Danielle's POV
Rick picks up the ax, holding it high above his head, screaming.
"Rick." Negan reaches out, touching Ricks hand, stopping him. Rick collapses back, hyperventilating. The ax went skittering across the ground.
"You answer to me. You provide for me. You belong to me, right?" Negans voice is perfectly calm and clear as he speaks. Rick bobs his head up and down frantically.
Negan lunges forward grabbing Ricks face, violently. "Speak when you're spoken to!" He screams. "You answer to me. You provide to me."
"Provide you." Rick chokes out the words as his eyes never leaving Carl. "You belong to me, right?" Negan repeats.
"Right." Rick gasps.
"Right. Now that is the look I wanted to see. You both get back to your places." Negan stands, picking up his bat, swinging it around casually as he faces the group.
"We did it." He says looking over the group. "All of us together. Even the dead guys on the ground, hell they get the spirit award for sure. Today was a productive damn day. Now, I hope for all your sakes, that you get it now. That you understand how things work. Things have changed. Whatever you had going for you, that is over now." Negan turns to us. "Dwight, load him up." He commands pointing at Daryl.
Dwight jerks Daryl to his feet and throws him towards the van. Daryl stumbles and swings back towards Dwight with his jaw set, ready to fight. Dwight lifts the crossbow and takes a step towards Daryl.
"Hey now!" Negan calls. "Stop that now!" Negan turns his attention back to Dwight. He steps up next to him, glaring down at him. "That." He says pointing at Daryl. "You don't kill that. You take that with you!"
Dwight lowers his eyes submissively and steps away Negan and Daryl and steps towards me.
Back off scar face.
"He's got guts - not like a little bitch like someone I know." Negan cuts his eyes over to Rick. "I like him. He's mine now. But you still want to try something 'not today, not tomorrow'? I will cut pieces off of.....hell's your name?"
"Daryl." He grounds out. "Daryl." Negan chortles like his name is a joke. "Daryl what?"
Daryl take a deep breath and cuts his eyes to me quickly. "Dixon." He replies, his voice raspy and hoarse.
"Wow, that actually sounds right. I will cut pieces off of Daryl and put them on your doorstep, or better yet, I will bring him to you and have you do it for me." Negan smiles and pats Rick on the back. "Dwight, load Daryl Dixon up in the van, we taking him home with us."
Everything inside me went cold.
"Dare-" I started to say as I move towards him but Dwight stops me, snagging me by my shoulder and pulls me back.
Negan notices and his lips press into a thin line and he swaggers over to me. He leans back and looks back and forth between me and Daryl and he shrugs. "Well I can't fault you for taste." He laughs. "What are you going to do beautiful? Fight us all?" He asks sarcastically.
I lift my chin and glare at him, letting him see I ain't afraid of him. Something glosses over his eyes and a slow, satisfied smirk crosses his face and I recognise it as his first genuine smile.
Somewhere behind me, I hear Daryl struggling and I knew The Saviours are holding him back from trying to get to me. But I refuse to be the first one to look away.
Negan chuckles darkly and takes another step towards me, closing the distance between us. He leans down close to my ear and I feel his breath on my neck.
"Mmm mmm." He says shaking his head as though I smell good. "Dwight, what hardware did you pull off our sexy friend here? 'Cause it's pretty obvious to me she's a bit of a scrapper."
He was mocking me, I can see it. He's challenging me, trying to get a reaction.
Dwight clears his throat. "A handgun and ten knives." Negan goes still at that. And he's the first to break eye contact. His gaze goes to Dwight and then settles back on me with a new found interest.
Negan stares down at me for a long time, running his eyes over my face then down my body. He takes a step closer and looks over my shoulder.
He's looking at my shoulder harness.
Daryl struggles again behind me. That seems to pull Negans attention back to Dwight. Negan steps back as he addresses him. "And this didn't concern you?"
