Just a heads up, I will be playing around with the story line a bit, while some scenes you may recognize, they might happen at a later time, or earlier, and some characters may be alive (or dead) and you might not notice it very much in this chapter but the next chapter and the following ones you will. Hope no one minds...it is AU after all!

...

She wasn't sure how long she had been on her own when he found her, her clothes tattered and covered in mud and the blood of the dead and her skin so covered from the elements that he had thought her to be another one of them, nearly slicing her head off before she skidded to a halt, one foot slipping beneath the mud of her boot and causing her to drop down to one knee just as the blade from his knife went swooshing in the open space where her throat had been mere seconds before.

She called it clumsiness.

He called it luck.

Neither of them spoke about becoming a team but neither protested it when they still found themselves fighting together a few days later. She was still pretty weak, her injured wrist not having a chance to heal properly from having been sealed and opened back up too many times when she had to fight against the creatures trying to kill her. He was healthy - as healthy as he could be in this world at least - but he didn't mind the advantage of someone having his back, said that after being alone for so long it was nice having someone to talk to again as well.

He never told her about his past but she told him about hers and after taking shelter in an abandoned fire station for nearly a week - allowing her arm to finally heal up properly, well for the most part, at least - he began to lead her in the direction of the Greene farm, surprising her by telling her they were nearly a five days walk away.

It was in the beginning of day two that the endless patience he seemed to have finally stripped away and he stopped walking with a sigh, shaking his head in annoyance.

"Can't do this shit anymore, kid." he muttered.

Beth's heart immediately sank, the knowledge of knowing her family was that much farther away again. Before she could speak up though, to at least ask him to show her the kindness of pointing her in the right direction, he spoke up again, this time his voice still annoyed but she heard just a hint of playfulness.

"Yer steps are too damn loud. We'll be goin' through mostly forest and with the way you're stomping through the woods we'll have every dead walking followin' us."

"I, um, oh." she stammered out, unsure what to say to that because she hadn't even realized that there was a 'quieter' way to walk than what she had been doing.

He smirked at her confusion. "You're walking too much with your feet." he said then and she was, of course, more confused at his explanation but she had noticed early on that he wasn't much for stating the facts, instead offering you some sort of strange riddle and then showing you how it made sense.

She watched fervently as he explained how to move her legs and her feet, how to balance her weight so that she was putting less pressure on the ground, causing less of a noise and she picked it up rather quickly, like he told her he assumed she would, and as they then continued on their trek after his lesson, she immoderately noticed the difference, how she barely heard a sound as they made their way closer to her home, closer to her family.

They were quiet for a few more hours before he spoke again, his voice rough from the copious amounts of cigarettes she watched him light up. She wasn't sure how but he seemed to have an endless supply, even shoving a few crumpled packs into her hands before they had left, telling her to stow them away in her own bag in case something were to happen to his.

"Somethin' else I want ya to work on. You need to look where yer goin', payin' close attention to yer surroundings. Just like with yer feet, you're lookin' too much with your eyes. Gotta use those other senses. Gotta feel as much as ya look. Two nights ago, when that herd passed by the station ya told me ya couldn't sleep, said ya had a strange feelin' in your stomach, almost like ya were gonna be sick, remember?"

She nodded her head, grimacing as she remembered the way she felt so uneasy, how her stomach had all twisted up inside, just like the one time Maggie had dragged her along to the town fair with the ruse of spending time with her - only to be shoved a handful of ride tickets and a few bucks cash as Maggie dashed away with some boy, her new month fling, and Beth had ate too much cotton candy and pretzels and lemonade and by the time she rode the Ferris wheel for the third time, she had to stumble off and throw up in the garbage can. Yeah, she didn't like the feeling then and she sure didn't like it now.

"People call that instinct, a gut feelin', gut instinct, s'got alotta names really. S'why you get that tug right here," he explains, poking a finger lightly against her stomach. "Most people got it but most are too dumb to even realize it, let alone pay attention and listen to it. Ya got a good head on your shoulders kid, and from what I've gathered, a good judge of character and with that gut instinct of yours, you'll have no problem stayin' alive out here."

"Why are ya tellin' me all this?" she asked then, ignoring the way her cheeks were flaming because of all of his praise.

"Because I see what you don't. You're a fighter, kid, and a damn strong one at that. Just you wait, once we get ya back to your family, guarantee ya they won't even recognize ya. Just gotta have a little faith in yourself. Now let's get goin', we're losin' daylight." he said then and he picked up the pace a little, causing her to do the same, both of them barely making a sound.

