Michonne stared up at the house and picked at her sleeveless purple dress and black jacket. She closed her eyes and took in a deep, steady breath.

It was just a party. It was a party specifically for her, but still—it was just a party.

After she made her way up the porch, she stopped just outside the front door and listened. She could hear laughter and music on the other side. A funny, almost unfamiliar feeling fluttered through her stomach.

She raised her hand to push the doorbell before her nerves got the best of her when a voice broke her out of her reverie.

"You must be Michonne."

Michonne whirled toward the figure in the darkness and grabbed for a katana that wasn't there. A teenage boy with hair that reached his shoulders was observing her with a guarded expression on his face.

"That's me," Michonne confirmed warily, her eyes flicking up to the sheriff's hat on his head.

The boy stood up, and she relaxed fractionally when he held out a hand to her. "I'm Carl. My dad's told me a lot about you."

Michonne glanced down at his hand, her brows furrowing as she placed hers in it and shook it. "Your dad?"

"Oh. Rick—he's my dad."

Michonne wasn't sure if she was more startled at this revelation or in the slightly disdainful way in which he said this to her.

A sudden, embarrassed smile appeared on the boy's face that took her by surprise. "I, uh. I just wanted to thank you before you went inside. For the comics. I stayed up all night reading them. My dad told me what you did…and that was pretty cool."

A string of questions were flying through Michonne's mind as she smiled back at him. "You're welcome, Carl. I'm glad you liked them." She reached into her pocket, and it was her turn to be embarrassed. "Actually… I brought a present for you guys. It felt weird to not bring something. Well, it's mainly just for you, but it's the best I could come up with."

She took out three rolled comic books from her jacket pocket.

"They were collecting dust in my house," she continued, biting back a smile. It surprised her how easily the words my house rolled off of her tongue. "And these are even better than the ones that your dad gave you."

Carl took them the millisecond after she held them out to him and looked up at her, eyes wide. "Why?"

"Because they're about Batman."

Carl just blinked.

Michonne smiled at his reaction, straightening a little. "And everybody knows Batman trumps Superman any day."

He gave her a look in between his excitement.

"Hey," she said, her hands raised in defense. "Read these, and we'll approach this subject again. But be prepared to be wrong."

Carl shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. "Thanks, Michonne. This… This is awesome."

"Well, it's about damn time! I thought I heard voices out here!"

A tall, burly man with quite the moustache was suddenly standing in the open doorway with a large grin on his face, holding a drink up in the air in a celebratory fashion.

Michonne looked at Carl and blinked, and he just rolled his eyes, making a drinking gesture with his hand to indicate the man's inebriated state. She smiled.

"Come on in and have a drink!" The man turned back toward the living room and called out, "Hey, everyone! The guest of honor is here!"

Taking in another deep breath, Michonne followed him into the living room. The man clapped a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her forward for everyone to see. She cautiously darted her eyes around the room, not recognizing anybody at first, but instantly felt grounded once she spotted some familiar faces.

"Hey, you made it!" Glenn grinned. He and Maggie both got off the couch and walked toward her, drinks in hand.

"Looks like the party's been going on for awhile," Michonne remarked, gesturing to the moustached man who was clearly past his third drink.

Glenn rolled his eyes, but he smiled. "Oh. Yeah. That would be Abraham."

Maggie smiled excitedly as she surveyed her outfit. "You look gorgeous, Michonne."

Michonne chuckled nervously and looked down at herself, saying dismissively, "I, uh, found it in one of the closets."

Maggie had a sly smile on her face. "I knew you'd like that dress." Michonne blinked stupidly at her, but Maggie laughed and grabbed her hand before she could say anything. "Now c'mon. Let's get you a drink and not keep everyone waiting. Everyone's been dying to meet the girl with the sword."

Michonne glanced over her shoulder, looking around as she let herself be pulled away.

She didn't want to think too closely about who she was looking for.

Michonne closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of fresh air, enjoying the silence that she was still unused to being in.

"What're you doing out here alone?"

Michonne smiled at the voice, turning her head. "I just wanted some fresh air."

Carl shut the front door behind him and joined her at the railing, looking out toward the street.

"Don't feel like reading those comics I gave you?" she asked.

Carl scoffed dramatically. "I've already finished them."

"And the verdict?"

"I guess Batman is cool, too," he muttered under his breath like a child.

Michonne chuckled at his reaction. "Thank you. That was all I needed to hear."

