Next chapter, up and ready. Nothing much to say for this chapter, so let's just cut into the followers and reviews!

Sending a GIANT thank you to my newest followers: Mikki18 and Luciastark922! Thank you for stumbling upon my work, glad you like it enough to follow lol

UmiNight Angel Neko: Hahah, my exact thoughts girl! With Daryl's protective ass in the mix, I would not doubt it

KyraNoelle: Girllllll, that almost kiss had me on edge and I was writing that shit lol I had half a mind to have them just kiss but then I was thinking it was probably way too early for them to, just yet, but it'll happen, soon enough. And yes, Daryl is about to lose his mind when he figures out what is happening to Ana, just wait and see.

Frankie: I totally understand where you are coming from about the length of chapters. I always read other peoples stuff and say the same thing but I like to cut off at the most opportune time just to keep you wanting more for the next chapter. I honestly wish I could make longer chapters, but I'm so busy i'm lucky I get 5,000+ word chapters out for you guys in time. I may consider doing longer ones, though I have gone to about 7,000 words on a chapter in the past, be patient with me, it may happen.

Bri47: They are definitely, slowly, moving in the right direction lol even with the horrible timing, I promise ya, it'll happen, soon enough

Disclaimer: I do not own the AMC's The Walking Dead or it's characters, just Ana.

Warning: Figured I'd put a warning in this chapter, aside from Ana's usual sailors mouth, there is a slight scene of sexual abuse/assault at the beginning of this chapter. If you are uncomfortable around stuff such as that, I suggest fast forwarding to the next scene cut and continuing from there.

Author's POV...

Never had Ana thought about the possibility of her coming across such a traumatizing event. She never thought it possible, through everything she knew, everything she was taught by her father, grandfather, and uncles, that she would find herself in such a situation and be completely helpless to do anything to help herself or Sophia.

She could hear Daryl grumbling on the other side of the door, just feet from where she was laying out, 3 men pinning her injured form to the dusty floor, her shorts already around her knees as that same man began yanking her shirt up, above her breasts.

"Ana!" Daryl shouted this time, sounding completely frustrated in panic with her not answering as she sniffled, grimacing as the man hovering above her, grabbed at her bra covered chest. She sobbed out as Sophia let out a small whimper, catching her attention as her eyes slowly drifted over to the little girl that had been left to her own devices on the bed. She was scooting towards the bedside table, just beside her where a lone vase sat. Sniffling, Ana nodded subtly for the little girl to continue as she did just that, using her tied legs to kick out at the vase, sending it shattering, loudly on the floor.

"Ana! Ana! Open the door!" Daryl screeched this time, the door now being kicked at as the men around her began to panic, Sam shooting off of her legs, marching over towards a scampering Sophia, leaving Ana's legs free. She didn't hesitate, quickly retracting one of her legs before kicking the man over her in the groin. He screamed out in pain, falling off of her onto the floor just as the door broke in, sending splinters shooting across the room.

Daryl stumbled in surprise, his eyes snapping around the room to access the situation before narrowing in on a half-dressed Ana still being held down by a pudgy Brent. Without blinking, Daryl's eyes grew dark as he shot Brent in between his eyes, watching as he collapsed forward, Ana barely rolling out of the way of the dead man before she ripped out the gun from the back of her underwear, shooting Sam in the forehead where he stood, threatening to slash Sophia's throat as bait.

Ana moaned, ignoring the man still holding his groin only a few feet from her as she curled in on herself, feeling the weight of not only what had almost happened, but her injury that was now bleeding through her shirt once more. Could she go a day without finding herself in some sort of trouble?

Probably not. Like she knew, this was her karma for saving Sophia.

"Shit." She could hear Daryl grumbling as he marched across the room past her, hopefully to help Sophia just as the sound of something ripping pierced through the silence that dropped over the room. Sophia's voice was soon heard in hushed tones as Daryl inquired if she was alright before she whimpered out Ana's name.

Daryl wasted no time, marching away from Sophia and towards the half-dressed woman lying on her side, his blood boiling over at what he had walked in on. Pushing past the last man who was still moaning as he held his crotch, Daryl dropped to his knees, hesitantly reaching out to touch her arm, only for her to flinch away, sending a painful crack through his heart.

