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Bucket Hat — Guy really needs a holiday.

-Rhys-

Maggie came out of Gregory's trailer last night with blood smeared across her cheek and a knife clutched tight in her hand. She had Gregory thrown into the cells. I spent hours on a small wooden stool outside the cellar doors until Carl found me and asked me what I was doing.

I told him no one will let me into one of the cells.

He was confused, so I told him that I almost killed Earl.

Carl's eyes were watering, and he was about to speak before he dragged himself into a shouting match with Tammy Rose, who came storming up to me, waving her finger and screaming about me almost killing her husband. She was clearly drunk. I tried apologising, but think I was still a little drunk, too. I even cried, but she wasn't having it. She screamed that I didn't belong here. That they considered me family, and it was my fault her son was gone and her husband was bleeding in the infirmary. And I shrunk into my seat and took it all until Carl exploded at her. I had smelt the moonshine on his breath, too.

"Are you fucking kidding me! Your asshole husband almost killed Maggie! Enid's in a fucking hospital bed because of him! You have no fucking-damn right to yell at my boyfriend because you're drunk! You think that's a goddamn excuse?!"

He sounded like him. Like the man locked up under the stairs in Alexandria.

I begged him to stop, and eventually, he did. But Tammy was crying, and thankfully Marco showed up to take her back to her trailer before it got worse.

Carl dragged me in from the cold, and we spent the rest of the night in the infirmary next to Enid's bed. Siddiq said she'd be okay, that it was just a concussion, but we both wanted to stay.

The stars were radiant that night, and the moon was brilliantly full.

Come evening the next day, I almost don't notice when five people ride into Hilltop. I probably wouldn't have noticed at all if it wasn't for the rumble of Daryl's motorcycle. Carl runs to greet his dad and Michonne while I crash into Sasha's arms at full speed from running down the hill from the house. The two of us cling tightly to each other for the first time in months. She almost trips from the impact, but manage to stay standing on wobbly feet. After a moment of deliberation and clearly feeling left out, Mikey joins the hug from the outside, and both Sasha and I drag him in deeper with laughter.

When everyone sees the shining purple bruise on Maggie's eye, they all fall silent.

"What will you do now you're free of Sanctuary?" I ask Sasha after everyone else disappears. Mikey's gone to see Enid, who's awake now — Siddiq said it's just a concussion, but he's confined her to a wheelchair for the next few days. Carl took Michonne to see Hershel since she didn't get the chance yesterday. Rick and Maggie are talking on Barrington house's enormous terrace above the porch.

Sasha shrugs at the question, kicking her legs as they hang high above Hilltop. We decided to climb Hilltop's water tower for whatever reason. I guess it feels normal for us — to be somewhere that we can see the world from.

"I guess I'll stay here with you all," she says with a smile.

I grin at her because that's all I want to hear. Sasha's reliable like that. No strings. No lies. She just tells you how it is, and you can believe her.

"It's strange, isn't it?" I ask. "How everything is harder now that the world is coming back together."

"You think it's harder?" she asks.

I tilt my head and click my tongue, unable to actually decide.

"I think so," I say finally. "When we were just surviving, everything felt more obvious. Like all our choices were just what we did in the moment. Like we didn't have to worry about what would happen next."

Sasha chuckles, her hand holding loosely to the railing above our heads. "Daryl said something similar last night."

"Do you disagree?"

She shrugs, pushing her mouth to the side of her face like she feels bad about it. "We lost too many people back then. I almost lost myself because of it. And now? We hadn't lost anyone in over a year... besides ol' boy Bob back in Alexandria going in his sleep. When I heard Ken died out there, I felt sad, like, actually sad. Before, in Alexandria, when we were fighting... people dying felt normal, like just another drop of water in the bucket." She breathes deep into the night air. "I like feeling sad about it."

"We're hanging Gregory tonight," I say quietly. "Maggie told me this morning when she found me sleeping outside the cells."

"What about Earl?"

I shake my head, looking down at my cut knuckles and bruised fingers. "I almost killed him last night."

"For a good reason," Sasha tells me sternly.

"It's been so long since I've hurt someone," I tell her.

The sun is setting, and we watch people lighting torches by the new barn that's being built. That were they're hanging Gregory later.

"I'm here now, Rhys," Sasha says suddenly. "I'm here, and I'm not going away."

Then Maggie is calling up to us from the bottom of the tower, waving her arms and beckoning me down. Sasha decides to stay a little longer, so I climb down and follow Maggie as she leads the way across Hilltop. We head into Barrington, up the stairs, through her candlelit bedroom, and onto the terrace balcony. Rick and Carl are out here. Carl's sat in a rocking chair — Rick leaning against one of the tall white posts behind him.

"What's going on?" I murmur, looking around at all the faces that stare back at me like closed books. All I see are their titles.

Maggie gestures to Rick with an open palm before she sits in the only other rocking chair, leaving me standing and waiting.

