(Warnings: blood, angst, a lot of more angst and some angsty angsty on top:3)
Note: part 4 of Days Gone By and last time I’ll detail it<3<3 look for the moodboard if you’re unsure if it’s part of the Days Gone By series or look for the Days Gone By tags, they’ll be uniquely in every Days Gone By story so that it’s easy to find them<3
Daisy grinned as Carl showed her the various weapons he had just found, her hands wrapping around a machete with a big grin, showing it to Carl “how do I look?” she asked and he smiled at her “awesome! What about me?” he picked up a small axe and Daisy nodded “no walker is going to stand in our way now!” she said giggling, Carl and her laughing as they examined the various weapons until Lori showed up, taking them away from the both of them, leaving Daisy pouting, glaring at her “you’re not my momma! I want one of those weapons, I know it’s not a toy” she said stubbornly, Lori looking her up and down before sighing “go ask your uncle then” she said and steered Carl away, a frown on Daisy’s brows as she watched Carl cast a look over his shoulder before being ushered away by his mother. Daisy stuck her tongue out at Lori before turning around and walking off to the RV, climbing up on top of it and sitting down, pouting, arms across her chest as she stared at the nearby trees. Dale studied her for a few seconds before putting down his rifle and sitting down beside her on the edge of the roof, groaning as he moved down, making her look at him. “What’s with the pout?” he asked and she looked down “Mrs. Grimes said I can’t have a weapon…” she muttered and he chuckled lightly “well, you’re only a kid” he reasoned and she pouted even more “I know how to take care of myself! I know it’s not a toy, it’s a tool, I know that. My daddy and uncle Daryl taught me, I know how to fight” she said proudly and Dale smiled softly at her before nodding to himself “alright, if I find something small but handy, I’ll ask your uncle if you can have it, deal?” he asked and she nodded softly, her pout gone as she smiled up at Dale who gave her a small wink before getting up, once again groaning loudly, picking up his rifle and smiling down at her “you wanna help me keep watch? Could use some good eyes” he offered and Daisy nodded, getting up and looking out over the highway, the way they came from, while Dale kept watch the way they were supposed to be headed.
“Dale?” Daisy asked softly, hearing him humm in response but he didn’t turn to look at her. She gulped as she watched the walkers stagger closer, more than she had ever seen before, not even the night they were let into the CDC. “Dale” she said more loudly and this time he turned, his eyes going wide as he hurriedly grabbed her shoulders and made her lay down on the roof of the RV with him, his hand softly on her head, making sure it stayed down. “Stay down, don’t move, alright?” Dale whispered and she nodded, making sure to stay low… that is until she heard a scream, from inside the RV, she raised her head but Dale quickly put a hand on her head and softly lowered it before crawling over to peek into the RV to see who was in trouble. Daisy stayed flat on the roof for a long while until she heard another scream, lifting her head and looking over the edge she saw Sophia run over the edge of the road railing and down a slope into the forest with two walkers after her “Sophia!” she screamed, about to crawl down when Dale pinned her down and put a hand over her mouth “Rick’s going after her, it’s alright” he whispered as he continued to hold her down while she kept her eyes on the spot she ran off into, whimpering as she ever so slightly tried to fight Dale’s grip and go after her. The second Dale let go she crawled down and ran over to where she last saw the weapons Carl found and grabbed the machete she liked earlier, running towards the edge of the forest until someone picked her up, spun her around and put her back down, turning her to face them and she saw Shane as he held her in place, his hands on her shoulders as she struggled against his hold “hey, hey- Delilah! You gotta stay here, you can’t run after her, Rick’s already on his way to her” Shane hurried out but she shook her head “what if she’s scared?” Daisy said with a crack in her voice and Shane sighed, took the machete from her and kneeled down, hugging her “it’s alright, princess, it’s alright. Rick’ll take care of her, alright? He’ll take care of her” he assured and Daisy nodded, turning to look at Carl who clearly wanted to go after her as well. “Carl, keep an eye on her, alright?” Shane asked and Carl nodded, walking up to Daisy and putting a hand on her shoulder, steering her away from the road railing while glancing nervously over his shoulder at Shane.
Daisy walked through the woods with Carl, eyes on the ground with her head down as she stepped over a large, broken off branch. “Hey, it’s okay. We’re going to find her” she looked up at Carl and nodded at his words, looking down again. It wasn’t long after Carl’s words that she heard a branch snap, looking up to see a beautiful deer walk right in front of the four of them. She quietly walked closer alongside Carl, smiling brightly at the animal, her hazel eyes glancing to Carl, her smile brightening as she saw his fascination. She looked back at the deer and took a step closer to Carl, taking his hand in her own as she watched the deer with a big grin, so big her cheeks started to hurt. She let out a quiet giggle and looked over her shoulder at Rick and Shane, her hand still holding Carl’s and she couldn’t help but giggle again, looking back at the deer, admiring it. She was considering stepping closer, slowly, maybe it wouldn’t run away, she almost took a step forward but froze when she heard a shot ring out and she frowned, watching the deer fall, Carl’s hand slipping from hers, her head turning to see him fall to the ground, eyes closed, blood pooling at his chest, soaking his shirt. Daisy let out a scream and took a step back as Rick frantically kneeled by Carl’s side, holding on his chest and picking him up, getting up from the ground while Shane was pointing a gun at the stranger’s head, the one who had shot Carl. Daisy’s hand gripped the machete in her belt, eyes wide as she looked between Shane and Rick while they shouted and talked. She doesn’t remember how long she was running for, she remembered Shane telling her to go back to the highway, to her uncle, to everyone else, but she was already following after Rick as he ran towards where the farm was supposed to be. Her vision was cloudy as tears ran down her cheeks while she ran, ignoring Shane yelling at her to stop, to wait for him, to let him catch up as he made sure the stranger kept up with them.
Daisy was panting heavily as she finally reached the farm house, feeling dizzy and weak but she stayed in her spot, looking between the strangers and the bleeding Carl in Rick’s arms. “Please! He’s my best friend” she said sobbing and the oldest man nodded, allowing Rick into the house but casting a nervous glance at Daisy “not you, darlin’, it’s not something someone your age should see” he said softly and Daisy were left to sit on the step outside, crying her eyes out, knees against her chest with her arms wrapped around, head hidden away behind her knees. She wasn’t sure how long she cried but Shane arrived with the stranger who shot Carl, seeing her crying he shook his head softly and she got up, ran to him and hugged him tightly “they wouldn’t let me come with him!” she sobbed and Shane breathed a heavy sigh of relief as he wrapped his arms around her, still panting heavily from running. Shane’s eyes shut for a moment in relief that at least Carl was still alive when he was brought into the house, his eyes opening when Rick walked out, hands shaking, blood soaking his shirt with tears in his eyes.
Daisy sat in the room with Carl, asleep in a chair on the other side of his bed, knees tucked up as her head rested on the back of the chair, her cheeks and eyes red and puffy from crying for so long, exhausted from running and sobbing she had fallen asleep while at Carl’s side. Rick had gotten up at some point and put a blanket over her, taking a pillow from a chair in the corner and softly putting it under her head so she’d at least be somewhat comfortable. Her eyes fluttered open as she heard footsteps, turning her head to see Shane walk in, giving her a weak smile before kneeling in front of her “hey, princess… Rick’s donating some blood, I’m gonna watch over Carl, it’s okay. Hershel has offered his room to you, get you more comfortable” Shane whispered and Daisy glanced at a pale and sweating Carl before yawning, her eyes closing as she shook her head. Shane nodded and sighed lightly “alright, how ‘bout the couch, hm? Does that sound good, princess?” he asked softly and Daisy nodded tiredly, Shane picking her up and walking out of the room with her in his arms, the blanket still over her as she was on the verge of falling asleep again. Shane put her on the couch and sighed at Rick who raised a brow “wouldn’t want to be too far from him, so I offered her the couch instead” he explained quietly and Rick nodded, the two of them thinking she was already asleep until she popped your head up, looking over the back of the sofa with tired, red eyes “can I give some blood too?” she asked quietly, a small chuckle coming from Rick but it was Hershel who answered, walking into the room to check on Rick and smiling softly at her “well, do you know your blood type?” he asked and she scrunched up her nose as she shook her head, Hershel nodding softly “well, then it wouldn’t work, but you’re a brave little girl for offering” he said and she smiled softly in response.
“Daddy?... What’s going to happen to all those people in the city?” Daisy asked in a tired voice and Merle sighed heavily, tensing up as he always did when he had to answer her questions that he deemed ‘soft’. “Well, er… the government bombed the hell outta them, sweetheart” he said in a raspy chuckle and looked down at her, seeing her frown deeply and his smile instantly dropped. He cleared his throat and thought over a good answer to her question “they’re-... I-I’m sure they’re alright, sweetheart, daddy was only joking” he said quickly and she shrugged lightly, continuing to stare at the dark city that should light up like a beacon of safety. “No, they’re dead, or worse… just like momma” she mumbled quietly and Merle studied you with a deep frown, a certain sadness tainted his eyes “yer mom’s probably alright, kiddo, yer never know, some of them folks in the city might’ve survived the bombs” he tried to cheer her up but she just shrugged once again “no, they didn’t” she said and turned around, going back to the fire and sitting down next to her uncle, Merle studying her for a few seconds before sighing heavily and walking over, joining them by the warm fire, despite how low the flames were.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Daryl hurried into the house, eyes scanning the house until he saw Daisy on the couch, eyes closed, and his heart nearly stopped but luckily Lori saw it “she’s alright, just tired. Rick and Shane said she ran all the way here with them while crying, not slowing down one bit, not even to catch her breath” she said quietly and Daryl couldn’t help but smirk and shake his head lightly, scanning her small form for any sign of injuries, but when he found none, he looked down and nodded “yeah, sounds like her” he mumbled quietly as he walked over, kneeling down and eventually sitting down on the floor next to her, his back against the couch so she’d see him when she woke up. “She’s brave, she offered to give some blood for Carl, so Rick wouldn’t have to give so much…” Lori continued and Daryl glanced at Lori before back at the wooden floor, softly nodding his head “yeah, girl got a lotta fight in ‘er…” he mumbled, his eyes glancing to Daisy’s sleeping form again and he couldn’t help his soft smile, his whole expression softening as he watched her. Lori smiled softly at the sight, perhaps they were wrong, perhaps at least one of the Dixons would be a good influence on Daisy, perhaps she really was better off with Daryl, though Lori hated to admit that she didn’t want the little girl to leave with him if Daryl decided to go off on his own.
Daisy’s eyes fluttered open and looked around, Daryl noticing and smiling softly at her “hey, ya awake, kiddo?” he asked softly and she whined quietly before sighing, sitting up and looking at Lori with hopeful eyes “Mrs. Grimes, is Carl okay?” she asked and Lori smiled softly and nodded “yeah, yeah he’s alright, he’s still asleep” she said and Daisy nodded hesitantly, looking down shyly “can I see him anyway?” she asked and Lori nodded, stretching her hand out “yeah, come on” she said and Daisy got up, hugging her uncle briefly, pretty much wrapping her arms around his head since he was sitting on the floor, and went with Lori, her small hand in hers. “Hey, Daisy, I’mma be outside, a’ight?” Daryl asked and Daisy nodded as she glanced over her shoulder at him. Daryl nodded and got up, watching Daisy enter the room, the door closing, and he walked outside, eyes surveying the area. Daisy walked over to Carl and frowned as her eyes scanned his pale body. She bent down and began to dig through her backpack that she had left in the room earlier, getting out Mr. Teddy and placing him on Carl’s chest, softly placing one of his hands over the teddy bear, “you can borrow him… just be okay… do you remember that deer? It was so beautiful… maybe one day we can see another one… maybe we can get closer, I think I would like that… just wake up, Carl… please, you can come too, when you’re better… we’ll go into the woods and look for another one...” Daisy muttered and Lori couldn’t help but cover her mouth with her hand to not let a small whimper disturb the sweet moment, her eyes watering as she frowned, looking at a tired Rick who was sleeping in the same chair he had been sitting in for an hour now. Lori looked back at Daisy and saw that she was sitting on another chair, the same one she had been sleeping in earlier, and was laying her head on the edge of the bed, eyes watching Carl for any sign of movement, vigilant of every shallow breath that her best friend took.
Daisy was tiredly sitting outside on the porch, eyes fighting to stay open, head resting against the pole she sat besides on the railing, a tiny yawn leaving her mouth as she tried to stay awake, Shane and Otis would be back soon with the medical supplies and Carl would get better, she wanted to be awake when he woke up again, she didn’t have time to tell him about how she wanted to find another deer they could both watch. She yawned once again when she heard the sound of tires screeching on the ground, her hazel eyes opening wide as she jumped off the railing and hurried inside “they’re here! They’re here! Shane and Otis are back!” she called and quickly ran back outside to see Shane limping with the supplies over his shoulder, eyes wide as the others rushed outside to get the supplies inside. “I knew you’d make it back!! I knew it!” she said with a big grin and grinned up at Hershel who wasn’t smiling, making her own smile drop “Mr. Greene?” she asked softly and he turned to her, forcing a smile “yes, you were right. Why don’t you go find the others and tell them we’re beginning now, it would help a lot” he said and Daisy nodded and ran off to where the others were beginning to set camp “they’re starting the surgery now” she announced and Dale nodded, waving her over “I found this hiding in the back of a car on the highway, what do you think?” he asked as he gave her a book that looked a bit battered but still in good condition. ‘Runaways: Vol. 1 Pride & Joy’ she grinned as she studied the front, her eyes moving back to Dale “can I give it to Carl? Please?” she asked and Dale nodded with a soft smile “of course” before he could finish his sentence she yelled a quick ‘thank you!’ and ran towards the house before anyone could stop her.
