Started with a Rabbit

Summary: Starting in season 4 and continuing throughout the rest of the series. After the rabbit incident, Joe decides to let Daryl in on something good. Now Daryl has to figure out how to save some lives and find his group.

Rating: M

Disclaimer: Nothing here is owned by me, I just play with them but I swear I give them back at the end of the day.

"Daryl, come here." Joe suggested with an arm raised up. Daryl glanced over at where the other men were beating the crap out of Len and decided it would be best to go along for now. He slowly walked to the leader and then cautiously followed him back inside. "My boys found something interesting when they first found this place. Something good. Takes the edge off and helps us relax and all."

"Crack?" Daryl suggested in a light joke. Joe laughed and shook his head. Without another word, the older man led the way into a separate room of the building. Daryl froze when he walked in, finding a young woman sitting in the corner, hands and ankles tied together, gag across her mouth. His hands curled into fists which he quickly buried into his pockets as he observed the woman with barely concealed anger.

She couldn't have been much older than Beth, maybe a year or two, with blue eyes. That was where the similarities ended. Where Beth had blonde hair, this woman had dark brown, matted down hair. There was blood on her forehead coming from somewhere around the hairline and Daryl wondered which of the men had struck her. Her clothes were simply a white tank top, dirty and old, and a pair of jeans. Her feet were bare but relatively clean, leading him to believe that her shoes had only just been removed more recently. She wasn't too terribly skinny but she did look like it had been awhile since she had eaten. What skin was visible was pale and bruised, likely from one the men gripping too hard in their activities.

"Don't know how long she been hiding here but she swore she'd do as we asked if we didn't kill her." Joe explained. Daryl remained silent, still looking at the woman. Joe clapped a heavy hand on his back then leaned in to whisper the rest of his words. "We wasn't ever gonna kill her but it was better getting some agreement in tact. I'll leave ya to it. Don't let her out of the room and don't take the gag off, ain't no one wants to hear any noise."

With all that said, Joe left the room, closing the door behind him. The woman continued to just stare at Daryl, her blue eyes wide and bloodshot with heavy bags underneath. She flinched when Daryl finally started to move. The man slowly made his way across the room to crouch in front of her. When he took his knife out, her eyes widened further. The other men had threatened her with knives, one having actually cut at her skin with his crazed desire of blood play, but she didn't want it to happen again.

"Relax." Daryl muttered gruffly. He took her bound hands and cut through the cloth before doing the same to her ankles. He looked up at her face to see her still watching him and wondered what she was thinking. "I'm gonna take this off you but you can't make a lot of noise." He put the knife down and reached up carefully to slide the gag off her mouth. She winced and took a big unobstructed breath. There was a bruise next to her mouth and dried blood over her lips. He watched her eyes glance over at his knife. "What's your name?"

"Does it matter?" She asked, eyes shooting back up to his face. "Just do it and be done, please."

"I ain't gonna fuck you, girl." Daryl muttered, shaking his head as he fell back to sit. He stretched out one leg while the other remained bent up, an elbow balancing on the knee. He put the knife away and looked around the room. "I ain't like them."

"Then why you with them?" She asked. Her voice had a slight southern sound to it, but only enough that it was likely just something she picked up over the last while.

"Guess...safer." Daryl replied, wondering how to put into his words his reasoning. "Someone gonna find a guy on his own, think to mess him up. But a guy in a group, likely get left alone. Just need ta worry on the group then." The woman nodded slowly, accepting his answer. He glanced her way and frowned slightly, wondering why she kept staring at him, watching him with those eyes that just reminded him of Beth. He mentally scolded himself, told himself to look at her hair and not the eyes, not to think of the young girl he had let down and lost.

"Willa." The woman muttered, finally looking away from the hunter. Daryl paused then slowly nodded, understanding dawning on him.

"Daryl." He introduced himself.

***WDWDWDWDWD***

"We should get moving on." Tony mused, looking around at the surroundings. "Only got us a few more hours of daylight left."

"What's gonna happen with that girl?" Daryl asked cautiously, watching the men. He was hoping that they'd just leave her be, let her go back on her own way. He realized that was stupid, leaving her to death basically. They had taken any supplies she might have had with her when the boys had found her. He considered that, should they actually leave her, he could trail off behind the group then break away, get back to her and…

And what? Stick with her? Protect her? Daryl didn't know where that train of thought was going. He had already let down one girl, he couldn't trust himself on doing it again.

