Beauty and Her Beast (Daryl Dixon Fanfic)

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We've been building the bridge for about a month now. Things are going great. Everyone's getting along for the most part. I have to stay with Rowan mostly but I'll come when I can to see Daryl and help out, like today. I helped Daryl and Aaron lay a board. "So, I go in after her nap and pick her up, and the diaper just explodes all over me." I laughed as we grabbed nails and started hammering them in.

"Sounds like good times." Daryl jokes.

"Oh, the best. You got any horror stories from Faith or Rowan?"

I scoffed. "No, I deal with all that. He sleeps right through it."

Aaron shook his head and Daryl gave me a look. "Really? Just wake him up."

"I've tried." I shook my head. "Useless." Aaron chuckled.

We all looked up when one of the Saviors, Justin, pushed Henry to the ground, taking the jug of water and holding the spout over his mouth. Henry stood up, pulling out his stick and hitting him behind his knee, knocking Justin on his ass.

Another guy laughed. "Hey, man, it's cool. I got my ass handed to me by a kid one time, too. Of course, I was 6 at the time." He helped Justin up.

Daryl rushed forward as Justin walked up to Henry, likely about to hit him. "Hey," he grabbed his arm. "Kids just doing his job. Get back to work."

"I don't need you people telling me what to do. You're not my babysitter anymore."

He turned and Daryl grabbed him again. Justin swung but Daryl dodged it, punching Justin in the nose and knocking him on his ass again. I gasped when Justin threw a handful of sand in Daryl's face, charging at him like a football player. Daryl got back on his feet and the fight continued. I tried to ignore the fact that the Savior holding me back was groping me in places that brought up old memories. "Let me go!"

"Not a chance, princess."

"Hey, hey! Break it up. Break it up right now!" Rick grabbed Justin from behind and threw him to a few others who then held him back. He blocked Daryl from attacking Justin. "Enough! I said enough." He pointed at him, giving him a look.

Aaron shoved the man holding me and he let go. I got in his face, shoving him some. "You touch me like that again and I'll cut your throat from ear to ear. Got it?" No answer. I spit in his face. "Got it?" He nodded, stepping away.

~*~

"So, that asshole just gets a free pass? Is that it?" Daryl was still fuming.

"It's just a few more days." Rick reasoned with him. "I don't like it either, but we're in a rush to get that work done. He's strong. The Saviors are over half the workforce, and we've had two many walk off already."

"Yeah. 'Cause that's who they are. Some of 'em ain't ever gonna fall in line just 'cause you say so."

I agreed with Daryl. Hell, I barely tolerated them. Every time I look at these people it just reminds me what we lost. Abraham, Glenn, Sasha, Olivia, Spencer, Erik...Luke. Rick had to kill Morales. We may have only known him for a few days but it hurt knowing someone as kind as he was was ruined by him. "Daryl's right." Carol voiced. "These people have never had to live together. And we can't expect them to just forget what's happened."

"It hasn't been easy. I know." Rick nodded. "It won't be, Not for a while, but it's not about forgetting. It's about moving ahead, all of us, together. We keep doing that, they'll see we're all on the same side."

"Are we, though?" Daryl asked. "Are we on the same side, Rick?"

"Well, you tell me."

"Thing is, man, I've been tryin' to. But you don't seem to want to hear it." He left the tent.