I do not own The Walking Dead.

Previously:

"Damn teenager and mood swings." Daryl complained to himself. "You know, we can't just let this go. Could'a died back there. Maybe it was a bad idea to bring 'er out so quick after last night. Thought it'd clear her head, not make it worse."

Michonne sighed. "Yeah, but what's done is done. Let's just deal with it back at the prison. Right now, we need to figure out how to get her and the horse back there in one piece."

Daryl raised an eyebrow.

"What?" The woman smirked. "You think she's leaving here without it?"

Daryl thought about it for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Nah."

In the distance, a red cheeked, out of breath child stood as a tall, bay coloured horses emerged into view.

One Week Later

Carol was roping Faye in for more and more chores. Cleaning, cooking, folding clothes, washing the same clothes the next day after they'd be soaked with whatever crap had appeared on a run or at the fences. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it kept her mind occupied when it could be filling with bad thoughts. It was relaxing, the simple repetitiveness. Or mind numbing. It was hard to tell the difference lately.

The task she enjoyed the most was when she got to spend time with Judith. The role still went to Beth most of the time, but Faye had her moments whenever Beth had some time off – spent with her totally-going-to-be-in-a-few-weeks boyfriend. They weren't official yet. The girl new they would be soon. The point was, though, that being around Judith really was calming, there wasn't any confusion about that. It would have been better had Carl been able to join her more.

Squeaking the cloth against the last plate, Faye left the dish in the trays she'd been given and began to wash her hands, scrubbing in between her fingers and scraping the dirt from underneath her nails. She was currently on cooking duty for the morning, and Carol had asked her to help with washing some of the dishes before people slowly began to wake up for the morning.

Apparently, the farmer's life involved early hours until late ones – not to mention the complaining afterwards. Rick was probably still letting him sleep in, but was getting stricter on the matter. Patrick, on the other hand, was a lot freer time-wise. He was helping Faye out every now and then, but he usually just waited for either two of the children to be done.

Or go to story time. Patrick was a nerd like that.

Michonne had been gone for a couple of weeks now, the longest she'd ever been away. The trips she took were getting longer and the time she stayed home was getting shorter. Faye didn't like it, she didn't like it at all. There were all sorts of bad people beyond the walls of the prison. The child wasn't even sure if everyone within them was all good, but she was certain about the ones she didn't know about. The unknown was a dangerous place.

There was a tap on her shoulder. Faye jumped at the contact, but flicked her head around to see only Carol. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," She murmured, rubbing harder between her fingers. "I was just finishing up before I go help out with breakfast."

The woman tilted her ever so slightly in concern. "You've been here for five minutes."

"Yeah, washing up-"

"You finished washing up five minutes ago."

Frowning, Faye lifted her hands from the murky water left in the bucket. The slightly wrinkled skin was red from being scrubbed at so hard. The girl became quiet in silent admittance. Carol took hold of the child's hands and gently dabbed at them as she sighed. When she was done, she tapped Faye's chin to make eye contact. "You with me now?"

The girl nodded wordlessly and Carol continued, tone barely enthusiastic. "Let's get started, shouldn't keep people waiting."

Carol had already light the coals, and so once the two had collected the preserved meat from a hunt she and Daryl had been on the other day, it didn't take long for people to come and go with their food. A whole new stack of plates soon presented itself.

Soon after, T-Dog and Glenn arrived at the breakfast tables. Faye looked up with a nod. "Mornin'."

"Morning." Glenn greeted, stood while his friend leaned against the stand.

The bigger man grinned. "Hey, kiddo, got some grub?"

"Yeah, this is just about done," Faye replied, bringing some of the meat into two bowls for the men. "Good timing."

The two began eating, but stayed near the girl, exchanging small talk. She twirled the spatula around in her fingers. "You two off on the run today?"

Glenn nodded as he swallowed his food. "Yeah, we will be. Not going far, though, hopefully not too much trouble."

"And hopefully not takin' too much time." T-Dog said, not having the manners to wait until his mouth was empty before talking. Daryl was similar like that. So was she, probably. "'Cause I got me a date to be getting' to."

Faye gave him a puzzled look. "A date?"

The man sent one back to her. "How old were you before the turn? You don't know what a date is?"

Glenn chuckled at the death glare Faye sent to him. "I'm not thick." She said, flipping over a piece of meat in a way she hoped looked menacing. Neither of the men noticed. "I know what a damn date is."

"I think she meant who, T, and how the hell you've even got a date. Which you don't." Glenn smirked.

"Well, no, I don't. But I will. Just you wait and see." He replied confidently.

