THE COMMONWEALTH-
Michonne didn't remember dozing off again. Only when she awoke, she was not in bed.
It was like it had been before…when she saw Glenn and he told her Maggie was in trouble. She was standing over herself. Michonne looked from herself over at Rick, who was watching her sleep, his face filled with worry. What was happening? Had she actually died this time?
God help her, but she was beginning to regret this surgery! Michonne knew that that was a terrible thing to think, but as she stared at the expression on Rick's face as he watched her, she could have kicked herself for making him worry like this.
Michonne looked away from herself and Rick and looked behind her. Glenn was back but he was not looking in her direction. He was staring out of her room window. Michonne slowly walked over and joined him.
Wordlessly, they watched as Andre ran screaming down the hallway past their window, followed by Mercer and four members of the Commonwealth Army! Michonne moved to leave the room to chase after her older son, when Glenn's hand grabbed her wrist!
"It's too late. There's nothing you can do for him, Michonne. Now we have to help Maggie. She needs us." Glenn told her calmly.
"I don't understand," Michonne asked him, "didn't Darryl and Ezekiel find her? Rick said she was down on the floor below us?"
"Dr. Tomi lied." Glenn said bluntly. "And now Maggie is paying for it."
Michonne shook her head slightly, not following what he was saying! She also wasn't following why he was here. Why was she dreaming of him, yet again?
Rick stood up and walked to the door. The commotion he had seen outside of this room caught his attention. He gave Michonne's sleeping form one last glance, before leaving and following in the direction that Andre and the Commonwealth Army had been headed in.
"Governor Milton is dead." Glenn said. "And Negan has made it look as if Maggie killed her."
Michonne's eyes widened as she stared her friend! Her friend that she had watched die horribly. Michonne found herself remembering the horrible aftermath of it. The wondering of it. The wondering if there was anything they could have done to save either Glenn or Abraham?
Yes. They could have stayed at Alexandria. They had left to go after Darryl. They had left to find Darryl and ended up prisoners of the Saviors. None of them could have imagined what would happen that night. They could not have dreamed that they would return to Alexandria without two people. Two of their own.
But then Michonne told herself to remember who she was. Who they all were in their group. They were much more than a 'group'. They were family. They could not have just left Darryl on his own. He had been in a truly terrible state. He had been angry over what had happened to Denise, their doctor at Alexandria at the time, and he was not about to let it go. That was just how he was.
That was just how they all were. Including Glenn, even in death.
Glenn looked away from Michonne and walked over to the door Rick had left by. He opened it and walked off in the direction Rick had headed in. Michonne glanced back at her sleeping body before hurrying out of the room to catch up with Glenn.
No one in the hallway appeared to see either one of them, and Michonne began asking questions…
"Glenn, what is really going on here? What am I? I'm not a ghost because I can see I'm still alive! You said I almost died during surgery. You said a gate opened so that you could warn me about Maggie…are you here again because I can still help her?" Michonne asked him.
Glenn stopped walking and Michonne could see that they were now outside of Pamela's room. Andre was holding the deceased Pamela in his arms and rocking her, while crying! Negan was yelling at Mercer about putting Maggie 'under the jail', just as Rick squeezed his way in and found Maggie in cuffs! She was in the room looking groggy and frightened!
"What is this?!" Rick snapped. "Take those cuffs off of her!"
"Rick?" Maggie asked, her manner still somewhat out of it. She looked…unsure. As if she had just awakened from a long sleep.
"Yeah, Maggie, that's Rick!" Negan snapped. "And you can cut the shit! I found you in here, smothering my wife! I shoved you away to help her and found Pamela already dead! Damn you to hell!"
Andre let go of Pamela and slowly placed her back down on a pillow! He then moved to Negan's side!
"She doesn't get a trial! I want her executed right away! My mother was governor of this Commonwealth. Her husband saw you kill her so there's no question about what happened." Andre announced.
Rick stepped up to Andre!
"The hell there isn't! And your 'witness' is a bastard and goddamned liar!" Rick snapped. Michonne looked from Rick to Glenn and noticed that his eyes were not on Maggie.
