Chapter 6: Commitment

"He's got them throwing grenades at us!" Abraham Ford ran behind a makeshift barrier, dodging another grenade that was tossed in his direction. Michonne spotted the thrower and fired her gun, her bullet hit the guy in the mouth, shattering his nose and jaw.

"We need to regroup," she said breathing heavily when Abraham ran to her side. She scanned the scene before her, the Saviors were here sooner than expected. She could hear the devil himself outside, barking orders and taunting Rick. Speaking of Rick, Michonne couldn't see him, with Abraham following behind her she ran past Alexandrians whom either were getting into their assigned positions or running to safety.

"Move!" She yelled at one of the men who stood frozen in fear. "If you're not out here to fight, you're only in the way." The man, clutching his pistol, shakenly nodded, and joined a group of Alexandrians.

Another explosion rang in Michonne's ears, just as she saw Rick a block away, herding people away from the danger.

"Mother-dick! They blew a hole into the wall," Abraham raised his M16 and fired at the Saviors that were coming through. Michonne could see Rick doing the same, she heard screaming behind her and she turned to see that some of the Saviors had gotten into the gate and were shooting down residents. One of them ran towards Michonne and Abe, firing shots, Abe shoved Michonne out of the way of gunfire. Michonne watched as a bullet shredded Abe's bicep, before she could do anything she was tackled down to the ground.

"Get off me!" She screamed.

"Michonne!" It was Rick that had her on the ground, she turned her head to see Rick looking all around them. "We can make it to the house, regroup, and continued as plan." Michonne nodded and from the corner of her eye, she saw another man about to attack them with a hunting knife. Michonne took Rick's colt out of his hand and shot twice into the man's chest and head. Rick looked behind him to see the dead man fall to the grown and then back to her, he licked his lips and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Let's go." Rick got off of Michonne and pulled her to her feet. Before they could even catch a breath a big burly man grabbed Rick from behind and tossed him to the ground. Michonne pulled out her katana and tried to come to Rick's aide, but she was grabbed as well. Michonne swung her fist which connected to her attacker's face and punched him again. Her attacker let go, giving Michonne time to swing her katana, but the man grabbed her hair.

"Aww!" She yelled out, the pain only temporarily dazed her. She slashed at the man with her weapon, slicing through his flesh. She then turned to see Rick tussling with his attacker.

BOOM!

Another grenade landed much closer to them. Michonne looked over and saw Rick on the ground, he wasn't moving. Her heart beat faster as she tried to shake off the shock. She tried to run as fast as she could, but her legs felt heavy and the ground was like sand. Her attacker came at her from the side, but she dodged him and stabbed him right in the heart. Kicking him off her katana, she continued towards her destination, towards the man she loved; reaching her hand out to him.

BOOM!

Michonne felt her feet leave the ground, there was a loud ringing in her ears, and then she felt her back and head bounce against a hard object and she fell onto the ground. She'd never felt so much pain before, her head felt like it could explode any minute. She tried to will herself to stand, but she couldn't move and her vision grew dimmer as she started to feel sleepy.

…

The alarm on Michonne's phone went off for the fourth time, she picked it up again, hit snooze and then tossed it on the pile of clothes that were on the floor. She attempted to go back to sleep again, but the pain in her hand and the responsibilities of the day were gnawing on her brain. Get up, your problems won't go away by being in bed all day, she thought, but her body still refused to move.

She tried meditating, focusing on her breathing and clearing her mind. Right when she was finally able to doze off, Michonne felt movement on her bed and a person pressing against her.

"Michonne?" Mike's deep voice whispered softly in her ear causing her to flinch.

"Hmm."

"Taking another day off?" He put his arm around her and moved her dreads out of her face.

"No, I'll get up soon," she felt his touches trailing down her arm towards her injured hand. Her skin prickled at the contact.

"Baby, what did you do?"

