I do not own The Walking Dead.

Previously:

Looking over his shoulder, the child noticed the adults had all returned inside the cell block, probably in a hurry to assure the newcomers everything was fine. Good. Daryl wasn't as bothered about the way he acted when it was only the two of them. Before he could move away, Faye quickly wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Be careful on that run with Michonne."

The man seemed to reply quicker than he normally would when she surprised him. "Always am."

It made Faye happy that Daryl wasn't tense when she hugged him, that his muscles weren't clenched, uncomfortable.

He simply hugged her back.

"You didn't have to do that. Shouldn't have." Carl said, walking into the cell block Faye was working in. Daryl had probably sent him. "You should have come and got someone."

Oh, so the high and mighty Carl Grimes could waltz around and make his own decisions, that was fine. He could frickin' kill someone and the world wouldn't question it- "I know. Daryl already told me off though, so… yeah." Faye shrugged as she flipped a mattress over, hiding the tear Merle had made. It was good enough; she'd tried to get away with a lot worse in other cells. Some though, for the moment, had no mattresses that were whole. Well, she tried. Maybe Daryl and Michonne could look out for some more on that run they were making.

"Good." The boy said, slightly softer than before. Faye didn't know why. "What are we doing, then?"

"Cleaning up the beds for the newcomers. Merle ripped a load of them up, so we have to see if they'll do or not. I already did half, so it won't talk long with the both of us. One's that aren't, leave them on the floor. One's that are fine, put 'em on the bed and make it look neat. Neat being the key word. If it's not, I'll make you go back and do it again." Faye said, pointing a finger as she gave instructions.

"You'll make me?" Carl smirked. "Why should we care if it's neat; it's them sleeping here, not us."

"Because it's nice and I don't want the newcomers thinking we've been living like animals and tearing everything up!"

"Newcomers, that's what your calling them?"

"Yeah, why not?" Faye replied as she bundled up a useless bed sheet. "Can't call them… I dunno, 'Woodbury Residents' 'cause they aren't from Woodbury anymore. So, newcomers!"

Carl sighed as he moved the mattress for her. "They're still from Woodbury, you know. That's the whole problem."

Shaking her head slightly, the girl directed them to the next cell. "Let's not talk about that now."

"Fine. Still doesn't answer why we have to impress them."

"We have to impress them because, like it or not, they are staying with us now, for however long that will be. I'd rather start on a good note than a bad one. I'm not saying you have to be best friends with them all-" She definitely did not want that. Carl was her best friend! "-but it's better to be on okay-ish terms with them." Faye cringed inwardly once the as the last word left her mouth. He probably wouldn't like that.

It was silent for a minute or two – those minutes with Faye wondering whether she should apologise – before Carl finally spoke. "Alright."

"Really? You'll try?"

The boy sighed again. "Really."

Faye smiled. Finally. Some progress. Deciding it was a good moment too, and there probably wouldn't be much time to be do it anymore, Faye wrapped her arms around her friend in a hug. "Thank you."

He didn't reply for a moment, seemingly surprised by the contact. "… Your welcome."

"It's just… It has to be okay now. Not like, you know, it needs to be, but it will. We've had all the bad stuff, and now we'll get the good stuff. I know, like Karma!" She paused, furrowing her eyebrows. "Do you get what I mean?"

Finally returning the hug, Carl replied. "I've known you long enough to understand the rubbish you come up with sometimes."

She released him with a laugh, slapping his arm. "Shaddup, dumbass."

It felt great to hear the boy chuckle with her.

The two didn't take much longer to complete the job. Apparently, Merle had given up searching as he reached the top floor. Or, maybe, it had been when Rick ventured inside to 'keep an eye on him'.

There were enough cells for all the newcomers - except for a few who would stay in their cell block, those few probably being Tyreese and Sasha - and Faye had quickly told Rick thy had finished before Carl retreated to his room again. That wasn't the worst thing, though. Baby steps, Faye told herself. He had agreed to try, that set the ball rolling. Perhaps, tomorrow, she could get him in a room with them without scowling. Yes, that was a reasonable goal.

