Beauty and Her Beast (Daryl Dixon Fanfic)

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Nightmares. I always wake up with nightmares. Whistling, Abraham, Glenn's face, Negans laugh. The blood on my face. Luke is staying with Liz. I've been staying at Rick and Michonnes. I haven't been alone since the beginning. I'm not used to it anymore. Being in that big empty house, sleeping on the floor, alone. I went about my new routine. Shower, get dressed, eat, walk Faith, visit Luke and Liz. I became exactly what I didn't want to. A housewife waiting for her husband. I wasn't about to go out looking for supplies for that asshole.

Rick and Aaron were still out on a run. They need to find something before the Saviors came back. When they came back early I wasn't shocked. What was shocking was when the gates opened, Carl was with him. I stared at him as they walked in, noticing that his bandage was gone. Negan smiled at me. "Charlie! Nice to see you again! Rick here?"

I shook my head, trying to ignore the fact that he called me Charlie. "No, he's finding shit. For you. Why do you have Carl?"

He chuckled. "This little badass snuck onto one of my trucks. He killed two of my men. I was kind enough..." he smiled, resting a hand on his chest. "to bring him home." He sighed, looking around. "I'm gonna head to Ricks. Wait for him to get back. Don't stray too far. I might want some...company. If you'd like." He looked me up and down and walked off, Carl following him.

~*~

I watched the pool game between Negan and Spencer from inside. I only went outside when Negan stabbed Spencer in the gut, slicing him open. His insides spilled out and he fell, holding his intestines in his hands. Blood gushed out of him. "Oh, how embarrassing. There they are. They were inside you the whole time. You did have guts. I've never been so wrong in my whole life!" Spencer stopped breathing, his blood running down the street.

Negan picked up Lucille. "Now, someone oughta get up here and clean this mess up." No one moved. "Oh." He held the bat up, using it to point at the crowd. "Anyone wanna finish the game? C'mon. Anybody? Anybody? C'mon. I was winning!" Rosita pulled out a gun suddenly, shooting at him. Disappointingly, it hit the bat. "Shit! What the shit?!" Arat knocked the gun out of her hand and put her on her back. "Shit! You just-you tried to kill me?! You shot Lucille!"

"She got in the way!"

Negan calmed down and picked up the bullet casing. "What is this?" He examined it. "What is this? This little bad boy made from scratch? Look at those crimps. This was homemade. You may be stupid, darlin', but you showed some real ingenuity here. Arat, move that knife up, right into that girls face." She held the knife against Rosita's cheek. "Lucille's beautiful, smooth surface is never gonna look the same, so why should yours?! Unless...unless you tell me who made this."

"It was me. I made it." She breathed.

Negan smiled. "You see, now I just think you're lying. And you lying to me now?!" Such a shame. Arat's gonna have to cut up that pretty face. One more try."

"It was me." Rosita lifted her head, the knife slicing her skin.

Negan chuckled. "Oh! You are such a badass! Fine. Have it your way. Arat." She looked up at him. "Kill somebody."

"No! It was me! No!" Arat pulled her gun out and aimed at Carl and Olivia, firing. Olivia fell, dead. My mouth fell open and I clenched my fists.

Rick came walking up the street, handing off a bloody and beaten Aaron to Eric. "We had an agreement!" Rick stated angrily.

"Rick!" Negans voice was hoarse. "Look, everybody, it's Rick! Ah, your people are making me lose my voice doing all this yelling. Rick...how about a 'thank you'? I mean, look. I know we started this relationship with me beating the holy shit out of your friends, and because of that, we're never gonna sit around and braid each other's hair or share our deepest, darkest secrets, but how about a little credit? I just bent over backwards to show you how reasonable I am."

Negan pointed at Carl. "Your kid-he hid in one of my trucks and machine-gunned a bunch of my men down, and I brought him home, safe and sound, and I fed him spaghetti." Rick looked at Carl, seeming shocked. "Another one of your people, well, he wanted me to kill you and put him in charge. I took him out...for you. And Another one, here," he pointed to Rosita. "She shot Lucille, trying to kill me just now, so I gave you one less mouth to feed. And by looking at her, that mouth did some major damage. Now, personally, I wouldn't have picked her to be the one to go, but Arat, I don't know, didn't trust her."

Rick stepped closer. "Your shit's waiting for you at the gate. Just go."

Negan smiled. "Sure thing, Rick...right after I find the guy or gal that made this bullet. Arat?"

She aimed her gun at Eric. "It was me!" Tara yelled.

"No, it wasn't." Eugene spoke through his hands. He lowered them, keeping his eyes down. "It was me." He spared a glance at Negan as he got close to him. "It was only me."

"You?"

"It requires one spent casing, one four-holed turret reloader, powder, one funnel for the powder-"

"Shut up. I believe you." Negan turned away and held the bat up, closing his eyes. "Lucille, give me strength." For a second I thought he was going to kill Eugene. "I'm gonna be relieving you of your bullet maker, Rick. That and whatever you left for me at the front gate. And however much you scavenged, it's not good enough, because you're still in a serious, serious hole after today. Let's move out!"

"No! No! No! Please, just take me! No!" Rosita cried as they took Eugene away.

"Rick, I ain't gonna lie, your kitchen is a goddamn mess. I'll see you next time. He rest Lucille on his shoulder, walking away. Spencer started sitting up again, growling. Rick put him down.

~*~

When the Hilltop gates opened and Maggie greeted us, I was relieved. Rick hugged her. "You're okay?"

"I'm okay. The baby's okay-all of us."

Rick nodded. "You were right, right from the start. You told us to get ready to fight. I didn't listen and I couldn't. I can now."

My eyes flicked to a sudden movement and when I saw him...my heart skipped a beat. Rick walked over, hugging Daryl. When Rick pulled away, I ran up to Daryl, jumping into his arms. "You're here. I can't believe you're here. I thought I lost you. I thought they were gonna..."

He set me down, kissing me. "I'm not going anywhere." I smiled and pulled away, letting the others greet him. He looked at Rick and pulled the Colt out, holding it out to him. We all smiled at each other and Rick holstered his gun. We walked toward Barrington House, ready for a fight.