"So, how's everything going?" Hammond asked.

"Good. Two towers left. Not as cold as it is up there yet." She told him as she pulled Daryls jacket closer around her. She was outside the tower when her brother called so she put it against her ear to try and keep it warmer.

"At this rate you should just make a quick pit stop on your way home for Thanksgiving." He joked.

"I wish I could, but I have to go to the office to make sure that all the data systems are receiving everything right." She smiled, "But I'll be back for Christmas for sure."

"Dad'll like that." She could hear her brother smile, "Are all of the Rangers treating you nice?"

"Actually, I'm back with Daryl…me and one of the Rangers didn't get along so well." She avoided telling her brother everything, lest he fly down and murder the man for real.

"What happened?" Of course he would want to know.

"Nothing major, just some safety issues while working. So Daryls back to make sure nothing happens to me." She tried to convince him.

"Well that's good. You seem pretty fond of this guy." Hammond said.

"He's…" Caring. Thoughtful. Kind. Sweet. Protective. But she couldn't say any of those words to her brother. He'd ask more questions. "He's able to tell the difference between all of the wrenches I ask for."

"That's such a high bar." Her brother said with a sarcastic tone. "Look, I'm not trying to suggest anything, just that it seems like you…you know, are going to miss him."

"You don't spend three months with only one other person and not miss them when you're apart." She laughed, "But yeah, I think I'll miss him."

"You're going to have to go back to do updates and tests right? Get his number so you guys can catch up when you're in town." Hammond suggested.

"Who is this and what have you done with my big brother?" Ren asked with a smirk on her face, "Because the one I know would never tell me to ask for a guy's number."

"As friends. I think it's too soon for you to get back in another relationship." His voice went into big brother mode, "You need to recoup, focus on you, your work, go out on a lot of dates, see what other kinds of guys are out there. I'm just saying you and him, work well together and it might be worth keeping in touch."

"Yeah, okay." She picked on him.

"Don't you have work to do or something?" He asked, picking back on her.

She laughed, "You called me!"

"You didn't have to pick up." He defended.

"Fine, I'm hanging up now."

"Alright, good. Have fun with your wrench knowing companion." Hammond laughed.

"I will have fun with him! Loads of fun!" She held back a laugh.

"Talk to you soon Brainiac."

She hung up with him after saying good-bye and turned to see Daryl standing behind her. Laughing slightly embarrassed she rubbed the back of her neck, "Sorry, we get really weird when we haven't seen each other in a few months."

"How longs it been?" He asked.

"Going on seven now." She put the phone back in her pocket.

"Ain't seen my brother in five." He told her.

She looked at him, "You never told me you have a brother."

"Ain't like yours." He shrugged, Merle and Hammond were probably the most opposite two people could be, except for maybe him and Ren.

"Not all brothers are they same type of brothers." She laughed, "I knew people in school that didn't get how I could put up with Hammond."

"He don seem that bad." Daryl said, "Cares a lot about you."

"Yeah. He does." She couldn't help but smile. Climbing back up onto the roof she asked, "So where's your brother been?"

"Jail." Daryl was honest, he didn't know if she would have a problem with this or not, but he knew she wouldn't give him a hard time about it at least.

"Oh." She wasn't quite sure how to react to that, it wasn't the answer she was expecting. But still she shrugged, "Hammonds been arrested before. When does he get out?"

"Next month."

"Just in time for Christmas." She smiled at him, "That's nice."

They didn't celebrate Christmas. He just nodded.

"Can you hand me the eighth of an inch?" She pointed over the ledge she was on to the toolbox.

"Yeah." He reached down, digging through the tools for the right one.

The tower was silent as she waited. Connor was quiet on the other end of the phone call. They were both looking at the screen as the connection bar went across it. It was at ninety nine percent. Daryl was sitting back, waiting to see if they were going to be out there for another day, or if they were heading back to town. He didn't want to go back to town. He wanted to stay out with her, forever.

Ren was staring at the screen and when it went to one hundred, she held her breath. This was it. Her sink or swim test was over. A project she'd been hoping for two years to get done finally was, and under budget. She finally asked, "Connor?"

"Just a minute…" The man said back. After a second she heard a laugh, "All green on my end, just needs the master's calibrations. When are you going to be back to put that in?"

"Justin's going to have me on a flight tomorrow more than likely." She ran her hands over her face.

"Well I can't wait to see you, have you see this end of it, and maybe pop a bottle of champagne." Connor said.

"I'm going to be dead tired. So probably not that last part tomorrow." She smiled, "See you soon."

"Yes ma'am." He answered before she hung up the phone.

Spinning around in the chair she looked at Daryl, an accomplished, but sad smile on her face, "That was it. The towers are all done."

"Let's get goin then." He said, despite not wanting too. They packed up everything and walked back to the truck. The drive back to the ranger station was quiet, and they stayed that way as they picked up bags with more of her belongings in it that had been sent back to be washed and been traded for warmer clothes. Daryl drove her back to her hotel, her fixed rental car sitting outside of it.