"It's just me." He whispered, not liking the way she had flinched away from his touch as she let out a whimper. He reached out again, his hand brushing across her bare arm before he gently pulled her onto her back, her glassy eyes the first thing he sees before he notices the blood stain growing on her left shoulder. Biting down into his tongue, trying to reel in his anger, he blindly helped her adjust her shirt, covering her completely before pulling her shorts up. He ignored the way his fingers accidentally brushed against her bare thighs and buttoned her shorts with one hand.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" He gruffly whispered as he helped her to sit up before she all but collapsed into his chest with a pained moan. His eyes shot down in mild panic, eyeing what he could see without physically searching her, only to see her right hand slowly lift up to hold her injured arm that was limply hanging out of her splint.

Fuck. Her arm.

"Want me ta help ya put it back in the sling?" He whispered down at her, his arm unconsciously lifting to rub her back in comfort, while his other hand, sat waiting for any word from her as she let out a strangled sob before nodding.

Even Ana knew, she had to get it back in the sling before she injured it further.

Daryl helped her to sit up further, basically in his lap, his eyes intently staring at the body of the still alive man who was still moaning. She must have kicked him hard as he was now sweating, panting heavily as he curled himself in the fetal position.

Once she was comfortable enough, he gave her his handkerchief to bite on as Sophia curled up to Daryl's opposite side, her hand gripping Ana's free hand.

"'kay, s'gonna hurt a bit." Daryl muttered in warning as she opened the sling before nodding as she bit into the fabric of Daryl's handkerchief.

Daryl eyed her hesitantly, finding himself not liking the way she was in pain because of a group of douche bags, one of which he had yet to deal with. Swallowing his need to kill the bastard still squirming feet from his side, he gave her one more warning before he quickly and gently moved her arm, ignoring the way she yelped, her hand releasing Sophia's to grip his forearm as he tried to be as quick as possible. Letting go of her arm once it was in place, he let go as she dropped the handkerchief from her mouth, burying her face in his chest to cry out in pain.

Daryl glanced up at the ceiling, wanting to do more than help her injured arm though he couldn't bring himself to do anything more.

"Daryl..." Sophia whispered suddenly in fear as Daryl's eyes shot over to the little girl at his shoulder, watching as she trembled, her eyes glancing at something over his shoulder. Daryl's eyes snapped over past the two girls to see the man slowly pushing himself to stand, wobbling a bit.

"Ana, I need ta put ya aside for a sec." Daryl whispered, not taking his eyes off of the man who stumbled into the nearest wall before collapsing to the ground.

Ana didn't have a choice in the matter as Daryl carefully maneuvered her off his lap onto the ground before Sophia quickly crawled to help her stay up.

Daryl growled as he pushed himself to stand, his gun coming out, aimed directly at the man that was still trying to get himself to stand. Standing protectively in front of the two girls, Daryl cocked his gun before shooting the man in his thigh. He let out a shriek of pain, collapsing against the wall as he held his bloody thigh.

"Fuck!" He snapped as Daryl chuckled, slowly marching over before crouching in front of the bleeding man.

"To think...she's with a fuckin' redneck...like you...makes me sick." The man hissed out as Daryl's eyes narrowed, his teeth grinding against each other as he listened to the bastard poke at him.

"I should fuckin' stick ya to the wall where you sit." Daryl hissed as the man chuckled through blood red teeth, his eyes growing glossy.

"She would...she would have been fuckin' fun to play with. Tell me...she taste as good as she looks?" The man continued as something snapped deep inside Daryl. He dropped the gun to the ground before diving at the man, his hands tightly around his throat as he pinned him to the wall. Eyes full of boiling anger and body ready to strike, the man momentarily looked to Daryl in fright.

Daryl could feel his body vibrating at just the sight of the man lying in front of him. How dare he say such a thing about Ana? How dare he put his hands on her? How dare he even think about doing those vile things to a girl that he claimed?

Claimed?

