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VIII


                        LILITH DID NOT REALIZE HOW MUCH she missed her father until she heard his voice call out from behind the front gate. Sure, it had only been 4 days, and she was thoroughly enjoying her time in Alexandria, but the sound of his voice triggered a near homesick feeling in her.

Maybe it was the panic attack she had had only a moment ago, or maybe it was the isolation she felt from every person inside those walls, but she was elated to see her father. She watched from several yards back as Spencer pulled open the inner fence, revealing Negan in all his glory, looking smug as usual. Lilith rolled her eyes, amused.

The two began to converse, but she wasn't quite close enough to articulate what they were saying. Rick walked up from behind, striding past her and all the way to the gate. He looked angry yet terrified.

After a short interaction between him and her father, Rick pulled open the large outer gate. They continued to speak when a walker revealed itself from behind one of the Savior trucks. Negan smiled, gesturing with his head towards the dead thing.

"Calling it!" He shouted, amused. He took it down with one swing of his sacred bat, "Easy peasy lemon squeezy!"

Lilith watched as Rick scanned the group of saviors and saw him tense at the sight of someone. She recognized the object of his attention as the man Dwight had taken home with them. Daryl was his name. He was dressed in the usual Sanctuary prisoner garb. Cream sweats with an orange initial spray painted on his shirt. His was A for Alexandria.

Her father continued to taunt Rick with proclamations of his "service" before walking inside the walls, handing Lucille to the other man as he walked past.

Once inside, Negan immediately noticed his daughter ahead of him. She leaned against the metal wall with an amused smirk. A wide grin appeared on his face as he opened his arms, continuing to strut towards her.

Lilith returned the smile as she pushed herself off the wall, running towards her father and jumping in his arms. He briefly spun in a circle then set her back down, ruffling her hair once he did so.

"How'd it go, munchkin?" He asked her.

Lilith cringed slightly at the nickname. "Peachy," was all she responded with.

Negan sighed contently as he looked around. "Hot diggity dog! This place is magnificent!" He turned to look at Rick who stood behind him, "An embarrassment of riches, as they say. Yes, sir, I do believe you are gonna have plenty to offer up."

Rick didn't respond, turning to look at Daryl again. "Hey, Daryl-"

"No," Negan cut him off with a stern tone, "Nope. He's the help. You don't look at him, you don't talk to him, and I don't make you chop anything off of him." A small grin worked it's way onto his face as he turned to Rosita, who stood right behind him. "Same goes for everyone," He told her with a sing-songy voice. He leaned in closer to her face, "Right?"

The young women's jaw clenched. She leaned back to create distance from the older man before her eyes flickered up, glaring darkly. Without a word, she pushed past him, walking off.

"Whew, a lot of suspense there. I don't think she even knew how much," Negan told Rick with amusement. Once he was met with silence, he moved on, "Alright, let's get this show on the road! See what kinda goodies you got in the cupboard!"

"We put aside half the supplies-" It was Lilith's turn to cut Rick off this time.

"No, Rick!" She almost laughed at the man, "No. You don't decide what we take. . . we do."

"Arat!" Her father called out to one of his people.

The woman stepped forward, rifle in her arms, "You heard the man. Move out!"

The saviors dispersed, walking in all sorts of different directions. Negan clapped silently, a childish smirk on his face. "They're just gonna search the houses a bit," He informed Rick, "keep the process movin." He sighed, "alright. . . you gonna show me around or not?"

Lilith chuckled, remembering her very similar question when she first arrived. "Now that I think about it, I don't think we ever finished my tour either!" the girl brought up with a pointed look.

