August 28th: Burning Bright: Woodbury (BtVS/TWD)
Title: Burning Bright, Chapter 7: Woodbury
Author: 3am_moonlight (MirroredIllusions on TtH)
Crossover: BtVS / The Walking Dead (TV)
Rating: Teen (Maggie/Glenn)
Word Count: 955.
Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & TWD: S03.
Disclaimer: Nothing copyrighted belongs to yours truly.
Summary: The Dixon brothers reunite, and Buffy meets Andrea.
Author's Note: Written for Day 28 of the 2021 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N: Eh, with a side of meh.
Previous: Burning Bright, Searching, To See You Again, Stab It, New People, and Planning To Plan.
Daryl ended up going up to the front gate of Woodbury alone, as it was decided, mostly by Daryl himself, that that was the most likely thing he would've done once he'd located where his brother was staying. While he pulled everyone's attention toward that end of the town, Buffy and Michonne snuck in further down the wall.
Sneaking into what looked like someone's home pre-apocalypse was disconcerting giving what they had been through for the last year or so. It looked so... normal. Michonne either didn't care or she'd had a good look around at some point during her short time living here.
Buffy had entirely forgotten to ask what Andrea looked like, aside from being 'tall and blonde', which as far as descriptions went, was much with the vagueness. As a result, she let Michonne take the lead. It was dark outside, so they took the chance to venture into the street, but kept close to the buildings in an attempt to not be noticed.
Still, it took a while to locate the missing woman. Every now and then they would carefully enter a building, look around quickly, and then leave. When they did find her, she was quickly pulled aside by Michonne and into a conveniently empty house.
"Michonne?" She looked at Buffy who was more interested in keeping an eye out for other people who might've noticed anything off. "Who are you?"
"My name's Buffy. Michonne and I have both sort of joined your old group. They want you back."
Beside her, Michonne gave her the side-eye. Maybe that wasn't the best introduction she had ever given, but in her defense, she was a little rusty. There weren't really a lot of people to meet anymore.
Andrea on the other hand was suddenly much more interested. "They're alive? All of them? Who's still there?"
Michonne shushed her as she moved the curtain a little to see if there were anyone out there. Just to be on the safe side, Buffy lowered her voice a little.
"Rick, Hershel, Beth, Lori, Carl, Carol, Sophia, Glenn, and Maggie. Daryl is at the front gate talking to his brother and providing a distraction for us." She left out Axel and Oskar, as there was no reason for Andrea to know who they were.
"What about T-Dog and the other people on the farm?" Then she paused suddenly, rewinding the names that had been listed. "Did you say Sophia?"
"Yes. I found her in the forest not far from the Greene Farm, but since I didn't know that was where her mother was, I didn't even think to look there, and then we watched it get overrun and burned sometime later."
Andrea nodded, "That's when I got separated from them. I was somehow left behind when they drove off, and I didn't know where to look for them." She indicated the third woman, "Michonne found me soon after and saved me from a group of walkers."
Then she repeated a question from earlier, "What happened to T-Dog? Was he bitten?"
"He was bitten while securing our new home away from home." It didn't matter what Rick said, the prison wasn't safe, not really. Even ignoring all the walkers inside, the ruined part of the complex, and that it wasn't really a good place to live long-term. There was how visible and well-known it was. Someone would see it was inhabited and come looking for shelter or a fight, or both.
At that point, Michonne lost her patience. "Are you coming back with us?"
She looked torn. Buffy understood, Woodbury looked like a safe haven on the surface, but her Slaydar was pinging with bad vibes. Not the demonic kind, just human badness, but it had all the hallmarks of a rotten apple. Still, she remained silent.
"Go to the main gate, and talk to Daryl. See how Merle reacts to you knowing your group is alive." Michonne was looking at Andrea attentively. It made Buffy wonder why she wanted to get the woman away from this place. Maybe she just had a well-honed situational awareness and sensed the badness beneath, and wanted to get her semi-friend away from harm.
It took some discussion but eventually, Andrea agreed. Buffy and Michonne melted back into the darkness while Andrea took a walk outside, pretending to take an interest in who Merle was talking to on the other side of the barricade.
At the end of the talk, she was still on the fence about leaving and rejoining Rick's group. Even from a distance it was evident to Buffy, but it had sown a little doubt about the perfection of Woodbury in Andrea. Maybe a few more visits would change her mind.
They disappeared among the trees when Daryl ended the conversation with his older brother without it being resolved either. Andrea could be brought back to the prison, but Merle could not. It just wasn't feasible.
It didn't really matter how you twisted it, Merle Dixon was a bad guy and nothing good would come from either the group joining Woodbury or Merle joining them at the prison. Andrea could go either way, she might even be an asset. Maybe. Someone had mentioned in passing that she was experienced when it came to fishing. Not that there was water nearby, but when they finally left the prison it would give them an advantage.
A more varied diet would be great as well. If they couldn't have fruits and vegetables, at least not yet, then maybe fish could be in the near future. Regardless, it was Andrea's choice. The prison was still semi-safe, as was Woodbury, but both were too unstable to last indefinitely.
