Disclaimer: Do not own The Walking Dead or any associated characters. Only what happens with them in my head.

Warnings: Language, Feels

Authors Note: I'm so glad that so many of you are reading this, it really makes my day to see the reviews and love that I get from this story. It also keeps me going on writing it. I thank every one of you who read and review this!

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It felt like only a couple of seconds had passed before Michonne, Sasha, Tyreese and Rosie were standing around them, along with many of the other guard. It seemed as thought every guard in Terminus had come to stand, ready to fight if need be. Daryl raised his crossbow, aiming toward the group of walkers.

"Hold it!" Conrad ordered while reaching out a hand to press down on Daryl's crossbow, drawing his attention away from the walkers. "Don't need to be wasting bolts, Dixon. Only if we need to.." he instructed as his gaze danced over the two running their way.

It was only a couple of minutes longer before Michonne gasped at his side as the figures came a little further into view, making them less of specs on the horizon. The one was taller and ran with a considerable limp and the other was shorter, faster and had a large hat on his head. "Oh. My. God." She breathed. Without warning the warrior darted for the ladder leading down toward them, Conrad and several others reached out to stop her but Michonne simply brushed off their touches.

It took Daryl a moment to understand why she wanted to run toward them and when it hit him he barreled through the others to follow after Michonne. Daryl ignored the shouts from those on the wall telling Michonne and himself to stop, to come back. With no thought for himself or anything else, he rushed to help. He'd only climbed halfway down the ladder before he jumped off to hit the dirt in a careful crouch.

Michonne was faster than he was, mostly because she wasn't weighed down by the heavy crossbow. He pumped himself to run faster when he watched the taller male stumble and drop into the thick grass. The boy turned and yanked on the man's arm to haul him to his feet as the walkers drew closer, moaning and groaning loudly.

The young boy kept a hold of his father's arm and tried to keep the male upright as his limp seemed to get worse. Less than ten feet from them and Daryl heard the ring of metal on metal as Michonne ripped the samurai sword from it's sheathe on her back. Without hesitation the woman jumped behind the men and swung the sword with a small grunt of exertion, slicing the heads of the walkers in the immediate vicinity off.

Daryl on the other hand tucked himself under his friend's arm, carefully pushing the boy ahead. "Go, Carl, go!" He shouted to get the kid moving. The male knew that he had more than enough strength to carry Rick. "Come on, man." A quick look over his friends face told him that the male was in bad shape. He was pale under all the dirt and grime that caked his face, god only knew what had gotten into his leg.

A frown tugged his lips as he continued to run, pulling Rick along. Carl glanced back long enough to be certain that Daryl actually had a hold on his father before he ran ahead, bolting for the ladder. Rick mumbled something as they ran, turning his attention toward Daryl just a little longer than he should have. The action caused him to stumble again, this time nearly pulling the redneck with him.

With an annoyed sort of grunt Daryl shifted to haul the elder male onto his shoulder in a fireman's carry, carefully trying to keep hold of the male and his crossbow. It was certainly awkward. Surprising him, Michonne yanked the bow from his hand, "go!" She shouted, keeping her back toward him to defend them as they ran.

When they reached the ladder Daryl set the cop on the ground, pushing at him quickly. "Come on, Rick, go." He commanded, quickly turning toward Michonne to grasp his bow from her hands. Until Rick could get up the ladder a little ways they needed to protect him.. and themselves. He fired the first bolt with ease, watching as it slammed through the walkers head. Michonne swung her sword again to take the head off of an incoming walker.

The two fought pretty well next to one another, taking out anything that came their way, at least until they heard the voices shouting from above. "Michonne, dammit, get up here!" Carl screamed, his voice rising above the others.

"Go!" She commanded Daryl. He frowned but didn't question it and after another swing of the heavy crossbow to knock another walker on its ass he scaled the ladder quickly.

Halfway up and he was calling for the warrior to follow after him. Michonne quickly sheathed her sword once more and darted up the ladder behind him. On the wall, Daryl dropped the bow onto the bricks and his hands onto his knees, breathing heavily. The woman panted quietly, then began laughing.

"The hell's so funny?" Conrad demanded. "You two could'a been killed!"

Michonne turned her gaze to Daryl, still laughing quietly and when Daryl joined into the laughter Conrad looked as though he might blow a gasket. "What the hell is so funny?!" He said loudly.

