little piggy. chapter ten.
SUMMARY ; sadie returns to alexandria.
❝ all hail the underdogs
all hail the new kids ❝
——
NEGAN GRINNED as he poked sadie in the ribcage multiple times, in attempt to wake her up.
"wake up, brat. i got some news," negan spoke, resulting in sadie letting out a quiet shine, stirring around on the bed, swatting his hand away with a frown on her lips. negan rolled his eyes, standing up, he walked to the edge of the bed. the man gripped the hem of the comforter tightly, before yanking it off of sadie's half-asleep body.
"wake up," negan ordered, throwing the white heavy blanket over in the corner. sadie groaned, flipping him off. "asshole," sadie rolled her eyes, turning her back on him. negan chuckled, strolling back over to her side. the man bent down, breathing against her ear before speaking.
"i'm going to alexandria.." the man whispered in her ear, backing up quickly to dodge the way she popped up into a siting position immediately. negan crossed his arms over his chest, she stared at him, raising her eyebrows in a questioning way. she ignored the goosebumps that went up her spine when his lips ghosted over her ear.
"really?" the girl asked, narrowing her eyes. negan nodded, standing up straight, he grabbed lucille off from leaning against the side table. sadie bit the inside of her cheek, feeling butterflies in her stomach at the thought of seeing her family after whats seemed like years.
"but you said a week?" sadie retorted, watching him as he walked all over the room, grabbing his jacket, his boots and double checking that he had his precious bat. the man grunted, heading for the door.
"six days, seven days, what's the difference? just be ready in fifteen if you wanna come along."
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"YOU ALRIGHT? you're looking kinda pale, kitten," negan broke the silence, glancing at the girl through the rear-view mirror. negan was sat in the driver's seat of — what used to be her's — rv. sadie was seated in the booth beside the window, leaning her elbows on the table and staring at the trees passing by. the girl looked at the man, nodding her head.
"i'm fine." sadie replied, forcing a smile. no, she wasn't fine, she felt like she was going throw up her breakfast, or pass out, or both. sadie didn't know how she was going to do this, she didn't know why she thought this would be a good idea. the girl's stomach was in knots, there was a lump in her throat that she just couldn't swallow, she felt guilty and sick.
sadie was going to have to lie to her father, she was going to have to lie to the man that was like her best friend, the man that had taken care of her her whole life, the man that made two dozen pink cupcakes with her when her mother got sick and couldn't do it. sadie would have to lie to him that she was indeed having the worst time of her life being the saviors prisoner.
when in reality, she really had been having not that bad of a time. sadie hasn't ate a pancake in years, she got tons of art supplies — now more than she had back at home — she finally had a friend her age, augustus, and she got to hangout with another dog, the first one she had seen since her own before the outbreak.
sadie was a bad liar, though sometimes she could manage, with strangers or people she barely knew she could almost easily lie to. but her dad, no way. the man would see right through her, and if he found that sadie had been comfortably been sleeping in the same bed as man that he despised most, and not only that, but had been walking around the sanctuary and making friends like it was second nature to her. he would disown her, sadie was sure of it.
too soon for sadie's liking, the rv pulled up to her old home. she quietly followed behind negan, who was whistling as he strolled up towards the locked gates of alexandria, his bat sat comfortably on his shoulder, his other hand in his pocket. sadie's ears were filled with the sounds of negan's whistling, and her blood pumping in her ears. every step her boots made against the cement sounded like gunshots echoing. everything sounded so loud to her own ears.
"little pig, little pig. let. me. in." negan smirked, banging lucille against the gate. sadie flinched at the sudden sound, her heart dropping. negan turned his head over his shoulder and glanced behind him, frowning at the sight of the girl.
"stay cool, everything's gonna be fine." negan mouthed to her, shooting her a thumbs up and a wink. the girl rolled her eyes, a small smile tugging on the corner of her mouth. "who are you?" sadie's head picked up at the sound of the gates opening and spencer's confused voice.
negan chuckled, while sadie looked behind spencer, her eyes landing on rosita, who was staring back at her in shock, noticing that the teenager looked better and healthier than ever, the woman instantly knew she couldn't be being held as a prisoner.
