Daryl could feel his pulse thrumming in his wrists and his heart hammering with excitement. Unable to stay in their apartment, which had seemed to be shrinking in on him, he had decided to go to his office instead - just going there, being out in the open for a slow, long walk instead of cooped up in a room, would soothe his nerves. With his left leg still sore from his outbreak two nights before, after his pub session with Merle, he would have to take it extra slow, so he left in good time.
This late in the day, everyone else would have gone home and he'd have the place to himself and could be certain that nobody would disturb him for the duration of the mission. Merle, on the other hand, would be home from his shift some time during the night, and he didn't want to risk his brother coming in to check on him and find him awake and in a meld with his terrorist team mate, blowing shit up. He had been avoiding Merle like the plague to make sure that his secret remained safe, and he didn't need him walking in on him during the actual mission itself now.
He'd come prepared and ahead of time so he'd be able to rest one last time before they got started. He had brought two large bottles of water and a blanket in a battered old backpack - and as it would be a long night, he'd brought his medication as well. There was no way he could fuck this up, so he wanted to be ready for anything this mission might throw at him for as long as it took.
Reaching his office, he locked the door behind himself, his thoughts wandering to the Feina compound just two blocks away. Once again he felt annoyed at being denied permission to come to Carol's help himself if she needed it. He was close enough for the base to be within walking distance even for him, and he would rather die himself than let any kind of harm come to her. He doubted that Glenn would be as invested in this objective as he was. But the decision had been made, and he was in no position whatsoever to go against it. He'd have to be grateful for being kept on the team at all after what he'd done - and he felt humbled by the trust Carol herself obviously still placed in him.
Taking great care to go easy on himself - it was going to be a long night - he slowly walked over to the small meeting area consisting of a couch, two chairs and a table tucked into one corner of his office. He carefully set up his computer, started it and pulled up all his maps, instructions and schedules, arranging them on the screen around the spot where he would display the most important one - the map showing where Carol would have to place the charges, and in what order, to end up close to the main gate again - her point of entry and exit.
Glancing at the timer above the door, he saw that he had two hours left - enough time to prepare all of his stuff, review once more every shred of helpful information they had gathered, make sure that Glenn was in place and ready, and still get some rest.
He carefully memorized one last time every piece of information they had on the compound - the faces of the humans that enjoyed free access, the cars passing the gate without undergoing a thorough search, the locations of the security cameras and motion sensors both from Carol's visit to the compound and the admin building itself and from the building permit - every little thing. When he was done, he checked the timer again and then took one of his white pills with half a glass of water before setting the alarm on his computer. He seriously doubted that he would be able to actually sleep, but he was not going to take any chances.
Finding a comfortable position on the couch, curled up under his blanket, Daryl settled in to wait.
He had remained fully dressed, including his jacket and boots.
He was ready.
.-.
Keeping her feet still since their briefing and acting as if nothing at all had happened had arguably been the hardest thing Carol had ever had to do. Her excitement over being assigned to what could well be the very last mission ever against the Feina hadn't abated in the least – if anything, it had steadily increased to the point where she was nearly bursting with it by the time she finally left her apartment.
While she would get a visual of the plans for the facility through their meld from Daryl if she needed it, Daryl would be the one to direct her to the spots where she would have to place the plastic explosives that another team – or maybe several other teams – had smuggled into the compound over the past weeks. He would monitor all the surveillance cams inside to make sure she wouldn't run into any nasty surprises. She had suggested killing the surveillance so they wouldn't need to worry about dodging cameras and heat or motion sensors, but he had been against it, and quite adamantly, without giving her his reasons.
To save them time which they might need later on, she set out before they had actually received the information on where the charges would need to go. Unlike a team that didn't already know the location, the teams now assigned to this task didn't have to wait for the actual maps and plans but could provide themselves with a bit of a head start. Carol was convinced that many other teams had also decided that the agent should already be in place by the time their detailed instructions reached them.
Even though they weren't linked yet, she could already sense Daryl's excitement, making her aware once more of how uncomfortably close they had come to reaching the stage in their relationship when they would have to be separated again. As always when she thought of this, she had to fight to master her fear of being alone once more after this amazing experience. Opening her link, she tried to sense if he was close yet - and all but sank into him. He had been poised on the verge of touching her already.
„You good to go?" his rough voice sounded inside her head, and she remembered wondering about what his voice truly sounded like the first time they'd linked. There was no doubt in her mind now that what little he had consciously allowed her to see of him had all been just the way he truly was - he would never have tried to deceive her. It struck her how sentimental she was getting tonight - almost as if she were mourning their connection already. Almost as if something disastrous was going to happen tonight and she would not get a chance to talk to him again when this was over.
