A special thanks to XCutePoisonX and guest for the follow, favorites, and review. I just started a new job, so I'm trying to get back on track with updating.

"You really are your father's son, you know that?" Carl whipped around, eye wide with shock. He didn't dare peek around from behind the crate, hands gripped tight around the gun that he had acquired in the back of the truck. He tried to slow his breathing, sucking in a slow, deep breath, and exhaling it as quietly as he could between his lips.

"No, seriously. This is some dumb shit that he would try." The sheriff's hat was swiftly removed from the top of his head. He raised his gun, but the barrel was grabbed harshly, yanked forward, then pushed back, sending him sprawled across the dusty floor of the truck. He heard metal scraping against metal, before the disassembled gun was tossed at his feet. He carefully raised his head, his only eye tracking the dark silhouetted figure in front of him. She looked the same as the last time he saw her, dressed head to toe in black, a dark swatch of midnight across her cerulean eyes, haired tied back and flowing like a waterfall down her back.

"Who are you?" The corner of her lip quirked ever so slightly, before she raised her arm. Carl winced, closing his eye, before he felt a light 'plop' on his head. Opening his eye warily, he gently raised his arms, fingering the hat that sat on top of his head.

"Right now, it looks like I'm the person whose keeping you alive." Her voice was raspy, slightly deep, but still melodic at the same time. It was puzzling to him, really, reminded him of some celebrity he had a crush on back when the world was still put together. But, her words caused something in his blood to boil, a seething glare ripping across her body.

"I don't need you to keep me alive." He was surprised to hear her laugh, it down right shocked him to his core. His mouth fell open as he watched her, eyes closed, and lips parted, a sharp bark of laughter. She mimicked wiping tears from her eyes, staring down at him with a hand on her hip.

"That's real cute, kid. Honestly, but, I've already been through puberty, I know how to handle the mood swings." Carl seethed again, shooting up to his knees and lunging towards the woman. He wrapped his arms around her legs when-

When he grabbed onto nothing but air, a sharp pressure pushing into the middle of his back, pinning his arms underneath as he collided with the dusty floor. The foot on his back was replaced with a knee and he let out a winded whine as the pressure increased.

"I'd be careful if I was you, kid. Your recklessness will get you killed one day." The growl cupped the shell of his ear, sending an involuntary shiver down his spine. The pressure on his back didn't let up, if anything, it pressed down further and further, before it felt like his ribs were about to crack. That's when the truck rolled to a stop, and the noises of the outside world started to filter in. Carl's head was turned towards the back of the truck, so he couldn't see the charismatic face peering into the opening.

"Well, I'll be damned! What did you catch for me, Savage?" Carl heard the voice and whipped his head around just in time to see Negan put both elbows on the bed of the truck, white teeth shining in the shadows of the truck.

"Is that the mini serial killer? Whew, boy! Today is just my luh-kee day!" Negan pushed himself from the back of the truck, and suddenly Carl was hauled up by the scruff of his shirt, stumbling forward until he practically fell out of the truck. Negan was grinning up at him, Lucille draped across his leather clad shoulders, blood red scarf tucked around his neck.

"Now, tell me kid, what do I owe the pleasure?" The glare on Carl's face deepened and Negan's smile grew. He lazily reached his hand out, the one that wasn't holding Lucille, and gripped at something out of Carl's peripheral. Then, a line of black danced in the corners of his vision, before the woman was pulled towards Negan, her body slotting close to his. Negan traced his hand up woman's side, over her arm, until his hand wrapped lightly around her neck. Carl watched something flash across the man's eyes, it disappearing just as quickly as it came, before he dropped his hand and turned towards him.

"Well, you must be here for a tour, aren't you? 't's not fair for you to show me your place and me not show mine. Mi casa is su casa and all that shit." Negan latched his hand onto the boy's shoulders, wheeling him towards the massive factory laid out in front of them. Negan weaved Carl throughout the entire place, showing him the mess hall, the workshops, even the cellars. He showed him everything the Sanctuary had to offer, a little black shadow following closely behind.

Carl would spare a glance at her every once in a while, her bright eyes always catching his, which made him immediately drop his gaze. They were too bright in his opinion, eerily hypnotic and seemingly glowing against her dark war paint. But, while he walked and watched, he never noticed her tense up. She floated around the place like an apparition, always calm, cool, and collected.

That is, until the made it to the very top floor, right before they got to the roof. Carl saw her shoulders tense the tiniest bit, the placid look on her face tightening ever so slightly. He could feel it in Negan too, the way his heavy hand on his shoulder gripped a little bit tighter. When Negan pushed open the door, he could almost understand why. In the room in front of him, women laid sprawled out on couches, clothed in all black tight dresses, their legs showing, and the breasts pushed up. Carl could feel his blood pressure pick up, sweat forming along his temples.

