Sherry was half-running to the Factory Floor located near the centre of the Sanctuary. Today, Negan was holding some kind of meeting and from the setting, she knew it couldn't be good. The Factory Floor wasn't exactly the ideal place for Negan's meetings. Her head filled with memories of Dwight tied to a chair, being burned on one side of his face. A part of his skin melting off and falling down to the cement of the Factory Floor.

She closed her eyes willing the memory to leave her mind, wedge heels clinking against the cement. She was late. Negan wouldn't be happy with that, he liked all his wives in attendance to h-

Suddenly, she was pushed up against the wall. The random gesture breaking her thoughts. She shoved whomever it was away from her, but that was about as useful as pushing a brick wall. The man was tall and muscular and a face she didn't recognize.

"Hi there, I'm Todd." He was smiling at her in a way that made a chill run down her spine, "What's your name, beautiful?"

The shock of someone pushing her wore off quickly, even if she hadn't thought it would ever happen. She was one of Negan's wives after all. Messing with one of his wives was the greatest crime in the Sanctuary. She looked around them, not seeing anyone. Todd ran a hand down her arm, she grabbed his wrist trying to pull him off. No luck there.

"You don't want to do this." She warned, "You're new here, I can tell. You don't know the rules. If you turn around and walk away, I won't tell Negan. I promise."

Clearly, he wasn't listening. Such a stupid man, obviously he didn't know what would come if he continued.

"Where did this pretty number come from?" He pet a hand down her dress, she squirmed away, "I haven't seen any girls that look like you here."

"I wouldn't do this-" Sherry snapped.

He interrupted her, "Why don't we go back to my cot and get comfortable?"

"Stop, he will kill you if you don't."

"Who will? We've-"

Sherry jumped as Lucille hit the wall. Him.

Negan eyes were fiery with rage almost like she'd never seen before. Dwight, Joseph and a few other men were behind him. Guns drawn. Dwight looked over her face, made noticed of her frightened eyes and he gripped his gun a bit tighter. Todd's slimy hands left her body as he turned to Negan and the others with his hands up.

"Look you can have her once I'm done, I'm just trying to have a little fun." He said. Negan's eyebrows rose, he cocked his head and the boys grabbed Todd. Forcing him down onto his knees, Dwight holding a gun to his forehead.

"You've got to be joking." Negan's voice reeked of fury, "I'm walking out here wondering where my wife is, wondering why she's missing my important meeting and this is what I find?" Negan pushed his body in-between Sherry and the boys. "I mean to mack on one of the girls down below is stupid but to hit on one of my wives? Boy you just hit a whole ass load of no-no's."

Negan took his attention off of Todd for a second and turned to Sherry. He looked her over, took in her scared eyes.

"No need to be afraid, Sherry, I'm here now." He stroked a piece of her hair behind her ear, "Plus, husband saving his wife from creepy pants over here is kind of romantic isn't it?" He tilted her head up until their gazed her locked, any humor of the previous sentence dissolved from his eyes as they hardened again, "Tell me what he did."

"He's new. He doesn't know the rules-"

Now Negan's eyes were hard on her. He didn't like to ask twice, "Well then teacher's in session." His gloved hand cupped her chin softly, "Darlin', you can either tell me what he did or I can guess what he did. From his stupid ass proposal when we first walked up, I can assume basically everything. You, my dear, are not in trouble from your eyes I can tell what you would've said." Negan had to pause to take a deep breath, trying to hold down his anger, "Tell me what he did and I'll punish him for it."

Sherry stared at him for a few moments, she blinked and said, "He- he pushed me over here and suggested that I should have- have sex with him. I said 'no' and he w-wouldn't listen."

Negan nodded calmly but a muscle in his jaw was jumping, he kissed her forehead softly and turned back to Todd. Negan swung Lucille and hit Todd in the shoulder as he screamed in pain.

"Well, exchange that ass load to a whole eighteen-wheeler truck load of no-no's. Boys, take him to the Factory Floor. Chain him up tight. Since everyone is already gathered, I've got a new meeting in mind. Dwighty boy, get the furnace blazing." Negan turned back to Sherry, clutching her hand in his, "Ready for a show?"