He looked over his shoulder at her, giving her a grin as she glanced up at him. "Don't you worry kid, I'll make a survivor outta you, yet."

She had just grinned then, laughing quietly as she matched his strides and eight days later, when she would end up at her family farm, alone and with his blood on her hands, she would laugh again, at how wrong he had been. She let her anger fuel her as she looked at the run down place she used to call home, now abandoned and littered with the dead, some still even walking. All she saw was red and the feel of his blood on her hands as she slashed her way toward her home, killing every creature that was in her path.

When she killed every last one and stumbled her way into her old bedroom, just exactly as how she'd left it, she had broken down, crying out ragged, heaving sobs as she thought of the family she had lost and the blood of a good man now on her hands - no matter how hard she scrubbed she would always see his blood on her hands, the first man alive she had to kill. But, when morning light broke and she finally stopped crying, she heard his words in her head again.

She saw the burned down barn as something else, a distraction that had been made so that the cars that were now missing could flee. She saw the dead lying in the ground - the ones that had been ended before her rage had taken out the rest - were evidence of a battle that had been fought and she felt it then, that gut instinct. She felt it all the way through her bones.

Her family was alive, she just knew it.

So she restocked her bag, changed her clothes and wiped away her tears. With a mind set in motion, she vowed that she would never cry again, not until she found her family, safe and sound, just like she knew they were. She was a fighter, a survivor, he had taught her that and she wasn't going to offend the memory of him by doubting what he believed in so strongly.

She would find them. She just had to have a little faith.

It was her gut instinct that had her turning around, heading toward the sounds of the dead instead of away from it. There was a time she might have questioned it but the amount of times her instinct had prevailed, awarding her instead of damaging her, caused her to not think twice. When she came upon the scene in front of her she almost missed the man, the angel wings stiched on the back of his vest were what popped out at her and she had to consider it ironic. She finally finds an angel and now she has to be the one to save him.

She doesn't give the crossbow on the ground a second glance. She had only fired one once and the teacher of that lesson had been an arrogant asshole who doubted she could even lift the weapon, let alone shoot it - and boy, did she prove him wrong - and she was thankful that the owner had already had it pulled back in ready, that was one thing she had not been able to do, even if she did consider herself strong.

The man before her was clearly well trained and the dead dropped beside him like flies but it wasn't hard to realize that even with his strength and stamina, he was clearly out numbered. Just as one of the dead grabbed a hold of his arm, it's jaws getting way too close for Beth's liking she fired the arrow and smirked in approval of herself as it sailed right through the eye socket - a perfect shot.

She noticed the man hesitate slightly, obviously not having expected that but there was no time for him to look behind him because the dead were now beginning to circle him and as effective as he was at trying to hold them off she knew it wouldn't be long before he no longer had his back covered. Once again, it was her instinct that had her dropping the crossbow and swiveling around, pulling her knife out of her sheath at her hip as she threw herself against him, yelling out that she had him covered and together, almost like they had done it before, the two had finished off the small herd against them.

It was only after the threat of the dead had disappeared and she found herself gasping for breath, still pressed up against him that she now realized what other dangers were in store. She knew what this world had done to the men, giving them that sense of superiority that had never quite disappeared fully in the old world but was now back with a new vengeance. In this world, if you were a woman, you were just as worthless and helpless as a child and the men were all to eager to help you out, of course not with demanding something in return though.

This man had surprised her though, studying her in almost awe as they stood there, her in defense and him in curiosity. They were both guarded sure, but the man never made any move on her and she wasn't sure how, probably that gut instinct of hers, but no matter how dangerous and lethal this man appeared to be, she just knew that he wouldn't harm her. So she had answered his questions and when he had offered to let her follow him, to take her toward shelter and food and other survivors, she had hesitated.

She had been alone, truly alone for awhile now. It had been months since she had come across another survivor and she knew she could make it on her own, had been for some time now. All she had to do was picture Maggie or her Daddy, sometimes even Patricia and Otis, and even on the rare occasion, Jimmy would even pop into her head and she found that strength to push forward, to carry on and continue because she knew they were out there somewhere. She would find them.

Another part of her felt the slight tremble in her fingers though, the gnawing in her tummy as she tried to remember when the last time she had eaten was. Things had gotten real bad these past few weeks and if she were perfectly honest with herself, she wasn't sure how she was still standing at this point, let alone having just helped a stranger fight off the dead and was now stuck in a stare down with him, using a combination of her instinct and good judge of character to help her decide.

She ultimately found herself agreeing and she was pleasantly relieved when she didn't get that uneasy feeling in her stomach as she began to follow the man in the angel winged vest.

