Title - Bodies And Souls Collide
Chapter title - Secrets From The Past
Author - OblivionsGarden
Genre - Hurt/Comfort/Romance/Family/Horror
Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead in anyway shape or form. I only own the plot points surrounding my oc's, not recognized from the show or comics.
Chapter Word Count - 4024 words.

A/n - Please leave a review, I'd greatly appreciate it. Hope you enjoy, xx (:


Teddy drove for as long as she could, only having to stop once to siphon some fuel from a car on the highway. She had a brief run in with two walkers but she managed to kill them both quietly. As she drove, struggling to remember the exact route to the Greene farm, she took a minute to appreciate the quiet. The camp had been so noisy the past few days since Rick arrived so it was nice to have the silence, save for the rumble of the truck beneath her. The only thing that would've made her journey better would've been having the radio to listen to.

She missed what she thought was her turning and had to double back on herself sometime during the early afternoon only to find it wasn't the turning she needed after all. She cursed at herself and took a break to eat and drink some water before she carried on. It was well into the early hours of the morning when she finally found it. The big white house could've been a palace as far as Teddy was concerned. She was worried that they were gone, the house left alone in darkness but when she climbed out of the truck, she saw a dim light by one of the upstairs windows.

She climbed the steps to the front door, gun and knife tucked into her belt. Daryl would tell her she should have at least one in hand but she knew these people, trusted them. She knocked thrice on the door and stepped back, listening to the slow footsteps and hushed whispers from within. She was just about to knock again when the door opened a crack, revealing a familiar round face.

"Hey Otis."

"Oh my God..." Otis gasped and let the door fall open to show Hershel, shot gun in hand and Patricia stood to his side.

"Theodora?" Hershel lowered the weapon and quickly gestured for her to come inside. "Thank God you're alright."

Teddy gave the old man a tight hug, then Patricia and then Otis. These people had been there for her at her lowest and would always be family. They tiptoed into the kitchen and Patricia made a pot of tea.

"It's been a while since I last had good tea." Teddy smiled ruefully, leaning over the cup to inhale the scent.

"Daddy, we heard a-"

Teddy swung around at the tired voice coming from the kitchen door. Maggie and Beth stood together, eyes worried until they saw her. Beth's big baby blues widened in excitement as she shot forward to wrap her arms around the brunette, near knocking her from her chair.

"Hey, Bethy." Teddy chuckled and returned the hug, smiling at Maggie over her shoulder. She held out her hand and pulled in the eldest Greene girl to join them.

"How'd you get all the way out here?" Beth asked as Patricia poured two more cups of tea.

"I got to Atlanta with some friends. I lost them on the way, nearly lost myself but two brothers saved me. The city is overrun now." She explained. "On the way out we found a camp of survivors. We were there for a while, maybe a few months or so I'm not sure. They wanted to go to the CDC, see if there is any cure for this."

"You didn't want to go?" Maggie asked with a frown.

"I'm not so sure their gonna find what they're looking for. Besides I knew my best friend would be down here and could probably use some good company." She nudged Beth's arm as the blonde held tightly to her hand.

"Jimmy's staying on the sofa and Otis and Patricia are in the spare room. So you can share my room, right daddy?" She asked and the old man nodded with a contented smile.

"Best head up to bed now, it's late. We can talk more in the morning." Hershel stood, kissing each of his girls goodnight. He caught Teddy's hand before she left, keeping her back for a minute after everyone had gone. "How are you?"

"I'm alive, if that's what you mean." She shrugged but he shook his head and she sighed. "I'm ok. I was getting out remember."

"But were you ready for that?" Hershel was still holding onto her hand and Teddy looked down and gave his calloused fingers a gentle squeeze.

"I was ready to come home."


The following day was spent catching the family up over breakfast on how she came to be back in Georgia. Hershel was the only person left alive that knew of her time in rehab. Even Beth, her best friend of the past few years, had no idea. As far as the rest of the family were concerned, Teddy had been traveling with her band.

It wasn't the biggest lie she'd ever told since the days leading up to her stay in the clinic were spent on the road in a small van, touring small pubs and clubs for a measly pay. It didn't pay the bills but it made her happy and that was what Teddy needed in her life, as much happiness as she could get. That and the dinner it got her every day.

The family caught her up on how Jimmy, Otis and Patricia came to be staying with them and how they'd survived so long alone. Teddy decided she would stay here with the Greene's as long as she could. She helped Maggie on runs, helped Patricia cook, tended the horses and now she could even help Otis go and hunt. Beth had been speechless to hear that Teddy, strict vegetarian, was now hunting her own food. There had been a time when Teddy would complain about Beth's life on the farm, raising animals just to be eaten but times had changed and so had the girls.