They were on 'Lucille'. The murdering weapon was sitting in a chair in the corner.
"Don't look at it." Michonne said, reaching for his hand.
"I can't help but look at it. I can still feel every blow." Glenn said with an odd tone of resignation.
Michonne tried to quell the feeling of helplessness she felt, at just seeing Glenn stare at the bat that was used to murder him. Her attention went from him to Andre, who's very stance next to Negan reminded her of some misbegotten Savior. Her oldest son was clearly under that maniac's spell. Michonne was not about to leave the Commonwealth without making Andre understand what Negan was.
Michonne looked from Andre over to Rick. Rick would have a hard time being convinced that Andre could be part of their family. But after their war with Negan, many a Savior ended up living at Alexandria, ready and willing to shake off their distasteful, Savior past. The problem with Andre was he was also part of the CRM. He basically had two strikes against him.
Michonne and Glenn turned to see Darryl, Ezekiel and Dr. Tomi, muscle their way into the room!
"What the hell is this?" Darryl asked coolly, moving to Rick's side. But his eyes were on the two Commonwealth officers, that were now holding their handcuffed friend by each arm.
"Maggie murdered my wife." Negan said just as coolly. "She murdered a sick woman in her hospital bed. And I think we now know that she probably killed Perlie too."
"I'm sure that you aren't sorry Pamela is dead." Ezekiel snarked. "That was your plan this whole time, wasn't it Negan? Marry and murder Milton so you could officially become Governor. Well that isn't happening. We're going to have an election."
Andre stepped to Ezekiel!
"The hell we are! My mother would've wanted Negan to take her place and execute her killer! Now I want Maggie over there locked up and a scaffold prepared." Andre said coldly.
"Look," Negan said, "could you all get the fuck out of here? Please? I want some alone time with my wife."
Rick closed the distance between himself and Negan.
"You are not putting Maggie down in a cell, do you hear me?!" Rick snapped.
Darryl turned to glare at Dr. Tomi!
"What is this shit? Yumiko told us that you had Maggie on the floor below? How did she get up here to kill anyone?" Darryl asked sarcastically.
Rick tore his eyes off of Negan's almost daring stare, and confronted Tomi as well!
"You told me that Maggie was upstairs getting fluids! You said she was dehydrated! I think Pamela Milton could have fought off a woman in that bad of a shape!" Rick half yelled. He was angry. But not just at this situation.
Rick was angry at himself for not seeing this coming a mile away. Pamela was dead, Negan was now 'Governor' and he had the Commonwealth Army and the CRM to use as he pleased.
They would all be lucky to get out of here alive. And Negan was determined to make sure Maggie didn't. Rick was not about to let Negan murder Maggie like he did Glenn.
Andre looked at Tomi after hearing Darryl and Rick's words.
"Did you tell them that, Dr. Tomi?" Andre asked. Negan could see that Tomi was a little slow, lie wise, and he interrupted!
"Andre, don't forget who these people are. Rick here, killed your father and now Maggie over there killed your mother! And the doc was with myself and your mother, shortly after we got married. He didn't have time to give anyone not on this floor, fluids." Negan huffed.
"That's right," Tomi lied, "I was down here the whole time. I was also tending to Michonne and Joshua."
"So Annie will say that she saw you?" Ezekiel asked in a challenging tone.
Negan looked at Ezekiel.
"Annie will say whatever the fuck I want her to say, King Ass Face! Now get out of this room so I can mourn my wife in private! And you take Maggie the hell down to the cells! Now!" Negan ordered the guards.
Andre nodded to Mercer, who nodded to the two men holding Maggie. Darryl started to stop them but Rick realized that for now, they weren't holding any cards. He grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room. Ezekiel followed after them and they conferred in the hall, as Maggie was marched out of the room. Maggie was beginning to get her bearings and she fought against the men for a moment!
Rick hurried over, along with Darryl!
"You can't see that she's been drugged with something?" Rick asked them. "Give her a break. She can hardly walk."
