A Wounded Warrior

Summary: Rick talks to Michonne.

The next morning Rick wakes up with his arm still around Daryl. He swears it was the best sleep he ever had, holding his friend close. He lifts his head off the bed and looks to see Daryl still sleeping peacefully. He reaches up and softly strokes Daryl's hair as Daryl slowly wakes up. "Mmmm." Daryl says as he sits up in the bed and hangs his legs over the edge. Rick gently rubs Daryl's back as he stretches his arms in the air. "Mmm that was the best sleep I've had in like forever."

"Wasn't it?" Rick proclaims.

Daryl turns around to face Rick. "Yes it was buddy." He leans down and kisses his best friend softly. He stands and looks into the mirror on the wall. "Jeez I've seen better days." He says as he wipes at a smudge of dirt on his cheek. "Imma go take a shower. You comin?"

"I will later. I want to go talk to Michonne first. She came to see me before you did, I haven't even really had a chance to get to know her yet."

"That's something I wanted to tell you, Rick. She went missing when we were leaving Woodbury. She eventually came back and joined us but I didn't know where she was or what she was up to. I was too worried about you so I didn't ask her."

Rick looks at Daryl, puzzled by Michonne's disappearance. "Okay, I'll ask her about it."


Rick walks up to Michonne's cell and catches her looking in a full length mirror on the wall. He stands silently at the cell door and watches for a moment. She does some sort of fancy sword move. Her body moves gracefully as she holds the sword above her head. She suddenly notices Rick watching behind her in the mirror's reflection and turns around startled.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to.." Rick says holding his hand up.

"It's okay," She says as she reaches back and replaces her sword in its holder. "What did you want?"

Rick looks at Michonne. "Daryl told me about how you went missing at Woodburry while we escaped."

She looks down at the ground "Yeah" She says quietly

"You wanna tell me where you were?"

She looks back up and into Rick's burning eyes. "How about I tell you another time?"

"Fair enough," Rick says. He turns to leave but stops himself for a moment. "Michonne, I have to ask…what did you do before all this?" He says as he swirls his finger in a circle in the air.

"I was a lawyer."

"A lawyer?" Rick asks shocked.

Michonne gradually sits down on the side of the small bed. She slowly tells Rick her story. "When all this started, I made a choice….in order to survive I would have to change my persona. And the person that I chose to be was a warrior."

Rick looks into her stunning brown eyes like he was looking into her soul. He believed every word she said. Like a bad dream that had come true he knew every survivor had a similar story to tell. One of heartbreak and despair. He didn't want to know any more. "Well," He looks at her with a faint smile, "I'm a wounded warrior," He says as he holds his hand over his bandaged shoulder.

Michonne stands up facing him, "So am I," She says as she holds her hand over her heart.