She sat on the porch steps with the book in her hands, pressed closely against her chest as she waited and waited, occasionally swaying a little as her eyes began to close, exhaustion tugging violently at her yet she stayed awake, always snapping out of it, only to fall right back into sleep. Though the second the door opened, she shot up, facing Hershel as he wiped his hands. “He seems to have stabiliz-”
“Can I see him? Can I give him this?” she asked eagerly yet with a frown on her face, Hershel giving her a soft smile before shaking his head “not right now, that’s for his momma and daddy, alright? Why don’t you sleep on the couch and you can give it to him in the morning? It’s way past your bedtime” he stated, turning to Maggie who gave Daisy a soft smile and guided her inside and to the couch, tucking her in and the second her head hit the pillow, she was out cold.
Daisy was sitting next to Carl when she heard heavy footsteps, turning to look at her uncle who had his hand raised, ready to knock, and she grinned, getting off the chair and running over to him, hugging his legs tightly. “Hey, listen, Daisy-”
“You’re going out to look for Sofia” she stated with a smile, Daryl studying her before nodding, making her nod in return “I’m gonna stay here and watch out for Carl, I’ll be on watch duty, I promise I’ll be good” she stated with a huge grin and he nodded, a hand gently running down her hair as he smiled a little. Just a little bit. “I know, you keep ‘n eye on him, a’ight? Do what Hershel ‘n the others say, I won’t be long” he stated and she nodded “Mr. Teddy will help keep watch” she stated with determination, as though informing that more troops would arrive to save the day on the battlefield, making Daryl smirk with amusement “damn right he will” he stated, ruffling her hair before leaving, Daisy walking back to sit next to Carl on the bed, pulling out her stuffed teddy bear and laying it next to Carl’s head, keeping an eye on him, just as she promised.
Daisy stormed into the room the second she saw him there, running towards the bed, already jumping up, mid-air when Rick caught her before she could land on Daryl, arms outstretched, expecting a hug until she was caught in the air like a bird that had just been snatched just as it’s feet had left the ground. “Easy, easy, he’s still being sewed up, you gotta be careful, sweetie” Rick stated softly as he placed her back to the ground, until Daryl slapped Hershel’s hands away the second he was done sewing him up “nah, fuck that” he muttered, reaching for Daisy and she ran to him, hugging him tightly as he hugged her. “You scared me” Daisy muttered as she hugged him tightly, Daryl wincing a little in pain but he ignored it, holding her as close as he could “shouldn’t be so easy to scare then” he muttered and she leaned away from him to slap his shoulder, a pout on her lips and he scoffed “you done?” he asked and she crossed her arms over her chest, looking down, still pouting, before nodding, making Daryl scoff “then what the hell‘re you still poutin’ for?” he asked and she smiled, this time hugging him much softer and Daryl sighed heavily, eyes closing and Rick smiled at the sight, until Daryl opened his eyes and saw it, glaring lightly at Rick “the hell’re you starin’ at?” he hissed and Rick couldn’t help but smile, looking down and raising his hands in surrender “nothin’” he muttered, looking up at Hershel who smiled at the scene.
Daisy jumped down from the bed before running around it to Hershel, hugging him tightly before stepping back “thank you, Mr. Greene” she stated in a sweet voice before walking around the bed to look at Daryl again, wincing at the wound on his head and then the one at his side, cringing a little at the sight. “What? You scared?” Daryl teased and she glared lightly at him “no!... Can I touch it?” she asked hesitantly and he shrugged “sure, if yer hands ain’t dirty.”
“But you’re dirty!”
“Then go on ‘n wash yer hands, stinky” he stated almost in a stern voice, scolding, but she just grinned and ran off, Hershel chuckling “it’s a sweet girl that you have” he complimented as he packed up, Daryl looking over his shoulder at him, almost glaring at him “she ain’t mine… she’s my brother’s” he admitted, Hershel just nodding “well, she’s a sweet little girl anyhow” he stated before leaving with Shane who waited outside with Lori, Rick nodding with a small smirk “he’s right. She’s doing well, in spite of all of this… she’s good at adapting” Rick complimented and Daryl scoffed, relaxing a little more as he laid on the bed “yeah, kinda had to… her momma was a junkie, got high with my brother and, well…” he trailed off, insinuating that the exchange led to the pregnancy, Rick nodding. “Momma was a bitch to her, kept calling her by her name even tho’ she knew she hated it… she even forgot her birthday, the day before all this shit went down” he added quietly before realizing he had just shared all of that with-... anyone in general, a scoff leaving him as he looked up at the ceiling “whatever” he grumbled, Rick staying silent before shaking his head “nah, not ‘whatever’” he stated and got up, leaving Daryl in the room just as Daisy returned, fingers clean as she ran up and got onto the bed, inspecting the wounds with a cringe. “Ew…” she muttered, Daryl scoffing at her “ew yerself” he fired back and she giggled, getting off the bed to smile at him and he almost smiled back “how’s Carl?”
“He’s not awake…”
“The hell’re you doin’ here then?” he asked with a frown and she frowned as well “thought you were supposed to take watch. You slackin’?” he asked and she hesitated before nodded, leaving the room, stopping at the doorway as he called to her. “Hey!... You doin’ good, a’ight? ‘M proud ‘f ya” he stated softly and despite not being able to roll over on his other side to look at her, he just knew she was smiling, he could hear a new skip to her step as she continued down the hall and down the stairs to Carl’s room.
Daisy practically stormed into the tent, nearly stumbling as she did and Daryl frowned at her “the hell?”
“Can I shoot??”
“What?”
“Can I sh-”
“Nah, I heard that bit” he muttered, forcing his numb body to sit up a little more “the hell you wanna shoot for?”
“Carl’s learning. Shane says he can teach me-”
“Nah. Shane ain’t teachin’ you nothin’” he muttered bitterly, laying back down and Daisy pouted “why not? I want to learn to protect the camp! I want to look for Sophia!”
“I said no-”
“Please?” she begged, Daryl looking at her again, studying her and her damn puppy eyes, sighing heavily as he let his head fall back down onto the pillow, groaning before looking back up at her “Rick’ll teach ya-”
“Thank you!”
“You better be careful! Or I’ll kick your ass if you ain’t!” he called out after her, hearing her shout ‘I love you’ as she ran off, Daryl smirking a little “love you, too” he muttered quietly to himself before laying his head back down on the pillow.
Daisy couldn’t help it as her tongue poked out a little bit at the right side of her mouth, one of her eyes squeezed shut as she held the revolver, arms outstretched and brows furrowed in deep concentration that made Lori smile with amusement. “Relax your arms” Rick advised, kneeling down next to her with a small smirk “there ya go, alright, now you relax as best you can and-” he was cut off as a shot rang out, the revolver smoking and when the smoke cleared, the oil can was long gone, laying somewhere with a bullet in it and Daisy gasped, eyes opening wide with a large grin on her face as she turned to Rick. “I did it!”
“Yeah, you did! Hey- woah, watch the gun” he warned with a chuckle as she moved to hug him, Daisy sheepishly retreating, putting the gun down in the grass before hugging him tightly, picking it back up and grinning at Carl “did you see that?”
“How are you so good with a gun already?” Carl whined, Lori and Rick about to tell him that he’d be good at it too when she walked over, standing right next to him, gesturing to him with one hand while the gun was in the other hand. “Show me how you are with it… see? Your arms are too stiff” she advised as though she’d done it a million times before, lifting her own gun, just like she had done before, and let Carl copy every aspect of her, eventually firing his gun and the bottle shattered, Carl and Daisy laughing and giggling before turning to Lori and Rick, both of whom looked utterly proud as the two children continued to almost advise each other, discussing what seemed like the best way to hold it, where it was most comfortable holding their fingers, if closing one eye was better than keeping both eyes open, but what Carl wanted to discuss the most was why the hell Daisy’s tongue was poking out the side of her mouth when she focused intently on something, to which she replied ‘it’s gotta be somewhere and it helps me focus’ and left it at that, Carl easily accepting the answer.
Daisy was quiet as she walked towards the stable, having seen her uncle stumble out shortly before and she peeked her head inside, spotting Carol as she appeared to be crying. “Mrs. Carol?” The small voice snapped the woman out of her tears, her eyes locked on Daisy as she approached “it’s okay, we’re gonna find Sophia” Daisy said softly, walking closer to her and Carol forced a smile “I know we are, sweetie…”
“Uncle Daryl’s going to find her, Rick too, and Shane! Carl and I want to go out there, too, but we’re not allowed” she pouted at the last part and Carol chuckled lightly “well, we have to have someone here protecting the farm, don’t we?” she asked, Daisy smiling a little “Carl and I shot a gun today! He was really good!”
“Yeah? What about you?”
“I was good too.”
“I bet. You miss any shots?”
“Only a few” she stated with a shrug and Carol nodded with a smile, “good, we’ll need all the protection we can get” she stated softly, placing a hand on Daisy’s brown-red auburn hair, stroking it softly as Daisy smiled up at her. “He doesn’t mean it when he’s mean, you know” she spoke suddenly, Carol frowning at her before smiling “I know…”
“He’s just scared… he doesn’t want anyone else to go missing…”
“I know…” she stated softly, Carol taking her hand before leading her out of the stables.
(Warnings: Ooooooooh boy! A lot of angst in this… like… a lot… there’s blood, gore, angst and some major angst later on, but it DOES somewhat end normally lol, enjoy!)
Daryl woke up with a wince, his head aching and spinning, his first thought being Judith, then Daisy, his eyes landing on the latter in the corner, tears staining her cheeks, eyes red and puffy, nose runny as she just stared at the floor, a vacant, empty look on her face, as though she wasn’t really there anymore. She was sitting next to a bed, holding the hand of someone and when he got up, he realized who it was… Victor was lying on the hospital bed, a massive scratch torn through and across his left eye, scraped down to the corner of his mouth, a large nasty, ragged gash that was barely covered by the bandages. At the very least the eye couldn’t be saved. “She doesn’t want to talk to anyone” Carol whispered softly, glancing over at Daisy before looking back at Daryl “just-... focus on Judith, okay? Daisy, she-... she wouldn’t even let me talk to her” she whispered, Daryl nodding with tears in his eyes “what-... what happened to ‘im?”
“Walker” Carol whispered, Daryl’s head snapping to look at her and she looked down with tears in her eyes before nodding, looking over her shoulder at Daisy and Victor again, the hollow look on Daisy’s face. “She’s refusing to leave his side…” she admitted in a whisper, looking back at Daryl “focus on Judith… she’s in bad shape…” Carol advised, a hint of pleading in her tone and Daryl nodded. Turning away from Daisy was one of the hardest things he’s ever done, if not the hardest… but going over to her right now wouldn’t do anything, wouldn’t do any good… she wanted to be left alone, Judith needed blood and he could give it to her. That he could do. That girl he could help, the other one… the other one he’d let mourn a bit before he interrupted…
She continued to just… sit there… She didn’t move, didn’t talk, barely blinked. Not even when he gave blood to Judith, not even when the others went to sweep the hospital and kill walkers, something she always did to clear her mind. She just… sat there… vacant and hollow, her bloody hand softly holding his while the other stroked his hair, brushing back the dark locks that had gotten much longer since she first met him.
“Hey…” Daryl tried but she didn’t even seem to register him, his heart breaking, tears forming in his eyes and he looked down at Judith, still holding the tube in place so his blood could help Judith, stop her from bleeding out. “Daisy… Delilah” he tried again, his voice breaking a little and he saw her head turn, barely an inch, in his direction, but she didn’t fully look at him, didn’t turn to face him. She just kept staring at Victor’s maimed face, occasionally the hand stroking his hair would rest over his forehead, as though she was checking his temperature before going back to stroking his hair.
When Judith woke up and kept mumbling about dying, he looked towards Daisy, seeing her with fresh tears streaming down her cheeks, her hand had stopped brushing Victor’s hair, instead clutching his hand with both of her own, eyes shut tightly as she looked down, trying to hardest not to cry, not to openly sob like she desperately wanted, and needed, to.
