Hi guys and welcome to Against the Wind, the next installment, sequel, whatever you want to call it – of Daryl and Tessa's life. This story will encompass the fourth season and beyond (however-so-much as I choose to go) and will pick up about six months after the end of the epilogue in That Was Then, This is Now. Now, considering they haven't really come out and told us how much of a time gap there is between Season 3 and Season 4, I'm going to go with about six months, which makes the twins and Judith right around 8 months old. So yeah, they're going to be doing some cool stuff, as well as Sam coming in and often throwing his own monkey wrenches into everything and having a very volatile relationship with Daryl (as you can imagine). Oh my God, I'm so excited! XD
Anyway! Thanks everyone who ended up reading the epilogue in TWTTN and then immediately coming over here and reading this chapter (or even people who never read TWTTN and decided to read this one, etc, etc (Go read TWTTN if you haven't done so yet or your probably gonna be confused!)) you guys are amazing and I hope you like this story as much as you did the last one – I have a lot of exciting things planned, as well as whatever AMC is going to hand us this season as well. :)
You guys know the deal: Read, review, enjoy (no flames or your ass gets called out at the beginning of every chapter along with the other reviewers!) and the disclaimer is only gonna come once.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead. The Walking Dead and everything associated with it are property of AMC and Robert Kirkman. The only people I do own are Tessa, Ethan, Wren, Sam, the twins and probably anyone you do not immediately recognize from the show.
Anyway, enough of me rambling! Enjoy!
- Nagiana
PS - Sorry if its kinda rushed a little jumpy, but this is mainly a filler chapter - the real drama starts the next chapter. Sorry guys, but the filler chapters always have to come first. There is also a little discrepancies in this chapter that do not match with the show (you'll know them when you see them) but please, do your best to ignore them - they are there for a reason. I will also be stealing a number of scenes from Carol and giving them to Tessa (for obvious reasons) so for those of you who like Carol, I don't, so get over it ;)
Six Months Later
"Easy on the reins there, Wren – soft in her mouth, okay? She's not fragile but if you get to yanking too hard she might buck and we don't want that."
Wren nodded as she continued to trot the horse in a circle around Tessa, the older woman slowly turning in a circle as she moved around her. "How does she feel so far?" She asked her and Wren nodded but didn't say anything. It was an action that caused Tessa to grin, knowing the young girl was concentrating on doing everything right, opposed to listening to her.
"Tess, can I go next?"
"Yeah, I wanna ride!"
"Please, Tess, please!"
Tessa grinned and glanced at the three little girls standing on the bars of the round pen surrounding them and she nodded and gave them a wink. "Give us one more minute, okay, girls? They don't call her Nervous Nelly for anything, so let Wren warm her up and get her a little tired before we pony ride you guys, okay?" Her eyes fell on the fourth little girl standing on the bars a few feet away, silently watching, and she gave her a small smile. "That okay with you, Rosie?"
The little girl nodded as she gave her a small smile, and Tessa returned the smile as she turned back to Wren, not noticing the two men making their way down the gravel driveway towards the animal pens and the rapidly growing garden. One wore his signature flannel and blue jeans while the other wore a white t-shirt and khaki pants. Both grinned as they neared the round pen, though, and Tessa smiled at one but ignored the other.
"Hey Rick, how you doing this fine day?" She asked him, her eyes staying always on Wren and Nelly, and the one in the khaki pants nodded in reply.
"I'm doing pretty well - you?" She nodded and gave a half-shrug.
"Same here," She answered him before glancing at him with a grin. "By the way, Aayla said her first word last night."
Rick immediately grinned and moved to lean on the railing then, the other man doing the same as Tessa smiled a small smile. Her and Rick weren't exactly getting along right around the time of the Governor's angry rampage, but things seemed to go back to normal between them when everything was settled and Rick relaxed on the reins of power a little. And gradually, they found him starting to turn more and more decisions over to the council, opting to do more things around the prison, than making rounds or something else having to do with a gun or leadership. He was calmer and saner than he had been before allowing himself to relax and even Carl was doing better now that he had a father he could interact with and look up to. Rick's relationship with Daryl was even back to what it had been before and for that, Tessa was glad. She was starting to get tired of all the drama that been running rampant in the group before and right around the whole thing with the Governor was going on.
"Oh, that's cool! What was it?" He asked and Tessa gave him a look.
"What do you think?" She asked him and Rick laughed.
