Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead
How will Negan be dealt with?
A week later found Negan, bound with his arms behind his back, being marched to the center of a field just outside of Alexandria. Surrounding that field were several spectators from the Hilltop as well as from the Kingdom.
Maggie walked alongside Rick who followed the men escorting Negan.
"It'll finally be over, after today," Rick told her.
Maggie wanted it to be over. It hadn't been easy knowing Negan was currently alive behind bars. The situation only seemed to fuel the memories of that horrible night, where Glenn was alive for the last time. Ghostly images of him appeared to her randomly, and she would always pale at the sightings.
"Yes, this much will be…but there will always be others, like him that come along."
"And we'll handle it."
She rested a hand against her stomach and looked into the crowd as she walked. Glenn was among them, staring at her with no expression on his face. After lingering her gaze on the illusion, she shifted her eyes away.
"You know, this almost reminds me of Nicholas."
Rick quirked and a brow at her in confusion.
"Nick caused Noah's death. Then, he tried to kill Glenn, but Glenn spared him. He could've killed him in the woods, but he didn't, because that's just the kind of person Glenn was."
"Are you saying, we should spare Negan?"
She turned to him sharply.
"No. This is different. There's only one way to finish this."
She felt her heart beating quickly. She looked at the crowd again, hoping to see Glenn, but he didn't appear a second time.
"I hope you're doing alright. You and the baby. Some have told me you seem tired, more than you should."
"I'm fine," she lied.
She hated how this was making her feel. There was no reason why this whole matter should be affecting her this way, especially when she'd held it together so well during the war.
Maggie took her place next to Ezekiel while Rick walked up to Negan as he was being forced to his knees.
"So…this is it," Negan said, while putting on a shit eating grin.
"Yes, this is it," Rick said coldly.
Negan stared back at Rick as if he was in awe of the man. Maggie suspected he had to be. The man didn't see his downfall coming.
"Damn," Negan whispered. "I truly, fucking underestimated you Rick."
Maggie couldn't help feeling slightly impressed with his lack of fear, although she could hear an impression of defeat in his tone.
"How're you gonna do it then? Nothing fancy? A shot to the head?"
Rick walked away from him then to fetch his form of execution. And when he'd stepped away, Maggie stepped forward, her eyes never leaving Negan's form.
"You got anything to say? Any last words?" she asked bitterly while keeping a steady glare on him.
"I have more of a request darling. Why don't you do me the favor of one last screw. I always thought you'd make a fine new wife."
A sharp slap across the face was Maggie's response. Negan shook it off and chuckled.
"Fiery, just like that Olivia chick. I think I'm one hundred percent into you now."
She felt such revulsion at the man she was certain she was going to be sick. But she held it together.
"You ruined our lives. You killed so many, innocent people, like my husband. He was a good man, and you killed him."
Negan eyed her seriously.
"Your husband, that Asian guy. I already told you people, that wasn't on me. You want to blame somebody blame Daryl."
"I blame you," she said harshly. "We were a family. We care and protect each other. Your mistake was you thought you could come along and turn us into slaves. You thought killing some of our own would put us in our place. But we weren't going to stand for that. Your way, is not how we survive. Your way only destroys, and that's why it needs to be destroyed, with your death."
She paused as she crouched down to his level.
"Now, do you have any final words?"
Negan observed her quietly for a minute before answering.
"I'm no fucking idiot. You're looking for an apology from me."
"Even if you apologized, I won't accept it."
Negan's calm, nonchalant behavior dropped into an expression of frustration.
"You all had to be taught a lesson. You all had to pay for what you did to my men. Everything was going fine before that. Now I am sorry you feel so fucking strongly about this, and I am sorry, that the only way for my message to get across was to take out your dear beloved husband, but I think that's shit you need to get over. I learned that lesson myself long ago. We all have to."
Maggie stared back at him.
"Like I said, apology not accepted."
She stood and turned away just as Rick was approaching with his execution method of choice.
"Then I guess I should take a page from the late red and say, suck my nuts."
It happened almost immediately.
Maggie grabbed the weapon from Rick, Negan's own infamous bat, turned, and swung. Negan barely had time to register what was coming his way as the wired bat connected with the right side of his face. Blood bloomed over his eye and across his cheek as he cried out. Even the crowd made noises of surprise.
"Goddamn!" Negan managed to curse, while Maggie paused to catch her breath after what she'd just done. Negan raised his head to meet her eyes. He was pissed. "Lucille…gonna fucking, use Lucille on me!"
