I really hope you guys are keeping warm! It's getting better my way and I didn't get squished by a tree so that's pretty awesome! I have to respond to a guest review really quick. Both of the smut chapters that I wrote that involved that minor bondage wasn't really about smut at all. It was a way for me to let the readers understand that there isn't any issues between Daryl and Carol in this story. It was about trust. The smut was just a bonus. They have both been brutalized physically and I wanted to stress the fact that, even though they have both suffered at the hands of people they trusted, their trust for each other is greater than that. I wanted to make them physically vulnerable to the other and it not be an issue. It wasn't about Daryl going out of his way to torment her and so the other chapter wasn't really about Carol getting back at him. I wanted you all to know that they trust each other completely and I was hoping that came through. I am guessing it didn't. I'm not really a fan of writing smut. It's something people ask for and so I throw it in there. That isn't what either of those chapters were really about. I don't feel that smut is something that I am particularly good at writing so I don't really care about it one way or another. It was a way to prove a point with the characters.
Moving on, thank you all for reading. I was stumped for a little bit but Halohunter89 shot me an idea that had me totally refueled! Thanks brother! I cut this one short because I had too. It isn't overly exciting but I hope you like it anyway!
An Unlikely Trio
Hope became reality on a Tuesday.
Merle splashed his face with cold water and then snatched the hand towel off the ring and rubbed his face vigorously. He stomped out into his bedroom and stopped in his tracks, scowling. "Ever heard of knockin'?"
Rick and Andrea were standing in his room, examining his bookshelf. He felt himself bristling when Andrea raised her eyebrows at his extensive book collection.
Rick faced him fully and crossed his arms over his chest. "We've decided to go ourselves. When Daryl mentioned going Sophia nearly threw a fit. I've never seen the girl fly off the handle like that. We didn't know if you would like to go with us."
Merle had been planning on going on his own. He didn't like Rick. There wasn't one endearing quality about that man as far as Merle could tell. He was an asshole and even though Merle found it pretty easy to play nice with the rest of them, he couldn't find it in himself to treat the good Sheriff with the same courtesy. It made it easier since Rick never really made it a point to hide the fact that he hated Merle's guts. "I was plannin' on goin' at it alone," he said quickly, right before he heard a small knock at the door.
He gave them a pointed look and then strolled over to the door. He was surprised further at the sight of Lori Grimes standing there.
"I'm sorry. I was wondering if you've seen Rick?" She asked, not looking very sorry at all as far as Merle could tell.
He swung the door open wider so she could look past him and into the room. He took note at the slight narrowing of her eyes before she looked back at him.
"Do you mind if I come in?" She asked as her eyes slid back to Rick.
With a huff he nodded and she stormed past him with a muttered thank you. He watched as she glanced at Andrea, who was now leaning against the bookshelf, watching with a sardonic smile plastered on her face.
Lori stopped right in front of him. "You're seriously leaving?"
Rick suddenly looked tired. "I don't have a choice. Somehow, Jenner's wife has to make it through this. This is for everyone. Not just our group either."
"You aren't responsible for everyone, Rick. I thought Carol made that clear already. You're a member of a group, not their leader."
Merle liked this. He hated Rick just enough to not mind the other man's wife coming into his room to chew him out.
"Whether I'm their leader or not, someone has to go. I'm not going alone anyway."
Lori crossed her arms over her chest and glanced once more towards the other woman. "Oh, I didn't assume you would be."
"It isn't like that," Rick began but Lori didn't let him finish.
"You know what, Rick. I'm to the point where I really don't care what it's like anymore. What you do and who you do it with is your own business. But I don't have the option of not giving a damn about what happens to you when you have a son that needs you."
"If something was going to happen to us then Sophia would know. I can't send anyone else. I'm still a deputy. Maybe those credentials will get me inside. We don't know how bad it is yet."
Lori shook her head and gave him a disgusted look. "Try not to forget to tell your son goodbye before you leave," she snapped right before she tossed a hate filled look towards Andrea and then stormed out of the room.