"It was 'dada', wasn't it?" He asked with a good-natured roll of his eyes and Tessa grinned and laughed as she nodded. The twins had grown a lot in the six short months that spanned between the battle with Governor and then. They were crawling and getting into everything, starting to babble in their own incoherent baby language and were even starting to say their first words ('Mama' with Danny and 'dada' with Aayla, which didn't shock anyone considering how much of a daddy's girl Aayla was). However, they were still a little reserved around strangers (which were many people in the prison now) and they constantly clung to Tessa and Daryl when Wren, Ethan, Beth, Carol or Maggie wasn't around them. But they were gorgeous babies, nonetheless, dark like Tessa with her blue-black hair (although Daryl swore up and down that Danny's hair color was a tad bit more brown than Aayla's was) and the beautiful Dixon big blue eyes.
"So what are you doing today?" She asked him and Rick gave a shrug as he gestured to the man beside him.
"Oh, nothing much, I don't think; there's not much to do today. Sam here is going to help me in the garden and then after that, I don't know what we're going to be doing." Tessa nodded as her eyes flickered to the man standing beside him and he gave her a small smile, one that Tessa did not return. Sam was her ex. Husband – the ex. Husband she thought had died in Atlanta in order to allow her and her Daryl's oldest son, Ethan, to escape the group of walkers they had been running from. He had been gone for about a year when he suddenly waltzed in sometimes around six months ago – alive. He threw one mean monkey wrench into everything, especially considering that she and Daryl had the twins and, for all intents and purposes, was married now. Needless to say, Daryl didn't exactly like him and he didn't exactly go out of his way to hide it.
"We also have a council meeting later – don't forget." He told her before walking off and Tessa nodded, letting him know that she would indeed, remember, as he pushed himself off of the railing and moved over to the garden. Sam lingered at the railing for a moment, watching them, before Tessa staring him down finally got him to move on. He quickly followed after Rick and she shook her head as she crossed her arms and glanced at Wren.
"I think that's all for today, Wren, okay? It's hot and Nelly looks tired, so why don't you take the girls and go untack her? We'll pony ride them tomorrow if the weather's good and we have time." Wren nodded as she pulled the horse to a walk and she gave Tessa a small smile.
"Where's Ethan, Tess, do you know?" She asked her and Tessa gave a shrug.
"Probably with Daryl getting ready for today's run – you know those two are practically best friends and inseparable! But tell you what: I'm on my way to find Daryl now; if I see Ethan, I'll point him in your direction before he leaves, okay?" She told her and Wren gave her a thankful smile and nodded. Wren was the daughter of Tessa's former best friend before the walker apocalypse began and they had found her and her older brother, Seth – who was now deceased – in a run-down Holiday Inn Express while seeking shelter from the harsh winter climate before they discovered the prison. She was like her and Daryl's adoptive daughter and she was also Ethan's long-term girlfriend, a fact that had caused many broken hearts when the various teenage girls new to the prison met and subsequently discovered that the cute, fourteen-bordering-on-fifteen-year-old Ethan Dixon was taken until further notice.
"Are you looking for Mr. Daryl, Mrs. Tess?" One of the younger girls cheerfully asked from their spot hanging on the railing and Tessa grinned and nodded as she moved over to her, where she leaned on the railing beside her.
"Why, yes I am looking for Mr. Daryl, Miss. Katie. Can you tell me where I can find that wayward husband of mine?" She asked her and the little girl grinned and turned around at the waist, where she pointed up towards the enclosed prison yard.
"He was up there in the breakfast tent when we were walking down here. He mentioned something about finding you later but he might have forgotten. He seemed like he had a lot on his mind." She told her and Tessa nodded and glanced up at the smoke rising from up the hill.
"He probably did. Was he with Ethan, do you know?" She asked her and Katie thought for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, I think he was. They were about to eat before getting ready for the run." Tessa nodded and turned a triumphant look onto Wren still sitting on Nelly behind her.
"I do think we've found our Dixons, Wren!" She told her and Wren grinned as Tessa smiled and smoothed a hand down Katie's curly auburn locks before thanking her and leaving the round-pen. "Put Nelly up and then come find us, okay, Wren? I'm sure Ethan will want to see you before he leaves." She called to her over her shoulder before beginning the trek up the hill towards the enclosed yard and Wren nodded and called to her that she would as she dismounted from the mare, landing nimbly on her feet as she did so. Tessa smiled and shook her head good-naturedly as she opened the chain-link gate to the yard and closed it before making her way to the cooking tent (which really wasn't a tent at all, just a wooden enclosure, but once people started calling it that, the name seemed to stick like glue). She gave Carol a smile as the older woman stood behind the grill and she met her right when Daryl was walking down the rows of picnic tables towards them. She grinned when he reached her and immediately planted a kiss on her lips. When they parted, she heard him let out a slightly irritated breath as calls of 'Hey Daryl', still reached him from the people grouped around the various picnic tables.