Teddy noticed Beth's changes almost immediately. For the most part she was the same, smiling and singing young woman she'd befriended years ago. But there was a sadness in her eyes, an unwillingness to accept what the world had become. Teddy decided she wanted to eradicate that look and keep Beth smiling. After all that was what the blonde had done for her without even knowing it.


It was only a matter of a few weeks before things changed again. Teddy had gone out on a run alone, heading out further than usual and planning to head back the following morning. She'd hit a herd and had to take a longer route home but her constant practice meant she was capable of handling herself alone. When she was driving back to the farm she noticed an all too familiar RV parked outside, surrounded by tents and people.

She pulled up around the side of the house like usual, climbing out of the truck with a frown. Something must have happened at the CDC. She spotted Daryl's bike a little ways from the rest of the group and headed over, finding the man in question just emerging from his tent.

"CDC was a bust then?"

"Teddy?" Daryl frowned as he glanced between the girl and the house behind her. "What're you doin' here?"

"This is my friends farm." She shrugged sitting down on the log that Daryl had pulled into his camp. "What happened?"

"There is no cure." He sighed, sitting beside her. He told her all about Jenner and the explosion. "Jacqui stayed behind... M'sorry. I know you were close."

"Yeah." Teddy cleared her throat and shook her head. "Everyone else ok?"

"No." Daryl shook his head picking at the sole of his boots with his hunting knife. "Sophia's missing and Carl's been shot."

A cold sweat broke out on Teddy's forehead and she stood too fast from the log, swaying a little on the spot. Daryl jumped up, pressing a hand to her back to steady her.

"Carl's been... Where is he?"

"In the house, the old guy is tryin' to-"

Daryl broke off as Teddy sprinted away towards the house, bursting through the door and into the spare room where she could hear voices. Rick was slumped low in the chair, skin pale and damp with sweat. Laurie was in the window seat, bags beneath her eyes as she watched Carl, pale and so small looking in the large bed.

"Oh Jesus... What happened?"

"Teddy?" Hershel frowned as she sat on the very edge of the bed, tentatively reaching for Carl's hand.

"These people were the group I was with... They're friends." She gulped, feeling Carl's clammy palm against her own. "Is he gonna be ok?"

"He's stable. We're doing regular blood transfusions until he's ready to be on his feet again."

"Oh thank God."

"Thought you weren't a believer." He smirked, leaving the room.

Teddy glanced to Rick who was watching her with a curious expression. He glanced between his son's sleeping form and her pale blue eyes.

"He's a sweet boy. Always made sure that I was ok back at camp. Asked if I had enough food or water or if I was sleeping well." Teddy smiled a little in return to Rick. "How'd it happen?"

"Otis." Rick's voice was tired and croaky. "He was hunting, shot straight through a deer."

"Christ." Teddy ran her free hand through her hair. "I bet he's beating himself up about it."

"He's dead... Went on a run to the school with Shane. Sacrificed himself."

Teddy's heart dropped and her stomach lurched. She stood, releasing Carl's hand, and excused herself from the room. She found Patricia and Beth in the kitchen, sat in silence. She sat between the two, taking each of their hands. She didn't say anything, didn't need to. Patricia nodded, crying quietly to herself as Beth leaned into Teddy's embrace, clinging tightly to her hand.


"How long?"

"Three days."

"How'd she wind up alone?"

Teddy listened intently as Rick explained how Sophia had gotten lost. When she had saw Carol's hopelessly lost expression when she headed into the RV to see Andrea that morning she had promised to help in any way she could. She was packing some provisions into a bag, glancing over to Daryl's part of the camp. She had planned to ask him to join her but it seemed he had already gone.

"If I had got back earlier I would've helped with Carl. Given my blood maybe. I mean I don't know my type but it couldn't hurt to try, right?"

"Thank you." Rick smiled as he handed her her knife that she had left in the bed of her truck. "I'm sorry, Teddy. For everything."

"We'll talk about it when I get back." She shouldered her bag and a rifle, tucking the knife into her belt. "I'll hunt a little whilst I'm out there."

"Thought you were a veggie." Rick smirked, an amused twinkle in his eye.

"World ended, Rick." With Teddy's cold tone the twinkle vanished. "I take what I can get."


She left on foot, heading back to the road and finding the sign that had been left for the little girl. From there she moved slowly back into the forest, using the things that Daryl had taught her and tips that she'd got from Otis to try and find a trace of Sophia.

Hours passed, the sun dipping from the skyline, and the air began to get cooler. Teddy had heard a gunshot from somewhere back at the farm but knew that with the old group there, they would be fine. There was no more after that first shot, a fact which only settled her mind more.

