This chapter is a bit... confrontational. Jamie's struggling to fit in with a group of men and draw her lines, make her boundaries. Also confronts the idea of Daryl's mortality. Hope this is good, not feeling too confident about my fics lately... Please review.
He slept lightly that night, waking before dawn and remembering Jamie hadn't eaten in a day. Neither had he, which meant it was time to hunt.
He quietly shifted slightly, replacing his hands from where they'd been folded on Jamie's back to shake her a little.
"Hey." he whispered.
"Mmm?"
"Wake up, baby girl."
" don' wanna." she muttered sleepily.
"I guess you don' wanna eat, then." he quietly pushed her off his lap and into the leaves beside him, and her eyes opened, revealing the suddenly bright green orbs beneath them. "Food?" she whispered, tone suddenly sprinkled with excitement.
He smiled a little. "Only if we can kill it."
She nodded quietly, scrubbing the back of her hand across her eyes and finding her bow in the pre-dawn darkness, slinging her quiver over her shoulder as she stood, finding her footing beside him. They quietly slipped away into the woods, their breath misting before them in the cool air of the autumn morning.
She fell into step beside him, as usual, eyes carefully searching the woods for game. He felt uncomfortable, suddenly, realizing how oblivious she was to the whole situation. He sighed.
"Jamie."
"Yeah?" she answered half-heartedly, eyes still scanning the woods around them.
"Stop."
"Stop what?" she looked over at him, annoyed.
"Stop hunting. We need to talk."
"Talk about what?" she still slightly annoyed, not understanding.
"We need a plan." Daryl said quietly, finding a large, moss-covered rock and sitting down on it.
"Plan? Like always. Hunt, find a place to stay the night..."
"No, Jamie. Things are different now."
She stared at him, a confused expression on her face.
"You need to know what's probably going to happen." he said simply.
Jamie tensed slightly. "What the hell do you mean? We're fine, Dad. Nothing is going to happen."
"Jamie. Shut up and listen. We might not be fine. And we need a plan." he said sternly.
Jamie bit her lip and took a breath, sighing. "Whatever." she grumbled finally, and Daryl sighed.
"These people we're with- they're rough, Jamie. Real rough. Soon as we get the chance, we're leaving. But if something happens to me..."
Jamie's hands clenched into fists. Nothing would happen to them, to Daryl. That was what she wanted to believe, anyways.
"Jamie. If I die, or something happens to me- those boys will rape you. As soon as I'm not here to protect you, they'll do it. So if anything happens to me, you fucking run, alright?"
She nodded, eyes glassy, not betraying the way her insides twisted at the thought of Daryl dying...
"That man- Joe. He told me they're hunting someone down. Someone who killed one of there men. I don't wanna get in that shit- we'll leave before then, head out on our own. I- just- these people, Jamie. They ain't good. I know how to deal with them, but you- just be careful, alright?" he said finally, sounding concerned.
She nodded, and he stood, ready to keep moving, keep searching for food. Jamie didn't move, and he turned to find her standing, tight-lipped, hands still clenched.
"You won't die, will you?" she asked, voice barely above a whisper and thick with emotion. "Promise me. I lost one Dad already... You have to promise." her eyes were glassy with unshed tears, and her fists had unclenched now, hands trembling.
"I... Jamie. We both know I won't be around forever." he said simply. He was going to die someday, wether it be from walkers or old age...
"No! You can't leave! You promised you wouldn't, when Ryder died, you promised you wouldn't leave me..." and the tears started to roll down her cheeks, then.
"Jamie..."
"You promised!" she said, an edge of desperation in her voice.
"I ain't trying to die, Jamie." he said, voice cracking. "I don't wanna leave you. But someday- someday, I'll be gone."
She sniffed, wiping her eyes. "Right. Okay... Sorry. 'M sorry, Dad." she said, apologizing for the moment when she'd lost composure.
" 'S alright."
Jamie nodded quietly, and they walked on. After awhile, they came to where a rabbit was sitting. Daryl wordlessly let his arrow fly, and, to his surprise, another arrow hit the rabbit as well as it fell over, dead.
"The hell?" he looked up to see another member from the group, Len, walking towards the kill. Len seized it by the neck, letting it dangle
"It's mine." Len growled, but Daryl grabbed it by the foot.
"Like hell it is. I saw it first, shot it..."
"My arrow hit first, Jackass. It's mine." Len muttered.
Jamie said nothing, but she had an arrow notched in her bow, ready to fight if she had to.
Len grinned, noticing the engraved knife Daryl had on his hip- Beth's knife. "What's the matter? Bitch give you her knife?" he asked, nodding towards Jamie.
