Penny Lane chapter 1 Walking Dead

By: El Chacal

Disclaimer: Apart from my imagination and the idea for the story, I do not own anything else. No copyright infringements are made. Not a dime is being made from this. Are we clear? Good.

With little Hershel in her arms, Althea (Al for short) silently watched and listened as Rick and Maggie talked about Alexandria, the Sanctuary and the bridge. It was not lost on her how Rick was begging for more resources from Hilltop while the Sanctuary was giving nothing but a whole lot of inaction and back talk from Negan's fall from power and the disbandment of the Saviors.

Maggie would not let people starve out of strife but she would not break her back for those who wouldn't bat an eye over snapping her neck like a twig.

The price for food from Hilltop would be all the fuel possible. As for the bridge, the Sanctuary had to provide the bulk of the work force.

When she heard Rick's attempt to change Maggie's mind, Al spoke up, "Whatever obligation you think the communities have to the Sanctuary ended when Negan was overthrown. They gorged themselves long enough on the toil of the other communities."

Maggie gave a thin smile. "Al has a point. In fact, it is the point. The Saviors robbed from us not to survive but to weaken us and enslave us. We showed them mercy on the field upon their surrender. We are no longer obliged to them."

Rick looked to Al, silently asking for support. Al looked at him and said, "She is the leader of Hilltop. Or will you say she's anything but that?"

Maggie's face remained unchanged as she looked at Rick. "You once told me that I would be the leader you would follow. You didn't follow me. You told me Negan would die. He's still alive." Maggie did not have to spell anything out to Rick. His choice to go against his plan to kill Negan came out of the blue and he never once talked with her about it.

"He will never see the world outside of the prison cell he is in now."

"Maggie, while I do not like Negan, I understand why Rick did not kill him when he could have. It's not enough to kill the man. You have to destroy the idea of him. I'm not saying he didn't make you suffer and I'm not defending him. I don't want to see you turn into him or something worse than him."

"Al hit the nail on the head. In fact, that is one of the reasons Negan didn't bleed out under that tree. Killing him would have created a vacuum for someone else to fill. Like Al said, we have to destroy his cult of personality to prevent anyone else from rising up to take his place."

"Every time I think of him, I see Glenn's death play out right in front of me." Maggie said as she looked at Al and Hershel through her peripheral vision.

Standing up from her chair, Maggie stood over Rick. "Perhaps that is why you did not follow me. I was not in a position where I had to make those kinds of decisions."

Maggie walked over to Al and took her infant son in her arms, kissing him tenderly on the head. "I will always welcome you, Carl and Judith here at Hilltop, Rick. As long as Negan lives, I will never go to Alexandria."

"I'm sorry for everything you suffered. I never meant to make it worse for you."

Holding Hershel close to her bosom, Maggie nodded in response to Rick, silently accepting his apology before she looked at Al. "It's going to get dark soon, Al. We have to put the children to bed."

Al ran her hand lightly through Maggie's hair. "There's something we ought to talk about before tonight happens, Maggie."

Leaning forward, Maggie kissed Al with Hershel under their heads and Rick watching from a distance. "Once Hershel is in bed, we'll talk."

Once Maggie walked back inside Barrington House to get her son ready for bed, Rick asked, "Is she going through with it?"

"You and I want to believe in people again and that people can be redeemed. Then someone like Gregory shows up. He wants Maggie dead so he can take the Hilltop. Yes, I'm definitely sure she's going through with it."

"Talk to Maggie. She needs to keep an open mind about things." Rick pleaded.

"Like what, Rick? Giving Gregory another chance to kill her? I was there to see him attack her. Like it or not, Rick, you're not talking her or me out of this."

"Al, I know you love Maggie. I love her too. Can we both agree that we want the best for her?"

Al paused for a moment as if to gather her thoughts. "When it comes to Maggie, yes. I know we both love her and want the best for Maggie. That's why you know what I would do to anyone who tried to hurt or kill her without having to think once."

Earlier...

"Why can't I go see him? He's not a danger to anyone." Tammy Sutton argued.

"He tried to kill Maggie and he was drunk." Althea said firmly. "When he sobers up and he's able to think about what he tried to do, Maggie or I will let you talk with him."

"He acted out of grief. Our son died on a supply run and for what? A wagon with 3 wheels and a broken plow?"

"Kenneth went back to save one of the horses. The dead came from behind him and bit his arm before the horse reared a hind leg and kicked him in the chest. Maggie did not have anything to do with what killed him."

