DEAD SOULS | twd x spn

05 | a good man

"SO, HOW LONG have you been hunting the...supernatural?" Negan questioned, watching Lottie from across the room, a curious grin on his face.

Lottie thought about the first time John had let her come on a hunt with them. They were in South Dakota and he'd dropped Sam off at Bobby's for the night. They were hunting a wendigo and it was the first creature she'd ever seen in person. Everything else she had seen scribbled across the pages of John's journal. "I think I was fourteen when my dad took me on my first hunt."

"Fourteen," Negan remarked, leaning back slightly on the couch. "You were a kid."

She shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I was old enough to hunt."

"You said your dad was a good man," Negan recalled, standing up and walking towards where Lottie still stood by the door. "You know what I think? I think a good man wouldn't have willingly led his kids into that kinda life. I think he woulda done more to protect you from it."

"Why do you even care?"

"Because no fourteen year old should be living a life like that."

"What about all the kids in this world? I bet you're perfectly fine with them fighting off walkers," she argued. "Why am I any different?"

"Because they have to fight if they want to survive. They don't have a choice. You? You had a choice and your dad took that away from you. From what I can tell, he led you into this hunting life without a second thought, and that's not right."

"You didn't know him," she tried, her stomach twisting from the thought of her father─her stolen childhood. "It wasn't his fault. He was a good man."

"Damn, you are a loyal little soldier, aren't you." He stepped even closer to her. "You know, you're allowed to bad talk him. He won't hear you."

Lottie thought then about all the times John Winchester had failed them as a father. She thought about all the fights between him and Sam, how he'd told him to never come back. She thought about all the times he'd snapped at Dean, and all the times he'd completely ignored her existence.

"So?" Negan pressed on. "You got anything to say?"

"He was a good man," she repeated, earning a dissatisfied sigh from Negan.

"Jesus, he fucked you up good, huh."

She wanted to kill him. She wanted to cut his tongue out of his mouth and let him choke on his blood. But part of her─some sick, fucked up part of her─wanted things to work out between them. She wanted this man who looked so much like her father, to actually turn out to be a little bit like him.

"How long do you plan on keeping us here?" She asked. Part of her may have wanted things to work out, but the logical part of her─the better part─wanted to leave here as soon as possible, with her brothers by her side.

"As long as I need."

"You can't keep us here forever."

"Says who?" He grinned. "From what you've told me about your life so far, it doesn't sound like you have anyone back home waiting for you. Hell, I could probably keep you here for years and nobody would have a damn clue that you were ever gone."

"Oh, there are people who'd notice, believe me."

"Who? All the fuckin' demons and shit?"

No, Lucifer and Michael. All the assholes up in Heaven. Obviously, Lottie would never say that aloud to Negan, because if he already thought she was crazy now, he'd be throwing her in a fucking cell if she told him about the crap that was going on back home.

"Anyway," Negan hummed, slinging his bat over his shoulder. "I gotta give you the grand tour."

"Why?"

"Well, as much as I'd like to have you just follow me around all day like the damn prize you are, you're useful."

"Useful?"

"Don't think I haven't seen it." He smirked. "You're not as obvious as your brother Dean, but it's not hard to spot."

"Spot what?"

"I don't know, maybe the way that you're only being civil with me because you've identified me as a threat, and you want me to know that you're not a threat, so that I don't become an even bigger threat."

Lottie just stared at him, confused.

"You're a soldier, and a damn good one too. Your dear old dad trained you good, and I intend to use that to my advantage. From here on out, you're mine. You're a savior now."