Every time I'd hit her she'd holler "Police"
Cook them biscuits, cook 'em brown
Done talkin' I'll tear it around
If you catch another mule kickin' in your stall
Then tear it down
"So shootin' Daryl," Merle began. "That was about Macyn, right?"
He and Willy Slater were alone in the kitchen-and-dining area, sharing a much-coveted bottle of fine Irish whiskey.
Willy swallowed what was left in his glass and poured himself another full serving. "Told you, that was an accident."
"I think you're lying," Merle replied.
"Ain't got a reason to lie."
"Except you don't want to be the asshole who shot his buddy's brother because he was so threatened that guy would take his girl. If I wasn't owed to you for getting me out of the city when things went bad, I would have killed you already – we'll just say we're even on that front. Now let's talk about Macyn, since we both know that's what it boils down to, whether you want to admit it or not. She's your woman, you don't want anyone else to have her. Daryl is my brother, and I don't want some dumb broad clouding up his good judgment. I think we can agree that they need to be distanced from each other."
"What are you suggesting?" Willy frowned.
"Macyn is planning on leaving with the rest of them. She and Daryl think they're gonna have some great life together. Best they can, I s'pose. You and I both need her to stay here."
Willy's scowl faded to the expression of a man too prideful to admit his heart was broken. "She ain't leavin'. Macyn's a broken animal. Would rather have a shit home than no home at all."
"Maybe before Daryl, but love'll make a woman do crazy things, Willy."
"Love," Willy scoffed. "The hell are you talking about?"
"Macyn told me herself. I saw 'em kissing in Daryl's room." Willy made to charge away from the table but Merle stopped him. "You've got to learn how to play you battles, friend. Macyn, she need to be taught a lesson. She needs to be broken again. I will take care of Daryl – you gotta figure out what to do with your woman."
Willy narrowed his eyes. "Don't you worry your ugly face about that one, Merle. I take care of my own."
"You'd better before it gets my brother killed," Merle warned as he wandered away from the table.
.&.
Daryl smirked as he watched Macyn move about the room, discarding the old bandages from his wound and cleaning up a few things here and there. Finally, she tossed her latex gloves in the trash and turned to look at him.
"You're healing very well. You can start getting up and around I think, but don't overdo it. I wouldn't try nothin' too far outside of the house yet … Why're you looking at me like that?"
Daryl carefully sat up and threw his legs over so his feet were touching the floor. His side was sore but not painful, so he slowly lifted himself away from the mattress to stand in front of Macyn. He pushed her bangs away from her face and gently cupped her cheek before laying a sweet, chaste kiss on her lips.
"Been waiting to do that upright," he smiled down at her.
Macyn grinned back up at him. "Can't complain about that. Do you want to come sit in the kitchen and I will make you some lunch?"
"Anywhere with you."
Macyn tried to keep her giggling to a minimum. The look on Daryl's face told her that he would ravish her at any moment if only he had the strength for it. For all Macyn knew, he would find that extra bit of energy just to have his way with her – not that she would complain about that either.
Daryl slowly lowered himself into a chair at the table, making small talk with the others hanging around. Everyone seemed happy to have him back up and around – everyone except for Willy, of course.
"Anybody else want to eat?" Macyn offered, setting a sandwich and a glass of water in front of Daryl.
"I could go for a sandwich," Dale piped up.
Macyn smiled at him and got to making another plate. She didn't even ask Willy if he wanted anything, just made him a sandwich, too, and set it in front of him. He didn't say anything or even look at her; it didn't escape anyone's notice.
"Great lunch, Macyn," Dale told her when they were all finished. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." She collected the dishes and set them in the sink to be washed later on. "Daryl, are you up for some fresh air?"
Merle frowned. "Is that a good idea?"
"Couldn't hurt him," Macyn shrugged. "As long as he takes his time up and down the stairs."
"Would be nice to see some sunlight," Daryl commented.
"What if there are walkers out there?"
"I wasn't gonna send him out there alone," Macyn argued to Merle. "There's always walkers out there, but that's why we have weapons. You can go out there with him, if you'd like."
Merle opted to oblige her on that offer, arming himself before handing Daryl a smaller pistol which the latter man tucked into his waistband. Macyn went back to the dishes; Daryl took one careful glance back at Willy and then Macyn.
"Why don't I help you with cleaning up?" Dale offered, holding a meaningful eye contact with Daryl.
Daryl nodded his thanks and continued following Merle up the steps and out of the house.
.&.
Merle helped Daryl lower himself down into the rocking chair on the porch and watched the treeline carefully for walkers.