"Seeing how close the two of you are, it's no wonder you would be on your girlfriend's side. You were not here before but Gregory, he always put Hilltop first."

"I didn't have to suffer him long enough to know what kind of person Gregory is. He puts himself first. I also talked with Maggie about him. From what she told me, he is an invalid and a self serving, two-faced piece of rat shit."

Tammy frowned at Althea's scathing description of Gregory. "Is Maggie going to do to Earl what she plans to do with Gregory? Or can you convince her to give him a pass? When the vote was held, Earl and I both chose Maggie to lead Hilltop. I lost Kenneth. Earl's all I have left."

Al took a moment to gather her thoughts before replying, "I will not make any promises so you can't call me a liar. I will talk with Maggie. What she does after that is her decision."

After the sun set and the children were put to bed, Maggie and Al retreated to the office, where they wasted no time in a very passionate make out session. Once they were both sated enough to talk very candidly, Al pitched Tammy's call for clemency on behalf of her husband.

"Do you think I ought to? Enid is lucky to not have any severe head trauma. How do we know Earl won't try this again?"

"Gregory knew what buttons to push while Earl was at his most vulnerable. A few nights in the holding cells he built ought to help Earl get his head back on straight. After that, if you think he's served his sentence and he's not a threat to anyone, he goes right back to work as Hilltop's chief blacksmith."

"Is he going to blame me for what happened to Kenneth?" Maggie asked.

"I made it clear to Tammy what happened to Kenneth. She brought up choosing you as Hilltop's leader along with Earl. Whether that was meant to persuade me or not, I don't know. What I do know is Gregory wants you dead and doesn't mind using other people to do the dirty work for him. If you hadn't told me to hold off, I would have killed him right there and then for attacking you."

Al went along with Maggie to confront Gregory. She had no idea how deep her love for Maggie was or how deep her contempt for Gregory ran until she saw him pull a knife and lunge at Maggie. In a split second, Al had one of her knives at his neck and the other at his side. The only reason she didn't turn him into a human kebab was because Maggie ordered her not to.

Maggie reached over and traced Al's jawline gently before leaning in and kissing her. "I love how protective you are of me, Althea. As for Gregory, he doesn't get to die in a dark corner like how he would have had me killed."

"If you are still going through with it, if it's the right thing to do, I'll support you the whole way." Al ran a hand through Maggie's long dark hair. "What are you going to do with Earl?"

For a moment, Maggie's expression was contemplative. "After I settle things with Gregory, I'll know for certain."

"After tonight, you will certainly cement yourself as Hilltop's leader. Don't lose yourself. I couldn't stand it if you did."

"With you, Althea, I won't." Maggie said just as Althea pulled her onto her lap and fondled her breasts. Just as they shed each other's clothes from the waist up, a knock on the door caused both women to stand and dress themselves. "Al, you in there with Maggie?"

"Yeah, Daryl." Al said before getting a quick kiss from Maggie, whose contagious smile was mirrored on Al's face.

"Everything's ready outside. If we're really doing this, it's got to be right now."

Maggie and Al appreciated Daryl's discretion. They didn't want him to see how red their faces could get from nearly getting caught like a pair of teenagers. "When it's over, we'll pick up where we left off." Maggie promised.

Once they were fully clothed again, Al pulled Maggie close and passionately kissed her. "I'm holding you to that."

For his attempt to kill Maggie, Gregory was strung up and hanged in Hilltop until dead. Michonne did not help when she called out to Maggie to stop. Whether children wandered out of bed or not, Gregory's fate was sealed. No one was sad to see the former puppet leader of the Hilltop swinging from the gallows.

"I stand by my decision, but this is not the start of anything." Maggie wanted to make it clear that she was not starting a dictatorship while making it clear to everyone that attempts on anyone's life would not be tolerated in Hilltop.

Walking over to Earl, it was not lost on either Maggie or Al that Tammy was watching them closely. For a moment, no one spoke. Not a sound was heard other than Gregory's corpse dangling from the business end of a rope.

"Take him back to his cell. Make sure he's not harmed or mistreated in any way." Maggie ordered the guards. Once Earl was escorted back to the cells and Daryl was left to deal with Gregory's corpse, Maggie and Al walked away into Barrington House, hand in hand.

"You made the right decision." Al said, squeezing Maggie's hand gently.

A/n: This took a while for me to write. If I'm inspired to add more chapters, I will. Also, I'm wondering about the relationship name (Malthea? Alaggie? Malthaggie?)