Ooh look, two chapters in two-ish days - so unlike me!

Mild TW for description of violent attack (not very desriptive though)

Chapter 25 – A message

Inevitably, morning did come, accompanied by the soft beeping of Tahlia's alarm, which she quickly rolled over to silence – the first time she and Daryl had broken contact all night.

"Did you sleep ok?" she asked quietly, turning Daryl's way.

They'd both been awake for a while, both pretending they weren't, both reluctant to move.

"Better than I thought I would. You were right 'bout the bed." he replied, his voice morning-rough. Worrying his bottom lip with his teeth, he rolled onto his side to face her. "Do you… got a little time 'fore you have to get up?"

"Time? Of course, what do you need?"

"Just need…" He felt stupid, but she'd said it would help to talk and he thought he might be able to say a couple of things now. Thought he should at least try. "You. For a minute.

"Oh honey." Tahlia's voice wavered at his raw admission of vulnerability, and she immediately scooted closer to him and took his hand, holding it between them on the bed.

Keeping his eyes on their fingers, he sucked in a small breath. "Never seen Merle like that before. All beaten down and out of it. I always thought of him as kinda invincible, like only Merle could kill Merle, so that was… I hated it. Then I got to thinkin' 'bout some shit from when I was growin' up and I hated that, too."

Tahlia squeezed his hand in commiseration and Daryl met her solemn gaze, her green eyes luminous in the shadow of the dawn, and he squeezed her hand right back.

"It don't feel so bad now, though, just like you said. But I just... what if Merle don't get better? What if he ain't the same?"

Knowing that he wasn't looking for empty placations, Tahlia did her best to answer as honestly as possible.

"What happened to him was traumatic and right now we just have to take each day as it comes and support him and each other as best as we can. It might be a long road to recovery for him and we may all need to adjust to that, but whatever that looks like, it's still going to be him; he's still your brother and I'm sure he's still going to torment you endlessly."

A small smile twitched on Daryl's lips. She had basically just said she didn't know what lay ahead either, but somehow the way she phrased things always made him feel better. There was one thing scratching at him though, one thing he still needed to say.

"Uh, y'know I ain't very good at dealin' with all that kinda... stuff, and I guess maybe that's kinda why last night I thought I wanted to… I'm sorry that I-"

"I totally get it." she cut in gently. "And it's ok. We're fine."

But it wasn't ok, and she didn't get it, not really.

Yeah, Daryl was glad she'd stopped things from going any further last night because it would've been a bad idea given the shitty headspace he was in, but outside of that, under normal circumstances, he was starting to think that taking things further - real far, all the way into relationship territory and beyond - would be a very good idea indeed, his own qualms and Merle's warning be damned.

Couldn't tell her that right now, though - things felt too delicate between them, his head was too jumbled after yesterday, and there was the small problem of Alden (which had momentarily slipped his mind last night and now he was feeling like an absolute asshole), so Daryl sighed and decided to leave it be. Had enough to think about at the moment, anyway.

Tugging his hand from hers, he flipped onto his back, stretched his hands over his head and yawned.

"Don't wanna go back to the hospital today."

"You don't have to." Tahlia assured him. "Andie won't mind going on her own. Or, I can come with you. It's not too late for me to-"

"Still tryna get out of goin' to work today, huh?" The edge of his lip quirked and he peeked at her out of the corner of one eye. "Ain't gonna happen."

Chuckling, Tahlia attempted to pout. "Aw, but I want to hang out at the hospital and eat vending machine snacks all day with you."

Daryl wanted that too, but he shoved at her. "Get your lazy ass outta bed and go do your job."

Daryl was still sprawled in bed when Tahlia emerged from the bathroom - showered, makeup applied, hair fixed - and when she attempted to get dressed discreetly with the help of her dressing gown and the wardrobe door, Daryl kept his eyes carefully averted. Felt like it was the least he could do.

