Chapter 8 - All rise

That same evening, things had heated up again with Merle's arrival back at the apartment.

Initially, he'd been cowed and apologetic, but it didn't take long before Andrea's temper sparked his own and they were shouting at each other in the living room while Tahlia sat on the sofa with her head in her hands, hoping that this would fizzle out soon so they could get on to discussing the facts of Merle's case.

"I still want to fucking KILL you for not telling me about this, but what I really, REALLY can't get my head around, is the fact that you didn't think to tell Tahly!" stormed Andrea as she paced back and forth in front of the ranch slider.

Merle glared at her. "Already told ya! I – "

Not bothering to let him finish, Andrea planted her feet and fisted her hands in her hair. "She's a fucking criminal defense attorney for the top law firm in town! What the hell is WRONG with you?!"

"What fuckin' good would it – "

"Alright, alright!" Tahlia stood and held her hands up before they could start going around in circles again.

"I know you're upset, Andie, as you should be – " She arched a brow pointedly at Merle. "But what's done is done and I think we should just let all that lie for now and instead see where we can go from here. Now, I really need to hear Merle's side of things, so if you think you can stay quiet for a little bit and let him talk, take a seat. Otherwise… can you please give us a minute?"

Opening her mouth to take another stab at Merle, Andrea then thought the better of it and shook her head.

"Ok. I'm gonna just… fuck. I need a drink."

As Andrea strode to the kitchen, Tahlia gestured for Merle to sit on the armchair, and she perched on the nearest edge of the sofa.

"Lay it on me, Dixon."

Tahlia's easy manner quickly defused Merle, and he chuckled, then nodded.

"Sure thing, sugar. I'll tell ya. And maybe I shoulda ran this all by ya weeks ago, but just don't see what good it's gonna do. Already signed that plea bargain sayin' I'm guilty and I'm gonna do time. Only thing I'm waitin' on is findin' out how many years the judge is gonna slap on me come Tuesday mornin'. My lawyer says aggravated battery's a damn serious charge and coz of my record I should count myself lucky if I get anythin' under seven."

"It is serious." agreed Tahlia, giving Andrea a nod as she pressed a double bourbon into her hand and then passed one to Merle before moving to the furthest corner of the couch and curling up quietly to listen. "But so is seven years in prison. If that's what you're up for, then I want to be sure that it's justified. So, tell me what happened."

"Well," admitted Merle. "That's part of the problem. I was pretty fuckin' wasted that night so my memory of what went down ain't the best."

Despite that, with careful questioning, Tahlia managed to extract enough pieces from Merle to put a decent picture together, and it looked like this:

At the end of Merle's dealing days, a run had gone bad and he came under fire for it along with Len, a hot-headed, cocky guy who'd always rubbed Merle up the wrong way. If it hadn't been for a couple of stupid calls that Len had made, the whole mess could have been avoided, and Merle told their boss as much, which dropped Len down to the bottom of the pecking order, while Merle jumped in on a few dangerous, undesirable jobs to redeem himself. Things between Len and Merle remained caustic even after Merle had extracted himself from the scene and cleaned up his act, and in the near three years since, Merle had had a few run ins with Len (volatile every time), but for the most part, had tried to avoid him and leave all that behind, for the sake of his brother.

Then, three months back, Merle was in a bar on the other side of town several pints in when Len and two of his dirtbag mates, Harley and Tony, happened upon the place. They were all drunk, and it wasn't long before Len had picked a fight with Merle, and although Merle's memory was hazy, he remembered arguing and knocking Len's glass out of his hand – which resulted in Merle getting thrown straight out of the bar. Too wasted to think about anything other than just getting home, Merle was walking to the train station when Len and his buddies came after him. The things that Merle definitely remembered were: a lot of shouting; punching and being punched; wielding a plank of wood; Harley bleeding and unconscious on the curb; flashing blue lights; pinching handcuffs. But details and specifics were lost to him.

There were no witnesses, save for the taxi driver who'd driven by and caught sight of Harley lying on the ground while the brawl continued around him, and had quickly driven off and called the cops.

With Harley in hospital, the statement from Len and Tony that Merle had attacked first and had used a piece of 2x4 as a weapon, and confirmation from the security guard at the bar that Merle had been thrown out for being aggressive, it was pretty clear that things weren't looking so good for Merle.

