#Glenn’s lookin fine as hell here

[danzigs-cat]

<i>Misfits</i>

[daryl-dixon-daydreams]

Words: 4,027 Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader Reader pronouns: she/her Era: the Greene farm Warnings: Language, violence, gore, discussions of trauma, typical TWD, nothing super bad this chapter A/N: This is of a miniseries! You can find the other chapters on the Masterlist! Summary: An accusation is made.

Your name: submit What is this?

The next afternoon you were about ready to lose your mind if you had to sit around your camp site any longer. Daryl had gone out searching for Sophia again and you felt useless being left behind. You knew you couldn’t go far into the woods with your hand injured, but you decided to visit the usual places along the edge where you often found wild mushrooms just for something to do. You gathered up your pack and sheathed your knife on your hip, just in case, and headed out.

It wasn’t yet evening but the sun was sinking low in the sky. Andrea was on watch, sitting on top of the RV, when she suddenly spotted a figure emerging from the trees. At first she thought it might be Daryl coming back from his search, but after looking properly through the binoculars she could see that it was Shane and he was stumbling. The front of his shirt looked crimson. “Oh my God. Oh my God! Hey—I think Shane’s hurt!” The camp scrambled into action. Dale passed out the guns and Rick took off in the lead, racing across the pasture as fast as his legs could carry him. Glenn, Andrea, and T-dog were on his heels. When they reached Shane, they could see a long slice across his torso. He was clutching his hand to his stomach and the blood was just pouring out.

“Jesus! What the hell happened?!” Glenn yelled.

Shane groaned as Andrea slipped off the button-up shirt over her tank top and pressed it to his stomach. Shane gripped it tightly. “I was just—” he winced, “—thinking about setting a few more snares. I ran into Y/N out there and she just—I don’t know, man,” he said, looking up at Rick. “She just fuckin’ lost it! She slashed me and I just took off running!”

Everyone was stunned. “You’re saying Y/N did this to you?” T-dog repeated.

Shane nodded. “Ah, fuck,” he groaned. He pulled Andrea’s shirt away from his stomach and stared at the cut.

Rick looked panicked and ran a hand back through his hair, staring at his bleeding best friend. “You’re telling me she did this unprovoked,” Rick pressed him.

“She just snapped,” Shane said through his gritted teeth. “I told ya something was wrong with that girl.”

Rick swore under his breath. “Andrea,” he motioned for her and they stepped away while T supported Shane. “Get him to Hershel but do not say anything about Y/N. You understand? If he asks, just tell him we’re lookin’ into it right now.” Andrea nodded. “Shane, where is she?” Rick asked.

“She wasn’t that far back. Straight in,” he said. He was hunched over. Andrea began leading him back toward the farmstead.

“Glenn. T. Come with me,” Rick growled. They set off into the trees, scouring the ground for any sign of you. There were clear drops of Shane’s blood in a trail leading straight into the woods. They strained their hearing.

As they crept along, searching, Glenn finally spoke what was on his mind. “Rick. Something about this doesn’t feel right…”

“Let’s just find Y/N,” he replied. His tone was steely. At last, Rick spotted you through the trees ahead, crouching down collecting mushrooms. He made eye contact with T and Glenn and nodded. They approached slowly and Rick raised his gun. “Y/N,” he called out. You startled and stood, spinning around to see the three of them coming toward you, armed. “Just take it easy,” Rick said calmly.

You said nothing. What the fuck was going on?

“Take your knife out of your sheath and toss it away,” Rick said. Your brow furrowed and you only continued to peer at him. “Do it, Y/N. Slowly.”

You gulped, but complied, unsnapping the loop over the hilt of your knife and slowly drawing it before tossing it to the side.

“Good,” Rick nodded. “Do you have any other weapons on you?” You shook your head. Your expression was blank, unreadable. Your heart was hammering in your chest. What the fuck was going on? “Glenn, get her knife,” Rick said. You watched as he retrieved your knife from the leaf litter. “Alright. Let’s get back to camp. You’re gonna come with us now, alright?” You simply stared back, your eyes flashing a little as they darted between the three men. “T keep your gun on her.” Rick approached you cautiously and looked you over thoroughly to be sure you didn’t have another weapon. He withdrew his pair of handcuffs and watched you eye them. For the first time he saw a flash of confusion on your face that you couldn’t hide.

“Rick, is that really necessary?” Glenn asked.

Rick’s eyes didn’t leave you. “Just until we can figure out what’s going on, okay?” You held perfectly still and allowed Rick to handcuff your wrists behind your back. He was careful not to bump your injured hand, wrapped up in clean gauze, and careful not to put them on you too tight. “Glenn’ll get your pack. Come on.” You fell into step beside Rick and allowed him to lead you back toward the farm. T and Glenn trailed behind. Your mind whirred the whole way.

Up at the farmhouse, Shane was laid out in the bed and Hershel was being assisted by Maggie, Lori, and Andrea as he cleaned and stitched up Shane’s wound. It needed quite a few stitches, but the veterinarian said it wasn’t too deep and should heal just fine. Surprisingly, Hershel didn’t ask for an explanation yet. Outside, Carol tried to keep Carl busy and distracted. She stood suddenly when she saw the men returning with you and heading straight toward the stable.

Rick opened one of the empty horse stalls and walked you inside. He took the handcuffs off your wrists and you turned to look at him. You both stared at each other for a long moment. It was like Rick was waiting for you to say something, but you just went on staring. Finally, he stepped back out and shut the door, using the handcuffs as a makeshift lock to secure it closed. He handed the key to T-dog. “Take watch,” he said, and T agreed with a nod. You watched the men leave and simply glanced around before sinking onto the soft, clean hay against the back wall. T-dog glanced in at you. You looked small, huddled on the ground, and it was hard for him to believe you were capable of what you’d done to those men the other day and harder to believe you would attack Shane for no reason…

Rick ran up the porch steps and burst inside. “How is he?” he asked. Hershel was emerging from the guest room and headed to wash his hands in the kitchen.

“He’s fine. Lost a good amount of blood but most of the wound isn’t too deep,” he said calmly. “Are you going to tell me how this happened?” He gave Rick a pointed look.

Rick rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m trying to figure that out right now,” he said. He turned and headed straight into the guest room as Andrea and Lori were coming out. Shane looked up from his prone position on the bed and sighed as Rick came in.

“Did you find her?” he asked, pulling himself up slightly against the headboard.

“Mhm. She’s locked up in the stable for now,” Rick nodded. “Tell me again what happened.”

Shane sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know, man. I ran into her out there and—and I must have spooked her or something because the next thing I knew she was just coming at me,” he said. “She had her knife out and she just—” he made a slashing motion in the air. “I just got out of there as fast as I could. The look in her eyes… She wasn’t in her right mind. I didn’t even realize at first that I was cut until I felt the blood.”

“Mmm,” Rick nodded, listening. “Pretty good gash.”

“Yeah.” Shane glanced down. “Gonna leave me one hell of a scar,” he said.

“Alright. You just rest up. Let me figure the rest of this out, alright?” Rick said, turning to leave.

“Hey. Look, I’m sorry it came to this. If I hadn’t startled her maybe this wouldn’t have happened,” Shane said. Rick held his eyes for a long moment before nodding and stepping into the hallway, shutting the door softly behind him. Rick headed outside and across the farmyard again, making straight for the stable. He ignored the curious looks from Lori and the others, just kept his head down.

He leaned against the stall door and peered at you through the bars. You were just sitting on the ground, your back against the wall. You were cradling your injured hand with the other. Rick cleared his throat to get your attention and your eyes flickered up to his face. “Shane says you attacked him. He’s got a nasty gash across his chest and stomach. Says you did it with your knife.” You simply kept staring at him, but Rick thought your eyes had narrowed just a little. “Did you?”

He thought he saw the muscle in your jaw clench. “No,” you said simply.

Rick waited for you to say more but you didn’t. “No? That’s it? That’s all you’ve got to say?” he pressed you. “We grab you out of the woods and throw handcuffs on you and lock you up in a horse stall and all you’ve got to say is ‘no’?” You just stared back at him. Rick sighed and you watched him shut his eyes and pinch the bridge of his nose. He stepped away, patting T-dog’s shoulder as he went.

Rick was barely two steps away from the stall they’d put you in when Glenn rushed him. “Rick. Rick, something isn’t right here,” he said in a hushed voice. Rick seemed to already be deep in thought. The sheriff’s hands went to his hips.

“She didn’t ask any questions. She just came. She didn’t say anything,” he said softly.

“She hardly talked normally. You expect her to start blurting out questions or dramatically protesting her innocence? We came at her with weapons drawn! She was just attacked by those men two days ago,” Glenn said. “Rick, look. The blade of her knife is completely clean,” Glenn said, holding it out. “She has no blood on her clothes. She just looked—lost when we showed up.” He suddenly reached inside your pack and pulled out a smaller cloth bag. “She was out there collecting mushrooms for the group. There was no blood where we found her. We never even found the spot where this supposedly happened, no sign of a struggle anywhere. And if she snapped like Shane is claiming do you really think she was going to be calmly picking mushrooms still when we got there? Not to mention he’s got like a hundred pounds on her! You’re telling me you think Shane would run if Y/N attacked him?”

“You forgot to mention that her hand was still bandaged up and the gauze didn’t have any blood on it, hers or his,” Rick said. Glenn breathed a sigh of relief. Rick knew. He knew this was bullshit. Of course he knew. “And that’s if she could even grip a knife with that hand. And Y/N is right-handed. That means if she attacked Shane with a slash the way he described, the way he showed me with his hand when he told me, the cut would probably go from the bottom-right of his abdomen up toward his left shoulder. His wound goes from the lower left up toward his right shoulder.” He met Glenn’s eyes.

“Like he did it to himself with his right hand,” Glenn said. “Jesus…”

Rick nodded. “Yeah…”

Daryl came back from another fruitless search thirsty, sweaty, and hungry. He headed toward camp but quickly knew from the gloomy and tense mood that something was wrong. Again. “The hell s’goin’ on?” he asked Andrea.

“Shane says Y/N attacked him. He had to get like forty stitches,” she said.

Daryl’s face contorted with disbelief. “What? Like hell she did,” he growled.

“He’s pretty fucked up,” Andrea said.

“Well, if it is true then he was askin’ for it. Shit, I caught him fuckin’ with her just yesterday.” Daryl glanced around camp and then up toward the farmhouse. “Where’s Rick?”

“I think he’s talking to her right now,” Carol said. “They took her to the stable.”

Daryl let out a string of expletives under his breath and immediately set off in that direction. By the time he got there he was fuming. “Rick! Hey, Rick! What the fuck is goin’ on?” he roared. Inside the stall you were locked into, you sat up straighter and listened. Daryl was back. You heaved a small sigh of relief that he was back and okay. You always worried about anyone going off on their own, but extra worried about Daryl because he did occasionally have a reckless streak. “The hell is goin’ on?!” you heard Daryl roar again.

“Daryl—just calm down,” Rick said.

“Calm down? Yer tellin’ me ya really think she would just attack Shane for no reason? If she did, he fucking deserved it!”

“No,” Rick said.

“She ain’t got—what?” The archer stalled before he could even embark on his next angry tirade.

“No. I don’t believe it,” Rick said.

Daryl’s blue eyes narrowed. “Well, where the fuck is she?”

Glenn pointed. “She’s right inside.” Daryl gave each of them a parting glare and stepped into the stable. T-dog moved aside and Daryl peered in at you. He looked down at the handcuffs that were keeping you in. You immediately climbed to your feet.

“Are ya alright?” he asked urgently.

“Did you find any sign of Sophia?”

He stared at you for a moment before shaking his head. “Yer locked up in here and that’s what you’re thinkin’ about?” He shot a pointed look back at Rick and Glenn, who had followed him inside. “No. Nothin’,” he said sadly. “But are ya alright?”

You nodded. “I’m fine.”

Daryl spun on Rick again. “If ya don’t think she did anything wrong then why the hell is she still locked up in here?”

“It’s not her I’m worried about,” Rick said.

“What d’ya mean?”

Rick looked uneasy.

“Ya think Shane might try somethin’ else? Might try to hurt her? Ain’t he full of stitches now?” Daryl asked.

Rick looked troubled. “I don’t know what he’s capable of. If he tried this, who knows what else he might try.”

Daryl turned to face him. “She just was attacked two damn days ago. She’s got a concussion. She ain’t spendin’ the night in a goddamn horse stall,” he argued.

“Daryl, it’s fine,” you said. “I’ve had worse…”

“Nah. Not happenin’,” he argued.

“I want Shane to think we all believe him,” Rick said. “For now.”

“So, tell him she’s here and keep a guard, but she ain’t stayin’ in there overnight. Ya got her locked up like some damn animal.”

“Daryl, really it’s fine—”

“Nah, it ain’t,” he said fervently. He stared at Rick. “She can stay in my tent. Shane wouldn’t think to look there.” This time Rick considered it. “Keep T-dog here on watch so if Shane does look he’ll think she’s still locked up out here. But that son of a bitch knows better than to come sniffin’ around my spot,” Daryl drawled.

At length, Rick nodded. “T open it up.” T-dog unlocked the stall and you stepped out, hugging your arms around yourself against the chill in the evening air. Glenn handed you your pack and gave you a sympathetic look.

“Thanks,” you nodded to him. Daryl started to lead the way out but Rick stopped him.

“Just make sure she isn’t seen. Shane is… far worse off than I thought he was,” Rick said, and you could see the weight this man was carrying. He’d finally realized the full extent of Shane’s collapse and he didn’t know whether to blame the apocalypse or Shane’s feelings for his wife… in the end the why didn’t matter. Something was going to have to be done about it.

“I ain’t gonna let anythin’ happen,” Daryl said. Rick nodded and you followed Daryl outside into the evening which was now growing dark. “Ya need anything from your spot?” he asked you as you fell into stride beside him. You shook your head. You arrived at Daryl’s camp and he immediately unzipped his tent and nudged his head to indicate you should go inside. “Sorry,” he drawled as he stepped in after you. He clicked on a lantern beside his bed. “Wasn’t exactly, uhh, expectin’ company.” He swept some things aside from the middle of the floor and grabbed some clothes off his cot, adding them to a pile in one corner. “Ain’t much,” he said glancing around, “but s’better than a horse stall.”

You nodded. “Thanks. Again.”

“So, what exactly happened?” he asked, sinking down on a camping chair set up in one corner. He nudged his head in the direction of his cot and you sat down on the edge of it, putting your pack beside you.

You shrugged. “I don’t really know. I was picking mushrooms and the next thing I knew Rick, T, and Glenn were there pointing guns at me. I just gave up my knife and Rick handcuffed me and walked me back and put me in that stall.”

Daryl stared at you intensely, his expression mainly bewildered. “They said Shane had to get a bunch of stitches. So, ya never even saw him?” You shook your head. “Jesus. So, he fucked himself up? Why?”

At first you just shrugged, but Daryl waited as a thoughtful look grew on your face. “After yesterday, I think he really believes I’m actually dangerous… or some part of him does,” you said.

Daryl’s eyebrow cocked up. “Well, ya are dangerous. Ya can handle yourself. But ya ain’t a psycho. Ya wouldn’t hurt anybody here without a damn good reason.”

“I guess so,” you said, thinking back to how you had essentially blacked out and slaughtered those men who were attacking you.

“I know so,” Daryl said.

You shrugged. “I don’t know. If someone—if I even perceived someone as doing something to threaten me… I don’t know,” you trailed off.

“Shane did basically threaten ya yesterday. And ya didn’t murder him. Like I said, ya ain’t a psycho.”

You eyed him for a long moment. “…Why are you being so nice to me?”

The question went straight to Daryl’s heart. The fact that you even would ask such a thing meant you weren’t used to it, didn’t expect it. He could definitely relate to that, purposely keeping expectations low at all times... but it hurt to hear you say it. He thought you were vastly more worthy of some sincere, positive attention than he was. He grabbed a stray leaf off the canvas floor and twirled it between his thumb and forefinger. “I see what ya do for the group. Without anyone even askin’. And I guess, maybe, I can relate to ya.”

You gulped at the nervous tightness in your throat. “What do you mean?” Your voice was soft in the still silence of his tent and it left you feeling like nothing outside the thin walls existed except the droning of the cicadas and chirping of the crickets.

Daryl crumbled the dry leaf between his fingers and watched as it turned to dust. “I’ve had things happen to me, too… in the past, ya know? And I can recognize someone with their guard up ‘cause mine usually is. I guess damaged people just know how to spot other damaged people,” he drawled. He paused and suddenly realized what he’d said. “Not that ya are damaged, uhh, shit…” he murmured, feeling like a complete asshole. But far from looking offended you actually smiled at him and even let out a small laugh. Daryl wondered at the unfamiliar jump of his heart at the sound.

“It’s okay. I am. And I know it,” you said, trying to put him at ease. “But I really think everyone is these days.”

One corner of his mouth twitched up. He watched as you pulled the end of the bandage on your hand free and unwound it, resting it palm up on your knee, staring down at the stitches across your palm. “Thanks for this,” you said. “This is definitely better than the stable…”

He nodded. “Yeah. Ya can take the cot when you’re tired.” He glanced toward the zipped-up entrance. “Gonna plant myself right in front of the door,” he murmured.

“Do you think Shane would—would really try to hurt me?” you asked him. There was no trace of fear in your voice, just a somewhat amazed curiosity.

The archer shrugged. “Honestly, I dunno. If ya had asked me when we were back at the quarry I woulda said no, but… for all his tryin’ to poison everyone to think yer the crazy one, he’s the one who’s slipped.”

You nodded and Daryl was surprised to see that you actually looked sorry, regretful as you thought about him. Despite what Shane was trying to do, you felt bad for him. “He really is in love with Lori,” you said softly. “It is pretty sad when you think about it.”

Daryl was staring at you curiously. “I guess so.”

“It is,” you insisted. “I think Shane is a good man down deep. He’s fiercely loyal… does anything for the people he cares about… but this world takes good people and just—” you broke off, realizing suddenly that you were rambling on a bit and cutting yourself off. You glanced up and Daryl’s blue eyes were fixed on you.

“Just what?” he prompted. He looked genuinely interested in what you were saying.

You shrugged. “Breaks them.” You stared down at the stitches on your palm again. “I think that’s what happened to me.”

“Would ya quit that?” Daryl said sharply. His tone was scolding. “Ya ain’t broken.”

“You don’t know that,” you countered.

“Well,” he said, grabbing a couple nearby shirts and balling them up before positioning them underneath his head as a makeshift pillow as he laid down on the floor. “If yer broken, I’m fuckin’ ruined,” he said. You could tell he was partially kidding, but he was also half-serious and you wondered what trauma was in his past that made him find yours so relatable. Daryl stretched his legs out and crossed them at the ankles, draping an arm over his eyes. His crossbow and knife were lying right beside him and he really was blocking the entrance of the tent.

You shifted on the cot, smoothing his sleeping bag beneath you and pulling your feet up off the floor, trying to settle in. You clicked the lantern off. “You’re not ruined,” you said as you laid down on Daryl’s cot, staring up at the faint shape of the curved roof of the tent.

“You don’t know that,” Daryl retorted from his place on the floor, quoting your own words back at you. You could hear a smile in his voice.

“Yeah. I do,” you said softly. Daryl felt an unexpected electric jolt at this assertion from you.

“Night, Y/N,” he drawled.

“Goodnight.”

[twdeadfanfic]

Feral Pt.6

Daryl Dixon x OC

Summary:  Daryl is on a run with Rick when, in a warehouse, they find a woman who attacks them, and who reminds Daryl to a lioness…or a feral cat, and who doesn’t seem to trust anyone, including them, but Daryl finds himself going back to the warehouse, trying to get that feral to go with him to the prison, and to earn her trust.

Chapter 6/10 Words: 4095

You can find my other fics in my masterlist.

Last chapter…Daryl helped Dana to wash and cut her hair, and she made progress trying to make friends, and she started going on runs...

“Told you I’m fine…” Michonne grumbled, sat down on a bed, half lying against some pillows. while Rick, Daryl, and Dana looked at her.

She had come back riding that day, with some bruises and a sprained ankle. Apparently, for what she’d said, she had been on her way to check a residential area, when she’d been surprised by a group of walkers that scared the horse, and she’d fallen down, spraining her ankle. Somehow, the horse had not run away, loyal to Michonne, and she’d managed to limp and get back on the horse before walkers could reach her, putting down some with her katana from the horse before riding away, and she’d managed to get back to the prison.

“You could have died,” Rick said, stern. “What were you thinking?”

“If I hadn’t fallen on my ankle I’d have put down every walker there without a problem.” Michonne scoffed. “No, don’t look at me like that, like you don’t do stuff like that all the time, you both.” She waved at Rick and Daryl. “Also, you.” She nodded at Dana, though she hadn’t said anything.

“You gotta be more careful, though,” Daryl said, he was scared thinking how close Michonne had been to dying. “This goin’ out alone, being out for days on your own, ain’t safe.”

Michonne rolled her eyes. “Yes, because before you found Dana, you never went out alone and never put down groups of walkers on your own.” She had a point, but it didn’t mean that Daryl wasn’t worried about her.

“Daryl’s right,” Rick said. “We have a home, a safe place, and we need people here helping around, we need you here, and on runs, working together. Your home is here with us, you don’t need to be outside on your own anymore.”

“You know I have to…” Michonne said quietly, looking down.

Daryl chewed on his thumbnail before speaking again. “Michonne…we talked about it. He’s gone. Trail is cold. We ain’t gonna find him. I know you wanna, but you ain’t goin’ to, you’re just gonna get yourself hurt. Rick’s right, people need you here.” He, for one, would be less worried if Michonne were around, and she was someone that now Daryl could call a friend, family. Michonne looked at him and then down, but didn’t say anything.

“I couldn’t even see if there was something useful in that group of houses,” she finally said, scoffing.

“Place’s far enough that it’d be a waste to send the team if there’s nothing useful there, or nothin’ that we need to carry in cars,” Daryl said. “I can go with the bike, I’d be faster than the car, if there’s somethin’ worth goin’ I’ll tell Glenn.”

“I don’t know…” Rick frowned.

“Come on, Rick, you know I can get there faster than a car, and ride fast if there are walkers.” Daryl had ridden his way out of a big group of walkers more than once, while cars would get trapped more easily. “I’ll see if it’s worth sendin’ a group.”

Rick seemed to think it but finally he let out a sigh and nodded. “Alright…but not alone, you’re not doing a Michonne.” Michonne herself scoffed at that wording.

“Can take only one on the bike.” Daryl shrugged.

“Me,” Dana said quickly.

“Okay.” Rick nodded. “I’ll get a map so Michonne can point you where it is.”

“I could go…”

“Michonne.” Rick looked at her sternly. “You have a sprained ankle.”

Michonne let out a sigh, and Daryl knew that she didn’t like the inactivity, he understood that. “Okay…give me that map…”

*

Daryl was in his cell, making sure that he had everything ready to leave the next morning, when he noticed Dana looking at him from the door. “Hey, cat,” he greeted her. “You okay.” She nodded and walked into the cell, sitting on the bunk. “You sure about comin´ tomorrow?”

Dana nodded but then frowned. “Don’t want me?”

“No, I do,” Daryl assured her, sometimes she tended to think that maybe he didn’t want her around and Daryl hated it, but he just wanted her to be safe. “But not if you don’t want to, I can ask someone else, it’ll be fine.”

“I want to…” Dana murmured.

“Alright, cat,” Daryl chewed on his thumbnail, shy. “I uh…I’m glad you got my back.” Dana gave him a smile at that, and Daryl couldn’t help his own.

“Daryl…” Dana said, serious now. “Who’s Michonne looking for?”

Daryl let out a sigh, sitting down next to her on the bed. “This asshole…he called himself the Governor, he led in a town near here, Woodbury, most of the people in here were from that place, but he was a prick, crazy, attacked us, tried to kill us, then did the same to his own people so we took them in. He uh…killed some of our own…” Daryl tried to summarize, and he tried not to think on Merle, swallowing hard. Dana seemed to notice that something was wrong, because she nudged his arm with her head affectionately, like sometimes she did.

“So…we won, but he escaped…I spent a long while out there with Michonne lookin´ for him, tracking him, but he’s gone, never found anythin´. It’s like she can’t give up, though.” Sometimes Daryl wondered if he should still be out there too, looking with Michonne, but he was sure that the governor was away from there of dead. But if he were out there with Michonne, she’d be safer, maybe she wouldn’t have gotten hurt now…but Rick said that he was needed there, and he did like to be there, help around the prison, go on runs, find people in need and bring them to safety, he liked to be near his family, near Dana…he still felt guilty about not being out there with Michonne, though, about having given up on the search for the governor, and he missed her and worried about her when she was gone.

“Okay?” Dana asked, frowning.

“Yeah, yeah, just…dunno, can’t help but think maybe I should keep the search too, but it’s been like a year…but maybe I should be out there with Michonne.” Daryl shrugged, self-conscious.

Dana shook her head before she spoke. “You hunt for people, feed them, help them here, help in runs…you have to stay here.” Daryl blinked at Dana. They talked every day, but he didn’t think he’d heard Dana say so many words together. “Michonne…should stay too. But if she leaves and if you leave with her, I go too.”

Daryl was just more taken aback at that. “You’re safe here, safer than outside.”

“So are you, so is Michonne.” Dana shrugged. “You are…I…” She frowned, looking down, as if she didn’t know what to say. “You leave I leave with you.”

“Why?” Daryl frowned.

“I want to.” Dana shrugged again. “I want to be with you...I like to…” Daryl didn’t know what to say, but he was feeling emotional and his stomach was doing funny things, and so he looked away, swallowing hard, before nodding. “But…don’t leave?” Dana asked quietly.

“I ain’t gonna,” Daryl assured her, and Dana smiled softly, making him feel shyer. “We should uh…we should rest…gotta leave very early tomorrow.”

Dana nodded and she brushed his arm with her head again gently before getting up and leaving his cell towards hers.

*

Daryl and Dana left the prison early in the morning, when the sky was still dark and the sun was just starting to rise on the east, riding on his bike. It was a long journey, and Daryl didn’t stop until they were almost there and they could see some of the houses away, but still far enough.

Daryl turned to look at Dana over his shoulder. “Alright, there…” he waved towards the entry of the area. “Is where Michonne was ambushed by those walkers. I don’t want the same to happen to us, alright, so we don’t go for them, we stop far enough, make noise, and let them come to us so we can shoot at them as they come, alright? Not direct fight.”

“Waste of bullets.” Dana shrugged and at any other moment, Daryl would probably have agreed with her, but maybe Rick’s and Glenn’s ideas were rubbing on him, or maybe it had been the scares of Dana fighting a group of walkers alone and getting all bloodied, and of Michonne hurting her ankle in the middle of a group of walkers, but this time, Daryl wasn’t going to risk it, much less with Dana there.

“Bullets will be wasted anyway if walkers kill you,” Daryl just said. “Alright so, walkers go on groups and herds, for whatever reason.” Daryl had no idea why, neither was he going to investigate it. “So I’m hopin’ that every walker here is in the group and when we make noise, they all will come, so we won’t have to worry about others around the place later. If we see they’re too many, we’re still next to the bike so we ride the hell out of here, alright?”

Dana just shrugged but nodded. Daryl didn’t know how he felt about making plans, if it was a good one or not, usually Rick or Glenn and Maggie were the ones planning stuff while he just got things done. He hoped it was good enough and not a mess, but Dana wasn’t giving him any input.

