Finding the meeting place was easy and to Negan's annoyance Rick had chosen well. It wasn't far from Alexandria and the high ground gave his opponent some advantage. But what surprised Negan most of all was how many friends Ricky boy seemed to have acquired in recent times.

Fighting Rick's people was one thing but the scouts Negan had sent to the clearing and Alexandria had all come back with the same information; Rick wasn't alone.

By all accounts he had an army, people from Hilltop, the Kingdom and fuck knows where else. Who they were didn't really matter, what mattered was the numbers and together they were enough to make an outright firefight problematic at best.

"Fuck," Negan decided, mulling his options over as the clock well and truly ran down. It was meeting time and as much as he liked to imagine Rick would never hurt a woman like Rae he knew exactly what a person could be capable of with the right motivation leaving him little option of how to proceed except one.

"We're going in," he said, turning to his men. "Nobody shoots until I say so. Nobody takes a breath in the wrong fucking direction until I say so. We're gonna be real goddamn friendly here, do you fuckers understand?"

"Yes sir," they all chimed in their own way while Simon raised his eyebrows, no doubt thinking Negan was one crazy motherfucker and perhaps he was right. Negan was crazy about Rae or at least crazy enough to do the unthinkable to get to her.

He knew Rick and his people would have heard the racket given off by the procession of trucks so there could be no element of stealth to the plan. Not to mention Rick was probably prepared for and expecting some sort of ambush and as a rule Negan never did the expected.

Charging in with guns blazing would be the easy play but the riskiest, people would die and one of them could be Rae. He wasn't going to risk her life like that anymore than he was going to risk his own or the lives of his men. He'd play this little game like he had cards Rick couldn't see and let the chips fall where they may.

This tactic had worked for him before, back in the early days when the Saviors were barely more than a handful of men trying to overpower much larger forces. If people didn't know what to expect then they tended to play it safe and he needed Ricky boy to play things real safe.

To add to the illusion Negan was trying to create he decided not to carry a rifle. Instead, choosing Lucille as his only weapon although she seemed to weigh a little heavier on his shoulder than she had when he'd set of to the Matchstick fort. He'd hoped to talk some sense into Rae this morning but that seemed like a million miles away from where he stood now.

"We should make a move," Simon whispered and Negan nodded, pulling his head out of his ass and back into the game.

"Saddle up," he announced, zipping his jacket a little higher to fight the chill as he took his first step from the tarmac.

The frozen leaves crunched underfoot and the woods loomed before him with only the howl of a distant walker to give any indication they weren't alone. A sense of dread lay heavy in his stomach but Negan kept walking, ignoring his instinct to run away just like he always did.

He'd barely made it ten paces from the trucks when he spotted the first Alexandrian and then the next, stony faced and alert as they sank into the shadows between the trees.

For a heartbeat Negan wondered if they would open fire and be done with him and the Saviors but they just watched as he continued to push one foot in front of the other, passing by more enemies than he could count or would even want to.

Negan kept his head high with each step and more importantly his men kept their cool and their mouths shut which was a fucking miracle by all accounts.

When the woods finally began to open up into a clearing Negan spotted Rick first, then Ezekiel. He'd like to say it was Rae who caught his attention next but in truth he couldn't keep his eyes off the goddamn tiger rolling around in the dirt like a sideshow freak.

A tiger, a motherfucking honest to god tiger. Negan could barely stop staring at it and from the hushed whispers of his men it seemed he wasn't the only one shocked to see this overgrown pussy baring its teeth, just waiting for a man sized snack.

The smug look on Ezekiel's face when Negan finally looked up was almost enough to make him want to lose his shit right there and then but he didn't. Still, a tiger, it made Negan wonder how the hell Ezekiel had been his whipping boy for so damn long as much as it made him wonder if the man really was a fucking lunatic.

"Howdy Sheriff," Negan said, ignoring the guns and eyes watching him as well as the furry sidekick.

"You made it just in time," Rick replied, his brow furrowed so deep you could run the mississippi through it.

"Are you a callin' me out?" Negan began, imaging them in the wild west, guns at dawn over ownership of the Matchstick Fort and some honey coloured freckles. "Or are you just arranging a ho down for the locals?"

