Level 2: Safety
Daryl spent most of the ride to Washington stunned. Had it really only been a few hours ago he was out hunting for squirrels when a helicopter fluttered over their heads? Rick had pointed his gun at the lieutenant and his crew that morning, and now he was sitting in the front with one of his men.
And the real kicker was sitting in between her sister and Carl with Judith in her lap - Beth Greene had strolled back into his life. He felt as if his heart was going to swell up and burst each time he looked at her – Daryl had never been more proud. She looked adorably lethal in a black tank top and camouflage cargo pants with her hair tied up in a similar fashion to when she was with him.
As relieved as he was that she was alive and healthy, he'd never felt like a bigger piece of shit. She probably thought that they had given up on her, that they abandoned her, that they had forgotten about her. Shame overwhelmed his senses and forced his head down. He didn't deserve her compassion or her affection. Daryl just hoped she could forgive him eventually.
…
Beth squinted at the sun setting over the tops of the trees. Cuddling Judith closer to her chest, she scooted closer to Maggie. After hearing the horrors of Terminus and what they all went through, she felt emotionally drained. Knowing that people resorted to cannibalism made her sick to her stomach, and she felt like crying for what her family plus the interesting newcomers had to go through. Apparently Eugene, Abraham, and Rosita were originally heading up to Washington when Glenn and Tara found them. Abraham and Eugene looked at the crew as if they were a Godsend.
Looking across the bed of the truck, she smiled as her and Daryl's eyes met momentarily. So far she had successfully avoided Maggie's prying questions, but she knew that they were going to have a chat in the near future.
"How big is it? The city?" Carl asked from beside her.
"It's not gigantic, but it's a nice size for the amount of people who live there. They're always clearing streets and expanding our walls," Leah said, arching her back in a stretch. "We have a few hours left til we get there."
Beth sighed and leaned her head on Maggie's shoulder, glancing at Carl. "Everything's gonna be fine. Y'all won't have to worry about nothin'." Beth softly smiled as they sped down the road, through the trees and debris.
They arrived in DC around ten o'clock that night. Squinting under the fluorescent lights of the Search Guard base, the group climbed out of the back of the truck and were whisked away to the hospital wing. Beth hung back at the base for a bit while the doctors inspected them, and then went to go visit Maggie and Glenn.
"Someone came in and explained to us what was going to happen," Maggie said. "They sure have a lot organized, don't they?"
"Yeah." Beth nodded. "I think it's good that they're not pretending that everything is going to go back to normal."
"Me too. I have no idea what to do though," Glenn said with a nervous laugh.
"I'm sure you'll figure something out." She smiled. "I'm just happy you two are okay."
"Bethie, I was so scared we were never gonna see each other again. After the Governor and Daddy and the tank, I never expected–" Maggie started, emotion drenching her voice.
"I know, Maggie. I know." She squeezed her sister's hand and failed at holding tears back. She saw the signs Maggie had left for Glenn and not her, but she wasn't going to say anything, at least not at that moment. It was not the time nor place, and quite frankly, she didn't want to hear excuses.
"When Daryl told us that you were gone – I, I-" She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "Daddy would be so proud of you. We all are."
Beth nodded tightly, looking at the hairband she was playing with in her lap. She sat with them until they fell asleep. Kissing both of their foreheads, Beth stood up and walked out of the room, clicking the door shut behind her. It was late and she was tired, but she didn't feel like heading to her cold apartment when her family was here.
She found herself in front of a doorway with the initials D.D. written on a piece of paper that was taped to the door. "Hey," she whispered, pushing it open and standing in the doorway of Daryl's room. "They keeping you overnight?"
"Yeah. Dunno why, I feel fine," he grunted, stretching slightly in the hospital bed. Beth smiled slightly and looked at her feet, thinking he looked a bit silly in sweatpants. "Think somethin's funny, Greene?"
"Just never thought I'd see Daryl Dixon in a pair of sweatpants," she admitted, smirking. "Can I come in?"
Snorting, he shrugged his shoulders and looked at his fingertips.
"I won't stay for long, I can't imagine how tired you must be," Beth continued as she pulled up a chair from the side of the room. She placed herself close to his shoulder and leaned back slightly.
"'s fine. Where are ya stayin', anyways?"
"They assigned me an apartment. Y'all will probably be in the same area, so that's good. We'll be close." She gave him a smile, blushing slightly under the intensity of his gaze. The room was mostly dark, the only light emitting from a bedside lamp. Through the window, she could see the White House through the window. "It's wild, isn't it? To be here, after all things?"
