CR: I started writing this story when Negan hadn't been introduced in the TV show yet, so I developed a personality for him based off his appearnace in the comics. That personality sort of stuck with me. So if Negan seems a little more chaotic and brash than normal, that's the reason why!

Estranged

"And we're breaking out the good champagne

Sittin' pretty on the gravy train…"

Bree sits up from her cement bed and stretches after what could have only been a few hours of sleep. She yawns, rubs at her sore neck and stiff back, and then heaves a deep sigh when she recognizes the plucky music that's still eating away at her eardrums. Normally, she was never one to complain about having music to listen to, but this song … this was pure torture.

"What a waste of … batteries," she grumbles. She is still half-asleep, even with Negan's torturous music on full blast.

To distract herself from her aching body, nervousness, and the urge to go crazy hearing that music, she picks up where she left off on her monochrome chalk mural: a bat-wielding maniac with a bunch of unhappy wives, someone blowing away a walker with gas, a picture of her mother….

She has to pee, but with no toilet and a camera watching her, she's at a loss. She stands and asks the camera if she could use the bathroom, or do they really want her to make the room smell like pee? A man comes down and opens the door—it's Dwight.

Looking none too happy, he explains that it would be his job to clean up her mess, so do him a favor and don't piss and/or crap on the floor. Giving him a distrustful glare, she follows behind him, out of the cell and downstairs to the communal shower room. She remembers Negan showing her this area when she'd first arrived at Sanctuary, back at the start of this nightmare. There was only one area shared by men and women, but Negan "decreed" that men had a specific shower time and women had their own shower time. "To give these people some semblance of order, ya know?" Negan had informed her.

She sits with her back to the cold tile wall and holds the shower nozzle above her head, letting the cool water pour over her absent-mindedly. Her mind is still turning with questions—how was she going to get out of here, what would she do about Negan, how was Merle holding up?

She dries off with one of the towels hanging up on a hook—she hoped it was clean but didn't really care too much—then wrapped it around her body and headed for the door.

She passed by the sink mirror and had to pause to look at herself. When had she stopped being the little college girl with the flowery headband and fearful eyes and become this woman? Her hair was wild and flowed around her head like a tangle of briars, her eyes were determined and calculative, her stance more confident. And when had she suddenly gotten curves?

"That's right," she murmurs at her reflection. She was no longer the little girl who couldn't do anything to save Harry from Negan on a warpath, who was afraid of her own shadow. She was an adult, a woman, the leader of the Phantoms. She could handle being in Sanctuary again, and she would do what she could to help her friends and regain her freedom. After all, she needed to find the rest of her family.

She walks out to where Dwight is impatiently waiting for her. As soon as he sees her, he averts his eyes from her towel and tosses her a piece of black fabric. She catches it with her free hand and stares at the sloppily folded material in confusion. Her confusion is erased once she unfolds it and sees that it's one of the infamous black mini dresses.

Her mouth opens to protest, but she quickly snaps it shut. Dwight didn't seem too keen on looking at her in a towel, but she figured Negan had put him up to getting her into this dress, and he was liable to use threats to get her to do what his boss-man told her.

So she goes back into one of the shower stalls, changes into the dress, and then follows Dwight up to where she knows Negan's office is.

Inside the room is Negan, seated at his desk with Lucille leaned against his chair, his deadly loyal sidekick. Bree takes a deep breath and walks into the room, doing her best to not appear nervous.

Negan, who was humming some nameless tune and scanning what must be reports from his men, looks up from his papers at the sound of her footsteps. His face breaks out into a pleased, triumphant grin at the sight of her in a dress.

"Well, don't you just look precious. Fits you like a glove, Baby."

She folds her arms over her chest and opens her mouth to complain, but Negan quickly interjects.

"Oooone second, sweetheart, I got a surprise for you. You can call it our wedding gift," he teases gaily, knowing she's hating every moment of this.

A woman wearing a similar dress enters the room—Charlene, he calls her—and the next thing Bree knows, Charlene is giving her a haircut. Charlene seats Bree in the chair opposite of Negan's and begins trimming her wild curls. Negan is beaming in front of her, offering "helpful" suggestions to Charlene as she trims.

"Soft and feminine ... Yeah, just like that. Can we bring some of her bangs to the front? Give it a little more volume—less butch, please. Perfect. What do you think, Princess?"

