Caroline Daye watched Carol and Daryl talking with Maggie and her people. Caroline held the envelope with the proof of her and Daryl not only being brother and sister, but twins against her chest and she sighed.
When Caroline found out she had been illegally adopted after her adopted father had died in a car accident, she had received a key which led to a safe deposit box. Inside the box was the information and she had gone to an agency which helps adopted adults and children find their birth parents.
A few months later, she got in contact with a man who claimed to be her birth father. He seemed to know a lot about the adoption and she was surprised by how eager he was to see her.
She had her doubts. She almost told him to fuck off. But her need to find the truth told her to agree to the meetup.
He told her to bring any and all proof of her identity and he assured her he would bring any and all proof his identity as well.
They arranged to meet in Atlanta, but her flight to Atlanta had been diverted to Savannah.
She and the group she had joined escaped the airport where they were being detained after the world fell apart and she traveled from one place to another. She already knew how to hunt, track and survive in the wild from the hunting trips she took with her adopted father, but it took the help from the group leader, a man named "Benji", to show her how to kill Walkers.
Over the years, she lost a lot of friends, but having to put Benji down when he was bitten caused her to shut down even further.
She had gone back to her hometown in Virginia Beach to find some sense of closure and it was her having to deal with the Walker version of her adopted mother, Jessie, which cause her to decide she needed to go back to looking for her birth father.
Will Dixon.
She went south and eventually arrived at the Kingdom.
When she met Daryl and told him Will Dixon was her father, Daryl not only didn't believe her, but she found out the man who contacted her wasn't Will Dixon, but Merle.
After going to Alexandria, she learned Daryl had found Merle's proof and they returned to the Kingdom. They compared notes and they both agreed to a blood test to further prove they were in fact twins.
But she knew Daryl still had doubts.
It wasn't until they shared a strange dream that they were finally able to get some answers to their questions and both of them grew closer.
"Hey," startled her as Caroline stopped the envelope from falling out of her hands and Daryl walked closer. "You good?"
"I'm fine," Caroline said, glancing over at Maggie.
Being able to sense how Caroline was feeling or not saying allowed Daryl to figure out what to say to her and he looked at Maggie.
"Relax. Maggie's good people," Daryl said.
"I thought Gabriel was good people, too."
From the beginning, Gabriel had been suspicious of Caroline. Even when he saw the proof, he didn't believe she was Daryl's sister. He accused her of working for Alpha. He even offered to give her over to Beta when they went to reclaim the heads of their fallen friends.
When she was going to leave due to her feelings that he was going to turn everyone against her, they finally talked and she thought he believed her.
But it was his unintentional abandonment of her in the Tower during the battle with Beta, the Whisperers and the Walkers which caused her to change her mind.
Daryl felt the anger and frustration coming from her when he gently placed his hands on her shoulders and they locked eyes.
"Maggie's different. Remember when I told you about what happened to Glenn?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said with a nod.
"I thought she hated me for what happened to him. Turns out I was wrong. Give her a chance, ok?"
Caroline looked deeply into her twin's blue eyes as she nodded and he moved back. They walked over to Carol and Maggie and Maggie's eyes slightly widened after she looked from Daryl to Caroline then back.
"Shit. She does look a little bit like Daryl," Maggie thought.
"Hi. I'm Maggie," Maggie said, holding out her right hand.
"Caroline," Caroline said, shaking hands with her. She did notice Maggie looking at the fingerless glove on Caroline's right hand and Caroline moved her hand back.
The memories of Jessie taking a meat hammer and nearly smashing her right hand into a pulp moved through her mind and Daryl slid his arms around Caroline. Caroline felt a sense of protection and comfort move through her as she sighed and Maggie gave them a worried look.
"Is she ok?" Maggie asked.
"Yeah," Daryl said.
Maggie cleared her throat as Daryl let go of his sister and Caroline glanced at her.
"So, Daryl says you're his sister," Maggie said.
"Yeah, I am," Caroline said with a curt tone.
