A/N: This chapter takes place 9 months after Rick and Carl move to Atlanta. Lori and Shane died 18 months ago.


9 Months Later

Michonne leaned back in her chair as she kicked off her heels and swung her legs onto the top of the desk. She held a mug of green tea tightly in one hand and tapped a pen absentmindedly on the arm of the chair with the other. Her brow creased as she studied the file displayed on the large computer monitor. The complexity of the issues her latest patient was dealing with had her in deep research most of the morning.

She tore her eyes away from the screen when she heard two short raps on the office door.

"Come in," she said and went right back to looking at the screen.

Her assistant opened the door and stuck her head in. "Michonne, Rick Grimes is here to see you."

Michonne sat her mug on the desk and smiled. "You can send him in." She stood, smoothed her blouse, and straightened her ponytail.

Rick walked in wearing a big smile. He held a plastic take-out bag with two styrofoam containers inside and another bag with drinks. His rugged handsomeness was enhanced by the salt and pepper beard that framed his face. He was in his usual outfit of buttoned-down shirt, jeans, and boots. The small conference table in the corner of her office was free of papers for once. He started emptying the bag of food there.

"I've come with lunch," he said.

She walked over to the table causing him to pause in his actions to give her a kiss on the cheek. Once the food was displayed on the table he looked down and noticed her bare feet. "Had to get rid of the torture devices?"

Michonne laughed and briefly stood on her toes. "My brain works better with bare feet. So what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Had some free time after my appointment so I wanted to surprise you with lunch. Hope I didn't interrupt anything."

Michonne sat at the table. "No, this is great. I would have probably worked right through lunch. I could use the break." She smiled up at him. "Thank you."

He took a seat across from her and smiled back. "Anytime. Got you that salmon salad you like." He handed her a bottle of water.

"Perfect. You know me so well." She poured vinaigrette over her salad. "How was your appointment?"

He popped open his can of coke and took a sip before answering. "It was good. I still like Dr. Turner a lot more than Dr. Franklin. We had another good session today. Of course you are still the best doctor I ever had."

Michonne chuckled. "Flattery will get you everywhere."

Rick grinned. "I'll keep that in mind. So are we still on for this weekend?"

Michonne nodded as she swallowed a piece of salmon. "Mmhm. We just need to figure out what movie to see."

"I think it's Carl's turn to pick so we'll probably be seeing something with a lot of explosions and people fighting crime in tights."

Michonne laughed. "Hey don't hate on comic book movies, Rick."

"What? Is it too much to ask for the kid to ever pick a good western to watch?"

"When's the last time there's been a modern western made?"

"That's not the point."

She giggled. "You have to accept times are changing, old man."

He laughed along with her. "True. I've learned over these last few months that change can be very good."

She nodded at him. "That it can."

Rick took a bite of his burger. "How's your work week going?"

"Challenging, thought-provoking, fascinating, and as rewarding as usual."

"Still happy you went into business for yourself?"

Michonne nodded as she picked up a cherry tomato with her fork. "Immensely. I feel like I'm finally making a difference in my patients' lives without dealing with all the bureaucratic red tape."

Rick cocked his head to the side. "Well, I'm glad you dealt with that red tape for as long as you did or I may not be here with you right now."

Michonne leaned back in her chair and smirked at him. "Oh, we would had met, Richard. It was meant to be remember?"

He nodded with a sentimental smile on his face. "Yeah. It was. Speaking of Richard, how's Mrs. Haywood doing?"

"Now you know she'll get on you for calling her Mrs. Haywood. It's either Gran or Aldina. I talked to her yesterday and she asked about you. She said it's been too long since you and Carl came over for Sunday dinner."

"It has been. We need to do that soon. It's always a joy spending time with her."

There was another knock on the door, and the curly head of her assistant became visible again. "Sorry to interrupt Michonne, but you have a call from the Emory University Hospital. They said it was urgent."

Michonne nodded and closed her food container. "Okay. Tell them I'll be right there." She turned back to Rick. "Sorry to have to cut lunch short."

He wiped at his mouth with a napkin then looked at his watch. "I should be heading out anyway. My class starts in thirty minutes."

"Can't keep those students waiting." She stood and took a sip of her water.

