He stood there, an imposing 6 foot 2 inch tower of solid muscle, leering down at them where they kneeled in a row with hands bound behind their backs and mouths gagged with dirty rags. His bat, wound with barbed wire, rested on his shoulder as he paced
up and down the line. He was mocking them, cursing at them, trying to intimidate them, and he was doing a very good job of it, because every set of eyes was fixated on that bat.

Except for Fiona's.

She was watching the man instead of his deadly weapon. At first glance he would be called handsome- short dark hair slicked back from a square jawlined face and eyes the color of espresso. The shadow of a few days worth of stubble added a ruggedness
to his features, and when he smiled, dimples unexpectedly sprouted in both of his cheeks. He was smiling a lot, actually, laughing at them in between numerous F—bombs, and to any outsider he would seem completely psychotic. But Fiona had
a gut feeling he was more sane than any of them put together. There seemed to be a method to his madness, a working system behind his trained army of killers.

"Remove their gags," he ordered one of his men, motioning to the lineup before him. "I want to hear what they have to say."

A blonde scrawny man with a bad burn over half his face walked down the line roughly tearing off their gags. When he got to Fiona, he paused, leering down at her. Licking his lips suggestively, he made it obvious he was undressing her with his eyes. Suddenly,
the flimsy olive tank top she wore beneath her jean jacket made her feel like she was naked before him.

Negan noticed his man had stopped. "Dwight!" he barked, strolling over to him. "Keep it moving! I'd like to get some fucking sleep tonight! It's been a long day!"

He eventually stopped where Dwight had been standing and looked down at the blonde female kneeling before him. "Huh", he muttered under his breath but loud enough for anyone nearby to hear. "You're a pretty little thing aren't ya?" He stroked his beard
and smiled that cunningly evil yet charming smile again. "What's your name, gorgeous?"

It probably wouldn't help their situation any by antagonizing him, so without breaking his gaze, she told him what he wanted to know. "Fiona."

"Hi, Fiona." He held out his hand to her. "I'm Negan."

Was he really expecting her to exchange pleasantries and shake that hand? After just a few short minutes earlier when he had promised to kill one of her group in retribution for killing many of his own men? Either he needed to be an asshole
or a nice guy because this schizophrenic villain act was making her head spin. And, if she was being honest with herself, confusing the hell out of her.

His hand was still outstretched so she shook it limply. But he closed his fingers around hers with a firm grasp and tugged gently, pulling her to her feet and closer towards him. She watched as his gaze, too, roamed slowly over her from head to toe. But
his was a more controlled surveillance than Dwight's, as if he was admiring a work of fine art. His eyes lingered on her mouth, then the hollow of her throat where a small gold crucifix hung from a chain, finally moving down her thighs to her calves.
Apparently he liked what he saw because another slow, sultry smile graced his lips once his eyes met hers agin. Damn the tight jeans she had shoved into her combat boots that morning only because her baggy cargo pants were in the wash.

"All set boss!"

Dwight's voice echoed through the clearing, breaking the spell and refocusing Negan on the task at hand. He reluctantly let go of her hand. "Get back in your place ," he ordered her softly.

Then he returned to the middle of the line, swinging his bat as he went.

"Time to get down to business. Let's start by telling me which one of you pricks is the leader."

After a moment's hesitation, Rick made himself known. "I am."

Fiona snuck a glance over at him and was terrified at how terrified he looked. He was always their rock, the Fearless leader, with an answer or plan for everything. This unexpected capture by Negan seemed to have stripped him of all his confidence. His
eyes were wide and his whole body was trembling.

Get it together, Rick, she willed him silently. We will get though this somehow. We always find a way...

Negan walked over to Rick and without any of the same pleasantries he had previously bestowed on her, punched him square in the face. She bit down on her lip to keep from crying out.

"That's just the beginning, motherfucker." He laughed as blood began trickling down Rick's nose. Then he got on one knee so he was eye level with him and spoke in a low, menacing voice.

"One of your group is going to die tonight and you'll have to live with that on your conscience for the rest of your life. All because you're a cocky little asshole who couldn't leave well enough alone."

"We were misinformed!" Abraham shouted from down the line.

Negan stood up and pointed his deadly bat at him. " Don't anyone fucking speak until fucking spoken to! I don't care WHO sent you after me and for what reason. You were the idiots who didn't do your homework ahead of time. If you did, you would
have realized what a powerful, fucking God I am in these parts! And nobody fucking messes with me or my men! Whoever does, pays a pretty hefty fucking price!" He swung his bat towards them, demonstrating yet again the terrifying presence that was
Lucille andthrew his head back and laughed, a maniac enjoying his own punchlines.

