Blake chanced a glance up at Negan as their pair walked down the darkened Sanctuary hallway hand-in-hand.

She could tell that Negan was still seething about what had happened.

Truthfully this whole thing had been a mess. A waste of time.

But that was not the fault of her and Negan now, but the fault of Rick Grimes and his inability to listen to anyone but himself.

What the brown-haired man had said to her, what he had said to them both out there in that lot, in whatever context he had meant it in, had been unforgivable.

And Blake truly realised now how foolish she had been, in thinking Rick and his people could change for the better. That they could all live happy, as one, with a future together.

The truth however was that Negan had been right all along. The Saviours were on their own, and if they needed to survive, they needed to keep assholes like Rick and his people on a leash.

And if they didn't listen, if they tried to fight, tried to shoot, try to put a bullet into Blake or Mia or Negan again, then punishment would come swiftly and painfully.

For Blake could see now, that those people back there in Alexandria, they had never really cared about her.

And Rick had even said it himself, she had never been one of them, she had always been a Saviour.

But Blake knew now that that wasn't just what she was. JUST a Saviour.

But instead she was so much more

She was these days, as much of a leader as Negan. Respected, loved, protected.

And it was Negan and the Saviours who had saved her from a life of misery and pain, showing her love and affection when she had needed it most. Proving to her that she was worth more than just being the fiancee of an abusive man. That she was stronger than that. A fighter. A survivor.

Blake gazed up at Negan now, who had his jaw clenched hard, his dark eyes fixed on a spot ahead of them in the corridor.

She gave his hand a squeeze, opening her mouth to speak, when a voice suddenly rang through the hallway behind them and heavy footsteps could be heard approaching.

"Boss?" came a questioning voice, and both Negan and Blake stopped in their tracks and turned to see Simon marching towards them, Lucille in his hand.

Negan didn't say anything, merely staring hard at his right-hand man, chin lifted intimidatingly.

"Laura's just leaving," he said holding out Lucille towards Negan, and offering him a frustrated and questioning look, brow furrowed. "But Boss, surely we're not gonna just let him go? Grimes? The way he tore in here…. I mean, he needs to be punished. They all do. We need to be seen to be doing something. "

Blake frowned, parting her lips.

"They're going, Simon," she said with a shake of her head. "Can't we just leave it, for tonight anyway?"

But Simon didn't even look at her, not even acknowledging that she had spoken, cutting across her as she finished up her sentence, speaking only to Negan now.

Blake instantly pursed her lips together.

"If we let Grimes go without punishing him in some way, you know how its gonna go down," continued Simon. "The next time they try something against us, we might not be so prepared..."

Suddenly Negan reached out, his fingers wrapping around Lucille's smooth handle, as he took a step into Simon intimidatingly, lip curling with distaste.

"You REALLY tellin' me how I should be runnin' this shit, Si?" came Negan's voice, low and threatening, like a wolf now, with black eyes and a fixed stare.

Simon at once visibly bristled, blinking several times.

"No...I was just-"

But Negan cut over him before he could finish.

"I made a fuckin' decision, an' no-one, an' I mean no-one, gets to question that decision. We clear?" Negan uttered in a deadly voice. "Not you. Not Dwight. Not anyone."

Negan leant his face into Simon's, a grimace curving its way onto his mouth.

"An' if I think for one second that you're backslidin again, Simon-"

But Simon spoke before Negan could finish with a flicker of something that resembled fear crossing his face for a second or two.

"N-No...not backsliding," he confirmed, fixing a polite but unbelievable smile onto his face. "S-Sorry, Boss."

And with that, Negan snatched Lucille from his hand, allowing Simon to turn and walk away from the pair of them, disappearing out of sight in the shadows of the dark hallway.

Blake swallowed, chancing another glance up at Negan, but this time she didn't make to speak.

In fact neither of them saying a word until they reached the safe confines of their bedroom, where Negan locked the door behind the with a snap.

Blake was stood in the middle of the room but had turned back to face him, just as to her shock and fright, the dark-haired Saviour let out a loud roar of anger, flinging his prized baseball bat across the room, where it hit the wall opposite with a thud, denting the plasterwork.

Blake stared up at him wide-eyed and worried, taking a couple of steps backwards looking fearful.

In that moment she had been taken back to David's anger, David's rage.