Her savior, Daryl Dixon.

She almost snorted at the thought. She barely knew this man yet he wasn't that hard to read and she had a feeling that if she had voiced her statement out loud the man would either glare at her or look at her like she was crazy, maybe even both. He sure as hell wasn't a people person, that much she could tell and with the way he kept glancing back at her, both seeming confused and intrigued she couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about her.

She thought things would have been silent the whole way to this place he mentioned but he surprised her, asking her what her name was and she had been so cautious at first. It had been a long time since she had spoken her name, most of her encounters with the remaining human population were never pleasant enough to go about exchanging names and life stories. But all it took was for her to notice how her stomach was still settled, still no warning bells going off that had her telling him and boy, didn't that change things.

That was how she found herself standing at the edge of the forest, a named stranger by her side and an ominous prison in front of her, claiming to house her long-lost family. He began to walk forward again, only allowing her the small moment to observe the building in front of her and even though her stomach was still peachy keen, the survivalist in her couldn't help herself and she suddenly saw herself being led to a prison, of all places, by a man who could definitely play the role of a criminal and she found herself stopping again, her hand immediately going to her knife and when he notices he turns around, arching an eyebrow in question as he takes in her defensive stance.

"How do I know this isn't a trap?" she asks, eyeing him warily, waiting for his next move.

His eyes narrow. "How the hell else would I know all 'bout your family and the farm if I was lyin'?" he questions and she ignores his logic because she knew he was right, it made no sense if this was just some made up ruse to get her to follow him. He watches her and then sighs when she makes no argument, his eyes rolling slightly. "'Sides, don't cha think if I wanted to do somethin' to ya I woulda done it back when I had ya all alone?"

That had her sighing and her arm relaxing back at her side. Men were greedy but they were also selfish. She unfortunately knew firsthand that if a man was in a group but didn't want to share her, well, he would have found ways to shut her up and keep her to himself - of course, that man ended up with a slashed throat and kick in the groin but it still didn't belittle the fact. The man in front of her frowned, as if he knew what she was thinking and didn't like it.

She nodded her head and then the man did as well, turning back around and beginning to lead them closer toward the gate. She admired the scene in front of her, the fences and the traps set up around the outer prison gates and she couldn't help but think of how safe these people must feel here. Just the thought of stepping into that field between the fences and the building had here near smiling with relief - she couldn't imagine what being inside a concrete building with iron bars for safety must be like.

"Jus' stay close to me," Daryl says lowly, his eyes darting around to make sure none of the mingling dead came too close.

"These people you told me about, how they gonna feel about you bringin' in a stranger?" she asks quietly, her own eyes carefully watching the surroundings.

Beth can't help but think of the last person she had trusted, who she had invited into her camp. She knew from the moment she met him he was gonna be trouble but she was in bad shape and so was he, both of them needed someone to watch their back, even if they were both reluctant. Things had been okay for the short while they were together though, and when she woke up alone that morning she hadn't been the least bit surprised that he had taken off, taking nearly all of the supplies with him but it was the the fact that he had left some of it behind. She knew he wasn't a good person, he had told her just as much when they first ran into each other but the fact that he hadn't left her with nothing told her that somewhere, maybe deep down somewhere, he had some good still left in him.

"They're good people," he assures her, quickly glancing her way and giving her small nod. "Even so, they know just what the world has done ta people, just like you seem to. They won't be so quick ta trust but, you ain't exactly a stranger now either, are ya?" he asks then and she suddenly didn't have anything else to say, just giving him a nod of her own when he looked back at her.

The first person she saw inside the gates was a young boy - no older than thirteen she guessed with shaggy brown hair and wearing a sheriff's hat, she noticed once she got closer - and he seemed to do a double take when he noticed her walking up beside Daryl as he began to pull on a rope, opening up a section of the gate. She followed after Daryl as he hurried inside and then she stood awkwardly to the side as he moved to help the boy close the gate just as a few of the dead began to stumble closer. Once the door was closed the boy once again glanced over at her and she found herself looking back at him curiously.

"Ya know, when ya said you were goin' huntin' I was expectin' you to come back with some meat, not a pretty girl," the boy speaks up in what could only be called as playful cockiness and Beth smiles, feeling her cheeks warm regardless.

Daryl snorts a laugh. "Easy there, Romeo. This girl will tear ya apart. Helped me take down a small herd, was damn near a goner 'fore she showed up."

If Beth wasn't blushing before she sure was now and before she could say anything, either to address the way the boy was looking at her in disbelief, or the way Daryl was looking at her in reluctant awe, another voice spoke up, a feminine voice that was coated with relief and Beth turned around to see an older woman walking towards them, her hair short and gray and a shot gun slung over her shoulder and Beth didn't even realize it when her hand had moved to rest on her knife again.

