CR: Dwight, why are you slamming the door, buddy?! Do you want your butt kicked by Negan?
I loved Dwight and Sherry's roles in the show. I'd started getting a little bored with some of the characters around this part of the season, but I enjoyed watching these two sneaky lovebirds onscreen. Simon, too!
In the final part of Truce, Bree makes up her mind on what her next step will be. And it involves some trickery and acting on her part. Also kissing, so yay! Actual romantic stuff finallly happening in a OC-centric fic, I'm terrible
Truce: Part 2
Bree takes a deep breath with her hand to her chest, trying to calm down. While Negan's nowhere to be found, Bree decides to take a look around. She'd never really had the chance to look through Negan's office before this moment. What does he keep in here?
With a shiver, she prays never again to see decapitated heads in fish tanks or a dead child held in a closet. Although he was crazy—there's no denying that—she can't imagine him keeping trophies of his enemies like the Governor had. Negan was more the type to congratulate his opponent on getting the upper hand on him before killing that opponent and moving on. As far as dead relatives …who had Negan known before the outbreak?
She thumbs through the DVDs left near the old box television and marvels slightly at the wide array of films he'd collected … She was sure someone here in Sanctuary was missing these.
As she shuffles through the plastic cases, she doesn't notice Negan approaching her from behind.
"That one's great—tons of blood and guts everywhere, like we don't get enough of that stuff in real life. Still … It's a classic."
She turns and is surprised to see Negan there, jaw shaved clean, and that he was wearing just a t-shirt and jeans instead of his regular attire.
Why does she feel touched that he would go out of his way to clean up for her?
Rubbing her arm, she apprehensively compliments his face being less scruffy—noting that she was waiting for him to shave since he always teased Rick about his beard.
He rubs a hand over his stubble-free chin and says with a grin, "Oh, you like this? I can keep it shaved if it gets you over here more often." He eyes her with an intense yet affectionate look that makes her feel embarrassed. "And look at you in your pink. You're freaking adorable." He pushes some of her curls aside with his fingers.
"Thanks," she says, moving her curls back in place before moving her attention to the stack of movies in an attempt to get him to stop complimenting her. "Hmmmm...You know, I used to love horror movies before all of this happened. What do you say? You up for some Evil Dead?"
"Whoa! My Baby is into scary flicks? Well, color me surprised!"
"Do you like them?"
"I freakin love that stuff. Pop that ish in." He throws himself on the couch and puts his arms along the back pillows, waiting for her to join him.
She puts the DVD in, excited despite herself to finally be able to do something normal after not only being cooped up with the wives for so long.
Darn it, I'm going crazy here, she thinks to herself. Is that what he wants? For me to break and accept my new life here? She dares a glance in his direction, but his eyes are on the TV. She folds her arms and steels her gaze at the TV as well.
She had always been so busy at the Graveyard and Alexandria. She thought she might never have an experience like this one again. She just wished it were under different circumstances.
Before long, she found that her body relaxed without her consent. She draws her knees up to her chest and wraps a blanket around herself. Negan's arm is behind her head, and she feels its presence there the whole time, but she gradually forgets about it.
"Ooh!" she giggles when Ash gets his chainsaw hand. "Here we go."
"Nothing more bada-* than a chainsaw for a hand!" Negan booms.
Except maybe for a knife, Bree adds silently, smiling to herself. She knows better than to say this out loud, though. She remembers how irksome Negan found Merle to be. Funny, she always thought the two of them might get along.
They crack up throughout the movie, excited at the same parts, both genuinely having a good time. Bree shyly makes the squelching sounds as Deadites get downed, joining Negan's more hearty renditions. The two are still grinning as the movie comes to its end.
"I'm starting to think you'd have had an easier time surviving the Deadites than Ash," she playfully compliments Negan.
"Are you kidding me? Who'd step one foot in that creepy cabin? Everyone in that movie was a dumba-*," he laughs.
Bree's lips form a one-sided smirk as she pulls her eyes away from Negan's to stare at her feet.
During this time, it's easy for her to remember why she originally liked Negan so much. He's fun to be around in his good moods, charismatic, and has a beautiful sense of justice. Her mind comes to rest on this last fact at the anger he showed towards the monsters in the movie and how much he cheered for the good guys. So, she thinks, he doesn't relate to the bad guys. Why did I have this picture of him as a villain in my head? But does he really think he's the good guy in a situation like this?