"oh you have got to be jokin'," the leader smiled, staring at spencer like he was expecting the young man to crack up laughing or some-sorts, say that of course he knew who he was, but spencer never did, he continued to stare at negan in confusion.
"negan.. lucille, i know i had to make a pretty strong first impression," negan continued onwards, sadie took a step closer to negan, her shoulder brushing his bicep.
"don't think he knows what happened," sadie mumbled to negan, turning her back to the gates of alexandria, directing the words into negan's ear. the leader smiled, noticing rosita's glare on the two.
"you said a week, you're early," negan tore his attention from sadie, smiling wide when he saw rick heading towards them. sadie's heart dropped when her and her father's eyes caught one another's. rick stared at his daughter in shock, his hands laying limp on the gates of alexandria.
"i missed ya," negan smiled, noticing rick staring at sadie. the girl chewed on the inside of her cheek, swallowing the lump in her throat. rick opened the last gate, his eyes not leaving his daughter.
"watch here rick, watch my form," negan grinned, turning around. the man gripped lucille, heading over to a walker that was stumbling towards the group. negan strolled over to the dead man walking, easily swinging lucille up into the air, before he slammed it down. negan chuckled loudly, seeing the brain matter cover his precious bat. sadie pursed her lips, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
this negan was beginning to act a lot like the negan from six days ago and not these past few days. sadie thought to herself.
"easy- peasy- lemon squeezy!" negan smiled, swinging his bat back up to sit on comfortably on his shoulder.
"you see what i just did, rick? i just took care of something that could've harmed you or one of your people. even after he says "who are you?" can you believe that?" negan laughed loudly, gesturing to spencer, as he stared at rick who couldn't take his eyes off the ground. she appeared perfectly fine, nothing like daryl looked. negan turned his body to glance at glance, who was stood with her arms crossed, feet apart, glaring at him. he wasn't sure if she was putting up an act, or if he was pissing her off for real.
"you know what they call that, rick?" negan asked, turning back to the broken leader. he remained silent. "service," negan smiled wide, putting one leg in front of the other, flicking his wrist as he bowed down in the slightest. sadie glanced behind rick, and instead at the rest of alexandria, everything looked the same, besides the expressions of the survivors living inside. they looked tired, and defeated.
her father blinked at the ground, the same look that was on his face six days ago coming back. rosita and spender couldn't keep their gaze off of sadie, as while rosita was mentally cursing the girl. jumping to conclusions that sadie was all buddy-buddy with negan. and spencer was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, thinking to himself that maybe she was being treated the same daryl was, but they cleaned her up to cover all of that. it was a long shot, but possible. anything was possible nowadays.
"sadie?" rick mumbled, finally being able to find his voice. sadie sunk her teeth into her bottom lip, walking towards her dad, tears welling up in her eyes. rick immediately wrapped his arms around her when she reached him, sadie clutched at his shirt, crying into his neck.
"a-are you okay? physically? we'll worry about emotionally later," rick chuckled through tears, sadie wiped under her eyes, before nodding. she sucked in a heavy breath to keep herself from sobbing in her father's arms like a baby.
"alright alright, reunion is over," negan said, tapping sadie on the back. "can you hold her for me?" negan questioned rick, smiling widely as he held out lucille. the alexandrian leader glared at him, clenching his jaw as he took the weapon from him.
"hot diggity dog! this place is magnificent!" negan cheered, strolling into alexandria as if he owned the place — which now, everyone guessed he did.
