Hello all my lovely readers! I hope you enjoy this update! I hustled to get it out since I left you all on a horrible cliffhanger. Thank you as always for the votes and comments!

Happy Reading!

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Jo

"Put your hands up where I can see them," Andre ordered, his eyes were locked on my face, but it took a conscious effort for me to tear my gaze away from the grenades in his hands.

Grenades.

How could this be happening? How did this keep happening to me? There were grenades and somehow I was standing in the middle of the circle. All of this felt so incredibly surreal. It was bad enough bringing knives to a gun fight, but against grenades? I was out of my depth and absolutely useless. Everything I knew about grenades I knew from movies. Which wasn't much. I hated explosives. I knew nothing about a grenade's blast radius or even how long I had once he dropped them.

I slowly lifted my hands my thoughts churning as I tried to figure out how we could get as many people out of this situation as safely as possible. We weren't all going to make it. I knew that with absolute certainty. Now it was a math equation. How could we limit the number of casualties? Glancing around I realized it was, how could I limit the number of casualties. 

Andre turned holding the grenades up. "Anyone shoots me, I drop these and BOOM! No telling how many will die." His voice was perfectly calm as he spoke. He didn't care if people died.

The gunman came up behind me. "This is her, right?" He asked drawing a knife. "She looks different," he observed, which made me think he must have known me from Woodbury. I had pretty much looked the exact same since I came to The Sanctuary. 

I tensed, looking back and forth between the brothers. Andre nodded and the gunman walked towards me. Unconsciously I sank into a fighting crouch. Two men. They were just two men. I could kill two men who were threatening me. And they definitely felt like threats, not only to me but also to people that I cared about. 

"Ah ah," Andre warned waving his arms to remind me about the potential threat.

I tightened my jaw, forcing my entire body into lockdown. Every instinct I had wanted to fight. But this wasn't just about me. I glanced around. The crowd of people had pushed away and were minimum fifty feet away from us. It wasn't just that Andre could drop the grenades. He could throw them into the crowd that was pushing towards the exits. 

The gunman stepped around behind me and put his knife to my throat and an arm across my collar bones. He wrenched me around so I was between him and Negan's soldiers, effectively using me as a human shield.

"Good, now everyone is going to stay real still and my brother and I are going to walk out of here."

The knife tightened across my throat and the gunman dragged me backwards towards his brother. I stumbled over my feet as I fought to keep my balance. But the gunman knew what he was doing. He kept my back overbent and made it impossible for me to regain my feet or my balance. 

They backed us towards a side door that I knew led into a maze of hallways. Any number of which could lead to an exit. If they took me down that hall there was no telling how long it would take for anyone to find us. 

"No one follow us," Andre threatened. "Or my brother slits her throat," his eyes were glued to a figure moving towards us. I finally managed to wrench my focus away from the two men long enough to see Negan standing in the middle of his men. He had a gun in one hand, his bat in the other, and he looked more furious than I had ever seen him. 

"Now just wait a goddamn minute there-" Negan growled taking a menacing step towards us. 

"YOU AREN"T IN CHARGE! SEE THESE!" Andre shrieked. "YOU SEE THEM!" He bellowed as the first edges of panic worked their way into his voice. The pressure was on. Martinez had sent them in here and now things weren't going like they had planned. Had the gunman managed to kill Negan there would have been mass confusion, but Negan was standing in front of them as calm and composed as ever.

"Yeah..." Negan drawled casually cocking his head to the side. "I see them," his voice sounded calm but I didn't trust it and if they were smart they wouldn't either. Negan swaggered another step towards them a dangerous glint in his eye.

"I will cut your bitch's throat," The gunman threatened. The knife tightened against my neck and I jerked backwards, more tightly against his chest to get away from the pain.

Negan's eyes were dangerous as they zeroed in on the blood I could feel on my skin, but he stopped. 

Andre nodded as though he were satisfied, and he and his brother continued to move backwards towards the hallway one cautious step at a time. 

"You gotta know you aren't gonna get out of this," Negan drawled and I shot him an incredulous look. The man was clearly unstable and unraveling with every passing second. Negan continuing to goad him on was not going to help matters. 

