WHAT IF...

Fraser was alive and ended up in Alexandria after the fall.

The RV squealed to a stop and Abraham shut off the engine. After a few bumps in the road along the way, the group had finally rolled up to the gates of the community: Alexandria. If Rosie was quiet enough, she could hear laughing- the same kind of laughing she would hear at the playground at school. She looked over at Rick. He was holding Judith, and his face was softer than it used to seem.

The gates started to slide open, and Aaron helped Eric walk on through. Rosie stayed between Noah and Daryl, looking through the open gate. There were houses. Good, huge houses. It looked like a normal neighborhood- a normal neighborhood from before.

A trash can tipped over and the grass moved to everyone's left, and each and every one of them turned, aiming their weapons in unison. Not a walker, but a possum. Daryl pulled the trigger on his crossbow and a bolt went into the possum's side. Rosie picked the thing up by the tail, handing it over to Daryl with her face all scrunched up. It smelled bad.

"We brought dinner," Daryl said, holding the possum by his side.

The man at the gate glared at them all, a look of uneasiness on his face. Rosie couldn't blame him. They didn't look very friendly, especially if you're used to living inside walls- like everything was normal. "It's ok," Aaron said to the man at the gate. "Come on in, guys."

Hesitantly, Rosie followed Daryl and Glenn through the gates, everyone else following after them. The gates squeaked shut behind them, and they all stood on the other side, unsure of what to do. Rosie felt nervous. She wanted soda, but this was still nerve-wracking.

Part of her was worried that, once she walked inside those gates, she'd never be let out again. And she needed to be let out again because she had to search for Fraser. She was sure he was alive. Fraser would have gone to Coach Smith when everything was falling apart, and Coach Smith would keep him safe. She was sure of it.

"Before we take this any further, I need you all to turn over your weapons," the man said, looking over the group. Rosie looked at Rick to see if he was going to. He didn't, so Rosie kept her gun her hands, too. "You stay, you hand them over," the man said.

"We don't know if we want to stay," Rick told him, stepping to the front of the group. "If we were gonna use them, we would have started already."

"Let them talk to Deanna first, Nicholas" Aaron said to the man- apparently Nicholas.

"Who's Deanna?" Abraham asked.

"She knows everything you'd want to know about this place. Rick, why don't you start?" Aaron suggested. Rosie didn't like this. She liked soda, but she didn't like this. She was so excited and impatient, but now the anxiety was starting to bubble up in her stomach. What was it going to be like here? Was she gonna be allowed to leave when she needed to? Were there lots of other kids? Were they going to pull her hair? If there were houses, were they going to be all split up into different houses? And, most importantly, would they let her, or maybe even help her, search for Fraser?

A walker snarled from behind them, and everyone turned. "Sasha," Rick said. Sasha lifted her gun and shot the walker right in the head, making it drop down to the ground. The man named Nicholas stared at her, then at the rest of the group, too. "It's a good thing we're here," Rick said before following Aaron.

Rosie stuck as close to Daryl's side as she could without bumping into him. She didn't trust these people. Not one bit. They weren't gonna take her weapon, that was for sure. It was hers. It was to keep her safe. They couldn't just take it. Not having weapons was stupid, and stupid gets you killed. Rosie wasn't going to get herself killed.

She reached up to tug on Daryl's sleeve. He glanced at her, raising his eyebrows. Rosie waved down at herself, silently telling him to crouch down to her. He did, rolling his eyes on the way down. Rosie cupped her hands around his ear.

"What about Fraser?" she asked.

A painful feeling of sadness struck through Daryl's heart. He put his hand on the back of Rosie's head, anxiously running his fingers through her hair.

He was almost positive that Fraser was dead and that allowing Rosie to search for him would only give her false hope. He only knew a few things about the kid. Or, he was an adult, technically, but young enough for Daryl to think of him as a kid. He was probably twenty, or around that age.

The chances of a kid on his own like that surviving the fall were already slim, but considering the things that Rosie had said about Fraser- the things about his mental health- Daryl wasn't sure if he would even try to survive. It was a grim thought, but it was a valid thing to be worried about.

Rosie had mentioned several times that sometimes Fraser would get really tired and lay in bed for days on end with the lights off. She also talked about how, sometimes, in the morning, she had to beg him to get up and help her make breakfast, and when she got him up, he would only sit at the table, staring into the bowl of cereal she had made for him. And sometimes his room would get so messy that it would stink, and so would he. Rosie just said it was when he got sick. Daryl didn't think she knew what it really meant.