Merle couldn't keep from smiling at Rick, who was still staring at the closed door miserably. He cleared his throat and then looked back up at Merle. "So, do you want to tag along or not?" He asked as though the scene with Lori had never occurred.
Merle shrugged. "I guess it won't kill me to go along. You just remember, Officer Friendly. If you try to cuff me to anything while we're out, I'll break your goddamn neck," he said darkly.
~H~
A part of him was jealous. He didn't want to be. He knew that it was stupid. He just couldn't shake it though. For some reason that no one could explain, Merle and Sophia had some sort of weird bond. And it pissed Daryl off.
He sat with her on the front porch steps, brooding like a dumb ass. She had explained to them what had happened to her as best she could but Daryl couldn't wrap his mind around it and he was pretty sure that everyone was as stumped as he was. Sophia was frustrated that she couldn't really explain it.
"So you left, huh?" He wanted to understand. He needed to understand. When he had ran into that room and saw her standing there like that he felt like the world fell out from under him. He felt like he had that day he had seen her stumble out of that barn.
"I was somewhere else," she frowned. "I was me but I was different. Like in those dreams. There were more people. A lot of people."
"What people? Our group?" Daryl asked, trying hard to understand.
She leaned into him and instinctively his arm went around her. "Yeah. Our group was here but there were other groups in other places called settlements. There were still walkers but not like all the other times. All the other places I've been... you know, in my head."
"And Dr. Jenner was alive." She had already mentioned that part to him.
She nodded and settled deeper into his side. She looked tired. "He was. But it's his wife that changed everything. Dr. Jenner was alive before in a few places." She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "It's so hard to explain. It's like, when mom remembered what Dr. Jenner had said about his wife that day, about his wife would have saved us all, she made a decision. Mom changed what could have been and turned it into what's gonna be. Somehow, we save Dr. Jenner and his wife. His wife won't get bit now and the things that that changes in the future must be huge because I've never zoned out like that."
Daryl looked out across the yard. He blew out a breath and ran his free hand through his hair. He wished he could help the girl but all of this was a hard pill to swallow. "Was me and your mom alright?" He was almost afraid to ask.
He glanced back down as she moved her head to look up at him. She made a face. "You and mom make everyone sick."
Fear flashed through him. What did she mean sick? Did they catch something? "Sick?"
She nodded. "Yeah. You and my mom aren't like other people that are together. It kinda pisses people off because the two of you don't..." She made a frustrated sound and pulled away from him, scowling in the direction of the drive.
He watched her curiously, his fear ebbing a little.
"From the flashes that I seen, for some reason, you and my mom are stronger than the rest of them. You two together aren't like other people together. You don't fight or argue. You two are different and everyone else kind of hates it. Their jealous. You're stronger."
Now he was the one frowning. "Stronger?"
She nodded and glanced at him. He noticed a blush on her cheeks that wasn't there a few minutes ago. "You know."
"I ain't followin' ya, kid."
"Well, you guys spend a lot of time together and you don't get on each others nerves like..." She shook her head, frowning.
"Like?" He pressed.
"Well, I've noticed that the older I am in these other places, the more Carl kind of gets on my nerves. I mean, I think I love him then but then sometimes he'll say something and I just kinda wanna punch him in the face," she glanced at Daryl from the corner of her eye. "Something tells me that I probably pick that up along the way from you or Merle. Not my mom."
He shifted, feeling a lot less comfortable than he had when they had first started this discussion. He didn't want to know anything about her and Carl. Ever. Not now. Not twenty years from now. The thought of it made his stomach turn a little sour. But she was looking at him like she expected him to say something. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He could do this. He could have this discussion. He'd made a claim that she wasn't Ed's no more. She was his. And she wanted to talk about... boys.
"I guess different people get along in different ways. Maybe your mama and me ain't to keen on the fightin' cause we both had too much of it before we ever met. And I think maybe after puttin' up with Ed's shit, she don't think the shit I give her is too bad." There. That wasn't so bad.
She nodded and finally looked away. "Are you mad about earlier?" She asked quietly.
