10.

"Flirting with my wife again you bastard?" Negan laughed, walking towards Ana slipping an arm around her waist as she discussed summer homework with Lucille's homeroom teacher, Mr. Coulson. They were standing in the cafeteria during Adult's Night -a night designed for adults to get to know their children's teachers. Ana smiled and looked up at him. He placed a soft kiss on her cheek and turned his attention to Mr. Coulson. He was tall, lanky, and a year or so younger than Ana. His eyes were a deep blue, his lips thin and always turned up at the corners.

"How's the little shit doing?" Negan asked.

"Lucille is progressing well," Mr. Coulson said, quickly glancing throughout the cafeteria to make sure there were no kids in sight. What few parents brought their kids with them had left by now. "Your wife and I were just discussing the effect of summer homework on kids during a period of supposed relaxation."

"Well fuck, I never knew you were so boring," Negan directed his words towards Ana. Her back stiffened against his arm, only relaxing when he began to rub her side with his fingers. "I'm kidding, baby."

Mr. Coulson shifted uncomfortably, clearing his throat audibly and parting his lips to speak, "I need to go speak with the other parents."

Ana nodded and quickly said goodbye. Following his leave, she turned her body to face Negan's. Her eyes raised until they made contact with his. "We should go home," she suggested, "It's almost eight, and I don't know how much I trust the nanny." Her voice wavered slightly. She had hired a new nanny after finding out about Negan's dabbling with the old one from Lucille.

"Why is daddy always touching Ms. Lawford?" Lucille asked Ana one night as she was tucking her daughter into bed. Ana paused in the middle of pulling the covers over her daughter's body. She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to keep from showing her pain at the question. Eventually, she realized this situation was toxic for her daughter and fired the nanny, hiring one that was in her late sixties instead.

Negan sighed heavily and shrugged. "Christ, Ana, I'm pretty positive she's fine."

Ana wrapped her arm around his waist and tugged on his body. "Please?" she asked.

"Fine, baby."

A soft prodding in Ana's rib cage brought her from her uneasy dreams. She curled into a ball and shooed away the perpetrator with a tired arm. However, the prodding soon turned into tapping on her shoulder. Eventually, Ana gave in and softly groaned. When she looked up at a solemn looking Maggie, she drew her lips into a thin line and sat up quickly, maintaining a gentle posterior. The room was dark, as if it were late at night or early morning.

"Hey," Maggie said lightly. Ana offered the smallest version of a smile in Maggie's direction. Maggie didn't return the smile. There was a frown playing across her lips, her eyes looked slightly red. Ana shifted her position, noticing a sting in her lower calf that made her whimper slightly. Nonetheless, she propped herself up on the bed until she was sitting. Maggie didn't part her lips for a while, and Ana wasn't sure whether she should initiate the conversation or not. Strictly speaking, before the prior occurrence, Ana had not talked with Maggie. They occasionally shot each other looks and smiles, but a conversation was practically unheard of. So, naturally, Ana tried to tread lightly.

"What's wrong?" she asked, trying to fake some sort of empathy. Obviously without knowing the reason for her discomfort or emotional turmoil, Ana was unable to gauge what emotion as most appropriate.

"I have to give you your medicine, doctor's orders."

Ana furrowed her brow, confused as to why Denise wouldn't do this herself. She rationalized that Denise must be sleeping, and obeyed Maggie's orders. Following this, Maggie peeled the bandage off of Ana's calf, shrinking in disgust at the sight.

Curiously, Ana peered at it herself, noting the yellow pus that leaked from the stitches.

"Shit," Maggie muttered, "I'll be back. You get some sleep, alright?"

Ana nodded as Maggie adjusted the bandage, almost glad that she was ordered to sleep.

"Daddy, your daughter wants to play hide and seek," Ana called to her husband, who was actively observing the news anchor on the television screen. When he didn't respond, Ana raised from her chair in the kitchen and sighed, staring at the beautiful women on the screen before glancing down at herself. "Negan," she mumble, walking to him.

"Like hell she does," Negan sighed, flipping the television screen off, knowing that Ana was just recreating an excuse to keep his eyes off of another attractive female for an hour or two. Nevertheless, he groaned and stood up. "Lucy!" he called. Ana frowned at the annoyance in his tone, and decided it would be nice to leave the house for a short amount of time.