Mercer, who didn't like any of this worth a damn, and knew good and well that Negan had to have been the one that murdered Governor Milton, reached out to pick Maggie up, bride style and carry her towards an elevator. He was followed by the two men that had had a hold on her. Mercer decided he would just carry Maggie to her cell.
Once they disappeared inside the elevator, Rick turned back to Darryl and Ezekiel.
"This was his plan the whole time. I should have seen it!" Rick hissed.
"He distracted us with Andre." Ezekiel said. "Negan's probably Perlie's killer."
"Maggie said that Perlie helped cover for Negan with New Babylon. So I don't know about his killing Perlie. And we can't worry about it now. Negan needed to kill Milton to get control of this place and he needed someone to take the blame for it." Darryl said.
"And Tomi is in on this whole thing! God, what does this mean for Annie and Joshua? Will Negan now force Annie to stay married to him?" Ezekiel asked, trying to hide his worry.
Rick rubbed his throat, as he turned to stare through the room window at Negan and Andre. No, he did not think that Negan would force Annie to stay with him. But he would want Joshua to live here. Negan would want Joshua, Gracie and…
Michonne. Rick didn't know how or why he felt this way, but he could not help but think that Negan could very well not allow Michonne to return to Alexandria, once she recovered from the transplant.
"I'm going to go back to Michonne's room." Rick announced. "Ezekiel, you fill Annie in on what's happened. Darryl…"
"I'm going to find Eugene and Stephanie. This is bullshit." Darryl told them and walked off down the hallway. Ezekiel rubbed his jaw and walked away from Rick to go to Joshua's room.
That left Rick alone to ponder how in the hell they were all going to get out of the Commonwealth, without ending up like Pamela Milton.
Tomi came out of the room and avoided Rick's eyes as he headed towards two nurses and an orderly. He needed to make preparations for removing Pamela's body from that room.
Michonne and Glenn were still in the room listening to Andre and Negan…
"I don't want any of them leaving here alive!" Andre exclaimed.
Negan put a hand on his shoulder.
"Believe me, kid, I know how you feel. Once we execute Maggie, Rick and his people will just circle back around to cause trouble. But we have to be smart about this." Negan told him.
Andre nodded but he suddenly became quiet. He glanced back at Pamela's corpse and moved to put a sheet over her. He then turned back to Negan.
"Maggie did look kind of out of it. I mean she could barely stand up." Andre noted.
"And? Andre, your mother was flat on her back, weak after surgery! Maggie would have had no problem killing her with that pillow."
"But why? Why would she do something so stupid? She had to know she wouldn't get out of here without getting caught." Andre noted. He could not believe that both of his parents were now gone. And in such a short time. Why? How?
Rick Grimes. Rick Grimes and anyone connected with him, spelled murder. That's why, Andre thought. His thoughts fell on Michonne just as Negan answered his last question.
"Andre, there is no rhyme or reason with that Alexandria crowd. They took payment in the form of supplies, in exchange for killing up my people when I had my own stronghold. The Sanctuary. One of those people was the mother of my child. A woman named Tina. She died trying to protect our daughter, Emily! Rick stole my daughter, renamed her 'Gracie' and gave her to one of his people to raise!" Negan half lied.
Michonne felt her insides coil up in anger at just hearing that lie! She had to get out of…whatever this dream state was she was in…and wake up to talk to Andre! To tell her side of the story! Hers and Rick's!
"Rick killed the mother of your child? Man!" Andre breathed. "What does Michonne see in him?"
"The hell if I know!" Negan sniffed. "And let me tell you something else: the six years that I was their prisoner, when Rick was gone, I got to know Michonne pretty well. Rick forced her to raise two of his children before finally giving him a son. And once she did that, Rick just disappeared. And no, I do not believe the CRM kidnapped him! I think he ran off with one of your operatives…Jadis was her name, I think…"
"Oh I knew Jadis! She was cool. We think Rick and Michonne might have killed her as well." Andre said quietly.
