Rick POV
"Vanessa?! Do you copy?" My own eyes meets Daryl's intense gaze, concern radiating between the two of us. "Shit!" Damn it! I run a frustrated hand through my hair, not hearing Vanessa's soft, breathy tone from the other side of the radio; instead we are met by silence. "I'm gonna go back and see what the hell is going on." I gesture towards Aaron and Enid, "stay with him."
Aaron is laying in a cot inside the makeshift infirmary; Enid is flipping through a book Siddiq had gifted the younger woman with darker hair. I wince when her pleading eyes land on me. She needs Vanessa's help.
Aaron's arm is a mess of muscle and bone; very little flesh remains on his arm from the incident of the log falling on top of him. He's facing an amputation. I observe as his face twists in pain and fear. Daryl lowers himself down next to our friend, offering his own strength so Aaron is able to come out on the other side of this.
I spot Daryl's gaze continuously returning to the radio held tight within my grasp, hoping his wife's voice will suddenly burst through the static. We heard a pain filled grunt halfway through her sentence before silence descended on both sides. Soon, Daryl will have very little courage to offer if Vanessa doesn't turn up. He leans on her a lot more than she realizes; she's been his light and fortitude since they crossed paths.
Daryl nods, face tight with worry; for his wife and Aaron. "I gotta bad feelin'." Me too. "Come back with my wife and Charlee."
Without another word, I rush off in the direction of the lumber site. Every worst case scenario playing on a loop inside of my imagination. Please, let them both be okay. I can't lose Nessa or Charlee. When we all thought we had lost her at the prison, Daryl barely held onto his sanity; I don't know how he'll react if I don't return with his wife in tow. I realize they aren't on the best of terms, but he will still burn down the world if she's hurt, or worse. She holds all of us together more than she understands. When she ran off to Ohio, it was one of the hardest weeks we've endured since we've been reunited with her.
Daryl sits across from Kelly and I; anxiously fiddling with his fingers. I watch the redneck curiously, as he carefully picks his words, unable to meet our gaze. I spot Carl leaning against the doorway behind Daryl, observing the scene with growing interest.
"Daryl, what's going on?" I inquire, my own voice soft. It's unlike the archer to be uncomfortable in front of myself and Kelly.
"I wanna marry Blue.." he whispers quietly.
My blue eyes widen at the news while a giant shit eating grin paints my face. Kelly chuckles, reaching into his pocket. "It's her mothers ring. I had planned to give it..." I scrutinize Charlee's twin, spotting his face twist in uncertainty, he clears his throat, "anyway, it's yours. I'll hold onto it until you're ready."
I stand suddenly, with an idea in mind, racing up to my room, returning a only few moments later. I place my own wedding ring in Daryl's palm. His mouth falls agape, "Rick, I can't -"
"You can and you will. Lori is dead. Before she died, we were already falling apart. It needs a new home." I interrupt, cutting off any argument Daryl might have. "You've been waiting for her. Now she's yours. Don't let her go, man."
He turns over my ring inside his fist, hope dancing on his face. His eyes return to Kelly, "I have ya permission? Her parents are gone -"
Kelly straightens, holding his hand up, "yes. Go get the girl, redneck." He teases our brother, dragging the archer into an embrace.
Daryl swallows hard, nodding. "Thank ya."
I glance around, spotting Vanessa's swords and weapons strewn haphazardly. "Shit!" I panic, gaze searching for any type of life. "Vanessa?!" I shout into the still air, "Charlee?!" I kneel down, noticing a wallet near her favorite weapons. Curiously, I take it within my grasp, leafing through the contents.
I swallow a lump in my throat, spotting three Polaroid images. The first one is Vanessa with purple and green hair fast asleep. I flip it over discovering some writing on the back; even asleep, she's a goddess. Unable to recognize the hand writing I continue on my endeavor. The second photo is Charlee, Wren, Kelly, Jordan, Vanessa, and two others I've never seen or heard of before. Out of habit, I turn it over, finding more handwriting; Senior Prom. I return to the scrutinizing the image. Kelly is glaring at Vanessa's then boyfriend, Jordan, while she smiles, unaware of the animosity radiating off of Kelly's body language and expression.
The third photo captures a moment of Kelly and Vanessa in what I assume is at the time that they were together. Vanessa's hair now blue, dark make up paints her face; still as beautiful as she is in her natural state. With further inspection, I spot bruises around her neck in the last stage of healing. I recognize the marks from the pictures Kelly had previously produced. This was shortly after she was released from the hospital. I sense some trauma just dancing under her blue eyes, but to the unsuspecting glance, she's glowing. Kelly has her inside his arms, grinning at his girlfriend while they huddle together in the snowy landscape around them. The words on the back reads; our first Christmas.
This is Kelly's wallet, I realize.
"Rick?" A small, feathery worried filled voice comes from the tree line.
I let out a sigh relief, stalking over. I observe Charlee, leaning against the tree, gripping the back of her head, a frown etching her pale, beautiful face. Her long brown hair is a mess. She's dressed in white wash shorts and a black tank top that reads "little nightmare"; very reminiscent of Vanessa's leather jacket. I search around Charlee, trying to catch glimpse of Vanessa. A bad feeling glides along my flesh when there's no sign of Daryl's wife. "Where is she?" I ask carefully, bracing for the worst.
"I don't know. I'm going to go out and search for her."
I rub my face, swearing under my breath. "Come here," I take her head into my hands, finding a wound with dried blood buried inside a nest of dark hair, on the back of her skull. "I'll have Enid clean this for you, so you don't catch an infection. What happened?"