“It’s a shit plan?” He straight up asked.

“No…I don’t know…don't plan much.” Dana shrugged and Daryl didn’t know what had he been expecting. “Just waste of bullets.”

“Won’t think the same if we find fifty walkers.” Daryl scoffed, nudging her softly with his shoulder before kicking the bike into motion again, driving slightly closer to the place. “Alright…” He dismounted and grabbed the crossbow, getting ready, while Dana did the same with her rifle. “Ready?” He asked, and when Dana nodded, he slammed the honk of the bike several times.

In a few seconds, Daryl could make the growl of walkers. Some stray walkers came from around, while a bigger group came from the small residential area, though luckily it was not a herd, but looking at it, Daryl was not surprised that Michonne had been ambushed and the horse spooked, and he could only be glad that she’d ended up just with a sprained ankle. If you didn’t know that there was a group of walkers around, you could easily end up in quite a mess. They had been right stopping the bike far from it to shoot at them.

“Alright, let’s clear the stray ones first, you the ones to the left.” It’d be harder to keep an eye on those than in the group. “Then we’ll shoot at the big one together.” Or else, they could just ride away if they got to close, but at least they’d have cleared the others.

They began shooting, clearing the stray walkers all around. “Shit…” Daryl heard Dana cursing and when he glanced at her, he realized she’d missed a shot, but she’d put down several walkers nonetheless. “You’re doing great,” Daryl encouraged her.

Soon enough, the stray walkers were down, so they focused on the bigger group before it could get too close. Daryl knew he wouldn’t have enough arrows to put down every walker in that group after putting down the stray walkers too, so he was glad that Rick had reminded him to take another rifle just in case.

“Keep going,” Daryl said when he ran out of arrows, dropping the crossbow and getting the rifle to join the shooting again.

“Knife?”  Dana said when there were just a few walkers left and already close.

“Alright…” Daryl nodded, if those weren’t the only walkers around, he didn’t want to risk getting low on ammo, not knowing what they could find inside the houses. If Rick had known the amount of walkers there, for sure he’d have sent a group instead of letting Daryl go on the bike, but Daryl thought he and Dana weren’t doing a bad job at putting them down, for now at least.

They left the rifles and grabbed their knives, rushing to the walkers, fighting back to back, grabbing the monsters and sinking the knives into their brains, and Daryl had to admit it, this was easier than doing it alone. He knew he wouldn’t have been able to clear them all before they got too close to him without Dana there.

“Alright…those are all for now…” Daryl said, looking around and Dana nodded, scanning their surroundings, but neither she seemed to notice any other walkers. Daryl looked at her and smirked. “Look, and you didn’t even end up all blood-splattered, that’s a real improvement.”

Dana scoffed, and before Daryl knew what was going on, she brushed her finger across the side of her blood-smeared knife blade and then ran that, now bloodied, finger across Daryl’s cheek, smearing it with walker’s blood. “Stop it,” Daryl turned his face away but couldn’t stop his smirk. “You know somethin’, coverin’ yourself in blood and guts of walkers works to walk across groups of them without them noticin’ you, or that’s what Rick and Glenn say, they did it once in Atlanta.”

“Really?” Dana frowned.

“Yeah, you gotta be quiet and walk slow, like they recognize us by smell and sound.” Daryl shrugged, he didn’t know much, he’d never tried it himself, but it was something useful to know. Dana seemed to think the same, nodding thoughtfully. “Alright…I’m gonna get the arrows back and then we’ll check the houses, yeah?”

Once they were ready, they got to the bike again. The residential area seemed small, just a single street lined with houses, it seemed that they had wanted to build more but had run out of time. Still, Daryl wanted to have the bike close, in case they might need to ride away for any reason, whether it was walkers or people. When he honked again, near a couple of the houses, he heard a sound and followed it, finding a walker trapped in a fence trying to get to them, and so he put it down by knife.

“Open doors on those houses,” Dana said, pointing at them. “No walkers, or trapped.” Yes, Daryl knew it made sense, otherwise, they’d have gone following the sound of his honk. “Closed doors.” She pointed at a couple of houses. There could be walkers on those.

“We check those first?” Daryl asked and Dana nodded.

They found a couple of walkers inside one, three on the other, almost dried already, nothing they couldn’t put down easily with their knives. There wasn’t much inside, as if people hadn’t been living there before walkers started roaming the world, though there was some stuff left from people that seemed to have taken refuge in there and seemed to have found a bad end.

“Looks like most of the walkers here were on those groups we killed,” Daryl said and  Dana nodded. Still, he knew they shouldn’t get too confident about it.

The houses with broken doors didn’t have walkers inside, just one in a closed room, and a few corpses lying around. Neither they found much stuff to carry with them, nothing that they couldn’t get in the bags of the bike, and so Daryl was glad that they hadn’t sent a full group. Still, it hadn’t been a total waste of time, there were some tools and knives around, and those were always welcome, also stuff that they could turn into something else, like pieces of fabric, and even a couple of cans of food here and there.

They found a walker lying in one of the houses, almost dried up but alive. Its legs seemed to have been torn, Daryl didn’t know how, so all it could do was crawl, reaching out towards them. It made Daryl feel more uneasy than he would admit, and he shot to its head, putting it down and retrieving the arrow before he kept on inspecting the house.

Before he could move, though, he felt Dana tugging at his shirt. “Daryl…you think…the people, can know what happens but can’t stop it?”She pointed at the dead walker.  “Like trapped inside?”

“I don’t know…don’t think so.” Daryl frowned. “Almost at the beginnin´ of all, I went with Rick and some others to the CDC, there was a crazy scientific there. He showed us some videos and scientific stuff, I didn’t understand shit. But he showed us that the brain died and then part like…kept workin’ again? I don’t know. But the people died before it so…I guess they’re really dead, don’t know nothin’, they’re not them, just…” Daryl shrugged, not sure of how to word it, not sure if he believed in a soul or something like that, that could leave the body or if that was bullshit, but he knew that those things were dead and not whoever they had been, they didn’t think or feel. “Just…just flesh I guess? Don’t think they know or feel nothin’.”

Dana hummed, thoughtful. “Good.” She nodded. “Weird…but good.”

“Yeah, I don’t understand it either…Now come on.” Daryl reached out to squeeze Dana’s shoulder shyly. “Let’s finish checkin’ everythin’ before it’s dark.”

Entering into the last house that they had to check, they were greeted by the sight of the corpse of a man who had shot himself in the head, and Daryl tried not to think what might have driven him to do so. Dana and him split to check different rooms, and at first it seemed like there wasn’t anything useful, but finally Daryl found a box with some cans of food.

“Found somethin’, cat?” He asked but there was no answer, and Daryl frowned, walking towards where Dana had gone. “Dana?” She seemed to have closed the door of a room behind her and the absence of an answer was worrying Daryl, even if he hadn’t heard any struggle. He rushed to the door and was about to open it when the door opened and Dana walked outside, seeming startled to find him there.

“Hey…” She sheathed her knife and pulled the door closed behind her.

“You okay?” Daryl frowned at her, feeling like something was wrong.

“Yes…found something?”

“Yeah, a box of…uh…” Daryl kept frowning, looking at the closed door behind Dana. “There’s somethin’ wrong?”

“No. Nothing useful.” Dana shook her head. “Come on.”

Daryl kept looking at her and the door, still feeling like something was off, and then he gently pushed Dana away from the door, opening it and looking inside before Dana could do anything.  Lying on the ground there was a little girl and a toddler, stab wounds in their heads, and judging by how they looked, they seemed to have died at the same time than the man who killed himself in the living room, but those two had turned into walkers before they were put down.

Daryl had seen a lot of shit in his life, both before and after the world changed and walkers were a thing, and still, the sight was like a kick to the gut and he swallowed hard, feeling his throat tight. Suddenly, he felt Dana’s arms wrapping around his waist, hugging him from behind and resting her cheek on his back.

“You didn’t need to see it,” she said quietly, and Daryl realized that she had closed the door for that reason, somehow she’d known how it’d affect him and she had tried to shield him from it, to protect him, and the realization made him even more emotional, and he found himself resting his hand on top Dana’s on his waist.

Daryl knew, in a way, that Dana worried for him, that she cared for him, the same way that he did for her, but seeing it like that, seeing her trying to shield him from something horrible, dealing with it herself in silence… A warm wave of gratitude went through him. It meant more than what he could say, he didn’t even know how to say it, he’d never known how to say to Dana what she meant to him.

He’d protect her and shield her from every horror of the world too, if he could, and he hoped she knew. He was glad that he had someone like her always with him, a quiet shadow that looked over him, had his back, tried to ease his way through the harsh word. Daryl swallowed hard, trying to control emotions that were getting out of hand.

“Let’s go…” Dana whispered, and Daryl let her tug him away from the door, closing it.

“Uh…thanks…” Daryl murmured, looking down. It wasn’t what he wanted to tell her, not only that, but he found himself unable to say anything else.  Dana just smiled softly, brushing his arm with the side of her head gently and affectionately, before she held his hand, tugging at him away from the closed door, and Daryl let her lead him out of the house, even if he felt more than shy with his hand on hers, and he tried to stop his mind and do something useful again. “Sun’s goin’ down, we should stay in one of those houses that still have doors.”

Dana nodded and they went to the one with fewer bodies, taking them outside. Daryl even dragged his bike into the house, helped by Dana. If for some reason people might happen to stumble into the place, which Dary hoped won’t happen, he didn’t want them to see the bike. Once everything was ready, they sat down in the living room to eat from a couple of the cans that they had found.

“Here, last piece of tuna for you, kitten,” Daryl joked, handing it to Dana, who scoffed but smiled

“No kitten,” Dana said, munching on the tuna.

Soon, they had finished dinner and the sun had gone down, leaving the room illuminated by a couple of candles that they had found in a house.

“I’ll take first watch,” Daryl offered and Dana frowned.

“There’s a door.”

“Yeah, it’d stop walkers, but not people, can’t be locked and I don’t wanna risk it,” Daryl explained, he hadn’t seen anything around that he could drag and block the door, the house seemed almost bare. Dana nodded, understanding. “Come on, sleep, I’ll take first watch and wake you later.”

“You better,” Dana murmured, curling down on the floor next to him, using her bag as a pillow. She closed her eyes, letting out a sigh, and then she reached out her hand so it was resting near Daryl’s thigh, fingertips barely brushing it. He wondered if she wanted to reassure herself that he was there…if maybe even she felt safer like that…he felt all warm inside at the idea and his stomach did something weird.

Daryl looked at her sleeping, feeling not for the first time how fond of her he’d grown, how much he cared for her, how much he liked to have her around, and when today she’d tried to shield him from something horrible, those feelings just seemed to have multiplied…or maybe they always were that strong, that many, but he’d gotten just more aware of them. They were overwhelming, but they felt kind of good too.

Smiling softly as he looked at her, Daryl couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to brush his knuckles over her cheek ever so softly. Dana’s eyes opened at it and Daryl froze, realizing that either she wasn’t asleep yet or he’d woken her up. He took his hand away, flustered and feeling his cheeks blushing. Dana, though, seemed content enough, as she gave him a lazy, soft smile.

Then, she was shifting to rest her head on his lap instead of the pillow, and Daryl's stomach did again those weird, nervous twirls, while his heart seemed to beat so fast that it could jump out of his chest. Dana gave him another small smile before she closed her eyes, snuggling more, and she reached out to take his hand and place it on her head. Daryl’s heart went even more out of control, but he swallowed hard and began to stroke her hair, gently and shyly, careful not to tug at it.

“You said you ain’t no kitten…lookin’ like one now…” He said bashfully, his nerves reflecting on his voice.

Dana’s lips curled up into a small smile, but she didn’t open her eyes. “Kitten just with you,” she murmured, making those funny twirls in Daryl’s stomach get just worse.

*

I just love them, I can’t help it.

Thanks to the people supporting this. If you enjoyed this please let me know your thoughts, and reblogs are always appreciated.

As always, excuse my English, is not my first language.

I’m going to reblog the taglist in another post to see if that way this shows up in the Daryl tags.

[baseballbitch116]

Someone Checks You Out

Preference: How each of them react to catching someone checking you out

Includes: Rick, Daryl, Negan, Shane, Merle, Glenn, Jesus, Tara & Abraham

Masterlist | Fandoms | Request | Support My Blog | Coming Soon

Rick:

It was on a hot August day that you were walking through Alexandria in booty shorts and a tank top as you went about your duties. You didn’t normally wear clothes that were so exposing but you were dripping in sweat so you were desperate. Rick was approaching you when he spotted Jessie’s son Ron staring at you from where he sat on their porch. He was very obviously looking at your ass and even had to readjust his shorts as he practically drooled over you across the street. He caught Rick’s eye when he got closer to you and Rick shot him a stern warning look, making the boy jump up and head inside. He wasn’t going to do more than that since he was just a teenager - even if he was creepy and untrustworthy - but he didn’t want you near him after that day.

Daryl:

He felt his blood boil when he saw Spencer ogling over you as he stood idly by the gate. The younger man wasn’t even attempting to hide the fact that he was checking you out. You were wearing short shorts and a T-shirt that was clung to your chest in sweat as you slaved over the crops. Daryl debated his next move until he saw you bend over and your ass nearly exposed. Spencer shifted where he leaned against the wall, licking his lips pervertedly and staring intently at you. “Hey!” Daryl shouts angrily, pointing his finger at Spencer as he walks past him in your direction, glaring as he walked. “Ya best watch yerself!” He warns before stalking over to you and helping you out, eager to get you back inside and into less revealing clothes.

Negan:

He felt his blood boil when he saw one of his Saviors eyeing you up and down as you helped to unload the truck. Normally Negan would avoid having you help out with any physical labor but you insisted on getting in on the action. His possessive streak became apparent when he quietly strode up behind the now blatantly staring Savior, arms full of crates as he eyed your ass. Negan planted Lucille down on the Savior’s shoulder heavily and the man yelped loudly, dropping the crate from his arms and hastily stepping away from your brooding boyfriend. “Next time I catch you staring at Y/N, your head will have a formal introduction with Lucille. Got it?” He growls. You roll your eyes and carry on unloading the truck with the others as the Savior scrambles to pick up his crates and get the hell away from Negan.

Shane:

It had become pretty apparent that Merle had grown fond of you, despite knowing very well that you and Shane were together. At first your boyfriend didn’t let it bother him - he knew he was much better than that dirty redneck - but his constant unashamed staring and flirting was getting under his skin. Today was no different - Merle was attempting to chat you up while you supervised Carl and Sophia swimming in the quarry. Normally Merle wouldn’t be down here for any reason, so when Shane spotted him as he came to bring you guys back, he knew exactly what the older man was doing. His fingers danced over his holstered gun as he strode over to the two of you, catching your eye as he walked. You took a step forward and placed your hand on his chest before he had the chance to begin scolding Merle, who snickered. “It’s fine, Shane.” You insist. He glares at Merle for a moment before calling for the kids and snaking his arm around your waist possessively. “Yer asking for it, Dixon.” Shane warns before heading off with you guys, ignoring the man’s comments as he walked away with you under his arm.

Merle:

He didn’t get too mad when people checked you out, because he knew that you were a fine ass girl and that everyone knew it. He only got mad when men would blatantly flirt with you in front of him, like in this scenario. Shane not only was coming onto you, but he was insulting him. So in classic Merle fashion, he suckered punched Shane and the two got into a big brawl that the camp had to break up. “You best not let me catch ya lookin at my woman again!” Merle shouted angrily over the shoulders of Glenn and Morales. Let’s just say he showed you who you belonged to that night.

Glenn:

He didn’t get overly mad when people flirted with you, given his rational nature. When he spotted Spencer eyeing you up while you were on the fence, he came up beside the man and cleared his throat, shooting him a knowing glare. Spencer got the message and walked away, leaving Glenn to smirk to himself and shoot you a wink when you made eye contact.

Jesus/Paul:

He also did not get very angry when people would check you out, given that he is rational and kind. When he spotted one of the new guys at Hilltop staring at you from where he sat with his plate of food, he felt a twang of possessiveness stir inside of him, but he resisted overreacting. Instead, Paul strutted past the man and came up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and pressing a kiss against your cheek, making eye contact with the guy as he did so. Your boyfriend may be rational, but he was also petty and possessive.

Tara:

She typically didn’t get too jealous when others would flirt with or check you out, knowing full well that you were only interested in her, but once in a while she would get bothered. When she got into those rarer moods, she would come up beside you and lean her head on your shoulder, seeking your affection and distract you from whoever was bothering you. She isn’t possessive or angry, she just likes the reassurance that you are only into her.

Abraham: 

He could be petty, possessive and downright immature sometimes. When he saw another man hitting on you, he would strut on over and throw his large muscular arm over your shoulder, shooting a sarcastic remark at the man and making him uncomfortable until he walked away. Most of the time you found it funny and once the other man was gone he would chuckle at himself too.

[stardust-walker]

High Hopes: Chapter 7

Previous Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6

word count: 2772

___________________________________________________________

Dove sat awake and stared out the window of the RV. Her body was tired and her legs ached from the trek back from Atlanta, but she couldn’t close her eyes without seeing her friends, even those who were alive, die right in front of her. Sophia was asleep, her legs thrown across Dove’s lap as she rested her head on her mother. Carol had cried herself to sleep.

Then, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, the sun was rising over the mountains. Her hazel eyes scanned her surroundings as she straightened herself into a sitting position from where she had apparently fallen asleep. Lori smiled gently at her as she patted her on the shoulder again. It was her that had woken her up. “How long was I asleep for,” Dove mumbled as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

“Not long. Maybe an hour or so,” Lori sighed as she sat down next to her. “How’re they doin?”

Dove turned her head to look at the older woman as she scrutinized her for a moment before she responded. “Fine, I think. At least someone’s getting some shut eye. How’s Carl?” Dove ran a hand through her hair as she fought back a yawn.

 “He’s still sleepin. Glenn was lookin for you, but he didn’t want to wake you,” Lori added.

Dove nodded as she moved Sophia’s legs off her lap slowly. Lori took a step back and held out a hand to the younger woman. With a mumbled ‘thanks’, Dove allowed herself to be helped into a standing position. As she descended the steps, she spotted Glenn. He was close to the woods with Daryl of all people. Close to where Carol’s tent was and that made Dove’s stomach turn. Lori rubbed her shoulder before she turned on her heel and walked off to check on Carl.

It felt like the 20 or so steps it took to get to Glenn took hours. Her hands on her hips, Dove looked at both the men and nodded. “So, what’s up? Couldn’t come wake me up yourself?” She attempted to joke with Glenn.

His face was paler than she thought she’d seen him before. “No…. I mean. I didn’t want to wake you up for this.”

The confusion must have been clear on Dove’s face as Daryl spoke up suddenly. “We gotta let your sister know what happened and pizza boy here thought it would be best to let you know first”

Dove didn’t know how to feel. That could only mean one thing, right? She pushed past both of them and pulled open the flap of the tent. A sense of regret immediately washed over her as she took in the sight before her. She never thought she would feel any sense of pity for Ed Peletier, but here she stood. He still deserved everything he got and when Dove finally tore her eyes away, she had no tears in her eyes. Instead she turned to Glenn and whispered in his ear. “Do me a favor? Wake Carol up and bring her out here? Leave Sophia to sleep, she doesn’t need to know yet.

Glenn eyed her warily for a moment before setting off to his task. She watched as he disappeared into the RV. Dove finally spoke up again, “You want help movin him? You’re gonna put all the ones out that got bit, right?” She peeled her eyes away from the sight of her sister crying and being comforted by Jacqui to look at Daryl.

Shock was evident on his face, but only for a moment as he frowned once again. “Sure you can handle it?”

Dove narrowed her eyes at him, “I don’t see anyone else offering to help you with this one, Dixon. Besides, I probably should. You get his arms, I’ll get his legs,” and before there was a response, Dove had ducked her head into the tent and began to get a grip on her brother-in-law’s legs. Her stomach turned as another thought rushed through her head. She only wished she was the one who got to put an end to all the suffering he’d put her family through.

~

A few hours later, the sun was up. Most of them sat around the fire as Daryl, T-Dog, and Glenn went to work putting the walkers-to-be down before they could turn. Rick broke the silence. “She been like that all night?”

Lori nodded as Dove looked up from her spot next to Carol. “She won’t even talk to us. She hasn’t moved at all.”

Shane sighed, “We can’t just leave Amy like that. We have to deal with it…like with all the others.”

“I’ll tell her how it is,” Rick nodded solemnly.

Dove shook her head as she rubbed Carol’s back. “I doubt hearing it from one more person will make a difference.” She was proven right almost instantly as she turned to see Andrea pull a gun on Rick. Jesus, it was turning into Lord of the Flies quick as anything. Then Rick did the smartest thing any of them had done in days, he backed up slowly and walked away.

Daryl had seen it too, apparently, and he wasn’t too happy about it.

“You’re seriously gonna let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl’s a fucking time bomb,” he said in what had to be an attempt to reason with them all.

Dove stood; arms crossed in front of her chest. “First of all, it’s Amy. Not dead girl. Second of all, when Rick went over to talk to her? He got a gun pulled on him so unless you have any bright ideas of your own, I think we’re shit out of luck,” she tried to keep her voice down as her anger rose slightly. The last thing they needed was for Andrea to hear their whole conversation.

Rick raised an eyebrow,” So any suggestions?”

Daryl took a step closer to Rick and Dove watched Shane tense up. “Take the shot! Clean, in the brain from here! Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance.” She hated to say anything, but Daryl was kind of making sense. It hurt to even think it. Dove liked Amy. She was a sweet girl, always kind to everyone in camp even when they weren’t kind to her. But if she came back, that wouldn’t be Amy.

“For God’s sakes, let her be,” Lori shook her head. The others seemed to agree and Daryl just scoffed as he turned to go back to his work. Dove stared after him, a frown on her face.

“You got something to say, bird,” Shane spoke up suddenly. His voice cut through Dove like a knife. There was something off about him since Rick got back, almost like he was trying even harder to prove himself.

“What if Daryl’s right,” Dove said and almost instantly regretted it.

Dale frowned in concern, “Did you get any sleep last night? I mean you…”

Dove held a hand up and tried to ignore the worried look on Carol’s face. “No, Dale! I’m feeling just fine, thank you! But all I’m saying is that Amy go bit, right? So, Amy will turn if we let her sit there too long. So what? We let her lay out in the sun, get all toasty and warm for when she turns and then what? Andrea chokes up when she turns, can’t shoot her, then she gets bit.”

Lori ran a hand down her face and shook her head, “We aren’t shooting Amy in the head from this far away. I understand you; I really do! But we need to think about Andrea too.”

A shout from Glenn drew Dove’s attention. She grabbed Carol’s shoulder as Daryl started to yell again. Something about them leaving Merle for dead. “You had this coming!”

Dove’s hand shook with anger and Carol gave her hand a comforting squeeze before Dove caught sight of Jim. He didn’t look too well, and she couldn’t help but feel some concern for the man. Another pat on Carol’s shoulder and Dove mumbled, “I’ll be back,” then she was off. She approached slowly but was able to hear enough.

Jim was bleeding. Dove froze in place, her feet felt like they were cemented to the floor when Jacqui shouted out, “A walker got him! A walker bit Jim!”

Everyone was shouting. Dove’s head was spinning, but she saw Daryl start to circle like a shark with the damn pickaxe. Then Jim was caught in a hold by T-Dog and Dove couldn’t keep the tears from springing up in her eyes as she saw the big bite mark on Jim’s abdomen.

Dove shook her head as she raised a hand to cover her mouth in shock. Shane walked forward and grabbed Jim’s arm as the man continued to mutter how he was fine. He was okay, there was nothing wrong with him. “Hey, listen. Jim, buddy, just sit right there by the RV. Right there in the shade now, alright? We’re gonna figure this out.” Dove walked forward and placed a hand on Jim’s other arm and nodded at Shane.

“C’mon. I’ll help you sit down. You’re gonna be just fine,” her hazel eyes stayed fixed on her feet as she carefully guided the mechanic to the shade beside the RV. “Do you need anything? Something to eat? A bottle of water,” Dove spoke gently as she helped Jim sit down.

“I’m okay, Sawyer. I’m okay,” was all Jim said. It was like he was trying to convince himself or will it into existence by saying it so many times. If magic were real, maybe he would really be okay. The dead were up and walking now so who’s to say he wouldn’t be able to fix himself.

Dove nodded, a small smile on her face as she rose to her feet to rejoin the others. “Stay cool, Jimbo. I’ll be right back.”

She caught what Dale said as she approached, “Maybe Daryl’s right.”

“You sure you got enough sleep last night, Dale?” Dove couldn’t resist saying the same thing Dale had said to her earlier as she came to a stop between Carol and Daryl.

“Jim’s not some monster or a rabid dog. He’s sick. A sick man,” Rick shook his head. He wasn’t on board with this anymore. “We start down that road, where do we draw the line?”

Dove sighed as she pulled a hair tie from her pocket. As she grabbed her dark hair in her hand and began to weave it into a braid, she nodded. “Right, he only turns into a rabid dog after he bites the dust. He hasn’t done that yet. The real question is, are we gonna give him a chance to turn into a rabid dog? We’ve all seen Old Yeller.”

“Exactly,” Daryl spoke up again, “Line’s pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers or those to be.”

One thing that Dove was quickly figuring out about Rick Grimes was that he was a desperate man. Kind, sure, but desperate to still do the right thing. “What if we can get him help?” Dove exchanged a worried look with Carol before she placed a comforting arm around her sister’s shoulders. “I heard the CDC was working on a cure.”

“We all heard that before the world went to hell,” Shane retorted.

“What if the CDC’s still up and running,” Rick attempted to reason with them.

“Even if the CDC is still up and running, and that’s a strong if! You really think we got enough time to get Jim there and get him help before he starts to take advantage of the buffet of people out here,” Dove couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

“Now listen!” Rick raised his voice slightly, “If there’s any government left, any structure at all, they’d protect the CDC at all costs. Right? It’s our best shot. Shelter, protection…”

Shane cut Rick off before he could finish. Even a blind man could see that there was a battle going on deep inside Daryl’s head at that point from the way his face was twitching. Dove’s eyes flickered from the weapon in his hand to the two men arguing. At the mention of Fort Benning, Dove heard Carol let out a quiet, yet annoyed sigh.

“That’s 100 miles in the other direction,” Lori pointed out.

“That is correct, but it’s away from the hot zone,” Shane continued.

“Yeah and you’ve been talking about going to Fort Benning since the first week we got here,” Dove snapped, “If you thought Fort Benning was so good, why didn’t we just head there from the jump once we had a big enough group? The military didn’t seem to be handling it very well at all from how Atlanta looks, anyway.” Dove watched as Shane clenched his jaw and ran a hand through his hair. Rick cut him off before he had a chance to retaliate.

“She’s right. The military was on the front line and they got over run! We go 100 miles for what? The CDC is closer, at least if there’s nothing there maybe it won’t be so bad and we can circle back and head towards Fort Benning, It’s Jim’s only chance,” Rick pleaded.

“You go get some aspirin and do what y’all wanna do,” Daryl started as he began to move towards Jim. Dove’s grip on Carol’s shoulder tightened. “Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!” Carol covered her mouth with both hands as Daryl swung the pickaxe up and Rick pointed his gun at the back of Daryl’s head.

