Michonne stood behind Rand as the woman stood near the three markers of Graciela, Steve and Thomas.

"Are you going to leave?" she finally asked.

Rand whipped around. "Shouldn't I?"

"Why? You were the one that said dicks would find us. They did."

"This was my fault."

"Really?" Michonne drawled. She did know how Rand worked. Michonne had a lot of respect for Rand, especially after, but the woman needed to step the hell up. "Did you send them our way?"

"Don't be an ass. No," she scoffed.

"Then how is it your fault?"

"I should have been here," she yelled.

"Why? We handled it."

"Really? Three people are dead. Good people," Rand sneered.

"They knew what they were doing when they picked up those guns. They were protecting their home. What the hell would you have done? Had all of us stay in the keep?"

"Yes," she shouted.

"That's stupid, Rand, and I never took you for a stupid woman." She paused. "Are you going to run away?" she repeated her earlier question.

She looked like Michonne had just punched her in the stomach. Michonne nodded her head. "I know how you work. You'll do the easy shit. You won't do the hard shit. This? This the hard shit. Not making schedules, cleaning out towns, putting up fences. This. Losing people is the hard shit. This is our life. Walkers and dicks. And a home we protect with our lives. It's worth it. Graciela died protecting this place so her daughter could grow up. She may not go to the prom or shopping or the movies, but she'll live. In a good place. In her home. And you?" she jabbed her finger in the direction of the shocked woman. "You are an arrogant ass, Rand, thinking you can control it all. You can't."

"Fuck you, Michonne," Rand snarled.

"No. Fuck you, Rand. You aren't omniscient. You're shrewd, intelligent and a coward. The dick I was following? I had a lot of respect for him at one time. This? Losing people screwed him up, too. But he didn't run. He fought. He fought hard. He did dick things but he didn't run away. Like you. It's a sad day when dicks beat you," she ended in a shout.

"I don't like you."

"Bullshit. You like me. You like all of us. It's why you want to run. You don't want to see us die. Killing people is easy. Losing them is hard. I know. I lost my son. I lost myself," she sniffed as wiped her eyes. "So many others. This wasn't your fault. I know you're not happy you were right. I think you're pissed you were right. This place? It is sheltered but you told me once dicks are everywhere. They are. There's nowhere you can run." She pointed at the castle. "This is our life now. Walkers and dicks. But if we're lucky, we can include a home and good people in there, too."

"I," Rand cleared her throat. "I should have thought of something else."

"What? Until you can make invisible walls this is what we have." She walked over and stood near the graves. "They were good people. We need more good people and you know it."

Rand looked at the graves and cursed herself again. "The fence needs to be put back up," she observed. She didn't like Michonne knew how she worked, the bitch. On top of Seth lecturing her on the same thing.

"We know. We're not filling the holes. We got the barbed wire field up in the back."

"I shouldn't run this place," she reiterated to Michonne.

"We think you should," she rebutted.

"I took things for granted."

"Dick are everywhere, Rand."

"I know. The fence. It wasn't enough. I thought being here? Shit. This place hadn't even fucking opened. We took the fucking brochures," she screamed at the sky.

"Maybe they were like the dicks on the Trail."

"It doesn't fucking matter. Dicks are everywhere. Dicks," she sneered. Michonne didn't say anything. She was kind of pissed. "Do you think I'll stay? With that little speech?"

"Are you leaving?"

She hung her head. "Dicks are everywhere. Walkers are everywhere. Where would I go? I'd have to start again. Maybe end up someplace worse." Daryl was right, this was a good place. There was nowhere for her to run away to. She sighed. "I'm just so pissed. It's why I chose this area. This place."

"Dicks are everywhere," Michonne repeated.

"I fucking know it. I hate it. I miss my ivory tower and the only thing I had to kill was some guy's ego. Fuck." She ran her hand through her hair and paced. "We need spikes on the fence. Like the prison Daryl was in."

The woman nodded. "Good idea. Pits?"

She tilted her head back and sighed. "Not right now. Not with this shit we need to clean up." She finally looked at Michonne. "I am sorry I wasn't here."

"Did you make friends?"

"I'm not sure yet. We brought back coffee and tea."

"Only you," Michonne huffed out a laugh.

"Yeah, well, I need my coffee."