The second Carol burst in, talking about walkers breaching, Daisy just sat there, staring at Victor’s face, his shallow breathing. “Daisy, come on, we have to go-”
“Go” Daisy’s voice was… hollow… her eyes empty as she looked up at Carol “I won’t leave him and we can’t take him with us. It’s okay. Go-”
“Nah. Nah, ain’t no way we’re gonna leave ya” Daryl hissed almost angrily but she knew better, a smile forming on her lips as she looked at him “it’s okay… I promise… it’s okay” she whispered softly, looking towards Judith “get her out of here…” she muttered to herself before looking back at Victor “I’ll stay with him… So long as he’s still breathing… I’ll stay with him” she determined, sniffling quietly, leaning down so she rested her head on his stomach, looking up at his face.
“Delilah! I can’t-... I need you” Daryl growled, voice cracking and she straightened back up, looked up at him, looking at Judith and then back up at him “you can’t carry her… move her on the gurney” she advised before looking back at Victor. “Nah… Nah. You stay with ‘er” Daryl ordered, taking out the tube in his arm, hurrying to the exit, blocking it with a gurney from the outside, pulling over some shelves, looking through the window at a frowning Daisy and an unconscious Judith, placing his hand on the window before running off to help the others, Daisy’s heart racing and she looked between Victor and Judith, lower lip starting to tremble and she leaned over Victor, cupping his face in her hands… still not fever…
“I need you to wake up… I need you, Vic… I need you to wake up, I need you to be here, be with me, please” she whispered desperately, her own tears dropping and falling onto his cheeks and she sniffled, a strained sob leaving her “please, don’t leave me” she continued to beg, shaking her head, sobbing ‘please’ over and over again, as though it’d make a difference. When it didn’t, she openly sobbed, shutting her eyes tightly, clinging to his hand as she screamed, louder than she’d ever screamed before, her throat raw and burning as she sobbed out loud, unable to hold it in much longer.
When she felt a small clench of her hand, she flinched, eyes shooting open and she looked up at Victor, her breath ragged and shaky as she got up from the stool and cupped his face, being careful with his maimed side. “Vic? Victor? Say something… please… please” she whispered desperately, desperate to know that he was still… him….
“I-... love… you” the words were barely a whisper and she held her breath before letting it out, ragged and shaky and she couldn’t help but laugh, a grin on her lips as she leaned down and kissed him over and over again, her tears coating his face as she kept crying. “My… my face-”
“Don’t worry, you’re still handsome” she joked and he smirked but winced “don’t think you’ve ever called me that” he admitted in a raspy voice and she bit her lips together in a line to not laugh or smile too brightly “yeah? Well don’t get used to it” she whispered softly, kissing him again just as she heard glass break from down the hall, her head lifting and she instantly straightened up “can you walk?”
“Yeah-”
“Stay with Judith, okay? Just-... stay with Judith” she ordered softly, kissing him before he could get a chance to respond, or even sit up. She grabbed her knives and instantly ran out, managing to squeeze herself past the gurney, pushing it back into place just as the others were running towards her “we gotta move!” Daryl yelled and she nodded, shoving the gurney away while he pulled up the shelf, hurrying inside with her as she helped Victor stand up “can you walk? Can you stand?”
“Yeah what’s-”
“We have to go… NOW!” she stated desperately, quickly putting her knives away, making sure she had her bow, backpack and arrows before helping him to his feet while her uncle, Connie and Kelly pushed the gurney, Daryl in front of it and them and Daisy dragged Victor along with her. “Leave me-”
“I’m not fucking leaving you!” she hissed at him “now shut up and focus on walking instead of talking” she growled angrily, still pulling him with her.
Daryl watched them as she laid on the couch with Victor, Victor laying on his back on the couch with Daisy on top of him, like some kind of blanket. His bandages hadn’t even been changed by Tomi, no one dared to suggest it, not with how unpredictable Daisy was at the moment. Even one wrong question could make her think that something was wrong with Victor and she wasn’t able to take that. Not right now. Daisy was like a powder keg at the moment… one wrong subject… THE wrong subject… and she’d go off…
“How is he?” Carol asked Daryl quietly, Daryl shaking his head, looking down “haven’t asked… he don’t look too bad…” he muttered, looking up at Carol “you sure it was a walker?”
“Yeah… I’m sure. I killed it…” she admitted, tears in her eyes as she looked at Victor and Daisy “she won’t let anyone check his temperature or his bandages” Carol admitted, shaking her head as she looked down “I don’t know how she’ll take it when-” she cut herself off, unable to say the words.
“Can I have a word?” Tomi approached, Daryl and Carol instantly tense and worried “‘bout Jude?” Daryl asked with worry and Tomi hesitated but shook his head, looking over at Victor and Daisy, both dead asleep, before looking back at Daryl and Carol “is there somewhere we can talk?” he asked quietly and Daryl hesitated, looking towards Judith and Carol smiled “I’ll watch over her” she whispered, Daryl nodding, hesitantly leaving the room with Tomi, standing in an empty hallway. “So?” Daryl asked and Tomi hesitated before sighing, deciding to just spit it out “you need to talk to her. You have to convince her to let me assess the damage. From how severe the scratches are from what I can see, I need to assess it. Immediately…” Tomi whispered with desperation, Daryl looking over his shoulder at Daisy, still asleep on top of Victor, his hand resting on her back while the other hung over the side of the couch. Daryl nodded after a while, walking over to Daisy and Victor, gently shaking Daisy’s shoulder, watching her flinch as she woke up, lifting her head from Victor’s chest, eyes half closed, still filled with sleep. “Hm?”
“Daisy… we gotta talk… ‘bout Victor” he muttered, Daisy frowning at him before sitting up “he’s fine-”
“Nah, he ain’t… Daisy, Tomi needs to check him-”
“No-”
“Delilah… if you want him to survive, you need to let Tomi do his job” Daryl argued softly and carefully, Daisy looking up at him, looking past him at Tomi who was waiting with a sympathetic look on his face and she clenched her jaw, thinking about it before moving off of him, Victor waking up instantly, frowning, jaw clenched in pain “what-”
“Tomi needs to look at your eye” Daisy muttered, helping Victor sit up and he nodded hesitantly, sitting up straight and Tomi took Daryl’s place, sitting down on the low coffee table in front of the couch. Tomi reached out and carefully undid the bandages Daisy had hastily slapped on him a few hours ago, putting them aside, his eyes instantly on the left side of Victor’s face, Victor’s head a little low and Tomi inched closer “can you look at me?” he asked, Victor hesitating before doing as told, Tomi inching a little closer again, carefully inspecting the injury, the pads of his fingers carefully and gently testing around the wound itself, feeling for heat or any unseen damages, all while inspecting the eye, carefully moving to the eyelid that was partially hanging over the damaged eye. “Let me know if it hurts and I have to stop” Tomi ordered gently, carefully holding Victor by his jaw while the other hand carefully and gently tried to lift up the hanging upper eyelid, his jaw tensing subtly at what he saw, Daisy looking away so she wouldn’t see it. Tomi carefully let go of the eyelid, letting it fall back into place, his hand still on Victor’s jaw to hold his head still, Tomi taking note of every wince, every clench of his fists when he examined the eye socket, trying to be as gentle as possible. After a while he sighed softly, carefully letting go of Victor and leaning back a little, hesitating before speaking. He knew Victor could handle it, and technically so could Daisy, but the question was more on how to phrase it so he didn’t end up decapitated.
“Victor… I’m not gonna lie to you, the eye is badly damaged… I can treat it, but-...” Tomi cut himself off, sighing lightly, looking down with regret before looking back up at Victor “you’re gonna be fine, but… I can’t save the eye, I’m sorry…” he admitted gently. “What do you mean you can’t-” Victor cut himself off, jaw clenched tightly, breathing heavy and shaky and he looked down, fists clenched and Tomi sighed softly “I’m sorry, Vic…” he shook his head a little, unsure of what to say. “What now?” Victor asked through gritted teeth, looking up at Tomi and he could see the pure rage that was in Victor’s eyes, the anger, the grief, the regret…
“Well… first I’ll need to clean it properly to prevent it from getting infected… if we leave the eye like this… it could cause sympathetic ophthalmia, meaning that it could cause blindness in your remaining eye…” Tomi explained softly, Victor hesitating, looking at Daisy, his jaw still clenched in anger but he nodded, making Tomi nod as well. “Come on” Tomi urged softly, getting up and walking to where most of the medical equipment was, Victor and Daisy walking after him, Tomi placing Victor on a chair, sitting down on another chair after getting his things. “Ezekiel, prepare a needle and thread. Disinfect an 11 blade” he ordered, leaning a little closer, looking up at Daisy and Daryl “hold him, please” he asked, Daisy and Daryl exchanging a slightly worried look but they did as told, holding onto Victor, a shoulder each. Tomi then gave Victor some folded and rolled up bundles of cloth, Victor taking it with a pained frown and he sighed “bite down on it, it’ll help” he stated, Victor letting out a nervous breath before nodding to himself, putting the fabric in his mouth and biting down. “Now, I want you to sit as still as possible for me, alright?” he asked, picking up some clean gauze “alright, this might hurt a bit” Tomi warned before going in, carefully and gently cleaning the gnarly scratches, somehow able to work fast without being sloppy or too rough, knowing that Victor probably just wanted this to be over with as soon as possible. Once the area was clean, Tomi sighed with a frown “this is the worst part… hold him steady, it’s important that he doesn’t move an inch” he ordered softly and Daisy and Daryl both held Victor more firmly, Daisy’s jaw clenched, set tight and Daryl saw it, saw the way she was barely holding herself together.
“Alright, take a deep breath” Tomi instructed, Victor doing as told, letting it out slowly and Tomi moved closer, picking up the scalpel, Ezekiel walking over, helping hold Victor’s head. “Help me with his eye” Tomi ordered, Ezekiel using a hand to gently lift the upper eyelid. It could’ve been much worse, it could be torn like the lower eyelid but it wasn’t. It had a nasty scratch, but no tear, nothing that would need repairing. The second Ezekiel touched and lifted the upper eyelid, Victor flinched, biting down hard on the cloth between his teeth. Tomi picked up a small flashlight, turning it on and putting it in his mouth to have free hands, carefully inspecting the damaged globe. Thankfully it wasn’t as bad as he thought. The globe was detached completely from the torn lower lid. Tomi reached over, carefully steadying his hand against the skin and lids around the eye, spreading it open just a bit more, trying to be as gentle as possible, keeping an eye on the torn lower lid to make sure that it didn’t get pulled on. His eyes glanced up at Ezekiel who gave him a brief nod and Tomi nodded in return.
He carefully lifted the damaged globe with the tip of his scalpel, being careful not to cut or poke anything. He could feel where the tension was through the scalpel, feel where the resistance was and how much there was. He glanced up at Daisy before looking back at Victor and his eye, the tip of his scalpel slowly cutting a miniature inch of tissue to separate the eye, his free hand steadying the area around the eye, Victor’s fists clenching at his sides, sweat starting to form on his forehead with each cut, each tiny damaged tissue cut to free the damaged globe, the whole process agonizingly slow, Victor’s harsh pants through the cloth in his mouth making Daisy shut her eyes tightly, feeling the sting of tears starting to form, but she still held him. She didn’t let go, her grip didn’t loosen.
There was a brief moment where Tomi’s scalpel was away from Victor’s eye, merely to move to another spot but suddenly Victor’s hand flew up, gripping Daisy’s left hand, his fingers locked around it, feeling the edge of the rose ring on her finger and she immediately shifted to hold his hand, leaning down to him, her forehead against the side of his head, a normal tear rolling down from the undamaged eye while the other one… it was like an uneven welling of fluid… gathering at the inner corner of his injured eye before spilling over, a thin line running down his cheek while the other eye was clouded with tears. Daisy looked at Tomi and gave him a nod to continue before shutting her eyes tightly, staying close, letting him clutch her hand to bruises, her forehead against the side of his head, jaw clenched in a desperate attempt not to break down and cry like she so desperately felt like.
Tomi went back to cutting, making tiny controlled cuts where the tissue didn’t separate on its own, checking after each small separation. He leaned back and took out the flashlight from his mouth “this is the bad part. It’ll hurt like hell” he warned and Victor looked up at Daisy who looked back down at him, her eyes locked with his good one and she nodded, making him look back at Tomi and nod as well, Tomi putting the flashlight back into his mouth, leaning back again. He shifted the globe a little, trying to see where it still resisted, where it stopped, which direction it wouldn’t move in. Once he’d done that, he nodded to himself, his steady hand using the scalpel tip as a guide, not a cutter, tracing along the area where the tension was, gently nudging to confirm the exact point, Victor’s teeth biting down so hard on the cloth that Daisy worried he might actually bite through it somehow…
Tomi looked up at Ezekiel, getting a nod in return and Tomi inched closer, somehow able to get an inch closer, steadying the socket area, bracing it and Victor’s heart was racing, chest lifting and falling heavily, Daisy clutching his hand tightly in response, almost as though trying to say ‘I got you’.
