Post Season 4 - One Shot

After escaping Terminus remarkably unscathed, Rick and Daryl finally continue their conversation regarding the missing Greene sister.

"Washington Be Damned"

Things the way they were now made Daryl miss a lot of things. Things that he'd never have thought he would miss, or have to miss, rather.

And the thing about it was, most of these things were trivial things. Things that anyone before the world went to shit would have easily glanced over, or took for granted. Things that were a constant part of life that nobody even really thought of until it wasn't there anymore.

Things like cigarettes. And no, not the stale, half smoked and barely held together ones that he found in the pockets of the frayed and worn out jeans of the bodies that littered the highways and the areas tucked into the forest; Rather the freshly rolled and brand new ones, right off of a gas station or pharmacy shelf, packaged in thin plastic and gold aluminum foil.

He missed running water. Not even hot water, because hot water was something that nobody even wanted to think about because the chances of coming upon that in general were like finding a god damn dinosaur. No, he missed water the flowed through pipes, out and into a sink or a water hose. Water that flowed through a shower head or out of a tub faucet. Water that would cleanse him of all the dirt and grime of walkers and people and gun reside and God knows what the fuck else.

He missed though, more than anything, keeping track of time. Knowing what day of the month or month of the year it was. It was stupid, really, Daryl thought; And the reasoning behind that was fairly simple. Daryl Dixon, as he sat on a withered porch of a beaten up chapel just wished he somehow knew how much time had passed since the prison had fallen.

(Of all things, right?)

The inside of the small church had finally grown completely quiet as everyone inside of the worn and withered structure had slowly drifted off into sleep. It'd been buzzing with conversation up until maybe an hour before, and Daryl had begun to think that sleep just wasn't going to happen after everything that had happened and everything that had come to light in the past week or so.

This was mostly because of the new addition to their normally tight knit group - Abe and his two companions (that Daryl found to be equally if not more fucking annoying than Abraham himself) - had caused quite the ruckus earlier into the evening. Shouting obscenities and raising all holy hell about some fucking 'save the whole god damn world' mission, as he put it, and nearly tore Rick's head off in the process.

But now, finally, after some so called 'reasoning' on both ends, the church was finally silent. And Daryl thanked whatever God (if one even existed) for that.

Apart from the inside of the building, the only sound resonating through the silence of the night outside of the small church was the quiet thud of a knife being pressed into one of the wooden structure beams, twisting the molding wood occasionally before being pulled back out again.

He tried to put the pieces together of just how long it had been between the events that had transpired since the fall of the prison and all of the things in between that and now, but at the moment he was failing miserably at it.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been on watch for, but he knew that he'd been out there for hours, being that he'd began to start the watch before the sun even began to set.

He was supposed to wake up Rick a while ago, that way he could get some sleep and Rick would be the one to relieve him from his watch duty. However, Daryl decided against waking the man up. They had just found baby Judith the day before, and Daryl simply didn't have the heart to tear Rick away from his baby girl. At least not for a few days.

Not that he minded, though, not in the least. He took the silence as an opportunity to mull over the events of the past few months, and come to terms with just what had happened; The things that had happened not only to him, but to his family inside as well.

It'd been a rough few months, all beginning of course with the fall of the prison, followed by losing Beth Greene, Joe and his group of assholes, Terminus, the D.C. Mission (That Daryl thought was the biggest load of bullshit he'd ever heard.), and whoever the fuck this new Preacher Gabriel Stokes was.

There was undoubtably a number of things running through his mind at the moment, not unlike the other people in his group, he assumed. But at the moment for Daryl, being within such close proximity to the eldest Greene sister was wearing on him quite steadily, and he was having a hard time focusing on anything other than the face of Beth Greene as it slowly creeped its way into the forefront of his mind.

It'd been that way ever since Maggie stepped out of the darkness of the corner of that god forsaken box car, her eyes weary, clinging to Glenn's side like her life depended on it. All he could think about in that moment was what he'd said to Beth back at that moonshine shack.

