AN: Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Here's a little chapter for you.
I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think!
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Carol was home only an hour tops from having left Michonne's to run some papers by the police station. As per their original agreement, she was allowed to go home directly after running errands, so it had landed her at home early.
She was already preparing dinner and expecting Daryl to be the only person that she saw for the evening when she glanced out of the window and saw Michonne's car, without explanation, pulling into her driveway.
She shrugged to herself and continued chopping carrots to go into the roast pan, hoping that dinner would still be ready to serve when Daryl got home, even if she had some friend crisis to solve while she scrambled about getting it ready.
Michonne came through the door, using her key to gain access, and stepped inside, shutting the door behind her.
"Is Andrea here?" She asked.
Carol glanced at her from her position and stopping chopping for a moment to keep her fingers from joining the carrots in her dinner. She raised an eyebrow at Michonne.
"No…why would Andrea be here?" Carol asked.
"Because she told me to meet her here," Michonne said.
Carol chuckled slightly and shrugged.
"First I've heard of it," she said, turning her attention back to the carrots. "Something going on?"
"I don't know," Michonne responded. "She sounded cryptic on the phone. I left the office early and called Ty to get the girls because I thought it was something serious. She didn't explain…just told me to be here."
Carol shook her head. She had no idea what Andrea was up to. Andrea only shared the information that she wanted to share. It wasn't like they checked in with each other every hour of the day.
Carol glanced up and tossed the chopped carrots into the roasting pan she had resting on the stove. She glanced out the window again and saw Andrea walking, determined, up the driveway in her black coat, her hair done up, her high heels on, and her make up done.
"Well here comes Andrea…" Carol said. "But she's not dressed to work at the Watering Hole…"
Carol turned around and joined Michonne near the door when Michonne opened it to let the blonde pass inside.
"Ready to go?" Andrea asked, looking at Michonne and practically ignoring that Carol was even standing there.
"Go where?" Michonne asked.
Andrea pulled her hand out from inside the black coat she was wearing and passed Michonne a camera. Then she glanced at Carol.
"Can't say," Andrea said.
"What is this?" Michonne asked, holding up the camera.
Andrea smirked.
"Why Michonne, that there's a picture taker," Andrea said, imitating the thickest Southern drawl that she could. "Don't drop it…belongs to the Korean kid…Glenn. He'll have my ass if it gets broken."
Carol was thoroughly confused and she could tell by Michonne's face that the only person in the room not confused was Andrea.
"What's going on?" Carol asked finally.
"We've got a lil' bus'ness to take care of," Andrea said, keeping her accent.
Carol lowered her eyebrows, the confusion no less severe than before the declaration.
"Should I leave a note?" She asked.
Andrea shook her head.
"Not you, preggo," Andrea said. "Michonne and me…you're staying here. You've got a job."
"What kind of job?" Carol asked.
"Keep the Dixon boys occupied," Andrea said.
"What are you doing?" Carol asked.
Michonne was just standing there, camera in hand, looking no less confused than Carol felt at the moment.
"Nothing for you to worry about," Andrea said. "The less you know, the less likely they'll get anything out of you. Just keep them here…we'll be back."
"How am I supposed to keep them here?" Carol asked, watching Andrea start out the door.
Michonne looked at Carol and shrugged, following Andrea out of the house. Carol stepped to the door and held it open, watching her friends walk toward Michonne's car.
"Fake some mystery pain or something…" Andrea said. "Don't care what you do…just keep them here."
Carol, realizing she wasn't going to get any response from her friends, let the glass door fall shut. She waited until the two of them were in Michonne's car and out of the driveway before she shut the wooden door, hoped she could keep up with her end of whatever ill understood plan was taking place, and went back to cooking dinner in hopes that food might be enough to keep the Dixon men from asking her questions about something she knew absolutely nothing about.
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"Do I get to know where we're going or what we're doing?" Michonne asked, driving in the direction that Andrea directed her, leading out of Sweet Junction.
"We're going to the Jukebox," Andrea said. "Just outside Georgetown. Little dive run by Grover Johnson."
