So yeah, been gone a long time. Honestly just haven't had the combination of time and bunnies to get anything out. Had some of it written for a long time but had no direction with it. Been bouncing around ships, but I'm going to be updating both True Father and Livin' on a Prayer more often now.

THETRUEFATHER

Merle came to in a wave of nausea, his head throbbing. He groaned as he opened his eyes, looking around the room he recognized as the basement of his home. The dark dank room had never been a comfortable place, but merle was quickly realizing how bad this was.

He was chained to the wall, held up by two of the supports for the house. Beyond the injuries from the night before with Travis, merle was beginning to feel the effects of withdrawal as his body craved the drugs that kept it going. But that was nothing compared to the spike of fear merle felt as he realized Travis was sitting a few feet away, his belt in one hand, his knife in the other, a look of raw anger in his eyes.

THETRUEFATHER

Buck sighed as he slid his phone in his pocket as he climbed in his car. No word from merle yet, something that didn't settle with buck. Merle was the type to have something to say even if it wasn't what he meant to say, but silence? That was worrisome.

Buck shook himself as he parked at Daryl's school. Merle would contact buck when he was ready, for now, all buck could do was wait.

As buck crossed the parking lot, he spotted a familiar face.

Dale raised an eyebrow as Buck walked up to him.

"Never thought I'd see you here."

Buck chuckled. "Just waitin' to pick up my son and his lab partner."

Dale eyed Buck. "Normally my daughter walks home from school, but she's going home with her lab partner, Daryl Anderson, today. I'm supposed to meet his father here."

Buck smirked. "That would be me. And it's Daryl Dixon, not Anderson."

Dale looked surprised. "You're Daryl's father?"

Buck nodded. "Yup. His brother's too, even though it's not genetic. Told ya I was here for my sons."

Dale nodded. "I didn't expect you to be the father type."

Buck smirked. "I'm better at it then ya think."

"Is that mean old Buck Dixon I see?"

Buck and dale turned to see a large dark man walking towards them. Buck smiled wide and shook the man's hand.

"Moses Douglas, it's been a long time."

Moses smirked. "16 years. What ya doin' here Buck?"

Buck chuckled. "Pickin' up my kid from school. This here is Dale Horvath, my parole officer. Also the father of my son's lab partner."

Moses gave dale a nod before looking back at Buck. "Ya got a son? Didn't know that."

Buck smirked. "Got 2. Remember Hope?"

Moses nodded. "Yeah, but I thought she married Travis Anderson."

Buck chuckled darkly. "Yeah my woman made a mistake, but it ain't a mistake that her youngest son is mine biologically. And her eldest, well he ain't my blood but he's my boy too."

Moses eyed Buck. "Ya know what kind of father Travis is?"

Buck nodded. "That's why Daryl's livin' with me now. Took him a little bit ta get used to the idea he had a real father, but now we're good. He's a good kid, had a shit life but I'm fixin' that."

Dale cleared his throat as he stepped up. "You two know each other from where?"

Moses smirked at dale. "Let's just say we used to be in business together."

Buck laughed. "God damn man ya know I ain't gonna flip on ya. I didn't 16 years ago, I ain't gonna now."

Moses nodded at Buck. "I'd appreciate it. I got a good life here; I'd rather not go to prison."

Buck smirked. "Don't worry, I ain't goin' either. Got too much to do, I'm a full time father now."

"Dad?"

THETRUEFATHER

Carol, Tdog and Daryl walked out of the school, chatting as they came out.

Carol smiled over at Daryl. "My dad was going to meet your dad before we go over to your place."

Daryl pointed ahead of them, to where he could see Buck talking to two other men.

"Looks like they've met."

Tdog looked over at Daryl. "Wait, is that Buck Dixon? You're Buck's son?"

Daryl nodded. "Yeah just found out."

Tdog gave a low whistle. "Damn, remind me not to piss you off."

Carol gave Tdog an odd look. "Why?"

