"Wait here." Our guide – not Maven – said as he entered a room on the side of the hallway we were in. I looked around as I leaned against the wall lazily.

"How could you have been so reckless?" He hissed to me. I looked at him in surprise.

"How was that reckless? I'm sure you've done a hell of a lot worse."

"She has a point, Dad."

"Stay out of this Carl."

"So, what? You think you can tell me off for getting us in here? I'm sorry, Grimesy, but... where is the logic in that?" I shrugged. He glared at me.

"You put yourself in a dangerous position."

"And I handled it! Sure, everything could have gone south, but it didn't. And we're about to see JJ. About other find out who he is. And if he is my dad, like we suspect, then you can stop acting like you care about what happens to me." I muttered, looking at the door as it opened. I didn't know what made me say that last part to Rick, it was rather uncalled for, but I supposed that everything was catching up with me again. Eric not talking to me, just about having what little dignity I had taken away from me by some freak who seemed to have a thing for teenage girls.

"He will see you." Our guide said. I nodded and headed in, followed by everyone else, but our guide stopped them. I turned around to see what the problem was.

"Ah, why are you stopping them?" I asked.

"He said he would only see the one who claimed to be his daughter." Our guide said.

"What?" Maggie said. I shrugged.

"I'll be fine. You guys just sit tight."

"Alex!" Rick called. I turned at face him.

"Don't bother, Grimesy. See you soon." I walked down another hallway and eventually reached the room where a man was sitting with his back to me. I cleared my throat and the chair slowly turned around, the way it did in movies when you met the boss of the evil corporation. Foreshadowing, much?

"Step forward." He said, beckoning. I couldn't see him face, it was in shadow. It gave me the creeps. Slowly I walked forward into a patch of light so he could see me better. There was silence and then he stood up from his chair, walking over to me. He was far taller than me, and his build a lot stronger. And now I could make out his face and I froze. Despite the fact that we had thought he was my dad, making it a reality had a bigger effect on me than I thought it would. He smiled and pulled me into a hug, one that I returned.

"Thank God you're alright." He murmured into my hair. I nodded silently. I didn't trust my voice, didn't know what I was feeling, didn't know how to act. He pushed me back to look in my face again, smiling. He cupped my cheek in his hand and it took all my self control to not draw away from him. This wasn't what I was used to. I forced a slight smile onto my face and reached up to wipe a tear from his cheek. It felt wrong for me to be doing this. I wasn't his daughter anymore. I didn't feel anything for him. But I was here for Eric more than anything. He deserved to meet his dad.

"Eric's aright too." I said. Dad froze, seeming surprised. That in itself confused me.

"Well, where is he?"

"Safe. Why didn't you try to find us after the outbreak?" I asked.

"I did! I really did, but when I saw how overrun the city was with those things, I thought that you and your brother would be dead, that your mum would be dead. Where is she, anyway? Is she with Eric?" I frowned and stepped back, "Alex? What's wrong?"

"You should have asked about her and Eric. You didn't. You waited for me to bring Eric up. Why? Why didn't you look more thoroughly? Rick at least looked for his wife and Carl. You didn't. You just buggered off when you saw how dangerous the city was. Why?"

"I kept searching for you, I really did. I hoped that you had found a way out of the city and thought that if you were in the city then you were dead. I'm sorry, I should have looked."

"If you had then things wouldn't have ended the way they did."

"What happened?" He asked. I frowned, thinking that somehow he probably already knew.

"Mum died." Was all I said. He didn't apart quite as I expected a man who just found out his wife was dead would. He just looked slightly upset and nodded.

"I thought as much."

"You don't seem that effected by the news." I said, slightly accusingly.

"It was a long time ago."

"She was your wife! If you ever loved her, you would still care, no matter how long ago she died."

"I have more important things to think about right now." He moved to cup my cheek in his hand again, but I flinched out of his reach.

"No. I'm sorry, but I've been through too much to just let you back into my life. If Rick allows it, you can meet Eric. You might have better luck with him. I know he was always your favourite," I turned to leave, but stopped when he started laughing, "What's so funny?"

"Getting permission might be a little hard when your friends have been apprehended."

"What?!" I whirled around and glared at him in disbelief. He smirked.

"There was a reason that I wanted you here on your own. That way I could take your friends and use them against you."

"I didn't think you would sink that low. What do you want?"

"My children back." Was all he said. I scowled at him.

"Yeah, like that is gonna happen."

"I have your friends."

"For how long? You don't know what they are capable of."

"I can keep them here for as long as I want."

"You also don't know what I am capable of. You can meet Eric, try and form a relationship with him. Eventually you might be able to have a relationship with me again as well, but I need time. I just found out that you aren't dead. Let them go. That would be a good start."

"I shall think about it. In the mean time, make yourself at home. Maybe find yourself a room for if you and Eric move here." I nodded and turned, leaving the room. First things first, locate our weapons, then find Rick and the others.

"Alex!" Maggie called quietly when she spotted me. I jogged down the stairs, Daryl's crossbow in my hand. I had been looking for these guys for a bit over two hours, showing me just how big this place was, how many people there were. I stopped in front of the door and looked through the glass. This place reminded me of a school, which is possibly what it had been in a past life.

"Everyone in there?" I asked. Maggie nodded in answer.

"Rick ain't in too good shape."

"What happened?" I asked as I bent down to look at the door handle closer, inspecting the key hole.

