When Kit and Daryl returned to the prison, Merle's prediction came true when they were the only ones who appeared upset by Merle's departure; the rest of the prison carried on as if nothing had happened…except for Michonne. She stood right in front of the couple before they headed towards the perch they had been sharing. "I'm real sorry your brother chose not to come back," Michonne told them.

"He almost sent you to the Governor," Daryl grumbled. "You've got as much right as anyone ta be pissed at Merle and want him gone. So why the hell are you sorry?"

"He wasn't as bad as he let people think he was. Deep down, I think he was a decent man. He let me go, and when he attacked the Governor's men…well, that was brave."

"Thank you fer sayin' that." Daryl was bewildered: nobody apart from Kit had ever spoken highly of Merle and he suspected Kit and Michonne would be among the last to speak well of Merle. She only nodded in return but her short exchange made them feel at least a little better knowing they weren't the only ones in the group who even half-liked Merle.

The following day, everyone was packing in case they had to flee the prison in a hurry. For Kit, this meant hurriedly shoving her few belonging into her yellow backpack. Anything else she had, including her books, were still in her minivan, which Glenn would drive with the Greene family as his passengers.

"Ya'll ready to go?" Daryl asked Kit, his own things packed and ready.

"Of course," she replied, shoving her final two items into her backpack: the supplies necessary for an abortion.

"Maybe if we leave we can look fer more stuff fer tha' list of yers," he offered.

"And if we kick the Governor's ass, we won't have to leave and we can look around here for supplies – even bring Herschel with us on the runs."

He nodded solemnly. "There's tha', too."

Later that day, as the Governor's men filed into the prison, Kit could hear their gunfire. "It feels so weird doing nothing," she said, to no one in particular. Every nerve in her body was wired, ready for a fight she wouldn't have to participate much in. "And why aren't Daryl and I out there? Glenn and Maggie are good shots, but to be honest, Daryl and I are a little better."

"The goal ain't ta kill the Governor's men," Rick explained patiently to her – not entirely like him to do. "The goal is jus' to drive them off and hope they don't come back."

The alarm sounded and they began throwing the bombs at the intruders, receiving the desired result: disorientation. The Governor's men were fleeing the prison and Maggie and Glenn were quickly showing them the way out with their gunfire. It was almost too good to be true. As soon as the Governor's men had left with their tails tucked between their legs, the rest of the group – minus Herschel, Carl, Beth and Judith who were hiding in the woods – filed down into the courtyard to come up with a game plan.

"We did it," Rick sighed with relief. "We drove them out."

"We should go after them," Michonne insisted.

Daryl agreed with her. "We should finish it."

"Do we really have the resources?" Kit asked. "It's one thing fighting them when we have a good defense but we have no idea what we might find if we go to Woodbury."

Kit's comment, along with Daryl and MIchonne's, sparked varying opinions from the group – some agreeing with Kit and others agreeing with Michonne and Daryl. Thankfully, Rick was in a decent state of mind and wasn't about to make any rash decisions. "Let's check on the others," he said, not indicating what his choice was either way.

When they were inside, Kit overheard the conversation between Rick, Herschel and Carl about Carl shooting down some kid. Unfortunately, Rick caught her staring at them after Herschel left him. "What?" he demanded. "Do you have something to say?"

As usual, she decided to speak the truth. "Not that it's any of my business, but I believe Herschel, and I think something needs to be done. Now is obviously not the time, but in the near future would be preferable."

"You're right: it isn't any of your business."

She paused, having seen in Carl her worst fear for any child in this world. Carl was becoming hard and it killed Kit inside to remember the boy who, less than a year ago, was telling Kit that the camp was scared of her and wanted to pet Bernie. "He's your son, Rick…and he's changed. You have to see that much."

Rick gave her a pained look but didn't verbally acknowledge what she said. That single, pained look, though, was enough to speak a thousand words. "We leave for Woodbury in a few minutes. I expect you to be ready by then. We'll need you and Daryl, so leave behind any doubts you have about this decision."

Perhaps it was time for her to place a little trust in Rick. "'If this is to be our end, then I would have them make such an end as to be worthy of remembrance.'" He gave her a funny look. "I was quoting King Theoden from Lord of the Rings," she explained. "Don't ask me why, but you remind me of him."

