As promised!!! I didn't make you wait too long now did I ;) 

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"It."

Negan leveled the bat at Abraham.

No, no, no, no.

"Anybody moves, anybody says anything cut the boy's other eye out and feed it to his father and then we'll start," His eyes flickered over to me and I felt like he knew. Like he knew me, or recognized something in me that most others hadn't. Like he knew I had planned on attacking. My eyes went from Abraham to Rick and Carl. I couldn't...I couldn't just let this happened.

Abraham straightened his spine and met Negan's gaze levelly. He jerked his chin once in confirmation. He was going to stare this man in the face and watch as his death came. He was a soldier through and through. He simply accepted it. His spine was stiff and his gaze level.

Negan's eyes were still on mine when he spoke his next words. "You can breath, you can blink, you can cry. Hell, you're all gonna be doing that."

Sasha gasped, her breath coming out in a strangled cry.

Negan raised the bat above his head.

I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe. It was like my body was frozen and I had gone someplace else.

Negan brought the bat down on Abraham's skull as hard as he could. There was a sickening crunch the made my stomach heave and Abraham fell forward, but he didn't go down. He caught himself by one hand and stilled for a second but he never looked away. 

Negan preened. "Ho, ho ho. Look at that! Taking it like a champ!"

I sank my teeth into the side of my cheek.

Abraham pushed himself back up, so he could glare at Negan as blood started to run down his face. "Suck-My-Nuts," he growled out.

I tasted blood in my mouth. There was nothing I could do. I was absolutely powerless to sit here and watch my brother die. Just like I had watched Katie die, only this was somehow both easier and harder to watch. Abraham was a survivor. He was supposed to make it through this. He was supposed to be one of the last ones standing...

When Negan hit him a second time Abraham went down and stayed down. 

Bile rose in my throat and I wanted so badly to let go. 

Then Negan kept swinging the bat until there was nothing left. Over and over under there was just bone and blood and thicker matter spreading across the gravel.

I wouldn't cry. Not in front of these people. Abraham wouldn't want that. He would never want us to show them any weakness. It was then I realized my hands were already clenched into fists as I shook with the effort it took to keep my emotions bottled up inside.

Negan pulled back, panting, his eyes wide. "Did you hear that?" he asked letting out a peel of laughter. "He said 'suck my nuts.' Phew." And he swung the bat again, even though there was nothing left. Even though there was no reason. 

There was nothing left.

"Oh my goodness, this!" Negan said swinging his bat, sending blood spraying over all of us. "You guys look at my dirty girl," he crowed, holding out the bat.

He stepped up to me, pushing the bat towards me face. "Sweetheart, lay your eyes on this."

My eyes were burning and I was shaking, but I would not cry. Not in front of this man. 

I was going to kill him.

"Oh damn, were you together? That would suck." Negan pointed the bloodied bat in my face. 

I cold smell the coppery scent of Abraham's blood. I gritted my teeth and kept my eyes away. 

"Well if you were, I want you to know there was a reason for all of this. Red, and hell, he was, is and forever will always be red. He just took one, or six or seven for the team," he shoved the bat close to my face once more. "So take a damn look. I mean just look at that, mm mm good," he said pushing it even closer to me.

I pulled my head back but Negan reached out and grabbed my chin, his fingers digging painfully into the soft flesh of my face. "Take a damn look!" he bellowed in my face.

I tried to hold it in but I had nothing left. I whimpered in pain as his fingers bit into the soft skin of my face.

Daryl lost it.

It was my fault, all my fault. I knew Daryl was close. I could feel it, and with the tension from Abraham's death I should have done more to stop it. But all I did was make it worse.

Daryl leapt up punched Negan, knocking him across the circle of light. He was running after him to hit him again when Dwight took him down from behind and pointed Daryl's crossbow in his face.

