Disclaimer: AMC owns the story and characters of The Walking Dead, but not this plot that has gone on for a clearly long time.

Author's note: this is the last pre-written chapter I've got for a while, my job sucks and I have one day off every week, however I'm not abandoning this story. I'm gonna see it all through. Love y'all.

••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• •••

Six days

Tory brushed Vera's hair once again before, right before starting to braid it out of her friend's face. Vera was more than capable of braiding her own hair, but her arms tired easily these days and Tory was perfectly okay with the task of helping Vera.

"There's something in your mind, Tory," her friend admonished softly. "I know you want to tell me, so come on. We're alone here,"

The grey-eyed young woman smiled, knowing Vera was watching her reflection in the mirror.

"I talked to Roy yesterday. I told him about the Tootsie," Vera grimaced at the code-name Tory had decided for her baby until she told Negan, that is if she ever did.

"So, you've told your father about 'Tootsie', but not Negan?" Tory flinched at the biting tone that Vera couldn't keep out of her voice. "I'm sorry, Tory, it's just so unfair,"

"I know, Gabriel mentioned something like that too. And Roy was useful for once in his life…" Tory tied the first braid with a ribbon and proceeded to gather more hair as she spoke. "He told me I should test the ground with Negan before I decided anything, and I think he has it right,"

Both women were silent as the braiding continued.

"What did you plan then?" Vera asked, wanting to know if it was something attainable. "And well…do you think you can actually test him?"

Tory grimaced slightly and shrugged.

"I can certainly try…I'm going to ask Negan to marry me. Like, really marry me, like-"

Vera felt her eyes open wide as she interrupted her friend, "Like me and Chase? Married for real?"

The pink was unmistakable in Tory's cheeks as she nodded.

"Is not that I don't believe I can be a great single mom or anything archaic like having a baby out of marriage makes them a bastard, that is stupid, even more now," Tory reasoned. "I just…I love him, and I know I told him that, but I want more than…I know I can share, but I want something more than that,"

"When are you going to ask him?"

"Tonight, they are going to leave for Hilltop tomorrow, I want him to have time to think about it."

••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• •••

Negan smiled as Tory approached him in the courtyard, eyeing the car he himself had examined a few minutes before. It wasn't easy to see in the dim light, and the car itself was dark.

The outing he'd planned for tomorrow was important and he wanted to make an entrance, some late planning had been in order and Negan did want to see his soulmate, only she came to him.

He wouldn't complain.

"I always liked fast cars," Tory mentioned offhandedly as he put an arm over her shoulders. "This is a good one, Mr. Oats always wanted a car like this, is it an Avenger?"

"Mr. Oats?" Negan arched a brow in question after nodding Tory's right assertion.

"Henry's dad," Tory supplied.

Negan grimaced, being reminded of his earliest competition, a dead kid who knew his soulmate better than himself.

"Lucille liked fast cars, and bikes," he reminisced.

An appreciative sound left Tory's throat, and she left his side to walk around the vehicle. Her hands caressing the bodywork reverently. Negan followed her until she stopped by the trunk; turning her back to the car, she smiled at him with an unreadable look.

"Anything you wanted to talk about, Gorgeous?" his curiosity was peaked, but Negan could wait, he had come to understand that Tory gave everything away if asked the right way and given the appropriate time to answer.

"Yes, there are a couple things. I'm sorry for trying to stop you the other day," Oh, the Gabriel thing.

"Apology accepted, darlin'," Negan conceded, knowing that Tory did care about the people she tended to. "I just couldn't let it slide,"

"I know," she sighed and Negan closed the distance between them, before placing Lucille over the trunk of the car with the utmost care. Sure, Lucille was clean now, but he wasn't taking any risks with Tory. His hands fell to her shoulders and then caressed their way to her neck, appreciative of the trembling he felt when his warm skin touched her cooler one.

Tory smiled softly and stretched herself on her tiptoes to throw her arms around Negan's neck as he leaned in to kiss her. The kiss started soft, merely lips connecting with lips. His soulmate smelled sweet, of soap and recently baked bread, with a little tinge of disinfectant that he ignored in favor of her own warm scent. His tongue slid over her lips and Tory opened her mouth, eager and enthusiastic as Negan held her face close to his.

An idea occurred to him and a wicked smile interrupted their kiss.

"Can you be quiet, Gorgeous?" he asked with a conspiratorial tone and a smug look at the dazed expression in her face.

"You know I can, Negan," she answered, playing with the hair in the back of his head, sending pleasurable tingles down his back.

A full grin took over Negan's lips as he leaned into Tory, leaving no space between them, his mouth close to her ear.

