A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed the last instalment: Beautiful77; literaturechick; severelybabykryptonite; KK; Guestz; CodeName-M.e; simple1234; RichonneSlag; and thanks to those silent readers as well.
Do those who made a comment about Morgan being in the house when Rick left and again when he woke up think that he's rightfully annoyed? Or is making a huge deal out of nothing? I mean, would he be all pissy if Michonne was spending more time with say Daryl or Abraham? I'm curious lol.
Okay, let's check in…
Michonne and Morgan had just left the safety of the walled community of Alexandria. He noticed how her demeanour shifted when she was on the outside. She was watchful and attentive, taking note of each sound or object that she sensed. Morgan found her to be ever-impressive the more time they spent with each other.
"So," he started. "About last night. I wanted to thank you again. It meant a great deal to me to be able to have those conversations. Surprisingly, not a lot of people I've come across can relate to losing a child."
Michonne nodded, feeling that familiar lump in her throat.
"It's fine," she said; her eyes scanning their surroundings. "Thanks for listenin' to me too. No one else knows about my son. Except Carl."
"What about Rick?" queried Morgan, knowing how close they were.
"No. Not even Rick," she answered and fell silent again.
Morgan said nothing else as he could tell she would speak when she wanted to. After they walked a short distance, Michonne continued.
"Sometimes, I want to tell him. Especially when we thought we'd lost Judith. But it was never the right time. He respects that I'm a private person, so he never asks about where I was before I stayed with this group."
"You're so interesting, though. I find it hard to believe Rick would never sit down and pick your brain or even wonder about your life before," Morgan said in earnest.
Michonne shrugged.
"I'm not interesting. We're all the same now, just tryin' to survive," she offered.
"Still, I'd have thought he'd at least ask about you," Morgan said as he stopped to press against a loose sheet of metal on the fence.
"Well, we were trying to stay alive and all that," Michonne said defensively. "Didn't really have the time."
"You have the time now," he replied.
"Is that section gonna be okay?" Michonne asked referring to the loose panel.
"It's gonna need fixin' in time, but should be alright for now," Morgan responded, noting that Michonne had changed the subject.
They continued to walk in silence.
"Part of me wished he would ask; it would make it easier to open up. For both of us," she offered quietly.
Morgan heard the longing and sadness in her voice.
xXxXx
The house was quiet the rest of the afternoon while Carl attends school and Judith is napping. Rick only had one visitor, Glenn, who reported the follow-up status of their pre-emptive strike the night before.
"Who went out?" Rick asked as he sat on the porch step with Glenn.
"Daryl and Sasha; Carol and Spencer are in the tower and Michonne and Morgan are walking the perimeter," the younger man answered.
"Daryl and Sasha back yet?"
"Yeah, twenty minutes ago. Daryl's about to do some more weapons training with Abe and me and Sasha are gonna relieve Michonne and Morgan soon," he explained.
"Did they find any survivors?" Rick asked while glancing around the neighbourhood.
People were ambling around with determination now; each one of them had a duty to complete, and all were still on high alert.
"No. Daryl didn't find any tracks leading away. Looks like we got 'em all," Glenn said.
"We still need to be alert. They could've had more people. You've all done well, Glenn," offered Rick in earnest.
Glenn nodded.
"I think we'll be alright for the time being," Rick added.
He looked up to see Michonne and Morgan approaching; Glenn noticed too.
"I'd better go. See you later," he said while sprinting away.
"Yeah," answered Rick.
He dropped his head a moment, and then watched as his friends drew near. They stopped to speak to Glenn, who then left them standing there; they did not advance. Rick watched on as Michonne continued to speak to Morgan. She then placed her hand to Morgan's shoulder briefly, causing him to smile at her. Rick felt his face grow warm as he took in their display. Michonne then held her bandaged finger up, and Morgan reached cautiously for her hand; he held it in his palm and continued speaking, seemingly examining the broken digit. Rick felt his jaw clench as he stood and walked inside.
…..
Rick sat on the sofa with a sleepy looking Judith on his lap who had just woken up; she seemed to be running a fever. Michonne and Morgan came through the door and Michonne immediately moved to sit next to them. Judith cooed as she reached for her. Michonne leaned over and kissed her head; her eyes locked with Rick's a moment before he averted his gaze.
"Judy, you feel warm. Are you hungry, baby?" she asked sweetly; Morgan took a seat on the armchair. Rick sighed and tilted his head to the side slightly.
"Is someone cranky?" Michonne asked.
"She just got up from a nap," Rick informed her.
"I wasn't talkin' about her," said Michonne jokingly as she nudged Rick with her arm.
He did not find it funny. Michonne sighed.
Must be in a bad mood again, she thought to herself.
"Does she have any more applesauce in the fridge?" she asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Rick said flatly as he kept his gaze on Judith.