Daryl growled, about to lose it and kick this man's ass. But he managed to keep it at bay, remembering Jamie behind him.
"What's going on here?" Joe emerged from camp, looking at them both with disapproval in his eyes.
"Bastard's tryin' to take my rabbit." Len muttered.
"It's mine, you asswipe. I'm the one who shot it." Daryl growled.
"Yeah, well- claimed." Len muttered.
Daryl's brows creased. "The fuck? Your 'claim' don't mean shit."
Joe's eyebrows furrowed. "Now Daryl- wait a minute. We have a system here. Survival of the fittest. So if you find something, or kill something- you just say 'claimed', and it's yours. Now, it isn't fair to punish you for something you didn't know about..."
Joe drew his hatchet and chopped the rabbit in half, nodding. "That seems fair."
Len wandered off, cussing under his breath, and Joe nodded to Daryl, smiling slightly at Jamie. "How'd you sleep, princess?"
"Fine. An' I ain't no damn princess." Jamie grumbled, and Joe chuckled.
"I shoulda known. Princesses don't make it this far."
Jamie's face inexplicably fell. Lily had played princess so much, before the shit hit the fan. He was right. Princesses didn't make it this far.
Joe looked at her, confused by her reaction, and Daryl handed her the rear end of the rabbit. "Go put that with the gear." he ordered, and she nodded, heading back towards camp, leaving him and Joe alone.
Joe nodded to Daryl, sympathy etched onto his features. "That girl's been through hell, hasn't she?"
Daryl shrugged. "Ain't we all?". He didn't want to discuss his personal life, much less Jamie's, with Joe.
"Yeah. But her- she lost everything, didn't she? I'm sorry- 'bout your wife, I mean."
Daryl stiffened slightly. He'd never had a wife, but it made sense- these people thought he was Jamie's real father. Best to play along- if they found out they didn't have blood between them, shit might fly. They might say he had no right to keep her, no more right than they had...
"Thanks." was all he grumbled.
They were nearing camp now, and Daryl could hear the general grumbling sounds of the men, snatches of laughter.
"Give it back!" Jamie's voice cut through the brush like a knife, laced with fear and desperation.
"Or what, kid?" more laughter.
Daryl had started to run, now, but he heard the sound of a gun cocking.
"I will fucking shoot you. Now give it back!"
"Holy shit. Bitch ain't playin', Len..."
Daryl was about to burst into the clearing when he felt Joe's hand on his shoulder. "Let her fight her own battles."
"Fuck that." Daryl brushed him off and ran into the clearing, finding Len holding Jamie's jacket- the one that'd belonged to Ryder- out of her reach. Jamie had pulled her pistol and had her finger on the trigger, aimed at Len's heart.
"Give it back you asswipe!"
"It's a joke, bitch! Put the damn gun down!"
"You heard her." Daryl growled, stepping out of the brush behind Jamie and resting a rough hand on her shoulder, a reminder for her not to do anything rash or shoot... "Give it to her."
"The fuck?"
"You got cotton in your ears, Len? Give it back." one of the group members, Harley, said from behind him. The others agreed with silence.
Len's lips formed a snarl and he tossed the jacket to Jamie, who caught with her hand that wasn't holding the gun. She scurried off into the brush as soon as she had it, not looking back.
"The hell is wrong with you?" Len demanded, jamming his finger into Daryl's chest. "Letting the bitch walk around like she own the place! I got half a mind to kill her- she fucking pulled a gun on me!"
"You took her jacket." Daryl growled.
"I don't give a FUCK bout the jacket!"
"It was her brother's." Daryl muttered, and Len's angry expression changed as realization dawned, before his lips formed an enraged snarl again. "The fuck does that matter!? Next time the bitch steps out of line, I'll fucking teach her..."
In one swift move, Daryl had Len pinned to the tree, elbow across his throat, pressing hard enough so Len had to struggle to breathe. His voice took on a dangerously low tone.
"You so much as LOOK at my little girl, and I will cut your dick off and feed it to you. Got that, asswipe?"
Len stared, eyes wide, mouth open as he took in gasping breaths. He looked like a fish, but he managed to nod.
Daryl gave him a hardened glare, the one that his father used to give him, one that would make even a grown man piss himself. He kept Len in that helpless position for a second more, before releasing him from the hold and turning.
Jamie emerged from the brush, looking far more composed than she'd been a minute ago, wearing her jacket once again.
Clearly, though, the group was used to confrontations such as the one that'd just occurred, since they continued on like it was nothing, packing their few possessions and kicking dirt into what'd been the campfire.
And they moved on.