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Jo

The room looked more like a living room than the rec rooms the soldiers had downstairs. There were plush leather couches and a bar set up in the corner. The four women were lounging around, but when I stepped into the room they turned to look at me with polite interest. There was a sameness about each of them even though none of them resembled each other. They each had long perfectly straight hair and wore short black dresses. It seemed Negan had a type. Feeling a little self conscious I ran a hand through my own short, messy hair ruffling it a little. As though it wasn't already apparent enough that I was unlike these women in every way. Seeing them here it made me wonder if I had somehow made up the supposed chemistry between Negan and I. Maybe that was just how Negan was with people. Because looking at these beautiful women with their perfect make up I knew there was no way Negan would have ever been interested in me.

I turned back to face Negan as he closed the door behind himself. He was standing in the doorway, his head cocked to the side with an amused smirk stretching across his face. He had done this on purpose, brought me into this room with these women specifically to watch me squirm. He knew how I felt and he was having fun with me.

I tightened my jaw and fisted my hands at my sides. "I asked to speak with you in private," I said flicking my eyes over to the women. They weren't even pretending not to be listening. Instead they were watching Negan and I closely. Had they heard about me? Part of me wondered if they were sizing me up for a black cocktail dress. Well now that they had seen me in person they could rest assured they had nothing to worry about.

"Oh come on Hot Friend. These are my wives. This is private. They are my partners in life. I trust them...intimately," he rolled the word around his mouth and there was a suggestive gleam in his eye.

My eyes dropped to his lips and his smile grew wider. A knowing chuckle rumbled in his chest and I looked away, angry with myself for letting him get to me like this. I was over tired and not as in control of my thoughts as I should be, but I still couldn't let him get the best of me. He was playing a game and I was losing.

He chuckled knowingly and my eyes snapped back up to glare at him. I tightened my jaw. I wasn't doing this. 

Stop, reset. 

I let go of all of my anger and looked up at him seriously . "I need to speak with you," I said, my voice carefully controlled.

The laughter slowly left his eyes as he studied my face.

I gestured around myself. "I wouldn't be here for any other reason I can promise you that."

Negan nodded gravely. "Get out," he commanded without looking at the women.

As though they were puppets with their strings pulled every one of them turned without hesitation and fled out of the room. I frowned as I watched them go. Only fear made people react like that. I glanced back at Negan. He claimed he didn't tolerate anyone hurting women here, but if that was true then there was something else he had done to make them afraid.

He was watching me slyly, as though he were waiting for me to figure something out. Maybe if I wouldn't have been so tired and feeling so vulnerable I would have been able to figure it out. I might have been able to play his game. But honestly I just didn't have the energy.

"Look, I was talking to Merle-"

"You went and talked to Dixon?" Negan asked sharply in surprise, then in the next second his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Before I got a chance to-"

I scowled at him. "To what Negan? Before you got a chance to what?" I asked my voice sharper than I had intended. 

It bothered me that even the women who were considered his wives were afraid of him. Everyone I had met was afraid of him. Even Merle, who wouldn't admit to it, but he went out of his way to avoid the man. Which made me doubt what my instincts had been telling me. Maybe I was the one who had gotten it wrong. I had always felt strangely safe around him, but now I wasn't so sure.

I shifted in my seat and rolled my shoulders. I didn't want him to know, but I was suddenly not as comfortable sitting here alone as I had been. I adjusted again, making it so I could easily reach a knife if necessary.

Negan frowned, studying me. He leaned back then, spreading his arms over the back of the couch, relaxing. I couldn't tell if it was for my benefit or if he would have done it anyway. Was he trying to appear less threatening for me? Or was he showing he didn't consider me a threat? I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. I just couldn't do this. 

"I was going to talk to him," he said. "But now you went and warned him," he clucked his tongue and shook his head like he was incredibly disappointed. He leaned as far forward as he could while still keeping his arms across the back of the couch, his coffee dark eyes intense as he stared at me. The movement pulled his plain white t-shirt tight across his chest and suddenly I had a whole new set of thoughts to contend with. 

Stop, reset. 

I let out a shuddering breath and wrapped my focus around me like a protective blanket. "He's my family Negan," I said in a low, defensive voice. "I wanted a chance to hear his side of the story. I wanted to see his face when I implied he was responsible," I looked down at my hands for a second before I lifted them to look into Negan's eyes so he could see my resolve. "I have a lot of issues. I am the first person to admit that. And there are a lot of things I can't do anymore. But I can tell when someone is lying."

