Alright, here is yet another one shot! caryl-on-my-wayward-son on tumblr posted a text post that said "I'm pretty sure Carol claimed Daryl when she said "I liked you first"." and that is exactly where this idea started to form. So that's the inspiration for this little one shot. I'm pretty sure I'm alone in this, but I actually like Daryl being with the Marauders. It fuels my need for dark!Daryl (and just fuels Of Marauders and Honor even more). Anyway! Clearly, this is AU so let me tell you some things about it's timeline. Carol never found Tyreese, Judith, Mika and Lizzie; she just kept trying to find somewhere safe to stay. However, Daryl and Beth did get split up when she got taken. So it's kind of AU and kind of not.

I'm putting it out there that I'm looking for a beta. For this, I'm looking for someone who has posted their own fics on here that I can look at, someone with skype that won't mind if I sit and do nothing but rant out about ideas I've got for my stories and someone that can get back to me within at least two days after I send them a story. If this sounds like you, please leave me a PM or head over to my tumblr (peletierscarol).

As always, I do not own The Walking Dead or any of it's characters. If I did, no one would ever die and they'd all live happily ever after in a cottage.

It had to have been at least a month after being banished from her home that Carol had finally come across other people. She'd been in the woods for months just trying to survive and stay safe but it was hard to do when she was all alone. Several times she had thought about going back to the prison and trying to talk Rick into letting her come back but it seemed pointless. Rick had been right, no one was going to want her there when they found out what she had done. It didn't matter that she had been trying to protect the group and put them out of their misery, it just matter that she had done it. Being banished and from the people she loved was the price she had to pay. She didn't like it, but it's what happened.

Carol tried not to think about whether or not Daryl missed her or had fought Rick on his decision or tried to look for her. She tried not think about Daryl Dixon entirely but her mind always went back to him. She missed a lot of things about the prison but she missed Daryl the most.

Joe and the group of men he led first heard the woman about a mile away. They heard the grunts and the sounds of a knife being driven into the decaying flesh of walkers. There must have been a herd of them. They made the decision to find her, to either see if she had anything good on her, kill her and leave her there or take her for themselves. Using the sounds of the fighting, they were able to track her for a mile until they had found her.

She was in the middle of a small herd of walkers, turning and driving her knife into the skulls of each one with a skill that the men had only seen a few times before in other men – never a woman. It was impressive.

"Bit older than I like 'em." A voice by his ear said. Joe turned to look at Len and he snorted. He knew that Len liked his girls real young and if he was being honest, it disgusted him. Sure, he liked his women to be a lot younger than him but he preferred it when they were willing and were at least old enough to drive if the rules of the world still mattered. Len liked them much younger and didn't care if they were willing.

"Pretty sure she won't want anything to do with your ass, Len." Another voice from behind him spoke up, watching the woman survive on her own. Joe smirked at his comment and he looked back at his group. Several of them were talking about how they wouldn't mind a moment alone with the woman that was impressing every single one of them.

"Goddamn, I'd like to bend her against a tree and take her on a ride."

"I'd love to make her scream."

"Use her like a fuckin' ragdoll..."

"Now, now, men." Joe interrupted his mens comments about the woman in front of them and he held the rifle in his hands. "I know we all think she'd be a great lay, but look at this woman take those creatures down. That's fuckin' majestic. Especially for a woman her age."

The men fall silent as Joe speaks and they look from him to the woman who is on her last walker. "So we can't fuck 'er?" Len asked, looking disappointed.

Joe looked at Len and then tossed a look over his shoulders. "Not unless she wants it." He gave his men an order, staring at them until he was sure each of them understood.

Carol could hear the men talking while she fought for her life but she couldn't make out exactly what they were saying. Of course they couldn't stop and help her, they just stood there and watched her like a typical man. When the walkers had finally stopped coming, Carol wiped off her knife on her pant leg and turned to the group of men.

She took a step back when she saw how many of them were in front of her. There had to be at least seven. Fighting off seven walkers was one thing, they couldn't use weapons. Fighting off seven men with weapons, hell she might as well slit her own throat. Carol stared at the men in front of the group, figuring that this man was the leader.

"Wouldn't have killed ya to help a lady out would it?" She spoke after a few minutes.

