Between the Thorns

Chapter 6

Unlike when they had passed through the mostly empty cafeteria area earlier in the day, this time the place was teeming with warm bodies. Just the small amount of strangers he had come into contact with in Alexandria had been enough to make Daryl nervous. So being shoulder to shoulder with what he guessed had to be close to a hundred of them had the man grinding his molars as his hands began to clench into fists at his sides.

Daryl took a deep breath. His empty stomach was already grumbling. The promise of a solid meal hung heavy in the air around him. He prepared himself mentally. Being close to people was just the price he was going to have to pay a full belly. He had paid worse prices before. Looking around, he did his best to convince himself that this wasn't going to be so bad.

Considering how many people were gathered into the small space, the crowd was calm and orderly enough. The only show of violence Daryl saw was two men arguing at a table. When it looked like the arguement was about to turn physical, an armed man walked over from his post near the doorway and showed the men a the large semi automatic weapon in his hands. Both the men sat down and lowered their voices without further incident.

It was impossible to observe Negan's home base without making comparisons to the town Daryl had come from. Rick was a good leader. But he only ruled over a small group of people that considered both him and each other family. As Daryl observed the crowd full of rough looking men, he couldn't help but wonder if his friend would be able to keep such a large group in line without resorting to Negan's violent dictatorship style of governing.

As they began to weave though the crowded room, Jean reached behind her, taking hold of her younger daughter's hand. Without being told, the younger girl reached behind her and grapsed hands with her older sister. Then Rose reached for him. Daryl stared down at the girl's open hand. When he didn't grab for it she twisted her body to stare back at him. Rose raised her eyebrows and thumped him in the chest with the back of her hand.

"So we don't get separated," the girl explained, her tone revealing a touch of impatience. She held her hand in front of Daryl, her blue eyes narrowed with the seriousness she felt the situation required. "It's part of the rules," she urged.

Daryl nodded his head and took her hand. He didn't feel he had much of a choice in the matter. Her hand was small and warm in his, the skin soft except for a callous that was forming near the top of her hand where her palm met her fingers. On a few of her nails there was a tiny bit of chipped pink nail polish left over from the last time they had been painted. The girl's hair hung down from either side of her head, twisted into two thick braids that swung as she walked. Unlike her younger sister, Rose was at the awkward stage where she wasn't really a little girl anymore but not really a woman yet either. Her legs looked a too long and thin for her body and from the short hem of her jeans, Daryl guessed that her growth spurt had happened recently.

As he weaved through the maze of tables and bodies, Daryl was grateful for the girl's warm hand to lead him. A few people stared curiously at him, mostly looking like they were trying to figure out what he was doing with Jean and her daughters. But the onslaught of harrassment that he was bracing himself for never happened.

The place was set up similarly to a school cafeteria. They waited in a short line, grabbed hard plastic meal trays and prepared to ask for what they wanted from a woman that was standing behind a large steel counter full of steam trays. The armed guards were the only obvious difference. But even they seemed to only be interested in maintaining order, not in intimidating people. Daryl recognized one of them, the blonde woman with the tattoo on her neck that he was going to be working with in the garage. She smiled and ticked her chin up to greet him when he walked by.

"You start day after tomorrow?," she asked. Daryl nodded his head, unable to stop and speak to her even if he wanted to since Jean's daughter was still dragging him along like a naughty dog on a leash. "I'll buy you lunch," the woman called after him. This was met by some friendly laughter by the people around them. Even Jean looked back and smiled, shaking her head at the woman. Daryl didn't ask, but it was obvious that everyone was laughing at some sort of inside joke that he didn't understand. His focus was on the food.

"What do you want?," Jean asked him once they made it through the tangled up line. She gestured towards the woman that was holding a plate and staring at him like he was wasting her time. Daryl took a look at his choices. He couldn't remember the last time he had a choice in what he wanted to eat and he was feeling rather overwhelmed, wanting everything he could see and smell.

Before he had a chance to make his decision a strange hush fell over the formerly rowdy cafeteria. For a moment it looked like people were making a wave, the way they used to do at professional sporting events. Except no one got back up. The people around him were all dropping to one knee. Jean's daughter still had a hold on his hand and she yanked it hard, pulling him to the ground next to her.

