It was a warm and sunny afternoon by October's standards, and in the mild and still air, the majority of the Alexandrians were just finishing up their tasks for the day.

Rick, Carl and Michonne were busy helping a few of the others clear the area around the large wooden gazebo set up in the centre of town. And no-one, not even they noticed, as Sasha ushered a tearful and trembling Rosita into her cool and shady house at the far end of the street.

Rick only stood up straight, his ears pricking, at the sound of trucks pulling up just outside the large gateway to their small community.

He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

For there was only one person who would come here like this, unannounced, bringing, by the sounds of it, all his manpower with him.

Rick let a gulp slide down his throat as his eyes met with Michonne's, communicating with her wordlessly what he needed from her now.

Instantly she gave a rod in response and began ushering the townsfolk inside….out of danger.

Carl too, looked to his father, squinting his eye against the warm, evening sunlight as she turned to face the gates.

"Carl, I need you to go inside," said Rick bristling at the noise of car and truck doors being slammed.

This wasn't a collection day, and if Negan was here, this late in the day too, he knew it could only be bad news for all of them.

But before Rick's loyal son could argue, there came a loud yelling from the otherside of the high fences.

"Oh Riiiiick," came the intimidating and deep voice of Negan. "You really gonna leave me waitin' out here all day when we have got so. fuckin'. much to discuss?"

Rick felt a slick of moisture bead at his brow.

The usually-far too playful-man, sounded a far more angry than he usually did, and that caused Rick's stomach to lurch a little.

This was not good.

And so Rick, shooting one last glance to Carl at his side, hunched his shoulders…

...reluctantly making his way over to the gate.

Fuck.

Negan was trying his best to hold it together right now.

But the telltale signs of that being very unlikely were all there- his gloved fist balled tightly at his side, his other tensed around the smooth handle of his trusted baseball bat which was currently slung over his leather-clad shoulder.

He could feel a tick working its way at his cheek, as he stood with both booted feet firmly on the ground, his chin lowered darkly, waiting for the familiar creaking sound of the gate being dragged across.

And Negan didn't have to wait long, for in a matter of seconds the heavy duty fencing was pulled back to reveal the shaggy figure of Rick standing there in a dark blue shirt and black pants squinting in Negan's direction.

"What is it you think I have to talk to you about, Negan?" asked Rick in a tired sounding voice, as the thin metal railings also got dragged away leaving the two men stood facing one another in the hazy late-afternoon sun.

Normally this was where Negan would have begun his endless teasing of the brown-haired man, ripping him to shreds for his ever-growing man-bush, or for the way his eyes could not quite meet his…

But today Negan was in no mood for that shit, his eyes blackening at the irritable tone of Rick's voice.

Negan took a wide step forwards, coming to stand nose-to nose with the Alexandrian leader all of a sudden, as his men crowded behind him, all usually just as scary looking as Negan himself.

But not today. No.

For Negan was on a different level of fear-inducing intimidation today.

He brought himself up to his full, tall height, looming over Rick like a cobra about to strike at any moment.

"Oh you'd better show me a little more fucking respect, Rick," growled Negan almost spitting the man's name. "Because if I say we've got somethin' to discuss, then you'd better get your damn listenin' ears on."

Negan saw Rick give a visible gulp, averting his eyes from Negan's shark-like stare.

"Fine," he said shortly. "You want to talk here or-"

But Negan gave Rick a sudden sharp shove backwards with a the barbed end of Lucille, almost knocking Rick off of his feet.

The brown haired leader certainly didn't look like he'd been expecting that, and neither did the people standing all around him watching either.

For here they were, Rick's people...Blake's old people...the ones that had put her through hell.

Was one of these fuckers responsible for trying to kill her?

Negan stared at them hard now, grinding at his teeth malevolently. .

Fuck, he wanted to punish every last one of them. Slowly and painfully. All sense of right or wrong, or rules, going straight out the window.

But first, he would get any information he could out of Rick the Prick. For if anyone knew what had happened to Blake it would be him.

He would have ordered that shit.

What, to get one up on Negan? To get revenge?