Joe smirked when the woman spoke and he began to walk over to her, stopping when he came in contact with the kill pile. "Ya seemed to be able to handle yerself." He said to her, earning a snort from the woman. "I'm Joe. These men here are with me. I don't mean you any harm, ma'am."

Carol looked from the man who had introduced himself as Joe and looked at the men behind him. He might have said that they didn't mean her any harm, but she didn't know about them. Some of them were looking at her like she was the first alive woman they'd seen in a while. It made her squirm, made her uncomfortable. "And your friends?"

"They ain't gonna harm ya. My words law." Carol snorted again and he watched as her tongue darted out and wet her lips. "Ya got a name for me to call you?"

Carol waited a moment before she spoke. "Carol." After she told him her name, Joe turned his head back and he introduced each of his men by name though Carol wasn't really listening as she slipped her knife back in it's place. The knife was the last thing she had of Daryl Dixon and she would protect it as much as she would protect herself.

"That's a nice knife. Where'd ya get it."

"A friend." She said and leaned down to pick up the bag that was at her feet. It was the only thing she still had from what Rick had left her with. All of her actual belongings were back at the prison still. Or maybe Rick had gotten rid of it so he could pretend that Carol was never there. She couldn't help but wonder about the fates of her things.

"It just you out here?" Joe asked. Carol nodded instead of speaking, holding the bag over her shoulder. "All by yourself?"

"All by myself." Carol said, hoping he'd leave it at that. This man didn't need to know why she had been banished from her original group, all he needed to know was that she was alone. He nodded and observed the woman for a few minutes. He assumed by her short, mostly gray hair that she was in her forties maybe, around his age. For a woman her age, she was certainly attractive.

"Well, Carol.. Safety in numbers. Why don't you come with us for a while?"

Carol looked between Joe and his group of men and she just knew that it was a terrible idea for her to go with them. But Joe was right, there was safety in numbers. After agreeing to go with him, he informed her of the rules. You don't lie, you don't steal, and if you want something to be yours you just say 'claimed'. Carol thought that was bullshit but it seemed to work. When Joe mentioned that saying 'claimed' also worked for walkers and people, her head snapped up and she looked at each one of them.

"If any of you assholes try to play this claimed shit with me, I'll put a bullet in your head and accept my punishment with pride."

At first Carol didn't think she'd be able to fit in with these men, but she handled herself. She hunted her own food and made sure to claim it. She made sure to assert herself, claiming things so she could have a bed to sleep in whenever they happened to find a house. At first she had been worried that they wouldn't let her have things because she was a woman, but it seemed that her gender made them more willing to give her things, even if she hadn't claimed them. Granted, Carol was sure it was because they had seen an actual woman in a while and all of them wanted to fuck.

When one of the men tried to make a move on her, Carol hadn't hesitated to kick him straight in the balls. She didn't know why she didn't just have sex with him – she'd been frustrated and knew that she needed to have sex. It seemed like she hadn't had sex in years but in truth it had only been about three months since she'd had sex. The last time she'd had sex was with Daryl and that was probably the reason she wouldn't have sex with anyone else. Because of Daryl.

"You comin', Gray?" Joe called over to her. He had taken to calling her 'Gray' because of her hair and while Carol hated it with a passion, she just let him do it. It wasn't worth fighting him over. Carol pulled herself off the ground and she followed Joe, holding her rifle in her arms as she walked. They'd been looking for a new place to stay for a while and had decided to take a rest for a few minutes. The group began walking again, Carol staying towards the back. She didn't like not being able to see all of them.

Carol had thought it had been silent for a while but a snap of a twig brought her out of her thoughts and she realized that Len had been talking this whole time. Jesus, this guy never shut up. "Did anyone ever tell you you talk way too fucking much?" She snapped at him, turning away as he looked shocked that Carol had spoke like that. The woman didn't speak a lot and she swore even less.

Carol moved away from him after that and walked a bit to the left of the group so she could keep her eyes on them and pay attention to where she was walking. Still, she kept her distance.

It was at least an hour later when the group came across a house just outside of a forest. It reminded her of a house that she stayed in with the prison group before they found the prison. A small smile formed on her face as they walked up to the house. They cleaned it out of any walkers before they started to look around. Carol herself went upstairs to check out the bedroom. She had been with the group long enough to know that if she wanted to get a bed to sleep in, she better claim it now.

