Fork in the Road

It had been so long since this all began and yet, when it counted, when the nights were long and the nights were cold, all Lucille longed for where her husband's arms. To be held close to his chest where she was safe. Negan would have been able to keep her safe from anything that came their way, she was so sure of it. He would have taken charge and done anything he deemed necessary to keep the two of them safe because that was just the type of guy he was. He was all about their little family and had even relented when she had begged and begged him to let her get a chihuahua. He'd rolled his eyes and laughed at her when she squealed in excitement.

Shaking her head at the thought, Lucille curled even tighter around herself. She didn't dare so much as blink, her eyes trained on a little patch of grass in the mud. Michonne was to her left, Rosita to the right. Someone was saying... something but she couldn't focus on the words. She couldn't focus on anything other than the way her heart was racing.

One of them was going to die tonight and there was no saying who it would be. Lucille was terrified, she didn't want to lose anyone else and yet it appeared that she had no choice at all. She hoped, above all, that it wouldn't be Maggie. She was pregnant and she had already lost so much that she hoped it wouldn't be Glenn either. For her own selfish reasons, she hoped that it wouldn't be the man on the other side of Michonne. Abraham reminded her of Negan, he was harsh and rough around the edges but he meant well.

"Let's meet the man.."

It seemed like there was a collective inhale as each person in the lineup prepared themselves as much as humanly possible for what was coming next. We had heard about Negan, a man in charge of the Saviors, but Lucille had never heard the name before and so she had no clue what was coming.

"Pissing our pants yet?"

The four words that made her stomach drop even deeper than it already had. Lucille swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and tried to bend forward further. No, no, no. That voice, she would know it anywhere and yet there was no way that it was her Negan. Not from all the stories she had heard of how cruel this man could be.

Since the word had turned to shit, it had hardened James Negan more than he ever had been before. To being with, the obvious. There were fucking zombies. People were barley clinging to their lives. It was a struggle most of the time to find food, water, and shelter. It was hard enough to find people to trust—those who were not going to drain you try, kill you, or scheme behind your back. And then there Lucille.

Lucille had been his world. He promised and vowed that he would be there until they day he died—which he had upheld halfway. To Negan, the day they had gotten separated was the day he died. That day was when every ounce of generosity the man had drifted away. Unless you had something to offer him, were useful or beneficial in any way, he really didn’t five a shit.

So here he was. Faced with the decision of which life to claim from a group who had killed a few of his on. An eye for an eye was always fair. And fairness should always be upheld. Negan generally tried to give most people the benefit of the doubt—out of fairness, of course.

Negan stood in the ugly, misshapen semi-circle of knelt bodies. An eerie grin was plastered on his face. To some this was the sad part, but to James Negan this was fulfilling. Knowing that justice was being served to those who had crossed or wronged him—simply enthralling.

He lazily swung his bat around, taunting and mumbling to the bodies knelt in from of him. He who holds the power. “So which one will it be?” He commented, stopping to point his bat at one of the men. “Nah,” he chuckled, “Not so fast, why don’t we all get acquainted?”

He smirked as he stopped in front of a dark haired woman, one of the only ones in the group who had refused to look upon his gaze. This one must be a good one to keep. “What’s the matter, sweetheart? Not ready to look at your maker? Go ahead, lemme see your face.”

The man that had tormenting the group began to tell them about the bat that he swung around and then he let out a twisted sort of grin - told them her name and that admission was enough to send Lucille over the end. She hiccuped back a sob and Rosita, beside her, looked to her long time friend with a frown.

When Lucille and Negan had been separated, she had happened upon a group that Rosita was in. They had all been skeptical, hesitant to trust each other but through time, Lucille was treated as one of their own. Rosita and Lucille were quick to befriend each other, both resided in each other about the secrets that lurked in the dark, that kept them up at night.

Rosita jerked at the sound let out by Lucille and looked down with a raised eyebrow but didn't dare open her mouth to speak. Lucille could only offer the smallest of head shakes. What was there even to say?

