His Other Half
Author: Donna Lynn
Word Count: 1,105
Rated: PG-13
Summary: The last couple months with Beth had been an eye opener on life, her and Daryl. He had a hard time getting by without her. He had grown used to her presence, her talking, her singing, her caring nature, she never judged him.
Content Warning: Language, mentions of violence.
Pairing: Daryl/Beth
Disclaimer: The characters of The Walking Dead are not mine, so do not sue me!
**Author's Note**
I have grown rather fond of the prospect of Daryl and Beth on The Walking Dead and this is my first story with the fandom and the pairing. This is basically my version, extended scene between Daryl and Rick when Daryl told Rick about Beth.

"I was with Beth…" Daryl confessed quietly.

Rick's eyes widened a moment at the mention of her. He figured she never made it out. Killed by one of the governor's people or the massive herd of walkers. But his momentary happiness faded when realized…she wasn't here. He immediately assumed the worst when Daryl said he had been traveling with Beth when he happened upon Joe's group. Had they done something to Beth? No, Daryl would never had stayed with them if they had.

"We made it out together…I was with her for a while…" Daryl was sad. Daryl had been many things in his life but sad was hardly one of them. Only other time he was close to sad was when he had to kill Merle as a walker. But this, this feeling was something else entirely. There was no closure, no comfort, no finality…she was just gone, no idea where, was she dead or alive, he just didn't know.

Rick had never seen Daryl like this. He seemed so defeated, depressed, not something he had ever seen Daryl be. He feared the worst.

"Is she dead?" his voice cracked.

There was a long pause.

Daryl looked over at Rick and shook his head. "I don't know…she's just gone." He looked back down to the ground in front of him, defeated.

Rick continued to stare at him wanting to desperately ask what that meant. How could he not know if she was dead or alive? Did they get separated again? Did he leave her? Did she leave him? Another group come along and she decide to go with them for safety reasons? What!?

"I was teachin' her to track, with my crossbow…" Rick swallowed and listened as Daryl seemed to be struggling with the story he was about to tell.

Daryl smirked slightly for a second. "She was gettin' pretty good at it too." He picked at the torn out knee on his jeans. "Got her foot stuck in a trap." He looked away and rubbed his chin. "Needed to get somewhere so we could take care of it. Found this funeral home…" he shook his head. "…place was clean, kept up, shoulda known somethin' wasn't right but…it was the best we'd had since the prison…she deserved a peace of mind for a day or two."

Rick wanted to ask questions but he knew if he stopped Daryl he wouldn't get anything out of him, probably get angry and stomp off, his defense mechanism.

"We stayed the night, was gonna head out the followin' day. She…" he paused a second. "…herd of walkers stormed the place. Told her to get out, meet me at the road, too many to be able to protect her." He closed his eyes and took a shaky deep breath. "I barely got out…by the time I made it out I found her pack in the road, looked up just in time to see a car speedin' off. I chased'em till after day break…" he looked down, shook his head. "I lost her…" he tore a twig out of the ground, threw it away. "That was bout a week ago now."

Rick leaned his head back against the car and closed his eyes. After everything they had all been through. He couldn't help but hold out hope even though in the world they live in, and Beth being the young beautiful women she was, they had to hope.

"She believes there's still good people in this fucked up world." Daryl huffed.

Rick laughed lightly. "That sounds like Beth, always looking at the good in everything."

Daryl didn't laugh with him. "Look what it cost."

Rick looked at Daryl hard. "Can't lose hope Daryl. We all thought Merle was dead, Andrea, they both turned up months later. The prison falls, we all get scattered…now look, we found each other again. You thought I was dead along with everyone else, and I thought the same thing about you and everyone else." He tried to hold back his unshed tears. "My rational side tells me there's no one left…but my heart tells me they're out there, we just gotta hold out hope."

Daryl let his words sink in knowing they held some validity. Out of all the shitty hands they had been dealt they always managed to pull through in the end, not without losses of course but Daryl wouldn't believe Beth was dead, not yet. The last couple months with Beth had been an eye opener on life, her and Daryl. He just hoped she wasn't being hurt wherever she was but he knew the likely hood of that was small. Beth being a young, small beautiful woman…God knows what was happening to her, and it made his gut wrench to think about it. He had a hard time getting by without her. He had grown used to her presence, her talking, her singing, her caring nature, she never judged him.

"So you do think there's good people left?" she seemed so pleased that he agreed with her about something.

He told her they could stay, try to make things work with another group, even if they were a little crazy. He would have made it work for her sake.

"What made you change your mind?" she really didn't have a clue.

He had shrugged at the time feeling uncomfortable with something he had inadvertently brought up. But Beth being Beth she wasn't going to let it go. It was one of the things he admired about her, she didn't take his shit or let him by with anything.

"What changed your mind?" she was so curious and genuinely wanted to know…she had no idea…until…

He remembered he just stared at her, hoping she would get what he couldn't tell her in words. He knew the moment she realized, her smiled dropped and her face held understanding, and modest disbelief.

"Oh…"

Then everything came crashing down.

Rick looked at Daryl out of the corner of his eye. He could tell there was more than what he was telling him, but he wouldn't press for it. Daryl was very private, and very loyal.

"I kept thinkin' I saved her that day and for what? A life on the run, movin' from place to place like we was." Daryl laughed. "Hell, she saved me, gave me a reason to wake up every day, keep goin'…"

Rick gave him a knowing smile. "Sounds to me like she still does."

Daryl glanced at Rick but didn't smile back, but knew he was right. He just wish he knew. Where was Beth, and what happened to her?

Alright, this was my first Daryl/Beth and The Walking Dead story…what did you think? I used the scene between Daryl and Rick as a baseline but didn't do it exactly like the scene obviously. This was kind of how I feel about Daryl and Beth's journey this past season, how Daryl might feel about her and how I feel about her disappearance. I may do more like this, don't know yet depends on the feedback I get for this, thanks!