I do not own The Walking Dead
Previously:
"I'll be back before you know it." There was another smile before some final words of goodbye. "Stay safe, Faye."
The way Andrea seemed to send a quick glare out the door of her cell made the girl think she wasn't actually talking to her.
"I'll try." Raising her hand, she gave a little wave. "Bye, Andrea."
"Bye, sweetie."
When Faye woke the next morning, it was very early.
She had spent the night back in her own cell, which, although there was barely a difference from before, felt much better. Maybe it was having her things in the room with her, maybe it was the fact that she had nabbed the other pillows so she had three instead of one, maybe it was that Carl was just on the other side of the wall-
Speak of the devil, he was stood at her door, a satisfied smirk on his face. "Guess what?"
"What?" She replied, sitting up from her spot.
"No, you have to guess!"
"Why? I'm bad at these games!" When Carl gave her a pretend glare and sat on the end of her bed, pulling his feet up to sit cross legged, she obliged. "Fine. Did you find a magical dragon?"
The boy had a confused look as he answered. "No. More realistic."
"You found the cure?"
"Nope."
"T-Dog and Merle kissed and made up?"
"Nuh uh." He grinned. "But that is kinda funny to think about."
Faye grinned with him. "I know, right! Anyway, I give up. What is it?"
"Dad said he's taking me on a run with him today! We're going to go find supplies and weapons and I'm even gonna see if we can get a crib for Judith!" Carl was obviously proud that he'd been invited to go.
"Really?" The boy nodded enthusiastically. Faye tried to make her response sound just as excited, even though the last time someone she cared about left the prison abandoned her and her best friend was going out into the walker-infested world.
(Having said that, the prison field seemed to be particularly walker infested as of late, so Faye was being a hypocrite again. But, she wasn't Carl, so she refused to call herself that.)
"Cool! You're lucky, I'm just stuck in bed all day."
His expression soured a little. "Only problem is, Michonne's coming too. I don't trust her."
"Why's she going?" Faye asked.
"I don't know. Dad didn't say why, just that she was coming." He replied.
The girl shrugged. "If she helps you get supplies, it's okay if she goes along, right?"
That was as long as she didn't desert them when they needed her.
"I guess so," Carl frowned, pausing before he continued. "Is it bad that I'm excited to go back to my house? My town?"
He was going home? Wait, no, the prison was home now. Carl was going to his old house, to his old town, old memories. Memories that no one needed anymore. Memories that Faye was desperately trying - and failing - to forget. Memories that Faye wished didn't make her heart ache.
But, hey, if Carl was happy to remember, she was all for it. Kind of.
"It's not bad. Maybe it will be nice to remember for a little while."
Faye couldn't help but add the 'little while'. Because Carl was her best friend, and she knew she was being a bit selfish, but she wanted her friend to come back. A little while would be alright, but he had to return.
"Yeah." He agreed. "It might do Dad some good, too. Maybe. Or make it worse. I don't know."
That, she couldn't reassure him on. Faye wasn't faithful in Rick's current state of health either. In return to him, she smiled sympathetically.
Sighing, Faye pulled her feet up to match Carl's sitting position. "Well, while you're off doing exciting things, my 'to do' list includes doing anything other than lying in bed all day. Maybe go for a stroll."
"Don't go nuts, you have to rest." Carl said, brows creased.
"Since when was walking around going nuts?"
"Since you got shot."
Faye blinked. That had been blunt.
"Don't go by yourself. I shouldn't have let you wander off in the first place."
What? Was Carl blaming himself? No, that wasn't right, the only person to blame was the Governor.
The boy continued. "If I- someone had gone with you, maybe you could have seen them and hid, then you wouldn't have been shot. I let you go into the field, that was stupid. We knew he was coming."
Oh, dear. Carl was blaming himself. Carl was unhappy. That was bad, this conversation had gone wrong.
Luckily, Faye seemed to be good at improvising. A now confident look on her face as she swung her legs off the bed, the girl stood up as steadily as she could, not wanting Carl to think she was still weak.
Ignoring the fact that her wrinkled shirt needed changing, Faye walked towards the door. As Carl turned his head to watch her go, she plucked the hat off his head, lightly dropping it onto her own. "Looks like I'm the new sheriff in town!"
"Hey!" He protested.
"My turn to wear the hat, dumbass!" She replied smoothly with a smirk.
