Negan sat on the hood of the car as he watched the sun rise on a brand new day. The sky was blue the fields were green, Red was stirring on the backseat. He wiped his hand over his face, it had been a long night but there was no rest for the wicked and he was certainly no fucking saint.

Rae had been faking sleep since before dawn but he was letting her take the time she needed. He had the time and if he was being completely honest he wasn't quite ready to face sleeping beauty. He was exhausted and she was going to be pissed, the question was how much?

Negan heard the car door opening. He'd already removed her gun but there were other things she could do besides shooting him. Refuse to talk to him, avoid his gaze, give him the cold shoulder from hell. The idea of those things shouldn't have bothered him, what did it matter if a person didn't talk to him or look at him? Fuck, sometimes he prayed his wives would give him the silent treatment. Above all Negan didn't usually worry about the aftermath of his actions, he made his moves and the chips fell where they may.

Negan couldn't hear her footsteps but he could feel her approach, fast and furious. Then she hit him. Not a dainty little girl hit, but a full whack of bony knuckles right in his temple followed by "asshole!"

Negan knew he deserved it as he blinked back the stars and held tight to his grin. He'd pissed her off and she was making sure he knew about it, he couldn't deny he didn't like it. He was so used to people creeping and crawling around him that it sucked all the joy out of being the king dick.

He made sure to duck away from the next blow, kicking off the car and standing tall to get a good look at not so sleeping beauty. Her bottle green eyes were furiously lit, her hair tousled wild, her cheeks red with pure undiluted anger. He couldn't help the smile that eased across his face at the mere sight of her.

"Fucking hell, you really are something Red." She'd punched him in the head and it was quite possible he wanted to fuck her more than ever.

"You fucking drugged me!"

All l Negan could think about was Grandma, she was right and curse words didn't sound pretty coming out of Red's mouth.

"I mean what kind of arrogant, self righteous, asshole does a thing like that?"

"You didn't like the handcuffs…" he might have been an asshole but at least he fucking listened.

"Are you insane?"

Rae fucking sounded insane, shouting loud enough to attract an entire swarm of dead. Of course he'd planned for that, not that she would see it that way but he'd brought her to this middle of nowhere field, just the two of them, so she could say whatever the hell she liked and get it all out of her system. Negan, folded his arms, trying not to smile, it would only hurt his cause.

"Do you not understand anything at all? You didn't wanna handcuff me, so you drugged me? Oh my god!" She ran an agitated hand through her hair, "how about letting me make my own decisions? You can't just keep me as some kind of pet!"

The idea of her body being one of the ones in Jacob's compound, her eyes closed and dull, rekindled another forgotten feeling, the sort of feeling that told Negan that keeping her away from danger was always the right call no matter what the consequences. "That's a matter of opinion… I'd call it keeping you safe."

"You were putting me in my place!" She shoved her finger hard into his chest. "You only care about yourself and having everything your own way."

"Is that why I just risked my life for you and your people?"

"Cut the crap," she went to strike him again but he grabbed her wrists. "Nobody tells you what to do, nobody makes you do something you don't already wanna do."

Negan's eyes fell to her lips, "oh you'd be surprised."

"Fuck you Negan! Fuck you! You… fucking fuck!" Rae forced herself from his grip with surprising strength, like the incredible fucking hulk.

"I love it when you talk dirty to me baby," he laughed.

"Urhg!" She shoved him hard enough to knock him back onto the hood of the car, "I hate you! If I had a gun, I'd shoot you."

"Good thing I took your shit then isn't it Red?"

Her eyes were wild enough to tell him she wasn't bullshitting and he was beginning to suspect he might have gone too far. He was beginning to believe she was going to rip him limb from limb as she went for him, tussling like two preeteen girls with her trying to inflict damage and him trying to not hurt her. It was an awkward dance and fuck if he wasn't enjoying every last second of it. If only she'd turn all this pent up anger into something useful, he was so lost in fantasy that she managed to break from his grasp, landing a blow to his shoulder.

"Negan," she panted, his name a breathy whisper that travelled from her lips and straight to his crotch. "You're bleeding…" she was instantly softer, staring at the blood coating her fingers then back at him with concern. He could almost see the cogs turning behind those green eyes. Part of her wanting to kill him, the other part worried he was hurt, typical woman thinking.

"It's probably nothing." It was definitely Miguel.

"Probably?" She exclaimed, unzipping his jacket in one quick pull before her long fingers fumbled the the buttons of his shirt.

"Maybe you should slow down Florence Nightingale." he half suggested, almost stopping her. Almost. The way her brow was knitted in concern was far too irresistible for him to resist. Even for a brief moment he wanted to be on the receiving end of her tender loving care.

