Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying the story! One problem solved and another shows up at their door. No rest for the wicked.

Happy Reading!

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"Wait," I said, staring at Dwight. "What?"

Dwight sighed. "Company," he said again. "People from another community showed up an hour ago asking for a meeting." He explained it all slowly as though I were stupid and not keeping up.

I normally would have wanted to smack Dwight for speaking to me like a child, but I got distracted. My mind started whirling as I considered all the possible dangers these strangers could bring. "Where's Negan?" I asked, my voice harder than I had intended.

If my voice sounded hard to me, it must have been threatening to Dwight. He stilled for a moment, his eyes flickering to the hall to his right as he felt the shift in the atmosphere. "He's in the meeting," he said carefully.

"Take me," I ordered, reaching behind me and pulling my door closed.

"Negan didn't want you going in there looking injured," Dwight said as we fell into step together heading towards the factory floor.

I hesitated and pressed my lips together. I had chosen a swoop neck black tank top that didn't touch my stitches. It left the bandaging exposed. "I need a new jacket," I said decidedly. The added padding would disguise the bandages.

Dwight led me to the appropriate stall in the market. I reached for the first women's jacket I saw, it was a worn denim jacket. I didn't really care what it looked like, but the woman stopped me. She pulled out a leather jacket from behind the stall. It was an actual motorcycle jacket with detailed stitching and padding. It was beautiful and looked brand new.

I shook my head. "I don't have enough points for that," I told her and I lifted the one in my hand. "This will do."

She just shook her head. "Everything you've done these last couple weeks...you don't need points," she told me and she took the denim jacket from my hand and pushed the beautiful leather one into my chest.

"Thank you," I told her sincerely and she just smiled at me.

I don't know why her easy acceptance surprised me. Maybe it was just me who felt like I didn't belong. It made sense to me that Negan's soldiers had accepted me. I trained with them, and they were all dangerous in their own right. But the workers...I had scared people since coming here. Even my own sister was afraid of me. But this woman smiling at me wasn't wary at all. Maybe it was my perceptions that needed to change. Negan said he turned weaknesses into strengths, it stood to reason this was a place where strength could be celebrated.

I turned to Dwight and nodded. He led me up the stairs towards the overseer's office. I was surprised to see Merle was guarding the door. He had a gun tucked into the front of his pants and had his bayonet in place on his prosthesis.

Merle's eyes flickered from me to Dwight. Then he jerked his chin at Dwight, wordlessly ordering him to give us space. Dwight did so without arguing. It made me wonder what all I had missed in the last few weeks by pointedly avoiding anything that had to do with Negan. It seemed Merle had gotten a promotion.

"Looking pretty badass there Barbie," Merle observed.

"Sort of the point Uncle Merle," I teased. I was tense and he must have seen it. There were strangers on the other side of the door with Negan. I didn't know everyone in The Sanctuary, but they had all in theory been screened or wanted to be there. These people were from another community. I remembered Negan mentioning they did some trade with other groups, but he had also mentioned how tenuous the peace between communities could be. It made me uncomfortable to think about him in the meeting. It shouldn't, Negan was more than capable of taking care of himself, but I wanted to be in there.

"Look, the people in there, they may be friendly, but they ain't our friends Barbie," Merle said as though he could read my mind.

I scowled at Merle "Don't worry. I'm not really known for making friends," I assured him, feeling a little miffed that he would think I was going in there all wide-eyes and innocent, happily trusting the first person I met. I had already made that mistake once. It wasn't a lesson I would ever forget.

"That ain't what I mean," Merle said shaking his head. He glanced over to where Dwight stood a little ways down the hall acting like he wasn't listening to us. Merle stepped closer to me and lowered his voice. "What keeps this place safe Barbie, is their fear of the boss. Their belief in the holy hell he will rain down on them if they even think about crossing him or endangering our people."

I nodded slowly. His words made sense and it was something I knew in theory. I just wasn't sure why Merle felt the need to lecture me about it now. I understood how things worked around here.

When I didn't react Merle grunted in annoyance. "Look, ya got a choice here. I'm not going to be able to talk you outta going in there. I know that, so I ain't gonna waste my breath. But when you walk your ass through those doors you are either going to be his greatest asset or his biggest weakness."

"I'm not-" I started to argue but the look Merle shot me had me biting my tongue.

