A.N. – This was written for the twd kink meme. The Prompt was that Daryl gets hypothermia, and the group finds about his and Merles scars.
Merle ran through the prison, with Carol sprinting after him, and Daryl in his arms. "Unlock the cellblock!" he screamed as he approached their living area. Beth looked shocked, but immediately opened the gate when she saw who he was carrying.
She threw open the door, and stepped back as Merle carried his brother into the cellblock. The rest of the group (everybody accept for Carol, who had been on guard duty) was sitting around their make-shift campfire, and looked taken aback as Merle put his brother down, and began to unbutton Daryl's shirt. Herschel however recognised the situation for what it was, and hobbled over to help Merle.
"Hypothermia." Herschel said shortly as Carol began to protest, "We need to get his clothes off. Someone else's to. He's going to need skin-to-kin contact."
Carol offered, but Merle shook his head, "My brother won't take kindly to wakin' up naked next to some bird, it's prob'ly best if I do it." He said, standing off, and stripping out of his shirt. The rest of the group shifted their gaze, but there really wasn't much else to look at. Everything was moving fast though, and Herschel turned around as he finished taking off Daryl's pants, "Go get a blanket Glenn." He said, "We'll give them at least a bit of privacy."
Merle snorted and rolled his eyes, but accepted the blanket that Glenn handed him. He lay down next to Daryl, and pulled the blanket up to their shoulders. The group shifted awkwardly as they saw him remove his brothers underwear under it, and then his own. He flinched lightly as he curled around his brother, but didn't pull back. Glenn and Maggie muttered something about privacy, and left to go to their cell. Beth and Carl followed shortly after, and Rick shuffled outside for guard duty. Soon enough it was just Carol, Herschel, and the Dixons.
Daryl's lips had been slowly returning to their natural colour when Herschel asked what happened, "How in God's name did you two manage to get into this mess?" he questioned Merle, and Merle rolled his eyes.
"Daryl shot a buck, but it scrambled out onto some half-frozen lake. I told him not to go after it, but the stubborn bastard walked right out onto the water." Merle scowled, "He fell right through just as he reached the animal, and I got stuck dragging his ass back here. The lake must've been just above freezing under that ice, and he's still wearing that vest o' his in the middle of the god-damned winter."
Carol sighed loudly, and shook her head, "That sound like Daryl." She muttered, and Merle snorted loudly. For a few minutes they were left in silence, all of them wandering off inside their minds, but they were brought back to reality when Daryl whimpered in his sleep. He curled into Merle a bit more, and Merle stroked his hair quietly, before realizing that there were others present, and glaring at them instead.
Herschel chuckled softly, "Well," he said, "I think you've got this under control, and an old man like me's got to get his rest."
Carol followed Herschel's lead, and left to go to her own cell. Merle thought for a second that this group might not be half-bad after all, and then he let himself drift to sleep, still petting Daryl's hair, and curled around his brother.
~ ~ ~ ~ THIS IS A LINE BREAK ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In the morning, Glenn walked back into the cell, and saw Merle and Daryl still curled together. The blanket, however, had shifted down to their waists, leaving their backs and chests in full view.
"Holy shit!"
The rest of the group came running, worried that there was something wrong, but instead of a walker or intruders, they saw Glenn staring gobsmacked down at the Dixon's, and for good reason to.
Both the men were covered in scars. There were long white ones, and circular burn marks, and even harsh red ones that Rick recognised as belt marks. It wasn't just a few either, they were absolutely covered in them, there wasn't a spot on Daryl's back that wasn't covered in scars, and his chest only had a few less. Merle's back shined with scars, and Glenn wouldn't be surprised if he had more scar tissue than normal skin.
"Ohmygod," Carol whispered, as Daryl shifted awake. When Daryl heard this though, his eyes flew open, and he sat up abruptly, waking up Merle in the process. Merle shut up, and looked around wildly, before relaxing when he realized he was in no immediate danger. He tensed back up however, when he noticed the group staring at him. He looked down, and crossed his arms over his chest self-consciously. It was the first time the group had seen him look so nervous.
"What the fuck happened," Daryl asked, "And why the hell am I naked with my brother?" then after a moment's thought, "Exactly how drunk was I?"