It was fall, leaves were turning color and cool air was making its way home for the winter. Ana didn't mind the temperature, swinging her bare arms through the slight breeze with relief. Already, the sky was darkening. She figured that Negan would play with Lucy for about twenty minutes before the sun completely set, forcing the two inside. Or maybe Negan wouldn't play with Lucy at all, instead revert back to the TV screen before telling Lucy to go upstairs so he could masturbate. Ana shook the thought out of her head and strode forward along the concrete sidewalk, glancing at the houses next door. A few blocks down resided a Walmart next to the McDonald's. Of course, the Walmart was flooded with wayward and perverse beings, and Ana would be subject to their behavior, but at the moment it didn't matter.

It took an hour to exit the Walmart with a bag of chocolate and chips dangling from Ana's hand. The sun had set, and the parking lot was increasingly darkening. With a slight tinge of anxiety, Ana quickly walked from the parking lot, setting course for home.

It wasn't until halfway home that Ana realized someone was following her. Yes, she noticed there was a man behind her but the route she was on was the route to various other stores and bus stops. But at this point, the only thing left were homes, and Ana's confusing route had kept him on her tail. She clutched the bag in her hand with white knuckles, slowly peering over her shoulder, and taking a deep breath of relief.

"Simon," she smiled warmly at one of the family's friends, dropping the bag to her side with slight relief. He returned the expression, although his eyes were hooded.

"Ana," he mumbled while taking a step towards her, reaching his arm out to caress her shoulder. Taken aback, Ana furrowed her brows.

"Are you okay, Simon?" she questioned, inhaling the pervasive sent of alcohol that emanated from his mouth. When he didn't reply and merely tightened his grip on her shoulder, she frantically looked around. Ana was no where near a house since her path had taken her between a smattering of trees and abandoned buildings. Before she had a chance to fight her way out of Simon's grip, he reached for her other arm and slammed her onto the ground, heavily. Then, climbing on top of her, he reached for her pants with a sickening smirk.

There was a prominent knock on the door, followed by footsteps heading towards Ana's room. As soon as her brain was functioning, the stabbing in her calf registered. The girl groaned, realizing that the infection was worsening. The knocking continued. Ana panicked, and pulled the covers over her cold body, shielding it from the person turning the doorknob. She stared sheepishly at the doorway, further shrinking under the covers as Rick appeared with a pack in his hands.

"Come on," he said, no emotion in his voice. His eyes quickly fleeted over Ana's covered body before turning around, and leaving. Ana bit the inside of her cheek, wondering how she was going to keep up with Rick if her leg was burning. However, she realized, the faster she got out of bed the faster she would find some pain medication. She eventually made her way out of her bed, and realizing she had been wearing the same outfit for the past couple of days, hopped to the closet, her hands flinging clothes from the rack to try and find something useful to wear. Sooner rather than later, she settled on kapri leggings with a white t-shirt. In pain, she limped to her crutches, grabbed them, and made her way from her room out the door.

Rick was standing in front of the RV, his arms crossed against his chest. His eyes fell across Ana almost instantly; it was hard to ignore the constant clacking of the crutches against the pavement.

"Where are we going?" Ana asked once she was within his hearing range.

"Hilltop."

"Why?"

"Maggie," after a moment of silence, he opened his lips again, "and you."

Ana closed her mouth, curious as to what happened to Maggie, but relieved to know that her infection would be taken care of. Rick's adamant aversion to talking kept her from asking what happened to Maggie, so she figured she'd ask someone already in the RV.

Rick helped Ana onboard after some slight hesitation. After watching her struggle to get up the first step, he walked over to her, placing his hand on the thigh that belonged to the shot calf, supporting it until she was able to bring the other foot up to the next step. Most of the group was onboard, hogging all the seats. Michonne seemed to be missing, bidding a sudden curiosity in Ana. Daryl wasn't there either, nor was Glenn. She realized that she had no idea what had happened in the past couple of days, and remained in the dark as always. The group was watching her with concerned looks on their faces, as if she was a part of their family for being close with Rick. A warm smile crossed her face as she put her crutches in front of her and tried to get to the back of the RV.

Once there, she found Maggie curled up, her face pale and her skin clammy. Almost instantly, Ana sunk to her knees, the crutches landing on the floor.