He drank in the final product though – simple but sharp in tailored black pants and a soft white shirt, a thin gold chain holding a small pendant around her neck, a pair of black heels the last touch, and she perched on the side of the bed to fasten the straps around her ankles while Daryl watched on with interest.

"Ok," she said with an easy smile. "I've got to go, but keep in touch, ok? I usually switch my phone off in court, but I'll check it when I can."

"Good luck today."

She squeezed his hand. "I'll come to the hospital when I'm done if you're still there, otherwise I'll see you back here."

Daryl raised his brows.

"Because you're staying here tonight." clarified Tahlia pointedly.

At first a little smile lightened Daryl's face, then he thought of last night; of the blurred lines between them; of Alden; and it morphed into a frown. "I shouldn't, Tahly."

"You should." she insisted. "Like Andie said, we should stay together. At least for the weekend, anyway."

The idea of heading back to his cold, empty house tonight wasn't very appealing, so it didn't take long for Daryl to incline his chin in agreement. "Alright. But… I'd best sleep on the sofa."

And despite how she really felt, Tahlia nodded. "Yeah, guess you should."

After what felt like the longest morning ever, Daryl finally received the news that Merle had woken up.

Earlier that day, he and Andrea had barely been at the hospital for twenty minutes when the machines around a still sedated Merle started beeping and flashing and people rushed in and rushed him out and Andrea had started crying and Daryl had frozen and assumed the worst.

Turned out that there were complications around his injured spleen and more internal bleeding, so they'd operated again and eventually returned him to the ICU with no spleen and no more internal bleeding, but strong assurances that things were looking positive and they needn't worry.

After that, they'd settled in for more waiting, and although Daryl had taken the day off work ("And take as long as you need!" Axel had insisted), there was one job on his mind that he really wanted to finish – a car he'd been working on for a week which only needed a couple of last tweaks before it could be signed off as complete – an hour, two max – and Andrea had ushered him out (knowing that the hospital environment made him antsy) promising she'd call if there was any change in Merle.

As luck would have it, Daryl had finished his job and was just making his way back across the hospital parking lot when an elated Andrea called him to say that Merle was awake.

He'd been shifted to a ward, so Daryl found his way there and still felt strangely apprehensive right up until he peered around the privacy curtain, but sure enough, his goddamned big brother, half-reclined and already looking like he owned the place despite the tubes still protruding from his arms and the mottled bruising on his face, was grinning out at him from the bed, a beaming Andrea at his side.

"Baby brother." Merle rasped, his voice dry and scratchy from being intubated. "Good to see ya."

"Fuckin' good to see you with your eyes open, man." said Daryl roughly, his emotion poorly disguised as he leaned down to hug him. "Look at the goddamned state of ya."

Merle chuckled. "Still better lookin' than you."

Daryl grinned, as he settled himself into the empty chair next to Andrea and wondered why he'd even let himself worry about his brother. It would take a lot more than a near-death experience and being laid up in a hospital bed to take the bluster out of Merle's sails.

Leaning his elbows on his knees, Daryl raised his brows.

"So, what the hell happened? You know who did this?"

Merle's expression darkened. "Yeah, I fuckin' know. That sonuvabitch Len and his piece of shit tweaker cousin."

"Len?!" exclaimed Andrea. "As in - the guy that accused you of assault and nearly got you thrown in jail?"

"One and the same."

Daryl frowned, perplexed. "What's he doin' out? Thought he'd been charged with assault after Tahly showed that CCTV footage of him kickin' the shit outta ya?"

"He didn't fuckin' kick the shit outta me." snapped Merle defensively, "Held my own against them three fuckers that time. And yeah, he got charged, but his case ain't come up yet. Guessin' he's been out on bail."

"So, what?" asked Andrea, wide-eyed. "You ran into him?"

"Somethin' like that." rasped Merle. "Finished up at that house we been workin' on over Eastern Heights way, went for a beer with a couple of the guys, then when I left they were waitin' for me."

"How'd they know you were there?"