Negan ran his tongue over his teeth and stared me down. "Can you now?" He asked and there was almost a dangerous edge to his voice. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. 

I nodded hesitantly, wondering if I should have kept that from him. Sometimes it was too easy to tell Negan things, but when he looked at me with that shark-grin it made me regret confiding in him. I always felt like I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I realized in that moment it didn't matter what I felt for him, even if he didn't have the wives in the next room. I couldn't live like this. If I was going to be with someone I had to feel like I could trust them. And while I didn't distrust Negan, I didn't fully trust him either. I couldn't. 

Just that thought made something in my chest tighten uncomfortably.

I cleared my throat and forced my face into an emotionless mask. This was a job, nothing more. "I spoke to Merle and he pointed out that it wouldn't matter who worked the gate. That once you had all the biters killed anyone could hop the fence wherever they wanted. So-"

"So he said exactly what it would take to get you to look the other way," Negan replied. His voice was light and playful but I could hear the edge underneath and it made me want to put more distance between us.

"It's not like that, he wouldn't do that."

"Wouldn't he?" Negan asked, his voice becoming hard with challenge. He sat forward and stabbed his finger into the space between us. "You're trying to tell me that Merle wouldn't seize on any chance he saw to get ahead? You're trying to tell me he would hesitate even for a second just because innocent people might get hurt? Or maybe because he wouldn't want to kill people?" Negan scoffed and shook his head in disgust. "Wake up Jo! Dixon is no Boy Scout. He's an opportunist. He will do what is best for him and him alone."

"That's not true!" I railed back at him without hesitation. I might have had mixed feelings about whether or not I could trust Negan, but I trusted Merle. 

Negan scoffed dramatically and I had never wanted to slap him more. "You don't know him! You don't know what we went through. What The Governor forced us all to do and despite that he gave up everything! He risked everything when he didn't-" I cut myself off, my eyes widening as I realized I had nearly confessed that Merle wasn't related to us. That he had been at Woodbury long before we showed up and that he had betrayed The Governor and gotten Kate out of there. 

Negan's eyes narrowed and I wanted to cut out my own tongue. I looked away from him, hanging my head as though it was the memories that had overwhelmed me. I didn't like lying, but I could do it. For some reason it especially bothered me to use what had happened to me. I already felt enough like I had been broken, I didn't want to add to it. But if Negan found out Merle had lied to him...Negan was already on the warpath. He just might try to kill Merle.

"Look," Negan said, his voice softer. "I am glad your Uncle stepped up when shit went sideways. He doesn't strike me as the type who attended too many school plays but that doesn't make him trustworthy. If it wasn't for Katie I never would have let him in here. And I for sure wouldn't have let him stay after he refused to kneel."

I pushed myself to my feet and started pacing along the back of the couch. "He won't kneel, not after what The Governor made him do," I said looking down at my hands. I didn't know all of what Phillip had made Merle do or honestly how much of it actually had been outside his moral comfort zone. Merle had his own code that didn't exactly line up with everyone else's. And yet somehow I had ended up on the side of the angels when it came to Old Merle. Whatever connection Kate and I had with Daryl Dixon had saved us. 

Negan scoffed. "Everyone's been through shit. I can't just let every asshole with a sob story in here and your Uncle is exactly the type I have to protect my people from."

"Protect them?" I gasped in disbelief. "They are all afraid of you."

"And that keeps them safe," he said reasonably, leaning back in his seat and resting his arms behind his head casually 

I shook my head in disgust. Unable to contain my disdain any longer "What do you do to these people?" I snarled. 

Negan's smile fell from his face to reveal dangerously glittering eyes. "You want to know? You really want to know?" he stood in one smooth, powerful motion that had me taking half a step back. He was fast and strong. The dark part in the back of my head warned me that I needed to keep distance between us. He saw my reaction and his eyes narrowed. "I did the same thing you did. I made myself into the boogeyman so people under my protection didn't have to. I made myself this way so the woman and children and families didn't have to give up who they were to live. Same choice you made for Kate."

I backed away from him, shaking my head in denial. I was nothing like him. "I didn't choose this, this was done to me. I didn't-" I stammered over my words. 

