Title - Bodies And Souls Collide
Chapter title - Worriers
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 - 3648 words.

It felt strange, not seeing Daryl first thing in the morning. It had become a sort of routine between him, Beth and Teddy. Whoever was up first would make coffee or tea or just get some water. Whatever they had. They'd leave it in the cafeteria and head to wake the other two. Beth only needed a light shake to wake her, Teddy just a touch and Daryl... well the girls usually just kicked his feet until he grunted something unintelligible at them.

Beth found Teddy stood in the spot where Daryl usually slept with a frown on her face. She rested her hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"You ok?"

"I'm good. Just gonna miss kicking him, that's all."

Teddy chuckled a little and returned to the cafeteria, leaving Beth to sigh. The blonde could tell when Teddy was faking her happiness most of the time. It was her defense. Teddy used a smile and a laugh to cover up how she really felt. Sometimes she missed it but Beth was getting better at seeing through her facade. Or maybe the state of the world was making it harder to pretend.

"He didn't know you were coming last time and look what happened. You were almost killed. Daryl was captured. And you and Maggie were almost executed." Hershel was trying to talk Glenn out of going back to Woodbury.

"You can't stop me."

"Rick would never allow this."

"You really think he's in any position to make that choice?"

"Hey!" Teddy glared at Glenn, his face dropping when he realized his mistake.

"I didn't mean-"

"I know what you meant. He's doing his best... He's been through alot."

"We all have." Nodded Beth.

"Which is why you need to think this through clearly. T-Dog lost his life here. Lori, too. The men that were here. It isn't worth any more killing. What are we waiting for? If he's really on his way, we should be out of here by now."

Teddy stepped back to whisper to Beth. "Can I catch up from you later? I'm gonna go see where dad is." Beth nodded and so Teddy left the room, heading out to the courtyard to see if she could see where Rick had gone.

After a few minutes of looking around for him, Michonne approached her from the other side of the gate. She glanced over her shoulder before looking at Teddy with an unmistakable look of pity.

"You're looking for Rick?"

"You seen him?" Michonne nodded, looking back over her shoulder and pointing to where there was a small bridge that crossed the stream. Sure enough Rick was wondering around in a daze, that far away look in his eye again. "How long has he been there?"

"A while." Both women watched him for a moment as he raised his hand, touching something that wasn't there. "He keeps doing that."

"Could you keep an eye on him whilst you're out here. I'm trying to keep it calm in there."

"Sure."

With a quick thank you and one last look at her father, Teddy returned indoors.

"There was a baby!" Daryl shouted at his older brother, finally having enough of his shit after saving a family on the bridge.

"Oh, otherwise you would have just left them to the biters, then?"

"Man, I went back for you. Even Teddy went back for you. You weren't there. I didn't cut off your hand, neither. You did that. Way before they locked you up on that roof. You asked for it."

"Teddy never came back." Merle scoffed.

"She did. Got stuck in the next building over. She was still there when I got there the next day." Daryl was pacing, anger rising in his chest. "You know she asked me to apologize to you for not getting there quicker. She thinks that if she had, you'd still have your hand, never would've met the Governor and we wouldn't be out here right now."

"She thinks she's that special? Thinks she could've stopped all this?"

"She don't owe you no damn apology that's for sure. Everything that happened on that roof was your own doing."

"You know what's funny to me? You and Sheriff Rick are like this now. And with you're real tight with his daughter too... Does he know?" Merle was smirking down at his baby brother, trying his best to get under his skin.

"Know what?"

"That you're stickin' it to his little girl?"

"Man, I ain't doing nothing to her."

"Riiight? I bet you a penny and a fiddle of gold that you never told them that we were planning on robbing that camp blind."

"It didn't happen."

"Hey, what's going on? Where's Glenn going?" Teddy asked Hershel after hearing a commotion out in the courtyard.

"He's just going out there." Hershel sighed and turned to face her. "How's Rick doing?"

"Not good." Teddy gestured to where he still stood on the bridge over the stream. "He keeps caressing the air... Do you think you could try and talk to him? Nothing I say seems to be going in."

"I think it's about time." Hershel nodded and got himself upright on his crutches. "Get the gate for me, honey."

Teddy moved to let Hershel through, staying in the courtyard to keep an eye on everything. Michonne was still out there, occasionally glancing to Rick, which Teddy was grateful of. Carl was walking up and down the cage as Axel and Carol came out. Carol gave Teddy a warm smile as they stood a little way back from her.

