A/N: This is a long one! Hope you all enjoy, please do review! I enjoyed writing this one so much, and I cannot wait to show you all where this leads.


It would be a while till you stopped running, leaning against a nearby tree to try and catch your breath. You place your hand against the bark, sliding down against it as you wipe the sweat from your face. For a second you allowed yourself a moment of regret, and you debated if turning back was the smarter option. However, it seemed too little too late now, knowing Negan he had figured out you had made a break for it already. With a quick sigh you push yourself up, using the last reserves of your endurance to push north.

Darkness had begun to descend upon the forest, and you retrieved the flashlight from your bag flipping it on as you walked about. There wasn't much going on, and only the sounds of insects and nocturnal creatures had filled the air around you. Cautiously, you stepped around a tree stump that stuck out from the ground, wrapping around it as quickly as you can in your haste to move as far from Hilltop as you could. You waved your flashlight to the left, letting out a gasp of surprise when you bump into something. With a shake of your head, you gather yourself and look up, your light following your movements.

"Christ!"

You jump back when you find a walker hanging from a tree, repulsion coming over you when you realized that is what you hit. You shined your light up, taking in its appearance noticing that it isn't moving.

"Bullet wound."

A single hole was on its head, and it looked like someone either put the poor soul out of its misery already, or that was the dealing blow and hanging it was just a sick message. Judging by the sign strapped around its torso it was the latter.

"The…Claimers…" You read aloud, lips twisting into a frown as apprehension came over you. You had a brief run in with that group before, a long time ago after having been separated from your own. They were a repugnant bunch, and if it hadn't been for some quick thinking on your part they would've had their way with you. Luckily, you got away mostly unscathed. Whatever the case was now, it'd be in your best interest to try and stay away from them if they were lurking around the woods. You managed to come upon a decent sized clearing, after traveling for a good while it seemed a good place to set up a small camp for you to rest. Even though it wasn't a wise choice you decided to start a fire for you to warm up by, the air was beginning to become a little too chilly for your liking.

You settled your bag next to you, rummaging through it for a granola bar as you kicked at the burning logs in an attempt to heighten the flames. It felt so odd being out here again by yourself after weeks of being with the Saviors. The silence was both eerie and welcoming, and you mulled over your thoughts as you chewed at your food. For some odd reason you felt a bit bad about leaving them, it was a spur of the moment decision you made but every part of you was just begging to be set free from it all. You let out a deep breath, casting your hands down at your sides as you tried to think of what to do. But, every path led you back here, because there wasn't much you could do. Going back, you weren't sure what Negan would do to you, but you were positive it wouldn't be pretty. You could hardly blame him if he was furious though, for all the terrible things he could be he was also generous enough to give you a place to stay, and food in your belly. It was hard to understand in these instances why you wanted to run away so badly. You stuffed the empty bar wrapper into your bag, rubbing the crumbs from your hands as you reclined against a tree. Strings of smoke rose up into the night, the scent of burning wood mixing with the local flora creating a calming effect within you. You began to shut your eyes, letting drowsiness kick in, but a soft rustling in the brush caused you to snap your eyes back open. With a look around, you noticed nothing suspicious, but a knot in your stomach started to form alerting you that something wasn't quite right.

"Hi there!"

You bolted from your spot, boots sliding against the dirt in your haste. You held your hand at your side, next to your knife in case it was needed. An older looking man stepped from the foliage, holding his hands up in some sort of surrender, as if to ease your stress.

"Now hold on there, little lady. We mean you no harm."

His bearded face lifted into a smile, one that made you even more worried than before. You stepped back, looking him over before speaking. "We?"

He shook his head as if he had completely forgotten to elaborate on your behalf. "Ah right, my sincere apologies." He shifted his attention to the bushes, motioning for the other two men that lay behind them to show themselves. Two much taller men rose from behind them, their faces twisted into smirks as they looked at you. For all his sincerities, you knew better than to trust this man or his friends.

"What do you want?" The words came out quickly, and with no attempt to cover the caution behind them.

The one who appeared to be the leader laughed, removing his gun from around his shoulder and slowly lowering it to the ground in a show of good faith. "Easy there, honey. We just want to talk, maybe ask a couple of questions while we are at it."

"I doubt there's anything we need to talk about." You spat out, inching your hand closer and closer to your knife. This caught the eye of the other two men, and they began walking towards you but their leader held his hands out.

"Gerry, Ed, that's enough. We're all friends here." He looked back over to you, his graying hair flying into his face as the wind kicked up. "Sorry about that, they tend to get testy around strangers. Long story short though we call ourselves the Claimers. I know what you're thinking, sounds a bit ridiculous but it's what we do. See, we take it upon ourselves to claim anything we see to our liking. And that is why we are here."

