Charlie

I woke up to the sound of voices, drifting up and into the cell from the lower level of the prison. I shifted onto my stomach, propping myself up on my elbows as I strained my ears, hoping to catch some of the conversation. Something had to be going on. It was late, everything dark and shadowy. Too late for so many voices. I nudged Daryl gently.

"Daryl." I whispered. He groaned a little, rolling over onto his side so his back was facing me. "Daryl, get up." I reached out and shook his shoulder.

He halfheartedly brushed my hand away. "Go back to sleep, Charlie." He muttered.

"No, get up. I think there's something going on." I said quietly before turning over and adjusting myself so I was in a sitting position with my back pressed against the cold cement wall. The voices had gotten louder. "I think I hear Merle and Rick." I could've picked out Merle's raspy, southern drawl anywhere. Same with Rick's own calm, collected tone. Neither of them were really in their right state of mind at the moment, though, which why it made me worried to hear them conversing at all.

Daryl let out a loud sigh, but finally sat up. I could just barely make out his half-dressed figure in the dark, bare chested with his sandy colored hair sticking up in every direction. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Merle better not be doin' nothin' stupid." He grumbled. He moved to the end of the bed where he slowly got up and began pulling on his jeans and shirt. I pushed the blankets off my legs, standing up and stretching my arms over my head. I felt Daryl's eyes on me as I started shimmying into my jeans. "I was serious when I said go back to bed." He commented.

I rolled my eyes. "You were the one that didn't wanna get up at first. I wanna see what's going on." I pulled my shirt over my head before brushing past him on the way out of the door.

He grabbed my arm, gently tugging me back towards him. "You're stubborn as all hell, girl. You know that?" He said quietly.

"I know." I smiled, leaning forward to press my lips to his.

There was worry in his eyes, though, when I pulled away. "Just stay close…Don't know what the hell kinda mood Merle might be in down there."

I nodded. Daryl brushed his lips over the top of my head, his fingers curled around the back of my neck. Then he was walking past me, leading the way down the stairs to the first floor. The voices got louder as we got closer to the common area. Sounded like more people had woken up and gotten the same idea we had. When Daryl swung open the barred door that led into the shared main room, my eyes flickered among the familiar faces gathered around the chairs and tables. I froze, though, when I caught sight of a familiar head of blonde hair near the door. It was a face I didn't think I'd ever see again.

"Holy shit." Daryl muttered from next to me.

"Andrea?" I asked, disbelief coloring my voice. I shook my head as I stepped forward, stopping near Glenn and Maggie.

Andrea gave me a small smile, which was more than she'd ever given me when we had first met at Hershel's farm. It was only a few months ago, but it felt like a completely different lifetime now.

"How did you find us?" I asked, sinking down into a nearby chair. Andrea and I hadn't exactly gotten along. I knew without a doubt that she hadn't been my biggest fan, but I was still relieved to see that she had somehow made it off the farm and was still alive even after all this time.

"Ain't that a funny story. You wanna tell 'em or should I?" Merle piped up. He was seated on one of the gray colored chairs, leaning back with his arms crossed over his chest. Andrea shot him a dirty look and Merle just laughed. It was a cold, humorless laugh, though.

"Go on. I think we're all curious to know how the hell you knew where to find us." Rick added quietly.

She sighed, looking around the room nervously. Her gaze halted, though, when she reached Michonne. "After we were run off the farm, I got lost in the woods. I thought I was going to end up dead, until Michonne found me." She began. Every head in the room whipped around to look at Michonne, who kept her steady gaze on Andrea. I felt my own eyes widen. It felt like we were all tied together in such strange, intricate ways. I was starting to think more and more, ever since Woodbury, that nothing was a coincidence anymore. "I got really sick after a few months and we were on the road, looking for medicine. We ended up running right into Merle and the Governor. I've been in Woodbury ever since." She trailed off. Her arms hugged her middle tightly as she looked around the room again. She looked different than the Andrea I'd met before. She seemed less sure of herself. Weaker almost.

"You mean to say that Andrea was in Woodbury this entire time and you never bothered to say a damn word about it?" Glenn suddenly spat, glaring at Merle who looked completely unfazed.

"Cool it, Chinaman. Didn't seem all that important. We had bigger shit to worry 'bout, don't ya' think?" He asked.

I surprised myself by silently agreeing with him. After everything that had happened from the time we had left Woodbury, to what was happening right now…I really couldn't blame Merle for either forgetting or not choosing to share that one piece of information with us. Not when we had the Governor beating down our front door. Especially not after we had happened to Harlow.