"I'm not interested in your bullshit, Negan," Rick spat, growing some melon sized balls as he raised his hand, signalling his people.

Negan's heart stopped. Was this the moment everyone would open fire or would they throw him into a pit to fight the tiger while the crowd jeered on? They did neither but he couldn't say he was glad.

Daryl hitched his rifle onto his shoulder and made his way to a blue pickup truck before opening the passenger door and pulling some familiar long limbs from the cabin.

Negan's stomach churched even harder than it was already churning but he kept the smiling facade across his face, at least he hoped he did.

Rae's hands were bound behind her back and her mouth was gagged but that didn't stop her resisting, kicking out at Daryl who was trying to corral her unruly ass before he finally accepted the help of another man.

Negan was proud of her and in this moment he realised something he should have probably considered before. This was real. Rae was Rick's prisoner. Maybe he was stone cold stupid but never once had he considered that Rae might be part of this, that she might be baiting him. Like a lovesick teenager he'd ran to her without thinking twice and he didn't know whether to be pleased or horrified at the revelation.

On instinct Negan inched towards her, wanting to reach out and scoop her up into his arms but the wave of guns levelling on his head reminded him that this wasn't a happy reunion by any account so he stepped back, playing it cool and winking at Rick like this was all a game. One big fucking game.

It wasn't until Daryl set Rae at Rick's feet that Negan got a good look at her face. Her green eyes were ringed red from crying but more startling was the ugly purple bruise curled around her cheek and eye, blemishing all that ivory skin so dark it looked like she'd had a run in with a bottle of ink.

Rage didn't even begin to describe the way Negan felt. His grip on Lucille tightened so hard he could almost feel her splintering under the strain and any facade he wanted to wear slipped like water through his fingers.

"What the fucking fuck have you done to her face?" he demanded, pointing Lucille with so much vigor she almost flew from his hand.

"It wasn't me," Rick said calmly.

"The fuck it wasn't!" Negan yelled, stepping forward to the chorus of metal catching into place, bullets readying for fire and somehow he didn't give a crap about the repercussions.

Daryl came at him with his rifle and on instinct Negan slapped it away, the sting of the metal rapping across the back of his knuckles feeling like nothing compared to the bite of pain as his fist slammed into Daryl's nose, dropping him to the floor.

Then he turned to Rick, zeroing in on him like a nuclear missile."You're a fucking dead man!" he shouted and suddenly he was being pulled back. Simon's hands gripped tight around one arm and Donnie's around the other.

"Nothing stupid, boss," Simon urged desperately, reminding Negan why he was really here. Rae. He could fight these fuckers to the ends of the earth but it would be for nothing if she got hurt. Or worse. The idea was sobering enough to quell the rage and when he looked at Rae he felt like an asshole for even putting her in any extra jeopardy.

"Who did it?" he asked calmly, wanting to chalk that fucker up for a painful death when the time was right.

"It was me," Tim said, creeping from the shadowers like a fucking ghoul.

Negan looked at him long and hard, not saying a single word. He didn't have to. If Tim hadn't been a dead man before, he certainly fucking was now and the way he shrank back into the crowd made it clear he'd got Negan's message.

"We're not here to talk about who did what. None of that matters now." Rick announced, his words quieting the whispers to leave everyone standing in silence. It was the kind of theatrics Negan likes to do when he was giving people the run down of how things were going to go and standing on the other side of it had the desired effect. He didn't like it one fucking bit.

"So what are we here for Rick Grimes? Making best fucking friends with lowlifes who hit women?" So maybe he would say something.

"I'm here to give you a choice, Negan. The kind of choice you didn't give to Glenn or Abraham." Rick cocked the hammer of his revolver before pressing the barrel against the side of Rae's head. "You can surrender," his finger caressed the trigger, "or you can choose to fight and get a lot of your people killed. Either way this ends today."

"You'd kill an innocent woman?" Negan said, his voice strained as his gaze held onto Rae's.

"My people come first," Rick said, unwavering.

"You're all gonna stand for this?" Negan asked, watching as people stood a little smaller, most of them looking surprised but none of them daring to make any stance except silence. "I guess killing people doesn't really fucking matter as long as they're on the wrong side, as long as Rick fucking Grimes is pulling the trigger?"

"Make your choice Negan," Rick said and Negan had no doubt he would do exactly what he'd promised.