"Not need to get defensive."
"Why not? You've already made up yer mind. You don't believe I am his sister. It's fine. Believe what you want."
Caroline turned as she walked away and she held the envelope against her chest. She felt the tears in her eyes as she went to sit on the stump and she placed the envelope on her lap. She looked down at the envelope when she heard the soft sound of chanting, drums and flutes and she blinked her eyes a few times.
"That was a little harsh, Little Squirrel," made her look up, but there was no one there. Suddenly, she realized who was talking to her as she frowned and she lightly kicked the dirt.
Jebidiah Blackfoot was a Cherokee shaman from the 1800s. When he was young, he inherited the power of the Old Man of the Mountain from his grandfather after his father had died. He was able to shape shift into a black bear or any creature that roams the land, flies or swims. He swore to protect the land, but he failed more times than he succeeded. Another power he possessed was the ability to pull people into a dream realm where they can speak to the dead. He was six foot seven and had long, scraggy black hair mixed with white and gray hair and hard amber eyes. A long scar went down the right side of his face and, due to his past, he didn't like being around people. After he had met Daryl, Carol and Caroline, he decided to give people another chance and he gave Caroline the nickname "Little Squirrel", Daryl the nickname "Demon Slayer" and Carol the nickname "Earth Mother". He finally died of old age and Daryl put him down before he turned.
"Leave me be," she whispered.
"She was offering you a branch of friendship."
"Bullshit."
"Look. I ain't no expert when it comes to what happened to you, but you gotta let people in."
"I've done that, but kept gettin' burned. I'm better off on my own."
"I thought that, too. Learned bein' alone sucks."
"You mean when you met us?"
"Yep."
"What do you want?"
"Just here to warn you."
"Warn me?"
"Yep. You better open your eyes, Girl. Bad things are comin'."
"What sort of bad things?"
"You'll see."
She frowned when the chanting, drums and flutes stopped and she saw Maggie walking to her. Standing up, Caroline held the envelope against her chest and Maggie stood in front of her.
They stood in silence when Maggie looked down, shook her head and she pressed her lips into a thin line.
"You wanna know something?" Maggie asked as she looked up and she placed her hands on her hips. "You remind me of Daryl when we first met. So full of anger and snapped at anyone who got too close."
"So?" Caroline asked.
"Well… You see… My dad told me he thought Daryl was like a wild horse."
"A wild horse?"
"Yep. He said we had to tread lightly when we were around Daryl. We had to earn his trust and let him come to us. If we rushed things, he'd bolt. It did take time. In the end, Daryl became one of my closest friends."
Caroline arched an eyebrow and Maggie sighed, rolling her eyes.
"You accuse me of making my mind up about you, but you're doing the same thing. What do I have to do to convince you I'm on your side?"
"Look at this," Caroline said as she pointed to the envelope.
Maggie took the envelope from her and Maggie sat on the stump. Maggie opened the envelope when she removed what was inside and she placed the plastic bag with photographs on the stump. Maggie looked at the information while Caroline watched her face and she noticed the wide range of emotions Maggie was feeling.
"Shit," Maggie said a few times as she slid the information back into the envelope then she picked up the plastic bag with photographs inside. She opened the plastic bag as she looked through the photographs and she noticed some of the photographs were of Daryl. She looked at the photograph of Merle as memories of Merle moved through her mind and Caroline noticed the anger in Maggie's eyes.
"Daryl told me what Merle did to you and…yer husband," Caroline said.
"You can say his name," Maggie said with a small smile. "Glenn told me time and again that Daryl was one of his best friends. I'm sure he would have said the same thing about you."
"My favorite story about Glenn is when he had to go down the well to get that Walker."
"Yeah. That was funny," she said with a laugh.
"Then there was that guard tower at the prison."
"Daryl told you about that?!"
"Yep."
They became quiet when they broke out laughing and Daryl stopped talking with Aaron to turn and look at them.
