"Oh, fuck me," Aven groaned when she woke the next morning, her thighs still aching vaguely and her tattoo stinging at her side as she inadvertantly rolled onto it. Negan, already out of bed and dressed, chuckled as his eyes went to her bandaged tattoo and then to the bold bruise on her neck.
"Shit, you're a fuckin' wreck, huh?" he sneered. "Wake up. Lemme take that bandage off, let that fucker breathe."
"I can do it," Aven replied with a yawn, carefully peeling the bandage off to reveal the tattoo beneath the bleeding excess ink."
"Warm water and soap," Negan ordered, pointing to the bathroom. "Do it in the sink or bath, not the shower. Pat it dry with a towel and don't get it wet otherwise. That shit's gonna be irritating for a few days. I have to go pay Daryl a little visit, see if he's ready to kneel."
"You know that's creepy as fuck, right?" she said.
"What?"
"Making people kneel to you."
"That's not creepy, that's respect," Negan said gruffly.
"No, that's fear and it's creepy. Can I come see Daryl with you?" she changed the subject, having said her piece and not actually interested in an argument.
"You can meet me down in the cells when you're done," he replied. "But don't fuck with me and don't have a fucking 'Nam flashback or something."
"Such a sensitive soul," she crooned sarcastically.
"You love me," Negan smirked. Aven quickly took care of her tattoo and got dressed, grabbing Negan's red scarf to cover her bruised neck before leaving. She stepped into the cell block to meet Negan not even ten minutes later.
"Aven," Negan began with a welcoming smile as she came down the hall. "This is Fat Joey. He's the one who knocked you the fuck out after you knocked Simon the fuck out."
"Sorry," Joey said genuinely, shrugging at Aven.
"Don't be, she was being a dick," Negan said. Aven nodded at Joey and gave a small, apologetic smile.
"You were just doing your job," she said.
"Joey, you're on break. Take thirty," Negan said, relieving him of guard duty for the moment. He turned to Aven and smirked down at her. "Feel good to be back, doll?"
"Fantastic," she replied dryly. "Where's that awful music coming from?"
"Daryl's cell," Negan grinned. "I let you off easy when you were in here. Figured you were already fucking insane enough."
"Good call," she said.
"Dwight, cut it!" Negan yelled down the hall, the music stopping a moment before Dwight came around the corner and proceeded down the hall to meet the two in front of Daryl's cell.
"Isn't that a bit much?" Aven asked Negan, referring to the music. "You're not going to get his cooperation this way. You're probably just pissing him off."
"She's wrong," Dwight grunted to Negan unapologetically. "He'll break."
"You're just happy you have someone to beat on for once," Aven muttered, looking away disinterestedly.
"Or I just know what I'm doing," Dwight replied with a scowl.
"Oh, I don't doubt you know exactly what you're doing," she replied, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Behave, you two," Negan interrupted after purposely giving Aven enough time to finish her retort. "Dwight, let's see if you're right." Negan held out his hand and Dwight gave him the key. Negan unlocked and pushed the heavy, metal door open with a loud creak to reveal Daryl lying with his face to the wall, naked and shivering.
"You couldn't have at least given him pants?" Aven asked. "No one wants to see that."
"That's the point," Negan said gruffly. "This isn't supposed to be easy on anyone." He stepped into the cell and crouched down behind Daryl, leaning forward on Lucille. "Hey there, tiger," Negan taunted. "Ready to bite the motherfucking bullet and cooperate?" Daryl turned feebly and without warning, spit a mouthful of dog food in Negan's face. Negan grunted in disgust, standing and backing up as he wiped the residue off his face. Aven had to hold back a laugh having proven both Negan and Dwight wrong at once. She and Dwight stood behind Negan on either side, as Daryl pushed himself to a sitting position, glaring up at them. Without warning, he lunged at Aven, looking for any bit of leverage over his captors that he could take. She easily backed out of the way and Daryl fell weakly to the floor.
"Oh, fuck no!," Negan bellowed, getting to his feet and sticking Lucille in Daryl's face. "If you touch my girl I will fucking castrate you. I'll feed you one of your own god damn nuts while you're still fucking alive and the other after you've turned. Then I'll shove a spike up your ass and put you on display on my fence. And then I'll shove another spike up your ass just for the fucking fun of it. You do not threaten my girl." With that, Negan turned and stormed out of the cell, Aven and Dwight already waiting just outside. The cell door closed and the three of them heard a crash on the door, presumably Daryl kicking it.
