Ren didn't sleep well that night, being in a new place with new sounds and new people made it hard her for her to sleep easy. At the first light she got up and got dressed, grabbing her tool bag, heading down the stairs and to where the solar panels were. She worked, fully inspecting each panel as the sun began getting brighter and marking the different things needed for each to be fixed.

Hearing footsteps coming up to her she placed her hand over her knife until she looked up and saw Daryl. He had a plate in his hand as he approached her, "Got worried when I first woke up, seein your door open."

"Sorry, getting up early is a habit." She told him as he knelt down.

"You need to eat." He handed her the plate.

She looked at the tomatoes, toast, and eggs then back up to him, "You cook this?"

"Yeah." He said with gruff.

Ren couldn't help the small smile on her face, "Guess I should have made you cook while you were with me as payment for my medical treatment."

"Shut it and eat." He put the plate in her hands as he sat down next to her. She hid her smile as she took a bite of the eggs, it was kind of sweet that he'd not only brought her breakfast but had cooked it for her too. He knew how uncomfortable she was here, and he was trying his best to make it more comfortable for her, and she couldn't help but be flattered by this. He looked at the panels, "How long you think it's gunna take?"

"Some won't be long at all, a couple need to be completely re-wired, which is where it gets difficult." She took a bite of her toast, "However I will need a house with power to work off of for some of my tools."

"I can get you a workshop set up." He told her, "Get the easy ones done and I'll talk to the others about the harder ones. If we don needed 'em then you ain't gotta worry about fixin 'em."

"During the darker seasons you guys will need them though." She spoke through her hand, covering her mouth, "You'll need all the power you can get if you guys keep expanding."

"How'd you know we expanded?" Daryl asked her, trying not to sound suspicious.

"The walls have moved in some areas, you can see where the dirt has been replaced." She pointed to the area where they had moved the wall to include the steeple and the other houses that had been right outside of it, "Structural and Civil engineering were never my thing, but I had to take a class in them to get all my credits."

"Ah." Daryl had no clue what that meant. "Just how smart are you?"

"Should have been MENSA." She smiled at him.

"What's that?" He asked.

She let out a soft laugh, "Just a really smart kid. I was never tested though. Doesn't really matter anymore anyways."

Daryl nodded at her, "Yeah it does. You're helpin us because of it."

"Yeah, I guess." She shrugged it off shyly, before setting down her empty plate and pointing, "These five are the five I can take care of no problem. These three need a little more love."

"Alright." He said standing up, "You wait here, I'll go talk to Aaron."

She nodded and stayed there, only standing up when Daryl returned with another man who had a very impressive beard. Daryl looked at her, "This is Aaron, it's his garage you'll be usin'."

"Nice to meet you Ren." Aaron smiled at her and she gave a small smile and nod back, "Which one are we starting with?"

She pointed to the one closest to the end and the two men moved to either side of it, picking it up and carrying it back to Aarons garage. She followed them there and when they set it down Aaron looked at his watch, "It's time for me to feed Gracie, but if you guys need anything just let me know."

"Yeah." Daryl responded as the man went back inside. Ren looked up at him and he brushed it off, "Aaron won't lay a finger on you, trust me."

"Okay." She said softly before sitting down to unhook the panel completely, "I'll get started then."

"You want me to stay?" He asked.

She hesitated, "If you have other things to do, I understand."

"Your car was makin' a strange noise on the drive over." He stood, "I'll bring it over and check it out while you're workin."

"Okay." She replied, her smile hidden as she got closer to the wiring of the panel.


Daryl was under her car, she'd been in serious need of an oil change among other things, when he heard footsteps and rolled out from under it to see Rick standing above him. Rick pointed inside the garage where Ren was working, "How's it going?"

"She ain't taken a break all day." Daryl told him.

"Looks like you haven't either." Rick smiled. "It's nice. It's been a while since you looked after someone like this."

"She's been through a lot." He wiped off his hands, "She's been alone all this time."

"Yeah, despite her appearance, she's a survivor." Rick watched as she moved from the desk back to the panel, fitting something in, "Do you know how it's coming?"

"We can ask." Daryl said.

"I feel like it'll be quicker if just you go in. She talks to you." Rick motioned for him to go in alone with a smirk.

Daryl shrugged and walked in the garage and heard her muttering, "Come on baby, I know you've been through a lot, but you can do this. Just light up for me. Come on, I know you can."

He tried to hide his smile at this, he'd never expected a tone like that to come from her, but then again, he was still getting used to her voice in the first place. He watched as her finger clicked something into place, moving her hand away quickly from it and she smiled, "That'a girl."

"It workin?" He asked.

"Yes, she is wide awake and ready for sunlight." Ren stood a smiled on her face.

"Sounds like you were havin trouble?" Daryl asked.

"She was a tricky one, but all it took was a little coaxing and caressing to get her there." She looked at him with a smile, then realized how she sounded, "It can go back outside now."

"Rick." Daryl called to him, "This one's good to go."

"Really?" Rick came inside, "I thought it would take longer."

"It will for three of them." Daryl said, "The others she said about a day."

"Thanks, we really appreciate this." Rick smiled at Ren, "When you're finished with the other four, I'll have Negan take you to where your brother is, then we'll worry about the other three." She nodded that that was alright, "Are you hungry? It's almost dinner time."

