Carol and Negan negotiate; Daryl and Erin gain an ally; and Dwight fucks up and possibly endangers everyone in Sanctuary.
Explicit content warning: coerced sexual acts
This was a tough one to write. It gets pretty dark.
Monster
"Sasquatch, Godzilla, King Kong
Loch Ness, Goblin, Ghoul, a zombie with no conscience,
Question what do these things all have in common?
Everybody knows I'm a motherfucking monster!"
"You can be the King, but watch the Queen conquer...
...now look at what you just saw, this is what you live for!
Ah, I'm a motherfucking monster!"
- Jay Z./Kanye West/Nicki Minaj, Monster
Sanctuary
Sweeping into the room ahead of Daryl, Carol smiled warmly up at Negan and held out her hands for him to take.
"My darling; how lovely you look." Negan breathed, his gaze roaming over her, settling appreciatively on the swell of her cleavage in the low cut red dress that pulled tightly over her breasts.
"Thank you." she said, her long lashes sweeping down as she demurely accepted the compliment, leaning up to kiss his cheek, giving him an eyeful.
Daryl gnawed on the inside of his lower lip, watching them with a flinty squint. They all knew the man was loose cannon, unpredictable and vicious, a user of women. He had to be carefully played and Carol knew better than to provoke his lusts like this when she wasn't on a self-imposed deadline to save the hell out of everyone here.
He hadn't liked her mild acquiescence after he'd unilaterally vetoed her plan to personally take out Negan. It wasn't like her to back down so easily. When she'd come out of the bathroom wearing what she was wearing, chosen by her deliberately to bait and distract Negan with what he couldn't have, Daryl had wanted to toss her over his shoulder and carry her to safety, to hell with all the rest of them.
The dress made him insane—long sleeved and empire waisted, it fell gracefully in swirls over her rounded abdomen to just above her knees, but was cut in a deep V at the neck, cradling and exposing so much of her creamy skin that it took everything he had not to just grab a blanket off the bed and wrap it around her.
"Leave us." Negan said, dismissing Daryl, all of his attention on Carol, enjoying looking at her and barely able to contain his excitement at whatever answer she would give him, wondering which of the other delectable women in her group he would have the pleasure of enjoying a honeymoon with tonight.
"You told me to never leave her side." Daryl said stubbornly, staying in place at the door.
"She's in no danger with me, Archer. Get out." Negan ordered more forcefully, sounding impatient, his tone brooking no argument.
"You forget your place, bowman." Carol said a bit arrogantly, lifting her chin as she looked back over her shoulder at Daryl. "I need no protection from my husband."
The muscles in Daryl's neck tightened and one below his eye jumped as his mouth thinned even further. This wasn't part of the plan.
"Out. Leave. Now." Negan barked at Daryl with finality and then he pulled Carol close, bending to hold her face in both hands and fit his lips to hers.
Reaching behind him to find the door knob, Daryl white knuckle gripped it, wrenched it open and backed through, his eyes still fixed on the couple in front of him. In the hall one of Negan's big AK-47 sporting body guards leaned in to look over Daryl's shoulder before he reached around him and pulled the door shut with a snap. He took up a position directly in front of it, blocking Daryl from even coming close enough to listen for voices or any other sounds from within.
"You heard the boss, Katniss." the steroid case guard muttered at Daryl in derision, "Leave."
Daryl bristled, his hand ghosting over his knife, but the six foot five heavily armed guard outweighed him by at least fifty pounds. Sighing in frustration he headed for the Infirmary, hoping that Carson and Erin were ready for Carol's call, and that it would come very soon.
Negan's hands slid down to encircle Carol's throat, deepening the kiss before moving it to her jaw.
"You're glowing..." he murmured, "I've never seen a woman with whom pregnancy agreed more..." his lips trailed down her throat and his hands cupped her shoulders.
