Jo

Late that night I was sitting out on the deck of the tower a rifle across my lap when Daryl joined me.

I looked over my shoulder at him, there was enough of a moon to cast shadows across his face. He looked exhausted. He was still wearing the same clothes from two nights ago and the bags under his eyes were a deep purple. "it's late," I said.

He dropped down beside me. "Mmhhmm," he agreed and he stifled a yawn.

"When was the last time you really slept Daryl?" I asked maybe sounding a little more pushy than I had intended.

He looked thoughtfully up at the sky and glanced over at me. "With you," he said with surprising honestly. "You?" He asked in a good imitation of my bossy voice.

I looked away. Part of me wanted to tell him that it was the same for me. That when he didn't come back last night from hunting I had sat out here until nearly morning and had only gone down to the tombs when the inactivity had nearly driven me crazy. But the words died in my mouth. As much as I wanted to I just couldn't make myself that vulnerable. I peaked at him under my hair but he was watching the stars once more. He already knew the answer.

"Daryl-" I started to say, but stopped. I didn't know how to do this anymore. That person I was before The Governor, she would have been with Daryl for months now. She would have seen what she wanted and done what she needed to get it. She could have helped Daryl get over whatever his hang ups were by being the steady one. But I was anything but steady these days.

He turned to face me but I didn't have anything to say. I just stared into his blue blue eyes and let myself get lost for a minute. He gave me a grim smile and then very slowly his fingers reached out and covered mine where they sat on the cold metal of the deck. We were supposed to keep our distance, everyone was but I couldn't find it in me to care.

I wanted more than anything to just curl up in Daryl's arms and sleep. I wanted to let myself pretend that everything was safe, that the only enemies we had to face could be killed with a knife.

Daryl slid back so his back was propped up against the wall of the tower.

"What are you doing?" I asked. "You should be inside getting some sleep."

"You're tak'in night watch ain't ya?" He drawled in a tired voice.

I nodded, fiddling with the rifle in my lap. He nodded too and leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "Wake me in a few hours and we'll trade."

He shifted a few times but couldn't seem to get comfortable. Finally he sat up and glanced at me once before he lay down and put his head on my thigh. I sucked in a breath in surprise but didn't say anything. I let my one arm drape over his back more comfortably and after a few short minutes he was snoring. He slept fitfully and finally settled with his head on my thigh facing my stomach, and his arms wrapped around my waist. When he would stir I let myself run my fingers through his overgrown hair. He would hum in the back of his throat and settle back in. I had no intention of waking him. I could go without sleep a lot longer than anyone else and he needed it.

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Jo

The next morning Daryl was still sleeping on my lap and I was watching the treeline when I heard the screaming. I whipped my head around but I couldn't see anything, we were on the wrong side of the tower.

"Daryl?!" I could hear Rick calling and when I looked up he was striding towards my tower.

I reached down and gently shook Daryl awake. "Dare," I said in a quiet voice. "Daryl, wake up."

He stirred and rolled onto his back. He looked up at me in confusion then looked around. He was trying to reconcile the fact that it was morning and he had expected it to still be night. "Something happened, Rick's coming."

Daryl climbed to his feet, groaning as he did so. We had just come into the tower when Rick came up the hatch. He didn't look like he had any sleep. He looked haggard and fragile.

"I need you," he said looking at Daryl. Then he hesitated and glanced at me as though he were surprised to find me standing there. "You might be good too." Then he turned and left, expecting us to follow. I looked at Daryl in confusion but he only shrugged and followed after Rick.

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Jo

"You found them like this?" Rick asked, his voice was hushed as we stood over the bodies.

I tilted my head to the side as though that would help my brain figure out which burned husk was which. The smell was permanently burned into my nose. I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to eat cooked meat without thinking about this. I had never seen anything like this, but I fought to keep my face carefully neutral. Rick wanted me here for a reason and I had to assume it wasn't just because I was one of the least likely to throw up on his cowboy boots.

"I came to see Karen and I saw the blood on the floor. Then I smelled them." Tyreese's voice was breathy with disbelief at first but then he whirled on the three of us and started yelling. "Somebody dragged them out here and set them on fire! They killed them and set them on fire!"