Rae squeezed her eyes shut, preparing herself for the inevitable and for a split second Negan wondered what Rae would do if she was in his shoes except Rae would never have gotten herself into a situation like this, that was the point. She would never take what didn't belong to her and she would never truly hurt someone.

"You know the funny thing, Rick?" Negan chuckled darkly. "You and I are cut from the same fucking cloth. The pair of us are just two unfuckingscrupulous assholes on different sides of the playing field."

"We're not the same!" Rick spat, his voice wavering and for the first time he seemed nervous.

Negan could keep baiting him, he could order his men to open fire, he could do a million different things. Instead, he placed Lucille on the ground, resting her on a tuft of grass and remembering the first time he'd picked her up. He'd been a different man then, softer, weaker, still an asshole but not a killer. He could be King Dick or he could go back to being Negan, just Negan.

"Put your weapons down," he muttered, looking at Rae and watching the way her eyes crept back open. For a moment it was like they were alone in this clearing and he smiled at her. Had he ever told her how beautiful he thought she was? Or how she reminded him what he was like before he'd ever wrapped a baseball bat in barbed wire. He wasn't sure he had but their time together had felt endless even if he should have known how precious time really was.

"It's over," he said, leaving Lucille behind as he stood up.

/

Tears rolled down Rae's cheeks, soaking into her gag as she watched Negan's surrender unfurl in stunned silence. She was surprised by his actions but more than anything she was terrified of what they would mean for him. His men looked equally confused, each of them whispering to the man standing closest as they tried to decide if they would fight or follow Negan in surrender.

"It's over," Negan confirmed again, his voice rising above the hubbub of uncertainty. "I don't want anyone else dying for me, today or any other fucking day. I'm too old for this shit," he added, glancing to Rick. "I think we all are. Now let's cut a deal and go home."

"We can't trust him!" Dwight shouted, striding from the Saviors to reveal his switch in allegiance as he took a stand beside Rick.

Negan didn't say anything but Rae could see the sting of betrayal as it slapped across his face, the situation only made worse as Mark and two others joined Dwight on the other side of the line that had formed. Saviors versus everyone else. Good versus bad if you asked any of the people here, the only problem was the answers would all be the same. Nobody ever saw themselves as the bad guys and as Rae watched Negan holding up his hands she saw nothing but all the good things he'd done and how he'd made her feel.

"I'm surrendering," Negan said, raising his hands even higher, "and don't call me fucking unreasonable but I'd say this was over. We all walk away. We all get to go home and sleep in our own beds tonight."

Rae didn't want to feel hope but she did, dangling precariously in front of her as if she could just reach out and take it.

"No," Rick decided, one word to snatch that glimpse of hope away. "You don't get to walk away from this, Negan. Not after what you've done. We want you to surrender yourself to us and if your people hand over their weapons then this can end peacefully for them."

"And what the fuck are you gonna do with me?" Negan demanded. "Put me on fucking trial? Execute me when I'm giving into your every goddamned demand?"

Rick glanced to Daryl, then to Morgan who nodded his head, encouraging what seemed to be a preconceived arrangement. "We have a cell," Rick said, reminding Rae of the grey walls and bare mattress she'd spent the night on. "Hand yourself over to us and we'll keep you there. Nobody has to get hurt and you can pay for what you've done to our people."

"And what about what you did to my people?" Negan countered, glancing to Lucille as if he'd changed his mind about surrendering.

"Make your choice Negan," Rick demanded, tension hanging thick in the air as he pressed the muzzle of his revolver even harder against her head. "You have to the count of three. One…"

Rae's heart raced, her stomach turning in knots as she imagined never returning home or having a single moment outside of this clearing. She didn't want to die.

"Two…"

"Okay!" Negan spat and suddenly Rae couldn't breathe as she imagined Negan caged in those small walls, his wings clipped and the humour in his eyes fading away with day after day spent staring at the ceiling.

She hunched forward, trying desperately to suck down air through the confines of the gag as her head began to feel fuzzy, black spots joining where the tears were already blinding her. She felt like she was in the eye of a storm, a whirlwind of movement happening all around her while she sat slowly suffocating.