"I punched the mirror in the guest bathroom," she said nonchalantly. Mike sighed, Michonne opened one eye and saw that Mike's hand was hovering her injured one. Michonne moved her hand out of his reach, wincing at the pain she felt.

"Why did you punch the mirror?"

"Upset."

There was a long pause, "Michonne. We need to talk," he said.

"I know," she sat up on her forearm and wiped the sleep from her eyes and then grabbed the bottle of Vicodin on her nightstand. She tried to open it with one hand, but after a couple of failed attempts, Mike took the bottle from her hand and opened it for her. He put two pills in her hand and handed her the cup of water. "Thank you," she popped the pills in her mouth and swallowed a huge gulp of water and handed the glass back to Mike.

"Talk to me and I'll listen," Mike wrapped his arm around Michonne, pulling her in. She rested her head on his shoulder and contemplated whether she should tell him the complete truth.

"I'm sorry for what I said last night, it was out of bounds and you didn't deserve that," Michonne's cheeks burned, remembering how she spoke to Mike.

"I knew you didn't mean it," he said. Michonne looked at him and raised her eyebrows at his claim. "Ok after a couple of beers I realized you didn't mean it, but why did you say it?"

"Nightmares." Michonne shook her head and picked at her bandage. "Since Monday, I've been having these nightmares, horrible and Mike, I…" Michonne swallowed.

"You can tell me baby," Mike placed his hand on Michonne's thigh, she stopped messing with her injured hand and placed it on top of his.

"I keep dreaming about Andre dying, it's driving me a bit mad," she half-heartedly chuckle.

"You think it could be post-partum?" Michonne shook her head.

"Andre is almost three years old, I don't think that's how it works."

"Do you think your nightmare mean something then?"

"No," she said quickly. "I think… I think they're just a symptom of my fall, Andre's fine, right?"

Mike looked towards the door, "He's good. I checked on him and he's sound asleep."

"Ok."

"If it makes you feel any better, the ferocious mother lioness is a sexy look on you," Mike grinned. Michonne rolled her eyes and returned the grin.

"More like paranoid freak," Michonne sighed, "I'm really sorry."

"And I forgive you. I love you, what happened last night is small." Michonne bit her lip and grimaced at Mike's 'I love you,' as she replayed in her mind her on the bathroom floor crying and calling out for another man.

"I love you too," she whispered. The room was eerie quiet, she wished she knew what Mike was thinking and she wondered if she told him what she was really going through would he understand or recoil that she was having an emotional affair with an imaginary person.

"Michonne," Mike spoke, finally breaking the silence in the room.

"Yes."

"There's been something I've been wanting to ask you for a while," Mike removed his arm from around her and Michonne's stomach tighten.

He knows, she thought.

"I wanted to make this a bigger deal. You know dinner, parents, and a slideshow of our baby pictures," he laughed. Michonne held her stomach, suddenly realizing that she hadn't eaten in a long time as it churned. Mike scooted to the floor and held kneeled on one knee in between her legs.

"Mike?" She spoke softly.

"Michonne, eight years ago I was running the streets, thinking I was a big shot with a fucking chip on my shoulder, and headed nowhere fast, and then I tried to run game on this sexy fine ass lady," Michonne laughed. "She told me she wasn't interested and ignored me the whole night, but then we coincidentally met again."

"Coincidentally?" Michonne smirked, for years she thought Mike purposely ran into her that day.

"God's truth, fate brought us together," he held Michonne's left hand and gently caressed it. "And she gave me a chance to become the man that I am today. She believed in me and she believes in us."

Tears welled in Michonne's eyes, "I didn't think we would make it a year, wait,' Mike paused, looking up at the ceiling as if he was deep in thought, "we didn't, we broke up, right, forgot about that, my bad."

They both burst into laughter, Mike continued, "but despite some turbulence, me and this lady have been holding it down strong and now with little man getting bigger like daddy and smarter like mommy, it's time. Matter of fact, I should've done this six years ago."

