Shambles- The Walking Dead [Alden x Maggie] [1/2]

36- Sugar high

All the leaders of the four communities, and then some, had gathered in Ezekiel's throne room. During the fair it was the only place they could talk privately and uninterrupted. Sasha had been invited, but she declined. She was never one to discuss and negotiate, she was the one to act. They knew it was the same with Jesus.

Henry, Lydia, Mika and Judith were there too. They were there to listen.

"I know I haven't always seen eye-to-eye with everyone in this room," Michonne began. "But I never stopped caring about any of you. I was just trying to protect my family and do right by my people."

Carl stood behind her with his arms crossed loosely. She looked back over her shoulder and smiled at him and then to her daughter sitting on one of the theater seats.

"Alexandria's future is here," she continued. "Together, with you. And we lost sight of that for a while. But I'm here now. We're here now."

Gabriel took a step forward, "I've taken an informal vote with the other council members at the fair. And we all agree. Alexandria is willing to grant asylum to Lydia. She's one of us now. We hope the rest of you can join us in doing the same."

Alden leaned in on the back of the chair he was standing behind. "Rose risked her life in getting her here safely, of course we'll do the same," he spoke calmly. "I think she'd be safer in Alexandria than here or with us. Though I suppose the choice is up to her."

"Thank you," Lydia said relieved after she let the words sink in. "I'll do whatever I can to earn my keep and pay you back."

"She's safe at Alexandria because if her mom's going to retaliate it's gonna be against Hilltop," Tara shot an angry glare at Alden. "So, no, we can't," she hissed.

"We're not going to send her back to that again either," Maggie objected.

"She willingly traded herself for me. I owe it to her to make sure she's safe," Alden spoke calmly.

"I'm not okay with this. I can't," Tara objected.

"I understand," Michonne sighed. "Because when she came to my gates I asked her to run away and got mad when she didn't. But I also know why Rick didn't trust me when I showed up at the gates of that prison. And how people didn't trust you, Tara, after seeing you in the Governor's firing line. Or how almost everyone wanted Alden dead when he first broke Sasha out of Sanctuary because of what he did to us when he was with them."

He dropped his head in shame. Being reminded of his past never stung any less. He wished he could forgive himself like everyone did. Maggie's hand on his lower back eased that pain a bit.

"Whether we take her in or force her to leave; we're already in this," Maggie began. "If Alpha wants to retaliate, she's going to do it anyway. And we owe it to Lydia to give her a chance, like we've given each other a chance years and years ago when we were still strangers to each other."

"We were in it the second they hunted Rosita and Eugene," Aaron added, crossing his arms the best he could with his prosthetic.

"Lydia didn't choose where she came from, but she chose where she wanted to be. Just like everybody in this room," Michonne continued.

"We left some of our best fighters at Hilltop," Tara countered "But if Daryl's right about the skin job numbers, it's not enough people."

"We should take a group to Hilltop to protect them, just in case," Daryl insisted.

"It's a good idea," Carol nodded. "I'll take some from the kingdom."

"Oceanside can spare some fighters," Rachel added.