Sorry about the last chapter! Everyone was mad at Shane. Hope this one makes up for it a tiny bit. Maybe... It is longer so that is a plus, right? It's still a little angsty but I hope you like it anyway! Thanks for reading and reviewing! And have a good morning! =)

Chapter Forty

"A debt?" Daryl asked with a small frown.

Sophia nodded solemnly. "He said he owed me one. You know, since I gave him food and water and didn't leave him in that shack to get eaten by those Walkers. He said that he always paid his debts and that he owed me. So I'm making him pay up so it will be easier on you."

"And he agreed to that?" Daryl asked, disbelief clear in his tone.

"He did. But he also told me not to tell anybody cause he didn't want you all thinking he was some pussy. So you can't tell him I told you."

"Don't say pussy." Daryl said absently, not even realizing he was telling her not to do something. "So, he agreed to try to keep the peace? For you?"

Sophia rolled her eyes. "I'm actually pretty convincing when I need to be Daryl. You don't always have to get what you want by throwing punches or shoving guys off porches."

He eyed her for a few seconds then leaned in closer to her face. "Tell that to Carl." he smiled when her cheeks turned red.

"That was different. I had no choice." she frowned. "Well, I did have a choice but he made me really mad and I just did it without thinking."

"We always have a choice, girl. It's whether or not we make the right one that decides on if we both end up in trouble. And I landed my ass in a world of shit with that move."

"I can't believe he's still trying. And I can't believe my mom is falling for this good guy crap. She should know by now that you just can't trust people." She shook her head.

"I can't believe your mom is fallin' for it either." He grumbled as he leaned back on his elbows.

"You don't have to worry about my mom, Daryl. You should know that by now."

"I don't know, kid. I've done an awful lot of fuckin' up since this whole thing with your mom started."

"You saved my life. You saved everyone at the quarry. You make her happy. My mom loves you." She said simply.

"I know that." And he did. But he still couldn't help but worry. Especially when she was off with dumbshit getting her head filled with God only knew what.

"Have you told her that you love her?"

He felt the flush all the way up to his hairline. But this was Sophia so he really didn't have anything to hide. "Yeah. I told her that already."

"Did you tell her that last night?" She asked.

He glanced over at her and she was eying him questioningly.

"I told her that at the CDC." He sighed.

"What did you two talk about last night?"

"What's with all the questions?" He asked, starting to get uncomfortable. He sat back up so she couldn't see his face. Last night. Last night was something he would barely even let himself think about. When he thought about the first time then his mind came up with all kinds of new ideas for the next time, which happened to be when he had basically dragged her to the shower. Jesus Christ, the shower..." He shook his head to rid his mind of the images of the things that woman did to him in that shower. This was definitely not the time to think about that.

"Well, Merle told me that from what he heard last night my mom was gonna be wrapped around your finger for the rest of her life. He said that even rooms away he could pinpoint the exact second that she fell in love with you. I just thought that you told her that you loved her. So what did you say that would make her fall in love and be wrapped around your finger for the rest of her life? Did you ask her to marry you?"

Daryl stifled a groan. Merle heard. Great. Not that it wasn't obvious to Merle what they had been up too when he came in and caught them in bed this morning. But now he had to go and say something like that to Sophia? Merle was low.

"Why is your face so red?" Sophia asked.

He huffed out an annoyed breath. "I didn't say anything to your momma that she ain't already heard before. Merle's a dumb ass. And no, I didn't ask her to marry me either." He almost laughed at that. He would have laughed if Shane hadn't gone and started a whole new world of trouble for him. God he hated that son of a bitch.

"Why not?" She asked as she studied his face intently.

He shrugged. "Ain't the marryin' type."

"I figured." She said glumly. "Do people even do stuff like that anymore? Get married I mean? Carl asked while we were lost."

"Asked what?" Daryl asked as he narrowed his eyes.

"If you and my mom were getting married."

Daryl snorted and then he remembered his conversation with Carol the other day and his face must have shown it because Sophia frowned.

