It is December, a time for memories, and staying inside, close to a fire and share stories, old and new. This is a new story, a story about Charlie Matheson and Bass Monroe. About an unexpected present from Aaron Pittman. And somewhere in that story, the past, the present and the future will collide. Just like in Revolution, where we have seen so much of the past, mixed with the story... This story was waiting on my computer, and now I found the time to publish it! This is part one, part two will be published soon! A special thank you for Threemagpies, to show me that the Nano can also be there to bring something good. Thank you for the inspiration!
Willoughby, Texas
If you would ask Charlie Matheson about what happened that one day late December, she would tell you it was a dream. It had to be. However could see explain all the things that happened that one night? Because somewhere around midnight, at the end of a day that been filled with one unexpected moment after the other, she would let Sebastian Monroe kiss her. The former dictator, the former general and the man she had hated beyond anything for so long had kissed her in that dark living room.
This story starts in Willoughby, a small town in Texas. It is so small that maybe you have not heard of it. But it is there, and for now it is Charlie's home. It is also the place where Sebastian Monroe has returned after the war against the Patriots.
The big war against the patriots is over, and Sebastian Monroe, Bass to his friends, is managing the small town together with the man he knows since he was six. Miles Matheson. He is his former best friend, or maybe he still is. However they are still brothers. If you would see them bickering and ranting at each other on a daily basis, you probably won't think they are. But they are, although Miles Matheson will be the last one to admit that. The road both men walked, has been long. The fact that they are together in this small town, is something neither of them had expected. But that story is a long one, a story for another day. Fact is, they are here.
Charlie Matheson finds herself yet again in the small town she has returned to now for the third time. The first time was after she had returned with her mother, Rachel Matheson, Aaron Pittman and Miles, after the catastrophic events in a place called the tower. The second time she returned, was with Sebastian Monroe. The third time, she walked through the town gate with all of them. All of them, and Connor Bennett, Priscilla and her grandfather.
And now, it is Christmas Eve. That one night that has been there for thousands of years, all around the world. We go that little town now, when the sun is setting over the roof tops. Miles is on his way over to Charlie. Charlie is at home. Bass is finishing some paper work at his small office while Connor is flirting his way through the afternoon at the local bar. Aaron Pitman is busy with his latest project in a little study room at his own house.
Charlie had just closed the door to her room. She walked down the stairs of her grandfather's house. He was not here, he was away with her mother to visit town after town, helping as much people as they could recover from war and get them through winter and all the challenges that the people in those towns had to face now winter was here. As a doctor, and her mother sharing a lot of his knowledge, his expertise was a valuable one, and both her grandfather and mother did not want to waist that when they could help as much as they tried to.
Charlie had received a letter from her mother this morning, apologizing that she would not be there for Christmas. She had sent her love and then some more apologies. Charlie could not say she cared that much. Christmas had once been one of her favourite days of the whole year. But that had been before.
Her fingers were touching the wood of the balustrade of the stairs. With her mother gone, it was just her and the boys, like Monroe liked to use their little group of stupid alpha male trees. Connor, Miles, Aaron and himself. She sighed. Miles had told her he would come over, and when she heard him downstairs she had decided to get downstairs.
She had wanted nothing than a warm bed and a roof over her head all the time they were on the road, fighting another fight in the long war against the patriots. And now she was home, it had taken her weeks to get used to a normal rhythm again. She felt restless, she had nightmares frequently and was trying to battle through dark memories and the feeling of loss and letting go of things that would never be anymore. She was struggling, not that she would tell anyone. She was figuring things out, but somehow things did not fall in place. She had seen them looking at her with that some worried face, her mother, her uncle, Aaron and even Monroe, but she had always straitened her back and assured everyone that everything was fine.
The problem was, she had once told Connor, she had not expected to be here at this point. Alive. Therefore she had no sense of direction, what to do, who to be. She had been struggling the past few weeks. And now, the calendar in the cosy kitchen downstairs had told her it was Christmas Eve.
'Hey kid,' Miles smiled at her when he saw his niece making her way down the stairs, 'can you use some company?' He held a bottle in his hands.