"Daryl," Rosie said, patting his shoulder impatiently. "What about Fraser?" she asked again.

Daryl let out a sigh. "I don't know, Rose," he said.

"Well, we have to look for him," Rosie insisted, her eyebrows furrowing. Did he mean that he wasn't sure if they would let them look for him, or did he mean something else? She didn't understand.

"We- yeah, we can look for him," Daryl told her. He wasn't sure if it was true, but it was easier to lie than to break her heart. He just hoped that she would believe him.

"I think we'll find him. He'll like you lots, I think," Rosie said, a smile growing wide on her face.

In return, Daryl only gave a nod and a fake, tight-lipped smile before standing back up. Rosie leaned into his side, keeping a hold around his wrist. She was still nervous about this place. They didn't seem very friendly, so far. Rosie hoped they were just nervous, too.

•

Rosie had been procrastinating. Usually, she liked to get things over with. When her father told her to do something, it was best to do it right away, and if she was going to get a beating, she wanted it done right away because then there wouldn't be the dread- and if you tried to avoid it, it was only worse. But she didn't want to go into this room and talk to the woman named Deanna. She wanted to stay right where she was. Maybe even just leave. But Glenn walked out of Deanna's office, and there was no one left except for Rosie.

"Is that everyone?" Deanna asked, smiling at the group. Rosie shrunk down in her seat, thinking that she could go unnoticed. She went unnoticed a lot before, and this place was a lot like everything before, so maybe she could get away with it.

"There's one more," the man that was named Nicholas said, gesturing over to where Rosie was sitting. Rosie decided that she really did not like this guy, and she wanted to flip him off, but she didn't because that would probably earn her a stern look from either Daryl or Maggie.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't see you over there," Deanna said, smiling as if it would make Rosie feel any better. That was the whole point, Rosie thought. "And your name is..." Deanna said, wanting Rosie to answer. She wouldn't.

"Rosie," Aaron answered for her. She glared at him now.

"Well, Rosie, you can come with me," Deanna said, turning to go back into her office. Rosie didn't follow. Deanna turned back to her, her eyebrows pinched together. "You don't need to be nervous. It'll only be a few minutes," she said.

"I don't wanna," Rosie muttered, pulling on the sleeves of Fraser's green hoodie, which she was still wearing despite the heat.

"You have to," Nicholas chimed in, his voice stern and irritated. Rosie really didn't like him.

"I just have a few questions to ask," Deanna said after she took a moment to give Nicholas a pointed look. Rosie looked up at Daryl, who was standing next to the chair she was sitting on. He nodded his head towards Deanna, mumbling a quiet go on. Very hesitantly and reluctantly, Rosie dragged herself up off of the chair and into Deanna's office. She lingered by the doorway while Deanna sat down on a couch. "You can take a seat," Deanna said, gesturing towards the big chair across from her. Rosie did so. "Do you mind if I record our chat, Rosie?"

"Why?" Rosie asked, eyeing the camera warily.

"We like to keep a record of these interviews, so we can look back on them," Deanna said, giving a warm smile that didn't make Rosie feel very warm. "Do you mind?"

"I don't care," Rosie mumbled, shrugging a little in the big chair.

"Great," Deanna said. She took a moment to get herself situated, turning on the camera and setting a clipboard on the table in front of her. She crossed her legs and placed her hands on top of her knees. "So, Rosie... what?" Deanna asked.

"Huh?" Rosie asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Your full name," Deanna elaborated. "Originally, I was under the impression that your last name was Dixon, but Daryl told me otherwise. I was hoping you'd be a bit more cooperative than he was, though. Are you willing to tell me your last name?"

"Um, not Dixon," Rosie said. She started picking at a loose string on the chair she was sitting in. She didn't want to tell this woman her last name. She didn't like it very much anymore. She only liked that it was the same one Fraser had. Not her dad. But she supposed she had to tell this lady. "Rosie Banks," she said.

Diana's eyes widened slightly, her eyebrows raising. Rosie furrowed hers, though. She was confused. Why was this lady so weird?

"What about your family? Before you met your friend Daryl," Deanna asked.

Rosie almost wanted to laugh. Friend didn't seem like what Daryl was. He seemed more important than being a friend. He was kind of like her best friend, though. She wasn't sure. She liked him the best, but not in the same way she liked her friend back at the prison, Lizzie. Daryl was much more important than everyone else, and Rosie wasn't sure what exactly that was called. She didn't bother to correct Deanna, though.

