"Stay behind us," Daryl looked at Parker, warning her not to do anything stupid. 

"Yeah, no," Parker nodded her head in agreement. "Don't gotta tell me twice." The three ran down the hallway, being interrupted by a hail of bullets. Daryl grabbed Parker and pushed her back around the corner and into a room, protecting her from the bullets. Parker leaned around the door with her gun raised and began shooting at the Saviors. She knew that she would run out of bullets if they continued exchanging shots like this, and she tried to find a solution. 

Then she noticed the fire extinguisher, calling out to Daryl and Rick. Her brother followed her gaze before counting from three on his fingers. When he reached one, Rick shot the fire extinguisher and an explosion of pressurized air sent a white cloud into the air, allowing Daryl and Parker to join Rick on the other side of the hallway. As the Saviors turned the corner, Rick pushed one down the elevator shaft and Parker raised her gun, shooting the remaining Saviors as they ran down the hallway. When they were clear, Parker heard voices below.

"Teams of four! Sweep the offices!"

"Aaron?" Rick shouted, looking around.

"Rick?" He called back from somewhere below.

"We're by  the elevator!" Rick yelled back. It took a lot longer than expected, having everyone clear out the staircase by hand. But once it was done, Aaron ran over, checking to make sure everyone was okay. "Yeah, everyone's alright," Rick nodded, looking between the two who had come up with him. "The guns aren't here though."

"We have enough time to chit-chat later. We need to move," Parker pushed past them all, looking around a corner. In the opposite direction of the stairs. "It's clear." 

"The hell are you goin'?" 

"I need to go grab something," She headed down the hall toward the baby's room Rick had found, and when she walked into the room, she spotted the dead man on the floor. Her father. She stepped around him muttering a quiet apology and that's when she heard the little girl. Awake and kicking in her crib, Parker sighed. Daryl and Rick had left with Aaron, leaving Parker in charge of the baby. Reaching for the baby bag, Parker opened it and stuffed in as many clothes and supplies as she could. 

Once the bag was securely on her shoulder, Parker reached into the crib and picked up the baby. The name on the wall told her that the name was Gracie. "Hello, Gracie.." Parker whispered. "Let's get you out of here, hm? How's that sound?" The baby laughed and Parker walked down the stairs and out of the building. Rick and his team had cleared the yard and Parker headed towards the cars, holding the baby in her arms. Rick turned to her, his eyes instantly finding the baby.

"You went back for her?" He asked, looking down at the now crying baby in her arms.

"Obviously," Parker said back, looking up at him. "I couldn't just leave her there. Do you know.. do you know where Eric is?"

"He was shot," Tobin said quietly, coming up from behind. "She was inside?" Tobin asked in disbelief as he walked over, having heard the baby's cries.

"Yeah, she was," Parker answered with a nod. "I have to make a stop with Rick, and Daryl has his motorcycle. Maybe she could go back with you or Scott?"

"She can go with me," Aaron decided, holding back tears. Parker looked at him with an unsure look.

"Are you sure?"

"I can, uh.. t-take her to the Hilltop," Aaron walked over from his car. Parker couldn't imagine the pain he was going through at that moment. She didn't want him to feel obligated to take care of a baby. Especially if he didn't want to.

"Aaron, you don't have to," Parker assured him.

"She'll be safe there," Aaron responded quietly, his voice catching.

"Aaron.. you sure?" Rick asked skeptically.

"Eric and I were gonna go up..." He started to say before crying. "We were gonna go there after and update Maggie. So... that's what I'm gonna do. Please. I have to," Parker handed Gracie over to Aaron.

"Her name is Gracie." She took the bag off her shoulder. "If you need diapers or anything, they're in the bag. Along with some clothes and other stuff. And of course, you can come over to our house if you run out of anything."

"Thank you," Aaron whispered, smiling sadly.

"I'm so sorry about Eric," She placed a hand on his arm, before turning and walking away. Following after Rick and Tobin.

"Can you take Parker home?" Tobin nodded, going around and opening the passenger door.

"Of course," Parker turned to look at Rick, raising her eyebrows.

"I was planning on going with you."

"No," Rick refused the help, shaking his head. "You've done enough, alright? Just go home." Parker nodded reluctantly,

"Fine, but you better be home soon or I'll come looking for you." Rick smiled, looking back at her.

"I'll be there," She hugged him tightly

"Be careful."

