Chapter 6: Discoveries

*****Alexandria*****

Neither Faith nor Xander were too worried about their lovers as both knew how capable Willow and Dawn were. They were more worried about Buffy going off to a new place with Negan, a man Buffy believed was a major threat.

The three weeks they had been there had been very pleasant for the Sunnydale group. The group's current handyman kept Xander busy with several small projects he hadn't had time to get to as fortifying the walls occupied a lot of time.

There first week there, Rick showed him areas still under development and some of the camp history.

"We were nearly starved and pretty desperate when we found this place. It seemed like a dream," Rick shared.

"Was this place self-sustaining parts already here or did you add it?" Xander asked.

"It was here. This congress woman named Deanna Monroe created it with her husband, who was a congressman, before everything went to hell," Rick said.

"That's pretty amazing," Xander said as they stopped by the solar panels.

"It is," Rick. "To be able to have regular showers after going over a year without them was unbelievable."

"The girls won't go more than two weeks," Xander said, grinning.

"How did you manage that?" Rick asked.

Xander shrugged. "I'd just find neighborhoods with water. Most places have some private wells or even some cities that converted the water supplies to solar," Xander said. "The girls would clean out the dead, so we found a house. I made it work."

Three weeks later, Rick considered that first real conversation with Xander after the women left with the Saviors. He went to see Xander, who was building a rocking chair.

"You can build furniture, too?" Rick asked in surprise. Their new members were turning out to be a big boon for their community.

Xander nodded. "I started dabbling the last year Sunnydale was in existent. I made my mother one of these for her birthday, and she cried," Xander shared, smiling at the memory. His parents had left Sunnydale before the collapse, joining up with this uncle, his mother's brother, who lived on a ranch. They were pretty isolated, so Xander felt they were possibly still alive. It gave him comfort to think that.

"Could you make one for me? Judith is still young enough to enjoy being rocked," Rick said.

"Sure," Xander said, smiling. When Rick didn't leave, he knew that there was something on his mind. "Was there something else you were thinking about?"

"I'm just worried about the Saviors and your women with them," Rick admitted.

"They'll be fine," Xander said, picking back up his sandpaper. "Dawn is very likeable as is Willow, and they won't give the Saviors any reason to hurt them."

"Evil people don't need a reason," Rick pointed out.

"True," Xander agreed. "Do you think they're evil?"

"I think they are the most ruthless group I've come across," Rick said.

"Losing everything changes people," Xander said. "Some people rise; others falter. Guys like Negan change to survive. We've all had to make compromises to our moral codes in this new hellscape. Killing cannibals isn't something I ever thought Faith and Buffy would have to do, but who could imagine a group of Americans luring people in and then using them as cattle? It's the most evil thing that I've ever encountered, and I've seen human sacrifices before."

Rick nodded. "We had this group member named Bob, who woke up after being taken by them to find them eating his leg that they just cut off," Rick shared. "They sat there like it was no big deal while he realized his new horribly reality."

Xander grimaced. "That makes me wish I'd tortured them before putting them down," Xander said in disgust. "We have to make sure that we don't let the fight to survive cause us to lose our humanity. If it does, what kind of people will we be?"

Rick knew he was right. "It's a delicate balance," he acknowledged.

Gabriel approached, and Xander noticed he wasn't wearing his minister collar. Somehow, he knew that it was because of him. He had heard about Caleb. Gratitude filled him as Xander smiled at the man.

"Hello," Gabriel said. "I heard you were making a rocking chair and wondered if you'd teach me the art? I always wanted to be able to do a craft like that."

"Sure," Xander said. "This one is mostly done, but Rick wants one. You can help me sand this one, and we'll get started on Rick's."

Rick smiled, happy to see Xander extending a hand to their man of God. Gabriel had come a long way since they met him. The walking dead had nearly destroyed him, but he found the good man inside him and came back to himself in time to be a help to Rick and his friends. Now Rick both trusted him completely and depended on his wise council.

"I'll leave you to it," he said, walking away with a wave. Then he saw Faith teaching Michonne some moves with Rosita, Carol, and Maggie watching with rapt attention. Rick smiled, enjoying the picture they painted. Maggie recovered from her new miscarriage, determined to be stronger for her baby. He liked the idea of such strong role models for Judith.

Faith had become fast friends with the core women who made up their group. Watching them with her now made him smile. Faith was outrageous, making the women laugh at her bawdy sense of humor.

Buffy was different. Although she was friendly with everyone, there was something about her that kept her apart. He understood his lover's misgivings as Buffy was not someone Michonne could understand. She was clearly used to leading and knew that hard choices would always be hers to make. Rick recognized the look in her eyes at times. She had seen too much and lost too much. However, she was clearly their leader as even Faith deferred to her. Willow often said, "I will ask Buffy," whenever they discussed future plans.

