It's raining! This makes me extremely happy so here is another chapter! =) Thanks for reading!

Chapter Twenty Nine

Daryl came around then so he could look down at Ed. Before Carol could pass him he stopped her. He knew Ed was watching. "Did he touch you?"

She shook her head, her eyes filled with tears.

The site of them had his stomach turning sour. He wiped one away with the pad of his thumb. "Go ahead and take them both to the garage, alright? I'll be there soon." He pushed a spare key to the back door into her hand.

She nodded and then her and Sophia were hurrying out of the room. He watched them go and then he picked up Piper's phone from the desk.

"You get all that?" He asked, knowing that Buck was listening and most likely seething with anger. This was a delicate situation and he knew they had to handle it with a level head. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't kill Ed tonight and neither could any of the others.

"Yeah, I heard it. Bout gave me a fuckin' heart attack. I'm on my way. Randy and Odin are with me. Put her on the phone before she makes a mess."

Daryl held the phone out to the girl. She glared at him but finally she removed the knife from Ed's throat and shoved his head forward before stepping away from him.

"There, I let the bastard live," she snapped into phone.

Daryl came around to stand in front Ed, who was in the process of standing up. Once he was standing on his feet again his eyes landed on Daryl. "You act like you know my wife."

Daryl smiled but it was cold. "What'd I tell you? What's yours is mine, Ed. We've already met a few times."

"You... have you slept with my wife?" Ed choked, his hand going to his throat and his fingers coming away slick with blood.

"What did you do to Sophia? You might as well be honest now cause my niece is gonna fill me in."

"He tried to feel her up! I saw it!" Piper shrieked.

Daryl looked at her, nausea swirling in his stomach and anger causing his pulse to throb behind his ears. She still had the phone to her ear.

"Like I said, you never said a damn thing about me not disciplining my own kid," Ed said, trying to sound apologetic. "If I had known..."

"You think touching your own blood is some kind of form of discipline?" He felt like gagging. He could only imagine how Sophia felt. "Have you done this shit before?"

Ed shook his head. "The girl's lying. I didn't-"

Daryl swung without thinking, the blow landing solidly against the already damaged jaw. Ed bellowed in pain and stumbled. Daryl clenched and unclenched his fists, breathing deeply as he tried to calm himself. He wasn't used to the restraint. It was difficult. "My niece ain't a liar. You know what you did and you're gonna tell me right now if you've done it before."

Ed shook his head, holding his jaw. "No," he groaned, leaning forward as the pain brought tears to his eyes. If Damon hadn't broken his face earlier it was sure as shit broken now. He sat down heavily in the desk chair, apparently too wracked with pain to stand anymore. What a pussy.

Daryl didn't believe him and he felt his control slip. He took a step forward but stopped when someone else stepped through the door. Buck eyed him and shook his head. He must have been at the garage when Piper called him. Ed heard the sounds of heavy boots and looked up and Daryl wished that he had been recording this moment. Ed took in the four newcomers and made a pathetic terrified sound. Between Buck's massive size, Odin's murderous look, Merle's barely concealed rage and Randy's mangled face the four made one hell of a spectacle. Any one of them were scary enough on their own but when those four went out together it looked like they stepped right out of the gates of hell. Piper stepped back into the room but Merle grabbed her around the waist, threw her over his shoulder and stalked out of the room.

"I gotta say," Buck growled as he took a seat on the side of the bed, leaning closer to Ed who was still slumped in the chair. "I'm kind of ashamed that the likes of you ever stepped foot in my garage." Daryl watched Buck carefully. There was something brewing in his eyes. He could see it.

Ed's face, what little of it wasn't bruised up already, drained of color. "You don't understand! That isn't what I was doing. It may have seemed that way but all I was gonna do was teach her a lesson. That's it. I wasn't going to- to molest her!"

Randy looked at the floor and then scooped up the belt Ed had dropped when Piper had kicked the back of his knee. "With this?"

Ed looked up and cursed under his breath. "That was just to scare her is all. I don't understand what the hell you were doing in my house anyway."

"My house, remember?" Daryl grinned even though it was forced. "Came to pay your wife a visit."

Buck leaned down in Ed's face. Ed looked like he was trying to put his head through the back of the wooden slats to get away from him. Buck took his time, eyeing the man. "You know, I usually don't do this. Usually I wouldn't bother but... I think you got potential."

Ed blinked in surprise and stopped trying to cower away like the whipped dog that he was. Daryl watched as Odin and Randy shared a smile. "What?" Ed whispered, hope filling his voice. Daryl couldn't believe how incredibly stupid this man was.

Buck stepped back. "Get up."

Ed did as Buck said as fast as he could, glancing between all of them eagerly. It made Daryl sick but he trusted Buck and he knew that the man was going to make Ed pay. He was just going to bide his time. Sometimes these things took time. Especially things like this.