Giggling as she walked out the cell, Carl was hot on her heels. "How you figure that?"
"It's like you told me on the farm," Faye said. "You got shot, so you get the hat. I just got shot, so it's my turn with the hat!"
Right on que, the hat tipped to the left side of her head - the girl had placed it lightly so as not to touch her wound.
Before it fell to the ground, Carl grabbed it and put the sheriff's hat firmly back on his head.
"My hat." He said defensively, but his tone was joking. "The bullet hit me and Dad in our main body," He gestured to his chest and stomach. "That's how it works. That hat stays mine!" He finished triumphantly.
Faye wasn't actually too annoyed he had defeated her. She wanted to cheer him up, she had succeeded in doing so. "Fine, a sheriff's gotta stick to the law."
Looking over the rail, the two saw Rick - who had seemed to finish a conversation just in time to see the two children - and Michonne.
Ah, Michonne. Faye needed to have words with her.
"You go pack what you need, I have something to do." Faye said, eyes on the woman retreating to her cell.
"I need you to bring something back for me."
Faye was stood at the door of Michonne's room. The girl had tried to make her voice sound firm, confident, but this woman had the glare of a lifetime. Currently, she was cleaning her sword as she looked Faye up and down, as if to gauge how serious she was. It was intimidating.
(And badass. That woman had a big ass sword to slice people's head's off! It was like something from a video game, only real, and better. Man, the last time she saw something so cool was Daryl's-)
Slowly, Michonne replied, eyebrows slightly raised. "And what would that be? There may not be time for running around."
"Oh, don't worry, it won't be hard to find. At all. Like, it'll be right in front of you."
The woman frowned, but didn't speak. It took Faye a few moments to realise she was waiting for an elaboration. "I want you to bring Carl back."
"...Carl?"
"I want you to make sure he gets back safely. I know Rick's gonna be looking out for him, but I don't know what page you're on, so I wanted to make sure in person."
Michonne seemed to process the information before answering. "You know, I can't make any promises."
"You can promise to try." Faye didn't know for certain, but she was pretty sure she was pushing the boundaries asking this. This woman was practically a stranger, a possibly hostile and unfriendly stranger at that. Still, she wore the mask of authority, as if the woman would listen to her because she was part of the main group, hoping she didn't look too cocky or too unconvincing.
"Alright." Michonne said, a look Faye couldn't read on her face. "I'll see what I can do."
Faye wasn't sure which was worse: being under Michonne's harsh scrutiny or Merle's taunting stare.
She didn't know what she had done to deserve his leering, but she had. She hadn't even spoken to him. Yet. She could sense that he had something to say. She could also sense it was unpleasant.
The girl was currently sat in the main seating room, where Carol had put her. She had tried to go for a walk after Carl left, but was denied by the woman. Hell, she'd been annoyed that Faye had gotten out of bed! This had annoyed her greatly and Faye was currently sat by one of the tables, head laying in her arms.
In other words, she was sulking.
(But Faye did not like using those words because she did not sulk, she moped professionally.)
But anyway, now she was hungry, bored and feeling particularly stubborn. Whoever put Faye in that kind of mood deserved the consequences.
(The consequences being, of course, a moody thirteen year-old girl.)
So, to start her ultimate rage upon the residents of the prison, Faye glared into nothingness. When Carol returned, the glare would-
"Kid, I think ya best quit it with 'at lil' tantrum ya got goin' on an' start considerin' yourself lucky."
Merle interrupted her thoughts, his tone mocking.
Well, if putting on a brave face for Michonne worked, maybe it would for Merle. They were both scary. "I got shot in the head, you don't think I get to be just a little unhappy?"
"Ya should be over the damn moon," He gave a smirk as he leaned back where he was sat. There was an instant dislike for the man. "Governor aimed for ya head an' ya got out alive, kid. I'd say ya don't gotta be the little innocent girl, it's annoyin'."
"Innocent?"
Oh, God. Why was she doing this? Why was about to talk back to Merle Dixon? Merle freaking Dixon! He had the scary-but-kind-of-awesome-and-don't-tell-Glenn-or-Maggie-'cause-they-might-get-mad-that-you-said-it blade on his arm!
Not stopping, Faye? Alright then.
"I'm not innocent. I abandoned my camp when it was being overrun! I shot my dad! I shot my brother! I've killed those things! I am not innocent." Faye sighed and held her forehead in her hand. "I'm a piece of shit, like everyone else. You don't know crap."