The gunman jerked me again, pulling me after him. "I think we will," he challenged. 

Negan's voice was scary calm as he stared down at the two men. "You let her go and you can walk out of here, but if not-"

The threat hung heavy in the air.

Negan's eyes dropped to mine. There was an intensity there I didn't understand, couldn't understand. He was protective of his people, but this was different. His hand on the bat was clasped so tightly I could see the whitening of his knuckles and his shoulders were stiff with the desire for action. 

His eyes flickered to my right and he nodded once. Movement flickered out of the corner of my right eye and the gunman's body jerked and dropped, dragging me with him. From the ground I watched Andre's shock as his brother went down. I saw his jaw tighten, and opened my mouth to shout a warning, but it came too late. He released the spoon on the first grenade, waited a beat, and tossed it towards us.

I had no time to react. I couldn't move. My legs were tangled with the dead gunman's and I couldn't pull myself free. I pinched my eyes shut and turned away from it, covering my head with my arms. Less than a second later I felt a warm chest against my back. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me tighter into his chest. He covered me with his body, protecting me from the blast.

The noise was deafening and I jerked as it radiated painfully through my skull. My ears ached and I pinched my eyes shut, waiting for the real pain to start. But it never came. Negan groaned and I had a moment of horror where I was sure he was dead. That he had sacrificed himself and took the brunt of the blast that should have killed me. But then he moved off of me, popping up to his feet like nothing was wrong. He reached down and pulled me to my feet.

"What?" I asked looking around and couldn't figure out why everyone within ten feet was on the ground, but no one appeared to be injured. 

"Fucking flashbangs," Negan muttered but his words didn't make sense. "You good?" he asked.

Fear still pounded through me and I grabbed him, jerking him around so I could see his back. I ran a hand over the smooth leather of his jacket. I rested on hand on his back while I turned back to the room. People were climbing to their feet clutching their ears, or some rubbing their eyes, but no one appeared to be hurt. 

"Jo," Negan said my name and there was some urgency to it. "You good to go?" 

I stepped around so he could see my face and nodded still not quite sure what had happened.

"Good, let's get this son of a bitch," Negan pulled his handgun out of his waistband and jerked his chin towards the hallway Andre had run down. 

Negan and I gave chase. We ran together down the halls, the slap of our feet echoing off the concrete walls. We cleared every hallway and open door we passed, running between so he wouldn't gain too much ground on us. Most of Negan's men had been on the factory floor, but there were still the ones on the fence. Andre could only get so far before he would have to attack someone else.  

"So..." I said, still uncertain what was happening. "We aren't dead," I pointed out ironically.

Negan snorted as he cleared a side hall. "Stupid goddamn idiots can't tell the difference between a grenade and a flashbang. Amateurs," he said shaking his head in disgust.

Probably this wasn't a good time to point out to him that I also wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. It made sense though why Negan had been so casual once he got close to Andre. He would have known they weren't grenades and thus wouldn't hurt anyone. 

"So did you recognize those pricks?" he asked from behind me as I kicked a half closed door to a storeroom wider. I stepped in with my knives up, but it was empty. 

"I-" I started to say and I stopped. I glanced back at Negan, the words caught in my throat. 

"What?" 

"I couldn't see them," I told him honestly, and started to jog away as shame burned through me. "All I see is the threat. They're just bodies. Weight and speed and strengths all weighed against my own. There are no faces" 

Negan as per usual didn't react the way I expected. He glanced sideways down at me nodding. "Useful," he observed brightly, then he cleared his throat. "I guess I'm glad you seem to be able to recognize me when shit hits the fan," he chuckled. "Hopefully that keeps up, or one bad day could land you as queen." 

I snorted at the ridiculous thought. 

We ran around the next corner, when I heard the sound of metal against the concrete. I looked down to see the second flashbang hit the floor less than a foot in front of us.

"Negan!" I yelled and I jumped towards him, spinning us both away so we wouldn't catch it full in the face.

