A/N: So! You lovely people! I've received an unbelievable amount of support from Carylers on Tumblr, and they've made me realize that I've already written quite a few of these request-fics - so I thought I'd do a kind of a "master post" with them. I believe this first one was requested by theloveofcarylandtwd - and the prompt was that Carol went to Woodbury with the group, and was captured as well as Daryl.

If you have any requests, of course I'll take them - designersockpuppet on tumblr.

Disclaimer: The Walking Dead and affiliated actors, ideas and characters are not mine, sadly. They belong to the wonderful Frank Darabont and his team of supers.

So Much Better

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The room was dark around her as eyes adjusted.

A ringing sensation filled her ears and head as the objects nearest her came into focus; the floor, first and foremost, was pressed cold against her cheek. Pieces of a broken table and a bloody -

Carol's eyes shot open.

A walker had been killed there, laying dismembered on the ground not four feet away from her. Its face was a mess - and she upon realizing that it could do her no damage, she tried to move to see the rest of the room.

As she sat up, her vision swam.

There was something wet on the side of her face, and she looked at the cement floor where she had just been, darkened with her blood. Pursing her lips, she tried to will the pain and dizziness away, and attempted to remember what had happened.

The group of them had gone to Woodbury to retrieve Glenn and Maggie - the couple thankfully alive, though damaged. And then there was a shootout - in the town itself, it all came back to her in gunshots and smoke bombs.

She felt sick.

The memory of feeling someone's strong arms around her midsection flew back to her then, and a hand over her mouth with a cloth - smelling of something acrid, and then she lost consciousness with a sharp pain that exploded in her temple.

Captured.

The understanding of it hit her like the wave of nausea that passed over her again as she tried to stand up.

No dice.

Her feet weren't bound like her hands, but her whole body felt weak. There was no way to know how long she had been there - the room had no visible windows and the only light that entered was from a dim light that was flickering in a wire cage above the broken table. Still, Carol gritted her teeth and groaned, standing up with the wall next to her as support.

The dark room was now much more clear, and she saw the walker's remains strewn about the room, with a curiously mangled arm about four feet away. It occurred to her that this was where Maggie and Glenn had been kept, and if this was where they were and escaped from - she could do the same.

Breathing deeply, the ringing ebbed, and though she still had a massive headache, Carol's thoughts turned to survival, and how the Hell she was going to get out of here.

What if everyone else had gone?

They had only come for Maggie and Glenn - what if the rest of them had gotten away safely? The idea struck a fear into her that chilled her down to the bone. A fear that she had only felt before under the stare of her late husband's beady eyes. She was alone.

They left her because she did nothing for the group - she was spare to them.

Her thoughts turned to Judith for a moment, but the whole reason she felt comfortable coming to Woodbury was because Beth seemed so capable. And with Hershall and Carl still at the prison - the baby would be absolutely fine without her. And Rick, and the rest of them... had they noticed she was gone?

Daryl?

Daryl's face swam into her vision for a moment before disappearing, leaving a very empty, tight feeling in her chest.

Wouldn't he come back for me? She thought, remembering that he had saved her twice already now - and she would have done the same for him.

If it had been Daryl caught in the first place... She realized, making her way to the boarded up door. I would have been the first one to come back.

But she didn't know anything about how he felt. She knew he cared, sure. He cared about the group. He was Rick's right-hand man for God's sake. Would he have come back for her?

Her chaotic thoughts combined with the pain her her body distracted her from the multiple footfalls coming from outside the door, increasing in tempo until they became loud enough to bore into her eardrums and consciousness.

Carol's eyes widened as she heard them, and tried to back away and hide before anyone could enter. She backed up into the broken table, and without her usual stability, went crashing to the ground in a heap of splintered wood. She whimpered, shaking with fear as the last board was pulled away, and the door nearly torn off its hinge with the force of being pulled open so violently.

The crowd roared around them.

Daryl couldn't look away from Merle, who looked dejected and powerful - he had seen that look a million times before - as the men paced in small circles around one another.

There were calls for fights, death, walkers, and many other things the younger Dixon brother didn't care to make out.

Merle's thin lips pulled further down, and Daryl felt a shred of boyhood come back to him as he felt like shrinking away from the older man. "Still alive." He growled, barely audible over the jeers and calls that seemed to grow louder as they paced.

Dimly aware of Andrea somewhere in the crowd, Daryl chewed his lip before answering "Yeah. You too."