Lucille had been so distracted by the way her heart was pounding, the way her chest was tightening, the way it was getting hard to breath. Negan was standing in front of her and she stilled herself, halted her breathing in hopes that if she didn't react, didn't so much as blink that he would move on and she would never have to see Negan kill one of her family members. He couldn't. These people were her family now, surely he wouldn't.

Drawing in a deep breath, Lucille willed away the nerves as she slowly lifted her head. Tears had clouded her vision and so all she could see were colours and the general outline of Negan standing in front of her but she couldn't make out the features of the man she had once loved.

"Estas personas son mi familia," Lucille started, her mind racing with the potential to get out of this. To save the people on their knees because they had saved her in more ways than one.

Would Negan even remember the spanish that she had taught him? Would he care? He wasn't the man that she had known, that much was clear.

She wasn’t real, Negan kept repeating in his head. He had presumed the worst when he couldn’t find his wife after almost three weeks of non-stop searching for her. She was dead. She had to be. This wasn’t her knelt in front of him, his bat pointed towards her. He shook his head, the vindictive smirk still never falling from his face. He had to keep up his outward appearance in front of his group. He was the leader. He couldn’t dare falter his presence. Even if he was standing menacingly in front of his wife. His fingers gripped the bat tighter as he continued to look at her, the disbelief not showing through to his face.

Negan took a small step back, his head tilting to the side as he raised his eyebrows at her words. Family? he scoffed to himself. He was her family. He was all she had and all she should be worried about at that moment. He wanted nothing more than to scoop the girl up of the ground. Such a beautiful woman didn’t deserve to be knelt before him on the filthy ground—unless it was different circumstances….

“Estaba su familia,” he all but spat back. “Tomaron la familia que tenía, ¿qué esperas que haga?”

He allowed his bat to drop slackly against his side. He shook his head as he eyed her, “What do you want me to do Lucy?”

One of his men spoke up, “You know the bitch?”

Negan looked back, “Shut the hell up. Did I ask you to pipe up with the fucking commentary?”

Rosita seemed to pick up on the fact that this was something more than two people who didn't know each other going back and forth, with the way her eyes kept darting back and forth between Lucille and Negan. Lucille was as still as day, staring up at Negan with baited breath.

It wasn't until the bat hung at Negan's side that Lucille thought there was hope and she relaxed, if only slightly before one of Negan's men spoke up. Her eyes shot to the man and her eyes narrowed, the muscles in her legs twitching, practically begging to go show him exactly how much of a bitch she could be. If he thought this was bad? Oh, Negan could tell him bedtime stories to keep him up all night long.

When Negan turned back to face her, Lucille's shoulders were set. She was a determined woman, that much had to be completely obvious to anyone that witnessed the scene taking place.

"Tres. Maté a tres," an admission to guilt that Lucille wondered about offering but she saw no other way to get them all out of this safe and sound. Would it work? There was a ball of doubt curled into the pit of her stomach but she had spoken, going out on a limb before she could think too much and stop herself.

"You want to kill one of us? You kill me, papi," Lucille's words were carefully void of emotion. She had chosen to speak in English this time around so everyone would know exactly what she had asked of him. There would be no guessing. She straightened a bit and tilted her head further so that she could get a better look at him. With a raised eyebrow, Lucille tilted her head to the side.

"Well?"

Red. Red is what Negan saw. His stomach twisted in a way he hadn’t experienced in a while when that pet name flowed from her perfect lips. Negan all but threw his head back, a sullen laugh escaping from his lips as he turned away from her. “God dammit Lucy.” He growled. What was he meant to do? Kill his wife? That is sure as hell what his new found rulings would say. It didn’t matter who she was to him anymore. Technically she had killed his family. More like his peons, but all in the same. He wanted nothing more than to yell at her, show her who he was now… But the part of him that belonged to her was slowly starting to emerge once more.

