Darryl left Michonne's home to go and see Carol. He wanted to find out how she was now that she had gotten her memory back.
He found her in her kitchen, calmly baking some cookies.
"Hey." he said. He reached for a cookie and tasted cranberry. Carol smiled, almost coquettishly at him.
"Hey yourself." she replied, now watching him eat the cookie. "How's Michonne?"
Darryl swallowed the bit of cookie in his mouth that he had eaten before answering.
"Not good." he replied.
Carol frowned, not really expecting to hear that.
"What's going on?"
"You saw what was going on. She's somehow connected to Beta."
"Yeah, I saw that. I just don't know why." Carol said calmly.
"Neither does Michonne. She said she had to fend him off and the only thing she could think to do, was bite off part of his face."
Carol gaped at him!
"She bit into his face?! He didn't look hurt…"
"Does he ever?!" Darryl suddenly snapped. "I mean we tried to drown him and it didn't work. I cut him with a chainsaw and he doesn't have a mark on him. You see he left as soon as he faced off with Michonne. She told me that the walkers go around her, like she isn't even there. We're going out to find him and make him tell us what is happening to her."
Carol took a deep breath.
"There's no need for anyone to go anywhere. Maggie went to go get him."
Darryl put down the rest of his cookie.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked.
"Maggie left to find Beta and bring him back here. I agree with her. I think he can live in those cells like Negan did. Then we let him out and he takes care of Negan for us. Then our lives go back to being our own." Carol told him.
"Maggie and you just decided this without talking to anyone? Aaron and Gabriel need to know about this. He put an axe in Gabriel!"
"I know." Carol answered but Darryl had more to say!
"His people killed Jesus and your boy. How are you going to just agree to let him in here?"
"Darryl! Are you listening to me?! He's here to kill Negan! That's it! Once that's done, we kill him or throw him out of here! And I am sure he can die! If what you are saying is true about Michonne, then she can kill him—probably! Now have another cookie and calm down."
Darryl's response to her condescending words were to fling his cookie against a wall! Carol's eyes widened at his over the top response.
"What is wrong with you? I am trying to help you here! I heard you telling Michonne that you loved her. You won't be able to have any kind of life with her if Negan is around. He's already half moved in to Michonne's house. He's told RJ that he's his father without any real proof. Not to mention that even though Michonne claims to hate him, she doesn't. What she hates, is herself for liking him. And she does, Darryl, whether she realizes it or not. Like can turn to love. And we both know that Negan is using her to take control of this stronghold. We need to stop him. However we have to." Carol told him.
"Michonne doesn't have any feelings for Negan." Darryl said in a hard voice. "When she bit off some of Beta's face it did something to her. Something that messed up her thinking. Once it clears her system, she'll be thinking how she used to. I'm going out to look for Maggie. She's not bringing Beta back here. There are women and children here. You know better."
"I know that I love you, Darryl." Carol said quietly. "And I want you to be happy. There! I said it! I love you and I want Michonne and you to have a chance. I think you two would be good together. That's not going to happen as long as Negan is either still living here, or alive. It's your choice."
Darryl did not respond to her words. He turned and walked out of her house, determined to find Maggie and keep her from making a big mistake. He was not even sure that Beta would not kill her, even though they supposedly had a past together. He hurried from Carol's home, just as Michonne hurried out of hers! She had her katana on her back.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked. Michonne walked over to him.
"Maggie is bringing Beta back here! I can feel it! I'm going to stop her. You should stay here…"
"I should stay here?! Hell no! We're going together."
Michonne smiled wanly at him, just as Judith came bounding down the stairs! She hurried over to them!
"I want to go with you! I can help!"
Darryl was about to say no, but Michonne nodded.
"Yes. We'll take that car there." she said, pointing at the van Negan, herself, Darryl and Carol had returned in. Judith went running over to it and Darryl confronted Michonne!
"Are you crazy? We can't take her…"
"I can keep her safe now. From the walkers and Beta. I can keep all of you safe." Michonne said and moved to walk to the van.
But Darryl blocked her way.
