RED RIVER CREEK PRISON-
Michonne awoke in a bed that was very familiar. It was the same one she used to spend time with Ezekiel in, when she came here. That seemed like a lifetime ago now. It stood to reason that that meant she was in the same house that Ezekiel used when he stayed here. Her mind went to Ezekiel and all of the hopes and dreams he had had for himself and Carol here. Michonne didn't like thinking about that. Because then she would have to think about her part in all of it. At the time she had justified her affair with Zeke but now…
She sat up. She was still naked, tangled in bedsheets. Michonne looked over at the space beside her. It was still warm. Warm from Rick's body lying there, beside her. Like he used to long ago back when they lived in Alexandria.
Michonne rubbed her face, then shook her head. The 'wedding' had been a blur. A hot, erotic blur. She couldn't have imagined making love with Rick in front of 'wedding guests' and not being self conscious. But it had happened. And all of this time, somehow, she had told herself that Evil Rick had been HER Rick. But that hadn't been true.
The wedding…being untied and taken here where she and Rick made up for years of lost time, wordlessly. Only now, it was time for words again. Hard words. Because as much as she loved Rick and as much as she wanted to go back, they could not. Negan was in her heart too, whether anyone liked it or not and she couldn't just throw aside what they had, what their family had, for this…this…cult thing Rick, Maggie and God knows who else, had going on at Alexandria.
Michonne found a robe and got out of bed, putting it on. She then walked over to the window and looked out. It was then that she saw a crazy sight…
That bald woman, at least Michonne thought it was her, was outside of the house, staring up at her window! And she was wearing a dread lock wig! Her face had a smear of dirt on it and it was almost as if she knew Michonne would look out and see her! Michonne backed back, confused and pissed off, then walked to the bedroom door. She found it was unlocked and she slammed it open, stomped down the hallway until she reached the top of the stairs! That was when she heard voices that stopped as they heard her approaching. Michonne carefully descended the stairs and found Rick in a robe, and Maggie in normal clothes, staring at her.
Rick smiled at her.
"Hey! The coffee is almost ready. I thought we could go for a horseback ride and then…"
"Who is that outside?!" Michonne snapped, interrupting him. Maggie cleared her throat.
"Her name is Alpha." Maggie replied tersely.
"Alpha what? Alpha Crazy? Why is she wearing a wig that looks like my hair?"
"is that really important?" Maggie asked sarcastically and Michonne decided it was time to get real with her.
"Why don't you explain to me what it is you plan to accomplish here? First, you send Rosita into Mount Falls so she can tell us about these weirdos you've let into Alexandria. Then I'm drugged and brought here…"
"Actually," Maggie interrupted, "Negan and you killed Dexter, Darryl and Evil Rick. Then you tried to frame me for it. Then you left, thinking what you did would be forgotten. Now you're here."
Rick decided to end this.
"Maggie, please go outside and tell Alpha to head back to Alexandria. She's making Michonne uncomfortable."
"She's in love with you." Maggie countered.
"And I'm sorry but Michonne is my wife now. Take her back to Alexandria, along with Beta. Michonne and I need some alone time."
Maggie folded her arms.
"You can have your private time with your wife, as long as we understand how things are going to be."
The way that was said, was a little too ominous for Michonne's tastes.
"What do you mean, Maggie?" Michonne asked.
Maggie tossed her hair.
"The only way I will accept Judith, RJ and yourself…and your unborn child, of course, back into Alexandria, is if Negan is killed. By you. Then I will know that you're truly with us."
"We're not coming back to Alexandria." was Michonne's answer, as her eyes now fell upon Rick. Rick returned her stare, before dragging his eyes off of her and looking at Maggie.
"Do as I ask." was all he said to her. Maggie turned away coldly and walked out of the house, slamming the door behind her. Rick walked over to the living room window and watched Maggie approach Alpha. At some point, Maggie tried to reach for Alpha's dread wig, but Alpha slapped Maggie across the face, then glared at her. Maggie rubbed the slapped side of her cheek, then walked away. Rick clenched his jaw, before turning back to Michonne.
"Are you hungry? I'm also fixing breakfast." he said, smiling again. But Michonne did not smile back.
"I hate this." she said quietly.
Rick's smile disappeared and he leaned against a table.