"I'm sure it was probably just Rick. Listen, we need to let the people here know that everything is alright. I mean it can be unsettling to find out that two people were killed within the community." Negan said with feigned sympathy.
"I could talk to Stephanie about giving a speech…" Andre began but Negan interrupted him!
"Yes, about her. Stephanie. And her brother, Mercer. How do you know them again?"
"Oh, from Nebraska. Stephanie babysat me when I was a kid." Andre informed him.
What Negan needed to know, is what Pamela had on Stephanie and Mercer? There was no way they would have went along with all of this, unless Pamela had had something on them. Like how she had had something on Tomi. Negan needed to know what Andre knew.
Tomi re-entered the room without knocking and avoided looking at Negan.
"Andre, we need to remove your mother's body." he told him.
"And take it where?" Andre asked suspiciously.
"The morgue downstairs." Tomi answered.
"Well I want to see this 'morgue' and make sure that my mother's body just isn't put anywhere!" Andre snapped.
"Of course. Why don't I show you how this is going to work? The Governor's body will be in a safe place until her funeral." Tomi said solemnly.
Andre said nothing to that. He glanced back at the sheet that now covered Pamela Milton, before walking out of the room with Tomi.
That left Negan alone. Or so he thought.
He walked over to Pamela's body and slowly pulled the sheet down. Someone had closed her eyes. Negan looked around before pulling the sheet all the way down to her ankles. He then slowly pulled her hospital gown up and proceeded to stick his finger in between her legs…
Michonne gasped at the sight of Negan's trying to penetrate Pamela AFTER death! What in the hell? She looked over at Glenn and found that he was no longer standing next to her.
No.
The ghost of Glenn Rhee had walked over to Lucille, picked up the bat and then moved so that he was directly behind Negan! Glenn then swung the bat at Negan's back!
"CHRIST!" Negan yelled and yanked his finger out of the place it should not have been! He then swung around quickly and gaped at a man who looked like…like…and Michonne was standing next to him! What in the fuck?
"What is this shit, Michonne? Why am I looking at Maggie's husband's ghost? And I thought you were…" Negan trailed off. What in the hell was going on here? How could Michonne be up and around? And she was wearing normal clothing instead of a hospital gown!
Michonne, for her part, could not mask her horror! Good God! Negan could see them! How could he see them? He hadn't been able to see them before! No one had!
The bat. Negan hadn't been able to see them until Glenn had hit him with it!
But if Glenn was shocked by this reveal, it didn't show! He moved towards Negan, waving the wire meshed bat that had ended his life, so many years ago that it felt as if a lifetime had passed.
"I'll kill you before I let you hurt my wife and son!" Glenn hissed.
Negan eyed Glenn, then looked at Michonne.
"Did you die?" he asked her.
"I'm not dead. Glenn somehow….I don't really know…" Michonne trailed off. Negan edged past them and left the room! He closed the door behind him and casually made his way down to Michonne's room. He looked through the room window and almost lost his shit!
Michonne was asleep and Rick was sitting in a chair next to her. He was holding her hand. The machinery looked positive. Like Michonne was alive, positive!
Negan turned and walked back towards Pamela's room! He then opened the door and found Glenn and Michonne still there! He slammed the door and studied them. Glenn had a sort of white, cloudy looking, halo thing around his whole body.
Michonne did not. But she kind of glowed. In a hot way…
"So…" Negan began while pointing at her, "you're still asleep. Rick is with you and…Maggie's husband here, who tried to beat my ass with my own bat, is dead. Really dead. So what is this shit? Is Michonne like astro projecting or something?"
The question was aimed at Glenn. Glenn's answer was to swing Lucille at Negan again and this time Negan ducked! Michonne jumped in between them!
"Glenn! He can now see us! Just stop! I need to know why this is happening!" Michonne yelled.
"You are the only person that can save Maggie! That's why this is happening! You saved Rick. Save Maggie." Glenn told her.
Negan suddenly reached out to touch Michonne! He was shocked to see that his hand did not go through her! Michonne slapped his hand away before addressing Glenn again!
"We're not going to let anything happened to Maggie or Hershel." Michonne said firmly.
