Chapter 25 - Tracking with Superman

Daryl had always been adept at pushing things out of his head, sweeping them to the side and locking them away. He had to be, otherwise all the shit bits of his life would have swallowed him whole. But keeping Tahlia out of his head was proving near impossible.

He was trying to concentrate on changing the oil in the Land Rover, but kept catching himself staring into space, thinking about her.

Fucksake.

He'd never been so distracted by someone before, and he hated it. He put it down to the fact that it was a new, fast friendship and she was so different to anyone he'd met before that his brain was just flooded. He figured that the more time he spent with her, the more ordinary she'd become, the sooner he'd get sick of her, and the less he'd think about her.

So, even though he'd already been out hunting that morning, he found himself climbing onto his bike and going to find her just to quieten the noise in his head.

This afternoon, she was down on the fences with Sasha, the two women chatting easily as they stabbed at the walkers on the other side.

She dropped her stick and wiped the sweat from her forehead as he approached, Sasha raising a brow and giving Tahlia a sly nudge, causing Tahlia to respond with a sharp elbow of her own.

"Goin' out. Wanna come with?" Daryl only just realised that if she said no, he was going to have to go out there anyway and wait long enough to make it seem like he really had been planning on going.

Tahlia glanced at Sasha. "Will you survive without me?"

Sasha clapped a hand to her chest dramatically. "I can feel my heart breaking already!"

"Y'comin' or not?" demanded Daryl impatiently, and the women laughed.

"Get outta here." Sasha waved a hand at them as she turned back to the fences.

"Thought maybe could show ya bit of trackin'." Daryl said to Tahlia as she slipped on the bike behind him.

"Great!" she replied, although it wasn't like she needed a reason to go anywhere with him. Shit, she'd go and watch paint dry if it were by his side.

They hadn't been out in the woods long, when Tahlia tugged on Daryl's arm.

"Da-ryl... since we're out here, can we please go back and check on the foxes?"

"Nope."

"Please?" she wheedled.

"Naw. Forget about them foxes, girl."

"But we're meant to be doing some tracking, right? Wouldn't that count as tracking?"

"Y'ain't gonna get attached to some dumb animals!"

Fifteen minutes later, grumbling all the way, Daryl pointed through the trees. "There, ya pain in the ass."

She tucked an arm around him and squeezed him in thanks, peering through the trees to the quiet den. Watching for a while, she moved back and started to unhook a squirrel he'd shot earlier from his line.

"Hell ya think ya doin'?"

"Can we just leave them one?"

"Naw!"

"Daryl! Have some heart! She's a single mother working hard to make ends meet with three hungry little mouths to feed! Show a little compassion!"

"She ain't gonna take it. She gonna smell us all over it."

"Let's just try."

With grumbling protest, Daryl tossed a squirrel towards the den. "There. Happy?"

The giant grin on her face was answer enough.

"C'mon, let's go."

A couple of hours later, they were still in the middle of the woods as Daryl, with limited success, attempted to impart some of his tracking knowledge on Tahlia. It had started off well, but at some point she had lost interest in anything he was saying and was damn well lost in her head again.

"See here, this track. Can tell it's a deer coz of the print, and size coz of the depth. And see from the bruisin' on these leaves that – Tahly!"

"Hmm?"

"Y'know y'ain't gonna learn shit if ya don't look at what I'm showin' ya."

"I am looking!" she protested.

Daryl pursed his lips and glared at her. "Y'just staring at me the whole time. Don't think I ain't noticed."

Catching her bottom lip between her teeth only helped a little in suppressing her smile.

She'd been rumbled.

But could he blame her?! He was the one who didn't seem to own a single damned sleeved shirt! He was crouching on the ground in front of her, the light filtering through the trees glinting off his muscled arms, masculine energy radiating off his strong frame as he gazed up at her with those piercing blue eyes, his face all open and earnest as he explained things in his gravelly voice. It was impossible to look away.

