A/N: I'm afraid that here is where this story must come to an end. My apologies for the delays as I settled into a new city. I hope you all enjoy! Please let me know what you think!

The lock squealed as Aaron hastened to throw it, sealing Alexandria against the outside world. If Jadis felt any trepidation at entering her old home she showed no sign of it. She strode forward confidently, as though she was here for a visit.

"It looks good," she observed, eyes roving down the manicured streets.

"You sound surprised," Michonne said, her eyes on the woman in front of her.

Jadis offered a shrug. "I thought without Rick…" she said, trailing off, lips curled in a cruel smirk.

Michonne tilted her head in a imitation of her husband. "Tell me," she began coolly, "all of these years, did he ever bother to look twice at you?"

Jadis' smile cracked for the first time, anger burning brightly behind her eyes. "Over half a decade and he never tried to leave; never—"

"No?" Michonne asked, feigning innocence. "Then why are you here at my gate, searching for him?"

A murmur went through the crowd like a ripple, the low sound of laughter echoing through the otherwise quiet town. It settled over Jadis like a whip to the face. She turned bright red, going blotchy in the midday sun.

"You stupid woman," she grit out through her teeth, anger coloring her every syllable. Around them, Alexandria began to mobilize, the laughter transforming into an angry hiss.

"Watch your mouth," Aaron colored with uncharacteristic rage, his fists clenching.

"You don't get it," Jadis raised her voice. "All this, all that out there—" she brandished a finger, jabbing it beyond the wall. "It could all be over. All over with one person. And just because you love him, you would sacrifice the world."

"Rick isn't here," Aaron spoke up again, shaking his head.

"You've had him for six years and you couldn't figure a cure out?" someone shouted. "You didn't take his blood or anything?"

Jadis turned, wildly looking for the culprit. It did not matter. More people were joining the fray.

"You kidnapped him! You could have sent us word that he was alive!"

"You held him against his will—"

"And lost him! He could be dead—"

"This is your fault! You could have studied him here!"

"You could have told us!"

"—let us think he was dead…"

Wave after wave the cry crested over, Alexandria buzzing angrily like a nest of wasps.

"You'd be wise to leave," Michonne extended her last olive branch, her mind on the children of Alexandria, of sparing them exposure to further violence.

"Not without Rick," Jadis grunted, stepping closer to Michonne.

This time Aaron did step in, tugging the woman away from Alexandria's leader. "You're leaving," he proclaimed forcefully. Someone rushed for the gate, tugging it open. From the other side, her people stared back, weapons in hand.

"Let her go!" one of them instructed, lifting his gun.

Alexandria mobilized, ready as always for war. Michonne lifted her hand. A hush fell over them. "Aaron," she said calmly to her friend. "Let her go."

Reluctantly, he complied, looking wearily at Michonne. "Be careful," he cautioned under his breath.

"Jadis," Michonne stepped towards her adversary. "Six years ago, you stole my husband, taking him away from his town, his children, his entire family without a word," the words left a horrible taste in her mouth as she formed them, years of rage and loss culminating at once. "Now you come to my gate with an army and you threaten us, screaming about a cure you have no proof of—"

"I do not have to offer you proof," Jadis interrupted.

"You're right," Michonne drew her sword. "There is nothing you could offer me to repay the injustice you have done to me, to my children. Consider yourself lucky to leave here alive." She pointed with her blade. "Go."

Jadis smiled, a perverse delight spreading across her face. With a deep breath, she let out a shout, some unintelligible sound. At once, her men outside the fence began to move, rushing for Alexandria. Jadis made a grab for Michonne.

She greatly underestimated the warrior woman's speed. With a flick of her blade, she severed Jadis' hand cleanly from her wrist. Her scream of agony echoed through the crowd. Alexandria mobilized, weapons at the ready, standing in formation behind Michonne. Jadis' men stopped in their tracks, nervous and unsure.

