LILITH WAS BEGINNING TO PANIC. The tension at the "safe house" became so thick, not even her father's bat could break it. No one was listening to anyone, and the cold ones in the halls outnumbered them ten to nothing.

Paula and Michelle wanted to wait for backup, which frustrated Lilith considering that's the sole reason she was there, while Donnie and Molly wanted to kill the hostages and make a run for it. Donnie's injury was only getting worse too, and Lilith grew more and more bothered by the idea of having to deal with him turning.

After a short outburst from Donnie, in which he beat Carol and Maggie to the floor, Lilith knew it was time for her to step up again. She knocked out the old man with the butt of her gun before turning to the rest of the idiots around her.

"Ok, everybody, let's get our shit together. Alright? I'm done sitting back and watching, so if you," She looked to the ginger woman, "can please actually start letting me make the calls." Paula nodded subtly. "Great. Take this," She handed her the walkie, "Keep in contact with their leader. Baby momma, you're coming with me. We're gonna find somewhere quiet."

"Why?" Maggie asked cautiously.

Lilith held onto her jacket tightly as she dragged the woman along, "Just to chat."

~~~~~~~~~~

Lilith found another room and quickly shut the door behind Maggie and herself. She set up two chairs to face each other and sat down, gesturing across from her. Maggie complied, sitting down with her hands in her lap.

"Why'd you bring me here?" She asked, her confidence slowly coming back. Lilith chuckled, staring at the floor for a moment before returning eye contact.

"I told you, Maggie, I wanna chat. I want to get to know you. Where you're from, What your people are like, What your home is like, How long it's been around, and of course, Why you massacred dozens of my people."

"How do you know we even have a home? We could just be passing through."

Lilith scoffed at Maggie's lie. "Right, because people just shoot up hidden, secure outposts when they're passing through. An attack like this requires planning, at least a days worth. You obviously know something about us, how come I don't know you? You've got nice clothes, time to make babies. You're holed up somewhere good. I wanna see it. Tell me where." Maggie just stared silently, testing Lilith's patience. "Come on, Maggie, just tell me. We can help you and that little monster growing inside you. The way you survive is producing for us." More silence fell as Maggie stood her ground. The young girl felt her face grow warm as she genuinely became angry. The expression on her face shifting into a poisonous one, "You're not the good guys, you do realize that, right?" Maggie's indifferent expression faltered—a small twitch, but Lilith saw it clear as day, "That's hard to accept isn't it? I'm guessing you've been the victims in the past, maybe several times. But you aren't this time. This time, you started it. You're going to have to live with the consequences of that, whatever they may be."

Lilith smirked, knowing exactly what the consequences would be. Maybe it was a bit extreme, but with all the trouble she was going through because of these people, she found herself hankering for the chance to see them lined up. She sighed again, "Come on, honey, you gotta give me something to work with here."

"Why are they so scared of you?" Maggie suddenly asked.

That poisonous yet charming smile appeared once again, "Ah, the burning question. How long have you been waiting to ask that?" Maggie waited for an answer, looking unamused. "Damn, okay. They're not scared of me, per se, more of people I'm connected to. It's fun to pretend though," She joked.

"Negan?"

"Ah, so you have done your research. Yes, you are correct. The 'big man' himself. No one else in the world could make people like them quite literally shit their pants."

"He's your father, isn't he? They do what you say and respect you because they're scared of what he might do if they piss you off, that's it isn't it?" Maggie pushed.

Lilith's grin faltered. "Why is it so important to you?"

"If that's true, it means Negan wasn't there. He wasn't at the satellite."

Maggie's worried tone, admittedly, made Lilith all the more giddy at the woman's line of questioning. The fear her father instilled in others was so potent, she could understand why he was addicted to it. Hell, she took every chance she could to share in that trepidation.

"Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. Maybe I lied. Maybe I am Negan. Maybe we're all Negan. You don't know anything about us and you don't get to. We're here to talk about you," the girl said ominously.

"I'm not planning on dying today."

"Good, I don't want you to. But, listen, I don't wanna die either. So please, milady, do tell me. Where do you live?"

With still no answer from Maggie, Lilith stood up in annoyance, "Don't move. Do not leave this room unless you want me to change my mind about your current state of life."

She left the room, not before barricading the door with some stray furniture, and made her way back to the other's.

~~~~~~~~~~

She finally arrived to the first room they came to, only to find everyone, including Carol, completely gone. A wave of dread rushed through her body.

You've got to be fucking shitting me.

Lilith pivoted swiftly, sprinting back to the room she had just left Maggie in. She ran up to the door to see the barricade gone and the room empty. "PAULA!" She shouted, trying to hide the anxiety in her throat as her voice echoed through the grimy, vacant building.

Wandering through the weaving hallways of the long abandoned building, Lilith desperately looked for any living person. A list of possibilities ran through her head—maybe they left without her to do the hostage exchange, and she barely missed them while they went to get Maggie. Or maybe they did yet another idiotic thing, prompting Carol to escape and free Maggie, and now more of her people were going to die.

