Daryl kept his eyes closed to help his concentration, secure in the knowledge that nobody would enter this room while he was in it. The sign hanging from the outside door knob read "Meeting in progress – Please do not disturb", and the stylized clock for the end of the supposed meeting was set at 5 pm. He would be safe in here at least until then, probably longer. The greatest benefit of working missions from his workplace was that he didn't have to fabricate lies for Merle, which was a huge relief – his bad conscience over going behind his brother's back for all of this was killing him as it was.

Daryl gave in to his urge to make sure that Carol was still safe, briefly intensifying their meld. Even Daryl himself was amazed at how obsessed he was with reassuring himself that she was safe from harm and that there were no immediate threats to her. Yet he never questioned his hunches on this particular matter - he valued his agents' safety above all else. She had been behaving strangely since she'd taken the previous day off without comment - she'd been very quiet and subdued all day and he kept wondering if something was wrong or if he'd said or done something to upset her.

Carol was taking a break, having lunch around the corner from the Feina headquarters, and he had taken that opportunity to start in on his report and add new information to the guard rotation schedule that he had set up a few days earlier. They had already put together about two thirds of the data during their five mission days, while simultaneously recording Feina procedures for nearly everything under the sun. They had observed visitors arriving and departing, high-ranking Feina dignitaries leaving the premises in a guarded convoy, and materials being delivered. They had recorded all the vehicles entering and leaving the compound without getting searched. Slowly but surely, they were learning the details of how their enemies, the enemies of mankind, routinely handled things.

He saved his first rough draft for today's report directly to the protected TE drive and then checked back in with Carol who was just paying her check. "'m done with my first draft, seems like you're done as well?" he asked, flicking her eyes to her glass to make sure she had finished her water and noting with amusement that she never picked up on him briefly taking control over her. He made a mental note to himself to never do this again so covertly.

Ever since their second day when he had dimly felt her nearly passing out with exhaustion once she'd arrived at home while he himself was putting the finishing touches to his report for that day while already resting in his room, he had gone out of his way to make sure she remained fed and hydrated. It wasn't even that he was worried that she might pass out at the feet of a Feina and endanger their mission – he just didn't want her to feel that physically bad ever again if he could help it.

No attachment.

She picked up her umbrella on her way out and made more room for him inside her mind so he could keep her updated on traffic. He felt much more relaxed to her than on their previous days out and she wondered about possible reasons for that. Nodding good-bye to the waiter at the entrance who had seated her for her meal, she opened her umbrella and stepped out into the steady rain.

The wind had picked up during her break and was coming at her nearly vertically by now. Adjusting the angle of her umbrella so it would protect her while not getting torn out of her hand, she allowed her disgruntlement with the awful weather to escape into their meld. His disgusted sigh told her that he wasn't happy about the rain and the cold either. "Tell you what", he spoke up inside her head, "let's call it a day. The weather jus' keeps gettin' worse, and I don't want you to catch a cold in this wind and rain – Hershel would have my head."

As she knew perfectly well how protective Hershel was both of herself and him, she gave in and turned the next corner to walk toward one of the three bus stops from which she always set out for home. She used two different bus lines to get to the closest public transportation hub where she changed to varying bus and train lines for the rest of the way. She was amused that Daryl insisted on this complicated way of doing things, but he hoped it would serve his purpose of losing potential trails that she might have picked up without him noticing.

The raging storm was sucking all warmth from her hands and feet, and her exposed face felt as if a mask of ice were covering it. She could have sworn that small hail particles were mixed in with the rain hitting her face. The wind shear at the corner nearly ripped her umbrella from her hand as she stepped out into a wild gust of wind, and it did get folded upside down. Fighting with it in the driving rain, her head down to protect her face, she was trying to fold it back down while still walking on, when she was suddenly stopped by an obstacle in her way. Looking up and squinting against the rain pelting her face, she stared up into the gray, unamused face of Guardian of the Peace Esnik.

