Chapter 3- Life Around Here

Kurt walked around the Sanctuary for what felt like hours.

He quickly realised just how many different kinds of people inhabited the Sanctuary. As he walked, he passed many nameless faces who just regarded him with a polite nod and then just moved on with their day. He encountered those who just frowned at him and walked away.

And then were the ones who actually approached him, either because of his new face or because of his attire. The jacket was far too big on him and everyone could see that, but it was Lucille that was drawing attention, as Negan had probably factored in.

The first man was completely terrified and acted as though Kurt was the new Negan or something. He rattled off a quick list of transgressions and proceeded to sob about how he deserved penance for the things he had done. Kurt was in no position to rule on that, he guessed that was Negan's job to deliver punishments, but he advised the man to keep it to himself lest he face the fiery end of Lucille when Negan resumed control. The man was overcome with gratitude but didn't approach, probably due to Lucille's presence.

A second man cornered him while he explored the interior.

"I'm here for anything you might need, sir," he babbled. He leaned a hand on the wall, blocking Kurt's exit and smirked. "Anything." His eyes roamed Kurt's body with all the subtly of a pipe bomb. The man's hand grasped his crotch over his pants. Kurt simply laughed in his face and grabbed his wrist, contorting it painfully.

"I don't think I'll require anything from you at this time. Though maybe if I get really lonely, I just might come and see you." He smirked, figuring it was always good to keep people on their toes, waiting, expecting, wondering what exactly it is that you might do next.

When Kurt returned to his room, two more visitors arrived. Although, this time, they weren't as lenient.

"Who the fuck are you?" The taller man barked at him. Kurt simply ran his thumb over the base of Lucille and smirked.

"If you have to ask the question, my answer isn't going to be of any use to you." God it felt nice to be a bitch again.

The second man, shorter yet more muscular, rolled his eyes. "Spare us. We know you're new here but our questions is why you're dressed exactly like Negan."

"I'm guessing you're some sort of adoring sycophant."

Kurt chuckled. "Nope, that'd be you guys. It's the only reason you're in my room right now. Checking up on me, making sure I'm not a threat to Negan or the order of the Sanctuary. Now, if you'd like to leave, I have some things I need to be getting on with."

They didn't move.

"So either you're both aurally impaired or both incredibly stupid. Which one are you going to go with?"

No movement.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say stupid. If you don't understand my words, maybe you'll understand me kicking the shit out of you both until you leave of your own accord. Would you like that?"

The taller man stepped closer and Kurt did the same. He stepped into him and brought his arm to the man's throat, pushing him against the wall. The second man froze, doing nothing, as he struggled.

"Now, I'll say this just once for you to try and comprehend. I'm busy and you need to leave. Got it?"

The man nodded sorely.

"Good. Now leave me alone."

As they scarpered, Kurt heard a low whistle rip through his spine.

"Well you're looking…like me."

Kurt blinked stiffly. "What an obvious thing to say."

"There's that sass again. And to think I came here just to give you some supplies, things that you'll need. Some would even say thank you, but I doubt that's the way you roll."

Kurt shrugged. "I'm logical enough to know that I'm not above gratitude for services rendered. Thank you, Negan."

"You got clothes, toiletries, all of the basics until you can move up the ladder and start getting better things."

"So around here you show ranking and authority by what you…oh." Kurt sighed with a smile stretching across his face.

Negan clicked his fingers. "Now he gets it."

"You gave me your clothes as a taster of what life around here could be for me. You showed me the top level treatment so I'd be more inclined to stay. That's pretty clever. Although you could have used other methods."

"I'm sure we'll get there at some point. I didn't want you to be pegged as the Sanctuary Slut."

"Are you looking out for little old me? You shouldn't have."

"Shut up."

A brief silence floated between them as Kurt appraised the fabrics of his new clothes, which silently admitting to himself that he did not want to remove the leather jacket he was currently wearing and return it to its original owner. The reasons were twofold.

One: Kurt liked the smell and the feel of wearing something a few sizes larger than his usual style.

Two: Negan would then proceed to cover himself up and that was something that would not benefit anyone around the Sanctuary, least of all himself. And Kurt didn't do anything that wouldn't benefit him in some way.

Their comfortable silence was broken by Kurt's inquisitive nature.

"How did you get here?"

Negan frowned. "That's a very open-ended question." He didn't usually get questions about his personal life, though he imagined that this would only be the first of many intrusive questions from Kurt.

"You know what I mean," Kurt rolled his eyes.

Negan waved a hand. "You know the story by now: classic case of wife and children turning, I dealt with it. Long story short, I'm here."

Kurt pouted. "Not really an answer, but I suspect it's the most I'm going to get from you."

"I just shared valuable information with you. I'm gonna need something in return," Negan replied, raising a brow.

Kurt nodded. "Of course you are. What are you asking for?"

Negan sat still as a smirk grew slowly across his face. "Sing me a song."

"What?" Kurt didn't understand. Negan wanted him to…sing? Sing what? Anything?

"Put that pretty mouth of yours to good use and sing me a god damn song."

