bethgrxene

The Walking Dead Character Posters | Daryl Dixon

The Walking Dead Character Posters | Beth Greene

Maggie Greene and Daryl Dixon- Reconcile

This is my favorite moment of the entirety of Season 6, and Lauren Cohan did SO well in this episode with Melissa. It’s my favorite picture.

 Prompt : daryl and maggie re-unite , daryl thought maggie was dead + maggie tells him she doesn’t blame him for what happened. (Pls no romance) basically just tears and hugs.

Set sometime in 7B. I hope this does this moment justice! A little AU because I’m so ready to find out what the sex of this baby is, but I’m thinking it’s a boy!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

His mind is hazy as Daryl slowly stirs from his sleep, his lower back aching from sleeping in  what seems to be an escape van. He feels like he’s in the midst of dreaming, squinting against the sunlight as he studies his surroundings. His prayer- his constant plea to whatever God remained was that he’d be rescued from the Sanctuary.

Sure enough, it was Jesus in the front seat, donning his signature beanie and black trench coat, his piercing blue eyes focused on the road in front of him. “Hey Daryl. Easy does it. You alright?”

His response was almost immediate as he climbed into the passenger seat, succumbing to the exhaustion that Negan hadn’t allowed him to have while inside his Cell. “I want to see Rick.”

Paul had expected this version of Daryl; silent, brooding, guilt radiating off his injured body as his mind swirled with everything that had happened so far. But one thing is still clear, he still very much blamed himself for Glenn’s death. “You going back to Alexandria right now will endanger all the people you care about. I hate to tell you this, but the Hilltop is the safest place for you.”

Daryl tilts his head slowly, his eyes narrowing as Paul pressed his lips together in a thin line. “That ain’t all of it, man. What’re you hidin’?” 

  “Somebody else wants to see you first.”

At that point when Paul helps him out of the van and towards the Barrington House, the sinking feeling in Daryls stomach registers. Whether he liked it or not, he was nothing more then a dead man. He wanted a way out, but the screaming voices in his head weren’t going to stop reminding him about Glenn and Abe until he was dead.

Paul opened the door to what used to be Gregorys office, and Daryl sees her. She’s sitting on a leather sofa in the corner, blanket draped across her lap as she writes feverishly in a journal. He can’t believe she’s even real. When they were in Alexandria, he’d very clearly seen three graves, not two.

The moment her eyes lock with his, he starts sobbing, his knees buckling under his weight as he sinks to the ground. “I saw your grave-I saw your grave-” Maggie’s eyes soften as she snaps her notebook shut, motioning Jesus out of the room as Daryl presses his hands over his ears. “You were dead-Stop haunting me!”

Of all the people she’s come across since her fathers farm, Daryl Dixon was the one person in her life that did not deserve to be tortured and beaten into submission. Her heart broke for him as she knelt down, silently watching as he rocked back and forth on his heels.

  “Daryl.”

And suddenly her hands are on top of his, slowly prying them away from his ears to lace her fingers through his own. The touch is comforting enough to draw him out her terror induced trance.

  “M-Maggie?”

Now she’s smiling so widely, so beautifully, it makes the tears come down harder as she helps him stand to his feet. Maggie is his constant reminder of the good still left in this world, the good still left in his family. “I know you still blame yourself.” She whispers softly into his ear, cupping the back of his head as he hides his face in her shoulder. His heart hurts, his body burns, but she’s still holding on to him as tightly as she possibly can. “But I don’t blame you, I never did.”

He manages to croak out one word. “W-Why?”

  “You’re not a selfish man, Daryl. You’re a man who lives by devoting himself to protect his family, to protect the people he loves. Even back at the Farm..” Her voice fades for a moment, like she’s remembering how their lives used to be before it morphed into literal hell. “You were still protecting people by helping clear out that barn, helping Carol look for Sophia so she could have closure. Glenn.. He may not have ever told you this, but he was proud of who you became.’‘

Daryl could remember clear back to the beginning of Atlanta, when Glenn had been nothing more then their scrawny, cunning boy who made runs for their group. He remembered the Vatos, how reluctant he was to help search for Merle, how he’d crafted a plan to get Ricks remaining guns. All of those memories, the innumerable amount of times he’d seen Glenn’s smile after just the tiniest victory, when he’d announced he was going to propose to Maggie, that’s what he would hold on to.

He would hold onto the good and forget that night that would haunt their group forever.

That same pizza delivery boy had died the bravest, most loyal man he’d ever known. Oh, how undeniably proud he was of the man Glenn Rhee had become.

Daryl’s tears slowly turn into sniffles, his hand pressed against his bruised ribs as Maggie slowly sits him on the sofa, handing him a box of tissues. There’s so much concern in her eyes that it makes his heart hurt. She was there, and she was real, and she didn’t blame him. That was enough.

  “I know it’s going to take you a while to heal, Daryl. I completely understand.” She stands to her feet in front of him, taking his hand that’s resting on his lap to press it against her stomach. His heart jumps when he realizes that her stomach is just beginning to swell, to show signs of the baby she was carrying. “I’m proud of you. And so is he.”

He settles it then; he would stay inside The Hilltop and help defend the community she now ran, because that’s what Glenn would’ve done. Lifting his eyes to meet her own, he finds the courage to speak. “I’m gonna stay here with ya to help you defend this place, help you with the baby. That’s what he would’ve done, and it’s what I’m gonna do.”

He’s so fiercely protective and loyal to the people in his family that it makes her heart swell as she nods firmly. “Thank you, Daryl.” He’s watching her go, straightening her spine as she prepares for what’s going to be the most difficult job she’s ever done. “For everything.”

She’s forgiven him, he’s safe inside The Hilltop, and they were working on winning the war. In that moment of solitude, he swears he hears a voice, a gentle whisper as he curls up on Maggie’s sofa and drifts into sleep. And it’s enough to give him hope that there’s something better coming.