There was silence as Merle seemed to process what she said before cackling. "Ya got guts, kid, I'll give ya that. But you listen to me." He leaned forward on his knees, the knife on his arm glinting menacingly in the light. "Talk to me like that again, and I'm gonna have to come out there and teach ya a lesson 'bout respect."
Faye's head shot up at that. No one had ever spoken to her like that before. The only person who had come close was Shane, and his threat was more indirect.
Looking down at the table Faye replied quietly, not wanting to anger him any more. "Sorry."
The man seemed to approve of her submission. "Damn right. I'll tell ya one thing though, you're on the right lines with bein' a piece a shit like ev'ryone else. Get it in ya head, kid, don't matter who ya are no more. Lil' girl, lil' boy, man, woman, them walkers don't give a shit. That Governor don't give a shit, he shot ya up anyway. Ya get strong or ya die. Ya do what ya gotta do or ya die."
"Is that why you beat up Glenn?" Faye questioned, unsure whether it was the right thing to say or not.
"I followed orders is all."
The girl frowned. "You followed orders or you would have died?"
"Exactly. Ya catch on quick, kid."
Merle might have been scary, but Faye was pretty sure those were the smartest words she'd heard in a long time - apart from Andrea's awesome words of wisdom. But still, she was sceptical. This was the man who had convinced Daryl to leave, she wouldn't trust him after a few words. "Why are you helping me?"
The man snorted. "Wouldn't call it helpin' ya. Nah, this is gon' be funny as hell."
Wait, what?
The girl didn't have time to question him any further as Carol walked back into the room, giving Merle a hard look before smiling sweetly at Faye, as if trying to detect what had gone on while she was out the room. She sat on the chair opposite. "So, other than not going outside, what are your plans for today?"
This was boring, what happened to ultimate rage on the residents of the prison?! Carol would face her wrath!
The woman was probably expecting something nice. Faye would not give it to her. "Cleaning my gun."
Oh, what a wrath this was!
Carol wasn't disheartened. "How about something a little more cheerful? Someone else can deal with the guns. Maybe we could play some games, Carl can join when he's back."
Why? What was the point? Faye was more than capable of cleaning a gun. Did Carol seriously think he was that weak? Faye was not someone for Carol to baby. Maybe she thought bringing Carl into it would bait her more. Her world didn't revolve around the boy.
(Much.)
"Or, I could do what needs to be done - myself." Faye sat up and folded her arms, giving a look that she hoped said 'I dare you to defy me'. It didn't work.
"Let the boys, you shouldn't have to do that."
Screw her 'wrath', this was genuinely pissing Faye off.
"So what? Why can't I?" Faye snapped, almost feeling Merle's amused smirk burning into her back. "Is it 'cause I'm a girl? 'Cause I'm a kid? Who gives a damn?"
"We give a damn. Faye-"
Faye stood up, her temper too short to deal with this today. She had been in bed for God knows how long and when she wanted to go out into the sun she was treated like she would break with the slightest nudge. Merle was right! Walkers didn't care. The Governor didn't care.
"No one cares! If a walker walked in here, it wouldn't stop and think 'Hey! I won't attack her, she has stitches in her head!'. I'd get eaten anyway! It doesn't matter who you are anymore! The Governor didn't give a crap, and neither would anyone else." Faye shouted.
She should have stopped when Carol sat in silence, accepting whatever the girl yelled. She should have calmed down when there was no retaliation, the woman not denying her claims, simply letting her vent.
Instead, the silence simply angered her more.
"Who do you think you are?! You are not my mother! You are not my parent, you don't have to follow me around making sure I don't trip up. None of you do! I'm not your responsibility! I'm not your daughter! I'm not some second prize, I'm not yours to wrap in cotton wool and baby! Don't think you can try and protect me when you failed before - I am not Sophia!"
As Faye stopped, the last words particularly harsh, she was breathing heavily. Only as she looked up did she see Daryl stood by the door, staring from her to Carol.
"Fuck you guys." She hissed under her breath.
With that, Faye stormed out the room.
Merle's cackles echoed through the cell block.
Daryl knew, from the moment Merle ripped away his shirt to reveal his scars, that he had made a mistake leaving the prison.
A crucial mistake. A mistake he needed to fix.
Leaving Rick? Rick didn't need him, he could have T-Dog and Glenn as his right hand men. The prison would manage without him.
