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Negan

Jo stalked closer to me, her body was tight and controlled. She stopped right next to me and she pushed herself up on her toes and leaned towards me. As badly as I wanted it, I knew there was no way this woman was about to kiss me. No way, no how. She was too pissed.

Her lips brushed across my cheek feather light and she leaned in so her breath was hot against my neck when she spoke.

"You're not the boss of me," and she strutted out of the room like the goddamn goddess she was, leaving me standing there with my jaw hanging.

"Well, shit," I muttered to myself. I didn't have anything else to say to that. I swiped a hand along my jaw and shook my head. That was the second time in as many days that woman walked away from me, leaving me panting after her.

She was goddamn magnificent.

I turned to follow her deliciously leather-clad ass, but hesitated, my eyes falling to her bed. When she had strutted out of there, exuding badassery from her pores, she forgot to grab her jacket for the run. I scooped it up and followed, pulling the door closed behind me.

I headed towards the courtyard knowing that was where all the assholes going on the run would meet. I still didn't like the idea of her going. It was too soon first of all. I had fought with her and she was not in a good enough head space to tell the good guys from the bad guys very easily if shit went down.

And shit always went down.

Secondly, I didn't like the idea of her going out of the fence to begin with. It had nothing to do with whatever there was between us. I wasn't a sexist dick like that. If she was going to insist on working for points, and it seemed like she was no matter what I said, she could do something else inside the fence. Something in the market, or something behind the scenes if she didn't want to be around crowds of people. Something she would have chosen before that asshole did what he did to her. Just the thought of that prick made me tighten my hand around the small leather jacket.

With no one around to see me acting like a pussy i jogged through the halls to catch up to her. She was just about to pull the door to outside open when I came around the corner. I slowed immediately to a casual swagger before she noticed. "Hey Hot Friend!" I called after her.

She froze and turned to face me. For just a second her eyes were wary and her shoulders were defensive. Then, it was like confidence roiled through her small frame and she lifted her chin a tiny bit and met my eyes defiantly.

She was pissed at me. Pissed about my wives. There had been sparks between us, there was no doubt about that. And not just sexually, although I was betting she would be a wildcat in the sack. She had trusted me too though, we fought together and I had been able to help her when she lost control. It seemed her being pissed at me had fixed her control issues, or she was just getting better at hiding it from me. As soon as she found out about my wives she had pulled back full force and now her temper gleamed in her gorgeous green eyes any time she looked at me.

I flashed her a confident smirk and held her jacket up by one finger. "Honey, you forgot your coat, you'll catch your death," I teased in a song-song voice.

Her nostrils flared and I could see her debating leaving me standing there again. Finally she huffed out an irritated sigh and she stalked back towards me. I forced myself to keep my eyes on her face no matter how badly I wanted to drag them up and down her frame. She had a scowl firmly in place. It might work to scare off all the little boys at recess but I found it sexy as hell. My smirk stretched wider and I ran my tongue along my lower lip.

She jerked the jacket from my hand and whipped around. "Don't wait up," she growled at me as she punched her arms through the sleeves and shrugged it on with a controlled roll of her shoulders.

"Play nice with the other kids!" I called after her and I sunk my teeth into my lower lip. The sassy sway of those hips was going to be the death of me.

I turned to head back into the factory but I'll be damned if I could remember what I had been doing before I heard the rumor she was doing outside the wall. She was distracting me. I couldn't afford a distraction. Not now.

I had asked Dixon the day before why he called his niece Barbie. She looked nothing like a Barbie. She was short, a couple inches over five foot with short dark hair and smooth pale skin. The only thing that resembled a Barbie was her curves. He had laughed and said she was like Apocalypse Barbie, outfitted just for the occasion. He wasn't wrong about that but she was more than that. She was no doll, she was like a goddess of war. And I wanted her. It wasn't often I didn't get something I wanted but she wasn't going to be content with being one of my girls. My mean old granny would have said she was the marrying kind.