"We take her with us." Joe decided. It was the answer that Daryl almost feared. He knew what would happen with her then, she'd be passed around between the men, used as stress relief in whatever way they wanted. It was clear she wasn't being considered as something that any sole man could lay claim to. He knew she wouldn't fight them and he supposed it was the best way at this point for her to stay alive.

But would that living be more desired than death? He wasn't sure.

Willa was brought out of the room by Harley and Billy. Her hands were tied again and the gag was over her mouth but they were nice enough at least to give her free movement to walk. What looked like Len's boots were covering her far smaller feet and her eyes searched over the group as a rope was tied to the binds on her wrists.

A leash.

A fucking leash.

They were turning her into their pet, Daryl was disgusted by the idea but stayed silent. He turned away when her gaze fell on him in the search. Joe took the rope and wrapped it around his hand and took the lead, bringing Willa along behind him. Daryl watched her limp and took in the blood stains that were gradually growing through her jeans along her thighs. He looked around the group, remembering Harley was in the room last and wondered what damage the man had caused to this woman's body. He kept his mouth shut and his eyes on the ground, caging in his anger.

There are two types of evil: those who do evil things and those who see evil done and do nothing.

That line rang through his head and he realized he was the second evil to the group's first. Was his skin more valuable to him then this girl's dignity? What good was he dead though? He could stand up for her, sure. He could cause a fight, kill one of these bastards, but then what? They'd kill him and the remainder of them would fuck Willa for however much longer she was alive. No, he didn't see anything he could do to save this girl. She was a valuable commodity now, he couldn't even imagine sneaking away with her in the middle of the night would go over well either. Someone would always be watching and he knew he wasn't trusted. Liked, yes, but not trusted. He was still "on parole" as it were and they wouldn't let him be guard over their little treasure until he earned it.

But then what? They run in the night and would become the new target. Likely more wanted then the poor fuck who had killed Lou.

"Daryl!" Joe snapped, bringing the other man's attention to him. He didn't realize how long they had been walking at that point until he noticed the sun right overhead. He spared a short glance at Willa, seeing the slump in her shoulders and the sweat mixed with the blood on her head, before he lifted a curious brow at the group leader. "Where's your head at, man?"

"Thinking back on that sign we saw, for that train station place." Daryl replied after a moment.

"You wanna go there, do ya?" Joe asked with a laugh. "Ain't nothin to it, I'll bet. All them signs, those folks won't have lasted. Plus, we got us a goal to reach. Now, I want you and Harley to scout around, see if there ain't a trace of the sleazeball or a nice sizable piece of land that we can take a rest in." His eyes moved over Willa who kept her head down, her posture tense. Daryl felt a tick at his eye and nodded quickly to hide the motion before taking to the trees. Harley wasn't too far behind him and there was a brief moment when Daryl wondered if he could trick the other man, kill him carefully but make it look like something else had got him.

He knew if anyone else from his own group, fuck, if even his brother was there, they'd all be ashamed of him. By the time Daryl returned to the others on the hour mark with Harley still right behind him, he was just as sickened and ashamed with himself as he figured any of his own would have been. Merle would have called him a little bitch, Daryl could practically hear the voice in his head, berating him, putting him down. The more his own inner turmoils taunted him, the angrier he looked on the outside.

It was how he knew he looked when he went to Joe, an offering of a dead squirrel in hand, and stated he wanted some time with Willa. For a few seconds, Daryl almost thought he would be denied as Joe just took the squirrel without a look up. As the older man started gutting and skinning the animal, Daryl found himself biting the inside of his cheek, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. Finally, Joe gave a single nod to the tree Willa was left by and that was all the go ahead the hunter needed.

"What are you doing?" Willa whispered once Daryl had pulled her far enough away from the others, out of eye range but still close enough should one of them start yelling. He had pulled her gag down before turning his back on her and pacing a few feet away. She watched him with uncertain eyes, wondering what was bugging him.

"I ain't a bad man." Daryl stated finally, turning back to her with something akin to manic in his eyes. Willa only blinked in response and continued to watch him. "Don't give me that look. I'm doing the best I can." He pushed a hand against his forehead and dragged it back into his hair, pulling the greasy strands off his face for a moment. "I don't know what I can do. If we run, if I take you, they'll hunt us. I'm not like them, I don't like what they do to you. But I can't...I just…"

"It's okay." Willa cut in carefully, watching the man struggle.

"No it ain't!" Daryl nearly shouted, pointing a finger at her. "You shouldn't even think that."

