Negan stands on the treeline with a smoking gun in his hand. At first everyone just stares at him in shock, their brains trying to process what they just witnessed.
"Daryl," Maggie finally recovers and realizes Negan shot the Reaper freak and not her brother. She races ahead in relief.
Daryl rolls the dead body off of him, sits up, and struggles to catch his breath. Negan's seen that look before. He's felt it a time or two himself. That was all too close for Daryl's comfort.
Gabriel and Elijah rush past, but Negan just stands back and observes. Maggie reaches out her hand to help Daryl off the ground but he angrily shrugs it off.
"M' fine," he all but barks at the woman while jerking to his feet and stepping away from Maggie. The two other men freeze. They know something is wrong.
"So you weren't going to even tell me she was alive?" The voice is quiet but rough, and it's filled with dangerous accusations. The betrayal intensely radiates from his stormy eyes. Daryl's infuriated with Maggie right now. Incensed.
"She made me promise," Maggie responds defensively, stepping back carefully but also nervously scanning the forest for the mystery woman none-the-less. She wants to know where she is. He can almost feel the concern vibrating off her even from the treeline.
The Ninja kid clears his throat awkwardly and looks down as if to give the old friends their space, but Negan watches Gabriel squint and consider the situation. The priest is starting to piece together who this person could be. Has begun to entertain ideas that maybe he isn't quite ready to allow himself to believe just yet. Whatever is going on seems too miraculous to be real. Too miraculous for even a man of faith to wrap his mind around.
Whoever this woman is, she's very important to these people and they really thought she was long dead.
"She's not here," Daryl quips gruffly, reaching for his crossbow and a black handgun off the ground. Negan sees the small flinch as he does. His shoulder is injured. It's where the man was shot. A strip that was once the hem of his shirt is missing. So are several buttons. "I wasn't bringing her here. She's back at the cabin."
"She let you go?" Maggie asks in a shocked gasp, surprised as hell.
Daryl glances through the sweaty strands glued to his face and considers her severely in silence. The widow has to be crazy if she actually thought he would bring her along.
"She didn't know I left," he replies eventually. His mouth is hard but Negan can see the guilt in his eyes. "But I had to get rid of the rest of them before she'd ever let me take her home."
Maggie swallows hard because she disagrees with him not telling the woman he was leaving. Knows whoever this is will not like that. And she's seemingly reminded of her own people's loss, presumably because of this same person's presence. That's why she lets it go and doesn't say anything in response.
"Come on." Daryl nods toward the woods, a little bit softer now. "It's done. That bastard was the last one."
"You took out all of them?" Gabriel can't help but to ask as Negan quickly does the math in his head. There should be at least five or six of those freaks left. Did Daryl take them all out by himself?
Daryl looks at the priest as if just realizing he's there and nods. Then he considers Maggie's man a minute before scanning the woods until his eyes settle on Negan's own. The stare intensifies and he frowns. Daryl's warning him. Doesn't give a damn if this is now the second time he's saved his life either. Because what Daryl is concerned about at the moment has nothing to do with his life or any of theirs. Negan knows this man doesn't like the idea of him being anywhere around this mystery person.
And Daryl had just killed at least five men over her so what's one more?
"This all who's left?" He questions Maggie, still not taking his eyes off of Negan as he approaches.
Negan doesn't divert his attention though. Has too much pride. But he doesn't challenge either. Keeps his expression empathetic. Hopeful. Out of his peripheral vision, he sees the others are watching the exchange.
"Aiden is dead," Maggie responds with the faintness of tears in her eyes. She's still choked up over the kid and Negan doesn't blame her. Aiden shouldn't have had to go out like that. "Left him in a church but he'd been bit by the time I went back."
Daryl pauses and looks toward his feet. He takes a deep breath before continuing towards Negan and the trees.
"Who's gonna watch after the baby?" He asks, gesturing to Maggie who's caught up and now on his heels.
"Don't know," she replies. "But someone will. We take care of our own. We always do."
