Jupiter zoned out, sitting there beside Sophia's body, her blood covering Jupiter's hands and knife. She was vaguely aware of the sounds of people crying around her, but she just stared at her hands and said nothing, unable to even if she wanted to. All that time they'd spent looking for Sophia, when she'd been 100 meters from their camp the whole time. She and Daryl had both almost died... All for nothing.

So she just sat there, not even moving when Beth was almost eaten by her walker mother, barely six foot from her. Nothing felt real any more, except the fact that she'd just killed the little girl she'd been praying so hard to find. She knew she was a walker, but that didn't make it feel any better. She'd never killed one she knew before... She was unsure of what to do, but then after a while, feeling returned to her numb body and she realised that her hands were freezing and the wind had picked up. Andrea was standing over her with a blanket, and draped it over Sophia's body before helping Jupiter to her feet.

She was slowly coming back to herself and looked around, seeing most of the others had gone somewhere, even Carol and Daryl, the two of whom she found when Andrea tried leading her back to her tent, but she pulled away when she saw Carol in the RV, Daryl inside by the door. She walked inside without a word, and Carol turned to her. The expression on her face broke Jupiter's heart all over again. She tried for a small smile, looking like she wanted to comfort Jupiter- like she was the one who one who needed it. Words failed her, and so instead of sitting in there and letting her emotions get the best of her, Jupiter took Carol's hand on the table, giving it a quick squeeze before heading out of the door, grabbing her bat on the way.

Now that she wasn't numb, Jupiter could feel the anger in her, burning like a fire on every inch of her, inside and out. She had to work it out, and let the fire burn through her, and channel it into something or else risk burning up completely. So with her bat in hand, she stalked across the fields and headed into the woods.

She made sure she was a fair distance away from the farm before she started screaming. She screamed for Sophia, for having lost her after everything and against her belief, she screamed for Alaska, knowing that she might never find her friend alive, but most of all the screamed for the new world they lived in. The world where little girls didn't get to be found and brought home safe to their mothers, and they died alone in the woods; where kids couldn't be kids because letting your guard down for even a second can get you killed. That's what she screamed for, and when the walkers came, those were the thoughts that kept her swinging her bat until every one of them was dead. Then when she was panting, on her knees among the bodies of the dead, she got up and kept going, the fury in her bones demanding more.

It was night when she eventually stumbled back to the farm, her body exhausted and covered in walker blood, and her breathing uneven and rasping. She moved towards a light through the trees, what looked like a camp fire, but she was still a way away from the farm house and camp, so she moved quieter, wondering if someone new had stumbled onto their land. Someone who might be dangerous... She could barely even lift her bat as she was so exhausted, but if she was quiet, she wouldn't need to be fast. She just had to keep to the shadows.

A stick snapped underfoot.

Shit... She thought, seeing the person beside the fire stand up, grabbing a weapon from beside them and looking her way.

"Who's there?" They demanded, and Jupiter sighed and lowered her bat. It was just Daryl.

"It's me," she called as she walked out, and Daryl lowered his crossbow but didn't sit down, and when she stepped into the light he swore and took a step forward.

"What the hell happened to you? You bit?" He demanded, but she just shook her head and held up a hand to stop him coming any closer.

"I'm fine. Its not my blood."

She didn't need to say anything else as Daryl looked to have figured it out by himself. Instead of sitting back down like she had expected, he yelled at her. "Are you stupid or something? Going off into the woods alone like that! You could have died! You got a death wish or something?" He yelled, getting in her face and gesturing wildly with his hands. She flinched back a little, hating herself for doing it, but yelling back at him before she could think about it.

"I needed to blow off some stream! You think it was easy killing that little girl? You think I'm ever gonna be able to stop feeling her blood on my hands? I needed a distraction, so I found one!" She snarled, not backing away. Daryl scoffed and walked away a few steps, breathing heavily before he turned back around, his eyes glowing in the light from the fire.

"What if you'd been swarmed? What would you have done then? That bat ain't gonna do shit against a load of them!"