Without a word the warrior walked to where Rick was still trying to orient himself and wrapped her arms around him tightly. He patted her back gently and chuckled quietly before she pulled away and quickly hugged Carl tightly, too. The boy grinned broadly while his arms hugged her as tightly as he possibly could. "Oh, Michonne, we knew you'd be here! As soon as we saw the signs we knew you'd be okay!"

The warrior pulled back long enough to look down at Carl and smile brightly before she pulled him close again. Daryl patted Rick on the back as he stepped closer to the man. "Where you been, man?" He asked with an arch forming in his brow.

"Kinda everywhere. Been on the run for a couple weeks now.." He stated while trying to stand to his full height but putting too much weight onto his right leg nearly dropped him to the ground.

"What happened?" Daryl asked, rushing forward and wrapping his arm around the other male to keep him from falling.

"I bashed my knee pretty good yesterday while we were running," Rick responded, glancing around at the familiar faces in the crowd gathered.

"What was you runnin' from?" He asked in concern, slowly releasing his hold on the male once more when he believed that Rick was steady enough to hold himself up.

Carl took the lead when he finally released himself from Michonne, the boy was dirty and looked as though he could use a good meal or two but over all he looked healthy enough. "This group of guys, they started tracking us not too long after we got separated from Michonne. At first we thought maybe we could team up with them to get here but they started blaming us for killing one of their friends. I don't think we ever even met the guy." The boy stated and frowned as he looked to his father.

"How did you get away?" Michonne asked as she looked between them in concern. Obviously they hadn't gotten away easily if Rick was hurting.

"Can we, uh.. get down first?" The older male asked, allowing his gaze to dance over the side of the wall. The ten foot drop wasn't all that appealing to him, especially when he was already injured.

As they'd talked the archers and bowmen had taken out the remaining walkers, only a few still attempted to clamber over the other dead in the attempt to get to the wall. Conrad glanced between the small group for a moment before looking to Michonne. "I trust you'll give 'em the tour?" The woman smiled and nodded in response and after a quick glance toward the walkers down below she descended the ladder, followed quickly by Carl. Rick went next and Daryl realized that Tyreese and the others had already gone to ground.

He wondered if anyone had thought to get Judith, then quickly wondered where Beth was. His gaze scanned the thin crowd, spotting Tyreese and Sasha standing beside Bob, Maggie stood close by with Glenn but Beth was no where in sight. He frowned darkly while looking toward the elder Greene, wondering if she knew where he sister was. Once Rick stood firmly on the ground below Daryl climbed down the ladder as well.

"So, how did you get away?" Michonne asked as the rest of the old prison group began closing in.

Carl glanced up toward his father for a moment a low sigh falling from his lips. After a couple of moments silence he sighed and pulled the hat from his head to scratch at his dirty hair. "We had to take one of them out.. I mean, at first they seemed alright and then we heard this older guy talking about it. Said we'd killed their friend and they were going to give us justice. Dad wanted to try and explain but then we realized that there was no way they would listen to us. So.."

The young male sighed, shifting uncomfortably. It wasn't the first time he'd had to kill a person. A living person but all the same it didn't make it any easier. "We started to run. I got hit in the arm with one of their arrows and.. I don't know, without really thinking about it I just turned and shot." He admitted, then rubbed at his sore arm. "So, we just kept running. After a while they stopped following us and then we saw the sign that Maggie had put up for Glenn. Thanks for that," he said with a grin toward the brunette female. She nodded in return but kept silent to allow the boy to continue.

Carl dropped his hat back onto his head and glanced around at those gathered. So many familiar faces, it really made his day. "We ran as much as we could, slept wherever we could. Night before last we both sort of just crashed in the woods. Woke up to walkers getting close so we both just started running. Dad fell and hit his knee, we've been trying to stay ahead of the walkers since." He frowned as he glanced over at his father.

Rick offered a little smile, then clapped his son on the back. "It looks like pretty much everyone made it here." He stated as his gaze danced over the welcoming faces. Daryl noted that neither asked about Carol, of course, Rick already knew and he was assuming that he'd told Carl about it over the last ten months.

"Everyone did." A voice behind Michonne piped up. The warrior woman quickly stepped out of the way to reveal Beth, holding the little baby in her arms with a wide smile on her lips. Rick's eyes widened while Carl's brows furrowed. Both looked at one another in confusion before, "want to say 'hi' to daddy?" Beth murmured down at the baby, bouncing her slightly against her hip.

