No Way Out •Daryl/Negan•

The Day Will Come When You Won't

Negan was fuming. Those bitches had the nerve to touch and damage what was his and just walk away as if there were no fucking consequences.

The Savior leader marches to the girls' room and throws the door open without any warning. Amber and Sherry were the only two in the room; they both jumped in surprise. Sherry gave a look of worry as she takes in Negan's upset face. She begins to ask what's wrong but Negan interrupts her.

"Where are the rest of them?" Negan growls.

"Who?" Sherry asked, her eyebrows furrowed. He got rid of all his other wives.

"You're a smart girl, Sherry. I'm sure you can fucking guess who I'm fucking talking about!" Negan says sarcastically, his voice slowly rising the more he spoke.

"You kicked them out. They aren't here," Amber responded quietly, hiding her face as tears gathered in her eyes. She already knew why Negan was so pissed and she was terrified of what was to come. Not to mention how upset Sherry was gonna be now that she was getting accused; she was the only wife that actually liked Daryl.

"Get them. Now." The tall brunette orders lowly as he gestures toward the door, leaving no room for discussion.

Both girls scurry out the door to quickly do as told. Amber was scared out of her mind and Sherry was just confused. She didn't understand why Negan was so upset with them; she's done everything he's asked of her and more.

Negan seated himself on the sofa and kicked his feet up as he waited impatiently for the women. He was still furious. His poor Daryl cornered and defenseless against those psychos. Negan was losing his control and he needed to get it back, and quickly.

It was a total of 12 minutes when five nervous women timidly walk through the door, their heads down as if in shame. If Negan wasn't so pissed, he would have smirked in satisfaction, however, now he just sat with his arms crossed, feet up, and a dark stare aimed right at the girls.

The leader gives them a look, just daring one of them to talk. The silence lingers for several minutes, leaving the room with a thick tension. Finally Negan's, dark, firm voice breaks the silence.

"Why do we have rules, ladies?" is all Negan asks. The girls are startled by the question and don't say anything.

"Because nothing matters if you're dead. You're all here because you get that..." Negan explains, waving his hand around as he spoke. He then stops abruptly to look at the girls again, "... or so I thought. Turns out I had a little break-in in my bedroom. You know, the same room that no one is allowed in unless I specifically tell them to get your ass there. Not only did these people break-in but they also hurt something very valuable to me... now, do any of you have the slightest idea who would do such a terrible thing? "

Negan moved to his feet and walked real close to the women, four of the five shaking in fear. He puts his face real close to Ann's and stops to stare into her eyes. He then whispers, "Annie, Darling, anything you have to say?"

Ann cracks under the pressure and starts to bawl, blabbering nonsense. Negan is able to catch the words "Sorry", "Accident", "Don't kill us", and "His Fault."

"Ah hah! And the truth has been revealed!" Negan bellows, cutting off Ann's crying. He laughs maniacally, throwing his head back in the process.

"Please don't hurt us..." Cami whimpers, her own tears spilling.

"Now have I ever fucking hit one of you girls?" Negan asks, clearly annoyed. The girls slowly shake their heads 'no' in answer. "Of course, I haven't."

Amber begins to sob suddenly causing Negan to roll his eyes.

"See, I get it! I really do. You're jealous. A new piece of ass comes in and just like that, you're forgotten. But I'll tell you something... SUCK IT UP! This world isn't full of fucking rainbows and kittens! It was bound to happen sooner or later," Negan says bluntly. Sherry looks like she's about to say something but doesn't. She was still confused about what was happening. Negan continues.

"My hands are just tied here, girls. You left me with no choice but to punish you." Negan explains throwing his hands up as he paced before them. He then stops abruptly and steps forward into Lizzy's face; she cowers. Negan's voice drops low, "I should take a damn iron to your faces, or hell, I should just let Lucille take care of you... but, I'm gonna let you Gals off easy. I want you working from dawn to dusk on redirect duty every fucking day until I say different. If you get bit, that's your own damn fault. I'm also deducting half of your points. Next time you come after Daryl, I won't be so nice."

"Yes, sir..." the women all murmur in unison. Negan keeps staring.

"All of you will be put back in the point system and no long titled as my wives. Now get out." Negan says darkly before watching the girls leave. He didn't know what he was gonna do with the room now that it was unoccupied. He considered giving it to Daryl but decided against it; he liked having Daryl in the same room as him.

Negan's anger was completely deflated by the time he made it back to his room.

Daryl sat on the bed, his arms in his lap and his legs crossed. His eyes were red as if he had been crying but Negan chose to ignore it. His attention was more on the mark on the hunter's cheek. The scratch seemed to have swelled while Negan had been gone, but it didn't look life threatening. The leader stands in front of his captive and wordlessly just examines him. The cut looked clean, along with the freshly wet hair hinting that he must have taken a shower in the Savior's absence. Negan was pleased that the boy chose to stay naked rather than search for clothes.

"Looks fucking shitty as hell but you'll live," Negan finally states as he tilted Daryl's chin upward once again. He then walks away toward the bathroom where he washed his hands. He comes out but he doesn't look Dary's way. He instead sits at the love seat and grabs an old magazine, kicking his boots and socks off in the process.

Daryl stares at the man for several minutes then at his hands. Negan forgot to cuff him again. The archer frowned; he didn't know why but he didn't like the change. He almost felt safe with the metal cuffs and rather now bare without them.

"Ain't ya gonna cuff me?" Daryl replies gruffly. The question didn't sound too polite once he said it, but he knew Negan would understand what he meant.

"Are you planning to escape?" Negan asks casually, only briefly looking over his magazine.

"No..." Daryl said suspiciously. He honestly hadn't even thought about escaping but yet it seemed like a trick question.

"Then they can stay off." Negan wanted to make sure Daryl was able to defend himself just in case someone decided to attack him again, though he highly doubted it to happen a second time.

And that was the end of the discussion as Negan went back to his article.

"Did you..." Daryl starts to say but he can't finish it. The unsaid words still drifted in the air though. Kill them?

"No." Negan says abruptly, clearly not wanting to talk about this. Daryl let out the breath he was holding. He was thankful Negan didn't kill them. He felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders as the worry for the women disappeared immediately. He was then left to the quietness of the room causing him to fidget anxiously.

Daryl sat awkwardly on the bed as the silence filled the room. He then did something he wouldn't ever imagine himself doing. He slowly got off the bed and cautiously crawled to where Negan sat. He sat on his knees and gingerly nudged his nose against Negan's thigh to get his attention. He was terrified of rejection and hoped Negan would accept his small offering.

Negan looked down to see a pair of bright, slightly weary, blue eyes. A pang of emotion hit him as his eyes softened a little. He sighed and gave a small smile as he laid a hand on Daryl's messy curls. He gently pushed Daryl's head onto his lap so that the man was leaning against him as he went back to his magazine, continuing to play with Daryl's hair in soothing patterns. He could feel the sigh of relief from Daryl as they sat.

The Savior gets halfway through the mag before he hears the tiny snores from Daryl. Deciding it was time for bed, Negan set the magazine down back on the table and grabbed Daryl instead. Carrying him bridal style, Negan lays Daryl on the bed. He shed off his pants and shirt before getting in the bed alongside the sleeping hunter. A sudden rush of affection overcame Negan as he leaned over to lay a small kiss to Daryl's forehead.

"Goodnight Darling..." Negan says softly before he falls asleep himself.