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Hershel had been watching them since they'd come back from Woodbury, his Maggie and her Glenn. He'd never seen such distance between them. Not since the very beginning.

Of course, from what Rick said, Woodbury sounded horrific. Fights to the death, with Walkers brought in to take out the winner. Who knew what else this Governor was capable of? What he might have done to have Maggie looking at Glenn like he was the enemy, Glenn looking at Maggie like she was out of his reach? Hershel didn't want to think of it. And he wouldn't, because the past wasn't the point. The future was the point—the love between Glenn and Maggie, the love that had brought them this far, seen them through so many dangers. That was the point. That was what needed to be preserved, if at all possible.

Maggie seemed fine, physically. She had brushed off Hershel's concern. So Hershel began with Glenn, who needed the most looking after, anyway. Someone had beaten him all to hell.

After a fairly thorough exam, glad to see the damage looked worse than it was, Hershel gently dabbed away the blood from the cuts on the boy's face. "You got worked over good. Surprised no bones were broken."

"It's courtesy of Daryl's brother," Glenn said bitterly.

Hershel had heard about Daryl's choice to go off with his brother. He had to say, it didn't surprise him any. People could be clannish, and in this world, the chance to be with your own blood? It was like gold. And Daryl had always been unsure of his place in the group.

Still … if Daryl's brother was responsible for Glenn's injuries, Hershel imagined the choice hadn't been as easy as Daryl might have made it out to be.

Maggie appeared in the door of the cell, and silence came down heavy between the two of them. You could feel the way they were aware of each other, and their inability to speak. It hurt Hershel's heart to witness it.

Without a word, she turned and left. Glenn watched after her, but he didn't speak.

"You two all right?" Hershel asked. He knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from Glenn. There was no response, Glenn refusing to meet his eyes. "Thanks for looking out for her. If anything …" He looked away, trying not to imagine what might have happened. "I'll go check on her. You need something else?"

Glenn shook his head, the movement so slight Hershel almost didn't see it.

In the doorway, Hershel stopped. All this time they had traveled together, he had never said anything to Maggie and Glenn, nothing more than the one conversation when he gave Glenn the watch. But he had paid attention to them together, to the way they made each other stronger, happier, more resilient. And he wanted Glenn to know his importance. His value. "Same thing goes for you. If anything worse than this had happened to you …" Hershel cleared his throat. "You're like my own son, Glenn."

He walked away, knowing that Glenn wasn't one for emotional scenes, hoping his words had fallen where they needed to in order to take root.

Maggie was in the farthest cell, rubbing blood off her arm.

"You got something needs looking at?"

She didn't answer, half-looking at him, as though she didn't want to seem to care but couldn't stop herself from asking. "Is Glenn all right?"

Hershel nodded, stepping into the cell. "Go see."

Maggie just kept wiping at her arm, like there was something on there she couldn't quite get off.

Easing himself onto the cot next to her, Hershel said, "You two seem to be holding something back. You want to tell me what happened?"

He didn't like her silence, or the empty, haunted look in her eyes.

"I rest easy," he went on, "knowing you can handle yourself. You've got your mother's spirit. And her stubbornness."

That got a faint smile, at least.

"You hungry?"

"No."

Hershel watched her, hurting for her. "Hey." He waited until she looked up, until he could look into her green eyes and make sure she heard him. "Don't disappear on me."

When she still didn't answer, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, relieved beyond measure when she let him, when she rested her head against his shoulder and he could feel some of the strain begin to leave her.

He waited, and watched, and nothing changed over the next couple of days, except that Glenn, normally the most patient, cautious man Hershel knew, got angry. And as he got angry, he got reckless, determined to break into Woodbury and murder the Governor himself. Hershel tried to point out the dangers, to use logic to break through whatever was happening in Glenn's head, but Glenn wasn't listening.

"You can't stop me," he said.

In other circumstances, Hershel would have liked the determination he saw there—but this was for the wrong reasons. He could feel it. Hershel argued for running. If the Governor was going to come after them, they left. They got out of here. It was that simple. "We lived on the road all winter."

"Back when you had two legs and we didn't have a baby crying for Walkers every four hours," Glenn snapped.

Behind Hershel, Maggie turned and left, almost running for the cells. Glenn watched her go, and didn't go after her, the way he should have. The way he would have, just days ago.

"All right. We'll stay put," Hershel conceded.

"We're going to defend this place. We're making a stand," Glenn said.

Hershel wanted to be proud of him—but the last time they had made a stand, they'd lost the farm, they'd lost Patricia, they'd lost Andrea. He only hoped this one would be less costly.

Glenn didn't go after Maggie until after he'd been down to the basement, discovering it was overrun with Walkers, not getting his aggression out on the dead, it seemed, as he immediately wanted to take a car and go out to the perimeter. He suggested taking Maggie. Quietly, Hershel said, "Are you sure she's up to that?"

At last, Glenn turned to follow her into the cells, Hershel waiting, holding his breath, hoping whatever it was, they would push through it now, at last.

He didn't listen, but no one could miss Maggie's shouting, and Hershel bit back a smile. If she was angry, she would be all right. It was the emptiness, the quiet, that had worried him.

He watched Glenn coming back, seeing the blind rage that fueled his every step, and followed him out to the courtyard, calling his name until Glenn stopped and waited for him. "You're not going back to Woodbury, are you?"

"No. I'm just going out there." He sounded defeated.

"I'll go with you."

"I got it."

"By yourself? How can you possibly think that's a good idea?"

"I can't just sit on my hands!"

"You went on a simple formula run and got the crap beat out of you. Maggie was attacked."

"Are you saying this is my fault?" Glenn asked.

"No."

"I did what I could."

"I know you did." Whatever had happened, there wasn't a doubt in Hershel's mind that Glenn had fought as hard for Maggie as he could. The proof was marked all over his face. "So does Maggie. She's one of the two people most precious to me in this world. I trust you with her life. I still do. This rage is going to get you killed."

"With Daryl gone and Rick wandering Crazytown, I'm the next in charge." Glenn turned and headed for the truck.

"What are you proving?"

There was no answer. Glenn got in the truck and pulled out, Carl opening and closing the gate for him. Hershel watched him go, wishing he was as sure Glenn would be okay as he was of Maggie.

It took the Governor's attack on the prison, a truck full of Walkers driven into their safe haven, to push the two of them past what had happened to them. They were no longer as safe as they had once been, but as Hershel watched Glenn put a hand on Maggie's shoulder, and Maggie's hand come up to cover his, he felt better about the future nevertheless.