Daryl blinked a few times, caught off guard at the sudden thought that crossed his mind, finding himself momentarily distracted as the man took that opportunity. Thrashing his head forward, he connected with Daryl's forehead, sending the redneck yelling in surprise and pain before he fell back onto the floor with a loud thud. The noise startled Ana from her pain induced mind as her eyes snapped up in time to see the bleeding rapist slowly pushing himself to stand on his injured leg, his eyes intently focused on her and Sophia.

Shit.

Ana had almost no time to react as the man took the brief moment of opening from Daryl and pushed off the wall, charging at the two girls. Ana grabbed a terrified Sophia out of the way, thrusting her to the right before her hand shot out, grabbing the handle of her machete that had been just beside her and swung. She hadn't been aiming for anything in particular, knowing she didn't have the energy or focus to single down on a specific body part, but for once, she didn't need it. The man tackled her exhausted form to the ground as she embedded the machete deep in his gut. Her cry of pain was drowned out by his yell as his entire body completely engulfed her against the ground.

"You...Bitch." he rasped out from over her as she glared up at him with all the malice she could muster and slowly twisted the handle of the machete, watching as the focus in his own eyes wavered, a gurgled gasp spilling from his horrid mouth.

"You disgusting dickless fuckin' prick. I owe ya more than a stab in the gut." She hissed back, no longer terrified of the man who had been moments from raping her just 10 minutes prior. Without his groupies, without his weapons and without his words, he was just a sad little man, one she was almost too eager to kill with her own hands.

"Ana!" Daryl's voice snapped before the loud pounding of his footfall shook the ground beneath her as the man was all but yanked off of her. Finally able to breath, she watched as Daryl tossed the man anything but gently to the floor, his eyes narrowing in on the familiar machete sticking out of his stomach. Grimacing at the newfound pain in her already injured arm, she ignored it briefly and pushed herself to stand on unsteady legs. Sophia immediately ran over, clinging to Ana's side, helping her to stand a bit better as Ana patted the little girls head in a silent thank you.

"Ya fuckin..." Daryl began to spat as Ana quickly reached out, stopping him from going at the man who was slowly beginning to bleed out in the middle of the room. Daryl turned to her both confused and furious as she shook her head, stepping away from Sophia and into his side where she grabbed the gun from his hand, already knowing he had wanted the pleasure of ending this asshole's life. But that was for her to do.

"I want to." She carefully explained to Daryl as he blinked in shock before glancing down at the man that was grasping for air.

"But...ya sure?" Daryl's hand snuck around her, caressing her hip lightly without her even knowing as she stared at the man slowly dying from her blade.

"Believe me, I wanted to chop his fuckin' dick off but I'll suffice with shooting his brains out." She muttered under his breath as Daryl stared at her side profile for a second longer before giving in. Nodding, he did the unthinkable and leaned over, nudging her shoulder with his chin before stepping back, allowing her room as he approached Sophia.

Ana slowly turned her attention from the man on the floor, to her shoulder that Daryl had touched just a second ago. Feeling the warmth slowly pooling around the spot and throughout her entire form, she allowed her eyes to crawl over to his form where he was kneeling in front of Sophia, whispering to her where she would nod and shake her head to his questions.

What was this man doing to her?

She wondered internally as she glanced away from the pair, back to the dying man on the ground who was now slowly choking on his own blood. Stepping forward, where he could see her standing over him, she glared down at him, Daryl's gun with the silencer on it, now aimed down at the man's wide eyes.

"I rather leave ya to rot, slowly die till the pain is too much, but then you'd just turn into one of those fuckers." She muttered loud enough for just the man to hear as he opened and shut his mouth, a new flow of blood spilling from his lips and down his cheeks. Ana knew it wasn't quite time to let Daryl know what she knew through the television series along with her small chat with Jenner, for now, she planned for him to find out that bit as he did through Rick.

"This way, in life or death, ya won't hurt anyone else." She added, clicking the safety off before aiming down at him.

"Fuck you."

Shink. Pop

It was getting dark by the time the trio had recognized Hershel's forest, just beyond the grassy fields. Ana stopped to catch her breath, surprised in herself by how far she had walked with how much pain she was currently in. Her cheek had swelled up slightly from the hit she had gotten earlier, a new cut appearing on her once flawless skin, her arm, numb and throbbing as she knew, without a doubt, that douche had ripped her stitches out. She had checked, as soon as she could, to see if he had also yanked her arm back out of place, thankfully, he hadn't.