"Deny it til the cows come home for all I care, it don't make it not true," Merle said stabbing his finger in my face. "He cares about you. That's a weakness. You undermine him left, right and center and he ain't never going to punish you for it. That's a weakness."

"I don't always undermine him," I snapped defensively.

Merle snorted and shook his head in disbelief. "Every moment since you stepped out of that cage Barbie."

I scowled. I didn't undermine him. I just didn't always agree with him, but that wasn't the same thing.

"Look, it's funny and I'm sure it drives him nuts which is hilarious to me on so many levels," the fond smile on Merle's face stilled into something more serious. "Barbie, this ain't like all those other times. You gotta be an asset, a resource, in there," now his eyes were grave and I could see how serious he was. "It's the show that keeps this place safe and keeps Negan from having to kill every single person who crosses his path."

I nodded and Merle stared at me for a while, narrowing his eyes. "You trust him?" he asked.

I pulled back. I was still coming to terms with my feelings and certainly wasn't ready to admit them fully to myself let alone Merle.

Merle shook his head. "Don't bother denying it, I ain't as dumb as I look," he cocked his head to the side and scratched the five o'clock shadow covering his cheeks. "Look, you scared the shit out of The Governor for months. Just...trust Negan. Put on a show."

I inhaled as memories threatened to pull me under but I nodded tightening my jaw. As much as I wanted to sit here and argue with Merle that I wasn't part of the problem, it wasn't exactly productive. I wanted to be in there and Merle knew more about the situation than I did, and I did trust Merle.

"Who's in there with him?" I asked, trying to decide which way I wanted to play this. I unzipped my new jacket so all my knives were visible.

"Just Simon and four from the other community."

"What? That's stupid, and risky. That idio-" I caught myself, snapping my mouth shut at Merle's knowing look. "Shut up." I growled. "How many are men?"

Merle lifted a brow and a slow smirk tugged at his mouth, but he answered my question. "Three men, one woman."

I nodded and turned my back to Merle. I adjusted my cleavage into a more useful position and ran a hand through my hair.

I turned back to Merle and nodded. He didn't laugh, but his eyes were twinkling as he led me to the door. Merle knocked on the door, but didn't wait for a response before opening it for me. He stepped into the room and held the door as I stalked through.

Every eye in the place moved to me. I ignored everyone but Negan. I stalked around the table. He was sitting at the head of the table, his bat resting on the smooth polished surface in front of him. The others kept looking back and forth between us, but Negan's eyes never left mine. It gave me the confidence I needed to strut up to him.

He smirked at me, his eyes twinkling with amusement but also something else. There was a dark promise there that I looked forward to exploring later. Either way he didn't look tense. So things in here must have been going well. 

"Gentlemen, lady," Negan drawled, never taking his eyes off my face. "May I introduce you to my Hot Friend, Jo."

He held out his hand and uncertain what else to do I placed mine in his. He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the back of my fingerless gloves. Then, instead of letting go he guided me around him so I was standing just over his left shoulder. Simon stood to his right and never took his eyes off the visitors.

The others looked back and forth at one another as though they didn't understand what was happening. Negan had just made it obvious how he felt about me, so I needed to make it clear I wasn't a weakness they could exploit. I crossed my arms over my chest and adopted a fighters stance over his shoulder, glaring down anyone who met my eye.

"Now," Negan said, his amusement evident in his voice. "Where were we? The visitors all looked perturbed, but Negan just leaned back in his chair and rested his hands behind his head. "You were saying?"

They were all dressed in clothes that had only minor signs of wear, and they were all fairly clean. So their community must be fairly well off and had consistent access to water. None of them were armed that I could see, but I had a hard time believing Negan would let them in if they were. There was a man who looked to be in his mid-fifties sitting to Negan's left and a young man who was maybe in his late teens or early twenties across from him. The young man's eyes got stuck on my chest for a moment too long, and when he met my gaze the look in my eyes made him look away nervously. The other two, the remaining man and woman were sitting further down the table. But they were all turned slightly towards the older man. He was the leader. 

"Look, we came here to ask you for help," the woman of the group snapped.

Negan cocked his head and smiled at her and she pulled back as though he had threatened her.

"Sir," she added as an afterthought and she lowered her eyes to the table.