Somehow Miles always got his hands on a good bottle. She grabbed the bottle out of his hands.
'Since you did not come empty handed, I guess you could stay for a while.'
Of course it was not long before she heard the sound of heavy boots on the porch. He did not even knock when he walked inside. Apparently the smug bastard still thought he owned the world, Charlie thought.
Charlie knew that Monroe was up to speed about the fact that her mother was out of town, and she was not surprised he had decided to drag his ass over here to see Miles.
He shoved another bottle in her hands, while he grinned at her.
'What?' He was ignoring her glare, 'Can't show my face here without bringing a lady a little thing for Christmas, now can I Charlotte?
God, he was infuriating. Stupid grin, stupid present. The Charlotte. Using her full name still got to her. She knew it. He knew it. He knew she knew it. Charlie just stared at him. Miles had once picked up on the whole name thing between her and Bass and had messed around with her about it, and that had even pissed of Charlie even more. She did not want there to be a thing between her and Monroe. Stupid names.
She pushed back her irritation.
'Sure Monroe.' She grabbed the bottle and put it on the table behind her with just a little more force than needed, ignoring the look between Monroe and her uncle.
It was a weak comeback, no, it was no comeback at all, only adding to her irritation. It was not the first time he had gotten under her skin and her comeback at him was not what she had hoped for when the words came out of her mouth. She pushed away a conversation in her mind she had with Monroe on their way back from Vegas with the much needed mercenaries about him finding it interesting that she had chosen a Monroe. For reasons she still not wanted to admit, he had floored her with his crude remark, leading her to say something close to I think I'm going to be sick. She had not even looked at him in the face, like she normally would if she wanted him to go to hell. Or at least, get the hell away from her. She would settle for that if she could not get the first part. Now that she thought about it, his eyes were everywhere but finding hers when he had been a giant asshole to her that day. Something about the whole conversation had screamed more than Monroe being his usual charming self. She got lost in that memory again when she realised she had been staring.
'Earth to Charlie,' Miles said drily. Charlie looked into the amusing eyes of both her uncle and Monroe.
She walked over to the table and poured herself a first drink.
Half an hour later, Charlie had pushed herself from her chair. She had said something about why she had to be the one to feed everyone, again, when she was going through the cabinets to see what could be their dinner until there was another knock on the door.
Great, Charlie sighed. Charlie put her hand on her hip when she saw who was standing on the other side of the door and she looked right in the face of the younger Monroe.
Connor grinned at her. 'What, you are not leaving my charming self, all by myself, standing here on this porch on Christmas Eve?
'Fine,' Charlie sighed, gesturing him to come inside. Connor put his hands in his pockets, while he passed her.
Bass jaws locked when he tried to ignore the little moment between his kid and Charlie at the kitchen door. It was not like he did not want to share this night with his kid, it was just, seeing the both of them together still pissed him of.
'And that makes three,' Charlie said to herself, when she walked back into the kitchen, looking at Miles and the Monroe's. Connor had grabbed another chair and was sitting next to his dad, while Monroe poured his kid a drink.
'So, you are going to cook for us?' Connor grinned.
Charlie raised her eyebrow at him, giving him a deadly look. She was just about to tell him exactly what he could do with himself, when there was another knock on the door. Before she opened her mouth her eyes fell on Monroe. His jaws were locked, and his eyes were darker than normal. He was keeping his eyes on his drink and trying to act all cool, but she had seen it.
'No, you guys just sit down, I am fine playing the good nice hostess over here,' she fired at all three men in front of her.
This time, it was Aaron that stood on the other side of the door, a bottle in his hands. 'Hey kiddo, I thought I would stop by tonight, could you use some company?'
'Well, apparently you are not the only one who had that idea.' Charlie said, when she smiled at Aaron.
Aaron walked in and saw Miles first. He was about to say something before he saw Monroe and his offspring. Charlie could hear him murmur something softly. 'Great.'
'Stay Puft!' Bass raised his glass towards Aaron.
'Dick.' Aaron snapped back.
'Aaaaand we are off,' Miles said drily, 'Merry Christmas!' he raised his glass before he took another gulp.
Charlie crossed her arms before her chest, irritation in her voice.
