I think it's funny how Daryl keeps fighting his affection for Connor. But Connor nailed it in this chapter. He fuckin loves te guy. *tehehe*

setting: episode 9 "Triggerfinger"

Salvation

Chapter 24 - Death Sentence

Daryl had quite some trouble keeping Connor awake on their way back to the farm.
He tried to keep his friend busy by asking him about Murphy, but Connor wouldn't talk about him. He had just closed his eyes again when Daryl nudged him.

"Eh, yah know that when yah keep closin yer eyes like that y'might fall asleep and die."

Connor nodded tiredly.

"Aye...just..noticed the fuckin blood lately?"

"I know but we're almost there."

"I just wanna fuckin sleep."

"I know. How bout yah tell me something then. Yah keep talkin all the time might as well do it now."

"Tell ye what?" Connor murmured and looked at Daryl.

"I don't know..just talk! Why and how did yah get yer stupid tattoos?"

The Irishman snorted and looked at his index finger. After a moment of hesitation he talked.

"Got the Virgin Mary tattoo first, me an Murph. When we were 16. Just fer the fun af it. Something everyone could see. Murph had it on the same side as me. He drew it class one day cos he was bored..and we thought it looked cool. Two years later we got te cross. I drew that. Because af what we and Ma believed in. When we were 20 we got Veritas and Aequitas. We were always so keen on getting everything fuckin symmetrical. Didn't do anything fer a while after that. When we fled the states and returned ta Ireland we got started with the back tattoos. We did tem ourselves. Nat only the design but we actually tattooed them on each other ourselves. Murphy did mine. That's the last one we got."

"What is it with yah twins doing the same shit t'gether all the time."

Connor smirked.

"Cos it's fun."

"Yah just want t'confuse the shit outta everyone."

Connor shrugged.

"Whatever. Me and Murph didn't look like each other. Obviously. Nat really. We're fraternal."

Connor closed his eyes again and Daryl nudged him once more.

"Come on now, we're almost there Connor."

The Irishman smirked.

"Wow, you actually know me name."

"What?"

"Now I'm Connor all af the sudden. Ye've never called me by my name before. All you ever called me was freak, leprechaun or psycho."

"Cos you are a freak, leprechaun" Daryl muttered.

"Can I ask ye somethin?" Connor asked after a while and Daryl looked at him.

"What?"

The Irishman turned his head and looked at his friend. When Daryl looked back at him he was quite surprised to see how pale Connor was. His face was still bloody from the crash and the wound on his forehead. When the hunter looked at his leg he saw how bad it actually was. He was still bleeding. Connor leaned back and sighed.

"Why did ye change yer mind?"

"Don't know what yer talkin bout."

"A few hours ago you said that you didn't care if I was alive or dead. You said ye wouldn't come with me and that yer done looking fer people.
And yet you still came looking fer me and saved my life."

Daryl sighed.

"I just did."

Connor looked out of the window when they saw the farm in front of them. After a couple of minutes they were back with the group.
When Daryl stopped the car he eyed Connor.

"Cos I care about y' stupid prick. Maybe more than you think. Someone 's gotta watch yer suicidal ass."

Daryl got out to get Connor. It was hard to get him out of the car since he was quite heavy.
Lori and Shane came out of the farmhouse and gasped in surprise when they saw Connor.
They came running for them as Daryl carried his friend to the farmhouse.

"What happened?" Lori asked and Shane approached them.

"What did yah worthless redneck trash do to him this time?" he asked and grabbed Connor who looked up and clung to Daryl.

"Get yer fuckin hands af me and keep yer fuckin trap shut. He saved my life."

Daryl glared at Lori and Shane. He was mad at the cop for calling him trash and it was all that stupid bitch's fault Connor had left to search for her husband.

"He was in a car accident and got attacked by walkers. He didn't get bit but he was stuck and when I pulled him out.." he nodded towards Connor's injured leg.

"Please tell me that dumb peasant's back. We need him t' stitch him back together."

Shane shook his head.

"Sorry to disappoint. They ain't back. We're planning on going to town tomorrow morning. It's too risky now."

They entered the farmhouse and Lori walked ahead.

"I'll go and get Maggie. Maybe she can do something."

Daryl placed Connor on the bed he'd already slept in after his suicide attempt.
He checked on his injury and kept looking at his friend who could hardly keep his eyes open any longer.
After a moment of considering his options he grabbed Connor's belt to get it off him. The Irishman groaned and opened his eyes.

"Are ye tryin ta rape me now?"

Daryl snorted.

"Shut up."

Once he got the belt he strapped it around Connor's thigh just above the cut. Then he pulled which made the Irishman gasp in pain.

"That'll stop the bleeding for now. But we still need someone t'check on you."

"Have ye got something hot? An iron or something?"

"Why, yah wanna iron yer clothes now?"

"Don't be stupid. Burn the wound. It'll sterilize it and close it. They're doing it in the movies all te time."

"What are yah, insane? This isn't a movie! We'll wait for Rick and the old man to return.."

He was interrupted when someone opened the door and entered the room.
Both Connor and Daryl turned their heads and saw how Maggie and her sister Beth entered the room.

"We said doctor, not school girls." Daryl growled and Maggie frowned.

"Do you want us to help you or not?"

The hunter snorted.

"Yeah, cos people like yah wouldn't just make it worse. Might as well do it myself."

"Eh, relax fellas, now's nat the time ta fight over me. You can both be my girlfriends. Little help now?" Connor interrupted their fight.

Maggie and Daryl glared at each other for a moment. Herschel's daughter shook her head and sat down on the bed next to Connor.
She looked at his injured leg and moved her finger over the wound. The Irishman twitched and hissed.

"Ah fuck, that hurts like fuckin hell."