"And you still remember that quote?" He seemed surprised. (Rick was also trying to remember who Theoden was so he could decide whether or not to be offended by the comparison. He'd only ever watched bits and pieces of the trilogy so he was having a great deal of difficulty placing the character.)

"I think you underestimate how many times I watched that movie and read those books. I can quote quite a few Star Trek episodes, too, if you like."

"Maybe some other time," he mumbled. He was secretly a little jealous Kit had been able to cling to bits and pieces of the person she was before the outbreak while he struggled daily with trying to figure out who he was. But it eluded him.

Daryl's motorcycle revved with Daryl and Kit on top of it. She no longer had her familiar rifle so she was using a different gun, having long forgotten whose it was originally. It was only Rick, Michonne, Daryl and herself going on the mission, but there was no way Kit was about to let Daryl ride to Woodbury without her to back him up. Kit had been expecting an ambush, a volley of bullets when they reached Woodbury, or even a second army of the Governor's soldiers to back up the first group. What she hadn't been expecting was the bloodbath she and the others found when they happened upon the Governor's vehicles. His entire army was wiped out – save for one.

Kit jumped a little when the woman bumped up against the window of one of the trucks, but when she realized the woman was alive she relaxed a little. At least maybe now they could get some answers. "What the fuck happened?"

"He fired on us," the woman replied weakly. "The Governor. He killed all of them."

Kit looked at Daryl, silently asking him whether or not he believed the woman – unsure herself as to whether or not she believed the former Governor's soldier. Daryl's silent reply was that he didn't know and he added a shrug for emphasis.

"Where is the Governor, now?" Rick asked.

"I don't know," she said, desperately trying to appear truthful. "He just left in his truck."

"Was he alone?"

"I don't know. I don't see Martinez anywhere around here, so maybe he escaped, too."

"What happened to Andrea?" Kit asked, suddenly realizing she hadn't seen the blonde woman among the bodies with the trucks. Obviously Andrea would not have condoned attacking the prison and would have refused to do it so Kit wondered what her punishment had been.

"She hopped the fence and escaped. Isn't she with you guys at the prison?"

"Andrea never made it to the prison," Kit said sadly, wondering what had become of her friend.

"Do you know what we'll find when we get to Woodbury?"

"We took everyone who could fight to the prison. There are just a bunch of children and old people there now. Maybe one guard."

Rick looked to Kit, Daryl and Michonne to see what they thought now about Woodbury. "We can take 'em," Daryl said confidently. Kit and Michonne nodded. In fact, Kit felt a lot better about their attack on Woodbury now that she could see all their fighters were dead.

After night fell, they had reached the wall where a sentry stood guard and, of course, as soon as he saw them, he began firing. Karen, the woman they had found, stood to try getting his attention but Rick immediately pulled her down so she wouldn't get shot. "It's me," she called.

"Karen?" the guard asked.

"Yes, it's me."

The firing stopped. "Why are you with the terrorists?" This caused Kit to roll her eyes; the Governor had this entire group of people so brainwashed they didn't know left from right.

"They saved me, Rob."

Rick was sick of hiding behind the car so he called, "We're coming out." Kit didn't like the idea of lowering her weapon around Woodbury but she decided to stick with her decision to start trusting Rick more as they slowly approached the gate into the town.

"What are you doing here?" Rob asked with hostility clear in his voice.

"We came here to finish it. Then we saw what the Governor did."

The shock on the Rob's face spelled out just how confused he had been on the Governor's character. "How could you not have seen what a sick fuck he was?" she asked. "He pitted two brothers against each other in a fight to the death."

"More to the point," Rick interjected. "Karen said Andrea hopped the fence but she never made it to the prison and we're all thinking she might be here."

Moments later they were descending into the depths of Woodbury where Glenn and Maggie had been kept not too long ago. "The Governor held people here?" Rob asked, incredulous.

"He did more than hold 'em," Daryl grumbled as they entered a room with blood spilled out under the door.

There they found Andrea and Kit felt her heart breaking. She may not have warmed up to Andrea right away but she had found in Andrea a kindred spirit: someone else who had put down a sister, someone else who shared Dale's moral streak when it mattered and someone else who had struggled with thoughts of suicide. She knew Andrea like she knew herself. On the farm, Andrea had quickly become a sister to Kit – who was close to Amy's age – and Kit had sorely missed that sisterly bond before she had been reunited with Andrea. Now, she would never truly be reunited again with the other blonde woman who lay dying of the fever on the floor and that thought tore her up inside.

