MissTeller-Ortiz-Dixon: I love overprotective/possessive Daryl too :):) when I first started writing the series I never thought it would turn out like this, or that Vickie would grow into the character she is now. She brings out a side to Daryl we don't usually see :):)

Adagio c: Here's another chapter for ya :P hope you enjoy!

Bamby

DPOV

"So, was he older or younger?"

Denise turned to me as we walked along the road. "Older. By six minutes."

I remembered she'd talked about a brother, and I saw the name tag she'd gotten from the shop. It was clear she was upset about something, so I put two and two together, hoping I was right. Which it seemed I was.

She kept going. "My parents came up with the Dennis-Denise thing on one of their benders. Hilarious, right?" she turned back to the road. "Nothing scared him. He was brave. He was angry, too. It's kind of a dangerous combination."

"Sounds like we had the same brother." I noted.

Merle and I had always been close. We were all we had growing up. Our father was a useless asshole, our mother a wreck that passed early on. Merle was the only family I'd had.

When that day came along, and I found him as a walker, and I had to kill him… it broke me in two. If it wasn't for Vic and our people, I don't think I would have lasted much longer. If I'd been on my own, I would have done something stupid for sure.

I'd never really talked about killing Merle. Vic knew, and a few others did too. But I never told them exactly what happened. I didn't need to. They all understood. I did what I had to do.

Reaching the crossing of the train tracks and road, I came to a stop before moving to follow the tracks.

"Hey." Rosita called.

I turned to see all three women watching me, confused. "This way's faster, right?" I shrugged and turned to continue walking.

After a moment or two, Vic came to stand next to me, sliding her hand into mine. I looked down, a little shocked, but didn't speak just in case it ruined the moment. Instead I just turned my eyes to hers, finding her watching the path ahead. Setting my gaze back to the tracks, I did the same, knowing the others were right behind us.

VPOV

"There's a cooler in there!" Denise called. "Might be something we can use inside."

Daryl, Rosita and myself turned to see she was a few feet away, standing by some abandoned cars off to the side, pointing into the window of one.

"We got what we came for." Rosita told her.

Daryl shook his head. "Nah, ain't worth the trouble, come on." he said before we started down the tracks again.

I hesitated a moment longer, watching Denise turn back to the car. I could see she wasn't too sure about following us. I could see she wanted to get the cooler. But when she started to move, I assumed she was going to follow us, so I turned with the others and kept walking.

I stood between Daryl and Rosita as we walked, my hand holding Daryl's. I hadn't really thought about it when I grabbed it. I'd just wanted to let him know that I was there, that I was okay, that he didn't have to worry.

He hadn't said anything, and I was sure that was because he was worried that if he did, it would make me let go. But it wouldn't. I could tell how much he needed to know I was alright. After listening to him and Carol this morning, I knew that not knowing was killing him.

My train of thought was interrupted at the sound of a commotion behind us.

We turned and saw Denise on the ground, struggling against a walker that was on top of her. It must have been in the cooler car, because the door was open now, and the cooler was on the ground.

Moving fast we ran towards her, getting weapons out, getting ready to defend and save her.

By the time we reached her, Denise had managed to roll over, getting on top of the walker. But she was still struggling against it.

Daryl got to her first, knife in hand.

She turned to him quickly. "No, don't!"

Doing as she said, we all stepped back, watching her try to stab the thing with her knife. It took a moment, but soon enough, she managed to kill the walker. When she was done she looked up at us and got to her feet, out of breath. Stepping to the side, she hunched over and threw up.

"Oh, man." she sighed straightening up. "I threw up on my glasses." she told us before picking her glasses up from the dirt and vomit.

We just stood there, watching as she turned around, cleaning her glasses and moving to the cooler. Crouching down, she opened it, looking inside and pulling out a six pack or sodas.

"Hot damn." she shook her head as she pulled an orange soda from the pack.

"What the hell was that?" Daryl asked, pissed. "You could've died right there, you know that?

She nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Are you hearing me?" Daryl was clearly getting angrier by the second.

I rested a hand on his arm. "Daryl..."

He shook his head. "No. She almost died just then!"