If this were a different world, she wondered if she and him might be friends? She thinks she might have liked to.
Silly, she thinks. He's almost double your age. You two wouldn't even run in the same circles if the outbreak hadn't happened. And why am I even thinking about this?
Back to the mission at hand. Bree climbs to her feet and stretches. "That was awesome, Negan. You could really host some great parties for everyone with this thing. Or if someone had a projector, you could host it in one of the bigger rooms."
"Would you like if I did something like that?" he asks, while leaning his head back against the couch and shutting his eyes.
She hesitates, then replies affirmatively.
"Alright, you can set something up like that if you'd like, after I get Rick's camp squared away. It'll be a whole darn celebration."
She's happy at first until she remembers this isn't her camp anymore, and "squared away" most likely meant something bad for Rick's people.
"Or... They could join us for the celebration?" she tries.
Negan is silent for a moment. The silence lasts so long that she begins to feel nervous. When she looks at him, he's no longer relaxing. He's lifted his head and giving her an indiscernible look. Her heart picks up its pace at the steely stare he's fixed her with.
His tongue scrapes over his teeth and he laughs, low and short. "Is that why you came up here?" he wonders, still watching her. "To make a case for that pissbucket Rick?"
She'd been figured out. Bree wants to look away, but she forces herself to continue looking at him. "Negan, you can't expect me to just forget about them. They did a lot for me; I don't want to see any of them hurt."
"I'll take that as a yes... So all this was just to butter me up?" he hums, before getting up and walking towards her.
Bree turns to face him fully, refusing to back away even if she was terrified by the icy anger brewing in his brown eyes. He stops right in front of her, tilting his head down so that he can force her to stare him directly in the eye.
"You know, there are plenty o' women who would kill to be where you are right now," he murmurs. "Safe, comfortable, not worried about those things tearing a chunk out of your butt. But here you are. Still thinking about some other man miles away from here, a man who works for me, I gotta remind you."
"Negan, do you even hear yourself? The only way to survive this thing is by working together, not fighting each other, ruling over people, marrying ten women, and demanding supplies like you're some kind of dictator! Would you have even thought of doing something so evil before all of this happened?"
"Rule number one of surviving the apocalypse, darlin': You have to be willing to adjust yourself. This world isn't all flowers and sunshine like you and ol' Rick seem to think it is. You gotta be able to roll with the punches. That's why he's under my control now."
"And me?"
Negan smiles and laughs. "You came back to me, remember that? I'd say you're a willing member of my society."
"Oh yeah," she mutters. "Completely willing."
He laughs and rubs her chin. "You're just so cute, always trying to save the day like you're a dang superhero. But if you don't start to show some loyalty to me, to my city, I am going to have to start being a little more harsh with you. And I don't want to have to do that. Will you help me not to have to do that, Baby?"
"You should really find better ways to manage your anger," she hisses, twisting her face away from him. "And I didn't come here tonight to talk about you and Rick. I wanted to try being friends again."
Negan backs off a little as he sees that maybe he went overboard.
"That the truth?" he asks, searching her face.
She exhales and nods. "Yeah, but that was before the threats."
He continues to look over her face, digging for honesty, until he laughs, sounding a little relieved.
"Well then, I do apologize! I thought you were playing games with your husband. Please, forget about the threats. I tend to give them out a lot, force of habit."
He puts his hand on her shoulder.
"How about another movie, pipsqueak? Something funny. Let's cool down a little."
Reluctantly, Bree sits and watches another movie with him while he laughs and laughs, and she tries her best to pay attention. She shouldn't have mentioned Rick. She knew there was an animosity between them, but she thought it laid more on Rick's side. It seemed Negan was a little more bothered by the sheriff than he let on.
The movie ends, and Bree moves to stand up, but Negan lightly takes a hold of her wrist.
"Listen, Bree... I hope you're not angry about me losing my cool earlier. It's just... I have one simple rule for my wives, and that's for them not to cheat. Now I don't think you and Ricky-boy have anything going on, seeing as how he'd probably be fighting like heck to get you back right about now if you did, but I do take an issue with your attachment to those people. I want you to be loyal to me, and only me. You can hate me, you can continue to look at me like you wanna punch me in the face—I'm used to it—but you're going to stop trying to defend Alexandria like you're its personal bodyguard. Can you do that for me?"
"Negan..."