Rae didn't know how long it lasted only that it was Negan who brought her back. "It's okay, baby," he whispered his voice so close she could feel the heat of it on her face as she blinked away the tears and looked up to him.

He kneeled in front of her, his hands gentle as they pulled away the gag so she could fill her lungs and try to pull herself together instead of sitting on the floor and crying like a child.

"You're okay," Negan said with a little more certainty and Rae didn't know whether his words were a command or a question but she definitely wasn't okay. As much as she was trying to be strong she was falling apart.

"Don't do this," Rae sobbed pitifully and Negan chuckled, sliding his scarf from his neck and gently wiping away her tears.

"Looks like I'm fresh out of options baby doll and let's face it, you're the only one that matters any more."

Rae sniffed back another sob, "that's not true."

Negan laughed again. "You know all this crying over me is not a good look on you. Smile a little, I wanna remember your red hair not your red nose when I'm lonely at night..."

She laughed, she hadn't thought it would be possible but the sound sprang from her lips on its one accord and made her feel a little lighter despite everything else.

"That's better," Negan grinned as if he was oblivious to the way everyone was watching them. "And right now might not be the best fucking time to tell you this Red but I was always fucking terrible at choosing my moments so here it is... I'm in love with you Rachel Eleanor Honey. Hook, line and fucking sinker. From the moment I laid my eyes on you it was only you, nobody else could even come close to you and maybe I should have said that before but let's fucking face facts here. I'm an asshole and I thought I'd have more time to win you round without having to lay it all out like fucking hallmark greeting card."

Rae's response was stunted, words tripping over her tongue as Negan pulled her against his chest, his face nuzzling into her hair and his voice rich and warm as he said it again, "I love you, Red. Only you, baby."

"Negan-" she whispered softly, her heart aching more than she thought possible as she tilted her head to kiss him. Rae wanted him to know she felt the same way, that Negan had changed her. "You're a lying, egotistical asshole but I love you too."

"And you said you didn't care for poetry," Negan teased, not needing an answer before his lips landed possessively over hers. He kissed her like a dying man taking his last taste of life, his hands stroking down her spine and squeezing her so tight she couldn't breathe of think of anything but him or the way his tongue danced over hers.

Rae never wanted it to end but this wasn't just a kiss. This was a kiss goodbye. Rae slumped forward, losing her centre of gravity as Dwight and Mark dragged Negan across the ground before pulling him to his feet. He didn't fight them and he didn't stop looking at her, both of them drinking in every last second of eye contact.

"You go home to Grandma. You hear me, Red? Go home and don't look back," he shouted as they forced him into the same truck she'd arrived in.

When the door slammed shut Rae's heart jumped but she didn't cry. She felt hollow, her willpower squashed to a tiny flicker and even as Daryl cut through her restraints she didn't react. Her hands fell limp to the ground, her heart hanging just as heavy. She was wondering if she'd even have the strength to make it back home when Tim stepped into her line of vision and that tiny flicker of willpower sparked a little brighter.

Rae's breathing steadied, her fingers curled along the frozen ground and like a halfer returning from the dead she stood on shaky legs. She didn't want Tim to be here, she didn't want him to have the chance to gloat but more than anything she didn't want some half assed attempt at an apology.

It all happened quickly, Rae took one step forward and suddenly she was sprinting, picking up Lucille and swinging her. The crack Tim's skull made surprised her, she hadn't thought she could hit him hard enough to make a sound like that but it rang out loud enough to stop everyone else from moving as her former right hand man slumped to the ground.

For a moment she thought she'd killed him and what surprised her was the way it made her feel, happy, no remorse but maybe that would have come later if he hadn't began to twitch, his eyes slowly opening. "Please," he begged, scooting away in terror.

Rae couldn't deny it, she felt powerful, Lucille serving as a bloodthirsty extension of her arm as she raised her over her head in preparation for the next strike and it would be so easy, so satisfying. Afterall, Tim deserved it… he'd betrayed her and people had been killed for less.

Somewhere in the background there was a scuffle and the sound of Daryl telling Rick to "stop," but that wasn't what made Rae lower the bat or why she glanced towards Negan. He knew what this would mean to her, what it would mean for Rae to take Tim's life, her first human life.

