The Duchess

Pairing: Negan/OC

Part One

She hadn't been there when they had lost Abraham and Glenn, when they were so brutally confronted with the Saviors and their leader, but the stories had been enough. Carl had told her, word for word everything that had happened and she could almost hear his voice in her head.

Negan

She hadn't met him but Carl's description had been so detailed, the hatred in his eyes as he spoke, not realising tears tracked their way down from his one good eye as he recalled the scene.

Are we pissing our pants yet?

She hated him.

She didn't even know him, but she hated him with such a passion it felt all consuming. Abraham had been such a good guy, and Glenn… Poor Maggie.

It hurt too much to think about and so she shut it out and kept herself busy. She couldn't imagine how they had endured the pain, how Rick had done what he had. He seemed hollow now, empty, but that hadn't lessened her respect for him. If anything it had made it grow. He refused to allow his pride to get in the way, to let his ego be the reason for more death.

Daryl.

She rubbed at her chest with her knuckles as it ached in pain. She missed him.

She hadn't been with their group for as long as some of the others, but they had let her in all the same, welcomed her as one of their own. After the initial suspicion had worn off of course.

They didn't understand how she had survived on her own in an unfamiliar land, but this was home now, these people were home and she was damned if she'd lose any more of them to some sick psychopath with a baseball bat.

She hadn't been there when they'd lost two of their best, but she had witnessed their return. There was no other word for it… They had been broken.

Maggie was gone, Sasha had accompanied her for medical aid to The Hilltop and she marveled at the strength of her friends. Maggie had lost her husband, the father of her child and yet she remained so strong. She wished she could be with them, supporting her friend.

But she was needed here.

Judith needed her.

It was a mark of Rick's trust in her that she was the one to protect the infant. She had found Alexandria shortly before Rick had arrived but didn't belong with the people who already lived here. They were so sheltered and naive. She had been out there, alone… Well, almost.

Logan was her only companion since it had started and she envied them their bubble of denial, hated them for it- almost.

Daryl had understood. For weeks he had refused to even go inside the buildings. That was when they had become friends, camping outside together as he told her about his brother, about Beth, about everything they had lost. Daryl's acceptance and trust had opened the door to Rick's group. They were selective about who they trusted, it was still very much an us/them situation with the Alexandrians. But she felt that she belonged with Rick's group, people who had seen the world for what it was now, who had fought to survive.

She smiled to herself as she remembered Daryl approaching the subject of teaching her to fight, he hadn't known at that point that she hadn't been in Alexandria since the beginning. She had decided to allow him his chivalry, until during the training he had grabbed her from behind and her self defense training had kicked in. He landed flat on his backside and laughed, hard.

It was the first time anyone had heard him laugh since they'd lost Beth…

She shook herself from her reverie as the pain in her chest increased. She missed her friend, her brother, just as Rick did.

But for now they were scavenging, trying to find anything they could to give to the 'Saviors' so that no one else died. It had been a few days since their return and Rick was almost always out on supply runs, as was everyone who was able. She had been asked to protect Judith, she had only nodded as she met Rick's eyes, she could see the plea in there. With her came Logan, he was forever at her side and before she had met Rick's group thought he was the only companion she'd ever need.

She cooed at Judith as the girl grabbed a fist of her hair in her chubby little hand, persuading her to let go as she bounced her on her hip. Logan watched from his seat beside her cot, his head tilting and those large pointed ears twitched as he became aware of the approaching noise before she did. She looked out the window as she finally heard the sound of vehicles pull up. Large ones. She heard the hiss of air as the brakes squeaked against the heavy load of the vehicles they were stopping.

Quickly she placed Judith in her cot and shushed her softly as she began to whine at being put down. She looked at Logan, placing one hand out in front of her in the universally known sign for 'stay', he understood. His two large front paws shifted forward as he laid beside Judith's cot and placed his head upon them, his amber eyes watching her carefully.

"Good boy." She mumbled softly as she backed out of the room, being sure to lock the door behind her and secure the key in her inner jacket pocket. She knew Judith was safe with Logan, should anyone try to force their way in they'd soon regret it. She made her way downstairs and outside.

She had been right. Three lorries were making their way through the gates and strange men were infiltrating houses. Her fists clenched hard as she watched the bewildered expressions of the Alexandrians as their possessions were removed from their houses.

Her gaze moved over the gathered crowds and found Rick. Dangling from his fingertips, almost brushing the concrete was a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. Her heart froze in her chest as she heard a deep, authoritative voice.

"We really are reasonable people when you get to know us! Honest."

Her eyes quickly found him, he was hard to miss. Tall and broad shouldered with thick dark hair and a salt and pepper beard. He even had his back to Rick as he bent down into a cooler to remove a can of pop, completely unfazed that he'd left himself vulnerable to a man who despised him. Cocky son of a… She watched Rick for a moment, waiting. A beat, he only stood with his head bowed submissively, looking at the ground. She swallowed the resentment she felt building and ascended the steps, deliberately bashing her shoulder against the tubby man who waddled his way up, clearly making his way to the kitchen as he leered at her. He stumbled and she smirked as she watched him right himself. She was already passed him before he had time to retaliate.

As she approached she saw a figure stood behind both Rick and him. She hadn't noticed before but it was like a swift punch to the gut when she realized who it was. She faltered in her step toward them as she looked him over. What had they done to him?

