The Charge – Chapter 17

Rick looked at Michonne as she continued stitching his wound. She was moving considerable slower now. He noticed that she was concentrating, focusing intensely. He knew that her mind was racing. Their kiss was intense and she didn't expect it. He will not apologize though. He wanted to kiss her like that for a very long time and he was glad he did.

He was also pleased that she didn't pull away and participated fully. He was tempted to kiss her again right now but decided not to push his luck. Gently, he caressed her waist. He needed to feel her out to know what she was thinking.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

She looked up at him.~*~*~*

Michonne was shaken to admit that she wanted to continue kissing Rick. It was so good and she was disappointed that it ended. Being kissed like that after such a long time was dizzying. She got warm in the pit of her stomach and between her thighs and hoped that Rick didn't notice or felt it through the sheets.

It would have been humiliating. She liked the way his hand caressed her waist and mentally blushed at other places she would like him to touch. She made the last stitch and tied it. She shook her head to push away her thoughts and that was when he spoke. She stopped and looked up.

"What?"

"What are you thinking?"

"Truthfully?"

Rick smiled.

"That would be preferred."

"I've never been kissed like that before."

Rick's eyebrows perked up.

"Really?"

HE wondered about her ex and what kind of relationship they had before it fell apart. It was unbelievable to think that Jeremy didn't take full advantage of her sensual pout.

"You are a really good kisser."

Rick blush hard, teeth and all and it unexpectedly made Michonne smile. She turned to get off him but he held her in place.

"Don't go. Can't we just sit here for a few more minutes? Please?"

His eyes were soft and pleaded with her.

"We have to let your family know that you're awake."

Rick sulked.

"You know they would want to know immediately."

Slowly she slipped off him and when she turned around, staring at them from the corridor were Nibbles and her brothers, heads cocked to one side, curiosity etched on their faces. Rick and Michonne looked at each other shocked at their audience.

"I'll be back in a minute."

Michonne disappeared and seconds later heard tiny barking and Rick's voice talking to them. She smiled as she retrieve the clothes that he was shot in. She had washed them three times to get the blood and scent of death out of them.

As she held them in her hand she remembered Rascolli. He was a good agent and a friend. A small sob escaped her lips and she muffled it. However, she couldn't stop her tears. Quietly, she cried for him and when she was finished she returned to Rick. ~*~*~*

Rick was playing with the puppies but as soon as Michonne returned to the room, he could tell something was wrong. He got to his feet ignoring the pain in his shoulders and went to her, holding the sheets around his waist. The puppies followed him and congregated around Michonne's feet. They were whimpering and trying to climb up her legs. She pushed the clothes towards him, not speaking but he ignored it. Instead he cupped her right cheek.

"Are you alright?"

"Rascolli is dead." She was choking on her words.

Rick was mortified and his face sunk. She leaned in and Rick held her close. Warm tears wet his chest.

"I'm so sorry. He died because of me!"

She smiled weakly up at him and he softly wiped away her tears.

"Don't say that. Rascolli wouldn't have wanted you to think that way."

"But it's true."

"Rascolli loved his job. He wouldn't have blamed you."

Rick's voice soften.

"Do you…blame me?"

"I blame the person who put the bullet in him. They are responsible for his death. Not you."

Rick still didn't seem convinced so she touched the centre of his chest.

"I do not blame you."

Rick finally smiled. He took the shirt and pants.

"I need some new clothes."

"I know."

Rick dropped the sheet and Nibbles and her brothers scampered from underneath it barking furiously. Rick nakedness forced Michonne to blush uncontrollably as she turned away. He grinned.

"All done."

She turned around and gestured for him to follower her into her bedroom. There was a laptop and a phone. He sat down on the bed besides her.

"You can only make 5 to 10 seconds calls and then you have to hang up so they can't trace us. We can't trust anyone. We don't know who's trying to kill you." She paused briefly before continuing. "It could be a member of your own family."

Rick flinched.

"I'm sorry."

"You really think my father or mother or even Maggie or Beth could be behind the attempts on my life?"

"It's an unpleasant thought but it is a possibility you have to entertain."

Rick swallowed.

"Ok."

She gave him the phone.

"Remember…5 to 10 seconds, hang up, call back and repeat."

He nodded.~*~*~*

The phone rang once and it was answered.