Maggie sighed when she shook her head and Caroline looked down at her feet.
"I… I saw his grave at Hilltop," Caroline said.
Nodding, Maggie made sure she placed all the photographs back in the plastic bag then she placed the plastic bag back in the envelope.
"Thanks for sharing this with me," Maggie said, standing up and she handed the envelope to her. "Just so you know. If anyone gives you shit about this or anything else, let me know."
Caroline heard the honesty in her voice. Nodding, she watched Maggie walk away then Caroline looked at Daryl and he gave her a small smile. He walked to her and he saw the guilty look on her face.
"Sorry," Caroline said.
"Stop," Daryl grumbled.
"Stop what? Stop bein' a defensive piece of shit?"
"Stop sayin' sorry."
Caroline snorted a laugh as she lightly shoved him and Daryl felt something was still bothering her.
"You're still goin' with us," he said and she looked slightly startled.
"You talkin' about New Mexico?" she asked.
"Yeah. Now, come on. We're headin' back to Alexandria."
"What about Maggie and her group? Are they goin' with us?"
"Not sure. She does want to go to Hilltop."
"You think that's a good idea?"
"Nope," he said with a shake of his head. "But Carol thinks we should."
"Want me to go with you?"
"Nah. Carol and I can handle it. Besides, I need you to keep an eye on Negan."
"Do you think he'll do somethin' to Maggie?"
"I'm more afraid of what she'll do to him."
Caroline nodded when Judith and RJ ran to them and Caroline smiled.
"Hey, you two," Caroline said.
"Aunt Caroline, can I show Gracie your necklace?" Judith asked.
Jeb had made her a necklace with the skulls of the squirrels she had killed while they were searching for him in his bear form and she looked down at the necklace. She removed the leather cord from around her neck when she handed the necklace to Judith and Judith ran off to find Gracie.
"What's in there?" RJ asked and Caroline looked at the envelope.
"Just somethin' I needed to show Maggie," Caroline said.
"What is it?"
Caroline looked at Daryl when they had a silent conversation and she nodded. She opened the envelope when she removed the information and she explained to RJ what everything was. She then placed the information back in the envelope when she removed the plastic bag with the photographs and RJ's eyes widened. She handed the envelope to Daryl then she opened the plastic bag and she removed some of the photographs.
"Who's that?" RJ asked.
"That's me when I was a baby," Caroline explained.
"Who's the other baby?"
"Daryl," she said, looking at Daryl. Caroline showed RJ some more photographs and she saw the hurt look in Daryl's eyes when he looked at photographs of her and her adopted father, Thomas.
"Who's that?" RJ asked, pointing to the photograph of Caroline with two young men.
Daryl felt the sense of loss, anger and regret coming from her as Caroline looked at the photograph and she blinked her eyes a few times.
"They're these guys I knew before everythin' fell apart," she whispered then she placed the photographs back in the plastic bag.
"Don't be sad, Aunt Caroline," RJ said as he hugged her and she lightly rubbed the back of his head.
"I'm not sad."
RJ nodded then ran off as Daryl looked at his twin and he frowned. He knew when she was lying and he looked at the plastic bag. He held out his right hand as she handed him the plastic bag and he noticed the photograph of her and the two young men was on the top.
"Are these your real friends?" Daryl asked.
She remembered saying that to him after she wanted to leave when she thought Gabriel had turned everyone against her.
"They were," she said and he placed the plastic bag in the envelope then he handed the envelope to her. He felt her shutting down when she walked away and he crossed his arms over his chest.
The next morning, the camp had been broken down and Caroline adjusted the straps to the backpack on her back. A weatherworn wooden cross with a tarnished silver circle at the center dangled down from the zipper pull and the cross slowly moved back and forth. Etched on the silver circle was Veritas Aequitas and Caroline checked to make sure the cross was still attached to the zipper pull.
"Ready to go?" made her look at Daryl walking toward her and Caroline nodded.
"You sure you don't want me to go with you to Hilltop?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"Are you takin' Dog and yer bike?"
