The Saints

Chapter 8

Daryl swore as Beth fell into his arms, her body weak from the loss of blood. "Get her outta here, I got clean up," Merle told him as he started to look over the bodies. Greenly, Dolly, and Duffy were on their way to help him.

Daryl nodded his head and followed Connor back down to the car, keeping his eyes on Beth. As long as she was still breathing they were okay. "Beth?" He carefully got into the back of the car, holding her as Connor sped away from the hotel and headed back to Merle's calling up Smecker and Bloom. Beth slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Gotta stay with me, sweet girl," he told her, moving her hair from her face.

"Weren't supposed to come," she said softly, letting her eyes close again, wincing as pain went through her. "Should'a stayed away."

Daryl smiled a bit. "C'mon, you know me better than that," he teased. He sighed and held on as Connor all but drifted the car. "You wanna watch what you're doin'?" he snapped.

"How about you fuckin' drive next time?" Connor snapped.

They glared at each other through the rear view mirror before sighing, Connor looking back at the road and Daryl back at Beth. Tensions were running high for everyone. Both boys cared about Beth and they were both worried. Daryl glanced up as Connor pulled the car to a stop back at Merle's. Smecker and Bloom were waiting for them. Connor opened up the door as Daryl carefully got out with Beth. "See, we're gonna get you patched up," he told her as he carried her inside.

"Put her on the table, boys," Smecker told them as he and Bloom pulled on a pair of gloves. Daryl gently laid Beth out on the table and stepped aside so Bloom could start working on her. "Alright, let the lady work; let me see what we're dealing with here." Smecker forced the boys into chairs as he started to work on their wounds.

"How is she?" Daryl asked, looking over at Beth who looked like she'd passed out. He winced when Smecker dug around for a bullet in his skin.

Bloom sighed and pulled out the tools she would need to stitch up Beth. "She's just passed out, don't you worry your pretty Irish head." She looked at Daryl and smiled. "It's not fatal, she'll be okay."

Daryl sighed a breath of relief and let his head fall back on his shoulders. He wasn't sure what he would have done if she'd died. Connor was right, things were complicated now. He loved Beth, he wasn't stupid enough to think that it was anything else. He knew what it was. The problem was that he knew he couldn't tell her that. He couldn't ask her to live this life where she would be in constant danger. Hell, he didn't even want this life half the time. "You boys wanna tell us what happened?" Smecker asked.

Connor rubbed his face and grabbed a few beers from the fridge, passing them around as Daryl gently picked up Beth and carried her down the hall to the bedroom, laying her out on the sheets. He sighed and kissed her head as he tucked her in. God, he was going to miss her when he had to say goodbye. He slowly walked out of the room and made his way back to the kitchen. "So, we went in, guns blazin'." Connor was telling them what happened. "We hadn't known she'd been shot until after."

Smecker sighed and rubbed his face. "I think you two better get out of the country, go back home for a bit. The sooner the better."

"I'm not leaving until I talk to Beth." Daryl wasn't going to just disappear on her. Not after everything he'd put the poor girl through. He was an ass, but he wasn't that much of one. He sighed and rubbed his face. "I can't leave until I talk to her."

Connor nodded his head. "Aye, he's right. We brought her into this, she deserves an explanation and to know what's going on."

Bloom sighed and crossed her arms, looking at Smecker. "Alright, say goodbye to your girlfriend, we're going to start making arrangements to get you out of the country by the end of the week." Daryl nodded his head and got up, taking his beer and going back to Beth's room. He pulled up a chair and sat in it, content to wait all night for her to open those baby blues. God, why did his chest hurt so much?

…

Beth's whole body felt like it was on fire and there was a throbbing in her head that felt like she was standing too close to a speaker system at a Bon Jovi concert. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She was back in the spare room at Merle's house. She tried to remember how she'd gotten there. The last thing she really remembered was the hotel room with the Italians and the Russians. A sharp pain in her side had the memory coming back. Daryl and Connor and Merle had all come for her, and they'd all been shot, she'd been shot. She slowly looked around and saw Daryl, asleep in a chair he'd pulled up beside the bed.

Her heart melted a little. How could it not? She knew Daryl blamed himself for everything that had happened to her, but she didn't blame him. Not for any of it. He and his brother had risked their own lives, three times now to save her. It just made her love him even more. She reached over slowly and tapped his shoulder. "Daryl?" she called out softly, not wanting to scare him. He groaned a little and rolled his head on his shoulder, cracking his neck. Beth smiled and looked at him. "Hey there."

"How're you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm sore, but I'm okay." She blushed a little and hid her eyes behind her hair, looking down at her lap. "Uhm, thank you, you know, for coming to get me."

Daryl reached over and tilted her chin up, forcing her to look at him. He gave her that sad, puppy dog smile. "I'll always come for you."

Beth stared at him as butterflies created a whirlwind inside her tummy and she licked her lips slowly, staring at his. She didn't know who moved first, didn't care. One minute they were staring at each other, the next they were kissing. She loved the way he tasted, like cheap beer and cigarettes. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers flirting with the ends of his hair at his nape. He moaned into the kiss and moved so he was kneeling on the bed, his hand cupping her fact, the other wrapping around her good hip. They pulled away slowly, looking at each other.

She smiled and rested her head against his. "I think I might love you," she whispered, not caring about the fear of rejection that was threatening to swallow her up.

He chuckled a bit and picked her up gently. "Good, cause I think I might love you too." He carried her out to the kitchen where Connor was smoking and drinking with Agent Smecker and Agent Bloom, there were three cops there and Merle was back too.

"How's the patient?" Merle asked as Daryl gently set her on the table.

"I'm okay." She smiled and picked up a piece of pizza, not caring that it's about all she'd been eating since everything had started. "Thanks, by the way." She looked at Connor and Merle.

Both of them nodded their heads before Smecker sighed. "We've got a plane ready to take you back to Ireland. It leaves tomorrow morning at three."

Beth tensed and looked at Daryl. They were leaving? Going back to Ireland? He laced his fingers with hers and nodded his head a bit. He knew she didn't want him to leave her. "I'm not goin', you know as well as I do that another boss is gonna come along and come after Beth. I ain't leaving her unprotected."

Bloom smiled a little and pulled out three fake passports. "We figured as much." She slide them over and with shaking hands Beth slowly picked up the one that had her name on it.

She didn't know what to say, what to do. Everything was happening so fast. The only thing she was sure of was that she loved Daryl and she really didn't want to be separated from him. "She can't come to Ireland," Daryl muttered. "The hell she gonna do there?"

Beth looked up at him and cupped his face in her hands, kissing him. She smiled and shook her head. "You're not going without me." She put the passport back down and looked at Connor. "I'll go to Ireland."

Connor sighed and nodded his head, taking a long drag from his cigarette. "Aye, Ireland it is."