Hallowed Be Thy Name

Summary: Being a woman in the apocalyptic world was tough, being a woman under Negan's lead was tougher, especially with an agenda of her own… Negan/OC

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of The Walking Dead, Lex however is all mine.

Chapter 10:

She hadn't said a word during the entire ride but she did listen as Negan commented on each and every thing that he could possibly see. Eventually she had shut her eyes and relaxed in the seat, even feeling the pressure from his hand on her thigh disappear as he pulled it away. Yes, it was a decent ride, somewhat awkward seeing as her and Dwight didn't exactly get along, but hey, it could've been much, much worse.

When the truck began to slow down, Lex opened her eyes and straightened up in the seat, looking at the impressively large, sturdy looking metal walls that they seemed to be approaching. Well this was new, this was definitely a place that she'd never seen before, and questions flooded through her head at the sight.

How had Negan managed to find this place and who exactly lived her? Why had it gone unnoticed by the Saviors for so long?

The trucks all came to a stop, grouping the vehicles in two lines, and when men started hopping out, Lex leaned towards Negan, trying to signify that she wanted out too, but he didn't budge, no, instead, he turned his head to face her and plastered on a giant cocky grin.

"This is going to be fucking fun Lex." He remarked and she forced a smile onto her face too, trying to show him that she was excited to be here. She was hoping that maybe he'd change his mind about her staying guard, maybe once they were inside the walls, he'd realize that this was too important of a job for Arat and he'd fall back on her. She knew it was just wishful thinking, but it was possible, in this world, anything was possible.

Negan finally climbed out of the truck, planting his feet on the ground, and turning towards Lex, watching her carefully as she followed his lead. He gave her an encouraging nod and soon stepped forward, making his way to the gates, pausing a good five feet away from her before turning back to face her.

"Stay back." He said in her direction and she merely nodded her head, not bothering to argue with him. She wasn't in the right mood to take a stand, she didn't care that she was being left behind on guard duty, honestly, during the drive, she had grown to almost like the idea, it'd definitely give her a break from the hard work, and that was something she was always involved in lately.

When he moseyed on away from her, his lips pursing together so that he could whistle, she swallowed loudly and turned her back to the gates, choosing instead to look out at what was behind their trucks. She surveyed the place for any stray undead but didn't see many, or hear many, except for a couple.

Hell, the people that lived beyond the gates weren't doing too bad of a job taking care of themselves, she even gave them props for going as long as they had without Negan managing to find them.

"Dun, dun, dun, dun." She heard Negan's voice and turned around, catching him as he banged the barrel of Lucille against the strong looking metal gates. "Little pig, little pig, let me in!"

She stole a look at the guy nearest her, taking in the sight of her usual right hand, and fought off the urge to crack a smile. She rolled her eyes at Negan's theatrics though but knew that it was part of who he was, this was how he got what he wanted, and that meant that she'd keep her mouth shut do what she was told, at least until she was behind closed doors with the man.

"Not by the hair on my chinny, chinny, chin, am I right?" She mumbled and even caught her right hand flashing her a small, barely there smirk. She gave her head a little shake in amusement- yes, sometimes Negan could be quite entertaining, he could make her snicker when she wasn't expecting it and he clearly saw the joy in the simple things.

When the first part of the gate, the shaded sheet, moved sideways, her eyes widened, catching sight of all the grand houses locked away inside. So this was the new community, this was the place that Negan was so excited about, and now that she laid eyes on it, it wasn't hard to see why.

The wonders, the luxuries that this place still seemed to have, had to be in great numbers. They had houses, they had a town, they had everything that she ever could've wished for. It was much nicer than Hilltop, much more reminiscent of the world before the virus, but nonetheless, as much as Negan would claim that it belonged to him, she would never be a part of it.

Planting her feet against the worn and weathered asphalt road that led right to the front gates of this utopia, Lex remained standing back by the truck, watching as Negan held his stance right in front of the gates, an unfamiliar man, about the same intimidating height as Negan, stood on the other side.

"Well?" Negan drawled expectantly and Lex found herself wondering if these people would actually open their gates. In all honesty, there wasn't much stopping them from unloading a hail of bullets into them from the safety of their community, but Negan seemed unaffected by this prospect. Lex was still nervous about their whole visit, but she trusted her leader, she had faith that things would work out exactly the way he was planning.

"Um, who are you?" The man, who looked much younger than she first believed, countered. He seemed calm, too calm for her liking, but that just meant the Saviors would have to work extra hard to remind this community who was in charge.

"Think they've got good shit in here?" Lex's right hand leaned closer to her, his voice barely louder than a whisper. She offered up a shrug and turned her head to face him, taking in the glimmer of hope in his eye.