Negan cut me off, his words harsh and certain. "You chose to survive. You could have died in that ring, in that goddamn cell, but you decided not to. You fought. You decided the monsters couldn't have you. You beat them at their own game."

"I'm not a monster," my voice cracked and broke over the words, because they weren't true. 

I was a monster. I had turned myself into one to survive and if I ever doubted it I just had to look at the faces of the people around me. The ones who had really seen me for what I was knew the truth. Kate knew, and it scared her. Merle knew too he was just better at hiding it. He went out of his way to pretend I was perfectly normal as though that alone could fix me. Negan obviously knew too, but he wanted to capitalize on it. Just like Phillip had.

I didn't want to meet his eyes. I didn't want to see the truth there. But when he didn't say anything for several minutes I couldn't stand it any longer. He was close, closer than I realized and he was looking down on me with something the could have been pity. I despised pity. It was worse than fear.

"No," Negan said, his voice soft as he took a step towards me. He reached out, his hand moving slowly enough that I would see it coming. "I don't think you're a monster," his voice was low and husky and his eyes were soft. He cupped the side of my face in his warm hand and I wanted so badly to melt into him. "I think you're strong and you protect people with no thought for yourself." He gently tilted my face so I was forced to meet his dark eyes from only inches away. "I think you're beautiful."

I looked away from him but I didn't have it in me to pull away from the gentle strength I could feel in his hand. The whole atmosphere in the room had changed so suddenly I didn't know how to react. "No," my voice was barely above a whisper. "You've seen me."

Negan frowned at my words, pulling back slightly and cocking his head to the side as he studied my face. His thumb skimmed my cheekbone. "Jesus," he said in disbelief. "You actually believe that don't you?"

I couldn't look at him. My emotions were out of control. I was too tired to be doing this and too vulnerable standing before him. Because the truth of the matter was I didn't want to pull away because finally for just this second I felt safe. I couldn't trust him, I knew that, but I knew while I might not be safe from him, when I was with him I was safe from everyone else.

Outside the window thunder crackled and I jumped, jerking away from him. I looked just in time to see the rain begin. I stared at it longer than necessary as I scrambled to come up with something to say. 

Negan watched out the window with me in silence before turning back to me. "I had Simon move your training equipment into one of the smaller out buildings."

"Why?" I asked frowning, not following his sudden train of thought.

"You're training my weaker soldiers to be stronger, what you do makes them better fighters. You don't have to do it in a damn fishbowl. If I wanted the others to know how to do what you can do I would have tapped them for training. It isn't a show. It's a privilege to work with you." He cleared his throat as though it made him uncomfortable to do something nice. "Besides, weather ain't a reason to miss training. This ain't a damn spa, they are here to work," he replied glibly and he turned away. He glanced up at the clock. "Aren't you late?" 

I followed his eyes and realized Simon had never told me what time they were gathering for training. "I think they'll wait." I replied, though I failed miserably at sounding as casual as I had wanted. I sniffed, rubbing a hand over my face and turned for the door. "What about Merle?" I asked, glancing back at him over my shoulder.

Negan was still looking out the window at the rain. "I'm still going to have a little chat with your Uncle, but I'll listen to what he has to say." He promised, though he didn't look at me.

"Thank you," I said and I turned and left. 

Dwight was still waiting for me on the other side of the armed guards. I lifted a brow when I saw him leaning against the wall. He straightened as I approach. "Simon said I should bring you down to the new training room." 

I nodded and trailed behind him. Dwight led me down the stairs and across the courtyard. We jogged through the rain together. It was really coming down. I frowned as he pulled open the door to a low outbuilding. He gestured down the hall. "Most of this is storage, but the last door on the right is yours."

I stepped around him into the building. It was chilly, but that would be better for training. I shook the water droplets out of my hair. "Thank you Dwight," I said turning back to look at him. 

Dwight looked taken aback for a moment and surprise flickered in his eyes. I got the impression not too many people thanked Dwight for what he did around here. He seemed to be on Negan's list of trust people and I had been spending a fair amount of time around him, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to make friends with the man. Dwight nodded uncomfortably. A man I recognized from my last training session slipped past Dwight and I and headed down the hallway. 

