I know I didn't put as much in the whole rescue scene as I would have liked, but it's because I didn't want to linger. Something else is coming up and then something else is coming up after that and then who the hell knows what's coming after that! But it makes me happy to know that you enjoyed it anyway! So thanks for the feedback! If you haven't noticed, I am not one that likes to do a lot of killing. I miss everyone from the show that isn't there anymore and it makes it really hard for me to write about the end of the world without people noticing that no one is actually dying! I really hope that isn't bothering any of you! I'm not saying there isn't going to be any death, I'm just letting you know why there hasn't been much so far. That also doesn't mean I plan on killing off a bunch of people either... Okay, it's early and I'm rambling. Have a great Sunday! Hope you all enjoy =)

Chapter Sixty Four

Merle knew he was in for one hell of a cussing when they made it back but he didn't care about that at the moment. Maggie was a mess even though she tried to put on a tough face after only a good minute or two of crying. He didn't blame her. He could still hear the taunts of those men ringing in his ears and it made him sick. Not just sick to his stomach either but sick in every cell in his body. If his half assed plan had failed then her and Carol both would be in a world of pain right now.

Duane had found Randal not far from the tree that Merle had stuck him in. Randal hadn't fled the way a lot of the other men had. Merle offered to shoot him but Daryl said no and he was already going to have to hear his brothers nagging mouth for the next year or more so he let him have his way and the boy actually followed them through the woods.

It felt like they had been walking forever. Maggie clung to him and he let her. He was glad that she did. After not knowing what was going to happen to her it felt good to have her near him. He felt like he needed to keep her close. It bothered him to feel that way. He didn't want to feel it and he didn't like the feeling but there was no denying it. It was just there and he wasn't in the mood to fight it. Maybe he would fight it tomorrow. Right now he pulled her a little closer to his side.

They all had their guns drawn just in case ay of the rogue men were still close enough to see that it wasn't an army but just a couple of kids that had done all the damage to their group. They all stayed as quiet as they could. Every now and then Daryl would say something to Carol but they talked in such hushed whispers that Merle could hardly hear them himself so the other men hearing them wasn't something they had to worry about. He did hear Carol tell his brother that she loved him. He was pretty sure that it wasn't the first time that she had said it to him but Merle was a little freaked out about that. No one had ever said that to him before and he was pretty sure that no one had said it to his brother either. And then Daryl said it back which was something even more shocking to Merle. For reasons he would rather not think about, hearing that made him feel very much adrift now.

He loved Daryl. He'd gladly die for him. But he didn't say it. He wasn't even sure if he could say that to another person. There was something frightening in those words. He shrugged it off. He was just Merle. He wouldn't have to worry about shit like that.

Finally, after what felt like hours, they stepped into the field behind the barn. The house was lit up like fucking Christmas and Merle had to keep himself from cursing out loud. He was really going to have to listen to some shit now. Rick was going to be freaking the fuck out so bad that it wasn't going to be funny. This was going to be bad. Especially if he had to end up kicking Ricks ass after taking his boy out on what they would all surely call a suicide mission.

Sure enough there was a group walking towards them and when they were spotted four men came running, Rick in the lead.

Rick stopped about ten feet from them and made a strangled sound when he saw Carl, who still had a protective arm around the girl. He swiped a hand across his face and then sucked in a deep breath. "What the hell happened? We've already been out there searching!"

Merle was about to open his mouth but the kid beat him to it. "Men from that camp took us. They got Daryl, Maggie and Carol too. Merle saw it happen so he followed them and saved us."

Glen, T-dog and Jimmy, who Merle didn't know very well, all shared a strange look. Rick actually took a step back like he had been slapped in the face. And Merle was thinking about jerking the boy up by his arm and beating his ass. It was bad enough when Sophia had lied to save his ass but this was even worse. He was about to open his mouth to deny it but then Carol and Maggie both joined in, agreeing with the lying little fucker. Sophia just smiled. He was going to flog them all as soon as he caught them alone.

~H~

Daryl wasn't surprised that the lie slipped that easily from the boys mouth. He understood why Merle had done the things he had done tonight but he didn't like it. Rick would certainly blow his top if he knew what Merle had done. So that left them making up another story that would certainly thrust Merle right back into hero status and he knew that this time Merle would probably deny the charges of chivalry. But to Daryl's surprise Merle just stood there, holding onto Maggie like she was going to float away as soon as he dropped his arm from around her.

"Did the men come into the house?" Rick asked as they all made there way across the field.

"No, we went outside to talk to Randal." Carl said bravely.

This was news to all of them. In all the chaos no one had been able to ask the kids what the hell had happened. So they had sneaked out of the house to talk to a potentially dangerous man? He glared down at them. Carl was still holding onto to Sophia which was starting to piss him off. He kicked Carl in the ass, maybe a little to hard, and glared at him. The boy looked back, rolled his eyes and dropped his arm.