"Leave! Now!" Michonne yelled, her inflection deadly.

"Kill her!" Jadis screamed over her. Her eyes had gone bloodshot, her face ashen.

One of her men stepped forward, raising his gun. Shakily, he pointed it between Michonne's eyes.

-l-l-l-l-

Rick moved quickly, unable to watch anymore from a distance. In the midst of the fray, no one spared a glance at him. It was almost funny to listen to them yell about him, demand answers, even as he stood among them. Perhaps Glenn had been right about the facial hair.

The humor faded when Jadis threatened his wife.

Rick saw Michonne defend herself, saw the men rush forward, saw Alexandria respond. A murderous rage filled him, burning bright, 6 years of wrongs manifesting themselves into a blinding fury. Disregarding his own lack of weapon, Rick hit Jadis' guard as hard as he could. They went down in a pile, clawing and hollering. The gun caught between them, the metal pressing beneath his ribcage. It discharged, the sound deafening. Fear filled him, memories of Carl being shot, of members of his family dying. He rolled, striking out, feeling the man's face crumple beneath his fist with a sickening smack.

Jadis began to scream, a high-pitched wail. Rick felt the warmth of her blood catch beneath his free hand. He slipped, crashing headlong into her guard. A pitiful masculine cry joined Jadis'. Rick paid them no mind. Instead, he shed his now blood-stained jacket. "Michonne," he called frantically for his wife, chest-heaving.

The gasp was audible as it spread through both sides of the crowd.

"I told you!" Jadis let our a triumphant roar, even as the color faded rapidly from her face.

Rick stepped over her, crossing to his wife, his eyes roaming every inch of her. "You're ok?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she smiled gently at him, reaching for his hand. Rick pulled her to him.

"Rick," Aaron grinned, his face lighting up. "Holy shit. You're back?"

"I'm back," he nodded. Hundreds of eyes were on him, some reflecting recognition, some shock, some confusion.

"Why didn't you say something?" Aaron asked, bemused.

"We had to find out why they took me. Why they were hunting me down," Rick glanced accusingly at the group of men. One by one, they withered under his cold stare.

"You're the key to everything, Rick," Jadis exhaled, her voice failing. "I knew. I always knew…" she smiled up at him.

"I'm the cure?" Rick barely spared the woman a glance. He'd seen enough of her over the last years.

One of the braver of her men spoke up. "Something in your blood. They've tested it. The bites don't transform our test subjects anymore. And the dead, they don't come back."

"My blood alone?" Rick asked. No one had mentioned it, not in all those long years.

"Others have come close, but it wasn't until recently that we perfected it. We need you. We need more blood. You need to return with us."

"No." Michonne and Rick spoke in unison, the syllable cracking through the air like a whip. Rick's breath frosted in his beard, the cold biting at his skin. At his feet Jadis was dying but he could not bring himself to care.

"You would sacrifice the world?" the man asked, aghast.

"He's given you enough." Michonne intervened, putting herself between him and Rick.

"You need blood?" Rick asked.

"A pint. Maybe two." The man spoke.

Rick stepped forward, pacing until he was right in the man's face. He knew he looked wild now, all curly hair, and tanned face, a far cry from who he'd been in captivity. "Then you take it here. And you leave."

His adversary swallowed thickly, his eyes darting to Jadis. "And her?" he asked, voice cracking.

Rick glanced over his shoulder at Michonne. His wife looked down at the woman bleeding out at her feet.

"Do what you want with her," Michonne announced. "As long as we never see her again."

"No!' Jadis cried. "Rick, Rick—" she scrambled towards him. "You know why I did what I did. You understand."

Rick did not deign to answer. Instead, it was Michonne. "You took him. You knew nothing of cures, nothing of what hid in his blood. You only knew that you wanted him. So you stole him." Anger had left her tone now. All that remained was the harsh truth. "And even then, even after years, he did not want you." Michonne crossed towards Rick, resuming her place at his side. "So go now, with what's left of you," Michonne brandished her sword. "Or I will take another piece."