Rick takes a deep and long sigh. "We need your help."

"My help?" I ask, confused.

"Hilltop's help," Carl says.

"...Okay."

"I need Hilltop's help fixin' the bridge," Rick finally lets it all out.

I squint at him. "I don't— I don't understand why I'm here."

Then it clicks. I realise who is here. The leaders of the two strongest communities and their kids. Hilltop and Alexandria have been at each other's throats for the last year, over and over. Rick and Maggie never recovered from the decision Rick made under that tree at the end of the war. They love each other because we'll always be family, but I've watched her suffer over that decision for the last year and a half.

"Hilltop's thriving because of what you've done here," Rick goes on.

"What Maggie's done," I correct him.

Maggie smirks down at her lap a little, and I catch Carl smiling.

Rick nods along. "This place is doing better than anywhere else... and Hilltop's been generous."

Maggie sits back folding her arms, her bruised eye looking sore. She cuts to the chase for me. "Sanctuary's still low on food. Rick wants us to stretch and give 'em more than usual with the next shipment."

I have thought after thought about everything they've just said, but they all lead to the same place and I scowl at them both.

"What does this have to do with me and Carl?"

Rick creases his forehead at me.

I frown.

"One day," Rick says, "Maggie and I won't be makin' these decisions for us. Carl's already been helpin' out back home and—"

"Oh, Rick, I don't think so," I say quickly. "I'm not—"

"Carl's spoken to people over the last few days and says it doesn't take a genius to work out that people here like you."

I grimace at Carl. "That's why you stayed?"

He gets up, eye wide. "Obviously not."

"People like Gregory will keep popping up," Rick says. "It's amazing that Hilltop is running on democracy, but one-day people will look for someone to vote for, and if Maggie's not there—"

I laugh at him, struck over the head with disbelief. "Maggie is here. I'm a glorified blacksmith — a part-time stable boy. Not even that first one anymore after what I did to Earl."

"You saved three people last night," Carl says.

"I— I didn't... I just—"

"Like it or not," Rick says firmly, shutting me up, "you're a big part of this place. The name Rhys Rhee carries some weight. Get used to that."

That name's something I've had to get used to. I don't love it. It's not like I feel much pride in the name from my parents. But it's still my name. It's always been mine.

I correct Rick.

"Rhys Washburne."

"Either way," Rick sighs, "we want you both to be a part of this decision."

I grit my teeth and finally give in, nodding at him.

"We've given Sanctuary so much already," I say.

"And we're asking for you guys to be generous again," Carl says softly.

My mouth goes all twisted. "I heard Ken and Marco talking last week about how it feels the same way it did when we belonged to them."

Maggie's eyes narrow, and her forehead grows lines.

"We can't let them starve," Carl says.

"I know," I say gently. "You're right. But with the storms still on the way, they should be fine. We might need our food stocks."

"Then ask for something in return," Carl suggests to Maggie and me.

I watch Maggie think, but I can tell she's holding back because she wants me to say something. Rick's doing the same, and it bugs me.

"Okay," I say. "How about Sanctuary covers us for the bridge? They provide Hilltop's share of the workforce."

Rick pulls a face.

Carl grins. "Sounds like a good—"

"That..." Maggie interrupts, "and Sanctuary sends over all the fuel they've been making from their dead corn."

Rick leans back on the railings, shaking his head, shock plaguing his tired blue eyes. "Sanctuary's barely holding on right now. We're obliged to help."

"Why?" Maggie snaps. "They surrendered— we didn't kill 'em. That's it. I can't solve all their problems when I clearly have things to take care of here."

"Maggie, I'm sorry this happened to you and Enid—"

"I've survived worse," Maggie growls. "But it has to stop. I'm building a future here for my boys. For Enid. For everyone at Hilltop."

"What kind of future is it if—"

"I agree with Maggie," I say.

Rick glares daggers at me.

"You asked for my input," I retort into his cutting eyes as fast as I can. "Mikey told me that he overheard you and Daryl talking. All of the corn fuel is barely enough to run the cars anymore. If we can't get our tractor running, then ploughing the fields is going to be harder."

Rick goes silent, so I decide I'm done with this, marching back into the house. Carl catches up with me at the top of the stairs. He's grinning. I'm not.

"Rhys—" he pants.

"I'm not going to join meetings just so your dad has someone to undermine Maggie."

"No!" he shakes his head, taking my shoulders and speaking directly. "I agree with you. Both of you. Dad will come around."

"Sorry," I breathe, moving to lean against the landing bannisters. "I didn't mean to snap like that."

"It's fine," he chuckles, joining me on the bannisters, looking down to the hallway below. "Whatever happened to boring?"

I smirk. "It's never too late."

Michonne finds me before the hanging. I'm not really that hard to find, I guess. If I'm not working, or with Enid, or in my room inside Barrington house — I'm at Glenn's grave. And that's where Michonne finds me.

