Author's Note: Hi everyone! I'm back from a long hiatus on this story, but I was finishing another one of my fics 'Blank Slate.' Now that that's completed, I can go back to this one. I promised to finish all of my fics eventually, and that is one promise I am trying to keep, so please excuse the long breaks in between chapters. Many times I'm waiting for inspiration and great ideas to make the stories even better. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please leave a review. Thank you!

The sun gently broke through a cloud, and sent a ray of sunlight down on Rick and Michonne's picnic. They sat on a blanket in Michonne's backyard, sipping warm lemonade and eating sandwiches that Michonne had prepared. The two of them sat beside each other, occasionally shooting quick longing glances in each others direction, while trying to keep their conversation going.

"So um… how are things going at the factory?" Michonne asked, taking a sip of her lemonade while pretending a passing ant was more interesting than it really was.

"They're okay. My people are smart, they can function without me. Especially with Carol, Merle, Sasha, and Maggie there to keep an eye on things," Rick declared, glancing at Michonne and then redirecting his eyes down to the blanket.

"You have a lot of faith in them."

Rick nodded. "I do. We've been through so much together, I trust 'em with my life. They've saved my life, lots of times."

"It must be nice," Michonne said somewhat wistfully, "to be that close to people. To have family."

"You have family too," Rick said, answering a little too quickly. He realized the implication of his words and shyly looked down. "I mean… you know… people who care about you." Rick looked up and saw that Michonne was staring at him hopefully. "Carl and I, and Judith… we… we care about you."

Michonne's eyes widened in surprise and a small smile teased her lips.

"I care about you guys too," she replied.

They sat quietly for a few moments more, Michonne rotating her glass of lemonade in her hand, and Rick looking into the distance.

"So once Carl gets better, what are your plans?"

Rick's head snapped to Michonne. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, are you going back to the factory?"

Rick looked like a deer in headlights. He blinked rapidly as if the thought of going home had never crossed his mind.

"I really haven't thought about that yet. I've spent most of my time focused on Carl and what he needs, I just honestly never thought of when I'd come back. I mean, Carl needs to be here for now for his check ups with Dr. Denise, but if she gives him a clean bill of health then I guess that is where we're headed."

"You guess?" Michonne asked, tilting her head. "Isn't the factory your home?"

"I wouldn't call it a home. It's more like a shelter. A safe place for us to rest our heads. We've made it livable, but I've always been a supporter of home is where the heart is."

"And your heart's not there?" Michonne asked hopefully, looking briefly at Rick's nose and then dragging her eyes up to meet his.

"Not right now," Rick replied.

Michonne's eyes slowly moved to his pink lips, almost hidden beneath his beard. They looked juicy, welcoming, but then she remembered something.

"Why do you still wear your ring?" She inquired before lying down on the blanket and propping her head on her hand, watching him intently.

"What?" Rick asked, taken completely off guard. He had been silently hyping himself up to move in and kiss her and he didn't expect that question at all.

"Your wedding ring," Michonne said, gesturing with her chin at the shiny gold band.

"Oh," Rick said, looking down at the band as if surprised to see it there.

"Most days I forget it's even there" he admitted. "Putting it on is a habit that I've done for so long I don't think about it."

He began to twirl the ring around his finger absentmindedly.

"Does it bother you?" He asked, leaning in closer to read her every expression.

"Well, rings usually mean you're unavailable. Isn't that the point?" She asked.

He studied the ring that had been something of a safety net for so long. Lori had been dead for over a year, and even before her death their marriage was barely hanging on. He was using its presence as a shield for his heart, to keep even the prospect of another woman away. But he'd already found another woman without even looking for her. The final step was to get rid of the physical barrier.

"You're right," he agreed. He looked down at the ring, twirled it to loosen it, and then removed it from his finger.

Michonne looked at his finger that had a permanent indent from the ring being there so long.

Rick looked back at Michonne with a smirk. "I'm available."

She smiled, revealing her white teeth.

Rick glanced down at Michonne's lips, and then back up at her beautiful brown eyes. He had been longing to feel those lips on his for a while now, fantasizing about what it would feel like for her to grant him the privilege of kissing her. His stomach fluttered nervously when she shifted her weight closer to him, and rested her glass of lemonade on the blanket.

She stared at his lips too, looking up at him with uncertainty. Taking a chance, Rick leaned forward, making his intentions clear. It was up to her if she wanted to kiss him or not.

Michonne smiled slightly and leaned in to Rick, their lips meeting in the middle. An electrical jolt went through both of their bodies, coaxing a small moan from Michonne's mouth, and making Rick take a breath. Her lips on his felt better than he could have imagined. He felt an immediate soreness in his groin that shocked and embarrassed him.

Michonne was taken aback by how her body responded to Rick's chaste kiss. Once his lips touched hers she immediately wanted more. She needed more.