Well Negan was sure going to fucking return that revenge. Tenfold, if that's what it took. For no one messed with his family.

Not anyone.

Rick stared up at Negan, looking slightly taken aback and fearful. Just what Negan wanted.

"Nope," barked Negan loudly. "We are doin' this in the centre of town. For EVERYONE to see!"

And with that, giving a twisted grin, Negan stalked forwards, suddenly reaching up and grabbing Rick by the back of his collar.

This was obviously another unexpected move from Negan, that Rick had not been expecting. And at once, he lost his footing, stumbling against the asphalt below his feet as Negan dragged him along after him.

There had indeed been another time when this had happened to Rick. Oh-so many months ago, back at that line up, when Negan had dragged a blubbering Rick into that RV.

But that was a long time ago now, before Negan had even met the two most important people in his life.

But two people he could have lost today because of assholes like Rick here.

"Dad!" came a sudden voice from Negan's right, and he turned his head to see the lanky figure of Carl come bounding across the small square, oversized sheriff's hat and eyepatch both on as they always were.

But Carl was suddenly stopped in his tracks before he could get too far, by Dwight, who pointed a gun into his boyish face.

"Oho! The little psychopath's here to join' in the fun!" shouted Negan in a voice that was joyless and cold and far from his usual repertoire.

Negan looked to Dwight, his eyes blackening again.

"Bring the kid along too, D," he murmured darkly, as Dwight obeyed, grabbing Carl by his lapels roughly and giving him a shove after Negan.

People now began to line the streets of Alexandria, watching as their leader stumbled and crawled after the long-legged Saviour, who held onto Rick's collar tightly, every step they took, Negan becoming more and more furious as the escalated fear of what might have happened to Blake back there, flooded over him, dousing every inch of his being in dread and horror.

Negan reached a small wooden bandstand that stood just off the wide grassy area surrounded by houses. A good vantage point for any watchers that hadn't yet dared to emerge from their houses.

And with a heave, Negan shoved Rick onto the centre of the small wooden structure, sending the man tumbling to his knees, hanging his sweat-laden head low.

"Now we can talk…" Negan seethed.

Blake paced the corridor, her nails brought up to her mouth, looking worried.

She knew just what Negan was capable of doing. And she had seen the irrepressible look in his eyes. Just a few short hours ago.

He looked unstoppable and full of hatred and anger.

And she knew that one way or another, someone was going to get hurt.

But as much as Blake wanted someone to pay for what they had almost done to her...or to Mia, or to the baby growing inside her, this was not the way to go about things.

Although if the shoe was on the other foot and Negan or Mia had been the ones hurt, would Blake be so calm?

Was this war? Or vengeance? Or a stupid mistake? She wasn't really sure anymore.

All she did know, was that silly mistakes would get them killed. It would get Negan killed. And that was something she did not want to risk. Not today.

Blake was tired and hurting, and wanted nothing more than to sleep and be with the ones she loved, feeling grateful that she was even still here to do so.

Frankie hovered behind the blonde in silence, rocking Mia on her hip, just as sudden footsteps caused Blake to turn suddenly and gaze over her shoulder….

But before she could say anything to the approaching Arat who had something clutched tightly in her hand, Blake felt a sharp twinge shoot through her.

She gaped, suddenly doubling over and clutching onto the wall beside her for support.

"A-Are you ok?" asked Frankie, suddenly grabbing hold of Blake's arm.

But Blake winced and blinked a few times, before shaking her head.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm fine," she lied, brushing Frankie's concern away, before pulling herself upright once more.

And with her green eyes turning to Arat, she held out her hand, forgetting her moment of pain.

Her thoughts now on only one, desperate thing…

It seemed like the entire community had emerged from their sneaky fucking hiding places to watch the commotion that was about to unfold. Just as it had done, a few hours ago, back at the Sanctuary when Blake had been shot.

Negan was seething, gazing around as Saviours and Alexandrians alike, all surrounding the small wooden gazebo, where he stood just behind Rick, and now Carl who were both down on their knees in front of him facing the crowd.

"Al-fuckin'-right!" yelled Negan arching his back as he paced behind them, holding Lucille aloft. "Now I am guessin' at least one you sorry fucks knows why I'm here."

