ALEXANDRIA-

Something was wrong. Carol could feel it.

There were things she still did not know or understand. She didn't know why both Darryl and Maggie were gone from here, hunting some murderous man. She didn't know who this Aaron, Eugene or Michonne were, though she got the distinct impression that Michonne was central to her life in some way.

And now someone named Ezekiel had not returned as expected.

She had left the hospital and Virgil had thought maybe things would come back to her once she returned home. But what was clear as she looked through her 'home', for what for Carol would be her first time, was that she lived here alone. There was no sign of Darryl here. It made Carol think that her estrangement from him was worse than she had imagined.

The door to her home opened, and a woman that Carol remembered being introduced to named 'Rosita', walked in. She had told Carol that she had joined her group after they had left a prison. Carol could not believe that Rick had ever had them living in a prison!

"Hi." Carol said, closing a drawer in her living room. "You didn't need to check up on me. I'm fine."

Rosita nodded and walked to her front window to peer out, before turning to address her.

"Good. I've never had amnesia but it sounds scary."

Carol shrugged.

"The only thing scary about it, is when you don't feel as if you're being told the whole story."

Rosita folded her arms.

"Is that how you feel?"

Carol nodded.

"It is. I can see that Darryl moved out of here at some point. I need to be in the house he lives in now. Maybe I can begin to move his things back here with me." Carol said.

"Yeah," Rosita said, "Negan was the one that told you that, right?"

Carol caught her change in tone in reference to him.

"Yeah. He did. What's his deal?"

"You knew Glenn?" Rosita asked and Carol suddenly looked startled.

"Yes. And he's not here now, like Rick and Lorie? I know Negan killed him."

"Negan killed Glenn right in front of me. Right in front of Maggie while she was pregnant with their son. The long story short, we captured him and locked him up in the cells we have in this stronghold. For seven years. Then you let him out."

Carol squinted at her.

"I let him out? Why would I do such a thing?"

"You needed revenge. We all did, actually. And Negan got it for us. But the price was that he is now allowed to be a part of this community."

Now Carol folded her arms.

"What are you trying to tell me, Rosita?"

"That Negan lied to you about Darryl. You are not married to him. You were married to a man named Ezekiel. The two of you had a son that was killed by the person that you asked Negan to kill."

Carol backed back a bit!

"What? Who is Ezekiel and why am I not married to Darryl? Ezekiel? Ezekiel who hasn't come back yet? And I let someone go free that murdered Glenn? Maggie hates Negan, doesn't she? Oh my God!" Carol began to moan.

Rosita moved closer to her.

"Ordinarily I would not have told you any of this. Virgil didn't think you were ready to hear so much, so fast. But something bad is happening here. Our people are off fighting an enemy that won't die. Ezekiel went after them and no one has returned. We have to face the fact that none of them may return." Rosita said.

Carol rubbed the back of her neck briefly before speaking again.

"We need to go out and find our people then. That, I remember how to do." Carol said.

Beta and Maggie broke off their kiss, just as the door to the room opened and Darryl lunged in with a chainsaw, followed by Michonne who was holding her sword!

"Get out of here, Maggie!" Darryl snarled.

"No! Stop this!" Maggie yelled. She tried to move in front of Beta, but he moved forward aggressively, grabbing on to the chainsaw as Darryl held it! Blood splattered everywhere but Beta held firm and shoved Darryl and Michonne's backwards into the hallway, just as Negan and Heath came running up!

Negan grabbed Michonne and pulled her away from Beta and Darryl! Darryl finally shoved the chainsaw at Beta, letting it go and hurried over to where Michonne, Negan and Heath were standing in the hall! Maggie, who was still in the room, pressed against a wall with her hands on her face, slowly lowered them and hurried over to an injured Beta, who dropped to the ground! He threw the chainsaw aside and slumped to the floor in a pool of blood!

"Oh God, no!" Maggie cried, trying to stop the blood that was seeping from Beta's hand and chest wounds! Heath edged away from Darryl, Michonne and Negan to re-enter the room.

"Don't go in there!" Darryl snapped. "He's not as hurt as he looks!"

"No one can survive being cut up by a chainsaw! You all wait out here!" Heath yelled. Negan shook his head. He had a bad feeling that Heath would not be coming back out of that room!