"The bastards got the jump on us once you were gone. Tried fighting them off, but Rick got hit in the head pretty hard."

"Man, I feel bad. It's my fault." I muttered.

"No, it's not your fault. You didn't knock him in the head."

"No, but I may as well have. I said horrible things to him and then left you all to fend for yourselves."

"You didn't know what was going to happen."

"I should have!" I stood up so I could look Maggie in the eye, "Jedidiah is my dad, I should have know what he was capable of. I guess part of me wanted him to be the guy I thought he was." I stepped back, turning around as someone came down the stairs. They looked at me in alarm and moved to hit the fire alarm, but I shot them once through the head. They collapsed to the ground and I scowled, quickly reloading Daryl's crossbow. I walked over to him and found some keys, holding them up so Maggie could see them. I also grabbed a gun from the body before heading back to get my friends out of their prison.

"Hey, Grimesy, you able to walk?" I asked. Rick looked at me and Carl slowly helped him to his feet.

"Yeah. It's just a bump."

"Doesn't look like it's just a bump. You look like you've been to hell and back." I said, stepping forward and handing the gun to Carl, "Look, I didn't mean what I said to you earlier. You were just looking out for me, and that is more than Jedidiah ever did."

"Hey, it's OK." Rick said, clapping me on the shoulder.

"You can talk about it when we get out of here." Michonne said from the doorway.

"You know where their armoury is?" Eugene asked. I rolled my eyes and held up Daryl's crossbow so for him to look at.

"No, I just wished this to me out of thin air." I said, my voice thick with sarcasm.

"Hey, you don't need to give me a stupid answer."

"Then don't ask a stupid question. Come on. Eugene, help Rick. Carl, can you watch our backs? You're the only other person with a weapon currently." I said, taking the lead. Carl nodded. I left the room, followed by Maggie, then Eugene and Rick, Michonne, and lastly Carl. I never would have thought that I would end up leading the group, no matter how temporarily. Damn my dad. Wasn't this world complicated enough without my dad wanting to worm his way back into my life? I mean, sure, I had gone to him, but it was Rick that was supposed to be dealing with him, not me. He'll, I was only there so we weren't killed on sight. I paused, checking the way was clear. Evidently Michonne could tell what was making me hesitate.

"Hey, this isn't on you."

"Yeah, so Maggie said earlier. What is it about you people and saying what someone else has already said?" I sighed, "Look, let's just get out of here. Talk about it later if we must." I started moving again, shooting someone in the head as they came towards us.

"You didn't need to kill them!"

"Yeah, I did. More I kill now, less we'll have to deal with when they decide to attack Alexandria."

"What?"

"Another conversation we can save for later. In there." I pointed to a door and everyone hurried in. The armoury. I was last in with Carl, and turned around with arms spread out wide and a smug look on my face. All of a sudden I could see what Carl had meant when he said I had changed. I wasn't as nice as I was. My skin was a lot tougher, metaphorically speaking. I realised I hadn't had an asthma attack in ages. How come, I wondered. I didn't think that asthma had anything to do with psychology. They looked at me incredulously.

"Help yourselves." I said.

"Since when have you been such a smooth infiltrator?" Carl asked me as he grabbed his old gun and ammo. I shrugged and walked over to the recurve bow and a supply of arrows. For some reason there were extra crossbow bolts too. I took the recurve and the arrows, including the bolts for the crossbow.

"I was in the city, remember? Had to find my way out of many a tight spot. This is just like old times for me."

"You used to live like this?" Rick asked, leaning against the wall. I frowned. It was more than just his head bothering him. What was up with his leg? Looked twisted. No wonder he couldn't walk or stand properly. Why hadn't I realized that sooner?

"No other choice, really. Well, plenty of choices, but no good ones." I threw a gun to Eugene, who fumbled to catch it. Had he always been this hopeless? Michonne smiled slightly and sheathed her sword on her back.

"Yeah, that's right, laugh at me why don't you..."

"Grow up, Eugene. But ah... you do know how to use that thing, right?" I asked. He gave me a death stare and I grinned.

"Alex, stop stirring up trouble." Carl said before heading over to the door.

"Yes, Dad." I rolled my eyes and joined him after grabbing a few throwing knives. These guys had everything you could ever ask for. It was like weapon paradise. Carl shook his head and I raised an eyebrow, smiling ever so slightly, daring him to say something about it. He didn't, just shook his head and looked out the door. Did him only having one eye ever annoy him? Questions for later. Or not. I suspected that could be counted as a rude question. How'd he lose it anyway?

"You guys ready?" I asked, looking back at the others. Eugene didn't look to impressed about a couple of kids being in charge, but Maggie and Michonne didn't seem too bothered by it. Technically speaking they'd probably do a better job, but if they didn't agree with something, they'd speak up and I knew it.

"Leaving so soon?" Jedidiah came from the back of the room and I looked at him like he was some sort of freak that could walk through walls. I drew back the bow string, arrow in place, aiming for his head. But I was shaking. Could I do it? Kill my own dad? The others were pointing various weapons at him, too. Carl, Eugene, Rick, and Maggie pointing guns, Michonne with her sword at the ready. And all my dad did was smile.

"Well isn't this cosy?"

Author's note: Sorry for any mistakes. Might add some stuff and fiddle around with this chapter later, fix mistakes, that kind of thing. I've been a bit slack recently, despite sorta being on time, haven'the really got the chapters prepared before hand. Anyhow, hope it wasn't too bad. :)