Daryl murmurs in agreement as he walks past Negan and into the woods. However, he shoots one last warning glance his way as he does.
Maggie and the other two men quickly follow, Gabriel, almost trance-like as he continues to mull all of it over in his mind. Negan sighs and turns to follow. Again, he still doesn't know why.
Negan knows he should disappear. Knows that these people don't want him here. Was he just too invested now? Had curiosity gotten the better of him or was it only concern over getting all those kids fed? He wasn't sure.
Because even though they all want to kill him, Negan has actually grown to like these people anyway - and that was ten kinds of fucked up.
They trample through the forest in silence, except for the occasional sound of a knife penetrating a rotten skull. He catches Maggie side-eyeing Daryl a few times like she wants to ask something but she doesn't. Probably knows he's still angry with her over the secret. The tension is so damn pliable, Negan feels he could cut it with his knife. Eventually they come to another clearing.
"Y'all need to be getting back with that food," Daryl stops and suggests, much to Negan's relief. Wasn't that the point of this whole damn field trip in the first place?
Maggie doesn't say anything but nods in agreement anyway. However, her eyes don't hide the reluctance. She wants to see for herself that this person is okay. But the sun has set and Alexandria has gone another day without food. They need to get back. Should have been back already.
And Negan can tell that Daryl isn't just ready to share this woman yet.
"We'll be right behind you," He tries to assure and Maggie nods again. She looks toward Elijah and then Gabriel, who studies her curiously, before finally locking eyes with Negan. He nods encouragingly, as if he of all people could ever persuade her. She is torn between being a mother, a leader, and some overwhelming need to reunite with this person.
The one everyone knows Daryl is going back to.
Maggie regards him with a deep frown but she stalks forward into the moonlight anyway, ready to lead. Regardless of her hate for him, she knows Negan is right. It frustrates her that he is. That he could ever be. But right now, they all still have a job to do.
Within a blink, Daryl is gone like a specter who was never really there. Maggie looks back and locks eyes with Negan again. She slightly gestures her head to the side, beckoning for him to come along.
Negan smiles a small grin to himself after she turns back toward the woods again. As far as he is concerned that tiny gesture just resembled some sort of fucking progress.
She's already long asleep when the wood door rattles against the wide board securing the cabin's only entry. Someone is using the cracks to shimmy their way inside. The plank slowly slides against the iron brackets until it falls to the floor. Then a silent hush engulfs the room. The intruder does not want to wake her.
Trapped somewhere in the twilight of awareness clouded by the exhaustion of a busy day, Beth listens as the door finally opens and footsteps cross over the threshold. She knows she needs to open her eyes but somehow can't move.
She lays vulnerable in the bed, sprawled out on her belly, one bent knee with her leg curled in front of her. Exposed. Rendered incapacitated.
Still, Beth knows it's him.
Even in this half-wakened state, she recognizes the pattern of a slight limp. Hears the faintness of his breath. Smells the tinges of pine and mud and smoke.
She wants to slap him. She wants to kiss him. She wants to trap him in her arms and never let go. So he can never leave her again.
But Beth's mind refuses to fully wake. Even as her heart rate escalates and the blood begins to slightly rush her veins. Despite the years of sleeping with one eye open, always on alert. Because her subconscious is aware she's perfectly safe, almost as if this is only a dream and nothing in the world could really hurt her.
And perhaps that is what this really is. Just a dream.
She hears the old iron hinges creek as the door closes, along with the clang of the latch. He gingerly places the board back into place. More soft steps stride across the floor until his crossbow bumps against the table. She hears him lay down his knives and empty his pockets, followed by the quiet wrestling of clothes and the metallic clink of a buckle until pants finally fall to the floor.
And the familiar smell of copper fills the small space of the cabin. Blood - originating from the living, not the dead.
Water pours from the pitcher into the bowl, followed by the friction of cloth against bare skin and more water. Again and again, as if in rhythm. Eventually, the music of it lures her back into the darkness.
