Chapter Text
Running into the group as he did before in Atlanta and reuniting with Glenn caused the ones that didn’t remember were weary of those that claimed knowledge of the future, even when they’d seen them reunite when before it seemed as if they did not know each other. As soon as Glenn had seen Rick, he’d come running up to him to hug him. Rick hugged Glenn’s just as hard and apologized over and over again for his death. Glenn told him that he did not hold his death against Rick, he held Negan responsible for it. The others on the roof looked at them in shock hearing things that had not come to pass, such as Glenn’s death. They were interrupted by Merle calling them derogatory names and assuming they’d been intimate. Rick nor Glenn thought to correct the man as they’d learned how to ignore people like him. This time around, they knocked Merle out and dragged his unconscious body, none too gently, to the van they’d stolen. He saw that they could do things differently this time and if Daryl remembered everything, he didn’t want his brother mad at him for leaving Merle.
They made their way to the quarry as they had the first time around, thankfully with the guns that he’d dropped in the street the first time around, preventing the need to go back into the city. As soon as Carl saw him, he could see the memories rushing back and Carl running as fast as his little body could carry him to Rick. Rick immediately stooped to pick him up and hold him in his arms the way he hasn’t been able to do for years. Carl held Rick so tight that he could hardly breathe, but he wasn’t complaining. He felt soft skinny arms wrap around them both and while she wasn’t who he wanted to be holding at this moment, he couldn’t deny that he was happy to see Lori alive and well for Carl’s sake. He was even happy to see Shane off to the side.
Experiencing this the second time, he could see the happy, yet guilty, look on Shane’s face. He knew that Shane had been happy to see him the first time around, but this time he also noticed the looks between he and Lori. He didn’t mind them as he was no longer in love with Lori and her and Shane being together would not bother him. The only thing he would need to be sure of was that they were still in Judy’s life, even if that meant she didn’t call him Daddy. He soon saw Carol exit from the tent she had been in with her husband Ed and as soon as she saw him, he saw the same thing as what happened with Glenn and Carl with the memories rushing back. She dropped the basket of laundry she was holding and rushed into his arms and held tight. She was there on the bridge when he blew it up and that would have been the last she saw of him.
He felt other arms wrapping around them including those of Carl and Glenn. Once Carl and Carol realized Glenn remembered, they abandoned Rick to rush to him, almost knocking him to the ground the process. Glenn was holding them back just as tightly. The last they’d seen of him, he was being beaten to death with a bat and they were happy that they could make the effort to change what happened to him for Maggie’s sake. Rick eventually joined back in on the hugging. The others looked on in confusion on these people hugged each other like they’d known each other for years when before the group left for Atlanta, Glenn, Carol, and Carl barely spoke to each other.
Lori, in her confusion and concern for her son hugging virtual strangers questioned what was going on. The four broke apart and had silent conversations with their eyes that they’d learned how to do from the need to be quiet while outdoors, but ultimately left the decision to Rick since she was his wife and he was their leader. Rick decided to tell them everything, but stated they had to wait for Daryl to get back from his hunting trip. The others didn’t like this and tried to argue, but Rick put his foot down and told them to wait in the authoritative voice that had been honed from years in the wild and being in charge. Lori looked at him as if she didn’t know who he was and when she tried to separate him and Carl, Carl refused to leave his side telling her that his dad was back and needed to be near him, which was the truth.
Since the other people in their little camp could see that they would not persuade or make Rick tell them anything faster than what he said, they slowly begin to continue as they normally would have. Rick and Carl spent that time catching up on the events that happened after Carl’s death. There was also teasing each other on how young and weak the other was, Carl in particular. The largest difference everyone could see personality wise was Carol. No longer did she hold her head down when her husband was near. If they weren’t mistaken, they thought they’d heard a few hits coming from their tint, but when Carol emerged, they saw no evidence of it, but a large smile on Carol’s face. Carol was now a confident, assured woman that took no nonsense. On the day that Daryl was to arrive, Carl was on the lookout for him and signaled to his dad when he saw him approaching. Instead of meeting each other in the wooded area, Rick decided that if Daryl were to get his memories back, he should do so at the camp in front of everyone so that the telling of the future would be easier to understand since that this point, Rick and Daryl had never laid eyes on each other. This time around, Carl had already killed the walker that would have gotten to the deer before they could using the knife his dad slipped him and scurried back to the camp before Daryl saw him.
