⌜ chapter twenty ⌟

MJ hears the others arguing about whether or not Merle can stay at the prison as she walks back into the cellblock. Glenn turns around when he notices her entrance and he looks at her, wanting her support on the topic.

She shakes her head. "Don't bring me into this." MJ tells him as she starts for the stairs. "I have no opinion on the matter."

"Like hell you don't." He argues, and she sighs as she stops two steps up. "He tried to kill us. And I know what him cutting your shirt did to your head."

"You think that because you read a few books, means you know how my head works?" She chuckles humorlessly as she turns to face him. "Glenn, I don't care what he did to me. I don't really care about those hillbillies either. I mean, would I rather forget it all? Hell yeah. But as long as my kids are alright, I'm good. I've made my peace with my past."

"You were more mad than any of us. Are you saying you're not anymore?" He questions.

"Hell yes, I was mad, Glenn!" She limps down the steps as she looks at him. "I heard everything that sick son of a bitch did to you, I heard you fighting off that walker. It was my job to protect you and Maggie, but all I did was rile him up by laughing at him. I had a job to do, and I failed, and that pissed me off. Then someone that I consider family chose that piece of garbage over us, but Merle is Daryl's family regardless of what I think of him. And then, to add insult to injury — we get back here and I have you questioning my authority at every turn. And I have my brother just flat out questioning me. I have been trying to lead this group on my own while Rick dealt with his shit and Daryl was gone, and you weren't making it any easier.

"You wanna kick Merle out? Take it up with his brother — who isn't gonna change his mind, might I add. But while you do it, leave me the hell out of it. I have more important things to deal with at the moment than where Merle sleeps at night. But if you really need me to put in some form of input — if he goes near Maggie, harasses me, or does anything to hurt anyone here, I'll kill him myself... Regardless of where that leaves me and Daryl."

"That's really all you have to say?" Glenn questions, and she grinds her teeth.

"The prophet painted a pretty graphic picture in those books — I read a few. They show a lot of gore and heartache...and sex, which makes me really uncomfortable."

"I second that." Dean says.

"Yup." Sam shakes his head.

"Yeah, I could'a done without that." Matt crosses his arms over his chest.

"All of the good times weren't as entertaining to put to page." MJ tells Glenn. "We're not as broken down and beat to hell as the books describe. We picked each other back up and kept moving forward, just like we're trying to do now. Your problem — one I've had a million times over — is that you're so blinded by your rage that you can't see past it. Let's say we force Merle out, and then Daryl decides to go with again? Where are we then? Is that an even trade to you?"

"Well, you don't sound a damn thing like the girl I remember." A familiar voice gets her attention, and they all turn to look at him. "Where was that level head when you were fighting with your brothers? Or your daddy?"

Tears fill MJ's dark eyes as she looks at Bobby standing there. She smiles at him. "Damn. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" She limps over and hugs him.

"What the hell happened to you, kid?" He asks as he pulls back and looks at her. The entire group is coming out of their cells and gathering around now.

She shakes her head. "Nothin' that matters anymore." She tells him.

"You look like hell."

"Ah, come on. I've looked worse. You remember, uh... You remember the first job we worked after the Devil's Gate opened?"

"Seven Deadly Sins." He nods. "Pride knocked you around quite a bit."

"Kinda ironic, no?" She asks, and he chuckles. "Come say hi to everybody else."

"This is where you've been living?" Cas asks, and MJ turns around.

"Cas." She rushes over and hugs him. He hesitates for a second before wrapping his arms around her torso. "God, I've missed you." She says, her arms around his neck.

"Cas!" Jack runs over to them and he joins in the hug.

"I've been looking for you two since the beginning." Cas tells them.

"You see how well that went." Bobby says, and Cas glares at him.

"How did you get in here?" MJ asks as she pulls back and looks up at the angel.

"Dean broke the warding on this section of the prison." Cas tells her. "Jack and I won't be able to come in otherwise. What's wrong with your face?" He asks, and she laughs.

"Not all of us can look like you, angel face."

Castiel raises his hand and presses his index and middle fingers to her forehead. He heals her, and she smiles up at him. "Now you look like you." He says, and she rolls her dark eyes.

"As sweet as this moment is," Crowley walks over to them. "I believe it's your turn to uphold our bargain." He says, and MJ looks at him.