If the situation weren't so dire for both of them, Daryl was certain that Merle would have resorted to insults and battery for having left him on that Godforsaken rooftop - as it was, their exchange was as far as the brothers got. The crowd quieted around them suddenly, and the man responsible for all this, the Governor, said "They've decided. It's the ring."

The crowd exploded with cheers, and Daryl knew that whatever was going to happen, it wasn't gonna be good.

All at once, there was another commotion as a flash of blonde hair came between him and Merle, pulling on his arm.

Andrea.

There was a gun in her hand.

She had it pointed at the Governor - who looked almost hurt, with his one eye looking at her in disbelief.

It was a blur, Merle suddenly behind him as his legs ran with him, past the crowd that began a chase, and past the tall man that seemed stunned in light of Andrea's sudden rescue.

"-tha fuck are you-" He began to say as they burst down a corridor, doors closing behind them and funneling out the followers.

"Shut up!" Andrea huffed as she ran, still clutching his wrist even though he was beginning to pass her. "We're getting out of here."

Sounds good.Daryl thought as they turned another corner, less and less people now following them. Andrea knew this place pretty well, he realized.

The two ducked into an old meat locker at one point, staying absolutely silent as they heard footfalls and voices outside that eventually passed on.

"What the Hell were you doing here anyway?" She whispered after a moment. "The lot of you just find us and decide to raid the town?"

Daryl scoffed. "Are you kiddin'? That bastard had Maggie and Glenn all beat to shit for days up in here." He clenched his fists. He knew Merle had been the one to do it all, but he couldn't blame him for it. Not after leaving him to die.

Andrea paled. "Glenn?" Her face spoke volumes. Even Daryl could see her disbelieving, shocked expression that spoke of something more than just surprise. Betrayal? Maybe.

More voices outside, and they listened carefully. It was the Governor.

"-you tell the rest of 'em to look for Andrea. They can't have gotten too far out of town."

"Should we check the interrogation room?" Came another gruff voice.

"No, they don't know we have the old bitch. We'll deal with her after we find Daryl."

Old bitch.

Daryl's blood boiled.

They had Carol.

They had her, and they almost left without her.

Andrea saw the turmoil in his face and put a hand over his mouth right before he was about to curse. She shook her head vigorously and he breathed out his rage. No, it was still there. Fuck, it burned.

That Governor had called Carol an old bitch. And they had caught her.

I'mma kill that bastard someday.He promised himself.

Andrea opened the door a minute after the men had passed, peeking out to check if the coast was clear. Wordlessly, she looked back at him and slipped out quietly. He followed, but couldn't resist asking "Where we goin'?"

She looked at him incredulously.

"Getting you the Hell out of here."

He should have asked why she said you and not us, but the only thing on his mind was finding Carol. The only woman he had ever been close with. The only friend he ever remembered having. Even more so than Rick - there was always an element of respect between the men when they spoke, but Carol was the person whose smile he saw light in. In whose eyes he found warmth.

And she had become so strong.

His heart clenched at the thought of her being alone again, in some locker somewhere, unable to speak for exhaustion, unable to walk. And there would be no one to find her and carry her home.

Fuck that.

"I ain't leavin' without Carol." He said.

Andrea slowed, looking back at him. "What?"

"Bastard said 'old bitch'. She was the only woman with us, 'sides that sword lady."

It was Andrea's turn to clench her fists. Michonne. She remembered the look that passed between them just after the warrior-woman had ruined the Governor's eye. She remembered feeling so relieved in that first second, to see her again, before she realized what had happened.

And then she saw the look on Daryl's face.

His mouth was a thin line, and in his cold blue eyes there was something she had never seen in him - a fire, some kind of passion, and a determination that told her that no, he sure as Hell wasn't leaving without Carol.

"Tha' guy said somethin' about an interrogation room or whatever..." Daryl said quietly.

Andrea nodded. "I don't know but... Well, I can think of a few places they might have put her."

That was all Daryl needed to keep going. For almost a half hour they dodged armed men and women, searching for the both of them, looking into all the abandoned places in the town that Andrea could find. Until they came across a dank hallway with dim lighting and a boarded up door.

Andrea walked closer, and put her ear against it.

Shallow breathing. But it was even - not a walker.

She nodded, and Daryl all but ran toward the door, his large boots making crashing footfalls as he began peeling back at the wooden boards with his bare hands.

