[saviour ➼ negan]

09.

trigger warning. mentions of rape. read at your own discretion.

NEGAN ENTERED the lunch hall early the next morning. he glanced around the room, subconsciously hoping his eyes would fall upon artemis.

although, after a thorough check, he realised that she wasn't there. it was unusual for artemis not to be there yet, she was always an early riser.

negan shrugged to himself. picking up a bowl of oatmeal, he headed toward the head table, where arat, simon, fat joey and dwight were already sitting.

they ate as they discussed everything that had to be accomplished that day. the room was eerily silent. although that was normal when negan was there. nobody wanted to step out of line in front of the man himself.

➼

"artemis?" negan knocked on her bedroom door, waiting for her to answer. when she didn't answer, he knocked again.

"you awake?" he called again. he became concerned when there was still no response.

"i'm coming in. don't shout at me, i warned you." he joked. pulling out a large set of keys, he picked out the one that would fit her door. the door clicked as it unlocked.

"are you still not fuc-" negan cut himself short when he noticed that she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

her bed was messy, as if she had just gotten out of it. he glanced around the room, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

"what the hell?" he mumbled to himself. she wasn't here, she wasn't at breakfast, where the hell was she?

negan left the room, locking it behind him. he headed in the direction of the gardens, maybe she had already went to work.

"HELP!" a woman's voice shrieked.

negan whipped around, a woman was running towards him. "what the fuck is it?"

he was prepared to give her a piece of his mind. she was shouting at him and she didn't kneel. but her next words would cut him short.

"it's artemis!" she cried, pulling him in the direction she had come from.

"what the fuck happened?" he barked. he quickly followed after the woman, dread filling his entire body.

they both rounded the corner, his eyes instantly falling on a figure lying against the wall unconscious. it was artemis.

negan ran toward her, kneeling down in front of her unconscious body. "artemis?" he shouted, gently tapping her face to try and wake her. 

"do you want me to get someone?" the woman, who negan did not recognise, asked. he glanced up at her, shaking his head.

"no, get out of here, i'll take care of this." he ordered. the woman nodded. she walked away, leaving negan with artemis.

he pulled her into his arms, carrying her like a baby. he headed toward his quarters. people spared some concerned glances but negan told them to get on with what they were doing.

once he reached his bedroom, he placed artemis onto his bed. she wouldn't wake up when he called her. he had checked and she was breathing, so there was nothing for him to do but wait till she woke up.

➼

artemis stirred slightly. she opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings. she was in negans room, she recognised it from when she was last there.

"artemis?" she glanced across the room, her eyes falling upon negan. "what the hell happened?" he made his way toward her, kneeling beside the bed.

"what?" she asked. then it came to her. everything that had happened to her last night came back to her. she felt as her throat began to close up, she couldn't breathe. she tried to reached around her as she gasped for breath.

"shit, what the fuck?" he noticed she was gasping. "can you breathe properly?" he asked, although it was obvious she couldn't.

"fuck." he sat her up properly, hoping that would do something. negan didn't know what to do. "breath with me. come on, like this."

he exaggerated his breathing. she nodded, trying to copy him. tears were falling from her eyes.

"breath, in and out, in and out, that's it, just like that." he ordered.

eventually her breathing began to regulate, though, the tears continued to fall as she cried out. she pulled her legs into her chest as she continued to sob.

"what the fuck happened, artemis? why the fuck were you lying in the hall unconscious, and why the fuck are you covered in bruises?" negan shouted, becoming frustrated at her lack of communication. he regretted his tone when he saw the way she flinched away from him.

"shit i-fuck i'm sorry." he apologised. "please, just tell me what happened, i can't help you if you don't." he pleaded.

"i-i-uh, he-" artemis tried to speak but she could barely form a coherent sentence.

"come on, you can tell me." negan tried to be as gentle and comforting as he possibly could. artemis was obviously distressed and he didn't want to make her feel worse.

"h-he..." artemis couldn't bring herself to say it. she felt so dirty. she felt disgusting. she would never look at herself the same again and she was scared negan would never look at her the same if she told him.

"he? artemis, you're gonna have to give me more than that." negan tried to joke.

"h-he, a man, o-one of your men. h-he uh..." she stuttered, hands trembling as they gripped the soft blanket underneath her.

negan instantly dreaded the next words that would come from her mouth. he knew what she was trying to say just from her actions.

"it's okay, you don't have to say it." though he tried not to show it, negan was furious, he couldn't believe someone had done this to her. "who?"

"i-i don't know, i didn't recognise him." she sobbed, trying to wipe away her tears.

"fuck, artemis." negan didn't know what to say or do. so he did the only thing he could think of.

he pulled artemis into his arms, holding her tightly against his chest. his arms wrapped around her body, acting like some sort of protective force field.

"i'm so sorry." he whispered against her head. he knew there was nothing he could do to take back what had happened to her. he was beyond furious, he was going to find the prick who had done this to her and he was going to bash his brains in until they were mush.