are always those who can't adjust to a different way of life and we simply cannot allow people like that back into the community."

"People can change; you shouldn't toss them aside just because you're scared to give them a chance!"

Before Aaron could reply Daryl cut it. "He ain't doin' it ta be mean. Some a these girls 'll be alright, but some a 'em won't be able ta handle bein' free. Seen it plenty a times before, the ones that are use ta bein' abused can turn inta a monster themselves when they're suddenly set loose."

"That's bullshit and you know it. You just don't want to take the time to help them get over their tra-." Chelsea was cut off by an angry scream and a woman barreling into her from the side.

"You killed him! You killed my Lenny!" the woman cried as she raised the knife she held above her head.

In less than the time it took her to blink Daryl had grabbed the knife out of the woman's hand and yanked her to her feet, holding her arms firmly behind her back as she struggled to break free, and Chelsea could only stare up at the woman dumbly.

A short time later a hand was shoved in front of her face and she accepted Aaron's help in getting back to her feet. When he opened his mouth she leveled him with a glare and snapped, "Don't even."

Aaron shook his head before turning his attention to Daryl and the furious woman he held captive. "Ideas?" The shrug he received in response wasn't helpful in the slightest and he released a frustrated groan. "Well, I suppose we'll just have to do this the hard way then." Picking up the nearest handgun he held it out to Chelsea before grabbing another one for himself and jerking his head in the direction of the warehouse he'd left the women he'd helped out earlier.

"Alright, gather everyone up and we'll go through them all at once. Can't have one sneaking up on us again."

Chelsea still wasn't sure she agreed with him, but the woman's sudden attack had left her reeling so she did as instructed and began to round up the women who were outside. Most of them went with her with no problem once she untied their chains, though she did have to draw attention to the gun a couple of times to get a few of them moving, and it appeared as though Aaron was having similar luck with the groups that he'd gone after.

In less than ten minutes they were standing outside the warehouse door while Aaron called out, "This is the man who saved you earlier. I've got the rest of your friends out here and we're coming in."

Just to be on the safe side Daryl went in first with his prisoner held in front of him like a shield on the off chance that one or more of them was waiting to attack.

Thankfully there were no issues and soon all the women, minus the one who'd tried to kill Chelsea and was now leaning against a nearby wall unconscious thanks to a well placed knock on the head from Daryl, were huddled together in the center of the large room.

Chelsea and Daryl took up positions near the door while Aaron wandered back and forth in front of the group of almost thirty women, his eyes taking in every little detail of their behavior in an attempt to weed out those who they'd need to leave behind.

Knowing that Chelsea wasn't going to like what he was going to do next he caught Daryl's eye and then jerked his chin in her direction, silently telling him to keep her under control.

With a nod of his head Daryl headed over to Chelsea's side and leaned down so he could whisper into her ear. "Ya ain't gonna like what's comin' but it's gotta be done." When she didn't say anything in response he stepped back without another word, keeping himself close enough that he could stop her if she tried to step in.

Aaron took a deep breath to prepare himself for what he was about to do and then he stood up straighter and barked out, "Get on your knees you filthy whores!"

Several of the women dropped to the ground immediately, others more slowly, and then there were the ones who glared at him with their heads held high until he pulled out his gun and tapped it against his chin thoughtfully.

Chelsea swore under her breath as she watched the scene before her, but managed to force herself to remain still . . . somehow.

"Ah, look at you. So eager to please," Aaron continued in a voice that sent shivers down her spine. "Tell me, which of you would like the honor of being my woman?"

At this a couple more heads rose up to glare at him and he nodded, pleased with the results. Now he had just one more thing to try. "Well go on then, I haven't got all day." Seeing their confused looks he waved his hand over his body and grinned wickedly. "If you want to be my woman you've got to prove yourself worthy."

Not long after he'd finished speaking one woman began crawling on her knees towards him while several more stood up and headed his way. He'd been standing about half a dozen feet away and by the time the first one reached him there were six in total making their way in his direction.

"Alright, that's enough," he snapped when they started pawing at his clothes. "On your knees and don't move." When they all fell to the ground he stepped around them and walked back over to the women who hadn't followed after him. Bowing his head he apologized. "Sorry."

When Aaron turned and headed their way Chelsea sent him a look that clearly said 'what the hell' and then promptly followed it up by voicing the same question out loud. "What the hell? I thought we were going to bring them back with us."

"If I offered to take them with us after what I just did do you honestly think any of them would take me up on it?"

Opening her mouth to respond she paused as she considered his words before allowing it to slide shut. "No, I suppose not," she admitted. "So if you're not going to bring up Alexandria what are we going to do now?"

