Daddy's Little Prisoner
Before I commence on this chapter, just going to say that no, I am not going to follow...many of the things that happened in the finale, if really any of it. Some of it will be the same maybe but I'm not going to follow the show path there.
Bo pressed against the back of her head and counted the seconds until her vision started to get dark. She then withdrew her hand and took even breaths, pulling herself off the brink of unconsciousness. She wasn't even sure how long she had been in the cage for. The sounds of gunshots and yelling had echoed through the room and she wondered who was getting shot and who was doing the shooting.
Had it actually been Shane that she had seen talking to the Governor? Was he causing a fuss?
Had her guys actually realized that she and Glenn we missing?
God, she hoped Glenn was safe.
The door opened and her eyes darted to it, hope dying quickly when she watched the Governor enter, followed by a man she didn't recognize.
"Milton here is going to fix up your head." The Governor explained, opening the lock and pulling the cage door open. He had his gun out quick, pointed at Bo's head before she moved. "Play nice now."
"Go to hell." Bo ground out. She watched as the nervous man, Milton, moved into the cage. Her glare didn't quite deter him, just made him more cautious, and she had to admit it was admirable. She turned her eyes away from him as he gently prodded at her head, moving it forward to examine any damage at the back.
"Now is that so hard to do?" The Governor mused, grinning. "Behaving all nice. That's a good girl."
Okay, she could only behave so long.
She could handle the grin, she could handle the words, but the tone...that damn, mocking, 'I got you backed in a corner' tone, oh hell no! A growl came out and she launched herself away from Milton and out of the cage at the man who was partially responsible for her existence.
Which could very well have lent to him allowance to extinguish said existence if he so chose. The gun shot echoed out and her shoulder burned as she fell to the floor. The Governor clicked his tongue slowly as he crouched down, looking at the woman as if she were just a small child who had thrown a hissy fit.
"Why do you make me do these things, Issy?" The Governor asked softly. "You made me do that." He patted her head roughly over the spot that was dark from dried blood. She winced but kept her head down, hand on her shoulder to slow the bleeding. "Fix her up Milton. I want her looking nice." He rose from his crouch and moved to the other room. His hand rested on the doorknob that would take him completely out of the room and he turned, his one eye gazing down at the blonde woman he had fathered.
"They're gonna come." Bo muttered. She lifted her head up and glared at him. "They'll be here."
"They already were...twice." The Governor explained, making Bo pause. "Didn't even bother to try and find you. Got the boy and left, only came back again to cause more chaos." Her eyes were disbelieving as a dark frown crossed her face. "They left you here, Issy...left you for the wolves."
The door closed behind him, leaving a stunned and suddenly scared Bo to be tended to by a wary Milton.
***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***
"We can't just leave her there." Daryl growled, pacing by the car.
"She's his daughter, Daryl." Rick reminded.
"What if Merle's lying?" Glenn asked, frowning. "I wouldn't put it past him to want to stir up trouble."
"She is his daughter." Andrea cut in, rocking a crying Amy, trying to get her child to calm down. "I saw a picture the Governor had."
"Doesn't mean he won't do something to her." Shane remarked, hands on his hips. "I watched Martinez literally drag her. If either of them had been pulling any harder, her arm would have popped."
"I'm getting her." Daryl decided finally. He slung his arrows across his back and picked up his crossbow.
"Don't be stupid, little brother." Merle spoke up finally. He had been leaning on the vehicle, thumb hooked into his pocket, bladed stump hanging at his side. "Some girl worth getting yourself killed?"
"Shut up." Daryl snapped at his brother.
"I'm just saying...she ain't ever told any of you about herself, has she?" Merle asked. The group all looked at each other, even Glenn looking put out by the truth.
"Maybe...maybe there's a reason." Maggie defended. "Like her dad being a psychopath."
"Or maybe everything ya do know about her is wrong." Merle reasoned. "Maybe her whole time out, she been looking for him."
"That picture was old." Andrea pointed out weakly. She hated herself for agreeing with Merle but he honestly hadn't been that bad in town, only in Atlanta. People could change, be different.
"Coulda just been the only one he was able to get when things went to hell." Merle suggested with a shrug. Daryl frowned, his eyes narrowing at all the looks of doubt creeping into everyone's faces.
