Quinn, Negan, and Maggie, at the safe house

As Negan fell asleep instantly I went back downstairs. Maggie was still rummaging through the supplies. I carefully kneeled beside her.

"Can I help with something?" I asked gently. She stopped for a second but didn't look at me.

"Don't try to be nice," she said grumpily. I let out a sigh and sat down on the floor.

"Despite you think we want to kill you… we don't. I know you want to kill Negan. But he doesn't want to do anything with you. And I don't either," I said. She glanced at me.

"So what? Should I just believe everything you say?" she asked as she turned her eyes back at the supplies.

"I never hurt you, Maggie. I do not intend to," I said.

"True. You didn't do anything to me. But you changed sides by being with him," she stated.

"Do you think I changed sides? I'm here to help Alexandria. Do you think Carol and Daryl wouldn't put me and Negan down if we were dangerous?" I asked. "Or you don't even trust Carol and Daryl anymore?"

She seemed to be thinking about this for a couple of minutes.

"Honestly, I don't know what to say," she said as she stood up and went to rummage another crate.

"I know this is hard, but as Negan said, we have to trust each other and work together to succeed. And you already did trust him for a second when you handed him a pistol in the subway," I said to her back as she was deep in the crate in front of her.

"That was necessary. It doesn't mean I trust him," she said grumpily.

"This whole situation is necessary. And you already saw you can count on him," I said. "I'm not trying to be friends with you. I'm trying to make a point. A logical one," I stated as I gathered myself up. Maggie turned around to face me.

"What do you want? You want me to promise that I won't kill Negan or what?" she asked as she threw her hands.

"I'm asking you the same thing I asked back at Alexandria. Let us live and we will help you," I said. She turned around and focused on another crate.

"I cannot believe that I lost so many of my people and I got stuck with you two," she said grumpily, frustrated.

"Well, I'm sorry," I said, now I was grumpy too.

She let out a frustrated sigh.

"I won't kill either of you for now, but I don't know how long I can keep this promise," she stated as she faced me again.

"I would prefer a very long time. Let us live, we help and then we figure something out, okay?" I asked.

"Fine," she said grumpily and turned her back on me once again. I let out a silent sigh. I checked the crates too that she already checked. It was food, but barely anything. I sat down on the last steps of the stairs and drank a little water from my flask. A couple of hours passed without saying anything. I almost fell asleep, I tried really hard not to. I didn't move from the stairs though, I still didn't completely trust Maggie. I heard the bed upstairs creak, Negan was getting up. He came downstairs, I stood up to get out of the way.

"Your turn," he said sleepily. I nodded, glanced at Maggie, then I went upstairs.

"Will you come with me, please?" I asked. Negan nodded and came back upstairs. I lay down on the bed, he lay beside me.

"Stay here with me," I asked. I thought maybe if something happens I will wake up. He nodded and I instantly drifted off to sleep. The last thing I felt was a kiss landing on my forehead.

…

Of course, he didn't stay by my side. I woke up to Maggie's yelling, they were arguing downstairs. I sprang to my feet and ran down.

Negan was packing and wanted to leave, but Maggie wanted us to stay and carry out her mission. As I reached the end of the stairs Maggie attacked Negan and he shouted at her to stop.

"Maggie, please stop!" I yelled at her. There was a tense pause with a killer glance from both sides but then, we heard footsteps from outside. It all happened in less than a minute. I couldn't even process what was going on. I grabbed my knife and jumped in front of Negan instantly because he didn't have any weapons. Maggie went to the door, alert. It was Jesus, Gabriel, and Maggie's friend, Elijah.

"Jesus!" I said gladly, letting out a sigh. After Maggie hugged them Jesus stepped to me and I hugged him too. "I'm so glad to see you," I said smiling.

"Hey," he said. "It was a tough ride, but finally we're here," he said smiling. He was very tired too. Gabriel seemed to be injured, he sat down immediately. They agreed with Maggie to keep waiting. I pulled Negan aside and whispered to him:

"You said you stay by my side," I said very seriously.

"Sorry, I just… I can't stay in this situation anymore," he said honestly, whispering back to me.

"So is this better? You came down and she attacked you," I said worryingly.

"It's fine," he said.

"No, it's not."

"You're right, but that's why I wanted us to leave," he stated looking very serious. I let out a sigh.

"Gabriel and Jesus are here now, they'll distract Maggie from you," I said. Negan nodded, but I could see he didn't like this and he still wanted to leave. Then suddenly his eyes changed.

"Hold on," he said. "Is this about Dixon? You want to stay to wait for him?"

"What?! No! How the hell do you come up with ideas like this? I would like to know if he is dead or alive, yes, because we are friends! But if you want to leave I would go with you! And Daryl knows that too!" I stated, but my voice got louder as I got pissed off. I glanced around and saw that everyone was looking at us. I turned my back on them, pulled Negan to the next room, and continued in a quieter voice. "Negan, please, stop being jealous. I don't do anything that would give you a reason for that. I go with you, whenever you want to leave and wherever you want to go. I go with you," I stated. Suddenly he kissed me out of the blue. It was so hot in a moment, I was barely able to hold myself back, but for god's sake, the others were right in the next room and Maggie was already pissed enough. We made out for a couple of minutes then we stopped, I looked him in the eye as he was still holding me in his arms.