Leaving Carol? That was a little harder. But still, this was for his brother, right? His blood! That was what matters, that was what he'd grown up knowing, at least. Carol was his friend, but she was mature, she'd get over it.
Leaving Faye? There lay the problem.
Thirteen year-old, black hair, green eyes, ever so slightly shorter than Carl, never had a Mom, Faye Robbins. Faye Robbins, who wasn't the brightest spark, who was easily influenced, who used a knife against walkers almost double her size and still wondered why they always fell on her. Faye Robbins, who didn't give a damn about who he was before.
Faye Robbins, who had somehow ended up making Daryl Dixon care.
The girl never judged him. As far as she was concerned, he had been her knight in shining armour who had saved her from being alone in the woods. Everything he did had been fascinating, he could do no wrong.
And quite frankly, although Daryl would never admit it out loud, he liked the attention.
He liked that she treated him with respect, that she went to him for advice, that she trusted him. She made him feel important. With Faye, he had a clean slate. She had no idea of all the shit he'd pulled, how he'd followed Merle around like a dog, how he'd been an asshole in general.
Alright, that wasn't completely true. She'd figured out when he went to 'chat' with Randall. It was only when Dale had said it to his face that Daryl realised Faye actually listened to him, actually noticed his actions. After that, he'd made an effort to watch his words around her. The old man had been right, the kid really did take in what they did, what they said.
And so, he reluctantly let her get close to him. He let her go hunting, and honestly, it was amusing to watch her struggle to pluck a bird. The girl had got the hang of it after a couple of winged creatures, but it was funny while it lasted.
But when someone else brought up his fondness, he got defensive. Faye or no Faye, Daryl was still a Dixon. Dixon's were tough, Dixon's didn't care about the life of a little girl, or show it at the very least.
When Glenn used it against him? Daryl had not been in the mood.
"What about Faye? You can't think she'll just accept you going. You're completely fine with leaving her?" The man had protested, his walking pace fast to match Daryl's.
No, he wasn't, but she was in good hands. "She'll be fine. You guys can look after her." Or rather, they better look after her, 'cause if he found her alone in the forest again, he didn't know what he would do.
Unfortunately, Glenn just had to keep pushing it. "Oh, yeah? She barely listens to Carol, let alone the rest of us."
That part was true. Carol was trying to fill in the motherly role for Faye, but it didn't seem to be working. The girl didn't have any experience of having a Mom to look after her, and, at first, she seemed to be experimenting with whether she liked it or not. As of late, however, she seemed to reject the role. A father, though? That she got along with.
That was when another realisation hit Daryl, he was playing the part of father. Him. Like a Dad. That was an odd thing to swallow.
But still, he was Faye's kind-of-unwilling-but-fine-with-continuing father figure. And he was ditching her. Another reason to stay.
Glenn continued. "You're the one she bothers listening to, she'd do anything you asked!"
"Yeah, and I didn't ask for that!" There it was, the defence.
"Oh, please! You love the attention she gives you! That girl treats you like your a God!" Glenn hissed back. It was strange to see someone else sticking up for Faye, it was usually him or Carl.
This time, though? He was the one standing against her.
His reply was a snap. "Whatever! I didn't ask 'er to follow me 'round like a lost puppy! I don't gotta care, she ain't my blood! Well, guess what, Merle is. I'm goin'."
And that was that.
When he finally returned to the prison, he wasn't exactly expecting the girl to run into his arms, 'cause that kid knew how to hold a grudge and hold it good, but it was still disappointing when she didn't.
But that was nothing compared to seeing her lying limply on the bed as Hershel removed the bullet fragments from her skull, her skin pale from blood loss. At first, he was going to lash out, wondering why the adults had let it happen, because he had put her life in their hands. Then came the third realisation, that her life should have been in his hands. He hadn't been there to tell her that, no, walking around in a field while a psycho was trying to kill your group was a bad idea, and idea that could get you killed. It damn well nearly killed her, too.
Faye awoke, though, living and breathing. However, every time he went to check on her, she was asleep - or pretending to be, unconvincingly.
That was when he knew for sure that the girl was angry, not that Carol had told him otherwise. Even Andrea made a point about him leaving, giving him a quick glare as she wished for the girl to 'stay safe'. He had been guarding the door, after all, Andrea was with the Governor and the Governor had shot Faye.
And then, the final straw turned out to be Carl.
