Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead

Final part. Thanks for the reviews. The story could definitely lengthen to a lot more, but this is meant to be short. As I mentioned earlier, there's a bit of a different kind of resolution for Rick.

Chapter 2: Soul

Negan smiled as he sipped the bourbon in his glass and stared out across the field of his community. It had been almost half a year since he'd had the run in with Rick's people; since he forced Rick to become an example to those that fell out of order; since he'd forced him to become a part of his team. It made him quite pleased whenever he was able to stomp out any form of rising power and stupidity. He took another sip just as a familiar RV made its sudden appearance up the road heading towards his stronghold. He set the glass down just as one of his men ran up to him.

"They're early," he told him.

"I can see that," Negan replied as he watched it pull up to the gate. "Let em in. I wanna hear why they're ahead of schedule."

The heavy iron gate was opened and the vehicle slowly made its way inside. Negan, followed by a few of his men, walked over just as it made a stop. The surrounding men raised their guns, ready to stop any ideas the people within had been planning.

The driver's side of the door opened and Michonne exited. Negan frowned in slight annoyance at the sight of her. He had hoped in all this time that the loss of Rick would leave her as nothing but a shell of a person. So far the only sign he'd ever seen of her submission was in her face which was much less defiant than when he'd first seen her.

From the passenger's side door came Carl, and from the back came Daryl.

"Did ya'll mark your calendars wrong? You're not due back here with supplies until two weeks from now." He passed his hand up and down his beloved Lucille and smiled at them. "We're not thinking of starting up something again, are we? Because believe me, I'll put an end to it the way I did last time. Boy, I enjoyed that, and so did Lucille."

He took pleasure in the falling expressions and looks of illness upon their faces. Rick's prayer hadn't come true as the group had attempted a rescue, only to lose several of their people, and causing another to be crippled horribly. And as a way to keep any such thoughts from surfacing again, he treated them to the sounds of Rick's screams. He had never shown what he did, but it had gotten the message across.

"I wanna see him," Carl suddenly said as he stepped forward. Michonne reached out a hand to keep him from stepping closer. "I wanna see my dad."

Negan raised his eyebrows and smiled at the demanding tone the kid had used.

"Want all you want kid, on your way back."

"Where's my dad!" Carl cried as he pushed past Michonne, but she was able to grab him. "Tell me!"

"We've given you everything," Michonne said over Carl's struggles to Negan. "And you took…took so much from us. I think we've earned the right, to see Rick."

Negan cocked his head at her then tossed his glance over at Daryl who seemed to be fighting his own inner emotions at the sight of him. He suspected one of the people he took from them was very important to the man.

"You think you've earned it?" Negan asked. "Let me ask you this. What could you possibly get out of seeing him? He's not one of you…anymore. He's one of mine. You don't know how long it took to beat the little shit down to his rightful place. And now, you have the nerve to demand that I show you to him? You think it'll inspire you? Help you cope?" Negan shook his head and waved Lucille. "It won't. So to spare you from making the mistake, turn around and forget you ever asked, because trust me, you don't want to see him."

"I want to see him!" Carl demanded again. "Now!"

One of the men, Dwight, focused Daryl's old crossbow on Carl's forehead.

"I got this."

"The hell you do," Daryl growled as he raised the only weapon they'd had between them, a small gun.

"Let's not turn this into some goddamn shit-fest," Negan warned lightly. "You can't afford to lose any more people, because I can't afford to lose any more workers. You wanna see him, you'll see him, remembering that you asked for it. And if you ever ask for it again, I'll show you, his lifeless corpse."

Negan stepped back to the house, opened the door, and gave a certain whistle call. He then returned to his spot before Carl, Michonne, and Daryl, smiling. He set his eyes on Carl, feasting on the rising horror of his expression as his father made his appearance.

The figure, dressed in pale gray clothes, paused in the doorway, before moving forward, walking with a slightly shaky pace, hands with a few missing fingers chained together in front of himself. Both Michonne and Daryl stared wide-eyed.

Rick came to a stop when he reached Negan's right-hand side. He looked so unlike himself it was startling. He was paler than the dead with various scars all over his arms, including a few burn marks. A long scar ran across his cheek into his growing beard, but aside from his body's appearance, there was the matter of his eyes. They were dull, almost lifeless, staring blankly into nothing.

"Dad?"

He didn't stir.

"Rick," Michonne tried. Slowly Rick's eyes focused on them. But his face didn't crumple up with emotion upon seeing his family. In fact, he gave no indication of recognizing them. He just stared at them, flatly.

Carl couldn't stop the tears starting to work their way into the corners of his eyes, but he kept them from falling.

"You had your chance not to see," Negan told them.

