CHAPTER ONE: MR JONES

"I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream..."

The words rolled from her tongue with ease as Beth padded her way barefoot across the cobbled floor. The pace of her movements was slow and purposeful as she turned her head from left to right, her light blue eyes dancing over the people locked up inside of their cells. Jimmy had recently informed her that some new people had been brought in and placed in one of the cells down here, and Beth took the hint that he was suggesting that she go and check them out and see if any of them needed tending to.

It had been a while since new people had been brought here, and a wave of an emotion that Beth would almost describe as excitement washed over her at the news. In her rushed movements to get down here and see the new people who had been brought in, Beth had forgotten to bring her supplies along with her. That would mean that she would have to make another trip down here at some point in the near future, but Beth supposed that it would at least give her the opportunity to see who needed what, and how much of it they needed, too. It was rare that none of the new arrivals needed medical attention, but convincing them to allow her to assist them was another issue entirely.

"I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam."

Being a prisoner here wasn't all that bad, really.

Well, not anymore, anyway.

At first, it had been horrific; and she had kicked up one hell of a fuss and put up one hell of a fight, too. The worst part about the whole arrangement was the dungeons - at least, it had been for her, anyway. Being chained up in an old, dingy cell that had been filled with strangers had hardly been fun. Being fed the very basic of rations and having to do your business in a bucket that rarely ever got cleaned and that sat in the corner of the cell was an experience that Beth was in no hurry to repeat, either, and it was that memory that motivated her to get on with her job role. Beth supposed that she was sort of like a nurse here, and although it hadn't been the job that she had dreamed of when she had been younger, it wasn't the worst job in the world, either.

The memories of her experience in the dungeon made her sympathise with everyone who was put down here, too. All of the new arrivals who were immediately sent here in order to wait for their fate to be decided for them; whilst their worth was discussed and their job roles were assigned by a group of men who didn't know the slightest thing about them, but who thought that they were some sort of leaders and who thought that they had some sort of idea about what people could do around town. With every new person who arrived, Beth reminded herself that she had been just like them not even all that long ago, and even though it still made her feel sad that after the world had gone to shit - when the dead had somehow risen and most of the population of the earth had been wiped out - that the worst thing that people still had to fear was other people, it was also something that she accepted. Beth didn't want to accept it, but she had to - there was no other way about it, and she figured that it was best to push all those types of thoughts away and not dwell on them too much.

After all, Beth had survived. And her life wasn't even all that bad anymore, either. Because sure, she might have been brought here without much choice; might be being held here as though she were some sort of prisoner, might be forced to do things that she would really rather not do - like tend to strangers and work alongside the Governor like they were friends - but at least she was alive. At least she was clean and dressed well and fed somewhat decently.

Because that was more than a lot of other people on this planet could say right now. Hell, it was a lot more than these people who had been chained up to the walls of their cells could say right now, too, so Beth tried her hardest not to resent her life all that much.

"And I know it's true, that visions are seldom all they seem."

Most of the cells that she strolled past were filled with individuals who were busy sleeping. And if they weren't asleep, then they were quiet. It wasn't late at all - in fact, it was noon - but the dungeons were so dark and so poorly lit that nobody who was kept locked away in here would genuinely have any idea about the time of day that it actually was, anyway. All they knew was that it wasn't feeding time because it was Beth who was strolling by, not Jimmy, and that knowledge alone kept their mouths tightly shut.

There had been a time when Beth had paused at each cell that lined the dungeon and tried to converse with these strangers. Beth had pushed and pushed in an attempt to coax some sort of friendly (or at least civil) conversation out of them; tried to make them feel more at ease here, more comfortable and understanding about their situation and what was going on. But the people who filled these cells were hardly interested in Beth and her calming knowledge and words, and even though Beth considered them all to still be strangers, she did know them well enough to know who did and didn't want any sort of conversation from her.

It turns out that most of them didn't.

"But if I know you, I know what you'll do."

Lord knows that Beth Greene was a trier, though, and she hardly ever went down without some sort of fight. Stubbornness was a quality that ran through her genes and stubborn she sure as hell was, so Beth was hardly going to give up before she had even tried with these newcomers. Beth knew already that she would try with them the same way that she tried with all of the other people who found themselves at home in one of the cells of this damp old underground dungeon, and whether or not they decided to give her conversation back was up to them.