"Just need a yes or no," he cuts in, not harshly. "They've forgotten about you, and I'm trying to ensure the safety of my own people here, including you. If you're thinking about that other camp all the time, you become a liability. If something goes down here, I want to make sure you have my back and won't stab me in it. In return, I'm willing to do my best as your husband to protect you."
Bree thinks about it for a moment. "I won't interfere if anything happens between you and Rick for now. Is that enough?"
Negan shakes his head. "Nope. Try again."
"I don't want to play games," she argues. "I said I wouldn't talk about Alexandria anymore. I want us to be friends. Could we just start at that?"
Negan finally relents and releases her wrist. He stands up and moves his hands lightly through her black curls.
"Let's start with that," he acquiesces. "Are you sure you forgive me?"
She regards his face with her lips pushed inwards, held back by her teeth. She nods.
"Yeah. I do. Good night, Negan."
The others in the wives' area are all asleep, so she drops on the couch.
Lydi comes out, smiling excitedly. "So?" She asks. "What happened? Did you get him to let you leave? What about leave your friends alone?"
Bree shakes her head and drapes her arm over her eyes. "I think it's going to take a lot more. He somehow got me to promise to not have relations with my old camp anymore."
The next day, she tries calling the Phantoms in secret but doesn't get an answer.
That night, she stares blankly at a wall, wondering why no one answered. Her first concern was if they were okay, but doubt coated her mind and soon she was wondering if they even want to hear from her anymore. She'd been here more than a month now—they had to think she's more loyal to Negan. Heck, maybe she was more loyal to Negan than she knew. After all, she had multiple chances to kill him, the biggest threat to her and her loved ones' safety. And she hadn't taken a single one. Yesterday, she was watching movies and laughing with him.
She buries her face in her hands and tries to sort through her conflicting thoughts.
Negan saunters in then and sees her. He asks if she wants to see another movie while presenting her with a lovely red rose. Lydi is watching from the kitchen, face emotionless.
Bree takes the offered rose and can't help but smile at the sweet gesture, but it doesn't last for long. She twirls the stem of the rose between her fingers and buries her nose into its petals. When he sees her tired expression, he asks who crapped in her dinner. She runs her hand down her face and says she just misses her ... friends. If she can call them that anymore. Negan tells her that maybe they weren't her friends in the first place if you think they won't forgive you for a couple of eensy-weensy deaths. I mean, we took you back twice now after you tried to kill me ... what? Three times? You might need new friends.
Bree takes a deep breath and asks if they're still on for that movie? Negan grins and tells her to head over when ready. He's got a surprise for her. She opts to wear the standard black dress this time. She adds new dangling earrings, a bit of makeup, and then stares at herself in the mirror. She tells herself that Merle is wrong, that she is trying to help everyone. But she can barely understand why she's feeling slight butterflies. She's disgusted with herself but tries to convince herself that she's only nervous.
Before she leaves, she grabs a steak knife from the kitchen.
Surprisingly, the movie and Negan are able to take her mind off of things. They watch a comedy, which has them both in stitches, although it takes Bree more time to shake the negative feelings she got from her conversation with Merle.
After the movie, in order to prolong her stay and give her more time to work Negan, Bree suggests a game. Knowing Negan enjoys competitions, she hopes he'll be intrigued. He is. They pull out a deck of cards and Negan asks her what games she played in college? She grins and says "Gin Rummy." Negan agrees to play and says he's pretty good at hiding his hand, while Bree bets shes even better. She suggests that they up the stakes a bit—the loser has to answer truth or a dare for a round lost. Negan gauges her expression for a moment but grins and says lets do it to it, short stack.
The game begins and Negan's game is solid. Bree has a hard time judging but does good at keeping up with the cards that are left. Paired with alcohol, the incentive for winning becomes higher because the other is less likely to lie. Bree wins the first round with a "Gin" and gets to ask a question. Thrilled but calm on the outside, the slightly slurring girl asks if he's got plans to kill Rick and the rest of his camp. Negan laughs a little, says she's going straight for the cajones. After a pause, he looks her dead in the eyes and replies with a yes. Horrified, she downs her shot and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. She tries to remain passive, remembering her mission to make him like her. "I'll deal this time," she insists. This round, Negan knocks and finished with just one deadwood. Bree tenses when he smiles at her.
"Where are your people and that redneck romeo located?" he questions. She rolls her neck and says the base is always moving—she doesn't know. He laughs and says that tells him nothing, so he gets another question. Was she really going to kill him that day she sniped down two of his men and injured Simon? She thinks for a moment and replies with a "Probably not." He smiles and warns for her not to lie, you were getting ready to a put a bullet through my skull, and it was all over that man. She says family, you were messing with my family, Negan. Negan's face becomes more serious and he tells her that she and Rick were messing with his.
