Newly Revised

Simon walked into Negan's 'office' and watched as the man talked on his walkie to the rest of the Saviors. They were keeping the roads to the Hilltop covered, making sure that any of the survivors from Alexandria had no way to use them to get to the last remaining colony. In fact, he'd just come back from his own patrol with the intention of letting Negan know that the Hilltop had been dealt with. Honestly, he was ready to call it quits with all of this after seeing the look on Maggie's face when he'd pulled the trigger. While that was the look they were going for, he could see it in the woman's eyes, the look of determination, the look that she would never give up. Maggie Rhee was a lot like his sister had been when it came to the fire that kept her going and damn if he didn't think the second pregnant woman from Alexandria would bow down for even a second. Things just weren't sitting right with him and Negan's courses of action anymore now that too much blood had been spilled for all of the communities, including the ones that were working together specifically to stop the man.

"Nooks, crannies, and holes, people," Negan spoke into a walkie as Simon walked around the table, his hands on his hips. "All that shit outside the box." He threw the walkie in his hand down on the table in front of him before speaking to Simon, "It appears our friends in Alexandria had themselves an escape plan. Rick's little one-eyed pride and joy and his little spy-girl girlfriend played me. Damn. Those kids-those kids are built for this shit."

"Let me go out and close this thing," Simon told him, knowing full well Negan wanted to play the long game to make Rick and Ani give up, to break them, rather than do anything else.

"Arat's got it for now," Negan informed him. "How'd the Hilltop go?"

"As requested," he said; one death in front of Maggie, her reaction being what had officially broken his resolve.

"Good job," Negan said with a smile. "With an extra attaboy on top given I know you didn't want to play it that way."

"You hear anything from Gavin?"

"Not yet, but it's comin'." Not if what I was told is right, Simon thought as Negan droned on, "Gavin may be perpetually pissed off, but he keeps his shit dry and tight."

Simon paced, before facing Negan and asking, "If I'm not running down Rick and company, where do you want me?"

He wasn't surprised in the least bit by Negan pointing to the chair next to his, though at the side of the table versus the head. Negan put his feet down off the table as he walked up, purposefully dragging the chair on the ground to vent some of his frustration. He'd driven his own car back and had picked up a rather interesting little hitch-hiker along the way, one that would definitely be pivotal in the next days. In fact, he'd made sure to stash said interest in his own personal bunker that he'd kept secret from Negan and everyone else, where he kept all his family's things. Annie's teddy bear he'd bought for her first birthday, Del's photo albums, his parent's wedding rings, the quilt they'd made as a family when his sister started school. It was just a little apartment in one of the nearby suburbs of DC, but it was his and his alone and it was where he'd stashed his little piece de resistance against Negan. In all honesty, he'd intended to take the little thing over to the Hilltop himself and make his own plans for them known, but Negan had radioed him over the walkies and demanded he come back.

"Garbage people," Negan told him in answer to his question.

"Good," Simon said. "What are we talkin' here? Recruitment? Retribution for reneging on our deal? Elimination? Might leave us a tad short on ammo if we go that route."

"I need you to hear me loud and clear on this, Simon," Negan said, leaning on his legs as Simon internally rolled his eyes, knowing his past choices were going to come back to haunt him all over again. "Those piss-stained double crossers may have pulled a triple cross, but it doesn't change the fact that they are still a resource. So, you're gonna choke back whatever shit is stirring up inside you and remind them that a deal with the Saviors is a lock, stock, suck my barrel deal. Deliver the standard message, take one out, and the rest will fall in line. Just one, Simon. If you've got somethin' to say...say it."

"Maybe we should cut our losses here," Simon suggested. "These people won't learn the lesson no matter how many times you teach it. Alexandria, the Hilltop, the Kingdom...these garbage rats...they're not seemin' to understand the situation you're tryin' to create. They want to make a new one. So why aren't we learnin' our lesson? Scrape the plates into the trash and wash 'em clean again, so to speak. Move further out, find other communities to...'save.' We don't need these four that are doin' everythin' in their power to get away. We've already lost communities, practically wiped 'em out, for less. Why are we fightin' to keep these ones?"

"Oh," Negan chuckled while looking up, taking his time to bring his eyes back to Simon as he spoke. "I am tryin' so hard to hold it together right now. You wanna cut your losses, take your own advice. Killin' everybody to solve the problem is the easy way, not our way."

"Who said anythin' about killin'?" Simon reasoned with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm talkin' cut our losses and walk away. Do the hard thing and admit we lost this round."

"We haven't lost shit. What we do, saving people? It is hard, but it damn well works," Negan protested.