.x.0.x.0.x.

The people of the Sanctuary immediately sank down to one knee as Negan entered the Factory Floor. Sherry at his side bile rising in her throat, heart racing. The people made a pathway for the married couple, a mix of fear and confusion on all of there faces, but all Sherry saw were blurred versions of Negan. When the pathway opened and they were in the middle, she saw Dwight with pain in his eyes as he stared at the fire in the furnace. The fire of it sent a chill down Sherry's spine, she knew what was coming.

Her attention left the flames and to Negan as he raised her hand to kiss her knuckles very softly, leaving his red scarf clutched in her hand, he said, "Make sure you have a great view." He let go of her hand at the outer ring of the circle, Sherry tried to control her breathing.

Negan stopped in front of crippling version of her harasser who was being held by two other men. Negan got in the first, second, third hit with Lucille before he stepped back, took a deep breath, and began to speak.

"Earlier, I had something else in mind for our weekly meeting. But now, oh now everything has changed," Silence. Only Negan's bubbling fury as he commanded the room, "New guy Todd here came up to my wife, backed her into a corner, tried to take her back to his scummy cot, and have sex with her." Sherry felt the burning holes of eyes on her back, she clutched the red scarf in her hand, feeling lightheaded. "My wife was saving 'no' wasn't she, Todd? Un-consented sex at that." Another swing with Lucille.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" Todd gasped, "I didn't know-" Negan jammed the head of Lucille into on of the bleeding spots on Todd's arm. A horrifying scream rang out around the silent crowd.

"I'm pretty sure rape is against the rules everywhere. I wouldn't want to be somewhere where it wasn't against the rules." Negan clenched and unclenched his naked hand a few times. "You know, if you're going to slap me across the face at least leave a mark."

"What Todd has reminded me is that I need to remind all of you," Negan's voiced started to raise in anger, no one took their eyes off him, "is that your job is to protect them." Negan motioned to all his wives standing behind him. A little spark in Sherry ignited, I don't need anyone's protection. Then, she remembered what happened just a few moments ago.

Negan continued, "In the event that this happens again, which I could go into why it shouldn't but your about to get an example of that, if you were walking by and someone had backed my wife into -" His rage got the better of him, he was gripping Lucille so hard his knuckles were white, "what would you do?" He faced his people. Sherry heard a few utter 'protect them'.

"Boys," Negan said, with an unspoken command they surrounded Todd and immediately started to beat him. Dwight seemed to beat him more viciously than the rest. Sweat ran down Sherry's back, feeling hot and cold. Negan walked around the circle, making sure everyone looked at the beating. He met the eyes of his wives last, placing his hands over his heart and then motioning them to Todd getting beaten up as if to say, I do this for you.

With one snap, the boys stopped. Dwight and David picked the bruised and bloodied version of Todd up, weeping he apologized several times. Poor guy, didn't realize what was yet to come was far worse because Negan walked up to him putting the head of Lucille underneath his chin to make him look him in the eye.

"I had plans for you, but in a messed up way I'm kinda grateful you showed me the person you really are. Saved me a lot of time."

Negan moved quickly, grabbing Todd's face in a headlock and forcing him back down onto his knees. Negan grabbed his face and pointed it towards Sherry, he yelled, "Apologize to my wife!"

"I'm… sorry…" It was hard to make out around his bruised mouth. But still, his agony was as clear as the fury in Negan's eyes.

"Louder! Make her believe it." Negan slapped Todd, "Make me believe it."

"I'm sorry!" He gasped, "I'm sorry."

"Do you forgive him?" Negan set his eyes on Sherry.

Sherry nodded, "Yes, I do." What Todd did to her, she would never forget. It would haunt her just as her other life experiences would. However, she'd never seen a punishment as bad as this one. On the other side, none of Negan's wives had ever been harassed like she'd just been.