"And this is why it's helpful to have a second person along," Aaron offered by way of explanation when Daryl ran a hand through his hair and started walking towards the group Aaron had deemed safe.

Chelsea watched as Daryl slowly worked his way through the women speaking just soft enough that all she could make out were a few words of advice here and there. As he continued to move among them she glanced over at Aaron and asked, "Does this kind of thing usually work? The whole 'good cop bad cop' routine?"

"Sometimes. For obvious reasons we try to avoid it whenever possible, but we didn't exactly have any other choice this time."

They were silent for a minute before Chelsea finally asked the question that had been bothering her since they'd gotten to the warehouse. "If we hadn't gotten caught we wouldn't have helped them, would we?" Deep down she already knew the answer but she needed to hear it all the same.

Aaron took a deep breath and then shook his head slowly. "No, probably not." Feeling the need to justify himself he added, "As much as I would love to help every person I come across we're not out here to save people, not really. We're looking for other like-minded individuals to join us in making our community better. Now on occasion we do get the chance to rescue someone from a bad situation, but for the most part we stay away. Everyone has their own way of life nowadays and while we may not like it, neither do we have the right to destroy what they've built. Not unless it's absolutely necessary."

Staring at the women who were smiling and clutching each other happily Chelsea found herself thankful that this time it had been.

A few minutes later Daryl came strolling back over to join them and Aaron looked at him curiously. "So?" he asked.

"A couple 'em want ta stay here with that snivelin' group over there and start some kinda sanctuary or somthin'." Shaking his head at what he obviously considered a pointless endeavor he continued. "There's about ten of 'em are gonna head out on their own, they ain't willin' to follow by no one's rules but their own right now, but the rest would like to come back with us."

"Which ones?"

When Daryl pointed them out Aaron nodded his head. "Those are pretty much the ones I had picked from the start, though it's nice to see a few extras thrown in. All in all I'd say we didn't do too bad this trip."

Chelsea looked over at the women who'd separated into three groups; four heading towards the still kneeling group of women, nine making their way to the door, and the remaining seven walking in her direction. She tried not to think about what was likely going to happen to those who wouldn't be heading back with them, but with as helpless as they all looked it was turning out to be nearly impossible.

"Ain't no point in worryin' 'bout 'em," Daryl said from his place at her side. "They made their choice."

"True," she agreed after a moment's hesitation. "But I can't help feeling like we should do something to help them. After all they've been through it doesn't feel right just leaving them on their own."

"Ya can't save everyone, ya know that."

With one last look at the other two groups Chelsea turned her back on them with a murmured, "No, you can't."

Her words sounded so full of remorse and Daryl couldn't help wondering whose lives she was actually referring to, but he was smart enough to know when to keep his mouth shut. There were some things one just didn't do in this new world and bringing up the subject of those someone had been unable to save was right up there near the top of that list.

Acting as though he hadn't heard her final comment he turned towards the women shifting somewhat nervously before them. "Ya all ready ta go?" he asked.

There were a number of heads that bobbed up and down with a couple of yes's thrown in for good measure and he nodded his head. "Then let's get the hell outta here." Motioning for them to follow him he pushed open the door and headed outside.

Chelsea watched as the women followed after him and was about to head out as well when Aaron placed his hand on her arm.

"We're not going just yet," he began, holding up his hand to silence her when she opened her mouth to speak. "It's going to take them awhile to get our rides ready so while they're busy doing that you and I will see what supplies we can find around here."

"First of all, don't you think they might need some help with that? I doubt many of those girls know what they're doing and they'll probably just get in Daryl's way. And second, are you serious? You actually want to scour this place for stuff when we know that some of them are going to stick around!" By the time she'd finished speaking her hands were clenched at her sides and her eyes had narrowed in anger.

Aaron held up his hands and when he spoke he kept his voice calm and steady. "Don't misunderstand; I'm not saying that we should take everything from them, just enough to get all of us back safely. In case you've forgotten there are quite a few more of us now which means we're going to need food and a lot more weapons." And then to really get the point across he added, "Unless of course you think you can protect all of us with that one little gun you got on you."

Mentally kicking herself, she hadn't even thought about that, Chelsea shook her head. "Alright," she agreed. "But we only take what we need, nothing more."

"I wasn't planning on it." Pausing, he thought for a moment before adding, "Well, that's not entirely true. If I happen to find our things I'm grabbing those as well, but I don't really think that counts seeing as we brought that stuff here to begin with."

Shaking her head at his ridiculous statement, of course they would take their things back, she pointed one hand towards the door and the other to the far side of the warehouse. "So, boss, which way we headed?"

ooooo

As it turned out Daryl's group was done quite some time before Aaron and Chelsea finally walked out of the last building, their bodies laden with a variety of weapons and bags, so the pair made their way over to the odd assortment of vehicles to drop off the supplies they'd found instead of leaving them in a pile as they'd originally planned.