Tdog chuckled. "My dad, he used to work with Buck back in the day, before my dad cleaned up his act. He's always telling stories about Buck; he can be a really scary guy if he doesn't like you."

Carol looked over at Daryl. "Wait, what did your dad do?"

Daryl smirked lightly. "He robbed banks."

Carol gaped. "Your dad is that Buck Dixon?! My dad is his parole officer!"

Daryl chuckled. "Well at least he knows Buck's on the up and up."

Carol eyed Daryl. "Your dad robbed banks Daryl."

Daryl shrugged as he pointed to Tdog. "And his dad helped. Buck ain't into that anymore; he's stayin' out of trouble. He came back to be my dad, that's why he's here."

Tdog looked over at Daryl. "He's seriously your dad?"

Daryl nodded. "I'm Buck's by blood, but Buck considers Merle his son too. Just Merle ain't too keen on the idea yet. We're still workin' at that."

Carol glanced back at the three men. "Well we better get over there."

The three teenagers walked towards their fathers, Daryl getting there first.

"Dad?"

Buck turned and smirked at Daryl as he walked up. "Hey son. Did ya find out how ya did on the math test?"

Daryl smirked as he pulled out the paper from his backpack and handed it to Buck. Buck read it and pulled Daryl over, tucking him under his arm for a hug.

"Damn good! That's gonna help ya grade out a lot."

Daryl smirked lightly. "Turns out you're a pretty good math tutor. Ever thought about teachin'?"

Buck laughed. "Fuck can ya see me as a teacher? Plus I'm pretty sure they wouldn't hire a convicted felon as a teacher. Na, I'll stick ta teachin' my own kids, that's enough for me."

Dale watched the interaction between Daryl and Buck with interest. He had seen Daryl before at school events and when he picked up Carol, but the young man was quite different now. Previously Daryl was always quiet and shy, hiding in corners to avoid attention. But here he was now, smiling and happy as he talked with Buck. Daryl had always shied away from men especially, but Buck had his hand on Daryl's shoulder and Daryl was laughing as he talked with Buck.

Dale looked over at Carol, noticing she appeared to be nervous. Dale knew she was nervous about his reaction. Any father finding out that his teenage daughter was going to the home of a convicted felon would be worried. But then dale looked back at Buck and Daryl, just as Buck gave Daryl a wide smile, which Daryl matched. Maybe Buck had changed. As he had said, he was a father now. And from the sound of it, Buck was much more dedicated to fatherhood then he was to being the criminal he was known for being.

Dale turned back to Carol.

"Home by 9, does that give you enough time to work on your project?"

Carol nodded and dale gave her a smile.

"Alright, I'll see you later. Keep your phone on."

Carol nodded and watched as dale turned to Buck, who raised an eyebrow.

"We good?"

Dale hesitated before nodding. "I say we are. Just don't make me regret this Buck."

Buck chuckled as he walked away, following Daryl who was showing Tdog and Carol the car.

"If an A in biology is somethin' to regret then I may fail ya. Other than that, ya got no worries."

Moses smirked as he walked with Buck, following their sons from a short distance away.

"So ya serious? You're out of the business?"

Buck nodded. "Travis Anderson fucked up my sons good. I got a lot of work there before I can do anythin' else. And even when that's all settled, I ain't goin' back. I lost too much goin' ta prison, I ain't doin' it again. My sons mean more to me than money."

Moses chuckled. "God damn, never thought I'd hear anything like that from you."

Buck smirked as he walked up to his car. "Life can be funny that way."

THETRUEFATHER

"Where is that little shit head?!"

Merle shook his head, and grimaced the next second as Travis pressed a lit cigarette into Merle's chest. More blood dripped down Merle's chest, adding to the layer upon layer that Travis had spent the day creating.

Travis grabbed Merle by his throat, forcing Merle to look him in the face.

"Where is he?!"

Merle glared at Travis. "Ya ain't gettin' it from me."

Travis spat on Merle as he punched Merle in the chest, right onto of the fresh burn.