"You ain't never gonna see Maggie again!"

He visibly winced, hearing his own voice in his ears screaming at the girl like that. Over and over again. He'd momentarily considered heading inside, but let's face it, He knew that sleep wouldn't do much for him, considering that the girl currently resided there, too.

But it wasn't that he was afraid to talk to Maggie (because he sure as shit wasn't), it was more along the lines of that he didn't know what he'd say. How do you tell someone that you lost their baby sister? How do you tell them that you ain't got a clue where she is? But more importantly than that, he just didn't want to know what her reaction would be.

This was because everyone in that little church and the man who was on watch outside of it knew all too well that Maggie Greene-Rhee was the definition of a god damn spitfire - that was a known fact. And that same fire that pulsed through the blood in her veins was eerily similar to that of Beth Greene's as well. Not for nothing, but between the two of them, one in his mind and the other in front of his own eyes at all times, he was sure that his head was going to implode on itself because of the both of them.

The one time Daryl had almost spoke to her about it, the new girl, Tara, had casually commented that it wasn't likely that she was alive after the fall of the prison. And Daryl who had gotten quite angry by the chick just writing Beth off without even knowing a damn thing about her almost spoke up. But that was until Maggie had to be restrained by both arms by Glenn just so that she wouldn't walk over to Tara and rip the skin off of her face.

After that, he elected to keep his mouth shut.

(He really wasn't afraid, though.)

Rick was always one to notice when Daryl had something pressing on his mind, and tonight was no exception to that.

It went without saying that Daryl had been quite different ever sense he had encountered them with Joe's group, and Rick couldn't be sure, but as time went on he thought he had finally gathered an idea as to why.

His first clue was of course the conversation the night after the altercation with that said group; The way Daryl had looked away and visibly stiffened when Rick had asked him how he even ended up with a group full of douchebags like that in the first place. He had said her name, staring off into the tree line with a dark and depressed look on his face.

His second, was his complete shift in demeanor when Maggie was within even an earshot of distance of him. He averted his eyes, kept his mouth sealed shut, and usually made an excuse to get away from her if at all possible.

Besides that, it seemed as though that even small comments or anything that seemed to resemble or make anyone think or say the name "Beth Greene" would make Daryl freeze right where he stood, almost as if he were being turned into stone. He'd become stoic, distant, and angry. Really angry.

He tried to ignore it, as much as he could. But at this point, Rick felt he owed it to not only Daryl, his brother, but to that particular person in question as well.

Beth Greene had become family to Rick. She'd become family to all of them not long after the loss of the farm. She'd grown a strong bond with the women - Lori in particular before her death, Rick remembered. And she was for all intents and purposes, Judith's mother for gods sake; Raising her from an infant as if she were her own. Not saying a word as to why she did it, but clung to the small child like a life-line, like she knew that Judith needed Beth just as much as Beth needed Judith.

That's why he was out here. Not only for Daryl, but for Beth as well.

He remembered specifically earlier in the evening when Daryl had walked into the church quietly behind Bob and Sasha. He noted almost immediately that his mood had significantly made a turn for the worst. His face was redder than he'd ever seen it, and he bore that same nasty and utterly pissed off scowl that he remembered from the first time they had met. He was pissed off, and he more pissed off than not only Rick, but everyone else had seen him be in a very, very long time.

It was only when Carol followed in behind him, giving Rick a knowing glance and a subtle nod of the head that he'd fully understood why Daryl was acting that way. Not that it was too far off of a stretch from his attitude lately to begin with, but there was a fine line between feeling angry at the world and the cards he was dealt, and being so angry that he couldn't see straight.

Carol had walked up to him quietly, stood beside him for a moment until Daryl was out of earshot, smoking a cigarette out of a broken window in the corner of the chapel.

"He's angry." She had said quietly, leaning her mouth closer to Rick's ear so she was sure nobody else was listening. "We saw a car, when we were out on the run."

