No Sanctuary For Old Men [18+] |Negan| ✔️ Complete

XXIX • Home

After a blisteringly hot shower, Daphne poked her head into the infirmary on her way to dinner. Amber was sitting at the back desk with a stack of papers, but she was the only nurse around. The Lieutenant decided against making Negan's ex-wife uncomfortable with questions, and turned to duck back out.

"Hey!" a female called from one of the beds, and Daphne leaned back inside, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, you, I don't know your name." She had molasses hair and chocolate eyes and the blonde recognized her as one of the Nomad victims.

"Daphne," she said gently, and walked over to the cot.

"Mel," the woman replied, extending her hand. "Ariadne said you're going to get us home."

"We're going to try," Daphne corrected. "We have a lot of reach. I just want to make sure that you have a home to go back to first."

Mel put her hand over her belly. "Even if it's gone, I need to go back. There's something I need to find. For my child."

"Would you stay there, alone with a baby?" the blonde asked, taking the reins of the conversation.

The brunette shook her head. "That depends on whether the house is still standing. Those bastards killed my boyfriend and my three brothers, so I know there's nobody there waiting for me."

"Then you should stay here," Daphne said firmly. "You and your baby will be safer here."

Mel lowered her gaze. "I know it seems silly. To have such sentimentality when the world has gone to shit. But that house was my great great grandfather's. It's been passed down to each of us... and we were safe there until the Nomads came. I have family heirlooms there, things I'd want to give to my child someday. I want them to know where they came from, that the world wasn't always like this."

"It's not silly," Daphne replied. "Did you fill out a form? So we know where the house is?" Receiving a nod, she continued. "Write down, in detail, what each of the items is. Give it to Ariadne when you're done and when we go check out the house I will personally make sure I find each one if they're still there."

Mel looked the Lieutenant in the eyes, her own brimming with tears. "Thank you. I don't know how I can repay you, any of you, for saving my life."

"You can stay here." Daphne sighed. "At least until you give birth, and there aren't any complications with you or the baby. If the house is intact, and you still want to leave... then we'll talk, okay?"

"Okay." The word came out thickly as tears started to fall, and the blonde put a gentle hand on the shaking woman's shoulder.

After dinner with Talia and the kids, Daphne wandered into the marketplace. Most of the booths were shut down for the night, but she wasn't surprised to find Nicola still sewing away.

The redhead grunted as she briefly looked up, but the machine didn't stop whirring.

"I hope you don't expect me to treat you any bloody different now that you're at the top of the food chain," she said, voice even.

Daphne grinned. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"And I'm still not paying you."

"Got my own points now, thanks."

"How nice for you," Nicola snapped and motioned to a stack of blue jeans to her left. "Those need patching." 

Daphne chuckled and patted the older woman on the back before collecting the bundle of pants. She worked into the night, long after Nicola had finished and shut down her machine, brusquely reminding her to clean up after herself. She'd helped the seamstress complete her workload and then made a flower print boho-style dress for Brody to give to the baker's daughter.

Daphne was just folding the finished garment when the steel door to the marketplace opened. She smiled at the deliberate bootfalls, knowing exactly who'd sought her out in the deserted area after hours.

"Puttin' in some fuckin' overtime, strawberry?" Negan drawled, leaning on one of the tables. His eyes raked her lithe form, clad in a short beige dress that showed off her luscious legs. From the way she was standing he could just see the bandage on her thigh, and heat rose in him at the many ways he'd marked her as his own.

She shot him a wry smile. "Well considering how uncomfortable it is to sit down, I figured I'd get some work done instead of just standing around."  

He put his hands in his pockets and whistled innocently, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

She threw a ruler at him and it bounced off of his chest, clattering to the table. He didn't even look down at it, instead locking eyes with her. His expression went from amused to aroused within half a second and his smouldering gaze made her weak in the knees.

He growled. "Get the fuck over here."