When night finally fell she decided to head back to the farm and go out again in he morning, continuing east to try and find her. She was exhausted when she got back, dropping her bag in Beth's room, by the roll out mattress she had been sleeping on.

"Any sign?" Beth asked as she exited the bathroom, pajamas on. She sighed when Teddy shook her head, toeing off her boots. "I saw you talking to the man on the bike yesterday... He's in the spare room."

"Why, what happened?" Teddy's senses returned to their alert state they had been slowly relaxing from.

"I don't know, but he's fine. I think Carol took him some food."

Teddy left the room, heading straight to find Daryl. She knocked twice and opened the door, finding the man in question picking at the food on his plate with a bandage wrapped around his head. She closed the door behind her, releasing a breath of relief when she saw that he was ok.

"Can't handle one day without me, huh Dixon?" She teased, perching on the foot of the bed.

"I'm alive ain't I?"

"Yeah but you look like shit."

"Ain't you a peach?" He snorted, shifting to sit a little straighter but making sure to keep the blanket over his chest. "What you want?"

"I wanna know what the hell happened." She leaned forward, picking up the sandwich on his plate and breaking it in half. "And this. I'm starving."

Daryl shook his head as she bit into the bread. He explained to her what had happened down in the creek, leaving out the part about seeing Merle. He spoke about the doll and the arrow and the horse, told her that Andrea had shot him, thinking he was a roamer. Teddy could feel her chest constricting, hearing how Andrea had started to become reckless after Amy.

She left Daryl to sleep, heading to the RV and calling Andrea outside. She walked a little way from the rest of the group before she turned on her, breathing through her nose as she tried to organize her thoughts.

"I get that you want to prove you're capable of handling yourself."

"That not what-"

"I'm not finished." Teddy snapped. "I've spoken to Shane and Dale, even Daryl. They think that you've forgotten how to give a shit about yourself since Amy. Dale told me you were gonna stay behind at the CDC, to get yourself blown up. If that's your choice, fine. But you're still here. And if you're here you need to listen to the group. When the group says 'don't shoot, it's one roamer we can handle it', you don't suddenly go gung-ho and take aim... You're lucky that you're not that good of a shot yet cause Daryl would be dead if you were."

"I didn't mean to-"

"I know you didn't. But not meaning to do something doesn't change the fact that you did. Next time listen to the god damn group."

Teddy stormed off before Andrea could say anything, leaving the blonde to wonder back to the RV alone.


Watching Hershel watch the others, it was clear to Teddy that he didn't want them there. She wondered how long he would put up with them before he'd send them on their way. She wasn't so sure she wanted them here herself. She could handle having Daryl around, along with Carol, Glenn, T Dog and Carl. It was the rest that she wasn't so sure of.

Dale would've been part of her list had he not been having some sort of argument with Andrea. He seemed more stressed than usual and much more tense. Andrea was reckless and had proved that much when she shot Daryl. Rick was someone she'd really rather was anywhere else than near her and as for Laurie, she'd never gotten along with her since she first arrived at the camp. And Shane? All the shouting and raving he'd been doing to Rick about moving on and leaving Sophia... That was the type of man that Teddy hated. And after listening to him talk about what happened with Otis, she wasn't so sure she believed that story.

The only thing she did agree with Shane on was that everyone needed to be trained. She wasn't about to step up and host a gun lesson but she knew that Beth didn't like Shane either. So with a promise to Hershel not to walk willingly into danger and not to go too far, Teddy took Beth out in the truck. They weren't too far from home, just a small spot where Teddy had been going to practice.

"I know you don't like Shane but I would rather he teach you how to handle a gun, alright? He's better than I am and he was a cop before so he's had years of practice."

"So what are we doing out here then?" Beth asked with a frown.

"Sometimes guns aren't an option." Teddy gestured to the knife in Beth's belt before letting out a short sharp whistle. "Sometimes they're too close to be able to grab one."

"They?"

"The roamers." Teddy didn't miss the grimace. "Hey, I know you don't want to kill them but if you don't learn how then they'll kill you first. Here we go."

A roamer was stumbling into the clearing after hearing her whistle and Beth took a few steps back from it. Teddy inched forward, her own knife poised and ready. As soon as it lurched for her she struck, burying the blade into it's temple.

"Alright, come over here." Beth did as she was told, albeit slowly. "Temple is a safe bet, it's softer and easier to get through. Same goes for the base of the skull here, if you can get to it... Getting your knife through anywhere else is gonna be hard but not impossible. Like I say, sometimes there is no other choice. Now I'm not gonna make you take down a live one straight off the bat but I just want you to get a feel of how much force it's gonna take. Go ahead."