Lightning flashed across the sky as she froze in fear. She was absolutely certain that he would recognize her and have her taken in for questioning – after all, she had no legitimate purpose here, and humans could be taken in for interrogation at any time. Neither the Feina nor the human police force had to notify anyone or justify their reasons for making random arrests – and being here today, after she had met with him a few days back to obtain floor plans of the top secret, heavily secured Feina headquarters, would certainly look suspicious to him.

Thunder cracked the sky apart. Horribly, she could dimly sense Daryl panicking inside her mind as she stood there, rooted to the spot and waiting for Esnik's reaction. The Guardian looked her up and down, then plucked the umbrella from her unfeeling fingers. She almost expected him to knock her unconscious with it, but he very calmly closed one of his long-fingered, slim hands around the protruding end of the stock and effortlessly folded the umbrella back down. Handing it back to her, he said something in his gravelly language, but of course she didn't understand him. Assuming that he had said something polite along the lines of "here you are, get out of this weather, puny human", she made an effort to give him a coherent answer.

"Thank you so much, that's very kind -", she stammered, blushing, as she accepted her umbrella back from him. She had to fight to ignore Daryl's panicked flight impulse, trying to propel her down the road, away from Esnik. So far, it seemed that he hadn't recognized her – maybe all humans of any one ethnicity looked alike to them -, but if she were to suddenly run from him without any apparent reason for doing so, he would surely take her in, even without realizing that they had met before. He didn't wait for her to finish – maybe he didn't understand English or didn't want to give himself away if he did – but just nodded at her briefly before continuing on his way.

She couldn't believe her luck. Here she was, running into the one Feina she knew, who might recognize her as well, and he never noticed or didn't care that he had seen her before and that her being here now smelled slightly fishy. Her body was on autopilot when she opened her umbrella again, making sure to turn into the wind so it wouldn't be folded upside down again, and set out for her bus station once more. As she was approaching the corner where she'd have to turn right to reach her stop, she finally noticed that Daryl seemed to be gone. Frowning, she reached out for him.

She found him hovering nearby, completely closed off. Absolutely mystified, she approached him carefully, wary of him lashing out in panic. Brushing past him, she waited for him to notice that she was there, but he didn't react. As he had been silent for the past few minutes she had no idea when her bus would arrive and made her way toward the small shelter to study the schedule and get out of the storm and the driving rain. The schedule told her that the bus would arrive in five minutes' time – if it managed to be on time in these atrocious conditions – and she carefully sat down on one of the scratched and cracked molded plastic seats bolted to the wall.

Daryl still hadn't tried to contact her again, so she reached out herself once more and found him still locking her out. She had no idea why he was doing this, or why running into Esnik had him in such a panic. Then she felt him slowly opening up to her, and sensing his anxiety, she purposely looked all around herself to show that she was alone at her bus stop. The lights of the bus could be seen approaching in the distance, but she paid it no heed.

"Why did you leave me?" she demanded to know, incensed, and felt him cringing at the question, or probably her tone of voice. She did not back down, however. He was her guide, and this was her life he was risking. When he hesitated, she repeated her question more forcefully, and this time he acknowledged her. He was so out of control that she could physically sense his panting and his fluttering pulse in his wrists, at his temples and in his neck. She did her best to not let his fear take her over, but instead attempted to calm him down. Why was he such a mess after meeting one Feina, and not even in person?

„Sorry, didn't mean to leave you there, but stayin' with you woulda been even worse fer ya", he managed. She noted his thick accent that gave away how much he had lost control of himself. „You alright?" he added anxiously, and he came closer again, approaching her cautiously, wary of being pushed back for abandoning her. „How you doin'? He threaten you?"