"It's too distracting having you as a teacher." she complained. "You're all... " She waved a hand around in the air. "And when you talk about this stuff you get so into it and it's just really amazing to watch how your face lights up and you're so engrossed in what you're describing, it's-"

A wet clump of leaves hit her squarely in the face.

"Stop!" snapped Daryl. "No point bringin' ya out here if y'ain't gonna pay attention!"

Wiping the earthy remnants purposefully from her cheek, Tahlia raised a hand. "I've been listening, I swear!"

"Alright." Daryl stood and put his hands on his hips in challenge. "What animal was I just talkin' 'bout?"

"Umm..." Tahlia chewed on her bottom lip and gazed up at the tree canopy, drifting back into thoughts about Daryl's strong arms and big paws and broad back and his grizzly, growly soft and scariness, and dreamily said, "A... bear?"

A loud exasperated huff snapped her back to reality and she saw Daryl throw his hands up and start to stomp away.

"Oh shit." she muttered, eyes wide. "Ok! A... goat. A chicken. A... Daryl! Come back, I'm sorry! I'm listening now, I am." She ran to catch up with him. "I am really interested in all this, I am. Tell me more about the bear prints."

"Goddamn, you're so..." he bit his tongue before he could say anything that he regretted, and just settled for giving her a big eye roll, a tortured sigh, and a small shove on the shoulder.

"Right. Somethin' else then. There, look? That's kudzu. Can eat it. Is in your book. Gotta be careful though, looks a bit like poison ivy. Don't wanna mix the two up."

"Oh, awesome." Tahlia leaned over to inspect the plant winding around a tree, then picked a whole bunch to put in her bag.

Moving on further through the woods, Daryl pointed out a couple more plants, then veered off to the right to check some of his traps.

"How do you know all of this stuff?" Tahlia asked, impressed.

"Been out in the woods since I was a little kid."

"But how do you remember where all your traps are? Where to go?"

Daryl shrugged. He honestly didn't know how he knew, it was just second nature, like knowing your way around the streets in your neighbourhood.

"Just do."

"I can't even get my head around it. And it's not just that you're good at hunting, tracking, but out here you're so at ease, like it's in your blood. You know the land, the plants, the animals, you're brave and tough and-"

"Stop." His cheeks grew hot at her praise.

"I've never met anyone like you! You're so incredible, you-"

"TAHLY!"

"But do you realise all this?" She whirled in front of him, grabbing hold of his shirt. "You really don't even know how amazing you are, do you?!"

He flushed even deeper, and pushed her hands from him. "STOP!"

"This fucking world has seen the destruction and demise of so many, but it's brought out all your strengths!" she declared loudly. "You're like Superman out here! Daryl!"

He had given a big huff and stalked off into the trees ahead, trying to put distance between him and her flattery as quickly as possible. He was getting somewhat used to her penchant for dishing out praise (although it was still hard to stomach) but he hated when she was like this – overzealous and over the top and he couldn't tell if she was speaking tongue in cheek or not.

And he was really not in the mood today, especially after he'd been so damn preoccupied with thoughts of her all morning that he'd had to wrangle this time with her just to quiet his head, and now that he was with her, she was getting on his nerves by hardly paying any attention to anything he was trying to teach her, just standing there with glazy eyes and her head in the clouds – God knows what she was daydreaming about – so the last thing he felt like dealing with right now was her messing with him.

"Grouchy bear, come back here, I'm not done." She caught up to him and grabbed his hand.

Daryl whirled on her. "Quit bein' a jackass! You're pissin' me off!"

"I see that." She raised her brows. "Wait. Ok, ok stop. Would you just stop?!"

Finally, he stopped moving, but stared intently at the ground, working his jaw.

"I'm sorry." Tahlia started, standing in front of him again. "I'm sorry that you don't believe in how damn brilliant you are and-"

"God's sake." he hissed, pushing past her again, half considering firing a bolt into her leg to shut her up.

"But that's what I think of you!" she called to his back. "And I'm going to keep telling you until you believe it!"

