Chapter 16: The Visit
Negan laid on his bed reading yet another Tom Clancy novel. He only had two chapters to go and he was completely immersed in Jack Ryan's world of espionage and war on terror. His eyes quickly darted away from the page when he heard the outside door to the cellar, open and close quietly. He wondered who it could be. He looked at his wristwatch and saw that it was 8:44 P.M. His dinner dishes had been cleared nearly two hours ago. He wasn't expecting to see anyone until 8 A.M. the next morning when Cecelia would bring him his breakfast.
"Shit," Negan said under his breath. It was probably Neil, the town drunk. The dead were walking around and the government had fallen to pieces but Alexandria still managed to have an irritating, sad sack, town drunk. If that son of a bitch thinks he's gonna blab to me all night long about his damn wife and kids that died a decade ago, he has another thing comin', Negan thought to himself. I'll knock his head through those bars if he thinks his sob story is more interesting than Jack Ryan's attempts to prevent a nuclear warhead being detonated at the Superbowl.
Of course Negan wasn't going to assault Neil. If he did something crazy like that, no matter how tempting it was, they'd take away his outdoor time. He'd made that mistake already and he knew Michonne, Gabriel and Aaron wouldn't hesitate to pull him from his beloved garden and put him on laundry duty again. Hours and hours of washing, rinsing, ringing and hanging just on the other side of his cell...it just wasn't worth it.
Negan would change his approach. He set his book on the concrete floor and rolled over on his cot. He would just pretend to be asleep, then hopefully Neil wouldn't even try to engage him.
He closed his eyes as he listened to the footsteps nearing his cell.
"Negan," he heard his name being spoken by the pleasant and unfamiliar voice of a woman. His curiosity got the best of him. He quickly abandoned the ruse of pretending to be asleep and rolled over to see who was speaking to him. His eyes widened when he saw the striking woman in front of him.
The woman was dressed ruggedly, like someone well accustomed to life outside the protection the walls offered. Negan could tell right away that she was no stranger to battle or danger. Her face boasted a peaches and cream complexion that looked young and vibrant. But her long, silver hair, twisted into a braid behind her shoulders revealed her true age.
Negan sat up and stared at her with his full attention. He smiled curiously as he studied her every move with great intrigue.
"Well who in the hell would you be?" he asked.
"My name is Carol," she replied succinctly as she stared him down.
"Now I think I've met, or at least seen, just about every single person in Alexandria but I can say with certainty that I have never laid my eyes on you."
"You haven't. I don't live here. I live in the Kingdom."
"Carol from the Kingdom?" Negan replied thoughtfully. He had heard of her many times but it had been a while. He was piecing it all together when suddenly it all fit. "Well excuse the shit out of me. Queen Carol!"
"Don't call me that."
"Well if you're the wife of King Ezekiel then..."
"I'm just Carol."
"You are not just anyone. Your reputation precedes you!"
"How do you know who I am?" Carol asked casually.
"Everyone knows who you are," Negan replied enthusiastically.
"I asked how do you know who I am."
"I believe we have a mutual friend: Judith Grimes."
"Judith told you about me?" Carol asked with surprise.
"Little Miss Judith is Alexandria's resident story-teller and historian. She's the eyes and ears of this place. If you didn't know that, then maybe you're not as close to her as I thought."
"I'm not here to talk about Judith so why don't you just keep her name out of your mouth. I came here..."
"Well hold on just a damn second!" Negan interrupted. "Introductions and pleasantries are important to me. I'm not allowed conjugal visits, damn, I can't even catch an afternoon matinee so what can I say, conversation with anyone who I happen to cross paths with has become a hobby."
"Are you sure it's not because you just like the sound of your own voice?" Carol asked dryly.
"Well I do enjoy my own company. You kind of have to when you're in an 9x9 cell by yourself all day."
"I didn't come here for chit chat and I don't have time for it either."
"Well I can only assume you came here for something...something from me, right?" Carol stared at him and didn't answer. "Well, if you want something from me, then it's only fair I get something from you too."
