Chapter 5: Arrival, Part III

"I'm Judith," the girl spoke with a soft lisp and ducked her head down shyly as she snuggled against a stuffed elephant that had clearly been loved a lot, but she had a small smile on her face and was twisting back and forth so her skirt would flair out around her leggings and her wispy blonde curls brushed her cheeks.

Altogether it made for a pretty cute picture that had Negan genuinely smiling. "Well, hi Judith. I'm Negan. Is this your Mommy?" he pointed to Olivia, who sat stiffly in her seat behind him.

"No, that's Ms. 'livia. Have you seen Bubba?"

"I can't say that I have."

"He said he would play with me, but then he didn't. And now I can't find him."

From the edges of his vision, Negan could see the blue of Rick's shirt as the man hurried towards them, but kept all his attention on the child in front of him. This should be interesting. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. But you know what? I would love to play with you. You can sit right here with me and Ms. Olivia," he offered as he pulled the third chair across the grass until it was right next to his and helped the small child into the seat, "and we'll think of something fun to do. Hello, Rick," he looked up to see clear panic in the man's eyes, "Did you find my guns?"

"Not yet," he began but was cut off with a brightly exclaimed, "Hi, Daddy!"

Negan's growing smile made his cheeks hurt, but he didn't care, too excited by this turn of events, "Oh, my goodness! Is this your Daddy?" His words were directed to Judith but his eyes stayed locked with Rick's.

At the girl's happy "Uh-huh!" he gasped, "Rick! How in the F-U-C-K did you end up with such an adorable kid? Seriously, man, something skipped a generation here. Oh," his grin dropped in a parody of concern, "she doesn't take after the milk-man, does she?"

Something flashed in Rick's eyes, an instant, uncontrolled reaction Negan decided to file away for later. "And that must mean… Oh, here comes Bubba!" he pointed to Carl but mock-whispered down his new little friend, "He wouldn't play with you?" He tsked and shook his head in exaggerated disappointment before looking back at Carl with a knowing grin, "Were you supposed to be babysitting when you decided to have your little stare-down with me and my boys? Oopie-daisy."

"Let her go," Carl warned. This time, Rick didn't bother to be subtle, putting a firm hand on the teen's chest to push him back and stepping forward to fill the empty space in front of Negan.

"I apologize for her bothering you." Rick transferred Lucille to his other hand so he could reach out to his daughter, "Come on, Judy, we've taken up enough of this man's time."

"Not a chance." Negan's expression was dangerous for an instant before shifting back to gleeful eagerness. "She's no bother. Why, Judy here is my new best friend, and we're going to sit right here and get to know each other while you find my missing guns. In fact, we were just about to have ourselves a little tea party. What do you think, Princess Judith? You, me, and Ms. Olivia can enjoy the sunshine with something cool to drink and maybe color some pictures together."

"Can we have lemonade? Mommy made some this morning."

"That sounds absolutely delicious! Carl, why don't you be a good big brother and go fetch that pitcher of lemonade and some glasses for us? See if you can scrounge up some crayons and paper, too. Your Dad's got his hands full. You know what?" he turned back to Rick, "You should leave Lucille here with me. Might make your search go a little faster if you didn't have her to keep up with."

The words might have been phrased as a suggestion, but Negan's outstretched gloved hand left no room for argument. Even through the glove's thick leather and stitching, Negan could feel the faint tremor in Rick's fingers as he handed over the barbed bat. Good. He deliberately shifted in his seat to turn partially away from Rick and put his attention back on Judith, "This is Lucille, and she is awesome! She keeps me safe. You don't mind if she joins us, do you?"

The child shook her head and Negan's grin was back in full force, "And are you going to introduce me to your friend?"

Judith was eager to share, "This is Bethie, she keeps me safe, too."

Too fucking perfect! It was all he could do to not give away his best-kept secret. He laughed, "Wow! That is The Best name for an elephant I have ever heard!"

"Thanks, Uncle Daryl found her for me."

"And did he help you pick out the name?"

"Uh, huh," she nodded excitedly.

"Well, that just makes her even more special, now doesn't it?"

Just then Carl brought out the drinks and coloring supplies, all but slamming them down in unconcealed and barely-restrained rage.