Stopping at the nearest car, some old rusted beater that looked like it should've been junked decades ago, Chelsea took one look at the half open trunk and immediately moved on. There was no way that one would've carried a piece of paper, let alone fifty odd pounds of gear.

The Ford truck that was sitting nearby seemed like a good choice and she was about to head over to it when she saw Daryl waving her towards the back of the group of cars. Passing by a minivan, some kind of sedan, and one of those tiny little 'smart' cars she used to laugh at when they first came out, she found herself standing in front of an old black Camaro that someone had dumped some serious money into at some point.

Even with the lack of care it had seen over the last few years it was still a thing of beauty. Red flames covered the hood and licked down the sides, the interior was covered in black leather and chrome, and it sported a set of heavy duty racing tires.

Chelsea was quite certain she'd died and gone to heaven.

"The girls said this was the boss' baby," Daryl said as he watched her eyes light up as she slowly walked down the side of the vehicle. "Figured ya might want it seein' as ya had one back before all this."

"This is for me? Really?" Seeing his nod Chelsea bounced up and down excitedly before dropping her load on the ground and running over to throw her arms around him. Squeezing him tightly she squealed in delight. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Hugging her back somewhat awkwardly Daryl mumbled out, "'s no big deal."

"No big deal?" Chelsea leaned back and stared at him in shock. "Are you kidding me? Of course it's a big deal. You knew how much I missed my old car so you got me one to replace it." Standing up on her toes she pressed a chaste kiss on his cheek and then stepped back so she could examine the car in more detail.

Aaron, who'd been watching the display with a grin on his face, walked over to Daryl once Chelsea had turned her attention to the car. Handing over the other man's crossbow and the rest of his gear they'd managed to find he couldn't help joking, "You know, most people give flowers on a first date. Not a car."

Leaving him to splutter about how 'it wasn't like that', and he 'had the wrong idea', Aaron grabbed the pile that Chelsea had dropped and returned to the van where the women were dividing up the supplies he'd left with them.

Setting down all but a few days worth of food and enough guns and ammunition to supplement their own stockpile he called out, "Once you've got all your gear stowed, load up. I'd like to get out of here before it gets too much later."

With the way he'd treated them earlier he was a little worried that they might ignore him, but now that they had transportation, and most of them were armed, they seemed more than willing to follow his orders for the time being. Which seeing as Daryl currently had his head sticking through the open passenger side window of the Camaro was a very good thing.

If he waited for him they'd be here all night.

It didn't take the others long to finish packing everything up and once the last door was closed tight Aaron turned around and went back to join his companions so they could head out.

When he reached their car Daryl was still chatting with Chelsea so he crawled in the back next to their gear and allowed Daryl to take the front seat. It wasn't the most comfortable, but he'd driven the entire way here so it was only fair that he take a turn in the back. Besides, the two of them were getting along so well he really had no desire to get between them.

As the car came roaring to life he leaned his head against the side window and closed his eyes. After all they'd been through he deserved a nap.

ooooo

The return trip seemed to fly by and in just under thirty-six hours they found themselves pulling to a stop outside Alexandria's main gate. Aaron, who'd taken over driving several hours ago stuck his head out the window and saluted the man on the other side.

"Good to see you," the man called out as he pushed the gate open and waved them inside.

Aaron led the convoy down the main street and came to a stop outside Deanna's house. Seeing Chelsea stretch and yawn in the seat next to him he said softly, "I've got this, you go ahead and get on home. I'll grab my stuff from your place later today." When she nodded sleepily he climbed out of the car, motioning for the women in the other vehicles to do the same.

Chelsea watched as he gathered the women up, a slightly apologetic look on his face as he no doubt relayed the 'no weapons' policy for the umpteenth time. While still not thrilled with how he'd treated them before they'd left they'd come to realize that Aaron was really quite a sweetheart and most of them had taken to him rather quickly.

Of course the fact that he had absolutely no interest in them sexually didn't hurt.

A short time later they all began moving towards Deanna's front door and Chelsea shoved open the door and slowly climbed out, rolling her shoulders to relieve some of the tightness before walking around to the driver's seat so she could drive the short distance home.

At the sudden loud noise Daryl sat up in the backseat and rubbed his eyes. "Gimme a sec ta get my shit and I'll get outta yer hair," he mumbled, voice thick with sleep.

"I don't mind driving you back to your place."

"Nah, it ain't far. I'll walk."

She thought about arguing the point, but right now all she wanted to do was take a nice hot shower and sleep for a week so instead she shook her head in resignation. "Suit yourself."

