Crossbow Lovers

Big Brother

Outside the van was quiet. Just a few whimpers rose in the air from the group left to stare at their dead loved ones. Brain's smashed so badly that the people they once were are now unrecognizable. Negan was generous enough to allow Tegan to be with Daryl in this time, but she knew it was only because she was his sister. If she were anyone else she would be out there with them or one of the dead. 

They heard the RV rolling back up. Rick's feet scraped the ground as Negan dragged him out of the recreational vehicle. Tegan could hear Negan's voice boom over the sounds of the distressed. There was nothing she could do. In that moment she felt more helpless than she ever has. Daryl wrapped her up tightly, ignoring the pain shooting through his arm. 

Rick's sobs rocked the air as he begged Negan to not make him chop off Carl's hand. Tegan gasped and dug her face into Daryl's chest. Carl was just a kid. How could he do that to him? 

She heard Negan tell Rick he didn't have too. Daryl let out a sigh of relief, but got tense again once they heard Negan say the magic words.

"Let's roll out!" Negan yelled to his overly large group.

"Daryl, I am so sorry," Tegan whispered as footsteps approached the van. The doors flung open and Tegan was ripped from Daryl's arms.

"Hey!" Daryl yelled trying to grab her. Dwight aimed Daryl's crossbow right at Daryl's head. 

"Sit down," he grumbled. Daryl looked like a helpless caged animal and it broke Tegan to see him like that.

"Ah, little sis! You get the privilege of riding with me today!" Negan said draping an arm over her shoulder.

"Go to hell Negan!" She spat pulling herself away from him.

"You'll come around," he mumbled. "Dwight! Close those doors. That sight is just heartbreaking." Dwight nodded and closed the doors on the trapped Daryl. "So, what's going on there?" 

"Fuck off," Tegan snarled. 

"Simon! Load her up," Negan ordered walking to a truck. Simon grabbed the young woman's arm and pulled her towards a different vehicle.

"You should've agreed to ride with him. Now you're stuck with the Joey's," Simon laughed at her. 

"I'd rather be dead than stuck in a vehicle with him," she uttered. Simon threw Tegan into the back of an old army truck. A chubby man sat in the driver seat and a skinny man in the passenger seat. She watched as Dwight got into the drivers side of the Daryl's van and pulled out in front of them. To her relief they followed right behind the van. 

In was hard to focus on just one thing. So much stuff had happen in the past few hours it was unreal. How was anyone supposed to cope with something like that? It was taking a toll of Tegan's mental health and she started falter. She could feel her heartbeat quickening. Her breathing grew faster. The tunnel vision started and she knew it was happening again. Something that hadn't happened to her in a long time.

She reached up to her head with her left hand and started to pull at her hair. Using her right hand, she dug her nails into her left arm.  The driver looked behind him and started to panic.

"Ma'am are you alright?" He asked rather sweetly. Tegan didn't answer. She couldn't. Her lungs couldn't get enough air and she felt she might pass out soon. The Joey that was driving honked his horn twice and pulled to the side of the road.

"What's going on?" Simon asked over a walkie.

"Not sure. Something is wrong with the girl," Joey said back. Tegan couldn't see what was happening. She could barely even hear it, but she felt Negan's hands grab her arms. 

"Get away!" She screamed with her faltering breath. "Murderer!"

"T, you have to calm down! You are going to pass the fuck out!" Negan yelled pulling her out of the truck. "She's having a panic attack. Use to happen all the time when we were younger. I never could help her."

"Get off me!" She struggled as he held her arms at her side. 

Inside the van, Daryl could hear the struggling girl. She had warned him about her attacks and explained to him how to help. Without thinking he crawled up to the back doors and started pounding on it. 

"What?" Dwight snarled pulling the door open with the crossbow ready to shoot.

"I can help her," he said looking past Dwight. "Don't hold her like that! She is going to feel constricted. She needs space." Negan glared at Daryl, but listened. Tegan dropped to the ground and pulled her knees to her chest.

"Help her," Negan ordered. Daryl hopped out of the truck with Dwight by side, crossbow ready.

"Tegan, it's me, Daryl. I need you to take deep breaths with me," Daryl softly cooed. He was kneeling on the ground a few feet away. "Ready? Breath in, count. One, two, three. Breath out." Tegan followed Daryl's instructions and after doing that a few times she could breath normally again. Her head still spun, but she could see properly.

"Daryl," she whimpered crawling up to him and into his arms. Negan looked at the two on the ground. His heart grew angry. That was his little sister and he couldn't even help her in a time of need. What kind of brother was he? Who is this man holding her? Why is he more important than her own flesh and blood? Anger controlled Negan now.

"Pull them apart," he grumbled to Dwight and Simon. Without a word, Simon ripped Tegan up and Dwight grabbed Daryl.

"Just keep breathing, T," Daryl grunted as he was thrown in the van. Dwight slammed the doors in his face. Negan grabbed his sister's cheeks and forced her to look him in the eyes.

"Who is he to you?" Negan snarled. He was always an overprotective big brother, but when it came to boyfriends, he always went to far. All he could see was red as he stared into his sisters eyes.

"None of your fucking business," she huffed. His mouth went into a straight grim line. He grinded his teeth quietly enough that Tegan couldn't hear him.

"Don't make me have to kill him right here. Who is he to you?" He asked again, more forceful.

"Does it matter? If I tell you he is just a friend, will you kill him? If I tell you he's just a fuck buddy, will you kill him? If I tell you he is the love of my life, will you kill him?" Her words pierced through Negan.

"You will answer me," he growled. 

"Kill me. Just kill me, Negan. I will never follow your rules. I will never obey you like some sheep. You are going to have to fucking kill me, brother," she growled. Her blue eyes glowed with fury. This was her brother. The one person who had promise to never hurt her. 

"You will. I will make sure of that. I won't kill Daryl, but I will torture him. Make him scream in pain and curse the day he ever met you, until you start to obey me. Until you realize who you are," he threatened.

"If you hurt him, I promise you this, you will have to kill me before I kill you. Can you do it, big brother? Can you kill your dear little sister? The sister you practically raised because mommy and daddy were assholes. The sister who would have done anything for you because she looked up to you!  Because I know, I can and I am not afraid of you," Tegan said. Negan stared at her few a minutes before letting out a hearty laugh. 

"When we get back lock them each in a cell," Negan ordered as he let go of Tegan's face. Simon roughly threw the girl back into the truck. The promise she had made Negan was true. She just wished it didn't have to be.