A/N - It's been a while since I updated this, but there is a lot more story to tell, so hope, you, my awesome readers, are still interested in this TWD world. This chapter is setting up some new action!
"Close your eyes feels like nothings changed," Rick joked to Michonne, from where he was sat next to her on a bar stool loosely clutching a bottle of beer as they enjoyed some down time in their new found world.
Michonne flashed him a big grin, it was weird being back in a place that served cold beers, a place where people actually worked serving people cold beers. She had never thought it would be possible to step back into that sort of world again. What the hell was happening?
Most of their group were here with them at the bar, having all spent the last few days settling into the refugee centre, they were now relaxing in the hub of the place, where people seemingly came to relax when not working - to chat, drink, play pool, and watch the big screen displayed on the wall. As well as Rick and Michonne, there was also here, Maggie and Glenn, Carol, Spencer, Abraham, Rosita, Sasha, Tara and Eugene.
Rick glanced down at his baby daughter, Judith, asleep in her new baby buggy next to him. She looked so peaceful, could he almost allow himself to think that she was safe now? Things were never that simple though. He drew in a breath and cleared his throat as he turned his attention back to Michonne.
"They've asked me to go out with them and work on the field with Daryl on a trial basis. There is a rebel group operating just outside the zone we've come from they want to investigate and take out," Rick explained. He was still trying to get his head around then conversations he'd been having the past few days here. There was a rebel group of survivors gaining momentum, possibly the biggest they'd experienced so far in this post apocalyptic society -that was intimidating, killing and ruling an area bigger than the one they had just come from. Intelligence suggested there was a leader that needed to be captured and arrested. It would be a dangerous mission, but Rick felt it was his duty to work here and not just sit around and do nothing, so he had agreed to join them in a field trip to gather more intel. Being the leader of a group of successful and hardened survivors this far into the outbreak had given him a lot of clout here and he had been asked to work with the military now already, despite not having been here that long.
"Oh," Michonne's eyes widened in response to Rick.
"I've told them I'll do it. They said my experience will be valuable to them, just as Daryl's has been," Rick explained further, his light blue eyes meeting hers, he wasn't quite sure why he was finding this conversation difficult.
"I could come too?" Michonne suggested. So far they had just asked her to consider teaching survival skills to new-comers here, nothing else.
Rick shook his head, "Nah, if I'm going, I need you here for Judith and Carl."
"There are plenty of people here for them," Michonne responded a little confused.
"No! It has to be you," Rick said quietly and firmly, his face was deadly serious. If he was going to leave his children even for a short while, there was only one person he wanted here with them, to make sure they really were safe.
"Okay," Michonne nodded, she knew what a big thing it was that he was asking her, and she also knew that she would do anything for him and the children she loved as her own. Staying here with them was every bit as big a deal as going back out there.
"Thanks," Rick responded, and he touched her hand for a second. As he moved it away, he looked around at the group of people that he had come to love and protect as his own family, and he couldn't help but notice that again there was someone missing from them. Daryl. Now that Rick's right hand man and close friend was back amongst them again, his absence right now was very much noticed, and since they had cleared quarantine and started to settle here, he knew they all would be a lot happier if Daryl joined them, seeing as it was Daryl that had been the one to lead them here in the first place.
Rick glanced back over to the entrance again just in time to see Sienna walk in with Daryl right behind her, and Rick relaxed a little to see the former redneck.
"Rick, you got a sec?" Abraham suddenly appeared in front of Rick and interrupted, sparking up a conversation to take Rick's full attention away from Daryl, Sienna and the rest of his thoughts and the group.
...
Daryl's lined and hardened face appeared to have softened a little as he made his way into the bar to join his friends, for once they weren't in trouble, and he wasn't needed to be on high alert to get them to safety anymore either. Part of him didn't know what to do with himself, or what his role was meant to be now.
He was changed from the person they had known before, he had found a sort of peace and a life worth living here. Maybe, this was a glimpse of what normal life before the outbreak would have been like? Daryl hadn't had many friends back then or people he could trust, he'd been angry and introverted before the world had gone to hell. Now, he did have people that loved and needed him, people that possibly wouldn't have given him the time of day in the old world. But despite that, he still hadn't quite been able to deal with his shit when he had been back with them -at the farm, and the prison and then Alexandria. Now he was starting to face up to things, being here and finding Sienna had made him change for the better.