"What else can I do?" Willa asked, tears building in her eyes. "They'll kill me if I fight them. They give me food, they keep me alive."

"That ain't living." Daryl muttered sadly. He shot his arm out wide, waving it around but managed to keep his anger only to his gestures. "None of this is living. Surviving ain't living, not really." He turned and kicked a mound of dirt then almost burst into swears when his foot connected with a rock. Willa curled her lips inward and bit down on them to keep from saying anything as she watched the hunter rage over his problems. Her fingers wiggled and brushed along the edges of her wrist binds, feeling the sore rawness of her skin chafing beneath the rough material.

"Daryl…" Willa tried to gently coax him after several minutes passed. He ignored her and continued taking out his frustrations over their surroundings. Her blue eyes darted back towards where the men were making noises and talking. While she couldn't see them, she could just hear their voices. She wondered vaguely if she were to just walk away, how long before Daryl would notice.

But she couldn't do that. He was the only person who was nice to her, she couldn't try to use his distraction against him. They would kill him for letting her get away. She knew if either of them were going to survive through this, they would have to work together. With that in mind, she reached out her bound hands and gently placed them on Daryl's chest. Both of them jumped, him from the contact, her from his reaction, and for a minute they stayed silent. Willa watched him carefully, making a show of slow breathing, and couldn't help the slight smile as he slowly copied her, the angry tension dropping from him.

"You're not bad, Daryl." She whispered to him, taking a step closer. His hand lifted to grab hers, to remove them, but she pressed her hands firmly to his chest and felt his heart beating madly beneath them. "This isn't ideal, none of this is. But we got it, so...we...we should learn to use it...somehow."

"I gotta get more trust." Daryl muttered darkly, his self loathing returning. "The more Joe trusts me, the more time I can get with you, I'd wager. Give you less time with the rest of them." Willa nodded slowly, not entirely believing him but willing to take the chance of it. "Tell me about the guys, what do you know?"

"Not a lot, probably not much more than you." Willa muttered with a shrug. "Just...what they're like when they have their fun." She tilted her head thoughtfully for a moment with a deep frown. Daryl hated himself for the question now because it made her have to think about some of her worst times. "Joe talks. Not about anything really important, but not always stupid dirty talk. He bitches sometimes, and when he bitches, he gets rougher."

"Shit." Daryl muttered quietly to himself.

"Tony just...he doesn't do a whole lot out of the norm." Willa stated. Daryl glanced at hands and watchesd them twist around under their binds. He felt like shit with this but she didn't seem like she was going to stop. "Billy likes to talk about how he could take Lou's place. He wants to be Joe's second." She gave a shrug to that when Daryl lifted an eyebrow and he just gave a single nod. "Harley...well...Harley likes being rough. He likes blood play. Whenever he claims his time.."

"I get it." Daryl cut in darkly. He didn't want to hear anything that would make him try to kill anyone just yet. "What about the big one?"

"Dan?" Willa asked. Daryl gave a nod and received a shrug in answer. "I don't know. He doesn't ever...I mean, I don't spend time with him. Billy made a remark once about being me being too old and female for Dan." Both of them shared a disgusted look at the implications of that remark and seemed to come to a silent agreement that Dan was going to get a horrible death somewhere along the line.

"We're gonna figure something out, okay." Daryl stated. Willa looked at him, her eyes catching the distant firelight for a brief moment. "I'm gonna do what I can, keep you from that."

"It's okay, Daryl." Willa assured sadly. She reached her bound hands to his and held onto it. "I'm honestly...I just...I'm glad to have someone who even cares. These guys, they're not the first. I doubt they'll be the last. I just appreciate knowing that you're here."

Daryl stared at her, wanting to ask if she was messed in the head somehow, but held his tongue. He didn't know how a person could be fine with being treated like a sex toy so long as there was someone around who couldn't do jack shit but wasn't gonna touch them that way. He shook his head, made a slight noise in the back of his throat before he reached an arm out to put around her shoulders and draw her into his side. He knew how lousy he was at comforting people, he knew that he had nothing else to offer, but at the moment, this was all that could be done. Willa seemed to appreciate it, nonetheless. She leaned into him for a few moments of silence before she wiggled her hands against his shirt, mussing it up some. He knew what she was getting at with this and so they spent a few minutes just making each other look like they had had a roll in the dirt before heading back to their problems.

How's that for a first chapter to my first new story in...I can't remember how long.