He placed the scalpel exactly where he wanted it, checking a final time, making sure he was in the right place, Daisy shutting her eyes tightly, unable to look as Tomi made a small deliberate motion, hearing Victor groan in pain through the cloth, clutching her hand so tightly that she knew she’d have bruises later. Tomi felt the tension give way, Victor’s body shaking a little. Tomi checked behind the now detached eye, making sure the socket stayed stable, that nothing collapsed inward, that it stayed open. He carefully removed the eye, placing it on a clean cloth next to him, Victor letting out a muffled yell of pain, collapsing into Daisy and she caught him, the movement causing Ezekiel to let go of Victor’s head and eyelid, Daisy holding him as he clung to her, panting and sweating from the strain and pain. Tomi had taken the flashlight out of his mouth, quickly checking on a very pale and sweating Victor. “Vic? Victor? I need you to look at me” he urged, Victor lifting his head to look at him and sat up straight again, Tomi immediately using some clean gauze to keep a gentle pressure, keeping the area supported, Victor’s face scrunched up in pain. “I need you to stay with me, Vic” Tomi instructed, using his free hand to wipe some of the blood and sweat from Victor’s face, a clean cloth in his hand to catch it…
“Ezekiel, I need you to hold and keep the pressure” Tomi ordered, Ezekiel nodding, taking over holding the gauze to keep the socket area stabilized. Tomi cleaned around the outside of the eye before using his fingers to gently and carefully align the torn edges of the lower eyelid, checking to see if the tear would be clean enough to close, nodding to himself after assessing it. He threaded a needle and looked up at Daryl and Daisy “hold him, this’ll hurt” he admitted, Daisy wrapping an arm around Victor, her forehead still against the side of his head, his grip on her tight, his breath shaky. “Are you ready?” Tomi asked, Victor hesitating before nodding, biting even harder down on the cloth in his mouth and Tomi moved in closer, starting to carefully repair the damage, stitching it with small, shallow stitches along the torn skin, closing the gap, being carefully not to pull too tight, reinforcing the repair and immediately placing a clean gauze over the area.
“Keep him upright” Tomi ordered as he leaned away and put down the needle and rest of the thread, Victor’s good eye barely open, his breath shaky, skin pale and sweaty as he leaned against Daisy who held him up. Daryl gave Tomi some bandages, now that he didn’t have to hold Victor still, since Daisy was doing that already. Tomi began to bandage the area, being careful not to upset the sensitive and damaged areas any further, tying the bandages and making sure they’d hold “don’t let him touch the bandages and if the stitches pull, tell me” Tomi ordered, looking up at Ezekiel “he needs water” he ordered, Ezekiel nodding, giving Daisy’s shoulder a comforting squeeze as he passed her by to get the water, Daisy carefully taking the cloth out of Victor’s mouth now that the worst was over with. Victor was still sweating and shaking a little, his breathing alternating between shallow or heavy breaths, his eye barely open, his head almost hanging if it wasn’t for Daisy holding it up. Ezekiel returned with the water and Daisy immediately took it, turning to Victor. “Vic… Vic” she whispered softly, Victor forcing his eye open to look at her, a dizzy smile forming on his lips when he looked at her “hey” he murmured raspily and she sighed softly, trying not to break down crying at the complete lovestruck look in his eyes when he looked at her, “drink, come on” she whispered, putting the bottle to his lips after unscrewing the lid, Victor’s eye moved to the bottle before looking back up at her, letting her put the bottle to his lips, helping him drink some of it.
Tomi looked up at Daryl, subtly nodding him away from Daisy and Victor, Daryl frowning, watching Tomi get up and turn to Ezekiel “keep an eye on him” he whispered, Ezekiel nodding, sitting down on a chair near Daisy and Victor. Tomi stepped away and Daryl stepped with him, Tomi hesitating and Daryl frowned “what?...” he asked, Tomi looking back at Daisy and Victor. “How long have they….?”
“A few years now…”
“And-... have they…?”
“Have they what?” Daryl asked sharply with brewing annoyance and Tomi sighed and hesitated, thinking before finding the ‘right’ words “have they been intimate-”
“Jesus” Daryl growled in disgust, stepping back and Tomi sighed “I’m only asking because-... Daisy can infect others but not just through scratches or bites” Tomi hastily stated in a whisper “what’re you talking ‘bout-”
“Daryl, if she’s been intimate with him, if she’s done-... more than a quick peck on the lips-” Tomi stopped himself, stepping closer to Daryl “Daryl… he should be infected” Tomi whispered, Daryl frowning with utter confusion “what? He ain’t been bit or scratched ‘till now-”
“Exactly! But if he’s been intimate with her, he should have a fever, he should show every single symptom of the infection even if it was days ago…”
“But he ain’t…”
“Exactly” Tomi stated with a grin, realisation dawning on Daryl, his heart starting to race and he looked over at Victor and Daisy, their hands interlocked tightly but Daisy was practically vibrating with fury, with utter rage and spite, her jaw clenched tightly in an attempt to control herself.
“So… you’re saying… Vic’s like… her?” Daryl asked quietly, just to be sure he understood and Tomi nodded “always asymptomatic even when the dormant virus is triggered and activated, yes” Tomi admitted, a smile on his lips “do you understand what I’m saying? For these two people to meet, it’s-... The odds that two such people meet are about 0.04 to 0.09%... it’s roughly 1 in 2,500 to 1 in 1,000… if that doesn’t make you believe in fate,” Tomi stated, looking towards Daisy and Victor “I don’t know what will” he muttered with a faint smile. Daryl looked back at Daisy, his gaze softening as he looked at her and Victor. It was obvious that she wanted nothing more than to skin Pamela alive right now, and yet she stayed with Victor, holding his hand, her thumb gently skimming over his knuckles which she probably wasn’t even aware of… he was proud of her… proud that she stayed by Victor’s side instead of going off to get revenge, proof that she’d made it this far, that she’d become the woman she was now, capable and loyal. Sure, maybe slightly psychotic, depending on who you ask. Certainly volatile. But loyal, fair, capable, competent and compassionate, despite what she might think.
Being woken in the middle of the night was never fun. Being woken in the middle of the night and dragged outside where it was snowing was even worse. But being dragged outside at night in the snow and seeing Negan standing in front of the windmill that was splattered with old dry blood and bullet holes was even worse, her eyes widening, heart racing and actual tears formed in her eyes, every word the Warden said like muffled whispers to her, her eyes locked on Negan and he looked at her, blood around his mouth that was without a doubt from some kind of beating, a small content accepting smirk on his lips as he mouthed ‘it’s okay’ to her.
Suddenly Annie tried to run for him, guards catching her, Negan trying to calm her, shushing her, telling her it was okay while she sobbed and he was forced to his knees. Her entire body was shaking, her eyes wide, tears trailing down her cheeks from never-ending pools in her eyes, no matter how many tears rolled down her cheeks, her vision was still blurry, her body still shaking with shock and anger…
As soldiers began to line up in front of him she couldn’t help but let out a whimper, her lower lip trembling and all that rage, all that anger she felt, it was like it was syphoned, shelved for another time so all she could feel this moment was utter horror… until suddenly the Warden grabbed Annie instead, hauling her over to Negan, forcing her to her knees next to him and Daisy began to struggle against the two soldiers holding her by her arms. As Ezekiel stepped forward, she felt their hold loosen a little and she used it, turning enough so she could kick one guard between the legs and she used the other guard’s hold on her to pull him forward, getting free from both, grabbing the one she hadn’t kicked to bite between his armor and helmet, making sure she tasted blood before letting go, running to stand in front of Annie, her eyes scanning the soldiers until she saw Miles… his rifle aimed at her, eyes wide and hands shaking and she let out a shaky breath that could be seen in the cold “you kill him, you kill her and her baby, and you kill me” she stated while she looked straight at him, tears staining her cheeks, a trail of blood running down the corner of her mouth as others moved to stand with them, Daisy standing right in front of Annie and she looked over her shoulder, smiling down at her and then looking at Negan who looked up at her, tears in his eyes while Ezekiel talked and Negan gave her a subtle nod of thanks, Daisy giving him a soft smile, looking ahead as the soldiers raised their rifles again, Ezekiel still talking and she closed her eyes. If this was it, she was okay with that. Enough people were between those soldiers and Annie, maybe Negan too. She’d be okay with that… she actually smiled when a shot rang out but when she felt nothing she opened her eyes, just in time for the Warden to grab her, a gun to her head as he backed up and the first one to aim their rifle at him were Miles, tears in his eyes, hands shaking as Miles stepped closer “let her go” he ordered, voice a little shaky, the Warden still backing up with her until suddenly they both stopped, the Warden going stiff as the sound of a knife cutting something was heard and he dropped to the ground barely half a second after, releasing his hold on Daisy and she spun around quickly to see-
She barely hesitated before throwing herself at him, eyes wide in shock and she was shaking again. Not from cold, not from fear, not from anger. Relief. Pure and utter relief as she clung to him, Kelly hugging her sister but Daisy still clung to him, tears running down her cheeks freely and she couldn’t help the sob she let out into his shoulder, feeling his arms tightening around her “‘m here, it’s okay, ‘m here” he whispered gruffly and she leaned back to look up at him, his hands cupping her face, pushing her hair out of her face to see her better “told you, ‘m always gonna find ya” Daryl muttered and she threw herself at him again, clinging to him even tighter than before as another sob tore through her. And another. And another and pretty soon she was sobbing as he held her, his hand smoothing down her hair softly and soothingly. “‘m always gonna find ya, a’ight? Always” Daryl muttered to her “you didn’t forget that, did ya?” he asked half-jokingly and she shook her head “you took your damn time” she whimpered and he nodded, holding her closer “I know.. had to pick up someone along the way” he muttered and Daisy leaned back and let go of him as he stepped back from her, revealing the person behind him that she hadn’t seen and her knees nearly buckled. She wasn’t sure what kind of sound she let out, something between a mix of a gasp of relief and a cry, whatever it was it rung out in the cold air as Victor ran to her so fast that he almost barrelled into her, picking her up in the process, her feet leaving the ground as she hugged him, her eyes shut tightly as she clung to him until he put her down. The second he did, she leaned back, grabbed him by his jacket collar and pulled him down into a kiss, her lips desperate against his and he eagerly kissed her back with just as much desperation, Daryl wincing slightly at the sight of his niece, whom he raised as his own daughter, basically making out with someone in front of him.
She leaned back once the need for air became too much, panting for breath as she cupped his face, kissing his lips over and over and over again in a thousand brief kisses before hugging him tightly again, Victor kissing the side of her head before hugging her back just as tightly.
She felt someone poke her shoulder and when she turned she saw Connie, giving her a soft smile. “What? I’m invisible now?” she signed and Daisy let out a brief laugh through her tears, pulling Connie into a tight hug that she eagerly returned, Daisy parting from her to look at Victor, wrapping her arms around him again, this time softer but just as tight and desperate as before. She took a deep breath and everything in her began to relax, she never knew she liked the smell of sweat and dirt so much, not until she smelled it on him, not until this moment right here. Everything else seemed to narrow in to just right now, the feeling of him against her, his warmth, that god-awful smell not even a dozen showers could wash out, the way his arms felt around her, how safe she felt in them… All of it was cut short by Rosita as she screamed at Negan, Daisy opening her eyes, turning to see Negan about to crush the Warden’s head with a rock, Rosita stopping him, beginning to question the Warden, trying to find Coco’s location and Daisy frowned, looking at her uncle “the kids??...”
“We thought they’d be here” he admitted quietly and Daisy’s eyes teared up, her heart starting to race again and she looked up at Victor who shook his head, cupping her face “we’ll find them. You know we will” he whispered, kissing her forehead before holding her close against him, both of them oblivious to the teary-eyed gaze that Miles was giving their whole interaction. Rosita walked over to Daisy, grabbing her by her hand and pulling her closer to the Warden who was bleeding on the ground “bite him!” she ordered desperately and Daisy looked at her, studying her before looking past her at the shot guard who was now a walker, getting up and her face hardened. She walked over, grabbing the walker and Rosita moved out of the way, Daisy kneeling down with the snapping walker, hovering just above the Warden’s face “talk!” she ordered, teeth gritted as he just smiled, his eyes moving to Rosita “you will lose everything” he stated casually, a smirk on his lips and Daisy looked up at Rosita, the anger and horror on her face, and she looked back at the Warden, shoving the walker down onto him, the walker immediately going for his eye, chewing and tearing on it, the Warden screaming out in pain while Daisy just stood up and backed up a bit, her eyes meeting Miles’, his eyes wide in shock and she narrowed her eyes at him, as though asking him why he was so shocked but she didn’t say anything, instead she turned and walked back to Victor and her uncle, a look of rage on her face “Pamela is going to suffer” she stated firmly, looking over her shoulder at the Warden as he was still screaming, a spiteful look on her face as she looked at Rosita, their eyes locking “we’ll find Coco, we’ll get everyone, and we’ll make her pay” she stated more softly but nevertheless firmly, looking up at Victor, taking his hand “all of us are going to make her pay” she stated under her breath as she looked over at Negan and Annie before leaving, walking off, Victor looking around before following after her as she headed for where she knew they’d kept their weapons.