Carol crossed her arms as she sighed. "What do you want?"
A wide and wiry grin slowly formed across Negan's chiseled face. "Well," he began mischievously, "I'm sure you could probably guess the first thing I'd like to have from you."
"Is that supposed to be a sexual proposition?" Carol asked contorting her face as she uncrossed her arms.
"It's not supposed to be a proposition," Negan replied in a gooey tone, thoroughly enjoying this particular moment. "It definitely is one."
"You're kidding, right?"
"I would never kid about that," Negan said as he looked down, still smiling. "I can think of several fun positions we could make work with these bars between us. What do you say...Your Majesty?"
Carol stood perfectly still, staring at him with contempt, unamused by his banter.
""Well I'm gonna guess that ice queen look you're given' me is a 'no' but the offer always stands." Negan leaned back as he continued to study her. "Well if a roll in the hay is off the table, then I think I'd like to hear a story or two."
"I told you, I don't have time for that," Carol replied impatiently.
"Oh c'mon. If you came all the way down here, it's not to borrow a cup of sugar. You want something big. And if you do, you gotta give me a little somethin' in return. And if you're refusing me any form of freaky-deaky, then I'm gonna want to talk."
"What do you want to talk about?" Carol asked unfolding her arms and placing her hands on her hips.
"Judith told me a story about you. She said that years ago, you single-handedly saved all your friends from a place called...dammit what was the name of the place?" Negan asked himself, trying to recall the details he'd heard.
"Terminus. The place was called Terminus."
"So it's true then? It really happened?"
"Yes," Carol replied abruptly.
"Tell me, how'd you do it?" He said with excitement as he spun his chair around, sat backwards in it and leaned in towards her.
Carol hesitated. She didn't want to do this but he was leaving her no choice. "I shot a hole in their fuel tanks which made an explosion. It drew a nearby herd in through their gates. I blended in with the herd, came in and helped them fight their way out."
"Wow, you really retell the story with such showmanship and pizazz," Negan replied sarcastically then chuckled. Carol rolled her eyes. "So you just went in there, guns a blazin', blew up their house and killed 'em all? Sounds reasonable."
"You think I should have shown them mercy?"
"Hell I don't know. I wasn't there."
"Did Judith tell you the people at Terminus were cannibals?"
"What?!" Negan shouted as he stood quickly from his chair. "Real life cannibals? I mean cannibals that aren't dead. Are you shittin' me?"
"I shit you not," Carol said calmly.
"No, Judith left that little juicy detail, no pun intended, she left that little detail out. I guess maybe whoever told her the story gave her the PG-13 version." Negan sat in his chair and faced her again, even more captivated by Carol than before. "So you didn't just save all your friends from their captors. You saved 'em from turning into human Happy Meals! Well damn! Maybe I don't want to screw you cause I think you might have a set of balls under there!"
"So are we finished?" Carol asked.
"Oh we're just getting started. I'm just getting to know you and there's still a lot of mystery around you. I heard another story about you. I heard that Alexandria was attacked a little before our groups met."
"And?"
"And you killed one of the attackers, dressed like him, then killed the rest? Is that true?"
Carol moved the chair outside the cell closer to the bars and sat down. She leaned in closer to Negan and narrowed her eyes. "Yes that happened. That story's true but I can think of an even better one."
"Really?" Negan gasped as he smiled with excitement. "Well hot diggity dog! Spill it! Tell me what you got!"
"Well, one day I was on the road," Carol began in a pleasant voice. "I was all alone...minding my own business and just trying to get to where I was going. I came across a group of your guys. I guess you all liked to call yourselves 'The Saviors', didn't you? Well I happened upon these 'Savior boys' and what do you know, they didn't want to let me go. Can you imagine that? One little gray-haired lady, all 127 pounds of me, all by myself. They didn't want to let me be and let me go on my way. I meant them no harm but they wouldn't let me pass...like trolls on a bridge. I remember it very clearly, like it just happened. They were driving a gray pick-up truck. I only heard one name...Miles. Did you have a guy named Miles?"
