Richonne (Short Love Stories) The Leader Part II (Chapter 20)
For the next few weeks, Martinez sits back and observes Rick and Michonne spending as much time together as possible. Rick is at her place at least 3 or 4 nights a week and he knows exactly what they're doing. His rage level is at an all-time high and everyone around him notices.
Shumpert decides to call him out on it while they're on watch duty one evening. "You need to chill out, man. You act like you was with her and she's cheating on you with this guy."
"Well, that's what it feels like. Anything she needed done, I was there. In walks Rick Grimes and she's all over him," Martinez sneers.
"Why are you so worried about who she's screwing? You're still fooling around with Angela, right?" Shumpert asks.
"That's beside the point. Angela's just fulfilling a need. Michonne was gonna be it for me, man," Martinez declares. "If I get this Rick dude out of the way, I can still have her."
Shumpert looks at him with a frown. "I don't like the sound of that. Just leave well enough alone. She has had all the time in the world to get with you if she wanted. Obviously that's not what she wants, so let it go."
"Yeah, I'll let it go alright," Martinez professes.
The next day, he deliberately seeks out Rick.
Rick almost cringes when he sees him as Martinez has been throwing daggers his way for a while now. He doesn't understand this man's obsession with Michonne. He scoffs at his own inner dialogue as he realizes exactly why Martinez is obsessed with her. It makes him question if something did happen between them.
"What's up man?" Martinez asks.
"Not much. How bout you?" Rick returns.
"I'm great. Look, I just want to apologize for the way I've been acting towards you. I was wrong. I should just be a man about this and let bygones be bygones. She wants you and that's the end of it. Besides, I've been seeing Angela for a while now and she's pretty cool. I might even make an honest woman out of her." He laughs with a slight smirk.
Rick doesn't fully get why that is funny but he smiles anyway, nodding his head. "Well, I'm sure everyone around here would appreciate something as nice as a wedding."
"Maybe we could even make it a double wedding, huh?" Martinez jokes.
Rick frowns. "Well, um….good talking to you. I'm glad we got that all cleared up."
"Yeah, me too. See ya around." Martinez watches as Rick walks off, heading to the gardens.
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
Two weeks later, Rick and Michonne are in an open field with Martinez and Milton on a supposed run for a new venture Milton has concocted. Michonne looks around in confusion, taking in the pit filled with walkers and some sort of noise making contraction. She assumes the noise draws the walkers and they fall into the pit. What she doesn't understand is what any of this has to do with Milton's new project.
Martinez explains that the pit is how the Governor trapped walkers for the arena fights and other uses.
"Milton, can you explain to me how this helps with your project?" Michonne asks.
"I'll let Martinez explain everything and I'm really sorry about all this. I just…" Milton stops as Martinez gives him a look.
"That's it Milton. You can wait in the truck," Martinez advises.
Michonne instantly gets an uneasy feeling. She looks to Rick, letting him know to be ready for anything. "What's going on here, Martinez? What is this?"
"Everything was fine until this guy came into the picture," he tells her.
She rolls her eyes. "Not this again. Did you actually drag me out here for some bullshit?"
"Oh, this ain't bullshit. This is me getting what I want once and for all. I'm the one who helped you with Woodbury. I'm the one who's been by your side the whole time and this is how you repay me?" Martinez frowns as he looks from her to Rick. "You get with this asshole. Just like that. He comes in and suddenly you're putting out. Hell, I couldn't get so much as a peek…"
Rick drops his head, then eyes Martinez like a hawk, not trusting him for one second. "I thought you were done with this."
Martinez points his gun at Rick. "You….shut up. This is between me and her."
"This ends right now. I can't believe you brought us out here for this. Get over yourself already. I never lied to you. I never led you on." She looks to Rick. "Let's go."
"You aren't going anywhere. You tell him it's over right now. You tell him you're going to be with me. Otherwise, he dies today and you end up with me anyway," Martinez demands.
