Jesus

I've spent a long time thinking of where to have this chapter at and for a while I was just going to go straight to meeting Negan but then decided that I needed to write up more of a Willa/Daryl storyline before the major asshole comes in so here's some random. Also huge smut.

While I was never really that big of a fan of the whole Richonne thing, as this story is Willa and Daryl's story, any other relationships are just background so it will have mentions here and in upcoming chapters.

Willa climbed into the back seat of the car without much prompting, a sort of calm excitement in her actions shining on her face. The few months that they had been in Alexandria hadn't exactly been pleasant and she had wanted to just take off more than once but her attachments had rooted her in place. When the herd threatened every life in the community, things had gotten even worse. Add on top of that, Carl having been shot in the face, and yet miraculously surviving, Willa almost took up praying again.

Almost.

Things were a little easier after that. The original Alexandrians were a little more welcoming afterwards, after the outsiders stepped up and saved them and taught everyone that they could fight for themselves. Everyone relaxed a little more as they all finally had some common ground, some survivors' connection.

That day had proven to be far more than it initially seemed. When things first kicked off, Daryl wasn't even in the community. It marked the first true time that Willa and Daryl had been separated since Grady Memorial Hospital. Willa had been pinned down with Rick, Michonne, Carl, Judith, a dying Deanna and the Andersons. She found some sense of sick humour in the fact that their general problems were seemingly resolving themselves through utter disaster and chaos. Rick had always been unsure of Deanna's leadership, even when he did agree to work alongside her, and the Anderson kids were problematic from the second Carl started hanging out with a girl named Enid and Carol had truth bombed the youngest boy so hard he was terrified of everything.

Willa had had some words with Carol over that one. Especially after the boy's panic had ultimately been what caused the death of his family and inadvertently brought about Carl losing an eye.

It was one thing to prepare someone. It was entirely different to petrify a child.

In the midst of the all out murder rage that Rick and his friends were feeling, after Carl had been secured in the clinic, just as things were looking bad for them, Daryl fucking Dixon had arrived with with a goddamn RPG launcher, standing on top of a fuel truck looking like the utter badass that he was.

Willa really didn't know how she held herself back.

He's surviving, he's going to make it." The relief was so clearly visible on Rick's dirty, blood stained face as he faced his family in front of the clinic. They were all huddled together, just waiting for the final thing that would make or break their mood about this community and the events of the night. Each one of them visibly relaxed, the tension seeping off their bodies as they learned Carl was going to pull through.

Daryl and Willa took Judith back to the house while Rick stayed with his son. Michonne was going to take part in the clean up effort but recommended that the duo get some rest. As soon as they had seen each other, Daryl and Willa were touching in some way. They didn't outright embrace in front of the Alexandrians but they were either holding hands or Daryl's arm was around Willa's shoulders from the moment that they were within touching distance of each other. Everyone in their group had seen the tension the girl had carried for the time Daryl was gone, no one ever said anything.

"It must be so nice to be so unaware of things." The girl commented quietly as she set Judith in her crib, fast asleep. Daryl oversaw them from the doorway. Willa had bathed herself and Judith of all the guts and blood that had been used to try and keep unnoticed from the dead earlier and Daryl had washed up while the baby was put to sleep. He hadn't actually said anything since they got to the house but that was his way, after all.

Willa turned to face him with a tired grin as she walked toward him with the baby monitor in hand. Daryl moved back and watched as she closed the door quietly before his hands were on her. Grabbing onto her waist, he easily swung her around to the wall opposite the door and pressed her against it. His lips descended on hers with a fierce passion. The answering groan he got from his actions encouraged him to tug her hips roughly against his own as his tongue passed through her lips to tangle with hers. He grunted appreciatively when Willa's hands snaked through his hair, her fingernails scraping against his scalp in a way that made him shudder.

