"Beth, honey, you're shaking!" Karen exclaimed drawing Beth in against her body with her good arm.
Haley glanced up from the already full glass of wine she was holding, her eyebrows drawing together when she looked at Beth.
"And you're pale," Haley added. "Like, more than usual."
"I just told him I loved him," Beth managed, feeling a little shell shocked now that the rush of adrenaline was leaving her.
"What?" Haley gasped, eye lighting up.
"So?" Karen asked at the exact same time.
The two women blinked at each other and then Haley giggled which relaxed the situation slightly.
"Well one of us reacted the wrong way and it's usually me." Haley shrugged and took a sip from her wine. With her unoccupied hand, she gestured at Karen to take the lead.
"What's the big deal? Was it the first time?" Karen pressed.
"Yes," Beth replied, mouth dry. She eyed the glass of wine Haley held with envy. Haley caught the direction of her gaze and pointed at her own glass with a questioning expression. Beth nodded with relief. Haley grinned wickedly and pushed herself upright.
Karen squeezed her shoulders to reclaim her attention. "While I agree this is a conversation for wine, you need to dish the dirt already."
Beth sighed suddenly wishing very much that she had waited for his answer before running away. "I was worried and I didn't want him going off not knowing."
Haley returned with a glass that was so full that it was practically spilling over the edges. Karen waited until it was firmly tucked into Beth's hand before speaking.
"First, they aren't in any trouble. They're going to be just fine. Second, if you think he didn't know than you're stupider than you look." It was said with an affectionate smile that took the sting out of the final insult.
"But Daryl is-"
"Socially awkward and devoid of any understanding of what constitutes healthy human relationships?" Haley filled in with an innocent look on her face.
Beth wrinkled her nose in Haley's direction and fought off a smile. "No! I was going to say different."
"Yeah, what I said."
Karen shushed Haley with a barely concealed grin. "I think even Daryl could figure it out. He's not stupid. Though maybe he was too caught up with coming to terms with being in love with you."
Beth's heart lifted dramatically. "You think so."
Karen nodded while Haley rolled her eyes. "It was super obvious," she said.
Beth was so relieved her knees felt weak. There was still fear that Daryl wouldn't be alright but she was nothing if not hopeful. Haley and Karen's complete lack of concern was also reassuring even if it was only an illusion. After all, they didn't know what Beth knew. That thought gave her a sharp stab of guilt. It wasn't fair that they didn't understand the extent of the danger the men they loved had walked into.
Beth took a large gulp of wine to smoother the suddenly overwhelming urge to share all of her secrets. It wouldn't help anyone and she would just be damaging Daryl's safety in the long run, which was the very last thing she wanted in the world.
...
Merle slid out his phone next to Daryl and checked the time. The sudden glare of light attracted Daryl's attention.
"What're you doing?" Daryl hissed at his brother.
"They're late," Merle replied unapologetically, not bothering to keep his voice low at all.
"You got somewhere else to be?" Daryl demanded, not able to keep a certain element of petulance out of his tone. After all, when you could dispense with all the bullshit, Merle was still his big brother.
Merle was thinking along the same lines judging from the sneaky grin that crossed his features. "You know I don't have a very long attention span. Wouldn't you much rather be drinking a beer or in bed with a pretty woman?"
"Beth's with Karen."
"Who said it had to be Beth?"
Daryl side eyed Merle with a glare. He knew Merle was just riling him up but he wasn't going to set a precedence of indulgence.
"Don't get your panties in a twist little brother; I see the way you look at the girl when you don't think anyone's looking."
Daryl was suddenly acutely aware that half the organisation was listening to their conversation and remembered the way Walsh had been looking at them both. His cheeks coloured and he felt unduly warm. He was relieved he had the foresight to turn his phone off before he'd driven her to Karen's, so no one had heard her declaration. He'd also been very lucky that Michonne had been the only witness and for whatever reason, she seemed to be on their side.
"You talk a lot of crap, you know that," Daryl snapped.
Merle cackled at his brother's obvious discomfort.
"Oh I know that face, boy. That's the face of someone who knows ole' Merle is right."
"I know you're soft in the head," Daryl grumbled.
"Will you two shut up!" Martinez roared from the front. His agitation obviously more related to the fact that hours had come and gone and there was still no sign of anyone coming to make the meeting.
Pete's face wasn't giving much away but Daryl strongly suspected that he wasn't displeased that no one had arrived. Even Daryl couldn't pretend he wasn't a little relieved. He'd had a bad feeling about this night, like something was destined to go wrong. He was happy to have survived, wanting nothing more than to go to Beth and follow up on what she had told him.
Her words had blind sighted him earlier but now a little time had passed, he wanted to say them back to her. When he wrapped up here, he could pick her up, kick all those agents out of his apartment and then set about telling Beth just how very precious she was to him.
"How long are we gonna stay, man?" Merle asked, not one to beat around the bush.
Martinez sent him a look that would have melted a smarter man.
"He's got a point," Pete added quietly.
Martinez rounded on his best friend somewhat incredulously. Daryl was beginning to sense that the same unease that Pete had been feeling earlier had finally transferred.