Negan turned around again to face her. Walking closer to her this time. He dropped quickly into a crouch, leveling his eye sight with hers. A smile tugged at his lips. Her eyes were still the same. Beautiful, soft and round. Full of vengeance and courage and concern. He wanted to lean in and press his lips to hers. Tangle his hand in her hair as he did so. But that would show weakness. And that wasn’t something that James Negan portrayed very much these days.

“It should be you who goes then, isn’t it princesa?” He whispered quietly to her. The fact of the matter was he couldn’t do that. “Voy a tener que volver a ese R.V. y necesitamos tener una pequeña conversación."

He stood up, grasping her bicep as he did so in order to help her to her feet. "Come on," he mumbled.

Lucille's breath hitched as Negan walked toward and she felt a now unfamiliar feeling, her stomach filling with butterflies. But where they good? She wasn't so sure, not with the way he seemed almost aggravated by her presence. She swallowed against the dryness that overtook her mouth. She tested her tongue over her lips and was sorely disappointed by the result.

Oh. That nickname sent her heart raising because she had longed for it for so long and then, there was venom that was practically dripping from his words. Her eyes flicked downward and her attention was drawn to an oddly clean spot on his boots, out of place, that she focused her attention on.

A nod of her head was all that she could offer before Negan was lifting her to her feet and she dug her heels into the mud where her feet were long enough to give Rosita's shoulder a squeeze. Please don't worry too much.

The moment that the RV's door shut behind them, Lucille spun around and backed away from Negan. Her eyes were wide as she took in the sight of her husband for the first time in nearly two years. She wanted nothing more than to rush forward and wrap herself in his arms, her fingers twitched with the need and yet she didn't budge.

"You're supposed to be dead," Lucille finally spoke to break the silence, her eyes trained on Negan's. "These people have kept me as sane as possible - these people have saved my life time and time again. You can't hurt them."

“No, Lucy you are supposed to be dead,” He countered. He let his trusty bat fall to the floor with a thump. He leaned up against one of the counters, looking her up and down. Not much had changed about the woman besides she had dropped weight—much like they all did. He felt like her eyes were burning holes into his body. He ran a hand over his face. “I looked for you for weeks, Lucille. Week’s.”

Negan closed his eyes as she began to go on about how he couldn’t kill one of the people who were sitting out in the dirt. “So what on earth do you want me to do, Luce? Just pretend that everything is a-oh-fucking-kay?” He breathed out. “I can’t do that sweetheart, you know I can’t.”

She remained silent, still staring at him. It was hard for him not to realize she didn’t know how he had become. Lucille didn’t know the rules. She didn’t know that justice needed to reign. She didn’t know that fairness needed to be uphold. She didn’t know that he had to lead by example. It wasn’t a “do as I say not as I do” world anymore. You did what he said and did what he did or you were done.

“Lucy,” He mumbled quietly. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to take a life that night. He couldn’t hurt her. Not like that. “Lucy what do you want me to do?”

Lucille had been calm or was at least trying to be calm but then he was speaking and that infamous anger was sparked as her bland stare turned into a angry glare. "Are you trying to play this like I didn't look for you? I didn't fuckin' sleep for weeks until I stumbled upon Rosita's group!" She countered, taking a step forward, her hands balling into fists at her sides. She had grown into an angrier woman, sure, but she would never take a swing at Negan. Not if there was a gun held to her head.

She closed her eyes, leaning against the cabinets where she began to slide down them. Lucille came to a seat opposite of him where she looked up to him with a small frown. "These people are honest people, papi. Rick, he lost his wife and his best friend... he's watched us lose more people than I care to admit and he's just doing what he thinks is best to keep everyone safe. Glenn, he's all that Maggie has left. She's lost her sisters and her father and she's pregnant. You can't take her baby's father from her because what if Maggie doesn't survive?" Lucille rambled on and on about each of the members of her group that knelt on the ground outside.

