I know why the caged bird sings (Merle and Rowan)

Merle burst through the door quickly, looking around to see if the room was as empty as he thought that it would be. And he was right. Only the person he was here to save was here, no one else. He gritted his teeth at seeing the young woman tied to an operating table with several pieces of strong rope, a drip attached to her to keep her mildly sedated at all times.

So the Governor had enough drugs to keep this girl trapped here but didn't have enough to keep the people of Woodbury healthy huh? Fucking typical of that amoral asshole.

He could see that the woman was trying to focus on him as he cut the bonds on her hands and feet,

"Row'n Math'rs righ'?" he asked her in his usual gruff tone as he cut her loose, "Stay wit' me darl'..."

The door opened and Merle spun round with his gun at the ready... only to hesitate when he saw that it was Milton. Merle had been given a key to the building and a note with this information. Could Milton be working here? Could he-

"There's not much time... I managed to lure the Governor away with a fake Walker scare." he told Merle quickly and he careful removed the drip, "I couldn't do this... Merle please, you have to get her out of here."

For once, Merle felt incredibly proud of the scrawny little nerd. He placed a hand on Milton's shoulder,

"You don' a goo' thin' here." he told him with a grin, "Now we can all ge' te fuc' ou'a here."

Milton swallowed as Merle picked Rowan up off the bed and set her down on her feet,

"I can't go... you have to make it look like there was a struggle Merle. You have to... hit me!"

Merle took a second to think about it before balling up his fist, reaching way back... and asserting himself. As Milton crumpled to the floor, knocked out cold, Merle wrapped an arm around Rowan to help her walk,

"Yer bac' in te worl'a te livin' girli'?"

Rowan was almost completely out of it, it was as she chose to be most of the time because she didn't like to be aware of what was happening to her more often than not. She had arrived at Woodbury seeking help, and she had found nothing but more pain in being here. The man who ran Woodbury was nothing but scum and he made her heart boil with anger everytime she thought about the way that he had deceived her.

Hearing the door opening, Rowan tried to snap herself from her groggy state but it wasn't very successful. She opened her eyes and saw it was not The Governor, it was not Milton but another man she had never seen before - and he looked angry.

When Milton appeared she tried to form a glare but, the fact he was taking the drip out of her arm, and the other man had actually untied her made her feel amazing. Was she finally getting out of here? Was Milton the one responsible for helping her? If so she decided to take back all of the bad things she had thought about him.

Gasping loudly when she clearly saw Merle whacking Milton onto the floor, she was awake enough to know his name and know that he needed to do what he had done.

"Uh..um...yes." she whispered softly, stumbling a little bit as she tried to regain the strength in her legs "Getting there slowly."

Gently she turned and kissed his cheek; "Thank you, thank you so much."

Merle glanced down at Rowan and hummed a little bit when he realised that she seemed to be gaining some more lucidity. She was unlikely to be back to normal just yet but she was aware enough to know that he was rescuing her and that Milton had helped. He nodded once as he held his pistol with his other hand,

"Goo' cus we migh' no' be gettin' ou'a tis withou' havin' te mak'a brea' fer it." he told her with a small smirk, "Bu' we can mak' it don' worry. Yer'v go' me."

When she kissed his cheek he grinned a little bit,

"Mayb' I shoul' rescu' dams'ls mor' oft'n." he suggested with a little laugh before smirking and handing her another pistol, "Now... be caref'l no' te shoo' me alrigh' darl'?"

As they edged their way out of the building, Merle began to help her limp towards the boundary of the town. They were walking through the yard where they'd dragged all the burnt out cars so there was plenty of cover but he was still getting a bit worried about being seen,

"Jes's... tey're bac' already!" he muttered as he pointed out a couple of guards going back to the lab. He held a finger to his lips, "We nee' te wai' unt'l yer can run... tell me wh'n yer can..."

Rowan felt reassured that she had Merle, a man she had never met before, looking after her. That had to mean that she was in a low spot if she was being so trusting of someone that she didn't even know all that well. The fact that he was being so supportive of her made her heart lighten and she was enjoying being able to move freely for the first time in weeks.

"I'm already feeling much better, so don't worry." she stated with a small smile "As for running, you'll be the one struggling to keep up with me I can assure you of that." Rowan teased with a wink in Merle's direction.

As she took the pistol that Merle held out for her, she realised that she was being trusted a lot here as well. Trusted not to just go around shooting everyone which someone who was more angry would most likely do. However she knew that was not the way. Rowan would only end up hurting innocent people not doing a great deal of helping.

"Alright...I'll be careful." she whispered softly "But good to know I'm your first." she teased again.

Bent down, and edging towards a large group of metal cars, Rowan ducked behind one for cover and she waited until she had Merle's mark to move. When she heard that the guards were back already she frowned and pouted a little bit. For a few seconds, Rowan took in great breaths of the fresh air, hoping to get herself under control, and eventually her legs began to feel somewhat close to normal.

"Okay, okay I can go!" she whispered.

Merle was beginning to think this was something of a bad idea.

He should have probably planned this out a bit better so that they had a better distraction than a fake Walker attack. Heck he could think of a better distraction right now... a real Walker attack! That way both he and his new friend could have gone missing and no one would have been able to say that it wasn't because they'd been eaten alive by Walkers.

He raised an eyebrow at her cocky attitude,

"Well gir' yer'v still go' tha' dru' shi' in yer in cas' yer miss'd tha'." he teased her a little bit before smirking, "Bu' as lon' as yer can kee' pac' I don' min'."

