Angel (Daryl Dixion x Reader)

~17~

After a few hours everyone was in the RV trying to fall asleep. Daryl however, he laid awake on the floor of the RV with arms under his head. All he could think about was you. He knew it was wrong to pray that Shane was the one shot, but it was something he found himself doing despite attempting not to. He couldn't stop thinking about the first time he saw you. The way you looked so out of place with your full military get up on. The camouflage obviously made for the deserts of the Middle East. It was as if someone had plucked you, a soldier, up from the desert and dropped you out in the woods of Georgia. Even at your appearance, at first glance he felt some kind of attraction, or maybe just instant recognition. He still didn't know if it was the way you moved through the trees like you were apart of that wood that made him feel that way, or if it was because he hadn't seen a woman in so long. Either way, that feeling that unexplainable ease jarred him, and it took root to stick around even today.

~Flash back~

Daryl sighed quietly at his older brother walking loudly through the woods as if they weren't attempting to hunt down dinner. They'll never see any game with Merle being that fucking loud. Suddenly, Daryl stood up straight. Thinking he'd seen a girl for a split second, and she wasn't dead either. It was such a brief glance out of the corner of his eyes, that he wasn't sure he'd actually seen her or not. Not until Merle stops too, noticing his little brother's intense gaze into the thicket of trees where she'd vanished. Merle naturally follows his gaze, only to see the soldier girl walk around a small cluster of trees, before disappearing from their line of sight into a thicker cluster of brush. Daryl blinks, feeling more like he'd seen a ghost as he hadn't even heard her foot steps. That and she looked severally out of place in the middle of nowhere in the Georgia woods. Even at that odd realization, he felt a strange, yet incredibly strong sense of déjà vu. A rare feeling he'd only ever felt a handful of times before while completely alone on long hunts. Never when spying a stranger. Daryl looks to Merle who just silently shrugs a little, because she hadn't see them or heard them surprisingly. Merle had seen the gun she had though, "We need that gun, little brother." Merle whispers coolly, before finally adopting a quiet step to quickly walking after her. Daryl groaned internally but followed his brother. Merle walks around the cluster of brush after her, his hand gun already held up.

Rather reluctantly, Daryl follows after his brother, his cross bow up as well, but she was nowhere to be seen. She just disappeared with barely a readable set of tracks in her wake. This only making him question if she had been some kinda ghost lurking in these woods. He looks around for any other sign of that woman being a real physical being. Obviously a bit confused before the familiar click of a pistol turns Daryl's head to his older brother. There she was, her rifle slung over her shoulder now and her hand guns barrel touching barely brushing Merle's temple. "Move and your dead. Now drop the weapons." She tells him sternly, but it's the cool, calmness in her voice that had Merle grinning slyly and dropping his gun in front of him. "Easy girly, we mean you no harm." Merle smoothly lies. Using that charm he always insisted that the ladies loved, while Daryl slowly lowers his crossbow. She rolls her stunning (e/c) eyes that held a certain sharp, but unreadable coldness in them. "Drop the bow." She states in that chilling calm tone, while looking over to meet his blue eyes for a split second before she's immediately focused back on Merle. He does as she says, noticing how genuinely beautiful she was despite the carefully crated mask of emotionless clam on her face. "We don't want any trouble." Merle adds coolly while looking over to her from the corner of his eye.

"Yeah- That's why you were following me, huh?" She assesses rather accurately, obviously not believing a word Merle had said. Merle immediately froze, not really knowing what to say to that. "How'd you-" Merle goes to ask a bit baffled, but she scoffs, "Heard your loud ass a mile away." She responds flatly while tapping the barrel against Merle's head for emphasis. "You're friend there, not so much." She adds with a swift side nod towards Daryl. "Why were you following me." She demands sternly, voice cold as ice. Immediately letting both Daryl and his brother know that she was not fucking around, and would definitely blow Merle's head off if they answered wrong. "Was just huntin' n saw ya. Didn't know if ya needed help- A little lady shouldn't be out here, all on her lonesome." Merle says with easing charm, trying to smooth the situation over. It was mostly true statement, even though he left out the part where they were about to rob her of her gun. Little did they know, she had been following them, for a while now actually. She had seen them come in to the wood line off the road while she was hunting. They walked right past her while she was up in a tree, and they were bickering about needing to hunt something down soon or they'd starve to death. Needless to say, it was total dumb luck that they happened to pass her, and she took interest in them. Or pity one. So like any rational person, she followed them. Just to make sure they weren't psycho killers before she asked them to join the camp she had back at an abandoned rock quarry. She eyes Merle closely for a second. Her cold gaze genuinely making him start to sweat from her silence.