A/N This story stands alone and also serves as a companion piece to my fic Deputy Dixon and the Sketch Artist. The TWD characters are obviously not mine, the character of Rebecca "Becky" McCoy is my own. Thank you for taking the time to read this tale of love and triumph.

Trigger warnings for violence and murder.

He was a 17 year old kid with a shitty life. A Dad who was the asshole to beat all assholes, and a brother that he loved but who spent his days fucked up on drugs trying to avoid this crappy life. He'd had a Mama but she'd burned herself up when he was just a little boy.

Yep it was fucked up. That's why he spent as much time as he could in the woods. Hunting, tracking sometimes just to be tracking, fishing and just generally escaping from the nasty reality that was his life.

Then one day he saw her, a girl close to his age. She was setting a rabbit snare. He quietly watched and she must have felt his eyes on her because she turned. They looked at each other for a moment and then she turned and walked away. He had a strange urge to follow her but that really wasn't his way.

He was shy, he didn't make friends and he sure didn't reach out to folks.

It was strange though, because when she'd disappeared from sight he felt a tightness in his chest, almost like he missed her. But how could that be? He didn't even know her.

Over the next two weeks he caught glimpses of her three more times. He was starting to think maybe he was somehow imagining her, seeing things.

Then one day they spoke.

He was loading his crossbow when he saw her just sitting by a little creek with her back to him. He didn't know where the courage came from, it was so out of character, but he went and sat next to her.

He simply said, "Hey." And she responded, "Hey."

After they'd sat there quietly for a few minutes he asked her, "Ya live here?"

"Close ta here. My family has a cabin not far. I been catchin' dinner an now I'm relaxin' 'fore I clean 'em. I hate that part."

"I could do that part for ya if ya want, it don't bother me none."

She looked at him and smiled, "Okay then I'll give ya one a my cookies."

He gave a small smile back and went to cleaning those four fish she'd caught. When the job was done and he'd rinsed his hands in the creek, she handed him an oatmeal cookie.

"Ya done that fast, thanks. Ya got a name do ya?"

"Yeah I do it's Daryl. Daryl Dixon. You got one?"

"Yeah I do, Rebecca McCoy, mostly folks call me Becky."

"I ain't ever seen ya at school Becky ya quit or sumthin'?"

"Nah I ain't ever been ta school Mama teaches me an my brother at home. We keep ta ourselves out here."

Daryl nodded. "I'm almost done with schoolin' an I can't wait ta get the fuck out, then I'm goin' ta work full time an get my own place."

"Sounds alright. I gotta go now Mama will wonder where supper is. G'bye Daryl Dixon."

"G'bye Becky McCoy."

And just that fast she disappeared. He'd surprised himself. He actually had a conversation with a girl. It was the first time. And she was a girl he'd like to talk to again. She wasn't like the girls at school. She was real pretty even though she wore no makeup. And her hair was real pretty too, and she didn't have that all fixed up either, it was just a soft red color and in a kind of braid. He liked that. And she liked the woods and she knew how to catch a fish and set a snare. And she was nice.

Again he felt that tightness in his chest like he missed her.

It was five more days until he saw her again. She was walking quietly and she had a string of squirrels hanging from a belt she wore. She saw him and she smiled and started walking toward him.

He smiled at her, he never smiled but she caused him to. "Hey Daryl Dixon what're ya doin?"

"Hey Becky McCoy I'm lookin' for squirrels but I think ya got 'em all."

"Nah I left one for ya, he's over in that tree right over there c'mon I'll show ya." And he followed her because he would have followed wherever she told him.

They started to plan on meeting up there in the woods, fishing and hunting together. Sometimes just lying in the meadow and talking. Neither of them were big on talking a lot, but they shared their stories.

It turned out her family kept mostly to themselves living in the old style, eating what they grew and caught, raised or killed. Making their own things and getting by on what they had.

Her Mama sewed quilts and her Daddy sold them to merchants in town where the money paid for shoes and tools. He traded meat, chickens and eggs for staples like flour and sugar.

While she told the story he found that he'd reached over and taken her hand. She seemed happy that he did because she'd squeezed his hand a little and smiled at him.

