Sherry was returning to the room she shared with the rest of Negan's wives from a much-needed smoke break when she spotted the thin man with the bright green hair slip out of Negan's bedroom and skip down the hall, giggling wildly.
Seeing someone leave Negan's bedroom didn't, on its own, cause her any real sort of alarm or concern. People tended to enter and exit Negan's private sanctuary all throughout the day unless Fin ordered otherwise. And that's 'cause she doesn't cotton to anyone coming and going without her say-so, she thought as she stopped to watch the man.
Not that Sherry didn't understand why Fin didn't like people just walking into his room whenever they pleased. Shoot, it's not just Negan's bedroom now.
Nope, it stopped being the place he used to host his informal planning parties or having private talks with people when Fin chose to stay at the Sanctuary with him.
It also stopped being the place where she and the rest of the wives went when he needed servicing.
Shit changed after Fin laid down her ultimatum.
It was her or us, she thought as the man ducked into a small alcove. And we lost.
Not that any of them minded.
Many of them chose to become one of his wives because it afforded them access to the things they couldn't get working for points.
Some, like Frankie and Tanya, chose it simply because it gave them power and standing.
A few, like herself, became one simply to protect their husbands or boyfriends.
Fin chose Negan for Negan. Something that Sherry didn't necessarily understand but which she respected. Fin wouldn't have decided to stay with him if she didn't see something in him worth loving.
And she sure wouldn't have agreed to raise Jordan with him, she realized as the man resumed his trek. Not if she didn't believe he wouldn't make a decent father.
Life changed once Fin decided to step up and accept her place as Negan's favorite. People stopped having to worry about punishment if they made a minor infraction. Rules were still rules and those who broke them got dealt with as Negan saw fit. However, only the most extreme cases met the iron or Lucille.
She tried to stop him from burning D's face, but he refused and sent her to their room to wait for him, she recalled as the man checked around a corner.
Where is he going? she wondered as she followed. Something about this fella and what he was up to bothered her.
Maybe it was the way he danced down the hallway, the soles of his black and white dress shoes clicking on the tile while the tails of his purple suit jacket fanned out being him.
Or maybe it was the way he was alternating between singing something beneath his breath and cackling at some private joke.
Who is he? Have I seen him around here before? She didn't think she had. Someone with that pale a complexion and shock of green hair would definitely have stood out. Her belly clenched as he resumed singing while skipping over to the stairs that led up to the roof.
"Twinkle, twinkle, my dearest brat... it's time for you to call the big black Bat!"
Sherry's eyes popped wide. She recognized those words. She heard something like them before.
But where? She asked herself. When?
The blood drained from her face as realization dawned.
Those were the words written in Dewey Crowder's chest.
That could only mean that this man was the one who beat Dewey and all those other boys to death.
It's him, she realized as fear wrapped itself around her throat and clamped down tight. It's the Joker.
He's here.
Another low cackle sent a chill crawling along her spine.
Simon was wrong when he told anyone who'd listen that Fin was feeding them a bunch of bullshit.
The Joker is real.
And he was inside the Sanctuary.
I gotta find Negan, she thought as her heart pounded against her rib cage. I need to tell him that he's...
Pain exploded behind her eyes, ending that thought.
Sherry's world went bright.
Then dark.
...
The Joker made his way out onto the roof of the Sanctuary, cackling with glee, and anticipation. The princess would return soon and find the gift he left her. And then the real fun will begin!
Oh, and what fun it was gonna be, watching all the little people running around in a panic. It was almost worth the aggravation of the little darling failing to find the other gift he left her.
Almost, he thought as he skipped over to the edge and looked down to where people milled about.
Not that it mattered really. He found an even better way to get the little lovely's attention. He could be adaptable when circumstances required it.
And there was still one card up his sleeve he'd just been waiting for the right moment to play!
Oh, and what a card it was, too!
Just wait until you see what your Uncle J has in store for the one-eyed boy.
It was sure to give her the little push she needed. You'll call Batsy then, won't ya, Toots?
His mangled lips stretched into a wide smile as he pulled the walkie from his pocket.
"Alright, boys," he chortled into the walkie. "Let's introduce the world to a little anarchy!"
Yes, he thought as the walkie crackled and issued garbled acknowledgments. The world is gonna burn and there's nothing Batsy or any of his winged brats can do to stop it!
His high, keening laugh echoed on the breeze and drew the attention of a man lurking in the shadows.
...
Slade passed a group of women cowering behind some boxes as he made his way to his SUV. They shrunk back soon as they saw him, a few clutching onto each other, and whimpering softly.
He could understand their fear and anxiety. The world outside their doors was not a safe one. The one inside their sanctuary was not much safer, he reasoned as he paused to allow some workers to pass.
