Daryl had never given the idea that he might have a soulmate any real consideration. The phenomenon was well documented enough that it was technically possible that anyone could have one. But Daryl having one? He couldn't imagine a world where anyone would want to be with him and only him and love him like that, no matter what life he was leading. His soul wasn't worth the hassle.
So he'd never looked for the signs that he might have one. It wasn't easy even for those who did look. Soulmates had this strange thing where each of them would suddenly develop the same skills the other had when they needed to. Shared talents, both natural and developed. One might have an interest in playing the piano and the other never even touched one. But if that other one sat down to play, they'd somehow have that same skill as their soulmate. Not all examples of found soulmates were so obvious, of course. Some people developed a sudden and strange ability to manage their time more effectively or understood how to bait a fishhook without having to be shown. Their soulmates being better at those things than they'd ever tried to be. Some shared talents were so subtle that many soulmates didn't even realize they were sharing anything. Made it hard to find another.
Daryl had no reason to think that such a thing was going on for him until Sophia went missing.
"Step aside, shortround, you're mucking up the trail," Daryl groused as he waved the kid to the side.
Glenn looked down at him from the bank, frowned at him, at the ground, and shook his head, "No, I'm not. Her tracks are over there. She slipped and found her way up a foot to the right."
That had thrown Daryl and also clearly surprised the others. Glenn looked confused himself for a moment, but shrugged it off as he watched the trail for any other deviations while they walked. The kid had never shown any inclination for tracking as far as Daryl knew. And he didn't think pizza delivery really required him to learn. But then again, Glenn was a master of the sneaky in and out stuff in the city. Could be he'd done stuff in the woods once upon a time and applied them to his urban life and the supply runs.
Daryl shook it off for the time being. Followed the tracks as far as he could before he was thrown for a loop again. He'd lost the trail after Sophia veered off the path. Couldn't find any signs of what had made her dart away. But Glenn had moved away from the trail, looking around, younger eyes sharper than Daryl's in the fading light.
"Over here," he called out in a loud whisper. "I think she must have taken a running jump. There's nothing between there and here, but this spot's been trampled heavier than the rest and her tracks lead this way."
Rick hurried over before Daryl could get his mind wrapped around that. It was strange, seeing Glenn so confident in what he was doing in the woods. Walking properly, moving with the ground, muffling his own steps and keeping his tracks minimized. The same way Daryl did. It was practically deja vu but with an Asian mirror.
They kept going, following that trail that Daryl would have missed, deeper into the woods. The ground went from hard packed to softer, eventually becoming a bit of a swampy bog. It was there that they heard the weak sobbing punctuated by a single loud 'help!' before the echo of footsteps running off reached their ears.
"Sophia!" Her name was out of their mouths in an unplanned chorus. They all yelled for her and split off to cover as much ground between them and the noise she was making. It was hard to pinpoint, but they had a decent idea of the direction from the girl's tracks.
Glenn spotted her first, pointing and shouting at them. Then shouting to get the walker's attention. Rick joined in and Daryl felt his heart skip a beat as the walker took the bait Glenn presented. He was fast, always too fast. Darted right in and put himself in line of sight, waving his arms around. He had no weapon to kill it with. Had only his own speed to rely on.
Daryl rushed forward while Rick ran for the girl. Glenn might have been better in the woods than Daryl had expected, but the kid had ended up distracting himself with his own actions. He backed up too fast, didn't check his surroundings. Ended up tripping and falling backwards over an exposed root that landed him ass first in the muck. It was muddy and wet and sucked him right in. Glenn struggled to pull himself out, but panicked as he was and with a walker on him, there was no way he'd get himself out before it was on top of him. Daryl set the bolt to the bow and fired as soon as he had a clear line of sight. The walker went down a foot from Glenn and the idiot just laid back with a loud sigh of relief.
When Daryl was there, standing over him, breathing far too heavily for the aftermath of such a simple kill. It was Glenn's fault. That wasn't the first time he'd felt over protective of the kid. It wasn't the first time he'd looked at that face and had to look away because his heart pounded just a little too fast and a little too hard. It wasn't the first time he'd pointedly ignored the signs he was feeling something a little more than he should have over him.
But it was the first time Daryl had an idea of why. If Glenn had any real training for the woods, he wouldn't have made such a dumb mistake in drawing the walker away. He would have been aware of the root because he would have mapped it in his head. It was too obvious with the ground the way it was not to.
Glenn laid there, staring up at him, with that stupid smile of his, fingers drumming on his stomach. He was laughing, giddy, the adrenaline starting to drain. He gave a small wave, "Hey. Thanks for not letting it eat me."
Daryl's mouth twitched and he forced his teeth to clamp down on his lower lip as he nodded slowly. Got a hold of himself. Rick was next to him then, Sophia in his arms. He was grinning at Glenn, too, looking more than a little hysterical.
After another moment, Daryl extended his hand to Glenn and the kid used it to pull himself up. The force of the pull landed him against Daryl's chest as he fought to catch his balance. Daryl wasn't aware of his other arm wrapping around Glenn's back and holding him there until Rick cleared his throat. Glenn didn't seem to have been aware of it, either, since he pulled back suddenly, cheeks bright red.
Daryl took another deep breath and turned on his heel to lead them back to the highway. He held his crossbow behind him and didn't look at Glenn as he offered it to him, "Watch our back."
Glenn took it, sounding as confused as he probably looked, "Uh... I don't really know how to-"
"You'll figure it out," Daryl cut him off, mind already filtering through all the things Daryl had ever seen him do. That odd way he'd packed his things that Daryl had at one time found disconcerting because it was a way that Daryl had thought he'd developed on his own only a few years before. Wasn't particularly effective in making more room, but felt more natural and inherently organized. It went against everything he'd learned about camping and packing for the nearly forty years he'd been alive. But it had felt right somehow. The way the kid moved through the city when they'd gone for the guns and Daryl had picked up on it, found himself moving the same way. Thought he'd just been quick on the uptake. Which was sort of true.
Glenn wasn't always as fast on the uptake as Daryl was, in taking in the clues about situations that others didn't see. He wondered if that was something Glenn would ever get from him. And if it was, what he'd do about it. Because he was pretty sure he couldn't handle going to the kid about it. Not directly. It was too surreal. Too unbelievable.
He didn't glance back as he pulled his skinning knife, "I trust ya."