"I did," Negan answered. "Went with some other guys towards here and never came back."
"Oh I know they didn't. They didn't come back because I put them down on the road right there."
"You took them out? All of them?"
"Well since were telling the truth I gotta say that I only took out four of those boys. My friend Morgan killed the last one."
"Another crew they found 'em...shot up and put down for good. Hmm. So that's what happened to Miles and his boys? " Negan asked shaking his head.
Carol nodded. "It is."
"How'd you do it? How did you, a silver-haired fox, 127 pounds of dainty sweetness, take down four heavily armed men?"
"They underestimated me...a mistake I hope you won't make."
"That's it? You're not gonna tell me how you did it. My men were trained. They knew what they were doing."
"Did they?"
"Yeah, they did. They were one of my best crews. Did you sneak up on them? Did you..."
"I can't tell you all my secrets, now can I?"
"Why not? There's so little in life that brings me joy."
"That's your own fault. You're lucky to be on this side of the ground."
"Am I? It's just me in this 9x9 cell, alone and at the mercy of others."
"Like I said, you being here, it's your own fault."
"Oh c'mon! What did I do that was so bad? I'm not mad about what you did to my boys. In fact, I'm impressed. We were at war. And how does the saying go? All's fair in love and war."
"What you did, that wasn't war. The war came later when we decided we weren't gonna take your sadistic shit anymore. But that night, the night you had my friends on their knees, that wasn't war. That was you beating two of my friends to death. They were unarmed and making no threat to you but you killed them anyway. You took a man away from his wife and unborn baby and you laughed while you did it."
Negan remained momentarily silent as he reflected on what he had just heard."Alright, so we both did some messed up shit. What's your point?"
"You think I'm like you?" Carol laughed.
"We're both killers. Does it matter what our motives were?"
"Hell yes it matters. It matters now and it mattered back then too."
"Well I'm paying for what I did. Someone judged me and said that I belong here. You on the other hand, you're free as a bird."
"You can be free too."
"What are you talking about?" Negan asked as he stood up. He stared down at Carol, questioning her with his eyes. "Is this why you're here? You want to break me free and use me for somethin', don't you?"
"I have a friend," Carol began, "she was taken by The Whisperers and I want you to help me get her back. You do that - you help me get her back and I'll give you your freedom. It's that simple."
"Nothing is that simple."
"It can be. I mean if it's not that simple it's usually because someone does something to complicate it or screw it up."
Negan paced around his cell slowly, pondering the proposition. He cartoonishly narrowed his eyes and held his bearded chin with his thumb index finger. " Now tell me something Carol...I can call you Carol right?" She nodded. "Tell me exactly why I would want to help you? I've had a taste of freedom and I'm sorry to say but I think I'd rather stay here and stick it out with the fine folks of Alexandria."
"Why?"
"I busted out of here a few months ago and I gotta say, I was underwhelmed by the experience of freedom. There ain't no one out there for good ol' Negan to hitch his wagon to. I think I gotta pretty good deal here. Three hots and a cot, as they say. On top of that, I got all the books I want to read and four hours of sunshine to work in my garden every day. I got safety. I'm not sure what could possibly be on the other side of those walls that could compete with all that."
Carol sighed, hanging her head and looking down at the gray concrete floor. When she raised her head again, she looked at Negan again. "You're such a coward."
"Excuse me," Negan replied.
"You've heard stories about me, well I've heard stories about you too. And now, I'm looking at you face to face, and you're pathetic. I mean did you actually have people that thought you were strong enough to follow? People that thought you could lead them? Protect them? Save them? How full of shit you must have been to get anyone to follow you. I thought you could help me but I guess I was wrong. You're weak and you're a coward. If I took you out there with me, I'd just be carrying you the whole way."