He sighed and shifted his body so he could lean against the banister. He met her eyes and then shook her head. When he had mentioned going to the CDC himself she had flipped her lid, yelling and throwing a fit like he'd never seen. He instinctively knew that that episode was what she was referring too. "I ain't mad. I trust ya enough to know not to fuck around with them visions of yours. Or whatever the hell they are. I sure as shit ain't plannin' on gittin' my ass killed this soon."
"You trust me?" She asked, disbelief lacing her words.
He nodded but didn't say anything else. They lapsed into a comfortable silence.
~H~
"You need help with anything?"
Carol looked up sharply at the sound of Ed's familiar voice, even though he was using an unfamiliar tone. She narrowed her eyes. She could have stabbed him right then, knowing what he had done last night. Her face flamed, knowing what he had seen. What he had heard. She felt nausea swirl around in her stomach. "Not from you," she snapped and then threw the dishtowel onto the counter.
He glanced around the empty kitchen before crossing his arms over his chest and giving her a blood chilling smile. "I take it you know about that eye full I got last night," he said in a low voice.
"You're lucky I don't have them throw you out of here for that, Ed. What goes on in my bedroom, is my business."
He watched her with narrowed eyes. "I think I know why you didn't throw me out to begin with," he said with a smile. "You don't want anyone else knowing about this place. You don't want anyone showin' up here unexpectedly."
She glared at him but then let a slow smile spread over her lips. "What happened to your face, Ed?" She asked innocently as she studied the bruising on one side of his face and the slight swelling of his fat bottom lip.
His nostrils flared angrily but he kept quiet and then eventually turned around and stormed away, his hands shoved into his pockets. He looked a little deflated. Maybe he did know that the only reason he was here was because she was afraid he would form his own group and somehow attack them. He would know his place here. She would make sure of that. He was nothing. She caught herself wondering if the best thing she could do was go ahead and give Merle the okay to kill him. He had one time to try something. Anything. And he was a dead man.
Another version of herself would have been appalled by those thoughts but she wasn't who she used to be. She wouldn't put up with him or any of his games. If he wanted to continue on behind the walls of a sanctuary that she had created, then he needed to mind his manners.
Her eyes flitted to the doorway to the service stairs just as Merle, Andrea and Rick emerged. Rick was in uniform. So was Merle in a sense. Andrea was clad in jeans and an off the shoulder top that seemed to be her trademark look.
"Looks like the makin's of an interesting porno, huh?" Merle asked with a wink, seeming unaffected by the fact that they were walking right into what could be a war zone. Jenner had never said what specific day that the military had shown up at the CDC nor did he tell them what day it was that his wife had been bitten. It would have helped them out a whole lot if they knew.
"Actually, it does," she said with a smile, hiding her nervousness.
Andrea rolled her eyes. "They wish," she muttered before she walked off towards the living room.
Carol couldn't help but notice how the eyes of both men followed her movements. This could really spell trouble. She didn't know the story behind what had gone on between Rick and Andrea. She wasn't naïve enough to assume that nothing had. It was obvious. It was obvious with Rick anyway. And Carol also couldn't help but notice how Merle and Andrea seemed to be on the road to becoming quite good friends. Most of the group had warmed up to him over the last few weeks. She wasn't looking forward to seeing this drama unfold.
"Are you guys sure that this is what you want to do? We can figure out another way. I left Candace Jenner a message. We could wait until she called back." The truth was, Carol didn't want them to go. The thought of losing people, these people, terrified her.
Merle sighed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his black jeans. "If somethin' was gonna happen to me then Sophia would know it. She already gave me the go ahead. She don't want you or my brother goin' and I ain't got much trust in officer friendly over there to get the job done. We all know that he slips up a lot durin' the hard jobs. We ain't goin' to the CDC anyhow. We're checkin' their house first." He winked at her again and walked off, ignoring Rick's glare.
She gave Rick an apologetic look. With a shake of his head he left the kitchen, off to follow Merle and Andrea.
She turned, needing to take the pork roast, one of four, out of the oven when she smacked right into Daryl's chest.
"I'm so sorry!" She cried, catching herself with her hands on his shoulders before she could barrel him over.