His voice rang out across the lot, but there followed only silence.

Negan gave a growl beneath his breath.

"No-one?" he commented, raising an eyebrow. "Huh. How about that."

"Whatever you think it is we've done-" came Rick's rasping drawl suddenly from Negan's feet.

But the dark-haired Saviour immediately cut him off.

"What I think you've done?" Negan yelled, his voice furious. "Oh no, what I KNOW you've done, Prick!"

Another piercing silence fell over the hazy space, where Negan's eyes landed the faces of all sorts of people he vaguely recognised from past visits to this fucking place.

From the woman who had tried to put a bullet in Lucille, who stood there as white as a sheet, to that badass woman with the dreadlocks that seemed to always be at Ricks side.

Negan's eyes flashed dangerously, an enticing thought suddenly coming to him.

"I know," he suddenly said with a maniacal grin. "How 'bout we make this a family affair."

And with that, he gestured to the angry looking black woman with the end of Lucille.

"Bring her up here," he commented his loyal lieutenants, who of course obeyed him instantly, grabbing the woman by her arms and dragging her to the podium, forcing her down to her knees between Rick and Carl.

Negan was done with these people, well and truly.

He bared his teeth facing the obviously confused and now frightened crowd before him.

"Now I am nice fuckin' guy," shouted Negan loudly, his voice echoing through the square. "Hell, even after all the shit you guys've pulled, I still give you protection, I fuckin' save you! And all I ahve ever fuckin' asked for in return is HALF. YOUR . SHIT."

Negan gave a dark grimace as he paced, spinning around on his heels and slowly marching a path back behind Rick and the others once again.

"And yet even now, after all this fucking time, you are still causing trouble. You an' your friends at the Hilltop, an' the Kingdom, still fightin' back like the rabid dogs you are."

Negan sounded angry, bellowing the last two words.

But he scowled.

"But even rabid dogs know their fuckin' limits every once in a while. But you…." Negan let out a chilling whistle of air. "..you have been nothin' but trouble. You kill my men, you hide guns from us, your people try to shoot me with homemade bullets...all that...well, all that I could deal with. I could forgive…"

But Negan suddenly grimaced standing up straight and running a hand over his bearded mouth, before pointing out at the crowd with the end of his barbed-wire covered baseball bat.

"...but what you did…..what someone did…."

Negan bit down hard onto his lip, looking furious as he shook his head, his eyes boring into the back of Rick's skull.

"...you tried to hurt my family…. and for that…." said Negan giving a sniff. "Well, someone's gotta pay."

Rick suddenly turned around, his beady eyes looking directly at Negan.

"Hurt you family?" he said in a hushed voice. "W-We don' know anything about that-"

But at the man's words, a boiling heat erupted in Negan's chest.

And in a split second Negan had swung Lucille over his head and brought the bat down hard.

There was sudden crunch, as people in the crowd wailed, staring up to see Negan picking Lucille up from the splintered floorboards of the gazebo.

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT BULLSHIT!" Negan roared to the back of Rick's flinching head. "ONE OF YOU IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS GODDAMN SHIT, AN' ONE OF YOU IS GONNA PAY FOR IT."

Negan's heart was hammering, as adrenaline pumped through his body. His face was red and a vein throbbed in his temples.

In the crowd he could see the slightly uneasy faces all of his most loyal men and women.

But they knew why he was doing this, right?

Negan knew that they doted on Blake, cared for her like their own family.

And yet there was flicker of something in their eyes now...a nervousness of sorts that only seemed to rile Negan up further.

Alright...maybe all this was very unlike him...

Negan knew he would fly off the handle at times...and his unpredictability was what made him a goddamn leader.

But to them he was still cool, calculating, and extremely level-headed. But not today.

Certainly not fucking today.

Negan clenched his teeth together, reaching out now with his gloved hand and grabbing a fistful of Rick's hair, tugging his sweaty head up to Negan's lips.

"You almost took everything away from me today...you, that fucking thespian king, thin-dicked Gregory up at the Hilltop…." snarled Negan baring his teeth like a wolf. "You tried to put a fucking bullet in me….now….pfft, well that I coulda' dealt with. But her-"

Negan paused momentarily, his top lip curling at the thought.

