Chapter Eleven

You and Me

I was sitting at a large conference table, listening to these unbearable dickheads question everything. The plan, the directives, my ability. All of it. Negan was handling it with his usual grace. And by grace, I mean glares, snide remarks, and threats.

I let my eyes roam around the room again. I had been quiet the whole time, letting the "fearless leader" lead, but I was about to the end of my rope.

Before, I'd worked at the CIA outside of DC as a Science, Technology, and Weapons Analyst, evaluating threats from foreign weapons or technologies. I had loved my job. Weapons mechanics had always been my passion, stemming from my grandpa teaching me to shoot and clean a gun when I was little, eventually showing me how he made bullets. I'd been at the CIA for almost four years, having just been promoted when the world went to shit.

I was use to being in big conference rooms with men who thought they knew every-fucking-thing. And while Negan's men feared him and would ultimately do what he told them to, he didn't make them understand why we were doing what we were doing. Given that it was purely for selfish, vengeful reasons on my end, there were also benefits to shutting down Purcellville.

"So we're just going to march into a compound run by a fucking lunatic for some half-cocked revenge plan? Revenge doesn't feed anyone, boss," a man named Gavin said, keeping his voice neutral and looking bored with the conversation.

And there it went. The rope. Snapped directly in half.

I stood up from my seat and slammed my hands on the table in front of me, forcing all two dozen of the people currently in the room to remove their eyes from Negan and focus all of their attention on me.

I tried not to pay any attention to the fact that I could feel Negan between my thighs at that moment as I started speaking.

"Let me lay out for you the bigger picture here, because it doesn't completely seem like it's sinking in. Yes, revenge, but that's on me. That's my prize to take and I fully plan on doing that on my fucking own. Now, let's put that aside for a second. Purcellville has a huge fucking stock pile. They preserved a quarter of the city at the start of this. Put walls up as soon as they figured out what was happening. They have warehouses of fucking supplies. Please take note that I said warehouses, as in multiple. Supplies that you couldn't imagine, stacked to the fucking ceiling. Brendan was smart about this shit. He started organizing and scavenging within days of everything shutting down. Everyone following along?"

A few heads nodded as I looked around the room, daring someone to say something stupid. I noticed Simon leaned back in his seat, fingers interlocked behind his head, grinning at me like a proud father. Negan was looking at me like he wanted to fuck me, which made heat rise in my cheeks again, but I turned back to the rest of the room.

"There's about fifty guards that live there. They keep minimal people in the walls. They don't let in outsiders unless they can contribute something huge. When I was there, there were only about a hundred or so people, but they're all sick of that fucking man. They won't fight with him. Since I left, they have no one to provide ammo and I didn't even make enough to keep them real well in stock, just in case something like this happened.

"I'll go in first with a few of you, do what I need to, and then you guys come in. Think of this less like a showdown and more like a really epic fucking scavenging mission. Everyone will be coming home after this. And we'll be eating like kings and have luxuries you motherfuckers haven't seen in years.

"I do want to really drive home the fact that you do not fucking kill civilian's while you're in there. Those people did nothing fucking wrong, just ended up somewhere they thought was safe that wasn't. Guards are fair game. Take any of those pencil dick douche bags out that you want. But if any of you so much as breathes too hard in someone's direction that doesn't deserve it, it will take an act of God to stop me from cutting your dick off and stuffing it down your throat. Questions?" I finished, looking at them.

Silence flowed through the room until Laura raised her hand. I couldn't help but smile a little as I nodded at her.

"I don't have a dick. Does this mean I can do what I want or is there an equally creative punishment for female participants?" She asked in a tone so serious it almost caused me to bark out a laugh.

The only other female in the room, a pretty, dark skinned girl sitting next to Laura who went by Arat, laughed and elbowed Laura in the ribs.

"I'll think of something extra creative for you two," I said, sending a wink to both of them.

Laura snicked and leaned back in her seat.

I noticed Dwight staring at me from where he leaned against the wall behind Simon.

"Did you have anything you wanted to ask, Dwight?" I asked, just to piss him off because I knew he didn't like me.

"Actually, yeah. Do you think you can produce enough in a month for us to be ready for this? I'm sure Negan already told you, but we're running low on bullets. And honestly, a lot of our guns could use some TLC," he said, looking at me expectantly.

Well, color me fucking shocked. He actually didn't sound like a douche just now.