Carol...

The last of the boards came away, and Andrea stepped back just in time as Daryl wrenched open the door so hard it came off its hinges.

Carol sat on the floor, in a pile of bloody pieces of wood, looking up at the man who had pulled open the door. She couldn't help but release a whimper, both from the pain and from the fear that ran through her veins, before her eyes slid into focus and -

Daryl.

She must have been dreaming. She had to be.

Daryl Dixon was here to rescue her yet again.

How did he even know she was here?

Her mind raced as the man entered the room without hesitation, and knelt down in front of her, hand turning her face to his under her chin. Just like before.

"Is she alright?" A female voice came from behind Daryl, pulling them both out of a look that could only have been described by both parties as electric.

Carol looked past the man hunched before her and saw a familiar, blonde woman at the door.

"Andrea?" She said in disbelief.

"You okay?" She asked again.

Nodding, Carol tried to get up and winced. "Here, lemme'..." Daryl muttered, wasting no time in dragging her arm around his shoulder and pulling her to her feet.
He steadied her with a hand at her waist and he felt his chest tighten again. She's alive. Thank fuck, he thought.

They made their way to the door, and Carol said "Good to see you." with a smile to Andrea as she passed.

"You too." Andrea said slowly, watching the way Daryl kept his hands on the silver-haired woman at all times, even after it became clear that Carol was strong enough to walk.

Carol noticed it too, but did nothing besides smile to herself as the three of them wove their way upstairs to the back of the building, close to where Daryl and the group had first come in.

Andrea looked at them squarely. "Go. Warn your people. My advice - run. You don't wanna be around when the Governor gets to wherever you guys are staying."

"Andrea but - what about you?" Carol countered immediately.

"I have to stay. I'll do what I can from here." And from the look on her face, Daryl could see that nothing was going to convince her otherwise and he nodded.

Glancing over at Carol, who had tightened her lips into a thin line. She looked back, and nodded slowly.

"Good luck." Carol said as Andrea checked outside to make sure there were no guards. She gave them the thumbs up, and the two captives made their way to the tree line in the dark, holding on to one another.

They ran for twenty minutes, silent, wordless, and wary of the pitch black world around them. They had removed all of Daryl's weapons, but for a small knife they hadn't found in his pants pocket and a flashlight that he kept at the hem of his pants at all times. It had saved them from being seen twice that night in the woods already.

Perfectly content to be away from Woodbury, Carol finally slowed her pace and admitted that she needed a rest.

"'course you do." Daryl said after a moment, seeing how out-of-breath the woman was.

In the low light of the moon above them, and the small flashlight in his hand that he kept turned off when they weren't moving, he could still make out the sparkle in her eyes that never failed to cheer him. She smiled.

His heart felt like it would melt.

"I s'pose I owe you about three times over now, for saving me." Carol said quietly, sitting up against a tree trunk.

Daryl shifted uncomfortably. "Ain't nothin'."

Carol smirked, and looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "My life is nothin', is it?" She teased.

He frowned. "Wasn't what I meant and you know it, woman."

The dry but honest laugh that bubbled out of her then caused him to look down at his feet nervously. God, why did she have to be so- And then he stilled, for she had stood up, and her hands were now resting on his chest.

His eyes darted up to hers instinctively, and he tried to back away from the sudden touch. She wouldn't let him.

"I know that." She said, looking at him straight on. "And I said thank you Daryl."

"Oka-" He began to say, shrugging up his shoulders, when he was interrupted by her lips on his.

Holy shit - Goddamn... everything.

He didn't have the presence of mind to back away again. He didn't have the presence of mind to do anything but stiffen up at her impossibly soft mouth pressed against his own. He felt her breathe in. He felt her quiver slightly as she kissed him a little harder, and her fingers gently curled into the fabric of his shirt.

It was unlike anything he'd ever felt.

And it was over all too soon. Carol pulled away with such a Goddamn smirkon those Damn lips of hers.

Daryl couldn't help but say "Wha' the Hell was that for?"

And as Carol took his hand rather delicately in hers, and began walking again, she said "For saving my life.".

Daryl decided that if he had saved her what, three times, he was owed at least two more kisses. But he thought better of bringing it up, as they were a day's walk away from the prison with a fuck ton of walkers between them.

But the fact that she led him through the woods, a stupid grin on her face, and holding his hand like he was some runny-nosed kid made it all seem so much better.

So much better.