Inspired by the lighter tone of episode 6.10 and certain...events...I wrote a much lighter chapter than I normally do. I'm not sure if it's officially 'fluff' but I did try to inject more humor and less angst than I normally do. I hope you enjoy it! And, for all of you Richonne shippers looking for a wonderful safe haven to squee and celebrate our ship? Please check out tellittothedead. Just add the .com after it and you'll find us!
Michonne startled awake at the sound of loud knocking downstairs. What the...? She looked over at the clock and swore as she bounded out of bed. How did she oversleep? She was always up at the crack of dawn. She then remembered with a smile, as she pulled on a robe and ran downstairs, that Rick was insatiable last night and was determined to pleasure her six ways till Sunday. She did tend to pass out after hours of loving by that man...
As she approached the front door, she saw a smiling Aaron on the other side and became confused. Opening the door, she waved Aaron in with a slight frown. "I thought you went out on the run with Daryl this morning. You guys didn't leave yet?"
Aaron's eyes widened with surprise and she could swear she saw a visible gulp as he swallowed. "Uh...no, I didn't go on the run. I was asked to accompany you to the hearings today. Help you in any way I can. Um..Rick didn't tell you?" At Michonne's continued silence and lowered brows, Aaron stammered as he continued, "I-I don't have to of course. Totally up to you. But Rick thought it best..."
Everything suddenly seemed perfectly clear to Michonne. The sun and moon aligned as a vision of a grinning Rick hightailing it out of Alexandria first thing this morning appeared in her mind.
Oh he was going to be in SO much trouble when he came home!
Crossing her arms across her chest, Michonne restrained herself from literally stomping her feet in anger.
"Let me see if I understand this. Rick drafted you to be his stand in today on community business while he goes joy riding with his buddy?" Michonne's voice raised to a moderate level shout by the time she was done.
Aaron rocked back on his heels, clearly uncomfortable. "Well, I wouldn't say joyriding necessarily because...you know...walkers and bad guys...but yes he and I switched places."
"And did Rick happen to give you a reason why he wanted to switch places with you?"
"Um...no. He asked if I could do him this favor and I jumped at the opportunity because...well...it's Rick and I like to help him when I can."
Michonne looked to the heavens as she muttered under her breath. It's Rick...of course...people bend over backwards for their leader. And he took advantage of that.
Ramming her hands in her robe pockets to squelch the urge to grab her katana and go after her cowardly lover, Michonne took a deep breath and looked directly at Aaron. "A favor, huh? Great. So Rick never mentioned to you the eighteen times he's tried to get out of Judgment Day? Very convenient."
"Uh...Judgment Day?" Aaron definitely looked concerned now and was possibly even inching toward the door.
Trying to suppress her inner crazy, Michonne took another breath and softened her stance and expression. "Yes, Judgment Day. Rick's bright idea from last month. Last month when he made it clear he was annoyed and bothered by the constant demands on his time by the residents. All the decisions he had to make daily. Decisions he deemed to be a waste of his time and energy. So he came up with the idea to have these discussions once a month. You know them as the hearings. Rick nicknamed the day they're held on as Judgment Day after his favorite Terminator movie. Don't ask. I didn't."
Aaron's eyes widened again as he tried to take this all in. "So...Judgment Day or the day when all community business is addressed and decided upon is today," Michonne nodded so Aaron continued. "Rick doesn't like to be bothered with the small stuff. Today is Judgment Day, the very first one, and I'm here with you while he's miles away on a joyride...I mean...a very important and dangerous supply run with his bud...his best soldier."
"Bingo."
"And he did this behind your back. Snuck out while you were sleeping."
"You're catching on now."
"And you're creating several scenarios in your head right now of how you're going to make him pay."
Michonne smiled. She couldn't help it. "Aw Aaron...you know the worst part? The most devious thing he did?"
"No, what?"
"He picked you because he knows I couldn't get mad at you if I tried. It would be like getting mad at an Eagle Scout giving away free kittens. Impossible"
Aaron's brows lowered as he looked at her sideways. "Um thanks?" Shaking his head as if to clear it, he gestured to her robe. "Well, this fake Eagle Scout is here to serve so I'd suggest you get dressed so we can head over to the meeting house. There is already a line forming and Maggie looked a bit frazzled as I passed by."
Michonne nodded, her mind focused on the business at hand. Her community needed her. She wasn't Rick but she was here and she would do her absolute best to make sure every last decision was made, even the smallest of them.
How hard could it be?
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Eight hours later, Michonne slowly made her way home, exhaustion seeping into her pores. She felt like her mind was both empty and filled to the brim all at once. As she passed the park, she saw Carl working with a group of teenagers on hand to hand combat and she smiled. He had come so far in such a short period of time, her pride knew no bounds. Spotting her, Carl gave her a wave and a smile and she knew he was enjoying his new training duties. He was going to be all right she told herself.