I flashed Dwight a tight lipped smile and turned to follow my student. I heard the door click shut and glanced back over my shoulder, but it had only been Dwight leaving. I grunted as I slammed into someone. I flinched back, stumbling over my feet for only a second before I regained my balance and looked up.

"I'm so sor-" I started to say but the words died in my mouth. It was the woman from the market. The one who had dumped pickles all over me. Now she stood holding a box in her arms. Dwight had mentioned this building was also used for storage. She was glaring down at me, obviously thinking her superior height gave her an advantage over me somehow.

"Why don't you watch where you are going," she snarled. Her face was screwed up in a menacing snarl. She was pretty even though her nose looked as though it had been broken before. Her long blonde hair was tied in a braid that hung down over one shoulder. I still couldn't shake the feeling that I had met her before. 

The sound of footsteps caught my attention and I turned to see a man walking away from us swiftly towards the door. He must have slipped past us when I bumped into the woman. At least I was assuming it was a man. He was wearing a hoodie and had it pulled up over his head. He was maybe 5'8" but muscular across the shoulders.

"I'm sorry I-" I started to say, not understanding why the woman seemed to dislike me so much. 

Maybe she had been there in the beginning. On the run to Woodbury? If she had been there when I had lost control before it would explain everything. She looked like a soldier but every time I had seen her she was doing things I would have associated with the workers. Maybe she had been demoted at some point and was just upset to see another female taking what she perceived to be her place. Or maybe she had a thing for Negan. No matter what the issue it really wasn't my problem. I had enough things going on in my life I didn't need to wind myself up over what really seemed to be someone else's drama. 

I stepped aside, giving her room to pass with her box. 

The woman glanced towards the retreating form of the man, leveled one last glare at me before she jogged to catch up to him. He stood to the side, holding the door open for her to walk out ahead of him, but he was careful to keep his head down so I couldn't see inside his hood. 

I scrubbed at my face. Or maybe he was just holding the door for his friend and my overtired mind was being paranoid. The combination of my PTSD and what was happening around Sanctuary had me seeing enemies everywhere. 

The door opened again and another man passed me, heading towards the training room. I shook my head. I needed to focus on what I could control and what was in front of me or I was going to drive myself as crazy as everyone here seemed to think I was. 

I made it only another two steps before a faint clicking caught my attention. I stopped, frowning as I turned, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. There was a small closet up ahead and I approached the door, frowning as I tried to figure out what I was hearing. In the next second I heard what sounded like another rumble of thunder, the floor shook and the door was blown off it's hinges. I slammed into the wall and everything went dark. 

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"Jo!" distantly I could hear him yelling my name. I groaned as I slowly came back to consciousness. My ears were throbbing and my head was pounding. It took me a second to realize the painful percussive noise was my heartbeat. 

Somehow I was still alive.

I was laying on my stomach. My cheek and chest pressed against the floor. I tried to lift myself off ground but I couldn't. I slowly raised my right hand and pressed it against the ground. I grimaced as I felt gravel and glass dig into my skin. I pressed against it and managed to flop myself back over.

"Jo!" Negan's voice was harsh and he sounded angry. Angrier than I had ever heard him. I tried to open my eyes but my head was pounding and it felt like too much effort. Then I felt warm hands on my face.

"Jo," he said my name again and I fought to open my eyes, but it was so much work. "Come on sweetheart, open your eyes for me."

I blinked my eyes open but everything was blurry and too loud, too bright. It was so hot. I couldn't figure out why it was so hot. I could feel sweat dripping down my skin. 

"Jo," Negan's voice was strangled and he pulled me up towards him, hugging me against his chest.

"Negan!" I recognized Simon's voice. "We gotta to get outta here, the whole place is gonna go."

He shifted me, and scooped me up in his arms, cradling me against his chest. I leaned my face into his neck, reveling in his warmth. I was suddenly cold. I thought I had been too hot just moments ago. 

Nothing seemed to make sense. 

I felt Negan moving as he carried me out of the building. I was so tired, I felt my eyes drooping. 

"Don't you dare go to sleep on me," he snarled angrily. "Jo!" he snapped and he shook me roughly in his arms. "Stay awake damnit!" But even his authoritative command couldn't keep me from falling back into darkness. "Jo!" 

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I jerked awake, terrified I was still somehow there, still somehow trapped in that building. I vaguely remembered the heat and the pain but it somehow felt distant and surreal. The blankets caught around my legs and arms and I felt trapped as I thrashed awake. 

