Michonne was sure she heard incorrectly. It took her a few seconds to replay in her mind the last words that Rick had just said and she was still in disbelief. She saw Jesus, Sasha, Abe, Eugene and Rosita look uncomfortable suddenly, as if they had intruded in a private moment in the middle of their kitchen. Rick had the good sense to look down at the map and instead of at her as her anger and humiliation rose.

"Rick, I think that Michonne would be the most reasonable person for this. You are going to need a lot of firepower and people who know how to fight if you are going for these weapons." Jesus said, his blue eyes looking like an animal who didn't want to get entrapped in a snare. He had arrived earlier in the night sending word of Maggie and Glenn at Hilltop and because he knew that they would need him. "You need as much…"

"She needs to be here." Rick said, his shoulders tensing and if Michonne could burn a hole into him at that moment she would. Of all the macho horseshit she had ever heard of this took the cake.

Michonne crossed her arms and the silence became an overwhelming cloud of tension, smothering everyone in its path. Abe cleared his throat and glanced at Sasha. Sasha nodded her head.

"We'll go and get the RV ready for our trip as well as a couple of trucks." Abe suddenly interjected. He, Eugene, Sasha, and Rosita bolted out of the room as if the hounds of hell were after them. Jesus stared at Michonne and then at Rick, unsure of how to proceed, but then he merely did the smart thing.

"I'll try to find more information about where Sanctuary is."

Jesus walk swiftly out of the room and then it was just them, in the morning daylight, and Michonne heated glare at Rick who didn't take his eyes off the map of Washington D.C. in front of him.

"This is foolish. I thought that I had to talk to Carl about locking up his girlfriend in a closet but obviously he gets it from his father."

"Michonne."

"Of all of the pigheaded, stubborn...no, I'm going."

"You need to stay here!" Rick exploded. It was not often that Rick lost his temper with her and she knew that it was more of his fear talking than anything else. But she was going whether he liked it or not.

"You are letting your fear get the best of you. You know I'm one of the best out there. You know that I will get the job done no matter what and you know that I will be the best asset you have. And if you think I'm letting you go into D.C. without me you are sorely mistaken."

Rick finally raised his eyes to her and the pain in them shocked her and subdued some of her fury. His hands were balled up on top of the map. He was breathing hard, ready to fight her, ready to make her see that she needed to stay but she would not let that happen. It was too dangerous. Too risky and with Daryl gone, Carol missing, and Glenn at Hilltop. He needed her.

"Michonne, I can't go out there and only think about your safety. Think about you getting home." Rick confessed.

"That has never stopped you from letting me do it before."

"It's different now."

"How? Because we are in love? Because we are together?"

"Yes." Rick said simply and put his eyes back on the map. Michonne shook her head. She had hoped that he wouldn't doubt her skills. She was the same Michonne before and after they made love. She would make it back and she would make sure that he made it back too.

She carefully walked over to him and put her hand under his chin so he could look at her and she could look at him.

"Every day I think about stabbing that bastard through the heart and laying his body out for the walkers to eat. I want to be a part of this, Rick. I have to be. With or without you."

Rick startled at that, stepping back and gazing at her with surprise.

"I won't let you do that, Michonne."

"You don't have a choice. The only choice you have is if you let me do it with you or without you. I won't let him hurt you, the kids, or our friends. So if going on this mission and getting those weapons help then that's what I'll do. This isn't all about you, Rick. I need this justice too and if I'm going to lie to these people to keep them safe and thinking they are going to bend to Negan then I need to have some stake in this. A real stake."

Michonne thought of Spencer crying at his mother's grave as she held steady in her beliefs. She had to do this. For not only Rick but for everyone. For herself. Rick rubbed his fingers through his hair in frustration and Michonne held steady against her own warring feeling of hurting him. She loved him but she wasn't going to let him sideline her because of his own fear.

He gazed at her again. "What if I can't protect you?"

Michonne put her chin up. "I can protect myself, Rick. I don't die."

Rick gave her a small smirk at that and rested his hands on his hips. She came closer to him and hugged him to her, rubbing his back up and down and he returned the favor.

"I can't lose you." Rick whispered in her ear.

"You won't. And I won't lose you. Not now and not ever."

He kissed her gently on the lips and nodded his head.

"We head out three hours."

Michonne squeezed him tighter to her and felt his touch returned. She looked to see Carl in the foyer, looking in on them holding Judith, his one good eye curious and seeking. She nodded at him and he nodded back.

Rick released her and pulled back, noticing his son waiting for him, and beckoned him over. Carl moved with Judith, looking unsure about what he was going to hear from his father.

"What's up, Dad?"

Rick gazed at Michonne and then back at Carl. Michonne held her breath and waited for his words.

"Son, we are going to go into D.C. I need for you to help Gabriel keep ASZ safe while we're gone."