After checking out the master bedroom, Carol picked up a pad of paper from the desk, wrote 'CLAIMED' on it in large letters and signed her name to it before she taped it to the door. She shut the door and shrugged off the bag and her jacket before she moved to the bathroom. She smiled as she picked up one of the soaps and lifted it up to her nose, inhaling it. The soap smelled like peaches and she had never moaned out loud at the smell of peaches but she did this time. It smelled like heaven. Carol smiled and she shut her eyes, inhaling its scent again. She set the soap down and tested the water. It ran brown for a moment before turning clear and she felt almost giddy. The fucking water worked. She would keep that as a secret for now, until she got to wash.

Carol left the bedroom and walked towards the drawers, opening each one. Whoever lived here had a very nice taste in clothes. She picked out a few pieces of clothing to take with her and something to change into after she was able to wash.

After the rest of the group had claimed their places to sleep for the night and they passed around items of food to eat from the cupboards, Carol found herself back in the bedroom. She was sitting on the tub's edge with water filling up in it. Once it was full, Carol locked the door and stripped before she sat on the edge again, dipping just her feet in the water. The water wasn't terribly warm, but it still felt good. With a wash rag covered in some of the peach soap, Carol slowly washed her legs, her groin, her stomach and arms. After draining the tub of the dirty water, she filled it up again and climbed into the tub. She washed her hair with the shampoo that was there, feeling better than she had in a long time after her bath. She waited in the water for a while before she climbed out of the tub, dried off and dressed in some of the stolen clothing. Hopefully they could stay in this house for a while. It was nice.

Carol curled up in the bed and shut her eyes, quickly falling asleep in the bed.

The group stayed in the house for a few more days, it was comfortable, safe and stocked with a bunch of food and it even had running water. They couldn't ask for any house better to stay in. Len and Lou went out hunting the last day they were going to be in the house, though Carol really believed that they should stay here and Carol go out hunting. Len and Lou weren't exactly the best hunters and Carol had been trained by the best hunter she'd ever known. But according to Lou and Len, she was an old woman and shouldn't be out alone like that. Never mind that she had been out there for a month before they found her. She didn't fight it, she was too tired for this.

Carol was sitting upstairs by herself with a book in her hand, leaning against the bed. It had been forever since she got to read and the house had an extensive book collection so why not? She was probably half way through the book when she heard loud voices downstairs and she put the book down on the bed before she stood to her feet and walked towards the stairs, but her few was blocked by several of the men in the group.

"What's going on?" Carol asked from the back.

"Len and Lou found some guy creepin' around the house." Carol stood on her tiptoes and began to push through the crowd on the stairs to get a better look. She heard a gruff voice say that he didn't know anyone was in the house and Carol turned her head, thinking she recognized the voice.

"I think I want that angel vest. Like the crossbow too." Len said.

Carol's heart fell into her stomach as she pushed through the rest of the group, stilling when she saw Daryl Dixon on his knees in front of Joe, Len and Lou. "CLAIMED!" Carol shouted over the noise, looking at the three men who turned to look at her. Carol pushed walked through them and she dropped to her knees in front of Daryl and grasped the sides of his face, turning his head towards her. "Claimed." She said softly as Daryl looked up at her.

"Carol?" Daryl grunted as he looked up at Carol and a smile formed on her face when she heard Daryl say her name. "I knew you could survive out here." He grunted at her.

"I had a great teacher." She said, breathing heavily. She couldn't believe that Daryl was here in front of her. She smiled and turned to look at Joe, Lou and Len then to the others. "This man is claimed. His things are his. If any of you touch him, I will put a bullet in your knee and leave you for walker food." She threatened. "Have I made myself clear?" She counted as each head nodded and she stood to her feet, holding her hand out for Daryl. Daryl looked up at her for a moment before he took her hand used her force to pick himself up. He picked up the trash bag he'd been carrying with him and his crossbow, following Carol back upstairs.

He didn't say anything as Carol led him past the group of Marauders. He noticed the looks each one of them were giving him as they went upstairs and towards a bedroom with a large sign on it that said "CLAIMED" in Carol's familiar handwriting. Once the door was shut, he spoke. "What's up with the 'Claimed' shit?" He asked. Carol turned around and watched Daryl sit his bag down and she licked her lips.