The percussion this close threw us both to the ground. The pain in my ears was ten times worse. My hands gripped the side of my head, squeezing against my ears to make the pain stop. I had lost my knives somewhere, but I couldn't think past the pain in my head. I needed to move. We were in danger. 

I was kicked in the side, hard enough to roll me over into Negan. He groaned beside me. He had already recovered enough to push himself up on all fours. His gun had gone skittering across the floor away from him and his bat was no where to be seen. Andre and a second man stepped out of the shadows. Andre stooped down and picked up Negan's gun, pointing it at us. I blinked away the last flashes in my vision to see that the second man was Martinez. He stepped out from behind Andre holding an assault rifle.

"You said five guns, not an assault rifle," I snarled, my fear made me snappy. Martinez hated me and Negan and there was nothing to stop him from shooting us where we stood. Negan's men should have been right behind us, but right now it was just us. I was fast, but not fast enough to draw and throw before Martinez shot us both. 

"It's a gun," Negan said defensively motioning towards it. He pushed himself to his feet. He caught my forearm in his hand, dragging me up after him. He kept his shoulder in front of mine, keeping himself front and center, but he didn't release my arm. 

"Shut up," Martinez snapped prowling towards us. "Watch the hall," he ordered Andre, who obeyed without question, turning his back to us. 

Martinez glanced down the hall behind us. "Just the two of you, huh? Kind of a pussy without your army, eh ese?" he taunted, pointing the rifle at Negan's chest. 

Negan cracked his neck and a lazy smirk stretched across his face. I could feel the tension around us rising like a storm. The smirk was merely a disguise for Negan's rage. Martinez was so sure of his superiority, standing behind his gun. He was a fool. Negan was an alpha and Martinez had pushed him. Every instinct in my body was telling me that Negan was dangerous right now. 

"Oh, I don't need an army. I've got my girl here," he said nodding his head back towards me. Despite his cocky words and the confident set to his shoulders his hand on my arm was gentle. He move his thumb reassuringly back and forth across my skin. Somehow despite all he was thinking and feeling he was still making sure I was okay...or maybe it was just his survival instincts, telling him it was important I continued to recognize him as my ally.  

Martinez snorted and shook his head in disbelief. His eyes cut to me and Negan shifted ever so slightly further in front of me. Martinez noticed. "Puta, I don't know what you do to these poor bastards. But not a single fucking one of them can think past their dick enough to-"

Negan leapt forward in that moment, grabbing Martinez's rifle and shoving it upwards away from us. A spray of bullets echoed through the narrow hall. Adrenaline burned hot and fast through me, making me faster, more focused. I drew a knife as I turned, drew in a single breath, and buried it in Andre's back, halfway up his spine.

Andre screamed and dropped to the ground, his legs useless. I ran at him and kicked him in the temple as hard as I could, trusting Negan to take out Martinez. His skull cracked against the concrete and I didn't know if I had killed him or not. Andre rebounded off the wall and slumped to the ground. 

I snatched up the handgun and whipped back around towards Martinez and Negan. They were still struggling over the rifle and another spray of bullets was let loose. I leapt to the side, my shoulder slamming painfully against the wall as I fought to get clear of the bullets in the narrow hall. I had the gun in one hand and I lifted it, but the two men were moving too much for me to get a clear shot. Fear for Negan surged through me as the two men fought over the gun. Finally, Negan wrestled the rifle from Martinez. He slammed the butt of the gun into Martinez's temple.

Martinez cried out and fell sideways to the ground. My pulse was pounding in my ears and I couldn't think past the need to eliminate this threat that had tried to hurt me and my family over and over again. Terrifying memories and phantom pains radiated through my body as I stared down at the man who had tormented me for The Governor. My hand moved towards a knife.

"Don't kill him!" Negan snarled, his voice barely managing to work it's way past the thundering of my heart.

I hesitated for only a second before I flipped off two knives. Burying one in each of his shoulders. Martinez howled in pain and if he lived, he would never regain full use of his arms. I tilted my head to the side as I watched him scream and writhe on the ground. I felt nothing but relief. Negan brought the rifle down against the side of his skull. Knocking him out.

