Chapter 4: Hi, I'm Negan.

Michonne woke up in a small room, with bounds around her wrists and ankles that tied her to a chair. The bounds were so tight that they burned her skin but she quickly forgot about the pain when she began to remember what happened. She looked around the room and began to panic when she realized Judith wasn't there.

"Judith! Where's my daughter! Give my back my daughter!" She shouted as she struggled to get the bounds lose.

"Shut up!" She heard a voice from the other side of her cell.

"Where's my baby?! Where is she! I'll kill you for taking her!" Michonne threatened.

The man tall man came in through the cell door and stood right in front of Michonne. "I told you to shut the fuck up!" The man yelled as he took a swing and slapped her across the face. "I ask the questions here!" He added.

Michonne tasted blood in her mouth and spat at the man's shoes. "You're going to regret that." She said in her deep voice.

The man paused for a moment, as if affected by Michonne's words before he swung at her again but he was interrupted when another man stood in the door and spoke.

"Simon. Let me talk to her." Said a cold voice that sent shivers down Michonne's spine.

Simon nodded at the other man's orders and backed away from Michonne.

"I think I know what'll get you to cooperate." He spoke again before he walked around and stood in front of Michonne.

Michonne's heart became heavy when she looked up at the man and saw baby Judith in the man's arms. "Get your hands off of her." Michonne threatened.

"She's such a little angel. Would be a real shame if she got thrown into a herd of the hungry dead." The man spoke.

Michonne growled as she tried to break free of her bounds, causing them to dig further into her skin. "What do you want?!" Michonne let out.

"Will you cooperate?" The man spoke as he looked Michonne in the eye.

Michonne hesitated but she knew she couldn't free herself and this man looked serious about hurting her baby. "Yes." She finally said.

"Good choice. Do you know who I am?" He asked.

"No." Michonne uttered.

"That would explain why you did what you did." He replied. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Negan and I do not appreciate you killing my men." He continued. "Now, usually the punishment for that would be, me bashing your brains in with my beautiful, thirsty girl, Lucille. But, I hear you ripped my men's heads clean off their shoulders with your bare hands. I found it hard to believe that one single woman could do so much damage to The Saviors. But now that I lay my eyes on you myself, I actually believe it all. I mean look at you. You're a gorgeous killing machine with whale size balls. It'd be such a waste bash your pretty brains in, as strong as you are so I'll make you an offer." He said as he held Judith and made her face Michonne. "I'm a little short on men, thanks to you. So either you work for me in the place of the men you killed or this little nugget's gonna get it." Negan explained as he played with Judith's nose.

"If you hurt her I swear-" Michonne exclaimed.

"I swear I'll tie you to a chair and make you watch as I toss this baby-doll into a crowd of the undead! Do not make me have to do that." He said with his voice raised.

Michonne paused for a moment as she looked at her baby again. And she realized she didn't have a choice "What do you want me to do?" She regretfully spoke as she looked back up at Negan.

"Really? That's wonderful news. So first of all, what is your name?" Negan asked, his voice calm again.

"Michonne." She replied.

"Michonne. That name turns me on." Negan said as he smirked. "Michonne, you're going to spend the next few weeks proving to me that you're a loyal soldier. This is my right hand man, Simon. He'll walk you through how you'll go about doing that." Negan said. He turned Judith around again and made her face him. "I'll keep this little baby-doll safe while you're gone. But remember what I said I'd do to her if you fucked up. We'll see you later." He continued before he walked out of the room.

Simon squatted in front of Michonne with handcuffs in his hands. "So will I need to put these cuffs on your or are you gonna be a good girl and come with me without a fuss?" He spoke.

Michonne looked up at the man and nodded her head.

"I want you to say it. I'll be good. Go on." The man said as he toyed with her.

Michonne looked up at him, rage and murder in her eyes. "I'll be good." She finally uttered sarcastically.

Simon winked at her before he stood up and untied her bounds. The only thing stopping Michonne from snapping his neck was the thought of Negan hurting her baby. She calmly stood up and followed him outside where they both got into a truck along with three other Saviors. Simon got into the backseat with Michonne and one other Savior and they had her sit in the middle seat.