Kurt frowned but thought of a song to sing anyway. It pretty much described the situation he and the rest of the survivors found themselves in. He hadn't sang since Glee Club before the virus hit Ohio and he wasn't sure how he was going to fare. Being a singer, he hated singing when he didn't know that he was going to sound his best. He hadn't warmed up and he didn't think Negan would take it too well if he just decided to do his scales instead of singing an actual song. He could test his boundaries with the man but he didn't want to explicitly overstep them. He was sassy; he wasn't stupid.

"I am amazed by all that we can fake," Kurt began softly. Negan's eyebrows shot up at the tone.

"How many days until the levee breaks? I'm out on my perch to watch it all unfold," Kurt sang, closing his eyes slightly. Acapella wasn't his favourite, but he could definitely handle it, imagining the music running through him with a song that he had practised and knew like the back of his hand.

"When everyone's changing, arranging, they're let down. Sleepwalkers waking to carry your soul around. This world is twisted, this world is twisted."

Kurt thought about how true the lyrics were. The world was twisted, the world had shifted and morphed beyond his wildest dreams, he had never imagined anything like this happening aside from the horror movies that Tina and Finn always made him watch. He had admitted some liking for them, but they were fiction, not reality. Then he was seeing flesh in the school parking lot and that was it. Reality as he knew it was gone. Then it was fiction, people eating people and scarce amounts of food. Everything turned itself upside down and Kurt was caught in the middle of it.

For the rest of his life until he died.

"Push and repeat through all the hollow days. We stare at our feet, content to be afraid. I climb to my perch to watch it all unfold."

Negan nodded his head slightly to the rhythm.

"When everyone's changing, arranging, they're let down. Sleepwalkers waking to carry your soul around. This world is twisted, this world is twisted."

Kurt took a deep breath and ran through the pause in the piano in his head. Then he prepared himself for the final chorus.

"When everyone's changing, arranging, they're let down. Sleepwalkers waking to carry your soul around. This world is twisted, this world is twisted." When he finished, his throat was raw. Singing without warmups caused issues.

"Well, hot diggity damn. You got a voice, Kurt. That was a fucking performance."

Kurt blushed slightly and pursed his lips. "I haven't sung since this whole thing began. I've kind of missed it."

"How did this begin for you? What's your story?"

"No, you don't get a song and a story from me. That's hardly fair."

"I'm surprised you haven't already learned by now, Kurt. I get what I want. Always. So how about you return my things and tell me your story?"

Kurt sighed and realised this was one battle that he wasn't going to win. "As you wish. In some ways, my life before all of this was worse. There were no undead creatures trying to eat my innards, but I had other things to deal with. People didn't like me being myself and they made sure I knew it. Towards the end of the world, it got worse. Bullies escalated, I only knew there was a virus outbreak because I was running away from my tormentors and ran into a horde. My bullies ran away and I had to deal with the Walkers alone.

"I did and it was surprisingly easy once I channelled the aggression I was building up onto them. I went home and caught the news. I called my friends, some picked up, some didn't. By the end of the following day they were all dead apart from two. My best friends, as luck would have it. Unfortunately, they didn't survive the winter that was to come."

"But you did…I'm almost impressed."

Kurt nodded in gratitude and removed the jacket he'd been wearing all day. He felt a shiver wrack through his bare torso and reached for one of the sweaters that Negan had provided for him to wear.

"Finish your story first. The clothes are a reward for your candour."

"You just didn't want me to get dressed yet. And my story is finished. I even went into a little bit of detail about the consequences of the outbreak. I told you more than you needed to know which is rare for me. So, I'd appreciate a sweater. Now." Kurt knew it was a risky move, but risks were what had kept him alive thus far.

"It's so hot when you're bossy," Negan smirked.

Kurt winked. "Oh, you haven't seen bossy. Not yet."

"Then how about you enlighten me?"

As Kurt slipped his hand on Negan's thigh, the door burst open.

"Sorry for not knocking, but we have news." Kurt growled as he saw Simon and Dwight lingering in the doorway. Worst fucking timing.

"Do you two not understand the concept of privacy?" Negan was surprised when the words didn't come from him but rather Kurt.

"Sorry. This is important. Negan. You need to hear this."

"Well, what is it?" Negan waved his hand impatiently.

Simon's eyes flickered to Kurt.

"Oh, whatever it is, I'm sure he'll find out soon enough anyway."

Kurt stared at him smugly.

Dwight swallowed. "There's a group, sir. They've been holding a prison. We overheard them talking about this place. They want it. And they're going to come for it."

"How long?"

"Two weeks. They need to gather supplies and wait for people to regroup."

"Plenty of time. Well, Kurt, looks like you're about to find out how the Saviours deal with intruders."

Kurt didn't hear Negan's last remark. His mind flickered to the steel bars in front of his eyes, a cold flooring beneath his body as he slept, shivering through the night. The guards taunting him. The blood coating the walls.

He had been captive at the prison. He knew who the Saviours were dealing with.

Negan was about to come face to face with Rick Grimes and company.

And that would not end well for anybody.

Author's Note: The song Kurt sings is 'Twisted' by the wonderfully talented Aron Wright.