"You'll love me at once, the way you did once..."

The sound of something - or more someone - filled her ears, and Beth's footsteps faltered slightly at the sound of it. The candle that she was holding tightly to in her outstretched hand almost slipped through her fingers when she jumped in surprise at the sound, completely caught off guard by the distinct sound of shuffling footsteps and whispers floating from further down the dungeon. Beth's light blue eyes widened with anticipation as her body calmed down and she picked up her pace.

"Upon... a... dream."

Sometimes, Beth didn't even realise that she was singing. It was a habit that came naturally to her, and most of the people who heard her sing complimented her on her voice, so Beth supposed that she had to be kind of good at it. There were times when Beth felt like she was annoying people with her singing, but she pushed those thoughts away, too, and focused on herself. Singing was a natural thing for her to do; and if she wasn't singing, she was usually humming.

But right then, Beth realised that she had been singing. Realised as soon as the last note of the song was cut off so that she could sharply inhale a breath at the sight of the people who filled the last cell on the row.

Men and women of all different ages filled it, along with a - oh my god, is that a baby? Some of the people in the cell were sat with their backs pressed firmly against the concrete walls whilst others had moved themselves so that they were lay down against the cold floor as though they were trying to get some sleep. Almost all of their wrists were bound together, tightly cuffed so that they couldn't move them much at all, and they had all been chained to the floor. Not one of them didn't look up at her as she appeared directly outside of their cell, her eyes widening impossibly at the sight in front of her.

All eyes were on her, including his dark brown ones. The man looked mortified; his dark skin actually paling slightly at the sight of her stood there in front of him as though he was frightened of her, as though he had seen some sort of... ghost.

And in a way, Beth supposed that he kind of had. After all, the last time that Beth had seen him had been before was was kidnapped; before she had been ripped away from their safe-haven by a group of men who thought that maybe she could come in handy for something or other. Beth had known all along that he would have assumed that she had been killed by those men and would have continued his search for his long-lost companion - Rick Grimes, she remember that man being called - without her.

It hurt Beth to see him there, too. He looked so weak - so much skinnier than she remembered, and battered and bruised, too. He looked almost out of place with the group that filled the cells, but he looked comfortable around them all, too. It was clear that they certainly weren't strangers - not to him, anyway - and try as she might, Beth couldn't bring herself to hold back the smile from her face as a shaky breath escaped from her lips.

Like he probably had accepted that Beth was dead, she had accepted the fact that she would probably never see him again.

It was devastating at first; considering he had taught her so much, looked after her like nobody else had. He had treated her as though she were his own kin - his daughter, almost, and he protected her so well, too. But after they had been separated - once she had been brought here and beaten down until all of the hope and faith that bubbled brightly inside of her faded to almost nothing - Beth gave up wishing that he would come for her.

And yet, here he was. What had to be months later.

It didn't look like he had come to save her, though.

"Morgan?" Beth breathed, the disbelief and shock evident in her tone as she edged slightly closer towards the cell, her eyes squinting as they locked dead on his own.

Silent tears streamed down his face after she had choked out his name from her suddenly very dry throat, and she swallowed before she opened her mouth again.

"What on earth are you doing here?"

Hello!

I know I have a few other AU Bethyl fics on here that I'm still writing, but this idea has been bouncing around in my mind for what feels like forever now and I just had to get it down because it seriously would not leave me alone and it was beginning to get difficult to write for any of my other fics because this idea was just always there.

I hope that I've set the scene well enough in this chapter for you to get the gist of what's going on... If not, then:

Basically, Beth was never with the group from the prison and ended up being with Morgan from pretty much straight after Rick left him. She was helping him try and track down Rick when she was kidnapped from him and brought as a prisoner to this place where she's now being forced to stay at; however, because she's being co-operative and behaving herself, she's allowed to roam around town without any chains and works as a nurse. This story starts a few months after she's been kidnapped (although there will be flashbacks) when Morgan has been brought as a prisoner here alongside the group from the prison (because he successfully found Rick) and I'll probably put in a few of the people from Alexandria as part of their group, too.

I've never written anything that is ZA related so I'm excited to do that, and I just want to put it out there that this is a Bethyl fic, although it will probably be more of a slow-burn story than my other Bethyl fics. I'm still not sure, though.

Anyway! Thanks so much for reading and please let me know what you think of this idea?! I'd love to hear back from you!