Her touch was like ice on his skin. He sucked in a breath, half enjoying the cold, half wanting to take her hands between his palms and heat them through, heat all of her through. "If I'd have known you'd have this reaction I might have let you get a shot in when we were outside of Lucky's."

Rae snorted, pulling back his shirt, her eyes landing on the tattoo on his chest before she sucked her bottom lip in the nicest way. He watched her face and saw the very moment the softness left her eyes and she realised her mistake, "there's nothing there."

"It's not my blood."

She glared at him, "oh you're such an asshole!"

"I never fucking said I was perfect," he grabbed her icy fingers, rubbing them in his palm.

"Trust me Negan, I would have never accused you of that!"

Negan chuckled before pressing his lips to the back of her hand, "you were worried about me, Red?"

She snatched her hand away, "don't flatter yourself."

The way she'd looked at his tattoo, the way she was looking at him right now, told him a very different story, "I'm growing on you, admit it."

Rae's jaw tightened before she began to move around the car. But he wasn't finished with this conversation and nobody walked away from Negan. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back, "admit it Red."

"Just because I didn't want you to die doesn't mean I don't hate you and think you're the most arrogant man alive."

"Well that's progress. A minute ago you wanted to shoot me."

"I still would, right in your fucking balls."

"Language baby." He laughed and it only made the look on her face even angrier, "did I ever tell you, and I'm fucking sorry if I didn't, but you are spectacularly fucking beautiful when you are threatening to shoot me."

Rae didn't say anything and he decided she looked less angry. Or maybe she was just dumbfounded, he had that effect on woman. All part of his natural fucking charm.

"Have you calmed the fuck down?"

"No!"

"I told you that your ass was mine and that I was going to keep you safe. All I did was make good on my fucking promise."

"No, I'm not yours. I'm not a thing you can just maneuver. I belong to me and I'm not gonna stand for your shit anymore, Negan." Rae was waving her hands, getting angrier and angrier and he was starting to get pissed, he'd tried to calm her down nicely and the time for that shit had well and truly passed.

Negan spun her around, throwing her down onto the hood of the car, her hair splayed out like wildfire against the black paint work. He couldn't even count the number of times he'd tried to save someone's sorry life only to watch them ignore his order and throw it all away. He'd stopped playing nice, fair and easy long before he met Red and he wasn't going to start that shit up again. There was only one way things were ever going to work, this was the only way he knew how.

"Let's get one fucking thing clear right now and I do not want to have to lay this shit out again so you better fucking listen up good sweetheart. You belong to me. Your house belongs to me. Your people belong to me. Little Red, she's mine now too. Your problems are my problems, I was not pulling your fucking chain on that one baby. I saved you and your people and I'm not handing it back or walking away. I'm in your life now princess so you better make the necessary fucking adjustments. And even though I'm not sure you fucking deserve it right now I've got you a gift, as fucking promised."

/

Rae didn't say anything, whether she didn't know what to say or didn't have time to react she couldn't even begin to decide. She just stared at him as he held his hand out to pull her up. She didn't take take it, she rolled away and stood on her own feet. To Negan, drugging someone was a little time out and nothing more.

He took hold of her elbow, maneuvering her towards the back of the car. "You didn't like the idea of the head so I brought you the whole fucking hog."

In the distance, crumpled and tied to a post like a dog was Jacob. Or at least what looked like him, bound and gagged, knees sunk in the dirt and defeated. His hair was matted with blood, the side of his face swollen purple, his lip busted open. He was a mess and he didn't even look at her. He just stared at the ground.

"Oh my god," Rae gasped, missing her footing in the grass with only Negan's hand to keep her balanced.

"You didn't ask how everything went," Negan taunted. She hadn't asked because she'd already known. He was the mountain, just like he kept telling her, the way he'd been sitting on the hood of the car had told her he'd succeeded.

Rae turned, keeping her back to Jacob, "I don't want this."

"Well you've got it doll, what the fuck do you think would have happened in Jacob's compound? What did you think we were going there to do? You think they were gonna open the gates and let us in for dinner and a fucking movie?"

"I'm not stupid," she snapped, but all her fight was gone.

"No, but this is broad daylight and you don't wanna get your hands dirty right?" he wasn't being cruel or laughing at her, he was reading her as easy as a book.

Negan popped the boot of the car, leaned in and pulled out a revolver. "This is Jacob's, the one that killed your friends…" he began to pass it to her before quickly pulling it away, a smile half formed on his lips, "and before I give you this, let me make it clear from the fucking get go that I really, really, like my fucking balls."