Teddy moved back, giving the younger girl space. Beth pulled a face, looking away from the body on the ground. She knelt beside the head, lifting her knife and bringing it down. She cut through the skin but not the skull.

"Not bad, try hitting harder." Beth tried again but still no luck. "Try one of the softer points I told you about."

"Teddy I can't-"

"Yes you can. I promise."

Beth took a breath to gather her strength this time striking the temple and getting half of the blade to sink in. Teddy grinned despite Beth's dry heaving.

"Third times a charm."

"I can't get it out."

"Getting it out takes just as much effort as getting it in. You gotta yank it pretty hard, put your other hand here to hold him down if it helps."

"Sounds like you're giving me sex tips." Beth said quietly, bracing her free hand on the head on the walker. There was a brief silence before both girls erupted into childish laughter.

They practiced other areas to strike to buy some time before hitting the brain and eventually Beth managed to get her knife straight through the top of the skull. By the time they were done it was mid afternoon and Beth was exhausted. Teddy drove them back to the farm, Beth heading inside for a drink and a cool down. Teddy told Hershel how well she had done, letting slip that she was proud of her best friend.

"She's much stronger than she realizes, your little Bethy."

"I've known that her whole life." Hershel smiled fondly, patting Teddy's shoulder as he continued on with his own days work.

She wondered into the camp, having a brief conversation with Carol who asked if they'd seen any sign of anyone. Unfortunately the clearing was in the opposite direction to where Sophia had run to. She promised again that she would continue to look when she went out in the morning.

As they were talking she noticed that Laurie was sat alone, picking at her nails whilst everyone else was busy doing something. The older woman caught her eye and Teddy scoffed before turning to leave. Laurie rose from her seat following Teddy until they were out of earshot of everyone else.

"Something wrong?"

"Yeah." Teddy nodded, shoving her hands into her jean pockets. "You're the one that's always saying everyone needs to pitch in to make this work and yet you're the one sat on your ass playing Sheriff's wife." Teddy continued on in the direction she had been going when Laurie spoke again.

"Why are you always whispering to Rick?" She waited until Teddy had turned to stare at her to continue. "I've seen you having quiet conversations away from everyone else. Something going on?"

It was true, Teddy and Rick had been having brief snippets of conversation in private but it was not what Laurie was thinking. Not that Teddy was going to tell her that.

"Private conversations and for being kept private, Laurie." Teddy stepped dangerously close, not bothered that Laurie was a good seven inches taller than her. "Just like those conversations you used to have in the woods with your husbands best friend."

"That is-"

"Nothing to do with me? I know. But I hope for your sake that that shit is done with cause if I find out it ain't, I will be protecting Rick when it comes down to it and it will come down to it."

Teddy stormed off in no particular direction, forgetting what she had originally planned to do. She walked in circles around the barn, trying to ease of some of the frustration that was pent up in her shoulders when she heard someone clear their throat from inside.

"What was all that about?" Daryl asked. "Thought you hated Rick."

"That is a long ass story, Dixon."

"I got some fresh meat at my camp and all the time in the world for you to tell me."

Teddy sighed but nodded, following Daryl to his camp. She was silent whilst he cooked the meat over a fire as the sun finally set in the sky, letting the moon light the field now. Teddy stared up at the stars for a while until Daryl handed her a metal tin with meat and a few vegetables in.

"How'd you come to know Hershel anyways?"

"I was a singer." She explained. "I played in small bars up and down the country, stayed on peoples sofas. Played a bar not too far from here and Beth and Maggie were there. Maggie made Beth come say hi and tell me that she wanted to be a singer too. We spent all night talking and when I told them that I didn't actually have a place to stay they said they could sneak me into their place." She laughed a little, remembering how they had tried to climb through Maggie's bedroom window. "Hershel caught us and said I could stay the night but I had to be gone by morning. But then morning rolled around and Maggie made me a coffee and Hershel sat and spoke to me. I think he felt bad cause I had no where else to go. That or Beth's puppy dog look got him again, she's damn good at that... Anyway he let me stay here a while and Beth and I just became best friends. She's more of a sister actually, her and Maggie. All of them are family."

Daryl hummed as he ate his food faster than Teddy could comprehend. She smirked as she watched him, noticing that he seemed more relaxed without Merle around. He was still quiet and barely spoke but he spoke more than he did when his brother was always talking over him.

"I never saw any sign of Merle." She said before she could stop herself. "I looked but, uh... Nothing." Daryl nodded, staring at the food in his hand before he changed the subject, getting back to the whole reason they were eating together in the first place.

"So, why are you so willing to defend Rick all of a sudden?"

"You can't tell any of the others."

"Like I talk to the others anyway."

Teddy smirked as she glanced over her shoulder to ensure no one would hear them. "Rick's my dad."