AU: Charlie was with Bass and Miles when the power went out. Miles never left the Republic. I'm sure there's more but I'll address it when it comes up.

Italics means direct quotes taken from the show.

"Where have you been?

"What's going on? What's wrong?" Miles looked at his niece fast asleep in the back seat.

"I've been calling you"

"We went out. We took Charlie to the zoo and we're on our way back to base."

"Listen to me very, very carefully. It's all going to turn off."

"What?"

"It's going to turn off and never turn back on. You have to protect Charlie. No matter what happens you have to protect…" Ben's voice cut off and Miles watched as the power all around him turned off and he acquired the responsibility of raising the blonde haired girl in the back seat.

15 years after the Blackout

"Please, Bass." Charlie begged giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

"Charlotte, I have meetings all day, I'm supposed to inspect the men today, and your uncle will kill me." Bass sat at his desk acting preoccupied with paperwork, knowing if he looked at her she would win.

"'Bastian." With that one word he sighed and she won.

"Carter, move my meetings, let Henderson and Jackson know we're going on a little trip, and if General Matheson asks tell him that Captain Matheson and I will see him at dinner." Bass said looking at the grinning face of his best friend's niece.

"Yes, sir." The Lieutenant said hiding a smile at how the Captain had both Generals wrapped around her little finger.

Bass stood from his chair as Carter left and stood in front of Charlie taking her face in both hands and gently rubbing her cheeks with his thumbs, "Little Miss Charlotte, you are going to be the death of me." He pressed a kiss to her forehead before letting her go. "Let's go change, we can't very well go gallivanting across the countryside in our uniforms."

"You're the best, Bass." Charlie said grinning at him and the two walked back to their quarters.

"I know." Bass smirked and held the door open for her. They entered a large, circular, opulent sitting room with five doors leading off it.

Three bedrooms; one light blue, Miles', one light green, Bass', and the other a dark forest green, Charlie's, were along the far side of the circle, while the two doors for two separate bathrooms were on either side of the door they had just walked in. The only way into the living quarters of the leaders of the Monroe Republic was through this one door which was constantly guarded by no less than four men. Only the highest ranking officers had ever step foot into the sitting room and no one had ever step foot into the bedrooms except the three leaders, the occasional maid, and Nora, Miles' long term girlfriend and a bounty hunter. Whenever a maid was sent to clean either the bedrooms or the bathrooms four men guarded the main door while two others followed the maid, standing outside whatever room they were cleaning.

Five minutes later both Bass and Charlie were dressed in old, casual clothes with knives, swords, guns, arrows, and a crossbow for Charlie and a compound bow for Bass. Charlie was nearly vibrating with energy while Bass just smiled indulgently at her as they walked out to the main foyer meeting Henderson and Jackson, the two best trackers in the militia, along the way.

Hours later they returned with a deer, several rabbits, and a few pheasants carried behind them. Miles was sitting in the main dining room, a whiskey filled glass in his hand, as the two walked in covered in blood and Charlie had various parts of plants in her hair. "Nice of you two to join us."

"It was a spur of the moment decision, Miles, we would have invited you but I knew Nora was getting back today and you would want to spend some quality time with her." Bass pressed a kiss to Nora's cheek as he passed her. Miles was sitting at the end of the table closest to the door, Bass sat at the far end across from him, while Charlie and Nora sat across from each other.

"Let me guess, she batted her big blue eyes at you and said ''Bastian please' and you caved." Miles smirked at the two and Nora hid a smile behind her glass.

"Like you can resist her when she goes, 'Uncle Miles.'" Bass teased back piling food onto his plate. The rest of dinner passed with Miles complaining about Bass leaving him all his work, Nora discussing her latest bounty, Bass and Charlie discussing their hunt, and lots and lots of teasing.

One year after the Blackout

Bass and Miles had gathered a small army in the months following the Blackout. They had a reputation among their fellow Marines and many had followed the two when they set out to right the wrongs chaos had caused. As they won battle after battle they gathered more soldiers, more war clan allies, and more families. It wasn't uncommon for the soldiers to return and be greeted by running children and happy spouses.

Bass sat watch around one of the fires in the camp when he heard tiny footsteps behind him.

"'Bastian." A soft voice said from the direction of his tent.

"Charlotte, what are you doing up?" Bass asked turning to the little girl, tears filling her bright blue eyes. Suddenly, Bass found his arms full of blonde curls and light sobs. He rubbed circles on her back and rocked her back and forth. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"I, I, I had a b-bad d-dream." She said hiccoughs breaking up her words.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Bass asked the six year old girl.

"You and U-uncle Miles were f-fighting and you d-died." She said burrowing into him.

"Oh, baby girl, you know your uncle and I are tougher than tough. I can't promise that we won't die someday but as long as we have each other we're not going down anytime soon, okay?" He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and held her a little tighter.

"I'm here to relieve you, sir." A young Marine who had served with Bass and Miles said softly nearly an hour later.

"Thank you." Bass said adjusting the sleeping girl in his lap and stood to carry Charlie back to their tent.

"Miles, Miles, wake up." Bass whispered kicking Miles' foot earning a groan from the sleeping man. "Miles, you need to spread the blanket out. Charlie had another nightmare." Miles grumbled and complained but he unzipped his sleeping bag and stretched it out on the ground and grabbed Bass' sleeping bag from the other side of the tent, laying it down on top of his own.

Miles climbed over to his side of the sleeping arrangement pulling Bass' side of the sleeping bag back so he could put Charlie down and climb in himself. The men shuffled a bit more before they were both comfortable. Bass was lying on his side, an arm curled around Charlie pulling her close, Miles was also on his side facing the two, his hand resting on top of Charlie's head.

"The things we do for this girl." Miles grumbled before going back to sleep. Bass just smirked, falling asleep himself.