"Yeah," he muttered, eyes leaving her face to glance out the window. "Didn't think it was still standin', to be honest."
"I thought Gabriel was crazy when he said he wanted to head north. I thought it was going to be like Atlanta, but worse."
"Gabriel," he muttered, "He the one that took you?"
Beth nodded, eyes dropping to her lap, then flickering back up to his. "He couldn't hurt a fly, didn't even lay a finger on me. You'll probably meet him sooner or later." She paused, watching Daryl's jaw stiffen and his fists clench. "That funeral home was a safe house of his. When he saw the herd… he thought that you were dead, he didn't listen to me when I told him you were behind us." Beth took a deep breath, trying to keep her tears at bay. "On our way here, whenever we got in a sticky situation, I would always think to myself, what would Daryl do?" She laughed weakly, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "I know it sounds silly, but look. I made it. We made it."
"Yeah, we made it."
Beth looked up at Daryl to find his eyes more intense and vulnerable than they had ever been. He tentatively reached his hand out to clumsily grab hers that was covered in dirt and a lingering wetness from her tears. "I'm happy that you're here with me tonight," she murmured, interlacing their fingers together like they had done months before.
"Me too," he said lowly, running his thumb over the skin of her pointer finger. "Beth," he started, "'M sorry."
"For what?" she tilted her head to the side.
"For being stupid and having us get separated and for not looking for you harder. I know you're probably thinkin' we gave up on you and decided that you were a lost cause. It wasn't like that at all. There were lotsa people headin' north and we thought maybe –"
"Daryl," she interrupted, shutting him up. "Look at me. You did what you had to do. I'm not mad, hell I wouldn't've expected me to make it this far anyways." She laughed softly, squeezing his hand. "It's okay. You're the one that's gonna be the last man standing, right?"
"No," he grumbled. "No way. It'll be all of us, if anything. Don't know if I'd wanna be here without you and the group." He looked away, swallowing audibly.
They sat quietly, not needing any words. Beth felt herself dozing, only to be woken by Daryl's soft snores. She quietly began to get up, and as she was pressing her lips to his forehead, Daryl mumbled, "Don't go. C'mere." He scooted over to one side of the bed and patted the space next to him sleepily.
Beth nodded and unlaced her boots quickly, kicking them off to the side. After unbuckling her belt and thigh holsters, she climbed onto the hospital bed and snuggled in comfortably to Daryl's side, her head resting on his bicep and an arm laying across his stomach. Sighing, she whispered, "I have to head back out tomorrow morning. I didn't tell Maggie or anyone else – they would have tried to guilt me into staying. I can't not go though – Daddy always said that once you make a commitment, you should stick to it. You're not mad, are you?"
"Nah," he said lowly, fingers running up and down her shoulder. "You're stronger than ya look, Greene. Just don't go gettin' yourself killed."
Beth hummed into his chest and fell into the best sleep she had had in what felt like years.
…
Beth awoke to the sound of quiet knocking at the door. She sat up slowly, grinning sleepily at Daryl's feeble attempts to pull her back down. The sun wasn't up yet, so she had thankfully not slept in and missed the departure. Picking up her boots and belt, she quietly treaded to the door and opened it to find Leah. "Hey, sorry. We leaving yet?" she whispered, ignoring her friend's smirk.
"Ten minutes till the grand exodus," Leah replied with a yawn.
"Thanks for lettin' me know," Beth smiled as Leah nodded and headed down the hall. Beth went and sat in the chair by Daryl's bed as she laced up her combat boots and buckled her belt and thigh holsters tightly to her body.
Daryl was looking at her sleepily, running a hand through his greasy hair. "Leavin' so soon?"
"I'll be back for good before ya know it. Can't get rid of me that easy."
Daryl grunted. "Were you the one who stole my hunting knife by any chance?"
Beth smirked. "Yep." She opened her hips a bit to show him the knife that was fastened to her inner thigh. "Just in case, ya know?" Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, she whispered, "I'll see you soon, Daryl."
Daryl snorted, a blush creeping up his neck. "See ya, Greene."
Beth gave him one more smile before heading out the door and let herself bask in the warmth his presence gave her.
…
The next few weeks dragged on and on as the team drove through Georgia, parts of Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. Every two or three days, they would stumble upon a few survivors. In order to save gas, they didn't make nearly as many trips back to the city compared to how many they made while in North and South Carolina.
