(Notes : Hey! I'm back! Thank you so much for all the love and support and patience as I stepped away for a while. I love this story so much and I'm excited to get back into it. 

Also - I have a question - y'know the big time jump that happens after Rick's scene on the bridge - do I do the time jump (And suddenly Hedley is 25.) or do I keep to my timeframe (That means no RJ) ????? 

Anyways - Enjoy :3 )

When Justin's mutilated body turned up, the ex-saviours started a riot.

A guy named Jed led it. "Guess they're gonna execute every last one of us! Just like Justin!"

A woman, Regina yelled back, "Not if we have guns, too!"

The ex-saviours pushed and tried to get to the weapons by Alexandrian's and Hilltop's people pushed back.

Yelling echoed as people from both sides tried to stop their own people from getting too violent.

"Back off!"

"No!"

"They killed Justin!"

"Stop!"

"Hey! Hey! Stop this shit!" Alden yelled, getting between the two groups, "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! We're gonna find out who did this, and we're gonna make sure it never happens to us again, - all right?"

Jed scoffed, ""Us"? You're not one of us anymore."

""Us" means all of us."

Jed punched Alden, "Go shovel that horse shit to whoever killed Justin!"

Carol stepped in, a hand on her weapon.

"I thought you were supposed to be our leader."

"Enough." She said, stern and frightening. "Turn around, all of you."

"No can do, Cee. Why don't you go ahead and yank that Roscoe, pop me right here? It's better than worrying about getting it in the back."

"We don't want this." Said a girl ex-saviour.

"Hey, we just need to protect ourselves." Said another.

Daryl shouted from high ground, "No guns!"

"That 'cause you're the one took out Justin?" Said Jed.

"Nah." Said the man next to him, "My money's on garbage lady."

"Revenge for Simon's play, sure." Said another woman.

"No. It's him. Finishing what he started." Said a man.

"Hey, stop." Alden spoke, "It's gonna go too far."

"Nah. It won't." Daryl called, raising his crossbow.

"Maybe it's both of them." Jed said, "Come on." He went over to where an axe was leaning against a tree but stopped in his tracks when Hedley jumped from the tree's branches. He landed, crossbow aimed and ready when he straightened his stance, the axe behind him.

"One more step," Hedley's voice was low, "and I shoot."

The tension thickened but it was sliced when Rick came on horseback, forcing the ex-saviours back.

"Everyone back off! Right now! All right, we are not doing this. Let it go." The leader demanded, "Start the redirect. Pair off to work the grid."

The two groups went their separate ways but Hedley narrowed his eyes as Jed, his crossbow still up.

Rick jumped down from his horse and went over to the youngest Dixon. "Put it down."

Hedley huffed then put his weapon down and started to stim in frustration. "This isn't working, Rick."

"I know, Spider Monkey."

Trying to deescalate the situation before Hedley's stimmings turned self violent, Rick started talking about Judith. He had spent a few days back at Alexandria to visit his daughter and Michonne. He smiled, "Y'know, Judith's been missing you and Carl like crazy. She's been askin' for you."

Hedley's stims calmed, "Is she okay?"

"She's great. Been painting the walls of her bedroom recently."

Hedley huffed out an amused laugh then sighed, "I miss her."

"Won't be long until we're back home. I promise." Rick said and nodded, then turned and went over to Gabriel.

Hedley just went back to see the ex-saviours still looking at him from in the trees. He just stared back. They were the first to look away.

***

After it was found out that it was Cyndie and her group that killed Justin and a few other ex-saviours, Rick kicked the rest of the ex-saviours out.

And after a few hours, Hedley and Carl discovered their dads missing. They asked Jerry where they were and they were told they were back at Alexandria. But after radioing Tara back at Alexandria, the two discovered that Rick and Daryl hadn't arrived.

Deciding to take matters into their own hands, they jumped on Hedley's Flytrap and drove off onto the road back to Alexandria.

Carl held onto Hedley as they drove. "They couldn't have gotten far!" Carl called over the noise of the engine.

"Depends on if they ran into trouble or not!" Hedley called back.

They soon spotted something that made them stop.

It was Daryl's bike.

They stopped then looked around. Their weapons up at the ready, they went through the grass. When they heard grunts and yelling, they ran to where it came from. It came from a ditch. The two teens peered inside and saw Rick dangling from the roots while Daryl killed two walkers that had dropped inside.

"Need a hand?" Carl smirked.

Rick and Daryl looked up at their sons and smiled, laughing. Hedley stimmed happily seeing his dad safe and sound.

"What you doin' 'ere?" Daryl narrowed his eyes.

"Savin' your asses, apparently." Hedley sassed, then helped Carl bring Rick up to the surface. They did the same with Daryl and when the four were up, they hugged each other in relief.

That was until a herd came, sending them off and back to the bikes.

"Come on. Let's go!"

"Wait." Rick said, spotting a horse, "I'm gonna stay back, lead 'em away from the camp."

Daryl frowned, "What?"

"I'm staying."

"No, man!"

Carl didn't like it either, "This is crazy, dad!"

Rick shook his head, "I'm not giving up on it, not yet."

Daryl then got an idea, "The river. Take 'em to the bridge. It ain't ever gonna hold, - and they'll get washed out to sea."

"No, man, I'm not sacrificing the bridge." Rick said, "I'll find another way."

"There ain't no other way, man!"

"Let's just go!" Carl pleaded with his dad but Rick shook his head again.

"I'm not destroying the bridge. We need it."

"Fine." Daryl huffed, nodding his head.

"What?! No!" Carl yelled.

"Take him back, Hedley." Rick said to the young Dixon. Hedley nodded.

"No!" Carl tugged out of the hold when Hedley pulled him back to Flytrap.

"Hey." Rick called to Daryl, "Be safe. Get our boys back home."

Daryl nodded, starting up his bike.

"We can't just leave him, Hedley!" Carl yelled as he watched his dad get up on the horse.

"We have to go. We'll regroup at the bridge." Hedley took his boyfriend's head into his hands, forcing their gaze, desperate, "We need to go."

Seeing the desperation, Carl nodded, "Okay."

"Boys! Let's go!" Daryl called, the herd getting closer.

The boys got onto Flytrap and were off, side by side with Daryl as they sped up. All as Rick went the other way.

Carl looked back and couldn't help his chest tightening when seeing his father fade out of sight.