------------------------------
Daisy was quiet as she packed, her heart racing since she first woke up, every thought stuck on… well… everything, really. Everything from the way the children were taken, from how she was tied up, from how everyone was treated… She was so lost in her own head that she flinched when someone touched her hips, ready to throw her elbow up but whoever it was caught it, making her turn to see Victor, a soft smile on his lips as she turned to face him fully “I’ve asked you not to do that” she muttered with what could be mistaken as annoyance, Victor shrugging lightly, his hands returning to her hips “it’d be worth it… So, have you figured out the ring yet?” he asked with a smirk and she frowned at him, making his smirk grow. He picked up the hand with her ring, glancing up at her with mischief before looking down at her ring, placing a finger on top of the rose. “You push down here,” he began, pushing down on the rose and she frowned as he carefully pulled it off, revealing a sharp tiny knife’s tip hidden under the rose. Not big enough to do serious damage but certainly enough to cut through something like rope or maybe even zip ties, if one had the patience for it. “Voilà” he stated, his smirk showing off those dimples she loved and she couldn’t help but smirk a bit as she watched while he put the rose top back over the tiny blade, pressing down and she heard the faintest *click* as it was stuck on top again, once again seeming like an innocent ring and she couldn’t help but laugh a bit, looking up at him with obvious joy, and amusement. She sighed softly, leaning up and kissing him gently before leaning back down “thank you” she stated softly, Victor smiling softly at her “you didn’t wake me” he stated calmly and her smile fell a bit and she turned around to continue packing “that’s because you’re staying” she stated casually in a light tone, her heart starting to race even more when she heard him sigh and sit on the bed they’d shared for the night “that’s not your decision to make” he stated after a while and she halted, hesitating before turning around to face him “you’re staying. I can’t-” she cut herself off, looking off to the side, closing her eyes briefly before looking back at him “I can’t do what I need to do when you’re there… I can’t-... be who I need to be with you there” she admitted sharply, Victor frowning at her “and who would that be?” he asked, Daisy hesitating, a few tears forming in her eyes but she tried to blink them away, looking away from him “you said you saw the good in me… I don’t want to-”
“To what? ‘Taint’ it? Daisy, nothing you’re going to do or say will scare me off” he stated, standing up again, approaching her “I’m coming with you. You can’t stop me and besides, I know you want me there with you!”
“I don’t!”
“Yes, you do-”
“Victor, aside from my family’s kids, you are the only pure thing in my life… but I would kill for these kids. I would happily torture people if it meant getting Coco back!... And-... I can’t… hurt people to get to know what I need to know, to get to where I need to be, with you there, and I might have to” she snapped and he sighed, cupping her face in his hands and she moved her face out of his grip but he insisted, making sure she was looking up at him “they took the kids. They have them, okay? You really think I’m just going to let that go? I love you. I love you, okay? And you’re not going to push me away… I won’t let you” he stated firmly and she looked up at him with a frown, tears starting to build back up in her eyes “you can’t-”
“I can. You say you might need to torture someone but I know you… you’re a good person and maybe once that wouldn’t have been enough but it is for me” he stated more softly “I love you, Delilah, I love you more than I could ever hope to tell you! You think that seeing you love someone so much that you’re willing to do anything to get them back is a problem for me? Fuck no! One of the many things I love about you is that exact thing! So I’m going with you, you can’t stop me and I know you won’t, even if you say you will” he stated, kissing her before letting go of her “I’ll see you out by the bus” he stated, moving to pack his own things, Daisy watching him with tears in her eyes, her heart racing, breath ragged and she hesitated before walking over to him, turning him around and the second he faced her, she leaned up and kissed him, hard, her arms wrapping around him to hold him close as he eagerly kissed her back. At some point her back landed on the bed with Victor hovering over her, his lips still locked with hers and his hand touched her thigh, she almost waited for the repulsed feeling she usually got but… nothing… Victor quickly drew back, removing his hand “shit, sorry, I-” she cut him off by pulling him back down into the kiss with one hand and placed his other hand back on her thigh, heat stirring in her, setting every nerve alight with a spreading wildfire, her skin tingling and she felt desperate in a way she never had before… It was like a yearning, like a hunger… She was hungry for his lips, hungry for the way his hand felt on her thigh, hungry for the way he seemed to be starving for her as well… She’d never felt like this before… It was exhilarating, her heart racing and soon she felt his lips move down to her neck, her eyes closing in bliss, her breath ragged and heavy, his lips reaching her collarbone, his hand moving up to her shirt-
“Daisy, you ready- OH COME ON!” Daryl groaned loudly, backing up and shielding his eyes, Daisy and Victor both jumping apart like two cats who’d spotted a cucumber, her eyes wide as she scrambled to stand up “uncle Daryl?!”
“You decent??”
“Yeah” Daisy sputtered out and Daryl removed his hand and walked back into the room, glaring daggers at Victor “the hell?! What the hell do you think you’re doin’?!” he yelled and Daisy sighed, her cheeks beet red “calm down, uncle Daryl-”
“Calm down?? I just walked in on him tryin’ to shack my little girl!” Daryl yelled angrily and Daisy sighed “I’m 21!! I can make-out with my fiancé!”
“Nah” Daryl began, Daisy sighing heavily, turning to a mortified Victor “I’ll see you outside” she stated casually, grabbing her bag and weapons and moving towards the door, trying to push her uncle out with her “uncle Daryl, come on-”
“You ‘n I, we’re gonna talk” Daryl growled as he pointed at Victor while being dragged out by Daisy, Daisy not letting go of him until they were outside the house, watching him pace a bit after she let go. “Uncle Daryl-”
“What the hell are you thinkin’?”
“I’m thinking that I love him, he loves me, I’m marrying him and that for once in YEARS I don’t hate my own skin” she hissed, shaking her head at him with a frown “I love him… you have to accept that. I love him. I’m marrying him. He’s going to be around for a while” she stated with bitter amusement at her last comment before walking off the porch and towards the bus, passing by Maggie.
“Hey pie-” Maggie stopped as Daisy just stormed past her, Maggie frowning, approaching a still agitated Daryl “what’d you do?”
“What? Why’d you think it was me?”
“What’d you say?”
“Nothin’! I caught Vic trying to-” he couldn’t even finish the sentence, shaking his head and Maggie scoffed “you do know that she’s 21, right?”
“Don’t remind me” he muttered under his breath, still pacing a little and Maggie chuckled, smiling at him, making him stop pacing and frown at her “what? Whatchu smilin’ for?” he asked and Maggie shrugged “you love her. You raised her. You’re her dad in every single way that counts, but you’ve got to let her grow up… she’s not a kid anymore. She loves Victor, and she wouldn’t just fall for anybody, you taught her better than that” Maggie pointed out “let her grow up, let her be who she is. She’ll always be your little girl, that’ll never change, but that doesn’t mean that she’s still a kid. She’s an adult, as much as it pains us both to admit it” she stated the last part with amusement, Daryl looking down, letting out a gruff sound to convey his dislike for the whole notion of Daisy being grown up and doing… grown things….
“Come on, let’s get ready, Vic ain’t gonna come outta the house with you guarding the door like a bloodhound” she teased, leading him away from the door and true enough, barely half a minute passed before Victor emerged like a skittish little ferret.
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Daisy’s entire world stopped the second Judith fell to the floor, her feet already moving as she sprinted towards her uncle, Maggie and an unconscious Judith, tears covering her vision as she fell to her knees “Judith?? Jude?? Come on, sweetie. Open those eyes, come on” Daisy pleaded, tears starting to roll down her cheeks, her uncle shouting something and she raised her head, looking up to see who had pulled the trigger and her jaw clenched, tears still clouding her vision as she felt her entire body shake. Her heart racing furiously, beating like a war drum in her chest as she stood up and aimed her rifle, squeezing the trigger, three of Pamela’s men dropping dead when suddenly someone grabbed her, dragging her back while she still fired the rifle, trying to hit whoever, screaming and yelling and struggling, someone eventually taking the rifle from her as she was pressed up against a tiled wall, her eyes finally looking at whoever had dragged her, seeing Victor close in front of her, hiding behind the cover with her, her eyes moving to Judith as Daryl shot something red that Ezekiel had thrown, the entire room suddenly engulfed in some kind of misty powder, obscuring everything except what was directly in front of you.
“Delilah-!”
“I’m okay! Judith?”
“Let’s get her the hell outta here!” he shouted and Daisy nodded, trying to take a deep breath but the smoke, or whatever it was, caught in her lungs, making her cough and Victor put his gun away, grabbing her arm as he pulled her towards the sounds of the others, the two of them soon making it outside, Victor immediately pulling Daisy aside, both of them coughing and Daisy looked up, spotting Eugene. “Eugene?!”
“Miss Delilah, what an unexpected convergence of paths. I admit that I wasn’t sure if we’d ever meet again but-” he was cut off as she threw herself at him, hugging him tightly, shutting her eyes so tightly that a few tears actually ran down her cheeks, but before he could hug her back after coming out of his ‘stunned possum’ like stance, she’d already backed off, hurriedly following after her uncle who was carrying Judith, Victor patting Eugene on the shoulder “she missed you” he stated with a smirk that showed off those wonderful dimples before following after Daisy and the others.
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Daisy flinched when she felt hands touch her shoulder, her hand gripping her knife even harder as she was pulled away, spinning around to see who’d pulled her, seeing Victor as he smiled at her, those dimples showing “got a bit too close” he stated as his reason after killing the walker she’d been trying to get at, her heart jumping with relief and she smiled briefly before turning around, following after the others and her uncle, instantly running towards Carol to help clear a path to the alley so her uncle and Judith could pass through, Victor instantly joining her, using both gun and knife and the second her uncle slipped through, she felt someone push her after him, turning around to see Victor “go!! We got this!” he shouted and she hesitated, tears in her eyes but he gave her that smile, that smile that showed off his dimples that he knew she loved and she nodded, throat dry as she ran after her uncle and Judith, quickly catching up with them.
She’d always been faster.
She’d always been faster and he would be okay. Judith would be okay.
Everything would be okay…
He’d be okay. It wasn’t the end of the world… she’d see him again and he’d tell her to stop worrying, that he had it under control…
It wasn’t the end of the world, and everything would be okay.
(Warnings: angst, captivity vibes, Daisy being terrifyingly smart, soft‑boy guard energy(who does not deserve Daisy making him believe she likes him, I will admit that), a sprinkle of manipulation, a dash of needle anxiety, and a whole lot of tension. Sorry lovelies, this one’s a ride<3)
Daisy glared at the guard as he approached her with a metal plate of something that looked like baby vomit, kneeling down. “Here,” he stated, putting the food on the ground next to her before reaching over, pulling her gag out of her mouth and she wished more than anything that she could bite him, if it wasn’t for those damn armored gloves that came with that stupid Commonwealth armor, “eat” he ordered, picking the plate back up and offering it to her tied hands, her eyes studying it, her mind racing and she looked up at him, intentionally softening her gaze even though she wanted nothing more than to spit in his face. “Thanks” she muttered, her voice quiet and low and she reached for the plate with her tied hands, intentionally awkwardly struggling with it and the spoon and he frowned at her, looking around before sighing, pulling the plate and spoon away. “Come on” he muttered, helping her move to sit with her legs crossed instead of pulled up against her chest, placing the plate on the ground so she could use her tied hands to hold the spoon instead of balancing both. Daisy smiled softly at him “thanks…” she muttered again, taking the spoon with one hand, the other tied hand forced to follow and she leaned down, eating a spoonful of the baby vomit.
She ate quietly until the guy frowned at her “so… what’d you do?”
“Hm?” she looked up at him, eyes intentionally big and curious and she saw the way he eased up a little “you’re designated ED… category five…”
“I-... don’t know what that means” she admitted softly, continuing to eat as the guard studied her “ED means ‘Extremely Dangerous’...” he stated and she halted, spoon halfway to her mouth and she couldn’t help but smirk in slight amusement, thankful that he couldn’t see it with her head lowered to the spoon and she continued eating, forcing the smirk off her lips before looking up at him with innocent eyes again “and… the category?” she asked softly, innocently, sweetly even.
She hated every bit of it.
“Catagory five means extremely dangerous and lethal, it means they’re to be kept under guard 24/7...” the guard revealed and she looked off to the side, as though considering it before looking back at him “and.. the others? Are there other categories?” she asked innocently and he shrugged, getting more comfortable, still kneeling while she was sitting on the ground. “Yeah, there’s the other four categories and then there’s category six” he admitted casually, his casual tone and relaxing stance making her heart race a little, a small feeling of victory bubbling in her chest at this. “So… what is category six?” she asked innocently, continuing to eat the baby vomit food as though it was regular oatmeal. “Well, it’s for those who are extremely dangerous and too dangerous to be kept alive” he stated and she nodded innocently. Of course she was happy that she wasn’t sent straight to execution but she couldn’t help but be a bit bitter. She was only a five?? Seriously?? She wanted to huff and scoff to display her annoyance but she refrained from doing it.
She finished her food timidly, looking up at him, a soft almost shy look on her face as she caught his gaze before intentionally avoiding it “what’s gonna happen to me?” she asked softly, looking towards the others on their food break “why am I not cleaning up with them?”