"If she'd have died, Rick…." he continued loudly into Rick's ear, before trailing off again.

Suddenly the black woman spoke, gazing around at Negan looking fearful of how close Lucille was to Rick's skull.

"You're talking about Blake?" she asked suddenly.

But her words only caused Negan to huff loudly, dropping his grip on Rick's hair and standing up tall, pointing to her for a moment before beginning his pacing again.

He wavered for a second or two, his chest rising and falling hard, as he ignored her, pulling Lucille up to his face and closing his eyes.

"Lucille, baby, give. me. strength," he murmured out to his trusted baseball bat.

These people were idiots. Fucking morons.

But even so, they deserve to be punished, just as someone had planned to punish him.

He would give them a show if that's what they wanted. Make this into the spectacle they had planned to give him.

He took a deep breath, spinning around on his heels and turning back to the kneeling trio and the crowd beyond them.

Looking like a king up on his tower ready to deliver the final sentence.

He was ready.

Enough of this bullshit.

Enough of these games.

Negan was angry. Wanting more than blood. He wanted revenge.

He snapped his eyes open lowering Lucille to waist height, as he took a step forward, addressing the crowd once more.

"So I think...Rick," Negan said with a poignant note to his voice. "Well...I think you should get to experience that same goddamn fear and pain that I was goin' through just a few short fuckin' hours ago. I want YOU to lose someone you love today, just how I could have done. I think that's fair, don' you?"

"We can talk about this!" pleaded Rick from Negan's feet, but Negan just shook his head.

"No we certainly cannot, Rick," he uttered in a simpering reply. "Because you almost took away the most important thing in the world to me today. And I think I should do the same to you."

Negan gave a dark grimace, readjusting the grip on Lucille as he moved, first, to the black lady on Rick's right hand side.

"So who's it gonna be, huh?" he said stiffly, knocking the back of Michonne's head with Lucille gently. "Your leadin' fuckin' lady?"

Before Negan stepped over to Carl, tugging off his oversized hat before flinging it down onto the grass before them.

"Or your firstborn?" he continued bluntly. "Your one-eyed pride and joy?"

"Please don't do this.." Rick pleaded again shaking his head. But this grovelling on made Negan angrier.

"Time's a' tickin', Rick," Negan pressed. "You gotta make. a. choice. 'Cause if you don't, I'm gonna take both of them from you."

From the crowd ahead, Negan saw a few people step suddenly forwards in outcry, soon be pushed back into the midst by Saviours pointing guns at them. One of those people was that damned woman who had tried to shoot at him, but she was dragged backwards quickly by the tall black woman at her side, and before Negan could blink they had disappeared into the mass of people.

But they could cry and whine all they wanted. That didn't change anything.

Perhaps the old Negan would have been far more lax.

Perhaps he'd have given Rick another chance.

But now Negan had Blake….he had a family...a damn baby on the way. This was no time for second chances. This was no time for fucking about.

"I'm givin' you five seconds, Rick," Negan bellowed again. "Make your fuckin' choice, here an' now. Man the fuck up, grow some balls and decide."

"N-No…" said Rick as the crowd all around them fell utterly silent. "I-I can't….p-please...kill me instead."

But Negan merely sucked at his teeth, a bubbling rage burning inside him.

He didn't want Rick to die for this. No. He wanted him to survive and watch the people he loved die around him. To have him know what that felt like.

"Five…" Negan snarled, beginning to count, raising Lucille up high, his hands almost shaking with pure fury as he did so.

He was blinded now….seeing only red…

...blood…

...death…

"Four," he hissed out.

Everything around him going quiet as everyone held their breath, and Carl and Michonne bowed their heads low, awaiting their fate.

But Negan faltered for a moment as his eyes stopped on something….

For the black woman before him, sandwiched in between the father and son, had moved her hands to each of theirs, either side of her, clutching onto them tightly.

Negan blinked a little…

When suddenly a voice came from his right, loud and clear.