Rick saw her first and his eyes widened in alarm as he glanced to Negan. But it was too late, the man in question let out a low whistle as he saw her. She didn't look at him though, she couldn't tear her eyes away from Daryl who looked overcome as he too bowed his head, his stringy hair swinging forward to hide his bruised face.

"Well, well what have we got here!" His voice was graveled and deep and it shot right through to her core. It was clear to everyone the excitement in his tone. "Just when I thought this place couldn't get any better! And what is your name beautiful?"

Her eyes remained glued to Daryl.

Negan clearly disliked being ignored for he stepped up close to her and angled his shoulders to the right, following her gaze to the man who was like a brother to her.

"Nuh-uh-uhh sweetheart. You weren't there at the gate when I laid down the rules so i'll repeat them for you, just this once. You do not look at him, you do not talk to him, do I make myself clear?"

She said nothing, only ground her teeth together as her fists clenched. Her eyes darted to Rick who nodded once. She lowered her gaze, biting the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood to stop herself from lashing out and doing something stupid.

"There's a good girl, now I wont ask again. What is your name?" His breath fanned across her face and the smell of whisky and peppermint followed. Rage boiled inside her as he chuckled richly, clearly enjoying her anger as he observed her clenched fists and trembling shoulders.

"Go fuck yourself." Both Daryl and Rick's eyes shoot between her and Negan in concern, she wasn't afraid of him and met his dark eyes head on. He rocked backward and turned around to Rick, glee apparent as a wide grin stretched across his face.

"Ho-oly fuck." He exclaimed. "Where have you been hidin' her? Do my ears deceive me, or is that a British accent I hear?" He feigned a shiver and rolled his shoulders in excitement. "I'm gettin' all kinds of aroused just thinking about the fun we could have darlin', though you still haven't told me your name."

She grit her teeth together hard and stared him down, he tilted his head as he stepped closer, pressing against her and she had to tilt her head back so she could keep her eyes locked with his, he was so much taller than her.

"Well, now aint you a little firecracker." He lowered the tone of his voice, somehow it was both threatening and suggestive as he continued. "Be careful with how you lookin' at me sweetheart, that glare is gonna have me thinkin' you either wanna fuck me or kill me." He smiled at her charmingly, his tongue passing over his teeth once, his face was so close to hers that she was sure he would feel her heart pounding in her chest.

"I can assure you it's the latter." She said, not backing down an inch, though feeling somewhat irritated at how her accent became more pronounced in her fury. He laughed and ran his tongue across his bottom lip, he turned to look at Rick, apparently mouthing the word 'Wow!' before looming over her again.

"I'm really tryin' here so i'd appreciate it if you'd do the same. I'm not sure I could be angry with you, especially when you talk in that sexy fucking accent…" A warning coated his tone now, the danger shot sparks up her spine and she felt her heart race. "However if you continue to be rude we might see how angry I can really get. And Lucille here…" He swung the bat upward so that the barbed wire end became visible in her peripheral vision.

"Emilia, stop." Rick's voice was commanding and worried, it was enough for her to reluctantly drop her eyes and Negan chuckled again, his voice rich with innuendo.

"Emilia huh? He-lloo Emilia. I'm Negan." He took a step back and offered her his hand, his eyes alight with enjoyment as he watched her struggle with herself. One glance at Daryl and his condition was enough, she couldn't have him suffering for her pride. She forcefully put her hand in his, noting with disgust he hadn't offered the glove clad hand, so her skin made contact with his. She'd expected his hand to be cold, as cold and dead as his heart, but it threw her when she made contact with warm, slightly roughened skin.

He grinned broadly with uncontrollable delight and bent forward over her hand. She felt revulsion crawl up her spine as he placed his lips against her knuckles, his beard lightly scratched the skin there.

"See, I know how to respect a lady!" He straightened and she tried to pull her hand from his grip, but he wouldn't let her, his much larger hand enveloped hers and his thumb caressed a recent split in one of her knuckles. It stung but she was glad for that. It reminded her of who this was.

"Negan!" A voice called and the man in question licked his lips one last time as his eyes ran over her from head to toe, before he finally released her hand and turned to his man.

"This is something you might wanna see." The shorter man passed him the video camera Deanna had used to record their interviews. Negan turned his attention to Rick again now and she felt grateful for the momentary reprieve. He stepped away from her to taunt their leader, Rick's voice came from the small device, his voice sounding muffled as it crackled through the speakers.

"I would not have messed with that guy." Negan goaded, raising the camera and leaning back to make sure he captured the broken man Rick now appeared to be. "But that's not you anymore… is it? Nope!"

He swung the camera around and now she was his focus again, he circled her before taking a lock of her brunette hair and twirling it around his gloved finger.

"And what about you darlin', you on here too? Fuck you look almost as good on camera as you do in real life. Look at that mouth." She heard the mechanisms in the camera moving as he zoomed in on her lips and she bit her lower lip furiously, trying to restrain herself from saying something she would regret. "Shit… Are you trying to give me a hard on? Cause I think it's working… Do that again for me."

"Stop." Ricks voice saved her again and Negan turned on the spot, shutting the camera and pocketing it as he approached the other man.

"Careful…" Negan intoned, his light, sing-song tone conflicting with the threat of his words. He stooped and lowered his head to meet Rick's gaze head on. His body language screamed dominance and her heart sped up as Rick glared back.

"Careful how you lookin' at me Rick."