Incarceration

The Council

The following morning Aurora woke early to the sound of approaching footsteps. As the door knob began to turn she grabbed her pistol with her right hand steadily pointing it at the door, her left hand still firmly grasping Negan's.

As the door opened Rick appeared, a smile on his face as he saw her pointing the gun at him. "Good to see you're still on high alert" he chuckled.

"Of course" she replied placing the gun back down. His eyes travelled to her other hand noticing she was still holding onto Negan, not at all trying to hide it. "Why are you here?" She asked as Negan began to stir.

"We are holding a council meeting" he told her.

"What for?"

"I thought about what you said. And you're right. It could just as easily be you or I locked in that cell".

"Well that's mighty high of you Rick" Negan spoke up.

"Negan... don't make me regret this by opening your mouth and saying something stupid" Rick warned and Negan smiled politely and made a zipping motion over his lips.

"You made this happen Aurora. We are meeting at the church in fifteen minutes. And he's coming too" Rick told her as he handed her the keys to Negan's cell along with a set of cuffs. "Cuff him behind his back" Rick instructed before he left them to it.

"This is our chance. Please Negan... be careful what you say. Not everyone appreciates your smart mouth like I do" Aurora smiled as she unlocked the cell door and stepped in. "Just let me do most of the talking okay?"

"Sure thing Sweetheart".

"Okay, let's get going" she said as she dangled the cuffs and took one of his hands in hers.

"Rori wait" Negan spoke up.

"What is it?"

Without any words he softly cupped her face and pressed his lips to hers in a long and gentle kiss. "I needed to do that" he grinned. Leaning in Aurora captured his lips again, this time in a more passionate kiss, her tongue gently running over his bottom lip before she pulled away. "You taste even sweeter than I imagined" he smiled charmingly as he licked his lips, the taste of her still lingering there.

"C'mon Romeo" she giggled as she gently cuffed his hands behind his back with a sigh. "I hate doing this".

"I know Sweetheart. Whatever makes them feel safer" he reasoned. "You know I'd never hurt you though right? You never feel unsafe with me?"

"I feel safest with you" she smiled.

"Even when I'm locked in a cage and can't protect you?"

"I can protect myself. Just having you near me makes me feel calm, at ease" Aurora explained.

"Me too Sweetheart. Me too" he smiled as she led him out and they began walking to the church. A few people eyed him suspiciously, but most just ignored him and went about their business. Truth was, half of the people that made up the community now weren't even there when the war with the Saviours was raging. They didn't know anything about Negan beyond the rumours.

When they arrived at the church Aurora sat off to one side with Negan, while Rick addressed the combined council of the communities. It comprised of Himself, Michonne, Daryl and Aaron on behalf of Alexandria. Ezekial, Carol and Jerry on behalf of the Kingdom. Cyndie and Beatrice on behalf of Oceanside and Jesus, Alden and Enid on behalf of the Hilltop. Maggie couldn't bring herself to be in the same room as Negan and not want to kill him out of revenge, but she trusted the others to speak for her. It was better that way, she was too biased in this situation and she knew that.

"We all know why we are here today" Rick began. "A lot of things have been done in the past... on all sides. But it all needs to be water under the bridge, we have to move on. Move forward for the good of the communities. To build a better future".

"You can't just expect us to forgive and forget" Cyndie spoke up.

"I know... I know that. And I'm not asking you to forgive or forget. Just move forward. We have all done things, bad things. Things that keep us awake at night. I know I have. And it could just as easily have beeen me locked in that cell. Or even Carl" Rick told them all. "All I'm asking is we hear Negan out. Things have changed. He's had over a year in a cell to reflect on his actions. Just listen to what he has to say and we'll go from there" Rick instructed. "Negan, you have some things you'd like to say?"

Negan rose to his feet and looked out across the room. "First off, I know a lot of you hate me. I know I did some terrible things. And I own that. I take responsibility for that. I just want you to understand why I did what I did. Everything I did was foe the good of my people. I just lost may way and the line between right and wrong became blurred. I acted out of anger and frustration, in retaliation for the deaths of my people" Negan told them, and some of the people hung their head, remembering what they had done to Negan's outpost. "I don't expect your forgiveness. I just want a chance at something better. My head is clearer than it's ever been and I know what is right. I want to spend the rest of my miserable existence in this shitty world to make up for the things I've done. All I ever wanted was to save lives, not take them" Negan said before sitting back down.

"How do we know we can believe a word that comes out of this assholes mouth?" Daryl growled.

"Aurora has been his night watch for over six months now. She has built a relationship with him. One of her skills is reading people. She is as close to a lie detector machine as you can get" Rick told everyone. "She assures me he is telling the truth".

"And you belive her? What's to say he hasn't corrupted her with his womanizing ways?" Ezekial asked.

"I do believe her, yes. And if you don't, test it out. Give her three statements, two truths and one lie. Let her show you that she can spot a lie a mile away" Rick said confidently.

"Alright... I'll give it a shot" Jerry said. "I had four sisters, my middle name is Thomas and I used to work on a farm before this".

Aurora watched him carefully as he spoke, picking up on minute changes in his facial expression and his eyes. As well as pitch an tone of his voice.
"You didn't have four sisters" Aurora determined.

"Thats right. I had two brothers".

"Anyone else?" Rick asked.

"Yeah..." Alden called out getting her attention. "My mother's name was Anne, I grew up in Georgia and I drove a red pick up truck" Alden spoke up. Again Aurora analysed the delivery of the statements and came to a conclusion. "You didn't drive a red pick up".

"No I did not. I had a shitty Honda civic" he chuckled.

"Believe me now or we wanna keep going with this?" Rick asked the group only to be met with silence. "Okay then. Aurora, you want to say anything?"

"Uhh yeah" she said as she stood up. "Despite what you may think of Negan, he wants to be a part of something bigger than himself. Yes he's still a bit of an asshole, but that is who he is. You can't change that. He's not just going to change who he is, but he is evolving. Everyone deserves a second chance, you can't hold their pasts against them. Rick is right. We need to move forward. We need to make a better life for future generations. There is enough bad shit in this world with the dead wanting to fucking eat us. We don't need to be at eachothers throats too" Aurora told them. "I know some of you might think my judgement is clouded. But I assure you I see things very clearly. You can't make it in this world without kindness. All of us are here today because someone took a chance on us. Saved our lives, gave us a home, shared their food. Negan deserves the same treatment. He's a human being. Not a walker. He doesn't deserve to rot away in a cell any more than the rest of us do, especially those of us who have killed people just as he has" She finished.

"We will take some time to talk things over. Aurora, can you please escort Negan back to his cell. I'll be by with a verdict later" he said as he looked to the two of them.

"Sure" Aurora nodded as she took Negan's arm and led him from the church.