"Do you regret not shooting me?" he wonders. She scans his face, bites her lip and looks down at the cards. "No," she answers truthfully. His face softens a bit.
Clearing her throat, she pulls back and says his turn to deal.
The next round goes to Bree, who chooses to ask why he doesn't just start his own farm to take care of his people, begin a new civilization and leave everyone alone? He grins. Where's the fun in that? He says that those on top are the ones who survive. Those who aren't should serve their purpose in making sure those at the top stay there. Fear is necessary for that. And if you don't instill fear in them now, they'll come for you, sooner or later. Bree is disturbed and tells him that sounds very similar to the mindset of slaveowners.
Negan looks highly offended. Clarified that there are no slaves here, everyone has a choice. Bree says, oh, so I can leave? She pretends to scoot her chair back—he says that's a luxury reserved for my citizens, not prisoners. She rolls her eyes and says "what happened to being your wife?" He laughs: more of a reason for you to stay right here with your loving hubby. "Loving husband my butt. What would it take for you to leave everyone alone and tell your guards not to shoot me if I tried walking out of here?"
He looks at her and smirks. "You think I'm letting you out of my sight now that I've got you back with me? It's off the table, sweetheart."
After a moment where Bree has to collect herself, she starts up the next round with a hardened face. She knows now that no matter what she says or how close she is to him, it won't change a thing. He knocks early next time and gets undercut as she has more deadwood left than he does. 25 points for Bree. Knowing now that she has to play it by ear, she asks if he's her husband, why hasn't he kissed her yet? He smirks at her and says she hasn't exactly been the easiest to get next to. Nervous but putting on a brave face, she says maybe you could try it now.
He studies her a moment, seeing if she's serious, then laughs and says well all you had to do was ask, Baby. He moves closer to her, smiling when he sees her start to look nervous. He grabs her chin and brings his face closer to hers as her heartbeat quickens and she realizes with horror that she's wanted him to kiss her. This almost causes her to back away, but she knows she has to commit. So when he does kiss her, she slowly reciprocates, feeling a rush of emotion as she pulls herself closer to him and rubs a hand down his chin. He smirks at this and pulls away from her, still watching her lips.
"No way you can lie and say you weren't waiting for this to happen again," he teases.
She blushes and looks away, only for him to gently pull her back for another round of smooches.
Feeling guilty as she thinks about Henry, Glenn, and Sasha, she puts her hands to his chest and says she shouldn't have done that.
"Seems to me like it's been a long time coming," he says as he pulls in for another kiss. "I know I want this every time I see you."
She returns his kisses fervently, and he picks her up from the chair. But as soon as her back touches the cold wall, she whips out the steak knife and puts it against his neck. He pulls away from their kiss and gives an impressed but slightly disappointed laugh.
"You sure know how to kill a mood," he jokes.
"It's called acting."
"Hmmm, no, no, I'm fairly certain that wasn't acting," he teases with a big, unscrupulous grin on his face. He looks excited, like he just won a game they'd been playing. "I do believe someone was enjoying themselves!" He tries to lean in again but the knife nicks his neck. He winces.
"You can think what you want," she tries to sound nonchalant. "But you're going to listen to me."
"Alright, darling." His smile is incorrigible. "You can have whatever you want, but how about we finish what we just barely got started? Just need you to lower that knife..."
"Nothing was started!" she growls. "You're going to leave Rick and the others alone. And I'm going back to my camp, to my people."
"Spoken like a true hero," he teases. "Okay, we'll have a civilized discussion about it. But first, I must say, I am relieved. I knew something was up with you dressing up and baking cookies for me. When Lydi told me you were being suspicious, I was already onto you."
Bree falters at the mention of Lydi.
"Now, I didn't think you'd do something as ballsy as this, but it afforded us the opportunity to lay our feelings and all that mushy stuff out there. Gotta admit, I thought you really hated my guts, but here you are, in my arms, red as a bag of Skittles."
"You're not going to distract me, Negan," she warns. "Maybe I don't want to hurt you, but if I have to, I will."
"So you really have it in you to kill ol' Negan?"