They both went silent, and after a moment they made eye contact again and burst into laughter.

"Seems like the real party is out here. Hey, Carl."

Carl looked over his shoulder as Rick closed the front door quietly behind him, the smile fading from his face.

"Hey, dad," he muttered back in response, his eyes back on the street.

Michonne was only faintly aware of Carl crossing his arms in a teenage annoyance she hadn't seen in a long time. Her focus was stolen by the baby girl in Rick's arms.

Rick couldn't help but smile when he noticed her expression. He bounced the girl and asked her in a soft voice, "Want to say hi to Michonne, Judith?" The baby babbled in reply, playing with the button on Rick's dress shirt.

Michonne felt like she couldn't breathe. Never did she think that she'd see a baby again. Not in this world.

"Want to hold her?" Carl asked.

Michonne hesitated, unable to find any words to say.

"Women are always asking to hold her. It's okay." Carl shrugged and faced Rick expectedly.

Rick nodded, but Michonne couldn't ignore the way his jaw locked as he walked closer to hand Judith over.

Michonne couldn't stop the tears from appearing in her eyes once she held the baby in her arms, a grin tugging at her lips so wide that it almost hurt. Her face softened as she stared at the small, blonde-haired bundle of beauty.

"Hi there, Judith," she said to the little girl softly. "I'm Michonne." Judith grasped one of her locks, tugging playfully, and Michonne laughed softly when she began to babble happily.

"She likes you," Carl said with a smile.

"Oh, she's beautiful," Michonne whispered, gently moving the baby's bangs away from her eyes.

She wiped at a stray tear that began to roll down her cheek and immediately rolled her eyes at herself. Judith grabbed ahold of another lock of her hair, and Michonne bounced her in her arms, to which the baby responded to with a high-squeak of a laugh. "I'm glad that I decided to come tonight because I got to meet you."

"You weren't going to come?" Carl asked curiously. "Why not?"

Michonne smiled at him, hating herself for feeling self-conscious. "I would've been less nervous to go back outside those walls. I put this dress on ten times before coming here."

"Oh. Well, I'm glad you did," Carl replied. He gestured to Rick with a nod of his head and said half-seriously, "He would not have been happy if you didn't show."

Michonne flicked her eyes over to Rick, who was waiting to see her reaction.

"Your dad wouldn't have been able to handle me," she replied with a teasing smile, their gazes unfaltering.

There was a hint of something unplaceable and dark in Rick's eyes after she spoke, but it immediately disappeared after he blinked. Michonne smiled at him for a moment longer before retreating her eyes back to Judith and bouncing her again, tickling her stomach with her finger and grinning at the happy squeals it emitted.

Carl's grin was real this time. "That true, dad?"

Michonne stopped bouncing Judith and looked at Rick curiously.

"I could've handled her just fine," Rick replied coolly, a calm smile on his face.

Judith babbled happily again and reached for Rick's shirt, and Michonne let out the breath she didn't know she was holding in. Rick moved closer to Michonne to take the baby back into his arms, and Michonne froze at the words Rick whispered into her ear as she handed Judith over, the faint scent of alcohol invading her space.

"And I would have enjoyed it."

"Rick!"

Michonne turned to blonde woman she had seen with Rick that night, erasing the look of shock from her face.

"Jessie, hey," Rick greeted after a pause. Michonne glanced over at him and watched as his entire demeanor changed before her eyes.

"You must be Michonne," Jessie smiled kindly, extending her hand out in front of her. "I'm Jessie. It's nice to meet you."

"Hi," Michonne greeted back politely, shaking her hand. Her eyes strayed to Rick's, only to find him staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face. She stared back at him silently, her brows furrowed into a slight frown.

"Hey, Carl," Jessie greeted with a smile.

Carl forced a smile back, but the woman was obviously used to it and wasn't fazed. "Hi."

When Jessie turned her way again, Michonne's lips curved into an easy smile. She could see Rick smirk out of the corner of her eye.

Jessie placed her hand on Rick's arm and smiled knowingly at her. "You don't mind if I steal Rick away, do you?"

Michonne saw the perfect opportunity to ignore whatever the hell had just happened between her and Rick and smiled widely at Rick as she spoke. "No. Go right ahead."

Jessie smiled at her gratefully before pulling Rick back into the house.

Michonne held Rick's eyes until he was out of sight, the smile long gone from her face.

