Before

It was an unspoken agreement (one that she was sure new recruits were warned about) to not bring up the newly appointed Councilor Greene's scared face. Warrant officer Stokes was feeling bold, apparently, the day she decided to ask, or maybe she hadn't been let in on the directive. The Councilor later found out that it was one of the strange woman's unfortunate traits, to push other people's buttons. She excelled at it.

The entire briefing room froze at the woman's question, not even daring to breathe as they waited for their superior to react. Even Beale and Okafor seemed to be baffled that someone would dare ask.

The blonde woman glared her eyes at the new addition to these meetings before something clicked in her mind. "You're the one they brought in with Grimes, aren't you?" The warrant officer nodded her affiliation, and she continued. "Stay, after the briefing. We have some things to discuss."

Now

They didn't come alone, but to be fair, they didn't know if she did either. There were 4 vehicles in all heading in their direction, and she perfected breathing evenly as they approached. She looked over at her closest confidante to see a pinched look on her face. She was sure the woman was just as nervous for this meeting. The last time they saw her was in that hallway as well.

Greene blinked a few times as she turned away from the other woman and focused on fixing her face into something other than panic. Last time, she had been in control, could use all the power she had to force the interaction the way she wanted. Knew exactly what she was getting herself into. Now she was on their terf and significantly under-staffed, no idea who would be exiting those trucks once they parked in front of her. She was regretting her decisions and trying her hardest not to turn around and tell the pilot they were leaving as her hands twitched at her sides and she squeezed them into fists to halt the movements as best she could.

After what seemed like an eternity the humvee and jeeps arrived about 30 yards away and stopped. They idled for a moment, a white armor-clad soldier standing at each of the jeeps' attached turret gun. Not pointing at her, but not disarmed either.

The humvee door opened and out stepped a mammoth of a man. No matter how many times she saw General Mercer, she could never get over the size of him; he could likely snap her in half without even trying. Yet for the first time in all their meetings this was the first that he was not dressed in his guard uniform. In fact, other than a bullet-proof vest and the gun holstered at his hip, and was dressed much like a citizen rather than the leader of their military.

His eyes narrowed when he realized it was, in fact, her and she could see he was even more on guard having done so. "What are you doing here?" his deep voice questioned, solid as ever.

Ah. So he doesn't know. She considered her options; be honest or be really honest. She went with the former. "I'm here to see Rick Grimes," she said, trying to keep her voice even. His eyes narrowed at her and she explained as everyone around them stood still. "We're old…friends."

She watched as he weighed his options just as she did moments before. He clearly didn't trust her, yet he didn't know why she'd lie. "How many are with you?"

The Councilor risked moving her hands to motion at her companions. "Just these two, and the bird." She quickly moved both hands to clasp at her back so he couldn't see how much she was shaking. "I don't mind waiting here for him."

It must have set off a warning to him, that she volunteered to stay put. He shifted and she noticed that while his hand had always been resting on his sidearm, it was now gripping it.

The previous interactions between the CRM and the Commonwealth over the years were much more structured in nature. The CRM would arrive, a full unit at a designated time and place and exchange supplies for the work the Commonwealth was doing on the railroads. And every time, Beale would ask to visit the city. But she arrived virtually alone and wanted just the opposite. She could see why he would be suspicious. "Why don't you all come back with us?"

Just what she has been hoping to avoid. "You've never allowed us inside your gates before, Mercer. Why change that now?" She was banking on his loyalty to the CW's security and privacy, almost as restrictive as her own. She was let down.

"It's not a suggestion," his timbre deep and unyielding, as her gaze unfocused slightly to the background behind him. She hadn't had such a struggle with keeping herself together in front of others in so long that she was ashamed of herself, but blinked back into the moment before it got away from her. She nodded both to him and the other members of the Civic Republic before stepping towards him. He threw up the hand not on his weapon, and she halted. "I need your weapons first."

She sighed, not surprised but also not liking it. The Councilor turned to look at Sheperd and Morris to nod her agreement before undoing the belt at her waist with the holsters for her gun and knife and holding it at arms length for one of Mercer's men to collect. A white armor guard jumped from the passenger seat of a jeep and came to collect the equipment from herself and the others. Mercer frowned at her. "All of them."

She tried not to roll her eyes but she probably still looked annoyed. "You can pat me down if you like. I didn't come here to fight." She purposely came on this trip with less weapons than she normally would for an excursion outside the Republic considering it's unofficial business. She just hoped he wouldn't ask her to remove her boots–she did have a small knife under the flat of her foot for emergencies.

He motioned from another guard to take her up on the offer, who confirmed her words with a quick check of her form. Still confused to all hell about her presence, Mercer jerked his head towards the humvee, the three outsiders climbing in for the ride back to the city. No one spoke during the drive, and Beth fought to control herself during the 20 minute ride.

They passed through the massive gate, and then a second before reaching the city limits. While it didn't seem like cars were of much use once you hit the streets of the main drag, the driver of the humvee took them through town and directly to an older brick building labeled Union Square. The door to the vehicle opened from the outside and she stepped out after her retinue, and just before stumbling. Exiting the doors of the building was Rick and Michonne, likely summoned there because of her. But her eyes were not on them.

A girl, about 11 or 12 years old, followed them out. She looked just like her mother and Beth would have recognized her anywhere despite ignoring her existence the entire time she'd been with the Civic Republic. The people around her, Mercer, and even Shepherd, looked at her strangely as she struggled to control her breathing and blink the emotion out of her eyes. Still, she whispered her name.

"Judith."