"Are you listening to yourself? Rick is not the problem here. Even when he wasn't at Woodbury, I wasn't going to be with you. Why can't you understand that?" Michonne asks.
Rick is convinced that this guy is unhinged. He's like a kid having a tantrum because he can't play with his favorite toy. He watches Michonne, waiting to take her lead.
She reaches for her katana, but Martinez moves forward, slamming the butt of his gun into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She goes down hard, stunned and trying desperately to gain some momentum as she is unable to take several needed breaths.
Rick lunges, his hand at his gun, but Martinez aims his weapon directly at him, stopping him in his tracks.
"You just sit tight. I'll be dealing with you in a minute," Martinez says as he grabs Michonne, pulling her to stand in front of him. He unsheathes her katana and tosses it out of her reach.
Rick can see that she's still in pain and breathless. He watches closely for an opening to get to Martinez.
"Now, I want you to keep your eyes open for this one, ok? I want you to watch your pretty little boyfriend die," Martinez tells Michonne as he pushes her to the side to take aim at Rick.
She drops to her knees, then rounds on Martinez sending a fist into his crotch, a slight smirk of satisfaction crossing her face at his howl of pain.
In his momentary distraction, Rick makes a move, grabbing the gun, trying to wrench it out of his grasp. The two men wrestle over the weapon, Rick finally landing a punch to Martinez's face. The latter staggers back, allowing Rick to gain control over the weapon. Before Rick has a chance to aim it, Martinez dives at him, landing on top of him, Rick's head at the edge of the pit where walkers are clawing the dirt to reach them.
The gun was knocked away as the two men fell to the ground. Martinez immediately grabs Rick by the throat, choking him and pushing his head down toward the walkers. Rick goes for his gun at his side, but Martinez uses his knee to pin his arm. The two men continue to struggle, but Martinez appears to have the advantage as he tightens his hands around Rick's throat. Rick attempts to use his body to throw Martinez off but to no avail.
Milton watches from the truck, wanting to do something but afraid of retribution from Martinez.
Michonne slowly gets her breath back and moves over to them, throwing an arm across Martinez's neck, pulling with all of her might. It gives Rick the small reprieve he needs as he gasps for air and moves away from Martinez and the pit.
Martinez quickly attacks Michonne, trying to incapacitate her, so he can finish Rick off. He throws his head back, connecting with her face. He then turns to confront her, reaching out to grab her by the throat with one hand while the other is raised to land a blow.
The click of the hammer on Rick's python draws Martinez's attention. He shoves Michonne away from him and turns to face Rick.
"You son of a bitch. Put your hands on her again and I'll blow your fucking head off!" Rick shouts.
"It's ok. I'm fine, Rick." Michonne exhales heavily, trying to catch her breath. "You're done, Martinez. You are no longer a part of our community. You're on your own." She wipes some blood from her nose, then looks to Rick. "Let's get out of here."
Rick doesn't waiver as he keeps his gun aimed at Martinez and moves slowly over to Michonne.
"I was running Woodbury before you came back. Me. I kept it going. I let you have that place. Don't you see that? All you had to do was let me in. We were going to run Woodbury together. You aren't supposed to be with him," Martinez states.
Michonne shakes her head as she can't believe how delusional Martinez is. She backs away slowly, tugging Rick's shirt gently.
Martinez makes a sudden move, reaching behind his back, but Rick fires his gun, sending a bullet straight into his forehead.
Michonne can only watch as Martinez crumbles to the ground dead. She looks to Rick who looks back, but remains silent. There is a shift, something in his eyes that brings a frown to her face, but she decides to ignore it. "He was obviously going for a gun. You had no choice."
He holsters his gun and walks to the truck, slamming his way into the driver's seat.
She follows soon after retrieving her katana and the guns, closing the door as she takes a seat on the passenger's side.
"Are we just going to leave his body here?" Milton asks cautiously.
"We should leave you here with it. You plotted with him," Michonne states, unable to look at Milton, her anger and disappointment palpable.