Dwight shrugs casually. "We pull knives off of everyone."
"Bring them to to me." Negan orders.
Simon appears and dumps my knives, claw and handgun at Negans feet. He smiles at me. "Nice to see you again gorgeous." Negan looks between me and Simon curiously while I glare at Simon. "How's the shoulder dipshit?" I ask sarcastically. He growls at me, literally.
"She's the girl that attacked you, isn't she?" Negan asks Simon. Simon nods walking backwards, not taking his eyes off me.
Negans looks at me, thoughtfully before he glances down and toes through my knives. He slowly raises he's eyes back to Dwight. "Yes you do pull knives off of everyone." He responds to Dwight's statement. "But, do you know what I see here? I see balanced knives, I see throwing knives, hell, I see fighting knives. Do you see her set up?" He asks gesturing to me dramatically with his hand.
Dwight pinches his lips into a thin line. "Did you Dwight?" Negans voice comes out harsher and I wonder when he went from tormenting me and Daryl to tormenting Dwight.
"Yes." Dwight replies looking at the ground.
"What was that? I didn't hear you." Negan glares at him as Dwight raises his head. "Yes, I saw it."
Negan nods. "But you didn't think that it was important to note that she carries a damn claw and has a spine sheath? That's not something you do because you think it looks badass, that's profession grade shit right here." Negan moves around once more and bends to pick up my gun. He checks the clip and lets out a whistle. "And a full clip!" He waves the gun around dramatically. "You found our sexy friend roaming the woods alone and she has a full clip and you don't think twice about pulling ten knives off of her and a damn claw? Tell me beautiful, who's right? Me or Dwight? How good are you?"
I don't say anything as I level him with a glare. Negan laughs as he bends down and snatches up one of my throwing knives.
So he does know what he's talking about.
"Stay." He commands me. He stalls over to Abrahams dead body and dips the top of Lucille in the blood. He walks over to a tree on the opposite side of the clearing, about 30 yards away and presses the blood against the bark.
He's making a goddamn target out of Big Reds blood.
I glance over at Daryl but his eyes are on Negan. Rick still looks in shock. Liam and Carl are gazing at me, worried. 'It's okay.' I mouth to both of them as I turn back to Negan.
He walks back over to where Dwight and I stand. "Dwight go point that arrow at her man's other shoulder. She fails to do anything I say you let 'er rip, you understand?" Dwight practically jogs over to Daryl.
"Now, sexy friend," Negan says as he flips the throwing knife in the air and catches it by the blade. "I want to see who's right." He holds the knife out to me, handle first. He steps to the side as though he was presenting me to everyone.
He keeps his gaze on me as I take a deep breath. I can't decide if this is a good thing or not. He's smart and he knows it. I suck in a breath and throw the knife. It lands perfectly in the middle of the blood.
Negan nods thoughtfully as he toes through my knifes again. "Again." He says, his tone light. I bend down and pick up another throwing knife. I throw it, blade first, landing it in the same spot. "Perfect." Negan compliments. "Again."
I pick up another. Three down.
"Perfect again." His tone still light but he's done with jokes now. His eyes are hard as he watches me pick up my fourth knife throwing knife. He reaches and touches my arm with Lucille. I freeze, fighting the urge to recoil. "Lefty." He commanded, his tone low and deadly serious.
I switch hands and threw left.
Negan glances down at my last remaining six knives. He goes past my claw and the last two throwing knives which leaves my large hunting knife and my two fighting knives. He picks up the hunting knife and weighs it. It's shit to throw, not balanced at all.
He looks back at me and he smirks. "Throw this one." He orders me. I take it from him carefully and weigh the knife thoughtfully and pull my arm back a little further than normal. It's going to take more muscles to get it into the bark.
"Hey beautiful." Negan calls just as the knife was about to leave my fingers. He's trying to distract me. I turn my gaze to him and let the blade fly.