“Oh my god, he’s gonna kill him,” Carol whispered as Dove clung to her arm.

Dove’s hands still shook as she watched. “No, I think we’re good.” She flinched as Daryl slammed the pickaxe into the dirt. “No one else needs to die today,” she said in a quiet voice as the two of them began to follow after Rick.

~

Dove approached Daryl slowly. The smell of the bodies was awful from being out in the heat all day, but part of her had to go see what was happening. Maybe things would never be normal again, but the part of her that was the caretaker seemed like it could never shut up. “That was a stupid thing you did back there. Tryin to kill Jim right in front of everyone like that.” Dove raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. Daryl only grunted in response before he looked up from the task at hand.

His blue eyes seemed to stare right through her, “You come out here to preach to me, bird? Sounded like you were on my side about havin to put people down before it comes time to actually take action.” He growled before he stepped to the side and swung the pickaxe down into the head of the next person in line. “Didn’t seem too upset bout your family dyin’ neither.”

“Ed ain’t my family, first of all. Only family by circumstance but we never got along. Second of all, I got no tears to cry for wife beaters,” Dove scowled as she glanced down and kicked at Ed’s hand. She didn’t see that Daryl had opened his mouth to respond before he stopped.

Carol approached, quiet as a mouse. Dove drew in a deep breath, her hazel eyes locked on her sister as she waited for her to speak. “I’ll do it. He’s my husband.” Dove’s eyes went wide as she watched her sister try to stifle tears. Daryl looked hesitant; his gaze went to Dove before she simply shrugged her shoulders. The brunette placed a comforting hand on her sister’s shoulder as she watched her take the pickaxe from Daryl.

“Hey…You’ll be okay. I’m right here if you change your mind,” Dove reassured her with a tiny smile before she stepped back, closer to Daryl than she meant to.

She wasn’t sure if Carol’s sobs were for the fact that Ed was dead or for the fact that she was finally getting an emotional release after years of abuse. As Carol finally let the pickaxe come to rest on the ground, Dove walked up behind her sister and wrapped her arms around her. Carol sniffed and raised a hand to wipe her face as the pickaxe was taken from her by Daryl. “You’re alright,” Dove said in an attempt to comfort her sister. “You, me, and Sophia? We’re gonna be just fine now. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

____

@crossbowking​

[ddixons-angel]

Fated: Season 3

Summary: Gloria Rhee narrowly escapes Atlanta with her brother as the outbreak reaches the city. Luckily, they find a camp outside the city and together, they fend through encounters with the living and undead.

Starts a little before Season 1 and then follows the main storyline of the show.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Glenn Sister!OC

Warnings: major TWD spoilers, language, violence (the typical TWD stuff), character death

A/N: And we’re back with another chapter! A bunch of stuff happens here so please do let me know what you guys think!

Chapter 7

Daryl had separated with the rest of his old group and gone off with Merle, like how it was supposed to be in the beginning. Just him and Merle wandering the woods together, tracking and hunting their dinner. Unfortunately, they didn’t catch much, only a few squirrels to split between the brothers. Daryl wasn’t with Merle; physically he was, but his heart and mind weren’t. All he could think of was Gloria, and what Glenn had told him today. She loves him. 

“Foods gettin’ cold, baby brother.” Merle calls out as Daryl stares into the campfire they’d lit.

Daryl grunts and throws his portion to Merle, then continues his staring contest with the embers. Merle glances at their supper then back up at Daryl, eyeing him with a frown.

“Wha’s wrong wit’ ya? Missin’ yer old pals, that it?” Merle accuses and scoffs when Daryl doesn’t respond, “or is it about what the chinaman said ‘bout Gloria?” 

Daryl finally looks up at Merle when he says her name, earning a cackle from the older Dixon. 

“So, ya were finally able to step up yer game after I was gone, huh? How far’d ya get with her?” Merle heckles, leaning in.

“Don’ know what the hell ya talkin’ ‘bout.” Daryl mutters, throwing a few sticks into the fire.

“Don’ think I didn’ see how ya were lookin’ at her since day one, little brother.” Merle says, making Daryl look at him warily, “yeah, I saw it. Ya were like a beast eyein’ its prey, ya wanted her bad.” 

Daryl looks back down at the fire, hoping that Merle wouldn’t catch the blush in his cheeks. He couldn’t deny that what Merle was saying was true, the moment he laid eyes on Gloria he was attracted to her. Her beauty was beyond compare to any other woman he’s seen, and his attraction to her only grew the more time he spent with her. Gloria was someone who could carry her own and not need to be protected, hell, she could beat up Merle without breaking a sweat, and that only made him want her more. So, when she offered herself to him at the C.D.C., he couldn’t resist her, especially with the alcohol in his system. 

“Did ya fuck her?” Merle smirks, trying to get a reaction out of him.

“Don’ talk ‘bout her like that.” Daryl mumbles, his fingers fidgeting with a rock.

Merle scoffs, “fine, did ya ‘make love’ to her? ‘S that better?” 

Daryl glares at Merle, “what’s it even matter to ya? Ain’t yer damn business anyway!”

“I’m jus’ concerned for my brother! Ya got yer mind all wrapped ‘round this one girl, can’t think straight, can’t hunt, can’t even eat! Let me tell ya, that girl prolly don’ give a rats ass ‘bout ya.” Merle makes it over to Daryl’s side and puts his hand on his shoulder, “I’m the only one who’s ever gonna care ‘bout ya, little brother, don’t ya think otherwise.” 

Daryl’s eyes narrow at his words, his blood boiling as he shrugs his brother’s hand off him angrily, “she cares. She cares more 'bout me than ya ever cared to show!” 

“The hell ya talkin’ ‘bout?!” Merle shouts back, angrily getting up as Daryl stands. 

“Ever since she brought us back to that camp, she cared! She helped me when I was hurt and made me feel like I was part of the group when she didn’t need to!” Daryl yells. 

“She was jus’ usin’ you! Ya hunt for the group and bring ‘em fresh meat, tha’s why she helped ya!” Merle argues.

“She cared ‘bout ya too but ya didn’ give ‘em nothin’.” Daryl spits out.

Merle frowns at this, “how’d she care ‘bout me? Huh? Punchin’ me in the face and tryin’ to break my arm in front o’ everyone?”

“How ‘bout stayin’ wit’ ya on that roof and makin’ sure ya didn’ bleed out when ya cut off yer own damn hand?!” Daryl reminds him, “she saved yer life and what did ya do? Stuff her into a damn closet and leave her there?! She blamed herself for ya leavin’, ya know that?!”

“I did what I had to, a'right?!” Merle shouts back, “ya have any idea how many damn walkers were on ‘em streets? Makin’ their way into where we were? Huh? I had to go alone, I had to lead 'em away! Otherwise, ya and the Chinese kid wouldn’t’ve gotten to her ‘fore gettin’ bit.” 

The brothers stare at each other in silence for a moment before Daryl sighs and looks away, “they’re Korean.” 

“Whatever...” Merle scoffs, “look, she can't be the last woman out there, we can find ya another one if tha-”

“No!” Daryl cuts off Merle before he can finish, “I ain’t gonna care ‘bout any other woman like I care ‘bout her. She’s special to me an'... we had somethin’ good goin’... best thing I ever had goin’ on in my whole life!”

Merle falters at his brother’s confession, “y-ya gonna go back to 'em then?”

“Nah...” Daryl sighs, “she’s gonna be pissed that I left in the first place... might never come back from that...”

“‘M sorry.” Merle says, almost sounding sincere.

“Only thing special I ever had and I fuck it up ‘cause o’ ya...” Daryl mumbles and walks away. 

---

Unable to sleep, Gloria had spent the entire night up on the platform. She’s been keeping a lookout for any potential threat to the prison, looking for any kind of distraction from the pain in her heart. She saw Sasha and her group leaving the prison the night before, figuring that Rick had made a decision that they weren't welcome, but Gloria didn't care. She glances to the side as she hears the door to the platform open as Glenn comes to join her. 

“Hey, you need to take a break, you’ve been out here since yesterday afternoon, rest and eat something.” Glenn tries to convince her but as she doesn’t respond, he sighs and sits down next to her, “look, I know Daryl meant a lot to you-”

“Did he?” Gloria scoffs bitterly, not even looking at Glenn. 

“Yeah, I’d say so, I’ve never seen you so worked up over a break up before.” Glenn frowns at her reaction.

“Break up? This isn’t a break up, Glenn, you wanna know why?” she snaps, finally turning to look at Glenn, “Because there was never anything to break in the first place! All those times you asked me if there was anything between me and Daryl, I told you there was nothing because that was the truth! There is nothing going on between me and Daryl because we mean nothing to each other!”

Glenn looks at her sympathetically, he knew that denial was her way to cope with what she was going through, that if she kept denying it, maybe she'd end up believing it herself, “you know that’s not true... Daryl almost came back when I mentioned you.”

“Yeah... the keyword there being ‘almost’.” Gloria laughs bitterly, her sarcasm breaking through her words. 

Realizing that this was not the approach to go for, Glenn tries something else, “Daryl might not be here but you still are, and we still need you with us. Maggie’s going through a lot and Rick isn’t fully in his right mind. You’re the only one who can hold the group together.” 

Gloria sighs at his words; Glenn definitely knew her too well. He knew that she would only be willing to take care of herself if it’s for the sake and convenience of others. 

“Someone needs to keep watch.” Gloria says in a small voice.

Glenn gestures for her to go, “I’ll be here. And get some food while you’re at it.”

Gloria nods and gets up, walking past Glenn, “I still plan on sleeping up here tonight.” causing Glenn to chuckle at her.

She makes her way down to the main area and takes some food Carol had made for the group then heads over to the cell block to check up on Maggie. She sees her lying on the bed, her frontside facing the wall. Gloria goes up to her bedside and gently pats her shoulder. 

“Have you eaten yet?” Gloria asks.

Maggie glances up at her then looks back to the wall, “no, I’m not hungry.”

“There’s still food out in the kitchen if your stomach changes its mind, and if you need anyone to talk to, I’m here for you.” Gloria says, not wanting to pry into what happened at Woodbury. 

Maggie nods, “I know... thank you.” 

Gloria exits the cell and heads outside to the picnic bench where she can oversee the courtyard, she starts to pick at the food on her plate. She watches as Rick is on the outside of the fences picking off walkers as Hershel is on the inside of the fences, accompanying their leader. Carol and Axel are overlooking the courtyard as well but standing closer to the inner fences of the prison. Gloria jumps at the sudden sound of a gunshot and sees Axel fall to the ground, his body falling on Carol as more gunfire erupts onto the prison. 

“Carol!” Gloria shouts as she jumps off the table to gain cover. 

Maggie runs out from the prison as she heard the gunfire from inside, carrying rifles and shooting at whoever was shooting at them. 

“Carol, go! I’ll cover you!” she shouts as she shoots.

The gunfire ceases and Carol is able to get to where Maggie was hiding, she straps on the rifle Maggie had given her and gets ready for the second round of gunfire. The roar of an engine disturbs the silence as a van heads straight towards the prison, ramming through the gate. It stops in the middle of the courtyard and the backend of the van drops open, letting dozens of walkers stumble out.

Gloria had made her way over to the fence and panics when she sees the herd going straight towards Hershel who had fallen inside the courtyard, “Maggie, Carol, cover me!”

Gunfire erupts again as Gloria dashes towards the gate, opening it and slamming it closed behind her as she rushes out into the courtyard. She runs towards the herd of walkers, flailing her arms around.

“Hey! Hey! This way! Over here!” Gloria shouts at them, taking their attention away from Hershel.

"What is she doing?!" Maggie wonders aloud as she shoots, covering Gloria from any potential bites. 

Carol looks around, examining the situation and spots Hershel in the field, "she's trying to save Hershel." 

Unsheathing her daggers, Gloria stabs any walkers that come too close to her. The driver door of the van pops open and the driver climbs out, taking out his gun and pointing it directly at Gloria. 

“Shit...” Gloria swears as she sees this, walkers starting to surround her.

Two simultaneous shots are fired. The first one being Carol’s, hitting the driver’s throat; the second from the driver’s gun, hitting Gloria in the shoulder causing her to fall to the ground. The herd is now split in half; one half going towards the driver and eating him alive, the other half making their way towards Gloria who fights her way through the walkers. To her relief, a katana swings right above her, killing the walkers coming for her and freeing Gloria. 

“Come on.” Michonne helps Gloria stand and directs her to start running towards the truck Glenn had driven into the courtyard. 

They both climb into the truck and Gloria is relieved to see Hershel is safe and sound in the truck. As Glenn drives towards the gate, Hershel looks over to Gloria who is pale and looking weak. 

“Gloria... you’ve been shot.” he announces when he sees her bloody shoulder, causing Glenn to worriedly glance in the rearview mirror.

“It’s a deep one...” Gloria groans in pain.

Glenn drives the truck through the open gate, parking the truck he quickly helps Michonne carry Gloria into the cell block. 

“Maggie, get the supplies, we need to get the bullet out of Gloria!” Hershel calls out as he goes into the cell block with the others.

Michonne and Glenn rush Gloria into an empty cell on the lower level of their block. Setting her on the bed then moving back to give Hershel room as he examines her wound. Gloria glances at Hershel and sees a frown on his face. 

“I-is it really as b-bad as it feels?” Gloria says, breathless.

“It’s a deep wound like you said.” Hershel looks over at her with a serious look, “your bone stopped it from going straight through, and it’s close to your joint.” 

Knowing what Hershel is getting at, she groans, “so if you don’t get it out now, I might not be able to use my arm again.” 

“It’s going to be excruciatingly painful for you, Gloria.” Hershel tells her, concern all over his face.

“Well, I can’t exactly wait for any anesthetic to kick in, can I?” Gloria grimaces, then she looks over to Hershel’s oldest daughter, “Maggie, get me a towel to bite on.” 

“Glenn,” Hershel calls out to him, “I need you to hold down your sister, try and distract her from the pain.” 

Glenn sits on the lower half of the bed and leans his body on Gloria’s legs, holding her hands in place, “It’s gonna be okay, sis, you’re gonna be okay.” 

Maggie comes back with a clean towel and Gloria takes it in her mouth, biting onto it as Hershel looks at her with steady eyes. She nods at him, doing her best to ready herself for the pain to come. Hershel digs into the wound, causing Gloria to scream out in agony as she squeezes Glenn’s hands tightly, trying her best not to thrash her body. 

Outside the cell block, Rick had just come inside with Daryl and Merle. He let Daryl know that Gloria hadn’t been the same since he left. Rick frowns when he sees Carol rushing into the cell block with towels, he also sees Beth and Carl looking on from outside the cell, a look of fear and worry on their faces. Before Rick could even ask what happened, a blood curdling shriek erupts from inside the cell. 

“Carol, who is it?” Rick asks.

Carol glances over at him with teary eyes then spots Daryl, “it’s Gloria.”

Blood drains from Daryl’s face at the news and he dashes into the cell block but Carol holds him back from going into the cell. 

“You can’t go in! Hershel’s still removing the bullet!” Carol shouts at him through her tears. 

Daryl is right at the cell, standing outside as he watches Gloria crying and screaming in pain and agony. His heart breaks at the sight of her being in so much pain. To Gloria, it felt like hours had passed when in actuality it was only a few minutes when Hershel had finally gotten the bullet out. She lets out a pained whimper as her grip on Glenn’s hands loosen. Glenn starts to panic when he sees her unconscious. 

“W-what happened?! I-is she...” Glenn looks to Hershel, his face stained with tears.

“She’s just passed out, her body must be exhausted from all that pain she just had to endure. I’ll patch up her wound and we should all let her rest.” Hershel tells him, nodding at him reassuringly.

Glenn nods, sighing in relief as he looks to his sister who’s laying still on the bed. Daryl stands in the doorway, still, and unsure of what to do. He’s unable to take his eyes off her pale face. He’s relieved that she pulled through but the sounds of her pained screaming haunted his mind. With guilt pulsing through his veins, he escapes into the main area where he had left Merle.

“Hey...” Merle calls out, “‘s she okay?” 

Daryl swore he could hear a hint of genuine concern for her in his voice, “she will be, she’s a tough one. She’ll pull through. She has to...” 

---

Next Chapter

Woo! That was a doozy of a chapter... so now Daryl and Merle are back at the prison with the others but Gloria is injured... I loved writing the dialogue between each pair of siblings, it was really fun especially with the Dixons, what did you think of it?? Next chapter coming this Friday!

I hope everyone stays safe and healthy, please don’t panic, we will get through this!

And as always, I would really appreciate any comments left for me! I’ll be replying to any comments in a new post because this is a sideblog!

Taglist (please let me know if you’d list to be added/removed!):

@twdeadfanfic​ | @fandomfanatic97​ | @crossbowking​ | @watchmeaspire​ | @spidergirla5​ | @kamieshep​ | @letsstarsfalling​ | @molethemollie​ | @alicewinchester99​ | @neilox​ | @womanup22​

[justjessame]

A Little Ass and A Lotta Sass Chapter One:  Unimpressed Doesn’t Begin to Cover It

"Little pig, little pig-let me in," I heard a gruff voice call from the gates with an accompanying metallic clang and rattle, as I was taking my little sister Judith out for a walk. Rolling my eyes, I let out a huff of breath and started back to our house.

I passed Dad as he was rushing to the gates, he paused long enough to kiss my forehead and hers. I smiled at him in encouragement and continued toward the house. Negan. The murderous psycho that killed two of ours wasn't supposed to come by for another couple of days. I wasn't surprised. Clearly he was an asshole.

I hadn't been with the others during the mission to flatten the Saviors. Dad had decided that I was more helpful to them if I stayed in Alexandria and kept morale up, while also taking care of Judith. That was fine with me. Not that I was afraid of standing up for our people, but honestly, usually my mouth tended to get ALL of us in more trouble then we started with. My only excuse, and one I was careful not to use too often, was that I'd been an only child for my first six years of life. Dad and Mom had spoiled me rotten, and by the time Carl came along, well it was way too late to reign me in. My mouth at least. Mom had called me "Sassy Pants".

Bouncing Judith in my arms, kissing her silky blonde curls, I considered whether I should rush inside and stay far away from Negan and his minions, or settle on the porch in one of the white rocking chairs and watch. Dad would probably want me to hide, with Judith, inside. Unfortunately, I rarely considered what Dad would want. I mean, I kind of wanted to see how horrific this dickhead was for myself. But I didn't want him or his people to see Judith. I rushed into the house, carrying her upstairs, and was happy to see that she was clearly ready for a nap. I grabbed one of the baby monitor's receivers and pushed it into the pocket of my skinny jeans. I had it turned loud enough to feel the vibrations, just in case she woke up in the middle of the unannounced visit.

Rushing back downstairs, I opened the front door and sat down on the top step. This would give me more options to run, if I chose the chair, jumping over the banister might break my damn leg. As I sat, I considered what Carl had told me about the night Abe and Glenn had died. The night Negan stole Daryl away. The night he nearly forced Dad to cut my baby brother's arm off. I'd felt so much rage and pain since that night. Losing so much, especially when I saw how fucking broken he'd made Dad. Nothing had hurt him so much that he lost sight of what was important, but now? Now he was almost a husk.

Things had been tense, not just in the community, but in our house. Michonne and Dad seemed almost on pins and needles around one another. Carl looked like he'd rather do nothing other than storm the gates and take Negan's head himself. And little Judith was picking up on the entire mess and making her sleep less restful. Me? I felt like I had when we first learned that the dead walked. Like nothing could get fucking worse, but then God laughed and considered that thought a fucking challenge.

I heard that same gruff voice give an order that made little sense, until I caught a glimpse of Dad walking beside a tall man in a leather jacket, barbed wire baseball bat on his shoulder. Negan, I thought, and then my eyes caught the reason for the order. "You don't look at him, you don't talk to him, and I don't make you chop anything off of him." Daryl was creeping alongside one of the minions. He was dressed in the dingiest sweats I'd ever seen, looking far worse than I'd ever seen him look before. Saviors? I snorted to myself. Sure.

I watched, trying to decide if Negan looked as scary as everyone felt he was. He came closer and more in focus, and I tilted my head. Dark hair, slicked back like an old fashioned greaser, a little gray brushing here and there. His face was far more salt than pepper, but his scruff looked too perfect, deliberately careless. The leather jacket was more fitted than I'd imagined. The bat was less intimidating, but then again, he wasn't playing a disturbing game of "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe" with me. The rest of him looked like most of the men in my life, just far cleaner than I thought he'd be.

"And what do we have here?" He whistled and I saw my dad flinch. Shit, guess I'd been too far inside my own head to realize they'd grown closer and now the asshole had his attention focused on me. "Shit, Rick, who the fuck is this little beauty?"

I rolled my eyes and stood, crossing my arms across my semi loose wine colored v-neck t-shirt. I really hoped he didn't think I was going to fucking kneel like he'd made my family before he killed two of them, because that shit was NOT going to happen. He'd asked Dad to tell him who I was, so I didn't feel the need to answer. Dad was looking at me like he'd wished I'd gone all the way inside, but I could also tell he was happy that Judith wasn't with me.

"My daughter," I wanted to scream at the quiet defeat I heard in Dad's voice. "This is my daughter, Callie."

"Fuck, Rick, if you'd brought her along to negotiate, you'd made it out far fucking better than you did." Negan hadn't taken his eyes off of me, rather off of my body, since he'd caught sight of me. "Your wife must have been fucking gorgeous." He walked closer to me and I stood my ground. "And shit, she's lookin' at me like she doesn't fuckin' care who I am." His dimples grew deeper as he shot me a smile that might have been charming if it wasn't attached to a fucking psychopath. "Damn, darlin', you gonna say 'hello' to your new leader?"

I raised an eyebrow and smiled just as deeply. "Sure," I looked at my dad and said, "hello, Dad!" And gave him a little wave.

Negan gave a bark of laughter and stared up at me from his position on the bottom step. It wasn't a far tilt of his head since I'm so goddamn short. "Fuck, you've got a fucking sassy ass attitude don't ya." I stared at him full on, refusing to be charmed or intimidated. "Shit, I swear to fuck your fucking mouth is making my dick hard." I rolled my eyes, breaking contact first, but honestly what the hell?

"That sounds like a very personal problem." I answered, and squinted at him. "Since, I'm guessing that bat on your shoulder is your compensation for the inadequate one in your pants, I don't think you'll have a problem working through it."

Another loud laugh and I could fucking swear his eyes were twinkling at me. Shit, was this fucking foreplay for him? "Hot damn, you got a firecracker here, Rick the Dick!" He winked at me and turned back to Dad. As they walked away, I moved into the house thinking that I could last a fucking lifetime before I had to deal with that dickhead again.

The visit was terrible for so many reasons. They took our weapons. They took comforts, like mattresses and furniture. They took so much, and for what? For power? Because they could? When Carl tried to fight back, I was upstairs holding Judith. She could sense the tension in the air, I swear, and she'd become fussy. When I heard the shots, I clutched at her tighter, wondering if today would be the day that everyone died.

It wasn't, but we weren't safe. Luckily they'd left the food. Apparently Negan wasn't as complementary to the other women, at least not poor Olivia. It was more than certainly better that I'd stayed inside. If I'd heard him make the obscene comments about her weight, I wouldn't have been able to hold my tongue. Or my knife, to be fair. I hated when anyone shamed someone else for a perceived shortcoming. Fat shaming, slut shaming, any type of shaming was fucking wrong.

I heard Dad and Michonne discussing retaliation. Numbers, Dad says, are the issue. Savior numbers are far more vast than they had planned for, and he completely shoots down her idea of utilizing Hilltop. He urges her, and all of us to just learn to live the way we have to now. It's our new reality.

A FEW DAYS LATER

I look all over for Carl, wondering where the hell the kid got to. Dad and Aaron are off trying to find supplies to satisfy their new overlord, and for once I cannot fucking believe that I've become Mom and lost Carl. Shit. Carrying Judith with me, I look from street to street, going all the way to the front gate and seeing nothing. I swear to fucking God, I think I am going to ring my brother's fucking neck.

Hours pass, with Olivia visiting me and helping me keep Judith occupied. We talk about the things we miss from before, something I try really hard not to do when the rest of my family are around. It's too painful, and it almost seems ungrateful seeing as we have all this.

"My cell phone," I nearly moaned. "I swear, I used to threaten to throw the fucking thing in a ditch, but I'd kill to have it back, along with the people I used to text and call." I sober at the thought.

She smiles at me. "Starbucks," her eyes closed thinking of her daily dose of overpriced caffeine clearly. "All the complicated orders and my name misspelled on the cup." We giggle, Judith starting to yawn.

"I'll be right back," I say, picking up the toddler and jogging upstairs to her room. I put her carefully in her crib and smooth her curls. "Sleep tight, baby Jude." I whisper, kissing her forehead as she closes her eyes and drifts off.

I'm coming down the stairs when I heard voices. Thinking it's only Carl, I call out, "I swear to fucking God, I'm going to strangle you." As I clear the bottom step, I'm confronted with a leatherclad chest, and fuck, fuck, fuck more laughter.

"Strangle me?" Negan places his leather gloved hand over his chest as though I'd wounded him. "Fuck, I never thought I'd find a threat so fucking sexy." His voice was low and I rolled my eyes again.

"Not you," I growled, seeing my brother standing by Olivia, "him." Carl didn't have his bandage on and I returned my attention to the asshole blocking my path. "What the fuck did you do to him?"

Negan stepped back slightly, frowning at my tone. "Me? I didn't do shit to him. He came at me, shot more of my men. Fuck, your people, your fucking brother can't seem to get this shit through your fucking heads." He was leaning forward now, regaining the intimidating image that may make someone else cower, but he clearly didn't fucking know me.

I brushed past the overbearing asshole and pulled Carl to me. "Are you alright?" I asked, cupping his face in my hands, even if he was taller than me. "Where's your bandage?"

"Why does he need it?" Negan's voice demanded behind me. "He looks more badass now than he did with the fucking gun he tried to shoot me with." I rolled my eyes and then focused on the terror in Olivia's face. Oh for fuck's sake.

"And her?" I asked, releasing Carl from my grasp and turning to face Negan with my hands on my hips. "What did Olivia do to make you upset her?"

He grinned, dimples trying to distract me by coming into play. "I may have teased her a little. I apologized and even offered to fuck her after she slapped me."

I had to fight against rolling my eyes again. More time spent around him and I'd know what my own fucking brain looked like, enough to detail all the fucking wrinkles. "Do you think that's charming- or?" I squinted up at him and watched him process what I was insinuating about his desirability.

"I'm Prince Motherfucking Charming, darlin'." He winked at me and leaned closer. "For you? For you I'll be anything you want."

I lost the fight against rolling my eyes. "I suppose I should thank you for bringing my brother home. Dad isn't here, he's on a run to get you and your savages more supplies." I make it sound cheery, waiting to see if he noticed that I should thank him, but I didn't.

"Yeah, uh," he looked toward Olivia and I could see he was confused about her name. "She told me about Rick. I think I'll wait for him."

I glared up at him. "Fine. There's a porch right outside, make yourself at home there." Southern hospitality it wasn't, but I was trying to keep him far away from Judith.

He shook his head and started to wander through our house. I shot a look at Carl, televising that I was going to totally fucking ream him over coals for this. He had common sense to look a little bit ashamed.