But Negan, breathing hard, his chest heaving finally looked looked over at her…

...and saw the fear in her green and frightened eyes.

He steadied himself, visibly softening in front of her, his own eyes suddenly full of regret.

"I'm sorry, Peaches," he said, his voice low, as he gave a shake of his head, walking toward her and closing the gap between them. "C'mere…"

And with that, cupping the back of her head, he tugged her into him, holding her close.

Blake breathed again, relaxing into him, taking in his scent.

She understood how he must be feeling.

And how all this was because of her. Because of what she'd led them to.

They stayed like that for a moment or two before Blake pulled away looking up at him, tilting her head to the side.

"This was all my fault," she said in a sad voice. "I should never have brought them here, I should never have tried to convince you..."

But Negan stroked his large hand down her cheek.

"This ain't on you, Darlin'," he said with a small frown.

Blake lifted her hand and placed it onto his.

"Maybe. But I wasn't lying when I said I was done with them, Negan. I am. All of them. From now on, we look out for number one. For our family. For the Saviours. And if anyone gets in our way, then we fight for what's ours. No more trying to be nice. We make this a better world for us and us alone."

And she meant that.

Rick didn't give a shit about her, so why should she give a shit about him?

They had tried, and ultimately realised that some people aren't worth saving.

"It's them and us now," she finished, repeating her words from the lot.

Negan stared at her for a long moment.

"You're right, Peaches. The Saviours are done trying with those sorry sons of bitches," Negan said with an anger simmering in his voice. But this time he didn't let it bubble to the surface, instead letting out a long breath and brushing his hand down Blake's cheek affectionately once more.

"Shit, I need ta' get some sleep," he said finally pulling back from her and dragging his free hand down his face, pinching the bride of his nose and squeezing both eyes shut.

Blake nodded back, running a hand over her neck and tilting her face up towards the ceiling, stretching out her stiff shoulders..

"Yeah, let's go to bed," she said soothingly, padding around the large four poster to their left and peeling off her sweater. "But not until you've taken care of your hands first."

She nodded to the grazes across his bloodied knuckles.

Negan gave a small huff, but nodded back in agreement.

"Shit…" he murmured. "Alright…"

And with that he disappeared off into the bathroom for a minute or two, allowing Blake time to slip out of her jeans, pulling one of Negan's t-shirts back over head head to sleep in.

He entered the room again, just as Blake was lifting off the bedcovers, making to slip inside, but she paused looking up at him, seeing him stood now, at the foot of the bed, staring back at her with an odd sort of expression etched onto his long, bearded features.

"What?" she asked gently.

But Negan hovered there for a long second before saying anything.

"Them and us," he repeated now, blinking his dark eyes slowly. "For good."

And Blake, determinedly, and with the air of a utter queen, stared back at Negan, lifting her chin.

She nodded.

"For good..."

"Did you see him?! Lettin' Grimes walk on out of here. Pussy-footin' around the guy, yet again? And why? All because his damn woman tells him to."

Simon's ranting filled the rec room as he paced back and forth across the shiny concrete floor.

Dwight and a couple of other men that were present, stared up at him, none of them wanting to say a word against their leader, and yet all of them wondering whether or not the other agreed with Simon on this.

"Well this can't go on," said Simon with a shake of his head, placing one hand to his hip and with the other he jabbed a finger down towards the ground. "Negan is gonna run this place into the ground, and people like Grimes will end up just takin' over. And what will happen to the rest of us then, huh? We all can imagine, right?"

Again the men sitting all around still remained silent at this.

"Well we need to stop that shit before it happens, grab those assholes by the balls and show them who's, Boss. Because if Negan can't do that anymore , then I guess we'll have to step up. We'll have to show Grimes and his damn son that he can't just march in here and throw his weight around. We have to show them that we are a force. That we are the Saviours, and that we're bigger than just one man with a baseball bat."

Dwight peered up at Simon, hands clasped between his knees.

"So what are you proposing?" her asked in a low, almost nervous voice now, as a grin curved its way onto Simon's lips.

"Well it's gonna take us time, and more than the goddamn four of us that's for sure," the mustachioed man said in a hushed tone. "But boys…"

And with that, his eyes sparkled with glee.

"...I say we overthrow the fucking King."

Thanks so so much to CLTex and TigerLily0701 for leaving a review.