"Careful there, Big Brother! We wouldn't want to break anything – people could get hurt."

Judith had been startled by her brother's behavior but Negan redirected her to start unpacking her colored pencils. "Can Bethie color with us, too?" she asked.

"Of course! We can't leave Bethie out, now can we? Let's give her a special spot right here," he set the stuffed animal on the table. Knowing that Rick and a few others were still standing by he couldn't resist adding, "Princess, I wouldn't leave Bethie behind for all the world."

"You're not seriously just going to leave her there with him?" Carl all but growled at his father.

Tyrese, Abraham, Sasha, and Glenn had waited for Rick and Carl to join them at the front of the subdivision after he'd run out of the church to get to Judith.

Rick rounded on his son, temper flaring now that they were far enough away that Negan wouldn't hear, "We don't have a choice! And if you'd stayed with her like I told you to, this wouldn't be happening, so stop it."

"Is she okay?" Glenn asked, his hand on Rick's arm in both reassurance and restraint.

Breathe. Rick sighed, pushing his emotions back down so he could get on with what had to be done, "She doesn't understand that anything's wrong, and Negan's playing nice, for now. But the sooner we get the Saviors out of here, the better. Did anybody own up to having the guns after I left?"

"No one, but Spencer and Rosita aren't back yet from where the Saviors sent them to get Daryl's motorcycle, and Eric never showed up," Sasha supplied.

"He did, actually," Glenn revealed. "He came in the back, looked around for you," he nodded to Rick, "And then came to me when he couldn't find you. Real cagey about it, I got the feeling he didn't want to talk in front of everyone, just said it would be nice if you brought Judith by for a sleepover tonight."

"Something happened that he doesn't want to share with the group," Abraham inferred.

The rest nodded in agreement. "Alright, we can deal with that later. Finding the guns and getting everyone through this with no losses is the mission right now, agreed?"

At everyone's nods of assent, Rick gave orders, "I know people are checking their own homes, but we need to coordinate, so everybody takes a street. Glenn, go down to Newbury Court – I know half the houses are empty, but if someone got it in their heads to stash a few weapons in case Negan did something like this, an abandoned home would be a good place, and you've got a knack for finding things others don't." And it puts you at the far end of Alexandria, away from Negan in case your emotions get the better of you, he kept to himself. "Abraham and Sasha, take the main road, one at each end and work your way towards the middle. I've got Oxford Circle; Tyrese, you take Climbing Arch," he pointed to the first cul-de-sac near the front gate.

"What about me?" Carl asked.

"Go home, stay out of sight. Do not come back out until they've all left."

"No way! I'm not just going to hide while – "

"Actually," Tyrese interrupted, "I could use an extra set of eyes. All those townhouses at the top of the safe zone have a lot of nooks and crannies, and we should probably check the watch towers as well."

"Alright," Rick gave in. "But you stay away from the Saviors, all of them."

"Fine," Carl muttered darkly before stalking up the road.

When it was just the two of them, Sasha leaned in to Rick, "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking I'm going to tear this place apart until we find those guns and get my daughter back, and I'm thinking I know just where to start."

"Hey, hold up!" Tyrese grabbed Carl by the shoulder and pulled him around the side of the row of townhouses, using them as a shield to have a private conversation with the angry teen.

"Look, I get it," he half-whispered as he cornered Carl against the building's brick facade. "You're pissed off, and worried, which makes you even more pissed off."

"You don't – "

"No, I really do. I know a little something about being afraid for your baby sister, wanting to protect her and feeling like you're the only one who can, feeling like you're not doing your job. Wish I could tell you it gets easier when they get strong enough to start fighting for themselves, but, if anything, it makes it worse. There were times growing up when all I wanted was to roll Sasha in bubble-wrap and lock her in the house for the rest of her life if that's what it took. But I couldn't do that, and you can't either. And every time you lose your cool with these guys, they're the ones who win, not you."

"But Dad… it's like he's just… just taking it, like he's… I dunno," Carl confided. "I have to do something. Someone has to do something. It's like he's given up."

"No one's giving up," Abraham emerged from the side of the stretch of townhouses to join the quiet but intense moment. "Not a single damn one of us. And definitely not your old man." He draped his arm over Carl's free shoulder so that both men had him boxed in.

