A little bitty AU Charloe One-shot inspired by the catastrophic Revolution cancellation news of 5/9/14. In this story, Charlie's favorite tv show has just been cancelled. She is (of course) devastated, and Bass is there to help her through her grief. This is pure fluff. No smut or bad language whatsoever.

The year is 2029. Charlie is 22. Bass is 45.

Bass doesn't knock because this is Miles' place, and he never knocks. He's here so much, it's like he lives here anyway. Bass has been visiting even more than usual lately. He pretends it has nothing to do with the fact that Miles' niece Charlie has moved into her Uncle's spare room. She's been having issues with her Mom, and so Miles told her it was okay to move in. Miles bitches about having a roommate sometimes, but Bass can tell he really likes her a lot. They are close, even though they bicker and tease each other mercilessly.

The thing is, even though Charlie is Miles' niece and Bass knows she is technically off limits, he is drawn to her. Maybe it's the freshness of her youth. Maybe it's that smile that lights up a room. Maybe it's the way she looks at him with those big blue eyes like she's peeling away his soul. Whatever it is, he keeps finding himself back here in hopes of catching a glimpse of her. If he's lucky they have a conversation. Lately she's been flirting with him. Bass isn't sure what to make of this. Does she like him? Surely not. She calls him "Old Man". No way could she be interested.

Except… two weeks ago, she'd had a little too much to drink and had sat on his lap. He thought his head might explode when she snuggled in close and breathed against his neck. Days later she had sat next to him at dinner, pressing her thigh against his during the whole meal. And just last night she had given him a kiss. True it was on his cheek, but it was close to his mouth… closer than a 'friends only' kiss should ever be. She'd been saying goodbye, but the thing was – she'd never ever given him a goodbye kiss before not even a friendly on the cheek version. So what was going on? It was driving Bass crazy.

He feels like a high school kid, and it's not normal for him. He shakes his head at the thought. He's never had a problem getting women or knowing exactly what they want. Charlie is a mystery he needs to solve.

So here he is again, at Miles' place. And again, he's come when he knows Miles will be at work and Charlie will probably be at home. As he walks down the entryway, he straightens his grey tee shirt and runs his fingers through his curls in an attempt to control them. It doesn't really work, but then he's not too concerned. If perfect hair is her thing, he doesn't have a chance anyway.

He's smiling in anticipation of seeing her when he rounds the corner and comes upon an unsettling sight. Charlie is there on the sofa. She's by herself. She's a mess. Her eyes are red and swollen. Her cheeks are streaked with tears. Her hair is askew and she is literally surrounded by mounds of used Kleenex.

"What happened?" Bass says, moving to her side, concerned.

"It's over. I'm never going to see them again!" Charlie is sobbing, and she leans into Bass, shaking.

His heart begins to race, "Who are you never going to see again?" she doesn't answer so he raises his voice a notch, "Charlie, what are you talking about? Who are you not going to see anymore?"

She says something, but her voice is garbled because of all the crying.

"What? I can't hear you." Bass is truly worried now. What has happened? "Is Miles okay? Is it your Mom? Danny?"

She shakes her head against his neck. Her sobs begin to subside. "You're going to think I'm stupid." Her voice cracks, but she keeps the tears in check.

"No I won't think you are stupid." He strokes her hair gently.

She snuggles close, "You'll say I'm a silly child."

Bass is acutely aware of her breast pressed against his arm, of her bare legs next to his denim clad ones. "I don't think you are a child Charlie."

"You're going to laugh at me."

"Damnit Charlie, What is wrong? I'm not going to laugh. Right now, you're scaring the crap out of me. Now tell me what's going on."

Charlie turns against him again, pressing her face into his neck. "Resistance got cancelled."

"What?" Bass asks, not following.

"My favorite tv show Resistance, you know the one? They live in this post-apocalyptic world where the government has crumbled and they all have to fight to survive."

Bass looks at her in surprise, "The show with all the sword fights? The one you were watching when I was here Wednesday?"

"Yeah, that's it. Resistance was my favorite show ever. I know you probably think it's lame to be that into a tv show, but I can't help myself. And now it's been cancelled and I'm," her voice breaks again, "I'm heartbroken."

He doesn't say anything at first, just strokes her back in an effort to calm her down.

"I knew you'd think I was stupid."

"I don't think that at all." Bass finally says quietly. "I actually know exactly what you're going through."

"You do?"

"Oh yeah. Ever hear of Firefly?"

She pulls away from Bass then, and looks up at him with those beautiful blue eyes – and they are still beautiful even when they are red and puffy – and his heart swells.

"No, what's Firefly?"

In this moment what he really wants to do is kiss her because she is beautiful and sweet and because having her in his arms feels so right. He knows though that she's having a bad day and he doesn't want to pressure her or move too fast. Instead he tells her about his favorite show from when he was just about her age, and how he'd suffered through a similar state of shock when the final decision had been made to cancel it.