Letting herself in the front door, her eyes were immediately drawn to the living room where Rick was pacing back and forth while Daryl observed his motions from his slouched position on the couch. Michonne allowed herself a moment of relief that they were home safe before remembering her anger at him for bailing on her. Before she could start in on him, Rick hurried over to her to pull her in for a hug, his body practically thrumming with excitement. Backing away slightly, Michonne laid her hands on Rick's chest.
"Oh no you don't. Don't even think about hugs until we talk about today. You have a lot of ex..."
"I know. I know. You need to get mad at me and I'm aware I need to take my punishment..."
"Oh are you now? You're aware...isn't that wonderful..." Michonne was both annoyed and somewhat turned on by Rick's seeming eagerness for his punishment. That put thoughts in her head that had no place to be there in the middle of an argument.
"Shhh...listen to me! We brought back a prisoner and I need you to talk to him."
Michonne reared her head back from the fingers Rick placed over her lips. He was shushing her? Really?
"What are you talking about? What prisoner?"
Rick took a deep breath and glanced over to Daryl who basically gestured that he was on his own with this one.
"He's a guy we ran into while we were out on our run. He stole our stuff. We stole it back. He and Daryl ran around in the grass..." That solicited a shouted "Hey!" from the couch which Rick ignored as he continued. "We captured him. He escaped. Other...stuff...happened and he was finally knocked out. Anyway, I have him locked up in our cell and I need you to talk to him."
Michonne took a deep breath and would have looked around for hidden cameras if weren't the end of the world and all.
"Why do you need me to speak with him, Rick?" If Rick weren't preoccupied with his prisoner, he would have picked up the quiet tone of voice she reserved for when she was bottling in a lot of emotion. Instead, he continued as if there weren't smoke coming from Michonne's ears.
"I knew as soon as met this guy that he came from a community. A functioning community. He's well dressed and bathed," Another snort from the couch." And he was after a whole truck of supplies. Most importantly, he didn't try to kill us, just stop us. I want to know more about him. Where he's from. Who is people are."
"So ask him."
"I did. He's not talking. He just smiles and says he'll talk after I talk. As if he's in charge of this situation. I know he'll talk to you though."
"Why?"
"Because he's like you."
"What do you mean he's like me?"
"He's got this stealth, warrior mystical thing going on. He's incredible at hand to hand combat and escaping. Very smart. Well spoken. I'm betting he's got a college degree or two in his past. Charming..."
Michonne couldn't help it. Rick was too cute. Off handedly complimenting her as he sang the prisoner's praises. She sighed. She really did love this man.
"Okay, so we have things in common. That will make him spill?"
Rick grinned as he ran his hand up and down her arm. "That and the fact that he won't be able to resist you. Who could?"
Michonne smiled back, "Oh you are a smooth one, Sheriff..."
"Hey Ozzie and Harriet, let's get a move on. Daylight's wastin'." from the couch.
Michonne started walking to the door when Rick stopped her. "Hold up. You can't question him dressed like that."
Michonne looked down at the button down blouse and blue dress slacks she wore to the town meetings. "What's wrong with what I have on? Who is this guy, Tim Gunn?"
Rick shook his head, "Who? Never mind. You need to change into your usual stuff. Tight black pants, boots, tank top and that little brown leather vest. Oh, and your gloves. You gotta have your gloves."
"Why Rick, I never knew you noticed my clothing like that."
Rick looked at her in amazement. "How could I not? You were my favorite view for weeks on the road and..." Rick stopped as he realized he was getting into embarrassing territory. Placing a hand on her back, he gently ushered Michonne to the stairs, ignoring the snickers from the damn couch.
Fifteen minutes later, Michonne, feeling like a fool, walked into the cell, clad in her 'warrior' ensemble with her katana slung across her back, Rick following close behind her. Stopping dead in her tracks, she took in their prisoner, quickly concealing her surprise at his appearance.
Expecting a rough thug, she saw before her a well groomed leanly muscled man of average height with long, clean hair and a beard. He was very attractive with piercing blue eyes and straight white teeth. Teeth she could see because he was grinning at her.
"Why do I feel like I should extend a courtly bow?" His question was asked with no sarcasm, just pure glee. This man was completely unafraid.
Michonne was intrigued.
She'd never met someone like him before. Walking up to where he was shackled to the wall, Michonne stopped several inches away and stared him down, allowing a small smile to cross her face. "No bow needed. I just came here to introduce myself. My name is Michonne. And you are?"