Without an idea what else I should be doing just then, I followed her out into the courtyard feeling like a whipped dog begging for scraps. As soon as I stepped outside however I swaggered over to the group, keeping my eyes firmly on Dwight and not the sexy badass to my left.

"So where's the field trip today?" I asked Dwight. I could practically feel her eyes on me, but I refused to look her way.

Dwight's eyes widened when he saw me. He had been here for almost a year working for points with his wife and hot sister in law. He had potential if I could just figure out a way to solidify his loyalty. He didn't believe in the system just yet. He just lived by it. The other six people going on the run were already loaded into the back of the truck. I glanced at them, but not a single one was significant enough for me to recognize. I didn't like the idea of her going out with a bunch of nobodies. Nobodies meant they didn't know how to fight that well, or weren't smart enough to get promoted to a position where I had at least interacted with them. I tightened my jaw. It meant they were inexperienced if not exactly expendable. People were a resource, but some had proven themselves to be worth more than others. And I felt like I was sending my star quarterback out to play defense. She didn't belong here.

"Hitting up a couple of stores not too far out." Dwight reported.

I nodded. We had been doing pick ups from a couple communities. They traded goods in exchange for protection. It was working well and if it continued to we might be able to stop the risky runs all together. Let other groups handle the runs, we could handle the protection. Most people thought the protection was the dangerous bit, but that wasn't it. When it came to protection detail we knew what to expect. Climbing into pitch black buildings looking for soup cans not knowing what was around the next corner was how people died.

"Keep an eye on your team," I told Dwight and his eyes cut to where Jo was. I didn't acknowledge a thing. Deny 'til ya die. I wasn't about to let some worker asshole know anything about my feelings. It wasn't his business. His business was making sure what was mine got back to me in one piece.

"Well, good luck out there," I said slapping him on the back. He nodded and turned to climb into the driver's seat. I didn't know why I was still out here. I should just head back inside instead of acting like some obsessed idiot. But here I was and I was nothing if not committed. I cracked my neck as I tried to release the tension in my shoulders. I didn't like the idea of sending her out there with this group of assholes. It was a waste, too risky. She was the damn queen, you didn't send the queen in to protect the pawns.

Dwight tried to start the truck and it cranked, but wouldn't turn over. I frowned. He tried a few more times before he climbed out. He waved the group to another truck and the others were just starting to climb in the back when it wouldn't start either. I met his gaze and walked over to where we had two other trucks parked. I tried one and he tried the other. None of them would fire.

"Looks like no one is going anywhere." I said tightly glancing around to see if anyone suspicious was hanging around the yard.

Dwight nodded, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Get me the asshole in charge of vehicular maintenance," I ordered and Dwight nodded to a man who had been slated to go on the run. He took off at a brisk jog, glancing over his shoulder at me nervously. Good, a little fear kept things running smoothly.

There was no chance this was coincidence. There had been a lot of goddamn coincidences over the last few days. It was all starting to add up to something, but I didn't know what. I scrubbed a hand over my eyes and when I looked up Jo was standing on the other side of the courtyard watching me with an unreadable expression on her face. She was good at reading people. Part of me wanted to ask her what she thought was going on. All of these things seemed unrelated to me. I needed a fresh set of eyes.

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Jo

I watched the men milling around, but none of them seemed out of place. Of course the problem was I didn't know anyone individually. I could only keep an eye out for anyone seeming especially anxious or tense. And with Negan around, every single one of them was tense.

"All you assholes get on with your day!" Negan called loudly enough to be heard over the soldier's talking.

I frowned as I watched all of them snap into action to follow Negan's command. I glanced towards Dwight, but he didn't look like he was going anywhere. Something was going on here. I didn't know a lot about Sanctuary, but from what little I did know about it, and Negan himself, I didn't think things were normally quite this sloppy.

Negan glanced back at me and lifted his brows, as though he were asking to see if I was going to follow his order. I scowled at him and crossed my arms over my chest. The leather of the jacket sighed at the motion. The jacket felt almost new, it would take some time to break in.