"Rick is responsible for more than just himself or his family," Tyrese added. "He's got an obligation to protect every single person here. He can't go flying off the handle every time Negan pokes at him, or a lot more people could get hurt before we're able to beat this guy."

"And we are, we're going to beat the ever-loving shit out of him, and every single motherfucker who's stupid enough to stand with him," Abraham vowed. "But we underestimated our enemy, and we can't afford to do that again. So we lay low. We gather intel. We bide our time. Let Negan think he's won for now, let him drop his guard. And when the time is right, I will personally beat his face into the ground until there's nothing left."

Carl swallowed, a little intimidated by Abraham's rage. "So Dad…"

"He knows what he's doing," Tyrese's voice was soft but carried confidence.

"Kid, I have to ask, was it you?" Abraham interjected. "The guns? I'd get it if it was, even get not confessing in front of your Dad, God and everybody. Thought about doing it myself. But if you're the one who stashed them, we need to know."

Carl shook his head, "Didn't even think of it. Should have, though."

"No, you shouldn't," Tyrese warned. "We have to think about the big picture, and two guns aren't going to make a difference against a whole army of Saviors."

"They are if we use them to kill Negan," was Carl's reply.

"I like your style, kid, but put a lid on it. We've got a long war ahead of us, can't be sacrificing our best soldiers in the first skirmish."

"And Dad's really just playing along? He's got a plan?"

"Come on, you know better than to doubt that," Abraham grinned, "Don't you remember our first time coming together? We fought back against those Terminus bastards with nothing but splinters of wood and our own grit."

"But if there's a plan to fight back, why hasn't he said anything to me, to any of us?"

"Oh, gee, kid, I don't know, you think maybe because you keep shooting your mouth off every time one of these sons of bitches gets in your face? Stop letting them bait you and your Pops might actually be willing to trust you with the important shit."

Carl nodded in understanding, his face and posture calmer and more at ease.

"Good, now, I know I said I wanted you searching with me, but where we really need you is up in the watch tower. The guns are here somewhere and they'll turn up. But if Michonne gets back before Negan leaves, she'll need a heads-up on what's happened. And it would be a whole lot better coming from one of us than her accidentally walking up on Negan and Judith."

Carl's eyes widened, "Yeah, I didn't think of that. She'd freak."

"Exactly, and we're not going to do that anymore, are we?" Tyrese leveled a look at the teen.

"I got it, I'll keep cool. As long as there's a plan."

Tyrese waited until Carl was climbing the tower's ladder before muttering to Abraham, "You actually believe any of that bullshit you just said?"

"About Rick having a plan for these fuckers? 'Course not," Abraham scoffed. "He folded. Yeah, he talks about finding Maggie and Daryl and Aaron, but not one word about how to beat these bastards. Michonne, Sasha, and I have been going over it. They've both got faith in him like you do, thought we might could talk him around if we got at least one of the others back first, but now that Negan knows about Judith, can hold her life over his head? Rick's done, no way he's risking his little girl."

"Give him time. Rick's a good man, and he's gotten us this far. He might be a little lost inside himself for now, but I've known him a while longer, and I've seen him lower than this. He fought back before, he can do it again," Tyrese was confident.

Abraham remained skeptical, "Then he'd better do it soon. Daryl looks like shit, fuck only knows what they've done to him already, and they aren't likely to stop. And we've got nothing on Aaron or Maggie. They both could be dead already and we'd never know it. The longer we wait, the stronger Negan's choke-hold is going to get."

"Let's just get through today. Negan's promised an update on Maggie, and Rick was going to try and negotiate at least one of them being released. Let's see where we get and then we can make plans from there."

"You mean the update where Negan says whatever the fuck he feels like and we have to swallow it without any proof he didn't dump her corpse on the road as soon as they drove off?" Abraham dismissed Tyrese's hopeful notion with a derisive snort. "Fine, but don't expect me to sit on my hands forever," Abraham warned. "If Rick's not going to step up and lead this fight, then maybe Alexandria needs a new leader who will."

Any sense of calming down Olivia might have had was long gone, but at least her fear was tempered by her anger. Jerk, weaseling information from a four-year-old, tricking her into sharing things about us – he's got no right!

