A/N I am so, so sorry for such a huge delay in my updates. Work and life, including my sister having a baby several weeks early, left me with 0 free time to update lately. The next chapter should be up on my regular schedule! Thank you all for your patience! With the new episodes out, there are some AU differences between my TWD world and the show, but I will be following the main plot points of the show, just with some small (and maybe some big) differences based on info that wasn't available when I started this story and Crimson being a major character that obviously requires some changes. Hope you all enjoy! If you love it, share some love with reviews and follow! If I miss anyone on shoutouts, I apologize. There were so many reviews after the chapter 12 update it took me a while to respond to everyone!

Bamby0304: You'll have to keep reading to find out, I'm not giving out any spoilers ;) That's awesome that you rescued a pup! My husband loves spaniels but we've never got one. They're beautiful!

Julia and SnowMiko: I'm going to have some fun writing Daryl's entrance scene. You'll see when the time comes! Your review made me actually laugh out loud, haha!

CLTex: I figured it's time for her to step up and start contributing to Sanctuary. More tension coming soon!

Msgemgem: I have a hard time liking any women that willing joins a harem too. That line just flowed out and when I went back and read it, I laughed and didn't change a thing. I plan on using it on my husband when the occasion rises, haha. Crimson is significantly more nurturing to those she cares about than Negan generally is, but I don't think anyone can have clean hands in TWD world and survive long.

Icec: I think Negan's crudeness is just a part of who he is, no matter who he's talking to and it's one of the reasons I love him, haha. I'm a big fan of foreshadowing, but you'll have to keep reading to see which direction it goes ;)

MistahJ's Kitten: I may have decided, but it'll be a few chapters for everything to play out!

Bunnie.863: Thank you so much! That's so incredible of you to say! I'm not a big Sherry fan either, but we're unfortunately stuck with her for a while. I'm so glad you love Crimson though! And don't worry too much, Crimson isn't a harem type of girl and I love Daryl. I hope you continue to reading, enjoying, and reviewing, I'm looking forward to them!

Simplegirl42: Negan is definitely not Daryl! But I think we all love him in our own, slightly twisted ways haha.

Sometimesdollface: Haha, thanks for the review, it made me laugh, in a good way! And I picked Trixielynn because it was literally the worst name I could think of, glad I got it right! I hope you keep reading, when I have some time and you have it up, I'll check out your fic.

Petrovascurls: Thanks for all the reviews! Glad you liked the smut scene and the rest of the story! Daryl will have a hell of an entrance when the time is right ;) I hope you had a great holiday, and now new years, enjoy this chapter!

Teaup: Thank you so much! I love Negan and believe that while he may have a harem full of women with little pride and self-respect, that he would respect the hell out of a woman with a real pair of balls, and thus Crimson was born. I hope you enjoy the new chapter and review again!

Charlie2193: Sorry you had to wait so long for this chapter, but I hope it's worth the wait!

jlholland1288, solanaek, loveorpain, spiritual-trance, lalilou10, Charlene clark, kezz 1, coreyfiniff, and guests: Thank you for your reviews, sorry you had to wait so long for an update, I hope you all love it!

The week crawled by at an antagonizing, slow pace. Crimson had spent 7 days in Negan's quarters. She spent all day in his office, watching movies, reading books, and occasionally pacing around to see how long it would take to wear a hole in the floor while she stretched her legs. Laying around for too long would make her weak, she hated it. Every morning they ate breakfast together, every night they had dinner, and he continued to sleep in the oversized recliner while she took the bed. Her arm remained immobilized in the sling. Occasionally she'd roll over in her sleep and bump it hard enough that the sharp pain woke her up. Negan was subtle when he'd crack open an eye each time she'd gasp at the pain, but she noticed.

In those 7 days, she still hadn't been able to get those words out of her head, "Maybe I don't want to break you," nor could she forget the look in his eyes when he said it. He was still his usual cocky, crude self, but he was gentle in his own way, helping her to and from the bedroom, and accommodating her every want and need.

By day three she could move around short distances without assistance. She'd attempted to make her way down to the main floor but Mark, who was standing guard on Negan's floor by the elevator, had stopped her. All of the Saviors had been given orders that she wasn't to leave his quarters. Nancy stopped in daily with supplies to change Crimson's bandage and deliver her twice daily antibiotics. Several people were assigned to check in on her during the day, but no one stayed long, except for Bud. He'd stick around for an hour or so, the only thing that kept her sane during the day. Jason had stopped in once to drop off his iPod charger, they talked for a few minutes before he was called away over his radio. He was starting to grow on her too. There were only a handful of people she trusted to watch her back outside of Sanctuary, Bud and Jason were two of them.

