Chapter 3:

Rick sat on the steps of his house with Jessie beside him. The day was warm and breezy. In other words, it was perfect. Or it would be if everything was going the way Rick planned. They weren't. He was close to winning Jessie, but Michonne's katana was gone from his mantel. She had left the house they were staying in together. She had left him.

He gritted his teeth together, still upset by the thought of it. She was always the one he could count on to have his back. It was like they were on two different paths since entering the safe zone. It was as if she couldn't understand the danger these people put them in by being weak.

"Thank you again, Rick," Jessie said, bringing his attention to her as a light breeze blew by. It brought with it the scent of soap and soft rain. Jessie's scent. "I don't know what we would have done if you wouldn't have allowed me and the boys to stay here. I don't see Pete backing off after what happened but I feel much safer staying here with you."

"Anything to help," Rick said with a smile.

Jessie met his eyes and smiled in return. "Did you get in a lot of trouble with Deanna?"

Rick held back a derisive scoff. She asked as if it mattered. Whether Deanna was upset with him or not was irrelevant. She couldn't do anything about it. "I think she's considering kicking me out," he said with a shrug.

Jessie's blue eyes widened slightly, feeling the panic he didn't feel. "That can't happen!" she said. She shook her head. "No. No, that can't happen. I'll talk to her. Don't worry. I won't let you get kicked out."

Rick studied her with an indulgent, amused smile. "I'm not worried..." he said. He wouldn't be leaving this place.

"Is your head okay?" Jessie asked, reaching out to run her fingers gently over the hair covering the spot that still smarted every now and then due to Michonne's hit.

"Yeah," Rick said. "I didn't wake up with a headache this morning so there's that."

Jessie gave a soft smile. "There's that..." she repeated softly.

The soft breeze played over the two people's skin as they stared at each other. Rick's eyes darted to Jessie's pink lips and he thought about sealing the deal when a blue uniform entered his vision and his focus strayed to a point over Jessie's head.

Michonne was walking down the street in her constable uniform, talking to Spencer, whose entire focus was on Michonne and what she was saying. Rick's eyes darkened. Jessie glanced over her shoulder to see what had caught Rick's attention. "Excuse me for a minute," Rick said to Jessie as he stood up and began to make his way towards Michonne and Spencer.

Apparently their conversation had just been finishing up because Spencer was walking away by the time Rick reached them. Rick stared after him with narrowed eyes before he turned to Michonne, who had turned to face Rick, her arms crossed over her chest. "Yes, Rick?" she greeted.

Rick stared down at Michonne with those same narrowed eyes. If Michonne was hoping for an apology or an enlightened Rick, those hopes were dashed to the ground. He was here for a fight. "So you've picked your side..." he accused.

Michonne barely held her frustration in. "There are no sides, Rick. Unless you're talking about us versus the walkers. Then, yes, I'm on our side."

"You know what I'm talking about," Rick said. "You chose the Alexandrians over me."

Michonne sighed. "Rick..." That was so far from the truth she didn't even know how to put it into words.

"What were you talking to Spencer about?" Rick asked.

"I was lobbying to keep you here. He's Deanna's son. He can probably influence her decision."

"I don't need his help."

Michonne nodded. There would be no getting through to Rick right now so she wasn't keen on even entering into a conversation with him. "Well, I'm going to do what I can anyway."

"Well, thanks for the help," Rick said bitingly. Michonne frowned. She knew he was being sarcastic. He hadn't talked to her in that way since their first meeting, when he was unsure about her and her motives. Pricked that he could have those same insecurities now, after everything they had been through, Michonne rolled her eyes and turned away, wanting to escape Rick's biting tone and his negative energy. Her eyes fell on Jessie who was sitting on the stairs, watching them. "Go back to your girlfriend, Rick. She's waiting for you." She turned to walk away.

Rick caught her arm and turned her to face him again. "Stop walking away from me, Michonne."

"I'm not the one walking away, Rick." Michonne stared into his eyes. "I'm trying to keep you here. I'm trying to keep us all here. Your kids need this place! Are you even thinking about them anymore?"

