Bob climbed in the car, he stopped at the smell of Daryl. "You gotta be kidding me.

"Don't question me! I don't need it from you too," he growled as a ripple of pain hit him hard, he doubled over gripping the seat of his bed. "Fuck this shit." He grunted.

"You can't possibly think that's a good idea." Bob looked the omega over from the back seat. "You can't do this."

"I am not taking shit from you, just fucking let me go protect my pack and my pups and my mate alright."

Bob rolled his eyes, Daryl was determined. Michonne and Tyreese headed into the car and stopped looking at the passenger seat. "What are you doing here Daryl? Did Rick say you could go?"

"He doesn't need to know, I am either goin with ya' or alone." Daryl growled, he closed his eyes as he felt another wave of pain. "So let's just fuckin go, we aren't loosing anyone else." Daryl whined in frustration. He was swearing more because he was irritated, he wanted them to stop fighting with him. "We gotta go alright. Please."

"He is going to kill us when he finds out," Michonne promised him. He rolled his eyes but knew it was the truth.

"I won't let him I promise." Daryl grunted as he gripped the seat. "Please let's just go. The faster we go the faster we can get back, our pack needs these meds alright. I need to go." Michonne, Tyreese, and Bob knew that was the truth, and they knew very well he would go on his own if they didn't let him come along.

They started the car up, Daryl let out a sigh of relief. He gripped the seatbelt close to himself, he closed his eyes. If he thought of Judith the pain subsided for only a few minutes. Daryl was thankful at least they stopped fighting long enough to let him go along, he would do it anyway. Regardless of what he was dealing with.

Rick paced back and forth in the cell block, he needed to help Daryl, he could feel it in his soul that he was supposed to be with his mate. That he was supposed to be helping him through a heat. Rick slammed his fist on the wall.

"Rick, you have got to calm down."

"I..I can't Daryl needs me, I need to.. I gotta. I have to be there, he is in heat. I need to help him through it, it could..it could make this worse. I need him better, I need to be there."

"You can't Rick," Hershel barked, the elder was adamant. "You have pups to protect, Judith is not even half a year old."

Rick bit his lip, he nodded in understanding, this was hell. He wanted to be there for his Dare, for his omega. His mate. Rick sucked in a desperate sob, Glenn had never seen Rick so broken. "I..I need him."

"Is it you need him or he needs you?"

"I..I do-"

Maggie stepped up to the glass with a look of concern on her face. "Daddy, how is everyone?"

The three men turned to see the beta. "Fine for now." The elder smiled.

"Maggie, how is Daryl?"

"Fine," she smiled softly, "worried about the pack and the rest of the pups."

"How worried?" Rick asked. "What about his heat?"

"He is fine Rick, just wants to help, wants to make you sure you're okay." She smiled softly.

"He can come see us right, through the glass at least?"

"That should be fine." Hershel said with a curt nod.

"Uhm..no he should stay with the pups."

"Maggie," Rick began, "I can smell the concern through the glass. What aren't you telling me?"

The beta side stepped and thought about it for a moment, "If I tell you, you have to promise not to freak out. Promise me you won't leave this cell block."

"Maggie?" Rick snarled. "Maggie!"

"Michonne, Bob, and Tryeese went on a supply run, Daryl..Daryl went with them." Maggie managed out.

Rick's heart began to beat quickly, panic began to fuel within him. "No! No, he can't! He..he is in heat Maggie! Maggie he can't do that..why did yo-" Rick was pacing hard.

"He said he was going to go without permission if I didn't send him on the supply run."

"Philip is still out there! Other alphas are out there!"

"Michonne and Tyreese are with him. He won't be hurt I promise. No one will hurt him, he just wanted to get medicine for the pack, he just wanted to protect everyone. He didn't want to let anyone else die."

"He can't..he can't have gone out there."

"He won't be gone long, I promise they will be fine." Rick dropped to his knees, he was just trying to think, trying not to leap through the glass and strangle the beta for letting his stubborn mate go. "Nothing bad will happen to them."

Daryl cried out as a ripple of pain pushed through him. "Daryl, we can turn around."

"And do what? Waste precious time we don't have! Rick can't fucking help me with this," he groaned as he slammed his fist on the dashboard. "I can fucking do this, I can do it. If..if anything happens and we get separated and my heat comes I have to be able to do this alone. I am just trying to help our pack."

"Nothing like that is going to happen."

"You don't fucking know that." Daryl hissed, he was beyond angry and scared, and just pissed.

"Daryl, we are going to do whatever we can to protect you."

"I don't want fucking protecting, alright..I just want..I just want my pack safe. My pups safe, I know terrible things will happen to me. I am just waiting for it okay, I just need..I just need them safe. I need Rick alive, and I need my pups alive."

