She Has Fire

Chapter 10

Mary's POV

I couldn't get Daryl's face out of my head. The look as he realized he had missed Negan and hit me instead. I could only imagine how much he was punishing himself. I found I felt for him, I knew he'd never want to hurt me. But I was also angry that he'd try something so stupid. That he'd want to hurt Negan only made it worse.
"He needs to be punished." Negan said.
"I know..." I sighed. I ran a hand over my face. I couldn't punish him, but I wanted to. I had never felt more conflicted in my life. I felt his hand on my thigh.
"I can't let people think they get away with shit like this. I can't let people think hurting you is okay. I know you don't want him dead, even if every damn atom of my fucking being wants the fuckwad gone. But he needs to be punished." Negan said, I could see the rage in his eyes the thought of me being hurt caused.
"You can't kill him. That's all I ask. Don't kill him." I asked, my eyes watering. He took a deep breath and raised his hand to cup my cheek.
"I won't kill. I'll just take his fucking hand with that itchy trigger finger." He said. It made my stomach turn, but at the same time felt like the right punishment. Perhaps I was evolving with this new world.
"I want to be there. I want him to see my face when it happens." I said, a new found anger rising in me. He shot me. It was an accident but he understood what I felt and took the shot anyway.
"Doll, I'm not sure that's a great idea." Negan said.
"I'm going to be there." I growled. Negan looked at me dead in the eye, a sadness was there that I hadn't seen. He nodded.
"You still need to heal up. We won't go for a while, let them stew in it. Panic over what might happen." He said. I nodded.
"You need sleep, I'll let you rest. Bring you breakfast in the morning." He said as he started to get up. I pulled on his hand to stop him. I brought him down into a kiss. It felt so natural, so right, to be kissing him.
"Goodnight." I whispered against his lips.
"Damn...goodnight." He sighed as he straighten his posture and left. I sat in the room alone in the dark. It was the quietest it had ever been for me. I couldn't even hear the moans of the dead. I slowly drifted to sleep.
A light poured over my face, bringing me out of my sleep. I looked up to see a figure in the door.
"Negan?" I mumbled, half asleep and still unaware of myself or my surroundings. They came closer, shutting the door behind them. Too short to be Negan. Then his eyes cleared in my vision.
"No. What do you think you're doing!? Get out of here!" I screamed sitting up.
"Hey! Stop hollerin' you'll get me killed." Daryl's gruff voice sending shock waves of emotion through me.
"You can't be here. I don't want you here." I said, the tears starting to sting my eyes.
"I know, I know. But I ain't leavin' till I talk with you. I have to apologizes. I needed to make sure you were alright with my own eyes." He said, pain in his voice.
"You...you need to leave. I can't stop them from hurting you more than whats already coming if you're caught." I told him.
"Mary...please...I'm sorry. I...I didn't mean for this to happen. I never wanted anyone but him hurt." He said. I took a shaky breath, the tears falling down my face.
"You still don't get it. I didn't want him hurt. I...I might have real feelings for him. I do have feelings for him." I told him. He looked at me aghast.
"How can you feel for that asshole? He's a murderer!" Daryl growled.
"So are you! So is Rick! So is Michonne! So am I!" I yelled. He sat back, I wasn't sure if he was going to cry or scream or both. I could feel the anger radiating off him.
"You need to come home now. This ain't funny. This ain't good for you." Daryl said, his voice dark and dangerous.
"I'm not doing that. I'm here now. I'm with him now. I'm....Negan." I said. He looked at me as though I had just punched him in the face.
"The hell with you. I thought we were family. After all the shit we done for each other. All the shit we been through. This is what happens!? This is what you turn into!? The hell with you!!" He screamed. The door slammed open, the sudden burst of light burning my eyes. I looked up to see Negan and a few men standing in the doorway.
"Well, look who we got fucking here." He smiled, but his voice was raw and angry.
"Negan, please." I said.
"Doll, I know. I'm not killing the fucker. But he's going to pay. You hurt Mary, you almost killed my Mary!" Negan's voice boomed.
"You can have her! I'm done with her." Daryl spat.
"She isn't a thing, don't fucking talk about her like she is one." Negan growled.
"She ain't a human no more. She's one of you monsters now." Daryl grumbled. The anger poured over Negan. He grabbed Daryl by the collar and threw him against the wall and slammed his fist into his face.
"Negan!" I screamed. It didn't register. He kept pounding his fist into him. He started dragging Daryl away and tried to get up. My body too weak to hold it's own weight, I hit the floor hard. Negan turned and saw me on the floor, my nose starting to bleed. His eyes softened and he threw Daryl at Simon. Told him to take him down to a cell.
"Mary..." He came over grabbed a towel and pressed it to my nose.
"Please....please...Negan..." I sobbed. He wrapped me in his arms. I buried my face against his chest.
"I won't kill him. I'm a man of my word. I'm not going to kill him. But you can't stop me from punishing him. I have to do this tonight. We'll take him to back to Alexandria. Do it there." He told me. His voice was calm, almost soothing. It would have been comforting if it weren't for the subject he was discussing.
"I'm...I'm going." I said. He sighed and shook his head.
"You need to stay here. You need to rest, heal up. You're already upset enough. I don't want you more upset." He said.
"Negan...I can't stop you from punishing him. You can't stop me from going." I told him. He exhaled through his nose and gave curt nod.
"My god...are you okay?" Aaron came rushing over, looking at my nose.
"Fine..." I mumbled. Negan gently wiped the blood from my face and holding my head in his hand.
"Aaron, you stay with her. You don't leave this room until I come back. I mean it." He told him.
"Yes, of course."Aaron said looking at him confused. Negan wrapped me up in his arms and picked me and put me back on the bed. He leaned down and kissed me. He looked into my eyes, as if trying to apologize but not being able to say the right words. He stood up and left.
"What happened?" Aaron asked.
"Daryl snuck in. He came to me, Negan found out. They fought. He's punishing him tonight." I said, my voice shaking.
"What...what is going to do? Kill him?" Aaron said in a panic. I shook my head.
"No. But it's going to be bad." I told him.

Negan's POV

I ran a hand over my face and sighed. Not how I thought tonight was going to go. Shit was going to be hard. It was going to be a long fucking night. I reached the double doors and opened them. The whole place dark, the ladies asleep. I walked to Angela's room and knocked on the door.
"Negan? It's a little late...can't you wait till tomorrow?" She whined as she opened the door with heavy eyes.
"Not here for that. Need you to get Mary some comfortable clothes. Bring them to her in the infirmary. Don't talk to anyone, just get her the clothes and come back and go to bed." I told her. She looked up at me confused and worried.
"Negan, what's going on?" She asked timidly.
"Nothing you need be worried about." I told her.
"You aren't kicking her out. She's too weak, she won't survive out there!" Angela argued. I hushed her and put my hands on her shoulders.
"I'm not kicking her out. She...she wants to go see the Alexandrians punishment. I tried to talk her out of it. All she has is jeans, I figured one of you girls would have sweatpants or pajama pants for her. A loose shirt too." I sighed.
"Alright. I think I got something for her. I...I should go to." She said. I groaned and shook my head.
"No. Absolutely not." I said.
"Look, you're going to be focused on giving the punishment, you shouldn't be distracted. It'll make you look weak. Let me there for her. Let me take care of her." She said crossing her arms.
"You fucking women will be the death of me. Fuck it. Fine, you're right. I ain't waiting all day. Get dressed, get her dressed and tell Aaron that I want you two to bring her down to the trucks. Don't you talk to anyone else. You do only as I say." I barked. She nodded and went back into her room. I marched out. It was going to be really fucking long fucking night.