Daryl heard the man's heavy tread before he saw him. Negan sauntered into the room, followed closely by Daryl's second most hated person in just about the whole world. Dwight had tortured him. Fed him dog food. Humiliated him in every possible way. Daryl wanted nothing more than to slam his fists into that man's face one after the other until his head split open like and overripe melon. But that would have to wait for another day. For the moment Daryl simply hoped the two men might just pass him by. But he wasn't that lucky.

Rose leaned a little closer to him, hoping to hide her smaller body partly behind Daryl's. He felt her grip on his hand tighten. Daryl was looking down, his hair covering his face. The only thing in his line of vision was the toe of Negan's shiny black boot.

"Well what the fuck do we have here?," the man hollered out. Next to him Daryl noticed that Jean's body stiffened up more than it already had. She didn't like the big man swearing in front of her children. But she knew better than to say anything about it. Negan lifted his hand and patted Dwight on the shoulder, much harder than necessary. Then he pointed to Daryl.

"You took weeks and you still couldn't get this fucker to kneel," Negan told Dwight, "A ten year old did it in 30 damn seconds!" Before she could stop her, Jean's younger daughter reached out and tugged on the big man's pant leg. Jean pulled the girl's arm back and scolded Lily under her breath.

"Got something to say there pipsqueak?," Negan asked the girl. He leaned down and offered the girl his hand. Jean knew better than to tell her not to take it so she nudged the girl forward. Lily placed her tiny hand in Negan's giant one and allowed the man to help her to her feet. "What did you want to tell me?," he asked.

"I'm ten," Lily informed the man before she pointed to her older sister, "Rose is twelve and a half." Daryl stayed quiet, but he could see the horrified look on Rose's face. No one questioned Negan. And no one corrected him either. Daryl moved before he thought out the possible consequences of his actions, placing his arm around the shoulders of Jean's older girl. Images of Glenn's bloody smashed in head flashed through his mind as Negan brought his bat down from the shoulder of his leather jacket. Daryl couldn't watch something like that happen again. Especially not to a child. But all Negan did was laugh.

"Well I'll be damned," the big man declared, "I must have missed your birthday." He held out his bat for the girl to take. "How would you like to hold Lucille for me?" Lily glanced back at her mother. Jean's face had gone pale white but she forced out a grin despite her obvious discomfort.

Since her mother hadn't objected, Lily stepped forward and grabbed for the bat. It was heavier than she expected and she almost dropped it. Negan moved her hands, adjusting her hold on the weapon.

"We got us a little serial killer in the making here!," he quipped. Since she looked about ready to drop the heavy bat on his feet, Negan took it back from the girl. He motioned to Dwight. "Take the girls into the kitchen and give them a piece of that chocolate cake I asked for earlier," he told the man.

"Say thank you," Jean hissed at her daughters. Rose said the words quietly, still gripping Daryl's hand even though she had climbed to her feet. But Lily was more than happy to express her gratitude to the man. She wrapped her slim arms around Negan's waist and hugged him. The man was surprisingly gentle with her. He hugged her back and patted her head before pointing her towards the kitchen. Once Dwight disappeared into the kitchen with the two girls, Negan turned around and hollered "AS YOU WERE!," to the large crowd of people still kneeling behind him. This seemed to signal that he was done having them grovel for him since everyone quickly resumed whatever activities they had been partaking in before their leader walked in. The volume of the room was still signficantly lower than it was before.

Jean climbed to her feet, swiping at a stray strand of hair that was tickling her eye. "I'm so sorry about Lily," she started to say. Negan waved his hand at her dismissively before she could even finish her apology. Then he glanced back and forth between her and Daryl a few times. She didn't like the look Negan had on his face. There was something brewing in his mind. Jean knew the big man well enough to know that was never a good thing.

"Their dinners are on me tonight," Negan told the woman behind the counter. She bobbed her head up and down a few more times than was necessary. "And get the kids whatever the fuck they want," he added, gesturing towards the kitchen with his bat.

"Thank you," Jean said, the fake smile still plastered on her face, "You didn't have to do that."

Negan laughed. Daryl didn't know how it was possible but the man's happy face was even more unsettling than his angry face. He was still halfway convinced that this was all some sort of fucked up mind game. Instead of dinner Negan was going to have Dwight drag him back down to that tiny freezing hole and lock him up until he actually died this time.

