Charlie tried to decide if this was the most guns she had ever had pointed at her at one time. Before she could finish counting, however, she was interrupted.

"You've got some balls barging in here like that. No wonder Sebastian likes you."

Charlie looked at the clan leader sitting in her chair…regal, elegant, strong. She ignored the woman's comment and got straight to the point. She needed Duncan's assistance. Obviously the woman had some history with Monroe and Charlie only hoped that it had ended on good enough terms that she would be willing to help. After explaining the situation, Charlie was beginning to think that whatever had happened between them had ended poorly because Duncan did not seem the least bit concerned.

"So you don't feel the least bit compelled to help?" Charlie was incredulous. "I can pay. Not a lot, but I can get more." She tried to sound convincing, but considering her most recent endeavor to secure some money led to her needing help now, she knew it sounded hollow.

With a chortle, obviously Duncan felt the same way. And she looked bored on top of it.

"Why not?" Charlie was surprised that she managed to say that more like a command and less like a petulant child.

Duncan suddenly focused all her attention to Charlie, looking her directly in her eyes. There was anger there. Not to the degree that Charlie felt threatened, per se, but she knew she hit some sort of nerve. She just didn't know what that nerve was.

"Can you leave us for a moment?" Duncan nonchalantly asked of the room. She stood as her companions filed out, some looking back as if to check to make sure all was truly well. They must have remembered Charlie pulling a gun earlier. Duncan gave a slight nod indicating there was no problem.

Charlie waited for Duncan to respond. And did she.

"You want to know why I don't feel the need to help?" Without waiting for a response to that rhetorical question, Duncan continued on. "Well, first, I'm not willing to risk myself or any of my clan for an outsider. Sebastian could have been a member…he should have joined…but he left instead. If he had joined, you wouldn't have had to ask. We'd have already gotten him out. Second, and I am loathe to admit this, but I actually cared for him. He was strong and passionate and I thought I finally found a partner, an equal. Then, he just up and disappeared. I knew he wasn't faithful. Hell, I wasn't faithful. That wasn't our relationship. But last I heard, he left to meet a woman and then, nothing. He was gone. Based on what I've been told about her description, I'm guessing that woman was you." The accusatory look in Duncan's eyes was intense and Charlie was beginning to rethink her plan to ask Duncan for help.

"Now, don't get me wrong," Duncan continued with a smile, "I don't need a man to get by. I got over Sebastian a long time ago, but I'll be damned if my replacement is going to come on to my turf and demand that I owe him, or her, something."

Charlie thought that this might be a good time to enlighten Duncan on the real events of the evening Jimmy King left New Vegas, but was interrupted.

"Besides, unless I missed something, there is no way that kid could beat Monroe in a fight. He'll be dead inside five minutes."

And then Charlie realized. Duncan didn't know who Connor was. "No he won't."

Duncan looked at her with an expression that fell somewhere between dubious and incredulous. "Does he have some sort of secret ninja powers?" The sarcasm dripping from Duncan's voice was palpable.

"Connor is Monroe's son. There is no way he'll kill his own kid." That got the woman's attention.

Charlie was hoping that she wouldn't have to go into some long, drawn out story...she didn't have time. Fortunately, she didn't have to. Apparently Monroe had shared with her that he had a son who he hoped to find and had even talked about the kid's mother and their history. Charlie realized that it was very likely that Duncan knew more about this part of Monroe's past than she did.

Once Duncan understood the situation, she seemed to reconsider. Charlie decided now would be the right time to clear up the misconceptions of Bass' departure that night. Hopefully making herself seem less of an interloper would make Duncan more willing to help her, or at least more willing to help Monroe. But she didn't want to be too obvious. It was apparent Duncan thought of her past feelings for Monroe to be a weakness, and if one thing Charlie could relate to is the need to not seem like a weak little woman who swoons at the big, strong man.

After getting the full story, Duncan recalled her people back into the room and explained the situation to them. She said this rescue was on a volunteer basis, but Charlie could tell that really, it wasn't. Duncan expected her people to do this, and they did. As her people filed out to do whatever recon they had been assigned, Duncan offered Charlie a drink. A drink she realized she desperately needed.

"He does like you, you know." Duncan announced as she sipped her drink. "Even if you aren't the reason he left, he cares a great deal for you."

Charlie tried to pass it off on her being the niece of his best friend, but Duncan wasn't buying it.

"Maybe it started that way, but I came to know him quite well. If I didn't know better, I'd say he'd die for you." Duncan had to smile at Charlie's reaction to the statement, so she continued. "What, you think that is a bit extreme? You're selling him short. He's very faithful." She offered Charlie a refill at this point.

"I thought you said he wasn't faithful." Charlie took a big swig from her refilled cup, trying to steady her nerves. She knew Duncan's people had only been gone a short while, but it seemed like an eternity.