"Well, I been at that site every day for a month, and now I think of it, I reckon I seen that tweakin' fucker hangin' round some recently."

"Who, the cousin?"

"Yeah." Merle looked to Daryl. "You'll know the one, you woulda seen him way back in the day when I was workin' with Len, used to show up sometimes to get gear. Can't remember his goddamn name, someone Powell, I think. High as a kite mosta the time. Volatile motherfucker. Born with a fuckin' screw loose."

Daryl shook his head. It'd been a long time since either of them had been involved in that scene and he'd encountered a lot of crazy-eyed tweakers in his time. "Dunno man, can't think."

Merle pressed two fingers to his forehead. "You'd know him straight away if you saw him. Wiry little skinhead with crazy-ass eyes. His name's somethin' kinda weird, somethin' to do with water…"

"Anyway," Andrea attempted to get the story back on track, "So you think that he's been watching you or something?"

"I reckon. Reckon he spotted me then scoped me out and told Len 'bout it. Len's still got a fuckin' stick up his ass about all the shit that's gone down between us, 'specially since my charges got dropped. I was just headin' back to my truck at the site, then they showed up and start mouthin' off and at first I just kept walkin', tried to leave it alone," He gave Andrea an entreating look, "Swear it, baby, I thought about you and tried to keep my head down, but… y'know, shit got heated and they came at me, few punches thrown and all that, then Len grabs this piece of pipe and gets me a few times – that's what did my ribs in – and he's goin' on 'bout how he shoulda killed me before and all this shit, then Tweaker's all, why don't we just kill him now? And he pulls a knife. And – see, the thing 'bout Len is, when it comes down to it, he's a bit of a pussy. He's all talk and likes to kick off, but he drops his pants if it gets serious. So Len gets nervy but is still all in my face, then Tweaker takes a stab and Len freaks, backs off, starts tellin' him to let it go, that I got the message, and Tweaker ain't havin' it, and I got nowhere to go, so knifes me again and the whole time keeps goin' on 'bout how this is the message and – " Merle suddenly broke off and glanced around, even though there was nothing more to see in the curtained space. "Where's Tahly?"

Immersed in Merle's tale, Andrea blinked at the question, then waved a hand. "Oh, she's in court today. Last day of her trial. She was here last night though, and she said she'll come by tonight if she finishes in time. She sends her love."

But Daryl could read his brother well enough to know that he wasn't just asking out of interest.

"Why you askin', Merle?"

"In court." Merle repeated with careful consideration, ignoring Daryl's question. "Yeah, ok. That should be ok. Then she's comin' here after?"

"Merle." Daryl growled, his skin prickling with unease.

"Uh…" Andrea sent a confused glance Daryl's way, then turned back to Merle, "Yep, if we're still here, or we'll just meet her at home and all come back in to see you tomorrow. Why?"

Merle could practically feel Daryl's laser beam stare burning his skin, so he sighed and met his brother's eyes. "Tweaker kept sayin' his knife was the message, and he was gonna give it to me and 'that bitch lawyer'. Talked some shit about her."

Reflexively Daryl jumped to his feet as his whole body fired up. He didn't like to hear a bad word said about Tahlia, and he sure as hell wouldn't stand for anyone threatening her.

"What?!" exclaimed Andrea in horror, "You think he's going to go after Tahly, too?"

Merle considered the question seriously. "Dunno. I mean, you gotta remember that this guy's cracked-out and sayin' all kinds of crazy shit, but it's probably best if she lays low, just until the cops get hold of those assholes."

"I'm gonna go get her." stated Daryl immediately, but Merle shook his head.

"Nah, ain't no way they're goin' near the courthouse. They wouldn't risk it - too much security. That's the safest place for her right now."

"I'm callin' her, then."

"And what?" snarked Merle disparagingly. "Scare the shit outta her? Make her fuck up the end of her trial coz she's too freaked to concentrate? Ain't no need to do that to her, not while she's at the courthouse. The cops are on their way here to take my statement, so lemme talk to them and we'll go from there."