Michonne's breath hitched as Mike pulled out a small black box from his pocket, he held it in his hand and then opened it. Their eyes met and Michonne saw tears fall from his eyes, she bit her lip again wanting to stop him, but then wanting to stop those thoughts in her head.

"I love you Michonne, you and Andre are my whole world. I want our family to continue to grow and evolve and I can't—," he stopped himself and wiped away his tears. Michonne felt fresh tears on her face as she tried to process what was happening.

"Michonne Leia Cassel," Mike took out the ring and looked up at her, "will you take me as your husband?"

Michonne opened her mouth and then closed it, she wiped her face, and watched as Mike patiently waited for her answer. I can't, but why? There was a thickness in her throat that made it hard for her to speak. She coughed and closed her eyes for a moment, I have my family back that's all that matters.

"Yes!"

Mike clap his hands and grinned widely, he then reached up and kissed her cheek and moved towards her mouth, capturing her lips with his. He climbed on top of Michonne as she laid down on the bed. Their tongues wrestled and Mike moaned as he gyrated his hips in between her legs.

This is wrong. I'm supposed to be happy right now. Conflicting thoughts sped through Michonne's mind, she closed her eyes tightly trying to shut them away. Mike kissed along her chin towards her neck and sucked on her sensitive skin. She clung to his shirt with her good hand when she felt his own squeeze her breast.

"I have to get ready," Michonne pushed against Mike's chest.

"Twenty minutes, give me twenty minutes," he pleaded, lightly pinching Michonne's nipple between his fingers. Michonne moaned again and tried to muster the strength to pushed Mike again when Andre's cries entered their room. Michonne quietly thanked her son as Mike stopped his actions.

"Rain check?" She asked.

"Mmm, not fair," he mumbled, pulling away from her, she watched as he adjusted his bulge and fixed his clothing. "I'll get him ready," he said.

Michonne got up from bed and grabbed her phone from the pile of clothing and turned her alarm off.

"Hey," Mike softly called out to her at the door. "You and I are celebrating tonight."

Michonne nodded and smiled, but it soon wavered when Mike left the room and she began fidgeting with her new ring.

…

Arriving at the Atlanta City Detention Center, Michonne felt lethargic, she'd took another Vicodin to further dull the pain in her hand earlier, and now the sleepy effects of the pill were showing up. After checking in, a guard led her to a room. The room was a decent size, practically empty with the exception of two chairs, a table, and shackles attached to the floor. It was also windowless and stuffy, Michonne took off her tweed jacket—covering a purple sleeveless A-line dress—and sat down.

"He'll be in here in a few," the guard said. Michonne nodded and placed her briefcase on the table and got out a pen and notebook. She couldn't remember anything about Merle, not even seeing his brother yesterday jogged her memory, but she still felt like she knew of him.

Merle had a long rap sheet, been in and out of jail since he was twelve, abusive and criminal father, mother dead, and the only family he's in touch with is his brother, Daryl. Michonne read through his entire criminal history and on the surface level, Merle did not seem above bashing another man's skull in, but after her freak-out last night...

The images of the crime photos burned in her mind, she knew in her heart that she had personally witness that horror. Except it was someone else, another place, another time, Rick was there, and most alarming the monster that swung the bat, she couldn't recall his name being Merle.

Voices from the hallway were coming closer to the room. The guard that was standing by the door left Michonne's view, she could hear metal shackles dragging on the floor, and a man complaining about his game being interrupted. The guard came back and pulled the other chair out, Michonne turned her attention back to the door as the still complaining man in an orange jumpsuit entered the room, flanked by two prison guards.

"My Nubian queen," the man said to Michonne. He held up his handcuffed hands and waved at her with a big smile across his face. Michonne faced scrunched up watching as the guards sat Merle down in the chair across from her, and cuffing his shackles around his ankles to the ones on the floor.

"Can I get these off?" Merle shook his hands at one of the guards. All three guards ignored him, the one that escorted Michonne rechecked Merle's restraints, gave Michonne a nod, and they left the room.