"What if what you can do is temporary? Look, Carol just told me that Maggie went to go get Beta. I'll go and stop her."
"We'll all go." Michonne said firmly and walked around him to the van. Darryl clenched his jaw, but realized he had no choice but to go along with this and hope everything played out well in their favor.
Negan returned to the basement cell that Dwight and Sherry were now imprisoned in. Sherry rolled her eyes at the sight of Negan sauntering down the basement stairs, as if he owned the place. Dwight walked up to the bars, ready for a confrontation.
"Well, well, well," Negan crowed, pulling up a chair and sitting in it, "we can now get down to business. Do you know that you are in the same cell that I lived in for years? I'm touched that you both are now living in here."
"We're not going to be 'living' in here." Dwight said calmly. "We're just here until Michonne and Darryl realize they can trust us."
"That will be never. And Darryl isn't running anything here." Negan said. Sherry tilted her head and joined her husband by the metal bars.
"Does Darryl know that?" she asked. "Because I'm guessing the answer to that is 'no'."
"I need to know," Negan began, ignoring Sherry's snark, "just what Heath told you about his plans for Alexandria."
"What are you talking about?" Dwight asked. "You know what they were. You heard them."
Negan had to cover his own ass here…
"I've been talking to people. Especially little Herschel. No one saw Heath come here and talk to anyone. Did you know that?"
Dwight looked confused. Sherry didn't, something Negan noticed.
"Sherry, honey, what do you know?" Negan asked.
Sherry stared him down.
"What I know is that something about this whole thing smelled from the beginning." she replied and now Dwight looked from Negan to her.
"What are you talking about?" Dwight asked his wife.
Sherry tossed some hair and looked at Dwight.
"Remember when we were planning to take everyone and bring them back to the Sanctuary? You were busy with some of the other guys, watching the people from Alexandria from a distance. I followed Heath. He told me he was meeting his contact at Alexandria and I decided to follow him."
Negan kept his expression neutral as he tried to figure out if Sherry was bullshitting or not. Dwight seemed to be very into this story though.
"What happened?" Dwight asked her.
"He didn't go to Alexandria. He went in the opposite direction. I ran into walkers and couldn't keep up, so I decided to go back to the Sanctuary."
"That doesn't mean he wasn't meeting someone from Alexandria. It means that person had to leave here to meet Heath someplace." Dwight replied and Negan refrained from smiling at the unwitting help Dwight was giving to him!
Before Sherry could say anything more, RJ burst into the room and down the basement steps! Negan turned and stood up, sensing panic in his son's face!
"What is it?" Negan asked RJ.
"Judith said that Maggie is bringing Monster Man here! She went with Mama and Darryl to stop them!" he cried. Negan have him a quick hug before setting him away.
"I'm not going to let that happen, okay? Come on. Let's get out of here." Negan said and he and RJ hurried up the basement steps and left Dwight and Sherry behind. Dwight shook his head.
"Un fucking believable. You see how he's playing dad to Rick's son? If he is out there like Michonne thinks, he needs to get his ass home pronto!" Dwight swore. He looked at Sherry, who was shaking her head as well, but for a different reason.
"What?" Dwight asked her. She looked at him again.
"Don't you remember how Heath was when we found him? We had to nurse him back to health! He had been out in the elements, starving and talking gibberish. When he was well, he wouldn't say where he'd been or who he'd been with. He was just angry at Rick."
"Yeah? What about it?" Dwight asked.
"Okay, so then he gets well, goes out scavenging by himself and suddenly, after one supply run, he brings us some army emergency rations that he said he 'found' in the woods someplace. He also had a 'plan' that was all set and ready to go."
"You think he was working with someone else, don't you? Someone we never met?" Dwight asked.
"I think there IS a spy here. That spy gave Heath the rations and came up with the plan to get rid of all of Rick's people, plus Negan. And that person doesn't want to be found out." Sherry said. But Dwight suddenly looked up at the basement door. He suddenly wondered if the person Heath had been working with, had been Negan all along?
Darryl saw Maggie and Beta headed back to Alexandria in one of the trucks they had escaped the Sanctuary in. Darryl blocked them with the van he, Michonne and Judith were in, then got out first. Michonne and Judith followed.