Heath eased into the 'chainsaw room' and found Maggie hovering over Beta, who was lying in a pool of blood. His eyes were open and Heath thought he looked dead.

"Maggie, we have to go. There's nothing more we can do for him." he said softly.

Maggie was about to turn and say something to him, when Beta rose up, knocked Maggie out of the way and aimed his fist up toward's Heath's chest! He punched a hole through it, the sight of the grisly act emitting more screams from Maggie and bringing Darryl, Michonne and Negan back to the doorway of the room!

"Christ! Maggie, come here! Come to me!" Darryl snapped. Negan grabbed Michonne and pulled her out of the doorway!

"We're not equipped to handle this psycho shit! Let's get out of here!" he yelled in her face, just as more of Heath's men came running into the room! They proved to be the distraction needed as they rushed Beta, allowing Darryl to grab Maggie and get her out of the room! Dwight and Sherry came running and Darryl let go of Maggie and blocked Sherry from going in!

"This shit you tried to pull is over! Everyone needs to run for their lives!" Darryl warned them and Dwight stopped short as he stood in the doorway and watched bodies pile up! One of the many men that had joined their 'Alexandria Cause', got his head punched off by Beta! Dwight reached in and pulled the door closed, slamming it!

Negan let go of Michonne's arm and began pointing at people! The first being Maggie!

"I don't know what kind of 'Beauty and the Beast' shit you have going on with Beta, but either you control him or we're all going to die!"

Maggie moved so that she was in Negan's face!

"I have nothing to do with what's happening here!"

"Don't give me that shit! Take him out in the woods, fuck him properly and maybe the rest of us will get a fighting chance!" Negan yelled, just as Maggie slapped him! Sherry pulled Maggie away from Negan, just as Michonne began to feel odd. Something about Negan's words…something he said, triggered a memory…

FLASHBACK OF NIGHT RICK DIED—

Michonne slowly awoke. At first she was confused by the darkness. Then she looked over at Rick's side of the bed.

He was not there.

She sat up, thinking about the dream she had just had. Rick and her were by the ocean, with Judith. She herself, had been holding a baby boy. Their baby boy.

Now she was awake.

She knew she must have dreamt out loud before, because before, when it was still daylight, Maggie had shaken her awake, telling her she had been dreaming. Siddiq had been here too. He had given her pills to help her sleep.

Michonne reached under her dreads and rubbed her neck. The pills hadn't worked for long. She was awake. Again.

She looked over to her left and found a packet of pills, along with handwritten instructions from Siddiq about how many to take. Michonne looked from them to her surrounding darkness. Aaron had said he would look after Judith so she knew she was alone.

Michonne looked at the packet of pills and the instructions. They were pills, according to Siddiq, that helped with anxiety so she could sleep easier.

She lifted a brow. So these were not sleeping pills? She grabbed two more than she should, downed them with the water that was by her bedside and oddly, closed her eyes and slept.

Michonne would awaken an hour later, feeling no more rested than she had before. How could she? Rick was gone. She needed to be out looking for him. Hopefully Darryl would find him. Or would he? Maybe Maggie would go with him? They both should, since they did this.

She didn't like thinking about how all of this had been their fault. How if Rick had not been called away from the work site, because of Maggie's half assed plan…one that Darryl was in on…

Michonne felt drowsiness begin to overtake her. But it wasn't enough. She didn't want to wake up a half an hour later, alone with her thoughts.

She climbed out of bed and made her way out of the room. She checked Judith's, just to ensure that her baby was really not here and then stopped in to look at Carl's empty one. Finally, Michonne carefully made her way downstairs and headed for a cabinet that she knew held a bottle of Jack Daniels that was found on a run.

She opened the cabinet, reached for the bottle, opened it and downed half the bottle. Michonne then walked over to the couch, set the bottle on the table and laid down. Now, maybe she would sleep…

When Michonne awoke again, it was still night. Why had Rick not been found yet? Or why hadn't some sign of him been found? Why hadn't Maggie and Darryl trusted Rick when he had made his decision about Negan?

Why had Rick been insistent on keeping that piece of garbage alive? That was the problem. Negan. He was the problem.

Michonne reached for the bottle of Jack Daniels, stood up and left the house. She was going to tell Negan about Rick and decide whether she herself should just kill him. Why not? If Rick was gone what did it matter?