Bree is just like meh. What is this all about? He tells her he wanted her to get prettied up because they're going on a little trip. When he says Alexandria, she grows uncomfortable. He says he's going to let all her little friends know who she's been working with the whole time, and make sure no one else will take her back. She's going to learn who her true family is, and so are they. He tells her if she so much as says a word, he will let Lucille finish the rest of that sentence for her. He tells her she will watch and do as she's told. She says she's not a pet and she doesn't want to play his games. He excuses his other wife with a pat on the butt and tells her that's where she's wrong, she does belong to him now and she will listen to him, or she's going to start losing some body parts she might miss. No more giving thumbs ups. It's hard to keep your balance without your toes. Take an eye out. I'll start with something small. Scared but determined, she says, do what you have to do. He chuckles and says she really grew a pair out there. He snaps his fingers and Sasha is brought in. The two girls lock eyes and Bree is horrified to see how starved and pale she looks.

Now, Negan says, how about I do what I said I'd do to you to Sasha here instead? All I'm asking for is cooperation. You reeeally want to see your friend here get hurt? Bree gives in and says Okay, I'll do it, okay. He says alright! There we go! Pack Sasha Fierce away, I think we are ready for our road trip!

As Dwight takes Sasha away, Bree asks if she can follow him out. Negan says just a second. He approaches her and gently moves her new but familiar bangs away from her face. He says you don't know how long I've been waiting for this moment, Baby. To make you mine. You know, I never gave up hope that you'd change your mind and come back to Sanctuary. And I will take very good care of you, like I do all of my wives. You'll be safe and happy here.

Bree, without backing or looking away, says, "You just threatened to cut something off of me and hurt someone I know. Am I supposed to be swooning right now, or saying I love you?"

Negan smiles and says she'll learn to, eventually. They head to Alexandria, where everyone is shocked to "learn" that Bree has been working with Negan the whole time, scouting out camps, finding their weaknesses. Her little camp is history, the remnants work for him, and there is no hope for Alexandria. Welcome to servitude! Rick asks her to tell him what's going on, and she's hurting inside as she looks at him with sad eyes but has to look down. She knows one word from her and Sasha is dead.

Carl is glad he was proven right about Bree, hoping his dad will realize he's not just a little kid anymore. At the same time, he's hurt to know that Bree, who he met back at the Hilltop, was just toying with them.

Bree keeps her head down and has to keep by Negan's side as he takes more of Alexandria's supplies in retribution for Daryl's escape. When Negan reveals Sasha, who is a Walker, Bree is horrified. Realizing that she can now speak up, she hurries to blurt out the truth to anyone, but before she can, she's shoved back into the RV.

That's when King Ezekiel and Shiva attack, followed closely behind by Maggie and her Hilltop crew. The Alexandrians pull out their weapons and begin firing on the Saviors, who are forced to take cover after killing a few of their men, but taking major casualties on their side.

Negan laughs caustically as the Saviors beat it.

"I must say, I am impressed!" he bellows. "Rick has some fight left in him yet! Of course, his camp is going to pay big time for killing my men, but I gotta hand it to him—he had a freaking tiger! He's getting more desperate by the day!"

After striking fear into Alexandria, the Saviors head back to Sanctuary. Some of the men laugh and crack up, others are withdrawn or furious over the attack, while Bree gazes out of the window from the back of the RV, mind whirring on what to do next and livid that Sasha had been killed despite her going through with Negan's wishes.

With that attack, peace between the two factions was all but impossible. Her job to weld the two together by a pact resembling mutual respect just got a whole lot tougher.

Killing Negan is the other option, but the thought of killing him still, infuriatingly enough, puts a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. If she didn't have to kill another person who is alive, she'd be somewhat okay with handling the rest of the craziness of the new world. And if she killed him, wouldn't other men just rise up to take his place over Sanctuary? She knows none of them would be able to lead like Negan, but there was a reason Negan had second-in-commands. She can only think of trying to get close to him again, talk to him, make him see things in a different perspective. But after what he's done, and knowing that he's a threat to her family, she truly wants to kill him.

"Aw, I think little Bree is sad, leader!" Simon teases as he maneuvers the vehicle back towards base.

Negan, grinning, looks back at Bree, who is still staring out the back windows at Alexandria. "You mad about Sasha? I have no idea how turned into one of those things, but it wasn't me. That crap was wild! But I'll have to do some digging into that."

Bree doesn't reply. She simply cuts her eyes at him and then looks away.

End of Episode Song: Glory by Wye Oak (I still love this song!)