Once A Dixon, Always A Dixon (Daryl Dixon)

We've Changed

Setting: Alexandria, Season Five

*Nico's POV*

"Take your pick," Carol tells us the next morning. She has four handguns in her hand.

"Look, I've been thinking," Daryl says. "Do we really need these? I mean, things go bad, yeah, sure. We do what we gotta do, but it's like you said. We don't need these for that."

"Right now, we don't," Carol says. 

"You wanted me to try, right?" Daryl asks. "I'm good." 

Rick's hand hovers over the guns and settles for a 22 Magnum Revolver. Carol turns to me. My hand hovers over the guns, then I pull it away. 

"No," I say. "I have friends here. I'm not killing innocents." 

Daryl wraps an arm around me as we make our way back to Alexandria.

Once we reenter the community, I watch Rick storm back to his house. 

"Daryl, can you give me a moment?" I ask. He nods and goes his own way. I follow Rick. He sits on his couch with his head in his hands. 

"You okay?" I ask.

"You've changed," Rick says. 

"I know," I say. I smile at a memory, "D'you remember, back at the quarry, when Daryl nearly killed Jim with a pickax? I almost helped him. You stopped Daryl and said 'we don't kill the living,'." 

"That was before the living tried to kill us," Rick says. "I remember you as a young girl who wouldn't have a problem with callously killing anybody. Now, you're willing to give up your life for someone you barely know." 

"We've changed for good," I say. "For the better. You've learned that there are consequences for the choices we make, for the people we put our trust in. When did you learn that?"

"When I killed Shane," Rick answers. "He was my best friend, I would've laid my life down for his. This hopeless world we live in, it changed him for the worse. I trusted him with everything, and he betrayed me." He turns towards me, "When did you realize there's still good in this world?" 

"When Collin died, I was convinced there was no one left in this world that loved me," I say. "Then, I met Daryl. Funny. The man who had no hope left for this world taught me that there is."

"We have changed," Rick nods. 

---

I walk outside to see Noah, Glenn, Tara, Aiden, Nicholas, and Eugene leaving for a run. I walk up to Noah and hug him tightly.

"If you see any Pringles out there--" I say.

"I know, I know, I'll try to bring some," Noah laughs. I clap his shoulders and walk over to Tara. I give her an obnoxiously loud kiss on the cheek. 

"Dude, I will hurt you," she blushes and rubs her cheek with her sleeve. I walk over to Glenn and hug him tightly. 

"I will kill you if you die out there," I say. Maggie walks over and the two talk. I strut over to Eugene. 

"Hey, the secret to surviving is to keep calm and watch your back," I say. "I got faith in you." 

"Such terminology from a badass like yourself makes it sound overly simplistic," Eugene says. "I am, however, grateful for the advice you have bestowed upon me." 

I tap his shoulder in a friendly way, "I have no damn clue what you just said, but I believe it was a compliment." 

Maggie and Glenn share a quick kiss and the group takes off. I stand next to the last Greene member. 

"He'll come back," I say. "He always does."

"Do you remember when you guys put him down a well with a walker in it?" Maggie reminisces. 

"I think I was in bed with a hole in my abdomen, but yeah, he told me about that," I say.  

Just after Aiden's crew leaves, Daryl and Aaron prepare for a recruiting mission. I run up to my husband and hug him tightly.

"Promise me you'll come back soon," I say. "I can't look after Seb on my own." 

Daryl kisses my cheek softly, "I always come back, don't I?" I walk over at Aaron and pat his shoulder. Daryl hops on his new bike and Aaron gets in his car. The two drive away. 

"Goodbye, love," I mutter. 

---

Aiden's group returns hours later. There's shouting and yelling as Eugene carries an unconscious and bleeding Tara out of the back. 

"Oh my God, what happened to her?" I ask.

"She's suffered a serious head trauma," Eugene explains and carries her into the infirmary. Glenn steps out of the van, his hands covered in blood.

"Where's Noah? And Aiden?" I ask.

"Dead," Glenn mutters. My heart stops. Noah's dead?

"How did it happen?" I ask.

"We were trapped in a revolving door," Glenn starts. "The walkers grabbed Noah and ate him right in front of me." 

I look in the back of the van to see Nicholas, unconscious. 

"What happened to him?" I ask.

"He's the reason Noah's dead," Glenn says. 

---

I walk home and kick a wall.

Ow. 

I can't believe it. Beth died so Noah could stay with us. Now, he's dead.

Beth died in vain. 

Someone knocks on my door. I answer it and see Carol standing outside.

"What's up?" I ask and let her in.

"Pete's hitting Jessie," Carol says bluntly. My fists clench at my side. 

"Maybe Sam, too," Carol adds. 

"I guess some people don't change," I snarl. Pete, the friendly surgeon James introduced to me at the party is beating his wife and kid. 

"Did you tell Rick?" I ask.

"Yes," Carol says. "He said that you would understand." 

"I do," I snarl. "But Pete's gonna wish I didn't. How do you know this? Did Sam tell you?"

"He didn't have to," Carol says. I sigh and walk to a window.

"Nico," she says. "I know how this is gonna go with Pete. There's only one way it can go. You or Rick are gonna have to kill him."

"You bet your ass I will," I say and load an arrow in my crossbow.

A/N: Yeah, short chapter, but this is a one-off, I swear