Duncan laughed. Really laughed. "Oh, my dear. If I had wanted that sort of relationship, he would have been faithful to the end of time." Pausing after another sip, she added, "He hates that about himself, by the way. It makes him feel weak. But General Sebastian Monroe is an old romantic softie, deep down." She continued to laugh. How could this girl not know this about him?

Charlie was taken aback. Had she been blinded by her rage and anger towards him that though she told herself that she was seeing him differently, she really wasn't? Was she still only considering the human Bass to be the pre-blackout Bass without allowing that the human, the man, still existed? She was getting a headache.

She reached her glass out for another refill, which Duncan provided.

"He's a little old for me, wouldn't you say?" Charlie realized that for the first time, she had a woman…a woman who knew Monroe and didn't despise him…to talk to about thoughts that had been floating around her mind for awhile. Thoughts that had been confusing her, angering her, frustrating her. Might as well take advantage of this situation…at least it will kill some time.

"Darling, even before the blackout, men and women dated outside of their immediate age bracket. I'd say it matters even less now. If you fit, you fit. Who cares if he's old enough to be your father?" Charlie nearly choked on her drink and must have had quite a look on her face, because Duncan laughed into her own glass and continued, "I'm only guessing he's old enough. It's hard to tell with him. He's a lot younger than his age."

Charlie was really hoping Duncan was not about to go into details about why she thought of Monroe as younger than his age. Fortunately, instead she went into stories about how she always preferred younger men, though she wasn't sure why. She thought maybe it was their stamina. Charlie, unaware, nodded knowingly. She couldn't really compare their stamina to that of older men, she hadn't been with any, but she knew that guys her age had…a lot of enthusiasm. She looked to see Duncan smiling at her. She knew what Charlie had been thinking about. The two women clinked their glasses in an unspoken toast to…enthusiasm.

"So you and Sebastian never…"

"No. No." Charlie did not like this turn in conversation. Where are those people with the recon reports? Shouldn't they have something to report? Her glass was suddenly refilled again.

"Really? Never even came close…"

"I slept with his son." That slipped out before thinking.

Duncan let out a laugh, "That's close, but not really what I meant. And how was he?"

Charlie couldn't help but smile. She wasn't sure what they'd been drinking, but it was good. "He was…enthusiastic." She was about to continue, but was interrupted by one of Duncan's men entering for a report. Finally, she thought.

"The fight is happening tonight. Lars was able to get some tickets so we'll have some people inside."

Charlie assumed "Lars" was one of Duncan's people and was about to try and suggest that she should be one of the people on the inside, but as if reading her thoughts, Duncan looked over to her and reminded Charlie that Gould and his people knew her face so there was no way she would be on the inside.

She could hear Duncan giving orders while simultaneously finalizing the plans for the escape. Charlie kept trying to interject herself into the discussion, but without being a member of the clan, she had trouble getting a word in. Finally, as people began leaving to work on their latest assignments, Charlie had had enough and let Duncan know it. She was not going to be on the sidelines. Duncan, however, had other plans.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure you are a bad ass fighter, but I don't know you. My people don't know you. There is a better than average chance that you would just screw things up simply because there is no familiarity."

Charlie wasn't happy at all with that logic, though she understood. It would be like the difference between fighting with Connor and fighting with Monroe. "So I'm supposed to just sit in this tent and wait?"

No, there was still a part for her to play. "When this goes down, you need to make sure Connor gets out of the fight tent." Seeing Charlie's less than thrilled response, Duncan tried to appease her. Explaining the plans for the escape, at least as it pertained to her, Charlie realized that time would be of the essence and this was something that she could do without risk to getting her wires crossed with Duncan's clan as they fought. It would also help get Monroe out…if he knew Charlie was responsible for getting Connor out, he would get out…and be less likely to waste time arguing about finding his son in the chaos that would no doubt be happening.

"So when does this all go down?" Charlie asked. She was getting excited and nervous.

The fight, Charlie learned, would start in ninety minutes. God, would that be enough time to get everything into place? Fortunately, Duncan appeared to have a good sized clan. They didn't have to do a million things each, like her "clan" back in Willoughby. She hoped that these people appreciated the luxury in that.

"So, Connor is enthusiastic."

What was Duncan asking? Looking around her, she realized that they were alone again and the woman was back to sipping her drink. And waiting expectantly.

"Yeah, whatever. I was bored and we had time to kill while you and Monroe negotiated for the help."

As if contemplating something, Duncan paused, took another drink, and then paused again. "You never call him by his name, do you? Too personal? Too…intimate?"

Charlie wasn't sure if Duncan thought she was being sly with her questions, but she doubted it. She seemed like a woman who said what she thought. "No one calls him Sebastian…except you, apparently."