Daryl was curious as to why they'd been stood up but he perceived it as a dodged bullet. Rick and Walsh would come up with a plan. He couldn't shake the feeling that maybe they were still in Atlanta even if they hadn't made the meet. He knew for a fact that the organisation had been scanning all incoming air traffic and highways. Even if they didn't know who the envoy was, they would have their face on camera. From there it was just a process of elimination.
Daryl was just opening his mouth to air his own desire to go home when Martinez' phone buzzed loudly.
Martinez pulled it out quickly, almost fumbling the small device in his haste. The expression on his face turned murderous. Daryl felt a chill run the length of his spine.
"What?" he demanded, trying not to let panic over ride him.
"You lost my women and now you've lost yours," Martinez read swiftly, already moving as he spoke.
Maybe it was his brain trying to protect him but for a full blissful second Daryl didn't understand what the message meant. He realised and his heart stuttered in his chest.
"Beth!"
...
Beth glanced over her shoulder. "Did you hear that?"
Karen and Haley both shook her head.
Beth felt a little bit silly. Maybe it was the wine but she was almost certain that she had heard a noise from somewhere further in the house. She couldn't hear anything now so she dismissed it, chalking it up to too much wine.
"I think you're drunk," Haley stated which was hypocritical since Haley had drunk double what Beth had. "Speaking of," Haley trailed off, eyeing her now empty glass accusingly.
"I'll get some more," Beth offered climbing to her feet. The world swayed uncomfortable under her feet and she thought that maybe Haley hadn't been too far off the mark after all.
Beth went into the kitchen and flicked on the light. She opened the fridge and quickly scanned the shelves for more wine. There was a neat line of bottles kept on the lowest rung. Beth ducked to pick one up.
Wine in hand, she turned and gasped, finding herself face to face with a tall man with dark skin. Fear flooded her veins. Reacting on instinct, she swung the unopened bottle in her hand at his head. He deflected it easily, slamming his palm against her forearm. Beth felt numbness spread in her wrist from where she had been struck. His expression never wavered from its blankness and that was scary enough in of itself.
Abruptly, striking like a snake, he smacked her in the side of the head. The wine slipped from her hand and smashed on the floor as she slumped to her knees. Her vision exploded and she could barely see through the swirling black patches that danced in front of her eyes.
She could dimly hear someone calling her name, checking to see if she was alright but that was replaced suddenly by silence and a muffled cry. A rough hand grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, violently jerking her upwards.
Beth's hands scrambled for purchase, grabbing fistfuls of her assailant's shirt. She tried to dig in her heels but he was too strong, too big. Everything Daryl had taught her about fighting was suddenly gone.
He dragged her into the room they had just been and it was chaos. There were men everywhere, or that's what it seemed to Beth's addled mind. Karen was lying on the floor and Beth's senses returned in a rush. Was she dead? Her fingers twitched on her outstretched hand and Beth could have wept with relief.
Haley had a nasty gash above her eyebrow, having managed to hold one of the men at bay. She was swaying on her feet though and blood was dripping in her eye. A violent tackle took her to the ground. Beth couldn't draw the breath to scream.
The door flung inwards and suddenly there was a figure filling the doorway.
A man Beth only knew from photographs burst in the front door. Tyreese, Michonne's partner. He was levelling his gun at her. No, not at her. At the man behind her.
Beth felt the man at her back pause but he didn't tense with fear like she would have if she was staring down the barrel of a weapon.
"I thought I heard a noise," Tyreese began evenly and Beth absurdly wondered what it was like to keep such a cool temper in a crisis. Where was Michonne? Beth realised that the attack had been fairly quiet. Maybe Michonne had dismissed it, happy for Tyreese to check.
"Let the women go," Tyreese was instructing, gun still pointed past her.
Moving again with the kind of speed such a big man shouldn't have, the man holding Beth reached around her body bringing his own gun, shooting once.
It cut through Tyreese's shoulder and he shouted once before collapsing. The bullet hadn't been as loud as Beth had expected. When she spotted the silencer she understood why. It was still loud though, loud enough to attract attention which the men seemed to comprehend because they started to move with a renewed haste.
Two quick gunshots made her jump and cry out. Tyreese had angled his weapon at the man closest to him. The back of that man's head was now on the wall. Beth couldn't look away from the vivid red staining the once white walls.
Two men pounced on Tyreese.
"Don't kill him," the man holding her said, speaking for the first time. "We need to know how much the police know. Bring him for information." Each word was clipped, like he didn't enjoy speaking unless he had to. Tyreese was hit hard on the back of the head.
Beth could hear sirens now. Michonne was too well trained to enter a house where she didn't have the upper hand. She would just end up dead and there would be no one to tell Daryl what had happened, no one to sound the alarm. Haley was struggling on the floor, kicking out as the men subdued her. "Get off me, you son of a bitch," she yelled, finding her voice faster than Beth was able to.
Beth wanted to fight too, to make Daryl proud but there was a roaring in her ears and the whole world seemed to be pitching about. She couldn't take her eyes off the blood sprayed across the wall. There were chunks stuck to the plaster too. Beth suddenly felt very hot, like her veins had been filled with fire, breaking out in a sweat almost immediately.
She heard someone calmly note, "she's going to faint," before her legs gave out and she fell back against her attacker. The last thing she remembered was being hoisted up into arms that were more gentle than anticipated and then complete darkness swamped her.
AN: Dun dun daaaaaaa! That is all. Resume normal business.