"But I ain't!" he shouted suddenly, spinning back to face her. "Ain't none of that! Ain't nothin' special! Just... just... fuckin' nothin', girl!" He could only hold her gaze for a second before he had to look away, pain, shame and anger burning a bright torch inside him. "FUCK!" he yelled in punctuation, before striding away into the trees again.

Tahlia stood for a long moment after he'd gone feeling pretty terrible. She hadn't meant to upset him, but clearly sometimes her and her big mouth went about things all wrong. He was easily the most incredible man she'd ever met, and the fact that he also had the lowest self-esteem of any man she'd ever met made her want to effervesce love and praise all over him, but obviously it was hard for him to cope with that. It hadn't been an easy road to get to where they were at in their friendship, and she knew that she needed to tread carefully because he would likely drop her in the blink of an eye if she kept upsetting him, and nothing was worth that.

Standing there in the woods for few minutes, she figured he wasn't coming back, and there probably wasn't much point in trying to go after him – she really hadn't picked up anything from his tracking lesson. She decided to head back the way they'd come, go wait by the bike, give him time to cool off a little.

Several slaughtered walkers and a lot of fading sunlight later, Tahlia finally conceded that she was lost.

She didn't know how long she'd been walking – probably around in fucking circles - but it must have been at least a couple of hours. The air was getting cooler and she really wasn't looking forward to the prospect of spending the night in the woods, but only had herself to blame for getting into this predicament. She figured the best thing she could do now would be to find somewhere to hole up before it got too dark, somewhere with a bit of protection. Tramping on further, she finally found a small bank where she could curl up with her back against the dirt wall, slightly hidden under the large tree roots above her. Drawing her knife, she tried to get comfortable, and couldn't help but laugh at little at her situation.

"You loser! Only you would come for a tracking lesson and get bloody well lost in the woods." she muttered as she pulled some kudzu out of her bag and chewed on a leaf, hoping that would at least be enough to keep her hunger at bay and her eyes open.

The sun was dipping below the horizon, casting the trees in dappled shadows of orange and brown, when she heard a rustling from above. She froze, slowing her breathing so that she was near silent, trying not to draw any attention to herself.

A heavy set of footsteps sounded in the leaves as something jumped off the bank.

"What in the goddammed HELL are you doing?!" came the furious bark of Daryl, as he appeared in front of her. "Been tryna track ya all afternoon!"

"Oh, hey!" Tahlia greeted him, peering out from behind a hanging tree root. "I was on my way back to the bike, actually, but decided to stop here for the night. Kudzu?" She held a leaf out to him.

Slapping it out of her fingers, he grasped her hand, yanking her roughly to her feet.

"What ya playin' at?! You piss me off back there, then take off, and I gotta spend the next hours tryna find your sorry ass?! Shoulda just damn well left ya!"

Tahlia wrinkled her nose. "Sorry! I really was heading back to the bike to wait for you, but I must've... I got lost. Clearly, I got lost."

"So, what? Ya just gonna keep wanderin' 'round til ya get chewed up?!" he hissed, clenching his fists in an attempt to try and stop his voice from rising. "You're a fuckin' liability, girl! Don't know why I even bother with ya!"

Tahlia had the good sense to remain quiet and look a little sheepish.

Daryl glared at her for a long moment, weighing up whether he should shout at her a little more, then decided against it. "C'mon, we gotta move."

Obediently she followed him as he weaved through the trees, still having no idea which direction the bike was in. They came across a few walkers, which they took down easily, although it was more challenging in the dim light.

"Damn things are more active at night." grumbled Daryl, yanking a bolt out of the rotting forehead of a walker he'd just put down.

"Hey..." Tahlia ventured. "Thank you for coming to look for me, that was really-"

"Don't." he warned. "Don't say nothin' to piss me off more."

She made an 'oh shit' face to herself and tried to keep up with him. Next thing she knew, he'd whirled around so suddenly she crashed straight into his chest. Grabbing her biceps to steady her – or intimidate her, she wasn't sure - Daryl's fingers bit into her skin and his eyes were blazing.

