This was it. This was the last straw.

The fact he didn't doubt that it had happened, not even for a second, should be the final proof he needed; this was it. Thinking back on the exchange they had earlier that night didn't make things better; the hypocracy and the sheer cold blooded thinking behind it only proved it further. There's nothing else to be done, no turning back. Some things are irreversible.

He couldn't anymore.

Paul climbed down the steps and the voice echoing below ceased immediately, and he turned to the cell on the left to find Gregory standing near the bars, his hands on his hips and his posture the same usual poor attempt of asserting himself over the rest. He seemed surprised, maybe expecting someone else, but then his face changed into a flash of displeasure before he put on the expected expression of concern, of regret he never bothered to truly feel.

"Jesus. Take me out. I-"

"Don't."

Gregory groaned immediately. "Oh of course you had to go to-"

"I said don't!" Paul snapped, making Gregory flinch back, not unlike what happened before whenever anyone stood up at him, but this time it was too much, and the man had to understand that. "Don't act like we're all idiots, Gregory, for once in your fucking life, just don't."

"Of course you wouldn't believe me! You don't even want to hear me out, you're already attacking-"

"Because I know you, Gregory! I wanted to believe you, I swear I did, but what you did is beyond anything I can use to rationalize you, to justify or to excuse you. I can't anymore, Gregory. I can't. I'm done. You've done..."

"Jesus..." Earl spoke from the opposite cell. Whatever the man wanted to say, to apologize or to defend Gregory, Paul didn't let the him continue. Not this time.

"Do you realize what you've done? Do you understand?"

"Earl did it! Whatever you've been told-"

"Gregory, stop. Don't... please, don't do this. Not now, not to me. I can't."

"Jesus - P-Paul, this is wrong, you got this wrong. She attacked me! She's crazy, she's- Earl's grieving, the poor man, and she thinks I did it, she attacked me!"

"You tried to kill Maggie, Gregory!"

"You believe her?! She attacked me! It was self defence! Earl's the one that attacked her! You don't believe-"

"No, Gregory, I don't believe you!" Paul threw back at the man. He couldn't handle this, not this again. "Don't try to twist everything around like you've always done, don't try to walk yourself out of this again! It's too much, Gregory. We've tried, I tried, I thought it had worked, but you don't change. Why..."

He grit his teeth in frustration, rubbing at his face, feeling like pulling at his hair, anything that would help, but this was too real already. The pain in his throat, tearing away at him, was hurting him too much. He was responsible somehow, because how could this happen? How could people act like this, when they'd been given all the opportunities they could? How could someone be so selfish to want to kill another person, for the sole purpose of making their lives easier? The world used to be like that before it ended; in many ways, the new world had still been too much like that, but not the world they were trying so hard to build now. Not in the world where they'd give people the chance to change.

And Gregory still didn't change. He didn't try, he didn't want to. How could Paul have hoped someone like that would ever change? If Maggie had died, how would Paul have been able to live with himself?

"I would have killed you," he muttered despite himself, raising his eyes to Gregory. "I would have killed you if you had killed Maggie."

"You're mad at me? Me?! All I ever did-!"

"All you ever did was look after yourself! You don't care what happens as long as you get power! Why can't you understand that, Gregory? Why can't you understand that it doesn't work anymore, that you can't trick people anymore? Why can't you understand how vile you were, taking advantage of the pain of a parent to do your dirty work? Do you realize what you did to this man? The consequences to his life?"

"I didn't-"

"Of course you didn't think about it! You never do! You only care for yourself."

"Jesus... Jesus, it was me. I did it," Earl tried again. Gregory bloated up in confidence from the poor man's regret, the pain of grief. "I..."

"Earl, don't," Paul interrupted him again. "Maggie will decide your case. You attacked an unharmed woman and her baby. There will be consequences. But what you did is different. You are not him. Not even close. You don't lie, you don't deny your actions, you don't try to throw your guilt to someone else like a damn child. Those are all things Gregory has never stopped doing."

The way Gregory's face contorted, something he would consider almost comical before but now was simply offensive, told him he wanted to scream, to complain, to throw every single excuse he could think of, but he never had the strength to do it in front of someone who stood the slightest ground, who called him out as the coward he was. He might be unable to feel empathy for anyone else but himself, but Gregory was impeccable at identifying threats, and the look in Paul's face was too clear.

"Okay, I know, I know. I was stupid," so of course he changed his game, as always. Smooth talking, humiliating himself if need be, all so he could get himself a safe way out. "I'm stupid, I'm an idiot, I wasn't thinking, I-"

"No. Enough."

He couldn't anymore.

"I can't listen to your excuses anymore," Paul continued, to Gregory's shocked and offended expression, his attempt to keep defending himself cut short: "No. It's always the same, Gregory. It's always the same, until we reached this and this time there's no turning back. You tried to kill Maggie."