Something had to give, soon.
Author: 3am_moonlight (MirroredIllusions on TtH)
Crossover: BtVS / The Walking Dead (TV)
Rating: Teen (Maggie/Glenn)
Word Count: 955.
Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & TWD: S03.
Disclaimer: Nothing copyrighted belongs to yours truly.
Summary: The Dixon brothers reunite, and Buffy meets Andrea.
Author's Note: Written for Day 28 of the 2021 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N: Eh, with a side of meh.
Previous: Burning Bright, Searching, To See You Again, Stab It, New People, and Planning To Plan.
Daryl ended up going up to the front gate of Woodbury alone, as it was decided, mostly by Daryl himself, that that was the most likely thing he would've done once he'd located where his brother was staying. While he pulled everyone's attention toward that end of the town, Buffy and Michonne snuck in further down the wall.
Sneaking into what looked like someone's home pre-apocalypse was disconcerting giving what they had been through for the last year or so. It looked so... normal. Michonne either didn't care or she'd had a good look around at some point during her short time living here.
Buffy had entirely forgotten to ask what Andrea looked like, aside from being 'tall and blonde', which as far as descriptions went, was much with the vagueness. As a result, she let Michonne take the lead. It was dark outside, so they took the chance to venture into the street, but kept close to the buildings in an attempt to not be noticed.
Still, it took a while to locate the missing woman. Every now and then they would carefully enter a building, look around quickly, and then leave. When they did find her, she was quickly pulled aside by Michonne and into a conveniently empty house.
"Michonne?" She looked at Buffy who was more interested in keeping an eye out for other people who might've noticed anything off. "Who are you?"
"My name's Buffy. Michonne and I have both sort of joined your old group. They want you back."
Beside her, Michonne gave her the side-eye. Maybe that wasn't the best introduction she had ever given, but in her defense, she was a little rusty. There weren't really a lot of people to meet anymore.
Andrea on the other hand was suddenly much more interested. "They're alive? All of them? Who's still there?"
Michonne shushed her as she moved the curtain a little to see if there were anyone out there. Just to be on the safe side, Buffy lowered her voice a little.
"Rick, Hershel, Beth, Lori, Carl, Carol, Sophia, Glenn, and Maggie. Daryl is at the front gate talking to his brother and providing a distraction for us." She left out Axel and Oskar, as there was no reason for Andrea to know who they were.
"What about T-Dog and the other people on the farm?" Then she paused suddenly, rewinding the names that had been listed. "Did you say Sophia?"
"Yes. I found her in the forest not far from the Greene Farm, but since I didn't know that was where her mother was, I didn't even think to look there, and then we watched it get overrun and burned sometime later."
Andrea nodded, "That's when I got separated from them. I was somehow left behind when they drove off, and I didn't know where to look for them." She indicated the third woman, "Michonne found me soon after and saved me from a group of walkers."
Then she repeated a question from earlier, "What happened to T-Dog? Was he bitten?"
"He was bitten while securing our new home away from home." It didn't matter what Rick said, the prison wasn't safe, not really. Even ignoring all the walkers inside, the ruined part of the complex, and that it wasn't really a good place to live long-term. There was how visible and well-known it was. Someone would see it was inhabited and come looking for shelter or a fight, or both.
At that point, Michonne lost her patience. "Are you coming back with us?"
She looked torn. Buffy understood, Woodbury looked like a safe haven on the surface, but her Slaydar was pinging with bad vibes. Not the demonic kind, just human badness, but it had all the hallmarks of a rotten apple. Still, she remained silent.
"Go to the main gate, and talk to Daryl. See how Merle reacts to you knowing your group is alive." Michonne was looking at Andrea attentively. It made Buffy wonder why she wanted to get the woman away from this place. Maybe she just had a well-honed situational awareness and sensed the badness beneath, and wanted to get her semi-friend away from harm.
It took some discussion but eventually, Andrea agreed. Buffy and Michonne melted back into the darkness while Andrea took a walk outside, pretending to take an interest in who Merle was talking to on the other side of the barricade.
At the end of the talk, she was still on the fence about leaving and rejoining Rick's group. Even from a distance it was evident to Buffy, but it had sown a little doubt about the perfection of Woodbury in Andrea. Maybe a few more visits would change her mind.
They disappeared among the trees when Daryl ended the conversation with his older brother without it being resolved either. Andrea could be brought back to the prison, but Merle could not. It just wasn't feasible.
It didn't really matter how you twisted it, Merle Dixon was a bad guy and nothing good would come from either the group joining Woodbury or Merle joining them at the prison. Andrea could go either way, she might even be an asset. Maybe. Someone had mentioned in passing that she was experienced when it came to fishing. Not that there was water nearby, but when they finally left the prison it would give them an advantage.
A more varied diet would be great as well. If they couldn't have fruits and vegetables, at least not yet, then maybe fish could be in the near future. Regardless, it was Andrea's choice. The prison was still semi-safe, as was Woodbury, but both were too unstable to last indefinitely.
Something had to give, soon.