"How's my boy Daryl here treating you?," Negan asked Jean. He patted Daryl on the back much like he had done to Dwight except he didn't add the extra force he had used on the other man. Something was off there. Between Negan and Dwight. There were cracks in the system. Daryl just needed to watch for them.

Jean thought about the question before she answered it. She wasn't really sure what to say. While she wasn't exactly ecstatic about her current situation, things could always be worse. She didn't really know or trust him yet, but Daryl seemed nice enough. He hadn't tried anything physical or aggressive with her yet and there had been plenty of times that he could have. When they were alone in the halls down by the garage. When he was alone with her and her daughters in her apartment. He hadn't so much as laid a hand on her. In fact he had barely even looked at her.

She preferred letting Daryl live with her over being forced into a marriage she didn't want. And there was also that little something else. Jean told herself she didn't care and that Daryl wasn't her problem, but the truth was she was worried about what might happen to the man if she pitched a fit and refused to let him stay with her. Even though he had a hand in her husband's death she didn't want Daryl to be hurt or tortured any more than he already had been. All the pain and suffering and justice in the world wouldn't bring John back.

"He's fine," Jean said. Nean grinned. Jean forced herself to smile back at him. She could tell the big man was looking to get a rise out of her and she absolutely refused to take his bait. He had put Daryl in her apartment to hurt her. To make her upset and angry. Just to show him that his punishment wasn't going to break her, Jean added, "The girls seem to like him. You were right. It's a good fit." Since Negan could hardly argue with being told he was right he simply laughed some more and made a crude joke out of what Jean had said.

"I bet it's a real GOOD FIT," he hollered. Aside from Jean and Daryl, everyone around Negan laughed. Some seemed like they actually thought it was funny while others forced laughter because they could tell Negan expected it. Jean's face turned about four different shades of red. Seeing that he had embarassed her only served to spur the big man on with his crude humor. He leaned down like he was telling Daryl a secret but he still spoke loud enough to make sure Jean and everyone else around heard him.

"You'd think you woudn't have a chance with a woman after you killed her husband. But you'd be surprised..." Negan stopped to laugh at another one of his own jokes, letting his eyes travel up and down the length of Jean's body before he went on. "Widows, especially ones that look like Jean here. They are very special. After their husbands die they get all empty inside... but usually not for long."

Negan gave Daryl one more slap on the back before he strolled off. There was no reason for him to stay. He had already gotten what he wanted from the couple. More than what he wanted in fact. Negan had thrown Jean and Daryl together mostly as punishment for her. He didn't like being refused. And more than that he didn't like Jean running around the Sanctuary all independent. Acting like she didn't need a man. It gave the other women ideas. Bad ones. So he figured he would make her put up with Daryl for as long as it took her to beg him to take the man away. Or beg to live with him or Simon instead.

Daryl had been an easy choice. He was rough around the edges but it seemed unlikely that he would actually hurt Jean or her girls. And nothing Dwight had done so far to the man had worked. Not only had Dwight not been able break Daryl, it didn't seem like he had even scratched the surface. So Negan figured throwing Daryl in with Jean couldn't make things any worse. Daryl hadn't responded to torture. He wasn't that type of man. So instead of forcing him to submit, Negan thought he might give the man a taste of the good life instead. Buy his loyalty instead of demanding it.

Negan intended for the situation to be temporary. But then something magical had happened. He saw that shit right there on Daryl's face. Jean was getting upset about the crude jokes he was making about her poor dead husband. Her big pretty brown eyes were filling up with tears. She was fucking hot she was hot even when she was about to cry. That was a rare trait. Most women looked like they needed a mop for their faces once they started whining and blubbering. And Daryl hadn't liked seeing her upset. Not one little tiny bit. He even looked a little like he was thinking about putting his arms around her. Offering Jean the kind of comfort that Negan had been thinking about giving the woman the day before on the massage table in her salon.

Negan realized he had been blind to the type of man Daryl was. He had taken him to be just another tough guy that needed a little fear of the reigning authority put into him. Now that he saw the man with Jean, Negan realized he had been stupid not to see it before. That's why Daryl had struck out at Negan in the first place and gotten his friend killed. Daryl didn't fight back because his own safety was threatened. He fought because he couldn't stand to see Negan making that hispanic woman cry. Not being able to tolerate seeing other people in pain was Daryl's weakness. And discovering someone's weakness was always a beautiful thing.