"Ju..Judith?" Carl asked, looking at the others faces in shock while Rick stood rooted to the spot in shock. The blonde nodded while stepping closer. "How?!" He asked now, staring at his baby sister.

"I found her, brought her, Mika and Lizzy with me." Tyreese's deep voice stated as he smiled down at the baby. Carl grinned broadly and without hesitation reached out to pluck his little sister from the blonde's arms. After placing several kisses to her pale, chubby cheeks he turned toward his father.

Rick stood still only long enough to catch his breath before he limped forward and grasped both of his children in his arms. His shoulders shook as the tears burned his eyes. He had believed that his daughter was dead, he'd actually come to terms with it months ago. Carl had as well but of course the younger male had always had a sense of hope that they would find her. Rick hadn't. He clutched the both of them tightly to his chest, allowing the sobs to hit him.

The group thinned out, after welcoming Rick and Carl back, to get back to their own duties for the evening. Michonne lingered behind, taking it upon herself to get the family settled somewhere so that they could get something to eat and get themselves cleaned up. Daryl patted Rick on the back and flicked the hat from Carl's head with a smirk before he took a step away from them.

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Away from the happily reunited couple Daryl glanced down at the girl. "What'd Sammi what wit'cha?" He asked, draping his arm around her shoulder to pull her close as they walked.

Her shoulders rose up quickly. "She wanted to talk about seeing if when the next group went on a run if I'd want them to try and find a portable ultrasound." She stated before a hand raised to her lips in the attempt to conceal a yawn that stretched them. "She figured we'd want to know just how far I am and what it is." The blonde replied as she turned a glance up at him.

His arm slipped from around her to grasp her hand within his as they walked toward their house, hoping that Maggie and Glenn wouldn't be loudly occupying their bedroom. "What'd you say?" While the idea of knowing just how far along in all of this she was, Daryl couldn't help but be worried. Knowing how much or little time was left would only serve to increase his paranoia. Of course, Michonne's words of wisdom about telling the girl of his nightmares and panic rang through his head. While he wanted to tell Beth everything, there was still something stopping him. He just didn't know how to tell her, especially with knowing how worried Beth had to be already.

"I told her that I wouldn't mind but I didn't want anyone in danger to get it." She stated and looked up at him. "Would you want to know?" Her pale eyes danced over his face unable to stop the faint smirk from playing over her lips.

His shoulders shrugged up quickly while shaking his head. "Long as it's healthy, I don't care what it is." He admitted, knowing that this was the easiest way to tell her about his fears.

"I was kinda thinking the same thing." She stated and squeezed his hand softly. The petite blonde was silent a moment or two before her gaze shifted upward, allowing the sun to warm her pale face. Slowly, her attention returned his face and a blush touched her cheeks when she realized he'd been watching her. "So...?"

As soon as he was caught a faint flush of his own blossomed behind the stubble on his face. "Hmm?" He hummed while his brows arched slightly. She seemed to have something on her mind and the only way to find out what was to get her talking.

Her tongue brushed across her dry lips in the attempt to wet them while she took a moment to study his features. "Which would you want?" She asked.

His head shook quickly. "Like I said, don't matter, 's long as it's healthy."

"Oh come on, everybody dreams about what their first kid's gonna be." She countered, gently pushing his shoulder with a smile on her lips. When Daryl shook his head again her brows furrowed. "Really?"

A shoulder rose and fell in a brief shrug, "I never put much thought in it. Never saw myself as a dad." He told her while shifting his attention down toward her face.

"Why?" She asked curiously as they made their way up the sidewalk toward the house.

Daryl was silent a moment as he tried to arrange his thoughts in order to be sure they made sense when he spoke them. By the time he responded they were in the kitchen, Maggie and Glenn no where to be seen. "Guess it's cause'a my ol' man." He told her honestly. A hand rose to brush back through his dark hair while moving to the small bowl of fruit on the counter. After handing the blonde an apple he continued with, "kinda always thought I'd be like him."

The admission was a bit of a scary one for him. Of course, in the current world there were several things he would never be able to do like his father had. Like sit in front of a television for hours on end and shoot things in the living room or drink until he pissed himself. His biggest worry was that he'd be abusive like his father had been. He'd heard enough of that psychologist crap throughout his life about how most people reflect their parents, and if that were the case it was a scary idea.

"You won't be." Beth told him and shook her head gently. She sounded so confident in that statement that Daryl couldn't stop his brows from raising slightly.

"Why you think that?"