"Um, I was with my daddy, going to Georgia to meet his daddy. He was my gram-pa, but I never really met him. But my brother stayed in Virginia, 'cause that's where we lived. I'm lookin' for him," Rosie explained, avoiding eye contact by keeping her eyes on her boots.

"What was your brother's name?" Deanna asked. Her eyes were still wide, like she couldn't believe what Rosie was saying, which Rosie thought was really weird.

"His name's Fraser," Rosie answered.

"Oh, sweetheart," Deanna suddenly breathed out, getting up off of her chair. Rosie shrunk in on herself nervously. This was very weird. "Come with me," Deanna said. She grabbed Rosie's hand and pulled her up to her feet in a rush.

Despite how anxious she felt, Rosie followed along with Deanna because she was too scared to argue about it. They rushed through the room where everyone else was waiting, and Rosie immediately caught Daryl's eye.

"Aye, where you takin' her?" Daryl asked, stepping closer to the two. When Deanna ignored him and only kept walking, Daryl began to follow, his eyebrows furrowed with both confusion and concern. "Hey! Where you goin'?"

Rosie stumbled along beside Deanna as she pulled her along the empty neighborhood streets, while Daryl took long and fast strides behind them, following with his whole body tense. What the hell was that lady thinking, just grabbing her and walking off? It made his stomach twist itself into knots.

Were they taking her away from him because he wasn't her father? Like CPS or DCFS taking a kid away from a family that isn't good for them and placing them in a new one? Because they could already tell that he was shitty at this? God, they just got there and they were taking her away from him already? He told her this wouldn't happen. He told her that he would deal with it.

Daryl could tell that Rosie was thinking about that as she looked back at him, still being pulled along by Deanna. Maggie, Rick, and Glenn were following now, too, and the rest of the group wasn't far behind. They better not have been trying to take her away, because if they did, they would regret it.

Panic stirred in Rosie's chest. She tried pulling her arm away. "Hey, lady. Let me go," she grumbled.

"Just hold on," Deanna replied. She had this weird, excited tone to her voice that Rosie didn't understand.

"Daryl," Rosie called out, getting more and more panicky by the second. She turned back to look at Daryl, who was watching carefully from behind. He wasn't going to step in yet. Not unless he was sure what was going on. He didn't want to cause problems if there wasn't any reason to. He just hoped they weren't trying anything. Rosie, however, was officially going into panic-mode. She started tugging harder, keeping her eyes fixed on Daryl, just because it made her feel better to know that he was there, just in case. "This chick's kidnappin' me!" Rosie shouted.

"I'm not kidnapping you, Miss Banks," Deanna replied with a laugh.

Rosie didn't appreciate being called Miss Banks. It sounded condescending. Plus, she didn't much care for being called Banks anymore.

Deanna suddenly took a sharp turn, leading Rosie up the sidewalk in front of a big house, then up the porch steps, all the way up to the door. She knocked on the door and Rosie felt even more nervous. Who the hell was in this house and why did Rosie need to see them?

It made Rosie feel a lot better, though, when Daryl walked up the steps behind her and stood protectively behind her. Whether whoever was in this house was someone Rosie loved or hated, he would be there, too, so it would all be okay.

Again, Deanna knocked her knuckles against the door, but this time eight times rather than three.

"Alright, I'm comin'! I'm comin'!"

That was the voice from the other side of the door, getting louder as whoever it was approached. It was a male voice. One with a slight southern accent. Not as strong as Rosie's, but prominent enough for it to feel familiar to Rosie and Daryl.

When the door finally opened, Rosie had her eyes glued to her boots, afraid of what she was about to see.

"What's up?" the voice asked as the door swung open.

Then, it got all quiet. No sounds but a small, barely noticeable intake of breath from the person.

The next thing Rosie knew, she was being grabbed at again, and she instinctively jumped back, grabbing desperately onto Daryl's shirt as he wrapped an arm around the front of her and stared right at the person with that scary look he could muster up when he needed to. Daryl didn't know who the guy was; he didn't get to just grab at Rosie like she was his own.

Now that Daryl was there to keep the guy from touching her at all, Rosie put on her toughest, meanest glare and looked up from the ground. She was met with the face of her missing older brother; eyes like the ocean and hair like the sand.