But a gentle dip at the bottom of the bed stirs her again. Rough hands lightly brush against the back of her legs as weathered lips place slow tender kisses up her spine.
Perhaps Beth should be offended at the audacity. Angered that he dared to touch her after leaving in the dead of night the way he did. But the warmth of his body reminds her that all she really wants is him.
So instead of harsh words, a desperate whine escapes from her mouth. Sharp and needy. Vulnerable and clingy.
"Shh, it's okay now," Daryl reassures softly. He settles in behind her with a sigh and wraps her in his strong arms, pulling her tight against his flesh.
"You left me alone again," She quietly accuses. A lone, salty tear drips from her eye onto the pillow. She's relieved he survived. Hurt he didn't take her with him.
"Had to do what I had to do," he replies sincerely. "Can't lose you again, Beth. I can't and won't."
"What have you done?" She smells the blood again and is panicked by the thought of what happened out there. Frightened by whatever chance he has taken.
"Relax," he hums as his mouth moves soothingly against her neck. "M' fine. I'm back here with you now, ain't I?"
"Daryl, what did you do?"
But Beth already knows. She knew all along. The man simply did what he did best. Her husband did whatever he had to do to protect the people he loves.
She quickly rolls over to face him. To see for herself that he was still in one piece. To force him to see what leaving has done to her. To look into his haunted blue eyes and confirm what she already knows.
Daryl considered her unapologetically in the shadows of the night. And she knew he would do it again a thousand times over if he had to. Do whatever it took to keep her there with him. And maybe that was why she loved this man so damn much.
"They're gone." he quietly proclaimed with conviction. "Every last damn one of them. It was the only way they would ever stop."
Beth nodded in resignation. He was right but he didn't have to do it alone. He could have taken her. He could have taken others as well to help.
"It was my responsibility because it was my wife they were after," he defended with a shrug, reading her mind. "And with all that military training, stealth was the only way to take them out. Wouldn't have worked with a bunch of people."
"But you didn't have to go alone," she mumbled bitterly. "And you didn't have to leave the way you did. I'm stronger than you think. Lived a long time without you, you know? I spent a long time by myself on the road too."
Daryl focuses on her deeper, as if to examine the shadows of her face. His eyes roam over the faint white line that still decorates her cheek and the small pink circle that will always be scared into her forehead - just below her hairline - no matter how much time helps it fade. By the time his honest cobalt irises lock again with her own, Beth has no doubt why she was left behind - not that she hadn't known already.
He wasn't about to take her with him. Never even considered it. She was much safer in the confines of this hidden cabin. And years of trauma - so profound that it might even rival what he experienced as a child - simply wasn't about to go away just because they have finally reunited. There's no way in hell Daryl Dixon was ever going to have her close to any dangerous situation again. Not if he could help it.
Though she understood, Beth peers back in challenge anyway, because she had meant every word she just said. Because his plan could have backfired. What if it went bad? What if he had needed a doctor? How would she have protected him? After all this time and everything they had been through, didn't this man understand she had the ability to survive right along with everyone else? And wasn't he the very one who showed her that?
The unspoken stalemate continues in the stillness of the night until Daryl finally sighs again and finally breaks the silence.
"Don't think for a second that I don't know how tough you are," he growled with conviction, like it was the truest words he's ever spoken. "You are the toughest person I've ever known. Toughest in every way. Tough enough to even whip my ass back into shape. But that doesn't mean that you have to be all the time. And you aren't going to be when I'm around. Last man standing, right?"
Beth couldn't help but to soften. She knew Daryl believed in her. Had all along. At least ever since the prison. But he would always try to protect her regardless - or at least die trying.
And that's what she was afraid of.
"I know," Beth reached her hand out and soothingly ran a lone finger down his face, memorizing every new line and blemish so it would always be burned into her memory. "But you and I. We are a team. And…and I'm not as strong as you think. I - I don't know if I can survive without you again. If - if I would even want to."
Beth watched Daryl swallow deeply as he considered her words.