"Jesus..." he tried. This time, he wasn't even interrupted. His voice dropped and he swallowed hard. "Paul... please. I was wrong. I know, I can see that now."

"No, you can't. You just say what you know people want to hear."

"Then what do you want me to say, Jesus?!"

"Nothing," he admitted, feeling like a weight had crashed over him rather than been removed. "There's nothing you can do anymore. There's nothing, Gregory, and I don't know what to do, because I can't do anything anymore."

Gregory fell silent for a moment. His gaze kept shifting between Paul's eyes, unsure where he should focus, what he was missing, trying to find some endgame from Paul's part, some play he might be trying to pull, but finding nothing, because there was nothing.

"You're not a leader, Gregory. You just want people doing your bidding. You're not even what Negan was. You're just ridiculous and humiliating." Because that's what he was: a ridiculous, weak and scared man that would always try any way he could to save his own skin.

Gregory wouldn't give up. He just couldn't.

"What're you gonna do, huh?" he asked, not as scared as much as he was offended. "What's Maggie gonna do?"

"I don't know," Paul admitted. But he imagined, and honestly... he didn't know what else could be done. Paul waved his head, trying to breathe, trying to think. "I've had people try to kill me and I didn't kill them. I don't know if I was wrong or not, but I had to stand by what I believed."

"Oh, you mean like the Saviors?" Gregory asked with disdain, scoffing in disbelief. He was the one in disbelief, like he was the one that had not done anything wrong.

"Yes, exactly," Paul replied without hesitation. "They-"

"You're all wrong! I didn't do anything to Maggie, she tried to kill me! You never believed me, Jesus, you've betrayed me every single time you could so you could just wiggle your tail to the next-"

"Gregory, please." Both men turned their heads to Earl, even though none of them could actually see him in his cell. The man's voice was exhausted. "Gregory said stuff he shouldn't. He may have hoped for something to happen... but I'm at fault, Jesus, I did it. I... I tried to hurt Maggie."

"You hear the man?!" Gregory spat out, eyes wide and his veins popping out. "You see?! I'm innocent! Maggie's crazy! She thinks I did it! I-"

"You did! For once, Gregory, for once in your fucking life, don't act like you're smarter than the rest of us. You're not."

"How dare you..." the man choked on his spit, gritting his teeth. "You... you never believed me. You... Maggie stole everything from me! She stole from me and you helped her! She's an usurper, she took everything I did and she claimed it as hers!"

"No, Gregory, she didn't. You didn't do anything. The people did. Everyone did. And you could never see that."

"Where'd you all be without me?! I took Earl and Tammy Rose and their boy in! I took you in! I kept the Saviors away from us for as long as Maggie was not around! She's at fault for all of this! The Hilltop is mine! I brought us to where we are! I did!"

Paul flinched and had to avert his face away, pressing his lips tight at hearing what he knew, what he had always known but never imagined or wished would be confirmed this way.

"This is over, Gregory. There's nothing else I can do."

"Of course there is, you can let me go and we can send Maggie away for slander, for attempting against my life!"

"Gregory," the old man said from the other cell. "Jesus is right. We have to face what we've done."

"No!" Gregory shot through the bars, grabbing at them and knuckles turning white. "Shut up, you old fool! What are you gonna do?! Are you gonna exile me, send me away to die outside? You wouldn't!"

Paul waved his head. He still didn't know what to do.

Or rather, he did.

"I wouldn't want to," he whispered. "But Maggie is not me."

Gregory didn't seem impressed.

"What's Maggie gonna do, Jesus? What can she do?"

"Whatever she does, I'm not stopping her."

"You wouldn't," Gregory accused. "You know I'm right."

"She's the leader of Hilltop. I'm not. I have to respect her decision."

Paul turned around, leaving the man behind and ignoring the repeated words that started echoing even before he got to the steps. He continued, blocking them all out. It was too much. He hadn't felt this exhausted, this drained out, in a long time; because this time, he couldn't do anything to help. All his attempts had failed. There was nothing else he could do, only leave everything to happen as it had to. And he knew that this time, there'd be no turning back.

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the end

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Author's Note: This was an unexpectedly amusing fic to write. It might have been fueled by a couple of bad stuff from real life, but that's actually a good thing in the end. I never felt extremely stressed to write, I never fully struggled with a scene, it was just a thoroughly flowed and pleasant writing experience. I don't write many multi-chaptered fics, and certainly none of them had this quick result.

The hardest chapter might have been this one, really.

All my music choices were fluid too, with System of a Down giving place to Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian in turns. All very pleasant.

I've had quite a bit of hits/views in the story on both websites, which is quite nice. Feedback may be understandably sparce, but randomcat23 's continuous and tireless support was particularly encouraging and positive. Thanks a lot :)

See you around.