A/N: Firstly, thanks for all of the name suggestions! They're so wonderful.

It was good to see Michonne squirming at the end of the last update lol now they both know what it feels like to put their foot in their mouth! This instalment will provide us with some background on where Michonne comes from. We're picking up on the same day that Michonne's Program gained community support.

Thanks to the following for leaving a review for me: Beautiful77; Make it up as I go; severelybabykryptonite; Sharei27; Jaylinn; KK; simple1234; ttgranger; literaturechick; impvme; cherokeeRose; CodeName-M.e; Brittny; thelisa17; and Guestz.

Trigger Warning: emotional abuse.

Michonne walked barefooted across the hardwood floor of the living room in the small two bedroom house that she rented. As she entered her kitchen, the tiles felt cool underfoot; she stepped towards the counter with her wine glass, which she soon filled with a second helping of red wine. She was in relax mode after a long day of meetings; a weight was now lifted from her because the dream she had of working with young offenders in a rehabilitative sense was coming to fruition. Garnering support from the local community meant that the community as a whole would care about it and strive to make it a success in the young people's lives.

When she still lived in the city, Michonne would use her free weekends to volunteer at the youth centre in her neighbourhood; it was where she had met her ex-boyfriend Mike. He was one of the counsellors and they hit it off right away. They were together, sharing an apartment, for five years and most of those years were filled with love and happy times; it was not until funding for the centre was withdrawn. Both Michonne and Mike were saddened by the loss of the centre because it was such a wonderful institution in their neighbourhood; Mike also found himself unemployed.

When he could not find a fulltime job, Mike was thrown into a deep depression as he viewed his own self-worth as low. He began to find any reason to start an argument with Michonne over her own work schedule; telling her she needed to spend more time at home and less time doing her job (something he did not demand when he was gainfully employed). She felt as if he was being controlling and that he resented her; which turned out to be true as he resorted to emotionally blackmailing Michonne before becoming verbally abusive.

It had gotten so bad that Michonne was taking regular leave of absence from work just so he would not feel so inadequate. Spending days on end at home with Mike was somehow a better option than having to listen to ten voicemail messages a day from him saying how selfish she was for putting her career before their relationship. He would threaten to hurt himself to get her to rush home, where she would find him lounging around the house and spending an unhealthy amount of time online chatting with people who weighed in with their own opinions on their relationship.

She's a selfish, self-centred whore of a bitch! Wrote one stranger.

She should be taking care of you instead of worrying about herself, said another.

Just knock her up and the bitch will have to quit her job and stay home to raise the kid, was offered as advice more frequently than one would imagine.

Michonne begged Mike to get help for his depression, but he dealt with it in solitude. She sourced referrals for him, but he did not want the help. When she told him that she was feeling smothered and needed some time away from him, he grabbed a knife from the kitchen and held it to his own neck.

Gradually, Mike became more withdrawn and wanted Michonne to be home with him all of the time. She was an outgoing person who enjoyed being sociable, but towards the end of their relationship, she became a homebody; out of guilt from his emotional abuse, Michonne had little time for family and friends.

After Andrea received a phone call from Michonne one day out of the blue, she drove to the city and found her friend at a coffee shop looking emotionally drained and exhausted. She was uncommonly thin and looked afraid. When Andrea questioned Michonne about what had happened, Michonne explained that Mike had argued with her at length about him wanting to have a child. She vehemently told him it was her choice and that she did not want to at that time in her life as setting up her career was most important to her. Mike then flew into a rage destroying all of Michonne's birth control pills, calling her all manner of horrible names and finally pushing her up against a wall. Fearful that he was going to assault her, Michonne got away from him and called her friend.

She took stress leave from work before, as Andrea suggested, applying for a transfer to King County, fourteen months later her transfer was granted; another two months of finishing up her caseload in the city flew by before she actually got to move. Now, Michonne settled into her life in a new town with new people and she was doing what she loved; helping others.