"Agent Atwell?!"~*~*~*

Rick almost lost it when he heard his mother's voice. It was croaked, and sounded frail.

"No mom…it's me."

"Oh my God! My sweet baby! Are you alright?"

Before he could answer he heard raised voices in the background and his name was mention.

"I'm fine mom. How are you?"

He got the signal from Michonne to hang up.

"I'll call you back."

He quickly hung up, waited for twenty seconds then dialled again. It was answered in the first ring.

"Rick?!"

It was Maggie.

"Maggie? Where's mom?!

"She needed to sit down."

"Is she alright?!"

"I think hearing your voice was alittle bit too much for her. Dad's with her."

Michonne gave him the signal again.

"I'll call you back."

Rick hung up and redialled.

"Put me on speaker phone."

Maggie did.

"We are all here Rick."

"I just want you all to know that I'm okay. I'm in a lot of pain but I'm fine. Michonne…." He quickly corrected himself. "Agent Atwell is taking very good care of me so you don't need to worry."

"When are you coming home?"

This time is was Beth talking. It was good hearing her voice. He hung up and dialled again.

"I'm not coming home…atleast not yet."

"Why?" Beth protested.

"You need to come home Rick!" His father was speaking now. "You need to come home so we could figure out what the hell is going on!"

"Someone is trying to kill me Dad and we will find out who it is!"

"We?"

Rick hung up. It was frustrating for him but it needed to be done. He redialled again.

"Michonne and I. We will find out who's doing this."

"Just the two of you?"

"Yes. She's the only person I trust right now."

"So you don't trust your own family? The CIA?"

"You know that's not what I mean dad!"

He hung up again to regain his composure. The attempted assassination attempt is affecting everyone emotionally. He redialled.

"Then what do you mean?!"

"It means I have to look at everyone…including family and friends. I know you guys will never hurt me but someone close to me is trying to. The smaller the circle the better it is. Director Thomas and the other agent could investigate from their end and we will investigate from ours."

There was silence and Rick hung up and redialled.

"Dad?"

"I'm here."

"I hope you understand."

"I would have preferred all of us here fighting this together but I do understand."

"Ok."

"How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know. Could be weeks…months."

Suddenly there were barking in the background.

"What is that?"

"I'll call you back."

When he did, his hands were full and it was noisy with constant barking.

"What's going on Rick? Do you have a dog?"

"Puppies dad. Four of them."

"Why do you have puppies?"

"It's a long story and I'll tell you when we meet up again."

Is Agent Atwell there?"

"Yes. Tell mom, Maggie and Beth I love them. I love you too dad."

There was silence for a couple of seconds then a dial tone. The phone rang again.

"Agent Atwell here."

Ian spoke with a firm but desperate voice.

"Agent Atwell…Rick's life is in your hands. You keep safe and keep him safe and when this is all over, you bring my boy home back to us. Please!"

"I will do my best Senator. Rick is my main priority now and finding out who did this is my only focus."

"Thank you Agent."

She hung up, turned around and caught herself pondering. She smiles silently as Rick was on the floor, easily surrendering his body as a playground for Nibbles and her siblings. They were jumping on him, running around him and playfully charging at him as if they were on the attack. He seemed to be enjoying it more than them.

The prospect of being alone with Rick for weeks on end would be tricky given the passionate lip lock they shared earlier. She needs to be focus on the task at hand and not the man letting loose in front of her.

She was amused that she could acknowledge Rick as a distraction but not wanting to run away or block it out. It feels good and natural having him around. She gently touched her lips, closing her eyes. When she opened them, Rick was looking at her cheekily, grinning from ear to ear. She fled the room.~*~*~*

Agent Ford and Walsh observed from the corner of the room that Director Thomas was fuming. They still couldn't trace Michonne and Rick's whereabouts. He pasted the room several times as Rick spoke to his family assuring them that he was fine and was livid when he said that Michonne was looking after him and that they could be off the grid for weeks or even months.

He seemed to almost have a mini heart attack when the Senator put his trust and faith in her to keep herself and Rick safe. He stared at the other agents who was monitoring the calls and couldn't get a lock on her location. After today, they don't know when they will be hearing from her or Rick again but they weren't bother. Agent Walsh whispered quietly to his colleague.

"There has to be more to why the Director constantly rides Michonne's back!"

"Why? Isn't having a chauvinistic, archaic, dinosaur like mentality about women in the CIA reason enough?"

