As Rick stood behind Maggie and Michonne on the steps of the Monroe town home waiting for Deanna to answer the door, he found himself staring at Michonne's back, or rather, the absence of what was there. He looked down to the ground and let his eyes travel upward until they became fixed on the same spot again. Same boots, same pants, but a snug plum colored sweater replaced her standard vest and tank top and hid her toned arms that were usually on display. Without the katana, she still had an air of authority and strength about her, but he'd never noticed how slight she actually was; how her slender back tapered down into her tiny waist.

"Well, look at you," Deanna said with a gasp and a wide smile as she opened the door to the threesome. "What a team I've got here. On time and good looking, to boot. I can only imagine how you'll look all dressed up tonight. Come in, come in," she instructed as she stepped aside to let them enter.

Rick followed behind Maggie and Michonne noticing how comfortable they already felt in Deanna's home as they headed into her kitchen and took a seat at the small table where a tea kettle sat on a trivet in center with four mugs and a box of tea bags next to it. The ladies began taking turns preparing their drinks while Rick stood in front of the empty seat watching and waiting.

"Oh, Michonne, Reg found a few more of the green jasmine teabags in the back of the cabinet the other day. I know how much you like that flavor."

Before Michonne could show her gratitude, Deanna had looked up to see Rick still standing.

"Rick," she said in a chiding tone. "Have a seat."

"I'm fine. I assumed we were heading out soon."

"Soon, but sit for now. Let's run through the agenda before we walk the grounds."

Michonne looked over her shoulder and met his eyes, then drew hers down to the empty space beside her, wordlessly imploring him to fall in line. He pulled the chair out, and sat stiffly in his seat which satisfied Deanna.

"That's better," she said addressing him with a smile before widening her focus to the rest of the table. "How was the rest of your evening yesterday?"

"Rosita, Tara, and I worked on sprucin' up the house again. We moved some of the furniture around, and hung some framed pictures we found in the garage. It's really coming along," Maggie answered first.

"Starting to feel like home?"

"Yes ma'am."

"That's wonderful," Deanna replied warmly before she turned her attention to Michonne. "And how about you Michonne?"

"Carol cooked a big meal for Rick, the kids, Daryl, and me, so we had a nice sit-down dinner. I helped Carl with some of his homework, and then I did some work before I went to sleep," she said ending the rundown of her quiet evening with a smile for Deanna's sake.

"And you, Rick?" Deanna asked.

"Pretty much the same as hers," he said flatly as he pointed his thumb at Michonne.

Michonne didn't need to look at him to know that he was losing patience with this exchange of pleasantries; out of the corner of her eye, she could see his hands fidgeting on the table and hear the irritation in his voice. She gave him a moment to mind his manners, and redirect the question to Deanna, but was met with silence.

"How was your evening, Deanna?" she asked.

"Oh, it was lovely. After dinner, Reg and I took a nice walk around the neighborhood then we went to the opera," she said breaking into a chuckle. "Or that's what we like to call it. We're on a bit of a Verdi kick right now, so we listened to a recording of Rigoletto, and it was perfection. Really," she said with a wistful smile as she recalled the evening as if she had actually been at the Kennedy Center the night before. "If you ever want to borrow any of our recordings, or better yet, if you want to come join us one evening, just say the word."

Michonne followed Deanna's line of vision directly to Rick whose eyebrows had crinkled ever so slightly at the suggestion, and she looked down and tried to stifle the grin that was threatening to form on her lips. She couldn't help being amused at the unbridled positivity Deanna was giving off in the face of Rick's dour mood.

"Thank you," he said with a nod.

Michonne took a sip of her tea and looked back and forth between Rick and Deanna before setting her mug down and fishing a piece of paper with handwritten bullet-points out of a file folder she had brought with her. She pushed the paper in Deanna's direction deciding it was time to get to business.

"So this is a very basic list of proposed security measures for the community that I put together last night; just a starting point, if you will," Michonne explained as Deanna began to peruse the list.

Given there were no copy machines or working printers, there was only one copy available. Rick peered across the table at the sheet in Deanna's hand then at Michonne who was focused on Deanna as she read through the points, silently mouthing the words as she did. He found it strange that he hadn't been involved in creating, or at least seeing, this document she had drafted by herself just down the hall from him last night.

"Well, I think, for the most part, these sound like reasonable precautions," she said as she pushed the paper back into the center of the table. "Reg has always been a proponent of fortifying and maintaining the walls, so you'll get no push back from us there."

Rick reached across and pulled the paper in front of him so that he could review it himself as Deanna continued to speak. He skimmed the list of familiar ideas, all as expected, until he reached the final item. He clenched his jaw and pushed the paper away from him, directing his attention, once again, to Michonne as she nodded along with Deanna's words.

"Can we talk about weapons in the community?" he inserted as soon as she came to a pause.

Michonne's relaxed demeanor faded as she turned her attention to Rick.

"Rick," Deanna sighed. "I know you think that we should all be armed within the walls, but I can't do that."