"But don't you see that's why I had to track them down?" He explained with another sigh. "So we could be together and be with what's left of our family. I've got Judith and RJ waiting for me back at Alexandria. I'm the only thing resembling a parent they've got left. I mean, how'd you figure I'd ever agree to leave you here and go back without you? Because as far as I was concerned that wasn't a damn option."
Beth darted her eyes toward the wall. The thing was, she really thought he was going to have to. That she would have to. All to keep everyone else safe. But she had been foolish to think that either one of them could just walk away. It would have torn their souls in half and probably ended up killing them anyway.
She had survived all these years with the CRM by being opportunistic. Putting her head down, doing her job, and not trusting anyone or anything - all while clandestinely downplaying her strength as she searched for ways to escape. That was until she couldn't any longer. Once Beale set his sights on her, that strategy was no longer effective.
But none of that had ever been Daryl's style. He's always confronted everything head on, his unparalleled observation skills and quick processing allowing him to find solutions on the fly and typically giving him the advantage in most situations. So while Beth's initial reaction to the Reapers had been to let them take her back in order to protect her family, Daryl's was to take them all out before they even had the chance to do anything.
"How do we know that they haven't already been in contact with Beale?" She questioned, anxiously glancing toward her husband again. "I can't…I need to protect those children, Daryl. I won't put Judith - or RJ or my nephew - in any kind of danger."
"Because I know men like Pope," he answered nonchalantly with a shrug. "Known guys like him my whole life. He wasn't about to go out of his way to contact the boss if things weren't going right."
"But they had already taken down Meridian and captured me though," She pointed out. "Things weren't exactly going bad for them until suddenly it did."
"Nah," Daryl shook his head dismissively. "Maggie and some of her people had escaped. They were still trying to track down the survivors, remember? And anyone else who might have been connected to you."
Beth couldn't help but shiver at the thought. So many people could have died because of her. A lot of people already did.
Reading her mind once again, Daryl gently nudged her, breaking the dark thoughts.
"It's over. They're gone. And nothing that went down in Meridian was on you. Wasn't like you knew those assholes were on your tail. You didn't even know there was such a thing as the Reapers anymore."
Beth nodded and studied her hands. Even though logically she knew Daryl was right, it did little to ease the guilt. She was sure the nightmares of that horrible day would always linger.
"You've got to put that behind you now," he continued, reminding her of her own words from what now seemed like a lifetime ago. "We've lost so much and a whole bunch of people but what matters now is we are together. That many of the people we love - Maggie, Rick, Michonne, Carol, Judith, the other kids, - they are all still out there somewhere. And that's what we fight for now, right?"
Beth's eyes flashed back to her husband and grinned. When did Daryl become so damn optimistic? Was that her fault?
"Right," she whispered with determination.
Suddenly, Daryl's mouth crashed onto her own. She let her husband pull her half naked body against the warmth of his bare skin. Felt his calloused hand travel up the back of her neck and into her hair. Opened her lips and let his tongue taste her own.
And this made it all worth it. Everything.
Beth didn't know what the future would hold. Noone did. But she knew that just being close enough to kiss this man was enough. And she knew that if her family was intact and together, they could take on anything.
So, that's what they were going to have to do. Get their family back together. Heal old wounds and forge new alliances. Build back up Alexandria so when the time came - and eventually it would come - they could face the Civic Republic head on.
"But Daryl, you need to understand something," Beth continued as she pulled back to look one more time into those dark blue haunted eyes before succumbing to his touch. "You won't always be able to protect me no matter how bad you want to. People will see the two of us, the way that we are and want to destroy it. They will see the strength of our family and will feel threatened. Bad people will always try to split us apart. Just like those cops did all those years ago."
"Over my dead body," he growled dangerously before drawing her lower lip between his teeth like he was a man starved. Starved for whatever she would give him. "Ain't nobody taking you away from me again."
"Just never forget," Beth breathed, breathlessly. "I will always love you wherever you are."