*Hans Zimmer - Time

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Daryl's heart felt as if it was about to beat right out of his chest. From fear? Overexertion? Adrenaline? Maybe all three; he wasn't sure. The world was moving in slow motion for him, but he was positive he was sprinting as fast as his legs would allow. Skillfully dodging branches along the way, his breathing had become heavy from the effort, but he was ready to deal with whatever tragedy he was going to run into. He heard the crunch of several sets of footsteps moving quickly from behind, letting him know that most of the group had followed after him. All he could focus on, though, was locating the source of the scream that had the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. His stomach was churning at the possibilities, but he refused to let go of the hope Beth had helped build back up. He was going to find her, intact, and everything was going to be just fine. That was until he saw the walker convention. Leave it to fate to thrust him into a "life or death" situation with grim conclusions.

Launching himself directly into the fray, Daryl trained his sights on a walker. He fired a bolt, sending it flying through the temple. Gunshots rang out and bullets sprayed the area around him. Rick shot off two rounds before switching to his knife and lunging at two walkers ahead of him. Something happened the night with Joe and his gang; it was as if something had clicked on in the man, transitioning him into someone more primal. The walkers never had a chance. He jammed the knife through the eye socket of one and shoved it off his blade using his foot in its abdomen. In the same instant, he spun around to the other, stabbing it up through the chin with a look so feral even Daryl briefly took notice.

Meanwhile, Glenn and Maggie were fighting back to back, Maggie with a machete picked up from Terminus and Glenn with a lead pipe. Daryl didn't have time to load another bolt; he kicked one of the walkers to the ground and used his crossbow to bash its skull. He swiftly changed over to his own knife, impaling the rotting corpses one by one as they came at him. He cleared a whole row only to reveal another. Daryl wasn't finished. Two more walkers came in together with hands outstretched, ready to tear the flesh from his bones, their bodies merely inches apart. Daryl spun to the side then reversed his body's momentum to come around behind his targets. Before the sluggish undead could change direction he quickly thrust in, catching one, and then the other, in the back of the head. They immediately slumped to the ground lifeless.

*Daryl still hadn't seen anyone outside of the current group, leaving him a bit disappointed. Still, he looked over the litter of bodies with satisfaction. They managed to take out every last one without any casualties. Daryl could see Abraham and Rosita using their guns to pick off the last few remaining. He picked up his crossbow and reloaded it. As he was finishing, he heard noises coming from behind him. Weight hitting the ground and rustling. Twisting around, Daryl raised his crossbow, eyes narrowed in focus and prepared to shoot another walker down. Instead, he was greeted with a mess of blonde tresses and blue eyes that were more like two heavenly bodies. Beth. His breath caught and his face softened at the sight of her. Her back seemed to be covered in grass and leaves; judging from the carcass laying face up close to where Beth was standing, she was knocked over by the thing and had to roll it off of her after killing it. Despite that, she was wearing a new shirt, a plumb tank top and her clothes looked relatively clean. Daryl refused to blink, afraid that she would disappear if he did — a projection of his imagination. He lowered his weapon and attempted to process what he was seeing. Beth was there, alive, standing in front of him. She didn't appear to be hurt and she was staring back at him with the same intensity that he was her.

Beth broke the stare finally, looking around at the rest of the group in shock. Daryl saw the tears welling up as she again locked eyes with him. He blinked, and she was still there, breathing life into this reality. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't a hallucination. It was real. It was Beth. Daryl's heart could've stopped and he would've died happy seeing her face again. He felt the sting of his own tears threatening to stream down his face, but he kept them at bay, suddenly aware of the group gathered around. Maggie, understandably, was the first to break out of the haze, rushing at Beth and pulling her into a tight embrace. The two sisters cried together in joy and relief while Daryl stayed planted where he was, eyes still fixed on the one person who kept him going in his darkest of times. He couldn't seem to pry them away, awkward as it was just standing there gawking. Not that he wanted to, but he felt he should be doing something; he should be saying something. No amount of words could do the moment justice, though. Daryl was inclined to stay back and let Maggie have the spotlight.