She'd actually gained some useful information from Bud. She found out that Sherry had been married to Dwight before the end of the world and she'd agreed to leave him for Negan so that she could be taken care of. Dwight was made a lieutenant shortly after, when he'd proved himself capable and worthy. Amber had been married to Mark and had done the same as Sherry, traded herself and left her husband for a nice, cushy life as one of Negan's wives. Valerie was Negan's newest wife. She'd been brought in from another community. Apparently Negan offered her a place in his harem after he'd bashed her boyfriend's head in with Lucille and took half of their supplies. Crimson couldn't understand how Valerie had accepted such an offer under those conditions, but some women were weak and attracted to power. Power was something Negan had in spades.

She'd also discovered they had already begun to gather the supplies to expand the fencing at Sanctuary and the other outposts. Negan had ordered a supply run to several farming supply stores to gather seeds, fertilizer, and tools. They'd even brought in a man and his family they'd found still living on and defending their own lands. Negan had made some deal for them to live more comfortably at one of the secured outposts in exchange for running the soon to be farm there. It was an easy deal to accept when the alternative was death by Lucille.

Yesterday she seemed to be feeling better, enough so that she was taking her sling off while she was relaxing on the couch. Today she'd started moving and rotating her arm. It was stiff and uncomfortable from the restriction of the sling, but the stitches weren't pulling too much. There was still no swelling and redness was minimal so she was currently clear from infection.

It was nearing the evening when Negan entered his office. Lucille was casually slung over his shoulder, as usual.

"Alright baby doll, time for your first post-getting-shot adventure out of my office," he said. Crimson immediately sat up from her comfortable nest of pillows on the couch.

"What's going on?" she asked him.

"You're moving around more like your old fucking self, and I'm tired of those limp dick pieces of shit that are locked up in a cell using up my air."

"Plants haven't gone extinct, oxygen isn't a limited resource."

"I don't give a fuck, I want 'em dead. So let's go sweetheart, you've got 30 minutes to get ready." Crimson stood up and went to grab her sling. His hand stopped hers. "No sling. You don't show an ounce of weakness in front of those assholes. Or my Saviors. You don't need it anymore." She nodded in acknowledgement before she headed to the bathroom, brushing off the electric sensation she always felt when he touched her.

She quickly changed into a fresh pair of jeans and fitted t-shirt. It didn't take long for her to wash her face, brush her teeth and hair, throw her hair up into a neat ponytail, and strap on the hunting knife and .380 Negan allowed her to keep. There was an assortment of makeup that had been left for her a few days ago, she ignored it. Her boots were the last thing she slipped on. Lacing them up was still difficult with her stiff arm, but she managed. Negan was sitting at his desk, flipping through papers when she was ready. He looked up at her and grinned.

"You're so smoking hot. I'm one lucky fucking man," he said.

"Lucky to be graced with my presence? Yes, and that's the only kind of lucky you're getting with me," she smirked as she answered.

"We'll see," he stood and took her left arm in his right, cradling it carefully in his right almost like the sling would have. Lucille swung loosely in his left hand. "Let's go baby doll, time for the show to begin."

They travelled in comfortable silence to the auditorium, he was gentle as he guided her through Sanctuary, though she was mostly aware of where they were going. She always paid careful attention to her surrounding in case the time came when she'd need to navigate herself through the expansive building alone.

The auditorium was full when they arrived, the Saviors dropped to their knees when Negan made his grand entrance through the doors. Just like the first time she entered the room, Bud, Simon, and Paula were on the stage with three men on their knees in front of them. Negan gestured for her to take the open seat in the front row, but she shook her head. He raised a questioning eyebrow but said nothing as he led her on stage. She slide her arm from his, but stood by his side as he addressed the audience.

"You can stand," he said. He waited a moment for everyone to rise. "These fucks," he pointed Lucille at the three men behind him. Negan was pacing back and forth across the stage. Crimson calmly stood her ground, watching the crowd react to their leader. "Thought they could take our shit. That fucking coward thought he was some kind of fucking genius when he hid like a piece of shit coward behind a sniper rifle and shot our doctor. Do we let shit like that slide?"

There was a loud chorus of "no" "fuck no" and "hell no" from the crowd.

"What do you pricks have to say for yourselves?"

"We're sorry!" the man on the left shouted. "We just needed some food!"

"Food ain't easy to come by these days and you sure as shit make some piss poor decisions on how to get it. So I'm going to going to do you boys a big fucking favor. I'm going to put you out of your misery." Negan was mid swing, Lucille on her way to saying hello to the sniper when Crimson grabbed his arm to stop him.

"What the fuck are you doing?" his voice was deadly quiet.

"That asshole shot me," she spoke loudly, addressing the crowd. "I believe I should have the pleasure of handling his punishment." The crowd cheered her on, their excitement was obviously. Crimson slid her hunting knife from its sheath strapped to her thigh. Negan looked puzzled, but he shrugged and nodded his approval.