"Next time ya pull a stunt like that, just stay in one goddamned place instead of moving the whole time, then I don't gotta waste my time trackin' ya down!"

"Yessir." she replied, wide-eyed.

"You are such a PAIN in the ASS!" he flared, shoving her away from him, still fuming.

He was livid with her for being so stupid, for being careless with her own safety once again, but the anger was also the product of another emotion too.

Fear.

When he'd noticed that she'd gone, icy terror had gripped his heart so hard it had nearly floored him, and he quickly realised that what he'd said to her about not being afraid of anything wasn't true anymore.

That realisation shook him. Fear created weakness, and he didn't need any of that in this world. His whole life he had no one to look out for, and no one to look out for him, and that kept things simple, kept him focused. But she'd worked her way into the fabric of him and he was becoming so tangled in her already he wasn't sure that he'd be able to cut himself loose.

And worse, maybe he didn't want to.

It was dusk by the time they arrived back at the bike. Revving the engine aggressively, Daryl barely waited until she was on behind him before speeding back to the prison, and she didn't dare touch him more than was absolutely necessary. The walkers in the field outside the prison were snarling with more vigour than they did during the day, and Tahlia had to slash a couple down from the back of the bike on their way up to the gates. Sasha had been patrolling the fence and ran to open the gate.

"Whoa, it's getting dark! Why were you out so long?" she asked, a worried look on her face.

Tahlia rolled her eyes. "Someone went and got themselves lost in the woods." she said in a faux-accusatory tone, already finding the lighter side to their drama today.

Sasha glanced between the two of them, noting Daryl's dark mood.

"It was me; it was me." Tahlia clarified quickly, shooting Sasha an abashed look over her shoulder as Daryl drove off to the vehicle bay.

They parked the bike, and Tahlia slid off, closely followed by Daryl who just stalked straight back up to the prison without her, without a backwards glance.

Watching him go, Tahlia heaved a sigh, fervently hoping she hadn't ruined the good thing they had only just cultivated.

The midday sun was high in the cloudless sky the next day as Michonne came back up from the fences and dropped down onto a seat opposite Tahlia at a picnic table in the courtyard.

"God, Daryl's been in a damn mood today. Grumpy and snapping at everyone."

Tahlia just gave a level hum.

Michonne narrowed her eyes, catching her friend's guilty look. "This have something to do with you?"

"I mean, I can't be sure... but possibly..."

"Tahly... what did you do?!"

"Nothing baaaaaad... I just told him he was like Superman and he didn't take it very well."

Michonne let out a peal of laughter. "What?! Why the hell would you say that?!"

"Because he is! He's amazing out in the woods! Aaaand then I got lost and it took him a couple of hours to track me down, and we nearly got stuck out there for the night. He was pretty dark about it. Hasn't spoken to me since."

"Oh my God!" Michonne flicked Tahlia's hand. "Yes, it will definitely be because of that. Tread carefully around him, would ya? When Daryl's in a mood everyone gets a taste of it. Hurry up and fix him, please!"

"Ooh, no way. Not yet. If he's still grouchy today then I'm definitely giving him a bit more time."

Michonne shook her head, then thought of something else and raised her eyebrows. "Hey. Speaking of people we've got soft spots for-"

Tahlia snorted at that and kicked at Michonne under the table.

Michonne grinned then grew serious as she continued "- I was thinking I might like to spend a little time with... Judith. Maybe take her down to the animals, sit in the garden a little bit, you know, just... see what it's like. Try and... heal a little."

"That's a great idea." Tahlia smiled encouragingly.

"But maybe you would come with me? Just in case I can't handle it... or in case I cry so much I freak her out." Michonne said drily.

"Of course! Happy to. You just say when."

Michonne squeezed her friend's hand in thanks, finally feeling that she was ready to start dealing with some of the pain of losing Andre, ready to open her heart again.