It took him longer than usual to get himself out and on his feet with his gear thrown over his shoulder, the proof of their exhausting journey evident in every move he made, and Chelsea found her eyes drifting shut while she waited for him to finish.

When he gave her a half salute and turned towards his house she forced herself to wake up enough to get home in one piece.

Pulling into the driveway she shut the car off and forced herself to open the door so she could transfer inside. She managed to get one foot out of the car before Miles was at her side tugging her out the rest of the way. His eyes ran over her body in search of any injuries and when he didn't spot anything obvious he pulled her into a tight hug.

"Are you okay?"

Snuggling deeper into his comforting embrace Chelsea nodded. "I'm good. Tired and hungry, but otherwise perfectly fine."

They stood there for several minutes in silence until Miles pulled her back enough so he could look her in the eye. "Not to sound rude or anything, oh dear sister of mine, but you stink."

Blinking at his smirking tone she suddenly found herself laughing. "Wow, you sure know how to welcome someone home," she managed to get out between giggles.

Miles grinned and tugged her back in for another hug. Kissing the top of her head he wrapped his arm around her waist so he could lead her towards the door. "Alright, let's get you cleaned up and in bed. You're going to need your energy for when Natalie gets home in a couple of hours. She's been keeping all her school projects hidden from me ever since you left. She says she refuses to let me see them until she can show the both of us."

Chelsea knew that he wanted to talk about the trip, but instead of bringing it up right away he basically just told her he'd let it go until later. Leaning her head against his shoulder as they stepped inside the house she smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem. Now . . . about that car."

ooooo

Chelsea managed to get a total of three hours of uninterrupted sleep before she was pounced on by her energetic niece so the little girl could show her a collection of paintings and collages she made at school. 'Oohing' and 'aahing' as each new image appeared Chelsea smiled down at Natalie while she explained what each one was supposed to be.

It was while she was sitting there that the realization struck her that, despite how dangerous this recruiting trip had been, she was going to continue going out on them. There was no way she was going to sit around the community doing god knows what all day when she could be out there saving people.

Her mind made up all she had to do now was figure out how to tell Miles without him freaking out. With the way he hadn't let her out of his sight since she'd gotten back that definitely wasn't going to be easy.

Thankfully she ended up having most of the day to think about it since Natalie kept them both occupied until late in the evening when she finally went upstairs to take a bath.

The moment the sound of her footsteps faded away Miles turned in his chair to stare at Chelsea's back where she stood washing up the last of the dinner dishes. Clearing his throat to get her attention he said, "So, about your trip."

Rinsing off the dish in her hand and placing it on the rack Chelsea wiped her hands on the towel and slowly spun around to face her brother. "Okay, first of all I want you to promise that you'll listen all the way through before saying anything." When he opened his mouth to argue she pressed on. "I mean it. Not a word until I'm finished, is that clear?"

He grumbled an affirmative and she took a deep breath before diving in.

Chelsea had considered abridging the story slightly, to make it easier for Miles to accept, but in the end she chose not to leave anything out.

As he listened to her speak Miles had to bite his lip to keep himself from going off on her, but he'd agreed to let her say her piece without interrupting and he was going to do his damndest to stick to it.

By the time she'd finished with her tale his lip was bleeding from the pressure and his hands were clenched so tightly he was afraid that he'd lost feeling in his fingers. After releasing his jaw and taking several slow, drawn out breaths he opened his mouth to tell her she was never going to go on one of those trips again. What came out was very different.

"I'm proud of you."

Having expected a tongue lashing at the very least Chelsea was more than a little shocked by his softly spoken statement and she had to sit down when her knees went weak.

Running a hand through his hair he quickly added, "This doesn't mean that I'm okay with everything that happened to you out there, I'm not and probably never will be okay with you going on these trips, but at the end of the day you came back to us and that's all that really matters. And on top of that you managed to save all those women. I've got to say, you did good sis."

"So, you're not angry with me?"

Miles shook his head. "At you, no. I'm pissed at the men who hurt you and those other women, and I'm a bit annoyed that despite all that you've been through you still want to go back out there, but as much as I'd love to keep you here with us where I know you'll be safe I'm not going to stand in your way. You're a big girl; you can take care of yourself."

Reaching across the table she took his hand in hers and gave him a watery smile. "Thank you."

"Just don't go getting yourself killed out there and make me regret my decision." Slipping his hand out of her grasp he pushed himself to his feet and headed out of the kitchen to go check on his daughter.

Whether he heard her whispered, "I'll try," or not Chelsea couldn't be sure, but either way it didn't really matter. They both knew that that was one promise she'd never be able to make.