"Fraser!" Rosie shouted, instantly separating from Daryl to launch herself into Fraser's arms. He gratefully accepted the hug, picking her up off the ground and cradling her in his arms. His breathing was shaky and uneven, and Rosie was pretty sure he was crying. She was pretty sure she was close to it, too. "I was lookin' for you, and I was scared I was never gonna find ya, but you're here!" she said in a wobbly voice.

"Oh, my God," Fraser breathed out, squeezing his baby-not-so-baby sister tighter. She smelled like dirt and grass, like when he would pick her up from baseball practice. "I missed you more than anything. Missed ya more than ya miss dinosaurs, even though they were extinct 65 million years before you were born."

"I missed you more, I bet," Rosie replied. She pulled her face away from his shoulder in order to see him.

"Impossible," Fraser scoffed. His eyes were watery and teary.

Rosie put her hands on his cheeks and wiped the tears away with her thumbs. "It is possible. 'Cause it's true," she argued.

"Nuh-uh. I missed you so much, you were in my dreams every single night," Fraser told her.

"I missed you so much, I imagined you were there when ya weren't."

Fraser only squeezed her tighter, pressing his eyes into her shoulder. "You're wearin' my hoodie," he murmured into the fabric.

"Stole it from your closet. 'Cause I missed you most," Rosie told him as she twisted a piece of his hair around her pointer finger.

It felt impossible. Rosie, for a moment, was sure that she was imagining him all over again, but he was really there. He was there, and he was holding her, and she was tugging on bits of his hair, and he was tugging on bits of hers, and he was real. He was really real and he wasn't missing anymore. She couldn't believe it, and he couldn't either.

And neither could Daryl, who felt like he was seeing a ghost. This was Rosie's big brother. The one that she talked about like he was an angel sent from Heaven. The one that protected her, as best he could, from their shitty father. Daryl felt like he had to thank Fraser or something for keeping her alive as long as he did.

After a moment longer, Fraser placed Rosie back on the ground, and she tucked herself away between his arm and his side while he turned his attention to Daryl. "Who's this guy?" Fraser asked, looking down at Rosie and gesturing to Daryl.

"That's Daryl. He's my..." And there was that question again. What was Daryl? He wasn't her friend because he was too important for that. He wasn't just some guy, either. He wasn't her dad because her dad was David Banks, even though that totally sucked. He was Daryl. After a moment longer of thinking about it, Rosie decided on saying, "He's my favorite guy. He's real important."

Daryl let out a quiet laugh that was sort of a scoff. Her favorite guy? Sure. He supposed that's what he was.

"Yeah?" Fraser asked.

"Yeah," Rosie confirmed with a nod. "Me and Daddy met him on the highway in traffic when we were leavin' Georgia because Gram-pa was dead. Him and his brother, Merle. Then, we stayed at a camp for a while, which was too hot and borin', and then Merle knocked Daddy out and left him for the walkers 'cause he was a asshole- Daddy, not Merle, but also Merle, too, a little bit- and then Merle disappeared for a lil' while, and it was just me and Daryl and everyone else, except Daryl's my favorite guy, so I always stay with him. He's sooo nice, even though he seems like he's mean. Merle said he likes to act all tough, but ain't, really. I think he's tough, but he's nice, too. 'Cause I think that's the best way you can be."

Fraser could just listen to her go on and on. He loved hearing her talk. She used to be so quiet. At least until you brought up dinosaurs.

"Did you know Daryl doesn't even know Depeche Mode? Can ya believe that? He didn't know much 'bout dinosaurs, either, so I told him all about 'em. He told me all about huntin', and all about what makes a good dad and what makes a bad dad, and he also helped me when I got real sick when we were livin' in a prison. And I'm a professional at gettin' kidnapped now, and he's a professional at gettin' me back."

Rosie reached into her pocket and took out her velociraptor toy, showing it to Fraser proudly.

"I got this from a store in Atlanta, and it's my favorite, even though it don't got feathers, and real velociraptors have feathers. I lost it once, but Daryl found it for me and gave it back 'cause he's nice. That's really, super nice, right? I think he's nice, even though he pretends he ain't."

Daryl rolled his eyes.

"He's rollin' his eyes 'cause he's a grown-up and grown-ups are allowed to roll their eyes whenever they want 'cause they're lucky like that. I can't roll my eyes or else he'll say, don't you roll your eyes at me, girl, or something like that," Rosie explained, putting on a deep voice in order to imitate Daryl. "Plus, for a little while, I even had to watch my mouth because there were other lil' kids around. Maybe I'll have to again if there are kids here. Apparently, kids ain't s'posed to swear ever, not just at school. I thought it was just at school, to be honest, but that's not true."

