Sally was sitting in the truck on the way back to Sanctuary. The road was flashing by behind the window but Sally wasn't up for a sightseeing. There were only two states she was in, either she kept staring down into an imaginary abyss under her also known as looking nowhere or she was shutting her eyes so tight her whole face cringed in a grimace of unbearable pain.

Two Savior guys who were riding with her, usually quite chatty with each other, hardly dared to breathe. They kept exchanging puzzled looks. Only after Sally squealed they really felt like they should do something about her discomfort. Negan would be pissed if they brought her back somehow messed up. He was smiling when she was smiling that was for sure and they didn't wanted Sally's pain to turn into Negan's anger.

"Sally," the younger one of them dared to say because the older one stared him down and kept pointing his head to her. "Sally, you look very pale. Is there something we can do for you?" They didn't think she heard so the other one behind the steering wheel dared to touch her shoulder.

Sally opened her eyes so suddenly they immediately regretted waking up the suffering beauty.

"Stop! Stop the truck!" She shouted.

"But Sally," the younger one tried to calm her down but she wouldn't let him finish.

"Walkers ahead! Pull over!" She pointed to the road ahead of them. A group of walkers were blocking their way. "We should wait until it clears out a bit."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right," the driver said, stopping the truck.

"Grab something to eat, I need some air," she said and waited for one of them to let her get out since she was sitting between the two of them.

She jumped down from the truck and headed right behind it not risking the walkers would see her. She had trouble breathing like there was no air in the cabin and she was getting through a panic attack. She leaned on her thighs trying to calm herself down. As soon as she heard the guys getting out of the truck after her as well, she started to walk until she was in a comfortable distance from anyone but not too far in case of emergency. The truck had to block the walkers from up the road to see her.

She was so restless, so uneasy. She couldn't stop herself from trembling, she kept walking in circles, she just couldn't stop.

Maggie was alive. Hilltop was helping Alexandria. And she found him! Maggie was alive. Hilltop was helping Alexandria. And she found him! She finally found him!

The walkers in the meantime wandered off the road. They had to get going. Negan was waiting for her report and it indeed was a good one.

___

Just like the day before never happened, Negan was waiting eagerly for Sally since the early morning. If he was perfectly honest with himself, he would have to admit, he missed her the moment he was done with his wife. The night was long and Sally nowhere near. And if he was under an oath he would also have to say he brought it upon himself when he didn't attend Sally's party or whatever she was calling it, but seeing her having so much fun even without him filled him with self-loathing and he returned it to her by trying to make her feel regret as well.

But it was a brand new day and Negan was ready to start anew.

"Did you miss me?" He pulled Sally close, pressing his lips to her temple when she got out of the truck.

"Like crazy," she said softly, only for him to hear. "Just let me freshen up and then we can talk about..." Sally was interrupted by completely different shower than she had in her mind - machine gun.

"I only want Negan. No one else needs to die," she heard shouting at the back of the truck right after the weapon went silent.

Negan began moving in the instant but Sally had to be there first to make sure she wasn't hallucinating again. But others saw what she saw, even Daryl working on the walker fence. Carl stood at the back of a truck with a machine gun ready to fire again. He already took down some of Negan's men and their leader having no self-preservation instinct came out into the clear. Sally immediately stood between Negan and Carl's weapon, shielding the man while he found shelter behind another man, bigger than him so he was actually covered.

"Kid, I ain't gonna lie. You scared the shit out of me." Negan's demeanor actually distracted Carl for a brief second and he had to scare off some Saviors reaching after him with another dose of fire.

"CARL!" Sally stepped forward, shouting her lungs out at Carl. She impersonated strict parent so well, it seemed for a moment Rick was standing there with them. Seeing Sally so uncompromising made him feel like a child again. He remembered of all those times when Sally was watching over him, babysitting him while his parents were busy with the apocalypse and he always respected her warnings. Flashes of the past distracted him for long enough. The moment he took his guard down he was tackled down and disarmed by Dwight. From that moment on it was Negan's show again.

He offered his hand to Carl to help the boy get back on his feet, but the stubbornness was getting the best of the kid.

"You're really not gonna take my hand? 'Cause you're lucky you even still have a hand. Same as your boy Daryl over here, now that I think about it. How's the job going, Daryl? Hot enough for you? Yeah, it'd be tough with one arm." Negan just knew how to catch Sally's attention and how to get her hopes up. She kept turning her head from Negan to Carl to Daryl, curious who was going to give in first.

And finally smartly enough, it was Carl. He took Negan's outstretched hand.

"Ah, smart kid. Now come with me." Negan pointed Carl to the building.

"Oh, boys. All play, no work," Sally shook her head. She was let down it all went down so smoothly. "Promises, promises," Negan heard her silent laments. But once again, Negan knew how to lift her spirits up.

"Dwighty-boy, why don't you grab Daryl, take him to the kitchen, do a little grub prep," Negan suggested.

"Finally! I'm famished. Hope you'll see this one through boys." Sally was delighted with the idea.

Carl was a game changer so Negan delivered new orders for his men on the go. 

"Damn," the busy boss added at the end, "I am not gonna have time to screw any of my wives today."

Sally turned to him with her eyebrows high on her forehead.

"I mean, maybe one." He bit his tongue between his teeth, shamelessly checking Sally out. "Find me later."

Sally sent him back an air kiss and watched him disappear into the building with Carl.

___

Author's Note: Those of you who follow me probably already know this because I was freaking out over it already but what a horrible person I am not to mention it over here as well ... this story got over 1K reads! It's over 1,3K now, actually! I am so grateful for every each and one of you! And if you've voted or commented you most definitely made my day and made me very happy. 💙

Share the happiness and get in touch with me and other readers of this story, let us know you've been here. Vote, comment, follow, pm... it's up to you. 💌

Oh and what's next you ask? Let me see ... the iron 😱 And Negan still has to decide if he's taking Sally with him to bring Carl back home or if she stays while Daryl runs. Any tips for Negan, my lovely Negans? ⚠️

Thank you for tuning in! Sending 1,3K hugs and (air) kisses! 💋

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