"Christ, what happened, Maggie?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know," she said. Ana quickly hugged Maggie.

"I'll stay here," Ana said. Maggie offered the smallest hint of gratefulness. Ana leaned back against the wall opposite Maggie, bringing her legs to her chest as the RV kicked into motion. For the most part, the ride remained boring and dull. At one point, Aaron returned to the back of the camper to comfort Maggie and following Aaron came Rick. He briefly talked to Maggie about his plan to go to the Hilltop, and how the group could make it through anything. He glanced over at Ana, pulling his lips into a straight line and roughly swallowing before leaving to get some water for Maggie. He returned a second later, helping her sip the water.

"What the bitch?"

Ana threw her attention towards the front of the RV. Rick quickly left Ana and Maggie, telling both of them to stay in the RV. Ana tried to stand up, but in an instant her good leg gave out and she fell onto the floor, her hurt calf slamming onto the floorboards as she winced in pain. She knew there was a tear in her sutures, and whimpered slightly when the pain refused to give way.

"Are you okay?" Maggie asked. Ana nodded, turning her leg to the side and noticing a fresh stain of blood forming against the old bandage. She swallowed thickly, closing her eyes as she tried to tell herself they would be at the Hilltop soon.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Ana replied.

The RV began backing up as Ana heard a door shut. She had the slight want to call for Rick, to tell her she had injured herself further but realized it would do no good. Instead, she remained silent, observing Maggie while she fell asleep quickly and quietly. Her breathing slowed to a constant rhythm. Ana herself drifted off. Or at least, she was half asleep when she heard a few gunshots.

They lasted a second but seemed muffled by the RV walls. By the talk inside the RV, she deduced that no one in the group was outside. She glanced across the small room, seeing as Maggie had rolled over to face the wall but was still asleep. Ana glanced down towards the bandage on her leg. It was completely soaked through, yet the pain had subsided to a dull throb. Minutes passed before a pair of feet made their way to the back of the RV. Rick took a seat next to Ana, observing the blood dripping from the bandage. Ana's face was pale like Maggie's, warranting Rick to press the back of his hand to her forehead, feeling the warmth radiate from it. Rick peeked at her eyes. Her head was turned, lopped in his direction, but her eyes were only half open, fluttering open every so often. Rick quickly left, retrieving a spare jacket and returning to create a makeshift bandage. As he wrapped it around the preexistent one, he heard Ana moaning in pain.

"Shh," he said lightly, tying a knot in the front of her leg and grabbing a pillow that Maggie wasn't using. He propped her leg up on it, and then allowed her to lean against his shoulder. From her groggy state, she barely noticed his hand holding her head against him.

"We thought you were going to die," Rick resorted to saying at last.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"I know," he said, rubbing his fingers through her hair.

"My leg hurts."

Rick smiled at the obvious statement. "We'll be at the Hilltop soon."

"What was the shooting all about?"

"The Saviors are trying to intimidate us, bring us away from the Hilltop."

"Oh." Ana inhaled deeply, hearing Rick's heartbeat through his chest while she fiddled with zipper guarding his pocket. She flipped the metal between her fingers; it was a poor attempt at distracting herself from the pain. "I'm sorry."

"This isn't your fault," Rick said sternly, using his free hand to pry her hand from the zipper and also to tilt her head towards his face. "It's Negan's."

"It's my fault my leg is screwed up."

Rick's eyes searched Ana's while he spoke, "I'm surprised you're able to stay awake with a fever like that."

"Honestly, I feel awful."

Rick let loose a quick grin, his head leaning towards hers as he tried to kiss her softly. Ana instantly pulled away as Negan's face flashed in front of her eyes. She bit her lip, pulling her arm to her side and sitting up straight so that no part of her body made contact with his. She felt miserable, and though she wanted to kiss him, figured she only wanted to do so for the wrong reasons. Millions of words passed between them despite the never-ending silence.

The breaks on the RV suddenly squealed to a stop.

"Stay here," Rick ordered. He left the RV quickly. Ana leaned against the wall, the distraction from the pain in her leg disappeared. More gunshots ensued in the following moments. Ana brought her hands over her head, waiting until the gunfire was over and sighing in relief when Rick entered the RV and ran to the back of it.

"What happened?" Ana asked.