"Not lately."

"Once I clip Rick, everything's aces again, Simon," was Negan's response, laced with threat.

"And Ani?"

"Oh, all we need is that little girl that snuck her way in here and I'm sure Ani's tune will change really quickly. She's the prize above prizes. A real shrink who can do real work with and for our people. And once Rick's gone, once she's under control, especially once she's had that kid and we make sure it's taken care of, well, everyone will fall in line. It's all about movin' the pieces on the board...Simon," Negan told him, staring him down before a knock on the door interrupted their little contest. "Yeah?"

Gary and a few others of Simon's men came in carrying a large wooden box, the same damn one the Widow had requested he leave behind early last night, just after the sun had set. Hilltop had been the place that got hit first, Simon playing his part well the night before when he'd confronted Maggie. He'd yelled violently even though the woman had paled and stared resolutely out the front window where he'd had one of the Kingdomers on his knees to make a point. He could still see the way her brow had been covered in sweat and she tried to keep her composure after he'd killed the man sitting behind her. The one kindness he'd been able to give was to make sure to shoot the man in the head so the Widow didn't have to deal with a walker. By the sounds of growling coming through the box, she hadn't been so kind to whoever was currently in the box.

"What the hell is this?" Negan asked as Simon moved out of the way.

"A delivery from the Hilltop," Gary informed him, putting a nail gun down on the still-closed lid. "I brought you something to deal with it. It's charged."

"Out," Negan told the others.

"We have thirty eight more. Stand down," Simon read. "The hell's that mean?"

"Open it," Negan ordered after the two shared a look.

Simon took out his knife and wedged open the first corner of the box. It was easy enough to get the lid off the box once the first couple of nails were pried out. The walker inside of it helped in the matter by reaching out of the box in an attempt to grab one of them. Simon looked at the man inside after Negan practically finished removing the lid by throwing it off the table as well as the box. He took the nail gun and shot the man in the face four times while Simon watched, realizing that this was one of the men that had gone missing from the Satellite outpost, his outpost. The Widow had his men, and right now he was damn good and happy that he hadn't brought his prize back to the Sanctuary. No, he'd be able to send it running back to the Widow with a message, perhaps even a truce between them. At the very least, she'd know he meant business when he sent the message to keep his guys safe by sending the messenger back relatively unharmed. If everything went right, he'd even be able to get the Hilltop even more information on what Negan's own plans were and have a place to fall back to if things went south for him.

"That's Dean. That means the other thirty eight they're holding are from the Satellite outpost. She's got my people," Simon told Negan. "You still think this is worth fighting for?"

"You will do exactly what I asked," Negan told him menacingly.

"Those are my people there! Those farmers aren't gonna care if it's you or me rollin' up-"

"YOU WILL DO," Negan yelled while banging his bat on what little space there was for him to on the table, "YOUR JOB! You will go to those garbage people and you will make it clear exactly what we are about! And after that, well, we'll make sure the farmers know their place and get our people back. Don't you worry."

"You're the boss," Simon said, adding, 'for now' in his head, before leaving the room and heading down the stairs to the stationing floor his men were waiting at.

"So, we lightin' up the Hilltop?" Gary asked.

Gary was his second in command and a rather reliable fellow, making Simon clap him on the shoulder and tell him, "Gonna sit on our dicks a might more. Alas, you're goin' to the landfill." He walked away from him and led the way out to the vehicles, explaining, "No worries, Gary. Not a single one in the world. I'm putting you in charge of this," he informed the man, talking lowly as they stood between two vehicles. "Boss man don't need to know about this, but I'm gonna go check on the Hilltop. See what those farmers are up to. Do a little recon mission for the big man. I need you to go to the landfill and make sure they learn their lesson. We'll meet up at the bypass on the herd-way."

"You sure it's a smart idea goin' there by yourself?"

"I already got a man on the inside—Gregory," Simon reasoned. "Make sure to get their guns. And Gary," Simon said as the man started walking away. "Don't do anything rash."

He made sure to lead the convoy out of the Sanctuary, but at the bypass, he turned off and floored it to make it to the apartment complex. He ran in and up the stairs as fast as he could and down the hall to the door of the one he had claimed shortly after the world went to hell. He unlocked it and then carefully opened it and looked around, not fully knowing what he was going to walk in on. After all, he had brought the girl here partially out of it from loss of blood and a pretty sizable burn on her shoulder that he'd had to treat when he got here. If he was lucky, she would still be in bed where he left her; if he wasn't, well, Simon really didn't want to think about that. He probably should have found a way to bring the doctor over, but that was too much of a risk and the girl had a pretty good knowledge of first aid herself. Then again, with everything that he had learned of the girl through Negan and the others, what else was he supposed to expect out of the little girl Ani was raising?