His court-appointed lawyer cast an eye over all of that, took one look at Merle's record (juvenile detention centers; previous incarceration; constructive possession drug charge), and told Merle he was going to prison. His advice: avoid a trial, take a plea bargain – plead guilty in exchange for bail until sentencing and 5-7 years behind bars.

Whether it was a front, or whether Merle had just taken it all in his stride as the inevitable next chapter of his life, he was cheery and nonchalant as he relayed all of this. The only thing really getting him down was the fact that it would probably mean the end of things with Andrea, because, as he said, he 'ain't dumb enough to think she's gonna wait 'round', which then resulted in Andrea getting all emotional and Tahlia retreated to the kitchen to give them a little space as she let it all sink in, a quiet little fire stoked in the pit of her belly.

Merle might have accepted this as his fate, but Tahlia wasn't about to let him slide straight into prison without putting up a bit of a fight.

So.

First things first.

Glad to finally be home after a full-on Monday at the workshop, Daryl was surprised to find Merle lazing on a beanbag outside on the deck, soaking up the last rays of the evening sun, beer in hand, book in his lap.

"Whatchu doin' here? Thought you'd be with Andrea, y'know, coz of tomorrow."

Merle just grinned up at him lazily. "Turns out I got a little more time up my sleeve, so I'm enjoyin' this fresh air while I got it."

"Huh?"

"Tahly had the sentencin' pushed. Bought me another week."

Daryl's eyebrows shot up. "How'd she manage that?"

"Well," declared Merle proudly, "She's representin' me now! Got the other guy kicked off for being an incompetent fuckface – course, she used slightly different terminology – then got me to sign her up, and now the date's pushed back a week to give her time to get up to speed."

"She's your lawyer?!" asked Daryl incredulously. "But ya can't afford her! I seen where she works – probably charges more an hour than you make in a week!"

Merle laughed. "Probably. Anyway, it don't matter. She's doin' it for free. Pro bono, y'know?"

Dropping down to sit on the edge of the deck as he processed this information, Daryl then frowned at his brother. "But… why would she do that? Ain't gonna make no difference – y'already signed that thing."

Merle shrugged. "Dunno. But it feels good to have a fancy ass lawyer on my side, and at least I'll have her sittin' next to me when I get my sentence 'stead of that other asshole who smells like a garbage truck. Now, go get us 'nother beer, baby brother."

Daryl didn't know what was going on.

All he knew was that Merle had been calm and casual about the whole thing at the beginning of the week, then, as the days wore on, had become increasingly tense, tight-lipped and short-fused. Merle spent most nights at the apartment, but when he was home, Andrea was with him and the two off them would brush off Daryl's questions, tell him not to worry, then shut themselves away to talk in hushed tones. And because Daryl hadn't had any contact with Tahlia, he could only guess at what it was she had done for Merle.

She'd given him hope.

Hope in the form of what, Daryl couldn't be sure, but that was the only reason he could conjure up to explain how his brother had gone from relative indifference to tightly wound trepidation in a matter of days.

She must have opened a door to the chance of something so bright and auspicious that Merle could now see how far he had to fall and how much he had to lose if he didn't make it through that door.

One week, one day and five hours was the amount of time between Merle's original sentencing hearing and the rescheduling.

To a man who had been staring down imminent jail time, that time felt like a godsent eternity.

To an attorney that was desperately trying to pull a case together, that time felt like sand slipping through open fingers.

With careless regard for either one, three o'clock on Wednesday afternoon steadily approached, and with mere minutes to go, Tahlia was waiting for Merle outside the court.

Nerves were sparking like live wires inside her, but she didn't show it. Wouldn't.

She'd worked her ass off all week – used her connections, called in favors, pulled out all the stops to get things fast-tracked and lined up for today. And yeah, she was nervous because this case was personal, and if things went bad, Merle could end doing more time inside than he'd originally psyched himself up for. But, if it went the way she hoped, then it would alter the lives of a lot of people that she cared a lot about.

"Sugartits!" Merle boomed in greeting as he crossed the carpark, hand tightly wound in Andrea's.

Looking sharper than she'd ever seen him in a crisp suit and tie, he also looked more nervous than she'd ever seen him, and she knew that his bawdy greeting was only to steel his own nerves.

