My dearest readers and reviewers, hello again! I have returned to you and I come bearing the offering I promised, the long awaited sequel to Wildflower. It is a bit pointless for me to tell you that this will obviously not be in-line with the canon plot of the show. Far from it. Probably some of the most far flung of the Walking Dead fan-fiction universe, but hey, since when has that stopped me? Oh, and if you are a new reader and don't know anything about what's gone on in the past, this fic is the sequel to my previous Walking Dead story, Wildflower. If you haven't read that, you won't understand this at all, or at least you won't understand most of it. Its probably not absolutely essential that you read Wildflower if you want to continue with this...but I would suggest it. If you start reading this and have any questions about something that happened in the past, feel free to message me and I'll answer them. Wildflower is almost 500pgs, I can understand if you don't want to read the whole thing in order to pursue this story. And now, on with the summary!

Seventeen years after disappearing off the face of the earth with his adopted family, Daryl's certain that this is how he'll spend the rest of his days, providing for his loved ones and keeping a very close eye on the ever rebellious and independent Luna Dixon, his more-than-a-handful of a teenage daughter. Right alongside Luna is Judith Grimes, her partner-in-crime and sister in all but blood. Life is good for the survivors, until an old enemy rips the fabric of their world apart. Luna and Judith are snatched up and carried off to a place their parents have only ever told them stories of; Atlanta. Almost twenty years after the initial outbreak, Atlanta is overrun with the walking dead, but beneath the streets a portion of the city's population has survived. Here Luna and Judith are held captive, part of a much larger plan to conquer the plague once and for all, but neither of them want anything to do with this supposed cure, or the 'civilization' in which they are now imprisoned, a place far more gruesome and bloodthirsty than anything they've ever known. Luna begrudgingly realizes the only way she and Judith are ever going to see the light of day again is if she lowers her weapons and dares to trust others, both alike, and polar opposite, to herself. In doing so, she may just discover who she really is, and what is worth sacrificing even her life to protect.

Not what you were expecting? Maybe a little? Regardless, I hope you give this sequel a chance. Of course there will be hefty doses of the Atlanta Survivors (you didn't think the kidnapping of their kids was gonna go unanswered did you?) as well as appearances by some other characters in the Walking Dead that didn't make it to Wildflower. Fasten your seat-belts ladies and gentlemen, it's gonna be a bumpy ride...

So, because this is a Walking Dead fic, there are a few warnings that come along. Blood, gore, death, more blood, cussing, sex, more gore, more cussing, more death, you get the idea. So that's the content warnings, now, for the readers who haven't read Wildflower and are considering this story, it has pretty much NOTHING to do with the current canon plot of the show or comic books (which I have not read), and so if you start flaming me with questions about why the hell is X person dead (or alive) or why is this or that happening/not happening, I am going to point you to Wildflower for the reason. Wildflower started from the canon-plot in Season 1 of the show and then sharply diverged from there, with a few intersections in-between.

So now, having said all of that, I would like to welcome you to this story. I hope you all find it as intriguing and worth your while to read as I have to write, and I absolutely adore reviews, so let me know what you think! As I did in Wildflower, I will respond to your reviews in an Author's Note prior to each chapter, unless otherwise noted by the individual reviewer. Also, if you are so inclined, you can follow me on twitter at alotlikefalling where I'll keep you updated on how the story is going between chapter updates. I work 2 jobs and go to school so needless to say, I am a busy bee, but I will do my best to update quickly, particularly if I am given nice reviews, those are always excellent food for the Muse. Alright, shameless plugging over now. I really hope you like the story, let me know with comments. And now I present you with Wolfsong. Happy reading my friends!

He had not dreamed like this in a long time. The air was wonderfully cool and filled with the smell of long, clean grass and the promise of a storm. He stood back in the South, he could tell by the caress of humidity and the smell of honeysuckles and the slight salty tang to the air from the impending rain. He was barefoot, standing in a field over looking a sprawl of trees, the underbrush thick and tangled but still inviting. The wind picked up speed and brushed against his skin, quick and light and teasing, roughing his hair almost playfully. Above his head the clouds hung low, so low he swore if he got a running start he could have probably touched them, the color a dark bruising grey, almost blue, weighed heavy with rain. Thunder rumbled and heat lightening blazed in the distant, flashes lighting up the belly of the clouds with bursts of white light. The green tree tops swayed back and forth in the wind, the pale underside of the leaves a stark contrast against the dark sky. Their hissing whispers as they rubbed together came down to his ears and his instincts warned him to get deep undercover. This wasn't going to be just a usual hour or two hour storm of summertime. This was a sleeping monster that was uncurling itself, stretching out its back and yawning a maw full of vicious teeth. More lightening cracked through the sky, the thunder growling insistently above his head, making the air vibrate against his skin. Something held him fast to this hilltop but his heart was beginning to race as the wind picked up speed. The grass whipped about his ankles, tickling his skin and urging him to run. The thunder cracked again as the lighting flashed, dragging jagged claws of white light through the sky.