Besides himself, Rick only ever saw Buffy speak much to Daryl, Eugene, and Carl. She was so different from Eugene that he found their friendship unlikely. When he asked Carl about it, his son said, "She says that he reminds her of her mentor Giles. Even though he is using science and not ancient languages to bore her."

"If she finds Eugene boring, why is she always laughing with him?" Rick asked, confused.

"She also finds him funny," Carl said with a shrug. "Eugene was sharing his plans to make bullets, and Buffy wants to help with it."

Rick's eyes widened. "I wish he'd told me about that plan. That would be amazing!" he said. Recalling that conversation, he turned back toward the duo and filled Gabriel in on what Eugene wanted to do.

"Making bullets would be a big boon for us," Gabriel said as he sanded the other arm.

"I can put together explosives if the need ever called for it," Xander said.

"Very good to know," Rick said. He said goodbye to Xander and Gabriel and went to find their resident genius to see where he was at with his plan.

Xander decided to tell the minister all about his hellmouth Halloween and graduation.

Gabriel listened in fascinated horror.

******Sanctuary*****

Willow didn't find much inside the Saviors' compound that was good for growing things. However, she, Dawn, and a guy named Dwight took a walk behind the compound as Willow wanted to explore the area.

Dawn glanced at his burnt face and couldn't refrain from asking, "How did you hurt your face like that?"

"I didn't," Dwight said flatly. "Someone did it to me."

"On purpose?" Dawn asked, horrified.

"That's how Negan shows his displeasure," Dwight said. "I tried to leave with my wife a while ago. He didn't appreciate it. I had to give him my wife, so we could live. However, I had to be punished with a hot iron to my face, so others didn't get the idea that they could leave."

"And my sister is alone with that psycho?" Dawn asked, looking outraged.

"That's pretty twisted," Willow agreed. "But Buffy can handle Negan. He's only human, and she doesn't trust easily."

"What do you mean? Of course, he's human. What else would he be?" Dwight asked.

"In the old world, we were professional monster hunters," Dawn said.

"Bullshit!" Dwight exclaimed.

"It's true. My hometown of Sunnydale, California was on a hellmouth—a doorway to hell. Buffy and Faith are supernaturally empowered monster slayers," Willow added. "Negan doesn't stand a chance. Nor will she be seduced by his dimples."

"She likes someone from Alexandria," Dawn added.

Willow stopped and looked at the open field. "I don't understand. Here is a perfectly good field only a hundred yards or so from your compound," she said. "Why don't you cultivate it for farming?"

Dwight shrugged. "Why would we? Negan steals from other communities, so he doesn't have to work for anything. It's his way," Dwight said.

"Well, you guys need to change, or we'll have a problem," Willow said, looking annoyed.

"We outnumber you guys by a lot," Dwight pointed out.

"So? I'm a very powerful witch, who can remove guns from everyone's hands with a flick of my wrist," Willow pointed out. "Buffy and Faith can take out any guy you have."

Dwight didn't know if he should be offended or excited. Maybe he and his wife could be free.

A bit later, Willow gave her suggestion to Simon, who already had a plan to deal with them.

"I think you should stay here with us," Simon said. "We'll make it worth it."

Willow grinned. "You have enough people crowded in here," she said. "I like Alexandria, and I have family there. Besides, I couldn't live in a place that was built on the sweat and hard work of others."

"That's always been the American way," Simon said. "Farmers who made our food at the grocery store, railroads made by underpaid China men or former slaves."

"Farmers were paid, not forced to work. The Chinese left extreme poverty and Communism and were happy to have a paid job here in America as were the former slaves since they had just, you know, been slaves," Willow pointed out. "Progress. Now we've had both groups of people in all tax brackets and even high offices in our government."

Simon debated his next move. How could he force someone that could turn him into a rat? The other woman could open portals and leave quickly.

He would have to think about this carefully. There had to be a weakness they could exploit.

"Those are good points," he said, smiling. He would get to know them and learn their secrets. Eventually, he would find out how to get the witch working for him. Negan wouldn't be needed then. "So tell me about yourselves." Maybe if he got them talking, they would reveal something that he could work with.

After an hour, he smiled in satisfaction. Xander, the one-eyed, man was the weak link.

Now, he had a path to make the witch his.

******Norfolk******

It took them thirty-six hours to make their way to the Naval base. Norfolk was a busy hub, and the dead were everywhere.

"I don't know how we could survive this place with so many dead," Negan said, frowning.

"We'll help you clear it," Buffy said.