"You're gonna have to come around on that. These aren't suggestions or reasonable precautions," he said with a slight sneer as he quoted her, "these are necessary measures if you want to keep this place safe."

"We haven't had the need," she explained.

"Doesn't mean you won't," he retorted.

"I think we can all agree that there should be training," Michonne offered as she looked between the two of them, hoping to offer some common ground.

"Yes," Deanna agreed. "Training for those interested."

"For everyone," Rick insisted.

"We can't force people to do this," Deanna said in an almost pleading tone.

Michonne and Maggie met eyes across the table, each acknowledging the impending breakdown about to occur.

"You know," Maggie started with her sweet, even voice, "when I first met Rick, back at my daddy's farm, we were in a similar situation. We'd been lucky, hadn't had any problems, so some of us were reluctant, too. Rick and some of his people trained us the right way, and I'm grateful for that. These are just skills people need nowadays."

Deanna took in a deep breath and released a sigh as she nodded thoughtfully at Maggie.

"Same here," Michonne added as she looked to Deanna. "I didn't have much experience with guns. Rick, Daryl, Maggie...they taught me everything I know."

"I find that hard to believe," Deanna said skeptically as she looked at the woman she'd come to refer to in her head as the samurai.

"It's the truth," Michonne said with a soft smile as she narrowed her gaze at Deanna and leaned toward her. "You brought us here for a reason. Let us share what we've learned," she urged.

Deanna sighed again and looked at three faces staring back at her before she gave a firm nod.

"We'll start with the adults first-"

"Everyone," Rick stressed, cutting her off.

Deanna looked to Michonne who nodded in agreement with Rick.

"Fine," she relented. "Introductory lessons for everyone, with an option to opt out after a required number of sessions."

"I think that sounds fair," Michonne said with a nod to reassure Deanna before looking to Rick. He stared back at her blankly before relenting and giving his own nod of agreement.

"So that's settled. I trust you'll be patient with me and the others? It's not exactly my forte," Deanna returned with her typical humor and moxie, not looking beat up at all, but rather invigorated by their tough negotiation.

"Of course," Maggie answered with a grin.

"Why don't we head out now so you can show me some of your plans for the outside," she said as she pushed her chair back and stood.

Maggie, Michonne, and Rick followed suit and stood, as well. Rick waited to allow the three women to exit the kitchen before he started to walk behind them to the door. Maggie joined Deanna and engaged her in conversation about final plans for that evening's party as they set out to start their tour of the perimeter at the tower. Michonne paused on the doorstep to wait for Rick as he closed the door behind him. He turned to find himself almost face to face with her in the small space they shared on the stoop.

"We had to start with training, no matter what," she whispered as he peered down at her blankly, choosing not to agree or disagree. "We'll put our time into training them the right way. Slowly and safely. Once everyone gets used to handling weapons, and she gets more comfortable with the idea, she'll start to come around and we can revisit carrying weapons within the walls if we need to."

"If?"

Michonne shook her head up and down in response, bracing herself for the disapproval she could see on his face.

"You remember the prison, Michonne?" he asked as he cocked his head to one side, his voice laced with a sarcasm she'd heard him use with others time and time again, but never with her, at least not since their first encounter.

"Don't," she said calmly to counteract the mounting agitation on his end. "You're looking for trouble that isn't there."

"Am I? Can you say that with a hundred percent certainty?"

"Of course not, but even if there was, there's no way around it. These people aren't ready yet."

"And we won't be either," he explained, his tone and expression softening as he lowered his head to meet her eyes. "But we still have your sword. We still have that just in case things go south quick, right?"

Michonne furrowed her brow at the slight grin that formed on his face as he asked that question. Clearly he was aware of what she'd done with her sword, and she couldn't help but feel this was a subtle dig.

"It's close by if we need it. So are our guns," she answered begrudgingly as she broke her eyes away from his to seek out Deanna and Maggie who were well ahead of them by now and seemingly oblivious to their absence.

"Then we'll do it your way."

"This isn't my way. We're not in charge here."

He grunted and shrugged his shoulders indifferently in response then looked away from Michonne to seek out the other members of their party himself.

"We can finish this later. We need to go," Michonne suggested as she turned to take the first step down from the porch while he followed behind her.

xxxx

"So I've got all of the canned and jarred good organized alphabetically. Applesauce, beans," said the chipper voice as she pointed at the items lining the top shelf. "Then the beans are subcategorized, alphabetically of course: black beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, lima beans, navy beans. Soups are the same: chicken noodle, cream of celery, cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, tomato, vegetable..." The woman trailed off and turned to look at Michonne, smiling expectantly.

"It's impressive," she said as she motioned her hand toward the immaculately kept rows of products.

"Sorry I'm late, Olivia. I just...lost track of time."

Michonne and Olivia turned their attention to the blonde woman who had come barreling through the door with a busy, nervous energy that disrupted the quiet, controlled environment they were standing in.

"Oh, it's no problem! I was just showing Michonne around the food pantry. I was going to give her a tour of the armory next."

"I can do that if you want to take off."