This time she didn't yell back, and instead spoke from behind her teeth, glaring at him and clenching her fists to stop herself from doing anything rash. "I'd handle it!"

"Yeah, and how would you manage that? You're injured, so you can't fight back so well. You're ribs mean you can't run or climb. So how exactly would you do that?!" Jupiter stayed silent, so Daryl continued, once again coming closer and sticking his face near hers. "Did you even think about how the group'd deal if you died? We already lost Sophia, I can't lose you too!" He yelled, but Jupiter froze. He'd just said that he couldn't lose her too... Not we can't. Did he really give a damn about her?

She didn't want to think about it. Didn't let herself. She'd been shoving down her growing feelings towards him for a while now, knowing it would never work as they had more important things to be thinking about. They had to survive. Romance was the bottom of her list of priorities, much as her heart tried to tell her otherwise. So why did Daryl have to say that then and give her heart stupid ideas? But maybe he didn't mean it in that way. Maybe he just meant she was a friend and it'd suck to lose her...

The silence stretched on between them for a few seconds, and Jupiter became very aware of how close they were standing to each other. If Daryl did mean it in anyway other than friendship, it would be so easy for him to just close the gap between their mouths and show her. She couldn't help it as her eyes flicked from his eyes to his lips and then back up again, half of her hoping that he'd do it, and the other half telling her to not be so stupid. The half that was hoping he would, was winning out, and her breath caught when he moved closer.

Suddenly he growled and pulled away, turning his back on her and striding over to the fire, his breathing fast and his hands clenched into fists at his side. "Get out of here!" He snapped when she came closer, and she stopped. Saying nothing, she turned from him and walked away, her face still burning by the time she got back to her tent and walked inside.

Instead of collapsing straight into bed like she wanted to, she carefully peeled off her clothes and dumped them on the floor in the corner of the tent, doubling over in a coughing fit when she had to lift her arms over her head to take her tee off. Her ribs were giving her a lot of trouble, and for some reason they only seemed to be getting worse, and her whole chest was aching. Fighting off so many walkers probably hadn't been the brightest idea, but she was gonna make up for it and stay in bed for a few days to heal.

She was too sore to worry about struggling with getting dressed for bed, so she climbed into her cot with nothing on and crawled into her sleeping bag, laying on her back as it was the only semi-comfortable way to sleep. Despite her lack of clothes, she was still slightly too hot and couldn't sleep for a while. Of course as she lay awake in bed, all she could think about was how much of a fool she must have looked to Daryl. She'd thought he was going to kiss her. By his reaction, she had clearly read the situation wrong, and now it was likely to be awkward with him for a while. Which was just wonderful, as she'd been fighting her feelings for that very reason. Still, they'd get on with it. They had to if they wanted to survive. That was the only thought that gave her any comfort as she fell asleep.

It didn't even feel like she'd been sleeping by the time the sun came up, and she was just as exhausted and sore. She didn't have anywhere to go though, so she didn't bother getting out of bed, determined to stay and relax for a while, try and give her ribs and chest some rest. Of course, it wasn't meant to be, and after laying in bed for an hour, staring at the top of her tent, a shadow stopped outside and called out to her.

"Jupiter... You in there?"

It was Andrea.

"Yeah," she called back. "Just killing time. You need something?"

Andrea unzipped the tent and walked inside, looking down at Jupiter still in bed, and she frowned. "I was gonna say we're heading out to look for the others. They went out yesterday and haven't come back. We could use an extra hand, but honey you look like shit..." She went to walk out, but Jupiter sat up quickly, wincing a little and struggling not to cough again as she objected.

"No, no. I'm fine. Didn't get much sleep... But I'll come. Give me five minutes to get dressed?"

Andrea paused, watching her carefully for a few moments, but then seemed convinced and nodded, leaving the tent so Jupiter could get dressed.