Carol held herself with as much relaxation as she could, accepting his touch and flattery with the same strong grace she relied on to survive every horrible thing she had ever endured... the times Ed had laid his hands on her in anger; when Sophia hadn't appeared by Rick's side coming out of the woods next to the highway and every minute since then without her; when the door to the solitary cell clanged shut and she thought she'd wasted T-Dog's sacrifice; when she saw Judith the first time and looked at Rick's face and realized what that meant; when she knew what she had to do to stop the illness at the prison from spreading; when she tried the locked car door and Rick had told her he didn't want her around his children; Mikka, Lizzie, Grady and Beth, the Wolves taking Daryl, Glenn—all of it swirled in her mind as she held herself still, letting the monster have his way, biding her time...
He peppered kisses over her collar bone and then the tops of her breasts, growing bolder when she allowed it, slipping his left hand into the bodice of her dress to fondle her and then taking her right hand in his and dragging it down to feel his rock hard erection pushing up against the fly of his tight jeans while he sucked down on her neck.
"Feel what you do to me..." he moaned, moving her hand up and down on his length and licking up the side of her neck to capture her lips again, his left hand moving the fabric aside so he could expose her breast and sighing before kissing his way quickly down to it and suckling there with gusto.
Carol gritted her teeth and flexed the fingers of her left hand, ready to reach up and release the scalpel hidden in the forearm sheath she'd sewn into the sleeve of her dress, a narrow pocket holding the weapon in place with elastic at its mouth.
"Jerk me off and I'll let your friends have another week to decide." he whispered, the lust making his voice husky and thick, nosing into the vee of her cleavage, pushing the rest of the bodice aside so both breasts were exposed, and holding her right hand to his fly tightly while he sucked down on the other nipple.
In that cold corner of her brain where she'd hidden when Ed had used her body, taking what he wanted from her, where she could rise above the pain and humiliation, Carol considered his offer. She could kill him now—slide the small sharper than a razor blade across his carotid and watch him bleed out, rid the world of another monster—but his guards, the men and women loyal to him? How could she hope to get everyone away from here before his death was discovered by them?
He was offering her another week? Another week to plan, to prepare their way so they could all escape safely? How could she refuse that? Carol slid the scalpel back up securely into the sheath and lowered her left hand to his waist, running it slowly along his beltline and then using it to tug at his big silver belt buckle, opening it with a clank.
I'm so sorry, Daryl... please stay outside... please forgive me... she sent the thoughts to her love as Negan lifted his head, smiling down at her. He kissed her again and then walked to the door, sliding the bolt lock into place.
Carol winced behind his back as she imagined Daryl's reaction to that unmistakable sound.
"No cameras." Carol insisted, lifting her chin and nodding toward the bed. "Turn them off or no deal." She couldn't stand the thought of Daryl ever being forced to watch this.
"Of course." Negan purred, "This is just for us and no one else, my darling." Then he turned to her and took her hands again walking her backwards with him to the bed. When they reached it, he leaned over and flicked a switch and the red lights on the two cameras went out. Then he stopped her and laid one big hand on her belly over the red dress, rubbing in a lazy circle.
"I'd never hurt him or you, I promise." he said quietly, staring into her eyes, "This is about you n' me—you're mine; fuck, I wish I could be inside you—wish I could see your beautiful blues lookin' up at me while you kneel down in loving submission and suck me off till my eyes rolled back—but Carson says no. Puts too much stress on the little guy." he sighed in heavy disappointment and took her chin in his other hand.
Carol kept her eyes wide, innocent and trusting, her look saying she awaited her master's wishes. It was a well-practiced one from another lifetime.
"So I'll settle for this... you get me going good with those delicate little hands and then I'm gonna come on your gorgeous tits after I own them some more, so let's get that pretty fuck-me frock off you, all right?" then he reached behind her and unzipped the dress, pulling down on it until it fell to the floor.
All she wore under it was a small pair of cotton panties, barely visible under the swell of her abdomen.
"My Madonna." he said with satisfaction, "Such pretty soft pale skin..." and he smiled, starting to unbutton his shirt with his right hand while cupping and squeezing her breasts with the left, unable to resist leaning in to lick and suck at them again, "Fuck, your nipples taste so sweet..." he growled, pulling his shirt off over his head and lifting her up to lay her down on the big round bed.