"Hey, hey," a low voice called soothingly. "Shh."

I double blinked as I saw Negan crouched beside my bed. I frowned, not understand what he was doing here. I pushed myself up and grunted as my muscles protested the movement. Nothing felt broken, but I was sore. 

"Wha-?" I started to say, but my throat felt like sandpaper and I coughed. 

The light was dim and his face was cast in shadows. His eyes were soft as he covered my hand in his and he gave it a gentle squeeze. "How you feeling sweetheart?" his voice was low and gentle and he skimmed his thumb over the back of my hand. 

I frowned, and coughed again, not understanding. "Like..." I started to say but I grimaced as it hurt. 

"Doc said he was worried you inhaled a lot of smoke," Negan said once I was done coughing. 

I nodded as my cough shook my whole body. My eyes were burning. I blinked a few times and Negan's hand tightened over mine again. I blinked away the tears filling my eyes. I looked around in confusion, somehow I was in my room, in my bed. 

Negan seemed to understand my confusion. "The infirmary is filled to capacity. After the Doc took a look at you he thought you'd be able to sleep better here." 

I nodded and grimaced again. My mind still felt foggy. When I blinked again I spotted Merle and Kate each slumped in a chair, fast asleep. 

"Wh-what time is it?" I asked and my voice was hoarse. 

"Late," Negan said. "The middle of the night." 

"Why-?"I started to ask, but the look in his eyes made me bite back my question. 

He was worried about me. He was actually worried about me. That was why he was here. My head felt heavy and I laid it back against the pillows. I slow blinked as I stared at him. His face softened again and he reached out, his warm fingers gently brushing hair off my forehead. I watched the way the shadows played across his skin and the dim lights caught his eyes.  

The intensity between us should have made me uncomfortable, but everything felt surreal, like this was a dream somehow. Wrapping myself in the soft, hazy feeling I leaned into the warmth of his hand and just let myself stare into his eyes. 

"What happened?" I croaked after a few minutes. 

His eyes tightened, his expression flattening dangerously. "Some asshole blew up the storage building where you went to train." 

I frowned at that, but it was like his words didn't make sense. I frowned and tried to sit up again, but Negan gently pushed me back down. "The doc said you need to rest. I just stopped by to check on you." 

I nodded and my eyes drifted shut. I felt him tuck the blanket tighter around me. Something brushed, feather light across my forehead, but I was too far gone to be able to figure out what it was. 

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When I woke next it was morning. 

"Welcome back sleeping beauty," Merle called good-naturedly from the kitchen. 

I pushed myself up, and though my muscles were tight and protested, miraculously I didn't seem to be seriously hurt. Nothing felt broken.

"How ya feeling?" Merle called. 

I blinked and nodded. "Fine," I said and my voice was hoarse. I looked down at my hands and arms and frowned to see I was covered in scabs. 

Merle followed my gaze. "Glass," he supplied helpfully. 

I nodded, but I didn't remember ever coming into contact with that much glass. The bathroom door opened and Kate stepped out. She moved quickly to the bed and sat down beside me, her pretty face lined with worry. 

"Are you okay?" she asked in an uncharacteristically low voice. 

I nodded again and she reached out, looping her arm through mine. It wasn't much, but it was the first time she had touched me since I had scared her. It was her way of telling me she was glad I was okay. I would take it. 

"Surprisingly. What happened?" I asked, my eyes cutting towards Merle. 

Merle scratched at his head and opened his mouth to respond but it was Kate who spoke first. "I think everyone was hoping you would be able to answer that. Someone set off explosives in one of the storage buildings. Tommy said-" Kate kept talking, but I had stopped listening. 

I remembered now that I had been in the storage building, heading towards the new training room. 

"-and Negan stayed here all night because I think he was hoping you would be able to tell him what happened but then we both fell asleep and when we woke up he was gone." 

I squeezed my eyes shut. So I hadn't been dreaming. I had wondered. Somehow my interaction with Negan hadn't felt real. He had seemed soft and protective. 

"How did I get out?" I asked, turning to Merle. Kate made an impatient noise in the back of her throat and pressed on before Merle had a chance to respond. 

"Negan went in after you. He carried you out." 

I turned back to my sister. "How do you know?" 