Maggie, who had been driving, jumped out of the truck and walked up to the three of them!
"I'm bringing Brian back to Alexandria!"
"Brian? Now he's going by that name?" Darryl asked, looking past her to Beta, who slowly got out of the truck. Judith's eyes widened at the sight of him while Michonne stared him down briefly, before looking at Maggie.
"Bring him in." she said coolly and Darryl turned to look at Michonne as if she were crazy!
"You can't be serious?" he asked, watching her carefully. Her and Beta were staring at one another and everyone watched, as Beta walked up to Michonne, then got down on his knees in front of her. And everyone, included Negan…who rode up on horseback, grinning! YESSSS! Michonne had this crazy bastard under control! That's the way you took on a crazy, giant fuck!
He got off of his horse and walked past Darryl, Maggie and Judith. He approached Michonne and the bended kneed Beta.
"So," he said, slipping her katana out of her backpack, "I can do the honors."
Beta's head was properly bowed and he did not even acknowledge Negan's presence.
"Rise." Michonne said and reached out to take her katana from Negan. She then looked at everyone.
"Maggie, take him back to Alexandria and put him in another cell. One that is not near Dwight or Sherry. Darryl, I want you to make sure Maggie does what I told her. You too, Judith. I am going back to Higgins Haven. There are supplies there that we could use."
"And what about him?" Maggie asked, referring to Negan.
"He's coming with me to get the supplies. He's coming with me, until I can figure out how the Beta and him are going to live in our community without killing one another." Michonne said coolly, giving Maggie an all knowing look.
Beta reached for Maggie's hand, something Negan noticed, and watched as they got back into the truck they had been in. He sensed fresh fucking between the two of them, but he couldn't be sure. The truck moved around the horse and the truck Darryl, Michonne and Judith had been in, and continued on to Alexandria.
Darryl eyed Negan before looking at Michonne.
"You're sure about this?"
"Darryl, I can keep walkers away. So can Beta. Let's see how useful he can be." she whispered. She then looked down at Judith.
"Make sure your brother is alright, okay?"
Judith nodded and then noticed two walkers meander towards them. Michonne looked at them and they slowly turned around and went elsewhere! Judith grinned! That was very cool! She hugged Michonne and then looked up at Darryl, who just stared at Michonne. He had not thought what happened just now was cool. Not at all.
"How do you plan to get the supplies back here? You just have Negan's horse." Darryl noted.
"There was a car at the camp that still worked. We'll return with the horse, the car and the supplies." Michonne smiled at him. He smiled back, though his was faltering. He glared at Negan before helping Judith back into the van and taking off after Maggie.
Now, Negan had thought that what Michonne had done just now was totally hot! He kept his lust under control and watched Darryl's van recede into the distance.
"It's just you and me. Alone. Again, Warrior Princess." Negan smiled.
"Yes. I know. First of all, I want you to stop calling me that." Michonne said calmly.
"No. Next?" Negan asked, grinning.
Michonne could feel herself losing it, but struggled to stay calm.
"I want you to stop grinning at me all of the time."
"I'm about to yawn here, Michonne, at your demands, so could you make them a tiny bit more interesting…"
"How about this one? I don't want you to come back to Alexandria with me. You stay at the camp and I return alone. Beta WILL kill you. This is a trap set by Carol and Maggie and I don't know if I can stop him." Michonne told him.
Negan just stared at her. He stared as if in a trance.
"What's wrong with you? Did you not hear me?"
"I heard you, Warrior Princess. I heard you caring about me. Like you cared when you bit that fuck's face off to save me."
"I did it to save both of us." Michonne argued.
"You care. You more than care." Negan grinned and he moved away from her to get the horse. He brought it over to Michonne and helped her climb up before getting on behind her.
"Let's find any camp where we can be alone. Let's just be together." he whispered as his arms tightened around her.
Michonne said nothing to his words. But she nodded her head slightly, which was all the encouragement Negan needed, as he prodded the horse down the road in search of a camp with supplies, a car and place where he and Michonne could be alone.