"I had no idea where the rest of you were until I saw Daryl in Woodbury that night. I had no idea he was holding Charlie and Glenn captive. I especially didn't know he planned on coming here." Andrea explained, her tone apologetic and desperate. I felt sorry for her. She had somehow ended up on enemy lines. "He told me he just wanted to scare you all a little. Intimidate you into giving up the prison. That nobody was going to get hurt."

"Tell that to Harlow." Merle's voice was so quiet and low I almost missed it. Everyone grew deadly quiet for a moment and Andrea's face grew pale.

"I'm sorry, Merle. I didn't know." She finally said.

"Why are you here now, Andrea?" Rick said, brushing off her apology.

She tore her eyes away from Merle's hunched over form back to Rick. "The Governor sent me to deliver a message. He said he wants peace and he's willing to negotiate. There's a place not far, in between Woodbury and here. He wants you to meet him there tomorrow at noon."

"That's bullshit." Merle's fist came down onto the table with a loud bang that made me jump. "He don't want peace. He don't wanna negotiate."

"Merle." Daryl said quietly, moving closer to his brother.

Merle suddenly stood up though and shoved past him, heading back towards the cells. He paused near the doorway, though, looking back at all of us watching him. "He wants to kill every last one of us and take what we have. He'll do you last, Rick. Right after he kills that baby of yours. So you can watch all your friends and family die." He turned and disappeared into the narrow corridor and left us all to feel the weight of his words. For some reason, it had sent shivers down my spine and a voice in the back of my head was telling me that Merle was right. Even if I didn't want to believe it, I knew in my gut that the Governor wanted us gone and he wanted us to suffer.

"Merle's right." Daryl spoke up, his lips set into a thin, tight line. "Ain't no chance we can have peace now. Not after what he's done to Harlow. To Glenn and Charlie."

"Please, at least try. I don't want to see anyone else get hurt. At least talk to him, Rick." Andrea begged.

Rick stared at her long and hard. I wondered what was going through his mind. If we were looking at our old Rick right now, the strong leader, or the new Rick who couldn't even keep his head together. Finally, he licked his lips before opening his mouth. "Fine. Tell him I'll meet him."

"But Rick-" It was Glenn this time who stepped forward in an attempt to talk him out of it.

"No, Glenn. I'll go and see what he has to say. I'm not a fool, though. This way, though, we're buyin' ourselves some more time." Rick explained, shaking his head. "More time to figure out what we need to do."

Glenn fell silent. Rick was right. Meeting with the Governor would stall him, at least for a day or two. That gave us a chance to come up with a plan. To figure out how we could keep our home and still stay alive.

"Thank you, Rick." Andrea said, looking genuinely relieved. She pulled a folded up piece of paper out of her back pocket and pressed it into his hand. "The meeting place is circled in red. Be there at noon." She took one final look around the room, a sad smile stretching the corners of her mouth. Back to the enemy camp. Back to the Governor.

"You know you're welcome back here anytime. You're still one of us." Rick said quietly, seeing the look on her face.

"Maybe after all of this is over, I'll come home then." She said, her voice barely above a whisper. Before anyone had a chance to say anything else, she was pulling open the prison door and slipping out into the night. The door swung shut behind her as Rick turned around to face the four of us who had gathered in the room.

"We'll talk about this more in the morning." Rick said calmly. He looked around the room at us before heading towards the cells where Merle had gone just minutes earlier.

"Rick, ya' don't gotta do it alone. I'll go with ya'." Daryl offered, nodding his head.

"Me too." Glenn added.

Rick waved his hand. "I appreciate that, but we'll talk more in the morning. When everyone's awake." He repeated. When his footsteps finally faded away, the rest of us shared worried expressions.

"I don't like this. What if it's a trap?" Maggie asked earnestly.

I shook my head. "I don't think it is. It doesn't seem his style. I think he genuinely wants to talk to Rick, but not about peace. There's more to it."

"Either way, I don't know if we're safe here anymore." Maggie shrugged.

"We don't have a lot of options on where else we can go." I pointed out. "It's either this, or we run until he finds us again."

Glenn wrapped an arm around Maggie's shoulders. "Stop worrying. We'll figure it out. Let's just try and get some sleep." The two of them quietly headed into the cell block and Daryl and I followed, parting ways at their shared cell before we were climbing the steps back to bed.