By mid-afternoon two police officers had taken Merle's statement and informed him that there was a decent case building as they already had one eye-witness report corroborating his story, and their next move was to scout around Len's known haunts, confident that his cousin wouldn't be far from him, and that it wouldn't be long before they had them both in custody.

That didn't do much to relieve Daryl's gnawing anxiety though, and he kept habitually checking his phone for any word from Tahlia. He'd been updating her on Merle's progress throughout the day, but after the recent revelation, his last message to her had been a simple, call me.

Then finally, after what felt like an age, his phone started to ring.

"Tahly!"

"Hi, sorry, I just turned my phone on." Her voice sounded hushed down the line, as if she couldn't talk openly. "Just saw your last message, thought I'd call you now quickly while I have a few minutes. Is something wrong? How's Merle?"

Daryl had debated what to tell her. He knew Merle was right, she'd get scared - hell, she saw murderers in every shadow on a normal day - and it would probably throw her off her game. He didn't want to do that to her. And the courthouse really was a safe place with all that security, so he'd decided not to say anything about Tweaker until he saw her in person.

"Merle's doin' fine, everythin's fine." he reassured her. "I just wanna know what time you reckon you'll be done at the courthouse."

"Oh, well, the jury's deliberating now so we're just hanging around in case there's any questions. Hopefully they'll deliver a verdict soon, but if they don't, the court will adjourn around 5. I'll be here a bit later than that though because the DA is working down here today and I need to catch up with him about another case, so he'll see me at half 5. Guessing I'll be done around 6, but it could be later. Will you still be at the hospital? What time do visiting hours finish?"

"Uh, 7 I think. Yeah, come straight to the hospital when you're done, ok?"

Tahlia yawned. "Ah, 'scuse me. Yep, sure, I'll see you there. Hey, I'm going to have to go -"

"Wait," Daryl said quickly, "Call me when you're done there ok? Call me before you leave."

"Yeah, sure."

"Tahly, I mean it. You call me."

"I will! Give my love to Merle. Catch you later."

Sprawled in the uncomfortable chair next to Merle's bed, Daryl jigged his leg in agitation, folded his arms and let out a loud sigh. And he'd thought that the morning had felt long. God. That had nothing on these past couple of hours that had fucking slothed by.

It had only just gone 6pm and he hadn't yet heard back from Tahlia, but if he didn't hear from her in the next ten minutes, he was going down to the courthouse to wait for her.

"Will ya just fuckin' relax?" growled Merle, who had half-dozed off.

Scowling at his brother, Daryl was about to send a fuck-laden retort back, but at that moment, Andrea's phone rang, and Daryl looked up hopefully in case it was Tahlia, but she shook her head and shrugged to indicate she didn't recognize the number.

As she made her way out to the hall to take the call, two nurses approached Merle's bedside and started readying the gurney to move it.

"How are we doing, Mr. Dixon?" The older no-nonsense nurse asked as she unhooked a line from Merle's arm. We're taking you down for your CT scan now. Are you ready?"

"I'm flat out here, Tammy." Merle said with a grin. "Dunno if I got time for that right now."

Daryl rolled his eyes at his brother's lame joke and got to his feet, deciding he might as well go have a smoke to kill some time, and followed behind the gurney as the nurses wheeled Merle out into the corridor.

Still on the phone, Andrea was leaning against the wall, but pressed her hand to the mouthpiece as they emerged.

"They got them!" she declared, a triumphant smile on her face. "This is one of the cops from earlier on the line – he said that the guys were picked up half an hour ago!"

"Both of 'em?" asked Merle from the bed, and Andrea nodded.

"Both of them. They've been taken into custody, they're down at the station now. They're refusing to talk, but they're going to be held overnight in any case."

Daryl's shoulders sagged as a heavy wave of relief washed over him.

"Well, shit." smiled Merle. "That's good news."