When she was alone, she crawled out of her sleeping bag and stood up, pulling on fresh clothes as fast as she could and then sitting down to pull her boots on. When she was done, she strapped on her knife and then grabbed her bat and went out to find the others gathered around the truck, throwing weapons and supplies into the back. Daryl was standing there, his crossbow over his shoulder. He didn't look up as she came over and she tried not to think about how awkward it was between them now, and instead looked down at the map he had in front of him, about to look up and ask Shane where they'd be starting, but as she did so she noticed a car returning to the farm and pointed it out to the others. It was Rick, Glenn and Hershel, safe and in no need of rescue.

Shane ran to the car as it pulled up, and the others followed behind, seeing as the three men got out of the car, intercepted by their families. Jupiter hung back a little, her head spinning and making her want to puke, but she ignored it and squeezed her eyes shut, bracing her hands on her knees as she tried to pull in some deep breaths and make the dizziness pass. After a few moments it worked, but the headache wouldn't go away, and it was pounding bad enough that she could barely focus on anything anyone was saying.

The others had brought someone back with them, and he needed surgery. Rick called everyone else into the house for a meeting to discuss what to do with him, while Hershel and Patricia went to the barn for surgery. That was all she figured out as she followed the others into the house, and leaning against a wall in the dining room while they waited for everyone to arrive. Once they had, it came as no surprise that Shane was causing trouble, wanting to kill the guy they'd rescued. Rick disagreed, voting to wait until the boy healed and then take him somewhere and leave him with some water. Jupiter agreed with Rick, but her head was spinning too much for her to say so, knowing she wasn't up for arguing with Shane again. She was too hot in the room, and becoming nauseated, needing to go and get some fresh air, but then the door opened and cool air kissed her skin.

She looked up and saw that Daryl had joined them, nodding his greeting at her before looking away. She watched him for a few seconds, finally figuring out why he was in such a foul mood. He blamed himself for Sophia, and the guilt was eating him up inside.

She wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault, but Rick and Shane were still arguing, so she said nothing, deciding to wait until they were outside and alone. It wasn't his fault, and everyone knew that except for him.

As soon as they started leaving though, Daryl stomped off, faster than Jupiter could stop him, so she was forced to run after him, unable to catch up to him until he was almost at his tent. Her head was spinning as she headed after him, but she ignored it and shouted after him. "Daryl! Stop walking away from me and goddamn listen! It wasn't your fault! Sophia was dead long before you even started looking for her, and you can't blame yourself!"

He whirled around quickly, angrier than Juniper had ever seen him, but he didn't even respond to what she'd said, and instead just snarled. "Get the hell away from my tent! Go back to the others!"

Juniper knew he wasn't joking around, and as much as she wanted to smack him for being so hard on himself, her head was causing her some real pain and she could taste pennies on her tongue. Something was wrong, and she didn't have the strength to argue with Daryl anymore, so she turned on her heel without a word.

Daryl watched her leave, feeling surprised that she hadn't put up more of a fight, but also feeling guilty for yelling at her. He knew she could take it, but that didn't stop him from feeling bad about it.

Maybe that was why he watched her walk away, or maybe it was because he had seen that something was wrong, but either way, it was a good thing he kept his eyes on her. She made it barely 10ft before her legs gave out and she collapsed into the grass, not moving.

He was moving before he had even registered what had happened, skidding to his knees beside Jupiter, his quick eyes checking for a wound, probably from a bullet, though he'd heard no shot. But she was fine, not a scratch on her. So why was she so still?

He screamed towards the house, yelling for someone to get the doc, and he saw someone run inside while Rick and some of the others started running for him, their weapons drawn as they scanned the trees for any threat. But there wasn't one. Juniper wasn't injured, she just wasn't waking up.

Her skin was hot to the touch and her breathing was shallow, her face flushed despite the unusually cool day. What the hell was wrong with her?

"Jupe! Wake up! Come on, girl!" He growled at his unconscious friend, his heart galloping so fast that his hands shook as they hovered over her, not daring to touch in case he hurt her somehow.