"Nah. You take 'em."
"Ok."
She watched him head for Carol and Maggie when she whistled for Dog and the dog ran to her. Dog sat next to her while Caroline watched Daryl, Carol and Maggie walking into the forest and the urge to follow them moved through her.
"Well, guess we better get going," Negan said, walking to her.
"Yep," she said, looking at Daryl's motorcycle.
"Aaron went back to the Tower and found some gas."
"Thanks."
She walked to the motorcycle as Dog followed her and she moved the kickstand up. She pushed the motorcycle to Aaron and Gracie as he smiled at Caroline and Caroline put the kickstand down. She noticed Gracie was wearing her necklace and Gracie removed the leather cord, handing the necklace to her.
"Negan says you got some gas fer Daryl's bike," Caroline said, putting the leather cord around her neck.
"Yep," Aaron said, holding up the can of gasoline. He helped her place the gas into the motorcycle's gas tank then she nodded, started the motorcycle and she put the kickstand up. "Meet you back at Alexandria."
She waved her left hand as she steered the motorcycle away and Dog ran behind the motorcycle. She stopped near Negan while he looked at her and he frowned.
"Need a lift?" she asked.
"Yeah," Negan said and he got on the motorcycle. He held onto her as she steered the motorcycle by the trees and she knew he was angry.
"I wanted to go with 'em, too," she said.
"It isn't that."
"It's because of Maggie."
"Yeah."
"It ain't fair."
"No, it isn't. And, to be honest, I hate the fact that they think I need someone to look after me. I don't need a fucking babysitter."
"How about a bodyguard?"
He gave the back of her head a stunned look as his mind replayed all the bad things which he had done over the years… The things he did to people like Dwight, Simon, Sherry, Daryl, Abe and Glenn… Things he still had to find redemption for….
He knew no one had told Caroline everything about him and the idea of her being on his side, even if it was only a tiny bit, made him feel humbled.
"Couldn't ask for a better one," he said with a small laugh and the motorcycle headed down the trail with Dog following them.
Two days later – Alexandria
Caroline and Aaron were checked the food store when Aaron noticed her flexing the fingers of her right hand and he gave her a worried look.
He knew about the damage to her right hand and he looked at the wooden hand on the brace on his left arm.
"Stop," Caroline grumbled.
"What?" Aaron asked.
"Stop fussin'."
"Sorry."
"It's ok," she said, looking at the wooden hand. Daryl had told her the story about what happened to Aaron and Aaron moved his left hand forward, poking her in the nose. She laughed as he did and he shrugged. "Is it ok if I ask you somethin'?"
"Sure."
"I know it ain't any of my business, but what happened to Gracie's mom?"
Aaron pressed his lips into a thin line as he tried to figure out what to tell her then he sighed. She listened as he told her and she nodded her head now and then. He didn't see any judgement or anger in her eyes and he let go of the breath he was holding.
"I bet you were expectin' me to hate you for what you did. But, believe it or not, I've seen things like that before."
"I guess you have."
"And it doesn't change shit. You're a good man and Gracie couldn't have a better dad."
Aaron nodded as she lightly nudged him and he laughed.
"Has anyone asked you if you wanted your hand cut off and replaced with something like this?" he asked, holding up the wooden hand.
"Benji did, but I told him to fuck off," she grumbled.
"Benji?"
She told him about her ex-boyfriend and he nodded. They became quiet when Daryl appeared in the doorway and he knocked on the doorframe.
"Hey," Daryl said.
"Hey," Caroline said, walking to him. Dog was sitting next to him and she reached down to scratch the top of the dog's head.
"You busy?"
"Nothing I can't handle," Aaron said.
Nodding, Daryl stood back so Caroline could walk by him and they walked off. They walked side-by-side with Dog following them and they headed for the house.
"How did it go at Hilltop?" Caroline asked. She waited then Daryl told her about Maggie's reaction to seeing Hilltop and Caroline nodded. "Then what happened?"