He whirled on Rick, he moved so fast it looked like he was going to attack. Rick flinched back like he was expecting to be hit. I tensed, in case I needed to help in some way but Daryl had already swung around behind Tyreese so he was ready to intervene.

"You're a cop. You find out who did this and you bring them to me you understand!? You bring them to me!" Tyreese was up in Rick's space in a way that made me uncomfortable. Rick was not at his most stable right now and it felt an awful lot like dumping gasoline on the fire.

The rage was running through Tyreese so completely he was shaking. I took half a step back. Tyreese was big, he was huge, and outweighed me by at least a hundred pounds of straight muscle. I wouldn't stand a chance against him and that little part of my brain woke up, telling me the situation was going to get out of hand. I dropped my hands so they were resting on the grips of my knives.

"You bring them to me!" he screamed all but spitting in Rick's face.

I locked eyes with Daryl for a moment, trying to make him understand what I was seeing.

Daryl nodded and stepped up and lightly touched the back of Tyreese's arm, trying to break his focus from Rick. "We'll find out who-" he started to say in a calm voice, doing his best to deescalate the situation.

Tyreese ripped his arm from Daryl's grasp and swung back around to face Rick once more. Rick was staring hard at the ground, his shoulders slightly hunched forward. Everything about Rick's posture was said non-aggressive, but I didn't trust it. Rick felt like a pot about to boil over to me.

"I need to say it again?" Tyreese demanded, his voice rising once more as he got right in Rick's face.

"No," Rick said shaking his head and keeping his eyes on the ground. "No," he repeated, his voice coming out stronger. He cautiously met Tyreese's gaze. "I know what you're feeling. I've been there. You saw me there. It's dangerous." And I knew he was talking about the time after his wife died. No one had told me about it, but I had seen enough of the aftermath to guess it wasn't a good situation. Rick had lost control for a bit. Heck, when they first brought me back he was barely hanging on. Not that I could talk at the time, but it was bad enough I noticed.

"Karen didn't deserve this," Tyreese snapped, he was holding onto his anger and no matter what Rick said he was not allowing himself to be talked down.

"No," Rick said shaking his head again.

Daryl moved once more, keeping Tyreese square in front of him. Daryl was getting antsy with how angry Tyreese was and how aggressively he was moving around. I could see the tension running up and down Daryl's bare arms as he flexed and unflexed his fists.

"David didn't deserve it, nobody does!" Tyreese yelled.

Finally Daryl's patience snapped. I knew instantly it was the wrong move. I tried to step forward to stop him, but I wasn't fast enough.

"All right man," Daryl said and he grabbed Tyreese's shoulder. "Let's-"

Tyreese whirled around and grabbed Daryl. He ran backwards until he slammed Daryl against the metal bars of the door. "Man I ain't going nowhere until I find out who did this!" Tyreese screamed straight in his face.

I moved forward, my knife already drawn. I was going to have to hurt Tyreese really bad to get him to let go of Daryl. Daryl held both his hands up as though in surrender but they were pointed at Rick and I. He caught Rick's eye first, trying to get him to stay calm as well. Then he turned to meet my gaze. He was dead calm. He was fine. I nodded but didn't lower my knife.

Daryl dropped his hands to his side and relaxed, even though Tyreese still held him pinned by his vest. "We're on the same side man," Daryl said in a quiet voice. He had that same calm demeanor he had used with me during my episodes those first few weeks. For a man with a temper it never ceased to amaze me how calm Daryl could be when the situation called for it.

"Hey look," Rick was trying to keep his voice reasonable but it cracked with emotion. "I know what you're going through. We've all lost someone. We know what you're going through right now but you've gotta calm down."

Tyreese whirled around, shoving Daryl away from him. Daryl stumbled to the side but kept his feet. Tyreese had shoved Rick back several feet. "You need to step the hell back!" He raged.

"No," the word came out of my mouth, only a little above a whisper. Rick and Tyreese were both barely holding it together. If they started swinging I didn't think they would stop. Not to mention Daryl would barely be able to hold
Tyreese which still left me with Rick. I only knew one way to stop an attacker.