"You still in here, hunny?" he called out, making his way through the apartment to the spare room and opening the door to see the girl sitting there changing her bandages. "Here, let me help you."

"Am I a prisoner here?" Sophia asked after he walked over and took the stuff from her, letting her drop her arm as it was kind of hard to get to the burn on the back of her shoulder.

"You don't remember much from last night, do ya?"

"No, not really. You saved me from walkers and didn't take me to Negan, but you didn't take me home, either."

"Well, that's because your home was under attack. The people aren't there anymore. They've left," Simon informed her as he put the salve on before beginning to re-wrap the bandaging. "Most likely, they're headin' to the Hilltop, which is where we need to get you."

"That's where I was tryin' to go last night!" Sophia protested. "Why didn't you take me there then?!"

"Well, little lady, your head was bleedin', your arm was charred up somethin' fierce, and then you had walkers all over you. Then there's the little fact that I had just shot one of Maggie's people in front of her only a few hours prior. I'm not just savin' your skin here, kid. I'm savin' mine. And maybe making up for some piss poor decision making on my part," Simon said, staring off into space as his hands stopped moving.

"Why?"

"I dunno," Simon sighed, going back to making sure the girl's bandages were properly affixed. "Well, I do. Truth is, they remind me of my family. Ani reminds me of my own Annie, Annabeth. And Maggie...Damn if that woman ain't a trooper. She reminds me of Deloris, my sister. Her husband died just after my niece was born and she just kept on keepin' on. Just like Maggie is. Ain't my job to keep the Widow and Ani safe. Ain't my job to send you back. Hell, Negan wants to use you as a bargaining chip. Gets his hands on you, figures he can keep Ani under control. Don't sit right with me. So, put the clothes on I set out for you. Should be about your size, may be a bit big. They were my Annie's. But we don't want to send you back soaked in blood. You got a doctor at Hilltop yet?"

"We have Ani," Sophia told him.

"Well, hopefully she knows how to treat this better than you and me, 'cause I sure as hell am no doctor!" he said, slapping his knees and standing up. "I'm gonna go gather some stuff up for you to take with you. Get changed."

Sophia watched the strange man with the goatee leave the room in confusion as she remembered being in Alexandria and a window shattering followed by a deafening boom. She remembered a searing pain in her shoulder and a wooden rail coming way too close to her face; things got fuzzy after that. There had been walkers everywhere, then bright lights and some loud bangs, and then someone telling her she'd be fine. After a while, she remembered talking about which herbs from her pack to use and remembered hearing something about family, but eventually things just turned black. She knew for a fact that he had helped her, because his face was the front and center of things when walkers were bearing down on her, but she still didn't understand why he had. While Simon claimed to be doing it because of his family, after everything the Saviors had done, it was hard to believe he would start helping now just because of that. Sophia fully believed he was trying to save himself more than anything else, but the rest she was taking with a grain of salt. Merle had told her once that people will do and say anything to save themselves when they know they're going to lose the battle, even more so if they're losing the war, where they'd either 'lie out their asses or tell the truth.' The problem was that it would always be difficult to tell which they were doing and if it was decided a person was telling the truth when they were lying or vice versa. Getting up and changing into the fresh change of clothes,

Sophia decided that she would at least see whether or not he was going to actually take her to the Hilltop. She walked over to the door and opened it, surprised to find it unlocked, cautiously exiting the bedroom she had spent the night in and looked around the larger sitting area of the apartment. She walked over to a bookshelf and picked up a dusty picture of the man, Simon, a woman with a short bob of dark hair with glasses perched on her nose and a little girl on his shoulders with an ice cream cone in one hand and a balloon and stuffed animal in the other, giant smiles plastered on all three faces. They were at what appeared to be a fairground, the teddy bear from the picture propped up just off to the side. She could tell Simon and the woman were brother and sister because, aside from the obvious differences in facial hair and height, they looked almost exactly the same. It definitely lent credence to what he'd told her about his own family and what he'd lost, giving her a little hope that maybe he was telling the truth in general. She didn't even know he was standing in the doorway of a different room with a backpack in his hand watching her until he spoke up.