Buck stood there silent until Ed was shifting on his feet. "You forfeit."

Ed blinked. "I what?"

"Your wife. Your girl. They're gone. If she wants the house, it's hers too. You got a problem with that?"

Ed searched his face but Buck was dead serious, huge arms crossed over his broad chest. "What does that mean?"

"That means we'll give you another shot but those girls are gone. Understood? You wanna put up a fight then your chances of becoming one of us is done and you lose them anyway. What's your choice."

"Take them!" Ed said eagerly. "If I can get another chance then take them."

Daryl felt even sicker. But he still trusted Buck. If Buck still wanted to keep this asshole around then there was a reason behind it. Daryl had a feeling he knew the reason and he was having a hard time keeping a straight face. They didn't let men get away with doing the kind of things Ed would have ended up doing. There was a code. And since him and Carol were... whatever him and Carol were, meant that Sophia was officially, in the eyes of the club, Daryl's responsibility in a way and Daryl would be the one to dole out whatever punishment he saw fit. Buck wasn't handling it just yet, but Ed's time was coming.

All of them looked over their shoulders at a sound coming from the window. Daryl's heart sank when Damon appeared. He had never seen so much hate on another human's face, especially not this kid. But it was there. It was like he didn't see Daryl at all. He didn't see Buck or Randy or his own father either. All he saw was the threat. And he was the one that had to handle the threat. He crossed the room in just a few long strides and it all happened so fast that no one knew what the hell was going on until it was almost too late.

Damon reached behind him when he was just a foot away from Ed. Daryl saw it then but couldn't even move. Ed was shoved viciously against the wall. Ed opened his mouth to either say something or to scream but he didn't have a chance to do either. Damon shoved the barrel right into Ed's mouth, so far that the man gagged.

Daryl realized then that it didn't matter what him and Carol were. Damon was the man that had to handle this. The kid snarled and pushed the barrel in deeper. If someone didn't do something soon he wasn't going to have a chance to shoot Ed. He was going to put the gun barrel right through the back of the man's throat. Ed coughed and gagged and a stream of blood dripped down to his chin. Man, that shit had to hurt something fierce...

~H~

Carol wasn't sure what to do once she got to the garage. It was empty when she got there so she took Sophia and Piper up the back stairs and into Daryl's room. Even Piper had stayed quiet during the ride there. She was in the back seat and Carol could hear her frantically texting someone. Once she had them inside she turned.

"What did he do?" She asked, unable to keep her hands from shaking as she looked at Sophia. She was pale and shaking herself. Her arms were wrapped around herself tightly.

Sophia just shook her head, looking at the floor.

"Tell her, goddamn it!" Piper snapped, causing Sophia to flinch.

"Piper!" Carol snapped back. "Give her a minute. You're not helping."

Piper crossed her arms over her chest. "He was touching her. And he leers at her all the time. It got so bad last night that Damon came over to make sure Ed didn't come in. That's why he looked like shit all day. He didn't sleep. You can ask him. She may not be able to tell you but I will."

Carol was stunned into immobility. She felt like there was a weight on her chest, pressing the air out of her. Sophia sat on the edge of Daryl's bed, looking down at the floor. A million questions ran through her mind but she wasn't sure how to voice them. She sat down next to her but didn't touch her. She was afraid to touch her. She thought that maybe Sophia was in shock and the least little push would send her flying over the edge. Carol felt the same way.

"Sophia..."

"He hasn't done anything, mom," she said in a hushed voice.

"What happened? When did it start happening? Has he-"

She shook her head. "He just gives me this look sometimes and I feel like he wants too. It makes me sick."

"But he's never..?" She couldn't even form whole sentences.

She shook her head. "Nothing like tonight. If Piper hadn't been there then I think he would have..."

"How long has he been doing that, looking at you like that?" She asked, her throat closing and the bands around her chest tightening.

She shrugged and looked up. "Years," she whispered.

Carol looked away, dropping her head as her mind tried to wrap around these new facts. How could she not have seen that? What kind of mother was she?

"I'm gonna go wait downstairs," Piper said, her voice quiet. "I'm sorry, Sophia, but she needed to know."

Sophia smiled weakly and nodded. "I know."

Carol couldn't stand the pain that laced her daughter's words. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked, unable to hold back the tears any longer.

Sophia just shook her head. "I don't know."

The sound of feet running up the stairs had them both looking up sharply. Carol was surprised when June barged in, her eyes wide.

"Damon isn't here?" She asked breathlessly, her dark eyes scanning the room.

Sophia stood up then, life returning to her eyes and color flooding her face. "He's suppose to be at home."

"Oh shit," Piper mumbled from behind June.

The heavy silence that filled the room had them all looking towards the window.

I know that it seems to be taking forever to deal with Ed but I promise, it is going to happen. I feel like a cat with a mouse. I want to toy with him first. He has a bit of humiliation to suffer before anything else =)