…..

Michonne took her glass of wine and walked slowly back into her living room. She curled up on the couch, took a sip before reaching for the remote control to her stereo system and turning the music down. She picked up her cordless phone and dialled Andrea's number.

"Hey, what's goin' on?" said Andrea.

"Hey. Not much. Just kickin' back at home," replied Michonne.

"How'd it go today?"

"It went really well. I'm so excited that's it's all happening," she said and Andrea smiled.

"That's great! We should celebrate all of your hard work and persistence," offered Andrea. "You've put so much of your time and energy into this. Time to let your hair down before you get stuck in and I never see you for a while; you need some time to unwind."

"Definitely. I really do. Is it too short notice to plan a trip away for the weekend?"

"Yeah, well, at least a nice trip," laughed Andrea as Michonne joined in.

"Well, how about we just go out for dinner and drinks tomorrow night?" said Michonne.

"Maybe we should just leave dinner out and get the drinks in?" offered Andrea.

"We'll see. Hey Andrea?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask your honest opinion about something?" she queried, her conversation with a certain Sheriff's Deputy still fresh in her mind.

"Sure," replied Andrea.

"Do you think the name of the Program sounds too…negative?" Michonne asked as she twirled the wine glass around in her fingers.

"I never really thought about it," she answered.

"Me too, at least not until that cop friend of yours said so," Michonne offered, feigning disgust.

"Who? Rick?"

"Yeah," she answered, pleased she was not the one to have said his name first.

"Wait, when did you talk to him? I thought you hated him?" Andrea asked curiously.

"I don't hate him, I just don't like him," Michonne said, not fully believing her own words.

"Right, so what'd he say?" asked Andrea.

"He said a lot of things and then pointed out that the name sounded negative," Michonne explained.

"Ah, what kind of things did he say? You didn't even want him to sit with us while he waited for his coffee, and now I hear you're chattin' away like besties?" Andrea said incredulously.

Michonne sighed.

"It wasn't anything like that. He dropped by to grab some paperwork for the Sheriff and I was sort o' a huge bitch to him," she offered. "I think I owe Rick an apology."

"Oh my god, what did you say? Did you make him cry? Remember when you almost made that UPS delivery guy cry?" said Andrea.

Michonne chortled.

"No! Nothing like that. I guess I was being condescending to him when all he did was offer advice about the name of the Program," she said.

"Uh, excuse me? Who are you and what did you do with my friend?" laughed Andrea.

"Stop! It doesn't mean I like him. It just means I'm gonna say sorry for being that way with him," she said.

"So do you want his number or something…"

"No. Goodness no; I'll wait until I run into him somewhere. You know, no big deal," Michonne said.

"Maybe we should invite him to dinner tomorrow night…"

Michonne laughed: "No way!"

Andrea laughed too.

"Okay, baby steps."

xXxXx

Shane returned to his living room with another beer for Rick; he popped the top off of both bottles and the two men clinked them together before simultaneously drinking. They sat in comfortable silence as Shane checked the messages on his phone; he smiled and Rick knew it was because Andrea had sent something funny and personal. Rick kind of missed having that with a woman; he recalled how fun it could be at the beginning of a relationship. At this rate, he would most likely stay single forever.

"Where'd they go?" asked Rick.

"Andrea and Michonne?"

"Yeah."

"I have no idea; she said somethin' about Stefano's, I wasn't really listenin'," Shane admitted.

Rick laughed.

"What asshole? I was playin' Candy Crush and y'all know I don't pay attention when I'm tryin' to level up!" Shane explained.

Rick shook his head incredulously.

"Ya know women like it when you actually listen to 'em," Rick offered.

"Screw you for givin' me advice on women when you fucked up any chance you had with Michonne," said Shane.

Rick took another drink.

"Who said I wanted another chance, ass face?" he asked.

