"You let this happen! You filthy fuckin' mick! Go look at her!" Merle's voice was the first thing she heard as she woke.

"Stop." Murphy's voice was low and deadly.

"No! Fuck you!" She could hear the rage in Merle's voice. "I left her with you! Ain't you supposed to be the "good guys" judging me an my brother. I ain't never let her get raped!" He was roaring now and she heard a the sounds of grunting and shuffling.

The sounds faded into the background as her head began to pound, "let her get raped" she was raped at lest twice, she could still see the shadows looming over her as she lay helpless. Her ears began to buzz but underneath she still could hear the screaming and yelling. She forced herself to sit up, she was wearing a big baggy white tee that smelled like Merle. There were dark black bruises all over her legs and arms, her feet were bound in gauze, her face felt swollen and she couldn't see out of her left eye.

She could hear the voices just outside her room, no, not a room, a cell, looks like they made it to the prison after all. She shuffled towards the commotion.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Emily?" Daryl's voice brought him out of his angry haze. He stopped punching Murphy, who after the initial blow to Merle's face, had barely put up a fight. Connor was on his back trying to restrain him with Daryl on his back doing the same. All four men jumped apart when they noticed the girl standing quietly in the doorway.

Em had on one of his white tees, she was so small now that it hung on her like a baggy sack.

"What do you care?" her voice was strained and scratchy as she stared Merle straight in the eyes.

He swallowed down the lump in his throat. She didn't wait for his answer instead looking down at Murphy who was on his knees looking up at her. His face was nearly as swollen as hers, blood and snot dripping down his nose, tears streaming from his eyes, the cut she gave him on the hand was bleeding again judging by the red bandages.

"I know why you did it." she swallowed wincing as she did so. "I knew you would pick Connor."

Murphy let his head drop a sob escaping him. Merle almost felt sorry for him.

"I forgive you..if it had been my sister…." she let out a long shuddering breath. "but I can't see you anymore. You go or I go." finally the tears came and Merle wanted to punch Murphy again.

Connor took a limping step towards her and she immediately stepped back, "No! Stay away both of you." with that she shuffled back into her cell.

Merle looked at Daryl, "I'll go." Daryl nodded at him and went after Emily. He could see a strange look pass across Beth's face and for a second he thought she would go after Daryl but instead she spun on her heel and walked in the opposite direction.

"Well," Officer Friendly finally spoke up pushing himself off the prison wall where he'd been watching the four men fight. "I guess that adds to our little dispute."

Merle snorted, who was staying and who was going, what started the argument in the first place.

"If Emily leaves I'm goin' with her," he looked Rick in the eye, "And you know Daryl's comin' with us."

"No," Connor cut in, helping his brother up from his knees. "The only reason we wanted to stay was for Emily to get better." He looked at his brother who's eyes still hadn't lifted from the floor. "Emily has made it clear how she feels about that." Murphy nodded at his feet.

Merle felt the fight go out of him, who's fuckin' fault was this mess anyway - all of theirs - and Emily had paid the price, for once he couldn't beat something till it felt better.

"We need to get the others from Woodbury." Merle addressed Connor, "Without the Governor their sitting ducks and you two can get your shit and head back up to Boston. That was the plan righ'?"

"What happens to Em." Murphy choked out.

"I got 'er." Merle set his jaw. "I won't fuck up this time."

"Tomorrow," Connor let out a deep breath, "We get what we need from Woodbury, help you bring them here and be gone."

Rick let out a sigh, "These people any use to us?"

"They's got a doctor, some farmers but some kids and old folks too." Merle shrugged, Officer Friendly may have gotten a whole lot harder since he last met him but he weren't heartless, he'd take in those people.

Rick shook his head, "Alright then. You all agree?"

The rest of the group nodded, just like Merle knew they would.

"I need to see Em." he rubbed his face and headed towards her cell, a rock in the pit of his stomach.

XXXXXXXX

"Em….Emily." Daryl's soft voice came from the doorway..

"Stay away." her voice was hoarse and her throat ached with every word.

"I….Merle's going to come soon, he's…" Daryl stepped in and she squeezed her hand around a pencil she'd found on the floor near her cot. He stopped a couple of feet away from her. "He ain't going to go away. He ain't goin' leave ya."

