"Oh. . ."

"Yeah. Surprise, I guess."

Lilith could almost feel Carl's shock. She examined the boy's face as it rapidly switched form one emotion to another.

"So. . . you're dad. . . named a baseball bat. . . which he uses to kill people. . . after his dead wife?"

The girl nodded, her lips pursed, "pretty much."

"And you're ok with that?"

"Once again, it's complicated. Yeah, he's an asshole, but he's still my dad and all I have at this point."

There was a brief silence that passed between them as Lilith grew anxious. She felt as if Carl was judging her, which pissed her off.

To her surprise though, the boy responded, "I was wrong about you."

"What?" The young savior was caught off guard.

"I just mean you're not as stone cold evil as I thought. We're not our parents. I'm sorry for judging you based off yours."

Lilith began to breathe heavily. All her thoughts collided into each other as she became conflicted with her own emotions. She knew he meant it as a good thing, and she was glad to hear it. But over the past years she'd developed this instinct to defend her dad against everyone and everything, despite knowing his flaws herself. The panic began to set in as her mind yelled at her.

"My father is not stone cold evil. He may be the villain in your story, but may I remind you that you are the villains in ours. No, you shouldn't have judged me based off my dad, because I'm not like him. But still I do what must be done. Don't assume you know me, Carl Grimes, because you know nothing. Nothing at all."

Carl looked taken aback at the sudden change in mood. One second they were connecting, the next Lilith had her walls up again. Despite the angry tone and harsh words, the girls eyes were glasses over. The boy could tell just from looking at her that there was a whole different kind of war going on inside her head.

Suddenly, the girl next to him stood up and walked to her door, "Now, I'm hungry. Shall we see if Daryl brought the hors d'oeuvres?"

She saw Carl hesitate behind her. He didn't want to follow. Lilith knew it was because of Daryl. She hadn't interacted much with him since her dad took him hostage, but she knew how badly he was treated.

Yes, she felt bad for him. But in the big picture of things, she didn't care. Daryl was one of the faces she saw the day at the satellite. That day where she was convinced her life was going to end. He was there.

Besides, they've given him options. They've given him the chance to join them and end it. But he chose captivity. She could respect his loyalty at least.

Entering her father's room, Lilith found Negan in conversation with Fat Joey. At the sound of the door opening, the former turned his head.

"There's the kids!" Her dad exclaimed, "please, sit down! Help yourself to some 'tizers!"

Carl uncomfortably sat down in one of the leather chairs while Lilith collapsed on the couch across from him. She reached over to the food tray on the coffee table to grab a slice of cheese. Tossing it in her mouth, she made eye contact with the boy across from her.

"Guess we just missed your friend. Maybe that's a good thing though," she told him, chewing on the food in her mouth.

Fat Joey left the room and Negan turned to the two teenagers.

"So!" his loud voice startled the boy, "what have you two been up to?"

"Small talk," Lilith answered.

"Ok well, elaborate. I wanna be in on the gossip!"

"There's no gossip, it was small talk. He called you a piece o' shit and I happily agreed."

Negan's jaw dropped, but a ghost of a smile hid behind it, clearly amused. "Ouch, babydoll, ouch."

Lilith rolled her eyes, smirking.

Her dad the moved to sit on the couch, picking her legs up to sit before placing them back on his lap. Carl watched in bewilderment at the sudden fatherly-ness of Negan towards his daughter.

"Well, here's the deal, children," the older man began, "One of my wives cheated on me."

A groan echoed through the room as Lilith removed her legs from her dad's lap. "Gross, why are we talking about them? I don't care about any of that," she exclaimed in disgust.

"Because rules were broken, sweetheart! And you know what that means! Now, I'm not mad at her specifically. But, the man on the other hand, well he should know better. And someone must be punished so. . . it's your time to shine, Lil."

The girl's expression changed, "Now? With him here?"
She nodded towards Carl, who hadn't said a word since the entered the room.

