Work Text:
When most people first meet Glenn, they think he might just be the luckiest sonofabitch they ever met - surviving out here this long - scrappy boy that he is. But people who really know Glenn, well they know it goddamn sure isn’t all down to luck. Glenn is smart, fast, really fast. He’s impossibly quick witted in dangerous situations. If people wanna call that impulsivity- go right ahead. If that’s what it is, it’s gotten him this far, and that’s more than you can say about most people.
When it comes down to it, Glenn isn’t a hunter, like Daryl, or a leader like Rick. He’s a scavenger, a planner. He knows he can figure out how to get in and out of- well, just about anywhere without being detected by walkers. Knows how to steal, how to get by on what he needs and nothing more. The dead he can deal with, it’s the people that are still living that are the problem. Life before the world went to shit had by no means been easy for Glenn, but he’d still been young when it all went down - hadn’t seen the evils in the world. Then, he’d been Lucky enough to find Rick, and the rest of the group, and he’d been too damn sheltered to realize that there are people out there who want to take everything from you. People like the Governor.
This whole family thing is new for Glenn. Life at home when he was growing up had never been good. He’d cut contact with his parents as soon as he could, and from then on it was just him. But now he’s got people he cares about, and people who care about him. And it fucking terrifies him. Because what happens when those people get hurt? Being in the prison had felt good, for a while. He’d thought he and his family were safe, but he’d let his guard down too soon and now Maggie’s paying the price. Sweet Maggie, strong Maggie, his Maggie.
Though it takes every ounce of strength in him not to stay right next to her- not to keep her within eyesight at all times since they’d returned or better yet, keep an arm wrapped securely around her, he knows it would only smother her. Maggie needs space to process, and Glenn just needs Maggie.
Nothing in the world could have prepared him for what he felt when he saw Maggie walk up to him without clothes on. To know the Governor had hurt her in a different way than Merle had hurt Glenn. He knew then that something horrible had happened, something he was too useless to protect her from. Part of him died when he saw her like that, and it’s selfish, he knows. He has no right to feel sorry for himself.
He feels an anger and hatred that twists inside of him- makes him sick to his stomach - bile rising to the back of his throat. Can’t eat- sleep- just stays awake pacing back and forth all night, watching Maggie sleep restlessly. He's there at her side every time she wakes. It’s the least he can do.
He’s exhausted, but every time he closes his eyes, he’s back in that room. He sees the Governor staring into his eyes with his hands on Maggie, daring Glenn to react, to do something that would get them both killed. As if he hadn’t hurt her enough already.
Hershel had said it himself. This rage will get you killed. Glenn doesn’t know what to do. He’s beat to shit and he feels useless. He has so much pent up energy that his whole body aches with it. But every movement causes his injuries to scream in protest. When the Governor comes back to the prison Glenn is gonna be ready.
***
Rick looks at Glenn and it really dawns on him just how much the man has changed since that day he’d saved Rick’s ass back in Atlanta a year ago. He hadn’t been much more than a boy back then though he’d still been wise beyond his years. What had once been skinny is now lean muscle. What was once a baby face, now becoming chiseled and stubbled. It won’t be long before he’ll be unrecognizable compared to the boy that saved Rick. He’s become a hardened version of who he used to be, he hasn’t been the same since the governor got him and Maggie. Rick doesn’t think Glenn will go back to the way he was.
Rick and Glenn always saw eye to eye, never argued, but lately Glenn has been different. The pain in Glenn’s voice when he’d screamed Do you know what he did to her? Maggie's face pale white, eyes wide. It haunts Rick. And he doesn’t know how to fix it. He’s supposed to be the leader, the protector, and yet two of his own people got taken right under his nose. He has to keep everyone safe from this man who’s already done so much harm.
As for Maggie, he may have gotten her out of that place physically, but he knows she still hasn’t left that shed in Woodbury. She’s been spending a lot of time in her room. He’s noticed she doesn’t want anyone to touch her, not even Glenn. She stiffens at the slightest touch. Flinches when people reach out. As a cop, Rick had thought he’d seen the worst of the worst, but this was a different kind of evil. Rick doesn’t blame her one bit for telling the Governor where the prison was when he’d had a gun on Glenn, God knows Rick would’ve. But he knows she feels guilty nonetheless.
And though Glenn had always been willing to stick his neck out for others, even those he didn’t know - which Rick will be forever grateful for - he recognizes that the fierce love Glenn has for Maggie is something different. There’s nothing that boy wouldn’t do to keep her safe. It’s the love Rick felt for Lori, what he feels for Carl. That intrinsic desire to protect the people you care about. A love that will have you doing crazy things. He still sees Lori sometimes, and he can’t keep himself from chasing her. If there’s any chance at all that he can see her -talk to her again- even if what he sees is not much more than a memory caused by grief, he’ll take it. It’s something the others don’t understand but something they’re going to have to put up with.To hell if they think he’s lost his mind. Maybe he has.
***
In the moonlight, Daryl watches Maggie silently. She’d gone outside to get some air and he hadn’t hesitated to follow and check up on her. He’d sensed she was getting overwhelmed with the amount of people hovering over her lately, and he doesn’t want to contribute to that, but he can’t help it. He doesn’t want to take his eyes off of her or Glenn ever again. He wants to make sure she’s okay- can’t let her be alone- doesn’t know how to tell her that he wants to keep her safe, that he’s sorry he failed at that before.