"I'll make him." she gripped the pencil tighter.

"Hell Em, I'm sorry. We shouldn'ta done you like we did. It's always been us two, we get what we can, don't give a shit 'bout nobody and nobody give a shit 'bout us."

"Smart." she whispered.

"Yeah smart." Merle's gravelly voice sent a shiver down her spine. "We survive. Daryl, Rick and those Irish boys might need your input little brother."

"Sorry Em." Daryl mumbled as he ducked out.

"We need to talk." Merle moved a chair in front of her and sat down.

Em felt a rage build inside her, talk - what the hell did they need to talk about? He didn't give a fuck about her. No one did, not even her. She didn't want to talk, she wanted to go outside and kill those dead fucks that killed her sister and if any guy wanted to talk to her she would kill him too. She wanted to kill until something managed to kill her back and give her some peace.

She raised her and stabbed at Merle with the pencil.

XXXXXXXXX

Daryl went out for a smoke when he didn't find Rick or the brothers where he left them. He was worried about Emily. There was something wrong with the way she looked at them, a glassiness to her eyes that wasn't there before.

"Did you sleep with her too?" Beth startled him.

"What?"

"You and Emily."

Daryl rubbled his face, "It's not like you think."

"So yes." she turned to walk away from him

"Yes." he chased after her, "but she's Merle's." he pulled her arm spinning her to face him. "It's…..we all had a deal…alrigh'…..I ain't proud…just….I told you how it was with women before. She's Merle's, it's her and Merle. I ain't a part of it no more."

"How?" Beth shook her head. "How could the three of you….it's disgusting."

"Don't do that ta Em." Daryl shook his head. "She did what she had to ta survive. We took advantage."

"Your defending her?" Beth searched his eyes. "Do you care about her?"

"Yeah Beth, I care. I ain't heartless just fucked up." he looked away, unsure about how much to tell her. "She's fucked up too…just different. If her and Merle hadn't clicked maybe we would have." He looked Beth in the eye. "But they did click, almost from the beginning of our little deal and I found you, ain't been anyone else since. That's saying a lot for me Beth."

"I don't know what to think anymore Daryl. It keeps getting worse, now there's a woman here, who's been through hell and back and you and your brother have had threesomes with her and her boyfriend is some other guy here, who looks like you, with his brother and who knows how that went." She turned away in frustration.

"No! Stop! Weren't no threesomes…fuck." he kept her from leaving again,dragging her around a corner bringing them both into a large alcove. "It wasn't no fuckin' orgies or whatever the fuck ya thinkin'. It was like she was datin' both of us and she clearly liked Merle better." he paced in front of her. "And those brothers! I ain't got a fuckin' clue what happened 'tween the three of 'em but" he stopped in front of her "they ain't the type. They looked down they noses at me and Merle right from the beginin'."

"Can you blame them?" She asked in a steady voice.

"No but I can blame them for gettin' 'er raped. We may be shits but we took care of 'er."

"Well they'r leavin' so I guess you three can go back to "datin'" she put quotations marks in the air with her fingers at the last word.

"No," Daryl stepped up to her, ignoring her angry scowl. "She's Merle's girl, she's always been Merle's girl."

"Merl's girl you have sex with." Beth narrowed her eyes at him.

"Merle wanted to prove…after everythin'…..he wanted to prove I meant more, that it was still just us, but it ain't…and ….I just didn't want to think. That's how it's always been Beth, Merle had Meth and I had sex. It ain't the same no more, not for either of us. Ain't been anybody since you."

"You never said this before."

"We didn't talk all that much but I watched you. I know you and I'm waitin', I can't change nothin' 'bout who I was or what I done." He ran the back of his hand across his lips and flicked the half spent cigarette at the concrete wall. "I gotta go find Rick. Em could use a friend, she ain't right Beth, she weren't right before and she's worse now I think." he turned and left her, not daring to look back, there were no secrets between them now.

