I got so lucky! As soon as I posted yesterday my internet went out because of the storm. Good timing! Thanks for reading! =)

Chapter Fifty

Sophia watched the blood drain from her mother's face. She was sure she hadn't looked that pale since she had been sick. Her skin looked ashen, like she was on her deathbed. Sophia knew what her mother was feeling because she was pretty sure she looked the same way.

Dead.

The way Buck had delivered the word seemed to chill the air around them all. It was said with such nonchalance. Like he had just told them that the man had gone off on vacation.

"Dead?" Carol asked in a strained voice.

"Fuck," Daryl muttered running a hand through his hair.

A chill brushed across the back of Sophia's neck as she realized that if Buck or any of the others had done something to the man, it was because she had handed him to them. Damon and Piper had gone on the hunt and managed to find him but they hadn't done what Sophia had. She had actually talked to him. Gotten his address. Made the call to Buck. She had helped them kill someone.

"Carol, don't freak out until you know the whole story, okay? Just listen-" Daryl began but Carol shook her head.

"You killed him," she stated flatly. "He was going to testify against Daryl and you couldn't let that happen and you killed him." This was to Buck.

Buck shook his head. "That ain't how it all came to happen, okay? You need to hear the story."

Sophia glanced at Damon, who was staring at his plate. That was why him and Piper had been so secretive. They had known that as soon as they found the man that he would be killed to keep Daryl out of prison. And they hadn't told her. They had let her believe that Buck and some of the others were just going to scare the guy into keeping his mouth shut.

She stood up at about the same time her mother did.

"Carol, can I talk to you?" June spoke up suddenly.

Carol looked at the woman and then shook her head. "No. I think I need to go."

"Go? Just wait a minute, alright. Let somebody explain," Daryl said, standing with her.

Her eyes turned on him. "He was a threat and so he was taken care of. I understand. I just... I'm gonna go home."

"What the fuck do you mean, home? To that apartment?" Daryl barked.

June stood up then. "Carol just listen."

"Sophia, let's go," Carol said as she walked by quickly.

Sophia would have probably argued with her if she wasn't so stunned. But the truth was, she needed to get out. She needed to think. She needed to come to terms with the fact that there was a man out there dead somewhere and it was partially because of her. She felt like Damon and Piper had set her up. Betrayed her. Her own boyfriend and the best friend she had ever had, someone that was like a sister to her. But that wasn't right either. She had been eager to help them. They had tried to keep her in the dark and she hadn't let them. Then again, if she had known that there was going to be a murder involved then she would have gladly stayed as far from the situation as she could.

She had wanted to help her mom. She had wanted to help Daryl. She felt like she was a part of this family. And now she felt like she had that man's blood on her hands. Sure, he had been a total creep but had they had to kill him? Did his life not matter as much or more than Daryl's freedom had? She was getting very used to the way things were around here but this was too much.

She followed her mom towards the door but someone grabbed her arm. She looked up and Damon was staring down at her. "Can you just let me explain?"

She shook her head. "I'll talk to you later, okay..." She pulled her arm away from him and walked away, unsure if she really was willing to talk to him later. Or ever again. The thought had her whole heart hurting.

~H~

She pulled Sophia out the front door, leaving the dining room full of stunned Dixons. As far as she could tell, no one followed her or Sophia. The rain was still coming down in sheets but she didn't even hesitate before pulling Sophia down the steps and towards her car. Her mind was spinning and her heart felt heavy. How could Buck look her in the eye and say that the man was simply dead? Why would he say it so calmly? It was like a mans life meant nothing. Was this the kind of lifestyle she wanted for her child? For either of her children? A world where human life meant so little. So little that it could be discussed around the breakfast table with the whole family? And she wasn't stupid enough to think that Dave had died of natural causes. He had been killed. Killed so he couldn't testify against Daryl.

"Carol!"

She turned and watched as Daryl hopped over the porch railing and jogged towards her. She didn't want to talk to him right now. She just wanted to go back to her apartment where it was quiet. She wanted to think.

"Goddamn it, would you listen to me for a fucking second?" He yelled once he made it to the car.