Michonne got up, made her way into the kitchen to retrieve the food; Rick and Morgan spoke about the defence capabilities of the wall as it stood.
"Probably need to strip some of the fences inside and use as fortifications until we can organize a run for better materials," said Morgan. "I'm happy to be on that crew."
Rick inwardly mused that Morgan did not seem to like to get his hands dirty anymore.
"Well you won't need to kill anyone, so you'll be a welcome addition to that crew," Rick said snidely.
"Not everything is about death, Rick. There's still so much life left to live and joy to be found," said Morgan as he glanced at Michonne who had re-entered the room and sat near Rick.
Rick just stared at his friend incredulously wondering why on earth he sounded like a Hallmark card.
"You about ready?" Morgan asked of Michonne.
"I was just gonna feed Judy first," she answered, not looking at Rick.
"Where are you goin' now?" queried Rick as he furrowed his brow.
She finally met his gaze.
"I was, uh…going to…"
"I invited her over for dinner," Morgan explained. "You and the kids are more than welcome too, of course."
Rick stared at Morgan a moment before giving a response.
"Thanks. But we wouldn't want to impose," he stated in his slow southern drawl; Michonne thought it sounded as if he was answering for her too.
"It's okay, it'll just be the two of us," she offered cheerfully to her new friend, wanting to dispel the sour mood that had crept in and reassure Morgan she would still be dining with him.
"It's a bit early, ain't it?" asked Rick.
"Yeah, but I was gonna help sort through some of the boxes over at Morgan's place since no one had time to clear it properly," Michonne explained.
Morgan nodded and everything fell quiet.
Rick could not help but think how pointless it was for her to be over at Morgan's place sorting through the belongings of people who were probably dead. It seemed like another excuse for her to get out of the house. Or maybe she just wanted more alone time with his friend; he could not tell, but both scenarios caused him much aggravation.
Michonne removed the plastic lid from the applesauce container and stirred the mixture with the spoon; gripping it awkwardly in her left hand.
"Here," she said as she gestured to Rick. "Face her this way."
If she wants to get out of our house, she should just leave now, Rick reasoned; the ire growing inside of him.
"Give it here," he replied as he reached for the small tub. "Don't trouble yourself. I got it."
"Rick, it's fine," Michonne replied as she tried to pull the container away.
Rick caught hold of Michonne's wrist so that she could not move it.
"No. I'll feed her. You hand it over and run along now," Rick said evenly as he squeezed harder than he realized.
"Rick! Let me go!" Michonne pleaded, feeling his grip tighten.
"Hand it over!" he demanded, raising his voice and pulling her hand closer to him.
Judith whimpered and let out a sob.
"Rick!" she said, matching his tone and drawing her hand back. "Stop. You're hurting me!"
Finally, realizing he was being unreasonable and domineering, Rick relinquished his hold of Michonne's wrist. She pulled back and the sudden movement caused the applesauce to spill down her front.
"Shit!" she exclaimed as she stood. Morgan stood as well.
Michonne held her hand up as the food dripped to the floor. She shot Rick a displeased glare and stomped off into the kitchen. Rick cursed, asked Morgan to watch Judith and followed after Michonne.
He found her standing at the sink wetting a cloth and wiping her jeans.
"Sorry," Rick said as he ran his fingers through his hair.
Michonne shook her head and remained quiet.
"Let me see," said Rick as he stepped closer and went to examine her injury.
Michonne pulled away.
"Don't," she ordered, cleaning the applesauce from near her bandaged finger.
"Michonne," he said softly, completely different from the irrational man who did not know how to behave in front of company.
"Get your shit together, Rick. You're actin' weird," she offered.
"I could say the same to you! Runnin' off to dinner and laughin' at stupid fuckin' jokes, that's not you," he spat.
Michonne rolled her eyes.
"That is me, Rick. At least it's a part of me from before. But you wouldn't know that, because you can't be fucked askin', am I right?" Michonne said loudly, her hand on her hip.
Silence
"Do you even care enough to ask?" she said as she felt her eyes begin to water.
"Of course I care…"
Michonne snorted.
"Why are you such a control freak?" she asked quietly.
"Why can't you stand to be around me for more than five minutes?" Rick questioned; louder this time.
"That's not the case…"
"Then what's goin' on?" asked Rick. "You're runnin' off to sort through boxes of other people's shit? We got our own shit to deal with!"
"I'm not doing this now. We'll talk about it later," Michonne said as she turned to leave.
"Don't walk away from me, damn it!" Rick said loudly.
Michonne screwed her face up, shook her head and left.
A/N: Do you think Michonne should have told Rick about André first?
Should Rick have asked about her life before?
Do you think Morgan is catching feelings for our girl?
Will they ever work things out?
More to come!
