"I don't like this," Rick says softly, face nestled against Daryl's neck. Rick's pressed so hard against Daryl it's almost like he's trying to merge their bodies into one. "I don't like this at all."

The two of them are standing in their cell, so close together their chests are touching. Daryl's scent is sweet, sweeter than usual, and so god damn intoxicating Rick can hardly stand it. Even though he was mated, Daryl's been getting wandering looks the last few days which has only ignited Rick's possessiveness. Daryl had never gotten looks like the ones he's been getting lately and Rick sees it all as competition for Daryl's affection, despite the fact that there is no competition. Daryl wants Rick, Daryl will always want Rick, and that was the end of it. Rick's been all over him today, almost as if he was trying to bathe in his scent, and Daryl knows Rick can tell he's about to hit his heat. Which is exactly why he was so adamant about Daryl staying at the prison instead of going on the scheduled run, it was just too dangerous. So many things could go wrong, and that's all Rick can focus on.

"You worry too much," Daryl mumbles, hands running through Rick's hair in an attempt to calm him down. He can't really blame Rick for being so clingy, no matter how annoying it might be. Rick was always clingy and overprotective, he couldn't help it. It didn't matter how many times Daryl showed him he could take care of himself, Rick would always be overprotective. Rick was all alpha, strong and proud. The protective urge to protect his omega, his mate, overpowered everything else, even logic. It worsened considerably as the seconds ticked by and Daryl got closer to his heat.

Usually Daryl took suppressants, he didn't need the bothersome heat to take over at the most inopportune of times, but he and Rick had decided they were going to try for a pup. It was a weird feeling, thinking that he might be carrying in a few days. Daryl had never, not once in his life, thought that that might be something he would want. He and Rick had never talked about it because Rick didn't think that was something he had wanted. However, it had hit Daryl the other day when one of the omegas who lived at the prison gave birth. He wanted that, wanted a pup he could call his own. Daryl loved Carl and Judith more than anything, would give his life for theirs in a heartbeat. Those were his pups and anyone who said any different was going to have one pissed off Dixon on their hands. But, he couldn't deny the fact that they weren't his by blood, and though that didn't necessarily matter to him, he wanted a pup that was his blood, his and Rick's blood. It was weird and scary and awkward to think about, but Daryl wanted a pup so badly it hurt.

The idea that he had found someone like Rick, someone that he trusted with every piece of him, who he was comfortable enough to have a pup with was a foreign concept to him. He'd learned from an early age that Alphas were a thing to be feared, that all they wanted was to dominate, claim, own. His father had used his omega status as a way to pay off old debts once he hit his teenage years, and from that moment on he had sworn off all Alphas. Daryl was okay with living his life alone, he didn't need an Alpha to take care of him, Daryl took care of himself. But then he had met Rick and everything changed. Rick was everything you could possibly want in a mate and so much more. He wasn't one of those Alphas who wanted nothing but claiming rights to him, he didn't collect the number of omegas in heat he had taken like some others, and Rick certainly didn't expect Daryl to keep his home warm while he was out. Rick cared about him, loved him, had welcomed him into his family with open arms. He referred to Carl and Judith as his pups, called Daryl his mate, had carved Daryl his own place in his family. Rick was protective and possessive and a right asshole sometimes, but he recognized Daryl's independence, realized he needed his space sometimes, and saw Daryl as an equal, not someone who was beneath him.

"I do not," Rick pouts, pressing a kiss against the sensitive mating mark on Daryl's collarbone in a last ditch effort to keep Daryl from leaving. The kiss is gentle, but it ignites a fire deep inside of Daryl that he had never felt before. His skin is starting to sweat and he feels a tug at the pit of his stomach. His heat is coming and it's coming fast. But he can't focus on that right now, he's gotta get food in his people right away, and to do that he needed to go on a run.

"We need food," Daryl says, hands sliding down Rick's neck to rest on the small of his back. "And supplies. We need this run. I won' be gone long, a few hours tops. Ya won' even realize 'm gone I'll be so fast."

"Let me come with you then," Rick says, pulling away from Daryl's neck so he can look him in the eye. "I don't like the thought of you leaving so close to your next heat. You can't hide it from me Daryl, I know it's coming. I can smell it on you." Rick rubs his face against the place where Daryl's shoulder meets neck, right above Daryl's mark of claim, and Rick's beard tickled Daryl's skin. Daryl shudders, body nearly collapsing in on himself with the amount of pleasure that's soaring through him.