"Abraham, he reminds me so much of you... he's been my rock through the whole thing. When I needed someone to be strong, it was always him. And before you go getting jealous for no reason, nothing has ever happened between us." Lucille rushed the comment, knowing full well how her husband could be jealous over the smallest of things and she was sure this would only be worse considering circumstances.

Leaning her head back against the counter, Lucille looked up to Negan with a small frown. "I want you to be the man that I married. The man that didn't give two fucking sorry shits about what other people thought. Or has the end of the damned world turned you into a softie?"

To say the least, Negan was torn. His wife--who had at one point been his entire world--was all but pleading the man to not hurt these people. On the other hand, he had a group of men and woman outside who turned and looked at him for everything. He had taught these people that there were rules, regulations, things to be upheld. Why change the rules all of a sudden?

"Don't say that," he snapped. "I haven't gone soft, princesa. I have learned to adapt and fucking survive this awful world. I lead by example with all of those people who are standing out there right now."

Negan could see the disappointment in her eyes. What was the man to do? He scratched his beard and then ran a hand through his hair, his mind racking his brain for a way out of this. "The only reasonable thing I can see to do here is your people need to follow the chain of command." He sighed as he closed his eyes. "In other words, they need to listen to everything I say. Jump when I say jump, but preface it with a how high."

James Negan was about to do the unthinkable. He was going to go out there and tell the saviours they would not be proceeding through with the nights events. The order would not be upheld. "Things have changed, Lucy. I have changed. If this is going to work you need to get those people out there to follow suit and step in line. You think you can do that?"

Negan was more than hoping she would. Not only for the fact that he needed to keep up a good face, but because he would more than love to have his wife around again. He walked over and knelt down towards her, his hand reaching out to gently stroke her cheek. "I'm gonna need your help if this is how you want it done."

Lucille drew in a shaky breath when Negan went on about how he had an answer that made sense but then he explained what it was and her eyes were narrowing as she shook her head ever so slowly. "Rick doesn't follow people very well." It was true, there was no sense in arguing when she knew that if they walked right outside and demanded Rick do anything asked of him, that nothing would have been accomplished.

She listened as he spoke and could only shrug her shoulders in response when he pressed for a more solid answer. What was there to say? That she wanted so badly to tell him to just do whatever the hell he needed to do but those people were her family. They had fought beside her time and time again, they had kept her safe. They had fed her, made sure she was safe when she slept. Everything that she could have ever asked of anyone. And more.

Before Lucille could form an answer, Negan was kneeling in front of her and for the briefest of moments, she let herself lean into his touch, let herself enjoy the moment.

"They won't bother you, I can promise you that. I can't... I can't promise you that they will follow any order given. That's not who they are," she tried to reason, a frown deepening on her features.

"Can't we figure something out, papi? I'll come with you and they will live their lives. You, er, we will live ours," Lucille started, only to stop with a frown forming on her lips. "Not everything has to be violence and anger and whatever else you've grown accustomed to and besides, can't we try? If they step out of line, you can step in but I would like to think you'd give my family a second chance."

Negan shook his head softly for a brief moment as he got back on to his feet. It was obvious that his wife had kept her positive outlook on everything. Negan? Not so much. These days the man had grown to be more of a pessimist than anything. He figured anyone who was in their right mind would follow suit. He looked down at her, extending his hand to help her up. He pulled her to him for a moment, relishing the feeling of her being in his arms. Maybe there was something he could try and work out…

Negan could see that whatever choice he was going to make would affect his wife tremendously. He knew she had to have been to hell and back again just as he had. The ball was in his court and to be quite honest he didn’t know if he would be able to bare losing his wife for a second time. The first time had lasted far too long. Because of that he wanted to rectify the situation. But he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. If Negan couldn’t be in control, was there really any point in trying to compromise?

He pressed his lips to her forehead for a fleeting moment as he tried to show her he was waving a white flag. He sighed, releasing her from his grasp. “You go bring me whoever is in charge of them and bring them back in here so we can get down to business. We’ll try and figure something out…” he sighed. “But realize, I am doing this for you, princesa, not for them by any means.”