I didn't hesitate. I jumped up and slammed into Dwight knocking him off balance. He stumbled and whirled around, swinging Daryl's crossbow at me, but I was ready for it. I had been fighting along side Daryl for years, I knew how someone with that weapon would move. I slid backward out of reach, but he had over extended himself. I kicked out, aiming not for him, but for the crossbow. I followed it's momentum and it went skidding out of his hands and through the dirt. There was yelling all around us and more men had rushed forward and were holding Daryl down. Two more ran at me. I dropped back into a crouch, facing them, and keeping my back at Daryl.

I froze when I heard laughing. The men facing me took a few steps back, relaxing their pose. Dwight had scrambled back and regained his balance. He recovered the crossbow and had it pointed at Daryl's skull.

Negan stood just out of arms reach pointing Lucille at me.

"No!" Daryl snarled, trying to fight his way to his feet.

I stared down at Lucille and watched the last drips of Abraham's blood drip into the dirt. This was going to be it. 

"That?" Negan said chuckling as he stared at me. "Oh my, that...is a no-no," then he looked down at Daryl. "The whole thing. Not one bit of that shit flies here," he was almost jovial as he spoke.

He pressed the bat towards Daryl's face now and I stilled. I sunk down into the place in my head where everything gets quiet. I was not going to stand here and watch him do that to Daryl. I knew with absolute certainty they were going to have to kill me first.

"Do you want me to do it?" Dwight asked the question, but he was already pointing the crossbow at Daryl's skull, and he never took his eyes away from him. "Right here."

Negan looked down at Daryl thoughtfully. He grabbed Daryl by the hair and jerked it back. "No, no you don't kill them...not until you try a little," and he winked at Dwight.

Dwight looked back and forth between Daryl in Negan in shock. I knew I was missing something, but I couldn't be absolutely prepared to fight to the death and read into the subtext of their conversation at the same time. I didn't have enough in me. Something had to give.

"Anyway," Negan said climbing to his feet. "That's not how it works. Now I already told you people. First one's free then - what'd I say? I said I would shut that shit down. No exceptions. Now I don't know what kind of lying assholes you've been dealing with...I'm a man of my word and first impressions are important. I need you to know me. So..."

He hefted the bat and whirled around away from Daryl. I had the single most selfish second of my life. Nothing but profound relief spread through me as I realized Daryl was going to live.

Instead he whirled towards Glenn.

And he brought the bat down.

"No!!!" Maggie screamed.

Glenn lay in the dirt, groaning in pain. But his eyes were only for Maggie.

I stood alone in the circle of light, feeling like the world was tilting on it's axis. I felt like I was drowning and if I moved I would fall. This couldn't be real.

Negan leaned towards Glenn. "Buddy are you still there?" I just don't know. It seems like you are trying to speak but you just took a hell of a hit. I just hit your skull so hard it popped your eyeball out, and it is gross as shit."

But Glenn didn't care about Negan. He was gone. He wasn't in this place anymore. There was no fear. He was already dead. And yet he only cared about Maggie. "Maggie," he gasped. "I will find you," he promised with his last breaths.

Maggie was gasping and crying. She lay in the dirt with snot and tears running down her face as she reached towards Glenn.

"Oh hell," Negan said, feigning compassion. "I can see this is hard for you guys. But I did say it. No exceptions."

Then Negan swung the bat again and Glenn's body went down for good.

I closed my eyes. I couldn't do it, not again. Not like this. All I could hear was the crunching of bone and bat and gravel. I shuddered as the noise continued on and on without stop. When I was finally convinced he couldn't possibly keep swinging the bat. 

I opened my eyes.

He was leaning, propped against the bat. His was panting from the effort, his hair was disheveled but his eyes shone with excitement. "You bunch of pussies. I'm just getting started. "

He wasn't crazy like The Governor. He was something else entirely.

"Lucille is thirsty," he said laughing maniacally. "She is a vampire bat."

Everyone around me was sobbing and crying. I stood in the center of it, like I was in the eye of a hurricane.

"What?" Negan asked sarcastically. "Was the joke that bad?" he asked, moving around the circle once more. Now that the killing was done, he was back on stage. He was carefully tucking away the pieces of himself and regaining control.