"Great news!" added Tammy. "Let's celebrate with a CT scan. Sorry honey, we've got to keep moving."

As Merle was trundled off down the hall, Daryl held his phone up to Andrea, who had resumed her conversation with the police officer.

"Gonna call Tahly. Let her know."

A half hour later, Merle was back on the ward, Andrea and Daryl back by his side for the last 20 minutes or so of visiting hours.

"Talk to Tahly?" murmured Merle, looking worn out and in dire need of rest.

Daryl shook his head. "Her phone's switched off so she must still be at the courthouse. Guess her meetin' ran over or somethin'. Left her a message, though. Told her she's probably gonna miss visitin' hours so should just meet us back at the apartment."

Now that Merle's assailants had been picked up, Daryl was feeling decidedly relaxed, and was looking forward to getting some rest himself, even if it was just going to be on the apartment sofa tonight.

"Aw," Andrea cooed as she ran a hand over Merle's cheek. "You're so tired, baby. We should go. Let you sleep."

"I'm feelin' it." Merle admitted, then lazily rolled his head to one side to look at her. "Wait, first tell me what the cop said? Len and Tweaker gonna get put away?"

"Well, Len's broken his bail conditions, so he'll be back behind bars for the time being, regardless." replied Andrea. "They've got enough to charge both of them, but they want you to make a positive ID on Hudson first."

Merle looked at her for a long moment, his face screwed up in confusion. "Hudson?"

"Yeah," nodded Andrea. "Hudson Powell. Len's cousin."

"Naw." Merle said, shaking his head. "Naw."

Andrea frowned. "What do you mean, no?"

"Weren't him."

"You said it was Len and his cousin - 'someone Powell, first name something to do with water', right? He was even with Len when the cops picked them up, and has no alibi for last night."

"Yeah, but it weren't him." insisted Merle. "Hudson's the older Powell, he's stupid as hell but he ain't in the drug scene. Was his smackhead younger brother."

"Are you sure?"

Merle pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut. "What's his fuckin' name?!" Then suddenly he pulled his hand away and snapped his fingers. "Brooks! It was Brooks Powell, that psychotic piece of shit!"

"But… but they didn't mention anything about a 'Brooks'." said Andrea blankly, trying to process what this meant, then she jumped to her feet. "I need to call the station and let them know it's Brooks Powell they should be looking for."

As she left, the Dixon brothers' eyes locked, unease shining in their mirrored blue stares, and Daryl knew they were thinking the same thing even before Merle, his tone controlled, asked,

"You sure Tahly's still down at the courthouse?"

Standing in her office at Smith Gleeson Greene, Tahlia slotted some paperwork into the filing cabinet with a contented sigh.

Despite patches of both stress and tedium, overall the day had been a good one - the jury had delivered a favorable verdict for her client right before the judge was about to call it a day; she'd had a fruitful meeting with the DA; Merle was out of the woods and doing well; and, of course, any morning that begun with Daryl beside her was always going to have a shine to it.

Shit, Daryl.

The last couple of hours had been a whirlwind and she'd completely forgotten that she was supposed to call him before she left the courthouse.

Abandoning the filing cabinet, she made for her handbag and rummaged around for her phone, which she had also forgotten to switch back on.

Four missed calls, two voicemails, and five text messages from Daryl, all within the past hour.

Aside from the first relaxed voicemail which was him letting her know that the guys who attacked Merle were in police custody, the rest of the messages were all snappish variations of 'where are you?' and 'call me.'

So, she called him.

"Fuckin' hell, Tahly! Where ya been?"

"Hello to you, too." smiled Tahlia at his gruff opening.

"I'm outside the courthouse, the place looks shut, and I don't see your car. Where are ya?"

She raised her brows. "What are you doing there?"

"You were s'posed to call me!" he accused, his tone fraught with tension.

Tahlia sighed and shoved a folder into her handbag. "I'm so sorry, I completely forgot. We were down there until nearly half six, then a colleague needed a ride back to work, so I brought him here."