Her dad smirked at her comment. "Well?" He urged Rick who only glared before walking forward. The father and daughter both smiled victoriously, following the man.

~~~~~

As they strode down the streets, saviors were lugging things out of houses. Furniture, knick-knacks, etc. Lilith was excited.

"You see this? This is the kinda thing that just tickles my balls!" Negan exclaimed. Lilith rolled her eyes, not even trying to hide her disgust at his comment. "A little cooperation and everything is pleasant as punch. You see, we really are reasonable people once you get to know us. Honest." Rick still refused to respond to him, which Negan didn't seem to mind.

The latter bent down to open a cooler he'd noticed on the ground. Inside, he saw an orange soda, which he picked up excitedly. He chugged the whole thing quickly before tossing it to the side. "Damn, I love this place!" He said.

A random savior shouted his name, "Something you might wanna see." He approached his leader, handing him a video camera.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Lilith's father taunted, "Got my fingers crossed for a little freaky deaky!"

Lilith faked a gag. Her father and his sexual humor. She would find it hilarious if it wasn't, you know, her father making the jokes.

On the camera, a video started playing. One of Rick. She knew it was old because of the length of this beard. It was very, very long. He was dirty in the video. She assumed it was from the day he arrived to Alexandria. Because she had never seen anyone inside those walls quite that unkept.

"Is that you, Rick?" the teenage girl teased, "underneath all that man-bush?"

"Shee-ut!" Her father played along, "I would not have messed with that guy." Then, Negan flipped the camera around to film Rick and clicked record, "But that's not you anymore, is it?"

Lilith jumped into frame. She grabbed both sides of the small camera to ensure it was on her.

"Nope!" She shouted childishly. She laughed, looking up at her father in instinct. She always looked for his approval. It was a subconscious thing. Most of the time she was either making fun of him or genuinely calling him out. But deep down, she always had this urge to make him proud. After staring at her father for a short moment, she said to him, "You really do gotta shave that shit."

He laughed, patting her shoulder, "Trust me, I know." He stroked his beard as he considered her comment. No one else seemed amused by the pairs antics, so Negan decided to change the subject.

"Whatever happened to that sick girl?" He asked. "That seemed like a hell of a stressful night for her. The way she was carrying on, she was married to number two, right?" Rick glared coldly. His jaw clenched. "Careful. Careful how you're lookin at me, Rick," Negan warned. "Widows, especially ones that look like that, they are. . . special," He taunted again.

Lilith began to feel uneasy. The way her father talked about that woman scared her. He never was that insensitive or disrespectful before the world ended. But in the recent years, he's lost that. . . moral foundation. Most of it anyway. Lilith tried to ignore it, tried to focus on the good parts that were still there, but there were some instances where she just couldn't. Instances like this.

"I love 'em," Her father continued. "Right after there husbands go, they are just. . . empty inside. But usually not for long," he said the last part with a sing-songy kind of tone.

The teen girl decided she had heard enough. Her father's words made her feel sick to her stomach, and she was reminded of another reason why she enjoyed her time out of the sanctuary. Turning on her heel, she began to walk away but paused when she heard a new voice.

"Would you like to pay your respects?" It was Father Gabriel, Alexandria's resident priest. . . Pastor? Preacher? Lilith didn't know the difference. That's beside the point anyway.

At the man's voice, her father whipped around. "Holy Crap! You are creepy as shit sneakin' up on me, wearin' that collar with that freaky-ass smile," He chuckled.

Lilith processed the younger man's words. "She didn't make it?" She interjected.

She was shocked from the news, yet also confused. She doesn't remember anyone from Hilltop coming to Alexandria in the last 4 days. Especially no one bringing a corpse.

Unsure of what to think, Lilith decided against going to see the grave. Instead opting for a conversation with her lovely new best friend---sarcasm noted---who she hadn't seen around since early that morning.

~~~~~

A gunshot. Who the hell is idiotic enough to shoot someone right now? The answer was obvious, and Lilith's assumption was proved correct as she walked into the infirmary, where the sound had came from.

"Put some back or the next one goes in you," The one-eyed boy threatened.

"Carl Grimes," Lilith started, "You are dumber than I thought."

The savior he fired at, Davey, chuckled, "Kid. . . what do you think happens next?"

"You die," The young boy replied.

Lilith genuinely choked on air, loudly laughing at his nerve. "Listen, I'm sorry, but you just aren't that guy," she teased.

Rick and Negan walked in behind them. The former held his hand out in warning, "Carl, Carl, put it down."

"No," The boy said, "no, they're taking all our medicine. They said only half our stuff."

"Of course," Negan came to stand in front of the boy, laughing under his breath, "Really kid?"

Carl turned his head, looking into Negan's eyes, "And you should go. Before you find out how dangerous we all are."

Negan raised his eyebrows, looking almost impressed.

"Oh, dude, you are so cool," Lilith mocked the boy, sarcasm lacing her voice.

Her father held his hand up, signaling her to stop. "Well, pardon me, young man and excuse the shit out of my goddamn French but. . . did you just threaten me?" He inquired. "Look, I get threatening Davey here, but I can't have it. Not him, not me, especially not her," he pointed to his daughter across from him.

Rick interrupted, his anxiety present as he spoke, "Carl, just put it down."

"Don't be rude, Rick. We are having a conversation here," Negan cut him off. "Now, boy, where were we? Oh yeah. Your giant, man-sized balls. No threatening us," He explained to Carl, "Listen, I like you, so I don't wanna go hard proving a point here. You don't want that. I said half your shit, and half is what I say it is. I'm serious. Do you want me to prove how serious? Again?"

Carl finally put down his gun, though reluctantly. He walked over to his dad and handed it to him.