"I've prob'ly told ya that a thousand times, Rosie," Fraser interjected, shaking his head.

"Well, I just thought you were kiddin' 'cause Daddy didn't care when I swore. Also, does this place got soda in it? I haven't had soda in forever. And also, is there other food? Daryl's got that possum, which is fine, I guess, but I ain't really cravin' possum right now. No offense, Daryl. Also, did you know he used his crossbow to shoot the possum, and he even let me use it a little while ago? I tricked him into lettin' me by making my eyes big. I don't know why that always works, but it does. I was shit at usin' the crossbow at first, but I'm a little better now. I'll be almost as good as him when I'm older, I think, 'cause he's a real good teacher. Wayyyy better than Daddy. He says Dad was a asshole and a dumbass 'cause there ain't nothin' not to like about me, 'cept that I keep losin' every belt that he finds for me. He wasn't even lyin', neither, 'cause, usually, I can tell when he's lyin', and he wasn't."

"He sounds right," Fraser said.

"That's nice, too, but also, I'm mean sometimes, too, and that's somethin' not to like. I'm tryna' be nicer, but it's hard sometimes. Did you know that I met a scientist who knows all about dinosaurs and everything else, too? Daryl disappeared for a lil' while, and when he was gone, the scientist guy- his name's Eugene- was tellin' me all about dinosaurs and answerin' all my questions. Daryl made me stop askin' questions to eat when he got back, though, which was annoyin', but I guess it was nice, too."

"Hey, Rosie," Fraser interjected. He loved listening to her ramble, honestly, but he also wanted to be introduced to all of the strangers his little sister had been staying with this whole time.

"Hm?"

"How 'bout you introduce me to 'em? Huh?" he suggested, raising his eyebrows.

"Good idea," Rosie said with a nod. She moved away from Fraser to stand by Daryl again. "This is Daryl. You a'ready know 'bout him." She looked up at Daryl, who had a smile on his face, which wasn't usual for him, so she smiled back. Then, she pointed at Fraser. "That's my brother, Fraser. I found him."

"I see that," Daryl told her. He looked to Fraser, who stuck out his hand for Daryl to shake. "Been, uh, hearin' all about ya for months," Daryl told him.

"I've been hearin' all about you for about a minute and a half, now," Fraser joked, smiling at the man. Rosie tugged on his shirt, waiting impatiently to introduce him to the rest of the group. Fraser wanted to meet Daryl the most, though. From what he could tell, Daryl had done a better job at taking care of Rosie than David ever did, and he didn't know how to express how grateful he was for that. "Thanks. For taking care of her and everything. Sounds like she loves you a whole lot."

"Yeah. She..." Daryl murmured, unsure of how to go on. What was he supposed to say? She was a sweetheart? She was an angel? She was everything? How could he explain it all? Rosie grabbed Daryl's right hand and Fraser's left, swinging them back and forth impatiently.

God, what was going to happen now? Would she start staying with Fraser? Maybe she would stay with Fraser and Daryl would hardly see her anymore. Maybe she didn't need him anymore. Fraser was old enough for Rosie to start staying with him and only him. Would it just be weird, then, if Daryl wanted to see her? He wished that Rosie was his from the beginning and that Fraser was, too, so neither of them would have to be so afraid of Rosie being taken from them.

Rosie was everything. She had wormed her way into Daryl Dixon's heart, no matter how shielded and icy it was, and it wasn't like he could just reach in and pull her back out. She was like a permanent infestation, but the good kind. The kind that gave you a reason to keep surviving no matter how hard life got. If that kind even existed.

Maybe she was magic. Maybe she was an angel. Maybe she was everything.

But maybe she was all those things to Fraser, too.

"She's family," Daryl settled on. Somewhat hesitantly, he used his one free hand to reach out and squeeze Fraser's shoulder. "And you are, too, man."

"Fraser," Rosie groaned impatiently, tugging on both his and Daryl's hands. "You gotta meet everyone else. Or else I'll explode from waiting."

"You'll explode?" Fraser questioned, pinching his eyebrows together.

"Yeah. Or a meteor'll hit us and we'll go extinct, like the dinosaurs,"

"Sure."

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Everyone thank superluvsick for this idea 🙏