"I know." was his response.
"I need to know what's going on here? How could you take those people in? How could you believe Maggie? Maggie was wearing the skin of a walker as a dress! What the hell?"
"Okay, Michonne. Stop right there. Now we both know Maggie didn't kill anyone, did she?" Rick asked, his eyes probing hers. Michonne looked away and Rick knew he had his answer.
"So that whole thing was Negan, again, right?"
Michonne had to think before she could formulate an answer. One that would protect Negan and their family.
"It's a simple yes or no answer, Michonne."
"No it's not. And it isn't simple because of Dexter. Maggie had no business bringing him into Alexandria." Michonne said. Rick nodded.
"I agree with that. During my brief stay in the jails, I could see he was dangerous. I could also see that Maggie knew she made a mistake marrying him. Her anger isn't really about him. It's about Darryl. Killing him was unforgivable."
"Dexter killed him. I would not lie about that."
"But you did, Michonne. You made it sound as if Maggie killed all three men."
Michonne said nothing but looked away. Rick made a point of moving around so that she had to look at him. He tentatively reached out to touch her shoulders but she shirked away.
"Don't." she said quietly.
"Don't what? Touch you? After yesterday and last night?"
"I was trapped…"
Rick lifted a brow.
"I would have untied you if you had asked. And if you had said you didn't want to marry me, I would have let you go."
Michonne gave him a WTF look!
"I still don't feel as if I know you! What happened? I know you said that killing Tyrese brought your memory back. I get that. But there was a time when the Rick Grimes I knew, would not have taken in people that ran around like that!"
"Like what? Michonne, you had dead walkers on leashes at one point…"
"For coverage! I wasn't wearing their skins and I wasn't scalping women for hairdos! I can't believe Father Gabriel went along with any of this either!"
Rick said nothing for a short moment.
Then he spoke.
"Answer my question: did you lie about Maggie killing three men?"
"As far as I know, she did it." was Michonne's answer. Rick tilted his head.
"Okay. You'll tell me when you're ready. Let's eat and we can talk about other things later."
"Other things?" Michonne asked, not feeling very hungry.
"The baby."
Michonne rubbed the back of her neck and looked away from him.
"I understand that none of this is your fault. I will raise him or her like she was my own. Like I did Judith. Siddiq is going to come here to give you an exam and find out how things are going, okay?" Rick asked gently.
Michonne looked back at him.
"Negan may have something to say about that."
"Not if he's dead." was Rick's response. "I made a mistake locking him up. Maggie and Darryl told me so but I was…I wouldn't listen. And it cost me. I should have killed him after our battle with him."
"Rick, I'm just going to say this: I can't go back. We can't go back and last night…the way things were between us…last night was goodbye. I wanted to go back. There is always going to be a part of me that does. But I'm committed to Negan."
Rick now folded his arms.
"You're married to me, now. So your 'commitment' is to me. And our children. I understand how you might not be able to kill Negan yourself. I think Maggie was out of line with that. I will take care of it myself." he said, slowly closing the distance between them.
Rick Grimes was just as stubborn as Negan was. Neither of them would give an inch and Michonne didn't intend for it to even get that far. She planned to find a way to escape this prison and get back to Mount Falls. She didn't even want to think about what Negan was thinking right now! But she was 99% sure that he knew she had not left their home on her own.
"I'm married to you. Does that woman think she's married to you too?"
Rick smiled softly.
"You're jealous."
"I'm curious, Rick. And let's not forget about Debra Morgan. Don't tell me you didn't rekindle what you had with her?"
"I had nothing with her, Michonne. I didn't know half of what I was supposed to know and I was brainwashed into believing that I belonged in another universe. And as for the people that are now living at Alexandria, they are known as The Whisperers. When the world went to hell, it really messed them up. That could have been us if Aaron had not found us."
"I doubt we ever would have sank that low." Michonne said curtly.
"But you don't know, do you? Look, let's just eat and then go for a ride. We need alone time to get to know each other again." he told her, reaching out to touch her shoulders again. This time Michonne did not pull away. But she did look him in the eye.
"I'm with Negan now. Judith and RJ love him and I'm about to have his baby. We need to find a real way to work this all out."
Rick let go of her slowly.
