Dean's Dixon

Beginning of the end

A shot had rung out before Sam could fully wrap his head around the fact that he was staring at his father. He wasn't the only one reeling from this bombshell and Rick was battling the urge to accuse the Winchesters of something he knew they had no hand in. The boys had been with them for three years and from what they'd said, he knew they assumed their dad had died a long time ago. He'd disappeared before the apocalypse and from the things they'd said about the man, he wasn't going to win any father of the year awards. Besides, he saw the emotions that flashed across Sam's face: confusion, denial, pain, shock, anger, hatred... not one flicker of love for the man. He was sure the state June was in probably had a lot to do with it. Negan hadn't said a thing when he walked past them, needing to sort out this shit and put an end to it one way or the other.

"Sam, get her to your house and keep her there."

"Rick..."

"It'll be OK June."

"Maggie..."

He looked over to Father Gabriel and silently asked him to explain the situation. Rick had a feeling he knew where the shot had come from and once he was sure this would be sorted, he ran after Negan. June looked to Gabriel and he gave her a small smile, hopeful this would take some of the sting out of her day.

"Maggie is alright."

"She is? But why..."

"For her safety. She's at Hilltop with Sasha. The last thing we want is to give this man an excuse to go looking for them."

"So you did this?"

"Yes. I'm so sorry I wasn't able to give you a heads up."

"We didn't really have time... thank you Gabriel." She hadn't ever been super affectionate with the priest but the relief over her friend was overwhelming; when she gave him a hug he was pleasantly surprised and hugged her back. "Thank you."

"We'll get through this June"

"June... come on, we should get to the house. Make sure everything's alright."

"And see if we can fix up your wounds." Charlie added reaching her hand out for her friend and pulling her in beside her as they walked back to the house. "You're safe June." She promised. "We won't let him hurt you."

"I ain't worried about me Charlie."

"Who?"

"Everyone else... Sam..."

"I'll be ok June. I just... there's no way that can be my dad."

"That's what I thought too but the things he told me... I'm so sorry Sammy but I think he's tellin the truth."

"Let's worry about this later." Charlie suggested. "We've got enough to deal with... for instance."

They were disgusted by the way these people were going through the houses, taking all the shit and treating their people like garbage. The guy she'd spit on walked out of one of the houses and the second he saw her, dropped the stuff and came straight for her. He stopped short when he finally saw how tall Sam truly was; not only was he younger and more fit, but he was 3 inches taller than him and was clearly protective of this bitch.

"Negan tell you, you could leave his side?"

"Negan can go fuck himself. This is my home and I'm gonna do what the fuck I want."

"You think so? I wonder what he'll have to say about it?"

"Considering I'm married to one of his sons, I'm sure he'll see shit my way."