Author's Note: I don't own Walking Dead. Also there may be a slight Firefly inside joke hidden in here. Enjoy!
"Wait, hold on," Carol buckled her seat belt, "Tell me what happened."
"Beth and I were together," Daryl explained, gripping the steering wheel tightly. He was careful to stay far enough back from the car with the white cross on the back window, "It was tough. We weren't in a good place. There was some drinkin' involved..."
"If Hershel were alive..." Carol began.
"Don't," Daryl rolled his eyes, "Alright? I know I was a shitty guardian, okay. I wasn't payin' attention. Too many things on my mind. Too much to drink. Anyway, Beth got grabbed by some guys in that car. I couldn't stop it. She was just...gone. But now we gon' go get her back. Here we are havin' this whole reunion Thanksgivin' Dinner type 'a bullshit and it's only right that we go and get her. Speakin' of Thanksgivin' Dinner type 'a bullshit...you wandered away from that. What did you think you were doin' anyway?"
Carol inhaled sharply. To be fair, she wasn't all that sure, "I dunno," she sighed, "I guess I was just thinkin' of takin' off. I don't know if I ever actually could just take off though. But it was weighing on my mind tonight."
"Hey," Daryl slowed the car down a little just to be safe, "I already told you you don't have to tell me anything. But if you want to talk or somethin'...you know."
"I know," Carol nodded. She turned and stared out the window and the shadowy trees. This felt unreal - being back with the group, and now being off with Daryl trying to track down Hershel's daughter. The words from Father Gabriel's transcribed bible repeated over and over again in her head - thou shalt not kill.
"You were plannin' on runnin," Draryl shook his head, "You know, lady - I'm not leavin' your side. Not after almost losin' you once."
Carol couldn't help but smile, "You think I could really leave you behind?"
The corner of Daryl's mouth twitched. He cleared his throat, "We don't know what we're gettin' into up here. If anythin' we can scout out what we're dealin' with and report back to Rick. We don't want to do anything stupid. Can't get Beth back to Maggie if we're dead now, can we?"
The two cars continued to drive. Daryl kept their car far back, eyeing the tail lights of the car in front of them. He had failed Beth, and now he needed to make it right. He thought about the time they'd spent together. If he'd had a little sister, he'd want her to be like Beth. And what had he done? He'd let her get taken by who knows who. He needed to make it right. For Beth and for Hershel and for Maggie.
"I had to do some bad things, Daryl," Carol finally spoke up, "Thing's I never thought I'd ever be capable of doing."
"Join the club," Daryl shrugged, "Everyone's done things that we never thought we'd be capable of doing. No one is judging you. I dunno what you had to do while you were off on your own, but I know you did what you had to. Any of us would have done the same. Stop beating yourself senseless over it. You're still you."
"What if I'm not. I don't even remember who I was before all this."
"You were a mom," Daryl shrugged again, "You loved that little girl of yours. How bad could you have been? Beside, that's in the past. What matters is you here now. And you know what you are now?"
"Hmm?" Carol was almost scared to ask.
"A badass."
She couldn't help but laugh, "Oh please!"
"You are," Daryl insisted, "The way you saved our asses back at Terminus. You are a big damn hero, lady. Say what you want to about yourself, but that's how I see you. A damn hero."
"I'm no hero..."
"You are to me," Daryl shrugged again, keeping his eyes peeled on the road ahead.
"You know," Carol smiled shyly, "That's how I felt about you when you were out looking for Sophia. You were a hero to me. But you didn't believe it."
Daryl cleared his throat, still watching the car in front of them, "Well ain't that just a damn fairy tale. We're each other's heroes or somethin'."
"My Prince Charming," Carol clasped a hand over her heart.
Daryl rolled his eyes, "Come on, Princess. Let's go bring Beth home."