Hugging her friends, Tahlia led them inside and bowed her head as she waited while Andrea and Merle clung tightly to one another for a long moment, whispered words laden with emotion passing between them.

"You ready?" Tahlia asked Merle gently as Andrea left to take a seat in the court gallery.

Merle fixed his signature wolfish grin on his face. "As I'll ever be."

Running later than he had intended, Daryl hurried into the bright, stuffy courtroom, his eyes immediately landing on Tahlia who was sitting at the counsel table, head bent close to Merle's as she spoke to him in hushed tones. Just then, the judge entered and everyone stood, and Daryl took that opportunity to slip through the people in the gallery and make his way to Andrea's side.

"You made it!" she whispered as they sat down. "I was starting to worry that you weren't going to come!"

Daryl frowned. "Like I'd miss seein' Merle 'fore he goes away."

And he certainly wasn't going to miss the opportunity to see Tahlia in action. Although that part, he kept to himself.

"Well, we'll see what happens." Andrea said, her voice wavering. "Tahly reckons she can…"

"What?"

With a terse shake of her head, Andrea pursed her lips for a moment. "We'll see."

Irked that she still wasn't sharing any information with him, Daryl decided there was no point in pushing, and changed the subject for both of their sakes. "Judge looks pretty serious."

"Sure does." agreed Andrea, grateful for the new topic. "Judge Morgan Jones. Apparently he's got a reputation as a real by-the-book hard ass."

"Shit."

"But… he also runs in the same circles as Tahlia's dad. She's known him for years. Hopefully that works in our favor."

Assuming that Andrea meant Tahlia was aiming to secure less jail time for Merle, Daryl nodded and settled back in his chair as the proceedings began.

After the formalities were out of the way, the judge called upon Tahlia.

"Ms. Wilkins, this was originally scheduled to be a sentencing hearing, but I see that since you have taken over as Mr. Dixon's new counsel, there are newly filed documents that we must first address, the most pertinent of which being the motion to withdraw Mr. Dixon's original guilty plea." stated Judge Jones soberly, peering down at them.

"That's correct, Your Honor." smiled Tahlia, standing to address him. "At the time of my client's guilty plea, reasonable diligence regarding the basic facts of his case had not been exercised, and instead my client was advised that a plea bargain was his only option. Consequently, that attorney was removed from the case on the grounds of ineffective representation. I have since been able to conduct a thorough investigation surrounding the charges against my client and in doing so, have discovered what I believe to be exonerating evidence. As such, I have filed a motion to withdraw Mr. Dixon's guilty plea, negate the plea bargain, and enter a plea of not guilty on the basis of self-defense."

Daryl's mouth dropped open and he shot a questioning look at Andrea, who, with pitched brows, nodded apologetically.

"I'm sorry." she whispered ruefully. "Merle didn't want to tell you in case he got your hopes up. You two had already come to terms with the fact that he'd do time, then Tahly stepped in and started ripping holes in everything and we got all excited that there might be a way out, but if she can't pull this off…" Andrea sighed and shook her head. "Merle just didn't want to let you down."

Daryl caught his bottom lip between his teeth. So, he was right. Tahlia had given Merle hope. A glimpse of a different future. A glimpse of freedom. Shit. No wonder Merle had been knotted so tightly all week. Daryl was glad that he hadn't known all this before, otherwise he would have been all strung out, too.

Like he was right now.

Then Andrea grabbed his hand, gripping tight, and he didn't like it, but he didn't pull away. There was comfort in knowing that there was someone right there that would be surfing those waves of emotion with him whichever way things fell today.

And then everything faded to background noise as Tahlia took center stage to lay out her case.

Firstly, she submitted two separate CCTV recordings from businesses near where Merle had fought with the three other men, and it was clear from both of them that not only had Merle initially tried to stumble away from a confrontation, but that Len was the instigator of the fight. The 2x4 was only wielded by Merle after Harley had whacked him across the back with it, and Merle, after getting up from his knees, ripped it from him and whirled it into a nearby dustbin, before landing a solid punch to Harley's face which sent him flying back onto the curb where he hit his head and fell unconscious. Merle then held his own against Len and Tony as the three fought right up until the police arrived.