"Who gives a shit?" Denise snapped. "You could've died killing those Saviours, all of you, but you didn't! You wanna live, you take chances. That's how it works." she gestured to me. "You said it yourself. There comes a time when you have to stop relying on others. That's what I did."

I shook my head, looking away. I'd told her that, yes. It had only been a couple of hours ago. But I hadn't meant for her to take charge of her life now. If she died because of some stupid words that came out of my mouth, I'd never forgive myself.

"For a couple of damn sodas?" Daryl shook his head.

"Nope." standing up, carrying the drinks, she moved towards him. "Just this one." she showed him the orange can and kept walking, right past us.

"Are you seriously that stupid?" Rosita started, following her to the tracks.

Daryl and I were right behind them.

Denise stopped and turned to us. "Are you? I mean it, are you? Do you have any clue what that was to me, what this whole thing is to me? See, I have training in this shit. I'm not making it up as I go along like with the stitches and the sugar and the..." she shook her head looking to Daryl. "I asked you to come with me because you're brave like my brother and sometimes you actually make me feel safe." she gestured to me. "I asked you to come because you were one of my first friends, and I know you get it." she turned to Rosita. "And I wanted you here because you're alone. Probably for the first time in your life. And because you're stronger than you think you are, which gives me hope that maybe I can be, too."

We'd all heard about Rosita and Abraham. How he'd left her right before we went to the Saviours' compound. Eugene had told Tara that he'd overheard Abraham that night. Apparently, the redhead had said, 'When I first met you, I thought you were the last woman on Earth. You're not'.

The fact Abraham had left Rosita like that had me wondering about Daryl. What if he found someone better than me? Even though we'd been together for ages now, I couldn't help but wonder when we'd end. I wasn't stupid, everything ends eventually. I just hoped it wouldn't be because of someone else.

Denise went on. "I could've gone with Tara. I could've told her I loved her, but I didn't, because I was afraid. That's what's stupid. Not coming out here, not facing my shit. And it makes me sick that you guys aren't even trying, because you're strong and you're smart, and you're all really good people. And if you don't wake up-"

It came out of nowhere. One second, we were listening to Denise, and the next second there was an arrow sticking out of her eye.

My insides went cold as I watched Daryl grab her, helping her to the ground. Rosita and I acted fast, grabbing our guns, aiming them at the tree line behind Denise, watching as a group of men stepped out with their own guns raised at us… and Eugene, who was being pushed forward by one who was clearly the leader.

"You drop 'em now!" the leader ordered.

As I did what he said I looked him up and down. My eyes scanned over the burnt section on his face and locked on to the crossbow in his hands. The crossbow, it was a dead giveaway...

I shook my head. "You son of a bitch."

Daryl grabbed my arm before I could move, putting himself in front of me slightly. His body language said a million things, but there was no doubt in my mind that my gut was right. The leader was the guy Daryl had met in the burnt woods. He was the guy that took everything from him and left him stranded.

The leader didn't miss Daryl's protective nature towards me, but chose to ignore it for now as he looked at Daryl. "Well, hell."

Daryl was pissed. I wondered if the only reason he wasn't attacking the guy was because of Eugene, Rosita and myself. Otherwise I was sure he would have started something by now.

"You got something to say to me?" the leader asked Daryl. "You gonna clear the air? Step up on that high horse?" when Daryl didn't say anything, he shook his head. "No. You don't talk much." he turned to three of his men, nodding at them.

The three men stepped forward, one moving to each of us, patting us down and taking our weapons. The guy dealing with me stopped as he took my bag which had my bat sticking out of it. He looked surprised and impressed. But at that moment I didn't care. It was when he took my knife that I knew I was going to kill him.

As the guys stripped our weapons and things, the leader kept talking, gesturing to the crossbow in his hands. "Still getting the hang of her. Kicks like a bitch, but-"

Daryl cut him off. "I should've done it."

"What's that? Seriously, I didn't catch what you said."

"I should've killed you." Daryl told him.

The leader nodded. "Yeah, you probably should've."

Worried about what Daryl might do, I slipped my hand into his, telling him not to do something stupid, but letting him know I was there if he needed me.