But if Negan noticed that she was only halfheartedly going through the office supplies his men had brought for her to peruse, he gave no sign of it. His full attention was focused on Judith. Not too long after Rick had left to search for the missing firearms, Negan had pulled the child onto his lap, a constant banter of conversation flowing between the unlikely pair as they worked through a series of pictures together: 'Can you draw a picture of your family?', 'Let's make a story about Bethy… what do you think she does when you're not watching her?', or the latest, which had been gleefully suggested when Olivia had tried to convince Judith to go play at Luke's house, 'We should draw a picture for your Uncle Daryl! I can take it to him while he's away. What do you think he'd like?' Of course, the unsuspecting Judith had been more than happy to color pictures with her new friend, whom she'd dubbed 'Mr. Negan'.

By Olivia's reckoning, it took far too long for Rick to produce the missing handguns, but Negan didn't seem to be bothered at all, merely accepting them with a smile. "Lookie there, Princess Judith, your Daddy found what he was searching for! That helps me an awful lot."

"'Course, Daddy always helps," the girl declared.

"Yes he does," Negan affirmed with a smile. "But that also means it's about time for me to go. I had a lot of fun today, I hope we get to do this again sometime soon."

"Yeah, and we can make more pictures for Uncle Daryl!"

"You betcha, it's a date! Run on inside, see if Bubba will play with you now. And don't you worry," he added, folding the drawings and sliding them into his jacket pocket. "I'll make sure these get where they need to go."

"Bye Mr. Negan!" Negan waited until the girl had disappeared around the corner before standing with an exaggerated stretch, taking up Lucille, and starting up the road towards the main gate. Rick kept pace while Olivia and a few others followed behind cautiously.

"Where were they, my guns? Just out of curiosity."

"Does it really matter?" Rick hedged.

Negan considered for a moment, "I suppose it doesn't. You brought them back, and on time. That matters. Not bad, Rick," he continued. "Not too fucking bad at all. You came through. And your daughter is fucking adorable. Seriously. You're a lucky man. Your boy's great, too, of course, when he's not being a pain in the ass. But she is precious! Gonna give you all kinds of hell when she's old enough to date," he smirked. "But that's a worry for another time. I think today went well as first meetings go, don't you? You're welcome."

Rick gave a nod in return, but Negan wasn't satisfied. "No, no, Rick, come on! At least we know now where Carl gets his shitty manners. You and I both know that today could have been so much fucking harder on everyone. Could have pulled the whole motherfucking town down on their knees, given them a practical demonstration of what you and your little band of brothers went through a few nights ago. Instead we were polite, civil, fucking pleasant, even! I took time out of my day to entertain your little girl, fucking covered for you so you could clean up your little mistake. Which, by the way, you have yet to fully explain to me, but I fucking let that slide, too. All I ask in return is a little common fucking courtesy. So, let's try again. You're welcome," he prompted.

"Thank you."

"There we go. Gratitude. Now, was that really so hard?"

Rick shook his head slightly before taking a step forward. "Now that you know we can follow your rules, I was hoping… I wanted to ask if Daryl could stay. He'd be of more use to you here, helping us provide for you. And as you can see, he means a lot to Judith."

Negan's smile was knowing, "Oh, not just to Judith. I was wondering which one you'd ask for first, how long it would take you to work up the nerve. Interesting. Daryl!" Negan beckoned with two gloved fingers for Daryl, who had been standing near one of the trucks, to approach. "Not sure you could hear what's going on from all the way over there, but Rick here has a question. Rick?"

Olivia was sure she wasn't the only one holding her breath as Rick asked again, "Please, can Daryl stay?"

Daryl stood still for a moment, a slight movement where he chewed on the inside of his lower lip the only sign he'd heard the request, before he slowly and deliberately turned, putting his back to Rick.

"Well, you tried! I think we've had enough fun here for one day. Let's load up," Negan directed to the Saviors.

But Daryl's return to the back of the convoy truck was interrupted with a shout, "Uncle Daryl!" and only a quick sweeping motion from Negan caught the girl up in his arms before she could plow into Daryl's legs.