Almost as if one of them was no longer going to be there after tonight.
Fear laced her blood.
And it wasn't fear for herself.
No attachment.
.-.
„Alright, Carol, here's the deal", Daryl mumbled softly, anxious to avoid distracting her as she strode down the sidewalk. She was wearing a dress and a thin black jacket against the cold of the oncoming night, her one pair of high heels, and her face was made up - she was all done up to look as if she were going to a party. In truth, she was just entering one of the small diners next to the Feina compound, preparing to order some colorful beverage and then vanish into the restroom - from which she would emerge wearing soft black pants, a black T-shirt and the jacket, plus sensible shoes more suited to her true objective for the night.
„Just received the map here", Daryl continued after she had placed her order with the bartender and slid her payment over the counter, just as she was throwing the man a flirty look and heading for the restroom. An image of a map on a computer screen flashed through her mind, with small red dots and blue arrows with numbers in circles next to them scattered across it. Along the route that she had taken into and through the admin building, there were red squares for cameras, blue squares denoting motion detectors, and orange ones for heat sensors. Where she had not seen them herself, they were represented by blue, green and black squares, respectively, their locations lifted from the building permit.
She quickly pulled her tightly rolled black sweatpants and T-Shirt, with a pair of sneakers at the heart of them, out of her large handbag which was otherwise empty and which she would leave behind in here, along with the dress and the high heels. Opening the zipper down the left side of her dress, she simultaneously slipped out of the dress and her impractical shoes before putting on her „stealth outfit" as she had jokingly called it when describing it to Daryl.
Once she was finished getting changed, she cracked the door open just enough to be able to watch the bartender as he placed her colorful, layered, non-alcoholic drink on the counter and picked up the bill she had placed next to the cash register. Looking around for her, the bartender rang up her charge, put the bill into its compartment and counted out her change before he returned to polishing glasses, arranging his shakers, and slicing fruit. She soundlessly slid out of the restroom and up to the bar where she quickly downed her juicy drink. The bartender, who'd had his back to her anyway, ducked out of sight to get a pack of fresh straws in anticipation of the crowd he seemed to be expecting for the night.
Selecting two of the coins from her change on the counter, she pocketed them, leaving the rest as her tip, and left the diner again with the bartender still completely absorbed in his preparations. He had never seen her in her changed outfit.
.-.
Glenn made a beeline for the bench he had decided on for tonight. It was two blocks away from the compound and overlooked the intersections between it and himself as well as the two wide streets leading up to to the one closest to him. Maybe he would even be able to spot her as she made her way to the compound. Unfolding his paper, he made a show of reading several articles before folding it again and placing it on the bench next to himself.
He felt his heart rate speeding up as he waited for Rick to link up to him.
.-.
Rick had told Lori that he would be cleaning his bike and doing some repairs on it that he had been postponing for too long already, hinting that he would go on a bike tour with Carl on the coming weekend if he managed to complete everything he had planned. Her joyful smile had warmed his heart as he had left the living room and made his way to the garage where his bike was indeed waiting for him, upside down, with his tools still lined up next to it from when he had fixed it in the afternoon.
He brushed his fingers along the chain and wiped them over the pedals and the wheel rims, getting grease and dust on them, then grabbed his dirty rag and cursorily wiped his hands on it, leaving them quite dirty still. Picking up a spanner, he sat down on the folding chair next to the bike and leaned over the pedal on his side as if he were in the process of tightening the bolt holding it in place. He consciously encouraged himself with the thought that tonight would be the last time he was doing this.
He reached out for Glenn.
.-.
Claiming that he was tired, Hershel had gone to his bedroom, leaving his girls to their books and art - Bethy was reading and Maggie, still disgruntled over Glenn cancelling their date for tonight, was doing a pencil drawing on the unlined pad Hershel had managed to find for her. As he had regularly been going to bed quite early over the past few weeks they were neither worried nor surprised by this - they just accepted it, and he sat down in his room and took one last, calming breath to compose himself for this pivotal night.
Reaching out, he opened a strictly one-sided link to both Carol and Daryl to monitor them and make sure they were safe.
.-.
