A/N: Sorry this took so long. Part 2 coming for a couple of imagines still. 

daisy_up This one's for you. And it's hella long. Hopefully that makes up for the wait.

***

Daryl pulled his bike to a stop and you climbed off after patting him on the back. You took his crossbow off your back and handed it to him as he gave you a nod of thanks. Glenn and Maggie pulled up beside you in the car and you reached into the back seat to get your backpack and your baseball bat. Some people found your choice of weapon odd, but it worked for you. You also wore a knife strapped to your thigh. 

The four of you were on a run, hoping to find some more supplies for your group. In particular, you needed diapers and baby formula. Your boyfriend's ex-wife had died in child birth and the two of you had taken on the baby girl as her daddy was long dead. Carl, Rick's son, was her brother so you felt it the right thing to do even if you had never cared for Lori. You sighed and ran your eyes over the little town around you.

"How do you two want to do this?" Maggie asked and you glanced at Daryl. If Rick wasn't around people usually deferred to one of you two.

Daryl shrugged so you answered. "We've got a pharmacy and a small market. If I send you two to the market can you manage to not make out long enough to get supplies?" you asked with a smirk.

"We won't make out," Maggie said with a roll of her eyes as she started in that direction, pulling Glenn along behind her.

"Much," Glenn called over his shoulder, laughing when Maggie lightly shoved him.

You shook your head and glanced at Daryl. "Pharmacy it is, my friend."

He grunted but gave you a little smile. Truth was, other than Rick, Daryl was the one you were closest to. You opened the door to the pharmacy and knocked your bat against the metal door frame. Cocking your head to listen, you heard nothing but silence. "Let's go."

He nodded, stepping past you, moving his crossbow from side to side as he walked. Things were scattered everywhere, indicating the store had already been picked over but that didn't mean you wouldn't find anything. You and Daryl split to go down separate aisles.

"Found the baby stuff. What do we need?" Daryl asked.

You stood on your toes to look at him. "Formula, diapers and anything else you can grab. Just load the car up."

He nodded and got to work as you moved toward the pharmacy and climbed over the counter. The popular and common drugs were always gone, but sometimes you found something useful. Reaching into your bag, you pulled out the medicine guide you'd found ages ago in a library and started looking up the things you didn't recognize. You grinned as in the first section you checked you found sleeping pills and a mild pain killer. The whole run was worth it just for this.

You continued to scan the shelves, putting the valuable stuff in your bag and ignoring the rest.  You'd just zipped up the bag when you heard voices. You dropped to a crouch and slid your pack on as quietly as possible. 

"They've got to be around here somewhere. Keep looking," a voice you didn't recognize shouted.

Shit. You shuffled closer to the counter being careful not to shift any of the bottles on the floor. As you reached the counter you glanced up, wishing you could see over it without giving yourself away. A revolver strapped under the counter caught your eye. You smiled. Thank God for small towns. 

You grasped the revolver and checked the ammo to find it fully loaded. The day was looking better and better. 

"How many others are there?" you heard that voice again. 

"No one. I told you, we're it," you heard Daryl answer. 

Moving as quick as you dared, you eased your way out from behind the counter and stayed low as you moved up one of the aisles. Peeking around the end you saw Daryl, Maggie and Glenn outside on their knees. One man stood behind them with a shotgun cradled in his arms and another paced in front of them with a pistol in his hand. You could hear walkers somewhere in the distance. You needed to save your friends and get the hell out here.

You took a deep breath as you stretched out the muscles in your neck. Before you had too much time to think about it, you burst through the door and put a bullet in both of their heads. "Damn, girl," Daryl said as he gathered their weapons.

You shrugged. "Told you I was a good shot." In actuality you'd been a sniper in the army but it wasn't as if you had much chance to demonstrate your abilities. "Were there others?" 

Glenn nodded. "Two. They took off when that asshole started talking about killing us."

"Good for them," you said.

Glenn's eyes went wide. "Y/N!"

You spun to find the front end of a hoard coming around the corner of the building beside you. "Get out of here. I'll distract them," you said as you ran across the street and shot one of them in the head. The hoard moved toward the sound. You shifted your gaze to Daryl only to see a terrified expression on his face. He raised his crossbow and you shook your head. "Pick me up at the other end of the street," you yelled as you gestured in that direction with a jerk of your head. 

He nodded and climbed on the bike. Glenn and Maggie were already backing away. A few walkers turned in their direction to follow the sound of the engines, and you fired another shot to bring their attention back to you. 

You emptied the gun and tossed it aside before readying your bat. "Come on, assholes," you growled. You kept taking out any that got too close as you hurried down the street. You grinned as Daryl pulled his bike to a stop at the other end of the street. You started to jog in that direction when another part of the hoard poured out from the between the buildings to your right. 

You lost sight of Daryl and jerked to the side as one dove for you, enjoying the squishing sound your bat made when it made contact with the head. It only took you a moment to realize you were completely surrounded. "Daryl, go!" you yelled as something on the ground caught your eye. This was going to be unpleasant. 

You took a deep breath and held it before stepping to the side. Daryl screaming your name was the last thing you heard before you dropped into the darkness.

***

(Rick's POV)

"Dad! They're back!" Carl yelled and Rick made his way toward the yard of the prison. It always made him nervous when Y/N went on a run without him, even though he knew she was capable. They opened the gate and the car drove in, followed by Daryl's bike. As soon as the gate shut behind them, Maggie was out of the car running over to Daryl who just dropped to his knees. 

Rick's heart skipped a beat then started to race. "No. No. No," he muttered though no one else but him could hear it. He started to jog then flat out ran as he realized Daryl was crying. "Where is she?" Rick yelled as he got close. When Daryl just looked at him and shook his head, Rick lunged for him only to be stopped by Glenn. "Where is she?" he yelled again, tears starting to run down his own face. 