"Whatever, man. Y'all could've been out to dinner tonight but no, you wanna go talkin' too much. Givin' your ass-backwards opinions on shit, thinkin' women like conversation; thinkin' they wanna hear all the shit that comes out yo' mouth," Shane said, half-jokingly.

Rick rolled his eyes but remained quiet a moment.

"Well tell me what they like then," Rick said challengingly.

"You wanna know what women like, uh dickhead?"

"Yeah, if it ain't too much trouble or getting' in the way of your Candy Crush," Rick chortled.

"Hey don't go speakin' ill of my Candy Crush. And, if you must know, which trust me, ya do, women like it when you go down on 'em; remember that shit, son. Best write it down, boy. Reverend Shane preachin' to ya now!" said Shane as both men laughed.

…..

The two best friends and partners sat quietly for a little while as Shane continued to scroll through his phone. He chuckled to himself at the text message Andrea had just sent and then turned the screen to face Rick. The message read:

Mich is asking qu's about Rick! :)

Rick sat up straighter and tried to hold back a smile.

"Look at you, lookin' like a love sick teenager!" Shane teased.

"Piss off," said Rick as he felt somewhat youthful.

Shane laughed.

"You want me to text back and find out what she's askin' about you?" Shane asked.

Rick raised his eyebrows in Shane's direction.

"What you think?" asked Rick.

"I think that's your way of sayin' fuck yes!" was his reply.

Rick smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

xXxXx

"You're full of questions tonight," mused Andrea as she and Michonne sat at their table at Stefano's restaurant and sipped from their wine glasses.

"Since when were you so interested in Rick Grimes?"

"It was just something he said about me not knowing him and making judgements about him and I guess other people here too. I like this town; I like the people and I do want to get to know them. Guess I'm just startin' with him," Michonne said in earnest.

"Good for you, doll!" Andrea said as she smiled widely at her friend.

xXxXx

"Don't be grabbin' at my phone," Shane chided as Rick slumped back into the couch.

The more drinks they had, the less restrained Rick was feeling.

"Well, what did she ask?" he queried, growing impatient.

"Hold on lover boy, here; she asked why you were single. That's an easy one to answer, because Lori's a bitch," said Shane.

"Come on now, no need for that talk; she's the mother of my kids," Rick said seriously.

"Sorry," Shane apologized.

"Well, what is your woman tellin' her about me?" Rick asked, still impatient.

"How about we just call 'em and find out, uh?" Shane said as he wriggled his eyebrows.

xXxXx

"Seriously, I'm trying to have a conversation with you and you're texting your man?" said Michonne incredulously.

"He's ringing now…"

"Don't you answer that!" Michonne warned. "This is BFF time now; Shane can wait."

Andrea nodded and put her phone in her purse.

"I only texted him to tell him you were asking about his best bud," she explained.

"Great. Now he's gonna give me shit about Rick Grimes too I guess," Michonne said with a laugh.

"Oh, it might be a little worse than some teasing because he's having drinks with Rick Grimes right now, and I'm pretty certain he's showin' him my texts."

"Andrea!"

"What?"

"You two are makin' it sound like I'm interested in that man…"

"But you are though…"

"No I'm not!" Michonne exclaimed with wide eyes. "I was just asking questions. Great. Now he's gonna think I'm into him."

Michonne sighed.

"It's not as bad as you're making it out to be" Andrea offered.

"Well no more telling your boyfriend what I'm asking about his friend, okay?"

"Okay. Sorry. But Mich, Rick wanted to know what you were asking! That's gotta mean somethin', right? Shane thinks it means something," Andrea said with hope.

"Oh my goodness; you and Shane need a hobby!"

"We've got a hobby; it's called matchmaking," she laughed.

Michonne rolled her eyes and chortled.

xXxXx

Breakfast with Andrea on Saturday morning happened a little later than Michonne had planned; both ladies were still a little tired from all of the wine they had consumed after dinner the night before.

"What are you doing later?" Andrea asked Michonne.