"Maggie," Rick began as he made a move to take the bat away from her.
"No!" She had to do it, for everyone…for Glenn.
"You're not doing this! YOU'RE NOT KILLING ME WITH LUCILLE!"
Crack!
She swung the bat again, striking him almost dead center in his face. She heard the crack of his nose and watched as the blood gushed down. Negan swayed from his kneeled position, but made to jump up and attack her with a near war cry. Maggie swung again, harder, causing him to stumble and fall to his side. With his arms behind his back, he had no means of pushing himself up in a proper position, so he stayed on his side on the ground breathing slowly.
Maggie too took a moment to breathe. Negan's bloodied face shifted to Glenn's from that night. She blinked back tears. She felt like she was back there, and not here.
"Not…not Lucille. You are…animals," Negan muttered offensively.
Someone came and pulled Negan back onto his knees, then without thinking about it, Maggie cracked the bat against his head again. He stumbled forward, head turned to the side to keep from choking on his own blood.
"You're the animal!" Maggie cried. "You."
The crowd was practically quiet, observing the scene with serious expressions. Maggie felt she could feel the hatred from the man radiating off of them.
"It didn't have to be this way. It shouldn't have been this way. They didn't deserve to die."
Negan made pathetic attempts to right himself, but couldn't manage it. Maggie felt no sympathy. She recalled how long he let Glenn suffer after two swings. That horrific image combined with Glenn's last promise, "I'll find you", caused her to drop the bat on Negan once again.
"Bastard," she muttered.
There seemed a clear crack in his crown from such a strike, and Negan had resorted to gurgling and moaning in agony. No longer was he capable of running his mouth. A hand twitched, his legs spasmed. He had not lost an eye out of his socket, but the blood flooding down had completely coated it.
Maggie just stared down at him. She let the bloodied bat rest at her side. How long she would let him lie there in misery she didn't know. No one came forward to take the bat or suggest that she or someone else put the man out of his misery. It seemed they were all in silent agreement to let it continue for as long as possible.
After what seemed a long silence, Rick broke it quietly.
"Maggie."
She turned to him, feeling numb and cold.
"Do you think Glenn would approve? Do you think I went too far?"
It was exactly how Negan had killed Glenn. Though she felt there was something fitting in having the man killed by his own beloved weapon, it echoed the tragedy too closely. Part of it felt wrong, but another part felt right.
"I think Glenn would understand."
Suddenly it was as if her heart burst. The tears started to pour as she raised the bat. God did she miss Glenn. She missed Abraham. She missed Sasha.
She prepared to swing it down for the final time, but stumbled back as she was brought back to that awful night.
She just couldn't do it anymore.
It was too much. She didn't want to see the remains of another cracked and mutilated head, regardless of who it was, ever again. It was over anyways.
Someone came and grabbed the bat from her shaky hands, and she turned to see Daryl looking grave. Maggie wiped the tears away and looked at Negan.
"He can't hurt us, not anymore."
Daryl guided Maggie back as Rick wordlessly stepped forward, his Colt Python in hand. Everybody watched as he fired the shot, and nobody flinched. Negan finally laid motionless on the ground, bloodied eyes still open and face frozen in pain and shock.
Maggie turned away from the scene feeling more alive than she had weeks ago. And as the others converged on the body, she found herself only interested in visiting another.
She stood back and watched the others. Fingers slid into her hand and held on tight. She looked around to see Enid looking at her.
"It's alright now. I'm alright now."
She felt it was more possible now to raise her child than it had been a few days ago. And if she should see another image of Glenn, whether in a moment or in a dream, she felt she had nothing to fear and no more reason to grieve.
I did always gravitate toward Negan getting it with his own bat when polls came up about how Negan should die. And I had considered letting Maggie finish him off, but considering Glenn died in the same manner, I guess it felt a little offensive. And if I recall correctly, Maggie did bash in a Savior before when she and Carol got captured by those female Saviors. I like the idea of Rick taking care of Negan, but there's also a good reason for Maggie to have a shot, so I split Negan's punishment between the two, and let Rick's own choice weapon finish it.
To those suggesting ideas for Negan's demise, I appreciate it, and don't let anything stop you into creating a story around those ideas cause I want to see them. I don't believe I've ever seen a TWD fic where Negan gets tortured or killed. Negan gets to torture our survivors all the time, but it can be turned around while we wait for season 8. Thanks for reading!