The Council

The next morning, I left Sawyer with Barbara, who was already wrangling RJ and looked far too chipper for someone dealing with two toddlers. “You’re a saint,” I told her, kissing Sawyer’s forehead. He clung to me for a second before Barbara swept him up with ease, distracting him with a stuffed elephant.

Daryl was walking Briar to school, her tiny hand wrapped tight in his. She wore that little denim jacket she insisted on - too big, sleeves rolled - and Daryl had let her put a tiny braid in the front of his again. He looked ridiculous - like the best damn dad I’d ever seen. I knew he’d wait until she was safely out of sight before he dared to remove it. She had him wrapped around her little finger - she had since the day she was born.

We met back up at the church, ready for the council meeting to interrogate the new group.

The place was packed when we arrived - half of Alexandria at least, all eyes on the newcomers standing before us. The council - me, Michonne, Gabriel, Aaron, Siddiq, Laura, Nora, and Kyle - sat in a row beneath the tall cross that still hung at the back of the altar. That thing hadn’t meant anything to me in a long time, but today it felt like a judge’s gavel, watching and waiting.

Michonne asked who the leader of the group was.

“We’re a team,” Magna, a badass-looking woman with long, wavy hair and lots of tattoos, answered coolly, arms crossed.

Luke, the short, curly-haired man next to her added, “There were more of us once.” He spoke with open hands, “I was a music teacher. Magna worked at a truck stop diner. Connie was a journalist. Kelly was still in high school. Yumiko - the woman in the infirmary - she was a lawyer.

There were nods. Murmurs. People wanted to believe them.

Magna looked at us like we were the ones on trial. “You should trust us.”

But I’d already spotted something else.

“Magna,” I said, quiet but firm. “Show me your left hand.”

She tensed, eyes flicking to Connie, then back to me. Slowly, she raised her hand. Prison ink. Small but unmistakable. I stood.

“Remove your belt - I know there’s a knife in the buckle.”

Her face tightened, but she reached down and undid her belt, pulled out a blade, and set it on the table without a word.

Daryl caught my eyes from the front pew, no longer sporting his Briar braid. He looked impressed.

I didn’t flinch. “I don’t like liars.”

She tried to speak, but I cut her off. I’d heard enough. I walked out. The tension stuck to my skin like sweat.

Gabriel followed me outside, steps hurried. “Athena, wait-”

I spun on him. “The last time we let new people in, they took the children!”

He opened his mouth, but I didn’t let him speak.

“My husband almost died getting them back. Michonne and him - they were strung up, branded like cattle.” My voice cracked. “You didn’t see what Daryl was like after. What they made Michonne do-”

I stopped. I didn’t even know if Gabriel knew the full story. I wasn’t sure who did.

Daryl’s arms slipped around me from behind, pulling me close. His beard scratched my temple as he kissed it.

“Hey,” he murmured, voice low and grounding. “Ain’t gonna happen again.”

Gabriel took the hint - moving back inside to continue the meeting.

“I know,” I whispered, but my throat burned. “I just… it could’ve... Briar was too young to be at that sleepover. That’s the only reason she wasn’t taken. If she was older - she could’ve been.”

He spun me to look at him, his jaw tight. I could see it in his eyes - he remembered everything.

It hadn’t even been a total stranger - not to Michonne. She’d known her before the fall, Jocelyn. They’d gone to school together. She turned up here with a bunch of orphaned kids, we welcomed them in, we trusted her - so much so that a bunch of the Alexandrian kids were having regular sleepovers at her house, but then one morning they were just gone... Jocelyn, her kids, Alexandria’s kids.

Those children she was with had been brainwashed into becoming monsters, and she’d also turned them against us. When Daryl and Michonne found where they were hiding, they had to fight. Daryl had taken chase of Jocelyn while Michonne tried to find Judith and the others. She’d had to kill those children when they attacked to save her daughter. Daryl found her after.

She hadn’t been the same since. That kind of pain don’t go away.