"Well, I was gonna head over to the garden centre and buy some potted plants. My yard is looking a bit plain," she answered.

"Sounds good but do you have time to take care of plants?" Andrea queried, knowing full well what Michonne's schedule usually looked like.

"I don't know. Maybe I should ask the guy who does my lawns if he'll spruce the garden up for me," she wondered.

"It's a good idea, Mich. It means you're settling in here; you're comfortable here and invested in this town," Andrea smiled.

"Yeah," Michonne replied with a smile of her own. "I guess I am."

…..

Michonne took her time as she ambled along the aisles of the supermarket with a plastic shopping basket in hand; she had purchased some herbs from the garden centre earlier that day and was going to prepare herself a meal using some of them. Satisfied that she had everything she needed, Michonne made her way to the check-outs. As she approached, she wished that she had ventured to shop for food earlier in the day. Now that it was late afternoon, there was an abundance of people stocking up on their weekend groceries; it was mostly families with small children crying for candy or ice cream while their parents tried to check off everything on their lists. Michonne felt a slight throbbing in her head.

She was just about to make her way over to an available check-out when a teenager with a shopping cart cut in front of her. Annoyed, Michonne bit her tongue in an effort not to reprimand the boy for his rudeness as she stood behind him and the small girl in the seating area of the cart. It seemed she did not need to say anything because seconds later, his father approached and spoke.

"Carl, let the lady in first; we've got a lot more stuff than she does," he said before looking apologetically at the lady in question.

When recognition registered, Rick smiled shyly.

"Oh, Michonne. Hey. Sorry about my son here pushin' in your way," he said, feeling his face grow warm.

"Hi, Rick. It's okay. I don't mind waiting," she said amicably, surprising herself as much as she did Rick.

"No, you've only got a few things. Jump ahead of us. I insist," said Rick as he gestured with his hand.

Michonne offered a coy smile and thanked Rick as she began to load her food up to be scanned.

"Carl, what do you say?" Rick then turned his attention to his sulking son.

"Sorry," the boy said to Michonne and then dropped his head again.

Michonne nodded to the teen and then glanced back at his father; she was doing a fine job at being friendly so she decided to make small talk.

"She's beautiful," Michonne said of Rick's daughter. "What's her name?"

He smiled proudly: "Her name's Judith. She's two years old."

"You only have the two?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied with a knowing smile; fully aware that Michonne had asked Andrea the same questions the night before.

She nodded again, thinking of what else she might say as the man at the register called for a price check on one of her items. Rick tried to think of something else to say also as he wanted to keep the conversation going. He thought her voice sounded really nice and rich when she was not upset or scolding someone; he enjoyed her smile as well.

"Got some nice fresh veggies there," Rick said, referring to her groceries as he kicked himself for talking about something as obviously boring as what was in her shopping basket.

"Yeah they look nice and fresh and I just went and bought a bunch of potted herbs for cooking so I'm gonna try them out…"

"Rick?" a voice cut in as Michonne was still speaking; she and Rick both looked over at the check-out next to them as a blonde lady stood with a shopping cart.

"Rick. I was trying to get in contact with you. Don't you ever answer your phone?" she asked before looking at Michonne somewhat dismissively.

"Oh sorry," she offered for interrupting, but continued to speak anyways.

"It's Ron's birthday this weekend and we're going camping, I wanted to know if you wanted to bring Carl along?"

Rick offered Michonne an apologetic look for the rudeness of his lady friend and began to tell the woman it was not a possibility for him to be there because of Judith, but that if Carl wanted to go, that would be fine.

Michonne finally paid for her groceries and began to walk away.

"Excuse me a sec, Jessie," said Rick before calling out to the woman who now seemed to be in a rush.

"Michonne? See you around," he said with a smile.

"Sure. Bye, Rick," she answered, feeling her head begin to ache once again.

A/N: Ha! Sorry. I had to throw that woman in somehow.

More to come!