Her lips parted of their own accord, to allow Rick entrance, and his tongue slipped in, mingling with her own. She moaned again, overwhelmed by the soft warmness that was him.

Rick grunted and leaned in closer to her, his left hand steadying himself on the blanket, as his right hand cupped her cheek, drawing her in more. Michonne's arms wrapped around Rick's waist, slowly caressing his back as she kissed back, nipping and pulling at his lips.

Her enthusiasm turned Rick on, and his pants were unbearably tight. Taking control of the situation, he slowly pushed her down on the blanket, laying on top of her as they continued to kiss. His hands slowly stroked her locs, as he pressed little kisses around her mouth, and then went back in with his tongue.

Michonne was overwhelmed with warmth for this man. His soft kisses, his touch, everything about it was gentle, but she could feel his desire for her through his pants, and through his kisses. She felt the same spark she had felt the first time that he'd touched her. A connection that she'd perceived even when they were enemies. And now that she knew the true him, the connection was even stronger.

"Michonne, I don't want to leave you," Rick said softly, taking a break from kissing her to hiss out that sentence.

Her eyes fluttered open, still love drunk from their heated kiss.

"Huh?" Michonne asked breathlessly.

"No matter what happens, I don't want to leave you," Rick said again. "Whether you want to come back to the Factory, or you want us to stay here. I… I don't want to be far from you."

Michonne smiled and her eyes filled up with tears. "I don't want to leave you either," she whispered. "I don't want you to leave."

"I won't," Rick said, running his fingers down her cheeks. "You're part of this family. We're gonna stay with you, where we belong."

Michonne smiled and reached up, pulling Rick down on top of her again, pulling him in for another kiss.

***can08writer***

"What d-did you and my dad do when i was at prar-get… tar-get practice?" Carl asked, frustratingly blinking when the sentence didn't come out as smoothly as he planned in his head. He sat at the kitchen island and sipped a glass of water.

Carl still had heavy bandages wrapped around his head, but they were mostly concentrated across the healing skin covering his eye, and the lacerations on the right side of his face. The left side of his face was completely uncovered, and he looked the most like himself than he had for the past few months. His speech was also steadily getting better, making Denise believe that practice and speech therapy could eventually get him back to where he used to be.

"Nothing," Michonne said with a shrug, turning to wipe off the kitchen counter, partially to hide her face from Carl. "We just hung out."

Carl paused and tilted his head at Michonne's back with a disbelieving look. "Hung out?" he asked, pointing at an empty carton of powdered lemonade that sat on the counter, "you two drank all the le- lemonade."

"We drank lemonade as we hung out," Michonne replied, still not facing Carl as she put away a few of Judith's sippy cups that were drying next to the sink.

Carl was quiet for a while, and Michonne turned around after he didn't say anything more.

"You okay?" she asked.

Carl looked thoughtful as he ran a finger around the lip of his glass of water.

"I was thinking a-about my mom," Carl said, and Michonne's eyes widened in surprise.

"She don… didn't die t-too long ago. Only as long as Judith is old..."

"I know Carl," Michonne said, inadvertently cutting him off. She immediately felt guilty that she spending time with his dad was making him remember his mom's death.

Carl, ignoring Michonne's interruption, continued. "My mom died to keep Judith a-live. I… I know w… why, she did that."

"Carl…" Michonne said again, about to convince him that she wasn't trying to take his mom's place at all, but Carl held up his hand.

"My mom died so Judith and I c-could live a good life and be ha-happy. We've been through some shitty things…"

"Carl…"

"We have. But there's soo… some-thing that Judith needs that me and e-ven my dad can't give her."

"What's that?" Michonne asked, not sure where Carl was going with this conversation.

"A mom."

Michonne simply stared at Carl, unsure of what to say.

"I had a mom, she was the pen… per-son who tucked me in and s-song… sung to me when Dad was at work. She made food for us and read me... books... at night, and pl- planned all my birth-day parties. My mom was a good mom. I was lake… lucky... to have her before. But Judith needs that too. I'm old e-nough now that I don't need a mom to do those things, but Judith, she n-nev-er got that. Dad, he does some things, but it's d-diff-rent when you have a mom. I want Judith to hold… have that one day like I did, and I think… I think it'd be c-cool, if you could be her mom."

Michonne's mouth opened and closed in shock, still digesting Carl's words.

"You m-make Dad ha-ha-ppy when you're around. He smiles. He isn't so worried about everything alse… else. You're good for him. And… you're my best f-friend. So if you and my Dad… if you decided to be to-geth-er, I just want you to know I would be coo-cool with it. And… so would Judith."

"I… I…" Michonne said, her mouth speaking before her brain could even catch up. Carl had just spoken more sentences at one time than he had since he'd woken up. And she couldn't believe he'd put forth that enormous mental effort just to tell her that he was okay with a relationship between she and his father. She shook her head in gratefulness.