Negan flashed a satisfied grin when she didn't look up again. "And how can we help you?" Negan asked opening his hands in a dramatic gesture. "Because that's why we're here, to help you get your sorry asses out of whatever trouble you've managed to get yourself in."

The leader leaned forward in his seat. "Negan, we've managed to work out deals in the past that benefited both our communities and we are hoping to come to another agreement."

Negan slapped his palm down on the table in front of him and every one of our guests flinched. "Well, that's another thing completely. Here I was thinking you had turned up on my doorstep begging for my help and were planning on appealing to my sense of charity."

"Of course not Negan," the other men replied. His eyes flickered to me. I glided my finger tips along the top of the knives strapped to my thigh and let all the dark places in my head shine out my eyes. He flinched and looked away.

The tension in the room was almost a tangible thing. They were terrified of Negan. It made me wonder what could be so bad they would come ask someone they so clearly feared for help. It made me uneasy. 

Negan watched the exchange and when the other man looked back at him, Negan gestured for him to continue.

The leader cleared his throat taking control of the conversation. The others quieted respectfully. "You have helped us before when we were threatened by another group, in exchange for payment of course," he added. "Our community is being threatened. We have sick people in our community. We scavenged far and wide to bring in medicine for them. We took a lot of risks, lost people," the haunted looked in their leader's eyes made me think it must have been someone close to him. "This other group...they must have followed our people back. We tried to fight them, but they took our medicine and supplies. Our people are dying...kids," the man's voice broke and he looked away uncomfortably. 

"So..." Negan began cocking his head to the side. "What exactly is it you're asking for? Because our meds aren't for sale and our doc sure as shit doesn't make house calls."

The leader drew in a deep breath. "We want your help with this other group."

"You want our help with them?" Negan asked. "What exactly do you mean, 'with them'?" Negan clearly knew what it was they wanted, but he was going to make them say it. He was going to make them admit what it was they were asking for.

The other group exchanged nervous glances.

"We would like our stuff back," the woman responded, her voice had a slight tremble to it. "We need our medicine back. Our people are dying," she said again as though Negan hadn't heard the first time. 

Negan cracked his neck, his smile fading slightly around the edges. I could see the rising tension in his shoulders but I wasn't sure if the others would notice.

"So you would what? Like us to walk up to them, knock on the door and tell them to give you back your stuff or else?" Negan drawled and he snorted and shook his head. "I'm not a hall monitor. If you aren't strong enough to keep your shit after you find it-"

"We are!" the youngest of the group of four had finally had enough. He slammed his hands down and shoved himself to his feet.

A knife was in my hand before my brain caught up to the fact that he had moved.

"Care-ful," Negan sang. "One wrong move and my Hot Friend here will land one of her knives in your throat," he smirked at the man, leaning forward and bearing his teeth aggressively.

The man's gaze shot to me and real fear swam in his eyes. As much as I hadn't wanted to see it in the face of the woman in the market seeing it in this man's face was reassuring. This was something I could do. I leaned forward ever so slightly, holding his gaze and just ever so slightly let the corner of my mouth pull up in a smirk.

The younger man slowly sank back into his chair, swallowing thickly.

Negan let out a whistle and turned back to the others. "Magnificent isn't she?" he chuckled and leaned back putting his feet up on the table in an exaggerated show of relaxation. "Now, I believe you were in the process of asking me to take care of your business isn't that right Matty?" he asked turning to the leader of the other group.

The leader looked down at the table between us and nodded.

"Right, so you need us to find this group...?" Negan started to say lifting his eyebrows.

"We know where they are," their leader, I was assuming his name was Matt, said in defeat.

Negan tisked. "So you are here bargaining for-"

Matt exhaled and met Negan's gaze levelly. "We're in over our heads. We want our stuff back. We need it back. Whatever it takes." It couldn't have been easy, sitting there and asking for help. I had to give the man credit for that.

"Meaning-" Negan was pushing now. Trying to get a reaction out of them, I just wasn't sure why. I couldn't tell if it was for his own amusement or if there was an angle I was missing. Either one seemed equally as plausible.  

