Title - Bodies And Souls Collide
Chapter title - Revealing A Weakness
Author - OblivionsGarden
Genre - Hurt/Comfort/Romance/Family/Horror
Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead in anyway shape or form. I only own the plot points surrounding my oc's, not recognized from the show or comics.
Chapter Word Count - 2262 words.

A/n - Please leave a review, I'd greatly appreciate it. Hope you enjoy, xx (:

"Everyone's parents screw them up somehow, right?" Teddy laughed at Daryl's open mouthed expression. "He was young when he met my mom, Molly. He hadn't even started at the academy yet. From what I heard from her, they broke up before she found out she was pregnant with me... He was around for the first seven or so years and he was great too. He used to teach me about 'good music' and sing at the breakfast table with me. Then Mom moved to live with her Aunt and dad was supposed to follow us a few weeks later. He never showed up and I never saw him again."

She was missing out chunks of the story but Daryl didn't need to hear it all. He didn't need to hear about how her mother raised her, about the school she had been sent to or why she ran away at sixteen. Daryl didn't say anything for a while as he finished his food but then he nodded. He knew from the nonchalant way she told him that little snippet that it hurt her more than she would admit.

"Everyone's parents screw them up."

"Did you know about the barn?" Shane was marching toward Teddy, fists clenched and nostrils flared.

"What about the barn?"

"Did you know that Hershel has been keeping walkers in there?"

Teddy stopped cutting the wood she was half way through, leaving the axe stuck in the top of the stump. She turned to fully face Shane, searching his face for any sign that this was a joke. She found none.

"Why would he do that?"

"You didn't know." Not a question, a statement. Shane nodded once and left.

Teddy hurried inside the house to find Hershel but found Maggie and Beth instead. They were both wearing the same wide eyed expression when she came through the door.

"Why is he keeping them in there? You have to know it's not safe, surely!"

"Our family is in there, Teddy." Beth's voice was soft as she stepped towards her best friend. "Daddy thinks there might be a way to help them, that they're still in there somewhere."

"Beth, you know that's bullshit."

"And you know I don't tolerate that kind of language in my house, much less around my daughters."

Teddy turned to face Hershel with a pleading look. "Hershel, you can't keep them in there. How many do you have?" Hershel didn't answer and Teddy made a noise of distress. "You keep putting more in there and soon enough the barn walls won't hold them. And when they get out and come to the house they will get in and people will die. You don't want that."

"You talk about them like they're animals!" Hershel shouted and Teddy flinched. He had never raised his voice to her before, even at her toughest times. "My wife is in that barn and my son."

"They are not them anymore." Teddy gave him a pitying look as she moved for the door. "It's not safe to keep them in there."

Teddy continued to try and persuade the rest of the family that it wasn't safe but they were all firmly stood with Hershel. Beth and Maggie knew the reality of the situation but they were not about to go against their father.

Beth tried to distract her by mentioning the old friendship bracelets they used to have. She rubbed her wrist and said she wished she still had it and Teddy had smirked and disappeared for the afternoon, grabbing a hammer and some pliers on her way out. Beth didn't like manipulating her but she needed to distract Teddy from the whole mess of a situation. She would've preferred if Shane were the one to leave for the day but there was no getting to that meat head. Instead she tried her best to keep everyone else calm.

Teddy returned in the late afternoon with two bracelets. She had found one of the cars on the highway and torn out some of the wiring. A yellow wire, white wire and black wire. She braided the three together and knotted the ends. She'd walked on until she'd found some change in another car. She used the hammer to smooth out two coins, used her knife to carve a 'B' and a 'T' on each one. She headed back to the farm, found a sharp tool that she had no idea what it was used for and forced a hole through each coin and attached them to the wires.

"Here," She pulled Beth's arm to her and slipped on the bracelet. "I got mine too."

"Thanks." Beth smiled, fiddling with the little coin. She looked back up at Teddy who was already frowning again and realized the distraction hadn't worked. "I don't think Shane is going to wait any longer."

"We can handle Shane, don't worry about him."

"I don't think-"

Shouting interrupted them, coming from the barn. They turned to look, spotting most of the group gathered around Shane, Hershel and Rick. Teddy reached for her belt, ensuring her gun was still safely tucked there before taking off towards the angry voices, Beth right behind her.

When they arrived she saw the walkers on the floor, cattle herding tools around their necks. She shook her head deciding it was too late to find answers now and focused on Shane who was ranting and raving as he shot the lock off the barn door.

Teddy paused as the other began shooting the walkers. She turned to Beth, blood rushing by her ears, heart thudding loud in her chest. Beth's eyes were wide, full of tears, knowing that her brother and step mom would be coming out soon.

"Bethy." Teddy caught her attention. "Don't look."

She waited until Beth was stood with Hershel and Maggie, tucking her head behind Maggie's shoulder to shield her view. When she was sure she couldn't see Teddy turned back, taking aim and making sure no one else would get bitten. She saw Annette and Shawn go down and bit the inside of her cheek hoping to god that Beth hadn't looked over Maggie's shoulder.

The following silence had the overwhelming way of making it feel like all noise had stopped forever. Teddy looked at what was left of the Greene family, sobbing and clinging to each other. She stepped closer but then stopped herself. They didn't need her right now, just each other.