"What's wrong?" Erin asked when Daryl came slamming into the Infirmary alone.
Agitated, he paced, looking up at the clock to gauge how long it had been since he'd been ordered away from the upstairs door.
"Negan's fucking guards forced me to leave. Said they had orders from him to clear the hallway while he talked to Carol in private about her decision." he was clearly furious and worried about what might be happening in that room several floors above them.
"He won't risk hurting her and the child." Carson said, trying to reassure Daryl.
"I know... I think I know that's true... but I'm just as worried that she'll get hurt trying to take him out." Daryl told him, raising his thumb to his mouth and chewing at the cuticle, continuing to pace.
"Carol?" Carson asked, looking doubtful. "I thought we were just waiting for her to cry wolf and set things in motion."
Erin and Daryl exchanged a look.
When he learned that his brother was safe and living at Hilltop, Dr. Carson had been more than willing to join the escape plan. He'd never been comfortable with the way Negan ran things, but with no weapons or training in hand-to-hand combat skills he hadn't been confident enough of his survival out on the road alone to try and leave before this. He was a proctologist, not a ninja.
He'd been very surprised to learn that Daryl was the father of Carol's child, admiring them both for their abilities at subterfuge and stealth. He also understood that there must be a deep bond of trust and love between them to have overcome Daryl's abuse.
"She's tough." Erin said, "And more than capable of killing him, but that's not the plan."
"Let's just hope she remembers that." Daryl said darkly, pacing the room.
There was a knock on the door and Daryl whipped around to walk to it swiftly and fling it open, but it was only Dwight, who was pale, sweaty and wild-eyed, missing his crossbow.
"What is it?" Erin asked him, but he blew past her and went straight to Carson.
"I need... I need help..." Dwight choked out. "Need you to come with me."
"What's wrong?" Daryl asked, momentarily distracted from his worry over Carol. They didn't need any more complications.
"I need the doctor." Dwight choked out, grabbing Carson's arm roughly. "Now!"
"We're waiting for Carol to call for him." Daryl reminded the other man, "The plan is—"
"I don't give a flying fuck about your plan!" Dwight hissed, spittle flying as he starting dragging a resisting Carson forward.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" Erin asked, blocking the way to the door.
"It's Sherry! I think... I think I hurt her real bad..." Dwight sobbed, sounding heartbroken.
Loud sounds of shouting and running sounded outside the bedroom where Carol lay passively on the big bed, letting the monster, who was already half dressed again in his jeans and boots, clean his mess off her upper body and hands with a warm wet washcloth. She abstractly looked at the clock on the wall and noted that only fifteen minutes had passed since Daryl had been ordered out of the room.
She was listless, drifting, not quite fully back in her body yet, but getting there. During, she had only distantly felt the sensations of being touched, but now her breasts were sore and bruised from his intense obsessive attentions to them, her mouth swollen from his kisses, her neck pink with whisker burn and her hands still remembered the terrible hot thick hardness of him under them as she worked to bring him to climax, the first slick gush coating them before he took over, his fist pumping hard, groaning out his pleasure as he did exactly as he'd promised.
There had been no physical force or overt cruelty in what he had done, he hadn't struck, bound or bitten her and he'd been careful not to touch her belly or any part of her body below her breasts, but she had been raped before and she knew that this was what the aftermath felt like.
Consent wasn't possible when the person with the power in the situation coerced you. No matter how gently he treated her, Carol hadn't wanted any of what she had just done and had done to her. She'd done it to spare her friends the same or much worse; to save Daryl by giving them more time to plan their escape.
She hoped he'd understand that.
"What the hell is that racket?" Negan said angrily, glaring at the door. Using the towel he'd also brought to the bed he quickly dried her and brushed a kiss to her forehead before pulling the covers up over her and tucking her in.