She nodded. "Daryl and I started planning a run for more barbed wire and rebar for the spikes."

They headed for the castle. "Wood, too. You need something to hang the spikes on."

"I'll have Tom put it on the list," Michonne told her.

"Someone will need to go back and see Robert and tell him about this. Did any get away?"

"One car left after Daryl and Bradford used the RPG's."

"Well hell. We may need to do another base run," Rand muttered.

"Let's do these other things first," she suggested.

"I'm so fucking tired."

"We'll get your report later."

"Thank you, General," Rand looked at Michonne out of the corner of her eye as they walked toward the castle. "I may like you. A little."

Daryl found Michonne in her room after she came back inside with Rand. He watched as Rand headed up the stairs to her room, Jenny holding onto her hand, before he shut the door.

"She gonna leave?"

'Chonne shook her head. "No. There's nowhere for her to run. She knows it."

"She was right. Dicks found us."

"She doesn't think she should run the castle."

"Is she outta her fuckin' mind, 'Chonne? Hell, yeah, she should run this place. Shit. Me and you never woulda thought of half the shit she did. The other three, either," he raised his voice.

'Chonne sat on the loveseat. "I know. The other three won't do it. You and I won't do it. Rand's going to have to do it."

"Need more people."

"I told her that, too."

He took a seat in one of the chairs. "Least she didn't go crazy," he muttered, causing 'Chonne to laugh a little.

"You're right. At least she didn't go crazy. We've dealt with worse. The Governor. Gareth. I don't think she has. She runs. Unless it's something she thinks she can reasonably control, like the situation with the dicks in Bridgewater."

"She needs to man the fuck up," he snorted.

"She will." 'Chonne stood. "Let's take a bath."

"What?"

She held out her hand. "Let's take a bath, Daryl."

"Together?"

"Together. We need it. I have a feeling we'll be in and out for a while. She thinks we might have to do another base run."

"Fuck this woman, 'Chonne, and her base runs," he grumbled.

"Come on," she wiggled her fingers. He stood up, took her hand and followed her into the bathroom. 'Chonne started the water and dumped some rose smellin' shit then he saw bubbles.

"Hell no. No bubble baths. I ain't five."

She took off her clothes, put her hair up, got in the huge ass Jacuzzi tub and smiled a little. "I think we need to be five for a little while."

Daryl shifted on his feet. "Fuck it." He took off his clothes and got in with her. She pushed him against the side and slid between his legs, leaning her head against his chest.

"We need candles the next time we do this," she whispered.

He relaxed and put his arms around her.

"Turn the water off, will you?" she requested.

Daryl moved her a little, turned then shut the water off. She went back to her original position when he leaned back. He could do bubble baths with 'Chonne.

"Did you want to move in with me?" she asked out of nowhere.

He froze.

"Or not."

"You mind?"

"We can keep doing what we're doing, Daryl. I don't want to…ruin this. I know how you are. You need your space. I can visit you or I'll give you the key to my room," she offered.

He kissed her neck. "Like to. If you don't mind," he said in a low voice.

"I'll make some space in the wardrobe," she murmured as she ran her fingers up and down his arms.

"Candles. Yeah, candles," he agreed.

After dinner Rand had Seth, Waya, Adrian, Michonne and Daryl meet her in the solar. She handed out drinks before she took her own and sat on one of the sofas. Taking a deep breath, she looked at her people and almost passed out. She had people. She'd said it to Robert, but now she accepted it. These were her people. "It's been pointed out to me that I lack in certain areas."

"That's not what I meant, Rand," Seth protested.

"It should have been. I told Michonne that if she and Daryl were going to run the castle they needed to act like they ran the castle. I've been playing like I do, but I haven't. All of you have seen it. We need people. We need to put the fence back up and we're putting spikes on it. I'm putting the pits on the back burner for now. We need to tell Robert, our maybe new friend, of the dick encounter we just had. Michonne informed me she and Daryl started planning a run for more barbed wire. Adrian and Waya, I'd like you two to go visit Robert. He's in Fort Defiance at the high school," she looked at her advisors. "While you're on your run to find more supplies, stop by Linda's and tell her what happened. Don't get too detailed, just we had a dick encounter, we fought them but some got away. They don't need to know what we have weapons wise. Ask her if she'd like to be included in intelligence sharing as well as trade. It's not mandatory she do so. You can tell her where we really are."