"You okay?" Negan asked Aven. She shrugged and nodded, unaffected by Daryl's hopeless attempt, and he pulled her in for a quick, one-armed hug, unable to hide the worry he'd felt to see her threatened again. "Give us a minute, doll," he said, turning her away gently. She nodded and wandered off to the end of the hallway to give them space while still listening in. Meanwhile, Daryl was enraged, beating on his cell door. "He's going ape shit," Negan laughed to Dwight.
"Yup," Dwight grunted, staring distractedly at the closed cell door.
"You are hustlin'. It's working," Negan praised. "It's working slow but hey, man, some people are harder to break than others."
"Yeah, he's close," Dwight said proudly.
"Yeah, he is," Negan chimed, beaming down at Dwight. "You know, you're doing such an awesome job I just wish I could give you a god damn advance in pay, maybe a couple extra fuckin' vacation days."
"That's okay, I-"
"You want me to talk to my lady friends, make clear that Dwighty boy deserves a little reward for all his hard work? You know the wives still listen to everything I say. Sherry may be gone but you can have any girl you want as long as she says yes."
"No, I'm cool," Dwight answered politely. "I'm gonna pass."
"Huh..." Negan narrowed his eyes suspiciously, glancing past Dwight for a split second at Aven who wasn't even trying to pretend she wasn't listening. "Are you cool though, Dwight? I mean, I just said that it's happy hour at the pussy bar and Dwight eats for free, and you're telling me no." Negan took a step closer so he was looming over Dwight. "Is that cool?"
"I haven't finished the job," Dwight answered. "I haven't earned it yet." Negan could see Aven roll her eyes from all the way at the other side of the hall.
"You earn what you take," he replied, his eyes lingering on her for another second as he realized just how true that was for everybody. Just then, Dwight's radio crackled and Arat's voice came through.
"We have an orange situation," she said. Dwight reached for the radio but Negan grabbed it out of his hand.
"Give me that," he grumbled. "Arat, what'ya got? Grab and go?"
"He could have only gone three ways. I'm on it."
"Good." Negan tossed the radio back to Dwight who brought it to his mouth.
"It's D, I'll meet ya at the gate," he told Arat.
"I mean, I want my shit back," Negan began sternly, almost disappointedly, "but that is grunt work. Why don't you have Fat Joey go and do it? God knows he needs the exercise. You?" Negan lowered his voice seriously. "You don't have to do it, Dwight."
"I'd like to do it," Dwight said softly with a small smile. Negan's grin slowly stretched across his face and he wrapped his gloved hand around the back of Dwight's head, leaning in so their foreheads were touching.
"Good boy," Negan said, patting Dwight's head and pushing him off down the hall. Aven began making her way back, purposely bumping Dwight's shoulder as he left.
"That was cute," Aven snorted at Negan's purposely overbearing show of affection towards Dwight. "You really don't think he's full of shit?"
"Oh, he's absolutely full of shit," Negan retorted. "But so are you. Who the fuck amongst us is not?"
"Let he who is not full of shit cast the first stone," Aven muttered.
"So why don't you think Daryl will break?" Negan asked without segue, leading her the other way down the hall to go turn the music back on.
"Even if he does break, it won't be in cooperation or submission," she replied. "He'll be dead or dysfunctional. Did you see the scars on his back? I'm willing to bet he has a long history of not breaking." She gave Negan a look that said she was speaking from personal experience.
"Well that's his fucking problem," Negan grunted. "I'll break him whether it's to put him to use or not."
"Why?"
"He stepped out of line and this is the consequence." Negan flicked a switch on one of the walls that apparently connected to speakers in Daryl's cell, and music started echoing through the hall again.
"I thought killing the second Alexandrian was the consequence," Aven replied.
"That was the consequence for the group."
"You're just coming up with these answers now, you don't actually mean them," she chided. "You're just being a hardass for no reason."
"Not no reason," he replied half-jokingly, not willing to actually argue the subject.
"You're being a hardass for the sake of being a hardass then. I think you'd be better off finding the way he actually can be used," Aven said, looking away in thought. "Like sending him back to Alexandria with bad intel or something. You might have had a chance at turning him in your favor if you'd tried to appeal to him instead of making him hate you more."
"He went for you," Negan mumbled, getting distracted by his own thoughts.
"Yeah, but it's not like anything was actually gonna-"
"He went for you," Negan repeated. "Not me or Dwight. You."
"Because I'm a woman and relatively small," Aven shrugged bitterly. "Of course I'm the one he went for; I'm the one he'd most likely be able to incapacitate. Although I'm surprised he hasn't snapped Dwight in half yet. Have you seen those biceps?" she teased, narrowing her eyes at him suggestively and mouthing wow.