"Thank you Carl," she said softly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and squeezing him tightly.

"And Michonne?" Carl asked, still wrapped in her embrace.

"Yea?"

"Can you or Dad find some more le- lemonade? I really wanted some."

Michonne giggled and pushed Carl away, ruffling his hair. To her surprise there was a bright smile on his face, the first smile she'd seen from him since he'd arrived at Alexandria, the day he was shot.

"I'll find you some more," Michonne said with a smirk.

***can08writer***

Rick, Michonne, Judith, and Carl had just sat down for dinner when there was a rapid knock on the door. Michonne and Rick glanced at each other to make sure neither of them were expecting a visitor. Rick shrugged his shoulder and shook his head, and Michonne headed over to answer her front door. She peeked through the small window in the door and saw that it was Spencer.

"Hey," Michonne said questioningly.

"Michonne, there's an emergency," Spencer said quickly. At those words, Rick stood from the table and headed over to the door to stand behind Michonne.

Spencer's eyes flitted from Michonne to Rick's and then back to Michonne as if he didn't want to speak with Rick there.

"What is it Spencer?" Michonne asked.

"He's back," Spencer said reluctantly.

Michonne paused for a moment and narrowed her eyes.

"Who?" she asked.

"He… he showed up at the gate, with his hands up. He surrendered to us, so we put him in the cell. That's where he is right now," Spencer explained.

"N-Negan?" Rick growled in a mix between anger and disbelief.

"He came back?" Michonne asked, still unable to comprehend Spencer's words.

"He surrendered," Spencer nervously reiterated. "He looks like he's barely hanging on… he didn't cause any troub-"

Rick sprinted out the door, with Michonne on his heels before Spencer could say anything else. As Michonne ran behind Rick, she could feel the murderous energy radiating from him, she could tell he had one thing on his mind, and she wasn't sure if she was following him to stop him or help him.

When they burst through the jail's doors, they were startled by the silence in the room. Negan sat behind bars, being monitored by the Alexandrians on watch duty who had escorted him there. When his escorts saw Michonne enter the jail, they nodded to her and made a swift exit, allowing she and Rick to decide Negan's fate.

When Michonne saw Negan's condition, she gasped.

His tattered, dirty clothes shrouded his skinny body, he was almost swimming in them. He'd lost whatever weight he'd managed to gain living with her in Alexandria. His eyes were sunken in and his cheekbones were jutting out like a man on the verge of starvation. His beard reached half way down his chest, and was littered with dirt and sand and bits of leaves. He was in worse shape than Michonne had ever seen him. Worse than he'd been when he'd saved her in the woods.

Rick's lips curled in a snarl and he raised his gun, but Negan didn't even glance in Rick's direction. His eyes were trained on Michonne, using the last of his dwindling energy to scan her body.

"You're okay," he said to her with a slight nod.

"You son of bitch," Rick growled. "You had the fuckin' balls to come back here? To show your face within 10 miles of this town? I'm gonna shoot you and let you turn. I'm gonna hang your reanimated body from the front gate. I'm gonna cut you apart piece by piece, until all you are is a snapping head!" Rick spat out with a venom that Michonne had never heard leave his mouth before.

"Rick…" Michonne began, but he stepped forward and aimed his gun directly at Negan's chest.

Negan didn't flinch, he just stared into Michonne's eyes. He looked like he was struggling to sit upright in his chair.

"Why did you come back here?" Michonne asked, still in shock.

"I went away, thinking I could leave this place and never come back. I thought I could go off into the forest, maybe find me another group and move on. But I realized I can't. I won't, for lots of reasons. One being that you're here. I've never felt more like a stalker in my goddamn life but I gotta know that you're okay. And second, after what I did to that kid, I just can't rest. I was wrong, I know it, and I came back to make it right. So here I am."

Negan finally directed his eyes towards Rick. "I know what you're gonna do and I'm ready for it. Put me out of my misery, 'cuz that's what I'm in. But tell that kid I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt him. I mean that."

"You're not gonna hurt anyone again," Rick said. "I should've killed you instead of Jesus that night in the woods."

Negan's eyes shifted over to Michonne's. If he was about to die he wanted her eyes to be the last thing he looked at. She was the only thing in the world that he felt an emotional connection to.

Michonne shook her head in pity when Rick cocked his gun. She wanted to stop it, she didn't want to see this, but she'd made a promise to Negan, and to Rick. She wouldn't interfere with what Rick did if Negan came back. She could hear the slight click as Rick adjusted the gun in his hand to prepare to fire. Michonne braced for the bang, when Carl's voice echoed from behind them.

"No!"

Rick and Michonne spun around suddenly, and Negan gasped as his expected death was unexpectedly postponed.

"Carl!" Michonne exclaimed, wondering why he was here instead of home.

"He's mine" Carl growled, his one blue eye narrowed at Negan.