"Yes. This next month I'll be making ammo nonstop for every gun we have. If you want me to take a look at guns, any of you, bring them to the lab and I'll make sure everything is up to par."

"Cool, thanks," Dwight responded.

I looked around and everyone was nodding their heads like they were good with everything I said, given some of the men had their eyes locked on my cleavage. I glanced back at Negan, who was staring at me from the seat he had sat in at the head of the table. He was grinning at me with a devilish look in his eyes. When no one said anything, I sat down in my seat again and Negan stood up.

"If it's not fucking obvious, anything weapons related goes through Piper from now on. There's a room off of the one that she'll be working in that will be the on site armory. You find any guns you need specific bullets for, you go see Piper. You need a gun cleaned, you go see Piper. You have questions about how to use a new kind of weapon, you…" Negan trailed off, looking around with a raised eyebrow.

"Go see Piper," everyone responded in unison.

"Good fucking job. We leave in exactly one month. Be ready."

"And remember what the fuck I said about cutting off dicks, gentleman. Please give yourselves the month to really let that seep in," I called out, as everyone started moving and shuffling towards the door.

A couple people, including Negan, laughed as Arat said playfully, "Jesus Christ, there's fucking two of them now."

When the room had emptied out, with just Negan and I remaining, I looked over at him again.

"I'm sorry. I was tired of their mouths," I whispered, apologizing.

"No, you did good. You have to be firm with these fucking people. They don't respond well to soft," he said, as he stood up from his chair, and walked over to me, spinning my chair around to face him. "You wanna follow me back to my room and go for round two?"

His amber eyes were locked on my lips..

I opened my mouth to tell him that I absolutely wanted to do that, but I stopped short of starting the sentence.

I needed to put some space between us. I had to. I probably shouldn't have thrown myself at him earlier, but I couldn't change that now. Not that I would, considering it was literally the best sex I'd ever had in my life. But I also knew that if I let this, it was going to spiral and I would be sucked back into his web. I still had so much shit to figure out, and I couldn't do that around him.

"Maybe next time? I want to go unpack some stuff in the lab, if that's okay with you," I said, my voice sounding meek.

How fucking embarrasing. I went from being a badass, demanding the attention of a room full of Saviors to small and weak when he got too close.

He studied my face for a moment.

"Yeah, wildflower. Maybe next time," he muttered, and strode out of the room, leaving me in there alone.

The next two weeks flew by. I stayed in the lab most of the time, only venturing out for food, water, and bathroom breaks. Negan had let me choose a few people to work with me and it was surprisingly going really well.

Jolene was an older brunette in her late 30's with gorgeous green eyes. She talked more than she was quiet, but she was funny and already knew quite a bit about guns, as she'd grown up in Louisiana with an avid gun collector as a father. Her thick creole accent made me smile and she always made me leave to get food when she had deemed I was working too long.

Harvey was a seventeen year old man, as he liked to make very well known when Jolene called him kid. He was tall and skinny with dark hair and dark eyes. He had known nothing about weaponry, but he was eager to work and with the points as high as they were for this job and he made sure to do everything right. He had a little sister who was eleven that he took care of, since their parents had died a year and a half ago. I was easier on Harvey than I was anyone else. I definitely had a soft spot for the kid.

And then there was James. James was in his mid twenties, close to my age, and had been in the military. He knew enough and was genuinely interested in learning when I taught him how to make bullets. His girlfriend was pregnant and he was trying to make sure they were comfortable here. He had been working his way up to be a Savior, but when Negan had brought up working in the lab with me, James had immediately agreed.

I couldn't complain. I got along with all three of them so well that in the short amount of time we'd spent together so far, it started to feel like a small, really odd family.

I'd quickly made friends with James' girlfriend Emily. She was hilarious and her attitude was about as good as mine. She'd often wander into the lab, holding her swollen belly, and sit at my desk to talk shit about whoever was pissing her off that day. I listened while I weighed out bullets and offered a snarky remark every so often.

It stunned me when I realized it had been two weeks since my last "bad day". I kept my mind busy with work or my body busy training in the gym with Laura, who had invited Arat a few days in. I had decided pretty quickly that I liked them and they started coming to the lab to hang out with me when they had some down time, often just adding to Emily's stories of the bullshit going on in the Sanctuary.