"Right." The brunette nods as she reaches into the front pocket of her jeans. "Here you go, Crowley."

He holds his hand out, palm face up, and she drops three rings into his hand. "What is this?" He questions as he looks at them.

"My end of the deal."

"No, you promised me all four rings."

"Actually, I didn't. What I said was, you get the means to make it impossible for the key to open the cage." She reiterates. "The key can't open the cage if it's not whole. You get three rings, and Lucifer stays exactly where he is."

"I want the fourth ring!" He snaps, and she smiles at him.

"Well, unfortunately for you, your highness..." She chuckles. "I couldn't give you the fourth ring even if I wanted to. I'm no longer in possession of it."

Crowley looks at Dean. "Give it to me."

"What makes you think I have it?" He questions, and MJ looks smug and amused as the demon turns back to her.

"Where is it?"

"Where it belongs. With the man who owns it." She tells him.

"You gave one of the rings back to the horseman?" Her dad asks, confused.

"Trust me, he prefers Lucifer in his box just the same as the rest of us." She reassures him.

"You talked to Death." Dean says, and his sister looks at him.

"You really thought I'd hand the entire key over to Crowley?" She asks. "I'm desperate, not stupid."

"How'd you do it?" Sam asks.

"With a little help." She says as Ash and Pamela walk into the cellblock from the exit that leads to the rest of the prison. "Perfect timing." MJ smiles at them.

"That was fun." Pamela says as she sets her machete on a table. "Got anything else you need us to do, boss?" She asks as she pushes her black curls away from her face.

"Pamela?" Bobby asks, surprised to see her.

"She was in Woodbury with Ash and Jr. The two of them had walkies, so Ash told her where we were. I had her talk to an old friend of ours who works with Death." She tells them. "You boys remember Tessa?"

"The reaper." Dean says, and she nods.

"Pamela told Tessa my plan, and Tessa talked to her boss. The reapers are tired of collecting so many souls, so Death was plenty willing to help me." She explains. "Keep Lucifer locked up, get the world back in working order, screw over Crowley — everyone wins."

"You played me." Crowley says angrily.

Her smile widens as she looks at him. "It was a pleasure doing business with you."

"You little—" He rushes at her, but she pulls her angel blade out and points it at him. He stops with the edge inches from his face.

"You have hell to run, and I have a world to save." She says. "Let's you and I call it even, and you can go on your merry way."

"The arrogance of you Winchesters." He glances at each member of their family.

"You can call it whatever you want. Either way, we're done here." MJ tells him. "Now, you can leave on your own, or I can send your ass back to hell myself."

"Until next time."

"There won't be a next time."

He chuckles as he turns around. "There's always a next time with you people." He argues, and then walks out.

MJ smiles as she turns to look at her older brother. "That's one for the good guys." She says, and he smiles as he walks over to her.

"She's back, ladies and gentlemen. The one and only Marie Jane Winchester." He hugs his younger sister. "I'm proud of you, kid."

"Back and better than ever." Sam adds.

"Eh, it wasn't just me." She says as she backs up. "Actually, getting Pamela in on all this was little man's idea." MJ looks at her son. "That's my boy."

"You three Winchesters and your damn secrets." Addy shakes her head.

"The best way to keep a secret is not to tell anyone there is one." She looks at Ellen. "I learned that one from you. Tell me you're not glad you taught me that. Come on."

"You did good, hun." The older woman nods.

"I said it once and I'll say it again, you always were the smartest out of the three of us." Dean says, and she smiles.

"Alright, my ego's been boosted enough. We still have a long way to go." MJ says. "Cas, you give Jack his grace back and teach him to use his powers. The sooner you two are ready to work, the sooner we can put all this apocalypse shit behind us."

"How do we do this?" Jack asks as he looks up at his chosen father.

MJ looks away from them and her eyes land on Daryl. He's watching her, amazed by how well she's handling herself. There's nothing left of that broken girl that he saw the day that he left with his brother. She's different now.

She turns around then and heads out of the cellblock, going farther into the prison. He goes after her, and they end up in the laundry room outside of the cellblock that they cleared for Axel and Oscar.

"I owe you an apology." Daryl says, and she glances in his direction.

"An apology from a Dixon. Today really is full of miracles, isn't it?"