Michonne noticed Simon starring her up and down the entire trip but paid no attention to him until his hand found its way onto her thigh. She looked up at his face and saw his awful grin. She fought with every inch of her strength to not let it affect her. Who knows what Negan would do to Judith if she hurt anymore Saviors? She patiently sat still and faced forward again, still fighting to control the urge to punch a hole in the middle Simon's face. He eventually got his hand off her thigh and she hoped he wouldn't touch her again. A few hours later, they finally arrived at their destination – a community with people armed with cheap wooden weapons who looked terrified of Michonne and the rest of The Saviors when they emerged from their truck and stood in front of a Victorian-style mansion.

"This is all we got." Their leader said to Simon.

"Oh, Gregory. That's not how things work. You had a week and this is all you could get?" Simon mocked him.

"Things are tight right now. There's nothing we can do." Gregory said with a condescending tone.

Simon snapped his fingers and gestured at Michonne to come to him and she did. "Why don't you teach Gregory here how to talk to Saviors." He ordered.

Michonne hesitated but she knew she had to put her life and that of her baby before these strangers. She walked up the Gregory and punched him in the gut, causing him to fall to the ground in pain. She looked back at Simon to see if he was satisfied and he gestured for her to keep going. Michonne kicked Gregory in the stomach again and again while he crawled on the ground until he begged her to stop.

"Alright. Alright. I'm sorry. Jesus, Craig, go get more." Gregory said as he coughed out drops blood.

"Good boy. Negan thanks you for your cooperation." Simon mocked.

Michonne walked away from Gregory, feeling terrible about herself but knowing it was the only way. Michonne and The Saviors went back to the Sanctuary where Simon escorted Michonne to Negan's meeting room. Negan was holding the sleeping baby across his chest while sitting at the end of the table when Michonne and Simon walked in.

"Sir, we got the stu-"

"Shh. Keep your voice down. She's asleep." Negan said as he interrupted Simon.

"Sorry." Simon whispered.

Michonne looked worriedly at her baby as Negan stood up and gently placed Judith in a crib next to him before walking over to them.

"How'd she do?" Negan asked Simon as he stared Michonne down.

"She did good." Simon replied.

"I knew you could do it!" He said excitedly to Michonne. "Simon, take her to her room. I'll have a new job for her tomorrow." He continued before he turned away.

"Wait. I did what you asked. Give me my daughter back." Michonne finally spoke.

"You'll get her back when I say so. Now leave before I change my mind about sparing you two." Negan said, his back still turned.

In a rage, Michonne charged at Negan but Simon grabbed her arm and stopped her in her tracks "Don't even think about it." He threatened.

Simon held Michonne's arm and dragged her all the way back to her cell before he pushed her in."Sleep tight!" He said as he locked her in.

Michonne was exhausted but she knew she wouldn't be able to rest without her daughter by her side. They'd never been apart until now and she felt empty without her. With nothing else left to do, she lay down on the mattress in the room and tears came to her eyes as the realization of everything that happened began to sink in. From failing to protect her daughter to getting the Librarians killed. Every time she shut her eyes she saw them lying in a pool of their own blood. And what little sleep she did manage to get was interrupted by a nightmare of them blaming her for their deaths. She would spend the next couple of nights in the same predicament. A few days later, Simon was taking Michonne out to bully another unlucky group when they stopped in the courtyard and made her watch as they tortured the leader of the leader of the Librarians. They had him hanging by his hands as they beat him. The man looked up at Michonne who stood right infront of her and his words would haunt her for the rest of her life.

"My children, my wife... They're dead. And its all your fault. ITS ALL YOUR FAULT!" He mumbled.

Unable to stand the scene, Michonne tried to walk away but Simon held onto her and made her watch as another Savior continued to beat the poor man.

"You see what you did? That's what happens when you fuck with me." Simon whispered in her ear as he held her in his grip.

Michonne eventually broke free and brought Simon to the ground as she punched him. Some saviors came and pulled her off him before she could do any real damage. Simon got up and put handcuffs around her. He dragged her back to her cell and locked her there, where she'd be staying for the next few days with no food as punishment.

