#i'm gonna become croate now

[vrmxlho]

WDYM PORTUGAL LOST???????? NOW THE ONLY COUNTRY IM LINKED TO THAT'S LEFT IS EN*LAND

[im-a-goddamn-cat]

Solace

Neggie/Negan x Maggie || Rated: T || Words: 1.7k || CW: Canon-Typical Violence

Summary: Takes place during S1E4 of Dead City; Negan comforts Maggie after they discover the dead child.

A/N: I was originally gonna start working on different fic idea but after watching episode 4, I couldn't stop thinking to myself "What if Negan had comforted Maggie after the incident with the dead child" so I wrote this first real quick to get it out of my system.

Also, in regards to my last Neggie fic: I know I said that I was going to write a second chapter but I think I'll just be leaving it as a one-shot for now. I couldn't think of anything to write that wouldn't just be a rehash of what I already wrote. Maybe someday I'll go back to it but for now, I think I'll leave it alone. I'm so sorry to anyone who might've be looking forward to another chapter.

Anyways, enjoy this fic! <3

AO3 || FF.net || ↓

Maggie began going ahead of the group, franically checking more rooms, with Negan close behind her. She entered another room but stopped in her tracks, her blood running cold at the sight she was greeted with. Ahead of her in the room was a child tied to a chair. His face was hidden as his head was hanging down but she could tell that he was dead just from his appearance. His skin was too pale, he wasn't moving, and he had gashes all over his body. He looked eerily similar to Hershel and the realization of that had Maggie frozen in place. Her breathing got quicker and tears began to form in her eyes at the possibility that this really was Hershel.

......

Negan and Maggie, along with Amaia, Tomasso, and the rest of their group walked down the halls of The Croat's stadium in search of Maggie's son, Hershel. Slowly, they began checking every room. One by one, every door they opened greeted them to a room smeared with blood in various places but no one inside. The sights alone caused Maggie to become even more on edge than she already was. Knowing that The Croat was not above torturing children to the point of death had Maggie anxious as to the state Hershel would be in when they found him. With everything in her, she hoped that they were not too late.

I have to check, I have to see if it's him, the voice in her head told her but she couldn't move. She couldn't bring herself to look. The idea that this is Hershel and that they were too late to save him was already beginning to eat her away.

Negan made his way to the room. Looking down, he saw the blood smeared on the floor near the entrance. He continued on and once he entered and saw the sight before him, a wave of anxiety washed over him. He first saw the dead child, who looked so much like Hershel, and then he saw Maggie, frozen in place staring at the child. The look on her face was one of pure grief. She looked to be on the brink of a breakdown and the sight broke Negan's heart. Seeing that she wasn't moving to check if it was Hershel, Negan took the initiative himself and slowly began walking over to him.

Truthfully, he didn't want to check either because if it is Hershel, he isn't sure that he could handle the weight of that either. If Hershel was dead because of The Croat, who Negan failed to put down when he had the chance, Negan wasn't sure he could ever forgive himself for fucking up like that. If he had killed The Croat when he attempted to, none of this would have happened and Maggie and Hershel would still be safe at their home. The guilt for the situation was already eating him up but if Hershel was dead, he could never live it down.

Shaking those thoughts away, Negan approached the child. He looked back at Maggie for a second, seeing if she would stop him. When she didn't, Negan turned back to the child and lifted his head up. He began trying to bite Negan as he wasn't put down before he turned to a walker. Seeing his face, Negan let out a sigh of relief and looked back towards Maggie.

"It's not him," Negan said to her. He turned back to the child and quickly put his knife through his head to put him to rest for good. Maggie let out the breath that she was holding in as a wave of relief washed over her. A few stray tears pricked her eyes but she wiped them away. She was still reeling from the intensity of the situation but she didn't want to fully give into her emotions. She didn't want Negan to see her upset. 