He finally tore himself free and ran. He expected something to chase after him, something to hunt him down, or show itself to be hunted, but instead for a long time there was nothing. He raced down the hill and towards the trees, all the while the impending storm growing around him, kicking up the scents of the woods, flooding his senses with an earthy perfume that made his head swim and his body all but purr with pleasure and contentment. He felt home here, in the eye of the storms that had so often wracked his house as a child. He felt as though he had the strength to compete with the power of the storm and when he gathered his legs in a leap and hit the ground running, that power sang through him like the sharp wail of an electric guitar in contrast to the snarled drum beat of the thunder. The music in the back of his head continued building, swelling all around him, the hissing rattle of the leaves, the hum of his footsteps as they sent shockwaves up through his body while he continued running, the fierce determination of the lightening as he chased down an imaginary target. All around him the sounds were getting louder and as the darkness grew and the lightening became more prominent somewhere at his side a wolf howled. His rational mind protested the sound, there were no wolves in Georgia, but his instincts rebelled against such thoughts. The sound was too real and too close for him to question it, but instead of fear, it sent a pleasurable thrill up from the base of his spine all the way through his chest until a cry came tearing out from his throat, excitement and some sense of anticipation shaking through him, almost tripping him up as he continued running. He struggled to keep pace, feeling the pack closing in around him, running with them rather than away from them. His lungs were going to explode with the need to catch his breath, all his muscles burned, and still their song came wavering up through the sky, rattling his senses, so loud it almost drowned out the tumult of the thunder and lightening. At last when the din could grow no louder and his body could take no more he started into consciousness.

Daryl sat bolt right up in bed, his chest heaving for breath, his body shaking, skin slick with cool sweat as the sheets coiled about his hips. Those first few conscious breaths into his lungs were delicious and soothing and he sucked them down quickly, steadying the trembling in his flesh. When he was sure he had a hold of himself he closed his eyes and immediately let his mind go back into the dream. Already it was beginning to fragment and slip through his mental fingers, but some of the details were still sharp. The pungent smell of the promised rain, the howl of the wolves, the feel of the speed as he ran so fast he swore he could catch the lightening as it cracked above his head. He pulled down another breath and quieted the last of the shaking in his body. He hadn't dreamed that vividly in a long time, and while strange and completely out of the blue, he was thankful that it had not involved Walkers or other various monsters.

He shifted in bed and checked to see if Fox was still sleeping. Her naked form was sprawled across the bed, her pale shoulders rising and falling ever so slowly as she breathed in and out, the sheets twisted up around her hips. Though it had been more than a year since he'd seen it, he suddenly pictured her with her blood red hair strewn across her milky pale skin and smiled fondly at the thought. But for almost a year she'd been only with her natural color, a dark chocolate tone, darker than his own sable shade, natural reddish highlights slipping through brought out even further by the summer sun. Her hair had grown since she'd taken the sheers to the faded portions that had once been red, the waves tumbling not quite to the small of her back. She looked contented and peaceful, her expression relaxed blissfully. Even the marks tracing the left side of her face were somewhat smoothed over in her sleep, white ropes of scar tissue that had long since healed but would never fade, a permanent reminder of how close they had come to losing everything. He lightly pulled a few of the tangled locks to the side so he could kiss her shoulder. She didn't even twitch, her belly pressed to the mattress, her cheek into the pillow. He recalled the nights when he wouldn't have been able to move without waking her, her fingers curled against any part of his body she could reach, her legs all twisted and tangled up with his. Those days were far behind them, but not so far that he didn't remember, sleeping on cold floors, in the back of trucks, someone always on watch because the walking dead were never far away.

But right now that wasn't what was on his mind. Right now his thoughts were shifting to the crib in the corner of the bedroom just to the side of the window where his daughter lay. They traded shifts of who would get up with her in the night should she start to fuss. Last night Daryl had the early shift and Fox had been up with her in the late hours, well after midnight. Normally Luna was good about sleeping through the night but last night it was as if she'd regressed to being a newborn and she'd demanded her parents attention every few hours. Even now she was starting to fuss, Daryl could hear her rolling around in her blankets, the beginnings of a crying spell already starting up.

"Hang on Luna, I'm coming. Lemme get my eyes open sweetheart," he muttered as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and then hunted for his sweatpants which were piled beside the bed. Fortunately for him Fox was as unparticular about being tidy as he was, but they both would still be grateful when they could take time off out of the fields and the woods to run into town for some real furniture. As it was, their clothes were still spilling out of their various duffle bags and backpacks. This was the height of the growing season and soon enough it would be harvest time, and they would need all hands on deck to get enough food to last through the winter. All of this and more was on Daryl's mind as he padded across the bedroom towards Luna's crib, but as soon as he laid eyes on his daughter, everything melted away. She was still tucked into her blankets but already beginning to kick her strong little limbs, holding them out towards her father, anxious to be picked up.

"I got ya," Daryl murmured, scooping her up from the crib and tucking her into the curve of his chest and shoulder. Normally that was enough to soothe her, at least for a few seconds, long enough for him to start getting a bottle ready, but today she was still kicking and wiggling against him.

"Hey now, easy, don't go getting upset. You kept Momma up all night last night, she needs to sleep, or she'll be all mouthy today," he told her as he took her into the kitchen with him to make her morning bottle. Getting her to bottle-feed had been a bit of a trick, but it went over easier if it was Daryl holding her. Fox would still nurse her if she could not be pacified any other way, but more and more they were weaning her off. They needed Fox in the fields and whenever they did their once a month supply run she was still a helluva fighter if they ever ran into trouble.

Even when he had the bottle ready and offered it to her she wasn't calmed, beginning to thrash her limbs obstinately, batting the bottle away and starting to cry. Daryl rolled his eyes and set the bottle down on the kitchen table and hitched Luna up towards his shoulder, knowing that often times she liked to lean against him over his shoulder so she could watch the world.