This time, Rick was the one who was pricked. "I've never stopped thinking about them." He couldn't believe Michonne was asking him that. They were supposed to understand each other on a deeper level. More than anyone else. "That's why we need to protect this place. Our way!"

"We protect this place by not acting rashly!" Michonne yelled. "We keep this place by getting the Alexandrians on our side! Not keeping them on the outside! Building them up, getting them to help us guard this place! That's how we survive. Not just survive. Live. It's time for us to live, Rick."

Rick stared at Michonne. Her words were emphatic. Pushing at him, crawling under his defenses like Michonne herself had done long ago. A small part of himself began to second guess. Began to wonder. If Michonne was right. He didn't know. But he knew that he needed her. And that he needed her by his side. Not away from him. He leaned down and tried to capture her lips with his.

Michonne pushed against his chest and slapped him. Not hard. Just enough to get him to wake up. "Are you crazy?" she asked. Her glance fell on Jessie again. "Make a decision, Rick. And stick with it." She turned on her heel and walked away, flicking Rick's hand off when he tried to grab her again.

Rick sighed and let his head fall as she stalked away from him. Frustrated, he made his way back to his porch steps and a pensive-looking Jessie. He met her eyes. No words were spoken but he knew that he had broken an unspoken promise to her. He dipped his head, but he didn't dwell on the small feeling of disappointment he felt within himself. He couldn't. "Let's go," he said, placing his hand on her shoulder and leading her inside the house. "We gotta get you and the boys settled."

Jessie followed along willingly.

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A town meeting was held concerning Rick and his behavior. He wasn't in attendance. Anger built in Michonne's chest at the implication of his absence. He didn't care. He didn't care whether he was kicked out or not. He didn't care about how she or anyone else felt. He was being selfish and not thinking about his family. Not just Carl and Judith, but the ones who had stuck by him through everything.

Maggie, Glenn, Abraham, Michonne...they all spoke up on his behalf. But it was all moot since Rick didn't deem it necessary to show himself.

Deanna handed down her final decision after twenty minutes of deliberation. Rick was to be exiled.

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Michonne stood in the doorway of Rick's room later that night. He lay on his side atop his bed, his knees pulled up slightly and his arms crossed across his chest. His back was to her and he seemed to be sleeping. Michonne sighed.

She walked further into the room and closed the door. The snap of it caused Rick to wake up, alert. His eyes fell on Michonne and he relaxed.

"Oh...Hey," he said. He slung his legs over the edge of the bed and sat up. "Is the meeting over?"

"Where were you?" Michonne asked, her arms crossed across her chest.

Rick gestured at the expanse of the bed. His demeanor uncaring. "I was taking a nap," he said. "I was tired."

A mix of anger, pain, and disappointment engulfed Michonne. It felt as if she was carrying all of the weight that Rick was casting off with his careless attitude. She stalked forward and grabbed an empty traveling bag from the closet. She pushed it into Rick's chest. "Here," she said harshly. "Pack up. You're being exiled."

A stillness froze Rick's body and a humorless chuckle left his throat. "Are you gonna escort me out personally?" he asked, his blue eyes squinting up at her. Michonne didn't answer him; she stalked back to his closet, grabbed a handful of his clothes and threw them on the bed, getting ready to pack them.

Rick stood up, all of the angry energy in his body directed toward Michonne. He snatched his shirts from beneath her hand and threw them to the floor. "Are you with them?" he asked. "You think they're right?! To kick me out?!"

"You're pushing against this place, Rick. Acting like a wild animal. You're scaring people. I'm not surprised they're kicking you out."

"I'm not leaving," Rick said, staring down at Michonne. "That was never an option. Oh, I knew they would try, but it's not gonna happen."

Michonne watched Rick's eyes go over her shoulder and focus on the future. Some plan he had come up with while others had been trying to focus on the present or get away from the past. "What are you gonna do?" she asked. Rick didn't hear her. She grabbed his chin and turned his face to her own. "What are you going to do?" she asked again, more forcefully.