"Yeah, I'm still surprised by how much I enjoy teaching. It feels good to train the cadets at the Academy. Like I'm really making a difference in helping them become good cops."

"I like seeing you so fulfilled."

Rick smiled. "Yeah, that's the word. I'm feeling very fulfilled right now." He stood too and leaned down to kiss her cheek again. "I'll call you to finalize the weekend plans."

She walked over to her desk and looked over her shoulder with a smile. "Looking forward to it."


Rick knocked on Michonne's apartment door at exactly 7:01 pm. His hair was combed back in neat waves. It didn't stop him from patting his head to make sure there were no stray hairs out of place. There was a small smile on his lips and his heart speed up with anticipation the same way it always did when he was about to see her.

The door swung open and Michonne stood there wearing a red, fitted long sleeved shirt, black slim pants, and black boots. Her dreads were down and all swept over one shoulder. The makeup was simple: only eyeliner, mascara and red lipstick.

Rick had to stop himself from gawking at her. "You look beautiful," he said instead. He could smell her perfume; the same one she wore most weekends. It was different from her Monday - Friday scent.

Michonne ducked her head down. She didn't know why she always felt shy when Rick complimented her. "Thanks," she said and opened the door wider. "Come on in."

He handed her the flowers as he walked past. "I noticed your new purple vase when we were here last weekend. Thought these flowers would look good in it."

She brought the bouquet to her nose to inhale the sweet fragrance. "You're always so thoughtful, Rick."

He shrugged his shoulders bashfully. "I like doing nice things for you. You deserve them." He took a seat on her couch. The beauty and neatness of her apartment was always comforting to him.

"Well, still thank you," she said softly before putting the flowers in the vase. Her hands worked on arranging them when she noticed someone missing. "Wait. Where's Carl?"

"He decided to go to a party instead. He's been hanging with this new girl at his school. She talked him into it. Then he's going to spend the night at his friend Charlie's house."

Michonne came over and sat next to him. "Ah, Enid. Yes, he told me about her." She gave a cute little pout. "My bud ditched me for young love. I knew it was bound to happen. Guess he doesn't want to hang out with us old folks anymore."

Rick scratched at his eyebrow. "I guess not. He's finally starting to get comfortable here."

"That's great. All jokes aside, I'm glad he's connecting with kids his age."

"I think he missed King County and his friends for awhile, but he's thriving now. Nothing makes me happier."

"I know. I can see it all over your face." She touched his hand as their eyes locked.

It happened more times than they could count over the past few months. The intensity was too deep to call it a moment; more like a stop in time as if they were in an isolated bubble. Their eyes wouldn't tear away from each other. Their breaths sped up. Carl was usually there to break the spell before it went on too long, but right then it was just them. Neither could move a muscle away from or towards each other until Rick's cell phone vibrated.

Rick chuckled nervously and pulled out his phone. "It's a text from Carl letting me know he made it to the party safely."

Michonne stood and rubbed the back of her neck. "Great. Um so shall we head to the theater?"

Rick ran a hand across his beard. "Yeah, lets go."

"Just let me get my jacket."

Rick watched Michonne as she walked down the hall to her bedroom. One she disappeared inside he turned towards her bay windows to stare at the panoramic view. His reflection was smiling back at him.


"Anything look good to you?" Rick asked.

Michonne sighed as studied the digital screen with the movie choices. "No, not really. I don't think this was a good week for movie releases."

Rick watched a bunch of loud teenagers bypass them to get in line. "Maybe we should do something else."

Michonne nodded. "I'm game. Where to?"

Rick looked around the busy downtown area. "This is your neighborhood. I'll follow your lead."

"Okay then. Lets just explore and see where the night take us."

The night scene in downtown Atlanta was always bustling. Saturday nights seemed to bring out the extra joy in people. The laughter and good cheer could be heard up and down the streets. People ducked in and out of restaurants and bars. Even some of the unique shops were still open.

Rick and Michonne walked through the streets taking in the scene; laughing and talking amongst themselves. The mood in the area was infectious. Michonne grabbed Rick's forearm to stop him in front of one of the bars.

"I haven't been here in ages. This is where I did all of my drinking during med school. I perfected my dart game here."