She stepped up to the man on his knees. He was only a few years older than herself, much younger than his companions on either side. But he was far more stoic. They were trembling, he was still. The emptiness behind his eyes said he'd already accepted his fate. She slid the tip of her knife under his chin and tilted it up until his eyes met hers.

"Stand up," she ordered. He briefly hesitated before he did as he was told. He was several inches taller than she was, even with her combat boots giving her an extra inch. He, like his companions, was almost a skeleton. Life since the end of the world hadn't be kind to him. She looked up at him, knife in her right hand resting at her side. "You're not sorry for nearly killing me." It wasn't a question, but he answered anyways.

"No, I just did what I had to, to survive."

"Don't we all?" She moved so quickly, it took Negan a second to realize what she'd done. Her hunting knife was now buried in the man's torso, entered at his stomach and slid upwards, behind his ribs and into his lungs. Her left hand gripped his shirt, holding him in place. The man's eyes widened in surprise. It almost felt satisfying, taking the life of this man who was so willing to take hers after seeing her as an easy target through scope of his rifle. Crimson twisted the knife around once before she pulled it out. He coughed, a small trail of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, then he fell back to his knees when she released him. The auditorium was silent except for the gurgling and choking sounds he made as he drowned in the blood that filled his lungs. Crimson's eyes didn't leave his until his lifeless body hit the floor. The crowd erupted in a roar. Bud stepped forward and cocked the hammer on his revolver.

Crimson shook her head at him. "Don't." She turned to address the crowd. "Let him turn and put him on the fence!" she yelled over them. "Let him be a warning to everyone, this is what happens when you think you can take on the Saviors!" The crowd was deafening as they screamed and cheered her on. She crouched down so she could use the dead man's shirt to clean her knife. After standing and returning it to its sheath, she turned to Negan. He was smiling at her, his eyes wide with excitement. "You and Lucille can have at the other two."

"It'll be my pleasure." He twirled Lucille around before he brought her down for the first strike. Crimson watched as he caved in their skulls, one at a time. She didn't mind the bits of blood, flesh, and bone that were being flung across the stage. Both of those men allowed their companion to put a bullet in her shoulder, and another in the head of a Savior. They deserved exactly what he was giving them, exactly what she'd given their ringleader. It didn't take him long to finish. When he was done, there was nothing left but red mush and two headless bodies. Lucille was dripping blood and bits of flesh onto the stage as he addressed the crowd. "This is what happens to assholes who think they can fuck with me and my people! You're fucking dismissed!" Simon tossed him a rag to clean his blood covered hands, he dropped it on the floor when he was done. The sniper was starting to twitch, he'd be back up and walking in a minute or two. "Take him to the fences, and get this shit cleaned up."

Simon nodded and immediately began issuing orders.

Negan took her right arm and led her through the riotous crowd. She could still hear their cheers through the elevator doors as they closed. Negan's eyes were still wild as he looked down at her. He dropped Lucille and brought both hands up to cup her cheeks.

"God I want to pick you up and fuck you against the elevator wall right now. I've never been so fucking hard in my life." She could hear the arousal in his voice. Between its deep huskiness, his hands, his panting body pressed up against hers, and his eyes losing themselves into her own, she could feel a rush of damp heat into her throbbing core.

"We…" she stumbled over her words, so she placed a hand on his chest and closed her eyes.

"Don't tell me no, not this time. That tight little pussy of yours is begging for my cock, I can smell it."

She couldn't think when he looked at her so wanting, so intensely. "Negan, we can't."

"Say my name like that again and you won't be able to stop me," he pushed into her until her backside was almost crushed against the elevator wall.

"I told you, I can't do this."

"Tell me you don't want me, and I'll stop."

"I do want you, I won't lie, but not like this, not with your three wives wandering around."

"Fuck my wives!"

"That's exactly the problem."

"No, it's not, because I don't fuck them anymore. I have zero god damn interest in fucking them because I can't get you out of my fucking head!"

The elevator jerked to a stop and dinged, signaling their arrival to the 10th floor.

"That doesn't matter to me," she said. "You're still married to three other women." She pushed him away so she could sidestep away from him and rushed out of the elevator. She wasn't sure where she was going when she practically ran passed his office, but she needed space. She heard Negan's fist hit the back of the metal wall, then he yelled at her to stop. When she didn't, he quickly caught up with her, his hand grabbed her arm.

"Will you fucking stop?" he demanded. "You're bleeding."

She looked down and sure enough, he was right. Blood was slowly soaking through the front of her shirt, directly over her wound.