"What's the matter sweetheart? Not hungry or do you just want Ma?" Despite the fact that he loved her with all of his heart and soul, he knew that sometimes little ones just needed their mothers. More than once Judith had caterwauled for hours at a time, simply because her real biological mother wasn't there to soothe her. He leaned his cheek against hers and noticed that she felt warm to the touch. He lowered her down from his shoulder back into his arms and touched her cheek and forehead with the back of his hand to see if he had been mistaken. She felt warmer than usual, but it could have been from her crying and fussing.

He walked with her, murmuring nonsense, knowing that she liked to listen to the hum of his voice. Eventually she did settle in his arms, her head tucked up underneath his chin. She huffed and hiccupped against him, settling down at last and he was relieved. It was Maggie's turn with the kids today while everyone else went out to work he and Rick would be out hunting while Fox, Glenn, Carl, and Benjamin would be working in their fields of corn that they'd planted almost three miles away in the delta at the edge of the river that snaked through their mountain sanctuary. These hills were far more rugged and larger than the ones they had hid in whilst in New York, and though the terrain made traveling hard, it also made it nigh impossible or practical for Walkers to come up here. They were so far away from any point of civilization that they hadn't even seen a Walker anywhere near camp for almost six months. They usually only came in contact with the monsters that had destroyed the world whenever they needed to run into town for the odd part or small luxury. They were dead to the remains of the world and that was exactly how Daryl wanted it to stay.

"I wonder what your uncle's doing right now," he asked softly as he continued to walk around with Luna. "If I know Merle he's probably looking for a cold beer and a creek to fish in." he chuckled quietly. "Good luck with that one big brother." He couldn't even remember the last time a crisp, ice cold beer had passed his lips. They did occasionally bring back alcohol from their runs into town, but in the summer it was damn hard to keep beer cold, so normally it was whiskey or rum or other liquors.

"Glenn still can't hold his whiskey, even after all this time." He laughed slightly as Luna shifted against him, snuffling against his chest. "But your ma gets jealous if I drink in front of her. So we'll just keep the shots me and the boys trade between you and me."

This was a ritual he did almost every morning with her if Fox wasn't up with her first. Normally he would have been feeding her as he talked and walked around but since she wasn't interested in eating he just held her to his chest and talked softly as he moved barefoot around the cabin, his feet brushing the wooden floor lightly. Sunlight was beginning to stream into the window perpendicular to the fireplace and he could tell already that it would be a warm day. He and the rest of the group were savoring the sunshine before it turned cold again.

"You know sometimes I'm glad you're growing up now," he said gently as his hand rhythmically stroked her back. "There's a lot you won't have to worry about. Nobody teasing you cause you're poor, no sick bastards that might snatch you off the street on your way home from school. When you're a little older, I'll teach you how to kill the only monsters left in the world. They ain't so bad, and you won't grow up scared of 'em. They won't be a shock to you like they were to the rest of us. You will be one ass kicking little girl, Luna. And if any boy ever comes around here looking for you, he'll have an army of gun barrels to look down rather than just mine." He smirked to himself at that last sentence and hummed a wordless tune, something he'd heard Fox croon to her as she was falling asleep at night.

"I love you, Luna," he murmured softly as he began to walk with her back towards the bedroom. "You be good for Maggie today." He very gently laid her back down in her crib as she yawned and closed her eyes. She burrowed back down into her nest of blankets and toys that lined her crib and as soon as Daryl was certain she had settled back into an easy sleep, he padded to Fox's side of the bed. He ran his fingers through her hair, pushing it away from the right side of her face, the motion of his strong fingers causing her to stir.

"Morning," he said with a smile as her green eyes fluttered open. Even after all this time he still loved to see the bright green irises meet his own. Their daughter had inherited Daryl's cobalt blue eyes and already both of them could tell that once she was older, they would be just as steely as her father's as well.

"Morning," Fox yawned. She buried the left side of her face back into the pillow and closed her eyes.

"Come on, we have work to do, Maggie will be here soon to take care of Luna." He pulled her hair off to the side and kissed her bare shoulder.

"I'm exhausted. Luna just would not settle down last night. You slept like the fucking dead through it of course," she growled. She slowly pushed herself up on her hands before sitting up properly, her hair tumbling down her chest and back, and Daryl could not ignore the way his flesh tightened due to her lack of wearing any kind of clothing to bed. It was something he hadn't realized was a habit of hers until after he'd finished building the house and they had ample privacy from the rest of the group.

"I told you if you wanted me to help to wake me up," he muttered when she was still fixing him with that stare that said she was going to be giving him grief.

She sighed and let her hang down for a second, her shoulders knotting up. "I know, I know. I'm just tired." She picked her head up and pushed her hair out of her face. "Did you feed her?"

He shook his head. "Tried, she wasn't interested. She's laying back down right now."

She nodded and tried to say something but ended up yawning instead. "I hope this doesn't become a regular thing," she said as she swung her legs to the side of the bed and leaned forward slightly.

Daryl smirked a little and crawled back onto the bed and came up behind her and teethed at the spot where her neck met her shoulder, which was still healing from a bite from several nights ago. His hands came up and slid from her waist all the way up her back, dragging the rough, calloused fingertips over her smooth skin. He gripped her shoulders one of which bore old white scars and massaged her for a minute, his thumbs pressing down firmly around and between her shoulder blades. She tipped her head to the side and he nicked his teeth against the line of her jaw, minding the parts where the scars marred the otherwise smooth skin.