Milton gasps. "Michonne, I…I had no choice. Martinez threatened me and my wife. He told me if I didn't do what he wanted, he'd kill us both."
"So why not come to me and tell me that?" She asks.
"How? He was watching my every move. I couldn't get to you without him knowing it," Milton professes.
Rick starts the truck and makes the decision for all of them as he drives off, leaving Martinez's body sprawled in the dirt.
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
Later that night, Michonne and Rick are at her apartment seated on the sofa, silent. He hasn't said one word to her since they arrived home. She wanted to protect him so she told the people of Woodbury that she was responsible for Martinez's death. Luckily, Shumpert recalled his earlier conversation with Martinez and reiterated her story, informing them of how unstable Martinez had become. Milton also informed the community of the little he knew.
She reaches over to take Rick's hand in hers. "It's going to be ok. I'm sorry you had to do that today, but he really didn't give you a choice."
"Just another man's blood on my hands because of a woman," Rick states softly.
"What?" Michonne asks.
"Oh, that's right. I never told you how I had to kill my best friend because he wanted to kill me so he could be with my wife. Yeah, they thought I was dead so the two of them got together, had an affair or whatever, she wound up pregnant and didn't know if the baby was mine or his." He scoffs as he removes his hand from hers. "He wanted her so bad, he was willing to kill me for her. That's what Martinez was going to do. He was going to kill me so he could have you and it's got me wondering what I did to deserve this."
"Rick, you had no control over that situation, you…." She stops as Rick cuts her off.
"That's where you're wrong. I knew how he felt about you. Maybe I just should have walked away and none of this would've happened." Rick looks over at her sadly. "I don't think I can do this anymore."
"Do what? You're acting like you did something to create this situation when you didn't. I told Martinez no. I told him I was never going to be with him," she states.
"Did you? Are you sure you and this man didn't have something going on before I came along and maybe that's why he was acting the way he was?"
Michonne tries to quell her anger with that question. She is trying to understand what Rick is going through but he is making it hard. "I never slept with him if that's what you're indirectly hinting at. He was clearly unstable. I don't know how you couldn't see that."
"All I know is someone else just tried to kill me so he could have the woman in my life. Relationships must not be my thang, so I think it's time I walk away."
"You're going to walk away from me…from us?" Michonne asks as her heart kicks into overdrive at the thought of losing him. "Tell me that's not what you mean."
"This….is just not what I need right now."
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
Michonne finally got the picture loud and clear. Rick didn't want to be in a relationship with her anymore. They hadn't spoken to each other nor had sex for several days. She gave him some space, giving him time to calm down and think things through. When she went to him to talk, it was the same thing. He wasn't as cold and mean as he was when they first met, but the way he acted conjured up the feelings she felt at being treated unfairly by him. She knows she hasn't done anything wrong, but it hurts all the same.
She is doing exactly what she has done for the past few nights, sitting in her apartment, feeling the cloud of loneliness blanket her. She has never felt it this profoundly and she knows it all centers around him. This is all my fault for getting involved in the first place. Falling in love makes you vulnerable, especially in this world. I've been so stupid.
She starts as there is a knock at the door. A part of her hopes it's Rick, so she can…..She stops the thought right there as she was about to let herself get excited about reconciling with him. So I can tell him to kiss my ass! She gets up from the bed and walks to the door purposefully. Composing herself, she opens it to find Sasha and Maggie. She deflates quickly as she honestly didn't want to confront Rick.
Her friends walk inside and immediately get comfortable in the living room.
"Girl, you better talk to that man of yours. He's walking around with a frown on his face, working all hours of the day and night. Carl told Beth he doesn't think his dad has been eating. What are you going to do?" Sasha asks.
"Absolutely nothing. He broke up with me, so if he's suffering….great. I am, too but I won't be for long," Michonne states.
Maggie sits up. "What does that mean exactly? Are you seeing someone else?"
Michonne scoffs. "No. I'm just not going to worry about it anymore. This isn't the first time I've had my heart broken." She falters as her emotions try to overtake her, but she quells it all down, determined not to let this break her.
