Alright everyone, welcome to "Jokerang's second go at Bethyl". The first was way back in season 3/4, before Beth's canon death, but I kept watching the show (one of the best on TV) and I wanted to write something into the current story arc with Negan and the Saviors. Cait Mur wrote a story called "I'm Only Human" that involved Beth being at the main Savior compound when Daryl gets taken hostage (consider this the spoiler warning), and I got an idea: how could we get Beth and Daryl together at Negan's show of force and taken hostage together? So this story was born. It starts off with Rick, Daryl, and the others arriving with Jesus at the Hilltop for their visit in "Knots Untie". This chapter is just a prequel of sorts; we'll get up to speed shortly.

Beth couldn't believe it.

It was Rick, Daryl, Maggie, and all the others from her old group. There were here at the Hilltop.

She'd last seen them at Grady Memorial Hospital. Dawn had shot her, and Daryl had killed the woman in return. When she awoke, the rest of the officers told her that she'd been in a coma, and everyone had assumed her dead. Until one of the doctors thought she wasn't, and brought her body inside to recover. That was three weeks ago.

Beth had decided to go north, to Virginia, to find the group. Several officers and doctors went with her, half of them bored with being holed up in a building and wanting fresh air. They'd taken the mountainous path, encountering settlements, walkers, and raiders alike. For months, they'd headed to Washington DC, following the way Noah had wanted to go. They gained some people, they lost some people.

Eventually they did reach Washington. But not before encountering them.

The Saviors.

What an ironic name. They didn't save. They brought only devastation in their wake.

Beth and her group had been ambushed by a gang of them on a highway. Their leader insisted on half of their stuff, and demanded to know where they were going. When the leader gave an angry response, the leader of the Saviors shot him dead, and killed two others from Beth's group for good measure, forcing everyone to watch. After that, the Saviors left, telling them that this was the way things were now. The survivors and Beth were relieved to just be alive when they reached a save haven called the Hilltop.

That save haven was short lived. The Hilltop was also being extorted by the Saviors, with Saviors making "visits" whenever their wants weren't satisfied. As a result, the Hilltop was forced to scavenge further and further than they would liked. Beth eventually joined them, having finally become competent being surrounded by police officers all those months. One of the others, a man who's beard and long hair earned him the nickname of "Jesus", lead her on these parties, and the two became friends.

One day Jesus came back with survivors from another, nearby settlement. Beth could have sworn it was Rick Grimes from the prison talking to Gregory. She thought she was dreaming. It had to be a lookalike. Then an Asian man who could only be Glenn, Maggie's lover, got out of the RV next.

Then Maggie and Daryl followed, and Maggie pointed at her. "Is that my sister?"

"You bet your ass!" That was the gruff sound of the redneck she'd survived weeks with. Judging from the way he was running at her, his soft spot for her reopened.