Lucille remained stiff in Negan's arms despite wanting nothing more than to wrap her arms around his waist and stay like that forever. She had longed for this moment for so long but now that it was here, she wasn't so sure what she was supposed to even do. There was a certainly sense of loyalty to Rick's group because they had been her family for so long and they had looked out for her time and time again, made sure there was food in her stomach ad a relatively safe place to lay her head on. But here, she stood in front of her husband. The man she had pledged her life to, the man who had given her the ring that was still on her finger. The one she swore she would never take off.

With a nod of her head, Lucille offered a slight smile as she turned and made her way to the RV's door. She pushed it open and climbed out, her hand still lingering on the door as she looked to Rick and back to Rosita. "Rick, come. Negan wants to talk to you," she called, trying her best to keep her voice as steady as she humanly could. Her gaze flickered to Rosita and she could only think of one thing to hopefully ease her worry. "Marido," she called, cocking her head to the side as she motioned toward the RV with her head.

Turning around, Lucille headed back into the RV. She slipped onto the couch, her attention turning to her hands in her lap. She began to play with the engagement ring, twisting it around and around on her ring finger. "Ser amable, papi. Por favor," she whispered as she lifted her gaze to meet Negan's as Rick stepped through the doorway.

Lucille felt her stomach twisting into a knot as she glanced to Rick. "Please. Please have an open mind."

“Well, first things first.” Negan started. He was trying to be as collected as possible, even though his brain was spinning out of control. He was so used to being the one to call the shots, and now that he was faced with the other groups leader he wanted to assert his dominance. He contained himself, however, in an effort not to scare his wife away. Sure, he was a changed man, but he still would move heaven and earth for the girl in the corner.

“That woman,” he said as he pointed towards Lucille. “Is your and your groups saving fucking grace.”

“What does she have to do with someone the likes of you?” Rick countered him, causing a grin to spread across Negans face.

He tugged the chain he wore around his neck out of the collar of his shirt, his wedding band dangling on it. “She’s my wife.”

Rick’s face was emotionless and Negan nodded, pleasantly surprised that the man in front of him didn’t dare to speak another word—even though Negan could tell he was just itching to. “This is how we are going to play,” He said as he crossed his arms, bringing his foot up to rest on a small stool. “I’ll spare one of you, but it’s time to play by my rules. Yeah?”

Rick looked as though he was about to disagree, which caused Negan to reach towards his bat, “If that’s not okay with you, we can just all head our happy little asses back outside, my wife stays with me, and I take one of yours. So the ball is in your court, buddy. You’re deciding your families fate tonight.”

Lucille couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her lips at the words that fell from Negan's lips. If she was winning this argument, perhaps there was still hope for them to... she didn't even know at this point. The world was so different, she certainly couldn't bare any children because she had seen second hand what that did to Rick's family. It gave him a baby daughter but took his wife and Carl, it gave him a sister and took his mother. Was the loss worth the gain?

She was quiet as the two conversed, about to open her mouth when Negan reached for his bat. Her eyes narrowed as she began to lift out of her seat. "If you hurt any of them, I leave with them," Lucille said against her better judgment. She tilted her head to the side, watching both of their reactions.

"They are already hurting for food and supplies, that's what this is about," Lucille started, unsure of how successful she could possibly be. Negan was a changed man and even before, he had been so damn stubborn. But then, so had she and her stubbornness hadn't faded in the least bit.

Lucille stepped forward so that she could stand beside Negan, the doubt only growing as she looked between the men. "Give them double the time, at least. Let them amass supplies so that they can both survive and pay you your stupid ass tribute," she paused, her face scrunching at the word. "They won't attack us, you don't attack them for that time period and when it comes time to collect, you be a little more reasonable with them because, if I need to remind you again, they are my family. Which," she paused, her eyes going a little wide as she looked between the two.

"We could always work together."