Negan could see that Maggie was still very upset. She still looked like she was on the brink of full-on crying and she was physically shaking. Concerned, Negan was going to ask if she needed a minute to relax but before he could say anything, she turned and left the room without saying a word. Confused, Negan stood there for a second before exiting the room as well. When he made it out into the hallway, he looked around for Maggie but didn't see her. Walking a little ways, he came across another room and heard sniffling coming from it. He entered and saw Maggie, who was standing towards the back of the room, her back facing him. She looked back when she heard him enter and quickly wiped away tears when she saw it was him.

"Sorry, I just… Needed a minute," she told him before turning back to face the wall in front of her. Negan slowly walked over to stand next to her. When he saw that she wasn't going to protest him being there, he relaxed a little.

They stood in silence for a few moments. Negan looked at Maggie and saw that she still looked distraught. How could she not be, he thought, she just thought she had discovered that her son was dead. Maggie was looking towards the ground, unmoving. Negan wanted to say something to comfort her but he wasn't sure if she would appreciate it. He didn't want to start yapping and end up annoying her. Instead, he turned slightly and slowly reached his hand out towards hers to hold it. He was afraid that she was going to yell at him to not touch her or at least shake him away like she did when he tried to do the same thing when Luther had upset her, but instead she allowed it this time. Usually she wouldn't allow this type of contact from him but at the moment, she needed any comfort she could get.

"I really thought it was him," Maggie finally spoke up. "I thought… I thought I'd lost my son." She started choking up again.

Negan nodded. "I know… I did too," he told her. "But it wasn't him."

Maggie turned towards Negan as well and looked up at him. "But what if it was? What if we find him and we're too late?" More tears started rolling down her face. "If he's dead… I don't know what I'll do. I've lost so many people already. I don't know if I could handle it if I lost him," she told him truthfully. Maggie has tried to stay strong but with everything she’s been through and everyone she’s lost, the weight of it all is catching up to her.

Negan felt a pain in his heart when hearing those words. The guilt of his past resurfaced as he thought about how he was responsible for taking away at least one person Maggie cared about and how Hershel never would have been taken if he had taken out The Croat. How he's responsible for the suffering of someone who he's begun to care about and grown extremely fond of. He wished he could go back in time and do it all over again right this time.

This isn't about you though, he told himself in his head. Shaking away those thoughts, he focused back on Maggie. "No, don't say that. We're gonna find him and he's gonna be okay," he tried reassuring her.

Maggie shook her head and looked back down. "I'm an awful mother. I try, I try my hardest but nothing I do is any good. Hershel has been growing distant from me for a while now. I tried to keep him safe but I couldn't even do that. Now he's gone and I might never see him again. I failed him." Maggie got more upset as she opened up to Negan about her son and herself. She felt awful that no matter what she did, it always seemed to go wrong for her and the people she’s close to. After she finished speaking, she broke down sobbing and suddenly threw herself against Negan. Negan was stunned by the sudden contact from her as it was unusual for her to be on him like this. But after a moment, he slowly put his arms around her and when she didn't protest, he began rubbing soothing circles around her back.

"Maggie Rhee, you are a lot of things but you are not a bad mother. You're an amazing woman and you'd do anything for your kid. He's lucky to have you. I know it's hard, seeing all this gruesome shit and wondering how your boy is. But I promise you, we'll find him."

Negan's words made Maggie cling to his jacket tighter and let out another cry into his shoulder. Negan subconsciously tightened his hold on her and continued his soothing ministrations on her back.

"I'm so fucking sorry, Maggie… You and Hershel don't deserve this," Negan said with a hint of guilt in his voice. Maggie nodded but didn't move from where she was, letting Negan hold her. Part of her was disgusted with herself that she was taking solace in the man who was responsible for her husband's death and so much of her suffering, but at the moment she didn't care as she desperately needed the comfort. She couldn't remember the last time someone consoled her like this and it felt good to have someone do this again. Plus, Maggie would never admit it, but she’s been growing fond of Negan as well.

They stood in silence wrapped up together for a few moments. Maggie moved first, releasing her grip on Negan and pulling away, and Negan let her. Maggie looked at him and nodded.

"Thank you," she told him sincerely. She then noticed the wet spot on him where she had been crying. "Sorry I made a mess of your shirt."