"Look. I don't agree with his reasoning and having such thoughts is not a crime."

"Well it should be. Michonne and other female agents have to walk the narrowest of line even new recruits don't. That isn't fair. They are human too and should be allowed to make mistakes like the rest of us men. We get away with all kinds of shit without any real consequences. We can cheat on our wives and commit all kinds of infractions and it is not attributed to our inability to do our jobs but if a female agent looks at client alittle bit too long or a hair falls out of place, they are automatically unfit for duty. It's utter bullshit! To hold them to a different and not to mention totally unfair standard of conduct is wrong."

"Well you should have run against Thomas when the Gibbs from the CIA Committee asked you too. Even they thought that it was time for Thomas to go. He's been in that Director's chair for too long. By the time he's ready to leave, there will be no female agents left and they wouldn't be interested in joining either."

"I don't like the politics of the office."

"But if you were inside you could make changes. Yeah, you would have to fight with some of the other fossils like Thomas but eventually you would get them out…make things easier for Michonne and other future female agents."

Ford looked at his colleague thoughtfully. He didn't think about challenging the system that way…from within. He was only thinking about the fancy suits he would have to wear, the endless meetings and briefings with the National Security Minister, other heads of States including POTUS. He wanted to be out in the field and maybe that was selfish of him. Walsh could see the wheels turning in his friend's head.

"The next time Gibbs or any of the other committee members approach you about the Director position consider it. You don't have to be Director forever. Just stay until you make effective change. If you like the position, stay. If not you can always leave."

Ford nodded. He will take it under advisement. Abruptly, Director Thomas sprang up from his chair.

"This is bullshit! Agent Atwell should be here with her team and not off somewhere with Rick!"

He took out his phone and dialled a number.

"Yes. This is Director Thomas. Get me Mr Holmes."

All the agents in the room froze. They know that name. Holmes is the head of the Disciplinary Committee for all the National Security Agencies.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ford roared as he stalked over to Thomas.

Thomas smiled smugly.

"What does it look like I'm doing Agent Ford? I'm setting up an appointment hearing for Agent Atwell for her insubordination."

In a fit of rage, Ford grabbed the phone from his hand.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Thomas voice was raised shocked by Ford's actions.

Ford responded by smashing his phone on the floor. Every jaw in the room dropped.

"Are you insane?!"

Walsh seeing the rage seeping off both men, stepped in between them. Ford pushed him away.

"What the f*ck did Michonne ever do to you?!"

Ford now had the attention of Maggie and Ian. Beth had taken their mother to bed to rest.

"Excuse me?! Tread carefully agent!"

"Or what?! You'll haul me before the disciplinary committee or get me fired?!"

"Agent Michonne didn't follow orders!"

"She doesn't have to follow orders if she's doing the job she's trained to do! She's protecting her Charge!"

"Her job is to follow orders Agent Ford! My orders! If she can't do that then she doesn't belong in the service!"

"And there we have it! The real reason you hate her! She's a woman and she good at what she does! She has never lost a client! Ever! That second assassination attempt on Rick's life is further proof of something that you can't stand to admit. That female agents are just as capable and even more than their male counterparts in this job. Rascolli died and she didn't. Rick could have been killed as well but he wasn't because of HER!"

Ford moved closer and narrowed the gap between him and his arrogant boss.

"It must be eating you up inside when you heard she survived. That she saved him. How does it feel that you can't track her…that she put you in your place and told you to f*ck off? That she's out there doing what she does best and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it."

Director Thomas looked around and everyone was staring at them.

"I'm cautioning you Agent Ford. Choose your next words carefully or else you will join her before the Disciplinary Committee!"

"Go ahead! I welcome it! It will be perfect opportunity to tell the committee that Michonne and other female agents get drug tested and their lockers get searched twice as much as their male counterparts. I'll give them a copy the personal diary that Michonne keeps of all the inappropriate conversations and insinuations that you have force upon her over the past ten years."

Thomas eyed bugged out of his head.

"Michonne is smart, beautiful and resourceful. Tell me Director…is the reason you attack her so much is because you are attracted to her?!"

"That's not true!"

Thomas was on the defensive now…just where Ford wanted him.

"I never made any advances towards Agent Atwell! Did she say that?!"

Ford laughed.

"You find out exactly what she said at the Committee hearing."

"I want that dairy Agent! I want it now!"