"Something smells good, Carol." He spoke, trying to change the subject before a subject was even brought up, and Tessa grinned as Carol thanked him and handed them each two plates.
"Just so you know, Daryl, I liked you first. I also had a claim staked to you first too, in case you have forgotten." Tessa reminded him with a grin as she moved a lock of his dark brown hair out of his eyes and he grinned back as he handed her, her plate, which she took, but not before he tilted his head slightly to place a sweet kiss on the inside of her wrist.
"Oh, is tha' true, now, babydoll?" He asked her, his eyes glinting in amusement, and she nodded as he picked up some food from his plate and tossed it in his mouth. "Ya know, Rick brought in a lot of 'em too - it wasn' jus' me." He told her and this time, it was Carol who answered as she handed Tessa a spoon and a fork. Unlike Daryl, Tessa didn't eat with her fingers unless she absolutely had to. Of course, then again, part of Daryl's reason was because he was constantly busy and had to scarf down his food before moving onto something else, but still . . . Tessa just couldn't do it.
"Not lately. You've brought in a lot, Daryl – you've given people shelter and put food in their bellies . . ."
"Yeah, eventually, baby, you're going to have to learn to live with the love." Tessa finished for her and he shot her a playful look.
"Is tha' right?" He asked her and her and Carol rolled their eyes at each other as Tessa gestured to him.
"Go ahead, show him." She told her and Carol nodded as Daryl's eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion as he glanced at her.
"Show me what?"
"Hey Patrick, would you mind taking over for me? I got to go to the library and get today's story-time prepped." They heard Carol ask a nearby teenage boy handling the plates and silverware before Tessa could even answer him. He turned to gaze up at her and smiled and nodded as he quickly moved to take her place, Carol handing him the spatula when he neared her. He stopped, though, when he saw Daryl and Tessa and immediately, a grin lit up his face. Tessa had moved to stand beside Daryl in the meantime, and together, they moved to go take a place at one of the picnic tables to eat, but stopped as well when they noticed him lingering.
"Uh, Mr. Dixon . . .?" He spoke up, a little nervously, and Tessa and Carol immediately grinned as Daryl gave him a funny look.
"Uh . . . yeah?" He asked, making it clearly evident that he had never been called 'Mr. Dixon' before, and the teenager (Patrick, was it?) smiled.
"I just want to thank you for bringing in that deer yesterday – you and Ethan, although I've already thanked him." He told him and a slightly shocked look crossed Daryl's eyes then. Tessa gave a laugh and smoothed a hand down his chest as she turned her eyes back onto Patrick. "It was a real treat sir, and Mrs. Dixon," He began before he stopped, a light blush spreading across his cheeks then. "Y-you make story-time magical." He told her and while Tessa gave him a gentle smile, she could sense Daryl using all the strength in his body to keep from laughing. "So, I would be honored to shake you two of your hands!"
Tessa immediately took his hand and politely shook it but felt the urge to laugh at the look in Daryl's face as Patrick extended his hand to him next. Daryl glanced down at it for a minute like his hand belonged to some foreign alien before glancing uneasily at Tessa and Carol, who both had amused looks on their faces. After swallowing hard and nodding, he noisily licked off his fingers before taking it, where he gave it a slightly sarcastic shake. The kid flinched slightly at the tight grip of Daryl's handshake but they saw the dopey grin that immediately spread across Patrick's face at the motion, nonetheless. He nodded as Tessa turned and moved off to one of the picnic tables then after telling Carol that she would be in to help with story-time later. Daryl following close behind her as Carol moved off in the direction of the library, nodding at Tessa as she did so.
"See, now that wasn't so bad, was it?" She asked him and Daryl gave a laugh and a grin.
"I think tha' was ma first handshake in years!" He gave a snort of laughter. "'Mr. Dixon' . . . damn, haven' been called tha' yet. And besides, how could I ever compare to ya, Tess - ya make story-time magical!" He told her and she replied with a laugh as they took a seat at one of the picnic tables and as Tessa slapped him reprimandingly on the arm. Daryl gave a breath of relief, though, when he sat down and Tessa turned her eyes onto him as an amused smile appeared on her face.
"Getting tired, old man?" She asked him and Daryl shot her a playful look as he shook his head.