'So, are you ever going to tell me what's a stay puft.' She aimed her words and eyes directly at Monroe.
Bass fought back a grin. He knew he could piss her of with references to the past. When he thought about it, there was not a lot he had to do to piss her off. And now, Charlie was asking him a direct question. He knew she had made it her mission in life to not talk to him, or heaven forbid, ask him a question, if she could help it.
She looked pissed as hell, something he found damn adorable when he had to to know her better over the past months. The fact that she was speaking to him, was a pleasant surprise.
Bass started to explain the meaning of the nick name, when he sat back into his chair, earning him a dirty look from Aaron.
'Seriously?' Charlie shot at him, 'That is all this big mean though general could come up with? A reference to a Marshmallow?'
She could see Monroe's eyes fire up at her and tried her best to ignore that.
'Disappointed?' Monroe teased her. God, he swore he loved the way those worlds rolled of her lips. Big mean though General. Damn it. What was it about this woman that drew him closer to her every damn time.
'Very,' she snapped at him, before turning back to the kitchen counter to check if she had enough to feed for the guys and herself. It did not look like they were going anywhere soon and she was hungry.
To her surprise, Monroe made some effort to not be a giant asshole when they were sitting around the small table in the kitchen. She had found some dried meat, fruit, bread and cheese. It was not much, but it had to do.
She was not sure if it was the small buzz from the whiskey Miles brought over, but somehow she had started to enjoy herself. The whole group seemed to do so. Maybe a lot of food and a lot of alcohol was the solution to being around Monroe without actually want to break his nose.
The grey sky outside turned into a dark night sky when time passed. Candles had been lit throughout the kitchen and Connor had decided to make himself useful when he had build a fire in the fireplace.
Every now and then there was a blast of wind that flew around the house, making the kitchen door rattle. The weather seemed to change out there.
Charlie felt a shiver going through her. The room felt chilly all of a sudden, when it had gotten dark outside. She walked out of the room to grab a warm sweater upstairs. She could also use some time away from Monroe's intense stares. And the fact that she was irritated beyond anything that she was actually allowed herself to talk to the guy. Why the hell did she have such a good time all of a sudden when he was around?
She had reached upstairs when Miles his voice was booming through the house. 'What the hell?'
Charlie rushed down the stairs, the sweater still in her hand. There were only a couple of soft lights inside and the curtains were not closed.
She was slightly out of breath, and her body filled with adrenaline at her uncle's outburst.
'What's wrong?' Charlie wanted to now, big blue eyes tried to read the situation.
'Aaron, seriously, you have got to tell me how you do that,' Monroe said, his eyes wide when he looked from Aaron back to the window on his right.
'It shouldn't have started this early,' Aaron said for the second time, irritation in his voice.
Charlie was losing her temper fast.
'Aaron, what are you talking about. Can anybody tell me what is going on?' She almost yelled.
Miles and Monroe were looking at her with amusement on both their faces at her rare outburst. And then she turned her head towards the window.
Bass looked at the window before his eyes fell on Charlie again. He watched her intense blue eyes fill with something he had never seen before. Her face lightened up completely and a stunning smile appeared on her face. He swallowed heavily when he followed her when she walked towards the kitchen door.
Charlie felt her heart beat faster.
'I know it is a little bit early, because Christmas is still a couple of hours away, but I wanted to give you something special this year and...' Aaron's voice was fading away, all of Charlie's attention was now turned outside. She was not listening anymore.
She yanked the door open. She did not know if she smelled or saw it first. The temperature outside had dropped dramatically. Her breaths were little clouds of air before her. The air was icy and it hurt inside of her nose and lunges when she took it in. And then she saw it. Little snowflakes falling from a winter sky above her. She stood still on the porch when the snowflakes covered the town around her. There was already a white blanket on the floor, the house and the small trees around them.
She closed her eyes for a moment. She took in the scent that was once home. She forgot, but now she smelled it again, it was the same. Winter, cold, snow. The winter night sky had a deep glow, heavy clouds with snow. The town was quiet. She took a step down from the porch. And then another. The cold hit her face. She did not care. She tilted her head back and looked at all the tiny white flakes in different shapes falling from the sky. They touched her cheeks.