It hadn't once occurred to the Dixons to try and find footage to prove Merle's innocence - as Merle had outright agreed it was very plausible that he would have started a fight and tried to beat the shit out of the other guys, and Daryl was still reeling from the fact that evidence to keep his brother out of jail had been sitting in a shop all along, when Tahlia moved on to her next exhibit – Harley's medical report.

Merle's punch had knocked Harley to the ground, but, a doctor agreed, it was the unfortunate landing on the edge of the curb that caused swelling on his brain as opposed to the punch. In hospital, Harley had been placed in a medically induced coma for two days because they had discovered a large and previously undetected aneurysm in his brain, and they wanted to keep his body as stress-free as possible while the swelling reduced so that they could then operate on the aneurysm before it ruptured. Tahlia argued two things on this basis: Harley had an underlying medical condition of which Merle had no awareness, which contributed to the induced coma; and, given the situation, Merle had only used reasonable force to protect himself, thus supporting his claim of self-defense.

And just in case that wasn't enough, Tahlia went on to outline Merle's checkered past and how, with a deck weighted against him, he'd managed to steer himself right over the past few years. There were the anger management sessions he'd attended after his first incarceration (Daryl knew he'd only attended these because he was trying to get into the facilitator's pants); all the NA meetings he'd attended and had recorded on his court card after his drug charge; a signed affidavit from his employer that he was a reliable, hard-working and valuable employee; a similar statement from their landlord saying they were wonderful tenants who took pride in the property; and the significant improvement in his credit score over the past three years.

Daryl couldn't take his eyes off Tahlia as she spoke.

She still wore that smile in her eyes, that easy-going manner, that casual confidence, but she was eloquent, clear and concise, drawing everybody in to such an extent that even Daryl, who knew Merle better than anyone, was half-convinced that his brother was a fucking saint. Blown away by how naturally she owned the room, Daryl was surprised to find that the feelings of inadequacy he'd once harbored were now replaced by a swell of pride for her, so much so that he wanted to nudge the guy next to him and say, "Hey, that kick-ass lawyer? I know her." But he settled for biting his lip and staring at her as she delivered her closing statement.

"Although I'm certain that the evidence alone is enough to absolve my client of any guilt, I wanted to also prove that he has made a valiant effort to turn his life around, which is no mean feat given his early life. As research has shown, the negative after-impact of incarceration, such as the likelihood of increased criminal activity, would only serve to undo everything my client has worked so hard to achieve, and given that he was clearly acting in self-defense, would have no positive impact on him or the community. So, I ask that all charges against him be dismissed."

Judge Jones drummed his fingers on his desk. "You make a very strong case, Ms. Wilkins."

Tahlia smiled and gave an easy shrug. "Just presenting you with the facts, Your Honor."

Judge Jones raised his brows at the prosecution, and the prosecutor sent a dark look Tahlia's way before glancing back at the judge and shaking his head.

"Right." stated Judge Jones as he turned to Merle. "Mr. Dixon, in light of the compelling evidence provided by the defense, I am dismissing all charges against you. You are free to go."

Merle stared at him, open-mouthed. "That it?" Then he turned to Tahlia. "That it?!"

She smiled as she stood up and pushed her papers into a tidy pile. "That's it."

"Ya fuckin' with me? No jail time? What 'bout a fine? Community service?"

"None of that. The charges have been dismissed. You're a free man."

"I'm…?" breathed Merle in disbelief, then he let out a loud whoop and jumped to his feet, scooping Tahlia into his arms and whirling her wildly around, knocking a chair over in the process.

Trying to contain her laughter and maintain her composure as Merle set her back on the ground, Tahlia quickly righted the chair and collected her things, before giving Merle a nudge.

"Come on, quick, let's go before he changes his mind."

Merle's eyes widened and he hurriedly followed after her. "He can do that?"

Chuckling, Tahlia shook her head. "No, but you might get arrested for disorderly conduct."

Outside the courtroom, Andrea rushed at Merle, jumping straight into his arms and wrapping her legs around his waist, both of them electric with happiness and incredulity.

Laughing at their exuberant display, Tahlia then caught sight of Daryl just behind them, an unreadable expression on his face as he glanced her way.

"Hi! I didn't know you were here!" she smiled as she went over to him. "Good result, huh? I mean, that's what it should've been, but I'm glad we managed to turn it around in time."

Swallowing hard, Daryl just nodded, his whole body awash with roaring emotion.