"I'm serious," Negan huffed. "You're the one who told me about the Alexandrians' relationships and why they matter. Your relationship to me matters too and people can use that," Negan thought aloud as the reality of that possibility dawned on him.
"Not if you don't let them," Aven replied. "Right now you don't have a problem. They're in no place to make a move. If ever the time comes when they're a real threat, we'll deal with it then."
"You're right," he grumbled. "He's just one guy. I just don't want anyone thinking they can use you against me."
"If anyone tried that, you know I'd turn it around on them so fucking quickly," she said.
"You say that but you don't know what people are capable-" he stopped himself when he saw her staring with a dryly dubious expression on her face. "Nope, you know," he receded with his hands up innocently.
"Damn fucking straight I do. So trust that I'm not going to put myself in a situation where I can be used as a pawn against you. What kind of manager would I be if I put my client's assets directly in the line of fire?" she sneered.
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"Boss, code blue," said Fat Joey over the radio. "He failed. Need you down by the bikes." It was the day after they'd visited Daryl in the cell and Negan and Aven were just on their way down to get dinner. Negan sighed and turned down a hallway leading away from the cafeteria, taking Aven's hand in his until opening a door and stepping outside.
"What's going on?" Aven asked after him. He didn't answer but led her out into an alleyway where there were several motorcycles sitting, beyond them a circle of Saviors surrounding Daryl, who had at least been given clothes at this point, though they appeared to be fashioned from burlap sacks.
"Well at least you gave him pants," Aven mumbled as Negan pushed off from their spot at the door and strolled leisurely towards the men, Lucille slung over his shoulder as he whistled lazily, straying from his simple two-note song. Aven stayed back to watch, leaning against the side of the building. Negan slipped into the circle of Saviors and stood facing Daryl, who could do nothing but glare, his body rigid and tense.
"Are we pissing our pants yet?" Negan bellowed, grinning triumphantly at Daryl. "Who are you?" he asked, pointing Lucille at Fat Joey without taking his eyes off of the prisoner.
"Negan," Joey replied simply.
"Who are you?" Negan repeated, pointing Lucille at the man in the circle behind him.
"Negan," the man answered immediately. Negan's smug grin grew as he held his arms out to the group.
"Who are you?"
"Negan," they replied as a chorus.
"You see that?" he whispered gruffly with a twinkle in his eye. "I am everywhere."
"Oh, give me a fucking break," Aven muttered to herself, previously unaware of the collective identity Negan had assigned to his men but, as usual, prideful over his display of power. She couldn't help but smile.
"And this was your shot to prove to me that that fundamental fact was sinking in. And you failed," Negan continued. Aven's pride fell slightly and she balled her fists at her side, unhappy with him for continuing to push a plan she already knew was a failure. "Which sucks, 'cause your life was about to get so much cooler. Am I right?"
"Damn right," Joey chimed in with a smirk. Negan paced back and forth a few times in front of Daryl and ran a hand through his beard before turning to look him in the eye again and re-explaining his options going forward, all of which entailed staying at the Sanctuary, which Aven knew Daryl would never agree to. When Daryl didn't answer, Negan gave him one more long moment before chuckling softly and biting the inside of his lip thoughtfully.
"Screw it." With a loud whoosh, Negan swung Lucille from behind his leg and stopped right next to Daryl's ear, the prisoner not even flinching. Negan leaned in examing his fearless eyes and smirked. "Wow," he marveled. "You don't scare easy. I love that." Negan glanced at Aven, unable to ignore the similarities between her and Daryl. She probably knew what she was talking about, as usual. "But Lucille...well, that kind of pisses her off. She finds it to be disrespectful." Aven drew slightly closer, unable to hear Negan's speech as he whispered to Daryl threateningly. She had to laugh inwardly at herself, constantly making fun of Negan's showmanship while simultaneously being drawn to it.
"Lucky for you, Lucille isn't feeling too thirsty today." Negan again leaned in so he was in Daryl's face, his eyes narrowing and a hard frown settling on his face. "But I am," he growled menacingly. His words were angry, but when he glanced at Aven and saw her drawing closer with a familiarly fiery look in her eye, his thirst shifted targets. "So, I'm gonna go get me a drink!" he raised his voice cheerfully as he chuckled in Daryl's stoic face and slipped past him, leaving the circle and approaching Aven. He looked her up and down and let out his long, two-note whistle. Her lips were pursed in a near-scowl but there was a smile in her eyes and she kept her equally thirsty gaze on him as the Saviors closed in on Daryl.
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A/N - A lot of dialogue taken from the show (ep. 7x03)