However, she calmed down enough to whisper something into Beth's ear with her arms still wrapped around her and Beth's eyes moved back to his. Daryl heart skipped a beat when she moved out of her sister's hug and began to walk towards him, wondering what Maggie had said to her. He hoped it had nothing to do with his non-confession the week before. He could only handle one thing at a time right now ─ baby steps. Beth threw her arms around his neck and squeezed; the best he could manage was placing one hand on the small of her back, gingerly pressing against it.

"I knew you'd find me," Beth asserted confidently.

Daryl's stomach twisted itself into knots as he felt the guilt rise up from where he'd stashed it away in his mind. "Looks like you found me," his eyes shifted shamefully.

The truth was he hadn't been looking for her when he should've been. He should've torn the whole state of Georgia up searching for her, cold trail be damned. But he hadn't. He hadn't and it wasn't okay. Beth deserved more than that. She deserved more than him.

Reading into the sound of his voice, Beth pulled back slightly, and Daryl saw her forehead was creased and she meant business. She looked him square in the eyes, as usual, not backing down from his self-inflicted perdition. "You did." She knew him too well now.

If Daryl had his way, he would completely envelop her in his arms and never let go. He would tell her how much he missed her and how much she meant to him. He would make it clear how important she was to him, saying all the things he should've said back at that damn kitchen table. But he hardly got his way on anything in life and this was no different. Whether it be external forces, bad timing, or his own stupid issues, nothing ever occurred quite the way he wanted it to. This time it was a combination of all three. Nonetheless, he was perfectly content seeing her glowing face and hearing her voice again. Nothing could ruin this for him. Absolutely nothing.

A twig snapped off to the left, causing the whole group to take notice. Daryl saw a man likely a few years older than him standing with his hand resting on a nearby tree. He looked shaken but otherwise unharmed. Him. Daryl's mouth tightened and his fist clenched. He saw no logic, only a villainous bastard he'd been itching to get his hands on.

Rick moved to speak first. "Beth, is this the man who took you?" He looked poised to attack the man himself, evidently condemning.

Beth opened her mouth to answer, but Daryl could no longer keep his shut. "He's dead is what he is!" He flung his crossbow back up and began to charge at the man.

"Daryl!" Beth commanded. "No."

Minding her order, Daryl stopped where he was but he wasn't about to lower his crossbow for this one without further explanation.

Sensing his need for more, Beth continued. "It's not like that. He saved me. He hit me with his car. It was an accident. But I couldn't move. Instead of leaving me for walker food, he stopped and picked me up. He helped me."

Daryl considered the words she was saying; they sounded good, but he still could've had it planned out. "What's your name?" he asked the man.

"Gabriel."

"Alright, Gabriel, wanna tell me why you were out joyriding in the middle of the night?"

"I was getting low on supplies," Gabriel's hands were shaking and he was sweating bullets. "I went on a run about 10 miles out. When I was getting ready to go, a couple of thugs came in. I had to hide and wait for them to finish pillaging the place. They were there for hours. It was too dangerous to stay overnight. Needless to say, I got back later than I planned."

"So that place, that was where you were holed up?" Daryl demanded.

Gabriel simply nodded.

"Smart move keepin' your lights off." Dumbass. Daryl wasn't ready to play neutral yet, but he let his crossbow ease down. His one and only show of good faith.

Unknowingly, Rick had moved beside Daryl, deciding to inject himself back into the conversation. "That was stupid. You coulda' drove yourself right into a herd. Or wrecked the whole thing."

Gabriel was adamant. "Forgive me if I sound abrasive, but I've lived in this area for well over 15 years. I could run these roads with my eyes closed."

Daryl could relate; he'd memorized every inch of the mountains in his hometown after the incident with him getting lost. It was more of a necessity in case emergencies like that ever happened again, considering no one else cared if he went missing for over a goddamn week. He wasn't impressed.