"I want to bend you over the hood of this fucking car and fuck you so fucking hard I'll have to carry you back to our room, Gorgeous," he growled softly. Immediately, he noticed the hitch in her breath and the delicious way her body trembled against his.

"Please, please, yes," she agreed eagerly.

Happy to have her consent, Negan half dragged half walked Tory to the front of the car and turned her around in his arms, holding her to him first, back to chest.

"Rules, Gorgeous. No talking until I'm done," he waited for her to nod. "That's my good girl, now, hands on the hood,"

Tory obeyed promptly and planted her hands firmly over the dark hood of the car. If Negan had known for sure they wouldn't be seen, his idea might have been a lot more sinful.

"God, I fucking adore your legs on heels," he growled, peppering kisses along her neck, then her spine, as his hands moved between her thighs, parting her legs, basking in the softness of her skin against his rough hands. Negan could hear the tiny whimpers Tory was trying to muffle, no doubt biting her lower lip as he dragged her underwear to her knees.

"Don't let them fall, okay?"

Tory hummed and he took it for a 'yes'.

His fingers skimmed the skin of Tory's thighs until Negan reached her mons, making her shiver in anticipation.

"Quiet, darlin'," he reminded her, as the fingers of his left hand parted her folds, and good God, she was already wet enough to make him groan. "You're so ready, is that for me?" Tory nodded frantically, answering with an enthusiastic thrust of her hips. Negan could barely hold a chuckle. Soft, pliant and wet, just as he liked her, just as he wanted her. With his free hand, Negan unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants, freeing his cock, taking only a couple seconds bunching up the skirt of his wife's dress.

"Fuck! You're tight," Negan muttered as Tory hissed, letting her head fall forward at his first, hard thrust. He held her waist to him, noticing her middle was a bit fuller, but he ignored that in favor of pulling out and bottoming in inside her, earning himself another quiet whimper when his fingers found her clit and tugged softly. "It'll be fast, Gorgeous," he growled as his rhythm picked up.

Tory thrust back against him, robbing him a strangled groan.

"Negan," she whispered with a breathy shudder.

"Oh, Gorgeous," He growled low, pulling her to him, thrusting up into her body, closing his left hand around her throat with a soft squeeze. "We said no talking,"

She answered by clamping hard onto his shaft, pushing him over the edge.

"Not fair, Tory," he hissed, pulling out of her body, enjoying how she shivered between his arms.

"It was fantastic, and my knees feel weak, thank you," she sassed him. "Will you carry me up?"

Negan never did carry her up to the room, but he made up for his unkept promise by fucking Tory onto his bed; however, this time they were properly naked.

They hadn't had much time to exchange words other than orders -his- and pleas -hers-; and now, Tory lay on her stomach, too tired to move, but alert despite how tired she felt. Negan was combing his fingers through her hair, helping her relax in the silence.

It was now or never.

"Negan," she whispered.

"Hmm?" he didn't speak, too busy planting little kisses down her back.

"I want you to be my husband," Tory whispered, suppressing a flinch at how weak she sounded.

"I am your husband, Gorgeous," he declared against her skin. If Negan had seen her face, he wouldn't have smiled against her back.

"Yeah, but you're also Tanya's, Frankie's, Amber's, Cecelia's," Tory stopped and bit her tongue, trying not to snort. "I want you to be my husband for real,"

Her soulmate stopped and Tory immediately missed his warmth when he got out of the bed. She turned to him, ignoring her sore body to watch him.

"What do you mean, Victoria?" he asked, his voice practically icy in contrast with how he'd just spoken to her. "You want me to…what? Marry you?" Tory felt her chest constrict at his mocking words. "You may have deluded yourself thinking that you love me, Victoria, but make no mistake, it's not mutual," his eyes were hard and his expression unforgiving.

She nodded, feeling suddenly empty. Tory knew Negan could be extremely cruel, but this? Throwing her feelings back on her face? Whatever she'd thought she could accomplish was a monumental mistake. There was space for a bit of surprise inside her, despite the all-encompassing hurt, surprise at her dry eyes and clear throat; and Tory wondered if maybe she was in shock.

It was completely possible.

"I think I'll go sleep in Martha's old room," Tory said. "I'm sorry for…" what could be the adequate word for what had just happened? They were in different places and that was it. "I'm sorry for overstepping,"

Negan turned his back on her and slammed the door to his bathroom, leaving her alone in the bedroom. Without delay, despite the sluggish movements of her body, Tory donned her black dress once again, taking her shoes with her. Suddenly, the warm night seemed chilly to her and Tory ran to the vacant room, it was warm and quiet, so, Tory cleaned herself as best as she could, considering burning the dress as she got into bed.

