Before

She got out of it, of course, but only with the promise of zero future contact. The team that had come to shore was adamant that their existence be kept a secret, which was something she could relate to.

They started out on a top secret mission and from the vibe they gave, were still on it. Considering the state of things, there could really only be one project big enough to live out on the water without any contact with the mainland. And it happened to also be the one she was working on.

She'd keep their secret in her back pocket for a rainy day.

Now

She was glad that helicopters were so loud that conversation was discouraged. Shortly after the members of their expedition returned with their belongings she made a break for it, claiming the need for the remaining daylight to make it to the coast. It wasn't a complete lie, but she wasn't looking to spend more time in that city than she had to. Unfortunately when they got back to the chopper, Grimes made the logical argument to sit in the second pilots' seat, meaning that she was stuck in the rear with all the people who distrusted her.

The mother-daughter duo in particular made her hair stand on edge. The elder glared daggers at her and the younger looked at her as if she were a puzzle to solve. She wasn't used to people openly staring at her. Everyone in the Republic knew better, and strangers soon found out what a mistake it was. These two didn't care at all though.

They were about an hour into the ride when the older woman spoke over the whirling blades. "Is it true?" she asked while tapping on her own wrist. They'd lasted a lot longer than Beth thought they would on that one.

She simply nodded and they went back to silence for the rest of the ride.

They reached the Delaware Bay a little after nightfall and set about setting up a perimeter for the night. The marina Morris has set them down in appeared clear of the living and the dead, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Mercer and Grimes agreed to keep watch; anyone from her team would not have been accepted even if they had volunteered.

The group developed an aura of tense mistrust that lasted through the night.

In the morning she'd try to reach the captain of the USS Panacea and hope he wasn't pissed enough to just kill them all with one of the ship's long distance guns. If they were somewhere nearby, and if she could manage to get them to shore and convince them of their mission, she might have a chance of getting a ride across the sea.

What she didn't expect was for them to find her first.

The sun had barely risen when a series of warning shots sounded off the pavement near the perimeter they'd set the night before. Michonne moved to cover her daughter as everyone else in the party drew a weapon to point in the direction it was coming from. It could have been anyone, but when she saw the glint of a face mask and camo she couldn't believe her luck. "Dane!" she called out in the chaos. The gunfire stopped and a commanding voice shouted.

"Greene?"

It took some (a lot) of convincing, but eventually they came to a compromise. The Panacea would get the helicopter in exchange for a ride to France. Getting back was their own problem, and everyone had to submit to a head-to-toe check before getting on board the carrier. She agreed without consulting the others. Knowing Rick he'd mess it up somehow in negotiations. Now they just had to decide who was going.

She sent Shepherd and Morris away immediately. Her assistant protested, briefly, but gave in after the Councilor gave her a look that allowed for no argument. Besides, someone had to go back to the rest of the Council and give excuses for her absence. Officially she was tracking down Klubeck, one of the only people the Republic could consider a true danger and enemy. Unofficially...well that was her own damn business.

The other group was a little more complicated: Judith wanted to go. There must have been some kind of parental guilt for leaving her behind the last time because the idiots agreed. She got as far as opening her mouth to object but both parents must have sensed it, because they turned towards her at the same time with a hard look in their eyes.

That left Mercer to go back to the Commonwealth with the news. He was going to Alexandria on the way back and she just knew that he was going to tell certain people about her. She hoped her sister was no longer hotheaded enough to jump into stupid situations without a lot of thought, but she wasn't going to hold her breath. They were going to be lucky if everyone from their old group didn't end up halfway across the world on this rescue mission.

It was nearing the warmest part of the day by the time the travelers and sailors loaded up into the dinghy that would take them to the carrier ship. As the ocean breeze blew across her face it suddenly hit her that going to France to save Daryl Dixon meant that she was going to have to see him. She looked back to port with a shaky breath and realized they were too far out for her to change her mind.