She walks into her kitchen, retrieving several items and returns to the living room. "Thanks for being here. Being alone didn't bother me before, but I'm really feeling it now. Anyway, how's about a few drinks?" She holds up a bottle of wine and proceeds to open it and pour generous glasses for herself and her friends.
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
Michonne continues to see Carl in the mornings for sword practice, but she is missing Judith something awful. It's been days since she has seen her and she just can't force herself to show up at their apartment as she is doing her best to avoid Rick.
"So what's going on with you and my dad?"
Carl's voice jars her out of her reflections. She looks to him with a question in her eyes.
"You? My dad? What's going on? Are you guys not friends anymore?" Carl repeats.
"Is it ok if we don't talk about your dad? I know you have questions, but….just….ask him, ok?" Michonne tells him.
Carl frowns. "I have asked him and he doesn't want to talk about it either."
"Well, I'm sorry. Give me a little more time and maybe we can revisit that topic later." She is about to show him some moves when she notices Rick walking towards them. She closes her eyes as she doesn't want to look at him at all and the panic sets in. "Carl, we'll finish up tomorrow, ok?
"But we're just getting started." Carl's disappointment is tangible.
"I'll make it up to you. I promise." She quickly marches toward the only exit/entrance about to pass Rick without a word.
He reaches out to grab her arm. "Michonne, please, I….."
She looks at his hand on her arm, then up at him. What he sees in her eyes prompts him to drop his hand from her quickly.
"Can we talk?"
"No." She turns her back on him and walks away.
Carl walks over to his father, his emotions evident in the shakiness of his voice. "She's really upset with you. She won't even talk to me about it."
Rick looks towards the heavens as he realizes how genuinely he has screwed up.
For the next several days, Michonne just throws herself into the everyday operations of Woodbury. She has somewhat forgiven Milton and taken more interest in the projects he is working on as he is always looking to improve their water and power sources, planting and growing food, expanding the area to accommodate more farm animals and the list goes on. She had to draw the line with him when he wanted to continue his experiments in understanding and maybe finding a cure for this epidemic they're trying to survive. Harnessing and imprisoning walkers for experiments was just too risky for her.
She is also being bombarded at each turn by Rick's family. She adores them all, but wish they'd leave her alone. The only one who hasn't tried to push her and Rick back together is Daryl. He gives her the space she needs and Carl understands and respects her wishes when she doesn't want to talk about his dad.
She almost caves when she goes to answer her door one Saturday afternoon and it's Beth and Judith at her door. She immediately smiles as Beth greets her.
"I think she misses you, so I just decided to bring her over. I hope that's ok," Beth says.
Michonne reaches for Judith, her heart swelling as she has missed the baby so much. "Hey there, little girl. How are you?"
Beth hands her a bag she assumes is filled with some of the things Judith will need during her visit.
Michonne gives Beth a look as she reluctantly takes the bag.
"He doesn't know she's here if that's what that look is about," Beth tells her. "I'll come back in a couple of hours if that's ok."
"It's fine." Michonne smiles. "Thank you, Beth."
Beth returns her smile and reaches in to close the door as Michonne moves into her living room with Judith.
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
Michonne has reached her breaking point as Rick refuses to give up. He's not trying to force her to talk to him, but he's letting her know in small, caring ways how sorry he is. One morning she opened her door to find a basketful of fresh strawberries. She told him a while ago how she'd love to eat strawberries again. Somehow he found some seeds and told her he'd save the first batch for her.
A few days later, it was Big Kats and M&Ms, then a bouquet of roses. She broke down and cried when she found comics and books at her door. She is pretty sure he enlisted Carl's help for that endeavor. She is flattered but still not ready to talk to him. She knows if they talk, she'll probably cave and forgive him for everything.