“Someone in sorting screwed up,” the soldier stated with a shrug “you’re supposed to be designation two” he added casually and she nodded “so… what does that mean?” she asked innocently, looking back up at him “designation two?” she clarified, the soldier opening his mouth to respond when the other guard approached “Miles! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he snapped and the second the guard she’d been talking with, Miles, stood up and looked away from her, her sweet soft look was gone, replaced by a glare and ice cold fury as she looked up at the other guard that had approached.
“I was just-”
“Jesus fucking Christ, Miles. She’s designated ED and on top of that she’s category five and you’re chatting with her? Seriously?!”
“I-... I was just-”
“Go walk the perimeter, you fucking idiot” he ordered, Miles glancing at Daisy briefly before nodding “yes, sir” he muttered, walking off and Daisy leaned back against the wall behind her, any hint of softness gone as she tilted her head at the guard who’d interrupted her conversation with Miles.
The guard went to put his rifle aside, before kneeling down in front of her, putting the gag from around her neck and into her mouth again, her eyes ice cold as she looked up at him, making him glare at her “don’t fucking look at me” he hissed before grabbing the plate empty and spoon, her eyes still on him and he tensed up even more “I said; don’t fucking look at me!” he snapped before storming off with the empty plate and used spoon, her eyes moving to the rifle he’d left behind, her back straightening a little against the wall, taking in every detail of it, the knife attached the front, the magazine, the barrel, her eyes moving along the sharp edge of the knife but she looked ahead instead, her eyes moving down to her tied wrists before she took a heavy and deep breath, holding it before letting it out slowly, trying to calm herself down.
Victor was fine. He was okay. She knew he was okay, he had to be.
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“Alright, time to move. Get her” one of the guards ordered, Miles hesitating before getting out a prepared syringe, approaching Daisy and she visibly tensed up, the needle coming closer and closer and she scrambled to get away, tears forming in her eyes and when he kneeled down to inject her she tried to speak, the gag muffling her and Miles pulled the gag out, Daisy’s heart racing “please. Please don’t. I won’t be any trouble… please… I-.. I don’t like needles…” she whispered pleadingly, eyeing the needle nervously and Miles looked over his shoulder at the others as they were being forced onto the bus, sighing before looking back at her “I have to-”
“I-I’ll be really quiet! Please” she begged, breath shaky and uneven until she saw him point the needle at the ground and empty it into the dirt “they’ll check” he whispered, looking back at her “just-... act like I injected you” he ordered in a whisper and she nodded desperately, letting him put the gag back in her mouth and she tried to force her body as pliant and limp as possible as he pulled her up, hoping and praying that it was believable. She kept her head hanging, letting Miles set the pace, putting her weight into her stumbling steps, keeping her eyes half-shut as though in a daze, trying to mimic what she’d felt when the sedation earlier had begun to wear off. They stopped right at the back of the bus, one of the guards looking Daisy over, taking in her demeanor before nodding, Miles ‘helping’ her onto the bus, putting her down in a free seat right by the back door. Before he could leave, she held onto his gloves hand with her tied ones, looking up at him, eyes no longer half-closed, her eyes locked with his as she tried her best to convey a kind of thank you and he studied her before nodding, making her nod subtly in return before letting go, forcing her eyes half-shut again to appear drowsy and he left, closing the back entrance to the bus. The second the bus was moving, her eyes opened fully instead of being half-shut, her head held up instead of laying against the headrest of the bus seat and she looked around, seeing Ezekiel and Kelly closest and she couldn’t help but let out a shaky breath of relief when she saw them, brows furrowing, tears clouding her eyes and he gave her a sad smile “fancy seeing you here” he whispered and she let out a very brief huff of a laugh against the gag, a tear running down her cheek in relief at his humor. At least he wasn’t hurt too bad if he could still joke like that.
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Daisy felt her heart race when she saw him enter the office, the door swinging open and her eyes widened a little, the gag in her mouth felt like it was choking her as she watched him be put in a chair across from the Warden, where she’d sat barely half a day ago. The second Negan’s eyes landed on her in the corner, her still zip-tied hands and silver rose ring, the red marks from around her wrists, the rope around her neck tied to the radiator in the corner, barely allowing her to stand without being pulled down, his blood began to boil.
“See that? That’s an ED-5 right there” the Warden stated with a smirk, turning to look at Daisy, tilting his head at her “don’t get many of those” he muttered to himself before looking back at Negan with that same smirk, Negan regaining his composure, looking back at the Warden, trying to hide his seething anger “an ED-5? Mind telling me what that is?” he asked casually and the Warden smirked, a small silence stretching between them before he turned to face Negan fully “ED-5… ‘Extremely Dangerous’. She’s a Category 5… I’ve only heard about them. The highest I’ve met is a 4” he admitted, looking back at Daisy like a hunter looking at his proudest kill displayed “it’s a mouthy thing too. Had to gag it to get five seconds of peace” the joked with a laugh, looking back at Negan “but, I didn’t get you here just to show you my ED-5. Sit, prisoner” he ordered, his eyes returning to the open file he had in his hands since Negan first walked in, Negan being forced into the chair roughly “alright. Jesus” he muttered annoyed, his eyes lingering on Daisy. He could see the way she was almost… vibrating with fury… her eyes piercing sharp and he looked down to hide his smirk. She’d come a long way from the Sanctuary… That Daisy would’ve been scared, but this one? Who she was now? There wasn’t an ounce of fear in her, only pure, unfiltered wrath waiting to be unleashed. As the soldier who’d brought him moved to leave, the Warden spoke up “197…”
“Sir?”
“Your transfer’s been denied” the Warden’s words seemed to take the soldier by shock, he hesitated before finding his words “sir, my brother’s been very sick, I… I don’t know how long he has-”
“Then you should’ve told me directly instead of going around to ask for a transfer” the Warden stated coldly, Daisy’s hands curling around each other in anger, Negan could see how it was almost about to bubble over… She’d probably have torn the rope around her neck and beaten the Warden to death with his own chair if she thought she could get away with it.
“Your duty here has been extended six months. Dismissed” a silence filled the room as the soldier hesitated, glancing at Daisy and she could see the way his eyes flitted to the rope around her neck, but he stepped back and left anyway. Slowly the Warden got up from his chair, eyes on Negan before he moved around his desk, stepping closer to Daisy, lifting his hand, a finger almost brushing a loose strand of her hair out of her face but she yanked her head away from him, making him smirk with amusement before he continued around the desk to sit on it in front of Negan, showing him a piece of cloth with a line before throwing it into Negan’s lap. “That was found a few hours after you tussled with my guards” he stated casually, Negan opening the cloth to look at it barely half a second “okay. Cool” he stated casually, looking back up at the Warden but his eyes glanced at Daisy for barely a brief second before moving back to the man in front of him.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know. A poor man’s tic-tac-toe?” Negan answered with a chuckle “look, man, I don’t know what it is” Negan added casually, the Warden looking over his shoulder at Daisy before leaning closer to Negan “someone is keeping track of my guards, when they come and go, how many are on shift at any time…”
“What’s that got to do with me?” Negan asked casually and with slight amusement and Daisy narrowed her eyes a little at him, the Warden sighing and looking off to the side in frustration, barely a brief second but it was long enough for Negan to look at Daisy, giving her a subtle wink before looking back at the Warden when he looked back at him. “When you first came here, I thought maybe you were a leader. But now I see that you have… other priorities. Real leaders separates. They cleave themselves off from everyone else, because the thing that real leaders do? Most people just don’t have the stomach for it” the Warden stated casually, his tone letting everyone know that he included himself as a ‘real leader’. Daisy scoffed quietly, muffled by the gag, and rolled her eyes at him. “But the ones that do?” The Warden continued “they’re the real threats” at the mention of ‘threats’, Negan’s eyes glanced at Daisy behind the Warden, Daisy catching his gaze, raising a single eyebrow at him which made him look down to hide his smirk of amusement. “There’s a threat in my midst, and I believe it’s one of your people” the Warden stated confidently but Negan just smirked a bit at him “my people?” he asked with amused confusion before chuckling, looking down at the cloth still in his hands “look, other than my wife, all those people, they hate my guts. So, I don’t know anything” Negan stated casually, the Warden leaning closer to him “but I bet you can find out” he stated in a lowered voice and Negan looked past him at Daisy as he lifted the cloth rag with a straight line, taking her in, the red and sore skin that were so bruised it was almost torn around her neck and wrists, the plastic of the zip ties digging into her skin, tearing with each movement and he looked back at the Warden “bet I can’t” he stated in a lowered voice, just like the Warden, who looked at the cloth as he took it before looking back at Negan, shaking his head a little “not really an option” he decided as he got up to return to his seat behind the desk, thankfully ignoring Daisy as he walked by.
“Unless you’d rather not see that pregnant wife of yours” Daisy tensed up at the Warden’s words, at his threat, her eyes meeting Negan’s and he could see the uneasy feeling in her eyes, the unsure feeling. He knew she’d never let anything happen to Annie. She was pregnant, she had done no wrong to anyone, she was a good person, Daisy wouldn’t let that die out.
“Think about it” the Warden stated casually, throwing his feet up on the desk calmly, letting Negan know that it wasn’t a ‘think about it’ situation, it was a ‘do it or else’ situation. Negan glanced at Daisy and she could see the faint restraint in his eyes, the restraint that was about to snap at the mention of his pregnant wife and she glanced at the open door and then back at him, silently telling him to leave and Negan nodded a little to himself as he got up, looking at the Warden before leaving to see Annie.
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Daisy was quiet as she watched the others work, her hands locked around a post behind her back as she sat on a crate, the gag still in her mouth, her head resting against the pole behind her, her eyes scanning the people working on the train tracks. She felt like her wrists were on fire, the zip ties too tight against the pull of the pole between her hands and her back. She heard some dry leaves crunch, branches snapping as footsteps approached and she turned, seeing the same guard from before, Miles. She instantly softened her look, looking up at him as he arrived with a cup of water. He seemed… shy… nervous almost. “Are you thirsty?” he asked softly and Daisy waited a second or two before nodding weakly, looking up at him with pleading eyes and he nodded “hold on” he muttered, walking closer, putting the water down on the ground before kneeling in front of her, carefully taking the gag out of her mouth, his touch far more gentle than anyone else’s and she let out a small sigh of relief as it hung around her neck instead of tied in her mouth “thank you” she muttered quietly, Miles nodding with a faint smile before remembering the water, picking up the cup and carefully putting it to her lips, helping her drink, her eyes locked on him while he focused on not accidentally spilling the water, making her intentionally pull her head back as though she was done, making him spill some water over her and he quickly drew back “shit! I’m sorry!” he muttered, putting the cup down on the ground before looking around, his eyes landing on the gag that’d been around her mouth and without thinking he untied it around her neck and used it to wipe the water from her chest and wet shirt “I’m sorry-”
“It’s okay” Daisy stated in a soft voice, Miles looking at her, realizing how close he was to her, making him nervously clear his throat and pull back, standing up “I-I should-”
“What’s a ‘category five’?” she asked quickly to stop him from leaving, her expression soft and pleading as she looked up at him and he hesitated before looking around, making sure no one was looking before pulling up another crate with equipment to sit next to her, but still at a distance “i-it’s something we categorize everyone in” he stated awkwardly at first, as though unsure if he should even tell her to begin with. “What do you mean ‘everyone’?” she asked softly and he seemed to ease up “the prisoners. Like the ones you arrived with and like-” he stopped himself, Daisy forcing a sad look on her face as she looked down “like me” she finished for him, quiet, soft, her hands closing in fists behind her back, straining subtly against the zip ties to make the bruises on her wrists worse and when he seemed to be about to say something, she visibly winced, hissing, relaxing her hands and arms when he looked back at her “w-what is it?”
“My wrists… they really hurt” she admitted weakly, a painful look on her face and he frowned, hesitantly looking behind her to her hands, seeing the red and purple marks popping violently against her skin. “I-I’m sorry, I-”
“Can you loosen them? Please? Just a little bit??”
“I-” he hesitated, looking back at her, already shaking his head and she shook her head and looked down “it’s okay, it was stupid to ask, I know you can’t… I’m sorry” she muttered meekly. “I-I can’t loosen them, I’m sorry, but-” he sighed and looked around before edging a little closer “I-I might have something?..” he whispered, making her look at him, eyes wide, a confused look on her face, trying her hardest to look like a very confused deer and he smiled at her “I have some chocolate” he whispered with a grin and for a brief moment, just a brief one, she saw the dimpled smile of Victor… if playing little girlfriend to this guard was what it took to see him again, then she’d do it. So, she smiled innocently before shaking her head and looking down “no you don’t, don’t joke about that” she stated softly and he shook his head and edged closer “no, really, I do!” he whispered and she looked back at him. It HAD been a while since she’d tasted chocolate…
“You really have some?? But-... w-why would you share it with me?” she asked softly and he frowned “I-... I-I don’t know what you did to become ED-5 but-... chocolate won’t hurt, right?” he asked weakly, as though trying to convince himself as much as her and she gave him a soft warm smile that felt wrong to give him, but she did it anyway, she’d be his best fucking friend if it got her somewhere useful, and right now anywhere was more useful than where she was now. “You’d really do that for me?” she asked quietly and he nodded without hesitation, making her grin “I haven’t tasted chocolate before…” she half-lied. She’d tried it once. Years and years ago…
“Really?”