She rolled her eyes. "I was there Jo," she said as though I somehow should have known that. "I was walking with Tommy on his way to training when the building exploded. The whole thing was on fire and everyone was screaming. Our water supplies are limited so there was no way to put out the fire and even the rain wasn't enough to help and it was one of our main storage buildings so everyone was worried but I don't think anyone knew it was going to be used for training because it wasn't until Tommy started yelling about how there might be people inside that anyone realized it was a possibility and then Negan came running through the door-" 

I grimaced as Kate continued to speak almost too rapidly to follow with the pounding headache I had. I just wanted her to take a breath between sentences, or slow down or something. It was overwhelming. 

"-and then Dwight told him you might be inside and Negan ran right into the building. Simon too," she added as an after thought. "And they found five other people and pulled them out and brought them to the infirmary but they were really hurt and four other people died and Simon said you were really lucky and somehow a metal door ended up between you and the blast and that the other side of the door looked like Swiss cheese and that it was really hard to find you but Negan kept looking and-"

"Kate," Merle snapped aggitatedly. 

I was cupping my forehead with my free hand as my mind worked to process everything Kate had said so far. Kate looked back and forth between the two of us before she continued. This time slower and at a lower volume. 

I shot Merle a grateful look and he nodded gruffly. 

"Negan pulled you out. He brought you straight to the doctor. I was right there, and went with. I offered to stay with you, but he insisted on staying too. Then the doctor examined you. Dr. Carson was really surprised you weren't more hurt and that you needed rest and when all of the people started coming in you weren't resting and so Negan moved you here-"

It was a good effort on her part, but she was rolling once again and nothing either Merle or I could say was going to stop her. 

"-and I went and got Merle and when we came back he had tucked you in all cute and stuff and he left your knives and stuff over there on the table and then he left but said he would be back once everything was taken care of and then he got real serious and made Merle promise to protect you until he figured what the shit was going on (that's a direct quote) and then he gave Merle a gun, which never happens because Merle is a worker. So what exactly is going on between you and Mr. Hot Pants anyway?" Kate asked finally taking a breath. 

I frowned, her question catching my by surprise. "What?" I asked in confusion and then it processed and I was back pedaling. "Nothing," I snapped defensively. "Do you seriously call him that?" 

"I mean not just me, everyone does." 

Merle cleared his throat behind her and Kate rolled her eyes. "The girls do anyway. You can't deny that man is fine. And don't tell me you haven't noticed, because you would have to be blind." 

I scowled at Kate and just shook my head. I didn't have the time or the energy for this. 

Kate gave me an impatient look. "Please, I am not a child or stupid and I have been here for months and I have never seen Negan this torced up about anything let alone about someone. Not his wives, not any woman," she said and it was a low blow. Now my baby sister was trying to get a reaction from me. 

I exhaled and scrubbed at my eyes. I wasn't going to get into this with Kate. Negan was going to come back and he was going to want to know what had happened. I froze, pulling my arm away from Kate, looking at her in shock.

"What?" she snapped testily. 

"Any woman," I muttered almost under my breath. 

"Yeah that's what I-" Kate started again and if she got rolling I was never going to be able to stop her. 

"No!" I snapped. "Any woman. The woman!" I yelled jumping to my feet. 

Kate pulled back from me, fear flickering in her eyes. But I didn't pay attention. This was too important. Her eyes flashed over to Merle who was looking on with concern. 

"What's that Barbie?" he called. 

"The woman!" I said again and I turned to my knives. I hurriedly shrugged on my shoulder rig and began sliding the knives into their sheaths. "The pickle woman!" I said excitedly. I shook my head. "I can't believe I was so stupid! She was there. She was in the market with Dwight and then again when Dwight-" I dragged off. 

Dwight had a lot of freedom here. He could have easily helped orchestrate everything that happened and no one would question him except Negan, Simon and a few others. 

"We should get Negan," Kate said from behind me. 

I was pulling on my boots. "No time," I said over my shoulder. "There's a chance we can catch them by surprise if they think there's no witnesses to tie them together." I shrugged on my jacket. 

"Barbie you shouldn't-" Merle started to call after me. 

But I was already jogging out the door and slammed it behind me before either one of them tried to stop me. 

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Hey guys! So...what did you think? I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thank you as always for the incredible support! You guys are awesome!

Happy Reading!