"Missed you." His voice was rough, his words muffled slightly as he hardly pulled his mouth from hers to utter them. Willa let out a whimper under the declaration and hitched her right leg up around his waist, pushing her center hard against his bulge. Her teeth caught on his lip when he let out a noise that almost sounded like a growl. He lowered his head to lay an attack on her neck, kissing and nipping at the flesh there, receiving further scrapes from her nails as he went. Her hums of approval encouraged him further and he caught his hands under her ass, lifting her up to push her harder against the wall and hold her up high. Both of her legs encircled his waist, her hips rolling in slow torturous circles to build friction between them.

Willa was quick to pull her fresh clean shirt off, dropping it uncaring to the floor. Daryl moved his kisses across her shoulders and down her chest, his tongue sweeping out on occasion to run the edge of her bra. He moved his arm around behind her and pulled her from the wall, moving to the room the duo had taken as their own once the group had grown comfortable enough to split up between the two houses. Willa tried her hardest to pull up Daryl's layers of shirts but between her own body holding tightly to him and the motion they were in, she had to find contention with waiting and just sliding her hands down his back from under the necklines and collars.

"You...have no idea...how badly I was tempted to jump you...when I saw you standing with that launcher." Her confession brought another growl from the man as he dropped her onto their bed. She smirked up at him, any thoughts of sleeping long gone as she quickly got on her knees. Finally, she was able to pull his layers from him, revealing his scarred and tattooed torso to her worshipping hands. Daryl still had the odd fleeting thought of not being comfortable with revealing his body to her, but thankfully she was faster than his brain at proving just how much she appreciated him. Her lips found each scar and pressed to them as her fingers grew lazy and slowly worked his belts open.

These were always some of her favourite moments, not just because she was able to keep Daryl in the mood and not bury into himself and his insecurities, but because while she was giving attention to the marks that made him him, his fingers were running smooth slow strokes through her hair. Willa found that she absolutely loved it when he gave attention to her hair, whether with his fingers or the odd time he would brush it for her. The slow, attentive combing actions were soothing and gentle enough to never hurt if he found a knot.

"Willa, back up." Daryl grunted suddenly. The girl moved back instantly, although there was a slight question in her eye as she went. By now, her trust in the man was absolute, if he told her to do something, she would without a second to spare. Resting back on her elbows, she watched him push out of the remains of his clothes before kneeling on the bed with her. His fingers slipped under the waistband of her loose sweatpants and tugged them down, grateful for her lifting her hips and pulling her legs back to aid in the process. Once her pants were thrown to the floor, he leaned over her, propped up on one hand while the other slowly ran its course up her leg.

"Tell me. Tell me how bad you wanted...wanted me." He instructed her with a slight hesitation in his voice. He never made demands in the bedroom, never gave her orders outside of general training or an event where her life might be in danger. A slow smirk curved her lips as she watched his eyes lift to her face. If Daryl Dixon wanted dirty talk, she would be more than happy to oblige him.

"Real bad, Daryl." Willa whispered in as sultry a voice as she could manage as his fingers coursed over the inside of her thigh. "Everything happening, thought...thought we were done for. Then there you were, like some bad ass warrior with heavy weaponry." She got a chuckle at that, a smirk of his own crossing Daryl's face as he drifted his eyes back down to watch his hand. Her legs spread wider as his fingers ran up to her hip bone and back down. "Setting the pond on fire to draw everything off us. The flames just made you look better, like you really were some God."

"A God, eh?" His gruff voice spoke down to her ear as he leaned down, resting his weight on his elbow now. His lips touched the side of her face, just barely away from her ear. The fingers on his weight bearing hand were brushing softly back and forward across her ribs while the other fingers..

Oh, the other fingers were finally where they were teasingly avoiding. His thumb rubbed her nub in slow circles while two fingers sunk into her heat.

"Uh huh." Willa moaned out an answer as her head pressed back against the pillows. Daryl moved his lips back to her neck, pulling the skin within his mouth as his fingers worked in and out of her, curving at just the right spots. "Jesus, Daryl...please."

"Keep telling me." His request almost sounded desperate, like he needed to hear these things. Something must have happened on the road but now was not the time to ask. He needed to be reassured right now.