"Ya can't come," Daryl says, stepping away from Rick. If he doesn't step away now he knows Rick's gonna convince him to stay, and they can't afford that luxury right now. "The prison needs ya here. I'll be fine. 'M already takin' Glenn, the two of us will be back soon." Daryl presses his lips against Rick's, the kiss soft and sweet. Rick's wound up tight with worry and the need to protect, all Daryl wants to do is make him feel better.

"I don't like it," Rick says, running a hand over his face. Daryl can tell Rick's gonna give in, he always gave in. Technically, Rick could make Daryl do whatever he wants. All he's got to do is use that Alpha voice of his and Daryl would be a quivering mess of an omega, desperate to please his Alpha, especially since he's this close to his heat. But Rick had never used it, and Daryl knows he never will. Rick just ain't that type of person. "But I'm not gonna stop you."

Daryl smiles slightly, resting his head against Rick's forehead. He knows Rick can't help it. His Alpha instincts are overwhelming right now, and he knows it's a struggle for him to suppress them. The fact that Rick makes an effort to suppress them says enough about his character. "I know, and I love ya for it."

Rick traces Daryl's mating mark, needing to feel it one last time before Daryl took off. "Hey," Daryl says, taking Rick's hand into his. "Everything's gonna be fine."

"I know," Rick says, eyes downcast in worry. "I just have the worst feeling something bad is gonna happen."


Glenn and Daryl's run goes well, at least for a while. They found a lot of supplies they were in desperate need of, even a few extra things they had been wanting, not needing, lately. Everything is going great, there's no problems with walkers or people a like and everything is going perfect. Daryl and Glenn get everything packed and loaded into their car, supplies safely tucked away. They're on their way back to the prison when shit really hits the fan.

Daryl and Glenn are about ten miles outside of the prison, making great time, when two cars come careening out of the woods. How they even managed to get them there in the first place Daryl will never know, but he's got to admit that they're effective. One of the cars stops behind them while the other stops in front of them, successfully blocking their path. They're boxed in, unable to get away, and Daryl knows the chances of them getting out of this are slim to none. Daryl's in the driver's seat, desperately trying to find a way around the two cars. It only takes him five seconds to realize they're completely cornered, surrounded from all sides.

Daryl's mind starts racing a mile a minute, trying to think of any way they could possibly get out of this. Daryl's usually great on his feet, but nothing's coming to mind that'll get them out of this mess and he's beginning to run out of time, any thoughts of escaping leave him in a matter of seconds. Before either one of them can react, ten guys are surrounding their car, guns pointing straight at them. There's no use in fighting against the massive assembly of men, there's just way too many of them. Two to ten were never good odds, no matter how good of a fighter Daryl and Glenn are. In a matter of seconds, three guys are prying the passenger door open with so much force the car shakes. One of the men gets a handful of Glenn's hair and tugs hard on it, pulling him out of the car by his air. Glenn lets out a grunt of pain and Daryl knows they're completely fucked.

The second Glenn's out of the car he's being forced onto his knees, hands behind his back with a gun pointed at the back of his skull. Daryl is hopeless to stop it. All he can do is hold his hands up in a sign of defeat and watch as Glenn is manhandled into place. All thoughts of escaping leave Daryl instantly, too afraid they men would do something drastic, like kill Glenn. As soon as Glenn's subdued and on his knees, there's more men opening his door and dragging him out. Daryl fights off the men the second they touch him, Daryl Dixon wasn't an easy man to subdue. However, the man standing behind Glenn grunts to get Daryl's attention and cocks his gun, a clear threat, and Daryl knows he can't fight back, not if it was going to result in Glenn's death. They men force Daryl onto his knees beside Glenn, another gun pointed at the back of his head now, and all Daryl can think is that this is all his fault.

"Let's talk about this," Glenn says, trying to begin a negotiation, and the guy standing behind him slams the butt of his gun against the back of his head, sending Glenn flying forward. That's when Daryl knows that reasoning with these men wasn't going to work, no matter what the offer was. He had no idea what they wanted with the two of them, but Daryl knew he was powerless to stop it and that's what really angered him.

Daryl watches as Glenn flies forward, head cracking against the ground with a loud thud, and suddenly he sees red. Nobody fucked with Daryl's people in front of him and got away with it. "Don' fuckin' touch him you bastard," Daryl screams, hands reaching out to try and help Glenn out. The second Daryl moves he can feel the guy behind him move, unsheathing the hunting knife at his side. The man brings the knife against Daryl's throat, holding it close enough to his skin to nick it. Daryl feels a drop of blood roll down his neck and suddenly he can't move. The guy next to Glenn hovers his foot over Glenn's face, threatening to stomp on the unconscious man.