"Glad to see you up and around, brother," Merle commented.
"Yeah, thank goodness Macyn is a doctor. Probably wouldn't be in such good shape otherwise."
"Macyn," Merle scoffed. "You're hung up on her, ain't ya?"
Daryl let out as deep of a breath as possible. "Somethin' about her, Merle. I know Willy has her, but he doesn't deserve her. If you knew what he does to her –"
"That doesn't matter. You need to leave her here when we go."
"Shouldn't that be her choice?"
"You take her with you, you're making some choices of your own, Daryl. You're making a choice to wrong Willy Slater. You're making a choice to go against your own brother."
"How's that?" Daryl frowned.
Merle pursed his lips. "That town we were in – we didn't exactly leave by choice. I take that back – we left with a choice of life or death. 'Cept there wasn't much on the life side."
"What're you talking about, Merle?"
Merle took a seat on the step. "It was a safe place. There was a huge wall, twenty-four-seven guards – none of the chaos like what's out here. It was almost normal. Me and one of the guys runnin' the town got into one night, and things got pretty heated. I killed him, Daryl. Didn't mean to, but it happened. They locked me up best they could and were trying to decide on how to deal with me when Willy came and got me out. We both left that town and started looking for this place. I owe him my life – probably won't have a chance to repay that, so the best I can do is convince my brother not to take his girl."
"I see what you're sayin', but I can't change how I feel or turn my back on it. You're my brother and you always will be, but Macyn's not like anyone. I can't walk away from her. If she stays, I stay. Whether or not I'm with her, I won't walk away and let Willy hurt her over and over again." Daryl thought carefully before continuing. "You owe him your life and you say you won't be able to repay that. I'm telling you now, just as sure as I survived that gunshot, if he pulls that shit on me again, or if I catch him hurting Macyn, I'm going to kill him. Better think about how that weighs with whatever favor you think you owe him."
Daryl closed his eyes and leaned back against the chair, letting his lungs absorb the fresh country air. Merle stayed where he was on the step, thinking over what his brother had said. He owed Willy Slater his life, that was for sure, but why the hell did he care so much? Daryl was his brother after all, his own flesh and blood.
A thought nagged at the back of his simple-minded brain that maybe Macyn was right. Maybe he was afraid to lose Daryl to someone else – Merle knew what an asshole he was. If Daryl didn't care, well, he might as well drop dead because sure as hell no one else would care about ole Merle.
.&.
Macyn couldn't sleep. She had too many thoughts running around in her head to allow her to rest. So, she got up and headed for the kitchen. Willy Slater was already there, working again on a bottle of whiskey. Against her better judgment, she fetched a short glass from the cupboard and set it on the table. Willy looked at her like she'd lost her mind; as she took her chair, he recovered and filled her glass halfway full.
"Doesn't this remind you of how it used to be," Macyn noted, sipping down a bit of the brown liquid. "When we first met, I mean."
Willy actually smirked. "If I recall correctly, you met me for drinks after that ER shift and we drank ourselves silly."
Macyn nodded, one end of her mouth hinting upwards. "That's right, we did. That was probably the most fun I'd had since Robbie died."
"I knew then that I loved you," Willy continued, finishing off what was in his glass and continuing on to pour himself what was left in the bottle. "You were smart and beautiful. And, God, the way you laugh, Macyn. It's like a song."
Her eyes teared up. Maybe she didn't love Willy anymore, but things really had been great until they got engaged. It hurt and broke her heart all over again to hear him talk about the way it used to be.
"So what happened?" she whispered.
Willy shrugged; the warmth in his eyes cooled. "You remember that doctor you was followin' around at the hospital? Said he was teaching you everything you wanted to know about surgery and all that – what was it, chest surgery?"
Macyn nodded. "Hearts and lungs and other belly organs."
"Remind me the word for it? What kind of doctor was he?"
She swallowed a good gulp of the whiskey. That look was in his eye again. Her heart pulled itself back together yet again, and Macyn told herself to be on guard.
"Cardio-thoracic surgeon."
Willy shook his head and threw back what was left in his glass before standing with the cup still in his hand. "I couldn't repeat that correctly if my life depended on it."
"Well, you are drunk," Macyn reminded him coldly. She picked up her glass and finished what was left in it before throwing it so hard into the sink that glass shattered into the sink, across the counter, and even onto the floor.
She made for a quick getaway to her room, but Willy was right on her heels. He shoved her into the room and locked the door behind them. His grip tightened around her neck as he pushed her against the wall.