"God, Daryl, don't you get...that I always want you?" She grunted through her words, her nails scoring deep red lines across his back when he moved his hand faster. "For...so long. Since...since the trainyard even. Never want away from you. Always...always with you. Please…"

His fingers withdrew and was replaced by his heavy member being thrust deep within her before she had the chance to whimper at the loss. Both of them let out satisfied moans at finally uniting. Daryl's forehead pressed to her shoulder, his back held tense as they stayed still for a few moments. Her legs lifted slowly to encircle his waist, her heels pushing against the backs of his thighs, encouraging movement. Slowly he drew back, nearly pulling completely from her before snapping his hips forward again, reconnecting swiftly. Her eyes rolled as her head dug itself back into the pillows, mouth hanging open as she gasped out breaths. He thrust sharply a few more times before picking a more smooth, yet equally quick pace.

"Not...gonna...be long…" His words mingled heavily between grunts as he snaked his arm under her back, lifting her torso just enough so that her nipples would brush his chest between the thrusts. His other hand held her waist tightly enough to a point where she might end up with a bruise but she didn't care. She was already so close. Her arms were snaked under his, her hands pressing and curving against his back, the nails occasionally scratching over his tattoo or scars.

Her gasps were turning into whimpers, eyes closed tightly as she felt his mouth against the skin on her shoulder. Daryl moved faster, his hips slapping almost erratically between her legs while they tightened around him. He squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to prolong it just enough. As her nail dug hard enough into his back to draw blood, she let out one long low whine followed by several smaller grunts as she came around him. He let out a hard breath and bit down on her shoulder, pushing his member hard into her as her legs grew slack around him. It took only a few more thrusts before he was spilling inside her and dropping his weight onto her.

One of her hands snaked out from under his arm to work the fingers slowly through his sweat soaked hair. His head had fallen as her torso dropped, his cheek now pressed between her breasts. Her unoccupied hand had curved up to run soothingly over his shoulder and upper back. He still had yet to open his eyes, letting the sound of her frantic heartbeat settling out, lull him into a comfortable place. When she let out a slightly pained noise and wiggled just barely beneath him, Daryl took it as a notice to move. With some effort, he rolled to the side, dragging her along to lay her out over his chest. He slid out of her with the motions and she giggled just slightly at their positioning before shimmying down his body just enough so that they could properly mirror their pose from a few seconds earlier.

"Missed you." Daryl muttered again, this time to her hair as he tilted his head enough to lay a soft kiss to the brown locks. His arm curled around her shoulders, holding her firmly to his chest. Her hand ran invisible patterns across his flesh and he was beginning to drift off from the soothing motions.

"Love you." Willa's whispered declaration was the first time those words had been shared. His arm tightened on her, the opposite hand coming up to halt her moving one, holding it firmly but gently.

"You too." His declaration got a sleepy giggle in response as she pressed a kiss to his tattoo and the two drifted off to the sounds of the snoring baby coming through the all but forgotten monitor.

Now, with Ronnie Dee playing and Rick snapping his fingers to the tune, while Daryl moped in the passenger seat at having to suffer the musical choice, Willa and the men set off to do a little scavenging in the hopes that they would be able to find some things for everyone. They had been given a list of things that were needed, plus a list of things that were just hopeful desires. The trio drove through the deserted streets, passing by long abandoned cars and the odd mobile or stationary corpse. Willa leaned forward to the front seats and reached an arm over Daryl's shoulder, trying to sneakily grab the lists he held to take a look for herself. Daryl turned his head from looking out the window to nip a quick gentle bite to the flesh of her upper arm before soothing the infliction with a soft press of the lips.

Rick kept his head forward but glanced his eyes to the right, a soft grin crossing his face as he watched his normally stoic brother with the young woman. Willa had the biggest smile on her face as he finally got her hand on the lists. She seemed to decide she didn't want to read them though as she instead moved a little further forward, whispering something in Daryl's ear that made a rare grin cross his face. His right hand lifted up to grab a hold of the girl's left hand, pulling her arm to run diagonally across his chest for a short while. If it had been literally anyone else in the car with those two, they wouldn't be like this, and Rick couldn't help but feel some small sense of privilege at being trusted enough for the two people to be open around. He honestly missed being that way with someone. Missed the simple joy of just being there, or the small playful behavior, the secret whispers. His mind drifted slightly to Michonne and he realized that they did sort of have that.