"Ah, when's the last time you've seen something like this, kid? All the women at your place, they dress like they're fuckin' nuns." Carl couldn't help but let his eye dance over the scantily clad women in front of him. They were gorgeous, every single one of them, but he felt a darkness sweep over the room, all the women's eyes locking onto something over his shoulder. That's when he realized that Savage was still with them, and the women did not look happy to see her.

"Negan, we need to talk." A woman stepped forward, light brown hair and a mole above her brow stepped forward, sneering at the figure behind Carl, before gently grabbing Negan's elbow. Negan's eyes darted towards Carl momentarily, before flicking behind him, then back to the woman in front of him, a large smile pulling across his face.

"And, what might we need to talk about, Sherry?" The woman, Sherry, glances over her shoulder towards a young woman with long blonde hair, sniffling on the couch. Negan's smile drops immediately, eyes darkening before he nods his head slowly, pulling Sherry over to the bar, talking in hushed whispers. Carl watched with his interest peaked, before a gentle touch to the small of his back startled him.

"You're not gonna like what you're about to see." Carl looks up towards the woman beside him. Her eyes are hauntingly clear, reminding him of the time his parents to him to the Florida Keys for a family vacation. In that moment, Carl takes the time to study the woman, Savage. He openly stares at her eyes, drawing from the top of her head, down across her face, which holds a softness he was surprised to see. There's no harsh lines, or hard divots, just supple smoothness, a slight bump in middle of her nose, and a faint scar tracing down the left corner of her mouth. His eye continues downward, taking in her narrow shoulders, completely covered in a tight, black fabric. He can't help but focus on her chest, the swell neatly outlined in her outfit. When he makes it to her hips, he hears a quiet sound, his eye darting back up to see an amused look on the woman's face.

"Ya like what ya see? I'm gonna have to say though, kid, you're a bit too young for me." Carl could feel the heat rise to his cheeks, and just as he went to retort, Negan came back, a dark scowl on his face, the soft whimpers of a woman behind him. Carl glanced around the tall man's frame, taking in the woman huddled around the blonde, who was dabbing her eyes with a tissue, tears clinging to her thin lashes.

"Well, today is your lucky day, kid. You get to see the 'Iron'." Negan didn't say much else, gripping Carl's shoulders and wheeling him out of the room. Before they crossed the threshold, Negan called out over his shoulder.

"Savage make sure all the girls are in attendance for this. It's gonna be a show."

And, a show it was.

Carl was disgusted but what he had witnessed, the sickly-sweet smell of burning flesh wafting through the open area at the center of the Sanctuary. Negan gave a long schpeel, one that Carl had no intention of listening too, his eyes focused on the unconscious man lying in the dirt, piss soaking his pants and half of his face seared off.

As they made their way back to Negan's quarters, he could hear the faint shouts coming from up ahead, and by the time they reached that solid door again, he could practically hear the wails clear as day.

"You stupid fuckin' slut! Who the hell do you think you are, just waltzing in here like you own the damn place! Like, Negan actually give a FUCK about you!" When the door creaked open, Negan's eyes dark and menacing, they were met with the sight of Savage, surrounded in a sea of black, like wolves circling their prey. The teary-eyed blonde was red in the face, chest heaving as she yelled and jabbed her finger into the other woman's chest, whose eyes were just as bored as they were when the was in the infirmary at Alexandria.

"What's the matter, Amber? You feel threatened because you went and fucked up? Afraid Negan's gonna toss you out on your ass and actually make you work?" The woman howled again, launching herself at Savage, who easily dodged the attack, grabbing the blonde's arm and twisting it behind her back, causing the woman to drop down to her knees.

"ENOUGH!" Both women looked up, Amber's eyes wide with fear, while Savage's were cold. Savage released the woman's arm, stepping away and placing her hands up in an appeasing manner.

"N-Negan! Sh-she just attacked me out of nowhere! Sh-she's jealous of us! Of all of us! You should hear the things that she says about you behind your back!" The woman rushes towards Negan, tears falling, her words tumbling out over hiccups. Negan let his eyes dart from the woman in front of him, to the woman who was now leaned against the frame of a doorway, eyebrow raised. Negan let out a deep, rumbling sigh, before he grabbed Carl's shoulder and pushed passed the blonde.

"Shut the fuck up, Amber." Negan stalked past the rest of the women, pushing Carl into a new, spacious room. Negan stopped in the door momentarily, head giving a miniscule nod, before a shadow followed in behind him. A squawk was heard, before the door slammed sharply into the frame. Negan eyed Carl for a moment, before he spoke.