"All you have to do is say 'claimed' towards something and its yours. No one else can touch it." She sat down on the bed and looked up at him. It took Daryl a few moments before he walked over to her.

"Anyone claim you?" He asked, looking down at Carol as she sat on the bed. Carol smirked softly and and dug her teeth into her bottom lip.

"Someone did. A long time ago." She stood to her feet and she wrapped her arms around Daryl's shoulders. It took a moment for Daryl to realize that she meant him and a smirk formed on his lips as he looked down at her and he watched her. They stood like that for a moment, each of them staring at each other. It amazed Daryl how Carol could just let him stare at her and how she would just stare right back. A lot of things about Carol amazed him. "Come on, lets get you cleaned up and we'll talk some. This house has running water."

"Running water, huh?" He asked. Carol smiled and nodded before away from him and leading him into the bathroom. Daryl shrugged off his vest and his coat before unbuttoning the long sleeved short he wore as Carol sat on the edge of the tub and turned the water on.

"It's not very warm, but it's water running water to get cleaned." She said. She looked up at Daryl as he kicked his shoes off and tugged his socks off. He stood in front of her in just his jeans and his t-shirt, watching Carol as she watched him. "I wondered when I was gonna see you again." Carol said honestly.

Daryl looked down at the clothes he left on the floor before he looked up at her. "The prison got attacked again. Governor came in with a goddamn tank and chopped Hershel's fuckin' head off." Carol gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Tears filled her eyes and she turned away from him. "I was with Beth for a while but.. She got taken and I tried to find her but..." Daryl moved to sit down next to her and Carol looked at Daryl, reaching up to touch his arm. "I don't know where anyone else is." Daryl looked at her through his bangs and he opened his mouth to apologize for not looking for her but she shook her head.

"Don't." She said softly and reached back to turn the water off. "I don't need to hear that. Lets just.. Get you washed up, okay?" He nodded and kept his head hung low as Carol stood to her feet and pulled his shirt over his head. Daryl hated when Carol saw him without a shirt on. His skin was too fuckin' ugly for a beauty for Carol to see. But she didn't seem to mind seeing his scars. He knew she had several of her own that she was ashamed of too, and as cruel as it sounded, it made him feel better about it.

He heard Carol sit down on next to him and she lathered up a wash cloth with soap, running the cloth over his dirty skin. As she ran the cloth over the length of his back, she picked up a cup that sat on the edge of the tub and dumped the water over his back. He shuddered at the cold water and and she leaned down to press a kiss into the newly clean skin. Carol ran the cloth over another part of his back, dumping water over it to rinse him off and pressing a kiss to his skin again. She did this repeatedly until his back, arms and chest was clean and made him remove his jeans.

Carol let Daryl wash the rest of his own body and left him in the bathroom as she went into the bedroom and fished out some of the clothes that was there from who she assumed was the man of the house. She pulled out jeans, a black t-shirt and a button down shirt for him. Carol returned to the bathroom and set the clothes on the counter. Daryl stood to his feet and used a towel to dry himself off before he pulled the new jeans on, not bothering to argue with Carol about putting on new clothes. She emptied up the tub of the dirty water and filled up again. "If you think you're getting out of having your hair washed, you are damn wrong, Daryl Dixon." Carol turned her head to look back at Daryl.

He was standing there in nothing but the jeans and Carol ran over her tongue over her bottom lip and watched him before she turned back to the tub and filled it up with more water.

"Better not use fuckin' girly ass shampoo on my hair." Carol snorted and leaned over to pick up the old Head and Shoulders shampoo.

"Manly enough for you?" Carol mocked and he made a face at Carol before moving to sit on the edge of the tub. Carol wet his hair and lathered his hair up with the shampoo, standing between his legs as she washed his hair. Daryl's eyes shut to make sure that none of the shampoo got in his eyes, wishing he could just watch her. He hadn't seen her in forever and he'd love to just watch her right now. Her hands massaging his head felt so damn good, he had to bite his tongue to stop himself from moaning out. Carol rinsed out the shampoo from his hair and Daryl opened his eyes to look up at her, dragging his tongue over his bottom lip.