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"HOW ARE you?" sadie's questioned daryl, who was walking awfully quiet beside her. the man looked to her, giving a grunt in response, before returning his head to its previous low position. sadie stayed silent, continuing to follow negan around like a lost puppy, as she and daryl have been doing all day. negan forbid anyone talking to sadie and daryl, saying that daryl was "the help" and sadie was "his now"
the girl chewed on her bottom lip, watching negan toy with her father. sadie was going to wait until their conversation was done to intrude, but she soon realized that negan's toying never officially ended, so she went for it. taking a few steps forward, she tapped negan on the back of his shoulder, feeling how cold the leather of his jacket was against her skin. negan turned half his body around, raising his brows at the girl, signaling her to continue.
"can i go get something to eat? i skipped breakfast.." sadie asked, crossing her arms over her chest due to the cold november air. the reasoning wasn't because she was entirely hungry, she wanted to go visit the rest of her family without having negan's minions watching her. negan frowned, shaking his head.
"you interrupted my conversation, kitten," the man replied, licking his lips as he stared at her pale face. "sorry?" sadie responded, it coming out more as a question, as her brows furrowed and her eyes narrowed. negan smiled.
"of course you can." negan answered her, a smirk tugging on the corners of his mouth. after pausing in shock for a short moment, sadie nodded, before turning around, passing olivia, ignoring her judgmental stare.
after the girl took four steps past a lost in though daryl, she slowly spun on her heel, glancing at negan, who had his back turnt. "come with me," sadie mumbled to daryl, frowning at the way he tilted his head up and glared at the girl. she was aware of how hungry and tired he felt, she was trying to help him.sadie chewed on the inside of her cheek, her eyes flickering back and forth between daryl and the back of negan, anxiously praying he didn't turn around.
"no, are you crazy? tryna get me killed? just cause you're getting special treatment doesn't mean we all are." he snapped back quietly, making sure the man with the baseball bat didn't hear their short conversation. sadie gritted her teeth, thinking over her next actions, she was hesitant, but knew the worst he'd do is say no. she didn't think he'd kill her.
"negan.. can daryl come with me to get something to eat?" sadie questioned, staring the back of him. she heard him sigh heavily. "no, kitten, go yourself," the leader responded, grinning at the way rick clenched his jaw at the nickname.
"please?" sadie pushed, walking closer to negan, crossing her arms over her chest, attempting to stop her teeth from shaking. she was dressed in jeans, a sweatshirt three times her size, and a pair of leather boots, all that had been given to her from negan, she didn't know where he got them. her arms were covered in goosebumps, the air seemed to be going right through her jeans.
"no, go yourself if you wanna go at all. now, stop bugging me, kitten." negan replied, his tone of voice going stern. sadie frowned, shivering when a gust of wind blew through.
"put this on," negan added, beginning to take off his leather jacket. sadie shook her head, taking a step back from the man, she went to turn around, regretting her decision at trying to help daryl.
"put it on," negan demanded, grabbing onto her wrist. sadie refused, standing up straighter and crossing her arms over her chest. "you can't make me wear something," sadie responded, tilting her chin up. negan chuckled, wrapping the jacket up in his arms. the man sighed, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, lucille dangling down by his leg.
"if you don't put this on he dies," negan casually said, lazily gesturing his bat towards an alexandrian walking down the sidewalk. sadie's mouth gaped open for a short moment, waiting for the man to say he was joking. when he never did, the girl huffed, giving in.
"who threatens to kill someone over a damn jacket?" sadie mumbled half to herself, half to negan. he smiled in response, watching as she slipped her arms through the leather, surprised at how warm the inside was. when it was on, she zipped it up, the sleeves going past her fingertips, and the jacket ending mid-thigh. she liked it, not that she would ever admit that to him.
sadie then spun around on her heel and started to head down the road. the girl rounded the corner to head towards maggie and glenn's home— well, just maggie's. she wanted to see how she was doing, and plus, maggie always had the best food at her house — all because of glenn.
"maggie? it's sadie," the girl said, knocking on the front wooden door. she got silence in response. sadie frowned, thinking maybe she was just in her and her husbands room, or in the shower. "maggie?" she knocked louder, raising her voice. once again, she was met with silence.
giving up with a sigh, sadie walked back down the steps of the front porch, crossing her arms over her chest as she took a left, avoiding where her father, negan, daryl and a few other saviors were previously. sadie decided to go to the graves.
once she arrived there, her brown eyes gazed over the graves — there were too many for her liking — her knees almost gave out at the two names on two separate crosses side-by-side.