"Well, for one I would never be like your mother was." The girl quickly shook her head, knowing that Daryl's mother had stood idly by while her husband beat her children or drank himself into oblivion or beat the hell out of her. She'd done everything that Daryl's father had asked of her, no matter the consequence. She could never be that way. "And I wouldn't let you be like him."

Daryl glanced away from the blonde with a soft sigh falling from his lips. Without looking back at her he asked, "what if you weren't here?"

Beth frowned and shook her head. She so desperately wanted to tell him that she always would be, that there was nothing to worry about; thing was, she knew better. There was a high chance that she wouldn't be here to keep him from being like his own father. But that didn't mean that Beth would give up the hope that they could make it through this just fine. "If I weren't..." she began, setting the apple onto the counter and stepping in front of him so that he couldn't look away, "then Michonne and Glenn and Maggie and Rick will be here. You don't have to do everything alone."

A tender sort of smile tugged on her lips as she stepped closer, her hand raising to gently caress his cheek. She couldn't help but to smile softly as his eyes closed and he leaned into the touch. After a moment he spoke again, his voice smaller than before, almost as if he didn't want to be heard. "What if they weren't?" He still hadn't opened his eyes, afraid that if he looked at her he wouldn't be able to keep talking.

"Why?" She asked and though he didn't want to, he couldn't help himself from looking down at her. He felt his composure begin to crumble like it had earlier.

"I.. I dunno if I can do it alone.." he admitted quietly.

The blonde allowed a sigh to fall from her lips. "You're not going to have to, Daryl."

"We dunno that." He countered, fighting the panic attack that was beginning. He was already so worn out from the one earlier and carrying Rick and fighting with Michonne that he wasn't certain he'd be able to take another one.

"No." Beth shook her head again and stepped closer to wrap her arms around the back of his neck to force his eyes on hers. "We don't. But worryin' about it every minute of the day isn't going to make it any easier to deal with."

He frowned as his hands found her waist. Of course, she was right and it was basically the same thing that Michonne had told him earlier today. Did that decrease his worry? Not one iota. "Maybe not, but we gotta be realistic, too." He told her in a quiet voice while pulling her closer.

"And the reality is that we don't know what's going to happen." She stated and shook her head once more, frowning darkly. "We don't know anything. There's a hundred possibilities with this and if we spend every minute worrying about any or all of them then we're missing out on a lot of good. We're missing out on spending time with each other." Her hand slipped around to cup his cheek again, fighting the tears that burned her eyes.

"There's a chance I won't make it through this. There's a chance he won't. Hell, there's a chance none of us will live through tomorrow but I'm not worrying about that right now." She told him softly, yet passionately. "I just want to be with you and spend time in what's right here, right now. Stop worrying so much.. you're missing out on a lot of good things."

His arms suddenly tightened around her slender waist to draw her into a tight hug. "I love you, Beth." He murmured in her ear.

"I love you, too." She whispered back, hugging him just as tightly in return. "Now. Promise me." The blonde pulled herself back a little to look him in the eye. "Promise me you're going to stop worrying so much."

A tiny smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Don't know that I can." He quipped causing the girl to shake her head softly, rolling her eyes upward. "I'll try."

"Good because I don't know if I can handle any more people worrying over me. It's bad enough Maggie, Glenn and Sasha are fretting over it. I don't need you doing it, too." She stated before pushing several strands of his dark hair away from his face.

He fought off the little laugh that threatened his lips before nodding softly as if to reconfirm that he would try to stop worrying. Daryl honestly doubted that he would be able to but knew that he would at least make the attempt for her. He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers in a soft kiss. As he began to pull away the girl's grip tightened on him to pull him closer once more, kissing him harder.

When Beth finally pulled away a little smirk tugged at her lips. "What do you say we go break in our bedroom?"

Shock quickly colored Daryl's face as he glanced around, "wh-what 'bout Maggie?"

Her brows arched slightly with a grin forming on her mouth. "What? She gets to make us uncomfortable by hollerin' all night and we can't return the favor?" Daryl actually snickered and looked away from her, shaking his head. When he glanced back the blonde just continued to smile while gently tugging at his arm.

"I swear, I ain't never seen someone so angelic and devilish all at once." He told her while smirking. The little blonde smiled and winked in as flirty of a manner as she could before pulling on his arm again. Without warning he yanked the girl back to him, dipping his head to kiss her once more. As she nipped playfully at his lower lip he lifted her to straddle his waist while he carried her off toward their room.

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