Just My Luck (Closed Starter for Noodlecupcakes)
It had been a little over a week since she’d come to Sanctuary, and Olivia was already in trouble.
It had been good so far. With her past as a nurse, she’d been posted in the infirmary. It was damn well better than foraging and half-starving on her own. She’d considered it a lucky break when the Saviors found her holed up in an abandoned Starbucks and nearly out of food.
The infirmary had been good for her, she didn’t mind the work, and it was more than fair in trade for safety, food, and shelter. The only complaints she had were that her bedside manner left a lot to be desired, but she figured that if there was any time to be a sarcastic bitch to those who deserved it, it was during the apocalypse when she couldn’t get fired.
She had yet to meet the infamous Negan officially. She’d seen him a time or two from a distance, tall and handsome and intimidating. And she’d made eye contact exactly once, peeking up through her hair as she knelt with a few others. He’d caught her looking as he passed, and the toothy grin he gave her had been on her mind ever since.
The problems started when a run brought back a boatload of pain pills. She had expected that to get some attention and it had, with every third person coming in trying to convince her they needed opiates. She’d put everyone off fairly handily, but Tim just wouldn’t be deterred.
She’d worked in a hospital and she knew when someone just wanted pills for recreational use. Tim’s ear had been shot off in some conflict or another, and she had no doubt it wasn’t pleasant, but he hadn’t even asked for anything until the rumor got around that there were pills to be had. Since then, every time she turned around he was badgering her. She suspected it was because she was new.
So she wasn’t particularly surprised when someone yanked her behind a building, and it was him.
She sighed, rolling her eyes. “No,” she told him. “Tim just give it a damn rest.”
He frowned down at her. She was small, he was trying to loom over her and intimidate her. “Be reasonable. I have points, I can get you damn near anything you want. Just a couple pills, I don’t see why you’re being such a bitch about it.”
“Because it’s never just a couple. And there’s going to be people who actually need them. So fuck off. I should have turned you in before now, you ask again and I’m going to Simon. Or--or Negan.” It was a bit of a bluff; she’d never approach Negan himself with such a small matter. But Tim didn’t need to know that.
She never saw his fist coming. It took her in the cheek, so hard she stumbled back, seeing stars. Blood dribbled from her nose immediately and she was so startled she didn’t even make a sound. Tim stepped closer, hand closing on her shirt.
“Who do you think Negan would believe? I’ve been here a long damn time, I’m trusted. New meat like you? All I’d have to do is tell him you’re lying.” He slammed his fist into her gut, wrenching a cry from her, and let her drop to all fours, gasping for breath.
It was likely the cry of pain that caught Negan’s attention, and the scene before him as he rounded the building was Olivia on hands and knees, nose dripping blood, and Tim about to drive a steel-toed boot into her ribs.
Olivia thought she was saved. Until Tim caught sight of Negan and smiled. “Sir, I was just about to go find you,” he said. He was so casual and confident, even she was surprised and uncertain. He sounded like he had every confidence in the world that he could justify his actions. She was suddenly very, very worried about what he was going to say.
