The air was heavy with fear. Everyone in my group was panicking and rightfully so I guess. The unknown was more terrifying than any walker I'd ever met. We'd been forced to our knees in the dark, awaiting judgment as it were. I'd fought back at first but all I'd gotten for my efforts was a split lip. So now I knelt on the ground and kept my head down.

I'd been with this group since Atlanta, finding them right after the CDC blew to oblivion. Despite the length of our acquaintance, I still wasn't close with anyone other than Rick and Daryl. Well, and Rick's little girl Judith but who doesn't get along with a baby? No one seemed to mind though. I was good at staying alive and keeping others that way and that was enough for them. They were content to leave me to my hermit lifestyle.

I hadn't always been that way. In fact, when the world went to shit I was with the love of my life. He'd been quick to take on a leadership role. Like Rick, he was a natural. We'd had a group. Nothing big, nothing fancy, but I'd trusted them. That was my first mistake, and one I didn't intend to make ever again.

"Time to meet the man," a voice shouted and I froze. I knew that voice, but it couldn't possibly be him. But if it was, I was going to kill him.

But it was the next voice I heard that really threw me. "Pissing our pants yet? Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close. It's going to be pee pee pants city here real soon." And he laughed. And then I laughed. I tried not to. I was just going to look up and make sure it was him, but of course it was. No one else had a voice like that. A laugh like that. Mother fucking Negan.

"Sara," Rick hissed from beside me. "What's wrong with you? Stop it."

And I wanted to. I knew he was terrified that I'd get myself killed, but I couldn't help it. I'd spent a good portion of the last several years looking for this man and I'd found him like this. The irony was too perfect.

"What the fuck is this?" that voice said. "You find something fucking amusing, sweetheart?"

I coughed as I tried to stop laughing. "Yeah, this is pretty fucking funny."

He laughed again but this time it was more of a 'you've got to be kidding me' sound than an indicator of actual amusement.

"That's enough," Daryl said from behind me. His voice was low, scared. And that pissed me off because Dixon didn't get scared.

Negan decided to ignore me and proceed with pacing in front of us while he swung his barbwire covered baseball bat. I remembered that bat. I was the one that made it for him. "Which one of you pricks is the leader?" he growled.

"You want to hear a story, Negan?" I asked before he could bully Rick any more.

"We know each other, sweetheart?" he asked and I smiled but still didn't lift my head. He always was a smart son of a bitch. He'd picked up immediately on the fact I knew his name and he hadn't introduced himself yet.

I hummed in agreement. "You, me, and Lucille used to be pretty fucking close."

That made him stop and he dropped to a crouch in front of me. He put his hand on my chin and lifted my head so he could see my face. His eyes widened in surprise then went soft. He ran his thumb along my lip next to where it was split. His tongue darted out to moisten his lips. "You said you had a story. Please enlighten us."

He stood and stepped back, though he remained in front of me. Negan knew I didn't talk for no reason. He wanted to see how this played out. I locked my eyes on his.

"One time toward the beginning of all this shit, I was on a run with a small group. We'd started our own place, it was safe enough but we still needed supplies of course." I wet my lips and played with the cut in my lip with the tip of my tongue. "My man ran everything and everyone seemed okay with that. There were a couple of the men though that didn't like that I had his ear, that he listened to me more than them. One of them put a bullet in my leg on that run and left me for the walkers. Told my man I died. Ain't that some shit?"

"How do you know they told him you were dead?" Rick asked from beside me. I hadn't shared this story with them before. Negan glanced at him but didn't tell him to shut up.

I smiled. "Because he wouldn't have left me otherwise."

"Who?" Negan asked, Lucille propped on his shoulder. His knuckles were white from the force of his grip.

My eyes moved from him to Simon who stood to one side. He hadn't gotten a good enough glimpse of me to recognize me yet. Negan nodded and looked at the ground briefly before looking back at me. He tilted his head to indicate Rick and the rest of them. "And them?"

"Mine. They have been for a while."

"Well, ain't this a fucking surprise?" Negan said suddenly, loudly. "Simon, come see the pretty little treat we have here."

"What the fuck, Sara?" Daryl asked from behind me. I made a motion with my hand behind my back to let him know it was going to be okay.

Simon strolled over, a smile on his face, undoubtedly thinking Negan had something special planned for him. Well, he was right in a way.

The smile fell quickly when he saw me. His gaze darted between me and Negan as he tried to get a read on the situation. "S-S-Sara! I thought you were dead. Well, this is just great, isn't it Negan? We've got Sara back."

Negan gave a little half-smile, flashing the dimple on that cheek. He turned, swinging the bat as he went. Simon was thrown backward by the impact. Negan hit him a couple more times, making sure he was well and truly dead. The people around me gasped, not really understanding what had just happened or what it meant for them.

When he turned back, he held out a hand. I took it and let him help me up. I had no sooner gotten to my feet before he pulled me against his chest. He used his arm to keep me pressed tightly against him. His eyes ran over my face as if he still didn't believe I was really there. "God, I missed you."

I wrapped one hand around the back of his neck and let my fingers play in his hair before pulling his head down to close the distance between us. The kiss was slow and tender as we got used to one another again. "I never stopped loving you, Negan," I whispered, my lips brushing against his as I spoke.

He laid his forehead against mine. After a moment, he pulled back and pressed his lips against my head. "Hold Lucille, darlin'," he said and I took the weapon from him.

He turned back to my group and extended a hand to Rick. "You took care of my girl, so we're going to call this even. Doesn't mean you get a completely free pass, but we'll work this shit out, yeah?"

Rick stood and shook Negan's hand, but looked at me in confusion, obviously still at a loss as to what exactly was going on.

I gave him a smile. "It's okay, Rick." I looked at the rest of the group. "You guys can get up now."

"Saviors, move out," Negan called and his men began scrambling back to their vehicles like the whole evening had never happened. He reached over and took Lucille back from me before wrapping his free hand in mine and tugging me against his side. I had a feeling it would be a while before either of us let the other out of our sight.

My attention got pulled to Abraham helping Daryl struggle to his feet. He looked between me and Negan. "You sure about this, Sara?" he asked in that low drawl. "You gonna be okay?"

Negan tilted his head back with a laugh. "Oh, I like this one," he said. "I like him a lot." He smiled down at me. "You've got good people here, sweetheart."

"Yeah, I do."