The Greatest Sacrifice - Daryl Dixon

Operation - Signal Tower

Rick came to wake Ally the next morning and when he opened the door he found Ally asleep like a kitten in the armchair while Daryl lie diagonally across the bed snoring lightly. “You ordered a wake up call?” Rick called loud enough that Ally jolted awake and got to her feet immediately before she had even opened her eyes properly, Daryl on the other hand required a good shaking before he got up with a very clear hangover. “Get some painkillers into you, you look like hell” she said tossing him the bottle which he fumbled but caught. He couldn't believe he'd passed out in Ally's bed! He'd wanted to talk to her and so he'd had a drink to have a little extra courage but as it turned out, he'd had way more than planned and his pounding head was only testament to that fact. He was still feeling awful when they all had to load up to go on Ally's mission and she had knowingly pressed a bottle of water in his hand along with some more painkillers, “sorry about last night, I guess I just drank a bit more than I thought I did” he said quietly and she patted his arm gently, “Don't worry now, just take those pills and drink all of that water” she said firmly and he nodded which earned him one of Ally's award winning smiles. The ride to the signal tower was slow but Glenn was excitedly babbling about the baby he was expecting with Maggie and Abraham was asking all sorts of questions that indicated he may have been wanting to jump on the Fatherhood train right alongside Glenn. Eugene sat awkwardly in the back while Daryl and Ally set in the truck tray with their legs touching. The signal tower was very tall and Glenn took one look at the thin and rather rickety ladder that led up to the very top and his face paled, “It's alright Glenn, stay here on the ground with Eugene and translate his smartness up to me” Ally offered but then Abraham and Daryl began to protest, “Look I mean no offence but I chose Glenn because he's not big, that signal tower needs someone small to go up top and I'm the smallest here. I'll be fine so just stand watch” she said giving them all a glare and so it was Ally who began the climb, carefully balancing the majority of the weight on her good arm and using her legs to keep steady. When she reached the top she carefully looped her belt to the metal tower so she was secure and then she got her radio out, “Glenn, Eugene I'm looking at the box, four wires - red, blue, yellow and green. What am I doing with them?” she asked before releasing the button, Glenn's voice crackled back through the radio “Cut the red wire first, then green, blue and yellow in that order only, it will shut it down” Glenn said translating what Eugene had said as he flipped through the manuals he'd put together. She took out her cutters and got to work cutting the wires in the order that Glenn had said and then once they were cut she tore them out and threw them down to the ground so that no-one would be able to rewire it again. She then took out her hand gun and fires four shots into the wiring box so that the internal electronics were broken beyond any repair. The signal tower was down and now Ally could get to the ground, she fixed her belt and began to climb back down the ladder and she was nearly there when the rung she had her foot on broke and she was left to hang on by her arms and she felt her hands slipping she cried out when she fell but instead of hitting the ground she fell into a pair of waiting arms. Daryl had caught her but the impact knocked him to the ground, she was safe and that's all that mattered. Ally's breathing was ragged and he could feel her heart hammering in her pulse from where he had grabbed her wrist to pull her into his lap, “You caught me!” she managed to say coherently, “If you wanted to be in my arms you could have just said, no need to be going round falling off towers” he replied with a cheeky glow in his eyes. “Ally! Are you alright?” Glenn shouted dropping to his knees beside her and Daryl, “I am now” she said with a shy look at Daryl who was trying to get his own heart to calm down. “That's enough excitement for everyone, best be getting back” Abraham said once he was sure everyone was alright, Ally and Daryl got in the back seat with Glenn while Eugene and Abraham got in the front which suited Ally just fine as she rested her head on Daryl's shoulder, feeling his smouldering skin against her cheek was better than any pillow. When they arrived back at Alexandria it was coming on night and Rick was waiting at the gate to let them in. “Ally fell off the tower” Glenn said right away without finishing the story, “Is she alright? Should I go get Denise?” he asked worriedly but then Glenn finished the story and Rick calmed down enough to see the funny side of it like they had. “Go on and get cleaned up you lot, Carol's getting dinner ready” Sasha said with a wink in Abraham's direction as she joined Rick's side, Ally and Daryl headed up to the house and passed Rick's where the heavenly smell of Carol's cooking floated out the open door. “God I'm starving” Ally said as she licked her lips just picturing the spaghetti and warm bread rolls that were being made next door but like Sasha had already said, they needed to clean up before Carol would even let them inside the house. Ally said her farewell to Daryl at the door and went inside her room before hurriedly stripping off her clothes and brace to get under the water, the heat seared over her skin but did little to knead out the painful tension knots that had appeared in her shoulders and back, she rotated her shoulder in the water where the heat soothed the muscles at least and then she switched the water off and wiped the wet hair out of her face, she fumbled for the towel she had left on the rack and wrapped it around her waist and stumbled out into her much cooler room where she nearly had a heart attack when she saw Daryl sitting on the bed in fresh clothes with damp hair and a clean face. “You're walking funny” he commented and she scolwed, “I fell off a signal tower today, you'd be walking weird if you'd been the one to fall too” she huffed which only made him give her that smile that never failed to make her heart skip and stutter.  “You hurt?” he asked in a softer voice and she faltered, this sweet and caring side of Daryl was a rare treat indeed. “I'm not hurt, I've got knots in my muscles” she said turning to search for the small pile of clean clothes that she'd been given so that she could dress. “Come here, let me see what I can do” he said patting the bed beside him and she felt her legs moving on their own until she sat beside him in only her towel to protect her modesty. He turned her so that she faced away from him and his warm hands began to knead and massage her tight neck and back muscles working the knots loose. She felt as if she'd died and gone to heaven, this was the very best massage she'd ever had and feeling him so close to her just made it all the more enjoyable. He moved his hands lower now and she felt a shiver make its way down her spine at his touch. She felt something in the room shift, the air was filled with sparking electricity and warmth and then she felt his lips against her shoulder, his arms drawing her back into his lap. His lips moved up her neck as his hand drew her hair out of the way, she felt like she was having an out of body experience as she turned her head and saw his face, his stunning blue eyes filled with as many emotions as her own. Their lips found their way together and she felt like she could do this forever, his hands cupped her face and she leant into them as her own hands threaded through his dark hair and tugged ever so gently on the longer strands making him even more hungry for her. There was a loud knock on the door followed by Carol's voice, “Ally? Have you seen Daryl? I've got dinner on the table for you both” she asked and Ally's eyes widened as Daryl shook his head, “I'll be right out Carol, I've not seen Daryl yet maybe he's still in the shower” Ally called back and they both listened as Carol shuffled off upstairs to look for Daryl. “You should get dressed now” he whispered as he kissed her just below her ear making her shut her eyes to savour the feeling while it lasted. “You should sneak out so I can change” she whispered back as she kissed the tip of his nose which seemed to surprise him. She hurried him out the door and took a moment to herself to think about what had just happened before she got dressed. At dinner the daring story of the tower job had been told again and Daryl was truly painted as Ally's knight in shining armour swooping in to save the day which she didn't mind, he could be her knight any day.