"Olivia," I said, looking at the woman that Negan had been so rude to. "Why don't you head back?" I walked her to the door, once out of his earshot, I grinned at her. "You really fucking slapped him?" She nodded, a smile forming on her own face. "Way to fucking go, girl!" I hugged her goodbye and walked back into the living room.

Negan was taking in what was left of our luxuries. "Making yourself at home?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. "Don't get too comfortable, I'm sure your minions will be around to collect you, after all you have complete power over everything. They probably can't go potty without your approval."

He turned to me, dimples in full bloom. "Darlin', what the fuck did I do to you to get your panties in such a fuckin' twist?" I noticed he'd placed the bat down, near enough for him to reach it, but down as thought he really was at home. "Your dad did all this, sweetheart, not me. Why don't you be a lamb and make a little lemonade?"

"What?" I asked, looking at him like he'd lost his fucking mind. "Before the world went to shit, did someone give you a proper diagnosis? I mean, you're fucking insane, right? Like hard to pronounce, long latin worded, diagnostic insanity." He was still grinning. "Does being insulted and smacked turn you on?" For fuck's sake, what the fuck was wrong with him?

"No." He answered, sitting on the couch and putting his feet up on the coffee table. Boots still on his fucking feet. "I'm not certifiable." He turned his head to stare up at me. "And as for turning me on? Oh, sweetheart, that's gonna be a LONG conversation for you and me real fuckin' soon." His dimples mocked me and I glared at him. "Now about that lemonade-"

"Get your fucking boots off the furniture," I demanded, glare still firmly in place. "As for the lemonade? We'll see." I pointed at his feet.

He was there for HOURS. He did take his fucking boots off, then he moaned at the feel of the carpet on his bare feet. Moaned indecently, by the way, as though he thought that would somehow make me swoon. I made his fucking lemonade, only because we had the supplies for it readily available. Not because he requested it. He wasn't my God for fuck's sake.

Carl had disappeared upstairs, I hoped he was keeping Judith company because I didn't want the idiot to see her. But of course, he wanted a fucking tour. And he found her nursery. He'd picked her up with more tenderness than I expected him to be capable of, glancing at me as he kissed her head and talked quietly to her.

"What?" I asked, as he alternated looks between the two of us. "Seriously, what are you doing?" I was about to reach for her and take her away from his grubby paws, but he just held her gently and actually fucking rocked her in his arms.

Another kiss on her head and he smiled at me. "You two look nothin' alike." I sighed, I was NOT going to explain Judith's parentage to this idiot, no more ammo for him against my dad. "Course, you don't look like your little brother either."

I smirked, no I didn't. I looked like my paternal grandmother. The auburn hair, the green eyes, my tiny stature, and from what Dad told me, my sass had come directly from her. "So?"

He shrugged and started toward the door with Judith still in his arms. "Nothing." He answered, walking away.

He drank so much lemonade that I thought he must want to have that sour taste on his tongue for days. Then, as though holding us hostage with his presence was his only goal, he took Judith out to sit in the rocking chairs and held fucking court waving to the neighbors like he owned the fucking place.

I heard him say something that made no sense to me, but Carl understood. Then he offered a chilling thought, and I wondered if he were serious, or if this was one of his games. "Maybe I should just bury you both down there in the flower beds, then me and your hot as fuck older sister and this sweet angel in my lap could settle in the suburbs." He chuckled and kissed Judith's nose, staring at her sweet face asking, "What do you think about that?"

[storytime-hoe]

Tough Love Ch.8

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x O/C

Summary: Story picks up during season three as the group goes into Woodbury to rescue Glenn and Maggie from the Governor. However, they pick up another prisoner of Woodbury, Emma (O/C). She is a thief who fears friendships after her hard losses. She stays on the move, studying communities from afar and then robbing them blind. She has stayed alive this way for a while until the Governor catches her in the act. Now she finds herself with the group from the prison in a mission to kill the Governor for what he has done to her. She plans on stealing supplies from the prison group after the Governor is killed, but she might be growing a little too close to the groups members, especially one man in particular: Daryl Dixon.

Warnings: Slow burn, language, usual twd violence, mentions of abuse/rape

Authors Note: This is up late I am sorry guys I just got back from vacation and haven’t been in a good mood to write. Also, I did not edit this well and I just free wrote this for the most part so sorry for mistakes or boring parts. But enjoy Emma actually caring about people and being worried and becoming part of the group. 

Previously: Ch.1     Ch.2       Ch.3       Ch.4     Ch.5      Ch.6      Ch.7

Sometimes I wished I wouldn't wake up. That my body would just decide that I had done enough and let me sleep for the rest of eternity. Not those restless sleeps where you wake up every five seconds from nightmares either, but the kind where you don't feel anything, the kind where your mind shuts off. Not dead exactly but not quite alive either. 

Surviving was becoming exhausting. My world had ended many times, even before the dead had started walking the earth. Even though I didn't want death as badly as I had in the past, there was still parts of me that wanted to give up on a daily basis. But today could not be that day, even if I felt like a useless human being when I woke up, drained of all energy.

I pressed the palms of my hands into my eyes, my body aching at the slightest movements. I could hear people rustling around outside of my new room, but I was surprised when I turned my head to the side to see someone was sitting in the floor beside me.

Daryl was leaned against the wall with his head leaned over against the bed railing. He was out cold. The previous day really did a toll on the both of us. We experienced the death of someone we both cared about. Even though I hadn't known Daryl for more than a week, we had seen each other at pretty vulnerable states. We went through some shit together and somehow it made it feel like we had known each other for an eternity.

It gave me a strange warm feeling to think about it–how we were growing closer and closer to each other. I never thought I would feel comfortable with another human again, but he was different. We were not friends really. We hated each other too much to be friends. He talked some real shit to me sometimes, no doubt, and I always pushed back at him, but as I looked at him sitting there in a deep sleep, I could almost imagine that maybe in another world we could have been friends. We might’ve gotten along if circumstances were different and I wasn’t so afraid of getting hurt again and again. 

But Daryl would be taken from me eventually. So would everyone else. In the end I would be alone again whether I liked it or not, that was just how it was meant to be. Good thing for me was that I would be leaving all of them before I got to witness the inevitable moment when the Walkers would rip into them all. I couldn’t make myself stick around them when I knew that would happen.   

I took a deep breath, my eyes still on the sleeping Daryl. I pushed all thoughts of any kind of friendship that I longed for from my mind. I needed to wake him up before my mind wandered any further. 

I pulled the pillow out from under my head with a groan and chucked it at him, waking him with a start. "What the hell are you still doing here?" I asked groggily.

He grabbed the pillow and tossed it back at me with an annoyed grunt and a familiar scowl. "Told Hershel I'd watch ya through the night. Ya lost a lot of blood."

"I feel like shit," I mumbled into my arm that I let lay across my face, blocking out the light that made my head pound.

"Ya ain't lookin' so hot either," he grumbled and pushed himself to his feet with a rare smirk.

I didn't get the chance to retort before Beth came in holding baby Judith in her arms. She looked between me and Daryl while she rocked the baby gently. "Rick says it's time to go. We need to be ready."

I sat up in the bed, which I immediately regreted. My head whirled around and Daryl reached a hand out to steady me, but he stopped in his tracks at my glare. I needed to do this on my own, and thank God he understood and respected that. I used the bed to pull myself to my feet and stabilize me, but I still felt Daryl close by me incase I would need him, which I only found slightly annoying.

I hissed through my teeth at the soreness in my thigh from the bullet wound. Looking at Beth I asked, "What's going on?"

"We've made a plan for how to deal with the Governor. You're too injured to fight so you'll be with me and Judith, Carl, and Daddy."

I snapped my head around to look at Daryl accusingly. I was not about to sit by while they all fought the Governor. I turned a little too fast to face Daryl, who crossed his arms and got ready for the inevitable argument. "I'm fighting with you guy–"

"Nah," he said before I even finished my sentence.

"I am too. The only reason I am here is to make sure the Governor dies and you're fucking crazy if you think I am going to sit this one out."

"We can take care of it. I promise. Rick says it's best if you go with Hershel. You know you aren't in any condition to fight."

"Rick doesn't know what's best for me. I do."

Daryl was hovering over me, intoxicatingly close. He was trying to scare me into listening to him again, but there was no fucking way. "Why do you need to do this? I said we can take care of it." His voice grew more angry with every word.

I shook with the want for him to understand, but I was not willing to open up to people about my reasoning. No matter how comfortable I felt talking to Daryl now, I couldn't bring myself to talk about it entirely.

"You know what he did to me," I shouted in his face desperately. "I had to spend weeks in a little room not knowing who the fuck was going to come through the door or what the fuck they were planning to do with me. You didn't have to go through that. I would've rather him kill me than put me through what he did, Daryl." My voice dropped to a low volume. "So, yeah, I need to do this."

Daryl's eyes were full of a hate I had never seen in him before. I thought and felt many things when I was around Daryl, but fear was never one of those thoughts. It was now. He looked so wound up in a dark and dangerous emotion that it scared me to the core.

I knew the hate he wore plainly on his face wasn't towards me though, it was all for the Governor. His furry practically rolled off of him in waves. I'm sure he assumed what the Governor had done to me, I basically told everyone outright when Andrea first showed up. I can still see that offended look on her face when I stated that I'd fucked her precious little boyfriend too. But the way I had phrased it might've made it look like I was just trying to get under Andreas skin, which was partially true.

I never really said I unwillingly fucked him though, but I think most of them got the picture. Daryl must have too judging by the look he was sporting now. I could tell he would rip the Governor apart if he got the chance. The almost inaudible growl that he released with every heavy tempered breath he took told me as much. He looked deep into my eyes with a sort of understanding and something that was extremely protective.

I felt that damn warm feeling spread inside of me again at that thought. I spent my entire life being the protector of my mother or my brother or even friends. I never had someone to look after me and make sure that I was always safe. It felt different to have Daryl actually care about me. A good kind of different.

"Let me do this, Daryl," I whispered. It was all much more than being hurt physically. It was about the things the Governor did that would never be healed. He was in my head constantly now. I spent my life being fearless, but now he paralyzed me with it. I wanted to think I couldn't be broken. I wanted to be strong enough to not need this revenge, but I'm not.

"Ya can't even stand upright," he motioned to me leaning up against the bed.

I silently pleaded with my eyes. I had to do this. I had to contribute to the fight.

"Fine." I didn't realize we were so close, but when he spoke I could feel his breath blow softly against my skin.

Beth looked on wordlessly still at the doorway. The baby let out a cry and she turned to leave just as Glenn came to rush us along.

Daryl went to follow Beth out, but stopped next to Glenn. "She's stayin' with us," he informed him with a jerk of his head in my direction.

Glenn looked at me and fumbled with his words. "Bu– Rick said–"

"She's stayin' with us," Daryl said. His tone let Glenn know that that was the end of the discussion.

Glenn rolled his eyes as Daryl went out of sight to get ready for the Governor. "Fine," Glenn sighed out. "Here." He handed me my bowie knife that I stuck into my belt along with a handgun. The rifle he handed me next I slung over my shoulder with a strap, ignoring how much it actually weighted me down.

I looked down at myself to notice I was still covered in my own blood with a mixture of what I assume to be Merle's blood. I swallowed hard at the memory. I still had on the baggy tank-top with the bottom half of it torn away. My jeans were caked in mud and thick red blood from my injury, not to mention that Hershel had cut away the bottom half of my jeans on the injured leg.

Daryl wasn't kidding when he said I wasn't looking so hot. I bet I looked like a bulldozer had run me over. It had been ages since I had looked in a mirror. I had never found the urge before to check what I looked like, but a small part of me was curious about how I had changed since I last saw myself.

"Come on. Everyone is about ready."

I followed Glenn out of the prison with more difficulty than I would like to admit. I didn't let all of my weight rest on my injured leg, but instead hopped along using the wall as a sort of crutch.

The cars outside were being loaded up with all of the supplies that we had, emptying out the prison entirely.

I heard Daryl talking to Carol as he cleaned his motorcycle. "Merle ain't ever done anything like that in his hole life," he said to her, still reminiscing on his older brother's death.

She grinned at him in a comforting way. "He gave us a chance."

I took a deep breath. I really hope he did give us a chance. I was nervous all the way to where Glenn told me to hide out on the catwalk with Carol.

The plan was pretty simple, the Governor would come rolling in shooting and reeking havoc. We needed to stay quiet until he was done waisting his ammo, thinking we would be inside. Once they entered the prison and saw that no one was there, Daryl would sound off the prison alarm. That was when the rest of us come out from hiding and fire at them while they struggle to fight off the Walkers that would be chasing them out of the tombs.

The plan was pretty good, but I still felt unsure. I gripped my rifle tightly, knowing that if things went south I was in no condition to successfully flee from the scene. I would be stuck here, but I tried not to think too much on it as bent down in my position behind metal sheeting that lined the fences.

It felt like an eternity of silence before the Governor pulled up with multiple cars. Explosions went up in seconds with the guard tower being the first to go. Thousands of gun shots rang out, fueling my adrenaline. Men started shouting and loading into the prison with military tactic. My hands grew sweatier every second just waiting for the signal to fire.

The Governor walked calmly up to the prison doors, his gun in hand. I wanted nothing more than to shoot through his eyepatch and kill him once and for all. But, I knew I had to be patient. I reluctantly sat by and watched him go inside the prison block after his men.

They were in there for a good while when the alarms finally started going off. Shouts and smoke soon filled the inside and outside of the prison. Glenn and Maggie fired rapidly at the ones retreating from the Walker infested tombs. I popped up from my place and took a few shots at them as well. Several shots came back at me in return, but I was quick enough to take cover, the bullets pining off of the metal protection.

I risked coming up several more times, each moment I spent looking for only one person, the Governor. Finally I saw him rushing out of the smoking prison. As if sensing me, his head sharply turned in my direction, his attention falling upon only me. His glower was blood curdling. I'm sure he was surprised to see me alive after he left Merle to kill me, but he should know by now I was hard to keep dead. I caused him a lot of trouble since he's known me, and the anger that he shook with told me he was going to get me back. I hoped my look told him the same thing.

Before long all the men retreated to their cars and drove off in a hurry, coming to the conclusion that they could not beat us after our ambush. The alarms were shut off and while everyone raced to the gate to watch them go, I hobbled up the rear.

"We should go after them," Michonne was saying as I approached the group.

"We should finish it," Daryl agreed.

"It is finished. Didn't you see them hightail it outta here?" Maggie said breathlessly.

"They could regroup," Michonne argued.

"He's not gonna stop." Glenn bit his lip and stared out in the direction they retreated to.

"You're right. We can't keep living like this," Carol agreed.

"So we take the fight back to Woodbury," Maggie said hypothetically. "We barely made it back last time."

My mind shot to the day she was referring to; the day they saved me. I was a complete stranger and the first person to look at me like I wasn't a piece of trash had been Daryl. He knew my pain of feeling worthless, I know that now. He could have shot and killed me back then like I wanted him to do, but he didn't. He was looking out for me then like he was now. What a fucking considerable man.

"I don't care," Daryl said as he shifted from one foot to the other, never able to stand still while there was a fight to be fought. When he looked at me I could tell he really didn't care if he made it back. He was out for blood. He was hungry for that Governor's head to be served to me on a platter and he would make that happen if it killed him.

That's why I couldn't let him do it. Another reason I always kept distant from people was so they wouldn't care about me either. But you don't get to pick who cares about you in this world. I didn't want anyone to risk anything for me, and this pain in the ass was going to do it anyway despite my efforts.

While Rick went inside we started getting a truck ready for the trip to Woodbury, and we began discussing who exactly would be going on the trip.

"We're staying," Glenn said matter of factly. "We don't know where the Governor is. If he comes back, we will hold him off."

"You ain't goin' either," Daryl said to me from across the truck. I opened my mouth to protest but he held up his hand to stop me from arguing. "You can barely walk. You ain't goin'."

I huffed but agreed. I couldn't be stupid enough to think I was able to march into battle with them. "Fine. But stop being blinded by your fucking temper and think for a minute."

He turned to face me defensively with his hands holding onto his crossbow's strap that was around his shoulder. "The hell you mean?"

"I can see it in you. I can see you would do anything to get back at the Governor. But don't let that cloud your judgment and get people killed. Okay? If it's too dangerous you better haul ass back here in a second. Don't you dare let you or any of them get hurt because you're too big of a stubborn ass to stop yourself from being reckless."

Why the fuck did I care so much about him? Why couldn't I just turn off my damn emotions? It was getting way out of hand. I wanted so so badly not to care about any of them and I was even a dick to them because I didn't want to get attached. But here I fucking was, a little bitch who would loose my fucking mind if any of these people got hurt. I turned out liking everyone in the group a shit ton more than I originally planned. I caught feelings for all of them like a damn amateur.

He scoffed and shrugged his shoulders. "We ain't gonna get killed." He said it with so much confidence and I could tell he really thought that. But it could happen and I would be broken again if it did.

"Promise me," I breathed so quietly I wasn't sure he'd heard me.

"We have to go after him today, Em. Nothin's gonna happen–"

He really wasn't understanding how much I fucking meant what I said, was he.

I shoved at his chest with both my hands and the serious look on his face washed over him. "I fucking mean it, Daryl. Fuck the Governor. We can get him another day if we need to. Just don't be stupid on this trip cause I can't go and make sure of that myself."

His eyes searched mine and he finally took my pleads to heart. His brow had drawn together as his eyes grew soft. I thought I would drown in them he looked at me so intently. Then he shook himself out of his stupor with one long blink.

"I promise. Okay? Happy now?"

I bit the inside of my cheek nervously. I would have to be happy enough. After all my time of worrying about the Governor being killed, it didn't seem as important right now. Currently, all that mattered was that everyone, not just Daryl, came back safe. I hadn't felt this panicked worry for people in a long time. And I didn't miss it.

"So," Daryl peeled his eyes from me to look at Rick and Michonne who had thankfully been too distracted to listen to our conversation. I couldn't have everyone knowing I gave a shit about them just yet.

"Just the three of us?" Rick and Michonne nodded to Daryl as he spoke, waiting for his protest or doubts to be verbalized. They weren't. He simply gripped his weapon tighter. "All right," he said with a confidence that no one who was going to fight an entire army with three people should've had.

I leaned my weight onto my uninjured leg and looked at him sling his leg over his motorcycle. It took everything in me to stand still and not hop in the truck with Michonne and Rick. I had never listened to Daryl when he told me what to do before, but if I wanted him to take what I had said seriously, I needed to do the same.

Waiting for them to come back took an excruciatingly long time. I sat inside while Maggie and Glenn watched the perimeter of the prison gates. Beth let me feed baby Judith, which I did awkwardly did. I hadn't held a baby since my little brother was born, but that was many many years ago, and even then it wasn't my thing to care for them well.

Carl was down in the dumps after Rick had given him a talking to about how he had shot a kid in the woods during the attack. I wasn't in the situation that Carl was in, so I had no room to judge the kid or tell him what I thought was right and wrong. Carl was a tough kid and if anything put his sister in danger he would eliminate it. Hershel seemed to think it was unnecessary to shoot the boy.

I didn't want to involve myself in any way, but I did my best to make Carl at least grin at how terribly out of place I looked with Judith. I rocked her around and she cooed and laughed loudly. Carl loved when his baby sister was happy, so he couldn't help but join in on the fun of making her giggle.

"They're back," Carol said, squinting out of the window. My heartbeat quickened uncontrollably. "Looks like hey brought company."

I stood with Judith on my hip and frowned out the window to see what the hell she meant by company.

I felt myself release the breath that I did not know I was holding when my eyes landed on Daryl riding at the front on his motorcycle with Michonne driving the truck up behind him. Rick, however, had acquired a new ride: a large school bus. The bus was bursting with new faces belonging to people of all ages and sizes.

I looked down at Carl who was fuming at the sight of the newcomers. "How could he bring these people here? We don't know them," he gritted out through his teeth.

"Where the hell did they come from? Woodbury?"

It just didn't make sense in my head that Rick would be stupid enough to take in all of these people, especially after he had been so cautious abut strangers before.

I put my hand on Carl's shoulder and pulled him to the door. "Let's go find out."

Carl followed close behind me with heavy steps, as did Beth and Carol. We held our guns, but didn't look willing to fire on them. Daryl met my questioning gaze but quickly looked away with an unreadable expression, as per fucking usual.

Finding that he wouldn't be giving me any explanation, I turned to Rick next, who was busy trying to make the strangers feel at home.

"What the hell is going on?" I whispered to him as he took Judith from my arms and gave her a big kiss.

"The Governor fired on his own people. All the soldiers he had are dead. These people wouldn't survive on their own after the sheltering they've had. We have to help this world grow."

I looked at them all with disgust. "What about the Governor? Did you find him?"

Rick set his jaw and shook his head, disappointed. "Nah, we couldn't find him. He's either dead somewhere or he ran off to find a new group to terrorize."

My stomach churned at the thought of him still out there able to do whatever he wants to whoever he wants. I blinked and shuddered at the thought.

"Help these people find a place to settle." He noticed my distrustful glances in their direction. "We took you in when you were a stranger," he reminded me with the slight upturn at the corners of his mouth. "Time you do the same."

I huffed as he walked away. How could he expect me to do that? I spent months building up an unfair hate for these people. I hated Woodbury, and thus them, by association. It was ridiculous, I know, but I couldn’t break that thought process just like that. It would take time convincing myself that these people were innocent in reality. They were useless weak people and they didn’t know any better about what the Governor was doing back in Woodbury. Plus, he probably killed or hurt some of their families too. They deserved to feel safe again and even if they were clueless about the real world now, we had to take them in under our wing. 

So, I put on a my best fake smile as people that looked scared and wary got off of the bus. I could do this. Beth and I led everyone to their own cell rooms and did what we could to make them feel liked they belonged. I went through introducing myself a dozen fucking times. Eventually my face hurt from the constant smile plastered on it and my ears buzzed with voices of new residents as they spewed out names that I would never remember.

I had never wanted to leave this group more than right now. Living with so many people was something I was not used to. Living with anyone at all was not something I was used to. But I knew I couldn't possibly try to go out on my own with my leg still fucked and besides, I said I was leaving after the Governor was dead, and I had a sick feeling he was not.

***

Taglist:

@daryldixonandfrogs  @jodiereedus22

[the-daily-multi-fandom-post]

The secret:

warnings; Walkers (Zombies) other than that, none that I can think of.

y/n- (Your name) Y/f/c- (Your favorite color) Y/f/n-(Your full name) Y/n/n-(Your nickname) 

at the prison-

Pairs/characters: Carl grimes x reader, Rick grimes, Dayrl Dixon x Daughter! reader, Maggie x Glenn (mentioned) 

Imagine: Carl asked you to be his girlfriend after you had been during a run. You agreed saying yes, but you kept it a secret. Well as much as a secret that you could when your never away from everyone else. One day while you and carl were clearing out some walkers he tells you he loves you. You smile back and Was about to tell him you love him too when you see Daryl (Your dad) stomping over to you both angrily. This is what happens...

At the prison: 

The sun was just peaking over the trees. The sky was clear and you could still see a few of the morning stars.  It was early morning nobody was up other than Y/n, its been like that for a while. The walkers were walking around outside trying to get in through the fences. She didn't mind it. She liked waking up and having time to herself. She would wake up and go straight outside clearing most of the walkers lined up at the fences. With her knife on her hip, gun on her side, and crowbar in hand she started stabbing the walkers in their eyes, foreheads, and temples. She had cleared up most of the walkers when she heard someone walk up behind her. She turned around an saw Carl walking up to her with a broken cane in his hand. “Need some help?” He asked with a smile. She looked at him then to the walkers and nodded. “Good morning.” He said as he gave her a kiss on her cheek making her blush a tiny bit. “Good mornin’.” Y/n said her strong southern accent making him smile. “Sleep good?” He asked as he started stabbing the walkers in their heads. “Yea, pretty good. You?” She asked as she started back to the Walkers. “Same, Most the time I had to listen to Judith cry.” Carl said looking at Y/n then back to the walkers. Y/n nodded as she stabbed the woman walker in her head. “’m sorry.” Y/n said with a frown. “Don't be sorry its not your fought.” Carl said giving her a reassuring smile. She smiled back and started stabbing the walkers. 

It was a few hours later, they were both covered in a layer of sweat. a few people were up, but not outside quite yet. Y/n blushed as she saw Carl staring at her. “what ya lookin’ at?” Y/n asked with a smile. “Just staring at the most beautiful girl here.” He said making her blush even more. She nodded with a smile and turned back to the walkers. She had just cleared out the last of what was in the area, when she found carl walking towards her. She looked back at and with a questioning look on her face. “what?” She asked thinking maybe there was something on her face. “Nothing I just wanted to say something.’ he said as he walked up to her and softly put his hands on both sides of her face and looked into her (Y/e/c) eyes. He glanced at her eyes then to her lips. He smiled than leaned in. She smiled and leaned in as well. It wasn't there first kiss. they have been together since Y/n got hurt a couple of months ago. She was going on a run with her dad Dayrl. They had cleared out a pharmacy, there was no walkers around so they started filling their bags full of medicines and medical supplied. Y/n had just finished packing up the last of the medicines in her bag when a walker had peaked around the corner of the isle. She walked backwards and tripped, making her drop her knife. The walker got closer and she could barely reach it. The walker grabbed her foot and almost bit it when she had finally reached her knife and stabbed its head. She sighed in relief as it fell down to the floor completely dead. She sighed and tried to get up, but winced in pain. She pushed through the pain and picked up all the medicines. Dayrl jogged back in there because he heard something/someone fall. “Are ya alright?” he asked her. She nodded looking at him with a small smile. “Fine, just twisted my ankle. It will be fine.” She said as she got up and grabbed her knife out of the walkers Temple. “Your aint bit are ya?” he asked as he looked for any bites on her. “No, I’m fine. I just fell backwards in tripped. No Bites or scratches.” Y/n answered with a smile. He nodded and grabbed the bag from her. “what are ya doin’?” Y/n complained looking at her dad as he began taking the bag. “Helpin’ you.” he said as he put her arm around his shoulder and began to help her walk out the pharmacy. “ I can walk daddy, I aint a glass doll.” Y/n said as she walked with her father. “ I know baby, but I don't want you to hurt your ankle anymore than it is.” he said as he walked her to the bike. He got on and started it. Y/n slid on the back, taking the bag from her dad and slid it onto her back. He nodded and she nodded back and they went back to the Prison. 

“I love you.” Carl said as he pulled back. Y/n looked into his eyes and smiled. “I love yo-” she was cut off by her dad pulling her away from Carl. “What the hell do ya think ya doin’?” Dayrl questioned as he looked to his best friends son and to his daughter. “Daddy, stop.” Y/n said as she watched shove carl away. “Dayrl whats goin’ on?” Rick asked as he walked up to the three. “ Nothin’ it’s fine.” Y/n said as she tried to get them to forget about it. “No its not fine, ya boy was kissin’ my little girl.” Dayrl said making rick chuckle. “You didn't know they were together?” Rick asked looking at Dayrl with a smile. Y/n and Carl both looked at each other confused. “No, you told him and not me?’ Dayrl fussed looking between Y/n and carl. “We didn't tell anyone.” Carl said as he looked at Dayrl. “Then how did you find out?” Y/n asked Rick. “I saw Carl go to your cell the other week, after you were hurt. Then he came back to his cell with a smile on his face. When I asked him where he was he blushed a little bit. I figured somethin was goin on between you two, and the fact that Glenn and Maggie saw you two kissing at the cell tower when it was y’alls turn for watch.” Rick said making both of them blush in embarrassment. “You did what?” Dayrl asked still not understanding Y/n growing up and having a boyfriend. “We kissed. It was a small kiss nothing big or heated. I promise ya.” Y/n said looking at her dad who had steam going out of his ears. Dayrl looked at his little girl who was practically pleading. he sighed and turned around to Carl. “You hurt her and I swear to god, I will feed you to the walkers.” Dayrl threated earning a chuckle from rick. “What?” Dayrl asked as he turned to Rick. y/n and Carl slowly backed away from the talk. “You have to know they are growing up.” Rick said as he watched Y/n and carl walk back inside of the prison. “I know I just don't want her too.” Dayrl said with a frown. “Hey at least you know Carl’s a good kid, right?” Rick said making Dayrl chuckle. “Yea, your boy’s a good kid.” Dayrl said with a nod. 