She held out her hand, and let the snow fall on her hand. It melted when it touched her warm hand.
She turned around. Monroe, Miles, Connor and Aaron where standing on the porch. The first three of them looking at her and the snow in absolute shock. Aaron just looked happy.
'Aaron...what?' Charlie started.
'Merry Christmas, kiddo. I'm sorry the timing is a little bit off, but this is my present for you. My Christmas present for you.'
'How?' Charlie said.
'Well, I will bore you with the details some other time, but it took on old computer and some of my skills to give you a little snow from home.'
Aaron had been working nonstop on his secret project for the past couple of days and he had managed to finish just an hour before Christmas Eve. He knew Charlie missed home, the feel of home. Winter, snow. He had decided he would try to figure out if he could use the Nano for her, for this night. He had tuned the code into her wishes, to tune into what she needed this Christmas. It he was simply delighted that it had worked.
He knew about a new threat across the Texan borders. He knew that in a couple of months, there was a good change they would all fight another enemy. Rumours about what happened in Bradburry had reached the borders. The Nano. But for now, he had tried to use the renewed Nano activity to make snow. He was actually pretty happy with how it had turned out. The snowflakes were perfect, only the timing had been off.
He had made a nice little speech to give to Charlie, but maybe, looking at the faces around them and the smile on Charlie's face, this was even better. It was so good to see Charlie smile. He gave her snow, and hopefully one night she would remember.
'More of the Nano crap, isn't it?' Miles sighed.
'Thank you Aaron, I...I love it.' Her voice was softer now, and it was not lost on Bass how Charlie let her emotions show, a rare moment, in front of everybody else. She walked up the porch and hugged Aaron.
Miles had walked inside and had grabbed Charlie's jacket. 'Here kid, you are going need this.' A grin on his face.
'Is that so?' Charlie smiled, when she zipped her jacket up, 'and why is that?'
'Because of the snow battle that is about to break loose.' Miles took a couple of steps into the garden, the snow crunching under his boots.
'Hell yeah,' Monroe grunted behind him.
Miles grabbed some snow and rubbed some of it in Charlie's face, 'Hey!' Charlie shouted, annoyed.
She looked very pissed at Miles and Bass felt it was a nice change, to see Charlie being pissed at anybody else than him.
'Can't handle a little snow, kid?' Miles grinned at her. He grabbed some more snow and formed a good snow ball, and hit Charlie again. That was all the encouragement Charlie needed. She ducked, but Miles had one fine sense of direction and the snowball hit her in the chest.
As fast as she could she formed a snowball on her own and when she walked backwards she threw it right in Miles face. He ducked too but Charlie did not miss. Not only did Charlie's snowball hit him close around his stomach, there was another fine hit coming from his left. This one did hit Miles straight in the face.
'What the hell...' Miles shouted, looking at a grinning Bass behind him, and a laughing Charlie on his right.
'Can't handle a little snow, uncle Miles?' Charlie said, her voice reaching a mock innocence and one hell of a challenge.
'Yeah brother, you are not afraid of a girl and some snow, are you?' Bass shot at Miles.
'Excuse me?' Now Charlie looked at Monroe, 'what did you just call me?'
Bass was still grinning at Miles, when there was something reaching him at high speed from the corner of his eye, the one with the blind spot, and he ducked away just in time from Charlie's snowball.
His mouth fell open, and he looked directly in Charlie's face at the other side from the garden. He knew from the look in her eyes that it had not been a mistake that she choose that direction to hit him. She had figured it out, his blind spot. Damn it. She was shooting his very best grin at him but this time, unlike before, there was a smile in her face when she looked at him.
'That was one hell of a mistake, Charlotte,' he growled at her, his voice low through the winter air, but the lines around his eyes crinkled in an amused way.
'Is that supposed to scare me, Monroe,' she shot back at him. For the first time she loved the energy of their bickering. It was lighter than before, and she was lying if she said his words were not doing something with her. She could not put it in words, but the energy tonight felt different.