The hour is late, but Michonne is still wide awake and all she can think about is Rick Grimes. Her body is practically feening for him and she wants to scream as her frustration level is extreme. The soft knock at the door makes her pop up to a sitting position. She puts a hand to her chest as her heart starts to thump harder than it ever has before. She just knows it's him at the door. She takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. She slowly makes her way to the door, unlocks it and opens it. Damn. It's him.
He gives her a nod and opens his mouth to speak.
"I don't want to talk." She nearly jumps into his arms as she slams her mouth against his and kisses him passionately.
Rick's arms encircle her as he returns the kiss with equal fervor, moving inside and closing the door. They basically rip the clothes off of each other and fall into bed. He enters her quickly as neither of them can wait as they have been apart way too long.
She moans loudly as he fills her, tears springing to her eyes she missed him, the feel of him so much.
The stillness of the room is filled with heavy breathing, moans, and slight squeaky noises from the bed.
Much later, after their bodies are spent and their breathing is somewhat back to normal, he calls her name.
"The only way you stay here tonight is if you don't say a word," she informs him.
The room is filled with the noise of their breathing and the crickets chirping outside.
The next morning, Rick wakes up to find himself alone in her bed. He rubs the sleep from his eyes and yawns with a huge stretch as he wonders where she is. He assumes she has already left to get her day started as a quick bathroom break and a walk through the apartment alerts him that she is not there. He gets dressed and walks home to have breakfast with his kids, praying that everything will be ok between him and Michonne.
He has grown slightly accustomed to not seeing her over the past couple of weeks as she was actively avoiding him, but he grows concerned when no one else has seen her either. He finishes up in the gardens as it is almost dark and walks over to ask whoever is on watch if they have seen her.
Several people are manning the wall, but he seeks out an older guy named Charles who has been at Woodbury from the start.
"Hey Mr. Charles, how are you?" He inquires.
"Doing fine, son. Doing fine. How about yourself?" Charles asks.
"I'm ok. Thanks for asking. Have you seen Michonne by any chance?" Rick wants to know.
'Oh yeah, she skedaddled out of here before the sun was up. Shumpert let me know when I took my shift earlier," Charles informs.
Rick frowns. "So was she going on a run or something?"
"I'm not sure. That gal can be strange. She used to take off like that when she first got here, but she always came back later in the day or the next day. I suspect she'll be walking up to the gate directly. She'll be back. Anything else you need?" Charles wonders.
Rick shakes his head as he processes the information Charles just gave him. "No. Thank you Mr. Charles."
"No problem, son."
Rick immediately seeks out Shumpert to get more information.
"And you just let her walk out of here by herself? What did she say?" Rick questions.
"What she always says. I'm going on a run. I'll be back. Although I have to say she hasn't done that in a while. She always comes back though. If not tonight, then tomorrow."
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
Three days later, Rick and Daryl are organizing a small team to search for Michonne. They are spread out near the main entrance with weapons, maps, and other gear, organizing a plan. Rick has been beside himself with worry, knowing that if anything has happened to her, he will blame himself for the rest of his life.
He hears someone call out his name and looks behind him to see Charles waving him over.
"I think your little lady is heading our way," Charles tells him.
Rick climbs up the wall and has a look through a pair of binoculars. Sure enough, it was her making her way back to Woodbury, slicing through walkers as she moves along. He can't contain his relief and excitement as he orders the gates open and takes off running to meet her.
Michonne walks along slowly, a contented smile playing across her lips, blood and guts coating her face, her clothes, and her katana. She stops in her tracks as she sees Rick racing toward her.
He practically skids to a stop in front of her, looking her over worriedly before he pulls her into his arms, hugging her tightly.
"Thank God you're alright," he whispers.
She moves her arms in an effort to get him to release her, noticing Daryl as he walks up behind Rick. "I'm fine. What are you doing out here?"
"About to come looking for you. You've been gone for days now," Rick states.
Daryl cringes as he waits for Rick to explode, gearing up to be the mediator between these two.
"I was worried. Thought maybe something had happened, so I got Daryl to help me track you down. You sure you're ok?" Rick asks.