"I'll be fine," Rick said back. "I love you, P.

"I love you too, Rick," Parker whispered back. Before leaving, she walked over to Daryl, who greeted her with an arm around her shoulders,

"You alright?"

"Yeah," She sighed, "Just... seeing Morales today... it was hard. I guess in my head he and his family made it to Birmingham and found the people he was searching for."

"He could've killed you," Daryl told her.

"He wasn't going to do it," Parker stared up at him. "I'm a prize, remember? Negan wants me alive. And besides, I'm very persuasive. He wasn't going to shoot me."

"I wasn't going to risk it," Daryl shrugged his shoulders. "Will you be okay goin' with them?" She nodded in response.

"Yeah, now that Rick is making me go home, I feel tired. I'll wait up for you though. I'll make dinner, then we can go to sleep."

"Sounds good," Daryl responded, kissing Parker's forehead. "You better go."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Parker joked. Daryl kissed her briefly.

"I would never want to get rid of you, but it looks like you need to sleep."

"Are you saying i look like shit?" She narrowed her eyes at him and he shook his head. "I'll see you at home, okay?" Daryl laughed, turning her in the direction of the car.

"I'll see you at home." Climbing into the back seat of Tobin's car, Parker lay on her back with her feet propped up on the window. Tobin looked in the rearview mirror, pulling both of the front doors closed.

"Figured you were sitting up front," He said with a laugh. "Are you okay?" Parker gave him a thumbs up.

"Just tired, you know? But I'll be fine."

"Well, you've been pretty active lately," Tobin pointed out the obvious. "Maybe taking it easy won't be so bad." Parker sighed, forcing herself to sit up.

"I don't know, Tobin. I want to take it easy but I can't. I can't just sit at home while everyone is here, fighting in a war, risking their lives."

"Everyone will be fine," Tobin replied. "We will be fine."

"But I prefer to be out here," She explained, staring out the window. "Just in case." They continued the conversation all the way back to Alexandria, at which point Parker got out of the back seat and was greeted by her nephew, who ran up to her with a smile on his face.

"Aunt Parker!" Carl laughed, hugging her. "I'm glad you're back."

"I told you I'd be fine," Parker held onto his shoulders as she looked at him "Is that why you gave me a hard time this morning before we left?" She touched his cheek gently. "I would never leave you." Carl smiled up at her, leading her towards the house.

"Good. Come on, I made dinner."

"And you didn't burn the house down?" Parker asked jokingly.

"No," Carl shot back over his shoulder. "Judith and I decided to cook for you, Dad, and Daryl. But they'll be late and it's already done. And Judith is hungry."

"Judith helped too?" Parker laughed at the thought. "Well, I bet it will be delicious." They headed towards the house, and as Parker walked with her nephew, she forgot about the day she had had. She forgot about Morales, she forgot about the baby they had found, she forgot about the fact that Gabriel was missing and that Negan was still alive.

"Aunt Pah-ka!" Yelled a familiar voice. Judith ran down the porch steps and hugged Parker's legs enthusiastically. Parker laughed, lifting her up.

"Hey, Jude." When Parker, Carl, and Judith sat down to eat, Carl informed her that later in the afternoon he was going out into the woods to look for a man Rick had scared the day before. "Well, do you want me to come with you?" Parker asked, with her mouth full of spaghetti.

"No," Carl responded, shaking his head. "Judith needs someone to watch her and you need to rest." Parker frowned at the thought of him going alone.

"I don't like that idea. You don't even know him."

"I wasn't asking for help, Aunt Parker," Carl told her, looking down at his food. "We can't... I can't leave him out there to die." Parker sighed, setting her fork down.

"Carl, you're growing up too fast. You're making your own decisions, and if you think this is the right one, who am I to stop you? I miss the days when you needed me."

"I still need you," Carl said. "We all do. Without you, none of us would have made it this far."

"That's a lot of responsibility for one person," She laughed awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, but it's true," Carl responded with a shrug. "You're the glue, Aunt Parker."

"Well, glue is only good if it holds something together, so without all the others, it would be pretty useless" Parker replied. Carl nodded his head.

"We help the weak. We help them so that we can be stronger."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Parker agreed. "If you're going out, promise me you'll be careful." 

"I promise."

Authors Note:

This is an unfortunately short chapter but.... I have a longer one coming out on Christmas for y'all people as a teeny tiny gift!