Poker Face

Chapter 68 - Not Your Friend

"It's locked," Maggie said.

"Stand back," Rick replied. Aven threw the window open and peered outside, relieved to see a trellis running up the side of the building. Negan hurried her along, helping to lift her onto the sill and guide her legs out the window. Just as she slipped outside and turned to start climbing down, the door burst open.

"Get him!" Maggie yelled. "Don't let him leave!" Negan took one last second to gaze into Aven's eyes. He grabbed both sides of her head firmly and kissed her hard before pulling back and shutting the window between them. Aven screamed at him and banged on the glass with her fist but she lost her footing and fell hard to the ground. She landed on her back with the wind knocked out of her but wasn't in pain. She stared up at the window from which she'd fallen, horrified as it was shattered by bullets, exploding all at once in a rain of shards of glass and Negan's blood from the bullets ripping through his body. She saw him slump backwards over the window sill, lifeless, as the bullets continued to fly. They wouldn't stop until he was unrecognizable.

Aven shrieked until it felt her throat would start bleeding, crying out his name as though calling loudly enough would make him wake up. Her surroundings went fuzzy and she curled up on her side, weeping furiously. She felt something trapping her wrist at her side and for a split second, she was back in her cage in the same dark basement she'd spent months in.

Aven woke suddenly with tears already streaming down her face and more pooling in her eyes. She remembered where she was, relatively safe but without Negan. All she wanted was to be in his arms and she hoped he'd come for her sooner rather than later, though she wasn't sure he had the firepower ready yet. She didn't dream again that night but she didn't sleep restfully either.

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"She was crying for him in the middle of the night, I think in her sleep at first," Jesus told Maggie over breakfast the next morning.

"That's...fucked up," Maggie said, shoveling the last of her scrambled eggs into her mouth. Jesus snorted, looking up at her with slight disbelief. She wasn't exactly a clean-mouthed saint but she rarely cursed unless she meant it. "I think I'll ask her about that. See how she reacts."

"Still not sure she's telling the truth?"

"I'll never be sure. So I gotta keep checking until either something breaks or we finish this with her help." The two quickly finished their breakfast and left to make their way towards the medical room, where they found Aven sitting up with her pillows propped behind her, crying into her hand that wasn't handcuffed to the bed.

"Why don't you just kill me?" Aven muttered tearfully as Maggie took a seat at her bedside.

"I told you, it's not what we do," Maggie replied.

"Yes it is." Aven rolled her head away from Maggie to stare out the window at a brick wall, pretending to try to pull herself together. At this point riding a wave of misery was easy; she wasn't pretending, just taking advantage of her own emotions.

"Tell me about when you and Negan met Daryl."

"What?"

"I'm not killing you and I'm not gonna sit here and listen to you mope. Tell me what I want to know or you can stay in here alone and cry some more." Aven's lip quivered in annoyance at Maggie's tone and she stared her down with tears still in her eyes, but ultimately softened and sat back in bed with a sigh. This was a good opportunity to support her story against Negan and, like when she was with him, she needed to choose her battles carefully.