Merle wasn't going away. Wasn't going anywhere except home and work and the regular, boring places they normally frequented, and life was going to continue on, regular and boring and just perfect, and nothing was getting turned upside down and torn to pieces.

And as if that wasn't enough to make him feel all punched-out and jelly-legged, there was her.

It wasn't just the awe he felt after seeing her do her thing, the pride; it was the fact that she had fought for Merle when none of them thought that there was anything to fight for. Because, the thing was, after a lifetime of weathering the slurs and dirty looks and negative assumptions that were just part and parcel of being a Dixon, it was built into them that they were of lesser value than the next person, and that made it so easy to accept the shit that was slopped their way.

But she, one of the very people that he had thought would look down on them, didn't see them with the tar of the Dixon brush – to her they had always been worthy and worthwhile and important and fuck knows why she thought that, but he knew now that she did. And it was disconcerting to only just realize that. To realize that it had only ever been his own hang-ups creating space between them.

Her expression softening at his silence, Tahlia tapped his arm lightly. "Daryl? Are you ok?"

Half-choked up and unable to grab onto anything he actually wanted to say to her, instead he reached into his back pocket and produced a thick envelope, shoving it into her hands.

"What's this?"

"Your fee." he told her shortly, voice rough, words ragged around the edges. "Ain't all of it, but I'll… I'll get the rest. Lemme know how much more."

"Oh, no." replied Tahlia immediately. "This was pro bono. There is no fee."

Unbalanced by the storm inside and the very intense urge to capture her in his arms and squeeze all his gratitude and closely related fluffy feelings into her, he inhaled sharply through his nose and tilted his chin.

"Take it anyways. Don't wanna owe ya nothin'."

And as soon as the words were out, so was the regret, because that wasn't what he'd meant to say. He'd meant to say something about repaying her, thanking her, but all he had was too much inside that he didn't understand and couldn't wrangle, and the beautiful goddamned woman in front of him who was more than half responsible for all this tangle.

A flicker of hurt passed across Tahlia's face at Daryl's coldness, disappointment dragged on her lungs at the thought that the little progress they'd made had already gone up in smoke. But, they had made progress, so they could make it again.

She pulled a smile onto her lips and pressed the envelope back into Daryl's hands. "You don't owe me anything. I didn't do this for you." Then just as she caught sight of Andrea flying towards her, Tahlia added softly, tellingly, "Well. Not just for you."

And then Andrea was on her, grateful, effusive, elated, as Merle descended onto Daryl.

"Baby brother! I'm a free fuckin' man! And, shit. I'm sorry, bro, sorry I didn't tell ya 'bout… but, damn, y'know, didn't wanna let ya down 'gain. And there ain't gonna be no more of this. Gonna be 'round for ya. Swear it. You and her and all the other good shit I got."

Daryl just sniffed and nodded into Merle's shoulder and slapped his back, that alone more than enough to convey his feelings.

Pulling away, Merle moved to wrap his arms around both Andrea and Tahlia, planting a big wet kiss on Tahlia's cheek.

"How the fuck ya managed that, I'll never know, but ya saved my life, girl! Goddamn, do I owe ya."

"You don't." reiterated Tahlia, "But glad I could be of service. Hey." She elbowed him. "You're a good guy, Merle. Don't you let anyone tell you otherwise."

Merle swallowed and sniffed and pressed another kiss on her temple, then declared, "Let's celebrate!"

"Ah, sorry," Tahlia opened her hands apologetically. "I really have to get back to the office, I've got a couple of meetings I can't miss."

"Later then? We'll be at Fox's all night!"

Tahlia laughed. "Course you will! I'll be done around six. See you then. And, congratulations, Merle. I'm glad we could get what you deserved."

And then she was gone, leaving Daryl with all the things he wished he could say and all the feelings he wished he knew what to do with.

Daryl spotted Tahlia as soon as she arrived at Fox's, although even if he hadn't seen her straight away, the loud chorus of cheers and whoops from his friends would have alerted him. He was trapped at the bar in a conversation with Merle's boss who was kind but very boring, so Daryl settled for angling himself to get a better view of Tahlia as she was swept up in a tidal wave of hugs and praise by their group of friends and Merle's workmates.

It had been a couple of hours since he'd seen her, hours during which the torrent inside had stilled and he'd been able to sort through the muddle in his head.