"Why?" Daryl frowned.

"If we share intelligence, Daryl, they need to be able to find us," she pointed out. "Also, tell her any more communication from us will involve our people wearing blue armbands. It's what I told Robert we would do. If we do it for one, we do it for them all."

"It's a good idea," Michonne nodded.

"Thank you. It won't always be you two. I don't want to inadvertently start something between our groups." She took a sip of wine. "I'm not sure how to tell you this without sounding arrogant. Which was also pointed out. I'd like the Castle to be the focal point of any communities we find. Shit. I'm not sure how to say this." She let out a breath. "I'm not a student of history, per se, but I'm not unaware of history. In the future, trade will start again. I'm trying to jump start it, I guess, to cut down on dicks. Thriving communities means less chance for dicks to thrive. If communities thrive, more chance for survival." She looked and saw they were all following along. "Any communities we find along the Trail."

"No communities outside of our designated area," Waya nodded.

"Right. We're not going to head to Richmond right away. I want to settle our part of the world first."

"Do you have it mapped out yet?" Adrian raised an eyebrow.

"I do. I'll show everyone later. It's in the office. Any current and future communities should have a focal point, like everything used to run through DC or state capitals. It's what I want the Castle to be. The head of our little section. I don't want us to be dictators, more like the original thirteen colonies when the British arrived."

"Ambitious," Michonne noted.

"Yeah. This dick encounter made me realize if I do this? I need to do it. I can't just say I want to do it and there's half-hearted follow through. We can't chance someone else trying to do this and they're dicks. Until we get more people we're going to be stretched thin. I'm asking Jamal and Janet, when you two get back, to go to Charlottesville and find people and I'd like you both to go with them. I know, not your thing, but I can't be in five places at once," she pointed to Michonne. "You're the interviewing committee. You can interview on the spot. I trust you to bring back good people. We'll go get the barbed wire and rebar, rebuild and reinforce. The walls. We'll still do those in the back." She took another sip of wine. "Janet's taking care of Lupe?"

"Helen and Janet," Seth answered.

"Alright, she needs to learn to kill walkers, at the very least."

"Think both of 'em will be willin' to let her do it," Daryl commented.

"Good. We still need a cover for the vehicles we're keeping. One of the National Guard camps would have tents. We'll need to find one and take what we can."

"Find one?"

"Please. Find one."

"How many people you want?" Daryl asked her.

"How many do you think? We have eleven rooms occupied, right now. If Lupe moves in with Janet permanently that will make ten, leaving twenty rooms empty. Plus, some of what Michonne and I think were supposed to be employee housing. Right now, let's leave those alone until we can check them out. How many people did you have at the prison?"

"Mm, maybe forty?" Michonne looked at Daryl.

"Yeah, 'bout that many. Included kids, too."

She closed her eyes. "I don't know. I'd say no more than thirty for right now. With us that would make almost fifty. Robert had more than thirty at his place. Linda?"

"Shit, she had almost twenty?"

"Maybe more," Michonne added.

"We'll leave it between thirty and fifty total. If we find more we can set them up in Bridgewater," she opened her eyes. All of her trusted people seemed to relax. Shit. She should have left when she had the chance. Michonne watched her. "I'm staying. Damn it."

"Good. We would have followed you, Rand," Adrian drawled.

"Bradford should go with us," Michonne pointed to herself and Daryl. "They know this area. Or Jake."

"Take who you need."

"We'll leave tomorrow," Waya nodded toward Adrian. "It won't take us that long. I'll have Tom find something blue."

"Thank you," she exhaled. "I'll try and do better in the future."

"Ain't doin' bad now, Rand. When we was at the prison we was attacked twice. First time tricked 'em into leaving. The second time was the tank. Lost more people," Daryl coughed. "Good people. Good place here."

"Thanks, Daryl," she smiled wanly.

She and Daryl decided to wait until Waya and Adrian came back from the Fort, the name they'd given the community at the high school. According to them, when they got back, Robert appreciated the heads up and promised to do the same, should the ones that lived show up, as well as the name. Apparently they hadn't thought about a name for their place as the only people they'd had contact with was assholes, their term. And as much as Rand acted like she didn't care, Michonne knew the woman was grateful to not have that many people gone at the same time, now.