"I keep forgettin' tha' ya weren' tha one who stayed up half tha night with Aayla last night 'cause she couldn' sleep," He shook his head as he took another bite of food. "I swear to God, Tess, gettin' tha' kid to sleep takes hours!" Tessa let out a scoff at his words as she too shoved a forkful of eggs into her mouth. She chewed for a minute before swallowing and answering him.
"You think you getting her to bed is bad? Baby, please - it's ten times worse when someone else tries it! Me and the girls aren't lying when we say that only you has the ability to get her to sleep!"
He tiredly shook his head. "Why couldn' she be like Danny? Kid sleeps like a damn rock!" He muttered and Tessa grinned as she leaned over and placed a chaste but loving kiss to his lips.
"If she was like Danny, then she wouldn't be your little Huntress, now would she?" She asked him and he slowly – rather reluctantly – shook his head.
"No . . . no she wouldn'."
Tessa nodded, smiling as she took another mouthful. She chewed again before turning a curious gaze onto him. "Where's Ethan?" She asked him and he shrugged as he glanced at her.
"He's with the others gettin' ready for the run, I think. Why?" Tessa shrugged.
"No reason, except Wren wanted to know. She's probably already found him, though, knowing her." Daryl nodded as he got to his feet then.
"Prolly right – come on, babydoll, walk with me."
Tessa nodded as she stood and after picking up her and Daryl's plates, dropped them off at Patrick before the both of them continued towards the front of the prison, where everyone would be getting ready for the run. She glanced at him as they walked. "You guys might not have as many people going with you as last time, okay? A lot are still busy getting rid of the walkers at the fences." She told him and he nodded.
"How many are there?"
"We had a pretty big build-up overnight. Tower three and four are absolutely swamped." She heaved a sigh then. "It's almost as bad as last month, Daryl. They don't spread out as much anymore."
"We'll get rid of 'em, don' worry." He promised her confidently, and she shrugged and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"As long as we don't have any more fence clingers that threaten to knock down the wall like last time, we should be good. We have as many people working on it as we can, but . . ." She gave a shrug and glanced at him then. "It just doesn't take the fear away, you know?" He nodded as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close as they continued walking.
"So, ya gonna come with us this time?" He asked her and Tessa gave a laugh and rolled her eyes.
"Daryl, I've enough stuff to do here as it – keeping an eye on the twins, helping Carol with story-time, making sure the cleaners are doing their jobs, et cetera. Not-to-mention, we have a council meeting tonight too that we need to get ready for . . ." She trailed off then and Daryl nodded.
"I know, I know, but ya said tha' ya would come out with us this time and I don' aim to let ya jus' ignore those words!" He gave her a loving smile. "Look, I know ya don' like comin' out with us considerin' what happened last time with Merle, but ya should know better than tha' now!" He shook his head. "Come out with us, Tess! Ya gettin' better with ya aim and it'd do ya right to get out of the prison. You'd enjoy it."
They had reached the others busy loading up the cars with gear by then, and she returned his smile as they turned to face each other. "If I went, I wouldn't have to stay here and worry about you coming back, would I?" She asked him and he shook his head as his hands curled around her hips, where he brought her closer to him.
"Nope . . ."
"And I'd be able to keep an eye on you too, wouldn't I . . . make sure nothing happens to you . . ."
He nodded. "Yup . . ."
"And I could get some things that the twins needs instead of sending a laundry list -!"
Daryl grinned and shook his head, successfully interrupting her. "Babydoll, jus' shut up and say ya'll come!" He told her and she grinned and nodded as he leaned down and kissed her, deep and loving and her arms wound around his neck as his arms wrapped around her. He pulled her tighter against him and she grinned against his lips as Ethan's amused voice reached them across the way:
"Deddy, momma, get a room – ya two are almost obscene!"
Daryl grinned and looked over his shoulder at him standing with Wren, his arms around her in a tight hug. "Ya two shouldn' be talkin', smart-ass! It's a damn romance novel out here, I swear to God!" He called back and Ethan grinned back.
"Hey, what is it that you always tell me? It's better to be a smart-ass than a dumbass?"
Daryl shook his head and rolled his eyes as he turned back to Tessa. "So ya are comin' with us?" He asked her and she sighed and nodded.
"Speaking you aren't going to be leaving it alone anytime soon, I suppose I am. Who's going with us?"
Daryl glanced over his shoulder at the people trickling their way in. "Other than me, you and Ethan, there's also Short Round, Tyrese, Sasha and a couple of others, including Beth's new boy toy." He turned around. "Why?" She shook her head.