"What happened?" Rick demanded as he reached them, his eyes on the trees and his gun out. Daryl didn't have an answer for him, and for the first time in a lot of years, he felt helpless. Something had happened and he had no idea what to do.

"She just dropped!"

Rick looked down at the woman lying in his friend's arms and his face turned grim. "Check her for bites," he ordered, able to see the flushed and clammy skin.

Daryl froze, his mind unable to contemplate that she might have been bitten. That he might lose her, and his final words to her would have been spitting for her to leave him alone. What if she never woke up again? What if those had been his last words to her, and he never got to apologise for that or the night before? Rick snapped him out of it by yelling. "Daryl! She needs you right now! Check her for bites!"

So he did, feeling like his heart had imploded when he found none. She wasn't infected.

As soon as he told Rick, Rick reached for her, looking back to the farm where Hershall was coming out of the door, hurrying towards them. "We need to get her inside!" He ordered, going to take her from Daryl's arms, but Daryl practically growled at his friend and tightened his grip on Jupiter as he got to his feet and started running back towards the farm. Jupiter still didn't move or make a sound, except for that awful rattling breathing, scaring him shitless as he was sure every second would be her last.

But then they reached Hershall, who yelled for Maggie to get his stuff before leading Daryl quickly into the house, holding the door open for him and then gesturing to the room Carl had been in when he got shot. A thought that wasn't all that great to Daryl, as clearly the doc thought it was serious.

Still, he lay Jupiter down on the bed gently and then stepped back while Hershall and his daughters quickly messed around with her, checking various things, and then Hershall started questioning Daryl.

"Has she been complaining about any pain recently? Or taken any meds? What about Water? Has she been drinking enough?" He asked, and Daryl answered as best he could, though he was frustrated at how little he did know. His anger had kept her at bay, and now he couldn't help her. If anything happened to her... He growled and shook his head, trying to clear the possibility of any of it happening. Jupiter was going to be fine. She had to be.

It took around ten excruciating minutes for Hershall to decide what had caused Jupiter to collapse like she had.

"She's got pneumonia. She needs antibiotics, and fluids, and to rest. I'm surprised she lasted so long before collapsing. She must have been in pain for a few days, though her broken ribs would have masked it... Not to mention cause it. Who let her bind her ribs like this?" he took a breath and lay a hand on her forehead while Maggie cut away the bandages around her ribs. "Her temperature is through the roof and needs to be cooled down." He got to his feet while Patricia hooked Jupiter to an IV bag. "But good news? She'd all right. She bound her broken ribs and couldn't breathe properly... that's all that caused this. She'll wake up when she's ready, and when she does, she's going to need to take it easy for a few days until she recovers, or else she'll get worse."

Daryl nodded. It was not going to happen again, not while he was still breathing. She'd scared him half to death, though now that he knew she was going to be all right, he began to relax somewhat. He still couldn't find words though, and the people gathered at the door understood, all but Rick leaving as Hershel whispered something to him on the way passed.

Daryl moved closer to Jupiter's still form, unable to keep his eyes from her face, so peaceful in sleep, but a hint of pain there too. She had been suffering, chasing him across the fields, yet she'd still done it- scared that he felt like shit. If he had before, it had nothing on how he felt then. He'd lost too many people, and the thought of losing her too... It was unbearable.

Rick came to stand beside Daryl, resting his hand on his shoulder and squeezing. "She's all right. It was just a little scare. You did good."

Still Daryl said nothing, and Rick got the point and left. Patricia returned with a bowl of cool water and a cloth, but before she was even in the room completely, Daryl was nodding his head at the bowl, claiming the task, and she left again, closing the door behind her.

Now that they were truly alone, Daryl felt his composure slip, and his own legs gave out as he moved to her side. He kneeled beside her, and looked at her face, thankful that she hadn't been bitten. She was going to be ok. He just had to look after her and make sure she didn't do this to herself again. So he got up and sat on the edge of the bed, dipping the cloth into the water and wringing it out before gently wiping her face with it, cooling her skin down.

She didn't react to the temperature, and his heart stuttered again.