Herschel snorted, "You got hypothermia boy, Merle here was warming you up. Hence the naked. Speaking o' which, the rest of the group ain't seen your collection yet, so you might have some explaining to do."
With that Daryl seemed to realise the full extent of the situation, and he yanked the blanket up over his chest. This unfortunately pulled it away from both his legs, and Merle's; revealing a whole new mess of scars. When they saw a scar going in one side of Merle's leg, and out the other, Maggie turned Green, and Beth actually printed for the washroom.
"What the fuck happened?" Asked Rick, but wisely quieted down when he received glares from most of the group.
Daryl shifted awkwardly, and Merle unfolded his arms stiffly, "Ya' know," the older Dixon said gruffly, "As pleasant as tha' conversations gonna be, don't ya' think we should have it when me and my brother here are wearing clothes?"
Beth (who had returned to the room at this point) blushed bright red, and Herschel snorted, then began to crutch out of the room, "C'mon everybody, let's give the boys some privacy," he said, then turned towards the Dixons, "And there's some clothes for you in the corner."
Daryl looked at him gratefully, and waited for the rest of the group to leave the room, before turning to Merle, "How the fuck are we going to explain this?" he asked.
"You know," said Merle, "We don' actually have to. We could just tell the bastards to piss off."
Daryl groaned, "We ain't gonna start another fight over this, they already 'spected something, we jus' confirmed it."
Merle scowled at his brother, "Fine. But if they start getting all pitying, I'm not sticking around. We'll go hunting or something."
They pulled on their clothes in silence, but Merle didn't bother putting his shirt back on, and Daryl left his vest unbuttoned. Once they'd finished dressing (or at least as much as they were going to), they yelled for the group to come back in.
Rick was the first one to speak, "How the fuck did that happen?" he asked, and both the boys rolled their eyes.
"Take a wild guess." Muttered Daryl.
"C'mon now," said Herschel, "we all knew the boys had it rough, jus' 'cause you never saw the scars, doesn't mean you need to be all confrontational now that you have."
"You've seen them?"asked Glenn, sounding shocked.
"Course I have," Herschel said, "Well, at least Daryl's. I healed him remember?"
"And you never told us?" asked Rick.
"Wasn't his business to tell," said Daryl, "And stop talking like I ain't here. You wanna ask your questions, then ask them, 'cause this is the only chance you're gonna get."
Carol sighed, and sat down, "When did it start?" she asked, resigned.
"I was five. Daryl was three. For a while it was only me, but then pops decided Daryl was old enough to take his hits." Merle muttered. Carol flinched, but nodded understandingly.
"When did it stop?" she asked.
Both the brothers froze, and looked at each other, then Daryl answered, "Merle was in jail. Pops came at me with a glass bottle. He tried to kill me, so I shot him. I was sixteen." Beth looked as if she was going to puke again, and Glenn choked back a noise that sounded oddly like a mix between a scream and a sob.
Rick was the next one to ask a question, "Why didn't you tell somebody?"
Merle actually laughed at this, "We did," he said, "Told our neighbours, told our school, even told the cops, but we were just a couple rednecks in a trailer park, and nobody ever did a damn thing."
Rick looked shocked, "The police didn't do anything?"
Merle shuck his head, "Figured I was just tryin' to start trouble. Said I probably got the scars in a fight."
The group asked more and more questions, until Herschel could see that Merle was getting agitated, and Daryl was getting tired.
"Tha's enough everybody," he said, "Let's leave the boys alone now. They've answered enough questions." Merle stood up then, and left the cellblock with a second glance.
Rick looked conflicted, but decided to just let him go, then he walked out the other end of the cellblock, "I'm on guard duty," he called behind him, "The rest of you go find somethin' else to do."
The rest of the group looked hesitant to leave, but slowly they began to wander out of the cellblock. Herschel looked at Carol expectantly, but he just shook her head, and Hershel sighed, and let her be. He hobbled into his cell to give them some privacy, and he heard Carol walk over to Daryl.
"I have one more question," she said softly, sitting down next to him.
"What?" Daryl grunted.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
For a moment there was silence, but then Herschel heard Daryl answer quietly.
"Yeah." He all but whispered, "Yeah, I think I am."