The next evening saw the council gathering for their bi-weekly meeting. Every Tuesday and Saturday, in the Library, Hershel, Glenn, Daryl, Sasha, Maggie, and Carol sat around a circular table and discussed issues in order or importance. Today, Daryl sat backwards on his chair, resting his chin on the top of the backrest.

Zack had regained consciousness two hours after Hershel had examined his leg and decided it was a broken femur. Carol had helped clean him up and disinfect his other lacerations, as well as bandaging his head. He was currently resting in a bed in the infirmary, with 'nurse' Beth attending to his every need, such was her concern at his condition. The young boy was no longer in any doubt as to her feelings and was secretly quite thrilled, though still weak and in pain.

They discussed the arrangements for upcoming scheduled runs and set out routes which ensured the greatest chance of uncovering the supplies they needed most. Daryl noticed Carol was unusually quiet and subdued.

Late the previous night he had called by her room to retrieve his jacket. He found that she'd cleaned it up, removing every trace of blood, stone still in his pocket. He then transferred it to the left inner pocket, near his heart. It reminded him of her and those eyes of hers for some reason.

After thanking her, he'd checked if she was coping after the scare with Zack. At that point she confessed that she too felt a sense of unease, she shared his feeling that something bad was looming.

He studied her profile now, whilst Sasha discussed her proposal to post a lookout in a second tower around the clock. Carol was looking down at her hands and seemed lost in thought. She was wearing a black sweat top and skinny charcoal jeans tucked in her boots, her knuckle knife resting on the table in front of her. Suddenly she looked up and caught him in the act before she averted her eyes again. He shifted in his chair and turned his attention back to Sasha.

Glenn and Maggie had noticed and a knowing look passed between them. Sasha finished speaking and everyone agreed to the plan.

"Now." Hershel spoke in sombre tones. "We need to discuss something, which we have talked about before, but the situation isn't getting any better." He looked around the table.

"Rick." Glenn said with a sigh.

Carol wished she had skipped this meeting. She didn't want to have to discuss this.. The others suggested strategies to try to bring their leader back to normality, all of which had been tried over the previous weeks.

"He's drinking," Carol blurted out without thinking, mainly to stop them going over and over the same points, their repeated strategies hurting her brain. They all stopped and looked to her.

"This is what I feared."Hershel had genuine sadness in his voice. "When?"Carol kept her eyes on the table. "He had a bottle of bourbon just after the run left yesterday morning. Came out in the yard while I was washing. Luckily none of the kids were around. He was swigging from it on an empty stomach. I tried to talk to him but he was more self pitying than ever."

Hershel took in the information. "When I was drinkin' and feelin' sorry for myself, I'd be a vile son of a bitch. Did he….I mean, was he a nasty drunk?"

"No, he wasn't violent or nasty." Carol shrugged. "Quite the opposite." Daryl's intuition kicked in just from the tone of her voice; she was upset about something. "Whaddya mean?" he asked, still using the tone of voice he reserved for her but his eyes narrowing.

Carol sighed and resigned herself to having to tell them. They had to confront this spiral Rick was in. "He was slurring and swaying, so I told him to go lie down in his cell. I took the bottle from him but he was worse for wear so I helped him back inside. When we I got him back there he cried on my shoulder and hugged me, apologising. Then, I think, he kind of went to kiss me." She pulled at the sleeves of her jumper miserably and rested her head in her hands, unable to face their reactions. She felt almost embarrassed herself, uncomfortable at having their attention focused on her.

Maggie put a hand to her mouth in shock.

"What?" Daryl tilted his head as though he hadn't quite heard, but the anger was clear in his deathly calm voice.

Immediately thinking the anger was directed at her, she raised her head almost scared to look in his eye, afraid the most important person in her life was mad at her.. "Maybe I panicked and maybe he wasn't going to. It happened so fast….and….I just remember he put a hand to the back of my head. He pulled me towards him and he leaned in so I jumped back….."

"What?!" Daryl exploded, but Hershel put a hand on the younger man's broad shoulder, keeping him in place.

Hershel exhaled. "You did the right thing telling us. Now we need to decide how to approach it."

"Nah," Daryl slapped the table with his hand, the sound making everyone jump then shrugged off the old man's grasp and jumped out of his seat, eyes ablaze. "You talk all you want, I'm gonna go sort this shit out." He strode out of the room and Glenn pushed his seat back quickly and followed.

In the corridor, Glenn shouted, "Daryl, wait! You can't go in all guns blazing, you could make things worse."

"Worse??" Daryl spun round, furious. "Worse?! She's upset, you can see that." He pointed wildly in the direction of the library. "He can't do shit like that, man! What if he'd pulled that shit on Maggie?! Huh??!"

Glenn stuttered, "Well, I'd….I'd…."

"Uh-huh." Daryl shouted as Hershel appeared to try to calm the fire burning in the hunter he had come to consider almost a son. "Or Beth??" He asked shifting his attention to the old man. "What if she'd been takin' Judith in to him, he turned on the tears and next thing, he's lunging at her? It ain't alright and it ain't ok and I ain't standing for it. Treatin' him with kid gloves ain't workin'!!" His shouting got significantly louder and he punched the wall as he turned and stormed off.

