Hey there, guys! You probably don't know me by my username here in ff, but I'm bleu dans la nuit on tumblr, if that rings a bell... Anyway! I've been a Bethyl fan since a couple of weeks before she "died" (yep, I jumped right into the ship while it was sounding the last board-the-ship alarm...) and I've also been acompanning Team Delusional since the beggining. This story is my version of how the whole hospital scene should have gone down. I hope you guys like this! Enjoy ;)

X.X.X

"Fuck no." Daryl said. That kid Noah was definitely nuts. What would they do, barging into the hospital with three people against a whole lot of armed men? What was worst was that Carol was agreeing with the weapon stealer. "Absolutely not. We are going back to the church. Quietly. No running blindly through the streets." His tone was no nonsense like. Carol looked reluctant, but nodded all the same and Noah just looked scared if a bit annoyed.

The archer nodded at them both before adjusting the strap of his crossbow and turning around. They slept another day while planning the scape of Atlanta and headed out first thing in the morning of the third day, their plan being finally complete. They got out of the building through the back door, using alleyways to get to where they parked their car. The ride was tense, Daryl speeding through the road like a man on a mission. Noah asked if he could slow down once, but after the growl Daryl sent his way, he kept his mouth firmly shut until they arrived.

They got to the porch of the church much sooner then they thought with Daryl's crazy driving, and were more than confused when they noticed there was a big firetruck parked in front of the church.

"Keep your guns ready." He said gruffly before stepping out of the car. He aimed his crossbow to the front door and listened to anything alarming. When he didn't hear anything, he crept forward knowing Noah and Carol were following close behind. He stepped up the steps quietly and opened the door just a crack to see that all of the group were standing in a circle, talking normally before Glenn said something and there were all stages of outrage. He opened the door fully revealing his presence and the Carol's and when they finally stepped through, Noah's.

He watched as Rick's expression went from relief to confusion at seeing the boy hanging awkwardly back. Daryl watched the tensed way his family were holding themselves and immediately turned to the newest members. He noticed one was absent.

"Where is the scientist?" Was the first thing he asked. He watched as their faces contorted into a mix of anger and sorrow before Rick answered.

"He is in the office. He lied about the cure. There was a bit of an accident..." He trailed of his eyes going to Abraham. Daryl followed his gaze and found himself looking at the man's bloodied knuckles. He heard Carol gasp from beside him, but he couldn't say he was surprised. Every time things were good, something would fuck it up and ruin everything. The farm, the prison and the funeral home were proof of that. Obviously the General didn't take the lie too kindly and beat the guy to a pulp.

"Where were you, brother?" Rick asked confusedly. "And who is that?" He nodded his head at Noah.

"Saw the car who took Beth. Followed it and found him. Name's Noah." He sighed heavily. "Beth helped get him out of the hospital she is locked up." Maggie's eyes brightened considerably and she couldn't help the happy laugh that escaped her lips.

"Beth is alive?" She asked through happy tears. Daryl nodded but Noah visibly tensed. The older man turned menacingly to him.

"She is alive, righ'?" He stepped into the boy's personal space, their foreheads almost touching, his accent thickening. He shrugged Carol's hand off his arm, not wanting to be touched or held back. Noah took a step back and raised his hands in surrender.

"Look, man. Before you do anything else, you need to know what happened." He looked around the church, his eyes stopping at Judith for a while before he nodded lightly.

"Spit it out, boy." Daryl snarled. Noah nodded quickly before swallowing hard.

"The people at the hospital are bad... Really bad." He gulped. "We were trying to get out, and it was going so well until my limp started to get in the way..." He trailed off and Daryl urged him forward with an impatient wave of his hand. "She slowed down and killed all the rotters so I could get away...'" He shook his head, guilt written all over his face. "They got her back. And they don't take too well to being outsmarted..." He swallowed hard and Daryl felt his stomach drop. He wanted to ask what they would do to her, but the words seemed to be stuck in his throat. He just stared at the boy before Sasha finally asked what he didn't know if he was ready to know.

"What will they do to her?" Her voice shook, the events of Terminus still fresh on her mind. The boy looked like he rather do anything than answer the question.

"They usually beat us up but Dawn, the leader, seemed to have a personal grudge against Beth. The last two weeks she's been there she got beaten almost every day and..." He shook his head as if trying to shake the thought out of his head. Rick stepped forward.