"You rest, sweetheart. I need to go see what the fuck the problem is out there." he told her. When she didn't respond he frowned down at her, "You okay?" he asked, looking concerned.
Carol blinked up at him, willing herself back into her body, dredging up her self-preservation skills enough to smile at him.
"I'm fine." she said softly then asked with forced false shyness. "You?"
"You did great, baby." he smiled lasciviously down at her, "You did me good. You need anything?"
"Just sleep." she said, stifling a small yawn. What she really wanted was a scalding hot shower to wash all traces of him from her body including the drenching crimson spurt when she cut his throat with a quick slash of her scalpel... The vivid vision vanished when he spoke, forcing her eyes back to him.
"Sure. Just stay here—I'll send Archer in to watch over you." Negan said and then he bent down to the floor to reach for her dress.
Afraid he'd find the scalpel, she sat up quickly, the bed covers falling to her waist, arresting his attention.
"Thank you—for making sure I'm protected—for taking such good care of us." her left hand rested on her belly while she held the right out to him.
Negan took the offered hand and kissed the palm, then licked it, his eyes starting to glaze over with lust again, leaning closer. He liked seeing the scattering of bruises he'd left on her tits from sucking down hard, drawing the blood to the surface of her pale freckled skin. She was his, she should wear his brand.
"Negan! Sir!" one of the guards pounded on the door, "We got walkers inside the perimeter!"
"Shit!" Negan bit out, dropping Carol's hand, quickly grabbing his shirt and putting it on as he stalked to the door, pulling Lucille from where she rested against the wall next to it. He unlocked the door and flung it open to Daryl's anxious face.
"Get in there and lock this door behind you." Negan ordered him and then he was gone, pounding down the hall with his guards.
Daryl did as he was ordered, then his hunter's gaze swept the room, seeing Carol's dress pooled on the floor beside the bed and her on it, bare shouldered, the sheet clutched to her chest, her expressive eyes wide but shuttered from any expression of emotion.
Daryl's mouth worked, taking several deep breaths before he trusted himself to speak. He could smell the familiar scent of spunk and sweat; saw the washcloth and towel; recognized the faraway hollow look in her eyes.
"Did he hurt you?" he asked her gently, but remained frozen in place, his guilt overwhelming, screaming in his head,
How could I have left her alone with him?
"We have another week." she replied, and her swollen lips pressed tightly together when she finished speaking; he could tell she'd bitten through the lower one by the thin red line of blood between them.
"Did he fucking hurt you?" Daryl asked again, his voice tight with fury, taking a step towards her, but stopping, not wanting to frighten her.
"Can you just hold me?" Carol asked, her voice finally breaking with weary sadness.
Daryl quickly pulled off his bow and went to her, sitting on the side of the bed, unsure if he should try to touch her, but willing to do as she asked. She lifted her arms and pulled him close, fitting his body to hers as best she was able with the child between them.
"What's happening out there?" Carol asked him, her voice muffled from resting her head on his broad shoulder.
What happened in here? Daryl wanted to ask, but didn't. He forced himself to keep an even tone as he told her what had gone wrong.
"Dwight talked to Sherry about leaving—you were right, she didn't want to go—thought with you gone she'd have Negan all to herself n' be Queen again. He lost it—strangled her, broke her neck, panicked and came to get Carson."
"She turned?" Carol asked.
"Asshole didn't want to believe he'd killed her, so he just left here there in the wives rooms while he came for the doc. She killed the little blonde and bit Kayla on the hand when she tried to stop her—Docs are taking it off now hoping they got to it in time—Sherry and the blonde got out and turned half a dozen more before I came in here."
"Carl? The girls?" Carol said, worried, pushing down her sorrow at more deaths. She had liked Amber and Kayla, but Daryl had been right, they couldn't save them all.
"All safe." Daryl assured her. The turned victims had been confined to this building and Rosita and the others were in a separate part of the complex, while Carl was back in his storage container for now.
"They are." Carol nodded in agreement, suddenly totally exhausted, fighting the drifting floating feeling's return, leaning more heavily against him; taking a deep breath of his smell, leather and smoke and the outdoors; taking comfort in the familiarity of his arms for a few more seconds.
