A/N All characters belong to the writers and creators of The Walking Dead. Except those that arose from my own twisted imagination.

Chapter Thirteen-Good Night

Rick ran his hands through his hair, clearly agitated.

"Someone had to see where she went." He looked over at Daryl and Danielle sitting on the stairs. "You didn't see her leave? Didn't hear her, nothing?" Dani shook her head and Daryl frowned.

"She always moved like a goddamned cat. I forgot she was even here." Daryl paused and thought for a second. "You know, I still don't know how we got out like we did. It was like it was set up."

"What do you mean 'set up'?" Asked Maggie. Daryl nodded at Glenn.

"Merle left you taped to a chair and set a walker on you right?" Glenn nodded.

"Right. There was no way he expected me to make it out alive." Daryl nodded at Maggie.

"You were tied up too?" Maggie thought for a moment.

"For most of the time, yeah I was. At the very least the door was locked."

"That's what I'm sayin'. Merle uncuffed me. Told me it was proof he was on my side. Now I was out of it but I remember hearing the door lock when he left. So how did Michonne get in to get me out? How did she even know I was there in the first place?" He looked around the room, frustrated.

"Come on, you have to see it. Only four guards for two prisoners, especially one like her? Obviously not that bright or she never could've snuck up on 'em to slice their throats. And she came after me to get me out. It makes no sense unless she was told to do it. She said that was how she got caught last time, helping someone out." He looked back at Danielle. Her eyes widened.

"Oh my god. She got me out of Merle's apartment." She put her hands over her face and squeezed her eyes shut. She had tried so hard to block out what had happened and the memories were coming back.

"Danielle?" Daryl's voice cut through the images in her head and brought her back.

"I remember," she whispered. "She cut me free. She helped me out of there. I can't remember much after that." She was visibly shaking and her eyes were staring into the distance, obviously remembering that night. Daryl reached over and touched her leg. She jumped, the touch pulling her back into the present.

"Hey," Daryl said quietly. "You're ok now, alright?" She nodded and her face hardened as she fought to push the memories out of her head. Rick and Daryl exchanged a look and Rick cleared his throat.

"This is why we needed to talk to Michonne. I've got a feeling that she knows a helluva a lot more about Woodbury than any of us. She called the Governor out the first day she was here. She could see what he was like, what was goin' on in that town. He's got something planned for us and I'm afraid we won't know until it's too…" Rick stopped as a scream echoed from the bowels of the prison.

Someone was there.

Tyreese pushed Sasha, Allen, Ben and Donna further into the prison. Donna was hanging back, growing weaker since receiving a bite from a roamer in the woods. They had found the prison, the gate torn down, the building blown open. Tyreese insisted they go inside, despite Sasha's protests. Now it looked like their potential haven was a darkened death trap. When Donna screamed, Tyreese turned to see three roamers behind them. Seeing the way ahead was clear, he moved his group in front so he could take out the roamers with his claw hammer.

"Tyreese! Come on!" Sasha was pushing ahead, angry that they were now trapped in this dungeon. It was like a maze. There was no way they were getting out. There were more roamers coming up behind them. Tyreese turned to run.

"C'mon people! Let's move it!" They rounded a corner and found themselves facing down two men and a young boy, all carrying guns trained right at them.

"Where did you come from?" The closest man asked. Tyreese raised his hands but did not loosen his grip on his weapon. Behind the man, Tyreese could see a younger Asian man and a boy of maybe twelve or thirteen.

"Look," Tyreese started, trying to sound calm. "We were just looking for shelter. We don't want any trouble." The man started to respond when the boy raised his gun and aimed behind the group.

"Dad! Walkers!" The man thought for a moment and then motioned Tyreese and his group forward.

"Go! Carl, you stay with them. You know where to go!" Tyreese followed the boy with his group behind him. He could hear the gunshots ringing out, echoing in the tight quarters.

Carl led them down another hallway and into another cellblock. He locked the main door behind him. Sasha leaned against the wall out of breath. Donna collapsed on the ground. Carl noticed the bite on her arm and raised his gun.

"She's been bit." Allen stood between Carl and Donna.

"No! Please." Carl shook his head.

"I can take care of it. It would be quick." Tyreese walked up to the boy, touched by his seriousness. He had to wonder what this kid had seen that had forced him to grow up so fast.

"It's ok. We take care of our own." Tyreese looked down at Donna whose eyes were wide, her breathing shallow. She suddenly began gasping for breath, her eyes bulging, forehead dripping sweat as the fever raged through her. Allen knelt beside her, holding his wife's hand.

"Tyreese she's not dead yet. Please! Not yet!" Tyreese shook his head.

"Allen, you don't want her to turn. You don't want her to be one of them." He hauled Allen to his feet and gently pushed him back to his son. On the ground behind them, Donna gasped her last breath. Tyreese turned and knelt beside her body. He closed her eyes, muttered a prayer and drove his claw hammer through her skull. Allen held on to Ben as both let go of their grief. Tyreese walked over to Sasha.

"We'll be safe here tonight." Sasha glared at him.

"How? How can say that? We're not safe anywhere!" Tyreese opened his mouth to respond when they heard a door slam shut. He turned towards the sound and saw the man and Carl standing on the other side of the bars. Tyreese walked towards them.

"What are you doing?" The man stepped away from the bars and pushed Carl behind him.