_The end_

[daryls-dixon-antoni]

Chapter 33.) Service

"Mom, Hope's crying. I think she's hungry."

"Okay," I respond, softly.

"Mom, she needs you, I need you."

I look over at my son, ready to snap at him, when I hear Rick's voice call, "Anne, he's here, we need you."

My feet move before my brain processes why. I follow Rick to the gate seeing Negan talking with Spencer in front of Eugene and Rosita.

"I know I had to make a pretty strong first impression," I hear Negan say to Spencer as we get there. "Well, hello, there." He greets Rick once he see's him.

Rick doesn't respond and Negan glares, "Do not make me have to ask."

"You said a week," Rick says, opening the gate. "You're early."

Negan grins, "I missed you."

I see the dead approaching from behind Negan and hope he bites him.

Negan grins even wider and says, "Oh, Rick, come on out here." He starts backing up towards the dead. "Watch this. Calling it!"

He hits the dead with his bat and when I blink an image of Glenn's headless body, and Abraham's crushed in skull swims behind my eyelids. "Ha ha ha! Easy peasy lemon squeezy! All right, everybody. Let's get started." When I look to see the men he brought my heart drops seeing Daryl, beaten up and in loose fitting sweat clothes with a spray painted A on them. My head starts swimming, especially when I look towards the movement out of the corner of my eye to notice Mason carrying Hope towards us.

Towards Negan.

"Big day. Hey, Rick, you see that, what I just did? That is some service! I mean, we almost get turned away at the gate. 'Who is that guy, anyway?' Do I get mad? Do I throw a fit? Do I bash some ginger's dome in? Nope. I just take care of one of these dead pricks that could've killed one of y'all. Service." He walks forward and thrusts his bat into Rick's hand as he walks by saying, "Hold this."

"Hot diggity dog! This place is magnificent! An embarrassment of riches, as they say. Yes, sir, I do believe you are gonna have plenty to offer up." As Negan's chuckling, I'm stood next to Rick, with Mason behind me and Hope in my arms.

Rick walks towards Daryl saying, "Daryl, hey-"

Negan steps forward and sternly cuts him off, "No. Nope. He's the help."

I step forward timidly, "Can I at least introduce him to his daughter?" I can hear my blood flowing through my ears as I ask. Hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't hurt a newborn. I mostly said it to let Daryl know the baby is okay. That she made it.

"No. You don't look at him, you don't talk to him, and I don't make you chop anything off of him. Same goes for everyone," he practically sings as he aproaches Rosita, “Right?”

He then approaches Rick again and says, "A lot of suspense there. I don't think she even knew how much. All right, let's get this show on the road. See what kind of goodies you got in the cupboard."

"We put aside half the supplies," Rick says.

"No, Rick. No. You don't decide what we take. I do." He turns to his people, "Arat."

A woman with blond hair that hasn't been died in ages yells, "You heard the man. Move out!" His people start walking forward and Negan turns back to Rick.

"They're just gonna search the houses a bit, keep the process movin'." He sighs, "All right. You gonna show me around or not?" When Rick doesn't respond he says, "Well?"

Rick starts moving, and I hand Hope to Mason and whisper, "Try to stay as far away from anyone that isn't ours, keep her safe."

He nods quickly before asking, "Does Daryl count as the people I have to avoid?"

I nod, "For now, yes. Now go."

I quickly follow behind Rick and Negan, knowing that was Rick's request earlier.

As we walk we see some men carrying an arm chair out of one of the homes as Negan says, cheerily, "You see this? This is the kind of thing that just tickles my balls. A little cooperation and everything is pleasant as punch. You see, we really are reasonable people once you get to know us. Honest." He opens a cooler and grabs a can of something, opens it, drinks it then crushes it. "Ohh, Man. Damn, I love this place!"

A man calls his name and approaches with Deanna's camera. "Somethin' you might wanna see."

"Well, well, well." Negan cheers, "What do we have here? I got my fingers crossed for a little freaky-deaky."

He starts playing Rick's tape from the interviews with Deanna. The ones from when we first arrived here, "know me. I've killed people. I don't even know how many by now."

"Jee-hee-sus!" Negan says, looking at the camera.

"But I know why they're all dead." Rick’s voice continues.

"Is that you, Rick, underneath all that man-bush?"

The tape keeps playing, "They're dead so my family, all those people out there, can be alive."

"Shee-ot. I would not have messed with that guy." He clicks the camera and starts recording, "But that's not you anymore is it?" He turns the camera to himself, "Nope." He turns the camera off. "I really gotta shave this shit.” He says, about his facial hair. “Whatever happened to that sick girl? That seemed like a hell of a stressful night for her. The way she was carrying on; she was married to number two, right?" He continues, "Careful. Careful how you're lookin' at me, Rick. Widows, especially ones that look like that," he breathes out and I start shaking slightly. "They are special. I love 'em. Right after their husbands go, they are just... empty inside. But usually not for long." He chuckles, "Ahh. Where is she? I would love to see her."

"Do you care to pay your respects?" I turn to see Father Gabriel has approached us.

"Ho-ly crap! You are creepy as shit, sneaking up on me, wearin' that collar with that freaky-ass smile."

"My apologies. I'm Father Gabriel."

Negan pauses, looking taken aback, "She didn't make it?" None of us respond, not giving him the satisfaction.

We end up in the cemetary and I have to try my hardest not to let Daryl know that Maggie's fine.

"Damn tragedy. That's what this is." Negan breathes deeply. "Well, this must really suck for you guys. Number one? That was on me. No choice there. Lessons had to be learned. But number two? That didn't need to happen. Daryl, there, he forced my hand." I bite my lip so I don't correct him. Don't get anyone killed. "Probably put her right on her back, huh? Damn. I was gonna ask her to come back with me. Oh, I know what you're thinkin'. How could I have a shot, guy that just bashed her husband's head in?" He chuckles, "You'd be surprised. Boy, people, they-" he's cut off by the distant sound of a gunshot. Negan starts walking away and as we get to the house where the sound came from, I see it's ours.

Once we make it in the room we hear one of Negan's men say, "Kid what do you think happens next?"

"You die," Carl responds, aiming a gun at the man.

"Carl. Carl, put it down." Rick begs.

"No. He's taking all of our medicine. They said only half our stuff."

Negan chuckles, "Of course. Oh-ho. Really, kid?"

Carl turns to Negan, "And you should go. Before you find out how dangerous we all are."

"Well, pardon me, young man.

Excuse the shit out of my goddamn french, but did you just threaten me? Look, I get threatening Davey here, but I can't have it. Not him, not me."

"Carl, just put it down." Rick begs, again.

"Don't be rude, Rick. We are having a conversation here. Now, boy, where were we? Oh, yeah. Your giant, man-sized balls. No threatening us. Listen, I like you, so I don't want to go hard proving a point here. You don't want that. I said half your shit, and half is what I say it is. I'm serious. Do you want me to prove how serious? Again?"

"Carl, Hunny. Put the gun down." I whisper, gently.

Carl turns back to me briefly, before sighing and giving Rick the gun.

Negan takes it from Rick, "You know, Rick. This whole thing reminds me that you have a lot of guns. There's all the guns you took from my outpost when you wasted all my people with a shit-ton of your own guns. And I'm bettin' there's even more. Which adds up to an absolute ass-load of guns, and as this little emotional outburst just made crystal clear; I can't allow that. They're all mine now. So tell me, Rick. Where are my guns?"

We get to the armory, and Olivia stays calm, "I... figured you were coming.”

"Show him where the guns are, Olivia." Rick says.

"The armory's inside," she turns around and makes her way to the door leading into the actual armory.

"You run the show in here?" Negan asks.

She stops, turns half around, "I-I just keep track of it all, the rations, the guns."

"Good. Smart. Don't let me stop you. Take her out, boys. Show 'em the goods." She leads his men in and I go to follow but hesitate when I hear Negan say, "Wait, wait, wait. While they're at it, I just want to point out to you that I'm not taking a scrap of your food. Slim pickin's in here." I turn around. “And I can't be the only one to notice that you got a fat lady in charge of keeping track of rations, can I? Either way, you starve to death; I don't get shit. So, for now; you get to keep all the food. How 'bout that?"

"What do you want me to say?" Rick asks, hoarsely.

"I don't know, Rick. How about a thank you. You think that might be in order? Or is that too much to ask?!"

When Rick doesn't say anything I speak up, "It's hard ... for him, y'know... he was close to Glenn... even closer to D" I take a deep breath, "Daryl. You can understand?"

Negan laughs, "Ohh. I know we started off on the wrong foot, but what can I say?" He turns to look Rick in the eye, "You forced my hand, Rick. But it's like I've been tryin' to tell you; I'm a very reasonable man as long as you cooperate. So let me ask you a question, Rick. Are you cooperating?"

"What's it look like?" Rick asks.

"Oh-ho-ho. I know what it looks like. But what I really want to know is if we're gonna find all the guns back there or if maybe; you got a few just waitin' for their moment? Just like my Lucille."

"They're all in there, to the best of my knowledge."

"Mm. I am countin' on that, Rick." Negan brushes past me and into the Armory and Rick and I exchange looks.

"I had it handled," Rick whispers, angrily.

"No, you didn't. So I helped, that's why I'm here, right? I'm your temporary replacement for Daryl, right? Because you don't have it handled."

He gives me an almost shocked expression for my sharp tone. Yet, somehow I can’t find it in myself to care. He’s letting this man run our lives after he murdered our own, man napped Daryl, and now he just gets to walk around our home talking in his annoying ass sing-songy voice and lean around exaggeratedly without a care in the world.

"You know what today is, Rick? Today is a banner day. Yes, it is. I think this little arrangement we have is gonna work out just fine." I keep my breath held as Daryl comes out of the armory, helping Negan's men load up his vehicles.

"Hold up." I freeze completely, worried my glance in Daryl's direction was going to get him killed. Instead, Negan takes a grun from Daryl's pile and says, "Let's see if you've been taking care of my guns." He cocks the gun, aims it at Daryl and I feel the tears coming to my eyes as I watch as if in slow motion Daryl just continue working, as if he didn't have a gun on him.

When he shoots, he hits a window and not Daryl and I let out a choked breath.

"Feels good. Sounds good! Oh, I do believe Lucille's gettin' a little jealous. Well, ho-ly smokes!" He takes the rocket launcher that one of his men just retrieved. "Look at this! It was you guys that took out Little Timmy and the Dick Brigade? Wow, Rick. Gettin' in your last licks. Ooh, man, I'm gonna have some fun with this."

"Please, I-I don't know for-" when I look over to Olivia's distressed voice, I see the woman Negan had addressed earlier dragging Olivia up the stairs to the outside.

Negan looks at his woman and chastizes, "Arat, we don't do that unless they do somethin' to deserve it."

"Yeah, we went through the inventory. Guns in the armory, guns they had around the walls, they're short." She pulls Olivia's notebook out from underneeth her arm and hands it to Negan, "Glock 9 and a .22 Bobcat."

Negan turns to Olivia, "Is that true?" Olivia nods and Rick speaks up.

"We had some people leave town. Those guns probably went with them."

"So Olivia sucks at her job. Is that what you're sayin'?"

"No. No, I'm not sayin' that."

"There should be a full accounting here, right? Top to bottom. Am I right?"

"No," Olivia responds, surprising me. "I mean, yes. The inventory is correct."

"Good," Negan says, then steps closer to Olivia, "But not so good, too. You see, what's in here," he holds up her notebook, "isn't in there. You're two handguns short. Do you know where they are?"

"No... I..." she trails off.

Negan sighs, turning back to Rick, "That's disappointing, Rick. I thought that we had an understanding. But this, well, this shows that someone's not on board, and I can't have that." He gets even closer to Olivia and says, "I don't enjoy killing women. Men; I can waste them all the live long. But at the end of the day, Olivia, my dear, this was your responsibility."

"Look," Rick interrupts, "we can work this out."

"Oh, yes, we can. And I'm going to; right now." Olivia whimpers, "This was your job, and you screwed up. Keeping track of guns? That shit is life and death."

We are in the church with the town of Alexandria. Rick's at the front speaking, "I thought about hiding some of the guns. I did it before. I figured I could bury some out there," he points outside of the church. "Maybe we don't touch them for years."

"Years?" Tobin asks.

"Yeah. That's right. But what if the Saviors find those guns? What if we run into them when we have those guns on us? One of us dies. Maybe more than that. Maybe a lot more. Doesn't matter how many bullets we have. It isn't enough. They win. It's that black-and-white. Hiding a couple of guns isn't the answer, not anymore. We don't have to like it, but we need to give them over. A Glock 9 and a .22. That's what they're looking for. Who has it? Someone knows where they are or they know who does. If we don't find them, they're gonna kill Olivia. They'll do it."

One of the townspeople stands up and asks, "Why do they care? Two guns aren't a threat to them. But those guns could help protect us from whatever else is out there."

"Do you have 'em?" Rick asks.

"Wish I did," the man responds, sitting back down.

"Most of you weren't there. You didn't have to watch."

I stand up, "They killed Abraham to get a point across. They killed Glenn because Daryl stood up to them. They bashed Glenn's head in. To the point he didn't even have one.”

Rick puts a hand up, "That's enough Anne." When I sit back down next to Mason, Rick continues, "Listen, you can look away now; when someone else dies. Or you can help solve this. We give them what they want, and we live in peace."

Eric stands up, "Say we find the guns. How are we gonna get out of this, Rick?"

"There is no way out of this," Rick responds. "Let me put this to all of you as clearly as I can. I'm not in charge anymore. Negan is. Now, who has the guns?"

It's silent for a long time before Eugene speaks up, "Not everyone's here."

I'm in Spencer’s house with Rick, he's looking everywhere for the guns while I watch.

Gabriel comes in and says, "Nothing. Still. I just, I feel like I know this is going to work out."

"How?" Rick asks, still searching.

"We'll find the guns. We'll get through today. Then we'll find a way to go forward, how to beat this."

"There is no beating this."

"Yes, there is, somehow. I have faith in us. I have faith in you. Things change. You're my friend. It wasn't always that way. Where's Michonne? Could she possibly have-"

"She doesn't have anything they're lookin' for." Rick states, standing up. "What you did with the graves, it was quick thinkin'. Thank you."

"It was nice digging a grave I knew would stay empty." Gabe says as Aaron comes in.

"No luck?" Aaron asks.

"Nope," I respond.

"We searched the house, Rosita's. There's nothing. So what do we do now?"

"If they were anywhere, they'd be here." Rick says. "Spencer's done this kind of thing before. We keep looking. Maybe today works out."

"I'll check the garage," Aaron says, walking away.

"I'll look in Deanna's office again." Gabe agrees.

"I guess I'm rechecking upstairs." I say, heading up the stairs.

Once Rick found the guns, we head outside to see one of Negan's men pesturing Enid.

"Balloons? You going to a party, little girl?"

"Can I keep them, please?" Enid asks, "It's just... Let me keep them."

"Say please again, little girl."

"Please."

"Yeah," he puts a finger on her cheek and I have to look away as I hear him say, "One more time."

"Please," Enid responds, sharply.

"Be careful, little girl."

"They'll be gone soon," Rick whispers, and when I turn I see the judgement in Carl's eyes.

"Come on, Rick. Let's go give the guns to Negan." I say.

He nods and we approach Negan who says, "What you got for me, Rick?" Rick hands him the guns. "Well, would you look at that? They were here after all. Funny how a little 'Holy shit! Somebody's gonna die!' lights a fire under everybody's ass!"

Olivia starts crying, so instinctively I walk over and put an arm comfortably around her as Negan continues.

"So, tell me, Rick. Which one of your fine folks almost cost Olivia the rest of her days?"

"It doesn't matter anymore," Rick says.

"No, it matters. See, you need to get everybody on board. Everybody. Or we just go right back to square one."

They finally start leaving, and there is nothing I want more than to get to walk over to Daryl and hug him, have him pull me in and tell me everything is going to be okay.

"Hell of a place you got here, Rick." Negan says.

"Give me a second," I hear Rick ask.

"No," is Negan's response. I have yet to take my eyes off of Daryl.

"Please, can you just... give me a second?"

Negan starts humming and when Rick comes back, Michonne is with him, a dead deer around her shoulders.

"Look at this!" Negan cheers.

"I thought she was scavenging." Rick says, "She was hunting." I watch in horror as Rick gives Negan a rifle, "This one never came inside. We kept it near the line."

"Look at this. This is something to build a relationship on. Good for you, Rick. This is readin' the room and gettin' the message. I've said it before, I'm gonna say it again. You, sir are special."

"Now that you know we can follow your rules..."

"Yes?" Negan asks, almost singing.

"I'd like to ask you if Daryl can stay." I look gratefully at Rick.

"Not happenin'."

"Please, he has a newborn."

"You know what? I don't know. Maybe Daryl can plead his case. Maybe Daryl can sway me." Daryl keeps his eyes down. "Daryl?" When Daryl still keeps his eyes on the ground I step forward.

"Daryl, come on!" I beg.

Negan chuckles, "Well, you tried. Now what you got to do is get over that tall wall of yours and try harder out there. Earn for me. Because we're coming back soon, and when we do, you better have something interesting for us. Or Lucille... she's gonna have her way. I want you to hear that again. If you don't have something interesting for us. Somebody's gonna die. And no more magic guns. Arat, grab that deer. It's getting late. Let's go home." Michonne throws the deer down.

"Man, I love a gal that buys me dinner and doesn't expect me to put out." I hear Negan chuckle.

We watch Spencer bring Dwight Daryl's bike.

"I'll take that," Dwight says. "Rosita! Got a little thank-you. That's all you're getting back. Took all your guns, most of your beds. I hope you find a place to lay your pretty little head." He gets on Daryl's bike and says, "Did you find anything else out there?"

"Just your dead friends," Rosita shoots back, and walks away.

Dwight revs up Daryl's bike and for a moment I'm brought back to the memory of me riding with Daryl to lead the dead away from Alexandria. How it felt to be so close to his body as we helped our community.

I watch in disgust as he rides over to Daryl and says, "You can have it back. Just say the word." When Daryl doesn't respond, Dwight rides off.

"So, nobody died." Negan says to Rick. "And you know what I think? I think you and I, we've refined our understanding. Let me ask you something, Rick. Do you want me to go?"

"I think that'd be good." Rick says.

"Then just say those two magical words."

"Thank you," Rick says.

Negan laughs, "Don't be ridiculous. Thank you."

As another of the dead makes his way towards our community, Negan says, "Another one. You need our help. Davey, hand me that candlestick over there." The man called Davey hands it over. "You know what I think, Rick? I think we're both gonna come out of this winners. Watch my form!" He cleans out the walker in one swing.

"Ahh. Yep," he turns back to us. "Win-win." He drops the candlestick. "You should clean that up for me for next time. Let's move out!" His men start moving. "Oh, wait." Negan chuckles, turning back around, "How careless of me. You didn't think I was gonna leave Lucille, did ya? I mean, after what she did, why would you want 'er?" He takes the bat back, "Thank you for being so accommodating, friend." I watch as Negan whispers something in Rick's ear.

Then they leave, vehicle after vehicle, the last one taking Daryl away with it.

I stare as Rick closes the gates behind them, and then he approaches Spencer, "Spencer. We took the guns you had in your house. The Saviors wanted ours, all of them. There were two missing from the inventory. They were gonna kill Olivia." Spencer doesn't respond so Rick says his name.

"You went into my house?" Spencer asks.

"They were gonna kill Olivia. Look, I'm not faulting you for having the guns. I did it myself. But the food and liquor?" Rick sighs, "That's 'cause you're small, Spencer. You're weak. You got lucky with the walls. You got lucky with us." Rick starts walking away.

"We should've made a deal with them when we could've." Spencer shouts after Rick. "Oh, yeah, we're so lucky. You've led us all to the Promised Land! Isn't that right, Rick?! Here we are! I guess Glenn and Abraham were lucky, too?"

Rick stops, doesn't turn around and threatens, "You say anything like that again to me, I'll break your jaw, knock your teeth out. You understand? Say yes."

"Yes." Spencer starts walking back.

I follow after Rick to go back to my room.

There's no bed in there anymore, but they left the playpen for Hope.

When Mason walks in holding her, he sits on the floor next to me, "You know why I wanted you to name her Hope?"

I nod, "Because we need hope?"

He shakes his head, "Because you need a reminder to have hope. Ever since this started, when we lost Tonia; you started going on runs alone. When the prison fell and we were reunited, you wouldn't even let me out of this house. You are always so scared of the next bad thing, Mom. Well, this is the worst bad thing that's happened and you don't have any hope. But Hope and I need you to have hope. We need you to be here, to keep us safe."

I nod, "Okay."

[daryl-dixon-daydreams]

Words: 5,266 Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader Reader pronouns: she/her Era: Alexandria Warnings: Language, violence, sexuality, nudity, typical TWD A/N: I didn't do nearly as many read-throughs with this one so there are probably typos. Also YA'LL. ARE. GONNA. LOVE. THIS. A/N: This is part of a series! Find the previous parts on the Masterlist! Summary: After the visit from the Saviors at Hilltop, Daryl and Y/N finally head back to Alexandria, waiting on the edge of war.

Your name: submit What is this?

That night, after the Saviors left, was to be your last in Hilltop before you returned to Alexandria to officialyl kick the hornet nest. You had said something about going to talk to Maggie but after a while you still hadn’t returned and Daryl went to see if there was anything he could help with. He knocked on the door of Jesus’ trailer and Enid pulled open the door. Everyone was there, except for you.

“Hey. Y/N ain’t here?” he drawled. Maggie noticed how his brow drew down low over his eyes, a clear expression of worry.

“She was but she left a while ago,” Jesus said, climbing to his feet. “I assumed she was headed your way.”

“Nah. She ain’t been back.” His stomach twisted a little with anxiety. “Alright… Thanks,” he said, turning to leave.

“Daryl, wait!” Maggie called after him. She got up from her seat at the table and walked over. “You’re leavin’ early in the mornin’, right?”

“Mhm,” he hummed. “Headin’ back.”

Maggie nodded. “Alright. Then let us say goodbye to ya now in case we don’t see ya.” She grabbed Daryl into a tight hug before he could protest. He was stiff at first but he soon pressed a hand to her back and returned it. “You be safe. And we’ll see ya soon.”

He nudged his nose up in a nod. Sasha grabbed him briefly into a hug. Enid waved from her place on the couch and Jesus strode forward to shake his hand. “Thanks for all your help here,” he said. “It really means a lot.”

Daryl nodded again. “Mhm. We’ll be rid of ‘em for good soon. See ya’ll.” The archer’s broad frame disappeared back outside. He stopped for a minute and scanned the open space for your familiar frame, but he couldn’t see you anywhere. The first places he checked were all the guard posts along the wall but there was no sign of you. He tried Abraham and Glenn’s graves next, but no luck. Then his eyes fell on the stable and he knew you sometimes went there in an attempt to quiet your mind, and after that interaction with Negan today, the things he had said loud enough for everyone to hear, Daryl suspected that your mind needed a little quieting.

His guess was right.

You came into view, leaning up against one of the stall doors, petting a mare who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the attention. There was only the glow of a few lanterns to light the space and your expression was cast in shadow when he came in, the soft hay making his steps nearly silent.

“Hey,” he said, drawing your eyes. “Been lookin’ for ya.”

“Sorry,” you said softly.

“Nah, it’s not¬—nothin’ to be sorry for,” he said, crossing the space to you. You didn’t have a smile for him this time and his concern grew. “Ya alright? Today was…” he broke off, not even sure what word to use.

You were usually quick to reassure him that you were fine, but this time you didn’t. You just stared ahead and absently smoothed your hand down the horse’s neck, trying to gather your courage to speak.

Daryl stepped closer to you until he was leaned up right beside you against the stall door. “Hey. C’mon. Talk to me. What is it?”

He watched you gulp and shut your eyes for a moment, gathering yourself. You shook your head a little and let out a shaky exhale before you glanced over at him. “Negan. What he—he said—and… everyone… the rest of the day today, I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. And you know that feeling you get when you enter a room and people were just talking about you? It felt like that in all of Hilltop today.” You bit the inside of your cheek to stop the tears burning in your eyes from spilling out. “Everybody here must just think I—”

“Hey, c’mon. Stop that. Nobody thinks anything about it,” he said trying to reassure you. But you turned your eyes down toward your hands.

“The way some of them were looking at me? Yeah. They do, Daryl… Now all of Hilltop knows that I—that I slept with Negan. With him.” It was hard even to get the words out. “And I can’t even really blame them. Maybe I deserve it. Maybe I never should have allowed—” you said quietly, breaking off and shuffling your feet back and forth anxiously in the soft bedding on the barn floor. You could no longer stop any of the tears from spilling out and Daryl saw them cascade down your cheeks as you finally looked back up at him and met his blue eyes. “I can’t even blame them for what they probably think of me. What you must think of me…” You hastily wiped the tear streaks from your cheeks. “Hell, a lot of the time—” you shook your head, staring down at your hands again, “I think the worst of it myself…”

Daryl’s brow furrowed more deeply. His gaze was intense. He hated that you had been put in that situation. He hated that circumstances had ever collided in just such a way as to put you in a place where your only option was to submit to Negan, to allow him to lay a finger on you. And then you’d gone back. For him. “Ya want to know what I think? Ya were victimized by him. But ya ain’t a victim. You’re a survivor. That’s all ya did. Ya survived. And ya saved my ass! Ya didn’t have a choice. And any of them who are too stupid to figure that out ain’t worth it. They don’t know a damn thing about it. All the rest of us, Maggie, Jesus, Rick, Aaron & Eric, we know. We know. I’m proud to even know ya. And I consider myself lucky that ya’ve chosen me as bein’—as bein’ someone worth yer time.” He watched you wipe another tear off your cheek, your eyes wide and glassy as you looked back at him. He tilted his head gently at you. “C’mere.” His expression was soft and one you never could refuse.

It was all you needed. You fell into him and his strong arms wrapped around you tightly and pressed you into him, like he needed you there against his chest. Daryl breathed in the scent of your hair and settled you against him, smoothing his hands over your back lightly. You squeezed your eyes shut tight and focused on that feeling of safety. “S’alright. I ain’t ever thought less of ya because of what happened to ya. It ain’t your fault. Wasn’t a choice. And if anybody so much as looks at ya sideways, ya just come tell me and I’ll knock them on their ass, alright?”

You couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. You pressed your hand flat against his chest, loving how you could feel his heartbeat beneath your fingers and the expansion of his lungs as he breathed. You pulled back slightly so you could look up into his handsome face. He looked worried still, anxiously chewing on his bottom lip. But, finally, you gave him a smile, albeit still a little teary, and he relaxed some. His fingers smoothed through your hair and you sighed, feeling a return of the warmth he always gave you. It grew and spread outward in your chest, spilling into your face, and you arched up onto your toes and kissed him.

You were setting your heels back down when his arm snaked around your lower back and pulled your hips into his. You looked up and met his eyes again and he nudged his nose up once. Daryl’s request for another kiss. You gladly acquiesced and this time you both sank into it, breathing each other in. Daryl’s hand clasped your face and his thumb traced the edge of your jaw gently as your lips moved in sync with his, effortless. The sensation of your hands light on his sides was enough to send him reeling with electricity.

“Thanks,” you said softly, after you finally broke apart. Daryl’s hands were landed on your hips and he gave you a questioning look. “Just—for what you said.”

“Ain’t gotta thank me. S’just the truth,” he said. He gave your hip an affectionate squeeze. “C’mon. S’late and we gotta get up early to head home. Let’s get some sleep.” He nudged his head in the direction of the door and you nodded.

You smiled as he laced his fingers with yours and tugged you back to the trailer.

_ _ _ _ _ _

Daryl’s bike rumbled down the road and he pulled it into the garage at Aaron and Eric’s which was standing open. You were still climbing off when the door into the house burst open and Aaron and Eric both came bounding down the stairs.

Aaron reached you first and barreled into you, drawing a laugh from you as you stumbled backward a little before regaining your balance. Daryl watched the interaction with one corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile.

“Oh, it’s so good to see you,” Aaron said, his eyes squeezed shut tightly.

You patted his back. “You too,” you said fondly, smiling widely.

“Alright, quit hogging her!” Eric said, shaking his head. Aaron pulled back and gave you a warm smile before stepping aside to let Eric wrap his arms around you. “We’ve missed you,” he said.

“Missed you guys, too,” you replied, shutting your eyes and giving Eric a final squeeze.

“How’s Hilltop?” Aaron asked as you finally withdrew, glancing between you and Daryl.

Daryl shrugged. “Ready as they’ll ever be. Maggie’s got it,” he nodded. “How’re things here?”

“Ready,” Aaron said. “For the most part. We’re expecting The Saviors today thanks to your intel.”

You felt your stomach twist and you nodded. “Yeah… Hard to believe we’re really about to do this.”

“It’s time,” Eric said, looking suddenly sad. “You heard about Olivia and—and Spencer?”

You nodded. “Yeah. We heard,” you trailed off. “Olivia was sweet. That shouldn’t have happened to her, of all people. But Spencer? What the hell was he thinking?” you asked, shaking your head sadly. “He put himself right in the line of fire… he was naïve, but nobody deserves what happened to him.”

“He couldn’t handle Rick being in charge after his Mom,” Aaron said. “Thought he could do better.”

“Only someone who was completely clueless about what that means would say that,” Daryl drawled. “Ain’t an easy job, what Rick’s doin’. And he feels responsible for every damn thing that happens to everybody.”

You sighed. “That’s a lot of weight to carry around…”

“Speakin’ of,” Daryl said, glancing back over at you. “I wanna go see everybody. Check in with Rick.”

You nodded. “Go. I’m gonna catch up with these two for a bit.”

“They’re gonna wanna see ya, too,” Daryl said.

You felt your cheeks flush a little, nerves still at the idea of being brought so fully in as part of Daryl’s ‘family’. “Alright. I’ll meet you there in a little while,” you said with a nod. “Promise.”

He nudged his nose up at you in a nod. “Alright. See ya soon, then. Aaron. Eric,” he said, nodding at each of them. Daryl disappeared out into the bright morning sun.

Considering what he knew was coming, Alexandria seemed quiet.

But when he pulled open the front door of the house his group shared and paced into the kitchen, he was surrounded by his chosen family. Rick placed Judith in his arms and smiled as Daryl cooed at the little girl. “It’s good to have you back,” Rick said, clasping Daryl’s shoulder when he could.

Daryl nodded. “Yah. Good to be back.” He bounced Judith a couple more times and then glanced at Carl. “Hey. Take her for a minute, would ya? I gotta talk to your dad.”

Carl accepted his baby sister and Daryl straightened Rick’s old hat on the teenager’s head, eliciting a smile.

Once Carl was out of ear shot, Daryl leaned onto the counter with his forearms and sighed heavily. “We really doin’ this?” he drawled. “Ready?”

Rick nodded. “We’re doing it. And we’re ready. Everything is set.”

“And Negan?”

Rick scowled. “I’ll take care of him when the time is right.”

Daryl stared down at the pattern of countertop for a moment. “What if I get the chance first? Or Y/N? We ain’t supposed to take it?” he asked. “If anyone deserves to put that bastard in the ground it’s her. I can’t tell her not to.”

The muscle in Rick’s jaw twitched. “Yeah… I know. But—for now? We need to knock down what he’s built first. Can’t just be him.”

“I know. But if we get a shot at him… Rick, I want him dead,” Daryl growled. “For what he did to Glenn and Abraham. For what he did to all of us. For Hilltop, for the Kingdom… but most of all for her.” The archer straightened up. “If we get the chance, no hesitation. He’s dead.”

Rick eventually nodded, a tentative agreement. He wanted to be the one who pulled the trigger on Negan, but how could he argue for you or Daryl to not get the job done if the opportunity presented itself. “Where is Y/N?” Rick asked.

“Catchin’ up with Aaron and Eric. She said she’d come by in a bit.”

“Good. That’s good…” There was the weight of many cares on his shoulders. “When they get here, I don’t want either of you two anywhere they might be able to see you,” Rick said.

“Why? They saw us yesterday at Hilltop. They already know we’re part of this.”

“I know. I just don’t want to give them an opportunity to take a shot at either of you,” he replied. “And after yesterday, at Hilltop, with what they now know? They might.”

Daryl sighed and anxiously chewed on his bottom lip for a moment. “Ya, about that… Negan said somethin’ yesterday. He wants Y/N alive.”

Rick stared at his friend, his brow furrowing more deeply. “Alive?”

Daryl nodded, pacing a little restlessly. “That’s what he said to his douchebag lieutenant Simon. It seemed genuine. He wants her prisoner, and I don’t think he’d kill her after he got his hands on her.” Daryl’s face darkened with rage just at the thought. “So, that means that wherever we think Negan is gonna be, Y/N needs to not be…”

Rick considered the grave expression on Daryl’s face. “Will she agree to that?”

Daryl shrugged. “I dunno. But she’s gonna have to. I ain’t puttin’ her somewhere he might be able to get his hands on her again.”

“Not sure any of us can boss Y/N around,” Rick said, a small smile curving his lips despite the grim topic.

Daryl let out an amused exhale in place of a laugh. “Ya… tell me about it.”

As if on cue, Daryl and Rick heard the front door open and soft footsteps up the hall and into the kitchen. You had a small smile for Rick and the others who were gathered in the living room. Rick returned it as you came to stand beside Daryl. “Good to see you,” Rick said. “We sorely missed having both of you around. And not just because you two can get supply runs done in record time.”

You laughed a little lightly, exchanging a look with Daryl, and nodded. “We missed being home too.”

“Listen, I was just telling Daryl—” Rick hesitated. “I don’t want either of you anywhere near the gate when they show up. I don’t want him knowing you’re here.”

You straightened up and looked at Daryl briefly. His blue eyes met yours and he nodded once to show he was onboard. “Alright,” you said, turning back to look at Rick. “We’ll hang back.” Inside, you were hoping that if Negan didn’t see you there wouldn’t be a repeat of what he had divulged loudly for everyone at Hilltop the previous day. You sighed and looked at Rick. “Once you do this today, there’s no going back. And people are going to die. Our people.”

Rick’s expression was grave, but he nodded. “I know. But if we leave it be, more people will die anyway. At his hands.”

“Yes,” you agreed. “I just want to make sure you really understand what we’re all getting into. Negan, he’s—” You broke off, unable to continue and sighed.

“I know,” Rick said forcefully. “We’ve all seen it with our own eyes.” You weren’t looking up at him. “Hey—” he said, forcing your eyes back to his. “Whatever happens isn’t gonna be on you. You told us all you had to tell. You stopped us from rushing in unprepared. And you didn’t even have to do any of that. We owe you. More than I can say. And I—” Rick pressed his hand over the center of his chest, “I’m so grateful.”

At length, you nodded. “We’ll get it done. We will. I know it.”

Daryl was looking at you in awe of your strength and he watched with a swell of happiness as Rosita grinned at you and waved from her place in the other room and you went striding over to greet her.

“Daryl.” Rick’s voice drew his eyes again. “Whatever happens… we’re fighting the good fight.” And it was then that Daryl suddenly realized that Rick was worried that perhaps you might not make it through this. And he was worried about what that would mean for the archer. It was war. Anything could happen.

Daryl straightened up to his full height and chewed on his bottom lip anxiously. “Ain’t gotta worry. Y/N and I are both making it through this. Rick, she’s—” he paused and glanced back over at you, feeling himself soften as he watched you laugh at something Rosita had said, tossing your head back, your eyes crinkled closed. “She’s stronger than me. And she makes me strong. We’re gonna be just fine.”

_ _ _ _ _ _

Daryl was surprised when he woke the next morning and realized you weren’t beside him. He shot straight up in bed, his heart pounding, and that’s when he realized that he could hear the shower running and the gentle sound of you humming to yourself over the pattering of the water. He flopped back down onto the pillow and reached over to your side, wanting to see if the warmth of you was still there.

Your side of the bed was cool but Daryl could still see the shape of your body in the sheets and the impression of your head on the pillow. He heard the shower turn off in the bathroom and the sound of you opening the door and stepping out. The archer climbed out of bed and made his way over to the doorway. He leaned against the door frame, taking in the shape of your figure wrapped in a towel, a comb in your hands as you ran it through your wet hair. You finally caught sight of him in the mirror and you gave him that megawatt smile that always sent electricity jumping up his spine and his heart skipping a beat.

“Hey. Morning,” you said, turning to look at him leaning up against the doorframe.

“Ya left me alone in bed?” he drawled. “Real nice…”

A small smile still curved you lips. “I’m sorry. You were really deeply asleep still. Must have needed it. I couldn’t sleep anymore and I just really wanted a hot shower.”

Daryl left his place leaning against the doorway and walked over to you in front of the mirror. His hands landed on your hips and you felt a flush of heat in your chest and face at the contact.

“Yah. Ya didn’t invite me to that either,” he joked quietly.

One of your eyebrows quirked down low over your eyes and you gave him a look, obviously trying to read what was on his mind. “Should I have?” you asked, turning around again to glance in the mirror. Daryl’s hands stayed on your hips and you soon felt his body pressing up against yours.

“Always,” he said, his voice deep and a little gruff with sleep still. He bent and kissed the bare skin on the side of your neck. The stubble on his face was exhilarating and you felt goosebumps rising on your skin immediately. He next pressed his lips to the skin on your shoulder. He thought you smelled of lavender and vanilla. His fingers gave your hips a gentle squeeze.

You bit your bottom lip. “Daryl Dixon…” you said softly. Your tone was smoky, silky, and it drew his eyes to yours in the mirror. “What are you doing?” you asked him playfully.

One corner of his mouth twitched up but then his expression was almost serious. He gently gathered the wet strands of your hair, his fingertips sweeping your neck softly, sending another electric jolt through you. He pressed his lips to the back of your neck and pulled you back against him more tightly.

You felt your lips part slightly of their own accord and your eyes closed. You let out a small exhale and Daryl straightened up again, taking in your expression in the mirror and feeling a flame of heat growing in his chest. After a moment your eyes opened again and met his once more. “Do you know what you’re doing?” you asked quietly. Your breath and heart were increasing in pace and the tingles running through you were becoming impossible to ignore.

Daryl ducked his head a little bashfully for a moment, but only for a moment. When he caught your eyes again, he tilted his head back toward the doorway into the bedroom.

Now your heart was absolutely pounding. You broke from your gaze in the mirror and spun to face him, your brilliantly colored eyes searching his face. You peered up at him and once again Daryl was taken aback by the vulnerability he saw in your eyes. All he wanted in that moment was to wrap you up and make you truly his, show you exactly how goddamn head over heels he was for you. “Are you sure?” you said, and then you hesitated. “I mean, am I—am I reading this right?”

One of Daryl’s hands lifted from your hip and clasped your face gently. And he swept you in against him, his other hand on the small of your back, kissing you deeply and insistently. You felt your knees start to go weak but there was no chance of falling with Daryl’s arm around you, pressing your hips into his. His tongue flicked over your bottom lip and you granted him entrance, letting out a small noise of pleasure as he deepened the kiss even more.

You suddenly pulled back, your hand landing flush against his strong chest. “Wait. Wait…” you breathed, looking up into his handsome face, his blue eyes connected with yours. “Are you—is this—”

Daryl studied your expression and smiled at your hesitation as he realized you were worrying about him. He clasped your face again in both of his hands delicately, his eyes flickering between both of yours. “I’ve wanted this with ya for a long time. I just—I needed there to be other things first… I didn’t want to—to risk ruinin’ this because I rushed anythin’.”

You nodded though there was some mixture of confusion and disbelief on your face. You gently rested your hands on his sides. The lightness, the delicate quality of your touch drove him crazy…

“Hey, I—” he paused for a moment and licked his lips anxiously, his eyes never leaving yours. “Y/N, ‘M in love with you.”

You blinked. Once. Twice. Daryl’s heart was pounding as he waited for your response.

The confusion and disbelief in your eyes was suddenly replaced with a wild happiness that grew, like your smile, by the moment. He felt your fingers curl more tightly into his shirt. “I love you, too,” you said. You let out a joyful laugh as you looked up at him and then immediately arched up onto your toes, crashing your lips into his again.

Daryl kissed you back eagerly, feverishly, but he pulled back suddenly leaving you wanting more. He stared down at you and you gave him a questioning look again, but were unable to stop smiling. “Can you, uhh—could ya just say that again?” he asked, a little self-consciously.

You grinned at him and looped your arms around his neck, looking deeply into his eyes. “Daryl Dixon. I’m so in love with you.”

His heart leapt to hear those words leave your lips and he crashed into you again, his arms pulling you into him and lifting you off your feet. When he set you back down, your lips didn’t separate and you pressed your hands into his strong chest, pushing him backwards into the bedroom again. You pulled his bottom lip in between your teeth, dragging them lightly over it, and smiled into the kiss as the action elicited a chesty growl from him. His fingers dug more deeply into your hips.

He broke from you for a brief moment and looked into your face. His eyes were intense, wanting. “Are ya ready for this? This okay? We don’t have to—”

You grinned at his sweetness and captured him in another fiery kiss briefly before pulling back again. “Get your damn clothes off right now,” you said breathily, grinning at him. “How is this fair? I’m already in just a towel.”

His pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth briefly and shook his head at you like he couldn’t believe this was happening. You grinned and grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulling it off over his head. Your eyes wandered over his strong shoulders and bare chest down to the V of his hips, hitching again on the scars crisscrossing his skin.

Your hands went to him immediately and you leaned into him. He gulped a little nervously, staring down at the unmistakable desire in your eyes. You wrapped your arms around him and arched up onto your toes again, your lips meeting his hungrily, and Daryl happily sank into it. Suddenly he felt your fingernails raking gently down his back and he almost shivered at the sensation. He felt the overwhelming warmth in his chest blooming outward, causing his head to go vaguely fuzzy.

Before he could even think about doing it himself, he felt the towel wrapped around you fall to the floor and suddenly his fingers were wandering over the bare shape of you, unimpeded by distracting or cumbersome fabric.

He smoothed his hands from the flared curve of your hips up the narrowing of your waist and onto the angles of your ribs. His fingers reached around your frame and felt the sharpness of your shoulder blades. You felt small beneath his hands, delicate, despite the fact that he knew you were no wilted daylily. His lips wandered from yours to leave a trail along your jaw and down your neck to your collarbone. You heaved in a small breath at the sensation. Your fingers found his waistband and soon both of you were only skin, completely reeling with the sensations of one another.

A moment later you let out a surprised gasp as Daryl picked you up as if you weighed nothing and laid you down in the bed beneath him. He leaned over you, propped up on one elbow, moving aside a strand of your hair with the other hand. You stared up at him wantingly, your lips parted and waiting again for his. His hands, a little rough but so gentle, clasped your face as he kissed you before tracing the line of your collarbone and wandering down to explore all your curves and angles. You pulled his lips back to yours and tangled your legs with his, gasping in pleasure as the two of you became one and moved in sync together effortlessly.

Daryl was sweet and gentle but needy and fiery all at once and you were both just bounding hearts and sensations, curling toes and waves of rising pleasure. He kept one hand laced with yours and couldn’t take his eyes off you beneath him as you moved together unless it was to press kisses to every part of you. You relished the feeling of his strong muscles moving beneath your fingers, and when you both finally reached the peak his lips on yours were insistent before they softened. He drew back to watch the expression on your face as the two of you came down from your high, rushing breaths and a heartbeat that was loud in your ears.

Daryl settled down beside you, his chest heaving and an arm draped over you which you rested your hand on.

“Oh my God,” you gasped breathily, glancing over at him with a starry smile on your face. You turned onto your side so you were facing him, knowing your face and cheeks were flushed. Your fingers traced over the scars on his chest and despite the afterglow you were basking in you felt a twinge of anger and sadness at what he had gone through.

“Yah,” he agreed, a smile curving his lips. “I can’t even tell ya how long I’ve wanted that.” You thought you saw a blush in his cheeks too. His hands smoothed up and down your side from your shoulder to your hip, memorizing the feeling of you.

You sighed contentedly. “Same.”

Daryl nudged his nose up at you and you gladly acquiesced and pressed your lips to his softly, clasping his face and running your thumb along the line of his strong jaw. You watched his blue eyes open and you drank in the softness in them. His hand came to rest on your hip and his thumb drew absent strokes on your soft skin. You pressed a hand flat to his chest so you could feel the racing of his heart and the rise and fall of his breath.

“Wish we could stay here like this forever,” you said softly.

“Mhm. Me too. We can for a while though at least,” he drawled, moving closer to you again so he could feel your weight and your warmth. You draped your arm over him, the tips of your fingers brushing his back. Daryl watched you fondly as you settled in against him and closed your eyes.

At that moment, it was hard to believe anything could ever break the sense of fulfillment and peace both of you had.

[carolina-bleus]

Push Gift- Carolina-Bleus

“You want to tell me why in the hell we are walking around the mall on a Saturday morning? I have better things and women I could be doing right now.” Shane scowled as he looked around the mall. “It’s too early to even scope out any chicks. It’s just you, me, and some old folks sweatin’ to the oldies.”

Rick looked at Shane askance. “I told you when we talked this morning.”

“You called me at,” Shane checked his phone, “7 o’clock this morning and you know I don’t listen to anything before noon on weekends I have off. So how bout you run everything by me again.”        

“I need your help picking out a push gift for Michonne.”

“A what gift?”

“A push gift. I was reading about it in a pregnancy magazine...”

Shane barked out a laughed. “You readin’ pregnancy magazines now? You plannin’ on nursing the baby, too?”

Rick’s jaw tightened. “Shane, shut up. My wife is pregnant and I will read anything and do anything that I can to help me be a better husband and father.”  

“Alright, alright. You are testy early in the mornin’.” Shane held his hands up in mock surrender. “What exactly is a push gift?”

“It’s a gift you give the mother of your child as a thank you for going through labor.”

“So for pushin’ the baby out?”

“There is more to it than that, but, that’s part of it.”

Shane nodded. “So you’re gettin’ a gift, too, right?”

“Why would I get one?”

Shane began gyrating his hips. “Cause if it wasn’t for you pushin’ them hips of yours all those months ago, there would be no baby. The stroke game should be rewarded as well.”

“Shane...Shane! Stop humping the air!” Rick looked around quickly and caught the eyes of an elderly lady standing with her mouth open. “Sorry ma’am!”

The woman just shook her head and resumed her laps.

“Really, Shane?”

“Oh, she’s fine. I just gave her a good story for her bingo night. Now let’s get back to this gift. What are you thinkin’ about gettin’ Michonne? A necklace or somethin’?”

“I don’t know.” Rick swallowed. “What do you get the woman who is about to give you one of the greatest gifts ever?”

Shane rolled his eyes. “Man, are you tearing up on me right now? I’m not equipped to handle that shit. Maybe you should have called Glenn and y’all could be emotional together.”

“First off, I’m not crying. Second of all, Glenn had to be in early at his restaurant this morning.”

“So, I’m second choice?”

“More like third. Tyreese’s team had an away game this weekend.”

“You know, I would be offended, but I’m actually glad I’m here. Those two probably would have had you buyin’ one of those pregnancy bellies to wear in solidarity with Michonne or some shit. I ain’t havin’ my best friend go out like that. If you gonna do this thing, then you are gonna do it right.” Shane clapped Rick on the back.  “Let’s go find something nice for your beautiful baby mama.”

“Michonne already told you she was gonna cut you if you called her that again.”

“Well, good thing she ain’t here. Come on.”

Three hours and numerous cycles around the mall later, Rick was feeling frustrated and ready to strangle Shane. The feeling was definitely mutual on Shane’s end.

“Rick, we have been in just about every damn store in this place...twice. What exactly are you lookin’ for, man?”

“I don’t know. It has to be something special and just for Michonne.”

“Well, I think you’re lookin’ in the wrong place cause whatever you’re lookin’ for ain’t here. Why don’t you ask one of Michonne’s girls for help?”

“No, this needs to come from me.” Rick looked at his old friend. “Thanks for coming. I’m sorry I got you up early for nothing.”

Shane waved off Rick’s thanks. “Man, you know I got you. I hate we couldn’t find anything. I know I talk a lot of shit about you being sappy, but I’m excited for you and Michonne.”

“I appreciate it. Come on, I’ll drive you back home.”

“Are you gonna look some more?”

Rick shook his head. “Not today. I’m ready to get home. I’ve been away from Michonne long enough today.”

Michonne was napping on the couch when Rick got home. He didn’t want to disturb her, but he couldn’t resist checking on her and the baby.

Rick had just placed a light kiss on Michonne’s belly when he felt her shift on the couch. He leaned back and was greeted with a sleepy smile from his wife.

“Hey, babe. I was wondering when you would get back.” Michonne tilted her face up to accept Rick’s kiss. “I got your note, but why didn’t you wake me before you left?”

“You looked so peaceful and you’ve been having so much trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep that I didn’t have the heart to bother you.”

“You’re never a bother, Rick.”

“Not even when I hover?”

Rick was always protective of his wife, but it kicked into overdrive once they discovered Michonne was pregnant. Michonne was now in her third trimester and she was experiencing all the aches, pains, and discomfort that come at the stage. The closer she got to her due date, the closer Rick stuck to her side trying to anticipate her needs and make her as comfortable as possible.

“I know it comes from a place of love and concern. Honestly, I’m surprised you were gone so long this morning. What had you up and out so early?”

Rick helped Michonne to sit up before taking a seat beside her. “I went out to get you something.”

“Something like what? Food?!” Michonne eyes lit up at the prospect, causing Rick to laugh.

“No, a gift.”

“For what?”

“To thank you for carrying our child.”

Michonne shook her head. “Rick, you don’t have to thank me for that. It isn’t just about me. You have as much to do with creating and bringing this baby safely into the world as I do. This is something we are doing together.”

“Babe, we may have made this baby together but you are taking the brunt of everything. You can’t sleep, your hips hurt, your back hurts, your feet are swollen, you can’t eat certain things, and you are just generally uncomfortable all the time now. Even before that, you had horrible morning sickness. I feel guilty that you are miserable and there is nothing I can do to help it.”

“Stop right there. When I can’t sleep, you stay up with me even when you have to work early in the morning. And you also let me use you as my body pillow. When my hips and back hurt, you run a warm bath for me to ease the ache. When my feet swell, you massage them. You go out at all times of the night to get me whatever I’m craving at the moment.” Michonne smiled. “I think you would have taken the morning sickness yourself if possible.”

“I would have,” Rick readily agreed. “I would take all the bad parts if I could because I hate to see you so uncomfortable.”

“Unfortunately, being uncomfortable is a part of pregnancy. The only thing that will totally take that away is having the baby.”

“Yeah, I guess thinking a gift would help was kind of a silly.” Rick looked off, embarrassed.

Michonne gently turned Rick’s face back to her. “It wasn’t silly. It was incredibly sweet. But you don’t have to buy me a gift. You’ve already given me the greatest gifts in the world. I have you, your love, our life together,” Michonne entwined her fingers with Rick’s and placed their hands atop her belly, “and I have this precious baby that’s going to be the best of the both of us. You’ve already given me everything I could ever want or need.”

Rick gave his wife a kiss. “I guess Shane was right.”

“About what?”

“He told me this morning that I was looking in the wrong place for your gift. Well, I know what I want to give you now.”

“Rick, I just said—”

“A promise. A promise that you are never going to lose any of this...me, my love, or our life together. I promise that this baby and all the ones to come will always be loved and protected and happy. I promise that there won’t be a day that you ever have to doubt what we have or what I feel for you.” Rick gathered his wife in his arms. “You say I’ve given you everything but you are my everything. I love you, Michonne.”

“I love you, too.” Michonne laughed and pulled back when she felt their baby start to kick. “I guess the newest Grimes wants in on this, too.”

Rick leaned down and placed a kiss on Michonne’s belly. “Daddy loves you, too, baby girl.”

@richonnefics

[brrahbrrahcharacterimagines]

Preference: You Steal Their Clothes

MASTERLIST

Warnings: Cursing and allusions to sex

Rick Grimes

“Y/n, is that my shirt?” Asked Rick as you walked into your shared cell in the prison block. You looked down, realizing that is actually was his shirt. Not thinking about it earlier that morning, you had put it on before going out to the fence for walker control.

“Uh, yes. It is.” You reply awkwardly as Rick raked his eyes across your body. “You can have it back if you want,” you say, reaching to pull it off.

“No, it’s fine. You can keep it. It looks good on you.” Then Rick smirks. “On second thought, you’re right. Take it off. It would look better on the floor.”

Negan

Negan had gone to Alexandria for a few days to gather supplies and try to shut down any rebellious behavior, leaving you all alone in the large room the two of you usually shared. For once, he had forgotten to grab his signature leather jacket, leaving it laying on the back of a chair just begging for you to try it on.

You put on the jacket although it was much too big for you, enjoying as Negan’s scent surrounded you and invaded your nose. You sighed, a wave of longing rushing over you as you thought of Negan. It had only been a couple of days, but after being used to seeing him every day you missed him. Real bad.

As if answering your thoughts, the door to the room swung open, revealing the love of your life standing there with Lucille on his broad shoulder.

“Honey, I’m home,” said Negan sarcastically, scanning the room before his eyes landed on you. He smiled immediately at how adorable you were. The sleeves of his jacket went plenty past your hands, and you must not have known how to properly zip the thing because somehow it had become crooked.

“So,” you said slowly. “You’re home early.”

“Well, I wanted to come home and surprise you. And damn, it looks like you’ve been missing me anyway.” Said Negan with a smirk.

“Yea, I did.” You replied, not even bothering to deny or beat around the bush.

“You look fucking fuckable in my clothes. You should wear them more often.” Said Negan as he held you in his arms, pressing you against his firm chest.

“Well then I guess I will.”