"Come on, I'll help you clean it up." His grip on her arm loosened as he led her through his office and into his bedroom. Crimson knew her mind wasn't clear. She didn't trust herself around Negan when her mind was so clouded. "Sit down and take off your shirt." She cocked her head to glare at him. "Calm the fuck down, I'll be a gentleman. Can't have you bleeding all over the fucking place."

She sighed, but pulled her shirt over her head. She was extremely grateful she'd put on a modest sports bra with straps thin enough that they she could leave the left one slid down her shoulder to clean the wound.

Negan disappeared into the bathroom as she inspected the damage. She could see why it was bleeding, two stitches had pulled through her skin. The rest were still intact, the wound itself was still closed. When he returned from the bathroom, he set an iodine wipe, sterile gauze, and a sterile bandage on the nightstand next to her.

"You keep medical supplies in your bathroom?"

"Not normally, but I had Nurse Nancy bring up some things you might need while you were healing."

"Do you have a pair of small scissors, like manicure scissors?"

"What the fuck would I do with damned manicure scissors? I have some regular ones in my office."

"I'll make due. I need those and a pair of tweezers sanitized in alcohol."

Negan nodded and returned a minute later with the scissors and tweezers still dripping with rubbing alcohol. She took the scissors and snipped both of the torn stiches before she traded him for the tweezers. Her freshly irritated flesh tore more as she pulled the stitches out, but nothing that wouldn't scab over and heal in a few days. She returned the tweezers to his hand, opened the iodine wipe to clean the entire area before drying it with gauze and bandaging it.

"That going to be alright?" Negan asked, nodded his head towards the wound.

"It's fine, the bullet wound is still closed," she answered. "It's not even worth replacing the torn stitches. I'll just have to be more careful."

Negan took a seat next to her, his weight sinking into the bed. He cupped her cheek and softly tilted her face to look up at him.

"Why'd you do it?" he seemed genuinely puzzled as he asked.

"I didn't tear them on purpose, probably happened when I grabbed him with my left hand. And your elevator incident aggravated it more."

"That's not what I meant and you fucking know it. I was going to take care of that asshole and you stopped me. I wanna know why." Crimson averted her eyes and tried to pull away from him. "No," he tilted her back to face him. "Look at me." She steeled herself, straightening her shoulders as she took a deep breath and locked her eyes with his. His thumb was stroking her cheek.

"Didn't you listen to my speech? No one comes after the Saviors and gets away with it. They came after my people, they came after me and I won't have that. So he paid the ultimate price and it was only right that I was the one to collect it."

He grinned as he stood up to grab one of his clean white t-shirts. He signals for her to lift her arms and helped her into his shirt without further irritating her wound.

"So you're a Savior now?"

"Of course I am. I'm still here, aren't I? The people here have been nothing but kind to me. They're smart, they're survivors, and they're fighters. They've accepted me, it's only fair that I accept them and care for them as they have for me. But don't think that means I belong to you like they do." She signaled the end of the conversation when she laid down and pulled the comforter over her shoulders.

She watched him while his back was turned to her. He took off his jacket, leaving him in only his typical white t-shirt and jeans. He'd been sleeping in his jacket in the recliner, Lucille by his side like was he ready to go at a moment's notice. No, she couldn't deny her attraction to him. He was incredibly handsome, intelligent, confident, and the way he looked at her made her go weak in the knees. She hated herself for it, and she hated him for having three wives that made it impossible for her to give in to her desire the way she so badly wanted to. She closed her eyes before he turned around. She was surprised when she felt the bed sink with his weight. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up to look at him.

"What are you doing?" she demanded to know.

"What the fuck does it look like? I'm sleeping in my damned bed," he sounded amused. "That shoulder is healed up enough that I don't have to worry about accidently hurting you now. I'm sure as shit not spending another night getting a fucking kink in my neck sleeping in that fucking chair."

"That's fine, it's time for me to return to my own room anyways."

"Lay the fuck back down. I won't touch you, but you're staying where I can keep an eye on you. You attract too much fucking trouble."

She said nothing as he slide under the covers and stayed on his side of the bed, to her right. It didn't take her long to fall asleep after she let herself relax.

When she woke up in the middle of the night, her head resting on his chest, limbs tangled with his, she had a split second moment of anger before she realized he was still on his side of the bed, no closer to hers than he had been when she fell asleep. She gazed at him for a moment, appreciating the rare sight of his vulnerable, slumbering form. She'd shared a bed with a close male friend in college more than once, she had a habit of falling asleep at his place after a night of cramming. It didn't mean anything, nothing more than sleep ever happened. Never mind that he quickly disappeared from her life after the first time he met Daryl, shortly after they'd become a couple. If Negan could respect her boundaries, they could be friends. There weren't many people she could consider her equal, people she could enjoy a friendship with. She relaxed back into his embrace and returned to sleep.