"Oh, my goodness, look how fast you are!" he praised as he tossed her gently into the air and swinging her around, discretely nodding his head to Daryl as a sign to get on-board while Judith was sufficiently distracted. "Somebody really needs to teach your big brother a thing or two about babysitting, because he is absolutely terrible at it!"

"That's my Uncle Daryl," the four-year-old was not appeased.

"I know, and I'm sure he's very sorry he missed seeing you today. But do you know what I like best about your Uncle Daryl?" he tapped her on the nose to pull her focus back. "There's a lot of good things about him. He is super-cool, which is probably why you miss him so much, am I right?"

She nodded with a pout, lower lip sticking out. "And he's a hard worker, does a LOT to help out, which is why your Dad says he misses him. But that's not what I like best about him; anybody can be a hard worker if they want to be. What I really, really like about your Uncle Daryl, is that everything he does, it's to keep the people he cares about safe. And I have a feeling that you" he gently poked Judith in the chest, "are one of those very special people."

"But I miss him," she sniffed.

"Of course you do! But remember you made him that special picture today, with the trees and the sunshine, and I just know that's going to brighten his day. I tell you what, you make as many pictures for him as you want, and when I come back, we'll pick out the best one, okay?"

"Okay," she sullenly agreed.

Olivia watched with clenched teeth as Negan asked for and received both a hug and kiss from Judith before he set her down and sent her running back to her house. And if she was this unsettled by the exchange, she couldn't imagine how Rick must be feeling.

"Negan?" In all the focus on Negan's conversation with Judith, no one had seen Eric join the group. His face was pale but determinedly set as he walked up to the Saviors' leader. "I wanted to thank you. You didn't have to do what you did, what you let Aaron do, so, thank you, for making things easier for our son." And he put out his hand, which Negan took for a firm handshake.

"You're welcome," he was surprisingly sincere. "And I appreciate you making the effort, going out of your way like this. I'm sure it isn't easy for you. See, Rick?" Negan turned to Alexandria's leader, who, like most of the onlookers, was clearly confused by the exchange. "Gratitude. That's what it looks like. You could learn a thing or two from your friend here."

The Saviors were all in their vehicles and Negan's hand was on the passenger-side door of the lead truck when Glenn couldn't hold back any longer. "Wait! What about my wife? You promised! I though you said you were a man of your word!"

The man stepped away from the truck with a sigh and strode up to stand inches from Glenn. "I promised, did I? You're right, I did make you a promise. What did I say? If everything goes smoothly, I will tell you about your wife and child, isn't that right? You tell me, Mr. Rhee… shots fired, guns aimed at my people, guns that fucking disappear and reappear like a goddamned rabbit in a hat… what part of any of that sounds fucking smooth and uneventful to you?" Negan had apparently run out of patience as he leaned in closer to snarl in Glenn's face. "Don't ever call me a liar! I am a man of my word and when I say I'm going to do something, I'm going to fucking do it!"

He stepped back to make sure all the Alexandrians gathered could hear, even though his words were still directed at Glenn. "I came here today fully prepared to give you an update on the missus and the unborn rugrat. Even tell you what steps you'd have to take to earn the right to see her again. And everything was on track right up until Rick Junior decided to test just how fucking serious I am about how things work here now. I didn't fail to keep my word; Carl fucked you over! You be sure to thank him for that."

Negan surged forward until he was within an inch of Glenn deliberately measured his words in a half-whisper, "You want a promise from me? Here it is: If anyone here ever, and I mean EVER, threatens one of my people again while they're doing their job, I'll let you see your wife. I will haul her in front of you, put you both on your knees, and you can watch while I slowly gut her open," Negan pulled a hunting knife from his waistband sheath and slid the edge along Glenn's cheek, just under his widened eye. "I will toss your baby's corpse on the ground in front of you. And when your wife bleeds out, I will do you the mercy of holding you down next to her so that, when she turns, she can take you with her."