Negan turned his mouth up in a sinister grin as he looked back at Carol. "You're not gonna make me feel bad that I got a pretty good gig goin' here. You think you can manipulate me with that reverse psychology bullshit? Nice try but it ain't gonna work."
"I'm not trying to manipulate you. I'm just telling you what I see."
"Look lady, even if I wanted to help you, there's no way the others would get behind it. Aaron, Father Gabe, they control my every move as if they ain't got anything better to do. They wouldn't trust me enough to let me out. And if you broke me out, well hell, I'd just be a common fugitive and no one here would hesitate to shoot me down like a dog."
"Gabriel's dead," Carol stated bluntly. She watched as Negan's face quickly dropped. "I take it you didn't know that."
"No, I didn't know that. Nobody tells me shit," Negan replied, his shoulders sinking. "I am truly sorry to hear that. I actually really liked the guy. He had his ass wound up tighter than a snare drum but he always treated me fair. He always took the time to listen to me and talk to me and I...hell, I'm just really sorry to hear that."
"Are you really?"
"Yeah, I am," Negan replied sincerely.
"But are you willing to do anything about it? Or are you just looking out for yourself?"
"I've always looked out for number one. You got to because nobody else is gonna do it. It was true before and it sure as hell is even truer now."
"Gabriel was killed along with nine others. Murdered in cold blood along with a couple of teenagers and other innocent people. The Whisperers, they cut their heads off and stuck them on pikes. They put them on display to mark their territory. Gabe was good to you. You said it yourself. You say you're sorry to hear about it but are you sorry enough to do anything? Sure I've made mistakes. I've spilled blood and maybe some of the blood I've spilled I shouldn't have. But not a day goes by that I don't try to make up for it...try to set things right. You can help me right now. You can set things right too. You can't undo what you did before but you can sure as hell do something now. Do something right and something good. Help me. If I have nothing to offer you, then help me just because I'm asking you to and because you can. Help me because there's still something good inside of you that wants to do the right thing."
Carol stood stoically in front of Negan while he remained silent and thoughtful. She needed him and he knew it. He looked through the bars at her baby blue eyes, welling up with tears that she was desperately trying to hold in.
Negan's immediate attraction to her overwhelmed and excited him. Yes she was lovely to look at but there was something beyond her unconventional beauty that drew him in. It was obvious how strong she was but her strength was different from the others he'd encountered over the years since the world came crashing down. Her strength was masking something else inside of her.
"Well if you're not coming with me, then I guess we don't have anything else to say to each other," Carol said with resolve. She placed her hands on her legs and slowly stood from her chair. She turned and began to walk away from Negan's cell.
Carol's guilt trip hadn't convinced Negan to help. Her appeal to him to be a better man and do the right thing hadn't moved him either. Those things probably should have but he was an asshole, through and through, and they didn't. But he couldn't let her leave. If she walked away Negan was sure he'd never see her again. Everything about her intrigued him and he wanted to know exactly what it was.
"Now wait just a damn second," Negan said in a chirpy tone. "I never said I wasn't gonna help you."
Carol stopped and turned to face Negan again. "You're going to go with me then...help me get my friend back? Do you mean it?"
"Well I don't have anything better to do."
"Do I have to go through the rules or are they obvious to you?"
"Yeah, yeah. I get it."
"You lay one hand on me and I'll castrate you," Carol stated in a matter of fact tone.
"Wow, you really know how to sweet-talk a guy," Negan said as he smiled. "Now tell me, Your Majesty, you got a key to this cell?"
…..
A/N: Well I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year! I have really missed all of you but the holidays took me far from my writing and I'm so glad to be back!
I have to say I've been planning this chapter for months and I'm so happy with the result. I don't think that Carol and Negan have ever shared even a second of screen time together? I think their chemistry would be explosive. I definitely felt it during this chapter and I hope you did too. I know this is a Daryl/Connie fic but I couldn't resist putting these two together too. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think! Dear friends, I hope God will bless you and draw you into a closer walk with Him throughout 2020! Love to you all!