"I'd be perfectly content with some new underwear." She teased and her right hand simply shook his head, the amused smile ever present on his face. "Maybe a new-"

Lex stopped mid-sentence as another man wandered up behind the guy at the gate, the one that Negan was currently working his charm on. She cocked her head as she studied him, trying to place his face and wondering why he looked so god damn familiar. Who the hell was this man and why did his eyes seem to linger on her as he approached the gate?

The man moved on though and locked his eyes on Negan but Lex continued to stare at him, her eyes widening as she finally realized who this man was and where she knew him from.

This was Rick, the Rick, Shane's best friend Rick.

But…what the hell? How had he managed to make it here, of all places, and what had he been through to get here? But most importantly, did he know anything about her brother, did he have any clues about where he was, if he wasn't with them?

"Rick?" She murmured and dared to take a step forward, desperately trying to get a better look at him, but she stopped dead in her tracks when Negan's voice sounded out once more, brutally reminding her that it wouldn't be as simple as asking Rick, no, not in front of her leader, not if it made him seem weak.

"Do not have to make me fucking ask." Negan carried on, Lex's eyes glued on the man that had been her brother's closest comrade for years before she had left her home state. Rick flipped the lock on the gate up and grabbed the bars with both of his hands, pulling it open and letting the Saviors have access to his home.

"You said a week, you're early." Rick said. Lex kept her eyes trained on him, wondering what hardships he had been through. His eyes lacked the familiar shine that she had been used to before the world had gone to shit, which only spurred Lex on in wanting to know more about him and how he had managed to wind up in a place like this.

"I missed ya." Negan replied and she didn't need to see his face to know that he was grinning.

When the all too familiar snarling and hissing from one of the undead echoed from behind her, she turned sideways and watched as a walker moseyed on through their trucks, lining himself up with the gates and hobbling down the middle. She raised her hands up in surrender, waiting for someone else to take care of it, but no one moved, no one laid claim on the walking corpse.

"Oh, Rick," Negan glanced over his shoulder too, catching sight of the thing before focusing right back on Rick, "come on out here, fucking watch this."

Negan back pedaled and moved away from the gates, Lucille resting against his shoulder. She caught his gaze while she maintained her stance next to the truck but as soon as he looked away from her, she couldn't help but take another look at the man she had known before. "Calling it!"

Lex didn't move, not until Negan took a swing at the walker, sending it sideways and to the ground. She shook her head and reminded herself where to focus. She couldn't get too distracted, not by Rick, not by all the unknowns of this place, because distraction was a danger to everyone. This world needed her undivided attention in order for her to stay alive and to keep the rest of her people alive too.

Negan leaned back, laughing theatrically, "easy peasy lemon squeezy! All right, everybody, let's get fucking started."

He paused and Lex looked around, watching the rest of her fellow Saviors standing in front of the gates, waiting to see what sorts of treasures were awaiting them inside the big, tall, corrugated steel walls. Lex remained exactly where she was standing though, not entirely sure of how she was supposed to feel now that they were actually here and he was giving her job to someone else.

She knew that he needed to make as many loyal soldiers as possible, but did him sitting her out also mean that he was starting to doubt her?

She had always had his back, for as long as she had been at the Sanctuary, she had done what she had been told, she had provided the services required (and more), and she had worked her way up, even managing to get a group of her own that she could lead out on runs without Negan supervising her. Yes, she was near the top of the totem pole and nothing was going to stop her from staying right there.

"Big day." Negan paused, giving Rick a chance to look around at each and every person that he had brought with him, including Lex. She could tell that he was studying her, most likely trying to figure out who she was, if he even recognized her at all. When he cocked his head slightly sideways, all the while looking at Lex, she knew that he was processing something, hopefully he remembered her, hopefully he knew exactly who she was. "Hey, Rick, you see that, what I just fucking did? That is some fucking service! I mean, we almost get turned away at the gate, 'who is that guy, anyway', do I get mad? Do I throw a fucking fit? Do I bash some ginger's dome in? Nope, I just take care of one of these fucking dead pricks that could've killed one of y'all…service."

Lex crossed her arms over her chest and took a few more steps forward, wondering when Negan was going to actually get to the important part, the raiding of their community. She just slipped forward though, keeping her mouth shut, watching her leader, her lover, take control and remain there.

He was made for this, he was the right man for the job, and as much as she hated the idea of what he was doing, she wasn't going to argue. She knew what could happen if she went against him, Dwight's marred face was constant proof of that.