She was in the passenger seat of the car Daryl was driving with Helen and Bradford in the back, and tried not to feel excited. They hadn't done badly. Dicks were everywhere and they did find them. This? She felt like when they first went looking for the fencing. They were making their place better. More fence. Adding spikes. Spike barbed wire field. She was sure, now that Rand had pulled her head out of her ass, she would think of something else besides pits. She really didn't want to dig pits.

She glanced at Daryl as he got in. She liked his shorter hair and showed him she liked his shorter hair. Daryl, she forgot, had been kind of good looking when she first met him, even though his dumb ass was pointing a crossbow at her. She was glad Helen told him he needed a haircut.

He'd moved his few changes of clothes in her room, now their room, and hung his key back up with the others. It felt good. She'd been leery of asking him to move in. She knew how he was at the prison. Michonne found herself asking him anyway. He'd surprised her when he said yes. They were moving pretty fast and she didn't want to scare him off. She smiled at him when he ran his hand through his hair. She was in love with Daryl Dixon. Shit.

He rolled his eyes as he got in the driver's seat of the Honda. Daryl knew 'Chonne was excited. Last night he'd had to make her put down the list Rand, Tom and her had made for what they'd need to rebuild. The day he'd moved in, almost as soon as they got out of the tub, he'd confessed that he was glad they were back and Rand could take over. And using the RPG's was fuckin' cool. She agreed with Rand being back and was happy they had that kind of firepower.

Him and 'Chonne. He'd never had a girlfriend before all this. Different. Not what he expected. He was happy she asked him to move in with her. Not that he had a lot to move in. He was kinda scared he'd fuck this up so he was gonna watch Waya, Seth and Adrian and how they acted with Rand. Weird ass relationship but it wasn't his business. He ran his hand through his shorter hair. She smiled at him. She liked it, said he was hot. He didn't know about that, but it reminded him of how he was when this first started.

'Chonne wasn't pretty to him. She was beautiful, but crazy. "Excited?" he drawled.

"Kind of. We're making our home better."

"Amen," Helen said from the back.

Adrian groaned as he stood straight and looked down the line of sheet metal walls. It had been a good idea. He only wished Michonne and Daryl were here to help. They did need people. He'd always thought they needed more people. Rand had known it too, which is why he and Waya had told Seth to talk to her on their way back. Not that she wouldn't listen to him or Waya, but after the tidbit she'd dropped about her father being a Marine they'd decided Seth would be the better choice.

He wondered what would happen to them when Daryl and Michonne came back with more people. Right now he was surprisingly comfortable with the relationship he had with Rand, Seth and Waya. It wasn't conventional by any means, but these were unconventional times. He cared for her. And for Seth and Waya. He'd been friends with Seth for a few years now. Waya, probably a year. He surprised himself, actually, with this relationship, these friendships.

He counted Daryl and Michonne as friends, too. He shook his head as he watched Seth move along the wall, checking the sturdiness of it. Before, being in the service, he'd never have met, let alone be friends with someone like Daryl. He was a good man. He and Michonne made a lovely couple.

Seth stood underneath the hot water and sighed with relief. Finally the sheet metal wall was finished. Quite a surprise if someone tried to go over it. They'd find themselves tangled up in barbed wire. Maybe they'd fall on the spikes. Rand was evil. He liked it. He liked her.

He dried off, put on his boxers and laid down on one of the beds in the room he shared with Adrian, Waya and Rand. He was tired. They'd busted ass and got the entire wall in the back finished in a week. They were really good. He was interested in the spikes on the fence. They were starting that project the day after tomorrow. Most of the rebar spikes had been shaved down; everyone had spent time doing it, even the kids.

Lupe was getting better. She had ended up moving in with Janet. Bradford and Helen had stepped in the 'grandparent' role. It suited them, actually. He hoped Michonne and Daryl brought back more kids. It would be good for Tsula and the others. Adults? Different story. He wondered if he'd find someone, another woman, to get involved with. Rand? The woman was a force. Intelligent. Funny. Capable. Deadly. Ambitious. Well suited to lead the castle. He cared for her, but he didn't love her. He'd keep an open mind.