Just as she suspected Negan was watching her every move from the truck, his face faded through the windowpane but even so she could still see the horror all over it. There were all kinds of monsters in this world but like her heart was trying to tell the adrenaline that was urging her on, Rae didn't belong with them. She wasn't a murderer even if that didn't mean she wouldn't kill.

She nodded to Negan, lowering Lucille even further and giving Tim nothing more than a sideways glance as she warned, "stay away from me or next time I won't stop."

"I'm sorry it came to this," Rick said and Rae turned to look at him, Lucille hitched on her shoulder.

"No you're not. You said yourself, you don't care about anything but your own people and he's right about you. You're no better than he is." Rae turned to Dwight and Ezekiel, looking them up and down, "none of you are and if you hurt him I won't stop until I hurt you."

"It's gettin' dark," Daryl interrupted, cutting in between Rae and the others. "Dwight said there's some trucks on the road. I'll walk ya to one of them and get ya home before somebody gets hurt an' this was all for nothin'

Rae scoffed, snatching the keys from his hand, "I don't need your help, Daryl and even if I did I wouldn't ask for it now."

"Either way ya still got it."

Rae wanted to hate Daryl but she didn't, it didn't mean she could like him right now either. "Go fuck yourself," she said, channelling her inner Negan as she straightened her spine and turned on her heel. She'd go home, not because of Rick or Daryl or anyone else but because of Negan. It's what he wanted. It's why he'd handed himself over to the enemy and she wasn't going to squander the chance he'd given her any more than she was going to play nice with the people who had taken him away.

So, with one last glance towards Negan and a silent goodbye she swallowed down a fresh crop of tears, pushed through the army of Saviors and sank into the woods, running when she lost sight of the others.

With every footstep Rae's head was pounding as fast as her heart, replaying every moment of Negan's capture and wondering if she should go back even if she knew going back would be pointless. Eventually she stopped running and leant against a tree to catch her breath, the temporary break causing her to hear the footfalls that were following her.

Rae gripped Lucille and swung around to defend herself, missing her target as he dodged out of the way.

"It's me," Simon held his hands up, looking as startled as she felt and Rae kept the bat aimed at his head.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

Simon lowered his hands, "I figured every leader needs a right hand man."

Rae almost choked on the laugh that echoed around the trees. "I'm not a leader."

Simon looked over his shoulder, nodding to where a large group of Negan's saviors were slowly making their way through the trees. "You tell them that."

Rae shook her head, feeling the weight of the world settling on her shoulders as the idea of leading these men and women in a fight for Negan crossed her mind. But Negan was right, it was over. "I just wanna go home."

Simon nodded, his hand catching under her elbow to push Lucille back onto her shoulder instead of aimed at his head. "Whatever you say, boss."

/

Negan would be a liar if he said he didn't have a moment of honest to god, almost shitting himself, panic in between putting down Lucille and hearing the clang of the cell door as it sealed shut. He did. More than one. But now he was here, staring at four grey walls and twiddling his thumbs.

Jesus fucking christ.

Sitting on the bare mattress he decided tonight would be quite possibly his worst nights sleep in a long time and as his hand swept over the rough chequerboard fabric he found a strand of hair, long, red and oh so familiar. Rae.

He twirled the hair between his thumb and forefinger, admiring it like a piece of light amongst the dark. Maybe that's what it was. She'd slept here so he could do it too. He lay back, stretched across the mattress and could almost feel the press of her lips and the curve of her body.

Negan's plan had worked, sort of. They were both alive and that was what really mattered. As long as they were breathing then he had a second chance and if he was anything it wasn't a quitter. Hell, yesterday Rae had been threatening to kill him and today she was telling him she loved him so the anything was fucking possible.

It probably wouldn't be today and maybe not even tomorrow but one day Negan was going to make it out of this cell and when he did he'd go home. He'd walk past those scrapyard gates, up that long drive and right up to the door of the Honey House. Hopefully Rae would be waiting.

Thank you for reading! This is technically the last chapter and its how I always imagined and wanted the story to end but at the same time I do wanna give you guys a little taste of whats next so I am going to do an epilogue. I hope you guys have enjoyed it. I know its not a traditional ending but I wanted to walk the line between the show and the comics and try to stay true to them as best I could while still making Negan fall in love. I just love Rae and Negan's journey so much and I can't believe I'm only going to be writing a little bit more of it!