"I sent Carol back here and I went to Maggie's camp to get the rest of her team," Daryl said.
"Run into any trouble?"
"Yeah. Turns out Maggie pissed off these assholes called Reapers and they ran her outta her old base."
"Where was the base?"
"Some place called Meridian."
"Never heard of it."
"Me neither."
"What did she do to piss them off?"
Daryl told her what Maggie had told them as Caroline nodded and she slid his left hand into her right hand. They locked fingers when they came to the stairs leading to the house and he let go of her hand. They went upstairs as he opened the door and they walked inside. She followed him as he walked to the stairs leading down to his bedroom and they went downstairs.
"What happened next?" Caroline asked as she sat on the couch and Dog hopped onto the couch. The dog settled down next to her as she watched Daryl place the crossbow on the chair then he took off the leather vest, placing the leather vest on the back of the chair.
"We got ambushed," Daryl said.
"By who?"
"One of the Reapers."
He told her what happened and he felt the fear and worry coming off of her.
"Who the hell is Pope?" Caroline asked.
"Maggie told us he is their leader."
"Do you think he'll come here?"
"No. I don't think he or the Reapers know about us."
"Then what?"
"We went on a supply run."
"Have any trouble?"
"Yeah. Ran into some Walkers."
He told Caroline what happened, but he wasn't sure if he should tell her about his talk with Maggie after they had found Hershel.
"What ain't you tellin' me?" she asked.
"I had a talk with Maggie," he said.
"About what?"
"About Glenn."
"Oh."
"She told me Hershel asked about him and what happened."
"What did she tell him?"
"She told him a bad man killed his dad."
"And you think the bad man is you."
"Yeah."
"What did she say when you told her that?"
"That I wasn't the bad man. Doesn't stop me from wonderin' what would happen if Hershel found out about my part in Glenn's death."
Nodding, Caroline watched Daryl walk around the room when he frowned then he looked at her.
"Did you clean my room?" he asked.
"I had to. The Whispers came in and ransacked the place," she said as Caroline lightly pushed Dog off of her then she stood up. "You should've seen my room."
"They take anythin'?"
"Some of my clothes, a few books, one of my good knives and…"
"And what?"
"They found my secret chocolate bar stash."
"You had chocolate bars?!"
"I found some in a house not far from here. They were still good and I was gonna share 'em with you."
"Why didn't you?"
"Beta showed up."
"What about my stuff? They take anythin'?"
"A pair of yer jeans, yer old work boots, some comic books and a few crossbow bolts. Why? Is somethin' else missin'?"
"Yeah," he said as he looked at where he had placed the double capper acorn Carol had given her, but it was missing. Dog jumped off the couch when the dog suddenly started sniffing the floor, headed for the dresser and Dog whimpered as the dog scraped at the floor.
"Hey. What did you find?" Caroline asked, walking to Dog. She knelt down when she went onto her stomach and she saw something lying on the floor under the dresser. Carefully, she reached under the dresser when her fingers felt something and she wrapped her fingers around it. Moving back, Caroline sat on the floor as she opened her fingers and she looked at the double capper acorn. "What's this?"
"It's a double capper acorn," Daryl grumbled, helping her to her feet. "Carol gave it to me fer good luck."
"Ah," she said, arching her eyebrows up as she smiled.
"Give it."
She dusted the double capper acorn off with her shirt when she handed the double capper acorn to him and he walked to the dresser, opened the drawer and placed the double capper acorn in the drawer. He closed the drawer when he turned to look at her and Caroline noticed the light in his eyes.
"Sorry," he grumbled.
"No. It's fine," Caroline said, but he saw the mischievous look on her face.
"You're not gonna let me live this down, are you?"
"Nope," she said and he sighed, rolled his eyes and lightly shook his head. "Wanna go do some huntin'?"
"Yeah."
Daryl went to get the crossbow and put on the leather vest when they headed for the stairs and Dog followed them out of the room.