Michonne looks into his eyes, realizing the genuine concern he has for her and nods. "I'm fine, Rick. I was on my way back."
"Ok." Rick waits for her to walk ahead of him as he and Daryl step in behind her.
"So what you been doing out there all this time?" Daryl wants to know. He can't believe Rick didn't go off. If it was anybody else they'd be freaking toast right about now. Man this love thang ain't no joke.
"Just needed to clear my head," she returns.
"You did more than that from the looks of you," Daryl notices.
"I had a little trouble on my way back, but nothing I couldn't handle." She looks back at Daryl with a smirk. "It was about 20 of 'em."
Daryl looks over at Rick who is decidedly frowned up as he listens to Michonne's banter about her walker kills. "Yeah. We'll just talk about that later." No sense in getting Rick riled and they ain't got nothing resolved yet.
They walk through the gates of Woodbury amidst well wishes for Michonne's safe return. There was never a doubt in anyone's mind except for Rick.
He politely cups her elbow to steer her away from the others welcoming her back. His relief is palpable as she allows his touch. "I really need to talk to you. I messed up and I…."
She cuts him off with a kiss. "My place tomorrow night at 7. I've got plenty I need to say to you and you're going to listen to every single word." She smiles at him beautifully before she walks off.
He watches her walk away, unsure of what she has in mind. She smiled at me so that's promising, right?
Michonne takes time to pamper herself for the remainder of the day, shampooing her hair, relaxing in a scented bath. She feels at peace with the world because she knows exactly what she wants and has decided to claim it. She lounges on her bed, reading a book, eating a Big Kat and sipping some wine.
Meanwhile, Rick is all tied up in knots, wondering what tomorrow night will bring.
He arrives at exactly 7 o'clock, carrying a bouquet of roses and a bottle of wine. Before he can get up his nerve to knock, the door swings open and she is inviting him in. He feels edgy as he walks into the apartment, noting how great she looks in a long purple halter dress. His eyes zero in on her cleavage, but he quickly looks away.
"These are for you." He hands her the bouquet and the wine. "You…you look beautiful."
"Thank you." She steps back, allowing her eyes to travel from his head down to his boots. She is pleased that he took the time to dress for the occasion as he is wearing a light blue button down shirt and dark dress pants. "You sure do look handsome."
Rick nods as he follows her into the kitchen area where she places the bouquet in a water filled vase, then grabs two wine glasses and the wine. They walk in silence to the living room.
"We'll have dinner shortly. I think we should have that talk and clear the air. You ready?" She sits down on the sofa and waits for him to join her.
He turns to face her. "I'm sorry. I was wrong and I know that now. It just took something out of me having to do that again and at the time, I thought being away from you was the solution but it only made the problem worse as I was miserable and making everybody else miserable especially when you wouldn't talk to me."
"Do you blame me? You broke my heart, Rick," she tells him quietly.
He swallows nervously. "I'm sorry. I was stupid. Do you forgive me coz I don't want to be without you?"
"First off, if you ever hurt me like that again, I will skewer you. Second, I'm sorry about what happened with your wife, but I played no part in that equation. Just like you didn't play a part in what was going on with Martinez. I've had some bad shit happen to me, too." She pauses, contemplating if she should get into that. "I'll tell you about that later. I'm finally to the point where I think I can talk about it and you want to know why that is?"
He nods.
"Because I've made up my mind about what I want. I want you, so tell me right here, right now if you can handle that." She waits for his answer.
"I can handle that. Whatever you want. Whatever you need. There's nothing I won't do because I love you, Michonne. I'm in love with you."
She bites her bottom lip as she smiles widely at him. "I'm in love with you, too."
He leans in for a soft, gentle kiss then pulls back to look into her eyes. "You know we're gonna have to have a talk about you going outside the walls alone, right?"
She rolls her eyes heavenward with a sigh, then moves over to him, straddling his lap as she lifts her dress up to her thighs. She smiles at his surprised expression. "Well, for the next few hours, you're going to be doing everything but talking with that beautiful mouth of yours."