"It's a deal," the man spoke up over Jadis' complaints. "We finish the vaccine and we'll leave."

"Not before we all get it," Rick gestured. "And the surrounding communities."

"That'll take months," he protested.

"Then you better get started," Rick told him. He looked towards the gates. Understanding at once, Aaron crossed towards them. They squeaked shut, the lock slamming closed.

With a few quiet commands from Michonne, Alexandria disarmed the small band. The men who had come by helicopter stood caught in a tight circle, trapped.

"You will leave when you finish it," Michonne said pleasantly.

Wisely, they did not protest. Jadis, however, fought with her last few breaths.

"Rick," she panted, collapsing flat onto the ground. "I—"

The last of her proclamation died with a shuddering rattle.

Rick turned to his wife, clasping her hand tightly in his. At once, he felt himself pressed into a hug, the whole of Alexandria surging towards him at once, all well-wishes, and cries of delight. At the center of it all, Rick clung to Michonne, unwilling to let go.

He was finally home.

-l-l-l-l-

"There," Michonne soothed, wiping a warm towel across Rick's face. "I can see you now." She paused to inspect him, her thumb tracing patterns across the smooth skin on his now beard-free cheeks.

"Better?" he asked, smiling up at her.

"The kids will recognize you at least," she teased, toying with his freshly-trimmed curls.

Rick tugged at her hips, coaxing her into his lap. "And you?" he asked, cupping her chin. "Do you recognize me?"

She settled against him. Inside their bathroom, the mirrors steamed from the hot water of the tub behind them. They had three years together here, spent them together weathering the storm. It was here they held one another when Carl died, here they whispered their fears, their hopes, their dreams for a better future. In the master suite of this house, it was he and Michonne against the world. He never thought he would see it again.

"Let's see," Michonne considered him, turning his head this way and that. "You've gotten more grey," she appraised. "Might have a wrinkle or two more," she leaned forward, pressing her forehead to his, the gesture so familiar that he teared up. "But you're still my Rick," she finished, kissing him.

He held her to him, cherishing the closeness. Jadis was gone, buried somewhere outside the walls. His prison was long behind him, thousands of miles away. And soon, very soon, their would be a cure for them all. His children would live in a world of only the living.

"Michonne," he breathed her name, unable to express the torrent of emotion rolling through him.

"C'mon," she coaxed, pulling him to his feet. "They're waiting."

Dutifully he followed her into their bedroom. Judith and RJ were seated on the bed, eagerly peering at their parents. Beside them, Carl sat as well, his image flickering, his smile glowing.

"They wouldn't move," Michonne explained, looking not at all put out.

Rick grinned, taking a running leap that propelled him onto his bed and into the center of his family. Judith was on him at once, then his youngest son. Michonne joined, her curling her body around all of them. Carl smiled at them all, fading in the low light.

"You can't stay?" Rick asked his eldest regretfully.

Carl laughed. "Appearing to you was kind of a special, one-time deal. But I'm never far from you. I promise."

Rick reached for him, catching Carl's hand in his own. Carl squeezed.

"I love you," the statement was for every soul in that room.

"Love you too, Dad," Carl said. "And you mom," he blew Michonne a kiss. She caught it, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I love you too," she promised, holding her family closer to her.

With a laugh and a sound like a flame extinguishing, Carl faded away.

"He's still around" Judith said quietly. "He never goes far."

Rick kissed her forehead, then RJs, settling into the quiet of the room.

"Well?" Michonne reached for his hand across their children. "What now?" she asked.

Rick took it, linking their fingers. "How about we just start by sleeping. We can handle the rest tomorrow."

As the light faded from Alexandria and the stars glowed in the winter sky, the Grimes' family huddled warm and safe in their home, together at last.