"Daryl, you're back!" the woman says with a smile, only for it falter once she realizes that there is another person with them. "Who's this?" she asks warily.

"She saved Daryl's ass!" the boy says with a giggle and he narrowly misses Daryl's hand as he reaches out to swat him.

"Watch it, kid. Never said that." he grumbled, glaring at the kid.

"But you just -," he begins to say just as Beth speaks up.

"I don't know, I wouldn't say ya were exactly winnin' before I showed up," Beth teases and this time the man's glare is trained on her and instead of being intimidated she can't help but notice how blue his eyes are.

There is a moment of silence between the group - no one really knowing what to say to that - and finally the woman speaks up, her smile returning as she turns her eyes away from Daryl, looking at Beth again.

"Well, anyone who Daryl trusts is good in my book," she speaks and Beth wonders when it was exactly implied that Daryl actually trusts her, but then she thinks to how he had brought her back here, putting their home, his family, at risk and even if they didn't know her last name, she was sure the act alone spoke volumes for a man seeming as untrusting as Daryl.

"I'm Carol," the woman speaks up again and she sticks her hand out, offering it to Beth and she hesitantly places her hand in hers, shaking it lightly.

"Oh and I'm Carl!" the boy now standing beside her says, his grin bright and causing her own lips to curve into a smile.

"I'm Beth," she says and she tries not to let it get to her when she doesn't see a flash of recognition on either of their faces at the sound of her name, not that she was expecting it of course - these people weren't the family she has been going through hell to search for - but she at least hoped that Maggie had mentioned her enough for it to spur a hint of something.

They just smile at her though and she just smiles back, trying to keep her face neutral and it isn't until she glances over at Daryl and sees the look on his face that she begins to wonder if he knew what she was once again thinking. The woman pulls her hand away and Beth lets her own fall to her side once again, now deeming these people in front of her harmless at the moment.

"So, were ya plannin' on stickin' around here?" Carol asks then and if they notice the way Beth hesitates just slightly, they don't mention it, well, except for the slight quirk of an eyebrow that she notices from Daryl and she begins to wonder if the man actually could read her mind.

"I'm hopin' to," Beth says and gives her another - albeit smaller - smile.

The woman glances at Daryl then and Carl is just staring at her and just looks over at him, raising her eyebrow and he looks away and Beth can't help but smirk when she notices him begin to blush.

"Well c'mon then, let's get inside and meet everyone." Carol says cheerfully and then she looks at Beth again, her eyes roaming over her body and Beth stiffens. "But maybe, maybe it would be better if ya didn't bring in your weapons." she says then and Beth's breath catches in her throat.

Even though it was said politely, no hidden meaning behind that simple request, Beth can't help but suddenly feel cornered and she takes a step back, her hand grabbing her knife and when she feels herself knock into someone behind her, she almost turns around, ready to defend herself until she feels a pair of strong hands on her hips, keeping her in place and even though she had been half crazed with disbelief the last time she felt them, she knew they belonged to Daryl and she felt herself relax almost instantly.

"Easy," his rough voice murmurs quietly, only for her to hear and he speaks up to Carol. "Ain't gotta do that."

Carol seems hesitant but she nods after a brief moment, obviously trusting Daryl's judgement and when Beth feels Daryl's hand slip from her waist she glances over to him as he steps to stand beside her and she bites her lip but nods her head as well.

"As long as ya promise not to hold no knives ta anyone's throats again, I reckon it'll be alright," he says pointedly and she is surprised when she sees the faintest hint of a smirk on his lips and she hardly notices Carol's worried glance at Daryl's neck when he moves his eyes down to where Beth was unconsciously resting her hand on her knife again.

Before anyone can say anything else they are once again interrupted by another voice, a shout from closer toward the prison and Beth immediately recognizes it. Her heart beat seems to stutter and her breath leaves her lungs in a gasp and she finds herself stepping aside from the small group around her, angling around to get a glimpse of the woman stalking toward them.

"Carl! You're gonna make your mama go into early labor with ya always runnin' off now hurry up in get inside!"

Maggie is just how Beth remembers her, a little more dirty and definitely a bit more rough around the edges but when she looks at the brunette with striking green eyes - eyes that had been filled with such horror and sadness the last time she had seen them - she sees her sister. Her older, annoying sister who sometimes cared more about boys than she did about Beth but at the end of the day, she always knew that if it ever came down to it, Maggie would always pick her over them. At least she had thought so, now, she wasn't so sure. The world had changed people - Beth was a prime example of that - and she couldn't help but wonder just how much the world had changed her sister as well.