I sat down on the cot with a heavy sigh. "You're gonna go with Rick no matter what I say, right?" I looked up at Daryl, watching him shed his shirt once more. My eyes lingered over the muscles that made up his arms and chest before he was climbing into the bed and pulling me down next to him.

"He can't go alone."

"I'm gonna be worried sick about you all day." I murmured, shifting in his arms to face him.

I felt the scruff of his beard against my forehead. "I'll be fine. Ain't nothin' gonna happen. He ain't gonna try somethin' like he did today."

"Just feels like we're always leaving each other anymore. Going off to do something." I admitted. "I don't like it."

"I don't like it either. Hate it actually." He said in his low drawl. "We don't really got much of a choice, though. I just try and think of it like I'm doin' what I gotta do to keep ya' safe."

"I just wanna keep you safe too." I whispered. I felt his palm on the side of my face and looked up at him just in time for his lips to press against mine. His mouth was warm and soft against mine, his fingers pushing into my hair before trailing down the back of my neck and over the shirt that covered my back and stopping at the hem of my jeans.

He let out a low growl and I laughed against his mouth. "What?"

"You're wearin' too many god damn clothes." He said in a low voice. I let out another quiet laugh before he gave me another long kiss. Like always, though, it was over too soon and he was shifting onto his side, propping his head up in his hand as he looked down at me. I suddenly felt like squirming under his intense gaze. Instead, I reached up and ran my fingers along his bicep, up his shoulder, and back down over his bare chest. "There a reason you ain't beggin' to come along this time, though?" He suddenly asked.

I paused for a minute before going back to tracing my fingertips over his bare skin. There was a reason. Even if I knew Daryl wouldn't let me go, I usually would at least be stubborn as hell about it, stomping my feet and letting him knew I didn't like it but I accepted it. This was different, though. I swallowed hard before letting out a sigh. "I don't wanna see him." I finally admitted in a hushed voice.

Daryl's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "Who the hell ya' talkin' about?"

I chewed on my lower lip for a moment, wondering the best way to answer his question without lighting his temper. Even though I knew the anger wouldn't be directed at me. "Him, Daryl…the asshole who took me and Glenn." He stiffened almost instantly and I watched as his eyes narrowed and his mouth turn down into a hard, angry frown. I shook my head. "I don't know why either. I'm not afraid of him…I just…I think I'm more afraid that I'd shoot him before I could stop myself."

"Unless I get an arrow through his head first." Daryl said in an icy tone. "He best pray I don't set eyes on him. I swear to God, Charlie, I don't think I could stop myself from tearin' 'em to pieces for layin' a hand on you."

I knew without even having to think about it that I'd have the same reaction if the situation had been reversed, and it had been Daryl taken instead of me. I could still remember what it felt like as his fist met my face over and over again, the ropes digging into my wrists as I sagged in the chair. As I sat there and waited for the next blow to kill me. Only it never did. I suppressed a shudder.

"You know nobody's ever gonna hurt you like that again. Alright, Charlie?" Daryl's voice pulled me out of the horrible memory.

I saw the worried look in his eyes and I nodded. "I know."

"Good." I felt his lips on my forehead and I closed my eyes, wanting to forget every bad feeling and instead just focus on this. "Think about somethin' else instead." I felt his hand on my hip then, toying with the waistband of my jeans.

"Like what?" I asked, opening my eyes to look at him. He had a small, mischievous looking smirk on his lips.

"Like the time you found a spider in your washin' machine and called me almost in tears, beggin' me to come over and kill it." His smirk grew as I rolled my eyes.

"That never happened." I muttered.

"My ass it didn't. The damn thing was about the size of a dime and you were flippin' your lid over it." He chuckled.

I smiled in spite of myself as I remembered that day. God how many years ago was that? Twelve? All I remembered was that we were both incredibly young and even though I would never admit it out loud, I did cry when I realized I was holding a pile of laundry with a spider crawling around it. Which was why I dumped it in the washer before calling Daryl for help. Now I knew for sure I would never, ever live that moment down. Daryl clearly wouldn't let me.

"Good thing I have you to remind me of all the embarrassing things that have happened in my life." I grinned at him. "Except that's a two way street and there are definitely plenty of stories about you that I'd be happy to-"

"I think that's enough talkin'." He interrupted me. I laughed, but it was quickly silenced by Daryl's mouth on mine yet again, this time his tongue sliding in between my lips as he kissed me slowly.