As he realised everyone was looking their way, Daryl became a little shy with all attention on him as he walked in with Sienna, his girl. He could guess what they were thinking, that he had been making up for lost time with her the past few days, now that they were back here and comfortable sleeping in their own bed again, and that was a pretty accurate account of what they had been up to the last couple of nights. But Daryl still felt slightly uncomfortable with his group seeing where he had been all the time he had been missing when they'd had no idea what had been happening to him, or if they would ever seen him again. But his awkwardness seem to fade the further into the room he got. He wasn't too close to Sienna but his hand was very subtly rested on her lower back in a protective way, his way of stating what she was to him, as if there was any doubt now. All his group knew he lived here with her. He hadn't hidden what she was to him at all since he had been re-untied with them. But now they were all back here, it was glaringly obvious - they lived together, and they were sleeping together, and they were together in every sense of the word. Lovers.
Sienna smoothed her long blonde hair away from her face as she approached the bar and flashed a warm smile to the people she knew that Daryl considered his family. She knew she had been accepted by the majority of them finally, but they were still very protective of each other, and she was still not fully one of them, nor could she expect to be for quite some time. Daryl's group had only been here for a short time and they hadn't integrated much, that would take a while, the past few years had been tough and they had taken their toll, Sienna understood that.
Daryl perched against the bar in the middle of his friends. Sienna turned her back to him to get them some drinks, she turned back around to see Maggie and Glenn had appeared too. Maggie looked full of emotion and she was clutching a a strip of paper in her hand.
"We had the scan," Maggie announced. "Everything looks to be okay, and it's going to be a little boy," she beamed, she was excited to be sharing the images of her and Glenn's un-born child with the group, sharing this rare moment of happiness with then all. She handed the scan photos to Carol first who instantly smiled which made her eyes light up, before Carol passed them on to Michonne who too broke into a huge smile to see such a precious thing come out of this bleak world. Michonne examined them for a moment more before she passed them on to Sienna.
"Congratulations, thats wonderful," Sienna exclaimed leaning forwards to hug Maggie quickly before she passed the scan images on to Daryl who gave them a quick glance unable to hide the corners of his mouth from curling into a little smile too. Despite his tough guy act, he was a sucker for babies and kids, and this was pretty magical. It was just a grainy picture that he couldn't quite make out, but it resembled so much more, just like baby Judith had too. Hope. A future. A new beginning. He glanced sideways to look at Sienna just for a second, it was a special moment and he was glad she was there with him now. Sienna caught his eye with an unspoken communication, before she turned her attention to a noise coming from her bag, she opened it to rummage inside and pull out her vibrating phone, "Amelia wants to see me," she explained, as she listened to an urgent message from her friend.
"Everything okay?" Daryl asked seriously in a low voice.
Sienna shrugged, "Better call her back and see what she wants."
Daryl squeezed her hand before she stood up and he ran his thumb along the inside of her palm before he released it and he gently skimmed her hip before she wandered away from the group and he watched her through his hair with intense eyes as he leaned back down against the bar.
He took a sip from his bottle and he peered sideways through his long hair to see Michonne next to him giving him an amused smile. "What?" he asked gruffly, raising his eyebrows. He could sense she was about to tease him in some way, the uncharacteristic soppy gesture with Sienna, hadn't been lost on her.
"Never had you down for the romantic type," Michonne replied, her eyes twinkling.
Daryl didn't say anything in response as he squinted back at her and his cheeks burned. He'd always had a good relationship with Michonne, and he had counted her as one of his closet friends. Back in the prison days they had spent a lot of time alone together on 'supply runs', they hadn't chatted to each other a lot and certainly not about personal stuff, but the quiet companionship and mutual respect they'd built up had allowed them to understand each other at a basic level. They were fundamentally such different people, but they'd had certain things in common, they'd both been treated as outsiders and untrustworthy at first, they'd both lost people and they'd both had to put up tough exteriors to mask their vulnerability underneath. Michonne was one of the few people that had never judged Daryl, and she had always been able to read him well. Right now being no different, Daryl knew she could tell how crazy in love he was. Which made him more than a little uncomfortable.