He smirked at me with that same flirty look he had been using all day, but this time it was forced. All part of the show to assure everyone around us everything was okay. His eyes were serious and the tense set to his shoulders made me think he was getting worried about this.

The mechanic scurried through the door. Simon followed a few minutes late, along with some of the men I recognized as three men and Regina, who were all higher ups in Negan's inner circle.

The mechanic worked quickly, going over each truck. As he moved from one to the next his frown deepened.

"Well?" Negan drawled as his patience for standing around ran out.

The mechanic slammed the last hood and wiped his hands off on a rag from his back pocket. "Looks like someone pulled fuses," he said frowning.

"Can you fix them?" Negan asked tightly.

The mechanic flinched but nodded quickly. "Course," he replied. "It'll take some time to figure out which fuses they pulled but I can send some of the men out to find what we need."

"How long would this have taken?" Negan asked.

The mechanic shrugged. "Minutes, it was done by someone who knows something about trucks. Wouldn't be hard to do."

Negan turned away from the trucks and walked towards the fence, his hands resting above his head. "Shit," he snarled.

I watched him carefully. The tension in his shoulders was rising. He stomped a few feet away and I watched as he fought to keep his frustration in check. I wasn't the only one who recognized there was something off here.

I glanced towards the other men but none of them seemed to notice. They were just sheep, waiting for their orders from Negan. They knew more about this place than I did. I tightened my jaw. How could they not see what was happening here?

"NEGAN!!!" a man yelled, throwing the door open. The door slammed against the wall with a snap like thunder and I whirled towards it, my hand already dropping to rest on my knives.

"Easy tiger," Negan's voice teased just behind my ear. His breath tickled my neck and I could feel his heat just behind me. He had been fast, almost as fast as me. That shook me. Someone as large as him shouldn't be able to be that fast.

Negan stepped around me as the man ran straight for us. I tensed further, half expecting an attack, but the man's eyes were locked on Negan.

"Easy there," Negan said in a warning voice as he stepped around me so he was standing between me and the strange men.

"It's Charlie-" he gasped.

I glanced towards Negan but he looked as confused as I was. "Who the shit is Charlie?"

"In the armory," the man gasped.

Negan straightened at that. He took two strides straight at the man and the man looked like he wanted to skitter back away from Negan's rage.

"What the shit is going on?" He growled. "Simon!" he yelled and Simon dutifully jogged over.

"Charlie was on duty at the armory and when I went to relieve him, he was knocked unconscious," the man explained, his voice shaking.

"So you just decided to leave all our guns unguarded? So just any asshole could just walk up and take whatever the hell he pleased?" Negan growled dangerously.

"No!" the man exclaimed, but he took a couple steps back from Negan. "I left Merle there!"

"You left a worker watching our guns?" Negan's voice was low and dangerous.

I narrowed my eyes at his implication that Merle wasn't trustworthy.

The man's eyes widened and he skuttled backwards. Negan made a noise of disgust low in his throat. "Simon!" he barked and his gaze landed on mine. His eyes were hard and intense. "Jo?" he asked.

I nodded. I wanted to find out what was happening almost as badly as Negan did. I needed to know this was still a safe place for Kate. Because if Rome was collapsing, I wanted to be out the door before things got bad.

I fell in behind the two men as they stalked towards the door. They were striding fast and I had to stretch my legs to keep up, but I refused to chase after Negan, not with this many people watching.

Negan and Simon led the way to the second floor. I worked to memorize the path, but I was still struggling with navigating the unknown halls. I worked hard to keep my dismay from showing on my face, and instead I focused on keeping the disapproving scowl on my face.

We were halfway down the third hallway that looked exactly like every other one when I spotted Merle, leaning casually against the wall outside a closed door. A slow smirk crossed his face when he spotted me behind Negan and Simon.

"Boss," Merle greeted.

Negan nodded to Merle but shoved through the door without comment. I trailed behind, wondering what exactly it was he wanted me along for. I hesitated when I stepped into the room. They had said armory. They weren't kidding.