Negan wasn't a forgiving man. He punished those who broke his rules by either disposing of them outright or scarring them in a way to discourage others from making the same mistakes.
In general, Slade approved of Negan's methods. As cold and cruel as the punishments might seem, they worked to stabilize the community. Negan brought back a semblance of civilization with the way he ran his community.
People needed rules to follow, and someone capable of enforcing them.
More than the undead wanted to claim them for their own purposes.
Groups like the Whisperers and Wolves wanted to wipe them out for the supplies they had and the territory they occupied.
Mercurial bastards like the Joker wanted to use them to force Batman to come and pay attention to him.
Far more dangerous, in his mind, were the government agencies taking people and experimenting on them. Bastards are kidnapping people and placing them in camps to help with repopulation and with finding a cure.
The only thing standing between these people and death was Negan.
'And Fenix,' the serpent inside him hissed. 'Even you can no longer deny she doesn't play a significant part in the way things are run here at the Sanctuary.'
No, he couldn't deny it. Raya was quite different from the women who worked and served Negan. Even a number of the women he encountered during his years as an A.S.I.S operative were unlike his dove.
Many were just as resourceful, intelligent, and clever as Raya. Quite a few were far superior to her in hand-to-hand combat. However, they did not have the same heart and drive she did. They lacked her moral fiber, her ironclad belief in the greater good, and her determination to uphold the rules instilled in her by the man who trained her.
Knowing her enemy, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to exploit them to her advantage was Batman 101. She'd have studied the Saviors, learned all she could about them, and about Negan before making her approach.
If he had to hazard a guess about when she infiltrated Negan's group, it was likely after a number of Negan's wives ended up raped and strangled. Such a case would have appealed to Raya on many levels.
The victims were all women. She'd have taken that personally.
Second, she was a former special agent of the Gotham City Police Department. Stopping the one responsible not only ensured the safety of other women, but it also made her invaluable to Negan. She could hunt down those who broke his laws and deliver them to him for judgment.
Offering her services as a criminal profiler wouldn't have gained her the unlimited access and freedoms she so enjoyed. No, Raya would have realized she needed to give Negan something he didn't have, and that his people couldn't live without.
She offered herself.
Her influence was everywhere. And was something that bastard, Simon, didn't appreciate one bit. He wants her gone so he can have more say and control over the way things get done around here, he thought as Liam fell into step behind him.
Raya kept Negan's violent impulses in control, got him to see there were ways other than his own to do things, and inspired the people here to work together for the survival of all.
That was what set her apart from the rest of the women who provided for Negan.
Many of them were incapable — largely because of age, illness or physical disabilities — of fighting off the waves of undead. Others were simply not able to survive without the men and handful of women to protect them. And a few, he mused as he passed two women dressed in black, simply chose a life of comfort over working for Negan's points.
Some of the women managed to develop skills that set them apart from the rest of their gender. They possessed an animal's cunning, its hunger. And would kill whoever or whatever crossed their paths without mercy or pity. He considered them the most dangerous.
They'd do whatever it took to survive.
Even kill other members of the group if it serves their purpose.
Raya gained Negan's interest simply by being herself. She wasn't the type of woman who would bend to his — or any man's — will. She was proudly defiant. A Queen even in the face of insurmountable odds. The kind of woman a man looking to build an empire or take down one wanted at his side.
Hadn't he realized that for himself after she came stumbling into the same cave he took refuge from the blizzard in? There she had been, just shy of six months pregnant with her son, Christopher, and almost frozen through from prolonged exposure to the cold, but nowhere near beaten.
She met his interrogation of her with cool disdain and calm derision. Nothing he said or did forced her to reveal anything she didn't want him to know. And that, he thought as he passed by a group of flannel-wearing buffoons, is because she's been trained by Batman in how not to divulge anything while being interrogated.
Even getting her to tell him her name had been harder than pulling teeth from a crocodile.
...
1998, Tibet.
"Fenix," she finally said in a mildly detached tone. "My name is Fenix."
"Fenix, are you?" He held up an item for her to peruse. "And to what organization do you work for..." He saw her blanch as she stared at the flimsy item dangling from one of his fingers. "Fenix?"
If he thought him showing her mask to her would cause her to break down and tell him everything he wanted to know, he was sorely mistaken. She sent him a long look from beneath lowered lashes before calmly replying, "I don't work for an organization."
He didn't believe that at all.
"Then why do you need the mask, love?" One brow lifted. "It seems a rather suspicious thing to have in your possession if you don't work for any organization."
His tone warned her that there'd be consequences for lying to him. She, however, merely sniffed, clearly unimpressed, and unfazed by the silent threat. If not for the fact that he knew she was lying, he'd have been impressed.