"Boss-"

"What the fuck is it?" Negan instantly bellowed, baring his teeth over his shoulder at the speaker.

But he found only D.J, one of his more loyal lieutenants, standing there, face fixed, holding a small black radio out towards him.

"I-Its her, Boss…"

And it was only a second or two as Negan just stood there seething, breathing hard, that a voice as clear as day, drifted over the radio towards him.

"Negan?"

Fuck.

It was her…

Blake…

...the woman who was his everything.

His fucking queen.

Negan blinked, he sound of her voice bringing him back down to earth with a sudden crash.

"Negan please, if you're there, answer me," she said in a pleading voice, in a tone not too dismailar to how Rick's had been just a moment or two ago.

Negan suddenly stepped forwards, snatching the device from D.J's hand and wavering for what felt like an eternity.

But finally, sucking in a breath, Negan pulled the radio to his mouth.

"Yeah, Peaches, I'm here," he said in a tone far softer than a moment ago, turning away from the faces all staring back at him and closing his eyes for a brief few seconds.

"Negan, p-please, come back….come back to the Sanctuary...I need you," she said to him, as static filled the line.

The dark-haired Saviour licked his lips, letting out a tired huff.

He couldn't come back. Not yet. Not until he'd finished the job.

But she knew him too well and read his mind before he had even said anything.

"Negan, please. Listen, I'm ok...we're ok...a-and punishing people…..well, right now, it isn't going to help. It's just going to make people want to do things like this again…." came her voice again after a moment. "Please, baby, I'm begging you...come home. You can go out tomorrow, i-if that's what you want, but today….I need you here...home...with us.""

Negan breathed hard, dropping his chin to his chest and scrunching up his face momentarily.

Her words ringing through his ears.

"Please…" she repeated again, sounding distant. "Please…"

It was as thought she was pleading with him now. And were it anyone else, Negan would have tossed away the fucking radio and ignored every word.

But her….

This was different, but at the same time, very much alike another moment Negan had been through, a long, long time ago.

Suddenly he was taken back there, to that hospital, where upon hearing the news that Lucille was terminal, with mere months left to live, he had left her, tearing his hand away from hers as she called after him.

In a blur, and barely remembering even getting there, Negan had found himself in some random bar he didn't even know the name of, on his third glass whisky as he watched his cell phone ring and ring, vibrating across the bar in front of him.

And at the end of the night, walking home in a half-drunken stupor, and finding his legs didn't want to work properly anymore, Negan had collapsed down onto a park bench and pulled out his phone, listening to his voice messages…

And one by one, there she was, Lucille, pleading with him to come home.

It had killed him to hear her, so strong, despite all that was happening to her- all because she needed to be, for him. She had left messages all night, almost every half hour, pleading with him to come back to her...to come home. And Negan had broken down with his head in his hand, right there and then, as tears had slipped down his cheeks, the guilt and the stark realisation overwhelming him.

Negan blinked several times, feeling his eyes prick with tears he would ever let fall...not here, and not now…

But he steadied himself, staring suddenly down to where the black woman's hands were clasped desperately around Carls' and Ricks'.

Jeez.

What the fuck was he doing here?

Is this really what Lucille would have wanted him to become? What Blake wanted him to become.

No.

Right now all Blake wanted was him home with her. Where he should be.

Regret flooded over the dark-haired Saviour as he stood there now, thumb hovering over the radio call button.

He could deal with this shit another day.

There was a time for revenge. There was a time for payback.

But today Negan knew he needed to be back there. With his girls, holding their damn hands, just like the three figures below him.

Negan turned away and lifted the radio to his lips.

"Give me an hour, Peaches…" he murmured hoarsely, giving a deep sigh. "Daddy's comin' home."

And with that Negan, with his eyes black and pained, walked straight past the three kneeling figures and down the gazebo steps, parting the crowd as he went...leaving in silence…

...as his obedient men quickly followed in his wake.

Was that ok? I was worried about this one as angry Negan is hard to write.

Would you like more soon?

Thanks to Crrazythinking, Guest, BlueBloodsSVUOrder, Nicole, Guest, LJH, CLTex, Kara315 and Lorelei for reviewing.