Negan also approached Rick, taking the weapon back out of his hand. He sighed, "You know, Rick, this whole thing reminds me that you have a lot of guns. There's all the guns you took from my outpost when you wasted all my people with a shit-ton of your own guns, and I'm bettin' there's even more. Which adds up to an absolute ass-load of guns, and as this little emotional outburst has made crystal clear, I can't allow that. . . they're all mine now. So tell me, Rick. Where are my guns?"

Rick hesitated before backing up. He turned and walked out the door. Negan smirked triumphantly, giving a wink and a nod to his daughter, before following him out.

Lilith stayed behind. She went up to Carl and slung her arm over his shoulder, "I got a question for you, Casanova." The boy glared at the nickname. "When did you bury the dead pregnant lady?"

He looked at her with pure confusion, "What?"

I knew it, She thought to herself. "Nothing, never mind, I must've gotten confused," she played it off. This was something she could use, an advantage she had over them. And she wasn't about to lose it.

~~~~

Lilith had found her way back to her father, who watched as Daryl and some saviors loaded Alexandria's entire armory into a truck. A random savior came up the stairs, holding a giant rocket launcher.

"Well, holy smokes!" Lilith exclaimed as she jogged over grab the weapon out of the old man's hands. "Look at this! It was you guys who took out Little Timmy and the Dick Brigade?!" She shouted, impressed at the discovery, "Wow, Rick, gettin' in your last licks. Oh man, I'm gonna have some fun with this!"

"Woah, sweetheart, not so fast," Her father interjected, gently removing the rocket launcher from her grip. She sighed in annoyance.

Suddenly, Arat dragged Olivia up the stairs. The bigger woman begged nervously.

"Now, Arat, careful. We don't do that. Not unless they do something to deserve it," Negan told the savior.

"Yeah, we went through the inventory," She explained, "Guns in the armory, guns they had around the walls, they're short." She then handed Negan the notebook containing the said inventory, "a Glock 9 and a .22 Bobcat."

Lilith crossed her arms, standing in Rick's line of sight, "Is that true?"

"We had some people leave town, those guns must've went with them," He reasoned.

"So Olivia sucks at her job. Is that what you're saying?"

"No. No, I'm not saying that-"

Negan cut in, holding up the notebook, "There should be full accounting here, right? Top to bottom. Am I right?"

"No," Olivia spoke up, "I mean, yes. The inventory is correct."

"Good," Negan replied, "But not so good, too. You see, what's in here. . . isn't in there. You're two handguns short. Do you know where they are?"

Olivia shook her head nervously. Negan sighed in disappointment, "I'm sad, Rick. I thought we had an understanding. But this. . . well, this shows that someone's not on board, and I can't have that." The man looked at Olivia again, "I don't enjoy killing women. Men— I cant waste them all the live long. But, at the end of the day, Olivia, my dear, this was your responsibility."

"Look we can work this out-" Rick pleaded.

"Oh yes we can! And I'm going to. Right now," Negan told him before going to taunt the trembling woman again, "this was your job, and you screwed up. Keeping track of guns? That shit. . . is life and death."

Olivia cried in fear. Lilith put her hands on her hips as she watched her. She pitied her. But she also agreed with her dad. She was given a very big responsibility. She has to know just how big.

~~~~

Rick and his people searched their houses, determined to find the missing guns and save Olivia's life. Meanwhile, Lilith sat on the steps of a random porch, watching in amusement as the panicked citizens scurried around.

Her attention was then captured by Davey's voice. The creep. He stood in the middle of the street, talking to very familiar brunette

"Balloons? You going to a party, little girl?" He taunted.

Enid looked at the him, obviously uncomfortable. "Can I keep them, please?" She asks through gritted teeth. The creep didn't respond, and Enid shifted on her feet, "It's just. . . let me keep them."

"Say please again, little girl."

Lilith then stood up, hesitating to step in, though wanting to.

"Please. . ." Enid repeated.

Davey stepped forward, reaching his hand out and brushing a finger over Enid's cheek, "One more time, little girl."

That was it. Lilith angrily marched over. "Davey!" She shouted, "leave the poor girl alone, you fucking greasy-ass pervert."

The savior man scoffed, "mind your own business, twat."

"Excuse me?" Lilith questioned in disbelief at his audacity.

The man hesitated, ultimately deciding not to repeat himself. He mockingly dropped the green balloons onto the ground, walking off.

"Smart choice. Let's hope this is a catalyst for more good choices like that." Lilith called after him in a condescending tone.

She then leaned down, picking up the balloons and handing them to back to Enid. The brunette cautiously took them.