"So," Negan drawled, "Rick can't see you but I can? All because Glenn hit me with Lucille and now goddamned my back hurts!"
"You deserve that and more." Michonne told him before focusing on Glenn again.
But Glenn suddenly dropped the bat!
"What have I done? I opened a gate I never should have touched and now this…" Glenn said softly.
"What did he say about a gate?" Negan asked. Michonne turned to face him!
"Shut up! Just shut up! I'm not going to let you get away with framing Maggie for what you did here! I'm not going to let you take Gracie from Aaron and I for damned sure, am not going to allow you to turn my son into your minion! Now Glenn and I are leaving and I'm going to go back to my body."
"Yeah. So…are you a fuckable ghost, Michonne?" Negan asked slyly.
"Shut up!" Glenn hissed.
"Make me!" Negan snapped back. "I don't know what this shit is, but the only way that Michonne will be able to save Maggie, is if one of her…either your true version or your ghost version, FUCKS ME! And if I'm treated right, then that might just get Maggie a stay of execution…"
Glenn bent down to get Lucille again but Negan dived to the floor first! They began struggling for control of the deadly weapon, just as Michonne awoke in her hospital bed, gasping for air! Rick was startled by her violent awakening!
"Michonne? Michonne, honey, you're alright! What is it? Did you dream of Glenn again?" Rick asked, squeezing her hand.
Michonne sat up, while still holding Rick's hand and stared at him. Rick could not help but notice that his wife now looked as if she had never been sick a day! He didn't know how to quite describe it, except that she appeared as if she had never had surgery at all!
"Michonne? Talk to me! What is it?" Rick asked again, this time with more urgency. Michonne finally found the words to speak.
"I don't know what Glenn has done, but I am not just dreaming about him. We were in Pamela's room when Maggie was taken away. I heard Negan lie about Maggie's killing her. I know that Mercer took her away." Michonne said slowly.
"What do you mean you were 'in the room'?" Rick asked her.
"I don't know what I mean! I don't know what this is! I know it sounds crazy but I can prove it." Michonne told him. Rick gently sat down on the edge of her bed.
"You can prove it how?" Rick asked softly. He didn't need for her to prove anything! He just wanted her to get well, so he could get them the hell out of this place! He would take care of her back at Alexandria.
"You left the room. You left with Darryl and Ezekiel. Dr. Tomi came in to get Andre and then they left. Glenn picked up Negan's bat and hit him in the back! He's injured, Rick! And Andre…Negan told him some lie about how Gracie's mother was killed by us in one of the Savior strongholds. He was trying to get Andre to hate all of us even more." Michonne explained.
Rick didn't know how to respond to Michonne's claims. Yes, she had known Maggie was in trouble. Yes, he had been in Pamela Milton's hospital room with Darryl and Ezekiel. But the parts about Glenn…he didn't want Maggie hearing about any of this.
"You're right about everything you saw," Rick said, "if you know all of that, then you know we're trapped here. Negan has control of the Commonwealth and the CRM armies. He wants to execute Maggie, keep Joshua here and…I don't know what else. But even if we were free to leave, we can't. We can't leave Maggie here to die."
Michonne suddenly hopped out of bed and began opening and closing dresser drawers!
"Where are my clothes?" she asked him. Rick walked over to a closet and pulled them out. He handed them to her. He did not ask her if she was alright because he could see that she was! Somehow, whatever she was going through, had healed her in someway.
"What are you thinking?" Rick asked her, watching her as she dressed.
"What I'm thinking is that I'm not leaving Andre here under Negan's control. I'm going to make sure that Negan lets Darryl and you leave. You go back to Alexandria and tell Aaron what's going on and then help him get Gracie as far away from Negan as you can!" Michonne exclaimed. She walked over to a wall mirror and straightened her clothing and dreads.
"I'm not leaving you here, Michonne! Just like you didn't leave me with the CRM when I begged you to leave!" Rick argued. Michonne turned away from the mirror and floated into his arms!