"I thought we were in a hurry." Her voice hummed in her throat as she leaned against him, his muscled chest pressed firmly against her back while he continued to nip down her neck and her shoulders. His arms came around and tugged her against him, wrapping around her waist firmly and pulling her against him.

"Just proving that you're not too tired." He chuckled in her ear, his breath warm against her skin, sending little shivers down her spine.

"Oh shut up," she growled against him, twisting in his arms and lacing them around his neck. His back hit the tangled coil of sheets and she crawled against him, her body sending shocks like fire against his skin. He would never get tired of this feeling, no matter how long he lived, and it was apparent that she wouldn't either.

They had just scrambled into their clothes when they heard a loud rapping knock on the door. Daryl went to answer it while Fox tended to Luna who had started to fuss again. When he arrived at the door he found Maggie and Rick waiting for him with an expectant look on their faces.

"Sleep well?" Maggie asked in a teasing voice and that was when Daryl realized he hadn't dragged a brush through his hair after Fox had mussed it. He hurriedly tried to flatten it back down to his head and felt the back of his neck burn as Maggie struggled to keep from laughing outright. Rick had a knowing gleam in his eye and Daryl pointedly gave him a steely stare until he backed down.

Fox emerged from the bedroom holding Luna in her arms. She'd thrown her hair into a messy braid to keep it away from her face and out of Luna's grasp since she had a habit of pulling on it as hard as she could, especially if she wanted to get her parents' attention. Maggie had Judith trailing after her close to her legs. At a year and a half she was steady on her legs and determined to get into anything that wasn't bolted shut or nailed down. She talked almost a mile a minute, babbling and stringing as many words together as she could, and as soon as she saw Daryl she came running as fast as her legs could take her. He swooped down and scooped her up and tickled the back of her neck and cheeks with his rough stubble until she squealed and batted at his face.

"Stay Daryl, stay!" she chirped when he made to set her down.

"Jeeze you'd think you were the greatest thing since sliced bread." Rick commented when Judith wrapped herself around Daryl's legs like a bug clinging to a stick. The hunter chuckled and gently pried her away and hitched her to his hip.
"When you get a little bit older you'll come with us," he promised as she began to pout at being left behind with Maggie and Luna. "So you be good, alright, don't give Maggie any trouble." He set her down on the floor and turned to Maggie who had already taken Luna from Fox's arms.

"She was fussy this morning and all last night so hopefully she'll sleep for you today," Daryl said as he double checked his crossbow and made sure he had all his bolts in his quiver before adjusting the weapon across his back. Fox had hooked her belt of knives across her hips and even now it was amusing for Daryl to see her looking just as fierce and as deadly as she had been the first day he'd met her, but now she was also doting over Luna, kissing the top of her head in Maggie's arms, crooning soft goodbyes.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. Now go bring back the bacon!" she urged, shooing them out the door after Rick said goodbye to Judith. All three left and hurried down the front porch steps and out into the center of camp where a steady fire always burned, smoking meat and even some of the vegetables they'd grown. Glenn was splitting wood, swinging an ax with ease and efficiency, his shirt off and sweat already breaking out across his arms and shoulders as he worked tirelessly. Benjamin was nearby stacking the cut wood, ferrying it to the different woodpiles near the three cabins but as soon as they saw the approaching group Glenn gratefully put down his ax and wiped his brow.

"Time to hit the road?" he asked as he shrugged back into his shirt.

"Let's do this. You two get the fun job." Fox groused in Rick and Daryl's direction, but it was playfully. She picked up the tools they'd need down in the fields and slung them onto her back before snagging Daryl by the wrist and pulling him back into her.

"Be safe," she murmured before kissing him gently on the mouth. He pulled away as soon as he felt Rick's eyes searing into the back of his neck.

"You too," he replied before she let go of his wrist and followed Rick towards the trails that would lead them deep into the woods where they would hunt for any large game that they could find. They had to be careful about what and where they made a kill however, because if the animal was too large to bring back to camp, then it was just more energy they had to burn to have the whole group come and help butcher it and haul it back. They did their best to never let anything go to waste, and anything they didn't use they were careful to burn so the carcass wouldn't attract any scavengers, or Walkers.

"Luna keep you up all night last night?" Rick asked as they pushed through the trees. The underbrush was not heavy in these areas, and the carpet of pine needles dampened the sound of their footsteps. Right now they were relatively free to talk because it was still too close to camp to do any serious hunting.

"Yeah. Fox had the late shift but she didn't really want to eat this morning either. I think she's just being stubborn," he said as he kept his eyes peeled for any signs of game to track, or predators. As they came to the pass that was by far the easiest to get into the outer reaches of their camp they carefully picked their way over the trick wire that if broken would have very carefully rigged nets as well as boulders dropping down onto the approaching enemy. The sound of the crash would easily be heard by anybody in camp, and would help to slow down whatever was coming their way. So far the wire had never been tripped, and once a month they made sure the ropes holding the booby traps in place were still in good shape, replacing them if they weren't. Today they passed swiftly over their safe guarded protection and proceeded down the hill, moving easily through the dappled forest light, the smell of cedar and pine released by every footstep.