"Carol?" Daryl asked her softly, repeating his earlier question. "Did he hurt you?"
"Don't kill him." Carol murmured, gripping his bare bicep tightly as she pulled away from him and looked into his eyes.
"What?" Daryl asked, baffled. Why the hell would she want to protect Negan? He watched as she released his arm and lowered the sheet that had been covering her. When he saw the whisker burn and already darkening bruising on her upper body his mouth came open and he felt his heart jump into his throat, the sick fury and guilt warring to come out tying his tongue.
How could I have left her alone with him?
"Motherfucker!" Daryl snarled, his eyes filled with angry tears as they rose from the bruises on her delicate flesh up to her face.
"You can't kill him." Her chin came up and Daryl saw the steel in her gaze and then he understood. It wasn't just because she was worried that he would go after Negan and get himself killed in the process, or how Negan's men would retaliate for his death or that they needed the bastard alive if the plan was going to work...
"Because you're going to." Daryl said, swallowing hard, nodding, letting his tears take a winding path down over his face, catching in his scruff and mustache, making no attempt to wipe them away.
"If it's the last thing I do." she promised, her spine stiff and straight as she stared into his eyes. Then she gave him a lopsided smile and raised her hand to brush at his tears. His breath caught on a sob and she gathered him close, holding his head to her chest, brushing his hair back as he tried to control himself.
"Sorry." Daryl said after a minute, getting himself under control, sniffing hard, wiping his face on his arm, pulling away; despair filling his heart at how he'd failed her again: he hadn't stopped yet another man from abusing her willingness to sacrifice herself to save those she loved...
"It's not your fault." Carol murmured. She knew he'd blame himself for not being here to protect her; that he hated knowing she'd done what she'd done in part to protect him.
"I need to get you to Erin... make sure you an' the baby are okay." he said, reaching for her dress, wishing he had something that would cover her better, looking around the room.
"He didn't... there was no... penetration... he... was... careful about the baby..." Carol said haltingly, grasping his arm. "I'm okay, Daryl... but we can use this... against him." she looked down to the rising bruises on her breasts.
Daryl looked back to her and saw red again, looking at the evidence of what Negan had done to her.
"You're not okay." Daryl said stubbornly. He knew what it was to have your choice taken from you, to have no control over what was being done to your body.
"I have to be." Carol told him.
"Carol—"
"We use it." Carol repeated, cutting off his protest, pulling the sheet up to cover her and then pushing her hair back behind her ears, looking and sounding calm unless you noticed that her hands were trembling as they alighted to rest on her belly.
"Carson will tell him it wasn't good..." she continued, "...what he did to me—that that it over-stressed the baby, made my blood pressure or heart rate go up, something bad—that's our reason for him having to go to Bethesda for the neonatal equipment."
As he watched her Daryl could see her mind working, coming up with ways to make what she had suffered at Negan's hands work to their advantage. She was the strongest, bravest, most amazing person he'd even known.
He flashed on the satisfaction he'd felt driving his knives into the heart and eye of the wolves who had raped him, and then he was back at the quarry, mesmerized, wincing at the way she had slammed the pickax down on Ed's head over and over, her pent up fury—her monster—finally released.
"When it's time? When you do it? When you kill him?" Daryl said, knowing she would, however long it took, his Queen would conquer. "I want to watch."
AN: Despite the fact that his character in the comics & in this story kills members of the Saviors for trying to forcibly rape women captives, saying: "We don't rape," Negan is a rapist. He uses coerced consent, which is forcing someone to agree to sexual conduct under duress or imminent threat. In this case he threatens Carol's loved ones. It doesn't matter how gentle or careful he is, she does not want what he is doing to her or what she is forced to do for him but cannot refuse and that is rape.
Daryl's acting skills better be on par with Carol's. The next time he sees Negan he's going to want to put a bolt through him before delivering his ass to Carol to take out...
Thanks for sticking with me.