Rick raised an eyebrow; impressed. "Dart game, huh? Well I gotta see this. Let's go inside to put those skills to the test "

Michonne glanced at the entrance of the bar then looked back at Rick. She put her hands in her jacket pocket and shook her head. "No. We can go somewhere else. "

Rick took a step closer to her immediately knowing why she was hesitant. "It's okay, Michonne. Really. I appreciate your concern more than anything, but just because I decided not to drink anymore don't mean I can't go into a bar."

Michonne nodded, but still looked unsure. "I understand that. But your recovery has been going so well. I just don't want to do anything to hinder it."

He gripped her shoulder lightly. "You could never do that. I owe everything to you."

She nodded again, but this time with a smile. "Alright. I trust your judgment." She made a show of stretching out her hands. "So are you ready to get your butt whipped in darts."

"Ready and willing," he said with a smirk as he took her hand as she led him inside.

She looked back at him and shook her head. "Such the jokester Grimes."

A glass of white wine and two cokes later, Michonne was winning their impromptu darts tournament five games to zero.

Rick had the sleeves of his button down rolled up. He moved into his throwing stance - months of physical therapy helped him master using his left hand - and threw a dart that landed just below Michonne's. He bowed his head and laughed.

"When you said you mastered darts you weren't lying," he said.

Michonne pulled their darts out of the board. "Now you know I would never lie to you."

Rick leaned against a barstool and took a drink of his coke. "So how did you get so good? You couldn't have had that much free time during med school to practice."

"I didn't. I just made the time I did have worthwhile. It helped that I put a picture of whichever professor, doctor, or classmate was pissing me off that week on the bull's eye. Made my target every time," she smirked at him.

Rick cocked his head to the side and back upright again. "I guess that'll do it. Quite savvy."

Michonne did an exaggerated preen for him then motioned for the waitress. "You want another coke?" she asked Rick.

"Nah. Two's my limit. I'll take a bottle of water though. Just let me go to the restroom then we can start game six "

She gave him a high five as he walked past her. "It's on."

Michonne asked the waitress to bring two bottles of water then sat on the bar stool to wait for Rick. She felt her lips lift up in a smile. She checked the time on her cell phone and was happy that it was early. They still had plenty of time together.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned around thinking it was Rick back for their next round. The smiled dropped from her face as she looked at the man before her. A look of surprised quickly replaced it.

"Mike?" She stood up. "What are you doing here?"

He looked as if he was going to kiss her, but thought better of it and stepped back. "I'm in town for few days to attend my cousin's wedding."

"Oh," Michonne said still trying to process seeing him there. "Candace? Tell her congratulations for me."

Mike nodded and crossed his arms. "Yeah. I will. Her fiancé's bachelor's party is tonight." He gestured to the group of guys gathered at the bar behind them. "We're just hitting some bars …" He trailed off. An awkward silence hung in the air.

"So…um how's South Africa?"

"Good. It's good." He paused for a moment. "Would be better if you were there."

Michonne sighed. That was the dropped shoe was waiting for. "Mike, please."

He put his hands up. "Sorry. I know I shouldn't have said that. It's pretty clear from you not answering any of my emails for months that we're not getting back together. I just had to shoot my shot one last time." He looked at the two bottles of water next to her. "Are you here with somebody?"

Right on cue Rick walked up behind Michonne. "I'm back," he said softly.

Michonne turned around and met his eyes. "Oh, Rick. Hey. Um this is Mike."

Rick's eyebrows shot up recognizing the name.

"Mike this is my friend Rick."

The men shook hands. Mike took in how close the two of them were standing and nodded his head coming to an understanding. "I need to get back to the guys over there. You take care of yourself, Michonne "He stepped in to give her a hug.

She hugged him back briefly then pulled away. "You too. Mike."

She watched him walk away for a moment then turned back towards Rick. "Shall we continue?"

A look of apprehension crossed his face and he tapped his fingers on his thigh. "If you want to spend some more time with Mike I can just - "

"I don't," she cut him off and said with conviction. "I'm right where I want to be." She handed him the darts. "Now it's time to kick your ass again."

He took them from her and grinned. "I don't know. I feel like my luck is changing "


Rick helped Michonne slip her jacket back on. Once the garment was secure she turned to him with a teasing smile. "Final score twelve to zero. Wait until I tell Carl about this."