"This isn't the same thing, okay? It's not. Glenn told me he came to me because he knew I had found you, Rick! He said he wanted me to save Maggie. I want you to leave here and save Gracie, and our children. Keep them safe at Alexandria and I will keep them safe from here." Michonne whispered.
Rick suddenly molded his body against hers! His mouth descended and possessed hers with a brutal strength that he did not know he had in him! Michonne kissed him back with longing, knowing that there was no time for the passion between them, that was threatening to consume them both. She pulled away, reluctantly, and touched his cheek.
"Where is Darryl?" Michonne asked him softly.
"He said he was going to find Stephanie and Eugene!" Rick rasped against her lips.
"Find him. I'll make sure you can leave." Michonne assured him.
"What are you going to do?" Rick asked her, his hold on her tense.
"I'm going to buy you some time. I'm going to buy Darryl, Maggie and yourself, time." Michonne said with determination.
Rick didn't like it. But there was no time for him to wallow in his distaste over this whole thing. Rick decided that he was not going to leave. He had a plan of his own. One in which they contacted Carol and let her know what was going on. And once that was done, Darryl and him were only going to pretend to leave. But in reality, they were going to stay within the walls of the Commonwealth and take Negan and the CRM down from the inside.
Mercer placed Maggie inside a cell on a cot. She was out of it again. He walked out of the cell and closed the door behind him, just as Stephanie walked up to him. Mercer locked the door and faced his sister.
"I can't believe that bastard actually killed her." Mercer said, running a hand down his face. He didn't know how he was going to explain any of this to Princess.
"We have taken Maggie to her death, Michael!" Stephanie moaned. "Negan wants to execute her! Eugene will never forgive me if we go along with this!"
"Princess will never forgive me if we don't try and help her." Mercer said quietly.
The door to the cell block opened and closed and soon, Mercer and Stephanie were facing Andre! He slowly moved towards them, still looking as if he were in some state of shock.
"Andre," Stephanie began, "how are you holding up?"
Andre said nothing as he looked from her to Mercer.
"I know that neither of you considered my parents your family. But that's what they were. Your parents were killed and my mother found a place for you both here." Andre said.
Mercer said nothing to that. Stephanie cleared her throat.
"Of course we know that. What's happened is terrible." she said. Andre nodded.
"It is. But Negan wants to fix that. And I want you to go along with whatever he wants. He's always looked out for me. My mother wouldn't want the Commonwealth to fall apart without her." Andre explained.
"My sister can run it just fine." Mercer told Andre. He had never liked Andre. If he hadn't existed, then Stephanie would have had no reason to be in that house in Nebraska, alone with General Beale. Mercer knew that his feelings were unfair. He knew that Andre did not ask to be orphaned in the manner that he was, but feelings were feelings. And Andre had become one rung lower than Sebastian had been, morality wise, truth be told.
"Stephanie can help Negan. Stephanie can help, you can help and…my sister can help, can't she?" Andre asked in wry tone.
Mercer stepped to Andre but Stephanie got in between them!
"Stop, okay? Just stop!" Stephanie yelled before turning to face Andre.
"How long have you known?" Stephanie asked Andre calmly.
"Dad told me. He had wanted Iris with us the whole time, but Mom didn't like how the whole thing went down. Your becoming pregnant by Dad. So Dad agreed to give Iris to another family. But she IS family, Steph! She needs to be told who she really is, so she can join the CRM!" Andre huffed.
Mercer smiled coldly at Andre.
"Like you were? Do you like who you really are, Andre?" Mercer asked sardonically.
Andre smiled bitterly at him!
"That doesn't matter. What does is that YOU don't like who Iris really is. And you don't want anyone to know about it. My mother was fine with that, as long as you did what you were told. I need to know that you aren't going to give Negan any trouble." Andre told them. The implication being that Iris Bennett's true parentage could stay a secret as long as they cooperated with Negan.
"You barely know him, Andre! Negan is a God awful…" Stephanie began but Andre cut her off!