Being alone made all of the bad thoughts emerge and Michonne couldn't keep them at bay. She began to have hallucinations of everyone she knew coming to her and telling her she failed them. The most painful ones, were Rick, Carl and Lori's ghost, telling her she'd failed to keep her promise. After days in solitary, Michonne was completely broken. The next job she had, she did with ease. With no remorse or consideration. She had become the killing machine that Negan wanted her to be. After a few months, she began to take pride in her work as a Savior. She made peace with it as opposed to being out alone in the woods scavenging for survival. Here, everything was easier because she was stronger than most people and winning felt good. Murder and thievery were here life now but at least she was safe and so was her daughter. At first, Negan let her see Judith once every week just to give her something to fight for but now that Michonne was completely converted, being with her daughter everyday was part of the privilege of being one of Negan's generals.

One night, when Michonne returned from one of her jobs, she made her way to Negan's room to pick her daughter up. She caught him cradling the toddler and she found it hard to be afraid for her daughter's safety in his arms. She realized how fond Negan had become of Judith and how fond Judith had become of him. She realized how safe they both were as long as they were on his side, even though she was too proud to admit it. When Negan noticed her standing by the door, he got up and took Judith to her.

"Welcome home, honey. We missed you." Negan said as he handed Judith over to Michonne.

"Thanks for watching her." Michonne said.

"Watching her? Oh, we're waaay passed that." Negan replied.

"No you're not. You never will be. Let's get that out of the way right now." Michonne argued.

"That little girl needs a father figure and you know it. And despite your man-sized lady balls, you can't be both her mother and her father." He explained.

"I'll take my chances and then some, long before I even consider it." Michonne replied.

"You and I both know you don't believe that." Negan said as he stepped closer to her and put his hand on her hip.

Michonne wasn't expecting the impact that Negan's words had on her. It wasn't until this moment, when they were standing this close that she doubted her own feelings for the first time. She was so sure that she hated him until he said those words and influenced her to imagine the possibility that she didn't hate him. She couldn't hide her confliction, and Negan being the people-reader that he was, surely noticed it. If he wasn't sure before, he was now. But she wasn't going to let him toy with her mind like that and get away with it. She needed to say something that would make him question his own intuition for once. She wouldn't be the only one staying up all night thinking about what was said tonight.

"You and I both know that you think you know everything. And that it'll bite you in the ass one day." She said, leaving the statement vague on purpose, in hopes that the mystery behind their meaning would drive him crazy.

Months later, on a warm evening, Michonne had just finished bathing Judith and was getting ready to put her to bed when Negan routinely showed up to say goodnight. Michonne noticed that Negan was wearing his going out clothes and carrying Lucille.

"What did they do?" Michonne asked, already feeling sorry for whoever Negan was going to kill.

"Killed my men, stole my guns. In fact, I remember sparing someone who did that same thing not so long ago. But I won't repeat the same sympathy again." He replied as he winked at Michonne. "I'm taking Simon with me so I'm gonna need you to stay here and watch over things while I'm gone. Think you can do that for me?" Negan added.

"Okay." Michonne replied.

"Okay." He said with a smile.

Negan walked up to Judith's crib and picked her up before he kissed her forehead and the toddler was reluctant to let go of him as he put her back in her crib.

"I know, sweetheart. I don't want to go either but someone's gotta do it." He said.

He then walked back to Michonne and tried to kiss her cheek but she pulled away and went to stand by the door.

"You should get going." She said as she gestured for him to leave.

Negan scratched the back of his head and paused for a moment before he complied to Michonne's words. The one thing Negan and Michonne had in common was that they were both good at reading people and Michonne could tell that Negan didn't want to leave tonight. It seemed as though the bully lifestyle was finally getting old for him and he wanted to stay with her instead, with what he deemed as a family. Negan slowly but surely walked out and Michonne shut the door behind him. Despite her efforts not to, Michonne got closer and closer to calling their situation a family herself. At this point, as hard as it was for her to admit it, she felt like it was only a matter of time before her body betrayed her and she fell for Negan's advances.

The next day, Negan had returned and Michonne noticed his bloody bat as he walked past her in the corridor. Dwight and a few other Saviors followed Negan, dragging someone back with them. Michonne got the chance to see the man being dragged and recognized him immediately.

"Daryl?" She whispered to herself as she stood in shock at the sight of a man she hadn't seen in years.

A man who she thought was dead. Then the horrid realization kicked in. Could it be that Negan had just slaughtered the people that were the first real family she had since she lost her son a lifetime ago? She watched in shock and awe as the men dragged Daryl away.