Michonne looked over the packmates in the car, she looked to Daryl who whined again in pain. He was going to push through this, he was going to.

"What do you mean by you are just waiting for it?" Bob asked.

"I know at some point some bastard is going to get a hold of me, do something to me I don't want. I know it's going to happen, I just am waiting....I know what I am. What I am worth on paper.." He scoffed. "Fuck you three don't know do ya'?"

"Know what?"

"You're lookin at a man worth 10 million dollars," he bit his lip frustrated, "heats aren't supposed to hurt like mine do."

Tyreese was getting over the idea of someone being worth money, Michonne only frowned at the thought. "So that isn't an omega male thing?"

"No." Daryl grunted. "I have a chip implanted in my womb, makes my heats hurt like fuck. Supposed to help alphas do whatever they want to me..it was supposed to make it so I begged for it. My dad had it implanted, I was supposed to be sold to the omega ring."

Bob bit his knuckle.

"Oh Daryl," Tyreese grunted in displeasure.

"Dont..I know it..I know what I am..alright I just..don't please." They grew silent, Michonne took a turn and swerved, hitting a walker. Daryl grunted as the car jumbled. She backed up into a large hoard of the undead. Daryl yelped as the car stopped moving, it was stuck rolling over a group of the undead. Daryl growled.

"We just have to run don't we."

"I think so."

"Alright fuck."

Tyreese, Bob, and Michonne jumped from the car. Daryl had a lapse of pain and had to wait for the next free run though, this wasn't supposed to be part of the deal. The car was supposed to run the entire time, he wasn't supposed to be running on foot.

He turned and killed a walker behind him as he limped forward, he just felt horrible. He followed his packmates through the trees until they hit a leaf covered building. Tyreese began to hack away at the plants, Daryl tried not to think about his pain. Michonne and Bob helped hack away at the plants, Daryl spotted a car under the dense shrubbery, he smiled and began to work at it just trying not to let the pain take over.

He kept working on it until he felt a stifle of pain, he doubled over vomiting to the side until he felt somewhat better. "Are you alright Daryl?"

"Fine..just fine." He groaned as he whipped the sick from his lips. They nodded and kept working on the building and the car.

Daryl uncovered the car finally, they got the building uncovered. They rushed inside to collect whatever they could, any supplies were good for them. They packed up batteries and flashlights, a few weapons that were sitting around, and some food. They got the car up and running and began to head towards their destination.

—---

Rick was pacing in panic, he was terrified his mate was out there, he trusted his pack but this wasn't supposed to happen. No one was supposed to be sick, no one was supposed to be dying. Daryl was supposed to be wrapped up in his arms safe and secure, or under him to let him help him through his heat.

"Rick, calm down, we trust the pack. They will protect Daryl."

"His scent is so strong, alpha's all over are going to smell him like that." Rick was concerned, that was when the door opened to the sick room and Lizzie walked in. "No, not another pup."

"It's the best we have Rick," Hershel replied as they got her set up in a room up on the second floor. Her little cough gave Rick more anxiety than he already had. His pups were in danger, his mate was not in the safety of their walls, and he was a mess.

Daryl was happy to be outside in the fresh air, every once in a while a pain would run through him, panic would take over, but he was fine. Michonne and Tyreese were surprisingly good with his scent, but they also were under Rick's direction. His scent didn't affect them like it would a rogue alpha.

Bob watched the omega carefully as Daryl twisted in discomfort, he just needed them to do this. They needed the medicine for his pack.

Carol heard the coughing coming from a back room, she padded forward to see Karen on her side coughing. Her mouth foaming with blood, Carol covered her mouth and raced forward stabbing Karen in the back of the head, she prayed no one would learn it was her. She carried her to the yard and burnt her body. They wouldn't lose more people, they couldn't lose more. She hoped Tyreese wouldn't learn it was her, she ran back inside and scrubbed for hours to ensure she didn't scent like Karen or gasoline.

She just wanted to keep the pack safe.

Michonne sighed in excitement as they came across the building, Daryl held his bow up ready to fight. They made their way inside, they were happy to find for now there were no undead in the way so far. They trekked up the stairs to find themselves in the room they needed, Daryl held out the list and began to pile in anything that looked similar as well as anything he did recognize and knew they would need.

That was when Daryl saw them, Rick would kill him if he knew, kill him if he had any idea he was going to take these, not now but one day. He pushed the suppressants in his bag as quickly as he could, he was amazed to see human suppressants in the same place as meds for animals.

Bob found a few books and a bottle of booze.

They headed out to the car thankful they had found their needs so quickly, Daryl stopped dead in his tracks as he felt blood run down his legs. "Shit."

The scent of blood and his heat was starting to get to the alphas, the walkers in the area smelt the blood and began to make their way towards them. "Go go." He groaned, they made their way into a room and slammed the door shut.