Tyreese had saved another stack of papers for himself to grade for tonight and sat down with them at his desk. His neighbors across the street would be able to see him sitting in the cone of light from his ceiling lamp once it got dark, bent over a stack of paper and working the entire evening without interruption, except for making himself some synthcaf as the evening wore on. If things went wrong, if alibis would be needed come morning, he would have one. Fondly remembering Hershel's concern over Glenn Rhee, he openend a pinprick link with the guide and agent he had sent out for the night.
.-.
Carol slipped out into the street again. While the sky overhead was still light, the setting sun was painting the west in gorgeous colors that looked as if blood and cream had been spilled across the horizon. She stopped for a heartbeat, turning around to admire the vivid hues that cast an eerie glow over the city.
When she turned around again after a moment to continue on her way, he was in front of her, his face contorted in a mean grimace, squinting at her with an evil glow in his eyes. One of his hands locked around her upper arm in a vicelike grip that told her in no uncertain terms that he was not going to let go of her. He yanked her toward him, making a small, delighted noise deep down in his throat. „So, found you, bitch." His breath was hot on her face and neck as he whispered in her ear and started walking. He stank of alcohol and sweat, and his familiar scent made bile rise in her throat.
As much as she had grown as a person after leaving her life with him behind, she was not beyond dissolving in terror again, now that he had found her and had her in his power. Her heart was racing, she could feel her pulse in her wrists and neck, and her face contorted into a rictus of fear.
He yanked her a few steps down the sidewalk before looking around mistrustfully, making sure the street was empty. He started walking again just as her eyes fell on a backlit hotel sign on the façade of the house they were standing next to, registering the hotel name almost automatically, the way she had taken note of background information in passing the entire time she'd been on her mission with Daryl. He pulled her toward the house with the hotel name put up over its door, and she frantically stared up at the sign, willing Daryl to see it.
She could feel him in her mind, whispering soothing assurances into their meld that he was going to send help, he was not leaving her, he was going to stay with her, she was not alone in this. This was a man threatening her with physical violence. This was not an alien about to kill him or her. Physical violence, physical pain - those he knew, inside out. Those he could deal with.
And it was his calm, collected presence in her mind that helped her retain her sanity in the face of overwhelming, mind-numbing fear as Ed dragged her into the hotel, up one flight of stairs, and into a hotel room that he unlocked with a finger to the maglock reader.
.-.
Glenn almost jumped from his bench when Daryl's mental presence overwhelmed him without any advance warning. „Call the police", a rough, shaky voice growled inside his head. „Tell them a woman has just been forced to enter a hotel with a man, clearly against her will. I'll show you …" The main team's guide all but stamped the view of a street right next to the compound they were taking out into his mind, adding the name of the street and a backlit hotel sign for good measure. Glenn obeyed without questioning him, digging out his comlink to call it in. As soon as he switched it off, Daryl was back in his head again. „Go", he instructed him. „She's still in there. Get her out. I'll be there."
Glenn never asked. He rose and started running.
.-.
He tore across his office in three long strides, his leg screaming as he yanked up his com from his desk and snarled one word into the open line. „Police!"
As soon as a male voice tried to answer his call, he overrode it, reciting the address and the name of the hotel into which she had been dragged and adding that a man who appeared extremely violent had forced a woman to enter the hotel with him. He gave the man a description of both the woman and the man and the name that her mind had screamed at him as she'd looked into that mean face.
Ed.
Next, he contacted Hershel through his not-so-stealthy monitoring link to give him details on what had just happened.
Less than two minutes had passed since she had been taken.
No attachment.
.-.
Hershel sat at the small desk in his room, galvanized by Daryl's news.
Horrified as he was over what had happened, he still couldn't help but be proud at how professionally Daryl had handled the situation by staying with her while at the same time alerting Glenn, and then calling the police. Nevertheless, he had to react now to what had happened - the mission had to continue as planned. They could not afford any delays.
When he found the solution, he braced himself in advance for Daryl's mental onslaught.
.-.
„NO!" Daryl yelled his refusal out loud into his office, his hand clenching around his com as he walked back to his computer. „I will not! I won't allow him into my mind again!" He was panting with rage and distress. He had to be hallucinating this. Hershel could not really be asking this of him.
„Please, Daryl, it's the only way", Hershel begged him. „You know we can't afford to lose any time - we're on a tight schedule, and we're a part of a puzzle with just a few dozen pieces." He hesitated briefly over what he was going to say next, but being afraid of saying it made it no less true. „We don't know if Glenn will get in right away. We don't know how long it will take the police to get her out." Very softly: „Please. I know how hard this is. I know what he did to you, I know what I'm asking of you, and I'm sorry. There is no other way."
He could feel Daryl hanging his head as he relented.