"And what?" He said dangerously. Noah looked to Daryl, his eyes torturously asking for forgiveness.

"Beth is a girl. A beautiful girl. I heard Gorman, one of the officers, saying that she would be his next prey..." He didn't need to finish, they all knew what that meant. He would rape her. Daryl felt as if someone had sucker punched him. His breath came out in a rush and suddenly he couldn't breathe. No, she didn't deserve that. Beth deserved the best of everything, not to be degraded like that. Could she even come back from that if it happened? Could she still be the same Beth? A flash of a memory passed through his head. Her eyes like molten steel with determination. She would make it. Even if she didn't come back the same,she would survive, he knew that. He cleared his throat loudly and pushed the dark thoughts of his head. He had to believe in her.

"She's tough." He said finally. Maggie sobbed.

"She's a child, Daryl! Always protected, she never had to fight!" He felt anger bubbling inside of him. Why the hell was she giving up so easily on her sister? He sure as hell wasn't. Before he could shout at her face, unfortunately, Noah chimed in.

"She certainly didn't seem like it. I've never seen someone fight like her." Daryl nodded approvingly, pride warming his chest. "We had to go down the elevator shaft and when I dropped my flashlight, she just kept going! Used the flash of a gunshot to kill the next walker, and she didn't miss one, man" he looked to the ground, sadness coating his face. "The only reason she's not here is because she slowed down to make sure I could get away..." Daryl felt a pang in his heart. Of course Beth would sacrifice herself for someone in need. Maggie shook her head, still looking skeptical.

"Are you sure we are talking about the same Beth?" The archer felt anger rising inside him again, but this time he didn't hold back.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He stepped closer to the woman, his eyes flashing dangerously when Glenn stepped forward too. "Why is it so hard to believe she made it too? That "child" saved my ass more times that I can count! Hell, I'd rather her have my back than you!" He was right in her face, relishing in her frightened look. Rick stepped up and put a hand to his shoulder, which he shrugged off but backed away all the same. He looked around the room, everyone looked as if they were ready to jump in at any second. He shook his head forcefully. If he didn't have such strict rules about hitting women, Maggie would already have joined the scientist. "I brought Noah back so we could make a plan to get her out of that shithole. Not so we could sit around and write her of as dead." He narrowed his eyes at each occupants of the room and only relaxed when Rick cleared his throat and stepped forward.

"Where do we start?"

X.X.X

The plan seemed simple. Use Noah as bait to get as many officers as they could off the hospital so they could kill them outside where they would be outnumbered. Then Sasha and Rosita would be positioned on the roof of the two buildings next to Grady, ready to shoot from above, while Daryl, Rick, Abraham, Glenn, Maggie, Carol and Michonne would enter. Tyreesse and Carl would stay with Eugene, Father Gabriel and Judith at the Woman Care Center that Carol had secured while she was away from the group.

Everything was going according to plan. Freakishly so. Three officers had come for Noah and their corpses littered the streets alongside the molten walkers that were stuck to the pavement. Daryl was desperately trying to find it in himself to feel sick for killing another human being, but every time he started to feel something the images of them hitting Beth or the men rapping her assaulted his mind and anger like he hadn't felt in a long time took control of him. He knew the others were carefully looking at him, but he couldn't care less. He only had one thing in his mind. Get Beth out of there.

They reached the parking lot of the hospital while the sky darkened with clouds and Sasha and Rosita went to take their posts on the roofs while the others took cover behind the cars. Rick aimed a shot at one of windows that had the lights turned on and they waited patiently. An asian guy stuck his head out and Daryl shot him with his M16, his blood splattering on the glass and his head snapping back. They could hear screaming coming from inside and soon enough three men stepped through the front doors, weapons drawn. Thunder cracked in the distance signaling the oncoming storm. It was like they had rehearsed it, without hesitating, the group shot them down, bullets also flying from above. They were alone in the parking lot now. It was time to go in.

Those on the ground moved from behind the cars and quickly crossed to the other side, but when they were almost at the double doors, they were opened wide from inside and a mess of blond hair fell to the floor.

