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Chapter 9

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Daryl opened the bottle of beer and sat it in front of Merle. "Gotta ask." he said, trying not to smile at the irony. Merle wasn't even trying to hide the fact that his forearm didn't exactly match the hand.

"Fuck you. Ain't funny."

"Yeah, it is." Daryl said. "Where tha' hell did ya' get it?"

"V.A." Merle shrugged. "Found it at the V.A."

"Found?" Daryl was skeptical. He knew better. He knew his brother too well. "What dead guy did 'ya steal it off a'?"

"They 'r all fuckin' dead. Every last one of 'em what weren't walkers. I just took advantage a' what was right in front a' me." Merle frowned. "Not like he was gonna' fuckin' use it no more."

"There weren't one dead white guy there with a fake hand?" Daryl said, the corner of his mouth twitching. Daryl was seriously having a hard time not busting out laughing. His brother. Poster boy for white supremacy, with a black hand. It was just almost too much for Daryl. Hell had indeed frozen over.

"No. You think I'd have this God-damned piece of shit if 're were?" Merle said, scowling, raising the dark latex-covered hand in front of him. "Jesus Christ."

"Karma." Daryl smiled. "That's just karma, man."

"Fuck that shit." the big man hissed. 'N' fuck you, too." He drained the bottle of warm beer and sat it down. "What tha' fuck 're ya' doin' with Duke Henderson's kid?"

Daryl took a long drink from his beer and shrugged. "Nothin'."

"Bull SHIT." he said. "You 'n her…" he made a vulgar gesture with his good hand and the finger of his prosthetic.

"S' none a' yer' business, Merle." Daryl said flatly, glaring at his older brother.

He guffawed a bit and grinned. "That means ya' ain't screwin' her."

"Fuck you, Merle."

"Aww, how come, little man? She just wanna' be friends? You not her type?"

"Ain't like that.

"Oh, I get it. Yer' takin' it sloooow." Merle drew out the word intentionally to push his younger brother's buttons. It worked. "Meanwhile, she's givin' it up to somebody else 'round here behind your back, ain't' that right?"

"No. She ain't."

"Ya' know that fer' a fact?"

"Yeah. That's a fact." Daryl said, his teeth clenched.

"Well well." Merle said, putting a bottle of cheap whiskey between his legs and twisting off the cap with his one hand. He took a long gulp and returned the bottle, leaving the cap off. There was a long silence. Merle nodded slowly. "She shooore looks like her Daddy." he said sighed. "Good man, that one. Too fuckin' bad what happened."

Daryl and Merle continued to suck down the beers on the front porch while the discussion inside continued. By the time it was over, they'd drank a case and a half of beer between the two, Merle consuming the lion's share. Daryl was considerably under the influence, as well. He was having a lot of mixed emotions. He was mainly confused. He knew that he was glad that Merle was back, thankful he was safe, feeling guilty for not looking hard enough for him, and worried about what would happen now that he was back. Daryl didn't like it when he was confused.

XXXXX

The tone of the entire discussion was tense. Actually it was past tense and moving toward vicious. Aliya knew what she was up against. She knew Merle's type. Mean, violent, addicted, self-centered, a guy who just doesn't give a damn about anything other than his own wants and needs. Throw in a pretty good oxy habit, some speed and lots of liquor and you have a guy who was, well, somebody you just don't want to be around. She as running smack-dab into that very fact right now.

Aliya was dumbfounded at the anger and resentment that the group had for Merle. She tried to remain calm and rational. She had to, for Daryl's sake. Merle had to be allowed to stay. She could work on him later, but for now, she just had to get them to agree to let him stay.

Andrea was the worst one of the bunch. Shane wasn't much better. Rick was being his usual calm, rational self, but Lori was having her moments as well. They all took turns badmouthing Merle, saying what an awful person he was, how he was a bigot, a drug abuser, a criminal. They made Merle out to be every bad person ever invented, which was why Aliya was grateful when Stuart spoke up and asked the question that she hadn't been able yet to get in edgewise.

"So just what the hell did this guy do, rape somebody? Is he a killer? Convict? Child molester? What? What exactly did he do while he was in camp?"

"Merle does not think about his actions or their effects upon others." Rick said.