A small moment of silence passed between them before Lilith spoke up. "I'm sorry you had to deal with him. He's always been a creep. I also don't think he's ever taken a shower a day in his sorry ass life," She tried to lighten the mood. She could see Enid relax ever so slightly but she knew that's all she would get.

The brunette gave her a tight-lipped smile. "Thank you," she muttered quietly and without sincerity.

Lilith nodded slowly, "I hope I'm not overstepping. . . but what's the deal with those?" She gestured to the balloons. "They have to have some sort of significance, right? For you to want to keep them so badly?"

"Why do you care?" Enid snapped.

Back to square one, Lilith thought to herself, "I'm just curious."

"Well it's none of your business."

"Alright fine!" Lilith said exasperatedly. She studied Enid's face for a short moment. "There's something else you wanna say. I can see it."

"Why are you acting all nice all of a sudden?" She finally asked.

"Maybe I actually am just a nice person."

"Yeah, right."

"Are you serious right now? I just helped you deal with that goddamn pervert!"

"I had it under control."

"And yet, I came and helped anyway."

Enid huffed, "Stop trying to win my favor. It's not going to happen. You stand beside the man who murdered people I loved. No matter how many little acts of kindness you show me, I will never, ever, see the good in you."

Now that hurt. Lilith has always had tough skin, but at Enid's words, she wanted to crumble. She's never had someone be so upfront with her in such a negative way. She knew she was flawed. Of course, she knew. But she's still always been able to overcome those flaws.

She stared at the brunette in front of her, trying to come up with something clever to say. Instead, all she came up with was, "I really hope your wrong about that."

And then Lilith turned around. She walked back to the porch she'd been sitting on which had now gathered a crowd since Rick found the missing guns.

~~~

The day was done. Supplies were gathered, guns were found, and transactions were completed. Now, Lilith sat next to her father in the front seat of his personal truck.

They rode in silence. Lilith rested her arm on the window, and her head in her hand. Negan tapped his fingers gently on the steering wheel before speaking up.

"So," he began, "This Carl kid. . . whatcha think of him?"

Lilith raised her eyebrow at her father, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I just mean. . . you know. . . what are your opinions on him?"

"I don't know. . . he's a little annoying. He does kind of remind me of myself though so that might be a reason for that aspect. Why do you care?"

"Just wondering. . ."

Another moment of silence passed between them.

"So you don't. . . have any opinion on him. . . physically? Like appearance-wise?" Negan asked out of the blue.

"Dad, what the fuck? No!" Lilith laughed in disgust and slight second-hand embarrassment.

"Hey! I'd be supportive! I'm actually very fond of the kid, got a silver-tongue on him."

"Please, let's change the subject."

"Look, honey, there's nothing wrong with liking a boy-"

"Dad. Trust me. Me liking a boy is the very last thing on earth that you need to worry about."

Negan nodded slightly, "Ok. . . um, good. Good, you know the rule, no dating 'till your 30."

"Woah, who said anything about not dating?" Lilith questioned.

"You," Negan stated, confused, "You literally just did."

"I said nothing of the sort."

Her father's gaze switched back and forth between the road and his daughter, "I am so confused right now."

"Well, you shouldn't be," Lilith told him, "C'mon, dad, you are not this dense!"

"I don't know what I'm missing!"

Lilith laughed in disbelief and turned her back to the window. She watched the landscape go by while she thought. It would hurt to bring her up to say her name, but if her dad is seriously still the clueless, maybe it was necessary.

She took a silent deep breath, "You don't seriously think Melanie was just a friend, do you?"

She saw her father's expression turn into one of understanding, as though he had finally put the pieces together. He hadn't, of course, because Lilith was forced to bring up her dead first love in order to prompt him.

"Oh. . ." was all Negan said.

"Oh?" Lilith questioned, "What does 'oh' mean?"

"Nothing. I just. . . I'm sorry, baby, I didn't know."

"Well, no shit! Otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."

"Did mama know?" He asked hesitantly.

"I think she knew before I did," the teen girl chuckled.

She then felt her father's hand pat her knee. He took her hand and squeezed it.

"So. . ." he began again, "any girls you like?"

Lilith laughed louder this time, "That would require me actually knowing a girl my age."

"I saw one in Alexandria -- brunette cutie?"

"Who, Enid? Ha! Yeah, right. You should've heard the things she said to me today. Never gonna happen."

"Well, you're young, ya got time. In fact, feel free to take all the time in the world"

She smiled and rolled her eyes, relaxing into her seat. Lilith didn't have anyone else, so she was overwhelmingly relieved that her dad didn't suddenly start treating her different. She didn't know what she would've done had their relationship been damaged even more.

Leaning her head on the window, Lilith closed her eyes. She spent that entire drive home in peace.


~~~


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