It was the last thing Charlie said before a giant snow battle began. Aaron, Connor, Miles and Monroe turned into a couple of big man children in front of her eyes, when especially Miles and Bass were going all in.
Bass looked at Charlie, laughing, throwing snowballs around like a damn pro. He did not really think things through when he started to circle around her, keeping out her line of sight.
Charlie was busy forming another snowball, this one was meant for Aaron, while she was enjoying herself with the unexpected amount of fun they were having.
Charlie was laughing so hard that she had not heard Monroe coming. She felt a large arm wrapping itself around her chest, and before she could make a move to untangle herself, he kept her against his chest and let a little snow fall into her jacket close to her neck.
And then Charlie actually screamed, when the cold snow came in contact with the skin of her neck and shoulder blades.
'Well, that's the most girly scream I have ever heard.' Miles said with his usual sarcasm.
'Monroe, you stupid...' she laughed, when the first shock of the cold snow against her warm skin started to fade.
Then, she sensed his warm breath against her neck and for a second she felt his scruff on her skin. She tried to struggle away from him, and when she started to move she landed into one hell of a wrestling game with him. She knew he was going easy on her, but that was not the only thing she went through her mind. His body was tall, hard. But what shocked her most of all, even more than the cold snow against her skin, was that their bodies were so close and she felt her body react to him.
It was a good thing she was determined to give him hell and some good old payback for that one snowball in her neck, because that meant she did not have to give that last thought more attention right now.
She moved her body, thank you Miles for all that training, in a way so she got some room to turn around. This time, he was so close that she could sense the whiskey on his breath and take in his scent. Their eyes locked for a moment and she saw how his eyes went to her lips for less than a second. And then, that moment was gone and she hooked her leg behind his, and used every part of her body weight to flip him over.
Bass found himself falling into the snow, and he took Charlie with him. Charlie did not even think about what she did next, because she straddled him, and tried to pin him down in the snow. If only she could reach for some snow to push in his face now.
And then she watched his face. There were no harsh lines visible, not even that grin he seemed to shoot her more and more over the past couple of months. He actually smiled at her, his whole face lit up and she forgot her revenge pay back move for the snow in my neck-plan for a moment. They locked eyes, while her hands rested on his chest. It probably had taken only a couple of seconds, but time seemed to stretch out around them.
'And that's enough, what the hell Bass, get away from my niece. Now.' Miles shouted.
Before Bass could throw something back in Miles' face about his niece straddling him, damn it, her ass was way too close to his lap, Charlie started to talk.
'Well, aren't you lucky your best friend is here to save your ass, Monroe.' Charlie grinned at him, before she moved away from Monroe and got on her feet again.
She felt his eyes on her, and like it always used to be, she was not able to pull away from his gaze just yet when the snowflakes fell down around them.
A little bit later, Charlie felt the shift around her, when the guys were throwing snow balls at each other again like there was no tomorrow. They did not seem to notice. She turned around and looked around her.
It was like a silence approached, and the street around her faded. The snow started to slow done around her, and it were only tiny little flakes that were falling now. There was a gust of wind coming from her left, and it was like the houses around her started to disappear into the snow.
The world around her was white, silent, quiet while the sky above her was dark. And then she heard soft footsteps, footsteps that were still around a corner. Her eyes shot to the place of where the sound came from.
She heard voices, two of them. The sounds seemed to come from everywhere now. And then, like she was watching at a memory from a far, she saw two little boys. They were running through the street in front of her, but she was not sure if their feet were touching the snow under them.
They were not dressed for winter, and they looked like they were from another time, another place. One boy had dark hair, the other had blonde curls. In the background she could see a field in the summer, tall grass and both of the boys were running, like they were caught up in some game.
And then the little boys disappeared into the grass, and it was like the memory before her came closer. She was standing not far away from a tree, and both boys sat down in front of it now. Blue eyes, dark eyes. Her heartbeat picked up. She knew those eyes. She knew those faces. Their faces were younger, without sorrow, hurt and traces from long years that had changed them both.
The blond boy was drawing something on his lower arm with a black marker. It was the letter M with a half circle around it.
'It is the M, for Monroe and Matheson, Miles. It is for both our names.' The blonde boy said.