"I'm gonna kill you," RIck's voice came out in a raspy whisper.

I turned towards him and sucked in a silent breath. Rick had no idea what this man was capable of. It went so much farther beyond this. I could feel it like a bonfire at my back. Negan was capable of things so much worse than this.

"What? I didn't quite catch that, you'll have to speak up." Negan said crouching in front of Rick.

Rick cleared his throat so he could be heard. But his voice still came out without emotion or expression. "Not today, not tomorrow. But I'm gonna kill you," Rick promised him.

Negan sucked in a breath. "Jesus," Negan chuckled shaking his head. "Simon, what did he have? A knife?"

"Uh, he had a hatchet," Simon said stepping forward.

It was then that I allowed myself to look at The Saviors for the first time. Somehow none of them looked terrified or disgusted over what had just happened. None of them even looked resigned. They simply looked on as though this was business as usual for them.

"A hatchet?" Negan asked laughing.

"He had an ax," Simon clarified.

Negan nodded. "Simon is my right hand man. Having one of those is important. I mean what do you have left without one? A whole lot of work. Do you have one? Maybe one of these fine people still breathing? Or did I..." he made a tocking noise with his tongue and moved the bat in front of Rick's face.

Rick was shaking with rage, Abraham's blood still splattered across his face.

"Sure, yeah, give me his ax," Negan ordered. Simon handed it over. Negan held it up between himself and Rick.

"Here we are," Negan said looking the ax over. "Let me ask you something Rick. Do you even know what this little trip set up was about?"

No one answered. Rick glared at Negan, but said nothing. His jaw tightened in defiance. Rick's eyes ranged over the rest of us and he seemed to deflate a little. We couldn't fight our way out of this one and that was the only thing Rick knew how to do.

"Speak when you're spoke to," Negan demanded in an impatient voice. "This was about the way that you looked at me. I wanted to change that. I wanted you to understand. But you're still looking at me in the same damn way, like I shit in your scrambled eggs and that's not gonna work. So..." Negan knelt beside Rick. "Do I give you another chance?"

"Yeah." Rick responded quietly.

"Yes?" Negan patted him on the shoulder. "All right," he stood. "Here it is. The grand prize game. What you do next will decide whether your crap day becomes everyone's last crap day, or just another crap day. Get some guns to the backs of their heads," Negan ordered, motioning to the Saviors behind us. "Good...now...level with there noses so if you have to fire. Boom!" he made a motion like brains coming out of his face. "It will be a real mess."

Negan chuckled as if this were the funniest thing he could think of.

Rick was frantic as he looked around.

"Kid," Negan said motioning for Carl to come to him. "Right here."

Carl hesitated, his eyes flickering over to his dad.

Negan's voice came quick and impatient. "Kid...now." Negan shifted his bat to his other hand and pulled his belt out.

I swallowed thickly, not liking the direction this was taking. Once you beat two members of a group to death with a baseball bat there was only so much else you could do to scare them. There were only so many options for escalation. Every single one of them that I could think of was awful and I was a far cry from the  narcissistic psychopath in front of us. 

"You a southpaw?" Negan asked as he wrapped his belt around Carl's arm.

"Am I a what?" Carl responded.

"Are you a lefty?" Negan spoke the words slower and more clearly as though Carl were stupid.

"No," Carl snapped back.

"Good," Negan said with a smile and he tightened his belt around Carl's left arm. "That hurt?"

"No."

"Should, it's supposed to," he jerked it tighter. "All right. Get down on the ground kid, next to daddy. Spread them wings." Negan grabbed Carl's hat and threw it across the clearing.

"Simon, you got a pen?"

"Yeah," Simon agreed and tossed Negan a marker. Negan pulled the cap off with his teeth.

"Sorry kid, this is going to be as cold as a warlocks ball sack just like he was hanging his ball sack above you and dragging it across the forearm," Negan drew a line across Carl's forearm. "There you go. Gives you a little leverage."