The man looked at Michonne's fingerless leather gloves, nearly identical to his own and then took in her katana, her bare arms and everything else. Michonne felt as if she were being tried and judged in those brief moments and, even though he was her prisoner, she very much wanted to be acquitted in his eyes.
After a long moment, the prisoner seemed to make up his mind. Nodding toward Rick, he stated, "He can call me Mr. Monroe. You?" Another mischievous grin. "You can call me Jesus."
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An hour later, Rick walked Michonne home, excitement putting a bounce in his step. "You were incredible in there. Within ten minutes, he was telling you all about his community."
"Because I shared information about ours. He's a decent person and he could tell we were decent people. You probably did your usual snarly thing with him on the road and he shut down."
Rick stopped at the front door of their house and turned to Michonne, "Snarly thing?"
Michonne rolled her eyes and strode past him into their home, taking her katana off of her back. "You know what I'm talking about. Your big bad Stone Age He-man thing where you terrorize everyone within 100 yards of you. Not me, mind you. Everyone else."
Rick's eyes glittered as he advanced onto Michonne, "Stone age huh? I'll show you..."
Michonne placed a firm hand in the middle of Rick's chest. "Oh no. Don't even get ideas in your head. Shower first to get the smell of the road off of you and then you and I are going to talk about your escape act today."
Rick sighed and his shoulder slumped in defeat as he trudged up the stairs. Michonne shook her head and smiled at his slow progress. Good. Perhaps he was reconsidering his actions today.
Fifteen minutes later, Michonne sat against the headboard of their bed, dressed in her sleep shorts and cami, a book on her lap, when Rick strode in clad only in a towel. They'd been lovers for a few months now but the sight of his bare chest still did a number on her and she willed her body to not go there.
Not yet.
Rick closed the door behind him and smiled at her, his glittering blue eyes filled with knowledge of how she felt about him. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Michonne stood up and crossed her arms over her chest, letting him know she wasn't swayed by his naked chest.
Even if it was perfectly muscled and had several drops of warm water dripping down it...
"We need to talk."
"I know. I figured you can't be mad at a man in a towel." This was said with a smile meant to entice.
Michonne huffed and stalked over to Rick, who was now slowly backing away, a nervous look in his eye.
"I can't be mad, huh?" Another step closer. "I can't be mad at a man SO afraid of town business that he snuck away at dawn..."
"After making love to you for hours..."
"...like a scared little boy..."
"You didn't say that last night..."
"Hush! I'm speaking." By now, Michonne was right in front of Rick who had his back pressed against the wall.
"You left me and recruited poor Aaron to do your dirty work. Do you know what I had to do today while you were chasing pretty boy Monroe all over creation?"
Rick's brows lowered in concern, "You think he's pretty?"
Michonne threw her head back and groaned, "Yes I think he's pretty! And he thinks you're pretty! Can we move on?"
Rick looked shocked, concerned and then satisfied at the lack of competition for Michonne's affections so he gave her a nod.
"Great. ANYWAY, while you were having fun, I spent all day speaking with every adult and several children about you name it. School buildings, yard care, supplies, what color paint our houses should be, road repair, gate duty assignments, marital disputes, parent-child disputes, neighbor disputes, rules about shooting within the walls, rules about shooting outside of the walls, debates about how to dispose of the walkers, problems with the cisterns...OH! And my favorite!" At this point, Michonne was not even a centimeter from Rick and her finger was jabbing his chest. He, in turn, was completely silent.
"Leash laws. That's right. We've got corpses outside our walls and several residents wanted to talk about keeping dogs leashed or unleashed. Oh, and of course, noise ordinances."
Rick's eyes widened as Michonne pretty much described his worst day. All day she had to deal with this stuff? He would make it up to her. He would...
"All day, Rick. I created sub-committees. I recruited Aaron and Maggie and Tobin to lead them up. We created a weekly meeting calendar and I listened and approved and mitigated and mediated. All...day...long"
Michonne grabbed Rick's biceps and looked straight into his eyes, feeling the tension throughout his body and seeing the panic in his eyes.
"And you know what?" Now she raised onto her toes to whisper into his ear, "I loved every minute of it."
Rick let out a long breath as he wrapped his arms around Michonne and held her tight, burying his face in her neck. "Oh thank God. I knew it. I knew you could do this."
Michonne allowed herself the indulgence of being engulfed in his warmth before his words sunk in. Leaning back, she stared up at Rick, "What do you mean you knew I could do this? Was this some kind of test?"
"No, no. Not at all. Come here." Rick led Michonne to their bed and they both sat down on the edge, facing each other. "Michonne, all those things you did today? All those issues you discussed and those decisions, big and small that you made? I can't do that. I could if I had to but I wouldn't be good at it. Not like you. And it's not because I don't like it. I mean, I know I came up with Judgment Day as kind of a joke but I truly don't have what it takes to be that kind of leader. I don't have the patience for it..."