"Sophia?"

Carol's broken, quiet voice brought Teddy's attention back to the barn where she saw that shy little girl making her way into the sun light. She saw Carol's expression, heard her cries and saw Daryl holding her back. She aimed at Sophia, had her finger on the trigger but at the last second it seemed that she was looking at her. Just like she had looked at her back at the camp when she quietly asked if she could braid her hair. Her hand shook, gun lowered and Rick was at her side. He took the shot, ended her suffering.

Teddy wasn't usually the type of girl to be at a loss for words. She rambled when she as nervous, she rambled when she was happy, she rambled when she was pissed. She like to talk and so talk she did but after the events at the barn, seeing that little girl... She couldn't think of a single thing that felt right to say. To herself, to Carol, to the Greene's or to anyone.

She let the family have their time alone and left Carol to mourn as she had been denied of for so long. She didn't know where to go or who to talk to until she saw Carl, sat alone beneath a tree. She made her way over slowly to him, sitting beside him.

"I wanted to find her." He said with tears staining his cheeks. "I wanted to be the one to find her and bring her home."

"I know, sweetheart. I'm so sorry."

She slipped her arm around his shoulders, pulling him to her chest. She let him cry, kissed his head and stroked his hair. She wondered if this was what it would've been like to have been around him all the time. To have been his big sister as she always should have been. She would've loved to see him as a baby, all fat and squirming. She would've been happy to help take care of him, even when it came to changing his diaper. She would've been happy to have her family.

"Hey." Rick's tired voice pulled her from her thoughts and Carl pushed himself up, wiping his eyes. "How are you, bud?"

"Ok." Carl shrugged as Teddy gave his shoulder a squeeze, not quite ready to let him go just yet.

"Your mom is worried about you. Why don't you go and let her know that you're alright?"

Carl took the hint and left, leaving Teddy to talk to Rick. She shook her head with a sigh, climbing to her feet.

"You need to deal with Shane, Rick." She began. "He's out of control. That scene at the barn yesterday? There are better ways to handle that kind of things, ways that don't include traumatizing families and children."

"I know and I will deal with Shane but that's not why I came to talk to you." He looked off, glancing briefly at the barn before he turned back to her. "You act like none of this bothers you but I saw you yesterday. When Sophia came out of that barn you couldn't do it."

"Forgive me for not finding it easy to shoot a child in the face."

"That's not what I meant! For gods sake Teddy why do you hate me so much?"

"Because you never came!" She shouted, the anger and frustration of the past few weeks catching up to her in a sudden wave. "Mom moved us and you were supposed to meet us there and you never fucking came!" She didn't noticed that some of the group had turned to watch and listen to them. "I was seven, Rick! I needed my daddy and you weren't there!"

"You're daddy?" Laurie had heard everything, heading to the house to get Carl some food. "He's your... She's your daughter?"

"Laurie..."

Teddy left Rick to explain himself, embarrassed when she realized almost everyone had heard her outburst. She headed into the house, finally deciding to check on Beth. Patricia was sat in the kitchen and she found herself hesitating in the doorway. Again, she didn't know what to say to her. She met her eye for a moment but remained silent and so she turned away and headed back outside. She couldn't bring herself to think about what she would do if Beth wouldn't talk to her too.

She spent the morning out in the forest, her intention being to hunt to take her mind off everything but in reality she was just wondering in circles until Daryl found her. They headed back together, taking a seat in Daryl's camp away from everyone else. They didn't really speak and Teddy was grateful for that. She was just starting to straighten things out in her head when Maggie came rushing over to tell her that Beth had collapsed.

She was up and running to the house in less than a second, taking the stairs two at a time until she was at Beth's side. No one knew what had happened, Rick and Glenn were going to find Hershel. She didn't know if it was some kind of shock or something else entirely but Beth was unresponsive.

Teddy and Maggie took turns to stay with her, never wanting her to be alone in case she needed someone. It was well into the evening, the sky lit only by the moon and stars when Teddy headed outside to catch her breath. Sitting and staring at Beth in that state felt like it was suffocating her, like if she stayed too long she be trapped in that room forever.

As she walked she overheard Laurie and Daryl's conversation, or rather argument and saw the woman head out on her own. She went to Daryl's camp, the one place where she could be alone without actually being alone.

"How's Beth?" He asked when she sat down beside him.

"Still hasn't said a word. She's just laying there." Teddy ran a hand over her face, feeling the exhaustion of the last two days beginning to catch up to her. "You're wrong by the way."

" 'Bout what?"

"We don't think of you as just some errand boy. You're part of the family. The entirely screwed up, dysfunctional family. Whether you like it or not."

Daryl didn't say anything, just thought on her words for a while. The only family he had ever had was Merle. His mom died when he was young and he would die before he admitted he was related to the asshole he was forced to call dad. All he really had was Merle. Now he was gone too.

If Daryl was truly honest with himself he didn't mind Teddy calling him family. She was the one who came closest to understanding him even when she knew next to nothing about him. The others he wasn't sure about. They were all kinds of fucked up. There was only one other that he felt he could become close to, if he could let himself.

"Hey, you should try and talk to Rick. Properly, I mean. He ain't a bad guy."