She saw the moment Maggie caught sight of her, shifting her gaze from Carl at her side up to the new face among the crowd. At first, she was certain Maggie didn't even recognize her with the way her gaze turned curious and cautious, cocking her head slightly and then she froze, her eyes nearly bulging out of her head and even though she was still a few feet away from them, Beth was certain she saw tears forming in those jade colored orbs.

"Beth?" her voice is merely a whisper, so much so that Beth is sure she doesn't actually hear her, instead just sees the way her mouth moves in shocked disbelief and she hears Daryl's words echo in her head.

Hell, I wouldn't even put it past Maggie ta go an faint or some shit.

"Beth!"

Maggie doesn't faint though, instead she propels herself forward, her feet slapping against the pavement and when she slams into Beth, her arms wrapping around her she has to put all her strength into bracing herself to keep them from tumbling down to the ground. Maggie is sobbing into her neck and she hears her voice. It's not possible, we thought ya were gone, it's a miracle. And even though Beth has her arms around her sister just as tightly, she can't help but feel numb, her eyes dry.

She isn't even sure when it happens but suddenly Maggie is pulling on her hand, tugging her along and her grip is so tight Beth has to hold back a wince. Things seem to pass by in slow motion as Maggie leads her into the prison, still crying and babbling hysterics the whole way and Beth barely pays attention to her surroundings until she suddenly finds herself in what appears to be a makeshift cafeteria, tables scattered throughout the room and a lot of unfamiliar faces staring back at her. Well, all but one.

She sees her Daddy sitting down, looking at them in concern - no doubt because Maggie was still blubbering - and when she see his eyes soften, in recognition at what he is looking at Beth can't help but smile. He looks a lot older than her did before, now with longer hair and a beard to match. She sees the pair of crutches propped up against the table beside him and it's only then that she looks down, finally noticing the reason why he hadn't come up to her like Maggie had.

"Oh, Daddy," she hears herself say and this time she is the one running forward, now pulling Maggie behind her - because she still hasn't let go of the death grip she has on her hand.

Beth all but collapses against him, breathing in his familiar smell and relishing in the arms now wrapped around her. She was finally home. And she was sure the three of them looked real silly all tangled up in limbs and Maggie was still crying - of course, though it seemed odd to her because she had always seen Maggie as the tough one - and she can hear her Daddy murmuring something in her ear - no doubt religious of course because even though she couldn't hear him over Maggie's sobs she just had a feeling - and she felt his tears on her neck and Beth was happy, truly happy, she was finally back with her family, after all this time but even with the feeling of Maggie and Daddy wrapped around her, holding her tight, she couldn't help but notice how it felt almost wrong, like something was off.

Beth had pictured her reunion with her family quite a few times. She always saw herself crying happy tears and her Daddy would be so grateful that she found her way back to him, and Maggie would be looking at her with this sort of awe because she would finally notice that her baby sister wasn't such a baby anymore. She expected "coming home" to them to feel more like, well, coming home. Like the summer she went to band camp for the first time and when she came home after four weeks away she had cried when she had finally come back home, so happy to be reunited with her family again.

This wasn't a reunion though.

They already had a grave for ya.

Maggie had said it herself, this was a miracle. Beth wasn't supposed to be alive right now. They had pegged her as dead the moment she got separated from Maggie. This wasn't the cries of rejoice for a lost girl finding her way home. No, instead they were sobs of shock, of surprise, at a girl returning from the dead. All this time she had imagined that her family would be proud of her, for fighting her way back to them, instead they were crying because they honestly had never thought she had survived.

Beth had made a promise to herself a long time ago. She would not cry anymore. At least not until she found her family again. Well, she had found her family, they had her wrapped up in their arms. They were crying, hell, Beth was pretty sure Maggie might even be hyperventilating at this point but as she wrapped her arms tighter around her Daddy's neck, she could only focus on one thing.

Beth Greene still didn't cry anymore.

...

Whew! This turned out a lot longer than I originally planned but I really wanted to get in that flashback at the beginning (and just a little note, the man Beth meets is just someone I made up and you will learn more about him later on...but he isn't the only person who will help her along in her journey...and a few of them will be a little more familiar *hint, hint, wink, wink*) and the next chapter should pick up where this one left off since I was planning on the reunion actually being much longer but Beth's thoughts just got away from me!

As always, thank you for reading and please, leave me a review! Any guesses on who Beth might have run into before she found Daryl? ;)