XXXXXXXXXX

He saw her coming a split second too late, he jerked to the right and the pencil she had gripped in her fist sliced the skin on his left shoulder sending her toppling forward into his arms. Merle flipped her around into a bear hug as she thrashed around, her skinny legs kicking as she screamed at the top of her lungs.

He wasn't even angry at her for trying to stab him, he relished the feel of her body in his arms at last.

"What the hell is happening here?!" Rick's form filled the doorway for a second before Daryl pushed him aside and ran in.

"Your bleedin'!" His brother gasped his eyes round as he took in Emily squirming in his arms.

"Yeah," he laughed, he couldn't help it, she'd finally snapped and she was a bad ass bitch. "She tried to stab me."

"Fuck." his brother breathed out his wide eyes moving from Emily to him.

"We need to restrain her." Rick squeezed in to the cell. In his arms Emily let out a growl that sent the cop two steps back.

"I got her." Merle shook his head, "she's pissed at me. Leave 'er be an it'll be fine."

"I'm not taking that chance with my people." Rick shook his head his eyes glued to the wildcat Emily.

"Fine then, Officer Friendly." Merle laughed again. "Get us a cell big enough for the two of us and you can lock us both up together. I'll stay with 'er 'till she settles down."

Emily screeched kicking his shin painfully. He clenched his teeth and held on tighter, sitting on the bed he brought his legs around hers to restrain her more fully.

"Not sure that's a good idea Merle." his brother tried to catch Em's eyes but she was thrashing her head back and forth.

"I got 'er brother and you got the brothers and Woodbury." He nodded at Daryl before jerking his head back to avoid getting his nose crushed by the back of Em's head.

"For fucks sake." Rick threw his hands up, "You," he pointed at Daryl, "take care of their honeymoon suit and meet me and the McManus brothers at first light. We need people I agree with that but we don't need this." he gestured to Merle and Emily. "Get it together."

XXXXXXXX

Daryl was tired as hell, heart, soul, and body. He managed to clean out an office in their cell block. He boarded up the windows, got a couple of cots together and stripped the place of anything pointy. He just got his brother back, he didn't want to lose him just yet.

When he was done with that, he talked to Rick and the Irish and figured out their plan for searching the bodies in the woods (night vision goggles and weapons should not be left lying around) and getting Woodbury up to date on who their leader really was and make the offer to come to the prison, it was up to them if they wanted to refuse, might be good to have two separate communities.

It was well past dark when he checked on his brother and Emily in their new room. Em was fast asleep on the bed and Merle was sitting up next to her, running his hands through her hair, untangling it gently.

"Gave 'er something to sleep." he grumbled looking up at his little brother. Daryl nodded, it was the first time he'd ever seen Merle go out of his way to care for a female.

"You gonna be alrigh' with 'er." he pointed his chin at Emily. She looked so small compared to the last time he'd seen her, she was thin and pale and she looked almost like a child laying curled up on the bed.

"Yeah, she needs to get it out. She'll be fine."

"Don't think so." Daryl disagreed.

"No, I guess not." his brother laughed. "She's bat shit, but you know, I like 'em a little spicy." he wagged his eyebrows.

Daryl laughed with his brother, ""night Merle."

"Night."

He was half-way up the stairs to his perch when he hear her whisper.

"Daryl."

Beth was at her cell door, she bit her lip and then beckoned him with her head. It took him all of two seconds to get back down the stairs and into her cell.

Once inside her little space he was at a loss. Now what? Was she going to yell some more? He would take her yelling, it was better than the cold shoulder. Was she going to ask questions? He was less thrilled about that, she wouldn't get answers that made her happy, he could only fall in her eyes, he…

His thoughts stopped dead when he felt her soft lips on his, "Beth?" he put his hands around her waist pulling her closer.

"Shhhhh," she whispered against his lip, "I need to see." he lost himself in kissing her. This could be the last time she let him touch her, he wouldn't waste a moment.

Too soon she pulled away, "OK," she took a long shuddering breath, "I...I need to think."

He let his forehead rest against hers for a few moments, "I'll be waitin', Beth." he dragged himself up to his bed, he had a long day ahead of him tomorrow and some sweet memories to fall asleep to.

I'm very drugged up on Benadryl, please forgive any typos and misspellings :-)