"The three of you went out to talk to Randal?" Rick asked, disbelief clear in his tone.

His eyes went to Randal who was still walking with them. Daryl didn't know what the fuck to do about that one.

"They did it for me, Rick. I wanted to talk to him and see if he would tell me anything about my dad." Duane spoke up.

"Did you do this? Did you help them bastards take my son?" Rick grabbed Randal by the collar of his shirt but then Carol put a hand on his arm. He looked down at her and she shook her head.

"Rick, we don't know what's going on with him but he didn't have anything to do with this. He didn't have anything to do with Morgan either. He seemed just as scared as we were to be at that camp and then he lied to that man so they wouldn't kill Daryl right away. He told them that Daryl didn't kill Dave. He lied to save one of us."

Rick let go of the kid and stepped back. "How did they get you and Maggie if they didn't come into the house?" Rick asked, searching her face.

"I woke up and needed to see Daryl. I took off like an idiot in the rain and someone grabbed me from behind." She said as she shot Maggie a look. Seemed like Daryl wasn't the only one that hadn't figured out how those men had gotten their hands on the girl.

"Ya'll ever think that maybe it ain't none of your business what she was doin' out here? It's her fuckin' farm. She can go wherever the fuck she wants." Merle growled. "And she ain't in the mood for your fuckin' questions."

Daryl sighed. So that's what Merle was doing in the barn. He was meeting her out there. And it didn't seem like Merle's usual tryst in the barn stall type of meeting either. There was definitely something else there. Something Daryl never thought he would see before. He guessed if it could happen to himself as quick as it did that it could happen to Merle eventually. But his brother was hooked on the girl. In a bad way from what he could tell.

The rest of them had stayed pretty quiet but finally T-dog spoke up just as they climbed the steps to the porch. "So what the hell do we do with him now? Lock him back up?"

Daryl shrugged. "I have no clue. He wasn't even forced to come back with us."

Rick hesitated with his hand on the doorknob. "What did you come back here for? We had you held prisoner."

Randal finally looked up. "I told you. I didn't do anything wrong. I ain't like those guys. They treated me like shit but I didn't know what else to do but stay with them. I never hurt anyone and I wouldn't have hurt your women. I ain't like that."

"So you want us to just let you in with open arms?" Rick glared at him.

Randal shook his head. "All I know is, I don't want to be a part of that group anymore." He looked from face to face and then he paused when Maggie looked up from where her face had been pressed against Merle's leather vest. "Maggie Greene?" he asked as he peered closer.

Merle moved so fast that no one had time to stop him. One second he was fine but as soon as that kid said Maggie's name Merle had her shoved behind him and his hand around the kids throat, nearly lifting him off his feet.

Daryl tried to yank his arm away from the boy before he killed him but Merle was strong. It took Daryl a while to get him to let the boy go. Randal fell on his ass and gasped for a while on the porch.

"I went to school with her, before I moved. She knows my grandparents. She knows my family." He sputtered and coughed a bit as he rubbed his throat.

Maggie squinted at him and then recognition flashed in her eyes. "It's true. And I saw some of those guys pushin' him around before they... Before somethin' else caught their interest. He comes from a good family Rick. We can talk to daddy but I think he's okay." He pulled Merle by the arm until he wasn't standing over the boy anymore. "It's okay. He wont hurt anyone."

Daryl watched Merle closely. Finally what she said seemed to register with him and he let her pull him a few feet back before wrapping her arms around him once more.

Rick finally just sighed and opened the door. Lori nearly crashed into him and when she saw Carl she dropped to her knees and pulled him towards her. She was sobbing into his shoulder as she hugged him. Daryl was beyond sick of her. She hadn't said hardly a word to the kid since Shane was shot and now she was the concerned mother all of a sudden. He just grunted and stepped around her, pulling Carol along with him. Everyone else followed.

"Maggie!" Beth yelled and ran to her sister, who finally pulled herself from Merle's waist once more. Beth hugged her tightly and then Hershel came through.

"Maggie? Oh, thank you God." He breathed as he wrapped his arms around both girls.

Merle stepped away and leaned against the wall. He must have felt Daryl's eyes on him because he looked up. Daryl almost felt sorry for him. He looked about like he had when they had all been sitting around the table. Almost dazed. Definitely confused. He looked away first, which was an odd thing. Usually Merle could stare down anyone.

After explaining to everyone what happened, or their new variation of what happened, Daryl took Sophia and Carol to their room. He had to know what the hell was wrong with this girl. How she could do something so fucking stupid. And so he got straight to the point. He sat down on the edge of the bed, took her hands and looked her right in the eye.

"How could you do somethin' so fuckin' stupid?" He asked bluntly.