"And you mean to tell me you didn't see me haulin' ass after you? You didn't hear me yellin' my head off? You didn't think she could, maybe, be with me?" Daryl's anger was welling up inside of him again.

Hanging his head in noticeable shame, Gabriel responded quietly, "I did."

"What?" Beth looked startled at this information. She hadn't known about it. "Why didn't you stop for him?"

"I saw you," Gabriel explained to Daryl, "in the rearview mirror. It was dark, but I could see your figure, and I vaguely heard you. I did, but I didn't stop. I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?" Daryl growled, thinking of shooting this man in the face anyway. He knew Daryl was running after him, and he had still kept going.

Gabriel met Daryl's eyes for the first time since the issue was brought up, and they were filled with remorse. "People," he responded. "She was injured. I couldn't leave her there. But you, you weren't. You would've killed me without a second thought. I wouldn't have been able to explain like I am now. You would've killed me, or hurt me and taken all my things. I couldn't risk it." He was in near tears.

Finally, Daryl let his body relax from the tense state it was in. He could understand that more than anything. The man was right; people were something to fear these days, perhaps more so than the walkers. If anything, he couldn't hold that against him. He still wasn't happy about it, but at least he recognized Gabriel's point of view. Rick seemed to relax as well, moving out of his stiff, aggressive stance.

Rick spoke, taking charge once more. "You took care of her. That counts for something. As long as she's okay, then I'd say there's no problem between us."

"You're breakin' my heart here, really." Abraham was at it again. "If you don't mind, there's kind of a time-sensitive issue we need to be hoppin' back on."

"We'll get back to it when I say," Rick snarled over his shoulder.

Daryl had turned to face Abraham and he hoped the redhead could feel him glaring daggers at him. There were so many different personalities in the group. Now, with the addition of Beth and possibly Gabriel, things were going to get interesting very quickly. Daryl could feel it in his bones.

..

When they emerged from the woods, Carl noticed Beth with them and went running towards her. Carol smiled in relief as he hugged her close.

"Judy!" Beth exclaimed, seeing her in Carol's arms. She walked over and Carol handed Judith over as she was reduced to tears again.

Rick smiled at the two. "Yeah, she's the real survivor here."

Everyone gathered around the cars, happy to be a complete family again. Eventually, Rick sent Tyreese and Glenn back inside the building to search for the keys and Daryl was asked to look over the cars once more. Maggie could not be pulled away from Beth and no one would dare try. Daryl wished he could keep Beth by his side, but that was unrealistic; there was work to be done. The bright side was that Abraham was so impatient that he took it upon himself to check out the Explorer while Daryl examined the minivan. They seemed to have been sitting there a while but were in decent enough condition. He determined they would run and should be able to get the group to their destination. Glenn and Tyreese came out with the keys to the vehicles, declaring the building clear and nothing else of much use found. They cranked both vehicles and checked the fuel gauges to make sure there was enough to get them somewhere. Daryl was glad these places required you to fill the tank up to where it was when you got it, or pay a fuel fee.

He spotted Gabriel continuing the task of siphoning the gas for his own car. Daryl scowled at the man, still a little upset over Gabriel's course of action. He had to keep reminding himself that he likely never would've found Rick and the others if he'd been picked up by Gabriel. In a way, everything had worked out the way it was supposed to. Rick made his way over to Daryl, appearing to be in thought.

"It's gettin' late. We need to find somewhere to hunker down, at least for the night. I'd say we could stay here, but I'm not sure how safe it is." Rick squinted his eyes, looking down the road.

Suddenly, Daryl had an idea. "Where's ol' boy stayin' at now?" he asked, nodding his head in Gabriel's direction. "We can bunk there tonight, if he's got room."

Rick paused, considering the option. "We'll make it work," he said, making up his mind.

Together, they went to discuss it with Gabriel.