"A real way? You mean like I go to Mount Falls and tell Negan that we couldn't get enough of one another? That despite all of your words, you want to be with me but you can't figure out a way not to hurt Negan's feelings or traumatize our children? That's the real way to deal with this Michonne. And I don't think you're ready for that."
"And you think that taking me back to Alexandria is a better option? You think they're ready to see me again there?"
"No. I know what King Zeke and you had planned here. He was a good man and I'm sorry he ended up in the middle of that portal business. But this place will be our home from now on. Ours and our children's." Rick said, resting a gentle hand on her stomach, before slowly sliding it off. Michonne turned away from him and looked out the window. The woman called Alpha was gone. She turned back to Rick.
"Fine. We'll eat breakfast and go for a ride." she said in a hollow sounding voice, that didn't sound hollow to Rick. It sounded cooperative and slowly accepting. Michonne turned away to look out the window and Rick walked up behind her, swept her dreads aside and planted a kiss on the back of her neck.
"You are going to have to forgive me one day, for not finding my way back to you sooner." he whispered, before walking off towards the kitchen to get breakfast started. Michonne swiped at a tear that threatened to fall. Was that it? Was that why she was so forgiving of him in bed, but out of bed, she felt a wall between them. One that she did not want to break down or go around. Was she angry with him?
She told herself it didn't matter. She had a life and family in Mount Falls. And Michonne needed to find a way back to it.
MOUNT FALLS—
Word had gotten around that weirdos had gotten into their town and kidnapped Governor Negan's pregnant wife. Negan calmed the townspeople, sent RJ and Judith off to stay at a neighbor's house, along with Alicia, then prepared to find out what he needed to know, 'Negan Style'.
Negan waved to Judith and RJ, nodded with a smile to Alicia, before closing the front door firmly. He then locked it, walked into the front sitting room and picked up Lucille off of the couch. He then made the trek to the basement. He found himself thinking that Alicia would not have smiled back at him, or even left this house, if she knew who Deke and him had in the basement.
He slowly descended the stairs and he heard Rosita cry out. When Negan got down into the room, he found it just as he had left it. Nick and Rosita were down on their knees, crying and shivering. Deke had a gun on both of them. Negan sighed and focused on Rosita, who they was discovered was NOT pregnant.
"Rosita, you remember how this whole thing goes, right? One of you is going to die and of course, I don't necessarily have to feel bad about killing a possibly pregnant woman because…well…hell… you aren't pregnant."
Rosita gritted her teeth! All she could see was Abraham, Glenn, Spencer and Olivia.
"Rick is coming for you. So it doesn't matter what you do to me." she hissed softly. Deke smirked.
"You mean Pussy Rick with the one eye?" he asked sarcastically, now pressing the gun against Rosita's temple. Nick spoke.
"No. Rick Grimes who has his memory back and his shit together. Michonne and him should be man and wife by now. This whole thing was about getting her out of here so he could marry her, then come and kill you."
Negan eyed Nick.
"Well…that's touching. Honestly. I mean I think we all know that no one is really 'married' these days, officially. But typical of Mr. Grimes, he went about this all wrong. He should have killed me first, then married Michonne. Maybe his one eye is making him slow." Negan said. Nick was about to say something else, when Negan began wailing on his head with Lucille! Rosita screamed and screamed as Nick's blood and brain matter, splattered all over her! Deke wasn't too happy to get some of it on his shirt, but he also didn't like plots and betrayal. He also figured Alicia wouldn't like him too much once she found this shit out.
Deke glanced over, during the killing, at the stairs and yelled Negan's name! Nick was long dead as Negan kept smashing that bat on the bare pulp of his head. But somewhere within his rage, he heard Deke calling him and stopped. He looked over where Deke was looking.
Hannah McKay was standing there, calm as she pleased. She actually looked a bit disinterested. Deke suddenly pointed his gun on her.
"You should have knocked." Deke said.
"And missed all of this?" she asked slyly, moving closer to the fray. It was obvious to Negan that she was a crazy bitch. It was obvious to him the night she stabbed him at the Sanctuary.
"If you don't want some of the same, you'll turn around and pretend you never saw any of this." Negan told her.