"Ana? Are you alright?" Sophia's soft voice asked as her eyes snapped away from the treeline and back down to the little girl that hadn't left her side since they left the house. Plastering a forced smile on her face, she nodded, brushing the stray hairs from the girls face before looking over to Daryl whose eyes were already on her. She met his eyes without waver, noticing the way he had been constantly staring at her since they left that abandoned place, he wanted to talk to her. But with a little girl in tow, even Ana didn't feel like having this particular talk with her around.

First things first, she needed to get Sophia to Carol.

"Come on, I'm sure everyone is worried." Ana pressed Sophia who once against clung to her hip, following Ana through the brush and out of the trees where they saw the group huddled around Otis's truck, yelling happening while a few others stood a ways off towards the house, watching.

What the hell had happened since they left?

"She's injured, she shouldn't be anywhere but here." Rick confessed frustrated as Shane rolled his eyes, wanting to say something about the woman who had gone up, missing, once again but instead, chose to bite his tongue.

"Maybe she went for a walk?" Andrea offered as Glenn continued to chew on his lip, knowing exactly where she had gone yet holding it in.

"Hershel told her to stay near the house, has anyone seen Daryl?" Dale spoke up worried as everyone glanced around, realizing that the redneck was also missing.

"Maybe they ran off together?" Lori commented offhandedly from beside Carol, all eyes turning to look at her.

"What? Don't tell me ya'll haven't noticed the exchanges between those two?" Lori asked flabbergasted as a few nodded, knowing that the two had felt something between each other, but being as stubborn as they were, it hadn't moved since they met.

"That has nothing to do with that. Ana wouldn't just run out or walk off, especially injured." Rick barked out, cutting across everyone as he felt an unfamiliar feeling bubbling in his chest.

What if something happened to her? What if she was hurt somewhere? What if a walker got to her? What if Shane...

That thought alone cut him off as his eyes snapped over to his friend who was subtly passing glances at Lori, sending a chill of something down his spine. He had noticed it, for a while now, the glances they would pass each other when they thought no one was watching. He knew, Shane had saved his family when he couldn't. He owed him their lives, but he also had a hunch that 'saving' them had gone further than what that word meant.

Shane was not the Shane he had once known.

Since Ana joined the group, he had noticed, the way Shane would tiptoe around her, the way he would glare hard at the woman as if he was silently planning something in the back of his mind. He vaguely remembered the times Daryl had yelled at him for Shane attacking Ana, though he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. He had seen the bruises, more than once, but at the time, he did not want to believe them. Those bruises could have come from anyone.

But as time went on, he began to also notice the way Ana would avoid being left alone with the man. After whatever happened at the CDC when she had basically barreled into him, in tears, he had automatically thought it had something to do with Daryl. They were inseparable after all. But as soon as the redneck had come around the corner, chewing him out, he knew, it had nothing to do with him and so his mind went back to his friend.

Shane was the shell of his former self and after what happened to Otis, he could tell, his friend was spiraling, quickly.

What if Shane had done something to her?

Rick couldn't stop his eyes from narrowing on the man, his heart telling him that it wasn't possible for Shane to dip that low, that he wouldn't do something that drastic, but his mind was telling him that Shane would do it, that there would be no hesitation on his part. That given the opportunity to opt Ana out of the picture, the man would do it without so much as blinking an eye.

And for some reason, that lit a fire of some sort deep in Rick's stomach. Hand resting on the handle of his pistol, his eyes narrowed further, wanting to inquire about said missing woman only for someone to yell, startling everyone.

"There! Walkers! Are those walkers?!" Andrea shouted, being the first to notice movement in the fields just ahead of them as all eyes snapped over in the exact direction. Rick bypassed everyone else, not waiting as he pulled out his pistol and made a run for the trio heading towards them.

"Dale! Get up on the RV!" Rick shouted as the older man already begun to climb, reaching his rifle before peering down the scope with a gasp at what he saw.

"Sophia?" Dale whispered, his heart thudding loudly in his chest as he gaped, pulling the gun away from his eyes as he sought out Carol who was patiently waiting back with Lori and Maggie.