Daryl had awoken early, like always, to find the boy stood in the doorway, dressed to go on the run Rick had promised to make. He must have been working up the courage to talk to the hunter, and the man ended up starting the conversation.
"What is it, kid?"
He blinked, maybe having expected himself to make an entrance, before speaking. "This has to be quick, because I'm leaving soon, but I wanted to talk to you."
Raising an eyebrow at the boy's strangely firm tone - he would certainly turn out like Rick, in the end - he gestured to the boy to continue.
"I want you to fix things with Faye."
It was then Daryl's turn to blink. "What?"
"Talk to Faye." Carl simplified.
"Why?" The man replied cautiously, unsure where the child was going. "What's it got to do with you?"
"Because she's my best friend and you're making her unhappy." He said, crossing him arms. "So will you do it? I have to go."
Daryl agreed. In all honesty, it wasn't a great feeling to have her acting like he didn't exist. Even if things couldn't be like before, he owed it to the girl to try.
And, of course, it was no use irritating the leader's - unstable leader as it may be - son.
So, later that day, he had headed back into the cell block with the intentions of trying to talk to the child.
That would have been easier, however, had she not been shouting at Carol when he walked in. It didn't help that Merle's expression was suspiciously smug.
"No one cares! If a walker walked in here, it wouldn't stop and think 'Hey! I won't attack her, she has stitches in her head!'. I'd get eaten anyway! It doesn't matter who you are anymore! The Governor didn't give a crap, and neither would anyone else." Faye shouted.
Carol said nothing in reply, and for a moment, it seemed like Faye would stop when the woman didn't fight back. Unfortunately, it only seemed to fuel her more.
"Who do you think you are?! You are not my mother! You are not my parent, you don't have to follow me around making sure I don't trip up. None of you do! I'm not your responsibility! I'm not your daughter! I'm not some second prize, I'm not yours to wrap in cotton wool and baby either! Don't think you can try and protect me when you failed before - 'cause I am not Sophia!"
That must have been a harsh blow for Carol, who still said nothing. Daryl looked from the seething child to the strangely quiet woman, only to have Faye meet his gaze for a second. Muttering something undoubtedly rude under her breath, Faye stormed from the room.
Then, there was nothing but silence and Merle's cackles.
Once the girl had disappeared from sight, Daryl finally spoke. He doubted Faye would have said any of that normally without someone sparking her off, and he also doubted it had been Carol.
"The hell you say to her?" He demanded, prowling down the steps, eyes never leaving his brothers. "Thought it didn't need to be said that ya mind your own business."
"You wound me, little brother!" He said, tone mocking. "Didn't tell 'er nothin' but truth."
The younger Dixon scowled. "And what would that be?"
"That no one gives a shit if she's a lil' girl, she best do somethin' or die." Daryl felt like punching the smirk off his brother's face, but restrained himself. The number of times he had felt that before were uncountable.
He took a hard step towards Merle. "The fuck you do that for?"
"Ya'll got me doin' jack shit in 'ere, gotta make my own entertainment. And, man, little brother, that girl there is damn funny when she's pissed."
"Just back off, 'kay?! Don't need none a your shit right now."
"What ya gonna do, Darylina? Follow me 'round all day so I don't annoy ya folks?" He taunted, not bothering to stand up even then.
"Just piss off, alright?" Daryl strided towards the cells. "I've got this crap to deal with now."
Merle leaned forward on his one hand. "Leave 'er, Daryl. She ain't ya problem, ain't ya daughter. Got no Dixon blood in 'er."
He'd had enough of hearing that lately.
For once, he ignored his brother and chose to find the little girl from the woods.
Author's Notes:
Sorry it's a day late! I was really ill yesterday and would rather have the chapter a day late than be full of gibberish. I hope I made up for it with the longest chapter yet!
So, I have several questions about what you think of the chapter!
1) Did you like the Daryl POV? Was it too long or did I ramble a bit? I really enjoyed writing that part, I might have gotten carried away XD
2) Did I write the characters well? I'm never fully sure whether I'm writing the Dixon's accents correctly, and I'm not even sure where Faye is from. I'm kinda hoping her accent is kind of neutral. Does that make sense?
3) As requested, there was the little hat scene with Faye and Carl. Did you like the way that was written?
Anyway, next chapter will be up sometime in the weekend.
Please review, I love to hear your thoughts and advice.
Thanks.
Cobalt Flame.