"I've heard of it," Michonne said.
"Great place...makes the Watering Hole look like the Four Seasons," Andrea said. She flipped down the visor in Michonne's car and picked at her makeup, producing a tube of blood red lipstick from her pocket and dabbing at the lipstick she was already wearing.
"And what are we going there for, exactly?" Michonne asked.
Andrea flipped the visor shut.
"We're going to get some hard evidence on Philip Blake," Andrea said. "A little something to teach him to keep his nose in his own business."
Michonne chuckled.
"And what are we getting him for at Grover Johnson's Jukebox, exactly? Public drunkenness? Because it's going to take a lot more than that to ruffle his feathers," Michonne responded.
"Solicitation of prostitution," Andrea said.
The blonde smiled at Michonne and Michonne raised an eyebrow at her.
"And how are we doing that?" Michonne asked.
"Got a friend," Andrea said. "Penny…you don't need to know her last name. She works over there. I've had her and a couple others keeping an eye out for him. He's a man who likes his scotch and he likes to try and pick up women at dives…feeds on the fact that he's got power and he's got money…and smarmy ass charm. Goes without saying that he's not going to stop frequenting those dives."
"That's not a crime…you do work at the Watering Hole, you know…" Michonne said.
Andrea chuckled.
"You're right, I do. So I knew it wouldn't be any problem at all for one of my friends to slip him a little…drink enhancer…and give me a call to let me know where the hell he could be found," Andrea said.
"You had him drugged?" Michonne asked.
Andrea sucked her teeth.
"That's such a strong word," Andrea said. "I had his potential inebriation elevated."
"Now who's the lawyer?" Michonne muttered.
Andrea chuckled.
"So what makes you think that our Philip Blake is going to do anything at all that's noteworthy?" Michonne asked. "You hire a prostitute too?"
Andrea chuckled again. She undid her seatbelt and raised up enough to shuck her coat and sling it in the back seat revealing the fact that she was wearing a tight red dress that barely could even be called that. Michonne raised her eyebrows at her friend as Andrea snapped her seatbelt again.
"Something like that…" Andrea said.
"So you're going to sleep with him?" Michonne asked.
"No…" Andrea said. "I'm going to make him want to sleep with me…then I'm bringing him out into the parking lot, where you'll be waiting with the camera, and I'm going to get him to exchange the money with me while you get photographic evidence."
"And then?" Michonne asked. She wasn't sure about this whole plan, but it appeared that Andrea had thought ahead.
"And then we bust him…he knows we've got the evidence. He knows that in small Southern towns it's just fine if you sleep with prostitutes…you just better not get caught," Andrea said.
Michonne couldn't believe her ears and she couldn't believe that Andrea had put the whole thing together. It was evil…and it was genius.
"You're bad…" Michonne said, smirking.
Andrea grinned.
"I'm very, very bad," she said. "You keep the pictures and he'll keep his distance."
"What if he doesn't go for it? I mean after Carol's trial he might think that you harbor a little bad blood for him…" Michonne pointed out.
Andrea smiled again, licking her teeth to clear off any stray lipstick that might have found its way to their surfaces.
"That's where the drink enhancement comes in…and a certain gift that I was just born with," Andrea said.
"A gift?" Michonne asked with a chuckle.
"Michonne," Andrea said. "I could make you want to fuck me if I had my mind set on it."
Michonne snickered, but she wasn't entirely certain the blonde was wrong at this point.
Andrea shrugged slightly.
"It's really the only gift I've ever had…I can make people want to fuck me…and want to give me what I want to get to fuck me…" Andrea said.
Michonne frowned to herself. She knew that Andrea had self-esteem problems…anyone who knew Andrea for more than a couple of days knew that, but it hurt to hear her sell herself short.
"You've got a lot more going than that," Michonne said.
"Maybe so," Andrea replied, her voice low. She sighed and smiled again. "But tonight, that's all I need…besides…I might as well use it because I have a feeling I'm going to have to put it under lock and key when Merle gets wind of this."