She didn't need to ask for his help getting some of her things to her room, or into the rental, he did it willingly. When the last bag was put down on the floor though, they both just stood there. Ren wasn't sure what to do. Should she ask him to stay? She wanted to, but what if since they were back now, since they were out of the forest, it wasn't like it had been. Realizing that if he left now, she might not ever see him again. And if she was never going to see him again, then she was at least going to take a chance. Stepping towards him, she cupped his cheeks, bringing his lips down to hers.

Daryl hadn't been sure if this was going to happen or not, but as his arms wrapped around her waist, he was glad that it was. He held her body against his as they kissed slow. He didn't want to be in a hurry, he wanted to remember every last moment of this. Feeling her fingers grip his hair tighter as the kiss deepened, tongues grazing against each other, he moved his hands down her back, over her ass and to her thighs, gripping them and lifting her up to wrap her legs around him.

She held onto his shoulders as he carried her over to the bed, sitting down on it so she was straddling his lap. Ren could feel him growing beneath her and it just made her want him even more. She didn't know how she was ever going to have sex with anyone else, he'd figured out exactly how to touch her, his fingers gripping her hips and moving up her back. Reaching down she found the hem of her shirt and broke their kiss, lifting it over her head.

Instead of her lips, he went to her neck, nipping and sucking at the skin as his hands moved to her bra hook, removing it as his mouth moved further down her chest. When the fabric was off, he traced his tongue around her nipple before sucking on it, making her gasp. Her fingers ran through his hair, tangling in it as he supported her back. His name came from her lips, a soft, whispered moan filled with pleasure and he realized tonight would be his last night to hear it, and he wanted to hear it a lot.

She wanted his skin against hers and so she tried to focus on the buttons of his shirt, her fingers grazing down his skin as it was revealed to her, making him moan quietly. As she pushed off his shirt, he moved back to her mouth, kissing her deeply, pulling her close to him, their bodies pressed together.

Picking her up slightly, Daryl laid her down on the bed before pulling her shoes off and kicking his off too. Then his fingers started to work on her pants, undoing the buttons before sliding into them, under the fabric of her underwear, making her gasp even louder as his fingers slid though her folds and inside of her. Her fingers gripped at his sides as his thumb moved around her clit, and he was getting harder with every noise she made as she got closer to cumming.

Breaking the kiss, she took in a sharp breath as she got close to the edge, her fingers gripping him tight, bottom lip pulled between her teeth. Her back arched as the waves went through her, pulsing around his fingers and when it passed her hands were working on his pants as he was taking hers off. Before he tossed his pants to the side, he grabbed the condom from them and slid it on. Sliding an arm under her back he lined himself up with her entrance. Their eyes met and it felt like time froze for him.

Stay with me. Don't go. Those words were echoing through his head. That's what he wanted to say to her, but how could he? She had a better life, a career where she lived, there was no way he could ask her to stay. He cupped her face, moving a lock of hair out of it and ran his thumb over her cheek, taking in this moment of how she looked, burning it into his brain, wanting to make sure that this, that her, the one good thing that had ever happened to him, stayed with him forever. He could feel her fingers moving up his side, to his shoulder.

"Daryl?" Her voice was soft as she looked up at him. He'd never looked at her like this. No one had. It put her stomach in knots and her chest go tight, but for some reason she liked it.

Her voice had brought him back to reality and he leaned down, kissing her as he entered her. His thrusts were slow as he wrapped his arms around her, and she felt every part of him as he moved inside of her. Her thighs gripped his hips and his fingers tangled in her hair. He was lost in the feeling of her underneath him and she kept him tight in her grasp while she still could. She knew she was going to have to come back to check on the system that'd been installed at some point, but she didn't know when that would be. Or if he would wait for her to come back, and she had no right to ask him to do that.

Breaking the kiss, Daryl pushed his head into the crook of her neck, focusing on how she felt as she came around him. He planned on lasting as long as he could, to have her as long as he could, but when she came again, he followed not long after. They didn't move, both of them catching their breath, her fingers gently stroking the back of his neck.

When he pulled away from her neck, she met him with a long kiss and a smile after they broke. He asked, "Should I go? So you can get some sleep?"

"Who said you have to go for me to sleep?" She smiled again. Pushing hair out of his face she asked, "Do you want to leave?"

"What do you want?" He asked her.

Leaning towards him her lips grazed across his, "For you to do that again."

"Yes ma'am."

They walked out of her hotel room and Daryl put her last bag in the rental car. Slamming the trunk shut he turned to look at her, not knowing what to say. He was shit at this kind of thing, he'd never really had to do good-byes before.

Smiling she walked up to him and held out a sheet of paper, "My phone number, in case your ever in the San Francisco area."

"I told you I don gotta phone." He told her.

"I know," She couldn't help but chuckle. Looking up at him she said, "So I guess you'll just have to put those tracking skills to use then."

He hid a laugh inside of a huff and motioned to the car, "Go on now, you're gunna miss your flight."

"I'll see you around Daryl Dixon." She said as she went to the driver's side of the car. She really hoped she would see him around and so did he.

The end!

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Just kidding! More to come soon! Let me know what you guys thought of this one :)