She watched Rick and Hershel talk, leaning her forehead against the chain link. The summer heat was making her hair stick the to back of her neck and she reached up to tighten the hair tie. She was in half a mind to cut it short but the image of her at nine years old looking like a brunette Annie kept her far from the scissors.

"Come on, daddy." She murmured to herself. "I just got you back, don't leave us now."

A sudden explosion of noise startled her from her spot, her knee jerk reaction being to drop down behind one of the benches, using it as cover. From her position she could see Axel and Carol on the ground, blood coming from them. She swallowed roughly, pulling her gun from it's holster, peeking around to find the source of the shot.

"Teddy!" Carl shouted from his spot with Beth.

He pointed up to the guard tower and Teddy nodded, gesturing for him to stay low. She quickly darted out of her poor cover, firing three blind shots at the tower as she rushed towards Carl. She felt a dull ache in her left shoulder as she reached them, getting back under cover. From here she could see that Carol was still alive, struggling to grab her weapon without getting hit.

"Carol, stay low!" She shouted over the hail of gun fire "Are you two alright?" She asked of Carl and Beth, shocked when she saw their pale faces.

"Teddy, you're hit." Beth whimpered, pointing to her shoulder.

"Wha-" Looking down she finally saw the blood running down her arm. "Shit!" She reached up and felt the wound, by some stroke of luck, just missing anything too important. She felt around on the back of her shoulder too before nodding at her brother and best friend. "Just a flesh wound I think. Through and through so I should be fine. But we gotta get dad and Hershel back safely first."

"But you're bleeding shouldn't we-" Carl began but Teddy cut him off.

"Adrenaline is a hell of a drug, kid. I'll keep moving whilst I can."

"Beth! Here." Maggie came running out of the cell block, guns in hand. She handed one to Beth and one to Teddy before moving to cover Carol so she could run to safety. "Carol, go!"

Teddy ran between cover to get back to the fence to try and spot any sign of the others when a truck came crashing through the gate. Everyone watched in silence as the back of the truck opened and walkers began to spill out onto the field. The field where Hershel and Michonne were trapped.

Somewhere in the ensuing chaos, Maggie was able to take out the sniper in the guard tower, giving them more ability to get to the others. Teddy was aiming at the walkers until Hershel finally pulled his own gun, Michonne making her way towards him. When Glenn returned he went straight to help them, he and Michonne getting Hershel into the car and towards safety.

"Dad's still outside the fence." Teddy made to run for the gate but Beth stopped her.

"He's fine. Look... Daryl."

As Glenn pulled up, he, Michonne and Hershel getting out of the car, everyone stood looking down at the field. The fence was down, the walkers were in. What they'd worked so hard to make safe had been ruined in a matter of minutes.

Teddy looked to other side of the fence where Rick was stood, looking at his ruined home. Sure enough either side of him were Daryl and Merle. The Governor was gone, the fight for now was over and her adrenaline was quickly waning. She stumbled toward the gate, beckoning for the others to make their way in, raising her gun to cover them. Maggie joined her, taking out any walkers that got to close. There was no need to waste more bullets or make more noise.

Once the others were safe, Teddy slumped breathlessly to the ground, dropping the gun and lifting a hand to her wound. Her entire left arm was soaked in red and she grimaced as the dull ache finally started to throb. She rolled her eyes and looked up at Maggie.

"I liked this shirt too."

"Teddy?" Rick came running up, anxiety twisting his facial expression. "Hershel! Come on, sweetheart... I got you." Rick pulled Teddy to her feet, letting her lean all of her weight on him when she wouldn't let him carry her.

"It's just a flesh wound, I'll be fine."

The group headed back inside, Teddy dropping onto one of the chairs in the cafeteria and pulling her shirt over her head. She grimaced when she lifted her arms, thankful that she had always opted for a sports bra when they went on runs. She kept her shirt on her arms, up to her elbows. Rick still hadn't seen her scars, nor had anyone other than Beth, Hershel and Carl for that matter. She wasn't ready for that conversation yet.

Carol rushed out the medical supplies to Hershel, helping him clean Teddy's wound before he could patch her up properly. Rick was stood over them, watching Hershel work with his breath held. Carl was holding her hand, repeatedly asking her if she was ok. She could feel her head spinning and knew she needed something to focus on. She lifted her head, spotting Daryl pacing back and forth as he watched them.