“Yeah” she confirmed and nodded, Miles smiled “I-I can bring it with me tomorrow! I-I can volunteer for your sector as your guard and I can give it to you there” he stated with a smile and she smiled right back, pushing down every instinct to throw her face into his and just smile prettily instead.
Time slipped by without Miles noticing. He kept talking in a low voice, explaining little things about the camp, the categories, the shifts, the weather, anything that let him stay beside her a little longer. While for Daisy, time couldn’t have passed closer even if it tried… she nodded and hummed in the right places, letting him fill the silence, letting him feel useful and feel like she cared about what his childhood cat did when it was 3-something years old and the neighbor got a new dog. Like she cared about that time he tried skateboarding, him growing up in the Commontwealth, safe behind its walls, never hungry a day in his life.
“So Mr. Fuzzy actually jumped up on the old shelf with my grandma’s painting and almost knocked-”
“What. The fuck. Are you doing?!” a voice snapped, Miles flinching, turning to see one of the other guards approaching, noting that Daisy didn’t even have a gag around her neck, it’d been taken completely off and he looked at Miles “you take off the gag?!”
“She was thirsty! It was safer- s-she would’ve choked if I hadn’t!”
“Damnit Miles! She’s ED-5!” the guard hissed in a whisper, looking around before pointing at Daisy who kept her eyes wide and a shocked look on her face “get that thing back in her mouth-”
“But-”
“Now, Miles!” he hissed and Daisy noted how Miles hesitated, an idea springing to mind and she put on as soft and somber an expression as she could, leaning closer to Miles “i-it’s okay, Miles… I-I don’t want you to get into trouble…” she muttered, looking up at him through her lashes and Miles almost visibly cracked with guilt, the guard shoving him away, picking up the gag and putting away his rifle so it wasn’t in the way as he bent down to shove the gag back into her mouth and tied it at the back of her head, tying some of her hair into it and she couldn’t help the genuine wince she made at the sharp pain, the guard turning to Miles, shaking his head with disappointment “just wait until the Warden hears about this” he hissed, taking his rifle and putting on the sling, grabbing Miles by his upper arm, dragging him towards the Warden, Miles looking over his shoulder at Daisy who feigned a concerned look but the second Miles looked away, she looked back at the others working, catching Ezekiel’s eye, giving him a subtle nod and he sighed, clearly sad but he gave her a subtle nod in return, his sadness without a doubt coming from the fact that he hated she had to pretend, had to act, had to force every instinct in her body to shut up and be quiet for once, that she had to fight her own nature, but she’d do it. She’d do it for them. He knew that.
(Warnings: oh dear lord. Okay! We got angsty fluff, Daisy comforting Eugene (shocking, I know), a brief flicker of joy before it’s snuffed out with angst for the rest of this angsty chapter. Sorry lovelies!<3)
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Daisy was on her way to the room Eugene was in when she heard his voice, the shakiness of it, and she stopped, slowing her pace, instinctually stepping lightly to remain hidden as she listened by the door.
“Because I’m a coward…” she frowned a little at his words, leaning a little further against the door, listening to Eugene’s voice, waiting for it but instead she heard her uncle “no. It’s because you’re smart” he corrected and Daisy frowned a little more, noticing the door barely ajar and she carefully and silently opened it a tad wider to look into the room through the thin opening. “I’m a liability. Always have been,” Eugene stated in a shaky voice, “relying on others to survive, counting on their courage due to the dearth of my own. Hell, the only way I bucked natural selection was my penchant for prevarication…” Eugene’s voice stopped and she looked through the opening, seeing Eugene glance at Daryl before looking down “means ‘lying’” he clarified quietly.
“I figured,” Daryl spoke up, Daisy narrowing her eyes a little, “yeah, well,” Eugene began “I’m ashamed to say it’s my only discernible skill…” Eugene added, leaning a little forward, elbows on his knees, his hands by his mouth, almost clasped like he was about to pray “do you think people are born brave, or become it?” Eugene asked shakily and Daisy sighed quietly, looking off to the side before entering the room “both” she spoke up, both men turning to look at her and she glanced at her uncle before looking back at Eugene, approaching a little. “I mean-... it’s not that simple. No one is born the way we are now, but yeah, I’d say it’s both… It’s in our blood but also it’s how we’re raised, what we experience… it’s not enough that it’s just in our blood. We might see bravery in the people we grow up with, we might see it in our relatives and family and maybe it is in our blood, but that’s not enough. It’s a bit of both” she admitted, walking over and sitting down next to him on the pew. “With all intended respect and a statistically significant measure of humility, I must report that your attempted consolation is proving markedly ineffective, particularly coming from an individual who is, by all observable metrics, a certified badass and also, disconcertingly, my junior in chronological years” Eugene rambled and Daisy smirked with amusement and looked ahead “I don’t know about your upbringing and childhood but mine was shitty as hell” she stated with that same smirk as she turned to look at him again “my mom was a drug addict… she’d use in front of me sometimes, bring home men she barely knew to have sex and get high with,” she admitted quietly, looking down “she’d hurt me sometimes too… a lot… I had to clean up after her binges, barely made it to school…” she continued “one day, when I was 9, she brought home a guy who looked at me-...” she trailed off, looking for the right word, looking up at Eugene “in a ‘wrong’ way,” she decided to articulate it in that way before looking down “so I left… I got to my uncle and dad’s place,” she admitted, looking up at her uncle as he watched the two of them “my uncle took me for ice cream because my dad couldn’t be bothered with me…” she looked back at Eugene “it’s where I got my first scratch” she added softly. “No one is born brave, Eugene… you don’t-... inherit personality… You’re a scientist, you know that” she reminded him softly “you might not be running into burning buildings but you’re still brave” she determined softly “bravery isn’t just-... charging headfirst at a walker or a gun… It’s-...” she sighed and looked ahead, trying to come up with an example when something hit her and she smirked. “It’s going off on your own to find someone you met over the radio” she stated, looking back at him to find him looking at her “it’s playing a recording over the speakers that exposes someone corrupt, knowing you’d get the blame. There’s no way in hell that you thought you’d be able to pull that off and not get burnt by it” she pointed out “you’re not dumb, Eugene. You’re not stupid. And it’s because you’re not stupid that you know going out there right now to find Max is a bad idea. What are you going to do? Yell out for her?” Daisy asked with a scoff “your brain knows it’s a bad idea… your heart just have to catch up with it, your head is just a bit too fast” she stated with a shrug “I feel like that sometimes” she admitted, looking up at her uncle “but I’ve been lucky enough to grow up with someone who knows when to pull me back and when to let me spiral” she added with a soft smile before getting up, sighing lightly “listen to your head on this one, Eugene. Think with your head” she ordered softly as she poked his forehead before leaving.
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Daisy was smiling quietly at the small ring she’d found on her pillow, a bubbling feeling building in her stomach as she picked it up, her smile turning into a grin and she put it on. She admired it quietly before moving to her old backpack, opening a hidden pocket, pulling out the old envelope, taking out the letter, reading it over, smiling almost softly as she looked back at the ring, tears threatening to blur her vision “I have my after” she whispered quietly to herself while looking at the ring on her finger, admiring it when she heard the door open. “Was this why you asked me to meet you here?” she yelled, still admiring the ring on her finger. “What, did you cut it off of a walker like Maggie’s ring?” she called again, frowning when she heard no reply except for footsteps. Heavy. Thud, thud, thud, thud. Coming closer and her heart started to race, her hand moving to the knife on her thigh at the realisation. They were too heavy to be Victor’s. Just as she’d grabbed the handle and was about to turn around she felt a sharp pain hit the back of her head, her world going back before she’d had a chance to fight for it.
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Daisy’s heart was racing even before she woke up, her hands chained in front of her, a hood over her face and she felt drowsy, weak and tired… “Vic-....Vi…” she trailed, slurring her words slightly until someone shoved her “shut the fuck up!” the voice sounded muffled… like the person was wearing a mask, or… or a Commonwealth soldier mask.
“Vict-”
“I said shut up!” she winced as something hard smacked her across the face, her heart racing, tears starting to cloud her already obscured vision as she felt someone lift up the sack over her head but before she had a chance to wiggle out of their grip, she felt a sharp pinch in the side of her throat, something injecting into her neck and once again she felt drowsy, tired and weak. Her fingers fiddled with the unfamiliar presence of something around her left ring finger and just as she remembered, everything faded once again.
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Daisy woke up to someone gently shoving her, calling her name, the voice echoing and distorted and she winced, the hood being pulled off her face and she squinted at the sudden light, her head rolling back and she felt…off… The voice started to get more and more coherent, more and more normal, getting more and more familiar and soon she could start to make out the words they said.
“Hey, hey, princess, come on, wake up. There you go” she looked towards the voice, frowning, everything still blurry and distorted. “Damn, they gave you too much it seems” the voice said and she narrowed her eyes, barely making out the shape, tears forming in her eyes “dad? Daddy?” she nearly whimpered, lower lip starting to tremble as she saw him, looked at him… was he here? Was she dead? What about her uncle? Judith? RJ? Victor? Were they dead too…?
“Ah shit… Princess, come on, wake up, it’s Negan. Come on, sweetie” the man gently slapped her cheeks, making her wince, her entire body felt numb, her neck was burning, it was like someone had injected her with acid or something. “Come on, there you go” Negan soothed when he saw her become more coherent, her eyes a little more focused and he smirked “there we go” he muttered to himself, seeing her pupils focus slightly more but then he watched her droopy eyes almost close and he sighed “damn it” he tried to get a bit closer, hands still zip-tied “come on, come on” he muttered, mostly to himself, as he tried to wake her up again. “Come on, sweetheart, come on, open your eyes” Negan mumbled to himself, panic starting to course through him, his heart starting to race until he saw her open her eyes a little, letting out a breath of relief, smirking a little “next time you wanna scare the crap out of me, let me know first” he muttered somewhat jokingly, cupping her face to try and look her over again when suddenly a loud banging was heard from outside the bus, banging against the side of it from the outside.
Everything was hazy and foggy, dizzying and although she’d never even tasted alcohol, it felt like what she imagined being blacked out drunk would feel like, everything tilting and muffled in a hazy way. Just as everything was starting to get clearer, the fog and haze lifting, she felt someone grab her arm, yanking her up. “Come on!”
“Wait” a voice called out, Daisy lifting her head to look at the blurry image of someone approaching her, looking at her, tilting their head at her “not her. What the fuck is she doing here?? She’s designation two. For fuck’s sake” he cussed, shaking his head with a sigh “fuck” he muttered before nodding to himself “alright, we’ll take her with us and-... fuck, we’ll keep her with us and put her on the next train when it comes through or something” he decided bitterly, shaking his head “fucking sorting… messing everything up. Give her another dose-”
“She’s barely standing!” Negan hissed angrily, stepping forward but he was shoved back in his seat by the soldier holding Daisy up by her arm, a glare set on his face and he felt his heart race with anger when another soldier approached with a syringe, his gaze meeting Kelly’s and then Ezekiel’s before he looked back up at them, his blood boiling when one of the soldiers grabbed her hair to yank her head back, exposing her neck and she winced when the syringe was pushed in, tears forming in her eyes and she was forced back down into the seat, Negan glaring daggers at the soldiers as they walked off the bus and the second they were gone and the gate shut, he reached over, cupping her face in his bound hands, noting the way she could barely keep her eyes open, tears forming in her eyes to the point that a few rolled down and he sighed “I know, princess… I know” he soothed, letting go of her face after making sure it rested comfortably on the headrest of the seat, taking her bound hands into his own tied ones “he’s a tough kid, he’s fine” he whispered, hearing her whimper quietly, too drugged to do anything else, more tears running down her cheeks and he sighed, giving her tied hands a tigther squeeze.
“Jesus, princess…” he muttered to himself, he hadn’t seen her this broken… Not even after Carl… His eyes moved to her hands, spotting a silver ring on her left ring finger. It was simple, a single rose on top of the band and he sighed at the realization “shit…” he muttered. She’d never wear a ring, he knew that, not unless it was a gift from someone she loved dearly… And giving a ring to someone like her… you don’t do that unless it has meaning…
“He proposed” Negan muttered to himself, looking back up at her teary face, red lines already forming on her cheeks from where the salty drops rolled down. “Shit, princess…” he muttered somberly, sighing to himself. “It’s okay, just-... we’ll figure it out, I promise” he whispered, hearing a faint whimper as a reply and she managed to roll her head to the side so she looked ahead instead of at him, Negan sighing softly with regret.
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“What’s so special about her anyway?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care.”