"I'd say there's a good chance of that. Giving who her parents are," Rick sassed lightly and Daryl rolled his eyes and playfully shoved him in the shoulder, knocking him a few steps to the side. Rick returned the blow, or tried to, but Daryl skittered back out of the way before they gathered themselves and became more serious. The two men shared an unspoken connection between them, a reminder of how far they had come, and what they trusted each other with. They didn't often speak of the bond between the two of them, but it was always there, humming between them. They were as much brothers as he and Merle ever had been, and the trust between them was implicit and unwavering. Though it had been months since they'd had to fight Walkers, they still had not lost that same fluid chemistry and protectiveness over not just each other, but the group as well. The need for Rick to make so many hard decisions had passed, and since then, he had found a way to soothe his grief from Lori's death. It still had not completely gone away, he still could not often talk about it, and he usually chose to only speak of her in these quiet moments between the two of them. Daryl allowed him to do so, and in turn he would sometimes speak of Merle, and the cadence of their shared pain would be tempered.

They spent the whole day hunting but their take was less than what they had hoped for. Several large rabbits and a string of a dozen squirrels. They'd tracked a small group of deer for a good five miles but at almost six miles out and they still weren't any closer to catching up to them, they decided to head in while there was still light. In winter it wasn't uncommon for them to spend days out in the woods hunting until they brought in large game, but for now there was no need. They still had a month left before the cold would begin to become serious. They made their way back to camp and had just stepped over the trip wires when a crashing sounded through the brush. Daryl whipped his crossbow forward, ever watchful, and Rick unsheathed his python, halfway to raising it when they saw Glenn running towards them.

"Thank God. I was just about to come and track you down. Daryl, you gotta come with me now," he panted. His face was awash with anxiety and stress and Daryl quickly lowered his bow and Rick sheathed his gun.

"What's wrong?" Rick demanded.

"It's Luna, she's sick, really bad. Come on, Benjamin knows more." He spun on his heel and ran and Daryl pelted after him, his heart hammering in his throat.

They ran back towards their camp at a sprint. Daryl leapt up on the porch and as soon as he was inside dropped his bow by the door and all of the strung up game and ran as fast as he could into the bedroom. He could already hear Luna's sickly cries of pain and discomfort and his heart twisted hard.

"Daryl!" Fox called for him and grabbed him quickly into a tight embrace. He could feel her shaking in his arms and it sent another shockwave through him. He'd seen her afraid on a few occasions, but by far this was the worst. She was pale and shaking, her eyes looked like she'd already been crying, there was a sharp tremble in her jaw and chin.

Benjamin turned from where he was standing next to Luna's crib and faced Daryl. His New York accent, which had dampened somewhat since having been taken into the group's fold over a year ago, came out strong as his nervous nature pervaded his words.

"It started this morning, not long after you left. Maggie got her to eat a little but then she started throwing up and running a fever. She seems like she's in a lot of pain, dehydrated, doesn't want to eat or drink, and her temperature is rising. She's well past a hundred degrees by now. If it goes up much more we might…"

"So do something damn it!" Daryl snarled, raising his hand to shove the all but terrified medic when Fox grabbed him and held him back.

"He has," she panted. "He has, he's done everything he can." Her voice was even shaking just as much as her whole body was.

"I managed to get an IV into her to give her some fluids and what's left of our antibiotics." His hands were fumbling against each other as he paced restlessly and Daryl's eyes narrowed.

"What does she have?" the hunter demanded.

"I don't have the equipment to run tests. I dug through my books and there's a few things it could be, but to be honest, it's mimicking the fever from people who were bitten." His skin paled even more than it already was and he shivered slightly. "Obviously she wasn't bitten or scratched, so I don't know what it is. I gave her all of the antibiotics we've got left, whatever it is should respond to at least one of them. The only thing we can do now is wait it out."

Daryl pushed past the medic and went to his daughter's crib. Luna lay sprawled amongst her blankets, flushed, trembling, and crying weakly with pain, a needle far too large for Daryl's liking taped to her hand. When Daryl reached down and gently touched her cheek he felt her raging fever and it was enough to make him pull his hand back so he didn't add to her body heat with his own. It hurt so much to see her in so much pain. The only thing he wanted to do was hold her and soothe her distressed cries. Only one other time had he been in so much pain for someone else. He reached his hand down into the crib and cupped his daughter's cheek. The muscles in shoulders knotted up as he physically tried to push away the feeling of helplessness.

"I'll stay here in case anything changes," Benjamin murmured before picking up his bag and slipping out of the room to give Daryl and Fox some sense of privacy. Daryl didn't acknowledge the medic but Fox did.

"Thank you, Benjy," she murmured as he walked away. It was only then that Daryl realized Rick was still here.

"I'll stay too." The former sheriff spoke firmly but Daryl shook his head, looking up at last.

"No, go and see Judith and Carl. If anything happens I'll find you." Daryl ran a tired hand through his hair and then looked back down into Luna's crib. She was sniffling weakly but he was afraid to touch her, knowing how high fevers could make pain shoot like knives through muscle and bone. He'd had his fair share of sickness without benefit of much medicine or even a soft hand at his side for comfort. He was all but shaking with confusion and fear. It wasn't often he didn't know what to do, and now that it concerned the life of his daughter…he couldn't stand it.

"Alright. But I'll be back if you need anything." Rick ducked out of the room and Daryl turned to Fox, pulling her back into an embrace to stop the slight tremors he could see running through her.