"That was taken at a summer fair in Fairbrook, North Carolina," Simon told the girl, watching her start before she turned around. "The summer before the world took a turn for the worst. Last time I could get Annie up on my shoulders, too. She was 'too old' for that after that summer. Only eleven. Never had kids of my own. Never really got involved with anyone. My sister and niece were my everything. Happens when you spend twenty years of your life lookin' after someone like I did Del. I see a lot of Del in Maggie. Her fighting spirit, her inability to give up or lie down, how she's trying to make the world right even when everything's gone so wrong. I couldn't save my Del or my Annie. I'll be damned if I don't at least try to help save your family and friends. This has some more ammo in it," he told Sophia as he handed her the bag he was holding. "Got some antibiotics in it, too, for your injuries. A bottle of really strong pain relievers. You'll need 'em for your wounds."

"Thank you," Sophia told him. "I still don't trust you."

"Well, that's probably the smartest decision you've made," Simon told her with a smile. "But I am taking you to the Hilltop, so let's go. And," he said, turning back around to face her after walking past towards the front door, "do try to remember how to get back here. If you get caught on your own again, you'll be safe here. Not that I keep it unlocked, but I'm sure you can ask your adoptive momma to teach you. She's the one who got you out of the Sanctuary after all."

"How did you know?"

"If you could pick locks on top of everything else, I'd be scared for my life right now," he said with a chuckle.

"Why?"

"Why do you think?"

"I don't know."

Simon chuckled and motioned for her to follow him without answering her. If she had been able to pick the locks at the Sanctuary on top of fooling her way past the guards and straight into Ani's room, well, he wouldn't want to know what all the girl was capable of then. Instead of fulling thinking about that, he led her down the stairs of the building and out to his car, opening the passenger door for her and shutting it after she got in. Going around the front of the car and climbing in the driver's seat, he looked over at her and reminded her to put her seatbelt on before heading out. Simon figured he still had at least half an hour before he had to be back at the intersection, and if he took the fastest route to the bottom of Barrington Hill, he could get back before Gary and the others got there. He made it a point to show Sophia various landmarks the entire trip so that she could make her way back to the apartment. On top of that, Simon did his best to prepare the girl for Negan's next move. While he wasn't sure what it would be, there were a few tactics that they'd used before. He made sure to mention how he had been involved in some of those dark tactics, including how they'd dealt with colonies in the past. More than one colony had been completely abolished at the hands of the Saviors, both before and after Negan had shown up and decided their official name. He'd had his fair share of hands in the dealings that had gone on, but he was learning. It helped a lot that he kept getting reminded of the people he'd lost by those he'd met. In being reminded of what he'd lost, he was being reminded of who he'd been once upon a time and decided that now was the time to make up for his past mistakes on the brink of madness.

"Alright, this is where I'm lettin' you off. Go due North for about twenty minutes and you'll be right at the gate," Simon told her as he pulled off to the side of the road. "Can't risk goin' any closer. Your people could be watchin' the roads and I don't feel like dying just yet."

"I won't make any promises," Sophia told him as she opened the door, hissing at the pain in her shoulder and thankful for the pain meds he'd given her so her head wasn't as bad, "but I'll talk to Maggie and Ani for you. You'll have to make up for what you've done, but I'll talk to them."

"Well, thank you kindly," Simon said with a smile. "Now, get goin'. I've got some place I need to be."

~x~

Negan watched as Simon's convoy pulled back into the Sanctuary's courtyard with a critical eye while weighing his options about what he was going to do. He was starting to have his doubts about Simon and where his loyalties really lied considering their conversation from earlier. First, he wanted to go back to proving points how he had not so very long ago that ended horribly and resulted in Negan's take over to begin with. Now, he was wanting to leave the very same three colonies be that were trying ever so hard to fuck their lives over alone to further fuck them over. While Negan could find some merit in leaving the pariahs be, he just couldn't let go of those resources without at least trying to fight for them. He could afford to let the farmers have a little leeway for the time being if it meant neutralizing the larger problem in the long run. They still had a chance to make things right; Simon just didn't have the right mindset to see it.

"Got it done?" he asked the man as he exited his vehicle.

"That and then some," Simon told him.

He shared a look with Gary over Negan's shoulder that clearly told the man to keep his mouth shut and let him handle everything. He'd told him, damn it all to hell had Simon told Gary not to do anything rash, and now the garbage people were apparently dead. Simon had spent a good ten minutes at the bypass on the herd-way yelling at Gary for his actions. There were two very obvious, very troublesome ways that this entire thing would be resolved if Negan found out the man's actions, let alone the fact that Simon hadn't even gone with him. Simon would, undoubtedly, be labeled a traitor by Negan, most likely the very same traitor that he assumed Dwight was and working with the colonies against the Sanctuary. On top of that, Gary, the absolute turd bucket he was, would blame him for what happened at the landfill and all the blood that got spilled there. Remorse or not, what happened to those people would be hung on his head now that he'd messed up and put Gary in charge to begin with. Simon had no way of explaining his absence, no way of proving where he was without handing over the girl, and no way of getting out of the situation unless he ran himself.