"You scared me, Jupe. When you fell... Man, I thought you were gone..." He exhaled shakily, looking down for a few seconds as he composed himself again. "Please don't ever do that again," he whispered when he looked back up. Jupiter gave no response, but that was ok. She was going to be ok, because he was going to make her be.

When her skin had returned to a more normal temperature, he put the cloth back in the bowl and then looked down at his friend. She didn't look comfortable, and he knew she'd have a bitch fit when she woke up if she found herself in shoes. She'd told him about it on one of their outings together. Being as gentle as he could, he carefully removed her boots, leaving them at the end of the bed and then returning to her side, sitting in the chair beside the bed and not even thinking about it as he reached out and took her hand, squeezing it in his larger one as he sat back and waited for her to wake up.

It was hours later when that actually happened, the slight moan escaping her lips being the only indication Daryl got that woke him from his sleep. His hand was still holding Jupiter's, so when her fingers twitched, he felt it and moved closer.

"Jupiter? You awake?" He whispered, conscious of the late hour and the others sleeping in the house. All he got was a pain filled moan in reply, and Jupiter opened her eyes. Only she didn't see Daryl. She was in so much pain and her temperature so high that she was hallucinating, and she started screaming as the walkers lunged for her face.

Daryl had never seen her that scared before. Not when she thought she was gonna die in the CDC, and not when she hid from a herd of walkers. She'd always masked her emotions with sarcasm and anger, but now there was no filter and her face drained of all colour as she screamed and lashed out.

He tried to calm her down, talking to her, but she just screamed and screamed, her eyes open but unseeing.

The door banged open and Hershel and Rick charged in, looking for the danger but only finding Daryl trying to calm Jupiter down.

"HELP HER!" He yelled at the sight of the doctor, panic evident in his pale blue eyes.

But Hershel couldn't help. "She's hallucinating. She can't hear us. She's just gotta work through it..."

Daryl was not happy with that answer. "Can't you sedate her or something?" He cried, the sound of Juniper's screams and whimpers fraying his nerves as he was powerless to save her from her invisible enemies.

"We can't give her any more medication. Not-"

Daryl growled and turned away, returning to Jupiter and taking her hand, sitting on the bed with her and pulling her up and into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered into her ear, repeating all the stories she'd told him of her home, and telling her that she was safe, he had her.

It took a while, but gradually Jupiter stopped screaming and thrashing around, instead settling back into Daryl's arms and whimpering quietly. But she was coming out of it, and her hand had closed around Daryl's, holding onto him like he was the only thing she knew was real. Which was exactly what she was feeling.

The walkers looked and sounded real, but when they touched her, she felt nothing. Daryl's hold on her though, that was real, she could tell the difference... and she was thankful for it.

"D...Daryl," she gasped. Daryl's grip tightened.

"I'm right here. Right here girl. I got you."

He stroked her hair back off her clammy forehead, feeling her relax again, and a few seconds later, her breathing levelled out and she passed out again.

When he looked up, he found that Hershel and Rick had already gone.
Xxxxxxx

The next morning Jupiter woke up to find Daryl asleep in the chair beside her, his hand closed around hers.

Her head was pounding and her lips were dry, but she didn't want to move and wake Daryl. Not when he looked so exhausted.

The window was open and she could hear the sounds of the morning outside, so she listened to them for a while, drifting in and out of consciousness.

She had just closed her eyes again when Daryl suddenly gave a jerk, his hand tightening on hers for a second before he seemed to wake up for real and then relaxed. Jupiter watched him, seeing as his eyes moved from the room to her face, widening when they saw that she was awake.

"How you feeling?" He asked, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. Jupiter couldn't even muster a smile, and so instead opted for honesty.

"Like shit," she croaked, and he looked up at her, his hand pausing. "Everything hurts," she moaned, closing her eyes again.

Daryl moved to sit on the bed beside her and reached out, placing his hand on her forehead, and taking her temperature. She was still too hot, but she'd cooled down a little, and the fact that she was actually conscious was a bonus.