"We got lucky. They ended up making a movie and there were comic books. We always wanted more, but we were happy to get what we could."

"How did you get them to make a movie?" she looks hopeful.

"Well, it was a lot of work but essentially we had to let them know just how much our show meant to us and eventually they decided to do something about it. It was a lot of work, but in the end we at least got some closure."

Charlie nods, her mind already reeling with ideas of things she and other fans can maybe do to help. "Would you help me put together some ideas?"

"Of course Charlie." He kisses her temple softly. "I'd do anything for you, don't you know that?"

"Yeah?" she's looking at him with those amazing eyes again and his heart feels tight.

"Yeah." He smiles down at her, and the moment changes. Without warning there is a spark so fierce between them that he swears he can see it. What he does truly see is the way her lips go a little slack and her pupils dilate. She drops her gaze to his lips and leans into him almost imperceptibly.

He looks away, unsure. He doesn't want to do anything that could ever hurt her, but yet he wants to kiss her so badly he can feel it in his bones. His gaze is drawn back to hers and she smiles a coy little smile. His heartbeat accelerates.

"You know," Charlie says quietly, her lips now close to his ear, "There are these two characters on Resistance that I ship."

"Ship?" Bass asks. He has no idea what she's talking about but he loves the way her breath tickles his ear.

"Yeah, it means that although they aren't technically in a relationship, a lot of people think these two characters should be together, so we 'ship' them."

"Okay." He's not really sure where this is going.

"The two Resistance characters I ship are Patrick and Samantha. Everyone who ships them calls this pairing "Samtrick"." Charlie absently begins to play with the collar of his tee shirt. She's not meeting his eyes. "They aren't together on the show because he's older than her and he actually dated her Mom a long time ago so it's complicated."

"Complicated." He repeats, completely entranced by the way her lips are moving as she tells this story. His breath is becoming a little ragged.

"Yeah, complicated. Even though clearly Samantha has feelings for Patrick, and he looks at her like he is interested in her too… they just never get together."

"That's really sad." He says. His arm is now around her waist and he pulls her closer, smelling her hair.

Charlie sighs, "It is sad. If he'd just be brave enough to make a move, he could have more than he ever hoped for with her." She moves her fingers from his collar to the scruff of his chin. "I just wish something could have happened with them before the show got cancelled, before it was too late." Charlie's voice is just a whisper now. Her face so close to Bass' that he can feel her breath soft and hot on his cheek.

"So he should make a move?" Bass asks, his voice a little shaky.

Her eyes are on his again, and she nods; licking her lips lightly as she does so. "Oh yes."

"But you said it's complicated?"

"Everything is complicated Bass," she moves even closer, "Especially the good stuff."

Bass's head is filled with a million reasons he shouldn't kiss Charlie, but none of these reasons outweigh his need to do so. Slowly, so that she can back out if she wants to (she doesn't); he moves in, pressing his mouth against hers. She responds, her lips moving with his, angling against him, leading him, following him. This is the kiss against which all others – past and future – shall be judged. She feels it in her toes.

Hearts racing, breath ragged, they break apart. Eyes meet and they both smile.

"So that happened." She says with a smirk.

"Yeah it did. Kind of been wanting it to for a while." Bass admits with a chuckle.

"Me too." She snuggles against his neck again.

"Do you want to watch Resistance with me? I feel a marathon coming on."

Bass pulls her tight into his embrace. "Can we take breaks now and then to kiss some more?"

She laughs, "Yeah, I think so."

"Maybe every time your couple has a scene together that you wish held more 'ship' stuff."

"So you want to make out every time I think Patrick and Samantha should be making out?"

"Yeah." He's grinning at her, looking very proud of himself. He feels that he can get on board with all this shipping business.

"You are going to love season two." She says, laughing. "We'll have a lot of opportunities there."

"Maybe we should just start with Season two then." He's chuckling.

She looks him in the eye, "This really might get complicated. Are you sure you want to get involved like this with me? Miles might flip out. If you change your mind, just tell me. This is your free pass. If you want out, say so."

"Charlie, I've been hoping you and I might have a 'ship' of our own for a while now. I uh, didn't know that's what it was called." He's laughing, " But I wanted it. Besides, I just got here. I don't want out and also like you said… everything is complicated, especially the good stuff. We'll talk to Miles. Maybe he'll understand more than we think."

As the first disk of Resistance begins to play, Charlie snuggles close to Bass. She leans up and kisses him lightly on the lips before turning to watch her show with him.

The show is just as good as Charlie had told him it would be. Clearly the network is crazy to cancel it. He hopes they'll be able to come up with a plan to get her the closure she wants.

He doesn't mind all the kissing either, and there is a lot of that too. That Samtrick has some serious chemistry. This just might be his favorite show now too.

"Viva la Resistance!" he says with a big grin.