"When I find that little fucker, I'm gonna kill him right here. Right in front of you and make you watch every second as he bleeds out."

Merle growled at Travis. "I should have killed you years ago!"

Travis smirked darkly. "That makes two of us. Maybe it's time to fix that mistake."

Travis gave Merle two more punches before stalking out of the room. Merle swayed as he tried to stand on his feet, but he was getting weaker with every second. Between the blood loss and the beatings, added on top to the withdrawals he was going thru, Merle knew he was in bad shape.

As he sagged against the chains, the metal digging into his wrists, Merle groaned. He needed help soon, or Travis was going to follow thru with his threat. Merle was running out of time.

THETRUEFATHER

Buck was sitting in the living room, watching some nature documentary with Daryl and Carol. Their project was to pick an ecosystem and break it down into its pieces, something Daryl was actually excited for. They had picked the pacific coast as their ecosystem, and currently both Carol and Daryl were madly jotting notes down to research more later.

Daryl glanced up at Buck. "You ever been there? The coast I mean."

Buck nodded. "Spent some time in San Francisco, also up in Oregon. Some of the best drives in the world are on that coast. The California section is god damn terrifyin', got all these blind turns that go right over cliffs. But Oregon, that's some great shit. Big wide beaches, ya saw those big rocks out in the water? They're fuckin' huge."

Daryl glanced over at Carol. "That's the part with the seals right?"

Carol nodded. "We should write something about the beaches, like what you can find there and stuff."

Buck shrugged. "Lots of shells; mussels, clams, sand dollars. Fair amount of birds. Lots of dead shit too."

Carol raised an eyebrow. "Dead...shit?"

Buck chuckled. "Where do ya think the seals end up? Some wash up; others break down and feed the ecosystem, just like the show said with the whales."

Daryl smirked at Carol. "Bet that smells like shit."

Buck smirked at his son. "Worst smell in the fuckin' world, dead animal plus low tide, plus bird crap. Just not somethin' pretty."

Daryl and Carol continued talking about their project, as Buck pulled out his phone. Merle hadn't texted him back earlier, and Buck frowned as he typed out a text.

B- I said I would give ya space, but if you don't answer me soon, I'm gonna go to you.

Buck let Daryl and Carol continue working as he made dinner, still worried about Merle. Normally he would have gotten some sort of bitchy response at this point, but Merle had been silent.

After dinner, Buck drove Carol home, Daryl riding along. Buck smirked as he watched Daryl walk Carol up to the door. It was a new thing for Buck, watching his son struggle thru the teenage mess of hormones and attraction. But at least Daryl seemed to have Carol's father on his side, as dale gave Buck a wave as he lead Carol back in the house. Buck gave a wave back as Daryl got back in the car, and Buck pulled away.

Buck glanced over at Daryl. "Ya seem to be winnin' points with her father."

Daryl blushed as he shrugged. "It could be worse I suppose."

Buck chuckled. "Hell son, he ain't on the porch with a shot gun, I'd call ya lucky at that point."

Daryl smirked, but grew quiet before he looked over at Buck.

"Did...did Merle text ya back?"

Buck sighed as he shook his head. "Naw, he didn't yesterday or today. I'll give him until tomorrow afternoon, then I'm trackin' his ass down."

Daryl nodded. "Merle can be a stubborn asshole when he wants ta be. Wait until he does give up. Then he'll try turnin' it around, ta make it look like it was his plan all along."

Buck laughed. "Yeah, that's probably what that stubborn git will do."

Later that night, as Daryl was dozing on the couch while they watched TV, Buck pulled out his phone again, this time calling Merle. There was no answer but Buck left a voice mail.

"Merle I know ya fuckin' pissed at me but that ain't what I want. I want ya to come home, ya belong here, with me and Daryl. I'm givin' ya until tomorrow afternoon, then I'm trackin' ya ass down. I love ya Merle, have a good night son."

As Buck put his phone away, he couldn't help but feel a cold shiver run thru him. Something was coming.

WARNING: next chapter contains some very violent scenes...