So right off the bat, I know there are a bunch of these type of fics already posted. I haven't read any of them yet, but I'm sure they're awesome. These ideas, however, have been rattling around in my brain after watching certain scenes and thinking, "wow, Daryl totally could have gotten whumped there," or something to that effect. So, shrug, here are a few of them.
Title: Don't Cross the Road if You Can't Get Out of the Kitchen
Author: Syntyche
Rating: T, for … well, a bunch of things. Just assume it's going to show up in here somewhere eventually. And apparently everyone I write is abnormally attracted to Daryl, so while there will be canon Daryl/Carol and Daryl/Beth fluff, don't be surprised to see Rick's open admiration and Shane's sneaky ways showing up randomly. I know, I was surprised, too.
Disclaimer: Walking Dead belongs to Robert Kirkman, I guess, and although I enjoy the comics very much, my hormones and I heartily applaud the addition of Daryl Dixon to the cast. Way to go, Norman Reedus, for having an entirely new character built around your audition for Merle. :D
Synop: Episode tags and stories to add angsty h/c and Daryl whump, and in rare instances of originality, attempt to explain what Daryl is up to when we don't see him. Full cast, Daryl-centric. Spoilers currently through season 4.
Requests: Absolutely. Something you want to see? A missing scene you're angsting for? Think Daryl should have taken a bit more damage somewhere? Let me know and I'll try to write something to your satisfaction.
Reviews: Yes. Absolutely. Please. I'll beg and it'll be shameless, or if anyone is interested in actually reading these stories, I'll just update and make Daryl beg instead.
Current Episode: 3.9 "The Suicide King." After escaping Woodbury, Daryl stands his ground when Rick wants to leave Merle behind again.
Don't Cross the Road if You Can't Get Out of the Kitchen
By: Syntyche
The Suicide King
"It won't work."
Rick should have known it was the beginning of the end when he uttered those words, but - just like with Shane - he didn't want to recognize it, didn't want to see it for what it really was even though harsh reality, this time in the form of icy blue eyes instead of haunted brown ones, was staring right back at him, waiting expectantly for him to do the right thing.
"It's gotta." Two simple words from a man who never asked for anything for himself, who repeatedly and determinedly did what Rick and the others wanted from him without question, who had done his damnedest and somehow succeeded in keeping them alive this past winter. It was the hunter's own heartfelt plea for one thing he wanted, when it was glaringly obvious to Rick that what he actually needed was to see Hershel; the still-weeping gash across Daryl's cheekbone, for instance, required attention, and Rick could see the way the other man was coiled inward, curling protectively around his left side, favoring the fresh bruises that lay beneath his loose clothing - bruises from the man whose freedom Daryl seemed prepared to throw away his own for. His brother's salvation and safety: that was all he was asking for, that one thing.
One thing that, unfortunately, wasn't in Rick's power to give.
"It'll stir things up," Rick protested feebly, and Daryl … Daryl actually tried negotiating with him over Glenn and Maggie's protests; not begging, not demanding, not outright stating how it was going to be as Rick himself often did, but asking, asking Rick to see his point of view, asking for his brother not to be left behind again. It showed Rick just how far Daryl had come over the last year, metamorphosing from the hothead with a fiery temper that let his fists - or an axe, a gun, or his crossbow - speak for him.
" … so you're gonna cut Merle loose and bring the last samurai home with us?"
There it was: that word us that made Rick heave an unconscious sigh of relief. Home with us. Daryl would see reason. Daryl would cave. Daryl would do as asked, like always. No one except fuckin' Merle was staying behind today. Home with us.
"… Merle. Merle's blood." Daryl sounded so self-assured as he said it, so sure they would agree with him that this was absolutely the right thing to do. After all, hadn't he proven himself over and over time and again? He was so sure he could handle Merle if everyone would just fuckin' simmer down.
"No," Glenn interjected immediately, hands flexing uselessly as he remembers not just the damage done to his person, but the atrocities heaped upon Maggie. "Merle's your blood," he pointed out. "My blood, my family, is standing right here, and waiting for us back at the prison."
"And you're part of that family," Rick was quick to add, intending for all the world to sound sincere, but even in his own mind sounding like he was merely throwing Daryl a bone, a nugget of amity to keep the hunter's abysmal self-esteem up and draw him back into the fold. "But he's not," Rick continued darkly, like he hadn't been the man who had handcuffed Merle on a roof and left him at the mercy of walkers and the elements, like he hadn't been standing on that same roof as Daryl grieved and raged at finding his brother's severed hand; like he hadn't heard the desperate cries of a breaking heart. But there had been a reason to leave Merle behind then, just as there was a reason now. "He's not," he repeated sternly, and Rick knew it was not to his credit that he deliberately used an authoritative tone Daryl tended to automatically respond to with a swiftly bowed head and trembling shoulders.
But Daryl looked at them then, and it wasn't in fear, or shock, or surprise, or even anger that narrowed his gaze as he took them in.
It was disbelief.
"Man, y'all don't know," he snapped, and one moment was all he gave for them to stop him from leaving, to protest he was wrong about them not knowing, to agree with him that this could be worked out for everyone, but Daryl already knew where they stood and where he stood, and it was on opposite sides of road.
Where what mattered to him stood in the grand scheme of things.
"Fine," and if there was weariness in his graveled tone, he didn't even seem to care. "We'll fend for ourselves."
"That's not what I was saying," Glenn protested, hands outstretched to stop the hunter as Rick and Maggie stared on. Daryl shouldered his way past, heading for the car.
"No him, no me," Daryl said firmly, and it was clear he wasn't backing down. Rick only watched blankly, no words coming to mind as Daryl, calm and hurting but accepting of his lot in life, said his goodbyes like he'd always known he didn't quite belong, that he wasn't quite good enough for his group, that of course it would end this way.
This isn't happening, Rick thought, staring open-mouthed as the man who had easily become his most reliable asset - friend - strode towards the car, oblivious to the carnage he was leaving behind. A dozen thoughts flashed through Rick's mind and Daryl gave him a long glance, waiting him out one more time, but there were no words on his lips to say.
"Don't ask me to leave him again," Daryl murmured. "I already did that once," and still Rick couldn't say anything, couldn't begin to take away the burden of guilt that Daryl still carried for his brother even though he hadn't even been with Rick and the others in Atlanta when Merle had been left behind; he'd been out hunting trying to feed the quarry group. And still Rick said nothing, couldn't reach out to the man who had had his back more times than he could count.
He could only watch, silent with shock, as Daryl Dixon limped away.
OoOoOoOoOo
So I'm rather of the opinion that Daryl, despite everything, is deep down an optimist and his thought process - somewhat borne out by a comment from Merle in the episode that follows, Home - was to give Merle and Rick a little time to think it over while he slowly led Merle back to the prison. Seems reasonable to me. And yeah, I know this one kind of sucked, but it's my first shot at Walking Dead so I'm not gonna angst about it too much.
Tomorrow's story: Triggerfinger! In which Shane pays Daryl a little visit after he finds out that Daryl let Lori drive off after Rick on her own.