Ren looked from Rick to Daryl and Daryl stepped forward, "Imma be takin her home tonight, she didn bring enough clothes for more than one day."

"Alright." Rick said, "Plus I'm sure your bed is more comfortable anyways."

It wasn't, but it felt safer for her there, she slept better. Rick and Daryl moved the panel back out where it had been and she watched as Negan approached her, "Ren?"

She turned and looked at him and he rubbed his forehead, "Look, Ren, I get it, you're mad at me and you have every right to be. I let you down, I let Hammond down, I let your dad down…Whatever it takes to make it up to you, just let me know, and I'll do it."

She looked away from him, it sucked being mad at him. They'd always been close when she was younger, and the families would visit each other. She had felt bad when she wasn't able to get time off to go and see Aunt Lucille when she was in the hospital. The whole time she was on the run she would think about late night fire pits in their back yard making s'mores together and hoping that even though her aunt wasn't there anymore that she could still have that with him and her brother. But that wouldn't happen now. It would never happen again. All of that was done. She looked back at him and pointed to her wrist where a watch should go. This one Negan understood.

"Ren, you wanna take the bike or you want me to finish up on your car?" Daryl asked walking back over. She looked at him and revved again, knowing that it would be safer for her car to stay in Alexandria and he nodded, "Alright, go get any stuff you wanna take back."

She nodded again and Negan followed her, "I know you said time, but what the hell is it with you and Daryl? I can't say I'm a fan of it." Rolling her eyes at her uncle she continued on walking while shaking her head. He kept talking, "Come on, you gotta admit, it's a little weird. I mean Daryl. Like yeah, maybe he saved you, but it's weird. Don't tell me you don't see it." She pointed at him then made a face and he let out a laugh, "Are you trying to say I'm weird?"

She nodded and made her way inside the house.

"I am not weird!" He called out after her, "I'm a bad ass!"

She faked being scared of him and let out a half laugh. He was no more a bad ass then she was. He was a softie and she knew it. Daryl passed by him still standing outside the house and didn't even look at him as he started up the stairs until Negan said his name. He turned, "What?"

"You put a hand on my niece in any way that isn't to help her, and I mean as in the Jesus kind of help, I'll kill you." Negan looked him dead in the eye.

Daryl just blew him off and kept walking.

When they made it back to her building, they hid the bike and went inside. She looked at the now dried bloodstain on the floor and sighed, "Guess I should have washed it out before it stained."

"Put a rug over it." He shrugged.

"Yeah I guess." She stretched, "I'm going to go take a shower. Are you staying tonight too?"

He nodded, "Im gunna go see if I can find where he broke in and seal it off."

"That probably is more important than a shower." She turned to go with him, but he put a hand on her shoulder stopping her.

"You worked hard today. Go clean up." He pushed her back. "I'll turn the water back on while I'm downstairs."

"O-okay." It's been a while since she'd had someone to offer to do things for her like this. She was used to working and then working some more and then taking a break.


When Daryl came back from boarding up the window that had been broken open in one of the first-floor rooms, he turned the corner to see her sitting on the couch with a bowl of vegetables eating while watching one of her DVDs. He was taken a little off guard by her wearing shorts and having her damp hair down around her face. He'd never seen her this relaxed looking before. She pointed to the counter, "I made you one too."

"Thanks." He said going to the bowl she pointed at and he saw his was only veggies too. He sat down on the couch next to her, "I found the break in and fixed it."

"Thank you." She put a carrot in her mouth, covering it to hide the crunch, "I appreciate it a lot."

He nodded while eating then put the bowl down and looked at her, "When's the last time you ate meat?"

"Since…" It had been a part of her allotted food while being held captive, but it had never been much, and they didn't even season it, "Since around when it all began."

"Imma get you some meat." He told her, "You need protein if you're gunna be workin like this for us."

"Really?" Her eyes lit up, but she tried to hide it, she didn't want him to feel obligated or for her to have to be obligated to him if he got her it. "I mean, you don't have too, it's fine. I've gotten used to not having it."

"I hunt a lot." He told her, "It ain't no problem to give you some."

"Okay." Her voice was low as she continued eating.

Daryl picked his bowl back up and kept eating. As he chewed, he said, "You should stay tomorrow night, let Aaron make you somethin'. He's a good cook."

"Better than you?" She smirked. He let out a scoffed laugh but nodded. She teased, "I didn't think your breakfast was that bad."

"Shut it." He kept eating as the TV played.

When she was done eating, Ren sat back against the couch relaxing, not realizing how tired she was from the lack of sleep she'd gotten the previous night. Her eyes began drooping as she sat there and soon, she was asleep.

Daryl looked over to see her fast asleep and he leaned back into his position, he didn't want to wake her up if he were to stand, so he just stayed where he was, watching something on TV he didn't care about. He assumed that Ren just kept it on mostly for the noise at this point, sure she'd seen every single one of them. He stiffened slightly when he felt her arm touch his as her body slumped towards him.

Looking over at her he noticed that if she stayed asleep with her head in the position it was in, she would wake up with a bad pain in her neck. Carefully he reached over and moved her head to lean on his shoulder so that it had some support. His stomach went tight as she nuzzled against him and wrapped one of her arms around his, holding him there while she slept.

Looking down at her he couldn't help but smile slightly, moving a lock of wet hair from her face. At least she was sleeping and he knew she was safe still.


A/N: Be sure to let me know what you guys think! I read all of the reviews :)