The young man had reached his limit. Despite Negan's warnings he slammed himself back to his feet. "We don't need this! You don't get to speak to us that way." He yelled and he stabbed a finger towards Negan. "You listen here-"

A knife embedded itself in the table three inches in front of him. Everyone flinched back and by the time they looked towards me I already had the next one in my hand. I twirled it through my fingers and held the young man's eyes, showing him all the things I normally worked so hard to keep hidden.

"Sit. Down." Negan growled. "That had the potential to be the last dumb thing you ever did," his said in a even tone, that was all the scarier for how perfectly reasonable he sounded. "And if you move towards me or any of my people in a threatening manner again..." Negan took the handle of his bat in one hand and dragged the barbed wire across the top of the table. The others grimaced as metal ground against the polished wood surgace. "What's your name kid?"

He swallowed. "Scott."

Negan flashed a smile that was a bearing of teeth. "Scotty," he growled. "Let me guess," he said glancing back toward the group's leader. "You're the up and comer, the doer. The get 'er done. The one with his eyes on the old man's job. Well, let me tell you something kid." Negan cocked his head to the side. "You're sitting here all full of piss and swagger, pissed as hell that your leader is here, putting up with my bullshit. Begging me to help you. I get that. It chaps your hide don't it?" Negan smiled and leaned forward and pointed the bat at him. "That's okay. It's because you don't goddamn get it. You see it as weakness, but that is goddamn strength! That is doing the shit that needs to be done to take care of the people he is responsible for." Negan lowered the bat and leaned back ever so slightly. "Because he's right. You are in over your heads and this is the type of thing we can deal with because we are goddamn professionals. So when you're sitting there thinking of all the things you would do differently once Matty here is gone. Maybe you're even thinking about how goddamn tragic it would be if he didn't come back from the next run to get your sick friends some supplies. Just remember, heavy is the head that wears the crown." 

Negan pulled back and let his words and their implications hang in the air. He glanced towards me and winked. I scowled, wishing he would keep his focus on the group of strangers. He just  smiled at me like I was being cute. 

After a moment he looked back at the others. "I'm sorry, I got distracted. Where was I?" He looked thoughtful for a moment and then down at the bat in his hand. "Oh right, I was threatening your boy here. It's important to mentor today's youth. Or before you know little assholes grow up into great big ones who will shoot you in the back if you aren't careful," Negan held Matt's gaze, forcing him to really think about his words. 

Everyone at the table shifted uncomfortably, but no one dared say a word. Negan pasted on a smile and turned to the group. "Now, I'm going to consult with my higher ups," he cut his eyes over to Scott. "Because a good leader knows when to consult his lieutenants. And it's usually right before he decides the price of kicking in the door of a new group. You see I don't risk the lives of my people unless it's worth it to us. Merle!" He bellowed. The door opened and Merle stepped inside. "Please escort our friends to our guest suite where they can wait in comfort. Get them some food." 

Merle nodded and the group stood obediently and filed out of the room. Negan cut his eyes to Simon, his expression instantly serious. "Go with. I want two men outside the door and another four in the hallway. Double what we have at the gate. If their people really are as sick as they are saying, I want to make sure this isn't some slight of hand bullshit to get at the doc. Put two men outside the infirmary while you're at it and we're handing out extra work. Then get Gavin and Regina and get their asses up here pronto for a little chat."

Simon listened intently then nodded once briskly and walked quickly out the door shadowing the group.

As soon as the door clicked closed behind them Negan exhaled sharply and it was like he was able to let his mask fall. He swiveled his chair around to face me a knowing smirk on his face. I tried to keep a straight face, but I couldn't help the stupid smile that pulled at my lips. 

Nothing physically had changed between us last night, but it felt like everything had changed. I couldn't believe the weight that was lifted off my shoulders just knowing we were on the same page. Not everything was resolved, far from it, but he had made a serious effort. I didn't feel as vulnerable knowing he wanted me as badly as I wanted him.  

"I like the look sweetheart," Negan said, his gaze was like a physical caress as he ran his eyes up and down my body. Instead of feeling self-conscious in the low cut shirt he made me feel beautiful and empowered. 

"Is that so?" My smirk stretched and I stalked towards him with an extra sway in my hips. 

He leaned back in his chair and grinned as he watched me. "It was a good thing that kid settled on being scared of you. The way he was looking at you when you walked in-" Negan dragged off as I neared him.