"Where exactly are you?"

"At work."

"Where at work?"

Unsure why Daryl was being so pedantic, Tahlia rolled her eyes. "Alright, let me see… I am currently standing in my office to the left of my desk facing north-east. Or maybe south-west. I'm not sure but-"

Definitely not in the mood for joking, Daryl cut her off. "Anyone there with ya?"

Tahlia chuckled. "God, Daryl, of course not. It's the last Friday before Christmas, it's completely dead here."

"Stay right where you are. I'm comin' to get ya."

"You don't need to do that." said Tahlia, swinging her handbag onto her shoulder and grabbing her jacket as she left her office. "I've got my car here, remember? I'll just meet you back at the apartment, like you said. So, how's Merle doing? Sorry I didn't get in there to see him today."

"He's fine." Daryl said dismissively. "Tahly, needa tell ya somethin'."

"Alright," she replied as she swiped her keycard to access the elevator. "I'm listening."

"The guy that stabbed Merle-"

"It's great the cops found them so quickly." she interrupted as she stepped into the elevator. "I can't believe that asshole Len! Going for him again! He's-"

"Tahly!" growled Daryl, perturbed. "They picked up the wrong guy."

"It wasn't Len?"

"What? Fuck Len, forget about him. The other one. He's still out there."

"Oh shit, really? Well, I'm sure they'll find him soon enough."

"Nah," said Daryl quickly at her nonchalant misunderstanding. "I mean, he was sayin' some stuff 'bout-"

"Sorry, Daryl, I'm in the elevator going down to the basement parking levels. I'm going to lose you in a second."

"Tahly, just stay where-"

"Daryl?" Tahlia listened for a moment longer, but she'd already lost him. "Damn." she muttered, dropping her phone into her bag as a ding signaled her arrival at Basement level 2.

As the doors closed behind her, she paused for a moment, the conversation with Daryl leaving her head as she tried to remember whether she'd locked her filing cabinet or not.

"For God's sake." she huffed. "Now I have to go back and check."

So it was back into the elevator, back to her office where her filing cabinet was still lying open.

"Good thing I checked." she said to herself as she locked up then did one last sweep of her office to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be.

On her way out to the elevator, she thought about calling Daryl back, but she'd be home in fifteen minutes. They could talk then.

Yawning widely, she arrived in the basement parking lot for the second time and started across the oil-stained concrete floors, the clack of her high heels echoing eerily. As the fluorescent lights flickered and hummed above her, she spared a brief thought for the fact that she'd never seen this place so empty – just a few cars dotted around, probably belonging to people who were out on the town and would be picking them up in the morning.

There was her car, all alone in the middle of a bay, and she scooped her keys out of her handbag as she neared.

And then gasped loudly and stopped in her tracks as a figure stepped out from behind a large concrete pillar, just yards away.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, her hand flying to her chest. "You startled me."

The young man, slight but sinewy beneath his ripped baggy jeans and grubby shirt, twitching with pent up energy, said nothing, just spat a large globule of phlegm onto the ground, his jaw working and mouth twisting in constant motion as he stared at her, his wide eyes devil-black and soulless.

Tahlia shivered and tightened her grip around her bag strap. "Can I… can I help you?"

He rubbed a hand over his close-shaven head and took a step forward. "Nope."

"Oh." she faltered, an icy hand of dread clenching in her stomach.

Briefly she wondered what it was that Daryl had wanted to tell her, and then the desire to run like fuck sparked in her chest - but a lifetime of practicing good manners and a natural proclivity to avoid causing a scene had her frozen to the spot.

"Are you waiting for someone?" Her voice breathy with trepidation.

The man's rat-like face twisted into a vile grin. "Not anymore." He licked his lips. "Took your fuckin' time, though."

Tahlia's heart slammed into her throat and she took a shaky step backwards.

"I gotta message for you, bitch." he hissed.

And that's when Tahlia saw the knife.