"Saviors," he replied, placing the bloody hatchet in his hand on the floor. "I have to go talk to the rest of the group, stay here."

Ana nodded, following his orders by resting her head against the wall and trying to rest.

The RV stopped and retreated a few more times before Rick returned, his tired eyes resting on Maggie's sore body. He talked to her for a bit, turned to Ana with a worried expression, and then retreated to the front of the camper. She fell asleep while the sun went down, her body exhausted from blood loss and pain in her leg.

Rick woke her up while he was helping Maggie onto a makeshift stretcher.

"Where are we going?" Ana asked.

"We're trapped on all sides. Eugene's taking the camper and we'll travel on foot. They are expecting the RV, they don't know how many are inside of it." He talked fast, worry lacing his every word. He called for Abraham who quickly came to his aid and grabbed the back of the stretcher. Together they helped Maggie from the RV. Ana had difficulty helping herself to her feet. Her leg was too sore to even move, let alone bend and unbend. She reached for her crutches and after some help from Aaron down the stairs, made it outside into the cool air. It was dark out, the sun had already set and the trees provided perfect cover from the Saviors. Almost instantly they began their journey down a long road.

Ana stayed next to Aaron for most of the journey. He protected her from the surrounding environment while Rick carried Maggie with Abraham. The fearless leader seemed to be having a heart to heart with his son and though Ana wanted to talk to Rick, she decided it was better to keep quiet. Sasha talked to Abraham every so often.

"I'm sorry about your leg," Aaron said, his head quickly pivoting to make sure that there was no one around.

"It's okay," Ana said, recalling the fact that she hadn't had a conversation with him in weeks. "We'll get to the Hilltop and it'll get all fixed-"

Her sentence was cut short by the surprising whistling that cut through their conversation. The group paused in its tracks before Rick began to bark commands at them.

"Go! Go!" he quietly yelled, leading them into the safety of the trees. Ana started making her way after them, her crutches getting caught on branches. Aaron noticed, telling her to leave the crutches. He bent down in front of her, and Ana jumped on his back, wrapping her legs around his torso as he took off after the group. Sasha noticed this action, and moved in back of them in order to protect the two from an attack from behind.

A second later they broke through the tree line onto gravely pavement, loud spotlights shone in their face. As Ana's eyes adjusted, she realized that the spotlights were cars –multitudes of cards. The terrified girl almost shrieked at the sight of tens of men, all whistling with large guns in their hands, lazily standing against cards. Rick's group gathered into a circle, Carl and Sasha raised their guns as a threat to anyone who got close enough. Ana noticed Eugene kneeling on the ground, his face broken with embarrassment as the group's eyes dawned over the RV.

"Good," one man stepped forward, revealing his face as headlights of cars shone across it. He was ugly, old, almost evil looking. "You made it."

Simon.

Ana's grip on Aaron's back tightened in dread, prompting him to let her down. She placed one shaking arm on his shoulder in order to support herself. He allowed it, still looking around maniacally. Ana made eye contact with Rick. His mouth was slightly parted, worry dripping from his eyes. He realized something was wrong.

Upon noticing Ana Simon paused, grinning. "Ana!" he practically shouted, gesturing the gun in her direction, "last time I saw you, you were on the ground and well…" he paused, offering a smirk in Rick's direction.

"You son of a-" Rick lunged at the man instinctively, although a gun at his head paused his actions.

"Welcome to where you're going," the man continued. "We'll take your weapons." He pulled a gun from his waist and pointed it towards Carl. "Now."

Rick tried to talk but was instantly intercepted. Ana winced as Aaron moved slightly, causing her to lose balance and almost fall to her feet.

As a couple of Saviors began to pat down the group, Simon himself traveled towards Ana, running his hands over her body and pausing as it felt the blood oozing from her wound.

"Hm, now how did that happen?" he smirked, before patting her on the back. Ana's eyes focused on a lone pebble on the ground, trying to keep the tears in her eyes from falling.

"Okay," the man said as soon as the weapons were retrieved. "Let's get her down and get you all on your knees. Lots to cover."

Half of the group tended to Maggie, while Ana tried to keep her balance on one leg, although she wavered a bit. She heard a few snickers from the men behind her, and felt her face become red. Rick and Abraham helped Maggie from the cot, taking her towards the RV and setting her down on her knees as the Saviors did the same thing with Eugene.