Rick saw her now. He jerked away from her hand. "I'm going to take this place. Make it safe for my family. For us."

"How?"

"We kidnap the family. Tonight. Hold them hostage. We'll probably have to kill them. The Alexandrians are weak. If they don't have a leader, they'll follow us like sheep."

"What about the ones that don't?" Michonne asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "The ones who refuse to follow people who killed their friends? What would we do with them? Lock them in boxcars? Like at Terminus? Force them into slavery? Like at the hospital? Come in and take what's not ours? ...Like the Governor?"

Rick's eyes flashed a warning. Michonne stepped closer, ignoring it.

"Have we really gotten to that point, Rick? Are you really going to become that?"

Rick was silent, his blue eyes boring into hers. "It's fight or die," Rick said, refusing to back down from the slim 5 foot 7 force in front of him. "Kill or be killed." Michonne's nostrils flared. "Are you with me?"

Michonne felt that pain again. That hurt that only Rick could cause. He was the one who had saved her. The one who had accepted her into the fold. The one who had opened her up. Now he was becoming just another shadow. Another derelict who allowed the outside world to change him into something unrecognizable. Something he wouldn't be able to come back from. Fighting the tears building up behind her eyelashes, Michonne pushed Rick's chest.

He stumbled backwards, his look of anger turning to confusion.

Michonne pushed him again, the palms of her hands landing hard, promising to leave bruises.

A tear slipped past Michonne's defenses and down her cheek. "Hey..." Rick said, surprised by the turn of events.

Michonne pushed him one last time and stared at him with such anger and pain that Rick wanted to look away, but he couldn't. "I'm with you, Rick," Michonne said. "I will go out there and help you destroy that family if that's what you want me to do. Hell, I would help you destroy this whole town. But that's not us! We wouldn't be the same. We'd just be another group of monsters! Just like those things outside the walls. Except worse. Because we're supposed to be human."

Michonne wiped her cheeks free of tears. "We've made it out there before," she said. "We can make it again. Please." She released a passionate breath. "Let's just leave."

"...We?" Rick asked.

"I'm with you, Rick," Michonne said again.

Silence. The air stretched between them.

Rick was bowed over. There was no other description for it. "You-you wanted this place..." Rick said, unable to believe she was saying what he thought she was saying. Because what he thought she was saying is that she would follow him into exile. That she would face that world again. For him.

Michonne looked away. She did want this place. But not more than she wanted Rick to have peace of mind. "My stuff is already packed and ready to go," she said. "I got it ready last night. Just in case."

"Why...why are you doing this?" Rick asked. His hand shook. His eyes watered slightly. "I don't deserve it." His voice was a low whisper.

"I know what it's like to be out there alone," Michonne said. "And I know what it feels like to have a friend choose comfort over companionship. I don't want that to be me. And I won't let that be you."

Rick released a deep breath and rubbed at his eyes. His whole world was shifting in this moment. His entire outlook was changing. He felt similar to how he felt when he was waking up from his deep coma dream. "I~ I can't let you do that," he finally said. "I can't let you follow me out there. Carl needs you. Judith. They need someone to take care of them."

"Carl can take care of himself," Michonne said. "And Judith. I'll explain things to him. He'll understand. He'll want someone to be out there with you. In fact, we'll probably have to talk him down from coming with us anyway. Maybe other people from the group too..."

Rick sighed and sat down in the armchair across from his bed. The weight of what he had done coming down on his shoulders. "I screwed up," he realized.

An overwhelming caring for Rick Grimes swelled in Michonne's chest as she looked on. She went to him and placed a comforting hand on his bowed head. Rick leaned into her and wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her there.

He didn't know what tomorrow would bring. Or if there would even be a tomorrow. But he had been foolish to think that he needed anyone but this woman by his side. Even if he were thrown into exile or if he could somehow talk himself out of the mess he created...whatever happened...he would be okay because Michonne was with him. And she was, more and more, becoming his world.

The End