„Yes, absolutely! He all but killed me by accidentally standing in my way and then repairing my umbrella as I stood there staring at him, waiting for him to recognize me, while my guide was leaving me alone with him!" Her voice sounded like a whip, and she was instantly sorry for lashing out at him like this, confirming all his fears. She couldn't help herself, though. She needed to know. „WHY DID YOU LEAVE, DARYL?"

She got a sense of him bracing himself to speak, to explain to her what had happened, but as the bus pulled in toward the curb, rapidly counting down their time, she felt him deflating. There was no other word for it. He had built up his courage to explain it to her, but couldn't do it. Raising her umbrella again, she stepped out into the pouring rain and the howling wind, bracing herself. „No more links until we're clear on this", she stated matter of factly. „I'm tired of this. You're keeping secrets, and that's okay as long as they're not dangerous for me. But this one clearly is."

Numb with shock, he took in the sensation of her raising her right foot to the lowest step of the stairs leading up into the bus, her shoes squelching wetly.

The pain of her actively closing their link down, for the first time ever, was almost physical.

But of course, she was right. And she was more than justified in denying him access after this.

Hershel would kill him.

.-.

She felt drained, sitting on the bus, leaning against the window, watching the water dripping down from her umbrella, and the window slowly steaming up next to her. She was flooding the bus single-handedly. Water ran off her on all sides, dripping and running down from her, pooling under her, running forward, backward, and sideways every time the bus stopped or took a corner. Being soaking wet and cold left her completely unaffected, though.

Her heart was breaking, and the pain seemed unbearable.

Ever since she had been paired with him, he had been protective of her, making her safety his top priority. Even though he had never said as much, every single one of his actions had proved it. He had been cautious to the point of being ridiculous in some instances, but she had enjoyed being looked after with such care.

Feeling him withdraw from her like that today, abandoning her in a potentially lethal situation, had felt like a physical blow, and she didn't know if she would ever be able to recover from it. How could she trust him again after this?

Unseeing, her eyes strayed to the side, her gaze passing over the faces of the few people who were out and about in this weather. She watched them struggling against the wind and rain, doing their best to move along as quickly as possible.

All except one.

One man stood under the protruding roof of a hardware store, and his eyes followed the bus as it passed him.

His eyes followed her.

Her subconscious recognized him before she ever had time to clearly see his face, and her heart started racing in her chest even as her mind screamed inside her.

Ed.

.-.

Never before, not even when meeting him again for the first time after his last mission as an agent, had Hershel seen Daryl in such a state - and Daryl had still been nearly out of his mind with fear then, only just regaining consciousness after hours of surgery. Then again, he had known before that it had to be bad for Daryl to practically mind-jump him to request a meeting.

The rain had let up during the past hour, so at least they weren't wet, but the wind was still gusting through the streets and Daryl's face was red from the cold as he limped into the pub. He looked positively haggard under the harsh, unforgiving lights at the bar as he ordered whatever it was that he wanted tonight before looking around to find Hershel.

Spotting him, he came toward the table, limping badly. There were dark circles under his eyes, he was obviously biting the inside of his cheek and his lip, and the tendons in his neck stood out in sharp relief - he was as tense as a bowstring. He slipped onto the chair sitting against the wall so he was facing the room, but his eyes remained on the ground, on the table and, finally, on his hands folded atop it. The sigh that escaped him once he sat still seemed to tear him apart.

„What is it?" Hershel asked gently. „What happened? Is she okay?"

Daryl's eyes seemed to burn their way into Hershel's soul when he looked up. His face was twitching with emotion. „I don't know", he whispered harshly. Jerking his head to the side, he allowed the waiter to set a glass of beer in front of him and grunted his thanks.

Hershel stared at the glass. „Is this a good idea right now?" he asked softly, nodding at it.

Nostrils flaring, Daryl let out a tortured breath. „None of your business", he whispered in that same tone of voice. With a defiant glare at his mentor he raised the glass and drained half of it. Setting it down again, he drew a shaking breath. „I don't know where she is", he whispered brokenly. „She is hiding from me. I fucked up."