She shrugs, "I don't know. We were taking out the dead when, what I assume is, someone came up from behind me. I didn't hear anything. Everything went black. When I came to, she was gone." She turns around, returning to the tree for support, face serious, "there's something you need to know." I chew on my lip, crossing my arms. I observe tears begin to fall from her brown eyes. "Owen was there the night we took down Negan. Her and Negan both saw him. She knew he was coming. I just hoped this wouldn't have happened.." I watch as she gasps between sobs.
"Owen? Fuck! Why didn't anyone say anything until now?" I snarl.
"I only learned about it a few days ago. Daryl didn't know either until I did. He didn't believe her..." I observe as rage begins to simmer just under her fair skin.
"I'll call for back up, and we will make a search party."
She shakes her head, "don't. I will look for her. If I don't have any luck, I'm going straight to Negan. He might know where he could be. We can't get off track with the bridge, and with this on top of the missing saviors... Rick, don't tell anyone until I get back. I'll come back for help if I come up empty. She's my best friend, and she needs me." Her dark eyes plead with me.
I hang my head, "alright. I'll send word if you want in Negan's prison, you have my permission to enter."
"Thank you, Rick. And please, don't tell Daryl. Not yet." I watch as she runs off in search of her best friend. Before taking off, I return Kelly's wallet to his twin's possession. She should have it; he was her brother after all.
I survey the girl with blue hair grapple with the walker, observing as she grows irritated. I cast my gaze towards Shane and Daryl to my left, noting that the two of them recognize the woman in the river. I cock my head, spotting hints of compassion on the rednecks rough surface.
"I ran into her months ago," Shane explains when he catches me staring at him. "I tried getting her to stay with me and Lori."
Any retort dies on my tongue as the sounds of her climbing out of the river bed fill the air; Daryl growls, placing his crossbow in her face. Any evidence of him knowing her is free on his surface as he narrows his blue eyes at her.
How the hell do you know her, Daryl?
Swallowing hard, I muse that I never got my answer to my question all those years ago. Does Vanessa know?
Please, come back to us in one piece, Ness. My hand seeks out the necklace she had gifted me months ago.
Daryl POV
"Daryl!" Rick growls, "the hell was that?" I roll my eyes. I smacked Justin across his annoying, irritating face with a pan for his hand in this predicament. He was supposed to sound the second alarm, leading the herd away from the lumber site. If Carol didn't drag me off of the bastard, I woulda killed him.
I watched Rick carry Vanessa's weapons inside Charlee's tent before heading into the direction of the infirmary once he had returned to camp. Sadness, anger, and fear have been suffocating my soul when she and Charlee was no where in sight. Where the fuck is my wife and her best friend? After burying Kelly, I made a promise that I would protect his sister as fiercely as I protect Blue.
I whirl around, snarling, "if he did his fuckin' job, Aaron would still have both of his arms!" My wife wouldn't be fucking missing! I run a frustrated hand through my hair while the foreboding feeling returns. "What the hell did ya find out there?"
I observe Rick shift uncomfortably, "we got someone on it." At my silence, he continues, "you know her, she's one tough woman. She can handle herself. She'll come back."
I shake my head, hating that he's very obviously keeping something from me. I spin on my heels, entering my tent. My blood running cold when I spot her wedding ring, arrowhead necklace, and Abraham's dog tags lying in a heap on her bags. I kneel down, turning the ring in my hand. Was she gonna leave me? I run a hand along my face, feeling more fear glide along my flesh.
I close my eyes, seeing her smiling face dancing inside the darkness.
I feel a small body collide with mine while my brother laughs at the fiery scene playing out over the city. Of course, he would find humor in this moment. I peer over my shoulder, seeing a woman with blue hair; beautiful face painted with make up and piercings. My eyes travel down her body, observing the tattoos littering her frame.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to." Her bright blue meets mine momentarily before she glances back towards the city that's currently up in flames. Her voice soft, breathy, devoid of any tone that's common to the area. She's certainly not from Georgia. But where?
"Watch where the hell ya goin'." I growl, sensing something soften within my body at the sight of this unknown woman. I scrutinize her further. While I spot fear written on her pale, beautiful face, there's something fierce and deadly, yet broken just dancing under the surface.
I observe as she returns her attention to me, scoffing, expression growing angry. "Asshole," she breathes out. I watch as she barrels off, deeper inside the woods. I chew on my lip, that was one of the most beautiful and unique woman I've ever seen. Not that I have a lot of experience in that area.
I hope she'll be okay; she shouldn't be alone.
"Aye, baby bro." Merle snaps his fingers in my face, dragging my attention back to him.
I spent a month keeping track of her when I got free from under Merle's thumb, leaving food and other necessities, worried that she wouldn't survive long inside this new world. I realize that truly didn't stick out for her; she must've been running into many people, but for me, she somehow flipped my world upside down in that small moment. I never mentioned it to anyone, though, I think Merle knew. His face would show an expression of knowing during every return of watching and tracking her.
I had stopped shortly before Merle got cuffed and trapped on the roof because I eventually lost track as she got further and further away from the camp site. Truthfully, I thought she fell victim to a walker attack.
I was flabbergasted when I saw her fumbling with the geek in the river. I was filled with many different emotions when she finally decided to join us, especially after learning that not only did I meet her that night, but Shane, Carol, and Lori had met her that very same night. She did seem to vaguely remember those three, but recognition for me was free from her face. That day, she was no longer Blue; I finally had her name.
She came back to me three times now. The farm, the prison after she was taken hostage, and then again, at Alexandria.
Fear had kept me from mentioning our initial meeting to her; she still doesn't know. If she comes back to me a fourth time, I will tell her, and I will fight for our marriage. I've been less than great to her over the last year; I promise, I will make it up to you, Blue, I promise the universe.