I knew the throw was good the second the blade left my fingers but I didn't let him see me check. He holds my gaze as a murmur goes through his men. He starts laughing as he holds my gaze.
"Oh Dwight I hope you learned your lesson. Our sexy friend here is much more than what she seems. Never assume something beautiful and small isn't deadly." Negan runs the back of his fingers along my cheek and I hold still as a shiver runs through me.
I hear the quiet rasp of an angry southern drawl and Dwight cracks Daryl across the skull with his own crossbow. He sags forward but don't go all the way down.
I take an involuntary step forward, my fingers itching to feel my claw. Dwight saw it and leaps forward a few feet to meet me. He points my husbands crossbow at my heart as I look at him unaffected.
Negan only laughs harder. "Ooh Dwighty boy, now I'm no expert on women but I would say our sexy friend is fantasying about you." He licks his lower lip suggestively. "Tell me beautiful, if I let you, would you land one of your knives in his skull?"
I take a deep breath not taking my eyes of Dwight. I lift my chin, defiantly. "No." I say simply.
"No?" Negan growls the word like he doesn't believe me. "Don't lie to me beautiful." His voice dangerous.
"May I?" I ask nodding my head to Dwight. Negan runs his tongue over his lower lip. "Be my guest." He replies. I stalk towards Dwight and walked around him. "His spine." I call to Negan, calmly.
"Tough shot." Negan replies in observation.
I drag my fingers up Dwight's spine suggestively, never breaking eye contact with Negan. I stop at Dwight's L1 and press hard, putting pressure on the spot making Dwight shift uncomfortably. "That's paralysed below the waist." I drag my fingers further up his spine. I reach a spot and press harder with my index finger. "That's paralysed below the neck." I growl.
Negan burst out into a fit of gleeful laughter. "Damn, I thought those little future serial killers over there were bad but look at you. You are something." I step back around Dwight and scowl at him before stepping in front, facing Negan again.
Negan stares down at me for a long moment before he chuckles, swaggering towards me. "I mean look at you." He says and glances at my two friends bodies lying in the dirt. "Two of your friends just got their skulls bashed in by Lucille and you didn't even blink an eye. Hell. Look. At. You." He punctuated each word then runs his tongue over his lower lip once more. "Man, do I want to bring you home with me."
"No!" Daryl yells and I fight to not show a reaction when Dwight punches him in the stomach to subdue him. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Daryl, collapsed on the ground, but I could feel his the intensity of his gaze on me. I know he's glaring at me, telling me to back off and stand down.
"Your man back there seems to take offence...now I would love to take you home with me and make you one of my wives. I mean look at you. You are sexy. You would make me one smokin' hot wife."
Dwight jerks Daryl to his feet once more, poutine the crossbow at him. I risk a glance and saw Daryl slipping. He isn't even watching me or Dwight anymore.
Negan ignores what's happening behind him, his focus completely on me and me only. "But...there's this little trust issue I have with not being able to trust a wife with a damn butter knife without having to worry about her cutting my balls off...huh?" He leans down so he's face is closer to mine. His eyes level with mine. "Yes ma'am, I think I will get more use out of your man. You, my sexy friend, would bring me nothing but trouble." He stares into my eyes and arches a brow, flashing me a knowing smirk before he winks at me making me scowl at him.
Dick.
Negan watches my scowl and run his tongue over his lip. "Mmm you are delicious, beautiful."
He spins and faces the group. "All right boys, let's load up! We're done here." He looks back to Rick. "Welcome to a brand new beginning you sorry shits. I'm gonna leave you the RV. Keep it, use it to cart up all the crap your going to find me. We'll be back for our first offering in one week, until then. Ta-ta." He wave and turns away as though we never existed.
He stops and looks back over his shoulder at me, curiosity burning through his gaze. "What's your name beautiful?"
I meet Daryl's gaze over Negans shoulder. I lift my chin and respond without hesitation.
"Danielle Dixon."