"All of those times when I ran away from home, it was Negan that found me. He found me and took care of me. Michael, here, was the one Dad sent to find me. But he never did, did he? Why is that?" Andre asked Mercer with disdain. But he knew why. Mercer never found him, because he had defied his parents orders to find him! He probably hadn't even bothered to look!
"Alright, Andre. Cards on the table. Negan killed your mother. He told us to bring Maggie to your mother's room while she was still unconscious, in a laundry cart. And you'd be a fool to believe otherwise." Mercer told Andre.
"Andre," Stephanie said, "my brother is telling the truth! Maggie wasn't even conscious! And that cart was found in Pamela's bathroom! Negan did this! He's the one that belongs down in this cell, not Maggie!"
Andre turned and walked away from Mercer and Stephanie. He didn't know what to believe or think! Negan had loved his mother! They had gotten married! He wouldn't just kill her after they had become man and wife!
His mother, Negan and himself, were going to be a family. And Negan had wanted to be a second father to him, as much as Andre had wanted him to be! No! There had to be another explanation!
And yet, Negan said he saw Maggie kill his mother. Perlie Armstrong was murdered in the same way.
No. Something else WAS going on here. It had to be.
Andre opened the door to the cell block and ran up the stairs until he reached the outside. He was going back over to the hospital to run all of this by Negan. Negan would know what to do.
Dr. Tomi did not even want to know, who could have hit Negan in the back with that vile looking bat of his! Negan claimed he did not know and Tomi left it at that. He had been dragged into enough muck around here as it is!
Negan was not hurt very badly, but the wire had ripped through his clothing and left a bloody scar. Tomi had just finished stitching Negan up when Michonne appeared in the doorway!
"Michonne? What are you doing? How are you up and around like this?" Tomi asked, now forgetting all about Negan and walking over to her.
But Negan interrupted.
"Leave us, Doc. And close the door on your way out." Negan told him.
Tomi looked from Negan to Michonne, who had nothing to say to him. Tomi removed his plastic gloves, set them on a tray and left the room. He closed the door behind him.
"Would you hand me my shirt?" Negan asked.
Michonne said nothing. She just stared at him. And no, she was not handing him his shirt!
"Are you the real Michonne or Super Hot Ghost Michonne?" Negan asked with a grin.
Michonne didn't answer that either.
'What's it going to take for you to let us out of here? All of us? Meaning Maggie doesn't die." Michonne asked.
"Maggie killed Pamela…" Negan began but Michonne rolled her eyes!
"That's bullshit and you know it! And you also have a very big problem. You swore up and down you saw Maggie smothering Pamela. If you are suddenly 'wrong', you'll look like an even bigger liar than you already are." Michonne noted.
"Not to Andre." Negan said quietly. He watched her face grimace and he knew had yet another weakness to use against her.
"I'm not leaving here until Andre understands what you are." Michonne said.
Negan got his own shirt and began putting it on.
"You're right about that. No, you aren't leaving here." was his response.
"What would it take for you to let Rick, Darryl and Maggie leave?"
"I can't let Maggie leave. You know that. She's a murderer." Negan said coolly.
"You're a smart man." Michonne said. "I'm sure you could come up with some way to let her go."
Negan said nothing to that. He just stared at her.
"Negan…"
"Let's cut the shit. You know what I want. I want to run this place and I want you by my side. I want you with me, beside me, in my bed and any other way I want to have you. And I want you to WANT to be here! You, me, Andre, Joshua and Gracie could be very happy here! Judith and RJ are welcome to live here as well! I'd love them too!" Negan told her.
Michonne was not surprised by his answer. Nor did she really doubt his words.
It just couldn't be.
The door to the room opened and Andre walked in! He stared at Michonne in shock!
"What are you doing in here?! How are you able to walk around?!" Andre snapped.
"Andre," Negan said, "watch your tone, okay?"
But Andre was not hearing Negan. He was seeing his birth mother standing before him, the picture of health…
"You killed my mother, didn't you? Is that what's going on here?" Andre accused Michonne before looking at Negan. That had to be it! Michonne had killed his mother and Negan was covering for her! But why?