"Why? You two actually plan to cover this up somehow and get away with it?" Hannah asked in mock disbelief. She walked closer to them and eyed what was left of Nick. She then smiled and looked at Rosita, before staring at Negan.
"I could finish her off for you. For a price, of course."
Deke and Rosita's eyes grew huge! Negan stared back at Hannah. Hard.
"Yeah, see, I might have taken you up on that offer, long ago. Problem is, first, this whole thing here, is none of your business. Secondly, I once used someone named Dexter Morgan to do my dirty work and since you're connected to him, and seem to be just as nuts as he was, I don't want to go back down that road again. But if was nice seeing you again, Hailey."
"It's Hannah. Something you well know. I hope your 'attitude' isn't about the misunderstanding that happened between us? You know long ago?" Hannah asked in a falsetto, questioning tone. Negan nodded to Deke and they moved away from the women into the recesses of the basement. Meanwhile, Rosita glared at Hannah!
"Just who the fuck are you?!" Rosita snapped.
"You can tell Maggie that I was the true love of Dexter's life. He wouldn't be dead if this whole undead crap had not happened. I would've protected him." Hannah answered. Rosita said nothing more, not liking any of this. The implications made her uneasy. Clearly, Negan was going to send her back to Rick to tell him what happened. This would start another war. But with this crazy bitch on Negan's side, Maggie could be in danger.
"You knew Dexter?" she asked in a friendly tone.
"I just said I did."
"How did you know Negan?" Rosita asked, hoping against hope that maybe, this woman could be used to make Michonne come to her senses, if Rick had not made her come to them already.
Hannah ignored her and stared at Negan and Deke. Deke peered over at her.
"I remember the bitch, Negan!" he hissed. "But there was something about her husband's death on that run that was odd. I can't remember what, but she was there!"
"On the run?" Negan asked.
"Yeah! And there were people that said that they thought she trapped her husband in convenience store with some walkers. No one cared to prove it. I just assumed if that did happen, you told her to do it."
"Why the fuck would I tell anyone to do that? I hated losing people that could produce…though I don't remember the guy she was with. I doubt he was really her husband. Anyway, she's crazier than fuck…like Dexter was. So she's not going to say shit about any of this. But we'll use her to escort Rosita back to Rick. She can tell him that we want Michonne back. Otherwise, more of his people will die."
"How are we going to keep that promise, Negan? Seriously, none of them will come back here now!"
Negan grinned at him.
"We're not going to wait for them to come to us. We've got the resources to fucking take one of their people, whenever we want. And we're going back to the old days. We're going to take whatever the fuck we want from them, just to keep our supplies up."
"We could use the helicopters." Deke said, grinning back.
"You're damned right we will!" Negan said and turned back to Hannah. He walked over to her.
"You're taking Rosita back to Alexandria. Maggie might have some things of Dexter's that you could have. You cared for him more than she did, I can assure you. You let them know that they have a day for Rick to surrender himself and return Michonne. Otherwise, more people will die."
Hannah smiled.
"I can do that for you." was her answer. And she really hoped Maggie was there. Really and truly. She turned and walked off towards the stairs. She hurried up them and soon neither Negan, Deke or Rosita could hear her footsteps. The sound of the front door banging shut was heard in the distance. Deke walked over to Rosita and yanked her on her feet, while Negan pondered what he had learned. He had taken most of his rage out on Nick, but he was still seething at the idea of Rick Grimes pulling this shit! And he had no doubts whatsoever, that he had probably forced a sex act on Chonnie! While she was carrying HIS child! Yeah…Rick Grimes would surrender himself and die publicly for that!
Negan got his breathing under control and joined Deke over by Rosita.
"Well Miss Rosita, let's get you ready to return to Alexandria."
"Rick is not at Alexandria." Rosita said. She didn't like this Hannah shit and she didn't want to see Maggie hurt. It was better if they did not go there.
"What are you talking about?" Deke asked.
"Rick is at the prison. He plans to make a life for his family there." Rosita said proudly.
"Does he have a new family? Because he can't have mine. I guess I'll be going there to tell him that in person." Negan said. He looked at Deke.
"Get some men together. Tell them that this Rick is Evil Rick's twin or something and that he's a child perv. That'll get the men riled up. Probably some women too that are good with guns." Negan said and Deke nodded and left the basement. He ignored Rosita's hateful stare as he imagined what Rick would look like swinging from a rope in the middle of the town square.