"Oh shit." muttered Glenn. "Maybe Daryl is right, maybe Rick needs a confrontation?" He looked around hopefully at his father in law.

Hershel leaned against the wall. "Maybe," he stroked his grey beard, "Maybe a good talkin' to will bring Rick back to his senses. Or maybe it all blows up. I don't like how angry Daryl is. He has a heart of gold but he's not exactly diplomatic. Especially not where," he mouthed her name, "Carol is concerned." The old man glanced back towards the Library. "Go find Daryl, son. See if you can keep things in hand. I'm gonna go make sure they're ok in there."

Glenn nodded, gulped, and took off down the hallway.

Hershel returned to the room, where everyone had heard the exchange in the hallway.

"I'm sorry," Carol said in a whisper pulling at her sleeves. "I shouldn't have said anything." She felt terrible, and so tired of constant worry.

Maggie grabbed Carol's hand. "You have nothing to apologise for. You were trying to help a friend. Rick was out of order!"

Sasha nodded, "If that'd been me, he'd have come away from it with a black eye."

Carol pulled her mouth into an attempt at a smile and looked to Hershel.

Hershel had sat back down heavily and ran his hand over his face. "Like I said before, you did the right thing. Can't keep things like this to yourself. And I know how far Rick could sink in his current state. My wife had to lock me out of our bedroom at times, when I was in the grip of it. That's something I will always be ashamed of."

Maggie spoke, "Should we stay here or…? It's just, I don't know how great Glenn will be at calming things down. I've never seen Daryl so mad."

"I imagine, if it goes badly, we'll be able to hear it from here." Hershel remarked calmly, placing his warm hand over Carol's.

Silence fell over the library.

Glenn struggled to catch up to Daryl. His pace was like a bat out of hell. The hunter burst through doors leading to the Library and out to the main courtyard. "Hell's Rick?" He shouted to Ty who was playing a form of basketball with some of the older kids.

Ty held on to the well used ball. "In the generator room last I saw." A silence fell as the kids looked from the obviously angry man to their play companion. "You ok?" Ty enquired.

"I'm fine," Daryl spat as Glenn ran up and pulled at his arm.

Glenn was breathing hard. "Just take a second and clear your head."

Daryl yanked his arm and said nothing as he stormed onward to the other side of the prison. He wasn't totally sure if he was more angry at Rick's behaviour, that it had involved and upset Carol or that she hadn't told him about it the night before. He did know that he was about ready to pummel someone into the ground. The red hot anger sizzled through his veins and his teeth ached from grinding his jaw together. He pulled open the door nearest the generator room and it bounced off the opposite wall with a bang.

Glenn stood in the yard, slumped his shoulders slightly and resigned himself to following. A confrontation was happening whether he liked it or not. He gave Ty a nervous look which the larger man returned as he entered the building an gently closed the door.

Rick was bent over a large control panel in the abandoned room when Daryl stormed in. His eyes were red and he appeared to have sourced another bottle of liquor from the look of him and the smell. He produced a litre of Tequila from behind the telephone. Daryl stormed over and grabbed his friend by the shirt collar.

"Wanna drink?" Rick slurred, oblivious to the angry redneck grappling with him, "No glasses. You'll have to swig it straight from the bottle. Don't think I got cooties so you should be ok." He seemed to find this funny and dissolved into laughter.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Daryl felt the flames of his anger rise, his fists clenching Rick's stained black shirt. He wasn't a volatile loose cannon as he had been in the years gone by. The past few months had taught to him to think first, act later but the red mist was forming over his head and he felt powerless to stop it. "You selfish fuck!" He didn't care what he said or how he said it.

Rick had lost control, why should he keep a level head?

"Selfish?" Rick repeated in disbelief. "Selfish? Me?" He drank from the bottle and pushed Daryl away. "I risked my marriage to lead you people and I'm selfish??"

Daryl started pacing to try to avoid punching Rick. He was trying not to fly off the handle, Dixon-style, "You think you're the only one with problems?" He pointed in Rick's direction, his arm swaying with the excess adrenaline rushing around his body, "Your marriage was shit cos of your own damned best friend and your wife! You think you're the only one who lost somebody they loved? We all have man! Every single one of us on that council, so DO NOT give me that bullshit!!"

Glenn entered the room, surprised that no punches had been thrown. Rick laughed to himself and drank again. He mumbled something about Tweedle Dum and Tweddle Dee.

Glenn spoke as Daryl seethed and paced beside him. He could feel the heat of rage coming off his friend in waves. It was like standing next to a furnace. "We just need to talk this out. Calmly."

"Why don't you all just leave me the fuck alone?!" Rick sneered and gave them both a withering look before he turned away, placing the bottle on the desk.

"Not what you were sayin' yesterday when you was cryin' on Carol's shoulder and tryin' kiss her!!" Daryl pointed at Rick in fury.