"Gas station." Willa's voice disrupted Rick's thoughts and he caught her watching him before giving her a grin and pulling over to the station. Willa hopped out with a level of excitement as she mindfully made her way over to the truck parked up along the curb by the station. Daryl and Rick explored around the station itself and came across an overturned vending machine.

"You guys got that?" The girl playfully teased the men as she watched them try to turn the machine over to no avail.

"We don't got it." Rick admitted in defeat, wiping his face and contemplating another course of action. His eyes drifted to the truck behind Willa and she could almost see the lightbulb the moment the idea struck. "Willa, get that running, let's see if we can't chain this thing up and turn it."

It was mere moments later that she found herself in the front of the truck, easing her foot down on the gas pedal to drive it forward while watching the side mirror as the men gestured to her, the vending machine rolling and dropping onto its side. She stopped the truck, pushed up the handle to put it in park, and was opening the door when a man in a trench coat, beanie, scarf around his face and long hair was running into Rick. Both Daryl and Rick instantly had their guns out and pointed at the new man who, for his part, was quick to put his hands up in a show of surrender. Willa held the door slightly open so she could hear them and moved her head enough to still watch through the mirror. Her hand moved to the knife kept at her waist and she contemplated how quick she could be to reach them if need be.

"Back up! Now!"

"Keep 'em up!"

"Whoa, easy guys, I was just running from the dead." The stranger defended himself as his hands lowered just slightly in his gesturing. From behind, he didn't look as tense as a person with two guns in their face would normally be but then, this might just be a normal occurrence for this particular person these days. One of the men grumbled something as Rick backed up to look alongside the gas station, the way the stranger had come, while still keeping his gun up. "Ten, maybe more. I'm not risking it. Once it gets to double digits, I start running."

Willa watched as Rick put his gun away, looking like he accepted what this stranger was saying, but Daryl kept his up so she kept her hand on her knife. At least for a few more seconds until Daryl seemed to finally accept the reasoning and put his gun away as well. She let go of her knife as she watched the stranger drop his hands and she contemplated getting out of the truck but thought it better. If she alerted this stranger to a third person, he might get defensive, he might attack. He hadn't yet but he was also only aware of two people in front of him. Someone coming from behind might trigger something.

The stranger turned to leave when Rick and Daryl exchanged the briefest of looks. Willa moved over to the passenger seat to look back and see the stranger again.

"I'm Rick, this is Daryl, what's your name?" Rick's voice carried louder as he called after the stranger and Willa raised an eyebrow, wondering what the leader was getting to.

"Paul Rovia, but my friends used to call me Jesus." The stranger called back, turning around and extending his arms in an almost mock cross form. The girl grinned slightly, starting to like the man just slightly if only for his sense of humour. With his scarf now off his face, he did bring to mind the images she used to see of religious figure.

"You said you didn't have a camp. You're on your own?" The leader questioned, almost sounding confused.

"Yeah, but best not to try anything." The stranger, Jesus, jokingly retorted. Willa could hear Daryl's grumbling voice but couldn't make out his words and, not for the first time, cursed the fact that his voice only ever carried directly forward and not outward in other directions.

"How many walkers have you killed?" Rick called out as Jesus started running away, going around the opposite side of the station from where the other men stood.

Willa was baffled for a moment by his exit. Didn't he say that the walkers were coming from that direction? She leaned to the side, trying to see if she could spot him anymore in the mirror but had no such look. She could hear Rick and Daryl talking but not what they were saying. She did, however, hear the popping of firecrackers sounding off behind the station and whipped her head to the side, catching sight of the men in the opposite mirror heading around the station with their guns up. Willa turned to look back through the passenger side mirror then tensed when she heard the truck door open more and a thump on the seat beside her.