Rick watched as she skipped a few steps in front of him. He'd never seen her so giddy before. It was endearing. "There will be no telling Carl until we have a rematch."

Michonne shrugged. "Okay, if you want to lose horribly to me again. Be my guest."

"And here I thought I knew you so well. I wouldn't have ever guessed you had this trash talking side."

She skipped in a circle around him and he couldn't stop his laughter. "I guess tonight is going to be a night of discovery."

He intertwined their fingers together and squeezed her hand. "That works for me."

The two took off down the street; their arms swinging between them. As they paused on the curb to wait for the "walk" sign to appear, Michonne leaned in closer to Rick.

Throngs of people were gathered on the other side of the sidewalk. Rick and Michonne maneuvered around the crowd waiting to get into the latest hot club. At the end of the block where it was quieter doors to a bookstore stood open. A small swarm of people milled around the front lobby. A man stood near the door. Michonne smiled at him when he made eye contact with her.

"You two doing this?" The man asked.

"What exactly is going on?" Michonne asked as Rick took in the stage that was being set-up.

The man handed her a yellow flyer. "There's going to be some psychics and palm readers putting on a show. They're taking all types of questions. You know about career, money," he looked down at Rick and Michonne's still intertwined hands, "love. Anything about the future."

Michonne looked up at Rick - whose skeptical look probably matched her own. She knew most of the so-called experts at these types of events were charlatans "Are you game?" she asked Rick.

Rick let out a short chuckle. "Nah."

The man smirked at Rick. "You don't believe in the supernatural?"

Rick shook his head. "No, that's not it. Not at all. The last few months have proven the existence of certain things to me."

"Well it wouldn't hurt to get a little insight into the future," the man said.

Rick held onto Michonne's hand tighter. "You know, I'm having a good time in my present right now. I think the future can wait." He looked down at her. "You ready to continue exploring."

Michonne smiled up at him. "I'm ready."

She waved goodbye to the man as they left the shop. The temperature had dropped a few degrees since the beginning of the night. Rick noticed her shivering and slipped his jacket off to wrap it around her shoulders. He grabbed her hand again as they walked further through downtown.

A record store that had gone out business recently still had posters in the windows advertising a new Nina Simone box set. Michonne stopped in front of the window and gave a wistful sigh.

"My mom loved Nina Simone. I knew the words to Sinnerman before I made it to kindergarten. In the third grade we had to do an oral paper on a famous person we admired and I picked Ms. Simone. I focused on the song Mississippi Goddamn. My teacher liked the report but I got in trouble for saying goddamn so many times. Mom, Dad, and Gran were proud though that I tackled the subject. "

"Always doing things your way huh?"

She shrugged. "It was how I was raised." She looked at the poster again. "It's fascinating how certain music reminds you of the past."

Rick nodded, understanding exactly what she meant. "Yeah. Certain songs remind me of my grandpa. He was a huge country music fan. Especially Willie Nelson. He was always singing On The Road Again when I helped him out around the farm." A faraway smile lifted his lips slightly as a memory came to him. "I remember one time when I was fifteen a bunch guys came over to the farm. I pulled out what I thought was the best music. Had Willie, Hank, Johnny. They all looked at me like I was crazy when I turned on the stereo. Shane had the latest U2 and Aerosmith tapes with him to save me from humiliation. He made me promise to let him pick all the music from then on."

Michonne rubbed his arm in comfort. "Aw you poor thing. I would have gladly listened to your country music."

He gave her an incredulous look. "No you wouldn't. "

Michonne giggled. "You're right. I would have been mad you didn't have any Janet Jackson."

Rick shook his head. "I swear me, Dad, and Gramps were the only people in that small, southern town that liked country music. Always shocked me. I did convince Lori to play Willie Nelson's version of Crazy for our first dance at our wedding though. She surprisingly loved it."

"It's nice you can still talk about and appreciate the good times with Shane and Lori," she said.

"It's all of that therapy. Pouring out my feelings each week. Guess you shrinks have your merits."

"Who would have thunk it," Michonne grinned.

He grinned back. "Yeah, who."

Michonne never had much time for dating. Not since her and Mike first started getting to know each other had she been on an official one. As she pulled Rick's jacket tighter around her and gazed at his profile it hit her how she'd had as much fun this night as she ever had on an official date. She hadn't had this much fun in a long time.