"We need to get Andrea and her baby back to the prison, where it's safe." Rick declared.
"You lot do that." Daryl muttered, irritated beyond belief. "I'm getting Bo."
"Daryl..." Rick sighed and glanced around the group before he pulled Daryl to the side. "I want Bo round much as you do, we need her, but we also need to get back, get things ready. If this man is as psychotic as Shane's said then he's going to retaliate."
"You gonna let Merle in?" Daryl asked. Rick faltered and glanced over at the older Dixon who's eyes were roaming over Maggie. "Didn't think so."
"We can't attack a third time." Rick stated, jumping back to the original argument. "We need a plan."
"What if he's doing shit to her?" Daryl asked angrily. "We know Bo...we know if that guy..."
"What if he wasn't always like that?" Rick cut in. "She could be wanting to stay there. Thinking she could help him."
"She wouldn't wanna be away from us." Daryl argued, getting more annoyed. "We're her family, she's said it herself. Better than anything."
"She's smart." Rick remarked, glancing around the street. "We gotta trust she'll be safe until we can get her." Daryl sighed and looked down, feeling defeated. Rick sighed, not liking the way of things but knowing their options were slim as he headed back to the others.
"I'm not going back to the prison." Daryl called after him, making him halt. All eyes turned to the hunter as he turned his head back up to look at them. "Gotta stick with my brother and it's damn obvious he's not gonna be allowed."
"After what he's done?" Glenn asked rhetorically. He shot an angry look at Merle who at least had the decency not to smile. He just watched the younger man. "He shouldn't be around any of the girls."
"Afraid I'll show them what a real man can do?" Merle asked, causing his brother's eyes to roll.
"You know you're welcome." Rick stated, looking at Daryl. "We're family."
"So's he." Daryl pointed out. Rick just gave him a look and Daryl knew he had just contradicted what he had been arguing before. Merle was his blood and he had to stay with him, why would it be different for Bo and her father? Something was right in that case though, he just knew it.
"You know where we are." Rick declared finally, sighing. Daryl nodded and patted his shoulder before walking off into the trees. Merle pushed himself away from the car and went after the younger brother, a little confused but not showing it.
***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***TWD***
Bo followed Milton out of the house, her eyes darting around but she made no moves to escape. The Governor stood nearby and, when she got closer, locked an arm painfully tight around her shoulders. People watched them from the streets and she could hear them muttering, hear them wondering who she was. Milton had cleaned her head and shoulder, patched her up. A gash on her head had been stitched up as well, the only damage that was actually visible to the people. The Governor's arm on her shoulder made it hurt and she held in the wince.
"Miracles can happen people!" The Governor called out. "In our darkest times, we can see that something good can come about. These attacks...they were devastating, they were traumatic, but we can rebuild from them. I have here next to me, proof that not all hope is lost. I have my daughter." The whispers halted for mere seconds before starting again as everyone looked at Bo. She didn't look at any of them, didn't smile, didn't react in any way. She kept tense and rigid, knowing it would lead to more questions. Maybe if these people questioned the mad man, there could be hope for them.
"Was she with them?" A woman asked, frowning.
"Sadly, the terrorists had my daughter among them." The Governor explained. "But she was not attacking us. She was shot by them! Left here! They abandoned her in favour of their own skin! She was nothing more than a distraction at the end of their carnage!"
Bo's eye twitched as she frowned, anger bubbling up. The audacity of him to say that her people had left her. They would never...
Merle, Shane and Andrea suddenly flashed in her head, bringing her anger to a halt.
They had all been left behind in some way. Never purposefully though, never knowingly. Merle had done it to himself and Shane and Andrea...there was too many walkers. Going back to see if they were there was just...
Bo dropped her head, unsure of how to justify that one now.
"There's daddy's little girl." The Governor whispered to her, applying a slight extra amount of pressure to her shoulder. Bo gritted her teeth, her tension rising. There was no way she was going to subject herself to this, not again. She was getting the hell out of Woodbury if it killed her.
Whether or not she returned to the prison was another thing.
So this is a short chapter, gonna have some different stuff happening to fill in the space between this part and where the Governor gives Rick an ultimatum.