From the camp, they could hear Daryl approaching since he was dragging a dead deer behind him. Rick stood in the middle of the camp waiting for him. As soon as Daryl made it through the brush with the deer and looked up because the camp went silent, all of the memories came rushing back to him. He dropped the deer and his crossbow to sprint to the middle of camp to Rick. Although Daryl was always taught to never cry or show emotions, he couldn’t help it as he was hugging his chosen brother. Since Daryl had all of his memories, he could remember being the reason for Rick being injured and ultimately having to sacrifice himself and apologizing over and over for it. Rick could hear him and told him after each time that he forgave him. It was after a few minutes of this that they remembered that others were around and it was deathly silent as everyone was confused on the emotional meeting of the two strangers.
Glenn was the one to break the silence by asking if he was chopped liver. Daryl again rushed over and held Glenn while crying and apologizing over and over again. Glenn told him the same thing he told Rick, that he didn’t blame him and that if he needed to hear it, that he forgave him. Once he let go of Glenn, he noticed Carl and Carol off to the side. Daryl was quick to rush over to Carl, squatting to see if he had his memories. Once Carl asked if he was going to just stare or give him a hug since he wasn’t getting any younger in the smartass tone he remembered, he crushed Carl to him. Lori, seeing this, immediately made her way over to remove him from the archer’s arms which he fought, but because he was so little,lost. Daryl looked at her for a bit, pausing on her stomach and rolled his eyes. He turned to Carol next for a hug to which she responded she was glad he got his memories back. Of course the reunion was interrupted by Merle asking what in the fuck was going on and why was he hugging them. Daryl looked at Rick in appreciation for not leaving his brother this time, even if his brother had one hell of a shiner, most likely from Rick knocking him out.
Daryl and Rick exchanged a look, Daryl silently asking if they were going to tell them everything. When Rick nodded, the ones with their memories stood beside him. Carl to his right, in place of someone else, Daryl to his left as his second in charge after Michonne and Carol next to him while Glenn was next to Carl. For the next hour, the five of them explained the events that had not yet come to pass. They started from the events at the quarry, including the upcoming walker attack, to the events at the farm, including killing Shane, to the prison, informing Lori that he knew about her and Shane and that she was pregnant with his baby which she would die giving birth to. When someone attempted to interrupt their story, they received a look from Rick, Daryl, Carol, or all three depending on the person. They continued explaining about the Governor, and Andrea’s death, to being in the wild, Terminus, and finally coming to Alexandria. They talked about their peaceful days there before they became a nightmare because of Negan and Glenn’s death. They told them about the battles fought for a peace that they didn’t think they would ever see and Carl’s death. That had to be told by Daryl and Carol as Rick couldn’t bear to talk about his son being bitten and dying. They talked about the peace between communities and ultimately the disagreement that contributed to Rick’s “death”.
Once they were done explaining, there was absolute pandemonium. Everyone having questions, everyone accusing them of making up stories and lying. The five stood there and let everyone talk without answering questions. When they realized that none of their questions were being answered, the others quieted down. Once they did that, and only then, did the group with memories begin answering questions to the best of their ability. He could see Lori and Shane looking at him with guilt and a bit of anger if he was guessing the emotion right, although he couldn’t see what they had to be angry with him about. In the telling of events, they mentioned Michonne as she related to the group but hadn’t gone into personal details about her and Rick. The others had realized this and followed his lead. He felt he owed Lori that information privately instead of in front of others seeing as they were technically still married. As the question asking died down, the others wanted to know why they didn’t remember. Rick didn’t have a clue and didn’t want to give false hope that the did and knew how to trigger them. He knew he had a few hard conversations ahead.