Negan grinned at Sherry, letting Todd go, "Such a forgiving soul in her super hot body." He muttered, "You convinced her. This punishment convinced her." Negan motioned towards Dwight, who immediately picked up the iron. Negan took his time pulling on the large leather glove, "However, I have to make sure this never happens again. I appreciate the apology and you can think I'm a shitty guy, but," Negan grabbed the iron, "I have an message to send."

He walked back over to Todd, who didn't know what was coming but he still struggled to get away. A puddle of blood starting to soak his pants, he pleaded with Negan. Two boys grabbed Todd but the shoulders and held him into place.

"She forgives you," Negan grinned right in Todd's face, "but I don't." Negan pressed the fiery hot iron to his face and didn't release it. Sherry found herself looking at Dwight, who glanced her way then to the ground. Still, Negan held the iron to Todd's wailing form, skin melted off of his face and to the cement floor of the factory. The other wives covered their eyes, the people of the Sanctuary gasped or turned their heads, realizing this time was different.

Finally, Todd's body fell to the ground. Lifeless.

"Let this poor excuse for a man, be an example to all of you." Negan spoke to the shock of the room. He placed the iron calmly back on the end of the metal rod Dwight held. Negan picked Lucille back up and motioned Sherry forward with two fingers. She walked towards him, her legs heavy and cold. Her husband wrapped an arm around her shoulder and walked towards his bedroom.

.x.0.x.0.x.

Sherry's legs gave out just in time for her to sit on the couch. Her mind raced as fast as her heart, her breaths came out in pants. With clouded hearing, she heard Negan say "take a minute," before he walked over to the minibar and poured them drinks. He stayed a distance away from her, but she could feel his eyes scorching two holes into her head. Sherry took a deep breath, but it didn't seem to help as her vision started to fade.

She felt him pull the red scarf from her hand. A moment later there was something cold against the back of her neck, then it was against her cheek, and finally against her forehead. She moved her head, welcoming the cold that calmed her blazing skin. Sherry took another deep breath, her cloudy head slowly clearing.

"Good girl," Negan said, "In, out. In, out." Her mind was opening and she focusing on the new task at hand. She was in Negan's bedroom with the devil incarnate.

Looking him directly in the eye, her voice breaking she pleaded, "Kill me. I don't want to be here anymore, I don't want to work for you. Every inch, every crack, every pump of blood through my veins hates you. Being here is worse than being dead. Being your wife makes me hate myself. If you cared about me at all, you'd put me out of my misery and kill me."

His smile disappeared. He stared at her for a long time, several different emotions ranging in his eyes. Anger, betrayal, pain, disappointment.

"Sherry," He sighed, "I know it's been a tough day. I know you were scared today, but you don't have to be afraid anymore. You are my wife. I'll protect you. You know how to play the game and you know how to win, too. You've never been scared of me and don't start now. You're my feisty girl, that spark in you has kept you alive through everything. I'm sorry if you're pretty little head was scared, but I had to deal with that lowlife degenerate in a way that would ensure that it never happens again."

He ended up a few inches from her nose, they didn't break eye contact.

"As much as you try to deny it, call me sociopath and all that. I know I make your toes curl, make your heart race, make your lady parts go. If I didn't know any better I'd think you were scared." He whispered, voice guttural.

"I'm not afraid." Sherry snapped too quickly.

Negan grinned, "Good." He clutched her face in his hands, in a low voice he said, "Don't ever ask me to kill you again."

He leant down, moving the ice away from her forehead and kissed her. He was right. Her skin crawled as her toes curled. Desire and dread built in her stomach, which was more powerful she wasn't sure.

This was the side of Negan that confused her feelings. The Negan that was the loving, soft husband such a contradiction to what he was outside of these doors. However, the Negan outside of these doors, was a psychotic murderer. A ruler with an iron fist. God help her, something about that danger the very kingdom that he ruled over made her heart race. And he knew it.

"My mother warned me satan would be irresistible." From the smile on his face, she realized she said that out loud.

Negan stood, walking over to get their wine glasses, "I'd like you to relax for the night. Have some wine, take off your shoes, your dress too, if that makes you feel better. Relax, calm yourself down, forget about everything outside of that door and have a nice night."