"This reminds me of the time Cherie was sick. She was a little older than Luna but it was the same, really high fever, nobody could figure out why. All the docs at the ER thought it was some kind of weird infection that they hadn't pinned down yet. Nobody slept that night. The fever eventually broke right at dawn but that whole night we really thought she might…" She trailed off, tears beginning to slip from the corner of her eyes.

Daryl cut her off, unable to listen anymore. "No. Don't even talk like that. She's gonna be ok." He forced himself to say it because saying it would help him believe it, and he refused to believe anything else. He refused to even acknowledge the possibility he might lose her.

Eventually Luna cried herself into an uneasy sleep. Both her parents kept vigil throughout the night but as the hours wore on, their anxiety spiked. Sometime after midnight she woke with a heavy round of retching. Benjamin came running and helped to keep her on her side while Fox cleaned up after her. Benjamin's face grew more distressed even as Luna's body stilled and he got a feel for her temperature as much as could be done while she squirmed in discomfort away from the thermometer he tried to slip between her lips.

"Shit, her temperature is still rising. Daryl go get the coldest of the glass jars down in the root cellar and bring them here, now!" His accent was thick and Daryl didn't waste half a second, spinning on his heel and moving at a sprint. He threw the wooden door to the cellar that they had dug into the side of the rising slope behind their cabins. He hurried down and grabbed one of the burlap sacks and went into the back of the cellar and grabbed up as many of cold jars as the sack could hold. Dug deep into the cold earth of the mountainside this had been a perfect place to store their perishables, as the temperature rarely ever got above forty-five degrees and by the time he was back out and headed for the house he was all but shivering.

"What's going on?" Glenn asked, having been on the porch of his and Maggie's cabin and seen him go running.

"Luna's fever won't come down. Guessing he's gonna use these to keep her cool." He spoke as he jogged back to his house and Glenn followed close behind him. Daryl's heart lurched uncomfortably when he heard a distressed cry from his house. He ran inside back into the bedroom and saw with terrified eyes that Luna was sprawled out onto his and Fox's bed, her limbs twitching and kicking while Benjamin held her as still as possible on her side.

"What's happening?" Daryl demanded.

"She's seizing! There's nothing I can do but make sure she doesn't choke. It'll pass," he panted. He kept a firm hold on Luna and Fox clutched Daryl's arm, her eyes screwed up with barely suppressed tears as she watched her daughter jerking like a fish on a hook on their bed. At last when Daryl was sure that any longer and something catastrophic was going to happen she stilled.

"Luna!" Fox whimpered, hurrying to the bed but Benjamin blocked her access, using his stethoscope against the baby's chest.

"She's alive," Benjamin panted, jerking the stethoscope out from his ears and wrapping it around his neck. "Daryl, the jars."

Mindless and numb Daryl passed him the sack and Benjamin quickly took the glass jars out, most of which were filled with preserves of some kind, and packed them around Luna, letting the glass touch her naked skin. Luna whimpered and moved her limbs weakly in response to the chilly glass pressed against her and Daryl sank down onto the bed and let his hand cup his daughter's cheek.

"Is she gonna be ok?" He looked up at Benjamin and demanded not just an answer, but the truth.

"We have to wait and see."

Such a pathetic answer almost had Daryl ready to break Benjamin's neck, but he quieted the rage before it could get much further than his eyes. He knew Benjamin had done everything he could, and Daryl knew too that his answer, however seemingly spineless, was the truth.

All night they waited, pacing and turning round and round weakly throughout the house, taking their turns in sitting vigil with her while the other tried in vain to close their eyes and sleep some. Benjamin checked on her temperature and IV every hour and for most of the night there was no change, until finally an hour or so after the sun had risen Benjamin shook him awake from the first bit of horribly restless sleep he'd managed to get that night.

"The fever broke!" His voice was thick with excitement. "She's cooling down, the pain seems to be less. I think the worse has passed."

Fox, who was still awake, and sitting on the bed with Luna stretched by her leg, gave a huge, relieved smile and let several unshed tears finally fall as she bent over and kissed her baby girl's damp hair, wrenching down a sob.

Daryl moved from the chair in the corner of the room where he was sitting that he would use sometimes to rock Luna to sleep and came up to the other side of the bed and let his hand feel Luna's back. She was still warm to the touch but definitely a little cooler than before. A knot in his chest he hadn't realized was so tight he could barely breathe loosened by a small amount and he gazed up at Fox, a wordless understanding, relief, and appreciation in his eyes.

Hours later Rick and the rest of the group, including Judith, came over to the house. They left Luna in her crib to get some sleep which she needed after having been forced awake by the fever and pain all night long, leaving the door open in case she began to cry.

"I can't say for sure what caused the infection, but I think it's best we don't take chances. All of her bedding and toys need to be thoroughly cleaned with bleach. You two also need to scrub down hard, hot water, soap, the whole nine yards. I don't know what made her ill but if its some kind of bacteria or virus, the best we can do is try to keep it from spreading." Benjamin said, addressing Fox and Daryl together. "The same for the rest of you. I'll heat a tub of hot water and some bleach so we can get to washing anything that might have come into contact with her that made her ill."

"Thank you, Benjy," Fox murmured, the exhaustion in her voice thick as molasses.

"It's no problem. Whatever this was, we can't take any chances." He reiterated, gazing at them all with heavy, tired eyes.