I wrapped my arm around his neck, pressing myself closer to him as my fingers tangled themselves in the back of his hair. I felt him easily undo the button of my jeans, pushing them down my legs, his mouth never once leaving mine. He rolled over on top of me, covering me with his body as his kiss turned more fervent and eager and I fought to catch my breath, my heart hammering away inside my chest. I didn't feel afraid, or worried, or sad, or anxious about anything that might happen anymore. I just felt this…this incredibly blissful, happiness that made me think that all the shit I had been through, all the shit we both had been through, almost seemed worth it if I could just hold onto this feeling and keep it forever.

I couldn't tell how long I had been asleep for when I finally woke up, but it was lighter outside and Daryl was no longer next to me. He must've gotten up already and decided to let me sleep. I looked down at the blankets twisted around me and smiled a little as I wondered how the hell he had managed to untangle himself without waking me up. I pulled myself into a sitting position once I felt awake enough to move. My stomach unexpectedly lurched. I gripped the mattress tightly with one hand, taking a deep breath in through my nose and out through my mouth. I felt my stomach suddenly tighten again and I doubled over, clapping my hand over my mouth. It felt like I was going to be sick, which didn't make any sense.

I racked my brain, trying to remember what I had eaten the night before. Food poisoning seemed highly unlikely, though, considering we'd all been eating pretty much the same damn thing for months now. I could've just been getting sick in general. I'd remembered one time when I was nine getting the stomach flu and I'd spent a miserable week curled up in my bed, unable to keep anything down but water and crackers. That was a horrible experience. Mix that in with the whole zombie apocalypse thing, and the Governor, and I would be having a very bad day. I took in another slow, deep breath. I waited a few more minutes, afraid to move, but finally the feeling seemed to suddenly go away. The only explanation I could come up with was stress. I used to get physically ill before big exams in college. With everything that was happening now, it made sense that I would feel sort of queasy.

After one more deep breath, I felt almost normal again and stood up, pulling on whatever clean clothes I could find in the folded pile on top of the desk. I sat down on the end of the cot to lace up my boots.

"You okay? You look sort of…ill."

I looked up and saw Gabe standing in the doorway, looking at me with concern. I nodded. "Fine. I think everything that happened yesterday finally got to me. Felt like hurling for a minute."

He wrinkled his nose. "Please do not puke in front of me."

I glared at him. "I'm not. I'm fine now." I stood back up, pulling my hair into a ponytail as he watched me from the door. I rolled my eyes. "Relax, Gabe. I said I'm good. Let's go get some breakfast." My stomach rolled again at the sound of food, but I fought against it as I headed out of the room with Gabe.

Nearly everyone was already up and in the common area when Gabe and I walked in. Minus Merle, which didn't really surprise me. I wondered, though, if anyone had gone to check on him. My eyes roamed the room until I spotted Daryl, seated at a table with Rick, Hershel, T-Dog, and Glenn. They had Andrea's map unfolded in front of them and were studying it pretty hard. I decided not to bother them and instead, steered Gabe towards one of the end tables, where Carol was spooning oatmeal into bowls.

I heard Gabe's stomach growl and fought back a smile. "Gabe's stomach says he's starving. Is there enough?"

Carol smiled. "Plenty."

"Here, I'll do it." I filled up a bowl for Gabe and tried not to breathe through my nose in case the smell made me feel sick again. I filled up my own bowl half as much, thanking Carol before we sat down at a table with Beth and Maggie. Gabe tore into his food, as he always did, while I nibbled at mine. In the end, I pushed the bowl towards Gabe and let him finish it. He gave me a guilty look, though, when both the dishes were empty. "You sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine." I said in a quiet voice, not wanting to get the attention of Maggie. Or Beth, who even worse would probably try to hover over me before dragging me to Hershel for a diagnosis. I spotted Daryl suddenly making his way over and elbowed Gabe hard enough to make him hiss in pain. "Sorry." I apologized. "Do not say anything about my almost puking incident this morning to him or I'll make sure Beth and Maggie both know you used a binky until you were seven years old."

I watched his eyes widen, but he didn't have time to say anything before Daryl was sliding into the seat next to me. He gave me one of his infamous smirks, the kind that made me want to drag him into a dark corner of the prison and have my way with him. "Mornin'."

"Morning." Gabe said from next to me. "What's going on with the map?"

"Rick's 'bout to explain." Daryl said, nodding towards the former police officer who was standing up at the front of the room. I grabbed Daryl's hand from under the table, giving it a small squeeze.