I was actually making friends and meeting new people. Even when I went to have lunch with Ms. Ellie and Simon, I was talking to people and hadn't actually found anyone I didn't like so far. I felt like I fit in, even if I had to make a conscious effort not to close myself off. People liked my loud mouth and snarky sense of humor here. Which was a nice change from Purcellville, where Brendan had demanded I act like a lady when in public.

Negan stayed out of my way for the most part, only checking on me occasionally to see if I needed anything or to update me with some new information on Brendan. We hadn't slept together again, or really even spent much time together, but when I'd go back to my room at night, well after midnight sometimes, I'd find little things he left on my bed for me, like a bar of chocolate or even just a note that said he was thinking about me. I knew he was trying to give me space, but I found myself wishing he wouldn't some nights. I knew I needed time to myself, it was just hard not to miss his voice sometimes.

I shook my head, trying to focus on the work in front of me.

"Piper Savannah, you put that scale down right now and you go get some damn food before I drag you there by your hair. It's one. You need food, woman," I heard Jolene call across the lab, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I looked up at her and glared. "I never should have told you my middle name."

"And I never should have believed you when you said you'd go eat in 'just a minute', two hours ago. Now go," she responded.

I heard Harvey and James laugh.

"She's right. You need food, boss lady," Harvey said, smiling over at me.

"I third that," James yelled from his place behind boxes that were piled alarmingly high.

"I'm being ganged up on right now and I don't appreciate it," I called to all of them as I took off the protective goggles on my face.

"It's only 'cause we love you," Jolene responded as I walked to the sink to wash my hands.

Once I was confident that any chemical had been cleaned from my hands, I made my way out of the doors, throwing a middle finger up over my shoulder as I went, smiling when I heard Harvey burst into hysterical laughter.

I made my way to the large gathering hall, running my hands over my black leggings and Harley Davidson t-shirt. My long hair was thrown up in a messy bun on the very top of my head, which is where it stayed pretty much all day, everyday. I didn't have time to look cute. I was in the midst of preparing for vengeance.

As I made my way across the space, I felt a small hand grab my wrist. Looking down, I saw a small dark haired girl that I realized was Harvey's little sister.

"Hey, Livie. What's up?" I asked, smiling at her.

"I want you to teach me how to shoot guns," she said, lifting her chin up a bit in an attempt to make her seem confident in what she said.

"Oh, do you? And what does Harvey think about this?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

She stomped her foot on the ground and huffed.

"He said I'm too young, but I don't think so. So I'm going above his head and asking you. We can even start with the guns that don't have bullets in them," she responded, looking at me expectantly.

I considered what she said for a moment before squatting down in front of her.

"How about this? How about I teach you about guns first? Like show you how guns work and how to clean them. When you understand that, I'll teach you how to shoot," I said, smiling at her again.

She stared at my face, contemplating my offer, before eagerly nodding her head and rocking back and forth to the tips of her toes.

"Deal. When can we start?"

"A month from today. You can come hang out in the lab with me and I'll teach you everything I know. How does that sound?"

"Good! I'll see you then."

She turned promptly on her heel and started walking away, before stopping and turning back to me. We locked eyes and she marched back towards me, throwing her arms around my neck.

"Thank you. For wanting to teach me and for letting my brother work for you," she said quietly into my shoulder.

I was stunned for a second, but I returned the hug.

"You don't have to thank me. But I appreciate it."

After a second, she let go and left me squatting in the middle of the room, watching her leave. I could tell that girl was going to be trouble one day, and I found myself excited to see it.

I felt a small smile pull up my lips and stood to turn around, coming face to face with Emily, who had tears in her eyes.

"My hormones are all over the place and watching that literally made me want to sob," she said, sniffling.

I laughed loudly.

"Pull it together, woman. You wanna come get some food with me?"

"Like I'll ever say no to food, Piper," she responded, instantly perking up.

We started towards the kitchen, but my steps slowed as I felt eyes on me. I scanned the room until I found the culprit. A woman was sitting at a table alone, watching me walk. She was maybe a couple years older than me and downright beautiful. Tan skin, dark hair, kind eyes, and a small, genuine smile on her face.

I held her stare until she looked away.

"Who is that?" I whispered to Emily.

She followed my eyes until she spotted the woman.

"Oh," she said, her voice lowering, "That's Sherry, Dwight's wife. She was one of Negan's wives too, though. Before he released them all."

I cocked my eyebrow at her.