Turning to her, Glenn explained a little more of the situation. "There's this girl that came in on a run a few weeks back – Hannah, dark brown hair, short-"

"-cute laugh, pretty eyes-"

"-ring a bell?" Glenn ignored T-Dog's interruption. The name and description meant nothing to the girl, no face coming to her, but she nodded anyway. "Well, T-Dog's got a thing for her and has a grand plan to get her to agree."

"Any chance of it working?"

"Small."

"Big!"

"Dwindling."

Faye wasn't sure what dwindling meant, but she assumed it meant little from the way Glenn was talking. The conversation continued this way, Faye occasionally tuning out or having to step aside to hand out more of the food, but soon a new topic began. "You know, compliments to the chef and all," T-Dog began, and Faye gave a little bow. "But you know what I miss in a mornin'? Pancakes. I'd love me some pancakes. Then again, left over pizza wasn't so bad either."

"No, no, no," Glenn said, scrunching his eyes together as if repressing a memory. "I've had enough pizza in one lifetime."

Faye leaned against the stand. "Were you a chef?"

"Just a pizza delivery boy. Took me all across Atlanta which I guess was useful in the end." He replied. "But still, no more pizza. I'll have nightmares over that pepperoni – ugh."

The girl grinned at the expression on his face. "We never had that much pizza, there wasn't a place near us and Dad said it would take too long to order in. We had Chinese, though, there was a little place a few streets away that was great. Pizza, not so much."

T-Dog scoffed, mouth full with another piece of food. "Where'd you live? Antartica? Pizza is everywhere."

"Well, I think there was this one place, but Dad didn't like it. Something about an asshole who worked there." The child replied. "But we lived just outside of Atlanta, 'cause Dad said it was good for work."

"What did he do?" Glenn looked as if he regretted asking the question the moment it slipped from his mouth, but it wasn't as if he could simply take the words back in. Faye answered the question without faltering.

"He was a photographer." She said. "He always said that he didn't want to be so close to the city that when he had to drive out it'd take forever, but not so far the other way round. Thinking about it now-" Thinking about it now, Faye thought he just never wanted to leave the house behind because her mother had chosen it. The thought of this made her heart ache and she abruptly stopped. Maybe Glenn should have reeled the words back in anyway. "We just stayed there."

Just in time, before any awkwardness from her slip up could begin, T-Dog perked up and grinned, offering his plate back to the girl who put it in the next tray. "Cutie at eleven o'clock!"

Faye frowned. She hadn't seen this side of T-Dog before. It was amusing, but unexpected.

"Oh no," Glenn grimaced when the man began walking over to her. "I better make sure he doesn't make an idiot of himself. See you later, Faye."

"Bye."

And so her tedious morning continued on.

One Week Later

Faye made sure not to stand on the twig in front of her foot. The snap would have alerted the squirrel Daryl had apparently spotted, and she wasn't going to accept the unimpressed look that would have been sent her way. The hunt was a few hours on by now, but the girl could easily sink into the peacefulness of it. It always seemed that the forest was calmer than the prison, despite the fact she was killing its inhabitants. She told herself it was for the good cause, that is was justified.

Eyes flickering sideways, she say Daryl raise two of his fingers and indicated left. Faye followed his line of sight with the crossbow, careful not to hit the tree in front of her. The hunter was right, as always, and the squirrel stood on a high branch.

The child pushed her hands up, lining the arrow up with the animal's skull. Her arms began to ache and shake a little with the effort of holding the heavy weapon at such an angle. Before she lost her line of sight again, Faye fired the bolt. The creature had no time to react before it was hit through the neck, dying almost instantly.

Daryl stood straight after being crouched down. "Would've been through the eye if ya hadn't held it on so long."

"Huh?" She frowned.

"Ya took too long aimin'," He replied. "And ya ain't strong enough to hold it for that long yet. Shoulda trusted ya instincts – aim and fire, no questions asked."

Faye scrunched her face up. "I still got it."

"Ya did. I ain't teachin' you no half-assed huntin', though." Daryl said, taking the lead past the few trees between them and the squirrel. The girl quickly followed him, watching her feet as she tried to replicate the man's soft footsteps without tip toing.

Pulling the strap over her head, Faye pushed the crossbow onto her back before she stretched her arms out, the weight being off them feeling nice. "Can you show me how to throw a knife?"

"Any old idiot can throw a knife."

"Can you show me how to throw a knife properly?"

He replied as he reached up and grabbed the end of the bolt, taking the animal with it. "We'll see." The man looked from the branch to the shorter child before shaking his head a little. "Need to get you some greens, get you taller."