"Are the rest of them okay?" Andrea asked. "Judith…Carl…"

"The rest of us," Rick insisted. "The rest of us. They're alive."

"I just didn't want anyone to die."

So Andrea had carried Dale's moral streak to the very end. "Dale would be so proud," Kit said, trying not to choke on tears, trying to be stronger than she felt.

"I have to do it myself," Andrea said, referring to the fact that she had to end her own life before she was reanimated. "While I still can."

"No," Michonne said, amidst tears.

"I understand," Kit said, finally giving in to her own tears. "But I'm going to be here with you. I don't want you to leave this world alone. I wasn't here enough for you, but I'm here now."

"I'm not going anywhere," Michonne agreed.

The two men filed out of the room to give the women a chance to be alone. Kit hugged Andrea hard. "I have missed having you around."

"I'm just glad you're alive," Andrea replied weakly. "Do me a favor and keep it that way." Kit nodded; there would be no 'opting out'.

A few painful moments later Andrea pulled the trigger and the scene afterwards was every bit as horrific as anything Kit could have imagined. Blood pumped out of the hole in her head like a hose for a moment and a lot of blood was spattered all over Kit and Michonne from the gunshot and it took Kit weeks to get that smell out of her mind.

The day after the survivors of Woodbury came to the prison, Kit was up well before anyone else, slowly eating breakfast in the dark. Daryl had been a comfort the previous day but there was no easy way to get over a loved one. In fact, some would argue, there was no getting over a loved one, period. A person may move past the grieving stage but every once in a while, something would happen that would remind you of that person and then the pain would come back with a vengeance. It had been that way with Dale and with others and now that same pain would be associated with Andrea.

"Mind if I join you?"

Kit looked up to see it was Rick interrupting her thoughts. She nodded, though, since she probably didn't have much of a choice and since it was probably better not to be left alone with her thoughts, anyway. "What's up?"

"You were right about Carl." Kit knew it was difficult for Rick to admit this, not only because he didn't like admitting when she was right but also because he didn't want to admit his own son was fucked up.

"I don't always like being right, you know. In fact, sometimes it fucking sucks to be right. In this case, I really wish I wasn't. Now that this thing with the Governor is pretty much over, though, you can start to focus on being a dad. Maybe now you won't have to be the only person in charge and you can also focus on pulling yourself together. It's been pretty clear to everyone here that you've been falling apart. Concentrate on yourself and your family, Rick."

"I think you're right, as usual. Maybe I should step down and let someone else make the decisions for a change."

"We could even vote for people – a real democracy."

"Would you run?"

"Sure, why not. I would be willing to be part of another cabinet, of sorts."

"I'll be sure not to vote for you." The way he said it, Kit couldn't tell whether or not he was teasing.

"Daryl and I are going on a run today. We're raiding Woodbury for all of the useful supplies then hightailing it out of there." She wasn't asking for permission, she was telling him.

"I guess I don't have much of a choice." It wasn't a bad idea, after all. "Are you taking anyone else with you?"

"Anyone who wants to come, but we don't mind doing it by ourselves."

"You never do. Be careful, I guess."

"Will do, boss."

"I can't remember who Theoden was in Lord of the Rings," Rick admitted. "Care to enlighten me?"

"No, I think I'll let you read the books yourself. They're still in my minivan."

"I guess if I'm not going to be leader anymore, I'll have a little more time for reading."

"I'll grab them today after we haul some stuff from Woodbury back here."

She caught the Daryl's figure out of the corner of her eye. "Looks like my partner in crime is here. We'll be going, then. Try not to go off the deep end again while we're gone."

"Will do."

Kit's minivan was packed nearly to the brim with stuff from Woodbury by the end of the day – food, equipment, and other supplies. The only part of Woodbury they had left to raid was the medical building and they both knew that necessary provisions would not be in short supply there.

"Got that list of yers?"

"Yes. Herschel described the appearance of all the equipment to me so I should be able to identify all of it."

When they entered the medical building, though, they heard a sound resembling rummaging – as if someone was just down the hall. Kit's hairs stood on end and she pulled out one of her throwing knives, turning to Daryl to make sure she wasn't hearing things; his crossbow was raised, meaning her hearing was perfectly fine. They crept silently down the hallway, pushing open the door in a similar fashion before they scared the shit out of the man in the room.