"Hold this." Negan stated and Lex immediately got closer to him, anticipating him handing Lucille over to her, but he didn't. She froze in her steps as he offered it to Rick instead, who's eyes lingered on the weapon, his gaze scanning for what exactly? She knew what the bat had done to people over the months, maybe years, but no one had ever stared at the barrel wrapped in barbed wire as long or as intently as Rick.

"Boss?" Lex called out to him, Negan hesitating as he walked just past Rick. He threw a glance over his shoulder and she lifted her hand up, silently asking him for her orders. He didn't say anything to her in response though, nope, not a word, instead, he meandered further into the walls and she let out a small sigh of frustration.

When Rick finally managed to peel his eyes off the bat, he looked right back at her and gave her the tiniest of nods, signifying that he knew exactly who she was. She wanted desperately to talk to him, but she was fully aware of what would happen if she did something Negan didn't want her to do, and talking to Rick would no doubt be one of those things.

Negan carried on walking, marching further and further into the new place that he owned. She remained standing beside the truck, watching him go, her eyes locked on him as he got smaller and smaller. The Saviors slowly filtered in behind him but Lex stuck right beside the truck, not entirely sure what she wanted to do, aside from get Rick to talk to her. If she could just ask him about Shane, about how he made it this far-

"Hot diggity dog!" Negan smiled, waving his arms out towards the place within the gates. "This place is fucking magnificent, an embarrassment of riches, as they say. Yes, sir, I do believe you are going to have plenty to offer up."

Lex uncrossed her arms and wandered further inside the gates, finally deciding to test out the waters, to see how far she could go. She moved her hand down to her side and set it on her hip, feeling the blade strapped to her hip. She then ran her hand over the handle of the gun strapped to her other side, making sure that she was fully prepared to handle any stray walkers that threatened to get anywhere near their trucks.

She couldn't help but take in the sight of Negan interacting with Rick, threatening him as he tried to talk to Daryl, their prisoner, one of Rick's group, at least that's what she had assumed. No one had told her all that much about him, only that he was from here, but that didn't mean that him and Rick were close.

She blew out a nervous breath as Negan came face to face with a scrappy looking young woman, maybe around Lex's age, but she didn't back down, no, this woman merely stood her ground until she had nothing better to do, then she stepped back and carried on with whatever it was she was doing. Hell, if she wasn't already part of a group, she might've been a good addition to the Saviors, maybe even a good friend for Lex.

If the rest of the residents of this place were anything like her, boy were they in for a treat.

But she knew that they were on opposing sides, this woman would never see eye to eye with them. Whatever Negan had done to their group, whatever he was going to do wouldn't be easily forgotten, or forgiven. Lex rolled her shoulders back and when Negan finally gave the word for his group to commence their raiding, she scowled as he called on Arat to lead the way.

Lex wasn't going to admit it to anybody but she could tell that Arat wasn't quite as comfortable with a gun in her hand as she should've been. She was nervous, jumpy almost and Lex wasn't sure if it was because of Negan or because of the world in general. Either way, the most she could do was scowl at the woman who had taken her place for the duration of this trip.

Arat made quick work of sending the Saviors on their way, Lex falling in step behind them and moving closer and closer to Negan, who was waiting in front of Rick for his crew to get going. A few of the guys, her right hand included, maintained their positions at the gates- well, Lex didn't figure she'd be guarding alone.

Negan turned his back to her and stole another studious look around the place, Rick keeping his position just behind the man. Was this her opportunity, was Negan going to take off on his own and leave Rick to follow him at his whim?

"They're just going to search the houses a bit, keep the fucking process moving." Negan announced, watching his crew move. Lex bit down on her bottom lip, wanting nothing more than to jump right in and search out the place with the rest of her fellow Saviors. She had a mental list of things she wanted, things like clean clothes (especially underwear), plus maybe if she was lucky, they'd have some abortion pills stored up.

But she wasn't going to push it. If this place was Negan's now, he wasn't going to just visit it once and call it a day, no, he'd be back and maybe if she could convince him, she could make the collection runs without him, maybe she could come here on her own to talk to Rick and see for herself what was hiding within the walls.

"Hey Walsh?" Her right hand spoke to her, pulling her out of her thoughts. She turned to face him and tipped her head down, waiting for him to speak again. "You got your pissing problem taken care of? I did notice that we didn't stop a hundred times for you to take a leak."

"Yeah, I got it fixed." She replied with an amused shake of her head. Hell, leave it to him to ask her about her bathroom habits at a time like this. Whatever, if it made him feel better, and it let her remember that she wasn't here alone, then it was worth it.