Playing his game, she removed her shoes. Negan rose a single eyebrow as she stood up and walked over to him, keeping eye contact she grabbed the second wine glass from his hand. They cheers'd and took a sip. The wine did have an immediate affect on her, it calmed her senses and made her insides feel warm.

"If I relax," she stepped closer in the circle of his arms, "will you?" She angled her head up and his lips came down on hers softly enough for her crave more. She hated him. Still kissing him, she wrapped her hand around the end of Lucille and grabbed the baseball bat from his hand, Negan's lips stopped moving against hers. She knew what severing the two meant. Negan rarely let go of Lucille. Negan without Lucille was Negan without an eye or a leg. They were forged together like a heart bumping blood. Their eyes met, his an fierce warning and hers a determined promise.

"Well, there's my spunky Sherry." His intensity was gone in a blink as he leant back and looked her over, "I always fantasied about having two girls in bed with me. Never thought one would be wrapped in barbed wire but if you only want it between you and I, then so be it. Happy wife, happy life." Sherry place Lucille on the couch behind her and returned her hands to his body. There kisses growing more fervent.

Her hands betrayed her, saved her as they moved to unzip his leather jacket and pushed it off his shoulders. In response, he pulled her closer lips incessant on hers. She removed his black leather glove needing, hating, to feel his rough skin against hers. His free hands all over her body and she just wanted more.

"Do you want this with me tonight?" His kissed down her neck, licking her collarbone until it disappeared underneath her black dress. She grasped his head and forced their lips back together. She wanted to suffocate him, to undress him. She wanted to kill him, to kiss him until she forgot about who she was kissing and who she couldn't kiss. She pushed their bodies together and he made a sound low in his throat. Damn him.

"Sherry," That was not a moan. Answer me, it demanded.

"Yes."

After he heard the word he broke his lips from hers and grinned, "I can see someone's a little impatient, has it really been too long?"

"Shut up." She wrapped her arms around his head and pulled him back down to her.

Desire. Desire was more powerful.

"Are you wearing that lingerie I like?" He whispered in her ear, which made her shiver deliciously. She didn't really have an option here, the only underthings she was given when she became his wife were lacy, mesh fabrics that hardly hid anything.

He must've gotten the answer in her eyes he twirled a finger, motioning her to turn around. She did. His bare hands reached for her zipper and pulled it down. His hands made their way underneath her dress, up to her shoulders as he pushed the dress off until it fell to the floor around her ankles. She heard a growl deep in his throat, he approved.

After his eyeful, he turned her back around and looked over her body. His eyes were black with lust and she was impatient. The hole in her chest she tried to fill with distractions was opening up. That's what it always was these days. Since moving into the Sanctuary, since becoming Negan's wife. She had to dull the pain somehow, she had to feel something other than emptiness. Usually that resulted in drinking or cigarettes but today, her heart tethered on something different. So, she unbuckled Negan's belt and pushed his pants to the floor.

Negan must've felt her craving because laughed lowly, opening his arms to her. But it wasn't slow she wanted, she wanted him to kiss her until she forgot her own name. She pushed him down onto the couch, straddled his waist and wrapped a hand around his neck. Tight. She knew it was rough sex that Negan preferred and she'd give him what he wanted, if he gave it to her right back. And he would. She forced his mouth open, taking all her anger out on him. Forgetting about Dwight's pained eyes, about the murdering psychopath that she was kissing, forgetting all her conflicting feelings, forgetting about it all. She just felt. He pulled her hair hard, she scratched his back tearing the skin, he tore her underthings off, and she rubbed their bear sex against each other.

Negan bruised her lips with the force of his, he picked her up and walked her over to the bed. She ended up on top, just like he liked. She moaned and he growled as he entered her, only waiting for her to adjust for a moment before she couldn't take it. They both didn't want slow. He slapped her and she grinned, he bit her nipples and she laughed, he fucked her hard and she thanked him for it. They weren't two beings, they were just animals clawing at each other, using each other as objects, using each other to numb the pain. He was right, it had been too long, they both needed their drugs.

Thanks for reading!