Straightening yourself out, you decided to let him talk for now. You already knew the whole spiel; it was spoken to you before when you first met their group. You were just thankful it wasn't the same men from the first time, and you vaguely wondered what came of them.

"So, honey…mind telling us about that community you came from? We saw you take a shit ton of supplies into there, most of which we would love to take off your hands."

At his statement you felt that knot grow tighter in you, now realizing that they really didn't mean you well. And it occurred to you that these men must have been trailing you for a while now, probably waited outside of Hilltop for any chance to gain access to it. You were so stupid, you really shouldn't have left, you only hoped there was only the three of them. If that was the case, they stood no chance of harming Negan or his men.

"I know nothing of it. I'm just traveling through."

He laughed at your answer, clearly amused by your attempt to protect whoever was behind those walls.

"Don't play dumb, darling. It's not a good look for you. This can go one of two ways. You either tell us how to get passed those walls and take all your shit, or we claim you instead."

The other two men, Gerry and Ed, looked over at you as if the second option was more preferable. But, it was your turn to try and play this right; otherwise you or the others behind Hilltops walls would pay for your mistake. "Very well. I'll show you."

He gave you an approving look, holding his arm out for you to walk in front of him. They all begin to follow you, eager to bask in the spoils of the Saviors collection that they assumed would be theirs soon. You walked slowly, casting your eyes over your shoulder every now and then, eyeing their leader. They didn't think you a threat, but that was something that you could use to your advantage. When the man in charge was close enough behind you, you grabbed your knife from your side, twisting around quickly with force enough to slice through his exposed throat. His blood shot out instantly, spraying your face and your clothes as he dropped to his knees. The other men began yelling, but you kicked his body back and into them, slowing them down. You ran forward, wiping the blood from your eyelids so you could see better, not that it did much in this dark.

The sounds of rushed foot falls are behind you, and it increases your speed as you try to navigate the woods. If they caught up to you, that'd be it. Frantic breaths escaped your lungs, and you kept looking back to see if any of them were behind you. Perhaps you were destined to die at the hands of the Claimers, you seemed to be bumping into them enough for it to appear that way.

Just as you were about to turn around a large tree, something under you caught your foot and your body lunged forward into the soil. With a groan, you tried to get up but a painful force kicked into your side making you gasp out. After that you weren't sure where they were coming from anymore, kick after kick was bestowed upon you, and you cried out in pain as your body ached all over. By the time they stop, you're whimpering out clawing at the wet earth to drag yourself away from them. But, it was no luck. A weight climbed atop you, grabbing hard at your shoulder and twisting you around until the man was straddling your waist.

"You are some kind of stupid, girl."

He laughed at you, enjoying the way you waved your arms around trying to gain purchase on anything. His fist connects hard into your jaw, the taste of iron filling your mouth as your skin bust open. Your head was spinning, the pulsing of your skull was growing maddening and you're trying frantically to shake off the pain.

"The fuck was that?"

You could scarcely hear the vibrations of their voices, and all you could make out was the man named Ed telling Gerry to go check out whatever the sound was.

"Sorry for the distraction." He laughed out, his hands now coming to rest on your throat as he squeezed down. His calloused fingertips dug into your neck, your trembling hands coming up to claw at him, but all you could do was gasp heavily, gurgling noises leaving your throat as you tried to suck in a breath. Everything was slowly going black around you, and you could feel your fight growing weak. It would seem this is how your story was to end, that was until you felt air hurriedly rush down your throat, making you cough as the need for oxygen became too great.

The man on top of you was looking over his shoulder, his mouth hanging open as he panted out his friend's name. "Gerry!" He received nothing but a scream in return, and you recognized that as the sound of a man dying. He didn't move from atop you, he waited patiently to see if everything was ok. Claimers didn't seem to care too much when they lost one of their own, which didn't bode well for you. Just when you thought he was going to continue his assault on you, a loud bang rang out and you cried out when his dead weight fell onto you, blood running from his forehead onto your already drenched face. It only takes you a moment to register what happened, and out of fear and disgust you frantically crawl out from under him not looking back as you stumble to your feet and run off. Whatever, or whoever just killed him could be coming for you next, and that wasn't something you were going to stick around for. By the grace of the gods, you somehow manage to make it back to your camp and in your rush you tore your jacket off and threw it onto the fire to put it out in an attempt to cover your tracks. You grab your bag and limp into the trees, using branches here and there to keep yourself up. Just when you thought you couldn't take the throbbing pain from your beating anymore, you hear the soft sounds of a current and you make your way over to it.