"Daryl, Beth, we need some alcohol, water, some thread and a needle."

Her sister nodded and left the room. Maggie looked at Daryl.

"We need alcohol, water, thread and needle. Help my sister and go get it." she repeated and he snorted.

"How bout you go and help her yerself?"

"A minute ago you were all over him and bitched at everyone who wouldn't help him and who got in the way and now you won't get the stuff he needs?"

"Just leave it. He's just jealous af ye because you get t'touch me."

Daryl frowned.

"I'm not.."

"Daryl just stop it with yer bullshit now. Now's nat the time ta discuss this shit. I'm fuckin bleeding ta death here."

"It's just a scratch, don't be so overdramatic" Daryl growled and finally left the room. Connor snickered after a moment.

Maggie cleaned his wound in the meantime.

"He fuckin loves me and he knows it."

"Yeah, he loves you as his punching bag, judging from what I've heard" Maggie murmured and Connor frowned.

"Oh don't fuckin start. Not ye too, you don't even know 'im."

"I'm just saying what everybody else says.. God knows, he could've done that" Maggie murmured and Connor frowned.

"No he fucking didn't, 't was a walker I hit and the stupid car that turned over."

He shook his head angrily and looked at Herschel's daughter.
He was thankful that she was trying to help him although they hardly ever talked, but right now her whole talk made him hate her a bit.

"What is it with ye people that you keep treating him like shit?"

"Because he's a douchebag" Maggie murmured and Connor snorted angrily.

"Oh fuck you. Seriously. He fucking saved my life. Three times. He went out there looking fer that girl. Every day."

Maggie looked quite surprised because of his choice of words, but when she wanted to say something Beth and Daryl returned with a bowl full of water, a bottle of whiskey and needle and threat. Daryl stayed with Connor when the Greene sisters stitched him back together and distracted his friend from the pain by mocking him every time he winced. He managed to get Connor angry with all the names he called him as Maggie cared for him. Angering the Irishman was exactly what he wanted to achieve. Because he knew that the anger eased the pain a bit. Soon after Connor was cared for and the bleeding had stopped Beth and Maggie left again because Daryl kept telling them to leave. Daryl let out a relieved sigh and sat down on a chair next to Connor's bed. He enjoyed the silence for a bit and kept the Irishman company. He wanted to wait for him to fall asleep before he left, just to make sure that Connor was really alright. He still didn't trust the Greene sisters. The Irishman spoke after a while.

"D'ye think Rick's dead?"

Daryl looked up and shook his head after a moment.

"Nah. Not the first time he went out and came back late. He's been to Atlanta. Twice. And he's still alive. He's tough."

"Shame we couldn't help him."

"I'll go with Shane, T-Dog and Andrea tomorrow. We'll get 'em."

"I'm gonna come with ye."

Daryl snorted.

"No fuckin way."

Connor rolled his eyes.

"Just a fuckin scratch. I'm dying ta get t'kill some walkers again. It's so fucking boring here."

"Maggie said yer muscle's torn."

"So what, got enough other muscles."

Daryl snickered and shook his head.

"Don't expect me t'look after yah then. Yer fault if yah get eaten because yer limpin all the way through."

Connor grinned then.

"Bullshit, I know you'd come after me. You always do."

Daryl snorted and shook his head.

"Yah wish."

They didn't speak for a while until Connor couldn't help asking.

"Eh Murph?"

"What is it now. Shut up and sleep."
"Just...you were nat going ta leave, were ye? When you got the tent?"

Daryl looked at Connor for a while and then shrugged.

"Don't know. Maybe. I thought about it."

"But why?"

"Cos yah keep annoying the crap outta me."

Connor snorted.

"No, I mean really."

"Yeah, I mean really."

"Fuck you."

"Right back at yah, freak."

He took a deep breath then.

"Guess I just wanted t' be alone after all the crap that happened."

"If ye're ever goin ta leave, fuckin tell me, okay?"

Daryl snorted.

"Why would I?"

"Cos I wanna come with ye."

"So what, we walk off into the sunset? Happily ever after? Stop being so gay, will yah."

Connor snickered.

"Fuck ye, who's the jealous one whenever 'm talking t'someone else."

"Screw yah, I ain't jealous."

Connor gave in to the exhaustion soon after that and as soon as he was asleep Daryl left. He knew that his friend needed to rest for a bit because he had lost a lot of blood. Although he didn't want to admit it, he was quite worried because of Connor. He had a pretty nasty cut and his muscle was torn which meant that he couldn't really walk for a couple of weeks. At least Maggie had said so. And not being able to walk or run these days? This could be a death sentence. He was glad that they were still at the farm but he didn't know how long they would stay now that they had found Sophia and shot everyone inside Herschel's barn.

What if the stupid man wanted them to leave now? What if they ended up camping someplace like they'd done just outside Atlanta? He knew how that had ended. Jim and Amy had died when they'd gotten overrun. Walkers could attack them any minute anyway. And if Connor couldn't run when they came and he ran out of bullets just like tonight...Daryl shook his head angrily. Why would he worry about something like that? He'd told himself over and over again that he didn't need anyone. Before they'd found the farm he'd been alone too and he'd been fine. Having other people to worry about was nothing but a handicap these days. Having someone you care about meant nothing but trouble. It made you weak. Because when you get attacked and start running for your loved ones, it will get you killed.

He'd been alone and he'd survived on his own. For months. And then he'd met Connor. The Irishman made him do stupid and dangerous things. Like doing the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a person that could be dead and eat your face off. Like leaving for a walker-infested town just to save a person that was stupid enough to go on his own. Connor made him weak and he didn't like that. But at the same time Connor was the only person in the world that stood up for him and told people to fuck off whenever they started treating him like trash. Oh Christ. He hated how he love-hated that stupid Irish clown.