Standard Note: I don't own TOWL, TWD, or any of the characters referenced here.
Author's Note: Oh my goodness, y'all. Thank you so much for supporting this story with your views, follows, shares, reviews, etc. I absolutely love hearing your thoughts about this imagined next stage of this family's story and I'm excited to keep exploring the possibilities :)
Day 40
When Rick first opened his eyes to see Jadis hovering over him, he'd been confused.
Where was he?
How had she gotten there?
What were those sounds?
When he realized that he was on a helicopter—a fucking helicopter—his world imploded in on itself.
Where was she taking him?
Where was his family?
As he lost consciousness again, the last thing he heard were Michonne's anguished screams echoing in his ears.
The next time Rick opened his eyes, he was in a hospital room hooked up to machines, his throat dry, his head dazed, his torso aching.
When he tried to find out where he was, he didn't get answers, at least not at first.
In the midst of the fog, one thing was clear—he couldn't say Michonne's name out loud. Although he wanted to cry out, to call for her and for Judith, he instinctively knew that in order to keep them safe he couldn't put them on these people's radar.
He'd been right.
In the end though, it hadn't mattered. Okafor, his mysterious benefactor who eventually emerged from the shadows, knew.
When the officer revealed that Rick's attempts to escape had all but served them up on a silver platter, it'd been the final nail in the coffin. His wife, his daughter, his community, his life were reduced to threads Okafor held over his head like a puppeteer. No matter how noble the cause, Rick was captive, a figure who longed to be a husband, a father, a real person again.
But somehow, some way—through the distance, through the pain, through the years—Michonne found him and cut the strings. She brought him back. She brought him home. And now she was by his side and he was by hers; they were together again.
It had been about a month since their return and in that time she'd told him more and more about what he'd missed. About what they lost. About what was taken from them.
Siddiq.
D.J.
Hilltop.
The Kingdom.
First steps.
First words.
Mornings.
Nights.
Days.
Years.
Judith filled in the rest.
From the way she spoke and in the things she didn't say, Rick knew that Michonne questioned if she'd made the right calls over the years. Yes, they were the "right" calls, but were they the right calls to make?
He knew that dilemma all too well. He navigated it—still navigated it—but it's different when you have to do it alone.
Rick struggled with the fact that he'd been the one to do that to them, the one who made her have to second-guess and doubt and pick her instincts apart bit by bit. Not by choice—never by choice—but that didn't change the result. He'd left the three of them alone. He hadn't been there for her or for them.
"The only time I feel safe is when I'm with you."
That's the refrain that kept playing on repeat as he paced the recesses of his mind while his family slept.
He didn't think he would ever forgive the CRM for that.
He didn't think he could ever forgive the communities they sacrificed so much for, for that, either.
That's why this question they've asked—this offer they've made—only had one answer.
No.
That night she brought it up.
"They asked didn't they."
Rick paused his progression and looked up at his wife to find her focused on him, searching.
Closing his eyes on a deep breath, he dropped his head and placed his cheek on her stomach.
"They did."
He felt a slight pause before the fingers stoking his curls resumed their exploration.
"And what did you tell them?" she asked softly.
Rick lifted his head and crawled back up her body to place a tender kiss on her lips.
"That I'm not interested."
"Rick—"
"I'm not interested, Michonne."
The two exchanged a look filled with words unsaid before she moved her hand to cradle his jaw.
"One day you will be."
Rick turned his head to press his lips into her palm, letting it linger as the truth of her words settled.
He had his feelings—his anger, his bitterness, his disappointment, his fear—but she was right. Of course she was. But right now...
"Right now I'm not," he pressed up on his forearm to cage her body with his, the careful maneuvering a reminder of what was taken from them. "Right now I'm only interested in being here. With you. With our children. Nothing else matters."
Michonne looked at him for a long while before arching up to catch his lips with hers, her eyes still holding his gaze.