A second later running feet came around the corner. My heart was still slamming in my temples, my hands were trembling as adrenaline burned through me, and all I was seeing was enemies. I turned the handgun towards the approaching threats. 

"Whoa! Easy Barbie!" Merle called, holding his hand up for me to see, but there was a gun in his hand. He was on the lead of a dozen men, and it took a second for my brain to even process words. 

At first I was confused why Merle was there, but then it made sense. It Martinez was here, Merle would be too. They had worked together for a long time, they had been partners. I double blinked. No, that had been a long time ago. Before Merle had saved Katie and saved me. Before Merle was family. 

I stared at him as though expecting him to be a sort of mirage. Everything had a dreamlike quality to it and in that second I couldn't tell which memories were real. I had dreamed of killing Martinez for months in that cage. Over and over in every possible way, but none of them had involved the man with the fox-like grin. 

Beside me Negan tossed the rifle away from him and crossed the hallway in two large strides. He stepped between me and the men so he was facing me and the gun pressed against his stomach. He kept his movements slow and casual as he reached down and covered the top of the gun with his hand.  

"Let go," Negan's voice was low and gruff and despite all the noise around us I was able to hear him. He was real. This was real. 

I released the gun to him, opening each finger slowly, feeling as though it took incredible effort.  Negan nodded as he held my gaze. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think, I felt like if I looked away from his dark eyes I would lose myself again. 

Negan held the gun out behind him. Simon stepped forward and took it without question. 

Negan somehow seemed to understand and he didn't look away from my face for one second. "Get these assholes to a cell if they're still alive," Negan ordered without looking away from me. "Check the workers for injuries. Make sure no one was hurt when they stampeded like cattle. Call them all back. Four o'clock. No exceptions for the workers. Trusted men on fence. Once the doc has taken care of our people have him check over the douche bags. Make sure they're still alive before you send our doc in," he said in a warning voice. 

I shifted my weight. The tension still hung in the air and I wasn't sure how long I could hold it. 

Negan continued to speak, his deep voice holding my attention. "He can check them over, but I don't want any of our resources wasted keeping these pricks alive." 

Behind him Simon nodded. "You got it boss." His voice startled me and my eyes flickered to him. He was closer than I realized and I tensed, my hand dropping to touch the last knife in my thigh sheath. 

Negan noticed and he took another step, closing the distance between us. "Then get the hell out of here," Negan ordered, his eyes intense as he stared down at me from only inches away.

My chest rose and fell with the effort it took to draw in each and every breath. 

Stop. Breath. Reset. 

Calm. 

Stop. Breath. Reset. 

Steady. 

Stop. Breath. Reset. 

Rational. 

Stop. Breath. Reset. 

Control. 

Stop. Breath. Reset. 

The others all moved around us, but it felt like we were stuck. Like a rock in a stream with the movement of the water rushing all around us. 

It took me a moment to realize it was over. It was actually over. The last of the pain from Woodbury ended in this hallway. 

They collected the unconscious men and the rifle and left us there. Merle looked towards me as he walked away, but I didn't look at him, I couldn't. Part of me knew I would have to talk to him sometime, but I didn't know what to say. If I explained, it would hurt him. I watched the others over Negan's shoulder, but I felt like if I let too much of my focus slip I would be lost again. 

As soon as we were alone I exhaled, releasing the tension I hadn't realized I was still holding in my body. Negan's body was only inches from mine as he gazed down at my face. I hung my head, pinching my eyes closed and leaned forward, resting my forehead against his chest.

It was over.

Negan reached up and his big, warm hands enveloped both sides of my face, raising it so he could look me in the eyes.

"Are you okay sweetheart?" he asked, his voice strangely gentle after the gruff orders he had just barked out.

I nodded. I closed my eyes for a moment and swallowed. When I opened them again Negan was only inches away, so warm and strong. We had made it. We survived. I had been so sure he was going to die today.

"That was really stupid of you," I told him and there was a slight tremble to my voice as my emotions threatened to overwhelm me. I felt like I was drowning, or like a boiling pot about to run over. I was feeling too many things, trying to hold too much back. 