"What the.." She didn't give Jesus any more seconds to get more words out as she yanked her knife out and held it at him, he put his hands up and blinked at her. For mere seconds the two sat in a face off, the girl almost daring the man to move.

"WILLA!" Daryl's shout seemed to bring a resolve to Jesus who quickly just threw the truck into drive and put his foot down on the peddle.

"You cut me, we both get hurt or die when I run us off the road." Jesus pointed out quickly as Willa moved to put the knife closer to him. "I'll let you out up ahead so they can't catch up too easily."

"Uh, no, you're getting the fuck out." By the end of her sentence, Willa couldn't help but think she sounded a little like Daryl as it came out as an almost growl.

"What are three people going to do with a truck full of food?" The man questioned skeptically, glancing slightly toward the threat but then quickly putting his eyes back on the road.

"What's one person going to do with a truck full of food?" The girl shot back with snark.

"Touche." Jesus muttered. WIlla narrowed her eyes but before she could say anything else, there was a rumbling sound as the front left side of the truck started to lower. "We got a flat."

"Really? I didn't notice."

"Look, you can be sarcastic, but neither of us is getting this truck if that tire is dead." Willa frowned at the logic but couldn't help but concede to it.

Jesus took the keys and stashed them in his vest as they got out of the truck. She hated to admit it but, when it became clear that she didn't have a clue as to how to fix the tire, Jesus actually turned nice and started to show Willa what to do and got her help. She was standing at the front of the truck once the tire was swapped and Jesus was putting the tools away in the back, almost starting to rethink her stance on him, when she heard the undeniable sound of Rick's threatening voice from the back of the truck, accompanied in the same instance as Daryl putting a hand on her shoulder. She gave him a quick nod and started to speak but he just moved ahead of her, swinging his arm when Jesus ran from the back. The two tousled before Daryl threw Jesus to the ground, both him and Rick putting their guns on the man once more.

"Do you even have ammo?" Jesus tried to sound unimpressed by the scenario he found himself in but instantly changed his attitude when both men fired on an approaching walker. "Okay...you gonna shoot me over a truck?"

"There's a lot of food on that truck." Rick retorted. "Keys, now."

"I think you know I'm not a bad guy." Jesus tried to reason.

"You just kidnapped our girl." Daryl pointed out.

"That...was not on purpose, I was going to let her out when the tire went flat." The man turned his eyes to the girl as she approached, silently asking for help.

"He was, yeah, we were arguing about it before the flat." Willa pointed out. "He taught me how to fix it."

"See? Not a bad guy." The slight plea in his voice was making Willa want to take pity on him.

"Willa, grab the keys." Rick instructed before the girl could think further. She listened immediately, reaching into the vest pocket and extracting the truck keys.

"Is this really necessary?" Her question went unanswered a few minutes later as she watched Rick tying Jesus up. It felt a bit like overkill in her opinion.

"The knots aren't that tight, he'll get free, but not until we're long gone." The leader assured the girl as he rose up from his crouch and took the keys from her. Daryl put his hand on Willa's back and led her back around the truck to climb into the passenger side, sliding her into the middle between the two men.

"So long, ya prick!" Daryl shouted out the open window as he stuck his middle finger out.

"Today was a good day." Rick decided after a few minutes of silence. Daryl had cracked open a can of Orange Crush soda and offered it to the other two. Both of them had taken sips and then promptly rejected anymore. A flood of memories came back to Willa at the taste of the warm soda, reminding her why she never liked orange to begin with. They happily split a Kit Kat bar with each other and Daryl shifted around so that he could sling an arm around Willa's shoulders. He dropped one of his legs from the dashboard and pulled Willa so that her only option was to be half on his lap. The girl gave their leader a slight kick when he laughed at them but not one of them said a thing in regards to the new seating.

"Is that a barn?" Willa questioned as the truck rounded the dirt road past the trees and towards open fields.

"Looks like it." Rick confirmed, silently deciding they would need to check it out. He drove the truck onto the grass, hitting a pothole on the way, and that was when they heard it.

Thudding.