Other women in her situation would have started sobbing and trying for mercy. This one? Just lobbied insults.
"I dunno, Crocodile Dundee. Looks like a mask to me..."
His eyes narrowed into thin slits as the jab washed over him. Either the woman had no idea about how dangerous baiting him in her present condition was or she was merely biding time as she waited for one of her partners to show up. Either way, he needed to remind her about who was in charge here.
"You should mind who you're insulting here, little one."
"Oh?" The knowing look she sent him told him plain as day that she knew she struck a nerve. And she wasn't one bit sorry for it. "And why's that... Mick?"
A muscle ticked in his jaw. However, Slade didn't move from where he stood. While he had no problem in fighting a woman, it was not something he actively engaged in or enjoyed. And this woman... she tugged at him in ways he didn't understand. If it was because of her pregnant state or the dark things he saw in her eyes, he couldn't be sure. All he knew was he didn't want to do anything that'd cause her or her unborn child any pain.
"Answer my question," he said in a low, forceful tone, "or you'll find out why crossing me is a bad idea."
If he thought that was gonna work, he was in for a rude awakening.
"Well, Kangaroo Jack." Her lips inched upwards into a smirk. "It looks to me like I went to a costume party dressed as Fenix."
"So, the suit in your pack, along with the body armor is merely part of a Halloween costume?" He scoffed. "Try again. And," he warned in one low rumble, "do try to tell me the truth this time, love."
She let out an indignant squawk upon discovering he ransacked her pack. Only her rounded belly, as well as her unclothed state, kept her from leaping to her feet and confronting him. She muttered a few choice curses as she flopped back down upon the pallet and soothed her wounded pride by shooting glares at him from beneath lowered lashes.
"What right did you have to go through my things?" She demanded as she wrapped the blanket more tightly around her. "Huh?"
"You stumbled into my cave," he pointed out with a slow smile. "That rather gave me the right to go through your things."
"Bullshit."
"If you were to succumb to your prolonged exposure to the elements, I would need to know who to contact."
"If I was dressed..."
She left the threat hanging. Slade could figure out what exactly she'd do to him if she had clothes on. Well, try to do, be amended silently. It wasn't like she would be able to do much against a man as well-trained as him.
"Your pregnancy and not your state of undress stop you from attacking me, little one. Though it makes little difference in the end."
"Oh?" she ground out from between clenched teeth. "And why is that?"
"Clothed and not pregnant or unclothed and pregnant make no difference," he told her. "You don't stand a chance against a man like me." He leaned back against a rock protruding from the ground and studied her through narrowed eyes. "Considering the sword and other gadgets and weapons I found in your pack, though, I'm suitably confident you'd provide me with a decent enough challenge before eventually losing to my more superior skill and advanced training."
"Oh, I beg to disagree, love." She smiled, all cool confidence and feminine superiority. "See, my daddy taught me how to eat men like you for breakfast."
Her acerbic tongue amused him. He'd love to continue trading quips with her. However, he needed to find out why she was there. And whether her mentor was the one who sent her.
"And is Batman the one who taught you how to eat men like me for breakfast, love?"
...
She didn't even so much as blink, he thought as the memory faded. He thought she hadn't heard him. However, the slight glint to her eyes assured him she had and was working on what she was going to tell him.
Slade readily admitted he found himself more than a little impressed at her ability to stay cool under pressure. He could say he found himself enchanted even. Few women possessed the skills she had, and even fewer remained as humble about them as she did.
The more he got to know Raya and to understand the woman she was, the more enamored with her he became.
He was still captivated by her.
And he'd kill any man who dared to touch her.
Especially that smug bastard, Negan.
He cannot have her, he thought, fists curling at his sides. She belongs with me. I, alone, can protect her and our daughter.
One of his men saying, "Boss?" broke Slade from his thoughts. He sent a sharp glance over his shoulder.
"What is it?"
"The men are wondering…" The man paused. "Are you planning on going to this Alexandria to see if Fenix is there or are you wanting to return to the Foundry?"
He would love nothing more than to go to this Alexandria safe-zone and see if his dove was there as Negan's man claimed she was.
However, Slade knew he needed to bide his time. Raya managed to evade him the other times he tracked her down. He couldn't afford her slipping through his fingers again.
"We will return to the Foundry at this time," he told the man as he crossed to his SUV. "Capturing a woman as skilled as Fenix will not be an easy task."
"Of course, sir."
Slade went to climb into his SUV but paused when he spied the playing card stuck to the window. He peeled it off and turned it over.
It was a Joker playing card with one word scrawled across the face in what looked like red marker: BOOM!
He barely had time to dive out-of-the-way before orange flame fountained out of the second SUV as it got lifted off the pavement by the force of the explosion...
A/N: Hello, all! Hope this finds you well!