"Hey, Gabriel, where about are you takin' shelter at?" Rick inquired. "It's gonna be gettin' dark soon, and we'd be grateful to have somewhere to lay our heads overnight."

Gabriel raised his head with a pained look shadowing his face. "Of course you can stay there. I owe it to you. I have a church a little more up the way. It has an adjoining house; we used it for daycare before everything happened."

Daryl was bemused at the mention of Gabriel having a church. "Have a church? I thought you were a mortician," he said suspiciously.

"I prefer the term funeral director, although I did use my house as a parlor and took care of everything there. Daryl, is it?" he asked, pointing at Daryl. "Well Daryl, it's a small town. I planted a church here, but the income I made from it wasn't enough to fully support me. I had to take up a job on the side. I went and got my director's license, my embalming license, and got a small business going. It wasn't much, but it was enough to get me by."

"That's fine," Rick interjected. "We just need a place to be."

"You can follow me there," Gabriel responded.

Rick nodded and turned to Daryl. "How many are they gonna fit?" he asked, referring to the vehicles they had just procured.

"The Explorer can take five and maybe one in the hatchback if they're small enough," Daryl replied.

"Carl."

"The van seats seven."

"We're not gonna have enough space for two people."

"Well, the reverend here has a car too," Daryl said, completely deadpan. "Two can go with him."

Rick looked like he was about to ask something and Daryl already had an idea of what it was; he stopped him before he even started. "Not Beth," he said darkly.

Rick nodded his comprehension and signaled the group to circle in. He let them know they would be spending the night at Gabriel's shelter and would be leaving for D.C. in the morning. "We'll figure out the vehicle situation then," he stated.

Rick decided to ride with Gabriel in order to size him up some more. Michonne volunteered to be the one to go with him. Daryl ended up riding in the van; Rosita was behind the wheel with Eugene in the passenger seat. Maggie and Glenn were in the next row and he, Beth, and Abraham took the last row; Abraham mumbled something about not wanting to sit in the back and Rosita insisted he stop being a big baby. Daryl hated being piled in a car with so many people, but he didn't have much in the way of choices. Beth was squished up against his left side, though, and that was a perk as far as he was concerned. He hadn't been this close to her in what felt like decades. Her small, warm frame pressing against his side pacified his aggravation. Yet, he still couldn't figure out how he'd ended up stuck in the middle between her and Abraham. Doesn't the smallest person sit in the middle? Daryl hoped they would reach the church quickly; he didn't like this seating arrangement and he was going to make sure he didn't allow himself to get put in the same spot next time.

"Daryl?" Beth was looking at him with her beautiful blue eyes.

Daryl caught her eyes briefly, before looking away. He grunted, letting her know he was listening.

"I picked something up on the run; it reminded me of you," Beth said, digging into her pocket. "It was just laying there on the floor, like it fell off someone. Well, I fixed it up. I told myself I'd give it to you when I saw you again. So, here it is."

She presented him with a black onyx pendant necklace sculpted into the shape of a wolf's claw with a silver-plated cap embossed with a wolf's head. It wasn't huge, only an inch or so, and he could see where she'd rigged it with a black string and tied the piece together into a knot at the end.

"S'pretty fancy," Daryl noted. "How'd it remind you of me?" He already knew, but he wanted her to say it.

"The symbolism behind the wolf," she explained. "They have the gifts of intelligence, self-reliance, and endurance. They bring the energy of freedom and companionship. And it's believed that they're a powerful totem for intuition and telepathy. The wolf is a pathfinder by nature and guides you on your journey as a protector. He teaches us to how to find the resources we need and use them wisely, to evaluate each situation and adapt as needed, always being ready and prepared."

Daryl was studying the pendant as Beth spoke, amazed at how much she knew about it.

"The wolf is a great teacher," she continued, "loyal and loving to his family. They hunt together and move together as one. But the lone wolf is unique. He's strong and can survive on his own. He's learning a lot about himself, learning how to balance freedom with family and wanting family of his own."