"You Dixon's have impeccable timing." She smirked a little and Daryl stopped for just a moment before resuming his actions.

"You Grimes' have an impeccable way of bringing chaos to your doorstep." Merle returned her smirk, staying close to the door, out of the way of everyone else.

"Tell me something I don't know." Teddy winced, flinching from Hershel. "Like, how the hell did a sniper get into our guard tower without us noticing? And how did the rest of them just roll up? I was out there, I didn't see a damn thing."

"That's what he does, sugar. You won't see him until he wants you to... and that's when the trouble comes."

"I'm gonna take Axel out to the back." Glenn said, lowly. "Should be clear enough to bury him."

"I'll help." Carol grabbed one of the guns and silently followed Glenn outside.

The silence returned, save for the noise of Daryl's shoes scuffing the floor and Rick's heavy breathing. After a little more flinching, Teddy's shoulder was patched up. She had been right, it wasn't a serious injury. Just a loss of blood. Beth made her a sweet tea to give her a little energy before everyone returned to the cell block, leaving Merle alone in the cafeteria for the time being.

The conversation fell to what they were going to do next. Run or stay and fight. According to Merle, this Governor was not the kind of guy you wanted to fight, but the group had worked so hard to make the prison a home. Sure, they had lost good people here, Hershel had lost his leg but Judith was born here. It was the first safe place they found since they were forced to leave the farm... Rick left in the middle of it, Carl following and Teddy was struggling to focus on anything.

"I'm gonna lay down for a while." She murmured, climbing the stairs slowly.

Once she was sat on her bunk she tried to raise her arm around in a circle, just to get some motion but the pain was too much and so instead she sunk down into the mattress and closed her eyes, listening to the others continue to talk.

"Been here before. We'll be all right."

"That's when it was just us. Before there was a snake in the nest."

"Man, we gonna go through this again? Look, Merle's staying here. He's with us now. Get used to it. All y'all."

Teddy sat up when she heard Daryl coming up the stairs. He was pacing again, a bad habit she'd noticed he had. She let out a short whistle to catch his attention before beckoning him over. He picked up his bag and headed over to her, sitting on the floor by her bed.

"You good?" She asked, letting her head drop back onto the pillow.

"You just got shot and you're asking me if I'm good?" Daryl smirked and shook his head. "Yeah, I'm good. Are you?"

"Just happy I'm not left handed. Lifting my arm hurts like a bitch." They shared a chuckle as Daryl began rifling through his bag. "What you got in there Mary Poppins?"

"Hershel mentioned that you were having nightmares." Daryl didn't meet her eye, hoping she wouldn't be angry at him or Hershel. "He said you'd been looking for sleeping pills to help but we didn't have any... Merle and I came across some cars that had been left. Found a medical box. Merle took most of it but I managed to swipe these." He held out a small pot of Ambien. "There ain't many left, I just figured-"

"Thank you, Daryl." Teddy smiled gratefully, taking the pot from him. "I'll save 'em for a bad night." She tucked the pulls beneath her pillow, touched that even in the way he had left, he still spared a thought for her out there. "I'm glad you came back. And not just cause you saved my dad from getting chomped."

"Sorry I left." He murmured, once again keeping his eyes on his own feet.

"Don't be. I already told you I get it. I'd do the same for Beth, or Carl or even Rick nowadays."

"It's good that you got close to him. Family's important."

"Yeah." She nodded. "Speaking of... I'm worried about dad. He's seeing things that ain't there."

"What do you mean?" Daryl sat up a little straighter, eyes focused on her now.

"He's been out by the stream most of the day today, talking to the air... He was shouting and screaming at nothing the day you left."

"You spoke to him?"

"I tried. Hershel spoke to him today, I don't think it did anything though." Teddy sighed and rolled onto her back, grunting at the pain in her shoulder.

"You want me to see if Merle's got any pain killers left?"

"Nothing I can't handle." She yawned. "Could you just watch dad, though. Make sure he doesn't put himself into a stupid situation. I gotta sleep."

"You got it."

Teddy woke up a while later, hearing voices just outside of her cell. She sat up with a yawn and a grimace when she stretched. She stood up and left the cell, stopping short when she saw Andrea holding baby Judith.