Michonne sucked in a breath. She hoped that Merle wouldn't mind so much that Andrea was using her powers for good and not for evil tonight.
"You sure you want to do this?" Michonne asked.
Andrea nodded.
"You just make sure you get the pictures," Andrea said. "And when I flip the money up to give you a good view, get a good shot of that and let me know you're out there…that's when we call off the deal and we head out. You got your gun?"
Michonne felt her stomach flip flop at the mention of the weapon.
"In the glovebox…we're not shooting anyone…" Michonne said.
Andrea shook her head.
"Not to shoot…just to threaten. Just in case Mr. Blake gets any bright ideas about trying to put a stop to us leaving peacefully with the camera," Andrea said.
Michonne's stomach flopped again, but she understood entirely what Andrea was getting at. Philip Blake would know that photographic evidence of him soliciting prostitution wouldn't go over well. It would more than probably be enough to get him to give up any little grievance he had with Michonne for existing. But he might not take kindly to knowing that the women had it…at least not until they got out of there with it and he knew it was really out of his control. The gun would, just by sight, deter him from trying too much.
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Michonne didn't know how long she'd been crouched behind the car, the camera ready and the gun on the trunk of the car next to her, facing the car that Andrea had identified, right up under the light post, as the place that she would bring the skunk.
She didn't have time to think if this was a bad idea, though, and she hadn't had time to really think of all the ways that this could go wrong before Andrea had gone inside the dive and she'd had no choice but to wait and go through with it.
She figured Andrea might have set it up that way on purpose too, though, so that she couldn't back out. There was nothing to do now but wait and be ready to cover Andrea's ass when they had the evidence and the time was right to save her friend from any unnecessary groping at the hands of such a smarmy asshole.
So when Andrea and Philip Blake emerged from the bar, Michonne started taking pictures. She tried not to pay much attention to what she was watching, even as it happened through the camera lense, but some of it couldn't be avoided.
She watched as Andrea, as she promised she would, brought the man into clear view in the light. She watched as Andrea worked him too. Teasing him. Michonne had to admit, for all she knew Andrea was a pro at this. It wasn't her first rodeo.
But what was most important was that Philip Blake was taking the bait and he was swallowing it hook, line, and sinker. Whether it was the drugs that he probably didn't know about or Andrea's sexual gift, he was out to have what he wanted from the blonde…and Michonne hoped that now that they were in this, he was out to have it at any price.
She snapped pictures, her stomach turning a little for her friend, and smiled to herself when she got a close zoom on the man as he produced his wallet, counting out bills. She snapped a picture just as the money exchanged hands, his mouth going to Andrea's neck, but thankfully not blocking Michonne's view, and she snapped the final picture when Andrea's fingers flipped the money up and into plain view before she chuckled loudly at something that the snake must have said.
And then Michonne stood up, slipping her wrist through the camera chord so that she wouldn't accidentally drop it. Her nerves had more control over her at the moment than she wanted to admit. She picked up the gun, praying that she didn't have to use it, comforted that the safety was on but easily flipped off if she needed it to be, and clicked her tongue at them, stepping forward.
"Game's up," Michonne called.
She watched as Andrea shoved Philip Blake off of her, the man stumbling a little in his intoxication and now his confusion.
"What the hell?" He asked.
Andrea started toward Michonne, surer on her feet than Philip Blake despite the heels and the gravel that surely made for a rocky combination.
"I've got it all on film," Michonne said, casting her eyes toward Andrea who was walking to join her. "Everything."
Philip Blake stood there, nothing registering for the moment, his eyes glancing toward the gun in Michonne's shaky hand that she was willing not to shake so much.
"What do you want, Michonne?" Philip Blake asked after a second.
"I've got what I want," she said. "You leave me alone…you leave my family alone…you leave my friends alone…and no one ever has to know that Philip Blake buys his women."
Philip Blake stood there a moment, a smile registering on his face. He shrugged.
"If you turn me in for soliciting…remember that you've also got evidence of the prostitute," he said, glancing at Andrea who was now standing beside Michonne.