The leader looked from Daryl, to me, and then back to Daryl. "This your girl?" he nodded, looking me up and down. "Nice." he shrugged. "Sorry about your friend there, darlin'. I get that you'll just have to take my word for this, but she wasn't even the one I was aiming for." he grinned as he looked to Daryl again.

I understood what he was saying, and suddenly it was me everyone should worry about doing something stupid. "You son of a bitch!" I snapped, going to move forward.

Daryl held me back as all guns pointed to me.

"She's a feisty one." the leader chuckled. "What's your name?" when I refused to speak, he gestured to Eugene kneeling in front of him. "If you don't answer, your friend gets a bullet. So I'll ask again. What. Is. Your. Name?"

"Victoria." I gritted out.

"Victoria." he nodded. "Well, I'm D. Or Dwight. You can call me either." he said before gesturing to Daryl. "About him. It's nothing personal. This isn't how we like to start new business arrangements, but you pricks kinda set the tone, didn't you?"

"What do you want?" Rosita spoke up.

Dwight turned to her. "I'm sorry darlin', I didn't catch your name. So, what is it?"

"Rosita." she answered. "What do you want?"

"Well, Ro-si-ta, it's not what I want, it's what you, Daryl and Victoria are going to do. You're going to let us into your little complex. It looks like it's just beautiful in there. And then you're going to let us take whatever and whoever we want." Dwight's eyes looked to Daryl and myself then before turning back to Rosita. "Or we blow Eugene's brains out. And then yours. And then his." he nodded to Daryl. "But not you." his eyes fell on me. "I think I know someone who'd like you."

Daryl's grip on my arm tightened at the threat. After what happened to me at Grady, and with the Governor at Woodbury, and after the farm, and with Shane at the CDC... Daryl didn't take threats like that lightly.

Dwight shrugged. "I hope it doesn't come to that, really. Nobody else has to die. Just try to start with one. You know, maximum impact to get our point across. So, what's it gonna be? You tell me."

"You wanna kill someone, you start with our companion hiding over there behind the oil barrels." Eugene spoke up, nodding to said barrels. "He's a first-class a-hole and he deserves it so much more than us four."

All eyes turned to the barrels as we tried to spot who Eugene might have been talking about. I knew he'd come out with Abraham, but with the solider nowhere in sight, I though Eugene must have wandered off without him and gotten lost before getting caught.

Dwight dropped the cross bow and pulled out his gun. "Go check it out." he told some of his men.

All eyes were on the barrel when Dwight suddenly screamed out.

Looking over at him we saw Eugene biting Dwight's crotch before someone started shooting form the tree lines, killing some of Dwight's guys.

"Come on." Daryl tugged on my arm.

Rosita, Daryl and myself acted fast, moving to the guys that took our weapons.

I grabbed my knife from where it sat on the ground by his feet. Getting back up, I quickly slit the guy's throat before grabbing my guns. Once I had them I turned and rushed to the opposite side of the tracks, dashing behind the abandoned cars.

Behind cover, I started shooting at the Saviours as Daryl came to crouch by me, shooting as well. Rosita was by the car next to us. All the while, Eugene still had a firm bite on Dwight's junk.

I just kept my eyes on the men shooting at us as I shot at them. I would have gone for Dwight, but I couldn't risk getting Eugene.

Eventually Dwight pulled Eugene from him, knocking our friend away before ducking to the ground, trying to use the tracks as cover. I tried shooting him but couldn't seem to get a hit. However, I kept trying, needing this asshole dead.

"Fall back! Fall back!" Dwight yelled over the gunshots.

I moved back to reload my gun as Daryl kept shooting. Once I was done I got back up, just as Daryl ran out of ammo. But as he went to reload and I got back up, I saw Dwight aiming straight for Daryl's head.

"No!"

I pushed Daryl out of the way and got to my feet, shooting at Dwight, letting my finger pull the trigger until I was out of ammo and his men were gone.

"Son of a bitch." rushing past Daryl and the cars I got to the tracks, moving to follow Dwight and the rest.

I didn't care about anything else but killing the asshole. He'd killed Denise, he'd threatened to kill Eugene, and tried to kill Daryl. This asshole had to die.

