Daryl Dixon should have known better.
Like million times in the past, his gut instinct was spot on accurate and like many times before, he shouldn't have ignored it. He figured maybe that was one of the few things Daryl Dixon was good at. Knowing how something could go terribly wrong and still letting it happen anyway. So when he ended up in the backseat of a police car with cops watching him like a hawk, Daryl didn't dare complain. Merle alone was an apocalypse.
An apocalypse he didn't want to happen soon. Daryl found out that he quite liked being free, free as in no cells or cops at their tail. He had his share of those experiences but he was damn well sure it was enough to last him a lifetime. He'd never admit it to anyone, but he'd considered building some shack somewhere in the woods – just living there in solitude with no one to bother him but the howling wind or the rustle of trees. Somewhere that was far enough that Merle couldn't drag him back behind bars. There was no doubt that he loved his brother - they've been through shit and back – but he was getting weary of just drifting. After almost a year of moving from place to place and then spending most of his nights in some police station, it was startin' to weigh heavily on his back and his socializing emergency back-up. There ain't nothing wrong with it, he knew, with just wanting something solid underneath his feet. There wasn't any wrong at all but that didn't mean he'd just go around and spat it at his brother's face.
He'd never hear the end of it. Nuh uh, not from Merle.
But then his brother vanished four nights ago and these two cops started sniffing at Daryl's tail that he'd decided to just fuck it. Once they found his brother, he was gonna bid them all hasta la vista.
"Hey Dixon. I'd got an idea, when we find ole Merle – why don't we just bury him ten feet underground? I mean, then you can have all the chicks you'd like with no competition and we cops could finally get some rest at night."
Daryl narrowed his eyes and shoved his shin at the back of Shane's seat. Apparently, these two were convinced that Merle Dixon was up to no good – not like it was surprising. But the older Dixon's absence at their prison was just that suspicious that they'd thought it was time to hunt him down before he could create more damage on whatever it was he was damaging. And Daryl had been the unlucky dick. Stuck with these two assholes with his brother wrecking havoc somewhere. He knew, he just knew that he shouldn't have let Merle go to that bar alone. Daryl Dixon should have known better.
Shane Walsh was continuing his mocking charade while it took everything in Daryl to bite down on his tongue and shut up. He hated this man in every sense.
"Cut the man some slack, Shane. I'm really sorry for dragging you into this." Rick Grimes looked at the rear-view mirror straight to Daryl. "We just couldn't risk it. I mean, you brothers have been goin' in our cell for every night of the past month and then you'd get all quiet for four nights and well…" He breathed.
"Then Merle Dixon disappears leaving his brother behind. We'd been a little worried that he weren't busy in just drinking and bar fights anymore."
Shane scoffed. "We? You mean you. Don't really care 'bout them. Dixon's aren't real criminals, Rick. Just have no road in life."
Daryl was just about to punch the man in the face when Rick abruptly stopped the car.
"Ain't no one have roads done for them. We pave our own roads." Rick said and then continued down the alleyways.
Daryl thought about that for a minute. Though Shane was a definite pain in his ass, Rick on the other hand did the impossible.
Daryl respected the man, which was quite humorous. Since when did Dixons respect cops? And that was when he decided, he just wanted to get home and clean his bike with a cigarette on his lips.
"Ya probably wanna head down tha' alley there." Daryl spoke finally givin' some clue as to where Merle might be.
"My God. He can speak!" Shane's mocking voice came.
Daryl narrowed his eyes. "Ya wanna find him or what? Might be there."
"Alright." Rick answered after shushing Shane's mockery down.
They waded the dark alley only dimly lit by a small lamp post. After a few minutes of driving down the road and flashing their flashlights in people's dark windows – Daryl decided that Merle wasn't in this part of the city after all. He moved to open his mouth and say they were wasting their time and should probably head towards the other side of the city before dawn peeks through. But something caught his attention, an almost inaudible bark of laughter. Daryl sighed; he damn well knew who that was.
He looked cautiously at the two in front and when he finally confirmed they hadn't heard that, Daryl started thinking of a plan to escape.
Turns out though Officer Grimes and Officer Walsh were top-rated cops, they still weren't as sharp as the Dixon hunters were.