"You asked me a question, damn it, now you're gonna hear the answer," he snarled. "That doctor had eyes for you, Macyn Ballard. You were so caught up in how smart he was, how much he knew. You weren't gonna stay with me for long. But I couldn't be without you. I did what I had to do to make you stay."
"I'm here," she choked out.
"But not with me," Willy countered. "It was that doctor then, and now it's Daryl fuckin' Dixon. You think you're gonna run away with him, you think things are going to be better out there. I'll remind you again that I gave you everything you have here. I couldn't be without you then and I won't be without you now, you hear me? You're mine."
He threw her onto the bed and crawled over her. His fist hit her several times, the last blow so hard that everything went black. Macyn knew nothing for hours.
.&.
"What happened in here?" Lori frowned, grabbing for a rag to pick up the glass. There was no blood, but another glass was sitting on the table with a bottle of whiskey. She placed that one carefully in the sink and stowed the liquor away in the cupboard.
"Mornin'," Willy grumbled, coming down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"You know what happened here?" Lori questioned.
Willy shrugged. "Accident."
Lori didn't like the feeling this man gave her. She didn't like the way he easily dismissed her question. She just didn't like him. She went back to her room and roused Rick.
"I think something's wrong. There was broken glass in the kitchen, and Willy just came inside all messy."
Rick rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "And how does that lead you to think something's wrong?"
"I just don't like it. What if him and Macyn got into it again and something happened?"
Rick sighed. "Maybe we should ask Macyn."
In her fear, that bit of logical thinking had escaped Lori's thinking. While Rick dressed, she went and knocked on Macyn's door; there was no answer. Slowly, she turned the knob.
The room smelled of sweat and … she didn't know what else. It just didn't smell right. Macyn wasn't in there, but the bedding was entirely in disarray; the sheets, the pillows, even the comforter were more or less bunched to one side of the mattress. A further look revealed to Lori several large spots of blood on the mattress and pillows.
Anger raged up in her. Everyone else could sit back and plan and wait to be able to get out, but Lori wasn't having it anymore. Macyn was a good person, and Lori was tired of watching Willy Slater hurt her.
"Where is she?" Lori demanded, shoving Willy as best she could. "Where's Macyn? Why is there blood on her bed?"
"It ain't your business," Willy answered coldly.
Lori slapped him across the face. "I know you did something with her. Is she alive? Did you kill her? God, I hope if you did her brain is still intact enough to come back so we can lead her right to you and let her torture you while you die! You selfish son of a bitch, where is she?"
Willy took a hold of Lori's arms and shoved her to the ground just as Rick came out to respond to the yelling. Andrea, Dale and Carol were not far behind, while Daryl slowly made his way to the main room.
"You keep your hands off my wife," Rick warned Willy through gritted teeth.
"Then you tell your wife not to run around accusing people of things they didn't do. I didn't kill Macyn."
"Then where is she?" Rick demanded. "You don't want to deal with her, that's fine. We'll take her with us. We'll all get out of here, but we're taking Macyn with us. Just tell us where the hell she is."
"Wait a minute," Daryl frowned. "Macyn's missing?"
"I said good night to her and watched her close her bedroom door behind her last night," Andrea said.
"Has anyone checked her room?" Dale asked.
"There's a lot of blood on the bed," Carol reported. "Lori's right."
"Where is she?" Daryl demanded, charging for Willy. Rick held him back, reminded Daryl that he was in no condition to fight a man.
"Let me handle this." Merle had finally moseyed his way out to the group by then, so Rick handed Daryl over to his brother before turning back to Willy. "Tell me where she is. Me and Glenn and Dale will go find her. When we come back with her, we'll all leave. It'll just be done."
Willy chuckled. "That girl is worthless but if y'all want her, good luck finding her. She's out in the woods, somewhere. She was alive when I left her."
Rick gritted his teeth to keep himself from throwing a few good punches at the other man, then directed Glenn and Dale to gear up and head out with him.
"I'm going, too," Daryl said. "You need the extra man."
"No," Rick told him sternly. "You are in no condition. You stay here with the others. T-Dawg, I'm counting on you to hold our own while we look for her."
"That won't be a problem," T-Dawg answered confidently, looking Willy straight in the eye.
"She was alive when I left her," Willy laughed again, heading back for his room. "But you'll be damn lucky if she's alive when you find her."
A/N: I apologize for the delay in updates! I hit a brick wall with this one, but I think I'm back on track. Just five more episodes to go and I'm all caught up with TWD! Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, thanks for coming back and reading!