"You can get it from Holmes as soon as he's done reading it!"

The Director's face sulked as he stormed out of the room. Everyone else went back to work. Walsh followed Ford to the back patio. He eyed his friend suspiciously and whispered.

"We've both known Michonne for the past ten years and we know she doesn't talk about herself and I highly doubt she's the kind of woman who would keep a diary far less to give it to someone for it to fall in the wrong hands."

Ford raised an eyebrow cheekily.

"You were bluffing…weren't you?"

"Straight through my eyeballs!"

"Jesus Christ! You did a number on Thomas!"

"I needed him to back off! He's pushing this too far! He has to stop!"

"If you want all of this to end, file your nomination papers for his job. Don't worry about the support. You have it."

Ford looked thoughtful.~*~*~*

The house was quiet. Too quiet. Only minutes ago, she heard Rick talking and puppies barking. Suddenly, Rick cried out. She rushed into the room and he was holding his hands away from them.

"I think they are hungry."

She nodded and went back into the kitchen. Fifteen minutes later she returned with warmed milk and a fresh syringe. She sat down on the floor next to them and they ran over to her.

"I'll feed them…if that's ok."

She smiled and gave him the milk and syringe. They rushed back over and piled unto Rick's lap whimpering. He filled the syringe and Nibbles pushed her way to the front of the line. Rick was a natural. He was patience with them. She smiled at both them and him. She wondered if he wanted kids and how many.

"Are you hungry?" she asked softly.

He nodded, not taking his eyes off the little ones. She retreated to the kitchen. Twenty minutes later, Rick appeared in the corridor leading to the kitchen with a panic look on his face. The puppies were squirming in his hands. She pointed frantically to backdoor and Rick bolted to it.

From the kitchen window, she saw Rick breathe a sigh of relief when he put them down and they immediately started sniffing the ground and relieving themselves. It was such an amusing sight. After, they following Rick back inside but they went to the living room instead. He stopped by briefly.

"Do you need any help?"

"No. I can manage." She looked down at the young ones at his feet waiting patiently for his attention. "Besides, it seems you have your hands full already."

He laughed and moved on. Half an hour later, it was quiet again. She fixed two plates of beef lasagne. When she walked into the living room, she was greeted with the most adorable sight. Rick was sitting down on the floor, back turned to her and braced up against the sofa, legs apart and all four puppies between his legs on their backs getting tummy rubs. Their little legs up in the air, dancing from the tickles. She couldn't help but burst into a fit of giggles. She sat down next to him.

"They already have me wrapped around their paws. They own me."

She giggled again.

"I could see that!"

She looked at them. Their eyes were closed, tongues hanging out at the sides of their mouths but the minute Rick stop, their eyes flew open.

"I think you're going to have to feed me."

She shrunk back slightly at the suggestion.

"What?!"

"If I move my hands they get fussy." He moved his hands to demonstrate. They did whimpered and cry.

"You see?"

"You could wait until they are asleep."

"But I'm hungry!"

Michonne squint her eyes at him and he gave her sad puppy eyes. She exhaled. Standing up, she put his plate on the sofa and took hers back to the kitchen and returned with some napkins. Slowly, under Rick's watchful eyes, she cut a few pieces, loaded the fork and paused. Rick's eyes moved from the plate to her eyes.

She raised the fork and was startled by his intense stare. It penetrated her. She moved the fork closer to his somewhat parted lips. She stared at them. It was erotic the way his lips caressed the fork and how he chewed leisurely. She swallowed hard.~*~*~*

Rick thoroughly relish this moment with Michonne. Their situation isn't ideal but he intends to make the most of it. Nibbles and her brothers are going to help him. Her guard is completely down in this nice domestic setting and he could really see what's she's like at home.

They had gotten through about six or seven forkful when tomato sauce settled on the corner of his lips. She raised the napkin to wipe it.

"No. Don't waste it. Use your fingers."

She cocked her head to side trying to figure out his angle but eventually she did.

"Give it to me."

"Excuse me?!"

"Give…..it….to…me."

He opened his mouth slightly. The warm feeling in the pit of her stomach and between her thighs returned. Little by little, carefully she slipped her index finger into his mouth and Rick didn't falter in sealing it in between his lips. It was so sensual. His tongue cuddled her finger as he sucked down on it…..hard. Her lips tremble open and she exhaled.