'I want one too, Bass.' The other boy said. He pushed his sleeve away, so the blonde boy could draw the M on his skin as well.
Charlie looked down slowly at her wrist, and stared down at the M that had been there for so long, that she did not remember anymore what it was like to not see it there. She touched the scarred skin and looked in front of her again.
She was in a living room. A family around her. Footsteps on the stairs and two young teenager girls came down the stairs. Blonde, blue eyes. And then a sound on her right and the front door was opened. Two guys walked in, talking fast and messing around with each other. Miles. Monroe. They were so close she could almost touch them. They both threw their school bags in a corner and were complaining about homework. The young teenager girls greeted them, and an older woman, walked in with dinner. What reached Charlie the most, was the carefree feeling in the room. The energy was light and Charlie realised, with a shock, she was looking at Monroe and his family.
And then, for the last time, the images started to change again, voices and sounds combining when it was like pages from a book turned fast before her. The world around her got a little bit darker and the tones of the memory in front of her stayed dark. The feeling of lightness was taken away abruptly.
She looked at the two boys again. Only this time they were older, and Charlie gasped when she saw their faces. She was standing in front of Miles and Monroe, who was crying with an intensity that broke her heart. There were four graves before her, and Miles was sitting close to Monroe, his arm around his shoulder. Charlie saw the bottle of whiskey and the gun close to Monroe.
His tears broke her heart, she had never seen him like this, so full of pain, so broken. And then the image faded again and she was standing behind Monroe at the same cemetery. Only this time he had aged. He wore his Militia uniform and Charlie knew where they were. Jasper. She had been there that day too. He was laying flowers before the graves before him. The lines in his face were heard, his lips pressed in a tight line while two of his men stood close by to cover him. She gasped when she saw the first name on one of the stones. Gail Monroe. And then she saw the name of his father, his sisters. She watched his silent pain rage through him. But this time, he was alone. Miles was not there anymore.
And when that image faded, like a candle was blown out in front of her, it was like all the images pressed into one.
She had to close her eyes for a moment, the intensity of what she just saw and felt in front of her eyes, reaching her like a cold punch. She had once accused him of feeling nothing, of wearing only a cold mask. She had been so sure that Monroe knew nothing about loss. She had been wrong. So wrong. She had always asked herself what could have happened for him to become the man he was now, the same question she had once asked about Miles. She felt like she got a little bit of the answer now.
For the first time, she felt his pain. For the first time she understood that he did know about loss. For the first time she felt empathy for the rough and sometimes crude man that she had found in New Vegas, months after the tower. Every now and then when they were on the road, she caught a glimpse of the man behind that mask. But she had pushed that glimpse away. He could not become anything else then Monroe. For so many reasons.
The images in front of her faded, and all of a sudden she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Aaron looking at her, worry in his face.
'Are you all right, kiddo?'
She nodded at him. The wind had died down, and the street looked light liked the street again. And it was that with the wind, the intensity of her feelings got soothed. The images of before, the sounds, the emotions, they all had vanished. It was like they vanished from within her too, the hard edges of the pain softened. She knew it should scare the hell out of her, what just happened. Only, it didn't.
'Good, could you please come with me so I don't have to be alone with those guys over there? It's like third grade all over again.' He sighed.
Charlie turned her head one more time towards the street when she walked back to the house with Aaron. The other's were waiting for her on the porch. She remembered the little boys, the teenagers in that warm house and finally two young men at a graveyard in the dark. And now she looked at Miles and Monroe, she saw a faint hint of them still there. It was impossible to think about Monroe the way she had done at the beginning of the night. Impossible, because she had seen some of the Bass, that Miles still seemed to remember. The guy Miles would still fight for and with. Maybe she understood now just a little bit better. And she did not know until now, how much she had longed for that moment.
So, here we are, the first part of this story! I wanted to use this Christmas story to explore the past, to bring Charlie and Bass closer. Of course, there is a little element of Christmas magic in this story... I am almost done with the second part, and I will publish that soon so this story continues. I am not able to write a short one shot, and it always turns into more for one chapter, so I will update soon... and then, the story continues! Until the next chapter..Love from Love