"Gonna need you on your knees," the ugly man said to Rick's face. Rick painfully kneeled in response. Ana limped slowly, wincing with each step until she was behind Rick. He grabbed her hand the minute she was on her knees. His thumb rubbed against hers in an attempt to calm her, although it failed. He knew what Simon had done, and Ana knew he knew. The rest of the group kneeled alongside Rick, Maggie, and Ana in a matter of seconds. Following their obedience, a few Saviors drifted towards a large van and wretched Daryl, Michonne, Rosita, and Glenn from the floor inside and practically threw them on the ground next to the group. Rick's grip on Ana's hand tightened, threatening to break her small fingers. Ana looked at him. His eyes were wide with fear; she had never seen him this scared. She watched as Glenn saw Maggie's condition, harboring the same expression Rick had a second earlier.

"All right, we got a full boat!" Simon walked towards the RV. "Let's meet the man." He knocked on the RV wall. The door subsequently opened, revealing a man in a leather jacket and carrying a barbed baseball bat. He walked forward, speaking as he did so.

"Pissing our pants yet?"

Ana's heart sunk, her head instantly pointed at the ground. It the last few minutes, she completely forgot about the fact that her husband led this dangerous group of people, and that he was alive and kicking. His eyes skimmed over the group at first, not recognizing her from the top of her greasy head. A few tears slipped from her eyes and her breath caught in her throat, making her unable to breath for a few moments.

"Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close."

Ana raised her jaw slowly, her eyes resting on Negan's face, noticing his beard, and his slicked back hair. He looked different, yet he still maintained his world renowned smile that Ana loved seeing. Her heart was being ripped from her chest; she wanted to stand up, run to him, hug him, and forget about the current predicament. Almost instantly, Negan's eyes were upon her face, and then to her hand encapsulated by Rick's. His expression contorted into that of confusion and possible anger before he opened his mouth.

"Holy fuck," he muttered in her direction. He walked closer to her, Ana's head tilted up as he got closer. It seemed as if he were going to reach out and touch her and yet-

"Get her the hell out of here."

Arms instantly wrapped around Ana's shoulders, dragging her from the group. "Rick!" she called as she was dragged away hopelessly. Her calf dragged across the ground, bidding more blood from the wound. She cried out in pain, trying to free herself from the grasp of two men. A second later, her eyes came face to face with the butt of a gun. She slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Negan watched Ana fall to the ground, frowning before looking at Rick, whose jaw was clenched.

"You been fucking my wife?" Negan demanded.

A/N: I have a LOT of things to say to bear with me!
First: I can't believe I have over 100 followers, thank you so much for enjoying this excuse for a story- i really appreciate it!
Second: I know I promised Negan in chapter 11 but I've rewritten this chapter about three times and by the third time it was only 1,000 words so I combined the two chapters. Hopefully this doesn't upset anyone...(not sure why it would)
Third: If any of you have been wondering where the title came from, it came from the song Fumes by Eden (check out his music it's amazing)
Fourth: Thank you to StTudnoBright for pointing out a mistake in the last chapter :)
Fifth: I wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible so there may be a smattering of spelling errors/mistakes here and there
AND finally, sixth: this story is probably going to shift from the TV storyline now that Negan is in the picture.

Replies:

I'm a Nerd and Proud: He's one of the most intense villains I've ever met! Also, my boyfriend laughed at reading what you said about character #1 dying off...he loved him.

waistedyouth: thank you! I try my best to produce quality chapters and I hope you're happy with Negan's first appearance.

StTudnoBright: it took a long time to figure out how I wanted Ana to meet Negan and I finally settled on this :). Surprisingly, Negan already has an idea of Rick and Ana's relationship...which won't be a good thing.

Jasper'sCowgirl: Definitely! Ana has been so isolated the past few months and told by multiple people that being quiet is better than talking, but as time goes on, she's definitely going to find her own voice.

aj hearts: aw, thank you :) enjoy the chapter

crystaltonics: The funny thing is, I wrote this before the Here's Negan comics so I had NO idea who Lucille was! I'm kinda glad I didn't change it, because I gotta say Ana is one of my favorite characters. As for her relationship with Negan, her true feelings about their relationship will soon come to light.