"It's alright. I've had worse on me." Negan chuckled and Maggie cracked a small smile at that.

"It's okay to let it all spill out sometimes. You are one of the toughest people I know and I admire that like hell, but even you can't keep all that shit bottled up forever, Maggie." Maggie nodded at that. She knew he was right.

"Come on, let's go find the group and get your boy back." Negan smiled. Maggie smiled as well and nodded again. They headed out of the room in search of the others to complete their mission.

......

A/N: Thank you for reading! <3

[pettyrevenge-base]

"I'm separating you by race." Alright, I'll just stand you up in front of the class.

Sorry before I start, I am sorry if I structure my English wrong. Thanks for your interest!

Some background before I get into anything, me and my friend Marko attend a university abroad. We are both from Croatia, but I have an English name and he has a Croatian name. Also, my accent is all but gone as I was raised outside of my home, so he sounds very thick and I sound Croatian only when I speak the language. Furthermore, since we both speak English, we see no reason to speak Croatian unless we are alone as we find it rude to speak our language around those who cannot understand us when we could easily speak English.

So since we are both Croatian and have known each other 10+ years and attend the same classes, we naturally do all of our work together. And in a previous post (a revenge one, check it out if you're interested) we actually got a student expelled from the class, and now this professor sort of has it out for us very subtly. For an "experiment" for our 30% group assignment, we were told to group up with people who were members of our race or region. I was like "meh I'll just take Marko like I've always done and we'll smash it out in a few nights." Apparently not!

So I registered myself with Marko and a Bosnian dude we knew as an Eastern European group. Easy enough. Professor immediately jumped on my ass and told me: "Sorry DAULTIM8, you're gonna have to pair with a person from your country for once. Is that such a horrid concept to you? Were my rules unfair?" I stared at him blankly and told him "I have chosen. Marko is Croatian too." He looked at me, laughed rather dramatically and told me that I was as much of a Croat (which is a word that if said wrong can be used as a slur) as himself and unless I magically became Croatian the next day I'd be working with "Good students who speak English." Which, seeing as Marko was sitting right next to me was quite rude.

Alright Professor. Easy enough to become what I already am.

That night I went home, printed off birth certificates, collected my passport, driver's license, firearms license, and to really rub it in I brought proof of my military training. (Many Eastern Europeans are encouraged to do a sum of military service after high school, I did my part and then headed to university. Never saw or did anything hero worthy, just smoked in the barracks and gave food and water to poor kids in small countries.) And to FURTHER rub it in I went into the albums and collected a picture of me and Marko as early angsty teenagers.

The next day was wonderful, I walked in and the professor told me that he had assigned me a group of people who I'd be able to actually communicate with. With a smirk, he pulled out a chair for me at their table. I looked at him, walked right up to him, picked up the chair and brought it to the Eastern European side. His jaw was unhinged, dragging along the floor as he walked up to me and asked if I wanted to receive a fail for my "Sub ordinance and unwillingness to partake in the assignment." In response, I opened my backpack and passed him the bundle of papers I had accumulated. I then opened my wallet and took out my three licenses, all in Croatian and finally my passport. He sort of stared at the bundle, flicking through, all the meanwhile poor Marko was slowly being marinaded by his tears as he held in his laughter, his face flat on his desk.

Once he was done, he placed the bundle on my desk. At this point, the class around us was rather confused as to what the cause of the ten minute delay was. Seeing this, to nail in the point, I stared the professor in the eye and said as blank as I could: " Jesam li dovoljno hrvatski da radim sa svojim sunarodnjacima, gospodine?" Which pretty much means "Am I Croatian enough to work with my countrymen now, sir?"

The professor, defeated and quite humiliated now simply said "get to work." And walked away.

We're handing in the assignment tomorrow.

TLDR: my professor separated the class by race for a social experiment for an assignment, told me I couldn't work with my fellow Croatians because he didn't believe i was Croatian. Showed him my license, passport, military training certificate and other documents and worked with my fellow Croatians.

Source: reddit.com/r/pettyrevenge