"Sherry had been married to Dwight, but they'd run off at some point with Sherry's sister. When they got back, without the sister, Negan was going to kill Dwight for stealing some medication for the sister and then bolting, but Sherry offered herself up as a wife for Dwight's life. Negan burned Dwight's face with that little iron thing of his, but let him live, so that's something, I guess. But the moment that Negan let go of the wives, Sherry ran right back to Dwight," Emily whispered, trying her hardest not to look at Sherry again.

"Negan burned Dwight's fucking face?" I asked, my mind reeling from what Emily just told me.

"Jesus, keep it down, Piper. But yeah, that's the punishment for shit. Especially things like stealing from the Sanctuary. Or when he had wives, if anyone got caught messing around with them, he'd take an iron to their face. It's hard to fucking watch," she murmured, shaking her head slightly, "Sherry's nice though. All of the wives weren't so bad, actually. And I haven't heard them say anything negative about you since you showed up."

"Lucky me, huh?" I said, pushing through the doors to the kitchen.

I greeted Ms. Ellie, who gave me a pointed look for waiting so long to eat, but set to making me and Emily a bowl of casserole. I sat across from Emily at the island, my thoughts drifting.

I had found myself disgusted at the initial thought of Negan using a fucking iron as a form of punishment, but it seemed to be relatively effective. It hadn't happened since I'd woken up from my three month nap, which sounded like maybe whatever he was doing was a pretty good deterrent. I didn't love the idea, but I also didn't have a lot of say so in the matter.

Although burning Dwight's face was a little fucking extreme. He had told me I could leave whenever I wanted, so why wasn't Dwight and Sherry able to do the same? And if I knew anything about Negan, I knew that he'd only agreed to take Sherry as a wife to get under Dwight's skin. A little salt to the literal burn on his face.

"Earth to Piper, are you there?" Emily cooed from across the island, Ms. Ellie standing beside her with an eyebrow raised.

I looked up and smiled at them, "Sorry, what?"

"Guess what I made for you?" Ms. Ellie asked, bouncing a little on her feet, her gray bun flopping to the side.

"You made me something else? You didn't have to do that!"

She rolled her eyes and walked to the walk-in fridge, returning with a chocolate cake that she placed in front of me with a flourish. It had extra chocolate icing slathered on it and my mouth started watering.

I groaned. A real unladylike sound.

"Are you proposing to me, Eleanor? Because this seems like a proposal."

She laughed as I grabbed some plates and a knife from the rack behind me. I cut all three of us a piece as she sat down.

"You work so hard, baby. You deserve this. You've been nonstop for two weeks now," she said, pulling the plate to her that I slid across the counter.

Emily hastily pulled her piece to her, quickly putting a bit in her mouth.

"Jesus Christ. This is the best day of my life," she groaned.

Ellie and I laughed as the woman barely came up for air, continuously shoving cake into her mouth.

We ate half the cake and talked. Ellie told me that she'd been hearing some pretty positive things about me from everyone. She said that everyone seemed to like me and even the Saviors were excited about everything I was doing in the lab. Emily nodded her head, not offering many words due to the constant presence of the cake in her mouth.

When we finished, I said my goodbyes and confirmed with Ms. Ellie that what I had requested from her the other day was ready. When she said it would be by tomorrow morning, I smiled and started walking back to the lab.

I really did think I would stay here when I was done with Purcellville. I had made more connections in the last two weeks of really trying here than I had been allowed to the entire time at Purcellville. Laura, Arat, James, Jolene, Harvey, Emily, Simon, Ellie. Negan. All of them offered a sense of comfort to me and, unlike with Brendan, I was respected here. What I was doing was appreciated. I had choices and control. I could make a difference here, even if it was a small one. While I was still a little sketched out by the archaic ways of punishment, this place was starting to feel like home.

I let that thought fill me with hope, something I hadn't felt in a long time. A pang hit my heart as I wished for a moment that my family was here with me.

James, Harvey, and Jolene left me around six that night, but I didn't stop working until after ten. I had sat down at my desk to log how much we had produced and had laid my head on my desk for what I thought was just a second before drifting off to sleep.

At some point, I felt a pair of arms lift me.

My eyes opened slowly, sleep still blurring my vision, and I was greeted by Negan's face, his ever present grin and dimples lighting up his features as he looked down at me and started walking.