Negan held Glenn's gaze a moment longer before stepping back and returning the knife to its sheath. He turned to Rick and grinned, "That was intense. Not how I'd planned to end our visit. I actually had a bit of a magic trick for you, a little something fun to lighten the mood, leave things on a high note. But now, I'm thinking that might not send the right message. So, Miss Olivia!" he called out but never turned away from Rick, "When I leave, please be a dear and give Ricky that envelope I slipped your way earlier. Got a neat little surprise inside. Feel free to share, others might find it amusing, too. As it turns out, and this will make more sense when you read the note, I don't actually need to know if I'm right. Because, in case what's happened here today has escaped you," he put his hand on Rick's shoulder and leaned in to whisper in the man's ear, "I just slid my dick down your throat. And you thanked me for it. That right there is enough to keep me satisfied until our next visit." He patted Rick's cheek in mock affection before walking back towards the convoy of trucks.

"I guess you could say I did give you something of an update on poor Ms. Maggie. You know she's alive, or I wouldn't have made that particular promise. Until next week," he gave a mock salute to the group before hopping into the front seat of the truck and gesturing for the convoy to move through Alexandria's gates.

They were barely a mile down the road when Daryl felt the lurch of the convoy coming to a stop. And since everyone else in the back of his truck was getting out, he supposed he was meant to as well.

"Everything from this list," Negan ripped the paper from a small spiral notepad and passed it to Dwight, "goes in my truck. Check it twice."

"Making a side-trip, boss?" Simon inquired. He'd walked over while the rest of the Saviors began swapping and reloading the supplies as directed.

"Yep, and so are you. Daryl," he snapped his fingers and beckoned him forward, "Front and center."

Daryl stood silently in front of Negan, eyes down just like the man had said. Just a bit longer, just gotta get through and not fuck up. His only focus was getting to Beth tonight. Beyond that, he had no real plan – figure out how to escape and take her with him, find Maggie, get back to the others, all of that was a vague afterthought of course, but none of it could happen until he knew she was really alive and reasonably alright. And that meant playing along with Negan's stupid rules for the time being.

Negan got in his face, expression carefully considering as he sized Daryl up before breaking into his signature smirk, "Which part of that was hardest? Not reaching for that beautiful sweetheart of a niece when she ran to you? Watching her give me the goodbye hug and kiss that was meant for you? Or turning your back on her Daddy, which, I guess by extension really means, oh… you just turned your back on your brother?" He let out a low whistle.

Daryl remained silent as the question seemed rhetorical, but Dwight came up behind him and slammed the butt of the crossbow into his leg, forcing him to his knees with a grunt, "Answer him, asshole!"

Sheer stubbornness kept him quiet a moment longer, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of obedience. Beth, get to Beth. He took a chance, "Thank you, for distracting Judith," he finally ground out softly, eyes still on Negan's boots.

It was a response without actually answering the question, but Negan seemed satisfied enough, chuckling as he replied, "Oh, you're very welcome! That little cutie-pie is something special. Definitely going to be keeping my eyes on her!"

Daryl bristled at the thought of this bastard being anywhere near his Lil' Asskicker again, but he kept his mouth shut and stayed on his knees. Get to Beth, was the mantra that kept him going today. You can knock every single one of his teeth down his fucking throat later, but first, get to Beth.

Negan's focus was on Simon now, "Send the rest of this shit back home, but you take your crew and head over to Hilltop. Got a message for Gregory I want him to hear before Rick and Company have a chance to chat with him again."

"Sure, what do you want me to say?"

"I want you to say," Negan pulled the radio from where it was clipped to Simon's belt and slapped it in the man's open hand, "that I'm on Channel 8."

"You know any message you need delivered, I got your back," Simon was both confused and concerned.

Negan put a comforting, brotherly hand on his top soldier's shoulder, "Simon, I trust you with my life. More than that, I trust you to handle the sheeple at Hilltop. But that smart-ass, two-faced motherfucker of a politician has crossed the line, and I think, for this, he needs to hear directly from me."

Simon nodded, "You got it."

Negan squeezed before dropping his hand. "No worries, I won't be long, probably beat you back home. Besides, Daryl here is going to keep me company."

Negan kicked at the dirt near Daryl's knees, "You. Up. We're going on a little road trip, and you're driving."

Negan took several steps toward the white box truck before realizing that Daryl wasn't following and turned around, "Oh, what? Did you think you were done for the day?" he laughed, "We're just getting started."

As long as Daryl behaves himself, we'll all get to see Beth next chapter. Until then, please review...