Michonne began to interrupt, needing to reassure Rick of everything he had done to save all of them and get them to where they were but he wouldn't allow her. Gently placing a finger on her lips, he shook his head and she quieted.
"I led before because I had to. People depended on me to live and I did it. I did what I could to keep everyone safe. But this place? This place is an actual community. As Deanna said, it's civilization and I think I lost a lot of that part of me out on the road and back at the prison. I'm really good at fighting and protecting everyone but I can't be the one people depend upon for all the other things that make a community grow and thrive."
Clasping her hands in his, Rick looked down for a moment and then back up into her eyes, taking her breath away like he did the very first time they were this close.
"I need you, Michonne. They need you. You're this town's leader. You proved that today. I've seen it. People came to you before today with their squabbles and disagreements. They trust you. They respect you. Just like I do. And they're going to grow to love you. Just like I do." Rick smiled as he drew a gentle finger down her soft cheek, "Well, maybe not exactly like I love you but you know what I mean."
Michonne was overcome with emotion and could feel her eyes well up. The faith this man had in her. This man who had saved her from the abyss, who had given her friendship and family was now turning a town over to her? The same town he had fought for and protected from ruin?
Michonne squeezed his hands, then swiped at a tear that had escaped her eye. "Thank you for that. I appreciate your belief in me." Now she looked into his eyes once more. "We do this together. That's how we work best. You and me. Together. That's what the town needs so that's what we're going to do. Agreed?"
Rick stared at her for a long moment then smiled, "Agreed," as he sealed the deal with a kiss.
Just as he was about to deepen the kiss, Rick reared back with an expletive and stood up.
"What's wrong?"
"Toothpaste! I lost the damn toothpaste!"
Michonne was confused and shook her head as if to shake the cobwebs off. "You lost the toothpaste in the bathroom?"
"No, the truck."
"You lost the toothpaste in a truck?"
"Yes!"
Michonne stood up, worried now as Rick was making no sense. Laying her hand on his arm, she looked carefully into his eyes to make certain he was still there with her. "Rick we don't have any trucks. Are you sure you don't mean the car you took for your run?"
Rick ran his hand through his damp curls, clearly frustrated. "We found a delivery truck filled with supplies, including toothpaste, canned goods, medicine. Everything. And it was his...but we didn't know. We took it. He took it back. We fought and now the truck is at the bottom of the lake. With the toothpaste."
Michonne's concern dissipated as his ramblings started to make sense. Rick felt bad because he hadn't brought back the toothpaste that was at the top of Michonne's wish list of supplies. What a doll.
And he was all hers.
Smiling, she ran her hands up and down his arms, reassuring him. "It's okay. We'll get some next time."
Rick then jerked his head up as if remembering something and stalked over to his clothes draped on the chair by the closet. He reached into the front pocket of his shirt and took something out then strode back to Michonne, a shy smile on his face. Holding her hand up in his, he placed a tin of mints onto her palm and then closed her fingers around it.
"I found these for you. I know you like your sweets and I thought the mint taste would tide you over until..." Rick couldn't finish his sentence because Michonne launched herself at him with a squeal, silencing his words with her kisses.
The Co-leaders of Alexandria spent the next few hours showing their appreciation for one another in a series of very creative and enthusiastic ways.
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The moon shone through the window much later that night as the bedroom door slowly creaked open.
"Rick, we have to talk..." Jesus slowly approached the bed and then jumped back when two very naked and very irate people jumped out of it, grabbing their weapons and aiming them towards his head.
He should have been afraid but he couldn't help but stare at the two people before him in admiration. He wondered if the world going to hell now allowed the gods to walk amongst mere mortals because Rick and Michonne were two very fine...As his eyes wandered to an area of interest, he heard a quiet clearing of the throat and as he glanced over at Michonne, her raised eyebrow said it all.
Busted. Well, he may not be a huge fan of Rick Grimes, but the man had a beautiful...
"Jesus CHRIST!"
Jesus' naughty musings were interrupted by the now enraged Rick Grimes coming at him with his gun in the air and Jesus took flight, needing to tire Rick out before continuing their conversation.
The imp in him couldn't resist. As he flew down the stairs, he retorted, "Oh, I would never presume. Just Jesus is perfectly fine. We'll leave the full name to more important...Ahhhh!"
Michonne lowered her katana as she listened to the scuffle downstairs that evaporated into hushed voices that seemed to be discussing and not killing.
She started to laugh as she fell back onto the bed.
Never a dull moment to be had these days!
.