"Merle is not alone in that category." Aliya spoke up, shaking her head at Rick. She was starting to get just plain pissed now. "You've all done stupid stuff. Andrea, do I really have to remind you, you shot Daryl. Rick, T-Dog, you guys left Merle on the roof…in handcuffs. Glenn, you brought a car back to camp with the horn blaring, clear from downtown. Ever think that's what brought those walkers swarming? Lori, you sent Glenn and that Maggie-girl into town for your own stuff. Maggie almost got bit because you needed what, shampoo? Shane, you busted open the door to the barn-full of walkers and risked everyone's lives. Everybody here is guilty of doing something irresponsible or dangerous. You have no right to judge." she tried to reason with them.

"Aliya, you don't know how he is." Glenn spoke up. "He's mean. He's dangerous and violent. He's a racist, plus, he treats women like…dirt."

"Really? Did Merle ever hit anybody? Ever lay his hands on any of the women?" Aliya said. She turned to Carol. "He ever leave bruises on anybody?" She knew she was pushing buttons and probably making enemies, but she didn't care anymore. Her allegiance was to Daryl and therefore to Merle. She was more like them than the others.

"Look, Aliya, we know you're close to Daryl, but you weren't there. You don't know what it was like with Merle around." Dale said calmly. "He was not nice to have to deal with."

"Keep Daryl out of this. This is just human decency. You all are a bunch of hypocrites. I get that he's rude and crude and loud. I know he's going to say off-color shit and make you uncomfortable. That's his deal. I know that he's going to say stuff about Blacks and Asians and Jews and Hispanics and every other race, creed or color. So what? He's one guy with some stupid ideas and opinions. Grow the fuck up, you guys. I think you can handle it. He's got an ugly mind, I get that. He's gonna' cuss and holler and fight. He's gonna' drink. He's gonna' do drugs if he can get 'em. But he's also gonna' be another man around here. Another brain with ideas and skills and experience. Another set of eyes and ears. Another weapon." Aliya felt like a lawyer giving a closing argument at a trial and she of all people, hated attorneys with a passion.

"He can't stay." Lori said firmly. "We don't want him here. He's too dangerous. I don't want that man anywhere near Carl."

"Really, Lori? You really wanna' go there?" Aliya said, looking at Shane now, on purpose, letting Lori she knew. "Did Merle ever touch you?" Shane's eyes burned into her but he kept quiet.

"No, but that doesn't mean he won't." Bridgette said, adding her two cents.

Aliya pointed her finger at Bridgette. "You need to be quiet. You've never even met him and you're just parroting crap you've heard around the campfire." Aliya snapped.

Stuart spoke up and tried to defend Bridgette. "Aliya, you don't have to be so mean. Why do you care about Merle anyway…I mean, aside from the obvious."

"What would the obvious be, Stuart? What are you getting at?" Aliya turned towards him.

"It means we all know that Daryl sent you here to plead Merle's case. He's using you to do his dirty work." Andrea sneered.

"Daryl did not send me here. In fact, he's a little pissed that I am. Until Christmas he didn't even know I was trying to find Merle, so just keep your theories to yourself, Andrea. You don't have a clue what you're talking about." Aliya looked around the table, making eye contact with every single person. "Look, Merle has every right to be here. As much as any of you. You guys left him to die. But he didn't. He cut off his own hand to survive. He made it out of the building and lasted out there. With one hand. On his own. For weeks. You didn't even have the decency to leave him with so much as a bottle of water. You all owe him this."

"I…I just don't know," Rick said, "He's got a score to settle now. He'll be more dangerous than ever."

"And who do you have to thank for that, Rick?" Aliya slammed her palm on the table. "You guys can live with yourselves if you just turn him out? You gonna sleep good tonight knowing he's back out there?"

"I will." Andrea said. "Better out there than in here."

"You have no fuckin' clue what's sleeping in here with you, Andrea." Aliya looked at her, here green eyes now dead with loathing. "Merle's staying. I'll make sure he behaves. If nothing else, he can stay in one of the other houses. But he's staying as long as he wants."

Aliya rose and Shane rose with her. "You and that brother of his better keep him on a short leash, Aliya." he said. "People won't have more of his shit, I guarantee."

"Maybe it's your own shit you better contain, Shane." she said over her shoulder, as she walked out the door, slamming it behind her.

XXXXX

Aliya laid on her bed, listening to the sounds in the house. It was quiet, very quiet. Bridgette was sleeping with Andrea and Carol, saying that she was "too scared" with Merle now in the house to sleep by herself and took great joy in making it known that Aliya was spending a lot of time lately in Daryl's room. Aliya had gone to tell Merle and Daryl how the meeting had gone. By this time, they were in Daryl's room downstairs. Aliya spent about an hour, there, with the high point being Merle passing out on the couch. Merle was his typical self, argumentative, rude and crude, but she could see a definite change in his attitude from the moment she opened the door. She couldn't put her finger on it but he was acting a bit differently.