Tyreese's heard me speak despite how quiet I was and his eyes turned to me. They were blazing with hate and fear. He was closer to the edge then I thought. "And what about you!? You do this?!" he screamed, taking an aggressive step towards me.

I saw Daryl moving out of the corner of my eye but I refused to break eye contract with Tyreese. I wouldn't let him see that I was afraid. He was bigger and stronger but I was faster. If he attacked the key would be to keep him from getting his hands on me. All it would take was one blow for him to seriously hurt me.

"This the kind of people you keep around, huh?!" He screamed turning to Rick. He stabbed his finger in my direction to emphasize his point. "Someone can kill you as soon as look at you and never blink. I seen her do it! Look at her, standing here over two corpses and she got dead eyes. She don't feel nothing!"

And he shoved me. I knew it was coming and moved with it so the full power behind it never landed, but I still stumbled back a few feet and nearly fell.

By the time I recovered Rick was already in motion, but it wasn't to stop Tyreese this time. He put himself in front of Daryl. "Tyreese," Rick said in a warning voice. "Don't do that. That's not a good idea."

"Why? Cuz she's a killer? She gonna kill me? You kill them girl?" Tyreese was advancing in me again. I stood my ground, rocking up onto the balls of my feet.

"Imma kill ya," Daryl's words were only a soft growl from the other side of Rick. "You touch her again and we ain't gonna have a problem no more." Tyreese froze at Daryl's words but didn't turn. I didn't let myself look at Daryl, but I wanted to.

I stood impassively in the storm of Tyreese's anger. I understood where it came from. He was grieving and scared and mad. Even knowing that didn't make his accusations hurt any less.

"I see how it is," Tyreese snapped angrily spinning on Rick and Daryl. "Let's all defend the friendly neighborhood psychopath cuz she's a cute piece of ass." Tyreese was getting himself rolling again I could see it in his eyes and the set of his shoulders.

I heard the noise of disgust Daryl made in the back of his throat. Rick whispered something to Daryl but I couldn't hear it. I risked a glance at Daryl. His hands were clenched into fists at his side and he only had eyes for Tyreese. He was on the other side of Rick pacing aggressively, his shoulders tight, his hands clenched into fists. I had never seen him so mad.

In that moment Rick decided to switch tactics. It was a stupid decision. "She wouldn't want you being like this," Rick said, his voice deadly calm.

And that was the final straw. Tyreese whirled away from me and he swung. Rick may have had a chance to duck it but his attention was divided. He was still worried about keeping Daryl back and calm. So the punch caught Rick across the jaw hard enough to knock him off his feet. Tyreese wound up and swung again. I jumped forward to help but Daryl was already there, grabbing Tyreese from behind" "That's enough," he snarled. He held the other man by his arms, pulling him back away from Rick. I glanced up at them and bit my lip. Tyreese could easily head butt Daryl if he wanted to. Daryl was acting under the assumption that Tyreese didn't actually want to hurt us, I wasn't so trusting.

I leaned down to help Rick up, but he was already moving. He shoved passed me and hit Tyreese hard enough with a hook that he knocked Tyreese out of Daryl's arms. Then he stalked over to him, kicked him in the ribs to flip him over and started pounding on Tyreese's face. Rick had lost it.

"Rick," Daryl said. "Stop." When Rick made no move to show he heard, Daryl ran in and wrapped his arms around Rick's chest, pinning his arms to his sides. "Stop," he said walking backwards with Rick in his arms.

"Let go of me!" Rick raged, flailing around trying to get away from Daryl.

"No!" Daryl yelled pulling Rick backwards away from Tyreese.

"let go of me!" Looking in Rick's face there was no body home. Like this, I was convinced he would hurt either Daryl or I to get at Tyreese.

"No!" Daryl shouted giving Rick a particularly hard jerk to shock him out of it.

Rick spun around and shoved Daryl away from him so hard Daryl slammed into me. I saw Daryl coming but couldn't get out of the way fast enough. Daryl caught himself and fought not to land on me but we went down in an unceromonious heap. Somehow I ended up half sitting on Daryl as we both stared up at Rick in shock.

Rick froze, looking first at us, then to Tyreese and then down at his bloodied hand.

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