"Andrea?"

"Oh my- Teddy!" The two shared a hug, careful not to squash Judith between them. Andrea noticed the dressing poking out from beneath Teddy's shirt and frowned. "What happened?"

"You're boyfriend." Teddy sighed. "Shot the place up this morning. I don't know if it was a direct hit or a stray bullet. Either way it sucks but I'll live."

They spoke for a little while longer before it was time for Andrea to go back. They gave her a car to use so they knew she'd be safe and said their farewells. Teddy was stood with Michonne, a tight tense feeling in her chest. Michonne frowned at her when she noticed her shifting from foot to foot.

"It ain't right, her going back to him. She belongs with us."

Later that evening, most of the group were sat around a number of lamps in the cell block. Daryl and Hershel were stood off the side and Rick was trying to settle Judith. Teddy was stood at the foot of the stairs, hand pressed to her wound in an attempt to ease the pain.

"They hung a sign up in our town. If you live it up, you won't live it down." Beth begun to sing, smiling over at Teddy. Teddy returned the smile, ignoring the twinge in her heart. She missed singing, missed her band. She always wondered what happened to them but refused to allow herself to dwell on it too long. "So she left Monte Rio, son. Just like a bullet leaves a gun. With charcoal eyes and Monroe hips, she went and took the California trip. Well, the moon was gold and her hair like wind. Said don't look back now, just come on, Jim." Teddy noticed Merle come in from the cafeteria to listen. She made her way over to him, leaning on the wall beside him. "You got to hold on, hold on. You got to hold on. Take my hand, I'm standing right here. You got to hold on. Well, he gave her a dime-store watch. And a ring made from a spoon. Everyone's looking for someone to blame. If you share my bed, you share my name..."

"How's that shoulder treating you?" He asked in a quiet voice, quieter than had ever heard him speak before.

"Like I did something bad in a past life." She laughed. "What are you thinking?"

"What?"

"There's always something running through your mind. Always trying to figure out what your next move is or who you need to argue with next. So what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that you worry about other people too much." Merle folded his arms over his chest as he looked down at her. "You worried about little Sofia at the camp. You worry about Carl and your dad, Beth, even my baby brother. Here you are with a bullet wound in your shoulder and you act like it ain't bothering you none."

"It don't bother me."

"Bullshit." Merle sniffed. "I heard you were even worried about me. Worried enough to stay where the herd was, try and get me off that roof. Worried enough to feel like all this shit is on you."

"If I had got onto that roof-"

"I wouldn't have gone back to that shit hole camp. Well, I would'a dropped by for Daryl but that's all. Still would've ended up on the road. Still would've found the Governor. Still end up right where we are now."

"I don't believe that." Teddy shook her head in frustration. "If you'd been with us you'd be different... You're not the bad guy you pretend to be Dixon. You're just too wrapped up in your image."

"Is that so?"

"Mmhmm. I think you're scared to be anything otherwise." She looked up to meet his eyes. "Daryl was like you. All anger and yelling all the time. He's different now. He talks more, he's honest with us. He's part of the family... You could be too if you let yourself."

"Don't think Glenn wants a brother like me."

"Glenn has every right to be angry. We've all been angry at each other at some point but we're still family. No matter what happens it's gonna end with all of us. Hell, I didn't even go with them after that camp. Still ended up with them though."

"You left?"

"Daryl gave me his truck and I headed to Hershel's. Beth and I knew each other before."

"Yeah, you and my baby brother have gotten pretty close since Atlanta, ain't you." He lightly bumped her with his hip and Teddy snorted.

"Get your mind outta the gutter, Dixon. Daryl is my friend, nothing more, nothing less... He just understand me better than others sometimes."

"Right. And that's all it is." Merle was smirking, in that teasing way he had when he was teaching her how to fight.

"Best shut your mouth."

The two laughed together, trying to keep quiet and not disturb the gentle peace that had settled over the prison for the evening. It was weird that it should feel so settled after the day they'd had. Daryl and Rick looked over to them, Daryl smiling, Rick showing a look of wariness. Rick didn't trust Merle and he, like the others, had every reason not to. But Teddy knew him a little better than that. She had spent more time with him and Daryl at the camp and believed within her heart of hearts that Merle wasn't really a bad man.

A/n - Please leave a review, it's lets me know if people are still interested in this story. xx