Daryl Dixon

When Daryl got into the shower, leaving his sleeveless leather jacket in his bedroom, you couldn’t help but put it on. After being friends for years, you had developed a crush on the man and no way in hell were you going to deny yourself the one chance you had to wear his clothes without him knowing.

You put on the jacket although it was a bit large, turning around in the mirror to admire the wings on the back. So absorbed in the rush of putting on the garment, you didn’t hear the water stop. You also didn’t hear a certain someone’s feet padding back to their bedroom. You did, however, hear somebody slam into the doorframe.

“Shit Y/n, what are ya doin’ in here?” Asked Daryl, using one hand to rub his shoulder, and the other to hold up the towel wrapped around his waist. You blushed deeply and turned around, shielding your eyes with your hand although you were tempted to turn back around to face him.

“I, uh, just wanted to ask you if you wanted to go on that three-day run with me. If you come, I don’t have to bring Spencer.” You said awkwardly, embarrassed that he had caught you. Hopefully, this wasn’t enough for him to catch on to your feelings for him.

“Of course, that guys an ass. But first, is that my jacket?” He asked intrigued, although he obviously already knew the answer.

“Yea. I’m sorry, it was just sitting there and I-”

“Don’t apologize.” He said. “It looks cute on you.” You froze. Did Daryl just flirt with me? The Daryl Dixon? “And Y/n, you can turn back around now.”

You turned to see that he had put a pair of jeans on, but his chest he had left bare. This wasn’t the first time you had seen Daryl shirtless, but it still made your face blush profusely. Quickly shrugging off the jacket and handing it to him, you walked out of the room.

Is there any chance he likes me back?

Glenn Rhee

Rummaging through your closet in Alexandria that you shared with your husband for a pair of clean shoes, you found an old treasure. Holding it up you smiled, memories of how you met Glenn leaving Atlanta flooding your mind. He was wearing this hat then, and for months you were almost certain that he slept in it too. You didn’t know why he quit wearing it; but if he wasn’t going to, it might as well get some use.

“Glenn!” You yelled at your husband happily after searching the town. He excused himself politely from his conversation with Eugene, rushing over to you.

“Y/n, you found my hat!” He said with a smile. 

“Yes, I did.” You said, returning the smile. “Is there any reason it was hidden at the bottom of our closet?”

“No, it just ended up there after I quit wearing it I guess. That thing hasn’t gotten to see the light of day in a while.” Glenn bent down to kiss you, but only succeeded in bumping his face against the bill of the cap. “Y/n, don’t get me wrong. You look absolutely adorable right now. But if I can’t kiss you, you can’t get to comfortable with this hat.”

Abraham Ford

Sitting in the train car at Terminus, there wasn’t a whole lot to protect you from the outside temperatures. Through the drilled-in airholes, both hot and cold air seeped in. As the weather got colder, the train car followed suit. As someone that got cold rather easily, this was a problem for you. However, being in such a confined space meant that you could not hide the fact that you were cold very easily.

“Darlin’, I know you want to be tough and all. But you look like you are fucking freezing.” Said Abraham. You huffed, looking down at your feet . No point in denying the obvious.

“Yes, Abe. I’m cold. But what do you want me to do about it? I’m sorry, but we haven’t exactly got many options in here.” You say snappily, rubbing your arms in an attempt to warm up.

“Well, I actually have a jacket with my if you want it.” He said, rather soft compared to his normal tone which was quite out of character for him.

“But Abraham, I didn’t even know you before we got trapped in here together. Isn’t that a it forward?” You say teasingly.

“Well baby, I’m all about being forward with pretty women.” He said in reply, making you blush.

“Then don’t take this the wrong way, but could I borrow it? I don’t usually do this but it doesn’t seem like a bad offer.” You say quietly.

“Well sure baby. If you don’t usually do this, then I guess I’m the luckiest guy in the world.” He says with a smirk, ending a great start to a beautiful friendship and relationship.

Carl Grimes

“Y/n, have you seen my-” Said Carl, walking into the room. “Nevermind.” he said as he found what he was looking for, right there on your head. His sheriff’s hat his dad had given him at the farm.

“Looking for something, Grimes?” You ask teasingly,smiling up at your boyfriend.

“Well I was, but you look way cuter than I do in it. Keep the hat for a while L/n, it suits you.” And with a smirk, Carl was back out the door again.

King Ezekiel

“Y/n,” said your husband Ezekiel as he entered your shared bedroom. “Is that my coat that you are wearing?”

You laughed in return, smiling and nodding your head. He giggled back, smiling wide. Although a bit childish, his reaction made your heart melt at how cute he was.

“Well my dear, you look absolutely stunning as always.” He said, smiling and wrapping his arms around your frame. “But I need our help in the garden. We don’t know what to do with the onions, they weren’t planted deep enough and we can see small ones popping through the dirt.”

“Well, we can’t have any tiny onions popping through, can we?” You respond with a giggle.

“Y/n, my queen, I adore you.”

“I adore you too my king.”

Paul “Jesus” Rovia

“How could you do this?” Said Jesus, feigning sadness. 

“I’m so sorry boo. But I had to.” You say in return, also feigning solemnity.

“How could you steal my beanie, Y/n?” He says, trying hard to not break and crack a smile.

“Because it just looks so cute on me. See?” You say, smiling and pointing at yourself. At this, Paul couldn’t help but mile at how adorable you were.

“Well, I can’t argue with that logic.”

“Damn right you can’t.”

Dwight

“Dwight-y boy, I saw that girl of yours today.” Said Negan, walking up to Dwight in the hallway.

“Oh?” Said Dwight, confused as to why Negan was bringing you up. 

“Yea. So did you guys fuck last night?” Asked Negan, not bothering who heard what he was saying. Dwight nearly choked.

“What!?” He asked, stunned and confused.

“She was wearing one of your fucking shirts. I assume she stayed the night at your place then, so logically you guys ‘did the dirty’,” said Negan, making lewd gestures with his hands.

“Woah, no way Negan. Nothing like that. We were watching a movie and she crashed on the couch.” Replied Dwight.

“Well that’s a shame, she’s hot as shit.” Said Negan, reminding Dwight of what happened with Sherry and making his blood boil. Looking past Negan’s words, Dwight calmed himself down.

“Was she really wearing my shirt?” Asked Dwight, as you had left before he woke up this morning.

“Hell yes, Dwight. So you better make a fucking move, or I will.” Said Negan, raising his eyebrows.

“You can fucking count on it boss.”

Simon

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?” Asked Simon, eyeing you as you walked out of the bathroom.

“Oh, what ever could you mean?” You teased playfully, playing with the hem of his button-up that you had layered over your t-shirt.

“I think you’ve got an idea.” He said, smirking. “You look real hot though, so you’d better wear that thing all day.” Simon pulled you towards him, grabbing your ass and getting close to your ear, whispering, “this way everybody knows that you belong to me.”

Merle Dixon

“Well shit girl, you’re lookin’ damn fine today.” Said Merle as he looked you up and down, taking in how sexy all of your curves looked today. “Say, where’d you get that shirt?”

“Your drawer.” You said nonchalantly, knowing that the sight of you in his t-shirt and panties in the morning was making him excited.

“Well, I might just have to tell the governor that I’m going to be a bit late today so that I can teach you a lesson about stealing my stuff.” Said Merle, pressing up behind you, making your breath hitch. You felt how excited he was, exciting yourself even more.

“Well then, I guess you’ll just have to show me how bad I’ve been then.”

MASTERLIST

[coffee-obsessed-writer]

The New World - Part 7

Here is the FULL chapter for part 7! As always, thank you for reading it, this series is easily becoming one of my favorites to write!!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Daryl x Reader, Maggie X Glen, Ezekiel x everyone, Rick x Michonne x Carl

Warnings: Language, Canon-divergence, Character death, Comic storyline crossover

Word Count: 4268

Rick’s pace quickened as it rounded the corner and approached the outside of the cell. Sasha stood against the wall, her gaze off in the opposite direction. The sound of Rick’s boot steps snapped her back to attention, making her stand taller at the door.

“He up?” Rick asked, trying to peer into the small cell window.

“I don’t know, he’s been quiet though.”

“Who’s inside tonight?”

“No one, with Daryl and them gone, and Tobin and Spencer put off duty, we were shorthanded. I tried to get a few of the others but, they were all busy.”

“Comforting,” Rick grunted, shaking his head. “I’m going in.”

“You got it, boss,” Sasha handed Rick the keys and stepped aside for him to enter.

Rick unlocked the door and shoved the keys in his pocket.

He cautiously stepped foot into the prison, first looking down the walkway that passed from the cell to the back door of the townhouse, then over to the cell door.

Rick froze when he saw the cell door was wide open and Negan was nowhere to be found.

Rick stood staring into the empty cell, his heart pounding in his chest.

“Sasha!” he shrieked in a voice thick with panic.

Within seconds, Sasha was yanking open the iron gate and running into the cell.

“What? What’s …” She followed Rick’s wide pale expression to the open, empty cage. Rick heard her audibly gasp, her eyes wide with panic. “Rick, I swear, I didn’t…”

“I know Sasha, I know it wasn’t you,” Rick squeezed his eyes shut trying to think of his next move. “Get to my house. Make sure Michonne and the kids are ok. Get Carl to stay with Judy, tell Michonne to get armed, meet me back here.”

Sasha nodded once and took off to follow his orders. A noise from down the hallway caught Rick’s attention. Quietly slipping the python from its holster, he released the safety and readied himself for whatever lay ahead.

The hallway was nearly pitch dark, save for a trickle of moonlight from the back-door window. Hugging the wall, Rick stalked towards the room where the noises were coming from. A few steps later, he stood in front of the bathroom door. Bumps and knocks were coming from the other side.

Rick cocked his head and took a deep breath. Slowly turning the handle with one hand, he had the pistol raised in the other. Throwing open the bathroom door, the man that used to be Spencer Monroe lunched out at Rick, his eyes glazed over and teeth gnashing at Rick’s neck.

“Shit!” Rick cried out, Spencer’s corpse pushed all its weight into Rick’s body, causing him to crash into the wall behind him. He managed to free the arm that was responsible for the colt and drive the barrel into the walker’s temple. Pulling the trigger, the shot rang out causing the sound to bounce down the hallway and the body dropped to the floor.

“Rick!” he could hear a voice shout from a distance. The ringing in his ears was near deafening. Looking down he saw Spencer lying in a pool of blood forming where Rick shot him. Getting up on one knee, Michonne and Sasha were quickly by Rick’s side. Michonne’s hands all over his chest and neck checking to be sure he wasn't bitten.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he cooed, gently caressing her hands to try and calm her.

“Is that Spencer?” Michonne asked, disbelief plastered across her face.

“Yeah,” Rick answered steadying himself against the wall. “Guess we have our answer as to who was helpin’ him,” he bent down and moved the collar of Spencer’s shirt to get a closer look. Dark red lines were crisscrossed around his neck, and when Rick pulled his shirt down further, the thin piece of rope used to strangle him was still entangled around his throat.

“What now?” Sasha asked, her usual calm demeanor now shaky.

“Canvas the community, let’s make sure he’s not hiding somewhere. At dawn, we go hunt the asshole down.” Rick said, casting one last look of disgust down at Spencer’s lifeless body.

Daryl strolled into the courtyard of The Kingdom well past breakfast. Glenn was sitting on one of the stone walls watching the Kingdomers going back to their training exercises as Daryl sidled up to him.

“Hey man,” Daryl clapped him on the back of his shoulders, “you seen the girls around?”

“They’re with the kids in the garden with Ezekiel I think,” Glenn looked up at the archer and winced. “You alright? Lookin’ a little rough today.”

“Guess that wine went to my head more than I thought. I ain’t slept this late since Merle and I used to stay up partying all night. I’m too old for this shit,” Daryl pulled out his zippo and lit a smoke while looking around the community. “Any sign of Paul yet?”

“No, not yet. Ezekiel said he’s usually here by mid-day, so should be any time now,” Glenn studied Daryl’s face, gauging if he was in a good mood. “Hey, so I gotta ask ya… Last night with Morgan. You gonna be able to let all that go?”

Daryl squared up his shoulders and took a deep breath. “Why?”

“Because, if there is a problem, and this whole situation needs to be revisited, are you going to be able to work with him?”

Daryl took a drag from his smoke and looked off into the distance. When he met Glenn’s face, he narrowed his eyes. “What if it had been Maggie? Hmm? Morgan’s choice to not shoot Negan when he coulda, resulted in your wife with a gun to her head. How’d you feel then? Could you let it go?”

“I don’t know. Maybe?” Glenn responded. “Look man, I just know that sometimes you got to let shit go. If Negan’s the problem, and this blows up… Morgan and The Kingdom, we’re gonna have to work with them, both.”

Before Daryl could respond Maggie rounded the corner and joined them near the gate.

“Where’s your friend?” Daryl asked, taking another drag from his cigarette.

“She’s still in the gardens with Ezekiel and Morgan. Kids went with Lana to the stables,” Maggie said, shielding her eyes from the bright sun.

Glenn saw Daryl’s body tense at the mention of Morgan’s name.

“She’s with Morgan?” he growled.

“Mmhmm, they’re down to the left and then make a right. Just beyond that brick wall,” Maggie pointed. Without another word Daryl stormed off in the direction she pointed.

“What was that?” She asked draping an arm on Glenn’s shoulders.

“Just Daryl being Daryl,” Glenn said, kissing his wife on her cheek before giving her a squeeze.

 The gardens were luscious and ripe with a wide variety of fruit and vegetables that were overflowing from the branches. You listened intently as Ezekiel told you more about the early days of the Kingdom, while Morgan hovered on the fringe of the conversation.

You saw Daryl approaching and started to smile until you saw his telltale signs of being pissed.

“Hey, there you are,” he said to you while throwing a glance at Morgan standing just beyond where you were. “Mornin’,” he nodded to Ezekiel, and then Morgan, albeit reluctantly.

“Morning Daryl,” Ezekiel smiled and turned to Morgan. “We should get going, he’ll be here soon.” Morgan nodded and left without saying anything. “Please, do excuse us. Jesus will be arriving and we are to meet him at the crossroads.”

“Should we go too?” Daryl asked.

“No, we’ll return soon. Stay and enjoy the garden and some quiet time with your misses,” Ezekiel placed a hand on your shoulder and gave you a little wink as he made his leave of you.

“Mornin’ sleepy head,” you teased Daryl, “you feelin’ alright?”

“Yeah, all that wine went to my head. Knocked me out.”

“Are you sure that it was the wine that wore you out?” You teased again, but when you saw he wasn’t reciprocating you started to worry. “Hey, what’s up with you?”

“What the hell you doin’ with Morgan… and where the hell are the kids?”

You raised an eye brow at him and took a step back. “Wow, I see someone woke up on the dickhead side of the bed this mornin’... Um, I wanted to speak with Ezekiel and Morgan was there. As for the kids, they are at the stables with Lana…”

“Why didn’t you take ‘em. You shoulda took ‘em instead of bein’ here with Morgan.”

“Ah, I see what this is about now. Jesus Christ Daryl, you need to let this shit go.” You crossed your arms over your chest and started walking through the garden.

“Not like I ain’t got no reason to trust him,” Daryl said as he followed you through the plants. “You almost died ‘cause of him Y/N. ‘Cause he was too chicken shit to shoot that asshole, Negan got a gun, got a hold of you and nearly killed ya.”

“But he DIDN’T. I am here. Daryl... I’m alive. Let this go baby, please. It was five years ago, and he’s changed. Please, I am begging you to let this go, for me.”

Daryl emitted a guttural reaction, and for the first time that day reached out to pull you into his arms, but you took a step back, not letting him touch you.

He sighed deeply. “Oh, and who the fuck is Lana?”

“Well, if you weren’t being asshole, I coulda told you that Lana used to breed horses on her farm before the outbreak. Right now, she’s showin’ the kids how to brush and feed them, clean their shoes, you know… the stuff they came here to learn.”

“We brought them to learn how to kill…”

“No! I’m talkin’ now…” you put up a palm to stop him and could see the frustration starting to burn in his eyes because it reflected your own. “We brought them here as part of a lesson in survival, Daryl. Do you think that shootin’ guns and stabbin’ walkers is all they need to know?”

When your husband didn’t say anything, you took that as a cue to continue.

“They are the next generation, the ones we are fightin’ for, right? The ones that’ll inherit all this,” you said, motioning to the area around you. “They need to know how to grow quality food, raise livestock, care for horses… THAT’S also survival Daryl. You can teach ‘em how to hunt and track, I can teach them how to read and write. Maggie and Carol can teach ‘em how to care for others, and just generally be bad ass… Glenn, Rick, Sasha… they can teach them too shoot and how to lead... But here, they can learn all the other stuff we can’t teach ‘em.”

Daryl glared at you from beneath the fringes of his hair, blue eyes burning with a mix of emotions you couldn’t read. Chewing on his lip, he crossed his arms and seemed to be able to cool down the fire in his gaze.

“Alright,” he shrugged, arms still crossed. He was pissed, but he was calming. You, however, were not.

“Alright, what? Alright… you’ll stop being a dick to Morgan? Alright that its okay for me to send our children off with someone who can teach them something?”

“Y/N,” Daryl started but you stopped him again.

“No, I am pissed at you Dixon, you’re not gonna cute your way outta this one.” Shaking your head, you continued to walk deeper into the gardens. You heard him sigh behind you, his heavy boot steps following yours as you wound through the paths of succulent fruits.

“Y/N… babe… please, just stop,” he’d caught up to you and left a hand on your shoulder. Daryl turned you to face him, his face completely void of any anger or frustration. His gaze softer and a small smile played on his lips. “I’m sorry, ok? I know I can be a dick. When it comes to you I get a little possessive. Not like I can help it. But, I promise, to stop being so hard on Morgan. I promise to let it go.”

Taking a deep breath, you smiled sweetly at your husband. “I accept your apology, but I am still pissed.”

Daryl looked confused, and even though you could feel any anger leaving your body, you couldn’t pass up an opportunity to make him pay a little.

“I am pissed because this is the first time seeing you today, and you go act like some macho asshole, getting me angry before I even have a chance to kiss you good mornin’. It ain’t right,” you shrugged and started to walk away from him.

Grabbing you by your waist, Daryl spun you around and embraced you tightly so you could move away from him.

“I guess it’s my turn to make apologies now, huh?”

“Mmhmm, you’re damn straight,” you kept your face as serious as possible, but all it took was Daryl to lightly bit at his lower lip and your resolve shattered. Pulling his face to yours, you kissed him deeply. You allowed him to nearly swallow you with his mouth, and as it always was with Daryl, you felt that ache begin between your thighs and his own need hardening beneath his pants.

Putting your hands on his chest, you pushed him back from you, “Easy cowboy, we have company comin’. You’re just gonna have to offer these apologies up later baby. Sorry,” you winked as you pulled out of his arms completely.

Daryl growled and wrapped an arm around your neck, “You’re evil.”

“Well, we are gonna go see Jesus, maybe he can save my soul,” you said, raising a playful brow at him.

Daryl scoffed and shook his head. “Jesus… what kinda name is that anyway? I mean, the man does have a real name.”

You wrapped your arm around Daryl’s waist as the two of you started towards the gates. “Have you not seen him? Baby… he looks like Jesus Christ.”

“Yeah, I get it… still dumb.”

“That’s just cause you got a ‘lil crush on him and his ninja skills,” you teased and grabbed his ass, pulling him closer to you. “

Daryl stopped and shook his head at you. “Woman, I swear, by the end of this day, we’re gonna see who owes who some apologies.”

“Oh, Daryl… promises, promises.”

  Ezekiel, Morgan, Glenn, Maggie, and Jesus were all still exchanging welcomes and pleasantries when you and Daryl arrived hand in hand at the gates.

A smile spread across Paul’s face as he spotted the two of you. Releasing Maggie from his embrace, he went to you first and embraced you heartily and giving you a little squeeze in the process.

Turning to Daryl he stretched out a gloved hand and gripped Daryl’s, giving it a firm shake.

“Despite the circumstances, it’s so good to see you all,” Paul said, his bright blue eyes sparkling with warmth.

“I assume you’ve been caught up then?” you ask, hoping that Ezekiel and Morgan filled him up while heading back.

“For the most part, but I would love for us to go somewhere quiet to talk. I want to hear exactly what you remember happening from you, Maggie and Glenn.”

“Let us head into my chambers. I would rather this conversation stay within walls I can control,” Ezekiel declared and directed the group towards his study.

Once in the privacy of Ezekiel’s room, you recounted your tail of the day the walkers breached the walls. Paul listened with an attentive ear, occasionally throwing a look at Daryl or Glenn as you and Maggie relived the afternoon.

Paul sat back in his chair and ran a hand over his face, down his beard. “Well, I am fairly certain, we have a problem then. I was really hoping it was exclusive to The Hilltop, but I can see now with what you’ve told me, there is something bigger happening.”

“Yeah, Negan,” Daryl huffed and headed towards the opening to the balcony. He lit a cigarette and shambled out towards the fresh air.

“He’s just nervous,” you said trying to blow off his still surly demeanor. Paul caught the look of worry on your face and reached over to squeeze your hand.

“We all are hun,” he smiled at you sweetly and you felt your nerves settle a little. Paul’s calm demeanor was a welcome change to Daryl’s and acknowledging that made you feel slightly guilty. You knew Daryl just wanted to protect you, but his constantly changing mood was starting to make you feel frazzled.

Glenn sighed and sat back in his chair, grasping Maggie’s hand in his. “Jesus, what is happening at The Hilltop? Is Gregory still in charge? I mean, the last time we saw him, he wasn’t exactly friendly.”

“He is, for now. But the people are not happy with him and he’s not happy with them. You know Gregory, he thinks it should be his way and his way only. He doesn’t like the trade rules the three communities have established. Not to mention…”

Paul stopped and looked across the faces around the table. Hearing Daryl’s footsteps, he turned and threw a glance towards him before continuing.

“He’s been disappearing lately. Kal, you know him, right?” he paused as you all nodded, “him too… I don’t know where they go, but at least twice a week they’ve been going out beyond the gates. Just gives me a bad feeling.”

“Rick’s going to want to hear this,” Glenn said, running a hand through his hair.

“Indeed,” Ezekiel spoke up and carefully looked around the table. “I propose we head out straight away for Alexandria. Let us speak with the Sheriff and his queen, then to the prisoner himself. We shall get to the bottom of this one way or another.”

  After the meeting was over, Maggie and Glenn returned to their room to pack and Ezekiel and Morgan left to make arrangements for the journey back to Alexandria.

You watched them all leave but never moved from your seat. Paul hung back as well and once again took your hand in his.

“You ok?” He asked, his bright blue eyes smiling at you despite the heaviness of the situation.

“No, not really,” you said quietly and dared a glance out towards the balcony where Daryl remained. “I’m just worried. Mostly about him… he’s not handling this like he normally would.”

“Y/N, I’ve known you all a long time now. Daryl is strong and capable, but he has a weakness, sweetheart. Men who have a weakness cannot always be held accountable for their behavior. Unfortunately for him, you’re his weakness and there’s no riding himself of it. That’s a lot for a man to carry on his shoulders.”

You snorted a laugh but knew he was right. “He’s going to hate me, Paul,” the smile faded from your lips and you could feel your gut turning at the thought of the conversation you still needed to have with Daryl.

“Oh please, that man couldn’t hate you even if he tried. He’s so in love with you, it’s ridiculous,” Paul’s eyes drifted out to the balcony, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Trust me, we would all kill for what the two of you have.”

“Well, after he hears what I want, he may be the one to kill me.”

“What is it that you want hun?” Paul’s grasp of your hand tightened.

“To stay here at The Kingdom while you all go back to Alexandria.”

Paul’s eyes widened with surprise. “Oh,” he said almost breathlessly. “Well, that may a harder conversation than I thought.”

“What’s that?” Daryl asked as he entered the room, only having heard Paul’s comment.

You and Paul exchanged a worried glance as you stood from your respective chairs.

“I’m going to let you talk,” Paul smiled at you and went to leave the room. Stopping next to Daryl, he placed a hand on your husband’s broad shoulder and squeezed.

“Be kind, okay? Just hear her out.”

Daryl’s brow furrowed in confusion as he looked back and forth between you and Paul. Offering you one last smile of support, he left the room to catch up with Ezekiel.

“What the hell’s he talkin’ about?” Daryl asked, the earlier frustration rising in him again.

“Baby, we need to talk about what happens next…”

Before you could continue, Lana entered the room followed by Abe and Shelby who both barreled into you and Daryl as they ran through the doorway.

“Mama! The horses were so cool! Miss Lana let me and Abey ride!” Shelby exclaimed, her big blue eyes shining like diamonds as she recounted her afternoon.

“Me too,” Abe said grinning up at Daryl.

Bending down, he picked up his son and studied his face carefully. Looking at the joy written all over their faces, you could see his chest rise and fall with several deep breaths. As the children continued to prattle on about the horses, Daryl seemed to come to a realization and nodded to you.

“You wanna stay here with them, right? That’s what you wanna talk about?”

Relief washed over you. You sat back down in the chair and slowly exhaled the breath you hadn’t realized you were holding.

“Yes Daryl, I do.”

“I hate it Y/N,” Daryl sat down where Paul had been sitting, Abe positioned on his lap and Shelby on yours. Daryl took your hand and looked between the three of you. “Y’all are my world,” his voice cracked, nearly breaking your heart. You knew this would be hard, but you also knew it was for the best. “I know its right, but don’t make it easy.”

“I know baby,” your free hand found his. Bringing it to your lips, you kissed his fingers gently.

“Ew! Mama kissed daddy!” Shelby squealed and jumped out of your lap.

Both you and Daryl chuckled. Abe quickly followed his sister as they began to run circles around Ezekiel’s grand table.

Daryl pulled your chair closer to his and leaned his forehead to yours. “The idea of not wakin’ up to you makes me crazy. But it won’t be for long, right?”

“It can’t be, Daryl. I would go crazy being away from you too long. Just go home, deal with this and then come back,” you got up from your seat and slipped into his lap. Nestling your head into his neck, you drew in a deep breath of his scent and relished in the way it made you feel.

His arms wrapped around your torso and as his mouth found yours, your lips parted allowing him to have you, but he didn’t take advantage this time. Instead, his lips lingered sweetly on yours just long enough for Shelby to squeal again and making you both laugh.

“You got this, Dixon,” you whispered to him, pulling away from his kiss.

“Yeah, I do. So do you, Dixon,” he replied mockingly. “Just a few days, right?”

“Yeah baby, just a few days.”

Sitting in the master suite of The Kingdom, you relished in the love your little family gave you and knew that no matter what happened, both you and Daryl would do everything necessary to make sure you were safe again together soon.

  The moonlight offered enough of a view of the small map, for him to know he’d arrived at his destination. Spencer hadn’t failed to deliver the items he needed for his journey, but Negan had certainly failed Spencer.

Grinning, Negan approached the back of the high wall as his mind flashed back to the feeling of wrapping the rope around the idiot’s neck and the satisfying crush of his windpipe. Stretching out his arms to the side, and drawing in a deep breath, the former leader of the Saviors then raised his hands to the moon and resisted the urge to howl.

Spencer had been visiting him for only about a year, but Negan had quickly grown tired of the man’s whining. He constantly asked himself how Rick had not yet killed the ‘fucking shit stain’ but somehow resisted the urge to ask him straight out.