He chuckled and a cocky smirk pulled at his lips. "Worked didn't it?"

"I thought-" I started to say and I shook my head. I reached up, running a hand up his bicep towards his shoulders convincing myself he was standing in front of me, unharmed. 

Negan looked down at my hand, watching my movements intently. Waiting to see what I was going to do.

"Yeah well-" he started to say but I was done talking. 

I wrapped my arms around his neck and jerked him down towards me. I smashed my lips against his letting all the tension, fear, and last of the adrenaline burn through me. Negan's hands dropped to my waist, steadying me against him. I pulled him closer, my movements were rough and jerky. The need to be closer was like a fire racing through me. He was moving too slowly, being too careful with me. 

I didn't want careful. 

I ran my tongue against his and dug my fingers into his hair tugging at it. He moaned into my mouth. I smiled triumphantly against his lips. This was exactly what I wanted. I dropped my hands to his waist, fumbling blindly. I wanted to feel his skin. There were too many layers between us. 

My hands touched his belt and he stilled beneath me. "Jo-" he started to say and it was like a bucket of cold water. 

I was in a hallway. 

In the Sanctuary. 

With Negan.

I pulled back slowly and he let me go. He gazed down at me through hooded eyes and it made things low in my stomach clench. He was absolutely unapologetic about what he wanted. I didn't understand how he could be like that. I could never be like that. But part of me wanted to. 

"I'm sorry," I said and I moved to step away.

Negan snatched my arm and jerked me back to him. I crashed into his chest and he wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly. 

"I'm glad you're alive too," he whispered into my hair. He pulled back to look down at me with serious eyes, but he kept hold of me as though he knew I would run if given the chance. 

"Stop running from me," he growled as though he could read my mind. Then he pulled me back into him once more, his hand gentle as he cupped the back of my head to his chest. Beneath my ear his heart thundered strong and steady. I squeezed my eyes shut and let myself melt into him and just be held.

"Okay," he said after a moment and he pulled away. He rolled his shoulders and straightened. Before my eyes he pulled his mask back around him. "We got work to do," he said and he sounded just like the Negan that had addressed the workers not an hour before. He stooped down and picked up his bat. 

I exhaled and fought to compose myself like he had just done. Weakness into strength. The ring had taught me how to put on a show. I spotted my knives and walked towards them, bending at the waist to pick them up. Two of us could play that game. "That was really stupid," I repeated, this time my voice came out confident as I stepped back towards him, sliding my knives away. 

Negan quirked an eyebrow and flashed me a cocky grin. "Making out? Or-"

I scoffed and shook my head. Only he could be back to joking so quickly. "Or." I snapped impatiently. 

Negan shrugged. "You were there, I had soldiers everywhere, we just needed to flush them out," he said as though it had been incredibly simple. 

"But the soldiers were no where near you," I accused my eyes snapping with temper. Relief that we were alive was burning away rapidly as I realized all the things that could have gone wrong.

Negan didn't rise to my anger. Instead he remained perfectly calm."You're right, they were near you." he said with a deadly serious expression on his face. "Where they should be," he said, his voice gentle for a moment. He stepped close and brushed his lips against mine in an achingly sweet kiss. I shuddered beneath his touch and he pulled back. He smiled down at me, his eyes soft like molten chocolate. He reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Now come on, we got shit to take care of." 

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Negan

Jo trailed behind me on the way back to the factory floor. I wanted her next to me or ahead of me so I could watch her. She changed her mind so damn many times a second it would be good to be able to see it coming for once. I glanced back at her and she was stalking down the hallway, her head held high, a sexy as hell swing to those hips. She quirked a brow at me as though asking what I wanted and I smirked at her and winked. She rolled her eyes and fought to bite back a pleased smile. She was actually in danger of flirting with me.  

We were getting in a bad habit of things heating up in the moment and then she would run from me. It had nearly killed me to let go of her in that hallway but it was a victory that she was still here. She had made the first move this time proving she wanted me as badly as I wanted her. Trouble was, her head kept getting in the way. I needed to figure out how to get around that shit. If she would just admit what she wanted instead of fighting herself and me every goddamn second of every day I might actually get somewhere. 