It wasn't long after that she needed to leave and get back home, but before she did she leaned up and kissed him. That caused him to put his arms around her and kiss her back. And he said to her, "Yer real special Becky."

And she'd smiled and said, "Yer real special too Daryl."

Their time together continued to include tracking, hunting, and fishing, but now this new level had found its way into the mix. They never walked or talked that they didn't hold hands, and their kissing became kissing with some touching.

One day she told him, "I love you Daryl Dixon."

And he told her, "I's hopin' ya did Becky McCoy cuz I been lovin' you for a while now."

When he turned 18 and she turned 16 he told her he wanted to marry her. She said she wanted to marry him too, but they agreed they should wait until he could get them a place.

He had a little savings and her Daddy let him put it down as a promise on five acres of land he held the deed to. Her people liked Daryl and were glad ta have him marry their daughter.

He'd graduated high school and was now working full time for a tile setter, learning the trade. He liked it, it was solitary work and he enjoyed the pace and precision of it.

His big brother had let him move in his place and away from their asshole father. He was saving as much money as he could to buy materials and build their house.

On the weekends he spent his time digging a well and then a septic on their property. Her Daddy and her brother helped and the work was going well.

She begged her Mama and Daddy to let her try and get a job in town to help them buy the things they needed to build their home. Her folks reluctantly agreed.

Becky got a job working the evening shift at a local fast food chicken restaurant. Her brother drove her to town and Daryl picked her up at night when she got off. He'd take her back home with maybe one stop for kissing on the way.

Things were going well for the young couple, their savings were growing and they hoped to be able to start their building project soon.

His brother Merle had even met Becky and he liked her real well. He'd teased Daryl, told him he'd found his perfect match. "Shit kid the two a ya are birds of a feather, just alike, 'cept a course she's softer and prettier than you."

Her folks had begun inviting Merle to share a meal on occasion; soon they'd all be family. He liked her people, liked her, and he admired anyone who was able to live off the grid. Do things their own way. It wasn't a life he'd choose for himself, but damn it was perfect for Little Brother and his girl.

Everything was going just right, better than they could have imagined, until the world as they knew it ended.

He'd gotten to the chicken joint to take her home. The closed sign was on like always and most of the exterior and interior lights were off. She'd left the door open for him, he figured she was in the back. He called her name but she didn't answer. He went to the bathroom door and called her name, she didn't answer.

He was starting to feel a sense of worry and of urgency. He went in the bathroom then thinking maybe she'd gotten sick but no, she wasn't in there. He even checked the men's room. Now he was starting to panic, he went in the back. She wasn't in the kitchen area. It was then, that with a sense of dread, he opened the door of the walk-in cooler.

It was the worst thing he'd ever seen. There was his Becky eyes closed and blood coming from everywhere on her body, she was covered in blood, laying in it. He rushed to her and she was still breathing, but her breath didn't sound strong.

He whispered, "Hang on girl I'm gettin' help."

He rushed to the counter phone he called 911 and then he called Merle. Then he rushed back to her.

He cradled her to him and he told her, "Becky don't ya leave me, I love ya please, please don't go."

The ambulance the deputy and his brother all seemed to arrive at once. She was loaded on the gurney and there was no stopping him from getting in that ambulance with her.

The deputy followed in the squad and Merle followed on his bike.

Merle was wrestling with what he'd seen. Those fucking bastards had taken some manner of sick pleasure in hurting her. They'd cut every part of her body, but they'd paid a special kind of sick attention to her face, aiming to permanently mar her looks. Those mutherfuckers needed to die.

She was in surgery for hours. Merle grabbed his brother tight for just that brief moment, it was the only time he'd ever embraced him and he told him, "I love ya kid, we're gettin' through this but whoever done it will die."

Then he made the drive to the woods to tell her people what had happened, while Deputy Grimes asked Daryl a lot of questions.

At first Daryl was going to let the law handle it but the law couldn't. There just wasn't enough evidence to even make an arrest.

Becky couldn't identify them, they'd worn ski masks.