"Speakin' of Carl." He growled and then he paused because he wasn't sure how to go on. He didn't know if Sophia would even know what he was talking about but he had to know if the boy had kept his hands to himself while they were out there alone for two whole nights. And if he found out that he hadn't he was gonna jerk the kid up and beat his ass like it's never been beat before.

"What about him?" She asked quizzically.

"He never tried to..."

She frowned when he shifted uncomfortably and looked away. He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand.

"Spit it out." She said as she bumped him with her shoulder.

"He didn't try anything, did he? Like, maybe while you guys had to slee..."

"Oh my God, shut up, Daryl. That's so... That's just wrong." She smacked his arm, her face glowing pink from her neck to her scalp.

"He blew out a breath and nodded. "Alright. Shuttin' up. Just wanted to make sure."

Sophia composed herself faster than he did. She shook her head at him and he had to look away, embarrassed. She finally spoke after a while. "What would you have done if he...?"

He looked at her quickly. "I'd have probably beat him to death."

Sophia shook her head and from the looks of it she was forcing back a smile. "So, when am I going to be allowed to have a boyfriend?"

He was almost sure that she was just messing with him now. He hoped. He didn't know how to deal with all this shit. But he did have himself an opinion. "Never."

She cocked one eyebrow at him. "Never?"

"No. You don't need to be thinkin' about that stuff right now anyway. Your just a girl."

"I ain't gonna stay a girl forever, Daryl. What about then?"

He scowled at her. "Then I'll worry about it then."

Her face brightened at that. She smiled but she didn't say anything for a while and when she did she didn't talk about her and boys, which he was grateful.

"What the hell are we going to do about him?" She asked.

"Who? Shane?"

She nodded and her face fell a little.

Daryl just shrugged. "I don't know, kid. Kill him I guess." He gave her a wink but on the inside his stomach was tying itself in knots. He really did want to kill the guy. He was finally in a good place. His barriers were down, he had Carol, he had Sophia back and he even had his brother. Sure, Merle was a class A asshole but he did seem to be trying. For the kid anyway. So everything was good except for Shane.

"I'm not going to let him mess this up for us." She growled and he felt his eyes widen at the ice in her tone.

~H~

Merle laid in the bed with one arm behind his head and the useless stump on his chest. He felt like shit. The old man and the dork with the glasses had came in and gave him another shot of antibiotics to help fight off the infection he was apparently full of. His palm was itching like crazy but he couldn't scratch it. It was the ghost palm again. He hated that. Like it wasn't bad enough that he was missing his fucking hand to begin with but the mother fucker had to itch something awful most of the time. That was how it had always been for him though. Always finding an itch he couldn't scratch.

He sighed and wallowed a little longer in his own self pity before he closed his eyes and tried to force himself to fall asleep. Both of the good doctors were stingy with their drugs. That would have made him feel a hell of a lot better. But they were a couple of sadistic bastards that would only give him enough to take the ache out of his stump. He opened his eyes and sighed. Where the hell was that kid at? She made decent company even if she was bossy as hell. His damn brother should have been in here keeping him company but of course he was probably still sitting on his ass waiting for his woman to come back from her little stroll with that dumb shit cop.

He figured he'd have to do something about that guy himself. Daryl was too damn whipped. It was nice watching him knock the guy on his ass but then Carol had to get all pissed off about it and ruin the moment. He smiled to himself when he remembered the smile on Sophia's face when Daryl had jerked the asshole up and told him off.

Yeah, he liked the kid. He didn't even want to admit it to himself because he, as a general rule, didn't really like anybody. He didn't really like feeling like that but it was there. When he had woken up and she was there on the couch at first he was pissed off. The kid wasn't gonna give him a minutes peace. But then after he laid there a while and thought about it he realized that having another person give a shit wasn't too bad at all. Besides, he was pretty sure he'd be a dead man if she hadn't stayed with him. Who would have thought, Merle Dixon getting his ass saved by some skinny kid in the woods?

And then Daryl had to come in like he didn't trust his own brother with the kid. Merle was a lot of things but he sure as hell wouldn't hurt no kid. Even one he didn't like. And he liked this one so nobody had anything to worry about. Least of all Daryl. It had pissed him off. He chuckled out loud when he thought about the noises coming from down the hall after Daryl got pissed off and stormed out.

