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

L • Leverage

Fear flickered across Carol's expression for a split second before she composed herself, steeling her gaze.

"What, you aren't going to invite us in for tea?" Daphne stepped aside to reveal Jesus and Daryl.

The older woman's eyes brimmed with tears at the sight of the latter, and she swept down the steps to embrace him.

Daphne wondered briefly if this woman was a total cougar, but their hug was chaste. They did seem close, however, and she filed away that information for later.

"Letty, made it to Carol's cottage," she said into her radio, giving rough coordinates based on its location in reference to the Kingdom. "What's your ETA, over?"

"Thirty minutes or so, stopped to pick up Jared, idiot was trying to walk back to the outpost in the wrong direction, over," Letty replied, and Daphne laughed, making sure it was into the mouthpiece.

"Should have left him, over." She shook her head, and when the scout tried to reply, all she heard was a string of curses from a very agitated sounding Jared.

"See you soon, over," Letty finally said, a quiet groaning in the background. She must have throttled him.

Carol turned to look up at Morgan and Daphne on the porch.

"You didn't come here for tea," she speculated, and the blonde raised an eyebrow.

"Not necessarily, but tea would be fuckin' wonderful," the lieutenant said, and stalked into the cottage with a sigh. Morgan quickly followed, Jesus on his heels, and Carol lingered with Daryl to speak in hushed tones.

Soon they entered the kitchen, where Daphne was digging through cupboards. She finally found a dusty mason jar filled with tea bags, and opened it.

"Ugh, it's herbal," she muttered. "Who do I have to kill to get a decent orange pekoe in the apocalypse?"

Carol snatched the jar from her with a glare, and started to fill the kettle from the sink. The pipes groaned as she did so, and Daphne smiled at the men standing around the table. She motioned for them to sit, and hopped up onto the counter.

Back to the wall, nearest to the door, higher ground than the enemy, gun in hand. She leaned casually on one arm, draping the other holding the gun over her knee.

"What exactly are you hoping to achieve here?" Carol asked coldly as she set the kettle to boil, and pulled down a teapot.

"Did Daryl catch you up?" Daphne asked, swinging a leg back and forth. "You and Maggie killed my friends, and then you ran away, leaving her and the rest of your community to pay for your crimes."

The older woman turned wide eyes on Daryl, but before he could speak, the blonde cleared her throat.

"She's alive, for now," she said. "I really would have liked to introduce you to all of the children you orphaned." The room went deathly quiet, the tension palpable.

"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," Morgan muttered, and Daphne chuckled.

"I've never claimed to be without sin," she admitted. "Nobody is without sin. It's survival of the strongest, not the most morally sound. The Saviors are the strongest, and we have the means to rain vengeance down on anyone who fucks with us. You fucked with us, and killed a shit ton of our people." She gave the hostess a once over, taking in her pursed lips and clenched fists. "I've got to give you points though, at least you isolated yourself to feel bad about it. Not like the rest of those arrogant do-gooder friends of yours. Rick the Prick had to be taken down many pegs."

It was in that moment that Carol smashed the teapot into the side of Daphne's head.

The blonde hit the tile floor from the impact, and just as she was registering what had happened, Jesus was on top of her, divesting her of her weapon. He straddled her back, pinning her face down and wrenching her arms behind her.

"What the hell are you doin'?!" Daryl cried, chair clattering behind him as he leapt to his feet.

Carol held the broken ceramic handle in her fist, looking just as bewildered as he was, as if she had reacted without thinking or planning.

"She's got more weapons strapped to her legs!" Jesus said, putting all of his body weight into holding the wildcat down.

"I should have just killed all of you!" Daphne spat, wriggling as much as she could. This snapped Morgan out of his shock and he shoved the blue crinoline out of the way to pull the holsters from her thighs.

Jesus pulled a thick zip tie from the knee pocket of his cargo pants, and secured her wrists behind her. He handed one back to Morgan, who took a boot to the face and chest before managing to tie her ankles.

"You have no idea what they'll do to Maggie," Daryl pleaded with Carol, but the older woman didn't respond, simply staring with bewilderment down at the scene, holding the busted handle of the teapot in a shaky hand.

"We need leverage," Jesus grunted as he stood, pulling Daphne up by her arm. "Here it is."

"They're not going to give us what we want for one Savior," Daryl protested, watching her face closely.

Daphne finally got control of her fuming shock, taking a deep breath and schooling her expression.

"For this one they might." Morgan dropped her holsters on the kitchen table. "Negan specifically chose her to infiltrate the Kingdom, where no Savior has ever set foot."

"Oh, you found my photos," Daphne said as Jesus adjusted his knit beanie and started sorting through her stuff. Carol leaned over the table, confusion settling over her features as she took in the family portraits strewn across the table.

Understanding dawned on her face and she turned to Daryl, stifling a sob.

"What did I do?" she choked, voice thick. "What did I cause?"

"We all did it," Morgan said quietly as Daryl pulled her into a tight hug. "But now we're going to end it without any more bloodshed."

"If you're planning on no bloodshed, you should let me out of here now," Daphne piped up with an amused smirk. "Because Letty will fucking destroy you if this shit is still going on when she gets here."

There was a moment of confusion and they all exchanged glances before realization dawned on their faces as they seemed to work out all scenarios.

"You got a car?" Daryl asked, and Carol shook her head.

"There are two horses out back," she said. "You guys can double up."

Morgan and Daryl froze, the latter furrowing his brow. "You ain't comin'?"

"No," she said the word with finality, ghosting her hands over the photos still on her kitchen table.

Daphne watched with satisfaction as pain swelled in Carol's eyes. "You can keep those, baby girl," she said, "do your time."

Jesus jerked Daphne to her feet and she forgot her ankles were tied, nearly falling on her face.

"Time to go," he said, and bent at the waist to sling her over his shoulder. She laughed as he swung her around to exit the kitchen, and caught a glimpse of Morgan squeezing Carol's shoulder before they rounded the corner.

"This is the most cliche shit ever," Daphne huffed as he flopped her facedown over the horse's back. She groaned as the horn dug into her pelvic bone and tried to wriggle forward before he got up.

Jesus mounted the horse gracefully and gathered the back of her dress in a firm grip, holding her in place. She had a great view of the brown horse's underside and couldn't help the petty thought that Loxley was a far superior horse.

Her long curls nearly touched the ground when she curled further down to watch, upside down, as Daryl burst out the back door.

"They're takin' off," he said quickly before leaping up onto the companion horse, a white female with brown spots.

"It would be lovely to sit upright, Mister Jesus," Daphne called up innocently as the horses took off into the trees.

"I don't think so," he shook his head.

"What, afraid you'll get a hard on with my ass rubbing against you?" she teased.

He scoffed, shaking his head. "You're as foul as your boss," he grunted, and Daphne smiled proudly at the compliment.