I remembered the raw, angry red of the X-shaped brand on Daryl’s back when he came home. The way he clenched his teeth while I cleaned and dressed it. How he wouldn’t let himself cry, not even once, despite me knowing how distressed he was. The children of Alexandria were brought back safely, but what he’d seen, what Michonne had to do – it traumatized both of them.

Daryl took my hand and squeezed it tight. "They ain’t stayin’,” he said, quiet but sure. “Michonne won’t let ‘em.”

“I hope not.”

~

Later, while Daryl was out working in the garage after the kids went to bed, I opened the front door to find Magna standing on the porch, eyes downcast.

She held out another blade - thin, sharp, easily hidden. “You were right,” she said simply.

I took it without a word at first. Looked at her.

“How did you know?” she asked tentatively. “What the tattoo was.”

I took a deep breath. “You’re not the only one who’s been an inmate,” I admitted, but wasn’t going to go into it further. “We’ve all done things to survive... and things before that,” I finally said. “But we don’t trust easily. We’ve made that mistake before.”

“We don’t want any trouble.”

I sighed. Not knowing what else to say, so I shut the door and turned around.

Briar was sitting halfway down the stairs, Daryl’s hunting knife grasped in both hands.

My heart jumped. “Sweetheart!” I said, moving slow, “You shouldn’t be playing with that!”

“I’m not,” she replied. “I was gonna protect you. Like Daddy does.”

I knelt in front of her and gently took the blade from her hands. “That’s really brave, baby. But you let Daddy and me handle the scary stuff, okay?”

She nodded sleepily, eyes half-hooded, and I walked her back up to bed, brushing the curls from her forehead as she drifted off again.

Then, I made my way out to the garage.

Daryl was under the hood of some half-gutted truck, shirt tied around his waist, grease on his arms. He looked hella sexy, but I had to focus.

“Magna came by,” I told him. “Gave me another knife.”

He grunted, not surprised. “She ask how you knew about the tattoo?”

“Yeah. I told her.”

He nodded.

I leaned against the wall. “Turned around after she left and found Briar with your knife. She said she was gonna protect me. Like you do.”

He turned and wiped his hands on a rag. Tried to look concerned - but that damn smirk gave him away.

“You’re proud,” I accused, narrowing my eyes.

His smirk widened. “Lil bit.” He paused. “That’s my girl.”

I rolled my eyes but smiled anyway.

“Sawyer said he had fun with RJ at Barbara’s today.” He told me as he pulled at something under the hood with a wrench. “Kept interruptin’ his bedtime story to tell me what games they’d been playin’.”

I smiled. “When I picked him up, Barbara said she’d be happy to have him more - she loves having RJ.” I looked at Daryl closer, my voice more cautious. “Maybe we should take her up on it... I could come out with you more.”

Daryl’s eyes flicked to me. “That what ya want?”

“Maybe.” I admitted. “I worry about you when you go out there... I know you can take care of yourself - but nobody can back you up as well as I do. Nobody’s as protective over you as me.”

Daryl sighed. “Ain’t gonna lie. I prefer knowin’ yur here, safe. Why be out there if ya ain’t gotta?”

“Honestly? I kinda miss it.” I confessed, moving closer and wrapping my arms around him, not caring that he was covered in truck gunk. “I miss kicking walker ass with my husband - I’ve barely been outside the walls since the kids came.”

He held me close, looking at me intently. “I don’t like it, but s’upto you. I know I can’t stop ya.”

“Damn right, you can’t.” I chuckled. “I love being mommy, but the kids are a bit older, Sawyer will start school soon. I want back in on the action.”

“M’kay.” He accepted, kissing my forehead. “I do miss my partner in crime. I like Aaron, but his ass don’t look nowhere near as good.”

I snorted. Daryl laughed. We made out. Mission successful.

“I’d better go back in and make sure Briar’s not wielding a sword or something. You coming to bed soon?”

“Ten minutes. Go warm it up for us.”

“Yes, Sir.”

A/N: Ass-kicking Athena reporting for duty.