Somehow in his blind rage he hadn't managed to find Rick until Beth was already with him. Daryl slowed his pace and looked at the two. Their conversation was barely above a whisper, but her melodic voice cared, soft and calm. She looked on him standing in the door of Rick's cell and smiled. It lit up her face and he couldn't help but feel less tense about everything. He didn't understand how she could be so calm.
"Daryl," Rick nodded at him "Suppose you're here to talk to me about what Beth just told me."
"Where's the girl?" He couldn't leave it to chance. The people here where too trusting. They might have just let her go with a stern look.
"Carl is with her. I locked them both in my cell." Beth told him. Her back straightened, he realized she was expecting his challenge.
"You do realize she's dangerous right? She tried to kill you! And you're just putting her in time out?"His voice was shaking and he tried to rein in the emotions that were flooding him. He had always been a hot head, but being a hot head hadn't gotten him anywhere in life. His life hadn't taken up meaning until he had calmed down and started helping this group, his family.
"I don't think Beth is underestimating the threat. I think we need to remain calm and think about the best course of action here. We should have the council talk about it." Rick stated in an assured way that drove him absolutely insane.
"Fuck man, Half of the fucking council is in the room! You can make decisions about who you banish until it comes to a direct threat from a little girl and then you want to wait?!" He could feel the heat on him and his muscles were twitching with contained anger.
"You need to calm down." Rick was stern. He had his cop face on. Unfortunately Rick had become less scary to just about everyone after he lost it with Lori.
"You need to man up and make a decision."
"I've made a decision and its final." His eyes flicked towards the blonde. She stood defiantly, unafraid of his rage. He examined her, lean body, soft curves, the gentle curls in her blonde hair.
"You?"
"Me." Her tone was starting to become biting and while it was annoying for some reason Daryl was finding it invigorating. Not a lot of women had ever challenged him. Rick started to get antsy, Daryl could see him shifting in his stance. The situation was becoming too much for him. Wouldn't be long before he called in Hershel and Sasha.
"And what's that? Singing and babysitting her blood lust out of her?" Daryl was seething and it wasn't about Beth. It was about how achingly familiar this girl and her little sister seemed to be to Merle and him.
"She's going to be sleeping in my cell from now on. So is Mika. I think they would do well under some supervision and with some love and care."
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." He declared. Rick made to make a comment but he was quickly cut off.
"I'm more than capable of handling this." She sounded so confident. He could hear his heart beat in his ears.
"You're more than capable of what? Caring for a infant and two little girls. You're just a child." The instant the words came out of his mouth he wished he could sweep them back in like one would do with some dirt on the front porch. Beth's eyes dropped and then when she met his gaze again she was glaring. He had never seen this look on her before.
"I think Daryl is right." Rick's voice was rough and he didn't make eye contact as he moved to sit on his bunk. "I think you would be run ragged trying to control Lizzie and care for Judith and Mika. You barely get enough time to yourself as it is."
"I'm not letting anything happen to Lizzie. She's confused and a little off balance but I'm not letting anyone do anything to her unless we try everything first." Beth's voice was strong and Daryl watched as her arms came to cross over her chest.
"I agree with you."
"You can't really agree with us both." She sniffed pointedly. "We're on different ends of the spectrum here."
"I think that's a good thing actually. I think we should move you into the larger administrative offices Beth. There's still a lock on the door and you can lock her in if need be, but Daryl is right. You can't do it all by yourself." Rick ran his hands through his hair and then met his eyes. "Daryl should help you with this. His different view point will help keep you vigilant and that way you can both be happy."
"I'm ain't going to be happy with some babysitting gig Rick."
"I'm trying to compromise with you two. I'm not saying babysit. I'm saying you could help her out at night. So everyone can get some peace of mind. You could go about your day and be in the room at night so that you could keep watch over the situation. Think of it like being on guard duty. You being there would help reassure me nothing bad was going to happen to Beth."
Daryl considered it. It wouldn't be the best thing but he supposed it was a fair compromise. Moving in to a room with three girls might wear on him fast though. Beth was alright to deal with and the recent spark in her was encouraging but the little girls were something else. He had never been much with kids. Never had wanted to and he didn't think too much of them. He figured he owed it to Carol though, giving those girls a chance. It was the least he could do.
"I'll do it." he agreed glumly. Beth's face lit up and she was in front of him before he knew it. Her hand was sitting on his arm again. She was trying to be sincere but her physical touch was enough to send him into a state of panic. He could barely concentrate on what she said.
"Thank you so much for this Daryl! I'll get everything on my end set up. You don't know how much I appreciate it." She practically skipped out of the room. She was impossibly optimistic for a girl that had just signed herself up to live with a tiny girl bent on hurting her. He couldn't help being the least bit envious. He couldn't remember the last time he had been so damn joyful about anything.
"So other than the disaster with the knife how's you think she did?" Rick asked. Daryl knew the man valued his opinion. If he told him Beth wasn't going to be good for the job she'd be taken off teaching duty for good.
"She did way better than I thought she would. She's got a knack with kids."
"She's just a people person. She's good with just about everyone as far as I've been able to see, but you're right the kids seem to respond to her real well. With one exception."