Meanwhile, though, Faye's current predicament was figuring out what normal things girls said because she could see Lizzie coming towards her from the corner of her eye. She could see Mika trailing behind her, too. Frowning, she wondered how, out of everything, the event she wasn't prepared for was this.

"Erm, hi. Again." Faye said awkwardly. Lizzie didn't seem to notice.

"Hi!" The blonde girl said with a wave, which confused the other child, as she was stood right next to her.

Unsure what to say, she tried to cover up for earlier. That had been a start on a bad foot, which made her a hypocrite, and fixing that should be a priority. "Sorry about before, Carl needed me for something, and…"

(Amazing cover up there, Faye, one of your best.)

"It's okay." Lizzie replied.

(Oh. Okay, so it really was alright.)

"Dad said there was probably a lot to do, so we figured you were just busy!" Mika said, with a smile. Dammit, why were these girls so sweet and forgiving!

"Oh, good. Shouldn't you, erm, be with him?"

"That's alright too, he knows where we are." The older sister replied.

They were, in fact, back in Cell Block C. It was now pretty empty in the main room as almost everyone had left to pick a cell. Carol had begun to make dinner, only glancing at the three every once in a while, and Faye's original plan was to help her. After all, wouldn't it be hard to do it all on you own? She could cook.

(She had no clue.)

But, she was obviously side tracked. Lizzie continued. "He's picking us a cell, and he made sure Carol somebody was here. So, what's for dinner?"

"Not sure yet, but don't expect 5-stars. Sorry." The girl shrugged as an apology.

Mika sat on one of the tables, swinging her legs happily. "Back at Woodbury-"

Faye immediately knew shouldn't wouldn't enjoy pretending to be interested.

"-we had a garden and grew all this cool stuff!" Lizzie nodded along with her sister. "Do you think we could do that here? All the grass is so boring."

She'd never really had an opinion on grass. It was an odd opinion to have. "That was the plan, at first. We have loads of space in the field to do it in, once we make sure the walkers can't get in."

"Oh, yeah! We heard the gun shots, it's was scary. What if that happens all the time?"

Lizzie frowned. "Mika, the walkers aren't a problem."

"Exactly," Faye agreed. "Fixing the gate is one of the first things that are being done. Daryl and Michonne are on it now, they're going to go on a run to find the right stuff to fix it up. We won't be caught walking along and suddenly there are walkers are trying to push down the fence."

"Was that you?" The older girl asked.

At Faye's nod, Mika's eyes widened. "Woah, that is so brave!"

She held herself up a little higher. Yeah, she was brave. She was a brave person who did brave things! "It was nothing."

"'Course it was. I could never kill all those walkers." Lizzie said. "You hurt your head, what if doing all that made it worse?"

Faye didn't like where this was going.

Mika continued. "Yeah, how did that even happen? Wait, you're the one the Mr Grimes was talking about, aren't you! You got shot-"

"Hey, girls, why don't we go see where your Daddy is?" Carol suddenly interrupted, saving Faye from the explanation. Good. She did not want to talk about it. Silently, she gave the woman a thankful look.

"What about dinner?" Lizzie said as Carol put a hand on her shoulder, guiding the two sisters away.

"Faye can start it off, can't you?"

"Uh, sure." Since when did Carol trust her to do any vaguely important job?

Eh, she didn't complain. Time to open some packets of ramen.

Judith giggled as Faye pouted. Apparently, pulling on her dark hair was a highly amusing task.

Beth had eventually saved her from cooking – however, not without saying how she would have to learn eventually – as long as the girl took over baby-sitting Judith. Carl had sat with her for a little while, before dismissing himself to 'check something out'. That meant he was up to something in her book. It was on her to do list to find out exactly what.