Negan had seen her kill the dead with grim precision. There were no wasted movements, and she did it so effortlessly that he nearly died a few times, mesmerized by her. She never had to hit more than once and did so with such precision that she wasn't covered in blood or gore like he was.

There were less walkers as they approached the shoreline. Norfolk did have a massive security gate, which was a good thing.

"We would need to get Xander or any electrician you have to figure out how to work that thing," Buffy said, pointing to the controls.

"There's the USS Dwight Eisenhower!" Negan said, seeing the name on the side.

"This one is the USS Harry Truman," Buffy said. "Do we want to check them out?"

"Let's look for the Battleship Wisconsin your sister suggested," Negan said. "It's de-commissioned."

After killing whatever walkers they encountered, they eventually saw a ship right next to a large building.

"There it is!" Buffy exclaimed, pointing. "That must be like the Navy offices or party place."

"That's kind of nice to have that right next to the ship," Negan said. "I wonder how many dead are in it?"

"Let's go see," Buffy said with a grin.

Thirty minutes later, she had killed all the dead in the building. He shook his head.

"You're a God * killing machine," he said, shaking his head.

"I am the slayer," she said with a shrug. "Once, I was the only girl in the world, called to fight the forces of darkness. Then after I turned sixteen, I was drained by a master vampire and thrown into a fountain and drowned. Xander saved my life. That's how Faith was called. The slayer line runs through her."

"That's a damn tragedy," Negan said. He didn't experience any real sorrow in his life until his neglected wife died.

"Not really. My mother dying of a brain tumor while an insane hell god wanted to use Dawn in some blood sacrifice when I was twenty was a tragedy," she shared. "Then I died in her place and was in heaven for five months before my friends—mostly Willow—rose me from the dead. Now that was a tragedy."

"Damn," Negan said, not sure she was being straight. However, the hollow look in her eyes made him think she was. "You're not shitting me?"

"No, I'm not," she said with a shrug. "Then I had to close my town's hellmouth permanently almost two years later, which is how Sunnydale, California was turned in a big crater."

"That was you?" he asked.

She nodded. "But Willow used the magic in this scythe to call all potential slayers, so we had an army to fight. Then the world turned to crap by a man-made virus, and the demons and vampires abandoned this world," she said.

"There's a lot like you out there?" Negan asked excitedly.

"None are like me as the new slayers run through me as Willow used me as the anchor to her spell," Buffy said. "Then Angel gave me his visions, so I get to see people nearly die all the time if I don't save them."

"Your friends are the very worst," Negan said. "I'm glad you met me. I know how to treat a lady."

Buffy smirked. "You have three wives. I don't think you do," she said. "Come on. Let's go to the ship and see what's the what."

Negan wanted to protest, but he knew the moment was lost.

The ship had some walkers on the top, which were easily dispatched. Inside, though, there weren't that many—just like they hoped. It was too big to check every nook and cranny, and the halls were very narrow in some places. This would make it hard for walkers to surprise most people.

"We're going to have to get a team here and systematically check this place out, room by room," Negan said after they spent two hours exploring and killing some random walkers.

Buffy agreed. They spent time, though, looking through the place until night feel. Buffy decided to head out in the morning and head back to Alexandria.

Although Negan agreed, he was disappointed to have his time with her cut short. Then he remembered, "Oh, wait. I thought your sister couldn't open a portal until a certain time?"

"I have a necklace that Willow made. It lets her know exactly where I am. If I activate it, she knows I need her. She can come to us," Buffy said confidently.

Negan wasn't sure what to think about that claim, but he knew she was amazing. All of them were.

"You know I have lots of compounds," he admitted. "All over the D.C. and Virginia area."

"Seriously?" she asked. "Then why do you live in metal place devoid of beauty?" He had told her all about his compound.

"It's secure," he pointed out. "This world has become unsafe. Giving people security and a sense of real safety is all most want now. It's enough."

"Well, if you can stop attacking communities and stealing half of what they have, we can start to rebuild our world," Buffy pointed out. "You keep going on the way you are, and you're going to make an enemy that will destroy you. No one will tolerate a tyrant for long."

Negan considered her words. She might have a point, but. . .

"It's good to be king," he told her with a grin.

When she rolled her eyes, he laughed.

******Chapter End*****

I am so sorry to keep you waiting so long for updates! My life is a bit insane now. Between my multiples jobs and family needs, I just have so little time and energy left over. My father now is dying of cancer, so there's so much always going on in my life. I still love my stories, though, and I will keep writing them as long as someone wants to read them. I've been working on this chapter for weeks, and I finally decided to just post it. Sorry if it's not longer. Thanks for reading!