"I'll go with you," I repeated quietly, slightly panting. He nodded. Suddenly, Jesus opened the door.

"They're here!" he said in a suppressed voice and we all joined the others. My stomach shrank, everything happened so fast, 10 minutes ago Maggie attacked Negan, then the others arrived and now the enemy is here too. Maggie was by the window, glancing outside through a gap between two pieces of wood. I became tense immediately like nothing happened a couple of minutes ago. The hot making-out session vanished in an instant. I didn't let go of Negan's hand though.

"Hey, look!" said Jesus, everyone turned to him. "It's a trapdoor under the mat. We could hide down there," he said. Maggie nodded and we all quickly climbed down. Jesus arranged the mat back as well as he could and closed the trapdoor, then we listened. It was a tiny store, but we could fit in. Jesus was on one side of me, and Negan on the other. I was still holding his hand, squeezing it. I was scared. We looked at each other with Negan, he was scared too. I cuddled his arm as I was holding his hand. My heart was pounding in my ears when we heard the front door upstairs flung open and the steps coming in. We heard them talking and one of them was… Daryl.

Negan glanced at me, I locked eyes with him. My heart was racing. I was so relieved that Daryl was alive, but why is he with them? Is he a hostage? We both turned our eyes back at the wooden floor above our heads. We were listening closely. Based on what they were saying, Daryl was going undercover. He was pretending to be with their group. I don't know how he did it, but I was sure he wouldn't change sides. We heard footsteps going around above our heads. Daryl was trying to lead them away. Like somehow he knew we were down there. He was trying to help us. There was a woman and a guy beside Daryl in the house. The guy was mocking Daryl and arguing with him. Then suddenly the conversation took a very different turn.

Daryl said he is here for the woman. What the fuck was going on…? Is he cheating on Carol? Suddenly I became really tense and angry. Is he trying to go undercover by seducing that woman? Suddenly Jesus distracted everyone he tapped our shoulders without making any noise and indicated us to follow him. He was such an escapist. He always found a way in and out everywhere. We followed him and ended up outside. We were crouching behind the bushes, everyone getting their weapons out. Jesus and Maggie led the way. We hurried away from the house, running silently. My heart was aching to leave Daryl behind with them. Who knows how long he can hold up his cover? Or was he really betraying Carol like this with that woman? Could she be…? No way. Could she be his girlfriend from the woods Carol was talking about? Leah? I glanced back at the house but I couldn't see anything or anyone. I wish I could see Daryl, just for a second, but I couldn't. I only heard his voice. I was so confused. Would Daryl leave Carol for that random woman? I was also worried about him. Now I wanted to stay to help Maggie because I wanted to help Daryl get out of this undercover thing. I didn't like this at all. The way he talked to that woman and the idea of him being in danger. I didn't dare to tell this to Negan, I was afraid he would get jealous again, but I wanted to help Daryl. I didn't even care about the food anymore, just get Daryl back to Alexandria, to Carol.

We were running now at full speed as fast as we could with Gabriel and Negan both limping. After we ran for a while Maggie stopped saying we're almost there, let's take a break. Negan opposed Maggie again because she was still all about her plan. Negan asked Gabriel for backup, but he was with Maggie on getting the food. Finally, Maggie stated that Negan cares only about himself and saving his own ass, while he was only being logical not risking our lives. My brain was going very quickly. I saw Negan's point, but I wanted to help Daryl too. Maybe we should get back to Alexandria and get more people?

"Maggie, if we die here, Alexandria will starve anyway," I started. "At least we could go back and bring more people or look for food somewhere else," I said, trying to explain, but Maggie wouldn't listen. I wanted to help Daryl but what Negan was saying was logical too.

"Enough of you two," she said. "You can go, we don't need you anymore."

Negan came up with an idea. He keeps helping if Maggie promises not to kill him. Maggie said immediately that what Negan did, he can't make it up to her ever, but eventually, she shook hands with Negan. I let out a sigh of relief. Even though Negan held a speech about Maggie keeping her word, I still didn't believe her.

Then Maggie took out a walker which she knew when she was alive and Maggie made it clear that this was not just about food, but revenge. I was right about her all along, again. Another walker approached but Maggie stopped her friend from killing them and glanced at Negan asking if we can find more of them.

"So you did listen to me when I told you what happened to Hilltop and Alexandria," I said. Maggie didn't smile at me, but I felt she would want to. Negan got surprised by the question, but he was a whisperer for a while, and he knew how to do it.

"Well, I mean sure. Why not," he said and stepped towards the approaching walkers.

…

Daryl felt so much pressure while searching the house but he tried his best to seem composed. After they finally left and didn't find the group he turned away and let out a huge sigh. He knew he played a dangerous game, but even that jerk could do it, then he can too. He will nail this undercover thing. He was scared every minute and he was so confused by Leah, but he tried his best to keep himself together. "I'm sorry, Carol. I won't do anything with her. I don't want anything with her anymore," he thought. And he was serious. All he wanted was to get out of this situation and get back to Alexandria, to Carol.

…

Author's notes: Listen to "The Hunted" by Saint Asonia.

This song goes well both with how Daryl and Negan feel. I LOVE it. ❤

Thank You for reading! ❤