Poker Face

Chapter 45 - Instinct vs. Doubt

After learning of yet another of Rick's deceptions from Eugene, Negan realized Aven had been right to be so skeptical of Rick staying in line. It had hardly been a few weeks since Negan introduced himself and at the time, he thought he thoroughly beat Rick into submission. He had been annoyed with Aven for doubting the efficacy of his methods but it was clear now she had good reason. But Negan hated being wrong and didn't always handle it well. He'd taken each of the Alexandrians' offenses in stride, each individually not posing much of a threat, but now that he stepped back and put the incidents together, he was furious at them and with himself for letting them go so far. Rick's people had now killed close to forty Saviors and they still thought they were the victims, or at least that they deserved to be aggressors.

"I'm gonna have to fucking kill a handful of them," Negan growled to Aven as they stepped into his office to plan. "But no Saviors die tomorrow. I'm giving Rick one last fucking chance before I waste the whole place in front of him."

"If Sasha came here alone maybe he doesn't know we have her," Aven said. "We can use that. If she's really as compliant as she seems she'll want as few people killed as possible."

"And now Dwight," he sighed, sitting down behind his desk. He didn't like what Aven had observed of Dwight that morning. Even if there was a reasonable explanation, one of his top men had left the Sanctuary exposed and he couldn't just let that slip.

"I can't say I didn't express all of these concerns from the beginning," Aven grumbled, sitting in a chair across the desk from him and folding her arms with a hint of bitterness from having to watch him agitate the threat over the previous few weeks.

"Really? You're gonna give me a fuckin' I-told-you-so? Fuck you."

"Well I did fucking tell you so," she said raising her voice slightly. "I told you every step of the way and you kind of rubbed it in my face that you were gonna do things your own way regardless."

"Because that's how things go around here," he hissed. "My way."

"Well your way didn't contain the threat from the Alexandrians and almost got you killed." And got several of your men killed, she thought. Negan narrowed his eyes at her, almost as if he heard the thought in her mind.

"You wanna take over?" he said with a low, quiet voice. "Protect everyone and make the hard decisions? Because when faced with a fucking aggressor you opt to steal his favorite vest or tell him to go fuck himself. That's how you get people killed."

"I told you to go fuck yourself for good reason," she replied steadily. "And it's a nice fucking vest."

"If you're going to be fucking difficult then get out of my office." Aven scoffed at him expectantly, waiting for him to realize he was being a dick. But his scowl didn't waver.

"I thought the whole fucking reason you liked me is because I'm 'difficult'," she replied. "I guess that's only when you haven't just been proven wrong."

"Proven wrong? What do you think is being proven here? Rick stepped out of line and I'm going to do what I do best and beat him the fuck back."

"You might not have had to do that if you'd have been more careful approaching them."

"Hindsight's twenty fuckin' twenty. You got any ideas you want to share about Sasha? Otherwise shut the door on your way out." Aven gritted her teeth and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Bring her as a hostage and threaten to kill her right there if Rick doesn't meet your demands."

"I need something big like the first night in the woods. Something to make a point," he said, rubbing his beard thoughtfully.