"Another move and I swear, he'll stomp the chinks face in and I'll slit your throat, do not test me," the man growls, pressing the knife harder against Daryl's throat for good measure. Daryl knows when he's at a disadvantage, and it's clear to anybody with eyes that he's at a huge disadvantage, so he gets back in place, eyeing Glenn's unconscious body. He's knocked out cold next to him, blood already starting to mat in his black hair and Daryl grits his teeth, too afraid to say something that'll just going to get them in more trouble.

Daryl's about to open his mouth again but he hears a voice that sends shards of ice down his spine. "Now, now, Miguel, don't go scaring the bitch," Daryl hears from the left of him. He recognizes that voices, doesn't think he could ever forget that voice, and for the first time since this whole fiasco started he realizes just how fucked they are. To make matters worse Daryl's starting to sweat, his sweat soaked skin heating up with every passing second. Daryl's stomach is clenching painfully and he can feel slick start to slip down his thighs.

He's going into heat, he's fucking going into heat much earlier than he suspected. Suddenly Daryl's aware that every single man surrounding him is an Alpha, their combined odor making Daryl's eyes flash with want. He can't believe this is happening to him, the first heat he has in years and it's happening surrounded by a shit ton of Alphas. It'd taken him so long, so fucking long, for him to be okay with having a heat with Rick and the idea that he was going into heat surrounded by a bunch of strangers who wanted to kill him was absolutely the worst possible thing that could happen to him. He and Rick hadn't even been able to enjoy his heat yet and it was already going to be ruined for him.

"Surprised?" the governor asks, tone mocking Daryl as he steps out from the shadows. He's just as tall as Daryl remembered him, dark brown hair cropped short and the familiar eye patch covers his left eye. "I bet you are. I know that black bitch has been looking for me for a while now, didn't seem to find me though, did she?"

Daryl doesn't say anything, just grits his teeth and stares up at the Governor as he towers over him, nothing but hatred in his gaze. "So we're gonna play the silent card, huh?" the Governor says, coming to bend down in front of Daryl. "That's fine by me. The less you talk, the easier it's going to be for me to kill you."

Daryl spits in his face, snotty saliva running down the Governor's cheek. He just chuckles, completely belittling Daryl. The Governor lifts up his shirt and wipes at the spit on his cheek with the underside of his shirt. "You've got balls for a worthless knot slut," he says, voice mocking. "I'll give that to you."

"You want us to kill them now, go along with the plan?" the guy behind Daryl says and suddenly Daryl's gut is so tightly clenched he can hardly breathe. He's terrified, but not for himself. Of course Daryl didn't want to die, but if it had to be him or one of his people he'd always chose himself. Daryl's terrified for Glenn and how the news of his death is gonna affect Maggie, Daryl's terrified that with him gone nobody is going to be able to hunt for the prison, Daryl's terrified of leaving Rick without a mate and of Judith and Carl losing another parental figure.

"Yeah, kill that one first," the Governor says, gesturing towards Glenn dismissively. "I wanna see the look on this one's face after we kill the Asian. This is gonna fuck them up real-" suddenly the Governor stops talking, gaze focused on Daryl's collarbone.

"What's this?" the Governor asks, pressing his fingers painfully against Daryl's mating claim. The touch sends a shiver of a pain down his spine and Daryl can't hold back the whine that escapes his mouth. No other Alpha, besides his, is supposed to touch his mark. It's sensitive and the touch from anyone else but Rick would always cause him pain. The Governor presses his face against Daryl's neck, inhaling deeply. Daryl tries to back away from him but the Governor's hand threads its way through Daryl's hair, tugging sharply to keep him in place, and the guy standing behind Daryl is pressed up against his back so he can't move.

"Oh this is rich," the Governor says, laughing hysterically. He pulls away from Daryl's body but remains bent down in front of him. "God, you've got his smell all over you. The stench of that damn ex-sheriff is all over you. Rick's your Alpha, ain't he?" Daryl doesn't speak, just squeezes his eyes shut and averts his gaze. He knows that things have just gone from bad to worse. "The little bitch went and got himself claimed by Mr. Goody Two Shoes over there, didn't he? God you're intoxicating." The Governor bends down to lick at Daryl's mating mark and suddenly his body erupts in pain. "You've always smelled so good, Daryl, but the fact that you're in heat is going to make this experience so much more fun for me and my boys. Torturing you, making your body ache in ways you can't even begin to imagine, is gonna kill Rick inside, and that's exactly what I want."

Daryl's body tenses, starting to shake slightly. Rick couldn't find out about this, Daryl knew it would kill him. They were so fucked. "Change of plan boys," the Governor says, standing up to his full height. The Governor glances around at his men, a crazed look in his eye as he cackles. "We're gonna have ourselves some fun with this omega bitch."