But what if he wasn't? What if he came to her and found out what she did? He would be angry. Angry at her for letting him down. Him and Carl.

Before she knew it, Michonne walked a perfectly straight and intoxicated line, to the building that housed Negan. She slowly walked down the steps and inside. Michonne then stood on the basement step landing and glared down at him. Negan. He was actually up at this late hour, throwing some ball against a wall. The NERVE of him to be doing something like that when Rick was gone!

Negan noticed her right away, since he did not get middle-of-the-night company. He smiled at her but it was an uneasy one. His world had went to shit and back after hearing about Grimes's demise from Father Gabriel. Rick was the one that wanted this set up of making him suffer in a jail cell. With him gone, anyone could do anything to him. And Rick's 'Warrior Princess' arriving in the middle of the night here, was not a good sign—though he didn't see any weapons.

And his run in with Maggie earlier had taken something out of him. He couldn't believe he had been so emotional. All in all, this had been a damned bad day.

He said nothing but just watched Michonne stomp down the stairs. It was then when he noticed the bottle she was holding, and the gibberish she was spouting, that Negan realized he had the upper hand here.

"Sorry about Rick. Sort of." Negan said, then began throwing the ball again. He threw it two more times before he noticed that Michonne just stared.

"Condolences." he said again.

"Shut up, you! You don't care that Rick is gone! And there is no need for condolences because he's just lost! I'm going out to find him tomorrow!" she yelled, slurring her words.

Now, Negan paid her careful attention.

"Is that right? He's not dead? Well, honey, unlock this door and let me come out and help you find him." he cooed. He was being sarcastic but that ended when he saw how she was looking at him.

For her part, Michonne peered at him. Something was happening to her…it was like she could see clearly and Rick was in the cell! Rick was there because Negan had escaped!

"Oh my God…" Michonne uttered, "Rick… how did you get in there? Negan put you there and escaped, right? Oh my God! Oh God, you're here!"

Negan's jaw clenched as he tried to think about how to play Michonne's case of 'mistaken identity' to his advantage. He eyed her lithe form and his mind went back to the night he 'introduced' himself to this group. In front of that fire with Lucille.

Negan's Savior operation had gotten so big, that he himself did not meet the individuals that lived in the stronghold's they took from, but every once in awhile, a lone couple or a group would show up and he would size up the women in the group. Size them up as to whether they would make good 'wives'.

He had noticed Maggie right away, even though she looked like she was going to puke, and that was long before he began using Lucille. He had found her fuckable.

He had noticed Rosita as well, with all of that long black hair that kind of covered her face as she shivered. He had wondered what her tits looked like.

He remembered Sasha as well, though he couldn't ascertain if she had any attachment to anyone there. She sort of had a doe look about her and Negan had obscenely thought about 'fucking Bambi'.

Then there had been Michonne. She had a regal look about her, even though she too looked scared shitless….but still…what Negan had originally thought, was that SHE was the leader of the group. Maybe it was because she looked less scared that everyone else. That and one of his men told him she half used a sword on him. Negan figured anyone using a sword had to be a bad ass, therefore she had to be the leader of this prick group that had given him so much trouble.

She had been sitting next to Abraham and that red headed bastard eyeballed him while he was looking at Michonne's lips, wondering what they would feel like around his 'horsey knob'. Negan hadn't liked it, figured he was with her and began wailing on him with Lucille!

Once Abraham had been reduced to pulp, Negan eyed her again and noted that she gave Rick and Carl a look. A look of fear. That was when he realized he had wasted Lucille on the wrong person.

Then Darryl got out of line.

Then Glenn paid for it.

Negan answered Michonne.

"Of course I'm in here, honey! I came back here after the explosion and found this cell empty. But 'Negan' was hiding in here and shoved me in! Open the door and let me out!" Negan cooed in an unconvincing 'Rick Way'.

It was very damned unconvincing because at that point, Michonne suddenly stared at him. Hard. Negan could see that she had come back to herself briefly.

"Your people are giving Rick trouble. They won't cooperate. Once I find him we'll fix everything you messed up." Michonne told him, before turning to stumble away.

"Well he WAS here." Negan lied. "I don't see how you could have missed him. I can help you look for him and then we will put him back in this cell. To rot." Negan smiled.