"Oh ho," Rick chuckled, nodding to himself. "That's what this shit is really about." He shook his head in disbelief and drunkenly fixed his blue eyes on Daryl. His beard had grown longer and was flecked with grey. His face looked haggard and he'd lost the clean cut look that he'd had back at the camp. "That's why you come stormin' in here like someone shot a rocket up your ass. It's because Carol told you I made a pass at her." He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Listen, let's just put that to one side," Glenn tried nervously.

"Shut up Glenn," Rick said. "Daryl has a problem with me," He gestured to the younger Dixon, "So me and him will thrash it out."

Daryl pointed his finger again and moved towards his friend. "You're a fuckin' asshole! You're the one with the problem. You can't go around gettin' drunk and upsettin' people! You can't go tryin' t'kiss whoever you damn well please!!"

"Says the petty thief who spent all his time followin' his good for nothin' brother around, drinkin' and harrassin' people all day long," Rick shouted. "You we're gonna rob that camp blind at first, you ain't no goddamn saint!"

"You think you can treat people like shit cos you're grievin'! This ain't about me! I ain't a fuckin' creep. You are!" Daryl narrowed his eyes, moving closer to his best friend until they were chest to chest.

Rick leaned in to Daryl's ear and whispered, "I think the only person around here who is upset is you. You're mad that I have the balls to make a move on her. Who said it was only cos I was drunk? Maybe I've always had my eye on her, just like you. Only you're too pussy to do anythin' about it. Woman like that ain't gonna wait around too long for you to get your shit together."

Glenn moved toward the pair, anticipating trouble as Daryl stared at Rick, his face expressionless.

"You see," Rick continued quietly, seemingly intent upon poking the bear, "Difference is, I know how to love a woman without being scared. A woman like Carol needs a real man – someone worthy of her."

Daryl made as though to walk away, but suddenly spun and then lunged, punching an unprepared Rick on the jaw. The sheriff wheeled backward, dropped the bottle but recovered and grabbed Daryl, pushing him down.

They rolled around the filthy floor, exchanging blows, Daryl screaming obscenities and threats. Glenn tried in vain to drag him off Rick but he gained an elbow to the face for his efforts.

The commotion brought Ty barrelling into the room and he easily pulled Daryl off. "Lemme go!" Daryl shouted as he struggled against the grasp of the much stronger man. Glenn grabbed Rick and pulled him to his feet. Both men were bloodied and covered in dirt and tequila. "I'll kill him! Swear to God, I'll kick your ass!" Daryl who's eyebrow was bleeding, strained to get at Rick, lashing out with his arms and legs in fury.

"Take it easy, man," Ty soothed in Daryl's ear, struggling against the hunter's movements.. Rick laughed and put his hand to his face, looking bemused to find blood on his fingers. "Least I might be lucky enough to have Carol patch me up…Maybe fightin' over her will turn her on….." He let the implication hang in the air as his eyes flicked to Daryl and he laughed again.

Daryl almost appeared to roar and screamed, "I'll fucking kill ya!" He made to leap forward, thwarted by Tyresse holding him back.

"That is not cool." Glenn said, looking in anger at Rick. "What is wrong with you?"Rick opened his mouth to reply but at that point the rest of the council appeared at the door, plus Michonne and Carl.

"Dad?" questioned Carl, looking from him to Daryl.

"Ah, hell!" Hershel swore, "Haven't you two outgrown this type of thing? You're grown men."

Daryl was still breathless with anger, his sweaty hair in his eyes. "Keep him out of my way or I'll fuckin' kill him." Carol pushed her way over, stood in front of him and put a hand to his injured face.

"Stop this! Come on. To the infirmary. Now." She ordered, glancing over her shoulder at Rick. "You'll have to be looked at too."

Rick tilted his hand and used his tongue to poke at his split lip. He winked slowly at her and Daryl exploded again. He tried to reach around Carol, but failed to realise Ty was still at his back, so he was restrained again.

Carol turned back to Daryl. "Enough!" she commanded, placing her hand on his chest. That touch extinguished some of the fire inside him. Daryl stopped struggling and looked at her. "Please," she whispered her eyes filling with tears. He stopped and looked at the floor, partly to calm himself, partly to avoid seeing her cry, he hated it.

"Rick!" Hershel scolded. "You go to your cell, I'll bring a first aid kit along to sort your face out. Sasha, Ty, Maggie, go round the place and try to round up all the bottles of alcohol you can find. See if we can't get this under control. May have to keep the liquor under lock and key for a while."

He moved to the middle of room, and stared at the two men in turn. "This stops, now!" He pointed to the floor with his hand. "There will NOT be a repeat of this ever again. Y'hear?!"

Daryl gave a tiny inclination of his head, but only after glancing up and succumbing to the pleading in Carol's eyes. Rick shrugged and studied his hands.

Carol ushered Daryl out of the door. Maggie and Sasha exchanged raised eyebrows.

Glenn shook his head. "Why'd you bait him like that?" he asked Rick.

Rick shrugged again, "Cos it's easy," he slurred and followed Hershel out of the door.