"Don't shoot!" he begged.

"What're you doin' here?" Daryl demanded. "Everyone was supposed ta be gone."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Look, jus' 'cause Woodbury ain't run by the Governor anymore don't mean you can do whatever the hell ya want."

"Look, I don't know what Woodbury is or who the Governor is but all I know is that I stumbled upon this place this morning, found it empty, and decided to check it out. I've been here in the medical building all day sorting through the mess. This place was very poorly organized."

"So you worked in the medical field, then," Kit ascertained, interest piqued.

"Yes. I'm a doctor." Hearing this, Kit and Daryl lowered their weapons, realizing the opportunity that had been presented to them. A real doctor! "What are you two doing here, if I may ask?"

They looked at each other nervously, not sure whether or not they should be sharing this kind of information with a stranger, but they also both knew that they didn't want to lose this valuable resource. "We have a group not too far from here," Kit began slowly. "How have you been making it on your own this whole time?"

"I had a group up until a few days ago. Our camp was attacked and I was the only one to get away. I hid in the car," he admitted before looking down at his feet nervously. "Do you think you have room for one more?"

"What do you think, Dex?" Daryl asked her.

"I think we may be able to arrange something, Griz," she replied lightly. "What's your name?" she asked the stranger.

"Caleb Subramanian."

"Thas a mouthful. Might just stick with Caleb or Dr. S." Daryl was not about to try saying Subramanian every time he talked to the doctor.

"Before we let you come with us, can you identify these items?" Kit showed him her list.

He perused it before saying, "These items are all for…"

"I'm well aware of what they're for. I just want you to help us find them. I also want to know whether or not you would be opposed to performing the procedure."

He paused for a moment before saying, "I suppose I could perform the procedure and yes, I can help you find everything on that list.

Before too long, Kit's minivan was heading back to the prison with a little Buick following closely behind. Within the hour, introductions were being made between Caleb and the rest of the group, with only one or two small objections from Rick. Herschel immediately saw why Kit and Daryl had been so quick to welcome the doctor and he himself was happy he would not be forced to perform Kit's procedure. He pulled the younger woman aside. "So now that you have everything, when are you doing this?"

"Tonight. I can't afford to wait another day."

"If anyone asks, just tell them the truth," Kit told Daryl that night. "It's too exhausting trying to keep this from everyone."

"You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll see you in a little while, okay?" They both thought it would be better if it was just Kit and Caleb together for the procedure. Daryl watched as she disappeared behind a sheet they had put up in the doorway of a prison cell.

"I suppose it would be too much to ask what's going on," Rick grumbled as he approached Daryl.

"Kit's pregnant and Dr. S. is giving her an abortion." Daryl thought he had every right to be pissed at Rick for feeling as if he had to know everyone's business.

The former sheriff was speechless. "Daryl, I…"

"Kit thought it would be best and I agreed, jus' in case yer wonderin' why. Go ahead and tell anyone who asks. We're done hidin' it now."

"So when you two were arguing…?"

"It was 'bout this, yeah. Kit waited a while ta tell me an' I was pissed."

There really wasn't anything Rick could say to express how bad he felt that he had been harassing them now that he realized he didn't really have any right to expect the other members of his group to share everything with him. "I'm sorry, Daryl. I shouldn't have been so…forceful."

"No, ya shouldn't have."

Rick could see he would be no comfort to Daryl that night so he left the other man to wait for his wife. When Subramanian had finished, Daryl went behind the sheet to see Kit sitting up in the lower bunk of the cell, silent tears flowing down her face. He didn't say anything, knowing there was nothing he could say to make things right so he just sat down next to her and held her. The damn cat was already snuggled up against her – Daryl didn't know how the cat had gotten there before him – but he didn't care at this point, because all he wanted was something, anything, that could help her feel better. He was in a lot of pain, too, but it looked as if it didn't quite compare to what Kit was feeling.

A/N: Hope you all liked the chapter and the drama involved. I'm sorry if the beginning felt rushed but I found that particular part of the episode to be very difficult to write. I know some of you were hoping Kit would change her mind and I'm sorry it won't happen in this story but I recently published a new story that should be to your liking if you hoped Kit would keep the baby. Anyway, I usually don't like to advertise my own stories, but check it out if you want, to see if you're interested.