She's going through her weapons in a duffle bag. She keeps her monster stuff away from the others. Anything not related to the walkers still bothers some of them, so she doesn't like to bombard them with all of it too much. If she can help it.

"That all I am to you?" He asks, and she sighs.

"No." MJ shakes her head. "'Course not."

"I shouldn't've said what I said." He says, and she turns to look at him after zipping up the duffle bag on the table.

"No, you shouldn't have."

"I'm—"

"Don't apologize." She cuts him off, and he gives her puzzled look. "True or not, I needed to hear it. And I needed to hear it from you. Whether you meant it or not."

"I didn't." He tells her.

"I know." She nods. "Believe me, I get it. You had something to care about, so you pushed it away when it threatened to make you see things differently. I've been there more times than I can count. I have a failed marriage and a daughter who was refusing to see me before all this started to prove it."

"Why'd you need to hear it? Why from me?"

"I needed to get angry." She says. "But more than that, I needed to be the one who believed that I was more than a girl with a knife. And you were the one who kept telling me that."

"You were pretty impressive." He says as he starts walking toward her. "The way you handled that back there."

"Scheming is something I've gotten good at over the years." She shrugs. "But it was definitely fun to pull one over on Crowley."

"So, you and me..."

"We're good." She smiles as she looks up at him, he's now standing directly in front of her. "In all honesty, I probably owe you."

"Naw." He shakes his head.

"Hey, what happened to Merle's face? I don't remember him having that black eye when you two left." She says, and he shrugs.

"He got what he had comin'."

Unable to stop herself, MJ stretches up onto her tip-toes and presses her lips against his. She places her hands on his sides and pulls him closer to her as he rests his own hands on either side of her face, brushing her hair back. He steps forward, pressing her against the table with her duffle bag.

The brunette then removes her hands from his sides, hoping up onto the table, and she pulls him even closer. Her legs wrap around his hips as her hands find the top of his jeans and she starts to undo the button as he kisses her more roughly. His hands then move to push her shirt up her body, and she breaks the kiss before pulling her shirt over her head.

Daryl's bright blue eyes wander her body, and she reaches back to undo the clasp of her bra before she discards it completely. His gaze returns to hers, and she smiles when she sees the blush on his cheeks.

MJ chuckles as she reaches up and rests her hands on either side of his face. "Come here." She whispers, and he leans forward to reconnect their lips. Her hands then travel down his chest, and she starts to undo the buttons on his shirt.

—

Rick leads the way back into the common area with Andrea and the others right behind him. MJ watches as the blonde walks down the steps and hugs Carol.

"After you saved me, we thought you were dead." The older woman tells her.

"Hershel, my God." Andrea mutters when she sees him on his crutches. "Matt, Ash, Pamela — what are you guys doing here?" She looks at them, confused, as she pulls away from Carol.

No one says anything. Matty looks at his mom and then walks over to her. She wraps her arm around his shoulders and pulls him closer to her.

"I can't believe this." Andrea continues as she looks around the common area. "Where's Shane?"

MJ scoffs. "Why am I not surprised that's your first question?"

Rick simply shakes his head in response to what the blonde woman asked.

"And Lori?" She asks, and he looks down.

"She had a girl. Lori didn't survive." Hershel tells her.

"Neither did T-Dog." Carol adds.

"I'm so sorry." She says as she looks around, her eyes land on Rick's son. "Carl..." She sighs and then turns away from him. "Rick, I... You all live here?"

"Here and the cellblock." Glenn tells her, and she looks at him, then to the gate that's next to MJ.

"There?" She asks, and he nods. "Well, can I go in?"

Rick gets in her way as MJ steps in front of the doorway, blocking her from getting near the rest of the kids. "We won't allow that." He says, and she looks between him and MJ.

"I'm not an enemy, Rick."

"No, you're just sleeping with the man who tried to have Daryl and Merle kill each other." MJ says, earning a glare from the blonde.

"We had that field and courtyard until your boyfriend tore down the fence with a truck and shot us up." Rick tells her.

"You really are good at picking your friends, aren't you, little brother?" MJ asks.

"Shut up, M." Sam says.

"Brother?" Andrea looks confused as she glances between the two of them, then she shakes her head. "He said you fired first." She says as she looks back at Rick.

"We didn't even know he was here until he killed one of our men." MJ tells her.