"You good?" Simon asked Negan, seeing how his face was turned in consternation.

"Nothin' on Gavin," Negan told him, the fact causing him to have a bad case of acid reflux that just soured his entire damn day.

"Want me to turn back around?" Simon asked, trying like hell to get away from the Sanctuary. "Roll out? End the mystery?"

Negan sighed, sensing the man's urgency to do something, and informed him, "I already sent a team out there."

"Ah," Simon said as they stopped at the back of the truck and admired the rather impressive stash of weaponry Gary had managed to collect. "Well, I'm sure he's a-ok. And if not, we'll just...send another message," he said pointedly before looking at Negan with a smile, the man completely missing the second pointed look Simon gave to Gary over his shoulder.

"So, tell me how it went," Negan said, turning to Simon.

"Standard message and delivery. Showed 'em and told 'em," he said, sniffing to repeat what Gary had told him. "There was remorse."

"Negan," one of the other men, DJ, called out, making the men look over.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"It's Carl," DJ told them, holding up a walkie.

Negan snatched the walkie out of the man's hand before turning to the others and telling them, "Get this into the Sanctuary and make sure this shit's cataloged right. We do not need another incident with the workers getting guns." Walking up the steps to the lookout he had originally been standing on, he brought the walkie up and pressed the button, "Carl, you little asshole. You wanna tell me where you are? Have another little chit-chat all man-to-boy-tryin'-to-prove-he's-a-man like?"

"Phia's missing and Ani has a chance to have her baby at any time. Any time, Negan. You need to stop. Stop fighting. We'll stop. I'll make my dad stop. We can all work together. I know we can."

"What happened?" he asked.

"What?"

"What happened to Ani? Was it us? Was it the bombs? The fire?"

"It was all of us. Where we hid, it was death trap. Then the bombs going off. She had a meltdown. Overstimulated or something like that. It caused her to start shaking violently and I guess she almost went into labor? I...I don't really understand it much. But if she starts shaking like that again, she could still have the baby. She can't handle the fighting. If we keep trying to win against each other, she'sgoing to be the one who looses. I don't think you want that. I don't want that. I doubt my dad does, either. We can stop this. I know we can."

"And what about Sophia?"

"She's just gone. My dad and her godfather are looking for her right now, but we only found her bow when we left."

"God damn it," Negan said, knowing that they hadn't even found a bow when they'd left, let alone any sign of any damn survivor from Alexandria. "Shit. I, um...I am sorry. I'll make sure my guys know to look for her. Specifically her. You know, I have plans for both of you. I want you two to be a part of things. You two are perfect examples of the future I'm trying to build."

"You can't build a future if you're always fighting everyone. My mom...my mom used to say that sometimes you have to make peace with your enemy if you want to make friends. Ani already planned on going back to the Sanctuary when everything was done to help the people there. Why can't we just stop fighting and work together? Like...like how it worked when we were still, well, America. I mean, I didn't really pay much attention in school 'cause I thought I'd still be in it, but didn't the cities all have to work together to make the state work? I mean, why can't we be like that? You can rule over the Sanctuary how you want, my dad can have Alexandria, Maggie the Hilltop, Ezekiel the Kingdom. We don't have to fight. So why are we?"

"You ask your dad that, kid. I don't want to fight-"

"Yes you do. If you didn't, we wouldn't be. If you didn't want to make it to where only your way exists, you wouldn't be fighting us right now. You'd be helping us."

"I'm tryin' to help you, Carl. You and everyone else. You know, when you think about it, it's your dad's fault Ani's havin' issues and the little girl's missin'. Because he couldn't leave shit well enough alone."

"Neither could Ani, because she wants everyone to work together. None of us want to be ruled or to have our stuff just taken because someone else can take it. I mean, would you?"

"Well, I can't say I would."

"Then why are you doing it to us? Ani can'tbe stressed out anymore or her baby will die. She could die. And that would be on your hands now. You have a chance to stop this before it gets worse."

"Tell your dad to stand down, then we'll talk. You see, I am the one that stops people from dyin'. I am the answer. Now, it may have taken a hard lesson for you to hear it, but you should hear it now. Do not let any more of your dad's shit decisions cost you to lose anyone else you love. I hope that girl shows up. I really do. But her disappearance? Whatever happens to her? That's on your dad's hands, not mine."

"It's on all our hands if we don't stop fighting, Negan. Just think about it."