"Daryl, Vickie, stop!" Rosita called.

I came to a halt and turned, seeing Daryl just a few steps behind me, the same idea in his mind. But it was seeing Rosita kneeling next to Eugene that had me stay instead. Abraham had come out of the trees as well, heading towards them.

Moving over to them, I walked past Denise and felt my heart twist. She'd been such a good friend. She was another person I knew I would have been friend with even if the world hadn't turned...

"Vic." Daryl grabbed my arm, turning me to him. "We gotta go."

"He needs help!" Rosita yelled.

Looking over Daryl's shoulder I could see Eugene on the ground, bleeding. He must have gotten shot through all the gun fire. With the amount of blood coming out, I could tell it was serious.

But still, my eyes moved to Denise again…

"We'll come back for her." Daryl told me. "We will."

Slowly, I nodded. "Okay... Okay."

"A'right. Come on." he tugged on my arm.

Stepping up to Rosita and Abraham, the four of us grabbed Eugene and lifted him off the ground, carrying him back home.

DPOV

We'd gone back and grabbed Denise's body like I told Vic we would. But she hadn't gone. The moment we got back to Alexandria she'd gone home. I'd wanted to follow, but I couldn't. Someone needed to bury Denise.

Which is what I was doing, with the help of Carol and the booze Rosita had found.

Carol stopped digging, turning to me. "You were right. I knew it when you said it."

I knew what she meant. I knew she was talking about what I said when we were sitting on the porch steps this morning. How I'd told her I should have killed Dwight.

My mind hadn't changed. If anything, I wanted him dead more than ever. After he killed Denise, and threatened the rest of us. After the way he looked at Vic. After he threatened her. No, I knew now, I knew what I had to do. I had to kill him.

VPOV

I sat on my bed, patting Houdini's head absentmindedly. I'd been avoiding everyone. I knew Aly was with Maggie, and I knew that if Maggie found out about Denise she wouldn't tell Aly because it was my job to do that. But I couldn't...

The door opened as Daryl stepped in, closing the door behind him again. I could smell the dirt and alcohol on him as he moved to dump his crossbow at the end of the bed before he started to pull his shirt off.

"I've killed thirty-eight people. Forty, actually." I corrected myself. "I killed two men at the train tracks."

Daryl tossed his shirt on to the ground as he turned to me. He watched me, confused, not saying a word as he waited for me to go on.

"I killed two of the Saviours that took us. One of them... she reminded me of me. But she was twisted. It was like she was all the terrible things I could be..." I shook my head. "I've killed forty people, Daryl." my voice broke as I looked down at my hands. "Forty lives taken by my hands."

"Don't."

I felt my eyes begin to water. "How can you love someone who's done that?" I looked away. "I'm a monster. I'm no better than this Negan guy."

Shaking his head, he moved closer to the bed before reaching over to lift my chin so I'd look at him. "Don't. You ain't like them. You're a good person, Vic. Nothing'll change that. You do what you do for our people. For our family." he looked deep into my eyes. "You understand? You ain't a monster."

As I slowly began to nod, I let him pull me to my feet and into his arms as I cried against his chest, letting everything I'd been keeping bottled up out.

Everything that had happened since the world fell apart, all the bad things, were finally catching up to me. All the death, and murder, and pain, and heartache. It had finally reached the surface, all because of losing Denise...

"How do I tell Aly?" I sobbed against him. "How do I tell her that she's lost another friend? And what about Tara? She's going to come back home and find out her girlfriend is dead." shaking my head I held him tighter. "I don't know what to do."

He didn't say anything at first, just held me to him and let me cry. His hold on me was both comforting and empathetic. I could feel that he understood everything I was feeling. I could feel he knew I needed him.

As much as I'd thought I was going to be okay, that I was okay, I'd been wrong. But he'd known. He could tell I wasn't okay. He knew me better than I knew myself apparently.

"I'll do it."

Pulling back, I looked up at him confused. "What?"

"I'll tell Aly." he offered.

My heart swelled. "You'd do that?"

"Do anything for you, Vic." he reached forward to wipe the tears from my cheeks. "I love you."

"I love you too, Daryl."

Bamby