I could see the moment Rick caught on to what was happening. His shoulders started to heave and he shook. "Please," Rick whimpered beside him. "Please. Please don't. Please don't."

"Me?" Negan asked innocently. "I ain't doing shit." He straightened and stretched. "Rick I want you to take your ax and cut your son's left arm off right on that line."

Rick's eyes grew wide and shocky.

"Now I know," Negan said in a soothing voice. "I know. You gotta process that for a second. That makes sense. Still though, I'm gonna need you to do it or all these people are going to die, then Carl dies and then all the people back home die, and then you, eventually. I'm gonna keep you breathing for a few years just so you can stew on it."

"You-you don't have to do this," Michonne called, her voice breaking. "We-we understand." She promised, her eyes were wide with fear.

"You understand. Yeah," Negan agreed nodding. "I'm not sure that Rick does," he turned back to Rick. "I'm gonna need a clean cur right there on that line. Now I know that this is a screwed up thing to ask but it's gonna have to be like a salami slice - nothing messy, clean forty five degrees. We gotta have something we can fold over. We got a great doctor...The kid will be fine...probably." 

Negan squatted down beside Rick. "Rick, this needs to happen now. Chop - chop...or I will crush the little fellas skull myself," Negan promised grinding the bat into the gravel near Carl's face.

"It can be me," Rick cried, "It can be me. I can go with you."

"No," Negan replied casually. "This is the only way," Negan froze. He stared down at Rick in disgust when Rick refused to move. "Rick, pick up the ax...Not making a decision is making a big decision. You really wanna see all these people die?" Negan challenged. "You will. You will see every ugly thing. Oh my god, are you gonna make me count? Alright Rick, you win, I am counting."

Negan shook his head as though he couldn't believe this was happening. "Three"

"No!" Rick wailed. "Please it can be me! Please! It can be me!" he cried as tears and snot ran down his face.

"Just do it dad!" Carl screamed.

It didn't feel real. It felt like something I was watching on television, or something that was happening to someone else. 

Negan slapped Rick. "Two!"

"NO!" Rick whimpered.

Negan knelt down and grabbed Rick's face. "This is it."

"AAHHH!!!!" Rick screamed his hand hovering over the ax. He picked it up, holding it high, screaming.

"Rick," Negan reached out, touching Rick's hand, stopping him.

Rick collapsed back, hyperventilating. The ax went skittering across the gravel.

Negan's voice was perfectly clear and calm as he spoke. "You answer to me. You provide for me. You belong to me. Right?"

Rick bobbed his head up and down frantically.

Negan lunged forward grabbing Rick's face violently. "Speak when you're spoken to!" He screamed. "You answer to me. You provide for me."

"Provide you," Rick choked out words, but his eyes never left Carl.

"You belong to me. Right?"

"Right," Rick gasped.

"Right. Now, that is the look I wanted to see. You both get back to your places." Negan stood, picking up his bat, he swing it around casually as he turned his attention back to the group.

 "We did it," he said looking over the group. "All of us together. Even the dead guys on the ground, hell they get the spirit award for sure. Today was a productive damn day. Now, I hope for all your sake, that you get it now. That you understand how things work. Things have changed. Whatever you had going for you, that is over now," Negan turned away from us. "Dwight, load him up," Negan commanded pointing at Daryl.

Dwight jerked Daryl to his feet and threw him towards the van. Daryl stumbled and swung back towards Dwight with his jaw set, ready for a fight. Dwight lifted the crossbow and took a step towards Daryl. I saw Dwight's muscles tense. He was going to fire. I tensed myself to leap at him.

"Hey now!" Negan called. "Stop that now!" Negan turned his attention back to Dwight. He stepped up next to them, glaring down at Dwight.

"That," Negan said pointing at Daryl. "You don't kill that. You take that with you!"

Dwight lowered his eyes submissively and stepped away from Negan and Daryl towards me.

"He's got guts - not a little bitch like someone I know," Negan said cutting his eyes to Rick. "I like him. He's mine now. But you still want to try something 'not today not tomorrow'? I will cut pieces off of...hell's your name?"