RED RIVER CREEK PRISON-
Rick began to saddle two horses in the prison stable. He actually thought about only preparing one, and having Michonne ride on it with him, but he sensed that despite their lovemaking, she was not ready for little intimacies such as that. It would take time. And yet, Michonne needed to understand that what he was doing, taking her away from Negan, was for her own good.
He didn't expect the bastard to turn Judith and RJ over. Rick had known the chance he was taking with that, when he came up with this plan. But, Michonne was carrying Negan's child. And Rick was willing to bet that Negan would be willing to, at least, compromise, if he ever wanted to see his own child again. Maggie didn't agree with his thinking and he didn't blame her. When he was taken from them, all those years ago, he and Maggie had disagreed about Negan back then. He thought it was ironic that even now, Negan was a bone of contention between them. Negan and something else.
Maggie wanted the Glenn that had been in the other universe, brought here. And Rick was really the only person that knew the exact location of that said portal, which he had taken pains to block off, so that if anyone from the other side did try and come here, they'd get quite the surprise. A Walker Surprise.
Rick made sure that there were walkers, outside of that entrance. It was actually closer to the prison than the Alexandria stronghold, so he had more of a chance to check the trap and see if it needed fresh walkers, or if someone from the other side had gotten caught in the trap. He actually needed to do that today. That was where he and Michonne planned to ride to. He would tell her all about it on the way.
A noise made him turn towards the entrance of the stable, and he saw Alpha walk in, slowly, and still wearing the 'Michonne Wig'. She took it off and set it on a tool bench nearby.
"Thank you for taking that off." Rick said quietly.
Alpha said nothing to that.
"It was disrespectful. I thought you left with Maggie?"
"Why would I have left? Michonne and yourself will need someone here to tend to your needs." Alpha said casually, looking around the barn.
"Michonne and I are able to tend to ourselves. You don't have to do that. You should get back and see to Lydia. I know she seemed like she was coming down with something before we left." Rick said.
"I trust Siddiq to look after her."
Rick slowly turned away from the horses and gave her his full attention.
"Alpha, Siddiq is on his way here to examine Michonne. So he won't be looking after her."
"Lydia can look after herself then." Alpha answered, making it clear she was not leaving the prison. Rick suddenly could not stand all that was unsaid between them.
"I will always be grateful for what you did for me once I got my memory back. But I always told you that Michonne was who I wanted to be with, and that I needed her back."
"Yes. But you didn't tell me that she was with someone else. You also didn't tell me that she was pregnant with another man's child. You made it seem as if she was just back at Alexandria and that some rapist/murderer was forcing her to be with him to keep her children safe. I understood that, Rick. I'd do anything to keep Lydia safe."
"At the time, I thought that too."
Alpha closed the distance between them.
"I know you did. Beta and I helped you prepare for the oncoming war with Negan, knowing that you weren't in any condition to do so at the time. Your memories were overwhelming you. Memories and guilt. I sacrificed my own leadership of my group, to help you. My people began following YOU."
"Not Beta." Rick reminded her.
"No. Beta knew better. I should have known better."
"What are you saying? That you want to leave Alexandria? That you want to go back into the woods and live out in the wild…wearing walker skins? Alpha, I do care about you. All of you. You can't go back out there doing what you were doing."
"Who said anything about leaving Alexandria?" Alpha asked quietly.
"Then what are you saying?"
"I agree with Maggie. I agree that your 'wife', will have to prove herself as one of us. We are all one now. The Whisperers and everyone at Alexandria. We. Are. One."
Rick wasn't following her.
"I get that, Alpha. But Michonne can't just kill in cold blood like that. I would love for her to be able to kill Negan but I know her and I can't push her to do that."
"Of course you can." Alpha said in a voice that was now almost a whisper. "She can do it right now."
Rick stared at her in confusion as he watched her walk over to the tool box and pick up the Michonne Wig. She then put it back on, just as Beta dragged in Negan! Rick frowned, unsure as to why he was dressed like a priest.
"He was found trying to break in here. Probably to rescue your wife. All that's left is for Michonne to kill him, and we can all start this new journey together." Alpha said, a small smile forming on her face.