A river comes into view, and you pick up your injured pace until you're at its edge. You fall to your knees, catching your breath as you lean forward, cupping some water into your hand and splashing it onto your bloodied head.

"Ahh…"

You moan out, clutching at your bruising sides as you sit back into the grass. With a lot of effort you pull your dirty shirt off, tossing it to the side along with your bag and the rest of your clothes and you carefully slide into the cold water of the river. On these cold autumn nights you'd usually warm some water before bathing, but right now you just wanted to be rid of the stench of blood and death on you. You bring your hands up to wipe at your face, and you look down at them as they tremble. No doubt from the trauma of everything. The dried blood is becoming milky now, red stained droplets running down your palms and onto your forearms as you stood there. But this…this is what you were used to. This was life. This was how the world worked. At least you thought it did. You had lived this way for so long it almost seemed normal, but after being with Negan and sleeping a full night through even just once, having meals there for you whenever, it didn't quite settle in until now that maybe this wasn't so normal. There was still other ways to live, and you ran from all that because you were terrified and a coward. You couldn't once just admit that it was ok to be complacent, if only just a bit. Because, there could be people who look after you and you in turn look after them. Just like it was so long ago with your adopted family after all this had started. Becoming part of a new one was not forgetting the memory of the old, and it didn't mean you would lose it all again. You could do this, but now maybe it was too late to decide that.

The sound of a twig snapping grabbed your attention, and you stilled yourself in the river. Slowly, you bring your arms up to cover your bare chest, eyeing the knife in the pocket of your jeans that lay on the grass. With a steady breath you reach for it, never moving an inch aside from your arm. But, it was to no avail. The sound of a heavy object swinging against the breeze fills your ears and with a gentle tap, but harsh enough to show the anger behind it, you feel the barbed wire of Lucille cut into your wrist making you wince in discomfort. He had found you.

"You've already made one fucked up decision tonight, princess. Don't fucking make another."

Though the cuts on your wrist were stinging painfully you made no show of it, you only used one arm to keep yourself decent as you gaped up at him. His face held the most deepest and darkest of expressions you had seen on him, and he glowered down at you from where he stood. He had blood caked onto his jeans, and some of it spotted his leather jacket and you knew now that he was the one who had saved you from the Claimers. You couldn't bring yourself to say anything to him, because there really wasn't much to say at this moment. There was no excuse you could give, even a thank you for saving my life seemed insufficient. And for all the times you saw the man lash out, he wasn't right now, you were thankful for that. But, behind those brown eyes of his you could see the anger raging. He brought Lucille back up over his shoulder, and you saw in his other hand a pistol that he placed back into his jeans, no doubt thinking he would find more Claimers around. With a simple nod of his head, he told you to finish cleaning up and he took a seat on a nearby rock, eyes never leaving your naked form.

The awkwardness of the situation wasn't lost on you, but you didn't argue with him to turn away right now. Knowing his sour mood would more than likely increase if you spoke. So you just dip lower into the water, until just the tops of your breasts showed through. You wiped roughly at the blood on you, trying to free yourself from as much of it as you could. It took a while for most of it to come off, and with one last dunk of your head under the river you rose back out with a large breath, fingers running through your tangled wet hair as you rid it of the excess water. You turned to see Negan still staring at you, and you can't help but feel crushed under his heavy gaze.

"Can you please turn away?"

Negan set Lucille down, keeping his hand atop her as he twisted the bat into the dirt. "After the fucking great escape you just pulled? No. I'm not letting you out of my fucking sight. Ever."

The malice behind his tone was deeply felt, and somehow you actually believed he wouldn't let his eyes off you ever again, even for a second. With a sheepish stare you watched him, but ultimately ignored your will to fight back. He wouldn't budge, and with the most awkward of movements you swam over to the edge of the river, covering your chest as you reached for your bloodied clothes. But, a boot came to rest on them, and you tugged at the material as he chuckled darkly above you. The fiery anger was still in his eyes, but there was a flicker of desire burning there too.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you being out in the cold gets you sick?"

A scowl forms on your lips, and you know he's referring to your obvious nakedness, but you stop trying to retrieve your shirt growing tired of the games he was playing. If he was angry with you, then he could show it consequences be damned.

"Negan I need my clothes!"

He didn't seem thrilled with the attitude and you felt his hurtful grasp on your arm as he yanked you easily out of the water and up onto your feet, the wet dirt sinking between your toes as you staggered around for balance. And there you were, in all your natural glory before this brooding man, trying in vain to hide your most intimate areas. You dared not meet his eyes, because you could already feel his roguish stare on you. You were so close to him, his body heat was coming off in waves and though you were tempted to curl into it strictly for warmth, you ignored the sensations.