Unfazed at his silence, Michonne continued, smiling, "All that stuff you said, Dixon, about 'damn romance'! About people being better off without any of that rubbish. That you were happy being a lone wolf, not needing that kind of crap, you'd never need to rely on anyone …it was best that way," she trailed off, she knew she was embarrassing him, but she didn't care it was too much fun to see his reaction and she knew she was just saying what everyone else was thinking. It was a shock to see him with a woman like this, but endearing at the same time, because everyone knew that deep down Daryl was a big old sweetheart underneath his gruff front. He deserved the love of a good woman.
Daryl shrugged, and said casually, "Yeah, well, thats true an all, but then you meet someone that you…and I guess it….it," he stopped aware he wasn't talking in complete sentences or making much sense, but he had wanted to try and form some kind of explanation none the less. He was a very private person, but none the less he wanted people to know what Sienna meant to him. He knew they were curious now they had seen how he was with her here.
"It changes things," Michonne finished for him, with a warmer and fonder smile now. She knew what it was like to experience love and she also knew what it was like to find someone that made you believe and hope again, to be excited for the future, and she was pleasantly surprised to see Daryl experiencing that now after all this time alone. He had never spoken openly to her about his past, but from the little throw away comments he had made here and there when they'd been out on their own together, it was clear where he stood on the subject of romantic relationships and the disdain he himself had had for them, they weren't worth the trouble. It was pretty obvious he had never witnessed or experienced anything to prove to him anything otherwise. Michonne had always felt that was a little sad, but she had respected his view point. Now, it was good to see him happy, having finally allowed himself to get intimate with someone in this broken world. Perhaps he had realised that finding someone to get close too, despite his reservations, could actually be quite wonderful. Perhaps he had figured out what he actually wanted now? And perhaps they could all learn something from him now?
It would probably hurt him like hell at some point, but Daryl was clearly learning how to love, because he Michonne knew he was continuing to be the person he was meant to be all along, before the turn even. Something had happened to him here, or someone in Sienna's case, that had made him realise that he had to risk being vulnerable after all, in order to allow someone to really see him - hopefully now he was realizing that love and intimacy were worth taking that risk, and most importantly that he is worthy of love. To be loved and to give love.
"Yeah," Daryl eventually agreed in a low voice, the corners of his mouth twitching up into a sort of smile a sign of how he had changed. Before he used to practice avoidance a little like Michonne too had done, now being in love made him experience a new range of emotions.
He looked down at the floor as he felt a small twinge of awkwardness, he was aware that their conversation could be over-heard by the others around them too. He looked past Michonne for a moment to catch Carol's eye and he could tell she had been listening. He had sensed there was a little tension between them since they had gotten back here and a thud hit his insides, as he felt a little guilt that he hadn't really taken the time to interact much with her here. Carol meant the world to him and he didn't want things to be awkward. He knew she was going through some stuff and he wished he could help her more. He knew he had always been one of the only people Carol could really relate to, and he knew that he needed to talk to her alone soon.
"Well, if you'll excuse me, I promised Carl I'd sneak him some chocolate and update him on what's being going on around here," Michonne announced as she stood up to walk away, just as Sienna came back over.
"I couldn't get hold of Amelia she's probably in a surgery. I'll speak to her later, hopefully it's nothing important," Sienna explained quietly to Daryl.
Daryl nodded and his eyes creased as he brushed his hair out of them and he studied her expression, she was concerned but not overly so. Sienna had told him recently that there had been whispers going around that something big was going on in the medical field. That all possibly wasn't what it seemed. There were also more plans for evacuation schemes. Right now though this wasn't the time or the place to discuss it, he knew that.
He turned his focus away from Sienna and glanced at Carol again and she smiled weakly back at him, and Daryl felt a small relief. He was going out with Rick, Monroe and some others again soon and he knew before that, he still had an important role to play in helping his family find their own way and their own peace here too, just like he seemed to have done...
Thanks for reading, please review if you can :) :) Feedback really helps to inspire me to write more.