"It's not a walker!" Dale shouted at the group heading towards the trio.

Daryl noticed the group running up on them, their weapons at the ready and quickly walked ahead of Ana, his bow across his chest, not wanting to chance another repeat of earlier. The group seemed to slow as they recognized Daryl and Ana peeking over Daryl's shoulder and sighed in relief.

"Ana? Daryl?" T-Dog asked with a relieved smile as Ana softly smiled back at the group.

"Are you alright? What happened? Where did you go?" Rick asked in concern as Ana blushed lightly at his worried tone before turning to glance up at Daryl who stepped a bit closer to her side.

"I had somethin' to do." She offered lightly as the group looked at each other confused before Ana gently pulled Sophia out of hiding, the little girl burying her face into Ana's side as the group gaped.

"Sophia?" Rick took a step forward in hesitation, his eyes watering as his pistol dropped to the ground, everyone else soon following suit.

Ana watched the group gape and sniffle at the sight of the little girl they had been searching for for days as she brushed her fingers through Sophia's hair, softly letting the girl know that she was safe and that the group was happy to have found her.

"Where did you find her?" T-Dog asked in amazement as Rick knelt down in front of Sophia, welcoming the hug from the little girl as Ana looked to her friend, wobbling a bit.

"I told her where to hide if we ever got separated. She was there." Ana offered as she watched confused as the corner of her vision began to darken, her eyes seeking out Daryl's who was already eyeing her in worry.

"Ya okay?" He turned to her, his arms already out as she blinked a few times before darkness overcame her.

Ana's POV...

Softness, welcomed me as I twitched in my sleep before parting my dry lips as I let out an uncomfortable grimace.

"Woah, Ana, you're alright." A voice, I knew, spoke suddenly as I pried my lids open, the light thankfully dim above me as I blinked a few times, allowing my eyes to focus on the horrid paint of my borrowed bedroom ceiling. Once my vision focused, I slowly turned my head to see Rick, of all people, sitting in Daryl's usual seat at my bedside.

I couldn't help but stare at him mildly confused as to why he was sitting there and not Daryl.

Had something happened to Daryl? Wait. Why was I in my borrowed bed, again? I was supposed to be sleeping out in the tent Glenn had set up for me. What the hell had happened?

I opened my mouth to talk, only to feel a sudden stiffness in my cheek as I lifted my uninjured hand, caressing the bandage that sat atop my sensitive cheek.

"Daryl told us what happened out there." Rick's voice ripped me from my confused thoughts before everything seemed to sink in, as I shut my eyes, fighting back against the memories of what had happened and had almost happened in that house.

"Sophia?" I whispered worried as he sent me a soft smile, reaching out to hold my hand as I fought off the blush climbing up my neck at his touch.

"She's alright. Safe with Carol. Ana..." Rick explained before he stopped himself from continuing, my eyes patiently waiting for him to finish whatever he wanted to tell me.

"How are you feeling?" Rick covered as I stared at him a second longer, knowing that's not what he had been wanting to tell me. I didn't have the fight in me to argue with him so instead, I ignored it and rested my head back against the pillow.

"Sore, tired." I muttered with my eyes shut, ashamed to admit that I was enjoying the way he was brushing his thumb against the back of my hand, or the way he squeezed my hand every other second before he turned my hand over, massaging the inside of my palm.

"You've been out for about 10 hours, everyone was starting to worry. I just got Daryl out of the room to rest." Rick offered as my eyes shot open and over to him.

Daryl had been at my bedside for 10 straight hours? What in the hell?

"Yeah, Carol tried to get him to leave for a bit, almost bit her head off. I came and told him to take a lap around the property, then come back. Only way he was going to leave this room." Rick laughed softly to himself as I watched the way his eyes crinkled before his eyes met mine. Cheeks warming up as I was caught staring at him, wanting to yank my eyes away from him, not wanting to give him the wrong idea, I instead, shut my eyes, acting like I was tired. He squeezed my hand right after as I peeled my eyes open slowly, embarrassed to meet his eyes.

"Thank you Ana, for everything you did for Carol and Sophia. Not many of us would have or could have done what you did." I then watched as he lifted my hand in his own, to his mouth, and lightly kissed my knuckle.