He wasn't even sure if she was talking more about the totem or him now.

"He roams the forest strong, but he's searching for a mate. He yearns for it…it's his greatest hunt." All of a sudden, Beth's eyes were filled with love and admiration. "And he has within him the patience to keep going until he's blessed with the gift that he seeks. He must face his deepest fears before he can walk the forest at night with confidence."

Daryl got the feeling she was trying to tell him something. Maybe she had understood what he was trying to say that night. Maybe this was her telling him she did. Beth smiled lightly at him, somehow confirming that he was correct; he hinted a smile back.

"Well, aren't you gonna put it on?" Beth asked happily, her eyes lit up and excited, a bright blue to match her mood.

He realized he still had it in his palm. "Yeah, I mean, I ain't one for jewelry─"

"Give it back then." Beth interrupted him, her hand reaching for the necklace stubbornly.

"─but I'll make an exception for this," Daryl continued, pulling his own hand away.

Beth appeared to be mulling something over in her mind. "What about the ears?"

Oh God. Of course she would be the only one to remember that. Daryl looked at her in feigned chagrin. "Think we both know that was different. I was pullin' a Tyler Durden, or somethin'."

"You still put it on." Beth wasn't giving an inch.

"Okay, you win. That was the first exception. This is the second," he said, putting the necklace on over his head.

A wide grin spread across Beth's face as their eyes locked, and Daryl couldn't help but feel elated, happy just to make her happy. It sent him drifting back to the days when it was just the two of them, and he lived simply to put a smile on her face. He was glad he never lost hope while she was gone. It kept him from letting her go, and gave him the will to keep going in her absence with the thought that he would find her one day. In fact, if he could tie Beth to his belt loops to keep her from ever leaving his sight again, he would. But Daryl acknowledged that it might be bordering on the edge of insanity so he was content with having her as close to him as possible.

Abruptly, Daryl got the eerie feeling of being watched, like a victim with a stalker. He slowly turned his head to the right and was damn near nose to nose with Abraham.

The man's mouth was twisted up into a mischievous smirk. "Well isn't this just precious?"

Abraham's orange-tinted mustache twitched a little; Daryl wanted to rip it off his face for embarrassing him. Instead, he settled for a run-of-the-mill threat. "You wanna lose a limb?"

Abraham chuckled and leaned over into Beth's line of vision. "I don't think he's ever gotten a gift before."

"Watch it." Daryl tried to look as glowering as possible; unfortunately, Abraham didn't even look close to intimidated.

"You might wanna tighten the leash, sweetheart," Abraham said, paying no attention to Daryl. "Rabies, you know."

Daryl was aware Abraham was messing with him because of how easily he could get under his skin, but he could never seem to react any differently. Abraham knew precisely what buttons to push to get him going. Daryl knew Abraham enjoyed getting him worked up, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't beat the man at his own game. Beth was amused by him, however.

"Oh, leave him alone," she said smiling. "He's just getting used to it, that's all."

Abraham snorted and Daryl sat back, tightlipped; it was going to be a long ride to that stupid church.

A/N: Introducing... THE BETHLACE. Get it? This is going to remain important symbolism throughout the story. Anyway, I had trouble with this chapter. It almost killed me. Action and description. Heavy on the dialogue, but it was important. ALL of it. I don't think I did it justice, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that. I was going to say something else, but now I've forgotten. OH. For a picture of the Bethlace, go to tumblr and search bethlace. My post should be on there. dixonministry. Enjoy, sorry it took longer than the last but I haven't had much time to sit down the last week. Maybe this will make up for it, maybe not. Leave me reviews if you want! I try to respond to all. They make me feel better about my writing and motivate me to speed up! EDIT: Ok I know Beth talking about the wolf symbolism is a little weird. I was going to have Daryl ask her how she knew so much about it and I surely did forget to because I was rushing. Apologies, but I will fix that in the next one for sure as well as something else I also forgot to throw in here. Sorry!