At that, Rick turned his head to look at Carol. He figured he knew where this conversation was going, but he had to be sure.

"Ran towards it," she had continued, "he started yelling. Cursing. Said Beth's name a few times."

Rick stared at Carol for a moment, seeing the look of sadness and worry on her face as she turned to look away. He followed her gaze again to Daryl, just as he made his exit to the porch.

"How did he know?"

Carol rubbed her temples, staring over at Maggie and flicking her gaze to where Daryl's form had retreated a few times; "I could barely understand him between the cursing but.. He said something about a cross. The funeral home that she was taken from... did he tell you about it?"

Rick shook his head, "Didn't tell me much of anything." He replied honestly, running a hand through his hair.

"She was taken by a car," Carol whispered, careful not to let anyone in the room hear the conversation, "it was black. Had a white cross on the back windshield."

Rick had thought of many things when Daryl had said "she's just gone." But for whatever reason, kidnapping had not been one of them. He couldn't help the look of distress that crossed over his face, because now more than before with this new information, he was terrified for Beth.

He cast his eyes over to Maggie's sleeping form on the floor, just as Carol did the same.

"He needs to tell her, Rick."

"I know." He replied, "I know."

There was a pregnant pause before Rick continued, "She asked me about her, Maggie did. Just after we got out of, well, you know."

Carol nodded in understanding. They didn't say the word Terminus, and Rick wasn't sure they'd ever be able to.

"He needs to talk to her. It wouldn't be right coming from anyone else."

Rick nodded in agreement, because despite the differences between Carol and himself, they could agree on one thing.

She was right this time.

He dug his knife back into the post, a little harder this time, watching as the fraying and rotting pieces of white painted wood withered and fell to the ground of the porch next to his boots.

He was barely aware of the door to the church opening, until the person who'd done so spoke up.

"You never woke me up." Rick declared, his voice raspy and deeper than usual, laced with sleep.

Daryl hmm'd in response, tilting his head slightly in a way of acknowledgement, but not really answering Rick's unvoiced question as to why Daryl didn't come get him.

"There's a church pew in there with your name on it," Rick said, setting himself down next to Daryl on the top of the porch steps, running a hand over his tired and weary features; "Y'oughta get some sleep."

Daryl grunted, pulling the knife he'd drove into the wood out and placing it next to him; "Didn't wanna keep y'way from Lil' Asskicker." He said, pushing his too long hair away from his eyes.

"I can manage a few hours." He replied, glancing over at him slightly, giving him a knowing look that Daryl couldn't place.

"Good to have everyone back again," Rick said again after a beat, "y'know, even though the circumstances weren't exactly ideal."

Daryl rose an eyebrow, not breaking his stare from the porch beam in front of him. Everyone but Beth, his thoughts corrected him.

Judging by Daryl's face, his body language, and the slews of curse words under his breath as he had walked towards his exit, Rick simply just knew he had to step in. No more bullshit, no more tip-toeing.

Rick took a deep breath, hoping that the words that were about to come out of his mouth would not set Daryl off completely, because God knows that that was the last thing he wanted to do.

"You talk to her yet?" Rick asked quietly, glancing to Daryl out of the corner of his eye; "She asked me," he continued, "Didn't think it was my place to tell her."

It didn't take a rocket scientist for Daryl figure out that "her" was none other than Maggie Greene, the sister of the woman that was clouding his thoughts like a God damn plague.

He grunted, because that was the only answer he could come up with. The only one that wouldn't make his throat tighten and constrict.

"I think you should talk to her." Rick finally said after another elongated pause. "She needs to know."

"Dunno what the hell ta say, Rick." He finally coughed out, "Dunno where the fuck she is."

"You should at least tell her she got out of the prison. That you-"

"That I what? That I lost her? That her little sister got kidnapped by some God damn psycho and I didn't do nothin' 'bout it?" He snapped back, shaking his head and tightening his grip on the knife in his hand.

"No," Rick said quietly, "that you did your best to keep her safe."