When one breaks a law, at least an important enough law, they get the iron. Something Negan had placed Lilith in charge of. Rule breakers get their skin melted by a teenage girl. Talk about losing dignity.

Lilith considered the situation. After how she ended her conversation with Carl back in her room, she thought this might be a good way to bring her point home. Lilith tends to enjoy instilling fear in her people, she saw it as productive.

"When is it happening?" she inquired.

"As soon as it's ready, so any minute now."

Carl was on the fence about how he saw Lilith, but this might just tip him over. She told him she did what was necessary. This was what was necessary.

"Let's do it," she said with a smirk. To her surprise, a pit formed in her stomach, but she didn't pay any mind. It was time to show Carl Grimes how dangerous she could be.

~~~~~~~~~~

As Lilith and Carl followed Negan into the main warehouse, the older man began to bang his bar on the yellow railing. The metal clang echoed, causing the crowded room to go quiet as everyone turned to look at the father-daughter duo and their temporary pet, kneeling as they did so.

Lilith had not looked Carl in the eye since they left her father's room. She wouldn't allow the boy to make her feel guilty about what she was about to do. Negan stopped walking and turned to Carl. He handed the young boy the bat before placing both hands on the railing.

"You all know the deal," he began, "What's about to happen is going to be hard to watch. I don't wanna do it. I certainly know Lilith doesn't want to do it. I wish we could just ignore the rules and let it slide but we can't. Why?"

"The rules keep us alive," The saviors responded in sync with each other.

Dwight stood at the furnace, the iron already inside to heat up. Walking up to the blonde man, Lilith nudged him out of the way, preferring to do it herself. She slipped on a pair of thick work gloves and waited for her cue as she listened to her father give yet another dramatic speech about rules.

"Rules are what make it all work," Negan explained, "Here, if you try to skirt it, if you try to cut that corner. . . then it is the iron for you. On your feet."

Everyone obeyed as Negan and Carl made the rest of their way down the stairs. The two appeared from behind the crowd, Carl stopped at the edge while the older man walked over to his daughter.

He placed a firm hand on her shoulder, and she brought her gaze from the floor to him.

"Go ahead, Lili," he stated.

Showing as little emotion as possible, the girl turned to the furnace, picking up the heavy, glowing iron. She carried it toward the bound man in the chair who breathed heavily and sweat profusely.

Her eyes flickered across the rows of people for a brief moment. She caught Frankie's eyes, which held a look of pity, but Lilith didn't linger on her stare. Most of the wives heads were down, Amber in particular shook with muffled sobs as she leaned into Stephanie. Sherry, however, stood tall and held her glare onto the young girl. She radiated anger, not toward the teenage girl, but towards the world. The look in her eyes was one of conflicted sympathy, not pity.

Next, Lilith saw a silent exchange between Carl and Daryl. The latter of which quickly looked away from the frightened teenage boy. Seems the prisoner really was being conditioned.

Finally, she locked eyes with Simon. And her body turned cold. The dark stare and eerie smirk on his face made her feel ill. He looked not only pleased, but excited for what was about to take place.

Tightening her grip on the iron, she looked back to the man in the chair. She leaned down ever so slightly, so that their faces were level with each other. The eyes that stared back at her were filled with fear.

Lilith exhaled loudly, "Shit, Mark. I don't know what else to say other than, I'm really, really sorry. . . for myself"

At that, iron met flesh.

The blonde girl felt a sense of deja vu come over her. Every time she had to do this, it always played out the same. The speeches, the taunts, the screams, and then the sudden silence.

It was so repetitive, she must've zoned out because 20 minutes later, she came to and found herself sat between her father and Carl on the way back to Alexandria.

Huffing, she looked at the boy beside her.

"Guess the play date's over," she told him dryly.

Negan chuckled at her statement. He stretched his arm over the girl's shoulders, leaving only one hand on the steering wheel.

"Don't say that! I, myself, am hoping to enjoy some Alexandrian hospitality!" He exclaimed.

Oh boy, was all she thought for the rest of the silent car ride.

____
(word count: 1675)

much love,
Chloe <3