"You scared the shit out of me... Passing out like that. I thought..." He trailed off but then Jupiter's gaze caught his and he sighed, pulling his hand back and looking down. "You just scared me is all."

Jupiter tried for a smile, though she suspected it was more of a grimace. "Gee Dixon, I didn't know you cared," she laughed, but choked on it, groaning as her stomach muscles spasmed and she curled up with a moan. When she recovered some, she found Daryl staring at her, tapping his fingers on his knee.

"That really what you think? That I don't care?" He asked, hurt and guilt flashing in his eyes. Jupiter shrugged and looked away, not really wanting to think about it at that moment in time, especially after the events of the near kiss. She was still in pain, and she suspected that that was the only reason Daryl was with her. So she avoided his question and tried to sit up, groaning as she did so, and needing to hold onto the bedside table to stop her head from swimming.

Daryl was at her side in an instant, his arms moving around her without hesitation and helping her to sit up, though he frowned at her and told her she needed to lay back down. When she tried to laugh him off, he shook his head. "I'm damn serious, Jupiter. You need to relax for a few days. Doc's orders!" He insisted, his face completely serious, so Jupiter did as she was told and lay back down, secretly thankful.

She was still in a lot of pain, and it wasn't that much better when she lay down, but at least it took some of the pressure off her ribs, and her head didn't swim. Even though she was laying down again, Daryl didn't back off, and stayed sitting on the bed next to her, looking at him hands. He looked like he was about to say something when the door opened and Hershel came in, quickly followed by Rick. When Hershel say that she was awake, he gave her a small smile, reminding her so much of her grandfather that she suddenly felt more at ease.

"Why is it every time I see you, you're unconscious or injured?" He asked, and Jupiter gave him a crooked smile in return, shrugging her shoulders a little. Hershel raised his eyebrows and came to sit on the bed on her other side, while Rick leaned in the doorway, watching. "How're you feeling? On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain, 10 being the highest you can imagine?"

She debated lying, but she glanced at Daryl and knew he'd know, so she sighed lightly and then answered truthfully. "About a seven."

Hershel nodded and then requested permission to listen to her heart, and when she nodded, he put the stethoscope on her lungs first, ordering her to take a few deep breaths, which she winced at, but then Daryl took her hand again and she looked at him, her heart speeding up a little. Hershel chuckled, and she was mortified to realise that he'd heard it. She prayed he wouldn't say anything, and he gave her a look as if to say your secret is safe with me, and then stood up.

"You're gonna need to stay in bed for a few days, and I'm gonna keep you on the IV till tonight, and we'll see how you're doing then. In the mean time, Patricia will bring you medication every few hours, and it might make you drowsy. It's nothing to worry about, but try not to get out of bed if you can help it, especially if you're by yourself in here..."

Jupiter nodded, mentally groaning, but the doc gave her another smile and then left the room, Rick following close behind and closing the door behind him, leaving Jupiter alone with Daryl once more. He was still holding her hand, so she squeezed his gently to get him to look at her.

"I'm sorry to bring it up again, but I meant what I said... Sophia was no your fault, not even a little bit. So I need you to stop feeling guilty about it. It was no ones fault. Sometimes things just happen because they're meant to. We don't always have to know why. OK?" She tried, and Daryl stared at her for a few seconds before reluctantly nodding.

Pleased with herself, Jupiter smiled and shifted into a more comfortable position. "Good. Now that's settled... You don't have to stay here with me. I'll be fine, and you've probably got better things to be doing than babysi-What are you doing?" She asked as Daryl put a hand on the side of her face and rolled his eyes as he leaned down towards her, stopping when his nose was almost touching her own.

"Shut up, Jupiter..." She couldn't even protest at him telling her to shut up as he finally closed the gap between their mouths and kissed her gently, his thumb lightly running over her cheek.

It was over before she could even get over the fact that it had happened in the first place, her heart still racing and her face flushed as he moved back slightly and then kissed her forehead.

"I ain't going anywhere."