"Rick, please," Michonne demanded. "It's us."

Rick said nothing. He simply stood there, staring at them.

"What the hell have you done to him?"

Negan chuckled and clapped a hand on Rick's shoulder who didn't even acknowledge it.

"I taught him well, that's what I've done, with methods no one's seen before. He serves me now, as an example to others to follow orders. He'd kill all of you without a second thought if I told him to. So now, that you've seen him, you can turn your asses back around, before I make that command."

Neither Carl nor Michonne moved an inch. Daryl walked over to them.

"Let's go," he said in a muted whisper.

Carl made to follow Daryl without taking his eyes off his father, but suddenly he couldn't. He ran forward, and Daryl was only just able to grab him around the middle.

"Dad! It's me! It's Carl! You have to remember." And now the tears flowed, but still Rick gave him no response, no sign of love. "Remember…remember Judith!"

The mention of his daughter failed to bring any light into the man's eyes. Daryl dragged him back inside, crying, while he himself remained emotionless, seemingly. Michonne stayed where she was and Negan raised Lucille over Rick's head.

"Would you like to see the dead version now?" Michonne stepped back and opened the door looking ill and beyond lost. "Smart. I'd hate to have to lose him. He's been doing so well."

As if to add to the loss, Negan ran a hand through Rick's hair as if he was a faithful dog. It took every ounce of willpower for Michonne to stay quiet as she slid into the driver's seat.

"Now I expect you back on schedule, least you want to see Rick in action, choking the life out of his own boy."

The engine started up and slowly the RV backed out of sight. Negan caught a glimpse of Daryl trying to comfort Carl before they were back onto the road. Negan supposed the man was assuring the kid that Rick was no longer his father, no longer there, and he agreed. He was practically one of the dead, a soulless figure; power and identity gone; life gone. He belonged to Negan now.

"Dwight." The man looked around at Negan nervously. "There's a rumor going around about you staking out our Alexandrians. Figured you'd follow your own damn rules did you? Figured mine were shit?"

"I wasn't…I wasn't gonna do anything to…that, that Daryl guy…He should've been killed."

But Negan just smiled at him.

"You want revenge, I get it. But here's the thing. You don't get revenge, unless I tell you to." Dwight swallowed thickly as Negan turned to Rick. "Take care of that will you."

Rick automatically turned his head toward Dwight who attempted to raise the crossbow in defense. One of the men had quickly pulled it from his hand as Rick approached Dwight like a hungry dog.

"No don't…no please, I…"

There was no pleading with Negan, and there especially was no pleading with Rick as he quickly latched his chained hands around his throat and began to squeeze the life out of the struggling man. The men surrounding them watched with a sense of fear and disturbance as one of their own was turned blue in the hands of a man who was once their enemy. And soon the fight was gone from Dwight as he lay still. Negan looked down at Lucille as if he was sorry for not using her. But why resort to her repeatedly when he had Rick. She deserved a break every now and then.

"C-Carl?"

Negan looked up to see Rick frozen over Dwight's body looking utterly confused. He stepped in front of the man. Rick wasn't looking down at Dwight but straight ahead of himself. Negan grabbed him by the hair and threw him aside on to the ground. Then stood over Dwight, bat raised.

Just as a guttural growl issued from his throat, he brought Lucille down hard over the dead man's skull. The air was filled with flying blood and brain matter. All the while, Rick stayed where he was, repeating the name in confusion.

When Negan was done, he walked over to him.

"There is no Carl…and there is no Rick." Rick looked up at him slowly. "There's only me."

Negan gave a nod for some of his men to take Rick away to continue "teaching" him while Negan stared at the bloodied bat, wondering if it had been better to bring it down across Rick's skull in the first place.

Kind of gave it a bit of a sci-fi spin there at the end with the idea that Rick was brainwashed somehow. I've always found brainwashing stories to be a bit creepy and it often draws my interest. Where others might go with Negan torturing Rick, I went in a different direction. Though Negan wouldn't have the sources to brainwash someone, I put it here for this. I think part of this idea might have been inspired by watching the final Hunger Games movies. Also the movie "Unleashed" where you see such a thing with Rick happening to Jet Li's character. Plus I liked the idea of Rick becoming Negan's new weapon of choice and kind of replacing Lucille.

Maybe depending on the popularity I may write some sequel to connect to this. Going on about Rick's life among the saviors and his struggle with recalling who he is and essentially being weaponized. The staff of the show has mentioned that next season it's about breaking Rick down. Here, I wanted to break him down to, but in a different way. And this was never going to lead to the gang being able to rescue Rick. That could be a different story and this could have totally gone there. But this is tragedy and meant to be short.

Well hope you enjoyed and review, and maybe I'll write a sequel.