Rewatching old episodes inspired me to go back and write some Little Talks for previous seasons since I only started writing fic in the latter half of season 5 and missed out on the early stages of Rick and Michonne's relationship. I've missed doing this series, so I thought I would take a break from Into Dawn for a quick update. Hope you enjoy!

Season 4, Between 30 Days Without an Accident and Infected

You came back. Your boy came back. You get to come back. You do.

As Rick laid in his cell, Judith sleeping in her crib at the foot of his bunk, those words played on an endless loop in his mind. He never really found peace anymore, but Hershel's talks generally provided him enough comfort and encouragement to be able to make it through another day or, in this case, hopefully quiet his mind enough so that he could rest and make it to the next day. He got up and paced in his cell for a bit, then made his way out to the common area which was deserted given the late hour. He looked in on Carl's cell where he was sound asleep, then kept walking down the line until he reached hers. He could see the dim glow of a candle burning through the curtain that hung across the entrance to her cell, and he could see her bare feet moving across the room in the gap left between the curtain and the floor. The movement stopped abruptly however, and before he knew it, she appeared from behind curtain and was staring back at him.

"You need something?" she whispered, looking at him then out to the common area to see if there was a matter that needed her attention.

"Yeah...but it can wait," he whispered back feeling caught off guard by her discovery of him.

"Well I'm awake, so it doesn't have to," she said softly noticing his shiftiness. They'd no doubt grown closer over the past few months, but there was still an awkwardness to their interactions. Familiarity and friendliness ebbed and flowed between them, likely because of her frequent absences which always made it feel like they were starting over a bit with each other when she came back.

He looked into her room seeing a nap sack on the bed, making it clear to him that she was in the middle of packing for her next trip outside the prison despite his and Daryl's protestations earlier that day.

He waved his hand in the direction of her bag. "You're headin' out to Macon?"

"Yeah. I'm leaving in the morning. Just trying to get the last of my things together so I can get to sleep. You mind if I pack while we talk?"

He shook his head no and followed her into her cell, leaning himself against the small desk in her room while she picked up where she'd left off. He looked around her cell for a moment, noticing the small decorative touches like the colorful bed linens and cat sculpture in the corner which, compared to his cell, made it seem like she was more at home in the prison than him ironically enough. He cleared his throat, and reached into his back pocket to pull out a folded scrap of paper.

"So I, uh, was wondering if you wouldn't mind picking these up for me while you're out," he said as he extended the paper toward her. She took it from his hand, unfolded it, and read down the list. "Just a few supplies Hershel recommended for the garden," he added on.

"You need these right away? If so, you may want to ask the run crew because I think this is gonna be a long one."

"How long you think?" he asked knowing full well he probably wouldn't like the answer since any time away at this point seemed like an unnecessary risk to him given her previous unsuccessful attempts at finding the governor.

"Three, maybe four weeks?"

"Right..." he said trying to stay neutral and hide his disapproval. "It's not rush on the supplies, so I'd appreciate whatever you can do." She nodded, folded the list back up, and placed it in the back pocket of her jeans.

"Anything else I can get for you or the kids?"

"Nah, nothing that I can think of. Although I bet Carl would beg to differ."

Michonne couldn't help but chuckle. "Your kid has a standing order in place, you know..."

"Is that right? Let me guess. Comics and candy bars."

"Basically, yeah," she said with a smile. She zipped up the bag and placed it on the floor, then took a seat on the edge of her bed facing Rick. "If you're not OK with it, just let me know."

"Please. Maybe before all this I'd be worried about spoilin' him, but I'm trying my damnedest to just let him be a kid."

"Looks like it's working," she offered seeing that he could use some reinforcement. "He seems pretty happy to me lately. Has a smile on his face more often than not."

"Ehh," Rick hemmed. "I don't think he's too thrilled being the farmer's son, but he's gonna have to learn to like it."

"I'm sure he likes it more than he's letting on. He's your kid. It's his job to give you a hard time and vise versa." Rick sighed in resignation and looked out of the cell, unconsciously bringing his left hand up to his face to scratch his beard. It was the second round of encouragement he'd gotten that night, and as much as he wanted to to take it, he just couldn't let himself. When he turned to look back at her, he could tell that her eyes hadn't left him the whole time which caused him give her a small self-conscious grin.

"Heard you guys had a rough run today," he said shifting the focus onto her by acknowledging the trouble they'd had at the Big Spot earlier.

"Yeah...we did," she said unmoved as she looked down at her hands and started fiddling with the wristband on her gloves.

"You know, there's no reason you have to head out tomorrow. You can take a day off or two..."

She looked up at him, appreciative for the concern, but unwilling to change her mind. "I'm leaving in the morning," she reiterated.

He just nodded and stood from his spot against the desk. He didn't like it, but he respected her enough not to argue with her. "Well, I'll let you get back to it. Good night then," he said before he started to walk out of her cell.

"Night," she said still sitting on her bed as she watched him from behind. He stopped at the threshold and raised his hand to the bars, hitting it softly twice with an open palm as if he'd forgotten something before turning around.

"Gummy bears," he said pointing at her. She tilted her head to the side and knitted her brows. "Add it to the list," he clarified.

"Got it," she said as a smile formed on her face. He nodded in appreciation and she watched as he left her cell for good this time. Rick Grimes had a weakness for gummy bears. Who would have known she thought to herself.

xxxxx

"Careful out there," he called out to Michonne as he and Carl walked out to the garden to start their daily chores the next morning.

"Always am," she assured him as she led her horse to the path leading to the prison gates. " Any requests? Books? Comics? Some stale M&Ms?" she directed at Carl.

"You're the one that likes stale M&Ms," the boy teased as she walked by him. Rick listened in on their exchange, amused by their friendly banter.

"Then I'll definitely looking for some. I'll look for some stuff you like, too," she teased right back. Michonne kept on towards the gate before adding, "Why don't you wear your hat anymore?"

It dawned on her that it had been 2 days in a row that she'd seen Carl without his ever present sheriff's hat which had to be for good reason.

"It's not a farming hat," he said cheerfully without hesitation. A small smile started to form on Rick's face at those words. He didn't even have to look at her to know that more than satisfying her curiosity, she was making sure that he wasn't missing the signs that were right in front of him.

"See you soon?" Carl called out hopefully.

"Pretty soon," she said with a smile.