X.X.X

Hate burned deep inside her stomach, making her sick. She was sick of it all. The lies, the manipulations, the beatings. Dr. Edwards, who she thought was just a good man caught in a bad situation, turned out to be a two-faced lying bastard, and there she was. Sitting on the edge of the elevator shaft, looking at the darkness below while hate as she never felt before consumed her. She heard footsteps coming closer, but didn't turn around to explain why she wasn't in her room like she was supposed to be. She was already expecting the woman to come looking for her.

"I thought I would find you here." Her voice came from behind. Beth turned her head and threw a cold glare at her direction. "I know it was you who killed Dr. Edwards... and Gorman." Beth didn't react, she already suspected the woman knew.

"Why didn't you kill me, then?" She kept looking down, the cool steel of the bloodied scissors burnin a shape into her hip beneath her pants. "I'm defying your authorities, right? Why let me live?" Dawn leaned against the wall next to the girl and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I'm the only one who knows for now." She let out a sigh, and Beth fought the urge to stick the piece of metal in her eyeball. "I was just like you when I was younger," the blonde felt sick at hearing those words "no one could tell me anything. But you need to be smart, Beth. You could be a part of this. What we do here is important. The most important thing you will do in your life."

Beth felt anger returning to her in full force as she stepped up and whirled around to look at the woman, but before she could take the scissors and plunge them into Dawn the door to the hallway banged open and officer O' Donnell stepped through, his gun raised. Dawn and him started to have an argument, but all Beth could think was "Shit". If O'Donnell killed Dawn she would be stuck with a rapist with a gun on his hand and she was fairly sure a manipulative bitch with a gun was much better than that.

When he turned his back to her and lunged for Dawn, Beth took her opportunity. She kicked him behind his knee sending him to the ground and quickly crouched to take the pistol from his hands. It was like something else had taken control of her, her instincts doing everything while she watched from afar as her own hand pulled the trigger and the bullet lodged itself on his brain, sending a splash of blood towards her pristine scrubs and the walls. The gunshot echoing on the hallway.

Dawn raised her head to look at the girl, her eyes wide and unfocused. Footsteps where approaching fast and before the blonde girl could even come back from her trance, the woman had her gun trained on her head and the door was banging open yet again. Four officers had their weapons drawn and aimed at Beth before she could even blink. She opened her mouth, an explanation on her tongue, but what could she say, really? Hey guys, I killed your rape buddy, ops my bad, somehow didn't seem like it would diffuse any of the tension.

"She-she shot him!" Dawn exclaimed. Beth couldn't believe her ears. She saved her and the bitch wasn't even telling the truth? Beth started to shake her head, but stopped mid shake because she knew it was no use. There was absolutely nothing she could do right now. The officers came forward and she dropped the gun to the ground, hoping they wouldn't find the scissors. They didn't, but she knew what came next would be much worse than anything she had gone through already.

The next few days Beth stayed in her room. Dawn would come with Kawasaki right after breakfast and hit her until she got tired before forcing water and food down her throat and leaving for the night. Beth's face was redder than before from all the slaps and punches and her stitches were teared wide open, blood slowly going down from the one at her forehead, sometimes obscuring her vision. She was fairly certain at least one of her ribs were bruised or cracked and she felt constantly dizzy. The reason the she devil kept coming was because the girl refused to scream, no matter how hard she hit her. That and the press of the scissors on her hip were the only satisfaction Beth got, knowing that she would get out of there and kill the bitch.

The third day, Beth knew something was wrong when the woman only arrived with the asian after midday. Then when Dawn's kicks and punches felt half-hearted and she was constantly going to the corner of the room to say something to her radio, Beth definitely knew something was wrong. Her hits started getting stronger after a while and Beth was more than happy when she stopped her assaults to turn on the lights. She tried to focus on calming her breath, each inhale sent excruciating pain to her middle but she used it to anchor herself to this world. If she didn't, she felt like she could pass out at any moment and she knew she would be dead if that happened.

Suddenly a loud bang echoed into the room, the window blowing into shards, some of them hitting Beth in the face, but the cuts weren't nearly deep enough as the ones she already had. Dawn shouted some orders at Kawasaki while the ringing in her ears subsided and she knew it. That was her chance, she would get out of there. She was just getting ready to take the scissors from the waistline of her pants went another shot rang out and something warm covered the front of her scrubs. Kawasaki's body fell to the ground with a thud and she was paralyzed. She noticed in her stunned state that something was pulling her by the arm towards the door only because of the sharp pain it caused to her ribs.