"You can stay in the cellblock for the night. You'll be safe here." Sasha ran over, furious.

"You can't just lock us in here!" The man turned to walk away. Tyreese put his arm around his sister and called out to the man.

"What's your name?" The man turned.

"Rick Grimes. You?"

"Tyreese." Rick nodded and turned to walk away. Sasha yelled for him to stop but Tyreese quieted her.

"He's right. We're safe tonight, safer than we've been for a long time. He'll come back tomorrow and we'll discuss what we'll do then."

After Rick, Glenn and Carl left to investigate the screaming, Daryl was in a foul mood. Rick had refused to let him go.

"I need you to stay here Daryl," he said as he had walked out the door, locking it behind him. Glenn looked at Daryl apologetically as they disappeared down the hall.

"This is bullshit!" Daryl yelled. He got to his feet and started slowly, painfully, towards the door. Hershel stopped him.

"I'm not giving you the keys son. We need you here." Daryl glared at him.

"You can't tell me what to do." Hershel stood his ground.

"That may be true in most cases. But I'm telling you right now, you are not going after Rick. You can barely walk. You have a concussion. You said your vision is still blurry. It would be foolhardy to let you go after them." Daryl clenched his hands into fists but Hershel did not back down. Dani walked up behind Daryl and put her hands on his shoulders and he shrugged her off. He limped into one of the nearby cells and laid down on the bottom bunk. Dani followed him.

"Daryl…" he cut her off.

"Leave me alone Dani, alright?" She ignored him and sat down next to him on the bed.

"Don't you do this Daryl. You get angry and you push people away. You know both Hershel and Rick are right. You'd of killed yourself if you'd gone with him. Is that what you want?" He crossed his arms and turned away from her. "Oh that's great. Just lay there and pout like a two year old." She grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around. He started to argue until he saw her face. She was glaring at him, actually angry with him.

"Do you have any idea what a stubborn man you are Daryl Dixon? You want to be left alone? Fine, I'll leave you alone." She stood and turned to leave. She stopped when she felt his hand in hers.

"Don't Dani. I'm sorry. Alright?" He pulled her back down next to him. She put her hand on his face and stroked his cheek.

"I know what you're thinking. Everyone thinks your weak right? That you can't protect the group anymore. You know that's not true. We just want you to get better. Because you're no use to any of us if you're half dead." He stared at her.

"Why do you care about me this much?" She smiled and leaned over him.

"Because you deserve it. And because I know you care about me too." Daryl nodded and she kissed him. For the first time, he didn't hesitate to respond to her. She felt his hand fist into her hair, holding her to him. For a moment they both forgot where they were until they heard someone clear their throat behind them. They broke apart and looked in the doorway of the cell. Glenn stood there, looking embarrassed.

"Hey you guys. Um, sorry to do this right now but there's something you should know."

After Rick explained about Tyreese and his group in the other cellblock, Oscar and Axel offered to go sit watch.

"We don't know if they're from Woodbury or somewhere else," said Oscar. "We need to find out what they're doin' here." Axel agreed. Rick allowed them to go and posted Carol and Maggie to the guard tower for first watch. He and Glenn would take the second. Daryl was irritated that he was once again being left out but for once kept quiet about it, especially after he caught Dani's raised eyebrow when he had opened his mouth to argue again.

Later that night, after everyone had either taken their posts or gone to sleep, Dani lay next to Daryl on the landing, her head propped up to watch him.

"You asked me why I care so much." He was lying on his back and turned his head slightly to look at her.

"Yeah?" Dani took a deep breath before responding.

"Because of who you are. The way you've told me about how you were brought up and with Merle, you could have been a much different person. You watch out for everyone and even as beat up as you are, you still have that drive to protect the group." She paused and thought about her next words, still afraid that they would make him run from her again. "When I first saw you, I felt something. I didn't know what it was at the time but it kept growing. And I tried to ignore it, even though Maggie told me it was obvious to everyone that I cared about you. I don't think it actually hit me until the other night with Abigail that I think I've fallen in love with you." As soon as the words left Dani's mouth, she wished she could take them back. She had not meant to say that. That was going too far, she knew. Daryl looked away and then turned back.

"Dani I know I can't say that to you because I'd be lyin' if I did. I know that I care but I just don't…" his voice trailed off. "I'm not used to this, alright? You're the first person whose opinion of me I ever gave a damn about so that's sayin' something right there." Dani nodded and lay back on her pillow. She couldn't help but feel sadness of him not feeling the same as she did mixed with relief that he hadn't shut her down. Daryl rolled over on his side and looked down at her.

"Hey, I'm not sayin' that I don't want to be around you, you got that? I do. You just gotta let me figure this all out and we've got a lot of other shit we need to worry about right now, ok?" She nodded and was surprised when he leaned down to kiss her. When he pulled back, Dani smiled at him.

"So kissing is still ok then?" He smirked at her and rolled back.

"It's not so bad." She almost reached over to smack his arm but stopped herself, not wanting to accidentally hurt him. Instead, she moved closer and put her head on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat speed up a bit. He put his arm around her.

"And this is ok too?" He ran his fingers down her arm and the touch gave her chills that tightened her stomach pleasantly in anticipation of something more. Finally he spoke but his voice was barely over a whisper.

"Yeah, we can do this too." Dani smiled in relief and as she fell asleep in Daryl's arms, she knew that even without the actual words, she finally felt safe and loved.