Michonne turned back to glare at him. Only he was not Negan. He was Rick. Again.

"Rick! What is happening? Why are you in that cell again?" she asked in an anguished tone. This time she pulled out a key and began to unlock the cell. Then something stopped her and Negan realized if he did not convince her he was Rick, he'd never get out of here!

"Michonne, I'm hurt. I need your help! I hurt myself after the explosion!" Negan yiped in a bitch like voice that he knew sounded like Rick! Michonne nodded, sniffing. She was crying now!

"I thought you were dead! I thought you were gone!" Michonne cried as she unlocked the cell and opened the door.

Negan thought about shoving her inside and locking the door, but he then caught sight of her tank top. Or what was under it.

"I'm fine now. Why don't you come in here and get a horsey ride before we call Siddiq, okay? Just a small, quick one…" Negan trailed off, pulling Michonne into the cell and back toward his cot. Michonne leaped into his embrace and kissed him, something Negan had not been expecting, but he found himself truly into her, and his role as Rick Grimes. So into her, that escape was forgotten.

Michonne could not believe she had been so stupid as to not check Negan's cell for Rick! This was the reason why no one could find him! And it made perfect sense that somehow, Negan would be behind it. They were now both naked and 'Rick's' hands were on her waist, lowering her onto his shaft. It was large and pointy, as if it had been waiting for her all of this time. Michonne gasped as he entered her, stretching and filling her.

'Rick' pulled her forward and used his mouth on her breasts as she began to move upon him. Something about their lovemaking felt different, but in a good way. Michonne knew it was because they were reunited. Rick wasn't gone. He had never been gone and soon, they would have to go and look for Negan. He couldn't have gotten far…

Rick was now clutching her buttocks, hard, and moaning for her to move faster. Michonne did as he asked, losing herself in their lovemaking like she always did and then…

Someone began yelling just as her body shuddered and exploded into whirlwind of passion. Was that Siddiq? No it was Rick…

Everything then went black.

END OF FLASHBACK

When Michonne came out of her memory, she found herself staring at Maggie, Darryl, Dwight and Sherry. Only they were upside down and their backs were to her. They were running away from her and somehow, she was moving away from them! What was happening? Why were they upside down?

She saw Beta burst out of the room! He too was upside down and he looked in Maggie, Darryl, Sherry and Dwight's direction, then at her. He began running after her. Only she began running too—only she was not running. She wasn't moving at all. Someone else was.

Michonne did not realize that she had passed out, just as Beta had began punching through the door! Negan picked Michonne up, threw her over his shoulder and ran in one direction, just as Beta's fist came through the door! That made Darryl grab Maggie and run in the other direction, followed by Dwight and Sherry!

Negan found an old looking truck outside and hurriedly put Michonne in the passenger side! He could see she was coming back around as he ran to the driver's side, found keys inside and started it up. He could see there was a half a tank of gas in the vehicle, which was just enough to get them the hell out of there!

Negan gunned it from the Sanctuary, just as Beta burst through the back door they had come out of and proceeded to chase them down the road! Negan shook his head as he stared down the crazy bastard in his rearview mirror! Beta eventually stopped running but stared at the back of the truck as it slowly left his sight.

Negan drove for three miles, before finding a sign that read 'Camp Forest Green'. He pulled the truck down that road and found a house and barn that was different than the one the group had been at before. He pulled into a gravel driveway and saw there was a chicken coop, with chickens in them.

He also saw a walker trying to reach in to get the frightened chickens. Negan got out, killed the walker, then looked around before heading to the truck and opening up the passenger side. Michonne was now alert and looking around!

"What happened? Where are we? Where are the others?" she asked, now looking at the squawking chickens.

"What happened is that Beta is a crazy bastard, we got away from him but got separated from the others. Do you feel well enough to see if the house over there is clear?" Negan asked, looking at her with concern.

Michonne ignored the look he was giving her, as she tried to wipe away that sudden memory of herself and Negan in her cell.

"I'm fine. I just haven't eaten, that's all." she lied and got out of the truck. Negan nodded in response to her answer and together, they approached the house in a stealth like manner.

"Well we'll cook up some of those nice chickens for you. And then you can tell me what REALLY happened back there." Negan said, as they approached the front door. Michonne said nothing. She was not about to tell him, that she now remembered something she wished she could forget!