He turned his head when the door opened up and in walked Sophia and his brother. He smirked. "Figured you'd be out keepin' an eye on that woman of yours little brother."

"She ain't the type you gotta watch, asshole. If she was I wouldn't bother with it." Daryl growled.

Sophia rolled her eyes and then hopped her skinny ass right up there on the bed. He scowled at her. "Ain't you got somewhere else to be? Don'tcha got friends or somethin'. Always in my face, girl."

She ignored his snide remarks and met his narrowed eyes. "We need your help." She said.

"No we don't." Daryl grumbled as he plopped down in the chair next to the bed.

"Need my help? The fuck ya'll need my help for? I'm a sick crippled man here." He winked at her, causing her to grin.

"No you're not. You're an evil sadistic bastard with an eye for revenge. You're mean as they come. So we need your help."

He sighed and then pulled himself up into a sitting position. "If I'm as bad as you're sayin' then what the hell ya in here for? You should be runnin' screamin' from this very room here, lil miss."

"Cause your kind don't scare me, Merle." She said as she adjusted herself so she was sitting next to him with her own back against the headboard and her legs sticking straight out just like him on the bed.

Merle saw Daryl look over and then looked back down to the floor as he tried to hide a grin.

"What'cha want me to do, girl? Want me to go kill him? I can do that. But then everybody in this camp would point their finger right at me. They ain't fallen pray to my charms like you have."

"No, we can't kill him. That's just... well, it's not nice."

A rumbling laugh slipped from both men as they shook their heads at her. She crossed her arms in front of her, looking like she was deep in thought. When she finally looked up at Merle she was frowning. "He's after my mom. I'm sure of that. But she feels sorry for him or something so if Daryl keeps fighting with him then that's just going to keep making her mad so that doesn't help a thing. And you're right, Merle. If you do something then everyone in our group is going to know it was you and then we're back to square one." She shook her head. "Looks like it's up to me."

Merle flashed her a quick angry look just as Daryl's head came up. Daryl growled. "You don't go near the son of a bitch, you hear me?"

"So I can't have a boyfriend and I can't talk to certain people that you don't approve of? Daryl, you're really getting into this dad thing, huh?" She flashed Daryl a grin and Merle couldn't help but laugh again as his little brother's face went red.

"Shut up." He grumbled as he glared at them both.

~H~

When Carol was satisfied that Shane wasn't upset enough to run off on his own and get himself killed she made her way back towards the house. He had given her a whole lot to think about and it made her nervous. She didn't want to argue with her daughter and she didn't want Daryl mad at her either. She didn't much care how Merle felt about it either way. She didn't know why but she couldn't help but blame him for the whole thing even though she knew it was stupid to do so. All he did was find a shack to die in. It had been Sophia who found him and then Sophia to defend him to Carl and then risk her own life to protect his when she killed those Walkers.

But it was Merle who had to be such a bad person that no one had a reason to trust him. Especially her. And she especially didn't have a reason to trust him with her daughter. He had done that to himself by being such a bad person all his life. Daryl had had the same parents and same life as Merle and he wasn't anything like that.

She climbed the porch steps slowly, wishing someone would come out and distract her. Maybe Andrea would come looking for her with a little gossip or Milton would want to sit with her on the porch to talk a while. But no one came to her rescue so she made slow progress down the hall where she knew she would find her daughter. In Merle Dixon's bedroom.

She tapped on the door lightly and she instantly heard Merle call that it was open. She went in and sure enough, there was Sophia, sitting right next to the man right on the bed. She glanced at Daryl and felt relieved to know he had been there too. Maybe he didn't trust Merle either so he would keep an eye on her around him.

She didn't catch his eye. There wasn't anything she wanted to say to him at the moment. She knew that Shane had given him a hard time in the past but it wasn't like that anymore. Daryl should feel bad for the guy. He had heard how Lori spoke to him that night. She didn't like being mad at Daryl but sometimes he made it really hard to not get mad.

"Hi mom." Sophia muttered with a small wave.