"Well," Faye began. "Carl's spending way too much time farming, I'd hope they get somethin' soon."

Daryl smirked and the pouting child.

"What?" She said, crossing her arms.

"Nothin', nothin'." He shook his head before regaining a more serious expression. "Let's set some traps and get going."

One Week Later

After one of the woman's longest trips yet, Michonne had eventually returned. She had greeted everyone, and Faye had hugged her despite the slight reluctance she had received from the contact. Soon after, the two had retreated to the woman's cell – only once Faye had showered the horse, now named Flame, with unconditional love.

Michonne seemed to have a constant look of amusement as the child attempted to keep up with the faster sit-ups she was doing. "You've gotta use the muscles in your stomach more." She said, pulling herself up once more before sinking down to the floor.

"I'm fine." Faye denied as she struggled up once again. Despite her denial, Michonne had insisted on a pillow being placed under head, since she kept coming down and smacking her head on the floor in the process. "I'm like a well-oiled machine."

The woman chuckled. "'Course. I apologise."

"Damn right. I am a strong person." Faye said, ignoring the heavy breathing coming from her mouth.

"You are, are you?"

"Yes." She replied firmly, turning to the woman as she sat up, only to get the pillow thrown in her face. In surprise, she gave a little yelp and held her hands behind her to stop herself falling over. The features of her face scrunched up as she huffed in annoyance. In return, a smile grew across Michonne's face, showing off her surprisingly white teeth.

She shrugged. "Seems like an easily defeated strong person."

Faye quickly recovered, a smirk changing her expression. Picking up the pillow herself, the girl took her own little battle stance. "I'll go down swinging!"

With a war cry – which swiftly descended into childish giggles - Faye lunged forward and hit Michonne as hard as she could with the pillow over and over again. It totally did not make her arms ache. "No fair!" Michonne protested from chuckles. "There's only one pillow! I can't fight back!"

She merely grinned and gave her best evil laugh. "All's fair for the wicked!"

The woman attempted to regain her breath, but gave up when Faye hit her in the face. "That's- that's not the right quotation!"

"I don't need quotes!" She shook her head, ignoring the mistake with another whack of the pillow. "I have the power!"

Michonne finally reached out and grabbed the cushion, stopping the child from hitting her another time. The girl's pout was cute. "Okay, okay, I admit defeat, you win." She coughed a few times, although she still had a happy expression. "Damn, my lungs hurt."

With a victorious cry, Faye pumped her fist in the air. "I am the champion!"

Another smirk already emerged on the woman's face. "Not in sit ups though." Just to prove her point, Michonne put her hands and did another one of the exercises, making it look easy. The girl quickly moved to join her all over again, but she finally raised her hand to stop the girl. "That's enough. You don't want to strain yourself. If you pull a muscle Daryl won't let you do anything more than chores. And he'll shoot me with that crossbow of his."

Faye frowned. "You're boring."

Feigning a hurt expression, the woman put a hand on her heart. "How very dare you!"

It took Faye a moment to realise the look was fake, pulling a confused face of her own before giving into the giggles once more.

Later in the day, Faye was sat with Carol doing the usual chores. The washing they had done was finally all dry, and the various piles were now being folded. Personally, the girl didn't see much of a point in folding clothes as they would just become wrinkled again the next day but Beth and Carol always insisted they did it to give a sense of normalcy. Faye thought it was a load of bullshit, and a waste of time, but she might have been biased. She would much rather be reading comics or helping out on the fences. Walkers wouldn't kill themselves.

The blonde teenager herself was sat with Judith, the three of them forming a triangle. Judith was currently playing with a couple of toys, not particularly paying attention to much else.

Carol looked up and smiled. Turning to see who she was greeting, the child exaggerated a suspicious look. "Hello again, my arch nemesis."

"Hello to you too, Birdy." Michonne smirked, nudging Faye with her leg as she stood by her.

Faye tilted her head slightly. "Haven't been called that in a long time." She thought she'd grown out of it a little, but apparently not. Either way, it didn't really mean as much to her as it used to. The nickname had meant she'd been accepted a bit more, but now it just seemed like a fond memory.

"It's about time we brought it back." Carol said, but the girl shrugged in response.

Ignoring the adults exchanging confused look at her subdued response, the child continued going through her pile of clothes. If they were making her stay in, away from the sun and people she could annoy, she might as well get on with the job. Picking up the next piece of clothing, Faye lifted it up to work out how to fold it as neatly as she could. She found herself staring at a pair of boxes. "Ew, ew, ew!" The girl instantly threw the underwear across the room, almost hitting Michonne in the leg as she did so. "Ew!"