He steadied her, placing his hands on her hips and smiled down into her embarrassed face. It was a lopsided smile that had her heart fluttering madly in her chest. "No harm done," he muttered before his lips met hers. It wasn't a passionate kiss but it had her toes curling in her boots anyway. When his lips left hers her eyes fluttered open and he was grinning.
She found herself frowning. She knew that grin. "Ed's lurking isn't he?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
He had the decency to at least look sheepish. "He is."
Carol rolled her eyes but couldn't help but laugh. If this was what Daryl needed to do to make himself feel better about Ed being around then she would let him have it. "I still have a lot to do. Lori is around here somewhere. She's suppose to be helping."
He shrugged and dropped his hands. "I can help. What'cha need?"
Her eyes widened and she knew her mouth was hanging open. He lifted her chin with a finger until she closed it. "You? You can't be serious."
He shrugged. "I ain't. But I figured it wouldn't hurt to act like I'd help if ya needed it."
She smacked his back as he turned to walk off. He threw her a grin over her shoulder as he left her standing there shaking her head.
~H~
"What the hell do you mean we aren't going to the CDC?" Rick snapped from the back seat of Andrea's Hummer.
Merle glanced back at him and then his eyes went back to the road. "Sounds pretty self-explanatory to me. What the fuck you need me to elaborate on? We ain't goin' to the CDC. There ya go. That's what that means."
"We don't need to waist any time. I need to be back at the farm as quick as I can. Morgan and his family are going to be there."
"Then you shoulda listened to your ol' lady and kept your ass at the house. I coulda did this on my own. When are you gonna learn that nobody needs your ass around, huh?"
"Merle," Andrea said, her voice holding a warning.
Merle's eyes slid over and met hers. He liked her. She wasn't like she was before and he wasn't too keen on pissing off one of his only allies. Hell, if he didn't know any better he would actually say that she was more than that. He might even call her a friend, if he believed in such things.
"And when are you gonna learn that the only reason you're with us to begin with is because of your brother? Do you really think Carol, or any of us give a shit about you? We don't. Daryl is the reason you aren't out there on your own right now," Rick snapped.
"Rick! Enough!" Andrea nearly shouted.
Merle's grip on the steering wheel tightened and he was almost surprised it didn't snap right off. The thing that bothered him the most about what Rick said was the fact that it was the truth. He knew that no one there gave a shit about him other than his brother and he had started to trick himself into thinking otherwise. Rick's words tore into him and the pain they caused was a very real thing.
Merle slammed his foot on the brake, causing Andrea to have to brace her arms on the dash to keep from smacking her face off of it. There was one sure fire way to deal with pain as far as Merle was concerned and that was to dish it right back out.
He slammed the Hummer in park and jumped out onto the road. There were no other vehicles in sight and they were keeping to back country roads. He nearly ripped Rick's door off and without missing a beat he reached in and grabbed the other man by the shirt, yanking him out and slamming him into the side of the vehicle.
Rick was quick to gather himself and punched Merle right in the jaw before Merle could swing on him first. Merle felt it but the impact was dulled by his anger. This was not the rooftop in Atlanta. He wasn't high. He wasn't outnumbered. And Rick wasn't going to get the chance to knock him stupid with the butt of a rifle.
Merle hit him square in the nose, blood instantly pouring from both nostrils before Rick gave him a swift kick to the knee, nearly causing Merle to lose his hold on the man. When Rick's fist connected with the side of his face he didn't hesitate. He smashed his head into Rick's already ruined nose.
Rick made a pained gurgling sound and then started shoving him away. Merle was about to hit him again when suddenly they both froze when they heard a gunshot. Looking over Merle met Andrea's angry eyes.
"That's enough. You two know what is going to happen tonight and we have a lot to do before we can get back home. Get back in the goddamn truck. Now!"
Merle glared at her but she had a point so he dropped his hold on the other man and took a step back. Andrea wordlessly jumped into the drivers seat and slammed the door shut after giving them both one last heated look. She was shaking her head like she was dealing with a couple of children. Damn it. Now he didn't get to drive anymore. He really hated that fucking cop.