"Why don't you come with me? We can get some lunch." She smiled at the girl and she be damned if Sophia didn't first look at Daryl who gave her a nod and then to Merle who did the same. This caused that anger to peak. Who the hell did they think they were? Sophia was her daughter, not theirs. Sophia didn't have any business looking to either of them for permission to go eat lunch with her own mother.

"You have fun on that walk of yours?" Merle asked with a smirk.

She felt her eyes narrow. "A blast Merle. Not that it's any of your business."

He held up one hand and one bandaged stump as Sophia came to stand next to her. "Hey, just tryin' to make conversation with ya, sugar. No need for harsh words."

"Right." She snapped before she steered Sophia out of the room and slammed the door shut.

"Mom? What's wrong?" Sophia asked guardedly as she sat down at the kitchen table.

Carol wasn't even sure how to answer that so she busied herself with making sandwiches. There was lot wrong at the moment. She decided to pick one. "Daryl, for one."

Sophia didn't say anything so she pressed on without looking at her.

"And I just don't think it's a good idea for you to spend time with Merle." She said quietly.

"When the fuck you decide this?" Daryl's voice growled from behind her.

She spun around and there they were. Both Dixon's lingering right there in the kitchen. She hadn't heard either of them but then again she wouldn't have.

"Shane." Sophia said in a voice much louder than Carol was used too. "She decided that today after talking to Shane."

"Sophia, I don't know what you have against that man but..." Carol began but she was cut off by an angry voice.

"You don't know what she has against that son of a bitch?" Daryl asked harshly.

Carol met his cold gaze. "I know that he was kind of a jerk."

"Is that all he was?" He spat, "Cause I recall him bein' a lot more than that."

She turned her back on him and continued to assemble the sandwiches. "Can I have a conversation with my daughter, please?"

She threw an angry glance over her shoulder. He narrowed his eyes and nodded. "Have at it, Carol." He said as he stormed off, grabbing Merle by the shirtsleeve on his way out the door.

The eldest Dixon followed but not before Carol got a look at his face. It wasn't what she was expecting. She thought she would find anger or maybe that smug smirk. What she found was a face full of worry as he glanced towards Sophia. She sat a plate down in front of Sophia but the girl didn't look at her food.

Sophia had never been one for much eye contact. She usually looked away before anyone could read too much in her face but right now she was staring Carol down.

"What did Shane say to you?" She asked in a much more calm voice than she had used earlier.

Carol sighed and finally looked away first. "The truth, Sophia. All he told me was the truth."

"That's unlikely but I guess you could humor me. What sort of truth did he come up with?" She said bitterly.

Carol was stunned for a moment. It wasn't that what she said was very bad. It was just that she wasn't used to her little girl saying much at all. "Merle Dixon is a dangerous guy, Sophia. He isn't dangerous like your daddy was..."

"Stop calling him that." Sophia bit out.

"What?"

"His name was Ed. I didn't call him anything but Ed. That's all he was. So please stop calling him that." She was looking away now.

"Sophia, I know how hard it must have been for you, but when all is said and done Ed was still your..."

"No. You don't know how hard it was on me. I heard everything. All the time. I didn't see it all the time but I always heard. I'd hear him do all those things to you and me and you both kept our mouths shut. I hated him. Daryl's been more of a dad to me in the last two hours than that man was my whole life. And you know what else is hard, mom? Watching you walk away from a man like Daryl so you can go check up on some asshole who isn't half the man Daryl is."

Sophia's voice was quiet, calm. And that's why it came as such a shock to Carol that any of that had come out of her mouth. This wasn't Sophia at all. And then she realized with a jolt that this was exactly who Sophia had always been. Under the constant shadow of fear, this girl was the one waiting for a chance to come out. And Carol had no idea how to deal with any of it. She took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. "Sophia, I know how you feel about Daryl. And I understand it. And I know that you think Shane is some bad guy and at one time you were right. But he's been through a lot and we have to give people second chances. He's trying to become a better person and I would like to help him."

Sophia pushed her plate away and crossed her arms over the table. "I love you, mom. You are one of the best people in the world."

Carol could see in her face that she wasn't finished. And she was right.

"That's why I never would have pegged you for a hypocrite." And with that she shoved herself away from the table and stormed out of the kitchen.