While Negan and the rest of the Saviors, along with Rick, disappeared into the small community, Lex held her breath, watching as her only chance at talking to the man who was her brother's best friend disappeared. She shook her head in disappointment, upset that she'd have to wait, but she knew that this was the best lead she had.

It wasn't until Dwight sauntered up to the scrappy looking woman that Lex paid any attention to him. She wondered what he was doing, why he was getting near her, but when he spoke, she realized that this wasn't his first encounter with her.

"Rosita." Dwight sung to her. "Where you going with your friend here?"

"Dwight." Lex cut in, her tone laced with warning. She stole a glance at the man who had originally answered the gate and shook her head while Dwight moved ever closer to the car that was residing just inside the walls, apparently ready to head out.

"We were just heading back to-"

"You know what? I don't care." Dwight immediately grabbed the gun from the holster on Rosita's hip and stuffed it into the bag hanging over his shoulder. He then looked at the guy, who reluctantly put his gun in the bag to join Rosita's.

Lex moseyed on over towards the car and took up a stance at the front, driver's side wheel, watching Dwight as he pulled open the door and reached in, nabbing the first gun residing on the seat and pulling it out, strapping it to his back. When he pulled the second gun out, Lex reached out for it, clearing her throat to get his attention. Dwight looked at her and she tipped her head sideways, glaring at him and watching him dejectedly pass it on to her.

With her fingers running along the handle, she looked the gun over and felt herself smiling at how good it felt to hold in her hands. She loved the powerful weapons and this was exactly that. Shane had taught her how to handle them when she was younger, when she still lived at home, and with every trigger that she pulled, she couldn't help but feel giddy at how many times her and Shane had gone out to the shooting range to practice.

"Now that that's all settled, I got a job for you." Dwight announced and Lex shook her head, pulling her mind back to reality and leaving her past behind for the time being.

"Why don't you go do something important Dwight?" Lex muttered, turning back towards the truck that she had come here in.

"Go get me Daryl's bike." Dwight continued, apparently ignoring her. She wasn't really that surprised that he had brushed her off, but she wasn't going to fight him on it, not today. There were bigger things for her to worry about, more important things on her mind and if she could just figure out a way to talk to Rick, or even wander inside the gates on her own in search of her brother herself-

"It ain't here." Rosita countered, bitterness in her voice that didn't go unnoticed by anyone remaining on guard.

"Well, if it ain't here, then you know where it is, right?" Dwight pointed out. "We both know you know where it is."

"Just do what he says." Lex barked, her patience for Dwight wearing thing. The sooner she could get him off Rosita's back, the sooner she'd have to stop hearing his grating voice, which was much more irritating to her than usual. "Don't make us hurt you."

"I'd like to see you try." Rosita countered and Lex ran her hand along the strap of the gun, reminding the woman without even speaking that she was the one with the advantage. Sure there were still going to be knives and sharp blades within the walls of this place once they left, but they would have all the guns, they wouldn't let these people have any way to hurt them from afar.

With a frustrated huff, Rosita made a move to push by Dwight to get into the car but Dwight stopped her, taking the very hat off her head and then stepping out of her way, allowing the poor woman to climb into the driver's seat.

"Fuck's sake." Lex grumbled with a roll of her eyes. Rosita's partner hopped into the car too, Dwight leaning against the door and reaching through the window, grabbing the water canteen from inside and making a move to dump the contents out onto the pavement. "Don't you dare. That's valuable."

"Don't take too long." Dwight continued to ignore, the water cascading downwards, her but as soon as Rosita and her friend drove away in their car, Dwight rounded on her, his eyes narrowed into a mean looking glare.

He took a step towards her and she pressed her lips together, trying desperately not to let him get to her. Sure she had thought they had sort of come to an understanding back at the Sanctuary but this was a different environment, a different place, a different audience and Dwight was a different person.

She got that, she understood it. She was a different person inside the walls of the Sanctuary too, but she tried to hold on to her morals at all times, or what was left of them. Dwight had wasted a perfectly good drink of water, and for what, to look tough, to show them who was boss? Was it really worth it?

"Don't you talk to me like that in front of-"

"As much as you think you're Negan's bitch, it's not a good look for you Dwight." Lex cut him off. "I know what I'm doing, okay, you could bet your life on it."

She didn't give him a chance to respond before marching back over to the truck, taking up a stance near her right hand man. She set her sights on the road that they had driven up on, her eyes looking out for the undead. With the sun high in the sky, she reserved herself to a long day waiting, watching, and keeping her fellow Saviors safe.

XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX

Thank you for the kind reviews, I hope you all continue to enjoy and leave some thoughts on the latest installment.

Uh oh, Lex has laid her eyes on Rick...what do you think she's going to do about that?