"You fell asleep at your desk, wildflower. I'm gonna take you to bed," he murmured.

"Stay with me tonight. I missed you," I drawled, laying my head back on his shoulder.

He was silent for a second before asking, "Do you want to stay in my room tonight, doll? My beds' bigger."

I nodded my head and must have fallen back asleep, because my eyes fluttered open again when I was gently placed on his bed. Negan was standing over me, looking down at me with a softness in his eyes that made my heart pick up pace a little.

"Are you going to get in bed with me or are you planning to stare at me all night?" I asked, smiling up at him.

"Both, definitely fucking both. Let me get you out of those clothes," he responded in a low voice.

I watched him as he carefully dipped his fingers under the waistband of my leggings and slowly started pulling them down. His eyes fixated on my black panties for a second before flicking up to mine. He pulled them the rest of the way down and tossed them over his shoulder before turning his attention to my shirt. I sat up just a little bit and he pulled it over my head. I unhooked my bra and tossed it to the floor. He stood there, continuing to stare at me as I rested my head back against the pillows and pulled the scrunchy from my hair, letting the mass of blonde curls fall to the pillow behind me.

My skin felt like it was on fire again as his eyes made their way down my body. His eyes landed on mine once more and he gave me a soft smile. I watched as he made his way to his closet. He returned a few seconds later with a t-shirt that he helped me pull over my head. His rough hands, that were so gentle with me, caused shivers to run down my spine.

He rounded the bed and I stared at him, as he had done to me, while he got undressed, my eyes taking in his tattoos and solid, slender body.

He climbed into bed once he was in only his boxers and reached over to pull me to his chest. Once he had me where he wanted me, which was practically laying on top of him, I looked up into his eyes. He looked down at me with such a soft intensity that it felt like I couldn't breathe for a few seconds.

I reached up and ran my fingertips down his cheeks, feeling the stubble on his jaw. I noticed his breathing deepen at my touch.

God, he's so fucking perfect.

I really had missed him. Missed being close to him for longer than a five minute check in. I wanted to give myself time to heal, but maybe I could do that and still sometimes lose myself in him.

I don't know what possessed me, but I stretched up, placing my lips on his as my eyes closed. I put everything I was feeling into that kiss. His hand came to rest on my cheek as our tongues made contact.

Every time I kissed Negan, it felt new. Different. Exciting.

I slowly reached down and pushed his boxers down his thighs before sliding my leg over to his other side and pulling myself on top of him. His hard length pinned underneath me. Breaking the kiss for a moment, I sat up and met his eyes, his hands resting on my hip bones. He didn't say anything for once, just looked at me, which always said more than when he actually talked. I held his eyes as I used one hand to slide the black panties to the side and the other to position him at my entrance.

In that moment, everything he did imprinted in my brain. His breath sounded more like pants, his fingers gripped a little hard at my hips, his eyes held a desperation that made me slowly sink down on him. A whimper fell from my lips and Negan groaned.

I gave myself a minute to adjust to him before I pulled up until just the tip was inside and then lazily sank back down. I wanted this to last, so I carried on like that. Negan never hurried me, never said a word, just watched and let out a moan every time I dropped back down on him.

I felt the heat rising in my belly, could feel the muscles tensing. My head fell back and a moan fell from my lips as I picked up the pace, chasing the orgasm I knew was just within my reach.

Negan tensed underneath, letting out another loud groan, just as my climax hit in full force. My body started shaking and his name fell from my lips as I ground down on him, riding out the waves of pleasure that coursed through me as he filled me.

I slumped down on him and tried to catch my breath.

Holy fuck.

Negan was still quiet, his breathing shaky as he laid underneath me.

After a few minutes, I lifted my head up slowly to look at him, my hair falling around my face. His eyes met mine and that soft awe was back.

He wrapped me in his arms and kissed me softly on the lips again, before slowly pulling me off of him and settling into the bed next to him. I started to drift off immediately until I felt him get out of bed. I watched him disappear into the bathroom and returned a few moments later. He approached my side of the bed quietly.

And then my heart melted as he removed my panties and tenderly cleaned between my thighs. My eyes started closing again as I felt him get back into bed. He pulled me back to his chest and wrapped his arms around me tight, like he thought I might disappear if he didn't.

He buried his face in my hair, breathing in deeply.

I was just entering sleep when I heard him murmur into my hair, "You're fucking everything, Piper."