"maggie greene, a daughter, a wife, a sister, a soon to be mother, a friend, a warrior."
"sasha williams, a daughter, a girlfriend, a sister, a friend, a warrior."
sadie sat down in between the two, eyes wide, staring in shook at the two names. she wondered how the two strongest women she had ever met die four, that makes four family members that she had lost the past week, that had to be some kind of a new record.
sadie felt her heart breaking all over again — as cliche as that sounds — the girl was so close to maggie and sasha, they were like her older sisters she never had. glenn her best friend, and abraham was like the cool older brother she never had.
without abraham, glenn, maggie and sasha, sadie only had her dad, carl, judith — who didn't quite count just yet — michonne, and aaron left that she could fully trust.
"sadie?" a familiar voice called out behind her. sadie quickly wiped her tears, before turning half her body around, still siting on the ground. she forced a small smile when she saw her father, looking as beaten down as ever.
"we need to talk,"
"how did sasha and maggie die?" the two both spoke at the same time. rick puffed out a heavy sigh, extending his arms out, holding his hands out for sadie to take. the girl took his hands into hers, letting him pull her up to her feet. rick glanced behind him and around him, making sure no one was in sight before talking.
"they aren't dead. we just told negan they were so he wouldn't go after them," rick began, watching his daughter as she breathed out heavily in relief. "oh thank god," the girl relaxed, rubbing her hands down her face. "wait, why would he go after them?" sadie asked, furrowing her brows in confusion.
"because sadie, they're apart of alexandria, they were apart of that night. he'd think that they were on their way to attack him or something — sadie, he wanted to make maggie his wife," rick added. sadie thought for a moment, her mind drifting back to when augustus told her that negan had gotten rid of his wives. was that a lie? negan wouldn't do that.. sadie thought, half doubting herself. if he did lie, she couldn't blame him, honestly. sadie knew she was pretty upset after the whole breakfast cafeteria scenario, maybe he was just trying to make her feel better and quit worrying so much.
"maggie and sasha are fine, they're at hilltop-"
"can i go see them?" sadie quickly asked, cutting her father off. rick sighed heavily in frustration, clenching his jaw. "would you quit trying to fucking leave me for one damn minute!" rick yelled, balling his hands into fists. sadie flinched, her body going tense at her father's sudden outburst. rick sighed, running his hands down his face, his body relaxing.
"look, sadie, you can't blame me for yelling. you're acting all buddy- buddy with the guy that killed your best friend- our family!" rick raised his voice. sadie pursed her lips into a thin line, her mind wandering into a thousand different directions.
you have to lie, sadie thought to herself. lie, lie big time, or he'll be forever angry at you, you know that. you have to tell him they're treating you like shit, and are forcing you against your will to act okay.
"we're not buddy-buddy, dad. we're anything but that." sadie responded, immediately feeling guilty, especially after the way relief washed over her father's face. she knew she lied, there was no beating around the bush, she lied. sadie was buddy-buddy with him, more than that, probably. because in all honesty, when it was just her and negan in a room and no one else, she enjoyed his company. and she couldn't lie to herself about that anymore.
"really? w-what's going on over there?" rick asked. sadie chewed on the inside of her bottom lip, knowing that from here on out, the lies wouldn't be able to stop, not until she tells him the truth, and that would be when ever her father and negan become friends, which would be never.
"not much," sadie began, inhaling a sharp breath as Rick stared at her, his hands trembling, hoping to god whatever she said wasn't too bad, or too good.
"they're keeping daryl in a cell, you know they're making him eat dog food-"
"i didn't ask about daryl, i asked about you, sadie," rick cut her off. it wasn't that he didn't care about daryl, of course he did. the man was like his brother, and he would find a way to get him out of the situation he was in. but right now, he was focusing on his daughter.