"Shoot," Olivia muttered as she checked her watch, "it's almost 4:30. I actually do need to get home to check on my slow cooker." She turned toward Michonne to explain why she was going to have to pass her off to Jessie. "I've got a venison chili going with some meat Tobin shared with me. I'd hate to overcook it because it's not something I get my hands on too often."

Michonne pursed her lips and nodded in understanding, or at least what she hoped came off that way. She could think of worse things in the world than overcooked venison chili, but she'd also experienced much worse than any of these people had.

"Go on. I've got it," Jessie said as she waved her off.

"OK, just be sure to lock up afterwards. I'll see you both at Deanna's thing tonight?" she asked as she started toward the door.

"Yep," Michonne confirmed as she waved good bye.

"See you then!" She stopped once more as she placed her hand on the door knob. "Oh, Michonne, help yourself to something before you go. It's just a little something I do for all the new people, like a welcome gift."

"Thanks," she said with a smile before returning her attention to Jessie.

"So, um, where did she leave off?" she asked distractedly as she looked down, massaging her temples with her finger tips before running them through her hair to gather it into a ponytail, securing it with the rubber band around her wrist.

"Are you all right?" Michonne asked as she eyed the woman in front of her.

"Yeah, of course," Jessie said nonchalantly as she straightened up and took a deep breath in.

"We never met formally, by the way. Michonne." She brought her hand to her chest for emphasis before bringing the other arm up to meet it, folding them across her chest in an easy, relaxed stance.

"Jessie," she returned with a friendly, lopsided grin.

"Sorry I didn't stop by to say hello the other day..."

"No worries. We were supposed to give you all some space to get settled in, but it just didn't feel right," Jessie said with a as she scrunched her face and shrugged her shoulders in place of an apology.

"What were you working on?" Jessie tilted her head curiously as the question. "In the driveway," Michonne clarified.

"Oh, the scraps. I'm making an owl sculpture with my boys. We do lots of little projects to keep busy, take our minds off of things, you know?"

"I do. You and your boys are bringing back the found art movement," she joked with a bright smile.

"Hmm?"

Michonne chastised herself for Jessie's apparent confusion. Again with the social awkwardness, she thought to herself, wondering when small talk would finally get easier.

"It's just the name for a style of art where people take unconventional objects and turn them into…well, art," she explained.

"Oh, Dev said that, too. He used a French word for it, though…"

"Poubellisme?"

"That's it. Only he said it meant trash art or something?" she said with a laugh as she rolled her eyes.

"Well, technically that's right, but it's all the same. Found art sounds nicer, though."

"Much nicer," Jessie agreed with a grin. "Have you met Dev yet?"

Michonne tilted her head in thought. So many of the new names and faces she'd encountered over the past couple of days were running together, but that one didn't ring a bell.

"No, I don't think so."

"He's not around much since he's on one of our run teams, but he dabbles in art projects in his spare time. He always picks up supplies on runs, so he shares what he finds with me and a few other people who are into crafting. He's actually been trying to get a group of us together to paint murals on some of the walls."

"Sounds like a nice idea. What's stopping him?"

"Just not enough interest. I'd love to help, but I can't seem to find the time."

"Really? Feels like we have nothing but time in here."

"Between taking care of my boys, my husband, work...it's just hard to get away, you know?" Jessie explained as she looked down at the ground briefly and shrugged her shoulders.

"Right."

They came to a pause as Michonne watched Jessie fiddle with the sleeve of her plaid shirt that had come unrolled from its cuff. Once she secured it again, she looked up and pinched her face before starting to laugh nervously.

"God, I'm good at getting side tracked. Anyway...you wanted to see the armory?"

"Sure."

xxxx

"Mashed lima beans, cocoa powder, a little sweetener. I would have eaten it before all this, I swear. It's protein and it fills you up," the tallest and slimmest of the three women who worked in the kitchen excitedly told Carol as they took a break from cooking out on the porch.

"Sounds delicious," Carol said with a feigned smile as she watched the three women avert their eyes from here and look away to the street. She followed their gaze to find a uniformed Rick walking by, smiling and raising his hand to wave at them.

"Afternoon, ladies! Carol, you mind if I steal you for a minute?"

Carol looked back at her new acquaintances to find the tall brunette smiling at her curiously, possibly even with a hint of envy. Carol shrugged her shoulders innocently in response.

"I'll be back," she assured them before she began to walk away.

"You need anything else, you hit me, girl," the brunette called after her catching her off guard.

"Okay, thanks."

She kept a smile on her face as she met Rick in the street and began walking with him.

"I'm in," he said quietly as he continued to patrol the neighborhood, letting his eyes go anywhere but Carol's direction.

"Glad you came to your senses..." she said through her forced smile.

"Let's just keep this between us, OK?"

"I should be saying that to you. You've heard about the party?"

"Yep, everyone's gonna be there."

"That's right. I'll slip out tonight since the armory is right next to Deanna's."

"I'll back you up."

"People might wonder where their new constable is or Carl's dad."

"Good point."

"I've got it," she said sweetly, finally looking up at him. "You know what's great about this place? I get to be invisible again."