"Never get married, kid. Wives are the absolute worst." A snort echoed from the corner, Savage perusing a bookshelf fingering the spines of the weathered novels.

"Or, just don't collect a harem of dumbasses." A low growl emitted from Negan's throat, before he plopped down onto his black leather chair, motioning for Carl to sit across from him.

"So, tell me kid, what do you think of this place?" Carl stared at the man, bewilderment tickling his mind. He had never met someone like this man, ever. He talked to Carl as if he were an adult, not some child that the rest of his group, his dad, treated him like. This psychotic man was actually asking Carl about his opinion? He couldn't remember the last time that happened.

But, then last a tidal wave, Carl remembered everything that this man had done. He remembered Glenn, Abraham, Daryl. He remembered what had just happened, and his anger erupted. He lunged at Negan, a vicious snarl erupting from his lips. But, before he could even make it halfway off the couch, he was ripped back down, shoulders pressed roughly into the leather, fingers digging deep. He struggled momentarily, before he yelped out in pain as a slender finger rolled under his muscle, tweaking it.

"Jesus, you really are gonna grow up to be a serial killer, aren't you?" Negan smiled down at the boy, not affected by the failed attack on him. Carl glared over his shoulder at the woman who still had her fingers digging deep into his shoulder. She smiled down at him.

"Now, I have got to ask you a question kid, cause it has been bugging me since the day at met you." Carl stared at the man in front of him, who had removed his leather jacket and scarf, and was just sitting there in a white t-shirt, elbows on his knees, Lucille propped up against the chair beside him.

"Only if I get to ask you one in return." Negan quirked his eyebrow, leaning back slightly, before a grin slowly spread across his face.

"Sure kid, why not? But, my question is first. What the hell is under that bandage of yours? I know it's gotta be a real buzzkill with the ladies. Hell, I saw the way you were looking at my wives earlier." The fingers that were digging in Carl's shoulders eased up, before they were gone completely. Carl watched as the woman slowly walked over towards the window that overlooked the walker's graveyard, her body still angled towards the two who were sitting on the couch.

"Nothing. There's nothing underneath it." Negan stared at the boy for a minute, studying his face.

"Take it off." Carl startled, eye widening. He glanced over towards Savage, but her eyes were still focused looking out the window, seemingly out of the conversation.

"What?"

"I don't think I stuttered. Did I stutter, Savage? I said Take. It. Off." Negan wrapped his hand slowly around the handle of Lucille, pulling her ever so closely. Carl gulped, before removing his hat, and slowly unwinding the bandage. When it dropped into his lap, he took a deep breath, pushing his hair back, and looking up at Negan.

"Well, I'll be damned. You have a bonafide fuckin' hole in your head." Carl could feel the tears prickling his eyes, before he dropped his head again, sniffling. Out of his peripheral, a shadow moved behind Negan, ghosting over his shoulder, before re-appearing at the window again.

"Kid, kid, come on. I didn't mean it like that. You're a fuckin' badass, you know that? Hell, if you went around showing that off, you'd get all the pussy in the world." Carl sucked in a sharp breath, laughter threatening to bubble out. He shook his head slowly, before he lifted his head again, staring at Negan. Negan didn't cringe or outwardly look disgusted by Carl's missing eye, which was a first for him.

"It really is pretty fuckin' badass though." Carl shrugged his sore shoulders, rolling them back, before reaching for the bandages in his lap.

"Nah, leave it off. Show these fuckers here what a real survivor looks like." Carl blinked owlishly at the man in front of him, before shrugging his shoulders again and dropping his hands in his lap. He looked around the room, a phantom tingling from where missing eye is was. He looked towards the woman who was staring out the window, eyes transfixed on something below them.

"What's the deal with you?" Savage turned her head slowly towards the boy, eyes boring into his, into the hole in his head.

"What?" Carl squared his shoulders, eyebrows dipping down slightly, glaring at the woman. He pushed his long hair away from his face, so she could get a full view of him.

"I said, what's the deal with you? Who are you?" Carl watched as the woman's lip quirked ever so slightly.

"Now kid…"

"You said I get to ask a question in return, THAT'S my question." Negan's jaw ticked ever so slightly, before he let out a sigh and leaned back into his leather chair. He rolled his head towards Savage, palm open on the arm of his chair.

"You heard the kid, tell him who you are." Savage turned slowly towards Carl, a small smile playing on her lips. She silently glided towards him, her movements silent as she kneeled in front of him. She raised her arms, her hands gently cupping either side of Carl's face, her cold eyes boring into his. He struggled, trying to remove his head from her grasp, but she just held on tighter, leaning forward until her breath ghosted across his face.

"I'm your worst nightmare."

Comments and constructive criticism is always appreciated.