"okay.." sadie's voice trailed off, crossing her arms over her chest, her eyes scanning the area, she looked everywhere but her dad. "i'm not being held a prisoner, if that's what you're wondering," sadie began, her lips parting when her eyes landed on carl, who sat on a nearby porch of one of the many houses, judith in his lap. the boy was staring at the two, no doubt in sadie's mind he was waiting to talk to her.
"i have my own room," lie.
"he's making me work for him, though," lie.
"i don't really talk to anyone there," lie.
"and, um. the only time negan talks to me is at dinner." lie. the man man didn't attend dinner, neither did sadie, he always had someone bring it to the two of them.
"what does he say? what could he possibly be talking to you about?" rick quickly asked. sadie sniffled, feeling her nose start to run due to the coldness. she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, wondering how she was going get out of this one.
"uh," she began, at a loss for words. once again, she looked around, gazing everywhere but her father. rick noticed this, he narrowed his eyes at his daughter, growing suspicions. another thing he noticed was that she was stumbling over her words, saying um and uh a lot. the man knew his daughter all too well, those were things she only did when she was lying.
"usually just something along he lines of 'hey sweetheart, how do you like it here?' Or "my door is always open for you-" sadie's father cut her off, and honestly, sadie was glad, she did it have a clue where she was going with that.
"he's called you kitten like four times back there, what's up with that?" rick asked, crossing his arms over his chest, tilting his head to the side. sadie swallowed the growing lump in her throat.
"hey you two, didn't i say no family reunion party?" negan strolled over to them, a grin placed on his lips and lucille swinging down by his leg, his right- glove covered hand gripping the handle tightly. rick swallowed, Sadie held back her sigh of relief, she couldn't handle anymore of her father's questioning.
"what're we talking about?" negan asked, throwing his arm over sadie's shoulders, standing by her side. the girl tilted her head up at him, narrowing her eyes due to the sun, ignoring him when he smiled down at her.
"nothing-"
"you, actually," sadie cut her father off. negan laughed, ruffling the top of sadie's head. She frowned, soothing her fingers over the top of her hair, glaring at him. "all bad things, i bet." negan smirked, directing his words towards rick, he didn't reply.
"that's alright, i don't give two shits about people talking about me, good or bad. i'm not twelve, rick." negan chuckled, patting rick on the back of his shoulder. the alexandrian leader continued to stare blankly at the ground.
"sadie, kitten, give us a minute, go say bye to the others while you can." negan said, smiling at the girl. sadie rolled her eyes, walking off from the two.
"quit telling me what to do," sadie said, punching his chest as she walked past him, he smirked. "quit acting like a brat and i wouldn't have to." negan replied, and sadie flipped him off. the man chuckled, watching her as she walked towards her two younger siblings who were waiting for her.
"your daughter, rick," negan began, chuckling as he walked closer to the leader. rick stood with his arms down by his side, his weight all on one foot, watching negan.
"she's something else, from day one she wasn't afraid of me, even after what i did," negan continued, that same old signature grin on his face. rick continued to stare at him, not planning on talking back.
after what had seemed like hours to rick of having to listen to negan go on and on about "the balls that sadie had" and how "annoying dwight is, he keeps on trying to be the redneck over there, what a loser, am i right?"
as negan began to walk away from rick to head out, the leader opened his mouth for the first time.
"i would like to ask you if sadie and daryl could stay," rick spokenup, making sure his tone was smooth and polite, he really needed them two back. he could not start planning to take down the sanctuary until they were home safe. negan smiled, turning around to face the man again.
"absolutely not, rick. but thank you for asking so nicely, the more you keep doing that, the easier our relationship will be." negan grinned, patting rick on the back one last time before walking away, and towards the three grimes children.
"kitten, i don't think i've formally met your two youngies — well, i almost made his arm go bye bye," he gestured to carl. "but the little one, now her i gotta meet her."