There was a strange burning rage that was bubbling throughout Negan’s chest. The worn man hadn’t had anyone who had stood up to him in a while. To see his wife, after two years, standing in front of him trying to make the deal—was confusing. He wasn’t sure if he was enthralled or enraged. He narrowed his eyes at the petite woman who was standing in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again. Where were the words? Why couldn’t he piece things together? And why the hell why she already having this effect on the man?

Negan took a step back, breaking the strong willed eye contact he had with her. He huffed, something similar to a small child not getting their way—internally of course. He looked over at Rick, his mind playing Lucille’s words over and over again. We could always work together. That wasn’t Negan. That wasn’t who he was or what he was about.

It was becoming more and more clear that these people weren’t going to go without a fight. Especially now since Negan had offered a chance because of his wife. He scratched at his beard. “We could work together, but I don’t play very nice with others these days…”

Negan crossed his arms once more as he looked at the pair of them. Rick with his dark, raging eyes. Lucille silently pleasing with the man. He sighed, “How long do you need?”

"They will do collecting for you. On the communities that are close to Alexandria. They will bring it to us, that ultimately means less work for you. An extension of you, if you will," Lucille started out watching her husband before she turned to Rick. "If we find out that they are either not going to collect or they're skimming off the top or anything that is displeasing, we come back and we can reenact tonight."

Lucille straightened once she had finished, her eyes narrowing a bit as she looked between the two men. "They keep what they find, they bring us tributes from the other communities so that you can focus on more important things."

Rick cleared his throat, not looking even remotely happy about the situation but he knew it was far more agreeable than the other option. "I suppose we can do that... if we get access to Hilltop's doctor. For Maggie."

Lucille didn't even bother to loo at Negan or wait for his opinion on the matter. She was nodding as she crossed her arms, tilting her head to the side. "Of course. We'll provide Maggie with the utmost care that we can," she paused as she glanced to Negan. "Glenn will go on runs for us in the mean time, to pay off the debt that accrues. I think that's fair, isn't it?"

Negan mulled the idea over in his mind for a moment, thinking about it and weighing the options. If he allowed this, if he went on with her idea—who’s to say that he wouldn’t be over powered? He would be putting not only himself but the Saviors in danger as well. What if Rick and his people had a chance to regroup and form a plan in order to overthrow the hierarchy that Negan had so carefully stitched together. His blood, sweat, and even at times silent tears went into building and creating what he had. Was he really willing to put all of that at risk to appease his two-years-estranged wife?

Negan shook his head, a smug smirk pulling at his lips. He let a snarky scoff escape from his parted lips. His eyes narrowing at his wife, “You really expect me just to turn them loose just like that?”

He laughed as he turned his bat over in his hands, looking over to study its namesake. Could she possibly be serious about this whole plan? Did she even understand the very words that were coming out of her mouth? He shook his head once more, placing his attention on Rick, who was still staring daggers into Negan’s face. “If I do this, who is to say you and your fuck heads aren’t going to try something slick like you did here today?”

At this time, he looked over towards Lucille, “You can’t possibly think that I am that stupid, do you princesa?”

Lucille straightened as Negan eyed her. She swallowed against the dry feeling that developed in her mouth and chances a look in Rick's direction before focusing her attention back on her husband. "If they betray you, I'll be the first one to swing. Besides, I know the ins and outs of Alexandria. It would be highly stupid of them to test us when we have such knowledge."

Rick's shoulders sagged in defeat as he dropped his head down. "I'll give you my word. I just... don't want these guys to suffer any more than they already have."

Lucille frowned at Rick but didn't say a word as she reached to run a hand through her hair. "It's no easier for you to trust him than it is for him to trust you, papi."

Rick cleared his throat, looking more determined than ever as he locked eyes with Negan. "the deal that Luce offered is beneficial to us both. We work for you, we don't offer you supplies - we fend for ourselves. We're simply... an extension of you. Even if I don't like the plan, I have to admit how stupid we would be to break the trust."