"Daryl," Daryl ground out.

"Daryl," Negan chortled as though it were a joke. "Daryl what?"

Daryl took a deep breath as though steadying himself, or maybe it was from pain. Even from here I could see where the blood was oozing down his chest once more. "Dixon." He replied, his voice raspy and hoarse.

"Wow, that actually sounds right. I will cut pieces off of Daryl and put them on your doorstep, or better yet, I will bring him to you and have you do it for me." Negan smiled and patted Rick on the back. "Dwight, load Daryl Dixon up in the van, we are taking him home with us."

Everything in me went cold.

"Dare-" I started towards him but Dwight snagged me by the shoulder and pulled me back.

Negan noticed, he pinched his lips into a thin amused line and then swaggered over towards me. He leaned back and looked back and forth between me and Daryl then shrugged. "Well,
I can't fault you for taste." He laughed then, as though that were the funniest thing he had ever heard. "What are you going to do sweetheart? Fight us all?" He asked sarcastically.

He wasn't the type who would frighten easily and with them about to take Daryl I wasn't thinking clearly enough to know if this was a good or bad idea. I didn't care. I was emotionally drained and running on instincts. I was beyond pretending to be something I wasn't. I lifted my chin and glared at him, letting him see every dark piece that lives in my head.

I was right. He wasn't afraid. But something else slid behind his eyes and then a slow, satisfied smirk blossomed across Negan's face and I recognized it as the first, sincere and genuine smile I had seen from him and it was infinitely more terrifying than anything else I had seen from him. But I refused to let him see any fear. 

Somewhere I heard movement and somehow I knew that it was Daryl struggling against the Saviors trying to get to me. I refused to be the first to look away.

Negan chuckled darkly and took another step closer to me, closing the distance between us. He leaned down close to me and breathed in right next to me.

"Mmm mmm," he said shaking his head as though I smelled good. "Dwight what hardware did you pull off our Hot Friend here? Cause it's pretty obvious to me that she's a bit of a scrapper."

He was mocking me. I could see it in his eyes. He was challenging me, trying to get a reaction.

Dwight cleared his throat. "A hand gun and ten knives."

Negan went very still at that. Then he was the first to break eye contact. His gaze went to Dwight and then settled back on me with renewed interest. I might not be able to stop them from taking one of us. But maybe, just maybe I could make him take me instead of Daryl. Daryl needed medical attention and i was more than willing to subject myself to this to ensure he got it.

Negan stared down at me for a long time running his eyes over first my face and then down over my body. He took a step closer and look down over my shoulder at my back. He was looking at my shoulder harness.

Daryl struggled again behind us. That seemed to pull Negan's attention back to Dwight. Negan stepped back a step and then addressed Dwight. "And this didn't concern you?" he asked.

Dwight shrugged casually "We pull knives off of everyone."

"Bring them to me," Negan ordered.

Simon appeared out of no where and dumped my pile of knives and my hand gun at Negan's feet.

Negan toed the pile thoughtfully, then slowly raised his eyes back to Dwight. "Yes you do, but you know what I see here? I see balanced knives, I see throwing knives, hell, I see fighting knives. Do you see her set up?" Negan demanded gesturing dramatically at me with his hand.

Dwight pinched his lips into a thin line.

"Did you Dwight?" Negan's voice came out harsher than before and I wondered when he had gone from tormenting me and Daryl to tormenting Dwight.

"Yes," Dwight replied staring at the ground.

"What was that I didn't hear you?"

"Yes, I saw it." Dwight responded.

Negan nodded "But you didn't think that it was important to note that she carries a damn kukri on her hip and has a spine sheath? That's not something you do because you think it looks badass, that's profession grade shit right here," Negan moved around once more restlessly and then he bent down and picked up my gun. He checked the clip and then let out a whistle. "And a full clip!" He waved the gun around dramatically. "You found our hot friend roaming the woods alone and she has a full clip and you don't think twice about pulling ten knives off her? Tell me Hot Friend, who's right? Me or Dwight? How good are you?"