She was about to open the door but he moved in front of her so she couldn't get to the handle. "Daryl, just let me go. I'll be back. I'll call you. I just don't want to be here right now.

"Sophia, get back in the house," he said, his voice raised over the rain. They were already soaked.

Sophia took a step towards the house, looking as stunned as Carol felt. Carol glared at him. "Sophia, get in the car."

Sophia turned to head back towards the car.

"Sophia, just get back in the damn house!" He barked.

Sophia turned again, looking between the two of them. "I'll just go wait on the porch until you're finished. Is that okay?"

They both nodded and she sprinted for the porch, just as Damon stepped out the front door. Carol looked up at him. "Daryl, get out of my way."

"You ain't leavin' outta here all half cocked like that. You don't understand."

"Did you know?" She asked suddenly.

He blinked rain out of his eyes and shook his head. "I didn't at first, no."

She shook her head. "But you did know. You found out eventually and it never occurred to you to tell me about it?"

"I didn't know the whole fucking story! I still don't. All I know is, Buck went to talk to him and then things happened."

"As in, your father killed a man," she said flatly.

"Just calm down and hear him out, alright. You can't just get all bent outta shape and leave like that. You gonna take off on me every time a skeleton jumps out of my closet?"

"Have you killed people?"

He threw his hands in the air. "Goddamn it, get back in the house. You're getting soaked!"

"You aren't my boss, Daryl, remember? You don't own me," she snapped, blinking rain out of her own eyes now.

"No but half of that is mine and I ain't lettin' you catch pneumonia just because you're wantin' to stand out here and argue," he said, pointing to her stomach.

She pushed her dripping hair out of her face and then finally stormed past him towards the house. He was right. She didn't need to stand out there and argue with him. She didn't need to get sick. Not right now. Not after only being better for a month. "Fine, I'll hear him out and then I'm leaving."

"Whatever you say," he grumbled, following close behind her.

She stormed up the porch steps and into the house, ignoring the argument that Sophia was having with Damon. When she made it to the dining room the others were still there but Buck and Merle were nowhere to be seen.

"Garage," Piper said, nodding towards the door off the kitchen that led out to the garage.

Carol didn't say a word. She left them all staring after her, all except Daryl. He was hot on her heels. Buck and Merle were there, at the far end, and it looked like they were in a heated debate. Buck noticed her first and he shut his mouth quickly. When Merle turned he sighed heavily.

"You okay?" Merle asked, knowing that she would be bothered by all of this.

"No." She met Buck's steady gaze. "I want to know how you could do something like that? You know how happy I am that Daryl's walking free but at the cost of another man's life? A man that had family and friends and a future? You may have a lot of authority around here but you can't just go around playing God. You shouldn't get to pick and choose who lives and who dies."

Buck kept his eyes on her even after she was finished. She hadn't realized how loud she had gotten until the room grew quiet. "Are you finished?" He asked, raising a brow.

She crossed her arms over her chest, partly out of outrage and partly out of trying to conserve her body heat. The garage wasn't very warm. "Yes. I just want you to tell me why."

"Sophia," he said calmly.

Carol glanced at Daryl but his eyes were on Buck, ever hopeful that the man could defuse the situation. "Sophia? That man didn't even know Sophia," she argued.

Buck nodded. "He didn't know it was Sophia. See, we tried to find him when all of this first happened. And all we were going to do was scare him out of testifying. I was gonna talk and he was gonna listen and that was it. But that ain't how things came about."

"What does she have to do with Dave? She never met the man," Carol argued with a shake of her head.

Buck nodded. "Damon and Piper found Dave for us. The younger people associated with this club have a lot to prove. Especially if their last name is Dixon. So those too worked the younger scene until they finally got a lead. When they did they took off on their own, with Sophia in tow. They drove to South Carolina and scoped out the area he was suppose to be living."

"And they found him," she stated, feeling a little ill. They were just kids. Kids that went on a manhunt and drove across state lines.