"Nice to see my lawyer is fine after what happened Monday, very fine," Merle licked his lips. Michonne sighed and placed her notebook in her lap.

"This will be short, I just need to debrief you on our next step." She studied Merle, he looked to be in his late forties-early fifties, but with the immaturity of a man in his twenties. "The trial resumes Tuesday. Prosecution should be wrapping up next week and then our rebuttal will start, hopefully next week Friday."

"My brother told me he came to visit you."

Michonne nodded, "he was concern about your trial."

"And he said you set him straight. I told him you didn't take any shit, but…," he said pointing his finger at her.

"But what?" Michonne carefully crossed her arms so not to put pressure on her injured hand.

"You seem off your game. Not as sharp as you were last week," Merle said leaning forward onto the table, he still had his smirk on his face and was raising an eyebrow at her.

"Mmm because you know me oh so well," Michonne sniped.

"Boyfriend giving you problems?"

"What?" Michonne eyes narrowed, it may have been awhile since she had a client, but she knew she never shared personal information about herself with her clients.

"Oohh, fiancé, I'm sorry." He shrugged and eyed Michonne's engagement ring. "You're having one hell of a week. When did he propose?"

"Stop. You have internet privileges in there? What do you know about me that doesn't pertain to me trying to save your ass from death row?"

"My brother saw roses in your office, he's observant and I'm just assuming."

"Bullshit." Michonne uncrossed her arms and legs, put her notebook and pen on the table and scooted her chair closer to the table, "if I find out you have your brother watching me…"

"Damn girl, relax," he moved back in his seat. His shocked expression soon turned into another grin. "My brother ain't a stalker and I wouldn't ask him to do such a thing. Especially since I like you."

"My God," Michonne said under her breath.

"You're the best damn lawyer I've ever had and the smartest person I've ever met. You're a rarity in the black race," Merle frowned and picked at his handcuffs, "Congratulations on the engagement. Sorry."

Michonne eyes soften and decided to ignore his 'black race' comment, "I'm not here to exchange personal stories; we keep this professional between us." Merle nodded, meeting her gaze.

"Did you find a lead on the guy I told you about?"

Michonne looked at him in confusion before catching herself. "The guy, I told you Shelly was terrified of, remember?"

"We're working on it," Michonne lied.

"I didn't kill them," he said quietly. He folded and then unfolded his hands.

"Of course you didn't." Michonne picked up her pen and notebook again and put them back in her suitcase.

"You don't believe me though," he looked at Michonne, she stopped what she was doing and contemplated his words.

"I wouldn't have taken this case if—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you wouldn't take it if you didn't think you could win. You believe you can win, but do you believe I did it?"

Eenie Meenie Mighty Moe. That wasn't Merle I saw.

"I believe you didn't kill them," she nodded her head, "I do," she said looking Merle in the eye to reassure him.

"You gotta find the real killer or something. I'm telling you, Shelly was fucking terrified of this guy. She told me a couple of times he would kill her if he found her. I thought that was junkie talk and Dwight," Merle shook his head. "Yeah Dwight and I argued, we even got into that fight, but he wasn't afraid of me. But, he was definitely afraid of someone else."

Michonne swallowed, this can't be the same person, she thought, but her skin prickled as Merle talked and her heartbeat quicken. "You find that guy, you set me free."

"Merle. Do not put all your hope into us finding the real killer. Even if we did, it's not a complete guarantee it would set you free. The jury has to have doubt that you didn't kill that couple. I can placed that doubt into their minds without actually having to find the real killer." Michonne closed her briefcase, "I've done it before with much tougher cases than yours, and I can do it again."

"Ok."

Michonne got up from her seat, grabbed her briefcase and jacket, and stuck out her hand. Merle took it, his hands were cold and his grip was firm. "That's a nice rock he gave you," Michonne jerked her hand from his, walked to the door and knocked on it.

"I'll meet with you Tuesday morning before trial begins." The guards began entering the room.

"Bye my Nubian queen," Merle called out to her.