"Tomorrow," she thought, "I'll berate myself for my stupidity, tomorrow."

••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• •••

Five days

Come morning, Negan had barely gotten one wink of sleep.

He'd gone into the bathroom to calm down after the nuclear bomb Tory had dropped on him. He'd felt like an asshole immediately, but he didn't want to say some other hurtful shit. Negan had been too slow, though, because whatever Tory interpreted of his very direct words, it had made her run away from him, as she'd suggested.

When he'd come back into the empty room, his first instinct had been to go get her back, but Negan knew he couldn't convince her unless he told her he loved her back or that he would marry her. And he wasn't going to do any of those.

He'd expected to see her at breakfast, but neither her nor Lucas were in the dining area when he came in. Martha was however, and she had a nasty look in her eye, directed at him.

Thankfully, Arat came up to him to tell him Dwight had come back during the night and that Tory had already patched him up.

"He's in his room, I suppose?"

"Yes, sir," his lieutenant answered. "Need anything else?"

Negan shook his head.

Dwight was indeed in his room, and he took the offered beers without a hitch.

"Gotta say is damn good to have you back," he entered the dimly lit room. "Need my top guys up and front, acing that shit,"

Dwight gave him a stiff nod. "Thanks,"

A grin came up to Negan's lips as he winked at the blond man.

"Have yourself a close call out here,"

Dwight nodded again, this time with an apprehensive frown. "Got ambushed, took this," he gestured to the bandage in his arm. "then walked away, well, got to the wood 'nd kept going, headed towards the Hilltop, but our people had it all business in order,"

His narrowed eyes and tense jaw didn't intimidate Dwight, but Negan wasn't completely convinced, maybe Simon…no, Chase could keep an eye on this one.

"Good job," he conceded. "Grab a beer, get decent and take your ass downstairs, we got work."

Down in the courtyard, Negan felt satisfaction rise inside him when he noticed that his people had done as they were told, gutting all the dead ones tied to the fence, drenched their weapon with their blood.

Simon instructed them once again.

"We're tryin' to scare this people, no headshots, only flesh wounds, don't kill them, hurt them and let them turn,"

Everyone got into their transports, neat and fast, like a well-oiled machine. Once the caravan was a single line, Negan advanced onto the car, vanishing thoughts of his encounter with Tory as he dipped Lucille into the bucket filled with stinking blood and guts.

The shiny, dark red that covered Lucille glinted under the sunlight, making him smile.

"You look beautiful, baby."

••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• •••

It was unexpected.

The hit didn't exactly hurt, and even though his neck burnt like a bitch, Negan turned the wheel expertly, barely avoiding collision with a solid-looking building.

The damn sirens couldn't be anyone else but Rick's idea.

Negan didn't expect the second crash either.

It was blurry and all his body was sore, the sound of gunshots did end up waking him fully, as he avoided the bullets thanks to the density of the car, which wasn't much.

Pulling himself out through the sunroof was genius, right until fucking Rick Grimes saw him and shoot him again.

The leader of the Saviors took his chance and ran into the closest building, pushing the door and hiding behind the wall to the left immediately. Rick's run gave him away, but the damn idiot skidded over the dusty floor and avoided another direct hit with Lucille.

The shooting started again and Negan ran to the hallway, it was dark, yeah, but at least Rick couldn't follow him so easy.

The stairs he climbed were rickety and creaked under his weight, but at least he had an advantage the moment Rick ran out of bullets.

"Hey, Prick," he greeted with a chuckle. "You're out of bullets, come on up" Rick immediately frowned, disregarding his words, advancing with a murderous intent and throwing a fucking hatchet at Negan!

Negan jumped out of reach, but missed a step and fell on the frail rail, breaking it. He stopped the fall with his hands, letting go of Lucille.

He called her, and faintly heard the wood hitting concrete. He had no time to worry about it, though, because Rick was already advancing on him with his motherfucking hatchet, no doubt trying to cut his fingers off, the monumental prick.

"You asshole," Negan spat as he let go of the floor, not sure what would break his fall two stories down, in the dark.

••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• •••

Tory gasped as pain ran up her left leg, and Lucas kept her up. She was glad for his presence.

"Something's wrong, Lucas. I can feel it," she said hoarsely.

"Nothing we can do now, California," he stated, hugging her softly, worried about the whole situation, but completely powerless about it.

"We could go get Negan out of whatever he is going through," she suggested.

"Let me be the brain now, Cali. Think about your Peanut, okay?"

••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• •••

Negan had regained consciousness because his leg hurt like a bitch. He felt some cuts in his face and his right wrist was bothering him too.

He pushed his pain to the back of his mind, and then literally pushed himself up, over the fallen pieces of the floor that had been his landing place. His back was going to bruise so fucking hard.