Those nights when they did return were some of the most memorable in Beth's life. Maggie had been furious when she first returned. She had been waiting at the Search Guard base in professional working clothes, tapping her foot angrily as Beth approached her. She only calmed down when Beth hugged her, reminding her that they all have jobs to do.
Everyone would squish in someone's tiny apartment, and there would be food, laughter, and even music occasionally. These get-togethers were a bit overwhelming for Beth, but she loved them all the same.
They returned from their final route in the middle of the night after a particularly bad last stretch, which left the entire team exhausted and saddened.
Nodding to Leah and Marcus, Beth started her way home. All she wanted to do was take a hot shower and crawl into bed. She couldn't leave for such a long period of time again, she was going to transfer to a different department in the morning. Once they were on the road after finding her group, she missed Maggie and Glenn and Daryl too much to focus on much else.
The streets of Washington DC were quiet that night, the only sound being Beth's footsteps on the cracked pavement underneath. The cool air bit at her bare arms and she shivered slightly. Approaching her apartment complex, she started to recognize the distinct smell of cigarette smoke. Looking up and around, she noticed a familiar face watching her from the floor above. Giving Daryl a small smile, she started her walking up the steps.
"You're up late," she murmured, walking up to where he was leaning against the railing.
"Couldn't sleep," he muttered, taking another drag of his cigarette. "You back for good?"
"Yep. Gonna head down and get papers for transferring tomorrow – or in the morning," she replied, leaning her hip against the cement wall. "You're gonna start seein' a lot more of me around, Dixon."
"Everyone's gonna be so thrilled about that. Can't wait to have some young blonde chick runnin' around tryna save the government," he teased.
"Very funny." Beth rolled her eyes. "I'm goin' to bed. I'm exhausted."
Daryl grunted. "Night, Greene."
"Night Daryl, try and get some sleep, yeah?"
"Whatever." He tapped the ash from his cigarette and flicked the bud onto the parking lot. "I'll try."
"Good. See ya around, Daryl" Beth whispered, turning around and beginning to walk downstairs.
"And Greene?" he added as she looked back at him. "Welcome back."
"Thanks," she said, flashing him a tired smile and shuffled down to her apartment. Too exhausted to even shower, she stripped herself of her weapons and boots and pants, collapsing into bed. She was asleep within minutes.
…
That morning, Beth made her way to the Information Center where she was planning to send in her application for a transfer. Normally, she would feel guilty about quitting her job, but she knew Lieutenant Clarke would understand. She was back, her family was here, and it was time to stay.
"Hey, stranger," Carol greeted from behind the desk.
"Hi Carol!" Beth grinned, placing her forms in front of her.
"You staying here for good?" she asked, flipping through the papers and placing them in a file.
"Yep. Don't see a reason why they need me anymore. Plus with you guys all here," she trailed off, shrugging. "Why not?"
"Well, I'll make sure these get sent in. Is there anything else you need?"
"Yeah, are there any positions open in Communications?"
"Let me check," Carol muttered, looking through papers clipped to a clipboard. "There are a few part time internships available. Unfortunately, since you don't have your GED, there are not a lot of options other than that. There's also an opening in Child Care and Education, wanna take a look at those too?"
"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks, Carol!" she exclaimed, straightening the papers. "I'll talk to you later, yeah?"
"Mhmm. Have a good day, Beth." Carol gave her a small smile before looking back down at her work.
Beth was rounding a corner on her way home when she stumbled across Rick and Daryl walking in front of her. Beaming, she jogged up to them, calling, "Hey!"
"Heya, Beth," Rick replied, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing lightly. "Nice to see ya."
"It's great to see you too! And Hi Daryl." She grinned at both of them.
"Hey," he grunted, looking down at his work boots.
Rick looked at the both of them, an amused expression on his face. "I gotta go find Carl and check up on some things. I'll see both of you around, right?"
They nodded and said goodbye as Rick left. "How's he doin'?" she asked.
"He's alright, a bit skittish but he seems to like working for the President. Keeps 'im busy," Daryl answered. "I think it's good for 'im."
Beth hummed in agreement. "What are you doing tonight?" she asked, stuffing the applications and forms in her bag ungracefully.
"Nothin' probably," Daryl replied and pulled a cigarette and lighter out of his pocket.
"Do ya wanna come over for a bit? I have a bunch of old Simpsons episodes on VHS." She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and looked up at him.
"Why don't ya wanna spend time with Maggie?" he grumbled, cigarette dangling between his lips.