"So Rick, tell me why Hilltop sent you after me. did they promise a share in all their goods if you played mercenary for them?"

Rick nodded weakly. "Pretty much."

"Guess you and your group have had past successes at playing mercenary then?"

"We've done what we needed to in order to survive."

"So. Have. I."

Negan spoke those words with a slow conviction, driving his message home. "And that's why you and I aren't so different after all."

"So what do you want?" Rick spat out. "It's yours. Just name it. It's all fucking yours. We will give you half our shit like you said. Just please don't kill anyone. We all have different skills that can be very useful to you. We can make this work."

"You're still going to give me half your shit and work for me regardless if I kill anyone or not. You took down a fuckload of my men, Rick. More than I'm comfortable with. So taking only one of yours is more than fair. Hell, it's quite a bargain I'd say!
So who's it gonna be? Should I give you the honor of choosing? Or would a simple eeney meeney miney mo game suffice?"

He began slowly pacing the line, pointing his bat at each prisoner as he went.

"Please!" Rick shouted. "Stop this! I said I'll give you whatever you want! Just STOP this!"

Negan paused when he was in front of Fiona. She kept her eyes on him defiantly, trying to act like she wasn't afraid but the rapid rise and fall of her chest betrayed her. He could even see her pulse racing on the side of her neck. A vision of him kissing
that slender neck while she writhed beneath him hit so hard and unexpectedly that his breath caught in his throat. And suddenly all his well-crafted plans fell to shit. But when inspiration hit, it was usually best to go with the flow. A slow
smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he contemplated all the promising possibilities. His smile turned into a full-fledged toothy grin and without tearing his eyes from hers, he called back to Rick, "Anything? You sure about that, cowboy?"

Fiona's eyes widened as she immediately understood his intention. Rick, on the other hand, was still so shaken up that he hadn't picked up on Negan's obvious insinuations and body language.

"Whatever you want," Rick croaked, his hand still held to his nose trying to stop the bleeding.

"Wonderful." He reached down and grabbed Fiona's hand, pulling her to her feet again. But this time he tugged harder so she purposely stumbled into him. He wrapped his arms around her snugly and squeezed her behind. "Can't wait to enjoy a piece of this
sweet ass tonight."

Abraham, Daryl, and Rick all sprung up simultaneously in protest but Negan's men were there, with guns pointed at the ready which froze them in their tracks.

"No!" Rick shouted. "You can't do this! I didn't think you meant...I was talking about supplies... You can't... She..." His voice trailed off as he realized arguing was futile. "Please..." He dropped to his knees again in defeat and met Fiona's eyes,
silently apologizing as best he could to her without words.

"I'll be okay," she mouthed back to him, doing her best not to cry. Negan still had his arms possessively around her and his strength made her uneasy.

"My men will be at Alexandria in the morning," he said to Rick. "Have supplies ready for us."

"With Fiona," Abraham demanded.

"Fuck no!" Negan couldn't help but laugh at the thought . "I exchanged taking a LIFE for her. You can bet I'm going to take my time and make sure I enjoy every inch of this sweet little body." He made a point of letting his hands roam inside her jacket,
just skimming the undersides of her small breasts. She pulled away but didn't get very far. He just pulled her right back against him. "Don't fight me, gorgeous," he murmured low in her ear. "it'll only make things harder for you."

Fiona snuck another glance at Rick, a guilty one this time, and her cheeks warmed when he saw the way he was now looking at Negan with pure hatred like he wanted to rip him limb from limb. What must she look like to the rest of the group, letting Negan
grope her like a common whore?

"So when can we expect her back?" Daryl asked angrily. "She's our Doctor. We need her."

"A doctor?" Negan looked down at her in awe and let out a low whistle of appreciation. "Brains AND beauty? Well, fuck me! I just hit the jackpot." He took her hand and started walking towards a black pickup truck.

"Tomorrow then," he called over his shoulder as a reminder. "Bright and early. Have everything ready. And if you try anything funny, just remember what's at stake." With that he turned his attention back to Fiona and said loud enough for everyone to hear,
"Cmon baby, we've got work to do tonight."

"Fee..."

As they walked away from the group, the last thing Fiona heard was Rick moaning her name. She willed herself not to look back or she would surely break down right then and there. And the last thing she wanted to do was give Negan the satisfaction of seeing
her cry.

He herded her into the truck and slammed the door behind her. Then he hopped into the driver's seat and they sped off into the night.