Daryl was very quiet. She could tell from his demeanor that he didn't want any company. He had a lot to think about and Aliya knew that when he had thinking to do, Daryl didn't want anybody around. She said goodnight quickly and went upstairs to her room, ignoring the looks from everyone else who was still hanging out in the kitchen, discussing things. She was drained, emotionally drained, and fell asleep quickly.

A couple hours later, Aliya woke to feel the covers being drawn off her. "What the hell?" she said sleepily, rolling over as she sat up. A pair of lips met hers, rough, hot, tasting of cigarettes and beer, as hands held her shoulders tight. She knew immediately who it was and what was happening…and she was damn ready.

"Daryl."

"No more." he said in a hoarse voice. "No more waitin'."

"Daryl, you're drunk. You sure you wanna do this?" Aliya said, forcing herself to pull away. But he didn't answer. Instead, Aliya found herself on her back, with Daryl kissing the side of her neck, his hands moving to the hem of her t-shirt, pulling it up slowly. "Aww, Jesus." she moaned as he alternated from between kissing her neck and running his tongue back and forth on it slowly.

Daryl was trying to take his time now and it was killing him. He'd had too much beer, too much of everything today. His mind was racing. He needed the one thing he knew would bring him peace and calm him down. He needed her. He needed to feel her under him, to touch her, to finally make love to her. Now here she was and he had to force himself to stay in control.

Daryl moved from her neck to the exposed skin on her stomach, kissing here. There. Dragging his lips across the smooth skin. Connecting kisses with his tongue as she ran her fingers through his hair. He pulled the t-shirt off and tossed it aside, moving to her breasts, kissing them slowly, rolling her nipples on one side between his fingers and with his tongue on the other as Aliya moaned and started to breath faster.

He moved to her mouth again, kissing her roughly, his tongue moving on hers, slowly at first, then with more urgency. Daryl moved quickly to pull off her underwear and toss it aside. Aliya's hand moved to his waist and popped the button on his worn pants. Her hand moved to the zipper and slowly lowered it as she returned his kisses, their tongues moving together. Her hand moved inside and Daryl growled as she slowly slid her fingers down the length of him. He had to hold his breath to keep from exploding as Aliya's hand moved gently, soft and warm against him. He could feel himself starting to stiffen even more and removed her hand quickly and sat back, shimmying out of his pants awkwardly, kicking them off to the foot of the bed.

He returned to her, holding his weight off her with his forearms and kissed her once more, lowering himself slowly to her, pressing against her thigh. Aliya moved slightly and met him, allowing him to enter easily. He looked at her, her eyes closed, lips parted slightly, showing no hesitation as she began to move with him slowly. Daryl closed his eyes and allowed himself to think, really think about what they were doing. What he was feeling. How she moved against him, matching his breathing, moaning softly, her fingers playing on his chest, moving to his back, his neck.

Daryl slowly increased his speed as Aliya moved her legs up to his waist, her hands scratching the outside of his thighs lightly with her fingernails. She was quiet, so quiet he had to look at her to see if she was still alright. When he did, he saw her looking back at him, her eyes dark, burning into his steely blue eyes, on fire. She moved her hands from him to over her head and nodded slowly as Daryl raised to his knees, his hands grasping her around the hips to pull him to her.

Aliya moaned quietly and arched her back as Daryl continued to move faster, deeper. "Jesus Christ!" he hissed, exploding suddenly with enough force to send her over the edge as well, as Aliya moaned his name loudly enough for Dale and Stuart to hear next door. Daryl quickly pulled her up by the arms to his lap, still twitching inside her as they both tried to catch their breath, their legs entwined, sweat mixing together as he held her close. Neither one of them said anything as they sat there together, Aliya drawing small circles and scrolls with her fingertips on the damp skin of Daryl's back while Daryl's hands moved through her tousled hair and stroked her back.

Daryl moved to lay them down, side by side, legs still wrapped around each other. "Cold?"

"No. You?"

"Not after that." he smiled.

"That was sure worth the wait." Aliya grinned.

"Shit yes." Daryl growled as he pulled her closer and kissed her forehead, closing his eyes. For the first time in months, Daryl slept peacefully.