I reached his chair and leaned forward resting my hands on the arm rests. His eyes darkened and he ran his tongue over his lower lip. When my eyes dropped to his mouth he chuckled. He reached up and grabbed the back of my neck dragging my mouth down to his. 

I made a noise in the back of my throat as his lips moved over mine. His other hand caught my waist and his clever fingers skimmed along the exposed skin along the top of my pants. He smelled of sandalwood and citrus. The only thing that kept me from wanting to climb in his lap right there was the knowledge that Simon, Gavin and Regina would walk through the door at any minute. 

I tore my mouth from his. "The other's are coming back soon. We need-"

Negan pulled me back towards him. "We need to be doing exactly this," he spoke the words against my lips and I shuddered in his hands. 

He was trying to distract me. And it was working. I pulled back again and I scowled down at him.

A seductive smile stretched across his lips and a low, knowing chuckle rumbled in his chest. "I gotta tell you I love it when you scowl at me like that. It is hot as hell." His lips moved against mine again and both his hands wrapped around my sides, his fingers digging in possessively. It made things low in my stomach tighten. 

I tensed, ready to pull back again. We needed to talk about this and I couldn't be distracted. There was a lot going on and I had questions about the visitors. He must have felt me tense because he moved quicker than I thought possible. In one motion he stood, kicking the chair back away from him it crashed against the wall. He lifted me into his arms. He spun us around and set me down on the table in front of him. He pressed his body against mine so I could feel all of him and it left no doubt in my mind that he wanted me. 

"I don't think I could ever get enough of you," his voice was a deep rumble that I felt as much as heard. His lips dropped to my neck and his teeth nipped at the sensitive skin just under my ear.

I shuddered in his hands and a satisfied chuckle rumbled in his chest. He recaptured my lips with his and I locked my arms around the back of his neck. His hands skimmed under my jacket and ran up and down my sides, his thumbs grazing the sides of my breasts. I squirmed on the table dragging myself closer to him. I locked my legs around his waist and rubbed against his length, the denim barrier between is was almost painful. He moaned into my mouth. I buried my hands in his hair and ran my tongue along his wanting to take control of the desire that was raging through me. 

There was a knock at the door and I jerked back from Negan my head snapping towards the door. It was rare someone was able to get that close without my noticing. He had entirely distracted me and I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I was panting and there was a fine tremble to my muscles that I didn't seem able to control. I clenched my hands, forcing myself to keep them to myself. If I touched him again right now I wasn't sure I would be able to stop. I felt like a hormonal teenager. 

Negan 's hands were incredibly gentle as he ran them over my hair and down my face until his hands rested on my shoulders. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against mine. He let out deep sigh and I could tell he was also trying to get a hold of himself. 

There was another knock. 

Negan's head snapped towards the door. "I heard you!" he bellowed. "Give me a goddamn minute!" 

When he looked back at me however, his face softened. I could feel the goofy smile on my face. He snorted and brushed a strand of hair back from my face. "Okay," he said sighing. "Back to business. That got a little more intense than planned." I snorted at his understatement, but didn't argue. "How's your shoulder?" he asked.

I frowned at him feeling like I had missed an entire conversation. "They're waiting for us," I pointed out, motioning towards the door. I already felt like I was on shaky ground with the others. I didn't want to give any of them more reason to dislike me.  

He scoffed. "Let them wait, I'm the boss." He said, his dark eyes shinning with amusement. 

I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine," I told him. Then I wiggled my shoulder to see how much of a fib I had just told him. It was stiff and the stitches pulled painfully, but it wasn't nothing I couldn't handle. 

Negan nodded but I could see in his eyes he didn't exactly believe me. He was a smart man. "If they take my offer we're going to do this. Any chance I can convince you to stay behind?" 

I snorted and shook my head there was no way I was staying behind while he and the others risked their lives. This was something I was good at. "Not a chance." 

Negan crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at me. I grinned up at him, pleased I had managed to exasperate him as much as he exasperated me. He shook his head in defeat and I knew I had won this round. 

"Alright assholes, get in here!" Negan called. 

I leaned in and pecked him on the cheek before I jumped off the table. "Let's do this." 

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Hi everyone! What did you think? Nothing could possibly go wrong with this plan, right? Haha! Thank you so much for your support guys. Every single vote, every comment, it all means so much to me. You are amazing and seriously keep me writing.