"Much better." Carol said softly and moved to step away from him but Daryl pulled her back between his legs. She gasped slightly and pressed her hands into his bare shoulders, feeling the water from his hair wash against his shoulders. Carol watched a water droplet fall from his hairline down the length of his face and over his jawline then turned her eyes back to his head. Daryl reached back and he grasped the back of her thighs, tugging her up on his lap. She pressed her knees into the edge of the tub and wrapped her arms around him.

Daryl looked up at her, trying to memorize every part of her face. Every line, every freckle, every imperfection than actually made her perfect. He tried to remember everything about her in case that he'd never see her again after this. He stood to his feet and wrapped her legs around his waist, stepping over the dirty clothes and carrying her into the bedroom. He dropped her on the bed and stared at her for a minute before he crawled on the bed and leaned against the bed on his elbows.

It was silent again between them, nothing needed to be said. Daryl draped his arm over her waist and tugged her against his body, nuzzling his head into her chest. He inhaled, a smirk forming on his lips as he smelled the strong smell of peaches and the same shampoo she used on him. Carol smiled and ran her fingers over his shoulder blades, leaning her head against the pillows.

"What're ya doin' with these guys?" He asked.

"Safety in numbers.. Besides, it was either that or... Be kidnapped and used as a sex slave, I assume." Daryl's grip tightened on Carol at the idea of her being passed around between those disgusting men. Carol turned her head to look down at Daryl when she felt his grip tighten around her. "Daryl.. I'm okay. No one's tried to touch me." She said softly, pushing some of his wet hair from his face. He looked up at her and stared at her face to see if she was lying to him, he could always tell when it was Carol. She definitely wasn't lying to him.

Daryl nodded and lied his head back down on her chest. He nuzzled her breasts with her forehead and Carol let out a light giggle. He lied in her arms for a while before he fell asleep, holding Carol in his arms in a vice grip.

He lost Carol once before and there was no way in hell he was going to lose her again.

Daryl woke up in the middle night to see Carol sitting up in the bed, his legs wrapped around her thighs as she leaned against the bed's frame. Knowing how tight his arms were around her, he wondered how she was able to move so much away from him. Daryl pulled his arms around from her and slowly began to sit up. Carol looked over at him and smiled when she noticed him move. "Morning, Dixon." She playfully teased and she shut the book she was holding in her hands. Daryl noticed the title of the book, Pride and Prejudice, as she set it down. He remember his Mama reading that when he was a kid.

"Ain't mornin'." Daryl mumbled as he ran his hand over his face. The room was dark except for the candles that filled the room. He wondered when she lit those. He climbed from the bed and went into the bathroom to find the t-shirt and button down she'd found for him. He pulled the t-shirt over his head and bundled the button down and vest in his hand before he walked over to her. Daryl sat on the edge of the bed and grunted slightly. "Got anything ta eat?"

Carol smiled and leaned over to press her lips towards his cheek. "Stay here. I'll get you somethin'." Carol stood to her feet off the bed and she left the room to head down to the kitchen. Most of the food had been claimed already, so she was sure she could find something in the pile of food she'd claimed.

Joe heard Carol head downstairs and he walked towards the room, looking at the man she'd brought to her room and then didn't come out for the rest of the night. The subject of Carol and him was a popular topic for the rest of the night. Most of them wondered what had been so special about this man that she would have reacted that way. Joe assumed he was part of the group that Carol had been with. She didn't talk a lot about them, just that she had been banished from them. She never even went on to tell him why and he never pushed.

"Ya gonna take Carol with ya or ya gonna stick around?"

Daryl's head snapped and he saw the leader of the group staring at him while he leaned against the wall. Daryl regretted not having his knife on him, but it was discarded in the bathroom with his other pants. "Mind your fuckin' business." He grunted towards the man.

Joe smirked at Daryl but he kept his place on the door frame. "Gray is my business. She's a member of my group and a very important member." Daryl frowned at the nickname he used for Carol He didn't like that he had a nickname for his woman. "So ya gonna take her with ya or ya gonna stick around?" He asked again. Daryl shrugged, looking up at Carol as she stood with a can of baked beans and a spoon in her hand.

"Whatever she wants." Daryl mumbled, making rare eye contact with Carol.

She smirked and looked to Joe for a moment. "You better get used to your new favorite word. 'Claimed'."