"Ain't gonna lie to her face." He spat back, "ain't gonna tell her that she's alright when we both know she God damn isn't."

"I never said that-"

"Then what're ya try in' to say? You're so god damn concerned about it, why don't you go on in there and tell her yourself, cause I fuckin' ain't doin' it. Break that girl's heart and you know it."

Rick paused. "I think she'd want to hear it from you."

"Don't care." Daryl replied in a clipped and irritated tone.

"Now, you and I both know that ain't true."

"The hell you know about it, huh?" Daryl snapped, standing up so fast that Rick had to do a double take. Rick sighed, coming to stand up just as Daryl made his move towards the door, blocking his entry inside of the church.

"I know you saw a car today." Rick said calmly, his palm pressed firmly across the front door, "Carol told me."

Daryl stared at Rick's hand where it was placed on the door, glaring at it almost as if he stared long enough that Rick would give in and move out of his way.

"Back off, Rick. I'm warning you." Daryl growled at him with clenched teeth.

"No." Rick declared firmly. "Were talking about this, Daryl. We have to. Right here, right now."

"We ain't." Daryl said back, his voice still louder than it should be, but it lacked the usual bite that his voice carried when he was angry.

"We are." Rick said, glaring at Daryl until he finally, and reluctantly, lifted his eyes to meet his, glaring right back at him.

They stayed like that for a moment, staring at each other like a couple high school boys fighting in a locker room. Neither backing down, until Daryl finally ran a hand through his hair and turned himself around, pacing across the porch back and forth as Rick watched him do so.

"It's not your fault, Daryl." Rick said, keeping his distance with his hand still placed on the door. "It's not and you know it. There wasn't anything else you could've done."

"You weren't there, Rick. Stop fuckin' talkin' 'bout it like you were." Daryl snapped back quickly, irritated and pissed off and feeling like he was about to turn around and punch Rick in the face.

But it wasn't because he was angry it Rick, it was more along the lines of him being angry at himself.

But before Daryl could process what was happening, Rick grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around to face him so quickly that he smacked his head across the same beam he'd been mutilating with his knife.

"There's a little girl in there that deserves to have a mother, and the only one she's ever known was Beth. And you know that."

Daryl cast his eyes downwards, avoiding the piercingly angry look in his eyes.

"And there's a woman in there that hasn't got a God damn clue in the world where her sister is," Rick continued, "but you know what's more important than both of those things?"

Daryl shook his head.

"You're the most stubborn son of a bitch I know, you know that?" Rick said, backing away from a stunned looking Daryl and walking towards the door. He stopped to turn and face him one more time.

"Beth is our family Daryl. That's the most important thing." Daryl's eyes flicked up to his; "So like it or not, you're going to tell Maggie tomorrow."

Daryl nodded. And that might not seem like much to anyone else, but from Daryl, it was an unspoken promise. It's something that Rick had come to understand over the past few years he'd managed to get to know the man that seemed so rough around the edges, but at the end of the day was merely a young boy trapped in an older mans body.

Rick grasped the door handle with a nod of his own to the hunter. and turned it to walk inside.

"Rick." Daryl stepped forward, facing his brother in the eye, and Rick paused where he was standing, his grip on the door handle falling slack as he looked over his shoulder at him.

"I ain't leavin' here til I find her." He said quietly," Washington be damned."

And Rick wiped the scowl from his face finally and gave him a weak smile. Because he knew it was true. But more importantly than that, and possibly more importantly than anything else at the moment he agreed with him.

Tomorrow, they'd figure out the details. Tomorrow they'd make the decision and undoubtably have to deal with an erratic, frustrated and likely pissed off Maggie. Tomorrow, they'd handle it, because now they knew what had to be done next.

Abraham could scream and yell his god damn brains out if he really wanted to. Could kick and scream and whine like a five year old for all he really cared. To Rick and Daryl and to everyone else that were inside that he loved, he knew that nothing else really mattered.

"Yeah." He agreed. "Washington be damned."