My insides twisted and bent at the gesture, wanting to yank my hand away but finding it impossible at the time as whatever pain meds Hershel was currently pumping into me, did it's job.

My eyes began to droop, Rick's face still within sight as he pressed another kiss to my knuckles before the sound of the door opening caused him to freeze with his lips pressed against my skin. I sleepily watched the way his eyes were pinned to whoever was in the doorway for a minute before my eyes shut completely.

The last thing I heard was the sound of something crashing, followed by a yell.

Author's POV...

When she woke up next, she was alone. The seat Rick had been sitting in, was empty. Ana pushed herself to sit up, as best as she could, realizing something had awoken her though she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was till she heard hushed arguing outside the window of her room. Ignoring the spike of pain up her shoulder, she fought herself to get out of bed, momentarily eyeing the new pair of clothes she was once thrusted into before shuffling towards the window. Noticing it was facing the left side of the house, away from the barn, she peered down to see most of the group, arguing near the tree line.

"What the hell is happening now?" She whispered, more to herself, immediately noticing the various ways the men were standing on alert, their eyes shooting around.

Sighing, picking up her flannel from the dresser before draping it over her shoulder, she silently made her way out of the room and down the stairs.

"Lower your voice." Glenn hissed in worry, his eyes shooting around to the house to see if anyone was nearby.

"We can't just sweep this under the rug." Andrea pressed as Shane passed her a knowing look.

"It ain't right. Not remotely." Shane agreed with the blonde woman who nodded back at him.

"Okay, we've either got to go in there, we've got to make things right or we've just got to go." Andrea lowered her voice slightly as she saw movement in the house.

"Now, we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time." Shane leaned in, glancing around the group in seriousness as both Rick and Daryl immediately began to shake their heads.

"Why, Rick? Why?" Shane asked impatiently as Rick met his eyes before snapping over to Daryl.

"Because Ana is still up in the house, injured." Carol interjected this time as Shane sputtered his lips annoyed, rubbing his hand up and down his face.

"Okay." Rick agreed with Carol instantly, placing a comforting hand on the woman's shoulders.

"Okay, I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility here." Shane barked out, no sympathy or care in the world for the woman who had single-handedly returned their missing member just a day before. All eyes shot to the man who glanced around, looking for anyone to agree with him as Andrea slowly nodded from her spot beside him, causing him to smirk.

"We're not leavin' Ana behind. She's got a few more fuckin' days before she can be out on the road."Daryl hissed, juggling his hunting knife back and forth between his hands.

"Dude, we all can see she is just a fuckin' booty call to you, so stop playin' her knight in shining armor and lets look at the bigger fuckin' picture here." Shane's eyes hardened as the knife that Daryl had been juggling, froze in his right hand where he spun it to grasp it's handle.

He was going to kill this man. Daryl knew it. Within time, he was going to kill him, for everything he did to Ana, everything he's going to do and everything he had ever said about her. For her, he was going to kill him with his old two hands.

"I'd shut yer fuckin' mouth if ya know what's good for ya." Daryl warned, taking a threatening step towards the deputy just as Rick stepped up to keep the two separated.

"I'm just saying what needs to be said. She's just holdin' us back. Gotta look at the bigger picture here Dixon. Gotta keep these people safe and safe isn't here." Shane smirked, watching the wild look in Daryl's eyes grow as he fought back against Rick's hold.

"Shane, stop." Rick spat over his shoulder, finding himself growing annoyed by his friends words.

"Let me tell you something else, man. Ya find her, on her own, out there and just fuckin' bring her into the group, no question. She's been causin' trouble from day one, accusing people of shit they ain't do, running off without a care in the world, get injured over every fuckin' thing. Then the second she brings back this little girl, you all want to just bend over and ignore the danger, we are told we can't mess with, in our backyard, ya'll still want to stay because you 'don't want to leave her behind'? Guys, come on, the bigger picture here is saving all these people. We can't deal with the shit storm in that barn, then we need to leave, now. No other options I see."

I've been fighting a cold all weekend and could only afford yesterday off, so excuse me if you run across a shit ton of grammar mistakes, there is bound to have been a ton in this chapter lol

Until next week~