Michonne rolled her eyes and waved goodbye and followed one of the guards back to the jail's lobby.

…

Michonne sat at her desk, twirling the engagement ring in her hand. She had taken it off and put it back on over a dozen times. The ring was perfect, but as she put it back on her finger for the thirteenth time, it still didn't feel right.

"Don't you even," she chastised herself for allowing tears to well up in her eyes. Michonne was tired of crying, she gather up her notes and began to work. Turning on her recorder, she spoke to it.

"Merle knew the couple; the woman Sherry owed him money for the meth he was selling her and he started accepting sex as a payment. The other victim, Dwight, Merle stated he had fought with him. And there are witnesses that can attest that Merle threatened to kill Dwight, a week before his death. But Merle states that Dwight was not afraid of him, but instead someone else."

Michonne sighed, "Merle does have an alibi, but it's weak, his brother says he was with Merle that night, drinking beer. Have Christie prep Daryl Dixon for the stand—."

"Me! I'm not the only assistant you have." Christie closed the door behind her after entering Michonne's office. Michonne was hoping that her friend had decided to not come in this Friday.

"I need him prep. Should have been done weeks ago. And I trust you the most," Michonne noticed the pout on Christie's face. " because you are smart, Christie. The way you outlined and presented different arguments for me is better than any third year law student—"

"First year," Christie sat down. "It's my first year."

Michonne cocked her head to the side, she couldn't recall being the type to want law school babies helping her with her cases, so why Christie?

"Oh my God!" Christie shouted and grabbed Michonne's hand. "No way, he proposed?"

"Yes way," she said with much less enthusiasm.

"It's beautiful," Christie leaned over the desk and moved Michonne's hand closer to her face so she could inspect the ring. "How many carats?"

"I don't know," Michonne frowned.

"You don't know!? It's gotta be four carats, maybe even five. Round cut, nice. Oh my God, Michonne it has purple accents, he really put forth effort into this ring." Michonne didn't comment, she watched Christie's excitement and hated herself for not completely feeling the same.

Christie looked up and frowned. "Ok, you owe me one for scaring the shit out of me last night. Who's Rick?"

Michonne glanced to the left and viewed the roses Mike gave her.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not an idiot, at least not completely. This Rick is keeping you from being happy that you're engage to be married."

Michonne removed her hand and lower her gaze to her desk, "You're going to think I'm crazy."

"Too late," Michonne looked back at Christie to see her smiling. "Seriously, no judgment from me, what's going on?"

For the second time today she was asked this, but this time Michonne felt comfortable being truthful.

"I feel like I've been living another life, not living, just surviving. When I woke up Monday, I… I hadn't seen this world in a long time." Michonne took off her ring again and sat it in front of her. "I lived in a nightmare, but" Michonne sighed, "a nightmare that was on an upswing. That sounds dumb."

"No, I get it," Christie reassured.

"Rick. Rick Grimes was the reason for that upswing. In my other life, Mike was… gone and so was Andre," Michonne began to cry, "and I was lost and alone and not the person you see today or better yet, not the person you saw before I passed out." She sniffed and wiped her face.

"And this Rick changed you?"

Michonne nodded, "I'm in love with someone I don't know exists."

"Wow!" Christie sat back down in her chair and slumped down. "And Mike?"

"I love him too, it's just…" Michonne trailed off.

"You need closure. My therapist said you can't move forward without facing the thing that's holding you back. We should find out if Rick Grimes is real or not."

"No, I can't."

"Michonne."

"This isn't fair to Mike or Andre. Breaking up my family because of a dream."

"A dream you believe happened."

"But, it makes no sense. None. Say we find Rick, he has a family as well. I mean in our other life, he had two kids…" Michonne stopped; Carl and Judith. "This is unreal," Michonne put her head down and started to mourn what a mess her and her life has become.

"Stop freaking out. I'll help you," Christie said.

"No," Michonne put her head in her hands. "No, my issues can wait, we need to prepare for Tuesday."