Rae's eyes crept from the gun to meet his gaze as he carefully placed the gun in her palm. It was cold, heavy, a cumbersome thing that didn't feel right in her hand. She looked down at it, wondering if she could really use it while the sun was shining and the meadow grass was so still and peaceful. It was one of those perfect autumn days. The leaves were falling like yellow confetti, the sun was still warm enough to fight the bite of cold that threatened winter. It was the sort of day where she would fill a flask full of coffee, grab her favorite book and take a walk down by the old train lines that had been long since reclaimed by the wilderness.

"A man kills my people," Negan's tilted her chin to look at him "that man pays a price. I'm sure it's what Miguel would have wanted..."

Rae felt her brow furrow, Negan's words not quite connecting in her mind, Miguel would have wanted. "Miguel's gone?"

"It was quick."

The gun fell down to her side, all the air rushed out of her lungs and Rae bent over, she thought she might actually be sick. Miguel might have been a lot of things, he might have given her the hardest time out of anyone and he certainly wasn't her friend but he was something even more important that that, her ally. He was the only person left who she could truly depend on when it came to fighting and joining her on the supply runs that fed her people.

"You okay?" Negan asked as his hand slid along her spine in a motion that was surprisingly soothing.

She wasn't okay, she didn't know if that was a possibility anymore. She took a breath and pulled herself together, or as close to together as she could muster. Thinking about Miguel would have to wait for later, she could only worry about one thing at a time and right now that thing was tied to a post.

Rae held her head up but she didn't look at Negan, she turned to Jacob, walking one step at a time until the barrel of his revolver was flush against the back of his head. In the same way Jacob had held it to Boots' head that day in the forest. He didn't move and it shouldn't have bothered her but it did.

She half cocked the hammer and the noise seemed so loud, disproportionately loud to the silence that was all around them. Her heart was thundering in her chest as she pictured Boots' face and the way his crooked smile only afforded him a dimple on his left cheek. She cocked the hammer the rest of the way, trying to enjoy the way Jacob flinched at the sound and remembering how he'd shown no remorse when he'd shot Boots.

Jacob hadn't even blinked but in her own clammy hand the revolver shook with uncertainty as her breathing pushed in and out of her lungs so fast she thought she might choke on it. She couldn't understand it, she hated this man, she'd wanted him gone, he deserved to die.

She pushed the revolver even closer to the back of his head, on the count of three she promised, one, two… she looked away, start again, one, two-

"Don't tell me you've never killed a man, Red."

Rae's breath shuddered from her lips as she looked at Negan, "then I won't."

"Jesus fuck," he stormed over, grabbing her by the crook of the arm and pulling her several paces away from Jacob. "You've never killed a man?" his eyes studied her, the sun was catching all those hidden flecks of green and he looked different to before, no mocking grin or arrogance.

"I've never had to."

"Fucking hell," he ran his hand over his face and took the revolver from her. "Well you're not popping your fucking cherry like this."

Rae stared at her feet, gone was the racing of her heart, instead she felt like she was sinking. She was weak. She hadn't fought for her people and she couldn't kill for them either.

"You have any problem with me killing this fucker?"

"I-"

He interrupted, "wasn't really a question baby. Now go wait in the car."

"But I…"

"I drugged you because you wouldn't fucking listen, when people don't listen they die and I want you to fucking live. I wasn't trying to put you in your place, I don't wanna fucking manipulate you but when I say wait in the car, it's not a fucking request."

Rae swallowed what was left of her pride and did exactly what he said. She waited in the car. She sat in the passenger seat, waiting for the sound of a gunshot that didn't ring out but she could hear the thwacking, dull and deadly. Over and over until she was certain she didn't want to see what had happened to Jacob's body.

When Negan returned to the car, he held his baseball bat in one hand and it was matted in blood. He stowed it on the backseat with care before taking his place in the driver's seat. They stared at each other before his lips curved into a smile that brought out his dimples, both sides, "see baby. We can be a great fucking team."

"I didn't do anything."

Negan reached out, his thumb brushing her cheek before he pushed away the hair that was falling over her face, "you gave me apples, I gave you freedom."

Rae looked at him, really looked, she couldn't even begin to understand him or the way his mind worked. He drugged her to keep her safe, he killed for her, he took his boots off in the house and he sang along to The Temptations. She moved her face away from his touch which was so gentle, so soothing, "how can I be free if I belong to you?"

A/N- Thank you for reading! I hit a bit of writers block on this chapter, so it took a bit longer than planned for me to update but I hope you've enjoyed it. I can't believe I've hit over 200 followers! This has quickly become my most popular story and all the wonderful comments I received on the last chapter have blown my mind. I love you all :D