Footsteps alerted him of Rick's presence and feeling brave, Negan started to whistle his defining tune.

Then stopped when his lungs protested.

"You still alive?" Rick's voice echoed in the…basement?

"I'm a goddamned cat," he sassed, while his hands felt the ground, looking for Lucille. "Come on, baby, where are you?" he whispered softly. Walkers started falling from the hole in the ceiling and Negan decided to stand up.

"So, where's your people?" Rick taunted. "They should be here by now,"

"Oh, they are coming," Negan shot back.

"This is where you die," Rick assured him. "In the dark, all alone,"

That hurt.

Rick was right, if Negan died in this decrepit fucking place, he'd be alone for the rest of his days, possibly a biter. And his soul would never rest. He'd never see Lucille or Elle again…and… she would be broken; she'd said so herself. Beyond repair.

"What's your problem, Rick? Huh?" he asked out loud. "I mean, I know you're working through some shit, the worst kind of shit, but if you aren't the most stubborn motherfucker I've ever crossed dicks with," the steps came closer. "Why didn't you just let me save you, Rick? I'm good at it, I saved everybody in the Sanctuary, the outpost, Hilltop, the Kingdom. I saved them all, their kids? They were safe, they didn't lose one after we took over," silence answered him. "All those people were just fine before Rick Grimes!"

Rick didn't answer him for a while, not even when he mentioned Carl.

A plan formed in his head, it wasn't very well thought, Negan knew, because adrenaline was coursing through his whole body to stifle the pain and keep him alive. He started throwing numbers and names.

He offered Rick his life.

But -and it would take years for Negan to accept it- Rick had the upper hand on him.

"Why should I trust any deal of yours after what you did to Jadis' people?"

What?

"The hell are you talkin' about?" he asked.

"The scavengers, you killed them, all of them!" Negan shut his eyes, understanding dawning on him immediately. "The whole community, just wiped out,"

Anger didn't start to describe what Negan felt in that moment, all-consuming hatred, maybe. He'd considered forgiving Simon after Tory told him to keep a close eye on him, despite the attempt on her life. This…this he would not let slip.

"Is that how you save people?" Rick mocked.

"Son of a bitch," he hissed, devising how to skin Simon without actually killing him as Rick kept talking.

Then Rick said something that caught Negan's attention.

"Sooner or later you were gonna meet someone like me. You can't save me, or my people, or even yours, because you don't care," Negan did care. Maybe a little bit too much. "You use people, to bring you food, to sleep with you,"

Not everyone.

Not Lucille.

Not Elle.

Not even Tory.

They had seen the good in him, the parts that were private. The ones he kept hidden as weakness.

"…no, I'll make you a deal, I'll let you kiss her goodbye,"

Lucille.

"Don't you touch her!" he shouted, before taking off in the dark.

"Then come get 'er," Grimes spat.

Negan followed the noise, the wood on wood ring that he so loved to hear. Ire rose in his chest when he saw his girl on fire, and in Rick's hands.

So, he tackled the prick through the door, uncaring of the dead as he fought and Rick set the dead ones on fire. Some tried to take Negan, and he felt grateful for having lifted Tory's knife from her possessions. She didn't need it as much as him, not in this moment. Negan got rid of his dead burden in a few seconds, the knife was sharp, indeed.

"You goddamned psychopath, you're gonna kill us both,"

"At least you'll be first," Rick spat sardonically.

Rick wasn't expecting to be thrown to the ground again, and Negan took the chance to grab Lucille again, relishing in the solid wood inside his hand.

The good ol' sheriff took his hatchet again and tried to bury it inside Negan's skull. They were fighting each other and the dead.

It was cowardly, but Negan preferred not to die in a decrepit building if he could avoid it. When he saw the sliver of natural light, he threw a dead one against the wood. It gave in easily. Rick tried to grab his leg and Negan kicked him with his other before pushing himself out of the stinking, flaming room.

Of course, he wasn't expecting the blow to the head as soon as he was out.

••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• •••

His head was throbbing painfully, and the light in his eyes didn't help, so Negan shut them hard for a few seconds, unable to stop the low moan of pain that escaped between his lips.

He was moving.

No.

He was being moved, inside a car.

Negan turned to look at his right to see the driver.

Damn right, a gun was at his temple and if it wasn't Miss Leader of the Trash People at the wheel!

He chuckled pitifully at the insanity.

This day couldn't get worse, could it?

"Well, shit," he sighed. Jadis grimaced and gave him a sideways glance full of hatred before she hissed.

"Shut up."

Being hit with the butt of a gun into submission was a bitch.

••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• •••