I resisted the urge to turn and check on her again. Instead, I swung Lucille over to my other shoulder and whistled out a few notes. I thought I was going to lose her today. I had gone into this plan knowing there was risk, but Jo had still been mad at me. It didn't seem likely she would even show for the meeting. Then in she swaggered with that prick Dixon standing over her shoulder like a damn pit bull. Even with everyone of my men around her that asshole had still gotten his hands on her. It chaffed that I once against hadn't been able to protect her in my own house. 

I glanced back at her. 

The cut on her neck was still dripping. It was nothing major, and she probably didn't even feel it yet. But Carson was going to look her over immediately. We stepped onto the factory floor and Jo stepped up beside me. I resisted the urge to smirk. Exactly where she should be. 

"JO!" Kate's obnoxious squeak nearly shattered my damn eardrums as she launched herself at her sister. 

Jo huffed out a breath as her larger, younger sister slammed into her chest and wrapped her arms around her. Kate launched into a thousand word a minute monologue that I immediately tuned out. I turned and Simon stepped up next to me. 

"Get Carson over here now," I ordered. 

"You injured?" Simon asked his eyes running over me. 

"You deaf?" I challenged. 

Simon bristled. "He's-" he started to say motioning to the group of civilians huddled against the far wall. There was probably a dozen of them that had been hurt when the damn idiots had stampeded like cattle at the first sign of danger.  

I whirled on him. "He's hustling his ass over here right the shit now to take a look at Jo. Isn't that right? Simon." I realized belatedly I called her by her name instead of My Hot Friend like I normally did to give the illusion of there being some distance between us. I didn't know why I bothered anymore. Simon of all people knew how far I had gone to protect Jo. It felt safer however, for people to think she was just a piece of ass. 

Simon's eyes widened in alarm and he scuttled away from me, nodding. 

I turned back and spotted Dwight. I caught his eye and lifted my brows questioningly. He was supposed to be watching Jo's back. That was the deal. I didn't see him anywhere in the mix once it all went down. I pointed at my eyes and then at Jo. He nodded almost frantically and I twirled Lucille just to watch him squirm. When I turned back to Jo, Dixon was standing over her shoulder glaring at me. 

I returned the scowl and strided towards them. I was not going to let that asshole think he could intimidate me. He wasn't related to Jo, he had zero claim. And as far as I was concerned it was only by my good graces he wasn't out on the fence after lying to me. It felt too much like betraying Jo's trust to confront him about it though. At least for now Dixon had a pass. 

"Where's the kid?" I asked Dixon. 

Jo brushed Kate aside to see what I was doing. 

Dixon jerked his chin to the side where Thomas was sitting. I strided towards him and Kate made a noise that sounded like a hurt puppy, but I continued to ignore her. The two flashbangs back to back had given me one hell of a migraine and every noise that obnoxious brat made was like glass inside my brain. 

I stood over the kid where he was sitting with his back against the wall his knife back in his hand. 

"You did good junior," I said standing over him. 

Jo stepped up beside me looking confused. I felt like everyone in the room could tell how worried I was about Jo, how much I cared. It was a vulnerability, a weakness and it made me punchy. 

"Didn't you know?" I taunted, not able to completely avoid being an asshole. "Little Tommy boy here was the one who threw the knife that killed brother number one. Seems your classes you have him not completely useless." 

Jo's brow was furrowed and she was looking down at the kid as though she were seeing him for the first time. She stepped up to him and held out her small hand. He looked at it warily, his eyes flickering nervously to me once before he shook it. 

"Thank you," Jo said simply and she gave the kid a small, proud smile.  

"That's what I was saying!" Kate exclaimed from behind her and I had to fight the urge to have her thrown out of here just to save my ears from bleeding. But the kid had probably saved Jo's life. While everyone else was pissing their pants he had stepped up, been a man. Made a move when the situation presented itself. I made a mental note to promote him the next time I had an open position.

Simon and Doctor Carson appeared, looking like they had just jogged through the maze of market stalls. God, I loved hustle. 

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