“Come on, you’re not even a little bit interested on why we’ve got orders to dope her up with sedatives like she’s a fucking elephant?”
“Nope.”
“Liar” the guard accused with a scoff, the other guard sighing heavily “I’m just following orders. She’s rated ED, category five, that’s all I know. Now will you please just drop it?”
“Her? She’s a category five?”
“Miles, I swear to God, if you don’t shut up I’ll shoot you” the other guard groaned, their voices muffled, like as if she had her head underwater, her head swimming with confusion, exhaustion, every thought slow and thin, like when you’re so exhausted you can barely keep awake, like when your body is constantly on the verge of falling asleep without permission. That’s what her head felt like. That feeling of eyes becoming so heavy it’s impossible to keep them open. It was like trying to see through a thick fog. Everything was dense, tight, heavy. She could feel every beat of her heart, every thump, every beat heavy and foggy in some weird unusual way. She could hear distant sounds of people but nothing made sense…
She was sitting… At least she thought she was… her head felt too heavy to hold up, her eyes unfocused, unable to lock onto what she was seeing, only vague figures that seemed familiar but at the same time not at all. Every inch of her felt heavy, every movement felt too difficult. As more and more time passed, everything started to make a little bit more sense, memories flooding back, her limbs felt less heavy and useless, she started to feel the zip ties digging into her wrists, her heart starting to race as she slowly started to realize everything, started to feel the ties, the gag in her mouth, her vision sharpening, blurry figures coming into focus as she looked at the two guards in front of her, their backs to her as they didn’t even seem aware of her slowly coming to. Her head was still too heavy to move so she had to use only her eyes, looking out the corner of them to see people working to clear old train tracks of debris and whatever else was blocking it, her fingers and toes started buzzing, her heart beating faster and harder. Her breath got heavier and sharper, the buzzing spreading through her like a wildfire and it was as though it woke everything up after gliding over it. Her eyes returned to her fingers and she slowly stretched them, frowning in frustration when they barely stretched, annoyance starting to brew in her and she glanced up at the guards to make sure they hadn’t turned around and seen her, her eyes quickly returning to her fingers, her hands shaking a little as she strained, fought to make them move quicker, to move how she wanted them to, not like she had to pull weight with her fingers. She let out a frustrated huff, looking up at the guards again before back at her fingers, taking a deep breath through the gag before trying again, stretching her fingers and slowly she started to feel it. Feel the muscles work, the nerves responding. Her fingers stretched slowly but much more evenly and she’d smirk if it wasn’t for that damn gag in her mouth. She tried again, closing and stretching, repeating it over and over again until she felt every inch of the movement, like she was fully in control again. She looked up at the guards to make sure they hadn’t seen it before moving to turn her head, successfully looking to the side at the working people. It was a bit harder than with her fingers but she could do it and it got easier with each passing second.
She heard a distant thud, her eyes moving towards the sound, seeing a guy in a hoodie bent over, having been smacked over the head by one of the guards with some kind of baton, the man looking up at the guard and she frowned, blinking, trying to see if her eyes actually showed her the real person and not just who she thought it was. But nope, that was Negan, clear as day. She looked around, finding more and more faces she recognized, her heart starting to race even more when she saw Kelly and Ezekiel working on the train tracks too.
She looked back at her wrists, starting to fiddle with them, trying to get out of the zip ties when suddenly someone shouted ‘runners’, the two guards in front of her running to the tree line, gunfire piercing the air and she actually flinched a bit at the sound, seeing 3 distant figures in the woods drop dead, her heart almost stopping and she scanned the people by the train tracks, letting out a shaky breath of relief when she saw them still there, unharmed and not dead in the treeline. Tears formed in her eyes and she sighed, leaning her head back against the wall she was sitting against, looking up at the tarp covering the small area she sat under, blinking away the tears of relief, anger starting to boil in her chest and she closed her eyes, her mind already racing for a way out, for something to do, for anything, anything at all, to distract her from the fact that she hadn’t seen Victor at all since they surprised her and took her from their shared apartment back in the Commonwealth.
Daisy was quiet as she sat in the uncomfortable chair, as she had done for about 2 hours now, a relaxed look on her face as sat with her arms behind her, wrists handcuffed behind her back, her fingers fiddling, as much as she could, with the bracelet Hershel had made for her last time they saw each other. When the door opened, she turned to look at whoever had entered, a small smirk forming on her lips when she saw Mercer and she looked down, Mercer turning to the guard in the room “why is she in handcuffs?”
“Governor Milton’s orders, sir-”
“Apparently I’m a ‘dangerous individual’” Daisy interrupted with slight amusement, looking up at Mercer, seeing him raise a single unimpressed brow and he walked over, sitting on the chair across from Daisy, the table in between them and he got out a clipboard with some papers. “Delilah Marston, 826 Holter Street, sector G3. 21 years old, unmarried but fiance to Victor Anderson, currently unemployed-”
“Oh, I’m unemployed now?” she asked with amusement, a smirk still on her lips as Mercer looked up from the clipboard, remaining silent before looking back at the papers “currently unemployed,” he continued “related to Daryl Dixon, relation: niece and uncle. Do you verify the information to be true?” His voice was monotone and lifeless as he spoke and Daisy narrowed her eyes a little at him, her smirk gone as they both stared at each other. “Do you verify the information to be true?” he asked again, just as plainly, just as monotone and Daisy tilted her head a little at him before sighing heavily “sure” she stated casually, shrugging as much as she could with the handcuffs on, Mercer putting the papers on the table. “Where were you doing the riot?”
“Seriously?”
“Where were y-”
“Up your ass until Pamela’s son ran off into the crowd.”
“You followed-”
“I pursued him, yes” Daisy stated coldly, a slight sharpness to her voice but otherwise she seemed unbothered “why?” Mercer asked with increasing annoyance at her continued interruptions and she raised a brow before sighing, sitting up straight in the chair “to ensure the safety of Sebastian Milton” she stated innocently, a small frown forming on her brows “I feared the crowd would overwhelm him, since they didn’t appear to favor him particularly and because of his unfortunate past with the relationship he had to the rest of the Commonwealth” she stated plainly and innocently. “Who were you with once you’d pursued Sebastian Milton?”
“My uncle and niece. I lost track of Sebastian and then I realized that my uncle had lost my niece in the crowd. I went to help find her-”
“You abandoned your pursuit of-”
“Yes. I believed that since you’d been training him, he would be able to handle himself against the dead, unlike a child” she stated sharply but still innocently, watching the corner of Mercer’s lips twitch a little at her words. “Several witnesses saw you with Eugene.”
“Yes. After my uncle and I found my niece, Judith Grimes, we discovered Eugene in the crowd and decided to help him to safety.”
“He was seen leaving with your uncle and niece, but not you.”
“He asked me to find his girlfriend, whom he lost in the crowd” she answered curtly, sitting a little straighter “your sister,” she added “I promised I’d look for her and help her get to safety” she stated calmly, leaning back in the chair. “Before this, you were seen executing Sebastian Mil-”
“Executing?” she asked sharply, leaning a little forward over the table, closer to Mercer, her hands twisting a little, grabbing her left thumb as subtly as she could. “Sebastian had his throat torn open by a walker that he tried to force onto your sister” she reminded him darkly, gritting her teeth as she spoke to mask the pain when she yanked her thumb out of it’s socket, feeling the joint dislocate, a small pop feeling spreading pain through her hand. “He was going to die a painful death, I gave him a merciful one, which is much more than he deserved” she stated harshly, sliding her wrist out of the cuff. She moved her hands in front of her to show Mercer that she was out of the cuffs before, dropping her hands on the table, being careful with her dislocated thumb “I’m going to pop my thumb back into place, don’t shoot” she mocked bitterly, pushing her chair back a little so she had more space. She braced her wrist against her thigh, fingers clamped around the crooked thumb. With a slow, deliberate push, she guided the joint back toward its natural line, the motion sharp but controlled, her breath held until it settled into place and she winced a little, looking up at the guard that had cuffed her, his gun aimed at her and she raised a brow “shoot me, and you kill the cure to humanity” she stated casually, Mercer’s jaw clenched “stand down” he ordered, the guard glancing between them and his hesitation was enough to make Mercer look at him “I said; stand down!” he snapped, the guard doing as told and he scoffed and got up “give me the key” he ordered, the guard giving it to him and he walked over, undoing the remaining cuff and taking off the handcuffs, making her smirk “whew, thanks. I’d hate to have done that twice” she stated casually, leaning more comfortably back in the chair.
“So, I’m guessing you’re after Eugene, then” she stated casually, sighing “let me help you; yes, I saw him during the attack. No, I haven’t seen him since. No, I have not had contact with him since. No, I do not know how the walkers got inside the walls. Yes, I have an idea, thank you very much for asking” she stated, leaning closer “Lance has never done anything all by himself. He’s always had someone help him, someone we obviously don’t know shit about. Those walkers had gunshot wounds in them, which means that someone shot them and left them to turn… I told Pamela, but did she listen? No” Daisy muttered sharply and with a scoff, leaning back in her chair “why would she listen to me? I’m just a charity case, a lab rat” Daisy mocked, staring straight at Mercer “that’s what you’ll get from me. The only other person I’ll talk to is Pamela” she stated sternly “the bitch wants to know something, she’ll have to ask me herself” Daisy stated and the two of them stared each other down, Mercer nodding “okay. But at the end of the day, it’s obvious where he’ll be… with you. You’re family-”
“I’m not his family” Daisy replied quickly, tilting her head at him “Eugene lied to me, took my world, my reason for being alive from me. After that, he joined the guy who murdered one of my uncles, he put my friend in a casket and she died in that casket. He has lied to me, killed people I love and been nothing but a nuisance. I told him I’d find his girlfriend to shut him up. I went to help him because my niece was there, otherwise I would’ve left him to the walkers. He is NOT my family and he knows that he’s not. He knows that I will never, ever, EVER forgive him for all that he did to me, all that he took from me, did to my family” she seethed, drawing on every past hateful thought, every ounce of anger that she once held for him, pouring it out, everything she had made peace was, digging it back up for this one moment, this one lie. “I’ve played nice for long enough” she spat “if he turns up, I’ll turn him in myself” she added in a mutter, standing up, putting her hands on the table, even her painful, aching hand and thumb, leaning over the surface “if I don’t kill him first” she added as the last thing before leaving the room, leaving Mercer sitting there.
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Daisy looked over her shoulder as she approached the church, making sure no one was there before she knocked twice, paused, knocked once and then quickly two times, the door opening and she slipped inside, hugging her uncle tightly “you good?”
“Yeah. Is Victor here?”
“In the back… you got something you wanna tell me?” he asked and she stopped and looked at him, frowning before sighing, thinking he was talking about the interrogation “I think I sold that I hate him” she stated with a shrug and he shook his head “nah… ‘bout you and Victor” he stated and she blushed, hesitantly looking down “well… it-... was sort of random and there hasn’t really been a time to mention it…” she muttered, looking up at him as he looked down at her, making her sigh “what?” she asked quietly and he shook his head “nuthin’, just… he’s a good guy, you know?”
“I know… does… that mean you approve?” she asked hesitantly and he scoffed “you gon’ marry him anyway?”
“Yeah, probably.”
“Then yeah…” he muttered, clearly reluctant to say the words and Daisy smiled at him, reaching up and hugging him “thanks… I love him” she whispered and he nodded as he hugged her back “yeah, I know… ‘s the only reason why I’m saying yes” he admitted and she smiled, parting from him when she heard a door creek, turning to see a slightly disheveled Eugene and she sighed and walked over, pulling him into a hug “how are you?” she asked quietly and he hesitantly hugged her back “all things considered I could be doing considerably worse” he muttered and she parted from him, nodding as she stepped back “yeah, I figured…” she muttered and turned to walk towards the back room, finding Victor there, sharpening one of his knives and she smiled a little when she saw that it was the knife she’d given him before they got to the Commonwealth. “Is it sharp enough?” she asked and he looked up, getting up and putting both the knife and the whetstone, approaching “just about. Is Mercer still alive?”
“For now” she half-joked and he smirked “so…” he trailed off and she scoffed with a smirk, taking off her backpack as she walked over to a bench “well, I think I sold Mercer on the whole ‘I hate Eugene so much I want to kill him’ deal. And my uncle is fine with us marrying” she stated with a shrug, Victor raising a brow at her in slight surprise “you mean he’s not going to kill me?” he half-joked and Daisy smirked at him “I’m not tired of you yet, I won’t let him” she joked with a mischievous glint in her eyes before standing up, approaching “I’ll marry you, you can’t avoid it… on one occasion” she added, her arms wrapping around him, his hands settling on her hips and she felt no disgust, no uncomfortable, nagging, sticky feeling in her gut… “and that is?” he asked and her smirk faded into a soft smile “IF we have some kind of-... ceremony… I want my uncle to be part of it… I-... want him to… ‘give me away’ or whatever it’s called” she admitted quietly, vulnerably, and he smirked, nodding “fine by me” he stated, leaning down and kissing her, much to her delight and she gladly kissed him back.