She looks absentmindedly at the darkening sky, taking deep breaths, trying to calm the relentlessness of her body screaming danger at her. Something shifts under Daryl's foot and she turns around, taking in a startled breath.
“Shit, Daryl. You gonna keep following me around like you’re some kind of shadow?”
He doesn’t know how to tell her that yes, he is. He’ll follow her, or Glenn, or anyone in this family anywhere if it means he can keep them safe. So he just shrugs and shuffles his feet a little. He can see that she’s still trying to stem a flow of panic.
With all that’s been happening- the new group showing up out of the blue, the Governor attacking, and him being gone with Merle for a while, he hasn’t had the chance to talk to her at all. But he’s been paying attention, and he can tell she and Glenn haven’t been the same since they’d been captured.
“What happened in there- I mean- with him?” He asks, his eyes and voice are soft.
“Daryl, shut up .” She snaps. Shame is burning her ears and she’s lashing out at him when she knows she shouldn’t. She turns to walk away, but he gently catches her hand. She’s looking at the ground. She can feel her throat tightening, tears threatening to fall.
“Nah, c’mon. I know he did something to you in there - you’re not- I mean- Something is wrong, you’re not okay.” He’s stumbling through the words, just wanting to let her know he cares, that he can see something inside her is broken. Something that he so desperately wants to help her fix.
She sharply turns around, glaring at him. His eyes still scream surrender.
“You think you know so fuckin’ much? Why don’t you tell me?”
His eyes widen and he steps back. “I- I wasn’t trying ta-“
“Nah, don’t give me this now.” She says, scoffing at his hesitation.
“Go on! Tell me what he did to me.” Her voice is getting louder, rising to a yell.
“Tell me what you already know- what everyone in this fuckin’ place- knows. ” Her voice hitches, the tears that she’d been trying to hold back spill over.
He takes a few steps back. He knows he shouldn’t have pushed her, God what an idiot he is - always has been -. And she’s right. He saw the way Rick looked at her when she came back. The deep worry etched in his brows, fearing - knowing - that the worst had happened. Saw the way Beth and Carol had noticed immediately. How they so tenderly cared for her, sharing soft and hurried whispers between the two of them when they thought the others weren’t listening. He’d notice the way Glenn had barely left her side since the two of them returned, the way he looks haunted. Yes, he’d had suspicions of what had happened, and all he’s done is make things worse by trying to get her to say it out loud.
“’m sorry. I shouldn’ta-“
She wipes her face roughly and speaks before he can finish, eager to be done with the conversation. “I didn’t mean to yell, I just - fuck- I just don’t want to talk about it, okay?”
He swallows hard, nodding his head. “Yeah, okay.” His voice is almost a whisper, he can barely speak through the constricted feeling of his throat.
He should have left the talking to Glenn, or Rick. They always knew what to say or do. Daryl isn’t good with words - never has been. Merle always did the talking for the both of them. But he has a deep need for Maggie to know that he cares, that he’ll do anything to make sure she’s okay. He knows for a fact that anyone at the prison would do whatever it takes to protect her, Glenn most of all. And Daryl is so goddamn useless . He failed Glenn and Maggie both. He should have been there - should have protected them. Seeing them like this when he knows he might have done something to prevent what happened deepens an ugly wound inside him. They’re his family and he’s let them down. Not to mention it was his own brother that hurt Glenn, almost killed him.
In the short time they’ve known each other, Glenn has been a better brother than Merle ever was, though Daryl can’t stop himself from loving him. But now, he wouldn’t blame Glenn if he never wanted to talk to Daryl again. Because though he’s back now, he left when they’d needed him. He’d chosen Merle.
And what hurts Daryl even more is that even though he knows he deserves to be yelled at, and berated for what happened, Glenn and Maggie haven’t said a thing about it. They don’t blame him when he knows they should. They’re too kind for the world they’re living in- so young to have been through so much.
“Daryl”
He snaps out of his spiraling thoughts at the sound of her voice.
“Yeah”
“I’m really glad you came back.”
And the two of them sit there in comfortable silence, not knowing when the Governor will come, but knowing for sure that he will, and soon.
***
Maggie is worn down. Ever since she’d been rescued from Woodbury, people have been tiptoeing around her, and Glenn won’t stop trying to get her to talk about it because he thinks it’ll help somehow when she knows he’s really the one that needs to talk about it and not her.
When she’s outside with Daryl, She can see he’s hurting for her and she hates it. Hates that he knows what happened without her having to say it. Was she that fucking obvious? With all these people knowing, the pain of her situation is setting in. What happened to her… It’s real now.
Her father knows something bad happened to her, and she can’t tell him exactly what because she doesn’t want him to hurt anymore than he already does. But she saw the anger and pain on his face when they’d been reunited. He knows her better than anyone and he knew not to push - to just let her work through it at her own pace. She doesn’t want to sleep- dreads going to bed and seeing the Governor again. Dreads waking up the whole prison with screams she can’t control caused by the nightmares. So, she chooses not to sleep- only pretends to, for Glenn’s sake. He’s up at all hours, but she doesn’t want him to know how much she’s still hurting. It would only make him worry more, and nobody needs that right now. He has enough on his plate without having to take care of her as it is.
She doesn’t want to be reminded of what he did to her, but she knows the Governor isn’t done with her family, that he’s going to come back- and she’s so fucking scared- and she doesn’t want to admit it. This could be the end of a good thing her family’d had going. But nothing lasts forever. That’s just something she’s had to learn to accept.