He was giving her a pistol.

There was literally nothing to stop her from shooting him right here and now. Nothing at all! But she held off and he was thankful and hopeful that he had done the right thing. He smirked a little bit when she called herself his first,

"Yea'..." he admitted before smirking, "Norm'lly I'm te guy who tak's te dams'ls an' pu's em in dist'ss!"

Merle could hear the guards shouting inside the building and when she whispered that she could go now it was not a second too soon. The guards were getting very frantic now but thankfully the wall wasn't too far away,

"Go!"

Urging her forwards, Merle turned and shot at some of the guards, not wanting to kill them but to make them duck behind cover. When they were all ducked down he began running as well. Reaching the metal section of the wall first, he dropped to one knee and offered Rowan a boost,

"Com' on... get up ter' ten yer can hel' me ov'r too!"

Rowan nodded her head seriously when Merle said that she needed to keep pace, she was going to do that and make sure that she covered her new friend as well. Where would she be without him and Milton? Still hooked up to those drugs on that operating table they had down there, not even a bed to sleep on.

As soon as she heard that he was the one who normally took the damsels and put them in distress, Rowan thought that he looked the type. Merle looked a little bit rough around the edges and seemed like he had more than his fair share of hardships before the world went south a year or so ago. Perhaps he came into his element now that there was no law, in a sense.

"Well I'm glad to see you're turning over a new leaf." she stated with a soft smile "As soon as we get away from this place, I'll do whatever I can to repay you."

The frantic calls of the guards were making her hackles rise, she wanted to move, but it was not the right time.

As soon as Merle urged her forwards she ran, deciding that she was going to just keep on running, not try and get behind cover, there was no time for that when the guards were right there. On Merle's tail every step of the way, Rowan easily slotted her foot into his hands as he held them to boost her up. Slinging her leg over the wall, she dropped a hand down for Merle to use to pull himself up, before dropping down the other side of the metal wall.

"Do we run like fuck?" she asked, frantically looking at the large doors a few meters away, and hoping they wouldn't open.

Merle smirked a little bit.

Turning over a new leaf? Whoever said that he was the good guy? Sure he was rescuing Rowan but that didn't mean anything. That just meant he wasn't okay with human experimentation, didn't mean he was suddenly a hero or nothing. He was the villain and he liked it that way. So he laughed quietly at her suggestion,

"New lea'? Nev'r. Jus' can' stan' anyon' bein' experi'n'td on." he told her with a small shrug before smirking, "An' caref'l how yer wor' yer promis's... I ain' no hero typ'."

He swore as he made his way to the wall with Rowan. They were shooting back at him now and it was only because he'd already lost his hand that he didn't get shot in it to be honest. Cursing again, he grabbed hold of Rowan's hand and pulled himself up and over as the bullets clanged against the wall around him.

Landing heavily, he winced a little bit before pulling out a grenade,

"In on' minut' yea'..." he told her, throwing it back over the wall. There was an explosion and screaming. Obviously it had not killed them but wounded them severely, "Now tey will be too bus' tryin' te sav' tem' wort'l's asshol's."

He grinned as he started to run,

"Com' on darl'... ter's a car in te nex' tow'."

Rowan couldn't help but bite her lip gently when she heard that little speech about not being a hero from Merle. To be honest she didn't know him very well so he could either be telling the truth, or he could have a really bad image of himself and think that he was a horrible guy when really he was very sweet. It would be fun trying to work out which one of those it was. She had a feeling though it might be the first one.

"Hmmmm, well, thank you all the same." she stated with a soft smile "Hero or not, you did a good thing. I wont tell anyone though if you think its going to hurt your 'rep'." Rowan smirked, using air quote marks to show how she was taking the micky slightly.

Jaw dropping in shock when he threw a grenade over the wall, Rowan couldn't help but think that was a little bit uncalled for, however she didn't comment on it because obviously, Merle had survived this long for a reason. Maybe it was needed to be safer rather than sorry when it came to protecting yourself against other people.

"Alright then, I'll follow you."

Jogging along beside Merle, Rowan smiled brightly and wanted to roll about in the trees and grass outside Woodbury because she was free of that wretched place again. Never would she be making that same mistake in the future. Her trust was shattered but with Merle, it was slowly rebuilding.

"So, do you have an idea of where we're going to go or...are you going to head back to Woodbury?" she asked shyly, Rowan didn't think he was but, she didn't want to just assume he was going with her.

Merle was not joking in the slightest.

He cared about his little brother Daryl and that was about it to be honest. No one else really factored into his list of people he gave a rat's ass about. Rowan was on the list for now and it depended on how this rescue went to whether or not she stayed on the list. Either way he would make sure she was off on her way or safe with him,

"I did wha' I did cus I hat'd te thin' tha' was goin' on." he told her with a small shrug, "If peopl' thin' tha' low'rs mah rep ten tey can jus' go righ' on bac' te tryin' te fuc' em'sel'vs."

Rushing through the countryside, Merle ignored the small feeling he got about leaving two, or more, men dying in pools of their own blood. You didn't get too far in this life if you weren't able to detach yourself from the deaths of people who didn't matter after all.

As they reached the edge of the next town, Merle urged her forwards as he took out a car key he had swiped from inside one of the nearby houses. A black 4x4 flashed it's lights and he gestured for her to get in at the same time that he did,

"I'm goin' te a farmhous' no' too far from her'." he told her, "Tryin' te fin' mah broth'r. I can eith'r let yer ou' ther' or yer can com' wit' us. Yer call darl'."