Now he felt like he could talk to her, thank her, act like a friend. Because, fuck, well, he could deny it 'til the cows came home, but that's near enough to what they were now, more than what he deserved from her, and a lot goddamned less than what he really wanted from her. But first, he'd start with patching up the holes he'd ripped today. Well, when he could actually get to her.

After a cigarette, a piss and a brief catch up with Tanya, Daryl watched Tahlia chatting to Shadow over by the pool table, and, timing it perfectly, he managed to approach just as Shadow was about to start a game.

"Silver."

Tahlia jumped a little at the rasp over her shoulder, ignoring the accompanying warm fizz in her belly that had long been a standard reaction to the younger Dixon.

"Daryl." Her lips quirked as she turned to face him. "Twice in one day. You're not stalking me, are you?"

He fixed her with a withering look, but was internally grateful that she always erred on the side of teasing; always left any bad feeling hidden in the shadows of the past.

But before he could say anything else, she arched her brows and held up the cocktail glass in her hand. "Just warning you, if you're here to go on about money again then I'm going to throw this drink in your face." Then she chuckled and waved her other hand at him. "Just kidding. This is so delish, there's no way I'd waste any of it."

Daryl tried not to smile. "Lemme buy you 'nother one then. When you're done with that."

"What?"

"Of them drinks. Y'know, as a thank you." Chewing on his lip uncomfortably, Daryl took a deep breath. "Coz that's what I really meant to say to ya today. Thank you. For what ya did for Merle. For takin' that chance."

"It wasn't a chance, not really." expressed Tahlia. "I mean, he wasn't guilty of what they said he was. So, I just found a way to prove it."

"But ya didn't know that when ya took him on."

"Oh. No, but…" Tahlia sighed. "I just don't like it when people are judged based on appearances. Who cares where they came from, or what they've done. People can change. Everyone deserves a fair chance."

A metallic taste stung his mouth with the irony that that was exactly how he'd judged her – even more so because he knew that she hadn't even made that connection when she spoke those words. "Ain't everyone thinks like that. 'Specially 'bout us Dixons."

Nudging him, Tahlia's own gaze was warm and fierce. "All the more reason for me to help you out."

Quiet for a moment as they both sipped slowly on their drinks, Daryl then cleared his throat.

"Uh… you were… you were real amazin' today. In court. Real good at what ya do. Blew me away."

Tahlia's eyes widened at his hesitant sincerity, then she circled a finger at him.

"Do I know you? Who is this? Who is this person saying nice things to me? Because it doesn't sound like the Daryl I know."

Daryl chuckled in spite of himself, then hitched a shoulder. "Well, maybe that asshole finally realized it ain't right to judge someone based on where they came from. Maybe it's time to make that right."

"There's nothing to make right." Tahlia assured him softly. "We're good."

Daryl nodded and managed to maintain an impassive look when he said, "Friends, then?"

Tahlia's face opened in amazement, then she tipped her head back and pumped a fist in the air.

"Yes! We're finally here! Let's hug it out!"

Shooting a hand out to land on her shoulder and keep her at arm's length, Daryl shook his head. "Nope. Slow it down, girl. Ain't at huggin' yet."

"Damn." snorted Tahlia, still boosting somewhere around cloud 9 regardless. "Ok. I'll hold that one in for now."

Daryl huffed out a soft laugh, then indicated her glass. "How 'bout that drink?"

"Argh, I'm sorry," apologized Tahlia, wrinkling her nose. "I can't stay. I've got some work stuff I need to finish off before tomorrow."

"Oh." Daryl wondered if she could see the disappointment on his face, so glanced down at his beer bottle to hide it. Then he peeked up at her through his bangs. "Friday, then? Gonna come back here Friday, ain't ya? Might even throw in a slice of pizza."

"And a hug?" tried Tahlia, amusement dancing in her eyes.

"Don't push it." Daryl growled, but he'd given up on trying to look serious.

Her smile in return was all warmth, heating him up from the inside out until his fingers tingled.

She brushed her hand over his arm as she slipped past him. "I'll see you, Daryl."

As consolation for all the boring legal-y bits, know that this was a shift for Daryl and Tahlia into friends territory which opens the door for me to start writing excessively shameless fluff. It's gonna get sickly sweet. You've been warned. :D