Still between what Becky had been able to remember and the little evidence they did have, all three of the men were convinced they knew who'd done it.

What convinced them all beyond doubt was the interview Rick had with the suspects. Yeah, it was them.

At first, before she saw herself, she was toward him as she'd always been. Still talking about house plans and wedding plans, plans for babies, all of it. He was relieved she was still looking forward to all of that.

But that first time she'd wandered down the hospital corridor and gone into that woman's room that talk ended. The nurse had heard the scream from her nursing station and rushed into the restroom. The young woman was on the floor crying inconsolably.

The mirror had been removed from the bathroom in her room and it was the first time she'd seen herself.

The nurse had gotten help and they got her back to her bed. She'd been sedated and she was resting again.

When he arrived after work that night she told him, "Weddin's off Daryl, house is off. I ain't doin' this to ya. I can't. I want ya ta just leave me be from here on."

And he began to weep. "What're sayin' Becky? Ya know I love ya, never loved anyone else. Why ya wanna hurt me this way? Before ya said ya loved me, what the fuck changed?"

"Look at me Daryl it's scary and gruesome, ya can't be seein' this every time ya wake up ta yer wife. Ya ain't obligated ta stay with me just cuz I got hurt. Ya got a right ta happiness an that's what I want for ya."

"How can ya say that? Yer my happiness, if ya don't want me I ain't never gonna be happy. Yer my girl Becky an I love ya, want ya for my wife, wanna spend my life with ya. You an me together that's what I wanted since I first seen ya."

"How can ya say that an look at me Daryl, what do ya see? Answer me that."

"I see you, I see the girl I love. I told ya I loved ya that first time I seen ya, an I know I'ma love til I draw my last breath." And he was crying and he looked so sad and she began to weep.

"Ya really think that Daryl? I'm so ugly an I ain't ever gonna be pretty again."

"That's bullshit Becky yer always gonna be pretty ta me. Can't I decide who I love? What I want? What I think is pretty?"

She just looked at him a while staring hard into his eyes and he returned that look, staring just as hard into her eyes. Finally she spoke, "Ya gotta make me a promise, if ya ever feel ya can't take it no more, can't be lookin' at me no more then ya gotta go. Please Daryl ya gotta make me that promise."

"That's easy, if I ever feel that way I'ma pack my bag an go. I already know I ain't never gonna feel that way. Never."

When it became clear the three suspects would never face justice, Daryl and his brother talked of plans. The worthless mutha's who had done this to Becky would die at the hands of the Dixon brothers. It was a better fate than they deserved.

And they'd done it. They'd gone to the WalMart two towns over. They'd gotten the seat cover for Merle's truck, the black long sleeve t-shirts, the black pants, shoes, socks and gloves. They'd each gotten the sturdiest kitchen knife they could find and a bar of dial soap and a towel. They'd gotten it packed in paper sacks.

They did it early on a quiet Monday morning, not quite 4:00am.

They put on their new black clothes and shoes. They put the seat cover on the bench seat of Merle's truck and they drove to a bar near the county line, but still on the highway. They parked the pickup off the road in the trees, hidden from that highway.

There were cars left in the bar lot by folks who had to get a ride home the night before, too drunk to drive. They wouldn't be picking them up until sometime later in the day. And the brothers wouldn't have the car long.

Merle put on his gloves and found an American car; they were the best for hotwiring. The brothers drove to within two blocks of where they knew those assholes were crashing.

Merle knew the place; he'd sold a lot of dope in that flop. They slipped in through the unlocked back door. There in a pile of dirty blankets was the first of the bastards.

Merle showed his brother how it was done. He pressed a knee into the asshole's throat and sliced both his femoral arteries. It took just a couple of minutes for him to bleed out and die.

Daryl soon found another of them. He looked to his brother and Merle gave him a nod of the head. And little brother killed bastard and the next one, just as his brother had done the first one.

They made their way out just like they'd come in, and back to the borrowed vehicle. They drove over to the bar, parked the car where it had been and went to their own rig.