"It's her and Glenn's date night, apparently. That's not the point – do you wanna come over or not? No need to get all grumpy about it," she teased lightly, fiddling with the strap of her bag.
Giving her a quick shrug of the shoulders, he replied gruffly, "Sure, why not. Don't have anything better to do."
Beth's eyebrows furrowed. "Don't come over if you don't wanna, Daryl. I was just offerin'." Frowning, she crossed her arms in front of her and ignored his stare. "I'll see ya around. I gotta run some errands." Rolling her eyes, she sped up and turned around, walking in the other direction. She really did have errands to run – she was almost out of tissues and toothpaste.
She stopped momentarily when she heard him call, "Beth! Wait –"
"Come over if you want, Daryl. Just don't… pull away from me now. Not after everything," she interjected, looking back at him quickly. Huffing slightly, she continued making her way to the pharmacy. How could he be so detached?
…
It was seven o'clock and Beth was already in her new favorite oversized t-shirt and cotton shorts. She was trying to figure out what she could make with the miscellaneous items in her fridge when there was a knocking at the door.
"Hey," Daryl mumbled as she opened the door. He looked anxiously down at his feet before glancing up at her. "'m sorry. Peace offerin'?" He said, holding up a six pack of beer and a two boxes of takeout pizza.
Beth nodded, giving him a small smile. "Come in. You can put the food on the coffee table."
Daryl entered and set the food down. He cleared his throat and faced her. "I don't get why ya wanna spend time with an old asshole redneck like me when there's nice people your age around, but whatever," he admitted, scratching the back of his neck.
"Well, you got the asshole part right," she replied, keeping her tone lighthearted, "but I've met some of those people… and it's not the same. I dunno, it's hard to explain. I just feel comfortable with you," she trailed off, looking everywhere but him.
Daryl grunted. "I'm not complainin', just confused." He cleared his throat, leaning over to hand her a beer and open a box of pizza. "I got cheese and a meat lovers. Which one do ya want?"
Beth grinned. "Cheese is fine for now. And is that an alcoholic beverage? You best hope Rick doesn't come over, he might arrest you for supplying alcohol to a minor."
He snorted. "'m sure Rick's got bigger problems. And what's he gonna do to ya?"
"I dunno. Could you imagine being in a drunk tank in post-outbreak Washington DC?" Beth took a sip from the brown bottle, it wasn't nearly as nasty as the moonshine but still didn't taste great.
"They probably have bigger problems too," he replied, sitting down on her loveseat couch. "What're we watchin'?"
"I have a bunch of old Simpsons tapes that I found at the flea market a few weeks ago," she answered and turned on the TV and VCR. "Hope ya don't mind."
"'t's been a long time since I've watched TV," he said with a mouthful of pizza. Beth hummed.
"So you're in Construction now, right?" she asked a few minutes later, nudging his leg with her foot.
"Yeah. 'xcept it's not really construction. We're clearing out streets around the perimeter and finding the best places to expand to," he replied. "We mostly fight off walkers and clean shit up. Ain't too exciting."
"I thought you'd wanna stop messing with walkers after everything," Beth said with a mouth full of pizza.
"It's not like I'm good at anything else," he mumbled, sipping his beer and shrugging slightly.
"Oh come on. You and I both know that's bullshit," she retorted.
"Whatever," he sighed, standing up. "Where's the bathroom? I gotta piss."
"First door on the right." Beth rolled her eyes. "We should do this more often," she suggested when he came back.
"You just want free booze and my charming personality."
"You know me so well," she giggled as he sat down next to her. They spent the night not really watching TV, but just talking. By the end of the night, they were both a little tipsy.
Sitting up and sighing, Beth adjusted herself so she was leaning on his shoulder. "This okay?" she asked after he stiffened up under her weight.
"Yeah," Daryl replied after a moment. "C'mere." He lifted his arm up and flattened himself against the cushions so she could cuddle up to him more comfortably.
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Jesus woman," he said gruffly, but Beth knew he was teasing.
Humming, she closed her eyes and burrowed into the warmth of his chest.
"Beth, I should go soon." Daryl's chest rumbled under her ear, sleepiness evident in his voice.
"No, you shouldn't. You're too warm," she protested.
Daryl grumbled unintelligibly and yawned, and was soon asleep. Sighing happily, Beth closed her eyes and fell asleep in the arms of the person she was the closest to. And if that wasn't enough, she didn't know what was.