I didn't say anything I just slowly lifted my eyes to his face.

Negan started laughing then. He bent down and snatched up one of my throwing knives. So he did know what he was talking about.

"Stay," he commanded to me. Then he stalked back over to Abraham's body and dipped the top of Lucille in the blood. He walked over to a tree on the opposite side of the clearing maybe thirty feet from me and pressed the blood against the bark. He was making a target.

He wanted a show.

I glanced over to Daryl but his eyes were glued to Negan angrily. Rick still looked like he was in shock. Did I do what he wanted? It felt a little too much like giving in to The Governor had, and I vowed a long time ago to never be that again. But as I looked back at Daryl I realized I would do a lot worse to keep him safe.

Negan walked back over to where Dwight and I stood.

"Dwight go point that arrow at her man's other shoulder. She fails to do anything I say you let 'er rip, you understand?"

Dwight practically jogged over to where they had Daryl.

"Now, Hot Friend," Negan said and he flipped the throwing knife in the air and caught it by the blade. "I want to see who was right." He held the knife out to me, handle first. He stepped to the side dropping into a dramatic bow as though he were giving me the stage. Then he stepped to my left and looked at me.

I took a deep breath, my brain couldn't decide if it was better to appear strong or weak. Was I making a fatal mistake? He was smart and it was like he already knew. So I sucked in a breath and threw the knife. It landed perfectly in the middle of the circle of blood.

Negan nodded thoughtfully then he slid the pile of knives towards me with his toe. "Again," he said, his tone was still light.

I took a deep breath and bent down and picked up the next throwing knife.

"Perfect," Negan commented, "Again."

I picked up another. Three down.

"Perfect, again." His tone was still light but the jokes were done now. His eyes were hard as he watched me pick up the forth throwing knife. He reached out and touched my arm with Lucille. I froze, fighting the urge to recoil. "Lefty," he commanded, his tone low and deadly serious now.

I switched hands and threw left.

Negan glanced down at my pile of remaining six blades. He toed past my kukri and the remaining two throwing knives which left my larger hunting knife and two fighting knives. He picked up the hunting knife and weighed it. It was shit to throw, not balanced at all. He held it up to his nose and smelled the blade then he looked back at me. 

In that moment the look in his eyes reminded me so much of The Governor warning and echoes of pain flashed through my mind. I couldn't help it, I dropped my eyes to the ground. 

I could hear him smirk. "Throw this one," he ordered me and I hated him.

I reached for the knife and his fingers brushed my skin as he handed it to me. I fought the urge to recoil. I would rather touch Lucille than him.

I weighed the hunting knife carefully and pulled my arm back a little further than normal. It would take more muscle to get this knife to that tree.

"Hey Hot Friend," Negan called just as the blade was about to leave my fingers. He was trying to distract me. I turned my eyes to meet his gaze and let the blade fly anyway.

I knew the throw was good the second the blade left my finger tips but I didn't let him see me check. He held my gaze as a murmur went through his men. He started laughing then as he held me gaze.

"Oh Dwight I hope you learned your lesson. Our Hot Friend here is much more than what she seems. Never assume something beautiful and small isn't deadly," Negan ran the backs of his fingers along my cheek. 

I held absolutely still.

I heard the quiet rasp of an angry southern drawl and Dwight cracked Daryl across the skull with the crossbow. He sagged but didn't go all the way down. Dwight looked down at Daryl and spat on him.

I took an involuntary step forward, my fingers twitching for the feel of one of my knives. Dwight saw it and jumped forward a few feet to meet me. He was now standing in the middle of the circle of light with Daryl's crossbow pointed at my heart.

Negan only laughed harder. "Oooh Dwighty boy, now I'm no expert on women but I would say our Hot Friend is fantasizing about you?" He licked his lower lip suggestively, "tell me Hot Friend, if I let you, would you land one of your knives in his skull?"

