Kept: I'm Negan

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You feel eyes on you before you open yours. Your leg is screaming where you took Simon's bullet and you're hungry and thirsty. You groan as you move your injured limb.

"You're awake. That's good." A man's voice says. "We have questions for you."

Questions? You did not want to answer anything. Your mind was reeling and your heart was shattered. Had Negan sent you to the slaughter? There was no doubt in your mind that Simon was sure as shit going to kill you out in those woods.

Fluttering your lids open, you see the source of the thick southern accent. He was standing over you looking down with piercing blue eyes. There was no softness in them and his handsome features were etched with weariness. You could tell he had lost a lot since the beginning without even telling you.

"Daryl tells me you were a prisoner at the Sanctuary with him. Why were you out with the Saviors and why was one trying to kill you?"

You didn't want to reveal too much to him so you skirted with short answers.

"I had no choice, be a soldier or die in the walker yard. And as far as the other guy? Let's just say we didn't see eye to eye on a lot of issues. Were you able to find him?"

"He was wounded. I'm not really sure how badly. Daryl didn't track him. He opted to bring you here. What were you doing out in woods?"

He had peeled back the sheet to inspect your leg. It had been stitched up and bandaged, the bullet sitting on a bloody piece of gauze on the table.

"I was just ordered to scout for a new outpost. There was just a handful of us. After Simon separated me from the rest..."

"Simon? That was his name?"

There was a flash of recognition that ran across the man's face. You may have said too much. It would be stupid to play that dumb. Besides, you wanted him dead anyway.

"Yeah. Negan's second in command. He hated me." You explain. "Please thank Daryl for saving my life."

"He remembered you. You left an impression." He tells you. "My name is Rick Grimes."

Oh shit. This was the Rick Negan had told you about. He was the leader of Alexandria. He certainly was an unassuming looking man. He didn't have the same kind of swagger and domineering qualities Negan had. But there was something cold and calculating about him. You find him more dangerous than Negan as you read him. Rick Grimes was the underdog in all this and he knew it.

"So what of the outpost? Is it that house on the hill? " Rick asks.

He's looking at you dead in the eye, scanning  for deception. Your heart starts pounding. You decide to tell him only part of it even though you knew you should probably say it all, including the trap. But you hold your tongue.

"Yes!" You blurt out. "Did you go there? Were there any Saviors there?"

Rick contemplates you. You were sitting up on your elbows, looking at him wide eyed. His gaze softens a bit and it eases you. There was something about him that you could tell made people look to him. There was something in him that made you feel safe even though you were technically a prisoner. Talk about magnetic.

"We didn't go yet. But we know about it."

So the trap had been set in motion already.

"I want to help." You demand. "I want to help you defeat the Saviors. I want Simon's head on a pike."

Rick manages a quick smile under his beard, amused by your enthusiasm. Inside you breathed a sigh of relief. You remember when you fell into Negan's hands those months ago, your captivity was a lesson in immediate submission from the moment you were arrived the Sanctuary. It was not going to be like that here.