Cupid's Arrow | Daryl Dixon

𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎 - 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎

Obviously, it didn't. Pretending Maggie was dead was a good play on Gabriel's part. Madelyn and Rick approved of the idea so they kept the charade going. Daryl, on the other hand, had no idea. He looked up at Madelyn who shook her head slightly, telling him that Maggie wasn't really dead.

"Number one? That was on me. No choice there. Lessons had to be learned. Number two, that didn't need to happen. Daryl there, he forced my hand. Probably put her right on her back, huh?" Negan asked. "Damn, I was gonna asked her to come back with me. Oh, I know what you're thinking. How could I have a shot, guy who just bashed her husband's head in? You'd be surprised. Boy, people, they-"

Negan stopped talking when a gunshot was heard in the distance. Madelyn and Rick didn't know what that was. Gabriel didn't know what that was. Negan looked at them all with a cold glare before going to see what was going on.

It came from Rick's house. Carl was holding a gun to one of the Saviours. "Carl, Carl. Put it down." Rick said.

"Carl, it's okay. Just put the gun down, sweetie." Madelyn said.

"No, he's taking all of our medicine." Carl said. "They said only half of our stuff."

"Of course." Negan said. "Really, kid?"

"And you should go." Carl said to Negan. "Before you find out how dangerous we all are."

"Well, pardon me, young man. Excuse the shit out of my goddamn French, but did you just threaten me?" Negan asked. "Look, I get threatening Davey here, but I can't have it. Not him, not me."

"Carl, just put it down." Rick said.

"Don't be rude, Rick." Negan said. "We are having a conversation here. Now, boy, where were we? Oh yeah, your giant man-sized balls. No threatening us. Listen, I like you so I don't want to go hard proving a point here. You don't want that. I said half your shit, and half is what I say it is. I'm serious. Do you want me to prove how serious? Again?"

Carl sighed and lowered the gun before giving it to Rick from who Negan took it from. "You know, Rick, this whole thing reminds me that you have a lot of guns. There's all the guns you took from that outpost when you wasted all my people with a shit-ton of your own guns, and I'm bettin' there's even more which adds up to an absolute ass-load of guns, and as this little emotional outburst has made crystal clear, I can't allow that."

Rick had nothing to say. Madelyn had nothing. Negan was really going to take every single gun they had.

"They're all mine now." Negan said. "So tell me, where are my guns?"

🧟‍♀️ 🧟🧟‍♀️ 🧟

Once the Saviours had picked up everything that they wanted, they began heading back to the gate. "Hell of a place you got here, Rick." Negan said as Rick and Madelyn spotted Michonne in a house just outside the gate.

"Give me a second." Rick said to Negan. He turned around and saw Michonne before turning back around to Rick.

"No." he said.

"Please, can you just...give me a second?" Rick asked. Negan smirked and Rick quickly went to talk to Michonne, leaving Madelyn with Negan as well as Dwight and Daryl a little further back. Negan looked at Madelyn's stomach before looking at her.

"Can I touch it?" Negan asked.

"What?" Madelyn asked.

"This big ass bump here. Can I touch it?" Negan asked, making Madelyn feel rather uncomfortable. She didn't really wanna find out what would happen if she said no so she hesitantly nodded. Negan smirked and touched Madelyn's bump, lighting a fire within Daryl. He just wanted to rip Negan's head clean off. Madelyn just looked away. "Man, that is amazing. You having boys or girls?"

"One of each." Madelyn muttered.

"One of each?! Damn. Aren't you a lucky man, Daryl?" Negan asked, looking at Daryl who looked away. Negan then looked at Madelyn. "You thought of names?"

".....yeah." Madelyn said.

"Well then, what are they?" Negan asked, making Madelyn sigh. Why wasn't Rick back yet?

"DJ and Erin." Madelyn said as she looked away.

"DJ as in Daryl Junior. Damn, if the boy grows up to be anything like his father, you definitely did something right 'cos Daryl here, he's shown me he ain't anybody's bitch." Negan said.

Madelyn noticed Rick return with Michonne who had a dead deer on her shoulders, making her sigh in relief. Madelyn wasn't exactly in the mood for a conversation with the man that killed her best friend and took her husband.

"Look at this!" Negan said when he saw them.

"I thought she was scavenging. She was hunting." Rick told Negan as he handed him another gun. "This one never came inside. We kept it near the line."

"Look at this. This is something to build a relationship on." Negan said. "Good for you, Rick. This is readin' the room and gettin' the message. I've said it before, and I'm gonna say it again. You, sir, are special."

"Now that you know that we can follow your rules..." Rick said.

"Yes?" Negan asked.

"I'd like to ask you if Daryl can stay." Rick said.

"Not happenin'." Negan said, making Madelyn's heart sink.

"Please, Negan. Please." Madelyn begged.

"You know what? I don't know. Maybe Daryl can plead his case. Maybe Daryl can sway me." Negan said and everyone looked at Daryl who said nothing.

"Daryl, please...we need you." Madelyn said but Daryl said nothing. In a way, he didn't know if he deserved to stay in Alexandria. After everything that happened, he knew it was on him. He felt like he needed to punish himself. Plus, he needed to keep Madelyn safe. He didn't know what Negan would do if he tried to stay. Staying with the Saviours ensured Madelyn's safety and that's all he needed.

Daryl looked away and Negan chuckled. "Well, you tried." Negan said as Madelyn felt her heart breaking into two. Why did he not say anything? Why? "Now what you gotta do is get over that tall wall of yours and try harder out there. Earn for me because we're coming back soon and when we do, you better have something interesting for us or Lucille, she's gonna have her way. I want you to hear that again. If you don't have something interesting for us, someone's gonna die. And no more magic guns. Arat, grab that deer. It's getting late."

Michonne groaned and threw the deer on the floor before walking away. Negan and the Saviours started packing up before leaving and Madelyn wiped a tear away as she watched the van Daryl was in drive away.