The adults immediately laughed, Beth, too, chuckling at the sight. Judith paused with her toys, looking around at the other girls in an almost amused confusion. She soon continued playing. Carol's chuckles died down as she spoke. "Don't get it mixed up, the point is to keep them together."

"Ew." Faye shook her hands in the air. "Ew. Seriously. Ew."

Michonne crouched down next to her with a sly smirk, ruffling the girl's increasingly over-grown hair. "I forget how cute you can be."

Shoving the woman's hand off her head, Faye straightened her hair out again before crossing her arms. "I'm not cute, I'm fierce!"

She raised her eyebrows. "Someone fierce could pick up a pair of boxers."

"But, that's where, that's a guy's," Faye stuttered, blushing a bright shade of red. The child was far too awkward for a topic like this. "That's where a guy's, that's a guy's place!"

Once again, the women began laughing at the child's attempts. Faye avoided their gazes, an annoyed expression crossing her face as she instead looked at the ground. "Shut up!"

Carol laughed, shaking her head as she continued folding her own pile of clothes. "A guy's place, that's exactly what it is."

"I know what it really is!" Faye said loudly, careful to stop herself snapping at the woman. That'd just get her scolded. "I'm just not saying it!"

Beside her, Michonne moved from her crouch to the floor and laid her katana behind her on the floor, crossing her legs. She leant back on her hands as she spoke. "You've never had 'the talk', have you?"

"No…" The girl trailed off. "I don't think my Dad was keen."

A moment of recognition crossed the other girls' faces. Faye didn't mind, it wasn't necessary for them to remember things like that. It wasn't important, for them, at least. Carol gave a small grin. "Well, I think we can change this."

Faye blinked. "What?"

"No time like the present." Nodding, Michonne agreed.

Faye's face became blank. "Nope."

"'S gunna have to happen sometime, Faye." Carol continued.

The girl stood as she spoke before slowly turning around. "Nu-uh."

Sensing what the child was about to do, Michonne reached out to grab the child before she darted off. Faye, fortunately, was quick enough and jumped out of her reach before running away from the scene. "Get back here, girl!" Michonne called.

"Faye's a free elf!"

Beth giggled at the younger girl's exclamation, and Michonne raised an eyebrow, shouting out a reply. "Since when could you quote things properly?"

The child, however, was already out the cell door.

Carol shook her head. "Since when did she read books?"

One Week Later

A few metres ahead of Faye walked Maggie and Glenn, conversing as they made their way to the fences. The two were stood side by side, hands just brushing. The girl lifted up her own, staring at her fingers.

The edges of her nails had dried blood stuck to them. Nightmares had woken her up the night before, and, unable to force the images out of her mind, she had picked at her fingernails until they bled. The pain hadn't even registered in her brain; too busy recalling the deaths behind her eyes. Faye likely should have been worried about walker blood mixing with her own, resulting in her hand having to be chopped off, but it had dried. And she'd be wearing gloves, too.

Faye lowered her hand again before jogging up to join the couple. She gave the usual smile as they turned their heads towards her. "Heard you're joining us today." Maggie said, returning the look.

"Yeah," The child replied, sounding oddly mature. "Doing something different since people are gettin' taken on the run."

Glenn nodded, saying the usual line the adults gave her whenever she was doing something even vaguely important. "Just stay in our sight, alright?"

"I will. It'll be fine, there's a fence between us and the walkers." Faye said, before letting the two of them continue whatever conversation they were having before.

It was only a minute later that the fences finally came into their sight, and the three of them stopped mid-step.

The build up overnight had walkers lining the fence in large groups, barely spread out. The pressure on the wire must have been huge, and the few people already fighting them off were nowhere near sufficient. Faye guessed the run would have to have a much smaller party after all. Glenn was the first to move. "Come on," He urged. "If we keep letting them pile on the fences are gunna come down."

Now jogging, the three's pace suddenly changed as they hurried down, grabbing an apron – gloves, too, in Faye's case – and a weapon. Faye didn't even notice the one she grabbed. They were all sharp, they would all do the job. Did it matter which she chose to kill with?

It didn't take long until Faye was face to face with a walker, snarling harshly at her. Its face was marred, and the deep scratches down its cheek looked almost as if a dog had dug its claws into it. Or someone desperate was trying to save themselves. From the way its teeth were stained red, the girl guessed they probably lost the fight.

Not wasting any more time contemplating the fate of the dead man reaching for her, Faye shoved the spike through the fence and into the walker's eyeball, twisting the weapon as it drove through the skull. The body fell and the swiftly moved onto the next one.

