Penny Lane chapter 5
After dinner, Maggie took Al and Daryl to her office while Carl and Enid volunteered to keep Hershel in their room for the night. It would be a while before they would see each other again since the trade convoy would arrive in the morning to take Carl to Alexandria.
Daryl patiently watched a very intense make-out session between Maggie and Al play out right in front of him with amusement and relief.
It had been too long since he had seen Maggie so alive and happy. Every time he thought of the clearing, Daryl cursed Negan for killing Glenn and Abraham.
Watching Al passionately fondle and caress Maggie's body made Daryl remember how horny Glenn and Maggie were on any given day. At first, he thought the two women were just scratching an itch. Gradually, he found out that they were in fact opening up to one another. What he saw from Al at the bridge camp was all the confirmation he needed to know for sure that it was more than a fling between them.
They actually loved each other.
Once the two women were sated, Al brought Maggie up to speed with what was going on at the bridge camp. Then she brought up the issue of Alden, a worker formerly in service to the Saviors.
"I don't know him, Maggie, so I can't vouch for him. I don't want to bring an enemy into your house."
"I know who he is. Did he approach you?"
Al shook her head. "Tara brought him to me. She knew we were close and thought I would be the best one to reach out to you."
"Do you think he is worth a chance?" Maggie asked Daryl.
"From what I saw, he wasn't one of Negan's hard-chargers or part of his inner circle. Alden looks like someone who really wants a fresh start. But it's not up to me and it's into up to Al."
"If you approve it, Maggie, I'll support you. If you don't, I'll support you on that as well." Al said, bringing a smile to Maggie's face. It had been too long since she ever had such loyalty and devotion shown to her.
"If I agree to it, I'll ask you to bring him to Hilltop." Maggie said to Daryl, who nodded silently in response.
"How did the day go for you while I was at the camp, Maggie?" Al asked, changing the topic to one that was hopefully more upbeat.
"For the most part, very uneventful. I did have a talk with Carl today. He gave me more to think about than I usually have."
"What did he talk about?" Daryl asked.
"A better future. Not just for us though. For everyone and everyone who comes after us."
Al and Daryl shared a brief, silent glance with each other. Though they did not confide in each other anything before coming to talk with Maggie, they both knew what and who was not mentioned out loud.
Al looked Maggie in the eye and asked very directly, "Do you still want to kill Negan, even if it sparks a conflict that destroys whatever alliance and peace exists between Hilltop, Alexandria and the Kingdom? Is the death of a deposed, despotic dick worth losing everyone you love?"
Daryl was more than surprised. He didn't think Maggie would tell anyone apart from himself and Jesus what she felt about Rick sparing Negan's life, much less what she spoke with them about right after the Saviors surrendered on the battlefield.
Recalling what Carl told her at Glenn's grave, Maggie spoke very calmly, though Al and Daryl knew the maelstrom of emotions that she hid behind her composure.
"Glenn and Abraham are dead. Negan killed them. Vengeance will not bring them back. As much as it hurts me to think about it, which it does, I have to accept it." Al held Maggie's hand to remind her that she was with people who loved her. "What do I tell Hershel when he asks me what happened to his father's killer?"
"We fought him. We beat him. We won. He lost. That's as far as it goes and it's the truth." Daryl replied.
Al then asked a very simple and difficult question. "Can you forgive him, Maggie?" Daryl knew that there was no easy or pleasant answer.
"Not for his sake and not because he deserves it. If I don't forgive, I'll be weighed down by the pain he caused me for the rest of my life." Maggie started. "My father would have told me to forgive others so I could be forgiven. That does not mean I will count him as one of my own. I will not take him in. If he comes anywhere near Hershel or myself, his life is forfeit."
"No one here or anywhere else will blame you for any of that, including me." Al said, running a hand through Maggie's hair. "I know that's a hard decision for you to make but it's the right one. I love you, Maggie."
Maggie looked up at Al and smiled. "I love you too, Al."
After leaving the office to give Maggie and Al some time alone, Daryl walked out of Barrington House, making his way to Glenn's grave.
"Every time I think of that night in the clearing, even with Carl's dream of a better future, I wonder why your killer has to live and see that while you rot under the earth. It kills me to think that Hershel will only grow up with stories of you. Even when Maggie tells me she didn't blame me, all I can remember was throwing that punch at Negan and everything that happened after that. I'm sorry you're not here to see your boy grow up."
Because he was so lost in his thoughts, he did not hear anyone following him until he heard a voice behind him.
"Even if you had not thrown that punch, Negan knew what he was going to do and he didn't care how many or how few of us he would kill."
Daryl turned to face Carl, who slowly approached him. " I always looked up to Hershel and I always loved Glenn. I even had a crush on Beth for a while." Daryl grinned at the teenager in front of him in amusement.
"Maggie misses them. We all do. It doesn't get easier or better over time. I can't think of them without seeing how they died and who killed them. I can't not think of them because I don't want them to be forgotten." Daryl didn't speak for a while. How could he after saying so much about what he kept bottled up for so long?
When Daryl did speak again, it would not leave Carl's mind. "Maggie has a very tough decision to make. Her word is at stake and your dream of the future is too."
Carl looked surprised when he heard how vague Daryl was talking. "She talked to you about what I told her today?"
Daryl nodded. "She talked about it with me and Al." Daryl answered. "If you think he's that important, you're carrying the weight for whatever future you're pushing for. Most of all, if he takes one step towards Hilltop, Hershel, Al or Maggie, Negan will die and you know it."
Carl could not fool himself to think Negan did not deserve it. He earned the life sentence in a cell and the cut across his throat was the least of what he deserved as comeuppance.
"What decision does she have to make?" Carl asked.
"In the morning, before you head back to Alexandria, ask her yourself."
In the bed they shared, Maggie straddled Al's lap as she massaged her girlfriend's body. Since they were face to face, Maggie was able to take in all of Al's body. "You're getting stronger and bigger every day." Maggie mused as she ran her hands over Al's much larger pectoral muscles along with her shoulders, biceps and triceps.
"Yes, I have. It helps me to keep up with you." Al said, sitting up and taking Maggie in her arms. "Are you alright?" Al asked as she traced her fingers up and down Maggie's spine.
Maggie rested her forehead against Al's while her arms were wrapped around Al's shoulders. "I want to be." The silence after that told Al everything.
"You're not alone, Maggie. We'll get there together." Al promised.
Maggie leaned in and kissed Al tenderly while giving a slow, seductive lap dance. Al's eyes were locked on Maggie's as their bodies writhed against each other.
Gently maneuvering into the missionary position, Al kissed Maggie deeply before going down on her, kissing and fondling her breasts for a while before her head was between Maggie's legs.
A euphoric gasp left Maggie's lips as she felt Al's mouth on her and it was not long before she would be arched up from the bed, crying out Al's name as orgasm after orgasm struck her.
When she came down from the rush, Maggie watched as Al ascended up her body and kissed her. "Next time, we're going to put your camera to use." Maggie said, surprising Al and getting her very excited all over again. "Oh, yes, we will."
Settling into Al's embrace, Maggie gathered her bearings and her thoughts before saying, "If Alden has really turned away from the Saviors and he genuinely wants a fresh start, I have to know for sure."
Al smiled at Maggie. "I'll tell Daryl to fetch Alden from the camp first thing in the morning."
With Maggie's head against her chest and an arm around her torso, Al brushed her girlfriend's hair and kissed her forehead before they both fell asleep together.
A/n: The world is full of conflict and chaos as it is. There's no need to make more of it. Whether anyone reviews or not, whether anyone agrees with me or not, I'm still writing this story the way I want to.