"...still in awe."

Michonne was so deep in her own head she missed what Rick was saying.

"In awe?" she asked.

"Yeah," he gestured at all the buildings and people. "Of all of this. I lived in King County my whole life until a few months ago. The fast pace of the city can be a little overwhelming, but in a good way."

"So you're still glad you're here?"

Rick stopped walking and faced her. "Like we said earlier this week, I'm fulfilled. I'm happy and grateful to be here. Especially here with you."

Michonne nodded and looked down then back up at him with a smile. "I don't know about you, but my legs are tired from all of this walking. There's a really great Italian restaurant across the street. Want to get some take out and go back to my apartment.

"Sounds perfect."


Michonne tossed the empty containers in the trash. "I'm stuffed," she said.

"Me too," Rick said as he cleared the dishes and silverware from her kitchen table. He walked over to the dishwasher to place them inside.

Michonne stood at the sink washing her hands. "Want to see if there's anything good on Netflix?"

He went into the living and picked up the remote. "You want a movie or watch another episode of that show? What was it again?"

"Orphan Black", she said as she joined him on the couch. "But we can't watch the next episode without Carl."

"He chose to ditch us. You snooze, you lose."

Michonne grabbed the remote from his hand. "Cold blooded. If you say things like that in front of his friends no wonder he ditched us, old man."

"You're probably right," he said as he took off his boots. He gave a content sigh and leaned back. "Okay so lets watch a movie "

Michonne scrolled through the choices. "What are you in the mood for?"

Rick's head was comfortably indented on the couch cushion. He turned towards her. "You pick. I'll watch whatever."

"You said that before and you fell asleep before the opening credits were done."

He grinned sheepishly. "True, but in my defense it was a French film and these eyes of mine aren't that great with subtitles."

Michonne pursed her lips. "Fair enough. Something in English then."

Rick kept his head towards her and watched as she intently tried to find a movie. Every time he saw her he didn't think she could look more beautiful then she always proved him wrong the next time he laid eyes on her. The girl of his dreams. There never was a more apt description. His Gramps used to tell him he had to pray daily. He'd stopped that practice a long time ago. But lately he's been thanking whoever was pulling the strings up there every chance he could for her. For making the girl of his dreams the only woman he wanted in his life.

"Oh, they have that old Sandra Bullock flick, Hope Floats. I used to love that movie. Want to watch it?" She looked her at him noticing the dreamy smile he had on his face. "What?" she asked.

"Hmm?" he said as he came out of his reverie.

"What were you thinking about?" she asked softly.

He moved closer to her. "That Hope Floats is an excellent movie."

She gave him a suspicious look. "Yeah, right."

He responded by putting his arm around her. She let go of her suspicion and laid her head on his shoulder and snuggled in close. He kissed her forehead as she started the movie.


When Rick opened his eyes the room was darker than usual. Neither one had made it to the end of the movie. Netflix had autoplayed into another one. Michonne's head was still on his shoulder. His movements caused her to stir. She wiped at her eyes and sat up.

"I guess we both missed the end of the movie," she said her voice a deeper tone from sleep.

Rick stretched his stiff body. "Seems like it." He looked at his watch. It was after midnight. He checked his phone and was relieved to see another text message from Carl letting Rick know he made it to his friend's house safely. He texted the teen back then leaned into the couch again.

"Sorry I overslept. I probably should head home." He reluctantly reached for his boots until he felt her hand on his.

She cleared her throat. "Don't. I mean if you don't want to you don't have to go."

He could make out her eyes in the darkness; searching them for what he hoped was a clear answer to the question in his heart. "I don't want to go," he swallowed hard; throat suddenly dry. "I want to stay with you. Always."

Michonne laughed self consciously and tossed her hair over her shoulder then looked back at him with certainty. She didn't want to hide what was in her heart anymore. "I want you here too. Always."

Rick cupped her cheek with his hand. "Then I'm staying," he said softly.

Both leaned in at the same time. Their lips met in a whisper of a kiss. They pulled away from at the same time; their eyes locked in the intense bubble. The second time their lips touched all of the dormant passion of two souls meant to be was unleashed.