The room was larger than I had anticipated and it was stacked floor to ceiling with guns and ammo of all shapes and sizes. There were hundreds of guns, no thousands, crates and crates of guns. They had to have raided a military base of some kind at one point. I made a mental to ask Negan or Merle about it some time.

I heard the stomp of feet outside the door in the hallway. I swung around towards it, my fingers gliding over the handles of the knives. Merle was still out there, and I trusted him not let an enemy come at my back. To be honest it was hard to feel cornered in a room with this much weaponry. The man who was supposed to be on duty stepped into the doorway and without realizing it I positioned myself between him and Negan and Simon.

"Charlie was knocked out and someone had been in here. Five guns are missing," the man reported.

"Just five?" I asked curiously.

"Five guns is enough to do a lot of damage," Simon said tightly.

I nodded but didn't say anything more. I didn't know exactly how things worked here yet and I didn't want to over step my bounds. Looking around this room however, only taking five guns was plain negligence.

Negan led the way back out of the armory and Simon and I followed. The others  had followed us here. Regina nodded to me and I dipped my chin in response. I stepped over to where Merle stood still leaning against the wall. I slouched next to him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"So...what asshole had the balls to pull this one off?" Negan asked, his eyes cutting over his men.

I was curious what it was exactly going on here, did he think it was one of these men? I didn't fully understand why Negan wanted me here and it made me uncomfortable. I didn't like not knowing. I also didn't like that there was now someone out there with guns. The Sanctuary had seemed stable, but lately...not so much.

"What about her?" a gruff voice called challengingly.

Negan followed their gaze to where I was standing at the back of the group. "What about her?" he asked curiously.

"Well all of this started when we picked up your new pet killer and it's only gotten worse since you've given her free rein to wander around anywhere she chooses."

I didn't recognize the man, but he looked tough, like a soldier. I realized then that he must have been part of the group who had taken Woodbury.

"Wait," Negan said holding his hands up. "Let me make sure I am hearing you correctly, because it sounds like you are accusing my new hot friend here of all the shit that's been going down the last few days. And I know that can't be right, because that would mean you are also questioning my judgement. Is that what you're doing?" Negan's eyes were dangerous and while he was smiling, there was nothing friendly about his expression.

The man shifted his weight restlessly back and forth, his eyes looking to the men surrounding him. "Come on, I'm not the only one who has been thinking this!" he exclaimed a little desperately.

"No but you are the only one dumb enough to open your mouth. Now come on Matty," Negan slid up next to the man and wrapped an arm over the man's shoulder. Matt tensed, shrinking beneath Negan's touch. "Look at her," Negan said gesturing towards me. The other men all turned to look at me, but I refused to flinch under their gaze. "She look like she needs to steal a rifle and a couple of hand guns?" Negan asked tightly. "A gun in those hands would just be overkill."

Matt seemed to shrink even more. When he didn't respond Negan let out a chilling chuckle. "That's what I thought," he growled. "All right, show's over," Negan called looking over the group. They immediately disbursed all except Simon, Merle and myself.

"Oh, and Matt," Negan called in a playful tone once the others had gotten out of ear shot.

The man froze and turned back to meet Negan's eyes. Negan leaned back, cocking his head to the side. "Don't ever question me again," Negan warned in a low, dangerous voice.

Matt nodded too many times and when Negan jerked his chin, Matt took the opportunity and fled down the hall.

Once he was gone Negan turned back to me. "I didn't take them," I said plainly.

Negan snorted and slid towards me. "Course not, when all this was going down you were standing in front of me in your bra."

I pulled back and scowled up at him.

He let out a low chuckle. "Can't ask for a better alibi Hot Friend. I'm not likely to forget the experience anytime soon," he said with a wink. He stepped away and turned his attention to Simon.

Merle met my eyes and lifted his eyebrows. I scowled at him, but instead of grinning at me like he usually did his eyes were grave.

"Okay, we need to do a search, talk to a few people.  Simon you take Dixon with you, I'm sure his charming personality will help you get some info out of the workers. Hot friend," he called glancing over his shoulder at me, "you're with me."

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I really hope you enjoyed the update!