"You should try it sometime…it rolls off the tongue. Like a purr."

And for some reason, Charlie's face decided at that particular moment to try out the latest craze called "blushing." Charlie had had enough of the innuendo. Why was Duncan so interested in getting her…a woman just an hour ago she basically accused of stealing Monroe…into bed with him. That question may have been plastered all over her face.

"I'm just killing time. And I'm intrigued. I really thought the two of you were together. Really, really together. Sebastian seemed so at peace. The sort of peace that would come with him finally finding his soul mate, for lack of a less-sappy word."

"I think you are confusing that with him being happy with finding his son." Charlie knew Monroe was infinitely more grounded since Connor had been brought into the fold. Even with his minor freak-out after finding them together earlier he still seemed more man, less General.

"Oh, I don't doubt that that has helped, but I'm not generally wrong about people. There is a connection between you two…even if neither of you have actually acknowledged it. Besides…" Duncan paused, took another sip and smiled a knowing smile to herself. "I'd kind of like to find out how enthusiastic his son really is, but I wouldn't want to step on your toes. I figure as long as you know you slept with the wrong one, you won't mind me…" Duncan trailed off in mid sentence to take another drink.

Charlie just slowly put her head down on the table, next to her drink, slowly and gently banging it against the surface.

"What? I told you I prefer younger men."

So, Charlie figured Duncan trusting her to get her newly designated interest out safely did mean something. Assuming Duncan was serious. And honestly, Charlie couldn't tell. Monroe should be happy that his spawn has game.

Thinking of him got her worrying again. What if the plan didn't work? What if they were too late and Connor kills Monroe before they have time to fully implement it?

"It's time to go."

Charlie looked up at an expectant Duncan. Had it already been ninety minutes?

"We need to get in place. It's going to be hectic around the tent, and seeing as how we don't know how long we have before the kid starts really doing some damage to Sebastian, we need to be ready to go right away. Plus, I like to have enough time for improvising in case some last minute changes have to happen. Come on. It's time to set the town a fire."

Charlie wasn't sure what the entire plan was…she hoped Duncan wasn't being literal.

Connor couldn't believe his dad's "plan." He knew they were in trouble, but there had to be a way out. He thought maybe Charlie could get them out, but neither man knew if she had made it out OK. It was obvious that Bass really hoped she had…and that she kept going, straight back to Willoughby. He knew Gould was as unsavory as they came and if he had caught Charlie, he would make her work off the debt he felt she owed him. And crossing Gould, well, there was no end to that. She would belong to Gould until she lost her usefulness, or until she died.

"What do you mean you have to teach me how to kill you? And yes, I understand the fight-to-the-death concept."

Bass swiped his hand down his face. He was tired and he didn't feel like arguing. He didn't want to spend his last moments on earth arguing with his son. He wanted to just enjoy these last few moments with him, and to think about Charlie.

He had a lot of regret on that end, though he knew that if he was given a second chance, he would likely still hesitate. What he had…or didn't have…with her was OK with him. He got to fight alongside her and protect her and admire her. That was enough. Even here at the end. Resigned to his fate, he decided it was time to get to work.

"Let's get started, Connor. If Gould thinks we rigged the fight, he'll likely kill you anyway and I can't have that." With that, Monroe started giving his son a crash course in some rather dirty street fighting. The fight was to the death…they never said anything about it being a clean fight to the death.

But before too long, it was time. As the two men were escorted to the cage, Bass looked around and took in the atmosphere: the roaring crowd, the flamed torches, the cage. For some reason, he thought he should be able to see Tina Turner repeatedly declaring "two men enter, one man leaves!" He looked over at his son, proud. "I wish I had more time with you."

Connor sadly smiled and looked at him, "me, too" was his somber reply, but as their eyes met, Bass realized nothing else really needed to be said.

"Promise me you won't blame yourself. I'm damned proud of you and if I had to die at the hands of anyone, I'm glad it will be you." Bass waited until Connor silently agreed, though he could tell there was doubt on the man's face. "I know a lot has already been asked of you this evening and you don't need any more pressure, but I need you to do me a favor. Promise me it, and I won't have any regrets, but I need you to do this."

The two men had arrived at gate into the cage. Connor waited and Bass put a hand on his shoulder, making him look directly into his eyes. It was at that moment he saw his father the most serious he had ever seen him. Even a little sad, maybe.

"Promise me you'll look after Charlie. She doesn't need it. She'll bitch about it. But promise me you will anyway."

He slowly nodded his head in agreement, noticing his father's immediate relief in his return nod. It was at that moment he realized. His dad cared for her deeply…loved her, even. But the gate swung open and the crowd's roar amplified to deafening levels.

"It's time."