It was going to be a long day.

Three Weeks Later

"I'm bored." The boy fixed his glasses. "And uncomfortable."

"Dude, you're the one who wanted to sit on the floor."

He pulled a face. "I'm too tall to sit on the bed."

"Stop growing then."

"Easy for you to say, you're tiny."

"Hey!" Faye protested. "I just haven't had a growth spurt yet, you giant."

Patrick sniggered. "Hold on, let me get some cold water for that burn."

"Yeah, ha ha, you think you're funny, wise guy. Just wait 'till I bring out the big guns." She replied leaning her head against the wall. The two were hanging around in Faye's cell, waiting for Carl to arrive after his usual day on the farm with Rick. Faye was sat on her bed, lolling on the wall lazily. She hadn't had more than a few hours of sleep in the past couple of days, and the dreams that met her when she managed to nod her off were enough of a deterrent.

Patrick laughed. "You make it sound like they're you're muscles."

The girl held up her arms, looking from one side to the other. "I have muscles."

"No, you don't." He replied. "You're too small to have muscles, all skin and bones."

Faye frowned when the boy brought up his own arms. "No, I'm not! I've got bigger muscles that you, at least."

"What are you two doing?" Carl stood in the doorway with his eyebrows raised, looking very confused. Faye crossed her arms and pouted. "Patrick's calling me a weakling! And short!"

The boy grinned and stepped into the room, shuffling on the bed to sit next to Faye. "Well, you are the smallest here." He said as he did so. Faye hit his arm, but it didn't stop his wolfish grin. "And I think it's pretty obvious I'm the strongest here. You two can be my sidekicks."

"Sidekicks?" Faye scoffed. "I'm clearly the heroine in this trio."

Patrick shook his head, an amused look adorning his face. "You have to be tall to be the superhero, which makes me the winner here!"

"Superheroes don't have glasses. Not when they're saving people, at least." Carl said, now sat shoulder to shoulder with Faye. "I could easily beat both of you in an arm wrestle. I win. I'm the hero."

Looking between the three of them, the girl laughed. "How many times have we had this conversation now?"

"Too many." Patrick replied. "You two see the new guy today?"

Faye nodded. "Yeah, Daryl told me, 's name's Bob. Glenn and him found him by himself on a road."

"Sounds weird." Carl said.

The other boy shrugged. "Isn't everyone?"

"He's an army medic, apparently. Well. Was an army medic." Faye added. "Could end up being useful and help Dr S."

The girl liked Dr S. Or Caleb, but Faye preferred calling him Dr S. That sounded fancier.

"I guess." He sighed, the conversation dying down for a moment. Patrick then started a conversation with Carl, and Faye let them talk between themselves. She was too tired that day.

Slowly, the girl leant more heavily on the boy beside her, and he didn't react to it. Sleep wasn't something she looked forward to, but the sounds of the boys' voices were soothing – simply just knowing they were there. Her eyelids where just beginning to droop when she saw Patrick stand up.

"Well, my legs are going numb and I'm bored of third-wheeling with you two, so I'll see you later Sir, Miss."

Patrick was weird, he always called them that. Before he left, Faye just caught him smirking at the younger boy who, in return, glared back. The girl shrugged as he exited through the door.

Carl then turned to her. "You alright?"

She leaned her head on his shoulder, avoiding his gaze. "I'm just tired."

The frown on his face turned from annoyance to concern at her vague reply. Faye never told anyone directly of her bad sleeping habits, but the people closest to her knew. Carl always knew. "You didn't sleep again?" At the shake of her head, he continued. "Nightmares?" He already knew the answer, but the lack of reply confirmed his assumption.

Carl sighed before pulling his arm out from under her head and wrapping it around her shoulders. Without needing to be told to do so, Faye shifted closer to him. "You can sleep now, I'll wake you up later for dinner."

"I don't wanna sleep." She grumbled. She also didn't want to admit why.

The boy hugged her a little closer. "I'll keep the nightmare's away, alright? I'll wake you up. Promise."

Humming a reply, Faye allowed herself to relax against him, unconsciousness claiming her minutes later.

Author's Notes:

And so the break is done! S4E1 next chapter! I'm excited.

So, this is a little catch up for the two months I had left over when all my plans were done, and I didn't want to leave them completely empty. Also, having Chapter 50 was a good round number.

There were some amazing reviews from last chapter, and I thank you all and apologise that I'm a bit too shy lately to reply personally to you. But, honestly, they mean a lot and make me smile when life gets tiresome. God, that last bit was depressing. Cookies for all!

I'll see you soon!

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

Thanks.

Cobalt Flame.