"I helped save you and mom. What else was I suppose to do? Let you both die?" She asked as she pulled her hands out of his so she could cross them in front of her.

"Yeah, you helped save me and your mom but why the fuck would you go out there to talk to that guy in the first place?"

"Duane was going. I couldn't let him go alone." She argued.

Carol sat down next to him. "Can we just talk about this in the morning?"

Daryl frowned. "You don't think this is somethin' she needs to hear right now?"

"What good is it going to do? She'll do what she wants regardless of what either one of us say to her." Carol sounded tired and she looked worn out.

Daryl couldn't help but flinch a little, knowing that this was about the worst punishment that could be dished out to the girl. Her moms disappointment was worse than any yelling fit that Daryl could have tossed her way.

He glanced at Sophia and sure enough there were tears now.

"Mom, that isn't fair. Duane's my friend. I couldn't let him go alone." She repeated.

Carol just shook her head. "Sophia, I love you. Go to bed." There was a finality to her words that left no room for arguing or any further discussion.

Sophia looked at him then, eyes pleading. He didn't know what the hell either of them expected him to do. He knew how Carol felt. Sophia had been constantly putting more and more stress on her but he couldn't let the girl walk away feeling like that.

"I'll walk with ya. I need to make sure Merle's alright anyway." He was using Merle as an excuse but it worked. Carol just nodded.

Neither of them said anything until they were in front of her room. Daryl was the one that broke the silence. "You alright?"

She shook her head. "I think my mom is starting to hate me."

Daryl felt his breath catch. He knew what that felt like. He knew exactly what that felt like and he felt sick to think that she would think something like that about Carol. "I don't wanna hear that come outta your mouth again. You know better than that shit. It ain't true. You've put me and your mom through some shit ever since you came outta them woods. She's scared. If somethin' happened to you it'd kill her. It'd kill me. You got that?"

Sophia took a step away from him, fear clear in her eyes and he realized then how angry he had sounded. But he was angry. Jesus, this kid had no idea how lucky she was to have a mom like that. It was crazy for her to say that her mom hated her. But he didn't want her scared. He wanted her to stop scaring him.

"Sophia, I..."

"I'm sorry." She whispered right before she hurried into the room and shut the door quickly.

He stood there, not knowing what the hell he was suppose to do now. Should he go in there and talk to her? Make sure she was alright? He hadn't meant to hurt her but he hadn't been able to stop himself. She had no business thinking that way. He waited another minute but then decided to just leave her be. Merle was in there and he would end up arguing with him over her for half the night. He wanted to take watch again anyway. At least stay out on the porch until someone else came out. That was a lot of gunshots and they hadn't been that far from the farm. If any Walkers were around all the noise would draw them to that camp and it wouldn't take them long to stumble upon the farm.

He turned to leave when Merle threw the door open and stormed out into the hallway. He shut the door behind him and glared at Daryl. "The fuck did ya say to her?" he asked pointing an angry finger towards the closed door.

"None of your damn business." He growled as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"The fuck it ain't! Ya made her cry. What the fuck did you do?" Merle spat as he put his face closer to Daryl's.

Daryl clenched his jaw. Surely he wasn't insinuating that he would hurt her. And if he was then Daryl was going to knock his teeth out of the back of his head. "You try'na ask me if I put my hands on her?"

"Did you?" Merle took another step and Daryl shoved him backwards.

"Fuck you! You know I wouldn't do anything to her you dumb son of a bitch. And if you don't know that then you're stupider than I always thought you were."

Merle came at him but the door suddenly flew open and Sophia hurried out. "Stop." She said quietly as she wiped at her cheeks. "Daryl wouldn't ever hurt me, Merle. You know better than that." She admonished gently.

Merle seemed to lose some of his steam but he was still glaring. Finally he just shook his head and then went back into the room, leaving the two of them alone in the hallway once more.

She looked up at him and gave him a weak smile. "He's a bit over protective."

Daryl's lips twitched and he nodded.

"Must be a Dixon thing. Lucky me, huh?" She dropped the smile as her eyes filled up once more. "I am really sorry. For what I did and for what I said. Okay?"

He knelt down and drew her closer. "You can't think shit like that, alright?" He said in a hushed voice.

She nodded and he placed a hand on each side of her head, wiping under her eyes with his thumbs. She took a deep breath that sounded unsteady. "I don't really think that. I'm lucky to have her... and you." Her lips turned up, "And Merle. Even though he gets me into trouble."

He smiled now. A real one. "Merle tends to do that. He's a bad influence. Got me into a lotta shit when I was a younger."

"Are we good?" She asked after a few silent seconds.

He nodded and without thinking kissed her forehead lightly before standing up. "Go to sleep, kid." he growled before he turned around and went back to his own room.