"He was a prisoner who survived here." Hershel adds.

"We liked him." Daryl says. "He was one of us."

"We almost lost Rick and Hershel too." MJ tells her.

"Not to mention you." Bela adds. "Running out there as if you didn't have a bullet wound in your thigh."

Again, Andrea looks confused as her eyes find the twins.

"I didn't know anything about that." The blonde says as she looks at Rick. "As soon as I found out, I came. I didn't even know you were in Woodbury until after the shootout." She says as she looks around.

"That was days ago." Glenn says.

"I told you, I came as soon as I could." She says and then there's a loud bang behind M, causing her to jump.

"Sorry!" Jack calls, he's working with his surrogate father on his powers.

"That was my fault." Cas says as MJ turns to look at them.

"Don't break anything." She says, and Jack gives her an apologetic look.

"What have you told them?" Andrea demands as she looks at Michonne, Sam, and Adam.

"Nothing." Michonne says.

"I'd watch your tone with my sons if I were you." John says, and Andrea looks at him.

"I don't get it. I left Atlanta with you people and now I'm the odd man out?" The blonde questions.

"He almost killed Michonne, and he would have killed us." Glenn says.

"With his finger on the trigger." She points at Merle.

"Just because your boyfriend found a few footmen to do his dirty work doesn't make him any less responsible." MJ says, and she turns to look at her.

"Isn't he the one who kidnapped you, who beat you?" She glances at Merle again. MJ doesn't say anything, so she sighs. "Look, I cannot excuse or explain what Philip has done. But I am here trying to bring us together. We have to work this out."

"We have seven kids that your boyfriend could've killed when he attacked us." She says. "There's nothing to work out."

"We're gonna kill him." Rick says, backing MJ up. "I don't know how or when, but we will."

"We can settle this." Andrea says, and MJ scoffs. "There is room at Woodbury for all of you — for those seven kids."

Merle chuckles. "You know better than that."

"What makes you think this man wants to negotiate?" Hershel asks. "Did he say that?"

"Look out!" Jack yells, and Jr. pushes MJ to the side, moving with her.

Cas flies past them and lands on the ground with a thud. "That's progress." The angel says as he stands up.

"Oh, for the love of God." MJ mutters, rubbing her forehead.

"I don't think He loves anyone but himself." Bela says, causing her to laugh.

"You know, I might actually like you when you're not trying to kill me." She says, and the other girl smirks.

"What's going on in there?" Andrea asks, watching Cas disappear back into the cellblock.

"None of your business." MJ looks back at her. "Answer Hershel's question."

She sighs as she looks down. "No, he didn't say that he wants to negotiate." She tells them.

"Then why did you come here?" Rick asks.

"Because he's gearing up for war. The people are terrified. They see you as killers."

"That's ironic." MJ mutters.

"Mom." Matty nudges her and shakes his head.

"They're training to attack." Andrea continues.

"I'll tell you what." Daryl says, gaining her attention. "Next time you see Philip, you tell him I'm gonna take his other eye."

"We've taken too much shit for too long. He wants a war? He's got one." Glenn tells her.

"Rick, MJ." Andrea turns to the leaders. "If you don't sit down and try to work this out, I don't know what's gonna happen. He has a whole town."

John looks at his daughter. "What do you want me to say?" She asks. "I don't have time for pointless pleasantries. I have a kid tossing his dad around in the other room. I can't leave Jack right now. Not to deal with some prick who calls himself the Governor."

"Look at you." Andrea tries to appeal to the rest of the group. "You've lost so much already. You can't stand alone anymore."

Rick moves to walk around her. "You want to make this right, get us inside." He tells her, and she shakes her head.

"No."

"Then we got nothin' to talk about." He says and then starts to walk toward the cellblock.

"There are innocent people." She calls after him, but he continues past MJ and Matty.

"Do me a favor, bud." MJ looks down at her son. "Try to get Gabriel. I think those two are going to need some help." She says, and he nods.

Cas walks over to MJ and stops right next to her. "This isn't working." He says as he looks down at her.

"Hey, angel face?" She looks up at him. "We've talked about this. Personal space."

"Right." He takes a step back, and she smirks.

"Alright." She shakes her head. "What's the problem?" She asks as she walks into the cellblock with Cas right behind her.