"That's right," Andrea said. Her tone of voice dripping with sarcasm. "And I'd really hate for anything to soil my pristine reputation."
"Do we have a deal?" Michonne asked. "You leave me alone…leave all of us alone…and nothing ever has to go beyond this parking lot."
Philip Blake smiled again, holding his hands up in surrender toward Michonne and her shaky weapon.
"You could serve time for prostitution, you know," Philip Blake said to Andrea. "Is it worth it…just to try to manipulate me to keep my mouth shut about your so called friend who deals dirty?"
Michonne heard Andrea's breathy chuckle.
"I've always said I'd like to try having a girlfriend," Andrea said. "I think I'd give it a whirl…if I had to. Besides…you made me feel like shit in court. Making you feel just as bad…that would be worth it all on its own."
Michonne swallowed, wondering how this was going to go down.
Philip Blake frowned, though, and after a second he held his hands up a little higher and then nodded.
"Fine," he said. He shrugged. "You've got what you want…you got me."
Michonne held her breath.
"So you're going to back off?" She asked.
Philip Blake shrugged.
"What can I do? You've got me over a barrel right now…but there will be other opportunities…and I'll see you in court," he said. "I hope you're as confident there as you are in the parking lot with your hooker girlfriend."
Now it was Michonne's turn to chuckle.
"If I see you in court," Michonne said, "then you really better be scared of me. You haven't tangled with me yet…and I play to win."
Philip Blake chuckled.
"A threat?" He asked.
Michonne shook her head.
"Promise," she said. "I meant what I said though, don't mess with any of us…or these go directly to County to be distributed."
Michonne heard the crunch of gravel as Andrea turned and headed back to her car. She waited a moment longer, and Philip Blake made no move whatsoever. Finally, she lowered the gun and quickly walked back to the car, turning and glancing over her shoulder at intervals, and finally watching him firmly while she got in. The man never moved. He dropped his hands eventually, but he continued to stand there, watching them watching him while they got in the car.
Once they were inside and the doors were locked, Michonne passed the gun to Andrea who put it silently into the glove box and then she passed her the camera.
It was only then that she allowed herself to breathe.
Michonne cranked the car and pulled off, leaving the man in the parking lot of the run down drive.
"Do you think he'll back off?" Andrea asked.
"We can hope," Michonne said.
She didn't know if he would surely back off, but she hoped he would. He had a lot to lose if he didn't and Andrea had sounded pretty confident about the fact that if the whole thing landed her in jail she wouldn't mind going. Michonne didn't think she could ever do that to her friend, but she was glad that Andrea had at least come off as sounding like it genuinely wouldn't bother her one way or another.
"I think he will," Andrea said. She sighed.
"Why do you say that?" Michonne asked.
Andrea chuckled.
"Because the fucker was disgustingly hard," Andrea said. "And men don't like well when there's not a whole lot of blood getting to their brains."
Michonne chuckled and glanced at Andrea who was sitting in the passenger seat and looking very satisfied with herself.
"Back to Carol's?" Michonne asked. "Or did you want to stop somewhere and change?"
"Back to Carol's," Andrea said. "It's best we get it all out there in the open…and the dress might make it harder for Merle to be angry."
Michonne chuckled again and nodded to herself.
"Andrea…" she said. She glanced back at Andrea. "Thank you…"
"Don't mention it," Andrea said. "It's kind of nice…you know…to know you still got it."
Michonne smiled.
"Oh, you've got it," Michonne said. "Now let's get home before the Dixon boys get Carol."
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AN: So I hope you enjoyed how they got the one up on Philip.
I know that a lot of readers of TWD fanfic are always out for blood, but this is AU and killing people…well it's not something that goes over all that well and I'm not trying to be outrageously out there. There are ways in the real world, homicide not included, that people can get revenge/get the upper hand on those that are messing with them.
So for those of you that are a little bloodthirsty, sorry to disappoint. Hope you weren't too let down with the way that we've shut his mouth.