"Look at me."

His command went unnoted as you stood there covering yourself, mouth tight in a frown as you allowed no expression to be written on your face. The grip on your arm tightened, making you let out a small whine of discomfort, but you still refused to look at him.

"I said Fucking. Look. At. Me."

With hesitation you steadily brought your blue eyes up, his hand moving from your arm to your bruised cheek cupping it as he smirked down at you.

"That's fucking better. Now listen to me, and I mean very fucking closely, you do not ever run off again. Now I thought you had this clear in your fucking head, but I was wrong. You belong to me. You work for me, now whatever fucking possessed you to pull this goddamn stunt, next time ignore it. Because, if it wasn't for the fact that you've been punished enough already…"

His thumb brushed the bruise on your broken lip as he said this, anger faltering for a minute as he looked at one of the marks those men left on you.

"Hell, I would've probably had to do something I wouldn't like, sweetheart."

A shiver ran down your back, whether by fear or the cold you weren't entirely sure. But, you didn't leave his gaze; in fact you held it as best you could. Not wanting to back down even though every part of you said to.

"May I get my clothes?"

You spat out the words in an unkindly fashion, wanting him to back off from your personal space. He raised his eyebrows and bit his lower lip as he looked down at you, eyes trailing over your body. His grin only grew, making you shift uncomfortably.

"Well, doll I have to say I prefer you like this."

With a clench of your jaw you spoke your next words with venom. "Get your hands off me." But it only amused him even further.

"You might run away again."

"I'm not some child that you need to coddle."

Negan flashes his pearly whites down at you, backing off only a little. "There it is. That fucking fight in your eyes. I was wondering where the fuck it went. God you are something else, sweetheart."

He finally lets go of your arm, holding the other that held Lucille out as he let you pass him to get your clothes. You looked him over, as if he was planning something else but you ignored that nagging feeling and walked by him, trying to bury the insecurity that built up from being stark naked in front of another person.

Negan only whistled as you strode by, obviously enjoying the sight he be held. "Damn, darlin'. You sure you don't wanna be my wife?"

You angrily pulled your bottoms and panties on, buttoning them up as fast as you could. With a turn of your head, you glared at him from over your shoulder. "I'm afraid I'll have to refuse the luxury of that."

He laughed deeply in his throat, tilting his head as he spoke. "Damn shame. Although, when I think about it now-" He walked up behind you, grabbing your dirty shirt from your hands and throwing it off into the water, the current taking it down stream. You were about to argue, but one of his hands came to rest on your shoulder fingers playing with the strap of your bra as he unzipped his jacket with the other. Negan shrugged the item off, leaving him in only his white shirt.

"It would be a complete waste for you to become one." He placed his jacket over your shivering form, holding it out just enough for you to slip your arms through, and you obeyed only because you wanted to finally cover up completely. You zipped the front up while he pulled your hair out from the back of his jacket, letting it fall gracefully down against the smooth leather.

"Better. You don't need to be wearing bloody fucking clothing. But, like I was saying doll." He twisted you around, his fingers gently lifting your chin, trying to avoid the battered parts of your face so he didn't cause any pain. "You're far too fucking precious to hide away in a room with all the other women."

Whether that was a compliment or not you didn't care. The important thing was it sounded like he'd drop the whole wife business and just let you be, at least a little bit. You moved away from his touch, looking up at him as you grab your bag. "Thank you…for the jacket."

He hummed at your gratitude, placing his hand on your lower back as he led you forward. "And?"

You knew what he wanted to hear, and though he truly did save your life you didn't want to say it aloud. But, you swallowed your pride. "And for saving me."

He laughed, clapping his hands together in victory. "Was that so fucking hard?"

You didn't respond to him, you only moved forward as he shoved you along only to step in front of you, making you almost bump into him. "Just remember one fucking thing, do this again, and I won't be so damn nice next time. Am I making myself clear?"

A sigh left you, and you knew that you probably wouldn't get another chance to escape anytime soon. But, after your epiphany earlier you wouldn't take it even if you had the opportunity again. The voice inside of you just kept saying to give this life a chance. They weren't the most ideal of people to take up residence with, but if this was to be your new life then don't fight it, you thought.

"Yes."

Negan leaned down, until his nose was practically touching yours. "Yes, what?"

With a bite of your lip, you looked up into his dark eyes knowing he wouldn't leave you alone until he got the answer he wanted. "Yes, sir."