"No reason, just wanted to know." She told him and he nodded as he leaned down and pressed one last lingering kiss to her lips before they broke apart and he took her hand, where he pulled her over to the bike. Ethan immediately grinned and broke apart from Wren as he moved to meet them, Wren hot on his heels.
"Hey, is momma comin'?" He asked and Daryl nodded.
"Yup; I finally got her to say yes." He told him and Ethan nodded.
"That's awesome! Now I won't need to take in a laundry list of shit we need and get half of them wrong, only to get yelled at later!" He told her and Tessa laughed as they nodded and she turned to face Wren.
"Be sure to go check on the twins, okay? They're going through that separation anxiety phase and they get a little emotional if they don't see anyone they know for a while. Can you also go find Carol and ask her to hold off story-time until we're back? She'll understand." She told her and Wren nodded as she smiled and planted a kiss on her forehead as Daryl started up the bike. She quickly hopped on behind him and when she was comfortingly situated behind him, she turned her eyes onto the girl again. "We'll be back before you know it, okay?" She promised her and Wren nodded again as Ethan pecked her on the lips before giving her one last lingering hug. He then ran off in the direction of the car that Glenn was getting into as Wren followed Beth as the two girls moved off in the direction of the prison.
The cars quickly fell in procession behind the both of them on the bike, and as they were rumbling down the gravel drive to the front gate, they quickly drew up on Rick and Sam standing with Michonne. The tall, willowy African American woman grinned when she saw Tessa and Tessa returned the grin as Daryl pulled off beside them and cut the engine.
"Hey, you're back!" Tessa spoke up and Michonne nodded.
"Yup. I picked up some comic books for Carl and an electric razor for that jungle growing on Rick's face," She spoke and they both laughed as she then gave her a wink. "I got you what you needed, too, but don't worry," She gave her a smile. "I'll give it to you later, okay?" Tessa nodded as Daryl shot her a look before turning his eyes onto Rick.
"We're headin' out – goin' to go check out tha' Big Spot tha' I was tellin' ya 'bout a while back. Shouldn't take too long; we'll be back before ya know it." He told him and Rick nodded as he told him about how he was going to go check the snares in the woods before the walkers got to the meat. Tessa's hands, meanwhile, remained resting on the tops of Daryl's thighs as she sat behind him and listened to Rick. The entire time, she could feel Sam's eyes burning holes into them, as well as feel the tenseness of Daryl's body as he forced himself to keep gazes with Rick instead of moving them onto the man standing beside his best friend.
Michonne gave a smile then when Rick finished. "You know what? I'll go with you guys." She told him and Rick held out his arms slightly. Michonne grinned and gave him a wink as she ran her hand down his chest. "I'll be fine, I promise. Like Daryl said, we'll be back before you know it!" She promised him and Rick pursed his lips before eventually nodding. Carl gave her a slightly incredulous look, as well.
"But you just got here!" He told her and she sent him a grin.
"Well, I'm leaving again." She told him with a good-natured confidence and Tessa grinned as the two of them clasped hands before Michonne headed off in the direction of the nearest car. She hadn't really liked Michonne in the beginning, but she found herself slowly warming up to the woman before she found herself developing a friendship with her. Now, Michonne was probably the closest she had to a best friend aside from Maggie and not many people other than Rick and Daryl could tolerate some of Michonne's moods, so it fit.
"Don't worry, I'll go get the gate." Rick told him and Daryl nodded as he slapped him on the chest before cutting on the bike.
"Tess, be careful, okay?" Sam quickly spoke up before he could stop himself and when Tessa turned her eyes onto him, he felt his breath catching in his throat for a moment. He had forgotten how beautiful they were.
She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Daryl finally turning his eyes onto him. His eyes were cold and slightly threatening when they locked onto his and as always when he found Daryl staring at him, Sam took a step back.
"Don' worry . . . she will be with me." He told him before popping up the kickstand and driving off, the cars quickly falling back into procession behind them. Sam stood there and watched them go for a minute and when he temporarily locked eyes with Ethan sitting in the car driving behind them, he gave a small smile and a wave. However, Ethan didn't wave back and Sam swallowed heavily as his eyes fell back onto the bike leading the procession – at the white angel wings on black leather and the thick curtain of black hair that whipped behind them and realized something: all along as they made their way from the reservation through Atlanta, and even when they were separated, he had never really been scared that Tessa and Ethan would become walkers – he had been scared that Tessa would find Daryl again, the one man that he had never been able to compare to and now he definitely couldn't.