He heard the gasps behind him, people crying, but at the moment, he didn't have it in him to worry about anyone but himself. His knees gave way and Glenn caught him, lowering him slowly to the ground. Rick's shoulders shook as sobs tore through him. He screamed in aggravation and anguish before wiping a hand down his face. "What happened?" he managed to get out.

"She saved us from a couple of assholes then we were set upon by a hoard. She distracted them so we could get away," Maggie said, her voice soft. 

"I went 'round for her. Watched them take her down," Daryl said, his voice heavy with sorrow. "I'm sorry, man. I'm so sorry. There wasn't anything I could do."

Rick shook his head and shoved himself to his feet, stumbling back toward the prison. He struggled to draw breath into his too tight chest. 

"Dad, what's wrong? Dad? Where's Y/N?" Carl asked as he passed by. Rick merely shook his head and kept going, looking for anywhere that wouldn't remind him of her. 

***

(eight days later)

You sighed in relief as you neared the gate to the prison. You managed to escape the hoard by dropping into an open manhole. While the trip through the sewers wasn't pleasant, it was better than you'd feared it would be. With no people and no water running, it was cleaner than it would have been pre-apocalypse. The worst part had been the dark. And the fact you'd hurt your ankle when you fell. Still, it was better than being walker food.

You'd climbed out of the dark as soon as you were sure you were far from the hoard. You would be thrilled if you never had to be in the pitch black ever again. You holed up in a house and wrapped your ankle, giving it a couple of days to heal before taking off. During those two days you'd attempted to find a car to take you home, but all the gas had been siphoned off. 

There had been some more supplies in the house and an oversized wagon in the garage. So you'd filled two duffle bags and stuffed your backpack before loading them into the wagon that you now pulled along behind you. You'd run into some trouble on your journey back but not a lot. Just enough you were covered in grime and blood again. 

It was late at night. Normally you wouldn't have traveled in the dark but you knew you were close to home when the sun went down. 

"Hold it right there," a voice said from the dark as you placed a hand on the gate. 

You grimaced, pissed at yourself for not noticing his approach. "Nice to see you too, Dare. Open the frickin' gate." 

You watched his shadow step closer to the fence. "Y/N?"

"I sure hope so," you said with a smirk though he couldn't see it in the dark.

He hurriedly opened the gates and pulled you inside before wrapping you in a hug which surprised you. Daryl wasn't the hugging type. "I thought you were dead. We all thought you were dead. If I'd known..."

"Calm down," you said, pulling back to look at him. "It's a long story involving some time in the sewer. I brought supplies." You gestured at the wagon. "Where's Rick?"

"In your room as far as I know," Daryl said, his voice low. "He hasn't been handling this well. He keeps sneaking off to kill walkers in the uncleared parts of the prison."

You nodded and turned to head inside. Daryl's admission bothered you. Carl had only recently lost his mother, he couldn't lose Rick as well. You really thought Rick would keep it together better than that. 

The prison was quiet and you hurried through, not running into anyone that stopped you. When you reached your room, you leaned against the door frame and smiled at the sight before you. Carl was curled up in the bed with his little sister. You fought the urge to wake him and give him a bone crushing hug. Rick wasn't in the room and you hoped he wasn't off killing walkers. 

You crept into the room and grabbed some clean clothes before making your way toward the bathroom. Hopefully someone had left some water in there you could clean up with. You opened the door and froze. Rick sat against the wall, his head down and his knees up. He looked broken. "Hey handsome," you said with a small smile.

His head jerked in your direction and he smiled before shaking his head, the hope in his eyes fading away. "You're not here. You're not real." His voice was hoarse. 

You dropped your clothes on the floor beside you and made your way toward him slowly. "I'm real, baby. I promise," you assured him.

He huffed a laugh. "You always say that." Tears started to run down his face as he pulled his gun and pointed it at you. You froze instantly. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" he said between sobs. 

Your mind scrambled, looking for some way to get him to believe you were real. "Get your shit together, Grimes. I don't have the patience for this." It was what you said to him whenever his uncertainties started to plague him. It had kind of become your thing.

He tilted his head to the side and studied you. "Y/N/N?" he said as he pushed himself up the wall to a standing position.

"I'm as real as real can be, baby." 

He took a step toward you.

"Our kids are sleeping in our bed so I came here to clean up and change."

He took another step and his aim faltered. 

Your gaze darted from his eyes to the gun. "What do you say you put that gun down? You're making me nervous."

He lowered the weapon and held out a hand as he took another step, pausing just an inch away as if afraid to touch you. You raised your hand and linked your fingers with his. "Hi," you said, tears filling your eyes. 

"Oh, God," he gasped as he surged forward and wrapped his arms  around you. He fell to the ground, taking you with him. The gun dropped beside you, forgotten as he grasped your face in his hands and kissed you. He was frantic as if he were dying and only your lips could save him. He tore away from your mouth only to press more kisses all over your face. 

You scrunched your nose. "I'm gross, Rick."

"Don't care," he said and continued to kiss you before moving his lips back to yours.

Several minutes later, you found yourself straddling Rick's lap as he leaned against the wall where he'd been when you first came in.  His hands still cupped your face. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again," he said as he studied your face. 

"That could get awkward," you retorted. You leaned forward to lay your head against his chest and his arms wrapped around you, holding you to him. 

"I'm serious, Y/N. I can't go through that again." He rested his chin on top of your head.

"I'm sorry, Rick. If it makes you feel any better, I love you, too."

He chuckled. "Yeah. Yeah, it does."