That was fine, until the hair tugging had begun. Maybe the baby was hinting at a haircut.

(Or, more realistically, Faye's hair was a magical baby toy that Judith wanted all to herself.)

"Ah, ah, ah, stitches, stitches, quit it! Bad baby!" The girl struggled to pry away the tiny fingers, wincing as she did. Judith seemed pleased with her work. Faye sighed. "Stop being cute and then I can be mad at you."

A deep voice by the door made her jump. "I think she's got us all wrapped around her finger."

Oh, it was just Rick. She should have been paying more attention. Jerking her head away as the baby reached out again, she replied. "Metaphorically and literally, too."

The man chuckled as he walked into the cell, holding his arms out for his daughter.

(Well, possible daughter. Faye didn't even want to begin to get into that, though.)

Obliging, she passed the girl over. "Careful, she's grabby today."

"I've noticed." Rick smiled, but it was more at Judy than at her. To her surprise, however, he did not pace slowly around the room like she'd seen him do; he sat down on the edge of the bed. "How's Carl been doing? I haven't got far with him today."

There was the motive. It was always Carl. Did he want a report?

"He's okay."

"So… He's not angry?"

"Oh, no, he's very angry, but that's okay." Faye shook her head. "I think it's better if he shows it than if he bottles it up, though. I can't help if I don't know."

Rick looked up from Judith. "And you're helping him?"

"Well, I got him to say he would try to get along with the newcomers. That's good enough for me for the time being."

They also hugged and laughed and joked together, but that was their moment, not Rick's.

"Thank you."

Oh. Okay. She was being thanked.

"… For what, exactly?"

"For sticking to the favour, for the long haul. For sticking by Carl when he wouldn't let me. You're good for him, you two stay by each other."

Faye looked away. She was so not blushing right now.

(Totally was.)

Shrugging, Faye cursed inwardly as she let herself dampen the mood. "Didn't do much good today."

"I thought-"

The girl turned to face him again. "He killed somebody. What good did I do?"

Seemingly sensing the now tense atmosphere, Judith remained quiet. "Do you think he needed to?"

She couldn't. She couldn't say it to herself and she couldn't say it to his father. "I have no idea what I think, and it's easier that way."

There, happy, Rick? It wasn't often that she admitted to ignoring her problems.

Silence reigned for a few minutes, the leader apparently distracting himself with his daughter. His face stayed the same however. "Sometimes, I wonder, if we're ever gonna be good enough for her. Keepin' her safe, happy. I can barely control Carl."

Looks like they were both admitting things.

"What will she think when she knows…"

The way Rick's words were caught in his throat told her he meant Lori. Look s like they both had things they couldn't say.

Faye knew this, she knew it so well. She knew what she had been through when the news had been broken. She knew the devastation it had caused. Before she knew what she was saying, Faye began to talk. "She'll blame herself, no matter how many times you tell her it's not her fault. In one ear, out the other. It'll make her sad. It'll make her angry, but only at herself. It'll make her wonder why, and wonder what it would be like. But, she'll have a brother and father who aren't angry and don't blame her. Time will pass, and even though it's still in the back of her mind, maybe she'll let her forgive herself. Then one day, it might just be… past."

Faye really needed to figure out what she shoved to the back of her mind and what she didn't, because this was making her eyes water, and she would not be weak as long as she could help it. Weakness was what needed to be in the back of her head, not this. Faye knew that. It was just hard to find a balance.

"It is just past for you?"

The girl shook her head.

"I'm waiting." Faye said quietly. "It hasn't happened yet."

Author's Notes:

Generally a talk-y chapter, but now there will be a mini time-skip of two weeks to when Faye is pretty much healed. Be ready for some more Daryl action-y things!

It's very late now, so I'll keep this short! See you next Saturday!

Please review, I love to hear your thoughts and advice.

Thanks.

Cobalt Flame.