Negan knew not to look a gift horse in the mouth though when Spencer finally admitted his hatred for Rick. He knew that Spencer, somehow, could be his ticket out of the cell and on his way back to the top of the food chain.

Sure, he’d promised to take Spencer to The Hilltop with him; that had been the plan. Negan had a small window to arrive at his new home, and it was all a matter of timing. Spencer and his prattling on had nearly fucked that all up. So, instead of taking him to meet up with Gregory, Negan discarded the stain in the prison bathroom before heading on to begin phase two of his plan.

The crisp night air felt like bliss on his skin. All he needed now was a hot meal, a warm bed and a curvy body to share it with him. The thought of having all that within his grasp caused an ache in his groin made and a guttural reaction from deep within.

From the shadows, Negan saw Gregory step out, his hands turning with anxiety in each other as he came face to face with his old enemy.

“Ne- Negan,” Gregory nodded hesitantly and looked behind him for Spencer. “Where… uh… where’s the boy?”

“Boy?” Negan chuckled, “Oh, that boy. He’s dead. Slipped and fell in the bathroom I hear. Such a fucking shame, huh?”

Gregory swallowed hard and wanted to wretch when the sick feeling rose in his throat. “Terrible,” he muttered, his hand absently tugging at his collar.

“So, are you going to show me to my new home, or…. Do you wanna sit out here under the moonlight and remind me of what it means to be a fucking man?! Cause, no offense buddy, you really aren’t my fucking type. I was hopin’ for someone with more…” Negan dramatically made curves of a woman with his hands while licking his lips.

“Uh, follow me. Your quarters are all ready,” Gregory responded nervously and stepped quickly towards the back passage into The Hilltop.

“And, where is our Lord and fucking savior this evening? Has he fled the grounds yet to help all those poor fucking souls in need?” Negan inquired, casually sauntering behind Gregory and watching the man like a hawk.

“Yes, Jesus has left for The Kingdom as planned. I imagine they are all there now trying to sort it out.”

“Oh, I imagine that they fucking are, Gregory,” Negan purred to himself, a feeling of satisfaction settling into his core. “I imagine they are.”

Tags: @kazosa @soythedemonqueen @onlydarylnormanfic @jodiereedus22 @his-paradox @zombeeemomeee @tiquismiquis @sorenmarie87 @redm81 @rhyatt-deauxtreve @kingdixonreedus @reedusteinrambles @aquivercactus @buckyscrystalqueen  @see-you-then-winchester @hyphymanatee @adixon13 @rawr-bitchess @kgbrenner@fictionaldemon @thewalkingbucky @bikerdaryldixon @lefthologramdeer

[stardust-walker]

High Hopes

word count: 2767

If anyone wants to be added to my taglist, just let a girl know!

Previous Chapters: 1 2 3 4

Chapter 5

Dove felt the blood drain from her face. Her stomach turned as she closed her eyes to keep from spilling the already minimal contents of her stomach onto the rooftop. A sudden shout followed by a click caused her eyes to shoot open. The brunette nudged her way past Glenn as she stared down at the other men in their group, weapons all pulled on each other except for T-Dog. Her heart sank before she heard Rick’s voice. “Drop it. Or I swear I’ll do it. I don’t care if every walker in the city hears it.”

There was an audible exhale from Glenn as the crossbow was lowered, but the way Daryl stared at T-Dog still made Dove uneasy. She stood on the edge of the platform as Daryl finally spoke. “Ya got a do-rag or something?” Much to her surprise, T-Dog reached into his pocket in order to provide Daryl with a blue bandana.

Finally feeling safe enough to descend, Dove to the few steps down to the rooftop slowly. Backpack straps clutched tight in her hand as the cool metal almost dug into the palm of her right hand, she came to a stop between T-Dog and Rick. It was like a train crash, you want to look away but you can’t.

“I guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs,” Daryl spoke as he picked up his brother’s hand in a surprisingly delicate way, “Ain’t that a bitch.”

“I mean if I ever saw anything that looked like the definition of ‘ain’t that a bitch’ it might be that hand,” Dove whispered to Rick. Her stomach lurched again and she swallowed hard as she watched the hand be deposited in Glenn’s backpack. Glenn didn’t look pleased, but it wasn’t like any of them were going to stop Daryl Dixon anytime soon.

“Must have used a tourniquet. Maybe his belt? Would have been much more blood if he didn’t,” Daryl pointed towards the ground and Dove’s eyes scanned the fresh blood stains. Daryl began to walk off and with a nod from Rick, the others followed.

“I’m just going to pretend that Merle Dixon’s hand isn’t in my backpack right now,” Glenn said through gritted teeth as T-Dog walked off to collect Dale’s tools.

“I’m tellin’ you right now, if that shit starts stinkin’, I’m taking it out and using it for batting practice,” Dove shook her head. “Man this fuckin sucks.”

Daryl’s sudden shouts for his brother were definitely startling. Not only for the volume, but for the fact that they didn’t know if there were any walkers in the building that might hear him. She prayed there weren’t any.

As they walked into a room and saw two walkers down for the count, Dove let out an appreciative whistle.

“Had enough in him to take these two out one handed,” Daryl said as they all surveyed the room.

“That’s one tough son of a bitch,” Dove mumbled as she tiptoed past one of the walkers on the ground.

“Toughest asshole I ever met. Feed him a hammer, he’d crap out nails,” Daryl nodded as he reloaded his crossbow.

Dove walked slowly around the room, a quick peek out the window showed her there was nothing to see outside except the walkers roaming. Not that she expected much different.

“Any man can pass out from blood loss, no matter how tough he is,” Rick raised his gun and began to walk through the room.

“Plus, he was probably running on pure adrenaline. He might have crashed at some point. But like you said. Toughest asshole you ever met, right?” Dove raised an eyebrow at Daryl as she went to walk past him into the next room. “I mean I’m sure he’s fine,” her apology was lost as Daryl clenched his jaw, shook his head, and walked forward into the next room.

“Nice going,” Glenn shot her a thumbs up as he came up next to her.

“Shut up,” Dove grunted and stomped ahead, not wanting to fall behind too much.

 ~

The smell from the stove hit her before she even entered the room. Dove coughed and covered her mouth.

T-Dog covered the lower half of his face, “God what is that?”

Dove’s answer was muffled through her hand, “Burnt skin.” She caught the wary glance of her friend and shrugged. “What? I used to work in a crisis unit right out of college. Saw a lot of shit. But the smells would always be the thing that got me,” she shivered slightly as she stepped into the room just in time to see Rick approaching the stove.

Glenn approached from the side asking what it was and Rick just confirmed her suspicions. “Skin. He cauterized the stump.” That was it. Dove retched and ducked back out of the room. The contents of her stomach spilled out on the floor in front of her as she placed her hands on her knees to recover.

She heard footsteps approach and held a hand out into the room. “’m fine. Just give me a second.” Another cough echoed through the hallway before she was able to straighten up and reenter the room as she wiped her face on the sleeve of her shirt. “Sorry…”

The looks she got ranged from annoyed to sympathetic before Daryl shook his head and broke the silence. “He ain't dead. Nothin can kill Merle but Merle.”

Dove had to appreciate how much faith the man had in his brother. It was admirable. Just like she had to admire the fact that, in spite of an injury that could take another man out, Merle Dixon had somehow made it out of the building.

“Why the hell would he do that,” Glenn squinted at the bright light from the broken window.

“Why wouldn’t he? He’s out there alone as far as he knows,” Daryl mused as he pulled back from the window.

“You call that surviving? What are his odds out there,” T-Dog motioned towards the window.

“He’s right. Any sane man would assume that people who left him chained to the roof wouldn’t come back. Not that ya’ll didn’t have your reasons,” Dove shifted from foot to foot as T-Dog stared at her. She didn’t mean anything by it, but to her it seemed like nothing but facts.

“You couldn’t kill em,” Daryl stepped up to Rick. “Not so worried bout a dumb dead bastard.”

“What about 1,000 dumb dead bastards,” Rick snapped back. “Different story?”

“Take a tally, do what you want. I’m gonna go get him.” Daryl went to march off before Rick was able to stop him.

Dove’s wide eyes met Glenn’s shocked gaze as the two men argued about whether Daryl was going on not.

“You can’t stop me,” Daryl practically shouted.

The next thought that went through Dove’s head was that maybe Rick was actually a good cop as he was able to empathize with the other man. “He’s family, I get that. I went through hell to find mine. I know exactly how you feel.” It actually seemed to get through as Daryl stopped pacing like a caged animal. “He won’t get far with the injury. We could help you check a few blocks around but only if we keep a level head.”

T-Dog spoke as the attention turned to him, “Alright but only if we get those guns first. I’m not roaming the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions.”

Rick turned his head and nodded towards Dove. The young woman paused for a moment. “T’s right. I’m in but…I mean if it comes down to it, a gun is much faster than a crowbar and I would just feel a lot safer if we got the guns first.” Her hazel eyes glanced towards Daryl and she furrowed her eyebrows. “But I do want to help you find your brother. Because if it was my sister, I wouldn’t stop lookin until I found her or I knew she was dead.”

The expression on Daryl’s face was unreadable as he nodded his head. “Alright. But we best go get those guns, then. Don’t want Merle bleedin out,” his eyes narrowed at Rick again before he shouldered his crossbow. This might be the most agreeable that they had ever seen him, even if he still looked like he was ready to fight.

~

The five of them had settled down in another room so that Glenn could look at the map. He knew where the guns were and he knew the city best. Dove had perched herself on the edge of a desk and it was there she sat, legs crossed, when Glenn mentioned his plan about going out to find the guns. Alone.

Rick immediately interrupted, “You’re not doing this alone.” Dove’s hands shook as she ran a hand down her face.

“Even I think it’s a bad idea and I don’t even like you much,” Daryl agreed.

“It’s a good idea,” Glenn interjected from his spot on the floor.

Dove threw a thumbtack from the desk in his direction. “It’s a fucking awful idea! What do you got a death wish or somethin’,” she hissed at the younger man as she bounced her leg and shook her head.

“If you just hear me out,” Glenn almost pleaded. She couldn’t even believe they were having this discussion. “If we go out in a group, we’re slow. We draw more attention. If I’m alone, I can move fast.”

She hated the fact that he sounded right. She tuned out the mapping of the city until she heard it. “That’s where Daryl, Dove, and I will go.” Her head snapped up as she looked across at Daryl. He looked equally confused.

“Why me?”

“You’re crossbow is quieter than his gun,” Glenn shrugged his shoulders.

Dove sighed, hopped down from the desk, and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Yeah but why me?”

Glenn stared up at her, “Next to me, you’re the fastest. I mean you played sports.”

“Yeah like ten years ago in high school!” Dove rolled her eyes.

“But, you’re fast. If things go wrong, you run for the guns. They're the most important thing.” Glenn pointed to the map on the floor.

Dove’s eyes scanned the crudely drawn diagram of the streets with narrowed eyes before finally letting out a sigh. “Alright. I guess I’m in.”

“While they wait here in the alley,” Glenn placed a gum wrapper on the board, “I run up the street, grab the bag.” He then explained the positioning of the others in the group. It sounded way too easy and usually when things sound that easy, they aren’t. “Whichever direction I go, I got you in both places to cover me.” Dove nodded her head in appreciation as he finished his explanation.

“Hey kid,” Daryl finally spoke up, “What’d you do before all this?”

Glenn squinted, “Delivered pizzas. Why?”

Dove’s eyes widened as she let out a quiet snort of laughter before she nodded her head. “Makes sense. Gotta learn the backstreets to make those thirty minutes or less, ain’t that right?”

~

The ladder that they had to climb down was less than ideal. Dove sighed as she looked down at it before she held a hand out in front of Glenn. “Uh uh. Didn’t you ever hear of ladies first? Plus, I don’t exactly feel like having anyone check out my ass,” she held two fingers up to her eyes before turning her hand to point at the two men. She swung her leg over the edge of the building and placed a foot on the top rung of the ladder as she heard Daryl speak up.

“Not much to check out,” he said just loud enough for her to hear.

Dove smirked wickedly for a moment. “Then check this out,” she raised her middle finger at both of them before she began her descent.

She heard Glenn say something about being nice to Daryl before beginning his own descent. Wouldn’t that be the day.

A few rungs from the ground, Dove hopped off the ladder and landed with a quiet grunt before she stepped to the side.

Glenn stepped past her once they were all on the ground. “C’mon,” he motioned down the alley.

Dove followed close behind Daryl, crowbar raised slightly as she stood next to the dumpster. She still didn’t like this.

“You got some balls for a Chinaman,” Daryl stated.

“I’m Korean,” Glenn corrected.

“Is now really the time for this,” Dove hissed through gritted teeth

Then Glenn was off. Dove moved forward slightly before she felt a tight grip on her arm. Her knees hit the ground as she was pulled behind the dumpster, a retort lost on her lips as Daryl motioned for her to keep quiet. As quietly as she could, Dove moved to position herself between Daryl and the wall. Back against the dumpster, she said in a barely audible whisper, “What the fuck was that?”

“Someone’s comin,” Daryl whispered just as quietly. Before she could even think about anything else, he had jumped to his feet, crossbow raised.

“Whoa don’t shoot me,” another voice shouted as Dove jumped to her feet, “What do you want!”

“I’m looking for my brother. He’s hurt real bad, you seen em?” Daryl didn’t lower his crossbow. Dove’s gaze shifted quickly between the two men. Or rather, Daryl and the boy.

Suddenly the boy shouted in Spanish.

“Shut up! You’re gonna bring the geeks down on us! Answer me,” Daryl growled as he approached with the crossbow. Dove stepped out from behind the dumpster.

“Daryl stop it! He doesn’t know what you’re talking about,” she snapped at him. She hoped she was right. All of a sudden, the boy wouldn’t stop screaming for help. Dove ran towards Daryl just in time to see him hit the boy in the face with the crossbow. “Ah, shit.”

“Shut up,” Daryl repeated as he held a hand over the boy’s mouth. A yelp of surprise slipped through Dove’s lips as two men came barreling down the alley. The shoulder of one of the men connecting with her own as he ran past her. Her back slammed against the wall, the world started to spin as she hit her head. The crowbar was wrenched from her hand and she watched as the two men started to beat Daryl.

A quick burst of adrenaline hit her like a truck and she mumbled a quiet, “Motherfucker,” as she stumbled to her feet. The one closest held her crowbar in his hands. She took two quick steps towards him and grabbed the crowbar, her hands wrapped around the man’s own. “Stop it,” she grunted through gritted teeth as the man fought to get control of the crowbar back. The woman’s nails dug into his fingers and she thought she had it for a second before she felt the air leave her lungs. An elbow to the stomach sent her reeling back. 

A commotion near the entrance to the alley stopped the two men. Her eyes went wide as she saw him. She was hoping he would have to take the other alley. One of the men screamed, “There’s the bag! Take it, take it.”

Dove shook her head and attempted to stumble to her feet again, the crowbar was close by. She thought about throwing it, but then the screams of one of the men drew her attention back. Daryl was up on his knees. He had shot the guy right in the ass. Any other time, she might have laughed. Glenn’s screams for help chilled her to the bone as she scrambled to regain her footing. Even when she did, the elbow to the stomach was really messing with her. “Glenn, run!” But it was useless, because they already had him. She was hot on Daryl’s heels as the car pulled away from the alley with Glenn and the men inside.

“Come back here! You sumbitches,” Daryl shouted as he started to pull the gate shut.

Dove tried to slip through the hole in the gate. She wanted to run after the car, run after Glenn. It was stupid and she wasn’t thinking straight, but she couldn’t let her friend die.  A strong grip on her arm was the only thing that made her stop. She spun around, a wild look in her eye and met Daryl’s angry gaze as he shook his head. Dove’s attention turned back to the gate as the walkers began to pile against it. She couldn’t even hear the car anymore.

Glenn was gone.

 ----

@crossbowking​

[ddixons-angel]

Fated: Season 1

Summary: Gloria Rhee narrowly escapes Atlanta with her brother as the outbreak reaches the city. Luckily, they find a camp outside the city and together, they fend through encounters with the living and undead.

Starts a little before Season 1 and then follows the main storyline of the show.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Glenn Sister!OC

Warnings: major TWD spoilers, language, violence (the typical TWD stuff)

A/N: Here’s a new chapter! Hope you all enjoy~!

Chapter 6:

It feels as if hours had passed since Merle had left Gloria trapped in the cabinet. She’s been banging on the door constantly, hoping Glenn or Daryl are somewhere in the building and hear it. Gloria slumps down, now sitting with her knees pulled against her chest in the small space, she sighs. 

“Merle you asshole... I’m gonna break your arm the next time I see you... selfish prick...” Gloria curses under her breath. 

She attempts to push open the cabinet door but to her expectations, all she hears are the chains on the outside rattling. Gloria groans, frustrated and not knowing what to do. Suddenly, she hears voices from outside. She listens intently to hear the voices better, making sure they aren’t voices of strangers before calling out for help.

“Merle! Ya in here?! Merle!” 

Daryl.

“Gloria!”

Glenn!

Gloria starts to hit and bang on the cabinet door furiously, “In here! Hey! Daryl! Glenn! I’m in here!” 

She continues to rattle the chains, hitting the door until she hears the chains being taken off of the door. The doors of the cabinet open and Gloria shields her eyes from the brightness coming in from the windows. Once her vision adjusts to the light, she looks up and sees Glenn and Daryl looking down at her. 

“Glenn!” Gloria gets up with the help of her brother and she hugs him tightly.

“Oh thank god, you’re okay,” Glenn lets out a huge sigh of relief as he tightly hugs her back, his hand cradling her head. 

“Hey, where’s Merle?” Daryl asks Gloria as she lets go of Glenn. 

Gloria sighs, “I don’t know.”

“The hell ya mean ya don’ know?! The hell is he?!” Daryl pulls out something from his pocket, waving it around angrily as he speaks, “I find his damn hand out on the roof and now ya tellin’ me tha’ ya don’ know where he is?!” 

“Hey, will you just listen to me before going off?!” Gloria shouts back at Daryl.

“Alright, everyone just calm down.” Rick says, Gloria looks in his direction and finally realizes that he and T-Dog were in the room as well, “Gloria, why don’t you tell us what happened.”

“Well, we were waiting for you guys back on the roof, but the chains broke with all the weight of the walkers on the door, I had to try and to block them off so I threw a hacksaw to Merle-” she gets cut off by Daryl.

“Ya told him to cut off his own hand?!” Daryl shouts, angry.

“I told him to cut the damn chains! How the hell was I supposed to know that he wouldn’t listen and be stupid enough to cut off his own hand?!” Gloria shouts back in her own defense and takes a few breaths to calm down before telling the rest of the story, “when I saw what he did, I knew we couldn’t stay up there anymore, we didn’t know when you guys would come get us, and if you took too long, he would have bled out. So we tried to find anything to stop his bleeding, and eventually... did that.” 

Gloria gestures over to the stove with the iron steak weight that now had Merle’s brunt skin crusted on it. The four men look at the bloody scene in shock and turn back to Gloria. 

“You did that?” Rick questioned, his face shocked, “you cauterized his wound with a steak weight?”

Gloria shrugs, “I know it wasn’t the most sanitary, but it was the only thing we could find. So after I did that, I tried to look for more towels to wrap his wound. And then he pushed me and locked me up in this damn cabinet. I heard glass shattering right before he left so I’m guessing he went out the windows.”

Daryl goes over to the windows and nods, “Yeah... it’s shattered and you can still see some blood... fuck..”

Gloria looks at Daryl with sympathetic eyes and goes up to him, “I’m sorry, Daryl. Truly, I am. The least I can tell you is that your brother is still alive out there somewhere, missing a hand yeah, but still alive.”

Daryl scoffs at her last words and looks at her, “O’ course he is, nobody can kill Merle but Merle.”

“What do you say we keep looking for him out on the streets?” Gloria suggests. 

“Yeah, he should still be out there, I bet I can still track him.” Daryl says, readying his crossbow and heading to the door.

“Woah woah wait, look I feel for you man, I do, he’s blood, family, I get it. But you can’t expect me, all of us to go out there without any protection, at least let us go get those guns first, then we can start lookin’ for your brother.” T-Dog quickly suggests.

“Guns?” Gloria questions, looking to Glenn.

“When Rick was attacked by the herd, he had a bag full of guns with him, he left them there when I got him out of that mess and they should still be there.” Glenn explains.

“Fine, we’ll get yer damn guns, find Merle an’ get the hell outta here.” Daryl harshly agrees. 

The group devises a plan of how they quickly can retrieve the guns; Glenn, being the fastest, goes out with Daryl as his back up and grabs the bag while the other three cover another alleyway where Daryl and Glenn will meet them once they have the bag. Understanding the plan, the group heads out. Gloria, Rick, and T-Dog make it to their alleyway and wait for Glenn and Daryl while looking out for any walkers. 

“Help! Help!”

The three of them look at one another once they hear the cry for help and they rush over to the direction of the voice. They reach the alleyway Daryl and Glenn were supposed to be and find Daryl about to pounce on a teenager. Rick and T-Dog quickly pull him away from the scared boy. Gloria looks around, seeing the bag of guns on the ground but frowns when she doesn’t see any sign of Glenn.

“Where’s Glenn?” Gloria turns to Daryl.

“The kids friends jumped me and took him.” Daryl tells her, frustrated and angry.

Gloria looks at the teenager and seethes with anger, she readies herself to pounce on him when Rick holds her back, “Easy, we can’t make any more noise, there’s walkers all over the place, we have to keep quiet.”

Still glaring at the teenager, she shrugs Rick off of her and stays as composed as she can. Rick grabs the bag of guns as well as a sheriffs hat from off the ground and instructs Daryl and T-Dog to take the teenager with them. He proceeds to climb up the ladder of the building beside them to the roof and the others proceed to follow. They find an office room of some sort and Rick and Daryl start to interrogate the teenager who’s name turns out to be Miguel. 

“I ain’t telling you anything.” he tries to put up a strong front. 

This angers Daryl as he huffs and is about to beat him up but Gloria quickly intervenes, holding Daryl’s arm back from throwing a punch.

“Daryl, stop. Let me try.” Gloria lets go of his arm and pulls a chair up to sit right in front of Miguel, “Listen, I don’t know who you are and I honestly don’t care. What I do care about is my brother, and your people took him from me, and I just want to get him back. He’s the only family I have left, so can you help me get him back?” 

Miguel looks at her and then looks down, a look of guilt on his face as he nods, “alright, I’ll help you. I’ll take you to G.” 

“G?” Rick questions.

“Guillermo, he runs the place.” Miguel explains.

Gloria smiles softly at him and gets up from her seat, and looks at Daryl, “see? Sometimes violence isn’t the only way.” 

Daryl rolls his eyes, strapping his crossbow in place, “ya act like ya weren’ ready to pounce his ass in the alley.” 

Gloria chuckles and puts on her backpack, ready to head out to get Glenn when Rick stops her, “Gloria, I need you to stay here.”

“What?” Gloria furrows her brows, “Why? Aren’t we going to get Glenn?”

“We are, but it’s too dangerous to take the bag full of guns with us, and we can’t leave them here unattended. You’re our best choice, now can you do that for me?” Rick explains, looking at her with sincere eyes.

Gloria sighs and nods, “Fine... I’ll stay here. You better bring my brother back.” 

Rick nods to her as a silent promise then he heads out with Daryl and T-Dog holding onto Miguel. Gloria closes and locks the door to the office and sits down on the desk with the bag of guns. She waits patiently for the others to come back and soon she hears a knock on the door, then Rick’s voice telling her to open up. Quickly, Gloria goes to open the door expectantly but to her dismay and disappointment, she doesn’t see Glenn.

“What was the last thing I said when you guys left? Where the hell is Glenn?!” Gloria exclaims, annoyed and frustrated; how many times does she need to get separated from her brother.

“Assholes had him up on a roof, threatening to throw him down and kill him. They wan’ to exchange him with the kid and the bag o’ guns.” Daryl tells her.

“Is that even a question?” Gloria says, looking to Rick, “that’s my brother.”

Rick doesn’t respond verbally, instead he starts to load up his shotgun. T-Dog, Daryl, Miguel and Gloria all watch as he does so, wondering what his plan is.

“Guillermo gave us two options,” Rick starts, “come back with the guns and Miguel, or come back locked and loaded. I’m choosing the second. I’m not expecting to come out of this unscathed, hell I’m not even expecting to make it out alive, so if you want to leave, head back to the camp, be my guest the choice is yours, but I owe Glenn my life, I ain’t walking away from him.”

Hearing this, Gloria doesn’t hesitate and unzips the bag of guns on the table and takes out a shotgun herself, “count me in.” she cocks the gun.

“Do ya even know how to shoot that thing?” Daryl asks, staring at her doubtedly. 

“Nope,” she turns to look at him, “but how hard can it be? Aim and shoot, done.” 

Rick chuckles at her, “that’s not exactly how it works.”

T-Dog and Daryl start to load up their weapons and soon they make their way back to Guillermo’s headquarters, a warehouse. Once there, Rick cuts the ties off of Miguel and frees him.

“Here’s your boy, now give us ours.” Rick orders.

Guillermo turns his attention to one of his henchmen, “Chop up the boy and feed him to our dogs.”

Enraged at his words, Gloria is about to hold her gun up straight to Guillermo’s head when Daryl lowers his own and holds her back, “hey, calm down, let Rick handle this.” he whispers harshly into her ear.

Rick glances back at the two, making sure Daryl has Gloria’s situation handled, he turns attention back towards Guillermo, “you said come locked and loaded, we’re here.”

Everyone inside the warehouse raises their guns at Rick’s words. There is an intense staredown between Rick and Guillermo, only to be dissolved when an elderly woman calls out to someone named Felipe. She comes out to the middle of the crowd and notices Rick in his sheriff’s outfit.

“Oh no, please don’t take Felipe away, he’s a good boy.” the elderly woman pleads.

“I won’t take him away, I’m just here to take back one of ours.” Rick says softly to the woman.

The elderly woman’s brows furrow, “The Asian boy?” 

Rick nods and the elderly woman reaches out for his hand and leads him into the back. Gloria, Daryl and T-Dog look at one another, trying to figure out the situation but their guns still held up just in case. After a short while, Rick reappears from the back with Glenn and seemingly half the bag of guns they’d originally had. 

“Those weren’t bad people, they’d taken in people from an old folks home and were only trying to protect their own.” Rick explains as he leads the group out of the warehouse. 

“Did ya really need to give them half our guns?” Daryl asks, annoyed.

“They needed them just as much as we do.” Rick says simply.

Gloria hits Glenn on the arm as she walks along his side, “you alright, you dumbass?”

Glenn laughs at his sister’s words of ‘endearment’, “Yeah, I don’t think they were ever actually going to hurt me.”

The group make it back to the spot where the van was supposed to be, only to see that it had already been taken. 

“Merle, ‘t has to be him.” Daryl mutters and sighs.

“Well, now what do we do?” T-Dog exclaims, annoyed at how things were going so badly for them today.

“We better start heading back to camp, by the time we get back it’s gonna be dark.” Glenn points out. 

The group collectively lets out a sigh, knowing it’s going to be a long way back on foot. Without saying another word, the five of them start walking back to the quarry camp.

---

Next Chapter

Yep so Merle left her but now she’s back with her brother and Daryl! What did you guys think of this chapter?? What you think will happen next? Please let me know!!

I would really appreciate any comments left for me! I’ll be replying to any comments in a new post because this is a sideblog!