I think I liked you better when you didn't have a knife in your hand, Peaches

What I f*cking want is you

Like a tiny miracle, it was as though Mia's presence in the small medical room changed everything.

The room felt brighter and warmer and far more full of joy and laughter than it certainly had been of late. Even if those smiles and that laughter came only from the little girl.

Blake had wept for a long while, hugging Mia close and listened intently as the toddler told her all about her last three days without her.

It was a wonderful thing for the two adults to have heard Mia's slip, finally calling Blake her Mommy. And Negan knew there definitely wasn't a better person for the job.

But as the minutes slipped by into hours it was very obvious that, as awake and responsive as Blake was, speaking softly back to the small girl sitting on her lap and crawling all over her legs, Blake's green eyes not seem to quite meet with Negan's.

But still, despite this, Negan stayed there, by their side, resuming his position in that chair at Blake's bedside, not saying a word.

For what could he say...he was at a loss. Wanting only to hug her and kiss her and hold her to him.

But with her avoiding his eye, this obviously wasn't the right moment.

Hell, perhaps she hated him...

Perhaps she blamed him....

But either way, he wasn't going anywhere. He would fight for her love it that was what it took.

He needed her. And any life without her, wasn't worth being in.

Negan sat there watching the pair as eventually Mia, her head nestled beneath Blake's chin, fell asleep, as did the blonde woman holding her.

And the dark-haired Saviour took this chance for his eyes to drift over Blake's beautiful features.

Shit, he loved her, with every fiber of his body, not caring about the bags that sat beath her eyes or the slimness of her face now.

She was every-fucking-thing to him. As was the tiny girl snuggled into her.

They were his family and after everything he had lost in his life, from Lucille, to the baby no longer with them, they were the important thing now. The thing he needed to fight for.

Negan blinked his eyes closed before he could stop himself, drifting off himself.

He hadn't slept in days and soon his thoughts and cares were replaced by a dreamworld...

Here he felt himself tied down in the blackness as he called their names....

...Blake...

...Mia....

...then a third name that he would not remember when he awoke. The name of his baby, the child he would never get a chance to meet.

But Negan found himself rooted to the spot, shackled, unable to move...looking down to his hand to find that his baseball bat wasn't there either.

He struggled to breathe, his chest tightening, as a sudden gunshot rang out.

Negan tried to twist his head but couldn't move, the darkness overwhelming him as he heard a child's voice, somewhere in the distance.

Or was it closer?

Suddenly, Negan jerked himself awake, his eyes snapping open as he stared quickly around, finding himself, to his surprise, back at the Sanctuary once more.