"Rhys..." she says quietly, standing behind me as I kneel beside the grassy mound that makes me feel overwhelmingly calm.

I look up over my shoulder, trying my best to smile at her but not quite getting there.

Michonne nods down at me, hands crossed in front of her. I wonder if this is how she was when she was a lawyer. As sharp and silent as her katana. "Thought I'd let you know that Earl is okay. Maggie's not going to give him the same punishment as Gregory. Not after—"

"Michonne?" I ask quietly.

"Yes?" she asks, kneeling down beside me.

"Does Carl talk to him?"

"Who?"

"You know who."

Michonne sighs, her pupils dilating into a flurry of hazel.

I wait.

She nods her head.

"They both do. Carl and his dad."

"Why?" I ask, putting on a voice that says I'm less irritated than I am. "The war's over. What does it matter."

"It matters because the war's over," Michonne answers the way I had for Maggie. In a way that says she'll agree with them no matter what. "Rick tells him how far we've all come without him. Despite him."

"Why does Carl talk to him?" I ask, not all that interested in Rick's reasons.

Michonne touches my shoulder.

"I think sometimes he feels like he has to. If it wasn't for Carl's heart, that asshole would have died on that hill."

I bite my tongue and nod.

"You know they're right," Michonne says, "about you helping Maggie make decisions."

"Why?" I ask. "I'm just me. I don't know anything about making decisions like that."

Michonne smiles. "Y'know who I miss?"

"Who?"

She squints down at me, the last of the sunset in her eyes. "Deanna Monroe."

I smirk, looking her way and raising my eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Because she used to call you out on bullshit like that."

I laugh. "What do you mean?"

"Oh," she shrugs, pouting a little, "you know."

I shake my head, amused.

"Hilltop and Alexandria," Michonne says. "They'll be squabbling for a long time. I wish it wasn't true, but there's just too much tension between Maggie, Rick, and me."

"We didn't use to be like that," I whisper, frowning at the grassy mound.

"And we won't be like it again," Michonne smiles. "I do believe that you'll realise what you could be to Hilltop. I think Carl will decide he wants to be that for Alexandria. And I think the two of you will make all this squabbling worth it."

I can't help but smile.

"Come on," Michonne says then. "It's almost time."

Flickering torches light the cloudy night sky. Daryl stands with Tammy Rose and her husband before a crowd. Earl's hands are tied. His face is still battered and bruised. I stand at the front with Carl, Mikey, and Enid. Sasha's beside me, an arm around my shoulders that she squeezes tightly. Enid's in a wheelchair, with a line of stitches on her forehead. Mikey rolled her out when Maggie asked for her to be here. Gregory is sitting on a horse beneath the under-construction barn. A noose around his neck.

Maggie walks her way through the crowd towards the front, everyone standing aside for her.

She turns to face us all.

"I don't want to do this," she announces. "But people need to understand that at Hilltop, the punishment fits the crime."

She turns to look at Gregory.

"Do you have any final words?"

Gregory snots and spits and cries.

"What you're doing isn't right!" he whimpers. "Somebody stop this, please. Killing me in the dead of night because you're ashamed!"

"You're wrong," Maggie says calmly. "I'm not ashamed."

She nods at Daryl.

Gregory begs.

"Stop this!"

Daryl ducks under one of the barn's beams to get behind the horse Gregory is on.

"Please! Now, for the love of God, stop it!"

I see Michonne look behind her. I turn to see two kids. Adeline and Rodney. Jesus found them a few months ago, hiding in the back of a rusted van in a nearby scrapyard. They're standing a few feet back from the crowd, in their pajamas and watching.

"Maggie, stop!" Michonne yells, running to the front of the crowd.

Rick catches her arm. "Wait."

It's too late. Daryl smacks the horse and it sprints out from under Gregory, leaving him hanging by the neck until dead. Gurgles and wheezes finally drift into silence.

"Get the children back in bed!" Maggie barks, and two people rush them back inside.

Mikey's looking at my shoulder, his breathing heavy as he keeps his gaze off Gregory's swinging corpse. Sasha reaches out to grip the back of his neck comfortingly.

"I made this decision," Maggie says to everyone. "But this is not the beginning of something. I don't want to go through it again."

She turns to Daryl.

"Cut him down."

The rope hisses as the tension breaks and slides away.

Gregory's body hits the ground with a thud and a burst of dust and hay.

A/N

Again, just want to rehash that Maggie was never meant to be a big part of this story... now people are calling him Rhys Rhee. Characters really do run off and do what they like. SMH.

Thanks to SlumberingVoid for reminding me to mention old Bob Miller passing away between seasons. It was a nice thing to add.

Also, I forgot to mention last chapter, but I really love the idea of Sasha taking over Sanctuary with Negan gone — like it's one of my favourite ideas I've had, even if it was only for a chapter. I feel like she would have fit so damn perfectly into that story in the show and I'm super upset that we didn't get that.

Thanks for reading :)