"That exception is dangerous. She's not right in her head Rick. I don't know how all this attention is going to fix that." He was more than a little apprehensive about having the Lizzie girl around anyone, especially Beth and baby Judith because they represented such hope for their group. If something were to happen to either of them Daryl knew about half the prison group would be overwhelmed with grief.
"We have to try Daryl." Rick coaxed and he knew the man was right. They had to try, but the sinking feeling in his gut said the price of failing would be extremely high. It may be a price none of them were prepared to pay.
"Not staying in a room full of girls forever." His growl apparently wasn't as intimidating as it once was because Rick just smiled and patted his shoulder on the way out of the cell.
The world had never been easy, especially for Daryl. In fact he was inclined to say that the world ended had been the best thing to ever happen to him. Before all of this happened he was given every reason to lose all his hope and all his faith. He had a mother that drank herself into a stupor so deep even a fire didn't wake her. He had a father who liked to beat him for kicks. He had a brother who almost never came home unless it was to cause trouble. He had no steady job and nothing stable in his life.
All of these things had made him especially weary of people. It hadn't been until he met Rick that he had begun changing and even still he liked the quiet. He liked separation. Separation meant nobody got too close, no one got to see all of him, and if no one saw all of him they couldn't hurt him. So he knew the next days, weeks, months, were going to be difficult. He didn't like shared space and sharing it with girls and a woman, it was going to test him.
When he went to check on the room Beth was moving them into later in the day he was surprised to see her decorating. Mika was sitting on the floor playing with a stuffed animal that Beth had probably asked for on a run in the recent past. Lizzie was sitting on a bed with Carl by her side. Her face was set in a scowl even though he could hear Carl talking to her about all manner of things. Beth was humming something that seemed familiar, but music felt lifetimes away. He cleared his throat and all the heads turned towards him.
"Daryl!" Beth's voice was overly happy. She approached him and turned back to the kids. "Everyone this is Daryl Dixon. I'm sure you've all seen him around especially after this morning. You should introduce yourselves."
Mika looked suddenly shy but smiled a tiny smile and waved her little hand at him. Lizzie didn't even look at him. Daryl was glad. He was still furious with her.
"Hey could you help me with something?" Beth lowered her tone. Her voice was suddenly intimate. He studied her waiting for her request. "Can you help me hand a few things on the walls? Mika has been drawing and I wanted to hang them with something and then I have this thing," Beth gestured to the days without incident sign that was propped up against a couch, "I need some nails to hang it, but obviously I don't have those sitting around."
He thought about telling her that it was stupid to hang anything and that it would be a waste of time and energy, but he figured it had been a long day and that arguing with her or anyone else could be put off for another day. Plus she had been through the most this morning, not him, he would have to keep reminding himself of that.
"I think I can find some tape around her for the drawings and the nails should be laying around C block somewhere. I'll ask Rick about it."
"Can you take Lizzie and Carl with you? Might do them both some good to be collecting things. Gives them a job, something to focus on."
Daryl wanted to groan but he settled on giving Beth an incredulous look. "Come on. I can't just keep her locked in her all day. She needs to feel like she's doing something just like any of the rest of us do."
"Fine. I'm leaving right now though, so she has to get her shit together right this second."
"Lizzie," Beth called. The girl turned to look at her and the expression on her face made it seem as though Beth's face was bringing her physical pain. "Come here. Please."
The slim girl rose from the bed and walked towards Beth with some sort of concerted effort that made Daryl want to roll his eyes.
"Daryl needs you to go with him. I'm trying to find some nails and some tape. Can you go and help him find them?" Beth was being downright sweet to the little girl and it made Daryl sick. The girl deserved to be yelled at, not coddled.
"Are we gonna see any walkers on the way?" Lizzie asked, her tone suggested some intent, to do what Daryl wasn't sure.
"I don't really know. I don't think you will."
"I want to go see them. At the fence. I always get to see them." Her voice was edged. She was worried. Worried about being separated from the undead corpses. Daryl was absolutely disgusted.
"Not today." He replied curtly. She stiffened at his response.
"You can't tell me what to do." She was on the verge of hysterics. She looked straight at Beth. "neither can you. You aren't Carol. Carol is the only person I have to listen to."
Daryl had heard enough.
"You want to know something? I know Carol. I know her damn well and I know she would be fucking ashamed of how you're acting. You don't talk to adults the way you're talking to them. You're lucky you even have anyone trying to care about you." He watched her flinch at his words and then he grabbed her arm roughly. "We're going to help Miss Beth and you're not going to argue anymore. Carl come on. You too." He called and with that he started to practically drag the girl down the hall.
"Be safe." Beth called after them. He knew she was saying it so Lizzie could her that she was worried about her. Beth was sweet but she was also trying to get through to the girl and if it meant being a tiny bit manipulative she had obviously decided that it was worth it.
"We will be," Carl called back. Daryl wondered how much Carl understood about the situation. He was surprised to say the least when the boy came right up on the other side of Lizzie and took her hand gently in his. Where Daryl was rough with her Carl was trying to be civil. Daryl dropped the girl's arm. He knew that Carl could handle it. Knew it because he was seeing how the boys right hand was gripping his knife where it hung from his waist. He was ready to strike if need be, but until then he was going to try to be as nice as possible. It was a strange combination, but Daryl found himself liking it.