I took a deep breath, pushing all my emotions down where they lived when I was in that ring and that cell. I lifted my chin and without taking my eyes off Dwight I responded clearly. "No."

"No?" Negan growled the word like he didn't believe me. "Don't lie to me hot friend," his voice was dangerous and hard like broken glass.

I needed to diffuse this situation before Daryl or I ended up dead. "May I?" I asked. I looked at Negan a little suggestively and jerked my chin towards Dwight.

Negan ran his tongue over his lower lip. "Be my guest," he replied. I needed to be careful here so I didn't get myself into the wrong kind of trouble. It was a delicate line to walk. I stalked towards Dwight. There was nothing suggestive in my movements now, it was all predatory.

It was a show. It was all a show. I knew how to put on a show. Done it for months. I swaggered around him and pushed myself up on tip toe so I was peaking at Negan over Dwight's shoulder.

"His spine," I replied calmly.

"Tough shot," Negan replied but it was an observation not an argument.

I dragged my fingers suggestively up Dwight's spine. Never breaking eye contact with Negan. I stopped at L1 and pressed my finger gently. Dwight shifted uncomfortably. "That's paralyzed below the waist." I dragged it further up his spine. I pulled my hand back and poked him hard with my index finger causing him to flinch. "And that's paralyzed below the neck." I snarled.

Negan burst out in a fit of gleeful laughter "Damn girl I thought that little future serial killer over there was bad but look at you! Somebody made you into something, didn't they?"

I stepped back around Dwight, with my hands in front of me so I could look levelly at Negan. He was worse than the Governor. He was much worse. He was worse than those creeps who came over our wall and killed our people. He was much worse. He was a damn War Lord. I gritted my teeth and refused to look away from him.

He stared me down for a long moment and then he chuckled, swaggering towards me. "I mean look at you," he said and he glanced back at the bodies laying in the dirt. "Two of your friends just got their skulls bashed in by Lucille and you didn't even blink an eye. Hell. Look. At. You," he punctuated each word and then ran his tongue along his lower lip once more. "Man, do I want to bring you home with me."

"No!" Daryl yelled, and I fought not to show a reaction when Dwight punched him in the stomach to subdue him. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Daryl, collapsed on the ground, but I could feel the intensity of his gaze on me. I knew he was glaring at me, trying to get me to back down and back off. It had taken him a while, but he had realized what I was doing.  

"Your man back there seems to take offense....Now I would love to take you home with me and make you one of my wives. I mean look at you. You are hot. You would make me one smok'in hot wife."

Dwight jerked Daryl to his feet once more, pointing the crossbow at Daryl's face. I risked a glance and I knew Daryl was slipping. His eyes were leveled at Negan. He wasn't even watching me or Dwight any more. 

Negan completely ignored what was happening behind him, his whole focus was on me. "But...there's this little issue I have with not being able to trust a wife with a damn butter knife without having to  worry about her cutting my balls of...huh?" He asked bending down and putting his face next to mine. "Yes sir, I think I will get more use out of your man. You my Hot Friend, would bring me nothing but trouble."

He stared into my eyes and arched a brow, flashing me a knowing smirk. Then he winked at me. 

I scowled at him, even though inside my stomach had dropped. I had failed. They were still going to take Daryl. I had overdone it and now Daryl was going to pay the price. I had failed. 

Negan watched my scowl and ran his tongue over his lip. "Mmm you are delicious."

Then he spun back around to face the group. "All right boys lets load up! We're done here." He looked to Rick, "Welcome to a brand new beginning you sorry shits. I'm gonna leave you a truck. Keep it, use it to cart all the crap you're going to find me. We'll be back for our first offering in one week, until then. Ta-ta," he waved at them and turned away as though they had never existed.

He stopped then and looked back over his shoulder at me, curiosity burning in his gaze. "What's you name Hot Friend?"

I met Daryl's gaze over Negan's shoulder. I lifted my chin and responded without hesitation. What Negan thought didn't matter. I let Daryl see the truth burn in my eyes.

"Jo Dixon."

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So...what did you think?