"Luna feel better?" Judith asked, her chirping voice clearly concerned as she stared up at all the adults who were still tense and worried.

Rick scooped her up and hitched her on his hip. "Yeah sweetheart, she feels a little better. But she needs her rest, ok? You can see her as soon as she's up to it, but right now she needs quiet time."

"Me quiet!" Judith insisted, the volume of her voice only rising, which despite their exhaustion elicited a soft huff of laughter from most of the group. They bid their farewells but Benjamin stayed to help with the clean up and decontamination of anything that might have brought Luna's illness into the house.

The days passed in relative ease after that. Luna's fever continued to diminish and soon her easygoing nature returned, but both Daryl and Fox began to notice that she was different. She no longer was woken easily in the night or during her daytime naps by the every day movement of people in the house as she usually was. She no longer responded to people who called out to her when the group came over for dinner, and all of her cooing sounds which had just started to become the base sounds for words began to become even more warbled than before. At first Daryl and Fox paid little mind to it, thinking nothing was amiss, but about a month after her fever there was a violent storm on the mountain. The wind howled and the rain bore down on the cabin's roof like rage from heaven, lightening cracked viciously, threatening to strike the trees that surrounded their cabin. Luna screamed shrilly at a massive boom of thunder and Fox hurriedly picked her up and cuddled her into her chest, bringing her back into the living room where she and Daryl had been playing a game of chess on a board that Daryl had made himself, along with each individual pieces he'd carved out of soft cedar wood.

"Shh, it's ok sweetheart, it's just thunder," she murmured, but Luna took no comfort in her arms. She let out an ear splitting caterwaul so loud that Fox actually winced at its pitch.

"Here, give her to me," Daryl offered. Fox gave her over to him and he cuddled her into his chest, tucking her head beneath the hollow of his chin, wrapping her securely in his arms.

"Easy does it Luna, its just a storm," he soothed. She was still crying but he noticed that as he spoke she eased down from screams to softer sobs. He got up off the floor and began to walk around with her, making sure to keep her away from the flashing light of the window.

"There's a brave girl, nothing to be afraid of Luna," he continued. The minute he stopped talking however she began to rile up into a full-blown cry again and so he said anything that came to his mind just to settle her down. Eventually the storm eased but he still continued to speak until finally he had nothing left to say and began to hum tunelessly to keep his voice going until he felt her go lax against his chest, signaling she had dropped off to sleep.

"Daryl, something's wrong." Fox spoke with quiet but deep-seated worry in her voice. "She hasn't been herself since the fever. She's never been afraid of storms before."

Daryl turned to her and shook his head. "She's alright, this was just the worst of the storms we've had since she was born. She's fine," he insisted.

But as more days passed it became clear that she wasn't fine. She screamed bloody murder whenever anybody but her parents came to hold her and no amount of verbal soothing could console her until either Fox or Daryl had her against their chest. She had never had anxiety like this before. After two weeks of this insanity which all but trapped either Fox or Daryl in the house twenty-four seven they asked Benjamin to look her over and see if there was anything physically wrong with her. He brought over a small library of text books that he had painstakingly collected, one each on every supply run into town they made, and worked all night, hold up in the bedroom with Luna while the rest of the group stayed in the front room, trying to console the distressed parents.

When Benjamin emerged his face was very grim. It was cruel in a way, because he was so expressive there was no beating around the bush with him; they could tell just by the look on his face he had bad news. He had Luna in his arms who was squirming and kicking, already starting to scream, Fox quickly scooped her up and cuddled her to her chest, humming steadily which was the only thing that soothed her as of late.

"Sit down guys," Benjy urged, nodding towards the couch. "I have good news and I have bad news. What do you want first?"

"Just explain everything," Daryl muttered, staring hard at the medic who began to fidget.

"Alright then," he said heavily. "Physically Luna is healthy. She's recovered from the illness, cognitively she's where she should be, all her reflexes are ok. But the fever, and possibly the resulting seizure, resulted in damage in her brain." His hands began to shake and he actually had to grip the side of the coffee table to stop them from quivering. He leaned down and took a deep breath before managing to look Daryl and Fox in the face. "I'm so sorry." As he spoke his voice cracked. "I don't know how or why, but something about the fever or the seizure or both damaged her hearing. For all intensive purposes, Luna is now, and will always be, deaf."

All the blood in Daryl's veins ran cold as ice. Fox doubled over, clutching Luna to her chest, openly choking on her sobs, rocking back and forth, struggling to breathe. Daryl leaned against her shoulder, trying to steady her, burrowing his face into her thick hair in the nape of her neck. He struggled to contain the swell of emotion that was beginning to rise through him like water rises when confronted with a dam.

"What do you mean, for all intensive purposes?" Rick asked quietly, noting the choice of the medic's words. He gripped Daryl's shoulder hard to bring him back down and the hunter exhaled a very shaky breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

"She can still hear a little. Very loud sounds, like thunder or a gunshot at close range. She can feel vibrations and if you hold her and speak, she can probably hear at least a little bit of what you say, though how much she understands is hard to know. She only wants to be held now by Daryl or Fox because she can't distinguish people's voices, only by sight or by smell, and their smell is more familiar than any of ours. Her tantrums lately are just fear of the unknown." He met Daryl's eyes steadily, his voice less shaky now than it was moments past. "It is not a death sentence. We will care for her and keep her safe. But even when she's older, she can't go out alone. She won't be able to hear a Walker coming up behind her, or anything else in the woods for that matter. But she is young enough that her brain may compensate for her lack of hearing with another sense, likely sight. My main concern for her now is language."