Michonne stared at Rick from across the room as Jessie laid her hand on his arm, laughing at something he said as he drank from a wine glass with a good-natured smile on his face that she had never seen before.

She wanted to walk right over there and wipe it off with her fist.

Her head tilted as she observed the casual manner in which he carried their conversation, his words from earlier replaying in her ears.

And I would have enjoyed it.

Michonne tightened her grip on her jacket and pressed her lips together. Just when she thought she was getting to know who Rick was, he did a one-eighty and surprised her. There was one thing that she was sure of now. The passive facade that he held in front of most of these people was just a cover. There was another side of him that he was hiding—the side that was up in that attic, haunted and broken; the side that had been joking with Daryl and laughing the other day, careless and easy-going; the side that had interrogated her like she was a criminal, as if he was afraid of repeating a past mistake; and the side that had whispered in her ear, dark and wicked.

And she wanted to see more of it.

She pressed her lips together and continued to gaze around, spotting Glenn, Maggie, and Rosita laughing in what looked like a heated debate with Abraham and Sasha over by the drinks table. She looked outside the window to the street, and she immediately straightened.

Daryl.

She quickly pulled open the front door and stepped outside, leaving it slightly ajar behind her.

"Hey," she greeted. "Didn't want to join the party?"

Daryl gave her a look from the sidewalk. "Don't know how many more of those I can take. Rather patrol than be stuck in that house."

A smile tugged at Michonne's lips. "Mind if I join you?"

He looked at her suspiciously and paused for a long moment before answering. "Ain't this your party?"

She shrugged in reply. "Yeah. So?"

He looked at her like she was slightly crazy but finally shrugged with one shoulder.

"Me, too. This party fucking sucks."

Michonne smiled and fought the urge to roll her eyes as she turned her head to face Carl. She sneered at him teasingly.

"Hey, don't bash my party. Your dad threw this whole thing for me."

"My dad didn't do anything," Carl said with a bitter undertone to his words that startled her. "He didn't even get here until way after you arrived."

Michonne searched his face as the boy presumably looked back at his dad from across the house, his brows pulled together in a scowl.

"You sure he'll be fine with you sneaking off like this, with me?" she asked slowly, the waves of resentment bouncing off of his body loudly. "Your dad doesn't even trust me enough to let me hold your sister without him being less than a foot away."

"He just…he just doesn't get it sometimes," Carl replied cryptically, sighing. "It's fine. And I know you wouldn't hurt me."

She tilted her head at him, her response genuinely curious. "And what makes you think that?"

He stared back at her openly, as if his answer was the most obvious thing in the world. "Because your favorite superhero is Batman."

A small smile slowly made its way on Michonne's face at his words.

"Besides, Daryl and I could kick your ass any day."

Daryl snorted.

Michonne rolled her eyes. "You're right. I just don't want your dad to poison me in my sleep."

Carl smiled amusedly. "He'd totally just shoot you and save the trouble."

She blinked as he softly closed the front door behind him and watched him walk down the porch steps toward Daryl, stunned.

"You should still tell Rick that you're leaving with me, just in case," Michonne began again, her hand on the doorknob.

"I don't think he'd care if I left," Carl replied, looking at her over his shoulder.

At his words, Daryl made an angry noise and looked ready to smack Carl upside the head. Michonne stopped and looked at them squarely, her hand dropping to her side.

"Why d'you keep talking 'bout your dad like that?" Daryl snapped.

Carl frowned at him defensively, his chin raised slightly. "Like what?"

"Like he won't care if you disappear from the face of the goddamn earth. And don't tell me it's bullshit. Getting real tired of you moping around over nothing."

"It isn't nothing. How would you know, Daryl, you—"

Carl closed his mouth. He settled on a glare.

Michonne slowly walked down to them and faced him. "I know it's none of my business," she began quietly, her eyes honest as she looked at him, "but I didn't even know you yesterday, and I already knew that your dad cares about you."

A mask was suddenly drawn on Carl's face, but not before a look of surprise sparked in his eyes. He glanced away from the two adults stoically.

Michonne mentally archived that reaction for later and sighed. "C'mon. I think a walk would do us all some good right now."

She looked up at the windows of the house as they made their way down the street and listened to the music coming from inside. She had only been at the party for about an hour, but she already knew what she had to do, and more specifically, who to talk to.

She figured that after a nice stroll around the block, it would be the perfect time to walk back in and ask a lot of drunken Alexandria residents all about Rick Grimes.