"They did but they couldn't figure out where he was staying. I needed an address. That's when Sophia decided that she was going to approach him. Damon hadn't wanted her to do it but Piper egged her on. She met him in a park and acted like she was interested in meeting up with him. He has a thing for young girls so he gave up his hide out right away at the prospect of getting Sophia at his place."

"Oh my God," she breathed.

Buck sighed. "Damon was close. She wasn't gonna get hurt, even though I blew my top when they first told me what had happened. Trust me. But at least I was able to have that talk with Dave. So I drove out as soon as Sophia called with the news. Mind you, he thought he was meeting your daughter that night."

"I think I need to sit down," she muttered, feeling a new kind of chill. Without missing a beat Merle grabbed her under her arms, lifting her easily and sat her down on the workbench. She took the jacket that Daryl offered her. From the look on his face, he didn't know this part of the story any more than she did.

"I busted in. He hadn't been expecting me, of course. Me and him got to talkin' and I noticed that he kept looking at a door off the living room. Every few seconds his eyes would dart over there. I had Randy check it out. Randy found a bunch of shit we hadn't expected to find. He had everything he needed for when Sophia showed up that night. Handcuffs. Roofies. Other drugs. Duct tape. Randy found this old Polaroid camera hid way back in the drawer. Found pictures. A lot of pictures. Girls that looked even younger than ours, knocked out and cuffed to the fuckers bed. All of'em naked and posed all fucked up. I thought, what the fuck woulda happened if it hadn't been Sophia in that park? What if some other little girl had met him instead? I lost it."

"Jesus Christ," Daryl muttered, his face pale.

Carol shivered but it wasn't from the cold. "And then you killed him?" She asked after the silence stretched on.

Buck nodded. "I did. If you'd seen those pictures, you woulda begged me to kill him. I have no doubt. And you might think less of me for it but I don't regret it either. Truth is, some lives matter more than others and every now and again, a man ain't got no damn choice but to play God."

She met his eyes again, a knot of anger forming in her gut. She was angry at her daughter, first of all, for even thinking of putting herself in a situation like that. And she was angry at herself for not even knowing her daughter had been doing this to begin with. And she was angry that she felt a deep satisfaction knowing that the scumbag wouldn't be doing anything like that to any other children. "I'm so sorry," she muttered, shaking her head.

Buck shrugged. "You thought I went and killed some guy just to get Daryl outta trouble. Can't blame you for getting pissed at that."

She shook her head. "I can't believe she did that. I really can't believe any of them did that. What am I going to do with her?"

Merle snorted. "Have you seen what the fuck I have to put up with? Sophia just wanted to help. She wanted Daryl out of jail and she wanted you to be happy. Piper did that shit just cause she's got a point to prove. She's tough. Damon did it cause he probably thought he'd be able to get the first blow in on the guy. Sophia ain't a bad girl, Carol."

"Why didn't you two tell me any of this?" Daryl asked. So far he hadn't said much.

Buck shook his head. "No sense in it really. It's done and over with now."

"You think those assholes that showed up here today were doin' shit like that too? You think they rape teenage girls?"

Buck and Merle shared a look but it was Buck that spoke. "Sex trade."

Daryl made a face. "What?"

"They run a club of their own. It's dirty but it's far away from here. I didn't know Dave had kin there. From what I learned, they're into some nasty shit. It's all about profit."

Merle nodded. "Don't make much sense why they would risk comin' here. They ain't a big club. Not like us."

"Do you think that's what would have-" Carol couldn't even finish the sentence.

"We don't know. I didn't ask," Buck said, shaking his head. "I couldn't figure out why the hell Dave was hangin' around here if he had a club of his own. I did some diggin' and from what I gather, he wasn't a member of that club either. He had kin on the inside but nobody would give him a chance. He thought if he could dig up a little dirt on us then they would give him a shot. He was just another Ed."

Merle spoke up then. "We've got eyes on that club. We'll know if they think about retaliation."

Daryl growled. "Well, if they show up again I'm gonna-" He glanced at Buck, Merle and then Carol. The looks they were all giving him gave him pause. "Then I guess I'm gonna watch somebody else take care of them cause I'm a responsible adult and can't get my goddamn hands dirty," he finished glumly.