Her feet moved, but she couldn't feel them. She ran down the stairs after the dark haired woman in a frenzy and they were almost on the first floor when the gunshots went crazy. She felt Dawn falter beside her and only then did she realize something. The only reason Dawn was pulling her along was because she was going to die in the shooting. There was no other explanation. She snapped out of her trance a bit too late and by the time she could voluntarily move her muscles, she was already being shoved through the double doors, the force behind the shove combined with the constant beatings enough to send her sprawling to the ground.

Various shouts of her name made her look up and what she saw made her heart skip a beat. Her family was there. They had come for her. Something she hadn't felt in a while bubbled inside her and warmed her body, leaving a tingling sensation. Hope. She felt it burn stronger when she made eye contact with everyone of them, and when her eyes finally met the set of blue orbs she had dreamed so many nights of, her whole world stopped. He was there and he would get her out of there.

Her musings were cut short when she heard Dawn draw her gun and click the safety off. With strength she didn't know she possessed, she swiped the woman's feet from the ground, sending her down with a satisfying crack of her head on the pavement. She didn't stop there, though. All the anger she had inside her seemed to unleash when she saw her pointing her gun at her family. She jumped to her feet and kicked the woman in the ribs like she had been doing to her just minutes before. Her hands went to the waistline of her pants and when she kicked her again, this time on the head, she dropped her weight to the woman on the ground, sitting on her chest and plunging the scissors deep into her throat. She watched in satisfaction as blood poured out of the wound, the woman gasping and clawing at Beth's arms desperately.

Beth slowly got up and picked the fallen gun from the ground. She pointed it directly at the older woman's head and took a deep breath. All she wanted to do was pull the trigger and turn around to her family, but she needed to say some things to her first.

"You said I was weak," she exhaled. "But you were wrong." Hot tears burned her eyes but she refused to let them fall. "I despise you." She spit it out, watching as tears streamed down Dawn's face. Pulling a trigger never felt so liberating.

She dropped the gun to the ground and almost followed it straight, the adrenaline finally leaving her body, but she had to see him. She turned around, her eyes immediately seeking his and she almost let out the tears she was holding. With one final surge of strength, she ran to his arms that were already ready for her. Her hands went around his waist to clutch at the worn wings on his back and he didn't even hesitate to put his around her. She crushed him to her, not caring the waves of pain that it sent to her whole body when he brought one of his hands to cradle the back of her head and buried his face into her neck. She could feel his tears wetting the sensitive skin there and only then did she notice she was full out sobbing on his arms. She laughed through the sobs and clutched him tighter.

"You're here" she managed to get out after a while. Beth felt Daryl nodding into her neck before his rough voice reached her.

"You were right." She had a pretty good idea of what she was right about, but let him keep going at his own pace. "I missed you so fucking much." He breathed in shakily before adding. "I can't do this without you." She nodded her head where it was resting on his chest. The waves of pain being a little bit to much now that she did what she had been craving to do since the day she woke up to pristine white walls.

"Daryl..." She trailed off, all strength leaving her body at once, her vision obscuring for a moment.

Daryl felt her go lax in his arms and instantly wrapped one arm around her shoulders while he bent down to put the other beneath her knees. She laughed airily at the sudden movement, only then noticing other people were around them all that time. Her eyes connected with Rick's for a moment, the older man's bearing surprise and warmth to them. She smiled faintly at him and at the others.

"Hey..." She said lowly. Some of them laughed a little while Rick answered.

"Hey." He stroked the hair out of her face while Daryl took the lead to leave the parking lot."How are you feeling?" He asked her in a soft voice.

"Like shit." She smiled lightly. "I think I'm just gonna sleep for a little while..." She trailed off again, nuzzling gently into Daryl's neck. Soft rain began to fall on them, washing some of the blood off her and soothing her too warm skin. It felt like heaven to her.

"Sleep, Greene" His chest rumbled with his voice and she couldn't help but hum in response. "I got you." Daryl felt her smile a bit into his neck and couldn't help the twin that lodged itself on his own lips as she whispered faintly, only for him to listen.

"Yeah, you always do."

X.X.X

Story title taken from The Pretty Reckless' song, Zombie. Let me know what you guys think about it :]

~Tori