They slipped off their gloves, opened the doors and got out a large garbage bag. They stripped themselves of everything, shoes and every bit of clothing, even their skivvies. They put everything in that garbage bag except the knives, tied a knot in it and put it in the bed of the pickup.

They'd taken the paper sacks from WalMart and one was on the seat between them, they carefully laid the knives on it. The other sacks were under their feet, acting as disposable floor mats. They'd left the keys in the ignition and Merle fired it up and they headed to Daryl's property.

He pulled up and they got out of the pickup. They set the paper sack with the knives on the ground. They took out the bags they'd used as a floor mats. Daryl grabbed the garbage bag from the pickup bed while Merle removed the seat cover from the pickup. They threw everything in the big metal drum Daryl used as a burn barrel, except the paper sack with the knives.

They doused the contents of the barrel in gas and set fire to it. They picked up the towels and soaps from where they'd left them on a tarp. They picked up the knives and threw the paper sack in the burn barrel.

They walked into that freezing cold river water and washed the knives with the dial soap, then chucked them down river. They immersed themselves in that freezing water, came up for air and started scrubbing on themselves with their soaps. Even their hair. When they were done they got out, dried off with their towels, and threw the towels and the soaps in the burn barrel.

They tried in vain to warm themselves by the fire of that barrel, then dressed in their clothes that lay on the tarp. They got back in the truck and soon had the heat on full as they headed back to Merle's.

Daryl got out of his brother's truck and they nodded heads to one another, Daryl got in his own truck and went to see her.

Merle went to make some money doing what he did, selling dope.

When he slipped in the hospital room she was laying there eyes open and trained on the door, waiting for him. He crawled up on the bed next to her and gently held her, afraid his rough touch may further injure her. "It's done Becky an now we're gonna live."

They lay there together until the nurse came in and chased him off, "I'll see ya after work Becky." And he bent and whispered in her ear, "Yer real special ta me."

She smiled and said, "You are ta me."

Later that day Deputy Grimes came to talk to him, asked him questions about a triple murder. "Ain't ya thinkin' I got me enough ta handle Deputy? I got a woman who's hurt bad, a full time job, I'm tryin' ta build the woman a house, an I got a brother who won't get his head outta his ass. When ya thinkin' I got time ta plan an commit three murders?"

And Grimes was sure he'd done it but he didn't look too hard for evidence. Truth was, the scumbags needed to die and the Deputy was glad they did. He had no desire to convict Daryl Dixon of a crime. The boy had enough on his plate.

She was released two weeks later. Before she left the hospital Rick arranged for the judge to come to their room and perform the brief ceremony. Daryl and Becky were married.

Her Daddy gave him the deed to the property for a wedding present. His brother was flush with cash, the dope business was an ever growing concern. He spent a portion of his profits to buy the newlyweds an old airstream to live in while they built their cabin. That and $20,000 to buy what materials they still needed.

Together and with the help of his brother, her Daddy and her brother, they built their home near the river.

She spent her days doing the work she knew and loved, quilting, beadwork and tatting. He spent his days setting tile and built a reputation as the finest tile setter in the state. He did precision work, flawless, and his design work was unique and timeless.

The Deputy's woman, Michonne, sold Becky's work at her very chic and exclusive shop in town.

The couple kept to themselves there in the woods by the river. They grew their fruits and vegetables. They had a milk cow and Becky made her own butter, cheese, yogurt and ice cream. Daryl harvested the deer, elk, squirrel, rabbit and fish they ate. They raised chickens for eggs and for eating.

Becky didn't go far from their house in the woods unless Daryl took her to her favorite meadow to camp. Merle, Rick, Michonne and Becky's family were the only visitors they cared to have. Daryl did the town errands.

They were happy in this quiet, secluded and self-sufficient way of life. It was a life they would have chosen whether Becky had suffered her terrible injuries or not.

What Daryl and Becky had was a love that transcended the scars they wore and the troubles they'd known. That alone was cause enough to be happy.

A/N I hope you enjoyed this small story of love and of love being the one thing that can heal all wounds. I'm marking this story complete for now, but may revisit soon with another chapter or two. Please share your thoughts. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment / review. xo

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