Daryl had to smirk at that.
"Need 'ta pee."
Rick slammed his foot on the brake and looked at Daryl incredulously. "Pardon?"
"'Ya know, a man's gotta excrete."
Shane snickered, got out of the car and opened Daryl's door.
"No need to teach us biology. Couldn't wait 'til we got back to the station, can't ya? Help yourself, Dixon."
Daryl bit the inside of his lip to keep the insult from coming out. Instead he let a smirk form in his face. He knew Shane's arrogance would fool him someday. He was the last one laughing tonight.
Rick came out the same time Daryl did and they shared a curt nod. Daryl translated that as 'we'll be right here' and so he went to the other side of an abandoned house.
The moment he disappeared from their line of sight, the hunter broke into a run. Climbing over a hedge, he aimed to distance himself as much as possible before they realized he was taking too long to pee. Unless he was filling a whole liter, he should take less than 2 minutes. It so happens that 2 minutes was just what Daryl needed. He was used to this after all, it was his forte. Years of practice courtesy of his abusive father, running and hiding was a child's game to him, not that it wasn't – technically anyway. Yet Daryl couldn't believe how easy it was to squirm out of their clutches. He only wished he was there to see Shane's dumbfounded face when they'd go check on him and be greeted by an empty yard full of grass that didn't smell like pee at all.
Daryl sighed; he can't even allow himself that luxury. After all, he still had his brother's ass to find. What he heard earlier was undoubtedly no other than Merle, no one could sound that sickeningly drunk and happy but one of his own blood.
He let his feet take him to the origins of the sound earlier albeit hiding himself in the shadows. Daryl was sure he heard it at this part of the alley; he made sure to remember that the lamp post here flickered unnaturally.
The sooner he found his brother, the sooner he could drag Merle by the dick, chain him to their door, escape his nonsense of a life and clamber into the wild with nothing but a duffle bag of clothes and his crossbow. Scratch that, maybe he didn't even need clothes. Daryl'd like to think he could live out there in just animal skins or leaves, whatever fits.
He turned a sharp corner; this was the part where he'd find his brother sprawled out on the ground with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. Daryl was a hundred percent sure.
And he would've been right, if it weren't for one teensy detail.
His brother was sprawled out on the ground, what Daryl hadn't expected was a blonde bitch squirming underneath him.
He stood there frozen for a bit. When a cry of pain came out of the girl's lips – he saw red.
In all his damned life, Daryl saw Merle as a drug-addicted, drunkard, thieving son of a bitch but never did he once think that his brother was gonna take advantage of some girl against her will. Sadly, right there in his face – he had to change his thoughts.
Stomping towards them he tore Merle from the blonde by his collar. Daryl would curse himself soon enough for not preparing himself for what he was gonna see next. He felt his breath hitch in his throat.
Lying on the ground was a definite blonde but one thing she wasn't, was a bitch. She looked at Daryl with her blue eyes and trembling lips whilst slowly backing away from the both of them – two arms protectively across her chest. Everything about her, from her pale creamy skin and her beautiful tiny face screamed to Daryl nothing but innocence. Under the moonlight, Daryl himself could've been fooled that she was an angel. Something so fragile and fearful that he couldn't take his eyes off from. For the life of him, he couldn't quite comprehend how Merle could ever stomach to touch or damn hell, even look at something like her.
Daryl felt his blood boil with a strange protectiveness that came from who knows where. His brother surprised him once again. Daryl should have fucking known better. He faced his baffled-looking brother and mustered up every strength in his goddamn body to punch the asshole squarely in his uptight jaw.
"What the fuck, Merle?"
AN: Woah, glad I got that out. So this is like the first time I'm writing again in well a long time. Also, I've only ever written Pokemon fanfics back in the day, specifically two years ago, which is why - I am asking for your out most consideration and well, forgiveness for any mistakes or bogus-ness. This is also my coping mechanism until TWD returns in October, the thought really makes me cry. The writers are just mean - they introduce Bethyl to us viewers and then rip her away and make us wait for six months! Harsh.
Please let me know what you honestly think. Thank you :D
xo Spritelight