"Will she even be able to speak if she can't hear to learn the words?" Fox's voice was still cracked with pain and Daryl pressed his side into hers to steady her as much he could. He could feel her shaking but he kept firm beside her, forcing his own turbulent emotions to shut down until there was nothing new he could learn about the situation.

"There are a few options for you as far as language is concerned. You can still teach her to read and write and that will greatly help her communicate if she were ever to encounter people outside of our group. Now that she can no longer hear, your best bet for communicating with her is sign language. There are plenty of books to teach parents of deaf children how to sign back and forth, the next time we go for a run we'll find one."

"What about a hearing aid of some kind? I know there are battery operated ones, it would mean more runs into town for the batteries, but it could be done," Glenn suggested, causing Daryl to twist to look at him, giving him a slight nod of appreciation which Glenn acknowledged with a look of his own before turning back to Benjamin.

"It wouldn't help her," Benjamin said sadly. "Even if we managed to keep a stock of fresh batteries, the damage isn't in her ear, it's in her brain." He pulled out one of his medical textbooks and flipped it open, rapidly scanning pages until he found a cross section colored picture of a human brain. He tapped a small portion on the side of the grey matter with his finger to draw their attention.

"This is the temporal lobe of the brain, located near our ears on each side of our skull. It has other functions, but one of its primary is to interpret sound as language. I looked up a few cognitive tests for Luna to see if her ability to interpret language as a whole was damaged, and it isn't, that's a different part of the brain. She can and will be able to understand people and communicate, just not verbally or with sound in general." He met both Daryl's and Fox's eyes firmly. "It isn't a death sentence. We will have to keep a closer watch on her, take a lot more precautions, but she'll be fine." His lips twitched into a thin smile. "If you thought you we're involved parents before, this will be a whole new ball game."

"But she's not sick anymore? She's ok, right?" Fox's voice was still a little shaken and Daryl knew that as soon as the group left she would probably break down, but for right now she held herself together.

"No, she's not ill anymore. This kind of result from a very high fever like what she had used to be common before modern medicine. It was not unheard of for children to go blind, deaf, or even both at the same time. Many simply died from the seizures the fever induced. The antibiotics she had saved her life. We'll need more because that was the last of my stock," he added heavily.

"I'll put it on the list for this month." Glenn said firmly. He entwined his fingers with Maggie's hand and the group began to get up and slowly head for the door, lingering to say goodnight and to offer anything they could do if Daryl and Fox should need it. Benjamin left with Rick, Carl, and Judith back to their cabin where he had his own addition attached to the back of their home since it was not worth the intense labor and supplies to build a separate cabin just for one person, and it was good for Rick to have someone to keep an eye on him besides Carl, who was often pre-occupied with his little sister.

After they left and Daryl closed the door for the night he turned to Fox who now got up from the couch and began to pace, still holding Luna in her arms who by now had fallen back asleep. She looked up at Daryl and the tears streaked her face openly now that only he was here to see them. He went to her and took her in his arms and leaned his cheek against the crown of her head and let her weep against him. He understood her pain more than the rest of the group. Sound, particularly music, was one of the fundamental loves of Fox's life, and now that her daughter had been robbed of that experience, it was almost as if she herself had been made deaf as well.

"It'll be ok, Dahlia." He spoke softly, using her real name to show his seriousness and his faith in his own words. "We'll look after her and protect her, and she'll be just as strong as she ever was."

Fox couldn't speak. She tried to stifle her sobs but her attempts failed. Daryl guided her gently into their room so she could lay Luna back down in her crib before he took her fully in his arms and let her cry into his chest, holding her together as he always did in the rare few instances she ever broke down in front of him. When her tears finally dried she pulled away and managed to wipe her eyes but her breath still came in stuttered pulls.

"I can't imagine my life without sound," she whispered. "It would almost not be worth living if I couldn't hear music, or the world outside, the voices of people I love." She looked up at him with such distraught sadness that Daryl's heart cracked in pain for her, but he found the words she needed to hear.

"Because you know what life is like with sound. She doesn't, at least not like you do. Her life won't be empty. Benjamin said she would compensate with her eyes." He palmed Fox's cheek as she gently leaned into him and he tipped her head back so she met his eyes firmly. "The important thing is she's healthy now and she's safe."

Eventually Fox managed to nod. She pulled away from him and came to stand vigil over her daughter's crib, watching her sleep. After a long moment she looked back at Daryl and shifted slightly on her feet.

"I'm surprised you're not more upset." The honesty of her words soothed Daryl slightly. Whenever Fox was blunt like that, it was a sign she was coming back to herself and calming down.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders loosely. "There's nothing we can do about it except adapt. It's not what I had hoped for her, but Benjamin is right. It's not a death sentence. And I'm not about to let this ruin what I do want for her."

Fox looked up and smiled at him, seeing the same fire in his eyes that had drawn her to him so long ago. That fierce determination to not be beaten, to not be broken, to not let what he loved most slip through his fingers. It had taken months for him to acknowledge all of that inside him, but once he had, there was no force of heaven or hell that could shake him from his path, and seeing that determination burn in him now helped to soothe her and to very shakily put her trust in a future that had been so radically altered that she could not even begin to picture it.

What'd ya think guys? I crave feedback!