She crossed her fingers on account of the former, knowing it could either end with them coming back to get her right after, or her dad going full psycho and coming to get her himself. However, she knew which possibility was more likely, and she braced for it. Turning into her quietest version of herself, she prepared to face the barrel of a gun at any moment.

She rounded a corner, gasping as Paula crashed into her. "Lilith, the hostages, they're gone," the ginger explained in a panic.

"Yeah, I noticed, dipshit." She groaned

"No, but listen I... Molly and Donnie are dead. I don't know where 'Chelle is."

"Go figure," Lilith mumbled under her breath. She glanced up at the older woman who stood with an empty expression. "Don't just stand there, polly pocket, go! Find them before they get out." Paula nodded vigorously, turning to run in the other direction. "And shoot on sight!" Lilith ordered her.

After a moment, Lilith heard the piercing echo of gunshots. Following the sound, knife in hand, she came to find Michelle dead on the ground and Paula half-eaten on a spike.

"What the nuts..." She whispered to herself. Carol and Maggie spotted her, the latter pulling out her gun to aim at the young girl, while the older one hesitates. "What are you waiting for? I'm here, vulnerable and alone. A child should be an easy kill for you," she taunts.

Maggie turned to her older friend, "We have to finish it." 

"Maggie, she's a kid!"

"We can't just let her go!"

"We can't kill her either, you think Rick would want that?"

"Carol, give me a better idea," Maggie murmured helplessly.

"If I may," Lilith interrupted their argument. "You're not taking me, if that's what you're thinking. Trust me, you do not want to have to deal with the consequences of that. Letting me go, unharmed, is in your best interest. This isn't me begging for you to let me go either, I'm actually serious about this."

"Maggie," Carol pleaded.

In the short moment where both their attention left her, the teenager threw her knife with precision towards the pair—it lodging itself into the younger woman's shoulder. Lilith turned and sprinted away as fast as she was physically able, narrowly avoiding the gunfire behind her.

She eventually found a small window, high up on the wall, reminding her that she'd been in the basement this entire time. Crawling on various things, she reached the right height in which she could shatter the glass and squeeze through.

Finally making it outside, she collapsed onto her back in the tall grass, processing her hell-of-a day. She laid there for so long that she felt like she could almost fall asleep—almost.

She couldn't bring herself to stand up, her body being so physically exhausted. She even debated staying there for hours, until she heard the distant roar of a truck engine.

~~~~~~~~~

The one surviving member of the rescue team, aka the driver, brought Lilith home safe and sound, so-to-speak.

Once inside the Sanctuary gates, she hopped out of the truck. Her dad stood at the top of the stairs, leaning on his elbows against the yellow railing, Simon beside him. They both seemed distressed, likely about two entirely different things—Lilith could make an educated guess on what those things were.

Simon nodded to his leader as Negan practically leaped down the stairs. It only took a few strides for him to get to his daughter.

Once he was closer, she noticed the absolute torment he had been going through. He'd always been a worrier, she couldn't blame him considering what they'd been through together, but sometimes the physical toll was larger than other times.

His eyes were glassy, and the skin around his nails looked raw and scarred and even bleeding in some places, like he hadn't stopped chewing on them for hours.

He reached her and immediately engulfed her in the tightest embrace she'd had in a while, dropping his beloved baseball bat on the ground in exchange for holding that one other precious thing in his life.

One hand behind her head and the other arm around her shoulders, Lilith couldn't move the upper half of her body.

"Shit, god damnit, Lili. You couldn't radio in? Not once? Anything could've happened, and I wouldn't have known! You weren't even supposed to be out there!" He exclaimed. She knew he was reacting out of fear, but when he shouted that way, he always sounded more angry than concerned.

"I know, daddy. I'm sorry, I-"

Negan interjected as he pulled out of the embrace. "No, stop, don't fuckin' apologize. It's not you I'm upset with. Swear to god, Fat Joey is getting the Iron as we speak."

"What? Dad, you're overreacting. I had it handled. It's fine."

"Not to me. I'm not letting him get away with nearly killing my daughter."

"I promise you, I can take care of myself. Giving him the iron over this, it's gonna make me look like a baby who can't go anywhere alone!" she argued, annoyed with her father's overprotectiveness.

Her father sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, "Darlin', you're 15. I just—"

"17," Lilith corrected. Her right eyebrow rose in challenge, "If you can't even remember your own kid's age, how are we supposed to trust you to make decisions around here?"

Negan groaned in frustration, "I'm old. Gimme a break. And besides, you may not be a baby but you're still my baby girl whom I'm not about to let out of my sight for at least 48 hours."

Rolling her eyes, the girl crossed her arms out of irritation. Negan placed a firm hand on her shoulder, in what was supposed to be affection but failed, and escorted his daughter back inside the Sanctuary.

The two walked side by side up the steps and inside. The large crowd just inside the doors noticed the pair approaching from the lofted walkway and kneeled instinctively. Sometimes she enjoyed it, it could even cheer her up. But right now, she knew they were doing it for Negan not her. It was just another reminder that she meant nothing without him.

~~~

Word Count: 2274

A/N:

ANYWAYS who else loves dad!negan cuz i do.

love you all!!

- chloe