"I think we've already explained to most of ya'll this mornin' that we had a visit from Andrea late last night." He began. "She's been stayin' in Woodbury and brought us a message from the Governor. He wanted to make peace, to negotiate. I think we all know that's a load of crap, though." He paused, licking his lips before going on. "It'll give us more time, though, if I go to meet with him. Daryl, T-Dog and Hershel have agreed to come with me, and Glenn will stay here to make sure nothin' goes wrong while we're gone. Are we all in agreement here?" There were a few murmurs followed by some head nods. I didn't expect much disagreement, though. We didn't have a lot of choices. Not when it came to dealing with the Governor. "We leave in an hour."

"What if it's a trap?" Gabe said quietly, once the talking had started up again.

"Maggie said that last night. I don't think it is, Gabe. It'd be too obvious." I assured him gently.

"We'll be back before dark." Daryl added, just as much for me as it was for Gabe.

"Have you seen Merle yet? He probably should eat something." I said, suddenly remembering the absence of Daryl's brother during breakfast.

Daryl shrugged. "Probably don't wanna be bothered still. He'll come out here and eat when he's good and ready." He sounded uncertain, though, even to me.

"I'm gonna go drop some food off at his room…that way he can eat without having to come out here." I said, not even realizing I'd fully made the decision until I said it out loud.

"Wait." Carol, who had been in the middle of taking Gabe's empty bowl, spoke up. "Bring him some clean clothes at least. He should get cleaned up."

I swallowed hard, thinking of the redness of the blood that had covered his shirt yesterday. "Probably a good idea." I agreed quietly.

Daryl looked like he wanted to argue but finally sighed, shaking his head as Carol disappeared with our dirty bowls in her hands. "Just watch yourself. You know how Merle is."

I nodded. "I won't hang around, don't worry."

Carol came back a few minutes later, a bowl of oatmeal in one hand and a pile of clothing tucked under her other arm. "It was all I could find. I hope it fits."

I thanked her and headed towards his room. It was quiet and I wondered if maybe he was asleep. When I looked inside, though, he was laying on his back staring up at the ceiling again. He was still wearing the clothes he'd had on the day before. Covered in Harlow's blood, though now it was a dark red, rust colored stain.

"Hey, Merle." I said softly. He lifted his head and glanced at me, but didn't say a word. He looked back at the ceiling. "I brought you some food." I set the bowl on the desk but he didn't move to get up, or move at all actually. I hovered uncertainly for another minute before stepping back towards the door. "There's working showers on the first floor, if you turn left at the end of the hall. We can get you some clean clothes too." I felt a pang of sadness as I looked at him. He didn't look sad, or angry, or emotional like the way he was yesterday. He just looked blank, which made it seem almost worse. I shook my head and turned to leave.

"Thanks." His voice was so quiet, I almost missed it. I gave him a small smile over my shoulder before leaving him on his own again. Progress. One word was better than none.

When I got back to the common area, I sat back down with Gabe. Carl hurried over to join us. I could tell Daryl, Rick, and the others were getting ready for their meeting with the Governor. I felt myself growing more and more anxious. None of us had any idea of what to expect. I think we all knew, though, that whatever the Governor said wouldn't be anything we wanted to hear.

When the hour was up and it was finally time for them to leave, I stood up from the table, where Gabe and I had been swapping stories from our childhood with Carl and Beth, and drifted over towards Daryl. He nodded his head towards an empty corner of the room and I followed. Once I was close enough to him, I wrapped my arms around his middle and laid my head against his chest.

"I hate watching you go all the time." I sighed.

"It won't be long this time. Few hours at the most." He said, leaning back to look down at me.

I tilted my head up to meet his eyes. "Come back alive and in one piece and I'll be happy." I sighed.

He smirked a little before brushing his lips over mine. I leaned into the kiss, savoring the warm, softness of his lips and the sweet, musky smell of his skin. He leaned his forehead against mine when he pulled away. "Stay outta trouble, alright?"

I pretended to look offended. "I never get into trouble."

He rolled his eyes. "That's a lie. Keep an eye on Merle, too. Don't know what kinda shape he'll be in today."

I nodded, thinking back to Merle lying on his bed with his blank expression, to the quiet 'thanks' I got when I left him some breakfast. "I'll make sure he's okay."

"I'll be back before ya' know it."

"I'm counting on it." I gave him a small smile as he untangled himself from me, pressing his lips once to my forehead before he was gone, disappearing out the door with Rick and the others. I sighed as the door shut.

Watching him leave never got any easier.