"You're bleeding?" Michonne was concerned.

"I do that.. Means I could get pregnant this heat..I can't do that again right now..it..it's probably better we ain't able to work though my heat." He groaned, feeling the blood cake his thighs. Michonne and Tyreese looked to one another wide eyed, the groaning grew louder as Daryl dropped to his knees in pain.

He wanted to pop those pills but knew Rick would kill him, he needed them for if they were separated and only if they were separated. Bob and Tyreese began to work on killing the undead as Michonne dragged Daryl towards a window.

Daryl took a deep breath and stood up taking a chair and slamming it into the glass. The omega followed Michonne out onto a balcony like overpass. Tyreese jumped next, followed by Bob. The beta's bag went over the side, he fought with the undead for it until it ended back on their side.

Daryl opened the bag and bit his lip in anger. "You take one sip before those meds get in our people, I will beat your ass into the ground." He growled as the man reached for the bottle. "You made your god damn choice."

Bob hung his head in shame, the prime's mate was furious with him. That didn't bode well for him and he knew it. He was nervous, unsure of himself now. They made their way back to the prison, they got stuck by a hoard and slept that night in the car. Daryl would wake in pain but he was surviving this. He was handling it, and he was proud of himself for not using the pills he found when he could have.

The dead slammed their hands into the car door, Daryl knew the car was safe, and he worried it was his fault they kept coming to the door. Kept slamming their fists because he smelt like blood. He groaned as he felt another pain run through him. He could handle this, he would be fine.

As the sun came up he was lucky to see the hoard had moved on, Daryl smiled as Michonne started the car back up. His heat would end soon as long as he was lucky, but he didn't know if that was true, it could last longer than he wanted.

They smiled as they saw the gates of the prison, they continued forward and got the meds inside, they began to divvy them out to those who needed him. Sadly a few dozen had already died, Daryl was angry, he was angry he hadn't gotten it to them sooner.

Daryl whined when he saw Rick, there was both a look of anger and thankfulness.

Rick ran forward pulling Daryl into him, "Thank god. thank god you didn't die..oh you smell like blood Daryl did you get hurt?"

"It's my heat." Daryl whined. "We can't Rick, I can't..I can't have another one yet. I can't."

"But you need help." Rick growled.

"I can't Rick. Please. I found some suppressants, let me use them, please."

"You know how I feel about that, where are they give them to me." Rick was demanding, Daryl padded off angry, he picked 11 out of the 13 bottles and raced back to him. He handed them the twelve bottles unsure of what he planned.

"What are you going to do with them?" Daryl asked, he was angry. He needed those bottles, he knew what was coming, he knew he was going to ruin them somehow. He was glad he had at least kept two bottles for himself.

Rick opened the bottles in front of Daryl and dumped them down a drain. "No suppressants Daryl."

"You're going to regret that!" Daryl barked. "What happens when we get separated Rick? What happens! What happens when we get separated and I am in my damn heat..and and.. What happens when I am in my heat and then some alpha scoops me up! I could have prevented that!"

"No, that ain't happening. That isn't happening, we won't get separated. We won't I swear."

"You can't promise me that!" Daryl growled. Rick began to shake in rage, he only wanted to protect his family, protect his mate.

"I am going to do my best," Rick snapped back, "you don't know I can protect you." Daryl turned on his heel and raced off towards the pups. He was angry and scared and just wanted Rick but knew he couldn't handle another pup right now.

"Daryl!" Rick called but was stopped by Maggie.

"What?"

"He said he needs his space, don't." Maggie growled. "We have to protect our omega, even from his mate. You know that."

Rick paced and turned around, he knew Maggie was right, he needed to protect his pack. Protect his mate even from himself. Daryl held his pups, they cuddled into him. Carl held Daryl around the midsection.

This wasn't exactly what he had planned for his return, he needed Rick to love him, and right now he knew he was just angry. Too many of their pack had died, too many bad moments had happened all rolled up in one they just needed an easy break, and he knew in this world that didn't happen.

He sobbed into his pups, Carl held him tight.

"Momma..you don't gotta keep going through this." Ben said as he rubbed his arm. "Just let Rick help you."

"I can't..I..I can..I gotta wait okay puppies."

Ben nodded in understanding, Carl and Judith cuddled their mother. There were too many good memories here to mess them all up, but also too many bad ones. He held onto them tightly, he kissed him lovingly, he knew he could protect them.

He just needed those damn suppressants, the ones he couldn't get to if he didn't have to walk to their cell and past his mate. He hated disappointing him, and hated not giving him what he wanted either.

They both needed to be a part of his heat together, they both needed sex. They both wanted it and he knew that he was making it worse. He lowered his head sobbing into his pups, this wasn't how it was supposed to be going.