Growing angry at herself for allowing the conversation to continue on, she reminds him and herself of his past actions. "You killed Harry. You killed Sasha. You killed Glenn. You hurt Maggie, Daryl, and you hurt Merle. You make killing and hurting people seem easy. It's not right, Negan. I don't want to be around someone who can take away someone's life so easily. It's like you don't even appreciate that we're alive during all of this..."
Negan nods. "Alright, fair enough. But! In my defense, half, if not the majority of those people were real a-holes. The rest I didn't really care about either way, so it made no difference to me. They might have meant something to you, but I had to prove a point, and they happened to make real good point-makers. That's just my way of doing things."
She holds the knife closer to his neck, imagining slitting it and ending his life, ending his reign of terror, watching him leave the world she'd watched so many others go. She thinks of the people she's seen dead, thinks of the people she's seen turned into monsters forced to roam the earth until they're killed for good and realizes she doesn't want to do that to him.
It wouldn't solve anything, anyway. But she had to continue to play the part so that she could at least get out of here, and get back to her friends and family. Well, her family, at least. Her friends hated her now.
"Put me down," she orders.
"Are you sure? Because—"
"Put me down," she repeats, firmer this time.
Negan sighs and lowers her so that she is standing on her own. She straightens out her dress but keeps the knife to his neck.
"I'll be taking this," she says as she reaches over to his desk and pulls a gun from it so she can lower the knife and keep the gun trained on him. "Alright... I'm leaving now. Don't try to stop me, or I will shoot this time."
"Look at you," he beams, seeming more proud than angry. "When I first found you, you could barely look me in my eye. Now you're threatening me with my own gun, ready to skirt off to lead your band of armed misfits in the woods! That's some maturity if I've ever seen it!" He lowers his hands and laughs. "You're something else, kiddo. See why I'm having such a hard time letting you go?"
Bree edges out from between him and the wall.
"Don't come looking for me again," she says as she backs towards the door. "And stay away from my camp."
She is about to turn and leave when Dwight opens the door with his gun aimed at her.
"Sorry," he mouths quietly when she faces him. She aims the gun at him, and then whirls around to aim the gun at Negan, who shrugs.
"Already onto your little plan, 007," he admits, and the smile on his face gives it all away. "Your little friend? Lydi—my loving and slightly less conniving wife? She was keeping me up to date on your little schemes these past couple of days."
"Lydi?" she wonders. "She wouldn't..."
She thinks back to what he said and shakes her head as if to come back to reality.
Negan nods, pleased at the look of betrayal on her face. "Yeah, you get it now, don't you, Baby. You really think you could pull a fast one on me? I've got ears everywhere."
Bree shakes her head again as her hands start to quake. Darn it. All her hard work put to waste!
"Yeeeeah. That's really gotta suck. But at least I got me a kiss outta it all, and the feeling of satisfaction knowing my little wifey really DOES care about me. So … one of us gets to walk away happy."
"Dwight, please move," she asks him.
Negan laughs. "Dwight is my right hand man. You think he's going to listen to you? Though I am surprised you know his name at all. Guess he does have a pretty recognizable face. What? I'm just joking, man."
Bree tries to knock past Dwight, but he grabs her and wrenches her arm behind her back, forcing her to drop the gun. She gasps and struggles against him, but he yanks her arm so painfully that she has to stop and stifle a scream. Negan saunters up to her, tongue flicking out from between his grinning teeth like a serpent. He grabs her by the face so hard it feels like her face might be crushed. Suddenly, his face is deadly serious.
"Don't f-*- around with me like that, Bree. I do not like being made a fool of. Any more stunts like that, and I will make you regret it. That's a guarantee."
Her blood runs cold.
He releases her and walks over to his window, aloofness returning to his swaggering countenance.
"Now don't hate me for this, Baby. How about we start over, and we really try to get to know each other? I do like where our last conversation was taking us. Don't be so rough on her, Dwighty. Take her back to the wives' area."
She struggles as Dwight tries to pull her out of Negan's room. "Negan!" she shouts at his turned back. "Please! Please, just leave the others alone! That's all I want from you as your friend! Nobody, not your people, not mine, needs to get hurt! They have women and children there!"
Negan looks at her a moment, then back to the window before he smoothly says, "Yeah. I know. They work for me now, after all. And when they step out of line, which they have a bad habit of doing, I'm going to shut it down. Get you some rest, sweetheart, leave the camp running to yours truly."
"Negan! "
He finally turns to face her. They make eye contact as she's dragged, kicking, from the room.
End of Episode Song: Jungle by Tash Sultana