Christie picked up her phone and began typing away on it.

"I spoke to Merle earlier today, we need…," Michonne looked at Christie who was still on her phone. Annoyed she cleared her throat, alerting the other woman.

Christie eyes left her screen and met Michonne's, "Did you know there are like three hundred Rick Grimes's in the U.S. Twenty-three in Georgia."

"I said no. We need a new suspect, find out who were all of the victims' associates, friends, family, and ex-lovers."

"Is this him?" Michonne jerked her head to see Christie's screen.

"No!" The man on Christie's phone was obese and balding. Christie laughed, "Just checking."

"Get to work," Michonne said sharply. Michonne's phone began vibrating on her desk, she picked it up and saw that the number was blocked.

"Hello?"

"Ms. Cassel. It's me Spencer."

"Who?" She didn't know who Spencer was, he was not on the list of people she was able to remember.

"Your employee."

Michonne mouthed to Christie, Spencer's name.

"Geez. I'm glad I'm not the only one you don't remember," Christie retorted. Michonne rolled her eyes and put her phone on speaker.

"Sorry Spencer," Michonne said, deciding to pretend to know the man, "where are you?"

"You had me find out who Dwight was dealing with,"

"Wait, I did?"

"You said we needed to find a new suspect last week," Michonne looked up at Christie.

Christie shrugged, "Spencer, Michonne had an accident Monday, so she forgot we were already looking into new suspects." Michonne gave Christie a look of disapproval that the other woman ignore.

"Well, Dwight was part of a biker-type gang, no one would talk to me except for this one guy. He says another lawyer had come around months ago, snooping."

"That was probably Merle's old lawyer or Mr. Jackass Prosecutor," said Christie.

"Go on," said Michonne.

"He said the person I should really talk to wasn't here, but out of town."

"Did you get a name?" Michonne asked.

"He wouldn't say. Matter of fact, I'm getting out of here as quickly as I can. These people are the real deal, scary."

"That's ok, will you be back, Monday?"

"No because something huge happened yesterday. This could be a breakthrough for us, Ms. Cassel," Spencer said excitedly. Both Michonne and Christie perked up, "I got this friend that works at Atlanta Journal, he was given a tip thatsomeone was just murdered in a similar fashion as the two victims, over in King's County; small town and there's a rumor that a cop did it. I'm going to head out—"

"No," Michonne quickly stood up, her chair fell backwards. "Christie and I will go. I want you back here prepping Mr. Dixon's brother for the stand."

"But, I'm not far," he protested.

"Spencer, I need you here," she said emphatically.

Michonne heard Spencer sigh, "Ok, I'll be back in Atlanta in a couple of hours."

Michonne ended the call and gazed at Christie who appeared stunned by the change of events.

"King's County can't be too far." She opened her browser on her phone and typed in the town's name.

"Michonne why do we need to go?"

Michonne didn't answer, her hand shook as she waited for the directions to pull up. How could I've forgotten this place, she thought.

"Michonne stop." Christie put her hand on Michonne's arm. Michonne didn't realize Christie had even moved from her seat. The page finished loading, she scanned the directions and looked at the clock.

"If we leave now we can be there by six. I have to call Mike."

"He's there, isn't he," she asked stepping in front of Michonne.

"I don't know."

"But you think he could be?"

"Yes." Michonne swallowed the lump that was in the back of her throat as Christie and her made eye contact.

"Why?" Christie asked, shaking her head.

"Because I remember being there with him."

Christie eyes scanned Michonne, she then nodded and began gathering her things. Michonne did as well, but she stopped in the midst of it when she saw her ring still on the table. She looked up to Christie observing her. Michonne picked up the ring and put it back on her finger.

"No matter if he's there or not, I'm not leaving Mike," she said.

Christie didn't say anything, Michonne walked to the door and held it open for her as they began their travel to King's County.

Well, will you guys finally get your wish for a reunion? I'll try not to keep anyone waiting for too long, thank you for reading!