There was thudding on the roof of the truck as they drove over the uneven ground. Willa slowly lifted her eyes upwards and nearly groaned in despair as she realized what that meant.

"That son of a bitch is on the roof!" Daryl growled.

"Hold on." Rick instructed, almost maniacally. A slightly deranged glee in his eye. Daryl locked his arm around Willa and held onto the handle by the door, dropping his other leg to stretch them both out in the braced position. Not a moment too soon as Rick suddenly hit the brakes, sending Jesus flying off the roof of the truck and landing in front of them.

"Oh God." Willa muttered, watching as Jesus rose to his feet, looking between each of the occupants. She started shaking her head the moment Rick revved the truck to give chase as the other man started to run.

And Then Daryl was jumping out of the truck to start chasing Jesus and Willa nearly burst into laughter as the Benny Hill song started to play out in her mind at the outrageousness of the situation. Rick drove alongside the running duo, passing Daryl and gaining on Jesus with ease. That is, until Jesus suddenly doubled back around, running behind the truck instead as Rick turned in an attempt to cut him off.

"Rick.." Willa warned, twisting around in her seat to look backwards as they nearly ran into Daryl.

"I see 'em, don't worry." Rick responded,irritation in his voice as he threw the truck into reverse and backed it up toward a lake. "Stay here, if that son of a bitch gets in again, punch him out."

"Wait but…" Willa tried to call out but the man was already jumping out of the truck. She moved across to the driver seat and looked around, confused and bewildered by the whole scene until she saw several walkers breaking free from being tied up. Shoving the driver side door open, she stood up above it to look at Daryl still trying to catch Jesus and Rick about ready to run to help. "Walkers!"

"I got him!" Daryl affirmed to the others as he chased Jesus across the grass. Rick deviated to the walkers, drawing out his knife to make quick work of them.

Jesus ducked around Daryl with surprising ease, given his trench coat blowing around behind him as he moved. Daryl swung out his arms to catch the other man and ended up tumbling to the ground. The other took the advantage and ran to the truck.

"Oh no...no no no, no!" Willa started to argue at him before he even got near. She jumped out of the truck but grabbed onto the side and the door, lifting her feet to kick the man down, only to yelp out as he grabbed her feet in his fall. She went with him, narrowly avoiding cracking her head off the frame. Twisting, she felt him let go of her ankles and she quickly swung them in a wild blind attempt to keep him back from the vehicle. She got to her knees as he leapt over her, trying to climb inside but she jumped up and grabbed onto his legs, hauling him back down.

A growl sounded behind her and Jesus twisted under her, suddenly holding her knife. He shoved her to one side and flung the knife, impaling it into the head of the walker that was approaching them.

"You're welcome." Jesus mused, momentarily pausing his struggle.

"That was my knife." The girl uttered her displeasure even though she was mentally thanking him. She lifted her hand to punch him when something else caught her eye and she slowly looked up to watch the truck rolling past them toward the lake. "Oh fuck, no, COME ON!"

"Willa!" Daryl's voice was calling out but she paid him little heed as she ran to try and stop the truck. She had no choice but to stop as her feet got into the water and she saw the vehicle already partially submerged and going deeper still, the further out it went. She stood at the water, watching the truck fully submerge, until she felt Daryl's hand on her shoulder. Turning to look at him, she heaved a heavy sigh and followed him to where Rick was standing over Jesus's unconscious body. "Law of averages...fucking bullshit. Let's get the hell out of here."

"What about Jesus?" Willa asked her comrades as they turned to go. Both of them stopped to give her looks so she pressed on, knowing she needed to explain herself. "He helped me, and...you know he's not wrong, he's not a bad guy."

"He ain't good either." Daryl grumbled. He looked up at the girl's round eyes, a pout starting to form, and he heaved his own heavy sigh, rubbing his hand over his face. "Rick's call."

"He never pulled a weapon on any of us." The leader mused.

Daryl really didn't want to help the man that just cost them a crap load of good stuff but he could see it was two to one and the two against him were people he never stood any chance of winning an argument against.